Category Archives: Movie Adaptations

4 Reasons John Carter Faltered At The Box Office

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We were all pretty excited about John Carter when it hit theaters… that is everyone who knew it existed. I can’t begin to tell you how many questions I fielded about this film from my coworkers who hadn’t even know it existed until it began failing at the box office. So the question stood: How does a film that spent millions of dollars on marketing, lose $200 million and bomb at the box office?

Disney’s huge film John Carter hit theaters last week and has since begun its downward slide into the box office flop home base. Even though our critics here gave the film a great review, many other critics scored it poorly. As a result, Disney is expected to lose roughly $200 million because of the project.

We expect the film to generate an operating loss of approximately $200 million during our second fiscal quarter ending March 31. As a result, our current expectation is that the Studio segment will have an operating loss of between $80 and $120 million for the second quarter.” Said a statement from Disney.

So what happened between the post-production and the release? It was slated (at least by the studio) to be one of the big hits on the year, so far as the studio was already working on a script for the sequel. (I think it is safe to assume that isn’t happening now). Yet now the film, which cost $250 million to make, has grossed much less than that at $30.6 million domestically.

So there are basically 4 reasons why this film flopped at the box office (although it might do better on DVD who knows).

The Reviews:

Aside from the one published here, the reviews for this film was subpar to say the least. The film only gained a 53 rating on Metacritic, which is surprising because it’s rare that a family-friendly release is smashed by the critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times rated the film 2.5 out of 4 stars. Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D rating, feeling,

“Nothing in John Carter really works, since everything in the movie has been done so many times before, and so much better.”

Other critics proclaimed the film to be to long, and undeniably boring. The reviews pretty much all so-so.  Not to great, but not terrible. But who wants to go spend 20 dollars to see a film in theaters that is only so-so? The film may do better when released on DVD but it doesn’t appear to be going as far as the studio imagined in the theater.

The Marketing

I think this is where they made their biggest mistake.  There was so much that they could have done to draw attention to the film, but in the end they just didn’t. They could have touched on the fact that the film was directed by the guy who wrote and directed hit Pixar films WALL-E and Finding Nemo. Or they could have mentioned it was based on one of the most loved novel series by well-respected novelist, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Or that the 95-year-old story influenced much of sci-fi culture, as we know it now. But no, there was no mention of director’s abilities, or even a simple line like that the story came from the writer who created Tarzan.

But the trailers just got worse.

The movie’s very first teaser trailer left most audiences saying, “what IS that?” And by the time the Super Bowl ad for the film had played, people weren’t paying attention to it. The studio released so many incredibly similar ads and trailers for the film, that by the time it actually hit theaters, no one cared anymore because they couldn’t really tell what the film was even about. Even a former studio marketing chief stated that,

This is one of the worst marketing campaigns in the history of movies

They went on to say that,

It’s almost as if they went out of their way to not make us care.

Which, as it turned out, most people didn’t by the time the film was released.

Oddly enough, for a film that banks on the action aspect of its story, the first trailer and some others were utterly devoid of the effects and action points that was the biggest selling point for the story. Most trailers should have a “wow!” factor that hooks in audiences from the beginning. But unfortunately, John Carter didn’t.  Especially the first trailer that was meant to have been the summer hook for the film lacked any special effects or “wow!” factors that would make the audience want to see the film (and even wait a year or so to do so, like the Hunger Games.)

The lack of a good trailer stemmed from the fact that regrettably, the director, Stanton, didn’t have any of those special scenes ready for the summer trailer release. He was new to the live-action world of filmmaking and most scenes even remotely awesome for the trailer were still unfinished by the time the first trailer was expected to be released. So basically they had nothing to create a decent trailer with.  Thus audiences received a lackluster and boring trailer that didn’t explain much about the storyline or hook us in to want to see more.

Even worse, when the first full-length trailer came out in November, to compensate for the unintentional bad first trailer, it was entirely in the other direction. All action shots with no explanation of the storyline, the character or the film and why audiences should want to see the man on Mars.

It seemed they couldn’t just find a happy medium.

They also landed on an incredibly bland title for a sci-fi film. The original novel is called A Princess of Mars as a part of the Barsoom series. Any variation on any of the titles from the series would have been better than a name that sounded like the “ER” character got sent to space.

Many also commented that the film seems too reminiscent of another blockbuster failure, the film adaptation of Prince of Persia. (And who wants to be reminded of that film?) A desert setting that makes everything look brown and dirty? Check. Long, and not so luscious locks on our main hero? Check.

The Director

Don’t get me wrong. I am not bashing Stanton; I think he is a brilliant director. But his first live-action film shouldn’t have been this one. Mainly because this was a book that he, as a fan of the series, had a fierce loyalty to that wouldn’t budge. He had this kind of ego regarding the film, and just couldn’t fathom that people didn’t know about the original series, and therefor wouldn’t be interested in seeing his adaptation. And because of his creative control, despite urges from the marketing departments, Stanton won every argument, resulting in the failure of the ad campaign and ultimately the flop of the movie.

