Family Guy "Return of the Jedi" Parody Due for Christmas

Feel the Farce as “Family Guy” Skewers Star Wars™ with Its Third Uncensored Satire on Blu-ray and DVD December 21

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Return to the Grffins’ version of that galaxy far, far away as their freakin’ sweet saga continues with “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” - arriving exclusively on Blu-ray and DVD December 21 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. In the third installment of the hilarious Star Wars satire - following 2005’s Family Guy: Blue Harvest and last year’s Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Dark Side - the Griffins reprise their intergalactic roles in an outrageous retelling of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

Fans received an early peak of the epic farce at San Diego Comic-Con as Seth MacFarlane previewed 10 minutes of “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” during the “Family Guy” panel Saturday at 11:00 AM in Ballroom 20. Additionally, San Diego Comic-Con attendees were able to pre-order the Blu-ray and DVD at Fox booth #4313, and pick up past titles in the “Family Guy” Star Wars Saga.

In this spectacular and offensively uproarious final chapter, Luke Skywalker (Chris) and Princess Leia (Lois) must travel to Tatooine to free Han Solo (Peter) by infiltrating the wretched stronghold of Jabba the Hutt (Joe), the galaxy’s most loathsome and dreadful gangster. Once reunited, the Rebels team up with a tribe of Ewoks to combat the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor. Meanwhile the Emperor (Carter Pewterschmidt) and Darth Vader (Stewie) conspire to turn Luke to the dark side, and young Skywalker is determined to rekindle the spirit of the Jedi within his father. The Galactic Civil War has never been more outrageous, as the Rebel forces gather to attack the seemingly defenseless and incomplete second Death Star in the battle that will determine the fate of the galaxy. Adding to the fun, “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” is loaded with hysterical cameo voice spots - including Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn reprising their roles from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Adam West (“Batman”), Carrie Fisher (Star Wars Trilogy) and conservative talk radio juggernaut Rush Limbaugh as the voice of the large carnivorous reptomammal, the Rancor.

“The fan base for “Family Guy” and Star Wars, both enthusiastic, have embraced the first two hilarious spoofs,” said Mike Dunn, President, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “Bringing the distinctive storylines together for the trilogy of parodies has been enormously successful and lends itself to create unique home entertainment releases.”

As an added bonus, “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” will also be available in Blu-ray and DVD triple-packs featuring all the “Family Guy” Star Wars spoofs…the perfect gift for the holiday season.


About TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.

STAR WARS™ and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

Review: "X-Men: The Last Stand" is a Mixed Bag of Good and Bad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 115 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexual content, and language
DIRECTOR: Brett Ratner
WRITERS: Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn
PRODUCERS: Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner, and Ralph Winter
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dante Spinotti (with Philippe Rousselot)
EDITORS: Mark Goldblatt, Mark Helfrich, and Julia Wong

FANTASY (SUPER HERO)/SCI-FI/ACTION/DRAMA

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammar, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, Patrick Stewart, Ben Foster, Dania Ramirez, Michael Murphy, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ellen Page, Josef Sommer, Bill Duke, and Daniel Cudmore

Warren Worthington III (Ben Foster) is a mutant; a pair of large, white angelic wings grows out of his back. His father, Warren Worthington II (Michael Murphy), through his pharmaceutical company, has created a “cure” for mutancy, one that will suppress the gene that makes them unique, take away their powers and make them normal humans. Worthington wants to use it on his son...

Meanwhile, the X-Men are in a state of flux. Ororo Munroe/Storm (Halle Berry) is now the X-Men’s leader, while Scott Summers/Cyclops (James Marsden) mourns the loss of the love of his life, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who was apparently killed in X2: X-Men United. Now, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), founder of the X-Men and a school for mutants on his palatial estate, wants Storm to take leadership of the X-Men. Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) finds himself caught in the middle, counseling Storm, the Professor, and a teen mutant love triangle: Rogue (Anna Paquin), Bobby Drake/Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), and Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page). With all that drama, they find the issue of Worthington’s cure brought to their doorstep when an old colleague, the blue-furred Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast (Kelsey Grammar), visits to inform the X-Men of the cure’s existence.

A “cure” for mutancy threatens not only the status quo, but also threatens to alter history. For the first time, mutants have a choice. They can retain the thing that makes them unique and gives them their powers, although that also isolates them, alienates them from normal humanity, and marks them as targets for humans afraid of mutants. Or they can take the cure, give up their powers, and become humans. Magneto (Ian McKellen), the mutant mastermind and powerful adversary of the X-Men, believes that taking the cure won’t always be voluntary, and that one day mutants will be in internment camps where the government will force them to take the cure. Magneto gathers a mutant army, a brotherhood of mutants, including X-Men turncoat Pyro (Aaron Stanford) and such new faces as Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) and Callisto (Dania Ramirez), to wage war against humanity and any mutants that stand in his way. However, a powerful new ally, one even more powerful than Magneto, joins the brotherhood – a mutant with power to trigger the war to end all wars. Known as Phoenix, this mutant’s arrival also causes deep turmoil within the X-Men.

