Today's News: Fantastic rogue pirate quest

This week's news, first batch:

Nieuwe trailer Fantastic Four

Hardly a fantastic trailer. Of course many things are still under wraps, so it's by no means a fair representation of the final product, but it simply looks bland at this point. From what I gather, it's supposedly an adaptation of the first few volumes of Ultimate Fantastic Four, which did deserve the moniker more than most FF stories I've read. It just doesn't look nearly as elaborate, grandiose and colourful as the story told in those issues, but more like a darker, grittier take on the previous films. No giant portal to the N-Zone, no fabulous barren universe ravaged by an anti-life overlord, no Mole Man with his monster men annex mushroom manipulations. Just a fancy looking device reminiscent of Captain America's soldier serum chamber slinging our quartet to a retread of Thor's Dark World, and then they get their powers and fight Dr. Doom again and bladiblah. I'm also really skeptical about the casting. Each of these actors has proven themselves on their own, but I'm less comfortable seeing them as this small ensemble. I'm just not feeling the chemistry. I know this is the 21st Century and I shouldn't think in such reactionary terms, but I'm particularly ticked off by the political correctness of casting a coloured guy as Johnny Storm, just for the sake of representation. That wouldn't be so bad per se, if Storm didn't have a sister who has still remained white, thus needing to explain it all away as adopted family. At least they had the guts to make their father black, which isn't the usual order of things (which rather tends to see white people adopting kids of colour). Maybe I'm just biased towards this entire project because it's only been so recently since the previous iteration of the FF. Kinda like what happened to Spider-Man, and look at how that turned out: chaos and mishandling of the character, and an eventual return of sorts to the Marvel fold. If that's what in store for us with the Fantastic Four, I'd say just skip a few steps and let Marvel handle its First Family properly from the get-go.

Details Star Wars: Rogue One bekend

Sounds intriguing, but also marred by the same flaw that characterized the Prequel Trilogy: we already know the outcome. The mission was a success, the plans were stolen and the Death Star destroyed. Yay rebels, yay Rogues. However, it's not like every story of which we were familiar with the ending made for a dull film. Plenty of examples to prove the opposite, and who knows, Rogue One might be counted among them in the future. Not to mention, we get to enjoy the good ol' days of Imperial rule, when Darth Vader was still the exquisite bad guy we fell in love with in the first Star Wars film. Just no Jedi in this scenario, but that makes for a decent change of Force enhanced fisticuffs. I have no doubt a war movie type of flick set in that galaxy far, far away could make for a smashing picture. Didn't the grimy battles of Yavin and Hoth make for some of the finest moments in the classic trilogy? I'll admit I'm less keen on the opportunities offered (likely not so coincidentally) of a crossover between this film and the story of the new animated Disney show Star Wars Rebels, set roughly around the same time frame. If this is truly a standalone film, as we were promised, make sure it does indeed keep itself from tie-ins to other stories in different media, so the story doesn't become muddled with references to characters and plot lines we may not all have seen. Well, that's just the Disney way and we'll have to live with it, I suppose.

Eerste foto Johnny Depp in Pirates 5

Aaarrrhh! That's right, me mateys! Tie that pirate to th' mast and squeeze 'im of all 'is treasures! Ironic that Disney would debut this particular picture first, as it so blatantly expresses the philosophy of milking the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise dry for every piece of eight the audience has left. Johnny Depp sure looks gloomy reprising the role (though admittedly, he's in character here) and I'm sure some second thoughts must have sailed through his mind when he experienced that injury on set that kept him from filming for a month. From what we know about the plot of Dead Men Tell No Tales, it follows the set formula strictly. A new supernatural pirate threat is let loose, Captain Jack Sparrow must once more team up/deal with the treacherous Barbossa and navigate his crew of butch buccaneers through the dangerous waters of the High Seas and rum abuse on a quest for some legendary artifact to save their sorry skins. Apparently, Dean Men Tell No New Tales, they just regurgitate old ones. Oh heck, it's probably good for a laugh or two, and I doubt anyone thinks this is gonna be inspired stuff beforehand. Javier Bardem gets to play an evil pirate, that's something worth seeing on the big screen at least. But few will deny Sparrow's shenanigans are getting old.

