2009 June 21 « Entertainment Today and Beyond

HALLOWEEN 2 final POSTER

m_163_h2_1sht The Poster is good but will the movie be? Director Rob Zombie’s first stab at re-telling John Carpenter’s classic tale was a misfire. This was primarily because his film focused way too much on the Michael Myers character and not the story’s true heroine, Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton – who can’t hold a candle to Jamie Lee Curtis), but one can only hope he can correct his mistakes this time around. Since the horse is now way out of the barn, with him stripping most of Carpenter’s Halloween mythology, let’s see what he has to offer in this second outing. Zombie has fully admitted he is taking things in his own direction with this follow-up.

If his talent was as big as his ego I would really be looking forward to this. It’s Halloween in August as the film opens August 28.

June 21, 2009 Posted by Chuck | And Beyond - Trailers & News | HALLOWEEN 2 final POSTER | 3 Comments

ZOMBIELAND TRAILER

Sony has released its trailer to Zombieland, a horror comedy starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. Directed by first timer Ruben Fleisher the film mixes laughs with scares and certainly reminds me of Shaun of the Dead. There’s no doubt the horror comedy is one of the toughest tightropes to walk as the “too much comedy in a zombie flick” is never a good thing, at least in my opinion.

While I’m a fan of Shaun of the Dead, I would argue that the 1985 Dan O’Bannon directed Return of the Living Dead is even better. It’s one of my top five all time favorite Zombie movies and a perfect example of how to execute this premise to perfection. As for Zombieland, it looks pretty good and I look forward to seeing it. It always exciting to see a major studio finance a film in this genre as it guarantees that it not only has an ample budget but will be properly marketed. Look for it to hit theaters Oct 9, 2009. Take a LOOK

June 21, 2009 Posted by Chuck | And Beyond - Trailers & News | Abigail Breslin., Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Zombieland trailer | Leave a Comment

TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen extended clip – Boy doesn’t that remind you of GREMLINS. It sure did for me!

This new clip from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was released by Paramount this week; it’s a scene between Megan Fox and the Decepticon Wheelie. While I know director Michael Bay used a lot of humor in the first Transformers film, which I really enjoyed, this scene makes some of the stuff in the original film seem almost serious. After watching the clip three times I can’t help but think that Bay has watched Joe Dante’s 1984 Blockbuster hit Gremlins more than a few times as the tone of this very scene feels like Gremlins with robots instead of well, Gremlins.

In many ways Bay’s Transformers was structured like Dante’s film as it featured a young outsider (Shia LeBeauf basically playing the Zach Galligan part), who gets the hot girl (Megan Fox filling in for Phoebe Cates) and they wind up trying to survive an invasion from a force they have never encountered before. There’s even a Gizmo cameo in Bay’s first film. (you see his likeness on the side of a truck in the film’s last act) If you think about it, this was and still is a smart move on Bay’s part. Gremlins was a great genre film that worked beautifully for what it was trying to do – pure entertainment and audience involvement with adventure and humor guided by an appealing young couple. I fully understand that not everyone digs Bays work, but I must say I do! What do you think?

June 21, 2009 Posted by Chuck | And Beyond - Trailers & News | extended clip from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, new clip from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Leave a Comment