Movie Ticket prices going up

It wasn't more than a year ago that I was paying $5 for admission to a movie, heck i'll pay more for a nicer theatre and maybe for 3D in the case of a movie like Avatar.

The movie industry is making money, and they know it. Now Yahoo gave me the heads up that movie ticket prices will go up.

It's moves like this that assure me this world will never get out of a recession, because the movie industry is investing in this stupid 3D technology. I was pretty impressed by the 3D in Avatar, but no movie is going to do that much effort again. Oh i'm sure James Cameron will in his "teased" sequel, but there's a reason Avatar didn't win best picture. 3D isn't cinema value, it's a gimmick. Now that gimmick is becoming the standard of the movie industry, as is IMAX.

I've seen three movies in IMAX, and i'm done with that gimmick as well. There is honestly no value in my honest opinion for paying extra for a larger screen (IMAX) or to have stuff pop out at you (3D).

People like to watch movies at home, and the regular screens of a movie theatre are about ten times the size of the average 55 inch TV in a home. So answer me why an even bigger screen matters that much? It doesn't if people are content watching the movies at home.

However 3D doesn't add to a movie, the novelty rarely every holds onto the viewer for long. Now studios see 3D as a way to make more money, the majority of these movies are pop out 3D which is a simple 1 hour of labor to add the stereoscopic effect of 3D. Are we really going to wear glasses whenever we watch a movie, people are too lazy for that including me. Turning on the TV is a no brainer, but reaching for glasses? That just seems stupid to be necessary in your own home, and that also makes TVs too expensive.

Time and time again, even though I am tech crazy I will say this. Technology does not guarantee a good movie, and all this stuff they add to the movie going experience without giving consumers "viewing choices" on seeing a movie will keep movie goers away.

So if these depraved managers want to raise ticket prices, go ahead, because i'll never take a risk with movies again unless I absolutely want to see them. That was one element you have to love about movies, taking a risk and either liking or disliking a movie. That element is gone, and have made movie goers more definitive of their genre. The movies used to be escapism, now its an expensive escapism that you have to be particular about if you want to afford the overpriced popcorn.

I thought of something interesting, perhaps movies want to use 3D to curb piracy. I imagine a pirated 3D film looks awful, but price goes over preference in this economy.

To save the escapism of movie going,the movie industry and the studios, go back on these ticket prices you delusional minds in the industry. The Recession isn't over, and this will only hurt the movie industry which has remain untouched financially.

For me this means I am eating before I go to a movie, because at this point the snacks and drinks should be free with these prices.

Predators Trailer

I've been following this movie, which has confused people just by the title alone.

Produced by Robert Rodriquez, this movie is the newest Predator story since Predator 2 in the early 90's. However, Rodriguez clearly states how Predators will be a true sequel to the original.

Predator 2 was pretty awful, considering it was in the city as opposed to the jungle. Losing Schwarzenegger also hurt it, but hey the sequel was a money grab like any other.

The trailer is definitely trying to reach the Predator fans, but this time the team is random instead of being a squad. Good concept, especially with the interesting idea of being on the Predator's home world.

That eases my concern over the "new breed" of predators Rodriguez mentioned, the "new breed" really being the mean and unrefined predators that don't meet the standards of the "calmer" species we the fans are so used to.

This "new breed" better be more blood thirsty, or rely on instincts rather than tech. That would be really interesting.

The Last Airbender Full Trailer

The full trailer finally surfaced, and my god it looks great.

Notes about the trailer

Character wise Rathbone as Sokka looks pretty good, Nicola Peltz as Katara seems a bit younger than the show. Katara did look a bit older than Aang and certainly sounded older, but here they are about even in terms of age and maturity. At one point you can hear Aang screaming, and with that I’m hoping they keep the innocent feel to Aang. Someone who hands him a big responsibility he has no choice but to hold, I was afraid Shayamalan would make it too stiff serious like some of his movies are. Nope, looks like he is listening to the creators. I know Brian Koneitsko and Michael Dimartino are Executive Producers, but they clearly are overseeing this movie more than other producers with Executive credit do.

