Nick and Andrew begin their discussion, dissecting the latest, 2nd ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ trailer (what a surprise!) before moving onto the “Oscars Game.” Basically, Nick tries to guess the Academy Award nominees with little help from Andrew. The best episode yet! For real. Would I lie to you?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… 2015 is going to be fucking ridiculous… when it comes to the year’s movie slate.
There’s a lot to gush about; new movies in classic franchises like ‘Jurassic World,’ ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ ‘Mad Max: Fury Road, ‘ ‘007: SPECTRE’ and ‘Terminator Genisys.’ Following Marvel’s most successful year, when it came to quality of movies, we have a sequel to 2012’s ‘The Avengers’ as well as the origin story of a new Avenger in ‘Ant-Man.’ Even 20th Century Fox is shilling a non-X-Men Marvel property in the form of their ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot.
But what looks the best? What are the 7 movies I really can’t wait to see (couldn’t narrow it down to 5…)? Can I put them in order?
Yes I can, other Nick. Yes I can.
7. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
While several of the titles I used in my intro don’t make the list at all, ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (formally ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’) gets the bottom spot.
Why?
We haven’t seen much footage at all, I work at the movie theater and have seen the trailer a dozen times in 3D and the final scene still makes me nauseous, and it’s so damn far away in comparison to most the titles on my list.
Plus… we’ve all played this ‘Star Wars’ anticipation game before and it backfired, horribly.
I’m actually a fan of the new lightsaber! And I know the trailer is supposed to showcase new characters in classic vehicles and uniforms (the stormtrooper armor), which were fun to see, but I want to see Han Solo, dammit!
6. ANT-MAN
Great trailer, but still a hard sell. The trailer jumps back and forth from a darker tone akin to that of ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’ to the comedy stylings of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man (but still not ‘Guardians’ funny).
The trailer does look awesome; only those flying ant scenes seem questionable, even though it’s an image straight from the comics. I like the mostly serious tone of the trailer, anchored by a pretty great speech by Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.
What’s the most unique thing about ‘Ant-Man’ when compared to the other Avengers in the MCU? He’s the only every-man in the group of billionaire science genius, another scientist who turned himself green, an every-man who leaves that life behind when he gets a super-soldier serum, and a God.
Sure, Capt. did start an every-man, but even with the suit and powers of Ant-Man, Scott Lang seems grounded, even leaving his super-suit hanging in the shower.
Oh, and he has a daughter; a first for nearly any superhero franchise. The only exception I can think of is Sandman in ‘Spider-Man 3.’ A similar situation is going on here (and will hopefully go better) with criminal Lang stealing for his family and becoming the hero his daughter thinks he is. Ant-Man is not saving his world, he’s saving ours.
5. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5
We haven’t seen any footage yet, but Tom Cruise’s new stunt is ko-ko-bananas, even in comparison to his scaling the tallest building in the world in the last installment, ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.’
3 out of the 4 films in this franchise have been better than good; theeeeeey’re GREAT!
While the first is the best, ‘Ghost Protocol’ was a very strong entry that revitalized the franchise and introduced us to team members Benji (Simon Pegg) and Brandt (Jeremy Renner). Joining them this time is Luthor (Ving Rhames) who has been on Ethan Hunt’s (Tom Cruise) task force every film except ‘Ghost Protocol.’
Only reservation is the director: Christopher McQuarrie. Though he wrote ‘Usual Suspects’ and last year’s ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ he also directed ‘Jack Reacher’ which was a terrible Tom Cruise thriller.
4. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Tom Hardy is Mad Max! The trailer is glorious! There’s more stunt-work than you can shake a stick at, something very rare in Hollywood. Boom!
Sure, there’s plenty of CGI as well, but most that exploding carnage is done the old fashioned way with stuntmen and actual pyrotechnics!
3. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
You would think this would be at the top of my list (I thought so! Especially after the first trailer…), but my excitement has waned and worry has found a foothold in my brain.
Let’s be honest here, ‘The Avengers’ is in my top 3 MCU movies (with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Winter Soldier’) mainly because it was literally a game-changer. It was the first cross-pollination of superheroes, part of a shared universe, coming together after each carried their own franchises. Everyone else is still trying to pull this off, including DC Entertainment. The plot wasn’t that great, action scenes were few and far between, but the movie will always be remembered for bringing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes together.
‘Age of Ultron’ will need to step up its game to reach the quality of movies Marvel Studios put out in 2014. Likewise, it better be bigger and better, which it appears to be, but I hope that a great storyteller like Joss Whedon can avoid the movie from becoming a jumbled mess; cause there is A LOT going on between the two official trailers.
I also hope it’s good enough to avoid the fate of ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ (which I personally love) where most people were disappointed by the film, mainly because it had to follow the incredibly beloved ‘Dark Knight.’
In James Spader I trust.
2. 007: SPECTRE
This may be blasphemy, but ‘Skyfall’ is my favorite Bond movie… ever. It was so fucking good, bringing in the best 007 baddie of all time (Javier Bardem), and shaking up the 007 universe a bit.
The writers and director, Sam Mendes, from ‘Skyfall’ return and the title promises the revival of the terrorist organization SPECTRE (formally ‘Quantum’ in the D. Craig movies), as classic to the franchise as Vesper Martinis, shaken, not stirred.
Better yet? The villain cast is unbelievable with Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’) as a henchman, the incomparable Christoph Waltz (whose villainy can only be matched by Javier Bardem), and my personal favorite, Andrew Scott whose portrayal of Moriarty on BBC’s ‘Sherlock’ is perhaps the greatest TV villain of all time.
