I’ve just seen this article and had to share. I love Bridget Jones and indeed the two films are integral to our Christmas movie viewing; an annual event in the Briston-Hill household it has to be said. It brought a smile to my face to see the below photographs and of course the illustrious Apple Mac product placement to boot. Well, how else will Bridget write up her thought evoking diary now-a-days?!

You can read the article here

Cx

To commemorate the last day of principal photography of C.S. Lewis novel The Chronicles of Narnia: The Dawn Treader, the Chronicles of Narnia Facebook page posted three official photos from the film.

The Dawn Treader is the third book in the C.S. Lewis series, The Chronicles of Narnia. In the enchanted land of Narnia, Edmund and Lucy, along with their cousin Eustace Clarence Scrubb join King Caspian on a sworn mission to find the seven lost Lords of Narnia. The new and dangerous quest takes them to the farthest edge of the Eastern world on board the mighty Dawn Treader. Sailing uncharted seas, the old friends must survive a terrible storm, encounters with sea serpents, dragons, and invisible enemies to reach lands where magicians weave mysterious spells and nightmares come true.

Returning to Narnia are Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian), Skandar Keynes (Edmund), Georgie Henley (Lucy) and Liam Neeson (Aslan). Newcomer Will Poulter will play cousin Eustace.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Dawn Treader hit theaters December 9, 2010 in Australia and December 10, 2010 in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdon.

A few weeks ago news surfaced that original The A-Team cast member Dwight Schultz who played Murdock would have a cameo role in the big-screen remake. However, he is not the only one.

Fan site Dirk Benedict Central is reporting that Dirk Benedict, who played Templeton “Faceman” Peck in the original series, will also have a cameo appearance in the new film.

Dirk has just announced to this website that he has two projects in the works beginning with a cameo appearance in the new The A-Team film, which is currently shooting in Vancouver Canada.

The A-Team is directed by Joe Carnahan and stars Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Quinton Jackson, Patrick Wilson and Yul Vazquez and is out on 11 June 2010.

Although I personally love it when they do stuff like this, I am never sure if it is good or bad for the film in question – It kind of pulls you out of the moment as you go “Oh that was so-and-so from the original show” which is probably not very helpful to the new versions of the characters.

How do you feel about original actors cameoing in new versions of their shows or film?

Qual não foi a minha alegria quando li pela primeira vez que um dos meus filmes favoritos da época de ogrinho seria refilmado! Isso mesmo, você leu “alegria” e “refilmado” na mesma frase. Não sei porque, mas tenho levado muita fé nesse remake do mega clássico de 1981 “Clash Of Titans” (“Fúria de Titãs” aqui na República das Bananas).

Talvez seja pelas proporções colossais que o filme pode tomar por conta de um orçamento generoso. Quem sabe pela escalação dos fodásticos Liam Neeson e Ralph Fiennes como Zeus e Hades, respectivamente, e de Sam Worthington – que me convenceu de que dá pro gasto depois de sua atuação em “Terminator – Salvation” – como o protagonista Perseu.

Aliás, aproveitando o ensejo sobre o elenco, é muito bom ver mais uma vez Liam Neeson num papel de destaque. O cara é um montro, tem uma imponência única, e nada mais justo que ele ser o responsável por dar vida ao deus supremo da mitologia grega. Se você ainda precisa ser convencido do quanto esse ator é um badass motherfucker (Há!), assista ao último filme de ação estrelado por ele, “Taken” (“Busca Implacável” pros lados de cá). Simplesmente um deleite pros fãs do gênero.

Mas o que realmente me fez colocar ainda mais fé em “Clash Of Titans” foi o trailer recentemente lançado. Acredito que podemos aguardar algo épico, grandioso mesmo. Ótimos efeitos, trilha sonora magnífica e a promessa de sequências de ação de tirar o fôlego (clichê detected, há!) são os destaques do vídeo liberado pela Warner Bros.

Esse é o momento do post em que eu deveria resumir o enredo do filme né? Não, me recuso! Estamos falando de  um clássico dos anos 80 e se você ainda não assistiu, corra até a sua locadora e alugue. É requisito básico para qualquer amante do cinema com mais de 20 anos de idade. Mordi!

“Clash Of Titans” é dirigido por Louis Leterrier (“O Incrível Hulk”) e estréia dia 2 de abril de 2010. Alguém aí está tão ansioso quanto eu?

