Blog Archives
Trailers! The Bleak and the Beautiful!
It’s been a little while since I posted any trailers here but these two caught my eye this evening so here we are. First we have the bleak, World War Z which looks pretty awesome (and yes I know I am late to the party here!). The trailer features apparent family man Brad Pitt who gets caught up in a world scale Zombie outbreak.
The most notable thing here are the amazing visual effects, the Zombie idea is certainly getting plenty of air time at the moment between TV shows and comic books so it makes sense that Hollywood should have a stab at the genre. The setup looks pretty interesting too, I like they idea of a fleet at sea where survivors can go for safety although I can’t see the apparent safety lasting long even there. World War Z is set for release on June 21st in the UK, Ireland and the America.
Next up we move on to the beautiful looking Oz The Great and Powerful, a sequel to the classic Wizard of Oz. the film tells the story of how the titular Wizard of Oz arrived there and became the lands leader. James Franco is taking the leading role with Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz featuring alongside while Sam Raimi directs this gorgeous looking feature.
While I am not sure if this film is one that needed to made (questions about the he back story of the Wizard have never really crossed my mind, until now of course!) it does look very pretty. The color palette is broad and bright as the the unusual cast of characters and I am really looking forward to getting a look at some more footage. I image it will look stunning on Blu ray eventually too.
That’s all for now anyway but be sure to check back soon for some Halo 4 and Black Ops II impressions and of course new comic book Wednesday!
Cloud Atlas Trailer
So after being leaked and taken down several times today, the full trailer for Cloud Atlas can be found here. What is Cloud Atlas you ask? Cloud Atlas is the latest film by the Wachowski’s (of Matrix fame) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) based on the best selling book by David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. That’s the basic premise of it as I’ve still not read the book yet but judging by this trailer, it seems like something I should probably check out.
The trailer itself is big in scope (almost 6 minutes long!) just like the movie and book and instantly reminds me of 2 films of contrasting quality. On the one hand it evokes memories of the excellent Darren Aronofsky film, The Fountain whilst also bringing up horrible memories of Southland Tales. Whether this ends up being a mess or a masterpiece it’s guaranteed to thrill on a visual level with some wonderful visuals. My mind is still not entirely set on whether this will work or not but the fact this kind of film is being attempted is enough to get me looking forward to this either way. Cloud Atlas is set for an October 26th US release with a 2013 release to be confirmed worldwide.
E3: Transformers Fall Of Cybertron
Half Moon studios have been pretty busy at E3 this week promoting their upcoming game Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron. Here is the new cinematic trailer that was released featuring, among many others, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave, Grimlock and none other than the city sized monster that is Metroplex!
People attending E3 of course will have the chance to spend some time playing the game, but alas for those of us less fortunate we must make do with some footage, it still looks pretty cool though so don’t despair! Below is a gameplay/interview video from IGN who had a chance to chat with game director Matt Tieger who gives some nice insights into the gameplay changes including the implementation of Metroplex into the game and some story elements too.
The more I see, the more I want. The graphics look great and the idea of being able to call in support from Metroplex is surely enough to get any fan of the series excited. Oh and don’t forget about Grimlock who looks like he will be a super fun character to play as. Transformers Fall of Cyberton will be released on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on October 28th 2012.
E3:Sony Conference Summary
Well Sony certainly had some surprising stuff for us tonight, ranging from amazing (The Last Of Us? WOW) to the ridiculous with Wonderbook, seriously what in the f’£%k is that Sony?
Sony opened up with the new title from Quantic Dream called Beyond (Two Souls) which was introduced by David Cage. This is of course the studio responsible for Heavy Rain. The the words maturity, experience and emotional were thrown around the place with wild abandon and I am finding it hard to take this game too seriously although the fancy cinematics we saw did look pretty cool.
Playstation Allstars was also being shown off tonight with new characters Nathan Drake and most importantly the Big Daddy from Bioshock being revealed. There was plenty of gameplay on show but to be brutally honest this game looked pretty mundane to my eyes both from a gameplay standpoint and graphically.
Sony then went onto to talk about Vita, more specifically the potential for cross-platform functionality between the VITA and the PS3 with saves being carried from platform to platform. The Vita also looks like it will be usable as a controller with the PS3 which will add touch screen functionality to the PS3. As with Microsoft’s tablet support this looks to have been introduced to combat the Wii U. Will it succeed? Who knows.
