Trailer for Arctic Drama 'Nobody Wants The Night' starring Juliette Binoche and Rinko Kikuchi

Pretty much all you need to tell me about Nobody wants the Night is that it stars Juliette Binoche and Rinko Kikuchi. Sold. That it's opening the Berlin Film Festival and is directed by Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me) is only icing on what looks to be a very impressive cake. The first trailer for the film has arrived for the snowy drama which follows two women on a dangerous Arctic journey to find the man they both love.  Here's the official synopsis:

Josephine Peary is a mature, proud, determined and naive woman, in love with celebrated Arctic adventurer Robert Peary, a man who prefers glory and ice to the comforts of an upper-class home. For him she will face all danger, even risk her own life. Another woman, young but wise, brave and humble – Allaka – is in love with the same man, and expecting his child. The relentless icy landscape both separates and draws these two women together during the long, tense wait for the man they both love in such different ways. «Nobody Wants the Night» is a story replete with the passion, dignity and strength of these two women as they battle to survive in one of the most inhospitable places on earth.

Nobody wants the Night has yet to gain U.S. distribution.


Personne n'attend la nuit : Bande annonce [Juliette Binoche, 2015] by FILMSACTU

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Rinko Kikuchi heads to Fargo in Trailer for Oddball Drama 'Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter'

It took a few people by surprise when Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim, The Brothers Bloom) earned an Indie Spirit nomination for her role in Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. The reason is that practically nobody saw the strange little film unless they were at Sundance earlier in the year. I was there and was mesmerized by what she was able to accomplish in the movie I called "a peculiar oddity that should appeal to those whose tastes favor the offbeat."

The first teaser for the film has been released and this one requires a bit of explanation. Written and directed by the Zellner Brothers, the story is based partially on true events surrounding a lonely Japanese woman who ventured to North Dakota in hopes of finding the missing money from the movie Fargo. Yes, the Coen Brothers film.  Along the way she runs into a number of colorful Midwestern characters who aid in her fairy tale journey. What struck me most beyond Kikuchi's performance was the Zellners' ability to blend the quirky Coen Brothers tone with the somber mood of a Japanese drama.

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter will open in theaters on March 13th.

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'Birdman' Tops Indie Spirit Awards Nominations with Six

Okay, so the term "independent feature" has lost a lot of its meaning lately as budgets for art house movies continue to expand, but the Independent Spirit Awards are still a big deal and the first major nominations of the season. Are you ready to open the flood gates? Here we go.

The Indie Spirit Awards announced their full list of contenders for their 2015 show, and leading the way with six nominations is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's meta-comedy Birdman, including Best Feature, Best Actor for Michael Keaton, Best Supporting Male for Edward Norton, Best Cinematography, and Best Supporting Female for Emma Stone. In a major surprise considering nobody saw Kumiko the Treasure Hunter (I did, and loved it), Rinko Kikuchi earned a Best Female Lead nomination, along with Jenny Slate for Obvious Child, Marion Cotillard for The Immigrant, Tilda Swinton for Only Lovers Left Alive, and Julianne Moore for Still Alice. Picking up five nominations are Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Ava Duvernay's Selma, and Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

In a move that has me utterly baffled and I suspect was done only so he might appear on stage, Andre Benjamin earned Best Male Lead nomination for his sleepy performance as Jimi Hendrix in Jimi: All is by My Side. He'll go up against David Oyelowo for Selma, Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler, Keaton for Birdman, and John Lithgow for Love is Strange.

Today is a big day for debut writer/director Justin Simien whose race-based comedy Dear White People earned him a Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay nomination. Also performing well with four nods was Damien Chazelle's crowd-pleasing jazz drumming thriller Whiplash, including one for Best Director and another for J.K. Simmons as Best Supporting Male. Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice will be honored with the Robert Altman Award, while Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher will be presented with the Special Distinction Award.

Full list of nominees is below. The Indie Spirit Awards takes place on Saturday, February 21st.

BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the Producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood
Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland
Love is Strange
Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy
Selma
Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey
Whiplash
Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle
Whiplash
Ava DuVernay
Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater
Boyhood
David Zellner
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor
A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy
Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch
Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias
Love is Strange

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah
Dear White People
Director/Producer: Justin Simien
Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe
Nightcrawler
Director: Dan Gilroy
Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
Obvious Child
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Producer: Elisabeth Holm
She’s Lost Control
Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt
Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Desiree Akhavan
Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo
Little Accidents
Justin Lader
The One I Love
Anja Marquardt
She’s Lost Control
Justin Simien
Dear White People

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.
Blue Ruin
Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
It Felt Like Love
Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman
Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner
Land Ho!
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
Man From Reno
Writer/Director: Dave Boyle
Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman
Producer: Ko Mori
Test
Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson
Producer: Chris Martin

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Marion Cotillard
The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore
Still Alice
Jenny Slate
Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton
Only Lovers Left Alive

BEST MALE LEAD
André Benjamin
Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal
Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)John Lithgow
Love is Strange
David Oyelowo
Selma

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette
Boyhood
Jessica Chastain
A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo
Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Riz Ahmed
Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke
Boyhood
Alfred Molina
Love is Strange
Edward Norton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
J.K. Simmons
Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji
The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Sean Porter
It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young
Selma

BEST EDITING
Sandra Adair
Boyhood
Tom Cross
Whiplash
John Gilroy
Nightcrawler
Ron Patane
A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard
The Guest

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
20,000 Days on Earth
Directors: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson
CITIZENFOUR
Director/Producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Stray Dog
Director: Debra Granik
Producer: Anne Rosellini
The Salt of the Earth
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders
Producer: David Rosier
Virunga
Director/Producer: Orlando von Einsiedel
Producer: Joanna Natasegara

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Force Majeure
(Sweden)
Director: Ruben Östlund
Ida
(Poland)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan
(Russia)
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Mommy
(Canada)
Director: Xavier Dolan
Norte, the End of History
(Philippines)
Director: Lav Diaz
Under the Skin
(United Kingdom)
Director: Jonathan Glazer

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
Foxcatcher
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 18th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 21st annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
H.
Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia
The Retrieval
Director: Chris Eska

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 20th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by LensCrafters is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by LensCrafters.
Approaching the Elephant
Director: Amanda Rose Wilder
Evolution of a Criminal
Director: Darius Clark Monroe
The Kill Team
Director: Dan Krauss
The Last Season
Director: Sara Dosa

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Review: 'Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter' Starring Rinko Kikuchi

A recurring theme in many of the Coen Brothers' best films is a desire to attain something more. Usually this comes in the form of money, and the desperate attempt to claim it tends to end in one disastrous hair-brained scheme or another. There's no better example of this than their Midwest crime classic, Fargo, with its quirky homespun characters all vying dangerously for a dream they may never attain. The Coens are probably used to others emulating their films at this point but chances are they never expected Fargo to be the basis for the bizarre, bewitching fairy tale Kumiko the Treasure Hunter, a peculiar oddity that should appeal to those whose tastes favor the offbeat.

"Melancholy" doesn't even begin to describe the world inhabited by Kumiko, portrayed by Pacific Rimand The Brothers Bloom's Rinko Kikuchi. A sad, lonely "office lady" living in Tokyo, Kumiko's life revolves around performing meager jobs for her boss, and enduring painful phone calls from her disappointed mother. Nothing she does can ever be good enough, especially when it comes to finding a man and getting married. In fact, Kumiko seems incapable of relating to people at all, much less forging any kind of lasting relationship.  But she does have her plush toy bunny Bunzo as her only companion. While it's not made expressly clear (like much of the film), Kumiko dreamily wanders along the shore with a treasure map, leading to a spot where she finds a beat-up old VHS tape of Fargo. She quickly becomes obsessed with it, and through the choppy footage she can see Steve Buscemi's character hiding a briefcase full of cash. Kumiko, fooled by the Coens' assertion the story is based on fact, comes to believe this briefcase...this treasure...is buried somewhere in North Dakota. Through an increasingly weird series of events involving bank fraud and the creation of a homemade map, Kumiko sets out (decked out like Red Riding Hood) on her quixotic journey to find it.

