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Win a Workout with Dolph Lundgren!

Kasper — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:21:07 +0000

Ok, so this might not constitute actual movie news, but it's too awesome to pass up. Over at the official Dolph Lundgren site they're holding the site's very first contest. What is it? Well, usually that sort of self explanatory question would work, but as I mention the prize in the headline, you can probably guess that the contest will consist of entering to win a workout with Lundgren himself! Yes, that's right, a personal 2 hour workout session with Ivan Drago! All you gotta do is take part in the Facebook quiz promoting Lundgren's upcoming action flick Command Performance; whoever racks up the most points from doing the quiz and redirecting friends towards the quiz, wins the first prize. Take part in the quiz here and read up on the other prizes, which also include copies of Command Performance (which Lundgren both co-wrote, directed and stars in) over at the official site. Sadly the contest is for US residents only. Check out a couple of trailers for Command Performance here.

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Klenginem: Eminem in Klingon

Jay C. — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:26:27 +0000

I'm going to need Reed Farrington to re-translate this shit back into English to assure accuracy. Until then, enjoy Klenginem: the Klingon Eminem. Thanks to Charlotte for the heads up on this one.

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Ratner Confident That X-Men 3 Was Awesome. Us Geeks Just Don’t Get It!

Kasper — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:50:25 +0000

Brett Ratner is a real man's man. King of the castle. Pure film gold. Or so he thinks. To the movie die hards, he's "that turd who fucked up the X-Men". To the rest of us, he's just a turd in general. Anyway, that's not what this post is about. No sir. En a recent talk with StarPulse about his various movies over the years, the Ratman defended X-Men: The Last Stand from the major fan backlash that the otherwise commercially succesfull film endured. When the Rat was asked if the comic book demographic were the hardest group to please, he had this to say:

"Absolutely. Bryan Singer gave me the best advice when I was doing "X-Men 3," Bryan is a really good friend of mine. Bryan said, "Whatever you do, do not read the Internet." I'm like, "Why?" He's like, "First of all, they hated on me the whole time I was making 'X-Men' and 'X-Men 2.' They said, 'Gambit should have been the star of the movie'" They're such rabid fans, they're so passionate about their comic book characters that they think that their favorite character should be the star of the movie. Someone might be passionate about Iceman being the star. So, you can't win. Everyone's going to have their own so just stay away from their opinion and do what you feel's best. I kind of made rules for myself. I said to the writers -- Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg -- I only want to put scenes in this movie that exist from actual comic books. That way I protect myself. Even though I protect myself they're still saying, 'Why the f*ck did [he] kill Professor X?' He died in five different comic books! People are crazy. 'Brett Ratner killed Professor X! How dare he do that!' He died in five different comic books and came back!"

The ratmeister certainly doesn't seem to like the comic book nerds any more than they like him because as the interview went on, the tone worsened. The rat acknowledges that although his movie isn't all that smart -- that's what Singer excelled at -- his movie is more fun than Singer's two. I guess that can be argued. He also goes on to claim that all the haters were the ones who ended up making the movie the hit that it was, stating that even though everybody claimed to hate it so much from the get go, they all went to see it anyway. What do you think? Is there sense to what the rat is saying, or is he way off? Are all the comic book people wrong with their hate for Ratner? Shout off in the comments.

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Star Wars: Uncut Fan Remake Trailer

Sean — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:42:30 +0000

If you have not yet heard about the "crowdsourcing" craze, you might want to familiarize yourself with it, because you're going to be hearing about it a lot more in the near future. Crowdsourcing involves focusing the skills and resources of a large group of people on a single task, usually via the internet, in order to create something potentially bigger and much more efficient than would otherwise be possible. Although it's an ideal way to amass knowledge and solve problems, the concept has spilled over into the creative realm as well, where people are collaborating on everything from books to music to movies. One of the biggest examples of collaboration in the realm of cinema thus far is the on-going fan remake Star Wars: Uncut, a project being cultivated by Vimeo employee Casey Pugh where the original Star Wars movie is recreated by hundreds of people in 15 second segment chunks. The resulting remake will obviously be a patchwork of conflicting styles and personalities, and while on the one hand it could turn out to be a complete mess, it could also be a charming and hilarious work of art with the same lo-fi feel as Michel Gondry's sweded remakes in Be Kind Rewind. I don't have much love for fan films, but I have to admit, this is a pretty unique concept. The newly released trailer (embedded after the jump) gives an idea of just how eclectic and unpredictable the final product will be. What do you think? For more info, or if you want to join in the fun, visit StarWarsUncut.com.

