He doesn't have a name yet, but I'm working on it!
Like M.O.V.I.E. blog on Facebook
Official CCT blog
Saturday, August 7, 2010
INTRODUCING...
He doesn't have a name yet, but I'm working on it!
Like M.O.V.I.E. blog on Facebook
Official CCT blog
Friday, August 6, 2010
M.O.V.I.E. Quick Hits 8/6/10
Emma Watson's New Hair
So Hermione Granger got a haircut. Big deal! Personally I think it looks good. She has the face for it. She has the body for it. The long hair made her still look like the little girl from the first Harry Potter movie (although a lot less frizzy) so it is a welcome change! Now she looks ready for more "adult" roles and perhaps a welcome turn to Indie Film. Now get over it. It's her body, she can do with it as she pleases.
Transformers 3
Everyday there are more and more photos coming out from filming of this "film" in Chicago. Nothing tells us anything more than the day before. All these pictures do is confirm that Michael Bay has not suddenly decided to stop having stuff blow up all the time. There are apparently NASCAR Autobots (the good guys, for those who don't know) that take the whole "Robots in Disguise" concept and chuck it out the window. They are literally NASCAR vehicles, complete with the paint jobs, endorsements and ridiculous amounts of firepower and weapons visible in their "disguise" form. Bravo, Mr. Bay.
Of course, what catches my attention is that Bumblebee (the main human character's car) has a new paint job and I'm wondering if the digital artists responsible for the CGI robots will bother matching the new paint job to the pre-existing CGI models. I find this doubtful considering that when the robots are robots, they are generally scratched and beat to Hell... but when they are back to being cars, they are shiny, new and perfect looking.
They attempted to make the same thing happen to Megan Fox, but sadly they failed.
Jackass 3-D
The new trailer premiered today. And while I've made my feelings on 3-D quite clear in my previous post, I firmly believe that this movie will fit into that tiny "gimmick" movie that the 3-D may just add something to the overall experience. And since there is no plot to slow down with the 3-D, it should fit just fine. It will be a "shut-down-your-brain-and-just-have-fun-with-it trip to the theater (or video store) but with silly glasses.
Yogi Bear
This is just terrible:
http://www.iheartchaos.com/post/910510053/if-itll-get-me-to-heaven-ill-try-anything
I'm not even going to do a hot link on that one. You just need to click on the link and realize that something is going on with that movie studio marketing department. Either they just don't care, or they are REALLY pushing the once-subtle homosexual undertones of A CHILDREN'S CARTOON!!! When will they stop ruining everyone's childhood and innocence!?!
Aight, that's enough for now. But in conclusion, the "real" version of this blog has gone live at the Carroll County Times' M.O.V.I.E. blog! And we have a fan site on Facebook!
So Hermione Granger got a haircut. Big deal! Personally I think it looks good. She has the face for it. She has the body for it. The long hair made her still look like the little girl from the first Harry Potter movie (although a lot less frizzy) so it is a welcome change! Now she looks ready for more "adult" roles and perhaps a welcome turn to Indie Film. Now get over it. It's her body, she can do with it as she pleases.
Transformers 3
Everyday there are more and more photos coming out from filming of this "film" in Chicago. Nothing tells us anything more than the day before. All these pictures do is confirm that Michael Bay has not suddenly decided to stop having stuff blow up all the time. There are apparently NASCAR Autobots (the good guys, for those who don't know) that take the whole "Robots in Disguise" concept and chuck it out the window. They are literally NASCAR vehicles, complete with the paint jobs, endorsements and ridiculous amounts of firepower and weapons visible in their "disguise" form. Bravo, Mr. Bay.
Of course, what catches my attention is that Bumblebee (the main human character's car) has a new paint job and I'm wondering if the digital artists responsible for the CGI robots will bother matching the new paint job to the pre-existing CGI models. I find this doubtful considering that when the robots are robots, they are generally scratched and beat to Hell... but when they are back to being cars, they are shiny, new and perfect looking.
