Marc Webb for Spidey 2, The Worlds End casting, Scrubs Musical.

Marc Webb returning for The Amazing Spiderman 2
Marc Webb the director of The Amazing Spiderman will be returning to direct the upcoming sequel, good news as the first one was ace! What to expect??? Who knows probably Osborn hopefully the death of Gwen!

The Worlds End casts Marting Freeman and Eddie Marsan

A tale about 5 friends reuniting for a pub run has cast two more actors, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan, presumable they will join Pegg, Frost and Considine as the 5 reuniting friends. Two welcome additions I'm sure im not the only one looking forward to this although one must ask, where are all the women???

Scrubs going to Broadway!
Bill Lawrence, scrubs creator has tweeted that a Scrubs musical is in production! As an avid scrubs fan its a good thing to hear, the musical episode of scrubs was excellent and gives me faith that Scrubs the musical might just be great!

Mark Millar Marvel Consultant, The Wolverine Official Image

Mark Millar Marvel Consultant
Mark Millar, the mind behind Kick Ass and many other masterpieces has now been hired to consult on Marvels remaining outsourced to fox films. These include both fantastic four and the x men, the official statement is that Millar is "developing new avenues for the X-Men and Fantastic Four tentpoles". This means he will have an influence on both the Fantastic Four remake, being directed by Chronicle mastermind Josh Trank, and the announced Xmen First Class Days of Future Past. To me this sounds like good news, Fox's Marvel films tend to be unreliable so attaching Millar  who successfully adapted kick ass into a film gives the dying series' hope. It would still however be better if Fox just stopped, gave the rights back to Marvel and let them do FF and X Men the right way!

First look at The Wolverine

Not much to say about this, its a cool image for sure, I like the backdrop and a usual Jackman is ripped to the max. Im looking forward to this with crossed fingers!

Falling Skies (2011 Series1 Robert Rodat)

"I was in school when the ships came. They were really big, and they said that we weren't gonna attack them with the nuclear bombs, because they might have wanted to be friends. But they didn't want to be friends... not at all." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462059/episodes?season=1

Finally, a good post apocalyptic series that has nothing to do with zombies! This army based SF is truely excellent, it combines the arguments of military vs civilian control with intelligent, believable, alien SF and progresses at a comfortable pace, episodes feel set instantly after the previous episode but the story still develops, and the developments it makes are amazing.

The series is based upon a group of soldiers and civilians who are trying to find more survivors, re arm themselves and continue surviving in general. The Mason family are the main protagonists, Tom a history professor turned second in command and his three sons who vary in age from 8 to 21, one of which is missing, presumed "harnessed" or dead.

The military control of the main characters makes it easy for episodic narratives to be put in place, mission based episodes, as I like to call them, are prominent however you get a feeling the whole way through that they are leading to something bigger and better, and well they are! The restricted narration means the audience only know as much about the aliens or "skitters" as the military and civilian protagonists the "2nd Mass" and that sets us up for some really cool SF reveals about the skitters.

(This section will seem odd if you dont know what im on about.... It to me feels a little like the walking dead comics, you have struggles for control and a hopeless future but the characters keep living, dying and growing. The pacing also resembles the walking dead comics to me, the group mnever stay still for long and always run into new trouble. Its interesting that to me this is more like what the walking dead is than what the walking dead TV series is. At least thats what I think it feels like due to the themes, characters, pacing and narratives.)

The whole of the first series is really good, the arcs end at the right time and new ones begin in their place satisfying the need for new and complex motives for the characters. The cast is strong and the visuals and sound are above par for tv. The characters are all interesting and individual, there is someone in there for everyone to like. I enjoyed S1 a lot and couldn't wait for season 2. I recommend this to all!
9/10

Resident Evil Retribution (2012 Paul W.S. Anderson)

"I'm kind of enjoying this"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1855325/

I am going to try very hard not to turn this into nerd rage about Anderson mauling the R.E. universe with his abominations but I may struggle....