1. JURASSIC WORLD
It’s just too damn nostalgic. While I’ve watched the ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ trailer a million times and have had enough, I can still watch the ‘Jurassic World’ trailer anywhere, anytime.
We’re back on Isla Nublar! The movie is sticking close to the original and ignoring the sequels! Chris Pratt gets to hunt a new hybrid-dinosaur! There are child siblings in peril! Velociraptors!
And those notes from John Williams’ classic score… magic. Lightning in a bottle, at least as far as we can tell from the trailer!
The Park is Open, Mother Fuckers!
Enjoy 2015! I’ll be see you… at the movies.
Ben Affleck (Batfleck!) and David Fincher are planning on working together again following their great financial and critical success of the excellent film ‘Gone Girl.’
They will be remaking a Alfred Hitchcock classic that is due for a reboot.
‘Strangers On a Train’ is a great premise, one even slightly duplicated in ‘Horrible Bosses;’ only less comedic than the Jason Bateman/Charlie Day/Jason Sudiekis version.
But the film has not aged well, especially with the *SPOILERS* finale on a carousel.
It does seem like the perfect premise for a dark David Fincher movie and Ben Affleck is the man to either play the uneasy nice-guy who agrees to the exchange without realizing the ramifications OR the psychopathic man who takes the agreement too far.
For those of you not in-the-know of Alfred Hitchcock’s original classic, the premise to ‘Strangers on a Train’ is that two strangers (see?) meet on a train (SEE!?!?), tentatively agreeing to carry out a murder for each-other that would leave both parties looking innocent as they have no connection to the victim or the crime. Unfortunately, the man proposing the deal is far more serious than the other man who agrees to participate, leading to a thriller where the murderer threatens to blackmail the other man unless he returned the “favor.”
Fincher is among my favorite directors, nailing the darkness needed to carry classics like ‘SE7EN’ and ‘Fight Club’ or more current releases like ‘Zodiac’ or 2014’s amazing ‘Gone Girl.’
Meanwhile, Batfleck has been on fire since his career was re-kickstarted by his directorial efforts in ‘Gone Baby Gone,’ ‘The Town,’ and ‘Argo.’
And let us never forget that Ben Affleck is now our Batman in DC’s Cinematic Universe (DCCU). 
I know everyone shudders at the word “remake,” but between the original cheesy ending and the talent of Fincher and Affleck, it may very well be time for a new version of ‘Strangers on a Train.’
May I suggest Brad Pitt for the other role? Does that suit you, Fincher?
Either way… YAY! This project has me excited.
We all know the great nemeses of all the great comic-book-movies.
Batman has the Joker. Spider-Man has the Green Goblin. Even the Guardians of the Galaxy have Ronan the Accuser and/or Thanos.
But who does Ant-Man fight?
The main villain in Marvel’s upcoming ‘Ant-Man’ is Yellowjacket, played by Corey Stoll.
In the comics, Yellowjacket is another alias for Hank Pym’s Ant-Man/Giant-Man/anything-that-shrinks-or-grows-man (get your mind out of the gutter).
In the movie, Yellowjacket’s human alias is Darren Cross (played by Corey Stoll), a business man who has purchased Pym Industries to acquire the “Ant-Man technology.” Technology he uses to become Yellowjacket, basically Ant-Man fused with Doc Ock’s arms. See the photo below.
See? He can get all small and shit like Ant-Man, only he has four mechanical arms… which makes little sense, as a wasp has only six arms. He’s not a spider… or Doc Ock.
Still, he looks serious as shit and Darren Cross/Yellowjacket will do all he can to stop Hank Pym and Scott Lang/Ant-Man from completing their heist that will save the world.
‘Ant-Man’ crawls into theaters on July 17th.
Last week Marvel knocked us all back on our asses with the 1st trailer and poster for ‘Ant-Man’ and news of their Netflix show, ‘Daredevil.’
Now… we have a brand-spankin’-new trailer for Marvel’s other little 2015 movie, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ with almost entirely new footage.
Here we go…
I won’t go too deep into it yet, but Ultron’s statement, “Everyone creates the thing they dread” ties right into Stark’s ‘Iron Man 3’ problem of creating his own demons.
The real theme of the trailer, which is most likely a much bigger part of the movie than initially realized, comes from Ultron’s ultimatum, “I’m going to tear you apart… from the inside.”
The trailer shows a lot of characters out-of-whack…
From Black Widow’s surgery/origin…
… to Thor torment and power removal?…
…To a raging Hulk that must be taken down by the Hulkbuster, which, like the 1st trailer, is here in true form!
It definitely seems like Ultron is using Scarlet Witch’s powers to get inside the Avenger members’ heads to bring out their most painful memories and cause them to squabble more hardcore than they did in the first film.
Lots of great money shots here too!
Great Iron Man in action at Baron Von Strucker’s castle…
An epic one-on-one fight between Captain America and a Ultron drone…
And amazing Hulk footage… including another great look at the epic battle between Hulk and Stark’s Hulkbuster (which contrary to my earlier theory, does look like Tony is piloting himself).
Very little footage of Quicksilver and only a sliver more for Scarlet Witch..
And finally… behold the power of Ultron! He can shoot lasers from his fingers!
Like all good trailers (especially the Marvel ones) there is a lot to find and analyze in the coming days and weeks… until we get another trailer!
Or a new ‘Ant-Man’ trailer…
Or a ‘Daredevil’ one.
I love you, Marvel Studios. I really do. Marry me?
Major ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’ SPOILERS Follow.
We can all agree that ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ was (nearly) a ‘Spider-Man 3’ disappointment, making money, sure (though the film did under-preform), but leaving Spider-Man fans with a bad taste in their mouth.
So what went wrong? And how is it possible that the film is considered a failure yet has 4 of the greatest scenes from any ‘Spider-Man’ or ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ film, if not the single best scene of all?
