Angry Nerd does "Swordquest"

I'm assuming that most of us are familiar, at least by reputation, with James Rolfe - aka "The Angry Video-Game Nerd." If not, in brief: He's probably the first genuinely important video gaming commentator to emerge from the world of web videos. His hook: Rolfe - in character as a foul-mouthed nerd archetype - reviews infamously-awful vintage games, frequently as part of an over-arching comedy skit.

The humor and the ever-increasing retro-popularity for gaming obscura made the character an instant hit a few years back, though many initially dismissed him as yet another one-note Youtube phenomenon; he quickly revealed himself as something much more: A remarkably insightful critic and historian of gaming arcana. The Nerd's focus is almost-exclusively on games of the pre-Playstation era, and - by intent or not - the specific "game-is-bad-must-beat-it-anyway" rage that is his trademark is itself a recognizable relic to Gamers Of A Certain Age: The masochism of having bought/been given a stinker and forcing yourself through it anyway because... well, what ELSE were you going to play?

As part of that broader nostalgia trip, occasionally The Nerd lets (some) of the angry-cussin' veneer drop for episodes that are more like history lessons, and in his newest episode he's tackled a doozy: "Swordquest," the epic (failed) Atari 2600 experiment in which a (planned) series of four games were to be played as part of clue-hunt through tie-in comics that would yield players prizes in the form of real gold-cast "treasures" valued at tens of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, the Crash of 83 cut the whole event off in the middle; leaving behind dissapointed fans and a two decade long unsolved mystery involving - yes - a lost sword.

Just watch the video, which I'd say is easily one of the best episodes he's ever done...

Video Games ScrewAttack Angry Video Game Nerd: Swordquest

XBox 360 Playstation 3 Nintendo Wii

ScrewAttack Video Game, Angry Video Game Nerd: Swordquest Game Trailers & Videos GameTrailers.com

How nuts is that, right? It's like the pre-title backstory to one of the "National Treasure" movies!

Makes too much sense to be true...

...would be my reaction to this IESB rumor story about the "full" scope of Christopher Nolan's "shepherding" of future DC Comics superhero movies: http://iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8514:iesb-exclusive-big-plans-for-superman-batman-a-co&catid=43:exclusive-features&Itemid=73

Short version of the rumor(s), in general order:

1.) Nolan directs "Batman 3" and produces the Superman non-sequel/no-reboot currently being called "The Man of Steel."

2.) Nolan's brother Johnathan and good-buddy David Goyer are writing both the Batman and Superman films, with an eye on Johnathan Nolan making "Man of Steel" HIS directorial debut.

3.) In addition, Christopher Nolan is ALSO "in charge" (in some capacity, at least) of the currently fast-tracked "Flash" and "Green Lantern" movies, along with the other DC "mainline" hero projects yet to be set up (Wonder Woman? Aquaman?) with an eye on cross-franchise synergy leading up to...

4.) ...A franchise-unifying "Justice League" team-up movie to be directed by Nolan AFTER Batman 3 and Superman have come out.

...uh-huh.

From where I sit, this all makes a little too much sense to be true. See, people tend to forget that the DC characters are in a different situation than the Marvel guys, where the rights are spread among different studios and Marvel is only able to try the current "Avengers" experiment because they're doing it in-house. DC, on the other hand, is owned lock, stock and barrel by Warner Bros... ALL of it. In other words, the only reason you see or don't see ANY DC movie is because someone at WB simply said yes or no. They've been capable of greenlighting a Justice League movie, a series of crossovers, a Martian Manhunter rom-com, ANYTHING for decades now and have never managed to get their shit together in all that time. The Nolan bros. have a big Dark Knight shaped dick to swing around in Hollywood right now, sure, but I have a hard time believing that even having the current God of Fanboy Reassurance onhand to bless things is enough to suddenly kick everything so completely into place.

Even still, I'd be more "intrigued" to see this work than excited. If the follow-up to TDK, Superman, Flash and the rest are now supposed to be living in the same universe... how exactly does that work? Will the Nolans risk hacking off all the folks who've come to worship "Knight's" steadfast commitment to "gritty realism" by suddenly having "that" Batman hanging out with aliens, speedsters and Amazonian princesses? Or will it be everyone ELSE who has to get refitted into Batman's world - i.e. will they ALL be sporting underwhelming black robo-armor and chronic laringitis?

TRON LEGACY Trailer Screened: Event Did Not Live Up To Expectations...

Jim here. Unfortunately it sounds as though Disney's TRON LEGACY event at various cities was a let down. Many were expecting an AVATAR Day type event where there was a significant chunk of footage shown. Instead it was a new trailer, but with some previously seen material. And a t-shirt.

Keep in mind however that this is NOT speaking of the quality of the movie which seemed to all to be top notch!

The trailer was not quite two minutes long according to some fans (others say 2.5 minutes) and not worth the wait. It was only screened ONCE. They had to check their electronics at the door and many shook their heads as to why after the event. One complained he spent more time in the line up to retrieve his cellphone than watching the trailer!

Here are some first hand reports exclusive to MarketSaw:
clogwyn wrote:

Just got back from the London (UK) IMAX screening..... We waited for over half an hour past the screening til 2pm...everyone very excited to see new footage etc. Were itold how lucky we were and that we were privileged to be the first audience worldwide to see this...and then they showed a 2 min trailer that I have already read about on this site or others (flynns son, visits flynn's arcade, finds den behind tron machine, gets zapped into teh system, then lots of quick shots of key characters and a few lightcycles racing, then coming soon title - thats pretty much it. Either something technical screwed up and they couldn't show us the supposed preview scenes from the movie (we were expecting around 10-15mins for our trouble, such as Avatar Day?) or that was it, just the trailer. Audience was confused / p*ssed off and left, no cheers, whoops or anything. Be very interested to see what NY and LA get. If the same treatment then I think Disney are treating a loyal Tron fanbase like muppets.