Considering this as a part of a film franchise its a little odd/ shit. At the start of the film all of the cast assembled in the last film (except alice) die, so again the film verse pretty much makes the previous films irrelevant (much like in 2,3and 4). The film starts with an annoyingly long shot that goes backwards in time, showing Alice go from in the water after the ship from no.4 has blown up, right back to the end of no.4. Then an umbrella computer shows us Alice's face telling us the story of the first 4 films before the scene plays again forwards. Alice wakes up in an umbrella facility and is watched over by Jill with a red pendant, (from re4 the film and the re5 game) until the power goes off and she breaks out. She runs into a room which is set up like the Tokyo outbreak in re4, a nice little callback. After zombie bashing for a while and after 19 mins of  film no plot or story has begun to develop, confusion and blood is all that has been displayed.... So Ada Wong waltz's onto the screen with good old Wesker to explain the whole plot which it pretty much followed to a T.

The concept for the plot itself is quite cool, Umbrella has test facility rooms, where clones act out various outbreak scenario's as real life demonstrations to potential buyers. However they are no longer in use as the outbreak has kinda already happened. They are now used to slow down Alice's escape and rendevous with the team that is to rescue her. This team is made up of a character from the fourth film and Barry Burton and Leon Kennedy from the game franchise (along with a few forgettable instantly killable characters). The rooms could be used to make the film feel like levels in a video game and are a really good idea but are poorly executed. There seems to be no goal in each room, the characters just fumble their way onwards attempting to look cool and delivering crappy lines.

The film is obviously an attempt to claw back some of the fans of the video game franchise, to this effect the film includes; Las Plagas, Lickers, Executioners, Barry, Jill, Wesker, Ada and Leon... it doesn't work. They have tried painfully hard to be true to the visuals of the games, all of the costuming looks spot on, but it doesn't all work, if anything RE5 tells us that some things should be altered from the source material in translation. The characters themselves are pale imitations of their video game counter parts (with the exception of Ada who is pretty spot on), not just poorly written but poorly acted too.

All in all Re5 is as unsatisfying as the rest of the RE films, they are trying desperatly to save it, there WILL be a 6th film that will lead on from 5 directly, but the quality of the films is yet to rise... yet to rise above its mediocre start and abysmal sequel.
3/10

Real Steel (2011 Shawn Levy)

"The People's Champion? Sounds pretty good to me."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433035

I was really put off by Real Steel as I had read Steel by my favourite author Richard Matheson and saw Real Steel as a cheap film rip off... Then I saw that it was "inspired by part" by Richard Matheson's Steel so now I'm happy to watch it and like it.

Real Steel is a pretty typical redemption family film with action and excitement courtesy of robots and fighting. Its cool action and is all well acted by Jackman, the main theme of the story is the development of Jackman's relationship with his son who he left with his ex. Its a simple story, you already know the end and can probably guess most of the middle but that doesn't make it a bad film, all sickeningly heart warming cliché films are still heart warming after all. The world all feels very real, the specific robot infused environments are very cool, what is lacking a little is non fighting robots however as these are never mentioned in the source material it may be just an attempt to keep things simple and below budget. The robots add to nice amount of grime and uniqueness to the clean hollywood aesthetic.

Overall its just a nice film inspired by an ace idea, a sequel is in the works but who knows if it will ever come or if its needed. I would suggest it if you want something light and easy to watch by yourself or with family, its good and fun but not amazing, it also misses one of the sacrificial and fantastic scenes from the short story but thats something you should read and find out about for yourself!
7/10

Return to Earth

Return to Earth ep1 is finally through the first draft! It feels wicked to hold it in my hands. I am willing to let a select few read it now so message me on fb or twitter if you want the chance!

Sparticus Blood and Sand (2010 Steven S. DeKnight)

"Kill them all"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442449/

Spartacus blood and sand is a bloody, sex filled, political action series based on no history what so ever but based in Capua during the time of the Roman Empire. The first and most prominent things in the series are blood and sex. The blood makes the series somewhat stylistically interesting, the way blood is used in transitions (and transitions in general) take some getting used to but are a welcome break from normality. The sex on the other hand is waaay over used, it is good to see the depraved behaviour of the elite in the Roman culture however it could be done in less graphic ways.

