Avengers: Age of Ultron... The Main Baddie Is Revealed!

Check out the cover for an upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine...which will feature none other than Ultron, the main villain of the next Avengers movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Stating the complete obvious aside, Ultron looks pretty cool. Can't wait to see how James Spader will portray this sinister robot (which Tony Stark apparently creates himself in the movie; damn you, Stark!) when the highly-anticipated sequel comes out in theaters on May 1, 2015. Stay tuned.

Star Wars: Episode VII... IMAX and Cast-Related News

So it was just revealed yesterday on the Twitter page of Bad Robot, J.J. Abrams' production company, that IMAX cameras will be used for the filming of Star Wars: Episode VII. This is great news... Seeing as how Abrams is shooting the next Star Wars movie entirely on film (whether it's 35mm, 65mm or 70mm IMAX celluloid), here's hoping that it will look as great as the images seen in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy [which was also shot entirely on film and employed the ultra-large screen format (without the use of conversion during post-production) as well].

Also, Lucasfilm announced last week that two new actors have joined the cast of Episode VII: Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen. Welcome aboard! Mentioned in that same press release is news that production will shut down for two weeks next month as Abrams and company reorganize the shooting schedule while Harrison Ford—who broke a leg during filming at Pinewood Studios near London several weeks ago—recuperates from his injury. Wishing Han Solo a full and speedy recovery.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice...

Warner Bros. has just released a promo pic of Henry Cavill in his updated Man of Steel suit for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. We already know how Ben Affleck's Batman and his Batmobile will look in the flick (which will be out in theaters on May 6, 2016), what we need to see now is the lovely Gal Gadot dressed as Wonder Woman...or Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Carry on.

Transformers: Age of Extinction - Movie Review

I watched the newest installment in Michael Bay's fighting alien robots franchise during a midnight screening last night, and the first thing that comes to mind is: Since when did Optimus Prime have booster rockets on his legs? While Transformers: Age of Extinction had lots of great action sequences like in the previous films (the Dinobots definitely lived up to expectations), the story was inconsistent in regards to a major plot point featured in the first two movies. So if it was mysterious beings known as the Creators that built Transformers, then did the AllSpark build the Creators themselves? Or did the Creators construct the AllSpark—which in turn created Optimus Prime and company? I'd mentioned that this discrepancy will hopefully be explained in Transformers 5, but this is a Bay flick; the only thing constant throughout this franchise are giant ass-kicking extraterrestrial robots, plenty of explosions, hot girls in skimpy clothing and more explosions. But at least the cast is different.



Replacing Shia LaBeouf as the main human protagonist in Transformers is, of course, Mark Wahlberg. While he plays a down-on-his luck inventor named Cade Yeager, Wahlberg is better suited for the action sequences that Cade, his daughter Tessa (played by Nicola Peltz) and her boyfriend Shane Dyson (portrayed by Jack Reynor) go through once they encounter Optimus Prime at a barn in the Yeager's Texas homestead. Lucas, played by Cloverfield's T.J. Miller, was initially part of this group...but the main robot antagonist of Age of Extinction, Lockdown, would change all of that. Titus Welliver, who appeared in 2010's The Town and the hit ABC TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., did a nice job portraying a Transformer-hating CIA operative named James Savoy. Doing an even nicer job as the human bad guy of Age of Extinction is Kelsey Grammar—who, as Savoy's CIA boss Harold Attinger, is so sinister in his quest to wipe out Optimus and his kind from the face of the Earth that Grammar tended to sound like Sideshow Bob (his evil but bumbling persona on FOX TV's The Simpsons) when he spoke. But stealing the show, human-wise, in the second and third acts of Age of Extinction is KSI executive Joshua Joyce (played by Stanley Tucci)...who got to have the movie's most interesting character arc by going from being a CEO bent on earning a profit at the expense of the Transformers, to trying to make up for his folly by disposing of a device (known as the Seed) that would've allowed him to make billions of dollars and cause Optimus and his species to become obsolete once and for all.



In terms of the Transformers themselves, they looked absolutely fantastic in Age of Extinction. Bay should get props for having Optimus transform into the classic "G1" truck that fans know and love from the 1980's animated series...even if the truck was riddled with bullet holes and covered in worn-out paint. Bumblebee was his usual child-like but fierce-warrior self from the original trilogy, while John Goodman humorously stood out as the voice of the Autobot who kicked ass while moving around in battle like a "fat ballerina:" Hound. Ken Watanabe was cool as the voice of Drift...the Autobot who looked like a blue Samurai that can transform into a helicopter as well as a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. Crosshairs looked cool as well...though one wonders why Bay didn't just feature Sideswipe instead. Crosshairs transformed into a Corvette Stingray—Sideswipe's vehicle mode of choice in Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon.



In regards to the Decepticons, there was only one who appeared in this movie. Galvatron makes an appearance, but the evil bot that gets the spotlight in Age of Extinction is Lockdown...a cruelly efficient bounty hunter who was sent to Earth to nab Optimus Prime and bring him back to his Creators. When he's not traveling on a giant spacecraft known as the Knight Ship, Lockdown is hunting down prey by driving around as a Lamborghini Aventador. Like Megatron and Sentinel Prime before him, Lockdown was a respectable antagonist who was responsible for the death of a well-known Autobot (as well as hundreds, if not thousands, of people living in China). But not to be upstaged by Lockdown are the numerous man-made Transformers that were built by Joshua Joyce's company, KSI. Combined with Galvatron's influence and their unique way of transforming, these robots were not to be trifled with in the movie's final act.



