(Just Who Is The Grave Robber?) Glimpses of Star Wars: Episode VII...

It's been more than a month since I last posted on this blog page, so what better way to update it than to provide more (leaked) news about Star Wars: Episode VII? TheForce.net posted these concept artwork featuring everything from the home of Daisy Ridley's character (supposedly named Kira) and the outfit she'll probably wear in the movie, to the designs of new vehicles and spacecraft as well as the main villain (nicknamed the Grave Robber here) himself. Filming on Episode VII should wrap soon...meaning that hopefully J.J. Abrams will have a quick teaser trailer in store for us by the end of this year (in front of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, anyone?). Of course, it's still too early to see any images that are evoked in these cool illustrations on the big-screen one year before the release date—but I hope that the majority of these come to fruition in the actual film itself. Carry on.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Artwork courtesy of The Hobbit Fan Page - Facebook.com

Posted above is the new teaser poster for Peter Jackson's upcoming conclusion to The Hobbit trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies. This awesome artwork will be autographed by none other than Jackson at the WB booth at San Diego Comic-Con...which starts tomorrow. There will be a special panel about The Battle of the Five Armies in Hall H on Saturday, July 26 (at 10 AM)...while the autograph session will take place afterwards at 12:30 PM.

The production still below featuring Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) taking part in said battle was released online a few days ago.


Photo courtesy of The Hobbit Fan Page - Facebook.com

More on Dumb To...

In case you didn't catch the trailer for Dumb and Dumber To during The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, scroll down to the bottom of this entry to see the preview. Usually, I only post screenshots for action-packed flicks like Transformers or epic blockbusters like The Hobbit on this blog...but since this is the sequel to one of my favorite film comedies from my adolescent years, I'll make an exception here. Welcome back, Lloyd and Harry!

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Edge of Tomorrow...

Yesterday, I watched the new Tom Cruise flick at my local theater...and suffice it to say, the movie was pretty darn entertaining. Edge of Tomorrow was a cross between Groundhog Day, Saving Private Ryan and Halo (plus Gears of War and essentially any other sci-fi video game you'll play on Xbox and Playstation). Clearly, the filmmaker was inspired by the D-Day landings of World War II (Edge of Tomorrow officially opened at theaters domestically on June 6, which marked the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy)...with the central plot revolving around how Cage (Cruise) and Rita (Emily Blunt) had to figure out a way to get their fellow soldiers off a French beach. This locale was a meat grinder as alien creatures known as Mimics (who came to Earth via asteroid and decimated much of Europe) mowed down the human invaders the same way the Germans mercilessly gunned down Allied troops trying to wade their way across the shores of Normandy in 1944. Of course, unlike the ultra-realistic but grim portrayal of D-Day in Private Ryan, there was a nice touch of humor as Cage desperately tried to survive the onslaught of Mimics charging at him on the battlefront—only to die and relive that moment over and over (which is where the Groundhog Day reference comes along) until he emerged victorious.



While Tom Cruise played the reluctant hero (unlike his fearless characters in other movies like say, Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher) in Edge of Tomorrow, Emily Blunt showed just how comfortable she was in playing a bad-ass action hero who will do whatever she could to accomplish her objective. Also amusing in this film was Bill Paxton...who played a tough-as-nails master sergeant bent on making Cage pay for his initial attempt at deserting his army unit and avoiding the invasion of France. (Like in WWII, the Americans and British were amassing their forces in England and were going to strike at the extraterrestrials using the English Channel.) The Mimics looked pretty cool...with their designs reminiscent of the Sentinels from The Matrix trilogy, the Kaiju of Pacific Rim and the creatures known as Locusts from Gears of War. The special effects in Edge of Tomorrow were top-notch, and could've possibly earned this movie a Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination in 2015 if Godzilla, Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies weren't released this year.



All-in-all, Edge of Tomorrow was a fun and inventive sci-fi film. The story didn't lend itself to having a sequel, but Tomorrow was as entertaining (but not campy) a flick as 1997's Starship Troopers. Edge of Tomorrow was also similar to Battle: Los Angeles, but the humor that Cruise got to employ and the toughness of Blunt's character set their movie apart from 2011's action-disaster film. Here's hoping Tomorrow will find box office success during its theatrical run...it deserves it.

