¿Que pasa cuando combinas la película de Star Trek de JJ Abrams y la músiquita del programa de televisión de “The A-Team”?. El resultado es este movidito video subido en Youtube. El intro está hecho por PhantomKnight y solo puedo decir que le funcionó bastante bien ya que entretiene al menos por unos minutos.

Ya sea uno fanático de la serie de televisión de antaño (y próximamente de su remake) o porque la venta del blu-ray y dvd de Star Trek ha de haber pegado en este viernes negro, nos sirve de pretexto para recordar que las compras navideñas han comenzado.

Aunque la cadena esta disfrutando de una de las mejores temporadas de su historia, como sucede todos los años, Fox realiza grandes cambios en la segunda parte de la temporada, por lo que tenemos la programación de Fox para los próximos meses.

Sin dudas las novedades más importantes para los primeros meses del 2010 son los regresos de 24 y American Idol, dos de los programas más importantes de la televisión y en los que la cadena se ha apoyado en los últimos tiempos.

Junto a estos regresos, los próximos meses servirán para presentar algunas nuevas series de la cadena, incluyendo la serie de acción Human Target, la serie de investigación Past Life y la comedia Sons of Tucson.

Como pueden ver, la programación presentará una gran cantidad de programas nuevos, lo que significa la partida temporada de algunos actuales, como sucederá con Glee y Fringe, que regresarán con nuevos episodios en abril.

Es claro que la cadena esta determinada a quedarse con el año, por lo que ha decidido repetir uno de los mejores combos de la televisión en la noche de los lunes, situando a House junto a 24.

Además utilizará el poder de American Idol para asegurar el éxito de varias series, incluyendo a Glee y Human Target.

Finalmente tenemos que destacar que Lie To Me no se encuentra en la programación pero seguramente regresará con episodios nuevos en abril o mayo.

Programación 2010 de Fox:

LUNES
Lunes 18 de Enero:
8:00-10:00 PM 24

Lunes 25 de Enero:
8:00-9:00 PM House
9:00-10:00 PM 24

****************************

MARTES
Martes 12 de Enero:
8:00-10:00 PM American Idol

Martes 19 de Enero:
8:00-9:00 PM American Idol
9:00-10:00 PM Our Little Genius

Martes 13 de Abril:
8:00-9:00 PM American Idol
9:00-10:00 PM Glee

***************************

MIÉRCOLES
Miércoles 20 de Enero:
8:00-9:00 PM American Idol
9:00-10:00 PM Human Target

***************************

JUEVES
Jueves 14 de Enero:
8:00-9:00 PM Bones
9:00-10:00 PM Fringe

Jueves 11 de Febrero:
8:00-10:00 PM Past Life

Jueves 18 de Febrero:
8:00-9:00 PM Bones
9:00-10:00 PM Past Life

Jueves 1 de Abril:
8:00-9:00 PM Bones
9:00-10:00 PM Fringe

***************************

VIERNES
Viernes 8 de Enero:
9:00-10:00 PM Dollhouse

**************************

DOMINGO
Domingo 10 de Enero:
8:00-8:30 PM Los Simpson (Episodio 450)

Domingo 31 de Enero:
8:00-8:30 PM Los Simpson
8:30-9:00 PM The Cleveland Show
9:00-9:30 PM Padre de Familia
9:30-10:00 PM American Dad

Fringe é mais uma das séries que eu assisto e adoro, com milhares de bizarrices e coisas incrívelmente impossíveis, a série leva você há um mundo que explora a ficção e realidade….Ela foi criada por J.J Abrams, aquele cara lá que fez Lost sabe? (é eu também acho que ele fuma alguma coisa….) por isso é tão peculiar e cheia de coisas “WTF????”.

A série é centrada em 3 personagens principais. Que fazem parte de um “grupo de buscas” sobre a Fringe Science, e tentam provar ou descobrir os acontecimentos insanos que vêm ocorrendo.

Peter Bishop: Estrelado pelo Joshua Jackson, aquele ex Dawson’s Creek, Peter é um rapaz com um QI absurdo e muitos mistérios sobre sua vida. Digamos que um tanto misterioso, ele é o único que consegue entender o seu pai, e passar para os outros o que ele está tentando dizer.

Olivia Dunham: Estrelado pela Ana Torv, que eu não conhecia antes da série. Ela interpreta uma agente do FBI que passa por muita coisa e desconhece muito do seu passado. Olivia já vivenciou muita coisa, mas reza a lenda que ela não viu ainda nem a metade do que vêm por ai.

Walter Bishop: Meu preferido! hahahaha Estrelado por John Noble, que eu também não conhecia antes da série, Walter é um cientista FODA! Porém louco. Passou muitos anos no manicômio, e por isso tem um jeito um tanto quanto estranho de agir e pensar. Atualmente é considerado um dos personagens mais inteligentes da TV e nos primeiros episódios é descrito como uma mistura de Einstein com Frankenstein.

O episódio piloto de Fringe foi um dos mais caros do mundo, custou em torno US$ 12 milhões de dólares (mesmo valor do piloto de Lost). O episódio duplo já é conhecido por boa parte dos fãs, já que vazou algum tempo atrás, porém o episódio que foi exibido na estréia da série teve algumas modificações *

# No episódio piloto, mais ou menos aos 40 minutos, uma música da trilha sonora de Lost é usada
# Em um determinado momento do episódio piloto, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) fala para Olívia (Anna Torv): Você queria meu pai, agora você o tem, o que entra na categoria de cuidado com o que você deseja. Essa segunda parte da fala é idêntica a uma fala de Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) em Lost *

Existe um personagem que aparece em todos os episódios, conhecido como “O Observador”, porém ainda não sabemos direito o que ele é ou qual o seu propósito.

[

Uma das coisas muito legais em Fringe também, é que todo episódio tem uma curiosidade e um Easter Egg, e as referências de Lost são muitas, algumas imperceptíveis, mas a internet tá ai pra gente descobrir.

Via TeoriasLost

1- Elenco e equipe que se revezam entre as duas séries

- April Webster: responsável pelo elenco;
- Christopher B. Reeves: técnico de mixagem de som;
- Donnie Keshawarz: interpretou o personagem Gerard em 2008;
- Jay Worth: técnico editor de efeitos especiais;
- Jeff Pinkner: produtor;
- J.J. Abrams: criador/produtor executivo;
- Lance Reddick: Philip Broyles (Fringe) e Mathew Abaddon (Lost);
- Michael Bonvillain: diretor de fotografia
- Michael Giacchino: compositor musical.

