The gang over at How It Should Have Ended has a new web-series for us to enjoy called “Movie Mash.” It’s an animated series that mashes together two movies, and the first episode combines Gremlins and Taken. I like the concept of this series, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing what they do next. Check out the first episode below, and let us know what you think about their first episode. What other crazy mash-ups would you want to see?
Funny GREMLINS and TAKEN Animated Mashup
First Look at a Grizzled Leonardo DiCaprio in Revenge Film THE REVENANT
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is following up his Oscar-nominated film Birdman with another equally ambitious project. The Revenant tells the true story of a hunter (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who is mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead by his companions. But he survives, and embarks on a 200-mile hike to find the men who abandoned him (played by Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, and Domhnall Gleeson). But the crazy part is how Inarritu is filming this: he and his Birdman cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity) are "shooting with only natural light in remote locations left untouched by mankind," which sounds like it would put a lot of pressure on everyone to capitalize on the few hours of filmable daylight they have to work with out there in the elements.
EW has a couple first look photos from the production, as well as a brief interview with Inarritu, who spoke about his decision to shoot the film this way:
"It's a fun ride...It’s a very experimental thing that we’re doing here…I’m now addicted to doing things that can fail horribly or maybe that can give us a surprise. We are all into it."
I admire the director's passion, and hopefully this will turn out to be an amazing film. The Revenant arrives in theaters on Christmas Day.
Watch: Conan Gets Animated with ARCHER and Shoots Mobsters
As a fan of both the FX series Archer and Conan O'Brien, this video is awesome. The world's greatest secret agent enlists Conan to help him take down some mobsters, and as you'd expect with a situation involving Sterling Archer, the banter starts and just doesn't stop. Check it out below.
RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER Starts Shooting in August
Last year Milla Jovovich announced that she and her husband, director Paul W.S. Anderson, had to put the shooting of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter on hold because they were having another kid. We now have an update from the actress on her Facebook page that she is getting ready to reprise her role of Alice and jump back into action. She also confirms that shooting will begin in August.
“I’m really proud of myself for not gaining the same amount of weight that I did with our first child (75 lbs.) because I have to be ready to start filming ‘Resident Evil- The Final Chapter’ in August of this year and I will also be nursing an infant simultaneously.”
She must be a good multitasker! As the title suggests, this should be the last Resident Evil movie that we see from Jovovich and Anderson...unless it isn't, and they decide to reboot the whole franchise and start from scratch. I personally think it's time they bring the movie franchise to an end. It actually should have ended three movies ago, but what can ya do.
I enjoyed the first two films, but they've just gotten less and less interesting with every movie they release. The last film released was Resident Evil: Retribution back in 2012, and it was pretty awful.
Wentworth Miller is also set to reprise his role as Chris Redfield in the upcoming film, which is set to be released on September 2nd, 2016.
Jim Carrey's THE MASK — Rare Bizarre Promotional Art
I have a very vivid memory of watching Jim Carrey's The Mask at the Vista Theaters in Los Feliz in 1994. At the time, Carrey was reaching the peak of his fame, having been on In Living Color and starred in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. My two younger brothers and I were very excited for the movie and liked it so much that we bought The Mask as soon as it was released on VHS. The movie is so over the top and comical that it's kind of timeless in its tastelessness.
JimCarreyOnline.com uncovered some early promotional art that tips from zany into creepy. It's pretty clear he's not wearing makeup so the green tinted face morphs just look bizarre and not very cartoonish.
H/T: CBM
Red Hood is Coming to GOTHAM and Showrunner Promises Shocking Finale
With all of the classic Batman villains that are being included in Gotham, fans have been wondering if Red Hood would eventually pop up. Many of you will be happy to hear that Red Hood will, in fact, be making an appearance in the Fox television series.
In an interview with CBR, showrunner Bruno Heller explains that the Red Hood's inclusion will implement the show's "costume strand." When he was asked if Season 1 would remain costume free, he gave the following response:
"I'm looking at several years. So we're in no hurry to [do that] -- there's going to be an episode that involves the Red Hood, which picks up that strand, the costume strand, and sort of gives a kind of philosophical base, if that's not too pretentious a word. Why costumes? What's the power of costumes? What's the power of a mask? All of that groundwork will be laid sort of culturally for that side of the DC Universe before we start rolling into the more spectacular spandex type of deal.
