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.
Posts Tagged ‘Star Wars’
Is Lego Lord of the Rings possible?
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010Star Wars Prequel Reboot: Blog #1 – Foundations of Stone
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
This is the first of a series that I have not planned out, about an idea that I have had for some time, for how the Prequel Trilogy should have been formatted. This is something that I know that many people have their own ideas for, and I am curious to see what others think of my own ideas, as well as hopefully foster something positive with regard to the often hated and much maligned Star Wars prequels.
I should start by saying that I really like the prequels. In fact, I love those movies. I grew up watching the original trilogy and was absolutely beside myself when the prequels were announced and watched each film as they came out, ignoring as much as I could, the general public’s reaction to the films. I should also say that I have a very high tolerance for movies of varying degrees of quality. If you continue reading my blog, you’ll see that in what I write about. Especially if you look at the contents of my DVD collection, or my flixster movies list.
Those WERE the droids I was looking for…
Thursday, March 26th, 2009A picture, with unknown origin, that says it all.
Spider-Man 4 and 5 are on, Tobey Maguire has Signed
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008This is some of the best news I’ve heard in some time. Tobey Maguire has officially signed on to reprise the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man 4 and Spider-Man 5.
You see, when Spider-Man came out in 2002, I wasn’t a fan of it. I thought that Green Goblin was too much of a Power Ranger, and including Macy Gray dated the film to a certain era (something I think some films should do their best to avoid). Not only that, but when it came out, I was anxiously awaiting the release of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
When it came down to it, I thought that some of the effects in Spider-Man were really cheesy. Peter Parker’s leap from rooftop to rooftop looked pretty bad from time to time, and next to the effects in Star Wars, was pretty lacking. Yoda looked more alive.
Spider-Man 2 came out a couple of years later, in 2004, and blew my mind. Not only was Goblin out of the picture, but we had a villain that was both charismatic, and a story that not only topped the original, but made me a fan. The fight scenes were all incredible and fun.
After that, it took the creative team an extra year of work to create Spider-Man 3. Now, here’s a movie that split the audience. Everyone seems to agree that it’s not a great film, and that tends to be a general consensus. It’s not something that I agree with. At all.
I think it’s a phenomenal film. While it falls short of the second film, it does have a lot to love. The main problems with Spider-Man 3, I think, are the following:
- John Jameson should have been the reason the symbiote came to earth. He was introduced in the second film, and it should have been used. Instead, the symbiote randomly crashed to earth.
- Gwen Stacy should have been the one in peril at the end. Instead, Mary Jane Watson was once again captured. The film would have been much more effective if Gwen was the one in trouble. Instead, it was more of a paint-by-the-numbers routine.
- Emo Peter Parker should have been better explained. The symbiote had started to control Parker, and was beginning to control him. It was also alien, so it wasn’t really aware of it’s surroundings, and started to make Parker do things that were way out of character. That’s simply because it wasn’t Parker that we were seeing. It was a symbiote-possessed Parker, exploring the world for the first time.
- Venom should have been reduced to a minor character until the very end. How cool would that have been? Rearrange the story of Spider-Man 3 a bit, remove the venom bits from most of the story, and you’ve got a great Spider-Man 3 that is as good as Spider-Man 2.
Here’s how I would have done Spider-Man 3:
- Start it out with Jameson returning from a mission to space, and J. Jonah Jameson has Parker cover the story, acquiring the symbiote at that point. Sandman (perfectly executed in the film) has center stage for the entirety of the film, as prime villain, although he’s doing this with a noble end in mind: helping his daughter. Contrasted with that is Parker with the black costume, making our hero into a vigilante. In a way, this would swap the roles of hero and villain. Sure, Brock would be a part of the story, but he’d only become Venom for the last moment. We’d have a final battle with Parker fighting Sandman. Hobgoblin (New Goblin) would come into it a little bit as well, but after the rescue of Gwen Stacy, there’d be an epilogue. Brock will have witnessed the battle, and Gwen’s rescue, and gotten jealous of Spider-Man, and found his way to the church, where the symbiote would claim him, and the film would end with Venom leaping at the camera.
This would have led right into Spider-Man 4, with Parker going up against Venom, 1 on 1. However, now that they already went down the road that they had, Spider-Man 4 and 5 are going to be vastly different from the original plan. You see, Venom was kind of crow-barred into the story of Spider-Man 3. Producer Avi Arad was listening to us, the fans. We were clamoring for Venom to appear in Spider-Man 3, so he forced the character into the third film. Director Sam Raimi did as he was asked, against better judgment. Bad move, and proof positive that fan feedback should not be listened to all the time. We sabotaged Spider-Man 3. Let’s leave them alone for the next ones. Deal?