Best: The suit.
Though Sam Raimi’s suit from his ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy was fairly accurate and incredibly consistent, the first ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ had a radically different look (in terms of Spidey, not heroes like Wolverine who ditched their colors and mask all together) with strange yellow eyes and a red and blue pattern just different enough to look out of place. Plus, he wore sneakers, his webshooters were unnecessarily bright, and his head looked like a basketball.
But ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ finally got the look 100% right with those big white eyes that even Sam Raimi avoided.
Worst: Oscorp
Why is the Oscorp of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ world so Umbrella Company-ish? It seems like their only job is having accidents that create super-villains or suits and serums… that lead to super-villains.
Now, it wasn’t a terrible idea to tie in Oscorp in the first film as it defeats the old movie troupe, ‘Double Mumbo Jumbo’ that Blake Snyder shares in his excellent screenwriting book ‘Save the Cat!’ In his book, Snyder cites Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man as an exact example of ‘Double Mumbor Jumbo.’
The gist of it? Audiences will suspend-belief to buy an isolated incident where a man is bitten by a spider and gains superpowers. But it’s a stretch that to further suspend-belief that at the same time, in a completely different location, an acquaintance of Peter Parker gains super-villain powers and personality in a different experiment unrelated what-so-ever to Parker’s spider bite. That’s ‘Double Mumbo Jumbo.’
‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ tied our newer Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) directly into the Lizard’s transformation, finishing Dr. Curt Conners equation causing the experiment gone wrong.
Max Dillon’s accident in ‘Amazing 2’ is also Oscorp related, but more of a comic-book freak accident that makes little sense, even in the Spider-Man world; much like Sandman stumbling upon an atom-splicing experiment in the middle of a field while running from police.
Why is Oscorp so evil? And so intent on destroying New York, as it would seem? The franchise should keep Dane DeHaan’s Harry Osborn/Green Goblin and drop Oscorp and all their weird ‘Sinister Six’ related exoskeletons and experiments.
I mean, didn’t Doc Ock develop his own arms? Or is now he like Rhino, a stupid criminal given metal arms, not a genius who invented them himself?
Either way: epic fail.
Best: Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx)
Max Dillon is a great character… until after the NY Times Square scene where his motives make no sense and he becomes a tool for Harry Osborn, not a fully-fleshed out villain like ‘Spider-Man 2’s Doc Ock or even Curt Conners from the first ‘Amazing Spider-Man.’
Dillon’s obsession with Spider-Man, best executed in the scene in which he speaks to himself as Spider-Man on his birthday, is a thing of beauty in a very ‘King of Comedy’ Robert De Nero way. This obsession bleeds into his fantasized confrontation with Mr. Smythe (B.J. Novak) and his barely noticable (blink and you’ll miss it… or hear it, rather) radio-call montage in which he says he and Spider-Man are best friends.
Worst: Electro (blue Jamie Foxx)
Sure, Max Dillon is an interesting character, but his actions become nonsensical after his Spidey confrontation/misunderstanding in Times Square, as formally mentioned. Worse, he is simply a plot device meant to keep us interested until the film can build to it’s true villain, the Green Goblin.
Best: 4 Scenes that nail the tone of ‘Spider-Man;’ among the best in all 5 films.
1st, the aforementioned Max Dillon scene is among the best. I really enjoy his crazy, also expressed through Hans Zimmer’s score which included paranoid mutterings, making Dillon the more interesting character to undergo a terrible transformation.
2nd, Dillon’s awakening in the morgue recalls the terrors of Sam Raimi’s Doc Ock surgery scene, and was apparently cut to be less graphic and terrifying. Still works though.
3rd, Spider-Man’s chase with Alex O’Hirn (Paul Giamatti) who later gets a robot Rhino suit from Oscorp…. because… you know… they’re evil. It nails the light-hearted tone of a typical Spider-Man encounter with fantastic humor and action magic that can’t be duplicated in any other scene in the film.
4th… and you had to see this coming… MEGA SPOILERS… the Death of Gwen Stacy. Possibly the best scene in any Spider-Man movie (though I am also a real fan of the finale to the 2002’s ‘Spider-Man’ where the Green Goblin kicks Peter Parker’s ass). 
Though the first ‘Spider-Man’ film used up the bridge-Goblin-drop, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ killed Gwen Stacy in the 2nd best way possible… and damn was it a powerful scene. The hand shape of the web just reaching her… only to allow her neck to snap and thud against the ground. Beautifully done scene that paid homage to perhaps the most major event in the Spider-Man comics.
My parents thought it was another ‘Superhero movie death’ i.e. very temporary; she’ll snap out of it. Unfortunately, the only thing snapping was her neck and my parents realized they had seen something new when the blood dripped from Gwen’s nose; a very finite and permanent death for a comic book movie (hopefully).
Really, I spent the Electro finale checking my watch, but when I heard that cackle and saw the glider fly in, I knew we were in for one of the most epic Superhero finales ever… it’s a shame most people just wanted the film to freakin’ end before we even got to Goblin.
Worst: 3 Scenes
1st, Anything With Peter’s Parents.
THEY DON’T MATTER! Spider-Man was never about Pete’s relationship to his parents, which are also too closely tied to Oscorp.. Sure, Richard Parker fighting the Oscorp agent in a spinning Airplane was cool in a nearly ‘Inception’ way, but we shouldn’t even care about these characters. Spider-Man has always been about Peter’s relationship with Aunt May in the aftermath of Uncle Ben’s death. His angst is tied to letting Uncle Ben die, not feeling abandoned by his parents.
I know this franchise was trying something new, but it doesn’t work.