As a series the story progresses well, whilst a few episodes do feel like filler there is enough going on in general to hold interest. The fight scenes are the strongest thing in the series, fast paced and dangerous, both contestants always suffer and the audience is occasionally surprised by outcomes. The whole thing kind of feels like its a Game of Thrones sub plot so if you are a fan of GoT you may like this. Most of the cast are strong actors and see their characters through a range of interesting situations that will inevitably involve sex.

It is a good series that fills the whole of fantasy/ swordfighting and entertains. The pacing is good enough that you want to watch episode after episode. The second season and prequel are also good and a third and final season is to be released next year. So if you crave a little battle, a lot of blood and fast paced action give it a go!
7.5/10

Messiah Complex (2008)

"Guido, Warpath, put Caliban's body in the AFT storage locker. And do it with respect. He died an X-Man"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men:_Messiah_Complex

Brubaker, David, Kyle, Yost, Carey and Silvestry, Tan, Eaton, Ramos, Bachalo

An amazing graphic novel by all standards, spreading over Messiah Complex #1, Uncanny X Men #492-494, X Factor #25-27, New X Men #44-46, X Men #205-207 this 13 issue epic shakes the X Men universe with the 1st mutant birth since M Day. The four titles meld surprisingly well together, the graphic novel feels like one big read rather than four different stories. This is due to the pacing of each story that allows us to see each character and storyline in each issue whilst keeping the pace quick enough to hold the readers interest and quick enough that you can feel the progression in story in each issue, no filler here! And what a masterfully crafted story it is! The multitude of storylines is baffling but somehow not confusing, instead with the use of head X Man Scott Summers we see how the whole "war" is being planned and navigated making it simple for readers and showing the start of a long character arc for Scott (recently ruined by AvX). The return of some amazing villains who were lurking in the background is another reason this graphic novel rises above most, the cast of characters is spectacular; Random, Tempo, Sinister, Mystique, Scalphunter, The Purifiers, Sunfire, Lady D, Gambit, Omega Sentinel and many more! On the X Men's side; Madrox, Layla, Forge, Caliban, Surge, Prodigy, Anole, Angel, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Rictor, Collosus, Warpath, Storm, Beast and practically everyone else, its all hand on deck for a spectacular chase after the "hope" for mutant kind.

The art throughout is... well im not a big fan of Bachalo or Ramos so their art for me is a slight downside for me however it is the best I have seen either of them do! It stands way above Bachalo's recent work on Wolverine and the X Men and Ramos' work in Messiah Complex is way above his work on Wolverine's civil war. The art of Silvestry, Tan and Eaton needs no apology, their art is consistent and brilliant. The inkers aren't the same between titles but clearly worked together to get a consistent look for the comic in general which is sleek and dark (minus the Bachalo and Ramos issues which stand out as very different from the others). Silvestry's art has to be my favourite throughout the crossover with Finch's covers being the only images topping Silvestry's art.

As for the story itself I cannot praise it enough, it shows a lot of what is to come, the survival of the species through hard choices and moralably questionable actions. It also shows how far Xavier has fallen in an excellent temper tantrum from Surge who tells him "there is nothing you can teach us proff, we already know how to die". The stuff in the future is tied in brilliantly and starts a long brilliant arc for Madrox and Miller that carries through X factor for a long time. SPOILER Bishops involvement in the future story and his reason for hunting hope is pure genius, (I feel like now is the time to mention the "summers rebellion" something that happens in a one shot set in the future as started by layla a few years and a few issues after messiah complex, this is also mentioned back in the 90's by bishop and shard :o just goes to show comic writers are comic nerds!) and sets up the premise for the Cable series which is fantastic. Cable taking the baby in the final pages (Bachalo's best work ever) beautifully mimics his own taking from Scott's arms years ago. The baby's escape and Prof. X being shot are excellent ways to end the insanely busy time for the x men, with sentinels down, predator X's defeated, baby rescued and the end of an era for the x men this hallmark graphic novel  is one of my favourites for good reason! END OF SPOILER

