Category Entertainment

Sep 13 2011

Meet The Alternate Star Wars Saga Cast, Part I

While many are complaining about yet more changes to the Star Wars films with the new blu rays, everyone should consider that the saga has always been in a state of flux. This thought leads to a nagging question. What if George Lucas had filmed the saga chronologically? That is Episode I was the first Star Wars movie to be filmed back in the mid ’70s while Episode VI would’ve been released in 2005. Aside from the f/x and the storyline being different, so would the casting. This rings especially true in the last three films because it’s hard to imagine Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher portraying their iconic roles in middle age.

So with that thought let’s imagine who Lucas would’ve cast in the Prequel Trilogy, which would’ve spanned from the releases dates of 1977, 1980 and 1983. Note that there isn’t any way to predict with absolute certainty who Lucas would’ve cast or if his picks would’ve even accepted the roles. It’s easy to imagine that Lucas might’ve gone for an unknown actor or someone out of left field to play any of these roles. This isn’t a criticism of Lucas or the actors just pure speculation based on who auditioned for roles and was available at the time.

The Prequel Trilogy: Star Wars Episodes I-III

Qui-Gon Jinn: As the seasoned, wise and worldly Jedi Master, Nicol Williamson would’ve filled that role quite well. Just look at his performance as Merlin in Excalibur, the actor would’ve been perfect for Qui-Gon. One reason for this pick is that Lucas wanted to use primarily unknown performers but he did use seasoned, established actors in his films like Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing. If he decided to cast a star then an excellent choice for Qui-Gon would be Sean Connery. Despite his advancing years, Connery was still a tough, rugged leading man with many of the qualities needed for Qui-Gon.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: One of the main contenders for Han Solo was Perry King. In fact, he played Han in the Star Wars radio plays. So with his handsome good looks and acting chops, King would be a solid choice to play the heroic, noble Jedi who’s forced to fight his apprentice by Episode III. Plus he probably would’ve reprised Obi-Wan years later in Episode IV.

Padme Amidala: A difficult part to cast along with Anakin. The reason being that Lucas might’ve decided to have Anakin in the first film be an older character, which would throw off the entire casting process. If that happened then Carrie Fisher could perform her as she did with Princess Leia and that in turn means the actor to play Anakin in Episode I would have to be older . But if Lucas decided to have Padme younger then he would need to pick someone else like Terri Nunn, now known as the lead singer of Berlin. She was 16 at the time of casting and originally read for the role of Leia. Alternatives would include Rosanna Arquette, Melanie Griffith and even Eve Plumb. Seriously.

Anakin Skywalker: Kurt Russell was in the running for the role of Han Solo. He could’ve easily played a rash Anakin in Episodes II and III with his boyish good looks and hint of menace in his eyes. Just look at his portrayal of Snake Plissken. In Episode I, a young Anakin might’ve gone to some unknown child actor. Or Lucas could’ve picked Noah Hathaway who was about the same age as Jake Lloyd was when he was cast as Anakin. Or the filmmaker might’ve decided to introduce Anakin as a slightly older child, maybe even a teenager. This of course would probably mean that the actor chosen would continue to play the role in the sequels and thus no Kurt Russell. Choices include Ike Eisenmann, or Lance Kerwin.

Jar Jar Binks: Robin Williams would’ve been perfect for the role. Imagine a young, spirited Williams in his comedic prime running away with this role under heavy makeup. His performance might’ve been the one to catapult him into stardom rather than Mork from Ork. The character might’ve really caught on back then and had a larger roles in the sequels.

Mace Windu: Billy Dee Williams was considered for the role of Han Solo and as Mace, Williams would’ve added a heavy dose of charisma. This would’ve complemented the overall character of the Jedis and added to their regal nature. Heck, if you see him wearing his cape as Lando Calrissian, the guy looks like a Jedi of sorts.

Palpatine: Ian McDiarmid hopefully would’ve been cast back in ’76 and played the scheming politician and Sith Lord. The makeup might’ve been different in the final films given his age but nothing else would be different.

