Disney’s John Carter epic adventure film based on the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs and directed by Pixar director Andrew Stanton has officially opened today. I posted my review of John Carter the other day, but to sum up, Andrew Stanton has done a marvelous… Read More »John Carter in Theaters Today
One of the loudest complaints about Walt Disney Pictures marketing of John Carter to date was that it fails to give the backstory of the movie. Without it, there’s no context to explain the story and therefore no emotional tie to motivate the audience to buy tickets. You can see where that would be problem.
Now, with just a few days left until the March 9th wide open, Disney’s movie marketing team has released a 10 minute clip from early in the film that encompasses almost all of the movie’s action on earth. This definitely helps fill in the missing backstory.
Having seen the movie myself, one thing is for sure, if the movie fails to score at the box office, it won’t be the movie’s fault. Director Andrew Stanton and crew have produced a terrific film with heart, emotion, and great story. But somehow, Disney’s marketing team continues to misfire. It has kneecapped any number of good animated features and now is doing a number on John Carter.
Below the cut is one final trailer for John Carter:
Walt Disney Picture’s modus operandi of late is to try and schedule one tent-pole movie every summer. One film ‘guaranteed’ to rake in close to a billion dollars (if not more) at the box office that will make up for some of the weaker performances in the studios limited slate of releases. Admittedly they’d have mixed results with this strategy (Prince of Persia anyone), but results have always been great when you put Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski together. And that’s why Disney is now moving post-haste to get The Lone Ranger ready for it’s 2013 Memorial Day weekend date with the box office.
As you read through the press release below, you can’t help but think this group of all-stars will hit it out of the park… right?
Read More »Production Finally Begins on The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp
This is going to be an exciting year for Disney films. For October I’m looking forward to Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie. Burton is revisiting the short film he made in 1984 and expanding it to feature length. I’m liking this new poster that was released too.… Read More »Frankenweenie from Tim Burton gets new Poster
Disney has just released a new featurette with the goal to introduce the international markets to the movie John Carter. But I think there are plenty of great moments for everyone to see. John Carter the newest movie from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton is… Read More »John Carter – International Introduction Featurette
The Disney History Institute scores big again with a vintage color film from 1957 Disneyland. DHI uses the same transfer process that Ken Burns does to get his amazing footage and the result is something with the truest and brightest colors I’ve ever seen from… Read More »1957 Disneyland Film is a Treasure
When I first heard of the movie Real Steel, I wondered why anybody would want to watch a movie based of that robot boxing kids game. The movie Real Steal is set around the sport of robot boxing, but it’s not about robot boxing. Instead it’s another heart-warming down on his luck sports star meets young kid and together they climb their way back to the top of the sport story.
That story has been made dozen times over and Real Steel is actually as good, if not better, than most of them. I know that’s saying a lot, but I gave the movie a shot expecting just a special effects extravaganza, but it was the story that won me over.
In the movie Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton a down on his luck former boxer who gets stuck with his son Max, played with out too much of the cute-kid syndrome, by young Dakota Goyo. When Max discovers an old Robot Boxer with some unique abilities, the pair start off on a journey to repair their personal bonds and fight their way to the top of the sport. Here’s a clip about Atom the robot found by Max.
While you may not have seen Real Steel in the theaters, it was the #1 movie in the country for two consecutive weeks during its theatrical run. Real Steel was directed by Shawn Levy (Night At the Museum franchise, Date Night and What Happens in Vegas) and produced by Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List) and they kept it right on course, full of heart, and beautifully filmed.
Additionally, I found the special effects to be quite good in the film. They seamlessly integrate real robot puppets with digital versions and used motion capture technology to film the fights. So there is some real emotion up there on the screen, even though the cast is sometimes playing to a green screen.
I received the The Blu-ray Combo Pack to review. It offers a variety of supplemental bonus features that take you ringside with Director Shawn Levy on the making of the film. Exclusive features include a bare-knuckled exposé of the life story of Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), deleted and extended scenes that go deeper into the film and storylines, and a riveting profile with legendary boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard. Plus, the revolutionary Real Steel Second Screen app lets viewers sync their iPad or computer with the Blu-ray movie to peel back layers of effects with progression reels, check out 360-degree turnarounds of the robots, explore seamless branching pods that delve into the cutting-edge technology used to create the fights, and much more.
I also liked that the DVD copy of the film comes with a good number of special features of its own, including the directors commentary. That means you can buy the combo-pack even if you only had the DVD today and plan to get a blu-ray player in the future.
Real Steal is a Dreamworks film and was distributed by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures division. You can pre-order the DVD or Blu-ray on Amazon today.
Read More »Real Steel Rock’em Sock’em’s its way on to Blu-Ray and DVD
As a kid, my trips to Southern California always included quality time with family and almost always a trip to Disneyland. But I also looked forward to our visits to Universal Studios Hollywood. Something about the earnest way in which they presented their cheesy product attracted me. But there was also a tremendous collection of film and entertainment history there.
This year Universal is celebrating their 100th Anniversary. That’s a lot of history. Here’s how they plan to observe the centennial at their parks.
Universal’s Parks and Resorts will help highlight Universal’s 100th Anniversary campaign with centennial specific content and merchandise throughout both the Orlando and Hollywood locations. The Orlando resort will soon announce a specially themed entertainment experience that will celebrate Universal’s heritage. In Hollywood, the world-famous Studio Tour features expert guides that will take guests on a tour through 100 years of moviemaking history on the Universal Studios production backlot. Tours are conducted daily, visiting TV and movie sets ranging from the early Universal Studios monster film classics to current productions.
The full press release detailing all the celebrations across Universal, is below the jump:
Read More »Universal Parks Join in Company’s 100th Anniversary Celebration