A Woman, A Gun and A Noodle Shop. That is a title. In an era where it seems every single successful foreign film is snapped up by Hollywood and repackaged for people who can't be bothered to read subtitles (cough*Americans*cough), it is refreshing to see it go the other way. Blood Simple, a relatively small 'Coen Brothers' movie from the 90's, is being given the Asian treatment. Now to me, this is how you do a remake. You are essentially telling the same story, but it is in a unique and engaging way. I'm hoping the QFT run a print of this later in the year. What do you guys think?
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Danny Boyle's follow up to Slumdog.....
Well the silly season of movies is nearly over, so that means a shift to more Oscar-bait material in the coming months. With trailers starting to slowly filter out, this is Danny Boyle's latest. Inspired by a true story, expect this to generate plenty of awards buzz. I think this is a case of a trailer being really well put together, revealing the plot, but not showing too much. The cinematography is stunning by the way. Looks awesome, what do you think?
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Mix equal parts The Fugitive and Bourne, take away all charm, sense and plot and you've got SALT. My two cents.......
I give any movie under the sun a chance. I will always look for some redeeming features or some merit from any cinematic experience. But when the only one that strikes you after 100 minutes of Salt is that Angelina Jolie looks great once she dyes her hair black, you know you're in trouble. This review will contain spoilers, but there's no other way to point out the ridiculousness of this movie, without talking about plot points.
The film concerns Evelyn Salt, played as well as could be expected by Angelina Jolie. She is a CIA agent who is happily on her way back to her husband for their anniversary when a man turns himself in, claiming to know secrets about Russian moles within the U.S, government agencies. She gives him five minutes, where he details a long term plan by the Russians 30 years ago to kidnap babies, and train them from a young age to be secret agents. They then send them to America to infiltrate the CIA, NATO, Secret Service, and whatever other agencies are linked to the plot. Now at this point, I must mention that I quite enjoyed this idea, and I like the idea of a man with such deep beliefs, that he could set up a covert agency like this. Salt is about to leave the room when the man reveals that a Russian mole is going to kill the Russian president, and that the name of the mole is Evelyn Salt.
So rather than take the word of a CIA agent who was tortured in Korea and never gave anyone up, and also has a clean record of service, they take this defector at his word and detain her. No due process, no further interrogation of the suspect. Nope, they've got her bang to rights. Hmm.....
Salt thinks her husband might be in danger, and decides to go on the run to find him and clear her name. But not before an overlong, repetitious chase sequence where the might of two agencies who defend their country on a day to day basis, cannot catch one woman. Well I guess we know she's serious. But crucially, no-one dies trying to stop her. That's important for later.
So another little tidbit gets dropped at this point, that her husband just happens to study spiders. Bit of a wacky occupation for a spy to be holed up with, but aha! This is also important for later.
So she's wounded from the chase and needs to stop the bleeding. So she goes to a club but has no money to get a maxi-pad from their bathroom, so she kicks the machine off the wall. I guess this is to show how desperate she is, and how she has nowhere to turn. Oh wait a minute, in the very next scene she is in New York, has a fake credit card, and a stash of money, guns and provisions, including spider venom she extracted from one of her husband's deadly spiders that he just keeps around the house. I wonder what she'll use that for? You never see her put it to use so when it is 'revealed' what she has done with it, there is zero surprise.
So, true to form, the very next sequence has Salt conforming to the story that she's a mole, a kick ass agent and a patriot, so she goes through with the plan to assassinate the Russian president. On the way to getting there, she takes out at least 10 or 11 secret service agents, yet again she does not mortally wound anyone, do you see a pattern establishing here? So she shoots the president, but it is done off camera. And when his body is found there us no blood and no-one pronounces him dead, just that he has 'no pulse'. Do you think she might have used the spider venom? Salt is arrested and everyone is now convinced of her guilt, but we're only halfway through the film and no-one has died.
So, she escapes from custody again (those secret service agents are really incompetent aren't they? Guess they were just hiring that day) and reunites with the man who outed her as a sleeper. They kill her husband, and force her to watch to prove her loyalty. So she lashes out and kills everyone in the boat. Think she is who the CIA think? I mean, she hasn't killed anyone so far, and then suddenly she is a killing machine?
I could go on and on, but the biggest 'revelation' which grates, is when they reveal who the real mole is. Like it wasn't obvious the whole way through, but then they try to explain why they outed Salt in the CIA building and apparently it was a back up in case anything went wrong, then she would take the fall. So let me get this straight, a man has been training kids and planning this 'Day X' for thirty years, has planned it down to the most meticulous of details, but needs a loud, unpredictable, highly trained patsy in case things go wrong? Ridiculous!
This may very well be the worst film I've seen since Eagle Eye. What they both have in common is that they try to play it straight, to try and give some sort of weight that this could actually happen, and then pepper it with characters who make ridiculous decisions and stupid plot twists that make no sense. If this were something like Mr and Mrs Smith, or say, True Lies, it could try to play it tongue in cheek and wink at the audience, but there is zero humour in this.
Oh and one last thing, if you're going to make a film, give it a definitive ending. Make it a self contained story. The last few minutes of this set up a sequel to such ridiculous proportions that you'll think the last reel is missing. Batman Begins showed how to tease audiences with the Joker Card ending, but still had a self contained story. The Bourne Identity had a self contained ending where Bourne meets up with Marie in the bike hire shop but still leaves the world open to a sequel.
Rant over for now, but don't be surprised if there's a follow up and also a tearing apart of Eagle Eye......
The film concerns Evelyn Salt, played as well as could be expected by Angelina Jolie. She is a CIA agent who is happily on her way back to her husband for their anniversary when a man turns himself in, claiming to know secrets about Russian moles within the U.S, government agencies. She gives him five minutes, where he details a long term plan by the Russians 30 years ago to kidnap babies, and train them from a young age to be secret agents. They then send them to America to infiltrate the CIA, NATO, Secret Service, and whatever other agencies are linked to the plot. Now at this point, I must mention that I quite enjoyed this idea, and I like the idea of a man with such deep beliefs, that he could set up a covert agency like this. Salt is about to leave the room when the man reveals that a Russian mole is going to kill the Russian president, and that the name of the mole is Evelyn Salt.
So rather than take the word of a CIA agent who was tortured in Korea and never gave anyone up, and also has a clean record of service, they take this defector at his word and detain her. No due process, no further interrogation of the suspect. Nope, they've got her bang to rights. Hmm.....
Salt thinks her husband might be in danger, and decides to go on the run to find him and clear her name. But not before an overlong, repetitious chase sequence where the might of two agencies who defend their country on a day to day basis, cannot catch one woman. Well I guess we know she's serious. But crucially, no-one dies trying to stop her. That's important for later.
So another little tidbit gets dropped at this point, that her husband just happens to study spiders. Bit of a wacky occupation for a spy to be holed up with, but aha! This is also important for later.
So she's wounded from the chase and needs to stop the bleeding. So she goes to a club but has no money to get a maxi-pad from their bathroom, so she kicks the machine off the wall. I guess this is to show how desperate she is, and how she has nowhere to turn. Oh wait a minute, in the very next scene she is in New York, has a fake credit card, and a stash of money, guns and provisions, including spider venom she extracted from one of her husband's deadly spiders that he just keeps around the house. I wonder what she'll use that for? You never see her put it to use so when it is 'revealed' what she has done with it, there is zero surprise.
So, true to form, the very next sequence has Salt conforming to the story that she's a mole, a kick ass agent and a patriot, so she goes through with the plan to assassinate the Russian president. On the way to getting there, she takes out at least 10 or 11 secret service agents, yet again she does not mortally wound anyone, do you see a pattern establishing here? So she shoots the president, but it is done off camera. And when his body is found there us no blood and no-one pronounces him dead, just that he has 'no pulse'. Do you think she might have used the spider venom? Salt is arrested and everyone is now convinced of her guilt, but we're only halfway through the film and no-one has died.
So, she escapes from custody again (those secret service agents are really incompetent aren't they? Guess they were just hiring that day) and reunites with the man who outed her as a sleeper. They kill her husband, and force her to watch to prove her loyalty. So she lashes out and kills everyone in the boat. Think she is who the CIA think? I mean, she hasn't killed anyone so far, and then suddenly she is a killing machine?
I could go on and on, but the biggest 'revelation' which grates, is when they reveal who the real mole is. Like it wasn't obvious the whole way through, but then they try to explain why they outed Salt in the CIA building and apparently it was a back up in case anything went wrong, then she would take the fall. So let me get this straight, a man has been training kids and planning this 'Day X' for thirty years, has planned it down to the most meticulous of details, but needs a loud, unpredictable, highly trained patsy in case things go wrong? Ridiculous!
This may very well be the worst film I've seen since Eagle Eye. What they both have in common is that they try to play it straight, to try and give some sort of weight that this could actually happen, and then pepper it with characters who make ridiculous decisions and stupid plot twists that make no sense. If this were something like Mr and Mrs Smith, or say, True Lies, it could try to play it tongue in cheek and wink at the audience, but there is zero humour in this.
Oh and one last thing, if you're going to make a film, give it a definitive ending. Make it a self contained story. The last few minutes of this set up a sequel to such ridiculous proportions that you'll think the last reel is missing. Batman Begins showed how to tease audiences with the Joker Card ending, but still had a self contained story. The Bourne Identity had a self contained ending where Bourne meets up with Marie in the bike hire shop but still leaves the world open to a sequel.