PSN+ is also looking like it will be expanded upon significantly with the addition of a number of new games that will be available to PSN+ subscribers including Infamous 2, Saints row 2 and little big planet 2 (North America Only at the mo).
PS1 classic titles will be coming to the Vita which is certainly good news for owners of, what has frankly been an under-supported handheld console. FF7 on a hand-held? Yes Please!! Other Vita news included the announcement of Call Of Duty Black ops: Declassified which will be a Vita exclusive title that is set to bring a ‘true FPS experience’ to Sony’s handheld console.
Assassins Creed 3: Liberation was also announced for the VITA. This game, created exclusively for the handheld console will be available in a pretty cool bundle offer with the new Crystal White PS Vita. AC3: Liberation will be a fully open world game in the tradition of Assassin’s Creed featuring a new female character. There will also be a degree of cross-platform compatibility between AC3 on the PS3 and AC3:L for the Vita.
In terms of the console version of Assassins Creed 3 we saw a new gameplay component involving naval warfare where the player controlled a ship complete with cannons and used it to sink other ships, this looked fun (sorry I am so tired right now I am surprised that I am still able to form sentences). God I’m tired…Anyhow God of War Ascension got a gameplay trailer which looked fun where Kratos knocked seven shades of shit out of goat people and Babar the Elephant, I’m in. This looked pretty good though I can’t say it is a particularly bold move on Sony’s part in terms of gameplay or story telling.
Sony finished big with some extended gameplay of The Last of Us which looked pretty amazing. The game play seemed to very quickly switch from stealth to melee, to gunfight almost seamlessly and the final shot was pretty cool! I have already seen enough of this game to peak my interest but Sony and Naughty Dog keep showing even more footage that only serves to build up my anticipation levels!
Stay tuned for more details on Sony’s big games later today!
New Dark Knight Rises TV Spots
With its release date still well over a month away, the team behind The Dark Knight Rises have released two more TV spots, this time playing up Bruce Wayne’s apparent retirement from his life as the caped crusader.
I like the fact that the second of the trailers is less serious in tone, I would hate to think that even a film as apparently dark and serious as this will have no sense of humor. It is a film about a man dressed as a bat after all! The Dark Knight Rises hits cinemas on July 20th.
Note: Apologies for the poor quality of the second video but that is all that can be found at the moment. It will be replaced as soon as possible!
Summer Movie Previews: June
So with May coming to an end it seems that Avengers aside, this years blockbuster season has so far come up a little short. As we move into June however we get one of the most hyped films of the year plus one or two other interesting prospects, so here are the films that have caught my attention most…
Snow White & the Huntsman
Ok so this is pretty much a fantasy adventure featuring Snow White played by Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron as the Wicked Witch/Queen and Thor (aka Chris Hemsworth) as the titular huntsman. You know what, I can get behind this. Yeah the whole premise is daft and there are some bad lines of dialogue in the trailer but there are some really nice looking effects in it and overall it looks like it could make for some cheesy fairy tale based fun. Snow White is set to be released May 30th.
Prometheus
If you’ve been reading this blog long I shouln’t really need to type anything here. This much anticipated film sees director Ridley Scott return to the Alien series to answer all the burning questions that fans have had for over 30 years now. It also features very high calibre talent in the acting pool featuring the likes of Noomi Rapace, Micheal Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce. Nothing else to say really other than that Prometheus will hit theaters June 1st in the Uk and June 8th in the US.
A Fantastic Fear of Everything
Simon Pegg’s latest film sees him play a reluctant children’s book author who has to confront his fear of just about everything. If the trailer is anything to go by, this film is going to be pretty bizarre and feature a serious candidate for the strangest laundrette sequence ever! I really look forward to seeing this film which could certainly be one of the most memorable films of the year. Fantastic Fear of Everything is set for a June 8th release.
Other releases for this month include probably the cheapest looking version of Top Cat ever that will be released June 1st, on June 15th we also have potential guilty pleasure Rock of Ages, a dose of David Cronenberg insanity with Cosmopolis and Olympic cash-in Fast Girls. There are also various films that have had US releases making their way to the UK including Red Tails, Casa De Mi Padre, Think Like a Man, The Five-Year Engagement and Chernobyl Diaries released throughout the month. Happy watching!
