Some Avatar Sequel Details

Collider has an interview with Weta's Joe Letteri up (which I've embedded below) with some interesting Avatar sequel news. While I am not a fan of the original, I do recognize that it was an impressive achievement as far as the technology of film-making goes. From what Letteri says, it sounds like the 3 sequels will push the technological envelope, including extensive underwater motion capture.

Now, if we can only get a story that isn't a heaving mound of cliches and actors who can act, these might be more than effects showcases. Fingers crossed.

The Movie Every Freedom Loving Person Should See

...but won't have a chance to. That film would be The interview. Sony has bowed to a massive cyber-attack launched by North Korea and cancelled the release of the Seth Rogan comedy that involves a plot to kill North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un. There's no need to recap what Sony went through; you can find that anywhere on line.

However, it is important to note that not only has Sony decided not to release the film to theaters but won't release it in any format. The Interview is going to be placed in a deep dark vault in Sony's headquarters. It is important that we see this not just as an attack on a movie studio or a multi-national corporation; it is an attack on the Free World. It is imperative that the United States take action against North Korea. Not military action, of course; but a retaliatory cyber-attack against North Korean assets would be appropriate. Also, the Senate should immediately pass HR 1771 (which will expand sanctions against North Korea) and the President should sign it.

North Korea has successfully intimidated Sony; a failure to act would mean it has also successfully intimidated the Free World.

Incidentally, I have no idea whether this movie would be any good; but it has now become a symbol of the clash between freedom and tyranny. Well done, Pyongyang, you've just elevated what probably is a mediocre comedy full of sex and dick jokes to the level of an embattled work of art.

Sources: New York Times, Ares Technica, Rolling Stone

Cool Tech - Roboshark

How can this send well? I mean, we all know that the future will belong to our robot overlords. Do we really want to help them dominate the entire planet by building robot sharks? Apparently, the US Navy does. Hey, maybe they're angling for a middle management position in the New Cyber Order.

Called the GhostSwimmer, the drone uses the streamlined shape of a shark to cut through the water. It also propels itself with a tail, swimming like a real shark. Assuming it moves forward from the testing phase to some sort of future production model, it will join other aquatic drones to replace the dolphins and other marine animals the US Navy has used for mine clearance and harbor protection. Also, unlike the marine animals which require significant amounts of care and can only be deployed by specialized units, UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles) can be used by any ship. We could soon see a Navy consisting of a small number of large, manned platforms (i.e., ships) serving as hosts to hundreds of drones, used in the air, on the surface and underwater. This may also help us get past the increasing expense of manned platforms, allowing us to concentrate on a few highly survivable ships using swarms of drones for offensive and defensive operations.

This is the future of the US military; an arsenal of robots, precision strike weapons and a comparative small number of battle managers and special forces operators for environments where you need a person with a gun.

Or with SkyNet...AAAAHHHH!!!!

Source: Wired

No More Blu-Rays

So, I was trying to watch Cabin in the Woods on my PS3 and was told that it is an illegal copy. After some research, it looks like this is a combination of anti-piracy software in the PS3 and Lionsgate being run by idiots. In all the years I've owned DVDs, I've never had this kind of problem. But, because Blu-Rays have Internet interactivity (useless) and different encryption, it appears this is not an uncommon problem. And so, that means, no more Blu-Rays for me. I have no desire to spend money on a technology that might just fail or that needs constant firmware upgrades to function properly. Sorry, but that is not consumer friendly.

Movie Logic - Divergent

Divergent is a terrible film in every way. Dumb story. Terrible acting. A plot that insults the viewer in the way it uses cliches and coincidence. Dull, by-the-numbers action scenes. A lead actor (Shailene Woodley, who I think was chosen because she looks like Jennifer Lawrence) who has one facial expression; a kind of pouty, vaguely sad look.

For me, the icing on this cliche cake, however, is the conclusion in which Four (Theo James) is brainwashed and told to kill Tris (Woodley). It has been established that the society of this dystopic future world can mentally condition people into becoming murderous killers and that there is no way to break the conditioning. However, after Four looks into Tris's blank, watery eyes, that somehow destroys the conditioning. Our heroes then fight off 50 million trained killers, effortlessly destroy society and ride off into the sunset...or something like that. By the time I got to the conclusion, I was bored I may have fallen asleep. Or entered an auto-hypnotic trance. One of those.

The explanation, that Four's conditioning is broken because he is afraid of looking in the face of someone he is about to kill - or some such nonsense - makes zero sense. Does that mean if I, with my fear of spiders, was subject to this conditioning, but that saw a daddy longlegs on the floor, I would snap out of it? At the same time, it is also completely predictable. We know that our Teen-Beat cover model protagonists are not going to kill each other. So, having Four stick a gun in Tris's face holds no tension. Why even bother?

It's not that I'm opposed to happy endings. I generally expect - and accept - that the protagonists will triumph. However, creating false tension this way is terrible story-telling. It is made worse when the event that defuses the tension is so idiotic.

Happy Trailers - Mad Max, Fury Road (2015)

When I saw the first trailer I thought, "not bad; looks like some good action, even if it reminds me of Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone." Now, trailer two has dropped and I must say, this movie looks completely insane, in a very good way. I get the impression that George Miller is taking the route he did in The Road Warrior and focusing on non-stop action, mostly of the vehicular type. There are so many great shots, including some good looking CG, that I'm a little afraid that it may be impossible for the film to live up to the expectation levels the trailer sets.

Tom Hardy looks appropriately stoic as Max.

Charlize Theron brings the bad-assery as warrior chick...Furiosa. Nope, not making that up.

Then, there's this dude, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who was Toecutter, the lead villain in the original Mad Max), who I guess is the big bad.

And, let's not forget why we are really here...cars and explosions...and exploding cars!

Check out the trailer below and prepare to enter "A World Without Hope."

Toho Making A New Godzilla Flick!

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Toho is going to make a new Godzilla film in 2016. That is awesome news! While it won't have budget like the recent US Godzilla, you can assume it will be a big, colorful, action-filled movie. It is supposed to start production next year for a 2016 release. I'm looking forward to it.

Black Panther Getting An Early Intro?

The news that Black Panther will be part of the MCU Phase Three was welcomed here with applause. Your humble narrator has always liked the adventures of T'Challa, ruler of Wakanda (don't bother looking for it on a map). It is also nice to see Marvel continuing down the path set by Guardians of the Galaxy and showcasing characters who are not "A-Listers."

The casting of Chadwick Boseman doesn't do much for me; I've haven't seen any of the movies he has been in. I probably caught him on TV - he was in an episode of Fringe - but don't recall seeing him. He did drop an interesting tidbit in a recent interview. While it was known that the character was going to be in the next Captain America movie, Boseman mentions that he will be in "movies" before Black Panther. Could we get a post-credit teaser in Age of Ultron? Will BP show up in one of the other Marvel films before his stand alone movie? We do have Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and Thor: Ragnarok all hitting screens in the next couple of years. While I have a hard time picturing a Guardians cross-over, both Doc Strange and Thor are possibilities.

Anyway, every decision I hear coming out of Marvel seems to be a good one, at least when it comes to their movies. You can check out more on this story at Jo Blo.

Amazing Short Film - Wanderers

This 4 minute long film is amazing. Beautiful. Hopeful. The future that the human race can have, should have. Using narration from Carl Sagan (recorded in 1994 from the audiobook of Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space) the film shows mankind spreading across the Solar System.

Here's the film:

Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist from Erik Wernquist on Vimeo.

And here is the filmmaker's website.