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The Film Habit #27 - November 4, 2004 The political game is over; let’s get back to watching movies. Regardless of who you were rooting for, I hope that people can just let it go. Judging from the protestors marching in the streets against Bush right now, that’s going to take some time. Hopefully not a full four years. But no matter how bad you might think Bush is, dividing the country up along political lines as we have been is a thousand times worse. Forget politics for a bit. We all need a break.
In amidst all the politics real life is happening, folks getting so caught up in the fervor might be inclined to ignore it. For instance last week CB’s graphic artist Matt Sinopoli, the guy who comes up with all our fantastic CB logos (including the amazing Frozone one I’m about to put up) got mugged and cracked on the head. He’s been in the hospital for at least a week now, but discovered a public computer terminal somewhere in his hospital ward and used it to let a couple of us know what happened… in between blinding concussion headaches. Doesn’t matter who you elect, some guy could come up and whack you on the head tomorrow (Yoda ain’t got nothin on me). Get better Matt, we’re pulling for you. to send Smizzle your sympathy. A Movie I Can Talk About  I saw Finding Neverland last weekend, and now regret that I’m not the guy reviewing it… just because it’s the kind of great film you want to run around shouting about until other people finally give in and go see it just to shut you up. Of course, Johnny Depp gives another one of his wonderful performances, but the unusual thing here is that he’s giving his wonderful performance in a wonderful movie. Depp is always so ridiculously inconsistent that you never know what project he’ll show up in next. For every Pirates of the Caribbean he always seems to end up doing a Secret Window. I hope the greatness of Finding Neverland doesn’t doom his upcoming Willy Wonka retread to be utter crap.
Finding Neverland though is a beautiful and touching movie that somehow manages to blend a lot of weird, fanciful, daydream bits with really stark, adult, emotional drama. I was worried that all of that might not fit, but it does. It’s the kind of movie you want to watch on Christmas with the family, maybe in front of a roaring fire. It isn’t necessarily holiday themed, but it has that sort of holiday emotional feel to it. Don’t mistake it for lame Oscar bait, Finding Neverland is genuine and moving. Hunt it down and see it. It’s one of the year’s best, as is Depp’s performance. A Movie I Can’t Talk About  I saw Blade: Trinity last night, but I’m not allowed to talk about it. New Line Cinema has instituted their “no reviews until day of release” rule for this one, and if I want to continue working with them in the future I damn well better follow it. Of course this rule only applies to dirty internet sites, your local paper, or say Entertainment Weekly, or even the Thrifty Nickel can review it whenever they want.
I can live with that. Unlike Finding Neverland it’s not the sort of movie I’m dying to drag people to see. I’m a big fan of the first two Blade movies. I know some people are split on them, but I absolutely love them both. Wesley Snipes is amazing in that character, in a way no one else ever could be. Lucky for him, since he absolutely sucks in anything else. Both of those first two Blade movies had huge “WOW” moments where something just impossibly cool would happen, usually carried by the flat out awesome physicality of Snipes. The club scene where Blade slaughters EVERYTHING in the first movie comes to mind or the insanely fast sword fight at the end. The kinetic energy of the second film kicks all those WOW moments that the first movie had up another notch entirely. Heck, I even had fun with that silly wrestling move Blade pulls at the end of Blade II. However, if I were to talk about the third movie, I’d tell you that I didn’t mind it, but that a lot of the really great things the first two movies had going for them are missing. The franchise seems to have lost some of its energy and panache, which is a shame since it looks like Snipes hasn’t lost a single step. If I were to talk about it, I’d question whether or not David Goyer is really cut out to be a director. In fact, I probably will do that when I publish my review on the day Blade: Trinity is released. to beg for Blade spoilers. My Mail Sack  Guided by the spirit of the small Asian woman to your left (who I really need to replace with something more snazzy), I answer reader mail. It’s new, it’s innovative, and no doubt this idea will be ripped off by thousands of copycats, like that hack David Letterman. your comments to have them answered here. Let’s see what you folks have to say this week: Cindy: Hey Josh, could please inform all the nerds on the internet your staff included that the last two star wars movies sucked and the third one will porbably do more of the same. Maybe its just me, but I don't get why there's such an obsession with star wars on the internet. Some people real need to stop spending every moment looking up information on anakins light saber and do something producitve like eat, sleep, or have sex. Josh: Hey Cindy, thanks for letting us know. We were unaware of these issues, probably because we haven’t been screwing enough. Send over a 12 pack, a Chunky Bar, and a few hookers and we’ll see if we can do better for you. Troy: Dear Joshua, Thank you for the early review of The Polar Express. I just wanted to yet you know that you used the term "rotoscoping" instead of "motion capture" to describe the processes by which the animation was done. Rotoscoping is when software software such as Apple Shake or Adobe After Effects is used to draw a mask around any element in video or film footage to either remove or isolate it. If you like you can take a look at this link to see how rotoscoping was used to create the light saber effect in a Star Wars fan film. I only know this stuff because I went to school to learn it. It is a very simple mistake to make. I wish you nothing but continued success. Josh: Thanks for the info Troy. It’s always great to have someone around CB with some actual knowledge to offer on subjects like that, as opposed to my knowledge which is mostly gleaned from the special features on Lord of the Rings DVDs. The weird thing about this is that some of the press materials I received for The Polar Express actually insist that they used Rotoscoping… that’s where I came up with that information. However after your email I dug further through some of their other materials online and those seem to agree with you. It sounds like Zemeckis is trying to make Polar Express sound more unique than it actually is. Francis: i have been told about this firm and i have really enjoyed all the productions coming out from this production.i just want to be part of this oganisation cos i believe my dreams is being achieved from there.i'm a screenwriter in my country and i have many sript to disposed not by selling alone but to give you to produce and i you like it you can give me the chance to be part of you thank you Josh: Dear Francis, your email effectively simulates the damage caused by extreme blunt force trauma to the head, as caused perhaps by the impact of a shovel or hastily tossed brick. Tisa, RE: Winning Lindsay Lohan DVDs: Thank you very much! They actually arrived the day after I emailed! What a great prize and thank you for picking my name! The kids and I love all 3 of the movies so much. Thanks again. Josh: With Lindsay Lohan to guide them, your male children should grow up with a healthy appreciation for the female figure. I only wish we could do more to help develop their mental abilities. Sadly, we can’t seem to get any Pixar movies to give away. Hey! Do you like working for free? Are you over 18? Do you secretly wish you could live the wild and exciting life of Michael Brody? You’re in luck. CinemaBlend.com is looking for writers, specifically the type interested in slogging it out on DVD’s or those with a flair for internet news stories. If you think you can capture the signature Cinema Blend style as a DVD critic and/or BNN reporter send me an with a few samples and we’ll talk. |
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