Sherlock Holmes: New International Featurette

Our friends at SuperHeroHype have a new international featurette for Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan and Kelly Reilly. Check it out below:

What do you think? Are you interested in Sherlock Holmes? Are you just going for the rumored Iron Man 2 teaser? Let us know below!

Sherlock Holmes, directed by Guy Ritchie, hits theaters everywhere on December 25th, Christmas Day.

Iron Man 2: Stark’s ‘Tude Ain’t Goin’ Anywhere

Iron Man 2 is starting to slowly but surely pick up some steam as we move forward to the May 7th, 2010 release. We already had the viral site start (and go nowhere, though hopefully that changes after we get a teaser, possibly as early as next month), we’ve seen some pictures of the new baddies and we’ve seen some magazine covers tease us.


Now, we have another magazine with a tasty little headline for us:

Iron Man 2


Make anyone else excited? Good to see some coverage of Iron Man to take us away from the bombardment of Avatar news. Personally, I can’t wait for a teaser (and more) from this movie. So what do you think? Are you looking forward to Iron Man 2? Regard it indifferently? Do you not care at all? Let us know in the comments!


Iron Man 2 hits theaters everywhere on May 7th, 2010. Check out our Iron Man 2 Page for more information on the viral campaign and the film itself.

Avatar: Ten Featurettes in the Interactive Trailer

Fox continues their huge Avatar push with a new ‘interactive trailer’, which allows you to jump from the trailer to the featurette during important points. These featurettes are designed to help you get a better understanding of the creatures and characters within Avatar. You can get see the featurettes on Avatar’s website.


Here are some examples:

So what do you think about the featurettes? What do you think about Avatar in general? Is it living up to the hype, or will it bomb at the box office when it opens on December 18th? Leave your thoughts in the comments!


Thanks to TrailerAddict for the embed links.

Viral Review: 9

Shane Acker’s 9 has been in theaters for a couple weeks now (read my review here). The viral has since died down, so it looks like it’s about time to review it.


Sites used:

Scientist’s Facebook

Scientist’s laboratory


9′s viral campaign initially kicked off back in mid-June with the scientist’s Facebook page, as well as an interactive viral site that showed you around his laboratory.

Periodically, new clues and hints would pop up in his lab that would reveal new secrets within. One of these were the letters in ‘hope’ sprawled across the lab, which, when clicked on, would give you a symbol that you would then enter into his typewriter, giving you an exclusive interview/clip from the movie. These little things, while nice, were all the viral really did. There was nothing more to it than just some little cast interviews and extended clips that were already in the trailers.


9



A few days before the movie released, however, a site was found off of 9experiment that let you save a ‘talisman’ for the future, should any life forms find it. In said talisman, you left pictures of yourself along with a block of text with your memories and/or hopes for the future, along with whatever else you had in mind. A cool feature, but still lacking anything majorly ‘viral’.


Did the sites play into the movie at all?

If you followed any of these sites prior to seeing the movie, you will have a better, while still minimal, understanding of the backstory and universe in this movie. The sites are never mentioned (as expected), but in the scenes where you’re in the scientist’s lab, there are definitely things strewn about that one might recognize from his lab site. Other than that, nothing is really connected from viral to film.


Final Grade: C-


How can something be present and absent at the same time? What did you think of the viral campaign for 9? The film is currently in theaters.

Movie Review: 9

Shane Acker’s new film, 9, produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, is finally out in theaters today.


9 tells the story of 9 little ‘puppets’ that a scientist has created in hopes that they can help defeat the turned-evil machines that said scientist earlier created (he was originally developing them for good purposes, but his work was interrupted, and, as a result, the machines ended up turning on humanity and attacking).


9



First off, I would just like to say that the animation in this movie was unbelievable. It was nearly flawless, save a few scenes where little things seemed off, almost like homages to Tim Burton’s ‘A Nightmare Before Christmas’. Otherwise, I have no qualms.


The story, however, is a bit repetitive. The scientist created these machines, then the puppets, and the entire movie revolves around them running from shelter to shelter fighting the machines and sabotaging them from the inside.


One of the best parts of 9 is, of course, the puppets. They all look the same in color and form (except for 7, who is played by Jennifer Connelly), but they are so easily distinguishable that you’ll never be left wondering who said what and who is who. By the second scene in the movie, you’re already connecting with these puppets on an emotional level. When 9 meets 2, you can tell that 2 has no idea what’s going on (you’ll find out why 2 is where he is when you see the film), and even when you’re clueless with him, you still connect with these characters. 3 and 4, the twins, provide some laughs with their silent-but-hyper behavior. 5, who is played by John C. Reilly, doesn’t really have a special characteristic, but he’s still a great character.


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6, the crazy artist of the group, has minimal lines, but when he does speak, his one or two word sentences clue you in on so much. 7 is the badass of the group, and really the person who saves everyone’s cheese the entire movie. 9, of course, played by Elijah Wood, is admirable when he stands up to 1 as the noobie in the group, new yet fearless and without doubt in his actions.


What would a movie be without the character(s) you can’t stand? I wouldn’t go so far as to say that some characters are un-bearable, but some are very ‘meh’. 1 comes to mind above the rest. His idiotic side-kick, 8, is just a lumbering oaf.


