It's nearing December, and you know what that means? Another Hobbit film. These along with the Lord of the Rings series have become almost staples to the Holiday season. Last year, we overall enjoyed the first installment of the Hobbit series, even if it felt a tad long and more set up than actual story. My cohort was able to check it out in the sweet 48 fps, and based on talking to him, I will not be missing out on the 48 fps this time around.
While THE UNEXPECTED JOURNEY felt like a lot of set up, THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG will be the meat of the book. It already looks more action packed and seems to have some better character development than the first film. Also, how can you not love all the scenery Cumberbatch will chew up and sit out as the voice of Smaug!?
I still stand by that THE HOBBIT should have been two movies and not three. There's enough in the book to create two tight, action packed films, but three films feels a little excessive. The first one, which made a pretty penny this past winter, was fun thanks to Martin Freeman's performance as Bilbo, but overall felt a little dull.
Now we have our first look at the second installment which will be out this winter, THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG. With the first being more about getting on the road, the second seems to focus more on action, which will be very much welcomed. We also get our first look at Evangeline Lilly kicking some ass.
Poster is courtesy of Trekmovie.com who figured out the cool hidden bitl.ly links that lead to the new posters.
We can finally see the light of summer season heading toward us. Let's get out of this pretty dull season of films shall we? With every newtrailer get and with every bit of plot info we (don't) get, STAR TREK INTO THE DARKNESS is easily the most anticipated film for the summer, and thankfully we're just two short months away.
There's a new international trailer that was dropped today which has scores of new footage. Thanks to Empire for posting this original trailer.
Next trailer for you to enjoy. This film is one of the most anticipated of the summer, and thankfully we are just a few short months away. J.J. Abrams is great about keeping mystery around whatever film he directs, and INTO THE DARKNESS is no different. The mystery surrounds Benedict Cumberbatch's villainous character. This spot doesn't shed much more light on the evil John Harrison, but it has definitely sparked my interest.
STAR TREK INTO THE DARKNESS will be released May 17, 2013 directed by JJ Abrams and stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
With this latest trailer, the lead-up to STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS will be filled with even more of the most annoying articles debating a single character's identity. Regardless, this is a J.J. Abrams movie, and I want to see it sooner than later. This film definitely seems to be more serious, which is fine for what I imagine to be the second entry in a trilogy. Check out the great trailer below which comes from Apple via First Showing .
When J.J. Abrams STAR TREK came out in 2009, I made a, what I thought was, smart bet with my cohort about which film would make more at the box office opening weekend. I picked STAR TREK. He picked TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. Needless to say that even though I picked the better film, I got my butt whipped and owed him two movies.
STAR TREK went on to be a surprise hit for me. Every once in a while a film will do this. I go in with next to no expectations, and I leave being completely shocked at how much I enjoyed the film. It became my go to lazy Sunday movie. I have been anxiously waiting for the sequel once I knew all the major players, including director J.J. Abrams, would be back.
Here's the official synopsis:
In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness. When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
We don't have a full length trailer yet, that will be released next week. And if you're lucky enough to check out THE HOBBIT in IMAX, you will be treated to a nine minute preview of the INTO THE DARKNESS. But for now, feast your eyes on the jam-packed teaser.
STAR TREK was a definite surprise when it came out a couple years ago. I think expectations were that it would be good, but no one could have really predicted how fun and actually great it ended up being. Now we're still a little less than a year away from the sequel, and this film is filled with even more speculation than the first one.
As we reported back in January, WDYMS sweetheart, Benedict Cumberbatch had landed the role of the main villain of the sequel. Ever since that announcement, there's just been rumor after rumor about which villain he would be. Badass Digest first broke that one of the more infamous bad guys in the Star Trek series, Khan, would not be the villain. Instead, their secret source stated this film would focus more on a "classic" Trek character:
It’s definitely a character that will make fans of TOS excited. Think along the lines of Harry Mudd or Trelane or Gary Mitchell or the Talosians or the Horta. Actually it’s one of those that I named.
Then, this interesting info came out today. Karl Urban, who plays Bones in the film, was giving an interview to SFX about his upcoming film, DREDD, and may have let Cumberbatch's identity out of the bag when talking about working with him on the movie:
He’s awesome, he’s a great addition, and I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary.
Whoops! So if Urban is correct, then Mitchell is an acquaintance of Kirk from the original TV series. Mitchell ends up getting telepathic and telekinetic god-like powers, and in the end, he ends up battling Kirk in a showdown, like you do.
So, did Urban actually let it slip a key bit of information about the sequel? Or is he just being a troll? Good thing we have until next May to speculate!
STAR TREK 2 will be released May 17, 2013 starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Javi here. The WDYMS duo is a big fan of Benedict Cumberbatch; both for his awesome name, and the fact that he is a damn good actor. For those that don't know him, and there are plenty of you, he has played Sherlock Holmes in the Steven Moffat BBC version of SHERLOCK along with new hobbit, Martin Freeman. He has had roles in TINKER TAYLOR SOLDIER SPY and WAR HORSE most recently this year, and he was both Dr. Frankenstein and his monster in Danny Boyle's stage production of FRANKENSTEIN.
