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Ha! I visited with a friend of mine today, and she gave me the gift of Yoda slippers! She's not even a fan, but she knows me all too well. Actually, I did get her to sit through a PT marathon with me once, and she loved it! I'd also love some Chewie slippers, but I don't think they exist. I know there are Vader slippers. You tell me what makes more sense as slippers??
Don't even ask how I took this picture of my own feet, 'cos it wasn't easy. Camera phone quality not so hot.
AW!
I picked up Blade Runner: The Final Cut on Blu-Ray the day after it released. That's Wednesday, December 19 for anyone who has been counting minutes and days (dangerous days that is) around this release. Opted out of the "Ultimate" version with the briefcase, origami unicorn, mini-spinner and other flashy trinkets. The hi-def versions without the collector's case have all 5 versions of the film, and all the bonus materials - i.e. everything the Ultimate version has on the discs, so that was good enough for me, especially at less than half the price of the briefcase version.
On Wednesday night I watched the actual 'Final Cut' version, then on Thursday I watched the enormously long documentary Dangerous Days, which in of itself rivals in length and content the materials LFL has been putting out with various Star Wars DVD releases, and there's still more documentary material in the Blade Runner set. I'll be staggering the documentaries with watching different versions of the film in the coming days, of which I can't wait to see the "Enhancement Archives", which includes a little blooper by Edward James Olmos who refers to replicants as Cylons. I heard an interview with Ridley Scott on NPR's Fresh Air, which I also found available on their website. If you scroll down the page, you'll see a link to a video clip from the Enhancement Archives discussing whether or not Deckard is a replicant, and you'll be able to see EJO's blooper:
'Blade Runner' Director Ridley Scott on Fresh Air
Blade Runner: The Final Cut
It's still sinking in for me. I saw the original theatrical release when I was pretty young, and the Blade Runner I've always known and loved included the voice-overs and an ending with a drive to the country. Thinking back, I don't think I ever payed a whole lot of attention to the plot. Again, I was pretty young and was much more enamored by the visual quality of the film than anything else (and of course Harrison Ford). To me, the story was about a loner cop who lived in a grim and semi-apocalyptic future, who fell in love with a replicant of whom he was supposed to destroy. Deckard was always unquestionably human to me. In fact, the question never crossed my mind until very recently where I had read discussions on the matter as Blade Runner began to get chocked up again in anticipation of the 2007 DVD release.
It's been well over a year or so since I've watched my old 'Director's Cut' on VHS. I think my parents also have the original theatrical on VHS, which is what I had been rewatching over the years for the most part. When I sat down to watch the 'Final Cut' I was watching the film with much more attention to detail and the story than ever before. I was trying to see where the differences were from how I remembered the film. As a result, I saw more and more flaws in the story, and really picked up on the continuity and technical errors - like when Leon threw Deckard onto a ground-mobile and the windshield was already smashed before Deckard hit it. It's kind of funny, since I thought they were aiming to fix a lot of these mistakes in the new cut.
In general, Final Cut seemed very stripped down, almost empty. The dialogue just didn't seem to flow, even though speaking parts were very sparse in the first place. I think the voice-overs helped mask that, or perhaps the audio track needs to be recovered a little more without the VO. I'm learning to appreciate the lack of voice-over, I really am. They gave the film a graphic novel feel for me when I was younger, and generally just kept me in the story. There are certainly some voice-over parts I could live without, but as visually stunning as Blade Runner always has been, I don't think it was ever visually efficient enough to keep the story coherent. Not that I ever cared about that before... before now.
Even though I didn't get to see the Final Cut on the big screen, getting to see this remastered and cleaned up version on Blu-Ray almost made up for that. It's just gorgeous, continuity-warts and all. So what if I saw all the flaws? I wasn't really watching it like I would normally watch a movie. It's so visually powerful, I still cared less about the technical stuff. I'll still jump at any chance to see this in a theater if it comes my way, since they have been extending theater showings (see listings at the official site).
My one and only big qualm is the ending. Maybe I'll feel differently about it at some point, as it seems any version of Blade Runner takes some getting used to. I'm well aware of how Scott felt about what he was made to do with both the sugar-coated ending, and the voice-overs - which was basically very unhappy. Still, the way the Final Cut ends is almost as though he just lopped off the parts he didn't like and left it at that. It could have been just slightly more polished and worked, but to me, the end looks like a mistake as it stands. Again, maybe I was looking too closely, and I'll certainly stand back and compare the end of all the cuts.
Cool factoid - The Millenium Falcon is a stand in as a building in one of the city-scapes!
If anyone happens by one of those prop house yard sales they've been having to keep from going bankrupt during the writer's strike, pick me up a spinner. I'll send you a check... I swear.
This post is divided between a spoiler free review and a more in-depth look with some spoilers.
First spoiler free...
Ah, Will Smith. Recently marked 5th out of the "50 Smartest People in Hollywood" by Entertainment Weekly, and justifiably so if I count as a judge. I've enjoyed Smith ever since the Fresh Prince days *blushes* and he's managed to grow into a self-made franchise. I am Legend is certainly in part testimony to his smartness and success. Not that I think Legend is particularly remarkable itself, but the way Smith pulled it off is, but you'd expect as much from the man.
I've never read the 1954 novel by Richard Matheson (but now it's on my list), nor have I seen the other movie adaptations; The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), and the 2007 straight to video horror release I am Omega. The first two are on my 'to watch' list, the latter - maybe someday. I kept relatively spoiler free too, only following the pretty trailers for Legend as they released. Coming from that perspective probably helped me enjoy the movie a bit more than many of the critics who gave it lukewarm reviews. Still, I can see where the shortcomings are. I have the opportunity to judge this purely on it's own cinematic merit, but even if you've never read the book or seen the other movies, this is certainly a story you've seen or heard before.
