Film Guide

SPOILER WARNING!

This just in from /film:

As MovieHole points out, Fury does appear but not until after the end credits. He also delivers some spoiler-worthy dialogue. Here’s what Australian journo, Adam Richard, told the MovieHole:

“Sam Jackson as Nick Fury is indeed in Iron Man. The final spool of the film was not screened to journos and reviewers as it only arrived in Australia yesterday ahead of premiere screenings. I saw the film a few weeks ago to prep for a Downey Jr interview, and went again last night (cos i loved it SOOOO much!) and at the end of the credits is an awesome 40 seconds or so with Stark and Nick Fury. I may have soiled myself slightly…”

So, what is in the final scene after the credits? Apparently it goes a little like this:

At the end of the credits, Stark comes home and finds Nick Fury in his living room -staring towards the window. He then turns to tell Stark he’s the not the only superhero in the world. Stark asks who he is, and Fury turns and says he’s “Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D, and I’m here to talk to you about The Avengers Initiative.

Jackson is never better than when he’s staring out a window contemplating the future. Will the Avengers be forming like Voltron with Fav at the helm?

Mel Gibson is set to star in new movie Edge of Darkness.

The 52-year-old actor will play a police investigator in the big-screen adaptation of the 1985 TV mini-series, which was broadcast on the BBC.

It is Gibson’s first starring role since 2002 movies Signs and We Were Soldiers. He then directed 2004’s The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto in 2006.

In the movie, Gibson’s character uncovers systemic corruption while investigating the death of his activist daughter.

The Mad Max star has always been a fan of the mini-series and was keen to sign up when producer Graham King and director Martin Campbell approached him several months ago.

Shooting on the independently financed project begins in Boston in August. [stuff]

1 The Painted Veil
2 Horton Hears a Who!
3 Sydney White
4 Street Kings
5 Nim’s Island
6 Superhero Movie
7 Lars and the Real Girl
8 The Spiderwick Chronicles
9 Definitely, Maybe
10 2 Days in Paris

The Painted Veil is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young English couple, Walter, a middle class doctor and Kitty, an upper-class woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else. When he uncovers her infidelity, in an act of vengeance, he accepts a job in a remote village in China ravaged by a deadly epidemic, and takes her along. Their journey brings meaning to their relationship and gives them purpose in one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth. [imdb]

I’m not going to sugar coat the violent nature of Rockstar’s latest incarnation of the Grand Theft Auto series, but it’s only fair that I tell you I’ve been a fan since the original top down version way back when games were played exclusively on PCs. Grand Theft Auto IV is a very violent game, not only the physical violence on screen, but also the audio violence – the language used is akin to a physical assault on your ears. The strange thing is though, as jarring as it may be at times, the language or violence doesn’t feel gratuitous.

Lets put the game in context: The story revolves around your character, Niko. Niko has just illegally emigrated from Eastern Europe, seeing Liberty City as a way to put behind him the horror of the Bosnian war. His cousin has promised him the American Dream, but on arrival he discovers that Liberty City isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and to survive these mean streets, Niko has to become a killer and enforcer for the Russian Mob. With a storyline such as that, it would be impossible to make a credible game with out violence and foul language, so why make such a game you might ask?

It’s not an easy question to answer, but violence for violence sake isn’t what GTA is all about. If you want violence and fun with no social commentary I can list a whole heap of games that nobody seems to complain about, but I’m not going to get that far off track. The issue I think most people have with GTA is that it allows you to do certain things. It’s a game that trains you to kill cops I heard on a local radio station on the day of release. Sure, you can kill just about anyone you want to in GTA IV, however that’s not exclusive to this franchise. What people don’t focus on is the consequences.

In this latest installment of Grand Theft Auto, you can’t drive one block with out seeing a cop car. The police seem to be everywhere. Try randomly jacking a car without first looking for cops and you’ll soon be in a police chase that will quickly escalate in a life or death race for Niko as he tries to elude the entire city police force, with (at one point) three police helicopters. Try killing a few cops and SWAT will be down on you like a ton of bricks. So yeah, you can kill cops, but it’s detrimental to the game.