Bear in mind that Kumiko has hardly said two words by this point and yet we can see the sadness, the gears shifting behind those dark eyes. It's a remarkable performance by Kikuchi who we've largely seen play more spirited characters in the past. She's the anchor of an unlikely hybrid combining the sullen Japanese storytelling style with the unorthodox tone of the Coens, or better yet exec-producer Alexander Payne. As Kumiko lands in Minnesota, due to an airline mishap, she encounters a number of eccentric Midwesterners who help or hinder her quest. With their plain-spoken deadpan demeanor these characters will feel like they were transported directly from Payne's road trip comedy, Nebraska, but they never reach the level of caricature. And much like Bruce Dern's character in that film we are left to ponder Kumiko's mental state. Why is she so eager to believe in such an unlikely dream and follow it to through to the end? There are moments when she seems to be acutely aware of what's going on around her, and perhaps aware of something everyone else is incapable of seeing. Mystery pervades nearly every moment and those lingering questions help ease us through the occasional lulls in momentum as Kumiko hits the heartland. Nobody's rushing to get anywhere in this particular story, and that includes writing-directing duo David and Nathan Zellner's screenplay.

While this is hardly a large studio effort it's the most ambitious project to date by the Zellners, and it's an impressive jump to the big time. Where they came up with an idea for something like this can't be left totally to their imagination, but from reality. The story is based on the true story of Takako Konishi, a Japanese woman who in 2001 was discovered dead in the Minnesota snow. The media blew up her story into one that included a search for the missing Fargo money, when the real details were quite mundane. What the Zellners have done is take the incredulous aspects of that tale to the ultimate degree while still keeping one foot planted firmly in reality. To put it bluntly this is a film that probably should not work at all considering the disparate tones they are attempting to meld, but anchored by Kikuchi's performance, otherworldly visuals and a haunting score the Zellner's have created a film of exquisite beauty and deep meaning for those willing to be a little adventurous.

 Rating: 4 out of 5

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Review: 'Pacific Rim', Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

While it's preferable to leave aside the movie politics and the Internet hype that surrounds any film, it's tough to do that with a summer blockbuster the size of Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim. To put it bluntly, a lot of people have saddled his sci-fi juggernaut with a ton of expectations, some good and some not so good, that are unfair in a number of different ways. Whether it's the negative and vastly out of whack notion that it's little more than a Transformers knock-off, or that it's the most important original property in ages and must be supported (lest it flop like analysts project), it's tough to not walk into the film without some opinion already formed about it.

                                

The simple truth of the matter is that Pacific Rim is way smarter than Transformers, and even though it's not the most original of concepts, through sheer size, scope, and audacity it stomps every other summer blockbuster flat. Nothing else compares to the gargantuan Colossus-inspired scale of giant monsters slugging it out with equally massive robots. It's truly impressive what Del Toro, who just a few years ago was the guy who made really cool creatures for Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, can do when his imagination is allowed to run unfettered. So even if the script co-written by Del Toro and Travis Beacham, riffs on many familiar war movie tropes and takes liberally from the likes of Top Gun, the line of American movies that look anything close to Pacific Rim is extremely short. Which is to say the line doesn't exist at all.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of Robotech, Gundam, Voltron, and other Japanese pop cultural phenomenon, Del Toro lovingly and enthusiastically lets his geek flag fly. What's more, this isn't just a blind clashing of clunky robots with all of the grace of a garbage compactor. Pacific Rim is gorgeous, glittery, and the over-sized battles choreographed with operatic precision. Under any other director's hands this could have been a logistical nightmare, at worse an ugly assault on the senses, but Del Toro is always in complete control.

Less promising is the storyline itself, and the lack of human characterization that gets lost while you're in awe watching a Jaeger wield a battleship like a katana. A brilliant intro clues us in to the fate befalling humanity in the near future, when towering creatures known as Kaiju began emerging from a rift in the ocean floor, destroying coastal cities and wiping out the population. To fight the threat, the world's governments put aside all of their petty differences and began the Jaeger program creating skyscraper-sized robotic warriors to combat the Kaiju. In full-on Maverick mode, Charlie Hunnam plays Raleigh Beckett, a hot shot Jaeger pilot whose reckless stunts got his brother killed, forcing him out of the program just when he's needed most. Six years later, the Kaiju are stronger than ever, and the governments have grown tired of funding the failing program. But that doesn't sit well with the awesomely-named General Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), who decides to round up his few remaining Jaegers and mount one final assault. To do it, he'll need Raleigh back, and he'll also need his old washed-up Jaeger to be brought back from the scrap heap.  Because every story like this needs them, there are a couple of goofball scientists (Charlie Day and Burn Gorman) to provide comic relief and explain things. There's also the General's troubled right-hand woman, Mako Mori (Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi), who shares a past with the General nobody knows about.

