[The image above (like the one at the bottom of this post) is from a design by Paul Lasaine for an abandoned version of Moby Dick developed by Dreamworks, directed by the Brizzi brothers. You can see several more images at his blog. The plan was to tell the story from the whale's point of view; a fascinating idea that the studio didn't want to follow up.]

I’m planning to post updates here on Spectacular Attractions about the two forthcoming adaptations of Moby Dick , along with notes about earlier versions. It’s something I’m distracted by at the moment, so this is an outlet. If anyone has further information than I can gather from the Web, please add comments below.

Here’s some of what we know so far. Timur Bekmambetov, director of Wanted is signed to direct a massive-budget version for Universal Pictures, which will begin shooting once he’s finished making Wanted II. From what I can tell, it sounds like they’re inspired by the graphic-novel aesthetic of 300, which preserved the pictorialism of Frank Miller’s original text but, for my money, made it too pristine and over-designed to be emotionally engaging. The script has been written by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage. You may find Cooper’s statement enticing: I find it kind of ominous:

Our vision isn’t your grandfather’s ‘Moby Dick’. This is an opportunity to take a timeless classic and capitalize on the advances in visual effects to tell what at its core is an action-adventure revenge story.

To that end, they’ve removed Ishmael’s first-person narration. This means that we can see lots more scenes of Moby Dick trashing other ships, without being limited to one character’s perspective. But Ishmael’s narration is always subjective, questionable – part of the drama of reading Moby Dick is feeling the distance between literature and experience. You can feel the narrator’s urge to communicate every detail of what he sees, but you can also feel the mystique of folklore, the tingle of secondhand reports of a sea monster. Seeing more of Moby Dick undermines some of the mythic structure of the novel, in the same way that remaking Jaws with lots of close-up views of a CGI shark would throw away what made it frightening in the first place. But obviously, it’s too early to judge. Certainly, Melville’s book provides plenty of opportunity for awesome spectacle, but it would be a shame if that came at the expense of its ability to create a detailed picture of life on a whaling ship, or the complex psychology of its narrator.

First up, though, Mike Barker is directing another adaptation for TV (produced by Germany’s Tele Munchen Group) with a budget of over $25,000,000, with William Hurt as Ahab, Charlie Cox as Ishmael, Gillian Anderson as Elizabeth, Ethan Hawke as Starbuck, Apocalypto’s Raoul Trujillo as Queequeg, plus Eddie Marsan and Donald Sutherland.  It’s written by Nigel Williams, who scribbled a damn fine script for HBO’s Elizabeth I with Helen Mirren, and used to write episodes for Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: let’s hope he’s still got some of that knack for tale-spinning. There’s quite a bit of teasing info, and lots of photos from the set, at the website of  Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, where the film finished shooting last month: it was dressed to look like 19th-century Nantucket. I’m afraid you’ve already missed it, but there was an auction of props used in the film: see here for pictures.

On her blog, Gillian Anderson hints at a harmonious set with good relations amongst the cast, but also that it was “cursed”:

Anyhoo so here is LAX and on my way to the welcome drizzle of London before the welcome sunshine of somewhere else and time just flies and flies and I wish I could tell you what I’m doing next but I can’t and Oh there was Moby Dick which was so much fun and such a great group of people not least of which was the director Michael Barker who is an angel of a man and Ethan (Hawke) and Charlie (Cox) and then William (Hurt) and oh my Donald Sutherland who I would give my left anything to properly work with again. It was blessed. Well, and cursed but I won’t go into that.

I think we would want an adaptation of one of the most monumental literary expressions of reckless obsession to require similar levels of anguish to recreate. That’s probably a silly superstitious belief, but there’s a strong mythos that surrounds the big productions that run into difficulties. It would seem cheeky to remake Moby Dick with too much ease, when it took Melville so much effort to drag out of his mind, condensing his arduous seafaring experiences into a gargantuan statement of the awe and danger of nature. It is scheduled for completion early in 2010.

How odd that we’ll get two adaptations in such a short space of time. The differences between them will, I hope, prove interesting and illuminating on the topic of transitions from literary to screen media.

“9 – A Salvação”, a fantasia épica e pós-apocalíptica do diretor Shane Acker, é, na verdade, a versão longa-metragem de seu curta homônimo, indicado ao Oscar em 2005. O roteiro dessa é de Pamela Pettler, que também escreveu o ótimo “Casa Monstro”. Completando o time de estrelas por trás das câmeras, a produção ficou a cargo de Timur Bekmambetov – diretor de “O Procurado” – e ninguém menos que Tim Burton. A participação de Burton em “9 – A Salvação” gerou um imenso ‘buzz’ em torno do filme, o que acabou sendo um forte chamariz para os expectadores nas salas de cinema mundo afora. Dublando a animação, temos figuras igualmente conhecidas como Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connely, John C. Reilly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau e Crispin Glover.

Ta bom pra você? Até estaria, mas o filme – para o nosso deleite – não se sustenta só através desses nomes famosos. O mérito dessa animação é a combinação de 3 elementos preciosos: o estilo visual peculiar de Burton, as sequências de ação de Bekmambetov e a história idealizada por Acker. A síntese disso tudo é uma produção cinemaográfica imperdível, inteligente e cativante. Mas não se engane com o aspecto amigável do protagonista 9 e seus amigos; eles são simbólicos, assim como quase tudo no filme. Estamos diante de uma animação totalmente voltada para o público adulto. Toda a ambientação catastófrica, as referências claras ao nazismo, a brutalidade de algumas sequências e até um cadáver (sim, um cadáver!!!) em ‘cena’ corroboram esse aspecto.

Quando 9 desperta, ele se encontra em um mundo pós-apocalíptico onde não há mais humanos. Explorando esse cenário cataclísmico, descobre uma pequena comunidade de outros como ele, se refugiando de assustadoras máquinas que perambulam pela Terra em meio à extinção de todo o resto de vida. 9 convence o grupo de que esconder-se não adiantará por muito tempo. Para sobreviver, eles precisariam tomar a ofensiva da situação e ir em busca de respostas, e entender por que as máquinas querem destruí-los. É então que eles aprendem que o futuro da civilização pode depender somente deles.

No entanto, em meio a todo esse caos e destruição, ao longo de “9 – A Salvação”, nos vemos sumariamente envolvidos, tamanho o carisma dos 9 pequeninos bonecos de pano. Cada um com características bem específicas, estereótipos, que foram muito bem explorados nos cartazes de divulgação que você pode conferir na galeria ao final desse post. O aspecto gráfico é outro ponto alto. A tecnologia de animação de que os estúdios dispões hoje em dia, permitiram a criação de um ambiente igualmente belo e estéril. E nele, se desenrolam envolventes cenas de ação, com pitadas de heroísmo e humor. Assista-o em uma boa sala de projeção ou em seu home theater fodástico e se delicie com a riqueza de efeitos sonoros, satisfação garantida!

O Ogro recomenda e, assim que sair em dvd, esse é um filme certo de estar em uma estante aqui da Caverna! Se liga no trailer:

Wanted è un film del 2008 di azione che è vagamente basata sulla miniserie a fumetti dello stesso nome di Mark Millar. Il film è diretto da Timur Bekmambetov e gli attori sono James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp, e Konstantin Khabensky.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Timur Bekmambetov | James McAvoy | Morgan Freeman | Angelina Jolie |

Whilst I impatiently wait for my Christmas pre-order of Pandorum, I thought I should review the highly anticipated ‘9‘, directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton. Which subsequently brings me to my first point. Many people thought that this was a direct piece of work from Burton, meaning they thought he was directing. Unfortunately that isn’t the case and as a result, many individuals were slightly disappointed by the film primarily due to the shoes which Acker, never in fact had to fill.

It is fair to admit, however that Acker did an amazing job considering ‘9‘ is his first feature-length film in which he played the role of director. Acker, who may be known for his CG animation in ‘Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King‘, took the role on head first and came out with some surprising results. Astonishingly, something that no one truly appreciated was the script, although to be fair, it was not that entirely illustrious and because of that, the actors voices weren’t really appreciated also. On the other hand, 9 proved positive amongst critics for it’s CGI.

The plot, whilst fairly original, lies within a post-apocalyptic world where the only questionable living things are a series of 9, doll-like creatures who are referred to only by number. It’s safe to say that this has hardly be attempted before, with a pretty impressive execution at that, but despite all this, I found the way the film was made less favourable. For a start, even though I severely enjoyed the trailer for ‘9′ I didn’t expect the quality of the CGI of the characters to be as it was. The landscapes and lighting on the other hand, were genius with an impressive amount of detail. After re-watching the film it appeared that the simplified CGI wasn’t so much as a bad thing as it was good, not being constantly distracted from the character profiles, or plot line, or the film score allowed me to focus especially on those things. Whether this was intended or not, I was still moved by the 79 minutes of film.

As I already mentioned the film score, I can say that it is uniquely poignant and similarly nonchalant, as if the score doesn’t need to live up to the film, as if in fact, the other way around. In some ways it’s similar to ‘‘The Dark Knight’s‘ score, in my mind, but during the actions scenes, it’s some of the better compilations I have ever heard; if you can comprehend a mixture of the awesomesauce of ‘Star Wars‘ and some random epic film with an equally representative epic score, then you’ll have a measurement of what I’m referring to. Kudos to Danny Elfman who pulls off yet another amazing soundtrack, only on the action part however, Deborah Lurie was brought in for the more orchestral sounds and her luscious work pulls you in from the start. Admittedly, it did take me re-watches to fully appreciate the entire score, as I do with many of the films I review, I re-watch them to focus on different aspects of its creation. Quality over quantity, right? Overall the film was rather good, however if you’re looking for a Tim Burton experience, this isn’t it.

THE DARKEST HOUR by Jon Spaihts

117 pages

30 Nov 08

Producer: Timur Bekmambetov, The Jacobson Company for New Regency

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First off, I’d like to thank all of you for your kind emails and comments congratulating me on the expansion of my family.  Bear with me as I try to get back up to speed and resume regularly scheduled programming.

I first read this script a couple years back when it was written by M.T. Ahern & Leslie Bohem – Bohem had something of a career back in the 90’s, getting credits on the Van Damme picture NOWHERE TO RUN, Stallone’s DAYLIGHT, and the better of the dueling volcano flicks DANTE’S PEAK.  That DARKEST HOUR draft wasn’t just bad, it was embarrassing; sometimes you’ll see an early draft of a script in development and think, “Wow, they missed, but they were going for something and there’s a lot here to work with and when you get down to it, they aren’t that far off.”  That wasn’t the case with Ahern & Bohem’s draft.  Had I written it, I would’ve refunded the production company’s money.

Flash forward a year, and this comes across my desk.  Spaihts.  Oh, yeah, I like him.  Bekmambetov?  Not my favorite, but I get him, I understand why he matters.  But this script?  There wasn’t a single thing worthwhile about that last draft, so why even bother with a rewrite?  But this isn’t a rewrite so much as it is an entirely new script with the same title and name for the alien species.  Otherwise?  Nebraska has become Moscow.  8 main characters from all walks of life have become 4 Americans in Moscow for differing reasons thrown together during the invasion.  And drudgery has been transformed into everything but.  This script is great.

The Jacobson Company has the project, producing for New Regency.  Word is they might start making it in March of next year, though that green light is dim according to people I talk to.  Timur is a headstrong guy who knows what he likes, so I’m sure he doesn’t give a rat’s ass what I say, but I think as good as the script is, it actually needs a decent amount of work.  This is a good example of how even a great script isn’t all that great once you start to pick it apart and unlock its secrets.

In Mother Russia, film watches you!

The script follows REX, NATALIE, VIKA, and SEAN, four survivors of an alien invasion.  We’re in Moscow, Rex, Natalie, and Sean are Americans, and they’re all at a nightclub when aliens called spooks attack the planet, and three weeks later they’re some of the last survivors, hiding from the creatures, trying to find shelter and safety that probably will never come.  They rescue Vika from the spooks, they meet up with a platoon of soldiers who have figured out how to kick some ass, and then they make it to the US Embassy where they hope to find sanctuary.  Turns out the bunker at the Embassy is a fool’s paradise, packed, squalid, awful.  The spooks attack and Rex, Natalie, Vika, and the soldiers escape, making it to a sub where they figure out how to use a weather station to make a large electrical surge that kills many of the spooks at once.  Now maybe they have a way of fighting back.

Script’s here, if you’d like to read along.  I’ll cheerfully take it down if you’re the copyright holder and you request I remove the link. (No more z-share!  Apparently some people are having trouble downloading — I’ve switched to SendSpace.  Let me know if you have problems with that site, and I’ll hunt around for something else.)

Timur –

Thanks for bringing me in to work with Jon on the project.  I think there’s a lot going on here, and holy shit you did some great stuff considering where it started back before Jon got his mitts on the project.  That being said, if you want to start shooting in March, Jon needs to get this sucker down to fighting shape.

First off, I’m not a big fan of starting the script in media res, but if you feel like it’s necessary, then it needs to justify itself.  Either the scene needs to ask a question answered later on, or raise a mystery, or lay out the characters and their relationships, or even just provide irony with the rest of the opening.  None of those things happen right now.  It’s not a matter of just shooting everything and then picking a scene to drop in to the open, either – it needs to work in context, as the cold open.

Hi. I'm Jon Spaihts. I'm a talented sumbitch.

