HBO has released the first trailer for the award winning Drama Boardwalk Empire's second season. The trailer is brief but intense and action packed much like the first season was. I really hope they can keep up the pace and intensity of the series as we progress through real and fictional history in the gangster packed prohibition era. The characters had all become fully formed by the end of the first season, but I think the second season promises to be much bigger. Al Capone and Lucky Luciano in Chicago and New York are coming into their own as Jimmy of Atlantic city is stepping out from behind Nucky Thompson's shadow. The season premieres this fall and I can't wait.
In June of 2009 Conan O' Brien became the new host of the longest running franchise in history, The Tonight Show. Seven months later he departed from the show. His reason for leaving was simple; Jay Leno's new post-retirement show was being bumped into his time slot and The Tonight Showfor the first time ever would air at 12:05AM the following day. Conan refused to be the first host of the tonight show to host it the day after. Subsequently Conan left with a large settlement and Leno returned his huge ass chin to The Tonight Show.
As part of the agreement made with NBC in his settlement, Conan was prohibited from appearing on tv and radio in any capacity for the following six months. The decision to do a nation wide tour was first announce on his twitter account in March of 2010, the tour was to be called "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour". Following the exploits and the behind the scenes of the tour was documentary filmmaker Rodman Flender. The documentary Conan O' Brien Can't Stop shows a side of Conan the publics never seen. Behind all the funny impressions and silly jokes on tv there's a real person who was burned badly by his own peers, whom he respected and worked with for over 15 years.
Following Conan on his tour and giveing perspective to who he really is was actually a lot funnier than I'd expected. He can be an asshole just like the rest of us, but unlike most people he really is that one guy that'll do anything for anyone. Getting the uncensored Conan was a refreshing take on his persona. Jokes involving everything from his backup singers to the ridiculous groupie fans he encounters were crude and unexpected, but so damn funny it made being an asshole look like a good time.
The film follows Conan on his journey back to center stage. In between the segments involving the tour was Conans home life and the relationship with his friends and writers. By the end of the tour he's physically and mentally exhausted, but it's clear he's come full circle. Only weeks after ending his tour he began work on his new show, Conan for TBS.
For long time fans of CoCo this film is a must see. Watching Conan in his truest raw form uncensored by television is the funniest I've ever seen him. Even casual fans and people only mildly familiar with him should be able to enjoy the ride just as much if not more. Unlike most documentaries, it never slows down or gets boring, the pace is fast moving but covers everything it set out to do. Most importantly giving the fans what they want, Conan doing what he does best, entertaining.
Thisfilmmarks the first time the character's ever graced the big screen before, brought to life here by Ryan Reynolds. The film as I'm sure you're aware has been plagued with delays, shitty rumours, and a down right awful marketing campaign from the start. Luckily for Warner Bros and DC they seem to have actually delivered the end result they were aiming for. I can't say I was ever really a fan of the character before, aside from the direct to video animated releases, and I've never actually read a Green Lantern comic; so my opinion on the film is as unbiased and objectively viewed as it gets.
Ryan Reynolds casting as Hal Jordan the arrogant and cocky Air Force test pilot was as spot on as Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark. Similar to Reynolds previous roles he brings his sarcastic wit and charm, only this time he's also given a few brief moments to showcase his acting ability, he doesn't disappoint. Blake Lively as Carol Farris, Hal's love interest, felt like the most indispensable role of the film. They could have done with out the character or Lively and not had to change any serious element of the plot. Peter Sarsgaard's portrayal of Dr. Hector Hammond the main villain was both menacing and sadistic. Even Mark Strong who's screen time didn't seem nearly long enough was fantastic as the leader of the Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro.
The film starts off right away by assuming the audience isn't at all aware of the Green Lantern mythology and in turn gives a breif narrated back story to get the ball rolling. For those unfamiliar like I for the most part was as well; The Green Lanterns rings were created by an ancient mortal alien race known as the guardians. The rings were sent out to seek a Lantern in each corner of the universe to protect their individual sector or galaxy. They were forged by the power of will, and it's the will power of each lantern that grants them their abilities. Alternatively The guardians also attempted to harness the power of fear, there efforts turned unsuccesful when they realized the power could only be used for evil doing, thus giving us our main antagonist.
The opening sequence has the space ship of Abin Sur, a purple humanoid alien Lantern', being attacked. The trailer really did no justice to this action sequence at all. Sur really is one bad motherfucker, I'm sure he even has that stitched onto his wallet. We also get our first look at the power possessed by the rings as Sur fights off the invading force, only to be cornered into an escape pod. After crash landing on earth he allows the ring to seek out and find his predecessor, Hal Jordan, the first and at this point only human Lantern. Unlike the promotional images released early on the suit actually looks amazing on screen.