2- Nomes de personagens iguais em ambas as séries

- Charlie (Dominic Monaghan, Lost) e Charlie (Kirk Acevedo, Fringe);
- John (Terry O’Quinn, Lost) e John (Mark Valley, Fringe);
- Jacob (Lost) e Jacob (Fringe);
- Walter (Malcolm David Kelley, Lost) e Walter (John Noble, Fringe);
- Sobrenomes derivados do cristianismo: Shepard (Pastor, Lost) e Bishop (Bispo, Fringe);
- Outras coincidências: Claire (Lost) e St. Claire’s Mental Institution (Fringe); Libby (Lost) e “Livvy” (Apelido de Olivia, Fringe); Ben (Lost) e Ben (Episódio 01×08, Fringe);

3.1- Temas

- Amputações: um braço amputado é revelado no episódio 01×01;
- Gêmeos maus: gêmeos maus são revelados no episódio 01×01 (Fringe);
- Psicologia: St. Claire’s Mental Institution é revelado no episódio 01×01 (Fringe);
- Envelhecimento: uma criança que não envelhece é citada no episódio 01×01 (Fringe); Uma pessoa que envelhece rapidamente é mostrada no episódio 01×02 (Fringe); O Observador, personagem que não envelhece é mostrado em Fringe;
- Gravidez: uma moça grávida é mostrada no episódio 01×01 (Lost) e em Fringe, no episódio 01×02;
- Um agente que tem seus músculos paralizados com efeitos idênticos a uma picada da Medusa é mostrado no episódio 01×02 (Fringe);
- Animais: Gene, a vaca é adotada no episódio 01×02 (Fringe);
- Eletromagnetismo: Joseph Meegar, que tem o poder de controlar involuntariamente objetos eletrônicos usando o seu campo eletromagnético, é mostrado no episódio 01×05 (Fringe);
- Visões: John Scott aparece para Olivia várias vezes, apesar de estar morto. Em Lost, o pai de Jack, Christian Shepard, faz o mesmo;
- Problemas entre pais e filhos: Walter e Peter (Fringe); Jack e Christian (Lost);
- Viagens no tempo: vista várias vezes em Lost nesta 5ª temporada, o assunto é citado por Walter no episódio 01×10 (Fringe).

3.2- Números

- Vários números de Lost apareceram em Fringe;
- Morgan Steig era o passageiro 108 no voo 627 visto no episódio 01×01 (Fringe);
- Nina Sharp trabalhou para a Massive Dynamic por 16 anos (Fringe);
- O número oficial do agente Broyles é 4296 (9+6=15) (Fringe);

4.1- Iniciativa Dharma/Massive Dynamic

A Iniciativa Dharma e a Massive Dynamic tem objetivos iguais: criar um mundo melhor para o amanhã da humanidade, através de pesquisas em diversas áreas. Mas, ao que parece, os projetos de ambas as companias falharam.

4.2- Referências diretas

- No episódio 01×09 de Fringe, agentes vasculham o prédio de um homem morto e acham um bilhete aéreo. E o nome da compania aérea que aparece no bilhete é Oceanic Air, a mesma de Lost;
- O número de dedos que a estátua que apareceu em Lost é 4, mas os roteiristas e produtores queriam 6. E 6 é o número de dedos da mão que aparece em um dos pôsters promocionais de Fringe.

E ficadica de algums sites bons sobre Fringe:

Fringe Blog Brasil

Fringe Lab

Fringe Files

Star Trek (2009)

Rated: pg-13

Running Time: 127 minutes

After reading what seems like a eternity of negative reviews for Star Trek, its arguements have found themself life for the sake of traditional filmmaking and intellectual story telling. Often reflecting modern films to be insecured popcorn flicks used to contain adolescents or to insure complete sloppiness of art and detail. But J.J Abrams did what was right. To overlay structural filmmaking into these new comic book blockbusters. Often supplementing colorful images and effects for poetic opera. Misguided as you will. But those type of films no longer work for most movie goers unless your a true fan of films. Often finding appreciation always gets you a half empty room filled with men in glasses and suits. In todays world, you need a little action and little color. Otherwise, your entire audience will be downgraded to old people and so called mature intellects (movie geeks). Safe to say, that although not smart cinema but money cinema. If you know what I mean.

J.J Abrams reintroduced these characters into these young attractive stars to correspond with our modern culture. Chris Pine is one for example. Using his masculine look to substain obscenity while young Spock (Zachary Quinto) tries his best to ingore while battling emotions like a kid. All characters (even the most serious one) share one connection. Grief. Even James Krik (Chris Pine) shows grief. The story starts off in space as expected as a Romulan called Nero (Eric Bana) attacks a federation ship. His intentions are unclear at first but it is later known. You can sum him up into three categories. Arrogant, concieted fool, and of course evil. But once again, grief is part of all of this.

From there, you see Jennifer Morrison giving birth and Winona Ryder giving Spock maturity lessons. Well, one after the other. The entire conflict in this film is more of just revenge in the form of grief but also insanity. Nero (our villian) will use some red matter to dispose of worlds creating black holes. Now thats being constructive. So you can see the obvious as James and Spocks world collide into pointless jibber jabber and the result of complete supremacy over the U.S.S Enterprise. Thats of course after meeting Nero in a big screen t.v.

These actors, although young will never capture the magic of the original but what they can do is spice it up. The insecurity of both James and Spock are what really makes them friends. And the configuration of a females name can add a spot of humour although pointless. You see, this whole film was almost pointless and its timeline suggest that it can get only worse (see Star Trek Nemesis). What caves into us though is the action/romance entertainment provided by a young lively director and often films that resemble that of Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich. Yes, I’m saying Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay wouldve made the film the exact same way. In its process, it sounds and looks the exact same way. Watch Bays Armegeddon and you’ll know why. If questioning the methods, all you really to ask is…..was the story all that hard to come up with? And the answer is no. Just because adding the furture and past together doesnt mean it was inventive but just running out of ideas.

