But as you might imagine, it doesn’t quite go as planned.

This is very NSFW due to language and violence. But it includes Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and others.

I may be among the few people who really enjoyed Jane’s performance of the Punisher vs. the version with Ray Stevenson from a few years ago. Jane brought some humanity to the character, which is probably why true Punisher fans didn’t like it. Hopefully this isn’t the last time we see Jane in the role.

Related articles

• ‘Punisher’ Star Thomas Jane Becomes Frank Castle Again For His Own Fan Film ‘Dirty Laundry’(geeksofdoom.com)

  ---

• Watch: Thomas Jane Back as Punisher in Short Film ‘Dirty Laundry’(firstshowing.net)

  ---

• Badass PUNISHER Short Film with Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman!(geektyrant.com)

  ---

• Thomas Jane’s #DIRTYLAUNDRY(nerdist.com)

  ---

• Watch: Tom Jane Returns as The Punisher in ‘Dirty Laundry’(filmschoolrejects.com)

  ---

• Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman In #DirtyLaundry(thestranded.wordpress.com)

  ---

• Thomas Jane Reprises Role as The Punisher (Sort Of)(comicvine.com)

  ---

• Thomas Jane Stars in Unofficial ‘Punisher’ Short Film(screenrant.com)

  ---

• Thomas Jane Stars in Punisher Fan-Film(nerdjunkies.com)

  ---

• Watch ‘Dirty Laundry,’ Thomas Jane’s Unofficial ‘The Punisher’ Short Film(slashfilm.com)

  ---

Here’s another great film I’m looking forward to later in the year… Frankenweenie is from director Tim Burton in the same style as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. This homage to all the great horror films of the early days of film is amazing!

–Fitz

Related articles

• Comic-Con 2012: Producers Don Hahn and Allison Abbate Talk ‘Frankenweenie’(screencrave.com)

  ---

• Comic-Con 2012: ‘Frankenweenie’ Press Conference with Tim Burton(screencrave.com)

  ---

• Charming New Full Length Trailer for Tim Burton’s ‘Frankenweenie’(firstshowing.net)

  ---

• See an Interactive 360° Video of the ‘Frankenweenie’ Stop-Motion Set(firstshowing.net)

  ---

I have to say I’m really looking forward to this film, made by the same studio behind Coraline. It’s one of the few upcoming films I want to see in 3D, since Coraline was so well done in 3D.

–Fitz

Related articles

• ‘ParaNorman’ Set Visit Teases What May Be the Year’s Most Impressive Animated Movie(filmschoolrejects.com)

  ---

• How Laika Used 3D Color Printers To Create The Stop-Motion Animated Movie ‘Paranorman’ and 50 Other Things We Learned On The Set(slashfilm.com)

  ---

• Set Interview: ‘ParaNorman’ Directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell(slashfilm.com)

  ---

• PARANORMAN – New Poster for The Family Horror Film(geektyrant.com)

  ---

• LAIKA’s Travis Knight Discusses “ParaNorman” and Standing Out(spinoff.comicbookresources.com)

  ---

• “ParaNorman” Co-Directors Talk Zombie Horror and John Hughes(spinoff.comicbookresources.com)

  ---

Horror comes in all shapes and sizes these days. These days at the movie theater it seems to be more about gore, torture, and blood splatter than any kind of psychological approach, but occasionally something unique comes along and gets my attention. I’m usually not much of a horror fan unless it’s more a monster feature or thriller-type of movie, so quite honestly I don’t go see horror often at the theater. But something about The Cabin in the Woods gnawed at me…

So when I was offered a chance to check out the film novelization of the script from Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard by Tim Lebbon (Hellbound Hearts, 30 Days of Night (Movie Novelization), Dawn, The Wild – Secret Journeys of Jack London: Book One (with Christopher Golden), and others), I jumped at the chance. First, it’s been quite a while since I’ve read a movie novelization. And second, I’m a Joss Whedon fan and was curious to see what was hiding in this mysterious cabin in the woods.