One Disney executive added:

You only get one shot at making a first impression … and that first trailer, it never jumped off, never did anything to catch that wave of anticipation that all new movies crave. That’s what so critical for a movie like this.

It seems that Stanton was pretty invested in the film looking like he always imagined it to be when he a child, and in turn the rest of the world, who hadn’t read the novels, didn’t quite get it.

The Inspiration

I think something that is often overlooked regarding the film faltering in the box office. The movie just seemed so…. Done already. The original series inspired so much of modern science fiction that looking at John Carter now seems like the themes and characters are over played even if it was the original inspiration.

One of the most obvious is the Star Wars franchise in which much of the film is derivative of the Barsoom series.

Check it:

Princess Leia and Princess Dejah. Oh yeah and they both wear those sexy bikinis.

Evil Sith an Evil Sith Insects.

That thing Leia stands on next to Jabba also happens in Carter.

The Banthas were also inspired by the banths.

Avatar was also reminiscent of the novels by Burroughs.

“Every great scene in the book has been reaped,” explained Don Murphy, the producer of movies like Transformers and Real Steel. “It’s all been done before, so you actually have to find a way to make and market it in a way that’s actually less faithful to the original material.” (Murphy had also tried to bring John Carter to the silver screen almost a decade ago, but was never able to fully get it going.)

However, despite urging to deviate from the source text, Stanton refused, probably feeling like the film was going to be the next great sci-fi series like he always imagined.

Conclusion:

Basically, you should never attempt to adapt a film that you glorify. When you do this, like Stanton, you lose the ability to look at it objectively and figure out how to work with it. Stanton tried and it flopped. He wasn’t ready for the live-action world, he wasn’t willing to compromise, and thanks to the terribly marketing of the film most people don’t even know what the film is about or that it existed over the weekend.

It seems it was doomed to fail before it even began.

Watch The New Teaser Clip From Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2

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Summit Entertainment made a smart decision a few weeks ago when they decided to air the first official trailer for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 during the previews for The Hunger Games. But they also released a short tease clip for the trailer that will hit theaters on Friday. The clip is only 14 seconds long, but that is enough to appease twihards till Friday.

Part 2 will open in theaters on November 16th and is also directed by Bill Condon with the script coming from Melissa Rosenberg. The film is based on the fourth novel in the Twilight book series, written by Stephenie Meyer.

The official plot for Part 2 continues after the birth of Bell and Edwards daughter, Renesmee. Bella is now official a vampire and is enjoying her new life and abilities. Problems ensue (And not because Jacob is creepily in love with their daughter) when vampire Irina, thinks Renesmee is an immortal child. Creating vampire children has been outlawed by the Volturi. They promptly decide to destroy Renesmee and the Cullens. But in order to survive, the Cullens gather other vampire clans from around the world to help prove that Renesemee isn’t an immortal child and protect their family.

The Cast of Part 2 Includes:

All actors listed for Part 1 will reprise their roles in Part 2.

  • Mackenzie Foy as Renesmee Cullen, Edward and Bella’s daughter who is half-human half-vampire, imprinted on by Jacob Black (werewolf/shape-shifter). She can transmit her thoughts into one’s mind through words and/or pictures.
  • Dakota Fanning as Jane, a loyal servant to the Volturi
  • Cameron Bright as Alec, a loyal servant to the Volturi
  • Charlie Bewley as Demetri, a loyal servant to the Volturi
  • Daniel Cudmore as Felix, a loyal servant to the Volturi
  • Noel Fisher as Vladimir, one of the twelve founders of the ancient, but deceased, Romanian coven
  • Guri Weinberg as Stefan, one of the twelve founders of the Romanian coven
  • Lee Pace as Garrett, an adventurous nomad
  • Joe Anderson as Alistair, a solitary nomad
  • Judi Shekoni as Zafrina, a member of the Amazon coven
  • Tracey Huggins as Senna, a member of the Amazon coven
  • J.D. Pardo as Nahuel, a vampire hybrid
  • Rami Malek as Benjamin, a member of the Egyptian coven

You can see the teaser clip below:

Who Will Write the Movie Adaptation for Y: The Last Man?

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Final negotiations are underway to determine who will write New Line Cinema’s adaptation of Y: The Last Man. Just when I thought Hollywood couldn’t possibly be any dumber, they go and do something like this…  and totally redeem themselves!

The acclaimed comic book from Vertigo is easily one of the best modern comic series of our time.  Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man follows the misadventures of Yorick Brown, an amateur magician and escape artist, along with his pet and companion, a male Capuchin monkey named Ampersand.

Following the current trending of world ending plagues, Vaughn and Guerra came up with a better idea back in 2002.  A world that was half-dead.  Not undead, but where half the population all died simultaneously.  An incident which is referred to in the comic as the plague kills every living mammal possessing a Y chromosome, including embryos, fertilized eggs and sperm.  Well, except for Yorick and his monkey.  Aside from these two, the plague persists and kills anything else that pops up with a Y chromosome.

Due to the near instantaneous deaths of all men worldwide, many disasters occur.  Think of a driver passing out at the wheel on the highway.  Now apply that to every piece of machinery and destructive toy out there.

