It seems that the Resident Evil series is paying a little visit back to its roots. According to Bloody-Disgusting, Michelle Rodriguez will be returning as Rain Ocampo for Resident Evil: Retribution, as well as Shawn Roberts reprising his role of villain Albert Wesker, a fan-favorite.

Now those of you who have faithfully followed the entire series know that it’s a little strange for Rodriguez to return, considering was zombified and killed in the first Resident Evil film. But considering that Resident Evil: Retribution is planning to bring everything full circle, her role will most likely be a flashback, along with Colin Salmon once again playing the leader of the commandos in the first film, James “One” Shade.

Quick synopsis of Resident Evil: Retribution below:

Paul W.S. Anderson returns to direct Retribution which picks up right where Afterlife left off. K-Mart (Spencer Locke), Claire (Ali Larter) and brother Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) are captured by the Umbrella Corporation while the heroes must battle the Las Plagas variant of the infected, meaning the mindless zombies are replaced by stronger, scarier monsters. Sienna Guillory returns to play Jill Valentine who will now be featured as the film’s primary villain.

The series has rapidly grown to a big name franchise among fans, with Resident Evil: Afterlife being the current most successful installment and the only one so far to have implemented a shot-in-3D gore-fest. One thing that also made that fourth film so successful among the fans is that they were pleased to see actual usage of the elements and characters from the video game series, and it seems that Resident Evil: Retribution will continue that legacy by finally adding franchise favorite Leon Scott Kennedy. No word on who will be playing him, but rumors point to Supernatural front-man Jensen Ackles.

It seems like the series has finally found out that giving the fans want they want, putting elements from the popular gaming franchise onto the silver screen, is the way to box office happiness. After all, isn’t that a movie based on a video game should be all about?

Resident Evil: Retribution is set to release on September 14, 2012

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Roger Ebert just gave Battle: Los Angeles a 0.5 out of 4 star review. I happened to enjoy the movie a considerable amount more than the old curmudgeon, especially when you take my low expectations into account. This is not a movie for the intellectual crowd: the dialogue is atrocious, most of the characters are under-developed, and the motivations behind the alien invasion are murky at best. But if you’re looking for some solid action and passable special effects, Battle: LA fits the bill.

This is one of the best summer movies that didn’t actually come out during the summer. It’s a broadly painted action flick, complete with the requisite explosions and action one would come to expect from summer fare. That may carry a negative connotation to some (depending on your tastes, of course), but I thought the film was actually pretty well executed. There isn’t much of a story – aliens invade, no one really knows why – but we’re given just enough of a basic outline to start pulling for the characters by the end. My roommate says it’s Independence Day meets Cloverfield, and I think that’s a really apt description.

It’s hard to tell whether the concept for this movie is lazy or brilliant. By not providing any legitimate exploration of the alien culture and concentrating on a small group of soldiers in the wake of a global event, it positions the film as the first of a franchise; the interesting part is not the straight sequels that will surely follow, but the potential of stories told at the same point on the timeline as this one. There was talk of a Cloverfield sequel in which the monster attack on New York City is told from the perspective of different characters, a similar idea that ended up not coming to fruition. The odds are no better for this happening with this franchise, but it’s not far-fetched to assume that we could see a Battle: Miami (or its equivalent) in the next few years.

Director Jonathan Liebesman has been making the rounds in the trades over the past year, at one point in contention for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Superman film (a job which ultimately went to Zack Snyder) and actually securing the director’s chair for the sequel to Clash of the Titans. His tactic here was to attempt to replicate the dramatic documentary style used to such great success in the 10-part HBO masterpiece Band of Brothers: the handheld, snap-zoom happy, shaky cam feel most widely associated with Paul Greengrass and the Bourne films. To some degree, Liebesman succeeds; the style works best when we’re pulled into the action with the squad and following them through the charred streets of L.A. in search of a way out. But this style of camerawork really isn’t needed in the post-title sequence of the movie in which we’re introduced to all the characters. Snap-zooms and bouncing framing aren’t needed when two characters are having a conversation in a florist shop. Aside from this minor quibble, I like the look of the movie and think the cinematography has an immersive quality to it.

