9 posts tagged “movies”
OK, I know that Wed/Thu is the slot for an Apple update, but I'VE GOT A GOOD EXCUSE. Besides, there's probably going to be a boatload of stuff to write about next week after WWDC, so I'm saving my energy...
Went to watch Pirates : Dead Man's Chest tonight...boy, it was a long movie. Entertaining set-pieces, but way too many talky bits in-between. Will put up a more detailed review this weekend, hopefully alongside more detailed thoughts on Superman Returns.
BTW how do I go about telling Golden Village that one of the subwoofers in Hall 1 of GV Marina is busted? It was clipping badly whenever there were huge explosions or crashes...really irritating.
Technorati Tags: personal
According to an official press release from Warner, the next Batman movie will be titled THE DARK KNIGHT. Production starts in early 2007, presumably for a Summer 2008 opening.
Wow. Really love that title. It just promises so much to the fanboy (me!), and it has the confidence not to have to scream BATMAN! at you.
The Joker will be played by Heath Ledger. It's a surprising choice, but I'm glad they didn't go with somebody obvious like Crispin Glover. My own choice was Paul Bettany (Master & Commander, Wimbledon), 'cuz of his pale and lanky look, but Ledger promises a Joker that won't be the usual fey, campy villain, and should at least pose a credible physical threat when he inevitably goes toe-to-toe with Christian Bale. It's definitely in keeping with the tone set in the first one.
And phew, I managed to get through this without a single Brokeback joke!
Technorati Tags: comics, movies, popculture
OK, so I've lost count of the number of Rockys they've made, but apparently so have the producers, because they're naming this new one Rocky Balboa instead. You can check out the trailer.
Interesting - Rocky does a Foreman-esque unretirement to fight the hot new thing, but the trailer focuses on the fact that Rocky is old and broken-down. I've heard good things about the script, so could it be that he actually loses? There's also a brief shot in the trailer of what looks like Paulie bending towards flowers on a coffin...hmmm.
I always preferred Stallone to Arnie, because the first two Rockys proved that he really had creative talent. Even III (Mr T) and IV (Drago) were pretty good escapist fun, in the context of their era.
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Incidentally, I watched UFC 61 a few days ago. It was the first UFC show I watched from start to finish. Got a bit squeamish about the blood, but I like the fact that the ref steps in really quickly to stop the fight when serious head injury is threatened - even if the loser is able to stand up immediately afterwards.
I was never a boxing fan, but I can see why UFC is rapidly gaining popularity (and mainstream credibility) in the US. Because the fights are legit (as opposed to openly-fake wrestling and obviously-fixed boxing), it really grabs your attention quickly. And they do a good job of building up the fighters as real personalities.
It also made me realise what one of the big problems with WWE is nowadays. If you go back even just 3-5 years, WWE was on a high because wrestlers like Stone Cold and The Rock were like rockstars - their personalities spoke for themselves. Nowadays, the new 'superstars' WWE is trying to build up are more like 80s-style cartoon caricatures, with no real personality.
That's why I enjoy the new ECW on Sci-Fi, despite the negative reaction from ECW traditionalists. I was never an ECW fan in the first place, but I like the way that the new ECW cuts out the excessive showbiz (pyros, etc.) of the regular WWE shows. Of course, it also helps that they are giving a good slow build to the wrestler I think is the most promising new talent around today...
Just got back from seeing Superman Returns...
Wow. That was simply spectacular.
Bryan Singer really nailed the right mood for a Superman film - mythic, epic, and heartfelt. Just wish there was more Clark (Nette's observation), and more stuff back home on the farm. At times, Singer did threaten to overdo the Messianic analogy, although apart from a few too-obvious images (inevitable crucifixion pose, empty tomb), he just about managed to keep it under control.
Spacey was brilliant as Luthor, but the real star was Brandon Routh - simply scary how much he sounds and looks like Christopher Reeve. I'm really curious to hear his normal speaking voice, just to figure out how much effort it took to sound that way.
Bravo.
I recently bought the DVD of a classic 1978 production of Macbeth, starring Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench as the titular couple. Haven't watched it yet, but it was pretty funny seeing the back cover blurb, which mentions that "the porter" is played by "Ian McDiaiarmid (Star Wars : Return of the Jedi)" and Macduff is played by "Bob Peck (Jurassic Park)".
Fortunately, the blurb didn't see the need to explain who McKellen and Dame Judi are, but once again it brings to mind how painful it must be for these serious Shakespearean actors sometimes. Those who had already achieved acclaim as stage actors probably don't feel it so much, but it must still be rather frustrating to know that you will end up being remembered as Ian ("Gandalf", "Magneto") McKellen, Dame Judi ("M") Dench, Patrick ("Jean-Luc Picard", "Professor X") Stewart, Alec ("Obiwan Kenobi") Guinness or Ian ("Darth Sidious") McDiarmid.
Work is work, I guess...
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Just started watching the DVD...it's one of those productions where the director - Trevor ("Cats", "Les Miserables") Nunn, no less - has 'reimagined' the setting. It takes place against a featureless darkness, and everyone is wearing an odd mishmash of costumes, that bring to mind Blake's 7 or Dr Who.
Maybe it isn't so bad to be Ian ("Gandalf", "Magneto") McKellen after all...at least you have a decent costume budget, and won't be embarrassed at how you looked 20 years later...
BTW the actor playing Malcolm looked really familiar, and after imdb'ing him, I figured out why : he's Roger Rees, who played Lord John Marbury in West Wing.
