Film School Rejects » DIY Fandom

Officially Cool: Wicked Fan-Made ‘Green Lantern’ Trailer

Neil Miller — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:22 +0000

There has been all kinds of talk about Green Lantern lately as the film production itself rolls out of the station and toward reality. And with it, just as with any major comic book franchise, comes quite a bit of fan expectation — expectations that sometime manifest in odd and exciting ways.

In this instance we have this very cool fan-made trailer for a Green Lantern movie that was posted up to YouTube by a user named JaronPitts. According to the description, this is his vision of a live-action Green Lantern with fanboy hero Nathan Fillion in the lead role. And the trailer works, mostly because it is so outside the box for a fan trailer — very rarely does someone go so far as to cut in an actor’s face, etc. To be completely honest, even though it isn’t perfect, I am very impressed. Even more impressive is the choice of music — which you may remember from the final Star Trek trailer — and the sheer amount of movies from which clips were taken. See if you can pick them out in the trailer below, then compare them to the list that the author published (found below).

Here’s the list of films from which Jaron Pitts took footage:

Planet of the Apes
Serenity Trailer
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Stardust Trailer
The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring
Firefly
Dragonball Evolution Trailer
Galaxy Quest
The Fountain Trailer
Superman Returns Trailer
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Smallville
Justice League TAS
GI Joe Trailer
Contact
Star Trek Enterprise
Star Wars Episode III
The Mutant Chronicles Trailer
Iron Man
Star Trek Trailer
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Cutscene
The Chronicles of Riddick
Kamen Rider
Bedtime Stories
MIB 2
Escape from Witch Mountain Trailer
The Matrix Revolutions
The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian
White Noise 2

I’m impressed.

What do you think?

Fan Creation: Punisher: War Zone 2 Poster

Neil Miller — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:37:47 +0000

Our good friend and confidant Christopher M. is not only a hound for photos and scoops all over the web, he also fancies himself an artist of sorts. When he head that Ray Stevenson is interested in making more Punisher movies, courtesy of an MTV interview, he got all excited. Stevenson told MTV that his “This is just the beginning” line in Punisher: War Zone was more than just dialog for moving the story along:

“[I wanted to] be bold enough to say ‘We’ve gone right down to the grassroots to show the Punisher,’ and [the fans] are all aware that if this works, if it’s successful, there will be sequels to this…This is just the beginning, and to the people who respond to it, there will be more if they want more.”

And when someone like Stevenson, who did play one hell of a Punisher, say something like that, fans like Christopher M. make stuff like this:

It is all part of the nature of geekdom. Movie comes out, fans dig movie, fans begin creating a sequel in their heads. Why else would I have a really cool desktop background of David Tennant as The Riddler in the not-yet-announced third Batman movie?

Geek Gift Guide: The Darth Vader Toaster

Neil Miller — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:54:53 +0000

With Christmas fast approaching it is important that we do our part and help you find gifts for your most beloved geeks. In order to do this we will be scouring the internet looking for creative and often quirky gifts that will work well for geeks of any color — Trek or Wars, we will have something for everyone. So stay tuned.

Today’s selection is a fun and useful little gadget for Star Wars fans and anyone who has been drawn to the dark side. Dark side of the toast, that is… Haha, I crack myself up. I love the holidays, I really do. Go consumerism! Anyway, it is called The Darth Vader Toaster and it is exactly what you’d imagine from a product of that name — a black toaster that looks like it might reside in the galley of the Death Star. The coolest part is that it imprints Lord Vader on your wheat bread. That is well worth the $54.99 that The Star Wars Shop is charging for this little baby. Pre-orders are available now. Ships in January 2009.

[via Cinematical]

Captain Kirk is Mad as Hell. The Daily Diversion.

