Giant Robots fighting giant monsters... what else could you want in an action movie?
How about Charlie Day!!!
As the trailer shows, "Pacific Rim" is about a not to distant future in which Monster Aliens begin to attack the major cities of the world. To fend them off the World Powers come together to create the Jaeger program. They begin to build giant robots piloted by two people to fist fight the monsters back to hell!!!! AWWWWWWW YEAH!!!!!
Despite it's terrible acting and cheesy dialogue (which was expected) "Pacific Rim" is an extremely entertaining movie with giant fight scenes (pun intended, sorry). This is the movie that all men wanted to see when they were kids. It just wasn't possible until now. When you see this movie, you must first connect with your inner child.
Possibly by playing a game of night crawlers with Danny Devito.
This is the kind of movie where you can't be digging for logic through out the entire thing. Seriously. Come on. It's a movie about GIANT ROBOTS FIST FIGHTING GIANT MONSTERS!!!! Why are you looking for logic in the first place! It is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously and neither should you! So STOP IT!!!! STOP IT NEW YORK MAGAZINE!!! STOP IT!!!
Vince Vaugh playing an irresponsible man that has a bunch of responsibility thrown at him one day? And then he's got to face said responsibility? He has such diversity! This movie could go either way, but other than Chris Pratt, I'm not too excited about it.
SNOWPIERCER (TBA 2013)
...What? I'm not exactly sure what's going on here. But it definitely looks interesting. And I like most of the cast. Should be an interesting movie to watch.
RIDDICK (9/6/13)
As tempted as I am to make bad puns, don't worry. I won't.... This looks RIDDICK-ulous....... Damn it! Sorry, it slipped. "Pitch Black" and "The Chronicles of Riddick" were OK, but I don't think they warrant a third one. From what I hear though, a lot of people like these movies. I'm not too sure.
THE LIFEGUARD (8/30/13)
Ah, another movie thats gonna piss me off. Not only for the immaturity of the main character but I also feel it will be filled with indie music and try to be deeper than it is. Who knows though. It might surprise me.
THE BOXTROLLS (9/26/14)
By the creators of "ParaNorman" and "Coraline", "The Boxtrolls" looks like another dark, stop-motion animation movie that will surprise it's audiences. With voiced by Simon Pegg, Sir Ben Kingsley, Nick Frost and Richard Ayoade I feel this movie will actually be pretty good.
A HIGHJACKING (6/21/13)
There is a film coming out similar to this one starring Tom Hanks. It's called "Captain Phillips". They both seem really good. It's weird how filmmakers make similar movies so close together, but I guess it's a product of the hot topics of the year.
REDEMPTION (6/28/13)
Jason Statham looks weird with long hair...
PACIFIC RIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (7/12/13)
In honor of my most anticipated movie of the summer.... WE ARE CANCELING THE APOCALYPSE!!!!
If you look back at movies from the past 30 years you can witness the gradual decline of practical effects and the sequential growth of CGI (Computer-generated Imagery). Some people have chosen sides in the matter and have embraced CGI completely forgetting Practical effects (I'm looking at you, George Lucas) or they have decided to stay under the rock in which they live and not geo with the ever changing technology.
Great directors realize that the area in which they should fall is in between. They need to meet half way and realize if it can be done practically and realistically, maybe it's not the best time to call your buddies at Industrial Light and Magic. CGI can be used for good, but it shouldn't be used for everything.
If you ask me, the effects looked more realistic in 1983.
I am cursed with the ability to pick out what is Computer-generated and what isn't. To me, "Avatar" just looked like a video game, albeit a very well made video game (I just vomited a little). Every time I am reminded that something is computer generated, it takes me out of the story and makes me enjoy the movie less. The transition from reality to computers should be flawless and in my mind, unless it's an animated film, there should never be a shot that is 100% CGI. Not even 90%. Unfortunately, very few movies will be like that.
I really respect a director that will do everything to make the world he is creating real and who will only use CGI as a last resort. Check out this featurette for "The Cabin in the Woods".
This is a great example of using a combination of CGI and Practical Effects. They shot each individual elevator with a real, physical thing and then used computers to put them all together into one shot. If this has been all CGI, it would have looked terrible.
I understand that some movies cannot be done without CGI. "Life of Pi", one of my favorite movies of last year, is one of them. They have been trying to make that book into a film since it was first published in 2001. But no one could figure out how to do it. Even 10 years ago, technology was not advanced enough, and no one was going to throw an actor into a boat with a full grown tiger and throw water onto the both of them. That's just crazy.
Even with all of the CGI in "Life of Pi", they still did a lot of things practically. Water effects that could have easily been done with computers were done practically. Parts of the carnivorous island were actually built. And of course, the life boat was always real.
