The Flickcast

First Teaser for ‘The Hunger Games’ Finally Hits the Web

Posted on August 30, 2011

Big book franchises are all the rage these days, obviously. Harry Potter is now out of theaters, Twilight only has another year left in it, and now it’s time for a brand new franchise to take over Hollywood, in the shape of kids fighting to eat in a post-apocalyptic world.

For those who aren’t aware, here’s the film’s synopsis, based on the first book in the trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

The first teaser trailer doesn’t give us much (just a “tease”, if you will), but it’s certainly enough to get us excited for the film’s release on March 23rd, 2012.

War Movie Mondays: ‘The Eagle Has Landed’

Posted on August 29, 2011

This week’s pick is director John Sturges’s classic World War II thriller The Eagle Has Landed. The film stars some of Hollywood’s best talent: Michael Caine (Col. Kurt Steiner), Donald Sutherland (Liam Devlin), Donald Pleasence (Heinrich Himmler), Robert Duvall (Col. Max Radl) Jenny Agutter (Molly), Anthony Quayle (Adm. Canaris), Jean Marsh (Mrs. Grey), Treat Williams (Capt. Clark), and Larry Hagman (Col. Pitts).

The Eagle Has Landed supposes the theory that a team of German commandos clandestinely enters England and kidnaps Prime Minister Winston Churchill (the least heavily guarded world leader) and hold him for ransom in order to make the British sue for peace, thus allowing the Germans to continue on as the masters of Europe.

Amazed by the rescue mission to free Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from his mountain prison, Hitler proposes the idea to kidnap Churchill. The high command brings in architect colonel Radl (Duvall) to devise the plan in how to kidnap Churchill. Radl settles on Col. Kurt Steiner (Caine) a decorated paratrooper whose anti-Nazi reputation and crack unit are just the ones to pull off a mission considered too risky.

TV RECAP: ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm: Car Periscope’

Posted on August 29, 2011

I don’t know if Judge Horn was actually a real show, but I really wish it were. According to Larry, he’s a real judge, so it may not be the Perry-Mason-style show I was hoping it to be (and more likely to be a Judge-Judy kind of show), but damn, how great would that be? Especially if it were in black and white and really did feature Judge Horn yelling at the defense for not having their stuff together.

Likewise, I don’t know if Larry David was the one who dreamed up the brilliant fictional movies that peppered the Seinfeld universe (Chunnel and Firestorm being my personal favorites), but if he ever gets tired of Curb and wants a new project, in a perfect world, he could bring those gems to the screen (how many people would cheer at the line, “Everybody out of the Chunnel!”?).

DVD Review: ‘Bereavement’ Starring Michael Biehn

Posted on August 29, 2011

For those of you who loved Malevolence, Stevan Mena’s 2004 slasher film, you will love its gory prequel, Bereavement. Even if you haven’t seen Malevolence and just love horror films, you should see this film. It stands on its own as a visually stunning film and has some pretty believable characters as well.

In this film we focus on two different stories: part of the story focuses on Allison (Alexandra Daddario), a 17 year-old girl who has come to live with her uncle Jonathan (Michael Biehn) after the untimely death of her parents. On her daily run Allison passes a a seemingly abandoned home that happens to be inhabited by young Martin Bristol, a boy with a disease that renders him unable to feel physical pain, and his demented captor, Graham Sutter, a sadistic maniac who takes his orders from a mounted deer skull.

The two stories don’t cross paths until the third act. Until that time we follow Allison, who is full of teenage angst. While on another one of her runs, (She runs a lot in this movie) she comes upon William (Nolan Gerard Funk), a muscle car driving heart throb that lives in the trailer park with his paraplegic father. Obviously now we need a side story where Jonathan doesn’t approve of his niece, seeing this “lowlife,” so he does everything to try and stop their love from blossoming.

