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More Unanswered Movie Questions

Obi-Wan is stupid - "because his idea of “hiding” Luke from his father is to take Luke to the planet where Anakin used to live, to the very house he used to live in, to be cared for by Anakin’s stepfather’s son and his wife, and, as if that weren’t already akin to hanging a giant sign reading “Future Jedi Here,” to give Luke his father’s last name! Because “Skywalker” is such a common last name that nobody could possibly make the connection … if they’re complete morons. Would it have been so difficult to call him “Luke Lars?”"

Wired investigates further.

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7th Oct 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

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Tron-a-thon

I remember seeing Tron in 1982. It was alright. Clever, and Jeff Bridges was cool - but a bit boring (check out the original trailer). Let's just forget about Steven Lisberger's later films, especially Slipstream.

All that seems to have been erased by the geeks though, who hold it as some holy grail of greatness - so with Comic-con last week, some more details were unveiled about the upcoming sequel - now titled Tron Legacy - and the anticipation and hype is building quickly.

Here's some titbits:

- Daft Punk seem to be doing the soundtrack - and then may or may not be touring to support it.

- Kevin Flynn lives on at this 1990's style website, which appeared a couple of months ago and now hosts HD downloads of the new concept footage (embedded below) amongst other things.

- Flynn's arcade has been re-created, where you can play a load of 80's style games.

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28th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Dude 2.0

The Dude himself made a satellite appearance at the latest Lebowskifest, reporting live from the set of the Tron sequel.

I attended Lebowski Fest here in Seattle last night and it was great, man. The Dude made a special "satellite appearance", apologizing for not making it since he's up in Canada doing that whole Tron revival thing. I didn't watch my friends die face down in the muck to let this picture go unviewed, so I present it to you.

Calmer than you are,

Walter Sobchak

AICN has the full details.

 

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22nd Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Moviedrome

Caught myself reminiscing with someone recently about Alex Cox's excellent Moviedrome series from the late 80's / early 90's, where Cox would introduce a (usually rare) film, followed by a screening.

The Last Picture Show, Coogan's Bluff, Rumblefish, Rope / 84 Charlie Mopic (double bill!) and THX1138 were among some of the more main-stream US movies, while more obscure screenings like WeekendThe Spider's Stratagem (outstanding), Q The Winged Serpant, Vamp and Yojimbo provided otherwise unseen screenings.

It's hard to believe there was ever a time when you couldn't watch anything you want whenever you want to, never mind even further back (pre-VHS), when film makers like Coppola and Scorcese would have pulled all their knowledge from actual cinema screenings.

Check out an archive listing of what was screened here, and a list of DVD-available titles over at Lovefilm.

Alex Cox is also on YouTube. And I heard rumours of a Repo Man sequel, entitle Repo Chick.

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21st Jul 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Salinger Catches Catcher Sequel

JD's not too happy about an upcoming Catcher In The Rye sequel

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2nd Jun 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Trailer Park: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Werner Herzog + Nic Cage + Abel Ferrara - Harvey Keitel = Crazy bones.

Trailer up for Werner's re-imagining/sequel - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

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28th May 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Michel Gondry 2: More Videos (Before and After DVD 1)

Michel Gondry's offering a dvd sequel to his Director's collection: cunningly called Michel Gondry 2: More Videos (Before and After DVD 1) - it's available online on his site, and is stuffed full w more Bjork, Beck, Radiohead etc etc - and also YouTube curios like Michel Gondry Solves A RUBIK'S CUBE With His Feet. Best of all though, you can also get him to do a portrait of you if you send in a pic (and $19.95)

 

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15th Apr 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Trailer Park: S. Darko

I forgot all about this Donnie Darko sequel being lined up - and now there's a trailer. Looks like straight-to-video fayre, but a damn site more promising than Southland Tales.

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25th Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Trailer Park: Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian

always prefer sequels where they don't put 2 in the title. even if if does take longer to type it all out...  

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6th Jan 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Godfather - The Sequel?

this guy might be on to something

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11th Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Ripley + Ridley - Alien = ?

 are Sigourney Weaver and Ridley Scott really up for an Alien-less Alien 5?

