Idle Flashbacks: Green Lantern Interviews at SDCC 2010

Today, in honor of Ryan Reynolds' birthday, we travel back to 2010 to another steamy San Diego Comic-Con and the hotel press junket for the highly anticipated GREEN LANTERN MOVIE!!! I was very happy to be allowed a spot in a room packed to the gills, for my lil press outlet. Highlight of this one is when a fellow geek reporter started his question off with "Mr. Reynolds, I do fear your power, Green Lantern's light", which was met with he smiles and laughter you'd expect from a crew that actually appreciates the fanbase of a comic their movie is based on. Sometimes, you just have to say the thing. I once asked Zack Snyder if anyone had sex in the Watchmen Owl Ship while on the floor at SDCC. I mean, if I had money to burn to pay off the security guards, I could find someone in a heartbeat to do the deed just for bragging rights alone. HOW COULD YOU NOT GO FOR IT?! Granted, I was three drinks in, but I totally knew what I was doing.  

Deadpool 2 Trailer Reveals X-Force

Technically, I suppose this is the FIRST FULL trailer, but hell, the first one wasn't exactly 3 seconds long, was it? NOPE! This go around, we get some chunky bits from Ryan Reynolds playing your favorite merc with a mouth...and the usual shenanigans that follow him.

We've got::
Marvel Team-Ups
Ultraviolence
Gratuitous Language
Breaking the Fourth Wall

IT'S ALL HERE!! Let's watch...

The Extended Deadpool 2 Movie Teaser from Logan

Logan. I have a lot of thoughts. Most of them include phrases like "missed opportunity" and "same as always"...but we'll get to that later. Aside from some expletive filled banter between Logan and Professor X, the best (and most fun) part of the film was a teaser for the second Deadpool film with Ryan Reynolds back in the lead. While it is quick leaves an audience in agony, screaming for more, it still manages to contain more plot twists than the actual Logan movie. Amazing. Watch belowwww...

Deadpool Aims For Greatness But Misses The Mark

As recently as five years ago, the idea of a movie with a character like Deadpool at the center would have been seen as impossible. It's not the bad language, as God gave us Quentin Tarantino. The gratuitous violence is not a problem either, as movies like Kick Ass, Wanted and Dredd paved the way, creating a contest of sorts. It's not enough to just be shockingly violent anymore! Now we expect a certain level of inventiveness along with that blood splatter. Just watch Kingsman and you'll see where that contest is taking Hollywood. Shockingly, inventively violent happens to be Deadpool's specific cup of tea, and if those previously mentioned films with comic book themes could exist, it's sort of laughable Deadpool wasn't born right alongside them! So, was the fact that Deadpool is a Marvel Comics character and the suggestion that he exists alongside (at the very least, the FOX stable) the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe enough to keep him off the big screens for so long? Who knows. What ever the reason studio executives would give for shelving a character that makes major bank in merchandising and comic books every year, I think they all agreed the time for a Rated R super hero is NOW...but could they make it work?

A New Deadpool Movie Trailer with 100% More Chimichanga

Just a little something to remind people that DEADPOOL IS COMING..and that everything is better in IMAX...on a wall..bigger than your house...in 3D...most likely involving pelvic thrusting and rubber chicken fighting at some point....God willing. 

Armed with accelerated healing powers and a twisted sense of humor, former mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) goes in search of the man who nearly destroyed his life....John Stamos. Just kidding. Maybe. 

Deadpool hits screens across Murica February 12, 2016.

Deadpool's Movie Trailer... For the Upcoming Trailer.. For the Movie

Be warned, there's cussin' in this trailer trailer!

#Deadpool did a trailer to a trailer. What a post-modern asshole.

Posted by Deadpool Movie on Monday, August 3, 2015

Ryan Reynolds Lounges In The Deadpool Movie Costume

REVEALS! These days, a studio is lucky enough to drop a reveal with some sort of fanfare before a crazed fan or newshound spoils it with onset pics or leaked imagery. The Thing from the new Fantastic Four movie was just shown, for the first time, in a grainy pic from some dude standing in front of a giant poster. NOT the way you want that to get out there, and the overwhelming negative reaction is proof. Then there's Ryan Reynolds who just Tweeted this image of, presumably, himself, in full Deadpool gear, lounging on a bear skin rug in front of a fireplace. THIS IS HOW IT IS DONE. ...And could it be any more perfect? No..the answer is no it could not. This was a rhetorical question.

