Welcome to The Extras! A daily dose of all the smaller movie related news, clips and just plain cool stuff that you might have missed!
BOO!… Did I get ya? No? Well maybe Guillermo Del Toro will have more luck. With yellow people. No, I don’t mean he’s going around scaring Asians, you racists! I mean that the acclaimed filmmaker has directed the opening couch sequence for The Simpsons’ annual Halloween episode, titled “Treehouse of Horror XXIV” and because you guys are all awesome (well, except you… You know who you are), you can get to watch the entire intro sequence now. And here’s the blurb, describing the events of the Halloween special:
In the first of three spine-tingling tales in the annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode, Homer travels around Springfield wreaking havoc in a rhyming take on a popular children’s tale. In “Dead and Shoulders,” Bart is beheaded during a kite accident, his head is attached to Lisa’s body and they must live together as one. The final frightening tale, “Freaks no Geeks,” features Mr. Burns’ traveling circus, The Burnsum and Bailey Circus, which has stopped in Springfieldland in the 1930s. Trapeze artist Marge and Strong Man Homer are performers, and things go awry when circus freak Moe starts to make advances towards Marge.
Four time Harry Potter director David Yates may soon be trying to reinvent Tarzan, but before that he needs to ask himself some serious questions. Like, Who Is Jake Ellis? Which is actually the name of the Eisner nominated comic book mini-series created by Nathan Edmonson and Tonci Zonjic, a feature film adaptation of which Yates has been tapped to direct for Twentieth Century Fox.
Here’s the official synopsis for the critically acclaimed five-part comic series:
Jon Moore is the most sought after spy-for-hire in Europe’s criminal world. This is because of Jake Ellis, a psychic man who is invisible to everyone except Moore. When a deal goes bad, the only one who can protect Moore from Europe’s most dangerous criminals is Jake Ellis. No one but Moore can see Jake Ellis. But Jake Ellis can see everything.
Another week, another Freddie Mercury rumour. Luckily this one is actually kind of plausible. Latino Review are claiming that Dominic Cooper – soon to be seen punching Captain America in the face with a robot arm in Captain America: The Winter Soldier – is circling around the lead role in the planned biopic for the charismatic rock legend.
The previous ridiculous rumour, which has since been squashed (thankfully), was that Daniel Radcliffe had been up for the role vacated by original actor Sacha Baron Cohen after he had a difference of opinion with the remaining members of Mercury’s band, Queen, on the direction of the film.
If you can’t wait for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to be released, just so you don’t have to put up with the endless barrage of set pics for that film anymore, then I got some bad news for you. Oh don’t worry, the set pics for that film have stopped, but the ones for that film’s sequel, which has just started production, has already begun. So here ya go, your first look at Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.
Despite how much he relied on technology, I never pictured Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond as much of a tech geek. I’m pretty sure the charming secret agent has a very different definition of a stiffy drive, but he’ll have to start brushing up on his tech lingo as Brosnan has landed the leading role in a new thriller titled I.T. He will play “a successful book publisher who finds himself pitted against a young disgruntled I.T. consultant who is tech savvy and uses that to threaten the author’s family and livelihood.”
Let me guess, he hacks their Facebook accounts and writes naughty messages. I can’t wait for the inevitable reboot.
I really, really want this Marty McFly costume t-shirt, despite the fact that all non-fans of Back To The Future, if such creatures even exist, will just think I look stupid in it.
The folks at 8-Bit theatre are back! And this time, they’re up to something fishy!
You know, for somebody who plays the head of the largest intelligence and espionage group in the Marvel Universe, Samuel L. Jackson sure doesn’t know how to keep a secret. It had previously been rumoured that Elizabeth Olsen had been up the role of Scarlet Witch in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron. I say previously rumoured, because Mr Jackson just went and let the cat out of the bag before any official statement could be made.
“I don’t think we begin shooting before March of next year. I know we’re shooting in London, that James Spader is Ultron and going to be the bad guy, and that we added Ms. Olsen who will play the Scarlet Witch, but I don’t know what she’s doing, if she’s on the inside or the outside. I haven’t seen a script.”
So did you guys see that new parody video where they remake Breaking Bad, but as a Spanish language Colombian series called Metastasis and features a lead character called Walter Blanco instead of Walter White? Oh, wait. This is no parody. This is actually completely real. And here’s the trailer.
As I am typing this, there is a ant about to walk over my tongue. This is the result of me still not being able to pick my jaw up off the floor after witnessing the spectacle that is Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity yesterday. You can expect full reviews from both Lourens and I next week, and you can also expect us to use plenty of hyperbole and exclamation points when speaking about the film’s visuals. They are insanely good, but as this very thought provoking article from the The Dissolve posits, Gravity‘s amazing technical achievements may in fact reveal the flaws in other films.
Like Darryn on his Matric Ball night, World War Z faced some of the messiest mid-production struggles of recent times, but ended up being a surprisingly decent night out as it kept you on the edge of your seat and earning quite a fair bit of money (Yes, the “Darryn’s Matric Ball” analogy still applies). You would have to think that a lot of that was down to director Marc Forster, but unfortunately he won’t be around to try and do it again, as star/producer Brad Pitt explained when he gave an update on the proposed sequel’s status to THR.
Plan B also is developing a sequel to Z, which still is in its nascent stages, though director Marc Forster won’t be back. ‘We are talking about it,’ says Pitt. ‘We are going to investigate a script. We have a lot of ideas we will cull from. Nobody is writing just yet, but we are compiling our ideas.’”
The following short film, Keloid, from the folks over at BLR_VFX, boasts some amazing visuals and giant robot armies, which is actually all I needed to know before clicking play. Luckily, for my reputation and for your enjoyment, it’s also pretty great.
In a not too distant future, societies of all countries come to rely on an intricate network of artificial intelligence devices designed to bring efficacy to man’s life. Yet, man continues to devour himself in useless wars. A strong political hierarchy now divides all powers into three factions, and A. I. devices rapidly gain ground as efficiency becomes a priority.
As social revolts grow worse everyday, authorities seek ways to control their citizens. They decide to carry out a series of tests that will determine not only whether some crucial powers can be transferred to non human entities, but also whether man is ready to yield those powers.
The world has become a cell for all man and women, who withstand and endure their lives, rather than living them. Machines might have found a solution.
From now on, you are set free. ..
Last Updated: October 4, 2013
