Every now and then, I come across a tale that not only inspires but reminds us that there are still some decency in the world. I created this movie blog to celebrate the wonders of film making and the joys and impact of simply, telling a story. So it is here where I would like to share with you, the true story of a little girl whose last wish on Earth, was to watch a movie.
Colby Curtin, a 10 year-old girl from Huntington Beach California, was treated to the trailer of the Pixar latest animated movie while watching “Monsters VS Aliens”. She was immediately captivated by the high adventures of the main character Carl Fredrickson’s flying house of balloons that she promptly told her mother that she had to watch it. It was as normal a request from any 10 year-old but Colby is no ordinary child. 3 years ago, she was diagnosed with a rare form of vascular cancer that the doctors did not have a positive prognosis for.
The film opened in the USA in early June and it was apparent that Colby’s condition worsened to the point where she was bedridden and could not get to the theater. So a family friend made some desperate calls to Pixar and Disney for any help that they could render. It wasn’t before long that Pixar furnished one of its employees with a DVD copy of the movie and flew said employee down to Huntington Beach to hold a private screening of the movie for Colby.
It was her dying wish to see the film and she did just that before passing away only 7 hours after the movie’s curtains closed.
Cynics would probably attribute this to a publicity stunt on Disney/Pixar’s part but at the end of the day, a little girl wanted to watch their latest film before she died. The title was “Up” and that is probably where she is right now.
Mark your Calendars for July 28th 2009 as Watchmen Blu-Ray Discs and DVD will be released!
Here are the specifications for both the DVD and the Blu-Ray. Just the fact that there is 25 minutes worth of extra footage should be worth the price alone. The only drawback is that they did not include the “Tales of the Black Freighter” animated movie with this set which would have to be bought separately. Who knows, they might release an “Supremely Penultimate Edition” in a couple of months what includes everything but this is good enough for me!
-Director’s Cut (additional 25 min.) — Newly included footage contains more Rorschach and a scene of Hollis Mason’s death.
-Warner Bros. Maximum Movie Mode [With Watchmen Director Zack Snyder as our host, we’ll dive deep into the intricacies of the Watchmen.]
-Director walk-ons with scene analysis
-Picture-in-picture video from the cast and crew
-Side-by-side comparisons of the graphic novel and the film
-Timeline comparisons of our world events to those from Watchmen
-Photo galleries of production stills and storyboards
-The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics [Learn how the
subversive, thematically complex, award winning comic that changed
literature, inspired analytical debate, and won countless fans, was created]
-Real Superheroes, Real Vigilantes [Explores the fascination and psychology behind real-world vigilantes and where that behavior crosses over into actually donning the hood and behaving as superheroes.]
-Mechanics: Technologies of a Fantastic World [The creators of Watchmen had a great understanding of engineering and science, allowing for plausible mechanics in their characters tools and the world itself. This featurette will guide the viewer through the filmmakers process of turning these technologies into cinematic reality]
This is for all the fans of J.J. Abrams recent Star Trek reboot! Wonder why we love the story so much? Maybe because we’ve seen it all before, in a galaxy far far away… *SPOILER ALERT!* Do not proceed if you haven’t watched “Star Trek” yet!
With live action renditions of classic Anime gaining more recognition, it was just a matter of time they decided to turn our beloved ‘Blood The Last Vampire” into a live action movie. The story is about a 400 year-old Vampire named Saya who works for the American government to hunt and capture other Vampires during their occupation of Japan after WWII. Basically, it has Jeon Ji Hyun (”My Sassy Girl” and “Il Mare”) dressed as a 16 year-old Japanese high school girl, running around with a pointy sword, wrecking all havoc while defying the laws of gravity in some over the top martial arts action. Need I say more?
Below are the Japanese teaser posters and the newly release American theatrical poster!
I always find it difficult to begin a post of this subject matter. Not because 2008 has suffered another epic loss to the movie industry but primarily that he is one of the directors that I truly respect and has influenced me tremendously.
This Tuesday evening, I learn of the passing of Anthony Minghella, the Oscar winning director of “The English Patient” which is the only movie that I would deem as ‘a perfect movie’. His spokesperson reported that he had undergone a routine operation on his neck but suffered a brain hemorrhage just a few hours ago. He was only 54 years old. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Choa, and his two children, Max Minghella and Hannah Minghella.