Star Wars: Episode VII Has Begun Filming!

"Officially begun, production has." These were the words, in Yoda-speak, that let followers of Star Wars' Facebook fan page know that J.J. Abrams has begun principal photography on Star Wars: Episode VII this morning. Production is taking place at London's Pinewood Studios (where the majority of James Bond movies and other films like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug were shot). A B-roll shoot has been taking place in Abu Dhabi for the past few weeks, but today is the day that Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and newcomers like Adam Driver and John Boyega (who currently plays a U.S. drone pilot accused of terrorism on FOX's 24: Live Another Day) begin adding a new chapter to the Star Wars saga. The countdown to seeing the Galaxy far, far away back on the big screen next year has officially begun!

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Earlier today, director Peter Jackson revealed online that the last installment of The Hobbit, originally called There and Back Again, will be re-titled The Battle of the Five Armies—which is a reference to a conflict between the Goblins and the Wargs against the Elves, Eagles, Dwarves, Beorn the Shape-shifter and the Men of Dale shortly after Smaug the Dragon was vanquished near Erebor. Personally speaking, I like the new title...which makes this December's finale to Jackson's Hobbit film trilogy sound pretty epic. We'll overlook the fact that this name is more appropriate for a Star Wars or Transformers movie than it is for a Tolkien-inspired flick. I just want to see Smaug finally meet his demise at Lake-town, as well as Sauron continuing to make his presence felt in the next film. The Battle of the Five Armies comes out in theaters nationwide on December 17.

300: Rise of an Empire...

"This. Is. Sparta!" This memorable line by King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) was one of many factors that made 300 such a huge hit when it was released in theaters back in March of 2007. This time around though, there aren't that many noteworthy quotes in 300: Rise of an Empire despite the fact that director Noam Murro did a commendable job retaining the visual style and gory swordplay that adorned Zack Snyder's original movie. Unlike the first 300, Rise of an Empire ends on a more upbeat note, as Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) was successful in fending off the Persians while Leonidas (whose Spartans were fighting against Xerxes' forces at the same time as the events that take place in this new film) was forced to make one last stand against a dominant enemy at the hot gates of Thermopylae. Leonidas' wife Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) sees actual combat this time around, as Artemisia (Eva Green) proved to be a formidable adversary against her fellow Greeks as she was the femme fatale who was instrumental in getting Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) to rise into power as the God-King.



Whereas the first 300 took place in the mountainous terrain of Greece, Rise of an Empire focused on the naval battles that transpired between Artemisia and Themistocles during the Persian Wars. Despite his ships being vastly outnumbered by Artemisia's fleet, Themistocles showed that he was as much a brilliant tactician as he was a formidable warrior. Using fog and the structural weak points of Artemisia's ships to his advantage, Themistocles enjoyed many victories in the Aegean Sea until Artemisia is forced to meet with Themistocles and try to persuade him to join forces with her naval armada. Themistocles ultimately turns down Artemisia's offer...resulting in a final confrontation between the two that would lead to Gorgo and her fellow Spartans joining forces with Themistocles in defeating Artemisia's fleet—and causing Xerxes, who was watching the naval battle from a cliff overlooking the sea—walk away as his Persian army faced its first major setback.



Unlike sequels like The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, The Matrix Reloaded and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 300: Rise of an Empire did not conclude with its heroes having to regroup after suffering a significant defeat at the hands of their more formidable enemies. However, Rise of an Empire does end in a cliffhanger, with a third 300 movie most likely on the horizon. Xerxes' army is down but not out, and it remains to be seen if Themistocles and Queen Gorgo will avenge the great sacrifice that Leonidas and his men made in the first film. All that's certain is, if there is a 300: Part 3, you can expect Xerxes to face a bloody death just like Leonidas did in the first movie...with Gorgo or most likely Themistocles holding the God-King's severed head as his vanquisher watches Persia burn at the hands of the Greek army. (Even though in real life, Xerxes was assassinated by Artabanus, one of Xerxes' royal bodyguards... Good ol' Wikipedia.) That is all.

