Today's Triple News: Dawn of Superman's Odyssey

News! News! We got news here!:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156430/eerste_foto_superman_in_batman_v_superman

We already got a small tease of Ben Affleck's Batman (with Batmobile!) for DC's upcoming superhero extravaganza, now it's the Man of Steel's turn. Good timing, as fanboys were about done nitpicking over every conceivable little detail of that one released picture, so now they can drool over another one for a month or so. There's little to go on here though, as the only really bit of news it contains is that Superman (Henry Cavill again) will visit Gotham City. A likely event, considering the title Batman v Superman (Dawn of Justice, etc.). Of course, you can argue that Batman might have traveled to Metropolis (which he still may), but Superman is the once who's faster than a speeding bullet which allows him to travel the globe in the blink of an eye so it's easier (and proably less strainful on the budget) for him to do so. Otherwise, not that much of note here. The Superman costume has scarcely changed from the previous movie. Gotham looks a bit bleaker and more Gothic in appearance than it did in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, but that was to be expected, as this movie would turn more to the pages of the comics in an attempt to set itself apart stylistically from those exquisite films, as well as from the sunnier, brighter city of Metropolis with which it will share the screen. The big question this picture hints at first and foremost is one of a story nature: what is Superman doing in Gotham? Once again turning to the title (as there's little else to go on at present), the most in you-face answer is he'll be getting into fisticuffs with Batman. Next question then is, why will they fight? And that leads to more questions, and so on and so on. Which ensures fans will have plenty of material to debate until the next photo is released. Good thing too, as they still need to wait two more years for the definitive answers.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156416/stalingrad_regisseur_maakt_odyssee

Interesting director's choice in this politically tense day and age. Art adheres not to the borders of man, especially when loads of money are involved. Will it be good art though (if there even is such a thing)? Bondarchuk's epic love story Stalingrad met with rather mixed reviews, though its accoloades include highest grossing film in Russia and first non-American film shot in IMAX 3D, thanks to its impressive visual effects which thoroughly suit that format. So, strong box office results for prior work, innovative international use of technology and experience with big budget spectacle, coupled with a chance to win favours with the Russian industry, all come with Bondarchuk, which are enough reasons to sway studio executives to hire him. In terms of story, the Odyssey has proven itself to hold up for several milennia, so it can survive this latest attempt no doubt. As for the execution, the visual side seems secure as far as the budget allows. As for the character side, therein lies the greatest challenge. I would suggest casting a solid, capable actor in the title role (as the movie is called Odysseus), and his name is Sean Bean. His take on Odysseus was one of Troy's redeeming features and I would love to see some more of that. Then again, it might not be such a good idea for Bondarchuk to suggest his film is a sequel to Troy, which it's not intended to be. Even though I get the feeling that final product was right up his alley in terms of directorial execution, as it was maligned for much the same reasons Stalingrad was (except for the absence of Orlando Bloom's poor acting skills).

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I was already stoked for Dawn of the PotA (first few reviews are fortunately showered in praise!), so these three short films (collectively titled Before the Dawn) miss their mark in convincing me to go see a film I was already convinced to go see. Considering they are rather short on apes - silhouettes and sound effects is all we get - I don't think anybody watching them that didn't know another PotA film was coming feels the sudden urge to get in line for admission tickets. Their primary purpose seems to assure confused folks that missed the connection between both films have something to fall back on to enlighten them as what caused the abrupt and expansive change in status quo for both apes and humans. However, as is the case with any good viral marketing, this backstory can be missed when considering the movies proper. The information provided here serves as a decent background that does not need to be seen specifically to enjoy the motion picture experience. Nevertheless, they do add a little bit of sense and character to the rebooted Apes universe as a whole, even though the quality of these three films varies. The idea of staging the demise of human society over different time periods since the outbreak of the devastating simian flu plague is infective (obvious pun there, sorry). The first film is easily the weakest, just a quick piece intended to be emotionally charged but ending up rather dull. The second one spices things up considerably by comparison, showing just how seriously everyday life has changed in a brief timespan, while also introducing a new threat to the survivors that was absent from the first short but is of course what we'll all go and pay to see with most anticipation (apes, I mean). The third film, which is longer than the other two combined and therefore might be accused of having an unfair advantage to hook us in the most, is the most chilling, disturbing and dramatic of the trio. Which is a mean feat, considering it deals with an object more than it does with people, be they human or primates. It's a very imaginative and subtle yet effective way to show how much one side has deteriorated while another has risen, with both sides ending up in an existential state of balance. I doubt any of the characters introduced here, human or artificial, will end up playing a substantial role - more than a cameo, that is - in the upcoming theatrical movie proper, but they don't need to. Before the Dawn is just a neat and helpful bit of background story but if you don't know it's out there, it's not likely to diminish your viewing experiece of the movie it serves.