------

Paul wrote:

Basically It was alot of hype for the trailer that WILL BE ON ALICE AND WONDERLAND NEXT WEEK. Like don't get me wrong, it was a great trailer. But it wasn't even two minutes. Starts out with Flynn's son. They say they got a call from the old arcade that has been closed for a long time. He goes to the tron machine. Gets through the secret passage way. Gets zapped in to the computer (we don't see it) then we get a bunch of great pics of the video game world. Definitely stuff to get excited at. I honestly don't feel the need to go into that much detail. Great images that will be better seen rather than written about. Is it as mind blowing as AVATAR. Not really simply because the world of AVATAR is so exspansive and inventive. But I also think with this trailer they are playing it close to the chest here. But then the trailer ended and that was it. Do we get a glimpse of the light cycles. Yes two very short very cool shots. Any DAFT PUNK? Nothing that I could really tell. I will say this though Olivia Wilde looks great in her suit. It also looks to not be related to the TR2N script that is floating around the internet. I read the first 20 pages and there doesn't seem to be any relation to that script (which is good) People traveled far to see this. I don't know if it was only for the screening, but a fan said he was from Toronto and another from Boston. ALL FOR A TRAILER THAT WILL BE ONLINE IN A WEEK. It was really indignant of them to play this event like it was something more. Checking cell phones at the door?! It was in 3d IMAX what could they have filmed? An insanely blurry image? Afterwards there was a mob of people trying to get their phones It was utter chaos. I spent more time in line for my cell phone than I did the trailer. I walked up to the studio representatives and told them how disappointed the fans were at the event. They thought it had been clear it was just the trailer. But no where in the sign up stuff did it say that. We cheered to have it shown again but there was nothing. They herded us out. I did get a 'Flynn Lives' t-shirt which was cool. But overall an insane disappointment in fandom. If you are going to put that much work at least show SOMETHING else besides a trailer. Don't feel like any of you missed out. Cause you didn't.

------

kevinC wrote, in response to clogwyn:

Just got back from the ny screening...it was the same footage which was just the new trailer...i disagree though and thought the trailer was pretty good ...seeing flynn prepared for battle looking 20 years younger than he is was pretty cool...i dunno if it was a digital recreation of him or what ala arnold in terminator salvation but he didnt look like some old man looking to fight...the lightcycles looked amazing and the faithfullness to the original is apparent and the visuals to me looked oustanding....seeing it at lincoln square on one of the biggest screens in the world definitely makes a difference though...the crowd here i believe was impressed with what was shown but dissapointed at the length of the footage shown....but taken at face value the footage itself ...i thought it was pretty damn good and am excited for the movie...but i do agree that going all the way to a theatre to see 2 and half minutes is absolutely ridiculous even if we did get a flynn lives t -shirt along with it.

-----
So mixed results, but mainly disappointing. I did not see the trailer so I can't comment on the content at all, but it sounds as though it could be worthwhile if I were seeing another movie right afterward. And, of course - I love a good t-shirt just like the next guy :-)

Could have been handled better by Disney Marketing though. Not sure why they wanted this viral. Hopefully there are much bigger and better things planned in the coming months. They have to be careful though - if you cry wolf too many times, audiences may not show up for the real deal! :-) Just sayin'.

Sigourney Weaver All But Confirms Her Involvement In AVATAR 2: She Ain't Dead Yet...

Jim here. Another morsel of information has been added to the mix for AVATAR 2: Signourney Weaver is seriously hinting that she will be in the sequel to AVATAR - even though she supposedly died in the original!

The story comes from AICN where a reader sent in a link to a French video where Weaver discloses the info. Weaver can speak French too. The interesting part is after the 3:30m mark and you can hear her in English.

Anyone who has watched the movie knows that she didn't seem to die, but rather "she is with Eywa". Her consciousness or "soul" has transferred to the tree of souls.

This opens up many, MANY scenarios now that we know that there is a real chance she is returning. Will she be teamed up with Eywa somehow? Very interesting! She does back track a bit though by saying she can't promise anything, but the info is a bombshell of sorts.

Here is the clip! Thanks to Shawn for the headsup :-) Working on some more AVATAR 2 news shortly!

Exclusive: EXTREME NATURE OF BATS Science Film Wraps Production!

Jim here. PassmoreLab sent us these exclusive photos and a great update upon their return from wrapping up photography in the Indian Ocean. This is serious work folks. I am impressed with the lengths at which these guys went to obtain the whole story in their latest 3D science film THE EXTREME NATURE OF BATS.

PHOTO: A vampire bat consumes the blood from a cow during production in the remote jungles of Mexico.

The film, which explores the truths, myths and dark legends that have stalked the world’s only flying mammal, closely examines three bat species; the free-tailed bat, the megabat, and the infamous vampire bat.

PassmoreLab’s production team traveled the world to film these bats in their natural habitats in order to tell their remarkable story.

Production began last year in October in a Texas bat cave, where the team filmed a resident population of 12 million Mexican free-tailed bats. From there, the crew traveled to Romania to tackle the myths surrounding bats and Bran Castle (better known as Dracula’s Castle), then backpacked through the jungles of Mexico to film the elusive vampire bat. Finally, after arriving in Africa, the team boarded a boat to a primitive island in the Indian Ocean to film the megabat.

