Disney Releases New "Guardians of the Galaxy" Trailer, Removes Rocket Raccoon "Re-Adjusting Himself"

While I can't prove this to any of you, Disney has released a new trailer for "Guardians of the Galaxy" that is set to debut on "Maleficent" and any other title currently running trailer #2.

This new trailer, #3, is almost identical to #2, except thy have removed Rocket Raccoon "re-adjusting" himself.  I had an itching suspicion this would happen Friday when I got the recommended playlist for "Maleficent" that included a #3.

Well today I was reluctant to be excited about it, but I went ahead and let me guard down.  The trailer started with the same shot from the first two, so there was still hope, but after a few seconds I knew not much would change.

This happened recently (and numerously) with "A Million Ways to Die in the West".  There's a trailer that features Sarah Silverman showing someone her vagina, and he says, "I better shut the Bible now."  The next trailer for the film was identical, but without the Bible joke.  Instead he just stares at her.  A girl showing somebody her vagina is okay, but saying he should close the Bible needs removed.

Anyway, as you will all possibly find out soon enough, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trailer on "Maleficent" is apparently new, but in reality is just the same as the second trailer, minus Rocket moving his genitals around.

Seth MacFarlane Trivia That Might Surprise You

With Seth MacFarlane's second motion picture coming out in just two days, I decided to take a look at some of this stranger accomplishments.

1. "A Million Ways to Die in the West" was Seth MacFarlane's first novel.

It's becoming more common and more common for authors to be involved in films based on their work.  Stephanie Myers was a producer in the Twilight series, JK Rowling did the same with Harry Potter, but it's rare for Seth MacFarlane to do quite what he is doing with "A Million Ways to Die in the West".  Not only has he produced, written, and directed this film, but he's also given himself the lead role!

2. "Ted" is the highest grossing original R rated comedy of all time.

I think this sounds more impressive than it is, but it's still notable.  To be the highest grossing comedy with an R rating that also happens to not be based on anything is pretty specific.  It's like saying "Alvin and the Chipmunks" was the highest grossing movie released that Christmas that featured singing, dancing, chipmunks and also David Cross.  Still, if we narrow the playing field a bit, "Ted" was still quite successful.  Domestically, it's the 7th highest grossing R rated movie ever.  It's beaten out by three comedies: Hangover, Hangover 2, and Beverly Hills Cop.  It's fairly impressive for somebody's first movie, but he's also had years and years of comedy writing experience.

3. Seth MacFarlane is the highest paid TV writer.

Back in 2008, Seth MacFarlane signed a deal with Fox to guarantee "Family Guy" and "American Dad" would remain on the air until 2012, the deal was determined to be worth over  $100 million.

4. Seth MacFarlane was scheduled to be in American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11th, 2001.

According to a Penthouse interview, MacFarlane says he was supposed to be on American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston on 9/11.  He apparently was very hungover and had been given the wrong departure time, and when he arrived at the airport, the terminal had been closed.  Here's a quote from a TVShowsOnDVD.com interview.

"The only reason it hasn't really affected me as it maybe could have is I didn't really know that I was in any danger until after it was over, so I never had that panic moment. After the fact, it was sobering, but people have a lot of close calls; you're crossing the street and you almost get hit by a car..... this one just happened to be related to something massive. I really can't let it affect me because I'm a comedy writer. I have to put that in the back of my head."

5. Seth MacFarlane is an Academy Award Nominee.
In 2013 Seth MacFarlane was nominated for a Best Original Song Academy Award for "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted.  The award ultimately went to "Skyfall", but it's still impressive that he will forever be an academy award nominated song-writer.

6. Seth MacFarlane's voice was in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"

MacFarlane was the voice of the ectoplasmic entity known as Johann Kraus in the 2008 film "Hellboy II".  In addition to Hellboy, MacFarlane has also done voices in "Futurama: Into the Green Yonder" and "The Drawn Together Movie".

"X-Men: Days of Future Past" Post Credit Sequence Explained!

