Star Trek Post Production 3D Blues
I don’t share the same amount of hatred of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek with Dave, and while I kind of wonder how they are going to remake the Wrath of Khan when the first movie pretty much made it so that Space Seed never happened, I kind of expect it to be pretty good. I do have one opinion in common with Dave and that’s post production 3D sucks.
JJ Abrams has announced he is going to shoot the whole thing in 2D and let Paramount 3D it up post production. I don’t think this has ever produced a good effect. All the best 3D movies are shot in 3D, and generally make for really good films. Whenever it is done in 2D and ramped up later the 3D is almost not even noticeable and the film makers never seem to look for the right opportunity to show the 3D effects. Basically it turns into a huge waste of film.
Dave is more the Trek fan and has a lot of strong opinions about JJ taking over the franchise and rebooting it. I just enjoyed the film and am not that worried about sticking to canon. I am looking forward to listening to Dave bitch about it when he is writing the review however.
This Khan shirt I found in Dave’s Star Trek t shirt collection. Good episode IMO.
Jason
More stupid movie decisions: Jessica Chastain bails out on Iron Man 3
There is something I love about watching otherwise successful people commit career suicide. Jessica Chastain, apparently feeling pretty good about her career after starring in Tree of Life, has announced she will not be in the upcoming Iron Man 3. What’s the matter, Jessica? Is the whole Iron Man/Avengers franchise not successful for you? Seriously? The Avengers nailed $207.4 million dollars this last weekend. Tree of Life grossed $13.3 million in it’s entire run, and based on Dave’s review of it I don’t know if it rated that much.
Honestly, when faced with the chance to hitch your wagon to the most successful team in the world I think it would be worth while to maybe be willing to take less money in return for the opportunity to promote yourself. I can’t imagine what kind of roles the stars of this film are being offered on a daily basis right now. Sounds like you could write your own ticket. Of course, traditionally the third movie in a series tends to feel the suck, so maybe Jessica knows something about the script we are all missing.
This very cool Iron Man I found in Dave’s Marvel Comic T shirts. I have to say I like the retro looking Iron Man from the first movie and early comics. Kind of Ming the Merciless meets Battle Bots.
Jason
Stupid movie decisions: Machete Kills
So I read online today that Robert Rodriguez is going to make a sequel to Machete called Machete Kills. I think this will firmly cement him in the slot of movie directors who makes brilliant movies and then ruins them with really dumb and unnecessary sequels. He started the trend with El Mariachi, a great film done in Spanish with a relatively unknown cast only to nosedive it into the ground with the incredibly lame Desperado starring Antonio Bandaras. It’s like he never saw El Mariachi and missed the entire point that the guy was not supposed to be a super action guy but instead just an ordinary man in a bad situation.
Now he is going to take another great stand alone movie starring the great Danny Trejo and probably ruin that one too. I know Machete is is supposed to be over the top, but if you read the story summary you will be shocked at how lame the plot device. Also has cast Mel Gibson for this, which given his current popularity could rank up there as a really bad call too.
This Machete poster I found in Dave’s movie t shirts, by the way.
Of course not all of Robert Rodriguez’s first movies are good. After all, he did to the Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D. I wish that movie had come out recently so I could get Dave to go see it and then puke all over his keyboard while writing the review. That would be entertaining.
Jason
Scarlett Johansson is rumored to want to do a solo Black Widow film.
I honestly laughed out loud when I saw this. I don’t mind women superheros, but if you look back on the history of female superhero movies you can see the fields is littered with horrible movies that are kind of career killers for the stars. It’s like Scarlett is tired of being a successful actress and wants something to end her run.
If you look at girl superhero movies, the only two that are remotely canon and taken seriously are Catwoman and Electra. In both cases the films failed miserably. Catwoman was voted the 15th worst film in history, and Electra was about as unwatchable as a comic movie can get. The thing that Scarlett Johansson should keep in mind however is the fact that since those films neither Halle Berry or Jeniffer Garner have had a good solo role and have kind of slunk off to do mediocre movies and support roles.
It makes me wonder if there is something about women comic hero movies that puts the audience off. Most comic book fans are dudes, and a group more willing to look at hot women in tights you won’t find. However, it might just be that since most comic book fans like to think of themselves as the hero in a film, you won’t pull them in to watch someone the cannot see themselves as like a hot girl. Either that or Hollywood doesn’t know how to or care enough to write a decent script.