The first act of the film has a strong horror vibe. We don’t get a good look at the aliens until later, so we’re left wondering what they look like and when our heroes go searching through a dangerous zone on the way to rescue some civilians, we jump as they turn every hazy corner, waiting for something to jump out at us. There’s some legitimate suspense here, and it works well for the most part. When we finally get a look at the aliens, I wished we hadn’t. They’re terribly designed and awfully rendered, a jerky CG army that seems cobbled together by ideas from other films: biologically controlled guns (ahem, District 9), snaky tentacles (Independence Day, Predator), and the upright posture of your typical movie extraterrestrial.

The special effects need to be really special to kick a movie like this to the next level, but the same derivative design work we see with the aliens is replicated with their ships (smaller ones resembling Serenity and larger ones straight out of District 9). There are a lot of visual effects in this movie – especially in the final act – but if you’re looking for a stunning presentation, I imagine you’ll be disappointed. I thought the film’s biggest accomplishment was its depiction of the city of Los Angeles, since it was shot on location in Shreveport and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (The Santa Monica scenes were particularly evocative of their true-to-life locales.)

The dialogue is terse and bland, not allowing any character to step out of the shadow of his or her stereotype. Michelle Rodriguez and Michael Pena give supporting performances exactly in line with your expectations, but hip-hop star Ne-Yo rose far above the eye-rolling I’m sure you did when you read his name in the cast list. Aaron Eckhart carries the film, not because of his character (or the cheesy speeches he’s prone to give), but because of the actor’s charisma and screen presence. Eckhart commands the screen every second he’s on it and his defined jaw seems tailor made for action hero roles. To be clear, he’s way better than this film would indicate and if you’re unfamiliar with his work, check him out in Thank You For Smoking. (I also happen to think he’s one of the best parts of The Dark Knight.)

I’ve highlighted a lot of the things that I didn’t particularly care for here, but Battle: Los Angeles knows how to entertain an audience. The action (lacking in effects as it may be) is intense enough to make it worth a watch, and the sound design is effective and very well done. Though this movie takes cues from other films and doesn’t manage to equal any of them, this is passable entertainment and a good precursor to Summer 2011. Until next time…

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Here’s the Super Bowl TV spot for Battle: Los Angeles. The movie stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo and Michael Peña, and in this spot we get whole bunch of money shots.

Watch bellow:

For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world – Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality when Earth is attacked by unknown forces. As people everywhere watch the world’s great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered before.

Battle: Los Angeles hits on March 11th 2011.

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Columbia has released a second trailer for Battle: Los Angeles which is just as good, if not better, than the first. The movie stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo and Michael Peña, and in this trailer we get a better look at the alien invaders, but not enough to work out what they actually are.

Watch bellow:

For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world – Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality when Earth is attacked by unknown forces. As people everywhere watch the world’s great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered before.

Warner Bros. offered director Jonathan Liebesman the Clash of the Titans sequel after seeing parts of this movie, so well have to see what impressed them for ourselves when Battle: Los Angeles is released in March. We’ve seen plenty of alien invasion movies in the past, but this one looks to bring yet another take on the genre.

Do you plan on seeing the movie?

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Columbia Pictures has debuted the teaser trailer for director Jonathan Liebesman’s Battle: Los Angeles, which stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo and Michael Peña.

For a teaser it contains quite a lot of footage, but the footage itself is impressive. They don’t give us a clear look at the aliens (yes, it’s another alien invasion movie), although we do see lots of carnage, fighting and money shots in general.

Watch the teaser below:

For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world – Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality when Earth is attacked by unknown forces. As people everywhere watch the world’s great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered before.

Warner Bros. offered director Jonathan Liebesman the Clash of the Titans sequel after seeing parts of this movie, so well have to see what impressed them for ourselves when Battle: Los Angeles is released next March.

