Low/no budget filmmaker blogs daily on subjects like video production, HD cameras, screenwriting, etc.
Last night was the Hollywood premiere of Conan.
There’s a ton of photos at IMDB.
Apart from Jason Momoa, we get Ron Pearlman, Stephen Lang, and Rose McGovan (rumored to be groomed for Red Sonya at one point).
The world premiere is set for August 19! I cant wait to see the end of this swing in 3D:
I’m talking about Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Yes, the title is quite long and the release date is still a few months off but I’m very excited about seeing Gary Oldman in a meaningful role, i.e. not as a madman (from Azkaban or wherever).
If you are a fan of “Roman” movies, you might consider yourself lucky this year. Both Centurion and The Eagle have focused on the fate of the IX Legion (that’s ninth legion for the Roman numeral impaired).
The only piece of reliable historical information is that in second century AD, this legion was removed from the legion list. It was stationed in Britain, hence novelists ran wild with the idea that the whole legion perished in the Northern highlands (i.e. today’s Scotland). No amount of recent evidence about the Ninth appearing in the Rhine region has been deemed adequate so that storytellers move to greener pastures.
You could view the the movies in succession (like I did) starting with Centurion and watching the Eagle next (telling yourself, it’s now 9 years later). In Centurion, you witness the slaughter of Rome’s heavy infantry by the Pictish tribes and the hunt for the few Romans that survived. Which explains why no one knows what happened to the Ninth.
Except that in The Eagle, some survivors have actually set themselves in the highlands. One changed his name from Marcus Barbutus Ridiculus to the simpler “Guern”! So you see how it all comes together … the quest for simpler names.
The Eagle deals with the quest for the Holy Gr… I mean, the Ninth’s Eagle. One man and his slave go where no (Roman) man has gone before and came back to tell the tale. In short, the Eagle is recovered and delivered to the Senate’s British branch (preposterous last scene).
So what’s my recommendation? Should you see one or the other, or maybe both? The Eagle is the less annoying one by far. Except for the testudo formation in Act I and the Senate branch, the movie is generally true to the period.
Centurion, on the other hand, is basically a horror movie where everyone is dressed in rags (except in the opening battle where the legionaries still wear armor). These Romans drop four letter words every few lines and the Picts are mostly mute (especially Olga’s character). Do not expect any historical accuracy beyond the costumes… I mean rags.
I’d say that HBO’s ROME is still a better choice in terms of character development, intrigue, and overall “historical goodies”.
Conan’s release date has been set for August and the good news it’s in 3D.
Of course, fans of Robert E. Howard have been dissecting the casting choice of Jason Momoa for the last year or so.
Looking at the poster, however, I felt the chills of this being a REAL Conan movie. The teaser trailer below isn’t bad either.
On a side note, there’s an amazing community of Conan (and online RPGs) fans, at Conan.com!
Steven King’s Dark Tower is being turned into a movie. So who’s gonna play everyone’s favorite gunslinger Roland?
Right now, the rumormill places an even bet on Christian Bale and Javier Bardem. Personally, I’m Christian’s biggest fan but at the same time, I must admit Bardem’s perfomance in No Country for Old Men was amazing. What’s even more amazing is that his character is close to Roland in a way.
Turning the book into a movie is great and all, but I’m salivating for an online RPG based on the adventures of Roland. Some of those universes simply beg to be explored personally!
I saw TRON Legacy last night and I still see some of the scenes in my head. I guess I’m an 80s child.
For some much needed perspective, check the Lightbikes scene from the original TRON (1982). I’ve played Snake a few times but it is far from my favorite retro game. I’ve always preferred the tactical games and fantasy RPG’s that came out in the 90s. Yet, watching this scene makes for some Snake on steroids fun.
Now compare it to the modern take. Frankly, the lightbike scene is not even close to being an effective adrenaline rush. Same as modern games, it’s not about player skill anymore. It’s about effects. Which is saying a LOT about how games have changed. Instead of games of reflex like Pong and Snake, kids nowadays play Assassin’s creed and WoW – button mashing which rarely makes a big difference.
Back to the movie. This time around we get an improved story and somewhat better acting, courtesy of Jeff Bridges. Olivia Wilde is very easy on the eyes. The main character can be anyone from the audience, which I guess is the idea.
