Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

I have yet to jump aboard the Blu-ray fad. I know that it is supposedly better quality, but really, I'm doing the majority of my at home movie watching on a 90's Magnavox television set that probably couldn't differentiate the difference between the platform and its predecessor of DVDs anyhow. Also, I like to be consistent, and seeing that there are still movies out there that I want to see that have yet to make the jump from the VHS platform (John Waters' Multiple Maniacs for example), I just feel that the time to jump ship on the DVD train has yet to come. Still, the District 9 release may be the first Blu-ray that I purchase. Not only is Neill Blomkamp's feature length directorial debut a fantastic film that comes with the regular run-of-the-mill featurettes and extras that usually comes with a home release, but the Peter Jackson produced science fiction flick, according to SciFi Squad, will be making history by including a playable demo of a video game, this one happening to be to the highly anticipated Play Station 3 game God of War III. Also, enticing gamers to play the demo before the game is released, once the demo is completed, a featurette for the game is unlocked. And one final reason that this is becoming a must buy, in honor of the rapidly approaching Christmas shopping season, Amazon is already pre-sailing it for just $19.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave out the Governors Awards a few days back, and it would of went completely under my radar if I hadn't of noticed a Cinematical article on the topic. Among those receiving the honorary Oscar was actress Lauren Bacall, acclaimed cinematographer Gordon Willis and one of the original true cult directors Roger Corman.

Spider-Man 4 casting rumors has become one of the more common topics on here, and today Entertainment Weekly shot down one of the bigger rumors, that Rachel McAdams was set to play Felicia Hardy/The Black Cat during an interview to promote Sherlock Holmes. So does this put Dylan Baker as The Lizard back at the top of the runnings for the film's villainous lead? Also, when will we find out Bruce Campbell's role?

Monday, September 21st, 2009

After watching Neill Blomkamp's District 9, I felt like I was watching something more important than the normal science fiction farce. Of course, the storyline is obviously full or allegorical connection to South Africa's former apartheid state. Blomkamp himself being a native of Johannesburg, South Africa and living in the country under apartheid definitely had his own images in comparing the treatment to the aliens as compared to the treatment of foreigners migrating to the country. So I was shocked a little today when the entire blogsphere was running this BBC News story on how Nigeria's Information Minister, Dora Akunyili has called for a ban of the film in Nigeria as well as an apology from the filmmakers for the portrayal of Nigerians as street thugs, prostitutes, criminals and/or cannibals. I'm kind of shocked, because I found an entire underlying theme of "environment dictates behavior". I think it is to be believed that the aliens were all like Christopher by nature, transformed by the brutal surroundings, using the comparison of the Nigerians, one of the real life sufferers of apartheid, as a comparison point, showing what the government had caused them to become to survive. Such a pity, it probably deserves to be seen by the very demographic it is being held from, as it would probably touch a little deeper than the rest of the western world in which it is being embraced.

I was slightly disappointed at the fact that Jennifer's Body didn't make its rounds to the local theater, despite being a for sure #1 at the box office in my mind. Wow, did I misjudge or what? The Megan Fox vehicle that is getting mixed reviews, and still looks very intriguing to me, landed at a measly fifth spot with just under $7 million. The Informant! landed the number two spot, despite being released limited with a little more than $10 million. However, topping the weekend with $30 million, the children's 3-D flick Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

IWatchStuff posted a typically bizarre Japanese commercial for Panasonic which features a new clip from James Cameron's Avatar. The article also links to a new website for the upcoming highly anticipated film that I have yet to see, masquerading as a business/promotion site for the Resource Development Administration's AVTR program.

I read an awful article on Cinematical in which The Weinstein Company has given Twitter credit for Quentin Tarantino's latest Inglourious Basterds raking in over $100 million dollars at the box office. Please don't let this become a marketing norm.

Finally, the amazing featurettes from Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox keeps pumping out. The latest containing what author Roald Dahl's widow Felicity has to say about the film and how close it would be to Dahl's imagination.

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Yesterday I began the ol' blog with a picture of Todd McFarlane's rather "twisted" vision of Dorothy Gale and the munchkins. Today, seeing that the news world was quite slow, I got this deviantART picture off of Cinematical, of a darker version of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The picture brings up the inevitable question with the dark fairy tale trend (see: The Girl in the Red Riding Hood and yesterday's main topic of a supposed sequel to The Wizard of Oz), when will we get a fitting darker version of Snow White, that is not the 1997 TV movie Snow White: A Tale of Terror, starring Sigourney Weaver. Don't get me wrong, I love Ripley, but that movie just wasn't my cup of tea if you get me. Also, does anybody ever think we will see a cinematic version of Alan Moore's very adult comic Lost Girls, a story telling the sexual exploits of three fairy tale icons, Wendy of Peter Pan, Alice of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the only other version of Dorothy that could be more sexualized than McFarlane's unsettling toys?

SciFiMoviePage has an audio interview with District 9 director Neill Blomkamp up, in which the director notes that the studio is interested in pursuing the sequel, although he doesn't confirm his own thoughts, or any possibilities that we could see this. Also, would a sequel, in which we no longer have the good open ending, ruin the mystery of the first film? I suppose it is inevitable, and no amount of complaining or logic could stop it. I just hope the screenplay matches its predecessor in the intelligence department and doesn't fall into the Transformers-esque cash cow sci-fi flick.

Speaking of sequels, The Hollywood Reporter announced that a sequel to Hancock is being penned. Personally, I could live without it.

MTV has a pretty good article giving us five facts from Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds that we probably don't know.