So you've just seen "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and presumably, you loved it.  The movie had a lot to like!  After all the excitement ended, and the world was saved once again, we got a glimpse into Fox's next big mutant team up, "X-Men: Apocalypse".  The big question for many fans is, who is the guy at the end of "X-Men: Days of Future Past"?

If you have been following comic book movie news, you probably know Fox is developing a sequel to DOFP called Apocalypse.  The title definitely implies that the major X-Men character Apocalypse would be present!  The man in the post credit sequence of DOFP is none other than Apocalypse himself.  Apocalypse is a major X-Men villain, and marvel.com ranked him as the 3rd top X-Men villain, only beaten out by Sentinels and Magneto, both of which were featured in Days of Future Past.

Any fan of "X-Men: The Animated Series" will probably remember Apocalypse, and definitely will after a quick refresher:

What "special promotional piece" could be at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past?

My theatre got their copy of X-Men: Days of Future Past.  They always come with instructions so we know when to bring the lights up, what trailers to attach, etc.  To inform us when to bring the lights up, they use the following format:

Feature Run Time: 2:05:02

End Credit Offset: 2:00:49

So using this format, we would program the lights to turn themselves on 2 hours and 49 second into the movie, so right when the credits start the lights come up.  Now with after credit sequences, this can get tricky.  With Marvel and Sony's current format, they give us the offset time after the first credit scene.  For example, in the Avengers the lights came up right after the scene with Thanos.  In Amazing Spider-Man 2, the lights stayed down until after the X-Men scene.  With Days of Future Past, they don't want the lights to come on until the entire movie is over, credits and everything.

This is uncommon.  Most of the time, the lights come on before the second post-credit sequence.  The lights came on before swarma in Avengers, before the Bucky sequence in Captain America 2, and before Thor's return to Midgar in Thor 2.  It's strange for them to request the lights to come on after the very end of the credits.

If you look closely, there is a message from Fox saying there's a special promotional piece at the end for guests to enjoy.  I wouldn't exactly call most post-credit sequences promotional.  There are a few exception, like the Avengers promo at the end of Captain America and the X-Men promo during the credits on The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but generally they aren't exactly promotions.

You could argue that some are promotions, Iron Man 2 had Thor's hammer, so you could say that's promoting Thor.  Really, it depends on what Fox meant when they said special promotion.  It could honestly just be the wording they used, but I'm thinking there's more to it than that.

Let's assume it is just an after credit sequence.  In the past, Fox hasn't done anything too crazy with them.  In X-Men: The Last Stand, it's revealed Magneto has gained his powers back after losing them from the mutant suppression shot.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine had Wolverine drinking in Japan, possibly hinting that his next movie will take place there, and it did.  In the film Wolverine, the after credit sequence shows that Xavier is alive, and working together with Magneto to save the future.  This scene pretty much gives the basic plot to Days of Future Past.

Looking at possible future X-Men titles, I think the best guess is there is going to be something with Apocalypse in this "special promotion".  Fox has already announced their next X-Men film, title "X-Men: Apocalypse", so it would be no surprise if that is the after credit sequence.

Fox has also announced a sequel to Wolverine.  The film will be released after "X-Men: Apocalypse", so I find it unlikely that they would be hinting at anything relating to it in this film, but I could be wrong.  There is also talk of an X-Force film, so maybe this will be there way of announcing that X-Force is being officially made, but I bet X-Force is formed during "X-Men: Apocalypse".

There is always the possibility I'll be completely wrong.  Maybe its a promotion for another Fox title unrelated to X-Men.  Obviously Marvel didn't start the trend of having post-credit sequences, but they have certainly made it more mainstream.  During my early days of projection, I hardly ever had customers ask if there is anything after the credits.  Now, I assume about 20% of all customers ask if there's something after.  If this scene turns out to be anything less than something related to Apocalypse, or at least Wolverine, I have a feeling people will be disappointed.  Either way, I'll let everyone know tomorrow in a spoiler free fashion!  Just for fun, here is the projection instructions for "X-Men: Days of Future Past"!