So you have all of the familiar archetypes in place, and it's impossible to escape the fact that some aspects of the film are riddled with clichés. Raleigh needs to learn how to be a team player and put his ego aside, and as he does so he squabbles with a fellow pilot (Rob Kazinsky) who has a chip on his shoulder. Mako has vengeance on her mind but must overcome her fears to ever have a real chance at it. We've seen it all before, but there's nothing really wrong with that, and in some ways it’s comforting that the script bothers to make this a story about humans as much as it is about monster brawls. The simple story also leaves plenty of room for a few brilliant ideas to take root. The best by far involves the Jaeger pilots needing to form a neural bridge and meld minds to fight effectively. It involves the unrestrained sharing of memories, can make or break a partnership real fast. The Kaiju design, mostly taken from various forms of lizard and aquatic animal life, draws from the story's other surprising idea. It’s probably left unspoiled, but Del Toro and Beacham clearly put a lot of thought into why the Kaiju look the way they do. And of course, at times of tragedy there are always those seeking to make a dollar from it. Enter the gruff and eccentric Ron Perlman as a black market dealer and Kaiju aficionado. Most of the performances are functional at best, with Hunnam only coming to life when he's throwing punches. Elba is as cool and authoritative as ever, but his Braveheart-esque "we're canceling the apocalypse" speech feels forced and uninspired.

This is Del Toro's show, though, and he does a masterful job of creating a sense of awe around every single Kaiju encounter. They're so huge that we never see one in full, but we can see of them is spectacular. The mecha design is even better, with each Jaeger adopting traits specific for their locale. The American 'bot Gipsy Danger has an Art Deco model reminiscent of New York skyscrapers, while the Japanese one will have Robotech fans salivating. Most of the fights take place at night, but even with 3D it never gets murky or tough to follow. The amount of destruction would give Man of Steel a run for its money, but unlike Zack Snyder's film it never slips into repetition.

Clearly, Pacific Rim has a very specific target audience, and it mostly consists of folks who are packing their bags for Comic-Con right now.  But those who pass it by because they think it will be too geeky will be missing out on what is definitely the biggest movie of the summer. It may not be perfect in the way it handles characters, but Pacific Rim is fun, epic, exhilarating, and the reason why we get excited for this time of year.

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New Posters and Final Trailer for 'Pacific Rim'

If the spectacle of Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim hasn't won you over by now, chances are it won't before the film hits theaters next week. But for those who are chomping at the bit for the giant Kaiju vs. kung-fu Jaeger action, the final trailer offers up something a little different.

While there's still a great deal of action, ramped up to in a relatively slow burn, the focus is squarely on the human pilots. It becomes clear that there will be a great deal more than just geeky sci-fi theatrics, and building believable characters is another crucial element. We learn a bit more about the nature of the neural link between the pilots, and the deeper their trust in one another the more in sync they'll be with their Jaeger. Expect to see a great deal of bonding time between Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi, and not just when she's kicking his butt in the training room. Also released are a pair of one-sheets, featuring the Australian Jaeger Strike Eureka, and the Kaiju known as Leatherback.

Pacific Rim co-stars Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Clifton Collins Jr., and arrives on July 12th.


Pacific Rim New Trailer by Teaser-Trailer.com

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Elbow Rockets and Ron Perlman In Two New 'Pacific Rim' Clips

The arrival of the monstrous Kaiju in Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim isn't just the impetus for humanity to finally unite as one against a common foe, but it's also opened the door for some to make a profit. Not unlike Jude Law's character in Contagion, I guess, there will always be those looking to capitalize off of tragedy. Two new clips from Pacific Rim show very different sides of the robots vs. monsters flick, but both give a fuller picture of what to expect.