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6th Dec 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Quantum Of Solace

(dir. Marc Foster)

MGM

Daniel Craig puts in another granite-hard turn as the noughties 007 in this Casino Royale sequel.

As in his first mission, he's a good combination of all the best Bonds - the punch-first toughness of Connery, the occasional quip from Moore and the physical presence of Brosnan. The scenes with Judi Dench's M bristle, new Bond girl Olga Kurylenko does a good job of breaking through Bond's post-Vesper grief and French actor Mathieu Amalric makes a decent mwah-ha-ha villain for Bond to chase around the world.

But - and it's a big but - it's a film that's totally let down by the action direction. From the opening sequence, to the fights, speedboats chases etc it's a mess - you can't see what's happening, and so it's impossible to be impressed or to care, or even get that excited. There's nothing to match the visceral thrill of CR's parkour chase here - although you get the feeling that any of the action scenes could have measured up if they'd just let one camera linger on what was happening for longer than a second. There's one fight which pretty much cuts to another angle after every punch - a bewildering, disorientating tactic, which leaves you with the impression of some hard-ass kicking going on, but no real sense of the flow of anything. 

The so-so theme from Jack White and Alicia Keys just about sums it all up really: it's close, but really misses the essence of what made Craig's first go such a treat. Would like to see him have another go, because this would be a lame way to leave it.

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9th Nov 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

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Boondock Saints: The Early Years

The original might have been shoddy enough to warrant a documentary about it's uber-confident director Troy Duffy, but Boondock Saints has somehow got a sequel in the works. Details over at Variety.

Details also coming in of Universal Soldier 3, even though there have already been 4 or more in that franchise.

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7th Nov 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Undeclared

(creator Judd Apatow)

Undeclared follows the lives of a group of freshman students at a fictional US University. While not exactly a sequel to the excellent Freaks & Geeks, this comedy drama is a something of a logical follow up - featuring some of the same actors, in similar roles, with the high school setting upgraded to a freshman University dorm. The most notable difference is the contemporary setting, as opposed to the retro 70's of Freaks & Geeks.

Judd Apatow moves up from the exec producer role he took on Freaks & Geeks into the fully-fledged Series Creator seat here, and the series he created turned out to be something of a training ground for many of his regulars - with the young Seth Rogan serving as a writer and story editor on much of the show and Jason Segel taking a major role. A pink-eye free Jay Baruchel puts in sympathetic performance as Steven, tentatively finding his way through college, as well as dealing with a parental break-up - while the cameos come thick and fast from the likes of Adam Sandler (as an asshole version of himself), Will Ferrell (as a temperamental essay forger) and even Ben Stiller. Loudon Wainwright also puts in a recurring performance as Steven's father.

College rights-of-passage could be considered dangerous ground and I would imagine it's the kind of thing BBC3 could fuck-up beyond all recognition. Storylines here cover many of the standard University plots, but that also provides the main reason for the show's success. You'll be able to relate to the underage drinking, the friend-making process, the sexually successful roommate, the cool kids/geeky kids divide and the driving around town with the one guy with a car in search of a party you're not really invited to. As this show finds its feet there is a natural feel to much of the dialogue and the humor is well-timed, comical, contemporary and believable, much like The Office or Spaced, and effortless performances from many of the lead roles really fill out the characters, making for an eminently watchable show.

Unfortunately, like its predecessor, this one bit the dust after the fickle US market failed to recognise its brilliance...

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7th Nov 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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Still Unbreakable

No doubt inspired by the woeful performance of his recent offerings, culminating in the dire-looking The Happening, over-rated wunderkind M. Night Shyamalan is mulling a sequel to his one good film - 2000's Unbreakable, which featured Bruce Willis in a comic-book tale of superpowers.

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10th Oct 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Okkervil River

The Stand Ins

Jagjaguwar

Okkervil River are fast becoming the only band you need. Following last year's stunning album The Stage Names, Will Sheff gives us its sequel - The Stand Ins. It's the band's Amnesiac with the recording sessions for The Stage Names bearing so much fruit that a double album was momentarily considered. Thankfully they bit their tongue and kept us waiting and as much of a treat as The Stage Names was, emerging from the melancholy of Black Sheep Boy with such confidence and grandeur, The Stand Ins swift release simply serves as yet another underlining of the word 'special' when describing this band.

