As Tom Cruise gets ready to sprint into theaters with Mission Impossible: Fallout, it’s worth pregaming with his last really great non-MI film: 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow. Cruise certainly has his offputting personal qualities, but you can’t say the man doesn’t show up to a film set with unrivaled energy. The best roles he’s had blend his affinity for absurd physicality and character work. Cruise, unlike a lot of action stars, actually can act. He may have stopped going for Oscar-type roles, but he’s better than his recently dreary The Mummy or the Jack Reacher duology. Edge or Tomorrow (or Live. Die. Repeat depending on which title you prefer) provides Cruise with the best time travel gimmick since Groundhog Day and a character that plays against his type.
Cruise’s character is EoT isn’t a hero, he doesn’t want to fight, and he starts out as kind of a coward. The “Cruisian Superhero” tropes that Tom usually leans on aren’t anywhere to be found in Doug Liman’s film. Until his character begins his time loop, there isn’t much redeemable in this character. Once he’s trapped, though, he has to go through to get out. Going through, however, in this case, requires a lot of dying. There are some interesting theories on how much time Cruise actually spends trapped in his loop during the film. He dies (resetting his loop) 16 times on-camera in Edge of Tomorrow, but the implication is that’s just a fraction of his journey. Estimates on the IMDB boards on his time looping duration range from 100 days to 1,000 days to 10 years. As he spends more and more time buffing out the dings in his temporal prison, he becomes more and more redeemable and the time forge ends up pounding out one of Cruise’s best and most unlikely heroes by film’s end.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will release J.A. Bayona’s blockbuster Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on 4K Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, and Blu-ray. The releases will be available for purchase on September 18.
Studio synopsis: It’s been four years since theme park and luxury resort Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles.
When the island’s dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Owen is driven to find Blue, his lead raptor who’s still missing in the wild, and Claire has grown a respect for these creatures she now makes her mission. Arriving on the unstable island as lava begins raining down, their expedition uncovers a conspiracy that could return our entire planet to a perilous order not seen since prehistoric times.
With all of the wonder, adventure and thrills synonymous with one of the most popular and successful series in cinema history, this all-new motion-picture event sees the return of favorite characters and dinosaurs—along with new breeds more awe-inspiring and terrifying than ever before. Welcome to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Stars Pratt and Howard return alongside executive producers Steven Spielberg and Colin Trevorrow for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. They are joined by co-stars James Cromwell, Ted Levine, Justice Smith, Geraldine Chaplin, Daniella Pineda, Toby Jones, Rafe Spall and Isabella Sermon, while BD Wong and Jeff Goldblum reprise their roles.
Directed by J.A. Bayona (The Impossible), the epic action-adventure is written by Jurassic World’s director, Trevorrow, and its co-writer, Derek Connolly. Producers Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley once again partner with Spielberg and Trevorrow in leading the filmmakers for this stunning installment. Belén Atienza joins the team as a producer.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Kingdom Evolves – Filmmakers discuss how the second chapter in the Jurassic World trilogy pushes the franchise in a new direction.
Return to Hawaii – Cast and crew discuss shooting the film in Hawaii.
Island Action – A behind-the-scenes look at the bunker scene and runaway gyrosphere sequence.
Aboard the Arcadia – Cast and crew discuss working with the animatronic dinosaurs.
Start the Bidding! – A behind-the-scenes look at the auction scene.
On Set with Chris & Bryce – Go behind the scenes with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
Birth of the Indoraptor – An inside look at the genetically designed monstrosity known as the Indoraptor.
Death by Dino – Go behind the scenes as the Indoraptor faces off with a key character.
Monster in a Mansion – Director J.A. Bayona discusses how Jurassic Park and Dracula (1979) influenced his approach to directing the monster in a mansion scene.
Rooftop Showdown – A look at the terrifying showdown on the rooftop of the Lockwood Mansion.
Malcolm’s Return – Behind the scenes with the one & only Jeff Goldblum.
VFX Evolved – The team at ILM discuss their cutting-edge approach to creating dinosaurs.