Nute Gunray: This was a largely forgettable villain but Peter Cushing would’ve added a chilling demeanor and turned him into a true menace. Albeit he would’ve played a human without makeup. However given his ill health by the early 80s his involvement in the next two films might’ve been limited.

Count Dooku: To portray this dashing, elegant and calculating fallen Jedi an actor needed to have all those qualities. Christopher Lee had it and so would Ricardo Montalban. Although would he then reprise his iconic role of Khan in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan a couple of years later? If not him, then Maximilian Schell would’ve been a viable alternative.

Jango Fett: Scott Glenn has that mean, ornery look of a mercenary and the character might’ve had more of a Western motif. Clues of this can be found in the original Attack of the Clones when Jango dispatches a hapless Jedi with a quick draw during the climatic arena battle. Plus, Glenn’s casting would mean that Boba’s role in the future films would’ve been more substantial.

Darth Maul: The role was limited requiring only someone with tremendous physical prowess. A young Jackie Chan , Chuck Norris or some other martial artist could’ve portrayed this acrobatic Sith apprentice.

General Grievous: Due to the limited CG technology in the early ’80s, the character would be presented as a more humanoid being, perhaps the actor’s face would’ve being visible. In any regard, Christopher Lloyd has shown in the past with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, that he can make a convincing villain and would have done the same in Episode III.

Boss Nass: Brian Blessed would have played this role and be in makeup rather than some CG rendering as with Episode I.

José Soto

Coming Soon: Part II with the Original Trilogy Re-Cast!

Sep 8 2011

Marty McFly’s Future Shoes Are Here? Great Scott!

Nike is about to announce tonight a new line of shoes that many believe will be a take of Marty McFly’s self-lacing high tops from Back to the Future, Part II. Called the Air Mag, these shoes will utilize a Nike patented technology that will reportedly allow the shoes to lace themselves. A press conference at 8:30 pm Pacific Time by Nike will unveil more details. There’s already a viral video commercial online promoting these line of shoes that resemble McFly’s muy cool shoes from that film.

This is the best news I’ve heard all day, and was actually wondering about this recently when I went shoe shopping. The next thing you know a company will announce the sale of that nifty self-size adjusting jacket he wore complete with drying mode! Better yet where are the flying DeLoreans?

José Soto

UPDATE: According to Nike, the shoes, while a replica of Marty’s shoes, don’t self-lace but they do light up as shown in the film. Too bad. They still look snazzy. 1,500 pairs will be auctioned off on eBay until September 18th, with net proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Regardless of the selling price, it’s for a good cause and who knows? It could take off and there are only four years left to develop the self-lacing feature. 😀

Sep 2 2011

DC’s Digital and Print New 52: The Game Changer

DC  Comics unveiled this Wednesday their reimagined universe with Justice League #1, (written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee and Scott Williams). This isn’t an ordinary reboot per se.

Variant cover to Justice League #1 by David Finch

Rather it’s the next evolution for comic books.  As every comic book fan knows, on August 31, 2011 DC simultaneously released print copies of Justice League #1 and digital downloads of the same issue. While comic book shops received their copies on Tuesday, they weren’t allowed to put them up on shelves until their stores opened the next day. With the digital downloads, however, they were ready for consumers at 12 am  midnight on Wednesday.

That already is one plus side for downloads and in theory this means that everyone, anywhere with Internet connections can get a copy of their favorite comic book.  If you lived in big cities like New York that have many comic book stores it’s fairly easy to find any kind of comic book. But if you live in small towns, often you’d have to travel many miles scouring the landscape for a new release and hoping that the small store you find still has a copy of the release. That is if they even carried it in the first place.

Upcoming Detective Comics #1, Cover by Tony S. Daniel

This could spell trouble for comic book stores. But if they’re smart they can re-tool their business model and possibly gear their stores more to sell merchandise based on the comic books. That’s just one idea. Either way, they need to adapt or go the way of travel agencies and record stores that were decimated by travel websites and iTunes. But for fans and publishers, digital downloads are the way to go. But it’s not without its drawbacks.

