While this sounds great better temper your expectations considering we’ll probably not get the game until after Dragon Age 3 launches next fall meaning the earliest you are going to see this is probably sometime in the latter half of 2015.

I think it is a safe bet to say that it will probably be available for next-gen consoles (Xbox One, PS4) as well as the PC.  Sorry, Xbox 360 and PS3 but by winter 2015 those legacy systems will be on their last legs.

© 2013 The Galactic Pillow

Watching this trailer I can’t help thinking of the Lego line of video games as anyone who has played even one will realize that each installment really has a wicked sense of humor no matter what license it is based on.  This time around The Lego Movie will have a supporting cast of characters from famous franchises such as Batman yet the hero will be none other than your generic Lego minifigure.

Here is the official synopsis:

“The film, the first-ever full length theatrical LEGO movie, follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.

The Lego Movie has been in development since 2008 yet all along the entire narrative has been focused on having the most improbable Lego figures rise to the occasion to save the world leaving Batman and others in supporting roles.  If you are wondering how Batman got involved you don’t need to look far considering The Lego Movie is being made by Warner Brothers which already has the license for the Batman and Superman live action films.

Co-directed and co-written by Phil Lord and Chris Miller who worked their magic on Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs the film also has a strong voice cast featuring Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson and Elizabeth Banks.

If they sold advance tickets this far away from release I have no doubt my son would ask me to buy them ASAP.  He’s never actually seen a full-length film in the cinema so I’m guessing this will be his first. About the only downside to this would be the inevitable trip to Toys R Us to go buy all the Lego Movie related products…ouch, my wallet.

© 2013 The Galactic Pillow

Teaser Trailer – The Lego Movie (2014)

I have to wonder what is going on with the marketing team here as this trailer and the previous ones seem to have a “want it all” kitchen sink quality to them with scenes that calculatingly target different demographics.  Therefore, we get the requisite shots of our heroes longingly starring at one another followed by supposedly kick-ass action as the film tries to sell itself to all four demographic quadrants.  Perhaps the reason for this is that all the previous Twilight wannabes concentrated more on the romance angle and by doing that it created too narrow a demographic focus for the films to become successful therefore this movie is trying to build up its action credentials.

That said I can’t help but thinking that this trailer is bland with the footage looking far too familiar to previous properties and a production quality that is barely above the level of supernatural shows on the television.  Perhaps the entire premise would work better as a TV series where characters can slowly evolve and the plot revealed over the course of the season because as it stands there’s not a lot shown here that makes this film stand-out from the crowd nor compel people to run to the cinema to spend their hard-earned Quatloos (okay, I’m letting my Trek nerd out here).

I doubt it is going to work but looking at the release schedule the movie is about the only predominantly female-centric movie on its way for the month of July and August.  Studio execs are obviously banking that the book’s many fans all show up as well as hoping that viewers who are tired of male-dominated testosterone action flicks want to see something a bit different by this point in the summer movie season.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones opens on August 21 in the Canada and the USA.

© 2013 The Galactic Pillow

International Trailer – The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)

At one point in time Riddick was meant to be one of Vin Diesel’s primary franchises along with Fast & The Furious and XXX but as we all know it didn’t exactly turn out as planned.  Diesel prematurely left Fast & Furious, never returned for XXX and Riddick 2 (aka Chronicles of Riddick) was seen as a box office disaster.  Diesel’s once promising career went into the drain prompting him to come back to Fast & The Furious which surprisingly keeps growing in popularity.

Fast 6 has already banked $219 million domestic and a hefty $417 international for a phenomenal total gross so far of $637 million which makes it the number one film in that franchise.  The question is whether or not Diesel can expand his audience beyond the Fast & Furious brand which is not as easy as it looks considering poor Paul Walker has so far failed in his solo attempts.

Still, Riddick fans will probably be happy that the series seems to be going back to its Pitch Black roots with the focus more on survival horror rather than crafting an expansive Sci-fi universe filled with political intrigue and enough backstabbing to make the Roman Senate seem like a toddler’s playground.

