I don't do a lot of recycling of upcoming DVD release dates anymore...I just don't obsessively read a lot of DVD websites anymore. But there was one big DVD release announced today that I felt I needed to speak out against.
Today, it was announced that the biggest movie of all-time, Avatar, will be hitting DVD on April 22. That's Earth Day, and Avatar is being released on that day as part of the film's whole "one with nature" theme. There will be absolutely NO bonus features on the DVD. They say they're doing this so that way they can use all the space on the DVD to maximize the picture and sound quality. Fair enough.
So, I just wanted to say that, when April 22 rolls around, and Avatar goes on sale at your local DVD emporium, DON'T BUY IT.
As I've blogged many times in the past, one of the most heinous crimes in the DVD world is the concept of the double-dip. This is when they release a film on DVD and then, a few months later, release it on DVD AGAIN with all new bonus features, thus tricking you into buying it again. And trust me, those double-dipping DVD producers are out in full force on Avatar.
See, with the big announcement that Avatar is coming out on DVD on the April 22, they've been completely glossing over the fact that the super-special edition of Avatar, with running commentaries, deleted scenes, "making of" documentaries, and all that other stuff that makes DVD so awesome, is coming out in November.
So, please! Don't fall for the double-dip! Keep your money in your pocket and wait until November to buy Avatar!
But that's not all! Part of Avatar's allure was that it was in 3D, remember? Did you know that the first 3D TV's went on sale last week? Well, they did. Along with them, special Blu-Ray players that play special 3D Blu-Ray discs. You're probably thinking that Avatar would be a launch title, right? Well, it's not!
Avatar's not going to be released in this new 3D Blu-Ray format until 2011, because they want to wait for more people to buy 3D TVs and 3D Blu-Ray players first.
So, there you go. They're trying to get you to buy Avatar three times. Caveat emptor.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Latest Targ's Up!
It's time for a new episode of U62: The Targ!
This week, I present you with Episode 3:23: Shiny Glass. Not much, I bring you some critiques of the new trailers for The Karate Kid and Tron Legacy, and I also pimp my new Facebook fan page.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
Oh, and if you didn't get the news yet, I set up a fan page for U62: The Targ on Facebook. So, please, become a fan!
U62: The Targ on Facebook
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U62: The Targ
Friday, March 12, 2010
Iron Man 2 Trailer
You know, I've been so busy geeking out over the Tron Legacy trailer that I haven't mentioned the other big geek-friendly trailer, the new one for Iron Man 2:
Of course, one thing that lots of folks are geeking out over right now is the final shot with Tony Stark unfolding his briefcase into the Iron Man suit. In the comics in the late-1960s and early-1970s, Tony Stark actually did develop an Iron Man armour that was small enough and light enough that he could fold up and carry around in his briefcase. That was eventually abandoned in the comics for being too unrealistic.
Anyway, trailer kicks ass, and May 7 is the lucky day.
Of course, one thing that lots of folks are geeking out over right now is the final shot with Tony Stark unfolding his briefcase into the Iron Man suit. In the comics in the late-1960s and early-1970s, Tony Stark actually did develop an Iron Man armour that was small enough and light enough that he could fold up and carry around in his briefcase. That was eventually abandoned in the comics for being too unrealistic.
Anyway, trailer kicks ass, and May 7 is the lucky day.
Labels:
The Trailer Park
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Troy Legacy Trailer
Oh, yeah, baby! It's the first trailer for one of my most anticipated films of 2010, the long-awaited sequel to Disney's cult classic sci-fi action film, ladies and gents, Tron Legacy!
You know, in a way, I'm disappointed with this trailer. What can I say? It just looks a little too slick and a little too polished.
The first film has a very unique look to it. It was accomplished by filming it on black and white cameras, and adding all the glowing lines with traditional, hand-drawn animation. Specifically, a technique called backlight animation. Throw in the fact that there was a problem in storing the film stock, causing the picture to flicker. It was so grainy and so rough that it was part of the charm.
But with this one, like I said, it is so polished. It reminds me of the first computer animated films from 15 years ago, where they hadn't quite figured out how to do surfaces yet and everything looked so smooth and shiny.
That being said, though, this trailer still gives me goosebumps and I can hardly wait to see it!
You know, in a way, I'm disappointed with this trailer. What can I say? It just looks a little too slick and a little too polished.
The first film has a very unique look to it. It was accomplished by filming it on black and white cameras, and adding all the glowing lines with traditional, hand-drawn animation. Specifically, a technique called backlight animation. Throw in the fact that there was a problem in storing the film stock, causing the picture to flicker. It was so grainy and so rough that it was part of the charm.
But with this one, like I said, it is so polished. It reminds me of the first computer animated films from 15 years ago, where they hadn't quite figured out how to do surfaces yet and everything looked so smooth and shiny.
That being said, though, this trailer still gives me goosebumps and I can hardly wait to see it!
Labels:
The Trailer Park
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
DC Showcase: The Spectre Review
Well, yesterday, I reviewed the latest DC Universe straight-to-DVD animated movie, Crisis on Two Earths, and there was a bonus feature on the DVD that I thought deserved it's own review. And that is...
DC Showcase: The Spectre
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos
Starring the voices of Gary Cole, Alyssa Milano, Jeff Bennet, Rob Paulson, and Jon Polito.
Backstory: So, in the never-ending quest for new bonus materials for this DC comics straight-to-DVD movies, they came with a great new concept. They're going to start taking some of DC Comic's more beloved B- and C-list heroes, and making them the stars of their own animated short film. All of these short films will be under the banner "DC Showcase," and we just got the first one, focusing on the Spirit of Vengeance in the DC Universe, The Spectre.
Plot: Detective Jim Corrigan is assigned to solve the murder of Hollywood playboy Foster Brenner. Turns out Corrigan and Brenner's daughter, Aimee, once had a thing. Corrigan begins his investigation, and with the help of his heroic alter-ego, the Spectre, makes sure that each accomplice gets their ghostly comeuppance. But, will the trail come back to Corrigan's beloved Aimee?
What I Liked: This short is very much set in the 1970s. The soundtrack, the character designs, they even added a whole bunch of film scratches to make it look all Grindhouse-y. For a while there, it felt like I was 15 again, watching Heavy Metal late at night on TBS. And it's a nice spooky script by the currently very popular horror comic writer Steve Niles.
What I Didn't Like: As introduction to the character of the Spectre, it falls a little flat, as you're left wondering exactly who he is and what his powers are.
Final Verdict: A very entertaining short film! I can hardly wait until the next DC Showcase offering.
3.5 Nibs
DC Showcase: The Spectre
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos
Starring the voices of Gary Cole, Alyssa Milano, Jeff Bennet, Rob Paulson, and Jon Polito.
Backstory: So, in the never-ending quest for new bonus materials for this DC comics straight-to-DVD movies, they came with a great new concept. They're going to start taking some of DC Comic's more beloved B- and C-list heroes, and making them the stars of their own animated short film. All of these short films will be under the banner "DC Showcase," and we just got the first one, focusing on the Spirit of Vengeance in the DC Universe, The Spectre.
Plot: Detective Jim Corrigan is assigned to solve the murder of Hollywood playboy Foster Brenner. Turns out Corrigan and Brenner's daughter, Aimee, once had a thing. Corrigan begins his investigation, and with the help of his heroic alter-ego, the Spectre, makes sure that each accomplice gets their ghostly comeuppance. But, will the trail come back to Corrigan's beloved Aimee?
What I Liked: This short is very much set in the 1970s. The soundtrack, the character designs, they even added a whole bunch of film scratches to make it look all Grindhouse-y. For a while there, it felt like I was 15 again, watching Heavy Metal late at night on TBS. And it's a nice spooky script by the currently very popular horror comic writer Steve Niles.
What I Didn't Like: As introduction to the character of the Spectre, it falls a little flat, as you're left wondering exactly who he is and what his powers are.
Final Verdict: A very entertaining short film! I can hardly wait until the next DC Showcase offering.
3.5 Nibs
Labels:
DVD,
Movie Reviews
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Review
Well, as you all know, whenever I pick up a new, straight-to-DVD animated film, I like to review it here on the blog rather than in with the rest of my movie reviews. So, let's take a look at the latest offering from Warner Brothers and DC Comics....
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
Directed by Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu
Starring the voices of Mark Harmon, James Woods, Chris Noth, William Baldwin, Gina Torres, Bruce Davison, Nolan North, Jonathon Adams, Josh Keaton, Brian Bloom, and James Patrick Stuart.
Backstory: So, for a while now, whenever Bruce Timm (the mastermind behind this whole direct-to-video DC Comics animated film projects) was out plugging the latest DVD, he would tease us with this thing called Justice League: Worlds Collide. It was an unproduced script from his Justice League cartoon designed to fill in the gap between the first two season of Justice League and its final three seasons, known as Justice League Unlimited. Timm would always say that he didn't want to delve into the storyline to fine a detail, because their existed a chance that it could be made as one of these DTV movies. And, lo and behold, they removed it from the Justice League TV series continuity and re-christened it Crisis on Two Earths. And that right there raised eyebrows. "Crisis" is a loaded word in the DC universe...it usually implies a continuity-changing reboot. So, would this film be worth all of Bruce Timm's teasing?
Plot: One day, Lex Luthor storms into a police station and asks to meet with the Justice League. When the JLA shows up on the scene, Luthor explains that he's actually a heroic Lex Luthor from a parallel universe. In his universe, an organization known as the Crime Syndicate -- consisting of evil counterparts of the Justice League -- have eradicated all the world's superheroes, and are on the verge of finishing a weapon of mass destruction that would make them undisputed rulers. Luthor is the only superhero left in his dimension, and he's come to ask the Justice League for help. The Justice League say yes, and head off to do battle with their evil counterparts. The one wild card is Owlman, the evil counterpart to Batman. It seems the discovery of parallel universes has thrown Owlman into an existential crisis, and Owlman decides to modify that weapon of mass destruction to destroy all of existence. Can the Justice League defeat the Crime Syndicate and stop Owlman before time runs out?
What I Liked: I don't know why they made such a big deal about removing this from the Justice League cartoon continuity. The characters are portrayed exactly the same way, and if you're a fan of the show, it's blatantly obvious which plot threads are tied up and which are started. I don't think they re-wrote it at all! I think all they did was change the character designs and get a new voice cast. And I'm putting that under "What I Liked" because I like the Justice League cartoon. There's some great geek-out moments with heroes and villains, and if I may say so, the climactic battle between Wonder Woman and her evil counterpart Superwoman, is hawt.
What I Didn't Like: Billy Baldwin voicing Batman never really grabbed me. He seemed a little too...laid back in the role. And there were just a few too many fight scenes. Don't get me wrong, I like the geek out moments where obscure heroes and villains appear, but how about they get some dialogue and a little bit of character development?
Final Verdict: This was a really solid episode of Justice League. However, as I've been saying for the last few of these, Wonder Woman is still the best.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: For bonus stuff on the DVD, you get previews for the last three DTV films, a preview for the next one, Batman: Under the Red Hood, a featurette on what a "Crisis" is in the DC Universe and what it means, the Justice League episode "A Better World," which also follows the evil twin pattern, and, something brand new for these DVDs. The first-ever short film under the DC Showcase banner, The Spectre, which I'll talk about in a later blog entry.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
Directed by Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu
Starring the voices of Mark Harmon, James Woods, Chris Noth, William Baldwin, Gina Torres, Bruce Davison, Nolan North, Jonathon Adams, Josh Keaton, Brian Bloom, and James Patrick Stuart.
Backstory: So, for a while now, whenever Bruce Timm (the mastermind behind this whole direct-to-video DC Comics animated film projects) was out plugging the latest DVD, he would tease us with this thing called Justice League: Worlds Collide. It was an unproduced script from his Justice League cartoon designed to fill in the gap between the first two season of Justice League and its final three seasons, known as Justice League Unlimited. Timm would always say that he didn't want to delve into the storyline to fine a detail, because their existed a chance that it could be made as one of these DTV movies. And, lo and behold, they removed it from the Justice League TV series continuity and re-christened it Crisis on Two Earths. And that right there raised eyebrows. "Crisis" is a loaded word in the DC universe...it usually implies a continuity-changing reboot. So, would this film be worth all of Bruce Timm's teasing?
Plot: One day, Lex Luthor storms into a police station and asks to meet with the Justice League. When the JLA shows up on the scene, Luthor explains that he's actually a heroic Lex Luthor from a parallel universe. In his universe, an organization known as the Crime Syndicate -- consisting of evil counterparts of the Justice League -- have eradicated all the world's superheroes, and are on the verge of finishing a weapon of mass destruction that would make them undisputed rulers. Luthor is the only superhero left in his dimension, and he's come to ask the Justice League for help. The Justice League say yes, and head off to do battle with their evil counterparts. The one wild card is Owlman, the evil counterpart to Batman. It seems the discovery of parallel universes has thrown Owlman into an existential crisis, and Owlman decides to modify that weapon of mass destruction to destroy all of existence. Can the Justice League defeat the Crime Syndicate and stop Owlman before time runs out?
What I Liked: I don't know why they made such a big deal about removing this from the Justice League cartoon continuity. The characters are portrayed exactly the same way, and if you're a fan of the show, it's blatantly obvious which plot threads are tied up and which are started. I don't think they re-wrote it at all! I think all they did was change the character designs and get a new voice cast. And I'm putting that under "What I Liked" because I like the Justice League cartoon. There's some great geek-out moments with heroes and villains, and if I may say so, the climactic battle between Wonder Woman and her evil counterpart Superwoman, is hawt.
What I Didn't Like: Billy Baldwin voicing Batman never really grabbed me. He seemed a little too...laid back in the role. And there were just a few too many fight scenes. Don't get me wrong, I like the geek out moments where obscure heroes and villains appear, but how about they get some dialogue and a little bit of character development?
Final Verdict: This was a really solid episode of Justice League. However, as I've been saying for the last few of these, Wonder Woman is still the best.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: For bonus stuff on the DVD, you get previews for the last three DTV films, a preview for the next one, Batman: Under the Red Hood, a featurette on what a "Crisis" is in the DC Universe and what it means, the Justice League episode "A Better World," which also follows the evil twin pattern, and, something brand new for these DVDs. The first-ever short film under the DC Showcase banner, The Spectre, which I'll talk about in a later blog entry.
Labels:
DVD,
Movie Reviews
Monday, March 08, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Latest Targ is Up!
It's time for a new episode of U62: The Targ!
