Shutter Island: February 19, Poster, Synopsis and Trailer (Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo)

Release Date: February 19, 2010
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Laeta Kalogridis
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio Mark Ruffalo Ben Kingsley Michelle Williams Emily Mortimer Patricia Clarkson and Max Von Sydow
Studio: DreamWorks Studios

SYNOPSIS

From Oscar®-winning director Martin Scorsese, “Shutter Island” is the story of two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), Read more …

Awesome Science: King Tutankhamun died from broken leg made worse by malaria

Scientists have finally discovered how King Tutankhamun died, nearly a century after the boy-pharaoh’s tomb was unearthed in Egypt.

A DNA study revealed today the 19-year-old died from complications from a broken leg that was exacerbated by malaria.

It also found the famous king suffered from a cleft palate and club foot and was a ‘frail king who needed canes to walk.’

Tut, who became pharaoh at the age of 10 in 1333 B.C, ruled for just nine years until his death. He was the last of the royal line from the eighteenth dynasty of the New Kingdom, one of the most powerful royal houses of ancient Egypt. Read more …

Shadows Fall Unleash ‘Bark at the Moon’ Music Video

The deluxe version of Shadows Fall’s most recent album Retribution included some classic metal cover tunes, including a commendable take on Ozzy Osbourne’s beloved ’80s single Bark at the Moon… but the band definitely took their affection for the original to all-new heights with the accompanying video, which recently made its online debut.

Watching it is like deja vu all over again – with the added bonus of the screen’s first heavy-metal werewolf with dreadlocks. We’ve got the entire video below the fold – so dive in, check it out and let us know what you think!

In case you were living under a rock when Ozzy’s original promo video came out back in ‘83 (and missed a quarter-century of Headbanger’s Ball episodes since then), it’s basically a comic-book-style mashup of the Jekyll & Hyde and Wolfman scenarios which climaxes with the puffy-shirted Ozz being chased down dark gothic corridors by his fanged, fuzz-faced alter-ego. Those images are duplicated nearly shot-for-shot in the Shadows Fall version, with frontman Brian Fair in the lycanthropic lead (albeit with his trademark mile-long dreadlocks, even in lupine form!) and even manages to cast similar-looking supporting actors, costumes and props. Read more …

Dante’s Inferno Horror Game for XBoX, PS3, PC Caps, HD Trailer, HD Gameplay and Raw Review

Written by Joseph Peterson / When Dante’s Inferno was announced, many viewed it as a ripoff of our beloved PlayStation franchise, God of War. Now that the game has finally been released, it is time to see if it is worthy of a purchase with the God of War III release right around the corner. The game is being published by Electronic Arts and developed by Visceral Games. As the player, you take on the role of Dante, a protagonist who has lost everything. He begins his descent into Hell armed with Death’s scythe and a cross. The game has many connections to “Inferno,” written by poet Dante Alighieri, and is a part of “The Divine Comedy.”

The game begins with this quote, and it caught my attention from the get-go.

In the year 1191, European knights of the Third Crusade captured the city of Acre, about 30 miles from Jerusalem.

Under orders from King Richard, 3000 civilian prisoners were detained. They were held as ransom for a holy relic once taken by Saladin, the Kurdish protector of the Holy Land.

As the hot summer wore on, Saladin dug in and refused to negotiate. Richard grew frustrated, unsure of an attack on Jerusalem.

And the fate of the innocent prisoners was left undecided…

What do the terms Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery mean to you? In Dante’s Inferno, they represent the nine circles of hell that the player must traverse throughout the game. Each circle has its own look and feel to it. Along the way, you will encounter various monsters in their respective circles. Depending on the circle, both the environment and the monsters will change. For example, in Lust, there are many sexual elements present, including constant moaning and women which attack Dante with horrific sexual appendages. Within the Gluttony circle, on the other hand Dante will encounter extremely obese creatures with mouths for hands. These creatures not only attempt to eat Dante, but vomit and defecate on him as well. Read more …

Ninja Assassin (2009) Poster, HD Trailer and Raw Blazin’ Review

Starring: Rain, Sung Kang, Randall Duk kim, Naomie Harris

Director: James McTeigue

Writer(s): Matthew Sand, J. Michael Straczynski

Cinematography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub

Original Score: Llan Eshkeri

Running Time: 99 Mins.

Think of Ninja Assassin as the ninja equivalent of 300, chock full of comic book stylised action with geysers of CGI blood flowing freely left, right and centre, a plot that flashes back to training warriors from a young age in the most brutal way possible, with plot, characterisation and emotional heft no deeper than a puddle, like the sound of that, in that case Ninja Assassin might just hold enough to keep you interested. The problem is it is hard to tell if this was the intention of the film-makers, were they going for the computer game/comic book look they have pretty much hit the jack-pot , however on any other level mark Ninja Assassin down as a big fat F.