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Ghostbusters Ectoplasm Energy Drink

Sean — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:45:54 +0000

From Kanye West to Nelly to Ice T, anyone who's anyone has their own Energy Drink nowadays. It doesn't matter what you put in the stuff, just as long as it has a catchy name. Clearly this is why the Ghostbusters have decided to slap their name on a very special concoction known as "Ectoplasm"! Yep, that's right, you can now buy Ectoplasm in a can for $2.99 a pop from Amazon.com courtesy of Toy Wiz. It's actually made by Boston America, who have done plenty of other licensed energy drinks including the Tropic Thunder Booty Sweat, Resident Evil T-virus Antidote and Star Trek Romulan Ale. This is precisely the kind of stuff Reed Farrington will buy and leave on his shelf unopened for the next 20 years. On a side note, does anyone else think that "slimed" should become the new slang term for "drunk"? (ie. "I got totally slimed over the weekend.") Make it happen people... then we can tell everyone it started right here on Film Junk.

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Megan Fox Belatedly Accepts Chubby Fanboy’s Flower Offering

Sean — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:51:20 +0000

You may have seen this amazing photograph making its way around the web last week, and no doubt you thought you knew the whole story behind it. Crazed and delusional fanboy hears that Megan Fox may be single again, offers her a flower in the hopes of winning her heart, only to be denied with a look of disgust. So sad, yet so... believable. Right? Well apparently that's not exactly what happened. Frosty over at Collider asked Megan Fox about the incident in a recent Transformers press interview, and she was more than happy to clear the air. She explains that what you don't realize is there were actually a lot of people and cameras around her at the time. Plus she didn't know he was just a kid. If she had known he was a harmless, sweet little innocent boy, she never would have given him the cold shoulder. In fact, they might even be married right now. It just goes to show that sometimes photographs can lie. Check out the video of the interview with Fox below.

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Guerilla Drive-Ins Keep the Spirit of Outdoor Movie Watching Alive

Sean — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:27:22 +0000

As some of you may know, we're big fans of the drive-in here at Film Junk. In this age of high-tech multiplexes and gigantic IMAX screens, there's still something about the experience of sitting outside in the dark and watching a movie among friends that makes it a little bit more exciting. The sad thing is, drive-ins are something of a dying breed, and I'm willing to bet that a lot of our younger readers have never even been to a drive-in before. That's why I'm pretty stoked to hear that a number of people across North America are taking matters into their own hands, by starting up what they are calling "guerilla drive-ins" or "MobMovs". Yahoo! has an interesting article from The Associated Press this week about the growing phenomenon, where fans bring a 16mm or LCD projector out to different secret locations to screen some of their favourite movies. John Young, founder of the West Chester Guerilla Drive-In, describes the appeal thusly:

"Nowadays, you push a button and a movie appears... There's fun in the inconvenience of having to get off the couch and go somewhere you might not be familiar with, maybe getting rained on, maybe being cold. It makes it an adventure."

Agreed. While these events can fall into a legal grey area due to the required approval from film distributors, most guerilla drive-ins seem to operate on donations only. If you want to find one in your area, you can check out the listings on the website MobMov.org. (FYI: Our friend Katie has started up one in the Niagara Region called Incredibly Strange Movie Night.) Come on people, let's keep the drive-in experience alive! (Thanks to Jordan C. for the heads up.)

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Trekkies to Abrams: Your Film is Too Fun (The Onion News Network Strikes Again)

Jay C. — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:55:39 +0000

Seeing as Reed Farrington doesn't have the internet and refuses to turn his cell phone on (no landline either), the only way I can share this video with him is by posting it on Film Junk in hopes he'll come across it on his iPod touch in the Seaway Mall's food court (free wireless, DUH). This one is for you Reed. I'm sure this will be one instance where someone agrees whole heartedly with a satirical fake news report.
Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

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Whaddaya Know! Mickey Rourke DID Fight at Wrestling Mania!!

