The Box (20th Century Fox)
“Box” centers on a college grad with an uncertain future who is tricked into opening the mythical box, unwittingly unleashing the evils trapped within. He then must team with Pandora to save the world from destruction.
Gil’s All Fright Diner
Gil’s All Fright Diner revolves around a vampire and a werewolf. Here, they are mismatched partners who battle zombies and try to save the world, after they stop in a diner in the desert that is a conduit for the supernatural.
Lore
An action-adventure franchise in the vein of Men in Black, this one focused on mythological creatures. The story focuses on a young man who reluctantly becomes a member of an elite secret order charged with protecting humanity from the beasts of folklore who invade our world.
Rick Baker Gets A Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame!
Normally we don’t cover this sort of thing at Bloody-Disgusting, we’re not an award-centric bunch. But this is Rick Baker we’re talking about. Even if you’re not familiar with his name I guarantee that, as a BD reader, he has touched your life in some way. Proof? Okay… An American Werewolf In London, Star Wars, Videodrome, Starman, Silver Bullet, Captain EO, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Harry And The Hendersons, Gremlins 2, Ed Wood, Wolf, The Frighteners, Escape From L.A., Men In Black, The Devil’s Advocate, The Ring, Hellboy 2, The Wolfman Remake… the list goes on.
Baker is at least partially responsible, and in most cases almost 100% responsible, for the outstanding special effects makeup and creature designs in those projects. He’s also won 7 Oscars for best makeup, first winning for AWIL in 1981 (the year the category itself started), and has been nominated for an additional 5 Academy Awards. He’s also won a sh*tload of Saturn Awards.
Which is why it makes sense that a throng of people (including yours truly) gathered, in what amounts to torrential rain by LA standards, to see him receive his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame this morning. Though the event was in part to celebrate today’s release of the better-than-expected Men In Black 3 on DVD/Blu-ray, it was really about paying homage to his entire body of work. Directors Guillermo Del Toro (whom Baker most recently worked with on Hellboy 2) and Barry Sonnenfeld (Baker worked on all three Men In Black films) were onhand to pay tribute to their colleague. Sonnenfeld characterized Baker as writer as well as a designer, breathing stories and verisimilitude into his work. Del Toro, meanwhile, praised Baker as an “actor” in his own right – his creations being a performance of their own. Near the end of the ceremony, a representative for the Guiness Book Of World records who presented him with plaques for “Most Oscar Wins” and “Most Oscar Nominations” for a makeup artist.
Head inside for a few photos from the event! Also, what’s your favorite Rick Baker creature? READ MORE
‘Men in Black’ Director Defends World Against ‘Lore’
Barry Sonnenfeld is in talks to direct Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Lore, a film based on an Ashley Wood IDW graphic novel about a secret order that defends the world against creatures thought to be mythological, but which actually exist, reports Deadline. It becomes another big movie for Warner Bros. The film is being produced by Mad Chance’s Andrew Lazar.
An action-adventure franchise in the vein of Men in Black, this one focused on mythological creatures. “The story focuses on a young man who reluctantly becomes a member of an elite secret order charged with protecting humanity from the beasts of folklore who invade our world.”
Sonnenfeld directed the Men in Black films, while Johnson, an ex-WWE wrestler, starred in The Mummy Returns, and can be seen in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Fast and the Furious 6.
Men in Black 3 (3D)
The film will use a time travel element that moves the action from contemporary back to 1969. Brolin will play the younger version of Jones’s Agent Kay character.
OFFICIAL: In Men in Black 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back… in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.
[BD Review] ‘Men In Black 3′ Stumbles Hard Out Of The Gate, Recovers Nicely
It’s no secret that the production for Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black 3 was a troubled one. In the film Will Smith travels back in time to 1969 in order to save a young Agent K (Josh Brolin) and avert a world-ending disaster. This is a time travel movie that started shooting without a completed script – a well known recipe for disaster. Miraculously, the film isn’t a disaster. In fact, even though its first 20 or so minutes are absolutely terrible, it winds up being a fairly decent movie.
“When Will Smith heads back to 1969 and finally meets up with the young Agent K (played by the always great Josh Brolin) the film kicks into gear. And while it may not be a high gear, at least it’s moving forward. Ironically, the chemistry that Jones and Smith are unable to achieve early in the film comes quite easily when Brolin is brought in to pinch-hit. And while his performance may start out as an impersonation of Jones’ work – it quickly and quietly grows into something else.”
Men In Black 3 is in theaters May 25th from Columbia Pictures. Tommy Lee Jones, Jemaine Clement, and Emma Thompson also star. Click here for the full review. Don’t forget to return this weekend and write your own!
[BD Review] ‘Men In Black 3′ Stumbles Hard Out Of The Gate, Recovers Nicely
I may never experience a more stunning reversal in my life than I did during my screening of MEN IN BLACK 3. You know sometimes how you can start out lukewarm on a film and then grow to love it? That’s the kind of trajectory we’re talking here. Except you have to pull it back a few notches. I started out hating the film and then grew to kind of like it. I even got invested in the story a little during the last 20 minutes. This is easily more than I can say for any other Barry Sonnenfeld film of the past 10 years.
After a somewhat interesting (if not a little groan-worthy) opening introducing Jermaine Clement as the film’s antagonist, Boris The Animal, the movie screeches to an absolute nails-on-the-chalkboard halt. As MIB 3 begins, Will Smith’s Agent J and Tommy Lee Jones Agent K are battling a hiccup in their working chemistry. J is tired of K being so emotionally shut down and their dysfunctional relationship has resulted in 14 years worth of aggregated miscommunication. Even though the awful Men In Black 2 has all but been erased from my memory, I know enough about these characters for this to make perfect sense – and so does the general audience. So I don’t know why the film sees fit to hammer the point home in the fashion that it does. We know these characters and can deal with a little bit of shorthand, but the film won’t allow it. And as a result, all of the trademark chemistry between these two is pretty much gone.
Sonnenfeld’s film continues to slip away from him until it reaches its absolute nadir when Emma Thompson’s Agent O delivers an alien language eulogy for a beloved character from the first two films. Almost as painful is an early set piece in a Chinese restaurant. Its unchecked desire to recreate the exact jokes that worked for the 1997 original is downright appalling. There’s no new twist to any of it. The whole culture has shifted since that film but so far there’s nothing in MIB 3 to indicate that its aware anytime has passed at all. These moments marked the first time I have ever contemplated walking out of a press screening (and I sat through Gone).
But then something funny happens. The moment Tommy Lee Jones’ Agent K disappears the film takes on a slight bit of urgency. When Will Smith heads back to 1969 and finally meets up with the young Agent K (played by the always great Josh Brolin) the film kicks into gear. And while it may not be a high gear, at least it’s moving forward. Ironically, the chemistry that Jones and Smith are unable to achieve early in the film comes quite easily when Brolin is brought in to pinch-hit. And while his performance may start out as an impersonation of Jones’ work – it quickly and quietly grows into something else.
While Smith is more than capable, Brolin actually becomes the film’s heart and soul. The younger K isn’t light years different than the older K, but he is different. Younger physically and, much more importantly, younger in spirit. He’s able to crack a smile and to offer up the occasional joke. Not that said jokes are funny, but it’s actually interesting to see this character in a different place in his life. A place where he’s enjoying himself more and where he allows himself to love (Alice Eve playing a younger Agent O). By the end of the film, his performance has morphed into something that’s actually touching. You like this guy and you’re a little bit upset that the rest of his life will not treat him quite as kindly as he deserves.
Aside from Brolin, another asset in the film’s corner is Michael Stuhlbarg’s Griffin – a neurotic inextricably plugged into the possibilities and variables of the space-time continuum. He’s somewhat annoying but his character also brings the biggest ideas to the table. And if there’s anything sci-fi should be predicated on, it’s ideas. Jermaine Clement also works as Boris The Animal, selling menace surprisingly well. It also doesn’t hurt that the film’s climax genuinely involves storytelling – something I was utterly shocked by in light of how poorly everything started.
Proving that much can be forgiven if something gets progressively better as it goes along, MIB 3 actually squeaks by with a mild recommendation. If you liked the original film, you’ll find something to latch on to here. Eventually.
6/10
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