Probably the most exciting thing we saw at Comic-Con today was a surprise chunk of footage from Jon Favreau's scifi western, Cowboys and Aliens. It was gritty and action-packed, plus there was a showdown between Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig.
Favreau, whose previous films were Iron Man and Iron Man 2, said they've only been shooting for a month, but he wanted to prep some great footage for Comic-Con. Holy crap did he deliver. He called the movie a "by the book Western," in the vein of John Ford, which will definitely be in 2D. (Why no 3D? He just doesn't think you can shoot a Western in digital.) And he said his scifi influences include Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, and Predator. "We wanted it to look like practical effects, with minimal CGI," he added. And it really worked.
We saw several interlinked scenes that introduce our main characters.
The first clip opens with Zeke Johnson (Daniel Craig) riding his horse into a tiny old west town, accompanied by a scruffy dog. He looks wary, and his face is covered in grime. Seeing nobody around, he slips into a house and begins to clean up. Immediately, we notice that he has a bulky, steampunk-looking wristband on one arm; then he pulls aside his shirt to reveal a deep, bloody bullet wound. As he's cleaning that, the house's owner pokes a shotgun into his ear and he's forced to put his hands up.
The man says to Zeke, "Only two kinds of people get shot: Criminals and victims. Which one are you?"
"I don't know," Zeke replies.
Next time we see him, Zeke is in jail and a scruffy teenager in the next cell is spitting on him, saying, "I want to see you suffer for a long time." Finally, after a few more seconds of torment, Zeke gets up, grabs the kid by the scruff of the neck, and smashes him unconscious against the bars dividing their two cells. So Zeke is a tough character. And when the lawmen arrive, they tell him he's been charged with murder and he's being taken for a trial - chained to the snotty kid he knocked out.
The two of them have been bundled into an armored carriage when a large group of armed men ride out of the night and into town carrying torches. Their leader is Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), and he's a venomous bad guy who refuses to hear the pleas of his son, who turns out to be the snot-nosed kid who spat on Zeke.
Pointing at Zeke, Woodrow says, "That's the son of a bitch who stole my gold." He wants to snatch Zeke out of the carriage right that minute to find out where his gold is, but he's interrupted when the horizon begins to glimmer with lights. It's a very Close Encounters-esque looking UFO, which zooms toward the town, fragments into several ships which disappear, then reappear directly overhead, shooting blue lasers and blowing up the town house by house. Fires erupt from windows, people run screaming (including Sam Rockwell), and the jail carriage is knocked over. Zeke and the kid scramble out and we see Zeke's wristband has grown to cover his lower arm. It's also glowing blue. He aims it at the ships, and shoots out a beam of light that brings one down in a haze of dust and fire.
A hush falls over the town as everybody stares at the fallen ship, looking a little like a TIE fighter surrounded by mounds of displaced dirt. Woodrow is standing next to Zeke, who is still in a fighting stance, his arm outstretched. His wristband suddenly closes back up, becoming the small band we saw earlier. The two men exchange a significant glance, their faces lit by UFO fire, and the clip ended.
It was an amazing series of establishing scenes, and gave us a real taste of the film's pacing and style. And it was simply amazing - one of the most intriguing things I've seen all week at Con. I like the fact that it's Old West science fiction but not steampunk at all (except for the style of Zeke's wristband). It actually reminded me of what The Adventures of Briscoe County would have been if it were a drama: a perfect blend of cowboy justice and UFO weirdness.
Along with the rest of the crowd, I was left breathless and wondering how this would all play out. Will this be hard science fiction, or more fantastical like the Indiana Jones series? What will the aliens look like? Is Harrison Ford actually playing a bad guy? And Daniel Craig as a cowboy? Sign me the fuck up. Seriously - I predict that this film, based on a comic book by Scott Rosenberg, is going to be mindblowingly awesome when it comes out this time next year.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
Read up the Poli-Forum to see where Rex derives the joke by using Wondy's name in the quote. And if you read through this thread, you'll see that I didn't express interest due to the review. I simply thought the over-masturbatory article was hilarious. Once Doc posted the pic, I shrugged and didn't change my on-the-fence opinion.