They attempted to make the same thing happen to Megan Fox, but sadly they failed.
Jackass 3-D
The new trailer premiered today. And while I've made my feelings on 3-D quite clear in my previous post, I firmly believe that this movie will fit into that tiny "gimmick" movie that the 3-D may just add something to the overall experience. And since there is no plot to slow down with the 3-D, it should fit just fine. It will be a "shut-down-your-brain-and-just-have-fun-with-it trip to the theater (or video store) but with silly glasses.
Yogi Bear
This is just terrible:
http://www.iheartchaos.com/post/910510053/if-itll-get-me-to-heaven-ill-try-anything
I'm not even going to do a hot link on that one. You just need to click on the link and realize that something is going on with that movie studio marketing department. Either they just don't care, or they are REALLY pushing the once-subtle homosexual undertones of A CHILDREN'S CARTOON!!! When will they stop ruining everyone's childhood and innocence!?!
Aight, that's enough for now. But in conclusion, the "real" version of this blog has gone live at the Carroll County Times' M.O.V.I.E. blog! And we have a fan site on Facebook!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Kristen Stewart's School of "Acting"
I have had the great misfortune of seeing Kristen Stewart "act" in 6 of her 28 IMDb-credited roles. And while one may think that only seeing 24% of an actor's catalog cannot allow someone to properly judge their abilities, I strongly believe that I can. Besides, her first two roles were "Uncredited" and I'm basing my critique on movies that feature her as a starring role and one that she has a lot of screen time. Therefore I am in the higher percentile for her greater body of work.
I'm just going to get Zathura: A Space Adventure out of the way fast. The movie is basically Jumanji... in space. And without quality acting, directing, plot, or box office pull. It was written by Chris Van Allsburg, the same author of Jumanji and The Polar Express and it deviated just as much as those movie adaptations did from their books, but overall it just lacked. And shame on you Jon Favreau for attempting to make me cheer for Dax Shepard.
I refuse to put up a picture of Dax Shepard,
so I'm putting up a picture of his
disproportionately hot girlfriend, Kristen Bell
Back to the point: Kristen Stewart was in this movie. She was hardly memorable and I think I literally cheered when she was frozen in ice because she finally found a role that she excelled at. If every movie starring her had her credited as "Frozen Sister" then I truly believe she could win an Oscar. This is something that none of her fellow child actors in this film could dream to accomplish.
Kristen Stewart has a distinct acting method that you can also perform with my help. All you have to do is break it down into the 3 acts of a movie. For those of you that don't know, the first act generally introduces the characters, the second act is the rising conflict our characters must face and the third act is the climax and resolution. That being said, here are Ms. Stewart's key actions by act:
Act 1
When we first meet Kristen, we quickly learn that she is wise beyond her years and will let you know it in every line of dialog she delivers. Often she will treat everything she says like a joke. You can tell it's a joke because after every line she sort of laughs or smirks at what she's saying at the end of every sentence. Every last word she gives is pure sarcasm. Also, you must force yourself to look as drugged up as possible. The stoned-eyes look really sell the part. Even if there are no drugs involved!
I am wise beyond my years and will let you
know it in every line of dialog I deliver.
Act 2
As the conflict begins in the film, Kristen will soon discover that her happy little world of shit ain't so happy anymore. Whether it's vampires, werewolves, vampires and werewolves(gasp!), the new guy she likes but is still getting it from Ryan Reynolds because that's their thing, or robbers trying to break into her new house and she can't get her inhaler... Shit is hitting the fan, but because she's kinda high all the time, it's hitting the fan very slowly.
At this point, she just looks confused all the time. All of her lines are questions. Even statements. She could tell another character a pure fact and it would still have a questioning tone to it. Gone is the constant laugh/chuckle, but it's still there. Now that I think about it, being able to state a question with fact and laugh at the same time is an incredible feat. Oh, and looking like she's ridiculously high all the while.
