Iron Man 2 came out only days ago, and someone has already put together all the easter eggs in the movie. Do not click the link if you don’t want to be spoiled on Marvel’s movie projects.
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Vin Diesel’s “Riddick” Continues
Vin Diesel is bringing the Chronicles of Riddick back on the big screen with the help of writer/director David Twohy.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick (Diesel) fights f
or survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.In the director’s cut the ending of the Chronicles of Riddick, he killed the antagonist and became the new leader of the Necromonger army due to their, “You keep what you kill,” adage. In the theatrical cut after defeating the antagonist, the Necromonger fleet leaves the planet Helium Prime, sparing it.
So by ‘betrayed by his own kind’, does the synopsis imply the Furyan survivors, or the Necromonger army that he now commands in the director’s cut?
I always found the Riddick films ridiculous, and this looks to be the same — but nevertheless, they’re highly entertaining. I entirely look forward to the next installment.
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“Predators” Produced by Robert Rodriguez
Usually I’m not a fan of remakes or reboots, but 20th Century Fox’s Predators (produced by Robert Rodriguez) is showing incredible promise. Instead of focusing on the predators themselves like in AVP, Rodriguez insisted on building strong characters to be the focal point of the film. He wanted a cast that would be comparable to the memorable characters of the original movie.
Playing a combination of mercenaries and convicts are; Adrien Brody, Danny Trejo, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, and Walter Goggins — who are transported to another planet to be hunted by the predators. On the planet they meet a scavenger played by Laurence Fishburne, completing the main cast.
This alone is a great step towards rejuvenating the Predator franchise. The problem with the AVP movies was that the cast weren’t built up; they weren’t likable; they just weren’t memorable. The audience only wanted to see the aliens and predators kill off the cast in a brutal fashion. There was no story with substance or a character arc to captivate the audience; to get them emotionally invested in the film.
Howard Berger, who worked with Stan Winston on the original Predator states that they’re going back to the original designs for the new movie; they want to remain faithful to it. New alien designs have also been done to compliment Winston’s on the world where the group are dropped off on. There’s going to be a more focus on building suits rather than a reliance on CG, which I’m glad to hear.
The film is due for release on July 9, 2010.
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Police Engage Robbery Scene
A robbery scene for a low-budget film was being shot in a Long Island convenience store when police intervened with their guns drawn. Earlier, a witness outside the store saw the actors with guns and called the police who were quick to react.Luckily there were no casualties, but quite a few mistakes could have made things a lot worse. A policeman with his gun drawn ordered the actor to drop the gun several times; the actor’s reaction was to hold his hands up with the gun while insisting it’s just a movie, forcing the officer to disarm the man. The cop showed a lot of restraint from harming the actor, despite what the pseudo-robber was saying.
I have nothing against guerrilla filmmaking; I’ve done it myself; it does have its advantages, but under the right circumstances. Filming a scene guerrilla-style which involves guns is an entirely stupid idea; the aforementioned incident being an excellent example of why.
What the filmmakers should have done is get the permit to film in the store; inform the police station about the scene taking place, and that weapons will be involved. Usually a policeman will be on location to assure that there isn’t any misconceptions for any bystanders. It keeps everyone safe.
Hopefully other low-budget, independent productions pay attention to this incident and learn from it. If you’re going to shoot scenes involving weapons, approach it properly so you won’t endanger any lives.
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Matthew Vaughn for X-Men: First Class
According to Deadline, Matthew Vaughn and 20th Century Fox are negotiating a deal for Vaughn to direct X-Men: First Class, a prequel to the X-Men films. The former director, Bryan Singer is set to be one of the producers.It’ll be interesting how this turns out, since this film is essentially a reboot of the franchise. The prior films did help pave the way for movie adaptions of comic books, but they took a few liberties with the characters that left comic fans unhappy — most notably downplaying Cyclops’ leadership to bump up Wolverine in the films. This could be Fox’s opportunity to fix their mistakes, and get characterizations correct. It’d be a smart move since Marvel’s own movie adaptions are making a huge impact on the market.
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Third Batman Movie
Recently Warner Bros. set the official date for the third Batman movie to be July 20, 2012. It’s the only concrete detail on the movie while it’s under the presumption that Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan will be involved in the film.
The Riddler is a fan favorite for the next villain, thoug
h I’m hoping for the Riddler to be an intellectual rival to Batman as a detective. The third movie can easily suffer the fate of most trilogies if it follows the same formula of “bigger is better” — having the Riddler as a rival on top of an actual villain would help keep the film grounded, and further display the detective aspect of Batman that was only touched upon in the prior movies.As for actual villains: I’d like to see Bane and Black Mask being used. If Bane’s characterization is the intelligent version like in the comics — coupled with Black Mask who hates Bruce Wayne and eventually controls much of the underworld of Gotham — they would make a formidable team against Batman while he’s in his rivalry and occasional help from the Riddler.
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Thor
Actor/director Kenneth Branagh is set to direct Marvel’s movie Thor, which should excite any fans of the superhero. Mr. Branagh is most notable for his adaptions of Shakespeare plays; something that fits perfectly with the Thor franchise.
Playing the part of Thor will be Chris Hemsworth, who portrayed George Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek.
The question on my mind now is if this will be the Ultimate’s version of Thor. I’d imagine that version would make a seamless transition onto film.
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Stories and Pink Floyd
My parents have an amusing story about me when I was still in my mother’s womb: I behaved well while my dad would blast rock music, but the moment it was Pink Floyd, I would start kicking to the beat of the songs. My mom noticed this and told my dad — they then experimented and played different bands to see how I’d react, but I was docile. They put on Pink Floyd, and again I kicked to the beat.One of my distinct childhood memories is in our old apartment; I was blasting my dad’s Pink Floyd collection and sang along, air-guitaring to the solos. I was fully submerged in the music. There could be company over, but I was so lost in the music that I didn’t care.
At eight-years-old I developed a tradition of listening to Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon alone in my room on my birthday. At midnight today the tradition continued; I spent time in solitude in my room listening to the album.
There’s a nostalgia, a child-like happiness I experience each year. To this day no other band has touched my soul like Pink Floyd. The experience is always therapeutic and euphoric to me. Until next year again.