The talents of Will Smith along with a few other aspects, like the visual imagery experience and a splendid performance by the canine sidekick, kept the film interesting enough to sit through. There were a few visual gags in the first act that helped keep your attention on point, which was probably a smart pacing move.
Don't get me wrong - I really enjoyed I am Legend, and not purely by the merits of Will Smith. In fact, a lot of the things I thought were wrong with the movie were the things I actually liked, but then again didn't like. For one, it had an almost but not quite blockbuster style publicity campaign that didn't quite deliver what you'd expect. True, maybe it's just that I associate certain things with a Smith flick now, but what Legend actually is, is a bit more ambiguous. What was bad could be good, perhaps depending on how you look at it and try to tie it all together. I expected MIB and Independence Day style swashbuckling action, which I did partially get.
I certainly never want a movie to fall cookie-cutter neatly into place within a genre, and the fact that Legend is not well defined and therefore awash with subject matter and concept in part kept me interested, but also left me looking for the focus and directive of the plot. The "last man on earth" is certainly an interesting start, but there lacked a really big punch (like an exploding military space station the size of a small moon or the most evil villain being revealed as the hero's father perhaps?) to drive the story into true epic status. But really, that's part of the story. No one would have ever known the story of the last man on earth if it weren't for... well, that would just be a spoiler.
It's a drama, thriller, sci-fi and action movie, but it's also horror. It doesn't seem to want to choose, and that's a little distracting. The horror facet isn't straight up gore, but it's enough to make people who really dislike the horror genre be somewhat disturbed. I can't help but make the association of I, Robot meeting 28 Days Later, but with a heck of a lot less actors and extras, save for the few flashback scenes which were few enough that it almost seemed a film budgeting issue.
Overall I think sci-fi, action, and Will Smith fans will really enjoy this, but if you can't stomach some shock and horror spoused with psychological and emotional elements in a film, this one might be a pass for you. Not a bad second "real movie" (first was Constantine) for up and coming director Francis Lawrence. The Cloverfield and Dark Knight trailers are a bonus too!
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Spoilers below!
But only a few. I have some continuity issues to address concerning the zombie-vampires (for lack of a better designating term - maybe "quasi-rabies patients" would be better?) and how they function within the story and plot. Maybe this is made more clear in the novel, but all I have is this movie to work with. It seems that Dr. Neville (wait, wasn't he a lieutenant in the police force or something?) had at some point concluded that the patients/ victims/ whatever-they-ares have lost all human traits. This wasn't hard to believe since the monsters as we began to see them exhibited only the most primal survival reactions relative to their disease, which was limited to droning in the dark as hives until the smell of fresh meat sparked a savage attack.
What was harder (for me) to believe was that the head honcho zombie-vamp guy... which in of itself was hard to believe that there was a leader at all, had enough strategic intelligence to set a sophisticated trap - a trap that he had to have had the patience and foresight to have learned from by the same contraption built by Neville. Not only that, but the head honcho was a dog handler! Yet still, all he could manage to utter were groans and shrieks of pure zombie agitation. It just seems too unlikely that even an "elegant" disease would effect everyone in the same way by wiping away all civilized characteristics, yet this one individual managed to grunt and groan his way to zombie presidency. Hmmmm. It seemed like they tried to give the zombie-vamps some sort of face or character, which I thought was entirely unnecessary. I would have liked to see more of a follow through. Perhaps if the zombie-vamp president actually had some sort of "moment" with Neville.
I thought the first reveal of the zombie-vamps was superb, with the dim light brushing by and showing a chilling glimpse. I wish they had sustained that tension by showing much less from there on. It pretty quickly switched over to obvious CG zombie-vamps. Movies like the original The Thing, and Signs gave cinema a valuable lesson in building more tension by showing less monster.
Other notes:
Gotta love the Batman plus Superman billboard and the gas prices! I wonder if there were more visual gags in there I didn't catch. Anyone?
Another continuity thing, but maybe I'm just picky... Sam the German Shepherd was noticeably either not the same dog all the time, or her coat quality and size slightly changed which I would attribute to changing seasons during principle photography and/or pick up shots. I have a dog, so I can't help but notice, but it's hard not to since she was also the co-star and one of the few actors! Her part certainly added one of the most affecting dramatic elements to the film.
The driving and hunting scenes, along with the abandoned streets of Manhattan were the major highlights for me, after the performance of Will Smith with his canine companion. I can't help but relate to that having a similar solo living situation with a very similar dog. Another funny coincidence is that the "safe haven" is in the same state that I live (for now). I kind of had to laugh at that, considering the isolationist attitude of Vermonters where the state motto between locals is "Welcome to Vermont. Now, Leave" and there are still movements working to segregate from the Union. When 9/11 hit, which Legend has a lot of connotation to, Vermonters were almost as horrified at the prospect of people migrating there from urban areas as they were at the event itself.
My favorite shot from Legend
Snow on the ground here in the mountains of the northeast, day off, and a little downtime, so I bringeth forth tidbits regurgitated from the bowels of the web...
Since everyone else is reporting it, I'm jumping aboard. I needed an excuse to post here anyway. I've been slacking (i.e. busy with life and playing Star Wars Lego: The Complete Saga)...
Earlier today at the Hasbro Fall 2007 Analyst Event, it was announced that the upcoming Star Wars animated series would premiere with a theatrical release in August 2008. When asked, Lucas Film LTD did not confirm, but simply offered that they are playing with different ideas to launch the series.