I'm Ron Burgundy?
Act 3
She cries. Everything is crying. She cries at everything. She either screwed something up or is dying or wants what she had back. At this point, I'm convinced that every character she plays is that little boy from Parenthood.
One of the 3 seconds in that movie this kid isn't crying
There you have it! The Kristen Stewart method of acting. Now you can go out and make millions of dollars playing a character that originally had no characteristics so that billions of tween girls could feel like a sparkly effeminate killer loved them instead of made up figment of a Mormon's mind. We should all be so lucky.
I'm just going to get Zathura: A Space Adventure out of the way fast. The movie is basically Jumanji... in space. And without quality acting, directing, plot, or box office pull. It was written by Chris Van Allsburg, the same author of Jumanji and The Polar Express and it deviated just as much as those movie adaptations did from their books, but overall it just lacked. And shame on you Jon Favreau for attempting to make me cheer for Dax Shepard.
so I'm putting up a picture of his
disproportionately hot girlfriend, Kristen Bell
Back to the point: Kristen Stewart was in this movie. She was hardly memorable and I think I literally cheered when she was frozen in ice because she finally found a role that she excelled at. If every movie starring her had her credited as "Frozen Sister" then I truly believe she could win an Oscar. This is something that none of her fellow child actors in this film could dream to accomplish.
Kristen Stewart has a distinct acting method that you can also perform with my help. All you have to do is break it down into the 3 acts of a movie. For those of you that don't know, the first act generally introduces the characters, the second act is the rising conflict our characters must face and the third act is the climax and resolution. That being said, here are Ms. Stewart's key actions by act:
Act 1
When we first meet Kristen, we quickly learn that she is wise beyond her years and will let you know it in every line of dialog she delivers. Often she will treat everything she says like a joke. You can tell it's a joke because after every line she sort of laughs or smirks at what she's saying at the end of every sentence. Every last word she gives is pure sarcasm. Also, you must force yourself to look as drugged up as possible. The stoned-eyes look really sell the part. Even if there are no drugs involved!
know it in every line of dialog I deliver.
Act 2
As the conflict begins in the film, Kristen will soon discover that her happy little world of shit ain't so happy anymore. Whether it's vampires, werewolves, vampires and werewolves(gasp!), the new guy she likes but is still getting it from Ryan Reynolds because that's their thing, or robbers trying to break into her new house and she can't get her inhaler... Shit is hitting the fan, but because she's kinda high all the time, it's hitting the fan very slowly.
At this point, she just looks confused all the time. All of her lines are questions. Even statements. She could tell another character a pure fact and it would still have a questioning tone to it. Gone is the constant laugh/chuckle, but it's still there. Now that I think about it, being able to state a question with fact and laugh at the same time is an incredible feat. Oh, and looking like she's ridiculously high all the while.
Act 3
She cries. Everything is crying. She cries at everything. She either screwed something up or is dying or wants what she had back. At this point, I'm convinced that every character she plays is that little boy from Parenthood.
There you have it! The Kristen Stewart method of acting. Now you can go out and make millions of dollars playing a character that originally had no characteristics so that billions of tween girls could feel like a sparkly effeminate killer loved them instead of made up figment of a Mormon's mind. We should all be so lucky.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Michael Giacchino: The Next John Williams?
I am a huge John Williams fan. His scores have always moved me and he has this wonderful skill of amercing you deeper into a film with his music. Any number of the films he has composed for just would not be the same... Of course, I'm not saying that Steven Spielberg is a terrible director without the incredible "film improving" powers of John Williams, but there's definitely a different level of excellence when the soundtrack blends so smoothly with the visual elements of the movie. It has often been said by many that John Williams' scores are more of an additional character in the movies than just music in the background.
Case in point: Check out this scene from Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope without the sound first and then play it again with the sound on.
