Remembering Deja Vu, anticipating Apocalypto
I saw the film "Deja Vu". It got two thumbs down on "Ebert & Roper" so I wasn't expecting much, but it wasn't too bad as an action-adventure flick with an implausible time travel plot device.
As the first film with major shots done in New Orleans after Katrina, I wish it could have been better and made more use of the location. More than half the film could have been set anywhere. A short scene in the ruins of the Lower 9th Ward seemed as tacked on to the plot as it no doubt was. A professional film crew in the Lower 9th in October & November of last year had a chance to capture a wealth of arresting images, but if they did little of it made its way into the film. No doubt that would have distracted from the plot. It was clearly scripted before the deluge with minor changes added after, and though set in early 2006 depicted a New Orleans functioning at a level it wasn't yet back to.
The Algiers Ferry did blow up real good. The chase & crash scenes on the Crescent City Connection (bridge across the Mississippi) were dramatic but didn't look to me like they would have lost much if they'd been done on a set. The film crews took unusual advantage of the city as it was slowly repopulating in blocking off the Ferry and Bridge. They should have given free tickets to all early returnees who were inconvenienced.
That the plot included a government agency getting major resources to New Orleans in a short time has met with deserved derision. However while the film crews were here locals were impressed with their abilities to quickly erect tent encampments with food, water, and generators. Next disaster, don't send FEMA, send Hollywood.
Ms Hollie didn't care to go see Deja Vu, but is looking forward to seeing "Apocalypto", despite not caring for gore and thinking Mel Gibson nuts.
This interview with Mel Gibson on ComingSoon.net is the most informative about Mesoamerican content in the upcoming film "Apocalypto" I've yet seen on the internet. Gibson himself seems to have a pretty shallow and none too accurate understanding of ancient Mesoamerica. To him its a "chase movie" in an exotic setting.
The pre-Columbian Maya setting is the interesting thing to me. Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican art and architecture has such a striking look it seems strange that Hollywood hasn't made a serious attempt to do a film in making use of it before.
From other sources, Apocalypto set is just before the arrival of the Spanish. The photo in the article has what looks to be Classic era central lowland style temples, and the reference to "Bartolome" shows a mural for the film was based on part on the pre-Classic San Bartolo finds. So I rather expect to see a constructed "Maya" look made of elements from different geographic regions sometimes more than 1k years apart. Zhou and Ming dynasty combined, or a Gothic tower on a Doric temple.
It is a "must see" for me none the less. Hey, it's been some 30 years since I last had a chance to see a feature film in Maya... (Anyone else here seen "Chac", filmed in modern highland Maya back in the '70s? Ms Hollie is going to try to get it from Netflix.)
As the first film with major shots done in New Orleans after Katrina, I wish it could have been better and made more use of the location. More than half the film could have been set anywhere. A short scene in the ruins of the Lower 9th Ward seemed as tacked on to the plot as it no doubt was. A professional film crew in the Lower 9th in October & November of last year had a chance to capture a wealth of arresting images, but if they did little of it made its way into the film. No doubt that would have distracted from the plot. It was clearly scripted before the deluge with minor changes added after, and though set in early 2006 depicted a New Orleans functioning at a level it wasn't yet back to.
The Algiers Ferry did blow up real good. The chase & crash scenes on the Crescent City Connection (bridge across the Mississippi) were dramatic but didn't look to me like they would have lost much if they'd been done on a set. The film crews took unusual advantage of the city as it was slowly repopulating in blocking off the Ferry and Bridge. They should have given free tickets to all early returnees who were inconvenienced.
That the plot included a government agency getting major resources to New Orleans in a short time has met with deserved derision. However while the film crews were here locals were impressed with their abilities to quickly erect tent encampments with food, water, and generators. Next disaster, don't send FEMA, send Hollywood.
Ms Hollie didn't care to go see Deja Vu, but is looking forward to seeing "Apocalypto", despite not caring for gore and thinking Mel Gibson nuts.
This interview with Mel Gibson on ComingSoon.net is the most informative about Mesoamerican content in the upcoming film "Apocalypto" I've yet seen on the internet. Gibson himself seems to have a pretty shallow and none too accurate understanding of ancient Mesoamerica. To him its a "chase movie" in an exotic setting.
The pre-Columbian Maya setting is the interesting thing to me. Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican art and architecture has such a striking look it seems strange that Hollywood hasn't made a serious attempt to do a film in making use of it before.
From other sources, Apocalypto set is just before the arrival of the Spanish. The photo in the article has what looks to be Classic era central lowland style temples, and the reference to "Bartolome" shows a mural for the film was based on part on the pre-Classic San Bartolo finds. So I rather expect to see a constructed "Maya" look made of elements from different geographic regions sometimes more than 1k years apart. Zhou and Ming dynasty combined, or a Gothic tower on a Doric temple.
It is a "must see" for me none the less. Hey, it's been some 30 years since I last had a chance to see a feature film in Maya... (Anyone else here seen "Chac", filmed in modern highland Maya back in the '70s? Ms Hollie is going to try to get it from Netflix.)