When they designed Aangs tattoos I wasn’t sure how they’d go about it. I thought it would just look silly, the peeks at his airbender tattoo’s designs are pretty damn cool.

The visuals of the iceberg scene, the skulls littered around the air temples, and the temples themselves once again make me very excited. If the creators are doing one thing right as executive producers, its ensuring that Industrial Light and Magic as well as production values are staying true to the flavor of the show. Where things are different from the show such as the designs for Aang’s tattoos is where the clear differences the movie should have from the show. Big bold blue lines all over Aang would have just looked silly for a movie that REALLY is trying to be the first cool Nick movie. This is being produced by Frank Marshall’s company, and they know production values from all the Steven Spielberg movies they’ve handled.

I want to personally mention Dev Patel as Zuko, Slumdog Millionaire didn’t appeal to me as much as it does to others. However Patel was able to give a genuine appearance in terms of his character, delivery is one thing in an actor. The interesting thing about Dev Patel is that in terms of facial expression and the presence he exudes is so believable, and in the trailer I could believe he is the prince of the Fire Nation. He didn’t even say lines, and I totally see him as Zuko. Many complain about his scar being not as “overbearing” on his eye like in the show, I find that argument a bit silly. Once again animation is different from live action in key areas, and a scar on an eye in the style of the animated show would be pretty damn distracting. When Dev Patel is suiting up at 1:04, the movie reminded me of a scene in the show when he’s suiting up for episode 1. YAY more homaging.

The actor for Iroh, which was a great character in the show seems like another personal mention because this trailer is the first time we see him, the Fire Lord and so many others. I even distinctly heard Katara’s grandma at the end. The casting is just looking so good, but I was afraid they would miscast Iroh. Doesn’t look like it, I’m pumped.

Overall, the movie is looking so good. And while it isn’t quite anime, this is a clear lesson for the idiots who made Dragonball Evolution and adaptions in general that you need competent directors, you need to really understand the characters, and so many other things that seem to go right for this movie.

The bending, the casting, the story, the visuals, all look like the people involved in the show gave their two cents about the movie. Could this movie be M. Night Shayamalan’s greatest work? If it critically scores well , it is going to be a BIG BIG BIG talking point. I could probably see a special long podcast for this movie.

Wow, even Princess Uwe (spelling?) makes an appearance. How long is this movie? It's packed with soo much stuff from the show.

The Last Airbender TV Spot

I thought they were supposed to keep a lid on these TV spots? Lol.

Oh man, this movie looks good.

Green Lantern: First Flight Review

Although this movie came out last year, First Flight had it's Cartoon Network premiere today. With the Green Lantern movie finally on its way into production, I wanted to get a general idea of Green Lantern as a super hero.

Well, Green Lantern First Flight is not a rich story per-say. It has Green Lantern material in it, but the dialogue suggests this movie was going for attitude instead of being deep. That's fine, I enjoyed it. I do recommend this movie because its good for fans of Green Lantern and people new to the Green Lantern story like myself. Having Christopher Meloni voice Hal Jordan was an interesting step, Meloni has a great diversity in acting.

As a whole the movie is decent, even earning a chuckle or two. If there is one thing I hoped for, it was seeing what the order of the Green Lantern does with it's rings. Hal Jordan earned a few chuckles out of me with what he created to fight a bug race at one point. In a way its simple-minded of Jordan and also insulting to bugs that can shoot your damn head off.

One scene in particular reminded me of the alien death scene in Alien: Resurrection when Jordan was making his way through the ship to Kanjar Ro. I hate that i'm thinking about that mediocre movie, but the similarity is quite noticeable.

If there was one scene that was powerful, it was seeing rings fall from the sky of dying Green Lanterns who had the misfortune of needing their powers to breathe. Such an impact that has on you, as helpless dying scenarios always seem to.

One of the Green Lanterns, Boodikka, seemed like the typical feminine character that sympathizes with the under-appreciated hero AKA Hal Jordan. Then, she suddenly has a good reason for doing that. It basically surprised the hell out of me and made her seem less one dimensional, although it came a bit too sudden it was welcomed by me.

