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Stuff You Need to Know

Stuff: Tarsem’s Film Hopefully a Hyperion to “Clash of the Titans”‘ Satyr

Widge
February 20, 2011
6 min read
Mickey Rourke as Hyperion from Immortals

There are some people who need every little pop culture news tidbit the moment it comes off the presses. They like reading press releases converted into 250 words of article. This feature is not for them. This feature is for people who need to know the important bits and don’t have time for the extraneous info. If that’s you: enjoy.

  • Immortals is what War of the Gods is called now. Tarsem is directing Mickey Rourke as a mad Hyperion trying to kill mankind. Seriously. What else do you need to know? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go back and watch The Cell and The Fall and tell yourself that that man is going to bring you GODS THAT FIGHT.

  • American Horror Story is the show that FX has ordered a pilot of from the people who brought you Glee. You know what would make the show a slam-dunk for me? Get Kings of Leon to do the theme. Source.

  • Here’s one way to do it: create a video game trailer that’s so awesome that you sell the film rights on the strength of it before the game even hits. That’s Dead Island, of course–although the rights were bought before the trailer, even. Bought in 2009. Just damn. Anyway, the trailer is what everybody has been sending me, trying to get me to buy a console. Bastards. Anyway, fine, here’s the trailer. This is more of a horror movie than, well, most horror movies. Watch it after the break.

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    Direct link for the feedreaders.

  • A 3D Great Gatsby? Apparently so and helmed by Baz Luhrmann with Leonardo DiCaprio on board as Gatsby and Carey Mullican having been offered Daisy. Still…3D? Um. Anyway. Source.

  • A Houdini adventure/thriller flick? Yes, one that’s been in development for a while: an adaptation of The Secret Life of Houdini, The Making of America’s First Superhero. It’s got a writer attached, so we’ll see if it goes anywhere. Source.
  • Hulu Plus now has my attention: you can watch Criterion Collection flicks commercial-free if you’ve got the Plus version of the service. There’s 150 films currently set for this with more to be added. Nice. Source.

  • Iron Man 3 could is helmed by Shane Black and it’s scheduled to hit cinemas May 3, 2013, the follow-up to Avengers. No word on who’s scribing (possibly Black himself) but he’s got a full dance card–he’s set to helm Death Note and is in development on Doc Savage. The latter of which I’m fine, just so long as Seth Rogen stays off of it. Source.

  • First Cars, now Planes is coming direct to video from Disney. Before you start moaning and groaning, A) these probably won’t be targeted at you and 2) the Cars franchise, despite being the weakest Pixar film, made a crapload of money in merchandising. Think about it: kids freaking love cars. So there you have it. Source.

  • Prime Suspect is coming to the U.S. starring Maria Bello in the Helen Mirren role. This version will be set in New York City. Source.

  • The new Thor trailer is here. Yeah. Just yeah.

    Direct link for the feedreaders.

  • Unable to figure out what to do with Wonder Woman in either the comics or on the big screen, they’ve turned to the small screen. Adrianne Palicki is playing her and she’s apparently running a company as well as fighting crime. Or something. A pilot has been ordered. We’ll see if this thing actually gets off the ground. Source.

    • Home Video Releases

    Click the type of media in the description or the title to pre-order/order your copy from Amazon.

  • The Backstage Disney “commentary” for the upcoming Blu-Ray release of Bambi is fantastic: uses dramatizations of the story meetings taken from actual transcripts and uses branching to let you dive into details. Digging it through it now, actually.

  • Ken Burns’ The Civil War has a new 150th Anniversary Edition (anniversary for the war, not the docu itself) hitting DVD from PBS/Paramount, with an extra hour of bonus interview footage and collector’s booklet. That’s March 29th.

  • Two more classic Doctor Who sets are hitting DVD from BBC Home Video on March 8th. The William Hartnell story The Ark as well as the Tom Baker story The Seeds of Doom.

  • The complete series of H.R. Pufnstuf hits DVD from Vivendi on April 12th.
  • Ten Commandments is hitting Blu-Ray in a six-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combo limited edition gift set. That’s on March 29th from Paramount. It will also be available in two-disc DVD and Blu-Ray sets. However, the gift set has special stuff, like the 1923 silent film version and a new docu. So costs, more but you get more.

  • The Blu-Ray of Unstoppable is worth checking out if for no other reason than to see the behind-the-scenes docu. They shot a crapload of that film practically. Completely mental. Hearing about the logistics of working with real train tracks and real trains is worth the price of admission.
  • Adult Swim has the second volume of Season 4 of Venture Bros. hitting DVD, while the complete Season 4 also hits Blu-Ray. This is happening March 22nd.

    Music Releases

  • Bob Dylan has a new archival release coming out–well, coming out in wide release, previously available only for a limited time–it’s Bob Dylan In Concert – Brandeis University 1963. It’s, according to the press release–and it makes sense, the last live recording we have of Dylan before he blew up and became big. Nice. It’s hitting April 12th on CD, MP3 and Vinyl. The CD is the only version available for pre-order.
    • Robert Johnson Centennial vinyl collection
  • To commemorate Robert Johnson‘s 100th birthday, and obviously in a bid to make Rob Levy very happy, Sony/Legacy is going to release a badass boxed set to celebrate. Robert Johnson: The Complete Original Masters: Centennial Edition is coming out in a sexy-as-hell vinyl edition, with the records as replicas of the original 10″ 78rpm discs (although they will play at 45rpm–kids, ask your parents what that means). There’s only 1000 numbered editions of the vinyl. Drool. It’s only available at the official site and there’s more if you order but…just damn, people. Anyway, there’s also a Centennial Collection being released on CD for those of us who can’t spare the $349. Good luck.

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    5 comments

    • Issac: You know, I’ve thought about that: I wish they did, because then it could be guaranteed some level of quality. That being said, since Pixar is basically running Disney now, they will have something to do with it. I think what we’ll see is that the direct to video titles start to suck less than they did in the past. But if having some franchises that make money gives them the leeway to go make quality films on the other side of the house, you know, I think I can live with that.

    • I hear you there. I don’t know what to think about Dead Island. It seems to me like the trailer tries too hard to yank at the heartstrings. I’m just wondering if the game-play will invoke that, or if it’ll be Left 4 Dead meets Oblivion. …I’ve realized I’m talking to the wrong person here.

    • Ah, good catch. At least they’re smart in realizing that they’ve struck a chord and don’t want to arse it up. Releasing a bad movie after a good game could sour their plans for the game’s sequel.