How Shazam! Pulled Off Its Bus Rescue Scene

How Shazam! Pulled Off Its Bus Rescue Scene

If you caught the latest Shazam! trailer, you saw a cool sequence where the eponymous hero prevents a bus from crashing into the ground. It’s one of Billy Batson’s many heroic moments within his DC Extended Universe movie, but as is the case with when making a blockbuster, pulling off this scene was a difficult endeavor, one which required the occupants inside the bus to actually fall. As director David F. Sandberg and producer Peter Safran explained:

David F. Sandberg: We bought a bunch of buses. We built a part of that overpass bridge. Our physical effects team were amazing because they built this whole rig where not only did we drive the bus through this railing, but this rig would sort of tilt the whole bus. So those guys falling through the bus, they’re actually falling through the bus.

Peter Safran: There was a big hinge mechanism on there that could take it from horizontal to vertical, the real bus. And then David had all the actors on descenders, so they were at the back of the bus, and they were dropped to the front. So it was remarkably practical for a superhero movie these days, which are so filled with VFX, there was a lot of really practical stuff that really went into that sequence.

The bus scene was among the many Shazam!-related topics discussed when David F. Sandberg and Peter Safran’s stopped by the ReelBlend podcast. As Safran noted, while it certainly would have been easy for the Shazam! VFX team to put together this sequence digitally, it’s admirable that the crew went the practical route using multiple buses and that special rig, thus making it feel more realistic. Props to the performers inside for also being good sports about being thrown from one end of the bus to another.

As the bus scene appears to unfold in the Shazam! trailer (it’s possible that the way it’s cut in the preview doesn’t exactly reflect how it happens in the actual movie), the Shazam-ified Billy Batson is shooting lighting bolts out of his hand to impress a crowd when one of his bolts hits one of the bus’ tires as it’s driving on an overpass nearby. The driver loses control and drives off the edge, but luckily Billy swoops in and catches the bus before impact. It just goes to show that if you play with lightning, you’re going to cause pandemonium on the road.

You can listen to David F. Sandberg and Peter Safran’s full interview about Shazam! on ReelBlend below!

Inspired by numerous eras of Shazam’s comic book history, Shazam! sees Billy Batson meeting the mysterious Wizard shortly after joining a new foster family and gaining the ability to become an adult superhero. With the help of Freddy Freeman, Billy will slowly get the hang of using powers like super strength, flight, hyper speed and electricity manipulation, but he’ll also have to put these powers to good use going up against the sinister Dr. Sivana, a brilliant scientist who has somehow obtained his own magical powers.

You can see Shazam! in theaters starting tomorrow evening, but don’t forget to read our review of the latest DCEU installment. You can also find out what else this superhero franchise has in the works by looking with our handy guide.

Hellboy Can’t Have Sex With Humans Says Actor David Harbour

Hellboy Can’t Have Sex With Humans Says Actor David Harbour

The upcoming Hellboy movie is an entirely new take on the character compared to the version created by Guillermo del Toro. While we know the movie will be more violent, as it has achieved an R-rating, many of the other details regarding how this new version of the character will be different from the one movie fans know have yet to be revealed. However, David Harbour, who plays the title role, says one way his character is different is that he won't have a love interest, because apparently he can't have sex with humans.

This isn't an entirely random piece of Hellboy trivia. Well, it is, but it seems that there's a reason these things are being considered. It seems that Hellboy's lack of human...connection will be part of the reason that he feels so isolated among humans, which will therefore make the idea of Hellboy bringing about the apocalypse potentially more attractive to him. According to Harbour...

The other thing that we explore somewhat is — I mean, one of the interesting things to me about the Guillermo del Toro movies was that he had a love interest, right? And she was like a fire starter, and but I just think that Hellboy can’t have a human being. He probably can’t have sex with a human being because it would probably end disastrously, because of his demonic parts or whatever. So I just feel like what I wanted to explore was that loneliness, and you know, there’s the temptations that you have to, if you do create a darker world as the beast of the apocalypse, you can have sex. You can have a girlfriend. You can live your life. But to live in the human world and to protect humanity, you have to sacrifice some of your nature, and your actual nature, as opposed to this concept of destiny, just that your actual nature somewhat gets sacrificed.

In Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy, the title character had a relationship with a pyrokinetic woman named Liz, played by Selma Blair. The relationship was, complicated, but it was one of the things that grounded Hellboy and kept him strongly in the anti-apocalypse camp.

The actual mechanics of Hellboy's relationship in a physical sense is never dealt with in the previous films, but David Harbour tells JoBlo that his version of the character absolutely can't have sex with humans. To be fair, it's as good a motivation as any for bringing about the end of the world.

It seems that we won't be seeing Hellboy have a relationship like that this time around. Instead of being a character who embraces humanity and wants to be and act more human. Hellboy will instead feel alone. He has no connection to the demon world, but he also can't simply join the human world.

Hellboy is destined to bring about the apocalypse in the comics. Whether he chooses to embrace or reject that destiny is potentially much more relatable when you consider it in these simpler terms. Hellboy may love the human world but he also may want to live in a place where he can feel stronger connections, so maybe the end of the world wouldn't be so bad.

Hellboy hits theater April 12.

All The Planet Of The Apes Movies, Ranked

All The Planet Of The Apes Movies, Ranked

Before The Avengers, before Harry Potter and even before Star Wars, there was the Planet Of The Apes series. Starting with the original in 1968 and now up to its ninth film in the series, War For Planet Of The Apes, the series was one of the first major franchises in movie history.

Sure, there had been some long-running B-horror movie franchises and a handful of other examples in other genres – most notably James Bond - but Planet Of The Apes was basically the first one that set the template for what we understand to be major franchises, like The Avengers and Star Wars.

All told, there have been books, graphic novels, a TV show, toys and video games based on the series, just as there are for modern franchises. There are also nine Planet of the Apes movies that make up the franchise, though unlike some of the major franchises, the nine are separated into three distinct versions of the story and there isn’t a linear story to all nine. But, with that said, let’s get into which of these movies is the worst, which is the best and which ones fall in between.

9. Planet of the Apes (2001)

Tim Burton’s remake was supposed to be a hit. It had fans of the long-forgotten series, which had not released a new film for almost three decades, salivating at the thought of what the great Tim Burton could do with the world they loved. Surely his unique way of looking at things and his distinct style of filmmaking was perfect for a remake. After all, his Batman movie in 1989 reinvigorated that franchise.

Instead, sadly, this Planet of the Apes movie was a total disappointment. The whole project was in production hell for years before Tim Burton and his crew would take it on, casting Mark Wahlberg as a human astronaut that goes forward in time thousands of years and ends up on the Planet Of The Apes. Tim Roth plays the villain and Helena Bonham Carter stars as the love interest of sorts.

The plot is a time-traveling mess and it’s hard to follow, but it ends with Marky Mark somehow going back in time to what he thinks is his own time, on what looks like his Earth, until he looks up and sees Tim Roth’s ape character sitting on the chair in the Lincoln Memorial. So… it’s even further into the future? Who knows.

8. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes was the fifth and final installment of the original series. It was made on a shoestring budget and it shows. Even the reviews of the day said it felt like the franchise was on its last legs.

The film opens in the future, but tells the story, in flashback, of how Caesar, played by Roddy McDowell, after the war of Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, attempts to rebuild the world. His human foe, Kolp, leading what is left of the human population, rises up against Caesar and the Apes, and after some serious fighting, peace is made between the apes and the humans.

The movie, like its predecessor, Conquest, is meant to be a comment of racial equality, but also like its predecessor, it is little too on the nose and a little ham-handed.

7. Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970)

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes was a hastily thrown together sequel of the original 1968 movie, and it shows. Like a lot of direct sequels to big movies in the '70s and '80s, it sort of doesn’t fit into the larger narrative. Though it does end in the nuclear explosion that does create the post-apocalyptic world that would drive the events of Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Charlton Heston does briefly return from the original, though his role is significantly smaller, as the story follows another astronaut, Brent, that followed Heston’s character, Taylor, to the planet to rescue him. Roddy McDowall, who plays Cornelius in the original movie, is absent from this one, again showing that the big picture wasn’t in play here, as his character would become very important to the story arc in the future movies.