Guess what? I was quite entertained and am now interested enough to see the actual movie when it is released on DVD/Blu-ray!

The summary at IMDB offers the most succinct description of the film (and book) plot I’ve seen: “Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.” But though this film may start like so many of the slasher flicks of the ’80s with a group of horny, drunk, and drug-addled college students heading to a remote cabin that belongs to someone in the family, it quickly becomes much much more than that.

As you start to see flashes of what’s going on behind the scenes, there are two sets of characters you get to know. The kids – Dana (artist after a bad break-up), Curt (jock), Jules (jock’s girlfriend), Marty (pot smoker and deep thinker), and Holden (fellow jock and potential rebound relationship for Dana) – and then the others, who I don’t want to spoil for you if you haven’t seen the movie already. But the back-story explains all of those horrific events in other slasher, zombie, and horror movies over the years. It’s one big conspiracy! (Pardon me as these nice folks drag me off to a sanitarium for saying too much…)

Ultimately that’s the best part of this book. Once you get a peek behind the curtain, you see the story from both sides. There are the kids stuck in the horror film and the people behind it. No, I’m not talking about the scriptwriter, director, and production crew here – or am I? That’s the beauty of this story, which takes a typical horror film and pulls it inside out. Will you want the kids to survive? Or will you root for the monsters?

If you like horror, but want something a bit different I’d encourage you to check out The Cabin in the Woods – the movie or the novelization. It’s a twisted reinvention of the genre and I’ll never look at another horror movie the same way again.

For more about author Tim Lebbon, be sure to check out his website at TimLebbon.net. And for the latest news about things in the Whedon-verse, check out the community of Whedonesque!

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

Related articles

• [Movies] The Cabin in the Woods (2012) (geeky-guide.com)
• ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ Review (screenrant.com)
• The Cabin in the Woods Review: Joss Whedon’s Smart Essay On Modern Horror (screen3r.com)
• THE CABIN IN THE WOODS Review – What Did You Think!? (geektyrant.com)

So when We Bought a Zoo came to theaters, we were destined to see it. And everyone but me did see it on the big screen. So when it came out on DVD and Blu-ray, I knew I needed to see it too.

Starring Matt Damon (Contagion, True Grit), Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man 2, Vicky Cristina Barcelona), and Thomas Haden Church (Easy A, Sideways, and TV’s Wings), director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous ,Jerry Maguire) takes us on a journey with a grieving family and a small zoo that’s fallen on hard times.

Benjamin Lee (Damon) is a newspaper writer who is adjusting to being a single father and trying to raise his two kids while finding his own way after his wife’s death to cancer. Deciding that it’s time to start fresh, he looks for a new house from which to start rebuilding their lives. When they finally settle on one, it turns out it comes with a bit of baggage – a zoo named the Rosemoor Animal Park. Dozens of different species live there under the care of head zookeeper Kelly Foster (Johansson) and her dedicated, but eclectic team.

Can Lee, his kids, and the zoo staff pull it together in time to open for the season? Or will the pressure get to be too much?

As this is a “feel good” story, you already know the answer I’m betting. But even though you know the destination, it’s the journey that matters. Damon manages at once to be charming and dedicated to that journey while also showing the human side of the equation. It’s not easy to move on after losing someone you love. It’s not easy to figure out how to put the pieces back together and build something worthwhile. But he and the rest of the cast bring the rest of us along for the ride.

Is this the best movie of 2012? No. Was it fun, heartwarming, and engaging? Heck yes.

The relationships between Damon, Johansson, and Church seem genuine. I could believe Damon and Church as brothers with the inside jokes and jabs that comes with being family. And the push and pull between Damon and Johansson from their initial meeting to the end helps keep the story on the rails.

But for me it was the kids as much as Damon and Johansson that made this film come to life. Mee’s troubled teenage son Dylan (Colin Ford) and cute, bubbly daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) offer different perspectives of the journey – one dark, the other light. And Rosie was truly a bright spot even in tough times and a joy to see on screen. Her smile could brighten any day. Add to that Elle Fanning‘s Lily, the zoo keeper’s cousin, who doubled that bright spot Rosie created. Lily’s babbling enthusiasm was infectious.