If there was one thing I could nitpick about, it would be Hal Jordan's super form. Not going to elaborate but when you see it, it doesn't seem as imposing as it should and hardly any thought into the "transformation" process.

Oh well, that's a small disappointment. But I enjoyed Green Lantern: First Flight and give it a 3/5.

Ghostbusters 3 gets a director

We all heard that Ghostbusters 3 was happening, the writers of The Office were taking on the challenge of writing the script. Really now, the video game released this year had a story with funny dialogue. So why can't Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis write Ghostbusters 3?

Oh well, now we get the news of who is directing the third installment courtesy of Spill.com. Ivan Reitman!

Seems to be a good move considering he directed the other Ghostbuster movies, but Gametab's forums offer interesting points

Ivan Reitman's movies haven't really stood out

My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Evolution
Six Days Seven Nights
Father's Day
Junior

I haven't bothered to see any of these, and they don't sound that good. I do know that the supposed writers wrote Year One, which is BAD in addition to the uneasiness with Ivan Reitman.

I'm sure plenty of people will go out to see this movie, and I can hope they do a good job. It's been over 20 years since the last movie, a sequel isn't a bad idea.

Ed's Trailers of the Month: December

My apologies for not posting, I have had some animosity towards certain contributors of this blog who are in no shortage of insults towards me. They know who they are, and will be grateful I am still posting.

Since I have animosity towards a certain member, I have decided to release my trailers of the month which has been gathering dust.

1. Inception

The actual trailer doesn’t reveal the plot as much as some hope it would, but it gives us a general idea of this as a Psychological Thriller. I personally look forward to this movie, if anything the movie is indeed a big budget indulgence of Christopher Nolan’s mind.

2. Iron Man 2

Must see! I look forward to seeing Don Cheadle as War Machine, but damn Mickey Rourke as Whiplash looks badass. The trailer has me excited, and man does it tease me with all the new elements for the second movie.

3. Shrek Forever After

Do I dare give Shrek another chance after how bad the third one was? The premise removes the stupid kids they had at the end, and starts over the relationship for all of them. This is the final movie; can they make up for the third movie?

4. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Nicolas Cage is hit and miss. This movie looks pretty damn fun and REALLY goes for imagination with the visual effects. The last part of this trailer is a testament to how good Nic Cage is when he’s crazy. I can’t help but think maybe they showed too many of the visual effects in the trailer, which would suck exponentially if this movie isn’t anything else but visual effects.

5. The Crazies

I really don’t go for horror thrillers anymore because they don’t really have the ability to scare you anymore, this one might. I almost thought this was a zombie film with the way the disease was affecting people, but it seems to be something “more”.

Hope at least one movie got your attention.

Iron Man 2 Trailer

The Movie Blog recently put up this Iron Man 2 trailer, speaking of which I am glad that site will still exist even without John Campea. Anyway, here's the trailer:



At first the trailer was great until Whiplash started his monolouge, where I couldn't understand Mickey Rourke and had to replay it.

Otherwise, this trailer is sick. I finally got to see Rhodes in his War Machine costume, and damn did he look good. I also thought Whiplash looked cool and menacing, despite my earlier comment about being unable to understand him at first. Swing those whips!

There wasn't too much on the Scarlet Widow, but Johannson will probably do great. I did find the fact that Tony Stark disrobed his Ironman armor on stage in front of everyone kind of weird. In the beginning a court demands that Tony Stark hands over the Ironman technology, so wouldn't he want to avoid keeping it under a stage.

That's a nitpick, so don't think about it too hard unless the movie overlooks that fact when we all get to see it.

I have to wonder how Whiplash could figure out the Ironman technology for the power source, i'm sure the film will explain that too.

I'm looking forward to this movie VERY VERY MUCH, it could even be better than the first.

Who's trying to buy the Terminator Franchise?!?!

Well, I swear to god I thought IGN was making a joke. But since it is on HIS actual website, say hello to a prespective buyer of the Terminator Franchise.

Joss Whedon, are you serious?

I really don't know what to make of this, since I have not watched the non-James Cameron Terminator films. But I am a fan of Joss Whedon's Firefly series and the Serenity movie follow up. Dr. Horribles Sing Along Bog is raved about more than I can count.

