Category by FTI Movie House: Pinoy Movie
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Sunday, 31 March 2013
Saturday, 30 March 2013
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FRIENDLY TAMBAYAN INTERNATIONAL!
Good News:
On March 20, 2013, we are ranking 8th among 217 Pinoy blog sites with the same categories referred to below. Also, just after a week of joining, the FTI has been consistently among the top 10 of most visited Pinoy blog sites worldwide steadily positioning from 10th to 6th.
Thanks for all your support, guys. We are hoping to have brought you some fun.
Long live the FTI!
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Friday, 29 March 2013
Xenoa (2007)
Xenoa (2007)
Category by FTI Movie House: Pinoy Movie
Part 1
Part 2
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Wednesday, 27 March 2013
"The Wolverine" Trailer(s) Underwhelm
The "X-Men" franchise is in a weird place, being the only major modern comic franchise from the pre-"Avengers"/"Dark Knight" era (aka the "We Haven't Quite Figured This Out Yet" age) to still being kicking without a reboot/remake etc. The best one is still "First Class," and not uncoincidentally that's the one that was most free to jettison the late-90s baggage still attached to the series.
In any case, there are trailers now for "The Wolverine," Hugh Jackman's second chance at keeping the only character to date that anyone seems willing to buy tickets to see him play relevant in a solo series. Neither one is especially encouraging (not "bad," just rote and dull looking) but here's the international version, which is the less-crummy of the two...
This is, of course, based on the "Wolverine fighting Ninjas in Japan" business from the 80s, and it's kind of amusing seeing that quintessentially Reagan-era motif of seemingly-modern corporations in "exotic Japan" being hives of sinister intent swarming with Ninja intrigue and present-day Samurai unironically transposed to the present (this takes place after "X-Men: The Last Stand.")
Part of me wants to complain about Wolverine somehow having reverted back to wandering around with his Depression Beard after his supposed development into Responsible Leader Guy in "Last Stand." I imagine the handwave will be "he's mad about what happened to Jean Grey" (get in line, bub - I had to pay to watch that piece of shit) but whatever - Jackman needs to eat in between his more interesting movies that people don't go to see, and it doesn't look terrible, so... yeah.
In any case, there are trailers now for "The Wolverine," Hugh Jackman's second chance at keeping the only character to date that anyone seems willing to buy tickets to see him play relevant in a solo series. Neither one is especially encouraging (not "bad," just rote and dull looking) but here's the international version, which is the less-crummy of the two...
This is, of course, based on the "Wolverine fighting Ninjas in Japan" business from the 80s, and it's kind of amusing seeing that quintessentially Reagan-era motif of seemingly-modern corporations in "exotic Japan" being hives of sinister intent swarming with Ninja intrigue and present-day Samurai unironically transposed to the present (this takes place after "X-Men: The Last Stand.")
Part of me wants to complain about Wolverine somehow having reverted back to wandering around with his Depression Beard after his supposed development into Responsible Leader Guy in "Last Stand." I imagine the handwave will be "he's mad about what happened to Jean Grey" (get in line, bub - I had to pay to watch that piece of shit) but whatever - Jackman needs to eat in between his more interesting movies that people don't go to see, and it doesn't look terrible, so... yeah.
2013 Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Poster
Today the release of the parallel Cannes section poster, perhaps because is a black and white photo or maybe because is an excellent composition but I'm finding 2013 Cannes graphic identity outstanding as the Festival de Cannes poster is amazing and now this section releases another great poster with a great reasoning behind.Poster 2013
Two persons in the middle of the desert, under a distant western sky.
The epitome of Adventure. Two modern-day cow-boys in a motor vehicle.
Or, why not, the vehicle of two filmmakers scouting locations, who briefly, forget their solitude to confront their experience and their destiny under a Fordain sky.
The Quinzaine des Réalisateurs this year will be a meeting place for creative artists in the midst of desire.
And a series of adventures, comedies and tragedies of today.
Life, indeed, but under skies bigger than life, as Nicholas Ray would put it...Movies, in short.
Edouard Waintrop
The poster for the 2013 Quinzaine des Réalisateurs was based on a photo by Cécile Burban. Michel Welfringer was in charge of the graphic conception.
Now I'm looking forward to see La Semaine poster as hopefully they will keep similar basic graphic identity.
Banner
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
The Book
If you were at Escapist Movie Night at PAXEast this past weekend (or you caught an earlier reveal during the Desert Bus charity event) you already know about this, but for everyone else it would seem the cat is out of the bag...
So! I'm writing a book. Or, rather, I've written a book and - barring any unforseen disaster - it will be coming out soon. It's a book about video games, and is being developed with (and will be sold exclusively online through) fangamer. If I had to describe it as anything it would be a book of game criticism; though not of a kind I've found anywhere else.
Further details (all of which are, it goes without saying, wholly subject to change) after the jump...
At this time the book itself doesn't have a title I can officially announce or cover-art, but the main text of the thing has been written. My "big idea" was to take the longform "scene-by-scene" (or shot-by-shot) analysis often applied to book-length criticism of movies or plays to gaming by, essentially, novelizing a "Let's Play."
The approach: I would play all the way through a classic game - every level, every enemy, every item, the whole experience - and analyze everything about it as I went: The mechanics, the layouts, the art-design of the sprites, the aesthetics of the backgrounds, the music, the known history of the production, cultural references and context, etc. In addition, since it's my position that the effect our moods outside of gaming effect the interactivity of the medium and vice-versa, the "narrative" of playing the game would be intercut with the "narrative" of what was going on in my life during the play-through.
I chose "Super Mario Bros. 3" to be the subject, mainly because it's my favorite game but also because it's the best possible candidate: A classic game, part of the most famous series in the entire medium, lengthy, linear and enduringly popular enough that a sizable portion of a prospective readership would be familiar with it. It ultimately took on a greater significance, though, as the initial play-through itself wound up coinciding with my preparations for moving out of the home I'd grown up in - in other words, playing this game in the house I'd first fallen in love with it for the last time.
So... yeah, this is "labor of love" stuff. But I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't proud of the idea that - to my knowledge, at least - this kind of in-depth analysis hasn't been done at this scale for a single game. For good measure, it also includes a history of the franchise and my own personal history with it.
At this time, all I can say about release dates is that we're angling to have it available within the next few months (my goal is to have some copies ready to sell in-person at SGC - fingers crossed) but I'll be updating here as more information re: dates, cost, title, etc is made ready for public reveal. I'm nervous but excited about the whole process... I just hope enough of you folks A.) give it a shot and B.) like what you find.
Stay tuned for more details.
So! I'm writing a book. Or, rather, I've written a book and - barring any unforseen disaster - it will be coming out soon. It's a book about video games, and is being developed with (and will be sold exclusively online through) fangamer. If I had to describe it as anything it would be a book of game criticism; though not of a kind I've found anywhere else.
Further details (all of which are, it goes without saying, wholly subject to change) after the jump...