Dream TV Series

I still didn't get to watch any new movies (my vacation isn't over yet), so I got some time to think about any dream projects I'd really like to see get made some time, but this time I focused on television series. This is of course dangerous territory for me, since I only followed a brief course in Television Studies in my early college days and never pursued the topic further, opting instead for Film Studies (like most of my fellow students did). Though I enjoy a good TV show as much as the average bloke, I'm much more of a layman when it comes to the subject, but that doesn't stop me from having an opinion on it, like I have an opinion about... well, everything really. So here's a few ideas for TV shows I really hope get picked up by the right people and like to see realized as epically as they deserve.

Rome 2.0

Remember that fabulously well written, violently gritty and sexy, largely realistic TV series about the last days of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire HBO produced a few years back? Well, you should! It's still my favorite TV series, and it got very positive reactions from audiences and critics all over the globe (which is not related to it simply being my favorite TV series, I'm just a fan as basically all its viewers understandably became). Sadly, HBO considered the show so expensive (which really showed!), they pulled the plug prematurely, so while Rome was opted for five seasons, only two of them got made (and the second season, though still of great quality, did indeed feel a bit rushed). This decision was all about money, because regardless of the high production costs involved everybody loved it and kept on watching for all 22 episodes, so it wasn't the audience's fault. HBO exces later stated they regretted cancelling the show, which lead to talk about a Rome theatrical film. That project unfortunately still hasn't gotten to fruition, and I doubt it ever will at this point.

But why not just throw out the movie idea altogether and pick off where the show left us? In fact, why not explore ancient Rome before the start of the series too? What would really make me happy is a show chronicling the whole history of Rome, starting ab urbe condita in 753 B.C., and ending with the downfall of the Western Empire in 476 A.D., showing us all of the city's history, from King to Republic to Empire, all in the style and quality of the first Rome TV series. I hear you thinking, 'that's much too epic a project'. Yup, it is, which is why it's just a dream of mine. But it could be very good television, not to mention a very very very long series. There certainly seems to be an audience for it, judging from the success of films like Gladiator and shows like Spartacus: Blood and Sand (of course, the existence of such works would make certain periods of Roman history already familiar to audiences, but in this time of remakes, reboots and reimaginings, that hardly seems a relevant issue). And indeed, the glory of Rome itself, which went well before its time. Plus, now that Spartacus is coming to an end despite its continuous popularity, there seems to be a vacancy here...

Iliad and Odyssey

Speaking of glory, how come two of the most quintessential works of literature still haven't gotten the audiovisual treatment they deserve? Homer's Iliad, about the Trojan War, and Odyssey, about Odysseus' journey home, have both seen numerous adaptations, and very few of them did the original stories justice. As the movie Troy showed, any movie, even one with a running time of 196 minutes, would just be too short to tell the whole story properly. So why not a TV series instead, and indeed tell the whole story, including all the stuff later authors added to it: granted, some of the additions were uncalled for, while others became iconic, even near synonymous with Homer's work, like the Trojan Horse. 