And while the set-up is good, I don’t think it’s entirely great – the stuff where Rex is trying to pull off the big deal and he gets screwed at the last minute is interesting, but it overshadows everything else.  Natalie and Anne’s moment is clunky, Vika’s is barely present, and Sean seems almost an afterthought.  These scenes seem like placeholders.  I want something like that argument between Natalie and Anne about the maps, but better than that.  This is a challenge; surprise me.

All that being said, I think the alien invasion has to start sooner, like page 12 or 13 instead of 17.  You’ll get a page and a half just by eliminating the cold open (hint hint).  The bar sequence is cool, but when the script jumps forward 3 weeks and doesn’t tell us anything about what’s transpired in the intervening time, I feel like the story drops the ball in a really big way.  That’s your chance to establish just how bad things have gotten, how frayed they all are, and best of all to set up some sort of mystery or question about what happened in those three weeks.  Did someone betray someone else?  Did a relationship develop?  Did a relationship break apart?  Is someone mysteriously missing who was there?  Where did they go?  Might they show up later in the script?  Utilize those missing three weeks in the plot to deepen the story and the characters.

Moscow!

I also would advocate for starting off the second act (which I’d place at that three-weeks-later place) with a set piece, something that establishes the situation they’re in, what they’ve learned so far about the invasion, and how much they really don’t know.  Let’s see them attempt an ambush or make a daring escape or something.  I’d also like to see them learn about the US Embassy bunker here; I think establishing the bunker’s existence as early as possible will pay greater dividends down the road.  That gives them a goal to aim for through the script, and means that when they finally get there and discover how horrible it is down there, it’ll have a lot more meaning and be that much more disappointing and destructive to their (and our) morale.

The set piece at the open of the second act should solve another problem – until the middle of the department store sequence, I don’t have a sense for how prevalent or dangerous the spooks are.  I need you to set up the rules for how the spooks behave and how to avoid them or chase them off right from the start.

From there, the plot operates pretty well – the Sergei sequence is cool, and Skyler’s betrayal feels just right.  The bunker sequence is simply fantastic, and the showpiece for the script.  Carlin is a great character, fascinating, a great opportunity for a surprising cameo.  I’d ask Tom Cruise, actually, or another A-lister.  That moment when Sean prays as the bunker blows is chilling, beautiful, and damn near perfect.  Work a bit more on Sean’s character, though – he hasn’t earned the elegiac sacrifice quite yet.  Get more subtle with his religious background, and establish why he might connect with a boy like that.  Try not to make Sean an orphan, though – nothing so on the nose.

The US Embassy in Moscow, before the alien invasion.

I sometimes feel like there’s too much conversation about what the spooks are and how to fight them and theories on what might kill them or stop them or whathaveyou.  It’s a little frustrating because I feel like we should see the characters discovering things themselves more, rather than just learn from others like Sergei and Matvei and Nikolai.  That way when they finally do defeat the aliens in the finale, they’ll have earned that revelation.

Once the script introduces the bigger badder alien ‘Seekers,’ I’m not sure what their purpose is or why they’re that important to the plot.  It seems like they’re an attempt to deepen the story or increase the jeopardy, but it doesn’t quite work; too little too late.  The script does need a transformation, where the plot shifts from one thing to another.  I’d like to see it at the midpoint, or perhaps as the bunker is blowing up.  If transformation is going to come, though, most likely I think it’ll be where the first part of the script is about survival and the second part is about fighting back.  That’ll be tough, though, because that will change the tone and content of a lot of those scenes in the first half.  If you have other ideas for what the transformation might be, let me know.

Last but not least, Rex is your headliner so give him more punch, more gut.  I like the simplicity of his attraction to Natalie and how he tries to keep things together and leads the group, but his character arc is slight here.  Deepen it, give it more texture and meaning.  Make him into the star he deserves to be. He starts out a cocky American, but he’s put in his place right away in the script – so what then?  Is this about him gaining his confidence back?  Is this about him realizing that he was going to rape the land just like the aliens are doing? I’m not sure either of those options are interesting enough.  There’s a lot more to find in Rex.

Oh, and that final speech Rex gives?  Nope.

Hope these help.  If you need clarity on anything, feel free to give a call.  I’m up all hours these days – new baby.  I think he’s on Moscow time, actually, which should make our conference calls convenient.

-JCG

I finally watched the film, 9, directed by Shane Acker and produced by the likes of Tim Burton. Throughout the movie there are many very obvious allusions to religion. And many people after viewing the film have viewed it as a spiritual film because of the ending which depicts the souls of some of the rag dolls floating into the sky. But, virtually all of the references to religion in the rest of the film were anti-religious. This is testament to the fact that religious people only see what they want to see.

