By Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre March 28. 2005
In the US, the summer season starts around end of April, peaks around July and ends early August. Traditionally, summer is also Hollywood’s blockbuster season – the time when Hollywood rolls out the big guns and lets the cash kachink in the millions a few months before the studios release their less box-office friendly but more memorable movies in the –Ber months. Those months are sometimes referred to as the Oscar season. Here are some of the big movies to watch out for this year, and in the near future.
Summer Blockbusters
Sin City (Dimension Films) – the graphic underworld novel by Frank Miller turned stylish movie directed by Robert Rodriguez, Miller and Quentin Tarantino. The movie stars Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Kate Bosworth, Mickey Rourke, Jaime King, Nick Stahl, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Rosario Dawson and Michael Clarke Duncan. This is one sin we’re all willing to go through hell for.
The Intrerpreter (Universal Pictures) – Nicole Kidman plays an interpreter who overhears an assassination plot inside the United Nations. Sean Penn plays the FBI agent assigned to protect her. The thriller is directed by Sydney Pollack (The Firm, Out of Africa, Tootsie).
Kingdom of Heaven (20th Century Fox) – Orlando Bloom plays another blacksmith turned avenger in this Ridley Scott historical drama about the Crusades.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox) – George Lucas (finally) ends the space saga he began nearly 30 years ago. He promises this to be “Titanic in space”. God help us. Starring Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson.
Madagascar (DreamWorks Animation) – animals from the New York Central Park Zoo break from their cages in search of a way to go to Africa, only to find themselves in a boat en route to the island of Madagascar. Voiced by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (20th Century Fox) – rumored to be the reason behind the Pitt-Aniston split, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt play assassins recently hired to kill each other. Does not sound like a good way to settle marital differences, reel or otherwise.
Batman Begins (Warner Brothers) – From the director of Memento (Christopher Nolan) and the writer of the Blade series and Dark City (David Goyer) come the fifth installment of the Caped Crusader. Featuring the most talented cast assembled for a comic book hero movie, the movie stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Ken Watanabe.
War of the Worlds (Paramount Pictures) – Two names: Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise. So what if it’s a remake of a classic?
Fantastic Four (20th Century Fox) – exposed to cosmic radiation, a group of astronauts gain superpowers in this movie adaptation of a classic comic book favorite. Starring Ioan Gruffudd (recently as Lancelot in King Arthur), Jessica Alba (of TV’s Dark Angel), Michael Chiklis (The Sheild) and the guy some US writers are calling as the next Tom Cruise, Chris Evans (Cellular). With a title that says fantastic, this movie can’t be nothing less.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Monday, March 07, 2005
It’s a mad mechanical world
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre, March 7, 2005
Robots
Directed by Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha
Written by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams
Unrated / Approx 90 minutes
Opens March 16
This movie’s credits list some of the most talented actors and comedians these days, and the list is long and impressive. Let's run them down. Drew Carrey (of TV’s Who’s Line is it Anyway? as Crank), Oscar nominee for As Good as it Gets Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Coolidge (Stifler’s mom in the American Pie series, as Aunt Fanny), Paul Giamatti (recently in Oscar winner Sideways, as Tim), Jamie Kennedy, Stanley Tucci, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, Carson Daly, Conan O’Brien, Paula Abdul and lastly, the granddaddy of American movie satires, Mr. Mel Brooks himself as the voice of Mr. Bigweld, the granddaddy of all robots in Robot City.
Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) is a young inventor who leaves his small town to search for new adventures in the big city and to meet his idol, Mr. Bigweld. His first day in Robot City brings him to a group of out-of-form robots called the Rusties led by the outrageously disengaging Fender (Robin Williams). When Rodney’s search for Mr. Bigweld yields nothing, he and the Rusties soon figure out that the nefarious businessman Ratchet (Greg Kinnear) is taking advantage of Bigweld’s disappearance. Together with his maligned mother Madame Gasket (Jim Broadbent), Ratchet intends to take over the city by eliminating all “old model” robots and forcing the others to upgrade to his expensive body parts. Rodney refuses to let these evil things happen, and decides to repair things the way they ought to work.
