The similarities don’t end there. American Warships also features alien invaders that can only be stopped by an old battleship turned museum. Unlike the Hollywood version though, this low budget knockoff relies heavily on invisible enemies. The aliens use cloaked ships that decloak only when attacking. One crewman points out the similarity to the Klingons from Star Trek. The difference is that when these aliens appear they’re always seen in the distance and indistinguishable from an ordinary ship, which is exactly what they want as it threatens to trigger a nuclear war. It’s not until the very end of the movie that we see a closeup of a ship that transforms into a spaceship. It’s not worth the wait.

“American Warships really was a $200 million action film made on a tenth of a percent of the budget,” Director Thunder Levin told Dread Central. “And of course that entails great compromise in almost every aspect of the filmmaking process. But for all the corners that one must cut, it’s the time factor that’s the worst part. We had three weeks to shoot what a studio film would have taken months and months on.”

Levin says they have more vfx than Star Wars, though he admits in terms of quality of the Death Star blows it out of the water. Fortunately, they were able to add some sense of realism on the cheap.

“We were very fortunate in that we found an actual battleship to stand in for the USS Iowa (the USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC) and we were granted pretty much full access to the ship, so long as we didn’t damage anything. That provided a lot of production value right there,” said Levin.

“The real key is to focus on the characters. If you can get the audience emotionally involved in the characters, then they won’t need quite so much spectacle to keep them entertained.”

However, it’s difficult to get emotionally invested in the characters when they can’t do it themselves. It’s not just a matter of bad acting, but bad writing. There’s no conflict, even where there clearly should be.

Admiral Hollis (David Polinsky) unwittingly gets caught up in the battle when he boards the USS Iowa for what is supposed to be an uneventful final voyage before both he and the ship retire. He’s inexplicably absent for most of the film. When the Admiral does finally appear, he meekly questions the Captain’s choice to return fire on the ship, which they presume is North Korean. The Captain calmly suggests he relieve him if he wants to run the ship but the Admiral is speechless and quickly vanishes again. There’s no back and forth, no debate, no tension.

Even worse is watching General McKraken (Carl Weathers) get chewed out by the Secretary Of Defense Alter (Elijah Chester), who is the only character to even attempts to show any emotion. It’s literally painful watching the actor who played Apollo Creed reduced to the role of punching bag.

The only real interaction between the characters is a not-so-secret on-board romance between Captain Winston (Marion Van Peebles) and Lt. Caroline Bradley (Johanna Watts). The Captain reprimands her for being too casual with him publicly, but the crew doesn’t seem to care so why should the audience? This couple has about as much passion as Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. Not even slow motion can save their big kiss, in which Peebles looks like he’s kissing a lemon.

The most dramatic scene is also the funniest. An explosion rocks the ship and sends an artillery shell slowly rolling towards Lt. Bradley, who has fallen down and for no apparent reason can’t get up. She crabwalks backwards while an equally gimpy crewman crawls after the shell. It’s like an unintentionally funny version of the steamroller scene from the Austin Powers movie.

In the end, it’s not aliens or even a lawsuit that sink this battleship. It does that all by itself.

American Warships (American Battleship) – Review is a post from: L7 World

Six issued the following press release:

Tom Six’s company will sue Dieter Laser.

Because of the success of The Human Centipede, it seems that Mr Dieter Laser’s ego has grown to laughably big proportions. First signing the contract and rating the THC3 script as fantastic ,and then demanding his own unacceptable script changes, and now refusing to play the part only seven weeks prior to shooting. Six Entertainment Company will start legal action against Dieter Laser. Tom Six says not to worry – principal photography will be postponed and will take place later this year.

Best Regards,

Ilona Six
Film Producer

Laser responded with his own statement:

It’s very simple: I loved the story when it was told, got the contract and the promise to have the script in 4 to 6 weeks. When it arrived – half a year later and only after the official announcement – I didn’t like the realization at all, couldn’t identify with the character the way it was written and developed immediately and enthusiastically in a day and night marathon a version full of concrete and practical suggestions which would enable me to play the lead full throttle – same procedure as with Dr. Heiter – but this time it also would have had some unavoidable effects to the dramatic structure. That was too much for Tom and since he couldn’t live with my suggestions and I as a method actor couldn’t identify with his version, I told him that I couldn’t see any other way than that he would have to “change horses”. That’s it.