At this time the book itself doesn't have a title I can officially announce or cover-art, but the main text of the thing has been written. My "big idea" was to take the longform "scene-by-scene" (or shot-by-shot) analysis often applied to book-length criticism of movies or plays to gaming by, essentially, novelizing a "Let's Play."
The approach: I would play all the way through a classic game - every level, every enemy, every item, the whole experience - and analyze everything about it as I went: The mechanics, the layouts, the art-design of the sprites, the aesthetics of the backgrounds, the music, the known history of the production, cultural references and context, etc. In addition, since it's my position that the effect our moods outside of gaming effect the interactivity of the medium and vice-versa, the "narrative" of playing the game would be intercut with the "narrative" of what was going on in my life during the play-through.
I chose "Super Mario Bros. 3" to be the subject, mainly because it's my favorite game but also because it's the best possible candidate: A classic game, part of the most famous series in the entire medium, lengthy, linear and enduringly popular enough that a sizable portion of a prospective readership would be familiar with it. It ultimately took on a greater significance, though, as the initial play-through itself wound up coinciding with my preparations for moving out of the home I'd grown up in - in other words, playing this game in the house I'd first fallen in love with it for the last time.
So... yeah, this is "labor of love" stuff. But I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't proud of the idea that - to my knowledge, at least - this kind of in-depth analysis hasn't been done at this scale for a single game. For good measure, it also includes a history of the franchise and my own personal history with it.
At this time, all I can say about release dates is that we're angling to have it available within the next few months (my goal is to have some copies ready to sell in-person at SGC - fingers crossed) but I'll be updating here as more information re: dates, cost, title, etc is made ready for public reveal. I'm nervous but excited about the whole process... I just hope enough of you folks A.) give it a shot and B.) like what you find.
Stay tuned for more details.
Monday, 25 March 2013
These Are Your New Ninja Turtles
Deadline is reporting that all four roles have now been cast for the Michael Bay-produced, Jonathan Liebesman-directed "TMNT" movie; which is once again moving ahead with no word on what they've done about the terrible screenplay that helped scuttled the project earlier. The four will join Megan Fox as April O'Neil, and apparently the notion that the turtles will be realized through motion-capture CGI is supposed to be news - I thought that was just assumed from the very beginning...
LEONARDO: Pete Ploszek; a virtual unknown fresh out of USC, only prior credits are TV guest spots.
DONATELLO: Jeremy Howard; onetime child-actor turned recurring TV mainstay. Has kind of a DJ Qualls thing going on, that plus the motion-capture leads me to believe we'll be looking at the turtles being somehow "matched" to their actors design-wise (re: Donatello leaning heavy on the geek/nerd angle) rather than being near-identical save for their masks and weapons. Not sure if that sounds like a good idea or not - part of me feels like the guys being differentiated primarily on personality is why they were strong(ish) characters...
MICHAELANGELO: Noel Fisher; who played the blonde high-camp Romanian vampire "Vladimir" in the final "Twilight" movie (he's the "Dat didn't taaake maach!" guy in this clip.)
RAPHAEL: Alan Ritchson; fashion model turned actor, best known as the "Smallville" version of Aquaman.
I assume we'll find out whether Liam Neeson or Morgan Freeman won the knife-fight over who gets to collect the quick paycheck for voicing Master Splinter (I have no idea if that actually happened, you just kind of have to assume they were among the first guys offered the part at this point.)
Beyond that, the rest of the casting should tell us how much (if anything) of the infamous earlier screenplay has survived: Casey Jones was a teenager in that version (and the lead role, think Sam Witwicky again,) Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang all featured and Shredder was an American paramilitary leader named Col. Schrader; so hearing the word "Shredder" or the casting of a Japanese actor would be indicators of substantial change (as would an adult or non-present Casey Jones). Would like to see B&R (and Krang) survive, though - pic will probably still be shit, but getting to check seeing those two in live-action off the "always wanted to see" list would be a solid consolation prize.
LEONARDO: Pete Ploszek; a virtual unknown fresh out of USC, only prior credits are TV guest spots.
DONATELLO: Jeremy Howard; onetime child-actor turned recurring TV mainstay. Has kind of a DJ Qualls thing going on, that plus the motion-capture leads me to believe we'll be looking at the turtles being somehow "matched" to their actors design-wise (re: Donatello leaning heavy on the geek/nerd angle) rather than being near-identical save for their masks and weapons. Not sure if that sounds like a good idea or not - part of me feels like the guys being differentiated primarily on personality is why they were strong(ish) characters...
MICHAELANGELO: Noel Fisher; who played the blonde high-camp Romanian vampire "Vladimir" in the final "Twilight" movie (he's the "Dat didn't taaake maach!" guy in this clip.)
RAPHAEL: Alan Ritchson; fashion model turned actor, best known as the "Smallville" version of Aquaman.
I assume we'll find out whether Liam Neeson or Morgan Freeman won the knife-fight over who gets to collect the quick paycheck for voicing Master Splinter (I have no idea if that actually happened, you just kind of have to assume they were among the first guys offered the part at this point.)
Beyond that, the rest of the casting should tell us how much (if anything) of the infamous earlier screenplay has survived: Casey Jones was a teenager in that version (and the lead role, think Sam Witwicky again,) Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang all featured and Shredder was an American paramilitary leader named Col. Schrader; so hearing the word "Shredder" or the casting of a Japanese actor would be indicators of substantial change (as would an adult or non-present Casey Jones). Would like to see B&R (and Krang) survive, though - pic will probably still be shit, but getting to check seeing those two in live-action off the "always wanted to see" list would be a solid consolation prize.
7th Gopo Award Winners
Today was the award ceremony which was live streamed for a while (suddenly the live stream turned into another TV show!) but truth is that without Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills the awards lost interest for me. Nevertheless most tech awards went to Undeva La Pilula so imagine that has to get a top award (no announcement yet about top awards).
Winners are in *BLUE and to check winners in all categories you can go to official site (not up yet but will be eventually) or their facebook page here where organizers announced live the winners.
2/26/13
A few moments ago the nominations for the Romanian annual award were announced and to my huge surprise Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills is NOT nominated in any category.
According to news seems Mungiu requested organizers to not consider film, which can be possible due to the many non-positive cinema-related news (crisis) we been reading lately. Obviously the absence of Mungiu's film makes this edition a lot less interesting for me, but nevertheless my love for Romanian cinema (a cinema that I'm really hoping will not go into pause for long) allows me to share the nominations so you can be aware of the great/good Romanian films that maybe we will be able to see, eventually.
Awards ceremony will take place on March 25 at the National Opera in Bucharest and will be broadcast by TV ProCinema.
These are the nominees in top categories that does not include Best Actress this year as there were not enough contenders.
