Thanks Short Round

From moviesonline, "Traditionally, mainstream comic book superheroes are meant to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages. Keeping that in mind, it's very interesting to note that "Superman Returns" is the first Superman movie ever to bear a PG-13 rating. Superman is the cleanest cut of all comics good guys, and his big screen adventures have always been the safest for kids everywhere. The previous four movies never drifted past a PG as far as the MPAA was concerned. However, times have changed and so has world's greatest and most innocent hero.

The advent of the PG-13 comic superhero blockbuster began with Tim Burton's "Batman." While there certainly have been other PG-13 and even R ratings on comic book films before and in recent times, none are so popular and widely recognized as Batman, Superman, and their fellow flagship comic icons from the DC and Marvel universes. Tim Burton's unique vision brought the on-screen Batman back to his darker and more ominous element. After the tide shifted to more daring cinematic waters, every subsequent Batman film came out with a PG-13 warning label on it, even the notoriously campy "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin."

Why are these movies being bumped up to a rating that starts with teenagers? Well, first of all, it’s significant enough to mention that teens are the primary target audience of comic books and their cross-media these days as opposed to younger children as has been the case in the past. As the Motion Picture Association goes, the label they attach to almost every PG-13 superhero flick reads more or less the same; stylized violence, or a similar explanation relating to violent action of some kind. This rating categorization applied in some way, shape or form to almost all of the comic book films released in the last six years, including both "Spider-Man"s, the three "X-Men"s, "Hulk," "Daredevil" and "Elektra," "Fantastic Four," and of course "Batman Begins." In fact, some parents complained that "Batman Begins" was too violent even for PG-13 and should have received an R designation instead.

"Batman Begins" director Christopher Nolan only did what Burton did in 1989, making Batman darker and grittier than any other mainstream superhero of the time. While there was no language or sexuality that would warrant an upgrade to an R rating, the latest installment in the "Batman" franchise certainly had more mature themes as well as more violence, none of which was bloody or gory, however. So what roused such an outcry about the newest "Batman"? Probably the most inciting scene is when Batman is set on fire and falls from a balcony flailing in total immolation. Watching Batman nearly die in flames might be more violent than most comic book films, but certainly not any more violent than other movies that make the PG-13 cut. In fact, "Batman Begins" is pretty tame by standards of some PG-13 action and horror flicks such as all three "Mission: Impossible" movies and both "The Ring" films, as well as hundreds of others.

But, I must propose a possible reason that "Batman" and perhaps other superhero films are being given a hard time by some out there. In almost every theater showing a superhero movie of any kind, there are inevitably parents bringing their children in to see it, regardless of the rating. When I saw "Batman" in theaters, a child started crying during that same scene where "Batman" fell from the sky in a bright burning blaze. It wasn’t an infant who couldn’t watch the film and enjoy it, but it was certainly a child who was under the age suggested by the rating. Parents may be disregarding ratings more easily with superhero comic book movies than with other PG-13 films since their children are probably fans like so many teens, adults, and even seniors out there. While the fact that it’s Spider-Man or Superman might make a movie seem appropriate for all ages, the rating is there for a reason, and parents and guardians should be mindful of that when taking their families to see these more grown-up superhero movies.

In this new age, there is certainly an audience for these more mature superhero films as the box office and fans everywhere have resoundingly demonstrated. The times are always changing and so are audiences, and the general modern moviegoer prefers the no-holds-barred approach. The success of less mainstream comic book movies that are far more adult in nature and content such as "Constantine," "Sin City," and "V for Vendetta," all of which received an R rating, just goes to show that great stories and heroes transcend the boundaries of rating. When "Superman" takes it up a rating level, it’s official that a more maturely themed era of superheroes is in full swing."

Daydream Believer

By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY
In 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny Depp's swishy pirate upstaged Orlando Bloom's swashbuckling heartthrob.
For Friday's sequel, a creepy villain might steal the show from Depp's iconic Captain Jack Sparrow.

This villain — Davy Jones — literally squirms: He has squid tentacles coming out of his face.

He is just one of the many additions to the special effects-heavy $200 million Dead Man's Chest, expected to be the biggest hit of summer

Coming off the phenomenon of the first Pirates, which took in $654 million worldwide and earned Depp an Oscar nomination, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer felt they had to raise the bar in outrageousness for the sequel.

And after the original Pirates' memorable skeleton mutineer, Captain Barbossa (played with relish by Geoffrey Rush), the sequel needed a new supernatural foe.

Enter British actor Bill Nighy as Jones and a crew of monsters — part human, part sea creature.

Verbinski says the screenplay originally conceived the villains "as ghosts, but I wanted them to be physical and tactile. I thought 'of the sea,' they should have all this kind of dead sea life, rotting from the bottom of the ocean. So we came up with people formed from sharks and shells and crustaceans and barnacles and mutated. It's a kind of disease."

