El Rey is an awesome channel. They show badass flicks like The Terminator, Big Trouble In Little China, Showdown In Little Tokyo, Red Sonja and many more in beautiful widescreen and digitally cleaned up. If you like horror movies, they've got you covered. Kung-fu flicks? Of course. And Miami Vice reruns are in regular rotation. One of their signature original programs is The Director's Chair where owner and host Robert Rodriguez sits down with other filmmakers to discuss their craft.
Cinematic icons and alumni include John Carpenter, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Zemeckis and George Miller. During their Labor Day marathon of Rocky flicks, clips of an upcoming episode featuring Sylvester Stallone were placed throughout and now you can watch it for free! It's an intimate setting with just the host and guest speaking about careers, inspirations, methods and influence. For Stallone, the program stuck mainly to the basics of Rocky, Rambo and The Expendables with no mention of hit sequel to Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive. Since writing and starring in the Oscar winning and box office breaking Rocky, Stallone has never quite been given his due credit. One of the earliest franchises to grace cinema screens, it's easy to forget that Rocky truly was a million to one shot as Stallone wouldn't sell the script if he wasn't starring. When you think of film directors; a paunchy, nebbish, less than physical specimen wouldn't be a stereotype. But when you think that Stallone wrote and directed crowd pleasers with heart and action like Rocky III, IV, Rambo and The Expendables with a given scene requiring 9 cameras, complicated choreography and getting punched in the head while being in peak physical condition, it's a shame and a double standard that he isn't given more credit. Even after number one movies in five decades, the only actor with three franchises, boatloads of money and worldwide fame, the guy still manages to inspire. Check out the episode in its entirety below or over at El Rey and find out what all the fighting and fuss is about.
The Director's Chair: Sylvester Stallone - Full Episode
By order of Robert Rodriguez we're making the next episode of The Director's Chair, featuring Sylvester Stallone, available for FREE! Watch the entire episode right here, right now!
Posted by El Rey Network on Tuesday, November 10, 2015
While the era of big screen high kicking and martial arts
ended in the 90’s with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal going straight
to video, director Isaac Florentine and athletic star Scott Adkins have been keeping
the genre alive. After well received efforts like the Undisputed sequels and Ninja
series, Florentine and Adkins are back with Close
Range, a low budget action fest bound to please hardcore fans. A modern day
spaghetti western, the Chad Law and Shane Dax Taylor scripted flick finds the bearded and
mean mugging Adkins as Colton MacReady, an AWOL soldier who rescues his
kidnapped niece from a powerful Mexican cartel. MacReady accidentally comes
into possession of a flash drive containing sensitive material and becomes the
target of a well-armed hit squad complete with freeze frame introductions for guys who will get real dead, real soon.
After an office set opening sequence that
sees Adkins dispatch of multiple goons via kicks, knees, joint locks and
multiple stab wounds; the action shifts to a secluded farm house. The setting
highlights the low budget while showcasing bounds of fist, feet, blade and
bullet infused mayhem. There’s plenty of impressive stunts like jumping on and
over a moving car and running up a wall while a truck crashes into it. The
fights have evolved from Undisputed’s
overlong kickboxing style matches into Mixed Martial Arts infused scraps with
chokes, throws and acrobatic grace. It’s all impressively choreographed but
looks incredibly staged, hearkening back to Floretine’s overly hyper work on the
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
franchise. But with so much Boom Boom Boom but not much heart, it's hard to stay overly invested. Adkins has displayed more physical chops if not the charisma of his idol
Jean-Claude Van Damme but does well enough looking tough and grunting dialog in
between fight scenes. In true 90’s throwback fashion there’s a nonsensical
shirtless scene to show off Adkins’ time in the gym. Familiar faces Nick
Chinlund (Con Air) and Jake La Botz (Rambo) lend credibility to the barely
there story as we wait to be pummeled by the next action overload. Get punched in the face and stabbed in the nuts December 4th when Close Range hits theaters and VOD.
