Don’t Brick Yourself – The Lego Movie Trailer Is Here

I am a huge fan of Lego. It doesn’t matter what form – the bricks themselves, Lego board games, Lego video games, Lego keychain flashlight, Lego thumbdrive… I’m a fan of it all. So it should come as no surprise that when the Lego Movie was announced, I was beside myself with excitement. Now? Well now I’m so giddy I can barely type because The Lego Movie has a trailer and it is awesome!

If a Lego movie itself wasn’t awesome enough, the voices behind the characters are certainly a group that demands attention. Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Nick Offerman, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Allison Brie, Will Arnett, and a man who is having a pretty good run here lately, Chris Pratt as the main character Emmett.

My first reaction was “love the inclusion of the DC Comics characters” because unlike some people (pretty much every other GB staffer – I am alone on my Lego love island), I adore the Lego games especially the Batman versions. After watching the trailer a couple of times, the best part of this movie is the stop motion type of animation they’ve used that is, I’d imagine, an homage to the thousands of fan made videos through the years using stop motion. They could have easily gone with a “smoother” looking animation but it’s nice to see a nod to the Lego fans like that.

Sadly, we have awhile to wait as the movie isn’t set for release until 2014, but I’m sure there will be plenty more trailers and images put out before then and you best believe I’ll be at the ready waiting to bring them to you!

‘Oblivion’ Trailer Looks Derivative, Shiny.

Between Jack Reacher and Oblivion, it looks like it’s quickly becoming a pattern that Tom Cruise shall from now on only play characters named Jack. It’s actually another Sci-Fi outing from Tom Cruise, who likes to star in a science fiction movie every couple of years, probably because he’s living one, but I digress from that easy joke. Despite being a huge fan of Sci-Fi, I found myself guessing as to what this movie was an adaptation or remake of, and upon viewing the trailer found myself surprised that it seemed to be an original story! Generic as hell, but still, original! Well my hopes were dashed after researching the movie a bit further, as it IS an adaptation. It’s apparently adapted from an eponymous graphic novel by Joseph Kosinki. If you’ve never heard that name before, don’t worry because neither have I, although you might be familiar with his work. He did that relatively famous Gears Of War video game commercial, set to “Mad World” by Gary Jules. Oh, he also did Tron: Legacy, which I haven’t seen but I’ve heard was good.

The trailer for Oblivion however, looks… Well here, take a look for yourself:

Here’s where I have to emphasize just what a huge fan of Sci-Fi I am, so you don’t misunderstand me when I say this looks like the most derivative, unoriginal, and ultimately boring Sci-Fi film to come along in recent years. I kept watching it and waiting for it to bring in an interesting hook or storyline that would make me excited to actually see the film, and it kinda-sorta got close with the brief allusions to lost memories or whatever near the end there. I’m guessing that Earth isn’t as wiped out as the Evil Totalitarian Government wants poor Jack to think, and there’s a pocket of survivors/resistance on Earth, who are hellbent on rebelling against the Evil Totalitarian Government. They have a cause to expose whatever dark secret they’re hiding, and meanwhile they’re being led by Morgan Freeman and some kind of Darth Vader creature.

Seriously, at 1:53 on the trailer friggin’ Darth Vader outta NOWHERE.

Overall I’m very underwhelmed by the movie, and find myself disappointed that the whole thing wasn’t some super secret adaptation of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion instead. This just looks… disappointing.

THIS IS NOT ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Review

I have recently moved to a town without a theater. This was entirely based on work, so I did not have much choice in the matter, as I would never voluntarily move 40 minutes away from a theater. This has greatly hampered my movie watching ability. I saw The Avengers opening weekend luckily enough, but I just saw Amazing Spider-Man and will not see The Dark Knight Rises until the end of the weekend. So when it came time to assign one of our Bomb Droppers the joyous task of reviewing TDKR, I realized I still really wanted to review it. So C Tan suggested I should do it anyway, just BS using vague adjectives and fake plotlines I’ve gleaned from the trailers. I had one thing to say to his suggestion.

So here we go. This is not The Dark Knight Rises review.