Godzilla Titles Streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon

Undoubtedly there are some fans of the new Godzilla movie leaving the theatre wanting more.  Warning for anyone who has seen the new one, but hasn't seen any older titles: some are going to be hard to watch.  There are some truly terrible (but still fun) Godzilla movies, and some that are damn near perfect.  This list contains them all!

0. Gojira

The original Godzilla movie.  This film is pretty much required viewing.

Featured monsters:

- Godzilla

Amazon Prime

Hulu Plus

1. Godzilla: King of Monsters

The Americanized original.  This film is mostly the same footage from the Japanese version, but with an added American plot.

Featured monsters:
- Godzilla

Netflix
Hulu Plus

2. Godzilla Raids Again

Also known as "Gigantis: The Fire Monster", this was the first sequel to Godzilla.  It also is the first time Godzilla fights another monsters.

Featured monsters:

- Godzilla

- Anguirus

Amazon Prime

Hulu Plus

3. Godzilla vs King Kong

The third Godzilla film in the series, this film is also the first featuring King Kong and Godzilla in color!

Featured monsters:

- Godzilla

- King Kong

Unfortunately, this title is currently not streaming anywhere!

4. Mothra vs Godzilla

Godzilla vs Mothra brought a previous Toho monster, Mothra, into battle with Godzilla.  Mothra has become one of the biggest characters in the franchise.

Featured monsters:

- Godzilla

- Mothra

Unfortunately, this title is currently not streaming anywhere!

Unpopular Opinions: Godzilla (2014)

I just got out of a screening for Godzilla, and the film definitely has merits, but in my opinion it absolutely does not live up to expectations.  Now most of this post is probably going to upset anyone who enjoyed the film, but this is my opinion immediately following the movie.  Warning, spoiler heavy, especially towards the end.

First of all, this didn't seem like a Godzilla movie to me.  I grew up watching a few Showa series films, and a couple Heisei films.  At the time, Godzilla films weren't really readily available to me, so I pretty much rewatched the few I had repeatedly.  The ones that really stick out are Terror of Mechagodzilla, Godzilla VS Monster Zero, Godzilla VS the Sea Monster, and Godzilla VS Megalon.  I wasn't expecting this to be anything like any of the ones I watched as a kid, as some of those are awful, just truly awful.

I did, however, expect Godzilla to be in it!  It would be a major exaggeration to say Godzilla isn't in much of the movie, and I'm sure if I went back and added up the screen time for Godzilla in older titles, it's probably pretty on par, but it really seemed like the filmmakers were intentionally keeping Godzilla off screen.  There were multiple times in the film where Godzilla is about to do battle with one of the monsters, and the filmmakers cut away.  Some of that was undoubtedly to give more meaning to the scene were we actually get to see him, but even then, it didn't feel like much.  Don't get me wrong though, I'm grateful we got another monster.

MUTO

How Much of Marvel's Cinematic Universe Phase 2 Success is from Avengers?

I've read the phrase "Avengers bump" quite a few times since Iron Man 3 came out.  This is pretty much just the idea that Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier all did better at the box office because of the success of Avengers.  It's very possible these films would have done the same without Avengers, but unlikely.  Are other comic book movies getting "bumps" from Avengers without even being involved?

First of all, let's take a look at the Iron Man series.  Iron Man is definitely Marvel Cinematic Universe's most popular and successful character.

Iron Man (2008)

• Total Domestic Gross: $318 million
• Opening Week: $123 million
• 38.68% of total gross
• Second Week: $64 million
• -47.5%

Iron Man 2 (2010)

• Total Domestic Gross: $312 million
• Opening Week: $159 million
• 60% of total gross
• Second Week: $65 million
• -58.8%

Iron Man 3 (2013)

• Total Domestic Gross: $409 million
• Opening Week: $212 million
• 51.83% of total gross
• Second Week: $89 million
• -57.9%

Totals and Averages

• Total Domestic Gross: $1039 million
• $346.33 per film
• Average Second Week Drop: 54.73%
• Pre-Avengers (Average): $315
• Post Avengers Gross: $409
• +22.99%

Could Vin Diesel Play Multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe Characters?