Given the fact that the sets no longer look fake or made of cardboard but the necessity of capturing the original magic seems all but a wasted effort. Instead, J.J Abrams did what he did with Mission Impossible 3. And that was action across the board. WIth closeups and camera action as technical as it can get. They may not be a complete masterpiece but their capability of inducing fun into films is quite visible. We want to see whats happening and will always look forward to see whats next. To that accomplishment, its safe to say, that J.J Abrams did the right thing.

And no need should this film be in the hall of fame but it definantly jumpstarted for what seemed like a fainted series. What George Lucas did to Star Wars with his prequels is what J.J Abrams did to Star Trek with his film. As childish or toyish this film can be, like Sarah Palin in the republican candidacy race…..it pumped everyone up. Even me.

4/5

Written By: Xou Xiong

I have often looked down my arrogant nose at those who would dare draw the Gospel out of something that it was never intended to be drawn from. Whether it be “Dr Seuss”, “Sex and the City”, or even “LOST” (all of which have been the subject of Bible studies). I don’t know if it’s that I haven’t been able to listen to 8 hours of preaching and teaching a day anymore and so I’m getting soft. But I found incredible parallelism in the most recent episode of a wonderful Sci-Fi drama known as “Fringe”.

In this episode, “The Observer” abducts a twenty-something against her will, and hold her captive in a dreary hotel room (Observer is a neutral character who literally observes everything, and doesn’t ever get involved).

Just when you think his motives are less than gentlemanly, he turns on the TV so the girl can see the plane she was supposed to be on has crashed into the water, killing everyone on board.

“What makes her so special?” is the question asked by everyone in the show, for Observers aren’t supposed to get involved.

The other Observers realize a correction has to be made, and she must be killed to set the time/space continuum in order. Through a series of events, our hero Observer realizes the only way he can save her is to let himself be killed by the Assassin.

As the Observer is dying, he tells another Observer that he died for her because of love. The hunt for her is called off, because no human has ever caused an Observer to die before. She is too special to kill. The irony is that the only thing that makes her special, is that he died for her.

In case you haven’t seen the parallelism yet, we are that girl, rescued out of our life which was destined to end in death. Upon being presented with the Gospel, we began trusting Christ rather than kicking and screaming at his will (although some of us still do that once in a while

The only thing that makes us special enough to be saved is that Christ died for us. It isn’t because I’m more “sensitive to the Spirit” then someone else, or because I have more dedication and so will not leave the Faith when my friend walks away, or even because I was lucky enough to be born in the USA. It’s because Christ rescued me at the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), and died for me much later in order to rescue me from the direction my sinful life was headed.

*As a side note, a few scenes before a Scientist explains how time is like water running through a straw to us (linear), but to an Observer time is still, like water that is still inside the straw.
Check out the episode on Hulu here.

El director JJ Abrams mencionó que está muy interesado en llamar a Matt Damon para formar parte de la secuela de Star Trek, algo que ya se había rumoreado anteriormente. Sin embargo, se conjeturaba que el actor entraría a substituir a Chris Pine como el Capitán Kirk, lo cual fue ya desmentido. De acuerdo al director, está interesado en que él interprete al padre de Kirk, pero sin dar más detalles. La cinta estará lanzándose para el 2011, aunque todavía no hay ninguna fecha confirmada al respecto.

No, no es un montaje. Es una captura de un fotograma de la película real que se estrenó en los cines este año.

El pequeño droide sale despedido entre los restos de una nave

Thanks to my boss for telling me about this talk J.J. Abrams gave. In my opinion, the man is a genius.

The Movie Overdose attempts to contain the apocalypse with a review of Roland Emmerich’s 2012. We chat about how we would change Eddie Murphy for the better, what kind of sequel we want for Star Trek and whether we are glad to see Sean Connery coming back, if only in voice form. Tom slightly dampens the praise given to An Education and Sam revels in the madness of Running Scared and the flawed ambition of Dogma. The conclusion involves a discussion of actors that, no matter what, we always look forward to seeing on screen.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 42

Email us, follow us on Twitter and subscribe through iTunes on the links on the left side of the page.

ABC announced today that the final season of LOST will premiere on Tuesday, February 2nd.

The Press Release:

ABC ANNOUNCES THE PREMIERE OF THE SIXTH AND FINAL SEASON OF “LOST,” WITH A SPECIAL ALL-NIGHT EVENT ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2

ABC announces the premiere of the sixth and final season of “Lost,” with a special all-night event on Tuesday, February 2. A recap special will kick
off the night from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET, followed by the much anticipated two-hour premiere from 9:00-11:00 p.m.

The series will then air in its regular time period – Tuesday nights from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ET – beginning the following week, on February 9.

“Lost” stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Jeff Fahey as Frank
Lapidus, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles,
Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Terry O’Quinn as Locke and Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana.

“Lost” was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Jean Higgins and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. “Lost.” which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii and premiered on September 22, 2004, is from ABC Studios.

Beginning with a one hour recap show at eight, and a two-hour season premiere at 9:00pm, the news has left fans like me anticipating the possibility of a FlashForward/LOST/V Tuesday night schedule on ABC.

Wouldn’t that be great!

Start date Feb.2 2010. Tues Nights!

UPDATE!

Aunque tengamos asumido que J.J. Abrams dirigirá la (doble) secuela de ‘Star Trek‘ , no tendría por qué ser necesariamente el caso, teniendo en cuenta además que Abrams es una de las personas más ocupadas de Hollywood. Aun así, el cineasta siempre tiene tiempo para charlar amablemente con la prensa, como ocurrió durante la promoción del DVD / Blu-ray de ‘Star Trek’ . Les paso a relatar las respuestas más interesantes:

¿Cuál es el estado de ‘Mission: Impossible IV’?

“Estamos trabajando en el guión y tenemos una historia increíblemente fresca. Es literal, lo estamos escribiendo en este instante”.

¿Qué circunstancias se tienen que dar para que usted dirija ‘Star Trek 2′?

