Giant Pictures Set To Release Sci-Fi Thriller “Volition”

Giant Pictures has acquired the U.S. rights to the sci-fi/thriller VOLITION. The film will be released in theaters, on Apple TV, Prime Video and other Digital Platforms on July 10, 2020. 

VOLITION is the feature directorial debut for Tony Dean Smith (Rakka), who co-wrote the script with his brother and producing partner Ryan W. Smith (Next Gen).  The film stars Adrian Glynn McMorran (The Revenant), Magda Apanowicz (You), John Cassini (The Possession), Frank Cassini (Watchmen), Aleks Paunovic (War for the Planet of the Apes), and Bill Marchant (Godzilla).  It was produced in association with Paly Productions and Smith Brothers Film Company.

“A great debut for the Smith Brothers, VOLITION is sure to deliver thrills and a mind-bending experience to sci-fans everywhere,” said Courtney Cox, Manager of Content Acquisitions & Marketing at Giant Pictures.  “We are thrilled to be bringing it to digital platforms.”

VOLITION is a time-bending cerebral science-fiction thriller where a man afflicted with clairvoyance tries to change his fate when a series of events leads to a vision of his own imminent murder. Awarded as best feature at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival, among a slew of other awards and critical acclaim, VOLITION is a tightly-wound puzzle of a ride.  

The deal was negotiated by Courtney Cox, Manager of Content Acquisitions & Marketing from Giant Pictures, and Smith Brothers Film Company and Paly Productions on behalf of the filmmakers.

ABOUT GIANT PICTURES:

Giant Pictures is a boutique digital distributor based in NYC and Los Angeles, which is dedicated to elevating the digital experience. We work directly with filmmakers and rights owners to distribute movies and TV shows to VOD & OTT platforms in North America and worldwide. Giant is a division of Giant Interactive, an award-winning digital media and technology services company. Giant is an iTunes Preferred aggregator and encoding house. Recent movie and documentary releases include: ‘Love, Antosha’ (Dir. Garret Price, Sundance 2019), ‘Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.’ (Dir. Steve Loveridge, Sundance 2018), ‘In Reality’ (Dir. Ann Lupo, LAFF 2018, Austin FF 2018). Visit us at: www.giant.pictures

ABOUT PALY PRODUCTIONS:

Paly Productions, Inc. is a U.S.-based investment fund, focused on high-quality artistic projects for the world market.

ABOUT SMITH BROTHERS FILM COMPANY

Smith Brothers Film Company is the creative partnership of brothers Tony Dean Smith & Ryan W. Smith.  As an independent film company, it produces high-quality, character- and story-driven film and television content for the global market.

Available in Theaters and On Digital Platforms on July 10, 2020

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Filed Under: Film Headlines, Streaming Tagged With: giant, pictures, release, scifi, set, thriller, ...

Product Feature “Jenga Giant JS7”

The holidays are approaching quickly and it is time to get your gifts in order! Well look no further than one of the coolest gifts someone can receive (within ages 12+). Jenga has always been fun but rather small in scale. Well, that has all changed with Jenga Giant JS7, this game definitely lives up to the name. This game is the literally the largest authentic hardwood JENGA® game you can buy and it can scale as high at FIVE FEET! Yes, five feet tall!

This game features 54 oversized, precision-crafted, high quality, smoothly polished hardwood blocks packaged within a heavy duty carry bag. The game is a little higly priced to be honest at an MSRP $169.95 but Amazon has it for less than $120, so might want to consider that angle or if not they are available on jengagiant.com.

Personally, I have always been a huge fan of Jenga and with the releases of their “Giant” product it has re-won me over as an adult now (or at least a pretend adult, lol). Note that if you do get this product to heights of five plus feet, it falls hard and if it hits your toes..OUCH! So make sure you have plenty of room to play. Get some friends/family around and get ready to have a blast!

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Filed Under: Toys Tagged With: feature, giant, jenga, js7, product

Product Review “Jenga GIANT”

Who remember playing Jenga when they were a kid or still play today with their own kids? Well, recently I was contacted to review Jenga GIANT! It’s just like Classic Jenga but MUCH BIGGER!!!! I mean much bigger. Jenga GIANT can stack to over 3 feet high! You may think this is a game for kids but let me tell you, we recently had a holiday/birthday/house warming party and this was a blast to play with friends and family. There were tons of laughs had and it really won the night for sure. This will be a great giant for the holidays, no question.

