So if you haven’t seen this yet, a couple of days ago, this Mortal Kombat Rebirth trailer appeared on YouTube in an attempt to generate interest in a reboot of the franchise. It’s more of an eight minute scene than a trailer, and it focuses on portraying various characters (e.g. Reptile, Baraka) as brutal serial killers. What’s interesting about this trailer is that it was directed by Kevin Tancharoen, whose claim to fame is Fame (which isn’t exactly similar to Mortal Kombat).
After watching the video, I felt like it was a substandard Seven with wicked action sequences. Unfortunately, action spectacle doesn’t really do it for me like it used to, but if you hold this against something like Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, you’re sure to see a vast improvement. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself, and let us here at Paper Spaceships know what you think.
Kick-Ass is opening this weekend, and I am pretty stoked to go see it. Granted, I am not always the uber-nerd I should be when it comes to comic book adaptations, so my expectations for this movie are at a minimum. I have not yet read the comic, so I honestly have NO CLUE what I should or shouldn’t be looking for. Still, I expect it to be a fun time.
So why am I talking about a movie that I know so little about? Because it’s causing a controversy, of course! Chloe Moretz plays Hitgirl, and the press seems to want us to believe that it’s a role that has tarnished this innocent flower forever because her character has a foul mouth and loves to splatter the baddies. I mean, just look at her in her comic book form:
Eat your heart out, Go-Go Yubari.
This must be the most badass 11-year-old known to man. The evidence is right there in the comic book. Oh, and also in the movie’s R rating. And if there’s anything we Americans just loooove to do, it’s throwing a royal hissyfit when minors act like adults on film. Notice how no one is recognizing Chloe Moretz for playing yet another adult-oriented role in the past year: the wise-beyond-her-years little sister to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character in (500) Days of Summer. Don’t listen to all the dicks out there who think you’re becoming an abomination, Chloe. You are awesome. And being in Kick-Ass is a gazillion times better than voicing Darby on My Friends Tigger and Pooh, which is something you’re also experienced at.
Are we really a nation of people stupid enough to think that any movie containing teenagers and children is actually appropriate for teenagers and children?
Maybe we shouldn’t answer that. That’s what the comments section is for, kids. Also, go watch this clip from CNN.com of the movie’s cast talking about how we all need to stop flipping out about Hitgirl’s potty mouth. Clark Duke’s comment is my favorite.
We here at Paper Spaceships love martial arts films. We hold a special place in our hearts for the crazy antics of Tony Jaa and his crew of mad stunt people who are willing to put themselves through bodily harm just to create something that is raw and real. Ong Bak sort of stormed the martial arts scene with flying elbows and knees when it came out in 2003. Its no wires, no cg, all real action catapulted star Tony Jaa to stardom and onto the tongues of all the marital arts fanboys (and girls) out there. Then came Tom-Yum-Goong a spiritual successor to the film. Then Tony Jaa directed Ong Bak 2, a film set in the past and made us salivate while waiting for the followup. Well the full trailer for Ong Bak 3 just was released onto the interwebs today and it looks amazing. The plot is as follows:
The legend of Ong Bak 3 begins after Tien (Tony Jaa) has lost his fighting skills and his beloved stepfather at the Garuda’s Wing cliff from the raid led by Jom Rachan (Saranyu Wonggrajang). Tien is brought back to life with the help from Pim (Primrata Dechudom) as well as Mhen (Petchai Wongkamlao) and the Kana Khone villagers. Deep into the meditation taught by Phra Bua (Nirutti Sirijanya), Tien finally is able to achieve ‘Nathayut’. His talents are put to the test again when his rivals including the Golden-Armored King’s Guard (Supakorn ‘Tok’ Kijusuwan), the mysterious killers in black, and Bhuti Sangkha (Dan Chupong) return for the final massive showdown.
Although as we all know these plots are just on the side of nonsensical and who actually watches them for the story anyway? This one looks over the top and brutally amazing. I can’t wait to see it.