The Deadpool Movie Is A GO

And just like that, with an email dropped in my box gleefully, albeit cryptically stating "DEADPOOL. MOVIE. 2-12-16" from a very trusted source, it is GAME ON!! The dreams of hundreds of thousands of lunatic Poolifiles, including his creator, Robert Liefeld, and the man destined to play him on the big screen, Ryan Reynolds, are answered today as Fox gives the big thumbs up to a film we've been begging for...well..for some time now!

Deadpool Movie Test Footage?

Looks videogamey, but maybe it was a "proof of concept" sort of thing where they whipped this up to show how much fun the actual movie could be? Also, that sure does sound like Ryan Reynolds!  DISCUSS!

UPDATE: This is the real deal! ..well as real as a piece of test footage gets. Now in beautiful HD, we can catch all the little subtle nuances...like Deadpool drawing the picture with a crayon at the start on the bridge, which is what he shows to the motorcycle thug right before he takes his head. Extra awesome for an already amazing piece! We also didn't get that final line in the low res version...which brings it all home. Perfection. A whole movie of this would leave audiences in tears, begging for the pain in their splitting sides to go away. So what is FOX waiting for? Maybe the success of formerly perceived "longshot", ie; Guardians of the Galaxy, this weekend will seal the deal, though it's fairly obvious Deadpool is one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Universe. Shouldn't that spell no-brainer? Maybe they think the tone of the film, which would HAVE to be rated R, mixed with non-stop comedy is the risky proposition? Whatever the case may be, I think the release of this "leaked" footage, and then the mysterious second leak of better footage is their way of saying...we are listening. Word of mouth is strong. Deadpool movie...imminent...

RIPD Trailer Goes LIVE

...which is a joke in itself because..you know...the movie is about dead folks. YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE??!! Sorry..long day. So..without further attempts at humor...

Green Lantern Movie Review

While geeks across the globe are treated to all manor of super hero action on the big screen, in addition to heaping doses of awesome from the Marvel Universe, the DC end of the galaxy has seemingly been forsaken. Today, we take one small step toward filling that gaping hole in our DVD collection.

Green Lantern always seemed like the perfect follow up for a public now accustomed to the midnight stalkings of The Batman and the Boy Scout heroics of Superman. He’s got his own super gadget, capable of spitting CGI constructs of all shapes and sizes, a deep sense of duty and a “never say die” spirit making him the quintessential American hero, coupled with a slightly sarcastic edge and tempered with a super sized heart. How can you lose with a guy like this! The abridged version of his origin story goes like this. Fighter Pilot Hal Jordan crosses paths with dying alien Abin Sur who sees great heroism in him and, with his dying breathe, bequeaths him his lantern and power ring, making him the first human in the Green Lantern Corps. The movie version of this tale is very true to the original, which should be enough for fans of the comic to stand up and cheer straight out of the gate. Without giving too much of the plot away, Hal quickly learns he is now part of a bigger universe (far bigger than a world with the Avengers in it) and must conquer his demons in order to join this interstellar Corps and maybe even get his messed up Earthly life back on track. Easier said than done, and with the monstrous, fear eating Parallax making a B line for Earth, Hal had better decide what is most important to him..and fast.

The marketing minds behind Green Lantern seemed to do their darndest to make us think this would be the most unholy of train wrecks. All the earmarks were there. The over complicated take on what was a very simple, very elegant super hero suit…the amorphous, world devouring, smoke like villain…the wise cracking, happy go lucky leading man…all a recipe for destruction in our eyes, especially if those eyes had been burned in the past with similar trappings dropped as warning for future travelers. At the heart of this project, if Warner Bros couldn’t nail the character of Hal Jordan, the whole exercise would be pointless..and painful. Perfection achieved. Ryan Reynolds either has a great understanding of the character or was coached to death as he hit all the right notes. This Hal has a self destructive streak only overshadowed by his willingness to sacrifice himself for the innocents around him. He’s a ladies’ man, an awesome uncle and a flawed, human being with a noble heart that isn’t afraid to speak his mind. This is exactly what I wanted in the title character. This alone deserves applause.

