Some exciting developments have arisen this week leading up to the release of Serenity September 30th! Firstly, beginning last Friday,
Sci-Fi channel is showing Firefly. All of the episodes. In order. (Every Friday @ 7/6c.) And if that isn't sweet enough for you, Universal released the
official one-sheet poster Thursday (which is mighty nice, if I do say so)! Now you might be thinking to yourself: "Whoa! That's a lot going on for one movie that still has 2 months until release!" True, but that's not all...
Yesterday, during Firefly on Sci-Fi (say
that 3 times fast), Universal premiered
the second U.S. Trailer. Which, by the way, is so freakin' cool I can hardly stand it.
So if you're not on board with the Firefly/Serenity thing yet, give it a shot- Friday nights on Sci-Fi, 7/6c and check out the trailer. You won't be disappointed, you have my word!
10 things I learned about the future from watching The Island
- Chrysler won't be putting out any new body styles for a very long time.
- Clones who have spent their entire existance secluded from society will still care about name-brand bottled water.
- White track suits- never out of style!
- Big corporations will still be completely untrustworthy.
- Everything that happens will be right out of some (other) science fiction movie.
- Clones have a (completely unexplainable) psychic link to the source of thier DNA.
- Organs can't operate if you're not living a fulfilling life, or some such crap.
- Shirley Jackson's legacy will never die.
- Scarlet Johannson- still hot.
- Reality is a sham! A sham!
What is it about Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and Danny Elfman that combines so well to make nothing short of magic? I don't know what this mysterious chemistry is, but the effect is confirmed by this summer's
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. A film that inspires such wonder, awe, happiness and good feeling has not been seen on the big screen since... well, since Edward Scissorhands, the first Burton/Depp/Elfman collaboration.
Burton's vision of Dahl's ode to childhood innocence (by way of negative example) is only magnified a hundredfold by this, Depp's next installment in his current intriguing weirdo streak. Depp's Wonka is a reclusive, idiosyncratic man-child with a passion for inventing sweets but no love for the customers. He infuses heart into this mystery man and allows you feel for a man who can't even allow his fingers to feel what's around him (due to his strange rubber purple gloves- the origin of which is charmingly revealed therein).
On the other side of this creative triangle is the unparalleled Danny Elfman. His score and songs (including all Oompa Loompa vocals) are truly what elevates this confection to a gourmet treat. From the techno-whimsical opening sequence to the amazing Dahl-penned warning-song interludes, the music perfectly underscores the emotion, the wonder and especially the fun of every scene.
Burton, Depp and Elfman have some help here from this year's Haley Joel Osment, Freddie Highmore, and his fellow golden ticket winners, all of whom are spot-on. Freddie in particular, with eyes that could stir motherly instincts in the bitterest old hag, cashes in on the promise he showed in last winter's
Finding Neverland.
So, in case you've not been paying attention- I'm saying that this movie is good. Really good. And if you've seen it in a conventional theater, you haven't seen it all- find the nearest
IMAX theater and go see it there. It's worth it.
Like the publicity circus that surrounds it- the fast production, the comparisons with the book and original movie, and of course the wacky wacky Tom Cruise- War of the Worlds is a spectacle to behold. It grabs ahold of you, and doesn't let go for a hundred-odd minutes. From the mass destruction to the relentlessness of the attackers to the darkest part of human nature, there is always something that you can't tear your eyes away from.
Now, that's not quite a compliment. Like Tom lecturing Matt Laurer about Scientology and the history of Scientology- that is, like a train wreck- you're too curious to stop watching. Unfortunately, when you scratch the surface there's nothing underneath the schadenfreude.
The characters run and scream and worry adequately enough, but they don't really have time to earn the relationships that supposedly pay off at the end. Tom's character is supposed to display the main character arc of the film, but he mostly succeeds in merely surviving. And the story is nothing more than exposition that sets up the chase and the weak ending taken right from the book.
As with a lot of his more commercial films, Spielberg takes a mediocre script and okay actors, and makes it engaging. It may not have been a life changing film or even a meaningful one, but it certainly was $10 and 2 hours worth of entertainment. And, in the end, it was at least more satisfying than seeing Tom Cruise embarrassing himself on TV. Again.
Some exciting developments have arisen this week leading up to the release of Serenity September 30th! Firstly, beginning last Friday, Sci-Fi channel is showing Firefly. All of the episodes. In order. (Every Friday @ 7/6c.) And if that isn't sweet enough for you, Universal released the official one-sheet poster Thursday (which is mighty nice, if I do say so)! Now you might be thinking to yourself: "Whoa! That's a lot going on for one movie that still has 2 months until release!" True, but that's not all...