We hit you with Episode 3.22: Movie Music. This is the payoff to all the episodes we've done for the past month, in which we recap all the Best Original Song Oscar nominees and I tell you which one I think should win. Oh, and I also finally picked up the Up soundtrack, and I spend a healthy amount of time geeking out over that.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
Oh, and if you didn't get the news yet, I set up a fan page for U62: The Targ on Facebook. So, please, become a fan!
U62: The Targ on Facebook
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U62: The Targ
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Nothing Like a Day in the City!
Wow, it's actually been over two months since I took a trip to Edmonton. That usually means there have been no good movies out. But of course, I had to make the trip because one of my heroes and favourite directors, Kevin Smith, has a new movie out!
The film, in case you haven't heard yet, is Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan as a couple of detectives on the trail of a stolen, super-valuable baseball card. Smith said that, with this film, he set out to do one of the classic cop films of the 1980s, you know, your Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon and all that. And in that respect, Smith pulled it off wonderfully. In fact, he pulled it off a little too well as the plot gets kind of cliched and you start feeling like you've seen it all before.
It's got some good laughs, but it's not wall-to-wall laughs, like I've found with other Kevin Smith movies. Haven't decided yet if I want to be a hard-ass and give it 2 nibs, or nice and give it 3. Watch for the full review in the days ahead.
Had to grab some new DVDs too. The latest film from renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo, came out back on Tuesday, so I had to pick that up. I can now once again boast having every Hayao Miyazaki film on DVD. You might remember when I saw Ponyo in the theatre back in August and reviewed it here on the blog. I loved it. Miyazaki is back in the whimsical children's film mode that he was in when he made My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, so if you've ever seen those films, you'll like Ponyo.
I do have on complaint about the DVD packaging, though. It says right on the front cover, "Inspired by the classic Hans Christen Anderson story The Little Mermaid." Now, many a reviewer has said that...Miyazaki himself has said it in a couple of interviews. But something about bluntly stating it ON THE FRONT COVER OF THE DVD just seems like a shameless ploy to sell more copies. It bugs me somewhat.
And, of course, because I'm such a fan of the DC/WB DTV movies, I had to pick up the latest one, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. The Justice League, doing battle with their evil twins from a parallel universe, the Crime Syndicate. There have been good reviews circulating about this one, so I can hardly wait to fire it up.
It was a good day. Good day.
The film, in case you haven't heard yet, is Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan as a couple of detectives on the trail of a stolen, super-valuable baseball card. Smith said that, with this film, he set out to do one of the classic cop films of the 1980s, you know, your Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon and all that. And in that respect, Smith pulled it off wonderfully. In fact, he pulled it off a little too well as the plot gets kind of cliched and you start feeling like you've seen it all before.
It's got some good laughs, but it's not wall-to-wall laughs, like I've found with other Kevin Smith movies. Haven't decided yet if I want to be a hard-ass and give it 2 nibs, or nice and give it 3. Watch for the full review in the days ahead.
Had to grab some new DVDs too. The latest film from renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo, came out back on Tuesday, so I had to pick that up. I can now once again boast having every Hayao Miyazaki film on DVD. You might remember when I saw Ponyo in the theatre back in August and reviewed it here on the blog. I loved it. Miyazaki is back in the whimsical children's film mode that he was in when he made My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, so if you've ever seen those films, you'll like Ponyo.
I do have on complaint about the DVD packaging, though. It says right on the front cover, "Inspired by the classic Hans Christen Anderson story The Little Mermaid." Now, many a reviewer has said that...Miyazaki himself has said it in a couple of interviews. But something about bluntly stating it ON THE FRONT COVER OF THE DVD just seems like a shameless ploy to sell more copies. It bugs me somewhat.
And, of course, because I'm such a fan of the DC/WB DTV movies, I had to pick up the latest one, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. The Justice League, doing battle with their evil twins from a parallel universe, the Crime Syndicate. There have been good reviews circulating about this one, so I can hardly wait to fire it up.
It was a good day. Good day.
Labels:
DVD,
Musings from the Mall
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Be a Fan on Facebook!
As we all know, the big thing right now is becoming a fan on Facebook.
Well, I decided to hop on the bandwagon, and I created a fan page for my podcast, U62: The Targ!
So, do me a favor and become a fan on Facebook!
Well, I decided to hop on the bandwagon, and I created a fan page for my podcast, U62: The Targ!
So, do me a favor and become a fan on Facebook!
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Latest Targ is Up!
Who wants a new episode of U62: The Targ!
All right, this week, it's Episode 3.21: All Things Batman. As the title suggests, we got a good selection of Batman-related topics, including an analysis of the latest 'toon, The Brave and the Bold, we praise the brilliance of Kevin Conroy, and break the news on the next direct-to-DVD animated film!
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
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U62: The Targ
Monday, February 22, 2010
Waking Sleeping Beauty Trailer
So, I was doing some random web-surfing over the weekend, and I stumbled upon this trailer for a forthcoming documentary called Waking Sleeping Beauty:
The period of Disney animation that ran from the mid-1980s to the end of the 1990s is a period that animation historians now refer to as "the Disney Renaissance." After some declining quality in the 1970s, Disney animation came back with a vengeance, starting with some slightly weird, experimental stuff, like The Black Cauldron, the first experiments with computer animation in The Great Mouse Detective, and then, the four films that fully encapsulate the Disney Renaissance: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King.
And then, it's pretty much agreed that it was all downhill after that, and limped to an end in the early 00's.
So, it's neat to see that a documentary has been produced about this period in Disney animation. Of course, since the documentary has been made by Disney, I highly doubt that it'll be balanced, and it might come off as a little...sugar-coated.
But I love that they feature Tim Burton in that trailer. I remember around 10 years ago, when A&E Biography was still a pop culture mainstay, and I saw the Biography on Tim Burton. Burton described his time working at Disney in the early 1980s as the least satisfying time in his career.
In fact, Little Mermaid and Aladdin directors John Musker and Ron Clemmens were interviewed in that Biography, and recounted the tale how Burton was so dissatisfied with his work at Disney, that Burton would literally go hide in the closet. Musker and Clemmens recounted this tale as being "business as usual" with Burton in the office....
(Musker and Clemmens go to the closet to get their coats. They find Burton in there.)
Them>> Oh, hi, Tim, having another rough day, eh?
(Burton just stares blankly at them)
Them>> Hey, we're going to lunch. Wanna join us?
(Burton continues to stare blankly at them)
Them>> OK, well, we'll just get our coats here, and we'll see you later.
(They close the door as Burton continues to stare.)
And, as the legend goes, Burton found a more satisfying creative outlet by making wacky live-action short films with his friends on the weekend, Disney liked them and commissioned Burton to make the short film Frankenweenie, Paul Reubens saw Frankenweenie and offered Burton the director's chair on Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and the rest is history!
But yeah. This looks like an interesting film.
The period of Disney animation that ran from the mid-1980s to the end of the 1990s is a period that animation historians now refer to as "the Disney Renaissance." After some declining quality in the 1970s, Disney animation came back with a vengeance, starting with some slightly weird, experimental stuff, like The Black Cauldron, the first experiments with computer animation in The Great Mouse Detective, and then, the four films that fully encapsulate the Disney Renaissance: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King.
And then, it's pretty much agreed that it was all downhill after that, and limped to an end in the early 00's.
So, it's neat to see that a documentary has been produced about this period in Disney animation. Of course, since the documentary has been made by Disney, I highly doubt that it'll be balanced, and it might come off as a little...sugar-coated.
But I love that they feature Tim Burton in that trailer. I remember around 10 years ago, when A&E Biography was still a pop culture mainstay, and I saw the Biography on Tim Burton. Burton described his time working at Disney in the early 1980s as the least satisfying time in his career.
In fact, Little Mermaid and Aladdin directors John Musker and Ron Clemmens were interviewed in that Biography, and recounted the tale how Burton was so dissatisfied with his work at Disney, that Burton would literally go hide in the closet. Musker and Clemmens recounted this tale as being "business as usual" with Burton in the office....
(Musker and Clemmens go to the closet to get their coats. They find Burton in there.)
Them>> Oh, hi, Tim, having another rough day, eh?
(Burton just stares blankly at them)
Them>> Hey, we're going to lunch. Wanna join us?
(Burton continues to stare blankly at them)
Them>> OK, well, we'll just get our coats here, and we'll see you later.
(They close the door as Burton continues to stare.)
And, as the legend goes, Burton found a more satisfying creative outlet by making wacky live-action short films with his friends on the weekend, Disney liked them and commissioned Burton to make the short film Frankenweenie, Paul Reubens saw Frankenweenie and offered Burton the director's chair on Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and the rest is history!
But yeah. This looks like an interesting film.
Labels:
The Trailer Park
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Latest Targ is Up!
It's a new week, so it's a new episode of U62: The Targ!
Sorry there was no episode last week. It was Family Day here in Alberta, so I took off for the long weekend and never got around to recording one. But I'm back with Episode 3.20: The Zesty Pest. In this one, we're chatting about the Vancouver 2010 opening ceremonies, we analyze the new Toy Story 3 trailer, and I wax poetic about Chicken McNuggets.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
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U62: The Targ
Monday, February 15, 2010
Ode to Kevin Conroy
I'm still not one for pirating TV shows and movies, but I think it might be time to start, because I want to catch the new episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. This is the latest Batman cartoon. Each one features Batman teaming up with another DC Comics hero...they've been digging up a lot of obscure, B- and C-list heroes to team up with Batman. For a lot of them, it's their first time in animation, so it's a lot of fun for the nerds like me. And now I'm geeking out because Kevin Conroy is about to do a special guest voice in a couple of upcoming episodes.
For those who don't care, Kevin Conroy did the voice of Batman on Batman: The Animated Series, and to a lot of fanboys out there, Conroy is *THE* voice of Batman. It's pretty much agreed that Conroy nailed his audition, and is still the definitive portrayal of Batman. For that series of straight-to-DVD animated films that DC Comics is currently doing, there's always a massive fan uproar when they learn that the film features Batman and Conroy is not voicing the character. For example, there's an upcoming one called Batman: Under the Red Hood, in which Batman will be voiced by Bruce Greenwood, best known right now to my fellow trekkies as Capt. Pike in Star Trek. He's got a great voice for Batman, but he's no Conroy.
I understand the need to have a different voice for Batman in these different interpretations. Sometimes, you just need a different actor to help with that different interpretation. Right now, in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Batman is voiced by Diedrich Bader, probably still best remembered as Oswald on The Drew Carey Show. And Bader is doing a wonderful job portraying a light-hearted Batman in this light-hearted interpretation. I'm not sure Conroy could do a silly Batman.
But still, it makes me geek out when it's announced Conroy is coming on to do a guest voice. In the last Batman cartoon, The Batman, Conroy popped up as John Grayson, the father of Dick Grayson, aka Robin. That episode was also geek-tacular in that Mark Hamil, who voiced the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series, voiced Tony Zucco, the mob hitman who murdered Dick Grayson's parents.
Conroy will be popping up on Batman: The Brave and the Bold doing the voice of the Batman of Zurr-en-Arr. In order to keep with the light-hearted tone of the series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold draws a lot from the comics of the 1950s and 1960s. And from that era, we have the Batman of Zurr-en-Arr. Zurr-en-Arr is another planet, where they have grand old time watching us with their high-powered telescopes. One young man is inspired by the exploits of Batman to become a Batman for Zurr-en-Arr. But eventually, the Batman of Zurr-en-Arr encounters a villain so great that the only thing he can think of doing is teleporting the real Batman the Zurr-en-Arr to help him out.
Apparently, Conroy will also turn up on The Brave and the Bold voicing The Phantom Stranger, so I've got to start watching that show.
For those who don't care, Kevin Conroy did the voice of Batman on Batman: The Animated Series, and to a lot of fanboys out there, Conroy is *THE* voice of Batman. It's pretty much agreed that Conroy nailed his audition, and is still the definitive portrayal of Batman. For that series of straight-to-DVD animated films that DC Comics is currently doing, there's always a massive fan uproar when they learn that the film features Batman and Conroy is not voicing the character. For example, there's an upcoming one called Batman: Under the Red Hood, in which Batman will be voiced by Bruce Greenwood, best known right now to my fellow trekkies as Capt. Pike in Star Trek. He's got a great voice for Batman, but he's no Conroy.
I understand the need to have a different voice for Batman in these different interpretations. Sometimes, you just need a different actor to help with that different interpretation. Right now, in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Batman is voiced by Diedrich Bader, probably still best remembered as Oswald on The Drew Carey Show. And Bader is doing a wonderful job portraying a light-hearted Batman in this light-hearted interpretation. I'm not sure Conroy could do a silly Batman.
But still, it makes me geek out when it's announced Conroy is coming on to do a guest voice. In the last Batman cartoon, The Batman, Conroy popped up as John Grayson, the father of Dick Grayson, aka Robin. That episode was also geek-tacular in that Mark Hamil, who voiced the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series, voiced Tony Zucco, the mob hitman who murdered Dick Grayson's parents.
Conroy will be popping up on Batman: The Brave and the Bold doing the voice of the Batman of Zurr-en-Arr. In order to keep with the light-hearted tone of the series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold draws a lot from the comics of the 1950s and 1960s. And from that era, we have the Batman of Zurr-en-Arr. Zurr-en-Arr is another planet, where they have grand old time watching us with their high-powered telescopes. One young man is inspired by the exploits of Batman to become a Batman for Zurr-en-Arr. But eventually, the Batman of Zurr-en-Arr encounters a villain so great that the only thing he can think of doing is teleporting the real Batman the Zurr-en-Arr to help him out.
Apparently, Conroy will also turn up on The Brave and the Bold voicing The Phantom Stranger, so I've got to start watching that show.
Labels:
TV Stuff
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Weird Al on Vinyl
So, I'm visiting my parents for the long weekend. As boredom begins to set in, I find myself in front of the computer...my Dad's computer, to be specific. A few years back, my siblings and I put our money together and we got our Dad one of these USB turntables...you know, a record player that you plug into your computer, so you can convert your record collection into MP3s.
As I sit here, my gaze wanders over to this USB turntable, and I figure I'll take advantage of this opportunity to listen to my only "Weird Al" Yankovic record. As you know, I'm a gigantic Weird Al fanboy. I have cassettes, I have CDs, I've got digital albums, and finding Weird Al on vinyl is a bit of a sacred quest for me. In every thrift shop and garage sale I visit, I sift through the vinyl looking for, say, Dare to Be Stupid. So far, I only have one Weird Al record, and it was fate that dropped it in my lap.
So, around 12 or 13 years ago, I was a carefree college student at Augustana University. I was renowned on campus...I was Captian Hot Stuff, Mr. #1 DJ on the campus radio station. I was one of the few announcers who actually did show prep. I would always show up at the staton one hour before my show, and spend some time going through the campus radio station's music collection.