“I took the crew over 42,000 miles to get these bats,” says Passmore. “We were on location in some amazing and amazingly remote places. For instance, the Indian Ocean island was wild, with giant spiders, huge bats, and very difficult terrain. It looked like we had landed in a Jules Verne novel.”

Bats fulfill multiple roles in different parts of the world. For instance, in North America they keep ecosystems in check, yet are symbols of fright; in the Indian Ocean they are a part of the food supply; and in Mexico bats treat animals and humans as a part of their food supply.

Through interpreters and local guides, Passmore began to hear about the legends of his subject matter. “The locals in one remote village in Mexico told us that they can hear the vampire bats making a screaming noise during the nightly cattle hunts.”

To try to capture that on film, the crew had to ditch the jeeps and go in by foot, backpacking for hours to an area where they could film these swarms of vampire bats in the moonlight drinking blood from cattle.
PHOTO: A megabat, clearly awake during the day while roosting in a tree, watches the crew closely.

“It was very still, very quiet, and then all at once…yes, there were screaming noises,” says Passmore. “It was eerie.”

“The Extreme Nature of Bats” is a new, educational 3D science film that chronicles the lives of these unique and interesting animals. Passmore’s objective was to find bat populations in locations where few crews have ever gone before, giving viewers a highly memorable, realistic journey and exposing them to a world they have never seen before.
“I wanted to go deep inside active bat caves and film from the inside out,” says Passmore. “I needed to understand the risks and rewards associated with large bat populations before I could put it onscreen.”

One sequence shows the megabats in the trees and sky, surrounded by the most incredible natural beauty on the edge of an ancient burial ground. And in the middle of all that activity, the local people are catching them in giant nets.

“Apparently, they go well with rice,” continues Passmore. “That just reinforced to me the need to better understand these creatures across cultural contexts,” continues Passmore. “A disease plaguing bats, White Nose Syndrome, is killing off entire bat colonies, and we are unsure why. Hopefully the film can help underscore the importance of these creatures and why we need to protect them.”

PHOTO: The PassmoreLab production crew backpacks across a remote island in the Indian Ocean.

The film now goes into post-production to be ready for rollout to museums and theatres. “We traveled far and wide to tell this story,” says Steve Glum, PassmoreLab’s head of Branding & Distribution. “It’s been an incredible expedition and we think audiences worldwide will be thrilled to experience this journey with us.”

PassmoreLab’s “The Extreme Nature of Bats” is scheduled for release to Science Centers and Museums in March, and will be translated into German and Spanish.

About PassmoreLab
PassmoreLab, the “World’s Largest 3D Content Provider”, is a San Diego-based multi-media production studio that specializes in 3D production. The studio custom-designs and builds its own RED camera 3D rigs for both conventional and rugged film productions, shooting everything from feature films, television and science documentaries, to underwater diving, extreme sports and cave exploration http://www.passmorelab.com/PL2minTRAILER.mov. State-of-the-art facilities include a full 3D production studio, video/film post-production, optical development lab, and a software development environment. Production includes 2D, 3D, high dynamic range time lapse, stereoscopic microscopy and cutting-edge simulation technologies for real time SFX. PassmoreLab has additional offices in Russia and the Philippines. For more information, visit www.passmorelab.com.

Be sure to check out this fearless 3D science film. It looks spectacular! And we will learn something important at the same time.

PassmoreLab is a sponsor of MarketSaw.

Karate Kid remake explains itself

The "international" trailer for the Karate Kid remake ("spiritual successor," more like) includes dialogue explaining/excusing the problematic title/content dissonance - i.e. the movie is set in CHINA and the "kid" is clearly using/learning KUNG-FU - and otherwise continues the alarming trend of the domestic trailers of looking actually pretty good:



What can I say? I'm liking the unromantic/unvillainous vision of contemporary China, and it looks like Jackie Chan has made a conscious decision to NOT phone this one in. Who knows, anymore...

Escape to the Movies: "Halo Legends"

Intermission: "Five Great Movies About Video Games" - http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/7217-Five-Great-Movies-About-Videogames

The Good News Were NOT Good

I was just reading the post "Good News" from July 20, 2009 where I shared with you all about me moving to another country and realized that 7 months later the moving seems to be finally over. Yes, this was the most disastrous moving experience I have ever had in my entire life and believe me, I have moved a lot.

In about an hour the container with whatever is left from my stuff is arriving home. I don't know how things will arrive but I'm expecting the worst and I hope I can salvage some of my stuff like my books, my pictures, my extensive movie collection and my life story. I know that my computer, sound system, dvd player, laserdisc player and many other stuff will be kaput! But at least the wait will be over after months and months of waiting.

I wish this blog will be the place to tell you my moving story, but it's not. This is a film blog and as such will remain.

Now you know another reason why I haven't posted often.

Sigh.

Nicolas Chartier Tries To Put THE HURT on AVATAR's Oscar Chances! Landau Responds...

Jim here. If you are not aware of Nicolas Chartier's enormous Oscar blunder here is your chance to catch up. Chartier is a producer of THE HURT LOCKER and he took it upon himself to mass email many if not all his contacts (not sure which) in an effort to sway their votes - and their friends of friends' votes.

Trouble is, this is all very illegal activity with the Academy. You simply cannot ask for votes, let alone mass spam everyone in your network. Further, you can't ask your network to ask THEIR network to do the same! The Oscars are all about which movie is generally voted as being the best and is not a social networking driven affair - despite the politics that are involved. I see "For Your Consideration" ads everywhere, but I suppose they are regulated and treated much as political election campaigns are run.