The oldest rag doll, 1, was dressed like the pope and has a cape and scepter. He was very dogmatic and authoritative and even had his own strongman, 8, who to me represented the might of the Christian princes of Europe. Furthermore, he was aversive to discovery and enforced strict rules to not allow the other rag dolls to venture outside. However, he ordered 2 to go outside  in the hopes that he would be killed by the machines because he found him to be too inquisitive. This reminds me of the burning heretics practiced by the Church, although somewhat less cruel. In addition, he announced blatantly that science was rubbish.

However, there are some good scenes. One of the best ones was when the rag dolls were walking away from the Church which was burning down behind them. To me it showed the departure from the backwardness of the Dark Ages characterized by 1’s rule into the Renaissance marked by 9’s progressive leadership . The scientist who made the machines also says in a video left behind that the machines were a flawed creation who were easily corrupted. This seems to me to be a critique of God’s creation of humanity. Why create humans who are flawed and easily corrupted and then blame them for everything you know they would do?

But, of course everyone only remembers the part where the souls fly into the sky. So, it ends up being a spiritual film that reinforces their beliefs when in fact the entire movie is actually very blatantly anti-religious. The most crucial part they fail to understand is the part when the rain that falls down is shown to be full of microorganisms. This implies that the hope for the world is that evolution, a completely natural process, which will allow the earth to be prosperous once again.

Una historia animada que expande corto nomiado al  Oscar 2005 del mismo nombre creado por Shane Acker. 9 entretiene e incluso si asusta en el poco tiempo que dura (está catalogada pg-13) sin embargo le falta un poco para convertirse en un clásico u obra maestra y se queda como una historia linda, entretenida y que hay que ver por la animación y sonido pero al final saldrás con un ¿uh? y “es como terminator en dibujitos”.

Disclaimer: cuando critico cine soy totalmente subjetivo, no soy crítico, ni estudioso… como puedo amar una película de arte o indie como puedo odiarlas, me importa primero que me divierta o entretenga o produzca un sentimiento y ya después la parte técnica y méritos artísticos y demás

Rottentomatoes.com: 55%

En una era post-apocalíptica despierta Nueve pequeño robotito que descubre que la raza humana se ha ido en un mundo sombrío y arrasado por la guerra. Poco a poco descubre que hay otros como él, que son perseguidos por máquinas y que hay que esconderse. Pero, su naturaleza no lo deja hacer esto y poco a poco toma el liderato del grupo para encontrar las causas que llevaron al planeta a este final y descubrir que el futuro depende de ellos y lo que llevan dentro.

La historia y sus personajes son muy lindos pero no alcanzas a conectarte totalmente con los personajes y con el desarrollo de la misma. Es muy posible que pienses que esta historia ya te la contaron y que al final acabes un poco confundido y sin entender bien a los personajes y solo los catalogues como “lindos muñequitos”. Sin embargo, esto no quita que sea entretenida ni que te deleites visualmente con esta entrega que nos traen en conjunto Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov y su director Shane Acker. Sí, ya chole con que le den crédito de todo a Tim Burton. En esta ocasión sorprende que tanto talento en la producción, dirección e historia haya acabado desaprovechando el esfuerzo técnico y de animación, esta película pudo haber pasado a ser un gran clásico pero se queda en lo normalito y promedio.  Algunos de los talentos en las voces son Elijah Wood, Jennifer Conelly, John C. Reilly  y, un favorito personal, Crispin Glover.

Ayuda que la película dura poco en sí y no te cansa. Sin duda la visión de este mundo futurista y caótico es un poco obscura para los niños pequeños además de que sí está plagada de varias escenas no muy simples para la mente infantil. Definitivamente es animación para un público más maduro que no sentirá que gastó el dinero si la ven en el cine pero que fácilmente pueden escoger verla un dominguito en el sillón cuando salga en DVD o mejor aún, en Blu-ray.

Nota: se me hace curioso que en el 2009 hayan salido varias películas con el 9 en el título.

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Just saw ‘9′  which was directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (the director of wanted). I was really looking forward to seeing this film because of the style of animation and characters.

The story is basically about the world after an apocalyptic war where the human race has been destroyed. The film starts with the character 9 who is played by Elijah Wood. Throughout the film you find out the reasons why and how the war happened and why the 9 creatures were created.