Robots is made by the makers of the sleeper hit Ice Age. That one is currently preparing for a second avalanche. Despite the heavy pedigree under its hood, Robots is nowhere near as funny as Ice Age, a bit of a jam, really. There could have been funnier lines, there could have been a better story. Robots is Metropolis (both Ozamu Tezuka’s and Fritz Lang’s versions) for American kids, with a little of Toy Story 2, Antz, Artificial Intelligence, and The Wizard of Oz. Of course this latest CG animation movie is no match to The Incredibles – nothing can match that success for now, at least until the next Pixar movie maybe.
Robots may teach a thing or two about inventiveness, but by drowning the story with too many amusement rides it’s left with nothing but squeaky narrative parts and a lot of loose nuts. One can also say it’s a clockwork running on orange juice. Now that’s ironic.
What is interesting about Robots is a little subtext, a very timid hint against consumerism and corporate greed that’s pretty clear for big kids to understand. What they don’t (won’t) know yet is that they’d be the very victims of consumerism as soon as they leave the theaters and head for the merchandise department. These Robots are so darn cute, you’d want to take one home. Hell, all of them.
Then again there’s Robin Williams in the movie, and we’re sure he’s always funny.
Inquirer Libre, March 7, 2005
Robots
Directed by Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha
Written by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams
Unrated / Approx 90 minutes
Opens March 16
This movie’s credits list some of the most talented actors and comedians these days, and the list is long and impressive. Let's run them down. Drew Carrey (of TV’s Who’s Line is it Anyway? as Crank), Oscar nominee for As Good as it Gets Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Coolidge (Stifler’s mom in the American Pie series, as Aunt Fanny), Paul Giamatti (recently in Oscar winner Sideways, as Tim), Jamie Kennedy, Stanley Tucci, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, Carson Daly, Conan O’Brien, Paula Abdul and lastly, the granddaddy of American movie satires, Mr. Mel Brooks himself as the voice of Mr. Bigweld, the granddaddy of all robots in Robot City.
Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) is a young inventor who leaves his small town to search for new adventures in the big city and to meet his idol, Mr. Bigweld. His first day in Robot City brings him to a group of out-of-form robots called the Rusties led by the outrageously disengaging Fender (Robin Williams). When Rodney’s search for Mr. Bigweld yields nothing, he and the Rusties soon figure out that the nefarious businessman Ratchet (Greg Kinnear) is taking advantage of Bigweld’s disappearance. Together with his maligned mother Madame Gasket (Jim Broadbent), Ratchet intends to take over the city by eliminating all “old model” robots and forcing the others to upgrade to his expensive body parts. Rodney refuses to let these evil things happen, and decides to repair things the way they ought to work.
Robots is made by the makers of the sleeper hit Ice Age. That one is currently preparing for a second avalanche. Despite the heavy pedigree under its hood, Robots is nowhere near as funny as Ice Age, a bit of a jam, really. There could have been funnier lines, there could have been a better story. Robots is Metropolis (both Ozamu Tezuka’s and Fritz Lang’s versions) for American kids, with a little of Toy Story 2, Antz, Artificial Intelligence, and The Wizard of Oz. Of course this latest CG animation movie is no match to The Incredibles – nothing can match that success for now, at least until the next Pixar movie maybe.
Robots may teach a thing or two about inventiveness, but by drowning the story with too many amusement rides it’s left with nothing but squeaky narrative parts and a lot of loose nuts. One can also say it’s a clockwork running on orange juice. Now that’s ironic.
What is interesting about Robots is a little subtext, a very timid hint against consumerism and corporate greed that’s pretty clear for big kids to understand. What they don’t (won’t) know yet is that they’d be the very victims of consumerism as soon as they leave the theaters and head for the merchandise department. These Robots are so darn cute, you’d want to take one home. Hell, all of them.
Then again there’s Robin Williams in the movie, and we’re sure he’s always funny.
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