Without giving too much of the film away or spoiling any of the surprises, Green Lantern serves very much as a launching pad for the character; this is definitely an origin story, but much like Batman Begins it works quite well. The special effects and cinematography were well beyond what I'd expected going in, although aside from a few key scenes the 3D was used entirely as a gimmick. In the action sequences it was kinda fun to watch, getting the extra depth and scope of 3D, but for the dialogue scenes and everything in between it was distracting as hell. Regardless of what you may have also heard or even assumed the plot and the tone aren't at all as campy or cheesy as you may of thought. Martin Campbell did a great job at taking the source material a lot more serious than I think anyone expected.
I would also suggest staying until after the intial credits end for a special surprise.
Terrance Malick’s The Tree of Life is one of the most intellectual and visually appealing films to be released in the last decade. The film spans from the dawn of creation and the dinosaur ages to 1950s Texas. The core element of the plot is the comparison between the relationship a father has with his son and the relationship between God and Mankind.
The film opens with a biblical passage from Job 35:4
I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.
Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.
If thou sinnest, what does thou against him? Or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?
If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?
Even opening with a passage from the bible it didn’t really solidify the films belief in Christianity. The inclusion of evolution and dinosaurs alone contradicted the religious elements but lent them self so well at the same time. The plot did jump around a lot, but it’s really wasn’t all that hard to follow.
Brad Pitt is amazing in his role as a 1950s family man struggling to reach his true feelings for his son. However Sean Penn on the other seemed damn near useless as the grown version of Pitt`s son. The films spends half its time in flashbacks during Penn’s characters childhood, exploring his relationship with his father which is intended to parallel the relationship between God and mankind. Although it may seem like a large pill to swallow, the general concept gets itself across fairly easily
It’s not until part way through that things become slightly convoluted and oddly out of place when nearly 40 minutes is spent exploring the beginning of time in the universe and life on earth. The pacing and continuity in the plot at this point are all over the place, but the cinematography and score are so brilliantly put together you could care less if the plot works as one cohesive whole from beginning to end.
Although it may not be the next big superhero blockbuster or the mind bending sci-fi thriller of the summer, the film doesn’t try to be. Malick doesn’t appear to be aiming the film towards the audience that wants to turn their brain off in order to enjoy giant fighting robots and explosions. He would rather give you his magnificent looking take on evolution, religion and life here on earth from the dawn of creation and it’s comparison to a simple family in 1950s Texas. More or less it felt as though the film did come full circle, but for most people it’ll be harder to comprehend then if it were spelled out for them like all too many films tend to do.
If you're avoiding all and/or any spoilers that might take away from the enjoyment of seeing the film for the first time completely fresh, then read no further, stop here!
An open casting call for extras and small parts is currently being held in Pittsburgh. All the usually expected roles are being filled. Smith & Webster-Davis Casting has revealed that they're seeking prisoners/thugs, guards, police officers, business men & women and sports fans, all of which sounds about right. Except for that last one, sports fans. Back in April it was rumoured by The Pittsburgh Examiner that one of the main reasons behind Batman filming in Pittsburgh this time around as opposed to Chicago the previous home of Gotham, was due to the scheduled demolition of a sports arena.
The Civic Arena is being scheduled for demolition shortly to make way for new construction. it was rumoured the destruction of the Civic Arena would form part of a key sequence in The Dark Knight Rises. What made this sound even more plausible was the fact that a candy factory demolition was used to stand in for a Joker-exploded hospital in The Dark Knight.
Not long after the news broke the rumour was debunked by Dawn Keezer, head of the Pittsburgh film office. She told CBS that "It’s a totally a bogus story... There’s been no conversation about ‘Batman’ having anything to do with the Civic Arena... so far it’s not happening. There’s been no conversation, and quite frankly I doubt if it will." But there`s clearly no way someone involved in a major Hollywood production would ever lie about a possible spoiler being revealed right?
I have to admit after having the rumour debunked so quickly after and then hearing nothing else about it I had actually figured it probably wasn't true. But now with the new casting call asking for sports fans, I can't help but to speculate how well that would fit the destruction of an entire arena. Although given Nolan's level of secrecy having been raised even higher for his last trip to Gotham, I seriously doubt we'll get any kind of confirmation on whether or not it's true until after having seen the film.
With the theatrical release of the live action Green Lantern just over a week away Warner Bros is holding fans off with their latest animated release Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.
