25 responses so far ↓

• 1 Amy H. Sturgis // Jan 4, 2008 at 10:46 am

  Good question! I’m taking a “wait and see” attitude toward the Hobbit films, as most of the concerns I expressed here still stand. It will be interesting - and, in a perverse way perhaps, fun - to see how things unfold.

• 2 reyhan // Jan 4, 2008 at 1:42 pm

  Matthew,

  There are two movies called Avatar which are in the works.

  One is by Fox / James Cameron, and features a 10 ft high bio-mechanical entity controlled by the brain waves of a paralyzed Sam Worthington on a planet where the resident species is at war with visitors from Earth.

  The other is by Paramount / M. Night Shyamalan, and is based on the animated children’s tv series Avatar: the Last Airbender by DiMartino and Konietzko.

  The tv series is one of my current loves (the only show I watch, aside from hockey) and has many similarities to the Harry Potter series: a 12 year old boy tasked by destiny with a seemingly overwhelming task - to bring balance to a world ravaged by a power-hungry tyrant; the mastery of an arcane skill (bending the four elements of air, fire, earth, and water); the importance of friendship and loyalty. In his quest to master the four elements, Aang, the Last Airbender, is mentored by a series of masters who are at least as colorful as the professors at Hogwarts, including my favorite, Uncle Iroh (aka the Dragon of the West) who is another take on Dumbledore. Here is a link to a fan-generated “movie” consisting of clips from the show, if you’re interested.

  http://www.livevideo.com/video/2DCD3EA2266547EEA5CE13523AD8BF8B/avatar-movie-trailer.aspx

  Anyways, I can only hope that Shyamalan can capture on screen the essence and details of what makes Avatar: the Last Airbender work on television. A trilogy is projected, and Paramount and Fox are duking it out even as we speak about who gets to call which what.

• 3 BenS // Jan 4, 2008 at 1:57 pm

  Personally, I can’t wait for The Dark Knight. It should be awesome!

• 4 reyhan // Jan 4, 2008 at 2:22 pm

  The prospect of seeing Heath Ledger as the Joker is an interesting one, I will admit.

• 5 Dave the Longwinded // Jan 5, 2008 at 5:59 pm

  The recent trailers focusing on Ledger as Joker are really good. I’m psyched about that film, as I am intrigued by Cloverfield. From what I’ve seen, I’m kind of reminded of Cthulhu by it — large, terrible, spaceborn monster terrorizing mankind.

• 6 Dave the Longwinded // Jan 5, 2008 at 6:12 pm

  And, there’s an article on IGN with some comments from Guillermo del Toro in which he talks about potentially directing DH. Check it out here.

• 7 reyhan // Jan 6, 2008 at 5:12 pm

  Thanks for the link, Dave. This is the crucial bit:

  ‘The director’s name has already been mentioned for the last hurrah of the bespectacled boy-wizard, and he did nothing to quash speculation by saying he was “definitely interested” in the project and that he enjoys the darker tone of the recent movies, saying “after Alfonso Cuaron directed Prisoner of Azkaban, the movies have evolved greatly into a very nice universe to play at (in).” He also said how Dickensian he feels the Harry Potter series is, and said the last line of Deathly Hallows was a “beautiful, subdued way” to end the book.’

  How can you go wrong with a director who actually reads the books, has a feeling for them, and seems to understand them?

• 8 reyhan // Jan 6, 2008 at 5:39 pm

  Dave,

  About Cloverfield.

  I saw a trailer. It looked like Blair Witch meets The Planet of the Apes (re: the head of the Statue of Liberty). Wikipedia says:

  ‘The film was edited to look like it was filmed with one hand-held camera, including jump cuts similar to ones found in home movies. Director Matt Reeves described the presentation, “We wanted this to be as if someone found a Handicam, took out the tape and put it in the player to watch it. What you’re watching is a home movie that then turns into something else.”‘

  I’m not a fan of the hand-held camera effects, personally, especially the part where the camera jogs up and down and you can only see bits of what’s happening.

  Did you like Blair Witch?

• 9 Dave the Longwinded // Jan 7, 2008 at 10:03 am

  I didn’t like Blair Witch, but not because of the hand-held camera thing. I just didn’t think it was all that scary. I thought some of the marketing/promotional stuff were a lot better than the film.

• 10 reyhan // Jan 9, 2008 at 11:32 am

  I see that HBP is the clear winner for the most anticipated movie at 50%.

