Super Rundown 4/27/13

In case you don't have time to scout down the latest about these movies, here's a breakdown:

In X-Men news, The Wolverine is supposed to be good and, although this may be easy to do, much better than its predecessor X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Its supposed to explore a plot beyond normal limits of a superhero movie constrained to fighting a new super villain or explaining an origins story. Hugh Jackman has said that he thinks the audience will probably be surprised by the new film and that they "will really dig it." Here's hoping this new turn means that this movie will take advantage of what a good actor Mr. Jackman is, rather than reducing him to a flat angry hunk.
Also from the X-Men universe, Bryan Singer has been releasing more fun things, cluing us in on characters he's adding to the new movie. He has also stated that Peter Dinklage's role will not be a CGI character, which is exciting as that will allow us more time to actually see Mr. Dinklage and his command of compelling roles.

Speaking of Mr. Singer, both he and Bryan Fuller have in the past talked about possible directions for future television projects with Star Trek. In a recent interview, Mr. Fuller talked about some of those thoughts and how any possible television project might mesh, or not mesh, with the Star Trek of JJ Abrams. This was an interesting interview in light of recent comments and statements from Rod Roddenberry, heir to the Star Trek throne, son of the late Gene Roddenberry. He feels that television is the best place for Star Trek, and so he looks forward to a transition back to the small screen. This could bode well for Michael Dorn, the actor who played Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Mr. Dorn was rumored last summer to have plans to start a new Star Trek series, rumors he later put to rest in an interview with the Huffington Post. If Trek is indeed headed back to television, it will be interesting to see if Mr. Dorn, Singer or Fuller get the chance to drive the expedition.

Back in the Marvel universe, some are speculating as to the remaining future of Robert Downey Jr. in his role as Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies. However Shane Black, the director of Iron Man 3, has expressed confidence in Mr. Downey's role in future Iron Man movies. There's been a whole lot of back an forth on the future of the Iron Man series, a back and forth that's outlined nicely here on screenrant.com.

Also, Marvel Studios announced that they have regained the rights to Daredevil, a great sign for any possibility of future Daredevil movies.

Happy Weekend.

White House Fallen

Earlier this month, smosh.com put up a list of movies that were released the same year with similar or nearly-the-same plot-lines. A list like that could probably be very long if you stretched different plot points, or looked closely at smaller films, but SMOSH stopped at six titles. They started their list with Olympus Has Fallen and G.I.Joe: Retaliation, which was just a little uninformed since almost everyone had been talking about how similar Olympus seems to be to White House Down due out this summer.  People have noted that these three movies do have something in common: they're the first since 9/11 to have the gall to attack national monuments with terrorist attacks, which some see as both good and bad. Although there are differences between Olympus and White House Down, we won't know the biggest ones till the latter comes out in June.

RIP'D From Another Page

One of the biggest trailers released this last week was for the upcoming R.I.P.D. from Universal Pictures. If you missed it, don't worry. Just imagine a zombie movie crossed with the Men in Black franchise. Or MIB crossed with GhostBusters. 

The comparison isn't hard to make, and the producer admitted there were some "influences" from different sources. It should be said that the film is based upon a comic book of the same name, so credit for the story's originality shouldn't lie solely with the filmmakers.  Although if (lack of) originality lies with the comic book writer, then it should also be noted that Men in Black was a comic book also, so both films do have similar roots.

The preview does look like MIB, but it also looks like it could be an entertaining movie. I spotted Robert Knepper in a supporting role, so that could be fun to see him again. Hopefully there's some larger plot element that will distinguish the film from the MIB series. Otherwise, it might as well be a whitewashed MIB with Ryan Reynolds playing Will Smith. 

See the trailer below:

Super British

A while back I was talking with a group of friends and we decided to list off actors we like that were Americans and not British, Australian or Canadian. We didn't get too far.

If you're a fan of BBC shows like Doctor Who, Wallander or Sherlock, then you probably are already following all things super. Superhero movies are pretty cool, and the domination of actors from the UK is also apparent in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. Here's some examples, some which should have already been apparent to you:

Martin Freeman, the very endearing and relatably fastidious (in the company of his particular flatmate) Dr. Watson from BBC's Sherlock is also, as most everyone knows, Bilbo, the hobbit of The Hobbit. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance in both and look forward to the continuation of both productions.
The Hobbit is more epic fantasy than superhero escapade, but I think there's some sort of similar element to the fantastic style and subject. Certainly Tolkien is the founding father and reigning king of fantasy, and superhero's stories are more a science fantasy than science fiction, a genre well defined by stories like Star Wars. Here's hoping we continue to see more of Mr. Freeman in the years to come beyond his two roles mentioned above.

Benedict Cumberbatch is also a star in Sherlock, his part being the title character. Besides having a such a delicious name, Mr. Cumberbatch also has a good amount of talent in exploring and conveying characters on screen. There is a lot of talk and excitement surrounding his role as a new villain (or maybe an old one?) in JJ Abrams' Star Trek: Into Darkness due out this May.
Star Trek does science fiction well, and I'm really excited to see Mr. Cumberbatch added to the ranks of Trek stars.
Oh, and Mr. Cumberbatch is also appearing (sort of) in the next two installments of The Hobbit as both Smaug the dragon and the mysterious Necromancer.



And as long as we're talking British stars in Star Trek, it should be noted that Simon Pegg also appears in the new movie, reprising his roll as the Enterprise's chief engineer Scotty. He, of course, is the funny man behind movies like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul and the TV show Spaced, all of which he did with his friend Nick Frost. He's a ton of fun to watch in almost anything he does, and I thought he brought a lot to his role in Star Trek. 

Tom Hiddleston (right) rocketed into American stardom following his role as the Norse god of mischief 'Loki' both in Thor and Marvel's: The Avengers. I first saw him in the BBC series Wallander, the adaptation of the Swedish detective novels. He did a very good job playing a supporting role to Kenneth Branagh (left) in the title role. Incidentally, Mr. Branagh was Mr. Hiddleston's director in Thor. 
Out this November is Thor's sequel is set to be released, and much excitement followed the preliminary UK trailer that was released earlier this week.

And finally, we have Christopher Eccleston. Whovians should be thrilled to learn that he's going to play opposite Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth in the new Thor movie as the villain 'Malekith the Accursed.' The trailer looks promising, and I think he should add something intriguing as a Marvel villain.

So there you go, there's some UK stars you'll be seeing in American cinema for probably a while. I should probably also say that both the current Spider-Man and Superman are from the UK as well: Henry Cavill and Andrew Garfield both get to wear spandex in future films.

Old British Men with Movie Beards

So often I hear somebody wonder, "Oh, didn't he play Dumbledore and Gandalf?" Hopefully this helps clear things up. Open the image in a new tab for best resolution. 

"X-Men: Tales of Future Past" Pictures

Bryan Singer is directing again and it's supposed to be a good turn, incorporating good stuff from the first three and First Class and includes some sort of time travel to include both casts. These are 'first look' pics that Singer's been leaking via Twitter. Check out his twitter feed for more 'first look' leaks: https://twitter.com/BryanSinger 

Here's hoping this new "X-Men" incorporates what was good in X2 and First Class and sheds the undesirable qualities that showed up in Last Stand and Origins.