Rant over for now, but don't be surprised if there's a follow up and also a tearing apart of Eagle Eye......
Friday, 20 August 2010
New Trailer for Black Swan!
Darren Aronofsky is never a boring filmmaker. From Requiem to a Dream to The Wrestler via The Fountain, his movies are consistently challenging and original. The trailer for his latest has just arrived and it looks suitably different from the rest of the crowd. And if the story doesn't grab you, there's always the promise of a kiss between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis to enjoy!
Pencil in under 'one to watch out for'.
Pencil in under 'one to watch out for'.
Twelve cabins, twelve vacancies - My review of Psycho on Blu Ray
Psycho is an undeniable classic. Made during Hitchcock's 'golden period' which also spawned Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Birds and the criminally underrated The Wrong Man, it has stood the test of time. It's actually hard to believe that it's celebrating its 50 year old anniversary this year, and therefore it's a perfect time for this HD re-release on Blu Ray.
First off, for a 50 year old movie it cleans up well. The images are smooth and sharp, and the remastered soundtrack is clear as a bell.
The story concerns Marion Crane, an unmarried thirty something who is having an affair with Sam Loomis. Sam is a proud man, who won't have them together until he pays off the debt from a previous marriage. When Marion is presented with $40,000 at her office, she steals it and makes a break for a new life with Sam. It's a long drive, and she has to stop for a good night's sleep. So she pulls into the Bates Motel.....
What strikes me about Psycho is how many long stretches of silence there. A lot of the tension comes from Marion's paranoia, which then shifts onto Norman Bates' paranoia about the secret surrounding his mother being discovered. A lot of long, silent glares. Looking over their shoulder's at who may be following them. The sheer length of the lead up to the shower scene....
It's Hitchcock at his most confident and most playful. For Psycho, he bought the rights to Robert Bloch's novel anonymously, in order to keep the price down. He then utilised the cast and crew from his popular television show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The whole thing was made for less than $1 million, which for Hitchcock, coming off the expensive shoots on Vertigo and North by Northwest, was unheard of.
In fact, Hitchcock made the movie solely to make a point. His reasoning was that so many bad, cheap, black and white movies were made yet still made a profit, then how would a well made black and white movie do? He got his answer as Psycho went on to gross over $40 million and become one of the most successful movies of the year.
This is a quality Blu Ray release. The movie is fantastic and the extras are not to be sniffed at either. There is a wealth of documentaries, behind the scenes footage and interviews with the master of suspense himself from back in the day. For anyone with even a passing interest in suspense and horror movies, this is essential.
First off, for a 50 year old movie it cleans up well. The images are smooth and sharp, and the remastered soundtrack is clear as a bell.
The story concerns Marion Crane, an unmarried thirty something who is having an affair with Sam Loomis. Sam is a proud man, who won't have them together until he pays off the debt from a previous marriage. When Marion is presented with $40,000 at her office, she steals it and makes a break for a new life with Sam. It's a long drive, and she has to stop for a good night's sleep. So she pulls into the Bates Motel.....
What strikes me about Psycho is how many long stretches of silence there. A lot of the tension comes from Marion's paranoia, which then shifts onto Norman Bates' paranoia about the secret surrounding his mother being discovered. A lot of long, silent glares. Looking over their shoulder's at who may be following them. The sheer length of the lead up to the shower scene....
It's Hitchcock at his most confident and most playful. For Psycho, he bought the rights to Robert Bloch's novel anonymously, in order to keep the price down. He then utilised the cast and crew from his popular television show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The whole thing was made for less than $1 million, which for Hitchcock, coming off the expensive shoots on Vertigo and North by Northwest, was unheard of.
In fact, Hitchcock made the movie solely to make a point. His reasoning was that so many bad, cheap, black and white movies were made yet still made a profit, then how would a well made black and white movie do? He got his answer as Psycho went on to gross over $40 million and become one of the most successful movies of the year.
This is a quality Blu Ray release. The movie is fantastic and the extras are not to be sniffed at either. There is a wealth of documentaries, behind the scenes footage and interviews with the master of suspense himself from back in the day. For anyone with even a passing interest in suspense and horror movies, this is essential.
Friday, 13 August 2010
BREAKING NEWS!!! Anchorman voted best film of all time by the AFI!
Obviously this is a fan made video. But I thought it was so well done and so funny, that I had to share.
Enjoy!
The Importance of a Good Trailer.....
Writing my review for Inception, and including the trailers, it made me realize how difficult it is to cut a good trailer. This is usually the first exposure an audience will have to your movie, and how do you give a sense of what your movie is about, but not give too much away and leave them wanting more? You can usually tell a lazy, quickly assembled trailer if it basically tells you the whole story, almost in the right order, including giving away twists and reveals.
So I thought I would take a look back at some of my favourite trailers, and show it it should be done. I'm not necessarily saying these are some of the best films ever. Indeed in some cases the trailer is better than the movie. But I just think these are the trailers that were most effective.
Cloverfield definitely flew in under the radar. In an age where the slightest sliver of information is leaked onto the internet, it was a genuine surprise to see this trailer before Transformers. It starts out with a bunch of cardboard cut out twenty-somethings saying goodbye to a friend before they leave the country. It then changes, and becomes a mix of The Blair Witch Project and Godzilla. We had certainly seen shaky hand, first person account movies before. But never one with this sense of scale. Finished movie wasn't bad either, though it was always going to be hard to be able to live up to the hype of this awesome teaser.
Anyone who has read by blu ray column, will know of my love for this movie. It has since spawned a legion of imitators (and in one case an ill-advised shot for shot remake), but has never been bettered. By 1960, Alfred Hitchcock was a susperstar director. He had his own television show, a string of movie hits and even suspense novellas released in his name. It was generally agreed that there was no actor or personality who could sell his movies as well as he could. In this rather long trailer, Hitch takes you on a tour of the Psycho set and alludes to some of the grisly goings on you can expect in the finished movie. What makes this trailer so effective, is that not one frame of footage from the final film was used, with even the screaming girl at the end a stand in for Janet Leigh. This trailer, combined with a publicity statement saying that if you missed the start of the movie, then you were denied entry into the cinema, created a frenzy for Psycho. The fact that it was a fantastic movie didn't hurt either.
How could anyone forget the publicity campaign for The Dark Knight? Viral websites, treasure hunts in U.S. cities, the unfortunate fate of Heath Ledger. However, it all began with this very short teaser trailer. There is no actual footage, just dialogue from the film. But it sets the tone of chaos perfectly. It also gave the world its first idea as to how maniacal Ledger's turn as The Joker would be. Suffice to say, we waited with baited breath for what would come next.
As I have already stated, for me, my love of movies and the cinema came from the wonderful summer of '93, when Jurassic Park was released. Again, the teaser trailer campaign started early. It's almost as if Spielberg was learning from Hitchcock, that you don't need to show any footage of the film to give a sense of what it will be about. This trailer discusses the science behind the dinosaurs, and how they can be recreated in our world. It uses footage not found in the finished film and hints at the scale. It whetted the appetite for more, but crucially left out footage of the dinosaurs themselves. That would be saved for a giant cinema screen.
I'll be honest. I've never understood the hype surrounding Star Wars. There, I've said it, it's out in the open, let's move on. I don't doubt it's importance and influence, but I just don't get how it has attracted the following that it has. That being said, even I was excited at the prospect of a new film. And when the first trailer for The Phantom Menace hit, it created a new stream of revenue for movie companies. Star Wars nerds were so eager to see any new footage that they would pay into whatever movie was showing the trailer and then leave once the trailer had finished. Easiest ten bucks ever made by a movie studio. Of course, the emergence of the internet as a tool through which to release and promote trailers has diminished this appeal somewhat. This trailer however, will probably go down in history as one of the best of its kind. Just don't mention the movie or Jar Jar to any Star Wars die-hards.
And here we have the power of trailers at its finest. When it was announced that McG (still annoying all these years later) would be guiding the Terminator franchise, possibly for a trilogy of new movies, the collective groans were heard the world over. However, then came the casting of Christian Bale. Then the rumours of an appearance of Arnie. The supposed 'blessing' of James Cameron to the new film (though it did come out Cameron had been misquoted). And suddenly, the film was generating some buzz. Then came the trailer. The footage looked suitably bleak, the action exciting and when the theme tune hits, you've suddenly got a new favourite film to look forward to. But as I say, this is an example of a fantastic trailer being followed by a mediocre film. I suppose the advertising guys are some of the best in the business then!
And we move from the mediocre to the majestic. The teaser for T2 was also an exercise in restraint, showing no footage of the film and giving no indication as to the plot. However, James Cameron understood that all you needed was Arnie and THAT music. And in this case, the anticipation would prove to be rewarded, as along with Aliens, The Godfather II, The Dark Knight and of course, Naked Gun 2 and 1/2, T2 would prove to be one of the greatest sequels of all time.
In a story unerringly close to the modern day situation, the James Bond franchise was in limbo ever since the relative disappointment of License to Kill. It would take 6 years and a change of actor to get the franchise back to where it rightfully belonged, up on the big screen. The start of this trailer is magnificent as Brosnan is covered in shadow, and then revealed to be the new James Bond. The use of the line 'You were expecting someone else' was inspired and the action in the trailer looked modern and exciting. Welcome back Mr. Bond, hopefully the current filmmakers can engineer a similar triumph in the wake of MGM's financial troubles.