The music library was a mess, to say the least. One wall was floor to ceiling of nothing but radio samplers. "Radio samplers" are special compliation albums that record labels send out to radio stations, containing most of the singles being released that month. The other three walls were nothing but albums, sent out by aspiring artists hoping for that first big break. It was all one, disorganized, chaotic pile. Many a station manager was hired on the promise of getting it organized, and many a station manager went mad and walked away from the station after a month of attempted organizing.
There was also another room in the station with a massive wooden cabinet. Inside that cabinet, was the station's record collection. I'd go through the records when I was feeling very adventurous. Usually, it wasn't worth it, as the station's record players were very hit-and-miss. Some nights they worked, others, they didn't. Some times, the fates aligned perfectly, like when I found the Star Wars soundtrack in that cabinet and was able the Cantina Song on vinyl. That was a good show.
On this one night, I wasn't going through the record cabinet, but my eye was drawn towards a plastic tub. In one attempt to get things organized, a former station manager had put all the 45s in a plastic tub. I'd put on a long song, the phone lines were quiet that night, so I reached into the tub. And I pulled out....
the 45 of I Lost on Jeopardy.
My jaw dropped. I tired to play it, but it was a "miss" night for the station's record players. Now, when I first started at the campus station, the station manager once lamented how all the good albums are stolen as soon as they come in, so I swore that I would never swipe an album for the station.
However, my inner fanboy wouldn't stay silent. Needless to say, that 45 came home with me that night.
I wasn't able to listen to it until I got home and was able to fire up Dad's record player. The record sleeve said the b-side was supposed to be I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead, but it wasn't. It's just I Lost on Jeopardy on both sides.
And as I sit here, listening to it, I can't help but smile. Vinyl sounds good. It does seem to be a richer sound. And all the pops and hisses of an old record seem to add character.
I love reading how vinyl is currently experiencing a brief resurgance. I read the statistic the other day that 2009 was the best selling year for records since 1991. There's even some records I wouldn't mind getting. The soundtrack for Watchmen was released on vinyl...it's already been announced that the soundtrack for Iron Man 2 is going to be released on vinyl.
Weird Al is currently in the studio, working on his next album. Here's hoping he'll release his next one on vinyl, so my quest will be a little bit easier.
As I sit here, my gaze wanders over to this USB turntable, and I figure I'll take advantage of this opportunity to listen to my only "Weird Al" Yankovic record. As you know, I'm a gigantic Weird Al fanboy. I have cassettes, I have CDs, I've got digital albums, and finding Weird Al on vinyl is a bit of a sacred quest for me. In every thrift shop and garage sale I visit, I sift through the vinyl looking for, say, Dare to Be Stupid. So far, I only have one Weird Al record, and it was fate that dropped it in my lap.
So, around 12 or 13 years ago, I was a carefree college student at Augustana University. I was renowned on campus...I was Captian Hot Stuff, Mr. #1 DJ on the campus radio station. I was one of the few announcers who actually did show prep. I would always show up at the staton one hour before my show, and spend some time going through the campus radio station's music collection.
The music library was a mess, to say the least. One wall was floor to ceiling of nothing but radio samplers. "Radio samplers" are special compliation albums that record labels send out to radio stations, containing most of the singles being released that month. The other three walls were nothing but albums, sent out by aspiring artists hoping for that first big break. It was all one, disorganized, chaotic pile. Many a station manager was hired on the promise of getting it organized, and many a station manager went mad and walked away from the station after a month of attempted organizing.
There was also another room in the station with a massive wooden cabinet. Inside that cabinet, was the station's record collection. I'd go through the records when I was feeling very adventurous. Usually, it wasn't worth it, as the station's record players were very hit-and-miss. Some nights they worked, others, they didn't. Some times, the fates aligned perfectly, like when I found the Star Wars soundtrack in that cabinet and was able the Cantina Song on vinyl. That was a good show.
On this one night, I wasn't going through the record cabinet, but my eye was drawn towards a plastic tub. In one attempt to get things organized, a former station manager had put all the 45s in a plastic tub. I'd put on a long song, the phone lines were quiet that night, so I reached into the tub. And I pulled out....
the 45 of I Lost on Jeopardy.
My jaw dropped. I tired to play it, but it was a "miss" night for the station's record players. Now, when I first started at the campus station, the station manager once lamented how all the good albums are stolen as soon as they come in, so I swore that I would never swipe an album for the station.
However, my inner fanboy wouldn't stay silent. Needless to say, that 45 came home with me that night.
I wasn't able to listen to it until I got home and was able to fire up Dad's record player. The record sleeve said the b-side was supposed to be I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead, but it wasn't. It's just I Lost on Jeopardy on both sides.
And as I sit here, listening to it, I can't help but smile. Vinyl sounds good. It does seem to be a richer sound. And all the pops and hisses of an old record seem to add character.
I love reading how vinyl is currently experiencing a brief resurgance. I read the statistic the other day that 2009 was the best selling year for records since 1991. There's even some records I wouldn't mind getting. The soundtrack for Watchmen was released on vinyl...it's already been announced that the soundtrack for Iron Man 2 is going to be released on vinyl.
Weird Al is currently in the studio, working on his next album. Here's hoping he'll release his next one on vinyl, so my quest will be a little bit easier.
Labels:
life,
Weird Al Rocks
Friday, February 12, 2010
New Toy Story 3 Trailer!
Hey, gang, here's the new Toy Story 3 trailer!
What more can I blog about Toy Story 3 that I haven't blogged about before? Maybe how I'm geeking out a bit over how prominent Barbie and Ken are in this film. "I'm Barbie." "I'm Ken." So obvious, but so brilliant.
Here's a well-known trivia fact: Pixar had originally hoped to feature Barbie in the very first Toy Story, and her role in the film would have been...unexpected. You'll remember the first film, the bully Sid has all those mutant toys that he'd created. Well, a mutilated Barbie was going to be the leader of the mutant toys. According to the creators, Barbie's personality was going to be modeled on Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. In fact, when this mutilated Barbie first met Woody and Buzz, she was going to utter the classic Terminator line, "Come with me if you want to live." But, with Pixar still being a very new company, and all of Hollywood having doubts about the first computer animated film, Mattel said "No" to Pixar's pitch.
But of course, the film was a phenomenal hit, and Mattel was beating down Pixar's door to have Barbie in Toy Story 2.
Just as in Toy Story 2, Barbie is voiced by Jodi Benson, still best known to Disney-philes as the voice of Ariel. Ken is voiced Beetlejuice and Tim Burton's Batman himself, Michael Keaton.
And another little trivia fact I just gleamed. The Ken in this trailer is actually a "Safari Ken," released in the late-1980s. Yes, that Ken doll actually existed.
What more can I blog about Toy Story 3 that I haven't blogged about before? Maybe how I'm geeking out a bit over how prominent Barbie and Ken are in this film. "I'm Barbie." "I'm Ken." So obvious, but so brilliant.
Here's a well-known trivia fact: Pixar had originally hoped to feature Barbie in the very first Toy Story, and her role in the film would have been...unexpected. You'll remember the first film, the bully Sid has all those mutant toys that he'd created. Well, a mutilated Barbie was going to be the leader of the mutant toys. According to the creators, Barbie's personality was going to be modeled on Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. In fact, when this mutilated Barbie first met Woody and Buzz, she was going to utter the classic Terminator line, "Come with me if you want to live." But, with Pixar still being a very new company, and all of Hollywood having doubts about the first computer animated film, Mattel said "No" to Pixar's pitch.
But of course, the film was a phenomenal hit, and Mattel was beating down Pixar's door to have Barbie in Toy Story 2.
Just as in Toy Story 2, Barbie is voiced by Jodi Benson, still best known to Disney-philes as the voice of Ariel. Ken is voiced Beetlejuice and Tim Burton's Batman himself, Michael Keaton.
And another little trivia fact I just gleamed. The Ken in this trailer is actually a "Safari Ken," released in the late-1980s. Yes, that Ken doll actually existed.
Labels:
The Trailer Park
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Next DC Direct-to-DVD Animated Film is....
Well, with Justice League: Crisis on Two Earth coming out next week, DC and Warner Brothers have officially announced what their next straight-to-DVD animated film will be! It is....
Batman: Under the Red Hood.
This film will be based on the Batman storyline Under the Hood that ran in the comics a few years back. When a new murderous vigiliante known as the Red Hood shows up in Gotham City, Batman vows to uncover his identity. Batman first suspects the Joker, as the Joker used the alias the Red Hood early in his criminal career. But who it it turns out to be is someone with ties to the pasts of both Batman and the Joker....
SPOILER WARNING: It's turns out to be Jason Todd, the Robin that was famously killed off by the Joker in the 1980s, and recently resurrected from the grave.
As always, DC and Warner Brothers has assembled an all-star voice cast. Batman will be voiced by veteran Canadian character actor Bruce Greenwood, last seen in the latest Star Trek movie as Captain Pike. The Red Hood will be voiced by Jensen Ackles, star of the TV series Supernatural, and best-remembered by DC geeks for his single-season stint as Jason Teague on Smallville. Nightwing will be voiced by the ever-awesome Neil Patrick Harris. The Joker will be voiced by John diMaggio, the veteran voice actor sill best remembered as Bender on Futurama, and Ras al Guhl will be voiced by Jason Issacs, still best known as the senior Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.
No word yet on the bonus features, but we've been promised that the next DC Showcase animated short film will be about Green Arrow, so there's a good chance that'll be on the disc.
No word yet on a release date, but following the trend of the release schedule, I'm guessing late spring/early summer.
Batman: Under the Red Hood.
This film will be based on the Batman storyline Under the Hood that ran in the comics a few years back. When a new murderous vigiliante known as the Red Hood shows up in Gotham City, Batman vows to uncover his identity. Batman first suspects the Joker, as the Joker used the alias the Red Hood early in his criminal career. But who it it turns out to be is someone with ties to the pasts of both Batman and the Joker....
SPOILER WARNING: It's turns out to be Jason Todd, the Robin that was famously killed off by the Joker in the 1980s, and recently resurrected from the grave.
As always, DC and Warner Brothers has assembled an all-star voice cast. Batman will be voiced by veteran Canadian character actor Bruce Greenwood, last seen in the latest Star Trek movie as Captain Pike. The Red Hood will be voiced by Jensen Ackles, star of the TV series Supernatural, and best-remembered by DC geeks for his single-season stint as Jason Teague on Smallville. Nightwing will be voiced by the ever-awesome Neil Patrick Harris. The Joker will be voiced by John diMaggio, the veteran voice actor sill best remembered as Bender on Futurama, and Ras al Guhl will be voiced by Jason Issacs, still best known as the senior Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.
No word yet on the bonus features, but we've been promised that the next DC Showcase animated short film will be about Green Arrow, so there's a good chance that'll be on the disc.
No word yet on a release date, but following the trend of the release schedule, I'm guessing late spring/early summer.
Labels:
DVD
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Latest Targ is Up!
It's a new week, so it's a new episode of U62: The Targ!
I've got Episode 3.19: Take the Blue Pill this week. We're chatting about the Oscar nominations, I've got some reflections on The Matrix, and there's one final Monopoly update.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Saucy Chicken
Ah, the Chicken McNugget. Truly, one of the most innovative items on the McDonald's menu. As the legend goes (or, as I read it in the book Fast Food Nation), one of the McDonald's marketing guys went to the McDonald's product development guys and said, "I want you to develop some kind of chicken produce...as big as your thumb...that people can eat while they're driving." The product development folks locked themselves in the lab, got to work, and eventually came out with the Chicken McNugget. It was added to the McDonald's menu sometime in the mid-1980s.
The mid-1980s, the height of my childhood. And Chicken McNuggets became a childhood favourite. They were the only thing I'd eat when I went to McDonald's when I was a kid. I eventually outgrew them, and I only have them every once in a while now. But for at least the past 25 years, the McNugget has remained unchanged.
Which is why I geeked out a few days ago when I saw the TV commercials. McDonald's had introduced brand new dipping sauces for the McNuggets! The four basics: Sweet and Sour, BBQ, Hot Mustard, and Honey, were joined by two new additions. Wait a minute. Doing some quick research online, it looks like McDonald's discontinued Honey as a dipping sauce some time ago. Oh, well.
Two new sauces! Never had such a thing been attempted! Well, I do remember their special "Oriental McNuggets" from the late 1980s, which came with special Teriyaki dipping sauce, chopsticks, and a fortune cookie. Oh, and let's not forget McDonald's attempt at "grown up" McNuggets a few years ago, the Chicken Selects. The "grown up" dips were Spicy Buffalo, Creamy Ranch, and Honey Mustard.
But my mission tonight was to try the two new McNuggets dipping sauces: Spicy Szechwaun and Zesty Mango.
I wasn't too impressed with Spicy Szechuan. Maybe it's because I've been stocking the kitchen at work with instant szechwaun noodles for lunch, and I'm just getting tired of spicy szechuan. It had a nice kick, and a spicy aftertaste. All in all, not too bad.
The Zesty Mango is my favourite of this new duo. It's definitely trying for an Indian flare, as I could smell the hint of curry when I opened the packet. I could taste it, too, as soon as I ate that first, freshly dipped McNugget. This one truly is zesty. "Sweet and Spicy" would be a good way to sum up this sauce.
It's nice, but not enough to get me dining on McNuggets regularly again.
The mid-1980s, the height of my childhood. And Chicken McNuggets became a childhood favourite. They were the only thing I'd eat when I went to McDonald's when I was a kid. I eventually outgrew them, and I only have them every once in a while now. But for at least the past 25 years, the McNugget has remained unchanged.
Which is why I geeked out a few days ago when I saw the TV commercials. McDonald's had introduced brand new dipping sauces for the McNuggets! The four basics: Sweet and Sour, BBQ, Hot Mustard, and Honey, were joined by two new additions. Wait a minute. Doing some quick research online, it looks like McDonald's discontinued Honey as a dipping sauce some time ago. Oh, well.
Two new sauces! Never had such a thing been attempted! Well, I do remember their special "Oriental McNuggets" from the late 1980s, which came with special Teriyaki dipping sauce, chopsticks, and a fortune cookie. Oh, and let's not forget McDonald's attempt at "grown up" McNuggets a few years ago, the Chicken Selects. The "grown up" dips were Spicy Buffalo, Creamy Ranch, and Honey Mustard.
But my mission tonight was to try the two new McNuggets dipping sauces: Spicy Szechwaun and Zesty Mango.
I wasn't too impressed with Spicy Szechuan. Maybe it's because I've been stocking the kitchen at work with instant szechwaun noodles for lunch, and I'm just getting tired of spicy szechuan. It had a nice kick, and a spicy aftertaste. All in all, not too bad.
