All quiet on the computer front, but at least we'll always have Dinklage

It's outrageous but unfortunately all too true: after two months of waiting for my PC to be returned to me, it arrived... with no Windows installed. The one thing I asked them to do they failed to perform. My trust in Dynabyte has shattered completely. Though I left my PC at the store once more so they can work on it, I'm now entirely set on buying a new one completely just to rid myself of having to get involved in further mind-boggling incompetence like this. I haven't fully decided yet whether I'm gonna go for a PC again or just switch to Apple like so many around me have done (and they seem like happier people). Time will tell, but hopefully I'll get back online within days.

In the mean time, I still get the chance every now and then of getting a scoop up at MovieScene. This week's scoop is double news around the same movie, which is once again named X-Men: Days of Future Past:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/144601/peter_dinklage_gecast_in_x-men:_days_of_future_past_in_3d


First of all, there's little to comment on the 3D release. It was a long time coming. The X-franchise is a major one, especially now that Fox is gonna compete with Disney/Marvel with its own corner of the Marvel Universe aligning (Fantastic Four/X-Men team-ups seem inevitable for the not too distant future). And with a big name like this, the studio harbors big expectations for making money; 3D is of course a major tool for just that purpose. So the fact it will be a 3D-release is not surprising at all. However, the news that it's gonna be shot in the 3D-format is. This is still a very expensive procedure and most often studios prefer to rely on post-conversions, even though this usually spawns less impressive result and both studios and audiences know it. I guess Fox is trying to upstage The Avengers here, which was post-converted but still did extremely well at the box office. No doubt Disney/Marvel will soon turn to shooting in 3D too. No bad news (if you have any affinity for 3D at all), since it should make for a more refined and good looking 3D presentation.



And then there's Peter Dinklage, short of stature, high on acting skills. This week Bryan Singer confirmed he has been added to the cast, but his role remains a mystery. At first it was widely speculated he was gonna play Puck, a short, old friend of Wolverine's from the Canadian super hero team Alpha Flight, since he does seem most suited for that role to anybody but fools and little people themselves. This has already been debunked and probably for the best, since Puck isn't a very interesting character, which goes for most of Alpha Flight. His presence might have been a good first step towards an Alpha Flight movie, but I doubt anybody is really waiting for that to happen. That does leave the question, who's Dinky gonna play? Enter digital technology, which for one thing allowed him to voice a giant prehistoric gorilla pirate in Ice Age 4, indicating the sky is the limit. Though it has been confirmed by now Dinklage will play a villain, that still leaves us with little to go on, considering the vast numbers of X-villains of all shapes and sizes. Mr. Sinister? Nimrod? Mojo? Perhaps even Apocalypse? We just have no way of telling, since the digital age coupled with grand acting abilities like Pete's can deliver to fancifully re-create any X-baddie from the comics for the big screen... Whoever it's gonna end up being, as long as Tyrion Lannister Dinklage is on board, it seems little can go wrong (get it?). The Days of Future Past seem ever brighter. For the audience, not for muties.

Yesterday's news but still recent news: more Star Wars shenanigans

Should have posted this earlier here, since I posted it on MovieScene a few days back. Once again, it's all about Star Wars, but you can expect this to be the case for many a news posting posted both here and on MovieScene in the next few... years.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/144352/disney_bevestigt_star_wars_solo_films

This news has already been updated since, sort of. Strong rumours have confirmed many suspicions fans had, as it seems these films will now be based around the characters of Boba Fett and a younger Han Solo. Yoda has also been mentioned a lot, but stories of his involvement are still baseless. In Yoda's case, a solo film would be pointless. Yoda is not a good character on his one, he only works well playing off of other beloved characters. Dialogue like this a movie containing, stand few people could.

I also have severe doubts about a Han solo film (see what I did there? Very clever and original!). Everybody's most beloved scoundrel has never had that much of an interesting background before the events of Episode IV, at least according to the canonized parts of the expanded universe which are now thought to be up for decanonization. Basically Solo enlisted in the Imperial forces but felt disheartened by the Empire's brutality. When he witnessed a helpless Wookiee being victimized he intervened at the ruin of his Imperial career, forcing him to quit the Empire and starting his renegade career as a smuggler, with the Wookiee (Chewie of course, like you didn't know) as his trusty companion. It's not impossible to build a movie around this all too brief synopsis, but considering we already know how it's gonna turn out it won't be able to deliver that much surprises. Then again, so far the same can be said for half of the six existing Star Wars films... Toughest part of course is finding a talented younger actor capable of living up to Harrison Ford. Fat chance. Might as well go digital and have Ford supply the voice work. It's the Lucas way, isn't it?



