Welcome to your viral video of the week. Shia LaBeouf gives one of the best motivational speeches on the internet. Don’t worry Kid President will have a rebuttal.
TED Talk
#INTRODUCTIONS from Rönkkö / Turner on Vimeo.
Perhaps the hottest comic book property of the last 30 years to not come out of the big two, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are instantly recognizable to just about anyone born in the ’80s who wasn’t raised under a rock. Through at least the mid-’90s, it was impossible to not see them somewhere: There were comics, three movies, a cartoon that lasted more than 300 episodes, a massive toy line, video games, a live musical tour, and a live-action TV show. The franchise has, of course, recently seen a resurgence in popularity via new comics, cartoons, and a film reboot, all of which have contributed to a new generation discovering the heroes in a half-shell. Not bad at all for something that began as a joke between co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
Eastman, who works on IDW’s current ongoing TMNT comic, was on hand at this weekend’s Awesome Con, a fast-growing pop-culture gathering that has gone from a sole exhibit hall in Washington, DC’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center to 75% of the building. Monkeys Fighting Robots caught up with the man behind the mutants to talk Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, the recent apparent death of Donatello, and whether fifth turtle Venus de Milo might be primed for a comeback.
Monkeys Fighting Robots: So let’s talk about the upcoming sequel. It seems like it’s set to have a lot more of what some fans might consider the “original vision” of the turtles, with Rocksteady, Bebop, Baxter Stockman, and Krang in there and so on. Is there anything else you can reveal right now as far as what direction the films are going in?
KEVIN EASTMAN: It’s funny. What was interesting — I worked directly with Jonathan Liebsman, who was the director of the last movie. What they wanted to do was, because it was the first movie, they really wanted to make it about the origin and the introduction of April, how April met the turtles, how the turtles came to be, and sort of set everything up around the Shredder — again, going back to the original roots of the story.
When we started working on the second one, the idea was like, “OK, now that we’ve set up the foundation of the universe, let’s take it to the next level. Let’s go back and look in the turtle universe and pick out some of our favorite characters — our favorites as well as the fan-favorites.” Paramount will let me say only what you can read on Yahoo News or in the press, but yeah, we know Bebop and Rocksteady are gonna be in it. We know Krang. They just released finally that Krang’s gonna be one of the main villains. We have Casey Jones brought into this movie. It’s a nice and natural progression in the turtle universe. I’m pretty excited. It’s neat to see how it’s coming together.
It’s interesting to see TMNT starting to get big again. Like, I can remember the first action figure that I ever got when I was three years old, back in 1989, being Leonardo. What’s it like three decades later, seeing something you created just as a joke having this kind of resurgence in popularity?
EASTMAN: That’s what’s interesting about the whole thing. [When] the idea of the turtles came together, like you mentioned, it was kind of a joke. I was a big fan of Bruce Lee, and late one night, I was just sort of like, “If Bruce Lee was an animal, what would be the funniest animal that he would be?” So I just did this sketch. The first turtle drawing was Michelangelo, so it’s a turtle with a mask on and nunchuks. I kind of put it on Pete’s desk and said, “Here’s the next big thing. Ha, ha, ha.” It was just a joke. We laughed and, out of that night, evolved a sketch with all four turtles and the title “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
So instead of sending it around, trying to sell it to another company, we were really into self-publishing at the time, so we self-published it. And we were surprised. We didn’t think it would sell a single copy of the first issue. What’s so interesting is here we are 31 years later — 31 years ago May, the first Turtle comic book came out in a bookstore in Portsmouth, NH. So it’s funny that here we are 31 years later still talking about Turtles and the Turtles are still seemingly as popular now as they’ve ever been. It’s amazing to me. It’s humbling. It’s an honor. It’s an amazing thing to come up with something that you did out of your love of comic books and Jack Kirby and the guys that inspired us, and you create some characters that have now gone generational. It was amazing that it worked as a comic book. And it’s amazing that it worked as a cartoon show and a toy, and the first movies introduced it to a whole audience of people who are now grown-ups in their late 20s or early 30s, and a lot of them have kids of their own who are discovering the new version of the Turtles. That’s mind-blowing, at the very least. It’s pretty awesome.
Was there any point during the first surge of popularity for the Turtles where you thought that maybe it kind of got off-track?
EASTMAN: The beautiful thing about the fact that Pete and I created and controlled the Turtles, anything that was ever done with the Turtles for the first 20 to 25 years, we had full say and full control over. We wrote it for ourselves, and the original black and white comic books were edgier and for an older audience. When we started working on the cartoon show, we knew very specifically that we were writing for a much younger audience. It was Pete’s idea to do the different-colored bandanas because the animation company and the toy company wanted an easier way to tell them apart. Everything was either we worked on it directly or approved it.
We worked on all the scripts for all 300 cartoon shows and the movies. We had approval rights over the look of the characters, the use of the characters. And it’s always neat to see, even in some of the comic books, a slight deviation in the way an artist drew a turtle or how they approached the story, but we approved everything and we loved to have the creative flexibility to do some of those stories we did. But no, I don’t think it’s — everything that was done for the first 25 years of the Turtles, we had approval over.
In a recent issue of the comic, it was made to look as though Donatello might die. If any of the Turtles were ever killed off, would they eventually be brought back like, say, Captain America, who seems to die every other year and come back?
EASTMAN: [Laughs] At the end of issue 44, Tom Waltz, the head writer and an awesome, incredible talent — I love working with him — had this idea where it looks like Donatello died. Bebop and Rocksteady beat him to death through this huge fight that was going on, working on taking out the Shredder. But then when you reach 45, which came out about two weeks ago, he’s in a coma but his mind was transferred into Metalhead, so he’s now Robot Donnie at the moment.
But with all the stories from the first 12 issues, every four issues we do sort of an arc — we like to include some humor and some drama and interconnect all the Turtle universes. This last arc, we’re heading up toward issue 50, so it was a very specific point we wrote about a year ago, so you have to just wait and see where it goes. But it’s gonna be awesome.
With the current focus on strong female characters in comics and other mediums, is there a chance Venus will be reintroduced at some point?
EASTMAN: That’s a good question. I know a lot of fans really don’t like Venus. I actually like Venus as a character, and a lot of people don’t know that Venus originally started as a fifth male turtle that we were writing for the fourth Turtle movie that we were doing with New Line Cinema. When that movie didn’t go ahead, we started working with Fox Kids, and the fifth male turtle, named Kirby, was brought into that concept. At the last minute, Margaret Loesch, who was head of Fox Television, decided to change it to a female turtle. Peter didn’t want anything to do with it, so I said, “Well, I’ve already worked on all of the development, so let’s just make the best show that we can.” And I liked the show that we did for Saban. Again, a lot of fans don’t like her, but I like her, and I don’t know if we’ll see her come up in any comics soon, but it’d be fun. I think we could do a pretty cool adventure with her.
http://www.youtube.com/embed?listType=playlist&list=UUHU3AR_S4cvRUutHBD-CV9Q
Today we take a look at Mark Millar’s Wolverine: Old Man Logan. Stay Tuned for my review of Old Man Logan #1 by Brian Michael Bendis as well as other comic book and movie reviews.
If there is a comic or movie you would like reviewed, Tweet Jacob @semperfilm
CBR pointed out that Andre Tricoteux announced on social media that his part as Colossus in the up coming Deadpool film staring Ryan Reynolds has wrapped up filming.
Deadpool co-star Gina Carano chimed in as well on Twitter. The Merc with a mouth is directed by Tim Miller and will be in theaters on February 12, 2016.
That's a wrap for me! Thanks to all the cast and crew. @VancityReynolds @briannahilde @edskrein @ginacarano #Deadpool #Colossus #yvrshoots
— Andre Tricoteux (@andretricoteux) May 29, 2015
You're the best #Colossus a person could ask for Andre. 💚 https://t.co/mObR1L6TDR
— Gina Carano (@ginacarano) May 29, 2015
Over the past month countless photos and videos of the Joker, Batman and Harley Quinn from the set of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad have flooded social media.
According to the director, those days could be over as Ayer has informed social media it is time to take the film off the grid. Ayer also stated that the film’s surprises are still intact and social didn’t ruin the film.
Here’s a link to all our Suicide Squad coverage.
Does all the social media coverage hurt or help this film? Tell us what you think in the comment section.
Well we survived the streets. Time to go dark now. Remember, only the tiniest glimpse has been exposed. Our surprises are intact.
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) May 31, 2015
There’s so much vintage Cameron Crowe to be found and enjoyed in his latest writing/directing effort, Aloha, that it’s hard to pinpoint just why the film never really comes together or finds its stride. Crowe’s signature ear for dialogue and soundtrack selection is certainly on display here, as is his ability to bring to life on screen the particular personality of a place — in this case Hawaii — and like just about all of his work, the film feels personal and intimate. He also brings together a truly remarkable ensemble cast for the film, led by two of Hollywood’s most acclaimed stars right now, Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone, each of whom is coming off of Oscar nominations for almost universal acclaim for their recent work.
