Movie News, Reviews, & Reactions 2012

[foproy]

it is something about seeing a "ninja turtle" with a war hammer and heavy armor that is just a bit off putting to me.

[Sletchman]

it is something about seeing a "ninja turtle" with a war hammer and heavy armor that is just a bit off putting to me.

Oh it's totally rediculous.  It means instead of this film just being "a terrible travesty" and "a total waste of 120 minutes and $10" it becomes "so utterly, utterly terrible that it's amazing".  Like The Room, but with Turtles.

[Crafty_Pat]

"so utterly, utterly terrible that it's amazing"

I can a phrase for that. I call it the "suck to cool loop." Whatever abomination you're witnessing sucks so hard it circles all the way back to awesome.

Sorta like the Slingshot Effect but with concepts and presentation instead of time travel.

[Crafty_Pat]

In today's WTF movie news...

Muscle & Fitness' newest cover model is... The Hulk! No, really.

Also, Sabrina the Teenage Witch is being re-envisioned for the theater... as a superhero.

I know what you're thinking. Let me sum it up for ya... The word you're looking for is O_o.

[glimmerrat]

So Michael Bay is making a Turtles movie.

He's changing them from mutants to aliens.

How many more of my childhood memories is he going to ruin?

[Crafty_Pat]

So Michael Bay is making a Turtles movie.

He's changing them from mutants to aliens.

How many more of my childhood memories is he going to ruin?

Six. No, seven. No...

(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

[Sletchman]

Please reading the following in a cheesy 90's commercial voice (think Brawndo):
Coming to the box office in 2013 - Michael Bay Presents: Glimmerrat's Extreme Family Vaction '88.  See how one families idyllic vacation is turned into a living nightmare!  Explosions!  Shots of the US Naval Fleet with no plot significance!  MORE EXPLOSIONS!!!

Because he intends on being downright thorough...

[MilitiaJim]

You forgot the slow motion shot of the babe running from the explosion behind her.

(Can we get Christina Hendricks to play Glimmer's wife?  I know she doesn't look as good as his lady, but we have to try.)

[glimmerrat]

(Can we get Christina Hendricks to play Glimmer's wife?  I know she doesn't look as good as his lady, but we have to try.)

I wouldn't kick her out of bed for farting... incidentally Jim, you've been added to Friday's 'do not kill' list.

[Crafty_Pat]

incidentally Jim, you've been added to Friday's 'do not kill' list.

Ah, Glim's version of my "Hero of the Day" thing. Nice to see it make a return.

[foproy]

You forgot the slow motion shot of the babe running from the explosion behind her.

(Can we get Christina Hendricks to play Glimmer's wife?  I know she doesn't look as good as his lady, but we have to try.)

he would probably use some cant act ditz based completly on her looks and exploit those every chance he gets without actually showing anything.

[Crafty_Pat]

A part of me doesn't really get all the hype on The Avengers. Does Marvel honestly believe there's a chance in hell that it won't have a top-ten-in-history opening weekend? Why do they feel this constant drizzle of clips and photos and hoo-hah is needed? The movie sells itself simply by virtue of bringing together (in an unprecedented way) actors and characters from four or five other films people already love. Who's *not* wanting to see this movie already, just to watch those actors/characters be cool some more?

If there was some kind of viral campaign, I could almost understand it. That kind of thing is semi-interactive, and builds the film into a broader experience. But this isn't that. It's just "new Avengers clip released!" "Japanese Trailer!" and on and on. It's starting to feel a little desperate, actually, and that creates more trepidation in me about the film than it does excitement.

I think you dramatically underestimate how much noise is required to get the signal across to your average audience member. We here on this forum are among the most plugged-in and best-informed out there about this particular movie. The millions of folks who don't regularly frequent geek-related boards and aren't already familiar with the source material? They're legion, and they're just as important to this movie's bottom line.

Yes, Marvel benefits from several previous moves' worth of good will, but in an age of fleeting attention spans and ever bolder competing messages it becomes critical to maintain messages as long as possible leading up to a major release like this.

Personally, I think they're doing a fantastic job with the Avengers. Your average consumer is seeing periodic reminders that it's coming - less than we do here, of course, which is as it should be, and just enough to keep it in the backs of their brains until the relentless multimedia push begins (in about 1-2 weeks, I'd wager).

Well, early reports are that Marvel doesn't have to worry about the opening weekend. The main issue appears to be theater owners giving the flick a shot (there's still a general reticence due to John Carter's lackluster showing).

In related news, the campaign today released what's probably the most awesome shot I've seen from the flick to date...

(click to show/hide)

The same source page has a stack of B Reel footage that I'm not gonna watch until after I've seen the movie. You may want to indulge, however.

[Crafty_Pat]

Apparently yesterday was a good day for movie news...

Looper trailer: The WonderCon panel for this was impressive. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Prometheus diagrams and blueprints

Sin City 2's finally going into production: Hopefully they've leaned that movies are a different medium with different needs than comics. I'm not holding my breath, though.

[Agent 333]

(click to show/hide)

Pat, the pic is broken...

[Crafty_Pat]

You can still find the pic on the source page, which is linked above but I'll repeat it here as well.