Song of the Day: Protectors of the Earth (by Two Steps From Hell)

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Arleigh

With Mass Effect 3 having been released to the masses earlier today it also means another official launch trailer which also happened to use a piece of music from the band Two Steps From Hell. BioWare used a song from this band to score their launch trailer for Mass Effect 2 two years ago. That song was “Heart of Courage” and it was a perfect choice made by the folks from BioWare.

This time around their latest pick from Two Steps From Hell to score their launch trailer for Mass Effect 3 would also come from the band and is also the latest choice for “Song of the Day”.

The song is “Protectors of the Earth” and if that is not an apt and perfect choice for a game whose tagline is “Take Earth Back” then I don’t know what is. For one thing it adds a level of epic grandiosity to the trailer and the visuals chosen to help highlight the strengths of the game. What better way to usher in the installment to the Mass Effect trilogy than with music will help inspire gamers to, as the game’s tagline has been pushing, “Take back Earth”.

Trailer: Mass Effect 3 (Launch Trailer)

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Arleigh

It’s the Day of Days for gamers worldwide as one of the most-anticipated games of this generation finally comes out.

Mass Effect 3 completes the sci-fi rpg trilogy from BioWare and with each game’s release the need from gamers just continued to increase. At the stroke of midnight on March 6, 2012 EA and BioWare held official release events at four different locations around the United States as hundreds, if not thousands, of gamers braved cold nights to be the first to get their hands on the final leg of Cmdr. Shepard’s journey to save the galaxy from the extragalactic mechanical race intent on harvesting all living organisms from the galaxy as they’ve done every 50,000 years.

The last couple of weeks have seen several trailers and tv spots marketing and hyping up the game as it led to today. BioWare ends the wait by releasing one last trailer and it’s simply called the “Launch Trailer” and to say that it is epic would be just the tip of the iceberg.

Enough talking…Time to take Earth back!

Trailer: The Raid: Redemption (Official and Red Band)

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Arleigh

I wasn’t fortunate enough to be able to attend last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. If I was there I have a feeling that a little Indonesian action film would’ve been the highlight of my time at TIFF 2011. The film is The Raid (it will get the Redemption added for it’s American release) and from the look of these two trailers it just speaks the language of awesome.

All I can say is that it should put the Indonesian martial arts style Pencak Silat on Hollywood’s map the way Ong Bak did for Muay Thai a decade ago.

Trailer: Mass Effect 3 “Take Earth Back” (Live-Action Trailer)

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Arleigh

Last week we saw the cinematic “Take Earth Back” trailer for the upcoming Mass Effect 3 rpg title from BioWare and EA. During tonight’s latest episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead we got to see another trailer for this upcoming game. This time around we get a live-action trailer about Earth being visited upon by the main antagonists of the series and that’s the giant, extragalactic biomechanical alien race who call themselves “The Reapers”.

For a live-action trailer this one does a great job at emphasizing the fact that Earth is royally screwed and that the player in the guise of Cmdr. Shepard must lead an army to take it back from the brink of destruction. I like how even in this future Earth once the proverbial crap hits the fan everyone will begin to riot instead of actually trying to band together to fight the invaders.

Mass Effect 3 is set for a March 6, 2012 North American release date.

Trailer: Mass Effect 3 “Take Earth Back”

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Arleigh

During one of the many commercial breaks for February 19th’s episode of The Walking Dead audiences were treated to the premiere of a trailer for one of 2012’s most-anticipated video games.

Mass Effect 3 is the final title in the series trilogy that first began five years ago with the Mass Effect title. The series has just gotten bigger since then with the second title selling even more and improving on the first game. This third title looks to tie-up all the storylines begun with the first two games and finish them off in the only way possible: EPIC.

This trailer is simply called “Take Earth Back” and we see just why it’s called just that. The Reapers (extragalactic robotic beings of extreme intelligence who scour the galaxy of all living life every 50,000 years or so and this time they’re returning with their sights set on taking on the homeworld of the person who has tried to stop them from returning: Earth. We see much in this trailer from major cities being destroyed by giant Reaper ships then to the arrival of Cmdr. Shepard and his allies to take on the possessed “Husks” of aliens the Reaper has turned against everyone.

The game has been hyped since the second game ended and this trailer just adds to that as we get nearer to the title’s March 6, 2012 release date. This trailer preaches to the loyal and should go a long way to helping convince those still on the fence to pick it up.

Trailer: The Raven

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

When we went to see Haywire earlier tonight, one of the trailers that played before the movie started was for an upcoming horror/mystery film called The Raven. I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about the trailer. The idea of Edgar Allan Poe as a detective is one that is either going to be campy fun or else it’s just going to be an annoying gimmick. To be honest, the trailer leads me to suspect the latter because it definitely has a wannabe Sherlock Holmes feel to it. That said, I do have some hope for this film if just because it looks like John Cusack is having a lot of fun with this role. Cusack is one of those “serious” actors who can be very watchable when he’s finally allowed to just cut loose and go totally over the top.

Trailer: Moonrise Kingdom (dir. by Wes Anderson)

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

January is the time of year that you look at what’s being released into theaters and you think to yourself, “Oh my God, is it summer yet!?” This is the time of the Devil Inside and Joyful Noise. This is also the time when we find ourselves watching trailers and previews of upcoming films for just a little bit of hope that maybe things are going to get better.

And, on that note, here’s the trailer for Wes Anderson’s upcoming film, Moonrise Kingdom. I don’t know much about Moonrise Kingdom but, seeing as it’s directed Wes Anderson, it’ll either be very clever and unappreciated or else it will be so self-consciously quirky that I’ll end up having a seizure halfway through the film.

Trailer: Modern Warfare 3 “The Vet and The n00b”

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Arleigh

Well, the time that seems to arrive once every year around November has finally arrived. The latest iteration of the Call of Duty first-person shooter franchise from Activision will see a midnight release starting 12:01 am on November 8, 2011. Already there are lines numbering in the hundreds in major cities. Parties being held at stores such as Best Buy and Gamestop as hundreds of thousands, if not, millions of gamers flock to get the game in their hands. This game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and it’s one of those rare video games which actually lowers work productivity the week of it’s release. It will be safe to assume that the morning of November 8, 2011 will see a high amount of sick calls and last minute PTO requests.

I won’t be one of them but I will still get this game in a week or two. Until then I’ll just continue to watch this funny and creative trailer for the game starring Jonah Hill, Sam Worthington and Dwight Howard.

Horror Trailer: Deadheads

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Below is the trailer for the new zombie comedy Deadheads, which played to sell-out crowds at the Austin Film Festival. I’m usually a little bit hesitant whenever I see horror and comedy being mixed together because for those two genres to mix, a perfect balance must be struck. Otherwise, you end up with a horror film that’s too funny or a comedy that’s too scary. Still, I’ve heard good things about Deadheads from my friends in Austin and the trailer would seem to suggest that, at the very least, the film has a good heart and I hope it picks up a national distributor in the near future.

(Special thanks to frequent Shattered Lens commenter Jake Moore for alerting me to this trailer!)

Trailer: Chronicle

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I have to admit that, even though I thought that Apollo 18 was an underrated movie, I’m still skeptical about the whole “found footage” genre of film. I could explain why but the fact of the matter is that just about everyone is skeptical about it and we’re all skeptical for pretty much the same reasons. Still, Chronicle looks like it might be interesting. Still, you have to wonder who all these people are who, in the face of incoming apocalypse, react by standing in place with a camera. Me, I’d probably drop the camera and run.