This generation has forgotten how much can actually be done practically, if they even knew at all. Up until the 80s, computers were never used to create an image on a screen. When "Tron" came out, it was nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Sound, but not Best Visual Effects. Many people thought that it would be unfair to put the film in because they "cheated by using computers". Yet before "Tron", we saw Luke Skywalker destroy the Death Star. We saw a Great White Shark terrorize the town of Amity. We saw Roy Neary interact with with UFOs.
And there has been plenty of classic scenes after the integration of computers into film.
"Jurassic Park" is a perfect example of how CGI should be used. The only time you see a Computer-generated image is when you see the entire body of a dinosaur or if it's moving. And even then, not always.
I love watching how movies are made, and I find it so much less fascinating when the answer is "We did it all with computers". While I admire the talent it takes to create images using computers, the answer, when broken down to the very core, is always the same with computers. When things are done practically, there are always new challenges and new innovative ways to achieve different things.
The hours and hours of hard work that goes into making practical effects is simply amazing and has an amazing story. Movies with mostly CGI special effects don't have interesting stories behind them. As much as I love "Life of Pi" the behind-the-scenes featurettes are not nearly as intriguing as "Jurassic Park" or "Cabin in the Woods".
The reason I wanted to write this was the video below. And even though it will be mostly CGI, "Pacific Rim" still has this... and Guillermo del Toro reads my mind at 0:53.
Trailers are often the best part of going to the movies, even though they usually set you up for disappointment. The following are trailers that stood out to me. Most for the better, some for worse.
ELYSIUM (8/9/13)
First off, I loved "District 9". It was my favorite movie of 2009. Director Neill Blomkamp has made a name for himself very fast, and for good reason. I think this looks like a very good sophomore film. It doesn't look quite as good as "District 9", but I think it has a lot of potential. And who know? It could be better! This is definitely my most anticipated movie of 2013.
THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (11/22/13)
Undoubtedly the most anticipated movie of the fall for most, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" is of course the sequel last years "The Hunger Games". I never read the books, because reading is for chumps (not really). But I did enjoy the movie, and although I am not terribly excited for this one, I will more than likely see it... because I have no life.
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (5/17/13)
Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes! I have been waiting for this since the credits started rolling for the first J.J. Abrams "Star Trek". I think he has done a superb job with the series, and the alternate universe take on it to make the series how he wants it was just brilliant. But I've never really watched the original series, so I could just sound stupid as usual. Anyway, I think Benedict Cumberbatch (Such an English name!) is going to be a fantastic villain and I can't wait to see what happens in the newest chapter!
MAN OF STEEL (6/14/13)
I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I hate Superman. It seems like he was created by a temperamental toddler who kept losing in a backyard game of Super Heroes so he just kept giving himself super power. Like Cartman in the Anime episode of "South Park". That being said, I'm impressed with this trailer. I still don't have much hope for the movie, but I must say this has intrigued me. The opening where the piano plays over the chaos of war going on in his home planet is just awesome. However, I do hate the part where a woman says, "My son was on that bus! He saw what Clark did". I find it hard to believe that anyone would be that ungrateful towards someone who saved their son. That might not be what's going on at all though.
RUSH (9/20/13)
This looks like it has some serious potential. Ron Howard behind the camera, Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl in front, and OH! Olivia Wilde! MMMMM!!!! Anyway, this trailer has great music and great visuals, but I feel like it shows to much. But who knows? This may just be a small portion of the movie.
GRAVITY (10/4/13)
Terrifying... Absolutely terrifying. These are the kinds of movies that scare the crap out of me. Not "horror" movies. Movies like this and "The Impossible" scare me. Things that could actually happen to people (obviously not me, since I'm not an Astronaut). Movies with monsters and ghosts killing you in your dreams don't scare me. However, if I die violently in my sleep, you know who did it!
PACIFIC RIM (7/12/13)
Giant robots fighting giant monsters? Charlie Day? Guillermo del Toro? Charlie Day? CHARLIE DAY? What more could you possibly want in a summer movie?
VIOLET & DAISY (6/7/13)
I'm putting this trailer because I realized that I have yet to post a trailer I haven't liked. I think this just looks stupid.
R.I.P.D. (7/19/13)
I like Jeff Bridges. I like Ryan Reynolds. But this is a painfully obvious rip off of "Men In Black". It hurts. Come on, Hollywood, now you're not even trying to hide it!
CAPTAIN PHILIPS (10/11/13)
Damn, I love Tom Hanks! This movie looks so intense! And the actors playing the pirates seem so genuine! They're not even listed on the cast list on IMDB yet! I think this could be a really good movie! Directed by the same guy who made the first three "Bourne" movies, it will most like have a lot of tense scenes as well.
Thanks for reading! Tune in next week when I may or may not share more trailers!
