Went to see SALT tonight... action... adventure...spies... a heroine!
Russians were the bad guys, how refreshing! Nuclear war threats instead of terrorist attacks. It felt like a flashback plot from the 80's.
Ahhh... the 80's...
When the music was good, were young enough to take on the world, and you understood who the fuck the enemy was. Yup, the good old 80's.
Oh, and I enjoyed the film...pure escapism from the realities of 2010.
Earlier this week on Fandango, I purchased my IMAX-3D tickets to “Beowulf” opening Friday at the AMC Lincoln Square Loews 13 in NYC. From the early reviews, I’m ready to be amazed, thrilled, sexed, gored and violenced all in glorious 3D.
I’m glad to report that my expectations of “Beowulf in IMAX 3D have been met and surpassed. The 3D experience is phenomenally realistic. The computer generated likenesses of the actors are uncanny...with of course “modifications”. Beowulf, voiced by Ray Winstone, was whipped up as a 3D Digital Beefcake and King Hrothgar, voiced by Anthony Hopkins, who at 69, can shamelessly show off some booty. Grendel’s Mother, voiced by Angelina Jolie, is at the center of the buzz on how “real” she looks. Ummm, how “real” is Angelina to begin with? Hasn’t she been digitally altered in real life? Grendel, voiced by Crispin Hellion Glover, is unrecognizable and so is his dialogue. Unfortunately, Grendel speaks in Old English, which brought back horrific memories from high school English class when this “epic poem” was assigned. John Malkovich (Unferth), Robin Wright Penn (Wealthow), Alison Lohman (Ursula) all appeared as medieval versions of themselves. Wiglaf, voiced by Brendan Gleeson, the loyal friend to Beowulf, was my personal favorite and the scene where he is riding in full gallop on a burning bridge and jumps his horse across the chasm is breathtaking.
The film opens with drinking and partying in King Hrothgar’s newly completed Mead Hall. Soon, Grendel barges in and 3D blood, gore, and bodies start flying at you. This is not for the squeamish. If gratuitous nudity and violence offend you, wait until November 21st and see Disney’s “Enchanted”. I’m not ashamed to admit that I enjoyed the totally nude Beowulf fighting the monster Grendel and in order to get that PG-13 rating, there were very creative uses of 3D objects that just happen to be blocking his CGI enhanced manhood. On the flip side, Grendel’s Mom is totally nude, with mud dripping off her body minus CGI nipples.
The screenplay adequately pushes the plot forward and there are enough 3D surprises to keep the audience visually stimulated throughout the film. Kudos must also be given to the sound effects and mixing geniuses because without the audio, the visuals would just be pretty 3D pictures and the sensory illusion wouldn’t be complete or realistic.
Back in the ancient times before Playstations and XBox 360’s, many of us played a game called “Dungeon’s and Dragons”...Google it if you are young and don’t know what the heck I’m talking about. Beowulf’s battle with the dragon is a visual fantasy that uniquely captures those long gone days of role playing. This sequence is worth the 16 bucks you have to lay out for the IMAX 3D experience.
“Beowulf” is the oldest surviving epic poem of the English language and Robert Zemeckis deserves a special Academy Award for taking this unreadable poem that is a student’s nightmare and making it a visual masterpiece.
Hopkins mentioned in his interview on “Regis & Kelly” that “Slipstream” was having its NY Premiere at the Museum of Modern Art on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. Huh? How did I not know about this? OMG, it is probably sold out and I won’t get a ticket. So, after the show, I headed to my office and immediately Googled MOMA and got the phone number to the Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, called and found out that tickets were still available but I had to show up at 1PM on Thursday to purchase one. Oh, and the zinger, Hopkins will be at the event to present his film.
Hmm, I’m working tomorrow, the screening is at 6:15PM and 8:30PM...what am I going to do? I’m supposed to be in early for a staff meeting at 12PM and my shift starts at 5PM. OK, blow off the staff meeting, next, who can help me out? Luckily, a colleague appreciates my enthusiasm and offers to cover my shift while I attend the 6:15PM screening. Plan in motion, now I need a ticket.