Woke up this morning to news that kickboxer and mixed martial artist Mirko Filipovic has pulled out of his co-headlining match against Anthony Hamilton at UFC Fight Night 79 in Seoul, South Korea. A shoulder injury on top of a career of them and ensuing operations seems to be the culprit. The former Croatian anti-terrorist commando and Parliament Member has long been one of my favorite fighters with his mix of stoicism, sense of humor, physique and a sprawl and brawl style that left many an opponent dazed on the canvas. Born in Vinkovci, Mirko found inspiration from the likes of Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme and worked out in his family's barn doing chin ups, kicking walls and fashioning weights from scraps of metal and concrete. Joining the Army at 19, Mirko took up boxing and amassed an amateur record of 40-5.
Turning professional in 1996 at age 22, Filipovic joined Japan's K-1 kickboxing league where he defeated seasoned veteran Jerome Le Banner in his first fight. From there the Croatian sensation fought the sports biggest names like Ray Sefo, Bob Sapp, Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, Mark Hunt, Mike Bernardo and Andy Hug. He would place Runner Up in the Grand Prix twice before transitioning to emerging MMA and joining Pride, Japan's premiere organization and rival to the growing UFC. There Cro Cop thrilled fans with his powerful punching combinations and destructive head kicks. Pride provided a theatrical experience with lavish opening ceremonies and blaring entrance music. Cro Cop became synonymous with walk out song Wild Boys by Duran Duran as well as his trademark spandex shorts adorned with a Croatian flag. Mirko faced the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Kazushi Sakuraba, Heath Herring, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko but seemed to come up short in his most important bouts. In 2006, Filipovic won the Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix tournament while contemplating retirement. Instead, he took a big payday and headed to the UFC. Cro Cop would struggle in the octagon and suffer a shocking loss to Gabriel Gonzaga before heading back to Japan to join upstart promotion Dream. While Mirko suffered many disappointing losses in the UFC and never got the title shot many were expecting, he showed glimpses of what made so many people fans with an entertainingly gutsy performance against Pat Barry (axe kick!) and avenged his loss to Gonzaga this past April (elbow to the dome!). Many of Cro Cop's bouts were competitive so the issue seemed to be desire versus skill. Rarely leaving his back yard to train and be separated from his family, one wonders how Cro Cop would have benefited by not doing things his way and training at one of the prominent camps in the US or Europe.
It appeared that Cro Cop might be able to make another go at the UFC, his various stints of retirement and time off seemed to heal injuries while the fire to train and compete still burned. But at 41 years of age with 80 some fights in under 20 years, the damage has taken it's toll. After 9 operations on his knee, nose, elbow, etc, his latest shoulder injury seems to have reminded him that he's still got a long life to live outside the fight game. It's a shame we won't get to see Mirko compete one more time, especially in front of large contingent of Asian fans but he's already provided us with a career full of highlights and inspiration. After living such a varied and fascinating life already, I'm interested to see what Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic does next. Until then, keep kicking.
Thanks to our free trial of Showtime, I've been able to watch some cool flicks like Last Vegas, Judge Dredd, Starring Adam West, The Death of Superman Lives and Prophet's Prey. Over the weekend, new western from Denmark The Salvation premiered and was a fitting end to my days of horses, dusters and guns that started with Dolph Lundgren's Missionary Man and continued with Amazon's new pilot Edge. The angular and weirdcool Mikkelsen has been on my radar since 2004's underrated men on a mission flick, King Arthur. That opened me up to his excellent work in the likes ofdrug dealing drama Pusher, cannibal black comedy The Green Butchers, life affecting melodrama After the Wedding, WWII action drama Flame and Citron and supernatural thriller The Door among others. He made a splash stateside as the villain in 2006's Casino Royale before popping up in Clash of the Titans and cult show Hannibal while earning raves in the excellent drama The Hunt. In The Salvation, Kristian Levring directs from a script from himself and Anders Thomas Jensen. Set in the 1870's, Jon (Mikkelsen) and brother Peter (Mikael Persbrandt) are two brothers who fought a losing war in Denmark then came to America for a new start. It's been 7 years since Jon had to leave his wife and kid as the film opens with them arriving at the train station. But their coach ride back to town carries a couple of fresh out of prison brutes and after a tense standoff, Jon is tossed from the wagon. His wife and son are killed but he shoots those mofos dead in return. Immediately this wasn't going to be some quasi arthouse update of Death Wish where a regular guy is pushed to the brink and reacts. We get Mads pushed into a corner he can't get out of without risking harm to his wife and son even though he almost gets the drop on the two former convicts. If this were a Dolph flick, he would have shot those sumbitches without warning.
