Jori's Entertainment Journal

Spoiler Warning: NECA Announces Prometheus Action Figures Series 1

2012-06-12T06:05:00.003+08:00

Through their official website, NECA announces the upcoming release of movie tie in action figures for Ridley Scott's latest masterpiece, Prometheus. And the toys that will be released first as series 1 are none other than the "space jockeys" themselves.

SPOILER WARNING!!! SPOILER WARNING!!! SPOILER WARNING!!! The images and video posted below are definitely big spoilers for the movie so it is highly advisable to hit back now to avoid it. But if you really don't mind being spoiled then you are free to proceed. Watch the video brief about the action figure below.

For those who already saw the film, we already know the biggest twist of the Space Jockeys and this action figures are probably the best depiction of the real identities of the creature baptized as Engineers by Dr. Shaw (Rapace). These creatures are suppose to be the real creators of man. Imagine how crazy is that. Before, we always joke about man evolving from extraterrestrials. Now Ridley finally dropped the bomb.

The Engineers: Chair Suit (Left) and the Pressure Suit (Right)

Photos above are the first clear images of the Engineers released on the net. I guess I'm too busy thinking while the movie is giving me blow by blow revelations that I don't really got the chance to marvel these awesome designs. The figures definitely look excellent and highly detailed. I'm very sure that Alien aficionados will definitely get both of these gorgeous beauties when it is finally out in the public. The collectibles are set to be released on September 2012, after next month's big announcement at the San Diego Comic Con 2012 (SDCC). Prometheus is still showing on cinemas nationwide, distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Prometheus Feature: Spotlight on Aesthetically Working Helmets

2012-06-05T15:31:00.000+08:00

In returning to the genre he helped define, Ridley Scott continues to push the boundaries of storytelling, both visually and thematically. As he notes, he’s all about the “everything” – from story structure to casting, from sets and costumes to new ways of telling a story. And while the renowned filmmaker is scaring the hell out of you, he never loses sight of the big picture. “After you’ve seen Prometheus,” Scott concludes, “you will have experienced something completely unexpected.”

In parallel to the film’s post-viewing experience, the actors likewise have undergone a gratifying filming experience with the helmets developed for the film.

Scott mandated a globe-shaped helmet with no blind spots. Each helmet had nine working video screens, lighting, an oxygen supply run on two fans with battery packs within the backpack. The exterior of the helmet features a fully functioning torch and HD cameras with a transmitter and recorder.

The helmet has 9 working LED screens, all with specially designed graphics, five of them in the globe, and the others in the glass. The graphics have all been designed by the art department to look like official tech. It's the seismic activity of the land.

Then there's LED lighting everywhere. There’s a light in the top. There’s a skull cap, which is wired for sound so they can not only speak, they can hear direction. And most importantly, it’s completely wired up for air because Ridley said that on ALIEN, the panic that would set in after their actors had been in the helmets for more than 30 seconds was immense. Plus there’s all that condensation you get on the globe.

The backpack really functions as a huge battery loader for all the electronics. The editor, Pietro Scalia, decided he wanted to be able to see through the mounted cameras, so they're real HD cameras, which come with big recorders and great big transmitters. But apparently the footage has been great – you can intercut, so that right in the middle of a scene you get little gems: little bits and bobs that a wide camera can't.

Prometheus costume designer Janty Yates shares, “We'll make about 60 of these helmets. We've got so many stunts. It's a constant process of making and mending them. There are so many things that can and do go wrong with the electronics, but even with all the maintenance you have to do I think we must have saved them a fortune, because if it weren't built into the suit they'd have had to create it in post and that would have been so much more difficult.”

“Even a little knock to the helmet could knock out the whole sequence. They're so fragile, but they're just beautiful things. The result of having all these lights in the suit itself is that you end up with the actors bathed in this exquisite lighting. My guys have to get together with Dariusz Wolski, the cinematographer, and figure out what was going to work and where. They strips of light look like inverted halos and they light the faces really exquisitely,” recalls Yates.

