With one quick tease from Ryan Reynolds, the news machine has started rolling on the upcoming Deadpool film, which is still over a year away. Reynolds shared a picture from the Deadpool camp showing us a little tease of the mask he will be wearing in Fox’s long-awaited solo film for the merc-with-a-mouth, a character Ryan Reynolds has been waiting to properly bring to the big screen for years.
Continue reading The Deadpool Movie: Featuring Gina Carano, T.J. Miller and Colossus?
They’ve been trying to make a Y: The Last Man movie for a while now. I remember hearing movie plans back when the comic was still being published, and wondered myself who would be playing who, and of course, asked the ultimate question of movie vs TV series. The story starts out fairly simple; All males on Earth die, except Yorick Brown, and one male Capuchin Monkey. The new world, entirely run by women, starts to slowly realize that the human race will die out unless something is done, and Yorick, being the only man around, runs into some trouble just by having that lucky ol’ Y chromosome. That’s putting it lightly, anyway. The direction of how to handle such a beloved, intricate story, and how to bring it to the screen, small or big, is one that seems to have eluded major studios for a while now, despite the project coming very nearly close to being made in 2007.
via [Geek]
Back in 2007, Vaughn and screenwriter Carl Ellsworth began work on adapting Y: The Last Man to film. Suburbia director DJ Caruso was brought on to helm the project in 2010; however, he eventually left due to a disagreement with the studio on how to handle it (he wanted a trilogy; they wanted one film). We’ve not heard much on the project since his departure.
We all know by now that didn’t end up happening, and for good reason. That argument over just how much, and how long the adaptation should be, ended up being pretty crucial.
via [screenrant]
The premise itself is easy to see as a feature film, but the sheer scope of the comic’s run has been a divisive issue.
Known for his expansive and self-contained storylines, Vaughan’s account of Yorick’s travels spanned 60 issues – a story that Caruso remained unconvinced would be best told in a single feature film, which was New Line’s wish. During Caruso’s time on the project four different screenplays were drafted, but ultimately the lack of agreement led to the director and studio parting ways.
Rather than remaining bitter, Caruso moved on to other projects, and explained that his disagreements with New Line went much farther than simple script issues. Unsurprisingly, Caruso wasn’t even sure that Y: The Last Man could be properly adapted into a two-hour film:
I didn’t think that you could take Yorick’s story and put it in to a two-hour movie and do it justice. That was sort of the difference. I think that New Line, working with Warner Bros. in their new relationship, just felt reluctant thinking that we can’t leave this thing open. If you are familiar with the comic book, you know it’s just mind-boggling. If you look at what my buddy Frank Darabont did with ‘The Walking Dead,’ you think […] “is that the best thing for it? Because there is just so much great stuff, so no, I’m not involved with that anymore.”
Here’s where the normal person would suggest it should be a tv miniseries. In a perfect world, of course it should. In a perfect world, I’d love it to be a full fledged show, with each issue adapted into an episode. But in this world, where brilliant comics like The Walking Dead are taken and turned into melodramatic shitfests like its AMC counterpart, I’d rather Y stay off my teevee, and let someone competent, with a single vision, give us his adaptation of the story. That way, if it’s shitty, it’s only 2 hours of my life wasted.
I’m not a fan of Shia LaBeouf, but I’m not a hater either. I have no strong feelings about him one way or the other, but I do think he was miscast as Yorick, and I’m glad that he won’t be playing him. When I think about that old project, LaBeouf, and factor in that disagreement over length, I can see why the project fell apart. The good news is, it’s been picked back up, and the new script is rumored to actually be good. It’s being written by former Jericho writers Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia, who you may recognize as the writers for Syfy Channel’s current series Warehouse 13. This bodes well, because it shows they know how to handle science fiction concepts, as well as an apocalyptic atmosphere, as any fan of Jericho will tell you.
So it seems like the script is good, which is good to hear. As much as I loved Y, not every single little subplot and side character is needed. I can see the entire story being trimmed to just Yorick, Ampersand, Yorick’s girlfriend, 355, Dr. Allison Mann, (Jesus I just got that pun of a last name, what’s wrong with me?), and have Alter as the villain of the film. You could tighten the whole story up, and make it a very simple, 2-3 hour, “Man on the Road” story. You just gotta narrow the vision down to one solid concept, and to me, that concept is the development of the unique relationship between 355 and Yorick. Make that part work, and all the rest will fall into place.