X-Men: The Last Stand is a very well made film. Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour franchise) directed a movie that doesn’t have many dry or dull moments. This is a graphic film in terms of violence, but it is also visceral and purposefully driven. Ratner visually captures the script’s rough interplay of ideas about bigotry, conformity, self-defense, and zealotry. It’s all about an “eye for an eye” and “get you before you get me.” The film also has especially high production values. In terms of cinematography, this is the best looking film in the X-Men franchise. It has a gritty futuristic look when necessary, but can also come across as a lifelike, moody drama and character piece when needed. The sets, costumes, and art direction are as good as those in any superhero film (except for maybe the Spider-Man films).

The acting is good, quite good in fact. The script and director allow Hugh Jackman to show a more dramatic and human side of Wolverine, he’s more a character than he is the cool, killing machine (as he was in the second X-Men film, X2), and Jackman, a fine actor, is more than up to the task of being a somber, stern, and sober actor. Halle Berry, who’d long demanded more screen time and more meat in her role as Storm, gets it here. Her Storm makes an effective leader, and though some of Storm’s dialogue sounds clumsy coming out of her mouth, Berry takes on her larger part with brazen confidence. Ian McKellen is masterful as Magneto; his words carry the force of a born leader, a king, and a master strategist. Proud and bold, he has his eyes on the prize, and he doesn’t waver even when his troops falter. The younger cast members, new mutants like Ashmore, Paquin, Stanford, and others add freshness to this dire third film.

However, for all that this flick is so well made, X-Men: The Last Stand is too dark and downbeat, and (considering that children are a big part of its intended audience) a bit too spicy with language and one almost-love-scene. Some of the action sequences are overdone, over the top, and some seem embarrassingly desperate, such as the one at the Golden Gate Bridge. The surprise new character seems like a fifth wheel/third leg – overdone, unnecessary, and maybe even misused and underutilized. At the end of the day, X-Men: The Last Stand just manages to outdo its gloom and doom with good acting and some surprisingly adroit wit and many clever asides. It’s sad to see this trilogy put forth such a dark final(?) piece, but this mosaic does have enough shiny pieces that I can at least give it a “B” with reservations.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, May 27, 2006

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Review: "X2: X-Men United" is Still the Best X-Men Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 65 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

X2: X-Men United (2003)
Running time: 133 minutes (2 hours, 13 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action/violence, some sexuality, and brief language
DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer
WRITERS: Michael Dougherty, Daniel P. Harris, and David Hayter; from a story by Zak Penn, David Hayter, and Bryan Singer
PRODUCERS: Lauren Shuler-Donner and Ralph Winter
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Newton Thomas Sigel (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: John Ottman with Elliot Graham

ACTION/SCI-FI/SUPERHERO/FANTASY

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Bruce Davison, Anna Paquin, Kelly Hu, Shawn Ashmore, and Aaron Stanford

Once upon a time, a good sequel to a successful film was a big deal. Then, came a time that when a sequel surpassed the original, movie fans really had to take notice. X2: X-Men United, the sequel to the 2000 film X-Men, blows its predecessor away. I’m not kidding. Once it was difficult for me to name five great films based upon superhero comics; hell, I would need to add movies based on any comic character just to come up with five decent films based on that genre. Now with Blade II and this film, I’m in hog heaven; they’re signs that maybe good things can come from superhero movies. Let’s be honest: The Matrix is a comic book movie without actually being a comic book first.

In the new film, a mutant new on the scene, named Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner (Alan Cumming) makes an attempt on the life of the President of the United States (Cotter Smith). A military scientist, General William Stryker (Brian Cox) uses that attack to spur the President McKenna into giving Stryker permission to initiate an attack on the X-Men. Stryker uses drugs to force the secrets of Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his School for Gifted Youngsters out of Eric Lehnsherr/Magneto (Ian McKellan). While the professor and Scott Summers/Cyclops are off to visit Magneto and Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Ororo Munroe/Storm (Halle Berry) are off to find Nightcrawler, Stryker and an assault force attack the school where Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is babysitting the students. Now divided, the X-Men must reunite and also find themselves with old foes Magneto and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) as allies in their war against Stryker. And the merry mutants must also discover the whereabouts of their professor before the evil Stryker uses him to unleash Armageddon on mutantkind.