The Zesty Mango is my favourite of this new duo. It's definitely trying for an Indian flare, as I could smell the hint of curry when I opened the packet. I could taste it, too, as soon as I ate that first, freshly dipped McNugget. This one truly is zesty. "Sweet and Spicy" would be a good way to sum up this sauce.
It's nice, but not enough to get me dining on McNuggets regularly again.
Labels:
Fast Food Geek
Thursday, February 04, 2010
A Whole Bunch of Animated DVDs
Wow, it's been so long since I did a blog post about upcoming DVDs. Maybe it's because I haven't swung by my favourite DVD websites in such a long time. I swung by them tonight and look what I found....
Ponyo, the latest animated hit from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, is due to come out on March 2. It'll be a 2-disc special edition. For bonus features, you get a whole slew of new featurettes about the film and the history of Studio Ghibli (including new interviews with Miyazaki), a special introduction by the film's producers, and the entire storyboards for the film.
Even though it tanked at the box office and didn't really offer anything original, I really enjoyed the computer animated movie version of Astro Boy. It hits DVD on March 16. For bonus features, you get some featurettes, some cut scenes, some new animated sequences, and more stuff TBA.
Also coming out on March 16 is Disney's triumphant return to traditional animation, The Princess and the Frog. It'll be available in three versions: single-disc DVD, single-disc Blu-Ray, and the DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack. The DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack is something that Disney started doing last year. It has the film on both DVD AND Blu-Ray, for those who are still in mid-transition. Anyway, for bonus features, you get a running commentary with directors John Musker and Ron Clemments and producer Peter Del Vecho, deleted scenes, and the music video from Ne-Yo. That's just on the DVD. On the Blu-Ray, you get all that, plus a whole bunch of featurettes about the making of the film and all kinds of concept art.
And finally, rounding out March is Fantastic Mr. Fox coming on March 23. I'm still upset that I missed this one in the theatres. For bonus features, you get 8 featurettes about the making of the film and the trailers.
March is going to be a good month. Expensive, too, as I'll probably be buying all of these.
Ponyo, the latest animated hit from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, is due to come out on March 2. It'll be a 2-disc special edition. For bonus features, you get a whole slew of new featurettes about the film and the history of Studio Ghibli (including new interviews with Miyazaki), a special introduction by the film's producers, and the entire storyboards for the film.
Even though it tanked at the box office and didn't really offer anything original, I really enjoyed the computer animated movie version of Astro Boy. It hits DVD on March 16. For bonus features, you get some featurettes, some cut scenes, some new animated sequences, and more stuff TBA.
Also coming out on March 16 is Disney's triumphant return to traditional animation, The Princess and the Frog. It'll be available in three versions: single-disc DVD, single-disc Blu-Ray, and the DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack. The DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack is something that Disney started doing last year. It has the film on both DVD AND Blu-Ray, for those who are still in mid-transition. Anyway, for bonus features, you get a running commentary with directors John Musker and Ron Clemments and producer Peter Del Vecho, deleted scenes, and the music video from Ne-Yo. That's just on the DVD. On the Blu-Ray, you get all that, plus a whole bunch of featurettes about the making of the film and all kinds of concept art.
And finally, rounding out March is Fantastic Mr. Fox coming on March 23. I'm still upset that I missed this one in the theatres. For bonus features, you get 8 featurettes about the making of the film and the trailers.
March is going to be a good month. Expensive, too, as I'll probably be buying all of these.
Labels:
DVD
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Scarecrow's Oscar Picks
Well, it's that time of year again! I do so love my movies, and the Oscar nominations have been announced! In just one month, we will be celebrating the best in film for the previous year!
Now, ever since I first discovered the Internet and blogging, I've taken a minute to blog my Oscar picks. But see, the thing is, I do things a little differently. Over the next month, you're going to be seeing all kinds of picks for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and so on. I don't bother picking those categories. I only pick the categories that I care about!
So, the first category that I care about, Best Visual Effects:
My Pick: Do you even have to ask? Avatar was 12 years in the making, 5 years of that was spent developing a new kind of movie camera to film this thing. Everyone agrees that it's the most seamless blend of live-action and CGI ever captured. Avatar, no contest.
Next up, Best Original Song. The nominees are:
My Pick: Ooo, tough call this year. Disney animated films dominated this category back in 1990s, so it's easy to fall back on nostalgia and pick one of the two from The Princess and the Frog. But I see that the song from Crazy Heart won the Golden Globe in this category, and the Golden Globes are always seen as a good indicator. But you know what? The Princess and the Frog is the only film on this list that I've actually seen, and I'm guessing the Academy voters are in the same boat. I put my money on "Down in New Orleans."
We now have Best Animated Film. The nominees are:
My Pick: Wow, looking at this list of nominations, I can't help but think there were a lot of great animated films this year. The dark horse in this category is The Secret of Kells , which I gather is a little French animated film that got a very limited release in the USA. I really have a soft-spot for Coraline as well, that was a remarkable film. That being said, though, there is one film on this list that was beloved by audiences and critics and has already scooped up an armload of awards. The winner will be Up, easy money.
And lastly, I do one token mainstream category that's going to be analyzed to death. The big one, Best Motion Picture:
My Pick: As you can see, the Academy is trying something new this year. They've expanded the Best Picture category to 10 films, to include more mainstream films, and thus more films that the average moviegoer has actually seen. That being said, there's really two films right now that have been dominating all the awards shows running up to the Oscars: Avatar and The Hurt Locker. One is a science-fiction epic about a battle on another world that has just become the #1 film of all time, the other is an intimate drama about an Army bomb disposal expert in Iraq. It really is a battle of style vs. substance. That being said, since the whole expanded category is all about reaching out to mainstream films, something tells me that the fruits of that labour will be Avatar taking the Best Picture statue.
The big show is on TV on March 7. Your hosts this year are Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
For all the nominations, check out the official Oscar website.
This post was originally posted at my work blog, which you can read at 94.1 the River.
Now, ever since I first discovered the Internet and blogging, I've taken a minute to blog my Oscar picks. But see, the thing is, I do things a little differently. Over the next month, you're going to be seeing all kinds of picks for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and so on. I don't bother picking those categories. I only pick the categories that I care about!
So, the first category that I care about, Best Visual Effects:
- Avatar
- District 9
- Star Trek
My Pick: Do you even have to ask? Avatar was 12 years in the making, 5 years of that was spent developing a new kind of movie camera to film this thing. Everyone agrees that it's the most seamless blend of live-action and CGI ever captured. Avatar, no contest.
Next up, Best Original Song. The nominees are:
- "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog
- "Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog
- "Loin de Paname" from Paris 36
- "Take it All" from Nine
- "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from Crazy Heart.
My Pick: Ooo, tough call this year. Disney animated films dominated this category back in 1990s, so it's easy to fall back on nostalgia and pick one of the two from The Princess and the Frog. But I see that the song from Crazy Heart won the Golden Globe in this category, and the Golden Globes are always seen as a good indicator. But you know what? The Princess and the Frog is the only film on this list that I've actually seen, and I'm guessing the Academy voters are in the same boat. I put my money on "Down in New Orleans."
We now have Best Animated Film. The nominees are:
- Coraline
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- The Princess and the Frog
- The Secret of Kells
- Up
My Pick: Wow, looking at this list of nominations, I can't help but think there were a lot of great animated films this year. The dark horse in this category is The Secret of Kells , which I gather is a little French animated film that got a very limited release in the USA. I really have a soft-spot for Coraline as well, that was a remarkable film. That being said, though, there is one film on this list that was beloved by audiences and critics and has already scooped up an armload of awards. The winner will be Up, easy money.
And lastly, I do one token mainstream category that's going to be analyzed to death. The big one, Best Motion Picture:
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- The Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up in the Air
My Pick: As you can see, the Academy is trying something new this year. They've expanded the Best Picture category to 10 films, to include more mainstream films, and thus more films that the average moviegoer has actually seen. That being said, there's really two films right now that have been dominating all the awards shows running up to the Oscars: Avatar and The Hurt Locker. One is a science-fiction epic about a battle on another world that has just become the #1 film of all time, the other is an intimate drama about an Army bomb disposal expert in Iraq. It really is a battle of style vs. substance. That being said, since the whole expanded category is all about reaching out to mainstream films, something tells me that the fruits of that labour will be Avatar taking the Best Picture statue.
The big show is on TV on March 7. Your hosts this year are Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
For all the nominations, check out the official Oscar website.
This post was originally posted at my work blog, which you can read at 94.1 the River.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Latest Targ is Here!
I've got a new episode of U62: The Targ!
This week, we're chatting about movie advertising, I share some really neat news about Iron Man 2, and I give an update on the voting in that Monopoly: Canadian Here and Now edition.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Monday, January 25, 2010
Weird Al: Movie Director
Yay!
My hero, "Weird Al" Yankovic, just announced his next project! He's directing a movie!
Well, it's a TV movie for the Cartoon Network, but still...a movie!
Weird Al says that he just signed a big production deal with the Cartoon Network to produce stuff...TV shows, cartoons, movies, and such forth. And figured that a TV movie would be the best place to start.
Weird Al is writing and directing it, and will give himself a small role. Weird Al mentions that the Cartoon Network wanted a young protagonist, so the main character is a teenager.
No word yet on a plot or what it's about, but Weird Al says that it's not a sequel to UHF and it's not a documentary about Winston Churchill.
Weird Al says that he goes on tour this summer, and the earliest he could probably start filming it is this fall.
No word yet on when it'll air on the Cartoon Network.
Here's Weird Al's official blog, where he shares what little details he can.
My hero, "Weird Al" Yankovic, just announced his next project! He's directing a movie!
Well, it's a TV movie for the Cartoon Network, but still...a movie!
Weird Al says that he just signed a big production deal with the Cartoon Network to produce stuff...TV shows, cartoons, movies, and such forth. And figured that a TV movie would be the best place to start.
Weird Al is writing and directing it, and will give himself a small role. Weird Al mentions that the Cartoon Network wanted a young protagonist, so the main character is a teenager.
No word yet on a plot or what it's about, but Weird Al says that it's not a sequel to UHF and it's not a documentary about Winston Churchill.
Weird Al says that he goes on tour this summer, and the earliest he could probably start filming it is this fall.
No word yet on when it'll air on the Cartoon Network.
Here's Weird Al's official blog, where he shares what little details he can.
Labels:
Movie stuff,
Weird Al Rocks
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Latest Targ is Up!
Time to kick off a new week with a new episode of U62: The Targ!
I'm firing up Episode 3.17: The 4 Railroads. I chat about the politics of DVD special editions, I discuss the Spider-Man reboot, and I obsess over this Monopoly Canadian edition.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Spider-Man Reloaded
There's been so much going on in the world of the Spider-Man movies, I can't believe that haven't taken a moment to blog about it yet.
For those who haven't heard yet, production on Spider-Man 4 was shut down a few weeks ago. Sam Raimi, the director of the first three films, and Sony Studios, the movie company making the film, couldn't agree on a direction for the fourth film. Apparently, Raimi had has heart set on veteran Spider-Man villain the Vulture as being the film's villain, and Sony wanted to use, "Whoever's popular in the comics right now."
So, they shut down Spider-Man 4, gave Raimi the boot, and have decided to reboot the frachise! That's right, it's going to be a whole new Spider-Man trilogy, with a whole new cast of actors and a whole new direction.
It was announced earlier this week that Marc Webb, director of the critically acclaimed romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer, will be in charge of this reboot.
According to a statement from Sony, they want to have a cast of unknowns, aim for a budget of around $80 million, and use Ultimate Spider-Man as their main source to draw from.
Sony still hopes to have this in theatres for Summer 2012. I agree with a lot of other Internet comments. As long as they don't make us sit through the origin story again, I'll be happy.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Canadian Monopoly: The Vote is On!
I've been following this for a bit, and it's kind of fun, so do your part and vote!
So, those darn Parker Brothers are working on an all-new Canadian version of Monopoly. And, in order to determine which cities make the cut, they're running an online poll.
Here's where you go to vote
This whole thing just caused minor headlines in Edmonton because Edmonton has yet to break the top 20. Only the top 20 are going to make it to the game board, you see. When last I checked, Edmonton is hovering just outside at number 23.
I say we've got to do our part to get Edmonton on the list. So go vote for Edmonton!
This could be fun. And hopefully, by doing it democratically like this, there'll be a lot less grief. Last time Parker Brothers did this around three or four years ago, the cities were determined by their marketing folks, and there were absolutely no Newfoundland cities on the board, raising the ire of Newfoundlanders.
It's been ages since I've played a good game of Monopoly. Back when I was a kid, my brother and sister and I would have marathon games of Monopoly...the kind that start at 2 in the afternoon and end at 2 in the morning. And usually, they'd end because we got Mom out of our bed with our fighting and she'd come bring an end to the game. Good times...good times.
I just learned that, in official Monopoly tournament rules, games have a time limit of 90 minutes. Have to remember that for next time.
So, those darn Parker Brothers are working on an all-new Canadian version of Monopoly. And, in order to determine which cities make the cut, they're running an online poll.
Here's where you go to vote
This whole thing just caused minor headlines in Edmonton because Edmonton has yet to break the top 20. Only the top 20 are going to make it to the game board, you see. When last I checked, Edmonton is hovering just outside at number 23.
I say we've got to do our part to get Edmonton on the list. So go vote for Edmonton!
This could be fun. And hopefully, by doing it democratically like this, there'll be a lot less grief. Last time Parker Brothers did this around three or four years ago, the cities were determined by their marketing folks, and there were absolutely no Newfoundland cities on the board, raising the ire of Newfoundlanders.
It's been ages since I've played a good game of Monopoly. Back when I was a kid, my brother and sister and I would have marathon games of Monopoly...the kind that start at 2 in the afternoon and end at 2 in the morning. And usually, they'd end because we got Mom out of our bed with our fighting and she'd come bring an end to the game. Good times...good times.
I just learned that, in official Monopoly tournament rules, games have a time limit of 90 minutes. Have to remember that for next time.
Labels:
life,
Opinions I Should Keep to Myself
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Latest Targ is Up!
I seem to have been gifted with a creative burst at the start of this year, and it's all spilling over into my podcast, U62: The Targ!
This week, we've got Episode 3.16: Crafty Arts. I tell you what I'm doing with all my old glass pop bottles that I told you about in last week's episode, I speak of my love for mall food courts, and I offer my in-depth analysis of Family Guy: Something Something Something Dark Side.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Animated Film Catch-Up: Monsters vs Aliens
For those just joining us, every couple of years I rent every animated movie that I missed in the theatre that I had a mild interest in seeing, and watch them all in an insane lost weekend. I call this my "Animated Film Catch-Up".
