Steven Spielberg involved in Halo: The Television Series - Yes, this is apparently a real thing

So the new Xbox One event is wrapping up right now, but the most relevant information to this blog is the fact that Steven Spielberg is going to be involved in some capacity (probably just as an Executive Producer, I can't see him directing something like this).

This is a completely out of left field announcement that reminds me of the partnership Microsoft had with Peter Jackson from several years ago that ended up with...nothing. Although something tells me that they have it a lot more figured out, especially with an entire development studio that's devoted to nothing but Halo stuff.

There really aren't a whole lot of details available right now, but expect to hear more very soon. I just really hope that they tap the areas of Halo lore that are rife for romantic comedy. If there's one thing Halo is missing, it's hilarious mixups between an Elite who falls in love with an ODST Marine.

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

"My name is John Harrison. Seriously. Why is that so hard to believe?"

There is always difficulty in approaching a review of a movie like Star Trek Into Darkness. On the one hand, there quite a bit of information that the filmmakers would like to keep hidden until viewing and on the other hand it's difficult to truly talk about the movie without talking about those hidden moments. So as a result, I am going to try to do my best to talk about the movie without revealing anything that could be considered a spoiler.

Into Darkness takes place not too long after the events of the previous movie. The crew of the Enterprise is out in space, doing what it is they do best. And for the most part that means doing whatever Kirk wants to be doing, regardless of the consequences. So it is during the opening of the movie, when Kirk and crew are attempting to quell an about-to-erupt volcano on the surface of a pre-warp planet. And any Trek fan worth their salt knows that you cannot reveal your existence to any pre-warp civilization as it goes against the Prime Directive. So when the Enterprise must reveal themselves in order to save Spock from the volcano, it causes a little trouble for the crew when they get back to Earth. 

Meanwhile, a mysterious Starfleet Officer named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) orchestrates a terrorist attack on Starfleet. His intentions remain unknown throughout the vast majority of the movie, but it's clear that he has a bone to pick with Starfleet. Cumberbatch gives an absolutely gripping performance and even if the material wasn't great, and it certainly can be great at times here, he can easily elevate it to a level that would not be capable by many other actors. His motivations are sound, if a little muddled, and his backstory is more abridged than I would have preferred, but that doesn't stop him from being an incredible presence in this movie. (And if you're not already watching "Sherlock", stop reading this right now, fire up Netflix and watch all six episodes.)

This time around, there's no need for the crew to get to know each other, so it's easy to simply jump into the action. The dynamics are there and they haven't skipped a beat in the last four years. The relationship between Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Spock is still present and it's clear they're experiencing some relational problems. Kirk is as womanizing as ever and Bones is still the cantankerous, metaphor spewing doctor who still isn't given enough screen time. Sure, his role is definitely expanded from the first movie, but I still feel like the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic that was so present in the show and the earlier films is missing in favor of a straight up Kirk/Spock dynamic. Which would be fine if Karl Urban didn't so completely nail a DeForest Kelly imitation while still putting his own unique spin on the role. If there was only one character you could point to as solid follow up to the original cast, I'd have to go with Urban's McCoy. 

But beyond the cast, the film excels by pushing the spectacle while maintaining a solid undercurrent of character development from start to finish, despite some curious missteps along the way and a reliance on too much superficiality. The first odd choice is a change that happens relatively early in the film, which gives the impression that the road to rectify this decision will be a long one. But nope. About 10 minutes after it occurs, the change ends up being reversed. Sure, there are solid reasons as to why this happens but from a story perspective, it's difficult to comprehend and sort of changes the journey of Kirk's character. Because the journey he would have taken under this scenario is much more interesting than the path he ends up taking.

Of course, this is not something that is worth dwelling on since from that point forward the movie moves at breakneck speed. Abrams is a master of introducing high tension even when you know there's no REAL danger at hand. You know certain characters are going to make it through the situation, but that doesn't stop you from moving to the edge of your seat, wondering how they're going to escape. A lesser director would not be able to accomplish such a feat.

