We've got a fantastic four minute featurette for Darren Aronofsky's Noah for you to check out. It takes us behind the scenes and focuses on the building of the massive Ark that they used in the film. It includes interviews with the director and the film's star Russell Crowe. As you might expect, it also includes some behind-the-scenes shots as well as some new footage from the movie. The film is set to be released on March 28th, and I'm seriously excited about seeing it.
That Star Wars inspired AT-AT rocking horse we shared with you about a month ago is complete and fully operational. I've got to say… it turned out even more awesome than I imagined. The AT-AT was built by Jen of Epbot and her husband John. As you can see, it turned out perfect.
Pixar has released another clip from their upcoming Monsters University short film Party Central. The Oozma Kappa frat party gets underway as they start stealing party guests from ROR's frat house party. I already had the opportunity to see the short at D23. If you were a fan of Monsters University, I'm sure that you'll enjoy the short that Pixar came up with.
It took Pixar's team eight months to make the short, which is set to screen with showings of The Muppets: Most Wanted on March 21st, 2014. I also included the first clip that was released for you to watch in case you missed it. The story supervisor on Monsters University, Kelsey Mann, directed the short, and John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Charlie Day, and Peter Sohn all reprise their roles as the Oozma Kappa brothers. Thanks to Disney for the embed!
I love a good Simpsons couch gag, but this is seriously the best I have ever seen. It was created by French animator by Sylvain Chomet who directed animated films such as The Illusionist and Triplets of Belleville. This opening sequence is beautifully animated and absolutely hilarious. It might just be the best thing to come from The Simpsons in years!
Via: Gizmodo
I never get tired of seeing wonderous creations made of LEGO. These photos show off a 3-foot-tall Jaeger robot inspired by Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim. It was created by LEGO artist Jason Corlett, who used 5,000 bricks and spent 70 hours to build the giant robot. One of the things I love about it most is that it is piloted by minifigs.
This is the Russian Jaeger known as Cherno Alpha. I wonder if Corlett has any plans of building any more because he totally should! I love the amount of detail that went into this.
A really fun trailer has been released for Michael Fassbender's very odd new movie Frank. What's interesting about this is Fassbender is wearing a giant head through the whole movie. They took the biggest star of the film and covered up his face. I didn't get a chance to see the film when it was showing up at Sundance, but there seemed to be a good amount of positive buzz.
The offbeat looking comedy was directed by Lenny Abrahamson, and the story follows "a young wannabe musician, Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), who finds himself out of his depth when he joins an avant-garde pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank (Michael Fassbender), a musical genius who hides himself inside a large fake head, and his terrifying bandmate Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal)."
The film is based on the memoir by Jon Ronson, and loosely inspired by Frank Sidebottom, the persona of cult musician and comedy legend Chris Sievey, as well as other outsider musicians like Daniel Johnston and Captain Beefhear.
I'm not sure when the movie will get released in theaters, but I'll watch it!
Via: Gizmodo
So this is a fun yet strange stop-motion Star Wars video called Training Day. It features Jedi Master Yoda training Luke, only Yoda's voice has been replaced with Burgess Meredith from Rocky. Enjoy!
AMC has released a new promo teaser and image for the final season of their hit series Mad Men. They feature Jon Hamm as Don Draper walking off the plane after a flight. The question is… where has he been?
The series also stars January Jones, Vincent Karthheiser, Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, Aaron Staton, Rich Sommer, Robert Morse, Kiernan Shipka, Jessica Pare, and Kevin Rahm.
The final season will be split into two half seasons. The first part will premiere on April 13th, and the final seven episodes will start airing in the spring of 2015.
The classic bike that Pee Wee Herman spent looking for in Tim Burton's Pee Wee's Big Adventure is now up for sale on eBay. As I write this post the bidding is currently at $25, 702. As cool as it would be to own this, I think I'd rather spend that money on getting a new car. Here's the description from the ad:
Its in pieces now, but everything is there.
Comes with an autographed photo of Paul Ruebens, a photo of him signing the photo, letter/certificate of authenticity, warner bro plans/spec sheet on the red cargo boxes. I am the third owner. I bought it in 2010 for $10,000. Selling because my family is getting larger.
Lots of Blood, Lots of muscle, and Lots of Eva Green.
It's been 8 years since director Zack Snyder wowed audiences with his break-through, ultra-violent action flick 300. Now, Warner Bros. adds a new chapter to the highly stylized, R-rated world with 300: Rise of an Empire.