2nd, Peter and Gwen angst. The appearance of Captain Stacy.
I get it. Peter wants to be with Gwen. Peter doesn’t want to endanger Gwen. I hate this will-they/won’t-they nonsense. We’ve seen this before with Mary Jane.
And way to telegraph Gwen Stacy’s death. Peter worries all movie and is then attacked by her killer from the comics: the Green Goblin? What did any comic fan think was going to happen?
3rd, Max Dillon’s accident. And any scene with Electro post Times Square.
Jamie Foxx’s talents showcased in recent films ‘Django Unchained’ and ‘Horrible Bosses 1 &2,’ and his talents were completely wasted as Electro. As previously stated, the Max Dillon scenes were great… but the rest of Jamie Foxx’s scenes were terrible.
And his accident was so comic-booky in a franchise that shoots for some realism.
Sure, Electro was only used as a place-holder while the film covers Harry Osborn’s decent into the Goblin, but he didn’t have to feel like that! In a way, I would argue the Joker is a placeholder in ‘The Dark Knight’ for the decent of Harvey Dent into madness (the final confrontation is the one with Dent, Gordon, and Batman, not the earlier Joker wrap-up), but he was obviously a fully fleshed out villain – one of the best – that allowed for the 2nd villain to develop.
Electro could have been so much more, even while serving the transformation of Harry into Goblin.
I did enjoy the scene where he was experimented on, but that’s just another exception to the rule of terrible Electro scenes.
So, there you have it, without droning on and on and on. (I only droned on and on… twice… not thrice!)
Sure, there is more terribleness to discuss as well as a few more highlights. But I think it’s time to put ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ to rest… forever.
Nick and Andrew honeypot/honeydick you into the world of Breaking Geek. They discuss the excellent film, ‘Blue Ruin,’ and come back around to ‘The Interview’ before launching into comic book movies and TV shows including Marvel’s teasers for Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’ and ‘Ant-Man.’ Also, an update on the DC Cinematic Universe (DCCU) and ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ franchises.
Come back every Friday @ 1pm Mountain Time for new episodes of ‘Breaking Geek: The Podcast!
‘Jurassic World’ is still months away with a release date of June 12th, yet it is the 2015 film I am most excited for (sorry Avengers, 007, Max, and Han Solo).
Like with any giant Youtube video (the ‘Jurassic World’ trailer is one of the most played trailers on the video platform) there are mash-ups, other videos analyzing the trailer, and old people reacting to it.
No old people here! The two videos I got here are better than that (though they could be loosely classified as mash-ups)!
First, be amazed at how close the ‘Jurassic World’ trailer sticks to the source material, in this case, the original 1993 film, ‘Jurassic Park.’
I personally believe the fact that new director Colin Trevorrow is working so hard to duplicate the magic of ‘Jurassic Park’ in a film that harkens back to that original more than either of the other two sequels, including Steve Spielberg directed ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park,’ is a good decision.
This seems to be the key with most sequels to decades old franchises this year with ‘Terminator Genisys’ recalling exact images from the original 1984 film and 1991’s ‘Judgement Day’ and ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ bringing back classic ships and characters.
Now that you’ve watched the trailer shot-by-shot ‘Jurassic Park’/’Jurassic World’ comparison, I have an even sweeter treat, especially if you are a ‘Parks and Recreation’ fan.
Andy Dwyer (chubby old-school Chris Pratt) gets transferred to ‘Jurassic World’ in ‘Jurassic Parks & Recreation’ mash-up.
Pretty fantastic, no?
Finally, as a bonus, I have a blast from the past in the form of this ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic claymation (yay!) music video from his 1993 song, ‘Jurassic Park.’ The lyrics are great, but the claymation seals the deal.
So there you have, 3 fantastic ‘Jurassic World’ related videos to further get you psyched for June 12th’s film starring Chris Pratt and that genetically engineered hybrid.
You’re welcome.
I consider ‘Breaking Bad’ the best American drama ever to grace my television screen.
Where do you think I got the name for my website? (I proved my point, thank you very much.)
‘Better Call Saul’ follows Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), the infamous lawyer who set events in motion by hooking up Walt (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul) with Gus Fring. He of course remained their lawyer til the end of the series, getting drawn farther into the criminal underworld than Saul could handle.
‘Better Call Saul’ follows a young, innocent, Jimmy, before he has found his alter-ego-doucehbag-TV-lawyer identity of Saul Goodman.
Check out the amazing trailers first (the 2nd is the better of the two), but then we have a clip with Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) and young Jimmy meeting each other for the first time.
‘Better Call Saul’ premieres February 8th on AMC.
‘Captain America’s Chris Evans is on the battlefield of a real life, live action Call of Duty mission, kicking ass and taking names.
It’s basically his ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ character… only with real shooting skills and Captain America’s resolve.
Go get ’em, Captain!
Now I really want to get the game…
Damn advertising.
Marvel’s marketing department has been in overdrive this week.
‘Daredevil’ is coming to Netflix April 10th, before even ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and the recently advertised ‘Ant-Man’ hit the silver screen.
No, I don’t mean the 2003 film ‘Daredevil’ starring Ben Batfleck as the title hero. 2015’s ‘Daredevil’ is a brand new show, officially part of the the Marvel Cinematic Universe, by Marvel Studios. Fox made the original film but let the rights slip back to Disney/Marvel, allowing the pros that brought us ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ to create and execute the first of five planned Netflix shows.
Let’s start by watching the ‘trailer’ for the Release Date announcement and poster unveil. (Not too unlike the logo trailer for 007: SPECTRE)
Meanwhile, ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ clings to life and is a complete disappointment when compared to the rest of the MCU, or even Fox and Sony Marvel films like ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘X-Men.’
