Today's News: trailers and voice actors revealed

The latest batch of news reports I penned for MS over the past few days is here:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156748/nieuwe_trailer_the_maze_runner

Another young adult hit novel gets the silver screen treatment with The Maze Runner. I admit the premise is intriguing, though more than a little similar to that of The Hunger Games. Visually there's a lot of opportunity here, though I'm not so sure about story and characters. There's your typical bunch of angsty teenagers thrown into a dangerous situation together, and none of the young actors portraying them stand out. Not even that kid whom I was so glad to see viciously killed off in the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. There's no Jennifer Lawrence to be found here, nor as it would appear  a grand cast of older supporting character actors. So what remains is the hope of a thrilling tale of mystery, suspense and teen violence (likely an average one at that) paired with the usual obnoxious hype surrounding this latest of so many horror/dystopian flick aimed at an audience at young adults. Remember, for every one of those that spawns into a successful franchise, three of them do not. And financial success of the lucky ones notwithstanding, those of singular impressive quality number in even lesser quantities.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156777/eerste_trailer_disneys_into_the_woods

Another trailer for a movie that hopes to captivate audiences without offering anything substantially new, is this one for Disney's live-action fantasy musical Into the Woods. Based on the Sondheim play, which I had never heard of, as is usual for Sondheim plays until someone bothers to make a motion picture adaptation out of them, it seems to be a mash-up of various fairy tales paired with a rather everyday message of parental responsibility, love and cooperation. The look seems identical to most other Hollywood family fantasy flicks of today, taking a note from Tim Burton but sugar coating it quite a bit. There's a definite Snow White and the Huntsmen/Oz the Great and Powerful/Maleficent look to the piece, which isn't a good thing per se. Good cast though; Meryl Streep as a wicked witch and Johnny Depp as a giant, what's not to like? Maybe their singing. Then again, Depp has proven to possess some vocal talents in Sweeney Todd, and Streep for Mamma Mia, so in their cases I worry naught. However, the trailer fails to get me geared up towards seeing this film. Kinda seems like a been-there-done-that type of film. Or maybe it's just the ominous sense of Holiday season dread it instills upon me. That period of the year is no fun if you happen to work in a movie theater and that mood kinda fouls the experience for me, even months prior.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156790/bill_murray_doet_stem_baloo_in_jungle_book

Another feeling of repetition forces itself onto me in the case of this new incarnation of Jungle Book Disney is currently producing. You'd think the truly classic Disney classics withstand the test of time so much Disney could just re-release them in every conceivable medium ad nauseam, instead of creating a very expensive reboot. Maybe the taste of those films has gone sour due to all their unnecessary and unpopular sequels the studio felt like releasing for the home video market. Whether there is a need for it or not, at least Disney seems to get the voice cast just right, featuring some very notable and strong actors in roles that seem right up their alley. Bill Murray as Baloo the Bear seems an open door in that regard. Murray has made a habit of playing characters reminiscent of the bear due to their carefree way of life and irresponsible sense of handling things. Nevertheless, no matter the great ensemble of actors brought together, I'm more intrigued by the other Jungle Book movie currently in production, the one studio Warner is making with Andy Serkis as its director. Could be a lot different since it needs to carefully distinguish itself from the Disney versions. And the question remains whether Serkis is as skilled as a director as he is an actor. You can't mo-cap directing after all.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156789/marvel_onthult_thanos

To round things up, there's a little bit of Marvel news. After all, these days no news update of mine comes without it, so why should this one be any different? Marvel has seen fit to reveal what Thanos looks like for those who couldn't bother to wait to see him for themselves in Guardians of the Galaxy. I could have of course, but my job is to spread the word on tidbits like these, so I did just that and ruined the surprise for myself. What does he look like? Well, Thanos looks like... Thanos. There's hardly any change to his appearance in the comic books. He bears little resemblance to Josh Brolin, who has voiced him in this film and will in the ones to come. Whether Brolin also did some motion capture performance for the character, like Mark Ruffalo did for the Hulk, I don't know, though I doubt he did, considering how brief Thanos' role in this movie supposedly is. Right now, I'm more curious what the actor made him sound like. But for that, I really advice people to go and watch the movie instead of spoiling themselves online.

