Here. Keen, even if some of the spiffier (presumably) special effects are “spoiled” to draw in an audience. If this is, indeed, the end of the franchise, looks like they…
No, really. Not sure if this footage showed up on any of the Ultimate Super Final Neodymium DVD Sets (Now with 15% More Tinkering by George Lucas!) of Star Wars…
No, really. Not sure if this footage showed up on any of the Ultimate Super Final Neodymium DVD Sets (Now with 15% More Tinkering by George Lucas!) of Star Wars IV: A New Hope, but there’s some fascinating stuff there, including …
… Han’s girlfriend? At least his girlfriend for the afternoon. Yow.
(via the Flea)
Were the Oscars last night? Huh….
Were the Oscars last night? Huh.
A short interview with Nick Park about Wallace & Gromit. Were you worried about the cultural references and humor translating to an American audience? Were there any Briticisms that an…
A short interview with Nick Park about Wallace & Gromit.
Were you worried about the cultural references and humor translating to an American audience? Were there any Briticisms that an American viewer might not get?
I counted only three, actually, in the whole movie. Americans tend to get most of it because a lot of it is universal. But, for example, in Wallace and Gromit’s kitchen, there’s a refrigerator with the word “SMUG” on it, and a big make in the U.K. is “SMEG.” I thought that was a German make that was worldwide, but it isn’t — people in Europe don’t laugh either — it’s just U.K. And also, people laugh because, if you have one of these fridges, kind of big designer fridges, they make you look very smug. [Laughs] Also, we have a glamour magazine here, it’s all about celebs and what they’re wearing, Hello magazine. And Wallace is from the North of England, where another way of saying hello is “Ayup.” So we called the magazine “Ayup.” People got it in the U.K. Also, when Gromit is in the van, he tunes the radio in very briefly to Art Garfunkel’s “Bright Eyes,” which is the theme from the film “Watership Down,” which is all about rabbits. That got a big laugh in the U.K., where the song was a big hit.
The new X-Men movie, X3 (or X-Men: Last Stand) will be the last of the series. Director Brett Ratner confirmed the statement, adding that there will be no more films…
The new X-Men movie, X3 (or X-Men: Last Stand) will be the last of the series.
Director Brett Ratner confirmed the statement, adding that there will be no more films except for possible spin-offs based on the characters of Wolverine and Magneto.
“Well, it seems to be the last of the series,” says Ratner of the title for X3. “We wanted to make sure the audiences knew that this was a trilogy. Even though they weren’t made together like Lord of the Rings, this is really closure for the X-Men series… This is the last stand for sure.”
Well, a trilogy, at least, in terms of there being three movies in the franchise (vs. a trilogy in terms of a story told in three installments).
As to independent Magneto or Wolverine movies — meh. While not denying interesting stories could be told solo about either character, I gravely doubt Hollywood’s ability to do so.
(via Mike Sterling)
Not quote sure where the weekend went: Friday Spent the afternoon getting Firefox and Thunderbird installed on Margie’s new machine. Actually, the installation was trivial. The transfer of data from…
Not quote sure where the weekend went:
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Could have used another day or two in there.
Videos I’ve watched this week, in 50 words or less. Hellboy: Rough, tumbly, supernatural fun, faithfully adapated in tone and image if not tale. A bit disjointed in the plot…
Videos I’ve watched this week, in 50 words or less.
Hellboy: Rough, tumbly, supernatural fun, faithfully adapated in tone and image if not tale. A bit disjointed in the plot at times, but Ron Perlman’s gruff, sassy demon with a human heart is great and a lot of the imagery looks like Mignola drew it (which he often did).
The Fifth Element: Action-adventure slapstick dramatic farcical sci-fi art film, which is a problem if you’re expecting just one genre. Bruce Willis plays his standard character expectedly well, with a fun cast backing him up for laughs and thrills. Enjoy the ride and put aside your expectations as Luc Besson writes and directs a film far too complex for most audiences.