TFN reports
That's all I got for now, except: This site's for you Pitt
Long time, not much blogging here. I've been in a lull, and so has a lot of fandom news. For me at least :p
But new talk worthy things have arisen! First and foremost are the reports back from Star Wars Reunion 2 taking place in France (their own Celebration me thinks), and some details from Rick McCallum about the live-action Star Wars series. Read full report on TFN, and if you're feeling Frenchy, follow their links to the French site starwars-universe.com. Some of the highlights everyone is buzzing about for the live-action news (more Clone Wars news is in the article too):
- Boba Fett will appear in the live-action series, but no actor has been picked as of yet, but I think Daniel Logan would be an AWESOME and logical choice, since he's all grown up now. Apparently Rick agrees. *Original commented edited*
- Other than Fett, there will be all new characters, at least for the first 100 episodes. Rick says there are hopes to add EU characters after that. Young Mara Jade PLEASE!
- "Six screen writers have been hired and will start work in November" *Um.. LOL. I guess those writers aren't with the WGA. But then again, LFL isn't Hollywood!*
- John Williams is slated to work on the series. YAY!
- Check out Rick clips below, or watch it here in HD!
Another interesting rumor-oid in the article, but not having to do with the live-action series:Saga Box Set:
- Lucasfilm is waiting to see who wins: HD DVD or Blue Ray.
- The box set will have around 100 hours of documentaries about the 6 films. (wow, we are shooting for a hundred of everything at this point...sweet!)
I really have doubts that LFL is waiting out the high-def format "war". I would think that like Spielberg, Lucas will release on both formats, and if forced to choose I would think it would be Blue-Ray (I hope!), since it has far better output capacity and about half the compression of HD DVD. But I'll take 100 hours of bonus features and a saga set on anything! Just let them be new bonus features.
Heh!
ROX - you did it again. I'm such a non-sports fan, but I grew up with the Red Sox. Can't help getting all sports-fan giddy when my boys are kicking ass. Congrats!
Every once in awhile we get a little nip of info about the Star Wars TV shows. Slowly but surely, Clone Wars is coming along, and the live action show is creeping in behind it. It's just so painful to think that it will probably be several or more years until the live-action show comes to our TV screens - but then again, when it finally gets here, perhaps because so much time will have passed since the last Star Wars film, we will feel a similar nostalgia for the prequels as we have/had for the original trilogy.
Here's the lates nip of info, from the LA Times. Snifters optional (I prefer straight out of the bottle meself):
George Lucas planning 'Star Wars' TV series
"Filmmaker George Lucas said Tuesday that he has "just begun work" on a live-action television series rooted in the "Star Wars" universe, which is huge news not just for fans of the science-fiction epic but also for networks looking for a piece of the Lucas magic that has grossed $4.3 billion in theaters worldwide...
... That model (the upcoming animated Clone Wars series) may also be used for the live-action show, although producer Rick McCallum said Tuesday that it's too early to say. McCallum is interviewing writers for the live-action series.
Lucas is confident he can find a home for his droids and Jedi, but he also knows the projects are unorthodox enough to give network executives pause."
- By Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
<--- so amazing I had to borrow a yodacon from starwars.com! (hey - that rhymes) 
Word on the streets of Venice is that Blade Runner: The Final Cut is even darker, but still doesn't give any more or less clarity as to whether Deckard might indeed be a replicant. I don't need an answer either way, since I like the mystery of it all.
I have to admit, it's been a loooong time since I've seen Blade Runner. I have a VHS version of the Director's Cut, and it's just been... years. I've intentionally held off on getting the DVD since having heard that there was to be several better versions coming out in the future. Little did I know it would be in one fell swoop. Maybe I'll have to bust out the VHS to compare (even though when I get the bombastic version of the DVD I'll be able to see the same version again).
Warner Brothers have been pumping up this release with a new-ish website (ya'all have seen links to that here before), with special clips. Here's the latest:
Thundercats is getting made into a CGI feature film! Even better, it's going to be developed by Gears of War art director Jerry O'Flaherty. NWOICE (okay, so the writer of linked article may not be so enthusiastic). Yeah, I know - another toon and/or superhero story goes to the big screen, but now that we can do this stuff for the big screen with much better results, I'm game.
I've been trying to keep up with the possible Wonder Woman movie that has been bouncing around the movie studios for a couple of years now. Joss Whedon was first signed on to develop the screenplay, only to be bagged.. er, or "leave" the project while Warner went with a spec script that is locked in a vault somewhere. More recently Wonder Woman has been coming up again, with the development of the Justice League movie. Some of the JLA characters would possibly get developed for offshoot films, Wonder Woman included. Jessica Biel was one of the more recent WW prospects but she (thankfully IMO) declined the role. What I wanna know is why the heck hasn't anyone approached Megan Fox (Transformers) - and if they have, why the heck hasn't she taken it. She is perfect! Okay, my opinion again.
So the non-news didn't end there. There were recent rumblings of a Warner top-exec saying that the studio would not produce any female led feature films. W00t? Okay, I'm a girl, so this one hits me a little hard. Supposedly Warner, and Robinov are denying any such remarks (see an article with updated WB response here). I admit, I'll agree with one of their angles - that any WW movie that goes to production will have to be the right combination of the right actor(ress), director, and timing. But even the rumor of such a mentality kills the morale, ya know? With characters like Starbuck from the new BSG, and... Starbuck from the new BSG (LOL - I stop here), I saw hope for women leads in action and sci-fi. *I'M* interested, but apparently the DWG's at studio top seats are skeptical. Just wait until I walk into that town ;)
Here's the biggie o' the day - Anakin and Mace are back and badder than ever before. Sam Jackson and Hayden Christensen star in this sci-fi action thriller about people with the ability to jump time and space, and those who have to hunt them down. Hayden is a "jumper" and Sam is a hunter. The folks who brought us the Bourne movies made this, so aside from Hayden and Sam, that's all I need to get me to the theater to see this. Check out the latest Jumper trailer:
DEFINITELY something I'll be looking forward to for February. Did you see the url at the end of the trailer? Got it linked for ya right here: anywhereispossible.com
First of all, I'm a little P'Oed that Transformers will see a DVD release on HD, but not Blu-ray. Michael Bay even threatened Paramount for it's HD exclusive decision, but it seems the Bayster doesn't have the same clout as Spielberg who will still have his films released on both formats. I'm not sure if I'll be able to wait for a possible Blu-ray release for this. Maybe I'll break down and get an HD player, since they are finally becoming an almost acceptable format. I'm also irked that BSG is going to HD but not Blu-ray. Then there's Heroes too, which I probably will never buy anyway. Hmph. At least I'll get Blade Runner in Blu-ray.