Verdict: Watch the movie but keep in mind it will PLAY a lot better as a video game!
Uwe Boll has done another movie, this time he hasn’t massacred a video game but history itself. The movie is about Auschwitz.
It seems Uwe is hellbent on keeping the title Worst Movie Director Ever and The Guardian confirms it:
Uwe Boll, who has been described as the world’s worst film director and a “schlockmeister”, said he felt it was time to present the Nazis’ crimes in their “full horror” in his film Auschwitz.
Trailer for Auschwitz (not recommended):
Dino De Laurentiis, one of greatest film producers of all time, has died on Wednesday at 91. According to this, he has produced over 500 films, including Fellini’s “La Strada” and “Nights of Cabiria” – he has received Oscars for both.
He produced cult classics such as “Serpico” (1973), “Three Days of the Condor” (1975), “King Kong” (1976), “Blue Velvet” (1986) and “Hannibal” (2001).
Yet, his most memorable appearance for me was on the B-side of my Conan the Barbarian – Collector’s Edition DVD. I found the whole production back story fascinating, especially the hiring of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
To paraphrase Mao, Dino has let a thousand flowers blosssom. Rest in peace.
P.S. Speaking of Conan, you must check out Conan’s soundtrack, Dino has hit the jackpot hiring Basil Poledouris.
Jason Momoa is Conan for the 2011 movie version. The production is currently under way, shooting on location in Bulgaria.
The biggest question is WHAT will the new movie be about. Here’s the answer according to an insider:
A remake implies a new version of an original script. This movie has no connection to any previous Conan movies, it is a franchise restart, like “Batman Begins”. It is a brand new adaptation of the original Conan stories by Robert E. Howard.
So it’s not a remake or a sequel, it’s a RESTART 
Solomon Kane is a character created by Robert E. Howard. However, unlike Conan, he has remained a cult “classic”, being more of an adventure hero.
It looks like the movie will follow a similar trajectory. It has been released in Europe, but it’s less and less likely it will get to screens in the USA. Of course, it will eventually end up on DVD (and video-on-demand), so you still be able to see it.
The movie starts with a great scene where Solomon Kane is going after the gold, as a typical pirate. Much to his surprise, the gold is “guarded” by the Reaper who has come to claim Solomon’s soul. Obviously, his soul was damned for his many crimes.
Solomon manages to escape and retreats to a monastery. This is the new Solomon Kane, who has repented and wants nothing more but peace. We wouldn’t have a movie, if everyone got what they wanted, so Solomon is thrown into the world and forced to confront violence.
I wouldn’t go into spoilers but the story arc is very interesting and paints Solomon’s childhood in a harsh light.
It’s a nice little movie, with a budget that’s probably 10% of Prince of Persia’s. James Purefoy does an amazing job, as always. If you haven’t seen him in Rome, you should definitely do so.
Sidenote: If you’re a fan of the Diablo games by Blizzard, you gonna love it. It plays a lot like the Diablo movie that’s in the works!
Yes, usually I review movies, but for once, Robin Hood has not earned the right to a review. More of a rant really.
I was excited to see the Gladiator crew reunite for another movie. They even amped up the female presence by going with Kate Blanchet.
Max von Sydow is another supposed upgrade, well, let’s just say that playing Kins Osric in Conan was better.
Putting all of English history in one movie was bad enough (Magna Carta in a Robin Hood movie??). Twisting history in unimaginable ways was even offensive.
Exhibit A: French troop carriers doing the invasion were a virtual rip-off of D-day craft. Even Caesar in his invasion of Britania knew he needed ships with a keel because crossing the Channel was impossible otherwise.
I even joked to myself that if I see German machine guns on the cliffs, it will be exactly like Saving Private Ryan. Well, you know what? The English archers lined the cliff and the arrows produced EXACTLY the same effect. Even the sound effects were similar.
So my verdict? Go see any other Robin Hood movie. Or go rent Saving Private Ryan, the battle scenes are much better.
I recently saw New York, I Love You and I was really impressed by one of the 12 stories that make up this movie “anthology”.
So if you’re renting it (or downloading it), make sure you pay special attention to Ethan Hawke and Maggie Q. Ethan’s monologue is a treat! Gwyneth Palthrow is OK as well.