Neil Miller — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:00:27 +0000

There is something so perfect about this video created by a Trek fan who goes by the handle tvTrequer. It was sent in to the folks over at TrekMovie, who are currently tracking a number of Star Trek trailer spoofs that have sprung up online. Apparently not every Trekker is down with the glossy, high-octane approach of J.J. Abrams. Fair enough, perhaps a big budget CG-injected extravaganza isn’t what everyone wants — but it is what we are going to get. That said, it is always fun to watch fandom manifest itself in the form of video mashups.

The one above is by far the most creative of the bunch, as it combines some footage from the original Star Trek television series with footage from the new trailer. It is also a look at how many fans expect that Bill Shatner is reacting in real life — though, it is hard to be sure what he is really thinking, other than the fact that he’s really into cheap hotel prices. For more of these, check out TrekMovie. If you missed it, feel free to check out the Star Trek trailer here.

In other Trek-related news, our friends at FirstShowing are reporting that Star Trek will be headed for IMAX theaters. Ooooh…

Have a video suggestion for The Daily Diversion? Of course you do. Just send that junk via electronic mail to editors@filmschoolrejects.com.

Fan Job: The Mad Hatter Looks Like Your Great Grandma

Neil Miller — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:23:49 +0000

I know that I am generally regarded as a skeptical type — though I like to consider myself a cautious optimist — I think we can all agree that the photo to the right is not Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. If it is, then well, I will dress up in women’s clothing and reenact the image myself.

But while it is clear, at least to me, that the picture we see here is not a real part of the production, it is pretty entertaining. It never occured to me that a fan photoshop of Johnny Depp could look so much like my great, great grandmother. Then again, now that I think about it a little bit — my great, great grandmother was probably more attractive than that. I just never looked at her that way. That’s not to say that I look at photoshopped pictures of Johnny Depp that way either… Ah, screw it. You know what I mean.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland — which has very little to do with this images — is currently in production. It is scheduled to hit theaters on March 5, 2010.

What do you think of the image, either way?

DIY Fandom: The Incredible Quantum of Solace Trailer

Neil Miller — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:54:39 +0000

In honor of the release of James Bond’s 22nd adventure, Quantum of Solace, hitting theaters tomorrow, fans all over have been re-cutting and mashing up the film’s trailer with various other films. The most interesting of the ones that we have seen was sent to us this afternoon by a reader named Justin N. — it is called The Incredible Quantum of Solace and it mashes the audio from the QoS trailer with video from Pixar’s The Incredibles. Have a look for yourself below.

You Too Can Be One of Judd Apatow’s Funny People

Neil Miller — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:20:20 +0000

The folks at Universal would like to give you the opportunity to get in the action on Judd Apatow’s next film, titled Funny People. The film, which will star Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler and Leslie Mann (seen in the banner above), will tell the story of a stand-up comedian who learns that he has a terminal illness, forcing him to head out in search of friendship. Sandler will play the terminally ill comedian and Seth Rogen will play another comedian whom he hires to be his personal assistant/friend.

Along with releasing the first teaser poster, seen above, Universal has also launched a campaign with MySpace for one lucky fan to win a walk-on role in the film. Have a look at the full press release and an introductory video from Judd Apatow below:

MYSPACE PRESENTS CONTEST FOR THE JUDD APATOW FILM “FUNNY PEOPLE”

One Lucky Fan Will Win Walk-On Role in the Upcoming Film Starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman

Fans of Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Superbad take note –

MySpace, the world’s premier social network, and Universal Pictures are pleased to announce an exclusive contest for Judd Apatow’s highly anticipated film Funny People. Beginning today, the MySpace community can enter to win a walk-on role!

To enter, contestants must log into MySpace and friend the Funny People official MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/funnypeople. Then in 100 words or less, users must leave a comment explaining why he or she should win the role. The deadline for submissions is December 8, 2008. Winners will be judged on quality of expression, originality, and enthusiasm.

Funny People is set to hit theaters on July 31, 2009.

