This past week we had the opportunity to have a chat with Bryan Cranston on his role in the 2012 science fiction action thriller Total Recall and how his role in the hit TV series Breaking Bad has all but skyrocketed him into the public eye. So well liked is the TV series that it ended up being spoken about at the press junket for Total Recall with the actor as much as the film was – but Cranston, ever the gentlemen, made no qualms about speaking on whatever the press had on their minds. How did the “goofy, silly, fun-loving dad” from Malcolm in the Middle transform himself into a science fiction villain with a methamphetamine dealer/science teacher in-between? Have a peek!
[Q] Len Wiseman [director of Total Recall 2012] brought up that he’d seen Breaking Bad [see the rest of that interview here] and said, ‘I want to work with this guy.’ Is that the common thing for you now, has that show changed your image in the business from the comedy guy only?
[Bryan Cranston] Yeah, I have ridden the hard work and sweat of Vince Gilligan all the way to another level. The best thing a director can do is to identify good actors and fit them in the right parts, and if you can do that in your pre-production, once you get to production you can let them fly, and let them feel safe to be able to experiment and try things. You’ll find happy accidents.
Above: Cranson (right) taking on a very different role in the television series Breaking Bad in which he plays a chemistry teacher with terminal cancer and a meth-cooking business
[BC] For an actor what I try to teach young actors – the best thing they can learn is to identify well-written material. The writing in our industry, in a story, is the most important element, bar none. It is always about the writing first.
So what I’ve been able to do – the thing I’m good at, really, is to identify well written material. Now that doesn’t mean the product is going to end up that way. It’s a recipe – and sometimes it doesn’t work – and you’re thinking, ‘oh well, wait a minute, I had all the ingredients, how did this happen?’ That’s going to happen.
But if you start with something that has good writing, you at least have a shot. If you start with something that is not well written, you have no shot of making something good. The best actor in the world can make “C” level material “C+” level material. Maybe “B-”, that’s it.
Above: Cranston poses with co-stars Jessica Biel and Colin Farrell at the Los Angeles press junket for Total Recall
[Q] You had this in you all the time, even before Breaking Bad, but people’s perceptions of you have changed. Have you thought about that since – Drive, and this, you’re given harder-edged characters and just a straight jacket perception of what your previous roles would be?
[BC] Well, the only thing that an actor really yearns for in a career is opportunity. We don’t ask to be given roles – [if you don’t] just give me a chance to get in the room, we have no shot. How I got Malcolm in the Middle – everything – what I try to teach young actors is that, ‘please know, that without a healthy dose of luck, you will not have a career.’ How do you do that? I don’t know. Just keep working, keep working hard, have faith, and this is your life!
“Without a healthy dose of luck, you will not have a career.”
Don’t give yourself some arbitrary number – ‘I’m going to give it a year – I’ll give it a good year’ – it’s like ‘stop now, go back to Idaho.’ You know? ‘Make some really nice potatoes. People will appreciate that.’ But it’s a joke – people, you’re either in this or you’re not in this. So that’s the first thing I say. But I was lucky to get Malcolm in the Middle. I was lucky to get Breaking Bad. And I have stories for those – but I don’t want to go in and monopolize that. But I know – the stars were aligning.
After you are able to get some level of success, like Malcolm in the Middle – seven years of doing a comedy – I got offers to do a goofy, silly, fun-loving dad. And had I taken those, I would have helped pigeon-hole myself as that guy.
You better – you better – if you’re on a hit show? You better save your money. You better, because you need to say no to those tempting offers of dollar bills to do the same thing you just did. To me it was no temptation. I just said no, I just did that. But you don’t know what’s going to happen next. I was very fortunate.
This is but one of several segments of the ongoing set of talks we had with the stars and director of Total Recall – stick around in our [Rekall portal] to see the future and past of the film as it rolls out in theaters this weekend! And of course don’t forget to check out our full movie review of Total Recall (2012) as well!
Cookies are one of life’s great treats. Star Wars cookies are even better. Given the way he ate, maybe Jabba the Hutt would have been satisfied with some cookies featuring Han frozen in carbonite instead of the real deal hanging on his wall. Boba Fett really should have tried this tactic first. It would have been much easier than following the Millenium Falcon around. But then Return of the Jedi would have been a whole different story.
If you want to make some of your own Han Solo in Carbonite cookies, you just need a Han Solo in Carbonite ice cube tray, some chocolate and some sugar cookie dough. You can find the recipe here.
It’s a chocolate bar and cookie in one – an awesome treat for that Star Wars marathon you watch every other week.
Some people like graffiti, some people hate it. Any artform that puts droids on the streets is fine by me. No matter how you feel about graffiti, you have to love this secret door that is hidden within a graffiti R2-D2.
We need more graffiti like this, making boring doorways cool. This masterpiece of Droid art is the work of artist jack wrk(less). If you live in Vancouver, BC then you can actually see it in person. If you can find it.
It’s funny that right beside R2 are the auto sprinkler things, which look like an outlet that R2 could plug into for a recharge.
When you head to the 2012 edition of Total Recall this weekend (in theaters across the USA) you’ll find yourself getting a glimpse of some futuristic cash money – one of these bills in the movie showing off our current President of the United States Barack Obama. While we were having a chat with Total Recall director Len Wiseman last week about the movie after having just gotten the opportunity to screen the feature in its entirety, the subject certainly did come up – did we just see Barack Obama’s face on the one dollar bill?
You’ll want to have a look at our extended interview with Wiseman if you find this little clip intriguing, that’s for certain. For now though, have a peek at this utterly entertaining moment in the life of the director. When you’re the director of a major motion picture with content such as this science fiction adventure, you get the opportunity to do some rather fabulous things – like deciding who goes on the money the characters use on the planet earth several decades from now.
Our question went like this: When Quaid [Colin Ferrell] is in the bank and opens up his safe and gets his money – did you have input as to who was on those bills?
“Did I have input – oh, yeah. Because one of those bills is my dad. It’s right by Obama, the next one over is my dad Loren. So it was perfect to put him right as one of the presidents. And yeah I thought, yeah, we see our presidents heads up, I thought Obama would make a bill.” – Wiseman
Have a peek at our timeline of Total Recall news bits, interviews, and of course our full review of the film as well. We’ve got a [Rekall portal] for those of you wishing to explore the whole front-to-back of our in-person coverage – and you’ll want to catch the movie this weekend, too, on the big screen! Also note – we’re not yet able to give you an image of the actual Obama and Loren bills, but when we can – we will!
In a rather unceremoniously and suspiciously low-key fashion, Fox has confirmed that there will indeed be a sequel to this summer’s science fiction smash hit Prometheus. This news bit comes to The Hollywood Reporter via Fox president of production Emma Watts, who notes that, “Ridley [Scott] is incredibly excited about the movie, but we have to get it right. We can’t rush it.” It would appear that at least two major actors from the first film are signed on to the project as well – but we must warn you that knowing who they are may very well spoil the first movie for you – so beware!
The two actors that appear to be signed on to the second piece of this film series are none other than Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace. These two actors played central roles in the first film which was released earlier this year to resounding applause across the whole science fiction-sphere. For those of you interested in knowing more about the film – whether or not you’ve seen it already – you should certainly check out our [Prometheus portal] and dive deep into our review, interviews, and our red carpet experience.
For those of you interested in the sequel – know this: Emma Watts has also overseen sequels to both the X-Men and Planet of the Apes franchises. That might be bad or good news for Prometheus, however you want to take it. Prometheus 2, or whatever it’ll end up being called in the future, will be released in 2014 or 2015 at the latest if all goes according to plan.
Without a doubt we’ll be awaiting this film with fingernails in scraped up knees until then. Have a peek specifically at our talk with Ridley Scott to see what he’s got in mind for future films – because he certainly does, definitely, without a doubt, have many ideas in mind for the next film already. And if you’ve not already seen the first installment in what will certainly be an epic trilogy eventually – do it, do it now!
This past week we got the opportunity to sit down with film director Len Wiseman at the Los Angeles press junket for the newest science fiction blockbuster of the summer: Total Recall. Wiseman revealed that not only is he a long-standing superfan of science fiction in general, he’s had a bit of a history with the original Philip K Dick short story that inspired the 1990 film Total Recall – and of course loves Arnold as well. Have a peek at this 2012-based vision for the future from the meistro’s seat right here and now.
