Thursday, May 5, 2011

Kevin's Korner - A whole bunch of good shit

No, it isn't microscopic creatures that live in your cells called midichloriones, it's Kevin's Korner! Duh. Welcome to another post of the Korner, where I wrap up all the movie and TV news from the past week into a nice, neat, slightly sarcastic package. No, it's ok, you don't have to thank me. This week, all kinds of crazy stuff happened, including celebrating Star Wars day on May the 4th (ya know, "May the Fourth be with you") and plenty of casting news. I also have the box office breakdown and a trailer of the week. Check it out, and thanks for being in my Korner.

You know you want it, it's the news (with totally real photographic proof)...

Star Wars Blu-Ray release date and info - I'm a huge Star Wars fan. Yes, that means that you'll often hear me talking about Han shooting first, or how the prequels were just a wreck, compared to my coveted original trilogy, or how Jar Jar was the devil with floppy ears, but it also means I gladly look to spend stupid amounts of money on the saga. So, when May 4th came, we saw the release date of September 16th in the States and September 11th internationally for the Blu-Ray version of the saga, I was extremely excited. We also had some special features announced, along with audio commentary, on top of the news that we get 40 plus hours of special features, along with the beautiful high definition movie. It's also interesting to note you can buy the movies three ways; the original trilogy, the prequels, or the whole set. I would assume this was done for all the people who hated the prequels, and have no desire to spend money on them again. Come on, I know you're out there.

We finally get to go to the Cabin in the Woods - It seems that the almost forgotten Cabin in the Woods is finally going to see the light of day. The rumored release date is October 28th. The film is directed by Drew Goddard (writer of Cloverfield), written by Goddard and Joss Whedon and stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford and Brian White. It looks like, with the success of Thor, studios are thinking Hemsorth's name will bring in some dough. I'm just interested to see what Whedon can do with a movie script.

'Kill Bin Laden' film being fast tracked after Bin Laden, well, dies - Oscar award winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) has been setting up pre-production on a movie about a mission to kill the terrorist leader right after September 11th. Obviously, with the events of late, the movie may get a script adjustment or two. Apparently, because Bigelow did a movie about events in the desert, she's automatically qualified to do another. When this comes out, is there any doubt it will be nominated for an Oscar? I say no.

Truth, Justice and the ... well, not American Way - The big blue boyscout has had a busy year. Besides having a movie coming out, the DC comic book hero celebrated his 900th issue with a 100 page compilation of Superman stories done by different artists and writers. One of the stories, however, is the one that everyone is talking about. In the story, Supes stands between protesters in Syria for 24 hours, and afterwards renounces his American citizenship to avoid getting the U.S. in trouble. Since, there have been headlines of Superman renouncing his citizenship, and even The Colbert Report was getting into the act. Before anyone gets too upset, you need to realize it was a small, lame story from a guest artist that has nothing to do with the continuity of the story. That being said, I'm sure Superman fans will be talking about it for years to come, mainly as the story they refuse to acknowledge.

The Avengers are Shut Down after script leak - Don't worry, you won't see the leaked script photos from me, mainly because I don't want to see it myself. After seeing Thor, I'm very excited for The Avengers, and I think it ought to be a huge event. It's the buildup we've been waiting for since the first Iron Man movie. Apparently, someone didn't feel the same way, and got their hands on Samuel L. Jackson's script, or atleast a few pages. As a result, shooting was stopped while the script pages were adjusted.

The Fresh O'Meter gets stale - News came this week that Warner Bros. has bought Flixster, and with it, the movie rating site Rotten Tomatoes. The site is known for having reviews of movies from fans and critics, and the Fresh Meter, witch accumulates the critics reviews into a number that gives readers a clear idea on whether to see the movie or not. However, with a movie studio now owning the site, the question is whether that number will be as sacred as it used to be. In journalism class, I learned all about ethics and conflict of interest. I see no difference between those lessons and this situation. It's clearly a conflict of interest, here, and while it accumulates numbers based on critics, it doesn't mean there is no way that number can't be tampered. Now, will it? I seriously doubt it. Rotten Tomatoes works off a reputation, and I doubt they would do anything to jeopardize that. That being said, I now doubt that number a bit more, especially if it's a WB movie.

