Karen: For your perusing pleasure today, just a collection of stuff....
Karen: First off - have you seen the pictures of Jamie Foxx as Electro in the next Spider-Man film? Electro? Oh heck no!! Seriously, this looks terrible. He looks like a fish to me. Or Mr. Freeze from Batman and Robin. But not Electro.
Karen: Last weekend I went to a convention in Burbank, CA called Monsterpalooza and had a great time. I mentioned earlier this week seeing the actors from 2001, but I also saw the writer and production designer from Jaws, cast and crew of The Monster Squad, and a zillion other things. The highlight for me though was being able to hold the only existing armature from the original King Kong. The legendary Mr. Bob Burns brought the armature to a panel on Kong and was kind enough to allow everyone there to photograph it and hold it. That huge grin on my face is me realizing I am holding the beast that slew T-Rexes and climbed the Empire State Building.
Karen: We haven't talked at all about the upcoming Superman film, Man of Steel.A new trailer just came out, and I think it's looking pretty sharp. Still not sold on the muted colors of the Superman suit, but the story looks like it might be solid. Any thoughts? Looking forward to this?
Hmm, Russell Crowe as Jor-El and Costner as Pa Kent? Thats ... interesting. Also a bit concerned that the director is the same guy who gave us the most recent dark and somber Bat films. Still, it looks like it might not be bad. The actor sure seems like an improvement from that Tom Cruise-looking (and sounding) guy from "Chuck" that played him in the last movie...
ReplyDeleteBy the way Karen, I just love the fact that you're wearing a Godzilla t-shirt as you hold that Kong prop. The young me - an unabashed Godzilla enthusiast who didn't like the big ape very much - would have heartily approved.
Yeaaaah, that Electro looks terrible. Definitely a Mr Freeze look if I ever saw one. I've mentioned this before, but as much as I'm beside myself that the super hero movies have been successful enough to warrant more ("well.., most of 'em.."), I never liked any of the Spiderman films ('cept perhaps some of the first film..). All mis-casted, largely mis-directed, once again using that insipid 'more villains the better' idea from the Schumacher Batman films.
ReplyDeleteAt least the Avengers theme (with Thor, CA, IM, etc) has been blessed with believable casting and approaches.
Some years after the Avengers have played out, here's hoping they'll churn out a better FF film experience.
Awesome Kong experience, Karen. Thanks for sharing..!!
Man of Steel looks and sounds worse and worse the more I see and read of it. When they proudly tell you they drew inspiration from Death of Superman and that whole multi-Supermen clones '90s debacle, that Superman needs to be "grittier" and "realistic," and that they have "improved" a classic costume that has stood the test of time, it tellsme the parties involved don't "get" Superman. They just wanna ape Nolan's (awful) Batman and hope to reap in $$$$. I won't be seeing it. Shame, as I was hoping they would get it right this time after failing 7 years ago.
ReplyDeleteSurely that's not Electro but some kind of cosplay Jedi thing? Maybe Electro is standing behind this guy?
ReplyDeleteI'll likely see this movie, but I have very low expectations. Like Matt said, I don't think you have to make Superman "darker" or "grittier" to make a good movie about him.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not crazy about Zack Snyder either. He directed 'X-3:X-men United' and 'Watchmen'. I wasn't impressed with either one.
On a positive note, Amy Adams(Lois) and Michael Shannon(Zod)can act, so I expect them to bring it.
I've always been more of a Marvel than a DC fan,I'm not very concerned with whether or not it conforms to the comic book stories. But I grew up with the Reeve movies, so I hope this is good.
As for Electro, I imagine CGI will improve his look by the time this is released, but I'm not digging this either. The other thing I'm not excited about is that we're getting yet another "Peter Parker vs. Norman Osborn" movie, can't we get another villain instead? Like, I don't know, Vulture or Mysterio? I'd settle for the Enforcers at this point instead of Norman.
Heck, Kraven the Hunter would be better than Osborne. I'd even take the Gibbon!
ReplyDeleteKaren, I'm jealous...Kong rules!
ReplyDeleteWasn't there a brief period in the comics when Electro wore a really stupid blue costume? Of course, this is even worse since it looks like they made his SKIN blue...
Mike W.
Lurker here....
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge comic book fan, but...
Hollywood is saving me a lot of money on movie tickets.
Edo: I really wish I could find a Kong shirt, but in lieu of that, I had to go with his wrasslin' buddy, Godzilla. Boy, that Toho Kong is just one ugly sucker.
ReplyDeleteI should also mention, after the panel discussion of the Kong movie, they wheeled out a great big sheet cake with "Happy 80th birthday King Kong" on it and everybody got a slice. It was an awesome night.
Hmm Karen that Kong armature looks like an ape terminator exoskeleton!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, that musta been fun holding that piece of cinematic history in your hands. To think that Willis O'Brien himself painstakingly moved that armature inch by inch to make Kong come to life is enough to give any fanboy (or in your case fangirl) chills.
As for Jamie Foxx as Electro, I really hope they change his look here; he looks like a rapper with a really bad skin condition! Why do they have him looking like that? Sure, they want to portray him as a being changed by electricity, but that look definitely doesn't work for me.
