Before we go any further, here’s your trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Let’s meet back here straight after…
Well, what can I say? Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah… mankind as a virus and the last titans of Earth the only way to save us? Yep, that looks batshit crazy and I’m completely down with it.
There’s a lot of nuts looking stuff in here and it looks like the film will fully embrace the monsterverse Legendary Pictures have long been promising. With the promise of appearances from even more Toho monsters than revealed here, plus the reintroduction of the classic Godzilla theme music, this film just keeps looking better all the time.
Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters opens May 31st, 2019 and I’ll be holding my radioactive breath until then.
Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown stars in what is likely to be the first of several new teasers for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, attempting to make contact with Monarch. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:
Monarch is the shadowy agency seen in Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla and Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ 2017 Kong: Skull Island, and if you were patient enough to stay through the end credits of the latter film you’ll have seen the reveal of an element tying the two films together, one which will presumably be expanded upon in Michael Dougherty’s forthcoming sequel to both.
As regular readers of this site will know, your intrepid writer is a major Godzilla geek, so you can be sure I’ll be bringing you all the news on King of the Monsters as it arrives.
UPDATE: Legendary Pictures removed the video from their YouTube account, so I’ve re-uploaded from another source. View it while you can, I guess, dear readers…
Michael Myers slips on the Don Post William Shatner mask once again, in the new trailer for a film in one of the most frequently rebooted film series ever, Halloween.
Take a look at the trailer and we’ll talk…
There’s certainly a lot to pique interest here: David Gordon Green and Danny McBride at the helm (Green directing, McBride co-writing with Green and Jeff Fradley), series creator and underappreciated movie god John Carpenter on music duties, and scream queen legend, Jamie Lee Curtis back as an obviously-ready-to-kick-some-slasher-ass, Laurie Strode.
Necessarily missing of course, will be much-loved and long-departed Donald Pleasance (as Doctor Sam Loomis), but other than that the trailer looks like a lot of fun, already telegraphing a couple of decent scares (that final closet shot is a hoot).
While there’s a decent conversation to be had about whether or not the world actually needs an umpteenth reboot (with this one apparently only acknowledging the original Halloween while ignoring the rest of the six thousand sequels – which should drive long-time fans nicely insane), the trailer at least promises a good time to be had. It looks brutal as a November weekend in Scarborough and there are some truly gorgeous-looking shots!
Halloween opens… not on Halloween, but on October 19th, just to annoy anyone with OCD.
Another day, another casting announcement for what’s beginning to sound like Quentin Tarantino’s single-handed effort to clear out Hollywood of unemployed actors!
Just yesterday we found that Luke Perry, Emile Hirsch, Damian Lewis, Dakota Fanning, Keith Jefferson, Clifton Collins Jr. and Nicholas Hammond (yes, erstwhile von Trapp child from The Sound of Music and TV’s Spider-Man) would join the already announced powerhouse cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Burt Reynolds, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Timothy Olyphant.
Now, hold on to your hats and yell “HOOAH!” as Al Pacino joins Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. According to Variety, Pacino will play Marvin Shwarz, agent to DiCaprio’s TV actor Rick Dalton, who lives uncomfortably close to the Manson Family, right around the time they go on their infamous murder spree!
…Hollywood has quickly become one of the most anticipated films of 2019, with it’s intriguing subject and astonishing cast (and of course, its writer/director).
Let’s get this clear: I straight-up love Shane Black and the original Schwarzenegger Predator is a stone-cold classic!
The following Predator movies are mostly harmless fun of varying quality (though there’s not really any need to speak again of the execrable Aliens vs Predator movies, right!?) so while we might not actually need another movie featuring the unearthly hunters, having Black at the helm raises the anticipation levels considerably.
The first trailer has just dropped, so see what you think and we’ll talk more after:
This doesn’t set my pulse racing, but it does intrigue me. Black’s trademark snappy dialogue is certainly in place and bringing the Predator to surburbia is a concept ripe for gnarly fun. And let’s face it, the (uncredited) co-screenwriter of the original Predator is certainly more equipped than most to shape another go round with these guys and has yet to deliver an unsatisfying movie – though I’m going to be mighty disappointed if there isn’t at least one scene set at Christmas.
