Aussie actor Guy Pearce will appear in one of this year’s most hyped sci-fi films, Prometheus. Don’t look past another sci-fi treat though, as the French production company Europacorp brings us Lock Out. Luc Besson’s company knows how to do action as it showed with Taken, District 13 and Transporter.
Lock Out is set in the future, on a space prison, with the President’s daughter who needs to be rescued by a lone wolf. The only thing that’d make this cooler would be if there was a dragon in it.
Here’s the first 5 minutes. Lock Out is released on April 20, but July 12 in Australia. No fair.
I’m a sucker for good imaginative sci-fi films and this one looks a doozy. Upside Down is directed by Juan Diego Solanas and is a French/Canadian co-production starring Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess (from the great, romantic One Day).
Well it’s hard to see this film as anything but an Alien prequel now.
Directed by Alien’s Ridley Scott and starring Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, it opens next year, and it will be awesome, I’m sure.
See the comparison, and notes describing the similarities between the 1979 Alien teaser and this first Prometheus one, right here.
Using the same found footage concept of Cloverfield and Quarantine, although this film doesn’t really look like it, is Chroncile. Written by Max Landis, it opens in February 2012 and follows 3 mates as they use their new super powers and not heroically. Effectively creepy trailer below.
Some very impressive editing here, consisting of clips from a bunch of films showing various characters walking and running and a similar one focused on hallways. Trust me, both are better than they sound.
This just in from Marvel. At least they’re making the most of being owned by Disney, though hopefully this comic will be more successful than their Tron tie-in. If you like the classic heroism of Jon Carter and his worlds, you may also want to check out Dynamite’s prequel series.
Marvel & Disney Publishing Worldwide Announce JOHN CARTER: WORLD OF MARS
Official Comic Prequel to Upcoming Disney Film Arrives in October
Marvel Entertainment and Disney Publishing Worldwide are proud to announce John Carter: World of Mars, an all-new comic prequel to the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures feature film, John Carter, which will hit theatres on March 9, 2012. This October, John Carter: World of Mars #1 reveals the shocking events that transpire before the motion-picture story begins by showing fans just how John Carter, Princess Dejah Thoris and Tars Tarkas are set on the path that would bring them all together. Amidst this brutal thousand-year war, find out what decisions were made that let events escalate this far—and why. This blockbuster, four-issue, limited series comes straight from New York Times best-sellers Peter David (Dark Tower,X-Factor) and Luke Ross (Dark Tower, Captain America: First Vengeance), two of the most acclaimed talents in comics.
“We’re thrilled to bring fans their first look at the world of John Carter before the blockbuster film wows audiences next year,” said Axel Alonso, Marvel Editor In Chief. “It’s been a pleasure working with Disney, Peter and Luke to craft a powerful story that will appeal to both the legions of John Carter fans and those who are new to this exciting world.”
Director Andrew Stanton adds, “I am really thrilled to be collaborating with Disney & Marvel on this project and look forward to audiences exploring the world of John Carter via this exciting comic offering. I have wanted to see this property on the big screen since I was a young boy and hope that John Carter: World of Mars will excite and inspire fans of the series much like I was inspired many years ago.”
Before John Carter’s arrival on Mars, what events shaped the conflict that would change his destiny—and that of the universe—irrevocably? Find out this October as war, love and inescapable destiny collide in John Carter: World of Mars #1.
About the Movie:
From Academy Award®–winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton and a screenplay by Stanton & Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon comes “John Carter”—a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.
The fact that this August-releasing prequel exists will surprise a lot of people. It stars James Franco, Brian Cox, Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) and Andy Serkis, who applied similar techniques to Gollum and King Kong. It could be a good film, but the driving Inception-like score on this first trailer is annoying.
Planet of the Apes has a new BOOM! comic out, to be sure, but there hasn’t been a film out in the franchise since Tim Burton’s version in 2001. Is there a hunger to see another one? I’m unsure, but starting afresh with this modern day prequel is a good choice, with it’s moral dilemmas and intelligent apes.
Both are alien invasion films based in American cities with a young and relatively unknown cast. Both are centred on one place with glimpses of cities around the world and both are also extremely disappointing.
