My Top Favourite Movies of 2014

I saw 44 movies of 2014 and 16 of them were in the theater. I have yet to see Whiplash, Birdman, Inherent Vice, Selma, American Sniper and few others which I missed.

There were some great big budget movies this year, along with many great independent movies too.

My top favourite movies of this year are as follows.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Snowpiercer
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4. Edge of Tomorrow
5. The Raid 2
6. Boyhood
7. The Lego Movie
8. Interstellar
9. Blue Ruin
10. Locke

Honorable Mention (release date order): The Grand Budapest Hotel, Enemy, Cheap Thrills, Ida, We Are the Best!, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Coherence, The Guest, Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, Big Hero 6.

Two cool mashup videos showcasing scenes from movies of 2014. The second one is little longer but is great and well done.

 

 

Sony Acquires Jon Spaihts' Sci-Fi Script ‘Passengers’

Passengers is one of my most anticipated movies of <whichever year it gets released>.

Past couple of weeks while reading on the possible Prometheus sequel writers, I decided to go back and read on how the writing for Prometheus was assigned to Jon Spaihts.

I knew he was handed the writing duties to Prometheus based on his pitch for the Alien prequel idea which Ridley Scott was looking for, but its his prior space sci-fi scripts is what made him more credible as a writer in the industry even though they haven't been made into movies yet.

I briefly knew about his prior work but started reading more about them.

Shadow 19: This script seems to have a Starship Troopers and Edge of Tomorrow vibe. You can read the script review for Shadow 19 here. This review was written in 2009 and the script was circling in Hollywood few years prior to that. Keanu Reeves was attached to star with Warner Bros producing it. The studio eventually didn't go through with it. 5 years later WB made Edge of Tomorrow. It's hard to assess if this script was inspired by the novel All You Need Is Kill (2004), but Shadow 19 takes place on other planets and doesn't involve a time loop, but on the surface the basic premise is kinda similar. It's still a pretty awesome story which sadly won't get made into a movie anytime soon.

Passengers: After Shadow 19 deal fell through, Keanu got Spaihts to write the screenplay for Passengers.

Prometheus Screenwriter Jon Spaihts | Filmmaker Magazine

This is a great interview with Jon Spaihts by Filmmaker magazine, conducted in 2012 during the week Prometheus got released. Click on the above link. It's always interesting to know about the different jobs writers are involved with before getting into screenplay writing. Spaihts talks about some of his favourite movies and authors while growing up. His writing process, his experience dealing with people in Hollywood and the nature of studio meetings. He talks about his other films in development and on how he got to be the writer for Prometheus and his experience during the development process.

Here are some excerpts:

Filmmaker: So what happened after Shadow 19? Was Passengers the next script after that?

Spaihts: It was. Keanu Reeves was attached to Shadow 19 when I was developing it at Warner Brothers, and he and I came to a version of the script we both loved and wanted to get made. And we couldn’t convince the studio to make it. The studio moved on and hired other writers and the project took off in a direction we didn’t like. So we both went on about our business and a month or two later I get a call from Keanu’s people saying, “Hey, he wants to find something else to work on with you, let’s pick a project.” So we met, and I threw a few of my ideas at him. One of them was a hardboiled noir cop story set in the present day that took a big sci-fi hook at the end. He was intrigued by it, and we talked about it for maybe six weeks. It was a very bleak dark story and in the end he said, “This is too dark for me.” But it featured prominently the image of a man stranded alone in space. He couldn’t let go of that image, and his business partner called me and said said, “Look your story is not for us, but we love this image. Is there a happier story that can be told?” It was a powerful question. I had never asked it of myself but it was one of those moments where a story seemed to leap from my head fully formed and one idea seemed to lead to the next with a beautiful necessity. In about half an hour I riffed the spine of the story that became Passengers. They hired me to write it, I wrote it, and we are still working hard on getting it mad. Things are not looking bad these days though I can’t say very much about how it is going.

Sony Wins Auction For Jon Spaihts Sci-Fi Script ‘Passengers’

Sony has now acquired the rights to Passengers. You can read the news in the above page. The following is a brief synopsis. Considering Keanu was originally the reason the script came into being, I hope he is still going to star in it.

"Passengers takes place on a spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet and has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger is awakened 90 years before anyone else. Faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he eventually decides to wake up a second passenger, marking the beginning of what becomes a unique love story."

I know some are now going to groan on the prospect of a love story like some 8 year old. But remember lot of good fiction including science fiction are always embroiled in human stories in the midst of sci-fi settings. From the reviews I have read, the screenplay for Passengers has gotten high praise all around. And it was also included in the 2007 Black List (most liked screenplays which have not yet been produced).

The following was in regards to Prometheus and in regards to Hollywood's fear of new ideas.