Only problem is, convict's big bad brother Henry Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) runs the town Jon lives outside of and squeezes the locals into giving him up. After escaping Delarue's clutches, Jon uncovers a land grabbing scheme and must bring justice to the scared people who have seen their wives, husbands and relatives all mercilessly killed. Royale co-star Eva Green shows up as Madelaine, mute wife to the deceased Delarue who may or may not be an ally. Shot in South Africa, The Salvation is a beautiful film that takes full advantage of the dusty desert with vibrant cinematography and good use of the day and night visuals. Mikkelsen always excels at playing the upright and pure force versus the physical tough guy nature of Dolph or Max Martini. Here he plays a man capable of violence but it's not his chosen response until totally necessary. Morgan gets to play suave yet cruel while Green brings her usual mean-hot style to the table and gets to take care of business by the end. The violence is straight forward with people getting shot and beat in a non-sensationalist style but with plenty of blood and pain on display. An excellent flick and a fascinating take on the genre. At a quick 92 minutes, the film really kept things moving yet didn't feel rushed. There's so much detail and nuance in the characters, costumes and settings that a second viewing may be required on another sleepy Sunday afternoon.
Stumbled across a random Facebook post showing off a violent clip from a new Amazon pilot, Edge. It caught my eye for many reasons; it was a western, it was really violent, it starred Max Martini (Pacific Rim & Sabotage) and directed by Shane Black. With those ingredients, how could you go wrong? Apparently it's Pilot season on Amazon where they produce a handful then viewers rate/vote/review to help them decide which series to move forward with. Based on a series of novels by George G. Gilman, Edge opens up with the murder of Jamie Hedges (Nate Warren), brother to thought dead Union solider Josiah Hedges aka Edge. Big Brother shows up to town, under the harsh rule of Big Bill (William Sadler). His son Little Bill served with Edge along with former comrade turned baddie Harknett (Ryan Kwanten). Edge gets hired on to help shepard the town, learning who's in control while meeting the locals like trophy wife Pilar (Alicja Bachleda) and Pinkerton detective masquerading as a working girl Beth (Yvonne Strahovski).
By the end of the 60 minute pilot, Edge has wasted plenty of fools with a straight razor, six shooter and a gattling gun. The violence is amped up and earns it's MA rating. Lots of blood, dismemberment, head shots, brutal beatings and a branch through the abdomen. The final shootout gets a bit over the top with Edge running across roofs and awnings, flying through the air and blasting every baddie in sight. Along with blood you also get Martini's muscular butt shot and some breasts so all bases are covered. Written by Black and former partner Fred Dekker, the show switches between hardcore violence and funny quips about dogs, sex and whatnot. Martini looks near unrecognizable with a mess of hair covering up his face and grumbles out his dialog but it's good to see the likable supporting player in the lead. Production value is high end with a great looking western town, huge natural vistas, dusty and crusty attire along with a couple of explosions. The episode's epilogue sets up the series as baddie Harknett is a sadist and a racist on the hunt for a fortune, ensuring his paths will cross with Edge once again. With no interest in any other Amazon show besides Ron Perlman's vigilante drama Hand of God, here's hoping we get more Edge.