Riddick opens in Canada and the USA on September 6th against the new Romeo and Juliet starring Hailee Steinfeld, Holly Hunter, Paul Wesley and Douglas Booth.

It would be easy to say that Riddick wins this weekend but by this point in the release schedule audiences might be totally tired with action oriented summer fare so there’s always a chance Romeo catches fire with its core female demographic that has been chomping at the bit for something that is more marketable to them.

We’ll know more come August when preliminary tracking numbers are released.

© 2013 The Galactic Pillow

International Trailer – Riddick (2013)

I’m certainly happy since my box office prediction of $110 million was only $6 million off the final tally and this summer I’ve so far done reasonably well with my guesstimates.  Too bad there’s no real prize for doing box office analysis but it is nonetheless fun to see if I can outguess some Hollywood bigwigs.

Internationally the film made about $71 million with major markets like the UK ($17.1 million), Mexico ($9.8 million) and South Korea ($8.8 million) leading the way.  The movie will begin to expand to other markets this weekend and could pull in a ton more cash considering it will open in a slew of other major regions including China, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia which might mean it will top this weekend’s $71 million figure by a hefty amount.

While Warner Brothers has to be happy with this result I hope they don’t let it get to their heads as I’m hearing some weird chatter from them that sounds a bit like they are having a knee jerk reaction of sorts.  For instance, while Man of Steel 2 has already been announced I sincerely hope the execs are not serious when they say they want to fast track the sequel so that it opens next year.

That’s simply nuts as it would mean pre-production would have to start almost ASAP if they want to have it hit next summer.  While it is certainly possible to film a sequel in time I think it is much more prudent to let Zack Synder and David Goyer have enough time to work out all the kinks in order to craft a compelling sequel.  By ramming it out there in about a year it sounds almost like desperation merely because it would be obvious that Warner wants to keep to their original schedule of having Justice League open in the summer of 2015.

I do not think Warner is going to follow Disney’s lead with their Marvel films in introducing each character separately through their own individual films.  Now it really looks as if Man of Steel and its sequel will launch the entire DC universe where the Justice League movie will serve to introduce everyone else such as Wonder Woman, the new Batman, Green Lantern and the Flash.  I’m not totally sold this is going to work but I do not see Warner having much patience following Disney’s play book considering Green Lantern tanked and the Wonder Woman movie is forever stuck in development Hell.

Hey, at least they potentially have Supergirl introduced already…maybe I said too much.

© 2013 The Galactic Pillow

Things don’t get any easier for Trek as World War Z and Monsters University premiere this week which should cause Into Darkness to shed a ton of screens and probably push it out of the top 10 films.  With so much competition it looks like it is going to be tough to even hit $230 million domestic.

Unadjusted Gross

However, the movie continues to rack up the dough overseas and I think after this weekend’s results that I can finally make the call that Into Darkness will end up making more overseas than domestically marking the first time this has ever occurred for a Star Trek movie.  What that means is a topic for another post.

Worldwide Gross

Now Trek fans have to wonder just where the third film in the current Abrams universe is going to go considering there is little chance that he will return to direct the final installment as he is busy ramping up production on Star Wars Episode 7.  News about that project should start trickling out now that Abrams is finished promoting Trek although what it will be about is anybody’s guess although if William Shatner has a say in it…

As for Trek it is basically a lock that Paramount wants the next installment out by 2016 which is the franchise’s 50th anniversary.  That means that pre-production doesn’t really have to start for a long time giving the studio a golden chance to hire a new director and allowing the scriptwriting team of Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof more than enough time to really nail down a good script.

Anybody have any suggestions who they want as the new director? I’m available if anybody cares….