Artist WIlliam Schaff's embroidered artwork that adorned The Stage Names here depicts a haunting skeletal figure with an arm reaching up and out of sight. At the end of this arm is the hand that emerges from the quicksand on the previous cover and lets us know that The Stand Ins aims to be a deeper immersion into the theme of show biz that plagued Sheff's writing earlier. It's the underneath of The Stage Names, it's what goes on behind the scenes and it ain't a pretty picture.

With his cross hairs firmly trained on the world of stage and screen recently, it's the business surrounding good ol' rock n roll that Sheff has it in for here and he treads a strange and complicated line of using the very medium in question to draw our attention to its pitfalls and failings. Lead single Lost Coastlines introduces us to the journey that every band faces and the distance this ship can take you from your starting point. It describes the joys and hardships faced when trying to keep a band together, and ironically, he does this with the help of his old band mate Jonathan Meiburg who, as you all will know, recently left Okkervil River to concentrate on Shearwater. Pop Lie is a scathing attack on the dishonesty of pop music and the manipulation that is used to gather in the fans. He doesn't stop there, and goes on to accuse the fans themselves of lying in the act of singing along. Is he separating himself and his writing from this deceit or telling us, his fans, that we are all a bunch of liars ourselves? Within this doubt lies the success of these songs.

Quite often Sheff places himself on the other side of the limelight, questioning the sanity of adoration. In Starry Stairs, Sheff assumes the supporting role watching the object of his affection being stared at by "these curious sets of eyes" while his heart is stretched to its elastic limit. Similarly in Blue Tulip, Sheff's amorous goals are kept at bay and, downtrodden and beaten, he graciously exclaims "Hats off to my distant hope, I'm held back by a velvet rope." This velvet rope becomes the main theme of Sheff's writing at the moment, standing in for something or someone that keeps us from our truth or our natural home.

Musically Sheff's bow is becoming multi stringed in the most thrilling of progressions. The energetic leap from Black Sheep Boy to The Stage Names was stunning and is continued here. This album follows a similar structure putting it's mightiest songs forward to lead the charge with the more contemplative foot-soldiers following close behind, plotting every step. Lost Highways is the sparing partner to The Stage Names' Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Is It with the jauntiest of basslines rolling unashamedly throughout with Meiburg's croon adding rich texture. The vocals on Singer Songwriter ooze out with a forked tongue as we hear of the musicians who bitch about their woe's when they have everything, while Blue Tulip reluctantly builds to its climax by way of heavy, plodding beats, wailing vocals and an eventual outpouring of the grittiest guitar. As Sheff describes his "distant hope" that is getting ever further away from him the cymbals crash around his words like exploding stars. He portrays a desire of celestial proportions and through the musical magnitude we see his hope collapse like a universe in the final stages of disappearing into itself.

This band may have evolved in the most colossal way since its beginnings but the key facts remain firmly intact. Sheff's direction and obsessive attention to detail make his work endlessly listenable and his courage and forward thinking that led his band out of the type of songwriting that made their name has given rise to this inability to stop creating. The only reason for this album to fall slightly short of its predecessor is that the distance covered between albums hasn't been as jaw-dropping but it seems hardly fair to penalize one creation for being merely as brilliant as the previous one.

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6th Oct 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

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The Dark Knight

(dir. Christopher Nolan)

Harrowing. Searching. Compelling. If only Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight stopped there we could have possibly emerged from the Greater Union cineplex on Sydney’s George Street unscathed.

But Nolan wields his artform masterfully and knows his audience only too well - even when we don’t ask for more, he knows we want more and he delivers.

To watch Dark Knight is to undergo a cinematic interrogation. And it’s unsettling from the outset to confront not just the many questions Nolan is asking – good vs evil, right vs might, ambition vs reality and the many vs the few – but also the way in which he is asking them.

