Category: Mainstream Entertainment

All posts relating to general happenings in mainstream entertainment, where it’d be movies, television, music, or other things that fall within that bubble.

Random Thoughts On… TMNT 2012 Series Trailer

So they aired a quick promo for the upcoming TMNT CGI series that’s supposed to be out this year.

Doesn’t show much, but what it does show says quite a bit about a couple changes that have been made to the Turtles’ arsenal. Honestly, not sure what to think of this yet… but I’m sure I’ll have something in mind when more information leaks out. In the meantime, I’m gonna go back to the old movie trilogy and track down some Next Mutation…

BOOOOOOOOO-URNS.

DVD Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Turtles Forever (2009 Release)

So in 2009, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary and as such, the event was celebrated not only with a change in ownership from Mirage Studios to Viacom, but also resulted in Turtles Forever, a film that serves as a crossover between the 2003 cartoon Turtles and the much beloved cartoon Turtles from the classic 1987 cartoon. And then it was released onto DVD. Unfortunately, the DVD release is a very barebones release that only includes the film and not much else in terms of features.

The Good: The only good that could be said about the DVD is that the film itself is top-notch fanservice and a satisfying conclusion to not only the 2003 incarnation of TMNT, but in a way, also closes out an era of Turtle-dom that dates back to its origins in 1984. The 87 Turtles aren’t voiced by the original actors, but they sound close enough if not a bit too goofy. Still, it’s a fun little movie that is a celebration of what’s come before as much as it is an ending.

The Bad: The DVD itself is slim pickings; only packing the film and chapter selection. Not even captions or alternate languages. Also the film is the edited version and not the uncut version that is supposed to feature eight minutes of additional material. It’s not a bad film and without having seen the longer version, I don’t know how much I’m actually missing here… but man, what a missed opportunity to include a more complete version, even if the extra stuff might seem a bit extraneous.

Overall: Turtles Forever got a cheap-o DVD release and given what it represents, I do wish more was done to give this a better treatment. Even a trailer or two would’ve been nice. Still, having some form of Turtles Forever in a consumable format is nice to have and the DVD is pretty cheap, so if you haven’t seen this one and find the disc laying around somewhere, why not give it a shot?

Amazing Spider-Man Trailer Is Kinda… Meh.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=86680

So they just put out the Amazing Spider-Man trailer, the reboot of a ten-year old series that was needed because we couldn’t let Sam Raimi do the Spider-Man movies he wanted and thus we go with this somewhat uninspired take.

Looks nice, but I’m not digging this “untold story” angle that they’re going for here. Not only is the Spider-Man origin story the furthest thing from “untold story” you’re going to get, but it seems like they’re retooling it to be some sort of destiny thing as opposed to being by chance. Not to mention that I’m not a fan of the suit… but hey, they brought back the Spidey wit; something that was missing from the Sam Raimi entries.

Cautiously middle of the road on this one; looking forward to it, but not particularly impressed thus far.

Chris Benoit Biopic To Be Filmed 2012

Source Article: http://www.wrestlenewz.com/wrestling/wwe-news/chris-benoit-biopic-to-be-filmed-in-2012/

So, if you can’t be bothered to read the article linked above, basically this film company, SRG Films, is gearing up to produce a biopic on Chris Benoit, the former WWE world champion whose career and legacy was forever tarnished by the Benoit murder-suicide thing that made the headlines in 2007 and put the entire wrestling industry under one gigantic microscope. One interesting note about this biopic, set to start shooting in the fall of 2012 for a 2013 release, is actually the company’s first film… yeah, that’s a great way to start up a new portfolio.

In all seriousness, though, I’m somewhat at a loss for words.

Nothing can be said about what happened that hasn’t already been said at this point. I’m not even sure (or convinced, for that matter) that this will even be brought up again, but if it does, it should be an interesting look at one of the more polarizing figures in professional wrestling history… and even more interesting how, if at all, WWE would react to such a film being made, considering all their efforts to ostensibly remove all mention of Chris Benoit from their history banks. Regardless, not quite sure how to think about this other than to say, “Let’s wait and see what happens.”

Whose utility belt is getting stirred?

So that ComingSoon website has leaked pictures of Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman get-up from the upcoming Dark Knight Rises flick, which you can check out by clicking here.

Personally, I’m not too keen on the costume… but who knows? Maybe there will be enough stirrings in one’s utility belt to get over it.

The Lucas Speech From 1988

Several days ago, I posted a quote from George Lucas that came from a statement he made before US Congress in 1988 opposing colorization of old films. Digging a little deeper, I discovered the full transcript of that script. Special thanks to the Save Star Wars site for putting this up, along with a rather good reading article surrounding this now-ironic speech. The site in general has a number of interesting reads if you’re willing to take the time. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re opposed to the ten million changes made to the trilogy.

Check it out here.

Not feeling too Legendary, aren't we?

From pwpix.net:

Reviews are starting to come out for WWE’s new Legendary movie starring John Cena and things aren’t looking good. Currently on the Rotten Tomatoes website, the movie has a 17% rating with 4 “Fresh” reviews and 19 “Rotten” reviews. Below are some quotes on the movie from top critics:


* Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times: “It’s a feel-good Kleenex™ dispenser of a movie, and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it’s routine Hallmark Hall of Afterschool Special material.”


* Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: “Legendary is so intent on paying heartfelt tribute to dogged young athletes that it neglects basic story needs.”


* Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: “A well-meaning dud that’ll put you out faster than a sleeper hold.”


* Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: “The script, by actor turned writer John Posey, has structural problems and motivational issues in between the cliches. And Cena, a few movies into his career, is still all presence and no acting.”


* Rex Reed, New York Observer: “Talk about movies that cannot possibly live up to their titles.”

You know what? I’d probably say something witty or snarky, but honestly, I can’t really use the “Cena portrays an ex-cop off to save his girlfriend from terrorists again” gag because Legendary is actually a drama of sorts. And quite honestly, the movie doesn’t look too bad, so I’ll probably wait until the movie’s release on DVD before I lay judgment… but yeah, the critical reaction makes this feel less Legendary than the film implies.

On the other hand, the Wikipedia entry for Legendary implies that “previews suggest a generous response, with praise given to the serious tone of the film compared to many of WWE Studios’ other efforts, and for John Cena’s improved performance over his earlier roles in The Marine and 12 Rounds. Some criticism has been directed towards inaccuracies in the college wrestling system.”

So I can’t really comment much more than that. But I do have to praise WWE Studios for shifting away from making mindless action movies and diversifying themselves with these types of dramas and comedies. Even if the movies end up being like crap, at least it shows that they’re willing to venture into more heavy material. For that alone, I applaud them.

I just hope that they actually come out with a decent picture. Maybe Legendary might be one of them despite the critical response.