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Movies I Will Never See: 'Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen'
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Dreamworks, Politics, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, ShoWest
(Welcome to a brand new feature here on Cinematical, where members of our staff will write about films that, for one reason or another, they'll never watch. Which movies do you refuse to see? Here's Jessica with her reasons why she'll never watch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.)
I've got an open mind when it comes to going to the movies. If I have a hankering to watch a movie, there's very little that a critic or fan can do to dissuade me from shelling out my hard earned dollars. But every once in a while there's a film that even I can't bring myself to watch, and Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen is one of those movies. Now, usually when I avoid watching a film, it's because I'm just not that interested in the actual movie (you know, things like story, genre, stars, etc.). But my reluctance to watch Revenge of The Fallen went way beyond indifference and into a whole new realm of 'taking a stand'.
Just to be clear, I saw the first Transformers flick and it was forgettable, but it wasn't all bad. Cut to two years later, and the new trailers for Fallen had me thinking: "Well, this certainly looks better than the last time" and I had every intention of spending an afternoon with giant robots kicking the crap out of each other. But then I saw Bay's ShoWest footage, which consisted of a crying Bumblebee living in Sam's garage while Fox stripped for no reason whatsoever ... and that was only the beginning. By the time Fallen had hit theaters I knew there was no way in hell this movie was going to get my money or my time.
After the jump: the top three reasons I will never see Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen...
'The Ugly Truth' Gets a Pretty New Trailer
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Sony, Movie Marketing, ShoWest, Summer Movies, Trailers and Clips
Oh, Gerard Butler. How do I reconcile my feelings towards you? I go from crushing hard on you to wanting to smack you in the face when you show up in the tabloids and TMZ. (I miss the days when I knew you only as "that Scottish dude from the Tomb Raider sequel.")
But don't take that too personally Mr. Butler, because it's also how I feel about the trailer for The Ugly Truth. (I miss the days when I knew you only as Pillow Talk.)
I mean, it looks funny. I laugh and yet it also causes me to wince, not only at its predictability, but at what it might really be saying about men, women, and dating. Even knowing how it must happily turn out, it's still the kind of story that makes me feel all squirmy and insecure, and tempted to join a nunnery lest I encounter "hilarious" situations like this.
So, without further whining, here's the latest trailer for The Ugly Truth, courtesy of MySpace's Trailer Park. You might remember that the raunchy romantic comedy was supposed to be released this month, but was pushed back to compete with Judd Apatow. Some scenes were played at ShoWest last week to a lot of laughs and thumbs-up, which made Sony very confident in that July 24 date. See what you think.
But don't take that too personally Mr. Butler, because it's also how I feel about the trailer for The Ugly Truth. (I miss the days when I knew you only as Pillow Talk.)
I mean, it looks funny. I laugh and yet it also causes me to wince, not only at its predictability, but at what it might really be saying about men, women, and dating. Even knowing how it must happily turn out, it's still the kind of story that makes me feel all squirmy and insecure, and tempted to join a nunnery lest I encounter "hilarious" situations like this.
So, without further whining, here's the latest trailer for The Ugly Truth, courtesy of MySpace's Trailer Park. You might remember that the raunchy romantic comedy was supposed to be released this month, but was pushed back to compete with Judd Apatow. Some scenes were played at ShoWest last week to a lot of laughs and thumbs-up, which made Sony very confident in that July 24 date. See what you think.
Sony Announces 'Men in Black 3'!
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, ShoWest
Apparently the ShoWest Sony presentation just ended out in Las Vegas with the announcement that the studio would be returning to the very successful Men in Black franchise for a third installment to hit theaters in 2011. According to reports at Collider and JoBlo, there were no further announcements as far as cast and release date, however Sony probably wouldn't launch another Men in Black film without at least Will Smith's participation. Will Tommy Lee Jones reprise his role, too, or will Smith get himself a new partner in crime? Will it go 3D? IMAX? Sadly, these questions were not answered. Aside from Men in Black 3, Sony also confirmed that they're working on Spider-Man 4 and Ghostbusters 3, which is news we've already known for quite some time now.