What’s left of society is plunged into chaos as women everywhere try to cope with the loss of men and the knowledge that unless something is done soon, humanity faces extinction.

As if Carl Jung was correct about the collective consciousness or morphic resonance, Yorick is suddenly connected to a field that is near 100% full of women.  It is the only explanation I have as to why Yorick travels the world, disguised as a woman in search of his lost love and the answer to why he’s the last man on earth.  Yes, the last guy on earth is a nice guy who is finishing last.  I get it.

The series that began in 2002 has since ended in 2008, but left an amazing and complex story.  This isn’t a surprise as Vaughan has penned some great work, ranging from work on “Lost”; I’m assuming when it was good; to his exceptional creation of the comic Ex Machina.  Gives me chills just thinking that they’ll make that into a movie someday, barring the whole 9/11 thing scenario contained therein.  Vaughan hasn’t let up either, having just returned to the comic world recently with another new original series, titled Saga.

Wait a tic.  Since Vaughan is an awesome writer, why can’t he pen the adaptation script?  With other things going on, he might have too many irons in the fire already, or he’s just worried about screwing up his work.  I’m sure the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender learned the hard way watching the live action movie.

Originally a script was written by Carl Ellsworth, with D.J. Caruso attached as director, but it has since been scrapped.  It’s currently writing duo Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia whom are in final negotiations to write the adaptation.   J.C. Spink, Chris Bender and David Goyer have been lined up to produce the film.

Speaking of writing, I suddenly understand why my friend Mina Kelly of Boomtron was asking me about this comic.  This is what she had to say about Y: The Last Man…

“With the amount of content held in the series of Y, New Line may be looking at a franchise if the first film goes over well with audiences. Y touches on some very dark topics such as the collapse of society, cloning, and some disturbing scenes of mental and physical torture. Y takes you on a journey to save humanity where humanity is collapsing in on itself. It is reminiscent of the popular “disease” genre. Take for example zombies and how they came in to existence – usually its some biological virus that infects the human race. Much like the zombies coming after the last “live” humans, there are groups of women who want to get their hands on Yorick, either to kill him or to lock him up, take your pick, either way Yorick is a wanted man.”

“Even though this comic, and by association the film, may have dark undertones, there are some comedic moments to lighten the mood such as the instant noodles – the cheapest food in existence becomes the most wanted thing on Earth driving its price up to the price of a train ticket, and how Yorick nearly kills himself by not reading the label on canned food. Ok the last one might not be as funny unless you have a morbid sense of humor like I do.”

Here’s a bit of meta-morbidness, I think it was within the comic somewhere another comic called X: The Last Woman.  Which is kind of like reading Watchmen.  Just think how messed up it would be for the last woman on Earth surrounded by men.  Dear Gott in Himmel!  I can only hope it ends in suicide after the first few pages of the book.

Y: The Last Man is actually long and complex.  I doubt it can be condensed enough to be made into one film, so a lot of awesome bits are going to be cut out.  I also don’t see this being turned into a saga of movies.  The novelty should wear off after the first film.  Instead, I think the comic should have been adapted into a television series.  Just look at AMC’s “The Walking Dead”.

The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook = Amazing! – Review

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A few weeks ago I got a review copy of the Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook from Emily Ansara Baines. All the recipes had something to do with the book and the film. It was divided into several different sections that included:

  1. Breakfast of Champions
  2. Breaking Bread
  3. Keep the Camp Fires Low and Forage  – Soups, Stews, and Salads
  4. Humble Beginnings
  5. Sink or Swim Seafood
  6. Don’t Call Me Chicken – Poultry Dishes for the Brave
  7. Put Some Meat on Your Bones – Beef, Lamb, and Pork
  8. Wild Games for Wild Girls
  9. Just Desserts

Firstly, I LOVE THIS COOKBOOK. I am normally a TERRIBLE cook, but this book was so easy to understand and the recipes were so fun that it made me want to cook something every night.

So, honestly, I didn’t cook everything in the book. I didn’t cook out of section 5 (I hate fish and so does my other half). I also didn’t cook anything out of section 8 because it involved ingredients like squirrel and such. (For real).

But I did cook probably 10 or so recipes out of it. I picked a lot of bread, breakfast, and desert recipes as those are my favorite things to make.

One of the best things about the cookbook was that every recipe had a tie-in to the book before the ingredients. Such as where the recipe can be found in the actual novels. I loved it! It was a fantastic touch for fans as it gave them a glimpse into the story they already love.

I have included a few of the recipes I cooked myself below.

Orange Muffins with Sweet Preserves (Chapter 1)

Yes, yes, I know it says muffins, but at the time, I didn’t have a muffin pan, and I do enjoy a nice loaf. The pictures doesn’t show the sweet preserves on it though. I picked this particular recipe because it called for actual orange juice and that intrigued me.

This was I think the third recipe I made. I was still getting the knack of baking, something that I’ve never been, well, good at achieving.

This did turn out pretty delicious though. The orange taste was not overbearing (although I could have added a touch more). It was a perfect addition to my coffee in the morning.