“La verdad es que la idea de que otra persona pueda dirigir esta película me rompe el corazón. Fue realmente divertido trabajar en ‘Star Trek’. Por el momento, no podemos saber cuándo se escribirá el guión. Será entonces cuando me pregunte si debo dirigir o no la película, y también decidir si es lo mejor para mi familia. Para mí es muy difícil saber si dirigiré la cinta cuando todavía no hay ningún guión. Tomaré la decisión cuando llegue el momento”.
Al margen de estos interesantes proyectos, Abrams también fue preguntado sobre ‘Micronauts’ , adaptación de los famosos juguetes de los 70’s en la que también se ha involucrado al director. Aquí, Abrams declinó hacer comentarios: “De momento no hay nada confirmado. Estamos debatiendo y si se diese el caso estaría encantado. Es prematuro, creo que es una idea bastante buena pero hablaré cuando haya datos concretos”.

Volvemos con Star Trek otro día más.  Ya os comentamos ayer, que J.J. Abrams comentaba que aún no tenía claro si dirigiría una nueva entrega de la saga espacial. Lo que si es seguro es que habrá un nuevo film. Ahora, como no podía ser menos, ya se especula quién sería el villano de la nueva aventura. Pues bien, desde Coming Soon, nos adelantan que podría ser el Khan, quien ya fuera interpretado en “Star Trek II: la ira del khan” por Ricardo Montalbán. Desde Comingsoon, adelantan también, que el actor elegido para interpretar al personaje sería Nestor Carbonell, conocido de Abrams por la serie Perdidos, donde interpreta al líder de Los Otros, Richard Alpert.

Todo esto se basa en meras especulaciones, pero todo apunta a que en breve podría hacerse oficial.

I was obsessed with Jurassic Park when I was a kid. I can pinpoint it as the sole film that was responsible for not only my love of film, but my love of how films were made. Obviously seeing realistic dinosaurs on the big screen was th

Movie Tie-ins: a Look at 'Star Trek: The Art of the Film'

e reason for the former, but the reason for the latter was a book my parents bought me called The Making of Jurassic Park, which included pages and pages of behind-the-scenes photos and sketches detailing how many of the film’s major sequences were done, as well as showcasing ideas that never made it into the final film. I’m sure at that young age (I was eight when the film came out), I didn’t understand what was actually being explained in the book, but even then I knew it was showing me a side of movie magic I’d never seen before.

Despite that book being my bible for a summer or two, I haven’t thought of it in years; not until I picked up Star Trek: The Art of the Film by Mark Cotta Vaz. I have no doubt that this book is going to do for some kid today what The Making of Jurassic Park did for me. It’s an absolutely gorgeous coffee table centerpiece that, as the name implies, chronicles the making of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek from the perspective of its legion of artists, featuring everything one could wish to see from behind the scenes: candid conversations with everyone from the director to the producer to the prop master to the CGI artists to the costume designers, all of which are thoroughly supported by a treasure trove of unseen concept art, pre-renders, and test photographs.

star-trek-art-2

With Star Trek: The Art of the Film, Vaz and Titan books have delivered to fans much of the pre-production documents the actors got to see before signing onto the project, save for the actual script, as well as an exhaustive chronicle of how much of the design process changed between pre, principal, and post production. One of my favorite examples of this is within the section on Future Iowa, which shows the original, distinctively human sketch of what the hoverbike cop who pulls over young Kirk should look like. ILM visual effects art director Alex Jaeger recalled to Vaz, “It didn’t feel future-cool. J.J. Said ‘This needs to be kick-ass. Cover up his face so people will wonder if he’s a man or a robot.’”

It’s not a groundbreaking revelation by any means, but it’s just a sample of the thought process behind even the smallest details that went into fleshing out Abrams’ vision of the future. I’m still wondering if the hoverbike cop was a man or a robot, so it is a relief to know that was an intentional puzzle and not just a ‘who cares, just make him look cool’ moment.

If you’re a Trekker, this is without reservation a must-own book. Even if you weren’t on-board with what Abrams did to the canon of Star Trek, you’ll love reading about the logic behind the changes and seeing how they evolved from a sketch on someone’s notepad to a CGI pre-visualization, to an actual prop. But even if you don’t care about why the phasers in Abrams’ Trek utilize a spring-loaded mechanism or what kind of wardrobe the Klingons would wear, this collection is packed with so many stunning visuals that it’s worth plopping down on your living room table just for the eye candy alone.

star-trek-art-3

The desolate landscapes of Vulcan, the sweeping beauty of the ships in the starry heavens, dozens of unused promotional posters… all captured on paper so glossy and thick that turning the page you’ll often wonder if two pages got stuck together. That may seem like an odd compliment, but should you want to desecrate Titan’s book by cutting out the pages, the paper stock could easily be mistaken for a poster; always a nice touch in an art book like this.

Now I have no idea how much of the content in Star Trek: The Art of the Film is exclusive to the book and how much of it can be seen in the special features on the Blu-ray, though I imagine there is certainly overlap. However, for a Trek completist (or someone who just appreciates fine production design), this is a wonderful, 157-page treat; an exhaustive examination that informs as many conversations as it starts. And if you have or know a kid that loved Abrams’ Star Trek, this is the perfect companion to help foster their love of movie magic.

by Peter Hall (cinematical.com)

Martian 8 - A personal project of creature/character designer Neville Page. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Like many Sci-Fi fans, creature/character designer Neville Page sat in a darkened movie theater when he was a child and watched in anticipation as the opening credits for the original Star Wars feature film began to roll. Having seen the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca, his mind wandered in a direction that would forever change his life.

“I began to wonder what people did in order to make a movie like that,” recalls Page. “I didn’t understand that they went to school to learn how to be creature designers, sculptors or artists for that matter, and could then go work in films. Then, however, I began to collect all sorts of Star Wars magazines – I was really addicted to the film – and in one of the magazines there was this article on [make-up artist] Rick Baker. When I saw a picture of him with a lump of clay and a sculpting tool, it suddenly occurred to me that, ‘OK, people actually do this stuff,’ and that’s where my interest [in the craft] first began.”

When he was 17, Page moved to Hollywood and, after trying his hand at acting and stand-up comedy, enrolled in the Art Center College of Design where he studied industrial design. “I did that for several years, but all along I craved to work in films,” says the designer. “The more seasoned I became as an industrial designer, it became more apparent that if I wanted to make monsters and do animatronics, it would require a huge career and lifestyle change.

