A+F: The Arts

Ridley Scott's Untitled Alien prequel

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:38:29 +0000

Alright, probably time to get this thread started. Ridley Scott has been doing the rounds for Robin Hood, and has started dropping hints as to possible storylines for the Alien prequel. From an interview with MTV, it looks like Scott is going to focus some of the story on the race of Space Jockeys, but he is also going to have a human element involved in the form of terraformers and the Weyland Corporation.

Quote

"It's set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney [Weaver's character Ellen Ripley]. It's fundamentally about going out to find out 'Who the hell was that Space Jockey?' The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle — there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer's chair ... Our man [Tom Skerritt as Captain Dallas] climbs up and says "There's been an explosion in his chest from the inside out — what was that?" I'm basically explaining who that Space Jockey — we call him the Space Jockey — I'm explaining who the space jockeys were ... [The film] is about the discussion of terraforming — taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life."

Links to some earlier posts in the Alien: The Director's Cut thread, speculating some ideas that might be used in the prequel.

Philip Pullman beyond His Dark Materials

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:24:53 +0000

Because of the controversial nature of His Dark Materials, Pullman's other books often get overlooked in contexts like this. Having just posted on the BBC adaptation of The Ruby in the Smoke (4 Feb on PBS in the USA) in the Television forum, I thought I would kick off a topic in the Literature Forum too - not just on the Sally Lockhart quartet but the whole range of Pullman's work (while, perhaps, leaving discussion of HDM to another thread!).

Most of his other work is aimed at younger readers than HDM. There are some real crackers. A particular favourite in my house is The Firework Maker's Daughter - very much in the mould of a classic fairy tale, but fresh and fun. Like some of his other work, it started as a play and has been staged a few times in the UK in recent years. I'm also a big fan of the Sally Lockhart quartet (The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well and The Tin Princess) though the last of them is, for me, the weakest by far.

There's some extremely interesting material in his two non-fantasy novels for teenagers, The Broken Bridge and The Butterfly Tattoo.

Sometime I'll try and post on some of these - but not now since I'm supposed to be working on something else. You can find some of my material on them here.

Star Wars - 30 Year Anniversary

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:53:21 +0000

Just came across this article marking the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, and lo... our own SDG is quoted in it!

I'm inviting folks to share their first Star Wars memories at Looking Closer.

Toy Story 3

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:46:31 +0000

--content deleted--

Shrek Forever After

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:43:08 +0000

Links to the threads on Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007) and Shrek the Broadway musical.

Star Wars on Blu-Ray

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:40:36 +0000

Links to the threads on Episode I, Episode II, Episode III, Episode IV, Episode V and the 2004 and 2006 editions of Episodes IV, V and VI on DVD, as well as The Clone Wars and the various rumoured TV series (plus one quasi-duplicate thread on the comedy series).

See also the threads on 'Star Wars Debate Redux' (which began as a place to bash Episode II; Jul 8 - Nov 11, 2003), 'Sci fi = spiritual? Star Wars, X2, etc.' (Apr 12-14, 2004), 'Best Star Wars Movie? (with poll; Apr 18-20, 2004), Top 100 Discussion: The Star Wars original trilogy?' (May 6-7, 2004), 'Is Star Wars Blasphemous?' (Jun 15 - Jul 25, 2005), 'Star Wars in 20 minutes' (Aug 8-9, 2006) and 'Star Wars: Uncut' (Apr 2010).

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‘Star Wars’ Films Coming to Blu-ray Next Year
A boxed set containing the Blu-ray versions of the movies, spanning from 1977’s “Star Wars” through the final 2005 prequel, “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” will mark the first time the films have been offered in a high-definition home format, and will include documentary features and previously unseen footage. . . .
Mr. Lucas said the versions of the first three “Star Wars” films – “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” – included in the Blu-ray boxed set will be the special-edition releases that were shown theatrically in 1997 and digitally restored for a 2004 standard-definition DVD boxed set.
Perhaps bracing for the reactions of fans who decried some of the changes made to the special-edition films – like, say, an exchange of gunfire between Han Solo and a certain green-skinned bounty hunter – Mr. Lucas said that to release the original versions of these films on Blu-ray was “kind of an oxymoron because the quality of the original is not very good.”
“You have to go through and do a whole restoration on it, and you have to do that digitally,” he added. “It’s a very, very expensive process to do it. So when we did the transfer to digital, we only transferred really the upgraded version.” . . .
New York Times, August 14

