Dark Horse Comics

After the success that MARVEL and DC had this year at the box office, its no surprise to see that DARK HORSE INDEPENDENT FILMS, are showing signs of stepping up their budgets to compete in the (super profitable) Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy genre.

Sammo Hung, is in negotiations to star in WAR MONKEYS, a horror comedy shaping up to be the biggest feature yet from the Independent arm of Dark Horse. Hung is a veteran of the Hong Kong (kung fu) scene, directing, acting and choreographing dozens of movies. The horror comedy follows two janitors who, during the Christmas holiday, get trapped in an underground research facility after accidentally unleashing military-trained Rhesus Monkeys. Hung would play one of the janitors who battles the rabid monkeys. Keven Munroe (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) is in negotiations to direct the film for Dark Horse Indie. “Monkeys, guns, explosions! As a genre freak, I couldn’t ask for more,” said Munroe, who became obsessed with the project after reading the script. Cleve Nettles wrote the script based on a story by DHI producer Chris Patton. WAR MONKEYS is looking at an early 2009 start up. The monkeys will be a combination of real monkeys, animatronic puppets and CGI.

DARK HORSE DVD NEWS

MY NAME IS BRUCE starring horror genre icon Bruce Campbell, will be released on dvd February 10, 2009. The film centers around the B-Movie legend as he’s mistaken for a character he plays in the movies, and is forced to fight a real monster in a small town in Oregon. Recent reports out of Dark Horse Independent , confirm that there will be a sequel. MY NAME IS STILL BRUCE is in the works.

MR WARMTH: THE DON RICKLES PROJECT, directed by John Landis is currently available as a 2 disc dvd set. The Emmy Award winning documentary covers the background of one of the all-time legends of comedy, Don Rickles. The film features (never-seen) concert footage from his Vegas act, as well as behind the scene conversations with Rickles, and includes interviews with many of his closest friends. There’s also a ton of memorable tv and film clips. Don Rickles is truly one of the greatest living comedy legends of our time, I highly recommend this DVD!!!

SPLINTER is the latest Dark Horse Independent film out on dvd, it stars Tom Sizemore and Edward James Olmos. Location: Los Angeles, two gangsters, Dreamer (Enrique Almeida) and Dusty (Noel G) unite over the mysterious murder of their brother. Dreamer, with the bullet that killed his brother still lodged in his skull, is desperately seeking revenge when he crosses paths with Detective Gramm (Resmine Atis), a confident rookie cop partnered with a corrupt veteran, Cunningham (Tom Sizemore). With a rising body-count and the threat of an all out gang war the four characters lock themselves in a brutal endgame as they discover who among them is creating the violent chaos.

DRIFTWOOD is a horror drama now out on dvd from Dark Horse Indie, Consumed with guilt over the loss of his rock star older brother, 16 year old David Forrester (Ricky Ullman), becomes obsessed with death. This leads his misguided parents to send him to Driftwood, an “Attitude Adjustment camp for Troubled Youths”, run buy the sadistic Captain Doug Kennedy (Diamond Dallas Page), and his brutal young henchman Yates (Talan Torriero). Once there David becomes haunted by the spirit of Jonathan (Connor Ross), a former inmate who met a mysterious end. A mystery whose resolution could very well be Davids only way out.

ADDITIONAL UPCOMING DARK HORSE PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT

REX MUNDI starring Johnny Depp. In a world where magic is real a private eye hunts for a prized heirloom worth millions. Against the gothic background of Paris 1933, Julien Sauniere finds himself trapped in a murder mystery in which his own life is at risk. His only chance for survival is to avoid the Inquisition, and to hunt down the sorcerers intent on killing him.

R.I.P.D. (Universal) Nick Cruise and Sheriff Roy Powell were both killed in the line of duty, however they’ve been given a chance to avenge their own deaths. There’s just one catch, they have to sign a 100 year contract with The R.I.P.D., “Rest In Piece Department”. Their mission to capture escapees from Hell. Based on the Dark Horse series written by Peter Lenkov. The screenplay is being written by Phil Hay, and Matt Manfredi. Directed by David Dobkin (The Wedding Crashers).

DAMN NATION As vampires take over the United States, top scientists flee the country to work on a cure to the plague the creatures have spread. Based on the graphic novel by, Andrew Cosby and Jason Alexander. Screenplay by Andrew Cosby.

Wow sounds like some cool projects are coming our way from the fine folks at Dark Horse pictures and Dark Horse Independent.

Feel free to click any of the images to see them full size.

All photos courtosey of TralerAddict.net

Primer

Staring: SHANE CARRUTH, and DAVID SULLIVAN.

Written, Cast, Produced, Directed, and Scored By: SHANE CARRUTH.