Alright, my lost weekend is almost at and end! And to cap it off, we're going back to DreamWorks...
Monsters vs Aliens
Animation Studio and Best Known Franchise: DreamWorks Animation; Shrek and Madagascar. You might remember them from this weekend's other offerings, Bee Movie and Kung Fu Panda.
Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon
Starring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogan, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, and Stephen Colbert as the President.
The Source of my Mild Interest: So when I first heard the title Monsters vs Aliens it had Snakes on a Plane-like attraction for me. What would the aliens be? What would the monsters be? But then it was announced that it was going to be DreamWorks first film completely designed and filmed in 3D. The 3D effects became the core of its marketing. The couple of people I talked to who actually saw it in the theatre only talked about the 3D effects. But, reading some reviews online, they said that, once you got past those 3D effects, what remains is a loving homage to the sci-fi B-movies of the 1950s. It had a lot going for it.
Plot: Susan Murphy seems to be leading the perfect life. She's about to marry a TV weatherman and live happily ever after as a kept woman. But then, on her wedding day, she's clobbered by a meteorite and turns into a giantess. Susan is promptly branded a monster and captured by the military, where she's locked away with other monsters: BOB, a blue blob, Dr. Cockroach, a mad scientist turned into a cockroach, and the Missing Link. Soon, alien invaders arrive on Earth, because the element that causes Susan's mutation is the key to alien warlord Gallaxar's WMD. The military decides to turn the monsters loose to defeat the aliens, and in the process, Susan learns to be an ass-kicking independent woman.
What I Liked: OK, now I've known that one thing I've complained about in animated films is getting celebrities to do little more than voice themselves. But in this case, where you've got such talented comics as Rogan, Arnett, and Colbert, I really don't mind. This movie was funny as hell. In something like this, choosing appropriate pop culture references really helps, as all the gags were about sci-fi B-movies from the 1950s. I was shocked at how funny this movie is. And props to Amy Poehler for doing that sexy sexy computer voice.
What I Didn't Like: You could tell this was DreamWorks' first film in 3D. Every 10 minutes something is being thrown at the screen to do that "jumping out at you" thing. I half-expected Count Floyd to show up and offer someone a piece of cake. And that plot was rather formulaic.
Final Verdict: Much funnier than I expected. Highly enjoyable.
3 Nibs
And that brings us to the end of my latest Animated Film Catch-Up! Most of the films were pretty much what I expected. Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs Aliens, and Horton Hears a Who were the surprises of the weekend. I'm even half-tempted to fish Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs Aliens out of a discount bin someday.
I might be doing this again sooner rather than later...I'm still kind of upset I missed 9 and Fantastic Mr. Fox in their theatrical runs.
Anyway, I'm going to go outside and play now!
Alright, my lost weekend is almost at and end! And to cap it off, we're going back to DreamWorks...
Monsters vs Aliens
Animation Studio and Best Known Franchise: DreamWorks Animation; Shrek and Madagascar. You might remember them from this weekend's other offerings, Bee Movie and Kung Fu Panda.
Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon
Starring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogan, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, and Stephen Colbert as the President.
The Source of my Mild Interest: So when I first heard the title Monsters vs Aliens it had Snakes on a Plane-like attraction for me. What would the aliens be? What would the monsters be? But then it was announced that it was going to be DreamWorks first film completely designed and filmed in 3D. The 3D effects became the core of its marketing. The couple of people I talked to who actually saw it in the theatre only talked about the 3D effects. But, reading some reviews online, they said that, once you got past those 3D effects, what remains is a loving homage to the sci-fi B-movies of the 1950s. It had a lot going for it.
Plot: Susan Murphy seems to be leading the perfect life. She's about to marry a TV weatherman and live happily ever after as a kept woman. But then, on her wedding day, she's clobbered by a meteorite and turns into a giantess. Susan is promptly branded a monster and captured by the military, where she's locked away with other monsters: BOB, a blue blob, Dr. Cockroach, a mad scientist turned into a cockroach, and the Missing Link. Soon, alien invaders arrive on Earth, because the element that causes Susan's mutation is the key to alien warlord Gallaxar's WMD. The military decides to turn the monsters loose to defeat the aliens, and in the process, Susan learns to be an ass-kicking independent woman.
What I Liked: OK, now I've known that one thing I've complained about in animated films is getting celebrities to do little more than voice themselves. But in this case, where you've got such talented comics as Rogan, Arnett, and Colbert, I really don't mind. This movie was funny as hell. In something like this, choosing appropriate pop culture references really helps, as all the gags were about sci-fi B-movies from the 1950s. I was shocked at how funny this movie is. And props to Amy Poehler for doing that sexy sexy computer voice.
What I Didn't Like: You could tell this was DreamWorks' first film in 3D. Every 10 minutes something is being thrown at the screen to do that "jumping out at you" thing. I half-expected Count Floyd to show up and offer someone a piece of cake. And that plot was rather formulaic.
Final Verdict: Much funnier than I expected. Highly enjoyable.
3 Nibs
And that brings us to the end of my latest Animated Film Catch-Up! Most of the films were pretty much what I expected. Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs Aliens, and Horton Hears a Who were the surprises of the weekend. I'm even half-tempted to fish Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs Aliens out of a discount bin someday.
I might be doing this again sooner rather than later...I'm still kind of upset I missed 9 and Fantastic Mr. Fox in their theatrical runs.
Anyway, I'm going to go outside and play now!
Labels:
Animated Film Catch-Up,
Movie Reviews,
Movie stuff
Animated Film Catch-Up: Bolt
For those just joining us, every couple of years I rent every animated movie that I missed in the theatre that I had a mild interest in seeing, and watch them all in an insane lost weekend. I call this my "Animated Film Catch-Up".
Now, on this weekend, we come to Disney. Disney's still trying to find their legs in this computer animated film game. Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons never quite met the same level as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast. Would their most recent attempt make the grade?
Bolt
Animation Studio and Best Known Franchise: Walt Disney Feature Animation; traditional 2D animation.
Directed by Byron Howard and Chris Williams
Starring the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell, James Lipton, and Greg Germann.
The Source of My Mild Interest: Bolt had some quite well-publicized production difficulties. The project was originally known as American Dog, and was conceived by Lilo and Stitch director Chris Sanders. Then, there was a management change at Disney. John Lasseter, the head of Pixar, became the head of Disney animation. Lasseter and Sanders butted heads over the direction of American Dog, which ultimately ended with Sanders' dismissal from Disney. Many Lasseter-supervised revisions later, and American Dog became Bolt. Would Lasseter's touch bring about some of that magic that has made Pixar's films the ones to beat?
Plot: Bolt is a TV star! On TV, he plays a superpowered dog, constantly rescuing his owner, Penny. Thing is, though, Bolt thinks the whole thing is real...the he actually is a superdog. And then, Bolt manages to escape from the movie studio, and winds up all the way on the other side of the USA, in New York City. While there, he meets up with a streetsmart and embittered cat named Mittens. Bolt, thinking Mittens is an evil agent from the TV show, captures Mittens and forces her to help him get back to Hollywood. They also meet up with a hamster named Rhino, who is Bolt's biggest fan. Will Bolt snap free of his delusions? Will he be reunited with Penny? For, in the fake world of Hollywood, the only thing that's real is the love between a girl and her dog.
What I Liked: The animation is stunning. The pure technical quality is easily the match of Pixar. There is a genuine attempt at creating some real characters here...fleshing them out with their own traits and flaws. Most of it comes across really nice.
What I Didn't Like: Let's see here...two friends, making a cross-country trek to get back to their loving owner, one of them exists in a semi-delusional state making him think he's a fictional character. Why does this story seem so famil---IT'S TOY STORY!
Final Verdict: It's good, if a little familiar. You've still got a ways to go, Mr. Lasetter, before the successes at Disney match the successes you've had at Pixar.
3 Nibs
One more to go, and I still have enough weekend left to go outside and play!
Now, on this weekend, we come to Disney. Disney's still trying to find their legs in this computer animated film game. Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons never quite met the same level as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast. Would their most recent attempt make the grade?
Bolt
Animation Studio and Best Known Franchise: Walt Disney Feature Animation; traditional 2D animation.
Directed by Byron Howard and Chris Williams
Starring the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell, James Lipton, and Greg Germann.
The Source of My Mild Interest: Bolt had some quite well-publicized production difficulties. The project was originally known as American Dog, and was conceived by Lilo and Stitch director Chris Sanders. Then, there was a management change at Disney. John Lasseter, the head of Pixar, became the head of Disney animation. Lasseter and Sanders butted heads over the direction of American Dog, which ultimately ended with Sanders' dismissal from Disney. Many Lasseter-supervised revisions later, and American Dog became Bolt. Would Lasseter's touch bring about some of that magic that has made Pixar's films the ones to beat?
Plot: Bolt is a TV star! On TV, he plays a superpowered dog, constantly rescuing his owner, Penny. Thing is, though, Bolt thinks the whole thing is real...the he actually is a superdog. And then, Bolt manages to escape from the movie studio, and winds up all the way on the other side of the USA, in New York City. While there, he meets up with a streetsmart and embittered cat named Mittens. Bolt, thinking Mittens is an evil agent from the TV show, captures Mittens and forces her to help him get back to Hollywood. They also meet up with a hamster named Rhino, who is Bolt's biggest fan. Will Bolt snap free of his delusions? Will he be reunited with Penny? For, in the fake world of Hollywood, the only thing that's real is the love between a girl and her dog.
What I Liked: The animation is stunning. The pure technical quality is easily the match of Pixar. There is a genuine attempt at creating some real characters here...fleshing them out with their own traits and flaws. Most of it comes across really nice.
What I Didn't Like: Let's see here...two friends, making a cross-country trek to get back to their loving owner, one of them exists in a semi-delusional state making him think he's a fictional character. Why does this story seem so famil---IT'S TOY STORY!
Final Verdict: It's good, if a little familiar. You've still got a ways to go, Mr. Lasetter, before the successes at Disney match the successes you've had at Pixar.
3 Nibs
One more to go, and I still have enough weekend left to go outside and play!
Labels:
Animated Film Catch-Up,
Movie Reviews,
Movie stuff
Animated Film Catch-Up: Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who
For those just joining us, every couple of years I rent every animated movie that I missed in the theatre that I had a mild interest in seeing, and watch them all in an insane lost weekend. I call this my "Animated Film Catch-Up".
Seeing as to how a lot of TV stations really don't have Saturday morning cartoons, no better way to spend a Saturday morning than by watching animated films! So, let's continue with my lost weekend!
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
Animation Studio and Best Known-Franchise: Blue Sky Studios; the Ice Age trilogy.
Directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino
Starring the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Will Arnet, Seth Rogan, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Amy Poehler, and Charles Osgood.
The Source of My Mild Interest: When this film was originally being promoted, and I saw Jim Carrey was voicing the lead character, my mind went back to an interview Jim Carrey did way back in 1995 or so...after he'd just become famous. Since he was famous for doing crazy voices and impersonations in his act, Carrey was asked if he'd ever do a voice in an animated film. In that interview, Carrey firmly put his foot down, saying that he'd never do such a thing. "I've had offers," he said, "But they want to pay you nothing for it, citing that it's for the kids." 15 years later, and he's doing a voice in an animated film. Either Carrey's fortunes have really fallen, or things have changed enough in the animated film business that Carrey was finally get paid what he felt he was worth. Either way, I wanted to see if Carrey was as good leading an animated film as he thought he was 15 years ago.
Plot: It's a good chance that most of you read the original Dr. Seuss book when you were a kid, so I won't rehash it much. Horton is a free-thinking, imaginative elephant in the Jungle of Nool. One day, he hears a speck of dust speaking to him. It turns that the speck is home to the Whos, and Horton is able to talk to the Mayor of Whoville. Horton promises to take the speck to a safe place, where the Whos can live in safety. But this raises the ire of the Sour Kangaroo, who doesn't believe Horton's story, and sends various monkeys and vultures off to silence Horton, lest his imaginative story corrupt the children. Meanwhile, the Mayor of Whoville is having his own problems, as the people of Whoville think Horton is equally imaginary. Will Horton and the Mayor be able to convince their respective populaces of each others existence so they can live in safety?
What I Liked: I actually got all goosebumpy in one scene, as the music and animation and voice acting all connected in that magic way to make things work. Great score by John Powell. The animation was really good...I think this is Blue Sky's best looking film to date. A lot of the characters really managed to capture that Dr. Seuss style.
What I Didn't Like: Plot is still kind of cliched when it comes to talking animal animated films. And I'm not really sure the final musical number was appropriate.
Final Verdict: A highly enjoyable film, that felt free to cut loose and be cartoony. I read an article the other day saying that Blue Sky Studios might be on the cusp of becoming a major player, up alongside Pixar and DreamWorks. A couple more like this, and they could pull it off.
3 Nibs
Early lunch, and then back at 'er.
Seeing as to how a lot of TV stations really don't have Saturday morning cartoons, no better way to spend a Saturday morning than by watching animated films! So, let's continue with my lost weekend!
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
Animation Studio and Best Known-Franchise: Blue Sky Studios; the Ice Age trilogy.
Directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino
Starring the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Will Arnet, Seth Rogan, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Amy Poehler, and Charles Osgood.
The Source of My Mild Interest: When this film was originally being promoted, and I saw Jim Carrey was voicing the lead character, my mind went back to an interview Jim Carrey did way back in 1995 or so...after he'd just become famous. Since he was famous for doing crazy voices and impersonations in his act, Carrey was asked if he'd ever do a voice in an animated film. In that interview, Carrey firmly put his foot down, saying that he'd never do such a thing. "I've had offers," he said, "But they want to pay you nothing for it, citing that it's for the kids." 15 years later, and he's doing a voice in an animated film. Either Carrey's fortunes have really fallen, or things have changed enough in the animated film business that Carrey was finally get paid what he felt he was worth. Either way, I wanted to see if Carrey was as good leading an animated film as he thought he was 15 years ago.
Plot: It's a good chance that most of you read the original Dr. Seuss book when you were a kid, so I won't rehash it much. Horton is a free-thinking, imaginative elephant in the Jungle of Nool. One day, he hears a speck of dust speaking to him. It turns that the speck is home to the Whos, and Horton is able to talk to the Mayor of Whoville. Horton promises to take the speck to a safe place, where the Whos can live in safety. But this raises the ire of the Sour Kangaroo, who doesn't believe Horton's story, and sends various monkeys and vultures off to silence Horton, lest his imaginative story corrupt the children. Meanwhile, the Mayor of Whoville is having his own problems, as the people of Whoville think Horton is equally imaginary. Will Horton and the Mayor be able to convince their respective populaces of each others existence so they can live in safety?