With the strong cast- Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly and many more and brilliant animation this turned out to be a very good film. At first impressions it feels like this story has been done before. The film is so original though in its style and characters that it is very unique. The visuals of the film are stunning. The only thing i didnt like about the film was that it was fairly short (79 mins)

Overall this has been one of my favourite films recently because of its brilliant animation and stunning visuals.

This film is definitely worth going to see.

Film Rating: 8.5/10

I’m afraid I don’t have a great deal to say about the two films of the day. One of them was good, the other very good. They are both the first feature films of directors I think have the potential to make even better films.

9 is an animated film directed by Shane Acker. He is formerly known only for a short film, also called 9( you can see it by pressing link), which won an Oscar in 2005. I was a big fan of the short film and therefore had my hopes up for the expanded feature version. Unfortunately, the transition hasn’t been to the film maker’s advantage, at least not artistically.

What made the short film 9 such a unique creature was that it threw us smack into a world that seemed familiar and alien at the same time, never offering any explanations for what we saw or why. While having many of the characteristics of a post apocalyptic earth, the protagonist was a rag doll with the number 9 painted on his back. There were no humans in sight. Exploring this destroyed world, he came upon a monstrous creature that started an intense chase of the frail doll. He found a round metallic object that, put properly together, released ghostly forms of other rag dolls who faded away into the ether or afterlife. This was the plot, and I didn’t feel I needed to know more, really. There were no dialogue and this strengthened the pure chase concept. It was certainly clear that Acker had an eye for design and a good understanding of what makes animation work. His sense of movement and gravity in animation was particularly impressive.

For the feature length version, the chase of the short film constitutes the beginning of the film and yes, ghostly figures – souls of the dolls? – are released at the end. In between we have an hour of more chase scenes and so many stock situations that I wondered if the script writers had encountered some paint by numbers guide to how to write trite dialogue for scenes seen a hundred times before.

As in the short film, the character 9 starts out mute, but unfortunately that situation is quickly remedied. As soon as these dolls start speaking American, they lose a lot of mystery, but also intelligence, it seems. All of a sudden they spout feelings that are supposed to sound dramatic or even political, but comes off as something a child would say. And no, this is not intentional. “We must save him! You are a coward! I’m sorry! You can’t hide from reality!” For some reason, the script writers have only been able to think in exclamation points while writing the dialogue. The same heavy-handedness can be found in the plot as well; never offering dilemmas we haven’t seen many times before, spouting Disneyfied sentiments about the importance of sticking up for one‘s friends and reducing everything to a fight between the good guys and the bad guys, with no grey scales. This is where animation studios like Pixar and Studio Ghibli really excels, never going for the easiest solutions or indeed world views.

As the film, then, is never more than a question of getting from here to there, I found myself bored even by the generous amount of action taking place in the plot. What saves the film is that the animation is absolutely gorgeous and that Acker hasn’t lost his eye for design and for making the characters move in exciting and fresh ways. The world he has created is indeed fascinating and had the script been better, especially the dialogue, this could really have been something. As it is it is never more than entertaining, at times it is less.

I think I’ll blame one of the producers, Tim Burton, for this. Hell, I’m feeling magnanimous, I‘ll blame the other producer, Timur Bekmambetov, as well. For one thing, I guess it was Burton who made Pamela Pettler write the screenplay. She also had a finger in the screenplay for Burton’s Corpse Bride, so I assume her presence here is no coincidence. I have a feeling that all my objections to the dialogue should be directed to her, and to Burton. Let me take a moment to explain why I consider Burton poison to the film.

9 would probably not have been made without Burton’s name attached to it, so for that Acker must be grateful. But when did Burton really make a more than passable film? His latest, Sweeney Todd, had its moments, well helped by the dependability of Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful songs. Big Fish is a cinematic atrocity best forgotten. Sleepy Hollow should have been a horror film, but was turned into an exercise in style and quirkiness and never remotely scary. His two stop motion animation films, Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride, seem designed only to be different in concept from most mainstream animated features, but are they really that good? Sure, some of Danny Elfman’s music is catchy, but what is really the point of the films? That outsiders have feelings too? Burton is the cosy Goth, never daring to be different enough to be disturbing, intent on turning the borderline strange into the definite mainstream. Has he ever had any meaning behind his films other than the aforementioned call to accept the goth, the freak, the outsider? Subtle, he is not, and intelligence you have to search for elsewhere. After Edward Scissorhands, he should maybe have called it a day, realizing that he had made his masterpiece and not emulate the same formula again and again.

The point to make here, is that while the original short film of 9 retained much mystery and, by necessity of its format, perhaps, allowed the audience to actively make its own interpretations of what they were seeing. After Burton’s hands have fondled the package, every movement now has to be given a reason and that reason is never very interesting when you peel away the, grantedly, spectacular surface. Much like so many of Burton’s own films.

Pretty much all the protests I have directed at Burton’s cinema, I could also send the way of the film’s other producer, Timor Bekmambetov. He as well has made a career on pure surface, seemingly having little interest in what he is actually trying to say, or even accomplish, with his films. Daywatch, Nightwatch and Wanted all look very good, but have so many narrative problems that were they a person, Mel Gibson would seem sane in comparison.
While these big name producers ensured that Acker could bring “his vision” to the big screen, they also ensured that said vision would be severely diluted, turning all mystery into cliché and placing something that had aspirations of being original plump into the safety of the still waters of the mainstream. And that, my friends, is not where you catch the biggest fish, and certainly not the most succulent.

Sin Nombre is a film about people seeking escape because they have to. The young Honduran girl, Sayra, has no prospects in her own country and chooses to set out on the long journey towards USA with her father, who she hasn’t seen for many years. El Casper(or Willy, as he sometimes calls himself) is a young man – or boy – who has pledged his life to a local street gang, seemingly in perpetual war with the rival Los Chavalles. After he kills the leader for a number of reasons, he knows that his life is over, but chooses to make his way to USA as well, on the same train as Sayra. I don’t want to say more about the plot, again not to give away too much.

The director, Cary Fukunaga, has formerly made a short film about the subject of Mexican immigrants dying of overheating in a truck, trying to make their way into USA. However, Sin Nombre, separates itself from a number of films about the crossing over the Mexican/US border by treating USA almost as a MacGuffin. USA is some vague goal that we doubt will influence the proceedings in other ways than to bring the action forward.

The film is as much about the possibility of starting anew in a philosophical sense than in the particular case of USA as the necessary site of this renewal. More than that, it is about innocence and the limits of innocence; the mechanisms that taints us by some sin, some overstepping of a boundary we only realize that we have crossed when it’s too late to go back.

I hear that the director spent some time travelling on top of trains the same distance as the protagonists, in order to get a grip of what they are going through. This, if true, serves the film well, as the train riding scenes seem very realistic, while at the same time offering the director the opportunity to show how evil and good is often a question of the geography of chance.

I should not forget to mention that Sin Nombre works very well as a thriller. It shows us a world we don’t often see and there is not a false scene or sentiment in the film. The guns are primitive, and they don’t make the explosive noise of a Hollywood actioner, but they are just as deadly. And in many ways they are more fatal.

Más allá de la publicdad que pueda lograr para su obra, y las facilidades que ha logrado para llevar su trabajo  adelante… Shane Acker… tiene que estar un poco hasta los cojones que le otoruen la paternalidad de su  criatura a Tin Burton. Porque le pese a quien le pese este film, para lo bueno o lo malo… no es un film del emodirector por excelencia.

Para aquellos que aún no se hayan enterado… 9 nació como un corto de animación de gran calidad para los recursos que tenía us director. Pero la cosa le salió bien, el susodicho Tim Burton y  Timur Bekmambetov (conocido por dirigir Wanted) se interesaron por el proyecto y lo produjeron.

El resultado… es una película de animación CGI de excelente manufactura, ambientado en un futuro post-apocaliptico en el que parece que los únicos seres vivos que quedan… son unos muñecos de trapo numerados, y una amenzada robotica. No puedo contar más porque sino os destripo la película entera.

Las conclusiones a las que no he podido evitar llegar son varias. En general la película es aceptable. La calidad visual, la ambientación, los detalles de los escenarios… toda la parte visual está muy lograda y de manera magistral. Se ha notado todo el curro y los productores que tiene detrás, ya que es una mezcla de los mundos de Burton con esos tintes gótico-depresivos y un poco de la visión HI de Bekmambetov. Pero si nos adentramos en las entrañas de la criatura… empiezan a aparecer los problemas. Los primero… son los personajes, quizás sea intencionado o no (ya que hay una posible justificación argumental… pero no me resulta convincente), pero no están lo suficientemente desarrollados, practicamente no evolucionan, y las breves presentaciones que se hacen quedan peremnes. La narrativa… no es que sea mala, porque no lo es. Pero es que veo una historia bastante sosilla que pretende enriquecerse de las  falshbacks para explicarse, pero la verdad es que la información que aporta es demasiado escasa. En cierta manera es como si se pretendiera que fuera una pelí para un publico más infantil, pero es que no puede serlo con esa ambientación y ese estilo. No sé.