The Catwoman image I got from the comic book t shirts. Nice shirt, but I don’t know about the color.
Jason
Why is it the only two villains the Superman movies can ever come up with are Lex Luthor and General Zod?
Dave’s not much into Superman but I am, and I have to say that I was really hoping for someone other than another old villain for the next movies.
Honestly, General Zod was never much of a villain in the comic, yet somehow he is the main bad guy in two different movies. I guess this is more proof that Hollywood cannot come up with anything remotely new for anything. It’s not like there aren’t other villains who can give Superman a run for his money. 
Brainiac alone makes for a really good story because he is so smart, and if you just want life threatening mayhem go with Doomsday. I just think General Zod was so well done in the other movie that there is no need to rehash his character again.
This cool Braniac picture comes from Dave’s DC comic t shirts. I think I am going to have to get one for myself.
Of course, really when you think about it I don’t know if Lex Luthor was really treated fairly in Superman Returns. Sure, he was pretty cool and I thought Kevin Spacey both did a great job and had the man parts to actually go bald unlike Gene Hackman, but Lex Luthor is supposed to have a ton of super science backing him up. I want to see Lex in a super powered armor suit flying around blasting Superman with Krpytonite autocannon shells. Also, what the hell was the deal with his secret plan? He wanted to raise a new continent, killing half the world population, and then sell barren salt encrusted rock real estate to the half that didn’t drown? I mean sure he might do some damage, but did he really think that no country in the world wouldn’t have an aircraft carrier survive the aftermath and wouldn’t air strike him to death? Also, while appearing before the UN to claim the land he just created don’t you think someone might have asked him some tough questions about the billions of people he just killed in order to make it? Just dumb, really.
Back on Zod. The question I always had at the end of the last one was shouldn’t Lois Lane have had super powers after the whole switcheroo machine went off? For that matter, if the three of them could have killed Superman why did they take the chance on him pulling some kind of fast one? I’d be like “Well, we could let him use his equipment in his Fortress of Solitude where ever single wall and piece of furniture looks alike, or we could just remove all his internal organs and launch the remains into the nearest black hole.”
Also, what is up with a human having sex with Superman? I mean, aside from the fact that he would most likely tear her in half in the first two seconds, how is it he feels any sensation from her? It would be like having sex with a woman made out of tissue paper.
Damn, I just wrote a Dave length post. Don’t get used to it. I did find this really funny blog cast of General Zod talking to his defense attorney before being sentenced to the phantom zone. It’s really good.
Jason
Hunger Games 2 to get a fairly lame director.
After Dave wrote his review for Hunger Games I went and checked it out. I liked it. Fun and entertaining. But I was reading on line this morning that it looks like they are hiring the director who did I am Legend, a pretty lame movie.
The thing is, if you read the book I Am Legend (or Omega Man) was a pretty grim story about the end of humanity. Francis Lawrence managed to miss the real point of both the book and Charlston Heston movie and instead made a dumb zombie survival movie. The entire reason they called it I am Legend is the main guy is the legendary last human, bane of zombie culture. In the movie Lawrence made there is no reason at all for the title. Just another mediocre movie.
Lawrence also made Water for Elephants. I didn’t see it, but Dave did and according to his review it sucked. Other than there is no real reason why this guy should be working on he sequel to one of the biggest single movie openings in history. Is it that hard to hire someone good? Seriously, with enough money you could hire Scorsese.
That zombie shirt comes from Dave’s zombie t shirts, by the way.
Jason
How good is Dave at this reveiwing business anyway?
Dave was talking about how many people tell him his review are good and fun to read and I decided the time has come to either reinforce his ego or put him in his place. I normally just go to Rotton Tomatoes to see if a movie sucks or not and have decided to compare Dave’s score the the tomato-meter to see how close he really is. Here are the top 10 movies right now:
1. The Hunger Games. RT gives it 85%. Dave gave it 9 stars and 5 black holes. He did say it was fun but I think he might have missed what the audience was looking for.
2. Wrath of the Titans. RT 25%. Dave 2 stars and 12 black holes. Looks like he’s on target there.
3. Mirror Mirror. RT 49%. Dave 4 stars, three black holes. Dead even.
4. 21 Jump Street. RT 85%. Dave 11 stars, 4 black holes. I think I should probably go see this.
