Two movies born from Japan

Trailer for the film All Gods Children Can Dance. It's based on a Haruki Murakami story from "After the Quake."

Trailer for "Paprika," the new anime by Satoshi Kon. Kon is the creator of "Millenium Actress," "Tokyo Godfathers" and the TV anime "Paranoia Agent." From the trailer I have no idea what is going on, but after his other films I have all confidence that it will be worth seeing.

Escape from Remakes

Why in the hell does anyone need to remake Escape from New York? (Link found at Gamera_Spinning) The movie still works great on DVD, it has a sequel made, what?, 10 years ago. For god sakes, Kurt Russell could still play Snake Plissken if they wanted to make a third one. Just check out the clips from Grindhouse and tell me it's not true. When will Hollywood give up all these remakes? Original ideas are good, use them!

Hello there, remember me?

Any of you who still have me on your news aggregators and RSS feed readers, thank you. And thank you even more for those who haven't deleted this blog from your bookmarks. It's very easy for a blog to drop off the map when it hasn't had a serious update in more than six months. Thanks for sticking with me.

Anyway, I plan on coming back to blogging with the New Year. I'm now newly married with a new house. I still have many things to do around here, but it's about time I rededicated myself to writing (which has faltered badly in the last three months) and blogging will be part of that. I won't make any commitments to the amount of blogging I'll do -- I'd like to blog every day, but it seems like a little much right now. So this blog will probably be best read from a feed, where you won't get annoyed looking back every day to see if I've finally updated.

Well, to make this post worth something, here's a few links:

Jeffery Ford has posted a short story on his blog that I believe is previously unpublished.

A giant squid was captured alive and caught on film; unfortunately, it died soon after.

Movie trailers: Harry Potter, Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer, Hot Fuzz, and The Host.

Check out Eddie Campbell's blog, well, just because he's good, but also becaues he discusses photo references and how they were used in making From Hell.

I would also like to highly recommend Chris Roberson's blog, he's got loads of good stuff. He's an interesting guy anyway: He's the author of Paragea and Here, There & Everywhere as well as the brains behind Monkeybrain Books.

A Scanner Darkly trailer

A full length trailer for "A Scanner Darkly" is up now. [Link found via SFSignal.] Check it out.

The movie uses a drawing technique first pioneered in Richard Linklater's "Waking Life" in which real actors are drawn over. In some ways, this is perfect for this movie. However, most people are going to be used to seeing this technique in recent commercials. And it looks pretty stupid in those. Every time I see it, I think to myself, why not just film the people? At least, this movie has a purpose behind using it. In the book, by Philip K. Dick, a central idea is that new technology makes it impossible for people to hide their identities with new identities. Also, it's a major plot point that you don't know how much delusion is going on.

I'm still excited about this film, despite the above worry and Keanu Reeves acting. The other actors -- Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder and Woody Harrelson -- are all people who I've loved in some films and actively hated in others. They all have certain tics they rely on that bug me, but sometimes they get past it. (Reeves rarely ever does. They can just sometimes make the movie around him, like The Matrix.)

On the plus side, the film looks very faithfult to the book, which is one of Dick's novels I highly recommend.

UPDATE: Fascinating article from Wired on the troubles Linklater faced in making this film happen, particularly concerning the animation. The story also makes me feel better about Reeves, who is a big Dick fan (I crack up just writing that) and worked for scale pay to see this film made. If only he were a better actor.

Wrestling squid and octopus!!

My god I must have this film: The Calamari Wrestler. Read that first link, there is a great description of what this is all about and some pictures. I've added it to my wishlist. I must have it!

The Dark Crystal returns

SciFi Wire says that a sequel to The Dark Crystal is in the works and Genndy Tartakovsky (of Samurai Jack and Clone Wars fame) will be directing.

Set hundreds of years after the first movie, the sequel follows a mysterious girl made of fire who steals a shard of the crystal in hopes of reigniting the dying sun.

