Josh Trank to direct Star Wars spin-off

Fantastic Four director Josh Trank has been hired to direct another standalone Star Wars spin-off film. It was announced by Disney that they intended to make at least three separate Star Wars films and they just are keeping the ball rolling. Godzilla director Gareth Edwards was confirmed to be directing one of them last week.

Trank hit the scene with the 2012 film Chronicle and since then has been hired to direct Fox's Fantastic Four reboot. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stated, "we are thrilled to welcome Josh into the family."

[UPDATED] The Worst Films of 2012

Ahh, ladies and gentlemen.

It is that time of the year once again where we reflect on the best and worst films of the year. I will do a separate post on the best films of 2012, but I figured why not start off with the bad things that happen. When you do that things only go uphill. There is no particular order to these except for the first and I explain that. So let's get this party started!


Snow White and the Huntsman

I put this one at the very top of the list because I don't think it was absolutely terrible. Was it great? Nowhere close, but it wasn't completely awful. It had more low points than high points and had some serious miscasting as far as Snow White went, but it was salvaged enough with Charlize Theron and pretty bomb special effects to not be a total loss.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

All I really have to say is... it's finally over.

Bachelorette

Now, let me say that I did enjoy Bachelorette overall but that was initially. After some reflection I came to realize that the movie was, in general, a hot mess. They tried too hard to re-create magic started with Bridesmaids and it failed. Rebel Wilson was the best part of the whole movie and she was hardly in it.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Talk about disappointment. I went into this movie with such high expectations and I expected to love the hell out of it because I love the book. However, it was probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The 3D was bad, the story was bad, and the adaptation was even worse. I think this was probably the biggest disappointment for me this year.

Bel Ami

I think Bel Ami was what people were counting on to show Robert Pattinson as a serious actor but it was yet another failure. The dialogue was weak, his character was weaker, and it was basically just a bunch of people having sex to gain position in society. Not interesting and no substance and I could have gone my whole life without seeing Pattinson naked.

Magic Mike

I am probably one of the only females on this planet that hated Magic Mike. It was just a terrible film. The script was as bad, if not worse, than a Twilight movie and it was relying on male strippers to bring females to the theater. That was it. Channing Tatum can't act and neither can Alex Pettyfer.

Mirror Mirror

By far the worst of the Snow White films we had this year. I feel like they tried to cater it more toward children and stumbled over a lot of rocks along the way. It wasn't funny, Julia Roberts tried too hard, and Armie Hammer just didn't strike me as a charming prince. It just didn't do it for me and I'm glad I didn't waste the money to see it in theaters.

The Woman in Black

Yet another example of franchise actors trying to prove they can do more than their character. Daniel Radcliffe will always be Harry Potter to me. He should stick to the stage because he has been quite successful there. Apart from that I found the movie predictable and boring. I even fast forwarded through a couple parts.

Chronicle 

Yet another disappointment for me. Chronicle was a disaster. There were terrible plot holes, it moved too quickly, the ending was predictable and abrupt, and how the kids even got their powers was never fully explained. It was just a bunch of stuff that happened and was caught on film.

The Devil Inside

Another one that I don't really have anything to say. I watched it and when it was over I wished that I hadn't.


Honorable (or dishonorable) mentions: Sparkle, What to Expect When You're Expecting, Chernobyl Diaries, Silent House, [REC] 3: Genesis, The Pact, Lovely Molly, Excision, and The Amazing Spider-Man.


Now keep in mind that these are just the movies that I personally saw this year. I heard about other movies that were apparently terrible and usually when I hear that much negative feedback I try to avoid them. Examples being Battleship, Lockout, Joyful Noise, etc..


Click HERE for the Best of 2012 list.

Chronicle sequel greenlit by Fox

Fox has hired Max Landis to write a sequel to Chronicle which was released this past February. Landis also wrote the first film.

I saw Chronicle (http://fort-kick-ass.blogspot.com/2012/02/review-chronicle.html) and while I had mixed feelings about it I was expecting a sequel to surface at some point. The way it ended was a dead giveaway, imo. I won't say I am necessarily jumping with excitement for a Chronicle 2, but I'll probably see it.


http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Max-Landis-Hired-Script-Chronicle-Sequel-29853.html

Venom spin-off in the works

Mind you this is very preliminary, but Columbia Pictures has tapped Chronicle director Josh Trank to direct a Spiderman spin-off featuring none other than Venom, aka Eddie Brock.

Now... I must say that Venom is one of my favorite comic book characters/villains of all time. Despite how much I would love to see this happen in some way I really don't want it to. There is practically no possible way to do a movie about Venom without Spiderman being present in some way.
With that said, maybe this is their way of saying that Venom will be the villain in the next Spiderman featuring Andrew Garfield? If there is another Spiderman with Garfield after The Amazing Spiderman, that is. We all know at this point the villain in The Amazing Spiderman is The Lizard, so maybe there will be a set up for Venom in a future film that will be centered more around the villain rather than Spiderman.

I know what you all are thinking; Spiderman 3 had Venom and it was terrible. Allow me to remind you that not only did Spiderman 3 suck in general but Eddie Brock was completely slaughtered in that movie. Venom shouldn't have even been included... I don't know. We'll just have to see how this plays out.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/28641

Review: Chronicle

If you don't know the basics of the plot... three teenagers find something in a hole in the ground which either gives them or opens up their awareness of telekinetic powers. They begin exercising their powers to gain strength and one of the three boys begins using his powers to hurt people, destroy things, and steal. In other words, for evil instead of good.

I went into Chronicle with a lot of anticipation and was really excited to see it. I saw the first teaser trailer back in October or November and I was really intrigued. I also listed Chronicle as one of my most anticipated of 2012.
With that said, I found it to be mostly a big disappointment. I thought it was rushed, vague, and that it didn't reach the potential that it had going for it. I liked the characters and found that the only character that was really well developed, in comparison to the others, was Andrew (the one who starts using his powers for bad things).

Spoilers ahead. Beware.

The main thing I found so weird is how the three boys even got together. Andrew and Matt are cousins so that is how they know each other, but Steve just kind of pops in out of nowhere. They are all at a rave at an abandoned barn and Steve just happens to be with Matt who drags Andrew into finding out what was inside the hole in the ground. We also learn very quickly that the thing in the hole is what gives them their powers and nosebleeds. We never find out what it is or why it's there. You never see how they escaped the tunnel as the ground collapsed in on them just before the camera cuts out.
I also found it weird that Matt didn't know how bad Andrew's home life was. They were close cousins, ffs. Matt should have known that Andrew's mom was dying and that his dad was an abusive drunk. He acted so surprised when Andrew started going crazy and wanting to hurt people. The only one who had the right to be surprised was Steve.
And on top of all that Steve unexpectedly dies because of Andrew's temper. I hate to say this because I know how it sounds, but the movie didn't start getting interesting until Steve's death. That's when Andrew went mega crazy and the most stuff started happening. The use of multiple cameras (security cameras and home cameras) was really cool. I also did love the floating camera trick where Andrew used his powers to float the camera along with him so he and the other two boys could be seen at the same time. AND... the hospital scene where Andrew tries to kill his dad. I was in shock. That was the best scene in the whole movie. I am so happy that wasn't one of the scenes shown in the trailers and TV spots.
And I can't forget to mention that Andrew dies as well. Matt kills him by shooting a piece of a statue through his chest while he is attacking the whole city of Seattle. I found it odd that Matt was the only one of the three to live, but whatever. He had the most control and wasn't as strong as the others so I guess it works out. It ends with him saying he wants to find an answer and use his power to help people.

I feel like I'm just rambling on at this point. I don't know... Overall I wouldn't say it was bad but it wasn't anywhere near what I was expecting. The CGI was painfully average in some spots (specifically the baseball scene and the talent show scene), the flying scenes were ridiculous and over the top, the idea of them flying in general was retarded, and the pace was all off. Things happened way too fast with little to no explanation and it ended with the opening for a fucking sequel. Naturally.
I also don't like how just about every cool thing in the film was seen in the trailers and TV spots. The hospital scene I mentioned before and one other scene were about the only two things that you can't see in the trailers. Honestly, if you have seen both trailers, the online clips, and the TV spots for Chronicle you've practically seen the whole movie. You just wouldn't know that Andrew winds up in the hospital and that he and Steve die. That's about it.

It just wasn't what I expected and I'm kinda sad about that.