The Master Teaser Trailer # 2: More Yet Less Works Fine For Me…

Posted on June 20, 2012 by geelw

I’m loving that P.T. Anderson isn’t giving anything away in these trailers. Setting up scenes that add to the mystery of exactly what the film is about is excellent, as I’m sick of seeing trailers that tell you all you need to know and basically make you not want to waste the cost of a ticket to see them. Yeah, yeah, it’s supposed be about the founding of Scientology or some other cult-like religion with a curious hold on its adherents, but these trailers don’t even hint at this at all. Like Anderson’s other films, I’m betting it’ll go over the head of those expecting a traditional narrative, yet stand up quite well to repeated viewings. Hey, I saw There Will Be Blood something like seven times just to pick through every scene and absorb all it had to say, so this one is looking like another deep diver. Off to find a milkshake… “Draiiiiiinage!”

Dissecting THE THING: Missing Minutiae, Merrily Making Modern Mistakes…

Posted on June 18, 2012 by geelw

While last year’s prequel to John Carpenter’s classic 1982 film was well-made and an effectively creepy good time, as a big fan of the original 1951 flick and of course, JC’s fine retelling… I was a tiny bit disappointed. For me, part of great suspense is all in the build up and despite some nice scares, the prequel loses a bit of suspense because it doesn’t build much empathy for its doomed cast (and loses some chances to once the monsters start appearing). Still, I found most the film fine until the entire alien saucer sequence complete with that all-too common “formerly flexible monster who can’t quite reach the heroine!” and “run like hell to escape the big explosion” set pieces we’ve all seen in too many other films. I’ll get to the “leave ’em hanging!” part of the pre-credit ending later, as there’s a great (and I think intentional) workaround there that could actually set up an actual sequel (should someone be crazy enough to make one)…

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Random Film of The Week: Alien 3 – Yesterday’s Mess Is Today’s Masterpiece…

Posted on June 12, 2012 by geelw

With the exception of some clumsy CG effects and the annoying, hastily re-shot ending sequence (that was more silly than scary), I loved Alien 3 the first time I saw it. Warts and all, for a first film effort, David Fincher’s solid direction and vision along with Eliot Goldenthal’s haunting score had me hooked in from the beginning even though I understood the production was troubled from the outset. The trailer I saw looked promising and thrilling, and like many who saw it, the idea of Ripley being stuck out in the middle of nowhere on a prison planet with no weapons and at least one Alien running around made for a must-see flick. I recall reading about some production troubles and that the film was being rushed to make a target date without a completed script, something I found hard to believe for such a big franchise. Then again, the law of diminishing returns dictated the cinema deities must have their sacrifice increased tenfold after any second film in a series, so things were looking grim when I read those first reviews…

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Prometheus Update: Today’s The Big Day (Unless It Was Yesterday Or Last Week For Some Of You)…

Posted on June 8, 2012 by geelw

So, here are two more bits (one film clip which has a nice but expected “spoiler”, as well as one more viral) to get you into the theater. For those who don’t grasp the point of the viral videos, they’re made to set up a the time period the film takes place in, which is why the “David” viral ad is like a commercial you’d see today for a PC or car. Anyway, reviews have been pretty positive overall and there was even a midnight showing up here at a theater that usually doesn’t do that sort of thing at all. I didn’t go, as I was writing and I want to roll in on a slow weekday so I can sit back and enjoy the ride without too many er, “urban distractions”.

Still, I’m sure even on a lazy weekday there will be trouble. Like the time I went to see Starship Troopers on an otherwise dull Monday and an entire class of about 40 grade school kids and a few teachers and aides rolled in (late, of course) to see the film, only to get up and leave a few minutes later during a nude shower scene. Oops.

Obviously, some otherwise sane and supposedly educated adults forgot to read the film’s rating (and hell, not knowing what you’re in for when you’re going to a Paul Verhoeven flick is kind of dumb)…

Prometheus Clip Mini-Bonanza: The Clock Is Ticking…

Posted on May 30, 2012 by geelw

Yup, the Prometheus trailer and clip free for all continues on the internet. Even after seeing all these clips plus the HBO and Showtime features covering the making of the film, it’s still all a big fat mystery to me as far as what exactly happens in the film. Sure, I’ve got the basic story down pat and as noted previously, there won’t be that same alien from the other films running about and bumping off crew members (a good thing in my book). But when Ridley Scott says he’s “going to scare the $#!t out of you,” I have to take him at his word.