The 86th Annual Academy Award Nominations...

Earlier today, the nominees for this year's Oscars were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...with the sci-fi thriller Gravity and the crime drama American Hustle leading the way with 10 nominations each. Both flicks are up for Best Picture, Director (Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity and David O. Russell for Hustle) and Actress (Sandra Bullock for Gravity and Amy Adams for Hustle), as well as technical categories like Film Editing and Production Design. Gravity also got a nod for Visual Effects—which it should surely win over competitors like Iron Man 3 and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.



Peter Berg's Navy SEAL flick Lone Survivor got recognized for its audio work by getting nominations for Best Sounding Editing and Mixing. In terms of other Best Picture contenders, 12 Years a Slave was third in receiving the most nominations with 9 nods. With regards to the acting categories, Jonah Hill continues to shed his Superbad image by winning a second Best Supporting Actor nomination...this time for Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (Hill's first nomination was for Moneyball two years ago). Another nomination in that category that didn't surprise me at all was for Barkhad Abdi—who went from auditioning for Captain Phillips (another Best Picture candidate) with his close friends in Minneapolis to getting rave reviews for his intimidating portrayal of a Somali pirate in that film (with his Minneapolis friends getting cast as his marauding gang by director Paul Greengrass as well).



This year's Academy Awards look to be an exciting one to watch—though I've yet to view 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street and other Best Picture nominees like Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska and Philomena at the theater. However, with the amount of nods that Gravity and American Hustle received today, I may have already watched the likely flick to win the crown for best movie of 2013...so I'm probably not missing out on anything. We'll see. The Oscars air on ABC on March 2.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug...

I saw the second installment in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy today, and considering the fact that I didn't watch the film in the dreaded High Frame Rate format like I did with last year's An Unexpected Journey, this movie was awesome. In regular IMAX 3-D, there were so many great scenes to remember from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug...from the Spiders lurking in Mirkwood forest, the Orcs chasing the dwarves down that river (who would've thought a dwarf in a barrel can kick so much arse?) after being captured by Elves to Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) himself flying through the halls of Erebor trying to incinerate Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and company. Legolas (Orlando Bloom) makes an appearance in The Hobbit, and just like in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was a total bad-ass as he dispatched Orcs left and right throughout the film. Ditto with Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly)—who despite the fact wasn't featured in J.R.R. Tolkien's book is sure to leave a mark in next year's final Hobbit installment, There and Back Again. Since The Desolation of Smaug (slight spoilers ahead) concluded right where the book ended as well, one wonders how Peter Jackson will fill the rest of what will most likely be a two-and-half hour running time for the third flick. Sauron is beginning to rear his ugly head in Middle-earth... Gandalf (Ian McKellen) should know. Have a good evening, everyone!

Transformers: Age of Extinction

In tradition with the first two Transformers sequels, Optimus Prime is the first Autobot to officially be revealed as his redesigned robot mode graces the cover of Empire magazine's January 2014 issue. Director Michael Bay wrapped filming on Transformers: Age of Extinction about three weeks ago...but it remains to be seen when we'll get a glimpse of Optimus, Bumblebee, Nicola Peltz (oh, and Mark Wahlberg) and company confronting the Decepticons in a teaser trailer. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug looks like a great flick to give us our first big screen preview of Age of Extinction before this year is over, but there have been no ramblings online as to whether this is close to being the case. If it's anything like Revenge of the Fallen, the first time we'll see Bayhem—TF4-style—will be during Super Bowl XLVIII next February. Carry on.

Star Wars: Episode VII Gets A Release Date!