It's an entirely different feel. Which is true for just about any scene in an film or piece of visual art, but without that extremely familiar piece of music, that scene wouldn't have the same amount of gravitas. Without saying a word, the look on Mark Hamill's face and his body language, mixed with the soundtrack, expresses longing for more and a feeling of being trapped better than any dialog could possibly attempt to match.
With his status as one of the greatest film composers of our time, I was concerned for a long time that when we do lose this man and his talents because of retirement or anything worse that we would not have a proper heir to the title. When the grossly-underrated Superman Returns came out and composer John Ottman took over scoring duties, I thought we had finally found our crowned prince. I even went as far as to draft a "Dear John" letter to Mr. Williams, stating that the Superman Returns soundtrack was everything that the original Superman soundtrack should have been.
Sadly, I was let down after John Ottman's other films because they lacked the same heart, energy and general appeal that Superman Returns had on me. The search continued...
Oddly enough, it wasn't until last year when a little film called Star Trek came out that I realized that a proper inheritor had been around some 15 years! And that I'd been a fan for about 5 years.
Michael Giacchino began his professional career as a video game soundtrack composer and was able to parlay this experience onto film and television. I've said for a long time that video game music was due some just credit, and to see someone prove himself in such a media so to move onto the "big leagues" is proof that I'm right.
My first time experiencing Mr. Giacchino's work, like most people, was the first time I saw the Lost pilot. Not only was that first episode incredible because it was basically a movie, but like John Williams, Michael Giacchino was able to make his score weave in and out of every aspect of that show. As if that wasn't enough, we were treated with a one-two punch in the last part of 2004...
The biggest problem with most Disney Pixar movies at the beginning, in my opinion, was the scores were by Randy Newman. Yes, Randy Newman has his distinct style that works for certain films, such as the Toy Story series, however, the fact that he was Pixar's "Go-To" Guy was a bit discouraging. He's kind of a one-note act. He makes songs about what he sees, like Family Guy joked about... But his compositions don't hold up to the scale that Pixar was quickly climbing to.
But in November of 2004, The Incredibles came out and it was, for the lack of a better term, incredible! It took Pixar to a whole new level. And Michael Giacchino became the new "Go-To" Guy for Pixar films. He's done every film of their's, except Toy Story 3, and he's moved onto other fantastic projects. And everything is so different from his previous work! Of course, he has his "signatures" that a trained ear can pick out, but overall, he is a very diverse and talented musician.
The next time you get a chance to sit down and watch a couple different movies, really pay attention to the music. And in your queue of movies to watch, get on IMDb and pick up a few of Michael Giacchino's pieces. You will not be disappointed, I can almost guarantee it! You will be treated to a wide array of musical tastes and influences. Enjoy!
Case in point: Check out this scene from Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope without the sound first and then play it again with the sound on.
It's an entirely different feel. Which is true for just about any scene in an film or piece of visual art, but without that extremely familiar piece of music, that scene wouldn't have the same amount of gravitas. Without saying a word, the look on Mark Hamill's face and his body language, mixed with the soundtrack, expresses longing for more and a feeling of being trapped better than any dialog could possibly attempt to match.
With his status as one of the greatest film composers of our time, I was concerned for a long time that when we do lose this man and his talents because of retirement or anything worse that we would not have a proper heir to the title. When the grossly-underrated Superman Returns came out and composer John Ottman took over scoring duties, I thought we had finally found our crowned prince. I even went as far as to draft a "Dear John" letter to Mr. Williams, stating that the Superman Returns soundtrack was everything that the original Superman soundtrack should have been.
Sadly, I was let down after John Ottman's other films because they lacked the same heart, energy and general appeal that Superman Returns had on me. The search continued...
Oddly enough, it wasn't until last year when a little film called Star Trek came out that I realized that a proper inheritor had been around some 15 years! And that I'd been a fan for about 5 years.