I’m giving this the benefit of the doubt and betting on Black to deliver suitable thrills and chills. The Predator will be unleashed on September 14th.
News just in via Birth.Movies.Death reveals that the cast for Quentin Tarantino’s latest, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood just keeps getting more and more delicious!
Joining the already-announced trio of Leonard DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie are Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Kurt Russell (with or without moustache has yet to be announced, Kurtache watchers). Even more exciting is the announcement that this stellar line-up will be joined by Hollywood legend, Burt Reynolds!
The new Tarantino film is set (in Hollywood, as per the title) in the summer of 1969, and the few story details released so far tell us the story will revolve around the former star of a western TV series and his longtime stunt double (DiCaprio and Pitt, respectively). DiCaprio’s neighbour in the film is Robbie, portraying actress Sharon Tate (then wife of film director, Roman Polanski), who was, of course, brutally murdered by cult leader Charles Manson’s followers. The ranch at which the cult resided was run by George Spahn, now to be played by Reynolds.
Frankly, this project just keeps sounding more and more exciting. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will be released on August 9, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders. Expect no small amount of controversy nearer the release.
When talking about James Franco’s The Disaster Artist it’s probably best to get the elephant in the room (no pun intended) out of the way first.
Franco has had a number of troubling accusations leveled against him, and while trial by social media is a dangerous arena you’re going to have to put them aside if you want to enjoy this film as it’s the Franco show all the way.
Still with me? Okay, well this recent news is made all the more sad and frustrating because Franco has made one hell of a film. Telling the story of the unlikely friendship of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero, and their even unlikelier journey to making one of the truly great cult movies of all time, The Room.
If you’ve ever seen that remarkable creation, or have knowledge of the bizarre circumstances of the film’s production, you’ll understand that it would have been all too easy to make The Disaster Artist from a position of sneering at its subject. Instead, Franco and co have crafted something which not only gets as close to finding the man beneath the enigma that is Wiseau (who lies about both his age and background) as we’re ever likely to get, but does so with a surprising amount of heart and frailty. More importantly we’re allowed to see the sheer force of will it took Wiseau to self-finance and write, produce, direct and star in his own movie. Fans of The Room will not be disappointed at the lovingly recreated sections of that most bizarre of movies (and stick around until the end of the credits for a typically gonzo appearance from Wiseau himself).
Anybody who has ever attempted an act of creativity will empathise with Wiseau and marvel at the true story of something that became derided but loved by millions of moviegoers. Much like Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, this is a film about the outsider and one which celebrates and exalts that position.
It’s possible Franco is about to get firsthand experience of being a Hollywood outsider, and if the allegations against him are proved true then that will be deservedly so, but until we know more I’m going to judge the film on its own merits, and this is a warts-and-all look at a true individual and is one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen in a long time. Highly recommended.
Luke Skywalker’s ominous words, highlighted in the trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, could easily stand as the film’s throughline.
The overwhelming message of Star Wars: The Last Jedi is that families are complicated and move in unexpected directions. It also has a lot to say about being screwed up by our fathers.
Overwhelming also accurately describes what I felt about the film at the end of its two and a half hour journey. It’s somewhat overlong but it features some astonishing action sequences, is one of the visually richest Star Wars films and contains what might be my single favourite moment from the entire franchise.
In many ways, The Last Jedi mirrors both the darkness and structure of the Original Trilogy’s middle film, The Empire Strikes Back, but writer and director Rian Johnson is smart enough to take off into some truly wild new directions during the final third.
Picking up right where The Force Awakens left us, this new installment hits the ground running and the pace barely lets up. The expanding group of characters, old and new are pretty successfully juggled so that everyone is given satisfying arcs, this particularly benefits Oscar Issac’s Poe Dameron, and Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill as Leia and Luke. Daisy Ridley continues to command the screen, especially in her dealings with Adam Driver, their interactions are electric.
