Movie Love: The Good, the Bad, and the Unexpected
Okay, so for the past week or so there's been a lot of interesting movie discoveries that I've made. So much so in fact, that I've decided it warrants one of my rare LJ posts (and even rarer, non-Tsubasa LJ posts) just so I can get it all out to you guys without forgetting to mention it later on. Warning, it's very long so I've divided it up into LJ cuts.
1. The Good
Seeing as how the Oscar nominations have just been announced and my favorite awards show is just around the corner (February 22nd, people, and there better damn well be a moving tribute to Stan Winston or else I'm gonna be pissed), there seems to be some pretty good film karma floating around and much seems to be right in my "happy movie place". True, this is when the best films of the year come out specifically for that reason, but I was pretty damned stoked when Slumdog Millionaire finally made wide-release and I didn't have to drive all the way out to New Orleans to go see it. I was gonna do it too, but seeing as ithe movie's own awesomeness brought it to me I can't complain. For those of you who have no idea of what I'm talking about, Slumdog Millionaire is this really awesome, very untraditional "Bollywood" film that is absolutely fricken awsome and must been seen. It won the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Picture and is the critics' favorite for best movie of the year aside from WALL-E. I even convinced Cat and Mark to go see it with me, and they too can attest to it's awesomeness. (For a movie summary, go look it up because I don't want to type it.) Anyway, it is my hope that it will win best picture and it rocks.
In other news, although I did not watch the Superbowl, I did reap the benefits of good movie trailers coming out for it and I'm really excited about several movies coming out this year. The frontrunners so far tend to be: Coraline, Watchmen, Terminator: Rise of the Machines, Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (I have hopes, despite my disappointment with the first one), James Cameron's Avatar (release a trailer already. or at least a screen shot. you could give us a screen shot. just a nibble please), and The Princess and the Frog. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, or missing some just because I won't be able to tell until I get a trailer, but those are the main ones so far. I have high hopes for this movie year. I hope Hollywood can finally deliver.
2. The Bad
Not that it needed mentioning, but....OMG I freakin' hate Will Ferrell and he needs to DIE! Die a thousand deaths and then die some more! You made dinosaurs and paleontologists look stupid. This is a crime I cannot forgive. Blasphemy of the highest order, with the plenty of death you only option of redemption. DIE! I cannot even describe to you how utterly horrified I was when I saw the trailer for Land of the Lost. I had to watch it again just to make sure that it was even real. If you see this movie, you are not only wasting you money and precious hours of your life of which you'll never get back, but you will no longer be my friend and will have to cease all communication with you. That is my final say on the matter and you have hence been warned.
Unfortunately, that was the "good" part of the Bad section. The other half is much worst because it's about something that we all care about.
The Last Airbender, the live-action version of Avatar has already reached a point of no redemption in my mind and it hasn't even started filming yet. Bold words, I know, but the problem has grown much larger than hoping that M. Night Shamalayan can recover enough of his career after The Happening to producer something even resembling the awesomeness of the show we all know and love. No my friends, I would still have hope for the film even with MNS as the sole screenwriter for the production (who I've been saying for years needs to seriously stop writing and focus solely on directing), but the other night, Cat brought to my attention that the main cast has been already been casted and is entirely white. As in causcasian. For an asian-/inuit-based universe. Not right. NOT Right. NOT RIGHT! This has pissed me off more than words can say. The clear and blatant disregard for the entire culture and spirit of the show by both director and the studio demonstrates stupidy that I thought Hollywood was past. The morons know that there is a strong fan-base already and that most of them are much older than the intended audience of five. They should know where to aim the movies, but they are falling far below the bar and doing nothing but pissing off the audience that matters while selling out to the kids. Get this. Zuko is being play by Jesse McCarthy.
That's right. Jesse McCarthy.
Zuko.
Does NOT work.
Zuko is obviously of Asian descent. NOT f****ing white, pansy-a**ed Jesse McCarthy.
Oh. But it get's better.
Sokka.
Fun, wonderful, sarcastic Sokka is being played by Jackson Rathbone. Who is that you say? Oh, you know him.
He's Jasper.
The silent vampire.
From Twilight.
Twilight!
That movie should have absolutely no connection with this one, but it does. It does.
Oh, and then his response to the "negative fan-reaction" caused by the casting: "Rathbone dismissed the complaints, saying 'I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan.'"
...
A tan!?!
To play an Inuit character.
WTF!?
Way to not be smart dude. Way to not be smart.
And thus I give up. It's over. Unless Paramount dramatically changes it's game plan, which it shows no signs of doing since filming starts in March,The Last Airbender is doomed.
*Grrrr*
3. The Unexpected
Moving on.
Something very unexpected happened at work today. I've spent the past six months looking, on and off, to try and get into a movie production. Ironically, once I gave up, the movie came to me. Sort of. My boss came in the chartroom this afternoon saying that a movie production had called her about possibly coming to the clinic to get some shots of an x-ray of a child's broken arm for a movie called The Chameleon. She was a bit disappointed that it would not involve Brad Pitt, but said that she might put in a word for me if they need some help when/if they come. I told her that'd be awesome, of course, although I was sorry about the Brad Pitt thing (for her), but I also know how these things work and I'm more than well aware that if the production crew does come, they'll probably want none of my help. Still, it was fun to imagine and I spent about fifteen minutes in a deep movie industry discussion with my very cool boss. She didn't know anything about the film except that it's based on a true story about a serial killer who stole the indentities of missing children. So I told her that I'd look into it for her. Turns out that it's an indepedent film being filmed here and in France by a French director and that so far it's only due for release in France in 2010. Still cool though.
Lastly, Katie should like this one:
Disney is coming to Louisiana. No really it is. Apparently since the new film, The Princess and the Frog, is set in New Orleans, we get VIP status. Not only will New Orleans have a super amazing Disney animation art exhibit from November '09 to March '10 to coencide with the film's Christmas release, but Baton Rouge will get an early screening of the film in April when Disney comes down for the International Red Stick Animation Festival (the biggest of it's kind in the country). I've been wanting to go to the Animation Festival for several years, and now I REALLY want to go. Good thing it'll be in my backyard, a.k.a. downtown Baton Rouge. ^_^ I just hope I can finaigle my way into the screening. Registration doesn't start until March so I won't even know if it's possible until then. If nothing else, I will defintely go and maybe even get to meet some big shots in the business. Oh, I also registered to be a judge for the festival. There are over 421 entries that need to be judged, so here's to hoping that I get picked for that and then maybe that can earn me some extra status for the screening. All in all it seems like a win-win. ^_^
Whew. Well, my god, that was a long post. This is why I don't do these too often. Laters.
1. The Good
Seeing as how the Oscar nominations have just been announced and my favorite awards show is just around the corner (February 22nd, people, and there better damn well be a moving tribute to Stan Winston or else I'm gonna be pissed), there seems to be some pretty good film karma floating around and much seems to be right in my "happy movie place". True, this is when the best films of the year come out specifically for that reason, but I was pretty damned stoked when Slumdog Millionaire finally made wide-release and I didn't have to drive all the way out to New Orleans to go see it. I was gonna do it too, but seeing as ithe movie's own awesomeness brought it to me I can't complain. For those of you who have no idea of what I'm talking about, Slumdog Millionaire is this really awesome, very untraditional "Bollywood" film that is absolutely fricken awsome and must been seen. It won the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Picture and is the critics' favorite for best movie of the year aside from WALL-E. I even convinced Cat and Mark to go see it with me, and they too can attest to it's awesomeness. (For a movie summary, go look it up because I don't want to type it.) Anyway, it is my hope that it will win best picture and it rocks.
In other news, although I did not watch the Superbowl, I did reap the benefits of good movie trailers coming out for it and I'm really excited about several movies coming out this year. The frontrunners so far tend to be: Coraline, Watchmen, Terminator: Rise of the Machines, Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (I have hopes, despite my disappointment with the first one), James Cameron's Avatar (release a trailer already. or at least a screen shot. you could give us a screen shot. just a nibble please), and The Princess and the Frog. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, or missing some just because I won't be able to tell until I get a trailer, but those are the main ones so far. I have high hopes for this movie year. I hope Hollywood can finally deliver.
2. The Bad
Not that it needed mentioning, but....OMG I freakin' hate Will Ferrell and he needs to DIE! Die a thousand deaths and then die some more! You made dinosaurs and paleontologists look stupid. This is a crime I cannot forgive. Blasphemy of the highest order, with the plenty of death you only option of redemption. DIE! I cannot even describe to you how utterly horrified I was when I saw the trailer for Land of the Lost. I had to watch it again just to make sure that it was even real. If you see this movie, you are not only wasting you money and precious hours of your life of which you'll never get back, but you will no longer be my friend and will have to cease all communication with you. That is my final say on the matter and you have hence been warned.