Since this college semester is coming to a close in a few weeks, I’ve decided to post my current Top 10 films list for a two part blog, giving reasons and a video showing a clip from each film.  Now, I won’t go and call myself the best film critic by any stretch of word and there are still plenty of movies I have yet to see.  But I figure there’s no harm in constantly updating your list and for a good while, this has been what the top has looked like.  So here it is, part one:

10. Forrest Gump

This is definitely a clear contender for a most popular film list; and with good reason.  Many scenes, characters and lines have been mentioned, quoted and spoofed countless times, but this is all the more reason it’s such a great movie.  Sure, we’ve all seen it only a billion and a half times already, but it never loses its charm.  Although Forrest might not be the brightest apple on the tree, he’s one of the most naturally good at-heart.  A big part of what makes this such an easy film to follow is how Forrest’s adventures and, at times, struggles are a fair representation of what many common Americans go through.  The film has recently been criticized for having a constrained view on some of these moments but this is more a misconception than anything.  What Forrest deals with and notices are intended to be passed off from his view, which is as neutral and unbiased as you can possibly get.  Some might think the film struggles with its message(s), which it doesn’t but this is only more reason the film relates so easily to us (multiple messages and some not being so clear at first).

“What’s my destiny, Mama?”

“You’re gonna have to figure that out yourself.  Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest.  You never know what you’re gonna get.”

9. Stand By Me

I’ve become a fairly big fan of Stephen King in the past couple years.  I feel that he’s (mostly) offered some of the best stories out there, whether they detail strong characters or have striking scenarios, he’s almost never left me underwhelmed.  And despite how much I might praise his other works; I think the story that hits home the most for me is the film adaptation of Stand By Me.  The plot is very basic and gives us little more than the little journey that our four main characters go through.  But this simplicity gives the film a lot of room to detail the characters and we definitely get a strong dose of that, namely from Gordie and Chris.  The relationship between all four characters feels natural and realistic, with great agreements and sometimes bitter arguments sprouting out.  Anyone who’s seen the film unedited knows that it doesn’t try to sugarcoat anything but you’re not getting morbid or depressing images either.  It’s a kind of film that can easily to speak to anyone because of it cleverly maintaining a mid-ground mood.

“**** writing, I don’t want to be a writer.  It’s stupid.  It’s a stupid waste of time.”

“That’s your dad talking.”

“Bull****”

“Bull true.  I know how your dad feels about you.  He doesn’t give a **** about you, Denny was the one he cared about and don’t try to tell me different.  You’re just a kid, Gordie.”

“Oh, gee!  Thanks, Dad!”

“Wish the hell I was your Dad.  You wouldn’t be goin’ around talkin’ about takin’ these stupid shop courses if I was.  It’s like God gave you something, man, all those stories you can make up.  And He said, ‘This is what I got for ya, kid.  Try not to lose it.’  Kids lose everything unless there’s someone there to look out for them.  And if your parents are too ****ed up to do it, then maybe I should.”

8. Letters from Iwo Jima

This might sound blasphemous to some, but I’m pretty late to the Clint Eastwood party.  In fact, this and Flags of Our Fathers were my introduction to his work.  But as we all know Mr. Eastwood has seldom missed the mark and he definitely did a great job with Flags of Our Fathers.  Then there’s Letters from Iwo Jima, which trumps its American sibling in every conceivable way.  Despite telling the tale from the Japanese point of view, this film actually hits home harder than Flags of Our Fathers.  Giving us an idea of what the conditions were (probably) like for the Japanese soldiers who worked, fought and died on Iwo Jima is one of the film’s strongest aspects.  And it’s carried out throughout the entire runtime with pure excellence, giving us strong performances from the entire cast (especially Ken Watanabe) and dramatic moments matched by a solemnly peaceful score.  War has taken many forms and become the inspiration for a wide variety of films-this is one that gets my utmost recommendation for even the remotely curious.

“If our children can live safely for one more day it would be worth the one more day we defend this island.”

7. The War

Don’t be confused, this isn’t that forgettable film featuring Jason Statham and Jet Li.  Instead, this is a picture from 1994 staring Kevin Costner and a young Elijah Wood playing part of a dirt poor family in 1970.  I will say I’m definitely biased towards this film mostly because it hasn’t gotten much recognition and has thus become more of a cult favorite.  The synopsis doesn’t sound terribly interesting on paper and the happy-happy-joy-joy DVD cover indicates a very bland film.  However, this is a movie that, like most of the films on my Top 10 list, hit close to him simply for its characters.  The relationships are mostly believable and the acting is solid all around.  This leads to a real shame about the film: only two (three if you count Lucas Black) of the actors made it.  Many of the supporting characters were filled by people who looked like they had plenty of potential yet only Wood and Costner hit it big.  A number of messages are told throughout the film and although they aren’t emphasized quite to the extent of, say, Forrest Gump, it helps keep the film from feeling like it’s preaching.  I’m sure most who are reading this haven’t seen the film and likely won’t find it at their local video store.  But I highly urge even buying it since it can very easily grow on you and a number of scenes contribute to give it plenty of re-watch value.