Battle Los Angeles stars Aaron Eckhart (Two-Face in The Dark Knight) and Michelle Rodriguez (Lost, Avatar) as its big name actors, with the rest of the cast filled out with characters who are quickly forgotten and possess no remarkable traits. Really, they should’ve cut the cast in half to retain a sharper focus. Most of the characters add nothing but bland dialogue, and yes, if you’ve read any reviews of this film, you’ll know that describing the dialogue as bland is being kind. It really is laughable at points with the kind of jingoistic action man talk we’ve heard of in many bad films from the early works of Van Damme or Seagal.
It wants to be an American version of District 9, but has none of that film’s charm, and it offers no surprises. It starts well, with the Staff Sergeant played by Eckhart running on the beach as he’s soon passed by a group of much younger men. Facing his retirement and discussing life and purpose with an old friend is a good way to start a film that focuses on humanity overwhelmed by alien invaders. However, that potential is gone within 10 minutes and then the shaky camera work, rather unthrilling action and lack of characterisation begins. The aliens look interesting with their bio-mechanical features and like Skyline, we know nothing about them, other than that they’re probably after our water.
Skyline is a lot more derivative. War of the Worlds, Aliens, Independence Day seems like obvious inspirations in key scenes and like Battle Los Angeles, it has aliens that don’t speak and whose origins remain mysterious. They do seem to like stealing brains though, which is almost laughable in a 1950s sci-fi film manner. Skyline has a more streamlined cast and although it’s generally all set in one huge, fancy apartment building it remains visually impressive, though the CGI creatures and vehicles are more realistic in L.A’s movie, though the designs are better in Skyline, as is the interplay between the characters, though it offers no real surprises.
Both films champion spectacle over plot and unfortunately both have done well as they are ‘turn your brain off’ movies. To see sci-fi with plot and interesting characters, see District 9 or Moon.
No, it’s not the name of a new superhero team, but an old film format. This first official trailer for Super 8 looks like Cloverfield, with a cast a decade younger, with an E.T vibe thrown in for good measure. From the brainchild of J.J Abrams (Lost, Star Trek) it certainly seems intriguing and has enough old school charm to counteract the “yet another alien invasion film” hesitation.
The science gurus at NASA have named disaster film 2012 as the most unrealistic sci-fi film, ever. No surprise really. According to this article, ”The agency is getting so many questions from people terrified that the world is going to end in 2012 that we have had to put up a special website to challenge the myths. We have never had to do this before.”
Hah, classic. They also name Armageddon, The Core and others in their list of films that take huge liberties with true science. However they do give thumbs up to Blade Runner and Gattaca. I wonder what they think about Demolition Man.
70 mins. Our Tron: Legacy special in which we dissect the 3D sequel to the classic 1982 film and the latest comic news and reviews. Also, sexy angst, inner beauty and the Star Wars planet naming method.
Your chance to appear as an artist in Udon’s upcoming Mega Man tribute book, Japanses creators band together in protest against new ratings, Crossgen comics launch from Marvel in March, Mark Waid leaves BOOM! Studios, BOOM! to publish Michael Moorcock’s Elric series, the first Marvel TV series to focus on spy/mother Jessica Jones.
18:10 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
The bad Jonah Hex film, Dexter Season 5, Sandman: Book of Dreams short story collection, Magus #1 from 12 Gauge Comics and Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #513.
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost teamed up in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Now they’re bringing a CG alien, voiced by Seth Rogen, along for the ride. Paul opens next year.
A couple of good trailers, and hopefully good films, have been released recently.
Gareth Edwards’ film, simply entitled Monsters, seems almost like a one man band, as Edwards is the writer, director and visual effects artist. Inspired by Jurassic Park, the film follows 2 people as they traverse a quarantined part of Mexico, while the Mexican and U.S armies battle a bunch of creatures. It opens on October 29 in America and in November 12 in the UK.
Guillermo del Toro has carved out quite the niche for himself in the last few years, as director (the 2 Hellboy films), writer (Splice), producer (The Orphanage) or as all 3 (The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth). His next film, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark stars Katie Holmes and Aussie Guy Pearce. Co-written and produced by del Toro, the film tells of a young girl who discovers monsters in her family’s new house. It opens on January 21 next year. Effectively creepy trailer of the film, which is a remake of a 1973 TV movie, below.
Now I really want a Blu-Ray player. This 6 disc set comes out on October 26. Complete with the 4 films, plus a massive 60 hours (!) of extra features, this will make you drool indeed. Let’s not forget that Ridley Scott is prepping 2 prequels to the original film too, which won’t star Ripley, and will be set about 30 years before Alien. The first prequel should be out in 2011 or 12.
