Bootleg trailer for the Pirates Of The Caribbean sequel.
Watch out for Le Chuck making an appearance, too.
I have to admit, the trailer underwhelms me a little. I will be surprised if it lives up to the first one.
A letter that doesn’t surprise me at all, actually.
I can see his point.
Night Watch. It’s very like The Matrix and very different to The Matrix.
Both:
Night Watch is different in that it’s a whole lot more fun. It has a zing to it that the Wachowskis never quite managed.
Actually, the best way to think about it might be as what Underworld wanted to be, but never even came close to a sniff of being.
It’s nice in that it’s a film that expects you to think a little, while also delivering in the style and action departments. Are you getting that I like it?
I just hope that the next two episdoes don’t do a Matrix…
Living in Edinburgh has its advantages. August is great. The city buzzes with the fun of the festivals, and a walk down the Royal Mile is well worth it to catch some of the street performers plugging their shows. Plenty that are best avoided, but some high quality entertainment alongside.
My favourite advantage right now is the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which offered me the chance to see Serenity last night (if you’re not in the know, it’s the big screen follow-up to Joss Whedon’s tragically short-lived Firefly).
Without spoiling (however much I’d love to), the movie holds a full measure, pressed down and overflowing, of main arc goodness. You get the feeling that Whedon is trying to get as much of his story out there as he possibly can, in case it ends here. There probably would have been a couple of movies’ worth, but you can see why it was done this way. Yet it hints at a whole lot more still to be told, with the scope to expand into something properly epic. Maybe it helps that I’m reading Iain M Banks at the minute – that man does epic right.
Serenity jumps straight in, and doesn’t let up for a whole two hours (although I suspect it might shed a few seconds before it goes on general release, if they want a 15). Some of the action is beautiful, and it has an intensity on the big screen that isn’t often there in Firefly.
If you liked the show, you’ll like the film. The good bits are all present and correct – heart, humour, quirky dialogue – with some extra darkness. Firefly ranks among my favourite TV shows, and Serenity lives up to it.
No, it’s not perfect. The first five or ten minutes feel a little self-conscious until it gets into the swing of things (although there are some very nice visual touches to connect with the series), and some of the exposition for the benefit of anyone who isn’t familiar with Firefly is quite clumsy. Actually, I wonder how well it’ll work if you don’t know the show; it just relies too much on previous knowledge. Fine for me, but maybe not for you. I also wonder if too many loose ends have been tied up. Is there anywhere left that it will really go? Perhaps something to fill in the narrative between the series and the film, but probably not. This feels like it will probably be the last shout of a great universe. There is wisdom in that – go out while it’s still good.
And it’s great. As Firefly writ big, it does the job and does it well. I love it.
Yes, I am such a fanboy. But then, I don’t have a ‘Joss Whedon is my master now’ t-shirt. Yet.
Fantastic Four is a bit of a missed opportunity. Nothing much happens, at all. As the comic-book movies go, it’s a whole lot better than Daredevil, but it’s certainly no Batman Begins.
About the only thing I can say for it is that it’s got Jessica Alba, but the less said about that… – my wife reads this :-D
Lately I have watched:
Sin City: A little bit nasty, being Robert Rodriguez after all, but great fun with it. I hadn’t been interested until I saw the trailer – this simply looks awesome. Beautifully shot and worth a look just for that.
Mr & Mrs Smith: Actually really good fun. Leave your brain at home, sit back and enjoy. I wonder about the total lack of any moral context or consequence, but that is true of most films.
The Scorpion King: An old DVD I found at the back of the shelf. Forgot how much fun it was.
House Of Wax: A little bit of ick does not a horror make. No tension, pure boredom. Don’t bother.
Kung Fu Hustle: It has its moments, but I can’t help thinking it would be better as a 45 minute short.
Batman Begins: Top notch. Batman how he was meant to be. Dark, moody, raw, ambiguous.
A Lot Like Love: I expected rubbish, but it was rather fun and engaging.
War Of The Worlds: If the moral of the story is in there, it’s too subtle for me. Which is a shame, as without it the ending is too weak for a big flick like this. It’s great until it goes off the boil about three quarters of the way through.
Episode III is better than Phantom Menace or Clones, or even both of them put together. But then, it was never going to not be – better by default, I guess you could say.
It had much goodness, but almost all of that goodness was founded in the simple fact that it was Episode III. What it lacked in pacing, plotting, acting and characterization it made up for in concept.
Here we see Anakin become Vader. In these films we find out much much more about Obi Wan. And Yoda still rocks, since by now he can jump, run, fight and dispatch guards with barely a glance. Yes, Yoda is a king among small green shrivelled aliens.
Plenty of saber action, too. That makes it all worth while because nothing with so many lightsabers can be all bad, can it? (Speaking of the sabers, check this out.)
As the movies draw to a close, I suspect this won’t be the last we hear from a long time ago in that galaxy far, far away. With millions more to be made from the franchise, it’d be nice if they came up with something else with the quality of KotOR.
Well, I just know this could be an unpopular post :-)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – it’s not a half-bad film, actually.
Yes, it’s different. But the game was different to the books were different to the TV show was different to the radio series was different to the new radio series… you get the picture. That’s the way the Guide works. I’m cool with that.
Yes, there’s a silly romance between Arthur and Trillian. Yes, Zaphod’s character is a mere shadow of his former self. I can handle all that.
There’s even a couple of new characters. We’ll live with it, especially since they were reputedly written in by Douglas Adams himself. It’s all good.
The spirit of the Guide is all present and correct. It’s pleasantly surreal, in a slightly cutting way. It’s laugh-out-loud funny. It’s got Marvin in. Both of him :-)
The Heart Of Gold is cute, and suitably white. Bill Nighy is Slartibartfast.
I can even hack the American accents.
There is one problem, however. In the interests of cinema, they’ve added plot.
Not added plots, or sub-plots, you understand.
I mean: this film has a plot. And that’s just wrong.
(As an aside, sitting beside me in the cinema was the first middle-aged female fanboy I’ve ever seen. Seems appropriate.)
Last night’s entertainment was a toss up between Be Cool and The Interpreter – I reckon we made the right decision :-)
Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman lead off in one of the more tense movies I’ve seen lately. The plot twists and turns all over the place (unfortunately not always in unexpected directions, but you can’t have everything), zipping around the threatened assassination of the unpopular president of a fictional African country.
Quite powerful in places, edge of the seat stuff, a whole lot of fun, it’s a handy reminder that both the leads are capable of acting up a storm – especially Sean Penn.
A topical take on the UN, also.
Go see.
(Nice trailer for Batman Begins, too.)