I hope you all had a great Halloween weekend like I did (going to the MCM Expo convention on Saturday and then dressing up as Darth Vader for trick or treating this evening with the kids) and that you're now all looking forward to Fireworks Night and X-mas!
EW recently conducted an interview with David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith of KatzSmith Productions about the rumored Beetlejuice sequel. They confirm this will be a sequel and not a remake and that both Tim Burton's and Michael Keaton's involvement would be needed for this project to work.
"Beetlejuice, and it’s a true continuation 26 years later. Not just throwing him in as a cameo going, “Hey, it’s me. I endorse this movie.” We’re not there yet [with Keaton] because we don’t have a film to present to him."
Keaton has been previously quoted as saying he would do a Beetlejuice sequel in a heartbeat.
And there we go... Beetlejuice is another one of those 'watch almost every day after school' movies for me, like Goonies and Big Trouble in Little China etc so I'm sincerely glad that the sequel is exactly that - a sequel, and not a remake, and that the project will only go ahead with Keaton and Burton's involvement. You can imagine what's possible nowadays with film technology compared to that of 1988!
It's being reported that 'New Regency' has just picked up the movie rights to Jim Henson's popular TV series 'Fraggle Rock'!
Me and the missus are HUGE Fraggle Rock fans, and if you're a regular visitor to this blog then you already know that I love all things Henson created, and Fraggle Rock is no different.
My single worry is that New Regency are the production company that brought The Chipmunks back into our lives, but then that franchise has actually done really well for them and my kids love the first two movies and can't wait for the third, so something went right. And of course The Smurfs have made an immense comeback recently too, so I'm hoping this will be a successful return for our favourite cave dwellers!
Here's the news:
New Regency today acquired rights to turn the Jim Henson series Fraggle Rock into a feature film. The property was shopped and caught the interest of studios, before New Regency made the deal for a film that will be produced by The Jim Henson Company and the Montecito Picture Company. The series premiered on HBO in 1983, ran for five seasons and was broadcast in over 80 countries. It revolved around puppet characters Gobo, Wembley, Mokey, Boober and Red, who lived in Fraggle Rock. They interacted with humans who thought they were aliens.
The Alvin And The Chipmunks franchise has been lucrative for New Regency, and this was an opportunity to add another family film franchise. It is not immediately clear whether the film will use puppets or be a CG/live-action mix. New Regency and the producers are figuring that out now and will set a writer shortly.
Here's the first full trailer for 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol', the fourth outing for the series directed by Brad Bird.
Looks great and seems like it's going to stay true to the standard M.I. formula of girls, guns, explosions and Tom Cruise making stupid faces as he runs, jumps and does shed loads of his own stunts the whole way through!
Entertainment Weekly has released some new images from Tim Burton’s "Frankenweenie" which stars the voices of Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Landau and hits theatres in October 2012.
The feature is done in 3D with a 1950s-sytle rendering of black and white and tells 'the story of a little boy named Victor, who loves his pet dog Sparky more than anything in the world. Naturally — or rather, unnaturally — Victor decides to use his science kit to bring the pup back from the grave after an accident claims the pooch’s life.'
Recently I posted up news that a new Canadian spi-off Primeval TV series was being produced called "New World". Well here's some more news from SyFy:
This new version of the series will be darker and scarier and will also fit in the U.K. series' mythology—which can also mean one very cool thing: possible crossovers!
Primeval co-creator Tim Haines spoke to SFX about the upcoming North American take on anomalies, dinosaurs and dangerous freaky creatures from the future.
"It's a spinoff,'' Haines explains. ''Imagine CSI—so the people in Miami do it, the people in New York do it. Essentially anomalies start appearing on the northern latitudes, and they've got to cope with it. And there is a little bit of crossover in the first episode, and then we'll see how it goes after that. Mostly they'll be getting on with it themselves."
Okay, cool, we dig that. So now what we really want to know is whether (if not which) characters from the original ITV U.K. series will occasionally pop up in the SPACE channel Canadian spinoff: "Possibly," says Haines. "We've only got one at the moment—we haven't worked that out."
Haines also stated that filming on the upcoming spinoff will start next year, and that the Impossible Pictures team are, according to him, "very keen to start the writers' room soon. It will be produced in Vancouver, and it will be made very much under the North American system. It'll be very interesting to see how that works."
But does the creation of another Primeval TV series mean the end for the planned Primeval movie adaptation? Haynes doesn't think so. "Obviously movies do their own kind of thing, but Jeff Pinkner [of Fringe fame] is the writer, and as far as I know he's redrafting."
