Warner Bros. is Building a Minecraft Movie! Yay?

Good evening to all who may be reading this blog, time for me to deliver the final bit of late film news and this one came as a surprise as it came straight out of nowhere. The following info comes from superherohype:

Following the continued success of the studio’s The LEGO Movie, Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros. Pictures is looking at developing the hit video game Minecraft into a feature film. The LEGO Movie producer Roy Lee is attached to develop the property.

Minecraft, which just passed 100 million registered users, is officially described as follows:

Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters, but as the game grew players worked together to create wonderful, imaginative things.

It can also be about adventuring with friends or watching the sun rise over a blocky ocean. It’s pretty. Brave players battle terrible things in The Nether, which is more scary than pretty. You can also visit a land of mushrooms if it sounds more like your cup of tea.

Minecraft creator and game designer Markus Persson confirmed the news on Twitter:

So, Warner Bros. are gonna attempt to make a Minecraft film… Why? And more importantly how? I feel like this is being done because of the success of The Lego Movie, however that is a different kettle of fish altogether, Lego is nostalgia and transcends generations of kids and adults in its various toys, films, TV shows and video games, whereas Minecraft, while it has a pretty big gaming fanbase, doesn’t exactly have that same amount of love or necessary material to make a film adaptation mandatory.

Now I am all for video game adaptations or adaptations for anything if there is good source material to work from, but believe me when I tell you, there is no reason for this film to be made. I’ve played Minecraft just like millions of other gamers and they will all tell you the same thing, that there is no story. All you do in the came in dig, kill and create, the game is very relaxing and you can do a lot of crazy and unbelievable things where you have a lot of spare time, it really is just a time-waster. To try and make a film of a game like this just sounds absurd to me. Granted the game has endless amounts of adventure and exploring and I assume that will be one of the key aspects that this new film will try to emphasize, however I don’t know what kind of story the writers will materialize as there isn’t much to go by in terms of plot to begin with.

So to conclude, I’ll be watch the developments of this film from afar, however I can’t say I am excited for it and I don’t know many fans of the game are interested either, but hey it’s happening, so we might as well get used to it.

 

James Bond 24 to Start Filming in October

Hello to everyone on the internet tonight, I return again to give you some quick thoughts on some film news relating to the next film in the James Bond series. The following info comes from superherohype:

“James Bond 24 will start filming later this year, Ralph Fiennes said in an interview with MTV.

“It’s meant to start shooting in October,” the actor said, not able to offer much more than that. “I haven’t read a script yet, so I can’t tell you much. They’d probably swear me to secrecy anyway.”

The 24th installment, starring Daniel Craig, is set for release in UK theaters on October 23, 2015 and in US theaters on November 6, 2015. Skyfall director Sam Mendes and screenwriter John Logan are back. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are producing.

Skyfall took in $1.1 billion worldwide and set a new mark as the highest-grossing film of all time in the UK. It was also the best-selling Bond film on DVD/Blu-ray.”

Trust Ralph Fiennes to have the scoop on when the next Bond film start production, that guy is so cool. 🙂 Anways… So it seems like everything is in place to get the next instalment of the Bond series underway and to that I say, “Good, give it to me now.” The Bond film series is one of my favourites and even though I haven’t seen each one, I do love the ones that I have watched. Skyfall in 2012 was a big deal, made stupid amounts of money for this series of films and for good reason, it was a very good, compelling and entertaining film. While it is a bit overrated when people called it “THE BEST BOND TO DATE!” I guess film is subjective and everyone is entitled to their own opinion (unless they are clearly wrong). Can’t wait for production to start on this next film, it’ll be interesting to see what Mendes, the writers and actors can bring to the table in 2015.

 

Patrick Wilson Joins Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man!

Howdy ladies and gentlemen of the interweb, time for me to rely upon you the first of a few news stories that have taken place in the world of film news. The following information comes from superherohype:

(Photo Credit: Andres Otero / WENN.com)

“Patrick Wilson is the latest addition to the cast of Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man. Deadline has the news, claiming that the The Conjuring star will join Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas for the July 17, 2015 release. Evangeline Lilly and Michael Pena are also nearly set to join the cast, although neither has been locked at this time.