December 18, 2015... That's the date that Disney and Lucasfilm have officially penciled in as the day when the newest installment in the Star Wars saga will make its debut at theaters nationwide. While the casting of Episode VII actors has not yet been announced, the unveiling of the release date is good news. Based on reports that I read online last week—where Disney originally wanted a Spring 2015 release for J.J. Abrams' upcoming movie, and Lucasfilm wanted to push the debut back to 2016 to give Abrams more time to shoot the flick and work on what will most assuredly be extensive visual effects sequences during postproduction—it is nice to know that George Lucas' former company and its new owner reached a compromise on when to roll out the sequel trilogy to the public. The final Hobbit film, There and Back Again, comes out at theaters in December of next year; what are the chances that Abrams will create a Star Wars flick that will at least be as critically and artistically received as any of Peter Jackson's newest Tolkien films...let alone the original Lord of the Rings trilogy? No need for Episode VII to fall victim to what one of my (former) friends labeled The Lord of the Rings when The Fellowship of the Ring was released back in late 2001: A "Star Wars killer." Carry on.

Star Wars: Episode VII Shooting on 35mm Film...

On the same day that the world found out that Ben Affleck was the new Batman, it was revealed that J.J. Abrams will be shooting the next Star Wars movie on celluloid. This is great news! One problem with the prequels was that they were not visually consistent with the Original Trilogy (which was shot on 35mm Kodak stock) since George Lucas filmed Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (as well as parts of The Phantom Menace) with digital cameras. Heck, Clones and Sith didn't even have the same look as Episode I...which was filmed in 35mm before Lucas decided to treat the next two prequels as mere tech demos as opposed to them being a genuine addition to the Star Wars canon. Even though the third film was an abomination, The Matrix trilogy should be applauded since there was visual continuity among the three flicks. And the same goes with The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and The Hobbit, somewhat) as well as The Dark Knight flicks. (I'd choose IMAX-filmed footage over digital shots, any day). It is awesome to see that Abrams definitely wants to bring the movie magic from the Original Star Wars Trilogy to his upcoming flick. With John Williams aboard to do the music score once more (though we'll still have to wait awhile to see which actors gets cast in Episode VII), how can Abrams go wrong? Don't answer that if you're thinking about the Lost series finale and not this summer's hit film Star Trek Into Darkness.

And while we're still on the topic of Star Wars' cinematography, may Gilbert Taylor, the director of photography for A New Hope, rest in peace. He passed away yesterday at the age of 99.

Pacific Rim: Movie Review

Ignoring the fact that the movie lost to an intelligence-numbing flick by Adam Sandler at the box office this past weekend, Pacific Rim freakin' rocked! Giant ass-kicking robots (a.k.a. Jaegers)... Giant ass-kicking monsters (a.k.a. Kaijus)... Both courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic... Oh, and Rinko Kikuchi (of 2006's Oscar-nominated flick, Babel)... Guillermo del Toro did not disappoint (at least critically and artistically) in conveying his own brand of Godzilla-type mayhem. Story-wise, Pacific Rim is no different from said Gojira film—and even borrows from Independence Day, The Matrix and of course, a boatload of Japanese anime titles to make the plot move along. Action-wise, those of you wanting to see giant robots going on a rampage and can't wait for Optimus Prime to return in next year's Transformers 4 will not be let down by the sight of Gipsy Danger, Crimson Typhoon and other Jaegers taking on the Knifehead and other Kaiju that emerged from the Pacific Ocean to wreak havoc on hapless humans living in Manila, Seattle and other coastal cities of the world. And to see these gigantic monstrosities duke it out on IMAX 3-D (which I did yesterday)? Well, that's double the icing on the cake.



As mentioned above, Industrial Light & Magic rightfully had the honor of realizing del Toro's vision of monsters vs. robots on the big screen...which was definitely the right move by the filmmaker. Sure, FX houses like Double Negative (which worked on The Dark Knight trilogy), Weta Digital (founded by Peter Jackson to work on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, as well as District 9 and Iron Man 3) and Digital Domain (which worked on Apollo 13, Titanic and Oblivion) have all created awesome visuals for major Hollywood hits over the past decade or so, but it's only fitting that the company that started it all (by George Lucas to work on Star Wars) would be the one responsible for making sure that Pacific Rim looked as exciting at the cinemas as possible. Music-wise, the film score was awesome. Ramin Djawadi, who composed the music for 2008's Iron Man as well as such successful TV shows as Game of Thrones and Prison Break, created an action-packed tune that also paid homage to the music of classic monster flicks. (Case in point: The percussive beat that plays when the 'Category 5' Kaiju emerges from the breach at the bottom of the Pacific in the movie's climax.) Djawadi's music didn't blow me away as much as Steve Jablonsky's work on the first Transformers film did six years ago, but I'll definitely download or buy Pacific Rim's score on CD in the near future.



