[SDCC 2019] Jay and Silent Bob Reboot: Kevin Smith Unveils First Red Band Trailer

Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes reprise their roles as Jay and Silent Bob – and this time they return to Hollywood, yet again, to stop a reboot of the Bluntman and Chronic movie from getting made.

Jason Bourne: First Action-Packed Trailer Hits

Universal Pictures released the first trailer in the next installment of the popular “Bourne” franchise. In the new film, Matt Damon returns to the celebrated role in Jason Bourne.

Check out the first trailer for Jason Bourne below:

Neill Blomkamp’s Incredible Vision of the Future is Unleashed with New “Elysium” Trailer

Here is the first look at the trailer for Neil Blomkamp’s new movie Elysium from the Io9 website. Starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley, we see the Earth of 2159 where the rich live in luxury on a man-made station above the planet. The residents of a ruined Earth below struggle to survive and it is one of these residents that takes on a mission that could change the balance of both of these groups and bring equality to the polarized worlds. Below is the brand new trailer.

The first thing that catches your eye is the incredible realism of this future Earth. In all of Blomkamp’s work he has always had a talent of making the science fiction elements of the story blend into the real world we live in today. The Earth of the future looks very much like an exaggerated version of parts of our world. The huge ultra modern buildings and technology of the elite class mixed with masses of floral surroundings makes the harsh, war like life the people living on Earth have to suffer seem that much more tragic. The rich here have a flair for decadence that makes their world seem breath-taking and the poor people on Earths struggles seem a little too much like life on our planet right now. The trailer clearly defines these class struggles and felt a lot like the alien residents plight in District 9.

Certain parts of the trailer felt like the scenes following the human survivors from the Matrix movies, the bald head, modern and very rough looking technology, dirty clothing and wrecked housing probably helps to enforce that look. Matt Damon looks great sporting the above look and the insertion of his robotic Exo- Skeleton into his flesh was an incredible moment, as were the scenes where Matt Damon is smashing and blowing up his robotic foes. Sharlto Copley looks great in the same suit and has some great scenes where he to gets to blow stuff up. The mix of action and class struggle is handled fantastically and adds an exciting story to the trailer. The robots also look great. Neil has always had a soft spot for technology in his work, especially robotics and this film seems to be no different. The fact that he handles this interaction between CGI and live action so well is cause for celebration and certainly blew me away when I was watching this trailer.

This trailer has everything a fan of science fiction could hope for. The only downside is the lack of Jodie Foster, who only pops up in a few scenes and gets very little trailer time. But this is a very slight fault. Futuristic class struggles like Elysium shows have been around since films like Logan Run brought them to the cinematic masses in the 70’s and Neil is continuing that tradition with his own unique brand of science fiction action. The film is released on August 9^th of this year and that time seems to far away for this reviewer. Keep checking Grizzly Bomb for regular updates on this superb looking movie.

Grizzly Review: The Bourne Legacy

There is an irony to The Bourne Legacy. The soldiers in the movie blindly do what they are told and never question the mission or authority. If an important task needs to be accomplished, they go head first, with an eye on the prize and don’t blink. They are only controlled by what seems to be a reliance on the same two sets of pills. The redundancy of these tasks echoes the movie. The film charges forward without questioning its path despite the ripe material it glances upon but we continue to eat it up because we don’t question the monotony of what we view on the screen, which results in a generic action thriller that only scratches the surface of a greater story.

In the fourth installment of this series, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is a genetically enhanced field agent similar to Jason Bourne (Matt Damon, who shows up in spirit only). He is part of the Outcome program, a more sophisticated, controlled program than Treadstone from the first three films. These soldiers are genetically enhanced for higher motor and physical skills, as well as better mental dexterity and ability. They have a reliance on a set of two pills, as previously mentioned, which breaks down into the blue and green. It does remind of The Matrix in which the control and enhancement of their abilities is based on whether they take the pills or not. The major difference is if they take the pills, they play into the control aspect of being reliant on their prescriptions from their providers (granted, if they don’t take the pills, they probably get shot).