Filmmaker: It sounds like you’ve made a complex movie, an ambitious adult science-fiction film dealing with intelligent, philosophical themes, and this is not really what’s being made these days. And it seems to me that you’ve been able to do this because you’ve come in under the mantle of this Alien prequel. But to some extent it seems like this could have been an original. If the original Alien didn’t exist this movie could have been invented. Am I correct in saying this was a little bit of Trojan horse? Or, to ask the question more directly, could a similar movie exist today if it was pitched as an original?

Spaihts: It would be a much harder movie to sell. Hollywood is constantly searching, it will tell you, for new ideas. But if you bring it a brand new idea, it scares the hell out of everybody. There’s a real trend in the industry right now to seek the reassurance of an existing property, known characters, known titles, known quantities. It’s hard to get the studios to invest in a brand new idea because that leaves everyone out there hanging in the wind. It means people have vouched for it standing on their own judgment. They can’t say, “Look it’s from this A-list writer, this series of A-list novels, that popular TV series, this incredibly popular cartoon.” They have to say, “I think this is good” — that’s all they have to hide behind. In the volatile industry of Hollywood that puts everyone at risk. It’s hard to punch through that apprehension, that nervousness about making big leaps into the unknown. In Hollywood’s favor, it still happens all the time. Originals are still being made and are still beginning blockbusters. But it’s always a fight, always an uphill battle. It takes a powerful patron to push those projects through.

Filmmaker: Do you think that’s going to change or is that the world we now live in?

Spaihts: I hope that we will relax a little bit in our mania for existing intellectual property. A lot of the great franchises of our day were born for the first time in a film. Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones didn’t come from television or books; they were written to be movies. Likewise, the great characters of Hitchcock, and so many other filmmakers. So yes, I hope that we will have more faith in the ability of this medium to create.

With that I can't stress enough the need to support more original films. I love franchises and sequels like most movie fans, but when moviegoers skip non-franchises films due to some inane excuses it just proves the fear of Hollywood suits.

Sequels: "Oh another sequel, I will watch it"

Reboots: "Another reboot, why Hollywood why?", "Guess I will still watch it anyways"

Non-franchise genre film: "Well it looks like <abc> or sounds like <xyz> or reminds me of <xyz>, guess I will skip this". And then few weeks later, "Oh Hollywood has run out of original ideas".

Movies like Duncan Jones' Mute and Shadow 19 got shelved among many others likely cause they were risky. I am glad Passengers is moving forward. But with Edge of Tomorrow under performing, it will continue to be tough to get original and non-franchise big budget movies green lighted unless perhaps one is Christopher Nolan.

With Gravity in 2013, Interstellar in 2014, The Martian in 2015 I hope the trend of big sci-fi movies set in space continues.

And even though all of them may not necessarily promote the spirit of exploration, it's imporant that space movies continue to get made as it will help to convey the future possibilities of space into public consciousness.

Big Hero 6

I laughed, I cried and I was wowed by Big Hero 6. Such a fun movie and I liked the cool & colorful designs.

Big Hero 6 is one of the best pro-science movies of 2014. And gazing through San Fransokyo is a delight.

Also digged the music by Henry Jackman and the song Immortals.

I now want figures of all the characters and I have to buy the art book.

Interstellar

Interstellar exceeded my expectations on many levels despite my minor issues with certain plot points. The movie is obviously awe-inspiring with its visuals and I was very happy with the direction of the story and the surprises it offered, along with some emotional moments that had me choked up (no surprise there either). I might watch it again in the theatre next week.

I don't know if Interstellar will become the movie I want it to be, which will inspire the masses about space exploration; maybe no movie can do that for the majority of the population.

But if Interstellar even manages to breathe new life into the conversation about space exploration, if it makes some people ponder about space like they never imagined before, if it makes a new generation of people including the youth look up in the sky and wonder what if...?

Then I am thankful to Christopher Nolan for making Interstellar, as it would have served its purpose beyond just great entertainment.

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Flight Crash

On October 31, 2014 VSS Enterprise Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spaceflight test vehicle crashed at the Mojave Desert, California in United States. Read the full story here.

It's tragic that one pilot died while the other is seriously injured. And it's quite bad timing for that Interstellar spacetravel sweepstakes.

These are the perils of the space industry. There will be setbacks, lives will be lost, lessons will be learned, improvement will happen. It's all part of the challenge for growth and advancement in the pursuit of exploration and science.

We currently embrace and enjoy many aspects of technology including commercial air flight, but that wouldn't have been possible without the countless people (both known and unknown) who gave their time, skills and lives during the early crucial stages of those projects.

Space tourism is currently in its infancy, but thanks to the dedication and efforts of these pilots and many others like them we get to move upward and beyond, paving space travel for future generations.

May peace be with them and their families.