Today's Double News: Divergent fanbase can go ape

Today's batch of fairly fresh movie news:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/155049/derde_deel_divergent_opgedeeld_in_twee_films

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/155032/nieuwe_afbeeldingen_dawn_of_the_planet_of_the_apes

This is getting old. But the trick keeps working in studios' favour, so why not repeat it ad nauseam since the target audience doesn't seem to mind being milked? When it was first announced that the last Harry Potter book would get a double finale, I rejoiced, since I felt there was way too much material for a single movie. I felt that way about books 5 and 6 too though. After that, every successful franchise aimed predominantly at a young adult audience took a hint from this strategy. The trick was repeated with The Twilight Saga, which I - and many others - don't care as much for as for the adventures of said young wizard (basically, not at all) and that time, I experienced it as a nuisance, since all those bloody teenage girls made a mess of my movie theater twice in a row, obnoxiously screaming like such female groupies tend to do. Now The Hunger Games: Mockingjay will undergo the same treatment. I haven't read that book in its entirety, but when I picked it up in a book store and browsed through the last few pages to spoil myself on who died and who didn't, the volume wasn't any thicker than its predecessors, making me wonder whether splitting the movie in two would result in a decent pair of movie. Divergent (or better yet, Allegiant, as is the title of the third book in Veronica Roth's trilogy), same story really. As nobody will deny, it's simply a way for the studio to make more money out of a lucrative franchise, postponing the end as long as they can. Makes you wonder why they don't bother splitting the second novel either. It's barely begun pre-production, so there's still time to do so. I wouldn't have mind if the fifth and sixth Potter installments were comparably chopped up, considering how much material from the books was brisquely swept aside. Why not go that extra mile and give the second Divergent film (Insurgent) a similar treatment? Go fully episodic! Oh wait, that kind of storytelling is what television exists for... Considering TV these days has proven a vastly superior medium in terms of storytelling, it's no surprise Hollywood studios take a hint from its narrative make-up. It starts with splitting up movies in half, who knows, maybe it will end with the return of the Thirties' serials. That's what you get if you chop up stories that might not benefit from being overdone this way.
Then again, Peter Jackson has succeeded in making a threesome of three-hour movies out of a book that is even less imposing in size than the Divergent novels...

At least the Planet of the Apes franchise doesn't have to worry about similar issues, as its origin can be traced back to a book so small in size you're finished reading within an hour. Didn't stop Hollywood from basing five (!) movies off it, though most of it they made up for themselves. And now that the reboot series is in full swing, Pierre Boulle's little novel is ignored altogether, as the new movies base their story off the later entries in the original movie saga, which had little to do with the original story by the French author. Doesn't matter in terms of quality though, as the first movie in the reboot franchise proved quite a solid film, making us forget the dreadful Tim Burton remake of ten years earlier. So far, word on the sequel is equally positive. These freshly released stills indicate that the second movie too incorporates its fair share of story elements from the original movie series for its own purposes. And thanks to the wonders of CGI (and the mo-cap performances of Andy Serkis and others, lest we forget), the apes look more photorealistic than ever. Even when they're riding horses or wielding guns. Now that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is deep in the post-production phase and FX shots are finished on a daily basis, we can expect a deluge of similar pictures in the next few months, showing off just how much animators can convincingly do with their apes nowadays. And if it's true director Matt Reeves has succeeded in balancing story and effects as much as his predecessor on Rise of the POTA, this series too might make it to five films. Or more. There's no restrictions based on the literary source here, after all.

Today's News: Serkis goes ape again with all sorts of animals

Some older news I posted some days back:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154599/andy_serkis_regisseert_jungle_book

He knows animals - apes mostly, but he's also adept at understanding emaciated Hobbit junkies - and he knows directing. Of course Serkis makes perfect sense to direct The Jungle Book. Granted, he is still a bit green (get it?) for a director, but the fabulous river barrel chase in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, largely from his hand, showed he has some necessary skills at least. I doubt he will be any less of a capable director than Jon Favreau, who's currently adapting the same story for a different studio. That's Serkis' biggest problem right there: the redundancy of doing a different Jungle Book film shortly after Disney produces one. Considering the classic 1967 animated version already makes people think of Disney first when they hear the term 'Jungle Book', that's tough competition to begin with. Serkis will have to work hard to make his own attempt stand out, but if he uses his animal knowledge to good avail, there's a chance for a different approach for starters. I doubt Favreau understands the animal kingdom as much as Andy does; as his resumé shows, he's more into technology based material, like Iron Man, Cowboys & Aliens and the new TV-show Revolution. Favreau's version will more likely focus on the struggle of (a) man to stay alive in an all-natural environment without the aid of his own species. Idris Elba is doing the voice of the tiger in that one, so Serkis had better bring in the big guns to outdo that. How about having some great actor of our time not only providing a voice, but having him mo-cap the bejesus out of that villainous feline too? After all, thanks to Peter Jackson, Serkis knows his high-class fancy movie making technology too.