What I Liked: I actually got all goosebumpy in one scene, as the music and animation and voice acting all connected in that magic way to make things work. Great score by John Powell. The animation was really good...I think this is Blue Sky's best looking film to date. A lot of the characters really managed to capture that Dr. Seuss style.
What I Didn't Like: Plot is still kind of cliched when it comes to talking animal animated films. And I'm not really sure the final musical number was appropriate.
Final Verdict: A highly enjoyable film, that felt free to cut loose and be cartoony. I read an article the other day saying that Blue Sky Studios might be on the cusp of becoming a major player, up alongside Pixar and DreamWorks. A couple more like this, and they could pull it off.
3 Nibs
Early lunch, and then back at 'er.
Labels:
Animated Film Catch-Up,
Movie Reviews,
Movie stuff
Friday, January 15, 2010
Animated Film Catch-Up: Kung Fu Panda
For those just joining us, every couple of years I rent every animated movie that I missed in the theatre that I had a mild interest in seeing, and watch them all in an insane lost weekend. I call this my "Animated Film Catch-Up".
OK, so next up on my list of animated films I was mildly interested in was one that I became increasingly curious about, and soon got kind of sad that I missed it in the theatre.
Kung Fu Panda
Animation Studio and Best Known Franchise: DreamWorks Animation; Shrek and Madagascar.
Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
Starring the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Seth Rogan, Jackie Chan, Ian McShane, Randall Duk Kim and James Hong.
The Source of My Mild Interest: There are two studios that currently dominate computer animated films: Pixar and DreamWorks. It's no secret that I prefer Pixar. So, when I saw the first trailers for Kung Fu Panda, I rolled my eyes. "More of the same from DreamWorks. Talking animals voiced by celebrities making pop culture references." But then, some weird things started happening. The reviews were good. Even my fellow Pixar junkies were going, "Wow. This movie is good." Then, it went on to sweep the Annies, which is the animation industry's top awards. It completely shut out Pixar's Wall-E. With all this critical acclaim, I figured it was worth checking out. And hey! Co-director Mark Osborne directed the music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's Jurassic Park.
Plot: A peaceful valley in China is protected by five kung fu masters known as the Furious Five. But then, horror. The warlord Tai Lung has escaped from prison, and is carving a swath of destruction to the valley. The only choice: find the legendary Dragon Warrior to do battle with Tai Lung. But do the kung fu masters choose one of the Furious Five to be the Dragon Warrior? No! They chose...Po, a lowly noodle chef...our titular panda. The race is on for Po to conquer his self-doubts, the Furious Five to conquer their doubts in Po, and to get ready for battle with Tai Lung.
What I Liked: The characters aren't just celebrities playing themselves. It seems like they're actually trying to create some characters...they're actually acting. Each of the Furious Five has their own character traits to make them unique. There's some amazing action sequences...a spectacular score...and the animation is above average for DreamWorks.
What I Didn't Like: The plot is still formulaic, and yeah, the celebrities try, but they do get lazy in some scenes and it becomes celebrities playing themselves.
Final Verdict: This is NOT talking animals making pop culture references...this is actually a highly entertaining action film with a comedic bent. I recommend it.
3.5 Nibs
Alright, it's getting late. Off to bed...we'll pick this up in the morning.
OK, so next up on my list of animated films I was mildly interested in was one that I became increasingly curious about, and soon got kind of sad that I missed it in the theatre.
Kung Fu Panda
Animation Studio and Best Known Franchise: DreamWorks Animation; Shrek and Madagascar.
Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
Starring the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Seth Rogan, Jackie Chan, Ian McShane, Randall Duk Kim and James Hong.
The Source of My Mild Interest: There are two studios that currently dominate computer animated films: Pixar and DreamWorks. It's no secret that I prefer Pixar. So, when I saw the first trailers for Kung Fu Panda, I rolled my eyes. "More of the same from DreamWorks. Talking animals voiced by celebrities making pop culture references." But then, some weird things started happening. The reviews were good. Even my fellow Pixar junkies were going, "Wow. This movie is good." Then, it went on to sweep the Annies, which is the animation industry's top awards. It completely shut out Pixar's Wall-E. With all this critical acclaim, I figured it was worth checking out. And hey! Co-director Mark Osborne directed the music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's Jurassic Park.
Plot: A peaceful valley in China is protected by five kung fu masters known as the Furious Five. But then, horror. The warlord Tai Lung has escaped from prison, and is carving a swath of destruction to the valley. The only choice: find the legendary Dragon Warrior to do battle with Tai Lung. But do the kung fu masters choose one of the Furious Five to be the Dragon Warrior? No! They chose...Po, a lowly noodle chef...our titular panda. The race is on for Po to conquer his self-doubts, the Furious Five to conquer their doubts in Po, and to get ready for battle with Tai Lung.
What I Liked: The characters aren't just celebrities playing themselves. It seems like they're actually trying to create some characters...they're actually acting. Each of the Furious Five has their own character traits to make them unique. There's some amazing action sequences...a spectacular score...and the animation is above average for DreamWorks.
What I Didn't Like: The plot is still formulaic, and yeah, the celebrities try, but they do get lazy in some scenes and it becomes celebrities playing themselves.
Final Verdict: This is NOT talking animals making pop culture references...this is actually a highly entertaining action film with a comedic bent. I recommend it.
3.5 Nibs
Alright, it's getting late. Off to bed...we'll pick this up in the morning.
Labels:
Animated Film Catch-Up,
Movie Reviews,
Movie stuff
Animated Film Catch-Up: Bee Movie
For those just joining us, every couple of years I rent every animated movie that I missed in the theatre that I had a mild interest in seeing, and watch them all in an insane lost weekend. I call this my "Animated Film Catch-Up".
Alright, the first in this latest animated film catch-up....
Bee Movie
Animation Studio and Best Known Franchise: DreamWorks Animation, Shrek and Madagascar
Directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith
Starring the voices of Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, and Ray Liotta
The Source of My Mild Interest: Bee Movie. An animated film written by, produced by, and starring Jerry Seinfeld. Having been a college kid in the 1990s who watched a lot of Seinfeld in the dorms, this just seemed like an interesting proposition. However, my interest was mild as it was another talking animal animated epic. Besides, insects trying to break out of the mold and be an individual? Didn't we see this in Antz and A Bug's Life? So let's see what we've got going on here.
Plot: Our hero is Barry B. Benson, a young honeybee just graduated from college and ready to take on the world. But, he seems somewhat wary of the bee philosophy of choosing one job and being stuck with it for the rest of your life. So, before he chooses his one job, he manages to go along on an expedition outside of the hive to gather nectar. While out there, he soon becomes enamored with Vanessa, a human, and a florist. But soon, Barry discovers that humans actually enslave bees and harvest the honey from them! Barry then decides to sue all of humanity so bees can regain their freedom and earn back all their hard-made honey! But the trial has some unexpected consequences....
What I Liked: There are some spectacular animated flying sequences as we watch the bees flying over New York city. There's a few clever gags going on, and it does get quite self-referential, such as Barry pointing out to Bee Larry King that the humans have a Larry King too.
What I Didn't Like: OK, you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for pop culture references when you're cracking wise about Ray Liotta winning an Emmy for a guest shot on ER. And the whole "celebrities doing little more than playing themselves" thing that plagues a lot of animated films really goes overboard here.
Final Verdict: It's Jerry Seinfeld, doing one long bit about bees. Just a little too hip for the room.
2.5 Nibs
One down, four to go. Kung Fu Panda is getting tossed in next.
Alright, the first in this latest animated film catch-up....
Bee Movie
Animation Studio and Best Known Franchise: DreamWorks Animation, Shrek and Madagascar
Directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith
Starring the voices of Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, and Ray Liotta
The Source of My Mild Interest: Bee Movie. An animated film written by, produced by, and starring Jerry Seinfeld. Having been a college kid in the 1990s who watched a lot of Seinfeld in the dorms, this just seemed like an interesting proposition. However, my interest was mild as it was another talking animal animated epic. Besides, insects trying to break out of the mold and be an individual? Didn't we see this in Antz and A Bug's Life? So let's see what we've got going on here.
Plot: Our hero is Barry B. Benson, a young honeybee just graduated from college and ready to take on the world. But, he seems somewhat wary of the bee philosophy of choosing one job and being stuck with it for the rest of your life. So, before he chooses his one job, he manages to go along on an expedition outside of the hive to gather nectar. While out there, he soon becomes enamored with Vanessa, a human, and a florist. But soon, Barry discovers that humans actually enslave bees and harvest the honey from them! Barry then decides to sue all of humanity so bees can regain their freedom and earn back all their hard-made honey! But the trial has some unexpected consequences....
What I Liked: There are some spectacular animated flying sequences as we watch the bees flying over New York city. There's a few clever gags going on, and it does get quite self-referential, such as Barry pointing out to Bee Larry King that the humans have a Larry King too.
What I Didn't Like: OK, you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for pop culture references when you're cracking wise about Ray Liotta winning an Emmy for a guest shot on ER. And the whole "celebrities doing little more than playing themselves" thing that plagues a lot of animated films really goes overboard here.
Final Verdict: It's Jerry Seinfeld, doing one long bit about bees. Just a little too hip for the room.
2.5 Nibs
One down, four to go. Kung Fu Panda is getting tossed in next.
Labels:
Animated Film Catch-Up,
Movie Reviews,
Movie stuff
It's That Time Again: Animated Film Catch-Up!
Hey, it's that time again! It's time for bi-annual tradition, animated film catch-up!
Here's the story. I love animated films. Love love love them! There was once a time when I would run out to the theatre and see every animated film that came out. But then, something odd happened. The more I watched, the more I realized that...most of them are all the same. They all tend to be talking animals making pop culture references voiced by celebrities. So I started thinking that I didn't have to go out and see every animated film that hits the theatres.
Now, I do something I've dubbed animated film catch-up. I head down to the video store, and I rent every animated film from the past couple of years that I've had a mild interest in. And then, I go home, and watch them all in one Dr Pepper and Doritos fueled lost weekend!
I call it a bi-annual tradition, but the truth is, I do it whenever I'm browsing in the video store, and I've noticed that the vast majority of animated films I have a mild interest in have drifted from the "new releases" section to the "regular films" section. Every 2 or 3 years seems to be when it happens.
Here's what's on the menu for this edition of Animated Film Catch-Up:
I'll be posting capsule reviews here on the blog at the end of each film...when I have my intermission to refill the Dr Pepper.
We'll start things with Bee Movie after supper.
Here's the story. I love animated films. Love love love them! There was once a time when I would run out to the theatre and see every animated film that came out. But then, something odd happened. The more I watched, the more I realized that...most of them are all the same. They all tend to be talking animals making pop culture references voiced by celebrities. So I started thinking that I didn't have to go out and see every animated film that hits the theatres.
Now, I do something I've dubbed animated film catch-up. I head down to the video store, and I rent every animated film from the past couple of years that I've had a mild interest in. And then, I go home, and watch them all in one Dr Pepper and Doritos fueled lost weekend!
I call it a bi-annual tradition, but the truth is, I do it whenever I'm browsing in the video store, and I've noticed that the vast majority of animated films I have a mild interest in have drifted from the "new releases" section to the "regular films" section. Every 2 or 3 years seems to be when it happens.
Here's what's on the menu for this edition of Animated Film Catch-Up:
- Bee Movie
- Kung Fu Panda
- Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who
- Bolt
- Monsters vs Aliens
I'll be posting capsule reviews here on the blog at the end of each film...when I have my intermission to refill the Dr Pepper.
We'll start things with Bee Movie after supper.
Labels:
Animated Film Catch-Up,
Movie Reviews,
Movie stuff
Green Lantern Villains
Well, the movie version of Green Lantern keeps trucking along. This week, it was announced who the villains will be...and the actors who'll be playing them!
First, it was announced that Peter Sarsgaard will be playing Hector Hammond. Hector Hammond is a B-lister in Green Lantern's rogues gallery...a scientist who becomes an all-powerful telepath after exposure to a mysterious meteorite. He then uses his newfound powers to try to steal Green Lantern's power ring and take over the world.
Now, when this was announced, the fanboys were pretty upset that the villain in the film would not be Green Lantern's arch-enemy, Sinestro. Those fears were laid aside when it was revealed that the studio was pursuing Jackie Earle Haley to play Sinestro.
For those too lazy to click on the link, Sinestro was once a member of the Green Lantern Corps, and was given the task of training Hal Jordan when Jordan first joined. But when Sinestro's version of a just and ordered galaxy was one with him as absolute ruler, Hal Jordan turned him in, and Sinestro went all supervillain. Now wielding a yellow power ring (in contrast to the green ring of Green Lantern), he seeks revenge upon Hal Jordan while still trying to bring totalitarian order to the galaxy.
Jackie Earle Haley was a child star in the 1970s, who's been having a phenomenal comeback in the past few years. Haley was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Little Children. For his superhero cred, he was recently Rorschach in the film version of Watchmen. And for his supervillain cred, he'll soon be seen as the new Freddy Kruger in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Sarsgaard and Haley join Ryan Reynolds, who was previously announced as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, and Blake Lively, who was announced earlier this week as playing Jordan's main squeeze, aircraft magnate Carol Ferris. They start filming in March for a Summer 2011 release!
First, it was announced that Peter Sarsgaard will be playing Hector Hammond. Hector Hammond is a B-lister in Green Lantern's rogues gallery...a scientist who becomes an all-powerful telepath after exposure to a mysterious meteorite. He then uses his newfound powers to try to steal Green Lantern's power ring and take over the world.
Now, when this was announced, the fanboys were pretty upset that the villain in the film would not be Green Lantern's arch-enemy, Sinestro. Those fears were laid aside when it was revealed that the studio was pursuing Jackie Earle Haley to play Sinestro.
For those too lazy to click on the link, Sinestro was once a member of the Green Lantern Corps, and was given the task of training Hal Jordan when Jordan first joined. But when Sinestro's version of a just and ordered galaxy was one with him as absolute ruler, Hal Jordan turned him in, and Sinestro went all supervillain. Now wielding a yellow power ring (in contrast to the green ring of Green Lantern), he seeks revenge upon Hal Jordan while still trying to bring totalitarian order to the galaxy.