District 9 New Blu-ray Steelbook and Expanded Soundtrack Vinyl Release

Sony is releasing 16 of their movies with new limited edition Blu-ray covers on steelbook.

This new District 9 artwork is by Dave Quiggle. It's available for pre-order on Best Buy and Future Shop. The steelbook will be released on November 23, 2014.

You can see the other Sony steelbook covers here.

District 9 soundtrack will be released on vinyl for the first time by SpaceLab9. The pre-sale was supposed to be today on October 28 but has been pushed to November 11. The release date is November 25, 2014.

This District 9 soundtrack will be the Deluxe Expanded Version on a Double LP.  I mostly want to buy these recent vinyl releases (including that Mondo GOTG vinyl) purely for their cover artwork. But I guess having bonus tracks makes this a more worthwhile purchase. I will likely have to buy a record player someday.

Here are more details about the release posted last week by SpaceLab9:

Upon its release in 2009, DISTRICT 9 transcended the confines of the science fiction/thriller film genre to become a certified mainstream phenomenon. From its sublime, droning rhythms to its frenetic tribal beats, the score by composer Clinton Shorter (2 Guns, Pompeii) provided the perfect backdrop to compliment to the on-screen drama, now cemented in time as a fan favorite and cult classic.

Released for the first time on vinyl, the deluxe expanded edition includes the eleven tracks from the original 30-minute album, plus, for the first time in any format, an additional eight bonus tracks comprising 25 minutes of previously unreleased original score. Deluxe Double LP package includes a full color gatefold jacket plus a double-sided 12” x 24” insert featuring numerous images from the film as well as exclusive liner notes from director Neill Blomkamp and composer Clinton Shorter. As a bonus, the first pressing also includes a reproduction of the original theatrical lobby card!

Additionally, for the early birds and the die-hard collectors, an edition of only 100 colored vinyl copies packaged in hand-screened jackets featuring unique artwork and an exclusive 18” x 24” insert will be made available during the pre-sale at SPACELAB9.COM on October 28th. Join the SL9 mailing list now for up-to-the-minute details and to be the first to find out when the sale begins!

Source: Modern Vinyl

Out of Print

Watch the wonderful film Out of Print by Julia Marchese, a documentary about New Beverly Cinema which also explores the significance of 35mm and revival cinema.

http://juliamarchese.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/i-will-not-be-censored/
"I will not be censored"

This is a recent blog post by Julia. She was an employee at the New Bev for nearly 8 years. But sadly due to recent management problems, she decided to quit her job there. She was going to premiere the film in 2015 at the theatre, but now has released the film online for free viewing. The film runs for about 87 minutes.

Future of ThunderCats Toys And A Look Back

Note: For most active ThunderCats fans the various merchandise info mentioned in the post below is common knowledge, so my apologies to them if my long-winded post all sounds redundant until the latter half.

Lion-O: Oh what's this Snarf, a toy? Good grief I am too big for toys, can't you see that?

Before I dwell into its future, I wanted to share my little history with ThunderCats toys or rather the lack of it in my life. I shared this photo on Facebook few weeks ago, thought I'll share it again for this post.

Me, holding a make-believe Power Sword / Sword of Omens. Circa late 1980s.

I think I was about 8 years old. My mother is talking on the phone in the background. My uncle took this photo when he visited us from out of town. I was in a grumpy mood for some reason. And prior to this there was power outage for few hours and I ended up not wearing any shirt due to the heat.

This was closest to the power sword for me. I actually bought this cause I wanted Lion-O's Sword of Omens from ThunderCats, but it was never sold here nor were the figures This sword's hilt somewhat resembled the cartoon version, so I got it.


He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon aired in India during the mid 80s on the national channel Doordarshan and was immensely popular, which resulted in the on-going line of MOTU toys being sold here. And my whole childhood obsession of collection toys was jump started by MOTU toys. Back then thanks to my persistence with my Dad I managed to buy some of those figures, including some of the vehicles, as well as the mighty Castle Grayskull. I still have most of those toys now.

Of course I was a bigger fan of ThunderCats, but the show never aired in India in the 80s, hence no LJN toys were ever sold here as there wasn't any real market for it. I and many people I know watched the cartoon through the VHS tapes which were available at the video store during the late 80s. ThunderCats did eventually air on Cartoon Network in India during the late 90s and early 2000s. Growing up I always wanted toys from ThunderCats but didn't even get to see them until the late 90s when I got access to internet.

One time when we were kids my friend Krishna told me about a guy in his school who sometime back had mentioned about owning TCats figures, which he had gotten from abroad. I remember gleaming with excitement at the thought of TCats figures. I think the kid wasn't in the same school anymore nor did we know where he lived exactly. My friend had a rough idea about the kid's house location, so few of us went riding on our bicycles towards the other part of the city. After an exhausting few hours, we never found the house nor I got to see any ThunderCats toys. And I pretty much forgot about them after that.