Could Joss Whedon make a good Terminator film? Well his letter says quite a bit regarding his direction he would take, or does it? Here's what his letter says:

Terminator... of the Rings! Yeah, what if he time-travelled TOO far... back to when there was dragons and wizards? (I think it was the Dark Ages.) Hasta La Vista, Boramir! Cool, huh? "Now you gonna be Gandalf the Red!" RRRRIP! But then he totally helps, because he's a cyborg and he doesn't give a s#&% about the ring -- it has no power over him! And he can carry it AND Frodo AND Sam AND f@%& up some orcs while he's doing it. This stuff just comes to me. I mean it. (I will also offer $10,000 for the Lord of the Rings franchise).

Whedon has an interesting sense of humor I must say, but regardless of the outcome putting the Terminator franchise in his hands would be interesting to say the least.

Short Circuit Remake Gets Director

Ironic that I was talking over with Rob last night about the Short Circuit remake, there is potential considering they are remaining true to having robots made as opposed to CGI for Johnny Five. But thanks to IGN, I now have gone sour on Short Circuit the remake with the pick of the director

Steve Carr

hmmm lets see what has he made. Dr. Dolittle 2, Are we Done Yet?, Daddy Day Care....

Jeez, i'm concerned

Okay i'm sorry, but we're talking about a movie that had crude moments and the overblown Indian stereotype by Fisher Stevens, those are memorable moments of Short Circuit. Do you think a family friendly director is going to reprise any of those things? Doubt it. But man I am nervous how bad this guy could butcher the film.

Friday the 13th Sequel

I didn't see the remake of Friday the 13th, but then again the original movie didn't appeal to me. But of course when I heard about the remake I merely dismissed it because remakes haven't fared too well, and I couldn't see the remake even coming close to the original.

Marcus Nispel's past movies including the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake were lame, and he didn't want to do the remake of Friday the 13th, they had to almost beg him. So of course the movie had potential to fall short because the director's heart was not in it, and of course it was going to make money because it was a low budget production.

So, not surprisingly, IGN reports a remake coming on August 13th 2010.

I wish this had been a one time thing, I'm curious if Nispel directs the sequel because I doubt he wants to. Once again, begging someone to direct isn't good for vision.

Indiana Jones 5 news

Well, even though I did not see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I have heard many negative things about it, especially about the "nuclear fridge" and the Aliens. Who the &*%$ puts Aliens in Indiana Jones, apparently George Lucas does and since he's making the Indiana Jones 5 script i'm empathetic for the next movie.

Thing is, I STILL haven't watched the 4th before I totally pan the 5th movie, but for all of you who have seen the movie here's something to interest you about Indiana Jones 5. Remember Indy's father, who is supposed to be retired from acting?

well, maybe that is not the case anymore.

Sean Connery in Indy 5, i'd like to see that. ALOT. I have to see Indy 4 now to get a better opinion of the current state of the Franchise, but if Connery is going to be on screen alot I would certainly go see that. However, let us not forget this is a negotiation stage, and it may not happen.

Guy Ritchie to Direct Lobo

Link

Well this is a surprise, seems the buzz over Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes film gave him the job of giving Lobo his first stand alone movie. There is another movie but it's a Christmas special, i'm not kidding and you probably agree that doesn't count.

I didn't know anything about Lobo but I did my research, and he seems like a cool character. The only problem is so many characters come to mind when I read about Lobo, so i'm worried that he won't stand on his own in the DC universe.

Guy Ritchie making a comic book film is interesting to me, because we always associate well known names with good movies we want to be made. Yet Sherlock Holmes looks pretty damn good, I actually can't wait to see what Ritchie does with this character.

Bad Boys 3?

It has Martin Lawrence, it's going to suck.

I've seen both Bad Boys movies, and the first one was appealing for the pairing of Lawrence and Smith back then (now, I realize that was youthful ignorance of actual acting). And the sequel was liked because it's Michael Bay, explosions make everything better for that guy...except for Transformers 2.