“I hope you know them’s the kids who just beat me up.”

“I know who they are, son.”

“Then why’d you give them Ma and Lidia’s cotton candy?”

6. Schindler’s List

Of all the films on my Top 10 list, this is the one that I can never bring myself to watching multiple times.  I’ve only seen the movie one time, but that single viewing alone leaves such a mark on you that it’s almost impossible to forget the details.  This is a very different film for Spielberg which turns out to be a wonderful shift and only makes me wonder why he hasn’t done more dramas.  On the flip side, part of what helps Schindler’s List work so well is that we haven’t gotten very many films that even come close to hitting the serious mark it has.  Those who haven’t seen it should be aware that this is a very unapologetic viewing which, given the subject matter, is very important.  What’s best is that we get this inspired tale of a single setting in the Holocaust and it never loses the tight grip in the three hour runtime.  Schindler’s List very clearly deserved its Best Picture win at the Oscars for a number of reasons, including how unrelenting, convincing and absorbing it is.

“I could have got more out.  I could have got more.  I don’t know.  If I’d just…I could have got more.”

“Oskar, there are eleven hundred people who are alive because of you.  Look at them.”

“If I’d made more money…I threw away so much money.  You have no idea.  If I’d just…”

“There will be generations because of what you did.”

“I didn’t do enough!”

“You did so much.”

“This car.  Goeth would have bought this car.  Why did I keep the car?  Ten people right there.  Ten people.  Ten more people.”

“This pin.  Two people.  This is gold.  Two more people.  He would have given me two for it, at least one.  One more person.  A person, Stern.  For this.  I could have got one more person…and I didn’t!  And I…I didn’t!”

Le Film: Un excellent “Feel Good Movie”.

Synopsis:

L’amour est partout, imprévisible, inexplicable, insurmontable. Il frappe quand il veut et souvent, ça fait pas mal de dégâts…
Pour le nouveau Premier Ministre britannique, il va prendre la jolie forme d’une jeune collaboratrice.
Pour l’écrivain au coeur brisé parti se réfugier dans le sud de la France, il surgira d’un lac.
Il s’éloigne de cette femme qui, installée dans une vie de couple ronronnante, suspecte soudain son mari de songer à une autre.
Il se cache derrière les faux-semblants de ce meilleur ami qui aurait bien voulu être autre chose que le témoin du mariage de celle qu’il aime.
Pour ce veuf et son beau-fils, pour cette jeune femme qui adore son collègue, l’amour est l’enjeu, le but, mais également la source d’innombrables complications.
En cette veille de Noël à Londres, ces vies et ces amours vont se croiser, se frôler et se confronter…

Critique:

Une excellente comédie/comédie romantique ! Richard Curtis, scénariste entre autres, de 4 mariages et un enterrement, Coup de foudre a Notting Hill et des Bridget Jones passe derrière la camera, avec un casting 5 étoiles.

Ainsi, on retrouve Hugh Grant, abonne a ce genre de films en premier ministre et plus particulièrement en sorte Tony Blair, mais aussi Liam Neeson (Taken, Star Wars), Colin Firth (Bridget Jones, Mamma Mia et l’étrange noël de Scrooge), Emma Thompson (Je suis une légende, Harry Potter -Prof Trelawney), Alan Rickman (Severus Rogue dans Harry Potter), Chiwetel Ejiofor (2012, Les fils de l’homme, Inside Man), Bill Nighy (Walkyrie, Hot Fuzz, H2G2, Pirate des caraïbes, The constant Gardner, Underworld 2 &3), Keira Knightley (Pirates des Caraibes, King Arthur, The Duchess, Domino) pour ne citer que les plus importants. Mais aussi des apparitions de Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean), Elisha Cuthbert (24 heures chrono), Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie) et Billy Bor Thornton (The Barber, Eagle Eye, A l’ombre de la haine).

Tout ces acteurs s’en donnent a cœur joie dans leurs rôles respectifs, et bien que comme on le voit, un grand nombre de personnages se croisent et se décroisent (et c’est la l’idée du scenario) celui-ci est construit de telle manière qu’on ne sent sent jamais perdu, confus et au final, les 2h15 de film (ce qui est plutôt rare pour une comédie/comédie romantique) passent toutes seules. La photographie, très axée sur le rouge est magnifique et parfaitement retranscrite par cet édition. Si certains pourront reprocher le trop bien de bien-être et de tout le monde il est beau, dégoulinant pour certains, on répondra que c’est bien le genre de ce film qui le veut et une fois de temps en temps, un « feel good movie » ca fait du bien, surtout de ce calibre-la !

Un excellent film, qui plaira a tout le monde dans la famille que ce soient des amis, votre copine, et même votre belle-mère ne pourront que passer un bon moment pendant 2h.

90/100

L’image: Un très beau transfert

Ce transfert en Blu-Ray apporte un plus indéniable sur les éditions parues sur d’autres supports et on découvre une image encore meilleur que celle vue en salle.

Si ce genre de film ne se prête en général pas a un top démo, force est de constater, qu’on prend une claque des le début du film si tant est qu’on ai vu les précédentes versions disponibles.

La colorimétrie est magnifique avec des couleurs éclatantes, d’autant plus que la période de noël est une excellente base de ce point de vu la ! Les contrastes sont particulièrement bien retranscrits, les couleurs de peau naturelles et aucune tache, grain trop présent, ou autres défauts ne viennent altérer notre expérience visuelle.

On ne dénote pas d’Edge Enhancement et emploi heureusement minimal de Noise Reduction.

Et si on ne perçoit pas d’effet 3D, et que le piqué n’est pas au couteau, il se dégage une belle sensation de détails dans l a plupart des cas et au final, il est plus que sympathique que de redécouvrir (visuellement) ce film !

Au final et pour les possesseurs de précédentes éditions, la qualité de l’image est telle qu’il serait dommage de passer a cote de cette édition, peut être pas un rachat obligatoire,  mais pour les fans du film et ceux qui ne l’auraient jamais vu, achat recommandé, surtout vu le prix demandé !

80/100

Le Son: Une piste DTS HD MA 5.1 pas tonitruante, mais bien sympathique !

Qui dit comédie/comédie romantique dit bande son principalement frontale. Qu’en est-il ici ?

Malgré l’emploi d’une piste DTS Master Audio 5.1 en VO, pas de miracles ! Les voix sont parfaitement bien retranscrites dans le mix, quelques petits effets d’ambiance viennent ponctuer certaines scènes, mais dans l’ensemble rien de folichon !

La scène arrière reste timide, ainsi que le caisson de basses. Certes les passages musicaux, d’ailleurs assez nombreux, profitent au mieux de cette nouvelle édition, mais a l’exception de ces passages et de quelques petits effets, l’activité reste principalement frontale et dialoguée. Pas de quoi casser trois pattes a un canard, mais une piste son qui reste fidèle à l’esprit du film.

68/100

Genre: Comédie/Comédie romantique.

Durée: 2h15

Vidéo : 1080p AVC 2:35:1

Zone: All

Doublage: VFF

Langues: Anglais DTS-HD M A 5.1 / Français DTS 5.1 / Allemand DTS 5.1/Espagnol DTS 5.1

Sous-titres: Français / Anglais / Allemand / Espagnol / Italien / Néerlandais /

When I say I could watch a man paint a bathroom, it’s a high compliment. Liam Neeson is one of those actors. When Rob Roy came out I wanted to change my name to Mary MacGregor just so I pretend he was talking to me when he said, “You are so fine to me, Mary MacGregor.”

Photographed for Esquire magazine April 2004 by [searching for credit]

“I think mystery is kind of great. I don’t know anything about Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn or Ava Gardner — not really — and I like that. I love watching their movies because they’re my personal movie stars. I don’t know what they eat and who their trainer is.”

No clue where this came from; sometimes I just right-click and save things and make no effort to credit them. Super-sorry!

“Most of the time we do nothing, myself included, … I think the lesson I learned from [playing humanitarian Tessa in The Constant Gardner] is that a lot of drops make up an ocean. If people would stand up and say what they believe in maybe we can make a difference. Helping one person is better than nothing. Just do something.”

Still from The Shape of Things

“There’s not much room for eccentricity in Hollywood, and eccentricity is what’s sexy in people.”

I have heard rumors she is one of the actresses who has been approached to play Catwoman in the next Batman movie, but I’ve also heard Chris Nolan quoted saying that Catwoman isn’t going to be in it. It doesn’t matter, because that would be lame anyways. She should not be Catwoman, regardless of whether Selina Kyle pops up in the next movie (a direction which would actually disappoint me).

What Rachel Weisz should do in the new Batman movies is play Talia, the daughter of Rā’s al Ghūl and love of Bruce Wayne’s life. Helloooo, she would be perfect! Talia seriously needs to once and for all get in the mainstream big screen storylines, especially considering how great the new movies Chris Nolan’s been making are: in the comics she even has Batman’s kid, for god’s sake (Damian Wayne, who is the current Robin). It’s already been set up, when, in the novelized Batman Begins, Rā’s al Ghūl refers to having a wife and daughter while he is talking to Bruce.

So, come on. Let’s finally get her in a movie, and let’s have Rachel Weisz play her. The woman is a stranger to neither action pictures (The Mummy franchise) nor comic book movies (the wildly underrated Constantine). That’s my awesome suggestion: obey!

Io vi trovero’ è un film del 2008 diretto da Pierre Morel. Il protagonista del film è Liam Neeson. Il film è molto veloce e pieno di azione. Impossibile annoiarsi.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Pierre Morel | Liam Neeson | Maggie Grace | Famke Janssen

Ik heb afgelopen maandag de film Batman Begins (2005) op tv gezien. In deze film worden de hoofdrollen gespeeld door Christian Bale als Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine als Alfred, Morgan Freeman als Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman als Jim Gordon, Rutger Hauer als Earle, Cillian Murphy als Dr. Jonathan Crane, Liam Neeson als Henri Ducard, Ken Watanabe als Ra’s Al Ghul, Colin McFarlane als Loeb en Katie Holmes als Rachel Dawes.

De kleine jongen Bruce Wayne zag zijn ouders voor zijn ogen wreed vermoord worden: een trauma dat hem voor de rest van zijn leven vervult met wraakgevoelens. Het lot laat hem zijn wraak echter niet uitvoeren. Hij vlucht naar het Oosten, waar hij opgevangen wordt door de ninja-leider Ra’s Al-Ghul, en als hij terugkeert naar zijn thuisstad Gotham City vindt hij die in de handen van maffiabendes en andere gangsters. Hij besluit een nieuw persoon te worden, één die de harten van misdadigers met vrees vervult: Batman! Met de hulp van politieman Jim Gordon zet Batman zijn eerste stappen in zijn strijd tegen het onrecht. Zijn strijd begint tegen de maffiabaas Don Falcone, de gekke dokter Jonathan ’Scarecrow’ Crane en een mysterieuze derde persoon …
[FilmTotaal.nl]

Ik vind dit een hele goede Batman-film. Juist het fet dat de beslissing die Bruce Wayne neemt om als Batman de misdaad te bestrijden halverwege de film genomen wordt vind ik moedig en is verder heel goed uitgewerkt.

Wat ik ook heel goed vind is dat je ziet dat Bruce Wayne altijd last heeft gehad van het feit dat zijn ouders voor zijn ogen vermoord zijn. Ook wel leuk om te zien dat Bruce Wayne bij een groep Ninja’s terecht gekomen is om zichzelf te stalen en veel te leren.

Verder blijft Gotham City gewoon erg gaaf om in beeld te brengen en dat is ook in deze film heel goed gelukt. De nieuwe batmobiel is natuurlijk supergaaf!!

Al met al een film die gewoon zeer goed en onderhoudend is.

This post is a little tribute to other filmmakers who decided to embark on the daunting task of bringing The Pilgrim’s Progress to the big screen. (Yes, that is Liam Neeson.)

NY, 1846. A Five Points imperversa la battaglia fra le bande rivali dei Nativi e dei Conigli Morti per la supremazia sul territorio. Lo scontro porterà alla vittoria dei primi e all’instaurazione dell’ordine violento e criminale governato da Bill il Macellaio. Ma 16 anni più tardi, Amsterdam Vallon, figlio del capo dei Conigli Morti, torna decio a fare vendetta del padre ucciso in battaglia da Bill.

PER CHI

Per chi identifica le origini dell’umanità con “l’Età dell’innocenza”, per chi crede che la violenza si possa combattere con la non violenza e che un mondo di pace, privo di brutalità, sia un mondo possibile… non si scoraggi di fronte a questa visione pessimistica – nonché realistica – dell’uomo e della vita sociale, dove la violenza è una forza – dichiaratamente esercitata  o celatamente in agguato  - che caratterizza in modo intrinseco la natura umana.  Non solo, GONY offre una concezione del mondo in cui  la violenza è anche fattore morfogenetico, cioè creatore di nuove forme e nuovi equilibri, fondamento che crea e unica legge che preserva l’ordine sociale. La storia dei popoli è fatta col sangue, lo Stato moderno, non solo quello americano,  è nato da guerre, odio e devastazione, e le civiltà (lo dice chiaro l’immagine finale del film) risorgono sulle lapidi.

Per chi pensa che gli Americani vivano nella perenne fascinazione della grandezza dei propri padri e in essa ripongano le ragioni di un sentimento di sé alquanto esagerato. GONY  non è il solito film sull’America dove gli Americani (i nativi) sono i “buoni”  e gli altri i “cattivi”.

Per chi pensa che dopo l’11 settembre gli Americani abbiano bisogno di un film come questo che, sebbene non esiti a mettere in luce nefandezze  e corruzione politica, porta le loro memorie a ritrovare il senso di un’identità minacciata nel profondo e celebra la nascita della loro Nazione.

Per chi non si impressiona di fronte a scene di violenza nuda e cruda. La battaglia qui si fa con i coltelli: asce e martelli, mutilazioni e brandelli di carne a dipingere un affresco di sangue che pervade ogni fotogramma. Ed è puro realismo, giammai esibizione o virtuosismo estetico fine a se stesso, che la regia di Scorsese riesce però a sublimare, collocando le scene di battaglia in un tempo mitico e lontano.

Per chi è appassionato di Storia e vuole saper qualcosa di più sulla nascita degli Stati Uniti d’America..  si legga il libro di Herbert Asbury, “Le gang di New York. Una storia informale della malavita”.

Per chi si esalta per le scene epiche e le frasi da “duro”, tipo: “Quando uccidi un re, non lo fai in silenzio. Lo uccidi dove tutta la corte può vederlo morire”, “ No figliolo, mai! Il sangue resta sulla lama (del rasoio da barba). Un giorno capirai”, “Sono come un fiammifero, mi si può fregare una sola volta”, “Mulberry Street… Worth… Cross e Orange… e Little Water. Ciascuno dei Five Points è un dito. Quando chiudo la mano, si trasforma in un pugno. E se voglio, posso usarlo contro di te” .

Per chi vuole divertirsi a rintracciare gli errori di montaggio e i falsi storici disseminati (ahimè!) nel film.

Yo tenía mis dudas sobre si 2012 de Roland Emmerich iba a ser un éxito en taquilla, pero lo ha sido a nivel mundial, más de 200 millones en todo el mundo en su primer fin de semana, haciendo sólo en Estados Unidos más de 65 millones. Así que no podemos negar el éxito de la película que retrata el fin del mundo, y que yo me muero de ganas por ver, y que todavía no he podido. De todas formas, está claro que la próxima semana estas cifras se igualarán o se aumentarán (esta última opción la más factible) por la saga Crepúsculo: Luna Nueva, que se estrena hoy en España, y el viernes en el resto del mundo.

Dejando las recaudaciones, es hora de hablar de dos 4 partes en marcha. Una muy clara y la otra aunque se lleva diciendo desde hace tiempo, hasta que no la vea no me lo creo. Estaba claro de la existencia de Spiderman 4. Hay muchos rumores sobre los villanos a los que se enfrentará el héroe. El rumor que ha saltado últimamente es que habrán varios malos, y uno podría ser La gata negra, personaje al que opta Rachel McAdams (El Diario de Noa, Vuelo Nocturno). Y la otra es, atención, Scream 4. Mi saga de terror favorita vuelve a la carga, no con una 4 película, sino que con una trilogía entera (o sea, 4, 5 y 6) si sigue teniendo éxito. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox y David Arquette repiten.

No puedo seguir sin decir esta curiosidad, habrá un cameo en la película del Equipo A de uno de los miembros de la banda de la popular serie. El actor Dwight Schultz (Murdock), aparecerá en la película haciendo un cameo. Recordar que la película, está protagonizada por Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel y Sharlto Copely (que interpreta a Murdock).

Antes de que se estrene su nueva cinta (Invictus), Clint Eastwood ya está rodando la siguiente, se trata de Hereafter, que se ha descrito como una película con elementos sobrenaturales, y estará protagonizada (al igual que Invictus) por Matt Damon.

El nuevo proyecto de Andy García como director es un biopic sobre Hemingway al que Anthony Hopkins, le dará vida. El propio García y Annette Bening le acompañan en la cinta que se llamará “Hemingway and Fuentes”.

El spin off se Shrek ya tiene fecha de estreno. En noviembre de 2011, El gato con botas verá la luz. La cinta protagonizada por el personaje salido de Shrek contará con la voz original de la saga, Antonio Banderas, al que le acompañará Salma Hayek.

Y por último, si empezamos con Roland Emmerich, vamos acabar con él, y con una noticia sorprendente. Anuncia que quiere hacer no una segunda parte, sino una tercera también de Independence Day. ¿Cómo os quedáis?