Wilson’s role is, for the time being, a mystery. He’s no stranger to comic book films, however. He played Nite Owl in Watchmen, the 2009 feature adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ epochal work from the Distinguished Competition.

Set to begin production shortly in Georgia, Ant-Man will be directed by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote the script with Joe Cornish (Attack the Block).

The film, which is supposed to launch “Phase Three” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will follow Avengers: Age of Ultron‘s May 1, 2015 release.”

Okay well I’m down with this, Wilson is pretty capable actor and he was one my favourite people in Watchmen and was also one of the few things I liked about The Conjuring (besides Vera Farmiga). So to know he is joining the MCU is a lovely thing to me. Now the one has to speculate as to what role he’ll be playing, I have no idea, but some have suggested it mya be the young version of Hank Pym which wouldn’t be too far of a stretch but I guess we’ll see in time. All in all I am liking the casting for Ant-Man so far, the film has gone from having no actors, to having plenty of famous and interesting faces with good acting chops so I’ll be hyped to see who or what Marvel announce next for this film. 🙂

 

My Thoughts on the new Godzilla image

Hello to all who may be reading this blog post, today I’m just doing a quick impressions post on the new Godzilla that debuted on the internet yesterday. Since the new trailer dropped recently, interest in this film has shot through the roof and understandably so. And now Godzilla is being shown in all his big glory for the world to see thanks to Empire magazine.

Here’s the image below:

I know I’m a bit late when it comes to talking about this image, but I couldn’t leave it unspoken about. In short it is awesome. This image really emphasizes how big and monstrous he is. He’s a frigging towering beast of destruction and he looks amazing. The whole image looks gorgeous with all the smoke, helicopter, men with parachutes in the sky and human soldiers at the bottom with the flare. What I really love is the design of Godzilla himself, for the longest time I’ve been hoping that this American version would get the look right, that we would look similar to the Japanese films but still have a bit more ferocity and fear added thanks to the special effects and it looks like the filmmakers have gotten it right. I really like the head and face design as they are really important aspects of the character.

It really does look like humanity is in trouble and I can’t wait to see how Godzilla wrecks America in this film. As I’ve said before and will say again, I pray that this film is good, because if it works this could mean the resurgence of the series and lead to an eventual Destroy All Monsters film!

 

ABC to Air Sneak Peek at Avengers: Age of Ultron!

Good evening ladies and gents, it is time for me to deliver some film news once again. It seems like Marvel Studios is never too far away from the world of film news with their previous and upcoming work and now it seems like we’re going to see even more from them in the future through the power of television. The following info comes from superherohype:

“ABC and Marvel Entertainment have announced a special behind-the-scenes look at the company in a new one-hour special titled Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe, which will air next month on the network. In addition to new footage from upcoming episodes of their TV series “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” the special will also show off new footage from the upcoming films Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the highly-anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron. Here’s the full press release:

Join stars from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, celebrity fans, filmmakers and pop culture icons for a world premiere primetime event, “Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe,” on Tuesday, March 18 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Marvel Studios has pioneered and broken box-office records around the world, creating a cinematic universe unlike any other in pop culture history through its blockbuster films. Beginning with “Iron Man” in 2008 and continuing today through “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” on ABC and the theatrical release of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” this April, the Marvel Cinematic Universe presents audiences with some of the most groundbreaking and dynamic storytelling that brings an unprecedented vision to the world of entertainment.

In this exclusive primetime documentary special, audiences will be taken further into the Marvel Cinematic Universe than ever before, offering viewers a front row seat to the inception of Marvel Studios, the record-breaking films, the cultural phenomenon, and further expansion of the universe by Marvel Television.