Best Film
Despre oameni şi melci (Of Snails and Men), Tudor Giurgiu
*Toată lumea din familia noastră (Everybody in Our Family), Radu Jude
Undeva La Palilula (Somewhere in Palilula), Silviu Purcărete
Visul Lui Adalbert (Adalbert's Dream), Gabriel Achim
Best Director
Gabriel Achim for Visul Lui Adalbert (Adalbert's Dream)
*Radu Jude for Toată lumea din familia noastră (Everybody in Our Family)
Silviu Purcărete for Visul Lui Adalbert (Adalbert's Dream)
Tudor Giurgiu for Despre oameni şi melci (Of Snails and Men)
Best Actor
Adrian Titieni in Și caii sunt verzi pe pereți (Chasing Rainbows)
Gabriel Spanhiu in Visul Lui Adalbert (Adalbert's Dream)
*Șerban Pavlu in Toată lumea din familia noastră (Everybody in Our Family)
Best Screenplay
Dan Chișu for Și caii sunt verzi pe pereți (Chasing Rainbows)
Gabriel Achim and Cosmin Manolache for Visul Lui Adalbert (Adalbert's Dream)
Ionuţ Teianu for Despre oameni şi melci (Of Snails and Men)
*Radu Jude and Corina Sabau for Toată lumea din familia noastră (Everybody in Our Family)
To check nominees in all categories go here or here, available only in Romanian. Most films seems to be comedies/dramedies but my experience tells me that Romanian (dry) humor is one I can enjoy, hope these movies are more dry than dumb; still Radu Jude's drama is one that I been followed since was screened at the Berlinale. After watching videos got more interested in watching films as some seem to be visually interesting.
Of Snails and Men
Everybody in Our Family
Somewhere in Palilula
from .
Adalbert's Dream
Chasing Rainbows
Saturday, 23 March 2013
2013 Swiss Film Award Winners
Today at the awards ceremony winners were announced and as expected by me, Ursula Meier's Sister won big, including the top award.Winners are in *BLUE. To check winners in all categories go here.
1/31/13
Last night the Federal Office of Culture announced the contenders for this edition. This official ceremony, known as “Nominations Night”, was held in Solothurn concert hall as part of the Solothurn Film Festival, and signals the countdown to the Swiss Film Award ceremony, which will take place on 23 March 2013 in the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva. The guest speakers at the gala event were Federal Councillor Alain Berset, Charles Beer, President of the Executive Council of the canton of Geneva and President of the Association “Quartz” Genève Zürich, and Christian Frei, President of the Swiss Film Academy.
The awards honor ten categories and here are the nominees for the main categories where Rosie by Marcel Gisler got most nominations, 6; with three nods each, Ursula Meier's Sister, Nicolas Wadimoff's Opération Libertad and Werner Swiss Schweizer's Verliebte Feinde. The real surprise is that Sister didn't got the most nominations and that Rosie plus Verliebte Feinde seem to be interesting movies that had skipped my radar.
Best Film
Il Comandante e la Cicogna (The Commander and the Stork), Silvio Soldini
*L’Enfant d’en haut (Sister), Ursula Meier
Opération Libertad, Nicolas Wadimoff
Rosie, Marcel Gisler
Verliebte Feinde (Enemies In Love), Werner Swiss Schweizer
Best Actress
*Sibylle Brunner in Rosie
Mona Petri in Verliebte Feinde
Sabine Timoteo in Cyanure
Best Actor
Fabian Krüger in Rosie
Fabian Krüger in Verliebte Feinde
*Kacey Mottel Klein in L’Enfant d’en haut (Sister)
Best Performance in a Supporting Role
*Antonio Buil in Opération Libertad
Judith Hofmann in Rosie
Sebastian Ledesma in Rosie
Best Screenplay
Nicolas Wadimoff and Jacob Berger for Opération Libertad
Marcel Gisler and Rudolf Nadler for Rosie
*Ursula Meier and Antoine Jaccoud for L’Enfant d’en haut (Sister)
To read nominations in other categories and check info for each film go here. Suggest to read synopsis for Rosie (has some gay interest) and Verliebte Feinde (protagonists relationship is compared to Beauvoir and Sartre).
Cheers!!!
PAXEast Special: "The Big Picture of Boston"
Why We Can't Have Nice Things
A quick object lesson in the way that language can be abused.
Hollywood studio chief says, effectively, "let's maybe think about not being jerks."
Jerks respond by calling her a bigot and censor.
Nowhere in Pascal's (admittedly, let's face it, pie in the sky "nice idea") suggestion as to how the pro-equality fellow execs in her audience could use their positions to help the cause was there a call for censorship, or a rule, or even some kind of official position. It's a simple call for studio bosses with their fingers on the greenlight button to incorporate "being less homophobic" into the shaping of screenplays under their production - which is already their job!
Taking a pencil/red-marker etc to screenplays is what they do, and usually for much more cynical/financial reasons - "let's use that power for good" should not be a controversial request. But because it can be made to look like "liberal hypocrisy" in a meant-to-be-skimmed (you've got to read close to find the qualifying "not in so many words" in Nolte's screed) blurb on a site built on confirmation-bias and ginned-up non-issue outrage.
Hollywood studio chief says, effectively, "let's maybe think about not being jerks."
Jerks respond by calling her a bigot and censor.
Nowhere in Pascal's (admittedly, let's face it, pie in the sky "nice idea") suggestion as to how the pro-equality fellow execs in her audience could use their positions to help the cause was there a call for censorship, or a rule, or even some kind of official position. It's a simple call for studio bosses with their fingers on the greenlight button to incorporate "being less homophobic" into the shaping of screenplays under their production - which is already their job!
Taking a pencil/red-marker etc to screenplays is what they do, and usually for much more cynical/financial reasons - "let's use that power for good" should not be a controversial request. But because it can be made to look like "liberal hypocrisy" in a meant-to-be-skimmed (you've got to read close to find the qualifying "not in so many words" in Nolte's screed) blurb on a site built on confirmation-bias and ginned-up non-issue outrage.
PAPER BOYS
Description: "[The] Paper Boys is a 2009 American coming-of-age film directed by Bryan E. Hall . . . [that is about] a teen bunch of door-to-door salesmen deal with the issues of Sean, a 17 year old suffering from drug use, sexual confusion and family dysfunction. This film deals comically and seriously with the timely issue of bi-curiosity.
. . . [It won] 4 Accolade Awards for Feature Film 2009: Post Production, Editing and Supporting Actor and 1 Indy Award for Feature Film 2009.”
Category by FTI Movie House: Romance
Friday, 22 March 2013
Escape to The Movies: "Spring Breakers"
It's a goddamn masterpiece, the first genuine must-see of 2013 and may be Harmony Korine's first truly great movie. No, really - there's no joke there. Go see this. Now.
"Intermission" talks caveman movies, because of "The Croods" (which is actually pretty good.)
Oh, and come see ME at PAXEast! I'll be around the con all weekend, and at the Escapist Movie Night panel at 9:00pm on Saturday in the Merman Theater!
"Intermission" talks caveman movies, because of "The Croods" (which is actually pretty good.)