La verdad… es que tenía muchas más espectativas con este film. No es que me esperase la revolución, pero si un trabajo más maduro y trabajado más allá de lo visual. En este campo, chapó! Pero lo que mucha gente en el cine no acaba de entender es que el cine es narrativa visual… lo visual es muy importante, no lo niego… pero es importante ne relación a la narrativa. Si no hay una buena historia que contar por detrás… cojea.

Here is the second trailer for the new film ‘9′ by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. The film stars Elijah Wood, John C.Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on Shane Ackers short animated film in 2005. This film definitely looks very good with its brilliant animation, good cast, and storyline. The visuals of this film look amazing- cant wait to see it!

Black Lightning หรือ Chernaya Molniya ภาพยนตร์แนวแอคชั่นฮีโร่สัญชาติรัฐเซีย อำนวยการสร้างโดยผู้กำกับชาวรัสเซีย Timur Bekmambetov จากผลงานสุดระห่ำอย่าง Wanted กลับมาสร้างความมันส์กันอีกครั้ง กับทีมสร้างชาวรัสเซียยกชุด กำกับโดย 2 ผู้กำกับ Dmitriy Kiselev และ Alexandr Voitinsky ซึ่งเป็นเพื่อนร่วมรุ่นเดียวกันกับผู้กำกับ Timur Bekmambetov นั่นเอง!!

เรื่องราวของเด็กหนุ่มนักศึกษาคนหนึ่งผู้ซึ่งเพิ่งถูกหักออกมาหมาด ๆ และเผอิญได้มาเจอรถเก่า ๆ โบราณสีดำ มีตราสัญลักษณ์สีแดงมีรูปสายฟ้าฟาดอยู่ตรงกลางติดอยู่ข้างรถคันหนึ่ง ซึ่งไม่ใช่เป็นแค่รถเก่า ๆ ธรรมดา แต่มันเป็นรถที่มีพลังวิเศษสามารถเหาะเหินเดินอากาศได้อย่างกับจรวด จนในที่สุดทั้งคู่ก็ทำตัวเป็นฮีโร่ ออกช่วยเหลือคนที่เดือดร้อนต่าง ๆ จนมีชื่อเสียงโด่งดัง กลายเป็นฮีโร่ขวัญใจประจำเมืองไปซะงั้น และแล้วเหล่าร้ายตัวฉกาจซึ่งไม่ยอมให้คนดี ๆ ฮีโร่ได้อยู่ขวางหูขวางตาแน่นอน!! พวกมันจึงสร้างรถซุปเปอร์ไฮเทคมีประสิทธิภาพสูงเพื่อมากำจัดรถฮีโร่และพระเอกของเราให้สิ้นซาก และแล้วก็เกิดการประทะกันและปฏิบัติการไล่ล่าของรถกับรถกันแบบมหามันส์สะใจสไตล์ Wanted เลยทีเดียว!!

ภาพยนตร์ตัวอย่างทำได้ออกมามันส์สะใจมาก ๆ ครับ หนังมีส่วนผสมกันระหว่าง Transformers กับ Wanted ยังงัยยังงั้นเลยทีเดียว กับเทคนิคซีจีที่สมจริงและตื่นตาตื่นใจ ตลอดจนฉากการไล่ล่าบนท้องฟ้าระหว่างรถสองคัน ที่ลุ้นระทึก เรียกได้ว่าแทบไม่ต้องหายใจกันเลยทีเดียว น่าดูมากครับ!!

ภาพยนตร์ Black Lightning มีกำหนดฉายทางโรงภายนตร์ในรัสเซีย 31 ตุลาคม 2009 นี้ และยังไม่แน่ชัดว่าจะมีกำหนดฉายที่อเมริกาหรือไม่อย่างไร ต้องติดตามกันต่อไป ส่วนบ้านเราก็ต้องรอลุ้นเหมือนกันว่าจะมีผู้ใจดีนำภาพยนตร์เรื่องนี้มาฉายในไทยหรือเปล่า??!!เช่นกัน..!!

ที่มา : FirstShowing

Directed by Dmitriy Kiselev and Alexandr Voitinsk and produced by Bekmambetov. It looks like Russian’s answer to all the comic book superheroics we have been seeing lately.

This is a story of Moscow University’s student who becomes the owner of ordinary from the first sight, been-used, but… able to fly “Volga” car. With this car he will be able to not only avoid Moscow traffic jams, but unexpectedly for himself turn to city’s defender, mysterious fighter against Evil.

Due out in Russia on 31st December 2009 and I think it looks very cool indeed.

Source: Quiet Earth

Por Paulo Lima