Unlike it's live action counter part and the previously released animated film Green Lantern: First Flight, Emerald Knights doesn't exactly star the first human lantern Hal Jordan, he does however serve as narrator through out. Similar to Batman: Gotham Knight the film consists of several short stories about the Green Lantern Corps told by Jordan and his mentor Sinestro. Also like Gotham Knight each individual tale is directed and written by different groups, thankfully though the continuity in the animation stays consistent throughout.
The plot kicks off with Hal Jordan taking new Lantern recruit Arisia under his wing as Oa is about to come under attack by a scorned former lantern. While preparing for the battle Hal shares stories of his fellow Lanterns and how they came to join the ranks of the Green Lantern Corps.
In the first story we learn how the guardians of Oa came to the decision to create the Green Lantern rings and how they decided who would should be bestowed with the honor of wearing them. There were originally four Lanterns chosen, and it wasn't until after their first victorious battle that they or the guardians realized the true potential for the rings. They formed the Green Lantern corps and trained future recruits in order to defend there own sectors using the will powered ring constructs they imagined while in a conflict.
Each story there after serves purpose in introducing the core members of the corps and solidifying their position. The most interesting being Laira's origins. She was forced to face off against her own family which ruled the home planet she'd come from. They'd become a hostile force in her sector and she was forced to overcome unimaginable odds in order to keep the peace. The next best would be Sinestro giving the new recruit the run down on Abin Sur the lantern who's ring chose Hal Jordan after his demise. In Sinestro's story we get a quick glimpse at the evil Yellow Lantern Sinestro and his corps. What worked well was the continuity between Emerald Knights and First Flight, and also setting the animated films up for another sequel.
What worked best were the entertaining segments and the continuity in animation. The only down fall was the animation didn't seem as crisp as some of the previous releases. The plot wasn't the most intricate or even the best of the animated films, but Emerald Knights is still definitely worth checking out. I wouldn't consider myself an avid fan of the character or mythos and I thought it was a lot of fun.
The special features on the blu ray were actually some of the coolest I've seen yet. There's a sneak peak at the making of Batman Year One in there as well,which looks pretty damn awesome itself.
In an all new TMT weekly column I'll be compiling hilarious and entertaining top 10 lists. In the very first edition I give you the Top 10 Losing Their Shit Performances. It was tough trying to compile the top ten with a separate actor for each slot, seeing as Nic Cage could have easily filled the entire 10 with any number of his bat shit crazy performances. Surprisingly though I was actually able to find nine other shit losing performance that toppped the all time nut job.
Top 10 Losing Their Shit Performances
10. Nicolas cage in The Wicker Man. In almost all of his films Cage at one point or another completely loses his shit and goes completely crazy. With Wicker Man, you could almost argue that happened when he signed on to star. The all out losing his shit Nic Cage that we all know and love didn’t let his true colors fly until about the final act in the film, unless you count punching and dropkicking women or stealing bikes at gun point. It’s not until he’s confronted by a group of women who attack him with bees, yes little black and yellow bees, that he completely loses his shit.
9. Jack Nicholson in The Shining. It’sarguably one of the best performances of his career, but also a performance where he no doubt completely lost his shit. The greatest part of the film for me and the reason he made our list, is the scene where jack recited the little pigs and the big bad wolf while axing a bathroom door to shit, in an attempt to kill his terrified wife. I know it shouldn`t be funny, but try watching the clip and not laughing.
8. Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. It’s not that Hopkins performance was outrageous or over the top like some of the other performances that made the cut, but he no doubt still lost his shit. What was crazy and even chillingly scary about his performance though, was that he was able to completely lose his shit without ever raising his voice or getting too excited. His best line in the film was when he tells Jodie Foster that he ate someone’s liver with some fava beans and Chianti.
7. Robert De Niro in Cape Fear. It was either this or Taxi Driver,but ultimately I think Bobby went a little crazier and a little more over the top in Cape Fear. You really can’t help but laugh with that lovable lunatic in the movie theatre scene either. He’s obnoxious and ridiculous, but clearly out of his damn mind as well.
6. Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket. After being nicknamed Private Pile and asked ridiculous rhetorical questions by his Drill Sergeant, it’s really no surprise at all that he lost his shit; “do you suck dicks Private…Bullshit, you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose!”
Note:The fuckers on youtube weren't able to provide a video that could be embedded so go Here.
5. Christopher Walken inKing of New York. Shooting a man I don’t even know how many times and then saying you should thank me, solidifies Walkens position on the list. Similar to Nic Cage, Walken tends to lose his shit in just about everything he’s in, he’s only been doing it a lot longer.
