Edwards Design Solutions

I am a HUGE Mad Max fan. I enjoy Mel Gibson as well. He made Max what every fan enjoys, a tough-as-nails rogue that takes the law into his own hands (with some hard earned juice bargained on the side too).
The first two installments, Mad Max and The Road Warrior, are my favorites. Beyond Thunderdome was OK, but it lost me in places.

There is no doubt that the supporting cast helped make TRW and BT great material, but the franchise’s fourth installment still has casting loopholes and there is no word on whether Mel will be making an appearance in the movie. It would be nice to have a “story-telling” memoir segment at the beginning of the film, to incorporate Mel as Max. Then the main story can have whatever leading man the producer can get. Sam Worthington (Clash of the Titans) is rumored as the favorite at this point. Charlize Theron has already been cast, along with Teresa Palmer (Bedtime Stories) and Tom Hardy.

The release date has not been solidified yet, but it is scheduled for sometime in 2012.

Well, who here has ever heard of the Argo (Yamato)? If you were a child who watched cartoons in the 70′s and 80′s, then you know what I am talking about. Anime had its television beginning in America with Speed Racer in the 60′s. It was soon followed by the likes of Star Blazers, Battle of the Planets (G-Force), Mobile Suit Gundam, and Voltron (GoLion and Dairugger XV). There were three seasons of the cartoon that were fueled by the release and success of four theatrical movies and one television movie.

Now (in 2002) after many years of wrestling in the Japanese court system, rights to the franchise have finally been given to Yoshinobu Nishizaki, the show’s original producer. He has not been idle these past few years either. There is a new movie, Yamato:Rebirth, to be released in Japan on December 12! The US release is set for straight to DVD in spring, 2010. There is even a live-action release (already in production) planned for the holiday season of 2010! Now it is speculated that this live movie will only be released in Japan, but I doubt it will take very long to be brought to the states.

One might cringe at the thought of a live-action movie to be a great way to destroy the franchise, but I was pleasantly surprised at the recent G.I. Joe movie. So who knows, this may be the “rebirth” of something great? Well for now, enjoy the extended trailer. It is in Japanese, but the CG-anime is awesome!

I never thought I would see the day, that there would be a really good remake or reboot of a classic movie (or series) that was good or just plain makes sense enough to spend the money on. The Friday the 13th series has made an attempt, along with Holloween and the Chainsaw Massacre. All duds to be honest. Star Wars 1,2 & 3 have had mediocre reception at best. Star Trek however has broken the mold with a truly fantastic reboot! But will this trend of excellence continue? Let’s hope so. To get to the point however, I remember (as recently as this past Christmas) watching Tron on the idiot box. I looked then for rumors of a sequel, or reboot of the cult classic. No such luck.

I even remember reading blog posts about fans who had recreated the light suits and guys who had built custom low-riders to look like the light-cycles. No news of another movie though….until today. Has this been the web’s best-kept secret? The most sought after cyber-trek remake has been filmed and set for a release date of next year! There is rumored to be the dreaded plot hole the size of a galactic fissure in time-space, but will it make an impact on the original’s baseline to this movie?

All I can say, is that the story seems quite plausible (for fiction of course) and the effects are tremendous! The cinematography is definite eye-candy that even the most critical viewer should find an enhancement and not a distraction, like unto the CG upon CG effects of King Kong. This continuation of the original story is a recipe for a solid release with generally good acceptance. Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn, but with what seems to be a bit of a twist. Let’s just hope the process is on the money and doesn’t bury a digital shard into the spine of another one of the great sci-fi adventures of all time!

While we wait for the release, watch the trailer and try to contain your excitement!

TRON: Legacy

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and peril, 1hr. 34min.

The family and I just got back from seeing this movie in 3-D. Blue Sky just keeps getting it right with the Ice Age franchise! When other filming houses are pumping out toilet humor and swearing-lite flicks, it is a joy to see a movie that may have a wee bit of subtle innuendo (for the adults) and nothing more. If it weren’t for the subtleties and the copious amounts of peril, this film would easily be granted a G rating.

This movie revisits our friendly herd of misfits, Diego, Manny, Ellie, Sid and the ‘possum brothers. All original actor voices have been retained and it is nice to see (or is that hear). Without giving too much away of the movie, I can tell you that it has a strong theme of relationships. Primarily family, with a focus on parenting. The peril I mentioned before, is that Sid and the gang are “hunted” by a meat eating dinosaur that is larger than (and feared by) a Tyrannosaurus Rex! The herd has a few new members added, even if only temporarily, and Scrat even gains a love interest that becomes a full-scale love triangle with an acorn! Just be prepared to laugh……a lot!

Our first venture into the digital 3-D world, was with Bolt. Now Ice Age has really solidified (in my mind) that this is a new version of an old idea, that is here to stay. What a very beautiful and cool way to watch the movie. The bummer is, that the theater charges $3 more for the 3-D; but it is well worth it.

PG13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, language, some crude and sexual material, and brief drug material. 1hr. 30min.

Don’t waste your money. Any fan of the cartoon series should be angry and ashamed of this horrible piece of celluloid garbage. If you thought the first movie was bad, then you’re gonna hate this one.

The movie starts out innocently enough, with Sam (the lead character) being assisted off to college by his loving parents. He still has a good relationship with his girlfriend and they all really just want to put the whole alien robots incident (the first movie) behind them and move on with their lives. Of course, they can’t.

Sam is pulled back into helping save the world from the Decepticons and their ultimate leader, the Fallen. If you don’t know who he is, I will simply say that he is Megatron’s boss and a once-upon-a-time Prime robot.

So far so good, right? Well that’s were the good plot ends and the blanks are filled in with the other junk. You will find that I had a lot to say on the IMDB boards here about this movie. It just seems to me that the world has become too accustomed to low-brow, stupid toilet humor. There is too much swearing, too many fart jokes and too much doggie humping for my taste.

Well they don’t really, but they have gone up in vapor. I am referring to the advent of electronic cigarettes as the retaliation to America’s smoking ban. I am a tech geek and I personally think this is a pretty cool idea, I mean come on…..rechargeable smokes!? Once again, science-fiction becomes science-fact because of movies. Wasn’t this idea shown in Total Recall, because of the lack of oxygen on Mars?

Now get me straight here, I spent time, pain and suffering to quit smoking. It is the addictive nature of cigarette smoking, mostly as a habit, that is the hard thing to break. It’s the holding a smoke in your fingers, taking a break at work or the after dinner puff. But what about people who hate the gums and patches, because you can’t really meter your “dosage”? Continue reading »