Marketing genius: CG film "Rio" gets its own version of Angry Birds

If you don't already know, Angry Birds is one of the best, if not THEE best selling app on Apple's App Store.  Made for the iPhone, it has sold millions of copies, is rumored to be adapted into a feature film, and now is cross marketing with Fox studios.

Print marketing is almost dead, major corporations are pulling print ads left and right.  Even TV is losing advertisers.  The Super Bowl lost a regular in Pepsi last year because they felt the internet was the way to market their product.  So Fox is getting creative in marketing their new CG animated film, Rio.  In March, you will be able to download a Rio themed version of the game, Angry Birds.  Pretty smart right?  I think it's marketing genius, and if it's a hit, could be the marketing of the future.  Check out the trailer to Rio, here. 

I know I bitch a lot about how Hollywood wont take chances with creative ideas, and how they reboot or sequel anything mildly successful; but this is a fun, creative way to bring their film to a broader audience.  So am I being hypocritical, should studios stop worrying about a "build-in" audience?  Or do you agree, it's a cute and clever way to market the film?  Let us know. 

More "Green Lantern" Pictures from Entertainment Weekly

/Slashfilm has all six new photos, these are the only two I was really interested in. All the photos come courtesy of the next issue of Entertainment Weekly. The picture above shows our main character, Hal Jordan with his Green Lantern Corp. ring. The picture below show's Hal Jordan again, played by Ryan Reynolds along with the character of Carol Ferris, played by the lovely Blake Lively. I STILL don't think she's a good actress by the way. Just had to throw that in for good measure.

The other pics show some of the co-stars of the film (Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, etc.). It's exciting to see these characters come to life. But like I said this morning, I'm so disappointed in the costume. It looks off for some reason, and the mask doesn't compliment the rest at of the costume at all. I know it was necessary to make the suit CGI because of the shape-shifting, but I don't like it so far. I hope I'm proven wrong!

"Despicable Me" Review

I thought Pixar had no competition whatsoever in the animated genre. I was wrong. Toy Story 3 was amazing, and will remain one of the best animated films of all time, but damn Despicable Me was good! I want to tell you what I liked and didn't like about the movie.

What I liked about the movie:
The Actors/Characters
I don't want to list every actor and what character they played, but this is an amazing cast. Steve Carell plays Gru, a local villain past his prime as far as great heists are concerned. He tries to out-villain the competition. His competition is an up-and-coming villain named Vector, voiced by Jason Segel. Gru adopts three girls to help in his plan, but ends up adoring the girls to death and changing his ways.

Then there's the minions! So cute and funny, but they did remind me of the pigeons in Finding Nemo. Still fantastic! The minions are the Worker Bees to Gru and are hilarious. They don't talk, at least not in a language the audience is supposed to understand. But the way they fight each other, and argue with one another is really great. The animators found a million ways to make the same back creators look different.

The Story

Truly original in every sense of the word. My wife and I walked out trying to find a movie with a story even close to this, and we couldn't think of any. A villain past his prime, adopts three little girls to help him with his heist, falls in love with them, and changes his ways? Come on! Priceless. The minions helping Gru every step of the way is so original.

The Visuals
This is something that we've almost come to expect perfection from in these kind of movies. But let me tell you, not many computer generated animated films look as good as this one does. Despicable is gorgeous to look at. There are rich environments full of color. Environments such as the carnival Gru takes the girls to is so detailed it's going to take multiple viewings to catch it all. Great job!


What I didn't like:
The Orphan's Story
I really liked the three orphan girls in the movie. I just wish the movie would have better developed their story. Why are they orphans? If it was mentioned, I missed it. Are they going to get revenge on the evil women running the orphanage? The relationship building between Gru and the girls is satisfactory, but should have been developed a bit more. Maybe a scene or two more of Gru getting closer to the girls would have been in order rather than a montage involving pancakes and the girls.

The Real Villain

Vector is such a weak antagonist. There is some really creative stuff surrounding the character, like all the booby-traps protecting his house; classic! But Vector himself is not that great of a character. And his "weapons" are stupid: a "piranha gun," "squid gun," come on. Hopefully they'll come up with something better in the future.


