It’s Friday morning once again, and so that means it’s time for the Weekly Weblinks. There’s a good chunk of variety in the blog posts, with some new reviews, some vintage reviews, and some previews. And the news section is almost bloated, with twice the usual tidbits.
So rather than having me natter on for a bit, let’s just get right to it! Continue reading
Late last night, The Dark Knight Rises was finally released to theatres. Now, maybe you’re just waking up after spending a night watching Batman battling Bane, or perhaps you’re still waiting for your chance to get down there (like me). Either way, I’ve got your dose of the Weekly Weblinks to tide you over today.
On the blogging side of things, you might expect there to be a fair amount of Batman posts — and you’d be right. But there are also some classic movie reviews and an homage to great movie openings. In the news, there’s yet more rumor-mongering about superhero cinema, as well as a perhaps-unexpected Pixar sequel. So read on to see what’s happening! Continue reading
It’s Friday morning (at least if I actually schedule this correctly this week!) and so it’s time once again for the Weekly Weblinks. Every week I select a handful of blog posts that I’ve enjoyed reading, and feature them here to spread the word and help build the community. This week’s selection of blog posts includes a couple reviews of newly-released movies, an in-depth look at Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematography, and more.
Also included are a few tidbits of news, which this week mostly consists of superhero movie rumors, as well as the latest from our favorite corporate nutcases at Hasbro, so read on! Continue reading
Six Marvel Comics superheroes, four of whom have had their own film franchises, come together in one great big action adventure movie. Hulk. Iron Man. Thor. Captain America. Black Widow. Hawkeye. Brought together by Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ever since the after-the-credits scene in Iron Man teased the idea, fans have been eagerly awaiting The Avengers, hoping it would live up to its potential.
It’s not an easy task. The film has to balance the different characters, making sure they play off well against each other, making sure each has plenty of screen time and “awesome moments”, and making sure it builds just enough on each characters’ own film franchise. It has to be exciting, it has to be inspiring, it has to be at least a little witty, and it has to have just a bit of emotional depth. It has to make the audience want to see more Avengers films, more films from the established character film franchises, and hopefully films with the characters who didn’t have franchises before. It has to do a lot.
It does it. Continue reading
As I mentioned earlier, I’m taking part in the Focused Filmographer’s Avengers Initiative project. Today, my article is finally up, and I’m taking a look at Loki and Hawkeye, their roles in Thor, and expectations of their roles in The Avengers.
With The Avengers coming out in theatres soon, Terrence Faulkner of The Focused Filmographer is running an Avengers Initiative blog-a-thon, featuring bloggers from various sites reviewing and discussing the movies that led up to the series: Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor. We’ll be looking at the roles different Avengers played in the films, how the films set up The Avengers, and what we expect from the characters in the film.
Fogs, of Fogs Movie Reviews leads us off with a look at Iron Man. Be sure to check it out. Also participating are Aidy of Aidy’s Reviews, Ruth and Ted S. of Flixchatter, Jaina from Time Well Spent, and Tajuana from TajGreeneMoviesInReview. You might recognize some of those names from the comments section here, but whether you know them from here, elsewhere, or not at all, be sure to check out their articles as they’re posted. I’m sure they’ll all be good reads. You can check out this page for the schedule of posts.
My own entry in the blog-a-thon will be going up Wednesday, May 2. I’ll be taking a look at the roles Loki and Hawkeye play in Thor, and how they’re set up for their parts in The Avengers. I hope you’ll head over there to see it when it goes up, and follow The Focused Filmographer for the entire blog-a-thon (and beyond! It’s a good site!) as we all get ourselves psyched up for The Avengers.
Modern Myth Media has a couple pieces of news about the upcoming sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger, tentatively titled Captain America 2. First, it now has an official release date, at April 4, 2014. This is a fairly early date in the blockbuster schedule (by comparison, the first one was released in late July). It’s hard to guess exactly what the thinking is there; it may be that they’re trying to position it to be the “first big blockbuster” of the year, or it may be that they don’t think it has the strength to fend off other contenders that will be in more traditional summer blockbuster slots. So that could be good news, could be bad. Continue reading
It’s just a few short hours until the year comes to an end, so — along with pretty much everybody else in the world of blogging — I thought I’d take a look back on the past year of entertainment and my blog. I’m picking my favorites and least favorites, but I’m not getting too fancy with any awards ceremonies or anything like that. You want that, check out Fogs’ Movie Reviews’ Major Awards. The man has put himself through some inhuman suffering to be able to review not just the best but also the worst of the year, and if someone sits through both Jack and Jill and Big Mommas, he deserves some reward for his pain.
Me, I’m just keeping it simple with this one post. A little talk about the blog, a little talk about movies and TV. Continue reading
The Thor sequel, which previously had Kenneth Branagh (the first film’s director) walk off due to scheduling conflicts, and then had Monster director Patty Jenkins attached, is once again lacking a director. Patty Jenkins has withdrawn from the project, reportedly due to “creative differences”, though she still wants to direct a superhero movie someday.
At this point, the project is starting to look like it’s not just director-less, but directionless. It’s supposed to land in theatres in November 2013, with filming to start this coming September. They’ve got time to get a director attached and get everything sorted out, but two changes in short order aren’t an encouraging sign.
The sequel to 2011′s Thor now has a director. Replacing Kenneth Branagh at the helm is Patty Jenkins, whose prior directing work includes the critically-acclaimed Monster. The film, with a simple working title of Thor 2 for now, has been re-scheduled from a summer release date to November 15, 2013.
On the one hand, Jenkins doesn’t have a lot of directorial experience, especially not in action films. But she wouldn’t be the first director to overcome that hurdle, and at least she has a respected film under her belt. I’m a little more curious about the schedule change; it might indicate that things aren’t going as swiftly as they had hoped. Still, it’s going to be in the early holiday season, which is as good a time for fantasy blockbusters as early summer.
