A Little Holiday Cheer: Silver Bells

Here at Grizzly Bomb we bring you the latest in news, reviews and gossip about everything that interests us from movies to comics to television. The Grizz tends to be slanted towards all things superhero/comic book inspired, but we have broadened our horizons into more varied genres, music and dashes of sports analysis here and there as of late. With that in mind I’d like to introduce a little bit of holiday cheer for all the bomb droppers and Grizzly readers out there.

I live in Boston Massachusetts, and there are a lot of good reasons that the term “Masshole” has become part of the common vernacular, especially to those uninitiated to the experience of driving in our fair city. The term is clearly not a characterization of all of Boston’s inhabitants and one great example of that is my friend Peter. Peter A. Cancilla, as he is professionally known, runs a small video production company called Vaudeville Pictures and is the type of guy who wears a three-piece suit to take out the trash with an appropriate “taking out the trash” hat to accompany the trip. Peter wears many hats in fact, literally and figuratively, but one of his most interesting passions is puppetry. It is in that endeavor I was recently able to help with the production of his latest Christmas masterpiece.

In order to coordinate all the action in this video the cast and crew of friends and acquaintances numbered in the 20’s and everything was shot over a handful of long cold evenings. The results are a spectacular example of what Peter loves most: bringing people together to enjoy each others company and making people smile through the art of song and goofy puppets. Although this is definitely a Christmas song I think there’s enough whimsy and joy in there for anybody celebrating the December Holidays to appreciate it.

Happy Holidays!

‘Game of Thrones’ Spoiler Free Updates: I’ll Drink to That!

We are all going to have to wait until the end of March before HBO’s Game of Thrones season three make it’s way into your living room but we don’t have to wait that long to open our early GoT Christmas gifts.

First up we get a nice little interview on the Jimmy Kimmel show from everybody’s favorite stormborn, Daenerys Targaryen ie. Emilia Clarke. It wasn’t surprising to learn that Emilia is really a brunette with a British accent, but it is truly impressive that they manage to get those long platinum locks to look so natural by using a wig. Altogether the interview isn’t that compelling, but she does reveal to those who haven’t read the series that Danny gets a little bad ass in season three which is an understatement by a long shot. Think Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction except times really are Medieval (sort of).

Secondly we get some more non-spoiler type news about the upcoming season from EW.com, namely that the third seasons episodes will be slightly longer, including an extra long season finale. This will make the GoT 10-episode season seem more like an 11-episode season as far as actual screen time is concerned. It also seems that the episodes will be getting a more thorough treatment if you read into another comment from the aforementioned article. The article alludes to the fact that the writers are dealing with roughly the first half of A Storm of Swords which would be a change from the first two season that pretty much ended at the same place as the books. This actually make perfect sense as there is a great cliff hanger about 2/3 of the way through Storms and for those of you who thought the end of season one was surprising… you ain’t seen nothing yet!

What I’m most excited for believe it or not, other than the actual season, is the release of the GoT “Iron Throne” beer! What makes this especially exciting is that this isn’t some money-grabbing, HBO-promoting, fan-abusing beer release (OK maybe a little) because Ommegang, as beer lovers out there know, is a legit craft brewery who make a quality product. The beer is set to be released in March, just in time to crack one open as you sit back and watch the season three opening episode, so I guess there will be some cross promoting after all.

First Trailer for ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ (nee Killer)

Predicated on the success of such films as Snow White and the Huntsman, Mirror Mirror and the Television series Grimm we get a peek into another fairy tale turned Hollywood glamorfest in Jack the Giant Slayer (no longer a non-PC killer). The feature trailer is out and at first look is pretty impressive.

You’ve got Bryan Singer Directing, who will eternally be dear to my heart because of The Usual Suspects, but is probably better known for the X-Men series at this point. The movie stars great character actors in Ewan McGregor, Ian McShane and Stanley Tucci, and rising young stars in Eleanor Tomlinson and Nicholas Hoult. Sounds like a recipe for success especially with Singer collaborator Christopher McQuarie, The Usual Suspects and Valkyrie, on board with screenplay credits.

The story, of course, is a jacked up version of Jack and the Beanstalk resplendent with magic beans and everything. Bryan Singer must have liked Nicholas Hoult’s work as Beast in the X-Men prequels as he gets the starring role in this film as Jack, whom apparently eventually slays some Giants. Speaking of reunions Ewan McGregor, the king’s right hand man, is reunited with Trainspotting cohort Ewen Bremner whom I must assume is playing a Giant with an indecipherable Welsh accent. Ian McShane, the famously bilesome ‘Al Swearengen‘, is the king of this realm and it is his daughter, the princess (Tomlinson) who finds herself up the beanstalk, as it were,  in need of rescue. Tucci gets the role of the villain it seems, a human cohort of the Giants who riles them to take back the realm of men.

Altogether in scope and cast this film seems to have a lot going for it despite the absurdity of it’s subject. The Giants look pretty impressive, but like all things special effectery you hope they don’t get too much in the way of the storyline. It’s going to be a bit of a wait for anyone who’s genuinely excited about this project as it isn’t scheduled for release until the Summer of next year, but I would expect to see this trailer or an updated one featured on the big screen before any screening of The Hobbit this Christmas.

Lincoln Logs In: Last Trailer Before Friday…

Daniel Day Lewis plays the namesake in Lincoln, Steven Spielberg’s latest theatrical release, which seemingly has Oscar written all over it. [checklist]

• Legendary director? Check.
• Epic period piece? Check.
• Daniel Day Lewis being Daniel Day Lewis? Check.
• A ridiculously talented supporting cast? Check.
• Sappy American back story that everyone thinks they are familiar with? Check.

[/checklist] If only there were some hookers or handicaps to round out the story you could guarantee the film would sweep the Oscars this year…

Let’s face it Daniel Day Lewis is awesome, and you know he is going to hit it out of the park when it comes to his portrayal of Lincoln, but it almost seems too easy. Lincoln is one of the most beloved and revered historical figures in American history so hopefully this film will not simply be a further exploration of what we already know, but instead a glimpse into the darker sides of the President’s life. Early indications from the trailer are that we will see Lincoln’s struggle to lead a nation through its greatest conflict and moral dilemma but you have to wonder if that is enough of a challenge for the great Daniel Day. He is at his best when portraying flawed characters and I’m not sure if Spielberg’s Lincoln will be more than a Patriotic shadow of the towering icon, but you might not imagine that Lewis would sign on for that kind of project.

This particular trailer is light on the battle action but it seems like there will be some spectacular recreations of the Civil War in a Saving Private Ryan-esque style. Lincoln clocks in at 149 minutes which is less than you might expect from a movie of this scope but does indicate that there will probably be some long boring court scenes to balance out the battlefields. As far as I can tell there will be no zombie killing in this retelling of the Lincoln story, but Spoiler Alert: Lincoln dies in the end!

Benedict Cumberbatch is Bigger Than Jesus: Attached to Play the 5th Beatle.

Fans of the hit show Sherlock, the good one not the crappy American version Elementary, should be overjoyed at the recent Hollywood Reporter announcement that Benedict Cumberbatch and Paul McGuigan are teaming up to bring the story of The Beatles manager Brian Epstein to the big screen. Cumberbatch will play Epstein in the yet untitled film, and McGuigan, who has directed several episodes of Sherlock, is attached to direct. Like any good story to come out of Hollywood there is also another Brian Epstein biopic in the works based on Vivek J Tiwary’s graphic novel titled The Fifth Beatle, Epstein’s oft used nickname. McGuigan and Cumberbatch do have the advantage of having Tom Hanks in their producing corner however, so hopefully that will bring some extra credibility to the project.

The story is reported to focus more on the personal life of Epstein than that of The Beatles, and little as I know about Brian Epstein he is described as a “closet homosexual with drug and gambling problems” so it seems like there is a lot of material to draw from other than him being the manager of the biggest band in the world.

For his part Cumberbatch has become quite the hot commodity of late, lending his talents to the much-anticipated The Hobbit, working with Brad Pitt in Twelve Years a Slave, and taking on the role of a young Khan (rumored) in J.J. Abrams world of Star Trek. One would think that the familiarity between Cumberbatch and McGuigan will help raise the acting level of the project and as pictured above, at least on looks and accent, it seems like they have the right man for the part.

‘Carrie’ Trailer – You Will Know Her Name

It’s almost Halloween, so what better time to start promoting the “updated” Carrie? This, the latest Hollywood remake (which isn’t actually scheduled for release until March of 2013) of the classic Stephen King novel adaptation stars Chloe Grace Moretz in the title role, and also features Julianne Moore as the over-bearing, crazy religious mother of Carrie White.

Chloe, who is only fifteen, already has a list of disturbing characters on her resume: Hit-Girl from Kick Ass, the vampire in Let Me In and the oversexualized werewolf child in Dark Shadows, so I guess playing the telekenetically charged, disturbed teen that is Carrie is just a natural progression for her. Personally, I would like to see Moretz get more roles like the one she had in Hugo as opposed to being typecast as “the creepy girl”, but she has proved to be a talented actress so hopefully her turn in Carrie will be just another stepping stone.

http://d.yimg.com/nl/movies/site/player.html#vid=30872265&browseCarouselUI=hide&repeat=0&shareUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fmovies.yahoo.com%2Fvideo%2Fymovies-6393699%2Fcarrie-trailer-1-30872265.html&startScreenCarouselUI=hide

This movie still seems to be in the early stages of post-production/promotions as demonstrated by the lack of substance from their first trailer and website.  The trailer is impressive in it’s scope of capturing what is essentially the pivotal scene of the first movie but you’ve got to wonder where else they are going to go with the story. One of the weaknesses of doing a remake is that you aren’t surprising anybody with the main plot points so it will be interesting to see how the films fairly inexperienced director and screenwriter keep things fresh. It’s encouraging to see Julianne Moore attached to the project as she is definitely a talented actress but no one survives forever without making bad movie choices eventually. Screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa apparently got the job based on his work on Glee so maybe we can expect a song and dance number or two and the slushie in the face has clearly moved to the next level.

 

“Super Troopers 2”: Start Freaking Out, Man!

The title of this article from Filmdrunk is enough to get any fans of the original Super Troopers, count me in, very excited. However, like many things on the interwebs it is a bit misleading. “Super Troopers 2 is happening!” is actually a quote from Broken Lizard’s Kevin Heffernan when he was asked what the next Lizard project would be. Jay Chandrasekhar’s comments later on in the same live discussion is a bit more lukewarm: “Super Troopers 2 will likely happen. Not ’78, We changed out minds.”

This is the first that I’ve heard of a Super Troopers sequel so I am guessing the ’78 reference is in regards to an idea they had thrown around about doing the second movie set in 1978 which apparently has been scrapped. When further pressed about ST2 and it’s state of development Chandrasekhar is again pretty neutral answering “Thanks for the enthusiasm, pal”. These don’t seem like the types of comments that would lead you to believe a ST2 movie will be coming out anytime soon, but it’s good to see that the Lizard team has been developing the idea and hopefully it won’t be TOO long before they return to their most successful franchise.

Further searching revealed that their problems actually may lie in development hell with Fox Searchlight as they mention in this interview with Coming Soon. They also mention in said interview that they are developing a Beerfest psuedo-sequel that would be pot-themed:

“We’ll also probably make ‘Potfest,’ which was a joke, but then Willie (Nelson) said he would do it, and Snoop Dogg and Cheech (Marin), they both said they would do it and we’re like, ‘We can probably do this.'”

Any way you cut it there will definitely be something funny coming out of the Broken Lizard camp sometime in the not too distant future but whether it’s a Super Troopers sequel or Potfest or some other project is yet to be determined. That’s all the updates you get for meow you chickenf***ers!

Mad Men’s Summer Blues

AMC does a good job of spreading out its popular shows throughout the TV viewing seasons. That means that right now is a great time for those Breaking Bad lovers out there as the fifth season rolls along, but it’s the summer blues for Mad Men viewers and Dish subscribers. Recently though, there was some good news from the notoriously tight-lipped helmsman of the Mad Men experience, as Matthew Weiner admitted that Elisabeth Moss’s ‘Peggy Olson’ will still be a regular character on the show.

Weiner was quoted in that recent interview as saying:

“When people leave Sterling Cooper, sometimes it is the end for [the character],” Weiner allows. “But I will spoil that one tiny piece of anticipation and tell people that Elisabeth will be showing up to work.”

This is certainly great news for fans of the show, as Peggy has consistently been one of the most interesting characters on Mad Men from the word go. It really comes as no big surprise however, probably why Weiner was OK spilling the news, and having Peggy work for one of SCDP’s biggest rivals should only add to the intrigue of the storylines.

Speaking of storylines and Mad Men‘s love of the nostalgic reference, I went onto Wikipedia 1967 to see what interesting historical tidbits might make it into season six’s episodes. The Civil Rights Movement has already been embedded into season 5, but in 1967 there were numerous race riots across the country so we should expect a lot more of this topic along with a nod to Thurgood Marshall; the first African-American elected to the Supreme Court. The Vietnam War and protests at home were still a big news item so it will be interesting to see whether or nor we see a reappearance of Dr. Greg, or hopefully Dr. Greg’s corpse. The worst of the Vietnam years is still to come so I don’t think it will be a major presence, but if there is any major nod this season I would guess it to be Muhammad Ali’s refusal to serve in the Military after being drafted.

Richard Speck, who was the guy who killed the nurses and was featured in the “Mystery Date” episode, was sentenced to the electric chair in 1967 so that would be a nice opportunity to put a bow on that storyline, and possibly comment on the moral dilemmas of corporal punishment. The very first Superbowl was in 1967 between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs, but Mad Men doesn’t make a lot of sports references so it would be a long shot for show material. The space race is still somewhat prevalent in the 1960’s so you might see the mention of the ‘Apollo 1’ disaster that killed three American astronauts. There are some other long-shots for episode material including the capture of Che Guevera, jokes about Allen Ginsberg and character Michael Ginsberg, but my favorite if I could put money on it is when John McCain was shot down and captured by the Viet Cong.

Mad Men as a cultural reference machine has always done a great job of incorporating and referencing relevant music and 1967 provides a lot of great candidates. The Beatles of course start to explode and diversify their sound, and the other side of the rock and roll coin – The Rolling Stones make their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show to be the next big thing. Dark Horse candidates include the debuts of Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd, but you would probably be safer betting on references to The Doors and Ed Sullivan as well as Monterey Pop, the first famous major outdoor music festival.

Any way you shake it out there is plenty of material out there for the Mad Men writing staff to flesh out some more interesting plot lines, and after stepping up the actual drama last season I expect nothing but a more exciting season 6. For those of you who still haven’t gotten into Mad Men, or who are still catching up, there’s nothing like 7-8 straight hours of the show to get you hooked and take a break from snarky American swimmers. Any chance Ryan Lochte can make an appearance next season so he can get punched in the face like Pete Campbell?

2012 ‘Hall of Fame’ Inductees – Shanahan Snubbed

The 2012 Hockey Hall of Fame class has been decided and joining the no-brainer, first-ballot Joe Sakic are Pavel Bure, Adam Oates and Mats Sundin. The biggest surprise of the nomination process, much to the chagrin of Red Wings Nation, was the omission of Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan is definitely Hall of Fame caliber and will certainly be voted in eventually so you have to wonder if this years neglect is a self-imposed Shanaban or if it’s continued sour grapes from the way Shanahan bullied his way out of playing for the Hartford Whalers franchise. Either way Shanny is going to have to wait at least a year before his 1354 regular season points and three Stanley Cup championships are heralded in the basement of Brookfield Place in Toronto.

Collectible Shanahan

Other first year eligible notables included Jeremy Roenick, Gary Roberts, Curtis Joseph and Claude “the Fraud” Lemieux. It’s no huge surprise to me that none of these guys had the collective support to make it in this year except of course Mats Sundin over Shanahan as a first-balloter. One extra thing to take into consideration, and what I expect tipped the scales for Sweden’s Sundin, is that this is the HOCKEY Hall of Fame and not the NHL Hall of Fame so therefore international experience and clout hold a little extra sway. Also the Hockey Hall of Fame is in Toronto and there’s no subtle coincidence that the honks voted in the long-time Maple Leaf Captain so quickly.

Bure and Oates made it out of the waiting line but some of the greats still waiting behind the velvet rope include Dave Andreychuk, Eric Lindros, Steve Larmer, Kevin Lowe, Tom Barrasso and Mike Richter. The most impressive of these stand byes is probably Dave Andreychuk who amassed an impressive 1338 points over 23 seasons in the NHL and topping it all of by helping Tampa Bay get a Stanley Cup Championship in 2004. I still maintain that because of the lockout Tampa was the 2-year reigning Stanley Cup Champion so therefore Dave actually has 2 (sort of) Stanley Cup victories. It also amazes me that Kevin Lowe who has more Stanley Cup rings than can fit on one hand is still not in the Hall and perhaps illustrates the bias against defensive defensemen as Lowe’s 431 career points aren’t blowing anyone away. He was a career +252 for goodness sakes though!

It’s not too surprising that it took a bit of a wait for Pavel Bure to make the Hall as he had a relatively short NHL career and never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals but he was an electric goal scorer who notched 437 goals in a mere 702 games also bagged one of the hottest model/”athletes” of his time in Anna Kournikova. She belongs on any Hall of Fame resume.

Adam Oates is famous for having perhaps the slickest pair of hands in the NHL and in his heyday averaged over an assist a game an impressively finished with 1079 assists in 1337 regular season games. Oates is another guy who never had his name etched on Lord Stanley’ cup but is having a hell of a week as he was not only inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this week but was also named as the new Head Coach of the Washington Capitals.

A couple of other quick Hockey notes for the week: Another young Russian was at the head of the NHL Draft class as Edmonton continues to draft in the top spot and the Pittsburgh Penguins signed Sidney Crosby to a 12-year $104 million dollar deal. I realize that Sidney Crosby is perhaps the best player in the NHL when he is healthy but you’ve gotta wonder about this long-term contract after the horrendous concussion history Crosby has. You’ve got to look no farther than the Boston Bruin’s Marc Savard and Nathan Horton to see how quickly serious concussions can derail a talented players career. If this also means that the Penguins are considering parting ways with Evgeni Malkin, perhaps the second best player in the NHL, as John Buccigross has suggested then I think the Penguins are betting on the wrong horse face of the franchise or no.

Till next time Puckheads!

Mad Med Episode 513: “The Phantom” Finale

Considering that in the past two weeks the notoriously slow-paced Mad Men had one of its oldest and most popular characters leave the firm followed by one of the partners killing themselves I was expecting, as probably was the fan base at large, some sort of momentous season finale cliff hanger. That clearly was not in the cards. While the season finale, by regular episode standards, did have a couple of surprises, as a season-ender it fell a bit short as far as drama goes.

The episode was titled “The Phantom” and we are treated with phantoms both literally and figuratively. Don, feeling the stress and guilt of Lane’s suicide, is habitually visited throughout the episode by his brother, whom was also a suicide victim and receiver of Don’s tough love. We also get a Peggy Olson appearance this week, and hopefully this will quell the rumors that Elisabeth Moss is done with Mad Men, and she is more than a Phantom. Peggy has her own storyline in fact as she is handed a new account for women’s cigarettes that will, as we know, eventually become Virginia Slims and a major marketing success in its own time. We are witness to a nice conciliatory meeting between Don and Peggy at the movie theater, sans handy I would assume, and the puzzling image of dogs humping outside of Peggy’s Virginia hotel room. It looks like Peggy is here to stay and thank goodness for that.

The other major phantom of the episode comes in the form of Pete’s on-again off-again affair partner whom we learn is the frequent victim/consumer of electroshock therapy. After an uncomfortable encounter on the train, Pete gets a booty call from Beth Dawes and skips out on the Partners meeting for the liaison. Here he learns about her treatment and her desire to have one last fling before her memory is erased and all memories of Pete Campbell are gone. I’m sure there are some people out there who would jump at the chance to have all memories of Pete Campbell erased from their mind, but he does such a good job of being a dick you just shouldn’t do that to yourself. As an added bonus we also get to see Pete punched in the face two more times this episode! He really is a despicable character when as soon as you start to feel for the guy after he opens his heart to the post trauma Beth and confronts her scumbag husband, he acts like a total prick to the good-natured train cop and you are once again cheering as Pete takes another shot to the kisser. Whomever came up with this gem will have to update it with the new footage.

The cliff-hanger for the season finale hinges upon Don and Megan’s relationship. Megan’s acting career has continued to flounder and in this episode she gets desperate and stabs her friend in the back by asking Don to consider her for a commercial that SCDP will be producing instead of her considering her friend who had asked the favor. Megan’s mother is in town, rekindling her romance with Roger Sterling, and Megan’s depressive ways lead to a confrontation between her and Don which may have been the key to changing Don and Megan’s relationship as a whole. Megan’s mom describes her as someone with an artist’s sensibility without the artists talent. Don, after watching Megan’s test reel, acquiesces to her desires and gets her the commercial gig. The big question though, the one we are left with as the woman down the bar hits on Don asking “if he is alone”, is whether or not Don has lost respect for Megan. Did he give in and get her the gig because he really thinks she deserves it and just hasn’t gotten her break, or is he secretly disgusted at her lack of gumption and willingness to work hard at her art and gave her the job because it’s proof to her callous need to be spoiled. Fortunately the wait for season 6 will be significantly shorter than the wait for season 5 was, but still is too long if you ask me.

Two other things from the finale. SCDP is apparently making money hand over fist and will be moving into a larger space and Roger Sterling is doing LSD again… see gratuitous man ass.