Then there's Boba Fett. Now this is intriguing, and then some! Fett's origins have of course been explored in Attack of the Clones, something a lot of fans won't really care to remember. Still, there's a lot to be told regarding the events of his life between Episode II and his very brief cameo in Episode IV, up to his "real" first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Since he actually had little screen time at all in both Episodes V and VI, it's a miracle he has found such a devoted and large fan following at all. But face it, he's an enigmatic interplanetary bounty hunter with his own ship and an awesome arsenal of weaponry and gadgets at his disposal working his way through many hives of scum and villainy, plus he wears a bucket over his head at all times. What's not to like?! Aside from his background as an unaltered clone of his "father" Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison), we learn next to nothing about him and his motivations from watching the Star Wars films proper. However, his role in the expanded universe is vast: there are as many stories in hugely diverse media revolving around him as there are about Luke Skywalker, and most of them are much better. And that's despite his supposed death in Return of the Jedi. He's like the one character George Lucas can't kill, no matter how bad he screws him up (and believe me, Lucas has tried: his most annoying change to the character being the alteration of his original raspy, eerie voice to Morrison's irritating Kiwi accent). Even Lucas himself admitted he would never have killed him off if he had known the character would become that popular. That's basically saying he survived after all, even if we didn't see it happen. Apparently it takes more than a giant mouth armed with big teeth and slimy tentacles in the middle of the desert to take down the galaxy's most notorious battle hardened bounty hunter. The most exciting rumours going around about this project is it might be based off Shadows of the Empire, something I have been hoping for for quite some time. So bring on that film of his! This is the Star Wars film we're looking for, Mr. Mouse!

The End of the Beginning

Today (actually yesterday, but I was busy watching Zero Dark Thirty then) marks the first anniversary of this, my blog. It's been a long year and I've produced well over 200 posts (some of them only a few sentences long, others a whopping 2000+ words in length), marred only by the absence of my computer in the last few months (which sadly continues to this day), keeping me from posting as much as I would have liked. It seems things can only improve in that regard for the next year. Here's to many more reviews, articles, news posts and other stuff to follow!




Speaking of news, I posted this little bit of it on MovieScene the other day:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/144234/fast_&_furious_6_super_bowl_trailer_en_poster

Though I've never been a big F&F fan - in fact, I've only seen Fast Five because it was in my Christmas Gift two years ago - I enjoyed the fifth installment of the franchise for what it was, fast paced, slick, adrenaline driven action entertainment. I did get the feeling it reached a rather conclusive end, but such is never the case in Hollywood unless there really isn't any money left to make out of the franchise. And since Fast Five was a commercial success (and just a damn fun movie), Fast Six (simply titled Fast and Furious 6) was a given. I might actually end up seeing this one in theaters.

And on a side note, I won the puzzle in the previous issue of Pathé Spotlight, and so I returned home from work last night with a Beautiful Creatures IPhone case (now for the gadget itself...), a Hobbit t-shirt that barely fits me and an exquisite Prometheus ceramic mug in its original box. Gotta love it when you got no competition on such puzzles!

Today's News: Old Star Wars must make way for the new

Just posted this on MovieScene:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/144110/3d-release_star_wars_ii_en_iii_uitgesteld

So the original planning to re-release both trilogies in 3D already was messy, quickly deviating from the one-film-a-year concept, but now because of J.J. 'Rape Trek' Abrams it's on hold indefinitely. In the case of Episodes II and III that's not a total disaster, though I was very curious as to just how much improvement Attack of the Clones showed over its lackluster 3D performance of its already poor predecessor. But it's a bitch to know the original trilogy won't hit the screens again for many years, in 3D or otherwise, in favor of Abrams' upcoming Episode VII. Granted, J.J. has been known to be an avid Star Wars fanboy (something he never claimed about Trek, which showed a little bit too obviously in 2009 for my taste), which showed in his abysmal Star Trek Episode I (it truly had everything its Star Wars counterpart featured, from an annoying alien sidekick meant for comic relief (and failing) to an overly digital 'there's always a bigger fish' scene taking chunks out of the FX budget over spending it on better writing). Big FX and grand spectacle are obviously what J.J. wants in his space operas, and Star Wars is historically the franchise that has done it best so the guy might be in the right place for once. If not, he'll destroy yet another much beloved Sci-Fi franchise and everyone will let him, standing by idly while I cry my eyes dry and beg for divine intervention (but I'm an atheist so such powers are not bestowed upon me). I had hoped his turn to the Dark Side would mean he'd leave Trek alone for now (or maybe even give it to somebody who actually cares!). Fat chance. He says he thinks he can manage both. Greedy bastard...