“At that point I thought, ‘Well, that dream is dead,’ but the very next day, literally, something happened that changed my mind. Colleen Atwood, who’s a major costume designer, was working next door to my studio on the Steven Spielberg film Minority Report. A buddy of mine had left his keys there and she stopped by my studio to drop them off. Colleen noticed that my business partner, Scott Robertson, and I do industrial design, including helmets, and she needed a helmet for a police costume. That’s when she asked, ‘Hey, do you guys want to work on some film stuff?’ and I haven’t stopped since. You can’t plan something like that. It’s like sitting at a cafe and being ‘discovered.’ You can only hope you’re in the right place at the right time, and mine was my buddy forgetting his keys.

Squidleyflat - a personal project of Neville Page. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

X2, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, The Hulk, Cloverfield and James Cameron’s Avatar are just a few of the big screen projects that Page has worked on. “With Avatar I was kind of stretching my skills at creature design,” he says. “James Cameron is a very specific guy and you can just imagine how many portfolios were being thrown his way when it came to his movie. Four people were selected, myself being one of them, and I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s a mistake here, because I don’t have much of a portfolio.’ I had a lot of industrial design stuff, but I guess that’s what Jim wanted. He wanted a very different take on a creature design and I’ve told him many times since then how incredibly grateful and indebted I am to him because he allowed me almost a year to become educated in what he needed to be the best, well-thought out creatures in film. So he afforded us the time to really do it right.

“I’m a huge fan of doing the research and understanding the subject matter, which includes buying animal bones and things of that nature to better understand a creatures’ physiology, and Jim really dug that we were coming in fully armed with all this knowledge. You can’t pull the wool over his eyes. He’s bright on all levels, and it was our goal to help crack the design nut. There were occasions where I would present an anatomical solution to a problem that would genuinely impress Jim. That’s a good day at work! Jim is a strong man who knows what he wants, and if you’re strong enough to survive that, you come out a better person and definitely a better designer, that’s for sure.”

While still working on Avatar, the designer took on yet another new creature challenge in J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield. “When I met with [producers] J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles to discuss Cloverfield, I knew nothing about the project other than J.J. said, ‘I want to make a monster movie,’” says Page. “They explained to me that this film was a big experiment as far as how they were going to shoot  it, with handheld cameras and not a whole bunch of other cameras set up for secondary or tertiary shots. They also explained that the overall budget was next to nothing.

“For whatever reason, J.J. won me over because of his passion for the work and his loveable personality. I thought, ‘I don’t know quite what it [the film] is either, J.J., but sign me up.’ The hardest part of  Cloverfield, though, was that I was also in my last five or six months of Avatar, and the last months of any project are the toughest because you have to deliver all the final elements. I told myself, ‘I’m working with James Cameron and J.J. Abrams simultaneously. Am I the luckiest man in the world or what? You’ve got to make this work, Neville, no matter what.’”

Up close and personal with the Cloverfield creature. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Another angle of the Cloverfield creature. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Clearly, Abrams was pleased with Page’s contribution to Cloverfield because he subsequently asked him to provide creature effects and much more for the new Star Trek film. “I was tasked with two creatures right out of the gate, which were the ones on the ice planet Delta Vega,” notes the designer. “J.J. was very specific about what he wanted; he wanted one of the creatures to be red because it would look cool and be a great contrast to the white snow. The second thing he wanted was for it to have several eyes just so it was kind of freaky and scary. J.J. also wanted the creature to have a month that was extremely off-putting, not because you’d be afraid of being bitten by it, but that it might touch or dribble on you.

“If you study enough about biology and animals you can kind of reverse engineer a number of things into a plausible organism. That’s where it’s helpful to have a pretty broad understanding of several different animals as well as zoology and physics, because you’ll be able to take some really wacky concept and make it work by having all these other reference points. So I didn’t have much trouble with the color of the red creature because there are plenty of things in the ocean that are red, such as crabs, lobsters and the Humboldt squid. The creature is actually a cross between a crab and a squid, and it wasn’t necessarily that I thought of that as a means to hybridize something, but this thing just evolved to a point where it started to look like that. So I thought, ‘I can reference those two animals and tap into a little bit more of their physiology.’

“There are those who question the red color, but the important thing to remember is that this creature is most comfortable in the water, much like a squid would be. It only breaks through the ice for the occasional desperate feeding. That was my rationale, and it actually does make sense; animals do occasionally breach or leave their normal habitat when they’re incredibly hungry. However, there have been a lot of fans of the film that really objected to the fact that it was red, but when you know what its origins are, then it potentially makes sense.

“The fact that this creature doesn’t have fur is also another [deliberate] choice. A lot of whales don’t have fur, but rather excess blubber. It might sound as if I’m justifying things, but I’m trying to explain the fact that it’s an alien planet, so anything should go. But we have a critical Earth audience looking at the movie, some of whom saying, ‘I don’t know if I’d buy that [creature] because it’s red, doesn’t have fur and it’s skinny.’ Well, crabs somehow get away with it, and so do lobsters. There’s no fur on a lobster, so who’s to say that this creature isn’t some sort of hybrid endo-exo-skeletal thing. The most important thing for J.J. is that he just wants it to be cool for the moment so people enjoy the ride. My job is to make sure that it [the creature] is viable enough so fans and other people who may scrutinize it don’t feel insulted or gypped. But I must ask, why does no one question the survivability of the passengers on a ship that leaps instantly to warp speed? It’s all simply entertainment.”

The Polarilla creature from Star Trek XI. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Those who saw the Star Trek film and also, coincidentally, have an aversion to insects, probably had to look away when Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) is tortured for tactical data by Captain Nero (Eric Bana) of the Romulan mining ship Narada, and forced to swallow the mind-controlling bug. Page was the brains behind the look of that particular creepy crawly.

“That little bug was kind of an homage to the earwig that was in [the second Star Trek film] The Wrath of Khan, in that something bug-like is being put inside you that’s going to mess with your mind,” he says. “I felt it would have been far creepier to put it into an orifice that you wouldn’t normally put something in, but we were limited to orifices that were PG [rated],” jokes Page. “So ears and nostrils would have been it. I just thought that putting it in the mouth was, maybe, more like eating it, and not as unnerving.