"Because -- I can't remember where I read it -- the reason that the comic book characters wore costumes is because in the very rough printing that they used to have in newspapers, that's the only way you could make a character pop. 'Oh, that's Batman, that's Superman, that's Dick Tracy.' On TV, you don't need that same color and signature to make people pop. It's the characters that pop. So we're never going to be a full-on costume drama. We're going to be a full-on character drama. Like Batman, there's the super powers, super will, and there's super strength, but only on a human level. Not on a supernatural level. It's very important, again, for the longevity of the show, that we take this step by step.
I've always liked their take on this series, and they fact that they are going to hold back on making this a full-on costumed drama is great. The show obviously isn't set up for that. Although it sounds like it also means we won't be seeing any of Batman's more supernatural villains, which could upset some fans. I personally don't think it's a big deal, as I like the world that they've created for the show. Heller goes on to excitedly tease the first season finale, saying:
"We'd always planned for the end of the season to be as big and spectacular and as shocking and as frightening and as sensational as it possibly can be. And we're going ahead with that plan."
I'm so excited to see how they end this thing!
Starbucks Customer Draws Detailed Map of Middle-Earth on Coffee Cup
Someone on Reddit is claiming that a Starbucks customer drew this very detailed map of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth on one of the store's cups. I'm not entirely convinced this is real, because it's almost too good. I've seen speculation that this might be some sort of sneaky promotional tactic for the company, but it's not like Starbucks needs any extra publicity - they're seemingly on every freaking corner - and it's not like the people who would appreciate this are stupid enough to go out and buy a cup of coffee from them just because they like a map that someone drew on one of their cups.
Anyway, if someone did actually take the time and effort to do this by hand, I supposed we should congratulate them because it looks pretty damn cool. But what are they going to do with it now?
CALL OF DUTY “Exo Zombies” Trailer with John Malkovich and Bill Paxton
I’m deep in battle right now playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and this game is insanely badass. It really lives up to the hype. Things are about to get even better with the inclusion of the upcoming DLC "Havoc," which includes an Exo Zombies mode! Activision and Sledgehammer Games have released a trailer for the DLC showing us what’s in store, and it looks amazingly intense! I absolutely love that John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, and Jon Berenthal were hired to star in this thing!
In Exo Zombies, four untrained and unprepared Atlas employees must survive a horror unlike any other as, in a bit of a twist, the zombies are also equipped with same exoskeleton suits players wear. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Exo Zombies stars John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan and Jon Bernthal.
The Havoc DLC will be released on January 27th on Xbox LIVE, with other platforms to follow. Havoc can be purchased separately or as part of the “Advanced Warfare” season pass. I’m so excited that I will get to kill some zombies in this game in the near future!
Watch Old People Amusingly Play GRAND THEFT AUTO V
The Fine Brothers have released a very funny and interesting new "React" episode that focuses on older people playing Grand Theft Auto V. This is the generation of people who are known for criticizing games like this because of the subject matter, but just watch as they get sucked into the game and end up having a blast playing it.
In what turned out to be one of the most interesting videos we have ever produced as part of the REACT franchise, we drop senior citizens into the open world of Grand Theft Auto V for a half hour, with no information beyond basic controls and just sat back and watched. We find this episode to stand out as not just entertaining, but quite insightful and thought provoking.
A game like GTA gets a lot of negative press about violence and usually older people in society who criticize, never get a chance to play or experience it themselves. As you'll see when they do get to play, there is concern over the subject matter yes, but a lot of that sheds away as most themselves can not even believe the rush and fun they started to have in the game as they realized it was open world and they can "do anything!" - From riding rollercoasters, to playing tennis to stealing cars and killing people, most of our panel of Seniors had so much fun in a way I don't think a lot of people would expect.
