Category Archives: Movie News & Opinions

A Busload of Veronica Mars Movie Updates

So a lot has happened since the Veronica Mars Kickstarter became the Kickstarter poster child. If you aren’t a backer (who isn’t a backer?) and you haven’t been paying attention to Veronica Mars movie updates then you have missed a lot because things are moving along at a rapid pace for our crime solving friend.

So many people are coming back. So, so many. This is probably the most exciting part about a project like this because of course the fans want to see everyone in the show involved in the movie and so far it seems like we are getting our wish.

Veronica Mars Ryan Hansen Martin Starr Ken Marino
Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr, and Ken Marino

One of these things is not like the other… we’ve got Ryan Hansen who was Dick Casablancas and Ken Marino of course as no one’s favorite PI, Vinnie Van Lowe. But what of Martin Starr? Was he one of the many actors who had small parts on the original run only to go on to bigger careers? Nope. Actually he’s coming on as a new character, Lou ‘Cobb’ Cobbler, a classmate of Veronica and Co’s. As a huge fan of Party Down this little reunion of Kyle, Roman, and Ron makes me downright giddy.

One of the fun parts of being a backer of this particular Kickstarter has been the ‘reactions’ posted of various actors as part of their casting announcement. I think we can all agree that the Vinnie Van Lowe Blow movie would be something worth watching, hopefully he’s able to get a hold of that Kickstarter guy to give him some money. As for Ryan Hansen? Well I’ve watched the video four times today and I’m not the least bit ashamed about it.

Tina Majorino Krysten Ritter Veronica Mars
Krysten Ritter and Tina Majorino

AAAHHHH!!!! It’s Gia and Mac! Tina Majorino had to be in this, it wasn’t even up for debate in my head, but I was a bit surprised to see Krysten Ritter back as Gia Goodman. Pleasantly surprised, for sure, just surprised. Given that Cindy ‘Mac’ Mackenzie was one of my favorite characters of the series, I am so excited to see Majorino making an appearance.

Gia and Mac are in pretty good company when it comes to those returning to Neptune. Jonathan Chesner will be back as everyone’s favorite pot-head, Corny. Kevin Sheridan will be seeing what trouble petty thief and drug dealer, Sean Freidrich can get into. Remember Dick’s bitchy ex-girlfriend Madison Sinclair? Well Amanda Noret will be bringing her back to life. The sheriff’s department is very well represented already with not only Brandon Hillock back as Deputy Sacks, but Max Greenfield (The New Girl) has confirmed that he will be returning as the lovable Deputy Leo!

Percy Daggs III Francis Capra Chris Lowell Veronica Mars
Percy Daggs III, Francis Capra, and Chris Lowell

It would be impossible to have a Veronica Mars movie without these three actors. Francis Capra as the biker gang/jailbird/friend of Veronica, Eli ‘Weevil’ Navarro. Percy Daggs III as Veronica’s best friend Wallace Fennell and of course his Hearst College roommate, Chris Lowell as Stosh ‘Piz’ Piznarski. You have to give Ms. Mars credit because she sure knew how to get just adorable guys to hang around her, even if they were the leader of a biker gang.

Speaking of Piz… what is this?!? Surely, surely, surely Veronica and Piz don’t end up together. I mean come on. Where’s the pictures of Veronica and Logan walking around holding hands? The people behind the Veronica Mars movie twitter account have tried to put people’s minds at ease by saying we shouldn’t judge until we see the movie but it’s just so damn difficult when you see things like this.

Kristen Bell and Chris Lowell shoot scenes for the upcoming 'Veronica Mars' movie in Los Angeles

As a LoVe shipper from way back, I can’t even deal with this possibility. So I’m choosing to ignore it for now. Trying to keep an open mind here. I know what will put my mind at ease…

http://youtu.be/8dJ2VuJbFac

Oh Keith Mars, you might be the best TV dad ever and Enrico Colantoni is just perfect.

That’s a lot of people confirmed so far! Apparently there are more cast announcements to be made but I can’t imagine who else they could fit in one movie. Even Justin Long has been announced as having a role in the film. I’m imagining everyone in Hollywood just showing up to this huge high school reunion party scene and they’ll all have one line. Filming is underway so once we see that all the big names are flocking to one Los Angeles location, then we’ll know my theory is correct. For now, we’ll just have to enjoy the first “official” photograph from the set.