Speaking of.. Transformers 2 has a green light, and Spielberg is putting a rush on it (can you put a rush on T1 on Blu-ray too Steve?). Lets see how much we can squeeze out of this franchise, shall we? It's just barely been talked about, and the leaks are already dripping. The TESB of Transformers? :p
The bigger news right now is some confirmation on Trek XI. The story looks to be Kirk and Spock intensive, but there is still no Kirk casted as of yet. Exec producer Roberto Orci tells trekmovie.com all about it.
This one sounds pretty cool - Jake Gyllanhaal will be working on a "moon movie". Not a lot of details on this one yet except:
"The SF action movie revolves around a private expedition to the moon and the race for lunar colonization."
That sounds geeky enough for me!
Did I mention that I'm miffed about Transformers not going to Blu-ray? Help me Stephen Spielberg. You're my only hope.
Geeze! I haven't looked for any new and exciting Indy 4 news. I guess we know that it's being made, and that's all that's important. I've kind of slacked in that area, but surely indianajones.com will keep feeding us :D
My first pass results. Click link at the end to design your own (thanx mirax!)...
Coder's Mansion
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Find YOUR Dream House! |
This one is for the Trekkies and the Heroes fans (does the latter get a fandom name?). Okay, for you astronomy fans too - startrek.com reports that George Takei now has an asteroid named after him.
"Last week the Committee on Small Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union approved the name "7307 Takei" for the asteroid previously labeled "1994 GT9." The Takei reference will be used in the scientific community to identify this minor body from now on, presumably forever. Only about 14,000 asteroids have been named after specific people, out of about 400,000 such bodies known to exist."
Read the full article here
Kewl! Good job George.
In other Heroes and Trekkalicious news - by now if you're a fan of either, you know Zachary Quinto, aka Sylar from Heroes, is cast as Spock in the coming Star Trek XI movie. Other than that, STXI seems to be trudging along, supposedly for a Christmas 2008 release date. For more Star Trek XI updates, well, you can follow along at startrek.com for that too... along with a zillion other places on the web.
I think I'll pick this one up for Halloween :D
... next year (since it prolly won't make it outta Japan any time soon)
Speaking of TV show remakes... I just watched the Bionic Woman pilot again (they reran it on SciFi this evening). The following are my first and second impressions, and spoilers for the pilot... so if you haven't seen it yet, you may want to refrain from reading further.
The Bionic Woman pilot episode is available to view in full at it's NBC hosted website. Pretty good web video quality too!
So, I was just as grumbly and skeptical about the whole prospect of yet another remake, and especially of the Jamie Sommers story, as pretty much anybody else I heard who had an opinion about it. I was quite young when the original series aired, but thanks to my parents who were relatively sci-fi saavy, I was exposed to that and the $6000k Man. Frankly I didn't really care for either. Both freaked me out, especially whenever someone would remove a human face to reveal a cyborg skull. I guess I was too young.
But aside from all the traumatic memories, the idea of a Bionic Woman remake just seemed ridiculous. I was prepared to hate it, but I knew I had to watch since my new favorite actress/girl crush/uber idol - Katee Sackhoff of BSG, was to play the new incarnation of a fem-bot villainess.
In a sense I was torn, feeling like I just had to watch something I knew I wouldn't like.
I was very pleasantly surprised, and it wasn't just by Katee's performance. In fact, my own jury is still out on how I feel about Sarah Corvus (Sackhoff). On the one hand, I would almost say that performance was a little wooden and overconfident. But that's exactly what Sarah Corvus seems to be; a regenerated bionic with a grudge who doesn't even remember what it is to be human. When I remember that, Katee Sackhoff's performance fits to a tee, and she kicks some major ass too.
Sure it all gets a little cliche and predictable, but the story moves at a good pace and the drama is good. To me, sci-fi is working when even though you're conscious of the unbelievable, you still continue to watch with interest. Bionic Woman did that for me, although I'll admit I'm not counting the minutes of each day and week until the next episode as I do for Battlestar Galactica, or secondarily Heroes.
Kara... I mean Katee certainly turned out some memorable one-liners. Yep. Still love seeing Katee in action. It's kind of funny though... she's really starting to remind me of BSG's Number 6!
And then there was Jamie Sommers. I had never heard of Michelle Ryan before. At first glance she seemed a little Plain Jane, but now that I've seen it, she seems tailor made for the part. This is where I was very pleasantly surprised. I don't remember any story specifics from the original series, so perhaps starting with a relatively clean slate was to my advantage, save for my bias.
As for the rest of the characters, I'll wait on forming opinions until further episodes.
In general, the pilot formed all the necessary questions yet to be answered and certainly to be replaced with new questions - enough to get me coming back to follow the story. Well, of course one of the other laws of attraction in effect for me are the appearances of four-and-counting Battlestar actors: Aaron Douglas, Mark Sheppard, Katee Sackhoff, and one very brief cameo by Jammer (RIP) as a heli-vac EMT, who we probably won't ever see again.
Having David Eick producing must have something to do with it too (I had to wonder if Eick pulled some of his BSG cast right off the set for last minute Bionic fill-ins). Eick has added his modern TV drama touch, which not unlike BSG is dark and gritty, almost bordering on black and white film noir (it's certainly a stark opposite of the 80's version's blazing techno-color brightness) . The less than cheerful human element is similar too, and you can bet that in following the series you will be forced to continually evaluate your feelings on who is really "evil". Sarah Corvut has obviously been done wrong, and is even a helping hand in Jamie's coming to terms with her bionic-ness. Jamie's mad scientist boyfriend only wanted her to live, and now perhaps he has paid the ultimate price, for taking advantage of his powers as well as for his involvement in Sarah's assassination. Then there's Romo... or Will's father. He was obviously involved with the lab, but somehow ended up in uber-maximum security, only to be set free after holding Chief's wife hostage. Did he have a hand in bringing Sarah back? Does he want his own son dead?
I guess we'll see next week, and I usually have Wednesday nights free, so this show is a go for me... until I potentially get totally bored with it :)
Dang, I haven't even reviewed the Heroes season 2 premiere yet. That's coming as soon as I watch it one more time. Gotta love NBC shows and the full episodes being posted right after on the website. Sorry for all you folks who live outside the US since you probably won't be able to view the epsodes on the web.
And Kaylee is on Stargate Atlantis season 4 right now!!!!
NBC is planning a late season pilot for that 80's fave Knight Rider. Why? Because we haven't done a remake of every show yet. Sorry though fangirls, I don't think The Hoff will be on this time around. They'll have to upgrade KITT too I would suppose. A Hum-V perhaps? Some of the Transformers masterminds are developing the show with an Autobot v Decepticon edge to it.
I just wanna know... once we've remade them all, then what do we do?
We'll have the Hoff-bot rescue us. That's what we'll do.
A few weeks ago I posted over at my starwars.com blog about the forthcoming new Star Wars title Vector, and that it was going to be developed by JJ Miller (of KOTOR) and John Ostrander.
Check out JJM's own blog for upcoming news on Vector, as well as over at Dark Horse.
Speaking of JJM, and Dark Horse, and Indy (okay we weren't speaking about Indy before)... Miller will also be developing the comic series for Indy IV. Very exciting. It's only in the agreement stage right now, so there isn't any info or details beyond that. Of course, it will be a Dark Horse publication.
And now really speaking of Indy... Dark Horse will be reprinting to omnibus all the rare out of print Indy comics from the days of yore! Volume 1 comes out next February, and since it's an omnibus edition.... hopefully we can expect the cover art to be included! *crosses fingers*
Great job JJM and Dark Horse!
"What have I done?"
Ahhh. I finally did it. I bit the bullet, got a little more in debt, and got the swanky Playstation 3. The 60G went down in price, and I finally decided that this was to be my high-def source for Blu-ray as well as an annoyingly sleek distraction from my already overloaded daily schedule. I needed something to pull me away from the internet tho. Rats. It's got internet connectivity. Ah, well. The PS3 web abilities suck anyway. It took about 2 hours to download a small Genji demo, and the frakking demo lasted all of 2 minutes of actual play time. X-Box still has the online/interactive thing nailed, way more than PS3. Now I'm watching the X-Box 360 Elite for a price drop. Maybe around the holidays? We'll see. For now, I'll be in my bunk... NOT playing Halo, but awaiting The Force Unleashed, and Lego Star Wars Saga Edition.
Then of course I'll need a Wii to get the awesome lightsaber motion action for TFU. I'm not sure though... if the lightsaber motion only works for two player mode when they are playing each other.
I get a fancy Blu-ray DVD rebate though. Trying to decide between: Corpse Bride or Blazing Saddles (CB should be well more worth it on Blu-ray, even if I only have 720p right now), Resident Evil 2 or Underworld Evolution (both equally cheesy in their own genre IMO), and Kiss of the Dragon or Transporter 2 (Big Jet Li fan here, but I already own KOTD on standard DVD. The Transporter flicks are fun and all, but not necessarily something that needs to be seen in high-def).
Hmmmm. Anyone have any opinions?
Star Wars clocks are now updated for the 21st century... check out the new Vader clock with all sorts of pretty lights and stuff. If you have a hard time rolling over to check the time, say because your body is charred from a dive into the lava pit after a long drawn out duel with your best friend... then the time is projected on the ceiling in Sithy red. For your convenience :D
Thanx Gizmodo
Sure, there's always something going on in Star Wars news, but a few recent news items are of particular interest... at least to me.
Interviews with George Lucas: Clone Wars and Star Wars TV
Posted on TV Guide.com yesterday, September 18, 2007, this interview with George has some Indy IV news tidbits, Fog City Mavericks stuff, and promises a continuing interview with the Maker for Thursday (yeay!):
George Lucas shares an in-depth update on the two upcoming Star Wars TV series and laments the loss of one of his favorite TV programs.Details from the rest of the interview are already out (see video at end of this post). Due to air by the fall of 2008, The Clone Wars series already has 40 completed episodes, but because of its adult content and action the show still doesn't have a network behind it. Lucas says "Clone Wars has to air after 9pm and it can't be on a kids channel".
This is it. The one day when you're supposed to talk like a pirate. I don't know why it's just today, since in my ye olde scroll o piratology it's okay to talk like a pirate every day!
Supposedly, these guys started it all, and surely on that blimey site tells all ye wanna know about talking like a pirate mateys.
That's about all I got, except a good excuse to post a pic of Jack. Can we make a Jack Sparrow appreciation day too?
If that's not enough excitement for TLAPD, we could always go gaga about the Oct. 23rd pre-order date for Pirates of the Burning Sea.
The trailers and previews are a flyin!
