Who is Running Hollywood?! How is This Movie Not Already Made?

Zombies, mobsters, action, horror and CGI animation are all proven film gimmicks.  So imagine my surprise when I was perusing the internet earlier today and stumbled upon (not while on Stumble Upon) a Kickstarter project for an animated film based on a graphic novel with all the aforementioned elements involved.

Imagine my further surprise when I learned well-known director David Fincher was involved with the project and that the production idea had actually been first unveiled at Comic Con 2010.  How could something so impressively awesome with so many aspects of current successful films and the interest of already recognized Hollywood names need to turn to Kickstarter in order to get their film off the ground?

The idea in question is a film based on the comic series The Goon.  and as you can see by the following video clip, it would be amazing to see on the big screen (WARNING: the trailer is violent and offensive and not for children):



So, if you like zombies, mobsters, foul language, violence and animation (and really, who doesn't?) and you have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, head over to the Kickstarter site and fund this project.  I'm sure the producers will be grateful, but more importantly, so will I because I want to see this movie...like yesterday.

About Last Night...

While I was frantically typing a post regarding Lego team-ups last night to get something done while it was technically still Friday, a post existed on another fabulous blog.  A bit of research would have easily led me to discover it and thus bolstered the credibility of my rantings (not that credibility has ever been something I cared about).

It takes a big man to admit he's made a mistake.  I happen to wear size 14 shoes (you know what they say about a guy with big shoes?...big feet) so I suppose that qualifies me as being rather large and gives me the ability to admit my lack of preparation and try to make it up to you now.

In last night's post, I referenced "rumor" that a Lego Lord of the Rings video game was being developed.  Little did I know in my haste that not one but two different trailers for said game had actually been posted earlier in the same day over at the Brothers Brick.  I link to them below for your enjoyment.

The Fallacy of the Trilogy Pattern

With the third and final of Christopher Nolan's Batman films now in theaters, I spent some time recently reflecting on some of the more well-known film trilogies.  I remember reading that the overwhelming opinion of many film-viewers was that the quality of each of the three films in a trilogy followed a predictable pattern.


The first, it was said was good enough to draw attention to the franchise.  It developed the characters and injected interest in their story into the consciousness of the general public.


The second film was the crowning achievement.  With the main characters established, new challenges and trials could be introduced.  the story hit the ground running and gave you the most bang for your buck.


The third film was usually the source of heated debate.  Did it end the franchise successfully or did it stagger off into the sunset like the athlete with injury problems who should have retired three seasons back?  Regardless, the third film showed a significant drop off from the second, often held in regard as the best of the three.


I argue that this is really not much of a pattern at all and below, I set out to provide evidence toward my argument.  Please peruse the following graph and think of each trilogy mentioned (I know I left a number out, but the graph was becoming rather cluttered) as you saw it...

Two things should be evident from looking at this graph.  First, I am not very skilled at graphic design. Second, the suggested pattern does not hold as steadfast as some would suggest.  In fact, several trilogies had the second film in the series nearly knock the success of the franchise off the rails before the third could be released.


I welcome any and all questions, challenges and debates regarding the opinion expressed above.  Of course, I am speculating on where The Dark Knight Rises might fall on this graph and I have ignored that extra film that had Indiana Jones in its title for reasons which I hope are obvious.

Finding the Tipping Point

I have long been an apologist for movies that tweak the details of a classic character (be it from comic books, toys or literature) to make them work on the big screen.  The original Transformers film was acceptable in my mind.  I gave Watchmen a shot and mildly enjoyed it even though I knew all the essential details from the graphic novel could never fit into a movie any shorter than thirteen hours.  I am even holding judgement on Michael Bay's conversion of the Ninja Turtles into aliens.


But I know a lot of other people, call them nerds if you want (because it's probably accurate), are sticklers to detail.  When Optimus Prime's front end stuck out instead of being flat in vehicle form, they were enraged.  When Wolverine was obviously taller than 5'7", they cursed Hugh Jackman, then subsequently embraced him as the films, most notably Wolverine: Origins, drove the character and several others (*cough* Deadpool *cough*) into the ground.