Whist the large cast of characters and strong callbacks to previous issues make the crossover more interesting for longtime x readers the story is still accessible for those with only a small knowledge of X men as a great story. It is also a great jumping on point as a big event that changes the X Universe. I recommend this to all! It is remarkably easy to read and is brilliantly written with an attention to detail across a large cast that shows smart planning and editing. It largely looks beautiful reads well and should be read by all X fans, comic fans and humans alike!
9/10

Lockout (2012 James Mather, Stephen St. Leger)

"Are you always this obnoxious?" "Shh..." [whispering] "Did you hear something?" " No, I'm just enjoying the silence."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592525/

Lockout is a high concept action scifi, well written, well acted and a fun film for all Lockout is a simple but enjoyable flick. Partly written by Luc Besson one would expect something of worth to come from this film and in no way is it a bad film, it's predictable and full of action conventions but it is at its heart fun and enjoyable.

Guy Pierce stands out as the best thing about Lockout, his sarcastic comedy is perfectly timed and brings about a smile in the audience every time. There is not much else of note in the film, most of the visuals are similar to most space station imagery in modern SF and in older SF such as Alien and 2001. The soundtrack fits well but couldn't have been memorable as I don't remember any of it... As for the half hearted romantic subplot, part of me wishes it wasn't in the film as it is the most cliché thing throughout the film and can be guessed even from the plot synopsis. However the relationship between the two inevitable lovers no matter how common a story is done well and adds bits of comedy to the light hearted action.

Not much more can be said for Lockout, it is a film which tries to entertain with action and comedy and doesn't try too hard at deep and meaningful or dark and nasty. All in all a fun film which succeeds in its ultimate aim to entertain, its worth a watch if you fancy some time vegetating infront of a screen.
7.5/10

100 POSTS

Its been nearly 3 months and I am 100 posts in! Thats.... quite a few! I have now got over 2000 views which is amazing, that means 20 views per post which im happy with, thanks to everyone who views regularly. Big thanks to those of you who promote my stuff and an even bigger thanks to those of you who help with my posts and put up with me ignoring you real life people whilst I write! :)

thanks to ALL of you

NOW TO MORE POSTS!!!!

Wolverine Origin (Issues 1-6 Jemas, Jenkins, Quesada, Kubert and Ianov)

"I always knew that Logan boy would be trouble"

The dark and mysterious Wolverine, finally given an origin, a birth before the Weapon X program, before the X men or the Avengers, finally we see his childhood in this visually stunning and masterfully written story. It is in fact the first comic I recommend to new comic book readers, it grabs the reader emotionally and hooks them into Wolverines tale whilst bringing it to a satisfying close despite Wolvie's ling complex and a little boring if you have been waiting for the Romulus conclusion like I have for a long time now. 

I will start properly by talking not about the story but about the art! Andy Kubert comes from a distinguished family of comic book artist so you would expect good, coupled with Isanov's experimental and unique computer pastel inking the artwork comes across as stunningly beautiful. You really get a sense in each section of the narrative of a change in colour palette and in tone that accompanies the story brilliantly. The use of shadow and silhouette is another brilliant aspect of the teams work as they show you only what is necessary in the bloodier or harsher scenes. For those of you who have read it, the page where the train brakes is absolutely brilliant and nearly brought me to tears.

To the story itself SPOILER Telling the story through the perspective of Rose is genius, it adds a character that can be killed at the end and offers an outside perspective on James' life which lets his exact thoughts and feelings stay hidden in a very Wolverine way. The inclusion of James' mysterious brother is again brilliant as it adds a new dimension to Wolverine and offers the possibility of some interesting future storylines. I really love the way the audience is tricked into expecting Dog/ Dawg to be Wolverine until that first brutal and amazingly drawn jaw popping moment in which James is revealed to be the true Wolverine it again adds more depth to Wolvie's character in a fresh way. Its great to see where "bub" comes from and the whole of that second section is excellent, although not much happens you can see things under the surface brewing and changing. The ending.... James killing Rose in a fight with Dog.... wow.... upsetting for sure and a brilliant place to leave the story which on the whole is perfectly paced and just the right length. Is Dog Sabretooth? Officially it could be, that is if you disregard the scars, there is a lot of evidence either way, personally I hope he is, it would just feel right. END OF SPOILER

Really I urge everyone to read this, it is as excellent as can be and really ignited my passion for comics. Both art and story telling are perfect and they compliment each other wonderfully! Even if your not an X men fan, or a wolvie fan or a comicbook fan or have eyes you should try reading this story, it has the ability to bring you to tears and warm your heart.