Sin City: Preternaturally straight adaptation of the original Frank Miller graphic novels, gorgeous warts and all. Very strong casting which manages to pull off stilted dialog punctuated by shocking (if cartoony) bloody action. A noir comic book, both literally and figuratively, treated with the reverence of Shakespearean tragedy (which it closely resembles).
As previously speculated, Disney’s announced that the Pirates of the Caribbean rides at both Disneyland and WDW Magic Kingdom will be shut down until the summer so that figures from…
As previously speculated, Disney’s announced that the Pirates of the Caribbean rides at both Disneyland and WDW Magic Kingdom will be shut down until the summer so that figures from the PotC movies can be added, specifically Captain Jack Sparrow, Barbarossa, and the ghostly Davy Jones. The attractions reopen 24 June (California) and 7 July (Orlando), in time for the new PotC movie release.
Woven into some of the attraction’s most memorable scenes, the rival swashbucklers will be seen interacting with some of the more familiar Audio-Animatronics buccaneers found inside the ride-thru adventure. Also making a guest appearance is the ghostly Davy Jones from the second movie in the series, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.” But new characters are only the beginning. New special effects will also be added to enhance the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme park experience.
Handled in moderation, this could be a fun thing. If it become the “Capt. Jack Sparrow Ride,” though, that would be a mistake — as fun as the movies are, their shelf life is a lot more limited than the ride’s, which has been around (in Anaheim) since 1967.
Can you separate the message from the messenger? Or, in cinematic terms, how much does the “real life” of an actor (or other participant in a film) affect the perception…
Can you separate the message from the messenger? Or, in cinematic terms, how much does the “real life” of an actor (or other participant in a film) affect the perception of the film itself? In some cases, quite a bit.
Christian ministers were enthusiastic at the early private screenings of “End of the Spear,” made by Every Tribe Entertainment, an evangelical film company. But days before the film’s premiere, a controversy erupted over the casting of a gay actor that has all but eclipsed the movie and revealed fault lines among evangelicals.
[…] The film relates the true story of five American missionaries who were killed in 1956 by an indigenous tribe in Ecuador. The missionaries’ families ultimately converted the tribe to Christianity, and forgave and befriended the killers. The tale inspired evangelicals 40 years ago with its message of redemption and grace, and the film company expected a similar reception.
On Jan. 12, though, the Rev. Jason Janz took the filmmakers to task for casting Chad Allen, an openly gay man and an activist, in the movie’s lead role as one of the slain missionaries, and later, his grown son. An assistant pastor at the independent Red Rocks Baptist Church in Denver, Mr. Janz posted his comments on his fundamentalist Christian Web site, sharperiron.org. He also asked the filmmakers to apologize for their choice.
[…] Some evangelicals have boycotted the film, and Every Tribe’s executives said that they had also turned over to the authorities material that they considered threatening.
“Does anyone really believe that Chad Allen was the best possible actor for Nate Saint?” Mr. Janz asked in his Jan. 12 Web log entry, referring to one of the characters in the movie. “That would be like Madonna playing the Virgin Mary.”
Philosophically, this is bushwah. An actor is simulating a role. Judging the film based on the private lives (or even public lives) of the creative team seems to be missing the point. Though, granted, that sort of philosophical detachment isn’t always possible — Roman Polanski and Woody Allen (and, heck, even Tom Cruise), among any others, bring “baggage” to their cinematic activities.
On the other hand …
But Mr. Janz, who said he rarely weighed in on the culture wars, stood by his previous statement that “we must realize that the Christian message and the messenger are intricately related.” He wrote that Mr. Allen’s homosexuality was not so much the problem as was his open activism for gay causes, and that if a drunk who “promoted drunkenness” had acted in the movie, “I’d be just as mad.”
One Web log, nossobrii.blogspot .com, written by Kevin T. Bauder, president of Central Baptist Seminary in Minneapolis, stated in a Jan. 13 entry: “Granted, we must not overreact. And it would probably be an overreaction to firebomb these men’s houses. But what they have done is no mistake. It is a calculated strategy.”