Note:Once again those cunt scabs on youtube wouldn't provide a video so go Here.
4. Christian Bale in American Psycho. This very well could be the be all end all of losing their shit performances. No one has ever played crazy quite like Bale did in American Psycho. He goes from brutally murdering someone in his apartment, to confessing to his friends only to find out he imagined the entire event.
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall.I’m not even sure I need to reference any specific scene he went ape shit in, but if I had to name one, it would be him in the chair fighting to get out. That was classic and hilarious Schwarzenegger losing his shit.
2. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator. Although his performance was based on a bat shit crazy person, he did such an amazing job there was no way we couldn’t have him on the list. He goes from reasonable and sane to completely nuts and losing his shit for half the movie.
1. Michael Douglas in Falling Down.If shooting up a McDonalds at 10:31ambecause they’re no longer serving breakfast wasn’t enough, just watch the rest of the film. Douglas loses his shit through the entire duration of the movie. Not only is this an awesome and gripping movie, it’s also kind of fun and hilarious to watch someone go as bat shit crazy as he does.
We’re now only 9 days away from the release of the first live action Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. At this point you’d expect anticipation amongst fans and average movie goers to be palpable. Unfortunately for Warner Brothers though, their lack of marketing for the film until the too little too late point might have left them in a tight spot for the potential box office take. That’s not to say that the film’s doomed and it’ll end up like last year’s DC comic release Jonah hex, which made virtually nothing at the box office and had an even harder time on home video. It’s more likely however that the poor marketing strategy, which didn’t actually take full effect until recently, will impact what could have been a huge opening weekend. I’m sure it’ll go on to make decent money like most super hero movies are doing right now. But the question is; with all the extra money being pumped into the special effects and last minute marketing will the returns be enough to launch a franchise and green light a sequel?
Let’s start from the very beginning when in 2007 Greg Berlanti signed on to direct a Green Lantern film and co-write it with comic book scribes Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim. By late 2008 they had gone through 3 drafts and Warner Bros was preparing to head into pre-production. Not long after though Berlanti was forced to vacate the director’s chair. In early 2009 Martin Campbell came on board with a release date set for Christmas 2010, which was later moved to June 17th 2011. At this point everything was in place, the wheels were rolling and it seemed as though Green Lantern was a well-oiled machine. The next big break after bringing Campbell on board was the casting of the charming and witty Ryan Reynolds, the decision was considered pitch perfect amongst most fans. Reynolds beat out the likes of current rising stars Chris Pine and Bradley Cooper, the latter of which was also said to be considered for The Flash which was also written by the same team. Also gunning for the role of Hal Jordan was TV star Brian Austin Green, who actually went as far as to campaign for the role. He was never actually seriously considered being that he’s a giant turd.
In addition to Reynolds came a slew of other surprisingly high profile casting announcements, all of which only drew more hype to the anticipated franchise. It wasn’t until April of last year that things started to sound less than promising. This is when we first learned that the Green Lantern suit wouldn’t at all be an actual physical suit, but only a CGI suit added in post-production. Right away there was both negative and positive reaction coming from the fans, but more than anything it was curiosity. Then in July came our first look at the CGI suit on Reynolds, unlike the announcement of the suit being CGI the actual reveal saw a lot more negative than positive reaction. Trying to keep the anticipation high WB scrambled to put a positive spin on the news saying that the suit wasn’t finished and that it would look much different as a finished product. With damn near everyone outside of the diehard fans left giving the slightest glimmer of shit for the film a trailer was finally released in November. Once again it met very mixed reactions. More so than anything the feedback was mostly negative.
After the disappointing reactions to both the CGI suit and the first trailer it seemed as though Green Lanterns marketing had gone into hiding for fear of being beaten down by fan boy ridicule once again. Finally in May another trailer was released with much more finished visual effects work having been completed. The new trailer unlike the previous promo material was receiving surprisingly positive feedback. Warner Bros even went as far as to explain the lack there of in marketing for the film being due to the unfinished visual effects. Between then and now they’ve since released another trailer along with several clips doing the film much more justice. The only problem being most of the material was released in the last few weeks, not allowing a lot of time for the average movie goer to get excited or care as much as they might have had there been more marketing earlier on. In addition to the new heavy onslaught of clips and trailers WB had to commission a new team of special effects wizards from Sony to help finish the post production in time for the June 17th release. They spent a reported $9 million above the budget in hopes of bringing the look of the film up to snuff.
