Source Code to be the new Quantum Leap?
Source Code - TV Series
Moving a project from the cinema to the small screen (or vice versa) can be a tricky thing… However, Buffy, Stargate, Terminator (despite it’s short run), and M*A*S*H all made decent transitions, and Mark Gordon, the producer of Duncan Jones’ brilliant movie Source Code, is hoping to he can make it too, after securing a pilot commitment from CBS to turn the film’s premise into a weekly tv series.
Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as pilot Colter Stevens, who wakes to find himself on a train headed for Chicago, with no memory of how he got there, or why he appears to be in someone else’s body… He doesn’t have long to muse on this predicament though, as 8 minutes later the train explodes, and he awakes again, but this time in some sort of military training simulator. Dazed and very confused, Captain Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) appears on a monitor to explain that he is taking part in an experimental ‘source code’ project which allows him to re-live the last 8 minutes of someone’s life, albeit in an alternative reality. The reason he is on that train is to try and identify the bomber before he can set of a much larger explosion in central Chicago.
For the TV series, the plan is to have 3 federal agents using the ‘source code’ technology to jump into people’s bodies to prevent or solve tragic past events. It’ll be interesting to see how they approach moving the mythology to the small screen, as the film leaves it quite open to shoot off in a number of different directions. It’s fair to say this is likely to make some key changes from the film, which very much centered around Stevens, his confusion to the situation, and his mental state. In the same way Stargate saw the TV iron out the process of gating to a planet compared to the movie, i’d rather expect the TV show to focus more on the ‘event’ than the bumps of using the system.
The pilot is being penned by Steven Maeda, writer/executive producer on the superb (and tragically cancelled) ‘Lie to Me’, and ‘Lost’, so he’s no stranger to a good mystery story, and a bit of sci-fi weirdness! Although the basic premise is very ‘Quatumn Leap’, there’s enough other material set up in the movie to make this a much more edgy concept. Will be very interesting one to watch develop.
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Immortals – Final Trailer!
It maybe a while before we get to see Henry Cavill don the famous red/blue spandex of the superist of all the DC superheroes in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (due 2013), but before then he gets to play ‘Theseus’, a hero of the greek sort, in Tarsem Singh’s Immortals.
Theseus (Henry Cavill) has been chosen by Zeus (Luke Evans – Aramis in The Three Musketeers) to to lead the fight against the ruthless King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain the legendary Epirus Bow, a weapon of unimaginable power forged in the heavens by Ares.
It is said that the one who possesses the bow can unleash those pesky Titans the gods went to a lot of trouble imprisoning the walls of Mount Tartaros. In the king’s hands, the bow would ‘rain destruction upon mankind and annihilate the Gods’. But annoyingly, ancient law dictates the Gods must not intervene in man’s conflict, so Zeus taps up a peasant named Theseus comes forth as their only hope… Could have gone with a general… you know… someone with military experience maybe?.. but no… a peasant…
Anyone else think Zeus spends rather too much time at the Mount Olympus bar than thinking up an effective strategy for dealing with people that are ‘annihilate’ you? “Zeus, Zeus! A pesky mortal is trying to destroy us!!”… “Really?… Oh, okay… Erm.. Send that guy to stop him. No, not the guard, the one next to him plowing. Yes really! And it’s my 12th goblet of wine this morning, why do you ask?”
On 11/11/11, witness the 3-D epic battle as mere men become Immortals.
WIN Tucker & Dale vs Evil on Blu-ray!
Tucker & Dale vs Evil on Blu-ray!
Don’t misunderstand us when we say ‘yoh got ah chainse tah ween’ as we’ve got our hands on a few copies of the hilarious gross-out comedy Tucker & Dale vs Evil to give-away to three lucky GeekTowners!
This sure-to-be cult horror, sees gentle hillbillies Tucker (Alan Tudyk – ‘Wash’ in the best sci-fi TV show ever made, Firefly), and Dale (Tyler Labine – ‘Sock’ in the funny but short lived ‘Reaper’) mistaken for murderous backwoods rednecks by a group of obnoxious, preppy college kids when the pair head up to their dilapidated mountain cabin where the kids are camping. It’s not long before a chain of ridiculous misunderstandings and preconceived stereotypes leads to a rapidly rising body count and more than a splattering of blood and gore.