Unfortunately, that was the "good" part of the Bad section. The other half is much worst because it's about something that we all care about.
The Last Airbender, the live-action version of Avatar has already reached a point of no redemption in my mind and it hasn't even started filming yet. Bold words, I know, but the problem has grown much larger than hoping that M. Night Shamalayan can recover enough of his career after The Happening to producer something even resembling the awesomeness of the show we all know and love. No my friends, I would still have hope for the film even with MNS as the sole screenwriter for the production (who I've been saying for years needs to seriously stop writing and focus solely on directing), but the other night, Cat brought to my attention that the main cast has been already been casted and is entirely white. As in causcasian. For an asian-/inuit-based universe. Not right. NOT Right. NOT RIGHT! This has pissed me off more than words can say. The clear and blatant disregard for the entire culture and spirit of the show by both director and the studio demonstrates stupidy that I thought Hollywood was past. The morons know that there is a strong fan-base already and that most of them are much older than the intended audience of five. They should know where to aim the movies, but they are falling far below the bar and doing nothing but pissing off the audience that matters while selling out to the kids. Get this. Zuko is being play by Jesse McCarthy.
That's right. Jesse McCarthy.
Zuko.
Does NOT work.
Zuko is obviously of Asian descent. NOT f****ing white, pansy-a**ed Jesse McCarthy.
Oh. But it get's better.
Sokka.
Fun, wonderful, sarcastic Sokka is being played by Jackson Rathbone. Who is that you say? Oh, you know him.
He's Jasper.
The silent vampire.
From Twilight.
Twilight!
That movie should have absolutely no connection with this one, but it does. It does.
Oh, and then his response to the "negative fan-reaction" caused by the casting: "Rathbone dismissed the complaints, saying 'I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan.'"
...
A tan!?!
To play an Inuit character.
WTF!?
Way to not be smart dude. Way to not be smart.
And thus I give up. It's over. Unless Paramount dramatically changes it's game plan, which it shows no signs of doing since filming starts in March,The Last Airbender is doomed.
*Grrrr*
3. The Unexpected
Moving on.
Something very unexpected happened at work today. I've spent the past six months looking, on and off, to try and get into a movie production. Ironically, once I gave up, the movie came to me. Sort of. My boss came in the chartroom this afternoon saying that a movie production had called her about possibly coming to the clinic to get some shots of an x-ray of a child's broken arm for a movie called The Chameleon. She was a bit disappointed that it would not involve Brad Pitt, but said that she might put in a word for me if they need some help when/if they come. I told her that'd be awesome, of course, although I was sorry about the Brad Pitt thing (for her), but I also know how these things work and I'm more than well aware that if the production crew does come, they'll probably want none of my help. Still, it was fun to imagine and I spent about fifteen minutes in a deep movie industry discussion with my very cool boss. She didn't know anything about the film except that it's based on a true story about a serial killer who stole the indentities of missing children. So I told her that I'd look into it for her. Turns out that it's an indepedent film being filmed here and in France by a French director and that so far it's only due for release in France in 2010. Still cool though.
Lastly, Katie should like this one:
Disney is coming to Louisiana. No really it is. Apparently since the new film, The Princess and the Frog, is set in New Orleans, we get VIP status. Not only will New Orleans have a super amazing Disney animation art exhibit from November '09 to March '10 to coencide with the film's Christmas release, but Baton Rouge will get an early screening of the film in April when Disney comes down for the International Red Stick Animation Festival (the biggest of it's kind in the country). I've been wanting to go to the Animation Festival for several years, and now I REALLY want to go. Good thing it'll be in my backyard, a.k.a. downtown Baton Rouge. ^_^ I just hope I can finaigle my way into the screening. Registration doesn't start until March so I won't even know if it's possible until then. If nothing else, I will defintely go and maybe even get to meet some big shots in the business. Oh, I also registered to be a judge for the festival. There are over 421 entries that need to be judged, so here's to hoping that I get picked for that and then maybe that can earn me some extra status for the screening. All in all it seems like a win-win. ^_^
Whew. Well, my god, that was a long post. This is why I don't do these too often. Laters.