But despite having all that going for it, Aloha simply sinks under the weight of its good intentions and contrivances. It’s as though Crowe wished to make two completely different films — one a grown-up love story about being at a crossroads in one’s life and having to choose between the past and the future, and another about the beauty, mystery, and current political and social predicament of Hawaii — and mashed the two projects together, hoping they’d be compatible.
Turns out they were not, and the resulting film will no doubt be a tremendous disappointment to fans of Crowe and the cast, if people go to see the film at all.
Cooper plays Brian Gilcrest, a one-time Air Force officer whose once-successful second career as a military contractor hit the skids after a disastrous project failure in the Middle East. Offered a job by his former boss, eccentric Richard Branson-type industrialist Carson Welch (Bill Murray), and an opportunity to return to familiar stomping grounds in Hawaii, where many of his early career successes came about, Brian takes what he knows might be his last chance to get back on track, though it will most certainly bring him in contact with his personal “road not taken.” His ex-girlfriend Tracy (Rachel McAdams), now married to a soft-spoken Air Force pilot (John Krasinski, “The Office”) and a mother of two, represents many of the regrets that haunt Brian as he steps off the plane upon his arrival in the Aloha State, and the way he left things is something he knows he’ll be forced to deal with at some point during his stay.
What Brian doesn’t know and doesn’t expect is that the Air Force has assigned him a rather formidable liaison/babysitter to keep him on task and prevent another fiasco like the one in Afghanistan that continues to stain his professional reputation. Captain Allison Ng (Emma Stone), an F-22 pilot and a “fast burner” of an officer who does everything with the crisp alacrity of a lifelong overachiever, has it in mind to be Brian’s hands-on partner in getting the job done, a job which requires negotiating with leaders of a social and cultural independence movement for Hawaii that have deep suspicions about the U.S. military and their intentions for the land and sky they regard as holy and sacred. As much as Ng is a dedicated officer with her eyes on the fast track to career advancement, she’s also proudly a product of Hawaii’s culture and traditions, and believes them worth more than simply lip service from Brian’s employers. Her idealism and passion catch Brian off guard, and it’s not long before he’s completely disarmed and enchanted by them.
The Air Force and Welch just want the job done. Ng wants Brian to be more than just a “fixer” and to do right by everyone, including her once she lets herself get emotionally involved. Tracy, while in the midst of dealing with issues in her marriage, wants closure, and for Brian to truly understand just he left behind years ago. As for the man at the center of it all, he suddenly realizes he hasn’t a clue what he wants, aside from not to mess up again, with his career or with his personal life, but taking the next step in both may involve making compromises he’s not prepared to make, and to do something he hasn’t really been doing for quite a while: actually live.
In execution, Aloha has some similarity to Crowe’s 2005 film Elizabethtown — both feature stories deeply tied to the personality of their unique settings, and both focus on protagonists damaged by their past choices, their past failures, unsure of how to move forward until a bright, irrepressible woman blows into their lives like a force of nature. That arrival brings both hope and fear, as well as demands some kind of reconciliation and resolution with what burdens the character, no matter how much they might try to avoid it. In both cases, it seems Crowe was certain that audiences would fall in love with the places where the stories took place the way he clearly did, and perhaps to a lesser extent fall in love with the “meet cute” scenarios from which the romantic plots of the films spring forth.
The results in that former film and even more so in Aloha are more or less the same. While sweet, earnest, and well-meaning in its reverential treatment of Hawaii’s native personality and the challenges faced by its people, it’s perhaps just a little too reassured in its own cleverness to work hard enough to get audiences to buy in. The performances delivered by the cast here could certainly be indicative of that, as well; after seeing Cooper and Stone bring such visceral intensity to their work in American Sniper and Birdman, respectively, what we get from them here is surprisingly uninspiring. In trying to convey Brian’s seen-it-all cynicism and guilt, Cooper just comes off as listless, while Stone looks and sounds like she’s working too hard to find the character’s voice, especially when delivering exposition explaining Ng’s understanding and belief in Hawaii’s native beliefs and traditions. The worst offender by far, though, is Murray, who mumbles his lines and blithely saunters in and out of scenes as though he knows he’s stealing a paycheck and getting a vacation to Hawaii in at the same time. Alec Baldwin and Danny McBride fare better in the sense that their characters have some genuinely interesting quirk to them; Baldwin, in fact, is a hoot to watch in all his way-too-tightly wound scenes and is easily the most memorable and enjoyable presence here.
Add to the mixed bag of performances here some questionable editing and pacing decisions — it’s somewhat telling that many lines of dialogue used in the trailers to market the film actually do not appear in the film’s final cut — and you get a film that lacks intensity and narrative direction, even when you know just from the setup just who’s going to end up with whom at the end. It just sort of wanders from one set of scenes to the next, prolonging certain narrative beats and diminishing others seemingly at random, until it finally finds some momentum near the end of its third act, and by then it’s way too late for that momentum to matter.
It’s disappointing, because this is a film no doubt audiences who look forward to and seek out movies with smarter scripts that defy easy classification will want to like this movie, and there are those moments of compelling, authentic-sounding dialogue and perfectly-paired music (seriously, with tracks crossing the gamut from classic rock to ’80s to Hawaiian standards, this is a soundtrack you may end up downloading, even if you never see the film) that will deliver the feeling that the whole film is meant to, and also remind Crowe’s longtime fans of just why they love his movies in the first place. If only those moments outweighed the times in the film when things just don’t resonate the way you know Crowe intended, the way they perhaps resonated in his head as he was writing or directing the scene.
What a film that might have been.
Aloha
Starring Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, and Alec Baldwin. Directed by Cameron Crowe.
Running Time: 105 minutes
Rated PG-13 for some language including suggestive comments.
Trailers have definitely changed in the last thirty years, and the trailers for Mad Max: Fury Road were easily the biggest selling point of the film leading up to its release. Bt what if Fury Road was released in, say, 1987, just a few years after Thunderdome? The trailer might be something like this… this awesome 80s rendition of the film…
Check it out here:
Summer is upon us, which means its time to shed those brown ales, coffee stouts, and porters, for lighter fare that is much more enjoyable when the mercury spikes. Leaving behind those heavy ales doesn’t mean you have to throw a case of light beer in the cooler on your way to the closest watering hole. There are plenty of craft beers out there that are made with just enough care, flavor, and hops to still be enjoyable through all the sweat and sunburns.
Here is a list of various summer ales, depending on what you’re looking for and what the occasion may be, to enjoy this summer while you wait on the fall brewing season. These are also readily available across the country, for the most part. If you want something that still has plenty of hoppy bite, or something with a little fruit to lighten the mood, you can find something here…
Sam Adams Summer Ale – The absolute go to for balance, flavor, and all-around universal summer enjoyment, the Sam Adams Summer Ale works for a cookout, a campout, or a night sitting out on the patio willing the hot sun to go below the horizon. Sam Summer is a wheat beer with hints of lemon in its finish, which is light and fleeting, and the body is bountiful.
Leinenkugel Summer Shandy – This is a great beer for when it gets hot, and I mean really hot. Those dog days of August, even those July days nearing triple digits are perfect for this Summer Shandy, which is less a beer and more a lemonade that has its sweetness calmed by hops and barely. It is fleeting and easy to drink, and the alcohol content is lower than most craft beers, making it a nice all day sipper.
New Belgium Shift – This is a pale lager, which is perfect for summer nights and barbecues, but it is definitely the summer beer for the hops lover. It has a bite, and it is bold in its finish. If you are looking for a hop-heavy brew in a season where hops seem to take a backseat to fruit, this is the one for you.
Stiegl Radler Grapefruit – The name says it all, a grapefruit beer. This beer is refreshing and tart as it is blended directly with grapefruit juice at conception, but it never loses sight of its roots as a beer. It may be too sweet to ingest when it nears 100 degrees, but in the evening, after a light dinner, it is the perfect way to wind down in the backyard.
Founders All Day IPA – For those who love an IPA, but the heat in the summer may conflict with the stout hoppy nature of typical IPAs, All Day is a perfect blend. While it still captures all the robust notes of a traditional IPA, the finish is much cleaner and the beer itself is less filling. And the name, All Day, is in reference to the lower ABV percentage, which is another reason why it stays less filling.
Jim Breuer was on the media circuit today promoting his stand up special “Comic Frenzy” premiering on Epix this Friday.
Matthew Sardo caught up with Breuer and the duo discussed; the New York Mets, David Letterman, getting older, the return of Rock and Roll, and our imaginary Pete Davidson – Jim Breuer buddy cop film.
As a Die Hard Mets fan. My heart goes out to David Wright. Who we may never see play another game ever again .
— Jim Breuer (@JimBreuer) May 24, 2015
We know Andy Serkis, the master of motion capture characters, has a part in the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Now, we know his name, and we have our first look at Serkis doing what he does best, motion capture.
Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz snapped a shot of Serkis doing motion capture for Supreme Leader Snoke, whose identity and place in the story will (hopefully) remain a secret as long as possible. Here is the picture:
While the story of Supreme Leader Snoke and the eventual look of Andy Serkis as the character is driving fanboys nuts today, what is evident is that it is Serkis, as Supreme Leader Snoke, doing the voiceover from the first trailer.
We will see you at the theater on December 18.
PHOTO CREDIT: StarWars.com