Posts Tagged ‘Predators’

Short Take: Not without intrigue, but flawed in its invention

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Screenwriter: Eric Heisserer; John W. Campbell Jr. (Who Goes There? novella)

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Eric Christian Olseen, Ulrich Thomsen

Length: 1h 43m

Synopsis: The following story takes place shortly before the events of John Carpenter’s 1982 film of the same title. A great scientific discovery has just been made in the wastelands of Antarctica, and top experts of various kinds are being assembled to research and document it. Paleontologists Kate (Winstead) and Adam (Olseen) are recruited by the venture’s director Dr. Halvorson (Thomsen), but exactly what their tasks will be remains a mystery to them until they’re shown what their dealing with. What the inexplicably curious discovery turns out to be is the remains of a giant alien spacecraft and a frozen specimen suspended in ancient ice. That specimen, they regret to find, is not as inanimate as one would assume. Incredibly, there is still cellular activity, and each cell is capable of imitating any foreign cell it comes into contact with. Before long the abstraction is able to, after killing them, perfectly impersonate whole people. Kate, Adam, and the rest must determine which of their fellow researchers are things, and fight to make sure they don’t reach civilization to infect the rest of the world. With so dangerous and cunning a species, this is far easier said than done.

Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Decidedly loyal, but not afraid to break new ground

Director: Nimr0d Antal (debut)

Screenwriters: Alex Litvak, Michael Finch

Cast: Adrien Brody (Splice), Alice Braga (Repo Men), Topher Grace (Spider-Man 3), Lawrence Fishburne (TV’s C.S.I.), Danny Trejo (Grindhouse), Walton Goggins (TV’s Justified)

Length: 1h 46m

Synopsis: After mysteriously arriving on an alien planet that resembles the jungles of our own, 8 random people find themselves confused and paranoid, reluctant to trust one another but determined to find answers. Before long they realize that their purpose on this strange world is to be prey to an advanced alien species that finds the idea of hunting synonymous with sport. Not coincidentally, all 8 members of the abducted group are killers themselves in one way or another (mercenary, Spetsnaz, serial killer, R.U.F., etc.), and so they must rely on their predatory instincts to survive. The only question is, which predators will come out on top?

Warning: This review contains information that some might consider spoiling Read the rest of this entry »

With Robert Rodriguez’s Predators (a remake of 1987′s Predator) opening very soon (July 9th) we here at Movie-Thoughts thought it would be appropriate to bring up the topic of remakes and reboots. A looming remake besides Predators that has had the attention of the movie world is 2012′s reboot of the grossly successful Spider-Man franchise. Why is this?

Many fans on the blogosphere have expressed some downright odious sentiments about the idea of rebooting a movie franchise as successful as Spider-Man, especially so soon after the original trilogy was completed (Spider-Man 3 came out in the summer of 2007). In case you need to play catch-up on the topic, here is the full press release from Sony Pictures about the new Spidey project: Read the rest of this entry »

Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly's "Cyrus" has been one of the recent indie successes

According to Pamela McClintock of Variety.com the “specialty sector”, or independent film market, has received a recent boost in box-office grosses thanks to releases like Mark and Jay Duplass’ Cyrus starring Jonah Hill, John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, and Catherine Keener, a documentary that follows the raising of several children from all over the world titled Babies, as we as several others.

President of Fox Searchlight Steve Gilula says that the recent (relative) success of these independent films are indicative that there “is life in the [indie] market, even as audiences are being more selective.” Some other examples of these films include City Island, Exit Through the Gift Shop, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

These indie successes hope to continue their theatrical and VOD runs, because as with any film the longer the run the more money they make. However, with word of mouth being the primary propellant of their runs such success is almost completely reliant on audience buzz, which is means these films’ futures are harder to predict than most.

One aspect that’s being tentatively attributed to these films’ financial achievements is how there are fewer large-market films being released during the Spring and early Summer months. Also consider the recent Warner Bros. flop Jonah Hex, for example, and it can be said that independent films have had less competition than usual.

The momentum that the “specialty sector” is building right now will be important for the current releases in creating Oscar buzz come Fall and Winter, as well as help later indie releases like Bill Murray and Robert Duvall’s Get Low, which will open July 30th, to do the same by holding the attention of audiences who may become distracted by bigger films such as Inception, Predators, Twilight: Eclipse, Salt, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Tron.

