[ current selection | aromabar – africa for eu ]
[ feelin’ | cold ]

back to my cin3matic world…where the only things you worry about are the giant mechanoid robots with flame-thrower arms and cheap sound effects. hpana posted an article from usa today that not only featured an image gallery of new pictures from the upcoming prisoner of azkaban, but also talks about some of the differences between the third movie and the first two. not only is the tone of the movie obviously more dark, but director cuaron also highlighted some of the more subtle changes, such as harry and company growing into teenagers, becoming more aggressive, and finally getting out of those stodgy school uniforms and robes (i thought they rocked). harry gets much moodier, ron becomes taller than everybody else (ok, thats more rupert grint than ron weasley), and hermione lays a smackdown on malfoy. word…premiere already.

sky captain
in other news, the new one-sheets for the upcoming sky captain and the world of tomorrow were just posted on ign today. they each feature one of three characters from the movie…polly perkins (gwyneth paltrow), sky captain (jude law), and franky cook (angelina jolie)…and they look pretty coo. for those who arent familiar with the plot, theres a nice summary in the ign article…anything i write will (and did) look like i just copied it from them. feh. the movie also stars bai ling in a small role and giovanni ribisi as sky captains gadget buddy dex. cant wait for this one to come out in june…

> usa today prisoner of azkaban article (via hpana)
> azkaban gallery (via usa today)
> sky captain posters (via ign)
> older post for the sky captain teaser

aicn posted a coo interview with michel gondry today. mr. beaks of aicn had a chance to speak with gondry a few weeks ago following the premiere of eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. they discussed, among other things, gondry and kaufmans past (failed) movie human nature, the low-tech effects for eternal sunshine, gondrys philosophical musings, and being eternally 12. for anyone whos ever seen gondrys videos for the foo fighters everlong, bjorks isobel, or cibo matto’s sugar water, then youre probably already aware of gondrys interest in dreams and the surreal. so for those who are curious to get inside the head of gondry, the interviews an interesting read.

and if you hadnt already done so, definitely check out gondrys video for the polyphonic spree’s light and day.

> michel gondry interview (via aicn)
> michel gondry directors file
> the polyphonic spree – light and day

two brief movie news for today, via ign. the first is the news that steven spielberg is teaming up with tom cruise again for a remake of the hg wells classic, the war of the worlds. with indy iv shelved for the time being, spielberg will likely finish up his current movie, the terminal, then take on the rivals, and then possibly begin production on the war of the worlds sometime late next year. while im still holding out hope for indy iv sooner than later, a war of the worlds remake might be interesting to watch…especially if spielberg is attached.

the second bit of movie news is regarding star wars ep3. the latest news surfacing from the sets has it that wookiees will play a significant role in the third episode. they are said to actually be larger than chewbacca (was he a runt?) and wear armour also. while wookiees have never really played a big part in any of the classic star wars movies, anyone whos ever played the star wars video games will tell you that itd be pretty coo watching battles play out amongst the tree habitats of kashyyyk. bonus points if they have a wookiee pop a storm troopers head off.

coincidentally (since i just checked after reading the article), the star wars site has just posted up part two of their web documentary, making episode 3. and wouldnt you know, they have shots of the larger wookiee suits mentioned in the ign article, some with armour already on them. from the brief quip that lucas made, it seems that back in the 70’s, peter mayhew was the tallest person they could find to play chewbacca. these days, you can find more readily people over 7′ tall. so the newer wookiees might not necessarily be a continuity issue…just that they want really big wookiees. also, of significant note is a brief scene where ivo coveney, the costume props supervisor, talks about referencing the old darth vader costume, and how the new mold will fit on hayden (anakin)…suggesting that episode 3 will in fact finally show anakin in his darth vader armour.