The Men in Black stuff is brand new, though, and if they do hold it for summer 2011, they'll be going up against some mega competition from Avengers, Harry Potter and Spider-Man. Unfortunately, Sony did not talk more about the next Spider-Man sequel, either revealing its cast or villains or production schedule. All we have regarding Spidey right now is its May 6, 2011 release date.
Are you excited for a new Men in Black movie? Did you dig the first two? Which project are you looking forward to the most: Ghostbusters 3, Men in Black 3, Spider-Man 4 or Where Have All The Original Ideas Gone?
ShoWest in 60 Seconds: 'Sherlock Holmes', 'Tron in 3D' and More!
Filed under: Action, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense, Disney, Warner Brothers, Family Films, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Johnny Depp, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels, ShoWest
As we speak, ShoWest is going on in Las Vegas, where studios are making announcements and previewing new footage. Here's a wrap up from around the web of what's been seen so far:
Sherlock Holmes -- The trailer premiered at ShoWest, and everyone agrees that Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes is not the pipe-smoker of old. Slashfilm was surprised at how comical the footage was: "It felt a little like the humor of Disney's Pirates of the Carribbean films. Fans of Ritchie might be interested to know that the director's stylish cinematography was definitely intact. During a sequence showing the barenuckle pitfight, Holmes' punches are executed in a slow motion style reminiscent of the video game Fight Night. And while the film isn't set in modern day, the trailer had a very contemporary in-you-face edit."
Latino Review has a blow-by-blow of the trailer, and concludes that it "looks to be a cool mix of action and humor. Sometimes the dialogue was hard to understand because every actor seemed to have a different English accent." No one has a negative thing to say about it, except regarding Robert Downey Jr.'s iffy British accent. (Hey, anyone who saw Restoration should have seen that coming.)
Terminator Salvation -- There wasn't any new footage presented, except Slashfilm notes that Linda Hamilton does appear in the film as ... a photograph held by Kyle Reese. Nice bit of continuity, but nowhere near a cameo yet.
Tron 2 -- The film is officially retitled Tron and the ComicCon footage made another appearance -- but this time in 3-D. Collider freaked over it. "This was my first time seeing the Tron footage and it absolutely blew me away. If you're a fan of the original Tron, this sequel looks so amazing you are going to freak out when you see it in 3-D. Seriously. It will rock your world. This was easily the best thing I saw at the convention and I don't know what else is going to come close." Principal photography begins on the film in a few weeks.
Sherlock Holmes -- The trailer premiered at ShoWest, and everyone agrees that Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes is not the pipe-smoker of old. Slashfilm was surprised at how comical the footage was: "It felt a little like the humor of Disney's Pirates of the Carribbean films. Fans of Ritchie might be interested to know that the director's stylish cinematography was definitely intact. During a sequence showing the barenuckle pitfight, Holmes' punches are executed in a slow motion style reminiscent of the video game Fight Night. And while the film isn't set in modern day, the trailer had a very contemporary in-you-face edit."
Latino Review has a blow-by-blow of the trailer, and concludes that it "looks to be a cool mix of action and humor. Sometimes the dialogue was hard to understand because every actor seemed to have a different English accent." No one has a negative thing to say about it, except regarding Robert Downey Jr.'s iffy British accent. (Hey, anyone who saw Restoration should have seen that coming.)
Terminator Salvation -- There wasn't any new footage presented, except Slashfilm notes that Linda Hamilton does appear in the film as ... a photograph held by Kyle Reese. Nice bit of continuity, but nowhere near a cameo yet.
Tron 2 -- The film is officially retitled Tron and the ComicCon footage made another appearance -- but this time in 3-D. Collider freaked over it. "This was my first time seeing the Tron footage and it absolutely blew me away. If you're a fan of the original Tron, this sequel looks so amazing you are going to freak out when you see it in 3-D. Seriously. It will rock your world. This was easily the best thing I saw at the convention and I don't know what else is going to come close." Principal photography begins on the film in a few weeks.