Human Centipede 3 is a Crowd is a post from: L7 World

“I want to announce this to everyone here in the Americas, to our friends in Spain, Turkey, and the UK, including England, that as of 0900 mountain time, Paramount Pictures and myself, Ronald Joseph Aaron Burgundy, have come to terms on a sequel to Anchorman,” Burgundy told the audience. “It is official, there will be sequel to Anchorman.”

The news was confirm by Director Adam McKay, who tweeted: “A few people questioning if Anchorman 2 is 100% for sure happening. Let me assure and assuage: it is. We’re writing now and we shoot in Feb.”

The entire Channel 4 News Team will return with the possible exception of Burgundy’s love interest and co-anchor Veronica Corningstone, played by Christina Applegate. A rep for Applegate told Celebuzz, “[We'd] love for it to happen. She’d love to be a part of it.” They added that they’re “excited about the prospect.” It almost sounds like she hasn’t even been asked. Maybe this be a prequel where women still can’t be Anchorladies.

Anchorman 2? is a post from: L7 World

Bay claims the change will make the movie more believable but a cynic might suspect it’s just so he can change the abbreviation to TNT. After all, Bay is known for his explosive movies. He’s even parodied his obsession in a Verizon commercial (video right).

But it’s no joke to fanboys like Robbie Rist, who supplied the voice of Michelangelo in the original movies. Rist’s Facebook page featured an open letter to Bay, accusing him of “sodomizing” the series. “I know believing in mutated talking turtles is kinda silly to begin with but am I supposed to be led to believe there are ninjas from another planet?” asks Rist. “You know that ninjas are a certain kind of cultural charact….
Oh what the hell am I talking to you for? The rape of our childhood memories continues…..”

Bay is unswayed and has issued an unsympathetic response on his website. “Fans need to take a breath, and chill,” Bay wrote. “They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.”

TMNT Co-Creator Peter Laird has taken Bay’s prescribed chill pill and encourages others to do the same. “I have realized that in one way it IS truly a genius notion,” Laird blogged. “The reason I say it could be a ‘genius’ idea is that — for the first time — someone has come up with a way to have as many freakin’ Turtles as they want. I mean, if the TMNT are actually members of an alien race, there could be a whole PLANET of them!”

That’s assuming their planet didn’t explode after they were sent to Earth to be raised by Master Splinter.

What The Shell! Michael Bay Shreds TMNT Origin is a post from: L7 World

The Hunger Games Game is a post from: L7 World

This isn’t your typical killer robot story. It gets you to sympathize with the machine but not by humanizing it, rather by dehumanizing the human.

At first Blinky acts as a surrogate parent, but the boy quickly grows bored with it. Alex quits in the middle of a game of hide and seek. When the robot finds him, he orders it stand out in the rain and count down from one million. Alex tries to elicit a response by barking out conflicting commands and berating the robot, but it continually responds “no problem.”

Actor Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are) does such a good job of playing the spoiled brat that you find yourself constantly hoping this will be the moment that Blinky inevitably snaps. Of course, it never snaps because it’s not alive. The robot just obediently counts down to the last command it received, before it calls out “Ready or not, here I come.”

Watch BlinkyTM below:

Blinky TM Movie and Review is a post from: L7 World

In the new family friendly, but less groovy, trailer we learn more about Norman’s paranormal ability to see dead people including his Grandmother and other not-so-friendly ghosts.

ParaNormal Release Date: August 17, 2012
Trailers below:

ParaNorman – New Trailer is a post from: L7 World

Fanboys Scream “Nooo” More Star War Changes is a post from: L7 World

UPDATE:
Neither company bothered to respond, which besides being horrible customer service, suggests that they have no explanation and they think saying sorry will be taken as an admission of guilt or they simply aren’t sorry.

Memorial Thor’s Day is a post from: L7 World

The General Bureau of Radio, Film and Television is banning all time travel stories, calling them “disrespectful to history.”

Chinahush.com translated the original story: “The time-travel drama is becoming a hot theme for TV and films. But its content and the exaggerated performance style are questionable. Many stories are totally made-up and are made to strain for an effect of novelty. The producers and writers are treating the serious history in a frivolous way, which should by no means be encouraged anymore.”

China Outlaws Time Travel is a post from: L7 World