The movie also introduces concepts from this new timeline as well as bringing in elements from previous plot lines, including the introduction of Carol Marcus, daughter of Admiral Marcus (and developer of the Genesis device and mother of Kirk's son David in the original timeline). Here played with a British accent, (understandably using Alice Eve's regular accent, but odd considering the original actress Bibi Besch spoke with an American accent as Carol) her presence seems to be little more than fan service to say "Hey, remember Wrath of Khan? That movie was awesome." Other shoutouts seem to do little more than to remind fans of elements of the universe and even one reference to the ill-fated video game I reviewed not too long ago. Did not see that coming.

Which brings me to my next gripe, which is, "What's the point?" I mean, if they were completely reimagining Star Trek, then none of this stuff would bother me. I wouldn't care that Carol Marcus has a different accent or that other changes were made from the original series. At that point it would be its own beast, not too different from the Marvel "Ultimate" line of comics. But by trying to marry it with the original continuity, it simply points out how often it DOESN'T fit with the original continuity. These moments aren't constant, but when they do happen, it really pulls me out of the movie as someone who is a fan of the originals. So if you don't know the previous movies, then these names are irrelevant to you and it doesn't matter who they are. If you are a fan, then the changes can be jarring and alienating to people, so it doesn't really make sense why they're included at all. It simply seems odd to reset the entire universe and then telling the same stories over again.

These sorts of things happen throughout the second act which never seems to fully come together in the way I would have preferred, despite being endlessly entertaining. There just seemed to be a lack of excitement and cohesion that the first movie delivered a lot better during the middle section of the movie.

And one change that occurs about two thirds the way through almost completely pulled me out of the movie all together. I was so focused on this specific change that it became difficult for me to enjoy the movie. That is until a character delivers a speech which has probably one of my favorite non-spoiler lines of all time, "That being said..." When that line is spoken, along with what follows it, I was back on board. I felt like I was given permission to enjoy the movie for what it was.

And from that moment on, everything that happened was so extremely entertaining that I gave up all my previous concerns and just allowed the movie to unfold as it was, despite them going full blast into referencing stories from the history of the franchise. The action was fantastic, the performances were strong, and there were some fantastic call backs to the original timeline which filled my little Trek heart with joy. Especially the musical references. The more that's said about composer Michael Giacchino, the better because he just absolutely knocks it out of the park with this one.

Although I loved the movie completely, there are still elements of concern that I have in the way there seems to be an unwillingness to chart a completely new franchise course which leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste upon further reflection. But taking it on its own, divorced from the history of Star Trek, Into Darkness is a fantastic summer movie. Not the most thought provoking film, but endlessly entertaining with one of the most charismatic ensembles I've seen in a long time. It isn't quite as a cohesive whole as the last movie was, but there are individual moments that are leaps and bounds above what Trek 2009 was able to accomplish. I'd love to see Abrams return for one more outing, but with his Star Wars obligations, I just don't see that happening. But here's to hoping the next adventures do carve out new and unique stories, because the potential with this cast is pretty limitless.

GRADE : A -

Bauer returns - 24: Live Another Day to premiere next May

"The following takes place between whenever you want it to take place because who's even been paying attention to me lately?"

Well, this is certainly some interesting news. After being off the air for a couple years, the brass at Fox have reignited the phenomenon that is 24 for a 12-episode season next summer. Keifer Sutherland will return as Jack Bauer and hopefully having so much time off will have given them the creative spark necessary to make that show relevant again.

To be perfectly honest, I still feel like the first two seasons were the best. Those two seasons introduced the formula that they stuck to pretty religiously over the course of eight seasons. Many people thought the fifth season is one of the best, but there wasn't anything in that season that wasn't done better in the earlier seasons. Plus, the suspense and novelty was starting to wear off for me by that time, just as the rest of the population was discovering it.

The one thing that definitely seems great is the shortened season (which, if I had my way, all shows would only be 12 or 13 episodes), so they should be able to get to the point a lot more quickly than they otherwise could.

Expect to hear a lot more news over the next several months as the pieces get put together. Specifically a lot of "We're running out of time!" and "Dammit!" And hopefully some cougars. You can never have too many cougars on 24. Wait, no. Yes. Yes you can. One cougar. That is too many. (And for the unfamiliar, I'm not being ironic about this. I'm talking about a literal cougar. Not the old lady variety.)

