BATMAN 3: The hype officially begins
May 01
Forget ‘Boobquake’, fanboys online seem to be getting far more excited over this news than they do over cleavage: Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film has an official release date: 20th July, 2012.
That’s right, we’ve got over two years of hype, speculation, debate and intrigue to soak up before we see a single frame of Batman 3. The official date has been announced as a result of Warner Brothers signing an exclusive deal with IMAX. Part of their announcement included release dates for the upcoming films, of which Batman 3 was listed.
The project is still very green and very little is known about characters or plot at such an early stage. Christopher Nolan is still in the middle of co-writing the screenplay with brother Jonathan and fellow scribe David Goyer.
I’m sure we’ll see every single set photo, publicity image and hear every little rumor once production gets underway. And then, of course, there will be the viral marketing… So much to look forward to and wince at. Standby.
source: slashfilm, box office mojo.
IRON MAN 2 viral advertising is lost on me
Apr 09
Not literally lost, of course. I get it– I understand how viral marketing works and there’s no doubting it certainly has a very fad place in movies right now. Of course, Hollywood has borrowed heavily from the music industry which has been successfully promoting underground/garage/indie bands for decades using similar viral ‘tactics’.
Viral marketing has been a successful way for studios to bring their indie festival purchases to larger audiences. Most recently Paranormal Activity achieved great heights using viral marketing which somewhat mirrored the horror film many consider to be the first online virally-marketed film, The Blair With Project. And who could deny Warner Brothers masterful viral promotions for The Dark Knight back in 2007/8. That sure paid off! So, I understand that studios feel the need to expose that area of marketing and ensure they net as many people as possible. Yet there are times when that kind of marketing just isn’t necessary.
Incredibly important picture of Scarlett Johansson
The viral campaign for Iron Man 2 has been surprisingly dull and increasingly irrelevant. A different term for this kind of viral marketing should be coined– I believe it’s no longer ‘viral’ once the film is a guaranteed summer blockbuster studio tent-pole film.
Iron Man 2 has a mass audience that is already guaranteed to go see it, viral marketing or not. I know this, because I’m one of those people. The Stark Industry website, the fake Stark Expo and the new videos have missed their mark with me. I’ve found most people are already talking about the film because of the trailer, the poster, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash character, and (to a lesser extent) the TV spots… The swing of promotion is so great that it seems the only people really noticing (and giving a fuck) about the viral are the comic book addicts who, at the height of it all, have determined they noticed what looks like possibly the Avengers logo during a commercial for Stark Enterprises… others say it looks like Fantastic 4‘s logo and should go. I say… really?
As if to underline my point, adding to the pointlessness of it all, those debating such trivial things are already going to see Iron Man 2 opening weekend, without question. So who, exactly, is benefiting from all of this viral guff? Who’s going to see it, put two-and-two together and decide, shit yes, I’m going to see Iron Man 2 when it opens. Who’s is convinced by the Stark Expo yet not by the trailer…? I’m honestly asking, I have no idea.
View the official viral website for Stark Expo which coincides with the release date of Iron Man 2 (29 April Down Under, 30 April in the UK and 7 May in The States).
MEMENTO review: holy short-term memory loss, Batman
Mar 05
Christopher Nolan is best known for his Bat-films, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight; big, heavy, dark comic book movies that have captured the hearts and wallets of a generation of moviegoers. But once upon a time, before Christian Bale gargled gravel and donned the bat cowl, Christopher Nolan made a little film called Memento. It’s a mind-bending post-noir psychological thrillery affair, as well as a pretty remarkable study of our dependance on (and modern storytelling’s clinging faithfulness to) linearity, and Nolan seems set to return to this kind of mind-meddling progressiveness in his next film, Inception. So how is Memento? Will this Inception thing be good like Memento or bad like The Prestige, Nolan’s other between-Batmans project? Well thankfully Memento is awesome, and here’s why.