Also be sure to check out our full review of Total Recall (2012) and stay tuned for a collection of interviews just such as this one coming up over the course of the week – we’ve got Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, and your favorite and mine: Bryan Cranston – coming up soon as well!
[Wiseman] It started with a phone call. I wasn’t aware there was a Total Recall script being put together so it was a surprise to me. Neal called me and had me come down and read it – and I went into it with quite a bit of hesitation, first off, being a film of the first film but also being a part of Die Hard as a franchise. I’d just gotten done with a previous project and I wasn’t ready to go through with this at first, I was still developing some things of my own.
So it was one of those projects that I read wanting not to like it, but I felt like I should just read it, and I’d been wanting to work with Neil for a long time, so – as I went through it it became more ‘ah man, this is actually pretty good.” And then I just got hooked. So that’s what it was initially, it was just at first trepidation, then just really loving the new take on the script – that’s how it all started for me.
From left: Brian Cranston, Jessica Biel, Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, and Len Wiseman as they appeared in Los Angeles for the Total Recall junket.
[Q] Obviously you stayed away from wise-crackery which was one of the trademarks of the original movie but there were lines, you did keep actual lines – what was your take on that?
[W] Yeah we did kind of our own take on certain lines and there were certain things that – you know – it’s a tough mix to bring in things that are familiar – and the original script, it deviates so much [from the original film], especially towards the second half. This film doesn’t go to Mars, and the second and third act [of the 1990 film] are on Mars. So there were some things that I wanted to bring in that were familiar. But the lines and things that we have are just slightly skewed in a different tone.
[Q] What were some of your influences in developing the look of the film?
[W] That’s such a hard question to answer because there are so many influences in being such a fan of science fiction in general. So a lot of it – for me – I collect a lot of science fiction artwork, and always have, so if you go to my house it’s just geek out, it’s like a library of science fiction material.
And then a lot of the elements, the colony world specifically, where part of what influences or builds out this world is a melting pot of different societies. Because the world is at a point where there are only two zones that are inhabitable. So it was drawing in on a lot of that district in Brazil, there’s a lot of asian influence, and there’s a lot in terms of architecture to put those things together.
“Everything from Blade Runner to Aliens and Star Wars.”
And then everything I’ve been growing up with, sci-fis, everything from Blade Runner to Aliens and Star Wars. It’s probably endless in terms of what is probably engrained in our minds and what we’ve got to draw from, ideas where you don’t exactly know what you’re influenced by. I can’t say specifically, but you’re influenced by watching movies like this and reading books and comic books and everything since I was a kid.
[Q] Can you talk about working with Kate [Beckinsale, aka Wiseman’s wife] and speak on if she was always going to play the role she’s in or if she was considered for the other female lead in the film?
[W] She was never considered for the other role, I had considered her for the Lori role early on. It was just a combination of what I wanted Lori to be which was not exactly what was on the page. I just had the confidence and knew what Kate could bring to it. And then schedules changed and they pulled up her Underworld schedule.
So she took off to do Underworld which just meant that this was cancelled out and so we started a long casting process but it was just not going to happen. And then my movie got pushed. Luckily I was behind, so we got pushed back 3 weeks which created literally a 2 day window. She finished up Underworld, we put her on a plane, she came out. So there was this weird process – it was something that I was excited about, that happened, and then the schedules opened up again.
“She finished up Underworld, we put her on a plane, she came out.”
[Q] With both Underworld and Total Recall both being action movies, what did you do to push the envelope with Kate and make things different?
[W] I think it’s always different. It’s just movies in general, it’s such a wonderful business because as much as you feel like you’re crafting or fine tuning your career route, each movie is a completely different challenge, so it’s different even with those little details. Every fight sequence is different, and everything even in just the terms of the action sequences, it’s always different.
So I can really enjoy that, and she’s been in enough of these [action movies] now where it’s not starting from ground zero, where she’s just terrified to throw a punch. She’s not the same girl now. So that part gets a lot easier. So it’s always different, which is great.
[Q] The idea of class separated society is an element that’s present both in the Philip K Dick story and here in the movie, and fortuitously the Occupy Movement started after you’d envisioned this whole thing – how did that factor into this movie, with the class warfare aspect of it all?