It was a nice and relaxing weekend where I caught up on some cleaning, reading and of course, movies. After talking about Dolph Lundgren emulating Clint Eastwood earlier this week, it was time for some Dolph directing with his Pale Rider and High Plains Drifter quasi remake Missionary Man from 2007. After falling into directing with 2004's The Defender when Sidney Furie fell ill and the big Swede had to fill in, Dolph would go the Eastwood route for several more films with 2005's The Russian Specialist being a highlight. For Missionary Man, Lundgren stars, directs and co-wrote the script for the low budget, modern day western. Set in a small town in Texas, Ryder (Lundgren) shows up on an iron horse aka a motorcycle and heads to the bar where he downs tequila, straight up; no salt, no lime, like water then beats the shit out of a pack of thugs outside who are beating up a junkie native who owes some money. You see local big dog John Reno (Matthew Tompkins) has his eyes set on building a casino on nearby native tribal people's land and he's gonna get it whether they like it or not. But now the peaceful locals and shit swallowing Sheriffs have some back up with Dolph around and start standing up for themselves. Of course Reno wants Ryder on his side but the violent man of faith is already on Team Jesus. Reno calls in some back up muscle and biker boys lead by Jarfe (John Enos III) show up who may or may not know who Ryder is.
Shot with a rumored $2 million budget in Waxahachie, Texas for prolific actor turned producer Andrew Stevens, Missionary Man holds up as an excellent piece of DTV action for Lundgren. You get him playing a mysterious badass who visits to pay respects to a dead friend from the military and ends up saving the small town. There's fist fights, shootouts, explosions and shotgun blasts to the face galore all done in a slightly overwrought, nearly black and white style. Some of the editing is choppy as you don't really see some of the hand to hand moves and Dolph could have cooled with the slow motion. The film pays homage or cribs from Pale Rider, High Plains Drifter and Billy Jack among other flicks with story bits and dialog. Dolph is still a towering presence here as he breaks faces with fists and knees then wastes fools with a sawed off shotgun. You even get some fact based drama out of the local tribes people struggling with the asshole white folk/gangsters and as they adopt Dolph into the clan. At a brisk 93 minutes, it's hard to get bored and you get some decent sized set pieces like a night time shootout and an ending where Dolph takes out a dozen thugs one at a time in the streets and alleys with ropes, guns and fisticuffs. Friend and frequent co-star James Chalke shows up as the Sheriff and UFC fighter Brad Imes appears as a thug who has a change of heart after getting his nose busted by Dolph.
Missionary Man would continue an uptick in quality for Dolph after a string of low budget, barely cobbled together efforts like Jill Rips, Agent Red, Storm Catcher and Retrograde. Taking more control of his career creatively, higher profile fare like Universal Soldier: Regeneration, The Killing Machine and Command Performance followed before getting the call from buddy Stallone for big screen return hit, The Expendables.
James Blah. Spect-meh. Bland, James Bland. This is what my mind was doing watching new James Bond outing Spectre last night, trying to think of semi-clever puns that would describe the movie. I didn't not like it but I did check my watch, my knees got tired from sitting and I was glad it was over. Of course I wasn't a fan of mega hit Skyfall either with it's dour mood and stripped down version of Bond that could have easily been billed as "English Spy Drama" instead of a James Bond picture. I'm no Bond expert but I've seen enough of them to form an expectation of a smooth yet rugged, macho hero, exotic locales, nefarious villains, cool gadgets and beautiful women. Daniel Craig's first outing as Bond in 2006's Casino Royale was a kinetic, fun and gritty outing that got a little too big between the airport scene and the falling houses finale but overall I enjoyed watching it, wanted to dress a little better, conduct myself with a little more panache and work out harder. Follow up Quantum of Solace was a short and frenetic chapter that could be deemed the Jason Bourne one with it's emphasis on unstoppable Terminator style action and hyper editing. But Skyfall with it's bad CGI, drawn out story that concluded with a Home Alone meets Batman Begins piece just lost me. It made a billion bucks but I didn't want to be Bond anymore, I wasn't inspired by this fictional cinematic hero any longer.