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Note how the reporter completely neglects to ask what new changes will be made to the films in 2011. Heck, he even seems ignorant of the fact that the 2004 versions of the original films were NOT identical to the 1997 versions of those films.

Live At Electrical Audio

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:00:54 +0000

This has just been released. Looks and sounds good from the three tracks streaming on the site page. He remains as relevant as ever.

David Bazan | Live At Electrical Audio CD/LP
Pre-order date: February 18, 2010
Record Label: Self-released
Format: CD / LP / MP3

Recorded live in the studio at Electrical Audio in Chicago, IL on October 28, 2009.

During their first tour together, Bazan and his band spent a day in Studio A at Electrical Audio in Chicago. The band set-up and played live with no overdubs over the next 12 hours. The tracks were sent to Bazan’s long time collaborator and former Pedro The Lion bandmate, TW Walsh for mixing and mastering.

“Bazan: Live at Electrical Audio” features 10 new versions of songs that have previously appeared on Pedro The Lion, Headphones and Bazan solo albums.

1. I Do
2. How I Remember
3. When We Fell
4. Magazine
5. Never Wanted You
6. Cold Beer & Cigarettes
7. Heavy Breath
8. Keep Swinging
9. Fewer Broken Pieces
10. In Stitches

David Bazan: bass, vocals
Blake Wescott: guitar, vocals
Andy Fitts: guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals
Eric Elbogen: guitar, keyboards, vocals
Casey Foubert: drums, percussion

Recorded by Matthew Barnhart
Mixed and Mastered by TW Walsh
Photos by Bob Andrews and Caleb Palma

Best first lines of music reviews

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:52:49 +0000

Numerous examples may lack, but I've found mine!

This from Andy Kellman on AMG, reviewing the first Interpol album:

"One might go into a review like this one wondering how many words will pass before Joy Division is brought up. In this case, the answer is 16."

The American (2010)

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:47:11 +0000

IMDB Entry

I like the idea of this collaboration a lot.

Hollywoodnews.com link

Transformers 3

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:34:05 +0000

Links to the threads on the first and second films.

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'Transformers 3' confirmed for 2011
Ending a complete lack of suspense, director Michael Bay announced on his Web site Thursday that he is officially on board to direct a third "Transformers" film for Paramount. The release date has been shuttled up a full year, from July 1, 2012, to July 1, 2011.
Stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are slated to return, as is "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" co-writer Ehren Kruger. Steven Spielberg will executive produce, as he did on the first two films, which have grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide.
Hollywood Reporter, October 1

Animal Kingdom

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:22:26 +0000

Animal Kingdom is a new crime film from Australia, being released in the U.S. on the 13 August 2010. Not being one to share my thoughts to often, I look forward to hearing from anyone else who catches it. Here is the trailer:

Collision

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:31:58 +0000

--content deleted--

Converting two-dimensional films into 3-D

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:27:43 +0000

I had seen several horror film collections at Best Buy that claimed to have taken films originally shot in regular two-dimension format, that had been digitally remastered into 3-D. Night of the Living Dead was the big name film, converted by a company named 3D Media Lab IIRC. My first thoughts were that this has to be a joke, since the 3-D process requires 2 cameras which alter the perspective slightly, creating that annoying steroscopic format that doesn't let the eye focus on a single plane (not to mention those awful glasses that makes the experience viewable). I had also asked in another message board if anyone had seen these altered films, and the responses that I got were less than thrilling, although this may have more to do with viewing the films on a TV screen rather than in a theatre. I also know that you have to by a set of glasses, and perhaps some type of processor to attach to your DVD player to view these films, although I can't be 100% sure on that.

