Sunday, January 10th, 2010 (Short Film Sunday: Partly Cloudy)

The Oscar season draws ever closer, and during a time where the only bit of sparse cinematic news has came at the hands of the huge financial successes of James Cameron's Avatar, there has not been much more to talk about than what could be the underdog and surprise picks for the Academy Awards. Of course, being my Short Film Sunday segment, I thought we would take a look at a very underrated category, the Best Short Film-Animated. I would like to say that I'm going to throw out an obscure short that nobody has ever seen, as that is my main goal while doing this segment within the blog, yet after finding that Partly Cloudy, the lovable short film that accompanied Up was on In Contention's short list, I had to pass along the flick.

The film comes from the masters of CGI animation, Pixar. It tells the story of the friendship of, what I suppose you may call co-workers, a cloud whom makes babies, and a stork that delivers them. It is directed and written by Peter Sohn in his directorial debut, formerly known as an animator/storyboard artist on films such as The Iron Giant, Osmosis Jones, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL-E. Enjoy, and do it quickly before Disney pulls it.

Sunday, October 11th, 2009 (Short Film Sunday: Runaway Brain)

Today will be the first Short Film Sunday that I have posted since the ever-lengthening Halloween season has began. So, in honor of the time of year, as well as a story from Cinematical earlier in the week on Epic Mickey, I thought I would go for a no-brainer with Chris Bailey's 1995 animated horror-homage short starring Mickey Mouse, Runaway Brain.

The aforementioned story was that Pixar Animation is rumored to be considering adapting the new imaginative upcoming Nintendo Wii game, Epic Mickey, into a feature film. The game, due out next fall, looks strikingly well for a Wii game, and is already in talks to be developed to Play Station 3 and Microsoft XBox 360. The plot of the story is that some of the more jaded characters in the Disney animation canon is angered at Mickey Mouse's endearing and undying cultural status, led by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks' original creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, begin wreaking havoc on some of the more beloved Disney stories. Back to the Cinematical article about the consideration of putting the game's intriguing plot on the big screen, it caught my eye as special due to the fact that it will be the first time the newer generation will see a charming version of Mickey, which, in the last few years has become more synonymous with any other symbols of conglomeration or bastardry. In fact, the last time I was happy to see Mickey on screen was during his brief cameo in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. So, it brings up the question, could the cutesy mouse be entertaining enough to keep the attention of children once again in a new generation outside of Kingdom Hearts and in the cinematic world?

Well, I may had answered that question myself when I was reading my latest copy of Geek Monthly, and saw the ad for Medicom's figure for Runaway Brain (as pictured up above), and remembered the nice little short that accompanied by A Kid in King Arthur's Court and George of the Jungle, as well as being on the home video release for A Goofy Movie. Of course, before I watched it again, I didn't recall it being as good as it was. Some of the finer points missed during my younger, more innocent days, is the fact that Mickey is playing a Mortal Kombat style game with characters of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, that Kelsey Grammar voices Dr. Frankenollie (which Wikipedia tells me is named for classic Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston), the frame that mimics the poster for The Exorcist, and a nice Wilhelm scream.

As for the director Chris Bailey, he has yet to take a jump into feature films, but is best known outside of this short, which played at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, for being an animator on The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. So, without further adieu, enjoy Runaway Brain.

P.S., since I've not been blogging as of late, a bonus short for today. After talking about Oswald up there, I thought I would give him his moment after I found the famous 1927 short that brought the character to prominence, Trolley Troubles, directed by Disney himself.

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Right now, I should probably be doing something other than blogging. I counted up of my next 72 hours, I have roughly 13 to sleep, study and blog, so I'm probably making the wrong choice right now, but I'm bored, can't sleep and cannot seem to will myself to study. Regardless, it will be a quick one. First, here is the new poster for Lars von Trier's Antichrist, which is shockingly the least disturbing thus far. You can check out IMPAwards to see the others.