  Being a contrarian by nature, I want to say that it is also my most dreaded movie. There are several things that I fear: that Gambon will give a reading which works for him but is far removed from how I see Dumbledore; that Radcliffe will not be able to convince us that he’s not acting, especially in the key scenes with Jim Broadbent and (double whammy) Gambon; and that Radcliffe will not have a sudden growth spurt which will put him within six inches of Watson, Grint, and especially Matthew Lewis. I know this is very shallow of me, and it’s what’s inside that counts, but Harry’s lack of tallness (to misquote Stuart Little’s mom) is becoming distracting to me.

  To put things in perspective though, I don’t care that much about how height-challenged Radcliffe remains, or if his performance remains at it’s current ok-but-not-great level. I just can’t stand the idea of the scene on the Astronomy tower being ruined by Gambon’s (mis)take on Dumbledore.

• 11 revgeorge // Jan 10, 2008 at 12:26 am

  I think Gambon will be even worse in HBP, but I kind of expect that. The thing that bothers me about the movie adaptations is the short shrift they’ve really given to the character of Snape. So, in the HBP & DH movies the big importance of Snape will just come out of nowhere. It’ll be even worse than the Harry/Ginny romance I talked about earlier.

  It’s sad because Rickman was so wonderfully cast & yet so woefully underused in the films, even being used as comic relief.

• 12 Travis Prinzi // Jan 10, 2008 at 12:34 am

  The movies haven’t even highlighted Severus’s role as a spy, have they?

• 13 revgeorge // Jan 10, 2008 at 12:45 am

  No, now that you mention it, Travis, I don’t think they have at all ever mentioned his role as spy. They had a few shots in GOF of Karkaroff showing his arm to Snape, but at the end after LV comes back nothing is said about Snape going back to spying. I don’t think in OOTP that he’s even referenced as being in the Order of the Phoenix. And the worst memory scene was cut off before Lily came in. So, I’m not sure how they’re going to work all this back in. I just think it’s all going to seem so contrived.

• 14 reyhan // Jan 10, 2008 at 11:57 am

  I think that the movies need to be considered “stand-alone”, much more so than the books. From that perspective, each movie has to somehow expound its backstory - and then carry on with the story it has to tell. A good script-writer can do that, and do it effectivel, even compellingly. Think of the scene in OotP during the battle at the Ministry when Black tells Harry: “Good one, James!”. A lot of information about three characters and their relationship to one another is given in three words!

  Think also of the fact that until HBP, Snape’s allegiance wasn’t that big an issue for the readership. We had our suspicions and debates, but what brought it front and centre were the opening scene and the Astronomy Tower scenes. I think that correspondingly, the HBP movie will have enough room to bring the issue to the forefront. I think the more important issue will be whether the script-writer and director consider the Snape sub-plot important enough to focus on.

  The same applies to his relationship with Lily. But there, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did focus on it, perhaps even more so than the books. Passionate, life-long and unrequited love makes for good theatre.

  Revgeorge, in OotP, when the kids are upstairs at 12 Grimmauld Place, eavesdropping on the conversation of the Order, we distinctly hear Snape’s voice. I can’t remember Harry’s reaction, but I think he had one. Now perhaps you need to be a true afficionado in order to pay enough attention to pick up on that, but it’s there.

  I think that in some ways the movies have an advantage over the stories, because images and dialogue can be more immediately convincing than words in print.

• 15 reyhan // Jan 14, 2008 at 12:00 am

  Was watching the end of PS/SS with my 7 year old (he says it’s his second favorite, after PoA). Saw the scene where Dumbledore explains to Harry why he was given the Philosopher’s Stone.

  Richard Harris was everything that I want Dumbledore to be. Calm, controlled, gentle and reassuring but the steely look in his eyes hinting at unknown reserves of knowledge and power. The then 11 year old Radcliffe looks at him for guidance and approval, and with love.

  Those two together could have made the end of GoF and OotP work. And of course King’s Cross.

  I gnash my teeth and tear my hair. Like Rossetti’s hero, between my knees, my forehead is - my lips, drawn in, say not “Alas.”

• 16 Travis Prinzi // Jan 14, 2008 at 12:13 am

  reyhan, I’m completely with you here. That scene at the end of SS is gold - that’s Albus Dumbledore. Brilliant, mysterious, quirky, awe-inspiring, yet very approachable.

  And Harris is a great actor; he would have pulled off the Dumbledore surprises and darker side of his character in Book 7 brilliantly.

  When I saw OP, my first thought was…”Yates knows. He cut Dumbledore significantly, because he knows.” I think OP, the film, would have had a much different ending had Harris still been alive.

