movies

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We’ve known for a few months now that New Line was remaking Escape from New York, this time with Gerard Butler as Snake Plissken (the role in the original that’s probably most responsible for catapulting Kurt Russell to fame). I really liked Butler’s portrayal as Leonidas in 300 but all the same: an Escape from New York remake? That’s one of my favorite movies of all time, in spite of how “dated” it now is.

I’ve thought for awhile that a remake wasn’t necessary: that John Carpenter or somebody should just “enhance” the original. So much did I think this was a good idea that a year ago I attempted my own “re-edit” of the 1982 original movie. The “Chris Knight edit” was going to be more timeless, set during a vague point in time in a post-9/11 world. I managed to “tweak” the audio so that Hauk tells ...

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Twenty-five years ago today, two movies debuted in theaters: Blade Runner and The Thing.

Personally, I think these are two of the most classic movies ever made. That a quarter-century later we are still debating so much about each of these films should say something about their timelessness. For what it’s worth, I’ve never thought that Deckard was a Replicant in Blade Runner. I’m really looking forward to the definitive release of this movie on DVD (including Ridley Scott’s “final cut”) later this fall. And so far as the ending of The Thing – to this day the scariest movie that I ever saw – goes, well… it speaks for what the whole movie is about. To me, The Thing was less about the alien than it was about the paranoia among the crew of the research station. By the way, if you want to know more about ...

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Yesterday on the official Indiana Jones website, this photo – taken by Steven Spielberg – was posted, the first in more than 14 years of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones:

Ford looks great! I never had any doubts that he would fit back into the role again. But showing this pic ain’t the reason I’m making this post. I’m here ‘cuz I’m completely fed-up with this “age-ism” nonsense.

Just about everywhere that I’ve seen this photo or otherwise heard about the next Indiana Jones movie being talked about, I see where he’s referred to as “Old Indy”. Look people, he is not “Old Indy”. He is an older Indiana Jones… just like you and I are gradually getting older… but other than being old-er, what differentiates this Indy from the one we first saw in Raiders of the Lost Ark? Yeah, older, maybe a little wiser, ...

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Today is a day that a lot of us thought would never happen.

Today begins something that a lot of us have seen promised for over ten years now, only to have our hopes dashed time after time.

And for those who know the wacky history of this thing, it’s hits especially hard that today…

…is the day that filming starts on the fourth Indiana Jones movie.

Somewhere right now, as these words are being written, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are once again directing Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.

Think about that.

Isn’t that just… the coolest thing?!? 🙂

The last time Ford donned the fedora, it was in a cameo appearance as an older Indy in an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (see pic) that broadcast on ABC on March 13th, 1993. That episode had Indy and this Native American fellow racing through snow to keep ...

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My “inner geek” is starting to have a really positive feeling about Transformers, the upcoming movie based on the classic toys. I was 10 when these things first hit America and to say that they had a huge impact on our young lives would be a massive understatement. So I’ve got a little fondness for the concept. Guess if you wanted to peg me on the map so far as where my sympathies lie for which “canon”, I’d have to say that I’m a fan of the Generation 1 Marvel Comics continuity (I still have a copy of Transformers #1 in pretty good condition, too!). But I was also a faithful viewer of the cartoon series with the voices of Peter Cullen (who will return as Optimus Prime in the live-action movie), Frank Welker (the hardest working man in show business, bar none), Chris Latta (great talent, ...

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So Saturday night I saw 300 again, this time in Raleigh with my friend Chad. And I think that of all the movies that I have seen so far this year, 300 is easily my favorite, and the best overall in my opinion. I just found out that it’s coming out on DVD next month, too!

If you haven’t seen 300 yet, remember how riled-up a lot of us got when Braveheart came out? 300 is that kind of blood-stirring good. This is exactly the kind of story we need for the time we live in. And YouTube user BoruJudasDedrich feels the same way, too…

Here’s the video that he put together, comparing what’s going on regarding presidential candidate Ron Paul with Leonidas and the Spartans in 300. I found myself thinking much the same on Saturday night when we were watching this… but I really doubt that ...

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I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is one of the most haunting novels that I’ve ever read. The project to make a modern-day film adaptation of it (it’s been turned into a movie twice already, the last one being The Omega Man with Charlton Heston) is something that’s been simmering for over ten years now: yeah I still remember the days when Ridley Scott was going to make this with Arnold Schwarzenegger. It finally comes out this December, with Will Smith as Robert Neville.

And, I’ve no sense this early on about how faithful this movie will be to the spirit of the book… but I think it might have some promise. The first trailer certainly impresses. There is one shot that is one of the flat-out coolest that I’ve ever seen in a movie… or at least the trailer for one.

Mash down here for the Quicktime video of
...

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Some days it just doesn’t pay to take a look on the cultural front…

Ronald D. Moore, the guy who re-created Battlestar Galactica for the Sci-Fi Channel (and did an amazing job of it from the looks of things), is now working on a remake of The Thing…

…which might not be an altogether bad thing. John Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing was already a remake, and Moore is a pretty capable guy. But it’s going to be darn awful hard to top what we saw in the 1982 movie. 25 yeas later (what was it about 1982 that made it a great year for this kind of movie genre?) and it’s still holding up very strong.

Then comes word that Warner Bros. is making a movie of Orson Scott Card’s Empire. Which will probably be as big a box office smash as Battlefield Earth was. As I said ...

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