Nothing riles me more than a lazy sequel or the resurrection of a franchise that doesn’t need messing with, particularly when it is in the shape of a new origins story. It was therefore quite a surprise, to me at least, that last year’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes wasn’t quite the travesty it could have been (I’m looking at you Tim Burton). Critically and commercially well received, it is no surprise that a further instalment is in the works.
The Dark Knight Rises, arguably the movie event of the year (with respect to Prometheus and The Avengers, I think Nolan's previous work gets him the leg up), is due to launch in a couple of month's time. We've been treated to the same masterful publicity campaign as we saw for the second film in the trilogy - the first teaser, the graffiti Easter Eggs, the extended IMAX footage where no-one could make out a word that Bane said, the proper trailers, and the careful, slow reveal of images from the set ("leaks" - yeah, sure) and official drops into the world's best movie mags.
Channing Tatum, he of the chiselled cheekbones and current Hollywood rising star, is in talks to star in Roland Emmerich's latest action drama, White House Down.
This sci-fi spoof is like a bizarre, micro-budget cross between 2001: A Space Odyssey and Tristram Shandy. Mad professor Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) explains that he is attempting to break the will of an astronaut (Mike Nelson as himself) stranded in an orbiting satellite by forcing the poor schmuck to watch some of the worst movies ever made. There promptly follows a viewing of Joseph M Newman's 1955 schlock epic This Island Earth, with Nelson and his two wisecracking robotic shipmates (voiced by Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy) in unwilling attendance.
If you like Mel Gibson, read on. If you just want to see a lot of cheap shots, divorced from the movie, then go somewhere else.
We first see Gibson, in a clown mask, speeding away from police and barking obscenities at another clown, who is bleeding profusely all over a bag of stolen money. It's a jolting way to start the movie and sets the tone for things to come.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Jon Favreau earlier this month where the producer and director gave a couple of hints about the upcoming third instalment to Marvel’s Iron Man films.
Idris Elba, next to be seen as the captain of the Prometheus in Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated sci-fi, is to reprise his role as Heimdall, the guardian of Asgard, in Thor 2, Collider have reported this week.
Judd Apatow’s ‘sort of’ sequel to Knocked Up, This Is 40, has a new funny poster this week.
Before we begin, I want to address the notion of Hype. It's a concept that I do not subscribe to as, by definition, it means an exaggeration of the truth. When people say a film is over-hyped what they usually mean is "I didn't have the same reaction as you." It implies the original praise is coming from an insincere place. I can confirm that the reaction surrounding Gareth Evans' Indonesian action movie, The Raid, is not hype. This movie kicks a very earnest amount of ass.
In the realms of science fiction, taking relics out of cold storage isn't always a good thing. But in the case of Earth 2 – aired in 1994-5, cancelled after 21 episodes despite garnering some very positive reviews and finally making it onto DVD in the UK after almost twenty years in the TV equivalent of cryogenic stasis – it was well worth pressing that defrost button.