From the gritty opening frames of a bank heist you get the feeling Nolan has jumped into the trench right alongside you and that’s a pretty ballsy statement of claim from the guy who knocked out the flawless Batman Begins. Blockbuster sequels too often become cinematic comfort food. Nolan could have gotten away here with dishing up more of the same and most of us would have still come away pretty happy... y’know, a bit of moody darkness against the backdrop of some dazzling special effects, a couple of explosions and the odd menacing baddie... anything that erodes the travesty of Michael Keaton’s vaudevillian portrayal of Batman.

Instead, like so many of the characters in this film Nolan has turned his back on the easy option. The results are mind blowing and along the way he has produced a film every member of an entire generation wishes they could have made.

Believe the hype, Heath Ledger’s Joker will go down in history as one of the greatest silver screen performances and it’s almost a subconscious reflection of one of this film’s powerful recurring themes, the many vs the few, given the richness of the cast. Nonetheless it’s rare to see an entire cast come so totally to grips with a screenplay and deliver it in unison. Ledger, Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Nuff said.

It’s almost as if Nolan and his gang realised early on just how potent a brew they had on their hands. As this flick tears through its paces they start to pull off tricks, twists and turns simply because they can. And it works. When Batman swoops to deliver swift justice to a Chinese fugitive in Hong Kong, it’s Caesar Pelli’s 88-storey IFC that looks as if it was created as a prop for this flick and not as the most astounding skyscraper in a city of astounding skyscrapers.

Treading through the many reviews (this one included) that have emerged in the whitewater of Dark Knight’s release around the world one thing becomes clear – words alone are simply not enough to describe what occurs during a tumultuous two and half hours on screen. In any event, anyone who has seen it will be deeply affected in one way or another. Do yourself a favour and waste no more time trying to decipher what they’re trying to tell you. Pad up, get yer helmets on and get yourself a good seat.

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17th Jul 2008 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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My Morning Jacket

It Still Moves / Acoustic Citsouca / Z / Okonokos

ATO records

Following their seperation from major label backer Sony BMG, Dave Matthews' ATO records have taken the opportunity to re-release their exisiting My Morning Jacket catalogue, which not entirely by coincidence ties-in with the release of the latest MMJ record Evil Urges, due next week.

It Still Moves - 2003 - 4 Stars
It Still Moves was considered the major label debut for the band after the success of The Tennesse Fire and At Dawn. As an album it's not particulalry cohesive, but it plays out nicely as a collection of great songs - and is a logical major label sequel to the home-grown efforts of the earlier records. The record provides little evolution from those records, but it magnificently showcases everything that there is to like about the band, from the opener Magheeta, through the rolling guitars of Golden or Just One Thing to the pounding rock of Steam Engine.

While many of its charming songs have since been overshadowed by the tightly honed follow up Z, It Still Moves provides for a great listen and is home to many of MMJ's staple live songs like Run Thru and Golden - plus the epic One Big Holiday, which is nothing short of spectacular.

Acoustic Citsuoca Live! At The Startime Pavilion - 2004 - 3.5 Stars
The band bridged the gap between major releases with this 5 track 'acoustic' EP, which is actually less live than it implies - as the "Startime Pavillion" show mentioned never actually occured. The EP was recorded over three nights in Austin, but none the less provides a magical document of the bands shows - particularly Jim James' solo acoustic shows. James' haunting voice dominates the release on highlights like Golden and Bermuda Highway, but the gem here has got to be the unbeatable version of The Bear, from album The Tennessee Fire. The song has a magnificent slow-building power at the best of times, but here it showcases James' vocal talents, unquestionable power and passion as a performer, building to a spine-tingling frenzied finale.

Z - 2005 - 5 Stars
Things stepped up a gear with Z, where the band moving away from the self-produced template of their previous efforts, handing over production duties to John Leckie (The Stone Roses, The Verve, Radiohead). It's a move that paid off hugely, with Leckie tightening the band's sound to the point of breaking. The sprawl of previous releases is trimmed to perfection, while every song is well-honed and muscular, with highlights ranging from the note perfecd electronics of It Beats 4U through the long rocker Lay Low to the powerful finale of Dondante. Eclipsing much of the bands previous work, this album moved them up to another level, bringing in new sounds and ideas while retaining all of their inherant qualities. Brilliant. Read our original revew here.