“We did our level best to make it look upsetting, but I think most people are so bug-phobic that just having a bug near someone’s mouth was frightening enough. I really did want this one to be more like an earwig, which is why I made the tail earwig-like. J.J. was very specific, though, about wanting these claws and little tentacles that would make it look as if it has the capacity, once inside the body, to engage with the spinal cord or lower brainstem.

“So the design challenge was partially just arriving at the appropriate esthetic, but on top of that, we knew that we didn’t have the funds to do a full digital effect and that it had to be a practical on-set one. That meant we had to have something we could actually control animatronically, and that dictated a certain kind of body mass to fit the electronics into. A Japanese gentleman, in fact, made a robot that was tiny enough, or should I say microscopic enough, to go inside a rubber version of our bug. That’s what you see on-screen, this little remote-controlled bug on the end of barbecue tongs. It was quite incredible.”

Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation are well aware that its Klingons as well as Romulans looked very different from those seen in the classic Star Trek series. An effort was made in Star Trek: Enterprise to explain the change in the Klingons’ appearance, and the same thing was done in the new Star Trek movie with regard to the Romulans, including Eric Bana’s Nero.

“The Next Generation Romulans had the V-shaped prosthetic on their forehead, but in the original show, they had absolutely no prosthetics,” explains Page. “So we had to come up with a way to justify how it is that over time, some of them developed the V and others did not. For that, I worked with Joel Harlow, who did a lot of the make-up for Pirates of the Caribbean, and was the head make-up artist for the Romulans specifically. The idea I had involved a bald head and therefore shaving it completely, but in order to convince Eric Bana of this, we needed to do a make-up test first. We didn’t have the budget to hire another actor or a model for this, so I ‘donated’ my head to the cause. We would shave my head, Joel would then do the make-up test on me, and if J.J. liked it, we would move forward and create the look for Eric.

“As far as the concept of getting that V-shape to work, I went with tribal scarification,” continues the designer. “If you scar yourself over and over again in the same place, over time it turns into a keloid mass. I thought it would be interesting if we could use that to create the natural V justification. So we put together an array of designs that Harlow sculpted to replicate that look, and we had a number of tattoo and hair ideas as well. In the end, what you see in the movie is not unlike the basic concept that I wore in our presentation to J.J. The final design, however, has more character nuances in it; there’s a scar on Nero’s face, because I always liked the idea of chopping his ear off to make it look like he’s even half of the Romulan he used to be. Ultimately, J.J. decided to make it more of a bite that Nero probably got while he was imprisoned with the Klingons.”

The original scarring went through a bit of a metamorphosis before filming began, but Abrams liked the design that Page first tested, so much so that he asked him if he would like to play a Romulan in the film. The designer wasted no time in accepting the offer. “I joke with people that that was my plan all along as a child, that I wanted to be a movie star. However, I had a whole different way of achieving that. It would be through the backdoor. I’d study design for years and work and work and then finally get my break while testing the make-up. It was a very strategic and circuitous path,” he says with a laugh, “but now that I am a huge celebrity, wasn’t it all worth it? Although J.J. did say, ‘Keep your day job.’ What could he have meant?

“Seriously, the best part about doing it was two-fold. I had to go through the make-up process many times, including having to wear full scleral contact lenses. They aren’t just the small lenses that cover the iris, but the ones that extend over the eye in all directions. I can’t stand the idea of contact lenses, but I thought, ‘If I’m going to be designing this stuff for people, I should at least know what I’m asking them to subject themselves to.’

“So seeing the sculptors interpreting my designs and then seeing the make-up applied step-by-step was, for me, not only fun, but also a wonderful education in the hope that I do more work like it. The other get part was getting to be on the other side of the camera. I’ve been around long enough to know what that’s like as a designer, but being ‘an actor’ on-set and watching them direct me and everyone else was another amazing learning experience.”

Caudal luring - a personal project of Neville Page. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Carnivor glow - a Mattel concept illustration. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Besides Star Trek, Page’s other recent work includes Watchmen and Tron 2.0, the sequel to the 1982 Sci-Fi film Tron. “I started off designing a bit of everything [for Tron 2.0] with everyone else, but I quickly gravitated towards the costumes,” he says. “From there, I ended up moving from the art department to costumes and developing the hero and specialty costumes. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but it’s a hard thing to break into because it’s a totally different department.

“I recently came back from Vancouver where I watched some of the shooting [for Tron 2.0] and, my God, it looks really good. From the last script I read, I think it’s going to be an interesting film with some neat twists, and aesthetically it’s looking phenomenal. It’s right up there with James Cameron’s Avatar in terms of delivering really fresh and new imagery on-screen. If you watch the original Tron now, it’s important to note what a major achievement that it was then, and at the helm of it all was Steve Lisberger. He was the original director and conceiver of Tron and one of the producers for the new movie. Lisberger is very involved in the production and it was cool to see him and the new director, Joe Kosinski, brainstorming. It’s one of the more exciting projects I’ve ever been on.”

While some people who work in film and/or TV might take it for granted, Page sees his involvement in the business as very much the opposite. He is also happy for the chance to give back something to audiences. “When I sat watching Star Wars as a kid, my parents were going through a divorce, and the movie was an amazing escape for me,” he says. “It’s sad to say that R2D2 was my therapist at age 12. Having said that, whenever I meet someone who is moved by something I’ve done in the same way I was moved by Joe Johnston [Star Wars effects illustrator/designer] and Ralph McQuarrie [Star Wars production illustrator], that’s when it really hits home that what you do is relevant. And it’s such a priviledge to be able to do that.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all photos courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

At last, here’s the droid we were all looking for. In this frame you can clearly see R2-D2’s cameo in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek. This time there’s absolutely no doubt about it: It’s been confirmed by ILM. [Click on the image to see the high-resolution version]

Wait. Since R2D2 is always stationed in back of Luke’s X-Wing, and Artoo is pictured floating orphaned in the void, then… Nero murdered Luke Skywalker!

In other Star Wars / Star Trek crossoverage, I found this:

A M A Z I N G ! ! !

O que esperar de um filme baseado na coleção de figuras de ação da Hasbro, os ‘bonequinhos’ do G. I. Joe? Explosões, gente bonita, e claro, te deixar com aquela vontade de entrar na primeira loja de brinquedos e comprar um bonequinho do Storm Shadow e outro do Snake Eyes assim que a sessão terminar!