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Do you have 22 minutes free? If not, I suggest you make yourself available for the foreseeable future as Yahoo! has released a 22 minute behind the scenes featurette which shows us…how Avatar was made, basically.

We see James Cameron and the cast in an Hawaiian rainforest in order to get a better grasp at what it would be like to be on Pandora. We are taken through all the stages of the film making process, from Zoe Saldana training for her role as Neytiri, to James Horner crafting his score for the film. It’s definitely a must see for those who loved the film, and even for those who didn’t.

After watching that it just re-enforces why Avatar won the Golden Globe earlier this week for best film, and why it will hopefully win a bunch of Oscars in a few weeks time. While I love Inglourious Basterds and all those other contenders as much as the next guy, a lot more time and effort went into making Avatar. And while it didn’t have the best screenplay out of the bunch, it definitely made up for it in terms of visual effects and just generally setting a benchmark in terms of film making.

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In a matter of hours the countdown on Apple Trailers will reach zero and we will be rewarded with a brand new trailer for Avatar. To get everyone warmed up 20th Century Fox have released 6 new images featuring Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Lang and Michelle Rodriguez in character. We also have the image above which shows a swarm of war aircraft.

Click here to see the rest, and come back in a few hours to see the trailer!

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Back in October 2007 Michelle Rodriguez was sentenced to 180 days in jail after failing to complete her community service for a previous drink driving incident. This occurred when Avatar was busy filming in New Zealand and schedules had to be shifted to enable her to film her scenes before going to jail. This would no doubt have been embarrassing for her, as it would for anyone who is responsible for schedule rearrangements on a big film. While on the rounds for Fast and Furious Rodriguez spoke about her admiration for director James Cameron for hiring her, and described some footage she has seen.

From MoviesOnline.ca

Q: Are you looking forward to being in one of the most anticipated films of the year and can you talk a little bit about the expectations that go with that?

Michelle Rodriguez: Me? You know what? I’d serve James Cameron coffee every day for four years and I would consider that college. I don’t give a rat’s ass how people receive whatever we did. I am just incredibly honored to have been seen by him and for him to like keep me in mind for a project that he’s had for the last, what, eight years? To call me up and say, “Hey, I want you to be a part of this,” no matter what anybody says, because everybody was talking so much schmack about me, and it’s so hard to get a job when all these people are talking shit about you in the press, just because you’re growing up. You know, I used to poop in my pants too, and I learned how to use the bathroom eventually. People were so hard on me, so it’s really important for me to have individuals that get it, that know, that can see in my eyes or see me on screen and know what I’m capable of and not be scared to hire me because of some commercial hoopla that people are saying. That was very important.

Q: Have you seen the footage and how does it look?

Michelle Rodriguez: …with this technology that he’s got, you just go there and you see what you’re interacting with right there because it’s a mixture of live 3D footage, the props on the set, and the virtual world that he spent God knows how long creating. It’s f*cking amazing. It’s hardcore. I can’t even imagine anything bigger.

In Avatar Michelle Rodriguez plays a retired Marine pilot. James Cameron had wanted to work with Rodriguez since he saw her in Girlfight in 2000.

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The Super Bowl TV spot for Fast and Furious has Youtubed it’s way online. I actually think this TV spot is better than the trailer we got two weeks ago, and thats not just because it contains 1 second of lesbian action. All of the original guys are back including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez.

Heading back to the streets where it all began, two men rejoin two women to blast muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles and floor through the Mexican desert. When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto reignites his feud with agent Brian O’Connor. But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmaneuver him. And from convoy heists to precision tunnel crawls across international lines, two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what’s possible behind the wheel.

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The first trailer for Fast and Furious starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster has appeared online.

When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto (Diesel) reignites his feud with agent Brian O’Conner (Walker). But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmanuever him. And from convoy heists to precision tunnel crawls across international lines, two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what’s possible behind the wheel.

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