© 2013 The Galactic Pillow

At first glance Perception certainly has a setup that at once feels almost far too familiar focusing on that now incredibly thin concept of a lead character that is essentially wildly eccentric yet possesses extraordinary mental talents. Already, the ghosts of other shows such as Lie to Me, House, Monk or The Mentalist spring forth or even the movie A Beautiful Mind. Perception is most akin to the latter featuring a genius-level university professor named Daniel Pierce (Eric McCormack) who is barely hanging onto sanity due to being a schizophrenic ever since he was diagnosed with the disease at the age of twenty-two. As the series opens it is quickly revealed that Daniel is no longer taking his medication, much to the chagrin of his teaching assistant Max Lewicki (Arjay Smith) who, functions in an additional capacity as Daniel’s conscience always trying to keep him grounded and distracted to “fight” his mental condition.

However, as luck would have it, a former ace student named Kate Moretti (Rachael Leigh Cook), re-enters his life not as a romantic interest, although the show is quite obviously leading in that direction, but as a member of the FBI who seeks his help catching a criminal. Daniel is certainly intrigued and accepts which basically sets up the entire first season of the show as the intellectual professor aids Kate in a series of bizarre cases while at the same time attempting to keep his sanity from slipping.

Perception’s conceit, which is much more prominent in the first half of the season, is that Dr. Pierce’s schizophrenia leads to hallucinations that actually end up assisting him in whatever case that particular episode is revolving around. It is not as if a guest star shows up and monopolizes a ton of screen time but the showrunners have these hallucinatory characters appear from thin air as a kind of hokey plot device meant to visually give form to how Pierce’s subconscious is processing the evidence at hand. While these short sequences can be somewhat endearing, such as the episode where JFK (Robert Culp) actually appears, they also tend to give the show a kind of fairy tale atmosphere which belies Daniel’s most serious mental condition.

This allows the first episodes to erroneously give the impression that Daniel’s schizophrenia is being played by the scriptwriters with a degree of dishonesty by allowing him to work with his disease almost as a complete afterthought and romanticizing his hallucinations as a means to help solve the case. Anyone who has seen or known a schizophrenic will understand how debilitating it can be and the heightened levels of paranoia, frustration and anger that could potentially flare up without sufficient treatment.

Thankfully, the showrunners must have noticed this detrimental side-effect of giving form to Daniel’s thought process and attempt a mid-course correction by slowly downplaying their use and at the same time allowing the narrative about Daniel’s condition to organically evolve into the serious territory that it requires. At the same time they thoughtfully weave in a new character named Natalie (Kelly Rowland) who is revealed to be Daniel’s closest confidant that functions in a far more effective light than any hallucination possibly could.

Part of the problem with penning a lead character who frequently sees visions is that it also allows the scriptwriters to essentially “cheat” by forcing viewers to constantly wonder if what they are watching is really taking place or if it is some elaborate mental construct of Dr. Pierce’s schizophrenic mind. While the show does lapse into such sequences it has to be stated that it is not overused to the point where viewers will feel irritated or deceived yet it is a potential pothole that is always present and one hopes the showrunners do not pull this particular trick out of the bag too often. We really do not want something like Dallas’ infamous “all a dream season” taking place unless they want the show to tank hard.

I realize that Mike Sussman who worked on Star Trek: Enterprise co-created the show but my advice to him would be to quickly jettison anything too fantastical such as overly relying on hallucinatory exposition as it leads to massive issues that are akin to Trek’s technobabble that allow writers a narrative crutch and an easy “way out” to fix plots that seemingly are headed in the wrong direction. It might also be wise to lay off the visions of famous figures as well as oftentimes they feel far too ham-fisted in execution.

These structural issues aside it has to be said that this show, much like other series and films featuring eccentric leads, succeeds primarily because of its main protagonist, in this case, Daniel Pierce played by Eric McCormack who like Rachael Leigh Cook is playing against type here. His Daniel in no way conjures up images of his previous most famous persona as Will in the massive hit series, Will and Grace. Here, McCormack straddles the fine line effortless between making Daniel an overblown raving maniac with exaggerated hand gestures and the more introverted and insecure man he is behind his public persona. Dr. Pierce might be a genius but he’s also wholly out of touch with society because of his malady that has led him down a path of seclusion with a biting lack of outward empathy. McCormack does occasionally allow himself to over-animate his character yet it never goes so far as to appear like he is attempting to emulate a William Shatner-level of ego and crafts Pierce as someone who easily wins audience sympathies when they realize how tormented he truly is regardless of his intellect.