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes a good enough movie, but it really lacks the broader vision that would come with the following movies. It’s just sort of a cut and dry simple sequel that quickly tries to follow the main story of the first movie and the bigger picture, including the weird telepathic humans that don’t really have much of a larger role in the following movies.

6. Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (1972)

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Planet Of The Apes is the first time fans of the series would meet a fully grown Caesar. The character Caesar is perhaps the most famous character in the series, as he played a pivotal role in the end of the original five films and is the hero of the reboot series that began in 2011.

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes follows Caesar, who was born to Cornelius and Zira in Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, which was set in the 1970s. In Conquest, set in the early 1990s in America, Caesar is living as a circus performer, hiding his ability to speak and his intelligence with his handler, Armando.

Caesar is tracked by Kolp (who is also fully introduced in this film) and is eventually captured, but he escapes after he avoids execution. Caesar leads the apes in rebellion against the humans, and at the end he shows his mercy and makes a speech declaring peace and his desire to see apes and humans live together, a theme that was continued in Battle.

5. Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971)

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes is when the series really starts to put together a larger story, and it all sort of happened as a happy accident. Due to budget constraints, the film was set in 1971 New York City, so it wouldn’t require elaborate sets and costumes like the previous two.

Roddy McDowall returns to the fold as his character, Cornelius, and his wife Zira escape the apocalypse of Beneath on Taylor’s spaceship and land in current-day New York. At first they are welcomed, but, as would become a recurring theme in the series, they're eventually discriminated against once it is revealed that Zira is pregnant with Caesar.

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes begins the larger story of how the apes came to dominate Earth in the future and the genesis of intelligent apes. Like all the movies, it’s a little cheesy compared to today’s movies, but the story has vision, which was not only new for the Apes movies, but also movies on the whole. The first true sci-fi franchise was really born with Escape From The Planet Of The Apes.

4. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is the second entry in the rebooted trilogy that starts with Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. It explores the beginnings of the conflict between the newly intelligent apes, led by Caesar, played by the absolutely amazing Andy Serkis, against what is remaining of the human population after the Simian Flu that gave increased intelligence to the apes and all but completely wiped out the human population.

All three films in the rebooted trilogy are excellent and Dawn is no exception. Going back the first one, Rise, one of the smartest things the creators of the new series did was ground the origin story of the Caesar and the smart apes in true science fiction. Instead of a simple story that starts with a time-traveling astronaut, they base the genesis of the smart apes on biotech and simple evolution. It’s a great choice.

Unlike the original Planet of the Apes series' first sequel, it’s clear from this sequel that the larger story has been more fully fleshed out from the beginning. While much of Dawn deals with the internal conflicts among the ape population, particularly Caesar and his rival Koba, the big picture conflict with the humans is at the heart of it, as Caesar wants to live in peace, but Koba sees no option but war. Like the original series, the reboots serve as a commentary for race relations and equality.

3. War For The Planet Of The Apes (2017)

The final installment (for now) of the new trilogy, War For The Planet Of The Apes is a tremendous conclusion to the Caesar story and the origins of the “new” planet.

War For The Planet Of The Apes is also filled with nice references to the original series, like the twist of having Caesar’s son named Cornelius, rather than Cornelius being the name of Caesar’s father in the original series. Caesar also rescues a mute woman named Nova, which is a nod to the original character Nova from the first movie, who is also a devolved human.

The plot of the film is driven by great performances by Andy Serkis again as Caesar and Woody Harrelson as his human antagonist, the evil Colonel. War continues the broader themes of equality by using The Colonel as human obsessed with killing the evolved apes rather than live in harmony, and this eventually leads to Caesar being forced into a position that he didn’t want to take: a violent uprising against The Colonel and his men.

2. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011)

The reboot of the Planet Of The Apes series was an instant classic. Unlike its two successors, Dawn and War, it is light on pure action, at least until the end, and it is strong as an origin story. Like most great science fiction, the story is based somewhere near reality.

In Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, viewers learn about a drug that James Franco’s character, Will, is developing to treat Alzheimer’s Disease. Testing for the drug is being done on apes. One of the apes is Caesar’s mother, and when she is exposed to the drug, her intelligence increases dramatically. However, she also loses control and is shot, but not until after she has given birth to Caesar, who inherited his mother’s intelligence.

Will takes Caesar home and continues to secretly develop the drug for his father, who is suffering. Eventually, Caesar begins to understand the larger world and his low standing in it as a primate, and after attacking Will’s neighbor, he ends up in monkey jail, which further steels his resolve to rise up. He does finally lead a revolution and the movie ends with Caesar and the rest of the apes escaping to the Redwood forests of Northern California, setting up the conflicts of the future.

1. Planet of the Apes (1968)

The one that started them all is still the best. Sure the original Planet Of The Apes is a little campy and it’s not nearly as slick or as good looking as the reboots, but it is the one that first grabbed people with the amazing story with the incredible twist.

The first time anyone sees the movie, especially if they don’t know the ending, it digs deep into the viewer’s imagination. The twist, when Charlton Heston’s character Taylor sees the top of the Statue Of Liberty and realizes that he is in fact trapped in the future and that the fate of humanity is doomed, is just brilliant. It’s the kind of story that sticks with audiences for a long time. It’s frankly one of the most iconic scenes in movie history.

Planet Of The Apes deserves its place at the top of the list because obviously without it, there would be no list. It has its drawbacks, like how the special effects are primitive (no pun intended) by today’s standards, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the story (and that twist) that matter. Charlton Heston’s performance is great, as is Roddy McDowall’s as Cornelius. It’s a movie that everyone should see at least once and probably way more than that.

So that’s the list. We hope there are more Planet of the Apes movies in the future, but in the meantime, what do you think? Let us know in the comments and answer the poll below!

How Brightburn Helped James Gunn Get Through His Guardians Of The Galaxy Firing

How Brightburn Helped James Gunn Get Through His Guardians Of The Galaxy Firing

It's no secret that superhero movies are everywhere. The genre has proven itself endlessly popular, and it seems every studio wants to get in on the action. And while superhero fatigue is a valid concern from fans, director/writer/producer James Gunn has been crafting wholly unique additions to the genre. The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies were critical and box office successes, although Vol. 3 was put on hold after Gunn was fired by Disney.

James Gunn has since been reinstated to direct Guardians 3, in addition to nabbing the directing job for DC's The Suicide Squad. But before either of those movies arrive, we have the horror-inspired Brightburn. Brightburn will bring something new to the genre with a twist on the classic Superman origin story, and Gunn recently revealed how the upcoming movie helped him work through his unceremonious Marvel departure. He said:

I like to work, so Brightburn was a great help to me when I wasn't doing anything.

James Gunn's career came to a screeching halt when he was fired from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Despite completing the script for the threequel, Gunn was removed from the property after controversial tweets from a decade ago resurfaced. And after apologizing for these poor jokes, Gunn was pulled from Guardians of the Galaxy for a series of months.

It's during this time that James Gunn put his focus on Brightburn, which he worked on as a producer. In his same conversation with USA Today, Gunn said the horror inspired superhero flick was "definitely something I could focus on" during one of the more difficult time in his life. And while everything ultimately worked out, perhaps Brightburn will benefit from Gunn's contributions and hunger for distraction. It's already got a interesting concept and strong marketing campaign behind it.

Brightburn is going to be totally unique take on the superhero genre, especially where Clark Kent/Superman are concerned. While the last son of Krypton is usually a symbol for good, that's not exactly how it's all going to go down for Brandon Breyer in Brightburn. Instead, we'll watch as a superpowered young man turns to the dark side, and uses his abilities to exact his dark childish whims.

Related: Zoe Saldana Is 'Proud' Of James Gunn And Disney For Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Rehire

James Gunn's contribution to the superhero genre has already been significant, as Guardians of the Galaxy has become one of Marvel Studios' most beloved franchises. Gunn's perspective is critical to that formula, as his sense of humor, taste of music, and even dance moves have been woven into the tapestry of the first two Guardians movies.