BlackFilm has put Sharlto Copley's name up for the rumor mill considerations of the role of Howling Mad Murdock in the big screen adaptation of The A-Team. Earlier this week it was announced that former UFC fighter Quintin "Rampage" Jackson was joining the cast to play the role Mr. T made famous, B.A. Baracus. At least Copley, who is relatively new to American audiences after a pretty great performance in District 9 would set this thing back to potentially watchable.

I also read somewhere that Edgar Wright did an interview yesterday, that I can't find a link for, debunking the rumor of Pixar holding interest in his script of Ant Man. He does however confirm that he is still actively pursuing the project in live action style, as a second draft of the screenplay is being worked on at the moment and had taken a back seat to production of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. He also states that he wouldn't mind working with Pixar, which will surely be the source for a few rumors in the future.

Finally, Cinematical has a very disturbing post on the release of This Isn't Twilight: The XXX Parody, the inevitable porn movie based on the popular vampire romance flick Twilight. The movie stars Jenna Haze, which is probably a big deal in the porn world because the link provided in the article states Haze was the winner of the AVN Award. Trying to squash the idea of this outselling movies like Big Fan becomes more tragic when you realize Jenni Miller's article states that sadly enough, it isn't the first, as a less popular movie, Twilight of Virginity, was released a few months ago.

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

There is just some characters that can never be re-casted. One of those is B.A. Baracus of the 80's television series The A-Team, as performed by the one and only Mr. T. I'm not saying the bizarre popular culture icon deserves to be in the same category as Charlie Chaplin and his timeless little tramp bit or Robert De Niro's turn as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, but his eccentricities did make him a national treasure during that beloved decade. So, who is to step into the role in the upcoming big screen adaptation of the series? The Vancouver Sun reports that former UFC fighter Quintin "Rampage" Jackson will be taking the part, despite not having much of an acting career to speak of, excluding a few bit parts and cameos to promote his badassedness in the ring. Not only is the fact that the UFC ring probably isn't the best bet for a casting pool, but the little bit I know of Jackson is that he was arrested in a truck clad with a huge douchebaggish picture of his painted face on the side after driving on sidewalks, nearly killing several people, causing a victim to have a stillbirth and blamed it all on a binge of energy drinks after becoming depressed due to a loss against fellow fighter Forrest Griffin. It's not that I've ever expected the creators of this film to even attempt to make it good, probably setting the goal of "Starsky and Hutch quality". Still, after casting Bradley Cooper and Liam Neeson, there was a brief moment where it looked promising, but I always knew the nail in the coffin would be the B.A. casting.

Cinematical alerted me to a very sad story today. A few days ago two film critics, partners in life, love and career, were killed in Manila. Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc focused on reviewing little known Southeast Asian films to English audiences that would not normally have heard of them. I never had read a piece by either of the writers, or heard much of any of the flicks they championed in their careers, but after reading the article linked from the jump up there, that Tioseco wrote for Rogue magazine, I had to repost it. It is a heartbreaking letter from Tioseco to convince his Nika to move from her native Slovenia with him in Manila, encompassing the publicized note with love for cinema, love for the Philippines and most importantly love for Bohinc. The article ends, and the next one I read regarding the couple, via The Hollywood Reporter, makes it clear that Nika took him up on the offer, as the two were shot dead for the theft of a laptop computer in Tioseco's adored home of Manila. Tragic.

An article on BleedingCool claims that Pixar Animation is already looking at the script treatment that Edgar Wright has given the Marvel property Ant Man with possible intentions for a film. The story claims to be from Entertainment Weekly although I could not find the source writing to back it up. However, we have been expecting Pixar to make a move, as it is obviously the only way a Disney/Marvel film can happen without the negative stigma that came after the announcement of Disney's acquisition of the comic giant last week. I am sure we will have more of this later on whenever it is debunked or confirmed.

The Final Destination continued to top the box office this past week. Does this make anyone else lose hope in humanity? I suppose 9 will at least dominate next week.