Brown Sugar Shortbread (Chapter 9)

This was one of my failures/wins. It did not turn out the way it was supposed to in the cookbook, but was still INCREDIBLE tasting. It was supposed to be more of dense treat, but turned out too fluffy.

I think this was the fourth recipe I made.

I also should have cooked it longer, but I was worried about burning the top. But we ate all of it anyway, and really enjoyed it.

Propos Grilled Cheese Sandwhich (Chapter 4)

I LOVE GRILLED CHEESE. Seriously. It is one of my favorite quick meals to make. The recipe in this book was a little different than the one I normally make, so I figured I would try it.

The recipe called for sourdough bread and mayonnaise instead of butter. I actually really enjoyed it. I had to say you could definitely  taste the difference with mayo. It was slightly more bland, but felt much more healthier.

I enjoy sourdough bread as it is, but I really liked it with grilled cheese. I wish could use it everytime!

Capitol-Grade Dark Chocolate Cake (Chapter 9)

This recipe was supossed to be cake, but I made both cake and cupcakes out of it. These are the cupcakes and frankly, they were DIVINE! They tasted so good.

This was the most recent recipe I made (last weekend actually) and probably one of my favorites. I later frosted them with the Peeta’s Buttercream frosting recipe and that made them all the more delicious.

I plan to make a large cake with this recipe for my birthday this year.

I saved my two favorite (and the ones I am most proud of) for last.

Opportunistic Strawberry Bread (Chapter 9)

This is the very first recipe I made and just happens to be my first baking attempt in YEARS that didn’t burn AND cooked all the way through.

And it tasted good! I loved this recipe because it called for honey rather than sugar so it fit in really well with my diet. It was soft and the instructions were incredibly easy to understand.

I had some leftovers of this product and took it to my day job and EVERYONE loved it. They keep asking me when I will bring this in again.

Just so freaking good. Really.

Super Sweet Potato Rolls (Chapter 2)

This is my favorite thing I made out of the cookbook. It was also the most difficult thing I have ever made. But the payoff was incredible.

I had never thought to make dinner rolls out of sweet potatoes but I am so happy I tried this recipe.

They were just sweet enough that they went with dinner perfectly, but they were also pretty delicious on their own. These took me like four hours to make from the yeast and the cooling and the kneading and the baking. It took forever, but I was so incredibly proud that they came out deliciously.

I highly recommend trying a recipe like this.

This cookbook definitely awakened my desire to cook and bake. I had always been so terrible but this book was SO easy to understand, and because the subject matter was something I enjoyed already (love the HG!) I didn’t feel like cooking was a chore anymore.

Also, for those of you strained for time (like me) the good thing about the recipes is that it offers options off to the side of how to make your meal either healthier or quicker to make. That was a very handy tools as I am both someone who is always busy and on a diet.

I am definitely going to try some more of the recipes when I get the chance. And if you get the chance, I HIGHLY recommend buying this cookbook. So great for fans of The Hunger Games and anyone wanting to learn to cook new and fun recipes.

 Note: Review Item provided in partner with this review. 

Hunger Games Producers Talk Battle Royale Debate

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With the release of The Hunger Games just around the corner, the comparisons to the Japanese film Battle Royale are rampant, even we did one here. So in the spirit of debate, the producers of The Hunger Games talked about the two films.

The Hunger Games is the movie adaptation of the bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins. It is followed by the sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay. 

The plot for the film is as follows:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the governing body, the Capitol, of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Katniss Everdeen volunteers as a tribute to save her sister from going in to the ghastly arena. She is joined by Peeta Mellark, a boy she knew who once saved her life.

Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル Batoru rouaiaru) is a 2000 Japanese thriller film directed by Kinji Fukasaku based on the novel of the same name. It was written by Kenta Fukasaku and stars Takeshi Kitano.

The film tells the story of a class of teenagers that are forced by the government to compete in a deadly game, where the students must kill each other in order to win. The program is used to intimidate youths from participating in gangs and rebellions. It takes place in the not so distant future/alternate timeline of Japan where unemployment is rampant and most of the country is in disarray. 

The Hunger Games, producer Nina Jacobson talked about the continuing debate over the similarities between the two stories during a press event.

You know I think that they are distinct pieces of material. I know for Suzanne what her inspiration was and her inspiration was the Iraq war along side American Idol, that she was watching both. And experiencing both with her children. And so I know thats where her inspiration came from. […] We are all sharing the same kind of cultural touch points, all going through history together. So it doesn’t surprise me that sometimes they will be points where different source material intersects with eachother.

She goes on to say,

“The fact that people are engaged in talking about the book and the movie is a good thing. And I think the movie certainly stands on its own separate from [Battle Royale] I think it is very much its own property. The book and the movie together, so I don’t think it hurts to be debated.

Director Gary Ross explained that he chose to distance himself from the discussion by focusing only on his film.

I haven’t seen Battle Royale. […] I had never heard of it until I got this job and then when I heard of it, I intentionally stayed away from it. I never wanted to be influenced by it, and I also wanted to be able to say, ‘Look, I’ve never seen this film’ So I made my own film independently. And I suppose I’ll see it now. But I intentionally never wanted to see it or be exposed to it for those exact reasons.