By the way the article talks about a 3rd movie, it sounds like it would be way over budget. Will Smith is better than this crap, and if Martin Lawrence wants more funny for his stupid acting then he can get out. We already made the mistake of giving in to Chris Tucker for Rush Hour 3, and look how terrible that turned out.

Disney acquires Marvel

Um, I wasn't expecting this.

Well wow, I was really looking forward to the growth of Marvel but now Disney bought Marvel. Marvel is good on its own, but perhaps Disney will "interfere" somewhat with the Marvel lineup in the next couple of years.

If this were 5 years ago, i'd hate this news. Heck, I wouldn't care either because Marvel wasn't snowballing like they are now. To me this is a damn shame, because I was looking forward for Marvel to grow as a company and present some steadfast competition. In that regard I hate this buyout, however, John Lasseter who is the Chief Creative Director of Disney likes to leave companies to do their own thing. Lasseter MADE SURE 2D Animation stayed alive at Disney (hence The Princess and the Frog movie this December).

So I would hope that Lasseter recognizes Marvel for all the creative work they have, and let them develop on their own.

New Batman movie in IMAX?

IMAX COSTS MONEY YO!

I have to say, I didn't see the difference between the IMAX and the regular scenes in the Dark Knight because I couldn't tell the difference. And with the bloating budgets for some of these big movies, to add a SUPPOSEDLY high quality IMAX camera for the whole film when we can't tell the difference between the scenes seems stupid.

I mean really, I HATE HATE HATE paying 10 bucks for a ticket sometimes, even more for IMAX. If the third batman movie is filmed in IMAX and i'm content with a regular theatre why should I have to pay more. Yeah I understand it's great for others, but a WHOLE MOVIE filmed in IMAX is going to force/tempt Warner Brothers to raise ticket priced to..god I don't know 20 dollars a ticket.

Take another movie praised for its visual beauty, Terminator Salvation, that didn't quite get critical acclaim this year. So by that, visuals aren't everything.

AVATAR DAY IMPRESSIONS

Got a chance to see the 15 minute preview and it was quite mind blowing at times. There are some shots that seriously look like a guy in a latex suit like Abe Sapian sort of but it’s all 100% CGI. It might even look a bit more real because latex suits do have certain look to them and I think the skin on the aliens is incredible. The one thing that kept throwing off the reality of them was the eyes because they aren’t proportioned like humans. Seriously though like 5 minutes into the footage I didn’t see it anymore. This is the best CG I’ve seen especially for every single thing in the frame being CG. Everyone states Benjiman Button or Davy Jones or Gollum but they were just 1 single character. Here the screen is simply filled to the brim with effects and most of them do look photo real. It’s extremely impressive. For me the weakest part were a few of the Dragon shots but there were others where I actually felt like I could touch it. So I will admit it’s a tiny bit uneven but it’s much further then I’ve seen movies go before.

I totally see why the trailer has been disappointing people but trust me the 3D and the size have a lot to do with it. There is SOOOOOO much detail in the skin of the Na’vi that you just can’t see on a 2 inch face on a computer screen. Is it safe to lower your expectations a bit from it being 100% real, yes. But it’s not the huge disappointment a lot of people seem to think it is based off the internet trailer. I’d say they are really far along, they just need to work on the eyes a bit but everything else was incredible.

And of course I have to mention the 3D. It’s not 3D like you think of 3D, it’s extremely realistic I would say. Most of the time when you see 3D your aware of it, and I won’t say I wasn’t at all aware because duh I was seeing a 3D movie with ridiculous looking glasses. It was pretty close, when I came home I looked at angles of entering rooms and such just to compare. It was weird but the 3D in the footage felt super natural, nothing jarring. The only part where it was a bit tough was in the jungle chase scene with this like space panther thing. I think I was a bit too close to the screen so that might have been the issue, very ungimmicky 3D.

A Few quick thoughts:

I'd like to see a shot of live action humans interacting with the Na’vi. That is something we don't really get to see much of in the footage aside from a small clip of Jake Sully waking up in his Avatar form. I think they could have got a few nay sayers by showing more footage of them interacting.

