Tag Archives: sizzle reel

‘Rogue One’ sizzle reel shows off ‘Star Wars’ practical effects (New poster inside!)

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The very first standalone Star Wars movie is coming soon, and to (ahem) celebrate, Disney and Lucasfilm shared this Rogue One sizzle reel at Star Wars Celebration in London this week. The nearly three-minute reel takes you in front of and behind the camera, giving you an inside look at how much effort is going into making the world of Star Wars come to life outside the confines of the three trilogies. Episode VII director J.J. Abrams was praised for his use of practical effects in The Force Awakens, and it looks like Rogue One helmer Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) is taking a page out of Abrams’ playbook. The gritty war zones that makeup Rogue One are littered with real explosions and imaginative creature costumes. Of course, these moviemakers simply couldn’t put on the show without pushing the limits of CG animation, but it’s good to know that where possible, what we end up seeing on the big screen is the real deal.

Go on and enjoy the reel; in it you’ll also hear from the cast and crew and maybe learn a little more about the resistance fighters’ daring mission to steal the Death Star plans. Celebration attendees left the panel with the first official poster for Rogue One, and you can eyeball it after the break; that tropical locale in the teaser and sizzle reel now has a name and it’s Scarif. Also screened at the panel but not released on the Internet (yet) was the second teaser trailer for the flick; spoiler alert, it ends with the mother of all teases: Darth Vader is back!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theatres December 16, 2016. Continue reading ‘Rogue One’ sizzle reel shows off ‘Star Wars’ practical effects (New poster inside!) →

Comic Con: ‘Person of Interest’ aims to up the ante in shortened fifth (and possibly final) season

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This post contains spoilers for Person of Interest season 4.

The Machine now lives inside a suitcase. Team Machine, namely Finch, Reese, Root, and Fusco, are racing against the clock to bring it back to “life” so they can take down its nefarious counterpart, Samaritan.

Johnathan Nolan and Greg Plageman, the executive producers behind Person of Interest, are also on a tight schedule to produce even more gripping content for the show’s rabid fanbase. CBS renewed POI for a fifth season, thankfully, but it did so with a caveat: it’s 13 episodes this time around, as opposed to the typical 22 or 23. Cancellation whispers are in the air, and so Nolan and the creative team are prepared to go out with a bang if this is indeed the end.

“In terms of the reduced order, we’re going to make 13 kick-ass episodes, drop the microphone, and if we’re asked to pick it up again, we’ll have more stories to tell,” Nolan told fans at Comic Con. “We’re very, very proud of the show and very excited with the show we’ve been making. If it’s the last season, no one is going to be disappointed with the story that we tell.”

Viewers can expect a lot less filler (i.e. “numbers of the week” episodes) and a whole lot more story connected to the overarching battle for supremacy over Samaritan. “They’ve got to find a way to go on the offensive–attack Samaritan and hit them hard,” said Jim Caviezel, who plays Reese.

How will season 5 approach the Second Coming of The Machine? “If [Finch] has to rebuild it, he may not do it the way he did it initially,” said Michael Emerson. “He may give it more of the freedom that Root was always demanding for it. And maybe the new Machine is a greater warrior than the old Machine was.” In a video interview with TVLine (watch that here), Emerson adds that he hopes and expects Finch “to have a more personal relationship with The Machine.” He says the lines are blurring when it comes to The Machine serving as a tool and acting like a person. Intrigue!

Need more to chew on? Watch the 4-minute sizzle reel that premiered in San Diego above. It highlights the high stakes drama that’s been permeating throughout the series from the very beginning, and at the very end (wait for it!) it plays a recorded message from Root teasing a fight for the future. It’s epic, it’s cinematic, and it perfectly encapsulates just how great this show can be on a consistent basis.

After mastering the art of weaving in and out of procedural and serial episodes, Person of Interest is prepared to put the pedal to the metal, reaching deep into its mythos to resuscitate The Machine and save the world from Samaritan, in what may very well be the final string of episodes. POI returns in midseason to CBS.

[Via THR; TVLine]