A new phenomenon has hit the internet, one where people make trailers of popular movies, but replace the characters with old time actors. There have been some fine examples of these “premakes”, with trailers made for Up, Ghostbusters, The Empire Strikes Back, and many more. These videos can evoke a sense of nostalgia for recently released movies while allowing us to see a kind of “what if?” version of movies that have become a big part of popular culture. I will admit that I am not personally familiar with many of the old timey actors who are now in starring roles in some of my favorite movies, so I can’t really say how well they would actually fit these roles in the trailers. What I can say is that they create an entirely new feel for timeless classics, adding a little bit more timelessness to them. Check out a great example below with the Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back 1950′s version and see some more great premakes here.
After much speculation, Christopher Nolan has finally announced the villains that Batman will be facing in The Dark Knight Rises. Apparently Christopher Nolan is a fan of Humor District, as he has taken my advice and chosen Bane as one of the villains Batman will match wits with. Of course I fully support this decision, as I believe Bane is one character who has not been given his due recently. He is a villain who struck one of the most decisive blows against Batman in history, using his wits and considerable muscle mass to break not only Batman’s back, but his spirit as well. More recently he has been portrayed as a brainless heap of biceps, and don’t even get me started on the portrayal of Bane in Batman and Robin. Christopher Nolan has kept the Batman franchise grounded in reality, so it will be interesting to see his take on Bane. Will we see Tom Hardy bulk up like he did in Bronson? The one thing I feel confident saying is that we will see Bane’s more intellectual side.
The other big villain announcement was Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. It has long been rumored that Catwoman would be involved in The Dark Knight Rises, mainly because there needs to be a female interest for Bruce Wayne. This is Hollywood after all. Anne Hathaway seems to be a good choice for Catwoman AKA Selina Kyle. She is quite attractive and, more importantly, a good actress. Best of all, she is not Shia LaBeouf being cast as Robin or Eddie Murphy as Riddler. This news definitely indicates The Dark Knight Rises is moving in a very good direction. If Mr. Nolan needs any more ideas for The Dark Knight Rises, I am always willing to help.
The internet is a great place for artists to share their work and when that work happens to be custom made movie posters, we here at Humor District take interest. Sean Hartter happens to be making exactly that kind of art over at his blog, where it just so happens you can buy prints of said movie posters. Many of his movie posters take great movies and recasts them with different well known actors. The results vary, some of his actor choices make sense, while others are just absurd. They are all entertaining though. Here are some of my favorite movie posters by Sean Hartter:
Kill Bill Starring Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne
The Punisher Starring Jack Palance
Bizarro Starring Gary Busey
These examples should give you a general idea of Hartter’s work. If you find these as awesome as I do, make sure to get a couple prints and support an independent artist. You can even buy them for your favorite internet writer!
Gemma Arterton has joined Jeremy Renner on the cast of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters as a very attractive Gretel. I also like to think she has made a mortal enemy in Hollywood in Eva Green, as this is the second role in a short time that Arterton has beaten Green out for. It is only a matter of time before those two settle their differences in the most epic mud wrestling match ever. But that is neither here nor there, the important part is we now know who will be doing the witch hunting as Hansel and Gretel.
As of now, Gemma Arterton has really just been an above average looking lady who has had bit roles in movies where she pretty much just stands around and looks good. Hopefully Hansel and Gretel will show off more of her actual acting skills. At the very least, she should be getting some more screen time. I don’t think it will take too much quality acting from Arterton or Jeremy Renner to make this an entertaining movie though, as the premise itself is already awesome. Basically the story is Hansel and Gretel decide if they can kill a witch when they are kids, why not choose the easy career path of killing witches as adults? It’s an interesting idea, and I expect a quirky movie to result. The only problem here is that there is a limited window for filming as Jeremy Renner has other projects going on, including the all important Avengers movie. This movie will really be the “wait and see” kind, it sounds interesting but who knows how it will actually turn out.
2010 has drawn to a close and many of us are still optimistic about our lists of resolutions. This is because a new year brings with it new possibilities and new hope. This year we will finally be able to shed those unwanted pounds. This year we will find true love. This year we will poop out diamonds and suddenly become irresistible to the opposite sex. Well, most of those resolutions will be abandoned by the end of the week, but one thing that can be said is 2011 should be a great year for movies, especially comic book movies. Even if you are perfect already and don’t have any changes to make in this coming year, you should still be looking forward to the rest of 2011 simply because of these movies.
Thor
We have already seen the trailer for Thor, and it looks amazing. Marvel has had some success with their superhero franchises, most notably with Iron Man and Spider-Man, and it definitely looks like Thor will add to that success. With big names such as Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins involved with Thor, it is very easy to be optimistic. Add the fact that Chris Hemsworth looks every inch the petulant but heroic God of Thunder and we should have an exciting movie on our hands.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The First Avenger has been somewhat overshadowed by Thor, but it is Captain America who has more pressure to succeed. The reason for this is simple, all these Marvel movies are leading up to an Avengers movie that will feature many Marvel superheroes. As the title of his movie suggests, Captain America is an integral part of the Avengers team. I see no need to worry about the success of Captain America though, seeing Chris Evans battle Nazis as a patriotic super soldier should entertain every red, white, and blue blooded American.
