Morning all,

Hopefully your coffee is brewed and your toast is crunchy – and if not then I hope your day turns out splendidly.

Anyways, just thought I’d share my excitement for the return of Game of Thrones on HBO on April 1st. Wait a minute, isn’t that April Fools? Awe man, does that mean HBO is gonna play some cruel joke on everyone who’s a fan of the show? I hope they don’t do a “Psych!” and make us wait even longer. Okay, back to the subject at hand. I’ve totally geeked out and read all of the books that have been released. I know it’s wrong to know what’s going to happen before we get to see it on screen, but I’m actually pretty excited to see what changes. If you’ve read the first book you’ll know that hardly any liberties were taken  other than the length, but who knows what’s going to change for season 2. Now that the show is so successful, there’s probably a lineup of suits waiting to ruin it and make a quick buck. Don’t do it Game of Thrones!!!

Alright, so are you looking to share in the excitement of season 2? Check out the full trailer below, book off April 1st and start re-familiarizing yourself with terms like “Winter is Coming!”

Morning all,

Is it just me or has there not been a tonne of great news coming out of the movie world lately? It’s probably just me isn’t it? I’ll probably get a whole bunch of links sent over telling me otherwise. Anyways, here’s something to get really excited about. Check out the trailer for Lockout below. Lockout is also referred to as MS One: Maximum Security, but I have no idea why it has two names. Lockout is basically a badass Guy Pierce who goes into space to bring home some important guy’s daughter after she gets stranded in a floating prison… Seriously, if that doesn’t get you going I have no idea what will. Okay, so here’s the real low-down on Lockout. Pierce plays a dude named Snow, who like many an action hero before him, is the best there is, but also a loose cannon. At the end of the day he’s the one that’s going to save everyone, but was there really any doubt? Maggie Grace, you know, the woman who hooked up with Sayid in Lost,  plays the damsel in distress. There’s a bunch of crazy inmates, probably some kind of political strings being pulled and a lot of great action. But here’s the real reason why this is so intriguing to me, Luc Besson had a hand in writing Lockout. Yes that’s right, the same Luc Besson wrote Leon, Taken and The 5th Element. Awesome.

Mehuh Now?

Yeah I know, that’s a weird title for a post about a trailer about a movie I’ve never heard of (wait… I just realized that’s pretty much all that happens here at BP). So who out there is interested in hardcore role playing games? Come on, be honest? Admit it, you’ve dabbled in WoW for a few hours, you’ve asked someone what Warhammer was and something about that scene in Role Models peaked your interest. Well, even if none of that is true, there’s always something to be said when you look at the mighty subculture and wonder. With that being said, check out this trailer for the new flick Unicorn City.

The Indie feature has some ties to the original Napoleon Dynamite flick, but it looks to be quite different. Here’s what I can gather from the trailer below. So there’s this guy who loves playing D&D (or something very similar) and he decides to bring his RPG world to life by going camping with his guild. Still with me? The movie doesn’t carry any huge names, but I guess that’s the style of writer/director Brian Lefler. I’ll have to watch this a few more times to really understand what’s going on here, but there’s something fun about this already. Anyways, have a look!

Morning all,

Again, been a while but I’m back and loving it…

Anyways, I’ve been spending a lot of time lately trying to expand my repertoire of television shows and I think I’ve found a couple that are really interesting. Let’s be clear, I did not discover these shows by any means, but I’m a constant skeptic when it comes to television because, well, I’m a big snob. In any case, here are a couple of newbies that I think everyone should add to the queue.

First up is Sherlock. I’m not talking about the movie, I’m talking about the wonderful new(ish) BBC modernized mini-series version of the show. If you haven’t seen it, check out the trailer for one of the episodes below. You’ll see Martin Freeman as Watson and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock – yeah, that’s his real name and you’re going to hear a lot about Mr. Cumberbatch in the next few years as he’s being attached to the new Star Trek. In any case, this mini-series is worth the watch - especially if you’re a fan of the original Sherlock stories.