According to the movie's lore, Jones is such a deeply unloved and unhappy person that he placed his heart in a box — the infamous Davy Jones' Locker of maritime legend. Whoever can find and claim the undead organ will have control of him and his cronies.

"This is a man who felt so much pain in a particular area that he has removed the organ that offends him and stuck it in a chest and put it in the bottom of the sea," Nighy says.

Both Depp's Sparrow and Bloom's Will Turner end up searching for the heart of this sea beast who enslaves sailors in peril. He offers them immortality for a price: serving indefinitely aboard his sea-floor-trolling ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman.

Nighy, Verbinski says, "is an actor who can take the role and really make it delicious. It's really difficult to find actors who know how to celebrate villainy."

Nighy might be familiar to moviegoers as the burned-out, say-anything rock singer of Love Actually, the vampire king of Underworld and the zombie stepdad of Shaun of the Dead.

"I've been very lucky to play a wide range of parts," he says, "but now I joke that I've reached that difficult age where I can only portray men from other dimensions: I've played a vampire, a zombie and now I'm a squid man."

But Davy Jones is cut from a very different cloth. He was created with motion-capture technology, similar to what Andy Serkis did with Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and the giant ape in King Kong and Tom Hanks as the multiple characters of The Polar Express.

Nighy was on the set with Depp and the other actors, but he was not in full makeup or costume. He wore a plain jumpsuit and had a pox of digital sensors on his face to record his expressions in a computer and animate the movement of the eventual squid visage.

Verbinski thought special-effects designers would be able to retain Nighy's real eyes in the finished product, but it was abandoned as too complicated. Ultimately, everything on the villain's face is digitally created.

Nighy says Verbinski, who also made the original Pirates, "was always very reassuring that whatever I did on the day (of the shoot) would survive through the technical process. ... I don't think he was lying."

That's what worried Disney executives, Bruckheimer says. They noted the footage without the special effects in place and questioned why he was overdoing it.

"There's always hand-wringing by the studio," he says. "They were wondering why it was really big — moving his lips and head a lot."

But it was necessary to make sure the performance isn't buried by the layers of special effects.

Armed with Nighy's churning brow, jutting jaw and sputtering lips as a base, animators added the special effects: a face squirming with the translucent, slippery flesh of a soft-bodied sea invertebrate and an elegant captain's uniform overtaken by barnacles and seaweed.

The only time Nighy wore actual rubber tentacles on his chin was for a scene in which Jones leans over to play a pipe organ with his facial appendages. And even then, the prosthetics were only to gauge the correct distance between the keys and Nighy's face, so digital artists could add the actual squid later.

At times, Nighy wished he could have been in costume with his fellow actors.

"I'm in some very unsettling trousers, standing next to Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom," Nighy says. "You walk on the set with these incredibly glamorous people looking fabulous, like pirates, and I walk on the set looking like a reject from (1980s techno band) Devo. I looked like Devo's dad."

According to the screenplay, Jones was once a man but has spent so long at the bottom of the sea that he literally has absorbed it — not as wrinkly pool fingers but in the same way that a sunken ship fuses with the sea life around it.

Not only is Jones' beard a tangle of squid tentacles and burping bladders, he also has other creepy characteristics. Instead of a traditional pirate hook, his left hand is a giant crustacean claw, and his peg-leg has been replaced by a pointy crab leg.

Says artist Crash McCreery, who did all the concept sketches for the characters: "I didn't want it to be a creature movie. It still needed to reference lore and have artifacts from pirate life."

McCreery also designed an unusual hat for Jones with twin peaks at the sides to emphasize the deals made with the supernatural sea captain.

"His hat forms two horns, to subliminally set in the idea that he's demonesque," McCreery says.

The crew monsters have names but are more commonly referred to by McCreery by such monikers as Conch-shell Head, Shark Face and Lobster Guy.

"They eventually take on aspects of the ocean deep, whether it's a fish or shellfish, a sea anemone. The humanity has pretty much left them. And for characters just starting out with him, they are relatively human," says McCreery, who helped design The Penguin in Batman Returns and creatures for Jurassic Park and The Village.

The creatures serve Jones in his pursuit of Sparrow to collect his soul on a deal the hero pirate once struck to save his ship. Sparrow's only hope: Capture the monster's heart.

A competing heart-chaser complicates matters even more. Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander of Stage Beauty and Gosford Park), who runs East India Trading Company, wants to capture Jones' heart and use him as an attack dog to destroy the free-spirited pirates who bedevil his trade ships.

Beckett coerces Bloom's Turner into helping him follow Sparrow to the hidden heart. In exchange, Beckett promises he won't kill Sparrow, but offer to hire him.

Thus, Sparrow faces a true dilemma: work for the corporation or slave for the monster of the sea.