I was actually surprised by their reaction to the game. When they first started playing it didn't really look like they would have fun with it, but as the video went on it just got more and more entertaining watching them play.
Nic Cage Teams with BORAT Director for Bin Laden Comedy
Before you get too excited: no, Nicolas Cage won't be playing the infamous terrorist Osama Bin Laden in this movie - although that would admittedly be pretty amazing.
THR reports that Cage will star in a satirical comedy called Army of One for Borat director Larry Charles. And though this will be based on a true story, don't expect anything serious along the lines of American Sniper or Zero Dark Thirty.
Army of One is loosely based on Chris Heath's GQ magazine article recounting the real-life misadventures of Gary Faulkner, a Colorado construction worker who took it upon himself to find Bin Laden, including trying to sneak into Pakistan and Afghanistan numerous times.
Sounds a little like the Morgan Spurlock documentary Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, but hopefully Cage's...let's call it "unique" brand of acting will give this film a life of its own. Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph, the guys who wrote the Kevin Costner film Draft Day, wrote this "semi-scripted project," and with Charles' history of working with improv legend Sacha Baron Cohen, I'm hoping he'll give Cage similar opportunities to find the story on the set. And even for those of you who are already assuming this movie is going to be terrible, at least it should be interesting to see what they come up with. Come on: Nic Cage riffing on tracking down Bin Laden all by himself? Sounds pretty ridiculous to me...which, I'm guessing, is exactly why he signed on for it.
The Weinsteins will release the film in the U.S. through their TWC-Dimension banner, although no release date is in place yet. We'll keep you posted.
3 Fun Facts For ALIEN and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - Video
Movie Blast has created a fun facts video series for movies, and each one they do points out three things that you might not know about the film in question. The two that I've included here are for Ridley Scott's Alien and Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark. I've been doing a Fun Facts column of my own because I love movie trivia, but these are presented in a brief animated format. There's some interesting stuff included in these that I wasn't aware of.
Discover History's Darkest Secret in New Story Trailer for THE ORDER: 1886
I don't have a PS4, so I'm bummed that I won't have the chance to play The Order: 1886 when it debuts exclusively for that platform on February 20th. The gameplay looks like fun, and in this new story trailer, we get a sense of the insane enemies the characters have to face in this period adventure. To me, this seems like a mixture of Assassin's Creed and Uncharted, and if it pulls the best elements from each of those franchises, The Order could be a hell of a game.
The Order: 1886 introduces players to a unique vision of Victorian-Era London where Man uses advanced technology to battle a powerful and ancient foe. As Galahad, a member of an elite order of Knights, join a centuries-old war that will determine the course of history forever.
Action Movie Kid Returns For More VFX-Heavy Adventures
DreamWorks animator Daniel Hashimoto and his son James (better known as "Action Movie Kid") are back in a new series of clips. If you haven't seen any of these videos before, we've highlighted them a couple of times on the site here and here. The basic idea is that Hashimoto puts videos of him and his son in After Effects and adds explosions, robots, lasers, and all kinds of other cool stuff to ordinary situations. James is a lucky little dude - most of us have scrapbooks and old home videos to remind us of our youth, but he'll have these awesome videos to look back on when he gets older. Check out his latest series of adventures below.
BATMAN VS. ROBIN Cover Art and More Details Revealed
Following the trailer for Batman Vs. Robin, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment have released the cover art for the animated film along with some additional details. The reaction from fans regarding this movie have been mixed, especially since a lot of people didn't seem very happy with the last movie, Son of Batman. I think it will offer some fun entertainment regardless.
The movie is being directed by Jay Oliva (Batman: Assault on Arkham) from a script written by J.M. DeMatteis. Here's a new synopsis for the film that offers some additional story details:
The shadows of Gotham City are no place for a child but Damian Wayne is no ordinary child. Now bearing the mantle of Robin, he blazes a headstrong and sometimes reckless trail alongside his father, Batman. While investigating a crime scene, Robin encounters a mysterious figure, Talon, who leads him on a life-altering course through the depths of Gotham’s secret society, known as The Court of Owls. It’s a dangerous journey that will force Batman and Robin to face their most dangerous adversary, each other! The film is based on the #1 best-selling graphic novel, “Batman: The Court of Owls.”