In consideration for the character as its own franchise going forward I think as long as the box office isn’t too far below expectations, assuming it slightly underperforms, it should still see a green light based off home video sales alone. A prime example of this is Batman Begins. After the enormous amount of money sank into rebooting the Batman franchise the box office pull even though it wasn’t a complete failure, wasn’t enough on its own to grant a sequel. Warner Bros had no real plans of going forward with the sequel. It wasn’t actually until after they had made a considerable profit from the DVD release, that in turn solidified their position on The Dark Knight and now next years The Dark Knight Rises. I can only hope that Green Lantern is able to achieve similar success. They’re obviously already feeling confident in the finished product as they’ve commissioned Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim to write the treatment and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg to adapt the proposed sequel should it come to fruition. Another thing that remains a possibility at this point is that we’ll see Green Lantern return to the big screen in the tentatively planned live action Justice League film that’s been in development hell for some time now. After all it does seem like it’s about damn time for DC to finally be able to rival Marvels big screen presence with their heroes.
The first trailer for Shark Night 3D has made it's way online, and I'm really not sure they intended for it to be as hilarious as it is, but for me I couldn't stop laughing. I know the same guy that directed the genre classic Snakes on a Plane made this masterpiece so naturally my expectations were set extremely high for the first trailer. Unfortunately lines like "but this is a lake?!...it's salt water" just couldn't allow me to take the movie as serious as I'm sure the studio hoped. A lot of complaints seem to be geared towards the racism of the CGI sharks and not the shitty CGI itself. I've heard things like these sharks must be great white power sharks and that's why the black guy died first. I think if given the chance this could be the equivalent to a successful Jaws reboot, I mean given what we've seen so far it already looks like a strong Oscar contender for next year!
If you're actually interested here's the official synopsis:
A sexy summer weekend turns into a blood-soaked nightmare for a group of college students trapped on an island surrounded by voracious underwater predators in Shark Night 3D, a terrifying thrill ride from director David Ellis (The Final Destination, Snakes On a Plane), featuring a red-hot young cast including Sara Paxton (Superhero Movie, Last House on the Left), Dustin Milligan (“90210,” Slither), Chris Carmack (“The O.C.”), Joel David Moore (Avatar), Chris Zylka (The Amazing Spider Man) and Katharine McPhee (The House Bunny). Arriving by boat at her family’s Louisiana lake island cabin, Sara (Sara Paxton) and her friends quickly strip down to their swimsuits for a weekend of fun in the sun. But when star football player Malik (Sinqua Walls) stumbles from the salt-water lake with his arm torn off, the party mood quickly evaporates. Assuming the injury was caused by a freak wake-boarding accident, the group realizes they have to get Malik to a hospital on the other side of the lake, and fast. But as they set out in a tiny speedboat, the college friends discover the lake has been stocked with hundreds of massive, flesh-eating sharks! As they face one grisly death after another, Sara and the others struggle desperately to fend off the sharks, get help and stay alive long enough to reach the safety of dry land.
When Conan O'Brien left The Tonight Show at NBC after being fucked over by Jay"Huge chin"Leno he went on a nationwide tour called the Legally Prohibited from Being on Television Tour. Luckily for those if us who weren't able to catch the show live,filmmaker Rodman Flender made a documentary following the tour and the behind the scenes hilarity between Conan and his staff.
Here's the offical Synopsis and trailer:
After a much-publicized departure from hosting NBC’s Tonight Show – and the severing of a 22-year relationship with the network – O’Brien hit the road with a 32-city music-and-comedy show to exercise his performing chops and exorcise a few demons. The “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour” was O’Brien’s answer to a contractual stipulation that banned his appearance on television, radio and the Internet for six months following his last show. Filmmaker Rodman Flender’s resulting documentary, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, is an intimate portrait of an artist trained in improvisation, captured at the most improvisational time of his career. It offers a window into the private writers room and rehearsal halls as O’Brien’s “half-assed show” (his words) is almost instantly assembled and mounted to an adoring fan base. At times angry, mostly hilarious, O’Brien works out his feelings about the very-public separation with comedy and rockabilly music, engaging in bits with on-stage guests such as Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Jim Carrey, duetting with Jack White and sweating out manic Elvis Presley covers with his band and back-up singers. We see a comic who does not stop — performing, singing, pushing his staff and himself. Did Conan O’Brien hit the road to give something back to his loyal fans, or did he travel across the continent, stopping at cities large (New York, Las Vegas) and remote (Enoch, Alberta) to fill a void within himself?
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Mon, June 27, 2011 