Michael Giacchino began his professional career as a video game soundtrack composer and was able to parlay this experience onto film and television. I've said for a long time that video game music was due some just credit, and to see someone prove himself in such a media so to move onto the "big leagues" is proof that I'm right.
My first time experiencing Mr. Giacchino's work, like most people, was the first time I saw the Lost pilot. Not only was that first episode incredible because it was basically a movie, but like John Williams, Michael Giacchino was able to make his score weave in and out of every aspect of that show. As if that wasn't enough, we were treated with a one-two punch in the last part of 2004...
The biggest problem with most Disney Pixar movies at the beginning, in my opinion, was the scores were by Randy Newman. Yes, Randy Newman has his distinct style that works for certain films, such as the Toy Story series, however, the fact that he was Pixar's "Go-To" Guy was a bit discouraging. He's kind of a one-note act. He makes songs about what he sees, like Family Guy joked about... But his compositions don't hold up to the scale that Pixar was quickly climbing to.
But in November of 2004, The Incredibles came out and it was, for the lack of a better term, incredible! It took Pixar to a whole new level. And Michael Giacchino became the new "Go-To" Guy for Pixar films. He's done every film of their's, except Toy Story 3, and he's moved onto other fantastic projects. And everything is so different from his previous work! Of course, he has his "signatures" that a trained ear can pick out, but overall, he is a very diverse and talented musician.
The next time you get a chance to sit down and watch a couple different movies, really pay attention to the music. And in your queue of movies to watch, get on IMDb and pick up a few of Michael Giacchino's pieces. You will not be disappointed, I can almost guarantee it! You will be treated to a wide array of musical tastes and influences. Enjoy!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
3-D? 2 is Fine By Me, Thank You.
Hollywood is lazy yet fickle beast. If you ever go on the website Fark.com you will find, among many other jokes, the line paraphrase from sort form of "Hollywood must really be out of ideas..." This is usually followed by the latest news or rumors about a Shirt Tales movie or the latest remake... excuse me, "Re-imagining"... of a neo-classical movie from the 1980's.
"No one remembers us any way, have your way with us, Hot Topic!"
The whole "Hollywood is out of ideas" statement has never been more just than now with the whole 3D craze. Once upon a time in Hollywood, you would have 2 similar movies come out around the same time to prove this point. Generally, you would have a so-so movie and a much better quality movie. Armageddon and Deep Impact. Dante's Peak and Volcano. Antz and A Bug's Life. And the exception to the rule, in my opinion (and it's my blog, so that's okay) is The Illusionist and The Prestige which are equally fantastic in their own ways. But now, we've been force fed a far greater foe in the form of this horrible 3-D fad. Movies that should not be in 3-D are coming out in 3-D. Movies that were not originally meant or shot to be in 3-D are coming out in 3-D. 3-D has become what "EXTREME!" was to the mid-to-late-90's. It's more of a buzz word now than actually being a form of art. And to make it worse, in some movies, it does nothing more than make the tickets more expensive.
I will admit that I have only seen one movie in the theater since this 3-D business began again. And that was Toy Story 3. It was fantastic. The 3-D elements weren't "in your face" or ridiculous. The 3-D was in the details. The 3-D came after the story and the overall design of the movie. And most of the time, it was so subtle that if you weren't looking for it, you probably either didn't notice or your mind just processed it in the suspension of disbelief. The scene that really sticks out to me is one scene in the daycare, and if you look out the window in the background it really looks like it is a full world outside of the building. It doesn't even look like a matte painting. The real. Goddamn. World. In fact, the most 3-D in the whole experience was during the opening short "Day & Night," and that was what 3-D should be! The cartoon was basically characters cut out of a black screen with the "real world" behind them.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
But does the rest of Hollywood follow this mindset? No. Instead we are overrun with regular movies that have had the 3-D added in post-production using computers. Therefore we get The Last Airbender wherein the main complaint I've read about is that the movie was very dark (in lighting terms) on it's own, and the 3-D made it very difficult to even see. On top of that, this coming year you have a steady stream of 3-D films that shouldn't be 3-D: Step Up 3-D, Piranha 3-D, Saw 3-D (which is actually the 7th one!?!) and so on and so on.
