Here's a picture of Viggo Mortensen looking gruff and sporting a thick neck beard. There's nothing special about that. What is special about this photo is that it's the new poster for the movie The Road, which releases on Oct.16. The movie, based on the Cormack McCarthy written post-apocalyptic tail, which you can see a trailer for here, has already recieved a few negative nods. But I'll try and stay optimistic about this one considering the source material is so highly revered.
The poster seems rather bland and familiar. The lead standing upright and angled diagonally across the page.
Fantastic Mr. Fox also has a new poster, which looks awesome.
The Fourth Kind: In theaters Nov.6.
In 1972, a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted, it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is the fourth kind. This encounter has been the most difficult to document…until now. Structured unlike any film before it, The Fourth Kind is a provocative thriller set in modern-day Nome, Alaska, where—mysteriously since the 1960s—a disproportionate number of the population has been reported missing every year. Despite multiple FBI investigations of the region, the truth has never been discovered. Here in this remote region, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) began videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented. Using never-before-seen archival footage that is integrated into the film, The Fourth Kind exposes the terrified revelations of multiple witnesses. Their accounts of being visited by alien figures all share disturbingly identical details, the validity of which is investigated throughout the film.
My take: They're not giving us a lot with the trailer though it's thoroughly intriguing. I love alien films so hopefully this will make up for the X-files movie(s).
Cloud 9: In theaters Aug. 11.
Cloud 9 is the groundbreaking and lyrical story of a 67-year old married woman who rediscovers passion and her sexuality when she falls in love with a 76-year old man. Cloud 9 won an Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, and the Best Director and Best Actress prizes at this year’s German Film Awards.
My take: This movie is already receiving lots of critical acclaim and treads unfamiliar waters which are both reasons to bet this one will be good.
The Horse Boy: In theaters Sep. 11.
An intensely personal yet epic spiritual journey, The Horse Boy follows one Texas couple and their autistic son as they trek on horseback through Outer Mongolia in a desperate attempt to treat his condition with shamanic healing. When two-year-old Rowan was diagnosed with autism, Rupert Isaacson and his wife Kristin Neff sought the best possible medical care for their son—but traditional therapies had little effect. Then they discovered that Rowan has a profound affinity for animals—particularly horses—and the family set off on a quest for a possible cure….The Horse Boy is part travel adventure, part insight into shamanic tradition and part intimate look at the autistic mind. In telling one family’s extraordinary story, the film gives voice to the thousands who display amazing courage and creativity everyday in the battle against this mysterious and heartbreaking epidemic and insight into how, in life’s darkest moments, one can find the gateway to joy and wonder.
My Take: It's too early to tell but I will see this for sure. It's based on the book The Horse Boy: A Father's Quest to Heal His Son. I'll interested to see how the movie interacts with the source material were they made concurrently?
HD, 1080p, 240hz, what's next? 3D? Well, actually, yes. Sony announced Wednesday plans to blanket the globe with 3D televisions by the end of 2010 rendering millions of HD television, including yours, boring and flat. Don't think you need a 3d TV? Consider this, Sony is moving aggressively to establish 3D multimedia across many different platforms, including but not limited to their Vaio series, the PS3 game console and of course Blu ray movies which means that something you'll want will be offered in 3D. Of course the situation is messy right now and there aren't any standards as of yet which is very reminiscent of the early days of HD, but if Sony has their way it'll only be a year or so before you start to feel ashamed of your boring 2D television.
From Ft.com
Mr Stringer (Sony's Chief Executive) is expected to tell the audience: “Today, 3D is clearly on its way to the mass market through technology, distribution and content.
“As with high definition a few years back, there are a variety of issues yet to be addressed. But the 3D train is on the track, and we at Sony are ready to drive it home.”
Dig deep because it aint gonna be cheap.
I'll make this quick, because I've written about it before. Recently, I was listening to a favorite movie podcast of mine, which I won't name because I think they do awesome work and I'm not really trying to start a net beef. Anyway, during this podcast they decide to semi re-kindle that Games-as-Art debate. They were, and I hope this is not giving too much away, talking about, and I'm paraphrasing here, how Bioshock is the one of the only games that comes close to becoming an art form, or for that matter proving that games can be art at all. They've talked about this before and I sense no condescension at all. For the most part they're fairly respectful. That being said, i realized something as they were discussing the merits of the game and its artistic qualifications. Underneath all their layers of argument stood what formed the very foundation of their whole thesis.
A game is art so long as it resembles artistic cinema.
Though they didn't say it, it was fairly apparent that their criteria for art games consisted of the same criteria they judged art cinema with. Which is total BULLSHIT. I get the feeling from listening to these guys every week that they probably don't visit art museums on a regular basis. I also think that maybe a little perspective on art history might be important when debating a whole mediums place within that history. After all I do believe it was Duchamp who placed a urinal in a gallery and called it art, a move which I'm wholeheartedly behind. All philistinism aside, my thesis is this: If someone declares something art then it becomes so. Of course this doesn't account for taste; we can argue all day subjective terms like good or bad. We can't, however, be dismissive of the fact that art is simply a declaration.