But, apparently the method of converting a film shot in regular 2D format to 3D has progressed, and now has some big time proponents, namely James Cameron and George Lucas, who were touting the process in Las Vegas at the ShoWest convention. Still have to wear the annoying glasses, though.

QUOTE(AP)

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas and "Titanic" director James Cameron were among those promoting a new digital alteration that converts two-dimensional movies into 3-D.

Theatergoers still have to wear those familiar cardboard glasses with red-and-blue cellophane, although backers of the new technology say it doesn't cause the eyestrain common with past 3-D efforts.

Lucas said he hopes eventually to release all six of his "Star Wars" movies in 3-D format that can be shown in regular moviehouses, not specialty theaters such as IMAX.

"It looks better than the original, to be honest with you," Lucas told theater owners Thursday at their annual ShoWest convention.

A snippet of "Star Wars: Episode II � Attack of the Clones" converted to 3-D was screened, and the images showed remarkable depth in a scene where Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi pursue an assassin in a flying vehicle.

And from The Hollywood Reporter...

QUOTE

Appearing as part of a sextet of high-profile directors promoting 3-D and digital cinema at ShoWest on Thursday, Lucas said he hadn't yet committed to a precise schedule but hoped to have the first film ready for the 30th anniversary of the original "Star Wars" movie in 2007 and that he would then rerelease one "Star Wars" film per year in 3-D.

Lucas was joined by James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, Robert Rodriguez and Randal Kleiser. Peter Jackson joined the group via a pretaped 3-D segment. They all implored the exhibition community to invest in digital projectors, which would allow theaters to show their upcoming movies in 3-D. Cameron is in preproduction on the 3-D film "Battle Angel," planned for a 2007 release. Zemeckis has two 3-D features in production, and Rodriguez is readying "The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D" for release in the summer. Jackson, who is currently filming "King Kong," announced no specific 3-D plans, but according to sources he has installed a 3-D master suite in his production offices in New Zealand.

I'd definitely check out episodes IV - VI.

Full AP story here.

Story of a Girl

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:11:07 +0000

Link to the thread on the book.

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Sedgewick nabs Zarr novel 'Story of a Girl'
The deal: Kyra Sedgwick and Emily Lansbury option Sara Zarr's "Story of a Girl," a National Book Award finalist about a 13-year-old girl whose father catches her having sex in a car with a boy, and whose life is dramatically altered by the experience.
The players: Sedgwick and Lansbury producing; Laurie Collyer ("Sherrybaby") attached as writer and director. Zarr is represented by Michael Bourret with Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. The book is published by Little, Brown.
The back story: The next time your teenager raves about a novel, pay attention: It could become your next movie. . . .
Los Angeles Times, January 31

The Hobbit

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:45:21 +0000

The problematic rights issues over J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit may be cleared up, if Time Warners bid for MGM goes through. Sony Corp. seems to be the only other serious bidder... story here.

Reagan

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:04:40 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: Ronald Reagan biopic planned
The story of Ronald Reagan's life -- from boyhood to Hollywood actor to leader of the free world -- is about to spill out on the big screen in a way quite different from the miniseries that caused such a stir seven years ago.
The feature film, titled "Reagan" and sporting a $30 million production budget, is set for release late next year and will be based on two best-selling biographies of the 40th U.S. president by Paul Kengor: "The Crusader" and "God and Ronald Reagan."
Mark Joseph, who optioned the books four years ago, is co-producing with Ralph Winter and Jonas McCord wrote the script.
Winter's producing credits include four "X-Men" movies, two "Fantastic Four" movies and the 2001 remake of "Planet of the Apes." Joseph, a marketing and development executive, worked on "Ray," "Holes," "Because of Winn-Dixie" and "The Passion of the Christ."
McCord, whose credits include "Malice" and "The Body," said he wasn't a fan of Reagan but was drawn to the project as he researched the former president's upbringing. . . .
McCord describes Reagan's childhood as "a surreal Norman Rockwell painting with his alcoholic Catholic father, devout Christian mother, Catholic brother and ever-changing boarders the family took in." . . .
Hollywood Reporter, September 7

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FWIW, earlier this year, McCord was attached to direct a movie about the Resurrection for Samuel Goldwyn.

Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:15:15 +0000

Links to threads on the pre-release buzz (2003-2005), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and Prince Caspian (2008), as well as the Narnia books.

Disney has announced it will release Voyage of the Dawn Treader on May 2009 -- less than 50 weeks after the release of Prince Caspian.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:43:42 +0000

Link to our thread on the original remake of Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008).

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Creative Lineup Shuffles Loom For 'Clash Of The Titans' And 'Journey To The Center of The Earth' Sequels
New Line and Walden Media are putting together the sequel to Journey to the Center of The Earth, and sources said that Brendan Fraser is definitely teetering. The reason: the studio wants to make a fall, 2011 release date which would mean hiring another director to replace Eric Brevig, who's busy with another Warner Bros 3D film, Yogi Bear. Fraser wants to be loyal to Brevig and is resisting New Line's suggestion of filmmakers like Brad Peyton. New Line's alternative would be re-fashion the film around Josh Hutcherson, who played Fraser's character's [nephew] in the original film.
Mike Fleming, April 27

Never Let Me Go

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:29:09 +0000

I loved the novel Never Let Me Go.

I loved the sense of melancholy and mystery, the beauty and the brokenness, and the same eye for exquisite details that Ishiguro displayed when he wrote The Remains of the Day.

It was one of those rare reading experiences where there's a Big Mystery that runs through the course of the book, and you have the pleasure of slowly unveiling it, without any mass media spoiling the surprise for you.

Well, guess what.

Variety, in their announcement of Mark Romanek's plans to film the movie with Keira Knightley as the star (excellent, excellent choice), spoiled the surprise about as quickly and bluntly as they could.

Makes me sad.

Imagine if The Crying Game had been promoted with Dil on ther poster and a teaser that said "She's a he!"

Lame, lame, lame.

I'm also disappointed that this has gone to Romanek. It's the kind of story that Ang Lee could craft into a masterpiece of subtlety, detail, and mood.

Tangled

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:59:46 +0000

Cartoon Brew is reporting that John Lasseter has fired Glen Keane (son of Family Circus's Bil, and a long-time Disney animator) from his job as co-director of Rapunzel, and the other co-director has "ankled" the project as well (as the trade papers say). Ain't It Cool News, in response, passes along a memo from Disney which claims that Keane has stepped aside for "health" reasons.

Both sources report that Disney has replaced the original directors with Nathan Greno and Byron Howard -- who, as coincidence would have it, previously replaced Chris Sanders as the directors of Bolt. (Sanders directed Lilo & Stitch, easily Disney's biggest non-Pixar animated hit of the '00s -- and on a smaller budget than the others.)

Between this and the meddling Lasseter did on Meet the Robinsons, one wonders what is going on at Disney these days. Am I allowed to say that I also didn't care for his commentary on the new Sleeping Beauty DVD all that much?

Stone

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:51:29 +0000

This sounds very promising. I've been wondering when the Junebug screenwriter would have another script brought to the screen. Curran directed The Painted Veil with restraint, thoughtfulness, and style. And the pairing of Norton and DeNiro makes me dare to hope that we might see good performances from both of them.

I'm Still Here

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:35:23 +0000

Mike Fleming:

Quote

Casey Affleck has completed that much-talked about and long-awaited mockumentary he directed about his brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix's eccentric metamorphosis from actor to hip-hop musician (or so we've been led to believe). I'm told that the film made its debut in a private lunchtime screening at WME headquarters last week for buyers -- including Harvey Weinstein -- who were sworn to secrecy.