‘Agent Carter’ may be great (the premise sure is), but I have yet to watch it (I think I’ll hop on Hulu+ following this post) and haven’t seen any TV ratings yet.
Though we have yet to see any real footage from Netflix’s’Daredevil,’ one would expect the gutsy “online network” that brought us ‘House of Cards’ to deliver a more cinematic product with a much higher budget than ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ The former should also feel less constrained by network television standards than the latter.
And ‘Daredevil’ is just the beginning of a run of MCU Netflix programming that could eclipse DC’s thus far successful television efforts.
Here’s the poster.
Following the 13 episode ‘Daredevil’ series starring Charlie Cox as Daredevil/Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpen, Marvel and Netflix will release ‘AKA Jessica Jones’ starring ‘Breaking Bad’s Krysten Ritter as the title character and Mike Colter as Luke Cage. Seeing as how the two are an item in the comics, Mike Colter will play Luke Cage in ‘Aka Jessica Jones’ before he gets his own show, ‘Luke Cage,’ next. Following that we get ‘Iron Fist’ which has yet to be cast, followed by an ‘Avengers’-esque series called ‘The Defenders’ that brings all four characters together for an ensemble superhero team.
Basically, Marvel has focused their TV efforts on an MCU of Netflix’s own; one that could lead to appearances of the characters on ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ which desperately needs more superheroes and even a possible team-up in ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ Part 1 or 2.
This does raise the question, where and if these shows exist within ‘Phase 2’ or ‘Phase 3.’ Being a part of the MCU means they have to fall somewhere. I would guess that somewhere is ‘Phase 3’ as we won’t see Daredevil on the big screen helping with the sadistic Ultron. But IT DOES come out before ‘Age of Ultron’ and ‘Ant-Man,’ the latter ending ‘Phase 2.’ Maybe some plot points do feed into either film and are a part of Phase 2?
We’ll know more on April 10th when Netflix drops all 13 episodes of Marvel Studios’ ‘Daredevil;’ the next frontier of superhero shows.
“Clever Girl.”
Velociraptors.
Though T-Rex makes the park logo (of both the failed Jurassic Park and the new Jurassic World) and has the best single scene in the franchise (“someone let T-Rex out of his pen”), for me, the Jurassic Park franchise is all about Velociraptors.
There are few things scarier than the Velociraptor; in fact, it may be the scariest monster to ever grace the silver screen.
Sure, ‘Jaws’ is scary, but to avoid Bruce you just need to stay out of the water. But Velociraptors… if you are on Isla Nublar or Isla Sorna (aka ‘Site B’), can get to you anywhere. They talk to each-other, open doors, and have one hell of a claw.
The Velociraptors haven’t had the best track record in the ‘Jurassic Park’ sequels. Raptors in the grass is terrifying in ‘Lost World: Jurassic Park,’ but then the incredibly smart beasts are bested by Ian Malcom’s teenage daughter doing gymnastics.
In ‘Jurassic Park III’ they have feathers… and are only after Alan Grant and company to protect their eggs. In fact, blowing through their vocal cavity causes them to leave you alone completely.
LAME!
Velociraptors are better as cold blooded, killing machines like in the first film.
Yet… in the film ‘Jurassic Park’ all the raptors are either killed or left for dead in a locked freezer.
Muldoon tells the park visitors that there are three raptors in the Velociraptor Pen. He explains that when they brought in the big one – you know, the one who eats that paddock worker at the beginning of the film (“Shoot Her!”) – she killed all the raptors in the pride but two.
So, we start the film with three velociraptors. Then Timmy locks one in the freezer in the 2nd best scene of the franchise: raptors in the kitchen. They may be able to open doors, but they can’t unlock one from the inside.
Finally, in the 3rd best scene (this is working out nicely), T-Rex comes to the rescue (in what is actually the biggest and most beloved cop-out of an ending in film history), killing the other two raptors.
So, by the end of 1993’s ‘Jurassic Park’ there are no live raptors left on Isla Nublar.
But, life finds a way (or studio executives at least) as Chris Pratt gets to ride a motorcycle with at least 5 of the creatures in the ‘Jurassic World’ trailer; ‘World’ being the first JP film to return to Isla Nublar since 1993.
So, in their infinite wisdom, did InGen (or its new parent company) breed new Raptors? Or even take old ones from Site B., Isla Sorna?
Or, did life really find away?
Were there eggs in that pen? After all, we, and the park employees don’t really get a good look in there due to the danger level. Did the Raptors also change sex and breed? Who would raise the babies? Were there young raptors in the pen?
Alternate theory; did the Velociraptor in the freezer use her weight to force the door open? Did she raise some babies?
Likely, this won’t be addressed in ‘Jurassic World.’ I never realized that all three raptors met a terrible fate (that they deserved) until I rewatched ‘Jurassic Park’ for the millionth time. And I doubt the studio and writer expect us to remember this, if they even did.
But maybe, just maybe, we’ll get an explanation from Chris Pratt as to why he has his own pack of Raptors.
The motivating force of the ‘JurassicWorld’ plot is that park guests are tired of seeing the same old monsters after a decade of Jurassic World being open. Where raptors bred to give park goers that scare factor before management decided to just go ahead and make a new dinosaur? Where they bred to be used as samples to create what the web is calling the ‘D-Rex;’ possibly a hybrid Velocirapter/T-Rex?
Whatever the case.
“Probably not a good idea.”
I just hope the new Raptors are used for scares, not just as Pratt’s minions. After all, they are the cornerstone of Jurassic Park’s scares.
I do have a theory that the final scene in the trailer, pre-logo, the ominous shadow and growl over the young boy is that of a Raptor, not Jurassic World’s newest attraction.