Oh well, no classic Star Wars in 3D. I'm sure it'll happen eventually down the road, but for now we'll have to make due with the home cinema and remember the 3D fail that was The Phantom Menace. At least that means Lucas won't secretly slip in some more pointless alterations to bug the legions of fanboys (it really was his only reason in the most recent case, blinking Ewoks and all).

In Memoriam: Draco

Today is January 30. Exactly one year ago today, my beloved cat Draco was put to sleep because of an untreatable liver illness. She was only eight years old and spent most of that time in my company. It's safe to say she wouldn't want it any other way, since she had a hard time getting along with anybody else, be it cat or human, but me. This of course was the reason she moved in with me and we had a great, though in hindsight all too short, few years together before her health turned ill. After two months of increasing suffering, my mother eventually decided to end her misery while I was away. Unfortunately this meant I was not there at her end, a fact I will regret forever. I took her death pretty hard and will always be feeling sad at this particular date. However, Draco's demise led me to the creation of this blog to help me put my mind to other things than her absence. Death can apparently lead to constructive creativity.

Thanks for the fond memories, dear cat. And thanks for those four great sons of yours that continue to be a blast to hang around with, even though none of them live at my place.

Today's News, and HFR

Posted this little bit of news on MovieScene the other day, so of course it was bound to appear here as well. Note: it got edited, and the glaring spelling error in Jim Carrey's name is not mine:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/143774/foto_jim_carrey_in_kick-ass_2




Yup, that's right: Jim Carrey is playing a character (named Colonel Stars and Stripes, an obvious reference to the renowned super-patriot Captain America) in Kick-Ass 2. And why not? He's no stranger to comicbook movies, having done Batman Forever and The Mask in the past. With such a track record, you can of course doubt he's a stranger to good comicbook movies, but for now I have full faith in Kick-Ass 2, considering all the old favorites (minus Nicolas Cage's character Big Daddy) are back with a vengeance. There's just little than can go wrong with this movie, which is still being based around a fairly simple premise: ordinary people take to the streets in silly costumes and beat up bad guys. Or so they think. It worked fine the last time around. Naturally there is the danger of the film feeling redundant due to repetition, or the presence of a new director (Jeff Wadlow) who has yet to fully prove his competence in the chair, but so far no really awkward news has reached my ears about this project (except maybe for Matthew Vaughn not returning as director, but at least he will still produce). Judging from this single picture (which is much too little to make a truly based judgment about the whole film) Kick-Ass 2 is simply continuing what Kick-Ass started, meaning we'll get more wacky characters in doubtful mental conditions fighting crime in overly outrageous and no doubt excessively violent manner. Plus more Hit Girl. What's not to like?!

I also, finally, got to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in IMAX 3D HFR, now that the Christmas break has ended and there's finally some showings of the film that are not sold out. Of course I had already seen the movie in the regular 3D version - which I mentioned before was fucking awesome, an opinion I'll stick by - so I got to focus a bit more on the technology behind the film's projection than on the actual movie itself. I must say, HFR is not as bad as I feared it would be. I had already had a few sneak peeks through the projection booth's windows, at which point I was not wearing glasses so it looked absolutely hideous, due to the motion of the camera and characters which seemed cranked up a little too much, making it feel unnatural. As it turns out, HFR is indeed a tool in service of 3D projection. The image looks a lot more quieted down and smooth when wearing the necessary glasses, and it's indeed tremendously sharp to behold. There was only a handful of scenes, mostly concerning fast paced action or close-ups of characters's hands and objects, where you were made aware the film was indeed shot at 48 frames per second, and in those few instances it did indeed momentarily make the projection technology draw attention to itself: this had to be expected, since all the fuss about HFR should warrant the occasional feeling of a different viewing experience, positive or negative.

The sharpness of the imagery does make the job of the visual FX teams creating the movie's vast array of digital effects more difficult. Digital effects stand out more in 48fps, being exposed for the pixels they are. It was clear the FX teams worked overtimes to make their computer generated wizardry appear photorealistic, and for the most part, they succeeded. Gollum was the absolute highlight, looking about as real as he could ever hope to get and, also thanks to Andy Serkis' input of course, giving a totally compelling performance. That said, several shots of charging Wargs and vicious Goblins looked less convincing, but never truly bad. It's clear movies that will be shot in HFR better have the budget to make their VFX look good, since if they fail in this regard, lousy digital imagery will destroy the spectator's viewing experience by exposing the cinematic trickery for what it is.



