Great Scott! PIRANHA 3D!
Apr 27
Now let’s turn to that other franchise whose sophomore effort was helmed by James Cameron: Piranha.
In a parallel world where poorly animated and cheaply copy / pasted piranhas are frightening, a bunch of gyrating and oblivious party-goers get their buts chewed off by things under the water that may or may not be Jaws. At least, I think that’s the plot. Oh, it’s in 3D? With a premise like that, it’s bound to give Avatar a run for its money.
Lending high calibre acting to the already stellar premise are the likes of Ving Rhames, Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Lloyd, and a slew of bikini models and / or porn stars, which is both confusing and exciting to me in equal measure. Expect an August-ish release (trailer below).
Ridley Scott planning ALIEN prequels … in 3D
Apr 26
This news has been kicking around for a while, so it’s about time we weighed in on it with our take. It seems almost too good to be true, doesn’t it? That Ridley Scott would return to the Alien universe three decades later and shoot a prequel — or two — himself? After 25 years of crappy sequels and woeful crossovers, the guy who kicked the whole franchise off is coming back to reinvent the series himself. That’s remarkably good news.
The “What?” news is that he’s shooting in 3D. I never would’ve imagined Ridley Scott going 3D, but he’s joining the likes of Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Martin Scorsese and choosing the format for his next picture. I’m still sceptical on the whole 3D thing, but I guess I’ll withold final judgment until all these films (Tintin, The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, and the Alien prequels) come out.
In a recent interview with Collider, Ridley Scott discusses the technical differences of shooting in 3D and how they affect the dark, moody style he adopted for the first Alien film. 3D films are digital by necessity, and shooting digital is a very different enterprise to shooting on film, and it’s good to hear Scott calmly chat about how he’s going to set about maintaining his perfectionist vision in these prequels.
Scott has also confirmed that the prequels will set out to explore who / what the “Space Jockey” (the big dead guy in the chair in the first xenomorph flick) is, and will again feature a female protagonist (but not Ripley, obviously). I’m not hugely fond of the first Alien (I think James Cameron’s sequel is where the party’s at, personally), and that Space Jockey thing helped set up the mystery and horror of the film for me, so I’m not sure going back and explaining it is such a good idea — sounds like the reboot of The Thing, now I think about it.
Scott reckons we should keep an eye out for the first Alien prequel in late 2011 / early 2012. I reckon we should keep an eye on Ridley Scott’s sanity. When have you ever known him to shoot a prequel, let alone two in a row, and in a fad format that may well be dead in a few years’ time at that? It’s time to re-evaluate my understanding of Scott as a more classical filmmaker — not necessarily a bad thing. Heck, I don’t even like Alien or Gladiator that much, so it’s not like I’m super disappointed in Scott’s fall to the dark side.
Okay, maybe a little bit disappointed.
AVATAR: Dances With Wolves, AVATAR 2: Waterworld
Apr 21
This makes perfect sense now. Confirming speculation that Avatar was merely Dances With Wolves in space (and 3D), it seems director James Cameron is including another Kevin Costner backdrop for Avatar 2: Waterworld, baby!
There’s no denying James Cameron’s fascination with the ocean– The Abyss, Titanic, PIRANHA 2, and evidently, the highly-anticipated upcoming Avatar 2 in which it has been revealed the action will ‘dive into the oceans of Pandora’.
Details emerged out of a recent interview with the LA Times where Cameron shared his thoughts on preparing for the big sequel as well as plans to take over the world and fuck your Mother. (Okay, maybe not… but just remember: he could.)
As the sequel will be years away, an extended cut of Avatar will be released to cinemas in August with vision won’t have seen on the DVD/Blu-ray you’re going to buy this week. The profits are going to be mind-blowing, I’m sure. Innocent fanboys are being milked for every dollar.
Here’s an early brief synopsis of Avatar 2 for you:
They didn’t need to crack that big-ass tree down after all– there was unobtainium in the ocean the whole fucking time.
3D TVs not designed for human consumption
Apr 13
I guess James Cameron’s plans to take over the world will have to wait a little longer. Electronics giant Samsung has released a handful of helpful warnings describing health risks associated with using their shiny new 3D TV products. Demographics warned include:
- - children and teenageers (children under 6 should not watch 3D TV);
- - pregnant women;
- - the elderly;
- - sufferers of serious medical conditions;
- - people deprived of sleep;
- - people under the influence of alcohol.
Samsung also includes some fun tips for 3D viewing, including taking regular breaks, positioning the TV away from stairs and cabinets, and avoiding long periods of 3D TV-watching.