All will be revealed (or glossed over) in ‘Jurassic World’ opening Jun 12th
Wow.
I knew Marvel could work miracles, but ‘Ant-Man’ looks pretty great. The cast was always solid, Marvel has a great track record, but initially I still doubted the material.
Ant-Man was a founding Avenger, but even in a world where Marvel made a character inspired by a Norse God part of a superhero team and a talking Raccoon/Tree combo superstars, it has taken until the tail end of Phase 2 for the character to get a film.
But here he is and he’s only a lil’ silly when he rides a flying ant.
Mostly it’s Marvel AWESOME!
Our first look at Marvel Studios’ ‘Ant-Man’ came in the form of an ant-sized trailer. Literally.
Did you catch any of that? Well here is the “Human-Size” version.
Okay, so it’s a teaser for a teaser trailer. The full trailer comes out tonight during Marvel’s new show ‘Agent Carter’, with another ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ trailer following later this week on Disney owned ESPN.
While we wait, we have our first look at Paul Rudd in his Ant-Man getup, courtesy of ‘Entertainment Weekly.’ Though we saw his feet running in his fancy new boots in the teaser for a teaser, this is our first real look at the entire suit.
It looks MARVELous (I will not apologize for the pun). Another perfect translation from lesser-known comic suit to fully realized big-screen-ready costume. Can Marvel Studios turn ‘Ant-Man’ into the next ‘Guardians of the Galaxy?’
Probably not, but their Ant-sized marketing thus far has been clever and buzz worthy.
Speaking of which, check out the first poster below. Again, look for something very tiny.
The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings a founding member of The Avengers to the big screen for the first time with Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man.” Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
‘Ant-Man’ follows May’s release of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ with some Paul Rudd action on July 17th.
The most interesting fact about the movie thus far, is that it ends ‘Phase 2’ of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. ‘Phase 1’ was ended by the first ‘Avengers’ in 2012 and it was assumed ‘Age of Ultron’ would bring a conclusion to Marvel Studios’ ‘Phase 2.’ Apparently ‘Ant-Man’ has something to add before we enter ‘Phase 3’ in 2016, starting with ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and ending in 2019 with ‘Avengers: Infinity War, Part 2.’
Also fantastic… like the other great Marvel films before it, ‘Ant-Man’ has a unique genre not yet explored by the MCU. ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’ was a thriller, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ was a space opera, and now ‘Ant-Man’ is a heist film. And 2016’s ‘Dr. Strange’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch promises something completely different.
Even with only a teaser for a teaser trailer and a nearly blank poster,’Ant-Man’ joins the list of most anticipated films in this year of our Lord, Stan Lee, 2015.
Excelsior!
Nick and Andrew watched ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer’ so you don’t have to! They also watched ‘The Interview’ so that you can avoid attention from North Korea and/or Sony. Unregulated Superhero discussion commences as usual.
Come back every Friday for a new episode of The Breaking Geek Podcast!
No need to repeat the fact that 2015 may be the best year for movies ever (yet here I am repeating it).
Joining the bevy of trailers for sequels to classic franchises that have been released during the holiday season is the 2nd trailer for George Miller’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road.’
Tom Hardy takes over for Mel Gibson as ‘Mad’ Max Rockatansky in the sequel that ‘Beyond Thunderdome’ should have been.
It’s got car chases and crashes… and car chases and crashes… well, even director George Miller pegs the movie as one long chase scene filled with fantastic stunt work one does not see in modern Hollywood due to the price (mainly of insurance) and danger (hence the high insurance rates).
And, though the trailer is also rich with CGI dust storms and the like, most the action in the movie was done the old fashioned way; when you see those scenes it is a completely different experience to watching digital characters or cars rush around. These are real cars, real stunt men, real explosions. Everything has an actual weight to it, because it IS real (mostly… mostly…).
Watch the trailer here now!
“Oh, yeah.”
That’s more like it! ‘Beyond Thunderdome’ was a really, poorly thought out sequel to ‘Mad Max’ and ‘The Road Warrior’ (aka ‘Mad Max 2’); not matching the tone or action of the two other films.
This is the Mad Max we need. This is the Mad Max we deserve.
And though I do prefer the action in the original Comic-Con teaser, this trailer sure has a lot more character (not literally per say, I mean stylistically).
For comparison sake, here is the original trailer.
We also got in new ‘Fury Road’ posters at the movie theater I manage this week.
2015 belongs to the mad, whether they be psychotic robots, cross-breed dinosaurs, or a scary man with a crazy lightsaber.
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ hits US screens on May 15th, 2015.
‘Constantine’ is my favorite network show of the fall 2014 TV season.
I’m not a big network TV fan. I’ve loved and lost: ‘Arrested Development.’ I’ve grown tired of aging shows: ‘The Simpsons.’ Many others just lived their TV shelf life: ’24,’ ’30 Rock,’ ‘Parks & Rec,’ and ‘Community.’
But this season, I’m up to my all-time high with ‘Blacklist,’ ‘Gotham,’ ‘Brooklyn 99,’ and, of course, ‘Constantine.’
The most miraculous feat of all (aside from the apparent “miracles” that can come up on the show)? The fact that I like any network TV show more than one about Batman (sorry, ‘Gotham.’)!
Here’s 5 things you are missing out on by skipping ‘Constantine.’
1. The Opening Credit Sequence Makes Your Skin Crawl
Is the opening credit sequence of a show really that important?
If you ask the late, not-so-great, ‘Entourage,’ then yes, the opening credit roll is a big deal. Often mocked among friends, the “Ya! Oh, yeah!” stroll down the Sunset strip, walking past the great L.A. bar “With Jeremy Piven” is horribly long.
