John Moore appears to be a perfectly capable director.
From the clips I've seen, the dialogue syncs properly with the lip movement of the actors, it's color-corrected and there's camera movement giving something visual for our eyes to look at. The thing is, though, I've actually never sat through any of his films from beginning to end, nor have I ever made the effort to rent them or see them theatrically.
That's not a strike against him per say. There was never anything from his filmography that screamed, "You must see this once during your life!" I know of his work, that he's a stable at 20th Century Fox and were it not for Brett Ratner, he would have been the first guy to follow in Bryan Singer's foot-steps directing X-Men: The Last Stand.
Which I suppose is why Bruce Willis and the studio hand-picked him to helm Die Hard 5, reports "TOLDJA."
When I say, "hand-picked," I mean they needed someone to fill the open spot left by the originally-hired Noam Murro who vacated that chair when voices from Warner Brothers and Zack Snyder (himself too busy on the re-return of Superman) led him astray to 300: Battle of Artemisia. After being on their short-lists every time a tentpole was in need of a director, I guess it was Moore's time.
Just don't ask me to be excited, or depressed for that matter.
This morning came some distant shots of Henry Cavill on set of The Man of Steel decked out in his Superman suit, minus the red cape.
But as this evening comes to a close, there's suddenly a storm of real meaty up-close pictures of Cavill giving a better look at the \S/ symbol and the texture of his entirely blue suit. Looks good.
These two quite cool looking pics come courtesy of poster wascots (here and here) of the Super Hero Hype! forum.
You know, we as a whole on the Internet movie-news sites (the big-dogs and schmucks like us) have all ragged on George Lucas over his obsession with tweaking (and re-tweaking...and re-re-tweaking) the original Star Wars trilogy over the years.
I can remember back around 1996 when word was making the rounds on AICN, Corona Coming Attractions and Dark Horizons (back when it was literally just Harry, Patrick and Garth covering the beat) of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi getting theatrically re-released and, with brand-new visual effects and scenes, being inserted into them! We gasped at seeing pictures of that Jabba the Hutt scene no longer with Declan Mulholland sporting that furry-coat but a CG version of that fat, slug we saw in ROTJ.
Maybe I'm recalling it all wrong (Entirely possible since I would have been around 13-14 years old at the time). But I seem to remember the reaction to the changes to the original were positive. Overall. The exception, I think, was losing the Ewok song that closed ROTJ and replaced it with a new John Williams score. Confession time: Always loved the Yub Nub song, but...I actually preferred the updated version.
Cut to seven years later, and the trilogy is given even more changes for the 2004 DVD release. Among the noticeable changes was another rendered version of Jabba for Star Wars (Notice, I didn't call it Episode IV or A New Hope!), no more splicing together Elaine Baker, Clive Revill and chimp eyes for The Emperor in Empire Strikes Back and instead we got Ian McDiarmid in frankly awful-looking old-age makeup. Not to mention, new dialogue blabbing away one of cinema's greatest third-act twists.
And then there's Hayden Christensen standing where Sebastian Shaw used to be next to old Ben Kenobi and Yoda smiling at Luke in the closing moments of Return of the Jedi. That had to have been what broke the camel's back, right?
But, as you can guess, with the Blu-Ray release of the entire Star Wars saga hitting in a few weeks, there will be more changes to those three films you watched hundreds of times on your own shitty VHS tapes.
Badass Digest has confirmation of, at least, two new changes being made with the video provided below my ramblings:
Every time he's asked about all the changes over the trilogy, Lucas' go-to answer is that it's his right as an artist.
No, it's not a popular opinion. But the man's correct. Those six films are his property and he can continue doing whatever he pleases with them until he leaves this mortal soil. For that, yeah I'll admit I respect him for sticking to his convictions. Again not a popular opinion.
What I will take umbrage with is his refusal to give fans what they've been begging for years – state of the art, top-dollar transfers of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi as we, at least us older farts, know and love them from 1977, 1980 and 1983. Make those readily available for home-video formats and I can speak for most when I say that will be enough.
