Back in my original blog, Chaos in Print, "Midnight Ramblings" was a series of entries in which I'd just recap some of the headlines in pop culture and offer my thoughts on them, all in the guise of an e-mail to my best friend. So, when I started this blog, I felt like "Midnight Ramblings" had earned a spinoff.
Now, here I am, bored on a Sunday morning, let's resurrect the original Midnight Ramblings tradition because why not?
In my frequent online window shopping, I found that Disney has a movie club, much like the Columbia Record Club of yore. I'm debating whether I should sign up for it or not. The big selling point is they have exclusives...long forgotten Disney movies that are released on DVD exclusively through this club. And there are some movies in that club I wouldn't mind getting. But then I'm roped into the club, and I have to buy x movies a year, and they've got that whole "negative billing" BS where if you forget to send back the card, they automatically send you a DVD and now you have to pay for it. I was in the Columbia Record Club all those years ago, I remember it, and it gets to be a hassle.
It all boils down to one question: how desperately do I want to own a copy of DuckTales: The Movie -- Treasure of the Lost Lamp?
So what's going on with that live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? It's been filming in New York City for a few weeks now, and details are starting to dribble out from the set.
Our story thus far: Michael Bay is producing it through his company Platinum Dunes Productions. It's the first Platinum Dunes movie that's not a slasher film remake. Jonathan Liebesman, director of Battle: Los Angelas and Wrath of the Titans, is directing. There was much fanboy rage about a year ago when an early script was released, altering the Turtle's origins from being mutated in a sewer to being aliens from Dimension X. Bay claims that was an early draft from before he signed on, but people are wary.
There was also much geek rage when it was announced that Megan Fox would be playing legendary TMNT supporting player April O'Neil. Now, I'm not going to rage. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic. Here's why. My best friend once pointed out that Megan Fox's acting was one of the very few good things in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. There's a scene early in the movie were Megan Fox and Shia LeBouf are going to have a Skype date, but LeBouf blows it off to go to a college party. And Ms. Fox is sitting there in front of her computer all sad and alone. "Megan Fox sold that scene," says my best friend. "She genuinely seemed heartbroken." So, who knows? Maybe she can pull it off.
As filming is going on, more cast members are being announced, and thanks to pictures from the set, we're learning who they're playing.
Will Arnett, still best loved as GOB on Arrested Development, was spotted on the set, and it was learned that he's playing Vernon Fenwick. For those who don't remember the original 1987 cartoon, Vernon was April's cameraman and eventual rival reporter in the Channel 6 newsroom.
Whoopi Goldberg was spotted on the set, and it was revealed that she's playing Bernadette Thompson, a gender-flipped version of Burns Thompson, April's editor-in-chief at Channel 6 news. Because this is a Michael Bay production, I guess we can expect her to be a sassy black stereotype.
Glancing in Wikipedia for this blogging, I see that Saturday Night Live cast member Abby Elliot is also in the cast. Seeing as to how they're filling out the Channel 6 newsroom so much, I'm guessing she's playing Irma, the Channel 6 receptionist and April's best friend.
And also in the cast is legendary character actor William Fichtner as a person "iconic in the Turtles mythology." You might remember Fichtner from his small role as the bank manager who shoots at the Joker in the opening scene of The Dark Knight. Because they haven't announced the villain yet, many are assuming he's playing Shredder, but with his distinct features, he looks more like Krang to me. I'm saying Krang.
And what of the Turtles themselves? Well, they've got largely unknowns for the Turtles. Pete Ploszek is Leonardo, who only has a couple of TV guest shots to his name. Noel Fisher is Michaelangelo, who's on the TV show Shameless. Jeremy Allen is Donatello, who has a lot of small roles to his name. And Alan Ritchson is Raphael, whose best known role is Aquaman on Smallville. Because they chose such lesser-known actors for the Turtles, I'm also guessing they'll be getting celebrities to do the voices.
Oh, and I almost forgot. Danny Woodburn, probably best known as Kramer's friend Mickey on Seinfeld, is playing Splinter.
I really have no idea what to expect from this film. With the large amount of comedic talent, and with so many members of the Channel 6 newsroom in there, I'm starting to figure it's very much going to be based on the 1987 cartoon...somewhat tongue-in-cheek, very comedic. Those who've embraced a grittier TMNT over the years might be in for a shock.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits the big screen June 4, 2014.
We're getting ready for a new Doctor on Doctor Who. The BBC just announced that Matt Smith has decided to hang up his bow tie and call it a day as the Eleventh Doctor. It seems about right. We got three series out of David Tennant, so three series seems like a good number to go out on.
As I've already blogged, I thought Series 7 was good, but not great. The dynamic just seems off now that we now longer have the Doctor/Amy/Rory trinity. Smith's final appearance as the Eleventh Doctor will be on this year's Christmas special, which will end with him regenerating into #12.
And who #12 is, no one knows. Speculation is very rampant, so I'm not even going to try.
And just to finish things off with a song, I saw on TV last night that Owl City wrote an Oreo Cookies jingle. Damn, it's catchy. And the commercial is 90 seconds long. I don't know about you, but when a commercial goes for more than 30 seconds, I start thinking, "OK, why isn't this ending?" Here it is. As I said, damn, it's catchy.
No comments:
Post a Comment