Today's News: thus, 2014 is concluded

The last bits of news for 2014 are in. Expect the flow of news to pick up once 2015 has entered our lives.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/158447/nieuwe_trailer_michiel_de_ruyter

Looks like it aspires to be quite the cinematic spectacle. But will it be? I have severe doubts. The theatrically forced acting that has ever plagued the Dutch school of actors sure doesn't lend itself to this sort of film. The dialogue just feels as wooden as the ships the main characters are sailing on. Also, the FX are not on par with their British and American counterparts. They just don't seem real, but have an awkward level of artificiality to them. At the same time they recall a sense of stylized unreality, reminiscent of the paintings of the Dutch Golden Age, but I think that's just a result of the limitations of the budget rather than a conscious choice on the director's part. And speaking of director Roel Reiné, at least his acquantaince with helming action movies on a limited budget (though not with the finer entries of the genre, considering titles as Death Race 2 and 3 and The Scorpion King 3)) seems suited for the big battles taking place in the film. So far the same can't be said for his directing actors, which is not a good thing considering the stellar cast of this epic. At least they got Tywin Lannister Charles Dance in there, who can act his way out of any scrape. Hopefully the Dutch actors will take a note or two from him. I hope there is a national audience for this picture, even though there certainly didn't seem to be for a very similarly themed movie like Kenau, which flopped only last year. Like Michiel de Ruyter, it was released off-season, which makes me question why this expensive historical epic underwent the same fate. January just isn't a good time to release big productions like this one. I want to be enthusiastic about this movie, as I love historical drama and this particular period hasn't been covered as thoroughly as it should have, but so far my scepticism rules supreme.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/158450/eerste_teaser_penny_dreadful_seizoen_2

I'm much more excited about this one though. The Brits get better production values and acting on the small screen out of a lower budget (per minute, that is) than the Dutch do in theaters. The first season of Penny Dreadful proved a delightfully eerie and subversive portrayal of the rich Victorian age and a fabulous new conceptualization of famous literary characters. Even though the pairing of the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and Dorian Gray at first sounded like a poor repetition of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, this series proved a far superior narrative. So far at least, as the story is far from finished yet and they can still muck it up in many ways. Whether that will be the case is not something you can determine from this teaser, which shows far too little of the upcoming plot progression (dammit!). In fact, it hardly shows anything we didn't know already. Of course, that's the usual stuff of teasers, creating awareness with showing as little footage as possible, to make people hungry for the trailer, which in itself makes them want to watch the series itself. Considering I was already aching for more when the credits of Season 1's final episode rolled, the teaser's job was already done.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/158479/nieuwe_trailer_everly_

This trailer, however, fails to get me excited for the final product. It feels like I have seen the whole film already. Of course, this fault is a result of the limitations of the movie's plot, as it doesn't seem to have much of that at all. Mobster boss' ex gets locked in her apartment and must fight off numerous assassins to stay alive, that's basically all she wrote. Unless there's some major plot twists at play that are not revealed in this trailer, this is one of those films you watch only for the action. It takes a pretty accomplished action director to get the most out of a small set like this though, and if the trailer is any indication, Everly's director may not be up to the task. I don't see any particularly innovative cinematography or editing here, just bland shots of people taking bullets. Nor are the characters colourful enough to keep the attention fixed. This film feels like a far cry from a similar vehicle like The Raid, though clearly inspired by that recent superior action film. Hopefully the trailer proves a misdirect and the final film has more to offer than suggested here, otherwise Everly might soon end up in the same bargain bin as Death Race 3 or The Scorpion King 3.

Today's News, and plenty of it

Time restraints prohibited me to repost some of my news items for MS on this blog, so today there's more than usual:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/155538/mole_man_gecast_voor_fantastic_four_reboot

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/155565/eerste_trailer_star_wars_rebels

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/155587/frank_lammers_speelt_michiel_de_ruyter

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/155616/spring_breakers_2_aangekondigd

Let's just start with the oldest bit of novelty and work our way to the latest, shall we?