The one deciding factor would also be the ending, which I’m not adverse at all to being changed. Actually, let me clarify, not the ending ending, (because that was beautiful and perfect), just the explanation for what killed all the males. As it was, it took me to about the absolute far end of my suspension of disbelief and tolerance for pseudo-scientific, quasi-new age, bullshit theory. I won’t ruin it for you, but I will warn you that it’s disappointing. Then again, how could it not be? It was certainly unique, and better than “Ohhh crrraaazy virus!”, or what have you. However, when it comes to a film adaptation, a simpler, more easy to digest theory, and ending revelation, such as virus, or a combination of virus and the book’s ending, would suffice.
All in all, this is a script I’d love to get my hands on, and a project I’d love to see actually come to fruition, if only to see how it’s handled. I don’t expect it to be perfect, I just want it to be good on its own terms. Basically what I’m saying is folks, go in expecting a kick in the balls, and if the movie slaps you in the face, you’ve won!
Also, If I had to cast Yorick now? Ryan Reynolds. That’s right. I can feel your hate. IT MAKES ME STRONGER.
You heard me, Ryan Reynolds has been cast as Connor Macleod in the Highlander remake. For many, apparently this is a bad thing, but I’ve always had a history of loving Ryan Reynolds, and I always look forward to seeing his abs him in anything I watch. I think he’s a perfectly fine actor, and has comedic chops, which I’d argue are the same set of skills you need to act well in drama.
While other details about the film have yet to surface, like who will be playing Juan Villalobos-Ramirez, the immortal Spanish-Egyptian-Scotsman, or The Kurgan, I’m positive those details will come soon, and at the very least, will be interesting. I’m happy the movie is being remade, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle the concepts of The Prize, The Gathering, and brutal decapitations being a main plot point. The only way they could screw this up, would be by trying to somehow have covers of Queen as the soundtrack. Either license the original soundtrack entirely, or get a totally new composer to write a new score. Queen or bust.
As many of you probably know, Highlander is the quintessential cult movie favorite. An argument could be made that in a way, it was the reverse Firefly of its time. It started out as a fantasy film that was clearly only meant to be one movie, but showcased a world and mythology so evocative and thought-provoking, people just had to go and make a sequel and screw it up by making them aliens. That then led to further sequels that retconned that detail, and a directors cut that tried to redeem that inane writing decision, and ultimately led to the franchise getting its own series, that built its own intricate mythology that contradicted the movies canon, and led to yet another movie sequel, that confusingly attempted to bridge the two sets of continuity in a way that left everyone feeling awkward. Being a Highlander fan has always been difficult because of this, and the thoughts of any more sequels generally brings a headache as we all try to retrofit everything into the tangled web of sub-continuity and pseudo-explanations for concepts such as The Watchers, or just what the hell The Prize is in the first place.
Thankfully, someone in Hollywood saw the franchise, realized another sequel was a lousy idea, and took it to its obvious and necessary conclusion: REMAKE TIME BABY! Remakes are trendy now sure, but there is a place for them. Some movies get so clustered with badness that a remake/reboot is the only way to give a franchise some new lifeblood (Batman), and others are genuinely good retellings of a story that takes it in a new and exciting direction (1982’s The Thing), while others are more akin to re-adaptations of the source material it came from (2012’s Total Recall). So it stands to reason that Highlander lies somewhere in between the reboot/new exciting direction remake clause, and while many of my colleagues here at Grizzlybomb have lamented the decision to cast him, I’m Pro-Ryan Reynolds in this remake.
Also can you imagine Ryan Reynolds trying on a scottish accent? AMAZING.
Welcome back to the Hero Express, your one-stop totally SPOILER filled shop through the top five stories in comic based Film & TV news!
For years, Denzel Washington has created one of the best resumes in Hollywood by essentially just playing himself. Take a minute and think of the first five Denzel movies that come to mind. For me, it’s Training Day, John Q., Man on Fire, Glory, and American Gangster. If your list is in any way similar to mine, think about Denzel’s performances in all of those movies. Were it not for maybe the clothes he was wearing, or the setting of the scene, do you think you could even discern certain Denzel performances from others?
