Another “Gotham Knight” trailer
Batman: Gotham Knight trailer
For the upcoming direct-to-DVD animated feature.
DVD review – Appleseed: Ex Machina
From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
The futuristic world of “Appleseed” is further explored in “Appleseed: Ex Machina,” a computer-animated sequel to the 2004 film. The films are based on characters created by Masumune Shirow (“Ghost in the Shell”).
After a non-nuclear war wipes out half the world’s population, humans turn to the artificial intelligence of Gaia to guide them. Led by bioroids, humans genetically engineered to avoid warlike emotions, the city of Olympus is a beacon of hope to the world. Still, unrest remains, and both the human and cyborg officers of the special weapons and tactics force on
Olympus are needed to quell disturbances.
Deunan, a human, and Briareos, a cyborg, are partners and lovers. Briareos, like other cyborgs, is a human who received severe injuries in the war and required robotic parts to repair him. Briareos is perhaps the top officer of the squad. When he’s injured, he’s replaced, essentially, by himself — a bioroid named Tereus, engineered from Briareos’ DNA. When Tereus is selected to be Deunan’s new partner, it causes confusion among the three heroes.
When recent attacks appear to be cyborgs with malfunctioning parts, the cyborg members of the unit are sidelined. Briareos, Deunan and Tereus have to find a way to work together and solve the mystery of the technological mishaps to save
Olympus.
The film is directed by Shinji Aramaki, who directed the 2004 “Appleseed” and is known for his design work in “Bubblegum Crisis” and “Robotech.”
“Ex Machina” is produced by John Woo (“The Killer”) and features Woo-like flourishes such as two-handed gunbattles and shell casings clanking on the floor. But one of the most Woo-influenced scenes, a battle in a cathedral, was created before Woo joined the project.
Hit me baby, one more time? Britney as anime star
Pop star Britney Spears takes on the role of an anime superhero in a new video, released at http://www.blackoutball.com/. This, along with Spears’ appearance on “How I Met Your Mother,” could be part of a strategy to get people talking about Britney for something other than her parenting skills and the underwear she may or may not be wearing. The video accompanies her single “Break The Ice.” (The “passwords” to see the video are “danger” and “victory.”)
The message boards at Britney.com don’t seem thrilled with the creative decision, but I actually liked it. It’s doing something different and is, I think, an interesting move.
(Link via Blog @ Newsarama.)
– Matt Price
Film trailers of 08 – comics culture on top so far
Looking at Apple’s “most popular” trailers as of Jan. 15 reveals a lot of buzz around based-on-comics films in the works for 2008.
#1. Wanted - Based on the Mark Millar comic-book miniseries for Top Cow.
#2. The Dark Knight - Introducing Heath Ledger as the Joker.
#3. Hellboy: The Golden Army – Guillermo del Toro directs this sequel starring Mike Mignola’s blue-collar supernatural hero.
(And at #5, the Wachowski Brothers’ Speed Racer, based on the classic anime. And this trailer is seriously growing on me.)