Tyler Labine (Reaper, Dark Angel), Alan Tudyk (Transformers 3, Dodgeball, Serenity) Katrina Bowden (30 Rock) and Jesse Moss (Final Destination 3) star in this gut-bustingly funny horror comedy, Tucker & Dale vs Evil, which is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 26 September.
For your chance to get a copy of the movie on Blu-ray, all you have to do is nosey around the Tucker & Dale vs Evil Facebook page, then Like it to find the hidden ‘TRIVIA’ question in with the photos, then pop back here and select your answer:
Win Tucker & Dale vs Evil on DVD
Tucker & Dale vs Evil
Competition now closed
The competition closes on September 30th 2011 and is open to UK residents aged 18 or over. There will be 3 winners picked from entries on geektown.co.uk. By entering this competition, you are agreeing to the rules of this competition. Full rules can be read here.
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Review: Cowboys and Aliens
Cowboys and Aliens (Ford & Craig)
Sitting in my impro class last Friday, the teacher commented that sci-fi and horror are the movie genres most frequently made, and the fact that if your a hot girl, you will gain male fans who will watch you in anything. At the time of writing, Olivia Wilde (Ella Swenson) and her cat-like eyes are ranked #3 on imdb’s starmeter.
With sci-fi & the western both being genres which dominate our collective interests, it’s surprising no one has done it (this directly anyway!) before. Sure, you can argue Star Wars is a space western, but there are few movies that have genuine wild west cowboys on Earth battling aliens.
Cowboys and Aliens opens with Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) alone outside a town with the cheesy name Absolution, not knowing who he is or how he got there. For the next two hours, the audience is taken on a ride through an invasion of aliens in the Wild West to discover his identity. In keeping with our 21st century need for instant action and gratification, director Jon Favereau installs the first fight scene 2 minutes into the movie. Favereau then keeps the action going with multiple sources of danger lurking all around Absolution, not the least of which from local wealthy rancher Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and his son Percy (Paul Dano).
The script does a good job of meshing these two genres and creates a fun, entertaining experience. However, the concept for this movie screams for simple mindless fun and the writers should have left it at that. Unfortunately, about half way through, they decided the movie needed some depth and a message. Of course, what would a western be without Indians, but in this case, the script uses them to teach Lonergan a lesson about his past, which in turn gives him the information he needs to go on and fight against the aliens in order to save the earth. This is the classic Hollywood cliché of a person needing to go through great trials and suffering in order to triumph over self as well as external obstacles and dangers. My other issue with the script is that while Woodrow Dolarhyde is introduced as the town villain, even going so far as to tie one of his workers to two horses as he interrogates him, Dolarhyde’s conversion to ‘the good side’ happens so quickly that it is not believable.
The film, however, is superbly cast and Favereau elicits excellent performances from his actors, including the young and adorable Noah Ringer. And by putting Indiana Jones and James Bond together in a film loaded with action, how can you miss? Especially since they are hot. And guys, you will definitely ‘appreciate’ Olivia Wilde. SPOILER ALERT: In one scene, she is wearing very few clothes. You might want to wear a bib. Just saying…
6/10 Looses points for it’s cheesy attempt at a deeper meaning.
Henry Cavill’s Superman and Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman!
The DC Comic movies are hitting the headlines again, with the recent release of photos for Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man of Steel, and the first shots of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Returns…
Henry Cavill as Superman (click to enlarge)
First up Henry Cavill as Superman. Interesting photo, and stylistically, a lot darker than I thought it would be, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Whilst I didn’t hate Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns as much as some people (Singer said it was going to be a homage to Donner’s 80′s Superman movies, and that’s exactly what it was… It’s just not what the public wanted, which I totally get as well. DC really just shouldn’t have let Singer do it in the first place…), if this shot is anything to go by, Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel‘ is going to be a far grittier take on Superman which will hopefully sit a lot better with a current audience.
Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Returns (click to enlarge)
Anne Hathaway as Catwoman riding the Batpod (click to enlarge)
Next are a couple of photos of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in Chris Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Returns‘. As you’d rather expect from a Nolan Batman movie, it’s a less ‘comic book’ take on Catwoman. The catsuit and goggles are there, but in a far more realistic fashion than previous incarnations. It also seems Catwoman has swiped Batman’s Batpod, living up to her cat burglar reputation!