The film concerns Guy Pearce’s Leonard as he struggles to piece together elusive evidence and find out once and for all who killed his wife. Typical noir, so far, but the catch is this: Leonard can’t remember a single thing after his wife’s death. He can generally only remember a few minutes into the past, and the film takes this idea and runs with it, essentially putting us in Leonard’s position. Two-minute scenes play, and then the following scene will be completely unconnected in the usual sense of the word. Instead of playing the story through scene by scene, the narrative is mangled and fractured beyond easy recognition. There are two threads to the narrative: one is told backwards (the last scene plays first, the penultimate scene plays second, etc.), while the other is told forwards. To confuse the heck out of the audience the plot cuts back and forth between these two narratives, so there’s a pendulum-like back-and-forth nature to the film, swinging as it does between now (in colour) and then (in black and white). This is the film’s biggest innovation and it’s main selling point (“the movie’s backwards, man!”).
If you didn’t follow that or it didn’t make sense, don’t worry; you have to see it to get it, and part of the genius of Memento is that Christopher Nolan effortlessly allows you to ”get it.” Leonard is surrounded by mementos, photos and notes and occasionally tattoos that he uses to remind himself of important things, like where he’s staying, what he’s driving, who he’s been hanging out with, and, vitally, clues to the identity of the man he’s trying to hunt down despite the bewildering state of his condition.
The film’s first act is strangely satisfying in its setting-up of Leonard’s world. We are introduced to things the way he sees them, with accompanying notes and photographs, and before too long, the audience has gotten used to the back-to-front nature of the scenes. We start cataloguing the way scenes start and then waiting for the next scene and look ahead to where it will fit in with the previous one. This remarkably simple and obvious change of technique totally dunks the viewer in delicious confusion for a while, and you wonder why more people don’t experiment with traditional straightforward structuring like this — make the viewer assemble the chronology in their own brains, and they’ll feel a lot more rewarded when the pay-off arrives. Plus the fact that scenes have a distinct beginning and end helps make the film seem finite and manageable, despite its convoluted technique, so it’s not a chore to watch.
The second act takes what the viewer learned in the first act and scrunches it up into a horribly complex little ball and dares the viewer to try and unravel it. The movie thunders along like a speeding train, so merely following it is an exercise in cerebral gymnastics; you may find yourself reaching for the pause button and making mental notes to visit Wikipedia straight after the DVD finishes to find out what the hell is going on. Stick with it yourself, though, and you’ll be thoroughly rewarded by the climactic final act.
All the threads of the story come together in the end, and a few more threads are thrown in for good measure. I sort of guessed what the “twist” might be, but I wasn’t prepared for the number of plot elements and characters who are radically distorted by the sublime finale. I’m trying not to spoil it for the neophytes, but the final reversal of plot is delicious. It throws out any guesses or assumptions you made for the past two hours about every single character and event in the film. Even though the film’s plot is progressing steadily into the past, it doesn’t feel set in stone. It feels alive and dynamic and challenges us to view time from the other perspective, and we really sympathise with Leonard’s condition by the end of the movie.
What is most remarkable (well, it’s all pretty remarkable, really) about Memento is the philosophical and moral debate that gets brought up every now and then, hinted at in flashbacks and voiceovers and whatnot: Leonard’s assertion that the world still exists even when he closes his eyes temps all sorts of Shroedinger-esque arguments and realist counter-arguments, and asks viewers to question the validity and accuracy of their own memories. Memory is, after all, an imperfect record, an imprint of sensations and emotions rather than useful details, so who’s to say what the universe really looks like beyond our limited perception of it, or whether the mental pictures of things we build in our consciousness are in any way accurate or honest? No human being with experiences and memories, that’s for sure.
The only stumbling block in the way of Memento‘s resounding success is a vague emotional coldness, the likes of which also infuses the aforementioned Batfilms and The Prestige with a kind of austere distance, like nobody on the screen really feels emotions, they’re just throwing on some shallow window-dressing. Something about the characters doesn’t quite hit home — they’re idiosyncratic and give the impression that they feel genuine emotions, but in the end they are just a means to an end. The mind-boggling narrative is the real star of Memento, but I don’t know if I would’ve preferred the film to focus more on the emotions at the risk of sacrificing the admittedly awesome narrative, so who am I to judge?