5. The Lorax. RT 58%. Dave didn’t rate it with black holes, but said it was pretty dumb but worth taking your kids to see. I don’t know if he matches here or not.
6. John Carter. RT 51%. Dave gave it 10 stars and 6 black holes. I think he was too much in love with the source material.
7. Salmon Fishing in Yemen. RT 68%. I don’t think Dave has seen it, the lazy git.
8. Act of Valor. RT 25%. Dave gave it 9 stars and 4 black holes. I think his patriotism got to him.
9. A Thousand Words. RT 0%. Dave 3 stars and 8 black holes. He must have been in a good mood that day.
10. Journey 2: the Mysterious Island. RT 42%. Dave gave it 7 stars and 4 black holes. To be honest I was surprised when I read that. Not sure what he was drinking that night.
So it is obvious that Dave is generally in the same direction as a lot of the other viewers, but odds are his nerd perspective give him a slant when it comes to certain movies, like John Carter. I guess he has to be true to what he is. This talk nerdy shirt I found in his huge pile of nerd t-shirts. I think it’s funny.
Jason
Michael Bey looking to remake the Halloween series?
So I heard online a rumor that Transformers maker Michael Bey is looking to remake the whole Halloween series. I am more into horror movies than Dave is, and honestly don’t hate Michael Bey like he does either. I know there are too many explosions in his films, but I generally find them entertaining. At least, the first and third Transformers.
However, as a horror movie fan I have to say Michael Bey is probably one of the worst choices to remake these movies. The last horror movie he did was that horrible Nightmare on Elm Street remake a couple years ago. It was really worthless and boring. He just doesn’t really care enough to do a good job IMO. I don’t do the research for these that Dave does, but Rotten Tomatoes gave it 14%, which is god awful. He doesn’t do a lot of horror, so why does he need to regurgitate this one?
Honestly, I would have Rob Zombie do it. I like his films, and at least as far as horror goes he is in it to win it. As a real fan I think he would make a decent run at it, and at least he would bring along a dedicated fan base. I don’t think Bey has generated any fans who will go see anything he does, like with me and Sam Raimi.
This Micheal Myers image I found in Dave’s horror movie t shirts. Good image in my opinion.
Jason
Wanted 2 looks like it is going ahead
I read online today that Angelina Jolie has passed on doing the sequel to Wanted 2. Good move in my opinion. I mean, her character died at the end of the last one. Were they going to add in some kind of resurrection or twin or something? What is this, Marvel? The Hulk shirt comes from Dave’s Marvel comic t shirts. I couldn’t find any of the guys who died and resurrected, but you get the idea.
I remember seeing this movie and liking it. Dave was saying that while bendy bullets are theoretically possible they got the physics wrong, at least for the last one. However, I don’t remember this movie doing amazingly well but somehow it took in over $341 million. How is that possible? I guess overseas sales. Angelina is pretty popular around the world. How is this movie going to do without her? Dave liked it too, but he has been doing nothing but groaning about bad sequels this year.
I’m glad they are making this movie. I will probably see it and enjoy it, although I will leave the review to Dave. He loves writing. I get bored after 10 minutes, which is why I do the short blogs. I’d probably just say it was good and walk away.
Jason
Kick Ass 2 is looking kind of Kick Ass
So I was reading a little about the new Kick Ass sequel this morning and actually did something I hate doing, which is research. It seems that at first the original director, Matthew Vaughn, was not going to do it which is always the first recipe for suck. However, it looks now like he is going to step in as a producer. I don’t really know what the difference is between those two jobs or how much more influence the producer could have, but this is promising. Dave is the one who pays more attention to these sorts of things, but I always thought the director did 90% of the work and the producer made sure the staff had enough coffee and donuts on hand. However, if he is involved in any way that lends promise to the sequel.
By the way, I found out Dave does not have any Kick Ass t-shirts on his site, but I did find this pretty kick ass Bruce Lee shirt in his movie t shirts. Seemed appropriate, given how much ass Bruce kicked in his life.
Anyway, unlike most of the posts I do about sequels where I think they are a dumb waste of time, I am looking forward to this. Normally 11 year old girls beating the hell out of adults bugs me, but this one made it work, and Chloe Moretz has said she is going to do it, so that is very cool.
Jason
