Tagged: film

Our Own Private Gotham, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • July 31, 2008

The newest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, is doing a nice bit of smackdown with all kinds of records, as well it should. It’s taking in money hand over fist. There are even whispers that it could wind up outgrossing Titanic, although I don’t think that will happen myself. The film will probably be up for several Oscars next year including, among others, Best Picture and possibly Best Actor for the late Heath Ledger’s incendiary portrayal of the Joker.

I’ve seen it, I loved it, I was stunned by it like everyone else. Best Batman movie ever. Possibly the best superhero movie ever. What really interests me, however, are the reports on the demographics of just who is going to see this film. It’s not just we comic geeks. It’s not just young males looking for adrenaline and excitement and explosions (although the film also has plenty of those). It’s everybody. Young and old, male and female, all colors, all races. That makes me ask a different question.

What is our reaction to this movie telling us about ourselves?

There’s a zeitgeist going on. You see this every once in a while – a film or a book or some music taps into the national psyche and expresses something that we, as a people, are feeling. I think the response to The Dark Knight shows it’s happening again.

Yes, the pre-opening buzz for the film was really positive. Heath Ledger’s death added a morbid curiosity. It had a terrific PR push. Anticipation was high. The response, however, is phenomenal. It’s doing better than the studio even hoped. So, again, I ask what is going on here?

Exploring this is going to involve talking freely about the film. If you haven’t seen the movie, go see it first. Experience it for yourself. This column will still be here when you’re done. In other words, Spoilers Ahead! (more…)

Zack Snyder on the ‘Watchmen’ Director’s Cut

  • News
  • July 30, 2008

watchmenewcover-9620664Director Zack Snyder has said he’s trying to stay faithful to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s Watchmen graphic novel, but that has left Snyder with a whole lot of material and a whole lot of cutting ahead of him.

Slash Film does a good job of sorting through Snyder’s comments about his film adaptation, leading to some speculation on what could be in store for future director’s cut releases.

It was already announced that there would be an animated Black Freighter movie being released around the time when Watchmen hits cinemas, but apparently the extent of its involvement in the Watchmen mythology won’t end there. Snyder made mention that they’ve also filmed the transitions featured in the graphic novel that take the main storyline into the Freighter comic. So even though those wouldn’t be a part of the theatrical cut, they would show up the “super duper director’s cut,” as would the other creations they’ve been working on.

Being that the film is already running at about 3 hours, and Warner Bros. wants to cut it down to 2 and a half, this makes me wonder if they’ll actually be releasing two different director’s cuts: one with the original cut of the film, and one with the extended new cut. If that were the case, that would mean the extended version would probably be running at about 5 hours or more. As much as I love all things Watchmen related, that does not sound ideal. I would love to see Snyder’s full 3 hour cut, but adding in more content beyond that seems excessive. I understand the desire to incorporate the outside footage, but I don’t want to see the flow of the storyline get repeatedly chopped up by hopping between that and stuff that’s only thematically related. I assume it’s issues like these that made creator Alan Moore claim the graphic novel was unfilmable. Some of the things he did with the comic are things you just cannot translate straight to a movie. Which isn’t to say I’m not excited to see the extra footage; I just think the segments will operate more smoothly as its own entity.

Much more at the link, including quotes from Snyder.

SDCC: Pixar Previews ‘Up’

  • News
  • July 27, 2008

Pixar’s still coming off the massive (critical at least) success of WALL-E, and already they’re putting out a first look at their next film, titled Up.

The preview is below.

 

 

Original Video– More videos at TinyPic

 

SDCC Interview: Justin Marks on the ‘Hack/Slash’ Movie [UPDATED]

  • News
  • July 27, 2008

hack-slash-omnibussmall-6443094[EDITOR’S NOTE: Our original link to this interview didn’t play nice with the formatting of the film’s title, so I’ve fixed the link and reposted the article here on ComicMix. -RM]

Writer Justin Marks has come a long way as a Hollywood screenwriter in a relatively short span of time. After working as a producer’s assistant for several years, while writing scripts in his off-hours, Marks has achieved nearly A-list status by writing several high-profile screenplays including Streetfighter and He-Man. He’s also worked on Supermax, co-written with A-List scribe David S. Goyer, and featuring the DC Comics hero Green Arrow who, after being wrongly incarcerated, has to join forces with the very villians he put behind bars in order to escape.

Marks is also writing another big-budget Hollywood film, this one an adaptation of the very popular comic series Hack/Slash, created by writer and artist Tim Seeley and published by Devil’s Due Press. I caught up with Marks at the San Diego Comic-Con to talk a bit about the Hack/Slash film, what we might expect story-wise and the film’s current status.

COMIC MIX: Hey Justin, thanks for talking with me. How did you get involved in the Hack/Slash movie?

JUSTIN MARKS: It was a book that was given to me about a year or year and a half ago. at the time it was already set up as a movie and I thought that was great because I thought it would make an increadible movie. Actuallly, I was kinda jealous.

But then a few months ago I got a call, I was actually in Bangkok working on the Streetfighter movie, and the producers of Hack/Slash asks if I would be interested in working with Todd (Lincoln) the director on the script to sort of push it throuhg and get it ready for production.

So I got on a plane for seventeen hours back to LA to try and get that job.

CMix: It seems you really wanted the job?

(more…)

SDCC: ‘Greatest American Hero’ Returns

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  • July 27, 2008

Here’s some Comic-Con news that’s sure to have the old "believe it or not, we’re walking on air…" song stuck in your head, the people behind the ’80s superhero show The Greatest American Hero have unveiled some upcoming projects.