Com direção de Stephen Sommers, que é conhecido por seus filmes que entretem sem compromisso, como Van Helsing e a trilogia A Múmia. Stephen brinca com o filme como se estivesse realizando seu sonho de criança. Os atores atiram, levam tiro, saltam, caem, brigam, beijam (beijos ridículos, só pra constar), e tem flashbacks. Vários. Sofridos. Na chuva, porque não tem como fugir do clichê.

O filme começa em um futuro não muito distante. O exército transporta uma nova arma com nanorobôs que destroem tudo o que é aço e só param quando são desativados por um controle remoto. O transporte segue bem até osCobra, um grupo de vilões com armas de tecnologia e treinamento superior ao do exército, atacarem o comboio atrás das tais armas. O capitão Duke, interpretado por Channing Tatum (que já foi stripper mas sem tirar a cueca, só pra deixar claro) e seu braço direito Ripcord, Marlon Wayans, que você provavelmente conhece pelas comédias Todo Mundo em Pânico, são salvos pelos G. I. Joe, uma divisão super secreta do exército internacional de inteligência, armas, tecnologia e treinamento tão avançados quanto os Cobra. É dado o ponta pé para várias reviravoltas, explosões e muita coisa acontecer ao mesmo tempo. Lógico que para haver uma, duas ou três continuações.

Com atores conhecidos, como Arnold Vosloo, interpretando o vilão camaleão Zartan e Brendan Fraser em uma participação muito rápida comoSargento Stone. Pois é, Imhotep e Richard O’Connell em lados opostos de novo! E claro,  Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (quero assistir uma entrevista com alguém dizendo o nome dele completo!) que os fãs de Lost conhecem como Mr Eko, interpretando Heavy Duty. Das gata-garotas temos a lindaSienna Miller, interpretando Ana, a baronesa. Sienna já deu vida a Victoria em Stardust. Rachel Nichols, é Scarlett, a nerd dos Joe. Rachel já atuou no seriado Alias, de J J Abrams. Será que isso pesou na escolha da atriz para a personagem?

G. I. Joe – The Rise of The Cobra (G.I. Joe – A Origem de Cobra) é uma rentável colcha de retalhos. Há diversos personagens que permitem diversas continuações tanto em grupo como histórias fechadas com um ou dos integrantes. Particularmente quero muito que façam um filme solo do Storm Shadow. Byung-hun Lee fez o personagem todo afetado, um verdadeiroElvis assassino from Japan!

Action-packed reboot of the beloved franchise boldly comes to DVD and Blu-Ray this week.

One of the biggest hits of last summer’s movie season – and a giant cause for relief among the franchise’s devoted fans – J.J. Abram’s (Lost, Mission: Impossible 3) re-energizing take on the Star Trek mythology arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray this week in a variety of single and multiple disc editions. It’s a hell of an action movie, and though explicit comparisons to rival franchise Star Wars aren’t entirely fair, this new Trek has the same sense of dizzying momentum. Maybe too much momentum, and possibly too much action for its own good.

The Star Trek TV series and films have never preoccupied themselves with stunts and pyrotechnics, often proudly wearing their cerebral ambitions on their form-fitting sleeves. While Abrams and company have jettisoned such a restrained attitude in favor of adventure, the new film’s bravado often sometimes drags it down or lets it skip over important plot clarification. Also noticeably missing is the Utopian optimism that, at its best, let the original series and its various children transcend their budgets as well as the usual pitfalls endemic to episodic science fiction.

The story’s basics are familiar but made vividly fresh by a crisp production design as well as Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman’s taut script. Centuries into the future, young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine, Bottle Shock) spends his childhood near the Iowa shipyards that construct massive starships used by the United Federation of Planets to bring stability to the galaxy. An orphan whose father died saving the U.S.S. Kelvin from an attack by the belligerent alien Romulans, young Kirk is recruited into Starfleet by veteran officer Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood, The Sweet Hereafter) on the strength of his natural aptitude and his father’s heroic legacy.

Jump ahead three years and Kirk has breezed through San Francisco’s Starfleet Academy, even rigging a no-win mission simulation test (which veteran Trek fans will recognize as the Kobayashi Maru from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan) in his favor. A disciplinary hearing, spearheaded by Academy instructor Spock (Zachary Quinto), is interrupted by a distress signal from Spock’s home planet of Vulcan. With the rest of Starfleet’s armada preoccupied elsewhere, it’s up to the cadets to respond in seven brand new starships including the venerable U.S.S. Enterprise. The Romulan craft that destroyed the Kelvin has returned again, and with help from his friend “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban, The Bourne Supremacy) Kirk stows away beneath Captain Pike’s notice to help out.

The action that follows includes time travel, black holes, the destruction of planets, parachuting from low-Earth orbit, and swashbuckling sword fights. It often seems as if frequent Abrams collaborators Orci and Kurtzman threw everything they could devise into the chain-of-set-pieces script, leaving no idea discarded. For the most part that damn-the-torpedoes strategy works. Other times, including a tedious man vs. monster chase sequence on an ice moon (itself too derivative by half of The Empire Strikes Back), all that action instead feels superfluous and distracting from the main story thread.

And it’s a very linear thread. One thing happens and then another, each sequence building on the one before rather than happening from circumstance. Abrams et. al. have a lot to accomplish in the film’s two hours, yet despite the diversions, repetitious stunts and sometimes glaring plot holes the story makes sense without seeming simplistic; it’s easy to see where everything might have dissolved into chaos instead. The stakes, thanks to the Romulan commander Nero (Eric Bana, Munich), are demonstrably high enough that the rapid pitch continuously seems justified. Add that to Kirk and company’s relative inexperience and you feel justified in believing the danger.

What’s missing most is backstory, and context. We are told that the Federation is a noble cause but not of its origins, or why Earth and other alien worlds remain devoted to its purpose. The time-travel elements are explained but not developed, so that depending on your familiarity with that trope’s mental contortions the ensuring plot details will seem opaque at best and frustrating at worst. Kirk’s childhood is given only the barest amount of explanation, likewise the motivations of bad guy Nero or the Romulans in general. Extant Trek continuity is apparently filled with details on almost all of the above (we’ve just scratched the surface ourselves), so there was no shortage of source material from which to draw. Maybe Abrams and company have deferred such embellishments until the already-announced sequel? Whatever the case, the story needed greater depth to bring the film’s setting into a completely coherent focus.

