I love watching a good trailer. They’re an art form in themselves really. Showing not too much while creating anticipation isn’t easy. This reminded me of the old trailers they used to show for 70s and 80s horror films, with it’s almost monotone voice over and lots of silence. It doesn’t really give anything away, but I’m sure more revealing trailers will arrive before the film hits the screen on September 11. Whiteout is based on the Oni Press comic by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber about the first murder in the Antarctic. It stars Kate Beckinsale and The Spirit’s Gabriel Macht. Some may be reminded of 30 Days of Night, but don’t expect vampires.
G.I. Joe: Resolute
If you want to get a more faithful look at the G.I. Joe franchise before the film hits the big screen, this relatively new anime inspired webisode series is for you. Resolute is an 11 part series, made up of roughly 5 minute animated episodes, written by comics scribe Warren Ellis, with character designers by comics cover artist Dave Johnson and is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos (Justice League Unlimited). The entire movie, comprising of 10 episodes, plus a finale aired on the Adult Swim TV channel in April. It’s violent and fast paced. Below you can see the teaser and the first episode.
The Spirit Review
Frank Miller is a legend in the comics biz, and rightly so. As writer/artist he re-invigorated Daredevil for Marvel and Batman for DC in the 80s then went on to give the world his own creations such as 300 and Sin City. The film adaptation of the latter is the most faithful comic movie ever made, and Miller used his co-directing credit to launch a career in Hollywood. With The Spirit, it’s Miller’s show all the way, as both writer and director he helms this film. The trailer made it look like Sin City 2, with it’s black and white imagery and over the top action. Sadly, that’s exactly what this film gives you. It’s not individual in its approach, because it’s been done so much better with Sin City. That film is fun, funny and adventurous. The Spirit has none of that. It’s just – dull.
Will Eisner was a legend in comics long before Miller and when he gave the world The Spirit, he used the strip as a groundbreaking tool for sequential storytelling. This film is the opposite of that – disappointing and uninteresting, only because Sin City has already taken the similar green screen manipulation approach and wowed us. The story here is also flat and involves resurrected cop Denny Colt AKA The Spirit and explains his origins, tied in with arch enemy The Octopus and his chase for immortality. Bringing the tale to the modern day doesn’t help. Staying in the 1940s would’ve cemented its noir influence more effectively. There’s a bevy of beauties with cool names, such as Sand Saref and Lorelei, but even Scarlett Johansson lacks any charm and Samuel L. Jackson as baddie The Octopus (a character whose face was never revealed in the original newspaper strip) is typically boisterous. Nothing saves this film. The CGI backgrounds have been done before, the dialogue is bland and strangely repetitive and The Spirit, played by Gabriel Macht, has the annoying propensity to offer gruff voice-overs, and talk straight to camera. If you want to really know what The Spirit is like, check out DC’s collection of archive editions, or their new Spirit series by new creators.
The best thing about the DVD is a 15 minute feature called Miller on Miller, in which he discusses his comics career and gives a brief history on the artform, with beautiful art dispersed throughout. Here’s a tip – hire the DVD and just watch this doco instead. Miller’s next film project is another adaptation of a classic character – Buck Rogers. I wish he’d just leave Hollywood and come back to comics.
Green Lantern Fan Trailer
This is a pretty snazzy fan-made trailer for a Green Lantern film, starring fan-fave Nathan Fillion (Firefly) as Hal Jordan. You may very well recognise the shots used from other blockbusters, but the special effects are pretty convincing, as are the cameos from other ring slingers such as Tomar Re and Kilowog.
New Buffy Film
Remember 1992’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer film? It had Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry in it. It had its moments, sure, but when creator Joss Whedon unleashed his brilliant vision on the TV screens 5 years later, it was an entirely new beast – a healthy dose of dark chocolate compared to the light, fluffy souffle that the movie was. Now the holders of the original film rights want to make a new Buffy film, without the inclusion of Whedon or any of the supporting characters he created during the much loved TV series. Perhaps the film makers are inspired by the Hollywood remake craze, but needless to say, Buffy fans are not happy. If only it was April Fool’s Day. Here’s a peek at the article from The Hollywood Reporter.
While Whedon is the person most associated with “Buffy,” Kuzui and her Kuzui Enterprises have held onto the rights since the beginning, when she discovered the “Buffy” script from then-unknown Whedon. She developed the script while her husband put together the financing to make the 1992 movie, which was released by Fox.
Kuzui later teamed with Gail Berman, then president of Sandollar Television, bringing back Whedon to make the TV series, which was produced by Fox TV and launched on the WB in 1997. Kuzui and Sandollar received executive producer credits on “Buffy” and its spinoff, “Angel.”
The new “Buffy” film, however, would have no connection to the TV series, nor would it use popular supporting characters like Angel, Willow, Xander or Spike. Vertigo and Kuzui are looking to restart the story line without trampling on the beloved existing universe created by Whedon, putting the parties in a similar situation faced by Paramount, J.J. Abrams and his crew when relaunching “Star Trek.”
The Surrogates Trailer
Top Shelf’s excellent mini-series, Surrogates is now a film. The five issue mini-series was released in 2004 and 05, by first-time writer Robert Venditii (who used to work in Top Shelf’s mailroom) and artist Brett Weldele. The prequel from the same creators, titled Flesh and Bone is released in July, while the film follows in late September. You can get a feel for the movie by watching the new trailer below. It looks quite classy and perhaps more slick and action driven than its inspiration, and also appears to wear its I, Robot visuals on its sleeve, but that’s not a bad thing. You can see a preview of the comic, which is being released in new editions in July, here.
District B-13
I love a good French film, and because I enjoy comics, I don’t mind reading for my entertainment! I came across this gem a while ago now, and the sequel is just about to be released for us English speaking pop culture lovers. District B-13 was unleashed in 2004 and starred parkour expert David Belle and martial arts expert Cyril Raffaelli in a future Paris that has ignored its troubled suburbs by sealing them off from the outside world. There’s a bomb and a kidnapped sister and such, but the highlight is the running, jumping, kicking, dodging,etc. Parkour is the acrobatic art of using the modern suburban environment as your own playground and the film demonstrates its beautifully.
Written and produced by Luc Besson (The Transporter trilogy amongst many other hip actioners) it’s a great film. The sequel, starring Belle and Raffaelli has already been released in Europe and the rest of us can expect it next month. The trailer is below. Yes, it’s in French, but the video below it, featuring one of the highlights of the original film has subtitles for your viewing pleasure. If you like Jackie Chan or the Thai film Ong-Bak and prefer your action and chase scenes to be without a safety net, or CGI, then you must watch these films. Just make sure you put on the subtitles. Watching a foreign film with dubbing is like reading a gossip mag at an art gallery.
Jeff Lemire’s The Nobody Trailer
Creator Jeff Lemire is a great new talent. Anyone who’s read his Essex County trilogy from Top Shelf will tell you that. All three books were moving and powerful. His new book, out on July 1 from Vertigo is inspired by the classic novel, The Invisible Man by H.G Wells. Press release and trailer below.
The tiny, isolated fishing village of Large Mouth never saw much excitement — until the arrival of the stranger, that is. Wrapped from head to toe in bandages and wearing weird goggles, he quietly took up residence in the sleepy town’s motel. Driven by curiosity, the townfolk quickly learn the tragic story of his past, and of the terrible accident that left him horribly disfigured. Eventually, the town embraces the stranger as one of their own — but do his bandages hide more than just scars?
Inspired by H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, THE NOBODY explores themes of identity, fear and paranoia in a small community from up-and-coming alternative comics creator and Xeric Award-winner Jeff Lemire (The Essex County Trilogy) in a special two-color story that’ll have you guessing until the very end.
* Vertigo
* 144pg.
* B&W
* Hardcover
* $19.99 US
* ISBN 9781401220808
* Mature Readers
Grant Morrison Documentary Trailer
I think anyone who’s ever read an interview with Morrison where he discusses anything other than the usually awesome comics he writes (JLA, WE3…) understands that the Scottish scribe is..umm..interesting. Now the proactive team behind Respect! Films, and Sequart are making a documentary on the man himself (complete with handy subtitles). It’s not out until next year, but until then, feast your eyes and expand your mind, with this trailer.
Sherlock Holmes Trailer
Sure, this will ruffle some feathers, but Sherlock Holmes was never really a polite, stuffy old gent. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels show the British detective’s drug use, fighting skills and social awkwardness. Robert Downey Jr. is an interesting choice for the man in the deerstalker cap, and Guy Ricthie looks to be making a more traditional Hollywood film, hopefully to show he’s not a one-trick pony. Let’s be honest, his last film, RocknRolla was not exactly dissimilar to his previous films. If you want more Holmes, Dynamite’s new comic series is out now too, while the film opens on Christmas Day.