Spectre opens up in Mexico City where Bond is tracking a mysterious fellow, causes all kinds of destruction and the ultimate death of said fellow. Back at Mi6, new boss M (Ralph Fiennes) puts the kibosh on further unsanctioned missions and Bond has to go underground to do some revenging. We're introduced to a shadowy network of baddies and a brute of a hitman with metal thumb nails before meeting the lovely daughter of a former associate. Together they go on the run to uncover the roots of this shadowy, all seeing organization that is using personal data to basically watch over society and remove threats as they deem appropriate. John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth tackle Ian Fleming's creation with Sam Mendes back at the helm. Like Skyfall, the film takes it's time going nowhere in particular while providing the odd set piece involving chases with cars and planes in the city, on snow capped mountains and the high desert. There's a few hand to hand fight scenes with one on a train against hitman Hinx (Dave Bautista) being a highlight. But overall I just don't understand why Mendes and crew have something against making a fun or exciting film. The scale is huge, the stunts enormous and the settings spectacular yet it all unfolds in such a ho-hum fashion. I hope Chris Nolan got a thank you note now that Royale, Skyfall and Spectre have all cribbed from his Dark Knight Batman trilogy. *Minor Spoilers* In Spectre you get the overwatching network we already saw in The Dark Knight and later Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers 2. As well as a scene where Bond has to decide on who to save before things go blowed up. Also reminiscent of Knight.*End Spoilers*
Like I said, I didn't not enjoy the film, you are invested in following Bond on the trail of who the new villain is and their connection. Now that all of the character's backstories are intertwined, I thought for a second it would go Oldboy and make young love interest Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) his relative just to mess with him and us. But it didn't. I can't believe that Casino Royale was nearly 10 years ago and much was made about Craig's pumped up physique on display. Shirtless scenes followed in Quantum and he spends much of Skyfall sans top attire but in Spectre he stays covered up. Is that another sign that Craig has lost interest in the character and didn't train as hard for this one? You tell me. The star has always been a bit cranky when it comes to press but for Bond he really came off not giving a crap. You can't blame him though, the film took years to develop and shoot, cost an alleged $330 million bucks and he seriously injured his knee. Coming off such a gigantic project, it's safe to say he needs a break. Mendes has already commented that he's done with the franchise so hopefully they bring back Martin Campbell who breathed new life into the series with Goldeneye and Royale.
I've been a Charlie Bronson fan since first seeing The Magnificent Seven in college. I've been a Dolph supporter since seeing the Big Swede in Masters of the Universe as a five year old. How I never put it together that they share the same birthday is beyond me! Bronson passed away in 2003 after living a full life at the age of 81. His final credits were on television in the Family of Cops series after milking out millions from schlock masters Cannon Films in the 80's. Of course, Bronson is far from forgotten as The Magnificent Seven lives on; we just attended a convention based around it and the TV show it produced and a high profile remake is on the way. Bronson was a major topic in recently released Cannon documentary Electric Boogaloo where interview subjects mention that every script was considered for the two Chucks, Bronson and Norris, before anyone else. Later this month, The New Beverly will be playing The Dirty Dozen, where Bronson solidified his quiet, macho screen presence opposite Lee Marvin, Clint Walker, John Cassavetes and Jim Brown among many others. Theater owner Quentin Tarantino has long been a fan, going back to Reservoir Dogs when his character references Bronson in The Great Escape.
