The Buzz: Elysium, The Amazing Spider-Man, Prometheus, and More!
Dan Koelsch
The Buzz is a feature in which we round up the Top 3 most-buzzed-about movie/TV stories of the week (in chronological order). Why go through pages of blogs just to find out what everyone is talking about? We’ve got it all right here.
1) First Official Pic From “Elysium”
While the cast, crew, and official synopsis are known for the sci-fi action flick Elysium, not much else has been revealed. This week, we got our first official photo of star Matt Damon in the film (right). As IMDB states, “Set in the year 2159, where the very wealthy lives on a man-made space station while the rest of population reside on a ruined Earth, a man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.” The film looks great on paper, especially with District 9’s Neill Blomkamp writing and directing, and Damon, Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley starring. [First Showing]
2) Last Minute Changes to “The Amazing Spider-Man”?
Columbia Pictures’ The Amazing Spider-Man opened with big numbers on Tuesday and generally favorable reviews. However, one of the main criticisms has been the film’s disjointed plotline. Badass Digest has a pretty good explanation. Columbia Pictures released so much footage for the film, that our friend The Sleepy Skunk was able to make a 25 minute short that pretty much sums up the film. Unfortunately, there were several key scenes and dialogue that didn’t make it into the actual film, and it looks like there might have been a last minute edit to the film that cut out a lot more of the story regarding Peter Parker’s parents and his possible genetic predisposition to becoming Spider-Man. There is also some confusion over the mid-credits scene (spoiler alert), especially who it is that visits Dr. Connors in the prison cell. While the speculation has been that it is Norman Osborn himself, both director Marc Webb and Dr. Connors himself Rhys Ifans pretty much shot that down.
3) Ticket-Taker Spoils “Prometheus” on Moral Grounds
It’s a slow news week, so while this story didn’t really make the rounds, when it was covered (i.e. by BadAss Digest), it definitely got people talking. At a movie theater in Seattle, an employee was spoiling a major scene from the movie Prometheus to customers when he tore their ticket: “I have to warn you… Halfway through the movie, the main female character will perform a self-induced abortion.” I think the definition of “abortion” is being stretched a bit by using it to describe Dr. Elizabeth Shaw’s self surgery, but that’s not the real point. The theater backed the employee, which means that the theater was imposing their beliefs while simultaneously ruining the customer’s movie experience. What do you think? Do movie theaters have a “moral obligation” to tell its customers about controversial scenes in movies, or is that what the MPAA and Internet are for?