As his partner Rachael Leigh Cook has a much harder time because it takes the show a while to figure out what it wants to do with her character. Nevertheless, like McCormack, Cook is an actress just about no one would initially think about when casting for a hard-nosed FBI agent which is a breath of fresh air albeit with caveats. This is because Cook is an actress that is diametrically opposite to the typical macho FBI female detective with moxie that has populated pop culture. In fact many people will just not even buy a female detective in that capacity but that is an issue for an editorial not a TV series review. Cook is slim, petite and suffers from what I call Michael J. Fox syndrome by having a perpetually “baby” face that makes her appear much younger than she actually is. If you don’t have a High-Definition TV you might even mistake her from her days as the waifish heroine from She’s All That or the rocking title character from Josie and the Pussycats. In short, visually Cook goes completely against the grain and I am ecstatic that she does as it nicely relates to the show’s entire raison d’etre summed up by the title – perception.

By casting Cook and McCormack against type the show is slyly hinting at deeper meaning and poses serious questions to viewers to confront their prejudices and opinions as to why they “buy” or “dismiss” the two lead actors in their respective roles. McCormack has a much easier time as he’s following a set paradigm of eccentric intellectuals put forth in other shows yet watching Cook jump off a two-story building or essentially be the “muscle” in this odd couple pairing really sticks out with big flashing neon signs that can’t help but call attention to itself.

However, while Cook and McCormack develop an easy camaraderie that actually becomes more dynamic and believable as the series progresses it still is open to numerous issues that mainly stem from the episodic format that completely favors Pierce’s observations over everyone else making him seem almost God-like in his mental capacity. Shows that feature brainy protagonists oftentimes fall into the same narrative trap of making the lead always right yet they seem even more capable merely because the writers conspire to dumb down the supporting characters almost to the point of absurdity.

In a way Perception is merely following a paradigm that is akin to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes with Daniel Pierce cast as the famous sleuth and Kate Moretti his loyal sidekick, Watson. It quickly becomes apparent that nearly all the strenuous mental work falls upon Daniel to solve while Kate is more or less pigeonholed into the role of the assistant by doing all the grunt/physical work. While this relationship is functional for the entire ten episode first season it eventually starts to come unglued not because of the obvious romantic overtones but rather it flies in the face of the fact that Kate is supposedly one of his best past pupils.

Whatever insight she gives is rarely of any intrinsic value to Daniel or worse, turns out to be flat out erroneous. As much as it behooves the show to allow its lead to always be right it is frankly not a winning strategy to show Kate is almost always on the wrong path especially considering her vocation. Nevertheless, it is a testament to both actor Eric McCormack and Rachel Leigh Cook that the pairing achieves any sort of organic chemistry.

If Cook’s character suffers from being overshadowed by McCormack then it has to be said that the other members of the supporting cast fair even worse, their roles completely one-dimensional and sadly ineffective. There is only so much regurgitation one can take watching Arjay Smith as Pierce’s assistant Max Lewicki be totally ignored or endure verbal abuse every single episode. Poor Star Trek: The Next Generation veteran LeVar Burton’s cameos are rarely engaging and his character ends up being the butt of jokes rather than being a competent Dean. As mentioned, having a supporting cast that all seem irrelevant or incompetent actually is detrimental to the show as it does not allow Pierce much leeway in interacting with those at least close to his mental capacity forcing him to completely dominate scenes with wild abandon.