Each of the 54 blocks are precision cut blocks are sized at about 6 x 2 x 1.  They blocks are high quality polished hardwood. This comes in a sturdy box for easy storage and transport. The suggested age for this starts at age 10 to Adult, due to the size of the Jenga. But with the proper adult supervision, there is a lot of fun to be had here. Bigger is definitely better and I am glad to have found this renewed interest in Jenga. This is going to be the must play with our friends and family at parties and get togethers.

 

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Filed Under: Toys Tagged With: giant, jenga, product, review

Blu-ray Review “Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure”

Actors: Tom Wilson, Garrison Keillor, Paul Reubens, Grey DeLisle, Jacob Bertrand
Directors: Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Release Date: August 6, 2013
Run Time: 57 minutes

Film: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: N/A

Who doesn’t love Tom and Jerry? I recently just took a flight on JetBlue and I found myself watching Tom and Jerry marathon the whole trip and just laughing. Warner Bros. has done a good job of keeping this franchise alive and fresh with new original movies, even now and then. “Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure” is a new animated adaptation of classic story “Jack and the Beanstalk”. It features some great voice talents including Tom Wilson, Garrison Keillor, Paul Reubens, Grey Delisle and Jacob Bertran. If you are a fan of Tom and Jerry, this is a must purchase. It is clever, funny and great for the whole family!

Official Premise: In this all-new original movie, Tom and Jerry are among the last animals living in Storybook Town, a fairy tale-inspired theme park “where dreams come true, if you believe.” Young Jack is desperate to save the park from the hands of a greedy billionaire, setting out with his loyal cat and mouse friends to sell his prize cow for… some magic beans?! What follows is a journey up a beanstalk to a magical land ruled by a massively mean and hungry giant, and home to fun, fabled fellows like Droopy, Spike and even a golden goose! Will Tom and Jerry put an end to their furry feud long enough to save Storybook Town? You don’t need to wish upon a star. Join Tom and Jerry on their amazing adventure and find out.

Warner Bros. delivered this animated feature in a nice combo pack including a Blu-ray + DVD and Ultraviolet digital copy. The 1080p transfer with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 looks fantastic, as it has with past Tom and Jerry feature film releases. The colors are very sharp and pop nicely. My daughter really enjoyed this film due to that and also the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, which wraps up the complete package very well. One thing, I am a disappointed about in this release is the lack of special features. I would have even settled for some classic or even new cartoons to accompany this all-new feature film.

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Filed Under: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews Tagged With: adventure, bluray, giant, jerrys, review, tom, ...

“Jack The Giant Slayer” Blu-ray Giveaway [ENDED]

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AND WINNERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL. PLEASE CHECK BACK EACH WEEK FOR NEW GIVEAWAYS!

To celebrate the release of “Jack the Giant Slayer”, Media Mikes would like to giveaway a Blu-ray of the film. If you would like to enter for your chance to win this great prize, please take the quiz in the app below and leave us a comment below or send us an email with your results. This giveaway will remain open until July 5th, Eastern Time. This is open to all fans of Media Mikes in the the US and Canada. One entry per person, per household. All other entries will be considered invalid. Media Mikes will randomly select winners. Winners will be alerted via email.

Jack the Giant Slayer tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend—and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

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Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: giant, jack, slayer

Blu-ray Review “Jack the Giant Slayer”

Actors: Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy
Directors: Bryan Singer
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 18, 2013
Run Time: 114 minutes

Film: 3 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars

When I first saw the trailer for “Jack the Giant Slayer”, I thought to myself “Come one now another big-budget fairy tale”. The film went one to become the biggest flop of the year so far costing nearly $200 million and only grossing $65 million in North America. I have to say though after watching it it wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked. If you look at it from the perspective of mindless fantasy action, it work for the most part. I would have preferred to see this film in 3D, since it would have popped more but the 2D version still worked. Overall, we get solid visual effects though surrounded by a weak campy story.

I have to admit, I am not a fan of Nicholas Hoult. Didn’t like him as Beast in “X-Men: First Class” and skipped “Warm Bodies” due to him. He does not strike me as an action hero in this film at all. On the other hand, I am a huge fan of Ewan McGregor but in my mind he is too good for this but does make the best out of it. Notable voiceover for the main giant, General Fallon is voiced by Bill Nighy and his smaller head is voiced by John Kassir aka The Cryptkepper in “Tales from the Crypt”. Stanley Tucci is the baddie and seems like he didn’t want to be there. Ewen Bremner couldn’t have died sooner (oops spoiler), hated him. Also keep an quick eye out for Warwick Davis in the beginning of the film.

