Electric Shadow

Six Minutes of "Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug" Preview

If you bought the Blu-ray of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey like I did, you either watched this preview event live two weekends ago or can now watch a canned version. The full thing was approximately one hour long, previewed elements the new Hobbit movie, and featured some Q&A as well as bits with new cast members like "Stephens" Fry and Colbert.

If you don't have the magic access code, Warner Bros allowed Jackson to post this six-minute excerpt, which includes some choice nuggets:

Daily Grab 112: The Duel

The duel in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp represents one of the great choices in cinema, crossing direction, editing, cinematography, and acting.

When the audience expects to see a thrilling, climactic duel, Powell and Pressburger choose to avoid the route taken by other films, from any version of Scaramouche to the various Robin Hood(s) to even The Princess Bride. The duel itself is less important than the build up and the aftermath. The actors knew the importance of the preparation and approach, since the duel itself would barely be seen.

This scene represents one of the most perfect series of choices in cinematic composition, and Criterion's new Blu-ray shows off the whole movie in a manner befitting one of the greatest movies ever made. Scorsese does a marvelous newly-recorded introduction, and Thelma Schoonmaker offers keen insight as she always does on Powell's films. This is one of the best discs of the year, and we're just 1/4 of the way through.

I swear I'll finish a review of this one soon. I've been busy finshing off my monster 2012 Best in Blu-ray multi-list article, among other things.

No More (Calling People) Mutants, or: Remender Was Right

I wasn't even aware of this whole thing until today. I've spent a few hours collecting my thoughts, when I thought I'd be done with this in just under an hour.

I'm disgusted by this post at Bleeding Cool. It brazenly opens with a pile of slurs as examples of the alleged injustice to political correctness found in Uncanny Avengers #5. In the issue, Havok (aka Alex Summers) declares his desire to be known as a person before being reduced to a label associated with prejudice and bigotry:

He's speaking to his desire to be recognized by his fellow human beings as a human being first.

I disagree that this issue of this particular comic book in any way undermines the general notion of mutants representing minorities, the persecuted, and the oppressed. Moreover, Rich Johnston's implication that this is some sort of demonization of the word mutant is such a crass, overreaching grasp at straws...I'm amazed he got away with this load of crap. Bleeding Cool, as they are wont to do, have manufactured yet another controversy out of thin air, and the rest of the comics blog diaspora has followed along and validated them.

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Daily Grab 111: Radical Rat

My guest for both Screen Time and Giant Size this week is Kevin Munroe, who directed TMNT (2007), was lead designer/animator on Shiny Entertainment's Wild 9, and has a diverse and deep geek creative résumé. We talk about game design, animation, chasing the creative work you want to be doing, and...working directly with George Lucas.

In another 5by5 first, the recording of one creator interview show lead directly into an episode of another. I should have planned it this way. Both episodes should be up in the feed soon (subscribe to Screen Time and Giant Size if you don't already.

Munroe's Splinter in TMNT was played by the great Mako, in one of his final released performances.

Bruce Timm Leaves DC Animation

Timm started with Warner Bros. Animation in 1989, and was the chief shepherd who guided Batman: The Animated Series and the entire DC Animated universe into existence as we know it.

He's apparently been planning to head out for a while, according to an exclusive over at Voices From Krypton. There are worse swan songs than The Dark Knight Returns, of all things.

The Supervising Producer job is going to Justice League/Legion of Superheroes/Batman: Brave and the Bold veteran James Tucker:

“I’d love to use more of a variety of characters, but that’s something I don’t have control over,” he says. “Granted Dark Knight Returns was long overdue to be adapted and I’m glad they did it and did it superbly. But beyond that, I’m not really interested in replicating, image by image, word for word, something that was in a comic book, because you can’t replicate that experience or feeling. You’re basically getting a secondary experience, so you have to make it your own in order to make it work as a movie. Creating films in which people are going through it with a checklist saying, ‘Okay, they took that out, they took that out…” I’m not interested in doing anything like that.”

Tucker is very sharp on the risks and needs involved in branching out in ways that I wish WB/DC's live-action production people would understand:

“Our challenge,” he continues, “is that people want us to do these other characters, but if they don’t sell that threatens the whole line. So the way to do it is to be smart. If we know we’re going to use Superman, Batman and the Justice League, how do we use them as gateways to these other characters? If Batman, Superman and Justice League bring in the average person who’s not a comic book fan, once you have them you insert a Huntress or a secondary character like Oracle as a means of introducing them to more of the world. But you’re not going to be able to do an Oracle movie. Unfortunately the Green Lantern and Wonder Woman movies didn’t perform like we would have liked them to, even though I thought they were among the best we’ve done.”