Your Highness
Simply put, Your Highness looks like it will be the funniest movie of 2011. Danny McBride and James Franco form a great comedy duo, as shown briefly in Pineapple Express. It will also help that David Gordon Green, the director of Pineapple Express, will also be directing Your Highness. Sure, this is a crude type of humor, finding comedy in masturbation jokes and foul language. That doesn’t make it less funny, and we will get to see Natalie Portman in a thong. It’s pretty much been decided that whatever movie she is in will become one of the most anticipated movies for that year.
The Hangover 2
In the running for comedy of the year will be The Hangover 2. Movies about guys getting drunk and doing ridiculous things relatively consequence free that we could never get away with in real life are always entertaining. What will make this movie great is the same thing that made the first one hilarious; the cameos. It is rumored that Ken Jeong and Mike Tyson will have repeat appearances, and Liam Neeson and Bill Clinton will be showing up to party as well. While there is controversy about Mel Gibson being dropped from the movie, I think Slick Willy will be plenty entertaining to make up for it.
Super 8
I’m not sure what I can say about Super 8 other than it is being directed by J. J. Abrams and it is about Area 51 in 1979. Those are about the only details of this movie that anyone knows at this point. Despite the lack of information, I dare you to watch this trailer and not agree that it is going to be awesome.
Green Lantern
I will admit that I am biased about Green Lantern. I am automatically assuming that Green Lantern will be awesome for several reason. First, I love comic books and Green Lantern is one of my favorite superheroes. Second, Ryan Reynolds is my man crush. With those two things combined, I can’t imagine anything resulting except for greatness. I am also pretty sure everyone else will enjoy Green Lantern because it is a movie about an intergalactic space cop hunting down alien criminals AKA the best idea anyone has ever had, ever.
Sucker Punch
Zack Snyder has gained a reputation for visually appealing and entertaining movies, and rightly so. Sucker Punch will add to that list of movies. The trailer has shown it will be stunning visually, and considering that it is basically Alice in Wonderland meets foxy boxing I don’t think the entertainment value will be anything to worry about. Any movie about a bunch of attractive and crazy girls trying to bust out of an asylum by fighting dragons, flying planes, and doing backflips in skimpy outfits will be pretty popular.
The Green Hornet
The biggest question about The Green Hornet is how believable Seth Rogen will be as a superhero. The part that people have to understand is that Seth Rogen won’t really be the superhero in the “guy who kicks a lot of ass” sense. Those ass kicking duties will be handled by Jay Chou as Kato, who will deliver many side flip kicks to the top of criminals’ heads. Seth Rogen is just the guy who funds the operation, has his heart in the right place, and will occasionally crack a joke or a bad guy’s skull. If people can accept this, than The Green Hornet will be a very entertaining action comedy. Plus it has the Black Beauty, one of the most awesome cars to ever be invented.
It seems that every single year around Christmas we are inundated with cutesy family friendly films. While many of these movies can be quite entertaining, sometimes we need something a little more grown up and serious. Well let me tell you, shit doesn’t get much more serious than the Dark Ages. That was back when the average life expectancy was the ripe old age of 30, peasants worked their hands to the bone in return for what can only be described as meager compensation, and there was this thing called the bubonic plague. The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, took out over 30% of the population in Europe. So, yeah, all those feel good depictions of knights rescuing damsels in distress don’t really match up to the truth of history. Christopher Smith’s upcoming movie Black Death doesn’t pull any punches in its portrayal of those bleak times. Now I’m not saying that it is historically accurate, I don’t know how many villages actually made deals with demons in exchange for protection from the plague, but Black Death is definitely not a feel good movie. It will have death, most likely in some brutal and cringe inducing ways, and that offers a nice change from all this “everything is great” holiday nonsense. Hopefully Sean Bean will have a higher kill tally in Black Death than he did as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings. I donated to Toys for Tots, now I just want to see something from Santa’s naughty list. Check out the trailer for Black Death below.
Simon Pegg has cemented himself as one of the best funny men in Hollywood. He is not only hilarious as an actor, but has had success as a writer as well. It seems that Simon Pegg is at his best when he works with writer Edgar Wright and writer/actor Nick Frost. The next Simon Pegg movie, Paul, is actually written by Pegg and Nick Frost, so it already sounds like it will be hilarious. The plot of two nerds finding a smart ass alien voiced by Seth Rogen seems to confirm that assessment. When you watch this trailer, it is confirmed without a doubt.
Yes, Paul looks like it will be great. Now let’s take a look back at some other great moments in Simon Pegg’s career.
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead was Simon Pegg’s breakout role. It was an extremely well written movie that perfectly blended humor, zombies, and even some romance. The bromance between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is what brought Shaun of the Dead together. They were both great, and Nick Frost delivered some big laughs as the dimwitted friend. Simon Pegg proved to the world that he was a funny man for the first time and launched his now successful career of making us laugh.