Some of the creatures like the space rhino need some more work. It didn't look all that convincing. The space panther thing was easily the most impressive of the creatures showing. I can't wait to see it again.

The backgrounds and landscapes are practically perfect. I mean maybe a special effects artist could tell what was going on but it looked real to me.

I was amazed with the amount of detail in every single frame of the film. There is so much that I think people are pointing out the 1 or 2 things that don't quite look right and forgetting about the 1 million others that look perfect. A part of that uncanny valley I assume.

The dialogue in a few parts was a bit off, but it was also out of context so maybe all together it will work out just fine.

So there you have it December 18th 12:01 Am I will be in line for AVATAR and I think you should be too.

White Chicks...2?!

^^^Pretenders with no talent

Wayan's still don't realize they suck

Okay I admit it, I saw the original movie and before I understood the art of film I enjoyed it. But learning over time the values of cinema, White Chicks is actually an abomination of sad comedy attempts. I understand it did okay in the box office tallies but the movie scarred me for life with the gross, disgusting look of the Wayan's brothers pretending to be white women. That I couldn't ignore.

And the Wayans have gotten worse with each movie, one thing they do that shocks the hell out of me is they cater to a lot of stereotypes but they also are actually trying to be meaningful in their movies. And I mean that in the humorous degree because its one sad group of brothers trying to consider themselves professionals. It's one thing to actually try to be meaningful in a movie in the style they have, but don't even get me started on how bad Dance Flick looked. Geez, a sequel though.

Very few sequels ever come as close to the original, and the first one was bad enough that a sequel would probably be worse than...anything. I hope this movie fails badly at the box office because these guys get to do what so many others deserve instead of them. The Wayans made the terrible Scary Movie and they are cut from the same cloth as the makers of Epic Movie. Get these idiots out of the business, I hope the box office for them is as bad as Delgo, which is ironic because Delgo is probably ten times better than White Chicks and it did TERRIBLE.

Moral of the story, avoid any movie made by the Wayan's brothers.

Scream 4: will it work out?

Williamson is coming back

I am a Scream fan, I love the original one because it had an interesting concept and a good cast. Scream was a horror fanboy's horror, as the second one came out I was a little annoyed with the movie for small production issues. It was okay, the third one isn't liked by everyone and I admit its vastly inferior. Considering it was not penned by Kevin Williamson I consider it a different movie from the first two, and in its own right it was a guilty pleasure.

Now, almost 10 years later we will be seeing a Scream 4 with most of the cast returning and now with Kevin Williamson writing it. Good, going back to the roots is the best way to make another movie I want to see. Already I am psyched over the Alien prequel now that Ridley Scott has returned. Williamson notes the undecided return of Wes Craven and Neve Campbell's refusal to be involved.

Scream 4 would not work if these cast members came back, heck it probably wouldn't work if they all came back if they couldn't reprise their roles in the original spirit of the franchise. Williamson notes that they will wait till Neve Campbell is done with the show she is in before they consider filing the movie, and polish the script while waiting. Good moves in my opinion, and because of them making such careful moves I hope they get everyone back and make a decent horror sequel.

Alien Prequel Confirmed

Confirmed with a surprise

Well, I am a fan of Alien, even more so of Aliens. The way the Alien franchise has been represented on screen, from Aliens 3 onward to Alien vs Predator Requiem, it has been terrible. So a prequel does not sound much better, especially considering TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX is the studio! Remember, the last good movie from Fox may be X2: Xmen United and ever since then Fox has been in a downward spiral for me. Prequels very very rarely do good, I can't even think of one.

But there is hope, Ridley Scott has been attached to direct as indicated by this article. Yes you heard right, Ridley Scott who directed the original Alien in the 1970's. This gives the movie some hope even though some of the commentators in the article imply Ridley Scott's past refusal to be involved with the Alien franchise.

To be honest, I am worried with how bad Fox has become with the amount of control they pushed into Xmen Origins: Wolverine. These greedy and narrow minded people at Twentieth Century Fox have their production crews in chains and their crappy wire work ready. So I am very worried, and would not even care about this movie were it not for the trilogy's original director coming on board.