If Megan Fox Could Act, This ‘Wonder Woman’ Poster Would Make Sense

Neil Miller — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:28:26 +0000

One of our faithful readers Tom R. sent us word today that a new fan-created poster of Megan Fox as Wonder Woman has emerged online. It was posted on the website Wonder-Who.com this morning. As far as we can tell, it was created by a Wonder Woman fan with some mild Photoshop skills who wanted to create a fake viral campaign for a new Wonder Woman flick, with Megan Fox headlining.

Have a look at the full poster below.

As far as the art goes it isn’t bad, though you would expect something from the studio not to have inconsistencies in skin tones. But what can we really say, this is a solid Photoshop job and based on the way that Wonder-Who.com is set up, I say we give this fan an ‘A’ for effort. Now, on to the issue of Megan Fox as Wonder Woman — bad idea. But you don’t need me to tell you that. You’ve seen her in Transformers, and if there is anything that really stands out about Megan Fox, it certainly is not her range as an actress. And sure, she might look the part, but so does just about any lean brunette in a push-up bra. If Warner Bros. ever ends up making a Wonder Woman movie, they are going to need a leading actress with a little bit more acting chops — you know, someone who can be the Christian Bale as Batman equivelent.

Some ‘Dark Knight’ Fans Just Can’t Let It Go, Thankfully

Neil Miller — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:07:07 +0000

I am thinking of starting up a rehabilitation center for people who are addicted to speculating about what may or may not happen with Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise. I feel that I would be a great fit to head up such an effort, as I would also be a client. It could be like my own little Hair Club for Men, only with more hair, as evidence by my FSR bio picture.

Further evidence of this growing speculation epidemic comes by way of a portfolio over at DeviantArt for a user named Josh MC. You see, Josh is both fan and artist, a very dangerous combination. He has drawn up a few really cool posters for what he thinks might work for a third film, which he has titled “Gotham City.” Not a bad title, sir — and the picks are very intriguing as well, yet not as intriguing and breathtaking as the art. Lets take a look at one artist’s take on where Chris Nolan and crew should go in the third film. Also, just click any of the images below to be taken to the much bigger versions.

First up is “Doctor Who” alum David Tennant as The Riddler. The character is an obvious choice, as he has been at the front of many of the rumors, but Tennant is an interesting choice. Ask 5 people walking by you in the halls of the interwebs and at least 3/5 will tell you that Johnny Depp is the right man for the job, but this presents a unique take, one that didn’t strike me at first, but actually makes sense. Tennant has the right sensibility to pull of such a role, but I feel it being a bit too light. Not Jim Carrey in tights light, but lighter than Depp could play it.

Next is “Heroes” and “Veronica Mars” star Kristen Bell as Harley Quinn. Now, I’ve heard some pretty solid rumors from in and around the camps that made The Dark Knight that say that script treatments with Harley Quinn as the key villain had been passed around, but nothing beyond that. That said, the character of Harley fits right into the current story-line: The Joker goes to Arkham, spreads his — um — vision of the world and gets himself a girlfriend. Then she gets out and seeks revenge. Something like that. As for Bell, I wouldn’t have thought of her prior to seeing her on “Heroes.” But now, I can see it working. Think about here character Elle and her fetish-like need to shock people. That’s not far off from the insatiable appetite for anarchy that Harley possesses.

And finally, here comes the oddest of the lot: Oscar winner Marion Cotillard as Catwoman. Ultimately I don’t see Christopher Nolan using Catwoman, Penguin, Mr. Freeze and/or Poison Ivy, as those characters seem to be truly soiled at this point cinematically. He took a big risk with Two-Face, but pulled it off beautifully. Not that he couldn’t make it work, I just believe him to be more sensible than that. That said, Marion Cotillard would be an odd choice. As well, while I love the effort put into making her look like she might fit into this franchises aesthetic, this just doesn’t work for me. Catwoman is a sexier character — and this doesn’t quite do the trick.