Man of Steel? Ho hum. I'll watch it when it comes out to form an opinion. I don't think they necessarily have to make it darker or grittier, but rather more grounded in reality. DC really needs to look at how Marvel did the Avengers. Are you listening Mr. Zack Snyder?
- Mike 'hey Karen does anyone have the old Godzilla outfit?' from Trinidad & Tobago.
In regard to the Avengers being "done right", I offer a caution to all -- in my opinion, Iron Man 2 began to fill up a bit with Whiplash, War Machine, and the Black Widow. Doesn't anyone think that since Thanos will at some point pose a huge cosmic threat that we won't get the Guardians of the Galaxy shoved into an Avengers picture? Works in comics; probably not on screen.
ReplyDeleteDoug
oh my, did they misguidedly base the electro design on this animated version?
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MTV_Electro.jpg
What does Iron Man 2 not being very good have to do with the Avengers being "done right"? I don't get what you're trying to say. Please explicate this as I must be obtuse: I saw Iron Man 2, didn't find it anywhere near as good as the first one, but that had no bearing on the quality of the Avengers; indeed, one needn't even see Iron Man 2 to enjoy the Avengers. I still haven't seen the Norton Hulk.
ReplyDeleteI doubt very much the Guardians of the Galaxy will guest in any Avengers films. What would be the point when the studio can have 2 separate franchises instead of overlapping one? I hope not, but then again I don't like the Guardians even a little bit.
Who am I kidding. I'll end up seeing all of the comic book based movies coming out, including: Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Wolverine 2, Thor 2, and next year's Amazing Spider-Man 2. However, I find I'm not really looking much forward to any of them all that much. Just hoping they turn out to be better than I think.
ReplyDeleteThat pic of Electro does look terrible. But it's a very early production shot, so I'm sure it will improve with some CGI. I wasn't really expecting the green and yellow suit with the star fish mask, but I also didn't expect him to look like a Sith Lord either.
I swear I wish those damn "Batman" movies had never been released. I have a feeling every super hero movie from now on will be at least partly influenced by those films and will be tainted by their grim and gritty stink.
"Grim and gritty stink" indeed, plus the world's greatest detective being reduced to a ninja in kevlar. I would really love a Batmovie where he actually solves a mystery and fights crime. You could replace Batman with Chuck Norris in the Nolan movies and have basically the same films.
DeleteI am officially jealous now. I'd love the chance to hold the Mighty Kong in my own two mitts. You are so very very lucky!
ReplyDeleteI was just reading an article talking about Obie and his two sons and their last great day together on the set of Mighty Joe Young. His one son was blind and got great pleasure from holding and touching the creations of his Dad. The two boys were killed by their Mother who herself died of wounds and disease a few years later. Obie's life was a troubled one indeed.
Rip Off
Sorry, Matt -- should have been more clear in my comment. By the way, did you have the thesaurus open when you wrote that first paragraph? Sheesh! What a wordsmith! :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, as we've seen with the 1989 Batman franchise and then later the X-Men and Spider-Man series of films, they seem to get busier and busier with each succeeding offering. The Avengers already has a lot of characters, and I think we all hope that they'll add more... Avengers. I don't want to see any more films with three villains, two guest-starring heroes, and Aunt Petunia thrown in for good measure. I just want to see good comic book stories and concepts transferred to the silver screen.
My comment about Iron Man 2 was to compare it to the previous film series that have just attempted to cram too much into each film.
I hope that clarifies it. What we need around here is a big comic shop with tables in the back so we can ruminate on these subjects in person!
Doug
I get you now...personally I prefer one well-developed villain per film. Iron Man 2 had too many competing plots and subplots. Spider-Man 3 was even worse. But nothing to date has topped (bottomed?) Batman 4. Ugh!
DeleteI kinda hope that, if they add any Avengers to the team, they limit it to one at a time and rotate out another (Hawkeye would be my choice as he was the least interesting in the film).
Am I the only person who really enjoyed Iron Man 2?
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to give Man of Steel a chance. This latest clip makes me think it might not be too dark. But then, I am not a Superman fan so I'm not really emotionally invested in it.
Rip, Willis O'Brien did have a tough life. But at least he is well remembered for his contributions to film by those of us who recognize the artistry of his work. That has to count for something.
I enjoyed Iron Man 2 just fine; in fact, I don't think it's any worse or better than the first one.
ReplyDeleteAs for this new Superman flick, I'm mildly interested, but I won't be rushing to the theaters to see it - I'm perfectly willing to wait for it's secondary release on video.
I've been meaning to add a comment about the Superman trailer and keep forgetting. So here it is --
ReplyDeleteThe role of Superman seems to be an issue of typecasting, but not in the traditional sense of an actor being typecast by a role, but instead the role being typecast by an actor. Some of you have criticized Brandon Routh, but my impression of him remains "at least they got a guy that looks like Christopher Reeve". No -- for me the notion of "looking like Superman" doesn't cross my mind; I look for "does Superman look like Christopher Reeve?" That's how I judge Super-actors.
Doug