There have been numerous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games released, and depending on how old you are, you will have your own personal favorite. For me growing up in the 80s, I would always hit the arcades to play on one of the coolest games around, the Turtles arcade game.
Continue reading Cowabunga! New Arcade Designed TMNT Figures Debut at SDCC 2016
Gather round it’s time once again to delve into the latest TV news that we deem fit to print!
The man behind the Transformers movies is producing a series for Starz and they’ve gone and released a trailer. If you have a thing for men in dirty, salt water stained clothing half naked and women in period garb, also half naked… then this is the show for you!
Created by Jonathan Steinberg and Robert Levine, who worked together on both Human Target and Jericho, Black Sails tells the story of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens– Prince John in BBC’s Robin Hood) and his crew, including the infamous John Silver (Luke Arnold) twenty years before the time of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
Given that Spartacus is ending this year, audiences will be looking for another show with sex, action, and accents to fill the void and it looks like Black Sails is more than willing to step in.
I’ll be watching if for no other reasons than I have a love for tall ships and of course that smirk!
Way back in December of 2011, it was announced that Microsoft was seriously looking at branching out into original programming. Now that XBox Live has become a legit media hub (I’m currently watching Netflix’s Hemlock Grove on my XBox), it makes sense that they would want to make a go at their own shows. Given the popularity of XBox and Microsoft’s promising 1st quarter financials, this seems like a good time to make that move.
You know what’s not a good idea? Having that first jump into the “original programming” water being actually the revival of a show that had moments of brilliance but that was quickly and thoroughly drowned out by mediocrity.
That right folks, MSN is rumored to be considering retooling the NBC sci-fi drama, Heroes. They obviously aren’t bringing back the original cast but instead are relaunching it with a brand new cast while the old-schoolers will be making cameo appearances. I think we all know this is going to be so awesome and cool and super duper exciting.
One can only hope that MSN has more ideas up their sleeves and this is just a small part of their plan going forward.
Now this is a show MSN should have jumped on and “brought back”. Too bad for them, FEARnet got it first. Starting in June, FEARnet is set to air all two seasons of the fan favorite. In addition, they will be putting together a half hour reunion special. Deadline has already confirmed that Sam (Bret Harrison), Sock (Tyler Labine), and The Devil (Ray Wise) are set to appear. I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of FEARnet before this, but they are on a number of cable providers, sorry satellites, no Reaper for you! As for everyone else, enjoy a show that we here at Grizzly Bomb surely believe was Gone Too Soon.
NBC might have passed on the Dwight Schrute centered spin-off of The Office but AMC is looking at the soon ending Breaking Bad and they see potential in a spin-off starring Bob Odenkirk’s loveable lawyer, Saul Goodman. Of course there is potential! While Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston are obviously the stars as the meth making duo but Goodman is a scene stealer by every definition of the phrase.
Of course how this would work is certainly a good question. Saul is usually a moment of comic relief in tense moments so how would his character carry a show on his own? As this idea is just in its infancy, I’m sure there will be plenty more questions to be asked in the coming months. It’s only a matter of time before people start bringing up Vince Gilligan’s failed X-Files spin-off The Lone Gunmen.
Seriously. If you’ve seen FX at all recently you know what I’m talking about. These four promos that don’t do much to explain what the show is about.
So that’s The Bridge. I’m sure those four bits answered all your questions about the crime drama. Oh you didn’t know it was a crime drama? Well it is. Based on a Scandanavian show, that is also being redone in Europe as The Tunnel and between England and France, The Bridge is about a serial killer who is being hunted down by detectives both in the US and Mexico.
Demián Bichir plays the Mexican detective and Diane Kruger his American counterpart. At first blush, it sounds a bit like The Killing with maybe a bit of Twin Peaks (mainly due to the odd promos) mixed in. That could be completely off base, I’ll just have to wait until July to see if I’m right.
So there you have it, the top news as we see it in TV today! If you think we’ve missed a story, by all means let us know down in the comments or if you’re feeling downright neighborly, it’s perfectly all right to just say hello. Until next time!
I have to be honest with you. I have a deep love for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I have one more admission. It physically pained me when I found out some of the silly things that Michael Bay had in mind for the 2014 reboot. Really, Sir? Aliens? Really?
The cast of the mutant, uh, I mean, “alien” brothers has been finalized so I can’t help but add my two cents about the gents. Being attached to the name “Michael Bay” certainly has its advantages. Bay abuses what I would call an “increasingly stupefied” audience. Are his films visually overstimulating because that is his true expression of art, or is he just supplying what the audience wants? Either way, I don’t know what his exact plans are for the Ninja Turtles reboot, but I can guarantee they will be stupid and I will hate them. He is, however, box office gold.
So will these budding young stars reap the benefits of Bay’s name? So long as they don’t call him a Nazi, I’m quite positive they will experience some success from this highly commercialized, toy friendly franchise.
Cast as the group’s leader Leonardo is Pete Ploszek. You may recognize him from Parks and Recreation that one time. If you missed him then, maybe you saw him on Shameless that other one time. He has the shortest resume of the bunch, but this could be the springboard he needs.
Alan Ritchson, who has some fairly memorable previous performances, will be Raphael. Of all the main characters, this guy could potentially benefit the most from this stamp on his career. Between the Ninja Turtles being filmed, and The Hunger Games in post production, his attachment to some major titles could lead to future success. His strong handsome face doesn’t hurt anything either. Too bad his gorgeous mug is going to be CGIed in Ninja Turtles.
Jeremy Howard has been cast as Donatello. I am not entirely sure how he fits in considering the other gents are a bit more statuesque. However, he does have the most experience in films dealing with aliens, so I suppose that is fitting with Bay’s ideas. The only thing I can project is that they are truly trying to highlight the geekiness of Don’s character. This is the exact opposite of what they have done previously. Donnie was always the smart techie guy, but to avoid boxing him into a one-dimensional character, they also gave him a skateboard. These are all just assumptions, but as I have stated earlier, I already hate this movie and it is stupid.
I found Noel Fisher (Shameless, Terriers, etc.) to be the most recognizable of the foursome. He, obviously, will be playing Michelangelo. “All the good ones end in ‘o’.” Considering Mikey was my favorite turtle, I hope he stays true to the character. I feel weird saying that considering he is a turtle that is a ninja that also likes to party. What great depth!
Rounding out the cast is the ever sultry Megan Fox. Considering there aren’t too many female roles to choose from, she will be April O’Neil. I was kind of crossing my fingers she would have been the Shredder. Or even better, she could have been that girl turtle from that Saturday morning show that no one watched…
The only thing that I can guarantee is that I don’t care. Keep an eye out for Ninja Turtles exploding in a theater near you next summer.
It looks like Marky Mark has his sidekick to join him and his new funky bunch, also known as the Transformers. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jack Reynor has been cast as the new lead alongside Mark Wahlberg in Transformers 4, directed by Michael “There’s No Such Thing as a Stationary Camera Shot” Bay. Reynor is fairly new to United States shores as his only major Hollywood release is the new Vince Vaughn comedy Delivery Man, which is due out later this year.
The Transformers franchise is undergoing a casting overhaul as none of the principles from the previous movies are returning as this is a new chapter in the saga. They are still looking to cast the daughter of Mark Wahlberg, and have already undergone screen tests in order to find the Megan Fox/Rosie Huntington-Whiteley replacement. Supposedly Reynor will play the boyfriend in this story, as it will take place four years after the “Chicago War” that played out in the third movie, Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Michael Bay has said that he wants to make a different trilogy that continues the story, only with different characters and perspectives. For this franchise to pick an unknown makes sense as opposed to an established star where they might have to pay him backend on top of the initial paydays. I say good for this kid as he steps foot on to American soil and finds himself ready to take on Michael Bay and the popularity that will surely be put upon him. Shia LeBeouf was always a great choice and is a great actor, so hopefully this kid will bring the same type of charisma that he did in the first trilogy. Either that or he’ll be doomed to bar fights, pissing of Spielberg, and trolling for Lars Von Trier porn movie opportunities. Regardless, looks like he’s in for the Michael Bay right so buckle up.