Here is what he said in his email (via LA Times):

From: "Nicolas Chartier" Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010

I hope all is well with you. I just wanted to write you and say I hope you liked Hurt Locker and if you did and want us to win, please tell (name deleted) and your friends who vote for the Oscars, tell actors, directors, crew members, art directors, special effects people, if everyone tells one or two of their friends, we will win and not a $500M film, we need independent movies to win like the movies you and I do, so if you believe The Hurt Locker is the best movie of 2010, help us!

I'm sure you know plenty of people you've worked with who are academy members whethere a publicist, a writer, a sound engineer, please take 5 minutes and contact them. Please call one or two persons, everything will help!

best regards,

Nicolas Chartier Voltage Pictures

Of course once this hit the LA Times it was game over and he quickly "apologized":

Last week I emailed you regarding the Oscars next week, generally, and
"The Hurt Locker," in particular.

My email to you was out of line and not in the spirit of the celebration of
cinema that this acknowledgement is. I was even more wrong, both personally
and professionally, to ask for your help in encouraging others to vote for
the film and to comment on another movie. As passionate as I am about the
film we made, this was an extremely inappropriate email to send, and
something that the Academy strongly disapproves of in the rules.

My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first time
nominee is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it. Being
nominated for an Academy Award is the ultimate honor and I should have taken
the time to read the rules.

I am emailing each person this very same statement asking to retract my
previous email and requesting that you please disregard it.

I truly apologize to anyone I have offended.

Sincerely yours,

best regards,

Nicolas Chartier
Voltage Pictures, LLC


Chartier pleads ignorance. I say that is a load of you know what. I think they were trying to bend the rules with today's social networking technology. I suspect even using Facebook would lead you to trouble with the Academy - which THE HURT LOCKER team has done apparently.

Chartier goes even further than begging for votes: He denounces AVATAR as a $500m movie and that indie films should get more attention. Right. This is coming from a producer no less. Not a grip from the film. My opinion is if a movie warrants attention, it will get it. Head(s) should roll for this clear violation.

For the year 2009, there is only one movie that has captured the world's attention like NONE other in history. No other movie that has revolutionized Hollywood for not only stereoscopic 3D, but for performance capture and crossing the "uncanny valley". We all know it is AVATAR.

So what would you think Cameron's reaction would be to this? I don't really know (other than the mutual admiration of work between Cameron & Bigelow) - but we DO KNOW what Jon Landau's (Producer - AVATAR, TITANIC) reaction is:



I fall squarely on AVATAR's side here of course. But really that is beside the point. $2.5 billion in box office essentially forgives practically ANY cost the film incurred in its making, not that he should be denouncing anything that any other movie has done. And $500m has not even been proven. He doesn't even mention Bigelow or the others who are up for awards here. It is as if it is his own movie.

I find the whole thing very, VERY ugly. The only positive coming out of this is the class act response from Jon Landau.

Thanks to Jo for sending in the heads-up of the Jon Landau comments on the situation!

Must Watch: New HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Trailer!

Jim here. It's looking good!! Love this new trailer from Dreamworks Animation's HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. I can imagine how good the 3D will be in some of those scenes :-)

Have a look!



It has a lot of potential don't you think? I think DWA has delivered the goods! HTTYD opens March 26.

Speedy Gonzales: The Movie

From the "movies that will suck but will be fascinating to watch develop" department comes this gem, courtesy Hollywood Reporter's "Heat Vision" blog: The remnants of New Line Cinema are doing a live-action/CGI "Speedy Gonzales" movie, scripted by the writers of "Garfield" and with George Lopez voicing the title character: http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/02/speedy-gonzales-george-lopez-film-new-line-jerry-weintraub.html

Yegh. No es bueno.

The big question hovering over this property was always going to be how they'd deal with the "delicate" matter of ethnic stereotyping. As it turns out, New Line's solution is to take "delicate" completely out of the equation. Ann Lopez speaks of "George's "Latino seal of approval.", which sounds like a flat-out admission that George Lopez is mainly on board as a "firewall" against innevitable criticism. I mean, let's be real here... Lopez has demonstrated almost no range, no notable skill for voices not his own (and he doesn't sound like Speedy), has no real following and isn't all that funny; so why WOULD they hire him but not for the "cred?"

Ann Lopez goes on to say that "We wanted to make sure that it was not the Speedy of the 1950s -- the racist Speedy," which probably tells all that needs be told about how this is being approached. One must, of course, be sensitive to Latino concerns about Hollywood bigotry... but I've got to ask if in this case it's A.) possible and B.) necessary to do anything about this.

The problem with the Speedy cartoons is that they weren't generally trading in ethnic-caricature in a big, showy, obvious way: The Mexican mice were the good guys, played as happy and wholly functional until bad guys - usually non-Mexican cats, Daffy or Sylvester - showed up to cause trouble. Plus, Speedy himself was a kind of a superhero, who thwarted villains and saved people/mice. The lone running "race joke" is of the ironic-reverse variety: Mexicans are "supposed to be" slow and lazy, so it's "funny" that the guy who runs fast and has all this energy is Mexican.

Here's the thing: Do people still "get" that that's what's supposed to funny about this character? What I mean is, is this one of those cartoon-caricatures that the march of culture has rendered no longer as "blunt" as it was originally intended? Audiences in the 1950s likely laughed along with the wink-wink-nudge-nudge "irony" of Speedy's supposed race/behavior dissonance... but did the 'gag' still hold in the 60s, 70s and 80s, or did Speedy just become "guy who runs fast, happens to be Mexican?"