Okonokos - 2006 - 3 Stars
Following the release of Z, My Morning Jacket embarked on an epic tour, which did eventually land in London - but not before this two night residency at the legendary Fillmore in San Franciso. This live record documents the tour and was released with an accompanying DVD. While live albums can often be a little disappointing, this one rounds up everything that is good about the band and serves almost as a live greatest hits - covering 8 of the 10 songs from Z as well as numerous beefed-up renditions from their extensive back catlogue. Without seeing this unmissable live band in the flesh, this is about as close to the experience as you are going to get. Read our original revew here.

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3rd Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

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Donnie Darker

It seems that a sequel is in the works to Donnie Darko. S. Darko follows Donnie's sister Samantha on a road trip across America. The original barely held together, so some pretty substantial super-glue's going to be needed for this one....

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12th May 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Ashes To More Ashes

80s Life On Mars sequel Ashes To Ashes is getting another series, in case you thought everything might be wrapped up tonight...

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27th Mar 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

I know it was you Fredo

Team Chimpomatic has booked up for our 2008 snow season extravaganza - this time we're hitting Fredo Corleone's final resting place, Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border.

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15th Feb 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Vanilla Gorilla

no trailers up yet for this *cough* heartwarming 2009 Pierce Brosnan flick about an albino gorilla plotting a zoo escape via sign language w a young girl... hope there's a Phiippines-based sequel so we can have Vanilla Gorilla Goes Manila

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7th Feb 2008 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Cat Power

Jukebox

Matador Records

Following her recent mainstream success with The Greatest and her rollicking cover of Stuck Inside of Mobile on last year's I'm Not There soundtrack, Chan Marshall AKA Cat Power returns with a whole album of covers - something of a sequel to 2000's aptly titled The Covers Record.

This swirling unfocussed blur of technically prefect renditions ranges from the bonifide classics like New York, New York through Hank WIlliams' Rambling (Wo)man, Dylan's christian-era I Believe In You and even including a re-working of her own Metal Heart from the album Moon Pix. The backing band pulls together another list of legendary performers - including Spooner Oldham, Teenie Hodges and Larry McDonald, as well as more contempaorary players like Matt Sweeney and Jim White.

With Cat Power's appeal seemingly moving beyond music and into fashion and celebrity it all feels a bit like an indie version of X-Factor. Like someone at the Karaoke bar with a bit of talent, it's impressive but not as fun or impassioned as a group singalong to Freebird ...and certainly doesn't fulfill the promise of hear earlier records, or the power and subtlty of songs like Cross Bones Style. WIth the low-key ethic of earlier albums like You Are Free polished away into oblivion, Chan Marshall could well be heading towards a 200 night stint in Vegas, especially now that Celine Dion has called it a day.

Marshall often adds her own lyrics to covers - as Dylan would do and even Led Zeppelin would to to Dylan with In My Time Of Dying. While this can inject a more interesting twist, it only highlights what's wrong with this record. While covers have always been an integral part of Cat Power's repertoire - and undeniably part of her live presence - it's the original material that works best here. With Song For Bobby, she tells of meeting long-time idol Bob Dylan and it's that personal touch that gives the song something more than just being an interesting rendition.

Seeming little more than a minor diversion as Chan runs for President, this album might just tide you over until she gets back to the main event.

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30th Jan 2008 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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Motron

There's been talk of a Tron sequel for a while and now The Dude himself has chipped in. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the original, but hindsight has certainly given it some kudos and a sequel could be good...

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15th Nov 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Kylie Who

Kylie's going to be in this year's Doctor Who special, Voyage Of The Damned, which looks like it's going to have something to do with the Titanic crashing into the Tardis. Also, Keeley Hawes is going to be replacing John Simm in the Life On Mars sequel, Ashes To Ashes, set in the 1980s

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3rd Jul 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Happy Mondays

Unkle Dysfunktional

Sequel

Generally pointless and pretty disappointing entry in the Mondays' CV. Sounds pretty much as you'd expect, rambling lyrics from Shaun Ryder that no longer sound inspired, less-than-great beats, daft titles like Angels And Whores, Cuntry Disco, Anti Warhole On The Dancefloor etc

Occasional flashes of what was once a great band; dig out Freaky Dancing if you want to remember them as they should be remembered. Should be enough to put anyone off the idea of the Stone Roses getting back together

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13th Jun 2007 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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The Dark Knight Begins

Two new teaser sites up for next summer's Batman Begins sequel The Dark Night. One with the new logo, and a second promoting future two-faced DA Harvey Dent.

