Movies

Ninja Turtles Film Franchise in Platinum Dunes’ hands

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Since last fall’s purchase of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rights by Paramount, the future of the film series has been in the air.  Now we have some idea of where it is going, just not what it’ll look like when it finally hits the big screen in a couple of years or so.  Paramount made a first look deal with the partners in Platinum Dunes, a company created to generate genre films as well as expand their scope.

The most interesting part of the deal is who makes up the partners in Platinum Dunes: Brad Fuller, Andrew Form and Michael Bay.  Yes, the same Michael Bay who is busy working on Transformers 3.  Apparently there is a meeting set in the next few weeks with writers for the project.

I can see how Michael Bay and Transformers was a good fit, but Michael Bay and TMNT?  That’s a mystery that remains to be seen.  He’s not the likely candidate to direct the film, but there isn’t a director list put together yet, at least in the public.

What would TMNT look like with Michael Bay at the helm?  What concerns me is what would become of the character of April O’Neil.

Iron Man 2 – Another Marvel Comics Movie better than the First

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

Like many of you, I saw Iron Man 2 this weekend.  It was actually the midnight screening on the local (real) IMAX at Celebration Cinema.  I had a great time with this movie, and felt it was far more fun than the original.  It also had a greater sense of pace and handled a good number of leading characters very fairly and even handed, with much dignity for them all.  Even Black Widow was handled with proper respect for the character.  Having read some Black Widow comics, I was fully prepared for the character to be a very poor representation of the original, and was pleasantly surprised.

All of the action was turned up a few notches, and there wasn’t a very poor and generic villain that nobody had ever heard of this time around.  Instead, we had two villains to worry about.  An odd business tycoon that served as the generic villain of this film, but then an actual member of the Iron Man rogues gallery: Whiplash.  About time, Favreau.  The first film felt too much like Ang Lee’s Hulk by the end, with a villain that nobody really knew about, nor cared about enough to love to hate.  Granted, he wasn’t that extreme, but you get the idea.

What did I mean, about movie being better than the first?

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Star Wars Prequel Reboot: Blog #2 – Fans of the Saga

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

For this entry, I’ve been inspired to talk about Star Wars fandom, and what that has become since the prequels.  I became a fan of Star Wars while in junior high, this was in the mid-1990s, a few years before the Special Editions would come out in theaters.  Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released in the spring of my senior year, just prior to my high school graduation.  Until that time, the only fan related Star Wars hate revolved around the Ewoks, whom I had no trouble with and still don’t.

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The Book Isn’t Always Better – Part 2: The Princess Bride

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

I haven’t written an article in this series since the fall of 2008.  But I’ve decided that it’s time to write the next entry in the series.  This time, about The Princess Bride.

This is one of my all-time favorite movies.  It is one of the few favorite films that I list off of the top of my head when asked.  Most people assume that it is based on a book, and that the book is what the grandfather reads in the film.  A little bit of research and you’ll find that those people are only half right.  It is based on a book of the same name, but the author, S. Morgenstern, doesn’t really exist.  William Goldman wrote the book, which was published in 1973.

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Bandslam – One of 2009′s Best Reviewed Films, is on DVD!

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Bandslam released last summer to very little fanfare.  In fact, the marketing of the movie was absolutely horrible.  Every trailer for it was worse than the last, and the film had been retitled a number of times.  For a while it was called Will and then Rock On and then finally Bandslam.  The title Will is the most fitting, however, as it really is about his character, and is told from his perspective.

I highly recommend that you get a copy of it.  Rent it, buy it, and spread the word to friends that you’ve discovered the best sleeper film of 2009.

You can read my review from when I saw it about nine days in advance of the release date: Bandslam Review

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Voltron Panthera Force and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles announced for Nicktoons this Fall

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

At its 2010 annual upfront presentation which featured top talent across the worlds of television, music and film, Nickelodeon today announced a slate of new programming that will be added to the network’s 2010-11 schedule.  Among the announcements are two shows that I am interested in.  Voltron Panthera Force and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are both going to premiere on the Nicktoons network, which I am not sure that I have.  No big deal, though, as the internet can deliver just about anything that you find on TV.  Especially properties as popular as these.

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Is Lego Lord of the Rings possible?

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Warner Brothers announced the purchase of a controlling share in Rocksteady Studios, who are the creators of the excellent Batman: Arkham Asylum video game.  It’s almost as if they allowed Rocksteady to use the Batman license as a trial run, in anticipation of a purchase later on.  Rocksteady certainly proved themselves, and I hope that they also give Superman a shot, once they’ve finished Arkham Asylum 2.

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My Proposal on the Dawn Treader

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Here’s the story of my proposal, told in two very distinct stories.  I hope that you enjoy it!

At long last, the story that I’ve been waiting so long to reveal to the world.  Here is a very special Narnia story, that happened last fall, as described by publicist Ernie Malik.

What is it like to fall in love in Narnia?

by Ernie Malik

A curious question you may think. We bring it up here, while cruising along on our third voyage through this wondrous world created by C.S. Lewis, because the wonder of love did happen…to six couples who worked on both the first and second film adaptations.

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A New Ghostbusters Cartoon – Coming Soon?

Monday, February 8th, 2010

I’ve been re-watching my complete collection DVD set of The Real Ghostbusters in the last few days.  It looks brilliant on my HDTV.  I’m hoping for a release of the late nineties series Extreme Ghostbusters on DVD sometime soon.  It was one cartoon that didn’t get a fair shake, potentially because of the much darker subject matter of the series.  The Real Ghostbusters rarely delved as deeply into dark topics.  When it did, the good guys weren’t the ones doing it.  Extreme Ghostbusters is fundamentally flawed in that regard, but in favor of a complete collection, I’d love to have it.  Especially because the two parter Back in the Saddle brings all of the original Ghostbusters back for an adventure.  Which leads me to the topic of this article.

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Turles Forever: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Team-Up Dream Come True

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Turtles Forever – The mere premise of it was mind-blowing.  A feature length adventure featuring a team up of the TMNT team of the 80′s-early 90′s cartoon as well as the 90′s-early 00′s cartoon versions of the heroes.  When I first heard about it, I couldn’t believe what I was reading was actually coming.  Not only that, but I was surprised by just how soon it was going to be released!  It was originally going to receive a theatrical screening, but plans for that fell through.  Instead, it premiered on TV one Saturday morning.

There is no word of a DVD release yet, but the studio is working on it.  It was created as a direct-to-DVD feature film, but since the rights to the TMNT have been sold to Nickelodeon, there are issues that need to be tied up.

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