Author Archive
Barrett’s Review: ‘Battleship’ Shows Off Impressive VFX…But That’s About It
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GRADE: C-
Not sure what the creative meeting was like when Battleship was green-lit to become a movie:
Universal Exec 1: “OK. So, those Transformer movies were based off popular 80′s toys, and like, made a lot of money and stuff. What other game and/or toy can we use to base a $200 million summer blockbuster on?”
Universal Exec 2: “Uhhh, how about Battleship?”
Universal Exec 1: “(looks around the table) Sounds good to me!”
I think of it this way, because the eventual end product that became Battleship the movie, could not have had any more thought to it than that. It’s a non-stop explosion/VFX-fest that is entertaining (at times), but due to nonsensical plot holes and a truly terrible script, it’s a summer blockbuster that should never had been made. And with it’s absolute bombing (pun intended) at the box-office this weekend (taking in an abysmal $25 million), a lot of people are about to get canned at Universal… John Carter-style.
Barrett’s Review: ‘The Dictator’ Tries Too Hard for Raunch, and Falls Flat
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GRADE: C
Sacha Baron Cohen first made his mark on the short-lived, but hysterical HBO comedy The Ali G Show back in 2003. What made that such a cult classic amongst comedy lovers was his interaction with real people while portraying these ridiculous satirical characters. He evoked real reactions from these unsuspecting victims, causing hilariously uncomfortable and awkward situations. His three staple characters (Ali G, Borat and Bruno) each gained their own spin-off feature film, with the Ali G Indahouse being the only truly 100% scripted effort. Ali G Indahouse was by far the worst of the three, as it struggled to translate what made these characters great (“reality comedy”) into a 90 minute fictional script. Cohen’s latest character, General Admiral Aladeen, the featured star of his new film The Dictator, suffers the same fate as Ali G. The unique comedic essence of “punking” people in real life is completely lost, resulting in a very disappointing outing from someone with such comedic balls.
The MashCast, Episode 8: ‘I Forgot to Go to Gander Mountain and Get Arrows’
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And we’re baaaaaaaack! In this week’s edition of The MashCast, Matthew, Josh and I discuss the big week in superhero blockbuster geekism, that being the release of The Avengers over the weekend, our thoughts of the film and it’s massive box-office success. We also take a deep dive on the new (amazing) final theatrical trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, and discuss whether it has a shot at challenge Hulk and Thor at the box-office this July.
Click play below to listen, and as always please share your thoughts in the comments and/or on Twitter: #MashCast.
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Hilarious Vid: ‘Nicolas Cage’s Agent’
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One of my current and ongoing obsessions is finding Nicolas Cage videos, memes, gifs and any sort of internet hilarity that rips on the actor. As we all know, Cage has become known more for his odd (aka horrible) film choices, than being an actual actor; translating into a constant onslaught of crap. This is a couple years old but I came across this College Humor video today whilst parusing on YouTube, and it features Nicolas Cage’s agent begging and pleading with him to not choose to do every film that comes his way. It doesn’t go so well, and the result is pretty damn funny.
Final Theatrical Trailer for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’
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What a day today has been. Usually the standard procedure for a big trailer release (specifically with Warner Bros.) is to attach their trailer to the next upcoming big blockbuster (like they’re doing with The Avengers this weekend) and then release the trailer online the following Monday. Well, seemingly to take the wind out of Marvel’s sails, this morning WB kicked off the long-dormant viral marketing campaign for the film, where fans had to tweet a picture Bat symbols painted on outdoor locations around the world with the hashtag #TDKR07202012, which slowly revealed stills from trailer #3. To our gleeful surprise, once all locations were found, they graciously released the trailer online. And it’s…EPIC. Check it out after the break.
New 3-minute International ‘Prometheus’ Trailer Features a Bunch of Chilling New Shots
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The brilliant viral marketing for Prometheus (featuring Michael Fassbender’s David robot character) kicked off a few weeks ago, and with June fast-approaching, the marketing train continues to chug along with this new 3-minute international trailer, that should keep the drool dripping from your lips. It follows a similar setup (music/montage of clips) from the second theatrical trailer released last month, but featuring a slew of new bone-chilling shots and images of the crew’s imending doom as they encounter the unknown alien lifeforms. Check it out after the break.
Today…is a great day. After bitching and moaning for months of the complete silence from Warner Bros. releasing anything official of The Dark Knight Rises, today Entertainment Weekly unveiled their annual Summer Movie Preview issue featuring Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and Batman (Christian Bale) on the cover. The issue is apparently on newstands now (although I couldn’t Effing find it anywhere). Anyway, check out A LOT of TDKR goodies after the break.
The MashCast, Episode 7: “We’re Just Three Complaining Fanboys”
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In this week’s episode of The MashCast, Matthew, newcomer Josh Winger and I discuss the atrociousness that is Wrath of the Titans, our utter frustration with the lack of marketing from Warner Bros. for The Dark Knight Rises, a psycological breakdown of Michael Bay’s thought process with his Ninja Turtles reboot, and The Hunger Games box-office success.
Click play below to listen, and be sure to share your thoughts with us in the comments after the break and on Twitter: #MashCast.
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Warner Bros. Unveils Logo for ‘Man of Steel’
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Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel was pushed back from December of this year to next summer, but they’ve already begun its marketing push. Dark Knight Rises, where you at?!! Anyway, just a short time ago, the studio released the official “S” logo for Man of Steel. Check it out after the break.
Phenomenal Lego-ized Recreation Trailer for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’
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It has been All Quiet on the Western Front from Warner Bros. marketing of The Dark Knight Rises for the past few months. Zero. Zip. Nada. NOTHING. The last thing we got was the duely-release of the second trailer and IMAX prologue back in December. It’s been really frustrating and disappointing after the amazing viral campaign that WB rolled out to promote The Dark Knight back in 2007, which engaged fans with games and scavenger hunts for nearly a year leading up to the release of the film. Why So Serious, WB? Anyway, with the lack of TDKR news, it’s nice when fans can generate some awesome content worth sharing, which is why I’m pleased to share this phenomneal recreation of the second TDKR trailer, with Lego animation. Check it out after the break.