Another epic mythological spectacle coming to a cinema near you soon. Clash of the Titans is a remake of the 1981 original of this movie (with some added CGI I guess) in which Perseus has to defeat both Medusa and the Kraken monster to save his beloved prinsess Andromeda. Perseus is played by Sam Worthington. The movie further stars Gemma Arterton, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Check out the trailer below:

Looks quite alright to me! Hitting the cinema’s around the world from March 2010.

Finally, a movie that deserves to be remade.

Clash of the Titans was one of those nostalgic films of my youth. It was full of neat stop-motion creatures, and explored various tales in Greek Mythology.

The movie itself was a fantasy story about the myth of Perseus, a half-human half-deity, born of Zeus, who seeks to save Princess Andromeda from the Kraken – an ancient sea monster summoned by Poseidon, the god of the sea. In case you were wondering, the Kraken in this version is not merely a giant squid, but a serpent like creature with a subhuman upper body with many tenticles.

Along his journey, Perseus and his men face skeleton warriors, giant scorpions, witches, Calibos (a half human, half goat like creature), and even Medusa, the serpent lady with snakes for hair.

This was the original trailer – quite cheesy. For 1981, this looks especially dated. Keep in mind that Raiders of the Lost Ark was made in the same year, and this was made one year after The Empire Strikes Back. So, this looks very ripe to be remade.

For the new one they’ve changed things up a bit for sure, but are for the most part keeping the myth intact. Directed by Louis Letterier (The Incredible Hulk), Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation) is Perseus, Liam Neeson is Zeus, and Ralph Fiennes is Hades. Liam Neeson + Ralph Fiennes = Could be super awesome.

This is the teaser trailer…and I’m looking very forward to this right now.

According to Empire magazine, Bubo – the golden clockwork owl – is not in the majority of the film. I thought he was hilarious! However, the director has said that he may not be entirely absent from the film. Cross my fingers for some extra nostalgia.

Ce jour ne ressemble pas à un mardi, depuis ce matin j’ai l’impression d’être vendredi, c’est très étrange.
Nous sommes allés passer plusieurs jours dans le chalet des parents de Kate, ce n’était pas prévu mais une fois en route nous nous sommes arrêtés pour faire 2-3 courses et on a décidé de s’acheter des pyjamas et brosses à dents, comme ça, sur un coup de tête, pour pouvoir dormir et rester. Ces quelques jours furent un grand retour dans le passé puisque c’est dans ce chalet que sont stockées la plupart des affaires de jeunesse de Kate. Nous avons bien entendu fouiller dans le tas et retrouvé de vieux magazines, bandes dessinées (Alf, Oum le dauphin qui m’a rappelé la vieille pub Galak, …), discuté de vieilles séries*, on s’est rappelé le bon vieux temps quoi.

Ensuite la tante Geert nous appris à jouer aux échecs à trois. En buvant de la myrthe avec des gâteaux au chocolat. C’était comme si nous avions 7 et 8 ans et qu’on était là gardés par la vieille tante pendant les vacances. C’était plutôt agréable, en fait, et j’ai parfois un pincement au coeur pour tous ces gosses qui ne connaîtront jamais ça : le bonheur des choses simples.

Et le blog No cats on the blog est bourré d’images absolument vint4ge.

* La série Agence tous risques (The A-Team) fait d’ailleurs l’objet d’une adaptation cinématographique par Joe Carnahan, avec Liam Neeson et Jessica Biel.

Ah, I really want to avoid comparing it to Braveheart, but okay: You know how there’s a drinking game in Braveheart where every time someone says “Freedom!” you take a shot? The drinking game in Rob Roy is “Honor.”
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image from http://www.allposters.com/-sp/-Posters_i414131_.htm

Robert Roy MacGregor (Liam Neeson) wants to improve his village’s life in the craggy area of Scotland that they live in, so he decides to take out a loan from a local noble Montrose (John Hurt). This would have gone swimmingly except for Montrose’s new house guest Archibald Cunninghamn (Tim Roth) is short on cash and an evil bastard.

My various points on this movie:

1) Costumes are awesome. The year is, I think, 1714, so you’re hitting the movie right between the Restoration-era fashion and the beginning of the Rococo fashions. While not so important for the ever-kilted Rob Roy, it’s really cool to see the costumes that Montrose and Cunningham have to pull off. Two of my favorites are actually this one of Cunningham’s:

image from http://www.justpressplay.net/

And I really wish I could show you the Duke of Argyll (Andrew Keir), but I can’t find any good images of it online.

2) Casting.

