Why am I not excited about Pacific Rim? I'm mostly a fan of Guillermo del Toro's work, particularly the superb Pan's Labyrinth, but the three teaser clips that have been released for the filmmaker's hotly anticipated mechs-vs-monsters summer sci-fi film have all left me cold. Part of the problem is that they're all virtually the same. The new international TV spot, for instance, is a condensed retread of the earlier trailers, and its brevity draws attention to what I think may be the film's biggest weakness: a lame monster. more »
Until today, I thought Legendary Pictures' effort to make yet another contemporary Godzilla reboot was a seriously misguided idea. I know that almost 15 years have passed since Roland Emmerich's 1998 take on the reptilian Japanese scream queen hit theaters, but that movie was such a dark, senseless and empty mess that it effectively killed my once fervent love of the big-ass monster genre. more »
Also in Friday morning's round-up of news briefs, the Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro film festivals unveil details of their opening nighters. Thriller Errors of the Human Body heads to U.S. theaters. And Warner Bros. gives details on the Godzilla reboot.
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In the immortal words of Blue Oyster Cult's Buck Dharma, “history shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man.” He was singing about Godzilla and we're speaking about him, too, as Hollywood has decided to lay another bet on the city-stompin' monster from the Far East.
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In addition to announcing their Tribeca closing night bow, Marvel recently unveiled the full track listing for their upcoming Avengers companion album, comprised of "music from and inspired by" the May 4 superhero flick. Among the hot bands of today yesterday contributing future hits to the soundtrack? Soundgarden! Papa Roach! Bush! And the kicker: Evanescence. Now, I know these major recording artists have been around since their respective heydays in the '90s and '00s, but really, Avengers? I haven't had this kind of knee-jerk reaction to a movie soundtrack since I revisited the abomination that was the soundtrack to 1998's Godzilla.
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Exciting news today from the mockbuster mavens at The Asylum: The B-movie specialists have announced their next creature feature, Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark, a sequel to 2009's Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus and its 2010 follow-up Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus. This time around the hardy Mega Shark faces the ultimate enemy: Mecha Shark, "her mechanical doppelganger." Contain yourselves!
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Having worked on Christopher Nolan's Batman films and the upcoming Man of Steel for Legendary Pictures, David S. Goyer has been tapped to re-write the company's upcoming Godzilla reboot for Monsters director Gareth Edwards. Presumably that'll put your geek worry to ease about the next studio attempt to revive the kaiju franchise stateside, if only a bit. After all, can any Hollywood take on Godzilla be worse than Roland Emmerich's 1998 misfire?
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