Carl Erik Rinsch’s short film The Gift was recently released as a part a 5-filmmaker showcase funded by Philips (that’s right, the electronics company) in cahoots with RSA (Ridley Scott and Associates), which is Ridley Scott’s commercial company. All 5 films in the showcase feature the same dialogue, but each tells a different sci-fi story. Rinsch’s film features a pandora-like box and a robotic manservant on the lam. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here (it’s well worth your 5 minutes). … Continue Reading
As I’ve stated here before my main area of study is Korean film history and culture. I have an entire bookshelf filled to the brim with Korean DVDs and have studied in Korea. Recently however I have been slightly disappointed with the output of the Korean film industry. While there have been some great films, on the whole Korea has fallen into a creative slump producing cookie cutter melodramas, sequels to films that don’t really need sequels, and rather tepid blockbuster films. The other night over drinks with a fellow Korean film scholar/fan we got to discussing the state of the Korean film industry and what we think could help fix it. I stated rather bluntly that what Korea needs more of is independently minded directors who just want to make films. In a sense Korea has become stagnant because it has become complacent in its success (it is only the second country after India to retake the domestic box office from Hollywood) and like Hollywood has become adverse to the experimentation that makes interesting national films. … Continue Reading
It looks as though FUNimation Entertainment is branching out even further from their Anime line with their new Hong Kong Connection line of releases. The current releases are out over here on Amazon. Now I love the Shaw Brothers movies and for those of you who don’t know I used to work in a small independent kung fu/anime video store called OtakuDen (we were awesome and in New York). These films are not the best of Shaw Brothers but I believe Dragon Dynasty owns the right to release most of those. These are the second and even third tier films. Are they bad? Hell no. These movies are still awesome. Shaolin Hand Lock, 14 Amazons, and Bastard Swordsman are all pretty enjoyable, as are the rest of these films. Its nice to see Shaw Brothers getting exposure beyond their big films like 5 Deadly Venoms, One-Armed Swords Men, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, and Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter.
Some horror news that is making the waves today and should be known to all of you out there as well.
First off, George A. Romero’s new zombie film, Survival of the Dead, has a new red band trailer, exclusive to IGNhas been posted today and it looks quite fun to this gorehound. Remember though, this film isn’t as action packed as the trailer might show, but it’s still the master at work here. Plus, it has to be better than Diary of the Dead, right?
Next up on the Splatter Menu, we have Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead getting a 6 episode pick up for the fall season this year. October 2010 to be exact, which is exciting news. When hearing that AMC picked up the series, it worried a few people out there. How would the gore quotient be? Would AMC allow the grotesque and harsh violence that makes the comic book a fan favorite? Well, Shock Til You Drop spoke with KNB’s very own Greg Nicotero, where he mentions that KNB will be working on Frank Darabont’s The Walking Dead, which is already exciting for everyone out there. They are the premier special effects group around, not only for horror but for any film that has required special effects work.
KNB worked recently with Darabont on the greatly under-appreciated film The Mist, so in less than a year we’ll find out how much blood AMC allows in the series.
And finally, not necessarily horror news, but the G-Man himself will be coming back to theaters in 2012. Legendary Pictures officially announced today that they will be partnering with Warner Bros. and Toho to make a new Godzilla film. As long as Roland Emmerich is nowhere in sight of this, then we won’t have another abortion of sorts on the big screen. Godzilla was last seen in the film Final Wars, a fun little flick that even poked fun at the American Godzilla mess. I appreciate how bad they made the CGI for the new Godzilla look in the movie. Check out the clip below.
Let Paper Spaceships know if you like this idea for a new article. Being a huge horror nut, I will scour the internet for random news bits that you, the horror fan, would like to know about.
Recently premiered at SXSW (which we swear we will go to next year, maybe) I bring to you 2 minutes of Nimrod Antal’s Predators (produced by Robert Rodriguez). This looks pretty bad ass and much better than the AvP flicks (although I do enjoy the second on a pure b-movie level).
