Stuff We Like
The /Filmcast: After Dark – Ep. 174 – The State of Video on Demand
by David Chen on Feb.06, 2012, under Stuff We Like
The /Filmcast: After Dark is a recording of what happens right after The /Filmcast is over, when the kids have gone to bed and the guys feel free to speak whatever is on their minds. In other words, it’s the leftover and disorganized ramblings, mindfarts, and brain diarrhea from The /Filmcast, all in one convenient audio file. In this episode, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Adam Quigley chat about the state of VOD and respond to your e-mails about their recent reviews.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Tune in to Slashfilm’s live page on Monday (2/6) at 10 PM EST / 7 PM PST to hear us discuss Chronicle.
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First Look: Disney’s Video Game-Inspired ‘Wreck-It Ralph’
by Russ Fischer on Feb.06, 2012, under Stuff We Like
Last year Disney announced the video game-inspired film Wreck-It Ralph, which is the new incarnation of a project called Reboot Ralph that the studio was toying with for a couple years.
Starring John C. Reilly as the voice of Ralph, the film follows the title character, an 8-bit video game Bad Guy who dreams of being a hero. In order to change peoples’ perception of him, he travels to another video game land to confront the first person shooter character Sergeant Calhoun, voiced by Jane Lynch. But things don’t work out quite as Ralph planned.
The only footage shown for the film so far was unspooled at D23 last year. Now we’ve got a few images that show a bit of what the film has to offer. Check them out below.
These images come via CineHeroes. You can see our video reaction to the D23 footage here. Rich Moore (The Simpsons, Futurama) directed the film, which also features the voices of Sarah Silverman, and Jack McBrayer.
Rich Moore said last year,
I love the idea of a very simple 8-bit video game character struggling with the complex question: ‘isn’t there more to life than the role I’ve been assigned?’ In his quest for the answer, we journey with our hero through three visually distinct video game worlds.
The film opens on November 2.
Wreck-It Ralph (voice of Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan—win a medal—but soon wrecks everything, and accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Silverman), a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s “Game Over” for the entire arcade?
‘Awake’ Extended Preview – Lucius Malfoy is Confused
by Angie Han on Feb.06, 2012, under Stuff We Like
NBC’s got several promising shows on its upcoming slate, starting with tonight’s premiere of Smash, but another I’ve been looking forward to is this spring’s alternate-reality drama Awake. Harry Potter alum Jason Isaacs puts on an American accent to star as Detective Michael Britten, who wakes up after a car crash to find his life split into two realities. In one, his wife (Terriers‘ Laura Allen) has survived the event; in the other, the survivor is his son. (Played by Dylan Minnette, from the last season of Lost.) Watch the extended preview after the jump.
It’s a premise that could come across as ridiculously sappy, but the trailer manages to emphasize the poignancy of Britten’s situation without pushing it too far. And there’s some solid talent involved. Creator Kyle Killen was also behind the critically beloved but extremely short-lived Lone Star, and Isaacs and Allen have both done some great work in the past. Awake hits Thursday, March 1 at 10 PM on NBC.
Synopsis:
Lots of people find themselves leading some kind of double life… but none quite like this.
After Detective Michael Britten wakes up from a car accident with his wife and teenage son, he learns the devastating news that his wife died in the crash. Trying to put the pieces of his life back together, he wakes up a few days later to realize that his wife is very much alive and his son died in the accident! Did he lose his wife or his son? Or neither of them??
What if your life split in two in the face of a situation like this, and you could actually have everything you wanted, just not all at the same time? Michael goes back to work solving crimes while trying to put things back on a “normal” track, but alternating between realities provides some challenges – one moment he and his wife are grappling with having another child to replace their loss, and the next moment he’s finding himself attracted to his son’s tennis coach to fill the void from the loss of his wife. At the same time, he is solving crimes in each world which sometimes overlap in fascinating and inexplicable ways. Is he dreaming or going mad? Michael begins seeing two different therapists to help him sort things out, but then again why would he want either “reality” to go away when the totality of both means having his family complete?
From groundbreaking writer Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and starring Jason Isaacs (Brotherhood, Harry Potter) comes a drama about the power of the mind, where the inception of life is a mystery and reality might just be overrated.
Five New Images of Olivia Thirlby and Karl Urban in ‘Dredd’
by Russ Fischer on Feb.06, 2012, under Stuff We Like
Dredd, the new Judge Dredd film from director Pete Travis and writer/producer Alex Garland, is still something of a mystery. We’ve seen a few photos from the movie, but no footage as of yet. Producers and the US distributor Lionsgate are keeping a tight rein on things until we get a bit closer to the film’s September 21 release date.
Today we’ve got four new photos, however. One might be the best look yet at Karl Urban as Judge Dredd, the cop/judge/executioner who patrols a beat in the ultra-violent Mega-City One. Another shows his associate Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) either delivering a point-blank headshot, or trying to pin down a perp as someone else delivers a killing shot. So this film will definitely be more hardcore than the 1995 Judge Dredd? It would seem so.
These pics from from the JDMN Twitter feed, by way of 2000AD.
Here’s the synopsis of the film, which has been said to be much more representative of the original comic book series than was the ’95 film with Sylvester Stallone. The shots we’ve seen have certainly been pretty gritty and dirty, and the violence seen in this gallery will probably seem promising to fans of the comic. But it’s the comic’s weird tone that the ’95 film only partially caught, and which I really hope makes it to the screen in this film.
Dredd takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary. Peter Travis directed the film from a script by Alex Garland. Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey co-star.
‘Take This Waltz’ Trailer: Michelle Williams and Idiotic, Marvelous, Ridiculous Longing
by Russ Fischer on Feb.06, 2012, under Stuff We Like
Sarah Polley‘s latest directorial effort, Take This Waltz, stars Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen as a couple struggling with fidelity and the complexities of dealing with love and sex as Williams’ character is tempted by a strong, sudden attraction to another guy (Luke Kirby). The film premiered at TIFF last year, and gained notice for Williams’ performance, and for the rare dramatic turns by Rogen and Sarah Silverman, who plays his sister.
Magnolia will release the film this year, and a trailer has just been released. It is based on a sensitive monologue from Williams, which is followed with an effective Lost in Translation trailer-style montage in which we see hints of the characters’ lives and dilemma.
Though the bouncy energy contributed by Jenn Grant’s song ‘Parachutes,’ this trailer does a nice job of expanding the view of the film we got in three teaser clips that were released last September. I envy anyone who has never had to cut through the knotted tangle of emotions that block rational thought when faced with a situation like the one in which Williams’ character finds herself.
When Margot, 28, meets Daniel, their chemistry is intense and immediate. But Margot suppresses her sudden attraction: she is happily married to Lou, a celebrated cookbook writer. When Margot learns that Daniel lives across the street from them, the certainty about her domestic life shatters. She and Daniel steal moments throughout the steaming Toronto summer, their eroticism heightened by their restraint. Margot finally gives in to desire and in doing so, discovers some unsettling truths about herself. Swelteringly hot, bright and colorful like a bowl of fruit, Take This Waltz leads us, laughing, through the familiar but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves.