Few years back I contemplated on getting into collecting the 6" LJN vintage line of ThunderCats, but buying things on MOC is nearly impossible for me and lot of the loose figures I came across weren't in good condition either. Though I guess by next year I will slowly get into collecting them.

Besides Back to the Future action figures, new ThunderCats 6" figures is something I wanted from a very long time. Coincidentally both of these franchises celebrate their 30 anniversary next year, though not 6" figures BTTF is thankfully getting the Hot Toys 12" figure treatment and Marty McFly will be the released in early 2015. Future of ThunderCats toys remains bleak, for now.

A Look Back

Click on the hyperlinks and photos below to see more detailed photos and info on the various products at ThunderCatsLair.org.

Lot of franchise based toys geared towards kids are pretty much using their respective cartoons or its other media presence as a way to boost their products. For many toy companies and studios, the show sometimes merely serves as an 30 minute commercial to sell more toys. Unlike MOTU which had more than one form of TV revival during the 90s and 2000s, ThunderCats didn't have any new revival for nearly 20 years until 2011.

But even before the 2011 show began, new ThunderCats merchandise began in 2009 with Hard Hero releasing a line of 1:7 scale (10 inches +) statues. Sadly the company closed down in 2012 and the line of statues got canceled after releasing only 4 characters.

From 2010 onwards Pop Culture Shock released statues in large 1:4 scale (30 inches +) and they were little more stylized than the classic look of the characters. After releasing Lion-O and Mumm-Ra, the line was canceled in 2012 due to lack of pre-orders for Tygra.

In 2010 Icon Heroes released 6" mini statues along with sculptures of ThunderTank and the Cat's Lair, but sadly even this line didn't move forward beyond couple of characters and the company chose not to renew their license.

Icon Heroes (in conjunction with Diamond Select Toys) also released various sets of minimates (mini block figures). This line is the closest to having the complete range of major characters including the main villains.

Bandai which made various toys for the new ThunderCats show in 2011, made couple of figures from the classic series before the line was canceled. And though they were available in my local mall stores, I realized the likeness and its too much plastic looking quality didn't appeal to me. Also they first made the figures in 6" scale and then went on to do the next figures in another scale of 8".

From 2011 Mezco released large scale 14" figures (about 1:5 scale) of ThunderCats. And despite Lion-O's likeness being little off, they are still the best modern ThunderCats toys which resemble the classic look of the characters. Mezco so far has released 4 figures along with couple of con exclusive sets. The line is not canceled but currently in limbo. Fans are hoping the line will eventually continue with atleast Tygra if not for the rest of the other characters.

In 2013 Funko released 5 Pop vinyl figures of ThunderCats followed by two exclusive variants which were sold during SDCC 2014.

The Future

Prototypez Studios: In 2015 Erick Sosa will be launching the line of ThunderCats resin model kits starting with Lion-O and Panthro. Erick's wonderful works are well known among statue collectors specially his statues from Kotobukiya. These kits will need to be assembled and painted. I just wish like some of the prior Koto model kits, these kits were pre-painted which would only require assembly. Hopefully they will consider offering some quantity of painted versions as well. Either ways, I'm looking forward to see some full preview images by the end of 2014.

Other Toy Companies

As much as I would love to see a company acquire the ThunderCats master toy license and have them do a wide range of 6" figures based on various characters, I need to keep my expectations lower but I am not totally giving up on them either.

Since most of the previous statue lines got canceled mid way, there is the possibility that many toy companies would consider ThunderCats not to be a profitable franchise. Most just need to realize that majority of the fans wanted to have classic 6" action figures more than statues. Give them those quality toys and the company can expect repeat business and loyalty from those fans.

Compared to the modern line of MOTUC toys which largely share similar body molds, ThunderCats toys will require whole new molds for most of the characters as they are vastly different from each other in terms of design. There is room for reissue of some figures with variants along with combo packs, but mainly it is going to be pricey and risky for a company to invest due to the tooling process for a large number of characters, as some of the secondary characters won't have the sales potential as the rest of the main characters. Hence it is imporant that the line is released in series with a mix of main characters and secondary characters if the toy line has to continue for a long time.

Mezco: If at some point the company decides to abandon their 14" figure line in exchange for rolling out a new line of 6" figures, then I would be all for it. Maybe they could still release Tygra in 14" and then start out with the 6" line. Based on their faithful recreation of the characters, Mezco is still my preferred choice if they decide to commit to a long running line of  ThunderCats toys.

NECA: It's one of my favorite toy companies who not only make good quality action figures from various genres and franchises, but they are also one of the best when it comes to constantly interacting with their fan base on social media. Yet we can't be expecting ThunderCats from NECA, as back in May 2013 when somebody on Twitter asked them if there is any chance of NECA creating classic TCats or MOTU figures, Randy Falk confirmed that there is no chance.

UPDATE (Sept 30): My friend Shantanu checked with NECA yesterday and sadly the answer is again no.

Mattel: Considering the range of characters they offered in the MOTUC line, they would seem like a good fit for ThunderCats. But then when you think about the awful customer service issues MOTU fans have faced with Mattel in the last few years, one would start to reconsider. And let's not forget they backed out from doing BTTF figures despite having actor likeness rights, again apparently that was mainly due to the potential high cost of tooling for the various character designs. And then there is the whole Hoverboard fiasco. If the MOTUC line does come to a close in couple of years, Mattel could in fact look into the ThunderCats license even though they decided not to pursue it couple of years ago.

Diamond Select Toys: They did after all make the ThunderCats minimates and they have a pretty good line up of comic figures with their Marvel Select line. But they are more fixated with novelty items and churning more minimate lines than anything else, which I guess is understandable due to the comparatively lower production cost, no likeness issues, more focus needed on the paint work and accessories. And though I have all their BTTF minimates, when it comes to BTTF prop replicas they have continued to make inaccurate products. But as far as some of the figures goes, there have done a decent job with the Marvel, Star Trek and Universal Monsters line for sometime. Still I am not sure they will go to the lengths of doing the ThunderCats line justice.

UPDATE (Oct 27): I got a response from DST to my query in regards to making new figures.

So there we go, they are not considering it right now. But they pitched the idea about 10 years ago and no surprise..WB passed on it .

Mondo: They are a company mostly known for their line of impressive movie poster screen prints designed by some of the most talented artists in the industry. Mondo posters due to its limited edition quantity get sold out within mere minutes and the posters usually end up at ridiculous high prices on ebay, making it hard for many collectors to acquire them at their original price. But now that Mondo is venturing into making toys, they have assured that the ordering process will be different due to the higher volume while allowing customers to pre-order the toys much in advance.

One of the toys Mondo will be releasing later this year is the 16" Iron Giant figure (another WB property). Justin Ishmael, who is the creative director of Mondo is passionate about toys just as he is passionate about quality art for movie posters. And though he is a bigger fan of TMNT and MOTU, he did give ThunderCats a shout out in one of his recent interviews. I don't think Mondo will consider doing a large line of figures from the ThunderCats. But even if they stick to doing just the main heroes and villains in the 6" format, I would be a happy collector as I will be assured of getting a quality product from them. After Mezco, my preferred choice would be Mondo for ThunderCats toys. Though Justin is also a businessman and Mondo like every other company is built on profits, his genuine love and appreciation for toys is something that will likely set Mondo apart from other companies when he makes the creative choices based on his fondness for these properties.

http://www.figures.com/forums/news/61432-sdcc14-interview-mondos-ceo-justin-ishmael.html
I have posted an excerpt from the Mondo interview below, the whole interview is worth the read on the above linked page.

Figures.com: Last question: what were your favorite toys growing up?

Mondo: Oh man... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was actually really into Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos, that was really solid.

Figures.com: Wow.

Mondo: Yeah, they were legit, man. Masters of the Universe, that was something I got back into hard... I was on that subscription for a while but then I had three towers of white boxes and I was like "dude, this is sad." I never took them out, I have too much stuff. I took out Scare Glow, I took out Battle Cat, Battle Armor He-Man. But I'm going back and buying broken Masters of the Universe (vintage) because everyone thinks they're crap when the legs go out, but I can fix them. So I buy them really cheap and I clean them. I think it's one of the best figure lines ever. Of course Thundercats were legit too. But yeah, I had all the Turtles stuff. I had the blimp, I had the sewer, I had all the...

Figures.com: Pizza Thrower?

Mondo: Oh Pizza Thrower. I think you might be right, that might be my favorite toy when I was little.

Here are some photos from Justin's Instagram account.

http://instagram.com/p/rCmAssSvj_/
"Unpacking mail and got my Infinity Gauntlet 9.8! Was also lucky enough to snag the Hasbro Gauntlet at SDCC. #bestfoamhandever"

http://instagram.com/p/sL0lWhSvoS/
"Went to Colorado with @sirmitchell to visit @ironjaiden and I'm coming back with this massive #MOTU haul. Complete Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain and Eternia with box. He threw in a ton of figures, too. Now to figure out how to get it back."

http://instagram.com/p/sxe52hSvqd/
"Got a crazy Shogun Warrior/ Jumbo Machinder collection last week. Cleaning and organizing, but I'm very psyched. These are some of the best, if not the best display toys ever."