And annoying.
‘Constantine’ has a perfect length, incredibly unique opening credit sequence.
There’s not even actor or creator credits given, just the image of souls burning in hell.
Watch it now! Then we move on!
2. Matt Ryan is incredibly likable as John Constantine.
Here’s your first clue that there’s a big difference between NBC’s ‘Constantine’ and the 2005 movie starring Keanu Reeves; Matt Ryan’s John Constantine is charming and funny in a way Keanu will never understand.
Ryan brings humor and sarcasm in large doses, playing the self proclaimed “Master of the Dark Arts.” (Constantine gets shit almost every episode for having that last title on his business card.)
And yet, John is also a man haunted.
Haunted by what happened to Astra, the daughter of a friend whom Constantine accidentally damned to hell during a failed exorcism. That’s some dark shit to deal with.
Similar to the sins of his past, Constantine makes some very ambiguous moral choices that could lump him in shared company with ‘Breaking Bad’s Walter White. In one episode he literally has to trap a demon in the body of a friend; inviting the demon in and then trapping him in the body by carving demon locking symbols into his friend’s face with a special blessed blade.
Constantine has his demons, both literally and figuratively. Yet, the show never gets silly when he recites incantations and draws demonic symbols. The show carries just the right tone for it all to work.
And Constantine has quite a bit of evil to combat as there is a “rising darkness” that is pushing more monsters to the surface and resulting in stronger than average demons.
With
all the good, the bad, and his torment/mission, as a man, I still want to be John Constantine. Rock that white shirt and that loose-ass tie… TV’s John Constantine is one cool anti-hero.
3. It’s a horror show at heart.
I have a knack for missing when something is in the horror genre, unless it’s a shitty torture-porn film like ‘Saw’ or ‘The Hills Have Eyes.’ I didn’t realize the new ‘Fright Night’ (2011) was horror until my friends pointed it out; I thought it was a dark comedy.
I had the same inclination with ‘Constantine,’ enjoying the darkness and comedy of the show, completely missing that it is, indeed, a horror show. Not only that, it’s a damn good one, with gruesome bloody scenes and scary demons that rival cable’s ‘The Walking Dead.’
We’re talking possessed children, fallen Angels, and a vinyl holding the voice of “the fallen” (the devil, of course).
2. It has its own, unique format unlike anything on network TV.
I like to call ‘Constantine’ my favorite cable show on Network TV since ‘Arrested Development.’
Let’s face it, most the good shows on television live on cable networks willing to take risks like AMC, FX, and HBO. Most of what we see on Network TV (by which I mean CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and The CW) is very formulaic, with nearly all dramas following the criminal or medical procedural format. Even a show like ‘Gotham’ (which I also adore) boils down to a police procedural that happens to have quirky DC characters. ‘The Blacklist’ is brilliant, but it also doesn’t escape the classic format of a Network TV Drama.
‘Constantine’ marches by the beat of its own drum. It does have a formula; establish demon/evil entity, Constantine tracks it with the aide of Zed (Angelica Celaya) and/or Chas Chandler (Charles Halford), if it’s a demon he may chase it from body to body, finally vanquishing it in the final act, depending what “it” is.
That is where the show flaunts its format: the “Rising Darkness.” The evil in the show takes many forms, from the aforementioned demons, to possessed inanimate objects, and even Angels that work for “the fallen.”
No two episodes are alike and non mirror what you would see on a Network Procedural.
1. It has great side characters and is rich with DC universe lore.
John Constantine’s tortured soul is only the tip of NBC’s iceberg.
My favorite character – aside from Constantine who I obviously have a man-crush on – is Manny the Angel (Harold Perrineau). Manny appears to Constantine, not to help, as he can never give information or physically help in any way that will alter the lives of mortals like John.
While Manny appears to visit Constantine for moral support, really he spends most of his time gloating and mocking Constantine. The back and forth between these characters is my favorite part of the show. Whenever Manny shows up, I crack a smile.
Zed and Chas are also great characters, both with their separate supernatural gifts and their relationships with the “master of the dark arts.”
These characters are from the comics (not Manny, he was added to turn the comic’s inner-monologues into dialog between two characters) as are many of the demons and items we see throughout the show. I wish I read the New 52’s ‘Constantine’ (formally ‘Hellblazer’) as there are A LOT of DC ‘Easter Eggs’ to uncover.
All-in-all, it boils down to my earlier statement. To quote myself:
‘Constantine’ is my favorite cable show on Network TV since ‘Arrested Development.’
Boom. I just self-quoted.
There you have it, 5 reasons to check out ‘Constantine’ on Hulu and NBC. If you’re game for unique TV containing fascinating characters and scary demons – with a DC Comics flair – then join me and John on our mission against the “Rising Darkness.”
Just one more great image of the demon that mocks John in the ‘Pilot.’
And I’m out!
SPECTRE!
SPECTRE is back!
For all you kiddies who’ve only seen the Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig films; SPECTRE is the original QUANTOM-esque terrorist organization.
The OG threat to Bond, 007 encountered many SPECTRE agents in the 1960’s, but none more famous than Bond’s ultimate nemesis, Ernst Stravo Blofeld; a character that was portrayed by several actors, just like James Bond.
You may recognize the most common look of Blofeld, from ‘You Only Live Twice.’ Let me give you a hint, he was bald, had a scar on his face, wore a silly silver suit, and stroked a white kitty.
Check out the teaser-teaser-teaser-barely-a-trailer below. Really, it’s a video revealing the logo.
Now, pay attention to the poster. Doesn’t that bullet hole look like a spider or octopus? 
If not, here is OG SPECTRE’s Hydra-esque logo.