Coming Soon: Throw Momma From the Train... 3D!!!
The last one, Saw 3-D, is what makes me the angriest about 3-D movies. This movie will be filled with "shock" value meant only for 3-D. Things like hands reaching "toward" you, the traps coming "toward" you, or something else jumping out "toward" you... Look, this trick has only worked in 2 movies I've seen: Captain EO and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Why? Because 1) They're both Disney World (Epcot) Attractions, and 2) When something or someone is coming toward you, its almost believable because its on a huge screen. And in the case of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, it's a fully-engrossing experience with water and moving chairs and air guns. If you try to watch Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) without 3-D glasses, you miss all of those little effects and it's basically really annoying and stops any pacing the movie had going up until that point. And if a movie, like Saw 73-D, is going to completely rely on that, there will be no plot and it will just be filler between sight tricks.
Oh, so just like it is now!
Not that long ago, computer generated effects were completely obvious to the naked eye, but it was so new to us that we suspended our disbelief a little farther to enjoy the movie. But even back in it's infancy, left in the right hands, shoddy CGI could be masterfully and seamlessly introduced into a film. Look at The Abyss or Jurassic Park. Amazing, even for their time. And those led to James Cameron being able to create the world of Avatar. Here's hoping that with a little more time and proper effort, 3-D can become something to cherish and maybe even become as standard as everything else we love about movies.
The whole "Hollywood is out of ideas" statement has never been more just than now with the whole 3D craze. Once upon a time in Hollywood, you would have 2 similar movies come out around the same time to prove this point. Generally, you would have a so-so movie and a much better quality movie. Armageddon and Deep Impact. Dante's Peak and Volcano. Antz and A Bug's Life. And the exception to the rule, in my opinion (and it's my blog, so that's okay) is The Illusionist and The Prestige which are equally fantastic in their own ways. But now, we've been force fed a far greater foe in the form of this horrible 3-D fad. Movies that should not be in 3-D are coming out in 3-D. Movies that were not originally meant or shot to be in 3-D are coming out in 3-D. 3-D has become what "EXTREME!" was to the mid-to-late-90's. It's more of a buzz word now than actually being a form of art. And to make it worse, in some movies, it does nothing more than make the tickets more expensive.
I will admit that I have only seen one movie in the theater since this 3-D business began again. And that was Toy Story 3. It was fantastic. The 3-D elements weren't "in your face" or ridiculous. The 3-D was in the details. The 3-D came after the story and the overall design of the movie. And most of the time, it was so subtle that if you weren't looking for it, you probably either didn't notice or your mind just processed it in the suspension of disbelief. The scene that really sticks out to me is one scene in the daycare, and if you look out the window in the background it really looks like it is a full world outside of the building. It doesn't even look like a matte painting. The real. Goddamn. World. In fact, the most 3-D in the whole experience was during the opening short "Day & Night," and that was what 3-D should be! The cartoon was basically characters cut out of a black screen with the "real world" behind them.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
But does the rest of Hollywood follow this mindset? No. Instead we are overrun with regular movies that have had the 3-D added in post-production using computers. Therefore we get The Last Airbender wherein the main complaint I've read about is that the movie was very dark (in lighting terms) on it's own, and the 3-D made it very difficult to even see. On top of that, this coming year you have a steady stream of 3-D films that shouldn't be 3-D: Step Up 3-D, Piranha 3-D, Saw 3-D (which is actually the 7th one!?!) and so on and so on.