Snyder doesn't return as director for this one, but acts as writer and producer. 300: Rise of an Empire still has the feel of a Snyder film. Although Gerard Butler's character of King Leonidas was killed off at the end of 300, there are several returning characters that seamlessly bridge this chapter to the 2006 film. Lena Headey returns as King Leonidas' widow, seeking revenge for her husband's violent death. Actor Rodrigo Santoro reprises his role as the all-powerful God King Xerxes who is determined to conquer the world, wiping out all that stand in his way.
The movie spans the time before, during, and after the events of the first film, showing the rise of Xerxes, the fall of King Leonidas, and the conquests of Persian naval commander Artemisia, played convincingly by Eva Green. We are introduced to Greek general Themistocles, played by Sullivan Stapleton, who quickly makes enemies with Xerxes and is tasked with long battles against the great Persian army.
Battles are what drive this movie, as you might expect, battles and a lot of blood. One might even say that the explosions of blood that follow every slice of the sword are the very soul of these movies. If 300 was extreme violence on land, 300: Rise of an Empire is extreme violence on the high seas. The majority of the fighting in this movie takes place on the deck of ships, which is much different than the first movie. However, there is little variety in the action sequences, many of them feel like the same fight set on repeat.
Eva Green's character was the highlight of the movie, easily outclassing all other cast members. The lead actor, Sullivan Stapleton did a solid job, but wasn’t the convincing alpha male his character should have been. The dialogue is sub-par, but it is doubtful anyone who sees this is expecting an Oscar-worthy script. As you might expect the movie is not for the faint of heart, filled with ultra-violence, some brief nudity, and some language.
If you enjoyed 300, you are going to feel right at home with 300: Rise of an Empire. It’s not as innovative as its predecessor, but does a good job preserving the look and feel of the stylized universe. It’s not as quotable as 300, (“This is Sparta!”) but it is a complimentary follow up to the 2006 film. Unless you were a fan of the first movie, I would recommend you wait to rent this one.
-KO
It sounds like there is going to be a big shake-up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to what happens in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We've already heard the ending will lead into Avengers: Age of Ultron, but thanks to /Film we've learned that what happens in The Winter Soldier will have huge ramifications for the rest of the universe. Nothing is revealed about what those changes are, but everyone seems very excited about it. They definitely tease what we will see, but there are no spoilers here, so you're safe.
Let's start out with what Captain America series co-screenwriter Stephen McFeely had to say:
"We are really excited about this, because it really is its own thing and we leave the world in a certain place, so that Avengers 2 has to acknowledge that and move on, but it’s not like any arrows are being taken out of our quiver."
His screenwriting partner Christopher Markus tells the site that it does not leave the movie on a cliffhanger though, so that will be nice. It's always good to get some closure on the movies you watch. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige spoke about the continuity of the Marvel movies, where The Winter Soldier fits in, and the ending:
"It is smack dab between Avengers and Avengers 2. It takes place after both Thor and Iron Man. So it’s sort of the continuity of the release of the film is the continuity of the film as well. Which was sort of the case with the first phase one films but it was a little trickier. But this very much, you know, the ramifications at the end of this film go directly into Avengers 2. Much more so than the other films."
Things start to get a little more interesting when directors Anthony and Joe Russo start to talk about the movie. Below is a quote from Joe Russo, who talks about the evolution of the script, and teases a monumental idea:
"The initial story arc is there. We did a lot of work just putting it in a voice. We edged it up a lot more and came up with a lot of set pieces. It’s based on our love of 70s set pieces, which have a certain length to them, there’s a journey that you go on when you watch them. They’re story-based. There’s something at stake for four-and-a-half minutes that you’re going, “Holy shit! What’s gonna happen here?” We just did a reworking in that regard, but they had a really excellent construct to the script that was really sound, where it was going, a very big idea that they’re exploring in the third act of this movie. It’s a sort of, you know, monumental idea for the MCU."
I love the idea of a monumental idea for the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Everything has been so big already for what they've done, but the fact that it will impact everything is pretty awesome. Russo goes on to add:
"Yes, it impacts everything. That has always been there. So it was easier to do the script work because it had such a clear spine to it, such a strong spine. They were already playing with the themes we wanted to push into more. I relate to those themes of Cap, the loneliness that he feels and the sense of isolation that he has, that makes him an extremely endearing character, so we wanted to push those as far as we could."
I have no idea how The Winter Solider is going to end, but I'm excited as hell to see what they've done! Marvel fans aren't going to want to miss this!
Here's the latest trailer for Tom Hardy's upcoming thriller, Locke. The Steven Knight-directed film looks really good. One of our writers had a chance to see the film at Sundance, and she really enjoyed Hardy's performance. You can read her review of it here.
Ivan Locke has crafted a nearly flawless life. Professionally, he is an obsessive perfectionist, respected by his coworkers and loved by his bosses. He cherishes the bond he shares with his two sons and the unshakeable partnership he has developed with his wife. This is the life he always imagined, an ideal existence built with painstaking care. Hours before the biggest day of his career, Locke receives a phone call that threatens to destroy the life he has worked so meticulously to create. As he struggles to keep his world intact, he is forced to confront his imperfections and the fractured foundation where they are rooted.
Locke hits U.K. theaters on April 18th and will be released in U.S. theaters a week later. The movie also stars Ruth Wilson, Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, Tom Holland, and Bill Milner.
This poster for the Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Wife" was created by Deviant Art artist Numan Ahmed, aka theyoungtook. As you can see, the design was inspired by Drew Struzan and the posters for Star Wars.
Following yesterday's 4-minutes of footage from Captain America: The Winter Solider, Disney has released another awesome TV spot that has even more cool footage for you to see! This movie is going to be incredible, and apparently it's going to include some big events that make major changes to the Marvel cinematic universe. The movie will be released on April 4th!
This fantastic piece of X-23 fan art comes from CGHUB artist Ilya Kuvshinov. I really enjoy the style of this artist, and you can check out a few more of his illustrations that we've posted on the site here. X-23 is really a great character, and it would be awesome if Fox actually utilized her in a movie.
FOX has released ten new photos from Keifer Sutherland's 24: Live Another Day limited series, which is set to air on May 5th. The series also stars Giles Matthey, Yvonne Strahovski as Kate Morgan, Kim Raver as Audrey Raines, Benjamin Bratt as Steve Harris, and Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe. I'm so excited for the return of this series, and I have no doubt it's going to kick ass.
Four years ago, Jack was a fugitive from justice. Now an exile, he nevertheless is willing to risk his life and freedom to avert yet another global disaster. Tracking Jack are CIA head Steve Harris (Benjamin Bratt); CIA agent Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski), who is both resourceful and ruthless; Jordan Reed (Giles Matthey), a smart and sophisticated CIA computer tech; and Erik Ritter (Gbenga Akinnagbe), a sharp, strong and arrogant field operative. Calling the shots is James Heller (William Devane), now President of the United States. Heller is flanked by his Chief of Staff Mark Boudreau (Tate Donovan), who is married to Heller's daughter -- Jack's former flame, Audrey (Kim Raver). Meanwhile, a hardened Chloe O'Brian (Rajskub), Bauer's CTU confidante, is now working underground with high-profile hacker Adrian Cross (Michael Wincott). Guest stars on 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY include Golden Globe Award winner Judy Davis and Golden Globe Award nominee Stephen Fry.
The series is set to premiere on May 5th on Fox.
Sony Pictures has released three clips from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Each is narrated by Stan Lee, and they include a lot of new footage. The clips come from some kind of Kellogg's swinging game. If you're excited for the movie, then these are definitely worth watching as some of the footage is pretty fun. The movie is set to hit theaters on May 2nd!
You've got to watch this powerfully intense short film created for Save the Children. The short is called "Most Shocking Second A Day Video," and it shows us a young girl as her life is completely turned upside down throughout the course of a year. It's actually quite frightening because as the note with the video says, "This is what war does to children." The video seriously tugs on your heartstrings.
This is the trailer for an interesting looking thriller called Honeymoon. It comes from first-time filmmaker Leigh Janiak and stars Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones) and Harry Treadaway (Penny Dreadful). The trailer doesn't give much away, in fact, it's pretty mysterious, but I like the eerie tone of it.
Young newlyweds Paul (Treadaway) and Bea (Leslie) travel to remote lake country for their honeymoon where the promise of private romance awaits them. Shortly after arriving, Paul finds Bea wandering and disoriented in the middle of the night. As she becomes more distant and her behavior increasingly peculiar, Paul begins to suspect something more sinister than sleepwalking took place in the woods."
The film doesn't have distribution yet, but it will be showing at SXSX.
Artist Oscar Römer has created some fantastic Star Fox fan art. Römer has taken the characters of Fox MacCloud and Falco from the classic Nintendo video game and given them a soft painterly look while evoking a war-weary attitude.