I’m an optimist but I figured there would be a huge line for tickets. Since I had already gotten up early yesterday to be in the audience for “Regis & Kelly, I wasn’t going to get up early again. My strategy is to show up around 12PM and score a ticket. To my surprise, I’m the first person there. Yikes, am I the only Anthony Hopkins fan in NYC? Around 12:15PM some others joined me in line and at 1PM I pranced out of MOMA with 2 tickets in my hot little hand and head to work for a staff meeting I would be very late for.
I returned to the theatre at 5PM and I have an extra ticket because none of my friends or colleagues were able to join me. They were too busy being responsible adults to their previous commitments...unlike me, who even at 46, still lives life out loud and wasn’t going to miss a unique experience by letting work get in the way. I found a charming older gentleman who was first on line for standby tickets. I handed him my extra ticket. He said if he didn’t get another, he would give this one to his wife so she could attend. Ah, chivalry and love aren’t dead. By the way, I saw him later on inside the theatre and he was with his wife. Around 5:30PM ushers started scanning tickets and I begin to scope out a good seat. In the center of the theatre there are 5 rows that are reserved which I figure are for VIP’s, nah, I think to myself, no chance of Sir Tony sitting there. Therefore, instead of sitting on the far right side of the first row of un-reserved seats, I head to the second row in front of the podium. Yes, perfect, close-up, sweet. I sit down, relax, and entertain myself with my iPhone. Twenty minutes later I turn around and there is Sir Tony in the first row of reserved seats, yup, I would have been sitting in the next row right in front of him. Always go with your instincts. Sigh....
Hopkins, the gentleman he is, thanked those who worked with him on the project and explained a bit about the film. It was a treat to see it again and it makes alot more sense on the second viewing. You will understand what I mean if you see the film. Unfortunately, no Q & A after the screening, I’m really glad I saw him present the film back in May at the Seattle International Film Festival where they did have the Q & A. I got back to work at 9PM and felt alive, a bit of irresponsibility does that to me. I measure my life in events and experiences, and to take a quote from Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Oh, and if you ever wondered if Anthony Hopkins eyes are really that blue, they are.
I took this picture from the studio audience when Hopkins was a guest on “Regis & Kelly” on Wednesday, October 17, 2007. I heard he was appearing on the program the week before and one of the advantages of working at the Network for 20 years is that I know someone who knows someone who could get me on the VIP list. I had to be at the studio by 7:45AM...ugh, since I work the night shift, that meant a short turnaround and a long day on Wednesday. I must admit, when the alarm woke me up at 5AM, I thought to myself, I’m nuts. I’ve gotten 4 hours of sleep and I’m getting up to make the 6:15AM to Penn Station and get to work 9 hours before my shift to see Anthony Hopkins. Obviously, I got out of bed, showered, dressed, and was on the 6:15. Oh, and yes, it was worth it.
Enjoy the interview. Kelly is a hoot doing her Hannibal impression. Hopkins promotes his film "Slipstream" which will have its NY premiere on October 18, 2007 at the Museum of Modern Art and officially opens on October 26, 2007.
It’s my favorite time of year again. I let myself over indulge in guilty pleasures from Hollywood…summer movie blockbusters. Spiderman 3 opened and I had the perfect excuse to check it out, my 15 year old nephew was over for the weekend. I went online to www.fandango.com, bought 3 tickets for the 7pm Saturday evening show because even Bill came along, breaking his “I won’t go to a movie on a Saturday night especially on opening weekend” vow. Fandango has civilized the act of movie ticket purchasing. Check for movie online, purchase, go to theatre, print ticket, buy popcorn, enjoy movie. The ancient days of waiting in line for hours to get a movie ticket are gone. Yes, I know, the $1.50 fee, well, one of the benefits of getting older is you have more money to spend on such things.