The Wave is an amazing little gem of a movie. A friend of mine suggested we go see it…
A German movie about autocracy (dictatorship)? Sure, sign me up. There’s just one thing that would make this movie better… set it on a German U-boat during WWII. Alas, we can’t have every German movie on a U-boat like my favorite Das Boot.
The premise of the movie is quite simple – take a group of high-school students, dress them uniformly, drill them, and voila, you end up with a true brown (black) shirt movement from 1930s (a.k.a. Fascism). The movie is based on a book that is based on a true story that happened in California, not Germany. The moral of the story is that it could happen anywhere with the right ingredients.
In terms of filmmaking, the movie is very solid. I could imagine it done with an even smaller budget in true Dogma style, without losing much of its appeal. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Karl Malden stars in one of my favorite movies – Patton. Admittedly, the role of general Omar Bradley isn’t the one he’ll be remembered for… but frankly, A Streetcar Named Desire isn’t on my favorite movie list.
What an amazing career – spanning 60 years! Rest in peace.
Sasha Grey recently starred in the indie movie The Girlfriend Experience. We now learn from her interview for CNBC that she did 200 “movies”… (straight-to-cd releases).
No wonder TGE was a bit of let-down for me, Sasha’s dead-pan performance is a result from her being overworked!
I was lying in bed thinking about great movies that I revisit a lot. So what’sthe first line that comes to mind… No objectivity whatsoever!
Conan The Barbarian
Amazing soundtrack and little dialogue to distract you from the imagery/music
Das Boot
The only war movie that runs close to 4 hours and I still feel it was cut short
The Engish Patient
Walter Murch took an year to patch this movie together and I’m still confused after seeing it for the fifth time.
Lawrence of Arabia
Every time someone tells me I’m the most arrogant person they know, I check out Lawrence to make sure I’m still a dwarf (albeit standing on the shoulders of a giant)
American Movie
I think of Mark whenever I feel I’m giving 110% and still failing miserably.
The Producers
When I was a kid I dreamed of meeting Mel Brooks because he’ll recognize me as his rightful heir… the time is running out
What’s your reason for viewing a movie again and again?
Now, this isn’t a review of Transformers 2… I haven’t seen it myself yet.
I have seen part one and it was typical teenage fair. In typical Michael Bay tradition, he amped it up in the sequel. The most obvious result is that Megan Fox is SO sexy, it hurts my eyes.
That’s her at the LA Premiere of Transformers… The only way for Michael Bay to go further will be to have Megan Fox go topless in T3!
Don’t worry! How to Win Friends and Influence People is not essential reading in order to enjoy this movie.
The movie is based on a memoir by British writer Toby Young. So you could say, this is a TRUE story. Or rather, it would’ve been, if the the script writer didn’t change the memoirs almost completely… which is an irony itself.
The plot is straight-forward: Sidney Young, a small time journalist, goes to New York City. His task is to cover the world of celebrities. In order to keep his job, he has to do a favorable article about Sophie Maes (sexy Megan Fox even without makeup).
Sidney is attracted to Sophie and all the glitz. However, when Sophie is high and he has a shot, he … well, misses.
The movie has a few funny moments but it goes too many times from romantic comedy to satire and back again. The only redeeming feature is that we get to see Megan Fox wet and almost nude.
The Girlfriend Experience is the new Soderbergh movie which premiered at Sundance.
The movie is definitely low-budget (rumor puts it at less than two million) and some of the scenes can be improved with better lighting or better camera locations.
One of the most talked about “features” is the lead character, a high-end escort by the nickname Chelsea, who is played by real-life pornstar Sasha Grey.
Now, I can understand the attraction of a A-star shooting a hot, sex scene. But I don’t think it works the other way around. Sasha’s face is flat, her tone is monotonous… and frankly, she’s not even sexy.
Shockingly, Sascha is the only professional actress in the movie … the others could be people from the street (or Soderbergh’s less-known friends).
The majority of the scenes deal with Sasha Grey listening to a confession from a “boyfriend” paying for the girlfriend experience. It’s incredibly boring and doing it over and over again doesn’t make it better.
In short, the movie could only be viewed as a sort of an exercise for Soderbergh. If you’re interested in Sasha, there are better “titles” out there. If you’re interested in a coherent movie with at least one professional actor, same thing applies.
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