But...he won't. That is an asshole thing to do in my never-so-humble opinion. It's not a big deal to see the deleted scenes because you know they're going to end up on YouTube in no time. So why blow over $100 for versions of Star Wars you know are just going to piss you off?
If you want to send a message, then don't buy the damn Blu-Rays. Search for VHS or laserdisc copies off eBay. Thank God I have my VHS copies of the originals still kicking.
It won't be too much longer till The Man of Steel moves production to Vancouver. Where upon we'll still see quick snaps of Zack Snyder, Henry Cavill & Co. walking around, but the amount of them leaked online will be noticeably less compared to the current filming up in Plano, Illinois subbing for Smallville, Kansas.
So enjoy these latest pictures of Cavill between takes in costume (and further reminding us this Superman doesn't wear no sticking red underwear) while you can. Once they start filming entirely on sound-stages, it will be dependent on when Warner Brothers releases official production stills.
Via Movie Hole, Bruce Boxleitner, who played the title character in the original Tron from 1982 and its 2010 sequel, told a fan at the D23 convention while signing autographs of Tron 3 being a "done deal" for 2013:
I don't buy it.
Tron: Legacy didn't ignite the box-office like a match on charcoal as Disney was hoping (and many, like me, initially expected) last Christmas and if they were so confident and happy with the finished results, don't you think they wouldn't have dropped Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion (now Horizons)?
It's not like they're in a tight spot and needing to fill an open slot badly like Paramount with G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation. Both Pixar and Marvel are in their firm possession, and judging by their planned summer 2014 lineup they fully plan to utilize them, and there's also (God save us...) more Pirates of the Caribbean sequels.
So they're not exactly in a bind nor is there a hungering for more 3D light-cycles with Garrett Hedlund. I'll believe Tron 3 is happening when I see it.
Robert Rodriquez spent his time during the press-tours of Planet Terror, Shorts, Machete and Predators telling us how financing was coming together and Sin City 2 would happen anytime now. So you'll have to excuse us for rolling our eyes when he made those claims once again at the San Diego Comic-Con last month. But low and behold, it appears he wasn't bullshitting us.
Oscar-winning scribe William Monahan (of The Departed) has been commissioned by Rodriquez and Sin City creator/producer/co-director/standing-around-the-setter Frank Miller, reports Heat Vision.
A Sin City sequel is a great idea. If we were still in 2005 when it was first released and a well-liked hit by Rodriquez. But six years on, it feels like a missed opportunity and reeks of desperation after Spy Kids: All the Time in the World tanked at the box-office.
I should really get off my ass and read The Hunger Games. Had a paperback copy collecting dust (and coffee stains, taco wrappers and Lotto tickets) in my car for awhile now and been swearing that I'd give it my time. Knowing my lazy-ass I'll get around to it like I do the video games I buy, i.e. just now starting to play Super Mario Galaxy 2, which I bought when it was first released. In June of 2010.
But I digress, it was the MTV Video Music Awards last night and one of the high-lights (at least, the pre-airdate hype) was the network giving viewers a first glimpse at the Gary Ross-directed, Billy Ray-adapted and Jennifer Lawrence-starring film. Since they have shitty embeds, you can follow this link to their official-site with the footage and/or check out all one minute, fourteen seconds (with Lawrence intro!) below.
I've heard complaints from some about how all it does is tease. Well...the thing is, that's the point of a teaser trailer. It's supposed to do that. The question is did it do a good job and create a desire for you to see more?
Me personally? Not so much, if you want my honest-to-God opinion. But we have awhile to go before The Hunger Games drops next March.
Never has a clip been more symbolic of a career to see Al Pacino's sole Oscar destroyed before our very eyes by Adam Sandler in drag.
The international trailer for the future Razzie-sweeping comedy Jack & Jill is online and like the initial trailer from a few months back, it looks like this is a movie for the ages. Close your eyes and listen and you'll be shocked to see Sandler is actually playing both Jack and Jill. That's real acting, folks.