Technorati Tags: humor, movies, RSC, shakespeare
Not sure why, but I did up this collage of the films that I'm really looking forward to this summer blockbuster season. I guess it'll be interesting to look back in three months and see which lived up to expectations, and which sucked. The big event-movies omitted are Da Vinci Code (not so hot on what it's about) and Poseidon (really don't see the point).
So far, I'd say Summer 2006 is shooting 0.5 for 1, since M:I-3 wasn't that great (see review below).
The release dates are American, but Singapore generally closely follows them anyway.
Technorati Tags: movies
M:I-3 begins with a scene plucked from later in the movie, with a cliffhanger ending that keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how it is resolved. Unfortunately, once you've seen that rather anti-climactic resolution, you have to settle back into your seat and watch the remaining twenty minutes of the film.
First-time feature director JJ (Lost, Alias) Abrams deserves praise for trying to humanize Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, putting his newlywed wife in jeopardy to give the classic "this time it's personal" boost to the M:I franchise. Indeed, the moments that emphasize relationships - between Hunt and his wife, Hunt and his team, and Hunt's superiors - are the strongest in this film, alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman's quietly chilling turn as villain Owen Davian.
However, while some of the setpieces are classic M:I, especially the Vatican sequences, I was disappointed because there was never enough satisfying pay-off for the well-built suspense. Perhaps belying his television roots, JJ Abrams doesn't seem to be able to film a good action sequence - whenever the action reaches a climax, the camerawork degenerates into blurry, shaky jumpcuts that leave you dazed and rather confused, not thrilled or awed.
Perhaps the greatest disappointment is that the mission that should have been the film's centrepiece - the retrieval of the mysterious 'Rabbit's Foot' - is hardly shown. You see how Hunt gets into the heavily-guarded builidng, but it isn't anywhere as cool as some of the stunts in the first two movies, and in fact looks pretty simple. Then - and I'm not kidding - you don't see anything else until Hunt comes flying out of a window, having secured the prize. Was it even difficult? Who knows, because we don't know how he did it.
Then, when you get to the inevitable mano y mano duel between Hunt and Davian, the fight suffers from the same problem faced by many such films - regardless of any attempt to even the odds by handicapping Hunt, it never seems likely that the overweight villain is going to overcome the superhero Hunt. Batman versus Nicholson's Joker, or Danny Devito's Penguin, springs to mind.
Ultimately, I'd still recommend seeing this film. There's still lots of cool spy stuff going on, and I for one always find Tom Cruise likeable. Just be forewarned that M:I-3 ends up very much like the famous franchise's credit sequence : you see the burning fuse, with the classic theme jumpstarting your adrenaline...but you never get the promised bang at the end.
Random notes
- One interesting subtext in this film is Tom Cruise's apparent desire to transform his image from cocky maverick to everyman-in-peril, as perfected by Harrison Ford. In both War Of The Worlds and M:I-3, he plays the desperate husband/father, fighting not to save the world, but to save his loved ones. I'm not sure I buy it, because Cruise is still too pretty and too instinctively cool. He doesn't do haggard, disheveled and panicky anywhere near as well as Ford, and looks good even when beaten up.
- There's a very brief echo of Top Gun in the film, probably inserted as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to an iconic shot from that film. You should know it when you see it.
- One thing that really deserves praise is Michael (The Incredibles) Giacchino's score. It's great sixties' spy movie music, relying heavily on Lalo Schiffrin's classic theme.
- A lot of internet reviews (especially AICN) have been raving about what a great job JJ Abrams did. Not being a fan of either Lost or Alias, I can't really comment much, but it seems Abrams has clearly played to his strengths (characterisation, mysterious plots) here, and fanboys will probably eat that up. But I don't think Abrams showed me anything that propels him into the ranks of top action/suspense directors (as claimed by Harry "I interviewed this guy for Penthouse" Knowles).
- (slight spoiler) Don't you hate it when people who have apparently never used a gun in their lives suddenly turn out to be crack shots? It keeps happening in action movies, and it's damn irritating.
Great news! Lucasfilm has announced that they will finally be releasing the undoctored, non-'special edition' versions of the original trilogy on DVD. Sure, it's a double-dip after the (slightly disappointing) mega boxed set, but I'm definitely getting Episode 4 (and only that episode, probably) just for two things : (1) Han shoots first, and (2) the rebel fanfare as the X-wings dive towards the Death Star for the first time. More than anything, that soundtrack change in the mega boxed set really made me angry, because it had always been a crucial heroic moment in the score.
The release will be for a limited time only, from September to December. The only downside is that the original cuts will be presented with only Dolby 2.0 sound...but then again, original means original, I guess. Oh, and I wonder how much we'll have to pay for the privilege...
The official Lucasfilm announcement even has a photo of Han shooting first!
Of course, the ultimate would be to release next-generation versions with all versions on one disc, with the ability to watch different versions side-by-side, or picture-in-picture, for comparison. Or maybe I'm just being too geeky!
The Wild Geese : 30th Anniversary Edition is released on 27 September. Already ordered mine!
I'm pretty sure that any male of around my age remembers this film...Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Roger Moore (at the peak of his fame, and before he was too old) as aging mercenaries leading a rescue mission into some dodgy African country. A real Boy's Own adventure film, which together with A Bridge Too Far, ensured that my imaginary-weapon-of-choice when playing war in primary school was a British Sten gun, with the magazine sticking out the side.
In fact, the Sten was probably the movie machine gun of the 1970s, until Uzis became more popular ('cuz you can hold TWO of them!).
What gun did YOU use when playing war?