The real baddies in the movie, the machines, were interesting. There were so many different versions of machines that not every machine could be explained, they just show up and disappear a couple minutes later, which is a bit disappointing.


My biggest complaint by far with this film is length. It’s an hour and 19 minutes long, and there is room for SO much more in this movie. While I say that the story is a bit repetitive, the ending is still a bit rushed and, perhaps, a tad ridiculous in the closing moments (at least in my opinion).


9



9 is a very enjoyable movie, with fantastic visuals and likeable characters who you really connect with and feel for. Be warned though, some little kids will most likely be disturbed by some of the sudden loud noises and imagery. This might be an animated movie, but it does earn it’s PG-13 rating in certain scenes.


Official MovieViral Rating: 8/10

9: Save Your Talisman! + New Clip

There is a cool little addition to the 9 viral this morning.  In an alternate approach to a time-capsule, you can go and save your talisman for the future, should anyone see it. The site takes your pictures and positions them together in a collage to make one picture of you (of your choosing). You can upload as many pictures as you want to your talisman, as well as a 500-character limit message. Show us your talismans!


In non-viral 9 news, Apple premiered this new clip from the movie:





I haven’t seen the clip, and don’t intend to, as I want everything to be fresh in this movie. If you watch it, though, feel free to drop us a comment with your thoughts on the clip!


9 hits theaters everywhere on September 9th, 2009. It is directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmembetov. For more information on 9 viral campaign, check out our 9 Page.


Special thanks to forum member Kris for the heads-up about the talisman.

2012: First Clip

Our friends at HeyUGuys have a new clip from Roland Emmerich’s 2012.

Watch it here:

 


Gotta love that Bentley voice-activation plug, eh? Other than that, I think I can safely say that we’ve never seen a destruction/apocalypse movie like this before. Emmerich went ice-age style with The Day After Tomorrow, invasion style with Independence Day, but nothing like this. This looks insane. The guys at ILM really did an amazing job on everything we’ve seen so far.


What do you guys think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!


2012 is in theaters everywhere on November 13th, 2009.


Our own Scott Caldwell is running for the leader of the post-2012 world leader! Become one of his advocates here! For more information on the 2012 viral campaign, check out our 2012 Page.

9: New Clip and Fan Videos

There is a new video clip from Elijah Wood and Timur Bekmambetov for their upcoming film ’9′.

Watch it here:

Fans have also been making their own videos and posting them on YouTube. Some of them are pretty clever, take a look.


9/Wall-E Trailer:

9 crossed with A Nightmare Before Christmas:

Fantastic Mr. 9:

9 hits theaters everywhere on September 9th, 2009. It is directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Tim Bekmembetov (director of Wanted previously).

2012: Election 3rd Week of Challenges

Just a quick little heads up – the IHC has announced that the 3rd week of challenges in their search for the post-2012 apocalypse leader has begun at the IHC’s website.


Here’s a pic of the Reasoning game:


Reasoning


In the game, you have to solve a puzzle just by observation and noticing patterns. Unfortunately, I could only play the games once so I wasn’t able to get a pic from the other 2, Culture and what I believe was Strategy. In the Culture game, you are simply finding 5 differences between two pictures within a minute, and you only have as many clicks as there are differences (it’s not as hard as it seems by any means). In the Strategy game, you are trying to form boxes in a grid while facing a computer opponent. It’s actually a tad confusing and takes a little bit to get used to.


Personally, I think the games are a little silly for something of this magnitude (a post apocalypse leader), but I didn’t expect the IHC to make you prove Einstein’s theories wrong.


The 2012 viral involves the IHC (Institute for Human Continuity), an organization that designed to help the world get through the 2012 apocalypse, but is now trying to find a post-apocalypse leader. On the opposite end, there is Charlie Frost, the all-too-common self-proclaimed prophet who is wholeheartedly convinced that December 21st, 2012 is the end of the world.


For more info about the 2012 campaign, check out our 2012 page.


2012 opens in theaters everywhere on November 13th, 2009.


Our new contributing editor Scott is running in the election, so make sure you become an advocate for him here.

District 10: Blomkamp Wants Sharlto Back

Our friends at /Film have an article about Neill Blomkamp talking about a District 9 sequel and how he wants Sharlto Copley (Wikus van de Merwe) back in it.

I don’t think I’m alone when I say…how could they make a sequel without Wikus? Is there anything they could do that he wouldn’t have to present for it to work?

Blomkamp seemingly realizes this too, as he’s said:

I’d really like to go back to the world of District 9—which, without Sharlto’s character, would be a very different kind of movie. So I think automatically the two of us will be reunited again, should the public decide that this film is something they want to see and it’s successful.

But will District 9′s sequel (District 10?) be Neill’s next feature?

I’ve actually got an idea now for the next film I want to do, which is [another] science fiction movie.

I heard on the forum that his next movie takes place on another planet, could he be teasing us about the sequel? Doubtful.

What do you guys think? Should Blomkamp immediately return to the District 9 universe? Or should he take a break and/or turn his other idea into a feature film?

As for my 2 cents, I don’t see how Sony would turn down a sequel. The movie made almost 125% of it’s budget back opening weekend, albeit that budget was $30 million. There’s no way that Neill or Sharlto will just ‘retire’ after one movie. They HAVE to come back.