24: Live Another Day will premiere on Fox next May.

Marvel negotiations in full force - they better get their act together - Downey Jr. to return in Avengers 2 & 3?

I kind of hate the fact that this blog is only updated with mostly comic book movie information. I really have a wider perspective than this, but for some reason, these are the posts that inspire me to write. Anyway, two articles came out tonight that had some very interesting perspectives.

The first is from Deadline and the always insufferable Nikki Finke who is reporting that the major players in The Avengers are getting very frustrated with the lowball offers that keep coming in for future movies. Despite the $1.5 billion return on a few hundred million dollar movie (there's no way that movie didn't just straight up profit a billion dollars), they appear to being pretty stingy with the on camera talent. Of course, they seem to be unhappy with this. And rightfully so. Evans, Hemsworth, Downey, Ruffalo, Jackson, Johannson, and Renner all deserve varying degrees of credit for the massive success. But they DO deserve credit. And frankly, the reason that fans like me are so invested is because of what these actors bring to their roles. Nobody wants to see them recast, and hopefully Marvel doesn't think that just because they got away with it on Iron Man 2 by replacing Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle, that they'll be able to do it with the headliners. It's just not going to happen. And I'm sure some will make the argument that it wasn't a problem replacing Ed Norton with Mark Ruffalo, but again, The Incredible Hulk was a bit of a disappointment overall and the commitment to that version of Bruce Banner was a lot lower than what the general public is now familiar with. A very small percentage of those who saw the Avengers actually saw the Incredible Hulk. But if the tens of millions of Avengers fans have to go into Avengers 2 with a unnecessarily shaken up cast, I can't see it playing well. Even if Joss Whedon knocks it out of the park again.

While Marvel is notoriously stingy, they had better not look that gift horse in the mouth because it honestly could turn south at any moment. Look at literally any other comic book franchise in history. But while I don't doubt that these are valid issues, I could see Deadline reporting this stuff as a favor to agents to hopefully stir up the fanbase in an effort to strong arm Marvel into caving. Honestly, I say give them the big paydays they're looking for because I want to keep the continuity going.

Now, on the other side of the coin, according to Heat Vision, it turns out that Robert Downey, Jr. has entered into negotiations for Avengers 2 and 3. I do believe if they get Downey on board for those, the rest of the cast will be far easier to deal with. Especially if Downey makes his appearance contingent on everyone else returning (pure speculation on my part). So he hasn't decided to hang up the helmet forever and is definitely open to at least a couple more installments. Frankly, I'm perfectly all right with this. The man is nearing 50 years old and has not been shy about how he feels his age is affecting him. I'd be perfectly happy to see Iron Man pop up in a couple of new Avengers movies and keep the Iron Man trilogy where it stands. In fact, I totally expected him to do Avengers 2 and then call it a franchise, so anything more than that will be a welcome surprise.

The only thing that I don't understand, and anyone with an understanding of contract law is more than happy to chime in about, is how there's any sort of argument at all. From my understanding, all the major players get locked in for multiple movies. How does there get to be any sort of forced negotiation after the fact? Granted, I'm sure there could be an argument in regards to raises, but couldn't Marvel just say "No, that's not going to happen"? Obviously, this isn't my area of expertise.

Here's to hoping this all gets figured out sooner rather than later so we can all look forward to the inevitably awesome Avengers 2 instead of fretting over what the cast is going to look like in two years. When all is said and done, I do believe we'll have everyone coming back and Phase Two is going to be as epic as it possibly can be. It seems that they're all under contract whether they like it or not (I think) and Downey seems to be enough of a team player that he appears willing to hop back into it all, especially if he's not the one doing all the heavy lifting in such a large ensemble. It's Phase Three that I'm beginning to worry about. Let's cross our fingers and hope that everyone does what's in the best interest of the fans.

Iron Man 3 Review

When a person walks into any sort of franchise movie, there's a level of expectation that exists among those familiar with the previous entries. And often times this expectation can result in a substandard movie as the filmmakers attempt to recreate the magic of before, too afraid to take the movie in too radical direction in fear of alienating the fans who were your prior support. After the runaway success of Avengers, this does not seem to be a fear that Marvel has and never is it more apparent than what transpires in Iron Man 3.

