ON SET PHOTOS: "Total Recall" remake-now shooting in Toronto

Posted by Derek Flack / July 27, 2011

29 Comments

Although the new monster-budget remake of 1990's Total Recall has been filming in Toronto for almost two months, thus far the action has been mostly confined to the sound stage at Pinewood Studios on Commissioners Street in the Port Lands. Earlier this week, however, the production got a whole lot more public. With stars Colin Farrell and Jessica Biel in tow, film crews descended on Lake Shore Avenue East to shoot one of what will likely be a number of chase scenes in the $200 million movie, the most expensive to be shot in Toronto to date.

I'm not one to gawk at celebrities, but I've always been fascinated by behind-the-scenes shots of film productions, particularly those which promise to feature gratuitous special effects. While I have little difficulty suspending disbelief in the theatre, it remains intriguing to see what the filmmakers and editors have to work with, even if it's invariably less exciting than the final product.

The stretch of Lake Shore where the filming took place is back open today, but one suspects this isn't the last time that the Total Recall cast and crew make an appearance outside the studio. Check out the photos below, and if you have shots of the production, send them to the blogTO Flickr pool. Lead shot by syfractal.

syfractal

Photo by dtstuff9

dtstuff9

dtstuff9

dtstuff9

Photo by Max Quijano

REVIEW-Captian America; The 1st Avenger

Viewing MARVEL STUDIO's latest installment in the "Avengers" saga made me feel good about the impending franchise and well assured that Hollywood understands the importence of making better movies.

Hopefully, the star-studded ensemble in "The Avengers" (coming May 2012) will be well worth the wait, if "Captian America" is any indication of MARVEL's continued excellence in scriptwriting, acting, editing and production design.

The film's premise centers on (our hero) Steve Rogers (played by CHRIS EVANS ; Fantastic Four) a puny-yet-determined Military enlistee who is deemed unfit for service.

After being noticed by a compassionate U.S. Scientist (played with heart by cameo Stanley Tucci), our man Steve volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals.


What better actor to play the diabolical villian RED SKULL than our favorite MATRIX bad guy HUGO WEAVING (V for Vendetta) who potrays a disfigured Nazi official-gone-rouge, hellbent on harnessing the power of ODIN (Thor's father, for those of you playing at home) which is embedded in a desert artifact that crashed on earth years before.

Expect huge explosions, great car chases, amazing stunts and above average special effects. Also expect a bit of corny chiches and obvious comedic relief - but hey, it's summer, it's MARVEL and the word 'America" is in the title. Shut up and chew ya twizzlers.

Not only was it good to see Hugo Weaving chizel his mark in the movie villian's hall of fame (with Jack Nicholson's "Joker", James Earl Jone's "Darth Vader" and Terrence Stamp's "General Zod") but it was also refreshing to see Chris Evans in a role where he doesn't play a smarmy playboy with a cocky attitude.

I wonder if he begged for that role as a way to further develop his personal best as an actor. Maybe it fell in his lap. Either way, you can see him working from a different performance energy center, and that's a good thing.

Best wishes to MARK RUFFALO (The kids are alright, Shutter Island, Date Night) as he takes over the role of BRUCE BANNER in the Avangers movie. EDWARD NORTON is no longer huge and green.

Directed by popcorn vet JOE JOHNSTON ( Jumanji, Hildago, Jurrassic park 3) this film has the feel of a classic movie like "Raiders" with breakneack action sequences and slick production design. The costumes and shots of New York in the 40's were top-notch. Great use of REAL 3d tech from the first frame to the last. Worth the admission price.


TICKET WORTH: Full price (2D and 3D)
RENT THIS MOVIE?: Hellz yeah! Watch it with the kids.
BUY THE DVD?: Hellz yeah. Blue-ray, 3D - all the bells and whistles.

J/A

Bad Science in Sci-Fi movies.

The Princess Bride REDUX- Lightsaber Battle

The internet adds lightsabers to a lot of things, so it’s hard to accept that we’re only now seeing Inigo Montoya and The Dread Pirate Roberts’s duel from The Princess Bride with lightsabers. The pairing is perfect. How did this not happen years ago?

Extra bonus points for picking not only a charming movie, but a duel in which actual fencing techniques are used, possibly making this the most realistic lightsaber duel now in existence. (If you disagree, link or embed video, because a comment thread full of lightsaber duels is a wonderful thing.)

(video via John Joseph Adams or @johnjosephadams, if you prefer)

BATMAN 3: We have a title...

Nolan’s third Batman movie: The Dark Knight Rises

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October 27th, 2010
Author David Pepose

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a title.

Christopher Nolan has announced that his third Batman film will be called The Dark Knight Rises, according to an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones,” Nolan said in the interview, adding that the villain “won’t be the Riddler.” Hmm… curiouser and curiouser, right?

The movie is due out in July 20, 2012, which may put it on the tail end of the Avengers film, due out on May 4 of the same year.

The year 2008 starring in "Return of the sequel".

Some say you can't get enough of a good thing. If anyone believed that last year it was Hollywood, for sure. Sequel after sequel came rolling off the film studio assembly lines and into our neighborhood multiplexes like overpriced buckets of popcorn.

NEO should have told MORPHEUS that the "second black cat" was actually named "Reloaded". The Hollywood matrix glitched on purpose and we loved every minute of it. Just in case you missed this massive re-attack on the senses, here's a run down of some of favorite stories that got part-two'd:

Last year we:
•Helped RAMBO into the old folks home (we hope).

•Once again visited our furry friends from the land of NARNIA. PETA must be pleased.

•Dusted off yet another MUMMY. (Spoiler Alert: Brendan Frasier really is the animated corpse.)

•Witnessed more gore in SAW.

•Sang yet another HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.

•Got another delivery from THE TRANSPORTER.

•Went to hell and fought THE GOLDEN ARMY with HELLBOY.

•Really, really wanted to believe in THE X FILES.

•Escaped twice: once to Africa from MADAGASCAR, and again from GITMO with HAROLD AND KUMAR.

•Fought another STAR WAR with cartoons CLONES.

•Got no SOLACE with 007. (Okay. Maybe a Quantum)

• Watched INDIANA JONES bump his CRYSTAL SKULL.

•And giggled with the SISTERHOOD again in those darn TRAVELING PANTS.


But I think 2008 sequel award goes to the caped crusader. THE DARK KNIGHT is now the fourth highest grossing movie in history and picked up two Academy Awards. (Best sound editing and best supporting actor: HEATH LEDGER.)

Betcha we see more super hero flicks soon considering that three of the top ten films of 2008 were superhero movies. ENTER: THE WATCHMEN.

The Dark Knight- Worldwide Gross : $1,001,082,160
Hancock - Worldwide Gross : $624,386,746
Iron Man- Worldwide Gross : $582,030,528



PHAT ALERT!!
Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios are scheduled to release on July 15, 2011 a film titled The Avengers.
Iron Man director Jon Favreau is the executive producer, while Robert Downey, Jr. and Don Cheadle will play Iron Man and War Machine, respectively.
Unknown returns include Edward Norton, star of The Incredible Hulk (2008) as Bruce Banner and Samuel L. Jackson in his Iron Man cameo as Nick Fury.
The film's roster includes Iron Man, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Thor.The film's writer, Zak Penn (co-writer of The Incredible Hulk film), cited Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates version of the team as inspiration for the story.