X-Men director Bryan Singer returns for the sequel, but X2 is so much different from the first. It’s more fun, and there is lots more action. It’s an edge-of-your-seat, rollicking slugfest from beginning to end, filled with suspense and sci-fi thrills. The film is gorgeous. The sets, props, and special effects are tight. The costumes look good, seeming almost as natural civilian clothing; in fact the X-Men spend a lot of time in regular clothes, so they really do seem like regular guys (albeit with special powers) who are being harassed by dangerous jerks. Almost everyone in this film, from good guy to bad, is cool, beautiful, and stylish – always looking hip while in character. Even the hairdos are hittin.’

Best of all is the story. In the first movie, the story had a few glitches, some starts and stops, but this time, the screenplay is a lean, mean fighting machine. Every character, both large and small, plays his part to the hilt. Everybody counts, not like in the first film where many smaller parts seemed painfully extraneous. Every actor makes a point to make his moments on the screen count, and that gives the film a striking verisimilitude.

Dude! The writers unleash Wolverine. He kicks lots of butt, and Hugh Jackman seems to be having a ball doing it. He really gets to use those claws, and the bad guys get a taste of hot, adamantium (the metal from which Wolverine’s claws are made) rage. Nightcrawler is a very good character, and I expected a disaster when I first saw early photos of the character. Stryker and his killer companion Yuriko Oyama (Kelly Hu) are very good bad guys; they made me care, made me hope really badly, that they’d get theirs in the end.

Words won’t do this justice. This is a comic book fanboy’s dream: a great X-Men movie – pure action, great adventure, thrilling suspense, and sci-fi as awe-inspiring as you’d find in some of the best science fiction films. If you liked the first one, you’ll really like this one. If you only had a passing interest in the original, that’s all the more reason to see the sequel. X2: X-Men United could be the pinnacle of superhero films. I know I’ll be harping on its super goodness for a long time. It’s not totally dumb, the story throws the viewer a few tidbits to think about. But, really, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

8 of 10
A

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Review: First" X-Men" Film is Surprisingly Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 64 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

X-Men (2000)
Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence
DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer
WRITERS: David Hayter, from a story by Tom DeSanto and Bryan Singer
PRODUCERS: Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Newton Thomas Sigel (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Steven Rosenblum, Kevin Stitt, and John Wright

ACTION/SCI-FI/SUPERHERO FANTASY

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Anna Paquin, Tyler Mane, Ray Park, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, and Bruce Davison

Rogue (Anna Paquin, The Piano) is a young mutant, born with a genetic gift/curse that gives her special powers and abilities that normal humans don’t have. Her gift/curse is the ability to absorb the memories of another person, and in the case of another mutant, absorb that mutant’s power merely by touching her bare skin against his skin. If she isn’t careful and touches a person for too long, she could send him into catatonic shock, which she does to the first boy she kisses. On the run in Canada, she meets Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), himself a mutant. He grudgingly takes her under his wing. After an evil mutant named Sabertooth (Tyler Mane) attacks them, the X-Men: Cyclops (James Marsden), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), and Storm (Halle Berry) rescue the duo and take them to their secluded School for Gifted Youngsters where Wolverine and Rogue meet the school’s headmaster Professor Charles Xavier or Professor X.

Prof. X and his X-Men are at odds with Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his so-called evil mutants who want to subjugate mankind, whereas the X-Men work to show humanity that normal humans and mutants can live together in harmony. However, Magneto is after one of the new mutants to use that mutant’s power in a hideous scheme to destroy humanity. Meanwhile, malcontent humans hound Xavier and his students as they fight to protect humans, both from their own racial hate and from Magneto and the gang.

X-Men isn’t a great movie, but it’s very good. I, like many comic book fans, expected so little that when we got only a little more, was ecstatic. For years, film projects based, like X-Men, on other Marvel Comics properties were disasters, and the rumors weren’t promising much more for the X-movie. It’s a decent sci-fi, action film with some good fight sequences, a few good characters, and a fairly decent pace. It does drag at times, but for the most part, the writers and the director manage to keep our interest in the concept piqued.

The costumes, inspired by the leather/vinyl of The Matrix (which inspires much of this film), and the sets are excellent. The color palette leans toward blacks, shadowy and cool grays, and lots of brown; it’s a dreary and downbeat world in which the mutants live.

The casting is good, although, as a long time X-geek, I don’t agree with all the choices to play my favorite mutants. I usually like Halle Berry, but she is wrong as Storm, and James Marsden and Famke Janssen don’t cut it as Scott “Cyclops” Summers and Jean Grey either, but despite these reservations, the film is good.

I do wish the filmmakers had given credit to the comic book creators whose work provided the characters and story for this movie: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, Chris Claremont, and John Byrne, but comic book publishers have a history of avoiding even the smallest act of acknowledgement of the men who’ve created these brilliant four color inventions.

Oh, well. X-Men is still a good film. A decent action, a credible science fiction film, and a very good adaptation of a comic book that anyone who ever read The X-Men or any comic book for that matter might like.

6 of 10
B

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