And yes, Grimm, if it were Doctor Who I would be all over it. Why? Because I like Doctor Who. I have always liked Doctor Who. I will probably always like Doctor Who. The equation is simple, really...
Read up the Poli-Forum to see where Rex derives the joke by using Wondy's name in the quote. And if you read through this thread, you'll see that I didn't express interest due to the review. I simply thought the over-masturbatory article was hilarious. Once Doc posted the pic, I shrugged and didn't change my on-the-fence opinion.
And yes, Grimm, if it were Doctor Who I would be all over it. Why? Because I like Doctor Who. I have always liked Doctor Who. I will probably always like Doctor Who. The equation is simple, really...
Actually, with this post you're about one Pat Buchanan quote away from being WB here.
Read up the Poli-Forum to see where Rex derives the joke by using Wondy's name in the quote! And if you read through this thread, you'll see that I didn't express interest due to the review! I simply thought the over-masturbatory article was hilarious!
Once Doc posted the pic, I shrugged and didn't change my on-the-fence opinion.
And yes, Grimm, if it were Doctor Who I would be all over it! Why? Because I like Doctor Who! I have always liked Doctor Who! I will probably always like Doctor Who!! Just because you have to personally attack me and SLANDER ME with your Liberal Bias(tm) doesn't change THE FACTS, Grimm! You can post in your IGNORANCE, but my---I mean THE facts prove that you don't see where AMERICA IS FALLING INTO THE ABYSS OF EVIL AND LIBERALISM AND EQUALITY FOR ALL LOWER RACES I HATE BLACK PEOPLE AND ANYONE WHO'S NOT WHITE!!!!?!!!!
Read up the Poli-Forum to see where Rex derives the joke by using Wondy's name in the quote. And if you read through this thread, you'll see that I didn't express interest due to the review. I simply thought the over-masturbatory article was hilarious. Once Doc posted the pic, I shrugged and didn't change my on-the-fence opinion.
I did all of the above. I just find it interesting that when something is involved with Who you tend to give it far more latitude than you would otherwise. Now I'm not saying that you don't have reason to be cynical for anything from Hollyweird, it just seems that when something similar arrives from a Doctorish standpoint, you're much less quick to rush to judgement.
Quote:
And yes, Grimm, if it were Doctor Who I would be all over it. Why? Because I like Doctor Who. I have always liked Doctor Who. I will probably always like Doctor Who. The equation is simple, really...
Read up the Poli-Forum to see where Rex derives the joke by using Wondy's name in the quote! And if you read through this thread, you'll see that I didn't express interest due to the review! I simply thought the over-masturbatory article was hilarious!
Once Doc posted the pic, I shrugged and didn't change my on-the-fence opinion.
And yes, Grimm, if it were Doctor Who I would be all over it! Why? Because I like Doctor Who! I have always liked Doctor Who! I will probably always like Doctor Who!! Just because you have to personally attack me and SLANDER ME with your Liberal Bias(tm) doesn't change THE FACTS, Grimm! You can post in your IGNORANCE, but my---I mean THE facts prove that you don't see where AMERICA IS FALLING INTO THE ABYSS OF EVIL AND LIBERALISM AND EQUALITY FOR ALL LOWER RACES I HATE BLACK PEOPLE AND ANYONE WHO'S NOT WHITE!!!!?!!!!
I did all of the above. I just find it interesting that when something is involved with Who you tend to give it far more latitude than you would otherwise. Now I'm not saying that you don't have reason to be cynical for anything from Hollyweird, it just seems that when something similar arrives from a Doctorish standpoint, you're much less quick to rush to judgement.
Well, now, in fairness I didn't make judgement on anything except the gushing of the article. The movie/concept might not be as dumb as it sounds. Who knows?
But, when compared to Who, naturally I'll go that route without objectivity, mainly because:
Bullshit! The Third Dimension is where I keep all my stuff.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
This movie just keeps looking more and more awesome.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
Could be great...
Wondy likes Doctor Who??