Ride with PROMETHEUS in the speed of light years when it opens June 6 in theaters all over the Philippines – from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Official feature from 20th Century Fox

Introducing Weyland Corporation's Pride: USCSS Prometehus

2012-05-22T02:46:00.002+08:00

For Arthur Max, the production designer on PROMETHEUS, visualising the world of the film meant not just creating the alien landscape of the planet the crew visit, but also the Prometheus herself, a highly-technical state-of-the-art spacecraft – the pride of the Weyland Corporation's fleet some 70 years into the future - that the film's human crew call home.

Michael Fassbender couldn't believe the work that had gone into creating the ship's sets. “I don’t think I’m ever going to see anything as impressive as this,” he enthuses. “I remember walking onto the ship on one of the first days and it really felt like I was on the ship. No acting required. And I’m pressing all these buttons, and they all work. The bridge is almost like the heartbeat of the ship showing all the vital signs of the ship. Everything has been thought through.”

Agrees Idris Elba, who plays Captain Janek, the man responsible for flying the ship, “I couldn't fly a spaceship to save my life, but because of the detail involved I'm sat there in front of this console that actually works. You press this button and something happens, that button and something else happens... And the thing about Ridley is he knows everything about the ship. He's designed it in his head and he's designed it to work and that's what makes him so special.”

“There's a mass of visual effects going into this, but we're always trying to do as much practically as possible,” reveals Executive Producer Michael Ellenberg. “That way the VFX are informing and evolving what's already there rather than inventing it from thin air. That's the difference between allowing the future experience to feel believable and real and not. The truth is, doing things with VFX might be a little easier, but actually it's not always cheaper. And if you can build something and allow someone to feel that it's practically real – especially when you're trying to scare them – that's all the better.”

Actor Logan Marshall-Green says the design of the ship, and its layout, feeds into the character motivations that divide the Prometheus's crew. “Everybody is kind of there watching everyone else,” he shares. “And there are these really beautiful duos, if you will. You have Noomi’s character and my character, who really hold on to each other because they are surrounded by people who don’t believe in them and want to destroy them. And then you have Rafe [Spall's] and Sean [Harris's] characters, and you have Charlize [Theron's] and Idris [Elba's] characters. Each duo is kind of watching the rest. Yet it’s not a big crew. It’s a big spaceship, but it doesn’t take that many to run it.”

Summarises Michael Fassbender, who plays David: “Some people are there for the pay. Other people are there to get answers. Other people are there to hopefully attain some sort of secret. Others are there in somewhat of a spite journey. You’ve got all these collective relationships, individuals and motivations and that’s what makes quite intriguing even before the shit hits the fan.”

Production Designer Arthur Max describes the approach to the highly-technical look of the Prometheus. “The first ALIEN movie was taking place on what was basically a mining tug; the Nostromo. It was a very rough and ready rust bucket. Whereas what we’re doing now is the flagship of the Weyland Corporation fleet. It’s cutting edge. I’s got all the technology its owner can afford for space exploration. So it's the best of the fleet rather than the worst, even though it’s just a generation before.”

Costume Designer Janty Yates was responsible for building PROMETHEUS's iconic spacesuit, worn by the crew when they step onto the planet's surface. “It started off with a conversation with Arthur, who showed me all of his wealth of fantastic research,” she remembers. “He said there would be some concept design work in spacesuits, and that they'd be uniforms like in ALIEN. And then Ridley arrived!”

Scott threw out all 16 concept designs Yates had come up with, preferring that she concentrate on something much simpler. Says Yates: “Ridley went, 'Oh, no, that’s too foreign; flight suits and camouflage pants.' I had a couple of concepts that he really loved. The whole script just was screaming out for prototyping.”

Yates focussed on building a spacesuit that was both visually and practically technological. “There's an under suit and there are supposed to be the conduits to monitor the blood systems and the oxygen levels and all that running around your body.” In addition, the helmets feature their own lighting elements, as well as myriad LED screens showing telemetry and atmospheric data, built by the film's graphics department.

And many of the additions to the suit were practical considerations for the production too: “There’s a skull cap, which is wired for sound so they can not only speak, they can hear direction,” explains Yates. “Most important, it’s completely wired up for air because Ridley said that on ALIEN, panic would set in after their actors being in the helmets for more than 30 seconds, when the visors clogged with condensation.”