Having read HG and watched BR, I really think the two are only vaguely similar. They have one tiny premise that is similar while the rest is completely different. I liked HG in a completely different way than I liked BR because they are so inherently different.

But I liked that Ross and Jacobson took the time to address the debate that is still going on.

The Hunger Games hits theaters on March 23.

City of Bones Adaptation Reveals New Director

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The news that fans have been waiting for has finally been revealed. Harald Zwart, of Karate Kid fame, is set to direct the big screen adaptation of City of Bones. 

While the director had remained a mystery for several months, it has finally be released now that the film is moving forward. Screenwriter Marlene King recently met with Zwart and the producers of the feature, and author of the novel, Cassandra Clare, also met with them and later confirmed that adaptation was moving forward.

Here’s the official synopsis for Mortal Instruments:

CLARY FRAY (Lily Collins) is an ordinary Brooklyn teenager until the night she meets the mysteriously tattooed JACE, who turns out to be a half-angel warrior known as a Shadowhunter. When Clary finds out her mother JOCELYN has been abducted, she desperately hopes Jace will be able to help. After a whirling golden portal transports her across time and space in a heartbeat, Clary realizes she too has the powers of the Shadowhunters. But can she harness them in time to save her mother?

Clary, Jace and their fellow Shadowhunters endure one breathtaking battle after another against vampire, warlocks and demons—only to discover Jocelyn hid a terrible secret from the fiercest warrior of all: VALENTINE. Cast out from the world of Shadowhunters, Valentine abducted Jocelyn believing she had a powerful tool known as the Mortal Cup. Using her newfound gifts, Clary finds the Cup, only to be brutally betrayed and forced to relinquish it.

Still reeling from this setback and racing to save Jocelyn before it’s too late, Clary finds herself caught in a battle between forces she barely understands. Based on the best-selling series by Cassandra Clare, MORTAL INSTRUMENTS is a magnificent urban fantasy rich in detail and suspense, about a girl’s journey to the darkest corners of the underworld to save those she loves

The film tapped Lily Collins to star as Clary over a year ago, and it seems she is still locked in for the film. Starring opposite of her is  Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland.

City of Bones is the first novel in the series written by Clare, and if all goes well, there is a possibility the whole series will be adapted.

It has also been confirmed that filming for the project is set to begin on August 15th in Toronto.

Finding John Carter On Mars Is A Win – A Review

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Why are you interested in this adaptation?

Elena-

Mostly because it’s a sci-fi movie, and I do try to watch most of them.  To be honest there’s not a whole lot of a deeper or more compelling reason than that.  Nothing in the trailer excites me, and if there were more going on at the movies this weekend John Carter probably loses me.  But when my other options are The Lorax or Good Deeds, you know, Mars starts sounding like a fine destination.  Fine.

Rachel-

So, I secretly hope that this movie is amazing. How could I not want to see this? Published in 1917, A Princess of Mars, on which John Carter is largely based, is the first of a long series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs (the Tarzan guy). We can arguably connect most of the planetary science-fantasy stories of the last 100 years to this book. Conan, He-man, Dune, Heinlein’s The Number of the Beast, Star Wars…the list is endless. Sure, it’s outdated and weird, and the science isn’t even close, and they were inspired by those old theories that you could see evidence of ancient civilizations on the Martian surface (Google the canals of Mars), but this is science fiction HISTORY. Crazy stuff, sure, but mostly awesome.

And come on… THAAARKS! Plus, Michael Chabon wrote the script, and it’s being directed by Andrew Stanton. There’s a part of me that thinks this just might be great.

What would make it awesome?

Elena-

Um…can I be real here and say that, given the amount of CG I saw in that trailer, that I don’t think there’s anything this film can do to be excellent?  If I have to pick a path for it, how about some just ridiculous popcorn B-movie fun?  There’s a place for that, and maybe this movie could be it.

Rachel-

Despite the sexist overtones, I REALLY want it to look like the artwork I’ve associated with the stories. They just come hand in hand. I find it impossible to disconnect the story itself from the Frazetta naked asses and most especially the super lush, beautiful old-style illustrations of Frank E. Schoonover (who very graciously put some clothes on the princess for us.)

From what I’ve seen of the trailer everything looks nice and red. They’ve kept the barbarian-style clothes, and I’m REALLY impressed with the Barsoonian ships. They look awesome.

I guess what I’m saying is, I want the damn movie to be pretty. That would be awesome.

What would make it suck?

Elena

If it takes itself really seriously and is half-CG (as its trailer makes it look).  Basically…if this shit is like Avatard, Mars Edition it is going to suuuuck asssssssssssssssss.

Rachel-

I don’t really care of there’s a lot of CGI as long as it looks good and it’s not a half hour of blurriness like Transformers.

It will suck if the story is a disaster. This is an adaptation of a pretty sprawling novel that has its own problems with pacing, so this could all go horribly wrong. It could be full of confusing lore and never explain anything about why this culture as at war or how anything works. I’m a little worried about the super-powers. The telepathy and the super-strength. The science behind it is pretty silly now; I hope it’s not something the entire audience laughs at every time it happens.  I’m pretty worried about it. I think Chabon can handle it, but it’s all the executive driven decisions I’m scared of.

