Latest posts of: davebartlett

It might all be rumours, but it looks like there are plans to "reboot" (what an good choice of phrase) Robocop.
I'm a fan of the first one, even twenty odd years after it was made. I'm quite like the Robocop 2, even if I struggle with some parts of it. I HATED the third one. "HATED" might be a bit mild. I thought it was total crap. What the hell was going on with that? Don't even get me started on the TV series... Jesus christ!...

I can't say I'm against the remake, but wherever or not another director would be able to capture the pokes and jokes at the grand old American way of life is unknown.. For those of you might be in the dark as the original, the following is a brief idea of the plot:

Alex J. Murphy (Peter Weller), one of Morton's "prime candidates", is savagely murdered while trying to arrest a gang led by Clarence J. Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith). Murphy is pronounced dead in the hospital, and his body is rebuilt by OCP as the prototype for a cyborg police officer, with the hardware of a robot and the "instincts" of a policeman.

Source: http://filmonic.com

I'm going to make a statement.

Fight Club was amazing....
..Even if that "twist" wasn't as unexpected as they thought it would be.

You might be a fan of Chuck Palahniuk's books, you might not. I am. However, whatever your viewpoint, you can't say that the guy can't come up with some original ideas and good twists on stale tales. Inbound is the movie version of this book "Choke", called, unsurprisingly, "Choke". It's going to be by the multi-tasking Clark Gregg, who's an actor-turned-writer/director, who has been involved with "Iron Man", "In The Land Of Women" and "The West Wing".

For those of you who aren't sure about the plot of the book, here's general idea:

"In the present day setting of the book, Victor is now a man in his mid-twenties who left medical school in order to find work to support his mother who is now in a nursing home. He cannot afford the care that his mother is receiving so he resorts to being a con man. His "con" is to go to restaurants and midway through his meal, he forces himself to choke on his food, luring a "good Samaritan" into saving his life. He keeps a detailed list of everyone who saves him and sends them frequent letters about fictional bills he is unable to pay. The people feel so sorry for him that they give him money, send him cards and letters asking him about how he's doing, and even continue to send him money to help him with the bills"

MTV has posted a trailer, which can be viewed here:http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=235956

Source: www.aintitcool.com

Announced as part of the whole Cannes festival, and featuring in an article which recently ran with The Hollywood Reporter, there is a sequel to Point Break on the way.

The Kathryn Bigelow '90s original was a vehicle for Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, with Reeves being a rookie FBI agent after a group of "seasonal" bank robbers. They turn out to be the group of surfers that he has be-friended as part of his investion, and are pulling off the heists to fund their life style. Swayze played the head of the group, who escapes his capture by facing what would seem to be a watery grave at the end of the film.

It's already taken seventeen years to get around this, which is a hell of a long time! RGM Entertainment and Essential Entertainment will produce the film, which will be shot in both Southeast Asia and Singapore. The good news is that W. Peter Iliff, the writer behind the original film, is coming back to script this one up. At this moment in time though, details are vague, with no real word on plot.

Also unknown is if Reeves will be returning to his role of Johnny Utah (yes, we know its not a name you'd think about when it comes to an FBI agent!!). There is also the question hanging in the area about the of return for Swayze to his criminal surfer role, due to his recent health problems.

Watch this space!...... As a guilty pleasure, I have no doubt I'll be in the line to see this one when it comes out!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

Mission Impossible 4: Not so impossible?

More Cruise... Err... News? (Sorry!)...

Despite Paramount ending their association with Tom Cruise and his producing partner Paul Wagner in August 2006, reportedly due to the actor's publicly criticized behaviour, Sumner Redstone, on behalf of the company, recently made public the fact that he no longer had any objection to Tom Cruise starring in next Mission Impossible film:

"I consider Tom Cruise a great actor and a good friend... And if Paramount decides to move ahead with him, I will not object."

He must have forgotten all about this...

..the couch-jumping on Oprah Winfrey's TV show, which was the final straw in them parting ways...

Source: www.variety.com

Not one to stand still too long, having conquered films and wacky religions, Tom Cruise is now trying to conquer the humble old television.

The man has reportedly hired the mastermind behind the re imagining of Battlestar Galactica to hammer out an unknown trilogy of sci fi movies and has now caught hold of Joel Surnow and Michael Loceff, the writer-producer partnership behind the 24 series to create a spy-thriller.

Here comes the old deja vu, given that he brought Alias and Lost main man J.J. Abrams onboard for the third Mission Impossible 3. However, Abrahms won't be directing this movie, with Martin Campbell, of Casinon Royale taking the role.

Guess we will just have to wait and see if its a case of mission impossible.