At a panel session involving the show’s creator (on video) and some stars, it was announced that a new comic book series and an animated series are in the pipeline. CBR reports:

The comic coming out in November is a retelling of the origin story from the show with a few changes. The story takes place in present day, there will be less of a focus on Ralph’s teaching job, he no longer has a son and his hair is … not as big.

But everything else fans loved about the show is still there. "We’re retelling how I got the suit and met Bill Maxwell and Pam," said Katt. He went on to say that the book is initially planned as a six issue story, but that after they’ve retold the origin, they have Cannell’s blessing to branch off in other directions.

And how about a GAH movie?

Finally, the cast was asked about the long running rumors of a feature film adaptation of the series. Katt did confirm that producer Stephen J. Cannell has a finished script for the feature film. He went on to say that he has read the script and thought it was fantastic.

He also said that Cannell currently has funding for the film but is looking for a distributor and that he is in talks with 20th Century Fox and director Steven Spielberg’s company, with production beginning sometime in 2009.

SDCC: Fox’s Special ‘Wolverine’ Surprise

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

jackman-3662401Fans already had seen quite a lot at Twentieth Century Fox’s Comic-Con panel — getting early peeks and cast Q&As from The Day the Earth Stood Still and Max Payne — when they got quite a surprise from a man with wicked sideburns.

Fresh off a plane from Australia, Hugh Jackman snuck in to announce that shooting had just wrapped on X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and to unveil a clip from the movie. Newsarama has the details, including the big reveal that Gambit will show up in the film.

“I’ve been waiting to bring Wolverine to Comic-Con for years,” Jackman said. “I owe you guys my career.” He pointed out that the three X-Men movies never did huge presentations at SDCC for one reason or another and said there was no way he would miss it this time around.

Jackman then earned huge points with the gathering by not only lavishing praise on Wolverine co-creator Len Wein, and then ran offstage to shake Wein’s hand, who was sitting up front. Is it any wonder fanboys love this guy?

Jackman told Wein “thank you for creating this character. It made my career,” he said.

The Aussie actor talked about the film being action-packed and bad ass, and said to expect ‘lots of berserker rage in this one.’
 

watchmen-cover-2203991

SDCC: ‘Watchmen’ the Game

  • News
  • July 24, 2008

watchmen-cover-7506366Watchmen seems to be officially the big deal of Comic-Con so far, with long lines of people forming just to watch the upcoming film’s trailer at the Warner Bros. booth and to ogle the model of the Owl Ship.

Then there’s news that a tie-in videogame is in the works. The AP has a report.

Warner Bros. announced Wednesday it will release an episodic downloadable video game developed by Deadline Games that will prequel next year’s big-screen adaptation of the “Watchmen” graphic novel pegged to the film’s March debut. Another game that will take place following the first game will be released later in 2009 at the same time as the “Watchmen” DVD.

In the games, players will be able to combat foes as the pointy-eared Nite Owl (played by Patrick Wilson in the film) and inkblot mask-wearing Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). The mature action-brawler will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC and will match the visual style of the film, which is being directed by “300” director Zach Snyder.

How the Superheroes Saved Movies

  • News
  • July 23, 2008

hellboy2poster5-7914902We’ve heard plenty about the dominance of the superhero in Hollywood, but a new story in the UK Telegraph puts some numbers together and shows just how much movies are benefitting from the comics influx.

After a huge run of successful comics films, The Dark Knight (which happened to open with a record $158 million weekend) was just the cherry on the ice cream:

It becomes the fifth film with a comic book or graphic novel theme to dominate the box office in recent weeks following Universal’s blockbuster Iron Man, as well as Hellboy II, The Incredible Hulk and Wanted. Together they have generated more than $500 million (£250 million) in US takings alone.

Sequels to this year’s hits are already planned and dozens more offerings based on comic books are in the pipeline.

“They have become Hollywood’s safety net,” said Jeff Bock, of Exhibitor Relations, the box-office analyst.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much of that gigantic sum is actually coming back to comics publishers.

The Dark Knight Project

  • News
  • July 20, 2008

What do you do when you desperately want to make a Batman movie, except you have little film-making experience and Warner Bros. doesn’t know you exist?

Well, you just go right ahead and make a Batman movie. At least that’s the thought of Jerry Vasilatos, a Chicago director. He decided to create The Dark Knight Project, essentially a fan movie set between the two new Batman films.

The story follows some Gotham students who try to get video footage of their city’s new vigilante. The expected trouble ensues, as Joker’s gang starts to cause problems.

You can watch the film right here. You can also read quite a bit on the background of the project at Vasilatos’ blog, which is right here.

That "other" Batman movie opened this weekend.

(via Doomkopf)

Review: The Dark Knight

the-dark-knight-joker-poster-500w1-3595774Considering the amount of massive blockbusters that have disappointed the fans this year, it is safe to say that all of your expectations will be met going into this movie. [[[The Dark Knight]]] delivers on so many levels that it becomes hard to critique it, and all that’s left is pure childlike enjoyment for approximately two hours.

Those of you who are unaware of the plot for the sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins, this film takes place shortly where we left off: Batman is patrolling the streets, crime is on the rise, and more and more “masked vigilantes” are stepping up to try and take out the [[[Batman]]]. Wayne Manor is still destroyed, so all of the caped crusader’s hijinks are based out of a new penthouse apartment, which is a nice change. Batman’s gal Rachel Dawes (originally played by Katie Holmes) returns, this time played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. This time, instead of Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy filling the evil quota as Ra’s Al Ghul and Scarecrow, respectively, we get the late Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart as The Joker and Harvey Dent, which of course means we get to see a little Two-Face!

[SPOILER WARNING: READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK]

(more…)

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