My generation grew up watching "DuckTales," just for one example, and I doubt that any great percentage of us were especially cogniscent that Uncle Scrooge McDuck was a dated racial-caricature of a cheapskate Scotsman. Is this where Speedy is, or is there still genuine offense to be had? I suppose I should ask: Latino readers, IS there a "consensus" on Speedy Gonzales in Latino culture? Is it positive? Negative?

In any case, I doubt the movie version will have any room for Speedy's cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez...

Captain America casting...

...is probably a few weeks or less away, given that they're now making casting shortlists public. Deadline Hollywood had the main list, which primarily included Chace Crawford, John Krasinski, Scott Porter, Mike Vogel, Michael Cassidy and Patrick Flueger: http://www.deadline.com/2010/02/exclusive-who-will-be-captain-america/#more-26473

So... mostly TV actors under 30, which makes a certain inevitable sense when you're "deal" is a $300,000 payday conditional on signing up for NINE MORE MOVIES plus the first one. Still, since none of them are square-jawed, barrel-chested, world-weary men who look like idealized daddy-figures (or Alex Ross paintings, same thing really) cue fan consternation... now ;)

Guys... can't we save time on these things at this point? Insert-superhero-here is NOT going be and will NEVER BE played by Bruce Campbell, Nathan Fillion, John Hamm, or whoever is "anachronistically masculine semi-famous actor of the moment." (Apparently Neal McDonough is a fan fave for Cap, too, presumably because he's... blonde?) Just repeat that to yourself every time a new franchise announced, and it'll make everything smoother. Here, you can start practicing now: Shane Black is going to write and direct the "Doc Savage" movie... NONE of those guys are going to be Doc Savage. See? Easy.

Meanwhile, Cinematical says that "sources" claim Krasinski essentially has the part, which would be... interesting, to say the least: http://www.cinematical.com/2010/02/24/exclusive-is-john-krasinski-our-captain-america/

For what it's worth, Krasinski has a tangential connection to the production already: His fiancee is Emily Blunt, who just made "The Wolfman" with director Joe Johnston.

Anyway, while I'm here, here's what I want to know: Is Bucky Barnes in this movie? And as a follow-up: Why is no one asking this but me?

TRON LEGACY Viral Site Announces Exclusive Events This Weekend!!

Jim here. The creative folks over at Disney have taken a page from the Fox marketing playbook and are hosting exclusive TRON LEGACY events this weekend. Odds are it is a special screening of small segments of the movie - ala AVATAR Day.

Here are the locations and times for the events:
New York
AMC Loews Lincoln Square IMAX - Sat., Feb. 27, 10:00AM EST

Los Angeles
IMAX Theatre at The Bridge - Sat., Feb. 27, 2:30PM PST

London
bfi London IMAX Cinema - Sat., Feb. 27, 1:30PM GMT

Toronto
Scotiabank IMAX Theater - Sat., Feb. 27, 11:00AM EST

Sydney
LG IMAX Theatre - Sun., Feb. 28, 10:00AM EDT

Tickets will be released on THIS SITE on February 25 at these times:
New York - 4PM EST
Los Angeles - 1PM PST
London - 9PM GMT
Toronto - 4PM EST
Sydney - 8AM EDT (*2/26)

You must also be a registered member of the FlynnLives website to be eligible to get tickets. So register now and hope you can get through when the designated time arrives in your home city!!

GOOD LUCK! Let us know if you get in... :-)

FLASH GORDON Going 3D!

Jim here. Am I surprised anymore at the number of sci-fi and horror movies that are going S3D? Nope. It is really more about what projects get green lit at all and which ones don't.

Breck Eisner (THE CRAZIES), director just spilled the beans to Collider that FLASH GORDON will be in 3D. Native 3D? Well judging by Eisner's choice of words I would say no: "Yes, this will definitely be a 3D movie. Like I said, when it’s the right kind of movie, you want to use the right kind of technology, so we intend to shoot it for 3D."

"...shoot it FOR 3D." Sounds like a 2D shoot that is optimized for a post production conversion to 3D. This is not confirmed, but certainly rings about right.

Here is what Eisner had to say about the movie itself: "Flash Gordon is a project I’ve been pursuing for years. It’s a true passion of mine. Sci-fi is a real passion of mine. And I finally got it set up at Sony and we hired the two writers, [Matt] Sazama and [Burk] Sharpless. I’ve been breaking story with them since I finished post on The Crazies, for the last two months or so. We finished that process; we’re now putting pen to paper, or keys to keyboard, and writing the script. We should have that in a month or two. And I think we have an awesome story. It’s not in any way connected to the camp of the ’80’s and it’s not connected to the serials of the ’50’s. It’s very much looking back to the original Alex Raymond strips; it’s imagining that Alex Raymond were to draw the strips today instead of in the ’30’s and ’40s and what would they be? It’ll be action and adventure; it’ll be aggressive and dynamic and intense with a really strong lead character who goes on an interesting personal journey over the course of the movie."

Sounds like he has got a good grip on what needs to be done with FLASH GORDON to make it a success. I know the 1980's version left a lot to be desired. We will keep our ear to the ground on this one and watch for telltale signs of his direction in THE CRAZIES. Early of course, but I think FG could turn out to be well worth watching.

Check out the remainder of the interview at Collider.

Best Buy - Listen Up: LLLLETS Get Ready To DEMO!

