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Close Reads || ||

'Pacific Rim' -- Finally! A Trailer That Kicks Some Monster Ass

'Pacific Rim' -- Finally! A Trailer That Kicks Some Monster Ass

If you follow this site, you know I've expressed quite a bit of skepticism about Guillermo del Toro's upcoming giant-robots-and-monsters movie, Pacific Rim. But that was before I saw this trailer that was unveiled at Wondercon in Las Vegas earlier this month. more »

Burning Questions || ||

'Pacific Rim' TV Spot − Is The Monster Lame Or What?

'Pacific Rim' TV Spot − Is The Monster Lame Or What?

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 »

Close Reads || ||

'Pacific Rim' Vs. Real World Physics: Giant Robots, Galileo, And The Square Cube Law

'Pacific Rim' Vs. Real World Physics: Giant Robots, Galileo, And The Square Cube Law

Pacific Rim looks awesome and all, but let's talk about science for a second. Specifically, let's talk about the science, or lack thereof, behind completely awesome giant robots.

Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming sci-fi action pic is probably going to be as awesome as the trailers make it look, unless you're the kind of person who hates the sight of huge mecha fighting against equally huge monsters, in which case please show yourself out. How could you not love enormous robots punching out enormous monsters who lay waste to entire cities? Giant robots represents 90 percent of what we want the future to be like (the other 10 percent: flying cars, and a male birth control pill.) They're extremely cool looking, they transform, and for sheer shock factor they're impossible to beat.

We want them so badly, but could we have them in real life? Unfortunately, hell no. Not because of budgetary constraints, frustratingly missing confirmation of alien life, or the lack of a decent fuel source. There's a bigger problem facing these robots than any alien invasion: Physics.
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Watch This || ||

WATCH: Do The Jaeger Meisters In New 'Pacific Rim' Trailer Defy Logic?

WATCH: Do The Jaeger Meisters In New 'Pacific Rim' Trailer Defy Logic?

So there's a new Pacific Rim trailer out. It's not a whole lot different from the last one that was released, and, like the last one, it leaves me with one big suspension-of-disbelief problem.  more »

Watch This || ||

WATCH: 'Pacific Rim' Trailer Dares Mayan Calendar To End The World

WATCH: 'Pacific Rim' Trailer Dares Mayan Calendar To End The World

Holy Macross, the first trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim is here, and I can't believe what I'm seeing! Dimensional rifts, enormous monsters, and sweet sweet giant mechs battling it out over the streets of a large city while the helpless populace flees. Someone finally figured out how to update the kaiju genre without ruining it. Glory be!
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Comic-Con || ||

Pacific Rim: The Characters and Robotic 'Engineering Feats' of Guillermo Del Toro's Monster Sci-Fi Pic

Pacific Rim - Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi

With a year to go before Pacific Rim hits theaters, Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) hit Comic-Con with stars Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Day to preview the giant robot-monster movie, inspired by the Japanese sci-fi pics he watched as a kid. His vision for the film? Dirty, epic, and realistic — so much so that Del Toro and his crew built functioning, practical robots and entire sets with hydraulics ("a huge engineering feat!"), putting his actors in the thick of the action rather than go the CG route. Del Toro called the experience “the best I’ve had on any film set in all my life.” Day remembered it slightly differently: “You tortured the f*** out of us!”
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First Looks || ||

Idris Elba Suits Up in First Image from Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim (2013)

Total Film has the first look at Idris Elba in Guillermo del Toro's alien invasion flick Pacific Rim, for which he built -- and destroyed -- replica sets, kaiju style. Elba stars alongside Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day and Rinko Kikuchi in the mecha-epic, which pits robot-piloting humans in battle against interplanetary monsters.

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Interviews || ||

Guillermo del Toro and Katie Holmes on R-rated Children's Horror Flick Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Guillermo del Toro and Katie Holmes on R-rated Children's Horror Flick Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

When Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) set out to update the scariest movie he'd ever seen as a child -- the 1973 made-for-television movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, about inhabitants of a house who discover sinister creatures living in the basement -- he intended to frighten and thrill a new generation of youngsters. Even co-star Katie Holmes, who makes a rare genre appearance in the Del Toro-produced and co-scripted horror pic, found the script to so terrifying that she knew she had to do it. But is Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, as the MPAA deemed, too scary for kids?

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Comic-Con || ||

Legendary Pictures to Bring Pacific Rim, Proyas, Paradise Lost and More to Comic-Con

Legendary Pictures to Bring Pacific Rim, Proyas, Paradise Lost and More to Comic-Con

Legendary Pictures -- the production company behind Batman Begins, Watchmen, Clash of the Titans, and all the movies you can't wait to see in 2012 and beyond -- will host its first Comic-Con panel later this month, and while footage will likely be scarce, expect a parade of talent to come through Hall H for upcoming films Pacific Rim, Seventh Son, Paradise Lost, and the Mass Effect video game adaptation. Hit the jump for Legendary's roster of talent!

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Interviews || ||

Guillermo Del Toro on Pacific Rim Monsters and the Demise of At the Mountains of Madness

Guillermo Del Toro on Pacific Rim Monsters and the Demise of At the Mountains of Madness

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Or, rather: First came the agony -- the surprise shut-down of production on his ambitious At the Mountains of Madness -- but now filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is having a ball prepping his next directorial effort, the futuristic alien invasion action movie Pacific Rim. He spoke with Movieline about the two projects while making the press rounds for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.

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Newswire || ||

Pacific Rim Sets July 2013 Release Date

Pacific Rim Sets July 2013 Release Date

The summer of 2013 just got a little more exciting: Warner Bros. has announced that they'll release Guillermo del Toro's sci-fi action pic Pacific Rim on July 12, 2013. The alien invasion film is set to star Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, and Charlie Day, and begins filming this November. Del Toro has described the Travis Beacham-penned project as his biggest film to date, so expect a summer monsterpalooza, del Toro-style. Warner Bros. also moved up the release date of Steven Soderbergh's Contagion to Sept. 9. [Deadline]

Festival Coverage || ||

Guillermo Del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: Too Scary for the MPAA?

Guillermo Del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: Too Scary for the MPAA?

Before Sunday night's L.A. Film Fest premiere of the August horror pic Don't Be Afraid of the Dark succumbed to an unfortunate series of annoyances -- a fire alarm temporarily evacuated the theater midway through, while chaos reigned at the post-screening cell phone check -- producer and co-writer Guillermo del Toro emphasized what, hopefully, will make Don't Be Afraid of the Dark memorable: Its "pervasive scariness," so terrifying that the MPAA deemed it too frightening for its intended rating.

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Newswire || ||

Charlie Hunnam to Fight Futuristic Aliens in Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim

Charlie Hunnam to Fight Futuristic Aliens in Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim

In the latest development for Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim (i.e. The One That's Not At the Mountains of Madness), Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam is in negotiations to fight alien invaders in the futuristic tent pole. The legacy of Judd Apatow's Undeclared continues!

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