Movie Trailers | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Silly me... I thought this was coming out THIS December. I was wondering why I hadn't heard any buzz about it... heh. Part one will come out December 14th, 2012. Here is the first official trailer.


It's nice to see the continuity from the previous Lord of the Rings trilogy; another reason I'm glad that Peter Jackson has taken on this project.

I am also reminded that the Dwarves are somewhat comical in The Hobbit, seeing as it was originally a children's story (what we'd now call 'young adult'). It's pretty interesting to consider all the tropes that have derived from Tolkien's work, and to see them come alive so well on the big screen.

Between The Hobbit, A Game of Thrones (Season 2) and probably some things I'm not considering at the moment, 2012 will be a great year for fantasy in the mainstream.

Movie Trailers | Immortals, Underworld 4: Awakening

Just the week that I was going to get back to building content on this 'ere blog, I, uh, sliced my thumb open at work. The right thumb. You can laugh, it's funny.

Two movie trailers have me excited - one of them I just found out about a few moments ago.

This first one comes out next week - unfortunately, it's coming out the same day as Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (my most anticipated game release of the year) - let's face it, I'm far more likely to play video games than go out to a movie. Sad, but true. I see myself getting this on DVD for myself as a Xmas gift.



The synopsis, from their official site:

Visionary director Tarsem Singh and producers Gianni Nunnari (300), Mark Canton (300), and Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter) unleash an epic tale of treachery, vengeance and destiny in Immortals, a stylish and spectacular 3-D action adventure. As a power-mad king razes ancient Greece and threatens to destroy mankind, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful.

The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous army are rampaging across Greece, demolishing everything in their wake with ruthless efficiency. Village after village falls to Hyperion's legions and each victory takes him one step closer to his goal: unleashing the power of the sleeping Titans to vanquish both the Gods of Olympus and all of humankind.

It seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission to become the undisputed master of the world, until a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sibylline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity.

There's some striking similarities between this, Clash of the Titans, 300, Troy, even Starz Spartacus, but I don't care. I love it.

Greek mythology is rich with tales that beg to be retold. This one seems even better, in the sense that it's about Theseus and Hyperion, who are less frequently referred to when people talk about the classical period.

In short, big thumbs (heh) up for doing mythology (always good for the genre), bigger thumbs up for doing a story that hasn't already been told too many times. To make it flashy, sweaty, and half-naked... eh, if it gets people into the genre of the fantastic, then it's all good.

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The second one, however, for me, is 'must see'... if for no other reason than Kate Beckinsale in that outfit. HOT!



I don't know that 3D is necessary, but I guess that's the direction more movies are taking. Frankly, it just feels like another way to get a few more bucks out of the customer for those funky glasses.

This one has a Milla Jovovich / Resident Evil vibe to it... here's the plot outline from their facebook page, you can see what I mean.

After being held in a coma-like state for fifteen years, vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) learns that she has a fourteen-year-old vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, Nissa, and when she finds her they must stop BioCom from creating super Lycans that will kill them all.

Mmhmm. The effects in the trailer look to be what I've come to expect from the Underworld series, dark and gritty, and Kate as the action heroine pleases me. I know everyone's tired of werewolves and vampires, but the Underworld franchise has always gone its own way, with more of a classic view on the creatures and realistic implications in terms of socio-political perspectives.

In short? Yay!!

Movie: The Hunt for Gollum

While I was poking around the internet, I stumbled across these posts over at Speculative Horizons, about an independent, non-profit film, "The Hunt for Gollum."

Intended fan-fic as a prequel to the LOTR movies, it was apparently made with a L3000 budget.

I won't give it a proper review, as it's not a commercial enterprise. It's an interesting bit of storytelling, acting and editing. If you're a fan of Tolkien's trilogy, I think you'll enjoy it.

Here, you can watch the trailers or watch the whole 40 minute flick.

I do have to offer kudos to the folks who put it together. Some nice ideas and clever edits made for a well produced piece, all things considered.

Easter Movie: Killer Peeps

Happy Easter!