7 posts tagged “films”

Have you ever walked out of a movie?
Submitted by Jack Yan. 

Since this is mine, I had better answer it.
   Embarrassingly, I got freaked out by Margot Kidder getting crushed in Superman as a kid and asked my father to take me home. I mean, that was a nice LTD.
   I haven’t walked out since but I expect that if I went to Joel Schumacher’s version of The Phantom of the Opera, I would have definitely walked out thanks to Mr Butler’s singing. I am no Matt Monro but I believe I can sing better than Gerard.

I had no idea that the love theme from The Godfather, ‘Speak Softly Love’, was originally used by the same composer, Nino Rota, for a 1958 film called Fortunella. Apparently, Mr Rota was nominated for an Academy Award for The Godfather and it was withdrawn when it was discovered the theme had already been used. (Strangely, he went on to win one for Part II and that had the same theme, and he did win a BAFTA for the first film.)
   I don’t think it’s uncommon to see composers reuse work but it is a little out of the ordinary. Monty Norman maintained that ‘The James Bond Theme’ was based on work he did for a musical; John Barry, who went on to compose and score most of the Bond films in the 1960s to the 1980s, reused a traditional tune from Zulu in Cry, the Beloved Country, and I understand a rejected theme for The Prince of Tides appeared in Across the Sea of Time. Then there are those confusing things like the Grange Hill theme on Give Us a Clue …
   Here is the Fortunella tune, which was interesting to hear—this would have been the first version some people heard of this theme, and the treatment is very different to that of The Godfather.

At home or in the theatre: what’s the last great movie you watched?

First, I find popcorn ghastly. I have no idea why people consume it in cinemas. Here in New Zealand, Jaffas (the link was incredibly hard to find, incidentally—I never found it in Google but had to investigate who now owned the trade mark, so a lot of work goes into these posts!) are the main thing to have in a cinema, probably stemming from the old days with wooden floors when we used to roll them down the steps and hear them go. I probably only ever wasted one. The tradition stopped when most cinemas introduced carpet—or maybe I grew out of it around that time.
   And they served us Jaffas as part of the charity screening for Quantum of Solace that I went to last Monday, a few days before the New Zealand release, which I covered at the time.

Is it just me or is Liz Mitchell, I mean, Elizabeth Banks, in every talked-about new American film? And why are women called Elizabeth Mitchell always famous? (There’s Liz Mitchell, the New Zealand fashion designer; Elizabeth Mitchell, the actress from Lost whom we profiled a few years ago; and Elizabeth Banks, who was actually born Elizabeth Mitchell but had to change her name to avoid confusion with Elizabeth Mitchell.)
   Miss Banks is in W., Zack and Miri Make a Porno (profiled at Lucire not long ago) and Role Models. W., I understand, is not about the 23rd letter of the alphabet brought to you by the Children’s Television Workshop.

Way too tired today. Got up early to take Dad to hospital for a check-up, and it’s amazing what missing half an hour of sleep can do to you. And the check-up was surprisingly quick: here I was, armed with laptop and about six hours’ worth of work packed—only to return by 10 a.m. and needing sleep—and refusing to take it.
   So, tonight, instead of more intelligent blogging (did that already on the other blog), I decided to carry on from my discussion with Nick in the comments to the last entry and hunt for a few more cheesy old movie trailers. As threatened, Hanoi Jane in Barbarella is next: note that the scenes are all from the opening striptease and not the Excessive Machine. That French husband of hers was a bit of a perve. OK, he was a total perve. Then, his first name was Roger.

   I should note that I am not really a Barbarella fan, though I do love the cheesiness today. I guess it was the whole Vietnam thing and selling out US troops that spoiled Hanoi Jane for me. I know the lady has apologized, but if I was that upset as a civilian, what do the vets think?
   Next, a film I am a fan of, big time. Probably another of my top five:

Now, this is well edited and as a trailer it does stand up well, apart from the narrator’s VO. I’d imagine these days he’d have an American accent. There’s so much to say about this film that maybe I shouldn’t in this post.
   Here’s one which young people might know as I Am Legend. But when it wasn’t named after the original book, it was The Omega Man, with our old friend, Charlton Heston.    All we need is for Hollywood to ruin this next one and some aspects are dangerously worrying for life in 2008. The “future”, 2022, is not that far off. Remember this film talks about environmental disaster as well as the widening gap between rich and poor. Back to a serious narrator here and Herb Lubalin’s Avant Garde typeface:  The scene where Chuck watches Edward G. Robinson dies is poignant. Apparently, Heston was one of the few that knew Robinson was terminally ill and legend has it those are real tears. What we need is a remake with Will Smith in it. Or maybe not.
   I always thought a good name for a cross-country race transporting Soylent Green to various cities could be called The Cannibal Run.
   Finally, something to liven up proceedings after a couple of downers. Welcome back, cheesy narrator, and the word sexcapade (oooh):

She makes movies, she sings, she’s easy on the eyes—and she ain’t J. Lo. Not that much new under the sun.

Les publicités des années 50 et 60 pour les films hollywoodiens classiques.