During my US trip in July 2014 I did the Warner Bros studio tour in LA. And I was little disappointed to know that ThunderCats didn't have any presence whatsoever for the public (unless somehow I missed it), not even any TCats merchandise in the WB physical shop. Considering how WB is apparently very protective about the ThunderCats license, I was expecting at least some sort of branding display which indicated that ThunderCats was one of their properties.

ThunderCats was popular in the 80s and even today it resonates with lot of adult fans, but despite that the community isn't very vocal and active as compared to say the MOTU fans. We have seen a surge in membership on the ThunderCatsLair forum when the 2011 show started airing. Still the member count is comparatively less. There are about 2000+ members on TCL, where as He-Man.org has about 11,000+ members. I know it isn't really a fair comparison as MOTU had more TV shows, currently has an active toy line with number of other product releases in the works, along with a feature film in development.

Still I hope we can improve those numbers and participation. Be sure to follow ThunderCatsLair on Facebook and Twitter. Like, Share and Re-tweet their postings and help spread the word about the site and forum.

And somehow we need to get that official ThunderCats Facebook page (with 2 Million+ Likes) to start sharing TCL postings. That page didn't post anything for a year since July 2013 but recently in July 2014 started posting again.

I am sure there are many fans who chat about ThunderCats on social media in general, but perhaps aren't aware of the TCL forum. And obviously there are many who aren't members but still visit the forum as Guests. Though most may not actively participate on the various forum discussions, perhaps some will at least share anecdotes from their childhood. Be it fond memories of watching the cartoon, pretending to be the ThunderCats team with your friends, collecting the toys. Share stories and perhaps even post photos of cosplay, past collections or current collection of toys and merchandise.

A ThunderCats movie be it live action or CGI is very unlikely for now, but I am hoping despite the absence of large media presence that the ThunderCats fandom will continue to thrive further and it will lead to a new toy line being made.

In the coming months I plan to come up with ways to promote TCL on social media and in turn promote the site and forum. If you have any suggestions to do the same, please share them.

Also which company do you want to see tackle the ThunderCats toy line? And though the outcome and decision will largely depend on the toy company and WB, what do you think fans could do to make the toy line possible?

Bob Gale shares his experience on Secret Cinema Presents Back to the Future

Last week Bob Gale made a surprise visit at Secret Cinema's presentation of Back to the Future in London and he recently talked about his experience, which I have posted below. The event is still running until the end of August, so if you are a BTTF fan and if you can make it there, sounds like an amazing event worth attending.

After my three weeks of US trip, I was in London for couple of hours last week but it was only for my connecting flight back to India. I wish I could have attended this event, as it would have been a rare experience to be amongst such a large crowd of devoted BTTF fans in the fictional settings of Hill Valley.

Great Scott! Secret Cinema's presentation of BTTF is absolutely fantastic, and a must for any BTTF fan who can go! They've done an amazing job on every level. The cast, who play characters from the film and various townspeople, is outstanding. They are all in character the entire evening and do wonderful improvisations with the audience.  

If you walk into the Realty Office, a salesman will try to sell you a home in Lyon Estates. If you visit the Texaco Station, the uniformed staff will give you a dexterity test to see if you can join their team. Visit Peabody's ranch and the family will baptize you into their clan. Doc Brown conducts static electricity experiments with visitors to his house. The movie theater is actually running "Cattle Queen of Montana." Mayor Red Thomas is running for re-election and will try to solicit your vote. George McFly bicycles around town, asking if you've seen Biff. If you have a burger and fries at Lou's cafe, you'll see Goldie Wilson sweeping up, and Biff might come in to harass you.   

Not only do they re-enact scenes from the film, but they create additional vignettes as a result. For example, after Marty is hit by Sam Baines' car, the neighbors across the street call a neighborhood watch meeting out of concern for the strangers who have been appearing in town. I went 3 times and didn't see everything. There are live bands playing music from the 50s and 80s, and a radio station broadcasts period music and local news, live in real time. 

At 9 pm, after a town parade around the square, the movie begins, and it's enhanced with live actors mimicking the on screen action, culminating with lots of spectacle for the clock tower scene. The technical aspects are also excellent. It's an amazing rush to be surrounded by 3500 people who love the movie, who have dressed up for the 1950s to celebrate it, and who react with total enthusiasm throughout the event.  Giga-kudos to Fabien Riggall and everyone at Secret Cinema for one of the finest BTTF experiences in history!

-- Bob Gale

Guardians of the Galaxy

Loved every aspect of  Guardians of the Galaxy. The movie is visually beautiful and colorful, also it's a welcoming change in aesthetics that I hope continues the trend of movies going with bold colors.

Every character of the team is a badass and you end up wanting to see more of them as the movie draws to a close. There was no doubt that Guardians of the Galaxy was going to be hilarious and a fun action packed space adventure movie, but it had so much heart which surprised me the most. Rocket is awesome and he is a big highlight of the movie, but Peter Quill is my absolute favourite.