Official Premise: Jack the Giant Slayer tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend—and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

Warner released this film with a Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack. Since the film delivered some impressive CG work, the 1080p transfer is absolutely fantastic within its 2.4:1 aspect ratio. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. track works perfectly with the constant action. The special features are good but for a production this size, I expected more. “Become A Giant Slayer” is a eight-part behind-the-scenes look into the production including, “Know Your Enemy”, “Suiting Up”, “Attack Tactics”, “The Magic of a Beanstalk”, “How to Zip”, “Giants’ Kitchen”, “Saving the Princess” and “Defending Your Kingdom”. Lastly there is a deleted scene and gag reel included.

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Filed Under: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews Tagged With: bluray, giant, jack, review, slayer

DVD Review “Jack and the Giant Killer (1962)”

Starring: Kerwin Mathews, Judi Meredith
Directed: Nathan Juran
Rated: G (General Audience)
Studio: Legend Films
DVD Release Date: May 28, 2013
Run Time: 94 minutes

Our Score: 2 out of 5 stars

Legend Films is re-releasing the 1962 film “Jack and the Giant Killer” to capitalize on the release of Warner Bros recent film “Jack The Giant Slayer”. The DVD though is very unimpressive. The colors are extremely faded and the print looks a bit sad. Stop-motion animator Jim Danforth tried to recreate what Ray Harryhausen did with Nathan Juran’s “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad” but falls short of his talent. I would recommend the Rifftrax version of this film, at least it’s worth the laugh, which is also released by Legend Films coincidentally.

Official Premise: Farm boy Jack heroically rescues Princess Elaine from sorcerer Pendragon by slaying his bloodthirsty giant. But when Pendragon uses his evil powers to bewitch and imprison Elaine in his enchanted fortress, Jack must cross the ocean to brave dragons, two-headed ogres and an army of ghouls to save his lady love!

Even though the film’s transfer has seen better days, I have heard that this film has two versions of it floating around. One of them is the original 1962 version and the other has musical numbers added in. At least this one is the original 1962 version, since I have heard that the musical version is even more unwatchable. There are no special features included here, which is not shocking as all since this is just a cash-in release. If you are a childhood fan of this film and have never owned it prior, it just comes down to your love of this film and if you have $8.99 to blow.

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Jack Perez talks about “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus” and “Some Guy Who Kills People”

Jack Perez is known best as the director of the cult hit “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus”. Jack also recently directed the new horror/comedy “Some Guy Who Kills People”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Jack about his new film and the cult success of “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus”.

Mike Gencarelli: How did the title, “Some Guy Who Kills People”, come about?
Jack Perez: I came to the project after the script was already written. Ryan Levin had come up with the title and I loved it. Some people had wanted to change it as they thought it was too strange. I really fought for it as I thought it summed up the theme of the movie.

MG: What was your biggest challenge working on this production?
JP: I think getting the film done in the time we were given. We only had 16 days to do the film and its one of those films where performance counted. I wanted to make sure I could get all of those. Time was really the biggest thing. Fortunately we had a great crew and the cast was great as well.

MG: How was it working with such a great cast?
JP: It was great! I am a big fan of Karen Black and Barry Bostwick. These were all people Iadmired. I also admired Kevin Corrigan’s work and knew him socially however we had never made a film together. This film was a chance to work with people I loved. Thankfully they were all available as that generally never happens.

MG: Were the comedic parts of the film planned or were they something that just naturally occurred?
JP: Everything was deliberate. The script was designed to have equal parts of comedy, horror and drama. That was something that made me like the script so much. Mixing these things is always appealing but difficult to find.

MG: How did John Landis become involved?
JP: I think he had gotten script early on as Ryan was looking for a director. Landis was approached and it appealed to him however around that same time he was approached to make “Burke and Hare”. That was a project he has been looking to make for a long time and it then became about finding someone to replace him which is where I came in.

MG: Did you think “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus” would ever reach the cult status that it has? And why did you choose to go by Ace Hannah?
JP: I never did. The reason I didn’t put my name on it was because I like to have control over the edit of my work. I think it is an essential part of directing. The Asylum doesn’t work that way. I knew they would sort of make a mess of my work. I wish people could see my cut of the film as it is a much faster, funnier movie. There was a bunch of stuff added to pad the length of the movie.

MG: What do you have planned next?
JP: I just did a movie for the Syfy channel called “Blowing Vegas of the Map”. It’s kind of a goofy, super natural disaster type movie. It was really a chance to work with Barry Bostwick again. Ryan and I also want to work together again.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: giant, guy, jack, kills, mega, octopus, ...
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