And the rest of the eclectic cast – Angus Macfayden as the grumpy zoo exhibit specialist, John Michael Higgins as the jerk zoo inspector Walter Ferris, Carla Gallo (TV’s Bones) as the turncoat accountant Rhonda Blair, and J.B. Smoove as the enthusiastic realtor who introduces the Mee family to the zoo… It took me until watching the extras on the Blu-ray before I figured out where I’d seen Robin Jones who plays animal wrangler Patrick Fugit. Jones was in Crowe’s Almost Famous when he was 16! Ultimately everybody pulls together as parts in the machine to get us where we need to be.

As far as the extras on the Blu-ray go, it’s loaded with nearly 3 hours of special features. There are twenty deleted & extended scenes alone, which offer different takes on some of the aspects of the film. But as with all Cameron Crowe films, the final cut is better without them but they were interesting to explore. Also included are a gag reel that has some very funny outtakes in it; audio commentary from Crowe, Smoove, and editor Mark Livolsi; a long but powerful look behind the scenes offering a glimpse at the real Benjamin Mee all the way through the set construction and movie production; and more.

The picture and sound are top-notch on the Blu-ray. The colors and definition is crisp in 1080p without looking digitally done. Whether sun or shine, indoors or out, there was never a pixel out of focus unless the filmmaker and cinematographer wanted it to be. And with DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound, when the lion roars off screen as the Mee family is checking out the house on the zoo grounds the first time, it really gets your attention.

If you’re looking for engaging, family fare that doesn’t talk down to kids or adults, We Bought a Zoo offers plenty to discuss afterwards. Based on a real story, I think it pulls together all the right elements for a surprisingly engaging couple of hours.

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

Related articles

• We Bought A Zoo review (tarasviewoftheworld.com)
• Movie: WE BOUGHT A ZOO is a Sweet, Family-Friendly Film (miscfinds4u.com)
• DVD REVIEW: ‘We Bought a Zoo’ moves from reality to ‘reel’ life (umportal.org)
• Scarlett Johansson Talks Her “Not Particularly Glamorous” Lifestyle and We Bought a Zoo (popsugar.com)
• We Bought a Zoo Roars onto Blu-ray and DVD April 3 (cinemaic.wordpress.com)
• New Clips For Cameron Crowe’s WE BOUGHT A ZOO (thepeoplesmovies.com)
• We Bought a Zoo: Be Unpredictable, Do Something Crazy, Embrace Your Wild Side…Why Not? (filmrecord.wordpress.com)

If you’re not familiar with this series from the creators of Wallace & Gromit, each animated adventure features the antics of Shaun, Bitzer the Dog, the Farmer, the Pigs, the flock, and the whoever else shows up to cause trouble. Shaun does his best to keep the Flock entertained, while Bitzer does his best to keep the sheep in line for the Farmer. But that doesn’t keep them all from getting in and out of trouble in every episode!

Shaun the Sheep: Shear Madness features a collection of episodes from the show’s second season.

In “Pig Trouble,” Bitzer is out of commission with a broken leg, the Farmer asks the Pigs to step in and help out. Of course, the Pigs manage to make it all about them. They make the flock their slaves and turn the farm into a porcine resort, which doesn’t sit well with Shaun, Bitzer, or the Farmer!

Then, in “Sheepless Nights,” a storm drenches the Farm in rain and the flock has to deal with holes in the barn roof. Finding shelter turns out to be hard work, especially when the only other dry place to sleep turns out to be the pig’s house. Have you ever tried sleeping with a bunch of pigs? When that doesn’t work out, Shaun finds a solution to the problem with a bit of ingenuity…

With “Cat Got Your Brain?” the farm is visited by a pair of alien scientists who abduct Pidsley the Cat and Shaun, then swap their brains. Imagine the surprise of the Farmer and the rest of the flock when Shaun starts cleaning himself like a cat and Pidsley starts eating carrots! The aliens manage to correct the issue, but not before more madness ensues.

