Category: films

films

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Jurassic World Trailer

Jurassic World

This is the new trailer for the new Jurassic World film.

It’s over twenty years since the release of the original Jurassic Park, which apart from making me feel old, it’s interesting to note how far CGI technologies have come. CGI back then was very innovative, but now most films have a CGI element to them. I also am seeing how many film makers are now moving away from CGI for some effects and going back to models and live action.

In the original Jurassic Park, there were only fifteen minutes of actual dinosaur footage in the film: nine minutes were Stan Winston’s animatronics (live models), six minutes of it is ILM’s CGI.

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No he wasn’t…

No he wasn't...

One thing that does confuse me now and again or makes me smile, are the search terms that people use, one recent one was:

was simon pegg in 4 weddings and a funaral

My site mainly came up as I had written about Four Weddings and Funeral in my cinematic advent calendar and at the same time there was a record of a tweet I had sent.

The combination meant that the search query, was simon pegg in 4 weddings and a funaral, put my website near the top of the listings on the search engines.

Well in a final moment of clarity, just to note, Simon Pegg was not in Four Weddings and a Funeral, he was considered for the part of Rufus, which eventually went to Rowan Atkinson.

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Paperman

A lovely short film, reminds me a lot of Pixar shorts and also reminds me that Disney can be more than just Disney when they want to.

Introducing a groundbreaking technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques, first-time director John Kahrs takes the art of animation in a bold new direction with the Oscar®-nominated short, “Paperman.” Using a minimalist black-and-white style, the short follows the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman on his morning commute. Convinced the girl of his dreams is gone forever, he gets a second chance when he spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office. With only his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get her attention, his efforts are no match for what the fates have in store for him.

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Live Action Toy Story

This was certainly a project that took some time, it’s a remake of Toy Story, but using actual toys, real people, string and stop-motion animation.

Very clever.

Via Wired.

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Cinematic Advent Calendar #24 – Back to the Future

Well here we are, the final entry in the Advent Calendar. The films in this series have been in no particular order or placed where they are because they are artistic or have merit. These are films I like, some have personal memories, other have had a profound impact. Many are just great films, good stories or are just plain fun.

“Great Scott!”

Back to the Future is a fun film. I love this story of time travel, paradoxes and all those things that should be in a time travel film. Oh and there’s a DeLorean too!

Back to the Future DeLorean

It has been copied many times since, but nothing has come close to what is a great fun film. Michael J Fox plays the role of the nerdy kid brilliantly. I think one of the reasons I like this film is that I am roughly the same age as Marty McFly and that resonates. I do like the two sequels, but they never come close to the original.

Get Back to the Future at Amazon.

Get Back to the Future at iTunes

Back to the Future

Back to the Future Part II

Back to the Future Part III

So there we go, that’s twenty-four films that I like what do you like? There were a number of films outside those presented over the last twenty four days that I also like. Well Pan’s Labyrinth was a contender, however I have only watched it once and not at the cinema. It’s a beautiful film with a disturbing fantasy feel to it. I would have probably put It’s a Wonderful Life in the list and I would like to have seen that at the cinema too. So what have I missed that would have been in your list?

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Cinematic Advent Calendar #23 – Dances with Wolves

Cinematic Advent Calendar #23 - Dances with Wolves

To be honest even I was surprised to find two Kevin Costner films in my list of films. I know when you mention Kevin Costner people think of The Postman and Waterworld, but before those two post-apocalyptic movies there was The Untouchables, Field of Dreams and Dances with Wolves.

I really do like this film, though to really appreciate it you really need to see it at the cinema. This is a cinematic film, from the Buffalo herds to the vast openness of the plains, it certainly doesn’t look as good when viewed on your standard TV.

This is a story of a soldier discovering the beauty of the American west and the native people who live there. I actually do like the length of what many consider to be an overlong film, I think it adds that depth that makes this film an epic masterpiece. I do like the story about discovery, understanding, friendship and devotion.

Alongside is the soundtrack, which everytime I hear it reminds me of the vast epic views in the film.

Get Dances with Wolves on iTunes.

Get Dances with Wolves at Amazon.

By the way, in case you were wondering, my indian name is Dances with Badgers, now that’s another story.

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Cinematic Advent Calendar #22 – Brazil

I initially had this down as 1984, even thought about V for Vendetta, but when I thought about it, from a cinematic perspective I like Brazil best out of those three films. 1984 is a great film, but is an incredible book, especially when you consider it was written in 1948. A powerful vision of a dystopian future where Big Brother knows all and there is not just no freedom, but no freedom of thought. However though I think the book is superb, I am less enamoured by the film.

Brazil, which has a similar dystopian future to 1984, is much more surreal, but also contains more humour. In many ways it is just as bleak as 1984.

Brazil

Brazil certainly has an interesting cast, and I certainly would not have made the casting choices. Having said that I do think it works. Robert De Niro does an excellent job as the air conditioning engineer, Tuttle.

The fantasy scenes are intriguing, but for me do work well and contrast with the greyness and drabness of the “real” world. I also love the ending, which is really clever and I remember been genuinely surprised.

If you enjoyed V for Vendetta, or have seen 1984, then do check out Brazil.

Get Brazil at Amazon.

Download Brazil at iTunes.