This is the right guy to take the reins from Timm, and at the right time.

If Disney/Marvel isn't already circling Timm to do work on some combination of Star Wars and, in my mind, overhauling Marvel animation, they're nuts. Hell, WB would be crazy not to engage him to oversee, fix, and guide their expanded DC Live-Action Movieverse. Everyone start backing up Brinks trucks.

Criterion OOP Announcement: Titles Gone March 31

From Criterion's blog "Criterion Current":

 

We wanted to let you know that the following titles are going out of print effective March 31:

 

Army of Shadows [$25.11 Blu-ray on Amazon]

Le cercle rouge [$24.59 Blu-ray on Amazon]

Le doulos [$33.30 DVD on Amazon]

Last Year at Marienbad [$23.70 Blu-ray on Amazon]

Léon Morin, Priest [$30.38 Blu-ray on Amazon]

Mafioso [$22.19 DVD on Amazon]

 

These announcements are always sad for collectors, but this one is especially so, since it kills off almost all of Criterion's outstanding Jean-Pierre Melville titles (minus Le Samourai, Les Enfants Terribles, and Le deuxieme souffle). On top of that, we're losing Last Year at Marienbad one of their best-ever Blu-ray releases.

I highly recommend grabbing all the above discs while you can. The Amazon prices listed and linked above look like the lowest around.

Daily Grab 110: Determination

It bugs me that the Blu-ray edition of Lincoln with the "real" extras costs $5-10 more than the "regular" Blu-ray edition. Was it still worth the money? Yes, more so than War Horse, which I don't imagine I'll re-watch as often as I expect to revisit Lincoln, even if just for James Spader (not pictured) and, I suppose the breathtaking work of Daniel Day-Lewis.

Daily Grab 108: Coates

From Side by Side, a documentary/infomovie about film versus digital in cinema, which crosses a variety of strata worth of conflict. i've rewatched/listened to/soaked it in while working multiple times since its Blu-ray release in February. Soderbergh puts some stank on his opinions, as it were.

The same editor who cut Lawrence of Arabia did Erin Brockovich. I feel like I, of all people, should pretend that I knew this before now.

DC Creator Dismissal and Strife, 2009-2013

My friend John Gholson shares the best timeline I've seen for the seismic shift in DC Comics's relations with creators over at Gutters and Panels.

The abrupt announcement/unannouncement/"we never planned to do X" culture over at DC troubles me in the same ways John describes his own feelings in the article. There are some great stories being told at DC, but the treatment and respect for creators has seemed to go off a cliff.

I love DC characters, and I love a fair amount of work being done there. Scott Snyder, Gail Simone, Peter Tomasi, and Bill Willingham (and occasionally Geoff Johns) have been pulling off some outstanding storytelling, among others.

It's tough to be as excited about them as a brand when they bring in an ostensible "brand person" (Diane Nelson) who spends four years doing an abominable, high-profile job of brand management.

If I'm not careful, I might pull a Horace and do an objective comparative analysis of Marvel and DC, cross-indexing sales data, editorial shuffling, and cancellations.

Daily Grab 106: Quiet

Bob Peck is one of the greatest actors whom we've lost too soon. Jurassic Park would not have been the same without him. The 3D conversion gives his last big scene even more punch. I might do a limited career retrospective on him at some point. If you've never seen the original BBC Edge of Darkness, you're missing out big-time.

Daily Grab 105: Hold Onto Your Butts

Since full reviews are embargoed, I can't write a brief post "reviewing" Jurassic Park 3D, which my wife and I saw through extremely exacting and skeptical eyes this morning.

Instead, here's a grab of Samuel L. Jackson from the movie paired with some brief impressions like these offered by Jeff Wells last Wednesday, albeit at much shorter length. I have a great deal more to say about this, but I'll observe the insane "embargo" for now. Based on Jeff's piece being out there unreprimanded, I honestly consider the "embargo" as dead as a goat in a T-Rex paddock.

JP3D exceeded all expectations possible, with the new depth of field revealing detail that neither me nor my wife had caught previously. This is our mutual favorite movie, and we've seen it dozens and dozens of times each. The new sound master, presumably the same 7.1 mix from the Blu-ray, is also a crisp, clean, hiss-free revelation. Previously muffled or mumbled lines and sound effects are now clear as a bell. As big a deal as the original release's surround sound was, this was an immensely pleasant surprise.