Says screenwriter Ted Elliott: "In the first movie, he was a guy who was free who wanted his ship. But he was still free. That was the challenge for the second movie. What if Jack's very sense of freedom was at threat? What would he be willing to do to preserve it?"

And the challenge for the third movie, already in production and expected next May: What will filmmakers do to top Davy Jones?

The Descent looks decent

This new film from the director of Dog Soldiers looks sufficiently creepy and worthy for Horrorthon 2006.

The Incredible Hulk remake gets even worse

From Moviesonline, "Hulk 2 is in the works as we all know and the latest word is that it is not a sequel rather a remake. Namely they seem to realize what a mess the first one is and are going to redo it. Marvel is going to do the entire film themselves and basically start the franchise over and try and fix the mess that was the first HULK. You will recall in an earlier interview Avi Arad hinted at this.
"In the next movie, Hulk 2, the Hulk will be smaller. If you make him 15-feet tall, there's no human connection there.....Right now we are still developing the sequel. I think the key thing is to come up with the right story."
I love when I hear they are going to work hard on the story. Now the really interesting part is that they are apparently thinking of Brendan Fraser (The Mummy) to play Bruce Banner. How interesting."

The Birds redux

From Darkhorizons, 'Visiting the Texas set of Rogue Pictures' "The Hitcher" remake, IGN FilmForce talked with producer Brad Fuller about their new version of "The Birds" in the works.

Fuller confirms they are NOT remaking Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 suspense classic, rather doing a new adaptation of the original short story - "We're not remaking Hitchcock's movie. That movie stands on its own and it is a wonderful piece of filmmaking. It's a very difficult thing to say, 'We're remaking a Hitchcock film'. What was interesting to us was that the short story [by Daphne Du Maurier] the Hitchcock film was based on was chock full of stuff that Hitchcock didn't use in his film. And so we went to those things and that's the basis of our film. It's the same title because it's based on the same short story but we don't have characters like what they have. The concept of birds, certainly, that's the core of the movie but the situations and the plot come from the short story not from the Hitchcock film."

He confirmed its unlikely that Michael Bay will direct it, but a lot will depend on who's cast as well - "We've had interest from very high-level actresses to play what they think is the Tippi Hendren role. It's not but, again, all of our films have this female protagonist. We've had some wonderful interest from some incredible actresses and that will dictate a little bit who directs the movie, I suspect'.

Yawn, James Cameron talks about making movies again

From Dark horizons, 'James Cameron was at the Disneyland premiere of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel last week and seemed so enamored with the way Gore Verbinski had shot the two "Pirates" sequels back-to-back, he told MTV News that he plans to employ the technique himself on his next films if they succeed:

"I have two franchises, if you will, or films that play out over an arc of a number of films that I am going to be making. [I won't make them] back-to-back, but one after another. They, in turn, might spawn back-to-back sequels. It all depends on how the first one does"

The first of these films is a long-rumored love story to be set against the backdrop of a planet-hopping future - "'Project 880,' we'll probably release it as 'Avatar'. We haven't locked in on the title yet, but this is what we are calling it. [There will be] possible sequels if it does well; if it tanks, no. We're in active pre-production on it right now, I'm directing it; I'm directing all these films"

As for his sci-fi thriller about a female cyborg in the 26th century film? "With 'Battle Angel,' also, we'll do the same thing. 'Battle Angel' is actually designed as a three-film cycle. So the logic there is to make one and, if it hits, boom-boom on the other two".

Also, don't expect cliffhangers in between the movies - "The films have to play as individual films, but they have a greater story arc that goes over the three-film cycle, I think that's how it works the best. I don't think you want to just run people off the cliff after the second film"'

Wicker Man with the oold music

Well I was sick of looking at a picture of a guy in a Staples uniform every time I checked this blog so I had to post something! Part of the magic of the original Wicker Man was the peculiar music that gave you that uneasy feeling. This is a pretty good effort, mixing the original soundtrack with the trailer for the remake.

Spidy 3 spoilers

From filmick, "Personally, I have little doubt that Spider-Man 3 is going to use me as an emotional ashtray - and I can't wait.

Want to know how many of these shots actually figure into the film overall? This is all real, genuine, big spoiler stuff.

"Read on if you dare..."

Where does Venom come from? Well, the symbiote clings to Peter after a date with MJ - like gum on his shoe to begin with, almost. As he sleeps, covers him - we see this in the trailer. When he wakes up, he's hanging upside down on the side of a building - much like the final shot in the teaser. It's the old werewolf thing - but used to dramatise Peter's internal conflict. Venom adopts an appearance like the red/blue Spidey suit because Peter is wearing it when it covers him - though he's not wearing the mask, so there's a little dramatic license at play. Tut tut - can do better, Mr. Raimi. See me after class.

