Summer

So, I went to the preview screening of Summer yesterday and I must say it was really good. A touching story about three friends growing up in a small village. The film shows them in 3 periods of their lives, when they were 7-8, 16 and in their 40s. It has some excellent performances from the two leads, but also from all the cast depicting these characters.

The film is simply shot, but carefully crafted, it is extremely real, you feel you are indeed there with the characters.

The Q&A session that followed, with Kenny Glenaan & Robert Carlyle was also very interesting, especially when Kenny was talking about the place it was shot. An English village that was exactly how it was depicted in the movie. He gave a very good characterization calling it: "The land that time forgot" and said that there are a lot of villages like these on the countryside where children are "dragged up, not brought up as they used to".

I strongly recommend it, it has so many things in there that I believe everyone can find a small piece of himself inside these characters. At least I did...

24: Redemption (Extended Cut)

Just a small note here, I just saw the extended cut that was released in DVDs, the aired edition was 12 min shorter, and I'm glad to say that it's a much better movie and it provides a couple of answers in some things that the first didn't.

The most interesting thing is that all the cut moments are pieces of dialogue, and not more action as I expected. 24: Redemption seems to be preparing us for a more internal storyline than 24 hours of running and shooting.

24: Redemption

So, Jack is back!!!

24: Redemption serves as a link between the sixth and the seventh series of the popular show. It is a TV-movie, 2-hour long (including commercials of course, actual time is approx. 87 min) and, as always, in real time.

I've just finished watching it and I can say that, although I expected a little more, Redemption serves me just fine. The movie is set in the fictional country of Sangala, somewhere in Africa. Jack is having a peaceful time there, helping his friend Carl Benton (Robert Carlyle) establish a school for orphans. That's the first 10 minutes maybe. After that, something goes wrong...

Although it drags a little bit in the first 15 minutes, and at some points the dialogue is a bit weak, everything else is perfectly fine in this movie. Fast paced action (although I dare say that the movie is not as action-driven as the series is), a lot of new faces to introduce for the seventh season, and a sense of fresh air. It is true that Los Angeles was getting a bit tiring after six seasons, and Jack set in an African background disorientated me in the beginning, but in the end it worked just fine.

24: Redemption achieves its targets, which for me was:

1. To make a dynamic comeback after the show's weakest season (6).
2. To give all of us the good dose of Jack we needed after almost a year and a half.
3. To give us enough reasons to eagerly await the next season.

The cast is once again wonderful, Cherry Jones is the new President-elect, Robert Carlyle delivers in an unusual role for him (to reference Ally: "Bobby Carlyle is in it? He must be the villain!"), and a small cameo by Jon Voight who will be the next season's main antagonist!

I have already seen the trailer for the seventh season and it looks veeery risky. They're rebooting the series once again (last time, in season 4 it worked) keeping only a few main characters, for the first time they're changing the setting (Washington D.C.), there is no CTU (!) and... no, I won't tell you that one! :p

Oh, and some facts for you:

1. Jack Bauer could get off the Lost island in 24 hours.
2. Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
3. If everyone listened to Jack Bauer, the show would be called 12.
4. Jack Bauer has no friends, because as a child when he would play cops and robbers, the robbers would all be interogated and killed.
5. Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
6. As a boy, Jack Bauer interrogated his parents on Easter until they revealed the location and contents of each hidden egg.
7. After running out of ammo, Jack stood in the line of fire, took 3 shots to the chest, and used them to reload.
8. It took God six days to get His job done; Jack has 24 hours.
9. You can't compare Jack Bauer to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ only came back to life once.
10. Chuck Norris can drink an entire gallon of milk in thirty-seven seconds. Jack bauer doesn't drink milk. Milk is for pussies.