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17th May 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Day Watch

stuff! happening! a! lot! crunchy trailer up for Day Watch - the sequel to the pretty out-there Russian sci-fi fantasy Night Watch

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27th Mar 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Old School News

The Old School sequel is still in the works - working title Old School Dos. We're streaking through the quad!!!!

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19th Feb 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Genius!

After 2 Turkey dinners, 460 miles of driving and a new all time Little Chef low I'm back in the Big Smoke. Some good news to kick off with comes from the reliably entertaining Val Kilmer, recently seen reliably entertaining us in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

He's talking sequels for 80's classic Real Genius, a great film which is surprisingly only a year older than Top Gun - and which incidentaly featured a small role for the Lord of Dogtown, Stacy Peralta.


Links

I am dangerous.

Tags

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27th Dec 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Wargames 2

don't think matthew broderick is on board, but apparently they're lining up a sequel to 80s hacker classic war games

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12th Sep 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Lost Girls

sadly not a sequel to Kiefer's first great moment, but a new graphic novel from the master, Alan Moore


Links

lost
moore onion chat

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14th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

More Vice

While the once 'gritty' and 'realistic' TV pilot recently fell apart during a 6pm ITV4 screening, the upcoming movie version of Miami Vice is getting good reviews and is out stateside tomorrow (August 4th in the UK).

The website has been updated with new clips and stuff - including an 'over 18's' section (which non-US readers will struggle to infiltrate). The movie looks great and for me this is looking like the first movie to be making the most of shooting on HD video, after the dry run of Michael Mann's own Collateral.

There's already talk of sequel(s) "if the numbers come in", although Mann's never done a sequel before. Not as if that stopped Red Dragon/Brian Cox, who'd previously said the same thing...

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27th Jul 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men's Chest

(dir. Gore Verbinski)

another enjoyable high seas romp for cap'n jack sparrow, keira knightley and orlando bloom. pirates of the caribbean: dead men's chest is basically one long action scene. it's relentlessly noisy, clocks in at what feels like a good 2 and a half hours, but still manages to be fun, in a proper all-round entertainment kind of way. it's not dark, or clever or twisty, just pretty unpretentious summer blockbuster fare.

the first one was a v pleasant surprise for me: as much as i love the whole aaaaaarrrr vibe of pirates, there haven't been too many great pirate films recently, so i wasn't holding out much hope for it being any good. even though it's probably my favourite disney ride. so here, i had quite high expectations, and they were mostly met. doesn't have that law of diminishing returns you get w most sequels as such, but it is more of the same, without adding too much new stuff to the mix.

in a way they're setting it up as a star wars style trilogy, yes, it's staaaaaaaarrrr wars:

first film that reinvents a genre and is surprisingly good? check

anti hero who loves his ship? han solo + millenium falcon = jack sparrow and the black pearl

second part that does more of the same, shows more cantina-style monsters and extends the mythology? check

unresolved father issues? check

love triangle featuring feisty princess, rogue don't give a shit buccanneer and a slightly wooden pretty boy who's quite handy w a sword? check

etc.

bill nighy's lots of fun as the squid-faced davy jones, there's some big monster action, sneaky pirating and general double-crossing, some fun triple-sword showdowns and more comedy sidekick moments from mackenzie "gareth in the office" crook. plus there's a bit right at the end. apparently. i left too soon… aaaarrrrrrggghhh

not a classic, but really good fun if you liked the first one. just a bit too long and noisy. part 2 is definitely happening, hope it's not too return of the jedi-like. and be great if they get keith richards to show up…

#Film
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28th Jun 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

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george strikes back again

yes, guess which one's the cover of the new old prequel sequels dvd releases?


Links

return of the dvd

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18th May 2006 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Election

(dir. Johnny To)

Slow-boiling Hong Kong thriller about two candidates competing to be the new head of a triad society. Simon Yam's the more businesslike of the two; Tony Leung Ka Fai's the flashy gangster prepared to split the crime family up if the "uncles" won't put him in charge.