I personally never grew up with a single Dr. Seuss story, so I'd never heard of The Lorax before seeing the poster I put up on here recently. Now we have a full trailer and to be honest it looks completely crazy... Which I guess, having seen the live action Cat in a Hat and Grinch movies, is most certainly the way they go!
From the creators of Despicable Me and the imagination of Dr. Seuss comes the 3D-CG feature Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, an adaptation of the classic tale of a forest creature who shares the enduring power of hope. The animated adventure follows the journey of a 12-year-old as he searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world. Danny DeVito will lend his vocal talents to the iconic title character of the Lorax, while Ed Helms will voice the enigmatic Once-ler. Also bringing their talents to the film are global superstars Zac Efron as Ted, the idealistic youth who searches for the Lorax, and Taylor Swift as Audrey, the girl of Ted's dreams. Rob Riggle will play financial king O'Hare, and beloved actress Betty White will portray Ted's wise Grammy Norma. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is the third feature created by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me, Hop).
"Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" starring the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle and Betty White.
I've never been a fan of Ricky Gervais and can safely say that apart from him having his short role in 'An Idiot Abroad' each week I don't watch him or his shows at all.
However I know that some people love him and his shows, and that his new show starring Warwick Davis called ' Life's Too Short' will be a massive hit. The video below should be a tiny piece of TV gold for those Gervais fans as it also has Hollywood and Tim Burton obsession - Johnny Depp.
Empire magazine has celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in its new December issue by bringing our favourite four hobbits - Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Sam), Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) back together for a photo shoot.
Below is the one image available online from the shoot which I'm sure has more photos in it (although I haven't seen the new issue yet), but for any LOTR fan it's an image that'll bring a subtle smile to your face.
I'm appalled to say that I haven't done a review on here in over a year, in fact I stopped when Iron Man 2 came out in 2010, and it's something I'd really like to get back into if I can find the time.
The following is a short version of what could have been 10 times the length, but I'm holding back as there's probably thousands of reviews for Arkham City online by now, all better than what I could compare with and I'm not the only one who completed it so swiftly after purchasing it... Not because it's short in any way, just because I purposefully put a lot of gaming time in to it because it's so good!
So, we're going to start out with the pros and cons:
PROS
THE GRAPHICS ARE STUNNING
THE VOICE ACTING IS GREAT
THE GAME PLAY IS NEAR PERFECT
THE STORY AND THE FINALE ARE WELL WRITTEN
THE GADGETS ARE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE (WHEN USED CORRECTLY)
CONS
THE OVERALL GAME MAY BE TOO BIG AND TOO LONG FOR SOME GAMERS
THE LEARNING CURVE FOR NEWBIES WHEN IT COMES TO FIGHTING AND GADGET USE MAY ALIENATE SOME
SOME CHARACTERS LOOK TOO FAR REMOVED FROM THEIR ORIGINAL VERSIONS (FOR TRUE FAN-BOYS THAT IS!)
THE PENGUIN HAVING A COCKNEY/AUSSIE HYBRID ACCENT!!!
So having highlighted the main points above let me elaborate slightly...
The Arkham games are basically sandbox games with set missions in set locations and with Arkham City you have that same freedom to do whatever you feel like (like learning to glide, divebomb, fight) without many time limits interfering (which is also good as the learning curve could do some players in at first, like me learning to divebomb properly!). If you haven't played these games but you've instead encountered games like Spider-Man 3 or Superman Returns then it runs along those 'travel anywhere' lines but is so superior in almost every way that it's like comparing a child's paper aeroplane to a 2011-made fighter jet. They're seriously worlds apart.
The first things you notice when starting Arkham City are the graphics and the voice acting. Both are exemplary and are so painstakingly polished and completely engaging that for once I didn't skip a single cut scene (I'm usually all about the action and not the storyline) and really enjoyed the epic city scale and look, and both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill's forever-gripping voice work. It's a testament to Rocksteady Studios and DC Entertainment's skills that this game assaults all your senses in such a deep yet subtle way and boosts your inherent geekiness to the max the whole way through. It's all simply so addictive. I don't think you have to be a fanboy like me to agree with the above statement either.
This leads on to the storyline. I'm not going to ruin anything on here as it's truly advised that you experience the whole thing for yourself from the start to shockingly epic (non canon) end... Sufficed to say that there's the obvious underlying story (that leads on from 'Asylum') which you have to follow to its conclusion regardless, with all the side missions embellishing things to a very satisfying level of fullness. Even when you finish the main story (sit through the end credits for a little poignant surprise by the way) you get to continue playing and finish off both your Catwoman and Batman levels/side missions, so you feel like your job isn't quite done even when you thought it definitely was... I will admit to almost shedding a geeky tear during the final cut-scene because of the fact that I'm so much of a Batman fan and have such an understanding of the character and his various relationships with his rogues gallery of villains that the final few minutes hit me quite strongly, such is the awesomeness of the writing/directing. Even the various good and evil character cameos are pulled off with such an ease of skill you forget your playing a game and not watching an awesome movie.