Latest Movies

So, I watched a couple of movies this week, I'll give you a brief:

Max Payne

Oh, my God! I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be great, but... Anyway, I went to see it just because it's Max Payne, and to tell you the truth it wasn't really bad, I would say that it was a perfect mediocrity. I left the cinema and I didn't hate the film, I couldn't remember anything particularly bad about it, but I couldn't remember anything good also. In my opinion John Moore wanted to keep the atmosphere of the game, and at the same time make it more "Movieable". The result is he got lost in all this process.

I don't know how they trust directors like him with these kinds of budgets. I've seen another one of his films, the remake of The Omen, and my feelings were exactly the same: Empty!

W.

I really liked the film. It's just that it shows Bush as I always suspected he was. I never thought that he was a bad guy, just... well, not the brightest guy for the job. I mostly enjoyed the performances, especially Jeffrey Wright, Josh Brolin and Richard Dreyfuss. Also it's actually an enjoyable, rather lightweight movie, which was not at all what I was expecting.

Burn After Reading

I guess after last year's success, everyone was expecting a masterpiece from the Coen Brothers, which Burn... is not. It is good though, the performances are very good from the all-star cast, and it had some moments where I laughed my guts out. It's just that when I saw the trailer I thought it would be funny all the way through. They also have a comedy in their CV (Big Lebowski) which I guess will always haunt them, cause people will compare it with every other comedy they make.


P.S. I'm in the process of watching the "...Apes" franchise, I've currently watched 3.5 films (Planet, Beneath, Escape and half of Conquest), but I'll write a full review when I finish all of them. Quite interesting I must say...

Watchmen

I didn't realize that our blogs were supposed to have also things we've read, I only found out today. So, he he, what else did you expect I would speak about?

A Brief History:

Watchmen is a graphic novel which was originally released on 1985 as a 12-issue mini-series. It was revolutionary in the sense that it re-invented the comic book medium (along with "The Dark Knight Returns") making it as approachable to adults as it was for kids. The novel did a huge impact and won the Hugo award and also made it in Time's 100 best novels of the 20th century (in both cases it was the only comic book to ever win these things). After a trip around every major movie studio, it landed in the hands of Warner & Zack Snyder, it is produced and is going to be released in March 6, 2009.


The Graphic Novel:

Alan Moore, the guy who wrote it and one of the few intelligent people of our times, came up with the idea of making a super-hero story, but presenting them as they would be in reality. Normal people, who dress up with silly costumes to do what they think is right, each one for his own reasons. They are not Supermen, no white knights, blond and bold heroes who will save the princess and give the money to the poor. They are guys with sexual insecurities, girls who just want to be famous, people that have bills to pay and kids to raise.

In a universe like this, Moore puts the only supernatural (?) thing in the novel, Dr. Manhattan, a man who was in a nuclear-type accident which changed his molecule structure during the 50's. From that point, history changes. USA wins Vietnam, the Watergate is covered up and Nixon gets to serve 3 more terms, being a country-wide hero. So here we are, 1985 with Nixon still president when one of the costumed heroes, The Comedian (freakin' great character) gets murdered. Meanwhile costumed heroes have been voted illegal since '77, but Rorschach, the kind of protagonist (and a bad mothafucka!), never stopped fighting crime and wants to get to the bottom of all this...

Dave Gibbons, the artist of Watchmen, has also made a magnificent piece of art. You'll only start to understand it the second time you read it though, when the story is out of the way. And the third, and the fourth etc.



The Film:

The film is being made, as I mentioned earlier, by Zack Snyder (the God who made 300) and is a really controversial subject. The main thing is that the graphic novel has so many elements, so many things happening at the same time, that many consider it impossible to be made into a movie.

I am a big fan of the comic book (I first read it 2 years ago, but I've re-read it many times since). I have been following up with updates from the movie since Zack Snyder was involved. Especially during the last year I'm checking for news from the Watchmen side EVERY day (I'm not joking). I've read every set report, seen all video journals, trailers, videos, photos, interviews, just about everything. I'm usually very pricky when it comes to adaptations, especially about things I like (don't ask me about LOTR), but with this one I'm really hopeful since the beginning.