Everything about this trailer screams 'EPIC!'. From the action, to the landscapes, to the music and finally to the audacity of the filmmakers to proudly exclaim there will be a new movie every Christmas. Remember this was before the first movie was released and therefore the studios had no idea as to whether it would be a successful franchise or not. They certainly got their rewards in the end, as for me, sorry Star Wars fans, this is the defining trilogy of my generation.
Funniest film ever made? It's certainly up there and is probably the most quoted movie of the last ten years. To be honest there's nothing amazing or startlingly original about this trailer. It just reminds me how good it is and therefore, as a movie trailer, it's doing its job brilliantly as all I wanna do right now is stop writing this blog and go watch it......
Not strictly speaking a trailer, so much as an advert for a DVD set, this is nonetheless extremely well put together. You have the likability of Agent Dale Cooper established, the strangeness of the residents of the town and most of all the hypnotic imagery and music. I put this on here as well to bring it to people's attention as it really is one of the very best television shows of all time. I wholeheartedly recommend getting this box set.
I'll finish off with two examples of summer blockbusters and their respective trailers. First off we have Independence Day. This is an awesome trailer. How could anyone not want to see a movie where the White House is blown to bits? This is a movie high on startling imagery and action. But the trailer itself is all slow build up. The reports, the shadows looming over all the landscapes. This is an exceptionally good trailer and almost all the footage is from the first 30 minutes of the movie thus leaving a few surprises for the cinema goer along the way.
Should you become a regular follower of my blog (and I hope that you will), then I have to make one thing clear. I love movies in all their shapes and forms. I love the complexity of classics such as Rear Window, Vertigo and Chinatown. I love the romanticism of Casablanca and Hitchcock's Notorious. I love the feel good feeling from watching 'Singin' in the Rain'. And as well as that, I fucking love Armageddon. I don't care that it's made by Michael Bay. I don't care that it has America saving the world and it is drenched in unmoving patriotism. I don't care that the love story between Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck is soppy. It has Bruce 'The Man (TM)' Willis saving the world and its fucking awesome. End of.
This trailer perfectly captures the tone of the film. It's all serious at the start as it establishes the threat to humanity. Then it becomes jokey as the Drillers list their demands, and then it gets serious as they have to save the world. Great trailer for an awesome movie. I mean, I listened to the commentary track and Michael Bay was asked by Ben Affleck, 'surely it would be easier to train astronauts to drill than vice versa?'. Bay's response? 'Shut the fuck up! It's a movie'. Hear hear.
So there you have it folks. A quick trip down Trailer memory lane. If you have any favourites that I've missed out, please leave comments below.
Until next time.
So I thought I would take a look back at some of my favourite trailers, and show it it should be done. I'm not necessarily saying these are some of the best films ever. Indeed in some cases the trailer is better than the movie. But I just think these are the trailers that were most effective.
Cloverfield definitely flew in under the radar. In an age where the slightest sliver of information is leaked onto the internet, it was a genuine surprise to see this trailer before Transformers. It starts out with a bunch of cardboard cut out twenty-somethings saying goodbye to a friend before they leave the country. It then changes, and becomes a mix of The Blair Witch Project and Godzilla. We had certainly seen shaky hand, first person account movies before. But never one with this sense of scale. Finished movie wasn't bad either, though it was always going to be hard to be able to live up to the hype of this awesome teaser.
Anyone who has read by blu ray column, will know of my love for this movie. It has since spawned a legion of imitators (and in one case an ill-advised shot for shot remake), but has never been bettered. By 1960, Alfred Hitchcock was a susperstar director. He had his own television show, a string of movie hits and even suspense novellas released in his name. It was generally agreed that there was no actor or personality who could sell his movies as well as he could. In this rather long trailer, Hitch takes you on a tour of the Psycho set and alludes to some of the grisly goings on you can expect in the finished movie. What makes this trailer so effective, is that not one frame of footage from the final film was used, with even the screaming girl at the end a stand in for Janet Leigh. This trailer, combined with a publicity statement saying that if you missed the start of the movie, then you were denied entry into the cinema, created a frenzy for Psycho. The fact that it was a fantastic movie didn't hurt either.
How could anyone forget the publicity campaign for The Dark Knight? Viral websites, treasure hunts in U.S. cities, the unfortunate fate of Heath Ledger. However, it all began with this very short teaser trailer. There is no actual footage, just dialogue from the film. But it sets the tone of chaos perfectly. It also gave the world its first idea as to how maniacal Ledger's turn as The Joker would be. Suffice to say, we waited with baited breath for what would come next.
As I have already stated, for me, my love of movies and the cinema came from the wonderful summer of '93, when Jurassic Park was released. Again, the teaser trailer campaign started early. It's almost as if Spielberg was learning from Hitchcock, that you don't need to show any footage of the film to give a sense of what it will be about. This trailer discusses the science behind the dinosaurs, and how they can be recreated in our world. It uses footage not found in the finished film and hints at the scale. It whetted the appetite for more, but crucially left out footage of the dinosaurs themselves. That would be saved for a giant cinema screen.
I'll be honest. I've never understood the hype surrounding Star Wars. There, I've said it, it's out in the open, let's move on. I don't doubt it's importance and influence, but I just don't get how it has attracted the following that it has. That being said, even I was excited at the prospect of a new film. And when the first trailer for The Phantom Menace hit, it created a new stream of revenue for movie companies. Star Wars nerds were so eager to see any new footage that they would pay into whatever movie was showing the trailer and then leave once the trailer had finished. Easiest ten bucks ever made by a movie studio. Of course, the emergence of the internet as a tool through which to release and promote trailers has diminished this appeal somewhat. This trailer however, will probably go down in history as one of the best of its kind. Just don't mention the movie or Jar Jar to any Star Wars die-hards.
And here we have the power of trailers at its finest. When it was announced that McG (still annoying all these years later) would be guiding the Terminator franchise, possibly for a trilogy of new movies, the collective groans were heard the world over. However, then came the casting of Christian Bale. Then the rumours of an appearance of Arnie. The supposed 'blessing' of James Cameron to the new film (though it did come out Cameron had been misquoted). And suddenly, the film was generating some buzz. Then came the trailer. The footage looked suitably bleak, the action exciting and when the theme tune hits, you've suddenly got a new favourite film to look forward to. But as I say, this is an example of a fantastic trailer being followed by a mediocre film. I suppose the advertising guys are some of the best in the business then!
And we move from the mediocre to the majestic. The teaser for T2 was also an exercise in restraint, showing no footage of the film and giving no indication as to the plot. However, James Cameron understood that all you needed was Arnie and THAT music. And in this case, the anticipation would prove to be rewarded, as along with Aliens, The Godfather II, The Dark Knight and of course, Naked Gun 2 and 1/2, T2 would prove to be one of the greatest sequels of all time.
In a story unerringly close to the modern day situation, the James Bond franchise was in limbo ever since the relative disappointment of License to Kill. It would take 6 years and a change of actor to get the franchise back to where it rightfully belonged, up on the big screen. The start of this trailer is magnificent as Brosnan is covered in shadow, and then revealed to be the new James Bond. The use of the line 'You were expecting someone else' was inspired and the action in the trailer looked modern and exciting. Welcome back Mr. Bond, hopefully the current filmmakers can engineer a similar triumph in the wake of MGM's financial troubles.
Everything about this trailer screams 'EPIC!'. From the action, to the landscapes, to the music and finally to the audacity of the filmmakers to proudly exclaim there will be a new movie every Christmas. Remember this was before the first movie was released and therefore the studios had no idea as to whether it would be a successful franchise or not. They certainly got their rewards in the end, as for me, sorry Star Wars fans, this is the defining trilogy of my generation.
Funniest film ever made? It's certainly up there and is probably the most quoted movie of the last ten years. To be honest there's nothing amazing or startlingly original about this trailer. It just reminds me how good it is and therefore, as a movie trailer, it's doing its job brilliantly as all I wanna do right now is stop writing this blog and go watch it......
Not strictly speaking a trailer, so much as an advert for a DVD set, this is nonetheless extremely well put together. You have the likability of Agent Dale Cooper established, the strangeness of the residents of the town and most of all the hypnotic imagery and music. I put this on here as well to bring it to people's attention as it really is one of the very best television shows of all time. I wholeheartedly recommend getting this box set.
I'll finish off with two examples of summer blockbusters and their respective trailers. First off we have Independence Day. This is an awesome trailer. How could anyone not want to see a movie where the White House is blown to bits? This is a movie high on startling imagery and action. But the trailer itself is all slow build up. The reports, the shadows looming over all the landscapes. This is an exceptionally good trailer and almost all the footage is from the first 30 minutes of the movie thus leaving a few surprises for the cinema goer along the way.
Should you become a regular follower of my blog (and I hope that you will), then I have to make one thing clear. I love movies in all their shapes and forms. I love the complexity of classics such as Rear Window, Vertigo and Chinatown. I love the romanticism of Casablanca and Hitchcock's Notorious. I love the feel good feeling from watching 'Singin' in the Rain'. And as well as that, I fucking love Armageddon. I don't care that it's made by Michael Bay. I don't care that it has America saving the world and it is drenched in unmoving patriotism. I don't care that the love story between Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck is soppy. It has Bruce 'The Man (TM)' Willis saving the world and its fucking awesome. End of.