Source: Variety

IGN.com visited the set of Predators, the Robert Rodriguez produced remake of 1987′s Predator, and got the chance to interview various persons tied to the project, from director Nimrod Antal to Gregory Nicotero of the KNB EFX Group who are responsible for bringing the classic and new Predator aliens to life.

Most of this Part 1 of the set visit talks about the aliens themselves and how they’re being realized on screen. The different kinds of Predator aliens are each given their own unique names, with the original being dubbed “classic” and a newer one, for example, being named Super Predator.

Nicotero had this to say about the new Super Predator:

“They are a lot taller and, as you can see, a lot leaner. Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod, when we first started the project, they used a really great analogy. [They] said the Classic Predator is a cassette tape and the new Predators are the iPod version. So that kind of triggered a lot of visual things in my head, in terms of making them taller, making them sleek and keeping the armor really close to the body so that they are not bulky, because we wanted to get the idea that they are fast and that they’re elegant and that they are efficient. Even in terms of the dreadlocks and stuff … [we wanted] that kind of Rasta look, but we swept all the dreadlocks back. We made the face a lot longer. We just wanted everything about them to look more elegant, like a black widow. We wanted it to just be really deadly looking.” – IGN

Here's a glimpse of the new Predator

Elaborating further, Nicotero explains how very on board he was with director Nimrod’s vision for the film – specifically regarding the special effects. Aside from when the aliens are camouflaged with an invisibility cloak, all of the Predators are realized using practical effects and not CGI. There are however Predator dogs that, with the way they were designed, had to be done using computer animation.

Read the full article to discover even more interesting details about the upcoming Predators, and keep an eye out for Part 2 of the set visit.

The Predator is coming back, and he wont be alone

IGN.com recently attended the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX where writer/director/producer Robert Rodriguez gathered a small audience to show teaser material for the upcoming July release Predators.

Directed by Nimrod Antal, who accompanied Rodriguez at the event, the teaser material included a first edition trailer and a couple clips from the film. Aside from the presentations, though, the two also discussed some fun facts about the project, which include:

• The first Predator will be referenced as sort of ghost story
• There will be no CGI Predators – all FX regarding them are practical
• 20^th Century Fox supports the violence being to the hilt, based on sales of unrated DVDs
• Rodriguez and Antal have plans to make more Predator movies if this one is successful

Also, the story behind how this new Predators project came to fruition is explained (it has apparently been about 15 years in the making). For those anticipating the film, we recommend taking a look at all of what IGN found out (don’t worry, there is nothing really spoilerish).

View the whole article here.

Also…

Danny Trejo in the original "Machete" trailer

Check out IGN’s quick preview of Machete, set to release late this year. Based on the fake trailer made for Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse, the film brings back all main actors from the trailer, which includes Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, and Jeff Fahey. Some other actors brought on board for the project include Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, and Don Johnson. It is directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis.

Star of the film Danny Trejo had this to say – “It is going to be awesome,” Trejo promises. “We duplicate scenes from the trailer in the movie. What that movie has is the three B’s, what I like to call the three B’s. And what that is is babes, bullets, and blood. And then it’s got machetes, too. The film takes off from the trailer and then it just gets so over the top. I think the movie really lives up to the trailer. I’m really, really proud of it.” – IGN.com

Read more here.

Venom

Screenwriter Gary Ross, whom is currently working on the script for Spider-Man 4 (set to begin production next year) has also been hired by Columbia Pictures to write the script for and possibly direct Venom, a spinoff from the Spider-Man franchise. Ross aims to make Venom an anti-hero, defending the innocent. Topher Grace, who just signed on to Robert Rodriguez’s Predators, is not expected to reprise his role as Venom from Spider-Man 3.

Related: Disney, who now owns the rights to Spider-Man and the rest of the Marvel universe, reportedly plans to make another Ghost Rider film, as well as Silver Surfer (a spinoff from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer).

Writer Jamie Vanderbilt is currently working for Columbia to write the 5th and 6th Spider-Man movies. Director Sam Raimi is so far not attached to them.

Sources: Variety, Hollywood Reporter

Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody has been signed on to star in Robert Rodriguez’ reinventing of Predator. Set to be directed by Nimrod Antal and produced by 20th Century Fox, Brody joins a cast that includes Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Walton Goggins, UFC fighter Oleg Taktarov, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, and Louiz Ozawa.

Brody’s role is supposed to be very similar to that of Schwarzenegger’s in the original film, which is why some have expressed shock at the casting.

Topher Grace is currently in negotiations to join Brody as a member of the cast.

Sources: Variety, Hollywood Reporter