First of all, it’s one hundred percent web dependant. If your Internet connection is poor or the signal is cut off you can’t read the comic book. See, if I was living in the Legion of Superhero’s perfect 30th century world where technology was very advanced this wouldn’t be much of a problem. But today, it is still easier for me to walk five feet over to my bookshelf and pick up a print copy than to turn on a computer or tablet or smartphone and search for the same comic book in digital form. Also, there’s no interactivity with the Justice League download. The word balloons and art are static, but on a plus side, there are no ads and the images are hi-res. In fact, the final four pages consist of costume sketches by Lee and Johns.

Being that it’s a protected download, you cannot copy it and send or sell it to a third party. If your friend wants a copy, he or she can’t just borrow a print copy and give it back to you; it has to be bought. For publishers this is a godsend since I think this may help boost sales.

Speaking of that, I believe that the downloads will wind up selling five times more than print copies. Eventually we may see sales totaling about 500,000 per issue versus today’s dismal 20,000-30,000 figure. Of course, I doubt it will equal or top the World War II figures of millions of copies per issue and that’s because there is so much media for comic books to compete with.

Upcoming Action Comics #1, Cover by Rags Morales

A good ripple effect from downloads is that poor-selling titles may have a longer life. Ordinarily, a comic book with low sales would be canceled for economic reasons. But if it switched to being solely a digital download then production costs will be low enough to keep it going. While fans of that title won’t be able to own a print copy, they can at least follow the title on-line.

As downloads and new apps and technologies emerge and come of age, it will be easier for new generations already accustomed to the new technologies to buy downloads and actually prefer it over running down to the store to buy a print copy. This is truly a game changer not only for DC but the comic book industry at large. Now for the perfect connectivity, what’s the name of that 30th century Internet service provider?

GEO

Aug 25 2011

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

About an hour east of Orlando in Merritt Island, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex cannot be called a theme park or a museum but it has elements of both. Like any healthy attraction, it’s constantly evolving and offering something new for visitors. And coming soon, the Complex will be the home for the just-retired Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Even though the shuttle isn’t ready for viewing yet that shouldn’t stop anyone whether they’re a space buff or not from visiting the Complex. There are plenty of displays, exhibits and fantastic presentations. It’s hard to see everything the Complex offers in a single day visit. This was not so in its past and it’s a testament to how the place has grown as a viable attraction.

The basic admission includes the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Tour, IMAX presentations (many of which are in 3D), the nearby U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and the Complex’s grounds.

A popular attraction is the Shuttle Launch Experience, which simulates a shuttle launch for visitors. It’s a lot like the Mission: Space ride at Epcot only without the nausea, but it’s still a rough ride and according to many astronauts an authentic recreation of a shuttle liftoff. Next to the facility that houses the Shuttle Launch Experience is a well-detailed mock up of a shuttle called the Explorer. Visitors ascend a winding staircase to get into the craft’s hangar and further up for the cockpit.  And next to the Explorer are mock ups of the space shuttle’s external fuel tank and boosters, those and the shuttle make for memorable photo ops.

Other places to get photos include the Rocket Garden, an outdoor showcase of the rockets and capsules used during the ’60s. These include the Titan and Atlas rockets (plus a huge Saturn IB) and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules. In fact, visitors are allowed to climb into the claustrophobic. Nearby is the Early Space Exploration facility that features the actual capsules, artifacts and mission control consoles from the ’60s.

But the highlight of any visit is the KSC Tour. Although in-depth guided tours are available for additional fees, anyone can get a thorough visit with the KSC Tour. Buses at a terminal located off to the right of the Complex’s entrance plaza leave for the tour every fifteen minutes. A short ride will take visitors to the shuttles’ launch pads at the LC-39 Observation Gantry and even glimpse off in the distance the air force’s rocket launch pads. The next and final stop of the tour is a grand finale indeed. The Apollo/Saturn V Center boasts an overhead, mammoth 363-foot-long Saturn V rocket which rivals any giant dinosaur fossil display in a museum. There are also space suits, tools, a moon buggy and even a piece of moon rock that can be touched. Visitors can stay as long as they like in the Center before taking a bus back.