Right. An evangelical film company telling a stirring story of “redemption and grace” intentionally cast a gay man as part of a “calculated strategy.”
Though I’m glad to hear that firebombing someone’s house would “probably” be an overreaction.
It’s one thing to say that the “Christian message and the messenger are intricately linked” if you’re talking about someone preaching a message. Even though, in orthodox Christian theology, for example, a sacrament is not contingent upon the moral turpitude of the adminstrator of same, certainly there’s cause to object about hypocrisy in Christian teaching, e.g., when televangelists turn out to be lying and fornicating scumballs. Even there, you should be able to draw a line between the message and the messenger, even though it’s been tainted by the contradiction.
But an actor in a movie? He’s presumably working for a paycheck. Is the position here that the actors, the director, the production crew, the caterers, and the accounting firm that handles the production company’s payroll have to all pass some sort of Christian Virtue Litmus Test?
Heaven forgive me for agreeing with someone from Focus on the Family, but …
Bob Waliszewski, head of the media review department at Focus on the Family, said that he was saddened by e-mail messages from angry Christians who said they would not see the movie. A generation of young people were inspired to become missionaries by the true story, and Mr. Waliszewski said he had hoped a new generation would be moved by “End of the Spear.”
“Has Focus on the Family made a strong statement against homosexuality? Absolutely,” he said. “But what is the message of the product? And do we at Focus feel compelled to check on the sexual history of everyone in a movie? Did they have a D.U.I.? Did they pay their taxes?”
Mr. Hanon [the film’s director] echoed: “If we start measuring the sin of everyone in a movie, we would never be able to make a picture because none of us would be left.”
I don’t know that I would rush out to see all of these, but I can’t argue with the list of 10 or the reasoning behind it: 10. The “Real”…
I don’t know that I would rush out to see all of these, but I can’t argue with the list of 10 or the reasoning behind it:
10. The “Real” Alien 3
9. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
8-6. Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII and IX
5. A Doom that isn’t a huge turd
4. Starcraft
3. Snow Crash
2-1. The Matrix Prequel and ONE Sequel
The book, the movie, and the odd relationship that the the author, P.L. Travers, had to them both. (via kottke)…
The book, the movie, and the odd relationship that the the author, P.L. Travers, had to them both.
(via kottke)
At this moment, the top DVD sellers at Amazon.com are: Serenity March of the Penguins (widescreen) The Sound of Music (40th Anniv. Ed.) March of the Penguins (fullscreen) Star Wars…
At this moment, the top DVD sellers at Amazon.com are:
Not only is Serenity #1, but the Firefly collection — which was available last Christmas, too — is in the Top 10. Very cool.
Even more cool is that (a) the popularity of the Firefly DVDs got Universal interested in a film in the first place, and (b) Universal has indicated that strong DVD sales might interest them in a sequel …
BoingBoing runs a story of an interesting collection of old photos … Photoset of vintage porn photos taped to the outside of boxes that once held rolls of 8mm film….
BoingBoing runs a story of an interesting collection of old photos …
Photoset of vintage porn photos taped to the outside of boxes that once held rolls of 8mm film.
Purely from a perspective of historical comparison, allow me to note …
So, since it looks like I am The Man Without A Broadband Connection until I return home (at least, the sort of broadband connection in a situation that would let…
So, since it looks like I am The Man Without A Broadband Connection until I return home (at least, the sort of broadband connection in a situation that would let me, oh, play CoH), I am stuck watching movies here at the hotel (after I eat sumptuous dinners, of course).
So …
Votes for (a) which movie I should watch, and (b) which movie I will watch on Wednesday night:
The advantage of hotel broadband being cut off is feeling like it’s okay to go ahead and watch a movie, since all other forms of entertainment are gone … When…
The advantage of hotel broadband being cut off is feeling like it’s okay to go ahead and watch a movie, since all other forms of entertainment are gone …
When I’m choosing a hotel movie, I try to pick something that (a) I’m not likely to be buying myself, (b) has gotten decent buzz, or at least sounds interesting, and (c) I’m not likely to borrow from friends. Since this didn’t look like a Margie Movie, and I’m a fan of the comic book, it seemed like a fine idea.