The official plot synopsis:
“A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.” Mr. Craig will be joined by Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista (as a henchman type character, I believe), Andrew Scott (Moriarty on Sherlock), and Monica Bellucci. Returning from Skyfall will be Naomi Harris (Eve Moneypenny), Ben Whishaw (Q) and Ralph Fiennes (replacing Judi Dench as “M”). Director Sam Mendes is returning, which makes this the first 007 film to be helmed by the same director twice in a row since License to Kill ended John Glenn’s run in 1989. Skyfall writers John Logan, Neil Purvis and Rob Wade are returning as well.”
But what does SPECTRE mean for Daniel Craig’s 007?
It means the movie will definitely bring back the feel of the old movies, less cold and brutal than ‘Casino Royale’ or even ‘Skyfall,’ bringing classic elements into the mix… and not just the SPECTRE organization.
And the movie’s cast is loaded with great potential villains from the genius Christoph Waltz, to Andrew Scott whose Moriarty on BBC’s ‘Sherlock’ is the best TV baddie ever, and finally Dave Bautista (Drax in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’). And with that title, one expects either Waltz or Scott will be Blofeld!
Really exciting title, that unlike ‘Skyfall’ gives us great insight into where the 007 franchise is headed. Great cast, Sam Mendes is back to direct, same writing team… how could it go wrong? (*Fingers Crossed*)
But what about Quantum though? ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Quantum of Solace’ set up Mr. White and the Quantum organization, that, like SPECTRE, has political influence and carries out terrorist activity across the globe. Does Quantum turn out to be SPECTRE? Or where Quantum and Mr. White lazily kicked to the side after Quantum’s poor reception?
All will be answered November 6th, 2015.
Add ‘007: Spectre’ to that list of 2015 movies to see that already includes ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ ‘Jurassic World,’ ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron,’ ‘Mission: Impossible 5,’ and many others. 2015 is going to be an expensive year for you geeks who don’t work at a movie theater.
Rejoice!
Is it too early to suggest Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain in ‘Bond 25?’
Even with the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ trailer, let us not forget Chris Pratt: dino-whisperer
The Park is Open June 12th.
Run, Chris Pratt, Run!
Wow! In the past month we have been blessed with trailers for ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron,’ ‘Jurassic World,’ and NOW, ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.!’
I honestly don’t know which movie to look forward to the most!
The new ‘Star Wars’ trailer has everything you’re looking for; fore-boarding narration (I could have sworn the opening voice-over was Benedict Cumberbatch)! New land-speeder from ‘A New Hope’ crossed with ‘Return of the Jedi’s speeder-bike! Cool new droids! A new kind of lightsaber in the hands of a possible villain on what also looks like a new planet! Stormtroopers old an new (that aren’t clones)! And the planet that started it all; Tatoonie !
Most importantly, we see the next evolution of Star Wars space-ship battles. The prequel trilogy was vastly short on fighter-ship on fighter-ship action, whereas this was the original trilogy’s bread and butter from the original Death Star run to the final… Death Star run.
J.J. Abrams and his team have revolutionized the look of classic ships flying, whether it be three X-Wings skimming across water (with a much more intense cockpit shot than we are used to), or an almost go-pro shot of the Millennium Falcon vs. classic Tie Fighters in an action scene with crazy awesome camera moves that looks unlike anything we have seen in a ‘Star Wars’ movie or even J.J.’s two ‘Star Trek’ films. It’s almost like the fluid camera that follows Spidey when he web-slings in ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2,’ which may have been a disappointing movie but had the most impressive web-slinging to date.
Watch the trailer now!
See! It looks like real ‘Star Wars.’ (Yet, we were all burned by ‘Phantom Menace’ which also had a great teaser.)
All it is missing is the classic team of Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Leia (Carrie Fisher), Luke (Mark Hamill), and Chewie (Peter Mayhew). And the droids! No R2-D2 or C3P-O in this trailer, yet they have been a big part of all the preceding films.
We’ll see all these old friends in the movie, but the trailer is smart to give us first glimpses of the new characters, as it seems they will be leading the show with the old cast serving as supporting actors.
That being said, maybe it is Luke in that snowy Forrest with that cross-joint lightsaber (you know… the joint from ‘Pineapple Express’). Either Luke has turned to the Dark Side, or it could be a completely different, new villain like Darth Maul. But in classic Abrams fashion… we really have no idea what is going on yet, in this scene or the rest of the trailer. All I know is it looks like classic ‘Star Wars’ made in the 21st century with ships we recognize; not the shock of the prequels with almost no familiar elements).
I also saw no CGI character that Andy Serkis may play. This is the teaser-trailer though, my friends. The movie is a year away so there will be many more trailers before December 2015.
The final interesting choice is one I noticed when the title logo was unveiled; the new film is not being called ‘Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens’ at this moment. Rather, Disney and Abrams seem to be avoiding putting the episode number in the title at all, thus far. This may get confusing with all the solo-movies coming out alongside the new trilogy, unless, perhaps, they are meant to blend together and the numbers no longer matter?
I do have faith in Abrams. I refer to him as the franchise savior as he has brought the ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Star Trek’ back from the grave. I’ll let him have a get-out-of-jail-free card for the very disappointing, but still fun, ‘Super 8.’
Speaking of ‘Mission: Impossible’ we’ll have a fifth one of those December 2015 also; a movie promising a stunt that will make Dubai Tower look like breaking into Langley!
Time to get excited, geeks!
2015 is my childhood in a bottle, with new ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Star Wars,’ an epic comic-book film in the form of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, and some more of the aforementioned ‘Mission: Impossible.’
The biggest year of geek is coming my friends. Make sure to pack an extra pair of undies.
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