But the Complex isn’t just a place that looks at NASA’s past glories, there are many exhibits and attractions devoted to today’s space exploration. At the Astronaut Encounter Theater, visitors can meet and question guest astronauts. The Theater is also playing through December Star Trek Live, an engaging stage show featuring science facts and a time-travel themed storyline. Elsewhere, visitors can see up-close images from the Hubble Space Telescope or be part of Exploration Space: Explorers Wanted. An interactive, multimedia presentation on the possible future of space travel. There are even play areas in the Complex for children, a nature exhibit, an Astronaut Memorial, an art gallery and of course, souvenir shops.

To see everything at the Complex in one day is very difficult and not practical. So consider returning for a second visit. In fact, visitors who get their tickets validated when leaving can return for a second visit within a week. The admission prices are very favorable when compared to Orlando’s theme parks and the experience is much more educational and inspiring especially for future generations.

Article and Images by José Soto

Aug 20 2011

Top Ten Marvel Movie Villains

With Marvel’s superheroes blazing their way across movie screens, one factor for the films’ success is the supervillain(s) the heroes face. As any good storyteller will tell you, the vital ingredient for a gripping yarn is a formidable foe to put the story’s protagonist to the test.

marvel movie villain

Being that the Marvel superheroes have such memorable enemies and that they translate well to the screen it’s one reason why the Marvel films have been successful. Naturally, with future Marvel films coming up, this list will change, but that’s part of the fun in making up these lists. So for now, these are the top ten villains to appear in Marvel movies…and the five worst.

Ivan Vanko10. Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2 (Mickey Rourke): Combining elements of Whiplash and the Crimson Dynamo for the big screen, Vanko is a cold, deadly and enraged Iron Man foe who was much more engaging than the original film’s Obadiah Stane or this one’s Justin Hammer.

9. Emil Blonsky/The Abomination in The Incredible Hulk (Tim Roth): Come on, the guy had the balls to go up against the Hulk man to man! That’s one tough SOB, and yes when he becomes The Abomination and fights the Hulk it looks like something out of  a video game. But it was a lot more fun than that turgid Ang Lee film.

8. Bullseye in Daredevil (Colin Farrell): One of the bright spots in that film, Bullseye had a maniacal sense of energy, ego and deadliness that upstaged Daredevil and gave him a personal motivation for trying to defeat the title hero.

7. The Red Skull/Johann Schmidt in red skull hugo weavingCaptain America: The First Avenger (Hugo Weaving): A bit one-dimensional but well-played by Weaving  as an uber Nazi whose ambitions elevate his evil to another level altogether.

green goblin spidey 16. The Green Goblin/Norman Osborn in Spider-Man (Willem Dafoe): The outfit stunk otherwise the Goblin would’ve ranked higher. Dafoe, however, gives Osborn his all as a crazed CEO with fantastic gadgets and (aside from the outfit) largely works as a villain.

5. Col. William Stryker in X2 (Brian Cox): Despite not having any powers, Stryker is one terrifying person whose bigotry and fear of mutants is a driving force that threatens the lives of the film’s mutants whether they’re hero or villain.

4. The New Goblin/Harry Osbron in new goblinSpider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 (James Franco): A true tragic villain, Harry doesn’t become bad until the end of Spider-Man 2 where the agony of his father’s death and his own inadequacies unhinge him. His hatred for Peter Parker/Spider-Man, the means he goes about seeking vengeance and his final tragic redemption are the best things in the third Spider-Man film.

doctor octopus3. Doctor Octopus/Otto Octavius in Spider-Man 2 (Alfred Molina): The best of the science-driven-mad villains. Molina gives us a very dimensional Doc Ock who isn’t driven by world conquest or revenge but to achieve a scientific goal. Never mind that trying to create his version of fusion threatens the world. Calculating and arrogant even before his accident, Octavius paid the price for his arrogance and was a formidably tough foe for Spider-Man.