Now Variety reports that he will be playing the villain role in J.J. Abrams up coming STAR TREK sequel. Very much like every other Abrams movie, there is very little that's actually known about the movie except that he is actually shooting the movie and it will come out supposedly on May 13, 2013. This is exciting news as this is an actor much like Michael Fassbender and Tom Hiddleston that deserves more exposure. We'll keep you up to date when more information becomes available.
UPDATE (7/9/12) Jonesy has now posted more information about what Cumberbatch's role might be. Go here for the new article. Tweet
Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston, David Thewlis, and Benedict Cumberbatch
Synopsis: A horse is sold to the calvary during The Great War, and his young owner joins the war to find him and bring him home.
Javi: So Spielberg is a director I admire for being able to put on many hats rather seamlessly and still create a satisfying product. In a year where he has released a "back to form" action/adventure movie with THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN, we have a completely different project in the form of WAR HORSE. This movie has the problem of being a pretty big Oscar-bait in a lot of ways. You have the obligatory British actors, the World War setting, in this case the first one, and you had lots of dramatic tension in the form of a boy and his horse trying to reunite. So yes, this is one Daniel Day Lewis away from basically begging for those little golden fellas. But is it a good movie? The answer is yes.
Paint me a little biased, but as someone who has great affection for animals, this movie hit me in a spot that no human story could. There was just something about a person and the bond that they create with animal that is much more special than anything short of true love. When you've got a bond with an animal, you understand them without having to say anything to them. The fact that this movie deals with lots of people creating bonds with the one particularly awesome horse makes the movie all that more touching to me.
The cinematography and the landscapes were a big highlight for me as Spielberg decided to go to Scotland to properly recreate the setting of wartime Europe. You go from a farm all the way to the trenches for a climactic scene, and it all looks amazing and authentic. A personal highlight was seeing some of the "bigger" actors playing random characters drifting in and out of the story such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston.
But the real show here is seeing Jeremy Irvine's Albert and his relationship with Super-Horse, Joey. I'm not going to lie when I say that it's a really cheesy friendship. Albert sees Joey being born, and then he develops some crazy obsession with the horse. But man, you wouldn't doubt that by the time the horse is sold off to an army general, that Albert/Joey's friendship wasn't completely rock solid.
The big part where the movie lost me a bit was in its rather episodic format, and when you see the movie you'll know what I mean. Eventually, everything in each "episode" leads to the climax of the movie, but I couldn't help but feel a bit of a disconnect while watching the movie.
Don't let this completely turn you off as the movie itself is a grand testament to friendship and looks at the war from the point of view of yes a horse who for all senses and purposes has no political affiliation. There are good and bad people on both sides and in that regard, I found the movie elevate itself away from the boring Oscar bait non-sense. Ultimately, its message is one of love and understanding that can carry forward even through the War To End All Wars.
Jonesy: I'm so glad Speilberg is back to his old self. The last time we saw him, we were subjected to nuking the fridge in Indiana Jones 4. WAR HORSE takes him back to a subject he knows so well and has perfected through the years: war and relationships. However, we weave in and out of different parts of Europe during The Great War as we follow an innocent horse, Joey, as he tries to survive.
We're introduced to Joey through the eyes of his owner, Albert (Irvine). Joey isn't the best horse around, but Albert sees the potential and the spirit in him, and the duo develop a strong bond. Now I've never had an animal myself, but I've witnessed friends with their animals, and like my cohort mentioned, there's an intangible connect that a human and animal can develop. So, depending on how much you buy into Albert and Joey's bond, determines how powerful the movie is. For me, I completely was on board, thus had a powerful catharsis during the final act.
Since the movie follows Joey through the war, the plot is very episodic. Throughout each adventure, Joey finds someone to connect with, then through different circumstances, he's moved to the next person/place. There's not much time spent with any of the characters, even Albert disappears for the better part of the middle section, so it's difficult to get attached to most of the characters. Thus, Joey becomes our constant, and it's a difficult task to buy into an animal character unless it is animated or has a constant human companion. Spielberg was able to make Joey into an actual character where we could understand his feelings and emotions. (And with no Andy Serkis' Ceasar performance required). It's a risky move that paid off in my eyes.
Another strength is the absolute breathtaking scenery captured during the film. The movie takes us from sprawling French landscapes to the dirty trenches of the front lines. The whole sequence at the front lines was masterful, and now Spielberg, having mastered most of WWII, has mastered WWI.
The movie will be a crowd pleaser. Many may write off the movie as boring and schmaltzy; however, the real heart of the film explores the relationship between Albert and Joey and the lengths Albert would go to protect his best friend, and if you see this and it doesn't touch at least one heart string, I might worry about you.
We were lucky enough that after we watched this movie, Spielberg was featured in a live streaming Q&A session with was provided by MSN. Fans from around the world in over 120 countries/territories submitted questions through a live-chat function. Check out the full interview:
