UPDATED WITH THE FORCE AWAKENS TRAILER! News Around the Net
Late-breaking update to my last post — take a gander at this new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens!!
WOW that is a hell of a trailer. I love hearing Mark Hamill’s voice-over, echoing his words to Leia in Return of the Jedi. Love the shot of the crashed Star Destroyer… and I love even more seeing the Millenium Falcon fly into what looks like the guts of that ruined Star Destroyer! And that last shot and that last line… wow. It’s very weird seeing a very old Han Solo, but I sort of love it. I still don’t know if this movie is going to be any good, but I have huge love for this trailer. Pure bliss.
This is amazing. Just trust me.
This is a great article on Dune from The New Yorker from a little while back. It is indeed curious that Dune has not penetrated the pop culture the way The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars has. But for those of us who know and love Dune, it is a treasure. (And I do love all of Frank Herbert’s five sequels, even though they are imperfect. Sadly the Dune novels written after Frank Herbert’s death by his son Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson have, for the most part, disappointed.)
Please lord let this be true. Seventeen additional episodes of Arrested Development?? Let’s do this.
Hey, season two of True Detective is coming! Can’t wait:
I’m also fairly eager for the third season of Orange is the New Black:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njy0dFFlpAc
I was surprised by the glum tone of the first trailer for Marvel’s Ant Man. This new trailer is far stronger, though I’m still a little surprised at how serious they’re making the film look. Is that really the tone? I do love that train gag at the end of the trailer, though.
In other Marvel news, this raised my eyebrows: Marvel can’t make a Hulk stand-alone film because Universal retains the rights to any Hulk solo film? Wow, that is a crazy tangle of legal red-tape. This doesn’t bug me too much because as awesome and perfect as Mark Ruffalo is as Bruce Banner, I think the Hulk functions best in a supporting role rather than carrying his own movie. I do hope, though, to someday see a Guardians of the Galaxy/Planet Hulk crossover story-line movie. I’ve tried to avoid too heavy spoilers for Age of Ultron and the upcoming slate of Marvel films, but various bits and pieces that I have heard and read lead me to suspect that might be coming a few years down the road, and that is awesome.
This new trailer for Terminator: Genisys (hate hate hate that title) is just, wow, did they really show all that? I wish I hadn’t seen it. I can’t believe how much of the movie is spoiled in this trailer. I understand the marketing desire to show how this Terminator film is different from the many failed previous sequels, but I think this is a marketing mis-step. I am seriously bummed to have seen this trailer, so please be warned before you click on this to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGSxss7gWak
OK, I am dubious that the Suicide Squad film will be good, and I am even more dubious about Jared Leto’s casting as the Joker. But damn if this tease of Leto in the role isn’t brilliant. Hello, The Killing Joke!
After the disappointing Tron: Legacy I am not chomping at the bit for another Tron sequel by the same creative team. (Though I long to see a truly awesome Tron film, and I do believe one can be made.) But this article is worth reading just for the brilliant jokingly suggested title for the sequel at the end.
This is a wonderful article looking back at the crushing disappointment that was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I remember my own shell-shocked reaction to the horror of that film like it was yesterday. (I have never re-watched Crystal Skull after seeing it that one time at midnight on opening weekend. It’s funny, some weird mix of curiosity and nostalgia has driven me to re-watch the also-terrible Star Wars: Episode I every now and then, but I have never had any desire to re-watch Crystal Skull…)
I love the Fantastic Four. They were the first Marvel super-hero comic-book that I followed monthly as a kid. When Josh Trank, director of the awesome little super-hero film Chronicle, was hired to direct Fox’s FF reboot I was thrilled. But everything I have seen or read about the film recently worries me, and this reveal of the look of The Thing is disappointing. Devin Faraci from Badassdigest.com has it exactly right, he looks sorta like Clayface! Oh well.
So, at long last, Brad Bird is actually writing a script for a sequel to The Incredibles? Awesome!
Less awesome? This news that Fox will not be releasing any more seasons of The Simpsons on DVD or blu-ray? Well, that just stinks!!!
This is a fascinating insight into the work processes of brilliant comic book author Warren Ellis.
This is a great article by John DeCarli on the often very-bad Hollywood biopic genre.
This is a great short interview with Joss Whedon.
I am loving the relatively new weekly podcast series The Canon, and this latest installment pitting Annie Hall against Manhattan is fantastic. They’re a bit higher than I am on Manhattan. You can read my detailed thoughts on Manhattan here. Annie Hall, meanwhile, is not only my very favorite Woody Allen film, it is one of my ten favorite movies of all time. I also really enjoyed this episode in which the case is made for Casino Royale as the best Bond film of all time.