Source: Variety

Fear The Amazon!.. (althought probably not this kind of Amazon..

Hmm... You'd think by now that people would realise in the Cinema Land, little, relaxing trips up the river in a boat with either (a) your family or (b) your mates normally end up in the terrority of a certain creek starting with S. And the letters I, T and H in some order. They also tend to find themselves without a paddle at the same time.

Sheldon Turner's last bit of script writing, called "Down River", has been picked up by Regency. Turner has recently been kept busy scripting "X-Men Origins: Magneto" and the not so great "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning".

Hollywood Reporter is running an article about the upcoming film, which is described as:

"The story revolves around four twentysomething masters of the corporate world who decide
to go on an actual adventure trip to the Amazon rather than on a high-class trip where you
pretend to rough it. Things go awry when their tour guide is killed and the men have to face
not only dangerous wildlife and tribesmen but also one another."

Source: www.aintitcool.com

Apparently there is an interest by one Steven Spielberg in producing a live action / 3D movie version of the Manga classic "Ghost in the Shell".

Shirow Masamune's was behind the 1989 graphic novel, which amongst other things, provided the inspiration the Wachowski Brothers needed to to create The Matrix. The original movie was spawned from its concepts, along with a tv series and a sequel movie in 2004, "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence".

While concrete details are thin on the ground at the minute, especially relating to how the visuals of the films will be translated into the upcoming Spielberg sequel. Hopefully it will keep the adult tones and themes from the originals, with the man behind Innonence, Mamoru Oshii, described his movie as follows

I wanted to think more about, 'What are humans, exactly?' Those kinds of movies tend to be either about a love story, or about God. But I thought, 'Maybe there is another way of explaining what humans really are?' I finally came to the realization that I could write about humans by using technology and animals."

For those who aren't too sure on what the fuss is about, and to be honest, by what I can remember of the films, you DO need to be paying attention, the following should clear up a few things:

"Ghost in the Shell is a futuristic police thriller dealing with the exploits of Motoko Kusanagi, a member of the covert operations section of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission, Section 9, which specializes in fighting technology-related crime. She may be named after one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan and Shirow makes reference to them at the end of the second manga. Although supposedly equal to all other members, Kusanagi fills the leadership role in the team, and is usually referred to as "the Major" due to her past rank in the armed forces. She is capable of superhuman feats, and bionically specialized for her job — her body is almost completely mechanized; only her brain and a segment of her spinal cord are organic.

The setting of Ghost in the Shell is cyberpunk or postcyberpunk, similar to that of William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy. More than other cyberpunk authors, however, Shirow focuses more on the ethical and philosophical ramifications of the widespread merging of humanity and technology, the development of artificial intelligence and an omnipresent computer network set the stage for a reevaluation of human identity and uniqueness. More so than the films, the manga tackles these questions head on: Kusanagi and her colleagues face external threats and also suffer internal conflict over their own natures."

Source: http://blog.wired.com/underwire

There is no denying that CGI animated movies have come on leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. Theres no denying that, no matter what our age is, it's hard to resist the charms of films like Ice Age, Monsters Inc, Robots and Toy Story to name a few.

While Pixar's Cars might not have ranked up with my favourites, it's still pretty enjoyable. It opens in the final race of the 2005 Piston Cup stock car racing season and championship in the Motor Speedway of the South, where a skilled but arrogant rookie racecar, Lightning McQueen in the lead against his opponents, had advoided a car accident, and built a large lead over two other prominent figures; the cup's defending (and soon retiring) nine-time champion, Strip "The King" Weathers and and perennial runner-up and cheater Chick Hicks. However, without spoiling the plot, something happens to ruin his winning streak.

The fans of all levels and ages of the original will be please to hear the there is a sequel in the works. While it might be a few years off, it's certainly on its way, so all us big kids should have something to look forward to... Hopefully Pixar will have something rolling out sooner...

Source: www.ainitcool.com

The press machine rolls on.. Shown in this post are some of the new Iron Man photos that have been release to promote and from the upcoming film.

For those of you who aren't sure on the whole back story of Tony Stark (a.k.a Iron Man), then let me fill you in on a few things:

Created by writer-editor Stan Lee, writer Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark (aka Iron Man) first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963).

Tony Stark, after being gravely injured and forced to build a devastating weapon, instead created a suit of power armor to save his life and help protect the world as Iron Man. He is a wealthy industrialist and genius inventor whose suit of armor is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime.

Throughout most of his career, Iron Man has been a member of the superhero team the Avengers, and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic-book series. He has been adapted into animated films and TV series, and Academy Award nominated actor Robert Downey Jr. portrays him in an upcoming live-action film.

In the film, one of the main enemies that he will come into conflict with is his business rival, Obadiah Stane, who like Stark, is a billionaire industrialist and Stark's former mentor. Being the man behind the Iron Monger suit, he'll certainly be tough competition. Hope are high for this one being a comic book movie thats *great*! The Iron Monger suit from the film is shown below:

Source: www.aintitcool.com

I don't know about you guys reading, but I have to say that ever since the first time I saw "Aliens", theres a part of me thats wanted a chance to be a gun toting Colonial Marine in some virtual sense. I equally enjoyed and had the crap scared out of me by Aliens Vs. Predator 2 on the PC, and have seen the roll over in generations from Xbox to Xbox 360 and PS2 to PS3, I have been waiting for the signs up a next-gen version.

Gearbox Software have made my day / year (delete as approriate*) by the very fact that they are in the process of developing a brand new FPS "Aliens" game, called Colonial Marines. If you aren't sure who Gearbox are, they have developed many brillant titles, including the Brothers In Arms series, which have basically been "Saving Private Ryan" in game form.

The game itself doesn't follow straight on from "Aliens" itself, with Colonial Marine's events taking place after Alien 3, revolving around the encounters of a squad of the aforementioned marines looking to locate the missing Sulaco spacecraft, and along the way figuring out what the hell happened to Ripley, Apone, Hicks, Burke, Gorman and the rest of previous marines.

Areas we can expect to see are the colony interiors, similar to the "Aliens" sets, which I'm happy about, and also city settings and some less restricted outdoor combat. It will also feature up to four player "drop in drop out" co-op, which if it lives up to its promise sounds like it will be simply amazing. Did I forget to say its also going to feature the good old acid blood too? So watch out if you are standing too close to one of xenomorphs when you blow it away, because you might get burnt...

Interestly enough there was a PS2 game in development at EA, which was sadly cancelled. It seemed to show great promise, despite YouTube footage being of a beta version where the aliens themselves did not show much in the way of AI.

Source: Games Radar

Apparently its looking like Rambo 5 will bring a career change for the troubled soldier.. but don't expect to see Stallone flipping out back in your local shopping centre while stacking shelves...

The man himself spoke recently to a swedish newspaper, with this to say:

"I would like to take Rambo to another genre, experiment a little with the character. It would definitely not be another war movie. I can't go any further with that than what I've already done. What it's going to be like, I'm not going to reveal at this point. But I'm already halfway though writing the manuscript."

What this change in direction might be, who, at this point, can say? What is for certain is that it will interesting to see where and what the end script produces, and if the formula that have made the Rambo films, if not high brow masterpieces, but popcorn entertainment, is still working..

Rumours will no doubt be bouncing around the good old interweb... and it'll be good (and maybe good for a laugh) to see some of the die hard fan's own versions of the fifth films script. One the main suggested plotlines is that of Rambo discovering that he has a daughter, that needs to be saved from some kind of evil cult.. Again, wherever this is can be confirmed or denied is unknown until the words come from Stallone's lips.

Source: www.aintitcool.com

While the script of the latest film version of "I Am Legend" might have not have stuck to the novel, few can argue it was quite successful at what it was designed to do, and was one of the better "horror / sci fi" films to have emerged in a while.

This is the original ending. It's a more emotional based vision than what they went with. Watch it and decide for yourselves!

Source: AintItCool

Some news about David Goyer's next project as both writer and (probably risky after the reception of the third Blade film) director will be called the cheerful sounding "Unborn", which is to be be the tale of a girl haunted by the soul of a young Holocaust victim. Although haunted might be a bit of a timid term for this, as through the movie, she battles against this child's soul trying to possess her.

Pea soup time again, anyone?

Details are a bit thin at the moment, but the cast is filling out with Odette Yustman, who was last seen as Beth in Cloverfieild, Gary Oldman as... a exorcism performing rabbi. Also Meagan Good, Jane Alexander, Idris Elba and Rhys Coiro are also tagging along for the ride.

The biggest shock though that this film might produce is that fact that it is a Platinum Dunes project, instead of the '70s / '80s remakes / cock ups they have become known for.

Source: www.aintitcool.com

Source: www.imdb.com

Things can move fast in Hollywood when they think they are on to a hot new property. Apparently, Joe Hill ("Joe who?" you might be saying, but who is in fact the son of Stephen King), had a comic book releasesd last week called Locke & Key. Amazingly quickly, only six days later the film rights have been bought up by Dimension Films, which made his dad’s "Mist" movier.