The movie is not at Pixar's level, but is still great! Such an original story, you can't predict what's going to happen because it hasn't been done before. I would totally recommend the movie to anyone, young and old. Thumbs up to the news of a sequel, I'm more than OK with that!

Quickie: First look at The Smurfs

Check out this first photo of the live-action/CGI hybrid film, The Smurfs. USAToday got the exclusive and posted it late last night. A few weeks ago I posted pictures of Hank Azaria as Gargamel in New York City. Just the idea of this movie makes me shake my head. But then again, Hollywood is ruining my childhood memories, one at a time.

Quickie: Rio movie trailer and poster

From the people who brought us just 1 decent Ice Age movie, and 2 (soon to be 3) crappy ones, comes Rio. The trailer looks great and it has some great voice talent like George Lopez and Anne Hathaway. It has a similar design to that of Disney Pixar's Up. Especially the forest scene. Any who, check it out for yourself and let us know what you think.

Quickie: Hank Azaria as Gargamel in the new Smurfs movie

We haven't talked much about the new Smurfs live-action/cgi film. Maybe because we don't care or because the idea seems as stupid as the two HORRIBLE Scooby Doo films. But we do love Hank Azaria, and have to give the man credit for his talent. Courtesy of comingsoon.net, here's three pictures of Azaria in full character, pretty crazy HOW much he looks JUST LIKE THE CARTOON! Enjoy.

Seriously? Tyler Perry wins the box office?

I'm not gonna list why I don't like Tyler Perry movies, I'm just going to tell you I don't! Maybe another day, another post I'll share why I don't like them. Whether I like them or not, they make money, a lot of it. The weekend box office went to Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself. We didn't report anything about it, because we don't care. It came in at 24.03 million.

The CGI animated picture, 9, took in about 10 million for the weekend, 15.3 million since its Wednesday release. The movie is produced by Tim Burton and stars the voice talent of John C. Reilly, Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer and Jennifer Connelly as dolls who have to save humanity.

The two other new releases are Sorority Row, opening at 5.3 million. Let me give you the skinny on this: a sorority of hot girls mixed in with an axe murderer. The other new release is Whiteout, opening with 5.1 million.

Last weeks winner was The Final Destination, which fell to fifth place with 5.5 million. Here's the rest of the list:

1. "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself," $24.03 million.

2. "9," $10.9 million.

3. "Inglourious Basterds," $6.5 million.

4. "All About Steve," $5.8 million.

5. "The Final Destination," $5.5 million.

6. "Sorority Row," $5.3 million.

7. "Whiteout," $5.1 million.

8. "District 9," $3.6 million.

9. "Julie & Julia," $3.3 million.

10. "Gamer," $3.15 million.

ThunderCats concept art

Remember ThunderCats!?!? Man the 80's gave us some really great TV shows; for us prepubescent boys anyway. "Transformers", "Voltron" (as we reported last week), and now "ThunderCats" will all be adapted for the big screen. ThunderCats will be a cgi, animated movie brought to you by Warner Brothers. Movieline.com has revealed the never-before-seen pictures. The first being the main character, Lion-O. Enjoy!

Quickie: Nearly 4 minutes of G.I. Joe

Browsing around vimeo.com, and I came across this video of Director Stephen Sommers explaining the Paris chase scene in G.I. Joe. I have to be honest, this movie looks terrible. I could tell which shots were legit versus the CGI (computer generated images) ones. Darn man, why does Hollywood keep finding ways to ruin recycled material?! J-K. Well I'm not kidding, but this movie had so much potential, I'm already writing this one off. See the entire video, and let us know what you think.


G.I. JOE - Stephen Sommers in Paris from PPC Interactive on Vimeo.

Quickie: Live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie a go

Mirage Studios is taking on the turtles, figuratively of course. All we know is the movie will have a "hybrid" look of cgi and live-action. Plus it is a complete reboot, not a sequel to the 1990's movies. It will look at the origin story of the turtles and also include Shredder and the Foot Clan. Can't wait for this one, hope they don't screw it up, I grew up on these characters and will be personally offended if it fails! Ha!