9.5/10

Dollhouse (2009 Joss Whedon)

9.9
"Did I fall asleep?"
"For a little while"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135300/

Dollhouse it intriguing, smart, funny and ultimately awesome! I was not sure whether it deserved a 9.9 or not, mainly because of its first season which whilst needed, so that the audience can familiarise themselves with the characters and concept, is a little dull. Eliza Dushku isn't my favourite Whedon alum however the show in general makes up for her occasionally hammy acting by including cast members such as Amy Acker, Fran Kranz, Tamoh Penikette and others who appear later (no spoilers) that shine out as excellent actors and characters. The exploitation of big companies is often evident in Whedon's work (the shadowed figures in the Avengers, the alliance in Firefly and so many frat boy to be billionaires in buffy) so to see one from the insides through the innocent eyes of Echo and her handler Boyde Langdon is an interesting perspective and with the cut and paste brain technology thrown in the number of possible stories to exploit such interesting themes is staggering. Whilst I chastise the first series for its tiresome episodic format, pasting Echo into new personalities, their are some amazing episodes but the best material comes after Epitaph 1, an episode that jumps into the future to set up the story lines of the second season.

As I have mentioned the greatest characters in my opinion are not the Dolls or their imprints (not including Alpha who I would argue is neither a doll or an imprint) but are Topher and Ballard. Both characters offer unique perspectives on the Dollhouse, Ballard as an agent trying to investigate and stop the Dollhouse and Topher a scientist more focused on his work and his play rather than the morale implications of his work.... or not. These two characters are also two of the characters that add light heartedness to the series, Topher particularly, who seems to be a teenager at heart with a mind of genius.

The intense story and insane technology are sometimes forgotten about and a scene is taken up by pure fighting, Echo, Ballard, Alpha, Boyde and countless other characters brawl over and over in some amazing scenes, the camera work and the fighting styles often vary but interesting, fast paced camera work always complements the battle and produces some of the best fighting scenes I have seen in my life.

This might not be a series for everyone, partly because you have to persevere, however if you do the series morphs into an amazing creature and everything becomes relevant, the power plays between characters and secrets that are revealed are enough to make an audience tongues drop but so well created that on a well deserved second watch the seeds can be seen. The showrunners as well as individual writers and directors are to be given a large amount of credit for the excellence of the unique and imaginative show. The way the show originally works, with Echo getting an imprint an episode, would have grown tiring, I am grateful that it progressed into a more rounded show, it can be seen that the premise of the show was not to keep that format going too long, trust me, trust whedon and stick at it (although Im being a little harsh, the first season is still well above most tv, so you can imagine how good it gets... you dont have to imagine! Watch!). A feast for the mind as much as for the eyes Dollhouse is a (Joss and Jed) Whedon masterpiece well worth a watch!
9.9

Firefly (2002 Joss Whedon)

9.9
Take my love, take my land, Take me where I cannot stand, I don't care, I'm still free, You can't take the sky from me, Take me out to the black, Tell 'em I ain't comin' back, Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me, There's no place I can be, Since I found serenity, But you can't take the sky from me

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/

My love for this series is clear, it is a pure masterpiece, it charms its audience and boasts a large dedicated fanbase that I like to think myself a part of, if you have seen the series its hard not to be a fan. Why do I like it so much? There are a lot of reasons the simplist being a stellar cast of mostly unknowns performing beautifully together to create a family of bandits ranging in personality and talent that inhabit the spacecraft Serenity. With such a wide range of characters it is imposable not to identify with at least one whether its the charismatic captain Mal or the brainy Dr. Tam your sure to find a character you love, it is only a shame the series did not last long enough for the audience to really see these characters develop.