Jim here. Big box electronics retailers heed warning: No more just standing around citing specifications and pointing at flat screens! You are going to need to do more than always say "This is the set I have at home and it is great".

With the advent of S3DHD televisions you are going to have to demo it, or not have access to them! So says Panasonic. When the VT25 lineup of S3DHD plasmas come on stream in May, retail employees will have to be well versed in the technology and be able to effectively demo what the consumer will be buying.

Said Bob Perry, SVP Marketing at Panasonic: "To us, all of our retailers are really important, but if a retailer cannot properly display it we will not allow them to sell it."

From Twice.com: Panasonic sees 3D as a key differentiator for plasma technology, since it has an inherently rapid switching capability that is necessary to deliver the rapidly alternating full 1080p images to each eye of viewers equipped with special active shutter glasses.

"We believe that when they go into retail and see our 3D plasmas, the average consumer will say, "That looks better" he said. "We aren't going to trash LCD, but are going to make sure the consumer knows that if they want the best 3D experience so far, it is going to be available from Panasonic plasma."

3D TV will be a central part of Panasonic's focus in its previously announced upcoming 15-city "mini-CES" showcase that will use three touring "show booths" with a wide range of products, to hit each of the East, West and Central regions of the country, hitting heavily trafficked venues in the nation's top designated market areas.

...the tour is part of an intensive advertising and promotional blitz for 2010, estimated at around $100 million, that will see Panasonic spend twice as much on advertising some product categories, over the previous year, he said.

I am so glad that Panasonic is putting its foot down on this. Customer service at some of these retailers can be abysmal; I had a guy telling me a few days ago at one of these stores that 3DTVs will be around NEXT YEAR sometime. I hope other manufacturers follow suit. Consumers deserve the best information possible on what they are buying. S3D deserves it too.

Metaweb

As you can see in The Hurt Locker post I'm testing a new service from Metaweb with basic info for the movie; the snippet still is in testing mode and imagine that soon will be officially launched. I definitively prefer more 'reliable' sources for the data and hope that when launched will include them.

Still I need your help to please tell us if you like or not the snippet. You can select the method you prefer to give your feedback, send email and/or leave a comment. I know that comments are not easy in the blog, but since the awful spam attack had to turn back the word verification and other security measures.

We thank you in advance for your generous feedback.

The Hurt Locker

It's been long since I do a review, so what better movie than the Oscar hopeful excellent film by outstanding director Kathryn Bigelow. Took me a long time to get in the right mood to watch a war movie and to my surprise this is not really a war movie. All right is set in a war but is about the chilling profession of disarming bombs in the heat of urban combat, one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. If you take the story out of war and take it to any city in the USA you will find the story repetitive as has been told by many mediocre movies. But -and is a big BUT- this thrilling film that I watched in the comfort of my bed with the covers up to my nose makes the story so thrilling and exciting that your heart starts to pump right with the first few minutes. Excellent!

More interesting is that most of the film does not feel like a movie. It feels like a documentary but a 'special' documentary as you feel like if you're there, like if you are a few steps away from the men. Extraordinary!

There are some Hollywood special effects but within the film narrative become part of the narrative and you understand why editing selected to insert that 'wow' moment in the intense storytelling. Still, most of the film has no visual or special effects and truly feels like naked reality.

Is accurate to real war? I do not know and probably not. But who cares when the storytelling grabs your attention from the very beginning until the very end. You can't stop watching, with the exception of the human bomb where my bed covers went up as was really hard to watch. Not very often you have the opportunity to watch an American drama that's thrilling, intense and makes you feel all kind of emotions. Excellent!

A while back I read an article called "Is Kathryn Bigelow a man?" and mention this to tell you that is really impressive how a woman could tell a men story so well. Still I know that this story is about human beings and their behaviors under extreme death and life situations. But there are some moments where the drama explores men bonding after living those situations and while the film becomes slowish, what is and how is shown suggest male bonding insight. Definitively Bigelow is not a man and is quite an attractive woman that with a 'known' story from many other terrible American films did an extraordinary film. Great storyteller!

Do I recommend the film? Yes. But I suggest to not expect a film about the war in Iraq as is not. It's a terrible and exciting tale about men who expose their lives every time they have to disarm a bomb.

The film has been getting the most honors this award season and according to IMDb has 9 Oscar nominations plus 67 wins and 42 nominations, the latest at the 2010 BAFTA's where won the award in almost every category it was nominated with the exception of two. It's a very impressive credential for a movie American or not and I only wish that Oscar recognizes the excellent filmmaker Bigelow is and makes the milestone a reality: the first female director to win in the 82 years of the history of the Academy Awards.

A must be seen film for many that read this blog regularly and complained about my lack of posting about movies, awards and festivals during the last month. Thank you for complaining.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

The Hurt Locker

BMC MOVIE OF THE WEEK: OMEN IV: THE AWAKENING

Omen IV - The Awakening (1991)

• 
• 

• Asia Vieira,
• Don S. Davis,
• Faye Grant

Gene and Karen York are the living embodiment of The American Dream. Rich, influential attorneys, they have everything a couple could want... except a child. When the Yorks learn of a beautiful baby girl waiting to adopted, they instantly fall in love with baby Delia and adopt her. But terror and destruction seem to follow Delia wherever she goes. The priest who baptized her mysteriously dies, the psychic fair she attends burns in a fiery holocaust and her nanny falls from a second story window, impaling herself on a merry-go-round. Soon, Delia's mother begins to questions the "coincidence" of these catastrophes. Her thoughts can't help but turn toward the biblical prophesy of Armageddon... the final confrontation between the forces of good and evil, beginning with the birth of Satan in human form.

43% liked it

Unrated

Director: Dominique Othenin-Girard, Jorge Montesi

 

February 21, 2010: First Sunday of Lent (Year C)

Yes, there’s an Omen IV. Ten years after the last theatrical release, the fledgling Fox Network attempted to jumpstart the franchise with this made-for-TV offering. Unfortunately, the effort turned out to be bloodless, pedestrian, and decidedly non-scary.

But also kind of hilarious. Just try not to laugh during the scene in which a guy runs into an alley and bumps into a small choir wearing blue zombie makeup and belting out Jerry Goldsmith’s Ave Santani chant from the previous films. Can’t be done. And don’t even bother trying to suppress the giggles whenever little Delia torments her new age nanny, Josephine. Irritated by Jo’s belief in “stupid stuff”, the girl  turns all of the poor woman’s crystals black, frightens off her pony-tailed aura-photographing boyfriend, and finally just burns down the entire new age psychic faire. (Is it a sin to be cheering on Satan’s granddaughter during this part of the movie?)

But figuring out whether or not the filmmakers were being intentionally funny comes afterwards. Long before pushing play, most folks will find themselves asking, “Didn’t a big glowing Jesus show up and kill off the antichrist at the end of the last movie? How can there even be a sequel?” Well, apparently there was a backup plan. It seems that Damien’s tryst with that reporter in Part III spawned a little girl (Delia) who then carried her twin inside herself in zygote form. At the proper time, that cell became infused with Damien’s soul and was implanted in the womb of Delia’s adoptive mother by a devil worshiping obstetrician so that Damien could be reborn. So, basically, Damien became his own father, which would make his daughter also his sister AND surrogate mother. Confused? Forget it, Jake, it’s Satantown.

Still, convoluted as this scheme is, it has some truth in it. In the very last line of this week’s gospel we read: “When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.” FOR A TIME. You see, even though Jesus himself (not big and glowing this time around) had just smacked down Satan in an exegetical cage match and sent the Old Serpent crawling off with his tail between where his legs used to be, Scripture lets us know he’s gonna keep slithering back again and again and again. Kind of like in a bad movie.

We are meant to recognize our own ongoing battle with temptation in Jesus’ time spent in the desert. Pope St. Leo put it this way, “He fought then, therefore, that we too might fight thereafter… For there are no works of power, dearly-beloved, without the trials of temptations, there is no faith without proof, no contest without a foe, no victory without conflict. This life of ours is in the midst of snares, in the midst of battles; if we do not wish to be deceived, we must watch: if we want to overcome, we must fight.”

AVATAR 2: Early Rumblings And Yes, Cameron Is Directing

Jim here. I have been hearing more and more about AVATAR 2 and the direction that Cameron wants to take it from one of my best sources.

Yes, Cameron will be directing. There is obviously some posturing going on to position the sides for the upcoming negotiations regarding the projects. Don't think for a second he will let anyone else water down this franchise like what happened to TERMINATOR.

So what have I heard about AVATAR 2? We are going to be seeing a great deal more future Earth in 2 and 3 - especially AVATAR 2. The extended edition for AVATAR will help set this up for us, but there are also key elements from the original movie that will do so as well of course.

My source is in a hard place right now as the information he/she has is "very spoilery" and may even turn out to be inaccurate in some places when actual production starts down the road. What he does say is: "It is not what you may expect". It will be similar yet very different with the same main characters. Not everything is as it seems in that system (Polyphemus).

Of course keep in mind the elements of war that we posted exclusively a few weeks back! And of course that other moons will be involved, not just Pandora. Again, a MarketSaw exclusive - a full month before the LA Times ran their story.

Our source promises more soon. He/she really only wants to give us information that will most likely happen. That's what I love about my top sources - they are essentially just like us! We love movies and how they are made. We appreciate creative talent!

Stay tuned...

Cameron Revisiting Plans for "Avatar 2" Story...And a Must-Watch Cameron Interview with Charlie Rose!

Michael here. Thanks to m4st4 for pointing me to this video where Cameron talks about Avatar 2; although he has a general direction for the story, he may be revisiting some of his assumptions regarding the story arc for the sequel now that the first Avatar is in theaters. He also says that the team feels a strong desire to stay together and go beyond what they did on Avatar. Watch below:



Also be sure to check out the Cameron interview with Charlie Rose below. It's one of the very best I've seen - it is worth it for his thoughts on storytelling alone. He also does a great job answering some specific criticisms of the film.

Watch the video here!

AVATAR Set To Pass $2.5 Billion Worldwide Tally!! ...And How Fox Could Amp Up More Box Office Right Now

Jim here. It just doesn't want to stop, nor should it! According to my calculations, AVATAR should pass the unheard of pinnacle of $2.5 BILLION dollars worldwide on Friday night. It should pass $700 million domestically on Saturday too! These are simply crazy numbers. Take into consideration if a star or director had first dollar points to the tune of say 10 or 15%. Stunning payday. I am not saying Cameron had anywhere near this type of deal, but still - the potential is there for AVATAR 2 and 3.

But they could earn more. A LOT more...

If Fox was smart, they would start marketing the fact that AVATAR will be bowing out of a lot of screens by March 5th. This will create another groundswell of people who have already seen it, but want to see it again in its full glory on the big screen. It has to be marketed correctly though. I remember Neil Gaiman twittering (well at least his publicist!) about losing CORALINE screens to Disney last spring - getting the word out that if you want to see it in 3D - do it NOW. I thought it was very effective. A limited audience to be sure, but I think studios should jump on this standard marketing ploy when the opportunity presents itself. It is called "creating urgency".

