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.

Transformers: Age of Extinction...

With the release of Michael Bay's next installment in the fighting alien robots franchise only three weeks away, more footage of the Transformers that we'll see in Transformers: Age of Extinction are being revealed in commercials now airing on television. As the screenshots below show, we see that all of the Dinobots will indeed be featured in the upcoming film—joining forces with the Autobots in confronting Lockdown and his fellow Decepticons a few years after the events of 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon. One facetious question remains though: Did Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) used to date or be married to Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) before she hooked up with Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) in Dark of the Moon or something? If so, that would explain her uncanny likeness to Tessa (Nicola Peltz), Cade's daughter. Carly and Tessa both have a thing for white jackets... Just sayin'. (The real reason is that Bay just likes casting beautiful blonde actresses in his movies. Case in point: Scarlett Johansson in 2005's The Island and Bar Paly in last year's Pain & Gain.)

Star Wars: Episode VII... Two New Cast Members, Plus The X-Wing Returns

Charles Sykes / Invision / AP

The last two days have been quite eventful in regards to J.J. Abrams' upcoming installment about that galaxy far, far away...with Lucasfilm announcing that two very-talented actresses have joined Star Wars: Episode VII's already-stellar cast, and the website TMZ.com posting photos of the Tatooine set in Abu Dabi, plus construction being done on two iconic spaceships from the Original Trilogy.


Kristy Puchko - Twitter.com

Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Academy Award for her role in this year's Best Picture winner 12 Years A Slave, joins Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie as the new cast members for Star Wars: Episode VII. Nyong'o and Christie unite with Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley as the heroines (and villainesses?) in the next film...with perhaps more noteworthy actresses yet to join the production.


TMZ.com

Also released to the public, though unintentionally(?), are on-set photos of production taking place in Abu Dhabi...as well as construction taking place on the Millennium Falcon and an X-Wing starfighter. Considering the fact that Episode VII takes place 30 years after the events in Return of the Jedi, methinks that Han Solo's "bucket of bolts" and Luke Skywalker's trusty T-65 (the official designation for an X-Wing) will be the only vintage vehicles we see in the sequel trilogy. It's more plausible for the A-Wing and B-Wing fighters from Return of the Jedi to still be in use during Episode VII—with an updated version of the X-Wing (which itself was an updated version of the ARC-170 fighter seen during the space battle above Coruscant at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith) flying into combat in next year's film. We'll see.

UPDATE: Upon closer inspection, the X-Wing shown in the photo below is slightly modified from the classic version. While the long fuselage and laser cannons remain unchanged, the S-foils (err, wings) are attached to a single engine in this latest incarnation...as opposed to the twin engines that were on each side of the Original Trilogy's starfighter. Can't wait to see the completed version of this mock-up!


TMZ.com


TMZ.com

Transformers: Age of Extinction...

Just thought I'd end this month by posting this photo of the cool Optimus Prime/Grimlock marquee that has been gracing theaters nationwide for the last month or so. I can't count the number of times that I went to my local cineplex and saw people (usually little kids) taking photos in front of this cardboard display. Less than a month to go before filmgoers get to see these two robot warriors ride into battle in standard and IMAX movie screens everywhere! Transformers: Age of Extinction gets released on June 27.

X-Men: Days of Future Past...

Last Sunday, I saw Bryan Singer's latest installment in the X-Men movie saga, and needless to say, it did not disappoint. In fact, I believe that it was the best comic book movie I've seen over the last two years—since The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises were released in theaters in 2012. Clearly, Singer wanted to make up for the disappointment of 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand (directed by Brett Ratner) by creating a story that not only featured the excellent cast of 2011's X-Men: First Class but also (spoilers ahead) resurrecting characters who were killed off in Ratner's flick. The portrayal of the Sentinels (particularly the ones in the future) in X-Men: Days of Future Past was awesome, and it will be interesting to see how Joss Whedon portrays Quicksilver (played by Godzilla and Kick-Ass' Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in Avengers: Age of Ultron after Evan Peters' exhilarating turn as the fast-moving mutant in Days of Future Past (that scene in the Pentagon kitchen was probably the best highlight of the film). Michael Fassbender's performance as Magneto in this installment is how I always pictured the depiction of the metal-manipulating mutant in a live-action movie (sorry, Ian McKellen), and Hugh Jackman was once again terrific as Wolverine...even if he didn't have adamantium on his claws for much of the film.