> spielberg on war of the worlds (via ign)
> wookiees in eps3 (via ign)
> making eps3 | p2.one world, two movies
> making eps3 | p1.two worlds, one movie

cinescape has an interesting article today on how comics have been translated for the movie screen. with movies like x-men, from hell, hellboy, and the initial focus of the article…constantine (aka: hellblazer), it looks into the factors that determine how a comic is altered in order to make it a feasible two-hour movie. with past failures like lxg and the latter half of the batman series…as well as the successes like x-men and (im predicting) hellboy, theres alot that goes towards making the movie a success…and being a faithful adaption is only one aspect. the article points out the varying factors, such as the director, the actors, the studio, the plot, and the um…fiddly-bits (aka, other shit). the director, first and foremost, determines the direction of the translation to begin with. they can choose a faithful adaption (hellboy, daredevil to an extent), or spin it in a different direction (batman and codpiece, x-men). both directions are capable of good and bad, as the examples point out…it just depends on what aspects of the original they choose to stay faithful with. while none of the x-men plots have been direct translations of any of the comics storylines, bryan singer still retained the over-arcing x-men ideology with his movies, and retained enough recognizable themes to place himself comfortably in the x-men mythos. batman jus sucked.

the article goes on to elaborate on the other factors…such as the actors themselves. they succinctly pointed out allan quartermain of lxg. allan moores quartermain was an opium addict past his prime with serious doubts about his abilities. with sean connery in the role, quartermain just became a fearless and headstrong big game hunter…there was no way connery wouldve played the part of a self-doubting former legend. depth was tossed in favor of star power. and with the forthcoming constantine, they have keanu reeves playing what was supposed to be a chain-smoking blonde brit with a thick accent. because the studio execs gave them reeves, the brit became a dark-haired californian who looks like neo…kind of suspect. anyhoo, this summation is awful and incoherent. take a look at the article instead…quite an interesting read.

> comics to movies (via cinescape)

[ current selection | dreadzone – movin’ on (adf remix) ]
[ feelin’ | feh ]

yay for the 500th post! ok, thats a bit inaccurate since the number of posts fluctuated when i jumped from xanga to movable type. for now tho, it says 500 on my interface thingy, so we’ll we’ll go by that. yay for 500! anyhoo, the first hellboy review surfaced today on aicn…and its looking pretty coo. aicn held a premiere in austin with the director guillermo del toro, ron perlman (hellboy) and mike mignola, hellboys creator…woo. cant wait. i havent seen a movie in the theaters since…shit, the return of the king. oops. so i think ill be making a return trip soon enough. eternal sunshine is out this week, followed by hellboy in april.

oh yea, and speaking of eternal sunshine, aicn also posted a trippy video for the track light & day/reach for the sun from the polyphonic spree. gondry gets to make a movie, then he gets to direct the video for a track from his movie…good shit. they say theres a smile in everything…the sky, the house, the vegetables on your plate, the catscan of your brain…everywhere. yeeha.

> hellboy review (via aicn)
> light & day/reach for the sun video (via aicn)
> eternal sunshine of the spotless mind website

i noticed this morning that since i joined neflix on january 27th, 2004, ive burned thru 30 movies. 30 movies in less than 2 months…thats craziness. so im not sure whether ive stumbled onto something, or whether my movie-watching abilities are just completely burned out and my memory has just started making shit up on its own. my first viewings of movies are generally the most attentive because my brain is continuously taking in new info. subsequent viewings tend to be on auto-pilot unless im specifically looking for new details (lotr, sassy girl, etc…) so i was re-watching one of my korean movies this past weekend for no specific reason…and as i was watching it i began getting impressions that certain things were missing. i wasnt completely sure about this, but i couldve sworn that there was a scene or two missing from the first time i watched the movie. it was as if playing the dvd for the first time kicked in the “directors cut”, and subsequent viewings were the “theatrical run”….or something. and when i jumped straight to the scene in question, the pacing and scene transitions even seemed a bit off. so im just left wondering wtf eh. even still, i always second guess my memory, so im still not completely sure…

normally, i wouldnt really post up a trailer for a teen comedy. in those situations, i usually just keep it to myself and deny to any who ask that i even have a passing interest in them. *ahem* but i thought this one was appropriately interesting enough to warrant attention. i havent and probably will never see the passion of the christ, but if there was any religious movie id see it might be this. theres a trailer out for the new movie saved!, starring mandy moore, macaulay culkin, jena malone, and some other kids i have no clue about. saved! is a dark comedy about a girl who goes to a baptist high school and becomes ostracized by her friends after she becomes pregnant. the movie was recently screened at the sundance film festival, and as a side note…michael stipe of r.e.m. is actually one of the producers. quote stipe, “It’s like those monster vampire high school kind of movies, only here the monsters are Jesus-freak teenagers…” mandy moore in particular gets to play one of those bible-thumping jesus-freaks…and is actually pretty funny. “i am filled with christ love!” word yo.

> saved! trailer

[ current selection | the wiseguys – ooh la la ]
[ feelin’ | super ]

gosh i love movie news. you can tell, right? first bit of the day…according to an article on cinescape, it sounds like charlize theron has officially signed on for the upcoming aeon flux. the article points out that theron will be spending three months bulking up for the movie. and when they say bulking up…i hope they mean trimming down, because aeon flux is one of the most anorexic characters ive ever seen. not that being anorexic is a good thing, but aeon isnt exactly bulky…and it wouldnt be nearly as coo to watch as an onscreen aeon flips the shit out with arms and thighs like tree trunks. blech.

aicn also posted about the new i, robot trailer that just went up. its not exactly what i had imagined when i saw the initial teaser. its more…will smith-y, and thats not a good thing. i was under the impression that the movie, especially since its helmed by alex proyas, would be a heady suspense movie with sci-fi elements. the new trailer makes it seem like its all about will smith doing his quick-talking shit with some jumping and explosions and robots…bleh. c’mon proyas…im keeping my fingers crossed for ya.

one other minor gripe about the movie. ok, maybe its not so minor since it dictates the whole look of the movie. i thought the robots were kinda poo. they look like crappy department store mannequins with creepy heads that move as if theyre skinned (ie: humanly, not mechanically). personally, i was hoping that they would look more like the robots from chris cunninghams video for the bjork track all is full of love. that video rocketh much, and it portrayed a very coo image of robots that looked quite artificial, yet were still able to give off human characteristics. next to the bjork video, the ones from i, robot look rather shitty in comparison…and they had a bigger budget. sad…

> new charlize theron news (via cinescape)
> older aeon flux post
> i, robot trailer (via aicn)

spanky new spoiler images on aicn today for the upcoming star wars ep3. technically speaking, the “spoiler” image in question isnt really a spoiler if you have half a brain and the ability to guess what happens. its a pic of anakin looking pretty toasty. and honestly…its kinda nasty to look at. the second image is a newer pic of the main villain of the movie, grevious…which isnt a spoiler since its from the cover of star wars insider. oddly enough, his name is spelled “grievous”…like the actual word, rather than the name hes been referred to in the past, “grevious.” the article was right in pointing out that he looks kind of anime mecha-esque. it wouldnt really surprise me too much if he didnt pause in the middle of a battle, start fisting the air and hollering out “super ultra axe beam, go go go!” if obi-wan were a smart jedi, he’d take that opportunity to cut the buggers head off…

> star wars ep3 spoiler images

(more…)

my tea tastes slightly soapy…why is that? so originally, i thought that they had released a spanky new trailer for the upcoming movie around the world in 80 days…a big fat 50 megger of a trailer. but it turns out that its the same exact trailer as the one i had posted a month ago…poot. this one however is bigger, sharper, and all-together nicer, so i suppose its not all bad. you get a better view of arnold schwartzeneggers afro puff too.

shit, is that all for today? bugger. oh right, harry at aint it cool news reviewed two notable upcoming movies the other day…kill bill v2 and eternal sunshine. i still havent read the entirety of either review, but if youve read his reviews this long, you get the general swing of things within the first paragraph. he loves both (dur). the rest of the review just degrades into incoherent ramblings. and its not that i dont love the guy, but he effuses too much love and goo for the movies he likes…so he must like kill bill v2 and eternal sunshine alot. read, or not…he does point out alot of coo details about both movies you may or may not know about.

> around the world in 80 days trailer (via ign)
> kill bill v2 review (via aicn)
> eternal sunshine of the spotless mind review (via aicn)