Before posting the trailer below, TMT contacted reliable sources who confirmed the trailer for Sandler's big 2012 comedy will be attached to Jack & Jill - Fat Cat, starring Sandler as an overworked veterinarian who can talk to a fat cat, played by Kevin James in a cat suit and Rob Schneider as the gypsy woman who cursed him.
The fantasy-adventure/board-game adaptation Ouija was supposed to be McG's second chance at grabbing the bull and repositioning his directorial career post-Terminator: Salvation underperforming and it sounded like a bright enough of an idea that it could work. Universal was game and slotted it in a prime November 2012 release aiming for families wanting something fun to sit through and munch on their popcorn during the Thanksgiving holiday season next year. Not anymore.
McG and producer Michael Bay are said to be bringing it to rival studios, but generally speaking executives don't want to buy ideas that not only came from someone else but weren't even deemed good enough to keep around their shop. It happens, yes. But I wouldn't bank it. Cut to me being wrong and we see Disney make it their big Christmas 2013 tentpole against The Hobbit: There & Back Again.
You gotta feel bad for McG. For those of you who've followed my ranting and ravings since getting into this arena in 2008, you know I'm not fan of his. But Jesus can the dude catch a break? Terminator: Salvation was perfectly enjoyable. It was just his mouth that did him in with the fan community.
Is he going to get any of the credit for The Man of Steel if it's a big hit in two years? Nope. Even though the casting of new Superman Henry Cavill originated from him and this latest cinematic riff on the red-and-blue suit is the design drawn up for his ill-fated Superman: Flyby.
But no, if the Supes do-over goes over like gangbusters, it's all going to be "Ya, Zack Snyder! Ya, Chris Nolan!" and "Fuck McG!" from fanboys.
People watch the James Bond movies to see exotic locations they've never seen before, the most beautiful women for the males in the audience to lust over (and, by default, be envious of the oversexed, ice-blooded MI6 agent) and have action sequences to make them go, "God. DAMN!"
The problem is the Broccolis always make the effort, to great or no success, to top those set-pieces from the previous outing. I distinctly remember folks saying that during the African chase-scene in the opening fifteen minutes of Casino Royale, and as much as I liked its sequel Quantum of Solace, there just wasn’t anything to match up to that. Although the Tosca scene was damn good by its own right.
The Times of India (via MI6) reports a major action scene for Bond (2)3's been planned to shoot in India but may not work out unless all the red tape can be taken care of:
"Pravesh Sahni of India Take One Productions, which is looking after the Indian leg of the shooting, said, 'This could be one of the biggest Hollywood movies shot in our country. Trains are the backbone of the film. We'll pay for the shooting and also mention Indian Railways in the credit line. The shooting was supposed to happen in October-November. Now, we've postponed it to January-February. For the past three months, we've been trying to get things in order. The film has Daniel Craig doing stunts on a freight train. While the Indian Railways has given us permission to shoot, I need to meet someone and explain how important it is for us to block two tracks for eight hours a day over five to six days. For the past 15 days, I've been trying to get someone to hear me out. South African authorities are waiting to provide everything that is required to support this movie. If we can't get this cooperation from India, the film will no longer be shot here.'"
Surely, the local authorities wouldn’t stop a major motion-picture like a James Bond movie from shooting there. Either or with the outcome, plenty of other parts of the world are ready and willing to take in Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig and the Broccolis.
Maybe we can finally get some genuine news on the movie beyond its release date next November?
Copyright @ ThinkMcflyThink.com. All rights reserved.All other trademarks and images are property of their respective owners.
ThinkMcflyThink.com is a privately owned website. The opinions expressed on the website belong to each individual writer and are not necessarily representative of the staff as a whole. The site has no affiliation with any studio, major or minor.
ThinkMcflythink.com is not affiliated with Back To The Future, Universal City Studios, Inc. or Amblin Entertainment, Inc.
All names and photos of Back to the Future™ characters, vehicles and all other Back to the Future™ related items or their likeness are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of Universal City Studios, Inc. and U-Drive Productions, or their respective trademark and copyright holders.
Thu, September 1, 2011 