Luckily the cast is up to the script’s ambitious challenges. Pine, given the task of bringing the famously pre-politically correct Kirk to the modern age, finds his character not in the swagger but rather in the relentless self-confidence that made William Shatner’s Kirk legendary. Quinto, a talented actor not given much to do on Heroes anymore except beckon or arch his formidable eyebrows, builds Spock from barely restrained and (oddly enough) seething emotion. Urban is underused as the crusty Dr. McCoy, as is Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz) as Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott. Playing the heavy, Bana makes the most of a perfunctory role. In origin movies like this it’s enough for the villain to simply be menacing, but thanks again to impeccable costuming and production design a large part of that work is already accomplished. Still, he makes the most of each line of dialogue allowed him.

Speaking of design, the new Enterprise vessel looks great most of the time. This latest interpretation of the classic shape is sleek and detailed, keeping the recognizable form while incorporating new elements including a dynamic new electrical effect to the warp nacelles. The bridge is a swirl of translucent display screens and fluorescent lights, selling the movie’s futuristic setting all by itself. Less impressive, unfortunately, are a generic-looking medical bay and an engineering section that’s exactly as anonymous as any petrochemical refinery. For such a classic and famous ship you’d expect a bold new vision of its engine room to be just as impressive and well-thought out. It’s something to consider as Abrams and his group boldly go into plans for the sequel.

- Michael Kabel

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

(Note: An earlier version of this review appeared for the film’s theatrical release.)

I just saw the new Star Trek movie at the IMAX in Manc. It was bloody good fun I must say. A ‘rollicking good yarn’ to quote my father. I do have two minor and admittedly geeky gripes.
The first is Simon Pegg. Not sure why I’ve just gone off him. Maybe its because he merely played Tim Bisley in Shaun of the Dead. And a strict Tim Bisley in Hot Fuzz. And Tim Bisley again in MI:III. And now plays Tim Bisley with a scottish accent. Overrated and the joke has worn thin I think. Ex-sitcom luvvies aside my major gripe is techy/nerdy one. I have never liked Star Trek until this point so it has nothing to do with the ‘Kobayashi test’ or any other Trek fan nonsense.
The retro-future is a very cool bit of production design they use well in the film and there are some great set pieces and action sequences. These are ruined, however, by the efforts of a certain Dan Mindel’s involvement in the film. I don’t know why JJ Abrams loves ’shaky-cam’ so much but its pissing me off. And other directors seem to be following suit, which pisses me off further. It worked in Cloverfield for obvious reasons, but for christ sake! I want to SEE a film! Hand-held, unstable and jerky camera work, to me, smacks of a lack of professionalism and a failure in the director’s ability to relay a story via the screen. There are moments on the Romulan ship, I kid you not, the camera completely dips out of view of the action, missing what sounds like a really cool moment. The scenes in space are gracefully more meditive, the CG for once amplifying the film not dominating it (Lucas take note). Also the sodding ‘beautiful lens flare’ effect! Once they are on the Enterprise, I still do not jest, there is a blue line of light burning across the screen every few seconds from then till the screen goes dark for the credits. It’s not pretty, its distracting and superfluous. Gahh!! I blame Spielberg.
Steven Spielberg, when Dougie Slocombe retired, went through a couple of DOP’s (Director’s of Photography) until he settled on Janus Kiminsky for Saving Private Ryan. Kiminsky developed the idea for a very new and realistic style of photography. He made the camera operators all hand carry the cameras, even strapping them to knees and arms to create human movement. He also developed a lens with panavision (the only film lens maker) with no central lenses. Okay bare with me, this gets technical. The glass in the middle of a lens absorbs a lot of the light coming through the front lens. They are normally coated so by the time it goes through the final lens to the celluloid any ‘noise’ or colour distortion is removed, essentially like putting glasses on. Kiminsky removed these which meant the light went in and bounced around and burnt straight into the film. This created a very sharp (the less lenses the more pure the image) and very bright, high contrast image. A style pretty much every review described as a ‘documentary feeling’. It worked brilliantly. You were plunged into the action and thrown around, those horrific beach landing images bright and sharp burning into your eyes. The beautiful sunsets and rain in the ruined villages displayed in all their gritty glory. Gorgeous. After that, with the exception of Minority Report I have not liked a Steven Spielberg film much. Kiminsky has worked with him since and by and large it has worked very well for him largely because I think Spielberg, while reusing boring and well trodden plots/drama, is incapable of making an Ugly film. Catch me if you Can and Crystal Skull whilst being cack films looked gorgeous with their 50’s/60’s pastoral colour and bright sharp, high contrast visuals. This works for Spielberg and Kiminsky, its stylistic, but not for anyone else.
Dan Mindel uses exactly the same technique. The Documentary Syle. It’s fucking Star Trek!! Don’t dress it down. A character in the film even says “this requires more Pomp and Circumstance”. It does! Put the steady cam on and put the lenses back in. One of the benefits of the lens removal is for natural light. Private Ryan has no sound stages in it so no studio lighting. Star Trek is almost ALL studio lighting. Very controlled which means all this shit isn’t just deliberate its actively encouraged. Why? Why, Why,Why,Why,Why,Why,Why, WHY!? Its sacchrine, disorientating, nauseating and as apposed to “bringing the audience in” as directors love to say, it means you blink a lot and try to step back, detatching yourself from the film.
I site precedence, your honour, in The Dark Knight. There is some substantial hand-held work in that film but none of it ’shaky’ except the Joker’s home videos. Watch the Hong Kong scrap. Very quick, hard, fast, you feel the punches but more importantly you SEE them. The car chase. All natural light. No lens flare. Still looks beauuuutiful.
I realise no one is interested and has probably stopped reading a long time ago but I really think its an ugly and unescessary route to go down. Style over content. Having said all this, it was a bloody good film and JJ Abrams has done a bang up job of opening Star Trek’s fanbase to include more than just 30 year old pasty white virgins still living with their mother. Though I am pasty white and Nerd I never counted myself as a fan of the originals and I still don’t but if the franchise continues (which of course it will) I could become one.
Anyway, back to why Simon Pegg has turned rubbish…