Jackie Earle Haley was a child star in the 1970s, who's been having a phenomenal comeback in the past few years. Haley was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Little Children. For his superhero cred, he was recently Rorschach in the film version of Watchmen. And for his supervillain cred, he'll soon be seen as the new Freddy Kruger in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Sarsgaard and Haley join Ryan Reynolds, who was previously announced as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, and Blake Lively, who was announced earlier this week as playing Jordan's main squeeze, aircraft magnate Carol Ferris. They start filming in March for a Summer 2011 release!
Labels:
Movie stuff
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Yellow Submarine Cast
So, Robert Zemeckis, the legendary film director who gave us the Back to the Future trilogy, and who is now a pioneer of the medium of performance capture thanks to The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol, is hard at work on his next performance capture epic, a remake of the Beatles animated film, Yellow Submarine.
Zemeckis announced the cast the other day, so these lucky actors have the daunting task of playing the Beatles:
- Dean Lennox Kelly, a veteran British TV actor, will be playing John Lennon. My fellow nerds will recognize him as William Shakespeare from that episode of Doctor Who where the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones met Shakespeare.
- Peter Serafinowciz, a veteran British commedian, TV actor, and voice actor, will be playing Paul McCartney. My fellow nerds will recognize him as the voice of Darth Maul in Phantom Menace.
- Cary Elwes, a veteran of Zemeckis's performance capture films, will be playing George Harrison. My fellow nerds will remember him as Wesley in The Princess Bride and Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
- Adam Campbell, who was in Date Movie and Epic Movie, will be playing Ringo Starr.
And, when new recordings of the Beatles classics are called for, the songs will be performed by Beatles tribute band Fab 4.
Disney hopes to have this one in theatres for Summer 2012, and have its premiere in London during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
I'm still on record as thinking this is a bad idea.
Zemeckis announced the cast the other day, so these lucky actors have the daunting task of playing the Beatles:
- Dean Lennox Kelly, a veteran British TV actor, will be playing John Lennon. My fellow nerds will recognize him as William Shakespeare from that episode of Doctor Who where the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones met Shakespeare.
- Peter Serafinowciz, a veteran British commedian, TV actor, and voice actor, will be playing Paul McCartney. My fellow nerds will recognize him as the voice of Darth Maul in Phantom Menace.
- Cary Elwes, a veteran of Zemeckis's performance capture films, will be playing George Harrison. My fellow nerds will remember him as Wesley in The Princess Bride and Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
- Adam Campbell, who was in Date Movie and Epic Movie, will be playing Ringo Starr.
And, when new recordings of the Beatles classics are called for, the songs will be performed by Beatles tribute band Fab 4.
Disney hopes to have this one in theatres for Summer 2012, and have its premiere in London during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
I'm still on record as thinking this is a bad idea.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The A-Team Trailer
And here's another classic from my childhood given the big-screen treatment. The latest classic TV series turned into a movie, The A-Team:
As I've previously blogged, Liam Neeson [Qui-Gon Jinn] is Hannibal, Bradley Cooper [The Hangover] is Face, Sharlto Copley [District 9] is Murdock, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson [UFC Superstar] is B.A..
Joe Carnahan [Narc] directs, and the Scott Brothers, Ridley [Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien, this summer's Robin Hood] and Tony [Top Gun, Crimson Tide, The Taking of Pelham 123] produce.
June 11
As I've previously blogged, Liam Neeson [Qui-Gon Jinn] is Hannibal, Bradley Cooper [The Hangover] is Face, Sharlto Copley [District 9] is Murdock, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson [UFC Superstar] is B.A..
Joe Carnahan [Narc] directs, and the Scott Brothers, Ridley [Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien, this summer's Robin Hood] and Tony [Top Gun, Crimson Tide, The Taking of Pelham 123] produce.
June 11
Labels:
The Trailer Park
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Move News Bits
A few bits of movie news have come my way that I have to pass along.
First up, it's official! JJ Abrams is going to get to do his sequel to Star Trek. Star Trek 2, or, as they're calling it right now, Untitled Star Trek Sequel, has just been given a release date of June 29, 2012.
There's still no word on what will happen in the sequel. When asked about it in interviews, Abrams says that he and his writers are still at the stage where they're just bouncing ideas of each other.
When the film first hit back in May, rampant fan speculation was calling for Jack Black as Harry Mudd. Ramapnt fan speculation right now is that we're going to get a return of Khan.
We'll know for certain come 2012.
Meanwhile, over at Warner Brothers, work is slowly starting to take shape on a movie version of that classic DC Comics character, Green Lantern.
It was announced a few days ago that Gossip Girl star Blake Lively will be playing Carol Ferris. In the comics, Ferris is a high-ranking official (and eventual president) of Ferris Aircraft, the aircraft company that employs Hal Jordan, the most famous Green Lantern of them all. And yes, she becomes Green Lantern's girlfriend.
Ferris also eventually becomes the villainess Star Sapphire, however Warner Brothers was quick to point out that Star Sapphire is NOT the villain in Green Lantern, but maybe in a sequel.
Lively joins the already-announced Ryan Reynolds, who'll be playing Hal Jordan. Martin Campbell, who gave us GoldenEye, Casino Royale and The Mask of Zorro, is directing. They start filming in March for a Summer 2011 release.
And, it was just announced that Spider-Man 4 is officially dead. Sony (the studio) and Sam Raimi (the director, who also did the first 3) just couldn't agree on a direction for the next film in the franchise. Rumor has it Raimi really wanted to have the Vulture as the villain, and the studio wanted "whoever's big in the comics right now."
So, Raimi, and Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, have been removed from the project. However, they still want another Spider-Man film in theatres for 2012, so...reboot! New director, a new Peter Parker, all still TBA.
But summer 2012 is still the release date.
First up, it's official! JJ Abrams is going to get to do his sequel to Star Trek. Star Trek 2, or, as they're calling it right now, Untitled Star Trek Sequel, has just been given a release date of June 29, 2012.
There's still no word on what will happen in the sequel. When asked about it in interviews, Abrams says that he and his writers are still at the stage where they're just bouncing ideas of each other.
When the film first hit back in May, rampant fan speculation was calling for Jack Black as Harry Mudd. Ramapnt fan speculation right now is that we're going to get a return of Khan.
We'll know for certain come 2012.
Meanwhile, over at Warner Brothers, work is slowly starting to take shape on a movie version of that classic DC Comics character, Green Lantern.
It was announced a few days ago that Gossip Girl star Blake Lively will be playing Carol Ferris. In the comics, Ferris is a high-ranking official (and eventual president) of Ferris Aircraft, the aircraft company that employs Hal Jordan, the most famous Green Lantern of them all. And yes, she becomes Green Lantern's girlfriend.
Ferris also eventually becomes the villainess Star Sapphire, however Warner Brothers was quick to point out that Star Sapphire is NOT the villain in Green Lantern, but maybe in a sequel.
Lively joins the already-announced Ryan Reynolds, who'll be playing Hal Jordan. Martin Campbell, who gave us GoldenEye, Casino Royale and The Mask of Zorro, is directing. They start filming in March for a Summer 2011 release.
And, it was just announced that Spider-Man 4 is officially dead. Sony (the studio) and Sam Raimi (the director, who also did the first 3) just couldn't agree on a direction for the next film in the franchise. Rumor has it Raimi really wanted to have the Vulture as the villain, and the studio wanted "whoever's big in the comics right now."
So, Raimi, and Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, have been removed from the project. However, they still want another Spider-Man film in theatres for 2012, so...reboot! New director, a new Peter Parker, all still TBA.
But summer 2012 is still the release date.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Monday, January 11, 2010
Finishing the Summer Blockbuster Catch-Up
So, I recently blogged that I spent my weekend watching some rented movies: Terminator Salvation and Land of the Lost. Before the weekend ended, I had the time to sit down and watch the third summer blockbuster I was sad I missed in the theatres, District 9.
I love how District 9 came about. The writer/director, Neill Blomkamp, was originally chosen by producer Peter Jackson to direct a movie version of the video game Halo. But when Halo fell apart, Jackson went to Blomkamp and said, "Dude, I'm sorry it fell apart like that. To make up for it, here's $30 million to make whatever kind of movie you want." Blomkamp chose to make a feature-length expansion of his short film Alive in Joburg, and the end result was District 9.
So, as the story goes, a UFO appears in the skies over Johannesburg, South Africa. After many years of just sitting there, we curious humans finally break into it to find a large group of malnourished alien refugees. The people of South Africa take them in, and set them up in a ghetto known as District 9. There's all kinds of racism apparent in the humans' treatment of the aliens, and District 9 rapidly becomes a crime ridden slum. The solution: move them to a bigger, better, newer slum known as District 10.
Enter our hero, Wikus, an employee of MNU, the company in charge of the slums. It's Wikus's job to head into District 9 and start handing out eviction notices. But before long, he's infected by a mysterious alien chemical that starts mutating him into one of the aliens. Now, Wikus becomes a fugitive as he's hunted by MNU and crime lords, because Wikus could hold the secret to making the alien's advanced technology usable to humans. Wikus knows that the answers to his condition lie deep within District 9.
I had a real Terminator weekend, as I watched T2 from my personal collection, rented Terminator Salvation, and then managed to catch the first one on cable TV. District 9 has a lot in common with the first Terminator in that they are both low-budget sci-fi films, with that low budget really adding an additional layer of grit and realism. There was also the much-lauded bit of tackling real political issues as it tackled issues such as racism. But, about halfway through, I found it started getting fairly typical of the genre.
Other than that, it was really good. Let's say 3 out of 4.
I love how District 9 came about. The writer/director, Neill Blomkamp, was originally chosen by producer Peter Jackson to direct a movie version of the video game Halo. But when Halo fell apart, Jackson went to Blomkamp and said, "Dude, I'm sorry it fell apart like that. To make up for it, here's $30 million to make whatever kind of movie you want." Blomkamp chose to make a feature-length expansion of his short film Alive in Joburg, and the end result was District 9.
So, as the story goes, a UFO appears in the skies over Johannesburg, South Africa. After many years of just sitting there, we curious humans finally break into it to find a large group of malnourished alien refugees. The people of South Africa take them in, and set them up in a ghetto known as District 9. There's all kinds of racism apparent in the humans' treatment of the aliens, and District 9 rapidly becomes a crime ridden slum. The solution: move them to a bigger, better, newer slum known as District 10.
Enter our hero, Wikus, an employee of MNU, the company in charge of the slums. It's Wikus's job to head into District 9 and start handing out eviction notices. But before long, he's infected by a mysterious alien chemical that starts mutating him into one of the aliens. Now, Wikus becomes a fugitive as he's hunted by MNU and crime lords, because Wikus could hold the secret to making the alien's advanced technology usable to humans. Wikus knows that the answers to his condition lie deep within District 9.
I had a real Terminator weekend, as I watched T2 from my personal collection, rented Terminator Salvation, and then managed to catch the first one on cable TV. District 9 has a lot in common with the first Terminator in that they are both low-budget sci-fi films, with that low budget really adding an additional layer of grit and realism. There was also the much-lauded bit of tackling real political issues as it tackled issues such as racism. But, about halfway through, I found it started getting fairly typical of the genre.
Other than that, it was really good. Let's say 3 out of 4.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Latest Targ's Up!
It's that time of the week again! We've got a new podcast all for you!
For your listening pleasure this week, I present Episode 3.15: Driven to Distraction. What starts out as a typical ramble about all things pop culture quickly goes off the rails as I begin having a text messaging conversation a very dear friend.
Click here to listen!
Click here to subscribe in iTunes!
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Catching Up on the Summer Blockbusters
So, I did something tonight that I don't do very often, and I should do more often. I rented some movies. With my vast DVD collection, I usually watch something I own, but there are a few summer blockbusters I wanted to see, but missed in the theatres, so I rented them to see what I missed.
First up was Terminator Salvation, aka Terminator 4. Ever since I was in junior high and read the novelization of Terminator 2 have I wanted to see a film about the future war...the war against the machines. (The novelization's first three chapters are dedicated to it and go into it quite in depth.) And, with prequels and gritty origin stories being the rage in Hollywood these days, it was just a matter of time until we got it.
The plot: Marcus Wright, a death-row inmate in 2003, makes a deal to donate his body to science after he's executed. Wright then wakes up in the year 2018. Skynet is online and the future war is in full-swing. Wright soon meets up with a young resistance fighter named Kyle Reese, and they battle the machines while they try to find more resistance fighters. Meanwhile, John Connor is testing a new weapon that might finally bring an end to the war. It's not long before Connor and Wright are brought together, and a terrible secret is uncovered about Wright.
My reaction to this one was pretty much the same one I had to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. It's good, but oh so unnecessary. The first two films, the James Cameron films, form this nice little two part story that there's really no need to revisit it. Everything else is just rehashed.
What also doesn't help is the fact that I threw my own personal copy of Terminator 2 into my DVD last night, so T2 is still very fresh in my mind. The genius of the James Cameron films is, even though there's many great explosions and awesome killer robots, Cameron manages to throw in some weighty discussions about destiny vs. free will and the definitions of humanity. That's what makes the Cameron films some truly great science-fiction.
But Terminator Salvation didn't have any of that. Just some mighty fine explosions and robots fighting robots. And, it does have some great "wink wink" references to the earlier films. I'd probably give it 3 nibs out of 4.
Next up, I rented the big-screen version of the classic 1970s TV series, Land of the Lost. I think I saw, maybe, two episodes of the original series when I was a kid. However, I thought the trailers looked kind of clever, not to mention that it also starred the incredibly adorable Anna Friel, whom my fellow Pushing Daisies fans will forever remember as "the girl named Chuck." (And in Land of the Lost, Friel wears pigtails and short shorts, and uses her natural British accent, which makes her even MORE adorable. She is my new secret girlfriend.)
Anyway, Will Ferrel stars as Dr. Rick Marshall, a scientist who has fallen from grace because of his radical theories about time travel and other dimensions. When a young grad student named Holly (that's Friel), encourages him to continue his research, it's not long before Marshall, Holly and Will (a roadside attraction manager) get swept through an interdimensional vortex to a mysterious land, where they fight dinosaurs, battle lizard people, and try to find a way home.
Now, this film actually had a lot going for it. Some great creature designs, fantastic landscapes, a fairly routine plot, though. It had the makings of a pretty decent comedic sci-fi/fantasy film. About the only negative was, well, Will Ferrell. Everything just kind of grinds to a halt so he can do his usual Will Ferrell schtick that it kind of seems out of place. If Will Ferrell could have toned it down just a bit, it would have been good. 2 out of 4 nibs.
I also got District 9, but it's getting late, so I'll save that one for Sunday afternoon.