Via THR
[tabgroup][tab title=”The Great Gatsby”]
The newest film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of the same title stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby. Nick Carraway portrayed by Toby Maguire becomes infatuated with the mystery and intrigue of Gatsby’s empire. As more and more is revealed to him, Carraway finds the inner workings of Gatsby’s lavish lifestyle are pulling apart at the seams.
Joining DiCaprio and Maguire are the likes of Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton and Carey Mulligan. This will be the second time Baz Luhrmann will direct DiCaprio since Romeo + Juliet. Initially due out as a Christmas day release, this has been pushed back to a May 2013 release date so as not to compete with Django Unchained also starring DiCaprio.
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, and Adelaide Clemens.
Release Date: May 10, 2013
[/tab][tab title=”Holy Motors”]
This film captures all the lunacy of Monsieur Oscar. This journey of what takes place during the night spans the distance of captain of industry, begger, assassin, monster, and family man.
Though Leos Carax initially wrote Kay M. for Kate Moss, the role was ultimately filled by Eva Mendes. The singing role of Eva Grace was rewritten for Kylie Minogue when she was cast.
Director: Leos Carax
Stars: Denis Lavant, Edith Scob, Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue, and Michel Piccoli.
Release Date: July 4, 2012
[/tab][tab title=”Identity Thief”]
I have never had my identity stolen. However, if I had, I would hope the antics that would ensue would be as comical as what Identity Thief has lined up. Jason Bateman is Sandy, a regular old law-abiding citizen who finds out his identity has been stolen. His intention is to catch the thief to clear his good name.
I haven’t personally seen Mike & Molly, but Melissa McCarthy’s comedic presence in film is becoming fully apparent. With a break out comedic performance in Bridesmaids, she is also in This Is 40, and rumored to be in The Hangover Part III.
Director: Seth Gordon
Stars: Jason Bateman, Amanda Peet, Jon Favreau, Melissa McCarthy, John Cho, Robert Patrick, Genesis Rodriguez, and Eric Stonestreet.
Release Date: February 8, 2013
[/tab][tab title=”After Earth”]
Cypher and Kitai Raige (Will and Jaden Smith) crash-land upon an uninhabitable planet where every organism has evolved to overcome and destroy the human species. In true Shyamalan form, this is the planet Earth 1000 years after all humans have been evacuated.
This isn’t Oblivion, this isn’t I Am Legend. This is After Earth. We are sure to be delighted by the on-screen chemistry of the Smith father/son duo that has truly impressed us in the past.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Isabelle Fuhrman, Zoe Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo, Kristofer Hivju, and David Denman.
Release Date: June 7, 2013[/tab]
[tab title=”Pain and Gain”]
When Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) gets fed up with his station in life, he decides to recruit two other body builders to kidnap a man and claim his wealth. Surprise twist, something goes wrong. With a director like Michael Bay involved, the true question is how many explosions can be incorporated into a film that primarily takes place in a gym?
Though the comedic pauses initially seem a bit out of place, this could resemble Bad Boys II. I don’t know about you, but I love me some Bad Boys II.
Director: Michael Bay
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Rebel Wilson, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Ed Harris, Ken Jeong, Rob Corddry, and Tony Shalhoub.
Release Date: April 26, 2013
[/tab][/tabgroup]
Don’t call it a comeback reboot. Even though Michael Bay has said that the next incarnation of Transformers will not be a reboot, but rather a continuation, it’s looking quite a bit like a reboot. The only thing listed in the “not a reboot” column is apparently they are not restarting the story, rather they are just advancing ahead in the future four years after the end of Dark of the Moon. Everything else? Up for grabs.
First of all, how dare you? Soon after Michael Bay’s name was attached to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, he proved he was not to be trusted. The working title of the projected May 2014 film is Ninja Turtles. By omitting the Teenage and Mutant, Bay has opened up the floodgates to his outlandish, ill-received changes. Earlier this year, he revealed the turtles will no longer be mutants. Rather, they will be aliens. Though alien inhabitants became an integral part of the comic book series, making the turtles aliens will destroy one of the key factors that made them so special.
Recently reported on IGN, several released script ideas have only fueled the flames of fury among true TMNT fanatics. Though the turtles are no longer teens, April O’neil and Casey Jones are, except they are exs. What? Why? I am assuming that means April will no longer be the beloved news reporter that connected the turtles to the world they felt distanced from. I can only imagine how obnoxious Jones would be as a teenager. Jones as a teenager makes me think of some disrespectful, loitering punks I forgot to punch outside of a local convenience store.
With this script, Bay would be removing two key factors that made the turtles relatable to their younger audience. The turtles we grew up with were mutated teenagers dejected from the world. That sounds like every insecure adolescent I have ever come in to contact with. So how else can Bay manipulate our beloved story line until it is unrecognizable? Did I tell you that Master Splinter is completely missing from the draft? Of course he is. What significance did he ever have anyway, right?
Just to make sure that this is a Bay specific story, he made some other minor tweaks. Shredder will no longer be Shredder. That would be ridiculous to call the villain Shredder. Instead, he will be Colonel Shreadder. Not different enough for you? Okay. To make sure this is a Bay creation all of its own the Foot Clan will be replaced with a Special Forces unit under Colonel Shreadder. You just can’t trust the military, can you?
I can see the trend here. Bay has flooded his films with big boom box office bait, and now he wants to prove he is capable of making something more significant. May I preface this next rant by saying, “You will never be Christopher Nolan.” Now to put it into context. Batman shall remain one of the greatest American heroes ever created. Though the comic book creation and a stint of the 1960s were the epitome of camp, the character has an appealing dark theme that is not only relevant to adults and children alike, but society as a whole. Nolan has completed an amazing trilogy using one of the greatest heroes ever created. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles however, shall always be considered camp. I lovingly refer to it as camp, but it is nothing more than marketable camp. You cannot honestly tell me that Robert Van Winkle jiggling around on stage while the turtles destroy some Foot Clan is ground breaking cinema. Due to an oddball concept of four cartoon turtles with ninja weapons and a story that closely emulates the Daredevil franchise, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created gold that I will forever enjoy. So keep your filthy hands off!
These egregious additions to the script are only a draft. If we’re lucky, they’ll never see the light of day. Cowabunga, dude!
Michael Bay really does have a way to entice the masses in two separate ways. He has either pulled in several hundred millions of dollars and packed the theaters with his visual style, or he has enraged a fanboy base that asks for their childhood to not be destroyed in a sweeping camera move. As much of a giant douche bag that he is, the guy is a great visual artist and moviemaker that knows exactly how to draw people in and make them ‘Ooo’ and ‘Awe’ despite the fact he has no clue how to do a stationary camera shot. His next conquest/debate maker? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Or actually, just Ninja Turtles. Because he’s changing the name. And the origin. And your childhood memory. Why can he do this? Because he’s the producer dammit and bathes in Victoria’s Secret model’s tears.
Continue reading Michael Bay’s ‘Ninja Turtles’ – 1, Nostalgic 20-Somethings – 0?
The Shining is a classic movie by all accounts, and bridges the gap between horror and thriller genres allowing it to be heralded by geeks, fiends and “the thinking man” alike. It’s a movie that is extremely quotable and therefore quite often lampooned and even though it was a product of the 80’s it is still watchable and relevant today. The Shining came in at #29 on AFI’s “Top 100 Thrills” list and more importantly is #2 on The Grizzly Bomb’s list of “Top Horror Movies of the 1980’s”.
The Shining was of course based on Stephen King’s book of the same name and it seems that King has finally returned to the Torrance family with the announcement of his new book Dr. Sleep. According to Wikipedia and other online rumor millings Dr. Sleep follows a grown up Danny Torrance who is using his mental powers to help terminally ill patients move to the beyond. On his current promotional tours Stephen King has been reading the first chapter of Dr. Sleep which catches up to an 8-year old Danny Torrance. Danny and his Mom have moved to Florida where they keep in touch with fellow Overlook survivor Dick Hallorann {he doesn’t get axed in the back in the book} and, as we soon find out, the woman from room 217 haunts more than one bathroom in the world. By doing some quick math we can extrapolate that Dr. Sleep will likely be a modern tale. The Shining takes place in 1977 and Danny is four and if Dr. Sleep follows him at age forty, as rumored, that would set the tale in 2013.