It's James Gunn's artistic vision that will hopefully bring another big screen success with Brightburn. And we're just days away from its release, so Gunn's return to the theaters is imminent. That, along with The Suicide Squad and eventually Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

While all seemed lost at the time that James Gunn was dropped by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his tenure in the superhero genre isn't slowing down anytime soon. Brightburn will arrive in theaters shortly, bringing something unique to the genre. And after that's over, he's got two more major comic book adaptations coming down the pipeline. Plus, who knows what's next after that.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is no doubt the most anticipated movie on James Gunn's schedule. Gunn didn't have an easy task with the original 2014 movie, adapting a fairly unknown group of comic book heroes for the big screen. But it made a ton of money at the box office, and the Guardians soon become some of the most popular characters in the entire MCU.

Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame

The upcoming threequel will end the narrative that James Gunn began with the original, and follow up with the titular team of heroes following the events of the last two Avengers movies. A number of years passed between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and their appearance in Infinity War, and the group had become a real family unit. But they were hit hard during Thanos' assault, with only Rocket and Nebula surviving the Mad Titan's snap.

Those two unlikely allies helped bring all the dusted characters back. Meanwhile, Gamora was resurrected via time travel, as the 2014 version of Zoe Saldana's character came to present day. Guardians 3 will no doubt follow the group's mission to find her, as well as Thor's inclusion into the team.

But before any of that happens, James Gunn will be working on the DC side of things with The Suicide Squad. Gunn's developing project will be a follow-up to David Ayer's less than stellar (albeit still Oscar winning) 2016 blockbuster. It should be interesting to see what the Guardians director does with another motley crew, only this time they'll be bad guys.

Seemingly anything is possible for The Suicide Squad, as there have been some conflicting reports regarding the upcoming movie's contents. Some reports indicated that James Gunn was doing a reboot o the franchise, rather than a direct sequel to David Ayer's Suicide Squad. But a few familiar faces have joined the cast, with actors Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, and Jai Courtney all reprising their roles from the original film.

But there is one James Gunn project that still sitting in development hell, with no real plan of moving forward. And it's actually a movie, rather than another big screen blockbuster. Gunn has been attached to a Starky and Hutch reboot for a number of years, with the latest development indicating it might have a home on Amazon. But we haven't heard anything from that camp in a while, especially since James Gunn was fired from his position in the Guardians franchise.

Overall, it looks like James Gunn's career could potentially go anywhere. He's one of the rare cases of a Hollywood figure being reinstated to the position they were so publicly fired from. But Gunn seems to have made amends for his poor choices, and his career seems to be right back on track. Now we'll just have to see where that takes him once the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy has been completed.

Brightburn will arrive in theaters on May 24, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Dave Bautista Calls His Guardians Of The Galaxy Audition 'A Nightmare'

Dave Bautista Calls His Guardians Of The Galaxy Audition 'A Nightmare'

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth undertaking, with many franchises and heroes occupying the big screen. But there are certain properties that have especially resonated with audiences, and chief among them is James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. Gunn took a relatively unknown group of motley characters, and brought a quirky set of movies that elevated the cast to fan favorites. And that includes Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer.

Drax is a scene stealer in the Guardians and Avengers movies, with Bautista showing off his comedic chops in the process. But according to the wrestler turned actor, he had a terrible audition for the role. He recently opened up about this during a public appearance, saying:

Oh my God, it was a nightmare. I was terrified. I was really desperate at the time, I had hardly worked in three years, and I had gone broke from wrestling and I was desperate to get a job. I finally got an agent like two weeks before I got the audition for Guardians. My agent says 'You know, I really had to fight to get you this audition. It was really hard to get, they didn't really want to audition you. They didn't want any pro wrestlers, so I don't want to get your hopes up.’

While auditions are always a nerve-wracking experience, it looks like the stakes were especially high for Dave Bautista when it came to playing Drax. He needed a job badly, and apparently the odds were stacked against him. But we all know how that turned out.