The first highlights what looks like one of the centerpiece battles as Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi slug it out with a giant Godzilla-esque Kaiju in the city streets, hitting it with everything at their disposal including a devastating "elbow rocket" punch.  The second centers on the characters played by Ron Perlman and Charlie Day, with the latter looking to acquire a Kaiju brain for some top secret experimenting. Probably not for a good cause. We also learn that the Kaiju may be genetically linked to dinosaurs.

Pacific Rim opens in 3D, 2D, and IMAX on July 12th.

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Hand to Hand Combat Ensues in First Clips From 'Pacific Rim'

Besides looking visually awesome (have you seen those massive robots?), Pacific Rim also has some character conflict to round out what looks to be a fantastic-looking film. Two clips from the film have been released for everyone's viewing pleasure. If it isn't clear from the trailers what to expect from Pacific Rim, then these clips definitely give us a better look.

Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) and Idris Elba (28 Weeks Later) have an argument in the first clip and Elba is quick to put Hunnam in his place and show him who's boss. Elba's authority is unmistakable and you can almost see a hint of rebellion in Hunnam.

The second clip gives us a fighting scene between Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi (Babel). Hunnam promises not to go easy on her and Kikuchi rises to the challenge, beating him in the end just to show him she doesn't need to be coddled. In turn, Hunnam chooses her as his co-pilot.

More footage will begin appearing as we close in on the film's release date, but until then, enjoy the clips below!

Pacific Rim unleashes its robots July 12.

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

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New Trailer and Images From 'Pacific Rim'

A new trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim has been released, giving us yet another look at what could be the special effects spectacle of the season with giant glittering robots battling monsters that fill up the entire screen. This particular trailer, titled "At the Edge" emphasizes a couple of other aspects, as well, namely that there's plenty of geeky science talk involving the creation of the robotic Jaegers, and that Idris Elba will spend much of his screen time as the bearer of rousing patriotic Braveheart-esque speeches.

The phrase "neural handshake" is repeated often, and while it's unclear exactly what it is, the name suggests its how the two human pilots bridge their minds to control the Jaeger warriors. Hopefully they don't spend too much time breaking down all of the fine details, and get right down to leveling some more cities. There's plenty of gloriously-constructed destruction here, backed by Elba's rallying of the troops: “At the edge of our hope, at the end of our time, we have chosen not only to believe in ourselves, but in each other.  Today there’s not a man or woman in here that shall stand alone.  Today we face the monsters that are at our door.  Today we are cancelling the apocalypse!” Well I'm ready to fight, how about you?

It's hard to believe it's been a full year since the first unfinished footage was revealed at Comic-Con. I remember being stunned by it then, and the crowd was equally amazed. So to say my expectations for this are high would be a huge understatement. 

Pacific Rim opens on July 12th.


Pacific Rim - "At the Edge" [HD/VO] by ExtraterrestresTV

 

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The latest 'Pacific Rim' trailer delivers incredible Jaeger vs. Kaiju action

 In a blockbuster summer that has iron men battling wolverines and men of steel, Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim stands as potentially the biggest of them all. In terms of size, scope, and sheer "holy cow" levels of widescale action, it doesn't look like anything can compete with Del Toro's giant robots vs. giant monsters mash-up. But at the same time, without a big name headliner there's always the chance it falls between the cracks during a crowded season. While those concerns are probably warranted, when Warner Bros. drops a trailer as awesome as this one, it's pretty easy to see how this could stomp all of those superhero movies flat.

Jamming as much incredible action as possible in a cool 2 1/2 minutes, this looks like Del Toro has decided to fulfill the cinematic dreams of every fan of Japanese pop culture. You want awe-inspiring robotic warfare on an almost unimaginable level? Del Toro appears to be delivering it in spades. But there is a shimmering golden beauty as the massive Jaegers rumble with their Kaiju enemies in the lit up city streets, and it becomes apparent that this is one beautifully choreographed piece of work. The trailer gives us a bit more detail on the Kaiju's true nature, but this is really about showing off the many bells and whistles Pacific Rim is armed with.

Starring Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, and Ron Perlman, Pacific Rim opens on July 12th.