If you can, you must be really good at crosswords and “Where’s Waldo?” because I seriously can’t even begin to tell them apart. Still, I believe that that’s a big part of Denzel’s appeal. You know what to expect, and it works every time. If it worked the first 12 times, there’s a pretty big chance that it’s going to work a 13th time. In the newest vehicle for Denzel, Safe House, he plays Tobin Frost. In the mid 80s and up until the late 90s, Frost was one of the top CIA agents in the world. He went rouge in 2002 for unknown reasons, and has been on the run from the US government ever since.
Discovered in South Africa, Frost is placed in the care of Matt Weston, a young and optimistic CIA agent who has spent the last year working as a safe house operator, never able to see any real action. Frost is brought in by an extraction team led by Daniel Kiefer (Robert Patrick), but the location of the house is compromised, and with the extraction team dead, Weston is in charge of Frost’s whereabouts.
Back at his apartment, Weston has a beautiful French girlfriend with whom he is madly in love with, and vice versa. The obvious conflict with having a relationship in his line of work makes it extremely hard to explain to her what is going on among all of the commotion. The subplot of Weston’s lady friend makes for interesting character development later in the film when he must make the difficult choice between the safety of the woman he loves, and the strong feelings he has for her.
Stateside, orders from Catherine Linklater (Vera Farmiga), David Barlow (Brendan Gleeson), and Harlan Whitford (Sam Shepard), three of the agency’s executive officers, instruct Weston to successfully bring Frost out to a new safe house in rural South Africa. While trying to get to their location, Weston and Frost are being tracked by a group of men after a file that Frost has hidden. Inside the file is very valuable information that may just be the end of government secrecy as we know it.
Safe House is Denzel’s first film since 2010’s Unstoppable, his second train movie after The Taking of Pelham 123. Safe House is an extremely welcome return to form for Denzel, who turns in a fantastically familiar performance as Tobin Frost. Ryan Reynolds is also surprisingly effective as the up and coming CIA agent who just wants to do the right thing. Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, and Sam Shepard all do wonderfully in their supporting roles, but Gleeson really steals the show, as usual, playing yet another diverse character to add to his already eclectic resume.
The chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington is dynamite. Their banter is often revealing, quick, and engrossing, serving as an equal to the heart-racing action sequences littered throughout the film. They both seem very comfortable in their characters, and even more comfortable with each other, which makes for some wonderfully tense and sometimes hilarious scenes between the two. I’d love to see them star in a comedy together with Ryan Reynolds leading the way instead of Denzel, because honestly, they make a great pair.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Safe House makes good use of the effective shaky cam style that has been popular for a few years now, editing together some stylish action sequences, as well as some tense dialogue that moves the film along at a very brisk pace, to say the least, because once the action starts, it doesn’t let up until the end credits roll, something that can’t be said for a lot of the other “action-packed” spy movies that have been released recently.
The fast paced but intelligent script by first time feature film screenwriter, David Guggenheim, manages to be action packed but also contains a considerable amount of character development as well as good enough dialogue that doesn’t distract from the movie’s serious tone. The biggest success in the screenplay, though, is its integration of culture to service its plot, including a breathtaking arena sequence that segways nicely into a display of South Africa’s slums, including a nice cameo performance by Ruben Blades.
All in all, Safe House is a thrilling ride that is better than it has any right to be, offering a slew of excellent performances, some great action, and a script that takes you on a wild ride through the mind of a traitor, as well as through South Africa’s best and worst. If you liked the trailer, you’ll love the movie, as the advertising doesn’t misrepresent the film like many other previews that we see on TV. Safe House, among many other things, is entirely predictable from the first scene, but that shouldn’t stop you from what is otherwise a thrilling ride at the movies.