One thing that has stood out since the first game is the near-perfect game play that the Arkham titles provide. Not only do you really, honestly feel like you're Batman here, but everything that surrounds you from the general atmosphere to your plethora of abilities and armoury really bring this all home perfectly. The first game balanced the gamers' growing skills very well, with the various gadgets and weapons you were given throughout the increasingly elaborate levels and situations, and City is no different. Not only are the Bat-gadgets plentiful but they also enhance your stealth and battle tactics to an massively satisfying level. During the later stages I found myself forgetting that I was getting into huge fisticuff battles and wasn't using the numerous tools I had at my disposal. Once I realised this fact I literally felt like I became the goddamned Batman... Here's an example: Fights starts, 10 guys in an alleyway. First thing it to either neutralise the gun wielders from afar with the handy gun neutraliser (only two people at a time before needing a fairly lengthy recharge time) and then chuck a smoke pellet into the mix allowing a stealthy start to the battle, any gunmen left over can then be temporarily taken down with a swift Batclaw shot and a clothes line, then (whilst keeping the standard guys at bay with a few punches and counters) you can get your self in a position to freeze some of them with the ice-cluster-bomb which secures multiple badguys to the spot, and then use 'quick-Batarang' to disable a few more. You can even quick-lay some explosive gel on the ground which will take down multiple guys in one blast or electrocute the odd one or two guys with the 'REC' (Remote Electrical Charge', highly enjoyable when shooting bigger guys with baseball bats etc as they swing uncontrollably and hurt their buddies)... The tactical battle options are endless once you're used to everything you have in your arsenal and all of this isn't even including the fact that you can use your x-ray cowl vision at all times for tactical superiority in seeing everything of relevance around you, silently take bad guys down one at a time in a lot of situations, or bring speeding pain and broken bones from the sky with other special (and totally awesome) takedown moves. It's such a massively varied game with a hell of a lot of choices. Maybe too many...
And then there's Catwoman... Super sexual and enjoyably different to play as than Batman, she's a welcome addition to the whole game. Nothing much more to say... "Boobies". OK there's that too. And I haven't played as Robin yet either!
The downsides to the game are so minor and fickle that it's not even worth mentioning them... But I'm going to anyway. All the reviews so far have mentioned the overwhelming size (in every sense of the term) of Arkham City as a game. From the main mission, through the massive side missions, to the collectables, right down to the multiple options of "where do I go now", which almost stopped me from continuing my play time in some situations (don't tell anyone I looked the answers up online and had the guide to hand if I needed it, which was only twice for me). Most people complain of games being too short, not too long, and I'm sure that the developers would want to kick complainers butts if they were told "your game's too long". It's not really something to complain about when you think about it!
Then we have the learning curve. It's fine, I'm not personally complaining, but I did find certain mass battles a little overwhelming at first (even though I've completed the first game and I'm a veteran gamer) and the fluid fighting style may confuse the young or uninitiated... The divebomb technique took a bit of getting used to too, and rapid gadget switching became a matter of mass-memorising multiple buttons for those situations where speed is paramount to you survival. OK, so again not really a complaint, just something to get used to, as with most games.
Finally the characters (some not featured in the first game) looked and sounded slightly odd. I'll only mention Penguin here as others may be spoilers, but I hated, and I do mean HATED, Penguin's voice and look. The bottom-of-a-beer-bottle-monocle and his overall look, combined with the hybrid Cockney/Aussie twang was bloody awful, and with other characters it was simply a re-imagining for the purposes of the fairly realistic "Arkham" universe. Alfred also annoyed me, he was cockey and sarcastic and you wanted to tell him shut up before you came back and put his scrawny old arse in its place! And lastly Batman was an angry git this time round, angrier and more aggressive than I've ever seen the character portrayed before. Bit weird considering the game's ending... On the flip side other characters were spectacular, and better that you'd expect in so many ways. So again this is all fickleness for something that quite literally doesn't have any major flaws. No bugs (that I found) and no issues of any kind other than these little ones above. It's like buying a red ball and saying "it's too red"... It's a moot point in the grand scheme of things and is totally down to personal preference rather than being a generic fault or problem.
To finish I'll simply say that Arkham City was a joy to play through and had numerous moments of sheer greatness, right down to the finale. It kept me gripped throughout and that's rare these days! I really hope a third game is in the works and judging by events in this release I'm pretty sure that's a given! Bravo indeed.