The movie features a fantastic soundtrack with songs you want to listen to again and again, accompanied by a good exciting score by Tyler Bates.

Though the movie ties into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's a great standalone film even for those who aren't familiar with any of the prior Marvel movies.

Thanks to my friend Shaneez, who ensured that we got to see it in a true IMAX 3D theatre (70 mm) at AMC Universal City Walk during my stay in LA. It was one of my best theatrical movie experiences ever.

 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a powerful and worthy sequel

One of the biggest strengths of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is its invoking sense of realism which results in an immersive experience.

The visuals effects by Weta Digital in the movie are so great and seamless that one would forget they are CGI apes and early on it pretty much gets taken for granted that they are inhabiting the world.

Leading the charge is Andy Serkis as Caesar. He has many moments of verbal dialogue and sign language (shown with subtitles), but even during scenes where he doesn't even speak a word he is able to display such range of emotions, it's a fine example of his staggering performance. His collaboration with the visual effects team along with the rest of the performance capture team is leaps ahead of the first film.

Michael Giacchino has given the movie an audacious musical score and I look foward to listening to the whole score when it gets released.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a much darker film than Rise of the Planet of the Apes. And it doesn't really have any lighthearted moments. The movie demands your attention and it's gripping till the end as the events unfold. 

Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer is gruesome and unpredictable where the stakes keep rising. Chris Evans gives a solid performance along with a great supporting cast.

The movie isn't necessarily cerebral, yet some of the moments and ideas in it are thought provoking. It's a refreshing science fiction film, jam packed with intense action.

The Guest

The Guest premiered at Sundance early in 2014 and I've been really looking forward to it after reading all the positive buzz. The tone of the film being compared to John Carpenter's films and The Terminator got me quite excited. I haven't read anything more about the movie's plot beyond the basic premise.

It's directed by Adam Wingard who directed You're Next, he also directed segments of V/H/S and V/H/S/2.

I am hoping this movie turns out to be this year's Drive, while gaining wide attention and appeal.

Here is part of the review by Matt Goldberg from Collider.com, posted in January 2014.

From 1974 to 1988, director John Carpenter was pretty much unstoppable. His films were scary, funny, strange, and thrilling.  Adam Wingard’s The Guest feels like a lost Carpenter film from the director’s golden age. The picture effortlessly moves between a nerve-wracking mystery to a gleefully dark comedy, and at its best it even mixes the two together. While Wingard carries the Carpenter-esque tone by making excellent use of Robby Baumgartner’s cinematography and Stephen Moore’s score, his greatest asset is Dan Stevens’ tremendous lead performance. And even when the picture starts to get away from Wingard, it never ceases to be an entertaining ride.

THE GUEST Acquired by Picturehouse for Fall Release. THE GUEST Stars Dan Stevens
This was posted by Adam Chitwood when the movie got picked up for distribution in March 2014.

The new film from You’re Next director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett will be coming to a theater near you this fall.  After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews, Picturehouse has picked up U.S. rights to The Guest for a fall release, marking the studio’s second feature film release after making their debut with last year’s Metallica Through the Never. The Guest stars Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) as a soldier who befriends the family of a fallen comrade and becomes a threat to everyone around him when it turns out he may not be who he says he is.  I caught the pic at Sundance and it’s a great 80’s throwback that’s kind of like a cross between Halloween and The Terminator. Stevens is excellent in a dark role that is the polar opposite of his Downton Abbey character, and Wingard and Barrett have a ton of fun with the gleefully dark premise.

Steve Weintraub posted the following before posting his interview with the director.

One of my favorite films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was The Guest. Directed and written by the team behind You’re Next (Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, respectively), The Guest is fantastic and as Matt said in his review, it “feels like a lost John Carpenter film from the director’s golden age.  The picture effortlessly moves between a nerve-wracking mystery to a gleefully dark comedy, and at its best it even mixes the two together.” Trust me, it’s a film you should be excited to see and I’m sure it’ll be released sometime this year.  The Guest stars Dan Stevens (in an amazingly dark turn), Maika Monroe, Leland Orser, Lance Reddick, Chase Williamson, and Brendan Meyer.

Speed 20th Anniversary

Speed was released 20 years ago today on June 10, 1994. I remember seeing the movie about 3 or 4 times in the theatres, I was in the 8th grade and it was few months before I turned 13.

I couldn't get enough of the movie and the epic musical score stayed with me for weeks. I liked Keanu in the Bill and Ted movies, but I became a fan after Speed.

I loved the whole elevator rescue opening as much as the rest of the film, which pretty much led to my fascination with SWAT teams in general.

As someone who preferred his hair longer I even ended up cutting my hair way too short few weeks after watching this film :).