Dark Horizons reported a bit about the sequel back in May. They include this important tidbit:

"The Dark Crystal created its own world. We are now going to fully explore this universe through the sequel film, which will be followed up with an animated series as well as interactive games and other media," said Lisa Henson. "Knowing the franchise's worldwide appeal, we're thrilled to leverage Odyssey's expertise in family entertainment within the independent film-sales community."

That report also includes a much longer (and somewhat different) description of the new movie.

This is great news. I absolutely adore the original. And most importantly, Brian Froud is returning to help design the new characters for the film. Froud did a lot of work behind the scenes on the look and history of the Dark Crystal. I have a copy of his book "The World of the Dark Crystal" and it's one of the prettiest books I own.

The only thing that concerns me is that the Henson company will go too far. The original film is great in and of itself. There is the potential that the company will take this chance to drain the "franchise" for all its worth. If all the books, movies and cartoons are good that's not a problem. But there's always a fear they will besmirch the memory of the original. (Although, I still have a copy of the original. It's not going anywhere. So I can always ignore sequels if they turn out to be bad.)

Here is a decent (and almost up to date) Dark Crysal fan site: The Book of Habidad.

UPDATE: Chris Roberson writes about his obsession over the movie's novelization when he was younger. I can relate. I loved that book and still have it around here somewhere. I have no idea how it would hold up today. It was written by A.C.H. Smith, who wrote the novelization for Labyrinth as well as a few other books, but I really don't know anything else about him. This page includes a few small excerpts from the book, mostly dialogue. Also, Smith seems to be a playwright.
I'll also note that the original screenwriter, David Odell, appears to be returning for the new film as well.

Eric Red and a horrible accident

There's a fascinating story about screenwriter and director Eric Red at LA Weekly. Red, the writer of "The Hitcher" and "Near Dark" (for the record, I think both those films are great, though I haven't seen "The Hitcher" in ages), was involved in a horrible traffic accident in 2000 that left two people dead. Red tried to cut his own throat after the accident. In the months that followed, Red escaped prosecution. But the families of the victims wouldn't give up and eventually won a civil case against him. Meanwhile, it looks like Red is making a comeback in Hollywood.

The story is very detailed and if Red did all the things implied in this story, he's a pretty awful guy. The only thing that bothers me with the story is the attempt to link Red's films to his accident. It's the idea that if you think up all these awful things, you must be a horrible person. You must want to do this stuff. While Red may indeed be a horrible person, this really has nothing to do with the type of films he makes. You can't look at his career and say, boy there sure are a lot of crashes and slit throats in your films. Look at any screenwriter and you'll find that, not just horror writers.

Meanwhile, the films he is trying to get made now can show something about the guy, I think.

But one script appears
striking in the context of his car wreck and ensuing civil trial. Fenderbent,
written by Eric Red and Meredith Casey, in a draft dated May 1, 2003, is the
story of a group of high school students on their way to a concert who run out
of gas in a small town in central Texas. There, they encounter not just the
anticipated killer trucks and car-related mayhem of Red’s signature oeuvre —
“the SOUND of the DEAFENING REVVING ROARS of the ENGINES and the SMASHING of
METAL against FLESH and BONE,” as the screenplay imperatively puts it — but
an actual society of miscreants who target and run down pedestrians for fun,
as part of an elaborate sport. Driving souped-up GTOs, dragsters and funny cars,
featuring Ed “Big Daddy” Roth-style cartoon murals and tricked out with chainsaws,
harpoons and razor-sharp rotor blades, these chicken-fried road warriors refer
to themselves as the Fenderbents and collect points for every unsuspecting victim
they can tally.



This is reminiscent of the plot of Death Race 2000, Paul Bartel’s mid-’70s
drive-in opus starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone, crossed with
the inbred remoteness of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It also carries
with it a kind of gallows-humor defiance. Despite its absence from Red’s list
of active properties in the Creative Directory, Scott Penney, his agent, continued
to shop the project through at least 2004. What exactly are we to make of this?

