Rama's Screen

Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are hot commodity now, not only will they write DEADPOOL Movie for Fox, now IESB reported that they’re going to write G.I. JOE sequel (check out the previous info). Holy freakin’ cow! Maybe my wish for them to somehow take over GHOSTBUSTERS 3 and do a rewrite would come true as well, eh, just my wishful thinking.

The website is still looking for confirmation from Paramount but I think it’s just a matter of time.
G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra was action-packed but the dialogue and the one-liners were cheesy, Reese and Wernick’s witty, smartass writing would be great addition to G.I. JOE sequel.
Still no word if Stephen Sommers will be returning to direct but c’mon, why wouldn’t he?!

Those of us who’ve seen G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra would know that it was made to be a start of a franchise, obviously from the title but also from the fact that almost nothing that Hollywood makes often stay as one film. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday there’d be a Titanic sequel where Jack goes back to life as a zombie, swims up the icy Atlantic water, but all he wants is to paint Rose naked again… in 3D.

Anyways, where was I? Ah yes, I was killing time there because Collider has found out that G.I Joe sequel IS happening and a writer has been hired. Who’s the writer? That’s the thing, the website doesn’t know yet but that’s fine because now we know that we might get to see the reign of cobra in the near future. I actually enjoyed the first installment, written by Stuart Beattie, David Elliott, Paul Lovett. It was action-packed, although the VFX could be better. The movie banked $300 Million worldwide but domestically, it only earned $150 Million, considering the production budget was $175 Million.
No word either at this point if Stephen Sommers will return to direct the sequel, I’m sure we’ll hear talks of 3D eventually but everything is still in early stages of development. So for now, just click on the image above to view Scarlett and Baroness’ sexy curves embiggen style!

There were movies this year that I thought was going to, for lack of a better word.. suck! I entered the theater expecting the worst, like I was about to watch something boring or just plain dreadful or worse yet, predictable. I thought I would have to bring a pillow or something to throw at the screen if the plot got really bad. But then I was surprised by the following titles because they turned out to be quite decent after all, well, they weren’t the greatest but some of them were catchy, some were just exciting, some were actually funny while others had an intriguing concept that kept me on the edge of my seat. These are 10 movies in 2009 that surprised me… Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s forget that 12 Rounds, Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li, Dragon Ball Evolution, and worse yet Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen ever existed shall we?! Goes to show that not all kung fu fighting, explosives, VFX, and high speed chase always work. Action movies require more than that, it takes more to be badass. The choreography needs to be creative and stylized, it needs to be impressive. Some action movies don’t require a solid story but in some cases, a story can make or break an action movie. Here’s my list of 10 Best Action Movies Of 2009, in order of awesomeness, after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

Ya know how it’s been. You look at the listing for which movies that open this weekend and you make decisions on what to watch and what to skip. It’s usually easy because each of us has a favorite genre, some would say yes to thriller and some would say no to chick flick unless our girlfriends promise some ‘benefit’ at the end of the day if we’d come along.
According to Hollywood Reporter, there has been some bickering going on over Paramount’s decision to release G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA on DVD & Blu-Ray on November 3rd, 2009, only less than 3 months after the theatrical opening this past August. Usually a movie would have to wait more than 129 days before it hits the shelves,… except for Lindsay Lohan’s movies which practically beg to be put straight to DVD.

National Association of Theatre Owners president John Fithian is furious about this. Cineplex chief Ellis Jacob had this to say on the matter “We at Cineplex have invested a lot of money in our theaters and in new technology such as 3D. So when something like this happens, it creates an issue with people from the standpoint of entertainment choices. If a guest of ours knows a movie is going to be on DVD in less than 90 days, then they know that if they miss it they can catch it on DVD not too much later.”

But why would you wanna wait to watch G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA on DVD??? Action-packed summer blockbusters like this is more cinematic and fun to watch on the big screen. It really was an exciting movie despite some of its flaws.
I remember often when I post a movie trailer or a poster here on Rama’s SCREEN, some of you would leave a comment about what you think of the footage at hand and you quickly say ‘I’ll just watch this on DVD’.. well, how do you know you’re not going to like watching it in theaters?

Other than the money problem or the rising box office ticket,.. how do you usually decide which movies to skip, the ones you’ll just watch on DVD instead? Is it gut feeling? Is it the actors? Which movies that you’ve watched on DVD that you wish you had watched in theaters instead?

What G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA lacked in story and faithfulness to the original material, it made up for in the action, and my god they did one helluva great job on that action, (check out my review) even as the VFX wasn’t all that tight. I couldn’t stop watching Snake Eyes jumping over cars or the multiple thrilling fight scenes that were happening all at once when the underground headquarters got broken into, if you haven’t seen the movie, you’ll understand what I’m talking about when you watch it on Blu-Ray and DVD this November, check out the press release after this jump.. Read the rest of this entry »

The only thing that kept me from trashing G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (check out my review) were the thrilling action sequences, I had so much fun watching the many intense fight scenes, too bad everything else could use more than a simple adjustment. LA TIMES had an observation article about how the movie scored $100 Million worldwide in its opening weekend but is very doubtful if it can hold the top throne in the next.. since Peter Jackson’s DISTRICT 9 is bound to pose a threat, to cause some serious competition, not to mention the great early reviews I’ve been hearing about that alien refugee action/thriller sci-fi.
But Paramount is determined to go ahead with G.I. JOE 2..

The studio’s vice chairman, Rob Moore, confirmed that a sequel will soon go into development. The film’s lead actors are contractually obligated to return for another film, though director Stephen Sommers is not.

Those of you who’ve seen G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra would know that the ending was meant to hint a sequel on the horizon. Besides, why the hell would you call it Rise Of Cobra if you’re not going to have a follow up on what Cobra’s up to next… the reign of Cobra or whatever the hell you’d wanna call it.
Since Stephen Sommers may or may not return for the sequel, maybe they could hire another filmmaker who wouldn’t go astray from his style where acting, story, dialogue don’t matter much.. someone like Rob Cohen or Roland Emmerich maybe.. just some suggestions.

I was at the Arclight Theater today on Sunset Blvd. and outside they had the actual vehicles from G.I. JOE: THE RISE ON COBRA (check out my review) parked outside for all to see. There was the H2 that Baroness and Storm Shadow were in and the van that Heavy Duty drove during a high speed chase scene through downtown Paris.

* Click on the images to enlarge

And a couple of days before, I was at Ontario Mills Edwards Cinemas when they had Cobra Commander greeting moviegoers at the entrance. By the way, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA earned $56.2 Million in its opening weekend and took the top place. Not a bad result, we’ll see if can hold the throne next week when DISTRICT 9 comes to town.

This is a pretty awful movie, and I mean that. It’s pretty because some of the action sequences are actually intense and worth watching but awful because the VFX is about as weak and unreliable as X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Definitely falls under… Read the rest of this entry »

Larry Hama, who wrote the comic G.I. JOE for Hasbro toyline is a creative consultant in the new upcoming summer blockbuster G.I.JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA directed by Stephen Sommers. The vibrant video above is the new featurette of him talking about the past and being part of the film process. Just like how Stan Lee shows up in all Marvel movies, you’ll notice Hama’s cameo, in a military uniform.