Newest season 2 preview:
This past weekend, the highly anticipated "Final Cut" of the 25 year old epic Blade Runner, made it's big screen debut at the Venice Film Festival. The reviews and chatter are still rolling in, but most of what I've found so far reports that Final Cut is even darker, and we're still not sure if Deckard dreams of electric sheep.
A hearty thank you to the UK Times Online for following Blade Runner in Venice, while most of the other mainstream news outlets seemed to brush it aside:
Blade Runner: The Final Cut - Sept. 3, 2007
At last, a Blade to run with: Ridley Scott is happy with Blade Runner: The Final Cut. So is our chief film critic - Sept. 6, 2007
Perhaps there was less Venician hyperbola about the new version of Blade Runner because it is not a brand new premiere, but maybe it has to do with something that Ridley Scott commented on during the festival: that "sci-fi cinema is dead":
... anyhew! I'm still eagerly awaiting any possible theatrical run of BRTFC, and of course the coming mega-DVD release this December. In honor of this Blade madness, I'm laying down some linkage...Looks like Steven and George are buffing up Castle Grayskull for Indy IV. It's official now - The title is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I was impartial to "The Lost City of Gold", or perhaps they would have been willing to consider my own title - "Indiana Jones and the Squirrel that Regurgitated the City of Atlantis"...
Then again, maybe there's a reason I don't have that job.
And Shia was acting all sneaky like he spilled the beans at the VMAs today. Watching Brittany made me wanna spill the beans... that I had for dinner.
starwars.com blog reports
Another fandom, another day...
Check out the Yamagato Fellowship site and it's video section where it is two chapters in on a mockumentary about Takezo Kensei. Chapter 3 airs on Sept. 10 (on the site). Don't forget to view the video message on the home page from YF founder Kaito Nakamura :p
The "legend" of Takezo Kensei unfolds to us just as the second season of Heroes arrives. So far we know that Takezo had long struggled against the warlord "White Beard" in a series of brutal battles. Hmmm... sounds just about like where Hiro landed at the very end of season 1 ;)
The Browncoats are coming! Well, to Philadelphia, which I am nowhere near.
Anyway, who ever said I never report on Firefly stuff, eh? Nobody I guess, but the fans of Firefly who call themselves Browncoats are keeping the spirit alive of both their fandom and the greater community. The third ever Browncoat Ball is brought to us by the Pennsylvania Browncoats, and it's lookin' to be something purty speshul. The event will take place September 28-30, 2007 and registration ends September 15th.
2007 Philly Browncoat Ball home page
The Browncoat Ball tradition started in 2004, thanks to the efforts of the Chicagoland Browncoats, who also helped spawn the more organized network of Firefly fans through an ever growing membership in Yahoo Groups (that old thing still exists?). These fans have raised thousands of dollars under the banner of Can't Stop the Signal by hosting local screenings of Serenity to raise money for charity. And they are all so very pretty to boot ;)
Now if that's not a cool fandom, I don't know what is. The Browncoat Ball sounds like a blast, but alas, it's a little too far from home... except I know a few people down there I wouldn't mind dragging along with me. :D
For now... I'll be in my bunk.
... with Vera :D
Could there be anything better? This was pointed to by Club Jade, which was apparently pointed to by Stooge - so thanks guys! I seem to remember finding this when Charlie Rose episodes were on Google video, but with a fee for the full episode. So thanks to youtube too, and to Google for owning youtube, and to The Charlie Rose show for making these accessible for free :)
Cross posted at FRAK
Not many people may know that Battlestar's season 3 has been rerun late nights on the Sci Fi Channel ever since the actual season finale this past spring. The show time has consistently been at 2:00 am EST on Saturday mornings (or Friday nights, depending on your lifestyle - read below for notes on Sci Fi's schedule-bot scheduling), with some exceptions. The exception this week will be a Stargate marathon. However, on September 7/8 the Battlestar reruns will continue with part 1 of the season finale Crossroads, followed by part 2 the following week on September 14/15.
The good news is that the Sci Fi channel will start right back up at the beginning of season 3 with the season premiere The Occupation, the very next week; September 21/22 at 2am EST, then continuing on with the rest of season 3 once again, same time as usual.
That's plenty of time to get some blank VHS tapes, DVD-RAM, or to clean out the good ol' DVR. Of course we could make every Friday night a Frak party, and stay up until the wee hours watching each episode. Of course what I think we're all waiting for is the DVD release of season 3, but who knows when the hack that will be.
Notes on Sci Fi's schedule-bot:
- It's a good idea (in my geeky opinion at least) to bookmark Sci Fi schedule-bot main index page in your browser so every time you open it, the schedule for that day will come up. The daily scheduling is listed from 6:00 am to 5:00 am the following morning. You'll see the listings for Battlestar when you click on Fridays (in the monthly calendars at the bottom of the page), even though it's actually scheduled for 2am on Saturdays. Set your recording devices accordingly, and lock s-foils in attack position. :D
Don't forget the webisodes!
Before starting watching season 3 from the beginning again, don't forget to first watch the 10 part series of short webisodes titled Resistance. These minis cover what happened on NC right before the first episode of season 3 begins. They can be viewed here on the Sci Fi Pulse site, as well as all together in one cut here.
The link to Battlestar Wiki's season 3 episode guide is now available in the sidebar (at FRAK) as well.
Sooo, I was probably jumping the gun in my last brief Blade Runner: The Final Cut entry (let's dub it BRTFC) when I said we would see the new DVD release as well as a theater release this September. It looks like it's all happening in December instead, although who can blame me? I had read elsewhere that it would be in September, and "Coming fall 2007" means any month before December in my calendar-book.