In a separate reading King reveals a little more of the Dr. Sleep story this time focusing on “The Tribe” a group of vampire-like octogenarians who mask their youthful vitality and nefarious ways under the guise of America’s RV crowd.
After listening to the two chapters it seems clear that Dr. Sleep will have little similarities to The Shining except for the involvement of it’s characters. The Overlook has been destroyed so there’s no returning there, and although Jack Nicholson is old enough to play a ghost it’s wholly unlikely King will be going down that road. The title Dr. Sleep seems to reference Danny Torrance’s new vocation, but there is assuredly some other parallel to be made in what we expect is the eventual battle between Danny and his vampiric tormentors led by the woman from Room 217.
As King has not even released a date for the books debut it’s unlikely the inevitable “Shining sequel” will be headed for the big screen anytime relatively soon. Worthy or not, you know that the sequel will be made. It’s too bad that Stanley Kubrick is no longer with us to put his masterful stamp on Dr. Sleep, but based on the preliminary plot line is seems more like the kind of movie that will be helmed by the likes of James Cameron, Michael Bay or some other action junkie. If we’re lucky maybe it will fall into the hands of a Guillermo del Toro or a Peter Jackson where it can get the intellectual horror vibe it will hopefully warrant.
It would seem that Michael Bay may be seeing the error of his ways. I remember by the time that Revenge of the Fallen had found it’s way out of theaters that I would ask questions like- “Why do we need the human characters?” “Can we just have a movie with only Transformers in it?” “Why all the forced toilet humor?” And even though it seemed like Bay had started to tone it down a little and just focus on his craft of blowing shit up, Dark of the Moon still had that wasted human element to it. I liked the character of Sam Witwicky and think that Shia LaBoeuf is a great actor, but after three movies of the character, his parents and his girlfriends, I’m kind of ready for a Transformers movie just about…. Transformers. It seems like the movies are at least 70% CGI with the Autobots and Decepticons onscreen for the majority of the movie so why not just have a movie focusing on their war against one another? I don’t mind the human characters acting as support but I don’t need a lovesick kid running around trying to prove his self worth to everyone.
Now come reports that the next Tranformers movie will still indeed be a sequel to Dark of the Moon, but will feature less comedy and not so many human characters. Josh Duhamel has been pretty candid about the fact that neither himself nor any other actors have been contacted in regards to the fourth Tranformers movie, courtesy of E! Online:
“I don’t think anybody’s doing it,” Josh Duhamel told us last night at the launch party for Sony PlayStation’s new PS Vita portable entertainment system. “I know Shia [LaBoeuf]’s not doing it. I don’t think Tyrese or Rosie [Huntington-Whiteley] or anybody else is doing it.”
“Whenever these movies make that much money they’re going to make as many as they can,” he said. “[But] I haven’t heard anything about it. They haven’t called me.”
If there were human characters that I didn’t mind, it would have been the soldiers including those played by Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson because they were all business about killing Decepticons and not how their girlfriend thought about their socioeconomic status.
I’d love to see the Autobots engaging the Decepticons on different planets throughout the galaxy as they did on the cartoon and the Transformers animated movie in the 80’s. I honestly doubt that the budget would be affected by having less “real” shooting locations, especially with how much money the studio knows that it’s going to make off the franchise. They could make the fourth movie about Optimus Prime trying to find his inner human whilst also looking for a female Transformer to settle down with and the movie would still gross almost a billion dollars worldwide. We can only hope that Michael Bay remains serious about toning down the cheesiness and five year old humor in his Transformer movies until the movie is finished. Am I expecting some sort of Academy Award winning performance from Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime? No. Nor am I looking for a deadly serious movie with the complexity of something like Inception because we all know that Transformers is a popcorn summer action flick. Just give us something true to the Transformers mythos and we’ll be happy.
Grizzly Bomb 