Thoughts on films
In this post about the latest Indy film I asked the question:
What is it with Steven Spielberg and aliens?
It seems he will be producing the upcoming film Cowboys vs. Aliens, set in the wild west that has Apaches and cowboys setting aside their differences to run aliens out of town. This has to be a comedy. Right? Another go at the aliens story.
Film Guardian story here.
If they make a film of Freddie Mercury’s life, or indeed the story of Queen, then Noel Fielding would be a good choice to play Freddie.
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Went to see the new Indy film. What is it with Steven Spielberg and aliens?
I watched Resident Evil 3: Extinction today. Delivered as advertised. Mindless fun. Best bit? Milla Javovich.
I missed the I Am Legend film when it was on release in the UK. One of my work colleagues lent me the Blu-ray version last week. I watched it last night. I watched the alternate ending version then the theatrical release ending. The alternate ending is much better than that shown in theatres. The latter is the proverbial happy ending that was probably used after test screenings. The alternate ending is much more satisfying.
Toshiba are preparing to announce the end of their support for HD-DVD. Given that they created the format this would seem to be the end of the disc based HD format war. Next battlefield will be Blu-ray HD discs versus HD downloads.
Just watched Match Point on BBC 2. This really is a wonderful film. I’ve written about it before. One of my favourite films of all time I think. I have it on DVD but one of my mates has it on loan at present. I’ll have to get it back.
Hey MB, if you’re reading this. Bring me back my Match Point DVD (and the others you have as well)!! 🙂
I’ve written about Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy here before. I liked the ideas, but the books didn’t grab my imagination by the scruff of the neck. The film version of the first book comes out this week: The Golden Compass. Hopefully the books will translate in to good movies. If they expose more people to the ideas then that will be a good thingâ„¢. Mark Morford has written a nice column on the flap the film is causing amongst the “faithful”. Well worth a read.
Saw Stardust last night. It was brilliant. Comic fantasy but targeted towards adults. Well worth seeing. Might go again, or get it on Blu-ray disk when it comes out on HD.
2 hours 45 minutes this film lasted. You’d think that given the time available there’d be a stonking story line to present. Well it seems not. Don’t get me wrong, the effects were 1st class but things like plot, character development etc. seemed to have been left on the cutting room floor (if they made it on to film at all). I recently attended a talk given by Dr. Michael B. Johnson of Pixar about the use of IT and technology in their film making process. He emphasised that in Pixar the story line people are king. If there isn’t a good story then all the effects in the world aren’t going to rescue a film. I think the PoTC people could take this lesson on board.