A TV show could tell it all and wouldn't need to skip a thing, showing us stuff we never got to see in any adaptations so far, like Achilles fighting the Amazons, or the destruction of the Ithacan fleet by the Laistrygonian giants. Of course, this show too would be too long and too epic to ever be realistically produceable. But I'm sure that's what they said about A Song of Ice and Fire before, and look how well that turned out... HBO, I hope you're reading this!

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck

This seems like an odd choice, but those who have actually read these particular Uncle Scrooge comics by Keno Don Rosa, – undoubtedly the greatest Duck artist since Carl 'The Duck Man' Barks – will know better. The original twelve part comic book series reveals the full life story of the richest Duck in the world and how he got to be so stupendously wealthy, yet also so pitifully lonely. From his early days as a poor kid on the streets of Glasgow to his financial empire building in the first half of the 20^th Century, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck offers human drama at its best. In fact, you could even substitute the ducks for humans with no effect to the overall story. But why not stay true to the source material and use real Ducks? That is, animated of course. Computer animation, possibly even motion capture techniques similar to the recent The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, seems the best way to go here, bringing life to this particular avian convincingly enough to care for him as he relentlessly seeks riches to escape the utter poverty of his childhood days and restore the name of the once proud Clan McDuck, only to find getting rich comes with a price as he has to abandon the potential love of his life and his relationship with his direct family turns bitter, when he evolves from a once loving and caring boy to a hardened sourdough into a tired, battered old man with no friends or family, just a shitload of money.

This is not the Scrooge McDuck you think you know from the often embarrasingly childish Disney kiddy magazines, this is hardcore Duck lore filled with tragedy, woe and hard earned life lessons! Certain scenes still get me every time no matter how often I've read them, -Spoilers!-  like the way news of the tragic death of Scrooge's mother reaches him as he's chained to the steam pipes of a river boat by his archnemesis Slick who means to publicly humiliate him, only to witness Scrooge break into utter rage in pain over his loss and destroy the whole ship singlehandedly. As this scene illustrates, there's room for humour thrown in too at times, so it doesn't get too hard to watch. Plus, it's surprisingly historically accurate, as Scrooge meets actual historical characters (except they're 'black nosed' in the obligatory Disney fashion) and lives through some epic historical events, among them the Krakatau eruption in 1883 and the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. A TV miniseries could tell the story chapter by chapter, remaing true to Don Rosa's original art and losing very little in the translation. Remember the Young Indiana Jones TV series? Well, it's very much like that, but with Ducks. And it still beats it easily.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

And then there's this much beloved science fiction adventure story, which really ought to be remade properly (despite my love for the 1954 movie) before the recent silly plans to give Will Smith Nemo's captain's chair come true. You'd think a classic tale like this would have been given a decent treatment in the present age of CGI blockbuster remakes, but apparently it's not the case. Or worse, they could do to this Jules Verne story what they did to Journey to the Center of the Earth and Mysterious Island and turn it into some preposterous 3D action flick aimed primarily at kids and making money over their lack of developed taste. Or maybe, just maybe, they could treat it with honors and remain faithful to the original work (minus the rampant animal abuse of the nineteen-hundreds). 

A TV miniseries seems the most appropriate here, some 13 episodes of showcasing Professor Aronnax's adventures sous la mer as he and his friends set out in search of the sea monster which turns out to be a highly advanced submarine constructed and captained by a bitter man who has turned his back on humanity, choosing life under the sea instead. For some reason, I always envisioned Jeremy Irons in the role of Nemo, but I'm open to other (good) options. A miniseries set in the Victorian Era, chronicling the explorations of the deep seas, watching aquanauts battling giant squids and enjoying the occasional trips to cannibal infested tropical island paradises? Bring it on! But at least treat it seriously, and with some shred of decency, unlike the fate which befell some of Verne's other works recently...