What happens if you don’t follow these guidelines? Well, you might get nausea, dizzyness, eye strain, and “decreased postural stability”. Samsung lists 9 symptoms you should be particularly wary of:
- altered vision;
- lightheadedness;
- dizziness;
- involuntary movements such as eye or muscle twitching;
- confusion [I like how this is buried amongst more trivial afflictions];
- nausea;
- convulsions;
- cramps; and/ or
- disorientation.
But wait, there’s more!
“Viewing 3D television may also cause motion sickness, perceptual after effects, disorientation, eye strain and decreased postural stability. It is recommended that users take frequent breaks to lessen the potential of these effects. If your eyes show signs of fatigue or dryness or if you have any of the above symptoms, immediately discontinue use of this device and do not resume using it for at least thirty minutes after the symptoms have subsided.”
Oh, and don’t watch anything in 3D if you have a pre-existing sensitivity to light or anything. And don’t use 3D TVs during day time, because sunlight can affect the glasses’ functioning. And flourescent lights cause flickering in the image, so turn them off, too.
So who can use 3D TVs? People who are awake into the night — but not too late, so they get enough sleep — to avoid sunlight; people who also never drink while watching movies or TV; these people must be under the age of 65, but over the age of 19; they can’t have any history of motion sickness or epilepsy; and most importantly, they mustn’t mind interrupting a movie every 30 minutes to stretch their legs and exercise their eyeballs.
Right. What’s that, about 5% of the population?
I get motion sickness (technically simulation sickness) from playing video games with narrow fields of view (damn you, Half Life 2, damn you!), as well as watching Paul Greengrass films. Guess that counts me out. Plus I already get itchy eyes from regular 2D-o-vision, so that counts me out twice.
Oh and there’s the little problem of me not really liking Avatar, so that’s three strikes against 3D TV.
So let’s hear it — are you still keen as mustard to spend $20,000 on a spanking new 50-inch LED 3D TV so you can watch Avatar as God James Cameron intended?
Didn’t think so.
Source: Samsung’s website
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE trailer prefers glossy tech over coherent plot
Apr 06
I’ll forever be adamant that the Resident Evil films are associated to the classic PlayStation game by name and name alone. In no way did the films ever deliver the same kid of haunting tension, fun, and zombie threat like the game did.
All I’ve ever hoped for is a reboot. Something that remained a little more honest to the Resident Evil game(s)– place the characters (the ACTUAL characters, not new ones created for the film adaptation) in a big old mansion, have zombies and eventually other mutants lurking in the shadows and let us see them escape. The Red Queen, the science fiction, the elaborate scientific lairs– you can keep all that junk.
The latest trailer for the upcoming fourth Resident Evil film, sub-titled Afterlife, goes out of its way to make sure we’re damn well aware they have shot this with state-of-the-art 3D tech in mind, using the same fusion camera system technology made available by James Cameron himself (and Vincent Pace…). They do this by blatantly telling us right off the top with a title card. Any excuse to have Cameron’s name associated– no matter how loosely, eh? Then comes the all-too familiar and unessential metal guitar riffs coupled with glorified action sequences that induced me to yawn rather than gasp. The CGI looks overly smooth and therefore very unrealistic (hey, just like Avatar!) I can already tell it will be ridiculously hard to invest in Resident Evil: Afterlife. Not even Milla Jovovich in ‘real’ 3D as her character Alice will win me over.
Fans of the series (??) seem excited that director Paul W.S. Anderson is returning to the series after directing the first Resident Evil in 2002. Granted, as a mindless film-unto-itself, the original effort may have been passable. But the fact that it was titled Resident Evil took a lot away from it. I really can’t see how the direction of Paul W.S. Anderson could rescue this series. Yet they keep making money. And lots of it.
It’s so depressing that the films went down the path they did when the original game offered so much more potential substance over style. Oh well. I can, at least, still kick back and play the video game whenever my hunger for Resident Evil nostalgia grows large– and whenever I get depressed at the fact that these damn films completely taint what was a perfectly original experience back in 1998. I’m getting old…
Here’s the ridiculously lame and seemingly ultra-expensive trailer for you to watch and ponder. Or laugh at.
If you’re still game (geddit?) you can find Resident Evil: Afterlife on your cinema screens in glorious 3D in September 2010.
In a world ravaged by a virus infection, turning its victims into the Undead, Alice (Milla Jovovich), continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety. Her deadly battle with the Umbrella Corporation reaches new heights, but Alice gets some unexpected help from an old friend. A new lead that promises a safe haven from the Undead takes them to Los Angeles, but when they arrive the city is overrun by thousands of Undead – and Alice and her comrades are about to step into a deadly trap.
OPINIONS COUNT