Credit to:  EW
Credit to: EW

Exciting times Marshmallows!

Terminator 5 – The Rock vs. Arnold?

Remember when Grizzly Bomb  recently covered an interesting piece of news about how Arnie maybe being the lead role in the new Terminator 5 movie? If you will recal,l I thought that they had tried pretty much everything they could to revamp this franchise and it may be a struggle to give us something new and fresh even after Salvation did not do so well at the box office. Well Bleeding Cool just posted up some news which certainly took this reviewer by surprise. Here is a quote from the Bleeding Cool article originally published on WWE Examiner website.

[quote] “We’re told the script is now being developed and with one fellow action movie star in mind for the role of T5′s most sinister machine. A source close to Annapurna Films exclusively tells WWE Examiner Friday morning that one version of the script is being produced specifically for The Rock himself”[/quote]

 gi joe retaliation dwayne johnson bruce willlis

Okay I am a sucker for action movies and no matter what you say about Dwayne Johnson he knows his stuff in this particular style of film. The mention of “sinister machine” can really only mean one thing. The Rock is going to play the iconic tin man, The Terminator. To say this is a good idea would be an understatement as he would make a great killing machine. The intensity is practically stamped on his face in every movie he is in……….okay, maybe not The Tooth Fairy but you get the idea. So if Arnie is not in the Skynet driving seat then who is? Well Bleeding Cool has some news on that to.

[quote]

“T5 may be a prequel set in the days of Sarah Connor’s parents, marking the first time terminators have been sent back in time to kill a character that existed before both John and Sarah Connor.

Incredibly, Schwarzenegger may not play the role of a machine in the next film, but a potentially heroic human figure in or close to the Connor family. One theory is that Schwarzenegger’s remarkable ability to protect the Connor family in the 1940s or 1950s with antiquated weaponry by today’s standards ultimately inspired the machines to develop a terminator in his likeness that was eventually sent to 1984 when Sarah Connor was first targeted for termination.”

[/quote]

Terminator 5- Lead In

What do you do with a franchise when you have gone as far back with it as you can? Well, you go further back! This actually seems like a cool idea. We would get a new set of characters to follow who are still linked with the original movies (so not changing continuity) and it would get some much-needed new blood in the franchise and hopefully, the cinema seats. Even if Arnie is not as hot as he once was, seeing him in a different role from the Terminator will certainly be enough to pique a lot of people’s interest. The 40s and 50s setting adds a new element to with maybe Arnie as the Connor family protector role using a Tommy gun on Terminator Dwayne is something I would pay money to see. It also gets around the awkwardness of Arnie some how being de-aged to play The Terminator. Though I have to say the notion of using Arnie as a template for The Terminators because he is such an ass kicker seems a tad strange. Maybe it’s The Terminators way of showing respect, similar to when a Predator rips out your spine for his wall collection because you were a brave warrior.

This is only a slight wrinkle and this recent news makes this reviewer a heck of a lot more excited than they were a few weeks back when the concept of Terminator 5 was announced. Still in  its early days, but the more I learn about this concept the more I like it. Maybe taking an Untouchables and Lawless approach to the Terminator franchise could work, maybe they could even inject a bit of humor (that worked so well in Terminator 2) that could come back into play after the depressing and full on feel of Salvation. I am taking a guess right now that Arnie dies a tragic death and if he does you heard it here first at Grizzly Bomb.

Keep checking with us for more details as this develops.

‘Curse of Chucky’ Picture Stills Come Online… Chucky is Back!

Recently Grizzly Bomb covered the news that a new film in Child’s Play franchise was soon to be released. Titled Curse of Chucky it follows in the footsteps of Texas Chainsaw and takes the series back to its roots while still keeping in the spirit of the original. This new storyline has Nicola (in some meta style casting is played by Fiona Dourif, daughter of Chucky’s voice Brad) grieving over the suicide of her mother and to make matters worse she gets a Good Guy doll mailed to here. You can guess what type of problems ensues after this.

Continue reading ‘Curse of Chucky’ Picture Stills Come Online… Chucky is Back!