I read some disturbing news: Hollywood is thinking of remaking Bullitt, one of my all-time favourite films, and putting Brad Pitt into the Steve McQueen role.
   I don’t have much against remakes. I am looking forward to Life on Mars set in Los Angeles, unlike a lot of my Brit friends who have not been this aghast since the Germans bought Rolls-Royce. I even went to see 2003’s The Italian Job set in Los Angeles, and told my Brit friends, who had not been that aghast since the Germans bought Bentley.
   But Bullitt?
   I’ve nothing personal against Brad. I like the social causes the bloke is getting into. But even he must be smart enough to know that there will be a certain proportion of Earth’s male population who think that this is sacrilege. We are talking Holy Grail stuff here. And there are more reasons against this idea.

10. Most straight men (and let’s face it, most gay men) would prefer Daniel Craig in the role.
9. The bad guys will not look as menacing in a 2008 Dodge Charger.
8. You cannot re-create the scene where Jacqueline Bisset drives Steve McQueen back into the City on 101 because they would be stuck in gridlock.
7. Because of his personal interests, Brad would spend too much time filming the architects’ office scene.
6. The crew would be distracted when Angelina comes to visit on set.
5. Bullitt and Delgetti would be arrested as terror suspects at San Francisco Airport for leaving their car and running inside.
4. That annoying creaking sound heard on the soundtrack (it’s the noise of Steve McQueen turning in his grave).
3. ‘Hotel Daniels’ on Embarcadero is now the site of the HQ for the Gap, and it would be seriously bad publicity to kill the witness there.
2. The serious risk that Robert Vaughn’s character will be played by Tom Cruise as a Scientologist seeking respectability.
1. No dude who has worn a skirt (Troy) can replace Steve McQueen.

Isn’t it funny how old media are saying the internet could not make Snakes on a Plane a better performer on the one hand, and are now reporting, with the Paramount–Cruise/Wagner break-up, that the movie business is slow anyway?
   As I wrote earlier this week, Snakes has benefited from the internet, and if it were not for the blogosphere, things would have been far worse for what was essentially a horror film with limited appeal. I would not have mentioned it myself had it not been for company involvement, as I never see horrors.
   However, Hollywood’s trend toward smaller stars is no surprise: it has been bubbling under the surface for some time. A particularly good column in the Murdoch Press by Chris Ayres cites the end of an era beginning with the departure of now-Governor Schwarzenegger; Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor, has always been slightly ahead of his time when it came to career planning. Three years on, his choice to turn to politics seems particularly prudent—just as once upon a time, he decided to enter the movie business. And to think we ridiculed him, when he has been interested in politics for an awfully long time.
   Budgets are one reason in the high-profile dumping by Paramount of Tom Cruise. Movies are making less money and stars are demanding more of the cake. It was never going to be sustainable.
   Tied in with the shift has been everything from No Logo, the criticism of monolithic brands, and the desire of the moviegoing audience for decent story-telling, not over-the-top special effects. (The Lord of the Rings was the height of this; at least Peter Jackson combined story-telling with his visual effects; and perhaps Jackson proved that big actor names doth not an Oscar winner make.) There was only so much visual stimulation that people were prepared to take—and a phoney cartoonish James Bond surfing a pressure wave in Die Another Day was a step too far. At least the Harry Potters have a great storyline.
   But this has also been an issue of personal branding. Any personal brand has to tie in with the mood of the times, the Zeitgeist; it cannot stay still. There, too, there has been a shift; if in commerce, organizational brands now need to appear homely, smaller and unified with the audience, then distancing yourself from everyday people is not a good strategy to take. And Mr Cruise did just that—sure, jump on couches (at least that gave me good ammunition on television for myself)—but to criticize Brooke Shields for her use of Paxil, or to go on just a tad too much about Scientology, are steps that planted a divide between Cruise and audience. That audience ultimately included Sumner Redstone, the chairman of Viacom, which owns Paramount Pictures. A similar criticism may be levelled at Mel Gibson, though I applaud the man and his publicist for the apologies to the Jewish community.
   These can be contrasted to the low-rent name of Snakes on a Plane, Samuel L. Jackson’s own personable approach to the movie’s promotion, and the first major movie that seems to have studio and blogosphere combined. It is One.
   Survivors may include Bruce Willis, with his genius of appearing like the everyman, unless word of his contract perks gets out more. But somehow I doubt we will see the mega-stars team together to form a latter-day United Artists, away from the studio system. That would only serve to distance themselves more, unless, tied to its formation, they talk about studio pressure, and how the new firm will serve audiences first.
   Thus, the next stage will likely be toward stronger stories with an almost clean acting state, as Hollywood builds up a bunch of actors that we will, in five to ten years’ time, call our stars. Think of where Gene Hackman was in The French Connection. Or, perhaps we should be casting our eyes to other movie-making centres, from Bollywood to Miramar.
   After all, New Zealand has just had its own academy awards, at which The World’s Fastest Indian (of which Sir Anthony Hopkins was its star without taking home an impossibly fat pay cheque—an example to other actors, I bet), No. 2 and River Queen scooped prizes. The irony here is that this ceremony was once networked when we had some cringeworthy productions; now that we make world-class stuff, it is a footnote on the late-night news. But that alone is a sign that New Zealanders are not in to worshipping stars, or Aucklanders, for that matter; the movie business Down Under is in the business of making movies.
   We might not have Hollywood’s promotional budgets, but we can increasingly rely on grass roots’ campaigns to get the word out. That may be the future of movies, with clips of the best, downloaded the most, via the likes of YouTube. Give away your video production diaries, rather than sell them on DVD. Use that to attract further financing, breaking that stage up into a round of initial funding and a second round of more money. And, team up with us—regular folks—to build your audience. We’ll buy in to the experience, but only if you let us.