'Oblivion' Poster Signed By Tom Cruise?

One of the best yet. I especially like this part.

Beautiful.

I don't get why, apparently, the poster includes an autograph by Tom Cruise. I'm assuming that's what this is. It's pretty close to what I was able to find online.

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More 'Oblivion'

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Makes It Look Fun

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Smidge More 'Oblivion'

Right now I'm liking the making-of footage better than the finished product. One would hope that changes...






















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Clip from 'Oblivion'

Not as smooth as I expected. Not as pretty to look at, either.

Okay...it's just one clip, it's just one clip.





















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'Oblivion' in Iceland

Loving the look of this.




















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Dash More 'Oblivion' Eye Candy

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Moon Goes Kablooey

And, a bit more new footage from 'Oblivion'.





















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New 'Oblivion' Footage

I could be wrong, it's hard to keep track, but looks to be a few seconds new footage in this German trailer.



Some new stuff for sure in this featurette.






















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'Oblivion' BubbleShip

It does look good.






















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New 'Oblivion' Footage

This is convincing me. At first, 'Oblivion' was looking a skintch by-the-numbers -- entertaining enough but with no core. The last trailer however, and now this featurette, have changed my mind.

If they found the right combo 'Oblivion' could be a classic of some caliber. The story elements are there, the subtext has that weight and universal appeal, character arc is solid, and reversals/reveals have potential. That may be a skintch optimistic -- how often do classics roll out...-- but, if it's not quite on that level, the footage is looking to be better than 'entertaining enough', which ain't bad these days.

Waiting, hoping.





















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New Trailer for 'Oblivion'

Actually, I had doubts after the first trailer. Came off dry, even plodding, too conceptual. But this trailer looks like it's for a different movie. Wow.



















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Nice Voice Matching

You probably hate movies dubbed into another language. I always want to hear the original dialogue and read subtitles if necessary if for no other reason other than the original actor did the job right and over dubs are going to have that tacked-on sound, or the voice won't match the face/body of the actor.

We just got the international trailer for 'Oblivion' and, of course, there are versions in other languages. Here's one in German that's remarkable in that, really, you can't tell it's overdubbed. The voice matching is probably the best I've seen, especially for the guy covering Tom Cruise.

Worth a look for future reference if you're into it.



















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New Trailer for 'Oblivion'

If they got the story right this will be a classic. If not, it'll be...who knows.






















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Trailer for 'Oblivion' Take 2, Not Nearly as Spoiler-y as First Try

Yeah. See, yesterday a nasty trailer got loose (subtitled in Spanish) and boy did it have some spoilerific tidbits. Uni has axed all copies playing in the US but you can read a description if you like.

Otherwise, here's the studio-sanctioned edit. It's boring by comparison, but it's still clear that Cruise's character, Jack Harper, is not clear about exactly what's going on around him.

(For more see a comparison of the first synopsis and the new plot summary).

ps -- I think there's a job that just opened up at Universal Marketing.
























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Trailer for 'Oblivion': "Earth is a Memory" -- or -- Spoilers Already?

POSSIBLE SPOILERS. Don't read if that's an issue for you.

There are two versions of plot summary for 'Oblivion'. The one that's been up at IMDb for a while:

• A court martial sends a veteran soldier to a distant planet, where he has to destroy the remains of an alien race. The arrival of an unexpected traveler causes him to question what he knows about the planet, his mission, and himself.

And the new one:

• Jack Harper (Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. Living and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

Okay, so? Well, there's a discrepancy. In the first rundown Harper is on a 'distant planet'. In the new synopsis Harper is 'stationed on Earth'.

This could be a spoiler that stems from early versions of the script being the source of the older logline.

At 2:02 in the trailer below the text reads "Earth is a memory." This is central. It could be taken as 'the Earth as we've known it has been raked by warfare for so long it bears little resemblance to home', or more literally as in: 'The planet the human race lived on doesn't exist anymore'.

Bit of a stretch, or just the kind of plot twist you need to get butts in seats?