It is the great debate over just how much change is too much change that is now on my mind after watching the newest trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man, which is due in theaters July 3rd and which you can watch here.  I recall that when the Tobey Maquire's first Spider-Man movie was released, many a geek was upset over the fact that Spidey's web shooters had become biological in nature rather than his own invention.  It didn't seem a major deviation from the original character to me, but it made a lot of enemies at the time.  So how will Spidey fans around the world react now that a slew of other changes are apparently being made to the story-line?


To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it myself.  For once, it appears that the changes made for the sake of conversion to film may even be too much for me.  Sure, they got it right by making Gwen Stacey his first girlfriend and having Peter Parker build his own web shooters, but there now exists the suggestion that Peter's real parents are somehow linked to Oscorp.  Also, the specific choice of words is that his parents "left" when he was a kid.  Is there a big Darth Vader reveal moment in mind down the road?  Because that would be lame.  What's more, listen closely and you'll hear the one-armed Dr. Curt Conners suggest that it was no mistake that Peter acquired his Spider powers.  Is this to suggest that Spider-Man is being rewritten as a biological experiment?  Has Marvel gone Weapon X all over Spider-Man's origin tale?


More questions than answers have arisen from the newest trailer and it makes me feel all icky inside as I fear what the new movie might do to my beloved Spider-Man.  I suppose I'll let you know what I ultimately think after going to see it in the theater at the first chance I get.


You can lead a nerd to a super hero movie, but you can't make him see it more than three times.

TGD Movie Review: The Avengers

from Marvel.com

I'll begin by telling you, if you didn't know already, that I have been looking forward to The Avengers for years.  So much so, in fact, that I have already seen the movie twice within the first 24 hours of its US release, once last night at midnight with my wife and again this afternoon with our kids and a few of their friends in tow.


Of course, having seen it twice already, perhaps that gives me a unique perspective.  Or maybe I'm still just a fanboy.  Either way, I will get into the review and leave it for you to decide.

Proper Attire

My tickets have been purchased for the Thursday night midnight premier of The Avengers.  Gift certificates for popcorn and pretzel bites have been procured.  I have the extra wide mouth Gatorade bottle prepared to avoid bathroom breaks.


Now, only one question remains.  I will not be attending in costume, but which t-shirt shall I wear?  Captain America?  Thor?  A mash-up shirt?


So hard to chose.  I am open to suggestions.

Revenge of the New Poll

I must finally come down off the high of the Geek Tournament.  The winners have been decided, the final celebration rightfully celebrated and the prize of the Cobra iRadar handed out (congratulations to Patrick and a hearty, “Thanks for playing,” to everyone else).

I was so wrapped up in the afterglow of the second annual coming of the event that I neglected to come up with a poll question for April and also was at an all time low in generating posts last month.  It is time to turn the tide.  May promises to be a month full of promise and excitement and our monthly poll question should return in order to signify that.

So let’s get right to it.  With The Avengers sure to be the hit movie of the month, let’s look forward to the future and vote on which Avenger ought to be included in the sequel.  Your choices are:

• Giant Man & Wasp
• Ms. Marvel
• Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch
• Vision
• Wonderman

A few of the choices include two heroes just because one can’t imagine adding one without the other.  But more is not better, so I encourage you to choose wisely.  Who knows, the minds behind the Marvel films might be reading and take our advice to heart.  (We know this is not true of course because if it were Chameleon would have been the villain in the new Spider-Man movie instead of Lizard and a second Ghost Rider starring Nicolas Cage would never have been made…but we can dream, can’t we?)

Happy voting.

The Longest Week's Features

There is but one thing on my mind this week.  Anyone who knows me (or read our last post) ought to realize that is the upcoming release of The Avengers this Friday.  My excitement has left me unable to keep from talking about the potential of the film, remembering what it was that I walked into the other room for or get a decent night’s sleep.

In an effort to calm myself down, I have tried to remind myself that not everything Avengers related has always been a hit in my book (and that doesn’t even include the Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman movie from 1998).  Thus, while the weekly features will be Avengers-laden, our top five list looks to temper my fan-boy instinct by chronicling the five lamest Avengers in my opinion complete with the link to their page on the Mrvel Universe site.

I Can Hold Out 5 More Days...Can't I?

