io9: featurette

New Avatar Footage Shows Things Getting Bloody On Pandora's Surface

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:30:00 PST

Check out James Cameron's sick collection of futuristic human weaponry — and the Pandoran defense system: sharp pointy fangs! Lots of new human-centric footage in this new featurette. Plus, learn what Avatar has in common with The Core.

The mess hall and cryo sleeping chamber are pretty intricate, we can't wait to see them in 3D. But the power suits and what-not are a little Starship Trooper Marauders. Still, it makes a lot of splodey noises and lights.

More Avatar Info

Did you guess the connection between The Core and Avatar? Well that's easy: it's unobtanium. The mineral that the humans are killing off Na'vi for is the same as the metal that allows The Core's ship to drill into the Earth. You know: the hotter and faster you work it, the harder it gets. Ah, made up science-fictional materials, how we love thee — especially handwavium.

Peter Jackson Explains How To Make Murder Beautiful

Meredith Woerner — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:00:00 PDT

Lovely Bones director Peter Jackson takes us behind the scenes of his new movie, about the ghost of a murdered young girl caught between desiring vengeance and peace. How do you make a movie about something so terrible this beautiful?

You may also remember the little actress Saoirse Ronan for being able to hold her own next to Bill Murray in The City of Ember. She's becoming a major powerhouse, and her unique look is becoming mesmerizing. Besides that ship-in-a-bottle seaside purgatory, the other major source of excitement in this new trailer is Stanley Tucci's character. Tucci really knows how to commit to a character, so he's sure to bring the full-on skeeve. Heck, he's already bringing it, with his creeper haircut:

Sendak Promises Wild Things Movie Will Be Dark and Controversial

Lauren Davis — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:44:56 PDT

The Where the Wild Things' trailer may have been declawed, but according to original author Maurice Sendak, the movie still has bite. In a new featurette, Sendak calls Spike Jonze's adaptation "dangerous," and promises it will stir controversy.

This featurette was screened with clips from the movie at the Comic Con Warner Bros. panel Friday morning. Here, we not only get Sendak's words on the film, but also brief snippets of the movie and footage from Jonze's set, including his fiery propane tank. The film visuals are incredibly lovely, but even the set footage looks somehow magical and it looks like that dreamy on-set fun is what really drives the movie.

[Apple Trailers]

New Glamour Shots Of The Monsters, Pre-Alien War

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:30:01 PST

Check out the new set of Monsters Versus Aliens posters, stills and a featurette. And watch the evil genius Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie) shock Reese Witherspoon's CG face (just like House!).

I'm having a hard time deciding which comical monster is more adorable — Hugh Laurie as Dr. Cockroach, PhD, or Will Arnett as The Missing Link. Either way they've really assembled the cream of the crop as far as clever comedic talent goes. I can't wait to see the big monster showdown. Also revealed in this little featurette, our monster pals are being held in monster prison, so they have to defeat the evil alien (Rainn Wilson) to win their freedom.

Monsters Vs. Aliens hits theaters on March 27.
[Yahoo]

New Watchmen Featurette Probes Separation Between Superhero And State

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:30:00 PST

A new Watchmen featurette is out, with director Zack Snyder breaking down what's so interesting about Alan Moore's alternate universe where costumed adventurers mingle in politics. And it includes almost all the movie's vital scenes.

Watchmen Exclusive

This clip is just about the whole movie, if you look carefully in the backgrounds. Plus it's the first time that we get to hear a lot of the characters speak for more than a half of a second. It is amazing how closely Patrick Wilson fits the role of Dan Dreiberg, but I never realized it until right now.

Let's all cross our fingers — and glare over in Fox's general direction — for a timely release of the WB movie on March 6, 2009.

What Does Wall-E Have To Hide?

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:20:00 PDT

We've watched the trailers for Pixar's upcoming cute-bot movie Wall-E a zillion times, but we still had lingering questions. Like, why is Wall-E so alone at the start of the movie? What happened to all the other robots? Is Wall-E really as nice as he seems, or is there a hidden sociopathic side to the postapocalyptic robot? And a few other questions that we won't mention, for fear of spoilering people who've avoided even the first trailer. Anyway, a new featurette answers a lot of our questions with some narration by director Andrew Stanton, and also shows off a decent amount of footage we haven't seen before.

I really like the notion that Wall-E's crush on Eve, the far more advanced robot, forces her to evolve and become more self-aware. That could actually be cool to watch. And then Wall-E's quest somehow "reboots" the human race? It definitely seems like a more ambitious storyline than the Toy Story movies. [Slashfilm]