Jay C. — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:54:09 +0000

Of course. As it turns out, Mickey Rourke DID indeed step into the wring at last nights Wrestlemania: Part 25 event. Fans went wild as Rourke, sporting a sweet leather vest and an even sweeter leather hat, punched at Chris Jericho until he hit him in his head. BOOM. Rourke wins and the crowd loses its own shit.

Rourke couldn’t quite restrain himself after all. After Jericho won his 3-on-1 match against the legends, he provoked the former boxer Rourke who ended up getting into the ring very slowly and taking his cowboy hat off before punching and knocking down the WWE superstar to gain a measure of revanche for the legends.

So now that the big event is over, was it all worth it? I have yet to talk to anybody who experienced the fight live on some shitty projection screen in some shitty bar, but judging on the shot-off-of-a-TV YouTube video I've included below, the fight seemed a little tame. Mickey brought his boxing skills to the table, and Christopher Jericho seemed a bit lost. But whatever; Rourke is probably more trained in the boxing than the wrestling, so why not utilize his skills to their fullest. It's like when Mr.T boxed Hulk Hogans. That happened right? Or was that Rocky III? Either way, check out the killer vid below:

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Is A Decent Dragonball Movie Even Possible?

Wintle — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:56:34 +0000

Something's been nagging at me, and if I can't abuse my position for personal means here at Film Junk every once in awhile, what's the point? As we approach the release date of Dragonball: Evolution, the number of objections to the movie seem to have steadily increased. I was without a television during most of the time that the show aired, so I'm not very familiar with it, but my brothers were and I did manage to catch a few episodes when I'd visit them. One thing that struck me about the show was that it wasn't opposed to taking its time. I remember being fascinated that my brothers were enthralled by the three episodes that we watched together, which involved two characters shaking with barely controlled power on opposite sides of a chasm as they traded threats with one another. Three episodes of vibrating shit-talking is the very definition of a slow burn. I can fully appreciate that many people aren't excited about the movie. I'm the guy who was looking forward to Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and even I'm not that interested. It's just that almost all the comments either nitpick details or dismiss the entire thing without going into reasons why, and while those are valid responses, they don't help me understand the fanaticism this show brings out in people. I'm also curious because, unlike properties like Batman or Spider-Man that have segments that can standalone, Dragonball seems to be one long continuous storyline without obvious pieces to cut out without effecting the entire shebang. I mean, if you filmed from the beginning without skipping anything you wouldn't even reach Piccolo until the 18th movie. I normally wouldn't ask something like this, but my assignment for fans of the show is to tell us what your ideal Dragonball movie would look like. Your imaginary movie can be no more than 2 hours long with a budget under 200 million, there are no casting restrictions beyond the monetary (casting lots of big name actors will lower your budget in other areas, including special effects), it should be understandable to a non-fan, and it must end in a satisfying way in the event that there are no sequels. Let your voices be heard, Dragonball fans!

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The Watchmen Backlash Has Begun

Sean — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:47:46 +0000

We're now two weeks out from the release of Zack Snyder's Watchmen, and bits and pieces of reviews are starting to roll in. As expected, there is a lot of early praise, but amidst all the fanboy hysteria, viral marketing and free condoms, it looks like there is also some negative buzz starting to build. First of all, there are some non-fanboy reviews indicating that the movie is both campy and melodramatic. That, in itself is not always a bad thing in my eyes, but the word "campy" is typically not pleasing to the ears of most geeks. Secondly, and more importantly, a few actual clips from the movie have been released online, and while they are fairly short and taken out of context, they certainly lend credence to the fact that the movie is a little over the top (particularly Snyder's infatuation with slow-mo). New York Mag also chimes in with their own predictions on what they believe the nitpickers will hate about the movie. At the top of the list? Malin Ackerman's acting. It kinda makes sense... fanboys always seem to have it out for the chicks. At any rate, maybe it won't be the new "best comic book movie ever" after all. I'll be very interested to see what the general consensus is once the dust settles.

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