The last one, Saw 3-D, is what makes me the angriest about 3-D movies. This movie will be filled with "shock" value meant only for 3-D. Things like hands reaching "toward" you, the traps coming "toward" you, or something else jumping out "toward" you... Look, this trick has only worked in 2 movies I've seen: Captain EO and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Why? Because 1) They're both Disney World (Epcot) Attractions, and 2) When something or someone is coming toward you, its almost believable because its on a huge screen. And in the case of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, it's a fully-engrossing experience with water and moving chairs and air guns. If you try to watch Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) without 3-D glasses, you miss all of those little effects and it's basically really annoying and stops any pacing the movie had going up until that point. And if a movie, like Saw 73-D, is going to completely rely on that, there will be no plot and it will just be filler between sight tricks.
Oh, so just like it is now!
Not that long ago, computer generated effects were completely obvious to the naked eye, but it was so new to us that we suspended our disbelief a little farther to enjoy the movie. But even back in it's infancy, left in the right hands, shoddy CGI could be masterfully and seamlessly introduced into a film. Look at The Abyss or Jurassic Park. Amazing, even for their time. And those led to James Cameron being able to create the world of Avatar. Here's hoping that with a little more time and proper effort, 3-D can become something to cherish and maybe even become as standard as everything else we love about movies.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Movie Firsts
Life to some is defined by firsts. Most will always remember certain firsts in their lives. Who doesn't remember their first kiss? First trip to Disney World? Broken bone? First Love? Date? How about the first time you saw your favorite movie? Or an incredible movie that moved you? How about this: How many of the "life firsts" happened with the "movie firsts?" It's amazing how film has integrated into our everyday lives that important life events can mix into our experiences with motion pictures.
For example: In my life, I can tell you that I have never kissed in a movie theater, I've had numerous dates at the movies, I saw The Truman Show at Downtown Disney (not on my first trip, but 1998 when I went twice thanks to a school trip in March and a family vacation that summer), "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"
Next role: Cool Runnings
Take a moment and remember the first time you saw your favorite movie. It didn't necessarily need to be in a movie theater. I've fallen in love with numerous movies on VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, DVD, Bluray Disc and even TV. For argument sake, like pretend you're remembering it in a theater...
Imagine you're sitting in a relatively-comfortable chair in a theater. There's a chill in the air, not too bad to you but you know there's some poor girl in the audience that's already freezing. The trailers have played and the lights have just gone down. In my case the next thing you hear is a drum roll and a blaring horn line screaming the all-too-familiar fanfare matching the illustrated monolith for 20th Century Fox. As the strings finish the theme and the screen changes to a green glowing stylized production company logo. This logo still doesn't feel right compared to the plain, dull-green san serif font that once stood in it's place. Suddenly, as the music ends, you are met with complete darkness and silence. After a moment, plain blue texts fills the screen...
"A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away...."
It fades away into the darkness and you are left to ponder. "I thought this was a space movie? This has to be based in the future! And those are humans! This has to be our future!" Questions continue to race through your mind, but before you can begin to formulate any sense of that sentence fragment, the screen lights up and the full symphony orchestra explodes in the theater! Yellow-outlined text races away from you into the vastness of space! The orchestra continues in sweeping phrases as paragraphs flow into the distance explaining what you've gotten yourself into. As the paragraphs draw to a close the music fades, a A lone flute line punctuates the vast loneliness of space. As the camera pans downward and frames on 2 moons and large orange planet, the strings crescendo and a spaceship flies overhead in the midst of a laser fight with something behind it. You assume that it will be another spaceship of equal size, just a little more threatening looking. You couldn't be more wrong as the bright gray triangle in pursuit continues to grow and grow and grow until the point you doubt it will ever end. In a subtle touch of sound effects, the hum of the Star Destroyer and the firing of the lasers is so ridiculously massive, that it completely overwhelms the orchestra playing at a fair loud volume beneath the scene.
This chain of events forever changed my life. And I'm not the only one. I remember the first time I saw Star Wars. There are so many moments in that movie that completely blew me away! In all my years (and there were less than 10 at that point) I had never seen ANYTHING like it. And the first time I saw all three of the "Original Trilogy" was on a VHS tape that copied them off of television! Imagine how I felt the first time I saw it on a good VHS copy! Or in 1997 when the "Special Editions" came out in the theater! Or even in the last 2 years when I saw it for the first time on a HDTV... It was like watching it for the first time all over again!