There’s no word yet on what’s going to happen in 4 and 5, or who the villains will be. Let’s hope that Sam Raimi comes back and is able to redeem himself in the eyes of most of the fans, and makes a pair of awesome films. Although I think Spider-Man 3 could have been better, I still think it was great. Sandman made an excellent villain, and Harry Osborne’s storyline was suitably tragic.
I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us next.
Read more at: L.A. Times, Fancast
New Purpose for This Blog
Sunday, September 7th, 2008As you can probably tell, this blog hadn’t been updated in well over a year. That is about to change.
I’ve decided to start writing about entertainment.
I will inject a few personal things from time to time. Perhaps some religion, perhaps some politics, but for the most part it’ll be all video games, movies, tv, DVD and the like.
I’ve been wanting a place like this to have as an outlet for writing about my interests for some time now, and I’m looking forward to sharing that with people in the months to come. A lot of things have happened in the last year or so, and I’m hoping to write about some stories that have, perhaps, been written about to death, but simply because I am interested in those topics.
Look for new topics on Star Wars, Ghostbusters and more very shortly.
Revenge of the Sith
Thursday, May 19th, 2005Star Wars was AWESOME!
Granted, yes, there were cheesy parts.. but overall, this had such dark parts in it, it was incredible. There were also some really tragic elements that were very artfully done, and some slower moments that helped you to take a breather. Lots of information, really fast, made it hard to keep up sometimes, and the slower moments helped. I think with a few more viewings, it’ll all become much more clear. Heck, we were all able to laugh about the cheese afterward. There’s a lot to love in this film, and the music is just one element that was great.. let me just say, right now, that the acting in this Star Wars was MUCH closer to the original trilogy. At the end of this one, I felt a lack of closure, because I wanted more of this story.. and the funny thing is that I can see more of it. I can watch the original trilogy and get the rest of the story any time. I think that’s exactly as it should be, at the end of this one. I’m really curious to see how this will effect how I view Darth Vader though. I really feel that while dramatically he was instructed to be a whiny teenager in Episode II, that really did hurt the character arc a bit, as in this one he’s getting confused, and we’re just watching everyone give up on him, except for one character, and it’s the one character that we know is the one we least want him following, and we even want him to turn back, we want someone to reach out to this boy, but his fate is inevitable.
Star Wars
Tuesday, April 5th, 2005Time for a general entry. Not to say that this will be a boring entry by any means. I was having a conversation with my friend Deb, when I realized something simple, yet profound.
I know what it is about Star Wars that made like it more, and makes me love it. My mom once told me that my Grandpa loved Star Wars, and loved talking about the spiritual elements of the films, and how much fun it would have been, talking to him about the new ones. She also said that he would have LOVED talking to me about the Lord of the Rings.
My Grandpa was a convert to the Catholic Church, a Father of nine, and the Doctor for a small town. He passed on when I was 12.
Somehow, I feel a connection to him, through Star Wars. I realize now, that is why I defend the prequels, and part of why I enjoy them. I look beyond the surface, of what people would consider a “bad” movie, to the things that I think my Grandpa and I would have talked about. We would have had some mighty good discussions about both of the new films.
Now with the third film coming out, people are scared that they’ll be let down, again. I’ve got no fears about this film. While Episode I is a flawed film, it’s not without its’ moments. The same goes for Episode II. I’ve felt they could have covered the material of Episodes I and II in film one, the clone wars in film two, and the third film to be, well, pretty much what it is: The purging of the Jedi, the rise of the Empire, and the birth of Darth Vader.
I’ve got here, two review samples. The first, is of the Novelization of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, by a man named LargeFarva, on FilmRot.com:
At least, in print, it does appear that the movie will tie together all of the plot threads successfully. The major issues most fans have speculated and dared Lucas to explain are included in the novelization, from Qui-Gon Jinn’s non-disappearance, to Kenobi’s claims that Yoda was his master. There is even strong evidence that a few characters in the original trilogy knew quite more than they let on, and with plenty good reason. Also, it is true that the first character to speak in the original trilogy has the last line of the prequels. Finally, after reading the epilogue, I’m finding it hard to continue laughing at Lucas’ claims that Sith is “a real tear-jerker”.