Way back in December, Vin Diesel was officially announced to be voicing Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy.  This had been rumored, and pretty much stated by Vin Diesel himself, months before, but became100% official in December.

In case you don't know, Groot is a walking tree.  He's not quite like an Ent, but he is sentient.  Groot is primarily known for only saying his signature catch phrase "I am Groot!".  Allegedly when he repeats this phrase, it can mean any number of things in his native language, but to everyone else he's just repeating his name.

While it's unclear whether or not that will factor into Guardians of the Galaxy this August, but let's assume for a second that they will keep that from the comics. While Vin Diesel isn't the biggest name in Hollywood, I would say a majority of moviegoers know who he is.  Mostly due to the increasingly successful Fast and Furious franchise, but with some help from the not as successful (but well liked) Riddick franchise, Vin Diesel is becoming a bigger name each year.

So with Vin Diesel becoming even more and more popular, would it be wasting potential to just use his voice for one line with different inflections?  On the other hand, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is on course to be the most successful franchise of all time, as it's undoubtedly going to be the highest grossing franchise worldwide within the next few years.  The MCU is showing no signs of slowing down, so does it necessarily need to take advantage of every actor they can?

The biggest casting question in the Marvel Cinematic Universe right now seems to be "Who is playing Thanos?!"  There are a number of rumors and speculation.  I've read many articles saying Vin Diesel and Benecio Del Toro are signed on for multiple characters, but I can't seem to find any confirmation on that.  Others speculate that an unknown actor may be playing Thanos, as he might just be computer animated.  Personally, from what we know so far, I would say Thanos is going to be a huge part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I have my own theories (that definitely dictate their own post), but Thanos has pretty much been behind the scenes from the beginning.  I'm not saying Thanos has been pulling all the strings, but he's been there, watching.  The Chitauri invasion in The Avengers was undoubtedly part of his plan, and I bet it goes further than that.

If you don't already know, Thanos is the guy who turns his head and smirks at the end of The Avengers!  Thanos is a super-powered cosmic being.  He is obsessed with death, and generally considered one of the biggest threats in the galaxy.  Most likely, Thanos is going to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy, and then be the focal point of Avengers 3.  It's safe to assume that Thanos is going to be a big deal, for more than just one movie too.  Imagine if they hadn't cast Tom Hiddleston as Loki?  There are plenty of other actors who would do a wonderful job, but Loki is just so iconic and memorable.  It would be foolish to not cast a memorable actor in this role, unless of course he's going to be all CGI.  That being said, I didn't know who Tom Hiddleston was before Thor, and I didn't really care to.  It just goes to show that they don't need a major actor in a role to make it iconic.

Vin Diesel playing Thanos would work great.  He can be menacing, he's physically built for it, and he's popular enough that he might actually bring new fans into the series (if there's anybody left who isn't watching them).  We all know Vin Diesel can handle voice acting (Iron Giant), so it wouldn't be awful if he just played Groot, but he seems like a big actor to record the same line over and over again.

Guardians of the Galaxy opens on August 1st and stars Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, and Bradley Cooper.

Avengers Infinite Series Wave 1 Iron Man

I took all these pictures way back when I did the other Avengers Infinite figures, but for some reason never got around to posting them.

Marvel Universe Modern Age Avengers Team Pack Iron Man

If it looks familiar, it is, just like Captain America from this wave, this is a figure we've had a few times in the past.

Marvel Universe Modern Age Avengers Team Pack Thor
Marvel Universe Modern Age Avengers Team Pack Red Hulk

Robocop Series Silver Robocop

Robocop Series Black Robocop

Not a whole lot to say, it's a pretty basic Iron Man figure.