John Boyega gets to play off new-to-the-franchise Kelly Marie Tran – both of who are great value but unfortunately shuffled into the film’s weakest thread – a trip to a casino world that’s given a decent barbed comment on the social structure of the Star Wars galaxy but feels rather unnecessary, structurally, and also, dare I say it, feels rather like an outtake from the dreaded Prequels. Indeed, this thread also manages to waste the always welcome presence of Benecio Del Toro.
While Johnson’s generosity to give everyone breathing room is commendable it does also see The Last Jedi surrender some of Empire’s structural elegance in favour of a more scattershot approach that leaves the film feeling a little overstuffed.
Still, this is a film with more on its mind than just rehashing the franchise for a new generation or showing off special effects. The relationship dynamics established are nicely developed, and not all in ways you might be expecting, Johnson keeps things surprising, and manages that to the very last frames. The Last Jedi is drenched in darkness but garnished with light and hope.
The consequences of familial actions, in particular those of fathers, is a deep running vein through the film, but it also suggests that family finds its own shape and can be forged in new ways.
Alongside all the drama Johnson gives us breathless action and some of the most gorgeous filmmaking and visuals of the series, using the colour red to particularly strong effect. An opening space battle and a dizzying lightsabre battle are among the highlights.
There are lots of callbacks (visually and thematically) to both Empire and Return of the Jedi, and a beautiful closing moment for one character which returns us right to the heart of Star Wars (Episode IV). To say any more would involve spoilers, but suffice to say there are some big emotional pay-offs.
As I mentioned before, The Last Jedi also features a sequence, possibly my favourite of the franchise, so balls-out audacious that it more than makes up for any deficiencies the film might have. You’ll know it when it arrives, a moment so glorious and exciting it will leave you very happy that Johnson is forging the future of Star Wars with his upcoming new trilogy.
I’m not certain The Last Jedi is quite the masterpiece many have been proclaiming, it’s too inelegant for that, but it’s eager to please and will leave you exhausted as you emerge from the cinema. It’s a shot of pure Star Wars adrenaline.
Like family, The Last Jedi is messy and doesn’t go the way you think. Ultimately though, you can’t help but love it.
Comic book fans know that in the Marvel Universe more than one person wears the mask of Spider-Man, and now Sony Pictures is getting ready to launch Miles Morales onto the big screen.
The character was created in 2011 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli, with Bendis and Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso drawing inspiration from both then-U.S. President Barack Obama and American actor Donald Glover (who made a tongue-in-cheek cameo in Spider-Man: Homecoming)
The son of an African American father and a Puerto Rican mother, Alonso has described Morales as an intelligent nerd with an aptitude for science similar to his predecessor, Peter Parker. Originally existing in a separate reality from ¨ours¨, Morales has now crossed over and exists alongside Parker.
Now Sony has unveiled a brief teaser of its upcoming animated feature “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” with a first look at the teenage Morales, as well as introducing audiences to the concept of the Spider-Verse (a conceit from the comics where Spider-Man exists in differing personas and forms across multiple realities).
The film is directed by Bo Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, with the screenplay by Phil Lord, and is due to be released on December 14, 2018.
Look, I know a lot of you liked Jurassic World, the box office numbers signal that clearly enough, but I’m afraid we must beg to differ on that one. Personally I felt it lacked not only the charm of Spielberg’s original but, perhaps more importantly, also the smarts.
Well, if that film was your bag, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (…oh boy, that title) looks to be right up your Jurassic alley. Here’s the trailer:
Sure it’s got plenty of thrilling looking visuals (and added Jeff Goldblum, which is always a good thing) but, y’know, they’re going back to an island to save Chris Pratt’s pet puppy, uh, sorry, man-eating Velociraptor, and to save a species which… ahh… they manufactured and can presumably manufacture elsewhere, from an island that suddenly – after four previous movies with no mention of it whatsoever – has a volcano! Where they built a multi-billion dollar theme park.
Oh, why am I bothering? You’ll go see this. Enjoy…
out of dave's head 