This whole movie could be a hammy, horrible, convoluted mess.

Any additional thoughts on production/trailer?

Elena-

Why is this movie 2 hours and 10 minutes?  I may not have read the book it’s based on, but I know this much about Edgar Rice Burroughs:  he wasn’t writing fucking Dune.  You don’t need a mini-series to tell that story.  What the hell?  I better come out feeling like it was shorter than it was…and I especially better not feel like it was LONGER than it was!

Rachel-

Yea, I agree. More than two hours? Is this Lord of the Rings? This is a movie based on the king of all pulp novels. Yes, there are going to be large-scale battles in this movie but they don’t need to be Helm’s Deep!

In general I’ve been enjoying the trailers coming out. The Tharks look great, everything looks pretty damn epic. I just don’t know how sincere it’s going to be. Will this be the podraces on Tattooine horrible or will I be enamored of the cinematography? Will I want to be Princess Dejah for Halloween, or will I want to kill her and all the girls I see dressed as her on Halloween? I’ve been hearing via word of mouth that the film isn’t that great, so that isn’t encouraging. But I might like it, I mean… I still watch Conan marathons. This might be a matter of preference.

 

Reaction to Film:

Elena-

That…that wasn’t NEARLY as bad as I thought it was going to be!  In fact, dare I say it was actually kind of good?  I mean, it wasn’t like top 10 SF films of the decade material, but it was eminently watchable.  And here’s the thing, and why I never take for granted that a film which I expect to be bad can’t possibly be as bad as I’m expecting:  Avatar was WORSE than I expected, and I expected that James Cameron self-indulgent-whack-fest to be bad (for me as an audience), so I am by no means damning John Carter with faint praise when I say it was better than I expected.

That is not to say there were not…flaws.  There is still a visual divide between characters that are live-action and characters that are animated.  The gulf is not as wide as it once was, and the animation looked good, but it still looked like animation.  Until it doesn’t I am going to point it out as a flaw.  I expect to go to my grave still complaining about this issue.

John Carter’s jumps were also problematic.  They looked like someone in Earth-gravity being hoisted aloft or an animated object being zoomed along a CG trajectory.  The bounces lacked the true buoyancy that happens in lower gravity.  Actually those scenes reminded me of the jumping about in Gentleman Broncos, which is very much an ode to this type of pulp SF story (and, by the by, well worth the watch)…but to extend my point, the rendition of the SF storyline in that movie is very much meant to be comedic.  It’s okay if the jumping doesn’t look real because that’s not really the point (in fact looking too real might undermine the point in that movie), but since John Carter was actually taking itself mostly seriously, the silly-looking jumping was an issue.

Now let’s talk about some good things.  I loved the casting for John Carter and the Princess (seriously…why bother calling her anything else, especially her goofy-ass Never-Ending Story sounding name?).  The rest of the casting didn’t bother me or excite me, and Mark Strong got to add yet another villain to his villainous credits list.  Also the Princess had amazing eyes, and while I am fairly sure it was contacts/CG I’m not totally sure, so they sold it better than the Dune movies have so far.

The dog?  Was fucking awesommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmme.  Best part of the movie!  And proof that whatever form life takes, the human-dog bond is universal.  (Okay, at least galactic.)

However.

Doggie?  With his super-fast zoom run, utter fearlessness, and absolute loyalty?  Brought up a pretty damn huge problem with the military strategies of the various peoples of Mars:  WHY. THE. FUCK. DIDN’T ANYONE HAVE A MARS-DOG ARMY?!  That made no sense.  How could they miss the usefulness of that kind of animal in attacks?  So that was bit of a plot hole.

Another was John Carter’s Superman status.  So, I get that his magical physical abilities happen because he’s used to Earth-gravity.  Fine.  But…what happens in a year after he’s been living on Mars?  I mean, best case for him is that he’s equalized to everyone who is from Mars and built for it.  More realistically is that his bones start disintegrating and his muscles atrophy and he goes from being the secret weapon to the same as any other Mars-man/useless.  That’s not such a happy ending, is it?

Finally I want to give some props to the framing device.  Because it was ace. At first when the movie started with the whole random nephew reading his uncle’s diary, I thought, Jesus Harold Christ, not another stupid framing device that I was tired of after one 19th-century lit class.  But the frame turned out to be actually relevant to the story and took the ending up a notch, from bittersweet to kick-ass.  So that was good and worth mentioning.  Don’t roll your eyes at the frame until you get to the end!

Yeah.  In all it was a good two hours at the movies, and I’ll go see any sequels.  It might not be profound or profoundly memorable B-movie crazysauce, but it was fun enough and good enough that I don’t feel cheated out of 130 minutes of my life.  So I’m going to file John Carter (Of Mars) in the Win column and call it a night.

Rachel-

I LIKED IT!!! I really did!