What are we to make of this? That a guy uses the experiences of his life in his films. It doesn't show that he did it, or even takes any glee in what happened, but it does show a remarkable lack of sympathy for the victims.

Anyway, it's a good piece of journalism on an accident and its repercussions.

Yahoo! Movies: Jurassic Park IV - Greg's Preview Apparently there is some talk going on about a new Jurassic Park film. I get excited about this every time, although every time there's a chance it's just stringing the concept out too far. Lost World was terrible (but I thought had some good scenes) but Jurassic Park III was fun and very tight. So I'm hoping for the best.

HENSHIN!ONLINE: EASTERN FRONT has updated with info on "Godzilla vs. Megaguirus" and "Godzilla-Mothra-King Ghidorah." Apparently, they will be coming out on DVD in February 2004 in widescreen with both dubbing and subtitles. This may change if they decide to give a limited theatrical run for GMK. Oh, I'm all atwitter.

There's a new trailer up for Kill Bill Volume 1. I am so stoked for this film.

So I just came back from "Once Upon A Time in Mexico." It was a lot of fun and it was something of a mess. Rodriguez tried so hard to make this an epic that it has all kinds of plot strands that are hard to follow. Despite that, it was a good time and had some wonderful stuff in it.
Johnny Depp has been appropriately praised. I could see Rodriguez making a new set of films about that character. Having said that, I never got a handle on whether Sands (Depp's character) was in control of what happened or not, and what his eventual goal was anyway. But then, maybe that's the point. Ruben Blades should also be getting some attention. He plays a retired FBI agent dragged into the affairs by Sands. He wrings a lot of feeling for his character out of only a handful of scenes.
Rodriguez also brings back some of his trademark actors including Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin. Trejo is playing a different character from the one he played in "Desperado", but I wasn't sure if Cheech's character was the bartender from "Desperado" or not. I'll have to go back and see if he gets shot in the eye.
Overall, a fine action flick whose reach might exceed its grasp. Well worth your time if you enjoyed "El Mariachi" and "Desperado." It certainly creates an interesting arc for the Mariachi character.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico is showing at the North Haven theaters, I may go see it. I like the first two movies ("El Mariachi" and "Desperado") in the series, I'm sure I'll enjoy this one. At Rotten Tomatoes it's getting a 64% fresh rating, which just gets it over onto the good side. But even the good reviews seem to think it's a bit of a mess. Still, as long as an action movie doesn't treat me like an idiot, I usually enjoy them. And all the reviews seem to like Johnny Depp in it. After "Pirates of the Carribean" it seems that he can do no wrong.

It's a travesty that King Kong (1933) is yet to come out on DVD. There's some kind of legal problems that have held up versions of King Kong for years. It's about time they get cleared up. I know Peter Jackson is working on a new King Kong, so somebody should get this in order before then. And while they're at it, they should also release a DVD of "Son of Kong," which is not as good as the first, but is still a classic. Right now, the only copy I have is a video tape made off of AMC.

Ahhh, Varan The Unbelievable, what a terrible movie. Actually, the Americanized version is a terrible movie. I just watched my Something Weird copy of the movie last night. You spend an hour and 15 minutes watching Myron Healy complain about his saline solution and then get a few cut up moments of Varan (strangely called Ombaki in the movie) smashing buildings.
But I love Varan, the monster. I hope to get a copy of the original Japanese film soon. Varan's design is just strange. He walks on all fours, sometimes. He's got a hard shell, sort of. He flies, occasionally. He's got a line of bright white spikes down his back. But he looks really cool taking out small Japanese villages.
Anyway, I've been in the mood for giant monster movies lately, so expect some more kaiju-related links and reviews soon.

Old 28 Days Later review (new headline)

Well, at my old diary, The Experiment, I put up a review of "28 Days Later." Go there, check it out, come back and comment on it. If it pleases you...

