In order to keep the merchandising juggernaut that is Star Wars lodged directly in the center of the pop cultural consciousness before all six films of the original and prequel trilogies are re-released and re-re-released theatrically in 3D one a year every year starting with The Phantom Menace in 2012, both trilogies are headed for Blu-ray this year. The primary offering is a nine-disc "Complete Saga" package containing all six installments and "over 40 hours of special features and never-before-seen footage." A new UK trailer for Star Wars: The Complete Saga has landed online, and it reminds us that, though the flaws of the prequel trilogy may be cripplingly many, "Duel of the Fates" by John Williams remains a great piece of music.
As Hal Jordan, the hero of Green Lantern, leading man Ryan Reynolds sports a CGI supersuit, flies around the cosmos engaging in derring-do, and of course, gets the girl, played by Blake Lively. While he's doing that, Peter Sarsgaard is playing Dr. Hector Hammond, a scientist whose contact with the entity Parallax turns him from an ordinary guy with a bad haircut and a worse mustache into a cackling menace who looks like the Elephant Man's evil cousin. Guess which actor walks away with the movie? For his performance in Lantern, and his years as an invaluable scene-stealer, Peter Sarsgaard is our latest Rogue of the Week.
I'm not particularly big on Hayden Christensen's abilities as an actor. I often feel he's gotten where he is on the strength of a pretty face and some damn good luck. But, I make up for only one man's opinion, and if that opinion can be changed, I'm all for it. Taking a gander at the trailer for his upcoming feature Vanishing On 7th Street, there may just be hope.
Vanishing On 7th Street tells the story of a man who makes one morning to discover everyone has disappeared. Even worse, the sun is vanishing. To make things even worse than that, he realizes he's got to stay in the light if he hopes to have any chance of staying alive.
Synopsis: When a massive power blackout causes the population to inexplicably vanish, a small handful of survivors band together inside a desolate tavern struggling to survive as the darkness hones in on them. From director Brad Anderson ("The Machinist," "Transsiberian") comes an apocalyptic thriller with a terrifying vision of our world's end and a story that wrestles with the nature of existence itself.