Unfortunately for these Outcome members, Jason Bourne is happening. More specifically, the third movie’s events, The Bourne Ultimatum, is running concurrently during this movie. He raises the profile of the possibility of other programs in the CIA so in turn, all evidence must go. That includes Outcome and its members. So Aaron Cross must survive and find answers, and of course, he is almost out of the pills so he must find a doctor connected to Outcome (Rachel Weisz, who follows the Hollywood tradition of aging backwards) in order to get his dosage and survive.

The best part about the Bourne movies were its ability to take a small detail and make it rich in detail, or provide an essential purpose. Whether looking at the limits of patriotism or the idea of fighting for freedom with people who had theirs taken from them, I loved the Bourne Trilogy because there was that underlying message of the cost of ‘whatever it takes’. Of course, being able to use a magazine to disarm someone or a towel to take out a knife wielding villain helps too. I feel this movies brushes against these issues yet won’t attach themselves to them.

Edward Norton plays Eric Byer, the guy tasked with cleaning up the Treadstone mess and anything related to it but him and his character were surprisingly one note. There was no tension on what he provides on-screen, no sense of urgency that he felt like a character born out of the necessity of moving the plot along. He was there to explain to the audience why Aaron Cross is the person we were following in this movie. Byer and his team were into the players from The Bourne Ultimatum like Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn), Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney), Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) and the most frustrating thing was to not watch their stories unfold. I wanted to know how or if there were going to be punished for their roles in the clandestine world of black ops, whether Landy uncovering Treadstone made her a patriot or a traitor to the country; if CIA Director Kramer covered up what was the best means possible to get the job done and if the ends justified the means; if Dr. Hirsch opened up the gates to super soldiers; or if Vosen was correct in his definition of patriotism and loyalty to his nation. I got none of this. Writer and director Tony Gilroy went the wrong way for this movie because it merely scratches the surface and nothing more.

It doesn’t help that the movie was boooorrrriiinnngggg. This is of no fault to Renner or Weisz, who were both good in their roles. The flick just comes up short and as it just wants to be a carbon copy of actions movies. For the first third of the movie, I felt I was watching The Grey. The chase was straight out of The Bourne Ultimatum. Heck, I felt like I was watching Spy Game during certain pockets of the movie. I wasn’t sure if I was watching a survivalist movie, a straight action flick, or a detailed espionage flick. Regardless, we’ve seen the movie before. It brings nothing new to the table and sadly, felt like it had no purpose. This movie did not follow its namesake and expand upon the legacy of Bourne. The action was decent but never anything ground breaking or having cause to talk about it right after the movie about “hey, did you see that one part?!”

There were good parts in the movie, such as the Manila rooftop and car chase (although I’m biased coming from the motherland myself) and less reliance of shaky-cam but this movie could have been so good. Maybe my expectations were too high dealing with the Greengrass/Damon combination. There is no creativity in the movie and that takes away from the mythology of Bourne. Even more frustrating is how the movie just ends with no real resolution to the plot or characters in this story. This movie is nothing more than diversionary ploy to look aesthetically pleasing yet provide no answers while asking the wrong questions. Skip the Bourne ‘Letdown’.

On a side note, another program that is chasing Cross all around Manila, is a beta subject that exhibits even less empathy. He basically came off as the Asian T-1000. Sunglasses, police motorcycle, him running and giving the quick turn and stare before launching him arms in perfect 90 degree swinging motion…seriously entertained Dr. Kronner and myself. Some of my exes might even think that’d be me considering how “emotionally unavailable” I am…So apparently based off of that, I am the next Jason Bourne – with NO EMPATHY.

CCI 2012: Looper, Total Recall & Elysium Panels!

Sony pictures decided to buy out Comic-Con on Friday with a two hour time slot in the hall H which is the biggest at the convention to promote their three biggest Sci-Fi films Looper, Total Recall & Elysium which all look really good.