Primer, was released in 2004 and was instantly nominated for three, IFC INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS. Best Film, Best Director (SHANE CARRUTH), and Best Debut Performance, (DAVID SULLIVAN).

<THIS REVIEW CONTAINS OVERALL VERY MINOR SPOILERS>

(”First off, I want to say that if you like movies that make you think, and you find time travel somewhat entertaining, this is your next favorite film…”)

Primer, follows the lives of Abe (David) and Aaron (Shane). Both are white collar workers by day, garage inventor entrepreneurs by night. After splintering off from the other two members in the group (due to a conflict on what product to pursue), Abe and Aaron find a simple way to enhance a super conducting field at room tempature. As the first garage experiment concludes, they remove the protective cover from the device, and …………

As the story unfolds Abe figures out that the device (if properly regulated) can transport objects 12 hours into the future, and back. Unknown to Aaron, Abe has constructed two human size chambers. Abe then goes ahead (in time) to show Aaron that its safe and possible. At this point the two engineers realize that they can use the device to make a fortune on the lottery and in the futures markets. However they soon realize one big problem, when they travel ahead in time, the laws of time-causality create duplicate Abe and Aaron’s. This side effect leads the (original) Abe and Aaron, down dark alleys of greed and treachery.

I spent some time thinking about how to continue writing this review. If I explain the story (the way I see it) it will have a spoiler effect, as the movie is very clever and in some ways hard to grasp from the first viewing. The ending is one of those that reminds me of Artificial Intelligence or Twelve Monkeys in the way that some will get it, some will just be confused. So I’ve decided to conclude the overall story review here.

Personally I found this film to be incredible in its compelling story, its look and style. The science behind the story was understandable, and easy to believe. Primer is an amazing example of how great writing, and great independent thinking can produce an amazing motion picture, as the budget never exceeded $8.000 dollars.

Primer single disc DVD contains, the theatrical trailer, and two commentaries.

*Note: I’ve watched the film 4 times since Saturday also with both commentaries. Just (fyi), the commentaries cover the production and how the film was shot, they unfortunately contain very little on what’s really going on with the story. Enjoy!

Tropic Thunder Unrated Directors Cut DVD

Starring:  Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, and Jack Black

Run Time:  1hr 47 mins

In the weeks leading up to the release of “Tropic Thunder,”  the movie certainly garnered it’s fair share of negative attention.  The film was criticized for the way it was promoting itself, a controversy surrounding a website that was based upon a “movie”  that was referenced in the film itself.  The “movie” was called “Simple Jack” and it was basically a mock of “Forrest Gump”  that starred Ben Stiller’s character.  The site was criticized, called demeaning to people with mental handicaps.  In addition to that controversy, many people were up in arms about Robert Downey Jr playing an actor who got so involved in portraying his characters that he underwent a pigment change so he could play an African American Sargent.  Downey Jr basically spent most of the movie in black face.  He definitely gets into character!  To quote Downey’s character Kirk Lazarus:  “I don’t drop character till I do the DVD extas!”

So with all of the negativity and controversy surrounding the film, you would think that it would flop once it hit the theaters.  Well, it didn’t, and I can tell you why.  “Tropic Thunder”  was just plain funny!  The whole movie was hilarious.  Laugh out loud, I was in tears!  Let me give you a brief description of the movie.  “Tropic Thunder”  is a movie about actors trying to film a realistic war movie.  It’s essentially a spoof of Hollywood and big budget action flicks.  The movie starred Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman, an action film star who has seen his Hollywood star plummet in recent years.  Think Jean Claude Van Damme.  He is basically the lead of the fake movie, as well as the real one.  Confused yet?  Let me keep trying!  Robert Downey Jr was the real star of “Tropic Thunder.”  He played Kirk Lazarus, an academy award winning actor who gets deep into character.  Downey Jr’s performance as Lazarus was absolutely fabulous.  He alone was worth the price of the DVD.  His character, a seasoned Hollywood vet, got to utter some of the best lines in the film.  “They found me in an alley in Burbank, trying to re-enter the Earths atmosphere in a refrigerator box.”  That was one of my favorites.  Another classic was “It’s okay. It’s Hollywood.  Everyone’s gay at some time.”  The film also starred Jack Black as the very forgettable Jeff Portnoy, an actor famous for his violent encounters  with the media as well as his movies, in which he dons “fat suits” and farts on screen to get laughs.  This bunch of Hollywood talent set out to film the worlds greatest, most expensive war movie.  Along the way, they stumbled into a real life war zone.  They unknowingly trekked into dangerous territory, risking life and limb to save Tugg.  Ultimately, the experience that the actors had paralleled the movie they were trying to film in the first place.  It ties up rather nicely.  Trust me, it all makes sense on screen!