Of course there’s plenty of killing in the missions, and to complete some you’ll have to kill. In others however you have to choose between killing someone and letting them live. That’s a pretty big choice, you’ve been told to kill this guy, but in the end you have to decide, and live with whatever the consequences are later in the game. I let the guy live.

The killing however has changed. In previous editions of Grand Theft Auto, when you killed someone on the street, you knew they were dead by the pool of blood they were lying in. Walk away and you left bloody footprints. Not so in GTA IV. Shoot someone and you get a misty puff of blood, but no more pools of blood.

But I didn’t buy this game so I could kill people; I can do that a lot better online with COD4. No, the beauty of GTA is being able to explore a living city, drive like a maniac and enjoy the satirical social commentaries. Ever since GTA went 3D, one of the enjoyable elements of playing has been listening to the car radio, being able to change channels to get the station that suits you. The bogus adverts, dj commentaries and news reports were all designed to put a smile on your face, and possibly, to make you think. In GTA IV, Europeans get slammed on talkback for having an easy life with ready access to health care and too much paid leave. Is that really an anti European rant, or is it a non-too subtle dig at American society in the vein of Michael Moore’s Sicko?

Of course not all the humour will appeal to everyone, with some of it having a non-to subtle degree of perverse sexuality to it. All of it however is a critique of what is wrong with America, and if anything, GTA IV goes further. Starting with a watchable TV in your room that has programmes in a similar theme to the radio shows. In a violent, sex saturated culture that puts rich, white rights ahead of everyone else; it’s refreshing to have such an in-your-face, satirical commentary. Sure, it’s mature in content, but then this is an R18 game. It approaches gameplay with a dose of humour as well; with one cut scene having a go at the online sensation of you tube:

“Tell that idiot if he doesn’t stop staring at me, I’ll get his head chopped off and put the film on the internet.”

Not everyone’s sense of humour I know, that that’s why I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone who isn’t a mature game player, and even then, as I said in my first review, I’d recommend renting the game first.

Grand Theft Auto IV is a lot harder to get into, it has sweet cinematic cut scenes, but as I also said in my first review, it’s not as fun to just dive into. It’s growing on me however, and whilst it may never replace the experience of GTA III, I can feel my self being drawn into Liberty City and I’m likely to stay for sometime, which means that my ultra realistic killing machine, Call of Duty 4 is going to be gathering some dust.

I think I’m gonna give it another star.

PLEASE NOTE: Film Guide recommends that parents do not let their children play R-Rated games. Just because it’s a video game, doesn’t make it suitable for children, in fact statistics show that the average gamer is now in their 30s and game developers cater towards this mature demographic.

See also: GTA IV initial thoughts.

Cloverfield’s monster rampage may have ended with apocalyptic levels of destruction… but that doesn’t mean all of the movie’s characters actually died. In fact, a source tells io9 that some members of the Cloverfield cast have been asked if they’d like to reprise their roles in the sequel, alongside another batch of good-looking no-names. As you can guess, there are possible spoilers below.

Sources say some Cloverfield stars including Jessica Lucas (Lily Ford) and Mike Vogel (Jason Hawkins) have been approached. Talks started early in 2008 (at the height of Cloverfield fever.) True to the “just a taste” nature of Abrams’ work, none of the original characters’ fates were sealed on camera. The movie even hinted at their survival with a barely audible whisper to the audience after the credits rolled. So a number of the actors have their fingers crossed that they made it out of the monster madness unscathed, our source revealed.

But there is no guarantee the new movie has to pick up immediately after the first one left off. Unfortunately when Cloverfield 2 will get its wings, is anyones guess. Just recently director Matt Reeves told MTV that he was putting it on the back burner for his new pet project The Invisible Woman. Only time and randomly placed Easter Eggs in the Cloverfield DVD will reveal more. Please bring back Hud and his one-liners! [i09]

I went into Iron Man knowing only what I had seen in the trailers – I had never read any of the comics so didn’t know who this mechanised superman was. All I knew was that the trailers made me want to see what Iron Man was capable of.

