movies

Chris Knight's avatar

Yesterday, Lisa and I had a fun lil’ trip to Raleigh, where we went to the IMAX Theater at the Exploris Museum to catch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in IMAX. This was the second time that we’d seen the movie and the third time that I’ve seen a feature film in IMAX: click here for my report from seeing Superman Returns at the same theater a year ago.

The first time that I saw the movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I said that I had liked it but that I hadn’t been completely satisfied with the movie. At the time I was right in the middle of the book, trying to finish re-reading the entire series before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out. This is still the densest novel in the entire series and there’s no way ...

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300 easily ties along with Transformers as my favorite movie so far of 2007. I’ve seen it twice now (click here for my thoughts when I first caught it) and it’s sort of taking hold with me just as The Matrix did some years ago. So I’ve been looking forward to the release of 300 on DVD this week. It also came out on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray but since I’m still waiting to see which way the market tilts before investing in a player for either of those formats, I’m still using standard DVD. Besides, we’ve got a nifty lil’ “upscaling” DVD player that does a great job outputting regular DVD to our high-def set, and we’re probably going to be more than happy with that for awhile to come. As I’ve said before, when it comes to new technology I’m very much like the Amish: I ...

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Madea’s Family Reunion – I liked Diary of a Mad Black Woman and I really enjoyed this latest film entry from Tyler Perry’s work. A solid Christian movie with loads of laughs from Perry’s signature character Madea Simmons. He should just make her whip out her handgun more often, is the only thing I would suggest from his plays/movies. There’s a great speech by Cicely Tyson in this movie that although written from the perspective of a black American, I think could well apply to all Americans.

Bridge to Terabithia – Sort of like “Pan’s Labyrinth meets Terry Gilliam’s Brazil“. With special effects by WETA. Confused the heck out of me at first, but I think I’ve come to enjoy it since watching it Sunday night.

Little Miss Sunshine – Has a great message at the end. Unfortunately this comes after some of the most vulgar dysfunctionality that ...

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Funny story about that movie …

My sister Anita and I went to the Brassfield Cinema to see Speed during its first week in theaters. It so happened that we saw it on June 17, 1994.

Does that date ring a bell?

So we went to Greensboro and saw Speed and we got back later that night a little before 10 p.m. local time. Anita was telling Mom and Dad how great a movie it was. I thought it was terrific too. While Anita was talking about it I turned on the TV in our living room to see what was on.

Not ten minutes after we got back home, CBS interrupted regular programming with a breaking news report. The very next thing we saw was a closeup shot from a helicopter of a white Ford Bronco driving down some highway in California.

That’s always made me laugh: that ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

The online petition to show support for an album of the Transformers score by Steve Jablonsky is now up to 1,821 signatures. It will probably be over two thousand by this time tomorrow.

So I thought it was a good a time as any to call Sony Music, since everything is indicating that they are the ones who would be releasing this thing. And my intention was only to ask about when approximately we could be seeing this in stores. My e-mail box has been flooded with inquiries in the past several days from people about this: there was the feeling that I owed them some kind of substantive update with info straight from the source.

Well, I called up Sony BMG Music at (212)833-8000. A woman’s recorded voice gave me a list of options to choose from. I hit “4”, to speak to an operator at Sony BMG Music....

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You won’t buh-leeeve what it took an army of geeks – both online and in the real world at Comic-Con in San Diego – to find that image. Read this article and the associated talkback on Ain’t It Cool News for an idea of what went down in the last little while.

Other than the fact that it looks like the whiteface is painted on instead of his skin being bleached white, I really like this look for Heath Ledger as the Joker. So far, it’s looking good for next summer’s The Dark Knight.

Oh and I might be able to post a link to a Quicktime teaser for the movie soon too … if I can find the right link.

EDIT 12:36 a.m. 07-28-2007: The teaser is up at whysoserious.com, the link that started this twisted scavenger hunt. Thanks to Phillip Arthur for spotting it!...

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Gadzooks, check this out!

Tonight, via satellite hookup, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford revealed to those attending Comic-Con in San Diego that Karen Allen would be returning as Marion Ravenwood in the as-yet-not-properly-titled Indiana Jones 4. There’s more pics at the link. Doesn’t Allen look simply amazing?! I can’t tell any difference between her in 2007 and how she looked circa 1981 in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Now, the return of Marion Ravenwood, well … adds considerably to the melange of mystery that I’m seeing coming out of this project. I’ve heard all kinds of things about what the next Indiana Jones movie entails. One rumor I heard a few weeks ago, when I first came across it I thought “that’s the STUPIDEST thing I’ve ever heard about an Indiana Jones movie”, and now I can’t help but think “that’s the most BRILLIANTLY CLEVER thing that I’ve ...

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Some great news to report from the effort to see a Transformers orchestral score CD be made available!

First, the petition showing support for Steve Jablonsky’s Transformers score has gone from 438 signatures on Monday afternoon, to 787 right now on Wednesday evening. I realize that some are saying that “online petitions don’t work” but all the same, this is a pretty strong barometer of how much demand there is to see this album released.

The second bit of news is even more heartening. I sent an e-mail to Chandra Cogburn, who was one of the composers who worked on Transformers. I told her that the work she and the others did on this score was amazing and that there is a very large demand for an album of it. This is what Miss Cogburn said when she wrote back:

Hello Chris,

There will be an album of

...
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Here’s the petition that was set up last week, asking for an album be released of Steve Jablonsky’s magnificent score from the movie Transformers. If you loved the music in this movie too (and we’re talking about the orchestral soundtrack) and haven’t already, please feel free to sign it. At last count there were 438 signatures.

Since reporting last week about Sony Music saying that there are “no immediate plans” to release a CD of the Transformers score, a lot of people have been making inquiries with various parties about this. Fellow seeker-of-the-score Chris Barry has made the following compilation of answers that have been coming out about a score release:

1. Lorne Balfe (composed some additional music on Transformers) said: “There is talk of a score for transformers coming out but it will be at least another 2 months!”

2. Mel Wesson (ambient music designer for Transformers

...
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Chris Knight's avatar

A few days go I started an online petition to show support for an album release of Steve Jablonsky’s amazing orchestral score from Transformers. At the time I intended for the petition to reach whoever was responsible for Transformers‘s marketing, and I thought that this should include Warner Records, since that’s the label that produced the Transformers “soundtrack” with music “inspired by” the movie. I was acting under the impression that Warner Records would be the outfit that would release the CD(s) of the actual score.

(By the way, I’ve watched the Transformers “soundtrack” sales rank on Amazon go from #22 this past Saturday to #282 today, just 5 days later. A lot of people are buying this CD thinking it’s the Jablonsky score, and some are returning it once they realize this isn’t the score at all. And word about that is getting around fast.)

Well, ...

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