Iron Man 3 is a fascinating movie on so many levels and I applaud Marvel for allowing a filmmaker's voice to be heard so strongly in a franchise movie. The problem is that when taken as a full trilogy, the tone of the third movie is so jarringly different that I can see there being a massive disconnect between the expectations of the audience and what is actually delivered. But I sincerely believe that when taken as an individual entry, it's possible that this eclipses even the first Iron Man, despite some glaring issues.

The movie begins flashing back to New Year's Eve 1999 where we are introduced to Maya Hansen's (Rebecca Hall) Extremis project and a very socially awkward and not too great looking Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce).  By getting the set up here visually, it definitely frees up what would typically be random exposition throughout the movie and definitely gives the proper context as to who Tony used to be as well as introducing an important plot point that is present throughout the rest of the movie. We then fast forward to a time that's not too long after the events of The Avengers. Tony is having trouble sleeping, working day and night in his workshop building suit after suit after suit to the point where when we catch up to him, he's currently on the Mark 42. Given that the Mark VII was introduced in The Avengers, I'd say he's been a pretty busy guy.

Meanwhile, Rhodey is on the hunt on behalf of the United States government for The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), an elusive terrorist who is taking credit for several attacks throughout the world. Rebranded with a new paint job and title, Rhodes has dropped the moniker of War Machine and now goes by the Iron Patriot.

To say any more would be to give too much away, but suffice it to say, this is a very interesting movie that has some sizable implications for the movies going forward. Certain liberties are taken with the source material which I suspect is going to rub a lot of fans the wrong way, and although I am personally slightly conflicted about those revelations, I do believe that in the service of this one specific story, they were not the wrong ones. I won't say that they were the right ones, but they definitely serve the story that Shane Black is trying to tell.

Which brings me to Black himself. Tonally, structurally, and hilariously, this movie is pure Shane Black. If you are a fan of Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, and can understand Shane Black's perspective when making this movie, I believe you will be infinitely satisfied. This movie is hysterical in all the right ways while the action set pieces are not only breathtakingly impressive but also service the story in ways many other action movies don't often seem to do. Yet, the thing that must be accepted in order to enjoy this movie is to understand that Black is not Jon Favreau (who still shows up here reprising his role as Happy Hogan, so I'm sure he gave his input when necessary). There's a certain darkness and borderline mean-spiritedness to Black's humor that just isn't in Favreau's wheelhouse. This is not a criticism of either director in any way, just a different stylistic approach and one that resonates with me rather strongly.

Structurally, the movie spends a lot of time relying on Stark's wits and intelligence instead of the brute force nature of his suits. For a significant portion of the film, Tony doesn't use his suit at all. As a result, it often feels less like a "superhero" movie and more like an action/thriller that just happens to have some superheroes in it. Thematically, the trials that Tony goes through fit in perfectly with the adventures that came before. His addiction to the suits is the only thing that allows him to make sense of the world around him, especially after experiencing aliens, gods, and intergalactic wormholes for the first time. Not only that, but he finally understands what it means to love another human being in Pepper Potts and has to weigh the responsibilities of being Iron Man with his concern for her well being. Of course, it's all done in typical Tony Stark/Robert Downey, Jr. fashion, so it never feels overly sentimental.

But the movie does have some negatives. Certain plot points are clear, but completely underdeveloped which makes you wonder why they were included at all other than to reach the end point. The same goes for a few actors who are not utilized to the best of their abilities and when all was said and done was disappointing that they were only there to serve the plot instead of being a fully realized character. Beyond this and the changes from the source material which I'm still on the fence about, there wasn't much to dislike about the movie.

I suppose the final word on this movie is to implore fans of the franchise to take a step back and reset their expectations. This is going to be a different experience. But if you approach it from an understanding that this is a filmmaker bringing his own voice and tone to the project while accepting that this is the next logical step for the development of the character of Tony Stark, then I think it succeeds wildly. All too often, these franchise films stay so committed to the status quo that they never do anything truly interesting. And regardless of your feelings on how it turns out, you certainly can't say that this movie sticks to the status quo. Plus, you know, a legion of different Iron Man suits. Now that's awesome.


GRADE: A-