Marvel’s first television special documents the exciting story behind Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featuring exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from all of the Marvel films, the Marvel One-Shots and “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Viewers will walk a clear path through this amazing and nuanced universe, featuring sneak peeks at the future of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” on ABC, new footage from Marvel Studios’ upcoming theatrical releases, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “Guardians of The Galaxy,” and a sneak peek at the upcoming Marvel’s “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.”“

Well this sounds awesome, only one problem… I’m not in the US! It is great for ABC to air this super fancy documentary in their native homeland, but where does that leave the rest of the world? Does that mean that we’ll eventually see aired on one of our TV networks in the UK or wherever everyone else is or will we just be left in the dark and have to read about it online? That’s my only concern about this news, that people outside of America won’t be able to see the documentary.

Beyond that, this sounds really interesting. I’d be really curious to see how Marvel Studios started and how they formed their ideas for the cinematic universe that they have crafted. I mean I’ve read all about on Wikipedia and many other websites and verbal interviews, but I would like to see the documentary to shed light on the places where the magic happens and give us some cool behind-the-scenes looks at their old, current and future projects. I’m really curious to know what they’ll show of Avengers 2 considering that production only just started a little while ago. As for Cap 2 and GotG I want it all now, show me everything! Haha. Okay maybe not everything, ESPECIALLY if it is spoiler-based, but I will be intrigued about those two films.

 

First Trailer For TMNT To Debut With Captain America: TWS

Howdy ladies and gents I return once again to relay upon you some new film news! Now it has been a little while since the last the last bit of news surrounding the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, however it seems like there may be hope for some new visual material in the near-future. The following information comes from ComicBookMovie:

“Producer Galen Walker just confirmed via his Facebook page that we’d be getting our first look at the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in action fairly soon when the trailer debuts with Captain America: The Winter Soldier in April.

“Ok-Cool Beans folks! the new “Ninja Turtles” Teaser will make it’s debut in front of the New Captain America Movie – April 4th. We are ready and prepared for lift off! Been a long haul.”

It’s not very often we’d get a first trailer for a movie just four months before it’s released, but hopefully we’ll at least get a few stills etc in the meantime. There’s actually still no official synopsis for the reboot either! But here’s the cast details.

TMNT is directed by Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans), and produced by Michael Bay. The script was written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, based on characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The cast includes: Megan Fox as April O’Neil, Alan Ritchson as Raphael, Noel Fisher as Michelangelo, Danny Woodburn as Splinter, Jeremy Howard as Donatello, Pete Ploszek as Leonardo, Will Arnett as Vernon and William Fichtner as Shredder. It will hit theaters August 8, 2014.”

So after all this time we’re actually gonna get some visual footage on the new TMNT film? Nice. Sign me up. TMNT is the last of the big summer films that has yet to be seen properly with no official posters, photos or trailers. Even Guardians of the Galaxy has recently gone on overdrive to get itself out there to the public and it is out just a little earlier than this film. I will be curious to see what kind of look the film will go for, whether it will be comedic, dark or a blending of the two like in the 90’s films or if it’ll take more inspiration from the comics. Either way this film needs to be seen and I can’t wait for a teaser trailer because those set photos have been very questionable in content.

 

Marc Webb Returning to Direct The Amazing Spider-Man 3

Howdy ladies and gents, time for some film news. I know this news story is a fair bit late but I would like to talk about it anyway. The following information comes from superherohype:

“Variety is reporting that The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb will return once again to the director’s chair for the planned third film in the series, The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Last October, writers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinkner were brought back to script the third part in the series which is currently set for release on June 10, 2016.

Star Andrew Garfield will return for the third film in the series, and even Paul Giamatti, who appears as Aleksei Sytsevich, aka The Rhino,  in this summer’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, has said he’ll also return for the third film, but what other cast members will return remains to be seen.

The Spider-Man universe will be expanding on the big screen even more after the third film as Sony also has a fourth film planned for May 4, 2018, along with two spin-off films including Venom, to be written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Ed Solomon and directed by Kurtzman, and The Sinister Six, which will be written and directed by The Cabin in the Woods‘ Drew Goddard.”

Well this seemed like a no-brainer really and I could see this being a decision that was made a while back. While I didn’t really like the first Amazing Spider-Man, it did have pretty solid direction and Webb seems to understand the material he is working with. The people at Sony must be loving what he’s done with Amazing Spider-Man 2 to fast-track him along for the next instalment in this series. I’m down with this decision as long as TASM2 ends up delivering the goods and ends up being the best Spider-Man film ever. It certainly has the potential.