Unusually for a Hong Kong triad thriller, Johnny To concentrates on the political behind-the-scenes arguments rather than the bloodthirsty shootouts - they're still there, but this is a much more talky affair than you might expect.

With the two splitting the family, the old boys decide to retrieve the triad's symbolic dragon head totem from its hiding place over the border in China - whoever's got it is in charge.

Some great scenes where the cops have chucked everyone in jail together, and told them to sort out the dispute, a cold twist towards the end (setting up the sequel) and a nice sense of style make up for some of the scenes where you're not quite sure who's trying to run over who on who's behalf. It's also apparently the first time actual triad rituals have been shown on film. Bit like the masons, with more joss stick and less stupid trouser action. Great theme music too.

Johnny To's likely to be the next HK director to break through in the west - films like Running On Karma and PTU have been big hits in Asia - Election won Best Film at the HK Film Awards this year, and the sequel's already out and doing well in HK.

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16th May 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

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Mission Impossible III

(dir. JJ Abrams)

Ethan Hunt's back in action, and yes, this time it's personal…

Put aside all the Tom Cruise celebratology crapola and this is a pretty proficient sequel. Lots of noisy action, a fairly decent plot (though nothing especially new), some ok lines and more rounded roles for the non-Tom members of the cast - it's a pretty fun summer action blowout.

For once they've remembered that he's supposed to be part of a team, so you get Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhy Myers and Maggie Q out in the field with him; Laurence Fishburne doing the "what's he up to now?" bits back at HQ; and an entertaining cameo from Simon Pegg as the tech boffin (very similar to the Marshall role in JJ Abrams' first TV hit Alias). This time IMF are all trying to take down convincing bad dude Philip Seymour Hoffman (could have done with more from him - he chows down on every scene he's in with relish).

Abrams has put a lot in that works here - a good macguffin in the "rabbit's foot" that PSH's after, the odd witty line, some "how are they going to get out of that?" moments and lots of costume changes - but having loved the first few series of Alias, and still enjoying Lost, I could have done with a little more out-there stuff from him than having Hunt make the classic spy mistake of getting serious with his girlfriend and then having to deal with "trust issues" when his work keeps sending him away. Kind of feels like JJ's reigned it in a bit for the studios. That said, it's not boring or confusing (which M:i II was for me), so hopefully he'll get to make something a bit less generic after this one rakes in all the bucks it's sure to rake.

Giving it 3 as it delivers more than you'd expect if you thought it was going to suck, but less if you thought it was going to be great.

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3rd May 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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OS2

Good news people, chimp75 favourite Old School is set to get the sequel treatment. If you still haven't got this decade's Big Lewboswki yet, pick it up in the Virgin sale for £3.99.


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5th Jan 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Aviator

(dir. Martin Scorcese)

I didn't have a huge desire to see this film, as I'm not a particularly big DiCaprio fan. However, I kept hearing that it was good so stuck it on the rental list and am glad that I did.

I previously knew absolutely nothing about Howard Hughes - other than the fact he had been involved in filmmaking. This story charts the first half of his life - taking us through all the eclectic events of these years, from his massive expenditure pursuing his love of aviation and movies, a brief tip of the hat to his development of a new type of bra, his relationships with his leading ladies and most interestingly his struggle with inner demons and paranoia.

The casting and acting throughout are superb. DiCaprio is excellent, as is Cate Blanchet as Katherine Hepburn. But the supporting cast all add something to the film - Jude Law makes a brief appearance as Errol Flynn and Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow.

The visual style of the film is big, in the same way that Hughes approached all his projects. Scorsese presents a very grand scope for everything and the (presumably cgi) moments with DiCaprio making the virgin flights of new aircraft are breathtaking. In contrast, the depiction of his mental health problems is also eloquently done as Hughes encamps in his private cinema.

This film is long and only covers the first half of Howard Hughes life, so presumably there is room for a sequel. The acting, directing and cinematography all add up to make this well worth watching.