Along with Evan Peters' take on Quicksilver, another cast member who stood out was Jennifer Lawrence, unsurprisingly. Being a three-time Oscar nominee with an Academy Award under her belt, Lawrence deserved to be the focus of Days of Future Past...with her character Mystique playing a prime role (and sometimes speaking Vietnamese while doing it) in events that would either spell the end or salvation for a mutantkind decimated by the Sentinels. Peter Dinklage, who worked on such fare as HBO's Game of Thrones, did a great job as the diminutive but dangerous Dr. Trask—who was the one responsible for creating the Sentinels.



I believe that Days of Future Past did for the X-Men series what The Dark Knight did for Batman— X-Men: First Class and Batman Begins notwithstanding. (Some spoilers ahead, again) Lurking on the horizon is Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen...and Cyclops, Jean Grey and company (which possibly includes Channing Tatum as Gambit) will need to work together under the leadership of Professor X to fight this all-powerful mutant when X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters in 2016. If Days of Future Past is any indication, Singer will create with Apocalypse another epic flick whose comic book excellence could rival that of The Avengers and Marvel's other cinematic hits. But I'm too busy raving about a film that doesn't hit theaters for another two years; watch Days of Future Past if you want to see how phenomenal comic book movies can be when they feature the right director, story and actors on it. That is all.

The First Star Wars Spin-off Movie...

It was revealed online a few hours ago that Godzilla director Gareth Edwards is directing the Star Wars spin-off film that will be released a year (on December 16, 2016) after Star Wars: Episode VII hits theaters. So if the newest installment about the King of the Monsters (which made $93 million at the domestic box office last weekend) is anything to go by, Han Solo or Boba Fett—the two likely characters to be featured in the first spin-off movie—will only appear in the last 20 minutes of their own respective film. I kid, of course... This Godzilla flick could've been better but didn't leave me disappointed like Roland Emmerich's Godzilla movie did in 1998. Still looking forward to Independence Day 2, though!




Courtesy of Dan LuVisi's deviantART page

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice...

That's the official title for Zack Snyder's 2016 sequel to last year's Man of Steel movie. Alluding to the Justice League film that will follow Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, this title takes a page from Marvel's own playbook. So how many folks didn't figure out that 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger didn't make a reference to 2012's The Avengers? Not many.

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!

Transformers: Age of Extinction...

Check out the final theatrical trailer for the next installment in Michael Bay's fighting alien robots franchise. Along with seeing Optimus Prime befriend Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) the same way Prime became allies with Sam Witwicky in the previous Transformers trilogy, we also get better glimpses of the Decepticon named Lockdown, Bumblebee and other Autobots such as Hound, the romance between Cade's daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) and Shane (Jack Reynor), the shady scientist Joshua (Stanley Tucci) and of course, shots of Grimlock (with a sword-welding Optimus riding on his back) in an unstoppable rampage against the Decepticons. This trailer will presumably be shown in front of Godzilla starting tonight (here's hoping AMC or Regal Cinemas doesn't place the preview in front of a movie like, say, Neighbors)...with Transformers: Age of Extinction itself being unleashed in theaters nationwide on June 27. Can't wait to see the rest of the "new army" that Prime conjures up on the big screen...

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Batman vs. Superman...

Yesterday, director Zack Snyder posted on Twitter a sneak peek of the Batmobile that will be featured in his 2016 sequel to 2013's Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman. And today, not only did Snyder tweet an official image of Batman's ride in the new flick, but he also gave fans a glimpse of (post-Christian Bale) Batman himself. The Batsuit that will be worn by Ben Affleck in Batman vs. Superman and Justice League after it (Snyder will also direct this film) will pay a bigger homage to the costume design in Frank Miller's Dark Knight graphic novels—as well as the hit Arkham Asylum video game series. With Henry Cavill's Superman suit most likely retaining the same design from last year's flick and Affleck's Bat cowl finally shown to the public, all that needs to be revealed now is the lovely Gal Gadot (from the last three Fast & Furious films) dressed as Wonder Woman. Well, we also need to see how Jesse Eisenberg looks as Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons as Alfred (oh, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg), but I mostly wanna see Gadot dressed as a sexy and tough Amazonian warrior. Obviously.

Batman vs. Superman comes out in theaters nationwide on May 6, 2016...the same day as Captain America 3 (whose release date was selected right after Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened in theaters last month). Why, Marvel, why?