Firefly's universe is another reason to love it, full of monsters such as the Reavers, an overpowering government ie. the alliance and science experiments like River there are lots of opportunities for great SF stories but principally the show is a western. Although my love for SF outweighs my feelings towards westerns this show brilliantly blends the two, the SF is so seamlessly integrated into the world that it feels like everything ranging from space ships to drink dispensers are to them like cars and taps to us, this adds a believability to the world that is often traded for the need to say "look at these shiny new science things we thought of". That brings me to another of my reasons to love firefly, the language! Words like shiny are a simple example of the created language however the actual dialogue is what is really brilliant, a stylistic re"vamp" of the kind of playing with language Whedon did in Buffy the western/ space terminology and often a little peculiar phrasing rolls off the tongue and again makes the "verse" feel like a coherent and realistic place. The inclusion of mandarin is also excellent as it allows profanities and ties into the idea of techno orientalism that is embraced by many SF fans.

The balance between Western and science is not the only perfectly weighed balance in the series, as usual Whedon perfectly pits comedy against drama revealing the tension when needed and lightening the series. This is often seen throughout Whedon's work and id offered by the whole cast, the fact that the series feels light and not too depressing helps viewers want more, it is a very easy show to marathon all 14ep's as I have many times. Do not let this fool you though, the characters are interesting and deep with histories and futures worth investing in and some episodes, if not all, strike strong emotional cords within the audience and within the characters. As is always needed through lines are prominent despite the episodic format however it cannot be seen how they all would have played out thanks to Fox being ****s and cancelling the show.

From strictly audio and visual perspectives Firefly also stands out above the crowd of mediocre tv and as in the rest of the aspects of Firefly, there is a strong focus on coherence and believability. From small details such as the Blue Sun logo popping up (which would have been a plot line) to the interiors of the Serenity to the exteriors of Belerphon and the western worlds the set design and props are stunning and are beutifuly exploited by stunning direction and camera work from Whedon's usual crowd. The music somehow again perfectly melds SF with Western elements and some of the score (the funeral particularly) is really special.

There you have it, a lot of reasons to watch Firefly but the biggest one of all is because I have no doubt you will enjoy it!

Serenity is a different matter, amazing as it is, its a different can of worms that I will review shortly....
9.9

Continuum (Season 1 2012)

The Future Is In Their Hands

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1954347/

The first season of Continuum was premièred on Showcase this year and will soon air on Syfy I urge you not to miss it! I have only just caught up on the unfortunately 10 episode short first series but I enjoyed it immensely, it is that perfect kind of show that successfully balances serial aspects with an episodic format to deliver maximum pleasure to constant viewers and new viewers alike.

Whilst the premise is a little old and a little cliché the specifics and the unique Sf twists that I love so much (as usual) make it a new show with its own concepts. If I were to compare it to any other series it would have to be a mix between Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles and a typical cop show. On of the greatest things about Continuum is the political uprising of the Corporations that take over the government in the future, the main story set in our time lets the audience retrospectively look at the control corporations already have on us. This leads to a morale dilemma within the audience whilst this may be small the dilemma gives the freedom fighters/ terrorist Liber8 an understandable reason to fight and makes them believable villains. And what a troop of villains Liber8 are, they have masterminds, heavy hitters and sweet talkers, all playing unique parts in the story and bidding for control of the future in their power plays to control Liber8. The chess battle between Liber8 and Kiera and the serial storylines give another aspect to the show rather than a super power cop kind of show, this is added to by occasional glimpses of the future putting the past into context. As always with time travel programmes there is always the question of who is going to be influential in the future and what the characters in the present will become, this information is drip fed to the audience brilliantly, I can't say many of the reveals surprised me too much but to me that means the characters are well written and coherent. Those characters are played by (for me) a recognisable cast including actors from X Files, SGU, BSG and more Syfy related shows so its no surprise they are showing the series!

Continuum manages to be gripping, fun, new, intelligent, thought provoking and entertaining. Its a new sf to watch and in my opinion has amazing potential to be one of the greatest. I personally would like to see it move away from the cop route but that is just because of market saturation, Im sure it will stay fresh and interesting, I look forward to the next series and SO SHOULD YOU!!!