/Film has a decent interview with Terry Gilliam posted on his upcoming film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Gilliam is always an interesting enough read; however, Cinematical's Monika Bartyzel has an interesting article up pointing out the fact that Gilliam stated he would love to work with Pixar, even going as far to compare it to Walt Disney and Salvador Dali's pairing in the short Destino that I featured a few weeks back. A good, thought-provoking read. Personally, I think if classic Disney animation can pair up with a Philip K. Dick story for King of the Elves in a few years, Pixar Animation could definitely pick the obscurely entertaining brain of Gilliam.

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Geekologie has a very impressive photo gallery of a home decked out in Star Wars memorabilia that would certainly make almost any collector, big or small, extremely jealous.

It's been a rather slow news day, topped by an article on HitFix that claims Bryan Singer will produce, as well as possibly direct, a new big screen adaption of Battlestar Galactica. I've never really gotten into Battlestar, but hey, we can't all be into everything, we just merely don't have the time. So, this news doesn't rise up anger or happiness, so I'm curious to know what a fanboy of the franchise would say. The linked article is accompanied by a picture of concept art that looks very different from anything I've seen.

Also, Rachel McAdams accidentally, or the way Cinematical put it, purposefully, yet blissfully unaware, gave the plot of The Time Traveler's Wife away during her guest spot on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I've yet to watch the clip as there is a chance I may accompany the lady to it yet, but I'm sure this doesn't help McAdams future, at least in anything that the plot should be closely guarded.

Well, it is Friday, and a big one at that. District 9 is the big talk of the week. The reviews are nothing short of amazing. Also, not only does this look to be a smart science fiction film, but it is a smart science fiction film, that at least to some point, has some influence from producer Peter Jackson. However, I have to admit, even if Jackson's name wasn't on this thing, I think I would still be stoked after watching Neill Blomkamp's short film Alive in Joburg, and watching the trailers for the flick over the past few weeks. I'm also quite excited about Hayao Miyazaki's latest effort, Ponyo. When watching the trailer, it looks like it could possibly be one of Miyazaki's worst films. The truly great thing about Miyazaki though, it looks like it could be a contender for one of the best of the year. The limited release is a bit disappointing, seeing that I am driving to Lexington (about a two or so hour drive) next week just to watch it. But never seeing a Miyazaki film on the big screen, that will be a worthwhile event. So, we have a smart, intriguing science fiction potential blockbuster, and another beautifully animated masterpiece from the king of Japanese anime. Therefore, everything else looks terrible in comparison. The unfortunate contenders include The Time Traveler's Wife. It will be a contender for the box office, but the romantic tale will more than likely fail in comparison to the rest of the weekend's fare. Not saying that as a completely bad thing, as it is a "chick flick" that quite easily put me aboard. Another movie that may have had a chance to make an impact on another weekend is the raunchy Jeremy Piven comedy about car salesmen, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. With Ed Helms co-starring in it, I think most will be disappointed to find it not as hilarious as The Hangover, but if it can be funny enough to overcome the hurdle of making us forget any comparison, it will exceed my expectations.

Finally, I probably won't blog tomorrow. I'm going to Dollywood. I searched for some kind of clip connecting the park and films. I found several references from TV, including American Dad!, The Simpsons, Sealab 2021 and The Drew Carey Show. I eventually read that it is mentioned on the 1992 film Captain Ron, but to post a clip of that would be insulting to any would-be readers. So, I'll just say adieu, and I will be back with a short film or something special to make up for the absence on Sunday.

Sunday, August 9th, 2009 (Short Film Sunday: Alive in Joburg)

Yesterday, whilst blogging about the speculation of Steven Spielberg producing a big screen version of the hugely popular XBox game Halo, I mentioned that I would fill in a bit of time between the production of the failed Peter Jackson/Neill Blomkamp Halo to their new project, next Friday's District 9. The story actually begins with the 2005 South African short film by Blomkamp, Alive in Joburg. The nearly six minute science fiction film deals with a documentary style of interviewing characters in Johannesburg, South Africa about a group of extraterrestrials being contained by the government. The film takes place in 1990, when South Africa was still under apartheid, and puts the alien refugees among the already oppressed black population.

Taking a passenger seat to the unique use of the cinema verite technique in a genre picture, and the heavy topic of race relations in a very short film was the special effects. One thing Blomkamp lacked in his short was a budget, but a good head for a science fiction picture was there. And to say that the former television commercial director still created some decent effects with a low budget would be a vast understatement. The first of the film, in which the aliens are inside the technologically advanced bio-suits, looked like it could be right at home in a well developed video game. This could have been a reason that Blomkamp was picked up as the director for the film adaptation of Halo, a highly anticipated flick with an already built-in hardcore fan base in his debut feature. It wasn't meant to be though, as development hell would grab producer Peter Jackson's project by the throat.

As bad as this would seem on paper, it was a great beginning for Blomkamp, as Jackson became so impressed, that he decided to just place the young director's talent elsewhere, and commissioned Alive in Joburg to be expanded into a feature length film, to be produced and distributed by Jackson's WingNut Films. This project, of course, is what would eventually become this week's big conversation point, District 9. One casting note in this now highly anticipated sci-fi motion picture is that of Sharlto Copley, a producer for the short in which it is based. Copley can also be seen around the 3:22 mark of the short featured below.

So, if you are like me and think that District 9 has the possibility to be the next big thing, watch this short and be entertained. Enjoy, and just think of what could be done with roughly 106 more minutes and some $30 million extra.