Disney has released the first full trailer for Tomorrowland, Brad Bird's live action sci-fi-fantasy adventure film starring George Clooney (Ocean's Eleven) and Britt Robertson (The Host). Co-written by Damon Lindelof, Tomorrowland is Bird's second live-action film coming off the strength of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and such feature-length animated films as The Iron Giant and The Incredibles.
Tommorowland follows an unlikely pair of companions bound by a shared destiny. One, a teenage girl bursting with rebellious scientific curiosity, the other a jaded former boy-genius inventor, as they embark on a mission to unearth the mysteries of a fantastic world hidden somewhere between the intersecting folds of space, time and our collective imagination.
Syd Mead's concept-art, "A place where the best and brightest in the world came together to change it"
I've been eagerly awaiting Bird's next film since it was first speculated to be the next installment in the Star Wars franchise. I'm absolutely in love with the retro-futuristic aesthetic of the film shown so far, and the few snippets of Michael Giacchino's orchestral score in the trailer are already giving me goose-bumps. Lindelof's involvement leaves me feeling a bit lukewarm, at least initially. However, I think that a hypothetical-future world brimming with colorful discoveries and intrigue falls squarely within his wheelhouse. Tomorrowland comes out in theaters May 22nd.
The Ghost in the Shell news that's most been on everyone's lips lately is the announcement of Scarlet Johansson's leading role in the American adaptation directed by Rupert Sanders. Regardless on where you stand on the decision, take heart; we'll see more of Major Kusanagi and her counter-terrorist cohorts sooner than we might have thought. A new feature film tentatively titled 'Ghost in the Shell 2015' has been announced for release early this summer, produced by the team behind the Arise prequel tetralogy.
The first key visual for the film (shown above) features series protagonist Motoko Kusanagi in a pose typical for the franchise; The gorgeous technomancing cyborg warrior staring defiantly from behind a nest of wires and holographic overlays. To her left and right are near-identical prosthetic host bodies suspended in a ceaseless row of docking stations. What could it possibly mean? Will Motoko have to fight off duplicates of herself?
I thought that Arise was a serviceable re-imagining of the franchise's long-established relationships and depictions. I'm excited to see what Kazuchika Kise and Project I.G. bring to the table this time.
The Last Guardian. StarCraft: Ghost. Half-Life 3. Final Fantasy XV. The fifteenth installment in Square Enix's long-standing JRPG franchise is one of modern-gaming's great white whales. Originally announced in May 2006 as a spin-off of Final Fantasy XIII titled "Final Fantasy Versus XIII", Final Fantasy XV (phew, that's a lot of roman numerals) retains the series' standard-bearing legacy of flashy FMVs, gravity-defying haircuts, and ridiculously complicated plots that more often than not result in deicide.
This footage has been floating around the web ever since it premiered at this year's Tokyo Game Show, but the fact that the English dub has finally been released feels like a occasion to take notice of. The previously unrevealed road-trip element to this installment has me especially intrigued. Along with that frenetically-paced combat, I wonder what other curve-balls this next installment has in store for us. Still no stated release date as of yet, a demo is being prepped for release next year, albeit with some slightly draconian requirements.
I have to admit that I'm rather late to the hype-train that is the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, so I'm no authority to speculate on the canonicity of Telltale's latest left-field announcement in a series of left-field announcements. As excited as I am to see Telltale working with so many irons in the kiln, and multifaceted and far-stretching as the Game of Thrones franchise is, much like Tales from the Borderlands I reserve my enthusiasm until the game drops next month.
We've got celebrity appearances from many of show's principal actors, Lena Heady and Peter Dinklage included, Telltale's signature engine appears equipped to emulate many of the show's distinctive visual nuances. One can only hope that this game will manage to incorporate some of the source-material's content that was excised in the transition to television. Above all else one thing is certain; George R.R. Martin better have some measure of involvement in this one.