Earlier this month, the specs on the DVD release started to trickle in, and now it looks like it's official - We have the choice of SEVEN different DVD sets of BRTFC. That includes two different options on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and another three on good old fashioned standard DVD. In my opinion, there should be eight options, in which I will state my argument later. I want it all I guess.
First, here's the break down on what you will be able to get on December 18, 2007, as listed on amazon.com - read all the details there, or see my following break down. Amazon listed prices noted:
STANDARD DEF DVD:
1. BRTFC 2 Disc Special Edition $14.49:
- Disc 1: The newly remastered, re-cut, and extended feature of Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Includes several commentaries, subtitles, audio options, etc.
- Disc 2: The documentary Dangerous Days: The Making of Blade Runner
2. Blade Runner 4 Disc Collector's Edition $24.49:
- Disc 1: Same as Disc 1 above
- Disc 2: Same as Disc 2 above
- Disc 3: Includes three more versions of the film: 1982 Original US Theatrical Version, 1982 International Version, 1992 Director's Cut
- Disc 4: Bonus Disc: "Enhancement Archive" - Tons of rare footage, deleted scenes, archives, etc.
3. Blade Runner 5 Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition $54.99:
- Discs 1 through 4: Same as above
- Disc 5: Workprint Version - Unlike any other cut of Blade Runner, includes commentary and featurette
- All this comes packaged in a limited numbered collector's "Deckard briefcase", along with some other cool collectible loot and including a signed letter from Sir Ridley
BLU-RAY:
4. Blade Runner 5 Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition $69.95:
- Everything in the standard def version, including the briefcase. All versions of the film in Blu-ray format 1080p res*
5. Blade Runner 5 Disc Complete Collector's Edition $27.95:
- All the disc content of the 5 disc sets, but no briefcase. All versions of the film in Blu-ray format 1080p res*
HD DVD:
6. Blade Runner 5 Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition $69.95:
- Everything in the standard def version, including the briefcase. All versions of the film in HD DVD format 1080p res*
7. Blade Runner 5 Disc Complete Collector's Edition $27.95:
- All the disc content of the 5 disc sets, but no briefcase. All versions of the film in HD DVD format 1080p res*
* Check out this article about these releases in both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Apparently, each version of the film is remastered in 1080p, but the bonus content like featurettes, interviews and documentaries will be in standard def.
For people without hi-def screens and players (Blu-ray or HD DVD), they'll have to fork out a lot more cash to have access to the workprint version on DVD, since that's only available in the "Ultimate" edition with Deckard's case for standard-def. Otherwise, any version of the hi-def formats have all the versions of the film, and all the bonus material.
So, that's a whopping FIVE versions of the actual film, if you include the workprint.
The theatrical release of BRTFC: Ever since the trailer came out almost two months ago, and the excitement surrounding the news, the chatter about the theatrical release seems to have settled down to almost nothing. It's all about what we'll be getting on DVD for the moment. I'm on the lookout for some dates on the theater run, which will hopefully precede the December 18th DVD releases by a good week or more... but I'm hoping for a couple of months before.
I've recently discovered the awesomeness going on at the Jedi-Masters Blog (as I browsed the articles for the holo story below), and a little up-close and personal with David Ankrum, voice talent for the character Wedge Antilles in A New Hope, over there. It's short but sweet. Adding Jedi-Masters to links...
Real holos are in the works, and there are plans to make this somehow work with cell phone hand sets. I dunno... it still looks a little bulky at this stage.
Japan will figure out somehow though, I'm sure.
Look for some footage and news in the next couple of days as the prop used as Luke's lightsaber (as opposed to the real one ;) in the original Star Wars makes it's journey from Skywalker Ranch to NASA 's Houston Space Center. As part of the 30th anniversary celebration, the original saber will be blasted off into outer space on the next flight of the space shuttle Discovery in October.
The journey begins August 28th (tomorrow!), and will include a full escort for the trip with Chewie, a troop of stormies, and more of our Star Wars friends who will usher the lightsaber over to the hands of NASA at a ceremony to be held at the Oakland International Airport.
KEWL!
Linkies:
Sci Fi Wire
TFN
Edit - Look for coverage by the official starwars.com blog, and on starwars.com tomorrow.
..and for the true space geek in you, check out NASA TV! Awesome live video from space.
__________________________________
Also... recent Battlestar Galactica news at FRAK
George Lucas speaks! I actually posted the highlights from this up-close and personal with George this spring, highlights which pertained mostly to his discussion of the new digital technology being developed for next-next gen gaming for Lucasarts. This was all a product of George's appearance at The Wall Street Journal's D: All things Digital annual tech and media conference for 2007.
*clicky* Now, that appearance is available to view in all it's glorious 54 minutes, as archived by the D website *clicky*.
George talks about much more than his recent digital revolution. This one is long but really, really, really, really worth the view. Heck, some of the other attendees of the conference are prolly worth a watch too (Jobs and Gates together for example), but I'm still busy absorbing George's words :)
BTW - This is some random internet cat and it ain't mine. If it were, my wookiee, Thunder, would've taken care of it long ago :p
After all, what would a proper fan blog be without random news?
~ This one really caught my mind's eye: What if David Lynch directed ROTJ? (Thanks TFN) There would have probably been more bunnies involved... and it would have been much, much weirder.
~ The true meaning(s) of the Force.
~ An inspiring tale of a fan, a camera, and a journey. We're next Neil, except I'll stay in Tunisia while you head up to Finland ;)
~ Everything the tech geek in you wanted to know about LFL/ILM, and then some (Thanks Club Jade). No, this article doesn't tell you how to build a real lightsaber :(
~ Anyone who has any interest in this has probably already read the chat with Sue Rostoni over at The EU Cantina, but I'll post it anyway. This is a second hand post thanks to Thrawn's Expanded Universe blog.