For me, what makes the Transformers movies worth watching aren't just the great visual effects and mindless entertainment value (plus Megan Fox before Dark of the Moon came along), but the cool orchestral score by Steve Jablonsky. However, it seems that with each successive movie Jablonsky's music is becoming less and less memorable (which may have to do with him collaborating with popular music bands like Linkin Park for Dark of the Moon and Imagine Dragons with this one). I understand that he's trying to come up with something unique and different for each installment, but my favorite music moment in Age of Extinction was when the original Autobots theme from the 2007 flick was played while Optimus Prime summoned the help of the Dinobots in the movie's final act. Speaking of the Dinobots...



True to the TV commercials and theatrical trailers, the Dinobots' appearance were the highlight of Age of Extinction. It was fitting that they didn't talk at all in the movie (only growled)...seeing as how the Dinobots were portrayed as an ancient band of legendary warriors—knights, to be exact—who had to earn their rightful place in Transformer lore (according to Prime) by helping Optimus confront Galvatron and his army of man-made robots in China. The fact that the Dinobots are of extraterrestrial origin is an amusing twist; since the opening scene of Age of Extinction makes it look like the Dinobots were on Earth since well, the real dinosaurs 65 million years ago. I wonder if the Dinobots will appear in Transformers 5? They can't lurk around in China forever...



All-in-all, Transformers: Age of Extinction was an epic movie. For professional movie critics, it was epic for all the wrong reasons. For me though, it was epic in the way that these giant alien robots are wreaking havoc in an increasing number of places around the world with each film. First, in Qatar for the original Transformers movie. Then, Shanghai, Diego Garcia, Jordan and Egypt for Revenge of Fallen. And then, Russia, the Middle East, Hong Kong (again) and Cambodia for Dark of the Moon (though technically, these last two locales only served as launching points for Pillars that would activate Sentinel Prime's Space Bridge and bring Cybertron to Earth in that flick). One can be sure that other countries will feel the influence of the Autobots and the wrath of Galvatron in the next installment..though one also ponders if we'll get more scenes that take place in outer space. SPOILER AHEAD: Optimus Prime did, after all, use booster rockets that came out of nowhere to depart from Earth and look for the Creators that sent Lockdown after him. We'll see what Michael Bay (if he's directing) and Ehren Kruger (if he's writing) have in store for Transformers 5. Oh, and will Tessa Yeager join a sorority in college for the next movie? If so, her stint there will be short-lived. Long live the Transformers!

Get Ready for Pacific Rim 2!

Guillermo Del Toro's much-anticipated sequel (if you enjoyed the first Pacific Rim movie, which I totally did) to last year's Jaeger vs. Kaiju flick just got greenlit by Warner Bros. for production! Pacific Rim 2 gets released in theaters nationwide on April 7, 2017... Can't wait!

Star Wars: Episode VIII Gets A Director!

While J.J. Abrams is hard at work filming Star Wars: Episode VII in England, Disney has just announced that Rian Johnson—who helmed previous sci-fi flicks like Looper and acclaimed TV shows like AMC's Breaking Bad—will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII. This is great news, what with Looper being a terrific movie and all. (Admittedly, I never watched an episode of Breaking Bad before it came to an end last year.) What I want to know is: Will Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Emily Blunt (won't mention Bruce Willis out of being realistic about this) have any type of role in the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy? Blunt showed that she can handle sci-fi action films quite well with Edge of Tomorrow and Gordon-Levitt is Batman's heir in The Dark Knight Rises, so this isn't a far-fetched idea. Here's hoping that Harrison Ford, assuming he returns as Han Solo in Episode VIII, will stay injury-free during this movie's production. In case you didn't know yet, Ford is out for about 2 months after recently breaking his leg during filming on Episode VII. Let's wish him a full and speedy recovery.

Get Ready For Transformers 5!

With a little over a week before Transformers: Age of Extinction hits theaters nationwide, it has been reported online that Paramount Studios has officially greenlit Transformers 5! While there are no reports as to whether or not Michael Bay will return to helm the fifth Transformers live-action flick, there is no reason to believe that he would forego making millions of additional dollars by not directing another installment in the fighting alien robots franchise. Transformers 5 is targeted for release in 2016...the same year that Captain America 3, Independence Day 2 (a.k.a. ID Forever), Star Trek 3, Avatar 2, the first Star Wars spin-off flick and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gets released in cinemas everywhere. And I thought 2015 was gonna be an action-packed year for sci-fi and comic book-loving moviegoers...

Transformers: Age of Extinction...

One thing's for sure, Paramount Studios knows how to design really awesome advertisements for its Transformers movies...and ensure that they are extremely visible at cinemas everywhere, particularly outside AMC theaters. I took all but one of these photos with my smartphone while I was at work, the lone exception being that kick-ass poster for Age of Extinction at the bottom of this entry.

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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Dumb and Dumber To!

I can't wait to see what hilariously moronic shenanigans Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) have up their sleeves when they return to the big screen this November! And when does the first trailer come out? Will we be privy to another funny moment like the scene in 1994's Dumb & Dumber where Lloyd falls off a jetway (again)? Dumb and Dumber To can't arrive at theaters soon enough!


Universal Pictures