Anthony Minghella has lent his tender filmic touch and epic vision to films such as the Civil War drama, “Cold Mountain”, underrated thriller, “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and the much overlooked romance, “Truly, Madly, Deeply”. He is one of the few directors today that has managed to carve a style of filmmaking that is specific only to himself. Do yourself a favour, head out to your nearest video rental store and grab any copy of his work. It’ll be a treat to watch.
Cheers to you Minghella, for sharing your stories with us. You are missed.
Alright, I started this post a little while ago but the newsbites just keep on pouring in! More actors have joined the cast in terms of supporting roles and the façade of the Joker has appeared and been disproved. Drama! Fires broke out on the set! More Drama! In between Christopher Nolan attaching Oscar winners and nominees to his film like one would collect happy meal toys and the apparent hijinxs that has plagued the set, we have managed to compile morsels of info for you to munch on till 2008 rolls by!
- District Attorney and personal friend of Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent is included in the film but it has not been said if his villainous alter ego, “Two Face” will make an appearance. Supplying Dent’s façade would be none other than “Thank you for Smoking” and “The Core” star, Aaron Eckhart.
- Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Mona Lisa Smile” and “World Trade Center”) will be replacing the House of Cruise Baby Factory, Katie Holmes (“Dawson’s Creek” and “Teaching Mrs. Tingle”) as D.A. Rachel Daws.
- Christian Bale is definitely on board and Sir Michael Caine will be reprising his role as Alfred Pennyworth, Morgan Freeman as CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Lucious Foxx and my personal favourite, Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Gordon.
- According to resident Batman info expert, Batman-on-Film, there will be a new and improved Batsuit and a redesigned Tumbler for this sequel.
- The Clown Prince of Crime may sport a new look that we are not familiar with. Gone is the ashen face, green hair and purple tux but a grey skinned, scarred and dress style that borders on the eclectic. Although it was stressed that this design for the Joker is a ‘work in progress’ it would be interesting to see how Nolan blends the Joker persona into the gritty Gotham world he has created in “Begins”.
- Bruckheimer alumni William Fichtner (“Prison Break” and “Invasion”) has joined the cast simply as “Bank Manager”. It hasn’t been expanded on how extensive his role is but it would be such a terribly waste of his acting talent if he was relegated to just dishing out dough over a marble counter.
-Eric Roberts (“Heroes” and “D.O.A.”), Julia’s not quite as famous brother, has landed a role in the form of Sal Maroni, mafia kingpin and rival to Tom Wilkinson’s Carmine Falcone.
Potter-verse rejoice today as the International Trailer for Harry Pot-head V is finally up on the internet and streaming to a desktop near you. Director David Yates translates the latest and touted to be the most boring installment of the Potter franchise into visual spectacle. And what a job he does. The trailer looks absolutely fabulous. I’d even go out on a limb and say this is the most exciting Potter trailer ever. Hopefully this will equate to an equally awesome movie come July 13th and not mimic the overladen clutter that was “Goblet”.
Voldemort is back and resurrecting his alumni of fiends and all manner of ugly to give taking over the known world another shot. Standing in his way is the remnants of the previous Order of the Phoenix and Harry’s little band of merry men and women. Wands drawn, spells cast and people die. Recipe for heartache and hankies.
Click here or on the nostalgic piece of parchment depicting the previous Order of the Phoenix to view the spanking new trailer!
*Update: Yahoo! movies has released a Quicktime version of the trailer! Click HERE to check it out!
This may be bit of old news to some of you reading this but Indiana Jones 4 is well into production and will soon be a reality. While there is some trepidation on whether this is a good move for the franchise, considering that the last three Jone’s outings left us on a pretty high note, I actually find myself secretly awaiting this new addition to the previous trilogy of movies.
Harrison Ford is coming back and The Bearded One (Steven Spielberg) is slated to direct while George Lucas is serving as Producer/Executive Producer. Welsh-born actor Jonathan Rhys Davies (Sallah from the previous films) is making a comeback too. Cate Blanchett (”Elizabeth” and “Lord of the Rings”) and Ray Winstone (”The Departed” and “King Arthur”) are both set for as yet unconfirmed roles . Plus there are rumours that Indy’s son will make an appearance as well as someone from his ‘colourful’ past. Negotiations are abound to lure Sean Connery back as Indy’s dad although I do not know how that might work plotwise as Harrison is now as old as Connery’s character in the last movie.
In a recent interview, Ol’ Georgie was quoted saying “He’s not running in any of the movies. He’s either on a horse or driving a car or a motorcycle. And he’ll play his age in this movie with what’s appropriate. The chases are more suspenseful than speedy. Like the rolling ball in the first film — it’s not that he’s running that fast, it’s that there’s a giant ball coming at him.”.
Harrison is pushing 64 and I somehow find it hard pressed to see Indiana outrun that stone boulder now at that he is “playing his age”. Perhaps the trio has some brand spanking new bleeding edge special effect to reverse his age up their collective sleeves. Either way, we have to wait till November this year for the teaser trailer to debut and to summer 2008 for the actual movie to be released. Stay tuned!!
After months of deliberation, the powers that be (namely Microsoft and Peter Jackson) have decided upon a director for the upcoming “Halo” movie. It is none other than Neill Blomkamp. Who is the hell is this bloke?? Apparently, this relatively unknown director is best known for his work on a commercial titled “Alive with Technology” for Citroen. Any one out there have the videoclip of this or perhaps seen it?*
For those not in the loop, “Halo” was/is a massively popular video game that enthralled unparalleled legions of fans all across the globe. The game tells the story of a certain “cybernectically enhanced soldier of the future” fighting off a horde of alien species hellbent on ridding the world of humans (Sound rather trite no?). As a video game, this was an awesome premise but I’m not too sure how well this will translate onto film. The game took a lot of its cues from Hollywood land (ie. “Aliens”; “Black Hawk Down” and more war movies that you could swing a film cannister at) and now they want to return to that medium in which spawned the game? “Halo” was hardly original in its concepts or ideas (what is nowadays anyway?) but it was a very addictive package to PLAY as a video game. And there has not been ANY notable video game to film adaptations that has proved its worth to their core audiences (save for “Silent Hill”).
Faced with the numerous rewrites, a new untested director, and with the fact that the Halo universe is basically a mish mash of the best in sci-fi films, I honestly think this movie is going to be a mess. I PRAY that they will prove me wrong come opening day because it would be a terrible waste of a good franchise.
*Update to post: The “Alive with Technology” commercial that Neil Blomkamp was responsible for is the transforming Citroen car in some deserted parking lot. After watching the commercial, you’d think that he would be more suited to direct the upcoming “Transformer” movie rather than this sci-fi space romp.
The rumour mongers have been stoking the fires of gossip as to who will play the iconic role of the Joker in the upcoming sequel to the excellent “Batman Begins”. As of today, Warner Bros. has annouced that it is none other than Heath Ledger who will slide into those purple pants as the ultimate Clown Prince of Crime. Frankly, I am slightly taken aback by this decision to go with Ledger as this would be quite a departure from his previous roles (ie. the desirable hunk in “Casanova”, “A Knights Tale” and most recently, “Brokeback Mountain”). Heath would probably have to shed a chunk of his hunkiness to fit Joker’s scrawny frame. So what is the concensus guys? Who were your choices for the purpled master of mayhem?
Another piece of Batman news is that the title for the sequel has been locked down and its simply titled “The Dark Knight”. Pretty cool eh? The two Chris’s (Nolan and Bale) will have to be back as I cannot imagine the sequel without them. Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman will reprise their roles as Alfred and Lucious Foxx respectively. A rumoured new addition to the cast will be Phillip Seymour Hoffman who should be playing the Penguin. And hopefully we’ll get to see more of Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Gordon too.
Every now and then, I come across a tale that not only inspires but reminds us that there are still some decency in the world. I created this movie blog to celebrate the wonders of film making and the joys and impact of simply, telling a story. So it is here where I would like to share with you, the true story of a little girl whose last wish on Earth, was to watch a movie.