• 17 reyhan // Jan 23, 2008 at 10:23 pm

  It’s really going to be weird watching Dark Knight, now, isn’t it? I read that Ledger couldn’t sleep at night because of the character he was channelling.

  He’s sleeping now.

  What a waste.

• 18 korg20000bc // Jan 23, 2008 at 11:11 pm

  I was just thinking that.

  I saw some shorts of the movie and he looked really troubled.

  A gifted actor but I haven’t like many of the movies he’s been in.

  Matthew

• 19 reyhan // Jan 24, 2008 at 12:12 am

  Matthew, I think that was the point. I’ve read that he wanted to avoid being typecast as a pretty face, and went after the dark stuff as a counterbalance.

  I loved him in Brokeback - the inarticulate rage and the hearbreaking longing. I don’t want to think of him in Monster’s Ball - too close to reality, perhaps. Haven’t seen Casanova or Candy. Again, the latter might be too close to reality.

  What does this have to do with Potter? Nothing, but I feel sad at the loss of such a young and promising life.

• 20 reyhan // Jan 28, 2008 at 4:40 pm

  Matthew again,

  We’ve been talking about moments that smite you to the heart.

  Last night, Daniel Day Lewis won the SAG award for best perfomance male actor for 2007. He dedicated his award to Heath Ledger, saying in his speech: “Of course in Brokeback Mountain he was unique. He was perfect. And that scene in the trailer at the end of the film is as moving as anything I have ever seen.”

  I agree.

  And revgeorge, for an incurable romantic, that scene has to be as profound an expression of love as you could look for.

• 21 revgeorge // Jan 28, 2008 at 4:57 pm

  reyhan wrote:
  “And revgeorge, for an incurable romantic, that scene has to be as profound an expression of love as you could look for.”

  I’m not that incurably romantic. Never seen Brokeback Mountain nor do I plan to see it. Just a personal preference.

• 22 reyhan // Jan 28, 2008 at 5:22 pm

  Lots of movies I’ll never go to either, revgeorge: Saw 1 through infinity, Dumb and Dumber, ditto, anything starring Sylvester Stallone, most of Mel Gibson’s stuff. I’m not much into dumb macho, men acting silly and graphic violence although I’m ok with stylized violence (loved Sin City and both Kill Bills).

  I also don’t care for Jack Nicholson or Leonardo DiCaprio, so had no interest whatsover in The Departed. Until I saw a few scenes and realized: this is actually very well made.

  The scene that Day Lewis was talking about, from Brokeback, is fairly neutral, actually. Nothing much happens. A man’s daughter invites him to her wedding, and leaves. As she drives away, he realizes that she’s left her sweater behind. He tries to call her back, but she’s gone. He takes the sweater and reaches into a cupboard for a hanger. He finds a hanger with one of his old shirts on it. He takes a breath. He hangs the sweater on the hanger and puts it back in the closet.

  End of movie.

  There were tears in my eyes.

• 23 revgeorge // Jan 28, 2008 at 8:33 pm

  reyhan,

  I too like both Kill Bill’s. Never thought I’d be able to say that about any Tarantino movie.

  From reading the plot synopsis of Brokeback on Wikipedia, I think the reason that scene ends up being powerful is that the audience already knows that under his old shirt is his dead lover’s old shirt.

• 24 reyhan // Jan 28, 2008 at 11:59 pm

  revgeorge,

  I don’t mean to go on and on about the movie, but that shirt has a lot of history. We first see Ennis, the Ledger character, wearing it on Brokeback Mountain. Years later, after Jack is dead, Ennis finds it hidden in Jack’s old room at his parents’ house. You’d have to see that room to understand how barren and stark it is, and what is says about what Jack’s childhood must have been like. The hidden shirt is a symbol of Jack’s triumph over his upbringing, that he was able to somehow retain the ability to love anyone, growing up as he did. And finally, the two shirts together are a symbol of Ennis’ acknowledgment of all the feelings he is incapable of expressing throughout, although - and this is the wonderful part - he finally allows love to direct his actions for once in his life when he tells his daughter he will come to her wedding.

  Imagine seeing all this clearly, and powerfully, in the way a man folds a sweater and touches an old shirt.

• 25 revgeorge // Jan 29, 2008 at 12:18 am

  I don’t doubt you at all, reyhan. From all I understand, Brokeback is a very powerful movie & has great acting in it. Ledger probably should’ve won the Oscar for it. Of course, that was a tough year he was nominated. Joaquin Phoenix should’ve won, too. And I like Philip Seymour Hoffman, so I was glad he won.

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