The question now of course remains: where does HFR go from here? So far the reception of Peter Jackson's new preferred way of shooting a movie has been lukewarm in Hollywood. Which is not surprising, since basically HFR at this point is a gimmick in a gimmick: it looks good in 3D, but has yet to prove visually pleasing in the regular 2D-format, which is still (fortunately) the dominant way of film projection. Though James Cameron has expressed interest in the technology, it'll be years before we see HFR applied to other movies than the upcoming pair of Hobbit sequels. And if the recent evolution of the current 3D-format is any indication, greedy producers hoping to cash in on the phenomenon's hype will quickly apply a cheaper type of HFR to things like low budget horror movies, all too easily satiating the market and ruining HFR's name in the process by not convincing the audience of the need for the format. It can of course be argued there is no particular need for HFR at all. After all, the regular 3D version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey already was fully engaging as a marvelously pleasing visual presentation, and few audience members complained about image blurring during action sequences. Mostly, viewers were too busy focusing on the movie itself, the story, the characters, the things that still remain, and for that matter will always remain, the most important ingredients for making a good film. At least Peter Jackson still understood that part of moviemaking too.

Oscars 2013: Where's Jagten and what's with the love for Amour?

Still being a worm in my mother's Apple. Hopefully this ghastly situation won't last much longer and I can finally go about making good on my noble intentions for the year and update my blog like three times a week instead of three times a month. Still not happening though, but at least I'm now taking the time to have a go at the Oscar nominees, before the Academy Awards for 2012 have happened.

Ah, the Oscars. That awful Academy Award ceremony where a bunch of feeble-minded rigid  Hollywood conservatives decide what movies of the year are the best, after which the rest of us movie buffs all just have to live with their at times nonsensical, but equally often utterly predictable choices. There's a lot of good movies competing this year, but there's also a few illogical nominations going around: someone please explain to me why a non-English spoken movie like Amour is up for no less than five (!) awards. Like last year, here are my own thoughts as to which movies will win what award, with a back-up choice for each category.




-Best Picture: Zero Dark Thirty. Despite its controversy, Kathryn Bigelow remains a favorite at the Oscars. Being similar in nature to The Hurt Locker, which also won Best Picture, this is a likely choice.
-Second choice: Amour. There's much ado about this movie, it might as well be the first fully French spoken movie to run away with Best Picture.

-Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix for The Master.
-Second choice: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln. It's D. D.-L., he wins every time. Why should this time be any different?

-Best Actress: Emanuelle Riva for Amour. Very demanding role, played completely believable and totally compelling.
-Second choice: Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty.

-Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master. After all, he's The Master.
-Second choice: Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln.

-Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables. She can act, she can sing, she can starve herself to appear for real. So she can win.
-Second choice: Amy Adams for The Master.

-Best Director: Michael Haneke for Amour.
-Second choice: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook.

-Best Screenplay: Zero Dark Thirty.
-Second choice: Moonrise Kingdom.

-Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo.
-Second choice: Silver Linings Playbook.

-Best Cinematography: Life of Pi. Shows you just how much you can do with a boy, a tiger, a boat and a camera. In 3D no less.
-Second choice: Django Unchained.

-Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina. Keira Knightley + Costumes = Oscar. Wouldn't be the first time.
-Second choice: Lincoln.

-Best Sound Mixing: Lincoln.
-Second choice: Les Miserables.

-Best Editing: Zero Dark Thirty.
-Second Choice: Life of Pi.

-Best Sound Editing: Django Unchained.
-Second choice: Skyfall.

-Best Visual Effects: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
-Second choice: The Avengers.

-Best Makeup: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
-Second choice: Hitchcock.

-Best Original Song: Skyfall. Really catchy. I reckon the guys at the Oscars can't get it out of their heads either. So let's face it all together. At Skyfaaa-hahahall.
-Second choice: Les Miserables.

-Best Music: Lincoln.
-Second Choice: Life of Pi.

-Best Foreign Film: Amour. Foreign, but still a lot of love for this one so also might win Best Picture. Typical insane Hollywood hypocrisy.
-Second choice: En Kongelig Affaere. Mads Mikkelsen is in this. Speaking of which, where is Jagten in all this?! Shenanigans says I!

-Best Animated Feature: Frankenweenie. Lousy year for computer animated films, but excellent for stop motion, and this one was the best.
-Second choice: The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Frankenweenie was the best, but this one was the most fun. Pirate Award here, please!

-Best Production Design: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Middle-Earth still looks spectacular. The opening scene alone, delving deeply into Dwarf history, was Oscar-worthy.
-Second choice: Lincoln.


I'm confident I got at least ten of these right. Time will tell. Hopefully my PC will be back to normal by the time the Oscars are handed out so I can report on my triumph/failure in predicting these sodding prices everybody is always so full about but nobody could really care less for.