My next point baffled friends at the screening I attended, as I began it by saying I enjoyed Green Lantern more than Thor. This may have been achieved by a slim margin, but it all comes down to the matter of your hero’s adversary. In Thor, we are presented with many directions in which we can point our distaste, but in the end, the Frost Giants were patsies, Destroyer was a tool (literally) and above all, the story begged for you to sympathize with the deeply flawed Loki. I’ve got no one to really HATE here and so, I don’t need to mentally cheer on the good guy as much as I’d like. This seemed to also be the case with Green Lantern (in a different way) as the trailers had me assume Parallax would be a sort of 5^th Element, world ending monstrosity that would be making its way to Earth, only to actually manifest at the very end and perish all too quickly. It was easy to dismiss the possibility that Hector Hammond would be adequate leading up to that finale, as all we’d seen was a dude with a giant head screaming. Rocky Dennis does not make for an awesome villain. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong. Again, I won’t spoil the movie for you by going into detail, but Hector proves to be a fairly creepy villain on his own merits. This is not to discount the Parallax entity, which in my opinion steals the show. This isn’t some Galactus shaped space cloud! This is a straight up monster that gets up close and assures you will fail right before ripping you to pieces! As I look down at the horrid lump of yellow plastic passed off as the movie’s key creature at your local Toys R Us, I have to wonder if the goal was to lower our expectations so that, when the actual movie creature was revealed, we would be all that much more happy about it. For once, it is a very satisfying bait and switch!

No matter what the abysmally negative reviews may be saying, I challenge those writers to argue that Green Lantern is not a beautiful movie. Scenes on Earth were always engaging, very real and cinematically added to a feeling of watching an epic tale. Scenes on the Green Lantern Corps home planet of Oa utilized vibrant colors against a stark, almost stone-hengian landscape surrounding a future-scape we only see from a distance. Green Lantern fans will be grinning from ear to ear when we first meet the Guardians. Their private corner of Oa can only be described as fantastically artistic.

I’m not going to go deeply into acting performances as I felt the cast, as a whole, performed in perfect synchronicity, from the leads right down to the pseudo sidekicks and characters we’ll, no doubt, see more of at a later date. It seems all are reigned in to make the whole a stronger piece. Weather that is on purpose or not, we’ll never know. Even Ryan Reynolds, whom we most likely expected to be squeezing the laughs from us like pulpy orange juice is funny when he is able and very nearly earnest when he is not. It is hard to take Reynolds seriously after all the hysterical times we’ve had with him, and especially when he is wearing a glowing green second skin, but the man does his damndest to convey sincerity and very nearly pulls it off. Very, very nearly. Actually, to make a quick note, Blake Lively and Mark Strong act their asses off, to an excellent degree, so I was lying about the “equality” just before. Mark Strong goes so far as to steal any scene he is in with Reynolds. No contest. I’ll also point out that Geoffrey Rush voices Tomar-Re, Michael Clarke Duncan voices Kilowog (poozer), Clancy Brown voices Parallax and Angela Bassett plays Amanda Waller. How can you say no to that cast?!

I can see the arguments one can make against this movie fairly clearly. There’s a whole lot of mush going on between Hal Jordan and the stunningly beautiful Carol Ferris, no doubt to widen the demographic this uber geeky film is set to attract. It all works but is a bit more mindless than the actual action sequences…and certainly forced. Some might say just as forced as a PG-13 rating for a movie that could have very easily been PG without taking anything away from it, but I digress. You’d probably rather the on screen romance end up with a healthy bit of gymnastics in the bed room or just get back to showing the billion other Lanterns we only caught a glimpse of in camera sweeps. For comic fans reading, you will get some dead on views of packs of Green Lanterns, and even some time with Kilowog and Tomar-Re , but don’t expect much more than that. It seems there may have been additional footage of these moments left on the cutting room floor. I will say no more, as my name is not Spoiler Man. In the film’s defense, there is plenty of action to be had and not so much that you are sick of green CGI by the movie’s end. IMPRESSIVE! How often can you say a movie gave you equal portions of everything you go to the movies for and left you wanting more? Green Lantern is an excellent origin story without the drag and emotional weight of that hero’s learning curve to interrupt your fun. This is a first chapter striving to be a bit more. This is also a thoughtful film that gives due respect to its comic origins without getting lost in the nonsensical devices we have come to accept out of love for our heroes, but still audibly groan at while reading. This is miles of geeky fun without questioning your intelligence or counting on your loyalty to take one for the team in the hopes more DC movies will be made on the back of its success. Ignore the sour tones of the Tomato Meter. Green Lantern is a damn good time!