Hopefully Nelson will fare better in this Marvel movie than he did in the last, where we only witnessed the beginning of his rise to supervillainy, but were withheld the result. Apparently Fox has bigger events in store for the seasoned character actor this time, already outing him as the Mole Man-to-be, though underscoring he won't be used as such in the first upcoming installment in the FF's reboot franchise. After all, Dr. Doom is slated to take centre stage as the primary antagonist for that film, as it ought to be, as he's the Fantastic Four's most appreciated and recognizable foe. The Mole Man is indeed a decent baddie for a later film, and since a second movie has already been announced, it's likely that's where we will first see Nelson assuming the mantle of the dimunitive underground monarch. Nelson is a bit taller than we're used to seeing the Mole Man, so either the studio fits the character to the actor - which may not be such a bad idea as an evil midget is the stuff of both political incorrectness and silliness - or Nelson will undergo a bit of a CG transformation to make his appearance adhere more to what the comic book fans will most likely expect.

As for computer generated imagery, Star Wars has had lots of it over the last fifteen years, but nowhere near as much as on the small screen in various animated shows. This fall, a new one will be added to the Disney XD channel, called Star Wars Rebels (no colon). This first brief trailer adequately shows it's from the same creators as The Clone Wars series, and as such the franchise stays consistent in terms of animation style on telly. However, this is the first Disney produced Star Wars show, and a dreaded feeling of childishness cannot be denied upon viewing the promo above. Bumbling droids and cheesy oneliners have been a staple of the franchise since its inception, though more frequent in use since the prequel trilogy. It seems Disney has no trouble continuing this trend to appeal to kids, though older audiences may not find it as agreeable. Of course, most adults were largely done with any new Star Wars material after Episode III, and those that remain hopeful of improvement will no doubt focus all of their attention on the next true event, the release of Star Wars Episode VII. Until such time, Rebels is as good a way as any to ensure Disney keeps its publicity running and guarantee the current generation gets indoctrinated into Star Wars, so they can be influenced to run to toy stores and buy every conceivable tie-in merchandise items Disney has licensed. And if Episode VII proves any good, the older generation will no doubt do likewise.

I wasn't aware a movie about the life and times of Michiel de Ruyter was in production, but as he's one of the most iconic Dutch historical heroes around, it had to happen sooner or later. Historical epics that tell of other chapters of Dutch history than the events in WW II have been kind of a trend since the successful Nova Zembla, though for every hit there is a painful flop to remind us of the challenge. Remember Kenau? Most likely you don't. Considering the abundance of naval battles De Ruyter fought, the producers have their job cut out for them keeping the budget in line. Which is no doubt why they had to let Yorick van Wageningen go. He was the perfect choice in my mind, but even the finest piece of casting is only a small piece of the whole the budget allows for. Frank Lammers is a fine second choice: he's fairly well known to Dutch audiences but hasn't had a breakthrough internationally, making him more affordable than Van Wageningen who has co-starred in various big Hollywood productions. Plus, Lammers has proven himself to be a capable, reliable actor, and not just for his role on Nachtrit for which he won a Gouden Kalf. If he can fight his way through taxi wars, naval battles should be an easy labor for him.

A sequel to Spring Breakers? That's the attraction of the less artsy elements of that particular movie, tits and ass and young Hollywood starlets, speaking. Those are no doubt the ingredients that drew in the majority of the audience for the first film. Nevermind the director's weird and hallucinatory montage and lighting, the dreamy visual quality and the simple plot of sex and violence, crime and drugs relaying the greatest imaginable culmination and therein the demise of the American Dream. Mr. Korine told his tale and presented his warning of lust and doom, and that suffices for him (apparently, as he's not inclined to participate in this sequel). Not so for the studio, who is now pressing for a second movie containing more of the same. Which is not to say there's not more to state on the subjects Korine discussed. Religion is certainly a subject that would fit in easily in a tale of Sodom and Gomorrah like this one. In fact, it was already lightly touched upon in the predecessor via one of the female protagonists who disappeared early on in the film (and for the better no doubt). There's more controversy to tackle in that department, plus a potential to bring back that character. Whether or not the studio cares about these possible ideological overtones or not, a Spring Breakers 2 could work. But considering most audiences thought of the first film as a disappointment (most of them probably just didn't get its intentions, even though this sounds horribly elitist of me to say), is there any public interest in a second coming? Then again, sex always sells. Isn't there another batch of former Disney starlets ready to exploit?