UPDATE 11/23/2005: Since my old blog no longer exists, here's the review pulled from my personal files. My files include two drafts of it, so you get them both. I've resisted the urge to revise either one:

I just saw "28 Days Later." It was a good, solid horror/action film.
It looked beautiful, great dark shadows and powerful images. And there were some scenes with real scares. The first half of the film was particularly brilliant. I don't know how they managed to get all the shots of empty London, but it looked amazing.
The second half of the film is where problems begin. Now, I should note, the problems are not evident while sitting in the theater. They only bother you after sitting back and thinking about the movie.
Mostly it's the portrayal of the soldiers. We're treated to the old movie cliche of soldiers being people totally led by their impulses and animal urges, who glory in death. These trained-to-kill soldiers are then beaten by the clever trickery of our hero (with the help of zombies, of course.) It should also be noted that our hero is a bike messenger who has only killed one zombie in his life. He just seems to have a powerful dark side.
The cliche keeps the film moving, but cheapens the experience.
The second half of the movie is also one big riff off of "Day of the Dead," including a chained up zombie who exacts his own revenge.
I should also note that the prologue to the film (the part before "28 days later..." comes up on screen) seemed silly and unnecessary. I would have rather had the whole zombie problem go unexplained. (They never use the term zombie, by the by.)
The movie doesn't hold a candle to the George Romero zombie series, but what zombie movie ever has? The movie seems to have a respect for horror (although, it doesn't indulge in gore at all, except for the brutality of it) and treats its themes seriously. The characters are well drawn and I think Serena's change in philosophy is handled well.
Over all, I thought it was an excellent film. Check it out for yourself and tell me what you think.


That being said, here are the caveats. First of all, George Romero has nothing to worry about. His films remain the zombie films. In fact, this film takes a lot from "Day of the Dead." The whole second half in fact. That's not a killer for a zombie movie though, it's not like anyone else has done anything original with zombies either. Watch any Lucio Fulci films lately?
The film was made on digital camera, from what I know. I'm not sure if it's that or the filmmakers choice, but it does give the film a strong, grainy feel. Documentary-style some would say (although when was the last time you saw a documentary with less than perfect camera work?) TV news style might be a better way to describe it.
They use the digital camera to create a few effects -- Manchester burning off in the distance -- but the most notable is the fast-moving, enraged zombies. I think it works, you never get a completely clear view of these people-turned-monsters.
Zombie fans may be upset that there is not a lot of gore. In fact, the zombies (which are never called that in the film) don't seem to eat people. They puke on people a lot and do a lot of crazed punching and things, but not a lot of eating. It didn't bother me. You still see people get killed and you still get an idea of the brutality of it.
I didn't think there was much need for the beginning of the film, the few minutes before "28 days later..." comes up on the screen. It just seemed to overexplain things. I like the "Night of the Living Dead" style where things are hinted at, but we have no idea if that is really what is behind the zombies.
The ending of the film worked for me while I was sitting there getting into it. Upon further reflection, it has its problems. They're even worse because this is a film that has billed itself (intentionally or otherwise) as an "intelligent zombie film."
First off, do we need to repeat the cliche of Army men out of control. There seems to be this common perception of military as people who are consumed with their animal urges. While I have no doubt the military attracts some of these people, I don't think it represents the real depth of military men. Not to mention, it's a straight rip from "Day of the Dead."
Second, if you're going to have a guy going up against military men, he'd better be damn clever. These are guys are trained not only to fight and take orders, but also to strategize. One bike messenger shouldn't be able to take 10 of them out.
Well, the movie does show him using clever strategies and siccing the zombies on these guys, but still. How do all these plans always work out in the movies? I don't know anybody who could make something like that work in real life. (Unlike "Day of the Dead" where the Army guys' own foolishness does them in.)
But all this is really not necessary. It is a good flick. Characters are well drawn. The action is exciting. The horror is scary. The first half works very well. Over all, it was one of the better horror movies I've seen recently.