I just finished watching Donnie Darko last night. It
Category Archives: Movies
Lessons from the Star Wars DVD Extras
1) Luke Skywalker was originally supposed to be a midget. (Star Wars meets Willow)
2) Han Solo was originally conceived of as a big green monster.
3) At one point Leia was the central hero of the story before it shifted to Luke. (imagine a 1970s Buffy)
It’s a Star Wars New Years
I received the Star Wars Trilogy DVD for Christmas and watched Empire Strikes Back while in Kansas and right now we’re watching Return of the Jedi as we ring in the new year. Let’s just be thankful it’s not a Star Wars Holiday Special (shudder).
Since watching Star Wars as a little kid (I remember watching Obi-wan confront Darth Vader during A New Hope in the theater with my eyes covered) the saga has a special place in my heart. The new prequels are weak in comparison, but watching the old ones again shows their many flaws. But I still love ’em.
A Glimpse of Narnia
Ain’t It Cool News has a behind the scenes peek at next year’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, featuring Weta’s Richard Taylor talking about the movie’s special effects. It’s The Lord of the Rings all over again. The video is 25 MB, so you either need broadband or a whole lot of patience. (link via Fuse Magazine)
Incredible
We went to see The Incredibles tonight. Best Pixar movie ever. And that’s saying a lot. I own four of the previous five Pixar flicks, and this one will defintely be on the list when it hits DVD.
Just an all-around great movie. I’m continually amazed at Pixar’s ability to tell the same old story with a fresh spin (talking toys, talking bugs, monsters that scare children, a father searching for his lost boy, etc.).
In addition to the great movie was the unexpected trailer for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Oh yeah. The trailer starts with voice over by Alec Guinness from the original Star Wars. Sweet. You get to see and hear Darth Vader (though the reveal scene made his head look enormous — can you say “Dark Helmet!”). That’s going to be one crazy movie. Dark and violent, and potentially crappy (judging by the first two), but it’s still Star Wars. We’ve been waiting along time for this one.
Also before the movie you can see a trailer for the next Pixar movie, Cars (or watch it online, like I did this afternoon). The concept looks incredibly lame, but I’ll be willing to see what Pixar can do with it. The NASCAR-like stuff looks potentially redeeming (but also potentially devastating — think Days of Thunder).
Saved! on DVD
An abysmal box office showing of $8.9 million quickly proved that the religious comedy Saved! was no Passion of the Christ. Surprisingly, Christians won’t support a film that seems to pick on them, no matter how many celebrities say the movie is pro-faith.
But despite its weak box office showing, Saved! is out on DVD for a second chance with a few extras. While it’s not a movie I’d recommend for my mom, it’s worth checking out for those with a sense of humor about today’s Christianity and a willingness to keep up their intellectual guard. (read my complete review)
Lord of the DVDs
The third and final chapter in what is arguably one of the best special edition series DVDs will come out December 14, 2004: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The extended edition will include 50 minutes of new or extended scenes, bringing the total run time to a butt-breaking 4 hours, 10 minutes.
The cast commentary features Andy Serkis providing split-personality dialogue between Gollum and Smeagol.
Teenager in the Cinema
Ready to be frightened by the tremendous power movies have on the lives of teens?
58% of teens go to the movies in a given week.
92% of teens list going to the movies as an “in” activity (ranked higher than any other)
A study of teens and their summer movie preferences found Spider-Man 2 as the clear winner, with 41 percent of teens seeing the movie and 67 percent of those saying they “loved it.”
Intriguingly, the R-rated Fahrenheit 9/11 was seen by 11 percent of teens, but a full 95 percent of those who saw it either liked it or loved it. You could draw a lot of conclusions from that (only anti-Bush, pro-Michael Moore teens would even go see the movie), but one conclusion might be that teens can be effectively reached by a movie. That’s probably pushing it based on this study, since they only liked the movie, they weren’t asked about their support of Bush or Kerry.
At any rate, it’s clear that movies have a firm grip on the consciousness of teens. (numbers from Teen Research Unlimited)
The Original Strikes Back
Forget clones, contrived love scenes and CGI comic relief. The original Star Wars trilogy comes out on DVD Sept. 21.
It’s the first time the classic series has been released on DVD, though it’s not exactly the beloved original. The DVD includes the 1997 special edition release of the movies with extra scenes and effects. It also includes an entire disc of bonus features, including a feature-length documentary of the Star Wars saga and a preview of next year’s Episode III, Revenge of the Sith.
LucasArts defends releasing the special editions as artist’s prerogative, though apparently Lucas wasn’t finished monkeying with the originals. The DVDs have newer shots that tie the originals to the prequels, including a cameo by Hayden Christensen in Return of the Jedi as Anakin’s spirit. USA Today highlights the other changes.
Time covers the DVD release (with pictures of a sun bathing Carrie Fisher and stunt double in Jabba’s slave outfit) focusing on the incredible hurdles George Lucas and company had to overcome to film the original.
Amazon is currently taking pre-orders of the four-disc set for $41.99 including shipping. It’s been number one in Amazon DVD sales since last weekend.
Passion on DVD
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has raked in an astounding $370.3 million at the box office, and now it’s going to give the DVD market a try. The DVD and VHS copies come out on August 31 but pre-sales are already 20 percent ahead of projections. Part of the boost comes from special packs of 50 DVDs Fox is marketing to churches, a move from the World Wide Pictures bag of tricks (now there’s a phrase you don’t get to write very often!). Despite predictions that The Passion will sell 20 million copies, experts expect Shrek 2 to outsell it.