Spiderman 3 holds up to its previous installments…there is, action, adventure, revenge, angst, evil villains, and ethics. Oh, the special effects are phenomenal. The sandman was cool but reminded me of stuff in “The Mummy” but the wicked black stringy meteorite goo was awesome.
The story is about love, friendship, honor, integrity and forgiveness. Peter Parker is infected with a parasitic symbiont and the early stages of his bad boy behavior are acted out to a music montage that has the audience laughing out loud. Later, as his actions lead him to the “dark side”, it isn’t funny anymore. It is refreshing to see a summer blockbuster screenplay that is cleverly written with moral messages that get across without the preachy drone that young people instinctively tune out.
Watch it on the silver screen with a crowd, the way a summer blockbuster film should be viewed.
Skye’s summer blockbuster guilty pleasures from Hollywood schedule:
May 18 – “Shrek – The Third”
May 25 – “Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End”
June 15 – “Fantastic Four – The Rise of the Silver Surfer”
July 13 – “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”
August 3 – “The Bourne Ultimatum”
After the summer:
Sept. 28 – “Across The Universe”
Nov. 16 – “Beowulf”
Dec. 7 – “The Golden Compass”
Dec. 21 – “National Treasure – Book of Secrets”
Last month I blogged and linked to the film “Fracture”. There aren’t many films I’ll plunk down 10 bucks for and see on the big screen but hey, for Anthony Hopkins I’ll gladly venture to the movie theatre opening weekend pull out $25 for a ticket, popcorn and a coke and sit back to listen and watch him for 2 hours.
Hopkins is Ted Crawford, a brilliant and meticulous structural engineer who finds out his wife is having an affair. He decides to kill her but before pulling the trigger he devises the “perfect crime”. Gosling is Willy Beachum, the assistant DA with a 97% conviction rate who prosecutes Crawford. OK, enough of the plot, you get the idea. I liked the film but as an admirer of Hopkins, I’m biased. The script was good and there were many laugh out loud moments in the court room and in the banter between Crawford and Beachum. Bits of Dr. Lecter spill into Ted Crawford, I guess Hopkins couldn’t help himself but heck, Hannibal and Ted are alike, wealthy, brilliant and both hang out on the dark side of the force...and is it me or does everyone love it when Hopkins winks?
The twist at the end was OK but I expected more. I read that Hopkins and Gosling were brought in to re-shoot the ending of the film, so I wonder if there will be an alternate ending on the DVD release.
Bottom line, if you are a Hopkins or Gosling fan or want to watch an intelligent thriller on the big screen, go for it. If not, wait for the DVD and enjoy in a few months.
Cool things in the film…
Ted’s car…a Porsche Carrera GT, sweet!
Ted house…awesome home and property.
Ted’s marble rolling sculptures…chaos and symmetry in one.
FYI…Against popular belief, Hopkins has only portrayed 2 criminals in his film career, Hannibal Lecter and Ted Crawford.
If you are a Anthony Hopkins or Ryan Gosling fan, check out the preview for this new film out April 20, 2007.
http://www.fracturemovie.com/
Seems like Sir Tony has let Hannibal out to play...yum!
If you saw the film, “The Edge” with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, you will remember the knife that “Charles Morse” (Hopkins) used. I originally saw the film in its theatrical release but recently saw it again on DVD. I still was curious as to how the knife, which was used constantly, kept so sharp. A few Google clicks later I found what I was looking for...it was no ordinary knife. It is a custom design by Brian Lyttle, who is a master bladesmith. Here is the link to his website which has interesting info on the creation of his blades, how he got the gig to make the custom folder, cool pics with Hopkins and, how he became an extra in the film.
http://www.lyttleknives.com/galedge.htm
Another bit of trivia, the film was set in Alaska, but was shot in Alberta, Canada.
Recent Comments