And in “Two’s Company,” Shaun finds love when a new sheep joins the flock accidentally. Initially they have no idea what to think of the new sheep who is covered in mud. But once Shaun cleans her up, he falls head over hooves in love and the pair are inseparable. Will she stay when her true owner comes looking for her?

Also included are “Party Animals,” “What’s Up, Dog?”, and “Draw the Line.”

Though we loved the new episodes we hadn’t seen already, I was a little disappointed by the duplication of “Party Animals” and “Draw the Line” which both showed up on a previous DVD collection.

As special features on the DVD you get “Sing-along With Shaun” and “Timmy Time Sneak Peek – Timmy’s Tune #2.” Both of these have appeared on other Shaun the Sheep DVDs.

If you’re looking for good clean family fun, Shaun the Sheep is tough to beat. Be sure to check out Shaun the Sheep: Shear Madness and other DVD collections today!

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

Related articles

• Shaun the Sheep 3D – Behind-the-Scenes Video (bnbgaming.com)
• Shaun The Sheep 3D Coming This Week To Nintendo Video (nintendoscene.com)
• Shaun The Sheep Comes To Life On Nintendo 3DS (nintendoscene.com)

Ever since Gladiator, I’ve been a fan of sword & sandals pictures. Yes, I know there were classic films like Spartacus and Ben-Hur, but Ridley Scott’s Gladiator with Russell Crowe opened my eyes to the possibilities of such a genre of films. Since then we’ve seen great films like 300 and not-so-great films like the remade Clash of the Titans, The Last Legion, Troy, and others. With the box office success of Clash of the Titans (2010), making nearly $500 million worldwide, it was only a matter of time before we saw more big budget films in this genre again.

Enter Tarsem Singh’s Immortals… a modern retelling of the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Starring Henry Cavill (the new Superman in Man of Steel due out in 2013) as Theseus, Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) as King Hyperion, Stephen Dorff (Blade), Felon) as Stavros, Freida Pinto (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Slumdog Millionaire) as Phaedra, Luke Evans (The Three Musketeers (2011), Clash of the Titans) as Zeus, and John Hurt (V for Vendetta, Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy (2011)) as Zeus’ “old man” disguise, the cast included fresh up and coming actors as well as established actors. Yet somehow it didn’t do very well at the box office, making only $226 million worldwide since its release in November 2011.

Now that Immortals has hit DVD and Blu-ray players everywhere, perhaps it will do better?

I didn’t get a chance to see Immortals on the big screen, but have been watching the Blu-ray. I have to say that it’s a very pretty film, meaning that it’s highly stylized with very crisp images and it looks extremely good in 1080p HD. You can tell care was taken in how shots were composed digitally and every tiny detail and color comes across beautifully on Blu-ray media. It also sounds great on a surround-sound stereo system (5.1), utilizing solid bass, mid-range, and treble to make sure you hear every rain drop, sword clang, and word of dialog.

Ultimately I think my problems with this movie are more with the story and characters than the execution. Tarsem took some pretty serious liberties with the myth, making the gods seem less godly and more like spoiled children with nothing better to do than argue about their version of Star Trek‘s “Prime Directive” – not to interfere with mankind regardless of what they do. Of course they disobey that and end up with a gorgeous yet somehow forgettable battle with the Titans who are released from their prison in Tartarus. Caught in the middle is Theseus a half-human, half-god wanting to live a simple life when his world is shattered by King Hyperion seeking to conquer the world to show that the gods don’t exist.

I didn’t mind that Tarsem made the gods seem young – very young even – as immortals. I’ve always wondered why immortals would choose to age if they’re indeed immortal. So why not keep your youthful appearance forever? Unfortunately even though the gods are young, they’re still arguing over the affairs of men after all this time. Sure, they conquered the Titans and locked them in cages in Tartarus that look like they’re made of rebar. But you’d think that they’d want mankind to not tinker with the prison. So when King Hyperion gets his hands on the Epirus Bow (which shoots arrows of light like that kid in the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon from the 1980s), maybe they’d want to step in?

Though I had issues with the gods’ motivations, I could sympathize with Theseus (who watches his mother die) and King Hyperion (who is lashing out after watching his wife and child die), but neither one really held my attention very long. I’ve never been much of a Mickey Rourke fan and he seemed to just mumble his way through scene after scene. And Cavill’s Theseus seemed to have the wistful look down pat (reminded me of Luke Skywalker staring off at the horizon in Star Wars) but never engaged me with his actions. Yes, he’s powerful and is trying to do the right thing, but he got a lot of help along the way and never once said Thank You.

Anyway, I enjoyed the look of the film but overall found it mostly forgettable. Gladiator and 300 are safe in my mind as two great examples of this genre.

As far as special features go, there were some deleted scenes as well as an alternate opening and two alternate endings, none of which would have helped the movie so I understand why they weren’t used. Two featurettes – “It’s No Myth” and “Caravaggio Meets Fight Club” offered some great behind-the-scenes footage of their filming process, fight choreography, and even the movie soundtrack creation. They’re definitely worth watching. And lastly there’s a graphic novel you can page through on screen – “Immortals: Gods & Heroes.” The text on screen for the comic pages is very difficult to read, so get your magnifiers out for this one.

Overall I think Immortals is a renter at best and a good way to get a glimpse at the new Superman in action before he hits screens next summer. Let’s hope the story and characters are a bit more relatable in Man of Steel!

This article first appeared at Blogcritics.org here.

–Fitz

From the time that I was old enough to understand what I was seeing on screen, I’ve loved the movies. Star Wars was the first movie that really made me sit up and take notice. But it was the Saturday afternoon “Monster Mash” marathons on our old black and white TV set that kept my attention after that. Movies like The Blob, the original The Thing (with the walking vegetable), all of the Godzilla films, Planet of the Apes… I could go on and on. I watched with my sister and the two of us often talk about those happy weekend afternoons to this day.

But even with my love for those classic monster movies, I’ve never really focused on film history. Every now and then I’ll watch a documentary or read a book on some of the history involved, but that’s about it.

So when I was given an opportunity to check out The Hammer Vault: Treasures from the Archive of Hammer Films by Marcus Hearn, I jumped at the chance. Though I was only familiar with a handful of the 80+ movies detailed in the book, it’s truly a treasure trove of information about how some of these films were made starting with 1954′s The Quatermass Xperiment all the way through 2010′s Let Me In based on the Swedish-language version of Let the Right One In in 2008. The trials and tribulations of the production company coupled with licensing for certain properties, actor disputes, money troubles, and more really offer an intriguing glimpse behind the curtain of some of these classic films.

Each film covered in the book offers a peek at some of the photographs, posters, scripts, and publicity materials used to make or market it. Looking at the black and white photographs as compared to the colored posters and lobby cards makes for a unique view at that time in film history. We’ve come a long way from handing out little booklets at movies like they do for theater productions today, but I was amazed to see the work that went into not only encouraging moviegoers to attend shows, but to get the films shown in movie theaters in the first place.

It was amazing to see actors like Peter Cushing, who I first saw in Star Wars and Christopher Lee, whom I’d seen but didn’t really recognize until the late 1990s in films like Sleepy Hollow and The Lord of the Rings films. Cushing and Lee looked so young in films like The Curse of Frankenstein in 1956! Even Oliver Reed, who I wasn’t familiar with until Gladiator in 2000 after his death looked extremely young in his first starring role in 1960′s The Curse of the Werewolf!

If you’ve ever been curious about some of the classic horror movies of the 1950s and ’60s, The Hammer Vault is an amazing way to learn about them. Even though each film only gets a page or two in the book, you get a quick glimpse at the past to see how these films have had a lasting effect into the present day. Plus, it’s a beautiful coffee table book!

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

Related articles

• Book Review: The Hammer Vault by Marcus Hearn (blogcritics.org)
• BOOK REVIEW: The Hammer Vault (geeksyndicate.wordpress.com)
• Hammer Vault: exclusive new book preview (boingboing.net)
• The Insane Art of Hammer Films [NSFW] [Horror] (io9.com)
• A Stroll Down a Bloody Memory Lane: ‘The Hammer Vault’ (Review) (popmatters.com)
• Hammer Films Script Archive To Get New Home (thepeoplesmovies.com)
• Watch Hammer Films on the big screen at The Vault (geeksyndicate.wordpress.com)
• Hammer Films Restoration, Release (manodogs.blogspot.com)

Have you seen those films where you walked out wondering if it was a waste of time or not? Sometimes you hate a film and sometimes you love it. But in that gray area somewhere in the middle you wonder if it made any impact at all.

In Time, written and directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, Lord of War), offers an intriguing concept. What if your lifetime became currency? Sure, you stop aging at age 25, but you only get one more year to live and you have to use that time to pay for goods and services. You can work to earn more time, but the cost of living continues to rise. Not only would this solve the overpopulation crisis, but it offers potential immortality for those who can afford it.

Unfortunately it’s difficult to identify with some of the characters in this film and it devolves into a bit of a Bonnie and Clyde rehash. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake, Friends with Benefits, Bad Teacher, The Social Network) is struggling to make ends meet while his mom, Rachel (Olivia Wilde, Cowboys & Aliens, TRON: Legacy, TV’s House M.D.), is struggling to pay the loan on the house. One day Will meets a millionaire, Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer, TV’s Chuck and White Collar), and helps him escape potential doom with a group of thugs in a bar. In return, Henry gives Will more than a century and tells him not to waste it…

Along the way we meet Timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy, Inception, The Dark Knight, Sunshine) who’s job it is to apprehend Will for having too much time on his hands, Borel (Johnny Galecki, TV’s Big Bang Theory) who is Will’s best friend and an alcoholic with a new family, Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried, Red Riding Hood, Letters to Juliet, TV’s Big Love) who is a spoiled rich girl looking for a way to get more out of life, and Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser, TV’s Mad Men and Angel) who is Sylvia’s father and a big time banker. Each of these offers a different perspective on the whole “time as currency” idea, from maintaining a world order based on the rich wanting to live forever and the poor paying for it to just trying to live in the moment.

Ultimately I didn’t hate the film, but feel that In Time tried to fit too many tropes into one basket. We’re all going to run out of time eventually, but if we don’t try to live while we’re here it’s a waste. The rich profit from the plight of the poor. You can’t keep a good man down. Live each day like it’s your last. There’s even a bit of Robin Hood in this one, with Will and Sylvia stealing time from the rich and giving it to the poor. The list goes on…

It’s not a bad film and has some fun special effects scattered throughout, such as the car crash where Timberlake and Seyfried roll a car traveling at speed into a concrete culvert with hardly a scratch. It’s also quite stylized, with a stark contrast between the poor sections of civilization and the rich.

I’m still not convinced that either Timberlake or Seyfried can act. And the fact that everybody in the film, rich or poor, happened to be attractive and young really made the whole age aspect of the movie seem very one-dimensional to me. It’s just not something I would consider seeing again, but if you’re interested in seeing most of the hot young actors and actresses in a movie, In Time should be in your queue to rent.

Feature-wise, this was a very light DVD. It includes the theatrical trailer, a collection of deleted/extended scenes, and a bunch of trailers for other FOX projects. None of the deleted scenes really added much to the viewing experience, so I was glad they weren’t added to the nearly two hour running time for the film.

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

Related articles

• ‘In Time’ Review: Andrew Niccol Tries to Occupy Sci-Fi (slashfilm.com)
• Movie Review: In Time (blogcritics.org)
• The Dark Globe – In Time… In Review (thedarkglobe.wordpress.com)
• ‘Time’ Bandits: Timberlake, Seyfried Clock Some Sci-Fi (npr.org)
• DVD Review: In Time (2011) (blogcritics.org)
• Review: In Time (2011) (charlotteweston.wordpress.com)
• Initially intriguing ‘In Time’ gets old fast (today.msnbc.msn.com)