Powers Trailer & New Screens for ‘X-Men: Destiny’ Released

Posted on August 29, 2011

At Comic Con, the Flickcast got our first hands on with X-Men: Destiny to mixed reviews from the team. While the game is still some time away, there lies a lot of potential for the game to take a turn for the better or the worse. When we had the chance to talk to Denis Dyack, who also headed up past projects such as Too Human, it helped sooth some of our concerns. Now, with PAX this weekend, the team at Silicon Knights gives us some further insight into the game with its new Powers trailer and a host of new screen shots.

In the new X-Men: Destiny screens, our main characters Aimi, Grant and Adrian can be seen in costumes different from their original character designs. The most notable are Grant fighting alongside the Juggernaut in similar wardrobe and Aimi who is wearing what looks like a New Mutants style uniform. This could be a sign that over the course of gameplay, certain decisions will not only change the world in front of the characters but the appearance of the characters themselves.

In the Powers trailer below, all three power sets that can be chosen by any of the game’s three characters are seen in action. At Comic Con, we chose the Density Control which used close by rock and asphalt to create a melee focused set, giving players an experience similar to that of the X-Man Rockslide. Energy Projection looks to be more of a sniper class where players will have the opportunity to take out enemies from a distance, playing more like Cyclops. Shadow Matter looks like it combines a mix of the two giving players some distance attacks and other close up enhancements.

Take a look at the trailer and screens below. As always, stick to the Flickcast for more on X-Men: Destiny as it approaches its September 27th release for XBox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS.

Box Office: ‘The Help’ Pulls Off Another Winning Weekend

Posted on August 29, 2011

So it turns out America is a huge fan of heartwarming tales about maids, as indie comedy The Help managed to steal the show once again, claiming the #1 spot for the second time in 3 weeks.

The film has grossed nearly $100 million domestically, and is still growing in popularity, as it beat out Colombiana, Guillermo del Toro’s Don’t Be Afraid Of the Dark and Paul Rudd’s attempt at a quirky indie comedy with Our Idiot Brother, bringing in a total of $14.3 million this weekend.

Coming in second is Luc Besson’s Colombiana, which only managed to bring in $10 million (a quarter of the film’s budget) in the domestic box office this weekend.

Just after that film, the first big horror film of the late summer/early fall season, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, was unable to open big enough to scare the masses, as the film barely managed to break $10 million this weekend, coming in just shy of $9 million.

A New Clip and Stills For ‘Drive’ with Ryan Gossling Arrive

Posted on August 26, 2011

Let me just say, for the record, I enjoyed director Nicolas Winding Refn’s film Drive immensely. I’m going to do a full review of the film down the road, but for now, let’s just say the movie had an influence on me that few movies have of late.

Because I enjoyed it so much I want to do whatever I can to help get the word out. So, to that end, we’ve got some new stuff from the movie to share with you today.

In case you’re not familiar with Drive, it stars Ryan Gosling as “Driver,” a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman that will take any job and not ask questions. However, as is often the case (especially in the movies), he discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist goes wrong.

And seriously, it goes really wrong. They are not kidding.

Drive features a great cast who, to a man or woman, do a superb job. It includes Ryan Gossling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, and Albert Brooks.

Check out the video and some stills after the break. Drive hits theaters September 16, 2011.

Film Score Friday: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Posted on August 26, 2011

Last week we looked at recent “best of” releases celebrating two masters of film music: Hans Zimmer and James Horner. Reflecting on the works of Zimmer and Horner reminded me that I have gone a long time with out appreciating the one composer who can rightfully be called their superior. Of course I am talking about the maestro himself, John Willaims, the single most prolific master composer in the history of cinema.

In honor of the maestro’s concert series at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend and the two new scores coming out this winter I am going to review the last score John Williams wrote for a feature film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The much maligned sequel to the popular franchise, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still boasted a brand new, return to 80’s action style score from Williams.

The movie might have failed to live up to the high standards of Spielberg and his franchise, but the Williams brought his A game to the table. The score is right out of the vintage Williams style that influenced an entire generation. If you would have told me the music came from a lost late 80’s adventure film scored by Williams, I would have believed you. The spirit and tone of Williams most iconic era was alive again.

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