Reboot Mania!

Hollywood goes in waves of popularity. For the longest time the big fad were remakes, followed by the adaptation sensation starting with films like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, eventually carrying over into the sequel obsession where every movie ever made that was semi-successful was getting a sequel, from Cheaper by the Dozen 2 to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Live Free or Die Hard. Now of course of all of these different types of things have always been around, even back to the start of the film industry films have been remade, been sequelized, and adapted from other source materials, but it seems within the past two decades or so Hollywood has become more obsessed with catering to the public, so they purely mimic what the other studios are doing. It now seems as if Hollywood is venturing into the newest fad full on, the fad of the reboot.

What's really funny is when I think of the word reboot, I think of the old Cartoon Network show of the same title that featured early CG-animation, but that is beside the point. A reboot is essentially a fancy name for remake if you wanna get technical. All a reboot is, is taking an old film or TV Show and "re-imagining" it for a modern day audience. Sounds a lot like a remake, doesn't it? Of course, if you point that out, the studios will rap you in the mouth for saying it, even though it's the truth.

These fads in Hollywood are always brought on, as I said earlier, when another studio finds success in that particular area. After Harry Potter, every studio tried to find the next big children's book to turn into a movie and we got Eragon, The Chronicles of Narnia, and more recently Percy Jackson. After the success of stuff like Spider-man 2 and X-men 2, every studio tried to transform every successful movie they've ever made into a sequel. Then came stuff like Live Free or Die Hard causing the studios to try and convince us Rocky should return to the big screen or Indiana Jones. So what has spurred this recent obsession with the reboot?

Over the past few years there have been a great number of so-called "reboots" from the horrendous (Bewitched) to the marvelous (Star Trek). I do think the lynch pin of this current wave was J.J. Abrams's Star Trek and all of the success it has had. Now, every studio is in a rush to reboot something to try and make a quick buck. This summer we're getting The A-Team, and down the line are reboots of other shows like Hawaii Five-O, The Green Hornet, and T.J. Hooker. Following this trend, many studios are also trying to reinvigorate franchises that have kind of run to a stand still, like the recent reboot announcements of Spider-man, Daredevil, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (goodness, gracious!).

Now I will give reboots the benefit of the doubt, if it were not for this little word, there wouldn't have been a Batman Begins or a Dark Knight, or Star Trek, but my point is, is it seems like the studios are letting this fascination with the reboot get out of hand. Does Spider-man need a fresh slate? I don't think so, but does Daredevil? Yeah, it's been long enough, and the first one was enough of a flop to where it is warranted, but not Spidey. As I said, in some cases it is warranted, but as I pointed out, Spider-man doesn't need to be rebooted, and as for The A-Team, or any of those other old TV Shows being turned into films (Dallas anyone?) do the studios really think there's a need for such a thing? Or what about Mr. & Mrs. Smith? My bets are they couldn't get Brad and Angelina to return and produce box office gold for a sequel so the studio rather decided to just reboot instead of trying to do something new and different, and dare I say it, original.

O.K. I'm going to wrap this up before I get cynical and too lost in my tirade, but I will say this. Hollywood goes in trends, and perhaps with the success of stuff like Avatar and the potential success of this summer's Inception, we could possibly see the next fad come to fruition and the studios will focus on original stories written for the screen rather than adaptations, sequels, or reboots. Maybe I'm just putting too much stock into it, but I see it being a possibility. Here's hoping the studios do as well.

The Classics: Blow-Up

Boredom is never good for the soul, especially when one happens to be watching a movie. I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I have ever seen a movie that I was as uninterested with as I was with Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up.

Blow-Up is a movie where nothing really happens. It's really a bunch of beatniks sitting about in late '60s London smoking pot and experiencing free love. When you think that a trace of a plot has been introduced when the main character, who is a photographer, discovers a dead body, the filmmakers brush it under the rug and act as if nothing happened. Really, this is a movie that felt as if they tried too hard to make an artistic statement and it just ultimately fell flat.

Blow-Up was in its intent, trying to be edgy, and for its time it was, and I'm not gonna lie and say I wasn't impressed at times as to how Antonioni smartly shot certain sequences, hiding the nudity, simply alluding to it, but seriously, this movie just droned on and on and nothing ever happened within its two hour runtime.

I had always heard about this film, many filmmakers from the '70s citing it as one of the great inspirations for their work, so for that the film should be appreciated, but as a film itself, it just does not stand the test of time and is in all actuality a boring and uninteresting film by today's standards. And for the talent involved, Vanessa Redgrave, you could do better than this.

I give Blow Up an F!

Movie Review: Crazy Heart

I'm not a big fan of country music. In my own family I'm known as the black sheep when it comes to the worlds of music, but with the film Crazy Heart, it doesn't matter whether you're a fan of country music or not, Crazy Heart is an extremely good film.

Crazy Heart is the story of a washed up country singer named Bad Blake, whose best days are behind him. He used to be a top-selling country music artist, but now he has spiraled down due to his alcoholism and has been relegated to playing in small town bars and bowling alleys. But Bad Blake's time for redemption comes when he falls for a small town reporter half his age, who has a four-year-old son.

The film was subtly directed by first time director Scott Cooper. While it isn't the most visually intriguing film I've ever seen, it is competently directed and filled with marvelous performances. Seriously, this film is really an actor's showcase.

The film stars Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake, and he gives a fascinating performance filled with charisma and charm. Even though Bad Blake is a sloppy mess, Bridges is just so likable at the end of the day, you can't dislike Bad Blake. Whilst you can't necessarily say it's his career's best (because he's done so many greats) he delivers a solid award's worthy performance and will win him his first Oscar.

