We’ve seen all too often movie sequels take missteps after great starts. Be it too many villains – the ’90s Batman sequels, Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, etc. – or too much reliance on bringing back past characters, which has been a big knock on much of the Disney-Era Star Wars Universe. Too much reliance on the Skywalkers makes a vast galaxy seem small.
Continue reading Is The Mandalorian Making A Mistake With Season 2?
In 1978 John Carpenter and Debra Hill gave us one of the greatest indie movies of all time in Halloween. It has become a true classic, the theme music iconically representing the season, and the blank stare of the mask now synonymous with evil.
The story goes that on Halloween night, when he was only six, little Michael Myers killed his sister Judith with a butcher knife. He then spent the next 15 years institutionalized, and his parents died in a car crash, leaving behind his baby sister named Cynthia. At the age of 21, Michael escapes the hospital and returns home to murder the last remaining member of his family. The guy is thorough.
Continue reading Countdown to Halloween: Michael Myers and the Messy Timeline Split
Pitch Black was the sci-fi/action/horror movie that introduced us to the always on the run convict, Riddick. who aside from being a total bad ass also has surgically enhanced eyes that can see in the dark. It was a wonderfully done movie with a simple premise and then based on Riddick’s popularity and Vin Diesel’s rising star at the time, they did a sequel based solely on Riddick which was aptly named Chronicles of Riddick. Summarily, that movie sucked super-duper bad. It was like they had to get away from the lower budget and simplistic story of Pitch Black just because Vin Diesel was involved and the movie suffered greatly for it.
Fast forward almost 8 years later. Vin Diesel’s star power had been waning until the inclusion of the Rock into the Fast and Furious franchise and it becoming a half billion dollar juggernaut. Now apparently Vin Diesel is back to being able to carry a franchise on his own without the help of Dwayne Johnson, although another ex-wrestler, Dave Bautista will be joining him in this outing of Riddick. Bautista has been on a bit of a role lately. He was most recently in The Man With the Iron Fists, he’ll be starring in Riddick and has snagged a role as Drax the Destroyer in Marvel’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy. Anywho, back to the Diesel. Check out his latest turn as Riddick in the trailer below:
Looks entertaining enough to me. It looks like they’re going with the simplicity of Pitch Black. Basically Riddick is stranded on a barren planet with some ugly predatory life whilst the only humans posing a way off the planet are there to imprison or kill him. Aside from Bautista, the film will also feature Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, Bokeem Woodbine, and Jordi Mollà.
I’ll be giving the movie a go once it hits theaters. How about the rest of you? Is Riddick old news or are you excited for his newest adventure? Sound off below!
There were a couple of clips from season 5 of the Clone Wars released around Comic Con time, and there were some good-uns. After watching the season 5 trailer it would appear that Maul and Savage Oppress will be crossing paths with the Mandalorians at one point. My thoughts from the trailer were that they were obviously going to team up with their mutual disdain and need for vengeance against both Count Dooku and Obi-Wan Kenobi. After watching the clip below I’m not really sure what is behind all of the Mandalorian mayhem on display…. But I like it. Check out the clip below:
Seriously, what the hell is going on? Is that Sidious choking out two Death Watch Mandalorians? And why is Obi-Wan wearing Mando armor and working with Bo-Katan who was all about killing Jedi last season when she crossed paths with Ahsoka? Bo-Katan whom is voiced by the lovely Katee Sackhoff I might add. And are all of the Mandolorians fighting one another Death Watch? And why are they fighting?! AHHHHHH… head exploding! Apparently we’ll be waiting until September to find out. I also loved the incorporation of John William’s music into the scenes, too bad it won’t stay in there.
The next clip is a little less thrilling, but is still quite cool. It shows Maul and Savage infiltrating some sort of space station possibly controlled (or patrolled) by security droids. Check it out below:
Yes it was short and clearly beneath the Maul bros. to be cutting up simple droids but it’s definitely good to see such a deadly pair work together so seamlessly… now to see them fight some Jedi, that would be great. Overall I can’t wait for this upcoming fifth season of the Clone Wars. It’s a show that is constantly outdoing itself each season in terms of animation, story and scope and I would love if it was on for the next five years. Check out the season 5 trailer below if you haven’t already and stay tuned for further upcoming Clone Wars info and news!
The first picture of Vin Diesel as Riddick is out and yup he looks about the same as he did in the last two movies. Goggles, check! Black tank top, check! Shaved head, check! Ok Mr. Diesel, you’re all set to play Riddick again.
More news from the Underverse!
In addition to the lovely Katee Sackhoff joining the cast of the next Riddick film…
We also have two more cast members to report on, Jordi Molla and Nolan Funk.
Jordi Molla, will be playing the main villain. He is a very popular Spanish actor and you may remember him from his roles in Colombiana, Blow, and Bad Boys 2.
Nolan Funk on the other hand is not very memorable at all. He will be playing the role of annoying teenage sidekick to Riddick. He is best known for his role in Spectacular! A Nickelodeon musical tv-movie and his role as Captured X-Kid in X-Men 2.
Rumors are that the movies title will be The Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking, but that hasn’t been made official as of yet.
That’s all for now, but keep checking back for more Riddick News!
Early last November I reported that the Riddick franchise may have been killed due to financing issues. However, after the lock out fiasco was taken care of production was scheduled to resume on December 28th.
Several sources have stated that the third film is going to explain away the ending of the previous movie and get back to the roots of the franchise. The official synopsis of the new film is as follows.
“Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick (Diesel) fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.”
Now you may have noticed that the synopsis above mentions bounty hunters. The latest news from the Underverse is that Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame (and ’24’ infamy) is going to be one of them.
According to Deadline.com Starbuck is in final negotiations to play the female lead of the film, Dahl, a Nordic mercenary who is tracking Riddick.