I’m sure if you’ve heard much of anything about this movie, you have heard about Tom Cruise and his cameo in the film.  And it is true, he was fantastic!  In fact, the film had several really great cameo’s, and they surely made the film better.  Have fun spotting them.  Everyone says Tom Cruise could have re-launched his film career with that cameo. I don’t know if I would go that far, but he was very very good.  Also, the movie was full of jokes that were not featured in tv clips and trailers, so fear not about checking out this movie, you haven’t seen the best yet!  Save for a very boring performance by Jack Black, the film was a comedy masterpiece.  It simply couldn’t have been done without the actors, except for Mr Black, everyone in this film deserves a bit of the credit.  I highly recommend that you watch this film, and keep an eye out for those cameos!

DVD Extras!!!

I purchased the Blu-ray Unrated Directors cut of the film.  The two-disc Director’s Cut contains several featurettes, deleted and extended scenes, an alternate ending, and video rehearsals.  I highly recommend you pick up this version, as the deleted scenes and alternate ending was fantastic.  Definitely worth the extra cash.  I’ve seen both versions, and I can honestly say this edition is noticeably funnier!  Do yourself a favor and check out the DVD now!  If you collect classic comedies like me, you must BUY this.  If not, there honestly is not much re-watch value, so you may want to just rent.  But either way, see this movie!

Aaron Eckhart - Thank You For Smoking

AARON ECKHART has signed on to star in the upcoming Columbia Pictures science fiction action film, Battle Los Angeles. The story, written by Chris Bertolini, centers around a Marine platoon’s encounter and battle against an alien invasion in Los Angeles. Eckhart will play Sgt Nantz, leader of the squad sent into deal with aliens that land over the Pacific Ocean and start to emerge out of the sea attacking anything in their path. Script rumors leaked out last April received very negative reviews. I hope that by adding Eckhart to the project, the script gets a full re-write.

This film would put Aaron front and center in an action film for the first time. Recently Eckhart had made his name working on less mainstream films, among others starring in, Thank You For Smoking, and In the Company of Men. He had one of his biggest roles to date playing Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight.

Battle: Los Angeles, will be directed by Jonathan Liebesman, and produced by Neal Moritz. No word yet on a release date.

This could be a cool movie, the rumors on the first script were pretty bad, however adding Aaron is a damn fine step in the right direction. I always look forward to seeing LA getting destroyed, and I’m sure this film will at least deliver on that visual level. Goodbye Staples Center !!!!!

Star Trek

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen.  The new trailer for JJ Abrams much anticipated remake/reboot of the iconic franchise.  There certainly has been a lot of buzz about this movie lately, with all the pics being put out.  Many people, myself included, were very upset with the apparent direction the movie was taking the Star Trek franchise.  But let me tell you, when I saw this trailer on the big screen, it blew my mind!  Absolutely changed my perceptions of the film.  I am now very psyched to see this.  As a fan of the original series, I was upset with how different the bridge looked, how “metro” the characters looked, and the overall look of the Enterprise.  But all that changed when I got to see this trailer.  If you have not seen it on the big screen, I recommend you go see “Quantum of Solace” immediately so you can enjoy the trailer in all its glory.  If you can’t do that, please, enjoy the trailer here.  What do you guys think?  Are you excited for the film now?

As if you Trekkies don’t already know, Star Trek is slated for release May 8th, 2009

The End of Eternity

Well, it looks like we will finally get to see the classic tale “The End of Eternity” by Isaac Asimov, make it to the big screen.  New Regency has purchased the rights and plans to have Vince Geradis produce the project.  They plan on offering the project to directors before writing the script.

For those of you who don’t know, “The End of Eternity” is a classic time travel tale by Isaac Asimov.  I would classify it as a sci-fi/thriller/mystery, that touches on time travel and elements of social engineering.   Eternity is an organization and a place that exists outside time.  They exist to control humanity through manipulating time to alter history, prevent natural disasters, and “erase” really bad people known as “undesirables.”  History altering expert and protagonist Andrew Harlan breaks the cardinal rule of Eternity and falls in love with a woman from the past.

The story is full of secret plots, twists and turns.  There are time travel movies, for sure, but nothing like this story. Asimov is a great story teller.  I have read this, first in high school as “required reading,” but I soon fell in love with the story and went on to read it several times.  I can only hope that a quality director and script writer can be attached to this project.  With the right people in place, there is significant potential here!  Cross your fingers sci-fi fans!  Hope for the best.

Steven Spielburg - Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood is currently in negotiations with Dreamworks to direct the supernatural thriller Hereafter. Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks picked up the script written by “Frost/Nixon” scribe Peter Morgan in March when it was still a part of Paramount Pictures. Dreamworks held onto the project as part of its separation pact with Paramount Studios, and has been pursuing Eastwood to direct the film for months. Kathleen Kennedy is producing.