This trailer perfectly captures the tone of the film. It's all serious at the start as it establishes the threat to humanity. Then it becomes jokey as the Drillers list their demands, and then it gets serious as they have to save the world. Great trailer for an awesome movie. I mean, I listened to the commentary track and Michael Bay was asked by Ben Affleck, 'surely it would be easier to train astronauts to drill than vice versa?'. Bay's response? 'Shut the fuck up! It's a movie'. Hear hear.
So there you have it folks. A quick trip down Trailer memory lane. If you have any favourites that I've missed out, please leave comments below.
Until next time.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
'Sometimes, people deserve to have their faith rewarded' - Commissioner Gordon. My review of Inception....
It's fair to say that as little as 30 minutes into Inception, Christopher Nolan's latest masterpiece, that it was this quote from The Dark Knight that kept rattling around my head. My journey to see Inception was a long and tortuous one. The first trailer came out maybe a full year before the film was released, and immediately I was hooked.
Then came a second trailer, maybe six months before the film was due to be released. A little longer, but still, the synopsis was not forthcoming, and I still had no idea what this was about, I just knew I had to see it.
It was at this point I decided to try something different when looking forward to a movie. I purposefully avoided all trailers, articles and previews for it. If a story popped up on aintitcool.com or in Empire, I avoided it. When it was finally released, there were plenty of advance reviews. Again I avoided them all. Released on a Friday, wouldn't it just be my luck, I had to work. The avoidance went on. So I got up early on the Saturday, dragged myself out of bed, and headed for an 11am showing.
I grabbed my popcorn, got the best seats in the house (I was after all the first person to come in for this early showing), and awaited the start of the film. Encouragingly, after the 15 minutes of pointless adverts, and the 10 minutes of 'meh' trailers, the cinema was half full. The screen went black, we had the BBFC classification screen, and we're off.
I have waited until Inception has been out a few weeks before posting this review, so I trust if you are reading this, then you have seen the movie in its entirety. If not, why not? And more importantly *SPOILERS AHEAD*.
The music hits you like a foghorn over the black screen and then we're on a beach. Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Cobb, is washed up on the shore and barely conscious. A Japanese soldier finds him, sees he is packing a firearm and drags him inside to his boss, an old man who enjoys his food in a plush and luxurious room. As well as the gun, another curious item was found on Cobb, a small spinning top. The old man recognises the small item and a quick, almost aimless conversation ensues.
Flashforward (or backwards?) to the same room, but Cobb looking much more dapper in a dark suit, his partner, Arthur (played by the always interesting Joseph Gordon-Levitt), present and another conversation with a younger Japanese businessman. They discuss ideas, and how the technology now exists where someone can enter your mind and steal your secrets, either personal or business related. Boom, we have the unique selling point of the movie, and we're only 5 minutes in.
Cut again, and the same characters are all asleep, hooked up to some sort of a machine in a small hotel room. Outside the hotel, a riot is ensuing. Back to the scene with Cobb and Arthur and the world around them is shaking. They look up to the sky and ask themselves 'What's going on out there?', and we're back to the hotel room. The penny drops. They are actually in a dream right now, and the outside world affects the dreamworld. Suffice to say, this leads to a great action scene, as Cobb tries to escape, having got the information he required. But before he can, his character in the hotel room is given the 'kick' ie the small, sharp jolt that will get him out of the dreamworld. The dream collapses and he is back to reality. Or is he?
You may need to read through all of that again for it to make sense. But that's the point, this is a film that rewards watching closely. A film that explicitly tells you the rules, but its your job to remember them and see how it makes sense when gravity is taken away, or a city starts to fold on itself. The images are awe inspiring and unusual, but they make perfect sense within the reality that Christopher Nolan is establishing. You don't need to know what makes the technology tick that allows them to enter dreams, that's unimportant. The film does asks you to accept certain jumps in realworld logic, but you are rewarded for that acceptance. Oh are you rewarded.
From a zero gravity fight scene in a hotel corridor, to a tense chase through the streets of Tangiers, to a James Bond homage in the snow, the action constantly excites and surprises. From this point of view alone, the film succeeds as an entertainment spectacle. However, it is the emotional journey of the character of Cobb that gives the film balance, purpose and most importantly, heart. Cobb has long been self-exiled from his home, ever since he was accused of murdering his wife. In exchange for this freedom, he has been forced to give up direct contact with his children, leaving them to the care of their grandmother.
So the film becomes Cobb's journey back home, and how can he possibly achieve it? The answer comes in the form of Saito. As Cobb is exiled, and therefore has no employer, he is a mercenary of sorts, a man for hire. As he puts it at one point, 'there are only so many ways to utilise such a unique skill, and its not always legal'. Saito is one such interested party, a man who challenges Cobb to perform 'Inception'. Cobb specializes in extraction. He is able to extract information from people's minds, but what if he could plant an idea into their head, something that would affect their real world plans and ideals? Saito tells him that if he is able to perform this task on one of his competitors, then he has the power and political sway to facilitate his way home. Against Arthur's wishes, Cobb takes the job and then sets about recruiting a team to help him achieve it. And so the true nature of the film is brought to light. It's a heist film, a very unique and modern heist film to be exact.
To say more would be a tragedy as this is a film that deserves to be discovered by the individual. You can take many different meanings from the film, and whatever you do it will be personal to your own life experiences. It is a film exploring the idea of suicide. It is a film about 'pure creation' and the endless possibilities. It is a film about how to deal with loss of a loved one. It is a film exploring the idea of the soul. It is a film about questioning your own reality. It is all of the above and more. Or if you prefer, it's just a great action and suspense tale.
The performances are uniformally excellent. Special mention goes first to Joseph Gordon Levitt. I have followed his career with a keen eye ever since Brick, back in 2006. Since then he's moved onto the little seen, but excellent 'The Lookout', helped to redefine the romantic comedy with '500 Days of Summer' and now he's taking his turn with a big studio picture. He nails the loyalty and coolness of Arthur. His character also grows as the film goes on. At one point Eames refers to him as having 'no imagination'. But just sit back and marvel as he has to work out how to give everyone the necessary kick in the second dreamworld. I mentioned Eames, a character played with great gusto and playfullness by Tom Hardy. I must admit I am not too familiar with his work, but on this basis will be watching out for what he moves onto next. Ellen Page also makes the most with her role as a female Basil Exposition, remarkable that I think that given my 100% deep rooted hatred of Juno and more specifically her character in it.
But it falls to DiCaprio to steal the show. DiCaprio seems to polarise people. Some people think he's just a pretty boy who can't act. An actor who always looks like a boy when the character is a man. I must admit, he is one of the few actors I would go to see a movie they are in based on the strength of his name alone. The other two are Christian Bale (He's Batman for god's sake!) and a non pirate Johnny Depp. Shutter Island is already in the top ten films of the year, and in the last ten years DiCaprio has starred in The Departed, Body of Lies, Blood Diamond, Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can and The Aviator. You check out those roles and every one of them is individual. There could never be any accusations thrown at him for playing it safe. And now with Inception, I think he's delivered his finest performance. All the action, the ideas and imagination of Inception would have led to a great film regardless. But its your belief in Cobb's torment, his guilt, his desire to get back to his family no matter what the cost, that elevates this film to something truly special.
*MAJOR SPOILERS*
Which brings us to the films 'controversial' end. I use quotation marks because I don't get what all the fuss was about. People have said that it left it too open ended, that it might not be reality, that after 2 and 1/2 hours of investment, that we deserved a definitive answer. Nolan gave you it. But again its something that is expanded upon during repeated viewings. Of course its reality, and the clues are there. Cobb never wears a wedding ring in reality, but does so in the dream sequences. At the end? No ring. Every time he comes out of a dream, he has to use his totem to establish reality. This is the one time, he doesn't need to wait for it to drop, he knows he's home. The children are visibly older, and he purposefully avoided looking at their faces at any other point but here he makes a beeline for them. And then of course, Michael Caine's character never exists in any of the dreams, only in reality.
But here's a sample reaction.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4932646/spoiler_audience_reaction_to_inception_ending/
But can you tell me another film in the last 10, 20 years that has inspired this kind of reaction? That is why this movie is special. That is why it will be studied and admired for many years to come. Christopher Nolan has indeed made his masterpiece. And given that his film prior to this wasn't bad, that's as high a compliment as I can give it.
Enjoy the adulation Chris, you deserve it. Just don't take too long before you get to Batman 3.......
Then came a second trailer, maybe six months before the film was due to be released. A little longer, but still, the synopsis was not forthcoming, and I still had no idea what this was about, I just knew I had to see it.
It was at this point I decided to try something different when looking forward to a movie. I purposefully avoided all trailers, articles and previews for it. If a story popped up on aintitcool.com or in Empire, I avoided it. When it was finally released, there were plenty of advance reviews. Again I avoided them all. Released on a Friday, wouldn't it just be my luck, I had to work. The avoidance went on. So I got up early on the Saturday, dragged myself out of bed, and headed for an 11am showing.
I grabbed my popcorn, got the best seats in the house (I was after all the first person to come in for this early showing), and awaited the start of the film. Encouragingly, after the 15 minutes of pointless adverts, and the 10 minutes of 'meh' trailers, the cinema was half full. The screen went black, we had the BBFC classification screen, and we're off.
I have waited until Inception has been out a few weeks before posting this review, so I trust if you are reading this, then you have seen the movie in its entirety. If not, why not? And more importantly *SPOILERS AHEAD*.
The music hits you like a foghorn over the black screen and then we're on a beach. Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Cobb, is washed up on the shore and barely conscious. A Japanese soldier finds him, sees he is packing a firearm and drags him inside to his boss, an old man who enjoys his food in a plush and luxurious room. As well as the gun, another curious item was found on Cobb, a small spinning top. The old man recognises the small item and a quick, almost aimless conversation ensues.
Flashforward (or backwards?) to the same room, but Cobb looking much more dapper in a dark suit, his partner, Arthur (played by the always interesting Joseph Gordon-Levitt), present and another conversation with a younger Japanese businessman. They discuss ideas, and how the technology now exists where someone can enter your mind and steal your secrets, either personal or business related. Boom, we have the unique selling point of the movie, and we're only 5 minutes in.
Cut again, and the same characters are all asleep, hooked up to some sort of a machine in a small hotel room. Outside the hotel, a riot is ensuing. Back to the scene with Cobb and Arthur and the world around them is shaking. They look up to the sky and ask themselves 'What's going on out there?', and we're back to the hotel room. The penny drops. They are actually in a dream right now, and the outside world affects the dreamworld. Suffice to say, this leads to a great action scene, as Cobb tries to escape, having got the information he required. But before he can, his character in the hotel room is given the 'kick' ie the small, sharp jolt that will get him out of the dreamworld. The dream collapses and he is back to reality. Or is he?
You may need to read through all of that again for it to make sense. But that's the point, this is a film that rewards watching closely. A film that explicitly tells you the rules, but its your job to remember them and see how it makes sense when gravity is taken away, or a city starts to fold on itself. The images are awe inspiring and unusual, but they make perfect sense within the reality that Christopher Nolan is establishing. You don't need to know what makes the technology tick that allows them to enter dreams, that's unimportant. The film does asks you to accept certain jumps in realworld logic, but you are rewarded for that acceptance. Oh are you rewarded.
From a zero gravity fight scene in a hotel corridor, to a tense chase through the streets of Tangiers, to a James Bond homage in the snow, the action constantly excites and surprises. From this point of view alone, the film succeeds as an entertainment spectacle. However, it is the emotional journey of the character of Cobb that gives the film balance, purpose and most importantly, heart. Cobb has long been self-exiled from his home, ever since he was accused of murdering his wife. In exchange for this freedom, he has been forced to give up direct contact with his children, leaving them to the care of their grandmother.
So the film becomes Cobb's journey back home, and how can he possibly achieve it? The answer comes in the form of Saito. As Cobb is exiled, and therefore has no employer, he is a mercenary of sorts, a man for hire. As he puts it at one point, 'there are only so many ways to utilise such a unique skill, and its not always legal'. Saito is one such interested party, a man who challenges Cobb to perform 'Inception'. Cobb specializes in extraction. He is able to extract information from people's minds, but what if he could plant an idea into their head, something that would affect their real world plans and ideals? Saito tells him that if he is able to perform this task on one of his competitors, then he has the power and political sway to facilitate his way home. Against Arthur's wishes, Cobb takes the job and then sets about recruiting a team to help him achieve it. And so the true nature of the film is brought to light. It's a heist film, a very unique and modern heist film to be exact.
To say more would be a tragedy as this is a film that deserves to be discovered by the individual. You can take many different meanings from the film, and whatever you do it will be personal to your own life experiences. It is a film exploring the idea of suicide. It is a film about 'pure creation' and the endless possibilities. It is a film about how to deal with loss of a loved one. It is a film exploring the idea of the soul. It is a film about questioning your own reality. It is all of the above and more. Or if you prefer, it's just a great action and suspense tale.
The performances are uniformally excellent. Special mention goes first to Joseph Gordon Levitt. I have followed his career with a keen eye ever since Brick, back in 2006. Since then he's moved onto the little seen, but excellent 'The Lookout', helped to redefine the romantic comedy with '500 Days of Summer' and now he's taking his turn with a big studio picture. He nails the loyalty and coolness of Arthur. His character also grows as the film goes on. At one point Eames refers to him as having 'no imagination'. But just sit back and marvel as he has to work out how to give everyone the necessary kick in the second dreamworld. I mentioned Eames, a character played with great gusto and playfullness by Tom Hardy. I must admit I am not too familiar with his work, but on this basis will be watching out for what he moves onto next. Ellen Page also makes the most with her role as a female Basil Exposition, remarkable that I think that given my 100% deep rooted hatred of Juno and more specifically her character in it.
But it falls to DiCaprio to steal the show. DiCaprio seems to polarise people. Some people think he's just a pretty boy who can't act. An actor who always looks like a boy when the character is a man. I must admit, he is one of the few actors I would go to see a movie they are in based on the strength of his name alone. The other two are Christian Bale (He's Batman for god's sake!) and a non pirate Johnny Depp. Shutter Island is already in the top ten films of the year, and in the last ten years DiCaprio has starred in The Departed, Body of Lies, Blood Diamond, Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can and The Aviator. You check out those roles and every one of them is individual. There could never be any accusations thrown at him for playing it safe. And now with Inception, I think he's delivered his finest performance. All the action, the ideas and imagination of Inception would have led to a great film regardless. But its your belief in Cobb's torment, his guilt, his desire to get back to his family no matter what the cost, that elevates this film to something truly special.
*MAJOR SPOILERS*
Which brings us to the films 'controversial' end. I use quotation marks because I don't get what all the fuss was about. People have said that it left it too open ended, that it might not be reality, that after 2 and 1/2 hours of investment, that we deserved a definitive answer. Nolan gave you it. But again its something that is expanded upon during repeated viewings. Of course its reality, and the clues are there. Cobb never wears a wedding ring in reality, but does so in the dream sequences. At the end? No ring. Every time he comes out of a dream, he has to use his totem to establish reality. This is the one time, he doesn't need to wait for it to drop, he knows he's home. The children are visibly older, and he purposefully avoided looking at their faces at any other point but here he makes a beeline for them. And then of course, Michael Caine's character never exists in any of the dreams, only in reality.
But here's a sample reaction.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4932646/spoiler_audience_reaction_to_inception_ending/
But can you tell me another film in the last 10, 20 years that has inspired this kind of reaction? That is why this movie is special. That is why it will be studied and admired for many years to come. Christopher Nolan has indeed made his masterpiece. And given that his film prior to this wasn't bad, that's as high a compliment as I can give it.
Enjoy the adulation Chris, you deserve it. Just don't take too long before you get to Batman 3.......
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
'Is this to test whether I'm a Replicant or a Lesbian?' - My two cents on Blade Runner
Blade Runner has had a difficult history. Well actually difficult is putting it mildly. From stories of an unhappy crew, an unhappy director who wanted to call the movie 'Gotham City' (Bob Kane, creator of Batman, wouldn't sell the rights), a lead actor who called it a 'detective story with no detecting', it's a miracle that a finished film exists at all. Then there is all the business with theatrical cuts, directors cuts, voiceovers to explain the story, and now on blu ray we have the final cut. This is it, Ridley Scott says on his commentary. He says he'll never go back and change / fix anything on it ever again. Let's hope he never pulls a George Lucas...........
The film in its final state is, in my humble opinion, a masterpiece. At its surface level it is a cool detective story set in the near future (when will flying cars become a reality?). At its deepest level, it questions our entire existence, the idea of memory and what it means to be human.
For the two people out there who don't know what it is about, it is the story of Rick Deckard, a 'blade runner' who hunts and retires replicants for a living. Several of them have escaped from an off world colony, and he is called in to deal with them when they make their way to earth. Along the way he falls for a woman, who is herself a replicant, forcing him to question his beliefs over what it is to be considered human.
The HD transfer onto blu ray is stunning. From the busy neon landscapes (Ridley Scott ahead of his time with the idea that advertising will take over the world), to the grimy, rain infested street levels, everything sparkles. The tiniest details are made apparent; the red in the eyes of the replicants, the smoky interiors of the police station, the sunset outside the Tyrell corporation as Deckard questions Rachel. It all looks phenomenal. I can only hope that sometime soon either the QFT or the Odeon runs a print of this as it cries out for the big screen.
As a sidenote, I have also read the source novel, Philip K Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'. I have a soft spot for Minority Report, as well as Total Recall. But Blade Runner is without doubt, the finest adaptation of his vision. Unfortunately Dick died during the production of the film, and therefore never got to see the final cut. However, upon seeing the first 20 minutes of rough footage, he is quoted as saying, 'It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly.' Kudos to Ridley Scott then.
Harrison Ford has publicly stated that he's not overly fond of the film. This is a shame, as sandwiched in between his blockbuster turns as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, this is easily his most nuanced performance. This is a man who clearly hates his place in the world. In the novel, it is made much more apparent that he craves real animals, as opposed to the hybrids readily available. This is not explicitly shown in the film, but is subtly alluded to.
There is a lot of discussion as to whether Deckard himself is a replicant, but I think this is null and void. Whether or not he is, he has clearly grown at the end of the film, and is willing to snatch happiness with Rachel, however fleeting it may be. (Personally I don't believe he is. Replicants are established as being quick and strong. Deckard is neither, and in fact, needs saved on several occasions).
I could go on and on, as you may have guessed this is a rich and rewarding experience. And now that the HD version of the 'Final Cut' is available, it is something I highly recommend. You can pick it up from Amazon.co.uk by clicking the link to the side.
I read that before Christopher Nolan began shooting Inception, he screened Blade Runner for his cast and crew, and said 'this is the feel and tone we are aiming for'. It's not hard to see why Blade Runner is so inspirational, and I think Inception is a perfect companion piece for a double bill. But more on that tomorrow.......
The film in its final state is, in my humble opinion, a masterpiece. At its surface level it is a cool detective story set in the near future (when will flying cars become a reality?). At its deepest level, it questions our entire existence, the idea of memory and what it means to be human.
For the two people out there who don't know what it is about, it is the story of Rick Deckard, a 'blade runner' who hunts and retires replicants for a living. Several of them have escaped from an off world colony, and he is called in to deal with them when they make their way to earth. Along the way he falls for a woman, who is herself a replicant, forcing him to question his beliefs over what it is to be considered human.
The HD transfer onto blu ray is stunning. From the busy neon landscapes (Ridley Scott ahead of his time with the idea that advertising will take over the world), to the grimy, rain infested street levels, everything sparkles. The tiniest details are made apparent; the red in the eyes of the replicants, the smoky interiors of the police station, the sunset outside the Tyrell corporation as Deckard questions Rachel. It all looks phenomenal. I can only hope that sometime soon either the QFT or the Odeon runs a print of this as it cries out for the big screen.
As a sidenote, I have also read the source novel, Philip K Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'. I have a soft spot for Minority Report, as well as Total Recall. But Blade Runner is without doubt, the finest adaptation of his vision. Unfortunately Dick died during the production of the film, and therefore never got to see the final cut. However, upon seeing the first 20 minutes of rough footage, he is quoted as saying, 'It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly.' Kudos to Ridley Scott then.
Harrison Ford has publicly stated that he's not overly fond of the film. This is a shame, as sandwiched in between his blockbuster turns as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, this is easily his most nuanced performance. This is a man who clearly hates his place in the world. In the novel, it is made much more apparent that he craves real animals, as opposed to the hybrids readily available. This is not explicitly shown in the film, but is subtly alluded to.
There is a lot of discussion as to whether Deckard himself is a replicant, but I think this is null and void. Whether or not he is, he has clearly grown at the end of the film, and is willing to snatch happiness with Rachel, however fleeting it may be. (Personally I don't believe he is. Replicants are established as being quick and strong. Deckard is neither, and in fact, needs saved on several occasions).
I could go on and on, as you may have guessed this is a rich and rewarding experience. And now that the HD version of the 'Final Cut' is available, it is something I highly recommend. You can pick it up from Amazon.co.uk by clicking the link to the side.
I read that before Christopher Nolan began shooting Inception, he screened Blade Runner for his cast and crew, and said 'this is the feel and tone we are aiming for'. It's not hard to see why Blade Runner is so inspirational, and I think Inception is a perfect companion piece for a double bill. But more on that tomorrow.......
Why Belfast should have an IMAX cinema
In Belfast, for such a small city, we are lucky to have a plethora of options for enjoying our movies. We have the Odyssey cinema and its VIP screens for luxury. The Movie House on the Dublin road for crazy Tuesdays and a good atmosphere for popcorn movies. The Odeon tends to run a Monday club where it will show an old movie (I was lucky enough to catch The Crow one week. It was like being transported back in time as 90% of the viewers had long hair, and even longer black leather coats). And then there's the QFT which allows you to catch lesser known movies and the finest in world cinema.
But why oh why do we not have an IMAX cinema? I'm sure we used to have one, unless all the banners in signs in the Odyssey are lying. It must have been ahead of its time and only showed 20 minute documentaries, which whilst impressive enough, are hardly the best showcase for the format. I never went to it, simply because it was easy to forget it was ever there.
A year or ago I was lucky enough to be living in Sydney, and at Darling Harbour there was an IMAX cinema, which boasted a banner declaring it to be 'THE BIGGEST IMAX SCREEN IN THE WORLD!' I had never seen a movie presented in the format before, and I was thanking the stars that they had The Dark Knight still playing. This was a full 6/7 months after the movie had first hit theatres. So I figured no problem, it'll be easy enough to get tickets. I was taking no chances though and I bought tickets two days in advance. We got there 30 mins before the film started, as it was seated on a first come first serve basis, and I sure as hell wasn't going to end up at the front, leaving the movie theatre with a sore neck.
It was lucky we did, as the queue was snaked back around and out the door 20 mins before it started. People brought papers, books, anything to pass the time. I got the sense that this was the norm for IMAX performances (A point proven when I caught Watchmen a few months later.)
So we took our seats and marvelled at the size of the screen. Having taken in everything Dark Knight that I could (This was indeed the fourth time I was gonna catch it in the cinema), I knew that Christopher Nolan had filmed 6 sequences specifically in IMAX HD. So I was salivating at the prospect of watching the movie on this screen which was around 30 metres high and 35 metres wide. Thats an area of over 1000 square metres!
The theatre was full to the brim. A testament to how great of a movie this is, but also of the demand to see it on the IMAX format. The screen went black and the WB logo came up, looking huge as hell. Ditto the DC logo. So I'm getting more psyched by the moment. Then the Bat symbol disintegrates on the screen and the opening cityscape image hits. The entire theatre gasped, literally. This was a truly groundbreaking image. I didn't know where to look as the entire opening 6 minutes were like this. As was the arrival in Hong Kong, the break in at the Hong Kong office, the unbelievable Batmobile / Batpod chase sequence, the tense scene involving the two boats and finally the final confrontation between the Joker and Batman.
I have no hesitation in telling you this was the greatest cinematic experience of my life (so far). I took in every IMAX movie I could after that - Watchmen, Star Trek. But none of them had any dedicated IMAX sequences and therefore were not as impressive.
But then came Avatar. Surely the perfect movie to relaunch the format in Belfast. Have some retro showings of The Dark Knight (Ironic calling a 2 year old movie retro but hey the world moves fast these days.....). Bulk it out with some documentaries and 3D movies like Toy Story 3. And this would all lead to Inception. That's it, give me the money now, I clearly have a foolproof business plan. I'll save the IMAX format for Belfast. If only.
I do know one thing though. Should Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan's Director of Photography on all of his movies since Memento, get his wish to shoot all of Batman 3 in IMAX, I think flights to London will be a definite. Who knows, if it's anywhere as near as good as The Dark Knight was maybe even flights to Sydney would be a bargain..............
But why oh why do we not have an IMAX cinema? I'm sure we used to have one, unless all the banners in signs in the Odyssey are lying. It must have been ahead of its time and only showed 20 minute documentaries, which whilst impressive enough, are hardly the best showcase for the format. I never went to it, simply because it was easy to forget it was ever there.
A year or ago I was lucky enough to be living in Sydney, and at Darling Harbour there was an IMAX cinema, which boasted a banner declaring it to be 'THE BIGGEST IMAX SCREEN IN THE WORLD!' I had never seen a movie presented in the format before, and I was thanking the stars that they had The Dark Knight still playing. This was a full 6/7 months after the movie had first hit theatres. So I figured no problem, it'll be easy enough to get tickets. I was taking no chances though and I bought tickets two days in advance. We got there 30 mins before the film started, as it was seated on a first come first serve basis, and I sure as hell wasn't going to end up at the front, leaving the movie theatre with a sore neck.
It was lucky we did, as the queue was snaked back around and out the door 20 mins before it started. People brought papers, books, anything to pass the time. I got the sense that this was the norm for IMAX performances (A point proven when I caught Watchmen a few months later.)
So we took our seats and marvelled at the size of the screen. Having taken in everything Dark Knight that I could (This was indeed the fourth time I was gonna catch it in the cinema), I knew that Christopher Nolan had filmed 6 sequences specifically in IMAX HD. So I was salivating at the prospect of watching the movie on this screen which was around 30 metres high and 35 metres wide. Thats an area of over 1000 square metres!
The theatre was full to the brim. A testament to how great of a movie this is, but also of the demand to see it on the IMAX format. The screen went black and the WB logo came up, looking huge as hell. Ditto the DC logo. So I'm getting more psyched by the moment. Then the Bat symbol disintegrates on the screen and the opening cityscape image hits. The entire theatre gasped, literally. This was a truly groundbreaking image. I didn't know where to look as the entire opening 6 minutes were like this. As was the arrival in Hong Kong, the break in at the Hong Kong office, the unbelievable Batmobile / Batpod chase sequence, the tense scene involving the two boats and finally the final confrontation between the Joker and Batman.
I have no hesitation in telling you this was the greatest cinematic experience of my life (so far). I took in every IMAX movie I could after that - Watchmen, Star Trek. But none of them had any dedicated IMAX sequences and therefore were not as impressive.
But then came Avatar. Surely the perfect movie to relaunch the format in Belfast. Have some retro showings of The Dark Knight (Ironic calling a 2 year old movie retro but hey the world moves fast these days.....). Bulk it out with some documentaries and 3D movies like Toy Story 3. And this would all lead to Inception. That's it, give me the money now, I clearly have a foolproof business plan. I'll save the IMAX format for Belfast. If only.
I do know one thing though. Should Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan's Director of Photography on all of his movies since Memento, get his wish to shoot all of Batman 3 in IMAX, I think flights to London will be a definite. Who knows, if it's anywhere as near as good as The Dark Knight was maybe even flights to Sydney would be a bargain..............
Monday, 9 August 2010
Recommended Blu Ray Releases so far........
I thought that the next logical entry for my blog should be detailing some of Blu rays I've picked up so far. I'll be honest, I used to be a Play.com devotee, but now I'm an Amazon man. Their products arrive faster, are packaged better and I find they are the best (ie cheapest) priced. Click on the products in the sidebar to take you to the Amazon.co.uk store.
Here goes -
![Shutter Island [Blu-ray]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v92QvrlmoIc2Yx7KJtnscYdyNulKqKei6bg1A19Wd6vxZITJzHY6iqnrqPnd3e0pcPZ6mmKM90mU52o-Zi9_tac9Z5xwaIR7drjo0ZkJ1em0K9XcbAsare_gJI7USgzZlWmMCftUn35qnFVDEljzHsBcOXXmoCvWacw_SwHDTC_p0D_cgAdOEjytyRiaRNHc-t4LRBUNB7ueDkf-BbhDofKknM_hzItPukhCbbCTI=s0-d)
Shutter Island
Picked this up about a week ago, having seen it at the cinema, and previously read the book. Directed by Marty Scorsese, I think this is one of his best looking movies and the image really shines on Blu Ray. Starring man of the moment Leo DiCaprio, this is the story of Teddy Daniels, a US Marshall who is called to the omnious Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients. A lot of people have called this movie a little predictable, saying they could see the ending a mile off. For me, a movie is never about an ending, and is more about the journey. The journey to get there in this movie is pretty nerve wrecking and suspenseful. I remember when my girlfriend and I left the cinema, my wrap up review was 'Scorsese has made his Vertigo'. Highly recommended.
![Psycho (50th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vas5pLFXQ-1ubtwLJbYoZJ6WHNa7xUcOKEPBIqIeAvbCd7MAO0qSse1xHSwhJAeQJrJHZcm_M2fh09zO_ii_ANXzMKKgQto6Arpl3yfemHtA_jdsEeFg7g7OG53B506UbcZLE5HPGooge-oWAWoo7UGo9zQDtAJKz01A_AT49qKKJSLHS8NntvqpbOOCVkkS64J2aDPtG5vPP68LQua5yN4xYLVn7AXe1XGUqus-8P=s0-d)
Psycho
I'm recommending this on the strength of the movie alone. I'm not seen the HD restoration nor the additional features, but it's already ordered and on its way. I'm going to put up an updated review in a few days.
![Die Hard [Blu-ray]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sOsq3xMbV-0L9loTEamV4F83f1Z_B11M_jIQlHsdLGwv4X2KBtJo3ouYuN0QJlOEJdZjvA1PwkGd0D9IY0yv5yAjOOL-YY2EFyGbMgY9FDMqHjkeYjAXwDaWbGtMb-wvu1YO0j1JxsBnOiWXKaRJ8OZQMvBxSL17lUZtPkj7IabdXdLjQousgR1mhRUeziULsqr7BfGW-0gZ5J-RtapCXy9fpNxEcj6_EeVa8dr1bD=s0-d)
Die Hard
Picked this up cheaply the other day and as a movie it's timeless. The action, the acting, the lighting, the camera work; this looks like it was shot and released yesterday. You forget how good of a story this has, and also the fact that John McClane is not a fearless gung ho soldier. There are parts of the movie where he panics, where he knows he's in over his head, but you know what? Fuck it, there's no-one else stepping forward for the job. As a way of cheaply bulking out your collection with a bona fide classic, I highly recommend it.
![Batman Begins (Limited Edition Gift Set) [Blu-ray]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sVpJV_e2gHDts2i_Y0iaQPwGd6nvJFsYvDi--J5ElQVk4jQdB3xpOhiRTWphXDOccm1M47vQv__-fzj0MyMw8kzVSu3nqamTVYG3l1Ggh2ZM4Li7LhJ5d4z7pk8J6ERaK3XOjxgxIXUB945Ng8BTvY44_rTWm3HFAATTmRDD7ClC2wVRAxkmGIolIXBAMGcZTFmdWnmR2_gcX-ByyP3P_YpplgbC-z-NVQgssuQ_Ih=s0-d)
Batman Begins
Insomnia and Memento were Indie hits which gave Christopher Nolan tons of street cred, but it was with this update and original take on the caped crusader that sent his reputation soaring to where it is today. Focusing on Bruce Wayne, and what drives him, for the first hour is a masterstroke. It grounds the movie in reality, and makes it credible that a billionaire playboy really would have the money, intelligence, training and drive to dress up as a six foot bat. This is a glorious HD transfer and along with the next two titles, part of my top 3 Blu rays.
![The Dark Knight (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uYaG2Q69SGoPuPfawKcPKjP2sSSFULIDVtUw_cudZqhvCAInRt4oQ3mQQmrOs-cPDdD-wqL1A5aTtE7xpi1S_qqzDN2_fAuatIiX4iW-r6G-QKsUM35e2X4oadG-qcKTRppAjvOsKFa_w0aJKcQ5nOt3FaGkf3swlS3Wbq4JdTGiGQalewXiz9CyK9eVeYi6WRFhP9sspvF6B5bPYeqxAd0JgJpb1q64WlV974TqRK=s0-d)
The Dark Knight
What else is there to say about the greatest superhero movie of all time (tm)? Christian Bale's tortured hero, Aaron Eckhart's naive city official, Gary Oldman's world weary police Lieutenant (soon to be Commissioner), Michael Caine's faithful servant and of course, Heath Ledger's take on perhaps the most important and influential villain in pop culture history. It all makes for an incredible movie. I had the pleasure of capturing this whilst I was living in Sydney, on the biggest IMAX screen in the world. And I think it may be the single greatest cinematic experience of my lifetime (well, rivalled only recently by another film by Nolan...). The Blu ray includes the IMAX sequences, and they alone are worth the retail value. Essential.
North by Northwest
Which brings me to my current favourite Blu ray. In many people's eyes, this is Hitchcock's definitive film (though I beg to differ, Rear Window is superior but unfortunately not yet available on Blu ray). An early template for the Bond movies, this has all the glamour, exciting locations, suspense, and action that would become synonymous with that definitive spy series. The fact it was made over 50 years ago is spellbinding. The HD transfer of this movie will, similar to Die Hard, make you believe that this was shot yesterday and that Cary Grant is very much alive. This last fact is sadly untrue as this is easily his best ever performance. Playing the part of ad man Roger O. Thornhill (The 'O' standing for nothing in a little dig at David O'Selznick, Hitch's former producer), he is wrongly identified as a spy and chased around America by villain Van Damme (great name) and his henchmen. Who can forget the crop duster sequence? The flirtation on the train? The finale at Mount Rushmore? This is cinematic storytelling at its finest and puts many, many modern films to shame.
There are six of the best to get you started. I hope to make a blog like this a recurring item, so hopefully you enjoy and will be left wanting more.
Here goes -
Shutter Island
Picked this up about a week ago, having seen it at the cinema, and previously read the book. Directed by Marty Scorsese, I think this is one of his best looking movies and the image really shines on Blu Ray. Starring man of the moment Leo DiCaprio, this is the story of Teddy Daniels, a US Marshall who is called to the omnious Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients. A lot of people have called this movie a little predictable, saying they could see the ending a mile off. For me, a movie is never about an ending, and is more about the journey. The journey to get there in this movie is pretty nerve wrecking and suspenseful. I remember when my girlfriend and I left the cinema, my wrap up review was 'Scorsese has made his Vertigo'. Highly recommended.
Psycho
I'm recommending this on the strength of the movie alone. I'm not seen the HD restoration nor the additional features, but it's already ordered and on its way. I'm going to put up an updated review in a few days.
Die Hard
Picked this up cheaply the other day and as a movie it's timeless. The action, the acting, the lighting, the camera work; this looks like it was shot and released yesterday. You forget how good of a story this has, and also the fact that John McClane is not a fearless gung ho soldier. There are parts of the movie where he panics, where he knows he's in over his head, but you know what? Fuck it, there's no-one else stepping forward for the job. As a way of cheaply bulking out your collection with a bona fide classic, I highly recommend it.
Batman Begins
Insomnia and Memento were Indie hits which gave Christopher Nolan tons of street cred, but it was with this update and original take on the caped crusader that sent his reputation soaring to where it is today. Focusing on Bruce Wayne, and what drives him, for the first hour is a masterstroke. It grounds the movie in reality, and makes it credible that a billionaire playboy really would have the money, intelligence, training and drive to dress up as a six foot bat. This is a glorious HD transfer and along with the next two titles, part of my top 3 Blu rays.
The Dark Knight
What else is there to say about the greatest superhero movie of all time (tm)? Christian Bale's tortured hero, Aaron Eckhart's naive city official, Gary Oldman's world weary police Lieutenant (soon to be Commissioner), Michael Caine's faithful servant and of course, Heath Ledger's take on perhaps the most important and influential villain in pop culture history. It all makes for an incredible movie. I had the pleasure of capturing this whilst I was living in Sydney, on the biggest IMAX screen in the world. And I think it may be the single greatest cinematic experience of my lifetime (well, rivalled only recently by another film by Nolan...). The Blu ray includes the IMAX sequences, and they alone are worth the retail value. Essential.
North by Northwest
Which brings me to my current favourite Blu ray. In many people's eyes, this is Hitchcock's definitive film (though I beg to differ, Rear Window is superior but unfortunately not yet available on Blu ray). An early template for the Bond movies, this has all the glamour, exciting locations, suspense, and action that would become synonymous with that definitive spy series. The fact it was made over 50 years ago is spellbinding. The HD transfer of this movie will, similar to Die Hard, make you believe that this was shot yesterday and that Cary Grant is very much alive. This last fact is sadly untrue as this is easily his best ever performance. Playing the part of ad man Roger O. Thornhill (The 'O' standing for nothing in a little dig at David O'Selznick, Hitch's former producer), he is wrongly identified as a spy and chased around America by villain Van Damme (great name) and his henchmen. Who can forget the crop duster sequence? The flirtation on the train? The finale at Mount Rushmore? This is cinematic storytelling at its finest and puts many, many modern films to shame.
There are six of the best to get you started. I hope to make a blog like this a recurring item, so hopefully you enjoy and will be left wanting more.
Why do HMV ridiculously overcharge?
If you love movies, then you're probably working on your blu ray collection. I only have around 35 - 40 titles myself at the moment, but it is steadily growing by the week. All the essentials are already in place, The Dark Knight, North by Northwest, The Godfather trilogy. Yesterday I added Die Hard to that list.
I have been looking forward to the Psycho (1960) blu ray release for some time now. The HD treatment on North by Northwest was spectacular, and easily one of the best examples of the format.
So I went into town today with every intention of picking it up and sliding the disc into the player this evening. However, I was shocked to find that HMV are charging £17.99 for the release of a 50 year old film. Now I have already bought Psycho at least twice (original and a special two disc edition), because I love Hitchcock's work and am always interested to see new documentaries and footage of the master of suspense. However a quick look online on my mobile (isn't technology wonderful), I was not only shocked to see that HMV.com was selling it for £13.99, but that Amazon was cheaper again at £12.99.
Surely HMV.com's pricing should be the same as their store pricing? I'm spending money on a product from the same company so why the price difference? It's something that really annoys me. I mean, blu ray will never take off as a format while this ridiculous price structure is in place. Another example. (500) days of Summer, one of my favourite movies from the past year. £8 on dvd, yet it's £22 on blu ray? Surely a film such as this, with no amazing upgrade in picture or sound, or special features for that matter, should be around the same price? As I say, the blu ray industry will not take off like this.
Anyway, rant over for now. I'm off to order Pyscho from Amazon. The upshot being, that a movie as good as this, is worth the 3 or 4 day extra wait :)
I have been looking forward to the Psycho (1960) blu ray release for some time now. The HD treatment on North by Northwest was spectacular, and easily one of the best examples of the format.
So I went into town today with every intention of picking it up and sliding the disc into the player this evening. However, I was shocked to find that HMV are charging £17.99 for the release of a 50 year old film. Now I have already bought Psycho at least twice (original and a special two disc edition), because I love Hitchcock's work and am always interested to see new documentaries and footage of the master of suspense. However a quick look online on my mobile (isn't technology wonderful), I was not only shocked to see that HMV.com was selling it for £13.99, but that Amazon was cheaper again at £12.99.
Surely HMV.com's pricing should be the same as their store pricing? I'm spending money on a product from the same company so why the price difference? It's something that really annoys me. I mean, blu ray will never take off as a format while this ridiculous price structure is in place. Another example. (500) days of Summer, one of my favourite movies from the past year. £8 on dvd, yet it's £22 on blu ray? Surely a film such as this, with no amazing upgrade in picture or sound, or special features for that matter, should be around the same price? As I say, the blu ray industry will not take off like this.
Anyway, rant over for now. I'm off to order Pyscho from Amazon. The upshot being, that a movie as good as this, is worth the 3 or 4 day extra wait :)
Begin at the beginning..........
I guess my love of cinema and movies goes right back to the summer of 1993. I was 10 years old and Jurassic Park was everywhere. Lunchboxes, cuddly toys, pencil cases, it was my first experience where the merchandising of the movie was as important as the movie itself. This was long before the internet, fanboy forum's, script leaks the use of 'Spoiler Alert' attached to every review. So this was the best way of creating awareness for your movie.
Jurassic Park proved to be a monster in every sense of the word. This was genuine cinema where we were party to images never before seen. Sure we had the genius of Ray Harryhausen and Jason and the Argonauts, Fritz Lang and Metropolis, Hitchcock and The Birds. But never before had reality and fantasy been so perfectly aligned. It's a strange thing to say given that dinosaurs have never existed in my lifetime, but they just looked, moved and sounded right. Jurassic Park proved to be the first movie I'd ever seen at the cinema that demanded to be seen more than once, a practice that I'd repeat for many movies down the years....
Which leads me to why I decided to start a movie blog. It's so overused and such a cliche. Hell, everyone these days has a blog about something, and movies is certainly a more popular subject than most. I'm not going to pretend that my blog will change your life, or that the opinions here will be different than many a movie lover across the 'net. What you will find however is any review or posting will be what I like to call 'truth'. Obviously everyone's opinions are individual, however I find that many are lead by the hyperbole and knee jerk reaction of many a fanboy on the internet. I try my best to see every single movie based on the merits of where the film reels begin and where they end. I don't care if Tom Cruise is a Scientologist who jumps up and down on sofas. That's his personal life and if he's still delivering on the big screen then I couldn't care less. I don't care if a movie is popular simply because the books have a nation of devoted followers a la Twilight or Harry Potter. If I haven't been exposed to those worlds through paperback, then I will give it as much chance as any other movie.
Don't get me wrong, I love movies that challenge you and inspire discussion. But if a movie, at its base level entertains me for 90 to 100 minutes of my life, then is that so bad? As an example my movie taste will range from the work of Alfred Hitchcock to Michael Bay (though he has went downhill since the perfect mind numbing trilogy of Bad Boys, The Rock and Armageddon!), from Ridley Scott to John Woo, from Stanley Kubrick to Sam Raimi.
I accept cinema is a broad canvas and not every movie has to be a work of art. This summer my most anticipated movies were / are Inception and The Expendables. Two polar opposites to the extreme, but equally enticing. Inception I have already seen, three times to be exact, but more on that later....
Anyway, if you love movies I welcome you. Hopefully my 'rants and musings' will provide you with insight, a few laughs and of course, a few controversial opinions.
Btw for those paying attention, the reason I started the blog? The genius of Inception. But as I say, that's for a day or two from now. Hopefully I'll see you then.
Jurassic Park proved to be a monster in every sense of the word. This was genuine cinema where we were party to images never before seen. Sure we had the genius of Ray Harryhausen and Jason and the Argonauts, Fritz Lang and Metropolis, Hitchcock and The Birds. But never before had reality and fantasy been so perfectly aligned. It's a strange thing to say given that dinosaurs have never existed in my lifetime, but they just looked, moved and sounded right. Jurassic Park proved to be the first movie I'd ever seen at the cinema that demanded to be seen more than once, a practice that I'd repeat for many movies down the years....
Which leads me to why I decided to start a movie blog. It's so overused and such a cliche. Hell, everyone these days has a blog about something, and movies is certainly a more popular subject than most. I'm not going to pretend that my blog will change your life, or that the opinions here will be different than many a movie lover across the 'net. What you will find however is any review or posting will be what I like to call 'truth'. Obviously everyone's opinions are individual, however I find that many are lead by the hyperbole and knee jerk reaction of many a fanboy on the internet. I try my best to see every single movie based on the merits of where the film reels begin and where they end. I don't care if Tom Cruise is a Scientologist who jumps up and down on sofas. That's his personal life and if he's still delivering on the big screen then I couldn't care less. I don't care if a movie is popular simply because the books have a nation of devoted followers a la Twilight or Harry Potter. If I haven't been exposed to those worlds through paperback, then I will give it as much chance as any other movie.
Don't get me wrong, I love movies that challenge you and inspire discussion. But if a movie, at its base level entertains me for 90 to 100 minutes of my life, then is that so bad? As an example my movie taste will range from the work of Alfred Hitchcock to Michael Bay (though he has went downhill since the perfect mind numbing trilogy of Bad Boys, The Rock and Armageddon!), from Ridley Scott to John Woo, from Stanley Kubrick to Sam Raimi.
I accept cinema is a broad canvas and not every movie has to be a work of art. This summer my most anticipated movies were / are Inception and The Expendables. Two polar opposites to the extreme, but equally enticing. Inception I have already seen, three times to be exact, but more on that later....
Anyway, if you love movies I welcome you. Hopefully my 'rants and musings' will provide you with insight, a few laughs and of course, a few controversial opinions.
Btw for those paying attention, the reason I started the blog? The genius of Inception. But as I say, that's for a day or two from now. Hopefully I'll see you then.
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