Marvel Universe Classic Avengers Team Pack

Avengers Infinite Wave 1 Hulk

Iron Man 2 Series Hulkbuster

Marvel Universe Ultron

Spider-Man Series Rhino

It's an okay figure.  I wouldn't have gotten it if I hadn't found a deal on a set of the whole first wave.  I guess multiple Iron Man suits isn't a bad thing.

Marvel Universe Hulk

Eight New Godzilla Films on Blu-ray From Sony

Last Tuesday, Sony released eight Godzilla films on Blu-ray in four sets under the title "The Toho Godzilla Collection".

All eight films are each on their own disc, mostly no notable special features, but some have a few.  I'll go into more detail below.

Godzilla VS King Ghidorah (1991)

Godzilla VS King Ghidorah is probably the best looking feature in the collection.  The movie kind of "reboot" the Godzilla series after the failure that was Godzilla VS Biollante.  This film is oddly a time travel movie, but it works well.  Time travelers from 2204 come to the present time and inform them that Godzilla will destroy Tokyo.  To prevent this, they propose going back in time and removing Godzilla before he mutates from a normal sized dinosaur.  There are a few twists, but King Ghidorah shows up! The disc features English and Japanese audio tracks and subtitles.

Special features:

• Original trailers

Featured monsters:

• Godzilla
• King Ghidorah
• Mecha-Ghidorah

Godzilla VS Mothra (1992)

Also known as "Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for Earth" in the United States, Godzilla VS Mothra was the second successful Godzilla film of the 1990s.  Without taking inflation into account, this is the highest grossing Godzilla movie ever.  Tons of environmental messages in this film, but isn't that kind of what Godzilla is all about?  The disc features English and Japanese audio tracks and subtitles.

Special features:

• Original Trailers

Featured monsters:

• Godzilla
• Mothra
• Battra

Agent Carter and Where it can all effect the Marvel Universe

***WARNING***SPOILERS AHEAD****WARNING***SPOILERS AHEAD***WARNING***

ABC announced today that Agent Carter has been picked up for a full series of episodes. Agent Carter is the love interest, and all around bad ass British spy, from Captain America: The First Avenger.  She was also the star of a Marvel One Shot that focused on the after math of WWII, the defeat of HYDRA, and the apparent death of  Captain America.  From this we know the environment and time period that Agent Carter will be taking place in. Agent Carter, the show, is set to take place in the middle of the events of the Marvel One Shot and possibly a little after.  We will be able to see more of what Peggy Carter went through while dealing with Captain America's "death" and her role in the foundation of SHIELD. 

From the revelations of the events in The Winter Soldier we learn that HYDRA began to inseminate within SHIELD from the very outset. While we know that HYDRA cannot out itself as being present this could lead to some interesting intrigue and show clues as to how it spread.  The possibilities of it connecting in with AIM are there (all credit goes to IGN for pointing this one out) because even though in the Marvel Cinematic Universe AIM wasn't founded until the present day, they were formerly known as THEM.  One could also hope that the Howling Commandos will be featured in the show as well.  The idea of having Howard Stark around would be nice as well.  The ability to get more insight into the man that raised Tony Stark would be interesting.  The likely hood that they could get Tommy Lee Jones involved in the show seems unlikely, but it would be exciting to see more of his character on the show.  

The show is set to air during the mid-season break of Marvel's Agent of SHIELD, which means that along side Agents of SHIELD it will be the only thing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be released post Guardians of The Galaxy.  With the reveal of Barron von Strucker at the end of Winter Soldier it stands to reason to wonder if they are going to give him the same treatment as AIM or if they will somehow have had him in survive since WWII.  If they go with the latter option this would make for a perfect villain for Marvel's Agent Carter. It would work as great build up to Avengers: Age of Ultron.  If done properly, which so far I have no reason to believe that Marvel isn't capable of doing so, Agent of Carter could work as an on going series that works to bring us the critical background information from SHIELD's past that would other wise be to hard to fit into other Marvel films.  On a final note, if Agent Carter turns out to be successful, this could spell out good things for future Marvel films with female leads.  

Those are my first thoughts on the newest project from Marvel.  If you have anything to add, correct, or contribute please comment below!