SDCC Thoughts #4

Fourth and possibly last of my post about the latest from Comic Con. Don't hold me to that but I might not get chance to do another as I am on my way to Calafornia itself tomorrow, a weekend too late however... This post features big news from Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man and Mad Max: Fury Road.

So the big panel at the con last night was Marvel's which included a first look at footage from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Unfortunately footage will not be officialy online for quite some while but here is a detailed description of it from Io9. And next to the footage in the now fully formed concept art poster of our heroes in action.

We see the Avengers sitting around trying to untangle the "whosoever is worthy" thing, regarding who gets to hold Thor's hammer. And they all think it's a trick, or a circus sideshow. "If I lift it, do I get to rule Asgard?" Tony asks. And Thor says yes. Tony says he will be fair but firm, and maybe work out the "wench clause." Tony can't lift it — even after he puts on an Iron Man glove and gets Rhodey to help him. Soon everybody is trying to lift it — including Bruce Banner, who gets kinda upset — and only Steve Rogers even comes close. Black Widow doesn't even want to try lifting it, because "That's not a question I need answering." Tony guess it's keyed to Thor's finger prints, or some other biometric, but Thor says the answer is simpler: "You're all not worthy." Then there's a ringing sound and they're all deafened, and Ultron strides into the room, with a crude Avengers logo painted on his slightly misshapen chest. "How could you be worthy? You're all killers," Ultron says. "You want to protect the world, but you don't want to it to change. There's only one path to peace: your extinction." Then a shit ton of robots burst through the wall and attack all of the Avengers, plus Maria Hill.

Then we hear Ultron's voiceover saying he had a vision of the whole world screaming for mercy, and everybody tangled in it. And we see glimpses of some city in what looks like Africa being reduced to rubble by an attack. There's a closeup of Loki's staff, and everybody looking freaked out on the Quinjet — most of all Bruce Banner, who is holding himself and shaking with a terrified look on his face. People are running everywhere, and the debris is flying like crazy. Ultron gives a menacing look, as he surveys all the destruction. Then there are some hero moments: Captain America enters a place shooting some guns. Stuff is blowing up. Banner staggers to his knees in a snowy forest, looking sickly. Thor uses his hammer to smash a tank. Black Widow is in a medical bay, reaching for some surgical tools. We glimpse Nick Fury looking the way he did at the end of Winter Soldier. And Scarlet Witch is on a bus, approaching some people at the back of the bus with magic in one hand. Tony Stark is looking forlorn and guilty. "It's the end, the end of a path I started us on," he tells Black Widow, who says everything ends. Scarlet witch sinks to her knees shouting. And there are more shots of Scarlet Witch using her powers, just quick glimpses of her projecting magical energy.

At this point, the trailer strts playing the clasic song "I've Got No Strings." Tony, in Hulbuster armor, confronts Hulk on a city street, and there are several shots of them brawling and Tony getting the shit beat out of him. Quicksilver runs through a crowded room that seems to be standing still. Captain America is fighting someone in what looks like a knock-down brawl. And because this is Joss Whedon, there's a glimpse of girls doing ballet. Then we're back to Black Widow shooting shotguns, and more of the Hulk/Hulkbuster brawl. Thor grabs Tony Stark's throat and lifts him off the ground. Captain America is riding a motorcycle and then running. Cars are tumbling in mid air. Black Widow touches her hand to the Hulk's massive green hand, like she's calming him down. We glimpse a confrontation between Black Widow and Scarlet Witch. And then Ultron finishes the song saying, "There are no strings on me," clenching a fist as he celebrates that he's no longer a puppet. And we go a shot of Captain America's shield — shattered to fragments. We pull back, and all of the Avengers are lying prone, apparently dead, in the rubble. Tony is leaning over them, and he looks totlaly horrified and ashamed.
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Other big news included Josh Brolin being confirmed as Thanos and the announcemnet that Guardians Of The Galaxy will be getting a sequel in 2017!

Ant-Man confirmed that Evangaline Lily will indeed be in the film and will be the daughter of Hank Pym, Hope Van Dyne or Hope Pym if you will. Corey Stoll was also confirmed as the villain of the piece Yellow Jacket!

Finally a look at the trailer for the next installment of the Mad Max with Tom Hardy in the front seat this time. It definitely looks very cool, check it out below:

It's been a good Comic Con yet again, even if I am sitting at home experiencing it!

Thanks for reading!

SDCC Thoughts #3

More news again today! This time round big news from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Tusk and Arrow.

Today we got the first reveal of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman for the Batman/Superman film coming out in 2016. The costume looks very cool and Gal looks pretty badass in the image below.

The trio was also seen together for the fisrt time, but unfortuantely out of costume.

Footage from the film was also seen, descriptions said Batman was in an armoured suit similar to the one in The Dark Knight Returns with completely whited out eyes. Superman was also seen with his heat vision eyes lighting up ready to take him on. Interesting stuff indeed... Here's a leaked shot!

Now the  trailer for Kevin Smith's new film Tusk, based on GumTree advert that was the talking point in one of his Smodcast podcasts. I am a big fan of Kevin Smith and cannot wait to see more films made by him. Take a look at his weird horror comedy film trailer below:

Definitely looks weird and wonderful! Micheal Parks looks on form yet again! I cannot wait to hear more from Mr Smith when I go see his show Hollywood Babble-On next month when I vist LA. #WalrusYes!

Next is the trailer for Season 3 of Arrow. The latest season of this show was awesome and really embraced the superhero genre and the mythology of the comic books. Here's hoping they continue their good streak later this year! The trailer starts off with a lot of already seen footage but trust me, it is for season 3.

That's it for now but check back later for more posts!

Thanks for reading!

SDCC 2014 Thoughts #2

Another day and a load more cool stuff coming out of San Diego Comic Con. This post features awesomeness from Interstellar, Avenger: Age of Ultron, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.

Mathew Mchonuaghey and Christoper Nolan both made suprise appearnaces last night at SDCC, promoting their new film Interstellar. A trailer was shown but unfortunately it won't be online for a few weeks yet. Reports were all posotive though and I thought I would share a few interesting tidbits from screenrant.com who were at the panel:

-Nolan wants to create a realistic viewpoint from inside of a space craft to outer soace.
-The Movie is important noe because Nolan says we're at the "cusp" of space exploration.
-2001: A Space Odyssey is the Interstellar's inspiration - Nolan wants his film to be equally as ambitious.
- He joked about not listing everything that's influenced Interstellar to avoid people knowing what he's copying from.
-Nolan says the story is really about what it means to be human and our role in the universe. 

Alright, alright, alright...

More posters have been released for Avengers: Age of Ultron and soon enough we'll get the full image that they'll make up. The two latest feature Quicksilver, Hawkeye and more importanty, our first look at The Vision! I've also included a new still from the film which features Black Widow riding a Harley Davidson whilst sporting Captain America's shield.

Very, very cool. Joss Whedon has also been talking up the film and said in an interview said that there will be 'four prominent female roles' in it. So far we know Black Widow, Scarlet Witch and Maria Hill will feature in the sequel but who could the fourth be? Ms Marvel maybe? Who knows, all could be revealed in the next couple days.

In Game of Thrones new, several new cast member have been added to the show, including Jonathon Pryce who will be playing the High Sparrow in season 5. Take a look at the video below where the new cast reveal themselves.

The Walking Dead have released a trailer season 5 of their show. I am starting to get a little tired of this show but the new trailer looks promising and seems to take whats left of the group in a new direction. Take a look below:

That's it for today. Check back later for more news! 

Thanks for reading!

SDCC 2014 Thoughts #1

Last year I did a few posts on some of the news coming out of San Diego Comic Con and my thoughts on it. Since every SDCC is like a second Christmas, full of pop culture news and announcements for us nerds, I thought I would do the same this year as well. I'll be posting all things that I think are cool from the Con so not every piece of news from every angle of the event will be reported. Man do I wish I was there...

 It may just be the first day of the con but we have already been treated to some gems, beginning with a bunch of awesome exclusive posters including The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Mockingjay Part 1 and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies which can be seen below.

I especially love the Avengers ones, they are awesome! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some form of teaser trailer will be released at SDCC and then online over the weekend! In other news Warner Brothers brought the cowl and cape of Batman from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice to the show. It doesn't reveal much else to what we've already seen apart from the fact that it is dark grey and not a shade of blue that a lot of us fans would have liked to have seen. However I do still like the look they are going for with the Batfleck costume.

And if you wondering where the man himself was, well WB have just released a new official pic of The Batfleck.

Looking good! All this and it's still just Thursday, it's a good weekend to be a nerd.

Check back later for more updates on what going on at SDCC.

What do you think of all the latest SDCC news? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading! 