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New trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's 'Pacific Rim' is 2500 tons of awesome

Is it possible that Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim is being looked over just a little bit as we turn the corner into the summer blockbuster season? Maybe it's just a by-product of Warner Bros. putting all of their marketing eggs in the Man of Steel basket, but for whatever reason it seems like Del Toro's giant monsters vs. giant robots flick is flying a little bit under the radar. For the most part, Del Toro has chosen to keep the monsters, known a kaiju, hidden in fog, only teasing at their massive scope. But the latest trailer does away with all of that and reveals the monster vs. robot action is going to be truly epic.

The footage premiered for WonderCon and CinemaCon attendees, but now it's been made available to the rest of us, and we're all much better off for it. Revealing deeper looks at the origins of the human Jaeger program, which involves two humans mind-melding so as to pilot one of the gigantic robots, we're also treated to Charlie Day as the token science nerd ("2500 tons of awesome"), and Idris Elba as the inspirational leader of the resistance. But most importantly, this shows off just how much mayhem Del Toro is planning to put on display, from rip-roaring sea battles to aerial destruction, and yeah, that was a jaeger using a battleship as a friggin' sword! Guh! Geek juices are flowing!

Pacific Rim finally arrives on July 12th, starring Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, and Ron Perlman.


Pacific Rim - WonderCon Footage by Flixgr

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New trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's 'Pacific Rim'

Warner Bros. has put together a brand new trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim as part of Qualcomm's presentation at CES. Del Toro was in Las Vegas to introduce the footage himself, adding to a busy few days which has seen him also doing press to promote Mama, the upcoming horror film he produced which stars Jessica Chastain.

The new footage blends much of what we've already seen, but adds quite a bit of new stuff into the mix. This one puts a greater focus on the human characters, including Idris Elba as the leader of the human army, while still maintaining the spectacle of the previous trailer. Del Toro looks to have used every single drop of that $200M+ budget Legendary Pictures apparently threw his way.

Starring Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Clifton Collins, and Ron Perlman, Pacific Rim opens on July 12th.


PLOT: When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes—a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)—who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

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Cancel the apocalypse! Awesome first trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's 'Pacific Rim'

So what's going to be the largest scale film of 2013? Will it be Zack Snyder's rather epic Man of Steel? Or Guillermo Del Toro's long-awaited monster flick, Pacific Rim? Either way, Warner Bros. will be happy, and fans likely will be, too. The first film from Del Toro since 2007's Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim has had a mountain of expectations heaped upon it thanks to the director's keen visual eye and the promise of gigantic robots fighting even larger creatures. Over the last few weeks we've seen numerous viral promos, but they were nothing compared to just how awesome the trailer has turned out to be.

Del Toro's eye for grandeur is evident right from the very beginning, and he crams as many monsters and the twin-piloted "Jaegers" as he can in a brief two minute clip. Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, and Charlie Day lead a human resistance who mount up to battle the incoming monster threat, with Elba delivering the stand out line as he declares the apocalypse cancelled. It's a totally Samuel L. Jackson-esque moment, and it sounds a bit off with Elba's accent peaking through. But that's just a minor quibble, and frankly this looks like it may be scene-stealer of next summer. The special effects are still a bit rough around the edges, so we can assume a polish will be done before it opens on July 11th.

Check out the Pacific Rim trailer below.....

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Rinko Kikuchi lands female lead in Pacific Rim

Oh Rinko Kikuchi. How I adore you. >sigh< Ever since I first saw you in your Oscar nominated performance in Babel, how I hoped you'd become more than just a one-hit wonder. As if you were reading my mind, you joined the sophomore film from one of my favorite directors, Rian Johnson. Yes, you were one of the reasons I saw The Brothers Bloom four times that year. And now you've deemed to make me happy yet again, as the lead in Guillermo Del Toro's giant monster film, Pacific Rim. Are we sharing the same brain? Is this fate?

A press release by Legendary Pictures confirms her involvement, where she'll play Mako Mori, a young Japanese mech pilot who helps the humans battle the monster invasion. She'll join Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, and Charlie Day. Day can be seen this weekend in the comedy, Horrible Bosses.  Shooting on Pacific Rim should begin in the fall, with a July 12th 2013 release still far off.

My love for Kikuchi aside, it hasn't been all good. I did buy Assault Girls just because she was in it, and it was pretty dreadful. This past year has seen her in the festival darling, Norwegian Wood. She'll also be featured opposite Keanu Reeves in 47 Ronin.

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