Kinda like this
The long and short of it is that movies shape our lives in more ways than we truly realize. We all have moment movies that stand out in our minds and whether we mean to or not, we've all referenced some sort of pop culture/movie moment before. Hell, I needed a good first blog post and I just talked about one of the greatest first scenes in cinematic history!
Stay tuned for my special little thoughts and feelings on movies and everything that goes along with this subject. I may not review the newest stuff out there, but I hope you'll be entertained nonetheless!
Much love!
-Mark
For example: In my life, I can tell you that I have never kissed in a movie theater, I've had numerous dates at the movies, I saw The Truman Show at Downtown Disney (not on my first trip, but 1998 when I went twice thanks to a school trip in March and a family vacation that summer), "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"
Take a moment and remember the first time you saw your favorite movie. It didn't necessarily need to be in a movie theater. I've fallen in love with numerous movies on VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, DVD, Bluray Disc and even TV. For argument sake, like pretend you're remembering it in a theater...
Imagine you're sitting in a relatively-comfortable chair in a theater. There's a chill in the air, not too bad to you but you know there's some poor girl in the audience that's already freezing. The trailers have played and the lights have just gone down. In my case the next thing you hear is a drum roll and a blaring horn line screaming the all-too-familiar fanfare matching the illustrated monolith for 20th Century Fox. As the strings finish the theme and the screen changes to a green glowing stylized production company logo. This logo still doesn't feel right compared to the plain, dull-green san serif font that once stood in it's place. Suddenly, as the music ends, you are met with complete darkness and silence. After a moment, plain blue texts fills the screen...
"A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away...."
It fades away into the darkness and you are left to ponder. "I thought this was a space movie? This has to be based in the future! And those are humans! This has to be our future!" Questions continue to race through your mind, but before you can begin to formulate any sense of that sentence fragment, the screen lights up and the full symphony orchestra explodes in the theater! Yellow-outlined text races away from you into the vastness of space! The orchestra continues in sweeping phrases as paragraphs flow into the distance explaining what you've gotten yourself into. As the paragraphs draw to a close the music fades, a A lone flute line punctuates the vast loneliness of space. As the camera pans downward and frames on 2 moons and large orange planet, the strings crescendo and a spaceship flies overhead in the midst of a laser fight with something behind it. You assume that it will be another spaceship of equal size, just a little more threatening looking. You couldn't be more wrong as the bright gray triangle in pursuit continues to grow and grow and grow until the point you doubt it will ever end. In a subtle touch of sound effects, the hum of the Star Destroyer and the firing of the lasers is so ridiculously massive, that it completely overwhelms the orchestra playing at a fair loud volume beneath the scene.
This chain of events forever changed my life. And I'm not the only one. I remember the first time I saw Star Wars. There are so many moments in that movie that completely blew me away! In all my years (and there were less than 10 at that point) I had never seen ANYTHING like it. And the first time I saw all three of the "Original Trilogy" was on a VHS tape that copied them off of television! Imagine how I felt the first time I saw it on a good VHS copy! Or in 1997 when the "Special Editions" came out in the theater! Or even in the last 2 years when I saw it for the first time on a HDTV... It was like watching it for the first time all over again!
The long and short of it is that movies shape our lives in more ways than we truly realize. We all have moment movies that stand out in our minds and whether we mean to or not, we've all referenced some sort of pop culture/movie moment before. Hell, I needed a good first blog post and I just talked about one of the greatest first scenes in cinematic history!
Stay tuned for my special little thoughts and feelings on movies and everything that goes along with this subject. I may not review the newest stuff out there, but I hope you'll be entertained nonetheless!
Much love!
-Mark
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)