Next up is Alcatraz – yep, the big budget FOX sci-fi mystery from JJ Abrams that has finally premiered. I had my reservations before this started because I felt like it really lost steam as they made us wait for the series premiere, but I have to say, so far so good. I like Jorge Garcia, I like the concept of tracking old killers and I like the mystery components, but the one thing that does bug me is the character of Rebecca Madsen. I feel like this character is overdoing it right now, but I’m excited to be proven wrong as the story unfolds.

Who?

That’s cool, I had no idea who this person was until a few minutes ago… Quite an endorsement for my own detailed blog research huh? I digress.

Anyways, yesterday a few set photos from Expendables 2 rose from the depths revealing Chinese star Yu Nan on the side of Sly and the rest of his 80′s action hero gang. There aren’t a lot of details surrounding who exactly she’s playing, but she does hang out in black espionage gear and walks around with Sly Stallone. One can only assume she’s on the side of the good guys… for now. But back to the matter at hand, who is Yu Nan? Well, unless you’re quite versed in the recent Chinese cinema, she really is coming out of nowhere. The only recognizable North American title I can with her name attached is Speedracer from back in 2008. And I’ll be honest, the only thing I remember about that flick was trying my hardest not to get nauseous because of all of the colourful spinning (DAMN YOU IMAX!!!!).

So she’s new, and in comparison to the rest of the cast of Expendables 2 like Stallone, Statham, Jet Li, Dolph, Terry Crews and Bruce Willis, she’s basically an infant. From the looks of this photo though, she’s probably going to fit right in. I don’t know if Yu Nan is going to blow up on the North American scene with this flick, but you never know, sometimes people can really steal the show. In any case, I know we can expect a lot of explosions, one-liners when other dudes die, and probably more than a few guns fired. Ah Expendables, they are becoming a thing now aren’t they?

Morning all,

I’m sure a lot of you have seen (or at the very least plan to see) Bridesmaids. You know, the Kristin Wiig gem from last year about an ex-baker who’s BFF decides to get married. Not only was the cast spectacular, but it was just really good raw comedy. Anyways, there’s always been rumblings about doing a sequel, but come on… That’s really pushing it. Instead, it looks like most of the cast decided just to make this flick, Friends With Kids.

I’ve looked and although the casts are almost identical, these two flicks have nothing to do with each other. But come on, everyone from Bridesmaids is in this, even down to the cop with an accent. They’ve added some people to gang including Megan Fox, the snarky brother from Step Brothers (Adam Scott) and Jennifer Westfeldt from 24. In any case, this isn’t Bridesmaids 2, it’s a new flick called Friends With Kids. Have a look:

Morning all,

That spine tingling screeching sound you heard last week were the breaks being put on the North American remake of Akira… Again. Ok, let’s be honest with ourselves for a second here, this isn’t the first time, there’s tonnes of fan outcry to stop this and it just feels as though the North American Akira is the wrong thing to do. This has been “in the making,” for a few years now with some big names attached, then detached (Leo and Keannu), but once WB finally found a director it sounded as if they were on their way. It even got so far as to start renting production offices in Vancouver.

But Akira is once again sent packing, this time by the all mighty dollar. It turns out the original script, the one approved by WB to start casting and looking for a director is too big. Money is the current issue and it requires some reworking of the script. I guess blowing up Neo-Tokyo in the North American sense costs a lot of money. In any case, we should take this time to look at another film that could be dealing with a similar theme.

I’m speaking of course about Chronicle. I’ve written about this flick before, but as we inch closer and closer to the release date, I’m becoming more excited. According to the synopsis, Chronicle follows the story (in found footage style) of three teenagers as they develop powers and goof off. The only problem is that one of them, the nerdy, geeky one that’s seemingly unaccepted by most people, goes a bit off the wire. Sound familiar Akira fans? That’s why I’m not too torn up about Akira throwing on the brakes. If the flick eventually goes through, then good for Warner Bros. If it doesn’t I’ll personally be a bit relieved, and I can always get my fix of this type of story with Chronicle next month… hopefully.

Morning all,

Who out there has seen the trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? I’m sure a lot already have, but I’ve embedded the trailer into this post just in case. Here’s my thing with The Hobbit: Timing. That’s it, no scathing words, no extremely strong opinions, pretty much just one word, and it’s timing. Don’t worry, I’ll explain.

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Ultimate Edition was one of the hottest selling items on Boxing Day (I guess that’s only up here in Canada, but whatevs), and coincidently the trailer for The Hobbit was officially released around the same time. I know it’s not a conspiracy or anything, but dang, my holidays have been filled with white wizards, tiny people with giant feet and orcs. I’m pretty excited for this flick now that the trailer is finally released. I guess it’s been a while since we’ve seen Mr. McKellen as Gandalf and ever since I started watching the UK TV series Sherlock, Martin Freeman has been quite topical (although he’ll always be Tim from The Office).

Check out the trailer!!!

Hello again,

See, I told you I was going to post about Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. I’m not a liar, at least not completely.

Flat out worth the price of IMAX admission to see this flick on a larger screen. Not only was the one scene on the side of the building absolutely insane, the entire movie was really well assembled. I have to say, I’m shooting this to the top of my Mission Impossible list in terms of favourites. So now a little bit on what to expect from this flick when (not if, because you really should check this out in the theatres) you go see this.

First up, the IMAX experience. I’ve seen quite a few movies in IMAX in the past few years and I’ll admit, more than a few were not worth it, but Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol was worth it. Not in a sense that there were a tonne of explosions, but it’s such a big movie that it deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Brad Bird has done a wonderful job transitioning from animated characters to live action. I didn’t really have any doubts because I love The Incredibles, but it’s always a shot in the dark the first time you do something. I always have to keep in mind that Bird has directed/produced some amazing stories like The Iron Giant and The Simpsons so his basis in great story telling is always there. I think that’s one of the reasons JJ and the gang at Bad Robot handed him the keys for this flick. Ghost Protocol was a different kind of Mission Impossible, but it’s such a natural transition into how Ethan Hunt has changed over the years.

And as for this whole “handing the franchise over to Jeremy Renner,” I don’t completely buy it yet. I think if there’s going to be another Mission Impossible movie, Renner is going to be part of Ethan’s crew, at least for the next little while. I don’t think he’s going to be The Guy yet, but you never know.

Here’s a few facts about Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol that might interest you.

Tom Cruise actually did that stunt on the side of the building in Dubai:

Ving Rhames was paid a whopping $7.7 Million for his 1 minute of screen time on this movie.

If we do a little bit of math we’ll notice that John Voight who played Ethan’s boss Jim Phelps in the first Mission Impossible movie was 58 years old. In 2010/2011 when Tom Cruise was jumping around buildings and getting blown up he was roughly 48 years old…

Morning all and Happy New Year.

Obviously I’ve been away from this blog for a little while, but I’m back in full force now. Think of this as the new and improved (updated if you will) 2012 version of The Bloated Penguin. Changes ahead? sure why not? It’s nice to ring in the new year making a false promise like everyone else. Okay, onto bigger and better (and more important) things.

Who out there invested 6 minutes of their time to watching the released Batman Dark Knight Rises footage over the holidays? I did, and I did it in spectacular IMAX fashion when I experienced Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in all it’s glory. I’ll post a bit on Brad Bird‘s foray into live action in a little while, but I’m devoting this space to the confusion/issue over the Batman footage. See, if you haven’t seen it yet (and I have no idea why you haven’t at this point), you’re probably wondering what in the world Bane is saying. Like many, I’ve looked this up on the wonderful invention of the Internet and found one line.

“When Gotham is in ashes, you have my permission to die.”

Okay, so it’s not too much more information, but the issue surrounding the masked man’s voice is currently being addressed by Batman director Chris Nolan. In an interview (or some other kind of unreliable source) he’s revealed that he will NOT be re-recording Tom Hardy‘s voice for Bane. Instead he plans to adjust the mix so his voice can be heard over top of the jet engines. Problem solved? I hope so. And speaking of that plane, was that not spectacular? Much like the opening sequence to Dark Knight, DK Rises launches right into the action, but this time way up in the air. Very impressive so far Mr. Nolan, but I’d expect nothing less.

For those of you who have been induced into a turkey coma, here’s the latest trailer from Dark Knight Rises: