Is This Robocop?

We only saw a tiny glimpse of Robocop's chasis in that ED-209 viral thingee awhile back, either for the building of suspense or because they literally haven't settled on a design yet. Now, Geekscape says they've got a concept model of the character...If this is the real thing (or something close) it's pretty bad; but also completely plausible as a 2012 moviemaking decision: Too slick, not at all iconic, would never peg it as being Robocop if not...

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Big Picture: "On The Subject of Violence"

In relation, obviously, to the recent unpleasantness...The Escapist : The Big Picture : On The Subject Of Viole...

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The Democratic Party Will (Probably) Officially Endorse Gay Marriage At 2012 Convention

In the spirit of this shocking, profound and in-no-way-just-rubber-stamping-what-already-eminently-evident news; I have decided to officially endorse my support of Mario Games, Pizza, 80s Metal and the first two "Spider-Man" movies.Incidentally, this comes on the heels of the whole "Chik-fil-A" debacle, which is set to become even more absurd on Wednesday as "luminaries" like Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin have encouraged their fans/followers to show pride in their bigotry by making August 1st "Chik-fil-A" day. Here's an idea: I plan on making it...

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"The Hobbit" Will Be Three Movies

Peter Jackson has confirmed that "The Hobbit" will go from being two films to a trilogy; with the originally-announced first two debuting over the next two Xmas seasons and the third hitting Summer 2014.Details are vague, but supposedly this has been spurred by the material added (mostly "what was going on elsewhere in Middle Earth" from the LOTR appendices) to "flesh out" the events of the existing two films and tie things more directly to the events/characters that Tolkien later placed before and after Bilbo's main adventure. Whether or...

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"Sonic Fan-Film" New Trailer

You might remember Eddie LeBron and Blue Core Studios for their ambitious "Mega Man" fan-film a few years back. Shortly after that, they announced they were going to take a swing at "Sonic The Hedgehog;" and with the film's release date apparently approaching (last I'd heard it was going to be a short instead of a feature) there's a new trailer - and yes, that's actually Jaleel White returning to voice Son...

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Escape to The Movies: "The Watch"

Sucks. But you knew that."Intermission" is full of Dark Knight Spoilers.The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : The Wa...

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"Cloud Atlas" Looks Like It Probably DOES Need a Six-Minute Trailer

The Wachowskis are two of the most interesting talents working in big-scale Hollywood movies today; so much so that the fact that they're no longer The Wachowski Brothers is NOT the most interesting thing about their output.Their careers have never quite recovered from "The Matrix" becoming a massive overnight mega-sensation, prompting two unnecessary and innevitably-underwhelming sequels, and the the (IMO) underappreciated "Speed Racer" didn't exactly put them back on top; but I can't not respect people who make good on the dream of attaining...

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Yeah, This Is TOTALLY Appropriate

When a tragedy occurs with some kind of connection to a pop-culture property, it's only natural for the two to get bound up in eachother when it comes to artistic-expression of reactions to said tragedy. Which is a long way of saying that, while I'm kind of "put off" by the deluge of "Sad Batman" fan-art that started popping up in the wake of the Colorado Massacre (so much of it feels like it's more about empathizing with Batman - the fiction character...

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Ang Lee's "Arthouse Calvin & Hobbes" Has A Trailer

"The Life of Pi" is based on a 2001 fantasy novel largely about the adventures a boy stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger for 227 days but also about meditations on the nature of God and The Universe as seen through the varying perspectives of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Below, the trailer for the movie your stoner friends and your "spiritual" friends will refuse to shut up about later this year...I'm wondering how much of an adaptation this is. Without spoiling (commenters, try not to do that either - I still have to get around to reading...

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Big Picture: "Worlds Within Worlds"

Too much TV...The Escapist : The Big Picture : Worlds Within Wor...

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Post-Movie Podcast does "The Dark Knight"

Steve Head and John Black invited me back onto The Post-Movie Podcast to discuss "The Dark Knight" and a few other things and, yes, the Aurora Shootings did come up (we were recording this literally about ten hours after the actual event took plac...

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Guns & Football

Below the jump, some thoughts on topical issues relating to two things Americans are way, way too obsessed with. Contains politics, so don't read it if you don't wanna:Regarding The Aurora Massacre:Absolutely tragic, no other way to say it. That having been said, this whole thing where we're not supposed to say James Holmes' (the shooter's) name or discuss certain "bigger" aspects of this story so that he won't "win?" Look, I understand the feeling behind that... but he already "won" to the degree that he pulled off his crime. I understand the...

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DreamWorks Animation Just Bought Like 30% Of Your Childhood - And Your Parents' And Grandparents' Childhoods, Too

As licensed-properties have taken over Hollywood, consolidating big collections of said properties (the better to avail yourself as partner to production companies) under one umbrella has become a canny investment for companies that once upon a time might've only ever existed to license nostalgiac DVD sets. For one such umbrella, "Classic Media," the ship has come in: DreamWorks Animation SKG just paid $155 Million for the company (which will now be called "DreamWorks Classics") - or, rather, for the impressive roster of characters, series, franchises...

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Sonic Boom

I like the "Man of Steel" teaser (now online for real) a little better now than I did when it was letting me down in the theater by being a little too tease-ish. The atmosphere is killer and unexpected, and feels "mythic" once you realize what it is. I still feel like I'd be really nervous about it if I didn't already know that the broader film looks a lot more DC Universe and a lot less "Jeans Commercial."If nothing else, it certainly puts to lie the idea that Snyder can't "do" a more restrained/naturalistic aesthetic... which I predict he...

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Escape to the Movies: "The Dark Knight Rises" (Updated)

Re-posting for regular Friday schedule and "Intermission."THE MOVIE: Good, not great. Review probably would've been slightly more negative if I'd seen it more than just once beforehand."INTERMISSION": Warners is already talking reboot. Because that's where we live now.A SECOND ARTICLE: Because why not?The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : The Dark Knight RisesBefore anyone asks, yes, I've been watching the same "Colorado Batman Massacre" story unfold as everyone else. Horrifying, unbelievable, tragic stuff; but thus far that it happened...

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Bat & Switch

Went to see "Rises" again at midnight. Liked it a little less the second time - more and more "wait a second..." annoyances - but still not "bad" by any stretch of the imagination.My real reason for heading out was, of course, because I wanted to finally see the "Man of Steel" trailer in a form other than grainy Comic-Con snippets or shot-by-shot descriptions; only to discover too late that what SDCC saw isn't the same teaser that's been attached to "Rises." Phooey.I'll say this: If I DIDN'T have the sliver of context for how much "cooler"...

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Escape to The Movies: "The Dark Knight Rises"

Going a day early, 99.9% spoiler-free. You're welcome."Intermission" will go up tommorrow in the usual spot. Until then, did you see my long-ass Batman-related article from earlier today; "Bat-Mitt vs. The Obamavengers?"The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : The Dark Knight Ri...

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Bat-Mitt vs. The Obamavengers

NOTE I: I was going to wait until after Midnight to put this up, but it looks like everyone and their grandmother is already running their "TDKR in bigger culture" pieces so I might as well drop it now.NOTE II: This is NOT a review of "The Dark Knight Rises." My review of the film will run, as scheduled, on tomorrow's episode of "Escape to The Movies." This piece is not directly affiliated with any other MovieBob projects appearing elsewhere on the web and should not be taken as such.I’ll admit, straightaway, to the unavoidable fact that...

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I Re-Review Batman Movies

Slow news week, mostly because everything in entertainment is dutifully clearing the deck so that this week's pre-ordained blockbuster can take it's Bat-bows. Was really kinda hoping that the mass-piracy would goad Warner Bros. into dropping the "Man of Steel" trailer early, but no such luck.So why not eat up some internet-time watching (or re-watching) me re-watch the original four "Batman" movies, now handily collected in this one post?BatmanBatman ReturnsBatman ForeverBatman & RobinMy review of the "The Dark Knight Rises" will be up tomorrow...

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Limbaugh Versus Batman (UPDATED!)

Below, audio of Rush Limbaugh's radio show, wherein he posits that the villain of "The Dark Knight Rises" being named BANE is a deliberate attempt to help the Obama campaign by smearing his Republican challenger Mitt Romney (re: former head of BAIN Capital.) No, really.UPDATE: Amusingly, The Guardian's Catherine Shoard, posits that the film is actually much more of an anti-"Occupy" capitalist power-fantasy that "Mitt Romney would be thrilled" with. I'm not reviewing or opining on the film at all until Friday's "Escape to The Movies," but I'll...

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Big Picture: "Batman Revisited - Part IV"

This is NOT the best Batman movie I'll review this week... but by how much? Stay tuned.The Escapist : The Big Picture : Batman Revisited, Part...

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"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Will (Possibly) Introduce The Falcon

The Hollywood Reporter says that actor Anthony Mackie - most recently seen in a major supporting role in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" - has been cast in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"  (previously known as "Captain America 2.") It's believed he will play Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon.A Harlem-based superhero, Falcon has a strength-enhancing suit that includes a pair of wings he can fly with, plus a telepathic connection to his pet bird "Redwing." He was Captain America's buddy/sidekick throughout the 1970s, and also a sometime member...

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Comic-Con: "Man of Steel" poster online, footage shown

I don't like this "Man of Steel" teaser poster. At all. I get what it's going for, but it's dour and moody and all the stuff I thought the frachise was supposed to be jettisoning after "Superman Returns." It's also unmistakably reminiscent of the "Dark Knight" key-art, which couldn't be more of a wrong direction to take a Superman movie. It's very, very Christopher Nolan, and great filmmaker or not now that his Batman cycle is concluded I want...

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Comic-Con: "Guardians of The Galaxy"

It was already in-the-wind that some version or another of "Guardians of The Galaxy" was going to be the Marvel/Disney 2014 movie that would hit after "Captain America 2" (now officially subtitled "The Winter Soldier") and serve as a lead-in to "Avengers 2." Now it's been confirmed at SDCC, and we have official concept-art revealing the team lineup:Who the hell are you looking at? Hit the jump...It looks like they're going with the...

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Comic-Con: Iron Curious Yellow

Lot's of big news coming out of Comic-Con... none of which I got to see/learn firsthand because I don't get to go. Harumph.Anyway, first up: "Iron Man 3" had a panel... immediately preceded by a suprise visit from Edgar Wright, who revealed that his long in-development "Ant Man" movie is moving forward, has a logo and showed off test-footage of the size-changing effects. Good news.The "IM3" footage, allegedly, contains the "big reveal" that Ben Kinglsey's...

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Last Word on "Spider-Man"

There's no real point in complaining about people trolling every single post/review/article I put up that even alludes to the movie that happens to be THE big entertainment news story of the moment (seriously, people; I am "obsessed" with "The Amazing Spider-Man" in the same way that The Weather Channel was "obsessed" with Hurricane Katrina - it's kind of the only thing going on at the moment, especially since there's been no "tsunami" out of SDCC yet) since this is my job... but at this point I've had enough. Especially since The Internet ran...

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Escape To The Movies: "Ice Age: Continental Drift"

Kinda hard to care."Intermission" talks lazy continuity.The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Ice Age: Continental Dr...

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Letterman Shitstorm

It's 6am on this coast, I've been repairing old video games and recording audio all night, time to crash, etc., but I wanted to have something about this up since a lot of you are probably waking up to the news:During an interview with Anne Hathaway on The Late Show last night, David Letterman may or may not have blurted out a major, MAJOR, MAJOR spoiler for the "The Dark Knight Rises." I'm not going to post the clip, a link to the clip or information on where/how you can get it. I will say that, for what it's worth, Letterman immediately...

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Raimi Returns With "Oz"

What I like most about this trailer for Sam Raimi's "Oz: The Great & Powerful" (a prequel/origin-story with James Franco as the Kansas con-artist/magician who ultimately becomes That Man Behind The Curtain) - apart from the indications that they're going to use a color/aspect-ratio metamorphosis for the Earth/Oz transitions a'la the MGM film's black-and-white to color transition - is the way that, despite the obvious visual connections being made to the Judy Garland version and the Disney live-action-fantasy "house style" vibe;...

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It Lives

As part of moving into the new place, I've been looting my parents' house for old stuff I can still use. One discovery turned out to be my original NES and collection of games; which tonight underwent a thorough disassembling, cleaning with rubbing-alcohol (system and carts) and reassembling. The entire process was tweeted game by game (sorry, people who don't like tweetspam, I was excited is all.) and this is my favorite photo I took of the...

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Aronofsky's "Noah" Will (Probably) Cause Our Next Big Bible-Movie Shitstorm

Darren Aronofsky has tweeted the first set pic of construction for his upcoming film "Noah," he of Ark-building fame. If completed on schedule, it's on-track to be the first of a potential wave of Biblical epics - elsewhere, Steven Spielberg is circling an update of "The Ten Commandments." I'm kind of psyched about the prospects of this. From a strictly literary perspective, Bible Stories are among those rare cases were visually/narratively bizzare...

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Oh, Baby!

Via ShockTillYouDrop"Killer Baby" movies are a popular monster/horror subgenre for an obvious reason: It's the ultimate extreme of both the "deceptively-harmless-looking-killer" conceit and the "evil-perversion-of-goodness" conceit. We're biologically/evolutionarily hardwired to respond viscerally to babies - that jolting chill up your spine when a baby cries somewhere? That's your ancient, ancient instinct telling you "YOUNG ONES IN PERIL! PROTECT THE FUTURE OF THE PACK!" - and Killer Baby movies exploit that.The best one is still Larry Cohen's...

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Big Picture: "Batman Revisited - Part III"

"Batman Forever" this week.The Escapist : The Big Picture : Batman Revisited, Part...

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