Old School Fridays: Raiders of the Lost Ark

That time has rolled around again, time for a new edition of Old School Fridays! This week we're taking a look at the original theatrical trailer for the first Indiana Jones adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Check it out:



This trailer captures the spirit of the movie perfectly. It is not cheesy or over-the-top, it accentuates what is great about the movie and if I saw this trailer nowadays, I'd probably be curious and wanna check this movie out. Of course I already love this movie, so it makes me a touch bias in that department.

That does it for this Friday, tune in next week for a new edition of Old School Fridays!

From Book to Screen, Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Hollywood is always in a rush to find the next big thing. The studios, rather than placing their bets on original properties, would rather take a comic book, book, or video game franchise with a rabid following and transform that into a movie. Ever since stuff like Harry Potter and the X-Men hit the screens over ten years ago, this has been the trend in Hollywood, and now the studios might have found their next Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The first of the Percy Jackson books, The Lightning Thief has been made into a film and is set to be released in theaters tomorrow. The story has many similarities with Harry Potter, which is probably why the studio behind the film, 20th Century Fox, is so eager to see it succeed. Not to mention, Chris Columbus, the director of the first two Harry Potter films directed this first installment of the five-part Percy Jackson series, so obviously the studios aren't very coy about their hopes for this franchise.

The story follows a teen boy named Percy Jackson who discovers in our modern 21st century world that he is the half-god, half-human son of Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of the sea. By being Poseidon's son Percy has the power to manipulate water, not only that, Percy is taken to a summer camp for fellow half-bloods, where these heroes in training all hone their sword-fighting and archery skills, to become this generations mythological heroes like Hercules and Jason from Jason and the Argonauts. But when Percy is accused of stealing Zeus's lightning bolt, Percy must go on a mission to the Underworld to prove his innocence and rescue his human mother from Hades. Joining Percy's side are his best friends, get this, a geeky kid named Grover (who is a satyr), and a really smart and plucky girl named Annabeth. Sounds like Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I let that pass.

So far I've only read the first two books in the five-part series, but I love these characters and their world. It's like X-Men meets Greek mythology and Harry Potter. While the world of Percy Jackson is not as rich or as thought-provoking as Harry Potter, the story is so filled with action and adventure how can you really care. The books are a masterpiece of children's literature in my opinion, being way more action-packed than just about any other book I've ever read. Not only that, but the book itself lends itself perfectly to a potential cinematic adaptation, being obviously inspired by stuff like the film, Jason and the Argonauts. For this reason alone, I want to see this film, so I'm here just wondering what to expect.

Whenever any book such as this is brought to the screen, obviously there is going to be a lot of things cut or changed in order to make the film more intriguing, but from what I can tell from the trailers and whatnot, the movie seems to be faithful enough to The Lightning Thief book to where I'm not too terribly worried at the moment. Some small changes have been made in the form of the filmmakers moving certain sequences from later books in the series to the first film, like the Hydra fight from book two. The biggest change that has been made was changing the age of Percy and his friends from 12 to about 16, which actually makes more sense than having a bunch of 12-year-old's running around trying to take on Greek gods and goddesses in battle. Another big change from book to screen that I know of already is that in order to get to the Underworld, Percy must find three small orbs to gain entrance, but in the book he simply had to reach the gate and enter, but this difference creates more tension and allows for the film to have some classic adventure film signposts, so I don't mind that. One other thing though, it seems as if the filmmakers decided to have the final confrontation between Percy and his half-blood enemy, Luke, be a full-fledged hero battle in New York City rather than a suspense-filled scene of dialogue where Percy is barely hanging on for his life, but hey, it makes the film all the more action-packed. Other than that, the spirit of the book seems to be in tact, and from my diagnosis at the moment, if you liked the book, then you'll most likely like the film, which has me excited.

I'm excited to see Percy and the gang venture to Vegas and get trapped in the Lotus Hotel, I also can't wait to see the sequence involving Medussa (played by Uma Thurman), and I really want to see how they visualize the Underworld in this film. All in all I'm excited and plan on seeing the film soon, posting my review as soon as I see the film. Here's hoping it delivers.

Trailer Rush: The Last Airbender

I've never been a rabid fan of M. Night Shyamalan, but when he's on his game he's a master of the cinematic craft, ranging from The Sixth Sense to Signs. His latest is a big departure for him. First off, it's not a thriller. Second, it's a kid's movie. Third, it's based upon a television series and not original material that M. Night scripted himself. The film is The Last Airbender, an adaptation of the Nickelodeon animated hit, Avatar: The Last Airbender, not to be confused with James Cameron's box office behemoth.

The story of the film chronicles a young boy named Aang. Aang lives in this world where there are four elemental tribes, each distinguished by a different element: earth, water, wind, and fire. The fire tribe has begun a conquest to rule the world essentially. In this world there are beings known as benders, and these beings can manipulate the elements in which they are from, i.e. an airbender can manipulate wind to fly and blow people away. What Aang discovers is that he is the avatar meant to save humanity, and by being an avatar he has the ability to manipulate all four elements. Check out the latest trailer:



I really don't know what to think of this. Part of me thinks it looks like Dragonball: Evolution, whilst the other part of me thinks it at least looks like a fun geek-out movie. I've never seen the animated series, so I have no prior knowledge of this world, nor its characters, so in a way going into this film in such a way could benefit me as a viewer by not having any preconceived notions about the story, but at the same time it's pretty hard for me to get over the fact that this is a bunch of kids fighting people three times their age. 3 Ninjas anyone? Whether or not this movie turns out to be Night's Star Wars, as he said in an interview about a half a year back, has yet to be seen. It looks as if it will satisfy fans of the series, but can it appeal to anyone else? That's the real question.

This film hits theaters this summer, and did anyone else notice Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire in there as a badguy? Very interesting casting to say the least.

TV Review: Heroes-Volume 5

Television's Heroes is one of those shows, that as a longtime fan, I must admit its best days are behind it, it's arguable that the show hasn't been the same since Volume 1 (the show is in Volumes instead of Seasons). Of course, it doesn't stop the producers from trying. After countless years of listening to whining fans, of the producers trying to deliver what they thought fans wanted and ultimately screwing up the story worse, the producers finally just decided to do what their job is: Tell a story and forget about those whining fans. The result, Volume 5, probably the most solid Volume of the show since the perfect Volume 1, but does that really take much doing?

The story of this season all revolved around this elusive carnival made up of superpowered beings. The beings of the carnival were a superpowered cult in a sense, taking orders from one man named Samuel Sullivan (played marvelously by Robert Knepper), and calling themselves a family, a fraternity of sorts. Of course, one could draw comparisons between Samuel and his carnival and Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants, but alas if you're always trying to compare Heroes to X-Men you wont ever get any enjoyment out of this show in the first place (essentially being an X-Men rip-off since day one). Regardless to say, the carnival was actually menacing and was extremely well played throughout the season, and I definitely got the vibe from the finale that Samuel will become the new Sylar and be the ultimate villain of the heroes (especially since Sylar is now a good guy, stay tuned).

This season we saw some really marvelous Hiro moments, where Hiro learned that he has a brain tumor and is dying and Hiro goes on a quest to right all the wrongs in his life before dying. We witnessed Peter actually using his powers to help people and become the guiding force of this team. Not to mention, Sylar went on a long and winding path to redemption, this time possibly for good. I was especially impressed in the way that they handled Sylar's mind trapped in Parkman's head and his body constantly shapeshifted to look like Nathan, actually worked quite well (though, the Nathan thing dragged on a touch longer than I felt it should have before they finally killed him off and merged Sylar's body and his mind back together). Plus, a new character named Emma was introduced, a deaf woman who can see sound in terms of colors, and she was used to marvelous effect as a potential love interest for Peter in the future. If only the rest of this season was as intriguing as this.

Claire was inevitably the weakest link, and of course the showrunners felt she deserved the most screen time, as always, and we got more and more of annoying, whining Claire. Seriously, she is this series Kate (and if you watch LOST you know what I mean). Her relationship between her father Noah Bennett deepened this season, and speaking of Bennett, his storyline really droned on, and in all honesty, I was not a big fan of finally learning why he became the way that he is. But back to Claire. She got more annoying as she went to college, tried to fit in, and then fell in love with her lesbian roommate, all the while constantly swapping sides between Samuel and her father. Ugh! Can they just write her character off the show, please!

One great thing about Volume 5 was how well they utilized all of the heroes powers for the first time in the show's history. Peter was actually saving people, getting into some real awesome brawls, like when he fought a superspeeding villain in a knife fight, or when he took Samuel's powers and fought him in an earthquake fissure battle in the finale. Plus, Samuel was a genuine force to be reckoned with, sinking an entire town into the ground, and nearly submerging New York City in the end, if it wasn't for those pesky heroes.

All in all, if it wasn't for Claire and Bennett's storylines that dominated the entire season, this would be an A+ season, but alas they dragged down the overall quality in the end. So we must look on to Volume 6 which is already ordered and in production, titled, "Brave New World," and if the ending of the finale the other night was any inclination, it should be intriguing, now that the heroes have revealed their existence to the world. But please, let Robert Knepper return as Samuel, cause he is the Magneto-like villain that this show has been missing for some time.

I give Heroes-Volume 5 a B!

Oscar Watch: Potential for Surprise

This week's edition of Oscar Watch is all about the concept of surprise. Last Tuesday the nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced, meaning that we're now roughly only three weeks away from the Oscars. I'm trying to curb my excitement, and to do that we're gonna be talking today about the potential for surprise all across the board come March 7th. Let's get started!

Many analysts are believing that at the moment the race towards the Oscars is simply a two pony show, between The Hurt Locker and Avatar, both are clearly frontrunners thanks to their healthy hauls in the precursors, but this does not necessarily mean any other film isn't a threat. I really believe that there could be a wealth of upsets come Oscar night, ranging from the tech categories like Best Visual Effects to the big prize, Best Picture.

To say that Avatar pretty much has all of the tech categories locked is an overstatement, I believe some of the tech categories are a touch shakier than most would believe. I especially see it possible in Best Visual Effects against Star Trek and District 9 and, also in Best Film Editing. If anything, the 9 nominations for The Hurt Locker shows, is that it is a threat across the board, especially in Editing. As for Best Cinematography, I think the cinematographers might throw a bone to something like The White Ribbon, or to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. As well, I believe that there is a storm brewing in terms of Best Original Score, and it's a storm in the shape of The Hurt Locker. While Michael Giacchino is the clear frontrunner in this category for Up, the fact that The Hurt Locker showed up surprisingly in this category when it was nowhere near here in the precursors, makes me think it could be the dark horse no one saw coming. Now, moving on to the big guns.

Best Actress has some mystery in terms of the heavyweight bout between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep, but is everyone just saying that just because they don't want to bet against Meryl? I think Gabourey Sidibe or Carey Mulligan are the dark horses that might surprise everyone come Oscar night. Here's my thought on this. Many are clamoring for Streep to win because she hasn't won in so long, and Bullock has never won, but Mulligan and Sidibe both will get the indie vote. As for the battle between Bullock and Streep, the vote could be split between the two to allow Mulligan or Sidibe the win. It has happened before (i.e. Marissa Tomei).

As for Original Screenplay, while many are placing bets on Tarantino to win, I think Up presents a really strong case since it has been so well received and was nominated for Best Picture, not to mention it could give Pixar its first writing Oscar, seeing as how they've been nominated for so long in this category and never won. Though could Mark Boal jump ahead of everyone and ride the tidal wave of The Hurt Locker's success to win? As for directing, while most would place their bets on either Kathryn Bigelow or James Cameron, I think if the Academy can finally accept Tarantino's eccentricities, he could surprise all and win, not to mention Jason Reitman is quietly lurking in the shadows for Up in the Air to be a safe bet if Cameron and Bigelow happen to split the vote. Now onto the big potential surprises, those in Best Picture.

This year not only has the Academy spread the Best Picture race from 5 to 10 nominees, but they've also instituted a new voting system for the top category, in the form of preferential voting. What it is, is basically all of the members of the Academy are given ballots with the 10 films on them, and then they would list their choices on the ballot, in order from 1-10 (1 being the best, and 10 being the weakest link). My guess is a point system will be utilized, such as 10 points for every number 1 vote, 9 for every number 2 vote, etc. Basically what this means, is that the highest number of number 1 votes doesn't matter, what matters is how many total points the individual film ends up with, which could mean one thing, what is thought to be the clear frontrunners now might not be what has their names called out of that envelope come March 7th.

Is The Hurt Locker really the frontrunner when taking into account this new method of Oscar voting? The Hurt Locker only netted $12 million at the box office, it is assumable that a great many in the Academy haven't seen it, where as with a film like Avatar and The Blind Side it can be said that the majority in the Academy have seen them. It doesn't matter if those that saw The Hurt Locker put it as number 1 on their ballots, what will matter is the film that winds up with the majority of number 2 and number 3 votes. So Avatar could be the ultimate victor, but from what I understand, industry love for the film isn't as great as the critics, which with the Academy, the industry is what matters. A great many in the Academy loved The Blind Side, or else it wouldn't have been nominated, so I truly believe it could be a potential dark horse.

Speaking of safer surprises now, I think District 9 could also benefit from the populace vote, but what could help it is what might also hurt it. It is a piece of fanboy fare, and those that love it really love it, and those that don't, are very vocal, so in all actuality I could see The Blind Side win over a District 9 victory (a similar case for the Coen's A Serious Man and Inglourious Basterds). Of course, Precious and An Education have enough of the artsy crowd and enough mainstream followers behind them to where anything could go in their favor, but I strongly doubt they'll be the ones to pull off the upset, if any film does.

Honestly, the two films that I think will benefit the most from the preferential voting system is Up or Up in the Air. Up in the Air and Up were both critical and commercial successes that are well loved by the industry, making them both safe bets to potentially bring home the Oscar, but also making it entirely possible. So many in the Academy loved Up and Up in the Air, I could see either two films being many of Academy voters number 2 and number 3 votes, where if one of these films gets enough votes like that, it will win.

For fun though, I'll just finish up today by saying which film I think has the best chance of pulling off the upset come March 7th, and the one I personally hope wins, Up in the Air. Till next week!