Fallen Kingdom: The Conversation – Filmmakers and cast sit down for a candid and casual conversation about Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Chris Pratt’s Jurassic Journals
Vivian Baker, Makeup Artist
Mary Mastro, Hair Stylist
Chris Murphy, 1st Assistant Sound
Dean Bailey, Stunt Edge Car Driver
Peter Harcourt, Diver
Daniella Pineda and Justice Smith, Actors
Jody Wiltshire, Set PA
Kelly Krieg, Assistant Script Supervisor
J.A. Bayona, Director
James Cox, Stunt Performer
Rachelle Beinart, Stunt Double
Bryce Dallas Howard interviews Chris Pratt, Actor
A Song for the Kingdom – Justice Smith sings for the cast and crew of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Jurassic Then and Now – Presented by Barbasol® – Key moments from the Jurassic saga that tie into Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
4K BLU-RAY TECHNICAL SPECS:
Audio: English DTS:X Master Audio and Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish and French DTS-HD High Resolution Audio 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French
3D BLU-RAY TECHNICAL SPECS:
Audio: English DTS:X Master Audio, Spanish and French DTS-HD High Resolution Audio 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French
BLU-RAY TECHNICAL SPECS:
Audio: English DTS:X Master Audio and Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish and French DTS-HD High Resolution Audio 7.1
Fox has released the second trailer for Alita: Battle Angel (or “The Adventures of Creepy Big-Eyes). It’s kind of odd that it wasn’t showcased at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con. Aside from a Deadpool 2 panel Fox really didn’t have much of a presence at the con. With the studio’s acquisition by Disney now all but a matter of contracts, Fox finds itself at a crossroads. Alita is definitely an F/X showcase and I thought the second trailer was an improvement over the ponderous and wistful first trailer. This movie was initially supposed to come out last weekend and we’ll have to see in December if the delay was to get the kinks out or to put off a bomb. More below from Coming Soon.
Visionary filmmakers James Cameron (Avatar) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) create a groundbreaking new heroine in Alita: Battle Angel, an action-packed story of hope, love, and empowerment. Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in.
Everything is new to Alita, every experience a first. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past while her street-smart new friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), offers instead to help trigger her memories. A growing affection develops between the two until deadly forces come after Alita and threaten her newfound relationships. It is then that Alita discovers she has extraordinary fighting abilities that could be used to save the friends and family she’s grown to love. Determined to uncover the truth behind her origin, Alita sets out on a journey that will lead her to take on the injustices of this dark, corrupt world, and discover that one young woman can change the world in which she lives.
Alita: Battle Angel also stars Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the December 21, 2018 release features a screenplay by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis and Rodriguez. Based on the graphic novel series Gunnm by Yukito Kishiro, Alita: Battle Angel is produced by Cameron and Jon Landau.
Comic-Con 2018 has come and gone, and while we got some good trailers out of it, the convention is probably more remarkable for who wasn’t there. For a San Diego Comic-Con, this is the lightest news and trailer weekend of any in recent memory. Warner Brothers and DC Comics pretty much had the weekend to themselves, though the biggest news of the weekend, arguably, came out of Marvel & Disney as Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was fired right before his scheduled appearance in light of offensive tweets from the filmmaker’s past. The DCEU was rebranded “The Worlds of DC” and the first trailers for Shazam and Aquaman debuted as well as new trailers for DC’s six live-action TV series. I thought the best trailers of the weekend were Glass and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. I was really excited to hear that Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be returning for a proper send-off (finally!). I think my favorite story out of SDCC 2018 though was Marvel running a grief counseling booth for people still traumatized by the end of Avengers: Infinity War (you can read more here). The convention was also lighter on posters and promo art than years past, but I’ve put together a gallery of the best below. See you next year, San Diego! Continue reading Comic-Con 2018: Recap Plus Pictures and Posters From The Convention!!!→
DC has premiered the trailers for its six live-action fall shows. Arrow, Black Lightning, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, and Supergirl return to The CW this fall. DC’s future plans for TV are centered around their DCU Streaming Service. The new service was unveiled at Comic-Con and the trailer for the service’s first show, Titans, was unveiled. DC plans to add live-action Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, and Stargirl shows next year as well as animated series featuring Young Justice and Harley Quinn. The only DC show that wasn’t trailer-ready for Comic-Con was SyFy’s Krypton. The Superman prequel show announced it would be returning in early 2019 and that season two’s big bad would be intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo.
Arrow Season Seven (The CW, Returns 10/15/18)
Black Lightning Season Two (The CW, Returns 10/9/18)
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season Four (The CW, Returns 10/22/18)
The Flash Season Five (The CW, Returns 10/9/18)
Supergirl Season Four (The CW, Returns 10/14/18)
Titans Season One (DC Streaming Service – Fall 2018)