Quickie: 24 Minutes from James Cameron’s Avatar has been screened

We all know James Cameron only makes a movie about every ten years. So this December, his next film, Avatar, is highly anticipated to say the least. Well a few people got to screen 24 minutes of the finished product and the response has been unbelievable. This movie will be presented in 3D, and here are a few comments courtesy of comingsoon.net:

"With it comes the fact that 3-D until now has been used as a gimmick." "Finally a director who doesn't feel the need to stick it in the audience's face with cheap tricks like pointing objects at the camera." "...creatures seem so real, that within minutes you forget you're watching an enormous and very blue CGI character. Even the eyes are totally convincing. The characters have real personalities and a soul."

As the days go by, I'm sure we'll get more photos and a trailer. But until then, this is very exciting news to come out in Hollywood; because James Cameron usually keeps everything so close to the chest, we never see anything until before the premier. I have a feeling this movie is going to be big, real BIG! Keep tuning in for more info!

Quickie: Is Stephen Sommers fired from G.I. Joe?

Latino Review is reporting that yes, Stephen Sommers was fired from G.I. Joe, and was not allowed to edit the picture. Folks, a few weeks ago, I told you an insider on the set criticized the director's choice of CGI over live action stunts, THAT WERE ALREADY FILMED! So I have to believe this rumor. Supposedly the test screening for the movie was so bad, they immediately ordered the firing of Sommers. Again, it's only rumored, but Sommers apparently knew nothing of G.I. Joe history or "mythology". Kind of difficult to make a genre film without knowing the origins isn't it? The man can direct big budget films, I mean he's done the first two 'Mummy' films and Van Helsing. But, the trailer looks so fake; the rumor is starting to sound pretty real. Keep it here and remember, ATD is the place for all your movie needs.

Ridley Scott To Direct a new Alien Prequel?

Slash films is reporting that Fox studios really wants Ridley Scott to direct an "Aliens" prequel. This is the man that brought us "Gladiator" and "American Gangster", the man can direct! But I don't think he'll do it. I think he's a bit more on the dramatic picture side to do an action adventure movie. "Gladiator" had its action sequences but it was to compliment the story. What new, refreshing story is he going to tell? It's going to be a looping of characters we've seen before, mixed with robotic aliens and CGI. Either way, Fox has its work cut out for it. Scott is busy working on "Robin Hood" with Russell Crowe, which promises a whole new take on the story. Either way, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Quickie: New G.I. Joe Theatrical Trailer

I want you guys to see this for yourself and judge. I personally know someone who worked on this movie. Not just a gopher type of employee, but one of the supervisors on the special effects team; and he told me they did live stunts, i.e. "The Dark Knight", and the producers opted out of the shots to replace them with CGI. Un-flippin'-believable. My friend worked on the Hummer launch sequence which is in this trailer. Check it out... I don't know what to think... I grew up on G.I. Joe toys and the cartoon, I hope they don't screw it up.

'G.I. Joe' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Tony: Terminator Salvation Review

Ladies and gents it’s time for another review. And this time around it’s Terminator Salvation. Ok, so whoever grew up scared shit-less of the Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator please raise your hand. Mine was up, I don’t know about you. Terminator Salvation is the fourth of the franchise and it’s the character of John Connor leading the rebellion against the machines, just as the previous three films have hinted that he would do.

So with every Terminator movie, there was the Gov. and there was a new villain even more badass than the previous. In T2, we got the amazing liquid metal Robert Patrick and in T3, it was a hot Terminator. What’s the fourth Terminator like? Half man, half machine, the rebellion’s worst nightmare. John Connor is played by non other than, I’m gonna scream at the top of my lungs for five minutes, Christian Bale. He does a great job with emotion, but believe it or not, the character is fairly nonexistent. He is in a bunker for most of the movie minus the beginning and end. The man who stole the show? Sam Worthington! Remember this man’s name. He is an Australian actor who is coming up, big time! His next movie is Avatar with Jame’s “F-in’” Cameron – Entourage. He has to play the new Terminator that may or may not be the villain.