I mean yeah, it had its issues. It was too long. It had a couple of slow bits; that I didn’t mind so much on the first watch, but I suspect I would if I saw it several times. It glossed RIGHT ON OVER all those issues of racism and classicism and the critique of the industrialized world beating out the “cultured imperialists”. Just RIGHT ON BY. Whatever. I understand why Disney did not want to deal with all the baggage a hundred-year-old novel that started a genre might come with.

They changed quite a lot to make it a tighter story, and to make it more appealing to a modern audience. Some of it I am quite grateful for. Princess Dejah, for instance, was intelligent, capable and did not spend the entire movie being repeatedly kidnapped and sexed. Good job, Disney. They left out the telepathic stuff. Probably a solid choice. That could have been hokey. They handled the super strength really well and quickly, and, yes…it IS funny to watch a guy moon leap everywhere he goes, and they acknowledged that.

The bit at the beginning with the Apaches and the Colonel…kind of clumsy. I think it was much longer and had to be edited, because seriously where is the MARS in this movie? I did absolutely LOVE the flashback to John burying his wife and child when he was fighting that one Thark army. It was actually really well done and does a great job highlighting the fact that when we romanticize violence, we forget that war is terrible and leaves innocent people dead. I think that might have been one of the best scenes in the film. The editing choice there was really spot-on.

Elena-

TOTALLY agree. That flashback sequence gave me chills.

Rachel-

They changed some details with the Tharks, as well. For example, it was Tars Tarkas that was aware that Sola was his daughter in the film rather than the other way around, and they completely cut out the deal with Kantos Kan being an arena prisoner that escapes with John Carter to Helium. Totally understandable, as they decided to expand Dejah to be far more involved in the plot than she originally was.  I’m really grateful for that. They did that in a really clever way. She still needs John’s help, otherwise what is the point? But she isn’t just this naked (seriously, in the books she doesn’t wear any clothes. The comment she makes about her outfit being vulgar is pretty hilarious in that light) princess who needs to be CONSTANTLY rescued by the big, strong white man from Earth. They really did that right. All credit to Michael Chabon for that. He did a great job with all this material.

I also thought they did a great job with the CGI. Sure, Woola never looked like he was REAL, but the CGI wasn’t distracting. The ships and the cities and the vistas in general (love the use of tilt-shift for several of the big wide shots) were all really enhanced by effects. Some of the battle scenes got a little CGI heavy. Maybe it was the 3D making the film a little dark, but I didn’t really detect that hated shininess that CGI can cast.

Speaking of Woola. WOOLA IS THE SHIT. Calots are awesome. I love that they made it sooooo ugly. They could have gone with a more lizard-like dog, but no. They went with a weird geko-turd. Love it. Ugly things make me happy. He basically stole every shot he was in. Woola appreciation society. I am in it.

Elena-

ME TOO!!!

Rachel-

Lookit that ugly, runty horrible scrotum-looking thing! We love him so!

That might sum up how I feel about this movie in general. It’s kind of a weird movie in that it’s an adaptation of a book that is now so dated as to almost appear as a farce, or at least an uncreative rip-off of everything produced in the genre for the last 50 years. Except it’s not. It’s the original weird, epic, pseudo-science-fantasy planetary adventure story. Everyone is naked! Everyone seems not to be choking or freezing to death! It’s a crazy world! Just remember to call it Barsoom!

Jurassic Park Returning To Theaters In 3D

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If you haven’t been terrorized by Jurrasic Park in your life, you are missing out. Whether it was from the original books, the subsequent movies, or the video games (Operation Genesis anyone?) people all over the world have had the iconic experience of dinosaurs run amok on Isla Nublar. And now fans can relive that experience in 3D. According to Universal Pictures, Jurassic Park will be returning to the theaters with a full 3D  conversion on July 19, 2013.

In case you were wondering why they are releasing it more than a year from now, next summer will mark the 20th anniversary of director, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the novel .

The original novel was published in 1990 by author Michael Crichton. It was adapted by Spielberg a short three years later in 1993. The film won 3 Oscars as well as 19 other awards and 15 nominations. A sequel of the novel was published in 1995, called The Lost World. Which only two years later was also adapted into a film by Spielberg in 1997. Although it must be noted that the third film in the series, directed by Joe Johnston did not relate to either book.

A fourth installment is currently in the works, and is due to be released in 2013.

Before the original novel was published, there were many bids already on it for the picture rights. Universal Studios acquired the rights before the novels publication in 1990.

The cast of the original film include:

  • Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, a leading paleontologist and main protagonist.
  • Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler, a paleobotanist graduate student and love interest of Dr. Grant
  • Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm, a mathematician and chaos theorist.
  • Richard Attenborough as John Hammond, billionaire CEO of InGen and the curator of Jurassic Park.
  • Bob Peck as Robert Muldoon, the park’s game warden.
  • Ariana Richards as Lex Murphy, Hammond’s granddaughter.
  • Joseph Mazzello as Tim Murphy, Hammond’s grandson.
  • Wayne Knight as Dennis Nedry, the disgruntled architect of Jurassic Park’s computer systems.
  • Martin Ferrero as Donald Gennaro, a lawyer who represents Hammond’s concerned investors.
  • Samuel L. Jackson as Ray Arnold, the park’s chief engineer.
  • B. D. Wong as Dr. Henry Wu, the park’s chief geneticist.
  • Cameron Thor as Lewis Dodgson, the head of InGen’s rival corporation BioSyn.
  • Greg Burson as the voice of Mr. DNA

The cautionary tale of a film, struck a cord with fans all over the world. The cost of biological tinkering and mass chaos theory were being thrust into the face of society. The film was a huge hit, and I am pretty sure it’s 3D version will be a huge summer blockbuster as well. I mean I can guess only a few people will not want to see this film.