Mary Ellen Thomas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Vice President said this in a statement:
“Batman vs. Robin has all the elements of a memorable film – powerful villains, treacherous plot twists and tensions amongst allies. Showcasing a fantastic voice cast, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is proud to release Batman vs. Robin as the next DC Universe Original Movie.”
The voice cast for the film features Jason O'Mara (Sons of Liberty) returning as Batman; Stuart Allen (Bad Teacher) as Robin; Sean Maher (Arrow) coming back as Nightwing; David McCallum (NCIS) as Alfred; Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under) as Talon; voice actor Grey Griffin as a mysterious character known only as Samantha; Al Yankovic as The Dollmaker; Robin Atkin Downes (Superman vs. The Elite) as Grandmaster; Peter Onorati as a character named Draco; and last but not least, Kevin Conroy will cameo as Thomas Wayne.
The Batman vs. Robin Blu-ray and Blu-ray Deluxe Edition contain the following special features:
- Gotham’s City Secret: The Mythic Court of Owls – The Court of Owls is the secret society that directly connects the past of Gotham to the current city. Are they silent guardians that are the noble benefactors or are they the malevolent force that manipulates a city toward their grand design?
- Talons of the Owl – If the Owls are the masterminds, their instruments of destruction are their assassins. Appropriately called The Talons, these warriors are designed to carry out the will of the Owls.
- Batman vs. Robin Audio Commentary
- A Sneak Peak at Justice League: Gods & Monsters – An advance look at the next DC Universe Original Movie with the creators and cast.
- Bonus cartoons from the DC Comics Vault
The Batman vs. Robin DVD contains the following special features:
- A Sneak Peak at Justice League: Gods & Monsters – An advance look at the next DC Universe Original Movie with the creators.
The movie will be released on April 14th and will be available on Blu-ray Deluxe Edition, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, and Digital HD. The Blu-ray Deluxe Edition will include the Blu-ray Combo Pack, along with a Batman figurine in a gift set.
Todd McFarlane-Created Infographic — "24 Year Evolution of Spawn"
To celebrate hitting issue #250, Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, created an infographic showing the costume design evolution of his character over 24 years. I have friend who has every issue of Spawn and most of the variant covers.
From McFarlane on Facebook:
THE EVOLUTION OF Spawn!!!!!
With Spawn issue #250 coming up at the end of the month.... I thought it would be COOL to put together all the different costumes Spawn has had over the years.
And if you're doing the math, that's 24 YEARS. TWENTY-FOUR!!!!!!!! It's cool to look back and see how things have changed since 1992....it's hard to believe we're already coming up on our #250th issue.
Thanks for all your support over the years!!! I'll be doing a giveaway with these, soon.
TODD
P.S.- There have been a few requests for a downloadable poster (and higher res)... You should be able to download the poster from this link: https://flic.kr/p/qKcR9q
With all the great superhero movies being made now, the 1997 Spawn movie feels like a generally underdeveloped film. We've heard McFarlane tease us for years about doing a new one. It seems to me a hard R-rated film might not have a very huge market (case in point: Dredd). A smaller market means the movie can only responsibly have a smaller budget. I highly doubt Marvel or DC will ever come out with another R-rated film - the PG-13 rating just proves to be too profitable. Let's hope McFarlane finally makes a Spawn movie fans can be proud of.
Mark Millar on Josh Trank and His FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot
A couple years ago, 20th Century Fox brought on comic book writer Mark Millar as a consultant to help them develop the Marvel Comics properties that they hold the rights to. Millar is currently out doing press rounds for Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service (which is based on his comic), and in an interview with Sky Movies, he was asked about Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot. There's been a lot of talk regarding this movie lately. We've heard that the film is a big mess, and that the studio executives aren't happy with how it turned out. Then screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg clarified some things about that, and said the first trailer will be attached to Kingsman: The Secret Service. Now Millar comes to the movie's defense, saying that it's in good hands with Trank and he thinks the director is going to deliver a great film.
"Josh Trank the guy who is directing it, is a really smart guy. He and I spent a wee bit of time together when I was first doing this job, about a year and a half ago. And, what I think Fox is doing is very clever. They'll get a great director on board. Like, a lot of people trust the character and just think this brand is going to be fine. But you can't trust the brand because the brand can be done badly, you know. But if you get a good director that is the cornerstone you build everything on. And with Bryan Singer doing the X-Men or James Mangold doing The Wolverine, Josh Trank doing Fantastic Four - it all feels in very good hands. It all comes down to the director. It's the same characters in all of these movie (sic) but the work stands or falls based on the director, and Josh is fantastic! What he is going to do is unlike anything anyone is anticipating. There is a cut kicking around but I haven't seen it yet. So, I'm expecting big things."
I haven't come across many people who are excited about this reboot. Most fans just hate the idea, and I don't think that there's anything anyone can say about this movie that is going to change the minds of the fans, who just aren't happy with the way Fox has handled this franchise. Everyone will be able to form a better opinion of this film once we see that trailer.
Sylvester Stallone Takes Selfie With Fans On The ROCKY Steps
This past weekend, a group of three college friends visited Philadelphia and decided to sprint to the top of the iconic steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, following in the footsteps of Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa character. But while millions have raced to the top of the stairs, only a select few get to see Rocky himself when they reach the top. Philly.com reports that when the three friends reached the top of the steps, they heard a voice behind them say, "You guys got up here pretty fast. You're making me look bad." It was - you guessed it - Stallone, and he posed for a photo with the guys.
Stallone was in town filming Creed, the Rocky spin-off/sequel which stars Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed's grandson. Stallone will reprise his role as Balboa and train Jordan's character.
This must have been a pretty surreal experience for those guys. What a cool story.
Microsoft Just Made It Possible For Us To Become Tony Stark
One of the things I love the most about the Iron Man films is the way Tony Stark is able to manipulate 3D holograms when he's working on inventions. I don't follow the tech world that closely (I spend almost all of my time concentrating on what's happening in the film and TV realm), but today, Microsoft unveiled something that got my attention because it will essentially enable us to use the same kind of technology that Iron Man uses in those movies.
In addition to their announcement about Windows 10, they have something new that they're debuting to the world. It's called HoloLens, and it's a see-through headset that allows you to see digital holograms that interact with your physical environment. As someone on the outside looking in, holographic technology seems to be a big deal right now (Oculus Rift, anyone?), and there's always the chance that HoloLens won't take off the way Microsoft wants it to, or that it could be shuttered after launch (I just read that Google Glass is being taken off the market...at least temporarily). But in the meantime, check out these videos below. They make this technology look pretty damn amazing, and I'm definitely intrigued to see what they do from here.
Simon Pegg Co-Writing STAR TREK 3
Simon Pegg has found a new job within the Star Trek franchise. Not only will he be reprising his role as Scotty in Star Trek 3, but now he's also co-writing it! Paramount Pictures hired him along with Doug Jung (Dark Blue, Banshee) to bust out a script.
The film was originally supposed to be written and directed by Roberto Orci, but he's now only attached to the project as a producer. Fast & Furious franchise director Justin Lin is set to direct the film.
I love that Pegg is coming on board as a writer! His involvement in the development process will only make the movie better in the end. Pegg has worked on scripts for films such as Shaun of the Dead; Hot Fuzz; The World’s End; Run, Fatboy, Run; and Paul. You think he'll give his character a bigger part in the narrative? I think Pegg will bring some fun and entertaining elements to the story.
Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, and Zoe Saldana are set to reprise their roles in the film, which is set to be released on July 8th, 2016.
Source: Deadline
STAR WARS Samurai Art - "Lord Vader and His Troops"
Concept artist Patrik Rosander created this striking Samurai-inspired Star Wars illustration called "Lord Vader and His Troops." According to the artist, he placed Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers in Japan with "semi historically accurate equipment." The scene you see here is also supposed to pay homage to Vader's reveal in Star Wars: A New Hope.