A Third Batman? Christian Bale Says 'Wait and See"
Filed under: Action, Thrillers, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, ShoWest
Christian Bale was on hand at ShoWest to promote some footage from The Dark Knight, and gave a revealing interview to Entertainment Weekly. The magazine immediately pumped him for Batman information, and Bale was forthcoming -- but noncommittal.When asked if there would be a third installment, Bale wouldn't confirm or deny. "Um, look, let's wait and see." When the magazine "mistakenly" referred to it as a sixth installment, Bale was quick to correct them, and elaborate on the possibilities of a trilogy. "No, no, no, no, no. Part 3 is what I'd consider it, yeah, I don't say part 6. Batman Begins - that was the beginning there, with all due respect to the others. We are re-creating this. You know, obviously the decision is out of my hands. I would, knowing the Dark Knight story, I would like very much to complete a trilogy. And I think that knowing the story of The Dark Knight, it leaves you anticipating something that really can get very, very interesting for a third. Now, the question would be: Is Chris going to be doing it? Because to me I find it tricky to imagine working on it without it being a collaboration with Chris."
So, can we safely assume that Heath Ledger's premature death does not affect the trilogy's storyline? That has been the biggest question on everyone's mind. If you combine this interview with Aaron Eckhart's latest, I am still of the belief that Joker ends up in Arkham, and Two-Face could be the main villain in a third film. I can't imagine they didn't leave Joker's fate open ended, considering the villain's place in Batman's world, but no one from the film seems to feel the storyline cannot continue. Perhaps a bigger question is why Nolan isn't confirmed to continue the series.
Regal Cinemas Brings Back Red Band Trailers
Filed under: Comedy, Horror, Exhibition, Movie Marketing, ShoWest
Imagine not having to input your birth date and other information in order to watch a red band trailer. Oh yeah, that's already a reality thanks to YouTube. But you know what I mean. Legally, currently, we've had to prove our ages to see restricted trailers for such movies as Pineapple Express, Semi-Pro, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, The Foot Fist Way (this comedy's whole website is age-restricted), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem and, most recently, Tropic Thunder. We've even seen red band trailers for PG-13-rated movies like Beowulf, which doesn't make any sense at all. Well, now we can see them on the big screen again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Regal Entertainment Group cinemas (includes: Regal, United Artists, Edwards) has decided to bring red band trailers back to theaters.Regal, the nation's largest cinema operator, made the announcement last week at ShoWest (yet the news hit the trades too late for my summary) and will begin looking at red band ads this week to see which film gets to be the inaugural title (the chain has already been quietly experimenting with a few at its Art Theaters). Obviously the trailers will only be shown before movies rated R or NC-17 or which are unrated. And most of them will likely continue to be for Judd Apatow movies. The move by Regal should put some new life into the marketing of certain movies -- Semi-Pro might have done better had its red band trailer been shown in theaters -- and will possibly influence other cinema chains to follow suit.
The Exhibitionist: Show ShoWest towards Southwest
Filed under: SXSW, Warner Brothers, Exhibition, George Lucas, Columns, ShoWest
I find it kind of interesting -- no, funny, actually -- that while tons of movie fans were down in Austin for SXSW, enjoying the greatest cinema experience available, at the Alamo Drafthouse (Ritz and South Lamar), exhibitors from all over the country were piling into Las Vegas for ShoWest, the annual convention and trade show, where discussion and conversation often turns to the question, "how can we make moviegoing a better experience and, more importantly, a more lucrative business?"
Maybe some of the suits should have made the trip to SXSW instead, had a beer and a burger (ahem, a Royale with Cheese), and started lobbying their districts, if need be, to begin following the business model of the Alamo. I know that in my state of New York, it's not technically legal to serve alcohol in a cinema, but surely it is part of some antiquated law that needs to be adjusted (like how technically you're not allowed to dance at many bars in NYC).
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