Review: Super 8
Super 8 - Ryan Lee, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso and Riley Griffiths
After witnessing a mysterious train crash, a group of friends in the summer of 1979 begin noticing strange happenings going around in their small town, and begin to investigate into the creepy phenomenon…
As Super 8 opens on a dark factory set, the camera zooms in on a worker changing the numbers on a “Days without an accident” sign back to 1. Director J.J. Abrams then cuts to the Lamb house and 13 year-old Joe Lamb (played by 15 year-old new-comer Joel Courtney) alone outside on a swing in the snow, while the reception after his mother’s funeral takes place inside his house. Suddenly, a scruffy man, whom we later discover is Louis Dainard (Ron Eldard), approaches the house and he and Joe stare each other down. Through these initial short scenes, Abrams, in the style of 1970s and 80s Steven Spielberg (also a producer on the film), deftly establishes a lonely, isolated mood, as well as underlying relationships and one layer of the conflict, all of which will carry the characters (and the plot) throughout the movie.
Abrams then cuts to what will become the main plot: five friends, led by Charles (played by Utah Shakespearean actor Riley Griffiths), who use their summer holiday to make a super 8 zombie movie for a film festival. Through the banter (again in Spielberg’s vein – this time The Goonies and E.T.) of Joe, Charles, Cary, an explosives enthusiast and expert (Ryan Lee), straight-laced Martin (Gabriel Bosso), and the more fearful Preston (Zach Mills), Abrams realistically digs into the nuances of their complex, quirky, but innocent adolescent male relationships. Add to the mix love interest Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning), tapped by Charles to play the wife in the zombie flick, and Abrams successfully completes a love triangle fueled by the innocence of a first teenage crush.
Super 8 - Elle Fanning
Throughout the movie, Abrams uses a sense of humour to accurately capture 1979 small town culture: from his references to a Soviet invasion and starving Africans, to a flash shot of Joe’s Pee Chee folder (a school girl’s/boy’s staple throughout 1980s America), to the creative use and significance of the town’s water tower. Abrams even manages to capture small town morals. In one scene, after being chased by the bad guys into someone’s empty house, Charles grabs a drink that happens to be on the counter. Cary, appalled, says, “You can’t do that! It’s not yours,” to which Charles responds, “I’m thirsty and I’m in the middle of a war zone.” Additionally, in his attention to small town America, Abrams continues to pay homage to producer Spielberg through the kids riding bikes through the town (ala E.T.), an external threat to the town (ala Jaws), the reaction of animals to the threat (very Spielberg) and a group of kids outsmarting adults and saving the day (most Spielberg films of the 1970s and 80s.) However, although Abrams pays such huge homage to Spielberg, he is brilliant in his own right and clearly knows and loves his genre.
Super 8 - Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney and Ryan Lee
While Super 8 is set in small town America and could not take place anywhere else without significant alterations to the script, it contains much to recommend it to a British audience. Moving camera shots not only keep the plot moving, but also give the audience a feeling of events moving too fast and spiraling out of control. Action scenes follow all sentimental scenes, which also keeps the story going and the audience on the edge of its seat. In addition, the film focuses on both plot and character relationships, which build universal themes, such as teenagers will rebel and live to talk about it, greed and ambition cause destruction, and forgiveness enables healing: themes which transcend all cultures. While the special effects are impressive, they serve the story, rather than the story existing to serve the special effects (ala any Michael Bay movie). Finally, the cast could not have been better. Elle Fanning proves herself every bit as talented as her more famous older sister, Riley Griffiths’ experience with difficult, mature Shakespearean material comes through in his ability to handle the experiences and nuances of his character, and Joel Courtney is simply phenomenal as Joe Lamb: a 13 year-old who must deal with the death of his beloved mother and who feels alienated from his father. Like Elliot in E.T., Joe serves as the emotional driving force in Super 8. Much was made in America about this being his first acting gig. However, he had to audition for the role eleven times and compete with more experienced actors. In the end, his empathy and depth more then hold their own amongst his more experienced cast-mates.
I whole-heartedly recommend this movie, giving it 2 thumbs up, 5 stars, and 0 tomatoes. This movie is a must see for all fans of JJ Abrams or Steven Spielberg, as well as anyone who loves sci-fi or a character- or plot- driven movie; or anyone who made movies as a kid. Just make sure you stay for the credits. You’ll be glad you did.
Super 8 arrives in the UK, Friday 5th August 2011
9/10 – A must see movie! 2 thumbs up, 5 stars, and 0 tomatoes.
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