Looper

First off let’s talk Looper.  Johnson’s an undeniably terrific writer/director and Looper looks to be a refreshingly original breath of fresh air in a box office climate flooded with reboots, sequels, and remakes.  You absolutely do not want to miss this movie because with these new and original films we just get the same things over and over again. Let’s see the panel video. We have 1 of 3 panel video below; part 2 & 3 is straight after the first.

Just some highlights from the panel:

• Gordon-Levitt was asked how he went about embodying Bruce Willis, but he admitted that he’s not a good mimic.  He didn’t feel like an impersonation would be proper, so he internalized it.  He watched all of his movies on repeat and even put the audio of his movies on his iPod so he could listen to his voice a lot.
• A guy came up and asked what it was like to work with Bruce Willis, and Gordon-Levitt said that he’s really sweet and actually soft-spoken.  He said some big guys come into a room with a booming voice, but Willis doesn’t have to make himself heard and he doesn’t have to raise his voice.
• Johnson said that he’s “the luckiest son of a bitch in the world” to be able to work with people like Blunt and Gordon-Levitt.  He said that writing drafts of the script after he had his cast was just as difficult as writing the script for the first time.

Courtesy of Collider, full read out here

Total Recall

Second, let’s talk Total Recall panel. It’s rare for a film to come to consecutive Comic-Cons, but Total Recall showed up last year at the beginning of production, and now its returned with the theatrical release only weeks away. So for that it’s a unique set up and I suppose it’s great for promotion. I don’t currently have the panel video for this, I may be able to update this article later but for now I have a great interview with Bryan Cranston on Total Recall.

Just some highlights from the panel:

• Farrell says he had a good time making the film, but he didn’t feel like he had to fill Schwarzenegger’s size 16 shoes.
• The actors are asked about how they physically prepared for the role, but Cranston cuts in because he wants to see how the sign language interpreter signs “Cohagen has been described as a douchebag.”  He then notes how his co-stars had to go through so much physical training, but they probably got a good sleep every night.  The other actors describe how they prepared to the physical stuff.  It boils down to eating right, working out, and Biel adds “Boxing, boxing, boxing, boxing…and chicken.”
• When asked what attracted to the film, Wiseman said it was the mystery that intrigued him even though he geeked out on the action and world-building.  So it was the mix of “the art stuff and the fun stuff.”
• Cranston said he was also hesitant to jumping in to something that had been done before and done well.  But Cranston looked at the character of Cohagen as someone who wants Quaid (Farrell) not to die but “to behave.”  He saw Cohagen as benevolent and if people just listen to him, he can lead them to utopia.  That approach is what drew him to the role.

Courtesy of Collider, full read out here

Elysium

Third let’s talk about the Elysium panel. Neill Blomkamp‘s District 9 was an amazing feature film debut, and whatever he chose to do next would demand the attention of all the fans he amassed in 2009, which of course includes me.  Elysium had been a complete mystery until a synopsis recently appeared online.  After reading the synopsis, Elysium was easily one of my most-anticipated movies of Comic-Con 2012.  Hope you enjoy the panel video below.

Just some highlights from the panel:

• People on Elysium never get sick because they have machines that can cure diseases.  One shot shows a woman getting into a machine that instantly cures her cancer just by scanning her over.
• The corner Max is backed into is when he gets trapped in a radiation vault at his job.  He’s hit with radiation poisoning and given pills to manage the symptoms, but he’ll still die in five days.  The only way to save his life is to get to Elysium.
• His ticket to Elysium is to join a heist where he and two co-horts plan to download important information directly out of a guy’s brain (the guy is played by the great William Fichtner).  Even though Fichtner’s character is on Earth, he’s a citizen of Elysium.  Max is basically turned into cyborg in order to be able to extract the information from Fichtner’s character.  However, that was incredibly important data so Rhodes sends down an assassin-type character played by Sharlto Copley.
• Bloody destruction; if you loved how the weapons in District 9 obliterated people, Elysium is going to follow suit.  One goodie we saw was when some guy gets hit with a ninja shuriken in the chest, and some other guy says “That’s not so bad,” and then the guy who was hit with the shuriken explodes.
• Damon was drawn to the project because of Blomkamp.  “It was a very easy decision for me,” says Damon because he was so impressed by District 9.  But beyond that, Blomkamp showed Damon a graphic novel he had done that was on Blomkamp’s computer.  And then there was a book about the weaponry and another about the vehicles.  “Normally, we don’t get to see the movie before we’re in it,” but Damon says there was so much information here, and there was no way he was going to let this project get away.
• Blomkamp’s approach to Elysium was similar to District 9.  “It’s an equally scaled up version.  You’re trying to push the budget far beyond what the budget can sustain.”  The pressure on the crew remained at a high level.  Blomkamp went on to say they wanted to get more reality so they went to Mexico City rather than try to dress up Vancouver.  He said how some crew members thought Vancouver was tough, and Blomkamp knew that they were going to go to Mexico City, and thought “You guys have no idea what you have in store.”

Courtesy of Collider, full read out here.

So while it seems like Warner Bros. has been taking the Con by storm, Sony wasn’t going to be outdone and blew us away with a serious of great panels for what look to be some great movies. To see our previous articles on these check out our links below.

Looper: New Trailer Looks Amazing

‘Elysium’ from the director of ‘District 9’: Plot & Images

CCI 2012: Neill Blomkamp Talks Elysium, District 10 & Something Called Chappie

TOTAL RECALL Trailer: Starring Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale’s Ass.

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CCI 2012: Neill Blomkamp Talks Elysium, District 10 & Something Called Chappie

First off let’s talk about Elysium a little bit since it’s the next of his films to come out and we will be hearing more about it soon. Also 6,000 fans were treated to a seven minute clip of Elysium at CCI (More on that later). The film stars Matt Damon as an Earth resident determined to infiltrate the secure space paradise, and Jodie Foster plays an Elysium leader determined to stop him. District 9 star Sharlto Copley returns, this time as a villain, which is very interesting.

The seven-minute clip shows Damon working to escape the filthy planet, enduring a mysterious mechanical brain-implant procedure that leaves him with machinery protruding from the back of his head and encasing his arms.

Previous articles on Elysium;

‘Elysium’ from the director of ‘District 9’: Plot & Images

So what about Neill Blomkamp sequels? Well he did talk a little about future District 9 sequels. Not a great deal given away but still we have hope he comes up with a great idea for a sequel.

“The obvious place to work with him [Peter Jackson] again,” Blomkamp said, “is on ‘District 10,’ or ‘District 8,‘ whatever you wanna call it, however, I’m not sure I’m making that film. It would be cool, but these films take two or three years to make, and the investments are so extreme, you can’t accurately predict where you’ll be a few years from now, I believe. If you’re not creatively invested in it, you’re making a mistake, and that creative investment happens day to day. So I don’t know when that feeling for a ‘District Whatever’ film happens.”

Finally something about a Sci-Fi comedy film Neill Blomkamp is making with Terri Tatchell which I have not heard about before but apparently is going to be his next project. It’s called ‘Chappie’ and Blomkamp spoke a little about it below:

“I wrote ‘Elysium’ on my own, but I wrote ‘Chappie’ with Terri [Tatchell], that was written at the same time. It’s like a fundamentally more simple story, a comedy, a heartfelt story, in a science fiction setting. And it’s f***ing hilarious, it’s a really cool film. I can say that with confidence … It’s a smaller film, a more esoteric one.  It may very well be my next project.  It probably will be. But A) I wanna take some time off, and B) you need to know for sure that that’s what you’re going to do for X number of years. I have another idea for a horror, and for a comedy, but they’re way less fleshed out than ‘Chappie.’ ‘Chappie”s ready to go, and I think ‘Chappie”s what I’m making. But I’m gonna take some time to make sure.”

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