Superman/Batman Trailer
This may not last long on-line, as it’s currently only available to US residents, but here’s the trailer for the rest of us. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is the latest Warner Bros. direct to DVD animated film. Based on the first few action packed issues of the series by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness, it seems to follow the story, and art style, quite closely. Plus, there’s guest stars galore. See it below, or here.
Star Trek Review
I loved watching the original series from the 1960s. They repeated them very late at night when I was a teenager and I lapped those three seasons up. They were astronomically ahead of their time, and the characterisation and themes were grand. Gene Roddenberry created something very special with Star Trek and it continues to resonate with all generations. I also loved the films with the original cast made primarily in the 1980s and I’m not ashamed to say I cried when Spock died in the second film.
The franchise was due for an update. It deserves to loom large in pop culture once more and unfortunately the series that followed Kirk, et al, didn’t justify another big screen outing. J.J Abrams was the perfect choice. He helped create Alias and Lost and knows how to do conduct grand action, as seen in Mission Impossible 3. The only other logical choice would’ve been Joss Whedon.
Written by Transformers writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and directed by Abrams, Star Trek goes back to its fun roots, but misses the deeper meanings and social commentary the TV series was known for. However, that’s not a bad thing. With its pretty young cast and sense of fun, it’s a joy to witness. It looks great, with its clean, sleek interiors and lens flares and doesn’t suffer too badly from the handheld fight scene direction that’s all the rage these days.
I hope this film introduces Star Trek to new fans. It has enough nods to the classic show to be appreciated by fans, but isn’t hindered by it. With it’s time travelling Romulan villain Nero (Eric Bana), emotional Spock (Zachary Quinto from Heroes) and initially purposeless Kirk (Chris Pine) it touches on themes of destiny and courage with restraint. The simple costumes and gadgets such as phasers remain almost identical, while the beaming has been slightly modified. Captain Pine’s (Bruce Greenwood) ultimate fate and Karl Urban’s portryal of Dr. ‘Bones’ McCoy were also nice nods to the past. Simon Pegg is great as Scotty though Anton Yelchin’s Chekov accent is perhaps too much.
The beauty of this film is that it’s an acknowledgment of all that’s gone before it, and really, it had to be. The original Spock, Leonard Nimoy’s screen presence is more than the cameo I expected and his inclusion means this film is essentially not canon, but rather an alternate timeline. It works well. The sequel is due in 2011 and I wouldn’t be surprised if Shatner shows up too. It makes me want to watch all those older films again.
Pandorum’s Moon
Here’s a couple of new trailers I’ve stumbled across recently. Moon stars Sam Rockwell and is co-written and directed by cinematic newbie Duncan Jones. When I saw the first few seconds of the trailer I thought it was a quirky comedy. It’s not. Rockwell plays Sam Bell in this unique sci-fi tale. Bell is an employee of a mining company called Lunar, who send him to the moon to save our energy crisis. Kevin Spacey provides the voice of Bell’s on-board computer, Gerty. Apparently Bell’s not alone on the moon however. It opens in June and the trailer seems to indicate a restrained intelligence, like Solaris or Sunshine.
Next up is another sci-fi film, but this one seems more mainstream and replaces Moon’s thriller aspects with some horror. It stars Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster and opens in September. It makes me think of Dead Space, because I’m playing it at the moment, but Event Horizon could fit too. It centres on two crewmen who wake up on a spacecraft with no idea why, or what they’re doing there. That’s the beauty of sci-fi; something for everyone.
Two Surrogates Trailers
I actually picked up The Surrogates TPB at the Top Shelf booth at Comic-Con last year. I’d heard good things about its sci-fi tale, with a philosophical bent, and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s also a perfect gateway book for comic book newbies. The prequel to the tale, Flesh and Bone from the same talented creators (writer Robert Venditti and artist Brett Weldele) is out in July. One of the great things about the first series was the fact that it totally immersed the reader in its believable world. A world where most people are reliant on living their lives via robotic avatars. Wisely littered throughout the book are realistically crafted adverts for the modern surrogate user. The trailer for the prequel is below.
Coming soon is a film based on the original mini-series. Starring Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell it opens on September 25 and is directed by Jonathan Mostow (the excellent Breakdown, U-571 and Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines). Below is a brief look at the film’s production.
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