Galaxy Quest wordt TV-serie

Somebody may have taken the motto 'Never give up, never surrender!' a bit too literally. Sure, Galaxy Quest was a great movie, but its story matter just doesn't seem applicable to a TV-show. It was a one-shot. A story about television veterans haunted by the popularity of that one cancelled TV show, finding the need and strength to embrace its legacy in defense of people in need of the help of their characters, and thus finally embracing the characters themselves. End of story. You can adapt that story into a miniseries for a limited number of episodes if needs be. But a regularly running multiple season show? I don't see that potential in this premise. Besides, it's a spoof of Star Trek. I would find it ironic to say the least a cancelled TV series would spawn a spoof series, almost fifity years after the fact. Though it does say something about the longevity of Star Trek as a popcultural phenomenon. But I can guarantee you, a Galaxy Quest series would suffer a similar fate as the original Trek series sooner rather than later. There's just so many jokes you can distill from Trek before people get it and warp on.

Today's News: Crimson pirate inferno

Slow week for news thus far:

Eerste trailer Crimson Peak

Looks... Del Toroesque. Lavish and baroque, but creepy and grotesque at the same time. Eerie, bbrrr. The plot thus far is not wholly clear, and for a teaser trailer like this it's more about the first impressions rather than the overall narrative. Del Toro usually makes a good first impression and he doesn't disappoint here. I got interested seeing this. Ever since the fantastic Pan's Labyrinth, Del Toro and horror feel like they belong together, especially if there's a good story involved. We've had our fair share of haunted houses in movies over the last decade, most of them pretty dismal (not to mention the horror spoofs hurting the subgenre even more), but with a good director and cast involved, another one surely will do more good than harm. Visually at least this will do the trick; as for the story, ask me again when I actually comprehend what the hell is going on. Which probably won't me until I've seen it for myself.

Cast onthuld voor Dan Browns Inferno

So they're making another one of these puzzle flicks, eh? Shouldn't bother on my account. So far both Dan Brown adaptations for film didn't win me over. I heard the books were good (though that's probably the hype talking), but I never bothered to read them. I'm not about to start now. I love a good mystery, but not if it's wasted on a Hollywood semi-spectacle. I doubt Inferno will be much different from its pair of predecessors, but at least the cast looks interesting, mostly because of its diversity. You've only got five names and you're already spanning three continents (and two of these names co-star in Jurassic World, so that piques my interest to some extent). Good names too, notwithstanding the Hollywood stardom of Hanks. That at least will count for something, if at least they are put to good use. But judging from the previous installments, they probably get lost amidst all the puzzling somewhere.

Plot Pirates of the Caribbean 5 onthuld

In this film's case, the plot is more likely to get lost amidst all the actors. Not that it matters much, since it sounds as formulaic a story as they come, not particularly different from that of the previous Pirates of the Caribbean flicks. You've got your basic pirate threat endangering our pirate protagonists, there's a mystical artefact that can prevent their demise so they set on a course for said object, there's a few love birds ensuring a romantic note that doesn't actually involve the pirate protagonists and there's various random jokes, gags and witty rebuttals shared between the pirate protagonists themselves. Though I'm getting kinda tired of Depp's Jack Sparrow, I'm happy to see Rush is still returning as Barbossa, who I deem to be a superior character. As for the rest of them, sure I'm happy to see a grand actor cast as the new ultimate baddie, but that doesn't mean it'll save the movie from sinking from a narrative perspective. Ian McShane made a great Blackbeard, but On Stranger Tides sure wasn't a great movie. I hope Dead Men Tell No Tales proves different, but I severely doubt it. Apparently, PotC Movies Tell the Same Tales, every time.

Today's News: more comes every day

The latter half of the week certainly picked up some speed:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/158720/remake_the_blob_vindt_regisseur

I'm not surprised this cult classic is getting another remake. The premise is just too much fun to ignore for more than a generation. Extraterrestrial ball of ooze wreaks havoc on Earth by devouring the population and growing ever larger: what's not to like? Of course, the Blob will only be as convincing as its FX and I doubt CGI will look as neat and realistic as the subject matter warrants. It sounds like the director just doesn't want to get his hands dirty on practical effects (and I reckon they would get very dirty indeed with the type of practical effects needed for a film like this). So as happens too often these days, computers prove to be the easy way out, but not the fun way. However, doing the Blob digitally this time around does set it clearly apart from its predecessors, making it a clear example of the zeitgeist, as befits the franchise. The 1958 version showed primitive practical effects and a lot of, by present day standards, redundant teen culture manifestations to woo the babyboomers to embrace the film (which they did). The darker Eighties' film showed quite a progression in terms of effects, but ideologically speaking it was a rather cynical film in which the government was even more sinister than the titular entity itself and a juvenile delinquent had to defeat the thing instead. Also, gore galore. And now comes the latest version, which has a Blob all CGI. Proof of the times indeed. It'll be interesting to see how it portrays humans though.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/158680/amazon_wil_films_produceren

Of course Amazon wants to get in on the movie business. All of its competitors are starting to go down that route after all. It was just a question of when rather than if. Not surprisingly, this announcement doesn't follow long after Netflix spread the word it's doing the same thing. Amazon however, is still primarily known as a web store rather than a producer of television shows. Its name hasn't been established as strongly in terms of audiovisual production yet. That's likely also the basis for the decision to keep the movie industry happy by not offering their productions up for streaming simultaneously as releasing them in theaters, a convention Netflix was all too eager to break. Of course, audiences won't mind either way as long as the product proves to be appealing. Netflix does beat Amazon too in that regard, for the moment, thanks to making deals with the likes of Marvel. As for the future, we will see. It's too bad the Amazon execs haven't yet specified any of these upcoming movie projects of theirs, I would have loved to know what they're concocting for our pleasure. That is, if they've indeed already started production, rather than just making the announcement they will soon. If they're too release a dozen movies in the next two years, they better get started.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/158704/world_war_z_2_in_de_maak

'Starting with a clean slate' sure sounds like a great idea for this sequel. The previous slate didn't resemble the source material much, and that proved a damn shame, as the original was not only shockingly different but also vastly more ingenious and innovative and made the movie feel dull and predictable by the inevitable comparison. Hopefully the writers take a closer look at Max Brooks' novel this time around. Which begs to ask the question whether that book could ever be translated to the big screen in a satisfactory way. Given the format it's written in, a two-hour movie just doesn't feel the right way to go. A TV (mini)series might allow for a closer adaptation, but the fragmentary, semi-documentary style the book dabbles in also doesn't seem too well suited for that either. There's simply too many stories and characters to make for a clear red line through it all. The only thing they all have in common is the interviewer gathering these distinct narratives and the living dead that star in them. Perhaps a series of webisodes would make for the best way to adapt these stories, but that's not a format that many audiences are too comfortable with, nor is it often used in a way to make the major bucks the studio is hoping for (which the movie did, despite its dissimilarities to the book). Oh well, whatever form it'll take, we'll always have the novel if things go south.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/158734/ejiofor_gewild_voor_doctor_strange

Another talented, Academy Award nominated actor sought by Marvel to join its ranks. As to who he's playing, that's indeed the million dollar question. It certainly won't be Strange's loyal servant Wong. Aside from the fact that casting a minority in a role that traditionally was reserved for another minority is a route that many might deem offensive (and possibly rightfully so), it seems a waste of his abilities as an actor. Besides, this guy just spent Twelve Years playing a Slave, I doubt he's looking for another servantile role (though that would certainly be the stuff of irony). And now that his (rather exotic and easy to mispronounce) name is finally getting the attention it deserves in the industry, something more intriguing and major is needed to win Ejiofor over. So he's either going to play the adversary or the mentor to the protagonist, for sure. My money is on the former, also because I want to see him as a bad guy again, since he did so well playing one in Serenity (the creepy and ideologically singleminded Operative, remember?). I have no doubt his acting talents would be well suited in either capacity though.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/158739/scodelario_gecast_in_pirates_5

I'm less interested in this bit of casting. Scodelario sure is a pretty girl and may have some decent acting capabilities under her belt (though not much of it was apparent in The Maze Runner), but it seems she's cast as just another generic love interest, kinda similar to Keira Knightley in the first Pirates of the Caribbean. We really don't keep watching these movies for those types of supporting actors, but for the catchy shenanigans of master actors Depp and Rush. It's Barbossa and Sparrow that the vast majority of the audience loves best, and that's not likely to change (though after four movies, their staying power is undeniably tested). Whatever scene from any of the previous Pirates movies first comes to your mind, it's surely not one starring Knightley and Bloom, I bet. Of course, that doesn't mean the studio should release a movie starring just the two ever disagreeable Captains (though I cannot help but wonder as to the result). New characters are obligatory to keep things (at least feeling) fresh. But it's the zany, outrageous pirate characters that make for the most memorable performances, not the bland star crossed lovers in the background. Scodelario is likely to do a decent job, but as for new characters, it's Javier Bardem playing the new pirate baddie that sounds most intriguing. Aarrrrr!!