Actually I can see why Fox may NOT want to release the 3D Blu-ray in November: A potential re-release could be in the making. Once the summer swath of 3D movies are out there, I see no reason why they would not sneak AVATAR in once again in the fall. 2D on a small screen does NOT cut it! Could happen folks.

I just took in AVATAR myself for the eleventh time over the weekend. ELEVEN times. And I still am not saturated by it. I took my parents who are in their 60's to an IMAX screening (almost sold out too for a matinee) and they thoroughly enjoyed it. My mother said: "Boy that last guy was REALLY hard to kill! (speaking of Col. Quaritch)" I had to laugh about that - he really was a tough SOB. I plan on bringing my AVATAR screenings to an even dozen sometime this weekend.

Guys - one last thing. I am working on an AVATAR 2 story that will have some more revelations included. Stay tuned! :-)

3D Geek Alert: Awesome Interview With Joe Letteri Of Weta!

Jim here. A special treat for you AVATAR fans! Guess whose got "Oscar" written on his forehead? Ok yeah - other than Jim Cameron :-)

You guessed it: Joe Letteri. For those not acquainted with Joe's exploits, he was Weta's Visual Supervisor on AVATAR and was effects supervisor on THE LOVELY BONES, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, KING KONG (won Oscar), and the last two LOTRs movies (won Oscar for BOTH) to name just a few.

You can check out his interview right here at TVNZ.

His body of work in visual effects is astounding - check it out at IMDb. This guy is definitely on my interview list too! :-) I would say his Oscar chances are hovering around 100%.

2010 BAFTA Award Winners

As some of us know the award ceremony is happening right now and as soon as the major awards are announced I will post them in *RED. (I"m following the ceremony in twitter, as there is NO live stream of the show, unless you live in UK, which is kind of silly as better watch it on TV). Gee this totally looks like my Oscar predictions at The Auteurs... (except for the British actors). It's over until next year. Cheers!

While we wait and if you wish to watch Red Carpet clips and other go here.

Here are the nominations that to my eyes look like what Oscar nods could be. The winners of the awards will be announced at the Orange British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London on February 21, 2010.

Best Film
Avatar
An Education
*The Hurt Locker
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Up In The Air

Outstanding British Film
An Education
*Fish Tank
In The Loop
Moon
Nowhere Boy

Director
James Cameron, Avatar
Neill Blomkamp, District 9
Lone Schefig, An Education
*Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (Bravo!!!!)
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Leading Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up In The Air
*Colin Firth, A Single Man (Wow! Excellent!)
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Andy Serkis Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Leading Actress
*Carey Mulligan, An Education (Great!)
Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Audrey Tautou, Coco Before Chanel

Supporting Actor
Alec Baldwin, It’s Complicated
Christian Mckay, Me And Orson Welles
Alfred Molina, An Education
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
*Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress
Anne-Marie Duff, Nowhere Boy
Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air
Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air
*Mo’nique, Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Kristin Scott Thomas, Nowhere Boy

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer
Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, David Pearson Directors, Producers - Mugabe And The White African
Eran Creevy Writer/Director - Shifty Stuart
Hazeldine Writer/Director - Exam
*Duncan Jones Director - Moon
Sam Taylor-Wood Director - Nowhere Boy

Film Not In The English Language
Broken Embraces
Coco Before Chanel
Let The Right One In
*A Prophet (Good and surprising!)
The White Ribbon

Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr Fox
*Up

*Original Screenplay: Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker
*Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for Up in the Air

*The Orange Rising Star Award: Kristen Stewart - (LOVE her... long before Twilight)

To check nominees in all categories please go here and to check winners in all categories go here. FYI BAFTA'S fifth president will be Prince William, succeeding Richard Attenborough.

What's outstanding is that the two major awards for feature films, Best Film and Outstanding British Film this year belong to female directors as well as the other major award, Best Director. Think this is a first and I'll be checking to confirm it, so if I do not post more is because is a fact. Let's hope the Oscars are similar to the BAFTA's, with the exception of actors that we know will be different.

The award ceremony closed with Prince William and Uma Thurman presenting the Academy Fellowship to none other than Vanessa Redgrave!

If you're interested in watching clips of the winners go to BAFTAonline's Channel at Youtube.

2010 Writers Guild of America Awards Winners

Recently the WGA announced their nominations and here they are. Winners are in *RED.

Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer, Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Avatar, Written by James Cameron
The Hangover, Written by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore; Warner Bros.
*The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal
A Serious Man, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Adapted Screenplay
Crazy Heart, Screenplay by Scott Cooper; Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb
Julie & Julia, Screenplay by Nora Ephron; Based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme
Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher; Based on the novel Push by Sapphire
Star Trek, Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman; Based upon Star Trek, Created by Gene Roddenberry
*Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn

Documentary Screenplay
Against the Tide, Screenplay by Richard Trank
Capitalism: A Love Story, Written by Michael Moore
*The Cove, Written by Mark Monroe
Earth Days, Written by Robert Stone
Good Hair, Written by Chris Rock & Jeff Stilson and Lance Crouther and Chuck Sklar
Soundtrack for a Revolution, Written by Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman

To check the official announcement go here and if you wish to learn the nominations for television go here. The trend continues with the same movies, so we can start to guess the Oscar’s nominees and probably we will guess right. Winners will be announced on Saturday, February 20, 2010. To check the winners at the official site and learn the TV categories winners please go here.