4/5 Bears
I’m a Green Lantern fan. I’m not one of those from the beginning Lantern fans, I’m talking the Geoff Johns era Lantern fan. That would probably make a whole bunch of geeks out there vomit in revulsion because they don’t like the Geoff Johns era because it made Green Lantern relevant after they blindly followed his lameness throughout the decades before. But that’s neither here nor there, as a Lantern fan (a pretty big one in my opinion) I felt it only proper that I review the recent Ryan Reynolds starring film. I was very excited after the second trailer came out for the flick, but once I missed it the first week in theaters the critics and my colleague Dr. Kronner had already done the damage. The movie was lambasted as a piece of crap that failed at every turn. Dr. Kronner had a more reasonable assessment but he stopped short of calling it awesome or even good. Well I’ve watched the Blu-Ray disc this very night and let me tell you: This movie sucks major arse, especially if you’re a Green Lantern fan. Casual movie goers would enjoy it and that’s about it, which explains it’s heartless box office performance.
*SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY*
So for those of you who do not know, the movie is about an ancient species of beings called the Guardians who have harnessed the green energy of will power and created an intergalactic force of peacekeepers to maintain justice throughout the space sectors of the galaxy. The peacekeepers wear rings imbued with the green energy of will power and the wearer can make any construct they can imagine to serve and protect those in need. Sounds great right? Yes, in theory it does and in the comics it is awesome but this movie really just falls flat and makes the mistake of spending far too much time on Earth and not in the galaxy showing us what the Lanterns can do.
Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan I could live with. He was wise cracking and humorous at times but nothing too over the top for Mr. “I like to wear no shirt” Reynolds. But as for the costume he wore, in particular the mask, I found myself laughing out loud at it in certain scenes. I still can’t figure out if the laughter was a confused laughter because I should have been crying at what a joke they had made of the Green Lantern Hal Jordan.
It’s a shame because the movie did have some potential in many ways. The scenes on Oa and elsewhere in the galaxy were very well done and made up the best parts of the movie. As I said before there just wasn’t enough time allotted to said parts. Kilowog, Tomar Re, Sinestro and the Guardians all looked fantastic as well. Mark Strong did a fine job as the veteran lantern Sinestro who starts off as a mentor to Hal Jordan before eventually turning into his greatest nemesis. The one issue I had was with Parallax and it was not because they changed up his origin and character quite a bit. It was because he basically looked like a squirming pile of burning dog shit. Watch the movie if you want to see what that might look like on screen.
Instead of more Oa and space action we are served with a generic romance between Hal Jordan and fellow pilot Carol Ferris, played by Blake Lively. Lively is definitely a very, very hot slice of pizza but she really doesn’t have much of an onscreen presence. However, that doesn’t mean I’m against a sequel where there is a possibility of her being in the uniform of a Star Sapphire.
The other bit of Earth story we get is the completely pointless one of Hector Hammond, played by Peter Sarsgaard. Hector is a childhood friend of Carol and Hal who is more of a bookworm who gains telekinetic powers from a connection with Parallax; this again is for no good reason other than to have someone for Hal to fight on Earth. I give props to DC and the studio for making Hammond, a lesser known Lantern foe the main villain besides Parallax to face off against Hal, but unfortunately most of the scenes with him made me laugh. And I assure you that was not their intent.
His gargantuan cranium looked sillier than it does in the comics and he had a propensity for screaming about anything and everything that brought an amused smile to my face. This would be the sort of smile I get when I see a drunken idiot in a bar trying to fight everyone in sight and making a complete ass of themselves. Epic fail Mr. Hammond. Epic fail. But seriously big ups to the literal roast of Tim Robbins, because that was entertaining for about ten seconds.
Overall I have to give the movie a 2 out of 5 bears. It would have been a 1 out of 5, but since Ms. Lively was looking so superbly elegant in the movie I’ll bump it up. The other point would be for the scenes not taking place on Earth because they looked pretty, especially on Blu-Ray.
Otherwise the movie just didn’t have good enough pacing or anything on Earth worthy enough to care about. Hal’s fear wasn’t touched upon nearly enough except in a silly flashback seen from viewpoints of footage we had seen about fifteen minutes previously and a couple parts that took him two seconds to decide “I’m not afraid. Let’s party”.
A sequel is definitely most welcome, granted they work on focusing it more in the galaxy at large instead of boring old Earth. With Sinestro utilizing the yellow ring of fear at the end that would make for a good set up for a third film if he is exiled from the Green Lantern Corps by the end of the second movie. And if they need a villain that doesn’t suck as hard as Hector Hammond for the sequel I suggest they use Artrocitus and his Red Lanterns due to his history with the Guardians… and because they are totally bad ass.
Grizzly Bomb 