All in all, you have to hand it to Josh MC, because he’s a damn good artist and a true fan. The fate of Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film is still, without a doubt, undetermined, but that will not stop fans from all sorts of feats of speculation, nor should it. I say keep them coming — these sorts of things make a slow news day entertaining.

You can see more of Josh MC’s work over at DeviantART. Thanks to Slashfilm for the hat tip.

What do the rest of you think of these cool designs?

The Dark Knight Returns in the Mind of Fans

Neil Miller — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:54:59 +0000

So far the battle lines have been drawn and the draw-bridge is up on the castle that holds all the answers for fans of The Dark Knight — no one is talking about another film. No one, including the keymaster, director Christopher Nolan has said word one about what they plan to do in the next installment, assuming of course, that a next installment comes to pass. What we do know is that many of the principal players, including Christian Bale, Gary Oldman and co-writer David S. Goyer have expressed interest, saying collectively ‘If Chris wants to do another one, we are in.’

Apparently, that is not good enough for some fans, who have been hitting the web with a vengeance, speculating on potential villains, driving casting rumors into the headlines and analyzing every press appearance by anyone who could possibly be involved in a third film. At this point though, it is all fan-driven and “inside source” filibuster. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. And in the case of the poster below, which was sent to me by our always reliable source PatientZero, it is also very creative. Have a look for yourself below.

This poster, along with many fans, makes the assumption that the villain in the next film would be The Riddler, something which would seem reasonable enough, as everyone from Gary Oldman to David Goyer have said that The Riddler would be a good choice, but nothing is certain. In fact, when we had a chance to sit down with writers David S. Goyer and Jonah Nolan back in July at The Dark Knight press junket, they were quick to point out that there are hundreds of villains in the Batman mythos, many of which could fit right into Chris Nolan’s vision of Gotham City. So at this point, while we are still confident that The Dark Knight will return, we don’t really see it starting with this poster.

Shenanigans: Matthew McConaughey in Thundercats: The Movie

Neil Miller — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:56:37 +0000

The most we’ve heard recently about a Thundercats movie is that Tyrese Gibson has been very involved in trying to bring the classic animated show to the big screen. When our friends at Coming Soon asked him which character he’d be playing, he said that there were a number of options on the table.

And as interesting as that is, this article has absolutely nothing to do with the real Thundercats movie currently set to see theater time in 2010. This is all about a faux production created in the minds of a few fans. Sometime back in the 90s, circa 97/98, a poster for Thundercats: The Movie began circulating around the fledgling interwebs. In fact, to this day a website called BruteSquad.com is still hosting information about this project that never was, including an interview with a producer and an article about how the producer and director battled with the MPAA over sexually explicit scenes between Lion-O (Matthew McConaughey) and Cheetarah (Tea Leoni). The poster, which can be seen below in all its glory, also showed Ed Harris as Mumm-Ra, Wesley Snipes as Panthro and David Carradine as Tigra. If that wasn’t enough to make you giggle, check out the poster.

The real Thundercats movie is currently being developed by director Jerry O’Flaherty, who previously served as Art Director on the popular video game “Gears of War.” The film is being developed at Warner Bros. with It’s Alive scribe Paul Sopocy on to pen the screenplay. They are shooting for a 2010 release date, but nothing is certain at this point.

Lucas and Abrams Brawl at Lunchtime? No, Not Really

Kevin Gustafson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:00:51 +0000

Star Wars vs. Star Trek. Which sci-fi saga reigns supreme? From this picture that’s been zipping around the web at warp eight, George Lucas and J.J Abrams want to settle this personally. Georgie’s weapon of choice? A lightsaber with customized iPod mounted in the hilt. He’ll dispatch Abrams to the rousing sounds of the London Philharmonic. Young and sneaky, Abrams plans to taunt Lucas with a very sexy blaster. Will he shoot him under the table like Han Solo? Maybe he’ll flash it in Lucas’s face. The old man won’t know until it’s too late.