8.5/10

Dredd 3D (Pete Travis 2012)

Ma-Ma is not the law; I am the law.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343727/

Opening last weekend Dredd lived up to its expectations as a high concept, high octane, action packed bloodbath.... Not really sure what else to add, thats is unfortunately all it was, admittedly the effects were pretty cool although after the third use of slow motion I was a little warn down its use did slow. The blood on the other hand never stopped flowing, whilst its cool and dark and what the fans would want I personally think a little more finesse could have been used to vary the amount of blood and the types of death, I mean really its like Dredd aims for peoples cheek throughout the whole film!
                                     

Again the splatter and gore is largely what was expected and I am informed exactly what you get from the comics, sticking true to that is admirable and the film is an excellent action flick I felt like a man walking out of the cinema after watching such a masculine meat fest. I think it will succeed at the box office and if it does will show that you don't need to be worried about a story or characters to make a half decent film, people are happy to watch stereotypes and clichés fight the battles they have fought a thousand times as long as it looks sparkly and new and gets the heart pumping. Ok maybe I'm a little harsh I actually did enjoy the film I just didn't enjoy it beyond some fun visuals and action as that is all it had. (I may have repeated myself on that point a few times but its true, not necessarily a bad thing im just saying its nothing special).
7/10

Star Trek 2, Avatar 4, TIFF

Star Trek 2 Into Darkness
Star Trek 2 has been given its official title, Star Trek Into Darkness. Some people have picked up on the fact that its not Star Trek : Into Darkness and that supposedly means something about the story but I dont buy it, its a title. It doesnt tell us much more than we already know so its not that important but there it is Star Trek Into Darkness.

Avatar 4

James Cameron is currently gearing up to film Avatar 2 and 3 back to back and has now said he plans to do a prequel or series of prequels after completing 2 and 3. Set for release in 2015 Cameron has time to do a hell of a lot of post production again but that might not cut it this time, the first film isnt bad but depends on 3D visuals being new and interesting. In the new films there will have to be a bigger more interesting and complex story, the 3D wont cut it this time. Anyway Cameron has talked a little about the fourth instalment:

"I have an idea for a fourth," Cameron told MTV. "I haven't really put pen to paper on it, but basically it goes back to the early expeditions of Pandora, and kind of what went wrong with the humans and the Na'vi and what that was like to be an explorer and living in that world.

"We'll start, not imitating Star Wars, but it's a logical thing to do because we'll have completed the thematic arc by the end of three. The only thing left to do is go back to see what it was like on those first expeditions and create some new characters that then become legacy characters in later films. It's a plan."

Looper and Cloud Atlas at Toronto International Film Festival
Two films I am really looking forward to have been shown at TIFF and got interesting reviews. Looper got unsurprisingly brilliant reviews, it has been regarded as intelligent interesting and a must watch. Cloud Atlas on the other hand has received mixed reviews, very mixed reviews. Some reviews have said it was amazing, beautiful and imaginative, complex, interesting and special, other reviews have said things like its unimaginative, confusing and basically bad! Still looking forward to it massively so I can make my own mind up, fingers crossed they will be as good as I hope!!!

Revolution (Pilot Dir John Favreau)

Revolution is an upcoming american tv series set 15 years after all technology stops and the nature has retaken the world. The series follows the Matheson (with another character having the second name Neville I'm calling this an I am Legend reference, the scenery being overtaken by nature is also visually similar to the I Am Legend with Will Smith in) family one of which knew why the "lights went out" before his death and the others who are trying to rescue their kidnapped family member.
Take a look at the trailer:

Hulu have kindly shown the first episode before its premier and I have to say its ok. It is exactly what you would expect from the trailer so thats good and it is good however I am looking forward to some footage thats not in the trailer when the next few episodes come out. Not a lot of complex story has been revealed yet and the series is already playing with the restoration of tech. The one fight scene is pretty wicked and the general attention to the way the world works without technology gives the series a feeling of realism and adds an intelligence to the odd situation. Without many well known actors the show is a fairy big risk however the pilot is directed by Favreau and the series is created by the mind behind Supernatural and we all know how long thats been going! So overall I did enjoy it and its one to keep your eye on, if it gets better as it develops we could be looking at one of the next big series however with only 7 episodes this season its going to have to pull audiences in fast so be sure to check it out.
7.8/10 (I know exact right)