Escape Plan: First Trailer for Stallone & Schwarzenegger’s New Prison Movie

Escape Plan, formerly known as The Tomb, released its first trailer today. No doubt that 20 years ago the release of this trailer would’ve been the biggest news on the internet, had anyone been ON the internet that is. However, now in their 60s, Stallone and Schwarzenegger don’t have the same pull they once did, but that doesn’t mean this won’t be worth watching. Even if their last 2 movies (Bullet to the Head, Last Stand) weren’t.

Continue reading Escape Plan: First Trailer for Stallone & Schwarzenegger’s New Prison Movie

The ID4 Sequel Won’t Get Jiggy Wit It, Goldblum and Pullman Celebrate More Screen Time

Since we are on the eve of the Roland Emmerich release of White House Down/Olympus Has Fallen 2.0/Die Hard 5.2/White House Explodes Yet Again, however you want to call the movie, it’s ample time to address the ID4 sequel. The director has been getting questions about the sequel and who’s coming back, who’s not, and the major news has come out: Will Smith will NOT be return to defend planet Earf.

According to Emmerich via the Hollywood Reporter, Will Smith won’t be coming back for the sequels ID Forever Part I and Part II (get it, ID FORever, that’s so 2 Fast 2 Furious) and not because After Earth crapped its pants commercially and critically (seriously, why do a movie where Will Smith has to dial his charisma from a 10 back down to a 2), but because he’s too big. That’s right, he priced himself out of the action movie franchise that made him. According to Emmerich, the story concentrates on the younger generation that must learn to defend themselves from the alien reinforcements that come back to conquer Earth. Of course, that meant a concentration of younger (read: cheaper) stars for the movie so having Will Smith for a smaller role apparently meant the money wasn’t worth it to overshadow whoever else decided to come aboard. Which is understandable, and Will Smith wouldn’t agree to a smaller role most likely, seeing as he’s pretty picky about his roles, as evidenced with the Django Unchained casting of Jamie Foxx. Regardless, Emmerich decided that he’s too much of a marquee name and it would be “too much”. Yes, because Roland Emmerich movies are usually defined by their subtlety.

However, who will be coming back is your favorite bicycle-riding, computer tech guy know-it-all, Jeff Goldblum and terrific speech giver and fighter pilot President Bill Pullman. According to Vulture, these dudes will be making a return because they need to cover rent. That and I imagine if that if my President was one of the fighter pilots that brought down one of the ships, he deserves a mention in the next few movies. That and I’m sure Goldblum will have some sort of speech about the environment and nuclear deterrents that will provide a subtle message about mistreating planet Earth. Or they just bridge the 20 year gap between the sequels. Who knows. It would be interesting if they bring back Mae Whitman (her?) to reprise her role as the President’s daughter. Heck, just bring back Adam Baldwin and I’d be perfectly content with that.

Regardless, this sequel is coming and I’m sure we’ll see more fun stuff get destroyed. Although I guess since the aliens destroyed everything the first time around, we’ll just have to wait and see on July 3rd, 2015 if they get to destroy the recreations of major landmarks. Just because it’s starting to get really redundant in seeing the White House destroyed over and over again… Bonus though, courtesy of YouTube user CinemaSins, you can experience ID4 all over again…now with glaring errors and commentary!

Edgar Wright May Have Found His Ant-Man! Rumors and Speculation Ahead! [UPDATED]

There has been a lot of Marvel discussion lately regarding the recent announcements of the 3 mystery release dates, but not a lot of talk about the first film of Marvel’s Phase Three; Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man. So you can probably imagine that today we will be discussing some Ant-Man rumors that have been swirling.

There isn’t really a question as to why we haven’t heard much from Ant-Man, because we’ve known for a while that Wright wouldn’t start production on Ant-Man until after The World’s End wrapped up, which is pretty much now as it gets ready for release. There have been a lot of names thrown around as star of Ant-Man, most common being Nathan Fillion due to his sheer awesomeness and connections to Joss Whedon. Also, he’s a Geek god and would no doubt draw a crowd to the film, but we have to STOP ASKING FOR NATHAN FILLION AS ANT-MAN! Sorry, sorry, it’s hard to let go.

Continue reading Edgar Wright May Have Found His Ant-Man! Rumors and Speculation Ahead! [UPDATED]