[W] The class warfare was obviously there, it was in the script as well, and it’s a help to think about what would happen if we did have two zones that were left, and everyone had to just survive in these two areas, and what would our society do with that setup? So it’s commenting on that, and it’s the state of the world – in my mind, would that realistically unfold? So I tried to stay true to that. That was the starting point from what was actually already in the script.
[Q] Was there talk of any cameos from the original film planned or executed here in 2012?
[W] There was talk of it, I was tempted as just a fan of the original. I think of the original Total Recall as an Arnold movie. I wasn’t really aware of Philip K Dick at the time, I was 14, and I was just went to see – I want to see the Arnold film. So there was talk about it very early on, there was talk of Sharon Stone, and I don’t know if they were contacted, I’m not sure. But as we started to develop our film, I didn’t want to distract too much. So it would be a fun idea, and that fan in me really wanted to see it happen, just the storyteller [won me over]. Every time I’ve seen it happen – Lou Ferrigno shows up in the Hulk – it does take me out of it. It just seems Comic Con a little bit too much.
[Q] What elements were you insistent on keeping from the first one? Obviously like the three breasted hooker was a memorable one: were there any ideas you wanted to keep?
[W] Yeah the first thing I wanted in there, it’s absolutely one of the things I remember most about the original one, and it’s just at the core of this concept was the representative from Rekall comes back in and sets the stage. And tells Quaid that he’s actually living out a fantasy. And it’s that great core battle of fantasy vs reality. That was one of the things that I wanted to make sure that was really fleshed out, and then to push it further, was one.
Then some of the fun more superficial stuff we just wanted to put in: I had made a list, a list of about 10 things or so that I remembered from the film before I went back and watched it. And it had been about 20 years for me since I’d seen it, so I wanted to write that out before I watched it again. I thought that if those were things that had stuck with me through the years, that I would want to highlight some of those.
“I made a list of about 10 things I remembered from the film before I went back and watched it.”
And they were things like – the three breasted woman was one of the top things, like I said I was 14, so that was very memorable to me. And then I just remembered Arnold pulling that big tracker out of his nose, freaking out about that, and going through the immigration booth with the heavy set red-headed lady. There were a lot of moments that I remembered. So we just wanted to put them in in a different twist. We give an homage to them but we switch em up, twist em up a bit.
[Q] Where there any things like Johnny Cab that you wanted in there or thought about but couldn’t get in there for one reason or another?
[W] Yeah there were things that – I’m trying to think of them – actually Johnny Cab was one of them, but it didn’t end up applying to us. There was also actually an element, the oxygen element that didn’t really fit in to our storyline. Obviously, we don’t go to Mars. But at one point there was a sub-plot about an oxygen level within the colony, but within this universe and on the planet it just didn’t make much sense.
[Q] Could you talk about choosing Colin Ferrell, you spoke about going specifically to see an Arnold movie where comparatively Colin Ferrell is a more real actor – and could you talk about that shift in dynamic?
[W] I had absolutely no intention of replacing Arnold. And there were a few things that made me want to do the movie, the first that the script took a different direction to it, and a different tone, and this was a chance to do a very different kind of Quaid. I didn’t read the short story until I went to college, so I had kind of a reverse knowledge of it.
I had seen it first as an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, then it wasn’t until college that I read Philip K Dick’s story and I remember at the time thinking, ‘oh that’s that Arnold movie that I love when I was in high school’, and just reading the story had a very different effect on me than what I remember, just from the tone of the story. And Quaid, or Quail as he is in the story, is a bit more of an everyman.
“If Colin Farrell is the every-man then I’m living in the wrong city!”
So I wanted somebody that you could just relate to a bit more. The whole idea of that story was that it has such a strong wish fulfillment to it – of a man that wishes he could be more, then turns into a super spy, verses my recollection of what I felt when I watched the original Total Recall: we’re watching a guy who you already feel is a super spy because we’ve seen him in such a capacity. So I wanted a guy who was, I think of an everyman.
My sister-in-law says that, ‘if Colin Farrell is the every-man then I’m living in the wrong city.’ *laughter* So he’s the Hollywood everyman, I guess. So that was exciting to me, when it first came out there was so much talk about, ‘who’s gonna replace Arnold.’ And The Rock came up, all these wrestlers, all these people that I was totally unaware of.
[Q] Did they pitch these actors and ideas to you, or what?