While Bronson was an iconic screen presence due to his granite face, chiseled physique and loner persona, Dolph was always a little more like 70's icon Clint Eastwood. Quiet, steel eyed, sparse and prone to gun violence. Following 2014's release of The Expendables III, Dolph Lundgren has kept extremely busy with passion project Skin Trade premiering around the world and in Hollywood along with flicks 4Got10, War Pigs and Shark Lake. He was scheduled to attend Masters of the Universe night but was sadly shooting another project. The internet went a little crazy when they found out Dolph was working on Kindergarten Cop 2, sequel to Arnold's 1991 comedy with kids classic. He'll also be popping up in Hail, Caesar! The new Hollywood backstory comedy starring George Clooney, Channing Tatum, Josh Brolin and a mess of other talented folk. If that weren't enough, he participated in the 3,000 mile Gumball 3000 rally in Europe and gave an emotional TedX Talk in Santa Monica. Lundgren was currently shooting Larceny, an action flick about a thief enlisted to break into a Mexican prison. The American Film Market is in full effect and Dolph's name is being used to raise finances on Don't Kill It, a supernatural thriller that would pit demon hunter Lundgren versus an ancient demon in remote Alaska. Happy birthday, bros, keep kicking ass.
Live-Evil is a little horror comedy flick written and produced by Ari Kirschenbaum. I came into contact with the project after meeting Vladimir Kulich at the Pound of Flesh premiere back in May. We had coffee to do an interview and since then I'm proud to call the big guy from Czechoslovakia a friend. He starred as Sheriff Pete in the indie flick which is now playing at film festivals and conventions, mainly on the east coast. After picking up awards at the North Carolina Film Festival and Scare-A-Con, I figured it was time to get Live-Evil some west coast love. Since it's set at Halloween, Comikaze Expo seemed as good as any place to hold an exclusive screening. It would also be my first convention panel after producing and hosting a half dozen other nights through my Dammaged Goods Presents banner. Kirschenbaum was joined by cast members Kulich, Charlene Amoia, Vincent M. Ward, J. Richey Nash, Carter, Ed Ricker, Frank Saverino and Adam Flores.
Set on Halloween night in a sleepy college town, we meet Deputy Hancock (Amoia) as she takes out a wounded piece of almost roadkill. Things get weird when she investigates a mysterious call from a house in town where she finds dead bodies and a seemingly possessed naked woman. Back at the station isn't any quieter as a random traffic stop has netted Sheriff Pete (Kulich) custody of two of America's most wanted, Mr. Eleven (Ricker) and Twelve (Carter) with a trunk full of money and guns. The naked chick is brought in and brings evil with her, infecting near everyone with their worst fears. Visions of dead fathers, serial killers and more invade the usually calm crew and they set out to figure out what is going on. The two fugitives were retrieving some artifacts for a buyer that has unleashed the supernatural forces on "f*cking Halloween". From there we get zombies, machine guns, bazookas, exorcism chants, shotguns, licking whiskey off a table, shooting locals and much more. Kirschenbaum's script is funny while he gives it a stamp of his own as the film unfolds partially in black and white with visual flourishes of blood, eyes and floating evil stuff. There's plenty of laughs throughout as Deputy Eric (Nash) gets to play scared/dumb, the fugitives bicker and instigate and the college Dean tries to make sense of the situation. The cast all gel quite well and bounce off one another with Kulich getting to play angry, crazy and distraught while Amoia is the calming force among all of the chaos. Tony Todd shows up late in the game as a smoking and drinking preacher while the synth tinged score keeps things going in a John Carpenter way.
After the film I brought up our huge panel to talk the film:
- Kirschenbaum wanted to make a throw back film to the 80's like Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Creeps and George Romero's work.
- Nearly everyone made comment on liking the script.
- Long haired in the film, Ricker and Carter showed up with short cuts and weren't recognized by their co-stars. Had originally gone up for other roles.
- Richey had worked with Kirschenbaum on another film.
- Another actress was cast as Hancock but wasn't providing the physicality the director wanted. Amoia got the call, showed she could throw punches, was on a plane by the weekend and shooting Monday.