Oh, and come see ME at PAXEast! I'll be around the con all weekend, and at the Escapist Movie Night panel at 9:00pm on Saturday in the Merman Theater!
2013 Festival de Cannes Poster
A few minutes ago the official festival poster was announced with American movie icons Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman in a 1963 photo from the shooting of Melville Shavelson's A New Kind of Love.The following is what the festival announced about the original photo and the poster.
The original photo
To grace the poster for its 66th edition, the Festival de Cannes has chosen a couple who embody the spirit of cinema like no other: Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, photographed during the shooting of the aptly named A New Kind of Love, by Melville Shavelson (1963).
For the Festival it is a chance both to pay tribute to the memory of Paul Newman, who passed away in 2008, and to mark its undying admiration for Joanne Woodward, his wife and most favored co-star.
They were honored at the Festival de Cannes in 1958 – the year of their marriage – with the selection In Competition of Martin Ritt’s The Long Hot Summer, the first film in which they appeared together. The links between their story and that of the Festival continued with a series of films directed by Newman, who cast Woodward in unforgettable roles in The Effect of the Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (Competition – 1973) and The Glass Menagerie (Competition – 1987).
The 2013 Festival Poster
The photograph from the shoot was isolated, remastered and redesigned by the Bronx agency, who added a kinetic element, toying with the impression of movement and depth in order to enhance the cinematographic effect.
The poster evokes a luminous and tender image of the modern couple, intertwined in perfect balance at the heart of the dizzying whirlwind that is love. The vision of these two lovers caught in a vertiginous embrace, oblivious of the world around them, invites us to experience cinema with all the passion of an everlasting desire.
The ★ Bronx agency (Paris) was responsible for all the graphics of the 2013 Festival.
It also created an animated film for the poster, to the soundtrack of a remixed version of the Festival’s musical theme. Arrangements: Olivier Huguenard - Emmanuel Plégat / Sismic Music.
Can't help but share that one film that never has left my memory is The Long Hot Summer, which perhaps is my favorite from the real life husband and wife couple and a film that I highly recommend to see if you haven't seen it yet. My only suggestion is to see it as a period film from a long-gone era.
Because photos are really worth watching, suggest you check the Poster Couple article at official festival site here.
Find the poster interesting, somehow a great portrait from the sixties but believe that the graphic representation in the vertical, horizontal and square materials is very suggestive as we know this is the 66th edition but because the photo chosen seems more a 69 than a 66. Wonder if is on purpose or just my imagination.
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Still Not Feeling It
There's a new international trailer for "Star Trek Into Dark Knight" that includes some new footage, most notably/curiously a seemingly gratuitous glimpse of Alice Eve in her underwear that seemingly exists just for the benefit of screencaps. Turns out, it's JJ "Mystery Box" Abrams playing more advertising games with us, as there's actually a hidden URL in the background of the scene that leads to... a new poster.
Okay, so... I'm pretty-much okay with being "the guy" who still not really onboard with Abrams in general and his version of "Trek" specifically; so I get that anything remotely critical I have to say will be summarily dismissed. Fine. If I couldn't put up with that, I wouldn't be in the business. The trailer is pretty good, though I'm not any more persuaded that the problems of the previous installment won't simply be exacerbated.
Also, I understand that this is some kind of sacrilege because... well, because he's "Sherlock," pretty-much... at this point I've got to say it: If not for Cumberbatch's reigning-BBC-pinup-dude status and the obligatory Abrams obfuscation the "mystery villain" here would seem spectacularly boring: Yet another lone chaos-bringer ranting about how unstable everything actually is and how he can't wait to show us and blah blah...
I know, I know, "it's not my father's Star Trek," and I'm sure whatever he ultimately turns out to be will be interesting on some level... but taken at face value it's hard to ignore that we're being asked to pysch ourselves up for The Enterprise Crew's epic showdown with... Angry Man In Black Trenchcoat. Doesn't exactly inspire awe and wonder, is what I'm driving at...
Okay, so... I'm pretty-much okay with being "the guy" who still not really onboard with Abrams in general and his version of "Trek" specifically; so I get that anything remotely critical I have to say will be summarily dismissed. Fine. If I couldn't put up with that, I wouldn't be in the business. The trailer is pretty good, though I'm not any more persuaded that the problems of the previous installment won't simply be exacerbated.
Also, I understand that this is some kind of sacrilege because... well, because he's "Sherlock," pretty-much... at this point I've got to say it: If not for Cumberbatch's reigning-BBC-pinup-dude status and the obligatory Abrams obfuscation the "mystery villain" here would seem spectacularly boring: Yet another lone chaos-bringer ranting about how unstable everything actually is and how he can't wait to show us and blah blah...
I know, I know, "it's not my father's Star Trek," and I'm sure whatever he ultimately turns out to be will be interesting on some level... but taken at face value it's hard to ignore that we're being asked to pysch ourselves up for The Enterprise Crew's epic showdown with... Angry Man In Black Trenchcoat. Doesn't exactly inspire awe and wonder, is what I'm driving at...
That having been said... my takeaway from this poster is that - moreso than any before it - if you take away the title down the bottom it would be almost impossible to discern that this is supposed to be the poster for a "Star Trek" movie. Is that a problem? Is that a bad thing? I don't know. It feels like it SHOULD be, but I don't know. Thoughts?
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
X-Men Wedding Shocker!!!
Yeah, I know the accompanying image doesn't precisely fit. Cut me some slack, it's the only searchable-image for "X-Men Wedding" that doesn't seem like a lame tie-in to the corny gay joke every other outlet ran with.Anyway, in what might be the niftiest piece of tangentially-nerdy news of the year so far, Patrick Stewart is marrying New York jazz musician Sunny Ozell. And, since the wedding is set to be held in Massachusetts, they'll be taking advantage of the state's one day marriage-designation law (which allows a friend/relative of a couple to be temporarily empowered to legally perform their wedding) the ceremony will be officiated by Sir Ian McKellan; whom Stewart is set to once again be co-starring with (as Professor X and Magneto, respectively) in the upcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past."
So... that's pretty cool. Congratulations to all involved.
Monday, 18 March 2013
Inevitable Mash-Up
Via CBM
"The Avengers" - "Power Rangers"-style. Pretty impressive, and kind of amazing that it took this long for someone to do it. I especially like that the editor thought to include Saban's weirdly out-of-place typeface for the credits...
"The Avengers" - "Power Rangers"-style. Pretty impressive, and kind of amazing that it took this long for someone to do it. I especially like that the editor thought to include Saban's weirdly out-of-place typeface for the credits...
2013 German Film Awards - Audience Award Nominations
Starting today people living in Germany can vote for their favorite 2012 movie from the twelve nominated films that were announce today by organizers. Voting is open from today until April 22.The following are the nominated films.
Türkisch für Anfänger by Bora DagtekinRussendisko by Olivier Ziengenbalg
Hanni & Nanni 2 by Julia von Heinz
Schutzengel by Til Schweiger
Mann tut was Mann kann by Marc Rothemund
Die Vermessung der Welt by Detlev Buck
Cloud Atlas by Tom Tykwer and Wachowski siblings
Jesus liebt mich (Jesus Loves Me) by Florian David Fitz
Die Vampirschwestern by Wolfang Groos
Schlussmacher by Matthias Schweighöfer, Torsten Künstler
Fünf Freunde 2 by Mike Marzuk
Kokowääh 2 by Til Schweiger, Torsten Künstler
To VOTE go here. With a couple of exceptions films are mainstream cinema/crowd pleasers so let's hope one of the exceptions wins.
As was announced earlier Werner Herzog will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award this year. The 2013 German Film Awards will be held April 26 in Berlin.
7th Asian Film Award Winners
A few hours ago the award ceremony spread out the wealth to several films but is Lou Ye's Mystery which won the top award and none other than Takeshi Kitano who won the Best Director for Outrage Beyond. Also worth mentioning is that Bahman Ghobadi's Rhino Season won several tech awards including Best Cinematography. Three great movies.Winners are in *BLUE. To learn winners in all categories go official site.
1/31/13
On January 16th the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) announced the nominees in the 14 categories honored by this award. From over a thousand eligible films across Asia, up to five nominations have been selected in each category. The full list of 70 nominees includes 30 films from 9 countries and regions. In terms of numbers, South Korea leads with 16 nominations this year.
The HKIFFS also announced that the first collaboration of AFA with Yahoo! Movies for The People’s Choice Awards. AFA’s nominees for Best Actor and Actress automatically become candidates in this section and voting is open to the public from around the world. The voting period will run from 6 February 2013 to 11 March 2013 on Yahoo! Movies.
Lou Ye's Mystery and Yun Jong-bin's Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time lead with six nominations each. The Asian Film Awards Presentation Ceremony will be held at the Grand Hall of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 18 March 2013.
Best Film
毒戰 Du zhan (Drug War), Johnnie To, Hong Kong and China
Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1 & 2, Anurag Kashyap, India
*浮城謎事 Mystery, Lou Ye, China and France
Autoreiji: Biyondo (Outrage Beyond), Takeshi Kitano, Japan
Pieta, Kim Ki-duk, South Korea
Best Director
Anurag Kashyap for Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1 & 2
Abbas Kiarostami for Like Someone in Love
Kim Ki-duk for Pieta
*Takeshi Kitano for Outrage Beyond
Lou Ye for Mystery
Best Actress
*Nora Aunor in Thy Womb
Cho Min-soo in Pieta
Golshifteh Farahani in The Patience Stone
Lun-Mei Gwei in GF*BF
Hao Lei in Mystery
Best Actor
Joseph Chang in GF*BF
Choi Min-sik in Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time
*Eddie Garcia in Bwakaw
Tony Leung Ka-fai in Cold War
Liu Ye in The Last Supper
Best Newcomer
Chien Man-Shu in When A Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep
Higashide Mashiro in The Kirishima Thing
Huang Yu-Siang in Touch of the Light
Kim Sung-kyun in Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time
*Qi Xi in Mystery
Best Screenwriter
Anad Gandhi for Ship of Theseus
Kiyasu Kohei and Yoshida Daihachi for The Kirishima Thing
*Mei Feng, Yu Fan and Lou Ye for Mystery
Wai Ka-fai, Yau Nai-hoi, Ryker Chan and Yu Xi for Drug War
Yoon Jong-bin for Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time
Best Cinematographer
*Touraj Aslani for Rhino Season
Choi Young-hwan for The Thieves
Rajeev Ravi for Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1 & 2
Yanagija Katsumi for Like Someone in Love
Zhang Li and Ma Cheng for The Last Supper
To learn nominations in other categories go here. Was aware of all films but list remind me of those that haven't seen yet -have seen many- and definitively I'm looking forward to watch them.
Today was announced that the Excellence in Asia Cinema Award this year goes to Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng and Roger Garcia, Executive Director of HKIFFS says:
“We are delighted to honor Michelle with the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award this year. Michelle has an impressive career of over 30 movies. Her incredible talent has led her from action films in Hong Kong to international works like The Lady. Her work in Chinese language cinema has helped promote it to an international audience and the global film industry. Michelle has excelled as both an action star and a serious actress – a very rare combination in this business, and practically unique. She is the perfect choice to be awarded with this prestigious honor.”
Cheers!!!
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Disgraceful
(Trigger Warning for discussion of the Steubenville Trial)
I still hear many people who get confused at what people are talking about when they say "rape culture." I can understand that - it should be commonly understood, but since the subject is so profoundly uncomfortable you don't really get exposed to the specifics of unless your "involved" with it either on the activist or academic side.
In simple terms, it's an umbrella term meant to encapsulate all of the myriad justifications, excuses and defenses that are used to normalize and minimize rape and sexual-assault in the culture; including but not limited to:
"The Good Old Days Justification," aka "If something wasn't thought of as rape back in my father's/grandfather's day, it can't be rape now."
"She Asked For It," aka "How can she have actually meant NO when she's showing so much skin in a 'hookup' bar/club/party on a weekend?"
"The Scemantic Obfuscation," aka "Rape is something done by a masked attacker in a dark alley, other things like date-rape, marital rape, false-consent via misleading or intoxication, etc. are really just mistakes/misunderstandings and that people just 'call' rape now." (Bonus points if you can connect these supposed "over-reactions" to a cultural-conspiracy by "feminists" to lessen the negate the societal power of males.)
"Why Are We Even Talking About This?," aka "Rape or whatever you wanna call it (see #1 and #2) isn't really always that big of a deal, so people should get over it."
In any case, this and more was on full and spectacular display today as CNN reported on the guilty verdict and maximum (though still shamefully small, given that they were tried as juveniles) sentencing of the accused rapists in the so-called "Steubenville Trial." The reporting on this whole thing has been embarrassing from day one, though sadly unsurprising for much of the U.S. media - that mainstream American culture (outside of a few pockets of forward-thinking here and there) places such preposterously high value on the "promise" and "futures" of young men in High School/College athletics programs while placing such low value on the sexual autonomy and safety of young women isn't a surprise at this point.
But still, even as bad as most outlets are the national media is at least supposed to be better in these cases - since by their nature they're supposed to be "above" the narrow concerns of local news (or, for example, sports/entertainment news) and able to put things in a big picture context. This is especially expected of CNN, which likes to fancy itself the "grownup" of cable news compared to Fox's sputtering Alex P. Keaton and MSNBC's Wellsely Student Government After-Party... and yet today there was Poppy Harlow etc., reporting on the story not in terms of two dipshits getting maybe a sliver of what they deserve (or even simply "justice being served") but rather in terms of how sad it is that twopromising athletes with their whole lives ahead of them rapists have to *gasp!* do some jail time and register as sex offenders - tragically ending their bright potential careers likelihood of ever being paid obscene sums of money to play an ultimately meaningless game of ball-passing.
Yeah. My heart. It just aches...
So, then... people need to start getting shitcanned at CNN, right? I know that, since it's CNN nobody is generally watching to begin with, but still - this has to get somebody in trouble, doesn't it? It should be Somebody's job to watch out for shit like this?
I still hear many people who get confused at what people are talking about when they say "rape culture." I can understand that - it should be commonly understood, but since the subject is so profoundly uncomfortable you don't really get exposed to the specifics of unless your "involved" with it either on the activist or academic side.
In simple terms, it's an umbrella term meant to encapsulate all of the myriad justifications, excuses and defenses that are used to normalize and minimize rape and sexual-assault in the culture; including but not limited to:
"The Good Old Days Justification," aka "If something wasn't thought of as rape back in my father's/grandfather's day, it can't be rape now."
"She Asked For It," aka "How can she have actually meant NO when she's showing so much skin in a 'hookup' bar/club/party on a weekend?"
"The Scemantic Obfuscation," aka "Rape is something done by a masked attacker in a dark alley, other things like date-rape, marital rape, false-consent via misleading or intoxication, etc. are really just mistakes/misunderstandings and that people just 'call' rape now." (Bonus points if you can connect these supposed "over-reactions" to a cultural-conspiracy by "feminists" to lessen the negate the societal power of males.)
"Why Are We Even Talking About This?," aka "Rape or whatever you wanna call it (see #1 and #2) isn't really always that big of a deal, so people should get over it."
In any case, this and more was on full and spectacular display today as CNN reported on the guilty verdict and maximum (though still shamefully small, given that they were tried as juveniles) sentencing of the accused rapists in the so-called "Steubenville Trial." The reporting on this whole thing has been embarrassing from day one, though sadly unsurprising for much of the U.S. media - that mainstream American culture (outside of a few pockets of forward-thinking here and there) places such preposterously high value on the "promise" and "futures" of young men in High School/College athletics programs while placing such low value on the sexual autonomy and safety of young women isn't a surprise at this point.
But still, even as bad as most outlets are the national media is at least supposed to be better in these cases - since by their nature they're supposed to be "above" the narrow concerns of local news (or, for example, sports/entertainment news) and able to put things in a big picture context. This is especially expected of CNN, which likes to fancy itself the "grownup" of cable news compared to Fox's sputtering Alex P. Keaton and MSNBC's Wellsely Student Government After-Party... and yet today there was Poppy Harlow etc., reporting on the story not in terms of two dipshits getting maybe a sliver of what they deserve (or even simply "justice being served") but rather in terms of how sad it is that two
Yeah. My heart. It just aches...
So, then... people need to start getting shitcanned at CNN, right? I know that, since it's CNN nobody is generally watching to begin with, but still - this has to get somebody in trouble, doesn't it? It should be Somebody's job to watch out for shit like this?
66th Bodil Award Winners
Yesterday Filmmedarbejderforeningens had their award ceremony with awards spread out over several films.Big winner is Kaprigen (A Hijacking) a good mainstream entertaining film that at times can be thrilling, but in general for me is a drama that deals more with corporate behavior (good and bad) than about human behavior. Still I do recommend you watch it as is as entertaining as Arcel's A Royal Affair.
The Audience Award went to Hvidsten Gruppen by Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis.
Winners are in *BLUE. To read official announcement go here or here, available only in Danish.
1/3/13
Today Filmmedarbejderforeningens (Denmark's National Association of Film Critics) announced their nominations for these major Danish film awards and not surprisingly Nicolaj Arcel's En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair) leads with 6 nominations; perhaps the most interesting fact is the Best Actor category that has two brothers in competition for the award, Mads and Lars Mikkelsen.
These are the nominations.
Best Danish film
10 timer til Paradis (Teddy Bear), Mads Matthiesen
En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair), Nicolaj Arcel
*Kapringen (A Hijacking), Tobias Lindholm
Undskyld jeg forstyrrer, Henrik Ruben Genz
You and Me Forever, Kaspar Munk
Best Actress
Julie Brohorst Andersen in You and Me Forever
Trine Dyrholm in Den skaldede frisør (Love Is All You Need)
*Sara Hjort Ditlevsen in Undskyld jeg forstyrrer
Bodil Jørgensen in Hvidsten Gruppen (This Life)
Alicia Vikander in En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
Best Supporting Actress
*Fred Dahl Hansen in You and Me Forever
Emilie Claudius Kruse in You and Me Forever
Elsebeth Stentoft in 10 timer til Paradis (Teddy Bear)
Lotte Andersen in Undskyld jeg forstyrrer
Trine Dyrholm in En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
Best Actor
Mads Mikkelsen in En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
Søren Malling in Kapringen (A Hijacking)
*Mikkel Boe Følsgaard in En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
Pilou Asbæk in Kapringen (A Hijacking)
Lars Mikkelsen in Viceværten (A Caretaker's Tale)
Male Supporting Actor
Nicolas Bro in Undskyld jeg forstyrrer
Roland Mills in Kapringen (A Hijacking)
*Tommy Kenter in Marie Krøyer
Lars Boom in Max Pinlig på Roskilde
Thomas Gabrielsson in En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
Best Documentary
Ballerina, Maja Friis
White Black Boy, Camilla Magid
*Putins kys (Putin's Kiss), Lise Birk Pedersen
Lej en famille A/S (Rent a family), Kaspar Astrup Schröder
Kidd Life, Andreas Johnsen
Best Non-American film
*Amour, Michael Haneke
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Shame, Steve McQueen
Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul
Holy Motors, Leos Carx
Best American film
We Need To Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay
*Martha Marcy May Marlene, Sean Durkin
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson
Take Shelter, Jeff Nichols
The Descendants, Alexander Payne
The announcement was made via Twitter so it is not up yet at the official site, but to read news in Danish go here. The award ceremony will be hosted by Mikael Bertelsen on Saturday, March 16 at Bremen Theatre.
In case you wonder why excellent Jagten (The Hunt) by Thomas Vinterberg has no nominations mainly is because it hasn't been released in Denmark; film is scheduled to be released on January 10, 2013. What really surprises me is that Susanne Bier's Den skaldede frisør (Love Is All You Need) got only one nomination.
Friday, 15 March 2013
Go Team Venture!
"The Venture Bros." is my favorite thing on television, period. It's been fascinating to watch it morph from a straight-on "Johnny Quest" parody to a broader riff on 70s/80s comics/cartoons/etc and now to a thing so densely-woven that it has a full-blown mythos of it's own to play with. Characters who started out as one-joke goofs on established icons are now wholly icons in their own right - it now feels both limiting and incredibly inaccurate to describe Hank & Dean in terms of Johnny or The Hardy Boys, or Brock as simply "psychopath Race Bannon," or even Dr. Orpheus as the flawless "Doctor Strange" send-up he still obviously is. Hell, Gary (aka Henchman 21) going from literally a meaningless bit-player to main character whose spectacular arc-derailment (right down to the way it instantly reminded us that The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch are in fact still The Bad Guys) was the great sleight-of-hand masterstroke of Season 4 is practically a metaphor for the entire series.
Anyway, there's a new extended teaser for the finally-incoming Season 5, and it looks like the awesome plans to continue. There's a lot of quick flashes of things fans have more-or-less been expecting to see (Gary in a S.P.H.I.N.X. uniform? Check. More of "Goth Dean?" Check.) but also a lot of exciting "what does THAT mean!?" as well. Check it out:
Anyway, there's a new extended teaser for the finally-incoming Season 5, and it looks like the awesome plans to continue. There's a lot of quick flashes of things fans have more-or-less been expecting to see (Gary in a S.P.H.I.N.X. uniform? Check. More of "Goth Dean?" Check.) but also a lot of exciting "what does THAT mean!?" as well. Check it out:
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
"KICK-ASS 2." Oh yeah.
The first "Kick-Ass" is a movie that grows in quality every time I see it (which, by the way, is the EXACT opposite effect the original comic had) a rare and near-perfect mix of hard-R satire and genuinely sincere coming-of-age comedy. This now-trailered sequel? I'm onboard. Here's hoping the "great movie based on intermittently mediocre and mean-spirited book" streak continues...
Main thoughts: Holy CRAP! Jim Carrey showed up to work as "Col. Stars N' Stripes!" Whole thing seems to be striking the original's flawless balance between "these people are idiots!" and "this is awesome!" Gotta love a movie whose main antagonist's name can't be said in the ad-copy (outside of this reb-band trailer.)
Main thoughts: Holy CRAP! Jim Carrey showed up to work as "Col. Stars N' Stripes!" Whole thing seems to be striking the original's flawless balance between "these people are idiots!" and "this is awesome!" Gotta love a movie whose main antagonist's name can't be said in the ad-copy (outside of this reb-band trailer.)
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Big Picture: "Trolling the 90s"
OverBytes Does "Tropes vs. Women"
Now available for viewing by all, an overall appraisal on the first episode of "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games" and it's attendant controversies.
P.S. People who continue to insist on harping about production costs are directed to THIS post.
P.S. People who continue to insist on harping about production costs are directed to THIS post.
Monday, 11 March 2013
"Zero" Interest
Everything wrong with the American comics industry in a nutshell: Scott Snyder will spend A YEAR'S WORTH of books re-telling Batman's origin. Again.
I'm assuming they'll be either shooting these to Mars, translating them into Dolphin, air-dropping them into unexplored, "hypothetically" human-populated regions of the Amazon Rainforest or whatever other unlikely circumstances you might find someone who is unaware of Batman's origin-story.
Friday, 8 March 2013
Escape to The Movies: "Oz The Great & Powerful"
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Tropes vs Women launches first episode (UPDATED!)
Oh hey, remember that kickstarted webseries that people freaked out about because a woman was talking out of turn about man things, then decided it was actually a "scam" that would never actually come out when that didn't convince people that she was the antichrist?
Well, it came out. Here's a link. I'll chime back in later with what I actually thought of it.
UPDATE: At the suggestion of user "Nixou," I'm re-posting (with corrections) my response to one of the more consistent issues people seem to have re: the cost of producing a show like this (aka "how does THIS cost $150,000??) as follows:
Here's the thing: I (and I'm speaking strictly of my self-produced/funded stuff like TGO and American Bob here, not the Escapist gigs) and others working on the YouTube/Blip series side of this medium are generally A.) Making this stuff FOR the amateur/indie circuit and B.) using primarily materials we already have or can be "donated" either by ourselves or aquaintances. In my specific case, I'm not outputting OR shooting in HD, the shows themselves are not of "broadcast caliber" and I don't pay professional wages to the people who help out. If I did, the INCREDIBLY low-ball $6,000 pricetag she originally set (don't forget: the donations were so HUGE because people kept donating as a "screw you" to her detractors) would MAYBE cover 2 - 3 average-scale TGO episodes, tops.
I've noticed that people in general have a skewed view of what independent video/film production actually costs because a lot of guys on the indie/fanfilm scene (no, I won't be naming names) like to brag about how low their production budget is - the problem being that A LOT of the time these are guys who have "day jobs" in the professional film/video business and thus access to equipment and facilities that they would otherwise be paying substantial sums to rent or lease; or they don't include what they would normally charge a client for their services in their own productions, OR they have friends in similar circumstances who are "donating" their time/services and not listing what that would cost on a real job. For example: If "Game OverThinker" had the EXACT same schedule and final-quality but I was paying real industry-standard fees and wages for locations, facilities and crew; $10,000 would be a low-ball estimate for every episode.
Having watched the video itself: She's shooting and outputting in HD/broadcast-quality (this has clearly been designed for classroom/seminar presentation moreso than the web video) and most the MASSIVE amount of game footage looks to have been captured from either original sources (I'm assuming MAME or download-service copies for the retro stuff) - which requires both expensive equipment and the expense of the systems and games themselves. Also, I don't know if she does her own graphics and animation, but her transitions all look like original work; and even if she did do them herself the "going rate" for that kind of work can get pretty damn high especially if you plan to buy or license it in perpuity.
ALSO: I don't know what else she does for a regular living, but I DO know the relative man-hours of putting a project like this together and they are substantial - thusly, if the ONLY thing all the Kickstarter money did was pay her bills and living-expenses (via supplmental income) while she cut down on her regular paying work so that she could free up the time to actually play/record the games, write the script and make the video I'm frankly perplexed that she ever somehow thought a paltry sum like $6,000 was going to cover it. She's currently operating out of San Fransisco, one of the most expensive places to live - even modestly - in the United States; so when you factor all that in... trust me, the expenses for this kind of production are much more substantial than most would imagine.
Well, it came out. Here's a link. I'll chime back in later with what I actually thought of it.
UPDATE: At the suggestion of user "Nixou," I'm re-posting (with corrections) my response to one of the more consistent issues people seem to have re: the cost of producing a show like this (aka "how does THIS cost $150,000??) as follows:
Here's the thing: I (and I'm speaking strictly of my self-produced/funded stuff like TGO and American Bob here, not the Escapist gigs) and others working on the YouTube/Blip series side of this medium are generally A.) Making this stuff FOR the amateur/indie circuit and B.) using primarily materials we already have or can be "donated" either by ourselves or aquaintances. In my specific case, I'm not outputting OR shooting in HD, the shows themselves are not of "broadcast caliber" and I don't pay professional wages to the people who help out. If I did, the INCREDIBLY low-ball $6,000 pricetag she originally set (don't forget: the donations were so HUGE because people kept donating as a "screw you" to her detractors) would MAYBE cover 2 - 3 average-scale TGO episodes, tops.
I've noticed that people in general have a skewed view of what independent video/film production actually costs because a lot of guys on the indie/fanfilm scene (no, I won't be naming names) like to brag about how low their production budget is - the problem being that A LOT of the time these are guys who have "day jobs" in the professional film/video business and thus access to equipment and facilities that they would otherwise be paying substantial sums to rent or lease; or they don't include what they would normally charge a client for their services in their own productions, OR they have friends in similar circumstances who are "donating" their time/services and not listing what that would cost on a real job. For example: If "Game OverThinker" had the EXACT same schedule and final-quality but I was paying real industry-standard fees and wages for locations, facilities and crew; $10,000 would be a low-ball estimate for every episode.
Having watched the video itself: She's shooting and outputting in HD/broadcast-quality (this has clearly been designed for classroom/seminar presentation moreso than the web video) and most the MASSIVE amount of game footage looks to have been captured from either original sources (I'm assuming MAME or download-service copies for the retro stuff) - which requires both expensive equipment and the expense of the systems and games themselves. Also, I don't know if she does her own graphics and animation, but her transitions all look like original work; and even if she did do them herself the "going rate" for that kind of work can get pretty damn high especially if you plan to buy or license it in perpuity.
ALSO: I don't know what else she does for a regular living, but I DO know the relative man-hours of putting a project like this together and they are substantial - thusly, if the ONLY thing all the Kickstarter money did was pay her bills and living-expenses (via supplmental income) while she cut down on her regular paying work so that she could free up the time to actually play/record the games, write the script and make the video I'm frankly perplexed that she ever somehow thought a paltry sum like $6,000 was going to cover it. She's currently operating out of San Fransisco, one of the most expensive places to live - even modestly - in the United States; so when you factor all that in... trust me, the expenses for this kind of production are much more substantial than most would imagine.
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
NEW "Iron Man 3" Trailer
...looks about as good as the last one, which is to say pretty damn good.
Not much "new" on display, but at least better looks at stuff that only flew by quickly in the previous trailer. Of particular note, though: "The Mandarin" does, indeed, seem to be called simply "The Mandarin" - which means that the proud Marvel Studios tradition of straight-up lying about this stuff is alive and well. I'm liking that they seem to be doubling-down on the "Ten Rings" as Al Qaeda angle from the first movie, with Mandarin looking more and more like a slightly more theatrical, pan-Asian Bin Laden with each new
If I had to guess, I'd imagine the "Iron Army" bit at the end involves remotely-operated "empty" suits; which sounds both like a fun idea and an interesting workaround to the issue of "will people be satisfied with 'only' Iron Man after seeing him with The Avengers?" The big lumpy one at the very end is, obviously, supposed to make you think of The Hulk - but I can't tell if it's supposed to be specifically the "Hulkbuster" armor from the comics - which everyone wants to see at some point. (Sidebar: Given that War Machine is already wearing Captain America/Iron Patriot colors, it'd be a fun detail if some or all of these other suits are specifically designed to be "supplemental Avengers.")
Also: The shot of Pepper Potts in some kind of harness (and is that her in the sports-bra at 2:01?) returns, though this time it looks like she's actually in the same aparatus we see Guy Pierce's character strapping a bunch of burly henchmen into elsewhere. "Extremis," the storyline this is partially based on, involved turning people into bio-weapons, so take from that what you will.
ALSO: Yes, I've heard all the same gossip about the ending as everybody else has. I dunno whether to buy it or not, but I'm not seeing many indicators of it here.
Not much "new" on display, but at least better looks at stuff that only flew by quickly in the previous trailer. Of particular note, though: "The Mandarin" does, indeed, seem to be called simply "The Mandarin" - which means that the proud Marvel Studios tradition of straight-up lying about this stuff is alive and well. I'm liking that they seem to be doubling-down on the "Ten Rings" as Al Qaeda angle from the first movie, with Mandarin looking more and more like a slightly more theatrical, pan-Asian Bin Laden with each new
If I had to guess, I'd imagine the "Iron Army" bit at the end involves remotely-operated "empty" suits; which sounds both like a fun idea and an interesting workaround to the issue of "will people be satisfied with 'only' Iron Man after seeing him with The Avengers?" The big lumpy one at the very end is, obviously, supposed to make you think of The Hulk - but I can't tell if it's supposed to be specifically the "Hulkbuster" armor from the comics - which everyone wants to see at some point. (Sidebar: Given that War Machine is already wearing Captain America/Iron Patriot colors, it'd be a fun detail if some or all of these other suits are specifically designed to be "supplemental Avengers.")
Also: The shot of Pepper Potts in some kind of harness (and is that her in the sports-bra at 2:01?) returns, though this time it looks like she's actually in the same aparatus we see Guy Pierce's character strapping a bunch of burly henchmen into elsewhere. "Extremis," the storyline this is partially based on, involved turning people into bio-weapons, so take from that what you will.
ALSO: Yes, I've heard all the same gossip about the ending as everybody else has. I dunno whether to buy it or not, but I'm not seeing many indicators of it here.
15th Polskich Nagród Filmowych Orły (Eagle Awards) Winners
More interesting is to learn this year's Eagle award winners as the Polish Academy spread the wealth among many films. Big winner of last night ceremony was Manhunt by Martin Krzyształowicz (photo) which collected four awards including the high profile Best Picture.
Best Picture: Oblawa (Manhunt), Martin Krzyształowicz
Best Director: Roman Polanski for Carnage
Best Screenplay: Wojciech Smarzowski for Drogówka (Highway Patrol)
Best Actress: Agnieszka Grochowska in Bez Wstydu (Shameless), Filip Marczewski
Best Supporting Actress: Joanna Kulig in Elles, Malgorzata Szumowska
Best Actor: Maciej Stuhr in Poklosie (Aftermath), Wladyslaw Pasikowski
Best Supporting Actor: Arkadiusz Jakubik in Drogówka (Highway Patrol), Wojciech Smarzowski
Discovery of the Year: Michael Urbaniak in Mój rowe (My Father's Bike), Piotr Trzaskalski
Best Cinematography: Arkadiusz Tomiak for Oblawa (Manhunt), Martin Krzyształowicz
Best Production Designer: Allan Starski for Poklosie (Aftermath), Wladyslaw Pasikowski
Best Costume Design: Magdalena Rutkiewicz-Luterek for Oblawa (Manhunt), Martin Krzyształowicz
Best Music: Krzysztof Komeda and Mariusz Ostański in Komeda, Komeda ..., Natasza Ziółkowska-Kurczuk
Best Sound: Barbara and Peter Domaradzki Domaradzka for Oblawa (Manhunt), Martin Krzyształowicz
Best Editing: Jaroslaw Kaminski for Jesteś Bogiem (You are God), Leszek Dawid
Best Documentary: Wirtualna wojna (Man @ War) directed by Jack Bławut
Best European Film: Amour, Michael Haneke
Audience Award: Jesteś Bogiem (You are God), Leszek Dawid
The honorary Eagle for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to celebrated actress Danuta Szaflarska. To read news go here.