Hot Fuzz
Nick Frost is very good at playing the dimwitted friend, and he ramped it up a notch from Shaun in the Dead in Hot Fuzz. That is to say Nick Frost’s character Danny Butterman is extremely dimwitted, and it leads to some great comedic moments. Simon Pegg is also great as the gruff no nonsense cop, and the two team up to make one of the best buddy cop movies that pokes fun at buddy cop movies of all time. While there are some definite satirical overtones in Hot Fuzz, it also has some pretty awesome action scenes and showed that Simon Pegg can go from the straight man to funny all on his own with ease.
Run, Fatboy, Run
Run, Fatboy, Run was the first big role Simon Pegg had that didn’t involve him working with Edgar Wright and Nick Frost. While it had already been proven that Simon Pegg fit in perfectly with that creative team, it was his role in Run, Fatboy, Run that showed he could be funny all on his own. It also showed that Simon Pegg could write a hilarious movie with somebody other than Edgar Wright, and this time it was with Michael Ian Black.
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
How to Lose Friends & Alienate people was not Simon Pegg’s best movie, but it was an important one in his career. This movie came out when Megan Fox was at the peak of her popularity, but Simon Pegg’s performance was not overshadowed by her at all. This could be due to Megan Fox’s actual acting talent, but it proved that Simon Pegg was officially a star in his own right.
Star Trek
Simon Pegg didn’t have the biggest role in Star Trek, but he fit in seamlessly and brought new life to a fan favorite character. He had some great comedic moments as Scotty, and was very believable as an unorthodox genius. More importantly, he showed that he could be part of an amazing cast in what was the definition of a successful blockbuster movie. Only time will tell, but the smart money is on Simon Pegg starring in many more great movies in the future.
It seems like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is going to be one of those movie franchises that will be milked for every last cent the studio can get out of it, despite the fact the movies have gone downhill since the first one. The one constant that Disney is counting on is Johnny Depp being entertaining as hell as Captain Jack Sparrow. The upcoming movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, will be the first installment in the franchise without Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann or Orlando Bloom as Will Turner. I’m not too upset by the loss of Orlando Bloom, but losing Keira Knightley is a little upsetting. She was by far the most attractive member of the cast. Filling in for Orlando Bloom will be nobody, that way Keira Knightley’s replacement, the smoking hot Penelope Cruz, and Captain Jack Sparrow can have an onscreen romance unhampered by girly men. I think Keira Knightley and Penelope Cruz are both fine looking female leads, go ahead and tell me you wouldn’t be happy watching either one of them:
For those of you still interested in trivial details such as the plot of the movie, On Stranger Tides focuses on Captain Jack Sparrow’s hunt for the fountain of youth and facing off against the infamous pirate Blackbeard. I am assuming the he will succeed so Disney has an excuse to use him in movies from now until he becomes a marauding space pirate kidnapping Martian ladies. I am sure you would much rather watch the trailer than hear me describe it to you, so here it is. One thing is for sure, Johnny Depp is still great as Jack Sparrow.
Marvel has been putting out quite a few superhero movies in preparation for their big Avengers movie event, where all their heroes will be brought together. The next installment by the Marvel movie men will be Thor, Marvel’s take on the Norse god of thunder. The basic take on Thor here is that Asgard is a realm outside of earth with technology so advanced that it is basically indistinguishable from magic. Since the Asgardians visited earth and appeared so advanced, they were worshipped as gods by the Norse. Parts of the movie will take place in Asgard as Thor has the Norse god equivalent of teenage rebellion and part of the movie will take place on earth when Thor’s dad Odin puts him in Norse god timeout. Wherever Thor is taking place, it looks great, especially the scenes with Natalie Portman. Chris Hemsworth is also a suitably large Thor, I can totally see a man of his size kicking wholesale ass.
If you were not blown away by that trailer then I don’t think we can be friends. It has Anthony Hopkins as a firm but fair Odin, Chris Hemsworth as a petulant/heroic/awesome Thor, and Natalie Portman as the hot nurse. The scenes all look great visually, especially the shots of Asgard. All in all, it looks like Thor has everything it needs to be Marvel’s next big hit and to cause even more excitement for the upcoming Captain America and Avengers movies.
Do you love seeing movies as soon as they come out? Do you hate sitting with strangers to watch movies and having your feet stick to the floor? Most importantly, do you have at least $20,000 burning a hole in your comically large pockets? If you answered yes to all three of these questions, Prima Cinema has something for you. For a mere $20,000 installation fee and for $500 per movie, you can get movies streaming to your television on the same day that they come out in theaters. Now you can truly enjoy having your own home movie theater!
While it would be nice to enjoy new movies from the comfort of your own home, the price of this service severely limits the potential customer base. I mean sure, handsome internet writers can afford something like this, but for most people that price is outrageous. I suppose you could invite people over and charge them to watch movies at your place, but soon enough your floors will be as sticky as a regular movie theater unless you want to spend that extra money on a cleaning staff. While it is a very cool idea, it is definitely aimed at a high income market. Maybe if it catches on there will be more affordable options, but for now I will have to wait for all the super rich readers of HumorDistrict to try this service out and report back how well it works.