The basic plot of the comic is that three kids who live in a New England mansion, containing many doors that can transport and physically alter the children. Once hitch though, in typical King family style, there’s a frightening monster behind one of them... And it does should pretty frightening.. The man himself was interviewed on www.comicbookresources.com, with a snippet below:

"Most of all, somewhere in the house, there’s a door that must never be opened, the black door. Naturally, there’s someone who wants to open it, a creature named Dodge, a kind of Peter Pan gone horribly wrong. Someone who takes the Lost Boys of the world and turns them Columbine.” -- Joe Hill

Source: http://www.comicbookresources.com

Source: http://www.movieblog.ugo.com

Despite the fact they are quite blurry, there are some recently leaked photos of one of the actions figures that will be released in time to tie in with the whole "Dark Knight" movie (which is the next in the new line of Batman films).

The images were leaked from the Toy Fair, recently held in New York. As you can see from the images, Harvey Dent, the lawyer who becomes Two-Face after he is scarred by acid, is vastly different from the Tommy Lee Jones version (thankfully!). Theres no longer the two tone style suits, and the over all appearance is more "realistic".

The main details to note are the fact that the scar face side of the suit is more worn out and damaged than the other, and that his eye and socket have been damaged, more exposed and turned an evil shade of red.

The changes in the character design can be seen if you look at the photo below of the character's '70s era appearance, and of one of the comic book versions

Finally, the following explains a little about everyone's favourite Batman bad guy after the Joker..

"Originally, he was one of many gimmick-focused comic book villains, plotting crimes based around the number two, such as robbing Gotham Second National Bank at 2:00 on February 2. In recent years, writers have portrayed his obsession with duality and fate and his criminal behavior as the result of multiple personality disorder and a history of child abuse. He obsessively makes all important decisions by flipping a two-headed coin, one side of which is scratched over with an X. The fact that Dent was formerly a close friend and ally of Batman before his scarring colors their now adverserial relationship is also a more prominient element in modern stories."

You can read up more on the guy here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-face

Source: http://www.darkhorizons.com

If you want to see the first three all-CG episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series before they air on telelvision, you can pop of and see them at the movies. The idea was first rumored last November, and the animated Clone Wars film will be released in August. The series itself will then debut sometime later in the year.

“I felt there were a lot more Star Wars stories left to tell,” said George Lucas, the executive producer of the show. “I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and, at the same time, push the art of animation forward.”

The action and events of the series are set in-between Episode II and Episode III, possible sometime after the earlier Clone Wars cartoon from a couple of years ago. The press release reads as follows:

"On the front lines of an intergalactic struggle between good and evil, fans young and old will join such favorite characters as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala, along with brand-new heroes like Anakin’s padawan learner, Ahsoka. Sinister villains – led by Palpatine, Count Dooku and General Grievous – are poised to rule the galaxy. Stakes are high, and the fate of the Star Wars universe rests in the hands of the daring Jedi Knights. Their exploits lead to the action-packed battles and astonishing new revelations that fill Star Wars: The Clone Wars."

You can see some clips here for yourselves and see what you think:
http://starwars.com/video/view/623.html

Source: movieblog.ugo.com

Finally, the first official photo taken from upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine! There's even a small quote from the star/producer, Hugh Jackman, of what to expect from his character's first solo movie.

Hugh Jackman: "But you can’t give too much away, because fans are pretty hard-core. Their expectations go up a level every time you come out with a new film."

Sabretooth, last seen in the first X Men movie, and who is basically the X Men version of The Joker to his Batman, “is going to play a big part in it. And there will be a good bit of cameos” of new mutants as well as old favorites. He also comments on the hush-hush nature of the project: “But you can’t give too much away, because fans are pretty hard-core. Their expectations go up a level every time you come out with a new film.”

Source: UGO

"Boo!"

Wes Craven has got a new horror project in the works, cryptically called '25/8'. The film is reported to follow the storyline of a "signature villian" (is that a clue? or supposed to be a clue?) turning up once more, 15 years after his supposed death, to kill 7 children that were born on the 25/8, the night he "died". Apparently it's likely to be more "thriller than slasher", so maybe a darker, more serious tone than "Scream".

Source: Aint It Cool

Strangely enough, Rambo would seem to becoming somewhat of a role model....

"I once had a gun.. this big..."

With the latest film in the series set in the jungles of Myanmar, the film is said to be inspiring the country's students to stand up and rebel against the socialist dictatorship that has ruled the country under a military junta for years.

Annouced by Reuters, police in the country are coming down hard on any sellers of Rambo DVDs. The report states that "people are going crazy with the quote 'Live for nothing, die for something'", which has become to be seen as a rally cry for the rising democracy movement.

Source: www.ugo.com