[W] Ah no, it was all over, like, online. Speculation about who the next Arnold was going to be. And I was like, ‘alright, when I announce who the next Quaid is going to be, and not the next Arnold, maybe they’ll like it and maybe they won’t.’ But it was quite a reaction and very well received and I think it immediately helps to set a tone of what we’re trying to do.
[Q] Where there any other actors that were considered for the role?
[W] Just The Rock. Ha, no. No, he was my first choice which, I feel like a director rarely talks about if you don’t, you don’t have that conversation. Like, ‘he wasn’t my first choice but man, he worked out great.’ *laughter*
[W] I’m actually glad to not have to cover or navigate around, he was my first choice and it was great, it was a situation where, also with Kate, it just works out. Bryan Cranston, who I was watching on – I had really been sucked into Breaking Bad at the time, and I was thinking, one, I want to work with this man at some point. He’s fantastic. And then when the script came about I thought he’d be perfect, and, first choice, yeah that was really fun.
[Q] What were you considering when Colin Ferrell was cast, were you thinking international appeal, his accent, what do you think about when you put that together? Because obviously the movie has to hang on this guy, is he a big enough box office star, is he a good enough every-man and appealing?
[W] To be completely honest I didn’t think of any of those things, I thought just simply that he’s a fantastic actor. And I want to take an actor and more so, if anything, my job would be to turn an actor into an action star rather than an action star into an actor. That rarely works. I want to start with just a really good actor.
And when you put his whole body of work together: we just said we’re going to create Quaid. Just as a starting point, as a springboard, there were elements of Quaid, the Quaid that I had read, the one that I had pictured: a little bit of Phonebooth, a little bit of In Bruges, a little bit of – he’s done so much. So it was really that.
It was really that I wanted to work with an actor for Quaid, I really want to push that, everything like the physicality, once this character has to turn into this super spy, you have to really believe him. But that’s more of a thing that’s just getting people into the gym and working with stunt players and all of that. I want the security of a fantastic actor.
[Q] Did Colin feel bad about fighting with Kate ever? Or did he just go for it?
“I think he felt ok after she blasted him in the neck at one point.”
[W] He didn’t tell me then, but he tells me now that it was a little bit nerve-racking just because of the fact that it’s the director’s wife. I think it would be kind of weird, I guess. I think he felt ok after she blasted him in the neck at one point. So I think then it was ok for the gloves to come off.
[Q] Could you speak on the conceptual design, the whole look of the film, and all the little gadgets (like the hand phone), and how real this film’s environment is compared to other concepts that films have presented?
[W] It was definitely a large part of the focus for me to have it all. I love science fiction more than the fantasy, and the distinction of how science fiction is based off of science. And where science could possibly go. It’s such a what-if quality where fantasy is kind of the study of a different thing, so I’ve been drawn towards that, and it’s this reality of: these things could possibly happen.
So it was very much – for instance that palm cell phone – I want to think that a think like that crazy of an idea [could be real.]
I saw something, it was a while ago, where it was in Japan and they were putting in LCD tattoos, that they were putting into the skin. Whether it ever came through or not. But the LCD tattoos that you see in the film as well as the phone systems – what they’re also doing is the car.
[W] With the car design we were talking to an engineer that you guys were really developing things in a way where that makes sense to how the world would progress, in a sense. At some point were going to have to start building up. You’re going to run out of room to build houses. And once you build up you have to design and build in a way with a transportation system that will also accommodate that. So that’s what we’ve done.
So yes, I’ve very much into what could possibly happen.
[Q] When Quaid is in the bank and opens up his safe and gets his money – did you have input as to who was on those bills?
[W] Did I have input – oh, yeah. Because one of those bills is my dad. It’s right by Obama, the next one over is my dad Loren. so it was perfect to put him right as one of the presidents. And yeah I thought, yeah, we see our presidents heads up, I thought Obama would make a bill.
[Q] Do you have any independent projects coming up?
“I love to build worlds … it’s what I got into this industry to do.”
[W] Yeah, you know, people say why did you take three years off after Die Hard – I have not taken one day off since after Die Hard. I have been actively developing projects that didn’t go through for various reasons – mainly of budget. It’s really difficult to get an original idea that’s not attached to a comic book or a book itself or some awareness that’s over a hundred million dollars.
And I love to build worlds, since I was a kid, it’s what I got into this industry to do. Three of those projects were ones that I had written, seven months here, with Tom Cruise, and folks saying ‘this is gonna happen’, and the budget doesn’t add up.
[Q] What one was that?
[W] It was a movie called Motorcade, it had Dreamworks, and he took off to do [something else] – and the funding wasn’t coming through, it was expensive, and it was an original title, and he went to do The Time of Day.
[Q] Do you have a Rekall fantasy yourself?
[W] Rekall fantasy myself, ah, god. Probably too many. I would love to travel to the future, just to file some things so there’s no guesswork.
[Q] What effect does working with your Wife onset have on your marriage – do you ever feel like you’re working together too much?
[W] No, it’s a weird thing. And there’s lots of directors that work with plenty of the same actors, over and over, many more times than I have. And actually I’ve worked with Bill Nye more times than I’ve worked with Kate, and I’m not married to Bill Nye, so that never comes up. I love to work with actors where I know what I’m going to get from them, as many others do, so it’s not something – you build as well as you would accrue, as well, you build up the people. It’s so risky, there are people you know you can trust, you know what you’re going to get from them, its why directors do it a lot of times.
But if people would say, ‘you’ve hired Bill Nye too many times’, I’d say, ‘well I don’t care.’ He’s fantastic.
Be sure to check out the rest of our Rekall-toting content in our Total Recall portal and check out the ever expanding timeline below to see what else we’ve got for the film in the way of unique or otherwise fabulously interesting Total Recall content!
The 2012 version of Total Recall begins with Colin Farrell bloodied and beaten lying on the floor of a room that quickly becomes a barrage of flashing lights and gunshots – then suddenly the movie is over. This movie does not let up the action to the point where several times during the film I was wishing for a blank screen just so I could recapitulate what I’d just seen. And before you get too deep into what everything means, whether or not everything is real or if it’s all just one science fiction dream as the Schwarzenegger version very well may have been, you’ll find that you’ve got a smorgasboard of visual stimulants that you’ll not only want to see again – you’ll want to own it all too.
This story started with author Philip K Dick’s “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”, but this movie is not a scene-for-scene conversion of that – far from it. What this movie presents is also not a remake of the film from 1990. Instead you’ve got a whole new story that, like a good take should, gives you a whole new angle. Without relying on the audience to have seen the 1990 version of the story or on their having read the science fiction short, Total Recall does justice to those two iterations with high-octane action and very literal visual hat-tips to the movie and a solid and very simple story (to a point) just like the original written tale.
Of course the concept ends up being anything but simple as event after event suggest that Farrell’s character is not who he thinks he is – or who several different factions in the story tell him he is. The director of this version of the film Len Wiseman has pushed the storyline and what you see onscreen in so many different directions that nitpickers and detail-oriented folks will be having one heck of a difficult time keeping everything straight.
But in the end, even if you do not care whether what’s happening in the tale makes perfect sense to you or not, you’ve still got some rather entertaining and visually spectacular action and environments on your hands and burning up your retinas.
The story goes like this
Farrell’s character – whose name changes throughout the film, so I’ll not spoil it for you here – is a factory worker with a dead-end life. He has a lovely wife who works for the government on the British side of the world, the same area as the factory where he works, while they both live in a tiny apartment on the Australian continent known as The Colony. Oh yes, and the rest of the world has been rendered unlivable due to many long years of world war.
Farrell’s character decides to spice up his life by heading to the company known as REKALL where he’s promised whatever memories he wants, implanted directly into his mind. While there, everything goes to heck – and suddenly he’s the secret agent from the memories he requested be implanted in his mind. From that point on, just like the 1990 version of the film, you’re left to decide whether he’s living in the real world or if everything you’re seeing is his memory playing out before you.
What’s good
There’s an awesome amount of little bits and bytes you’re going to remember after you’ve left the theater. Remember to keep your eyes on the paper money that appears in our hero’s bank account (10549, remember that number!), watch for the lady who passes through security before Farrell, and bask in the environment that’s also appeared in a collection of films that are each known for that environment specifically:
• Blade Runner • The Fifth Element • Minority Report
The last film on that short list is also a re-interpretation of the same short story Total Recall is based on. As Farrell’s character explores his past and his potential future here in this film, you’ll find yourself seeing what can only be described as direct tributes to the Bourne film series and, though I wanted to bad to avoid saying it: Star Wars. There’s a collection of troops that walks through this movie that are without a doubt based heavily on the look and feel of the Stormtroopers and Clone Troopers of the entirety of the Star Wars 6-film collection.
And the whole experience feels really good, too.
Though again the movie does move so fast and flash so much visual stimulation up on the screen so unrelentingly at times that it may make you want to cover your face for a breather, it is all consumable. The movie is just the right length and is a mix of elements that will make it a movie many people will want in their collection in the near future.
What’s bad
The movie’s reliance on Kate Beckinsale gets to the point where it’s almost baffling. She’s there, she’s in a chase, she disappears, then it’s not 5 minutes later and she’s back again. Right with the idea that this movie doesn’t give you much room to breath, it really doesn’t give you a chance to appreciate Beckinsale’s character. She never goes away – she’s almost on the screen more than the protagonist, for goodness’ sake.
On that note, there’s not nearly enough Bryan Cranston in this movie. This man has exploded in the past few years as he’s found his stride in the TV series Breaking Bad, and he certainly shows it in Total Recall. Even with the very few and in-between throw-away lines that he does have as the almost phantom enemy of Farrell, his lovable devil attitude is always welcome when he pops up.
The action is fabulous, but there’s just a few too many slides. In the future, the most awesome move you can do when you’re in a secret agent battle is to slide forward on your knees like a rockstar. That’s what this movie taught me.
Should you see it?
Of course you should see it – but only if you’re not prone to seizures. There certainly are some bright flashing lights in this movie, a lot of action happening at a very quick pace – and if you’re not able to accept certain suggestions in a relatively loose plot line and move on, you might have trouble. If on the other hand you’re ready for a surprisingly joyfully executed science fiction action thriller that’ll have you saying, “what did I just see – I must see it again”, then this is the movie for you.
Check out our [ever expanding] timeline below as well as our Total Recall portal with keyword: Rekall to see all of our up close and personal coverage of the movie popping up immediately if not soon.
Did that headline get your attention? Good. You have proved that you are a geek male with a pulse. Poison Candy Latex (on Facebook) has created a new line of pop culture latex clothing which will be launching at Montreal Comic Con 2012, which is from September 14 to 16, 2012.
Star Trek fans who are into latex, or just like sexy costumes will be all over this, like a Ferengi on gold-pressed Latinum.
They sent some images to the folks over at Geeks Are Sexy to let people know what to expect from this clothing line. So what can we expect? Pure sexiness and a skin-tight fit. I don’t see any mention of price, but I’m sure they will be pretty expensive, and they’ll look way better than anything Shatner or Nimoy ever wore.
NASA is milking the coming landing of the Curiosity rover for all it’s worth with numerous videos to get people excited about the Rover landing on the surface of the red planet. The nuclear powered Curiosity Rover is set to touch down on the surface of Mars, if all goes well, at 1:31 AM EDT on August 6, 2012.
To promote the landing, NASA has offered up a pair of new videos called Grand Entrance that guide viewers from the entry to Mars’ atmosphere through the descent of the Rover until it’s ready to conduct its mission. The videos have the same exact content and the only difference is the Star Trek actors that narrate. One video is narrated by William Shatner and the other is narrated by Wil Wheaton.
If you can’t see the videos above, you can view Shatner’s video here, and Wheaton’s here. Which one do you prefer?
If you follow the space program at all, you probably know that NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, known as Curiosity, is on its way to the red planet. Curiosity is scheduled to touch down on the surface of Mars at 1:31 AM EDT on Monday, August 6. NASA has announced that Curiosity has made what is expected to be its final flight path adjustment before landing early Monday morning inside Mars’ Gale Crater.
To make the trajectory change, thrusters on the laboratory landing vehicle were fired for 6 seconds. The 6 second burst changed the spot where Curiosity will hit the Martian atmosphere by 13 miles. NASA is aiming to set Curiosity down in an 48 square mile area next to Mount Sharp, which rises from the center of Gale Crater.
NASA hopes to study the 3-mile high mountain because it seems to be made from different layers of sediment. NASA hopes studying those layers of up close will help determine whether Mars has ever had the ability to support life.
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