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

I think everybody was pleasantly surprised to see just how good Rupert Wyatt's Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes film was. So there was a lot of hype for when the latest instalment in the franchise, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes - now helmed by Matt Reeves - came out the other day and we were definitely not let down.

The second in the franchise reboot/prequels follows Ceaser as he attempts to set up a new society of intelligent primates, in a world where most of the human population has been wiped out by the Simyian Flu that was unleashed in the previous film. Dilemmas arrive for the colony when surviving humans arrive near their home, tensions start to boil and relationships get complicated when deciding on whether to trust the humans or not. The film is a big change to the last one and is a really well thought out story that plays with themes that relate to our own society.

James Franco is out of the picture in this film and a new cast is brought in to the world made of Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russel and Kodi Smit-Mcphee. Although the new cast are fine in their roles, their characters are not fully fleshed out and the most back story you get is their previous job profession and the fact that they have all lost someone. I especially thought Gary Oldman's character was underused in the film. Thankfully the show is stolen by the incredible motion capture performances of Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, Karin Konoval and others who bring the apes to life. The technology used in this film is truly amazing to behold and there was rarely a moment I didn't believe I was watching actual real apes perform. Andy Serkis and the other actors involved really need to be recognised for how good their performances are and the CG company WETA who make it all possible!

The films best moments are the smaller more powerful family scenes and although the action scenes are done well, they do not hold up the movie as well as the quieter moments do. The spectacle is great but it does what a lot of other summer blockbuster movies fail to do and that is to make you really care for the characters involved in the turmoil, most of all the apes. Human or ape, both sides have good and bad characters in them and neither has a fully fledged villain, but more like misguided characters who believe they are making the best decisions for their species.  But as I said earlier, this is a lot better done with the Apes than it is with the humans.

The film looks great, with a lot of it being filmed on sets and real locations which really add to the eery realness of the motion capture performances. It's also helped long by a great soundtrack composed by Michael Giacchino that really sets the mood of the piece.

The film is very clever and I hugely enjoyed watching it. Ceaser and the apes are remarkable to watch and even though the human characters aren't as fleshed out, they do add some powerful moments to the film. I personally thought it was better than its predecessor and cannot wait to see what's in store next for the franchise. I am rating Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes a 4/5.

What did you think of the latest Apes film, love it or hate it? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Boyhood

As you may have heard, Richard Linklater's latest film is something special. For the last 12 years the director has been filming a young boy as he grows up, making a film around him in an attempt to capture the essence of childhood. Linklater is one of my favourite directors and yet again he has not disappointed. Boyhood perfectly captures a period of time of someones life, it is a truly epic piece of cinema.

The vision alone is enough to commend this film, but the fact that Richard Linklater has pulled it off so eloquently, seaming every year of the young boy Mason's life into a three hour film. Casting of Ellar Coltrane to play the boy Mason was a decision that paid off very well. We are invested in every part of his story and his transition into adulthood and at times it feels like we could be watching a documentary, his acting is so spot on. It felt like I had been on a journey with Mason throughout his life and felt sad when I had to leave him at the end of the film. To accompany Coltrane on his time lapse is the brilliant cast including Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke and Lorelei Linklater. Although this is mainly Mason's story it is also intertwined with rest of his family giving us a look into the lives of three very different characters over 12 years.  

Not one point of the film seems rushed or incomplete, the snapshot in time is something of pure cinematic brilliance that was incredible to experience. It is a very personal film, I don't think anybody could watch it without connecting to Mason's experiences in one way or another. Not everybodys childhood will be the same but there will be definite similarities, Mason is pretty much the same age as myself presently, so I spent a lot of the film thinking 'was I that small when that song came out?' or just becoming nostalgic at certain aspects of the film that were similar to my own life.

As with any Linklater the film, the soundtrack is brilliant. It is also used very effectively throughout the film to help set the period as you are never told throughout what the year is, you just have to look at the misc-en-scene and listen to background music to figure it out. And there are some great tunes to listen out for.

To add to what is already a well written, perfectly edited and amazing snapshot of life, is that the film is also beautifully shot. The cinematography is great and the film looks brilliant throughout and is never let down during its 12 years worth of footage.

I can't think of anything wrong with this film, it may have a long running time but not at one point does it drag or get boring. I was fully invested in Linklater's masterpiece throughout and it truly is an achievement in film and cinema as well as being one of the best films this year has had to offer so far. I am giving Boyhood a rating of 5/5. So put down your Transformers tickets and go spend your money on a movie that deserves everybodys attention! 

What did you think of Boyhood? Did you love it as much as I did? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!