*Updated: Green Lantern Movie Toys Begin to Surface

Just one foot in the door of 2011 and we've got Green Lantern action figures popping up! That Ryan Reynolds is a fucking promo whore. The first piece appears to be a repainted Mattel Infinite Heroes Green Lantern, now wearing his eye exploding movie costume. The Toys R Us exclusive preview figure comes packed with a base with a movie accurate ring in it and "exclusive decos" on the figure. The second figure comes from an upcoming 6 inch Mattel line featuring Tomar Re. No telling how this industrious ebay seller got his hands on the loose figure, but his location of Hong Kong will give you an idea. The listing does say it is a pre-sale though, which is odd for something probably nicked off an assembly line.

UPDATE: More images popping up. The first one of G'hu, the mystery figure we saw in shadow from Mattel's upcoming figure line, courtesy of The Daily Blam! The second, placed cryptically on the Mattycollector boards by poster Jason Melo featuring Rot Lop Fan. Looks like Green Lantern fans can rejoice over new figures that aren't just repainted human bodies! Speaking of which, we just got an image of a supposedly 14 inch light up Ryan Reynolds. His eyes and chest do the lighting and his smile melts panties.


UPDATE 2: As more pics surface I didn't see a need for a totally new article just to bash how bad these new things look. Keep in mind these are of prototypes, so there may still be time to fix the problems. We also don't know the scale on these new pieces, but 6" seems to be the safe bet, seeing all that articulation. Credit to funnytoys.51.com who very well may have swiped these pics from somewhere else, since there is no telling where they might be on their website. The pics do resemble the early pic of G'hu above, so consider it from the same source everyone else is swiping from. I'm going to go out on a limb and say these early leaks are doing nothing for the advance buzz on the movie and WB must be losing their minds right now.

Green Lantern In Action

Super Hero Hype just tipped us off that Entertainment Tonight will have the scoop on the new Green Lantern movie with the new trailer premiere. Yeaaaaa...cuz all the hip comic book readers watch ET. WOOOO! At any rate, beggars can't be choosers and this week, ET showed a tease of their footage with a mini footage release! It looks...interesting. I'm going to reserve further snickering until I see the full trailer, after which we can all come back here and either drool like the retarded geeks we are or have a hearty communal guffaw. Anyways...here's the goods...

Green Lantern Cast and Crew Speak

With the onslaught of Comic Book movies on the way, we take some time with the cast and crew of Warner Brothers' Green Lantern to find out all the ins and outs of wearing a motion capture suit in an environment hotter than the sun, playing a villain who believes they are justified, going from fighting a 10 year old girl to taking on Hal Jordan, creating a character for DC Comics when you've already created one for Marvel Comics (WARS!!) and bringing alien characters like Kilowog to life.



In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

Campbell directs “Green Lantern” from a screenplay by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg, story by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim, based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.
































The film also stars Blake Lively (upcoming “The Town,” TV’s “Gossip Girl”) as the spirited Carol Ferris, a test pilot and the heir apparent to her father’s aviation company; Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education,” “Flightplan”) as scientist Dr. Hector Hammond; Mark Strong (“Sherlock Holmes”) as Sinestro, Jordan’s powerful mentor in the Green Lantern Corps; Jay O. Sanders (“Revolutionary Road”) as Carl Ferris, Carol’s aircraft designer dad; Temuera Morrison (“Star Wars” Episodes II and III) as Abin Sur, Jordan’s alien predecessor; Taika Waititi (TV’s “The Flight of the Conchords”) as flight navigator Tom Kalmaku, Hal’s good friend and confidante; Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett (“What’s Love Got to Do with It”) as enigmatic government scientist Amanda Waller; and Academy Award® winner Tim Robbins (“Mystic River”) as Hector’s influential father, Senator Robert Hammond.