It's hard to imagine anyone but Dave Bautista playing Drax, but that doesn't mean the role was straight up offered to the 50 year-old actor. His star power has grown significantly due to playing the Marvel hero, but he was lacking that reputation back when he was auditioning to play the role. As such, he had to work doubly hard to bring something unique to the room, and truly be considered to be a Guardian of the Galaxy.

Related: Dave Bautista Doesn’t Think The Rock Is A Good Actor

So how exactly did Dave Bautista do it? Namely, but working hard on the audition material with an acting coach. Later in his appearance at Denver Pop Culture Con (via CBR), he explained what ultimately went into that fateful audition. He said:

He built my hopes really low, so I went in with low expectations. I didn't understand Drax. I called my acting coach and said 'I don't get this,' and he flipped out because he's like the biggest fanboy. Anyway, he made me do the research and I found one picture of Drax, and I said 'That looks like me!' He babied me through this whole process, my first and second auditions, my acting coach came with me. I read for Sarah Finn, she's amazing. I read with her and she said 'Don't be nervous. Take your time, we can be here all day.'

While Dave Bautista really needed to land the gig of Drax, it looks like he did have a fair amount of support behind his Guardians and the Galaxy try-out. That includes a warm room, with the casting director encouraging Bautista to take his time and make the most of his audition. It was a formula that worked, and he's been killing it as Drax the Destroyer ever since.

You can see Dave Bautista as Drax in Avengers: Endgame now, and he'll eventually reprise the role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

To 3D Or Not To 3D: Buy The Right Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Ticket

To 3D Or Not To 3D: Buy The Right Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Ticket

Oh friends, they say he’s back again; go go, Godzilla! The world of Titans and man has been brought back into our cinematic lives again, as Godzilla: King of the Monsters is ready to take theaters by storm. In addition to the chaos and destruction it’s ready to leave in its wake, the film has us asking that question we love to trot out in the face of utter desolation: to 3D, or not to 3D?

If you’re curious what our thoughts on Godzilla: King of the Monsters are, check out the official CinemaBlend review of the film. Otherwise, it’s time to go Monarch on this monster movie and analyze just how well director Michael Dougherty’s follow-up to 2014’s Godzilla fares in terms of its third-dimensional experience.

Gigantic Titans fighting it out in the streets on a global scale is one of those delights that 3D has always been meant to draw its audience into. And Godzilla: King of the Monsters has all those thrills that promise to be 3D delights, should the right conversion be in play. Not to mention, all of the destructive activity that is required to free the Titans in this film lends itself to some extra third-dimensional thrills as well. Of course, the best intentions can lead to the worst let-downs.

This isn’t the first time a Godzilla film, or even a Monster-Verse film has been brought to the masses in 3D. So seeing Godzilla: King of the Monsters coming in at slightly below the efforts of those two previous films is kind of a bummer. There’s definitely a thrilling aspect to seeing the film play out in the third dimension, but the age old problem of brightness levels rears its head again to challenge this clash of Titans. That said, there’s still some rather impressive elements in this 3D presentation’s cannon.

When Godzilla: King of the Monsters uses its ability to project items off the screen, it’s pretty damned cool to look at. In particular, there are scenes where guns are drawn by various characters on either side of the conflict, and they feel like they’re pointed right into the audience. Unfortunately, for a movie with debris flying everywhere, explosions going off left and right and a three-headed Titan staring down an army of humans, the effect of objects coming off the screen isn’t used nearly enough. But at the very least, there’s an admirable effort.

Peering into the depths of this particular film’s 3D conversion is an absolute treat, as Godzilla: King of the Monsters definitely takes the time to flesh out the world beyond the characters, and in various settings. From the hallways of a Monarch bunker to underwater depths that Godzilla swims through, you can feel the endless world spanning behind what’s in front of the audience at any given time. As such, characters are sharply drawn with spatial reasoning that sets them apart from each other, as well as the environments they occupy, allowing the characters and the background to have impressive depths of their own.

