For those who don't care, BD-Live was one of the big selling points of Blu-Ray when it first hit the market about 6 or 7 years ago. You plug your Blu-Ray player into the Internet, and then with your BD-Live enabled disc, you're able to download and/or stream new bonus features. About the only studio that still does BD-Live content is Universal, and they've got the right idea. So you're not seeing trailers for movies from 5 years ago, what most Universal BD-Live discs do is stream new trailers from the Internet when you fire up your disc.
Nope, the current trend when it comes to Blu-Ray bonus features is second screen apps. You load the app on your tablet, it syncs to the disc through your wireless home network, and the bonus features stream to your tablet while you watch the movie. So I guess it's time to get a tablet.
It looks like Kickstarter is giving new life to short-lived TV series.
Last week, Rob Thomas, creator of the cult classic TV series Veronica Mars, took to Kickstarter, and revealed that he'd made a deal with Warner Brothers...the studio that owns Veronica Mars. If Thomas could raise $2 million on Kickstarter for a Veronica Mars movie, Warner Brothers would greenlight it.
Thomas got his $2 million in 10 hours...Kickstarter has branded it their most successful campaign ever.
This got some folks thinking, and they asked the creators of some other "brilliant-but-canceled" TV series about using Kickstarter to back a movie version.
Bryan Fuller, creator of two cult-classic TV shows, Wonderdfalls and Pushing Daisies, was asked about using Kickstarter to fund movie versions of his two shows. Fuller said he'd love to, but because of how visual-effects-intensive Pushing Daisies was, he'd probably need to raise at least $10 million.
And, Joss Whedon was asked about using Kickstarter to resurrect the king of all short-lived cult classic TV series, Firefly. Whedon said he'd love to, but between him being busy with The Avengers 2 and Nathan Fillion being busy with Castle, it won't happen any time soon.
The first trailer for Kick-Ass 2 went online last week.
I once asked a friend of mine when we might get our true cinematic version of Watchmen. When Watchmen came along in the 1980s, it was critically praised for deconstructing the superhero genre. So my question was when the same might happen for all the superhero movies we've been getting lately.
One that had a good shot was Kick-Ass. Based on the creator-owned comic by Mark Millar, it was a minor hit in 2010, and attempted a deconstruction as it pondered what superheroes might be like in the real world. While I did love the film, I felt that, as the end drew near, it did kind of fall back into the typical superhero movie mold. Director Matthew Vaughn had to make the first one independently, because most studios thought the film had too much objectionable content -- specifically the character of Hit Girl, a 12-year old girl vigilante who gleefully disembowels evildoers and curses like a sailor. That being said, though, when the first film was a big hit, Universal Studios promptly swooped in and picked up the movie rights for any and all sequels.
Hence, Kick-Ass 2, coming this summer. Based on Millar's two sequel comics, Kick-Ass 2 and the Hit Girl mini-series. We find Mindy/Hit Girl is having a tough time in junior high, as the average street punk is no match for the typical junior high mean girl. Dave has hung up his Kick-Ass mask, and gone back to being a normal teenager. But, when Chris D'Amico, Red Mist in the first film and the son of the drug dealer who was slain at the end of the first film, swears vengeance, he decides to become the Mother Fucker, the world's first super-villain. Also, the work of Kick-Ass has inspired a new batch of self-made superheroes, and a super-team known as Justice Forever now patrols the streets. Before long, Kick-Ass and Hit Girl are lured out of retirement, and join Justice Forever to take down the Mother Fucker!
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is back as Dave/Kick-Ass, Chole Grace Moretz returns as Mindy/Hit Girl, and Christopher "McLovin'" Mintz-Plasse is back as Chris/Mother Fucker. And joining them this time out is Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars n Stripes, the leader of Justice Forever.
It hits theatres this August.
And just because I'll need a thumbnail when I post this to the various social networks, I have the heavily-hyped Star Trek Into Darkness app on my iPhone, as I count down to the new Star Trek movie this summer. Here's what the app gifted me with on St. Patrick's Day.
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