This may sound odd, but foliage is where the 3D shines most. Trees, brush, blades of grass: these are less obtrusive "popups" than new depth of imagery that make me wish I had a 3DTV. The 3D only enhances, and never detracts from the experience. The car in the tree? Forget about it. The Brachiosaur sleepover? Breathtaking. The Run of the Gallimimus? More thrilling. "Clever girl"? More harrowing, and a grander moment for Muldoon.

The only minor picture quality issues I had were a few takes that are similarly soft in the Blu-ray. It's been 20 years since I saw this in its original 35mm incarnation, so I can't say for sure that it's DNR rather than softer focus in one take versus the one following (specifically where Grant finds the dino eggs).

I plan to see JP3D at least three times during its run, and Universal would be smart to try to keep it on screens throughout the summer, even alongside the big, soon-to-flop tentpoles we get each year. If a theater has a DCP sitting around and Explosionfest XXtreme 3D has sold no tickets, they should drop it for what could be a strong repeat hit.

You'd be amazed how many people out there have never seen Jurassic Park. Judging by the audience this morning, there are many more than one might assume.

Daily Grab 104: Afraid to Hit Back

From this week's wonderful Criterion edition of Michael Powell's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. It includes all of the features found in the Region B disc I imported late last year, plus a half hour interview with Thelma Schonnmaker-Powell and a meaty introduction piece with Martin Scorsese, on top of the carried-over Criteiron commentary track. A full review and comparison are in the works.

Ducktales Remastered

One of the best games made for the NES is coming back with pretty new HD graphics, and allegedly features the original gameplay entirely intact. From PA Report:

The original NES masterpiece was crafted by a super group of game designers and creators, including Keiji Inafune, character designer of Mega Man and producer of Lost Planet and Dead Rising. Yoshihiro Sakaguchi composed the game's music, which is not being replaced in the remastered version. Instead, it will be updated by developer WayForward. Likewise, the game's visuals have received an overhaul.

Characters will be hand-drawn in 2D, while the world is 3D, but Capcom promised the game will play “just like you remember.”

It had impressive level design, balance, and mechanics that have very rarely been approached. Combine that with the massive goodwill from love of the cartoon, and that made for a monster hit. It's still a little weird for me that I've not just once, but now have twice interviewed the casting and voice director behind the TV show, Andrea Romano (The New Radio Theatre, Queen of Gotham).

The new version will run about $15 USD. Sounds about right to me.

Kurosawa's Birthday: Free Movies on Hulu

From an email received from Criterion earlier:

Celebrate Akira Kurosawa’s March 23 birthday with Hulu and the Criterion Collection. Until midnight on Sunday, all twenty-four of the legendary Japanese director’s films on Hulu are free of charge to nonsubscribers (with commercial interruptions, and only in the U.S.). It’s a great opportunity to watch both the iconic classics, like Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo, and lesser-known but enormously moving gems such as No Regrets for Our Youth, One Wonderful Sunday, and Dodes’ka-den. Also available is Kurosawa’s beautiful final film, Madadayo, not on Criterion Blu-ray or DVD. And remember, if you sign up for Hulu Plus for just $7.99 a month, you can see them all the time, ad-free!

It's much, much better to watch these movies without commercials, but if you can only do free, it's better than nothing.

If you haven't tried Hulu Plus and its loads of Criterion movies, recent TV shows with shorter-than-broadcast commercial breaks, and so on, try it free for two weeks. I'm a very happy and at once very hard-to-please customer.

Daily Grab 103: Facing Notre Dame

While I'm assailing critics: I like Russell Crowe very, very much as Javert in Les Mis, even with his throaty, swallowed singing. He's the right guy for that part, more so than he's been the right guy for any other thing he's done.

This grab could be considered a companion to Daily Grab 96: Out There, where Quasimodo sang in the general direction of where Javert is standing. Thinking of those two songs played back to back seems weird at first, but there's an interesting dichotomy there, worth a couple moments of abstract thought.

Daily Grab 102: Valjean the First

I choked up and cried the moment I saw Colm Wilkinson appear onscreen as the Bishop in Les Mis. I've spent a couple of decades shaped by his creation of the role and person of Jean Valjean as he's been known within the world of the musical. Look him up. You can spend an afternoon on YouTube watching clips of him singing.