May 18

Posters and a Trailer for “The Adventures of Tintin” (2011)

Now here is a film I am quite excited about. “The Adventures of Tintin” is a labour of love for director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson, both are self proclaimed life-long fans of the books by Hegré. I too am a fan of the books and read them all during my childhood and ever wondered if they would be given the big screen treatment. I was not a huge fan of the TV series that came out many years ago, the animation was rough and it felt lacking in heart. When I heard that Jackson and Spielberg had gone into production on a proposed trilogy of motion capture films, my heart skipped a beat.

Motion Capture (or ‘Mo-Cap’) has been given a bad rap because of the Robert Zemeckis films “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf”. The complaint about lifeless eyes and uncanny movement has left people wondering if it can ever be done right. I hate to say it, but it has been done right already. Mo-Cap brought the Na’vi to life in James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Golem to life in all of the films in the trilogy of “The Lord of the Rings”. Robert Zemeckis even got it right finally with “A Christmas Carol” with Jim Carrey, it was just that nobody saw that film. Continue reading

May 18

A Bloodsport Remake is in the Works, Why?

Edward R. Pressman, the producer behind rebooting “The Crow” has now announced a remake of the 1988 Jean Claude Van Damme action film “Bloodsport” with Phillip Noyce (“Salt”) directing a Robert Mark Kamen (“Taken” and the “Transporter” films) script. My first and only question is why?

“Bloodsport” was a really ordinary film that had some good fight scenes but was most notable for launching Van Damme into the limelight. Arguably it was the film “Kickboxer” (1989) that made Van Damme a star, but “Bloodsport” was the fan favourite. With no Van Damme, the remake will just be another fight film and don’t we have a million of them already? Continue reading

May 17

The First Look Trailer For The New Series Terra Nova

I have mixed feelings for this trailer, I love the talent involved and I love Steven Spielberg but I can’t shake the sensation that I have seen it all before.

It has a family going back in time on a on a big adventure to a prehistoric land. It all looks a little like “The Land of the Lost” mixed with a little “Lost World”. The scenes with the running from dinosaurs with the armoured cars all looks very “Jurassic Park: The Lost World” to me. I just don’t know about it. I guess I will have to wait and watch the premiere episode before I can make up my mind. Here is the trailer:

Continue reading

May 17

Transformers 3 Star Tops the List at the Maxim Hottest 100 Party

Here is a quick video from the Maxim Hottest 100 Party where “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” star Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (you know, Megan Fox’s replacement) was being celebrated for being at the top of the list. Michael Bay was there to assure us that she is a star in the making (of course he did) and everyone looked like they were having a grand old time.

I do have to point out that Ms. Huntington-Whiteley does come across as slightly vapid and it does show a trend in Michael Bay casting, maybe he needs to stop making Victoria’s Secrets commercials for awhile. I do hope that she comes across better in the film itself.

Anyway, enjoy the video:


Transformers 3-Dark of the Moon, Maxim Hottest… by Paramount_Australia

Thanks to Paramount Australia for making the video available to us.

What are your thoughts? Is Transformers still a huge deal for you? Comment below.

May 16

REPLAY – Geek Actually Live Video Shows for May 14th, 2011

Here are this week’s live shows presented in the same order that we recorded them. We start with the all new Geek Actually and then move onto Film Actually. Because the show is live, you get it here with all the mistakes intact. Check the individual audio show posts for the show notes.

This week in Geek Actually we discuss Google IO 2011. Plus Josh and David recommend some software including the game “Brink” and “1Password”.

This week on Film Actually, Josh reviews “Scream 4” and David reviews “Fast Five”. We also check out the week’s entertainment news, watch a couple of trailers and deliver a brand new Lists of Five. I hope you enjoy. Watch the videos below.

The Geek Actually podcasts are recorded live every Saturday from 12pm (AEDST) or UTC +11 at geekactually.com/live Continue reading

May 16

Trailer: Fright Night

Wow, this trailer just demonstrates what is wrong with the modern remake. Tom Holland’s “Fright Night” hit cinemas in 1985 and took a lot of people off guard because it was a horror movie that had it’s tongue firmly planted in its cheek. Chris Sarandon was suave, sophisticated and sexy as hell as the evil vampire Jerry, who moves into the house next door to nerdy, loser Charlie. Charlie is lovable but is awkward and when he starts to suspect the truth about his new neighbour, he tries to tell his girlfriend, Amy, and best friend, Evil (yes, that is his name) about it. Of course in good cliché tradition, no one will believe him. Charlie turns to his hero Peter Vincent, a washed up actor who plays a vampire hunter on TV to host old B movies (think Elvira), to help him kill Jerry and save his friends.

The original film was funny, scary, had great special effects and was just a little cheesy in true B movie style. Here’s the kicker, it was meant to be a little cheesy and funny, that is what made the film so much damn fun to watch.

Now DreamWorks has remade the film (you can see the trailer below) and what is the first thing we do to movies today? We strip all the humour from it. This trailer is so generic and boring that I almost didn’t get through it. What is wrong with the formula of the original film? The studio obviously liked something about the original otherwise they wouldn’t be remaking it, right? One last gripe before I let you watch this mess, Colin Farrell was the wrong choice. I love Colin Farrell but he is raw, rough and macho. To make this character work, he needed to be so charming that no one would believe that he is evil, thus no one believes Charlie. The one saving grace that this remake may have is the casting of David Tennant as Peter Vincent. I love David Tennant, why didn’t they show him in the trailer? That may have sold me on this project. Continue reading