Category Archives: Movies
Expendables: The Musical
The gang at Legolambs is at it again, this time making a musical based on The Expendables. I liked the film well enough, but the concept of bringing together all of the old action star heroes into one team, one film, is brilliant. It also provides a robust choir for this new musical number!
The Hobbit is Now Confirmed as a Trilogy
Good news, Lord of the Rings fans, director Peter Jackson himself made it official today that his two Hobbit films will now become three. As I understand it, he filmed a whole lot of leftover footage, and is looking at various notes and appendices that JRR Tolkien wrote in the original works; so he’s got more than enough material to work with to stretch this out into a trilogy!
An unexpected journey
I’ve never read The Hobbit, so I couldn’t tell you how well I think this might work out. But I do hold The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy as possibly the greatest film masterpiece of all time. They were such amazing movies. And if Peter Jackson feels he has enough material to make three new movies instead of just two, I say more power to him!
This trilogy rumor has been bouncing around since Comic-Con, but Jackson made it official today with a post on his Facebook page:
It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’
We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.
So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.
It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, “a tale that grew in the telling.”
Cheers,
Peter J
So there you have it, from the man himself.
I have all the faith in the world that this guy knows what he’s doing with these films.
As of right now, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is set to be released on Dec. 14, 2012, followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again on Dec. 13, 2013. I imagine these films and dates might be subject to change…plus they’ll need a new title for the third film!
How Prometheus Should Have Ended
The guys at ‘How It Should Have Ended’ have been turning their cartoons more into just parodies lately than actual alternate endings. But they’re still funny! And this one for Prometheus not only features some new jokes, along with the old jokes, but they really do show us all how Prometheus should have ended.
As you may recall, I wasn’t too fond of Prometheus.
Playing with Batman Action Figures
Have you ever heard of Hot Toys? Apparently they’re this ultra elite toy-making company that designs realistic, super amazing action figures! They use the movies as references, and then sculpt figures to match the actors. Very lifelike – and very expensive. Hence why I don’t own any. But these guys do!
Fantastic work! Stop motion animation action figure work is a favorite of mine, and I wish I could make one of my own. I’ve got the figurines, just none of the movie-making skill. It shouldn’t be too hard though.
I remember back in my freshman year of college, my floormates and I on Brew 5 made a stop motion movie right there in the hallway outside our study carrels. My roommate was the director, because I think he had the camera and the computer programs to make it work. I supplied the action figures, because my collection was growing even back then. I would love to share that video, but I don’ t have a copy anymore. It died when the computer I owned freshman year died, lost forever to a dead hard drive.
Still, that thing was awesome! We did very good work for a bunch of amateurs in a hallway.
What’s Next for Batman?
So what the heck should they do for the next Batman movie?
Christopher Nolan has just wrapped up arguably the greatest superhero trilogy of all time, and he did so in spectacular style. His three films – Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises – are all fantastic! Not a stinker in the bunch! And they’re not just good superhero films, they’re a cinematic masterpiece! A trilogy that’s greater than its individual parts.
They were awesome movies, is what I’m trying to say. But both Christopher Nolan and lead actor Christian Bale have repeatedly said that they’re done with the series. It’s over. They’re moving on. And Nolan, especially, was the creative driving force behind those films.
So Warner Bros. has now got to decide what to do with the Batman movie franchise without Nolan.
The previous time the franchise was without Nolan…
The way I see it, they’ve got three choices: keep going with a new director, total reboot, or the third option, which I think is the best option:
Wait until the Justice League movie.
Join me after the jump for an explanation. And there will definitely be SPOILERS for The Dark Knight Rises.
Henchman-4-Hire 