Now, before you get all upset, and tell me that site is hardly holy, and cite some crazy critic, let me say I understand movie opinions are all just that; opinions. But, Rotten Tomatoes is pretty particular about who they call a critic, and the culmination of their ratings are a good tool to use while judging on whether to view the movie or not. Also, WB was looking mainly for the Flixter system, and it seems like Rotten Tomatoes was hardly the target of the purchase.

Paranormal Activity 3 gets director and October release date - The Paranormal Activity franchise is pretty famous for essentially coming from nowhere. The first movie had a ridiculously low budget, and made over $100 million in theathers. The movie broke barriers in marketing and distribution, and on top of all that was scary as hell. The second movie also did pretty well, but was way more commercial. The third movie looks to take it back to the basic roots by hiring Catfish directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Catfish was famous for being a highly debated documentary. If you haven't seen it, you should, given this day and age. Whether the documentary was real or not (I tend to believe it is) it was still a pretty decent movie. With an up and coming pair of directors who have a new take on the movie, there is no telling what we could get. But, I will be there, come October.

Iron Man writers rebooting Tomb Raider - I was saying the other day that the one thing I wanted to see in Hollywood was a reboot. I mean, you never see those, and I figured it would be refreshing. Like a gift from Heaven, it was announced the writers of Iron Man Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby would be writing a reboot script for Tomb Raider. Haven't you always wanted to know how Lara Croft became a sexy, sexy Indiana Jones? Of course you have, and we shall have it!

Tarantino has Spaghetti Western script - Djano Unchained is the title to the newest script by famed film buff Quentin Tarantino. It has been described before as a spaghetti western that takes place in the south, and the only name attached to the project is Inglorious Basterds star Christoph Waltz. The plot has been described as "It’s a western whose lead character is a former slave who is in league with Waltz to save his wife from an evil plantation owner." It could be interesting to see what Tarantino does with the genre, which hasn't had many successful movies lately (True Grit being one of the few). It's also rumored that Tarantino is meeting with Will Smith for a role in the film.

Forget the year of the Cock - Blastr has a new zodiac up that replaces the old Chinese zodiac with something a bit more modern; the geek zodiac. So, give it a look and see what geek icon you are.

DVD Releases -

No Strings Attached
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Black Death
I Saw the Devil

The Box Office Breakdown - It's Hammer Time -

Thor rocked the box office, and came in number one with $66 million. Believe it or not, the movie has the second highest opening in the month of May, second to Fast and Furious -er-er.

1. Thor - $66 million ($66 million total)
2. Fast Five - $32.5 million ($139.9 million total)
3. Jumping the Broom - $13.7 million ($13.7 million total)
4. Something Borrowed - $13.1 million ($13.1 million total)
5. Rio - $8.2 million ($114.9 million total)
6. Water For Elephants - $5.6 million ($41.6 million total)
7. Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family - $3.9 million ($46.8 million total)
8. Prom - $2.4 million ($7.8 million total)
9. Soul Surfer - $2.1 million ($36.7 million total)
10. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil - $1.9 million ($6.7 million total)

I actually really liked Thor. I thought the script was a little weak in places, but did a great job of putting the God of Thunder into a world with Iron Man and the Hulk. I thought the fight scene with the ice giants in the beginning was incredible, and wish we would've had more of that. They also did a good job of creating a true threat to a god. I also thought the actors all really seemed to enjoy their roles, and they all put a lot of themselves into the role. It leaves me extremely excited for the Avengers now.

What did you think of Thor? What else did you contribute your hard earned George Washington's to over the weekend?


Trailer of the week:
Green Lantern Theatrical trailer 2 -I actually getting exited about this film. I wasn't before, but with this trailer, and the obvious attempt to get the effects better than the original trailer, I have hope for this movie. If nothing else, it looks to be an entertaining popcorn flick. What do you think?












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