Back in the second half of 2007, when the first trailers for Iron Man were made available for public consumption, the wheels in my head started turning.


"An Avengers movie is possible," I reasoned with my brother.  "They already did the Hulk (though they did a better one later) so if they can just make stand alone movies for Thor and Captain America, they are set.  A few other side characters (Giant Man and Wasp, I had originally reasoned) could be added into the storyline somewhere along the way."


Months later, I went to see Iron Man but had not expected the big reveal in the hidden scene after the credits.  I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, a superhero film with the human side to his alter-ego exposed and as I sat through the end credits, reveling in what my eyes had just taken in, a few words changed my entire world.


"I'm hear to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."


I gasped and flailed wildly for my wife's in the theater, not wanting to divert my attention from the screen lest some other mind blowing event might take place.


"Oh my God!  Did you hear that?  That mean's they're making an Avengers movie!" I nearly shouted.  At least that's what I tried to say, but the wheezing and gurgling that I emitted instead most likely left my wife thinking that I was having a synthetic butter flavoring induced stroke.


From that point on, I spoke about the possibilities of the impending Marvel mash-up at every opportunity I could find to squeeze it into a conversation.  I sought to educate interested moviegoers on which characters they might expect to see.  If someone was not a Marvel fan, I tried to show them the error of their ways.  I was a dedicated disciple, attempting to lead the masses toward what I was sure could be nothing less than superhero film salvation.


The four years that have passed since have been a blur.  Every personal and family memory gauged by the point on the developing story timeline at which it took place.  Like the Aztec calendar, my brain counted down the days until a life changing event when all other things would cease to mater any longer.  Every day from that to May 4th 2012 would be lived just to behold what was to be shown before me on a screen.


And now, that day has nearly arrived.  My family has been informed that I will be spending several hours in a theater this Friday and it is entirely up to them whether or not they would like to be there with me.  Either way, I will be in my seat well before the previews begin and there will be no bathroom breaks.  I have already begun stretching out my bladder tolerance with super-sized Mountain Dews and Double Gulps.  I will be a focused, movie watching machine by the time friday arrives...which cannot happen soon enough.


This may very well be the longest week of my life.

I've Created a Muttation

Once again, an attempt to manipulate my family’s actions in order to accommodate my selfish intentions has backfired.

Christmas morning revealed a hardcover set of the Hunger Games trilogy under the tree for yours truly.  I didn’t get to them right away but once I did, like most geeks reading a story set in a dystopian future, I was absolutely hooked twenty pages in and burned through all three volumes pretty quickly.  My goal was to complete the trilogy before the first film was released.  I did not only that, but managed to complete Mockingjay before allowing myself to see the teaser trailers for the first movie.

I was prepared to see The Hunger Games in the theater upon its release except for one fatal misstep in my planning.  Who would I see it with?

My wife had not read the books and since I am a staunch believer in book first, movie second (provided the movie is based on the book, not the other way around…books based on movies suck), I needed to get her to read at least the first tome.  I was reluctant to sit by myself in a movie theater and feel like a creep, a feeling which would only be magnified by all the teenage girls likely to be in attendance, to go see The Hunger Games on the big screen.

Hungry for Entertainment?

The Hunger Games is out in theaters today and there is a great deal of chatter about it to say the least.  Fans of the books have been excited for weeks, counting down the days to its release.  Hollywood insiders are speculating this series will be far more popular than the Twilight movies and possibly on par with the Harry Potter films (go ahead and note my juxtaposition of the terms "movie" and "film" in that last sentence because it was intentional).


The Hunger Games books have action, suspense, drama, humor, violence and romance.  This is one of the reasons why they appeal to youth and adults.  What's not to like?


But this has also led to a number of people suggesting that the trend of adults fawning over young adult fiction indicates we, as a society, are becoming dumber.  What's next, wonders this critic, a dramatic film trilogy based on the Hardy Boys?  Perhaps adults will start buying chunky board books with soft, touchable bunny tails on the pages that they can stroke between their thumb and forefinger.  Maybe the next big movie-based-on-a-book that adults will be anticipating will be James Cameron's big budget production of The Velveteen Rabbit (spoiler alert: I hear the stuffed rabbit makes the kid really regret tossing him aside).