Clash of the Titans 2: The Unwanted Sequel

In the era of sequels, director Louis Leterrier of “Clash of the TItans”, decided to cash in with a sequel as well. “Clash” took in an impressive $486 million off a $125 million budget. However, after the opening weekend and the reviews came out, “Clash” did not do as well in the following weeks. Rotten Tomatoes gave “Clash” a 30%. Even “Spiderman 3″ did better with a 63%.

The reason obviously for the poor reviews is the horrible visual effects. After “Avatar” came out Leterrier frantically decided last-minute to make his film 3-D. This involved looking at every frame and slightly altering it to give it a 3-D effect. In the end it was time-consuming and expensive. Majority of the viewers did not find it pleasant to look at.

Warner Bros. is trying to seal a contract with their main character Sam Worthington soon because he will start production of “Avatar 2″ in 2011. It will be interesting to see if viewers will give this franchise another chance. Fortunately, this time “Clash 2″ will be shot in 3-D from the beginning so there will be less headaches and nausea.

A-Team Review

Interning at 20th Century Fox I have seen the post production process for “A-Team” and the hype it has built around the lot.  I will try to put my bias aside and give my take on the film.

I was able to go to the employee screening on the lot.  BA’s van was parked right outside the theater.    Below I will go over the Pro’s and Con’s of the film:

PROS

1. Homage to 80′s action movies- What first struck out to me was their homage to 80′s action films.  They had the old school fonts, 80′s music, but 21st century action.

2. Started with a bang- most films have an introduction and slowly build up to a climatic scene, however “A-Team” doesn’t wait for the action.

3. Sexual Chemistry between Jessica Biel and Bradley Cooper- Cooper’s character tries throughout the film to rekindle his old flame with Biel’s character which is entertaining to watch.

4. Murdock- Sharlto Copley provides great comic relief as the semi-crazy pilot.

5. Editing- The editor’s use of cross cuts let the audience see different sides of the story while keeping the total running time short.

Cons

1. Sometimes too over the top- The film never really took a break from all the action scenes to develop the story more.

2. Holes in plot- Sometimes little things would be left out here or there between scenes, but most people didn’t seem to care.

3. Hannibal- Liam Nielson’s character was sometimes too cocky or stereotypical.

Final Thoughts- The film is primarily action so if you’re an action buff, 80′s movie fan, or fan of the original series you may like this.  There are some great action sequences, but can sometime be over the top.  However, it is entertaining with a great cast so worth the watch.

Sources: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the Next Riddler

Sources have come forward saying that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is now being considered to play The Riddler in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” sequel.  It all started on the set of “Inception” where Gordon-Levitt joked around with director Nolan about reading for the film.  Nolan has been known to use the same actors more then once including Christian Bale and Michael Cane so the idea of Gordon-Levitt as The Riddler is not a far fetched one.

Nolan must have seen something he liked when he had Gordon-Levitt act in his most recent film “Inception”.  Last year there were rumors about Johnny Depp playing the role, but hopefully these sources are more credible.

Gordon-Levitt is apparently one of Nolan’s top pic for the role for the third Batman installment.  The still untitled sequel is set to debut July 20th 2012.

FaceTime added to iPhone 4

The future has finally arrived.  The first step into video calls was made when Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4.  There were speculated rumors for the past two months that there would be video calling after an iPhone 4 was left at a bar and later pictures were posted online with a front camera on the new iPhone.

The application is called “FaceTime”.  Currently it only works on wi-fi, but Apple is working with service providers to get it on 3G in the next year.  Now you can video call with someone with a new iPhone using the front or back camera.  You can also switch between portrait and landscape view.

The phone will be available in white or black, retailing at $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for 32GB for AT&T (no word yet about Verizon). They go on sale June 24th.

Rivalry Renewed: Lakers vs. Celtics

The NBA finals this year will be a rematch of the 2008 finals where the Celtics won in 6.  The Lakers look to seek revenge on the disappointing series two years ago.  The Lakers are a much different team then they were in 2008.  The biggest changes are Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum.  In the 2008 playoffs, Ariza averaged just 2.1 points a game.  His replacement Artest has averaged 11.5 points this post season and scored 25 in the game six victory over the Suns.  In 2008, Bynum missed the entire NBA finals.  This post season Bynum is averaging nearly 10 points a game and is a huge key for a Lakers repeat.  Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant has been averaging 30.1 points a game and shooting at 48%.

The Lakers were tired and injured in 2008.  This year, the Lakers have the size, stats, health, as well as home court advantage to give them the edge for a repeat.  The Celtics will give a fight, but in the end I predict Lakers in 6.

LOST Wrap Party

Last night I was able to attend the official LOST Wrap Party in Hollywood, CA.  I was invited by my dad who is the re-recording mixer for the show.

The finale took place at an exclusive club.  Not only was it neat to meet the cast, but also great to meet some of the creators.  The cast members Nestor Carbonell (Richard) and Daniel Roebuck (Arzt) I talked to the longest.  I was able to sit down with Nestor and discuss the show and he took an interest in my career as well.  Daniel was also very welcoming and introduced me to his family.  Everyone I met was pretty nice and excited to be there, but they also felt bittersweet to be leaving such a great show.  I met big names like Matthew Shepard, Terry O’Quinn and Emilie de Ravin as well.

Besides the cast, I also wanted to talk with the producers.  I was able to talk with the show’s co-creator, Damon Lindelof.  Damon was one of the nicest guys and was so thankful for everyone that had helped on the show and gave some great advise about making it in the industry.  I was also able to meet J.J. Abrams who was an executive producer back in Season 1 and Bryan Burk who is another executive producer.

About 20 minutes before the show, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof gave emotional speeches to us about what LOST means to them and leaving such a great show.  After that the lights went down and the show began.  It was a great experience being able to not only watch the finale with a crowd, but the cast and crew.  After a scene with Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), I shook his hand and said he did a great job in the scene.  I did the same thing with Emilie De Ravin and Matthew Fox during commercial breaks.  At the end of the show, I walked around and thanked cast members and crew members for their hard work on the show.

I am very fortunate I was able to attend this event.  LOST is by far my favorite show of all time and I was so happy to spend it with everyone that made that show a success.

Pacman Takes Over Google

In honor of Pacman’s 30th Anniversary (that’s technically tomorrow) Google has transformed its logo into the classic game.  Now you can play your favorite game on your favorite search engine, check it out.

www.google.com