The character played by Tom Cruise, Jack Harper, says (at :23) "Sixty years ago Earth was attacked." What's important about that, as far as figuring the plot and where exactly this story unfolds, is Harper is younger than 60. That is, he was told as a kid that Earth was attacked and he, Harper, lives on that Earth/planet. In other words: Harper did not see this war he learned about it as child in school. In history class. Therefore, he could have been lied to. This is exactly the kind of thing a protagonist finds out about at the Act II midpoint.

Another clue in the new synopsis is the bit about Harper rescuing someone in a downed spacecraft. Well... If Earth is in such a state -- everything destroyed, smoking rubble -- then who built this spacecraft and where did it come from? The 'other' Earth would be the answer that suggests itself.

There's also the similarity between the building in the poster (from yesterday) and the Empire State Building.

What could that indicate? There's so many possibilities, but that there are two Empire State Buildings seems the best, simplest, conclusion. That the building in the poster is the same as the one currently in NYC doesn't quite hold together considering the waterfall, and all. So, where's the other one? On another 'Earth' is what I'm going with.

There's another loose spot. In the first version of plot summary Harper 'has to destroy the remains of an alien race'. However, in the trailer the 'people' (Morgan Freeman among them) don't look alien, they look human. As such, it follows that Harper could be killing the last survivors on Earth, under orders, from high up in an aircraft, having been told they are 'aliens' who need to be exterminated, having never actually seen who/what he's shooting at.

Why would Harper be told that?

Possibility: Freeman et al were left behind when the other people went to the new 'Earth', the new home planet. Now, they have to be killed so they don't follow the rest of the human race to the new planet.

So then, why does the ESB in the poster have a waterfall next to it? That would be because it's the new ESB. The one built on what used to be the new Earth/home planet. The first one is on the 'old' Earth. That is, Harper is not on the Earth we live on, he's on another planet the human race moved to after this one, the one we live on now, became uninhabitable.

Which leads to this plot element: Humans have become a race of people who live on a planet, using up its resources and polluting its environment, until it is no longer capable of supporting life, at which time they move to another planet.

Harper lives on the planet we moved to after this one dried up and he is exterminating the last witnesses who know what really happened on the planet and where the survivors went. (This goes hand in hand with Freeman's age -- he's older, hence would have been around before Harper was born). He does this because he thinks it's a necessary cleanup after the war 60 years ago. However, there was no war. The Earth wasn't destroyed in war it was destroyed by us, by humans, who overpopulated the planet, bled natural resources, and set the ecosystem so off kilter it could no longer work as designed. As a result, natural forces -- massive floods, uncontrolled fire, huge storms -- scoured the planet making it uninhabitable.

So, we packed up and headed to the next 'Earth' -- the 3rd if you're counting. This would make the planet Harper lives on the 2nd 'Earth', the one we moved to after the above mentioned forces scrubbed clean the surface of this planet, the 1st Earth.

Right now, 'Oblivion' is looking pretty rich, however the existence of an old synopsis, presumably from an earlier version of the script, and other clues have to be considered, at the very least, spoiler-ish.

Still, I'm looking forward.

Okay, that (second trailer below) didn't last long. Here's another one.


«Oblivion» - Trailer #1 by Flixgr






















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Speaking of 'Oblivion'

I'm liking what I'm seeing. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, who did a nice job with 'Tron: Legacy'. With Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. Good, good.

The poster rolled out this morning and looking at it I noticed how the building(s) look like older NYC skyscrapers. The classics from the early to mid 20th century.

See what I mean? Look at the one on the right.

Turns out that not only looks like one of the old NYC buildings, it is exactly like one. One of the best known. It's just like the Empire State Building.

See what I mean?

(Photo by Richard Drew/AP)

Looking at the logline:

• A court martial sends a veteran soldier to a distant planet, where he has to destroy the remains of an alien race. The arrival of an unexpected traveler causes him to question what he knows about the planet, his mission, and himself.  

So... It's a 'distant planet' with an 'alien race' yet there is a building that's an exact copy of the Empire State Building. Or, perhaps, more interestingly, it's the original. That is, the building in NYC was built after the one on the distant planet.

'Oblivion' is looking like it might have a story with a little traction. Yes, yes. Good, good.





















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