The casting was excellent, but was the movie? I have to be honest, it wasn’t that great. So how do we judge great? Let’s go through a check list. Do you love action movies? Check, this film is for you. Do you want non-stop action for two straight hours? Check. Do you want a look at the Terminator future? Check. Do you want a few “wink wink” moments from past Terminator movies? Check, remember the scar on John Connor’s face. Do you want a substantial movie plot with the raw emotion of the past Terminator flicks? Close but no cigar (no pun intended).
The film is eye candy, with very little substance that makes you care about what happens to the characters. The story is so re-done and re-hashed that you feel like it could be anyone of the four Terminator movies and it wouldn’t matter, just different actors. Director McG does what he can with the source material. His direction is action, through and through. There is a memorable action sequence where you are inside of a helicopter as it crashes. Fantastic! The CGI was creative, but nothing new. The new machines they’ve introduced are again, nothing more than eye candy, ala the new motorcycle machines.

If you’re a Terminator fan you’ll LIKE the movie, not love it. If you’re an action fan, same goes for you. But if you’re looking for a movie with emotion and the human struggle, it aint happenin’. I would say rent this one folks. There are far better action movies out there with a lot more substance.

'Terminator Salvation' Theatrical Trailer 2 @ Yahoo! Video

… SPOILER ALERT/Wink Wink…
From IMDB Trivia, referenced it earlier: The scars that appear on post Judgment Day John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) are a direct result of the final climactic scene in this movie which the molten hot T-800 scratches John Connor's face in their confrontation at SkyNet Central.

Tony: X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review

Yes, the long awaited prequel to the X-Men movies has finally been released. And what a release its been; to the tune of 90 million dollars! That's all fine and dandy, but was it deserving of such an opening? I'm afraid the answer is no boys and girls.

Hugh Jackman plays the title character of Wolverine and does a great job. The rest of the characters were cast very well. Liev Schreiber as Sabertooth is a menacing mutant that has the same regenerative abilities as Wolverine, and without really spoiling anything, it may be because they're brothers. Ryan Reynolds (one of my favorites) plays Deadpool (one of my favorites), and does a fantastic job. He does what he can with what little face time he gets. But its been confirmed he's getting his own spin off, so stay tuned for that one.


Now for what was the most exciting and somewhat disappointment part of this movie; Gambit. My personal favorite super hero and a fan favorite amongst those who follow the genre, was just a sidekick. The casting was wrong on this one, Taylor Kitsch is too young for the role, Gambit was a Cajun thief in his late 20's, Kitsch is just too young for that. Gambit's weapon of choice are playing cards which he charges with kinetic energy, yeah... It was shown for 10 seconds in the movie. He truly is just a sidekick to Wolverine.

Ready for the worst part of the film? The special effects. For a genre film of this kind, you need to spend the money for special effects. The audience shouldn't know where reality ends and cgi (computer generated images) begins. What made The Dark Knight so great was its on-location filming and the reality it presented. The last 30 minutes of this movie were so obviously filmed in front of a green screen that my wife noticed all of it; and she's not that into these movies. Not to mention the infamous "jump into a moving helicopter" scene (you'll all see for yourselves).

I do have to compliment the writers. The script was clever in weaving together characters and filing in plot holes we'd never seen as an audience. There are a couple of "wink wink" moments for the audience that reference the X-Men movies, especially when showing us characters in their younger years. I did like the explanation of where the name Wolverine came from, it was very well done. But the clever writing wasn't enough to save this film.

Overall, I'd save the 12 bucks (that's right, 12 dollars a ticket in Valencia, CA) and wait for the DVD. And if you're a hardcore fan (which I would like to think I am), don't anticipate much and you'll be fine. Go in thinking they were under budgeted for the special effects and you'll appreciate the movie. But for me, I think I'm going to disapprove of this one folks. Either way, we can all agree to disagree!