If you allow for (1) Keanu Reeves being so not John Constantine from the comics, and (2) the movie ending on an oddly false note, Constantine is actually quite an entertaining flick, sort of The Mummy meets The Matrix meets The Exorcist.
Good effects, fun (in a morbid sense) characters, combine with an entertaining and not-too-convoluted plot line. It’s hardly profound, even when it gets exposition-heavy, but I’ve seen far worse horror/adventure flicks. The “real” John Constantine would spit in the movie’s John Constantine’s eye, but that aside, it was worth investing a couple of hours of my life to watch. Especially (from a Narnia perspective) to see Tilda Swinton‘s Gabriel.
Heck, Margie might enjoy it …
Went and saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe this afternoon with Katherine. I really wanted to like it. I really, really, really wanted to….
Went and saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe this afternoon with Katherine. I really wanted to like it. I really, really, really wanted to.
And … I did.
The Story: The movie is remarkably true to story, with only the mildest of patches for more contemporary audiences. Folks expecting something quite as gritty as LotR will be a bit disappointed — Lewis’ modern fairy tale retains a child-like charm — but I was quite pleased by the result.
At that, while some of the overly cute bits get elided, there’s some nice stuff added in. Indeed, while it only takes five pages to get Lucy into Narnia the first time (I know, because I was just reading the book to Katherine last night), it takes several minutes in the movie, which starts out actually providing an explanation (and character building) as to why kids had to leave London during the Blitz (a bit of history that Lewis assumed his readers would know). There’s also a bit more given to Edmund for motivation than simple peevishness and lust for Turkish Delight, which is nice, and the character redeems himself (beyond the metaphysical redemption of the Deep Magic) by the end of the book.
For folks who read the Narnia tales (especially the first) for their Christian allegory, it’s all still here. For people who aren’t interested in that, it is certainly not hammered over the head. Indeed, like in the books, it’s simply presented and the readers are allowed to draw their own connections. It’s nicely played.
The end of the tale is modified slightly, not in any way that would offend lovers of the book, but to work with modern audiences.
Overall — I am most impressed by the adaptation of the story. My fears are definitely unrealized.
The Acting: The kids do well. Hell, I even found myself liking Lucy, which is saying something. Indeed, Lucy feels the least stereotyped character, as opposed to Peter, the reluctant leader; Edmund, the truculent bad boy; Susan, the annoying voice of reason. But they all do well. (Part of the sense of stereotype is, of course, the story — fairy tale characters rarely go more than skin deep, unless their given three movies to work in.)
Tilda Swinton, as the White Witch, plays the evil deliciously. Indeed, there was almost something disturbing about her attitude toward Edmund …
Liam Neeson is beginning to get a name for himself as a serious actor who also does all sorts of keen SF/Fantasy stuff — Star Wars, Harry Potter, and now this, as Aslan’s voice. I agree with one reviewer that I would have preferred something a bit less cultured and baritone than Neeson, but he does well enough, and he certainly doesn’t detract from the tale.
Not much can be said for the supporting characters. Mr. Tumnus is well portrayed. Ginarrbrik the nasty dwarf fills the role well. The beavers, wolves, and fox all come across nicely.
The FX: This is a movie that would never have been made without Peter Jackson’s LotR, and it shows. The mix of critters here is even broader than in LotR, though, with combos of make-up, CG, and mixes of both.
The results are sometimes uneven. Some of it is spectacular. I have never seen centaurs (or fauns, for that matter) that were so believable. Some of the monster types looked a bit too much like latex and/or heavy masks to me (the minotaurs come to mind, as well as a lot of the attendees at the Stone Table). But overall, I was impressed.
When the CG is out to replicate actual animals (beavers, wolves, foxes, leopards, tigers, and rhinos come to mind, not to mention a certain Lion), the results are a bit more uneven. The creature movement is exquisite, and the appearance usually works well, but whenever they talk, it distorts the face in way that seems almost cartoony. How you give a wolf human voice and expressions and not make it seem cartoony is, of course, a major challenge.