The premise for Iron Man is rather simple and clichéd; Rich, industrialist and weapons manufacturer Tony Stark has gotten rich out of making and selling cutting edge weapons, rich enough to allow him a playboy lifestyle and rock star status. Not rich enough to keep him out of harms way however. After being captured by a small terrorist group (using Stark weaponry – how ironic) and forced to build a super weapon for them, Stark instead builds a robotic suit to help him escape – and thus Iron Man is created.

On escaping Stark soon realises what a messed up world he has help to create, and decides to try and make things right.

But trouble lurks from within his own company.

As far as comic book adaptations go, Iron Man is right up with the best of them. It may even qualify for the top spot. Jon Favreau has created the right mix of lovable characters (who knew that Robert Downey Jr & Gwyneth Paltrow could be so likeable?), non-stop action and believable special effects, with a smattering of humour that keep it light enough to enjoy.

There’s also a righteous social commentary weaved non-too subtly into the plot (guns are bad), and plenty of gadgetry to keep a geek happy and James Bond very envious.

So if you’re looking for a fun, action packed night out, check out Iron Man.

Food for thought:
Shallow, egotistical and self centered, Tony Stark was the pinnacle of the American Dream. In reality he was hollow and lonely. It took a hard lesson in reality to give him a crisis of faith that enabled him to become a real hero.

Reviewed by: Jonathan Read.
Rating: M – Contains medium level violence.
Duration: ?? mins.
Genre: Action, Adaptation, Adventure.
Director: Jon Favreau.
Actors: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Samuel L. Jackson, Hilary Swank.
Distributor: Paramount.
Release Date: Out now.

Lord of the Rings stars Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis have signed up for The Hobbit and could soon be back in Wellington, according to director Guillermo del Toro.

On the Tolkein fan website www.theonering.net, del Toro said he had “the most charming meeting” with Sir Ian, who played Gandalf the wizard in the Rings trilogy.

“All bureaucracy pending, he’s on board, as is Andy Serkis (Gollum).”

Sir Ian’s official website already has him booked to play Gandalf in The Hobbit in 2010.

From London where he is putting the finishing touches to Hellboy II, del Toro said he and Kiwi director Peter Jackson met when they were both working on Halo – but even though that project never got off the ground, they stayed in touch.

He had been adamant he would be interested in The Hobbit only “if Peter was involved” and the New Line lawsuit was resolved.

A call from Jackson to say it was all go was like his “Christmas gift”.

Del Toro described New Zealand’s film industry as “Hollywood the way God intended it”.

“New Zealand has all the technical advantages when doing a big movie and you are shooting it in paradise, both in terms of artistic freedom and commitment.”

Much of the preparatory work for the film would take place this summer, including the “reforestation of The Shire”, replanting all the trees where they were.

Del Toro said he would prefer to use locations and avoid digital recreations of environments where possible.

It was his intention to “not lose any of the key elements” for the two Hobbit films. [stuff]

Grand Theft Auto IV has been getting a lot of perfect 10 out of 10 scores from overseas reviewers, but I’m not ready to do the same. In fact my initial impressions were not that great. The sluggishness of your characters movement and seemingly slow driving speeds reminded me of how slow the second (top down view) GTA game compared to the fast and furious original.

Fortunately things got better. Niko, the dude you play has the ability to sprint, but his natural tendency is to slouch and take his time. As for the sluggish cars, well you just have to jack a faster car. Whilst we’re on the subject of cars, they handle pretty much the way I remember, with a very bouncy suspension and almost mandatory Hollywood style sliding round corners. GTA has remembered to keep it fun.

The graphics are a huge improvement, and the city looks immense. The missions start out simple and allow you to get used to the controls, which are pretty standard. You get to meet a few people and start doing odd jobs. You even get a girlfriend, and you have to take her out on dates. It’s here that it all gets very adult very quick. At the end of a typical date you have the option of seeing how far you can go with your girlfriend, which typically leads to you going inside and a cut scene of the outside of the apartment and some suggestive sounds. The first time this happens, you get an Xbox achievement, titled ‘Warm Coffee’ – an humorous throwback to the ‘Hot Coffee’ scandal that got people all hot under the collar over GTA San Andreas. Personally I never understood what all the fuss was about, especially because I had played games with much more ‘interactive’ content. Now before anyone gets upset, I don’t think this is a necessary part of the game play and fortunately (from my limited time playing thus far) I’m pretty sure you can choose to avoid any kind of hanky panky.