Now if these chaps had been to a museum recently, then they probably would've noticed that the goal of many contemporary artists has been to be completely interactive. We don't just go to museums and look at stuff on the wall anymore. Now we step into spaces, walk around them and interact with the artist by way of the art. Which, in reality, is what we've always done, but now the interaction is more tactile. Art is meant do give experience one way or another. And if you ask me, which I should remind everyone that no one has, this is exactly what videogames are all about. Maybe more apparently now than in the days of Tetris or Pong which actually did provide an experience, albeit one that we're quick to discredit. And, in fact, there is increasing mingling across the divide of game design, computer graphics, and art. Just look at John Gerrard's work. So yeah, maybe pong does belong in a gallery, and I'm sure in one context or another it has been in one already. And I'm fine with that.
What was your most magical special FX movie moment? For me, it was seeing the Brachiosouras for the first time in Jurrassic Park. It gave me chills. Still does. As a child, I remember wanting to capture my amazement at that seen in put it in a bottle. It was truly magical. Maybe because it was so new at the time. Unfortunately, we're all pretty used to rubbery CG and grand vistas now. And the time where we could truly suspend our disbelief and be amazed has passed, and in its place a more critical or, for that matter, cynical mindset has surfaced. Remember how awesome Davy Jones digital makeup from the last two Pirates of the Caribbean movies looked? Or maybe you took for granted its groundbreaking technology(Which was probably the goal of the film makers). We're so accustomed to all the dazzle that we barely even notice it at all. Although, I did get a bit tingly when I saw the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Will the breath of fresh air, for effects, be 3D film making? Who knows? But until then why don't we look back on 100 years of special effects. VIA Gizmodo
Movies included are:
* 1900 - The Enchanted Drawing
* 1903 - The Great Train Robbery
* 1923 - The Ten Commandments (Silent)
* 1927 - Sunrise
* 1933 - King Kong
* 1939 - The Wizard of Oz
* 1940 - The Thief of Baghdad
* 1954 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
* 1956 - Forbidden Planet
* 1963 - Jason and the Argonauts
* 1964 - Mary Poppins
* 1977 - Star Wars
* 1982 - Tron
* 1985 - Back to the Future
* 1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
* 1989 - The Abyss
* 1991 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
* 1992 - The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
* 1993 - Jurassic Park
* 2004 - Spider-Man 2
* 2005 - King Kong
* 2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
* 2007 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
* 2007 - The Golden Compass
* 2008 - The Spiderwick Chronicles
* 2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Do we, the American public, have a pernicious tendency to escape into illusionary activities when the going gets rough? Do we have an unhealthy obsession with perfection, reality tv, and all other forms of fatuous entertainment? Are we consuming too much and spending way too much money, that we possibly don't have, in light of our grim economic situation? Are our academic institutions loosing there moral integrity and their drive for truth and intellectual knowledge through corporate takeovers? Do mega corporations have our best interests in mind? Has our current form of capitalism failed?
These questions, and many more, are the ones raised in the new book, by author/journalist Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. Many many questions, but Hedges goes on to give us what he sees as the answers.
This book is also a warning to its readers and the American people in general. It's a very grim read. But maybe perhaps the author felt this tone was needed in order to slap us back into reality. His reality, at least.
I've been able to read a few other books by Hedges, War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning and I Don't Believe in Atheists, which are cautionary works to the people also, and while I don't agree with everything the man says I still find his works intriguing. Very intriguing. Perhaps you can as well. Empire of Illusion is out to buy now!
One might consider musical icon Bob Dylan to be somewhat of an Ebenezer Scrooge judging by his chilly demeanor in numerous tv and magazine interviews, but apparently, like most of us, he too gets a little bit of the holiday spirit. At least this year he does.
He's releasing a Christmas album.
That's right, a Christmas album, folks. And all the profits will be going to the charity Feeding America.
The songs featured will be holiday classics like "Little Drummer Boy" and "Winter Wonderland". The latter song , coincidentally, I remember saying a while back, would be a song I could see him performing in light of the type of music he's been making the last few years.
Christmas in the Heart will be released on October 13th.
The album cover is delightfully old-timey without even a hint of irony! That's Bob in a nutshell.
Apparently Avant-Dude rocker Andrew W.K. is big in Japan. So big that for the 30th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam, he is releasing an album of nothing but English-language covers of popular Gundam songs.
This album cover is truly epic. Kinda makes me want to jump into a mech suit and PAR-TAY!
Gundam Rock will be available for sale in Japan on 9/9/09, so look for it on a torrent tracker near you(just kiddin').
Addicted to Media 2008,2009,2010