Plot is of little consequence here, revenge is the order of the day (surprise, surprise) and our titular ninja is the one meeting it out to all the other faceless ninja’s he can, with the ultimate goal of killing his “father/mentor”, and all round badass. in the name of long-lost love. clichéd much, hell yeah! But Ninja Assassin surely is not about the plot, fight scenes interspersed with some of the worst detective work seen this side of Inspector Clouseau make that abundantly clear, with Naomie Harris and partner as possibly the worst and most inept pair of Agent’s ever seen. Read more …

Edge of Darkness (2010) Poster, Trailer and Raw Blazin’ Review

Starring: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Shawn Roberts, Denis O’Hare

Director: Martin Campbell

Writer(s): William Monahan, Andrew Bovell

Cinematography: Phil Meheux

Original Score: Howard Shore

Rnning Time: 117 Mins.

Much has been made of Edge of Darkness being the return of the original 80’s badass, a man who has not appeared in front of the camera (other than in his scandalous endeavours) for 8 years, in which time he has seen many high’s (in his directorial skills) to match the public lows. But I am not here to judge an actor for his personal life, or misgivings, no this is about the powerhouse actor Mel Gibson, he who was one of the last true bona-fide Movie Stars,  like Cruise, Schwarzeneger and Willis, who seemed to die in the noughties and have their thunder stolen by method actors and/or comedy superstar ensembles. All of which raises the question, is Gibson back on top, can he carry a film and is he still a real badass of acting, and action…yes, there is a hell of a lot riding on Edge of Darkness.

Directed by Martin Campbell, from his own BBC miniseries, also called Edge of Darkness and starring the late Bob Peck in the Gibson role, like State of Play before it, take the series key elements and overall plot and condenses them into a satisfying feature-length plot, which while far from original is gripping and engaging throughout, throwing just enough curveballs into the mix to stop it feeling pedestrian and stale. Though, rather inevitably, it is Gibson who is the star proving that even after such a long absence his acting chops are as good as they have ever been. Read more …

The Wolfman 2010 Poster, Synopsis, HD Trailer and Raw Review

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving

Director: Joe Johnston

Writer(s): Andrew Kevin Walker, David Self

Cinematography: Shelly Johnson

Original Score: Paul Haslinger

Running Time: 102 Mins.

The troubled history of The Wolfman from script-to-screen is as infamous as they get, seeking to reboot their Universal Monster stable the studio hired director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo), then amidst pre-production Romanek fled citing that all-encompassing reason “creative differences”, onboard came Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III, Jumanji) and having shot the film then returned for re-shoots (rarely a good sign) that meant the film was delayed a number of times. All in all not the potent mix that would usually lead to a successful, and more importantly, good film.

And alas, as I feared, all the shunting around of dates and change of director makes for a hugely uneven film, and while The Wolfman is far from a total disaster its problems far outweigh what good can be gleamed from the overall mess, it’s hard to know where to start when breaking down a messy film, for there are good parts within the bad and vice versa, the clashing and uneven tone are largely The Wolfman’s overarching problem with both the original director (and scripts) vision jarring against what Johnston seems intent on doing, especially given his slapdash approach at direction that is hampered by some poor editing.

This two-sided approach filters through every aspect, the score ebbs and flows between Danny Elfman-esque gothicism (original composer, also left mid-shoot), and more subdued atmospheric tracks that feel at odds with what is onscreen, a problem that the cast also seem to be afflicted with. Del Toro was evidently brought in when the film was intended as a character piece, yet is now reduced to looking confused and mumbling, while Blunt is quite simply (and uncharacteristically) bland as the love interest, and the less said about their blossoming romance over skimming stones, the better.

Hopkins and Weaving fare much better, hamming it up enough and showing great gusto amidst the films cheesier moments (and they are many!) suggesting that the studio veered from something more serious and decided to settle for parody of their old classic’s, something which would have worked if the film had the intention to carry it throughout. Between the limp attempts at character development are the action sequences, and while they have a certain spark at times and do teeter on the edge of exciting they seem far too glossy and CGI-ed to convince on any level, with the wolfman lopping off heads and arms in comic Monty Python style, any potential scare factor is lost and the blood and guts a little too low-key to likely please even the gore-hounds.

Much has been made of The Wolfman being Rick Baker’s (American Werewolf in London, Wolf) return to werewolf make-up effects, and while a great deal of time and money has been spent attempting to meld the CGI and practical effects together seamlessly it is a very hit and miss affair, the CGI is fantastic when called for in the man-to-wolf changes yet the make-up itself all too often resembles just that, make up, and there is little question as to which wolfman is scarier, this one or that of  American Werewolf in London’s, something which goes to show that all the money in Hollywood cant buy you an atmospheric, scary, or fundamentally good film !

The Wolfman 2010 HD Trailer

VERDICT

It is a shame that so little of The Wolfman satisfies, or succeeds, as all the elements are there, sometimes to be clearly seen onscreen. In fact, if we had a character piece starring Del Toro and Blunt with a companion piece that harked back to Universal’s classic monster movie, we may well have had the perfect pair up, as it is, combined as one, the result is just a disappointing mess.

Source: movieblaze.wordpress.com