Today's Triple News: monsters, apes and cunnilingus

No less than triple news today, another first!:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152339/eerste_posters_dawn_of_the_planet_of_the_apes

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152305/nieuwe_poster_nymphomaniac

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152306/nieuwe_trailer_en_poster_godzilla_online

A lot of posters these last 24 hours. The Holidays are nigh so studios want to promote their upcoming projects more vigorously than usual to make sure all those cinemagoers (and I know from experience there will be lots of them!) will get a glimpse of their product. Except for Lars von Trier, who just wants to shock and amaze everybody, Holidays or no. He certainly succeeds with his latest Nymphomaniac poster, which is even more unsubtely explicit than the previous batch. If we didn't know what to expect from that particular film, we know now. I must say, I find this movie ever more amusing, thanks to its promotional campaign. These daring and original poster concepts are effectively catching my attention, as I know they attract others too. I wonder whether any of these will actually be seen in theaters anywhere, they seem to be so risqué they're only suited for online marketing. Say what you will about a stubborn troublemaker like Von Trier, he certainly knows how to cause a scandal that can only benefit the movie getting noticed. Whether people will go and see it is another matter and whether those that do will actually like it is an even more poignant question. But even if Nymphomaniac fails to be a compelling piece of exploration of human sexuality/erotics, its promotion is a definite success!

The other marketing material I posted is more standard fare. The Apes posters tease, they do little more. You get little new plot information from them other than the return of Caesar and Koba, the addition of two novel ape characters (including a new gorilla), and the fact the shit is about to hit the fan because of their grim look and war paint. Doesn't matter, I was already looking forward to this movie. I liked the previous reboot Rise of the PotA, as well as all the originals (some more than others). However, I'm not going more ape over this film now than I already did.

That said, I am getting more excited over the Godzilla remake. It seems it takes the simple basics of the Japanese originals, introducing a giant mutated dinosaur (?) and pitting him against the military, without bothering with an accompanying plot too much. That's good, because there is little more to Godzilla than that. Sure, there is the warning against nuclear weapons, but that's hardly a new message. And unlike the dreadful 1998 American remake, this Godzilla actually looks like his Japanese counterpart. Though story isn't the most pertinent issue, at least there's some terrific actors present (Gary Oldman. yay!) and a director who knows and respects the subject material (as he demonstrated with his Kaiju hommage guerilla film Monsters). And action doesn't appear to be something this movie lacks. It seems there's little here that can go wrong making this as good a Godzilla film as any of them. Which doesn't mean it will be a masterpiece (nonono!), but it will be good monster-stomping-cities fun, which is all you could hope for in a big G film. Except for the appearance of other creatures to fight Godzilla. I don't see any here, but earlier promotional material ensured us that's thrown in as well.

Today's Mini-Review: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, The

Rating: ****/*****, or 7/10

Steven Spielberg's first foray into the realm of motion capture, for which he used the classic comic adventures of Hergé's Tintin as the source material, combining elements from such beloved tales as The Crab with the Golden Claws, Red Rackham's Treasure and of course, The Secret of the Unicorn itself. Using real human performances from accomplished actors, the otherwise fully animated characters seem that much more convincing, making it a fine blend between animation and live-action, about as close to the original comics as an animated movie could hope to get. The young reporter Tintin (charming Jamie Bell) stumbles upon a model ship, the Unicorn, at a flea market, and soon gets caught up in a plot to find the location of the actual ship that sunk hundreds of years ago, loaded with treasure. The sinister Sakharine (Daniel Craig) is after his model and several others like it, to solve the puzzle of their predecessor's wherabouts on the bottom of the ocean. Tintin and his loyal dog Snowy team up with the ever drunk Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis, the undisputed king of mo-cap), a descendant of the Unicorn's commander, to keep Sakharine from achieving his goal and find the treasure first, for which they'll have to brave storms at sea, plain crashes, scorching desert crossings and the excessively high pitched voice of the Milanese Nightingale, Bianca Castafiore. Meanwhile, back at home, bumbling inspectors Thomson and Thompson (Nick Frost and Simon Pegg) – no relation! – are out to catch a shrewd pickpocket. Tintin may be the hero of the piece, but it's Haddock, Snowy and the two policemen who deliver the best lines, funniest gags and most memorable characters overall, just as in the comics: compared to them, Tintin himself remains fairly dull overall. Anyone who has ever seen an Indiana Jones movie and kept thinking of Tintin will be pleased to know Spielberg has perfectly carried over the tone of his Indy films to this first Adventure of Tintin, which is also quite suitable for a younger audience (and should adequately warn kids against the dangers of rampant alcohol consumption). Producer Peter Jackson is supposed to direct the next installment, but working on The Hobbit trilogy has thus far kept him from doing so. Hopefully he will pick it up soon, since it would be a darn shame if there ended up being just a single Adventure of Tintin.

Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig

Directed by Steven Spielberg

USA/New Zealand: Colbumbia Pictures, 2011