Dredd, MaMa Prequel Comic

http://www.scribd.com/doc/104439907/DREDD-MA-MA

A short Dredd 3D prequel comic has been released that shows the origins of Ma ma and the creation of slomo. I am not a Dredd fan but am planning on seeing the film without any knowledge of classic Dredd, this prequel comic however only has Dredd in a few panels and is mainly about MaMa. I like the art, it suits the dark comic and the story is quite well written, its gangster cliche but not in a too sickening way. It does however make the bad ass character (played by Lena Headey ie Sarah Connor, the chick Lanister ect.) somewhat sympathetic which may contrast her character on the movie. Its out in a few days so my review shouldn't be far away!

Seven Psychopaths, Walking Dead S3, Joss talks SHIELD and Avengers

Seven Psychopaths Red band trailer
The red band trailer or Seven Psychopaths has been released and is a massive improvement of the previous trailer.

This shows the same humour as In Bruges, its crass and harsh and hilarious! My faith in the film has been restored and its not long to wait now, 12 October isnt far away!

Walking Dead Season 3 Previews
Two new mini previews for the new season of Walking Dead have been released, give them a look.

Darkness looks good, Shivers is a little pointless. I like the look of what I am expecting to be the prison however it is a little funny to see everyone cowering behind Rick. Bring on Tyrese!

Joss talks Avengers Deleted Scene

After the release of Cobie Smulders' deleted pre scene Joss has talked about his ideas behind the scene:
"Audiences didn’t respond to it as well in the movie as I think they would as a DVD extra. Most of them didn’t know who this character was or what the context was, and they were like, 'Uhhh, I don’t know why I’m supposed to be personally involved in this character I don’t know.' The rollout to the Avengers getting to Loki was so gradual that people were getting restless. I thoughtCobie [Smulders] nailed it, and the reason I thought it was necessary is because I was trying to make a war movie and I wanted to give context that something bad had happened in the past. In a war movie, you don’t know who’s going to live or die, but you do know that this war happened and that [the characters] are going to be in a dire circumstance, and I wanted to create that atmosphere.”
On his involvement with the second Avengers film he said:

“It is unbelievably daunting, especially because I don’t want to lose sight of all the other things I have on my docket and in my heart. So, it’s going to be an insane few years, but I feel ready for that. It’s an unholy amount of productivity, but as long as I give it all I can, it’s a good thing. What’s great is that the deal with Marvel is nonspecific, so I will give all I can, but the moment I can’t, I just walk away. The moment I say, 'You know, I’d like to help more on this project, but I need this time for The Avengers,' there’s no obligation. It’s not like, 'You must spend this amount of time on this movie.' It’s as much as it needs to be.”

Really interesting stuff and like everyone I am looking forward to the 3hour version and the next film.

Joss talks SHIELD

Joss also recently made a few comments on the Shield series:
"The important thing to me is that we know what the show is. We love what it is. It came together very organically." he said is has "some really dope notions"  and "It's going to work very well for people who either love the Marvel Universe or for people who've never dipped a toe in the Marvel Universe,"

All good stuff to hear I'm sure everyone is looking forward to it!

The Hobbit, Branded

The Hobbit, An unexpected journey, The Desolation of Smaug and There and back again
The titles for the ever growing hobbit have been released, not only that but it has been announced the third film will hit theatres on the 18th of July 2014, 7 months after The Desolation of Smaug.

Branded

This one looks a little weird... I think, going from this trailer it could be really interesting, innovative and intelligent or it could be really silly, im not sure yet but keep your eyes out for more trailers and my upcoming review!

Michael Clarke Duncan

Michael Clarke Duncan
The amazing star of The Green Mile and the King Pin in DD Michael Clarke Duncan has died at the age of 54 due to heart problems. Its a sad day the man was a truly talented actor and it will be a shame not to see him grace our screens again.