Acting-wise, I didn't notice any performance that was even remotely worthy of being considered for an Oscar nomination next year. Which is pretty much why some critics call Pacific Rim the 'Star Wars for a new generation' (which, amusingly, was what Independence Day was called back in 1996)... Mind-blowing special effects, a great music score and—wooden acting. Idris Elba was respectable as former Jaeger pilot Stacker Pentecost, Charlie Hunnam was to Pacific Rim what Casper Van Dien was to 1997's Starship Troopers, Charlie Day was the same goofball (a compliment) that he was in 2011's Horrible Bosses, Burn Gorman was a lot wackier in this movie than he was as one of Bane's lackeys in The Dark Knight Rises, and Ron Perlman was cool as Kaiju black market dealer Hannibal Chau. Last, but most definitely not least, is Rinko Kikuchi as Mako Mori. Despite the fact that Pacific Rim is yet another Hollywood film that pervades the whole White Guy/Asian Girl romance bit, Kikuchi was great as the Gipsy co-pilot of Charlie Hunnam. And just as awesome as seeing 300-foot-tall (most likely bigger than that) robots battling 2,500-ton monsters is watching Kikuchi take on Hunnam in that entertaining Kendo fight scene. Is it a surprise that Kikuchi would know martial arts in real life? Um, no. Is it still a pleasure to see a beautiful actress show that she has some nice combat skills to display on the big screen? Definitely.



All-in-all, here's hoping that Pacific Rim will end up being a financial success this summer. Most definitely, it should become a cult classic the same way that Starship Troopers and Blade Runner did before it. Guillermo del Toro is a pro when it comes to creating fanciful creatures and monsters on the big screen...with the ability to effortlessly depict huge brawling robots added to his resume. Considering the fact that Sandler's Grown Ups managed to get its own stinkin' sequel, it would be an injustice if the Jaegers (and Mako Mori) don't return to the big screen again to rid this world of giant leviathans who emerge from the depths of the ocean to threaten all of humanity. Pacific Rim is the most visually-spectacular movie of this summer...and it should be rewarded as such with its story continuing for a sequel or two. If Grown Ups 2, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions can be made, then so can Pacific Rim 2. That is all.

PACIFIC RIM Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. ****1/2

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug... Check out the teaser trailer for this December's next installment in Peter Jackson's Tolkien prequel trilogy. Totally looking forward to watching this film...though I have NO INTENTION of seeing it in that crappy 48-frames-per-second (a.k.a. High Frame Rate) format that plagued my viewing experience of An Unexpected Journey last year. Bring on the dragon!

85th Annual Academy Award Nominations... The list of Oscar nominees was announced earlier today, and as expected, Argo, Django Unchained, Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty are all up for Best Picture. Skyfall also got some love (deservingly) by the Academy...with the latest Bond flick being recognized for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Song (props to Adele), Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. Unlike The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in which all three films were up for Best Picture (with Return of the King actually taking home the gold in 2004), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey "only" managed to get three nominations—all in technical categories (Best Makeup, Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects). This is, unfortunately, more than you can say for The Dark Knight Rises...which was completely snubbed in this year's Oscar race. Whereas The Dark Knight was constantly mentioned as a Best Picture candidate before its official snub in 2009, Christopher Nolan's final Batman flick probably got omitted because of the bad vibe that still permeates around the movie following last July's tragic shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Even with its flaws, The Dark Knight Rises is still one of the best comic book films ever made.



As predicted in my review for Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones is up for Best Supporting Actor, and so is Christoph Walz for Django Unchained. Keep aiming for that Oscar, Leonardo DiCaprio... I'm sure you'll stop getting snubbed by Academy voters, one day. And lastly, props to the Pixar film Wreck-It Ralph for being nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. Pixar's other flick Brave also got nominated for this category...but I didn't see that film nor do I intend to. The Academy Awards air on ABC on February 24.