The importance of the film's human component can't be underestimated, thinks screenwriter Damon Lindelof. “The amazing thing that Ridley does, as a director, is ground big ideas in some sort of fundamental reality,” he says. “What’s cool about this movie is that it doesn’t take place on Earth, in any real significant way, so the way that we’re experiencing the future is really away from Earth. It’s more about what people are like now. What have they gone through? What are the things that they’re thinking about? The idea that we’re basically all going to be the same a hundred years from now, but we might be driven by different ideas, is what’s driving the movie.”

The other, and perhaps most impressive, bits of human technology developed for the film are the vehicles, which were built to run. From speedy quad bikes to giant armoured personnel carriers, Prometheus's vehicles are second to none. “We're going to take them to Iceland,” laughs Max from the film's Pinewood portion. The location the production has chosen is remote. “That's going to be a logistical challenge!”

But he summarises the real challenge of the job: “I think audiences and film technology has gotten more sophisticated and there's been a lot of science fiction movies [since Ridley did BLADE RUNNER]. There's a lot of pressure on everybody here to raise the bar, and that's definitely what we've tried to do.”

Opening in Philippine cinemas on June 6, 2012, “Prometheus” is from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. (in Phil. theaters) nationwide.

Official and Exclusive Feature from 20th Century Fox

An Open Invitation: Prometheus International Trailer

2012-05-08T16:59:00.003+08:00

20th Century Fox Philippines releases the official international trailer for Prometheus. The trailer is morethan 3 minutes long and contains never before seen footage from the film. Watch the trailer after the jump.

Ridley Scott brings us PROMETHEUS, set in a future where two superpowers control Earth and fight each other to gain control of all the solar system's natural resources. Starring Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Noomi Rapace, "Prometheus" brings together a team of scientists, 'The Company' representatives and robot synthetics to investigate and search for keys to unlock man's ultimate mystery.

PROMETHEUS (in 3D) opens June 7 in theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Whoa that's quite interesting. It looks like Ridley Scott will not disappoint us. Though it appears that this trailer shows too much with 3 minutes of footage almost showing the whole plot, I'm still convinced that there is more to see than what we already witnessed on this trailer. Let's just say, Scott just need to show what is the movie in a nutshell that is why he released this version of trailer. Personally speaking they got my attention and I'm loving what I'm seeing so far.

Coming in Philippine cinemas on June 6, 2012, “Prometheus” is from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. (in Phil. theaters) nationwide.

Prometheus Feature: Weyland Industries Introduces David 8

2012-04-22T16:47:00.000+08:00

Kicking off for Prometheus viral marketing is a video featuring Michael Fassbender as the android called Dave. This video is suppose to be a promotional ad for Weyland Industries newest version of David android which is according to the video has new upgrade which is "real emotions". Watch the video after the jump.

He has been reimagined, reengineered and brought to life with better technological, intellectual, physical and emotional performance than ever before. Welcome to the eighth generation of cybernetic advancement. Brought to you by Weyland Industries.

With his new 99% emotional sensitivity level, David 8 can enter seamlessly into any environment and carry out an authentic human interaction. David 8 can understand and respond appropriately to even the most intricate emotional cues or subtly stated verbal commands. David 8 has valuable skills in manufacturing, finance, earth sciences and medicine, and he can become instantly competent in almost any other field... Read More...

This video gives me the creeps. I not really sure why. I like it that Michael Fassbender is doing a great job on portraying a robotic role. There is a touch stiffness but at the same time his eyes can show emotions. Contradicting qualities but blends well with Fassbender's acting skill. David also reminds me of Steven Spielberg's 2001 sci-fi drama AI: Artificial Inteligence, where the main protagonist is also called David. I don't know if the idea is intentionally the same but both has a distinguishing quality of having emotions despite being mechanical creations. The only difference is David 8 has an Adult form while David from AI is a mecha child. This movie is slowly getting better and better with all this viral marketing gimmicks. I'm quite very excited but at the same time very worried. Very worried that behind the hype is an underwhelming film. I really hope it is not.

Coming in Philippine cinemas on June 6, 2012, “Prometheus” is from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. (in Phil. theaters) nationwide.

Prometheus Feature: Meet Elizabeth Shaw

2012-04-18T15:26:00.000+08:00

There has been a lot of speculation that “Prometheus” is a prequel to Scott’s highly acclaimed earlier film, Alien. The director wants to keep the story under wraps so that audiences view the film without preconceived ideas.

But he has admitted that there are links. In “Prometheus,” the mission is funded by Peter Wayland (Guy Pearce), the ageing head of a huge corporation. The action takes place 30 years before the story told in Alien.

Leading the Prometheus expedition is the character of Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace. From director Ridley Scott, who delivered the likes of “Thelma and Louise” and “Alien,” we can immediately expect a strong character to inhabit Shaw's spacesuit. And at the hands of Rapace, best known for her work in the tremendously-popular Swedish Millenium series, she comes alive as a new action heroine for the 21st Century.

Many characters evolve before actors are cast to play them, but not so Shaw, who was developed and refined in close collaboration with Rapace. Says Ridley Scott: “I find most of my inspiration from low-budget movies now. If we aren't watching movies, we close ourselves down. And there's a great output, suddenly, of Scandinavian films. More than a year ago I saw “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” because I'd heard it was successful. I was absolutely taken by it. Noomi was this very special little punk actress who I thought was definitely the real thing. Then I heard that she was in town in Hollywood, and I just called up her agent and said I’d like to meet her. She walked in and was a very elegant woman. I suddenly realised that I was dealing with a real actress, who can literally change her spots.”

Scott says that the approach to Shaw was intentionally very different from the approach to Sigourney Weaver's character, Ripley, in ALIEN. “We were determined to come in from a different direction because Sigourney was a kind of non-specific junior officer in ALIEN,” he explains. “What was she doing onboard? You think she’s going to die in the first act. Whereas Shaw, in this one, is a scientist that comes from the direction of, not just pure science, but actually of faith. Therefore she believes the foothold of everything is bound in the idea that we were created by something. Otherwise we’re such an accident of biology. We’re mathematically impossible, unless there was something pushing it around.”

Rapace says Shaw is more feminine than Ripley. “She's a scientist, an archeologist. I think that Ripley was way harder from the start, because she was alone. Shaw starts this journey to get with Holloway, and she loves him. They’re a team and they’re doing this together.”

Logan Marshall-Green plays Holloway. “They are a team,” he agrees. “If she’s the brains, he’s the legs. I wouldn’t go so far to say muscle but he’s the legs. He’s the one who leaps before he looks and sometimes it hurts them as a team but a lot of the times it’s helped them. He takes a lot of chances and so far so good. This mission is one of the chances.”

It's an attraction of opposites, he says. “As much as we're a team, we actually differ in our philosophies as to exactly what we want or we believe. She's the believer. I'm the scientist. I'm the skeptic. For lack of a better phrase, we complete each other. I think its what’s drawn the characters together romantically as well. It’s just this kind of respect - full respect - but my skepticism matched with her beliefs, her faith.”

Executive Producer Michael Ellenberg summarises: “These two are brilliant expert archeologists and anthropologists and they identify a series of connections on Earth that seem to suggest there may be not just life on other planets, but that life on Earth might have had something to do with this other life, and that maybe they're our creators.”

Rapace reveals that Shaw goes on a journey as the film progresses. “In the middle of the movie, something happens and she becomes harder and she becomes more like a warrior,” she shares. “She has to cut off some emotional ties to be able to survive. I think she goes from being quite innocent and full of hope and belief and going into something that is a bit darker. I think that all Ridley’s women are quite tough or they can stand up for themselves and they’re quite good at fighting back.”

Costume designer Janty Yates confirms that Rapace had a big hand in her character's costume decisions. “She always wants to be in a flight suit,” Yates laughs. “On the first day of shooting, we put her through so many different looks and so many very, very spacey looks, very, very modern looks, very French looks, very Japanese looks, all sorts, to try and get her to look timeless. And then she just said, 'Ridley, can I wear this?' He went, 'Yes, alright!'”

For Rapace, building Shaw meant building a backstory. “She lost her father when she was quite young,” she shares. “He was a missionary and a Christian. I think if something dramatic like that happens in an early age, it’s like you have two options. I think you can lose faith and you can go quite dark and you can start to think that everything is a punishment in a way. The other way, because she was a loved kid and he gave her the gift of belief and faith, is that she can just hold onto that and there’s a purpose with everything.”

Marshall-Green says he's had fun working with Rapace. “I rate my experience with working with actors on their work ethic,” he says. “Nobody has a better work ethic than Noomi. We got kind of thrown in to it together. We had to really show a history of being romantically and professionally linked. And I think she and I both had our eyes on the exact same prize, and hopefully it shows.”

The relationship between the two characters is, he reveals, absolutely integral to the film's themes. But rather than create it explicitly, he and Rapace have tried to imply it by infusing it with idiosyncratic detail. “Did she just feed him a frozen space raspberry?” he laughs. “Yes, she did!”

But bringing out the character's physicality also took a lot of training of Rapace's part. “When I did “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” I did a lot of martial arts,” she remembers. “I was doing kickboxing and tae bo because I wanted to be aggressive. This has been different because now I’ve been doing more running to be able to go on for a long time instead of having quick energy. I was thinking I want to be like an animal. I’ve been trying to train my body to make my body work for long so I can do long sessions.”

Embark on man’s bravest mission to a beginning that leads to an end in “PROMETHEUS 3D” when it opens June 6 in cinemas nationwide!

official release from 20th Century Fox

The Journey To Discover Life Starts in Prometheus

2012-04-17T08:41:00.000+08:00

“Prometheus 3D” sets off on Earth with the discovery of hieroglyphics from various civilizations around the world, all depicting the same message. From iconic filmmaker Ridley Scott who shaped the momentous “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Gladiator” and “Black Hawk Down” films, comes a wholly original epic unlocking answers to man’s beginnings, in the process unearthing rabid realities to their quest.

Anchoring on a ship named Prometheus which takes the explorers to a distant world, the movie also fleets reference to an offspring of a Greek titan named Prometheus who stole fire from the gods to give to mortals. Additionally, “Prometheus” scribe Damon Lindelof shares that “We’re not going to talk about specifically how it connects to the movie, other than to say that yes, Prometheus was a Titan who stole fire from the Gods because they were keeping it to themselves and they were worried what mankind would do if we got our little paws on it. So, that theme is a resonating idea; what humans are doing that we probably shouldn’t be doing in terms of technological innovation and, perhaps, exploration. Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed? Part of the fun of the movie is understanding exactly why we called it PROMETHEUS.”

“Prometheus” features an inspired ensemble of multi-cultural and relatable characters: Charlize Theron plays Meredith Vickers, Michael Fassbender as David, Noomi Rapace as Shaw, Logan Marshall-Green as Charlie Holloway and Idris Elba as Janek . All are on a mission where the stakes couldn’t be more enormous than that of the fate of mankind. Fighting for humanity in an environ light years away from Earth, they struggle to defy the harrowing fate that awaits them and the rest of mankind.

“Prometheus (3D)” lands in local cinemas June 6 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

official release from 20th Century Fox

Prometheus First Full Length Trailer Premieres

2012-03-18T13:47:00.000+08:00

I really thought this trailer is set to premiere tomorrow but it seems that it came out earlier than expected. Exclusive from AMC Theatre's youtube account, here's Ridley Scott's Prometheus.

Ridley Scott brings us PROMETHEUS, set in a future where two superpowers control Earth and fight each other to gain control of all the solar system's natural resources. Starring Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Noomi Rapace, "Prometheus" brings together a team of scientists, 'The Company' representatives and robot synthetics to investigate and search for keys to unlock man's ultimate mystery.

Hmmm I guess now I'm convinced that this film has a big connection with Ridley Scott's Alien lore though up to this moment it is not clear to what extent. I remember this one interview with Ridley when he mentioned that the only connection of Prometheus to Alien is Peter Weyland who also according to the actor who plays him (Guy Pearce) will only be appearing in the film for only a couple of minutes.

I'm not really a big fan of the franchise. I saw the film when I was a kid but never really gave a lot of attention to it. Maybe I'll just have to watch the trilogy when I got the chance. Either way this film looks promising. I hope the hype lives up to the actual film when it finally reach cinemas in June.

Directed by Ridley Scott (Alien and Bladerunner), starring Charlize Theron (Young Adult), Noomi Rapace (Sherlock Holmes 2), Michael Fassbender (X-Men First Class), Logan Marshall-Green (Across the Universe) and a lot more. Coming in Philippine cinemas on June 6, 2012, “Prometheus” is from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. (in Phil. theaters) nationwide.