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12th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

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Batman Begins

(dir. Christopher Nolan)

As a lifelong Batman fan it's pretty much a given that you're setting yourself up for disappointment by getting excited about the prospect of a new film actually being any good. when the first michael keaton one finally came out (after being announced, oh, about 10 years before it did) i was kind of into it, but the more i went back to it, the more holes appeared and the more i thought "hang on, this just isn't the so-called dark vision that we'd been promised." basically it ended up being the first point at which i started to get annoyed with tim burton's sub-goth meanderings. anyhow. that's another point. quite liked the second one, thought val kilmer and george clooney totally sucked (obviously)...

so with that in mind, i was still kind of holding out for this one to be good - aranofsky sounded like a promising director, but actually i was happier with the idea of christopher nolan - loved memento, really enjoyed insomnia, and thought he was probably someone who would get it right. wasn't too sure about christian bale, but was happy to reserve judgement as he hasn't made too many real duffers.

in a bat-shell: it's as good as it looks in the trailers.

it sets up the bruce wayne mythology elegantly, without resorting to mindlessly mucking around with the established storyline too much: joe chill kills martha and thomas wayne (rather than the joker), young bruce is brought up by alfred (michael caine, remembering he can act).

his wilderness years are handled nicely - throwing himself into the criminal underworld to try and understand where they're coming from, then winding up training with the ninja-like league of shadows lead by the mysterious ra's al ghul. (ok, they're called the league of assassins in the comics, but never mind.)

don't want to get too much into the plot beyond that, as it unfolds in a really satisfactory way that seems to have avoided coming out in spoilers so far, so here's a brief list of other stuff that worked:

the batmobile. an urban tank that rocks.

the batcave. suitably low-tech - it actually is a cave, complete with lots of bats, water pouring down, mud, etc.

christian bale: seems like the right age to be suitably traumatised into thinking dressing up like a bat to fight crime might actually be a good idea. is a way more convincing bruce wayne than any of the other screen versions. also it feels like he's growing into batman, putting on a lower, more growly voice when he's got the costume on etc.

gary oldman. really looks like the jim aparo/ dick giordano version of jim gordon, and here he's a street cop too, so hopefully they'll work up the relationship between him and batman in the sequels (chimp75's got an inside source who says they're all signed up for 2 more...)

the scarecrow. a much less-obvious villain for batman's debut - not so well known, and also fits in with the overall "fight your fears" theme.

the city. actually looks like a living city, rather than some blue screen exercise/studio set. sort of a cross between new york and hk.

wayne enterprises. nicely handled boardroom b-plot.

the effects. very little overt CGI - none of that spiderman stuff where he looks like a computer game everytime he jumps around the city.

katie holmes. always a bonus.

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4th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

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Before Sunset

still a sucker for richard linklater's before sunrise... can the sequel live up to it? apparently they're thinking of getting ethan and julie to bump into each other every ten years or so... but won't they run out of sun-related times for the titles? before noon is not really going to do it. nice bit in the trailer where he's like "why don't you just give me your phone number?"


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6th May 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

Waking Life

(dir. Richard Linklater)

Way back before Dubya tarred it's good name, Texas was occasionally a cool place. The Butthole Surfers, ZZ Top (pre-Mtv) and Richard Linklater all herald from the Lone Star State. Richard Linklater has already made his ode to Texas in Dazed and Confused, and the success of that led to bigger things (The Newton Boys), then due to a lack of success, smaller things again.

In 2001 he kicked out two low-budget movies. First came 3-actor-shot-on-DV movie Tape, which was pretty good, then this film ñ Waking Life. Shot on DV, then animated over the top, the movie features many of Linklaters previous stars including Wiley Wiggins, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delphy and Nicky Katt ñ as well as a nice cameo by Stephen Prince, re-telling his Gas Station story from American Boy.

It is more like a series of scetches and scenes, strung together through technique and the meandering, philosophising thoughts of the main character (Wiggins) as he tries to deal with his dreams. It makes for interesting viewing, but like many of Linklaterís movies it never quite hit the right note for me. Hopefully heís in form with School of Rock, because after that heís got a sequel to Before Sunrise coming outÖ and thatís bound to be another love/hate sitaution.

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29th Oct 2003 - Add Comment - Tweet

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