Friday, August 26, 2011

Korner 19

Welcome to another edition of Kevin's Korner, your one stop for all that is geeky. We've got the usual this week, movie news, trailers and a ton more. I want to take a moment to thank everyone reading. I really appreciate all the support and comments from this incredible 411mania online community. This column, besides being a ton of fun is a great way to share my love and excitement with movies with like-minded others.

For those who read me weekly, you may know that I'm getting ready to get married. We're down to 46 days, and I can't wait. I thank my fiancee everyday for all she is and all she does for me.

I'm in the news business, and business is a boomin...

Last Exorcism 2 gets a sequel? Wha? - So, I'm confused by how or why this would happen. I mean, I know why it would happen; money, the movie only cost a bit over a million to make, but made over $60 million, but how could the story work? If you aren't familiar with the original, it's a documentary style film about an exorcist who lost faith, and when he goes to prove exorcisms are fake, he is confronted with a true test of faith. I really enjoyed the film, and the performances by both Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell were fantastic. I hope they don't ruin it by making the second a Blair Witch 2.

Wendell Pierce calls ‘The Help’ Racist – The actor from The Wire and Treme has tweeted up a storm regarding the Emma Stone hit The Help, saying the movie waters down the misery of black people in the ‘60s, and that he took his mother to see the film and said she was insulted by what she saw. Pierce says the film is just another example of a “great white person saving they day,” and that the ending was very naïve. Now, at first, I considered this a non-news item, but as I sat and thought about it, I got more and more annoyed. First off, you are allowed your opinion on a movie, no matter what, and I would never say you aren’t allowed yours. That being said, I really hate it when people watch a movie that is supposed to be a feel good film and find something bad in it. In this case, he saw racisim in a movie that talks about racism, but instead of seeing the film for what it is, he claims racism by the film, not the topic. I personally hate it when anyone cries racism, I find the idea ridiculous and disgusting, and for someone to say this film is racist just seems filly to me.

Doctor Who will have a full season – Steven “The Moff” Moffat, head writer for Doctor Who has said that rumors of a shortened season in 2012 were incorrect. He said that BBC wouldn’t allow it, and the fans wouldn’t allow it, especially since the ratings were very good both in the U.K. and in the U.S. The show just came back from a mid-season break with the episode “Lets Kill Hitler.” The rumor was that the show would back off to save money for an explosive season in 2013, it’s 50th anniversary year. Matt Smith and Karen Gillian are confirmed back next year.

OK Go does amazing Muppet themed video – If you haven’t seen OK Go’s video for the Muppet Show introduction, then you are about to be pleasantly surprised. The band is known for their fantastic videos, and this one is my favorite. Check it out!


Sequels, sequels everywhere…

Tron 3 is a go per … Tron – Apparently, Tron himself, Bruce Boxleitner had said that Tron 3 would be the talk of the town come 2013. Disney had been fairly tight-lipped about the film after the second movie, especially after they rejected the directors plans for a different movie, but if anyone knows, it’s Tron. It seems to me, he may have let the cat out of the bag a bit early. Check out the video HERE.

Romancing the Stone – Fox is searching for a director to bring an exciting new take to the classic Robert Zemeckis film Romancing the Stone. Sequel plans have been rumored for awhile, but with the studio looking for a director, it looks like the studio could finally be getting serious. I really liked the first film, and if done right, the remake could be good.

Troll remake gets curious title - John Carl Buechler is getting ready to remake the classic film “Troll,” but with an interesting title: “Troll: The Rise of Harry Potter.” The film had a character in the first with the name of Harry Potter, several years before J.K. Rowling wrote the books (I doubt she drew inspiration from the film) so I don’t know if Rowling or Warner Bros. has any legal grounds here, but it seems like the title is just a way to get people who don’t pay attention to come see the film. I’m calling it cheap, what’s your take?

Worst movie ever – Speaking of the Troll series, you may remember the horrible sequel, called Troll 2, which really had nothing to do with the first, or anything else for that matter. The film is one of the worst movies ever, and I would agree, and that’s saying something. That being said, there is another film that looks to claim that spot; “The Worst Movie Ever.” I think it’s cheating when you put your goal in the title, but whatever. The film has the lowest box office totals ever, with $11. That’s right, I got the number correct, $11. It’s hard to believe, until you see the trailer:


Star Wars gets ‘fixed’ again – For the release of the Star Wars saga on Blu-Ray, it was announced certain changes would be made to the film. Once that happened, most Star Wars geeks were like me, and wondered if this change would have Jar Jar Binks be the one shooting first. In a pleasant surprise, it looks like most of the changes were fixing some of the technical aspects, like bad sound, or special effects hiccups with light sabers, and removing the puppeteers arm from one shot, things like that. They also added a digital Yoda for the first film, A Phantom Menace, so the prequels would all be consistent with a digital Yoda, as opposed to having a weird puppet in the first, which looks quite different from any of the other films. There are rumors that George Lucas has said there are “a few more surprises in there,” which makes me nervous, but fixing the technical aspects is understandable, I guess. I would love the original, theatrical editions, though. No digital Jabba, no Greedo shooting first, no goofy CGI Tattooine shots, just the classic stuff, but that’s just me.

A new Star Trek TV Show? – My inner geek gets excited every time I hear the rumor, and apparently David Foster’s does, too. The pitch, which looks to be well thought-out will be separate from the J.J. Abrams films, and will be post-Voyager, setting up the Ferengi to be a new adversary to a Federation dealing with issues from the Klingons. Foster is hoping to get back to Gene Roddenberry’s vision, which is good news, and sites inspiration from Joss Whedon, which is also good. I do love Star Trek, but I think the execution has to be solid for any hope. But, right now, there aren’t too many solid Sci-fi shows on TV with Battlestar Galactica gone, no Star Trek for a few years now, and pretty much nothing coming up, I think this is a good time. What do you think, would you watch a new Star Trek show?

Portal: No Escape – If you haven’t played Portal yet, I would recommend you do. It’s a very inventive puzzle game like no other. After the sequel came out, we get this fan video which puts most other fan videos to shame. Check it out, it’s worth your time.


Avengers roundup – Another week of leaked Avengers info. The more we see, the more it points to aliens attacking, which means Skrulls. 411mania had pictures of what looks like it could be an alien craft HERE. It shows some promise, especially since those are raw props, without any camera trickery or CGI. Also, today, there is some leaked footage of Captain America and Loki dueling it out (see the video HERE). With all these videos and photos leaking, it seems to me that we are in for one heck of a big battle that should be pretty amazing. I get more and more excited with everything I see.

Finally, we have a new poster for the film. I’m not super excited, but I guess it’ll do the trick. Thoughts?




Dark Knight Rises fan poster – Check out this incredibly well made fan poster for the third Batman film. I would think it would raise the standards on what the studio will make now.



How it Should’ve Ended – Harry Potter – Howitshouldveended came up with another video, showing what should have happened at the end of the 8th film. As usual, I laughed really hard, and it made me think the guys who wrote this stuff are pretty good! Make sure to stay through the credits.



Movies hitting the shelves today …

90210: Season 3
Cougar Town: Season 2
Death of a Cheerleader
Desperate Housewives: Season 7
Madea’s Big Happy Family
Nikita: Season 1
Parenthood: Season 2


Box Office Breakdown – The Help wins again!
The Emma Stone film remains number one, beating out newcomers Colombiana, which got $10 million, and the Benecio Del Toro produced horror film Don’t be Afraid of the Dark, which got $8.7 million. Conan took a hard drop, down to $3 million, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes did pretty good with $8 million. Overall, it looks like a light weekend for movies.

1. The Help - $14.3 million ($96.6 million total)
2. Colombiana - $10.3 million ($10.3 million total)
3. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - $8.7 million ($8.7 million total)
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $8.7 million ($148.5 million total)
5. Our Idiot Brother - $6.6 million ($6.6 million total)
6. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World - $5.7 million ($21.7 million total)
7. The Smurfs - $4.8 million ($126.0 million total)
8. Conan the Barbarian - $3.1 million ($16.6 million total)
9. Fright Night - $3.0 million ($14.2 million total)
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love. - $2.9 million ($69.5 million total)

Trailer of the Week –
I was hoping to get a good trailer for the Hunger Games, which was promised during the VMA’s, but sadly, all we got was this:

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music



Pretty much nothing, right? A waste of 30 seconds, isn’t it? I may want to see it, simply to see the Battle Royal adaptation (don’t correct me and say it was based on a book).
So, let me make it up to you. I present the trailer for Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Yeah, you’re welcome.



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