~ Natalie and Hayden are voted to have the worst on-screen chemistry (Thanks Google News and everyone else who already blogged this). Yup. It made me cringe too. I still wish I were in Natalie Portman's shoes, but not the black leather number - nor about half of her other costumes. Still cringing.
~ I've been meaning to get the TPB edition of the Star Wars: Legacy first story arc Broken, but truthfully I'm less interested in actually reading it than I am in the discussions surrounding canon issues (really, I am too chicken that someone is going to kill off Luke, Leia and Han somewhere along the line, and reveal it in Legacy). But since one of my all time favorites, Obi-Wan, is being featured in issue #16, I'll probably pick up just this single issue. The question of Krayt should be answered!
~ Ian Anthony Assembles a Galaxy in Toronto. More collectors should show off their lewt this way IMO.
Did all you starwars.com members check your email and take the survey?
That's all I got for now.
After reading a few other online reviews of the season finale of On the Lot, I'm feeling a little better about the whole ordeal. I really wanted to love this series. I wanted to believe it was rising above all other reality TV, if not primarily because it was a Spielberg project - then at least for the hope that it was a contest like we've never seen on TV before. And it was something near and dear to my heart: film-craft.
So I watched. I never really voted, since I caught most of the episodes posted on the (above linked) website after the voting was closed. But I voted in my mind... sort of. Some of the lingering thoughts I had throughout the duration were how the outcome of this process will translate in the real world - Could the winner of this show really succeed even under the wing of Spielberg?.., and that since Zach Lipovsky was obviously already the winner - how they were going to play out the events leading up to his win convincingly and stretch it out over multiple episodes. The other thought was that I wished the host, Adrianna Costa, could have also been voted off the show.
But Carrie Fisher's involvement is really what kept me coming back week after week. Maybe that's a no-brainer. The critiques from all of the judges and guest judges were invaluable to me. I also wanted to see how Zach's films were continuously miles in caliber above any of the other contestant's best work each week.
As each week went on, the show seemed to become more like what a friend of mine referred to as "American Idol for filmmaking", and I couldn't help but to agree even though I kept watching. It was an almost painful process to see this thing through to the end, especially for two major reasons - Zach was voted off several steps before the finals, and Jason Epperson came in second place. Every single film Jason created either bored me, embarrassed me (by the lack of craft being displayed for the world to see... and even worse - they voted for it!), and mostly offended me. I was also sad to see Adam get booted from the finals first.
Since the real judges of this show were supposedly the viewers, who could vote via the internet, text message, or call it in, one has to wonder how effective this kind of voting process is in determining who is worthy of a meeeellion dollar (Dr. Evil pronunciation) contract with Dream Works. To me, this seems about as random as winning the Pepsi Challenge from a bottle cap. Plus, internet voting wasn't even working for the finals. These thoughts actually comfort me considering the outcome of the contest.
Don't get me wrong. Will Bigham certainly seems a worthy winner. He seems talented, intelligent, and humble enough, and those watery puppy dog eyes certainly pull a song of sympathy from the heart strings. In my perfect world, Zach, Adam, and Will were the final three. Jason was voted off instantly with his disgrace to mentally handicapped people everywhere. Andrew, Phil, and Sam (well, Sam made it pretty far anyway) all made it to the second to last final round. Jess and Claudia got over themselves and actually made good films, since they really seemed to have the potential to do so (but maybe not under the contest conditions) and because it really would have been great to have a couple of females up there. In fact, Jess came in second place to Zach in my perfect world. In reality, she looked really pissed during the finals sitting there in the audience.
So I don't know who really voted for this thing, but I have the feeling Jason has a very large extended family and perhaps everyone in Kentucky (maybe they're all one big family) put in a call in vote for him - not because they liked his movies.
In the very end, the prize for the audience, or at least for me, was the glimpse of Steven Spielberg congratulating the winner (my prize for each episode was hearing primarily what Carrie had to say, but also the other judges) - and even that just didn't seem comfortable or right. Now my imagination is running wild filling in what really happened after the cameras cut while Steven and Will walked into the perfectly white balanced sunset of Spielberg Ranch. I also like to imagine how different the show would have been if the judges were the actual judges of the contest, along with other guest industry professionals.
As it turns out, mostly everyone who had anything to say about this show felt almost exactly the same as I. Some prime examples:
'On the Lot' goes out with a whimper by Daniel Fienberg
The foreign directors, the female directors, the minority directors and the few semi-experimental directors were weeded out by the halfway point. Instead, the contest came down to a group of young white men with unremarkable mainstream sensibilities.I agree with just about everything else Fienberg mentions except the crack at Carrie's cleavage.
Jason got off to an absolutely atrocious start with Getta Rhoom, possibly the season's worst project
no studio head in their right mind would (or should) hand any of them a million bucks based on this body of work.
in one of the most awkwardly staged moments in the history of television (or at least since Celine Dion did her duet with Zombie Elvis), Will hopped in a car and was taken to the DreamWorks lot, where he got to meet Spielberg, inconveniently on leave from Indiana Jones 4. Spielberg gave Will a big hug, claimed he loved all of his films and presented him with the key to his broom closet.
Somehow, Zach still should have won. Now, though, he won't need to wear the uneasy On the Lot Winner crown on his head for the rest of his career.
It's been painful in every nearly respect and I'm glad to finally be put out of my misery.
The part we didn't see is where Spielberg yanked the key back, called security, and had them forcefully escort Will off of Dreamwork's property.
Spielberg could be heard yelling, "Check out my IMDB page sometime. I've got more talent in my beard than you have in your entire body. America got it wrong."
Zach then pulled up in a second limousine, Spielberg handed him the key to the office, and nudged him toward a treasure chest filled with gold bullion.That behind the scenes didn't really happen, but it should have!