Look for Green Lantern June 17th, 2011! Video by Brian Dreads.

Official Green Lantern Synopsis Hits the Internets

Soooo many questions about this movie still plaguing my geek sensibilities, forcing me to dial down my excitement until I know more. What will Ryan Reynolds look like in his CG outfit?? What will Ryan Reynolds be like as the mostly serious Hal Jordan?! And on a more peronal question note; Our Wolfman buddy Spencer Wilding is on the set as we speak..playing...? Let's take a guess. The guy is HUGE and when I once slapped his chest to get his attention, I nearly broke my hand. Giant powerhouse =...Kilowog? Very likely! You may have heard it here first, though they'll probably use someone else for the voice since Spence is a Welshman. Today, we take one giant step toward the brightest day with the official synopsis from those fine folks at Warner. Read on...

Bringing the enduringly popular superhero to the big screen for the first time, “Green Lantern” stars Ryan Reynolds (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) in the title role, under the direction of Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”).

In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

Campbell directs “Green Lantern” from a screenplay by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg, story by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim, based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.

The film also stars Blake Lively (upcoming “The Town,” TV’s “Gossip Girl”) as the spirited Carol Ferris, a test pilot and the heir apparent to her father’s aviation company; Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education,” “Flightplan”) as scientist Dr. Hector Hammond; Mark Strong (“Sherlock Holmes”) as Sinestro, Jordan’s powerful mentor in the Green Lantern Corps; Jay O. Sanders (“Revolutionary Road”) as Carl Ferris, Carol’s aircraft designer dad; Temuera Morrison (“Star Wars” Episodes II and III) as Abin Sur, Jordan’s alien predecessor; Taika Waititi (TV’s “The Flight of the Conchords”) as flight navigator Tom Kalmaku, Hal’s good friend and confidante; Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett (“What’s Love Got to Do with It”) as enigmatic government scientist Amanda Waller; and Academy Award® winner Tim Robbins (“Mystic River”) as Hector’s influential father, Senator Robert Hammond.

The film is being produced by Donald De Line (“The Italian Job”) and Greg Berlanti (upcoming “Life As We Know It”). Herbert W. Gains and Andrew Haas serve as executive producers. Geoff Johns and Lucienne Papon are co-producing.

The film’s behind-the-scenes creative team is led by a number of Academy Award® winners, including director of photography Dion Beebe (“Memoirs of a Geisha”), production designer Grant Major (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”), and costume designer Ngila Dickson (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”), as well as Oscar®-nominated editor and longtime Campbell collaborator, Stuart Baird (“Gorillas in the Mist,” “Superman”). The film’s visual effects are being overseen by Oscar®-nominee Kent Houston (“The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen,” “Casino Royale”).

The film is currently scheduled for release in 3D and 2D on June 17, 2011. “Green Lantern” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Oh yea..and then this happened. >

Anyone care for a Green Lantern CG TV show?

POOLWATCH: Deadpool Gets Zombie Writers

What could be more perfect? Variety is reporting that Fox's Deadpool feature film starring Ryan Reynolds has just signed on "Zombieland" writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick! Insiders report that Reynolds is a MASSIVE fan of the Deadpool books, so we can only hope he'll make sure things are done correctly. Having the two masterminds behind the messed up genius that is Zombieland is certainly a check mark in the positive category. With the Pool enjoying a huge resurgence in Marvel comics as of late, the writers will have plenty of excellent material to work with. The main Deadpool comic alone is consistently hysterical and packed with insane moments you'll never expect. Let's hope the character will retain his current, trademark hallucinations, at the very least.

There is no date set for Deadpool production, though it is said Reynolds has an open schedule after his turn as DC's Green Lantern and will most certainly be in fighting...sword swinging...uzi shooting shape.