Dracula Untold 2014

Caught a recent trailer (courtesy of MovieWeb) for the movie 'Dracula Untold' which will premiere on 17th October 2014, just in time for Halloween. The trailer was interesting enough but then trailers can be deceiving so I guess I have to watch the whole movie to find out whether it is really that good. I have watched many vampire/Dracula movies in the past but my personal favourite still remains The Count from Sesame Street. Sorry, just can't resist joking about that :) . Seriously, what caught my attention about this trailer was Dracula's backstory and Luke Evans (The Hobbit). I have always found the story of Dracula's origin interesting although most movies skip that part and tend to focus more on the later part of his life (for obvious reasons). This also explains why I found 1994 movie Interview With The Vampire (based on the Anne Rice novel) so interesting because the movie provided backstories for each of the main characters/vampires. 'Dracula Untold' combines the myth created by Bram Stoker with the true story of Vlad The Impaler and somehow portrays Dracula as a 'hero' who had to turn to the dark forces to fight evil.  The movie, directed by Gary Shore, stars Luke Evans, a rising Welsh actor, who can be seen currently in The Hobbit and who will also star as the lead in the upcoming reboot of 'The Crow'. I find him an interesting choice for the Count because like Stuart Townsend (vampire Lestat in Queen of the Damned), he has the same bad boy/rock star quality to him. No, I don't think Robert Pattinson has that same quality ;). Anyway, now I know what I will be watching this Halloween.    

                          P.S. Is that Tears for Fears Everybody Wants to Rule the World?

(Trailer Courtesy of Universal Pictures)

Addendum (4th May 2024) : Dracula Untold is available on Amazon Prime and on Blu-Ray/4K. Links provided below. 

Dracula Untold (Amazon Prime) (paid link) 

 Dracula Untold Blu-Ray/4K (Amazon US) (paid link)

Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary

In view of its upcoming 30th Anniversary, Sony will be releasing Ghostbusters 1 & 2 on blu-ray on 16th Sept 2014. Actually, Ghostbusters 1 was released on blu-ray before but now both the original movie and its sequel will be released in a limited edition (remastered) 4K blu-ray digibook gift set with added bonus features and a figurine of Slimer. The movies themselves will also be given another wide theatrical release in anticipation of its anniversary. There is a video posted by 'Zaranyzerak' (The Multi Media Chronicles) on YouTube which mentions the previous releases of Ghostbusters on blu-ray and gives a sneak peek on the upcoming release of the new 4K blu-rays. I recently discovered 'Zaranyzerak' (not his real name) and MMC on YouTube and found his videos which are mostly short, honest and fuss-free reviews of dvds/blu-rays and video games highly informative and entertaining. After some searching, I found out that this 'videographer' has been giving independent reviews of dvds/blu-rays/video games for over 2 decades. I hope readers of my humble blog will check out his other videos on YouTube (reviews of steelbooks, limited edition sets, old films restored to high-definition etc). Anyway, below is the video on the 30th Anniversary of Ghostbusters.

        

(Video Courtesy of The Multimedia Chronicles-MMC)

Link for the above product is provided below.

Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary 4K + Digibook (Amazon US) (paid link)

Into The Storm & Richard Armitage

There are really some good British actors who remain relatively unknown in the US until they are discovered in some major movie/TV series. I could name quite a few namely James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender  (X-Men) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock). Another British actor, Richard Armitage, won me over when he first appeared in  a BBC miniseries, North & South, in 2004 (please refer to my post dated 30th Jan 2014 on British Period Dramas on Blu-Ray). Since then, he has appeared in a few British series Robin Hood, Spooks, Strike Back and more recently in the movie The Hobbit. This versatile actor will now be appearing in the lead role of an upcoming major US summer film, Into The Storm, which will premiere on 8/8/2014. The movie is basically about a town being hit by tornadoes. Although I'm not a fan of disaster films, I might give this movie a try just to see how Mr Armitage fares in it :). 

   

Full Length Trailer Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

Addendum (5th May, 2024) : If you interested in this movie, it is now available on dvd, blu-ray and Amazon Prime (links provided below). By the way, I am currently watching a new 6 part British TV Series from ITV 'Red Eye' which stars Richard Armitage and Jing Lusi about a British man who is extradited to China on suspicion of murder. The series looks promising enough so I have decided to include the trailer for it below. Prior to this series, I managed to catch this prolific actor in the 2022 movie 'The Man from Rome' by Sergio Dow which is about a priest investigating a hacker infiltration into the Vatican that eventually leads him to a church in Spain. 

Trailer courtesy of Serienjunkies

Into The Storm 2014 (Amazon Prime) (paid link)

Into The Storm 2014 Blu-Ray (Amazon US) (paid link)

Minuscule, Futurikon & Valley of the Lost Ants

A few years back, my mum and me got hooked on a cute French animated series called 'Minuscule' which lasted for 2 seasons and comprised of 78 episodes.  The series consists of short videos with animated CGI insects against real backgrounds (French countryside, interiors of a house etc) in humorous situations. I remember a rather mischievous ladybird, curious spiders, dragonflies/bees engaged in aerial chases and armies of ants. The series, not unlike Canimals, was really funny and entertaining . The animation was top notch and I really enjoyed watching the beautiful French countryside. Anyway, I was surprised to discover that Futurikon (the French company that produced the original series) has released a new full length movie entitled Valley of the Lost Ants which was released earlier this year. The movie concerns a ladybird (modelled after the original ladybird in the series) who befriends a black ant whose colony is at war with another colony of red ants over a box of sugar cubes. The movie, released in 3D, looks fun and is suitable for family viewing. I'm actually terrified of (real) insects but these cute ones from Futurikon are really lovable ;). In fact, they remind of another early Pixar movie, Antz, except the insects here don't talk. They only whistle. 

          

(Video Courtesy of Minuscule YouTube)

Addendum (5th May 2024) : Besides two seasons of Minuscule and the film 'Valley of the Lost Ants' in 2013, Futurikon had released another film in 2018 titled 'Mandibles from Far Away'.