- Amoia loved being the central female characters in a cast of tall guys as it was never dull.
- Film was shot in Raleigh, North Carolina over several cold weeks, mostly at night.
- Kulich and Richey spent a lot of time tasting the local bourbon and barbecue.
- We're used to seeing Kulich as a bearded viking, this time he's a bearded Sheriff with a shotgun, Kulich was excited to play an American and turned him into a bit of a good ol' boy.
- Lots of guns in the movie but using each one meant the armorer had to painstakingly inspect and test each one for safety reasons which took up a lot of time.
- This was the first film for Adam Flores who had a great time and is thinking of giving acting a go.
- Cast all loved Kirschenbaum's script and would love to see him given a proper budget.
Of course more was discussed but I don't want to give away too much of the film. We handed out several prizes like signed posters and tee shirts with many a viewer sticking around to meet the panel and ask more questions. While it was Halloween night, it had been a long day and with my mission accomplished, it was time to go home. With a stop at McDonald's first... Check out the official Live-Evil website for all the latest news and I'll keep you updated on further screenings and distribution. Keep itching!
After the awards gala Friday night, we had no time to rest on Saturday as it was off to downtown Los Angeles for Comikaze and the west coast premiere of Live-Evil! I would have taken an Uber but we had a bunch of promo stuff to carry and ended up parking in some random, semi-sketchy lot a couple blocks from the convention center. While waiting for a light, we saw none other than JIM LEE strolling by with not a person stopping him. Inside, I'm sure people waited hours get his autograph or shake his hand. I've run into the dude a few times at shows and he comes off as a chill dude you're happy to support. The show was split up a little this year as another event was taking up much of the main exhibit hall. So instead of one giant floor you had one section with the Main Stage and celebs while the West Hall housed Artist Alley and most of your exhibitors hocking comics, swag and the like. I was hoping to grab some comics or old Cinefantastiques but sadly came up short. We ran into several con friends and quickly caught up with Mike from the Raw Studios booth. The Main Stage had awesome guests like Stan and Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane. Walking around the "celeb" side Manu Bennett was not at his booth but Summer Glau had a nice line waiting.
Being Halloween there were tons of people in costume with a few Jack Frosts and John Snows, a handful of Daredevils and a surprising amount of Mad Max: Fury Road group players. It was a while before we saw our first Deadpool but once you see one, there's two more behind them. There was a nice mix of exhibitors selling comics, toys, Funko's and whatnot and I picked up the show exclusive U.S. Agent figure. One thing I noticed was how many frigging monthly subscription box things are out there now. You know like Loot Crate and Marvel Monthly Membership something something... With our panel looming I didn't get to walk the floor as much as I had liked but Comikaze always puts on a good show and happy to see Los Angeles' local show not slowing down.
Who would have thought starting a blog and hosting a Van Damme double feature would someday lead to getting invited to a black tie awards gala? Not this guy, that's for sure. But invited we were and attend we did The American Cinematheque Award gala celebrating Reese Witherspoon and Sid Grauman Award winner Jeffrey Katzenberg. Described as a mid-career award, the Cinematheque honor basically tells recipients, we like you so keep it up. Held at the same swanky Century City Hyatt where work had a conference a few years ago, we chilled in the lobby with a whiskey ginger watching many a black tuxedo clad man and formal evening gown lady arrive. Downstairs we partook in the open bar and caught up with friends while catching the likes of Jennifer Garner and Kate Hudson milling about. I spotted Nu Image/Millennium head and The Expendables producer Avi Lerner grabbing a drink and went to make a quick introduction. I had seen the guy on the streets of San Diego in 2012 after the Expendables II panel and he told me part IV is happening!