First up was Terminator Salvation, aka Terminator 4. Ever since I was in junior high and read the novelization of Terminator 2 have I wanted to see a film about the future war...the war against the machines. (The novelization's first three chapters are dedicated to it and go into it quite in depth.) And, with prequels and gritty origin stories being the rage in Hollywood these days, it was just a matter of time until we got it.
The plot: Marcus Wright, a death-row inmate in 2003, makes a deal to donate his body to science after he's executed. Wright then wakes up in the year 2018. Skynet is online and the future war is in full-swing. Wright soon meets up with a young resistance fighter named Kyle Reese, and they battle the machines while they try to find more resistance fighters. Meanwhile, John Connor is testing a new weapon that might finally bring an end to the war. It's not long before Connor and Wright are brought together, and a terrible secret is uncovered about Wright.
My reaction to this one was pretty much the same one I had to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. It's good, but oh so unnecessary. The first two films, the James Cameron films, form this nice little two part story that there's really no need to revisit it. Everything else is just rehashed.
What also doesn't help is the fact that I threw my own personal copy of Terminator 2 into my DVD last night, so T2 is still very fresh in my mind. The genius of the James Cameron films is, even though there's many great explosions and awesome killer robots, Cameron manages to throw in some weighty discussions about destiny vs. free will and the definitions of humanity. That's what makes the Cameron films some truly great science-fiction.
But Terminator Salvation didn't have any of that. Just some mighty fine explosions and robots fighting robots. And, it does have some great "wink wink" references to the earlier films. I'd probably give it 3 nibs out of 4.
Next up, I rented the big-screen version of the classic 1970s TV series, Land of the Lost. I think I saw, maybe, two episodes of the original series when I was a kid. However, I thought the trailers looked kind of clever, not to mention that it also starred the incredibly adorable Anna Friel, whom my fellow Pushing Daisies fans will forever remember as "the girl named Chuck." (And in Land of the Lost, Friel wears pigtails and short shorts, and uses her natural British accent, which makes her even MORE adorable. She is my new secret girlfriend.)
Anyway, Will Ferrel stars as Dr. Rick Marshall, a scientist who has fallen from grace because of his radical theories about time travel and other dimensions. When a young grad student named Holly (that's Friel), encourages him to continue his research, it's not long before Marshall, Holly and Will (a roadside attraction manager) get swept through an interdimensional vortex to a mysterious land, where they fight dinosaurs, battle lizard people, and try to find a way home.
Now, this film actually had a lot going for it. Some great creature designs, fantastic landscapes, a fairly routine plot, though. It had the makings of a pretty decent comedic sci-fi/fantasy film. About the only negative was, well, Will Ferrell. Everything just kind of grinds to a halt so he can do his usual Will Ferrell schtick that it kind of seems out of place. If Will Ferrell could have toned it down just a bit, it would have been good. 2 out of 4 nibs.
I also got District 9, but it's getting late, so I'll save that one for Sunday afternoon.
Labels:
Movie Reviews,
Movie stuff
Friday, January 08, 2010
Thursday, January 07, 2010
How to Train Your Dragon Trailer
I feel like I need to relentlessly mock the trailer for the latest DreamWorks animated epic, How to Train Your Dragon.
I wanted to mock this trailer mainly because of how it opens with the montage of clips from other DreamWorks films...it's like they're trying to establish this Disneyesque legacy for themselves. And I don't think they've established one yet in their 15 years of existence.
But I started reading up on How to Train Your Dragon, and suddenly, my eyebrows were raised in curiosity. It turns out the director is Chris Sanders.
Sanders cut his teeth at Disney back in the 1990s. He was one of the writers on Mulan. And then he got to write and direct Lilo and Stitch, which many consider to be the last good film in that period of animation now known as "the Disney renassance." A lot of people were stricken by Lilo and Stitch and how it was just so different from anything Disney had done...injecting new life into the Disney formulas.
Sanders' next project at Disney was Bolt, and then there was a management change. Remember, it was the whole Disney/Pixar merger, and John Lassetter, the head of Pixar, became the head of Disney Animation. Lassetter and Sanders butted heads over the creative direction of Bolt. Sanders eventually left Disney and soon found himself a job down the street at DreamWorks. It was the highest-profile...negative that came out of the Disney/Pixar merger. How to Train Your Dragon is Sanders' first DreamWorks project.
So I'm intrigued now. Part of the reason why I have a distaste for DreamWorks films is the fact that they nailed down a winning formula with their first film, Antz, and they've stuck to it ever since. Sanders was able to inject new life into the Disney formula with Lilo and Stitch...perhaps he can do the same with the DreamWorks formula and How to Train Your Dragon.
I wanted to mock this trailer mainly because of how it opens with the montage of clips from other DreamWorks films...it's like they're trying to establish this Disneyesque legacy for themselves. And I don't think they've established one yet in their 15 years of existence.
But I started reading up on How to Train Your Dragon, and suddenly, my eyebrows were raised in curiosity. It turns out the director is Chris Sanders.
Sanders cut his teeth at Disney back in the 1990s. He was one of the writers on Mulan. And then he got to write and direct Lilo and Stitch, which many consider to be the last good film in that period of animation now known as "the Disney renassance." A lot of people were stricken by Lilo and Stitch and how it was just so different from anything Disney had done...injecting new life into the Disney formulas.
Sanders' next project at Disney was Bolt, and then there was a management change. Remember, it was the whole Disney/Pixar merger, and John Lassetter, the head of Pixar, became the head of Disney Animation. Lassetter and Sanders butted heads over the creative direction of Bolt. Sanders eventually left Disney and soon found himself a job down the street at DreamWorks. It was the highest-profile...negative that came out of the Disney/Pixar merger. How to Train Your Dragon is Sanders' first DreamWorks project.
So I'm intrigued now. Part of the reason why I have a distaste for DreamWorks films is the fact that they nailed down a winning formula with their first film, Antz, and they've stuck to it ever since. Sanders was able to inject new life into the Disney formula with Lilo and Stitch...perhaps he can do the same with the DreamWorks formula and How to Train Your Dragon.
Labels:
The Trailer Park
Monday, January 04, 2010
Family Guy: Something Something Something Dark Side Review
Wow, I haven't bought a straight-to-DVD movie in a while, so let's review this sucker on the blog! I blew a Christmas gift card on....
Family Guy: Something Something Something Dark Side
Directed by Dominic Polcino
Starring the voices of Seth McFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Mike Henry, H. Jon Benjamin, John G. Brennan, and James Woods.
Backstory: As you may recall, a couple years ago, Family Guy did something special to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. They produced a 1-hour special episode entitle Blue Harvest, which was a scene-for-scene spoof of Star Wars. It was so well-received that they decided to do scene-for-scene spoofs of the entire Star Wars trilogy. So that brings us to Something Something Something Dark Side, which is their scene-for-scene spoof of The Empire Strikes Back. But rather than show it on TV first, they decided to release it as a direct-to-DVD film.
Plot: Look, I'm pretty sure that everyone who reads this blog has seen The Empire Strikes Back, so no point in rehashing it here. I mean, it's just The Empire Strikes Back, but all your favourite Family Guy characters fill the roles.
What I Liked: There are a couple of clever gags, and they do point out some inconsistencies with Empire that I never really noticed before.
What I Didn't Like: Just like Family Guy on TV these days, the pop culture references and cutaway gags really get repetitive and start dragging things down.
Final Verdict: If you ever thought Empire Strikes Back needed to be shorter, and filled with crude humour, pop culture references, and some F-bombs for good measure, this is for you.
2 Nibs
Bonus Features: You get a running commentary with the cast and crew, a pop-up trivia feature, a featurette, some clips from the table read, and a clip from the table read for We Have a Bad Feeling About This, the forthcoming scene-for-scene spoof of Return of the Jedi.
Family Guy: Something Something Something Dark Side
Directed by Dominic Polcino
Starring the voices of Seth McFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Mike Henry, H. Jon Benjamin, John G. Brennan, and James Woods.
Backstory: As you may recall, a couple years ago, Family Guy did something special to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. They produced a 1-hour special episode entitle Blue Harvest, which was a scene-for-scene spoof of Star Wars. It was so well-received that they decided to do scene-for-scene spoofs of the entire Star Wars trilogy. So that brings us to Something Something Something Dark Side, which is their scene-for-scene spoof of The Empire Strikes Back. But rather than show it on TV first, they decided to release it as a direct-to-DVD film.
Plot: Look, I'm pretty sure that everyone who reads this blog has seen The Empire Strikes Back, so no point in rehashing it here. I mean, it's just The Empire Strikes Back, but all your favourite Family Guy characters fill the roles.
What I Liked: There are a couple of clever gags, and they do point out some inconsistencies with Empire that I never really noticed before.
What I Didn't Like: Just like Family Guy on TV these days, the pop culture references and cutaway gags really get repetitive and start dragging things down.
Final Verdict: If you ever thought Empire Strikes Back needed to be shorter, and filled with crude humour, pop culture references, and some F-bombs for good measure, this is for you.
2 Nibs
Bonus Features: You get a running commentary with the cast and crew, a pop-up trivia feature, a featurette, some clips from the table read, and a clip from the table read for We Have a Bad Feeling About This, the forthcoming scene-for-scene spoof of Return of the Jedi.
Labels:
Movie Reviews
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Sherlock Holmes review
Hey! My Sherlock Holmes review is up!
Head on over to my movie review site to see what I thought of it!
Head on over to my movie review site to see what I thought of it!
Labels:
Movie Reviews
Latest Targ is Up!
Wow, this a monumental episode! First one back from Christmas holidays! First one of the new year! First one of the new decade! Too bad the content is still the same.
It's time for Episode 3.14: Remember to Make a Pi Joke, in which I ramble about Shrek 4, Godzilla films, and ski documentaries. So drop it in your MP3 player and crank it up...to a comfortable listening volume!
Click here to listen!
Click here to subscribe in iTunes!
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Sherlock Holmes, More DVDs, and Other Shenanigans
Ah, it just wouldn't be a vacation without a day in Edmonton. I was hoping to see Avatar, but I'm saving it up to see it in IMAX 3D...the way James Cameron wants me to see it. And, since it was all sold out for today AND tomorrow, I decided to go see Sherlock Holmes instead.
Now, I should mention that I know absolutely nothing about the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Never read the books, never seen any of the earlier film adaptations...unless you count the Disney classic The Great Mouse Detective. So, really, this film was my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes.
It was pretty good I guess. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law do have a great rapport as Holmes and Watson. I had no idea that Holmes, as a character, was so eccentric. The action scenes are pretty good, and I love the ending where Holmes explains the entire plot and how he figured it out. Hans Zimmer also provided a delighfully offbeat music score.
But I don't know...as cop movies and detective movies go, the whole thing seemed kind of conventional.
I give it a 3 out of 4 nibs.
Oh, and, of course, with Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, I had to buy more DVDs!
First up, Best Buy, where I had to spend my Best Buy gift card. I snatched up Family Guy presents Something, Something, Something Dark Side. As you may recall, a couple years back, Family Guy did a scene-for-scene spoof of Star Wars. It was called Blue Harvest. Well, it did so well, that they decided to do a scene-for-scene spoof of the entire original trilogy. Something Something Something Dark Side is their spoof of The Empire Strikes Back.
I was hoping to get Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode II as well, but Best Buy was all sold out.
And then, over at HMV, I was blessed to finally get my hands on a copy of Andy Barker, PI: The Complete Series, which came out a month ago but I hadn't found on store shelves yet. As I had to explain to a friend, Andy Barker, PI was the second brilliant-but-canceled sitcom starring the very, very funny Andy Richter. The series was created by Ricther's old partner Conan O'Brien, and was specifically geared for Richter's talents. Richter played Andy Barker, a very mild-mannered accountant who finally opens up his own practice. Thing was, his office used to be occupied by a private investigator, and when some of that PI's old clients start coming by looking for help, Barker begins moonlighting as a detective. And the whole thing turns into a loving homage to/spoof of the detective shows of the 1970s. It only ran 6 episodes, but Richter is comedy gold.
Oh, and for a while now, I've been thinking that I need more foreign films in my DVD library, so I grabbed Run Lola Run out of a discount bin. I can hardly wait to crank up that iconic techno score on my home theatre!
And, of course, I started pricing out some big ticket items. Every spring, I threaten to buy a bicycle and take up cycling again. I used to love cycling, I don't know why I stopped. I was also pricing out a Blu-Ray player. They've really come down in price...you can get a pretty good model now for around $150.
Next time.
Now, I should mention that I know absolutely nothing about the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Never read the books, never seen any of the earlier film adaptations...unless you count the Disney classic The Great Mouse Detective. So, really, this film was my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes.
It was pretty good I guess. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law do have a great rapport as Holmes and Watson. I had no idea that Holmes, as a character, was so eccentric. The action scenes are pretty good, and I love the ending where Holmes explains the entire plot and how he figured it out. Hans Zimmer also provided a delighfully offbeat music score.
But I don't know...as cop movies and detective movies go, the whole thing seemed kind of conventional.
I give it a 3 out of 4 nibs.
Oh, and, of course, with Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, I had to buy more DVDs!
First up, Best Buy, where I had to spend my Best Buy gift card. I snatched up Family Guy presents Something, Something, Something Dark Side. As you may recall, a couple years back, Family Guy did a scene-for-scene spoof of Star Wars. It was called Blue Harvest. Well, it did so well, that they decided to do a scene-for-scene spoof of the entire original trilogy. Something Something Something Dark Side is their spoof of The Empire Strikes Back.
I was hoping to get Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode II as well, but Best Buy was all sold out.
And then, over at HMV, I was blessed to finally get my hands on a copy of Andy Barker, PI: The Complete Series, which came out a month ago but I hadn't found on store shelves yet. As I had to explain to a friend, Andy Barker, PI was the second brilliant-but-canceled sitcom starring the very, very funny Andy Richter. The series was created by Ricther's old partner Conan O'Brien, and was specifically geared for Richter's talents. Richter played Andy Barker, a very mild-mannered accountant who finally opens up his own practice. Thing was, his office used to be occupied by a private investigator, and when some of that PI's old clients start coming by looking for help, Barker begins moonlighting as a detective. And the whole thing turns into a loving homage to/spoof of the detective shows of the 1970s. It only ran 6 episodes, but Richter is comedy gold.
Oh, and for a while now, I've been thinking that I need more foreign films in my DVD library, so I grabbed Run Lola Run out of a discount bin. I can hardly wait to crank up that iconic techno score on my home theatre!
And, of course, I started pricing out some big ticket items. Every spring, I threaten to buy a bicycle and take up cycling again. I used to love cycling, I don't know why I stopped. I was also pricing out a Blu-Ray player. They've really come down in price...you can get a pretty good model now for around $150.
Next time.
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