During this year’s Super Bowl XLVII one of the films whose trailers were premiered was the latest and upcoming entry to the Fast and the Furious series. Since that day a new and much more extended look and version of that trailer has been released by Universal Pictures for everyone to look over.
When I say extended first look I mean extended. This trailer is over 3 minutes long and pretty much acts like a major sizzle reel that’s usually reserved for special screenings at conventions or trade shows. I was mistaken from the earlier post when I said the film has an M-1 tank in it to ramp up the epicness. It looks more like the newest French main battle tank, the Leclerc. I shall keep my opinion about the French Leclerc to myself….
Now, enjoy the extended first look of Fast and Furious 6.
Time for a new guilty pleasure and this time around we hit the music scene with a song that everyone seems to make fun of but whcih they also secretly love to sing-a-long to.
“Every Rose Has Its Thorns” by the hair metal group Poison has to be the cheesiest of all power ballad that came out during the 80’s hair metal era. The group were so intent on making it stand out from the rest of their hair metal brethren’s own power ballads that they decided to go all acoustic guitar to start things to give it that extra deep thoughts-theme. I will admit that I listened to this song like it was going out of style when it first came out.
What can I say? I was a sophomore in high school and the hormones were kicking in hard.
For someone whose own love of metal ranges from thrash, speed, power, Viking to black it’s such a rose amongst the bramble that this hair metal power ballad will still get me to sing along to this day. Though I usually try to make sure I’m alone….XD
Every Rose Has Its Thorns
We both lie silently still in the dead of the night Although we both lie close together We feel miles apart inside
Was it something I said or something I did Did my words not come out right Though I tried not to hurt you Though I tried But I guess that’s why they say
Chorus: Every rose has its thorn Just like every night has its dawn Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song Every rose has its thorn
Yeah it does
I listen to her favorite song playing on the radio Hear the DJ say loves a game of easy come and easy go But I wonder does he know Has he ever felt like this And I know that you’d be here right now If I could have let you know somehow I guess
Chorus
Though it’s been a while now I can still feel so much pain Like the knife that cuts you the wound heals but the scar, that scar remains
Solo
I know I could have saved our love that night If I’d known what to say Instead of makin’ love We both made our separate ways
But now I hear you found somebody new and that I never meant that much to you To hear that tears me up inside And to see you cuts me like a knife I guess
The latest “Song of the Day” comes courtesy of one of my favorite bands of the 80’s. It’s the sister rock duo Heart, Nancy and Ann Wilson, and their chart-topping power ballad from their self-titled album released in 1985. The song itself was released in 1986 and soon rose up the charts in both Billboard’s Mainstream, Rock, Pop and Adult Contemporary Charts. The song I speak of is “These Dreams”.
I was 13 when I first heard this song and saw the video make it’s rounds on MTV (yes, MTV used to show music videos, shocking isn’t it). I wasn’t sheltered muscially enough not to have been introduced to female rockers (Jett, Benatar, Slick being some of the ones I listened to courtesy of my Dad and older cousins), but with “These Dreams” I was finally introduced to the pioneers who gave young girls someone to look up to and dream of becoming rock stars as well. Heart, by the time I discovered them in 1986, were more in tune with that eras soft rock and adult contemporary sound. It was later on when I listened to their earlier albums that I finally heard them as hard rock musicians.
“These Dreams” was a favorite power ballad growing up and it rivals Led Zeppelin’s own fantasy-themed power ballad, “Stairway to Heaven”, as a power ballad I listen to constantly. It also had a music video that was so very 80’s MTV with both Wilson sisters sporting the overly teased, big hair that was glam/hair metal of the day. It didn’t matter since both then and now I still carry quite the crush and torch for Nancy Wilson. She, as Wayne and Garth would say, is a babe then and now.
Now, just sit back, relax and listen to one of my favorite songs of my youth.
These Dreams
Spare a little candle Save some light for me Figures up ahead Moving in the trees White skin in linen Perfume on my wrist And the full moon that hangs over These dreams in the mist
These dreams go on when I close my eyes Every second of the night I live another life These dreams that sleep when it’s cold outside Every moment I’m awake the further I’m away
Is it cloak n dagger Could it be spring or fall I walk without a cut Through a stained glass wall Weaker in my eyesight The candle in my grip And words that have no form Are falling from my lips
These dreams go on when I close my eyes Every second of the night I live another life These dreams that sleep when it’s cold outside Every moment I’m awake the further I’m away
There’s something out there I can’t resist I need to hide away from the pain There’s something out there I can’t resist
The sweetest song is silence That I’ve ever heard Funny how your feet In dreams never touch the earth In a wood full of princes Freedom is a kiss But the prince hides his face From dreams in the mist
These dreams go on when I close my eyes Every second of the night I live another life These dreams that sleep when it’s cold outside Every moment I’m awake the further I’m away
These dreams go on when I close my eyes Every second of the night I live another life These dreams that sleep when it’s cold outside Every moment I’m awake the further I’m away
I’ve always wondered why Gerard Butler hasn’t been tapped to be an action hero star since his turn as Leonidas in 300. He definitely has the looks and physicality to pull off such films and do so without being snarky about it. He has instead been stuck doing romantic comedies and the brooding anti-hero roles. This pattern may just change depending on how well his next film does.
Olympus Has Fallen is the next film from Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, King Arthur, Shooter) and looks like a new take on the Die Hard template of “one against many” that’s worked well with some films and turned out bad with others. This time around the film looks to be “Die Hard in the White House” type of story with Gerard Butler in the role of Bruce Willis. Though from some of the dialogue shown in the trailer it also sounds like a version of Under Siege (one of the better Die Hard clones)
The White House used as a setting for a siege has rarely been used (though the tv series 24 did it in it’s later seasons). The trailer show’s a bit of back story to Butler’s Secret Service character and what brings him back to the fold after a tragedy in his professional past puts him on ice.
Olympus Has Fallen is set for a March 22, 2013 release date.
Iron Man 3 will be the film from Walt Disney and Marvel Studios that will kick-off those studios’ Phase Two of their Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was the Galactus-sized success of 2012’s The Avengers which this newest phase will have to live up to and with new director on-board (Shane Black taking over the director’s chair from Jon Favreau) and the original cast back with new faces on-board (Sir Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Guy Pearce and James Badge Dale to name a few of the new names).
It’s now 2013 and just a few more months before Iron Man 3 makes it’s worldwide premiere and what better place to start the hype and marketing ad machine that will lead up to that premiere by releasing the latest trailer for the film than during one of the biggest one-day event in the world: the Super Bowl.
Iron Man 3 is set for an international release date of April 25, 2013 with a UK premiere in April 26, 2013 after then a North American release in May 3, 2013.
Without further ado the Super Bowl exclusive Iron Man 3.
Oz the Great and Powerful is the first film by Sam Raimi since he was removed as director of the Spider-Man franchise. While he tried to go back to his horror roots with the underappreciated Drag Me to Hell he’s back to doing big-budget event films.
The film looks to tell the story of the Great Wizard of Oz prior to Dorothy’s arrival in the original film. James Franco takes on the title role with Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz all taking on the roles of the three witches of Oz. The film’s plot looks to be a sort of hero’s journey as Oscar Diggs must discover his true self once he lands in the otherworldly realm of Oz.
Could this film be a return to fantasy form for Sam Raimi or will it be a film thats visually stunning but spiritually empty like Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland?
Only time will tell and while Raimi always delivers a visual treat and an entertaining film they sometimes don’t resonate with the general audience.
Oz the Great and Powerful is set for a March 8, 2013 release date.
Fast Five was a big surprise when in came out in 2011. The franchise finally broke away from the street racing template of the previous entries in the series. The huge success of Fast Five meant it had given the franchise a new template by which to keep it going for the foreseeable future.
Fast and Furious 6 continues the action film rebirth of the Fast and Furious franchise by dumping all the street racing aspect of the series and just going all out action. We have Justin Lin back as director with the cast of Fast Five returning en masse. Joining this group is Luke Evans, Gina Carano and Michelle Rodriguez (thought dead after the fourth film). From the Super Bowl tv spot that just got released it looks like Fast and Furious 6 will be even bigger than the previous film.
M1 main battle tank and C-5 Galaxy transport plane means way bigger than a bank vault.
Fast and Furious 6 is set for a May 24, 2013 release date.
The sequel to J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek is just months away. It returns not just Abrams into the director’s chair but also the whole cast of the rebooted franchise back to boldly go where no one’s gone before.
Star Trek Into Darkness (still an awkward title but then we don’t to watch a film in the theaters because we like or don’t like how the title sounds) just released it’s latest trailer (this time a TV spot) during Super Bowl XLVII. The spot has new scenes and images that the previous teasers and trailers didn’t already show. We may have gotten a hint into the villain portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film. While the name Khan has never been mentioned in any ad and marketing spots since the film was announced I’d be very surprised if the villain is not some sort of analogue of that classic Star Trek rogue.
Star Trek Into Darkness is set for a May 17, 2013 release date.
This week saw the announcement from The Weinstein Company and Robert Rodriguez’s studio that the most important role in the upcoming sequel to 2005’s Sin City has been cast. The actress cast for the role of Ava Lord, the sequel’s “A Dame to Kill For”, wasn’t the expected Angelina Jolie who had been 0ft-rumored to be Rodriguez’s first choice as the femme fatale for the sequel. When Angelina Jolie’s name wasn’t announced and another was instead the reaction from fans of the original comic book source wasn’t one of disappointment. The reaction from fans at this certain performer’s name being called instead was one of near-universal approval.
Eva Green, she of Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, Campbell’s Casino Royale and Starz’s own Morgan Le Fay, was going to play Ava Lord and Sin City fandom mightily approved.
Her smoldering eyes and classic femme fatale looks makes her an almost perfect fit for the role of Ava Lord. Ms. Green is not new to the role of dangerous and darkly, beautiful women who uses their sexuality as weapon to attack and defend what they want and have. She easily encapsulates the notion the idea of why the femme fatale continues to be such a tempting role for actresses. It’s a role that demands from it’s performer that they be able to pull off being someone’s dream but also their nightmare in equal amounts. I think I’ve heard someone else very close by being called that.
This is why Eva Green is the latest Hottie of the Day. Like one a certain someone with mismatched eyes and hair to match her personality, Eva Green is easily a man’s dream…but also can be his nightmare.
One of the films that was to have it’s day in the Super Bowl ad campaign rush was Paramount Pictures’ troubled epic zombie apocalypse film, World War Z.
Starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster, the film is an adaptation (very loosely adapted from the novel) of the novel of the same name written by Max Brooks. Anyone who is even remotely interested in the topic of zombie fiction (or that they’re real like certain awesome people) have read this novel and have been highly anticipating the film. When the first trailer was released several months ago the reaction to the changes made from book to film was a resounding “Huh” to “WTF?!” from fans.
Time will not be changing some of these reactions, but from the sudden release of the Super Bowl ad TV spot that the film will show during Sunday’s Big Game it looks like the film will take the basic premise of the novel and go it’s own way. The zombies being CGI when seen from a distance and moving like ravenous army ants (siafu as the Japanese call them which is also what the zombies were called in the novel).
The film seems to want to see the zombie apocalypse first-hand as it occurs and sped things up to bring more action to the proceedings. This is not a bad thing if the film had been titled other than World War Z, but since it needed to use that name the complaints by fans of the novel will continue. Just based on the trailer and this teaser spot alone it looks like there’s something interesting going on in this film that people will either love or hate. I’m hoping I’ll be of the former than the latter.
World War Z is set for a June 21, 2013 release date.
Through the Shattered Lens 