 

Godzilla (2014) Trailer #2 Review

Howdy people and it is once again time for another trailer review. Today’s one was a trailer I didn’t know was going doing until around 20-30 mins ago. It is of course the second trailer for Godzilla (2014). Now I was already hyped for this film, but the teaser trailer blew me away when that first hit and now we have a brand new trailer to check out which only gets me more and more giddy about the upcoming film.

So check out this awesome trailer below:

If I had to some this trailer up in one word: cool.

I am really liking the way this film is shaping up, the footage from these trailers makes me feel like Gareth Edwards and the rest of the cast and crew understand the source material and know what it takes to update the original material for modern audiences.

So let’s start talking about the actual trailer. The introduction with Bryan Cranston’s dialogue used over the visual footage is powerful and totally cool, Cranston really sounds like he is channeling his inner Walter White. It sounds like he is talking to someone in charge, perhaps a government person? The only reason I suggest that is because in these kinds of films the government is always trying to cover up these kinds of incidents as nature disasters or something. After Cranston’s dialogue is done we move on to Ken Watanabe’s character talking about how they did tests in the past and awoke something and then tried to kill it passing it off as nuclear tests. But one of the key things that stood out to me about the story aspects was not only framing of one shot which had Watanabe in front of a projector (like the first film), but also the mention about 1954, the fact that they referenced the year when the original film came out was just a neat little point for me.

There is some gorgeous visuals in the film, not only in the CGI which is looking so much cleaner than ever before, but also in the locations, the use of lighting and the varied colour scheme that goes from some pretty colour scenes in the day to crazy dark and scary at night. This might be one of the most visually interesting films since Pacific Rim in the action/sci-fi/monster genre.

I also like how this trailer carried over the dark, grim and foreboding atmosphere from the last trailer with the visuals and eery music that builds and builds. From here there are more shots of the cast including Cranston, Watanabe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and like one scene with Elizabeth Olsen who is pretty absent from is trailer. The rest of the trailer is destruction, dark skies, jet planes falling out of the sky, trains being smashed apart, helicopters on fire, some other shots from the previous trailer and a new small glimpse of Godzilla in the background looking nice with long-ass trademark roar playing over the footage.

If I have any gripes about the trailer is that I was left wanting more. I guess all I really wanted was a full shot of Godzilla, but I guess the studio and marketing people are gonna wait until the final trailer or near the film’s release to show off the king of the monsters.

In conclusion the second trailer for Godzilla gives a more detailed look at what we’re getting into with some  story elements coming to light, more screen time for Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe and the level of chaos and destruction Godzilla will be doing to America. While I do think this trailer is structured better than the last, I can’t say it was that much better. Maybe if there had been a full shot of Godzilla on-show I’d be so much happier, but as it stands, I’m still really hyped for this film, this footage just gets me more excited and May could not come any sooner yo! 🙂

So what do you think of the second official Godzilla trailer? Are you any more or less excited than before? Also did you want to see a full shot of Godzilla? Whatever your thoughts are, drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya later! 😀

 

Random Blog 11: Please Mr. Kennedy

Howdy ladies and gents and welcome to another edition of the Random Blog series, today I’m going to be talking about a song that has attached itself to my head for just around a month now and is so addictive that I just have to talk about it. The song in question is called “Please Mr. Kennedy“.

Now for those of you who watch films frequently, you’ll know what song I am referring to immediately, but for those not in the know here’s a quick summary. The recent Coen brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis came out in the UK last month and while the main response from the film is positive, there a great number of people that disliked the film passionately. Love it or hate it, one can’t deny the quality of the soundtrack which is just amazing. But there is one song in particular that stands out from the rest and that is “Please Mr. Kennedy“.

Just have a look at the scene and song below:

Haha, good stuff. Loads of people agree that this scene is arguably the best part of the film because it is so light-hearted, silly, fun and hilarious. Literally after the film ended this was the song that I was thinking about for hours afterward and when I found the song on YouTube I was all over it. I think because of the moody and quite depressing nature of the film, when  a song like this comes so out of left field, you can’t help but get down with it because of the charm and upbeat nature.

I fell in love with song not only because its funny but also because it sounded good too. While I’m not overly keen on folk music, there are exceptions to the rule and this song just had me. The instrumental side of things is gorgeous and then there’s the vocals, Oscar Isaac has a lovely voice, Justin Timberlake is a proven talent in the world of music and he continues to excel here too and Adam Driver’s hilarious contribution with his bellowing voice was especially fun. Isaac and Timberlake compliment each other very well and their vocals blend like butter on toast, Isaac is the secondary singer in this trio but his contribution should not be overlooked. Timberlake is the star here and his voice is more suited to pop and R&B, but surprisingly it works nicely here and when he gets to put his vocals to work at those high points it he is awesome. But of course the person most people were paying attention to was Driver, he’s the separate guy who sings and shouts the backing parts and he is amazing, his voice is so deep and the delivery of his lines is SO funny with those facial expressions. Tell me after this song is over that you couldn’t hear the words “OUTER SPACE!”, playing in your mind over and over again haha.

So to conclude, I don’t know whose idea it was to put this song in the film, but whoever it is deserves a medal as “Please Mr. Kennedy” might one of the most memorable songs in recent film history. Obviously that is a big statement, but besides the songs from Frozen‘s soundtrack, I don’t think I’ve found a song so addictive and fun. Together Isaac, Timberlake and Driver crafted a song that’s catchy and all-round fun.

 

Random Blog 10: Red Pandas… So friggin awesome!

Howdy ladies and gents and welcome to another edition of the Random Blog series, but before we get into the subject of today I want to have a look back on this series of blog posts.

The RB series started as just some series of blogs with no structure or specific reason for existing and the first post was practically invisible. But once I made the post about cats the series blew up! Then there was the hair post that was pretty popular too. And recently there’s been a lot of love for the Regular Show post and Batman: TAS post too. I’m loving this increase in popularity for this series, so for those of you out there that have checked out and supported the RB series, thanks a lot yo.

Anyways moving on, today we’re gonna look at one of my favourite animals in the history of existence; the red panda.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! I LOVE THIS ANIMAL!

For the longest time I have been a fan of many types of including lions, tigers, eagles, koalas, etc. But around 5 or 6 years ago I was scanning through the web and I think I found a picture of a red panda on Wikipedia and I fell in love instantly. I don’t usually freak out about many animals, but this is the one time when you’ll see me as happy as a little school girl, no joke. 😛

To me, red pandas are just the cutest thing ever and look SO different when you compare them to your regular panda which is a lot bigger and traditionally black and white, whereas these guys look like some sort of raccoon/cat hybrid than any kind of bear.

The difference is staggering and while I do have a lot of love for panda bears, red pandas are WAY cuter!

I think I love red pandas a lot is due to all the pictures of them looking all cute and tired. Their whole appearance is wonderful, the colour scheme of orange, black and white is fascinating to me and all of their different actions whether they’re eating, sleeping, yawning or standing just makes me a bit giddy. They’re one of the few animals that have so much of my love and support. They seem like they’d make great companion animals. Some people like having either cats or dogs as a pet, me I’d want a red panda. They’re so unconventional and interesting to look at. I’ve always wanted to see or meet a red panda, if that happened I would be SO HAPPY.

Look at this face, how can you not smile or not think it is the cutest thing ever? XD

At some point last year I’m sure I got into a conversation with some uni mates about cute animals and I think we were going on about which ones we would like to own too. For me there are only three animals I would like to carry around with me everywhere and they would be either a red panda, koala or a sloth. They are the best and cutest animals that I like enough to take care of.

In conclusion red pandas are awesome, they are gorgeous and cute creatures that I doubt many people know about. So I’m just going about, spreading the word about those awesome animals because I love them and hope to have one of for myself one day or at least get a red panda featured in a film or TV show at some point in the future.

Thanks for reading and for those of you who follow this blog I hope I didn’t scare you away with my obsession of this animal haha. 😀