Collider has an article up stating that Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, made famous by Children of Men and Iron Man among other things, have been brought on board for the live action Leonardo DiCaprio-produced Akira remake. I can see reason to get excited about this eventually.

I'm a huge corn maze fan, but I think I just lost hope in the wonderful autumn event after Geekologie posted pictures of this Team Jacob/Team Edward mazes in Utah. Terrible.

Monday, August 31st, 2009

I have always said that sometimes The Walt Disney Company gets more bad press than they deserve. Sure, they are the most shrewd of all Hollywood businesspeople, as well as being known on the blogsphere for being wildly hypocritical in most of their judgments, not to mention being branded as racists from Dumbo to The Princess and the Frog. Yet, they continue to pump out great films such as WALL-E and this year's Up alongside Pixar, and no matter how overpriced, continues to generate the one place on earth that lives up to the affectionate term of "magical", the Walt Disney World Resort. However, when I turned on the ol' computer today, I read that the big conglomerate mouse had finally gone too far, they had bought Marvel Comics. We have a plethora of questions that arise from this $4 billion deal that occurred this morning, including what will happen to the movie properties and plans that Marvel Entertainment had lined up for the upcoming years, culminating in a collaborative Avengers adaptation? Does this spell the end for the chance to see a quality Wolverine film, based on the works of Frank Miller and Chris Claremont? When will we face an inevitable Disney/Marvel crossover? A better question, will Pixar dabble in the newly acquired 5,000 Marvel characters? Even away from the relevancy of this movie blog, what about the comics? Disney television deals? Universal Studios Islands of Adventure's fate has my inner traveler nervous. Will Disney destroy Marvel? Will characters like Frank Castle/The Punisher be re-worked to become family-friendly to fit the Disney brand? Will Stan Lee still be a huge influence in the Marvel offices? What will the folks affiliated with Marvel say about the merger?

I suppose most of these questions will be answered in the next few days that follow, but right now the media shit storm is in full swing, and MTV has posted an article about what we supposedly know about the deal thus far. You can also check out the official press release at Marvel's official site, and I have yet to find, but I've read that somewhere on there, you can actually listen to CEO Isaac Perlmutter's conference call. Also, a link to the first place I read the story, BBC News. And don't forget to check out what the non-movie crowd is saying, via the comment section on Geekologie. Also, not missing a beat, don't miss Cinematical's weekly article Girls on Film, where Monika Bartyzel compares the classic Disney princesses and Marvel's top heroines. There is also an article on the site by Jeffrey M. Anderson, featuring lots of rather cheesy jokes that in all actuality touches on the fears of all geeks the world over at the moment. And for one final link to the story, the picture comes courtesy of coverage at Kotaku.

So, with the future of comic books-to -silver screen in jeopardy for a cinephile, what could possibly make the news day worse? How about a franchise that doesn't know when to quit? How about three?

First, Variety reports that even after Halloween II was just able to climb to the number three spot at the box office this weekend, the franchise may be continuing, sans current director Rob Zombie. The Weinsteins have apparently got a yet-to-be-named filmmaker on tap to take the franchise in a different direction, and a different dimension... or what's becoming a very cliché gimmick in 3-D.

Also from Variety, it was announced today that Nu Image and Millennium Films greenlit a fifth film in the Rambo franchise. Sweet Jesus, that is just a terrible idea.

Finally, just when you thought you couldn't take anymore, The Hollywood Reporter declares that Peter Craig is writing a new screenplay for a third Bad Boys for Columbia Pictures. We are yet to find out if Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, Will Smith or Martin Lawrence will return. Also, would it even really matter?

Finally, if you haven't lost all your hope in the wonderful world of cinema, The Final Destination took the top spot at the box office this weekend, topping the second week of Inglourious Basterds by a little over $8 million, not even to mention $27 million over Big Fan. Try not to kill yourselves before tomorrow.

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.