I’ve read the other novelizations and this is by FAR the best, the one we’ve been waiting for since the announcement of the prequels.
I’m predicting that most fans of the [Original Trilogy] will consider there to be four films-the [Original Trilogy] and Ep. 3 is the single prequel to them.
This is very promising news. Another review, is of the Screenplay, now available as an ebook, by Bill Hunt, Editor of TheDigitalBits.com:
I have to tell you that I was awfully uneasy as I began reading the script. The first third of Revenge of the Sith feels very much like parts of The Phantom Menace… and I don’t mean the good parts. There’s a lot of Anakin and Obi Wan bantering back and fourth as they fight scores of battle droids, and the dialogue is pretty bad. BUT don’t despair, because once you get past this, the film gets a lot better. About a third of the way in, the Sith lord’s nefarious plot really starts unfolding… and it’s all dark and intense action from there on out. The script finishes well, setting up A New Hope beautifully. There are a couple of great surprises, and the plot threads all tie up nicely. You’re going to be left with a strong sense of “Wow… so THAT’S how it all happened.” I’ve heard from people who have seen most of the film that the action and visuals are astonishing – the best yet from Lucas. Add to that John William’s final score, which you KNOW is going to kick ass, and I think the vast majority of Star Wars fans will enjoy this film. If Lucas pulls it off, it’ll easily be the best of the three prequels. Whatever you think of them so far, there’s nothing like a strong finish. When I get the chance to SEE this film, you can be sure that I’ll post a review.
Both of those reviews sum up pretty much all I know about the movie, save for the footage I’ve seen in the trailers, commercials, and some of the music I’ve heard on the official site, StarWars.com. And from what I know, we’re in for a real treat.
Go into this movie expecting it to be just what it was meant to be. Entertainment and the origin of Darth Vader. This is how it happened folks.
I’m not looking for comments on this post to talk about whether or not you’ve seen Star Wars, or if you think the prequels suck, or that this one will suck. Any comments like that will be deleted, no questions asked.
I want to give this last Star Wars film a shot at being a great film, and to expect anything less from it, would be contrary to what it very well could be. The third film of any trilogy should justify the first two. However, this film isn’t meant to end the story, it’s to set the stage for the beginning of the original trilogy, and to build the arc that puts Darth Vader right where he’s always been: the main character and centerpiece of all six Star Wars films. The Fall and Redemption of Anakin Skywalker. Redemption is the theme, folks, but redemption from what?
“Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate, show no mercy.”
We talk about forgiveness a lot, and it is one of the hardest things to ask for, and the hardest things to do for others. This story is about one man who fell, and for years walked a dark path, and finds forgiveness in people that weren’t even there when he fell. That is a testament of how we should live our lives for others. Forgiving everyone, everything, NOW! Not WASTING TIME holding onto hatred or anger. There’s just no point. Save the anger for true evils.
I’ve become more powerful than any Jedi…
Sunday, September 5th, 2004…even you.
Some of the best DVDs of 2004
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2004A Mighty Wind is a fine and funny movie. It’s really impressive that the whole thing is improved.
The Shawshank Redemption should be available on DVD this year, but hasn’t been announced yet, as far as I know. Sure, I own it on DVD already, but I’m talking about the 10 year anniversary edition, featuring a ton of special features and an audio commentary with the Writer/Director Frank Darabont. As this is one of my favorite movies, I’ll be purchasing this edition as soon as it’s available.
As far as DVDs go, this is a great year for DVD:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – The theatrical cut, clocking in at 3 hours and 17 minutes, was the best movie released in 2003. Period. This was an incredible adventure with an ending that destroys the endings of all movies that I’ve seen previous to this.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Special Extended DVD Edition – At 4 hours 10 minutes, this should make Return of the King the best in the trilogy, as well as give it more of an emotional oomph.
The Shawshank Redemption – Special Edition – One of the best movies ever made. Get it when it comes out.
The Star Wars Trilogy – Finally.
The Matrix Revolutions - The most misunderstood movie of 2003. Brilliant.
Big Fish – The most understated film of 2003, one of my favorites.
The Iron Giant – Special Edition – The best animated film that nobody knows about. It’s brilliant. It was undermarketted, severely, but everyone that watches it, loves it.
The Passion of the Christ – The best film of 2004, worth owning to watch once or twice a year and for retreats.
So there you have it. My list of the best DVDs for 2004, as of this moment.
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