So yeah, okay, I saw this movie because of Tim Roth (shut up!) but the casting as a whole is really great. Liam Neeson plays Rob as very much the honorable hero, especially as a great leader whose main concern is the safety of his village.  This makes him a great foil to Cunningham, who spends his time wrapped up in his own problems.  Jessica Lange (who I love) is really top-notch as Mary, Rob’s wife.  This is increasingly apparent from oh, let’s say the halfway mark onwards.

…

Reading into the subplot, this is a grand movie to watch for experiencing English abuse of Scotland, but in a more subtle, personal way than, say, Braveheart.  It’s really clear that Rob Roy represents Scotland, who is just working hard to get by while Cunningham is England, a literal bastard who can only think of thieving as a means of getting by.  What’s interesting to note in this interpretation is that they are both controlled by two men who hold greater power.  Montrose holds sway over Rob Roy because without able to pay him back, he’s in debt.  More so, Montrose houses Cunningham and makes his life difficult little by little.  The Duke of Argyll comes in as a player for Rob Roy by the third act, but you see him periodically throughout the film as an antagonist to Montrose.  The Grumpy Old Men of this movie, if you will.

It’s an epic costume piece, probably one of the best made in the ’90s.  For those of us who like to watch movies in order to travel, this is a great example as such.  The Scottish highlands look absolutely stunning and the three hundred years trip backwards in time is done very well.

Also, well… swordfights!  I like me some swordfights, don’t you?

One last note: I always forget that this was the role which earned Tim Roth his Oscar nomination until I watch the movie again.  It’s not so much Cunningham’s character– he’s really just the Spoiled Rich Kid Villain– but how Tim Roth plays him.  And he plays him well.

Bad-Fucking-Ass!

In Clash of the Titans, the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

Ponyo (2008)
★★★★ / ★★★★

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, “Ponyo” (also known as “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea”) tells the story of a princess goldfish (Noah Cyrus) who truly wants to become human. After escaping from her father (Liam Neeson) whose job is to maintain balance in the natural world, she meets a five-year-old boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) and instantly falls for him. Although I very much enjoyed this latest film from Miyazaki, I don’t think it’s his finest work. The story is beyond cute, the characters’ motivations are easy to understand, the world has a sense of wonder, and the situations the characters are put in have enough danger in them to make the audiences want to root for the characters to succeed. In a nutshell, it’s the perfect movie for kids and adults because it’s highly entertaining. However, I wasn’t as emotionally invested in it as I was when I saw “Spirited Away” for the first time. It must be noted that I saw the dubbed version of this animated picture in theaters so perhaps some of the dialogue was lost in translation. But I wanted a more insightful story regarding the characters. Earlier in the film, there was this tension between Sosuke’s mother (Tina Fey) and father (Matt Damon) because his father was always away at sea. There was a certain innocence and genuine comedy when the mother and father were trying to communicate in morse code by using lights. I wanted more of those situational family moments because then the film becomes that much more personal. What I really liked was that the message about the environment and how we must do our best to take care of it but it the message was never heavy-handed. Such messages were simply shown on the screen as tons of garbage were being collected from the ocean floor and ocean creatures were suffering in more ways imaginable (including the title character). Despite some of the very small negatives I mentioned, I still think this is a very strong film about a creature who tried her best to reach her dreams. “The Little Mermaid” comparisons are justified because of the premise but one shouldn’t imply that it doesn’t rise above the template. In fact, Miyazaki’s signature style of being unbound by realism was constantly at the forefront here. Therefore, every image we get (and the emotions that come with them) is very inspired and it’s very difficult to resist its charm.

The Bounty in all respects may not be considered to be triumph of film. From time to time it drags on but what sets it apart from its predecessors is that its portrayal of Bligh carries much more depth. The Bounty does not simply show men as good and evil but as more complex figures in the at times, wildest of circumstances.

Bligh is played here by Anthony Hopkins and is done so wonderfully. In the movie he is at once being court-marshaled (Laurence Olivier appears in these sequences) for the events that took place aboard ship. Unlike the past films here his actions seem to have more logical motivations rather than him being a man taking pride and enjoying the task of inflicting pain on his subordinates. Them being played by Liam Neeson and Daniel Day-Lewis. Yet, for all the depth Hopkins displays in his performance and talent shown, Mel Gibson comes up short and hardly retains presence periodically. His role requires that he take on the role of a leader but instead fades into the background time after time.

I like the way the movie was directed taking the approach of using flashbacks from the view of Hopkins. It gave the movie a sort of originality which has proven to be very hard to do with remakes, in particular this story. This film though was strictly carried by the performance of Anthony Hopkins and his complex portrayal of Captain Bligh.