Marvelous Movie Monday

Now I'm not that big a fan of romantic comedies but every now and again one comes along that somehow just hits that soft spot I've got hidden away. The latest film to uncover that spot is 'Green With Envy' the new romantic comedy staring Amy Adams and Jason Segel. It's the story of a small town couple who head to Hollywood and discover their dreams of hitting the big time may cost them the one thing that matters most -- each other.

This trailer is that has just hit the net and I promise that once it's over you'll have this film at the top of your must see list.

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Fabulous Film Friday

I went to see Joe Cornish's debut feature Attack The Block today. It has confirmed my feelings that the future of British cinema is in very good hands. It's made me really happy to see directors like Joe Cornish, Richard Ayoade and Edgar Wright producing films that appeal to a wide audience and proves that Britain is not all petticoats and East End gangsters. 

Both Film4 and the UK Film Council also deserve credit for putting money into these films and the UK Film Council will be sadly missed. So if you want to see a great film I'd recommend you visit your local cinema to see Attack The Block, head to your local HMV and buy a copy of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim and then head back to your local cinema and demand they screen Submarine because you want to see it on a big screen.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about then just take a look at these trailers for Richard Ayoade's Submarine, Joe Cornish's Attack The Block and Edgar Wright's Hot Fuzz.

Happy Viewing!

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Invasion Of The Not Quite Dead Teaser

Last year I discovered filmmaker AD Lane's totally fan funded film project 'Invasion Of The Not Quite Dead'. I was very impressed with what I saw at the time and signed up as initially as a Pre-Order Producer and later upgraded to an Associate Producer. AD is using Twitter as a way of raising awareness of the project and regularly embarks on tweetathons where he stays awake for upwards of 50 hours. During the last tweetathon I donated a further few pounds and was lucky enough to win a prize draw where my producer credit was upgraded to Ultimate Producer and I bagged one ofthe costumes you can see in the newly released teaser trailer.

At the beginning of April AD and his crew went to Bulgaria to shoot the 1970's based intro to the film - and this is the resulting teaser trailer.

AD is currently engaged in a 55 hour tweetathon which ends tonight so if you can spare £10 or more then please sign up to become a producer on the film - the perks are amazing and if you donate before the end of the tweetathon you'll be entered into a prize draw for an Ultimate Producer upgrade and a costume. I won last time so you really are in with a chance of winning. Head to the official 'Invasion Of The Not Quite Dead' website to see what's on offer and make your donation.

 

 

 

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Foo Friday

A couple of weeks ago the Foo Fighters released their sixth studio album 'Wasting Light'. To promote the album the band also released this film of them performing the whole album live from the bands own Studio 606 complex. 

You can buy Wasting Light from Amazon by clicking on the album cover -

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Trailer Thursday

2011 is turning out to be a pretty good year for quality cinema releases. Already Submarine has proved how great British films can be and Thor has kicked off the blockbuster season in spectacular fashion. Over the next few months we have a many more huge films to look forward to and this week has seen the release of yet more exciting trailers.

First up is Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. The Harry Potter series has come a long was since the first film way back in 2001. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was such a great start to the series and for me has become one of the classic children's films. Since then the series has matured and developed with it's audience just like the books and is now about to conclude with what looks like a fittingly epic final film. I very much enjoyed Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 (although I wish it was actually being released at Christmas which for me is the perfect time for these Harry Potter films) can't arrive soon enough. 

Next it's the latest and final trailer for X-Men: First Class. I've enjoyed all of Matthew Vaughn's previous film and his latest collaboration with screenwriter Jane Goldman looks likely to put the X-Men franchise back on track after a couple of disappointing outings. This trailer rams up the emotion, the poignancy, and amazing visuals this film is promising to deliver. 

It would appear that 2011 will be the summer of the superheroes.

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Friday Roundup - The Wrath of Calm

Okay so I admit it - I couldn't think of a suitable post title so this will have to do - but if you have suggestions for puntastic titles, please leave them in the comments below.

So this week it's a couple of trailers I quite like the look of. First up is the latest trailer for Iron Man director Jon Favreau's latest Cowboys and Aliens. The film stars Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde in the adaption of Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's 2006 Platinum Studios comic.

Next is the first official trailer for Rupert Wyatt's upcoming Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. Starring current hot property James Franco and featuring effects work, including all digital apes, by long time Peter Jackson collaborators WETA, this is looking to be an interesting take on the Apes mythology.

Finally just a quick mention for two films I hope you'll take the time to seek out at your local flea pit. Both will probably require some effort on your parts as they probably aren't getting the promotional push they deserve. First and most importantly I urge, plead, implore you to go and see Richard Ayoade's debut feature Submarine. This is a sublime piece of filmmaking and should be on your must see list. It's certainly one of my films of the year already.

Secondly is something that just looks great and marks the live action return of Luc Besson. I've loved the French filmmakers work and his new film The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec looks great fun. Based on the comic by Tardi and starring the rather lovely Louise Bourgoin it has cult classic written all over it.

Adele's adventures should be hitting screens on April 22nd and if the delightful Louise Bourgoin isn't enough to tempt you I should also mention the film has Pterodacyl's in it.

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Twist Our Words

I've seen a few of these over on Channel 4 so I thought I'd try one myself.

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Friday Animation - Minchin and Tartakovsky NSFW

Some nice animation appeared online this week - first up is an animated version of Tim Minchin's 9 minute beat poem 'Storm' - please note the audio on this is NSFW.

Credits - Written and performed by Tim Minchin. Directed and animated by DC Turner. Produced by Tracy King. 

Next up is an animated prologue for the film Priest 3D, starring Maggie Q and Paul Bettany. The interesting thing about this is it's been done by one of my animation heroes - Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of Samurai Jack. Not sure about the live action film but this short animation is great.

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Star Wars - Remade by Pegg and Frost

I would rather see this made into a full length feature than the 3D tinkering we are getting. Enjoy.

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The Doctor Returns!

The new series of Doctor Who hits our screens in April and the BBC have just released a new trailer. This looks brilliant.

Here is the previous trailer for extra Doctor goodness.

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Happy 80th Birthday Captain Kirk

The mighty William Shatner turns 80 today, so in tribute to the greatest starship captain of them all here are a couple of his greatest hits.

Happy Birthday Bill.

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Monday Roundup - The Prequel

So it's Monday already, which means I missed my semi regular Friday Roundup, so consider this a prequel of sorts.

First up is a sneak peak at the final part of the Harry Potter saga. I really enjoyed Deathly Hallows Part 1 and with so much action to pack into Part 2 I can't wait for this one to arrive in cinemas.

There have been a couple of these Wes Anderson style alternative film trailers and as a fan of The Fantastic Mr. Fox I loved this version of Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Starfox, based on one of Nintendo's best know game franchises. The stop motion animation here is great and this is a film I would love to see on the big screen.

And finally a couple of images for you - one of which would not have been possible on Friday. Firstly it's a really nice poster of Penelope Cruz for the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film, On Stranger Tides. 

The second is a photograph of director Peter Jackson on the set of The Hobbit. The film begins production this week with Martin Freeman in the title role of Bilbo Baggins. The story will be split into two films the first of which is due in cinemas late 2012.

That's it for this post and I'll hopefully be back on Friday. If there is anything out there you think might be of interest then leave me a comment. Thanks.

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Comics!

Taken at Nostalgia and Comics

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Friday Roundup 2: The Sequel

This week I am 15 again. The reason for this is the trailer which has just dropped for the Steven Spielberg produced, J.J. Abrams directed 'Super 8'. Everything about this trailer takes me right back to the days of Close Encounters, Goonies, E.T. and The Explorers. I'm not sure if the music used in the trailer is taken from Michael Giacchino's score, but if it is, it once again proves that he is the modern day John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith.

The movie is due to reach UK cinemas in August and looks to be a big hit.

With Doctor Who due to return to our screens on 23rd April both here and in the US, BBC America have releases a nice promotional image for the new season.

With the opening episodes having been filmed in the US and a mid-season cliffhanger and break until the autumn this looks to be a great year for the Doctor. And talking of the Doctor YouTuber punkocarp uploaded this great Doctor Who/Buffy The Vampire Slayer titles mashup - inspired stuff and reminds me how much I loved the Nerf Herder theme song to Buffy.

Elsewhere I've been listening to the new songs from The Strokes and Foo Fighters. Both are great songs and I'm looking forward to the new albums.

I can't embed the official video for Rope at the moment but you can see it on the MTV site.

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Space Shuttle Discovery - Star Trek Wake Up Call

Today the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, currently on it's final mission, awoke to the theme from Star Trek. But this time it was a little different...

03-07-11_STS-133_FD12_Crew_Wakeup.mp3 Listen on Posterous

From the official NASA - Space Shuttle site -

William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek television series, provided a special message to the crew of space shuttle Discovery during the 3:23 a.m. EST wakeup call. 

As Alexander Courage’s theme song played underneath, Shatner replaced the original television introduction with, “Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before.”

The “Theme from Star Trek” received the second most votes in a public contest from a Top 40 list for NASA’s Song Contest. The top two songs with the most votes from that list earned a slot on the list to wake Discovery’s crew during its final mission. The total number of votes cast during the four-month contest for STS-133 was 2,463,774. Of that, Star Trek received 671,134 votes (27.2 percent). Shatner recorded the new, special introduction for Discovery’s final voyage – its 39th flight and 13th to the International Space Station.

The song is posted at: http://www.archive.org/details/STS-133

Pilot Eric Boe will undock Discovery from the space station at 7 a.m. and conduct a full-lap fly around of the complex at 7:30 a.m., before separating from station at 8:43 a.m. Later in the day, the crew will use the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to conduct a “late inspection” of the shuttle’s heat shield.

The Shuttle is due to undock from the International Space Station later today and begin it's return to earth. The next Shuttle mission is the last for the Space Shuttle Atlantis which is due to launch in April.

Visit the official NASA site for more info on all upcoming space missions.

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Friday Roundup

So it's been a busy week with quite a few interesting things appearing online. I've not been able to post stuff up as it's happened so I thought I'd just do a 'Friday Roundup' which may become something more regular.

First up is the announcement trailer for upcoming zombie survival horror game Dead Island. The trailer generated a lot of buzz for it's very cinematic style and it is quite an impressive bit of footage. The use of slow motion, reverse chronology and music really sets is apart from other game trailers. The whole thing owes a nod of gratitude to The Walking Dead, which the trailer apes to a certain extent. I have my doubts as to whether the game itself will deliver on the promise set up by the trailer but it'll be interesting to see if it does. Please note that the trailer is probably NSFW and those under 18 as it does contain graphic scenes of zombie attack. The video comes courtesy of the good folks over at IGN.

Next up is the new trailer for Marvel's Thor due to arrive on screens in April. Thor has always been one of my favourite Marvel characters and the film (directed by Kenneth Branagh) looks an interesting prospect. This trailer ups the action and Natalie Portman content which may be a wise move in the run up to the Oscars where she is hot favourite to walk away with the Best Actress statue. I'm looking forward to seeing this film even though I would have preferred Brian Blessed in the role of Odin.

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Brad Bird Annie Award Winner

Ever since I first encounted Brad Bird's work (it was Family Dog on the Steven Spielberg anthology show Amazing Stories) I've been a fan. To me his work has encapsulated everything that is great and good about animation. I've followed his career with great interest and his work has always been outstanding - from the underrated The Iron Giant to his joining Pixar and giving us one of the greatest superhero movies in The Incredibles, his stories and characters have always been superb.

Now Brad has been awarded one of the most prestigious awards in animation - The Winsor McCay Award. His acceptance speech comes direct from the set of the lastest film he's directing, the live-action Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and even in this his humour and creativeness shines through. 

Brad Bird is one of the most creative and inspiring people in Hollywood and this award is long overdue. 

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Arcade Fire Live

Arcade Fire perform live in this Terry Gilliam directed concert from Madison Square Garden in August 2010.

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Super Bowl Film Trailer Round Up

So during Super Bowl XLV some new film TV spots were shown. These are my pick -

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Cowboys and Aliens

Rango

Battle: Los Angeles

Captain America: First Avenger

Thor

Super 8

Pirate of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Kung Fu Panda 2

And the film that could be this years Inception

The Adjustment Bureau

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Rango Theme - Los Lobos

Los Lobos have recorded the theme song to the forthcoming Johnny Depp animated film directed by Gore Verbinski. It sounds perfect for the film with echoes of Ennio Morricone and old western TV shows.

Los Lobos - Rango Theme Song by antirecords

Here's a poster for the film -  I'm quite looking forward to seeing this.

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