Hello, everyone! It’s One Of Us’ weekly article series, “The Weekly Wrap-Up.” Covering everything from film announcements to comic books, “The Weekly Wrap-Up” ensures that the biggest stories of the week are analyzed and discussed by our team of writers. This week we cover the first trailer for The Angry Birds Movie, Sam Smith’s James Bond theme for SPECTRE and Ridley Scott’s confusing comments on Alien: Paradise Lost.
The Angry Birds Movie Trailer
From the studio that brought you such animated “classics” as Rio 2 and Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Angry Birds Movie, an adaptation of the popular mobile game of the same name, takes audiences to an isolated island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds…or almost entirely. In this paradise, Red (Jason Sudeikis), a bird with a temper problem, speedy Chuck (Josh Gad), and the volatile Bomb (Danny McBride) have always been outsiders. However, when their peaceful island is visited by mysterious green piggies, it’s up to these unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to. The Angry Birds Movie also includes the vocal talents of Maya Rudolph, Tony Hale and Peter Dinklage.
I cannot adequately describe how much I don’t care about what’s happening in this trailer. Everything, from the characters to the writing to the visual gags, feels so incredibly trite and boring. Of course, this is a product of Blue Sky Studios, who has cornered the market in creating and distributing the lowest common denominator of animated movie mediocrity for the past several years. Even with the impressive vocal talents of people like Gad, McBride and Hale, I really can’t find a reason to be excited for The Angry Birds Movie. I’m sure people who still think its 2010 are ecstatic about it though.
The Angry Birds Movie will make its way to theatres May 20, 2016.
Sam Smith’s James Bond Theme for Spectre Released
Hard to believe we’re only a little less than a month away from the latest James Bond adventure Spectre. With every Bond film comes a new Bond theme song. After an endless bounding amount of rumors as to who would sing the theme, English pop artist Sam Smith was announced as the one most worthy to sing the theme entitled Writing’s On the Wall. The theme was officially released this week and can be heard on Spotify.
The theme has elicited mixed reception and I can see why. On the one hand, the orchestration on the track is gorgeous. It really commits to the Bond aesthetic of grandiose horn sections and vibrant string accompaniments. This is all only be appropriate, given that the film marks the return of the titular organization that has been absent from the series since 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. On the other hand, Sam Smith’s vocals are largely cold and emotionally uninvolved. That especially hinders the theme because of how invested the lyrics really are in the confrontation that will likely mirror Daniel Craig and Christoph Waltz’s relationship in the film. Regardless, I’m sure the opening sequence will pick up the slack where Smith’s vocals couldn’t. That all being said… he’s got an impressive falsetto.
Prometheus 2 is Now Alien: Paradise Lost
Prometheus 2, the sequel to the much maligned Alien prequel that Director Ridley Scott has repeatedly said would have nothing to do with the greater Alien franchise, has now officially been renamed Alien: Paradise Lost. No, that’s not a joke. First revealed via HeyYouGuys.com, Scott has gone on to say in interviews with Empire that the film would not only continue to follow Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and David (Michael Fassbender), but also further explore the origins of the Engineers, and why they decided to create the phallic monstrosities known as the Xenomorphs.
“Years ago, I kept mulling over what Alien 2 could be. I was fiddling around with some ideas. I was always fascinated with why this thing would be made, by whom, and for what purpose? The planet it was on – and I was looking at the dark side of the moon – would be called Paradise. Paradise is a very ominous word.”
In addition to discussing the name change, Scott also talked about further tightening Alien: Paradise Lost’s story with the previous Alien films, stating there would even be “connections” to Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley.
“In a way it is Prometheus 2 . It’s exactly the same story. But it was always in the works to be called Alien: Paradise Lost. Is Prometheus actually taking us off course from where I’m going, which is actually backing into the first Alien…I’ve even got connections with Ripley, but I’m not telling you what.”
Scott seems adamant about turning Prometheus into a long running series. What’s so concerning about this fact is that everything seems so spur of the moment, with little to no greater plan in place to even warrant the creation of a franchise. More importantly, what does this all mean for Neil Blomkamp’s Alien sequel? Though Scott has reiterated that Blomkamp’s film would come out after Paradise Lost, there hasn’t been any discussion about the project for some time. The one saving grace about all this recent and very confusing news is that Damon Lindelof won’t be writing any of these movies. I guess that’s something to be happy about, right?