The picture posted on Flickr was originally photographed at a luncheon by Joi Ito. Someone photo-shopped in the lightsaber. Ito is searching for the perpetrator. I don’t really know why this is so popular. It looks like the cantina scene from Star Wars: A New Hope. How long is this funny for? 15 seconds? Abrams may be reloading the Star Trek franchise, but he’s not a sci-fi master yet. The joke will be funnier if the movie’s a success. Sure, not many are looking forward to Lucas’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars in August. But if I want to see a made up rivalry, I’ll stick to watching an episode of The Hills.

Must Watch: The Battle of the Batmans

Neil Miller — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:00:56 +0000

Faithful FSR reader Johnny Walker Green (killer name, by the way) sent us over a link to a very cool video in honor of the upcoming release of The Dark Knight. The short, which is a compelation of clips from all of the Batman movies since Tim Burton’s Batman, is a very creative and cool look at all of the different men who have portrayed Batman in the modern cinematic era — as in, since 1989. This includes Michael Keaton (Batman, Batman Returns), Val Kilmer (Batman Forever), George Clooney (Batman and Robin) and of course, Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight).

Assembled by the fine folks over at Black20’s Trailer Park, this is one of those cool little offbeat pieces of the Batman universe that you won’t want to have missed. Have a look for yourself below:

Who is your favorite Batman out of the four featured in the video above?

Watchmen Footage Revealed, Sort Of

Paige MacGregor — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:29:11 +0000

No, this isn’t the footage that was recently screened at the Cinema Expo, but don’t click the back button just yet…

A few months ago, Zack Snyder started an interesting contest revolving around one of his latest projects, the cinematic adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ twelve-issue series Watchmen. What he asked fans to do was to create their own commercials for products created by the Veidt Corporation. The idea was that the winning entries would be played in the background of the movie as advertisements for Veidt’s products. A pretty sweet idea, not to mention a cool way to make fans feel like they’re part of the film.

Now, thanks to YouTube, the first wave of entries has hit the Web, and what a delight they are! Not only are the products somewhat ridiculous, but the style of each video, purposefully constructed to fit into the Watchmen world, is an intense throwback to the 80’s. Some of these are priceless, and hopefully their creators will be rewarded with some much-deserved screen time… but that is a wait-and-see at this point. Of course, we have to mention that none of these videos feature any of the characters from the movie—with one obvious exception, Ozymandias, a.k.a. Adrian Veidt—but believe us, this is Watchmen footage nonetheless. We here at FSR have taken the time to painstakingly select a handful of the funniest Veidt commercials yet to appear on YouTube, just for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Ozymandias Toys

Nostalgia Perfume

Nostalgia Commercial, Crazy 80’s Style

Veidt Air

Real Men Use Veidt

Watchmen tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the “mysterious murder of one of their own.” The series has engendered a large group of devout followers with its depictions of superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who generally lack anything recognizable as “super powers.” Watchmen’s deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its heavy use of symbolism and multi-layered dialogue has influenced both comics and film (hmmm… superheroes with real, everyday problems? Hancock, anyone?).

Someone Get this Fan on the Transformers 2 Payroll, His Jetfire Concept Art is Awesome

Neil Miller — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:42:29 +0000

As my painfully long article title states, the concept art that we are about to show you was created by a fan — it is by no means attached in any way to the production of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, other than the fact that it was found for us over on the Don Murphy Message Board. Yet, despite the fact that it isn’t really art from the film, we feel as if it should be, because as you will see when you click on the image below and get a look at the big version, it’s pretty damn impressive.

The art is a rendering of Jetfire, rumored to be the SR-71 Blackbird spy jet in the film. While he is clocking in at speeds faster than anything else man can come up with while in stealth mode, he will do doubt be terrorizing Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox when he transforms into ALT mode, which is what you see below. At this point, we can only hope that he will look this cool when the final product arrives in theaters on June 26, 2009.

What do you think of this Jetfire fan-created concept art?

Film School Rejects » DIY Fandom

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