But don’t get to excited, July 19, 2013, is a long way away and you might just make that wait even longer. Trust me.

Always remember, Life will find a way.

 

Warner Bros. Summons Mandrake the Magician to the Screen

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Bereft of low hanging apples to pick from, Warner Bros.; like most studios; are always on the look out for the next easy title to option. This time they turning to the old media, newspaper comic strips. Mandrake the Magician, a comic strip created by Lee Falk; who also created the Ghost Who Walks, the Phantom; in 1934 centers around an illusionist with the power set of speed hypnosis; with but a gesture, he can create illusions real to his foes. Warner Bros. Has picked up the movie rights to this old time comic with Atlas Entertainment to produce, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

As the strip was created and published in 1934, Mandrake is arguably the world’s first comic superhero. If anything, the hypnotist with the fast hands did it’s part in inspiring the golden age of comic books that started in the late 1930’s; like when Alan Scott was the sentinel of the magical Green Lantern.

Mandrake is assisted by his strongman companion, Lothar who together fight various villains. This must have been when creating a comic book character was easy and considered original to do. As the forerunner, Falk could create disposable villains like gangsters, mad scientists, dimension hoppers or aliens. Falk even got ahead of the curve, conjuring up an Evil Twin brother for Mandrake; was his name Mandark? Current day comic book villains are easily borrowed and interchanged amongst superhero rogue galleries.

Hollywood has long tried to capture the elusive Mandrake for the movie screens. Back in 1939 when superheroes were the glittering blood sucking genre, Columbia Pictures made a twelve part serial, and a made-for-television movie in the 1970s. That’s the closest the Mandrake has come to hitting the big screens since.

Disney; the owner of Marvel Comics; had the rights to Mandrake for a while, but the most recent holder of the property was Baldwin Entertainment and Hyde Park who tried their hands at developing an adaptation Chuck Russell and Mimi Leder were to direct, staying Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Hayden Christensen. Atlas Entertainment became involved with the project in 2009, going as far as to develop a script with David and Janet Peoples; they made that weird time travelling movie about 12 Monkeys.

This won’t be the first time that a movie has been successfully turned into a movie. Touchstone Pictures did well with Dick Tracey back in 1990. The concept of miniaturized video conferencing technology was stuff of pulp science fiction back then. Now we have it built into our cellphones. I wonder what Mandrake will show us about the potential future to come.

Warner Bros. Is looking for a 21st century makeover, hopefully going towards another bromance actionfest like Sherlock Holmes. As long as it doesn’t turn into an update like they did with Jules Verne’s books like the Journey series of movies. If it does, they might as well cast that Mindfreak magician to play the part of the updated Mandrake.

I’m sure  plum  excited about this movie and can’t wait to see it.

Who do you think should play Mandrake in the movie?

Three New Featurettes Released for Snow White and the Huntsman

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Three new behind the scenes featurettes have been released for the upcoming film, Snow White and the Huntsman from Universal Pictures and courtesy of XFinity.

Snow White and the Huntsman is another story that’s been adapted for the big screen based reworked fairy tales. Drawn from the tales by the Brothers Grimm, Snow White and the Huntsman is another entry into the world of fairy tales gone dark. (although this isn’t a stretch based on what the actual original tales contain.)  For example, in the original Snow White story, the evil queen dies dancing to death, forced to wear red hot iron shoes.

According to the official movie website, the story goes as follows.

In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) who was dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White’s beauty and power.

The breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale is from Joe Roth, the producer of Alice in Wonderland, producer Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and acclaimed commercial director and state-of-the-art visualist Rupert Sanders.

Personally, now as I am an adult and no longer lulled in by singing and talking animals alone, I like the darker tales. They are closer to the original, they don’t sugar coat anything, and yet still manage to hold the diary tale sense of life. I will watch this one over its rival film Mirror Mirror (although I’ll see that one too eventually.)

The cast includes:

  • Charlize Theron as Queen Ravenna
  • Kristen Stewart as Snow White
  • Chris Hemsworth as Eric, the Huntsman
  • Sam Claflin as Prince William
  • Lily Cole as Greta
  • Christopher Obi Ogugua as the voice of The Mirror
The Dwarves
  • Ian McShane as Beith
  • Johnny Harris as Quert
  • Bob Hoskins as Muir
  • Toby Jones as Coll
  • Eddie Marsan as Duir
  • Brendan Gleeson as Gus
  • Ray Winstone as Gort
  • Nick Frost as Nion
The film is set to hit theaters June 1, 2012.

You can see the three new featurettes below: