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| Lee Pace on his cell phone during the filming of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' via twitter |
Similar to
Matthew McConaughey in the early 2000s,
Lee Pace seems to be one of the most underrated actors around. Amazingly, Pace still doesn't seem to have the name recognition to lead a major film...until now. Yay. Pace will be starring in his very own alien v. human action movie called '
Prisoner of War.' Pace has seriously been upping his game over the last few years with roles in '
Lincoln,' and now most in the '
Guardians of the Galaxy' and the Hobbit films.
News
The Vampire Chronicles, including "The Tale of the Body Thief," have been optioned by
Universal. I assume this means that '
Interview with the Vampire' and the dreadful '
Queen of the Damned' will be remade. It's too bad the Vampire Chronicles weren't properly franchised in the 90s, immediately following 'Interview' in 1994. I occasionally dislike
Tom Cruise, but his Lestat was flawless. Had they filmed "The Vampire Lestat" shortly after "Interview," then continued with 'The Queen of the Damned,' the franchise would have felt complete, even without "Body Thief."
Unfortunately, someone had the bright idea to wait eight years, sloppily write a script that combined "The Vampire Lestat" with "The Queen of the Damned," and recast Lestat with
Stuart Townsend. Huge mistake. No offense to Townsend, who is a competent actor, but he was no Lestat. Admittedly Cruise's Lestat was a hard act to follow. Which is why Warner Brothers should have given Cruise anything he wanted to play the brat prince again. And why or why would they combine two novels into one movie? Seriously, these days when '
Twilight' and '
The Hunger Games' novels are split into multiple films, why would they combine two lengthy novels into a 90 minute movie?
I can't believe
Anne Rice didn't have more control over the optioning of her beloved novels. 'Queen of the Damned' was an awful non-sensical movie with a great soundtrack--kinda like '
Purple Rain.' Here's hoping someone gets it right this time. Again, the casting of Lestat will be key, as Lestat is in most of the Vampire Chronicles.
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| via twitter.com/BatmanvSuperman |
Are
Warner Brothers and DC Comics running scared? It behooves me to say this as a DC fan, but it appears that Warner Brothers is a little frightened of the Marvel behemoth, as they should be. In my opinion, the WB and DC would have been perfectly content releasing only Batman or Superman movies for the next 50 years, until
Joss Whedon's Avenger's made a billion dollars. Thus, it appears that greed is a great motivator and unlike Marvel, DC is reactionary, not proactive. This is a key distinguishing feature between the two franchises.
Now the WB has once again changed the release date of '
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice' from May 6, 2016 to March 2016, thereby avoiding '
Captain America 3' altogether. Thus supporting my theory that the WB is afraid that 'Batman v. Superman' (even with the introduction of Wonder Woman!), can't hold it's own against 'Captain America 3?' Seriously? This makes me sad very sad for DC.
However, considering the crap that
Zack Synder and
David Goyer put out (i.e. '
Man of Steel'), it's probably a smart move. But instead of hiding under the covers, why not hire someone like Joss Whedon, instead of people like Synder and Goyer? Oh wait, they could have. Prior to the 'Avengers,'
Whedon all but begged DC to allow him to do a
Wonder Woman film. DC's response? They never returned his phone calls. So to a certain extent, the WB and DC are reaping what they sowed.
On a more positive note DC is finally dipping into it's vast catalog. The WB just announced that it will release nine superhero sequel flicks before 2020. This includes 'Batman v. Superman' and the '
Justice League' flick. But as much as I love Batman and Superman, can someone tell DC to feature another superhero...please. Geez.
Never before seen 1993 '
Jurassic Park' posters have just been released in anticipation of 'Jurassic World.' There are about 15 unreleased posters. Check 'em out on IGN's website. This is an awesome find.
New DC Comics series '
The Flash' gets a premiere date of October 7. Check out the teaser trailer. I tend to think that DC Comics does television better than they do films, so I'm sure it will be a decent show.
Cosplay
So if someone can cosplay Groot this well, why did '
Guardians of the Galaxy' need so much CGI?
Reviews
So evidently the new film '
Into the Storm' is really bad. Like 17% on Rotten Tomatoes bad. I love these wacky little films that give tornadoes and hurricanes "minds of their own," but I thought weather movies went out of style in the late 90s (a la '
Twister'). Apparently 'Into the Storm' puts it's own twist on the weather-horror genre, by making it a weather related found footage film. Yeah, ok. It's not like there aren't enough found footage films these days.
Funny
'
Game of Thrones' is such a dramatic series, that sometimes it's nice to see a little levity. This 'Game of Thrones' blooper reel hits the spot. I just love seeing some of these actors cut a rug.
One of my favorite actresses
Sarah Paulson reveals some of the awkwardness behind the scenes of '
American Horror Story.' If you've ever watched this show you know some crazy stuff happens. I can't imagine being an actor on this show.
And now for your viewing pleasure watch a
goat playing soccer.
The goat is probably a better soccer player than me.
ReplyDeleteYou're right DC is reactive and running scared. Several years ago they swore they would never do a JLA film. Then along came The Avengers. I'm a big DC fan and a bit bummed as well.
They say the special effects for Into the Storm are great, so will watch on NetFlix. If it's really bad, I might even do a play-by-play.
Ha, I will probably watch 'Into the Storm' eventually as well. But like you I will reserve for Netflix. I remember that DC said they wouldn't do a JLA movie...and then boom, now after the Avengers they changed their tune. They need a serious shakeup at WB and DC. Someone who knows what they're doing needs to take the helm.
DeleteOh man. The Vampire Chronicles is one of my favorite series and I maintain that other than - ironically - an exclusion of what was my fav chapter in the book, Interview with the Vampire is the most faithful adaptation I've seen. I'm actually quite fond of QotD - it's a mess, but it;'s an entertaining mess and the soundtrack is flawless. It has almost nothing to do with the books though, a shame, especially since QotD and many of its individual stories could be easily made into fascinating feature films. Let's hope they revive the series with a good effect.
ReplyDeleteI really loved the Soundtrack to QoD, I just thought the movie itself was insane. QoD was my favorite vampire chronicle, so I was so disappointed with the movie. It really had nothing to do with the book. I just wish they had split it into two different films (vampire lestat and Qod). I could have lived with Stuart Townsend, had it been a better adaption. "Interview" was brilliant and you're right-- it was a very faithful to the novel. I think in no small part b/c Rice herself wrote the screenplay.
DeleteInto The Storm looked like the copycat of Twister...and I question it being a found-footage movie when a lot of the helicopter shots look professionally made and not someone trying to document the weather events. Twister is hokey, but at least it had Michael Crichton's backing and support.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing! Twister part 2! ha, you hit on what the review said--that there were some "professionally" filmed scenes masquerading as found footage!
Deleteyou referenced "purple rain" in one sentence with "queen of the damned" both soundtracks were great... i think i have the score from the "queen" film... have to look. glorious post on a little everything... groot is happy or groot says it... i am groot. too bad on the into the storm, i was hoping for a "twister" type film...
ReplyDeleteHa, I know. I'm actually watching Purple Rain right now!!! It's on VH1 amazingly. The irony. That movie is so bad it's good and the soundtrack is pumping. I really liked the QoD soundtrack too! Korn had a few great songs on there.
DeleteMy wife and her parents are really looking forward to "Into the Storm" so that's disappointing. A practical Groot would have been amazing. The new release date could be good for the movie since it gives them a head start.
ReplyDeleteThat's true! You always look at the bright side! I will still watch 'Into the Storm' too! I'm waiting for Netflix though!
DeleteGreat post. Not only is DC running scared and reactionary, they are making lots of what appear to be bad decisions. The Superman v. Batman movie is shaping up to be a disaster. Speaking of disasters, weather movies never truly go out of style. We get a terrible one every few years. The key to their success is how big a spectacle they are. Crap like The Day After Tomorrow and more recently 2012 made good money because of their special fx. I hope the Vampire Chronicles gets a proper big screen treatment. You're right, it's a shame how it was handled the first time around. However, on that note, leave my Purple Rain alone!
ReplyDeleteHa, I love Purple Rain! I just watched it the other night! Yes, I'm continually disappointed by DC. I wish someone would shake things up over there. You're right about '2012' being a weather disaster movie. I didn't think about that one.
DeleteI loved Interview with the Vampire - the book and the movie!! And I LOVE that Game of Thrones blooper reel!
ReplyDeleteThe Vampire Chronicles is probably my absolutely favorite series. Yes, it was so nice to see the GoTs blooper reel. What a great cast.
DeleteAhah I love that pic of Lee Pace! Yeah he's massively underrated and under-utilized in Hollywood. Y'know, I like Cruise as The Vampire Lestat too, hmm maybe they should cast Pace as Lestat in the new adaptation! :)
ReplyDeleteHa, that's a great idea! Although I don't know if I can see Pace as a blonde. He looked a little weird as the elf king.
DeletePace has been a busy boy. I have read Rice's Vampire Chronicles up to Memnoch The Devil, and only watched Interview. I did enjoy what I read and the movie. Lestat is the key to getting it right from the start. I have seen the first episode of Flash when it leaked online a while back. If you like Arrow you should like Flash. (yes, I am a bad boy) My wife raised Goats for FFA in high school. She even had one she named Dave. This was way before we ever dated. I'll ask if Dave could play soccer.
ReplyDeleteInterview with the Vampire I rewatched last year and it holds up fine, I rated the movie 8/10. It's not perfect though, the story could do with bit more variation, does repeat itself a bit, going from one kill to the next, and from one fire to another. I hope the next Anne Rice adaptations are not just for the Twilight audiences.
ReplyDelete