Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Since I’ve been out of town at MegaCon, I may be a bit behind the curve on the news that the Predators movie site has gone live. There’s a gallery, a synopsis of the movie and some behind the scenes stuff introduced by executive producer, Robert Rodriguez. If you haven’t seen the site already, it’s worth a look… or two.
Want to know how to make an Academy Award winning movie? Simply watch this trailer!
I never saw Tron. I have no desire to see Tron. I gotta admit though, that Tron Legacy looks kind of interesting. Oh, and if you want to see a billboard-sized version of the poster above, you can, thanks to Film Fillia.
StalloneZoner, ABKing, found the above Denmark poster for The Expendables and was kind enough to post it for all to see.
Predators are perhaps the most fierce warriors in the galaxy. So what do Predators do when they have some downtime? They dance. [Watch for the guest appearance of Danny Glover doing the Predator.]
Original link found at Miss Cellania.
If you can’t wait for The Expendables to premiere in theaters later this year, then perhaps an Expendables comic prequel will help hold you over. CBR.com has an interview with Chuck Dixon, the writer of the project. Here’s a bit of what Dixon had to say:
“This is a movie that Sylvester Stallone has been trying to get together for years; an action movie packed with as many well-known action stars as possible…
“Sly’s not re-inventing the wheel here. He’s just built a really bad-ass, killer wheel of awesomeness…
“My job is to tell a story that takes place before the events of the movie without revealing anything that’s to come in the movie’s story…
To read the full interview as well as see some preliminary art for the comic, simply click here.
The new Iron Man 2 trailer is out today and looks pretty good. Well, what are you waiting for? Click here!
It couldn’t be more appropriate [since there were several pieces about Rocky and the Oscars in this week’s update] that we have Rocky by Dave Wachter for this week’s Stallone art. Dave’s work has appeared on the SZ before with his riff on Sly from Paradise Alley.
After the recent earthquake in Haiti, Dave offered everyone who made a donation to Doctors Without Borders to aide earthquake victims in Haiti a free sketch. The piece about is what I got for my donation. You can see what others selected, and more of Dave’s art by heading over to his website.
Thanks to Dave for my great sketch as well as his efforts to help the people in Haiti.
FilmFilia scored a first look a the red band trailer and some new posters for George Romero’s Survival of the Dead. Although I’m not feeling the poster or the trailer like I hoped I would, you know at some point I’m going to have to check out Survival of the Dead. I mean, c’mon, it’s George Romero and zombies. Which is, pardon the expression a No BRAINSer.
I always enjoy a good mash-up. Especially one as well done as this Avatar/Pocahontas job. Thanks to Otis Frampton for the link.
Mike Torrance pencils, inks and colors. Mike regular posts a sketchcard idea contest at Retro Cowboy Productions and his Deviant Art site. Here’s how it works, Mike posts a subject and the first one to make request which fits the theme is the winner! This is the second time I’ve won [the theme this time: 80’s Action Heroes — the first time I won: Detectives].
Mike is available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable. Check him out.
This week we have Casey Jones’ take on Sly as Rocky. This was done last year when Casey was sketching for charity at MegaCon. It’s my second and hopefully not last piece from Casey who always does great work. Check out the label on Rocky’s gloves for an additional bonus. You can see more of Casey’s art here and here.
A couple of days ago I posted about the controversy that director Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s classic novel The Killer Inside Me received at the Sundance Film Festival. Several people walked out of the screening due to the amount and depiction of violence, especially against women.
The film starring, Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Simon Baker and Bill Pulman is set to be shown at the Berlin Film Festival. Of course questions about the controversy at Sundance and the level of violence came up. I like Winterbottom’s response:
“A lot of noir books and films show violence as something which is entertaining… What I liked about Jim Thompson’s books is that… he doesn’t use the violence as entertainment — there is something shocking about the violence… For me that was the point of the violence in the film in a way — it is something very repulsive. In terms of how we depicted it, we were just trying to make it as close to the book as possible. The book is very shocking.”
Although I like Winterbottom’s response, I wonder how I’ll enjoy his movie. There are ways to depict violence that is shocking without dwelling on it or being overly graphic. Some times, many times in fact, the more left to the imagination, the more shocking the result. It’ll be interesting to see the response The Killer Inside Me gets in Berlin.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly eight years since we posted that Jim Thompson’s classic novel The Killer Inside Me was set to become a major motion picture. Of course a lot has changed since then. Dominic “Swordfish” Sena was set to direct and no stars had been named. The reality is that Michael Winterbottom ended up helming the feature with Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Simon Baker and Bill Pulman co-starring.
A Killer Inside Me is my favorite Thompson book and I hope that everything comes together to make it a good film. Unfortunately, there’s already been a lot of controversy coming from it’s screening at Sundance. I guess we’ll know how good it is soon enough… once the distributor decides on a release date.
The Pitch: Denzel Washington and the Hughes Brothers team to bring us a post-apocalyptic action/adventure.
The Overview: Denzel Washington plays a lone traveler on a holy mission to take the last remaining bible to a place that he will know once he gets there. Gary Oldman is the town boss who wants the bible to strengthen his power over those living in his town.
The Good: Denzel is always good and this role is no exception. The concept works. Tom Waits as the town barterer. The old cannibal couple. The first action sequence set-up.
The Bad: The fight scenes go by too quickly. Not showing how Denzel got out of a locked room in which he was being held a prisoner. Later, when Denzel walks away and is being shot at, no one seems overly surprised when he is not hit. Even later, Denzel shot point blank in the stomach looks to be dying. In the next scene he slaps some duct tape on the wound and gets up to continue his journey.
The Ugly: Life in Oldman’s town. What happens if you touch Denzel after being warned not to.
The Summary: I enjoyed the movie, but wish that some of the fight scenes had been longer and clearer. I get that the intent was to show how quickly Denzel could dispatch a half dozen thugs, but it would have been more enjoyable to see the scenes as more than a blur or in shadow. I also get that Denzel’s escape from the room was supposed to be a shock to his captors, but it felt like a cheat to just accept that he was out without seeing how he did it.
I guess that’s what is a bit odd… the whole movie is about a man’s faith that God is taking him on a mission. He doesn’t know where or why, but his faith is enough to protect him and get him through to the end. Of course, faith is believing in something that you can’t directly see and yet, it was the things that I couldn’t directly see in the movie that I found to be my biggest complaint.