So, yeah… June 8 is rolling up next week and I can see that theater filled with folks expecting one thing and getting something entirely different. But in a really good way. I know I’ll be going home and watching Alien again just to check out the links made in the new film and how well they all fit. One cool thing I’ve liked about the trailers and commercials by the way: they use that weird sound effect from the original Alien trailers to excellent effect…

P.T. Anderson’s ‘The Master” Trailer: Phoenix Rising

Posted on May 25, 2012 by geelw

It’s hard to believe that the self-taught director Anderson has, including this upcoming film, a mere five movies under his belt and all of them are amazing to spend time with when they pop up on cable. His latest work, set for an October release, is a story about a a man (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) who starts up his own cult-like “religion” in the 1950’s with ex-Navy sailor (played by Joaquim Phoenix) ending up as his personal assistant, most likely after the events this creepy trailer hints at. Interestingly enough, Hoffman isn’t in the trailer at all – it’s all Phoenix here, and while the clip is cryptic, it also hints at a bit of madness and violence in the character he’s playing. I predict another film in the vein of There Will Be Blood, Anderson’s epic-length character study that netted Daniel Day-Lewis an Academy Award (and everyone else the right to make “I drink your milkshake!” jokes, even if they never saw the film). This is really turning into a pretty cool year for movie lovers, that’s for sure…

Skyfall Trailer: Could This Be The Best Bond Film Yet?

Posted on May 21, 2012 by geelw

Well, the best MODERN Bond film, so as not to rile the Sean Connery die-hards out there. Hey, I’m old enough to be a fan from that far back, but I’ve always thought Daniel Craig’s version of Bond owes a lot to George Lazenby’s underrated performance in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (which you should check out if you’ve never see it before). Anyway, director Sam Mendes is certainly on the right track from what I’ve glimpsed in this teaser, which hints at an even darker Bond than in the last few Craig films. I guess we’ll see what’s what soon enough…

Prometheus “Quiet Eye” Viral: Getting Closer To The Truth (And Creeped Out, Too)…

Posted on May 17, 2012 by geelw

Yikes, it’s almost June, which means Prometheus will be getting into the brains of fans who will be talking about this one for quite some time. No doubt Alien fans from the first film will be debating new viewers who don’t “get” some of the stuff here, and I think both camps will be off by a mile if they try to base their arguments on the xenomorph aspect. At the end of the day, if the film is solid, it’ll be a go-to classic for years to come. Of course, that might also mean a new box set of Alien films at some point, with Prometheus being the “first” film in the series. And YES, the icky (and mean-spirited) Alien Versus Predator will STILL be left out of the canon.

The Amazing Spider-Man “Super Preview” Trailer. Big, Loud And What Else Ya Got?

Posted on May 15, 2012 by geelw

I dunno…. maybe I’m just too jaded (and yes, Spider-Man 3 pretty much annoyed the hell out of me), but out of all the summer movies in theaters on the way, this one isn’t making my “gotta see it!” meter dance around at all. Sure, it looks great and expensive and New Yorky as all hell (I’m allowed to say this because I live here), but I think Spidey needs a rest for a bit. Between the awful Broadway musical and all the controversy it caused (sure, it was a “hit” for the tourists, but no Noo Yawkuh I know has seen it) to the new Spidey having too much hair for my tastes, I’m sitting this one out until it hits cable. Also (and this bugged the crap out of me in The Avengers), what’s the deal with all the secret identity exposure in these flicks. Is it in the contract that we NEED to see the actor’s face when it SHOULD be covered up because someone will say “hey, that’s so and so” if that hero guy or gal was on the street not doing the hero thing?

Eh, whatever. ot’ll make a mint, so my opinions are moot at the end of the day. That said, I have the feeling that the game Beenox is working on for Activision might actually be a lot more fun than the film and I’m VERY excited for that (if that’s any consolation to you Spidey fans out there)…

“Prometheus Has Landed” Clip: Hey, You’re Too Early! Get Back Up There, Now!

Posted on May 14, 2012 by geelw

Ha ha and ha. I saw the title in my inbox and thought I somehow fell into a time warp. Well, given that my PC thinks it’s a new PC and I’m still changing or recovering old passwords, I guess it IS a time warp of sorts. Anyway, I’ll be back later. This is going to be a long day….