Inside it was a lovely three course meal of salad, fish and dessert and each seat came with a gift bag filled with snacks, quinoa vodka and movies from Witherspoon's filmography. In the center of the ballroom I spotted Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Aniston among others visiting Reese's table. McConaughey is a pretty intense dude with laser focus in his eyes. As the evening progressed we heard from many a Hollywood big wig as they celebrated films on the big screen through non-profit The American Cinematheque and how they're still just dreamers doing what they love. Throughout the evening speakers like Laura Dern, Jennifer's Anison and Garner, Kate Hudson, Sofia Vergara and Alexander Payne shared Witherspoon's journey to stardom along with their experiences working with her. It was all very sweet and funny of course as Witherspoon was described as a fierce, funny, loyal and terrific human being who is there for her kids, doesn't BS and wants to do the best job possible. While I don't own a tuxedo or black suit, it was fun to throw on the ol' wedding suit and the entire evening was very casual and not stuffy at all. Congratulations to Witherspoon and Katzenberg but they don't need my support. See ya at the next one!
ALIENS 2 ON HOLD FOR PROMETHEUS 2, I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN,
NOBODY WANTS MORE PROMETHEUS BULLSH@T! #HICKSLIVES!
- My initial feelings on the news that prompted this article.
It's been nearly a year since Neill Blomkamp teased the internets with fan made artwork that entailed the continued adventures of older alien fighting couple Ripley and Hicks. Soon, it was made official that Blomkamp was working with Fox on a potential new film that would somehow follow James Cameron's original 1986 classic as well as take into account lackluster chapters Alien 3 and Resurrection which saw Ripley and Hicks perish. In the meantime, Ridley Scott was still talking up a sequel nobody really wanted to 2012's Prometheus, he would be producing Blomkamp's Aliens 2 and that would somehow interconnect the two stories even though they take place decades apart. Right around the release of Ridley Scott's Fox flick The Martian earlier this month, Blomkamp released an image of an updated pulse rifle, the weapon of choice of the Colonial Marines in Aliens. After suffering the successful if unloved Prometheus, Scott struck out with low budget The Counselor and delivered an expensive dud with Exodus: Gods and Kings. With The Martian garnering critical acclaim and boffo box office, it was announced that the Prometheus follow up would be titled Alien: Paradise Lost and start shooting in early 2016.
Last night Blomkamp stated that his Aliens movie was now on hold for Paradise Lost, effectively killing all of the momentum that has been built up. It was an immediate punch in the movie lover gut to me as I've always liked Aliens much more than Alien. Just throw in the trash with the rest of my dreams and the under review sequel to Pacific Rim...The prospect of an Aliens sequel set 30 years later with older and gruffer versions of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley and Michael Biehn's Hicks is personally much more exciting than more rehash/retread/reboot that Paradise will be. The story just lends itself to a broader world with aliens and technology while utilizing some thrilling and atmospheric action grit. It's funny that Fox didn't want Prometheus to be a direct Alien film and it shows in its half reboot/half prequel execution which yielded a handsome and enjoyable enough film that drew the ire of many a viewer with it's Lost style, "let's ask 20 questions and answer 2" motif. After doing decent box office while eliciting poor word of mouth, the Prometheus sequel becomes a direct Alien film, exploring more ho-hum Space Jockey storylines with a younger, more mainstream cast. Business wise it makes sense, Scott has been working with Fox for some time producing and directing with their latest collaboration becoming a huge hit. Meanwhile Blomkamp is coming off the not successful Chappie and Sigorney Weaver or Michael Biehn are far from magazine cover fodder.
What's next? I think it's up to Blomkamp to make a kick ass picture that's a huge hit so Fox will be begging him to come back. Weaver will never lack for work while Biehn just had a kid and is financially stable from his long career and frequent convention appearances to be able to turn down roles. It's a two way street, if Prometheus 2 does well, Fox may want to focus on more chapters or if it tanks, they may get cold feet for the Alien universe in general. I hope the Aliens sequel happens but that cinematic dream has just come screeching to a halt for at least a couple of years...