The Exorcist

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:33:23 +0000

Well, I searched high and low for an Exorcist thread, but didn't manage to come up with one. I Netflixed this one because a)I've never seen it and it was on our A&F Top 100, and I'm really looking forward to Emily Rose and I thought I should see this movie to be able to judge how it compares. Here are a few thoughts:

I remember Christian criticisms of this film that it glorifies the power of evil and shows good as a helpless force against it. I agree to some extent. Damien's character is definitely written to be a weak man. In fact, I was almost expecting the Exorcist to send him home and request a stronger assistant. The Exorcist, on the other hand I found to be a man of very impressive strength. He shows such calm determination during the long exorcism scene.... Very impressive. He and Damien are sort of opposites of eachother: while Damien has health and physical strength his faith is weak, and the Exorcist is physically frail, but a spiritual strongman. His strength was so palpable that I just knew that the only way he could fail was if the demon would physically destroy him.

The question that this seems to lead to is, Is Damien's sacrifice at the end, his command to the demon to "take him" and his subsequent suicide a redeeming act of faith, or a final concession to his weakness? He seems to be motivated by the death of the Exorcist, so it seems like this certainly an act of desparation. His hope was that this great man would be able to heal Regan, but when that hope is doomed he takes the last route he can see. Again, I can see two sides: an act of desparation is not an act of resignation. His action shows that Damien is determined to go to any length to save Regan and he at least has some faith that he can do so in taking the demon upon himself. On the other hand, it's an act of weakness in the same way that suicide is always (please no one feel I'm being insensitive by saying this), always an act of weakness. Life has just become too hard to endure. In Damien's case, rather than recollect his faith and continue the Exorcist's work through prayer and scripture, he chooses to take an easier shortcut (which was what the demon wanted anyway, it said as much in the conversation with Damien where it said that it was looking forward to getting to know him better during the exorcism.

But still, "Greater love has no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends." The more I think about it, the more I feel like Damien's final actions elevate, rather than lower, my feelings toward his character. Had the Exorcist himself been successful, Damien would haven't undergone any change or growth through the movie. His final act seems to be an improvement upon his character, though perhaps less of one than you would hope he could make....

Oh yeah, I really liked it. I don't think I'll ever see it again, except to watch it with someone who hasn't seen it before, but I really enjoyed the emphasis the film placed on the limits of science against the supernatural. I don't know if the filmmaker was a Christian or not, but except *perhaps* for elevating Damien's character I don't know what more the film could have done to paint the church as a relevant institution. The bit with the Ouiji board and the desicrated Madonna actually reminded me of a Chick tract I know that stuff is real sometimes, but those things have gone quite a ways in building up more cynicism within me than is probably healthy.

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:38:01 +0000

(Insert cry of dismay here!)

Discographies on Twitter

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:58:58 +0000

Has anyone else stumpled upon this relatively new twitter account, @Discographies?

This anonymous person (who has already been interviewed by Paste and apparently has some connection to the music world) summarizes an artist's complete discography (studio albums only) in 140 characters or less. The results are always creative and often hilarious. Even at their most bizarre-- like describing Elvis Costello's discography using Woody Allen film titles and phases-- they still seem pretty accurate.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Quote

Weezer: 1 "Remember that nerdy guy from high school?" 2 "The one who couldn't talk to girls?" 3-7 "Why are you still hanging out with him?"

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Elvis Costello: 1-11 "the early funny ones"; 12,13,15,17,24,29 Shadows & Fog; 16,21-23,30 Crimes & Misdemeanors; 14,18-20,25-28 Zelig.

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Pavement: 1 the idea of "a band"; 2 the idea of "an album"; 3 the idea of "songs"; 4 the reality of "a career"; 5 the idea of "going solo."

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The Replacements: 1-4 "A ragtag band of lovable drunken misfits..."; 5-6 "...takes on a big corporate record label..."; 7-8 "...and loses."

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Bob Dylan: 1 Woody; 2, 3 ambition; 4 pot; 5-7 speed; 8-9 pot; 10-11 AJ Weberman; 12-16 booze; 17-19 Jesus; 20-27 pot; 28 death; 29-32 pot.

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Prince: 1-3 foreplay; 4-5 penetration; 6-9 ecstasy; 10-13 afterglow; 14-18 walk of shame; 19-35 occasional late-night booty calls.

The rest I'll leave for your own perusal.