And I love the fact that Joss Whedon ended up being one of the key writers of the film, which I only briefly remember reading about years ago; but his recent interview really dwells on his contributions to the script.

Here are some good articles that offer a look back at the movie along with words from Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and director Jan de Bont.

Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves and Jan de Bont look back at 'Speed' 20 years later
 
Still Traveling At 50 MPH 20 Years Later: Why 'Speed' Was The Pinnacle Of '90s Action Movies

Joss Whedon Was Left 'Pretty Devastated' After Losing 'Speed' Writing Credit

 

Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow is great, so funny and for a movie that repeats itself it's still full of surprises & extremely entertaining.

I am heading out of town for few days and I can't wait to see it again when I return next week :).

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Bryan Singer could probably retire from making X-Men films, cause I don't know if he will be able to top his latest film. Not only is X-Men: Days of Future Past his best film, but it's at par with First Class as the best X-Men film to date.

It doesn't really try to fix the continuity so as to synch with the timelines of all the other films, but at this point it didn't really matter anymore. The movie is entertaining and doesn't have any dull moments, but at the same time it isn't an all out CGI action fest either.

Wolverine is obviously a central character to the story, yet his role didn't take precedence over other characters; in fact he comparatively has lesser big action scenes than the rest, while still binding the narrative with some great emotional resonance along with the rest of the cast..

I was glad to hear John Ottman's X2 theme playing during the opening credits. Lot of great mutant action sequences especially in the future, which are not only very cool but quite brutal as well. Yet, just like First Class what was lacking for me was the rest of the core X-Men team.

After X-Men: Apocalypse, they should definitely consider rebooting the franchise after about 5 years or so.

Godzilla

I enjoyed Godzilla. The movie isn't over the top monster action all the way through, as it has a more grounded and serious approach. There is mayhem and destruction early on but there is lot of tease and anticipation on the monster end, which makes it more effective when Godzilla comes into play.

The more human story elements of the movie might disappoint some viewers, but I think it works and is in line with the original Japanese film. Also really liked Alexandre Desplat's bombastic musical score.

Weta District 9 Christopher Johnson and Son Prawns Statue

Got my District 9 Christopher Johnson statue today. I missed out on this unique piece when it went up for sale in 2011 and it's been one of my holy grails ever since.

I am now so happy to finally have this in my collection and even more relieved that it arrived in one piece, without any damages due to customs.

The statue is 1:6 scale and measures 14.2 inches in height along with the base. It's numbered #291 of 600.

Update (April 27):

I had also uploaded my District 9 statue image on Instagram two weeks ago. And now I am little ecstatic knowing that director Neill Blomkamp also "liked" the image yesterday :D

http://instagram.com/p/mxgYAfKAh_/#

 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was fantastic. In midst of all the exhilarating action, mystery and humor, the movie is also infused with emotional moments.

It was such a well crafted story, along with some terrific fight sequences and great visuals. Many of the supporting characters including the villains get their moments to shine.

It's the best Marvel Phase Two film so far and probably my favourite Marvel film right above Avengers. I plan to see it again soon.

Update:

Saw the movie again yesterday (Apr 05) and it was even better during the second time.

And I just can't get enough of the score by Henry Jackman, which is so energetic and at times eerie.

I love the main Captain America theme which runs through the score right from the opening track 'Lemurian Star' and especially in the ending credits 9 mins track titled Captain America.

The Captain America theme almost makes me want to start exercising and working out. Almost.

 

My 30 Most Anticipated Movies of 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is my most anticipated film of 2014, followed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Guardians of the Galaxy.

My 30 most anticipated movies of 2014 are listed below in release date order.  You can find a bigger list of movies releasing in 2014 on the RPF here.

Click on the release dates to view the trailers/info clips. Some of the images will be updated once the official posters get released.

1. The LEGO Movie 

February 7


















2. The Monuments Men

February 7


















3. The Grand Budapest Hotel

March 7


















4. Need for Speed

 March 14


















5. Veronica Mars

March 14











6. Divergent

March 21


















7. Noah

March 28


















8. The Raid 2: Berandal

March 28










9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

 April 4


















10. Transcendence

April 18


















11. The Amazing Spider-Man 2

May 2


















12. Neighbors

May 9


















13. Chef

 May 9















14. Godzilla

May 16


















15. X-Men: Days of Future Past

 May 23














16. Edge of Tomorrow

 June 6


















17. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

July 11


















18. Jupiter Ascending

July 18


















19. Guardians of the Galaxy

August 1











20. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

August 8














21. Lucy

August 8













22. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

August 22


















23. Gone Girl

October 3













24. Big Hero 6

November 7











25. Interstellar

November 7









26. Dumb and Dumber To

November 14
















27. Fury

 November 14














28. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

November 21


















29. Exodus

 December 12












30. The Hobbit: There and Back Again

 December 17