Plot details are being withheld, however the film is described as in the vein of The Sixth Sense. No word yet on the cast or a release date.

Eastwood, who has two films in awards season contention this year, The Changeling and Grand Torino, previously worked with Spielberg on Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima both of which Spielberg produced.

This is sounds very cool, the first thing I thought of writing this was , “Hey M. Night, step back, and let The Man go through”. It seems like Clint Eastwood is having the time of his life directing movies, I think its great!!! I’m really looking forward to Grand Torino.

Daniel Craig - James Bond

Daniel Craig is by far my favorite James Bond. I was very excited to hear that he would be playing the part in Quantum of Solace, and also the next Bond film. I know that many people do not like this new Bond and prefer a more “old school” Bond actor, but for me Craig is great. I really feel that he brings a lot to the world of James Bond. Now that Craig has become James Bond, I haven’t been able to accept him in any other films, I think some of you may agree with me.

However, one thing that is not fine with me is how much they have screwed around with the new generation of James Bond. Changing the actor is one thing, but taking away the gadgets, taglines, and high-tech cars is not cool. I understand that times are changing, and I understand it has been a long time since the first James Bond, but you just can’t screw with an epic series. This is bigger than just screwing with the Star Wars trilogy (Which was also wrong).

Let me ask you this, what is the most memorable part of James Bond? Perhaps it is his introduction, “Bond, James Bond.” Well guess what, it is nowhere to be found in Quantum of Solace. Another memorable line is of course “Shaken, not stirred.” This is included in the film but spoken by a bartender, and not James Bond.

How could this happen? Quite possibly the two most memorable movie lines of all time were cut. I am not talking about some tagline from a crappy sequel that is going to bomb, we are talking James bond. If you ask someone on the street what film character says “Shaken, not stirred” I will guarantee that 9 out of 10 people will know the answer is James Bond, even people who are not Bond fans will know the answer. This was a huge disappointment for me. I for one am a huge Bond fan, and I just feel like those are elements that have to be worked into the film, no matter what. Cutting those two lines was like having Christmas without a Christmas tree. Sure, it is still Christmas, but it just isn’t the same.

The other two problems I have with the Quantum of Solace is the fact that James Bond doesn’t use any high tech gadgets, or have a luxury car packed to the max with weapons. Yeah, I know there is no more Q, but there has to be some way for Bond to aquire an awesome gadget, or at least an Ashton Martin with enough firepow to eliminate a small town. Yeah, I know Bond had a pretty cool cell phone, and MI6 did have an amazing computer system, but it just isn’t a Bond gadget.

James Bond

Now that I have gotten past my gripes about Quantum of Solace, maybe we can look at the positives.

The story was excellent. It was action packed but what not really a typical Bond story. The story picked up right where Casino Royale left off and hit the ground running. Towards the begining of the film I felt things were moving a bit slow, but once it got rolling, there was no stopping it.

The action flowed with the story very nice, but like I said it was very quick moving. Be sure to pay attention or you may miss something. This may be one of those films you need to watch twice to really “get it.” Personally I am going to see it again anyways, but not everyone is in love with movies like I am.

As I previously stated it really wasn’t a typical Bond film. There were many things I didn’t like, but it really wasn’t all bad. This Bond film really focused on Bond’s revenge. I thought this wouldn’t make a good Bond story, but man was I wrong. Not only was the story excellent, but I loved seeing what made Bond, Bond. I feel that this was a very important film for the franchise.

To be entirely honest this was the hardest review I have ever written. I wanted to write this lastnight after the screening but I just couldn’t. It was hard for me to decide if the omission of key Bond elements was enough to ruin the film for me. I did like the film, and I am glad it happened. As I said before I feel it was a very important step, and has really given some insight to Bond. It is still dissapointing though to sit and watch, and wait for the tagline “Bond, James Bond.”

So what is the final verdict? Quantum of Solace was a good James Bond film that I recommend everyone to see. But be prepared to be a little dissapointed. It isn;t the best Bond film, but I think it really set’s things up for another great film. Hey, you can’t win them all.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day the Earth Stood Still was a classic.  One of my all time favorite movies, despite my age.  When I heard it was getting the all too frequent Hollywood remake, I was pissed.  And when I heard it was starring Keanu Reeves, I was even more pissed.  And all the clips and trailers so far have shown me nothing to be excited about.  Until now. GORT!!!  GORT looks absolutely awesome in the latest trailer, which is why I’m bringing it to you today.  I might just go see this movie after all.  Check out GORT, tell me what you think.  Are you going to see the movie?

The Day the Earth Stood Still will hit the theaters on December 12th, 2008