What I like is that Snyder is making it true. He's not polishing it, he's not bringing it to modern day, he's not cutting the rape & the murder of the Vietnamese gal, he's not changing the ending (well, he is, but not the essence of the ending). He is keeping the stuff that make it what it is, the moral dilemmas and the choices that each of them does.

And about the visuals... well, I can't say anything to describe them, just take a look at the trailers cause a picture might be 1000 words, but Snyder's pictures are 1000000 words!

Another thing that I liked is that he chose not so well known actors, which keeps them in the same kind of level. They're all protagonists, if he had Jude Law for Rorschach (it was proposed), then he would seem as the star, while in Watchmen there are no stars. Also, the choices he made are excellent. Patrick Wilson (Angels In America, Hard Candy), Jackie Earl Haley (Little Children), Mathew Goode (The Lookout) are all amazing actors, and although you might not recognise the names, you've all seen them somewhere.

I believe in Zack Snyder. I don't believe the film will deliver 100% of what the graphic novel does, but I'm sure it will give us no less than 75-80%, which is much more than what we would get from any other director. It's just that he is a fan of the comic book, and always was, and not just someone random, found by the studio to do a movie inspired by the graphic novel. He is making the graphic novel into a movie.



An Epilogue:

Watchmen is one of the best things written in the history of mankind, period. No one has any right to deny it, it is above subjectivity or preference, it just is. If you haven't read it, don't wait for the movie, grab it now. It is a bit expensive (I think you can find it between 12-17 pounds) but is a piece that not only passes the test of time, it's getting even more beautiful every time you read it.

Pride And Glory

So, I wanted to see "W." yesterday, I got to the cinema at 5.30 and the only show was at 8. So, I was looking for something else and "Pride and Glory" was the only interesting alternative at that time. So...

I have to say that before I saw it I didn't have a lot of expectations. The trailer didn't impress me and comments from friends of mine were less than encouraging. But I said "what the hell, it can't be awful, at least there's Norton, Farell and Voight, even if there is no plot!".

I have to say that I was impressed by the film. It was 2hrs 10mins and it wasn't boring in any point. The plot wasn't the best it could be, but it was very decent and it provided the necessary background for the characters to roam.

Which brings me to my next point. It was a film about characters, not so much story. What I felt is that the guy took four different characters, made them cops, put them in the same family and let them free. The outcome was really interesting and all of their performances were great (even Noah Emmerich whom I saw for the first time). I don't think it was one of the best films this year, but it was a very enjoyable experience and I recommend it strongly.

Maybe it's because I expected it to be less than interesting that it surprised me. Maybe...

The Man From Earth

I saw this film about 6 months ago, but I consider it important to reference it here. The film is written by Jerome Bixby, who is apparently a legend in cult sci-fi, he wrote episodes for the original Star Trek series and The Twilight Zone. I had never heard of him, but I suppose the followers of these shows probably know him. He started writing it in the 60's and completed it a little while before he died, in April 1998. He then gave it to his son, who finally managed to give it to director Richard Schenkman in 2006. The film was made on the very low budget of $200,000 (including promotion and marketing).

What is particularly important about the film, is that it is a Science Fiction film, but with no visual or sound effects at all, and it all takes place inside a living room! So about the story:

A man who is teaching in a university, suddenly moves away to another place, and he calls a few colleagues of his in his home for a last goodbye. During their insisting questions about the reasons he is leaving, he tells them that he is an immortal man who has lived for 10,000 years (I think). The rest of the movie is their conversation. Some people believe him, some don't, some become angry about it...

I personally, when I first heard about it, thought it would be really boring, just listening to people talking in the same scenery for 90 min, but I was amazed! The film is perfectly written, and is in my opinion a proof of how much you can do with a very small budget. It might create a bit of controversy, cause many people don't consider it as a sci-fi movie, but I do. I think it's a very well written sci-fi movie, and it all takes place in a living room, which is, for me, AMAZING!