By its very nature of its main plot Perception is an odd kind of procedural drama unlike CSI/Law and Order or NCIS merely because each episode concentrates on an incredibly obscure medical malady that only a tiny fraction of the audience would be aware of. In other words, there’s literally no chance that a casual viewer will be able to unravel the mystery which is both a boon and a curse. On one hand these rare mental conditions are actually educational, shining light on psychological issues that most will find gripping and often eerie. Nevertheless, by focusing on such problems and removing any chance of active audience participation in solving the crimes the show runs the risk of appearing fantastical and almost verging on science fiction. As an example an early episode reveals a relatively unknown medical condition where some people are able to intrinsically “tell” when someone is lying and end up unconsciously giggling or laughing when they detect an untruth. It’s a fascinating fact no doubt but it is so fantastical an ailment that it might alienate those who just can’t accept that it is true.

The first season of Perception certainly has its faults and initially suffers from some apparent comparisons to other shows featuring similar setups yet it manages to thrive due to its two memorable leads in McCormack and Cook. The final two episodes of the season easily standout because they fall decidedly onto the darker side of the narrative finally exposing Pierce’s condition in a realistic and emotionally charged light. That is not to say that the show should somehow change direction completely from the relatively lighthearted atmosphere constructed in the first season but that it should at least not attempt to downplay Pierce’s malady as anything but something that needs to be taken seriously. If the show can also add a strong supporting cast while building on the show’s momentum in the latter half of season one then there is much to look forward to.

**1/2 out of ****

2012, 450 Minutes, TNT/ABC Studios
Directed by Greg Beeman, Kenneth Biller, Christopher Misiano, Deran Sarafian
Written by Kenneth Biller, Mike Sussman, Amanda Green, Jason Ning, Stephen Tolkin
Produced by Eric McCormack, Mark H. Ovitz
Co-Producer Jason Ning
Co-Executive Producer Mike Sussman, Amanda Green, Kenneth Biller, Stephen Tolkin

Eric McCormack: Daniel Pierce
Rachael Leigh Cook: Kate Moretti
Kelly Rowan: Natalie Vincent
Arjay Smith: Max Lewicki
Jonathan Scarfe: Roger Probert
LeVar Burton: Paul Haley
Jamie Bamber: Michael Hathaway

© 2013 The Galactic Pillow

If it reaches $120 million that will be $10 million above my projection which bodes well for the coming weeks.  Also in its favour is a A- CinemaScore from moviegoers who so far don’t seem to care that the movie underperformed with the critics only garnering a lackluster 57% over on Rottentomatoes and an even lower 55 on Metacritic.  These numbers are actually pretty bad considering the much-loathed Superman Returns even managed a 75% on Rottentomatoes and a 72% on Metacritic.  Still, the film seems to have momentum and though its gross is nowhere close to Iron Man 3 this is to be expected as Man of Steel is rebooting the franchise for the future.

Warner Brothers must be elated by these early numbers as it certainly looks as if the experiment has paid off as Superman has reclaimed its spot as one of the most popular superhero franchises.  With $132 in the bank come Monday the movie will easily pass $200 million and probably leapfrog both Fast & Furious 6 and Star Trek Into Darkness to become the #2 grossing hit of the summer.  Still, it is far too early to tell where it will end up as we need to see its relative strength and word of mouth in the coming weeks.

The movie does have some serious competition to face down over the next few weeks starting with the zombie apocalypse film World War Z due to drop next week as well the family-oriented Pixar sequel, Monsters University.  Monsters University will probably top $200 million while World War Z is beginning to track higher due to recent positive previews.  The following week comes the counterprogramming film The Heat starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as well as Roland Emmerich’s big action film, White House Down.

This means Man of Steel will face four new movies all of which have the potential to eat into its sales so it is still conceivable that the movie might not even hit $300 if the competition catches fire.

Overseas, Man of Steel has done incredibly well in certain markets such as The Philippines where initial numbers show that it launched with the biggest opening day ever for that market.  In Taiwan it has quickly become the biggest opening day for a Warner Brothers picture as well.  We’ll have a much better picture of how the film is playing come Sunday night.

© 2013 The Galactic Pillow