So after three and a half hours of playing Grand Theft Auto IV I can say that it plays pretty much like any previous incarnation, it just all looks much, much better.

There are some noticeable additions however, one being the ability to get drunk. Though this is not interactive either, it’s just and either or. Either you go to the pub or you don’t. If you do, when you come out you’ll find walking or driving to be extremely difficult. Now I know some people are going to think that this is akin to GTA promoting driving drunk, but in reality It only goes to show that alcohol adversely effects your ability to drive. GTA, now with a positive social commentary? Not quite. Especially as they have revamped the combat system, giving you greater control over how you beat people up, and a better cover and targeting system for shooting. But these are good points for a game like this!

The other noticeable thing is going to upset a number of fans, and that is the ability to go and do your own thing. Sure, you can still do your own thing, but exploring the city doesn’t seem quite as exciting for some reason, I didn’t see any obvious shortcuts or massive jumps that I could do. Any buildings whose roofs I could launch my car off to access other areas. Maybe this is a reflection of my recent playtime on Burnout Paradise. The other issue fans are going to have is with the police. A fun distraction for a portion of GTA players is the ability to go on a rampage, but as I found out by accident (I was driving a little fast and ran over a cop) is that if you get the Police on your tail for anything other that a minor traffic offense, it’s very hard to shake them, and things can soon escalate with multiple Police Helicopters chasing you, giving you no where to run. Soon enough your car will be damaged enough that it will breakdown, or worse, explode into a huge fireball.

It seems like the Rockstar boys are trying to be a little more responsible, but this may backfire and anger die hard fans.

Now three and a half hours is not nearly enough time to be able to really get a feel for a game of this magnitude, but I will say this: I’m excited enough to want to play GTA for a while yet, but I’m not as excited about playing it as I was before it was released.

I’ll have more to say in a couple of weeks (which may include a higher star rating), along with (hopefully) another reviewer’s point of view. Until then I’d recommend that you rent GTA IV over the weekend before you put down a large wad of cash and purchase it.

PLEASE NOTE: Film Guide recommends that parents do not let their children play R-Rated games. Just because it’s a video game, doesn’t make it suitable for children, in fact statistics show that the average gamer is now in their 30s and game developers cater towards this mature demographic.

TVNZ have just started promoting The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The 9 episode series finished airing in the US on March 3rd, 2008, with a second season announced recently. It’s likely to kick off in new Zealand on Wednesday 7th of May, with TVNZ showing Terminator 3 this Wednesday.

The official blurb from TVNZ (below) seems to forget that there was a third Terminator movie and has the series running as an extension of Terminator two. It makes me wonder why they are showing Terminator 3 this week! Reviews for the series in the US were mixed, with the show seemingly coming to an early end, but now being given another season.

At the end of Terminator 2: Judgment Day Sarah Connor vanquished the Terminator sent from the future to kill her 15-year-old son, John. Sarah and John now find themselves alone in a very dangerous, complicated world.

Fugitives from the law, they are confronted with the reality that still more enemies from the future and the present could attack at any moment. Sarah stops running and goes on the offensive against an ever-evolving technological enemy bent on destroying her life – and perhaps the world. John knows that he may be the future saviour of mankind, but he is not yet ready to take on the mantle of leadership that he’s told is his destiny.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles represents an exciting reinvention of the Terminator franchise, in which the strong and intrepid Sarah discovers that protecting her son and stopping the rise of the machines is more difficult than she had ever imagined.

Lena Heady, who plays Sarah Connor, talked about how she feels playing such an iconic character: “I know she’s held in high esteem, so I think it’s going to be a great challenge. I’m going to step up and just take it full on. Linda Hamilton was absolutely superb, and I know she’s held very dear to people, but I’m coming in now and it’s a different era for The Terminator, so hopefully people are going to enjoy what I bring to her.”