Much is made of the Big Battle at the end, at least in the ads, and it is pretty spectacular — if feeling strangely like a budget-rate version of the epic wars of Jackson’s effort. The numbers are smaller, and after the initial incredible clash, things move back into more rocky territory where the scope can be more limited. Still, it’s all both tremendous eye candy and effective at moving the story forward.
The overall judgment: plenty to nitpick (such as where animal feet touch the ground), but it remains nitpicking.
The Suitability for Kids: Margie was more concerned over Katherine (at 5½) than I was. I did check out some reviews beforehand, all of which said it was intense, but non-gory.
And that sums it up pretty well. All the actual violence takes place off-screen, and while some of it is pretty intense, it’s pretty much left up to the imagination. The worst, probably, is the Stone Table scene, perforce one of (non-graphic) suffering. There were also some suspenseful times, plenty of chase scenes (more than Lewis wrote, but what the heck), and some other moments that Katherine found worth cuddling up in my lap over. And, to be honest, there were some places later on when she said, “Daddy, I want to leave this movie right now.”
You can draw your conclusions as to whether I was a bad father for not following along with that statement, but by the end (and on and off during it all) she was bouncy and excited and, overall, considered the movie “awesome.” Favorite part was (a) the kids getting crowned, and (b) Aslan roaring after his return. And she’s tickled that I’ve now dubbed her “Queen Katherine the Brave.”
At 2:12, it might be long for some other kids. But overall, I’m not sorry I took her to see it.
In summary: I am seriously impressed by the adaptation. It rings a solid note between a film that will appeal to modern audiences and the spirit and magic of Lewis’ original. I give it a strong thumbs up and encouragement to see it in the theaters.
Here. Angel and Beast, at least, make appearances. Magneto is back, this time in California. Professor X is good at speechifying. Angsty goodness with Cyclops. And, yeah, that appears to…
Here.
Angel and Beast, at least, make appearances.
Magneto is back, this time in California. Professor X is good at speechifying.
Angsty goodness with Cyclops.
And, yeah, that appears to be Phoenix in there, too.
Not much actually new to see here (except Angel and Beast, and one presumed Magneto attack). But I suspect it will still be fun.
(via Les)
Okay, guilty pleasures time: Howard the Duck. I remember seeing this in the theater. It really isn’t that horrible of a film. Really. It’s more disappointing of a film. With…
Okay, guilty pleasures time:
Howard the Duck. I remember seeing this in the theater. It really isn’t that horrible of a film. Really. It’s more disappointing of a film. With talent like George Lucas and ILM, plus Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins, Jeffrey Jones, plus John Barry and Thomas Dolby on the music … you’d expect something a lot better. I think it was the disappointment factor — plus schadenfreude over Lucas, the Star Wars wunderkind — that led to the gleeful bad press and poor box office that haunts the movie’s rep to this day.
Really. Take it as it is, and it’s just a fun romp. Nothing to change cinematic history, no Citizen Kane. Just fun.
Lost in Space. I remember this one from the theaters, too, and I remember being terribly disappointed. But, y’know — again, it’s a matter of expectations. Be prepared for cheese, and it plays a lot more enjoyably. The plot, and acting, are a zillion times better than the TV series (not to mention the effects), and if there are awful lapses in logic and the like, there’s still plenty to just enjoy, whether it’s the Robot, or Gary Oldman as Dr. Smith (Edward!), or even a bit of unexpected poignancy over the whole time travel schtick.
Again — take it for what it is, sit back, and and let it race along your lowered expectations. Pretty colors, some amusing lines, and the Robot with his “real” voice make for some fine popcorn for the brain.
Serenity. With hand puppets. (via Amanda)…
Serenity. With hand puppets.
(via Amanda)
Trailer for the next Pirates of the Caribbean flick. Fun. (via Disney Blog)…
Trailer for the next Pirates of the Caribbean flick. Fun.
(via Disney Blog)