Posts from — February 2008

There are rumblings of re-shoots and technical difficulties for Where the Wild Things Are. Some test audiences suggested that the film was too dark for children, so much so that parents had to leave the screening early. The rumors have increased ever since test footage leaked onto the internet. Even Spike Jonze himself has made a statement regarding the leak! It’s been pushed back to 2009, but otherwise no official statement has been made.

I understand that special f/x take a long time, especially for a fantasy film. It’s not like you use footage from a basic Canon ZR and After Effects for this project. There’s months of post-production where the initial footage is mapped and augmented to create a fantastical finished product. I’m sure if you watched a early scene from The Golden Compass, a viewer wouldn’t be too impressed.

I don’t care how, but I hope Jonze can pull everything together and keep his overall vision. Forget the kids, make a movie for adults, especially since we’re the ones who cherish the book. An more mature tone of the film could be risky for Warner Bros, but maybe it better suits the tone of the film.

To gear up for the Oscars this weekend, I decided to watch the BAFTA award ceremony on BBC America. The BAFTAs are the UK equivalent of the Oscars, and as such, many of the same films were nominated. The ceremony took place at the Royal Opera House in London. The broadcast was more condensed than the Oscars, since not every single award was included. Also, from a technical aspect the production seemed less pretentious and stylized than the Oscars.

The award I found most interesting was the fellowship given to Sir Anthony Hopkins. It’s sorta like an honorary Oscar where they put together a montage to recognize a respected member of the filmmaking community. Hopkins accepted the award with modesty and grace. He deflected some of the attention from himself by thanking Sir Richard Attenborough who presented the award to him.

They even had a special award for the best 60 second film made with a digital camcorder. Crazily, the winner didn’t bother attending the ceremony to accept it. Save a few exceptions, the award categories are almost exactly the same as the Academy’s. Atonement won best film, which I thought was pretty predictable seeing how it was an all British production, including the writer of the source novel. This win doesn’t bode well for There Will Be Blood winning the Oscar, which is my personal choice. If you like predicting the winners, visit imdb for your own ballot or to read their guesses.

The actor video diary of the shoot has become a popular dvd extra or online feature for television and movies.

“Heroes”, which already had a strong online community of fans, has youtube videos shot by members of the cast. The videos don’t necessarily reveal how the show is made, and more often than not are a way for the actors to kill time between takes. Nevertheless, the videos enhance the overall buzz for the tv show.

By giving an actor a JVC camcorder, you can get a non-technical point of view of the filmmaking process, which can prove to be more appealing to the average viewers than a standard behind-the-scenes featurette. I’d love to watch the film or show from the actor’s personal point of view. The more open ended the diary, the more interesting it seems to me. I like seeing how they keep the make-up continuity or one of the cast members goof off.

Blooper reels or outtakes at the end of the program have been around for some time. I feel like the video diary is simply an extension of this idea, especially since camcorders are so easily accessible.

Would you remake your own film? Michael Haneke already has with his US version of his film Funny Games. The psychological horror stars Tim Roth, Naomi Watts, and Michael Pitt.

-In theaters, April 5th-

Since the plot and mise-en-scene of the original was very meticulous, a new director could easily misinterpret the original and botch up a remake. Thus, Haneke can preserve the ideas of his film by directing the new version. It has been said that some auteur filmmakers are ultimately making the same film over and over again with each new project. Films by Brian DePalma, Hitchcock, and Kubrick have been used to study this post-modernist concept. I suppose Haneke is just taking it to the next level.

To an extent, I get it where he’s coming from, especially when I think about my student films. I would love to remake some of them, especially with better actors and a Canon GL2. Maybe a remake doesn’t have to have such a bad connotation if you look at it as a second chance to make a better film.

It took me a minute to realize that all the movies this week are being released today. It looks like the studios are hoping to cash in on Valentine’s and President’s Day by releasing stuff on Thursday instead of Friday.

After reading the poor reviews for Jumper, I doubt it will be number one at the box office. Kinda of a bummer for Fox since they’ve spent a ton on marketing. I’ve even seen a custom trailer emphasizing the romance element on Lifetime network. It looks like a really awesome concept that probably wasn’t executed very well.

My money’s on The Spiderwick Chronicles, since it’s targeted at kids (and their parents of course).

Both these films rely heavily on special f/x, while Step Up 2 and Definitely, Maybe are more focused on characters and were probably easier to make from a technical standpoint. It would probably be quite easy to make my own version of Step Up 2. A similar story could be told using a Canon digital camcorder and group of talented dancers.

Pajiba did a hilarious mock review of the urban dance genre and basically came to the same conclusion as me. I’m not saying these movies are bad, it’s just quite amusing that studios actually invest money into this simple concept. And this concept has now morphed into a genre commodity.