When you have a movie that takes place mostly in dark, lowly lit settings, the brightness factor is always going to be a challenge. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is one such film, as it bathes its settings in various shades of blue and orange, and takes place during some very cloudy weather events. While mileage always varies on this sort of thing, as the brightness partially depends on how well your theater maintains its projection equipment, Godzilla: King of the Monsters has a brightness problem that extends through most of the film’s running time. Daytime scenes are coated with the usual grey dimming, but the lowly lit scenes are a bit of a chore to watch, and that’s a good majority of the film’s action.

If your eyes happen to get tired, and they might with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, you’ll be tempted to raise your 3D glasses and peek at the screen. Naturally, doing so will show you the blur that makes any 3D enhanced film what it is, as typically the blurrier the film is, the more it’s playing towards the 3D thrills you’d expect. And there’s definitely a healthy blur factor, in particular with the backgrounds that are being shown to the audience. A lot of scenes will have close-ups of characters drawing those figures in slightly more 2D fashion, as if to anchor the action going on in the back.

There are a lot of panning shots and quick cuts of action that mess around with Godzilla: King of the Monster’s 3D presentation, and as such the audience health will be impacted by movement so swift the eyes don’t have a chance to settle. Pair that with an overall dimness in what’s being presented, and you have a recipe for some eyestrain soup that tires the audience when they look at it.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is enough to make one long for the days when IMAX used to do large format presentations in 3D. Alas, you’re most likely to find standard 3D as your only option for third-dimensional thrills, and if you know a theater you trust to keep their rigs bright and tidy, you’d probably have some fun with Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

That said, it’s by far the weakest of the three Monster-Verse films committed to the medium, and as Godzilla Vs. Kong is undoubtedly going to be both a large format and 3D release, there’s a lot to think about before heading into the third dimension yet again. It’s not a bad conversion, but overall, it’s not impressive enough to sing the praises of.

Be sure to visit our full To 3D Or Not To 3D Archive.

Jordan Peele's Inspiration For Us Came From His Own Fear Of Doppelgängers

Jordan Peele's Inspiration For Us Came From His Own Fear Of Doppelgängers

The most terrifying entries into the horror genre are the ones that address our own deepest fears, and Jordan Peele’s second film Us looks to be explore a common anxiety with the tagline “we are our own worst enemy”. What’s more spine-chilling then the idea that we are the villain holding ourselves back from greatness or tearing ourselves down?

While it’s unclear just how Us will tackle this fear and will likely be open to interpretation, repeated viewings and ongoing discussions, Jordan Peele recently revealed how he originally had the idea for his latest movie. In his words:

I’ve been terrified of the idea of doppelgangers since I was a kid. I always had this vision of seeing myself across the subway platform.

Looks like Jordan Peele was inspired by his own fear of doppelgangers for Us. During his visit to Late Night With Seth Meyers, he said he imagined the figure on the other side giving a creepy smile in his direction and decided to go from there. Once he had the idea for a doppelganger family, Peele explained his imagination went crazy and out came Us.

The filmmaker then talked about the challenges that came with directing the family of four as both the typical vacationing bunch introduced in the beginning, with their villainous counterparts who will terrorize and invade their home in Us in the relentlessly-bloody thriller. It was both logistically tough and made for an interesting dynamic on set. Here’s what he said:

Very difficult as it turns out. On the days where the actors are the family, it’s fun and light and when they come in as the scary versions, you just feel the crew and everyone’s ass drops out from under them.

Lupita Nyong’o in particular became a terrifying player on set as she would stay in character as her doppleganger, even when requesting Chex Mix to the director. The actress is both the main protagonist and villain on Us, and assumes a quite creepy voice as the horrifying doppelganger.

You can watch more of Jordan Peele’s interview with Seth Meyers below:

Us comes two years after Get Out, Peele’s directorial debut, which redefined the genre as it touched on socio-political horrors and earned Peele an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. When Us premiered at SXSW, it earned highly positive reactions from audiences who have called it “terrifying”, “unnerving” and Peele “our modern day Hitchcock” (the filmmaker is also reviving The Twilight Zone on CBS All Access come April 1).

The movie also has a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes of 98% ahead of its release this Friday, March 22. Anyone else both incredibly excited and frightened to witness the upcoming Jordan Peele project?