Bridge's gets support from Maggie Gyllenhaal, who portrays Bridge's love interest, the small town reporter. I will boldly say that this is her greatest performance of her entire career, it is so heartfelt, I wish it could win her an Oscar, but I don't think that will happen. Finally, rounding out the cast are two fun performances from Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall, both do a lot with their small roles. I just have one question, who knew Farrell and Bridges could sing this well?

Now there is a ton of music in this film and the music really mirrors the narrative perfectly, T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham did fantastic work, in particular "The Weary Kind" is a marvelous song. "The Weary Kind" is the song that tells what the film is all about. The film is about one old man's downward journey into his own obscurity. He's not the man he used to be, and this film is about his finding his way back through some really tough tumbles down life's expressway.

In the end the film has a pseudo-uplifitng ending, depending upon whether or not you want him to end up with the girl, but I personally found it a satisfying ending that actually made me happy. Bad Blake's tale is a common one for these types of older artists who have been eclipsed by the young guns, and it's all about Bad Blake finding his way back and learning how he can return to the world in which he cares for.

I give Crazy Heart an A-!

Old School Fridays: Batman (1989)

Friday has rolled around once more, meaning one thing, time for another edition of Old School Fridays! Our weekly retrospectives where we take a look at old movie trailers each and every Friday. This week, it's the original theatrical trailer for Tim Burton's Batman. Check it out:



It really amazes me how much the art of trailer-making has advanced in just a short amount of time (then again, this film came out over two decades ago). This trailer is barely coherent, creates no excitement whatsoever, and is so jumpy and poorly cut that it's like it's the trailer for the straight-to-video slasher flick that you can pick up at your local Blockbuster. Maybe that's too harsh, but for such an enjoyable film, this is a horrid trailer.

Till next Friday, where another edition of Old School Fridays will be waiting!

What's New Studio Ghibli?

Almost any avid fan of animation knows the name Studio Ghibli, the Japanese equivalent of Disney, so to speak. It's kind of funny, seeing as how Studio Ghibli's films are released in North America by Disney thanks to head of Disney Animation, John Lasseter, and his professed love for the studios marvelous out-of-the-box works. Studio Ghibli is the studio that brought audiences the Academy Award-winning film Spirited Away alongside a great many other animated classics, as well they house the two finest directors of animation to ever live, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and the question I have at the moment, is what is up next for Studio Ghibli?

I've been working on this post for quite some time, trying to gather as much information as possible, and it wasn't easy, cause even though Studio Ghibli is a household name in Japan, in America, it's only a niche property. Finally, though, I think I have enough to warrant an entire post devoted to my favorite of all animation studios, Studio Ghibli.

Studio Ghibli is extremely busy at the moment. They're currently putting the finishing touches on their latest film Karigurashi no Arrietty, which is an adaptation of the classic children's book, The Borrowers, set for a Japanese theatrical release this summer. The film is being spearheaded by new director Yonebayashi Hiromasa under the watchful eye of the legend, Hayao Miyazaki. While I've never been a huge fan of The Borrowers, I can only imagine that The Borrowers by Studio Ghibli will be something worth seeing, even if I'm not a fan of the book, and I think it goes to say that whenever Studio Ghibli adapts a book into a film they tend to make many creative liberties to make it fit better into their vision as a studio.

Not only this, but Studio Ghibli lent its animated talents to the realm of video games for the first time, doing artwork and cut scenes for the new videogame Ni no Kuni, which is supposed to hit Japanese shelves this Spring. No news yet as to whether it will come stateside, but I love that Ghibli is really expanding its horizons. Though, what about the big guns at the studio, Takahata-san and Miyazaki-san?

Currently Miyazaki is at work directing a new short film for potential internet distribution, which would be a first for the studio. Not to mention, according to producer Toshio Suzuki, Miyazaki is at work on directing a new feature film that is tentatively scheduled to be released in Japan in 2012, and seeing as how Miyazaki is one of my favorite filmmakers of all-time, I can't control my excitement. As for Takahata, the word is that he is also returning to the director's chair for the first time since 1999 when he directed My Neighbors the Yamadas. Takahata is often known for being the more artistic of the two, so the expectations are extremely high on his return to directing. Of course, what has me most excited at this current moment in time is what Disney is doing with the works of Studio Ghibli.

Disney has been releasing the films of Studio Ghibli for American audiences since the late '90s. While the dubs were always handled with excellent care, the DVDs had very scant special features, but not anymore. Starting March 2nd, coinciding with Disney's release of Hayao Miyazaki's latest masterpiece, Ponyo, on DVD, Disney is going to release two-disc special edition DVDs of three other Miyazaki-Ghibli classics, with more special features included. These re-releases include My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Castle in the Sky.

Now, I'm extremely excited about this, but at the same time I have spent almost two years trying to build up my Studio Ghibli-DVD collection, for Disney just to re-release them. At the moment, the only Miyazaki film I do not own is Castle in the Sky, so if I want to get the special features for the other two, I'll have to re-buy them. Though, there could be worse things, after all, since Disney released most of these films on DVD so long ago, your average retailer like Best Buy doesn't carry them, so with Disney doing a massive re-release of the films, they should be much easier to find and should attract more fans to such masterful works.

So excitement abounds at the moment when it comes to Studio Ghibli. Keep your eyes open for Ponyo as it hits store shelves March 2nd, alongside those other Studio Ghibli classics.