2. Loki in Thor (Tom Hiddleston): One loki in thorof the biggest surprises wth Thor is how subtle and crafty Loki came off. It would’ve been easy with a title as God of Mischief to have him be a Norse god version of The Joker and be cackling and chaotic. Instead, thanks largely to Hiddleston’s quiest expressions, Loki is seen sympathetically as the seemingly less-favored son who holds a secret grudge against his brother Thor. The film successfully shows why Loki detests his situation and why he turns on his family; it’s more layered than him finding out his true origin. Rather his envy and anger are due to his own insecurities, Thor’s arrogance and is his validation for taking over Asgard through crafty means.

old magneto1. Magneto/ Erik Lehnsherr in X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand ( Ian MacKellen): As one of the deadliest and most powerful villains, Magneto is someone you can’t help empathize with considering his background; he’s a World War II concentration camp survivor. He developed a hatred for non-mutants who persecuted his own kind,  thus making him feel justified in his actions against society. Magneto was usually one step ahead of Professor X and willing to go the extra distance to achieve his goals whether it involved harming a young girl or firing a gun point blank at a cop with his magnetic powers. Despite his age, Magneto was someone to take seriously as a foe and was also the mirror image, in terms of idealogy, of Professor X’s dream of peaceful co-existance with humans. Sadly, many of humanity’s actions throughout the original trilogy only added fuel to his cause and made viewers wonder as to who was truly evil or misguided.

new magnetoSpecial shout outs in no particular order go to Mystique (Rebecca Romijin Stamos) in the X-Men films, Venom/Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) in Spider-Man 3, The Kingpin/Wilson Fisk (Michael Clarke Duncan) in Daredevil, Jared Nomak (Luke Goss) in Blade II, and Magneto/ Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) in X-Men: First Class.  Fassbender’s portrayal of Magneto was good enough to make the top ten list but for most of the movie he is actually an anti-hero who only becomes truly villainous by the film’s end.

And now for the five worst. Before getting to the these turds let it be noted that all it takes to sink a film (sometimes singlehandedly) is a poor villain. When coming up with a screenplay attention must be paid to the villain’s motivation, execution and threat level. It’s a hard thing to pull off; when it works you have a great movie when it doesn’t you have a franchise killer. So here they are, the Marvel movie villain Hall of Shame inductees:

5. Howard Saint in The Punisher (John Travolta): You know as a villain you’re in trouble when the colorful assassins you send after the Punisher like the Russian are more interesting than you.

4. Toad in X-Men (Ray Park): Talk about hamming it up! That scene at the Statue of Liberty when Toad tries to mock Storm with his silly dancing earned him a good lightning strike that ensured that he didn’t return in the sequels.

3. Blackheart/Legion in Ghost Rider (Wes Bentley): Boring, boring, boring! Generic demonic foe that looks more like a goth reject than the son of Mephisto. His father was a more intriguing foe yet this film chose to focus instead on this bratty emo.

doctor doom 2005

2. Dr. Doom/Victor Von Doom in Fantastic Four (Julian McMahon): This is miscasting at its worst. McMahon was terrific as the narcissistic plastic surgeon in Nip/Tuck but lacked the gravitas to be Marvel’s most infamous and regal villain. Everyone expected an Eastern European despot but got your standard egotistical CEO and coming so soon after Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin performance it just drew unfavorable comparisons. In trying to tie his origin with the Fantastic Four and making him a mutated being, this film robs the character of his rich backstory and menace. In this film he’s just a poor Goblin/Magneto/Electro knock-off. He was more like his comic book counterpart, power-hungry and more Machiavellian in the sequel but that film’s awfulness wiped out any improvement made to Doom’s character.

1. Galactus in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: Destroyer of worlds, nearly omnipotent, a force of nature personified by a giant being with that wonderfully whacky Kirby outfit, that is how fans conceive of Galactus. Do we get this on film? No! We get a cloud. A stormy cloud. Seriously how lazy is this? What’s equally laughable is the filmmakers’ attempt to explain why they went with a cloud, apparently they wanted to leave it up to whoever did a Silver Surfer film to have a free reign designing Galactus. All this did was help to scuttle that film and any followups to the Fantastic Four. The execution reeks of not being imaginative and/or having a limited f/x budget. It was the ultimate payoff that never happened and signified the film’s problems. There was too much going on in the movie to adequately explore the most famous Fantastic Four story, it would have been better to end it with a cliffhanger even if it never happened. It would have left less of a bad taste.

José Soto