Before getting on Peter, the symbiote has a rather 50's sci-fi origin, not unlike that of The Blob. It looks like Raimi has had a lot of fun with this element of the story.

Okay - back to the plot. How does Eddie Brock become Venom? Well, when Spidey is "caught" by the symbiote, Brock follows this Venom character to a church bell tower. He's both trying to upstage Peter's coverage in the Bugle, and also twist the knife into Spidey. Here, Peter manages to overcome the symbiote and rip himself free of the suit, but some of it falls onto Brock. That is, of course, all he needs to soon "become" Venom. We see plenty of shots from this sequence in the teaser, including Brock's discovery of who is inside the suit just before the symbiote gets onto him.

The Venom-Brock does not look exactly like the Venom-Spidey, but more organic, more like the comic book Venom. This is, apparently, due to the fact that Spidey had the red/blue suit on, Brock does not. Peter's split into two-halves in so many ways (Peter/Spidey, Spidey/Venom-Spidey, Peter/Dark Peter) that it would get confusing if the metaphorical values of each wasn't so clear.

For most of the film, Spider-Man is in pursuit of Flint Marko, The Sandman, but we begin with an early Green Goblin/Spider-Man show-down - some of which is seen in the trailer - shot at night-time, Harry's face is exposed clearly in most shots, you see him fly into the wall fist first. It is only at the end of the film that Spidey faces off against Venom. Thankfully, Harry herein comes to his aid in Green Goblin guise, showing that he too has won his own internal conflict much like Peter has. Hurrah for Harry.

Sadly, though, Harry is killed. Tears for Harry.

Aunt May also dies within he film's running time. Trust me, you don't want to know when and where.

Apparently, MJ does NOT die. I know I was expecting her to go, but if she does, it is somehow being kept an even bigger secret than the rest of these details.

All the business in the trailer with the ring? Well, apparently, there's much ado about that piece of jewellery - and at one point, it even ends up in a pawn shop. The romance storylines from 1 and 2 are every bit as much of 3 - maybe more so.

The Venom-Brock villain is conclusively dispatched, though the symbiote itself survives - so whatever hack is handed the series after Raimi leaves (taking Maguire and Dunst with him, no doubt) will be able to resurrect some kind of Venom villain.

Dark Spidey, as it were - Peter before he has overcome Venom - is the one who courts Gwen Stacey. Problems in the relationship with MJ, as well as professional issues - both as a photographer and crime-fighting webslinger, as it were - compound to bring him down. Real down. Even downer than last time. That's how Raimi, Sargent and co are using Venom - as a dramatic device to show Peter not just giving up on his great responsibility, but getting drunk on his great power.

Venom-Spidey fights some robbers, The Sandman and the Green Goblin before Peter dispels it in the bell-tower.

There are scenes inside Curt Connor's lab, where he studies the symbiote, and these scenes are also used to set up the research that will, in the character's story - though not in this movie - turn him into The Lizard. Take these teasing references more as tantalising morsels for the fanboy piranhas than concrete set-up for any subsequent film, however.

Spidey's fights with the Sandman not only take place in the Armoured Car chase so well covered on this blog (I was on set for much of the shooting) but also, I am told, in the subway. The final fight, the four-way rumble with Spidey, The Sandman, Venom and Harry as the Green Goblin, takes place in a construction site.

The extra villain that everybody has been speculating about makes only a fleeting appearance, and then only in a very off-hand but amusing way. Bruce Campbell's character this time around is Quentin Beck - known to fans of the comic as Mysterio. Again, don't take this as set-up for a subsequent film, but if anybody ever does put Mysterio in a film and NOT cast Bruce Campbell, they'll have hell to pay.

And of course, this also cleverly shines a new light on Campbell's two previous cameo appearances. Hilarious.

I can now confirm that the Black Cat does not make any significant appearance in the film, despite existing, on paper, in various earlier conceptions. She appears to have been removed for and replaced with Gwen Stacey. She was there for "Dark Peter" to romance, but Stacey was possibly considered a better choice as the franchise will need a new sweetheart now Dunst has made her intentions to depart clear."

Miami Vice trailer

I'm a huge Miami Vice fan and I can't wait to see this Mann film.

Saw 3 teaser poster is gross

I still haven't seen Saw 2 yet. The first Saw was mildy fun but it's the type of film that you never need to see twice once you know the big "twist" (e.g., The 6th Sense). This will be a good trilogy for Horrorthon 2006, though, and Octopunk has promised a thorough review of the series, right Octopunk, huh, huh?

The first appearance of Boba Fett

We all know that the Star Wars Holiday Special was a travesty, but believe it or not, some good did come out of it. Here's the 9 minute random cartoon that introduced the world to Boba Fett. This is a lot of fun and the animation isn't bad.