I can safely say that I am happy with this casting choice, but I see this ending in one of two ways. Either
A) She is the bad guy and Riddick kills her.
OR
B) She befriends Riddick and she get’s killed by the bad guy. No matter how it plays out I’m pretty sure her character is doomed.
The currently untitled Riddick sequel will also star Vin Diesel and Karl Urban, and is scheduled to release in 2013.
Battlestar Galactica alum Katee Sackhoff was reported to be in the fourth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network, but it left a lot of us wondering exactly who she would be portraying. Turns out, it’s to be the show’s first female Mandalorian!
Of course this is nothing new to expanded universe readers, but it’s great that the female Mando’s are getting some due on the show. And she appears to be a member of the ‘Death Watch’ no less!
Interesting… I suppose that means we’ll probably be graced with the Jon Favreau voiced Pre Viszla as well. Check out the trailer below:
So yup, everyone’s favorite little Separatist Lux is back and it would seem he’s got a batch of ‘Death Watch’ Mando’s with him. Wonder how this will complicate his and Ahsoka’s relationship. The Clone Wars Season 4 is still a ways off into the Fall, but hopefully they keep coming out with little tidbits at Comic Con for us to chew over. All I can say is Ackbar is back!
We’ve seen and spoke a little bit about the next movie coming out from the DC Animated Collection, and I think it’s one most fans are very excited to see. Known as one of the greatest storylines in not just Batman, but comics altogether. It was a bit of a surprise that DC chose this as their next title to adapt, but it makes this fanboy very, very happy.
Back in April we told you about the impending Animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. At that time all we had were some casting announcements and a few picture stills. What we have now however, is a whole lot more. Yesterday Warner Bros animation department released an “Official Sneak Peak”, which will appear on the upcoming Green Lantern: Emerald Knights DVD…
Well, that was awesome. Cranston I think will be great as Gordon, and Dusku and Sackhoff will garner no complaints from me, but while I like Ben McKenzie, after hearing his bat-voice, it’ll have to grow on me. Alex Rocco had me excited initially because he played Moe Green, but after this I just don’t hear Falcone when he talks. I hope I’m wrong. Regardless, I think this will be great, and I can’t wait to pick it up.
Batman: Year One is (accroding to IMDb) set to hit the shelves September 27th. So to hold you off till then, check out the video below. It’s from Comic Book Artist Will Sliney, who is most recently been working on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars comic book.
So there’s a lot going on right now with Gotham’s greatest protector. A new movie, a new video game, and an animated feature – all in production as we speak. The game and the movie have both been talked about plenty, so let’s focus on the animated feature.
Heat Vision is reporting that the long-awaited adaptation of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, which is one of my favorite comics ever (not to be confused with Mike W. Barr and Todd McFarlane‘s terrible sequel – Batman: Year Two) is really coming along. For those of you unfamiliar with the comic, I can tell you it was a major influence on the Nolan Bat-Films, and helped solidify Frank Miller as a legend within the industry.
Year One chronicles Gordon’s transfer from the Chicago PD to Gotham City just as the Batman is starting to appear. It deals largely with Bruce’s early failures and Gordon’s struggles within the most corrupt Police Department in the country.
Warner Brother’s Animation is making a PG-13 animated adaptation of the story that is said to be very true to the book. Animation great Bruce Timm (Batman the Animated Series) says that the book was even used to storyboard a large chunk of the film. And today, they have just announced the 5 principle voice actors…
Bruce Wayne/Batman – Ben McKenzie: McKenzie was on The O.C., but more importantly is one of the leads on TNT’s Southland. This story revolves around Bruce’s return to Gotham and his transformation into a very young Batman.
Lt. Jim Gordon – Bryan Cranston: This is a great pick. The principal character on one of television’s best shows (Breaking Bad), Cranston has come a long way since Malcolm in the Middle and proved his worth. As soon as I read this I loved the choice. Cranston himself wasn’t sure so quickly though as he initially turned down the chance to work on Year One, but eventually changed his mind after seeing the script – “I wasn’t aware of this level of storytelling in animation. I confess that freely, they didn’t give the characters the short shrift. I was stunned.”
Selina Kyle/Catwoman – Eliza Dushku: While the average girl recognizes Dushku from Bring it On, most in the geek community recognize her work with Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse) and as Arnold’s daughter in the 90’s Action classic True Lies. So it’s not like she needed more geek-cred than that to deserve a role in a comic movie, especially an animated one. But she should be a pretty much perfect fit for Catwoman…
Detective Sarah Essen – Katee Sackhoff: Sarah Essen is a name that you might not know if you don’t read the comics, but she was a major part of Gotham City for a long time. You know, eventually marrying Jim Gordon, surviving the Earthquake in Gotham, and finally being murdered by the Joker while saving some babies, she was an important part of the comics, but really hasn’t popped up in the other mediums till now. As far as the choice, after runs on Battlestar Galactica, Nip/Tuck, and 24 I am a fan of Katee Sackhoff. And her inclusion in Halloween: Resurrection didn’t hurt either. I know a lot of my fellow Bauer fans didn’t care for her in the final season of the show, but I actually like this pick.
Carmine Falcone – Alex Rocco: The guy played Moe Green in The Godfather. What more can you ask for, especially since Falcone is obviously modeled after Vito Corleone…
All around great casting. DC has really outdone Marvel on the animated front thus far, and it looks to be continuing. They have also released a couple of animation stills…
The straight to DVD release of Batman: Year One is scheduled for sometime this fall.
The have also been rumors that another Frank Miller classic – The Dark Knight Returns – could be in the works as well. How about them apples?
It’s a great time to be a Bat-Fan!
Grizzly Bomb 