Memento is an amazing, important film; it’s ten years old but it still feels fresher and more engaging than the bulk of modern releases. It’ll challenge your logic, your philosophy and your sense of chronlogy in a unique and compelling way. The question on everyone’s mind now is this: will Inception follow in Memento‘s footsteps and pave the way for cerebral, soul-searching narratives, or go more the way of The Prestige‘s reliance on filmic hoodwinkery to achieve its goal of pulling the rug violently out from under your feet? We can all hope for the former, but only winter’s (summer up north) Inception release will answer our bothersome questions. Oh, and if you haven’t seen Memento, rectify that gross oversight immediately. You can thank me later.
Memento score
91/100
The growing intrigue of Nolan’s INCEPTION
Feb 09
Writer/Director Christopher Nolan has a track record of impressive films that cannot be ignored. It simply demands attention. I cannot vouch for being a Nolan ‘fan’, however I must admit to enjoying every single one of his films. He has a natural touch, it seems, whether it be stories about the Caped Crusader and his adventures in Gotham City or a film presented with scenes played out backwards (Memento– you’ve seen Memento, right?) .
Sitting high on many most anticipated films of the year lists sits Inception, a new film written and directed by Christopher Nolan starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page which will be hitting screens in July 2010.
There’s not much word on the overall plot of Inception. N0 one really knows what is going to happen on the screen when the film finally opens, which adds much intrigue. Especially when you consider how good Nolan is at messing with the viewer’s mind during a film (again, Memento is a prime example). Even DiCaprio recently said in an interview with Inquirer that cast and crew couldn’t make sense of what they were filming on set, they just followed Nolan’s lead. Sure, why wouldn’t you? Here’s a snippet:
It is Chris delving into dream psychoanalysis and, at the same time, making a high-octane, surreal film that came from his mind. He wrote the entire thing, and it all made sense to him. It didn’t make sense to many of us when we were doing it. We had to do a lot of detective work (laughing) to figure out what the movie was about.
Apparently, the premise of Inception explores how an idea can change the course of history. DiCaprio’s character Cobb must steal a potentially disastrous plan that can alter everything on Earth– all from within the human mind.
The poster was the first thing to create a stir online. Wearing a tidy suit Leo stands in a flooded inner-city street, his back to us, holding a pistol. The caption reads: Your mind is the scene of the crime. Nope, there aren’t too many posters like that one. Unless of course you consider the Joker’s character poster for The Dark Knight, but I’m not about to venture into those comparisons. You can see it for yourself, plain as day (below).
The trailers also keep the plot tight-lipped while heightening the sense that if you don’t see this film when it comes out, you might be missing out on something incredible (which is exactly what any trailer aims to achieve, I suppose). Hinting at wondrous IMAX’ed special effects sequences stirred with some likely quality performances and a premise to keep you tied to your seat, the trailers deliver. I know I definitely have a feeling that this film is a must-see, and my anticipation for Inception has only just recently started to grow.
Check out the media below, starting with the trailers followed by the posters.
The 7 best comic book movies
Jan 11
The Joker turns 70 this year. The clown prince premiered in the northern hemisphere spring of 1940 in Batman’s first standalone series. Batman himself, as well as Superman and some other, lesser-known characters, are a few years older even than Mr J. Back then it was all about domino masks, tights, capes, and good-old-fashioned crime-fighting, with a dash of Freudian introspection on the side. With the exception of Superman, ostensibly the first super-powered comic book hero, straight detective stories were favoured for a good many years till the likes of Marvel popularised super-powers in the fifties and sixties and the genre exploded. Comic books were respectable back then. Hypermasculine men fought each other while hyperfeminine women floated around in the background; morals were unquestioned; the pulpy, predictable serials were tasteful and plain, unadorned with such concerns as sexuality, racism or moral ambiguity. Crime was duly punished, and justice was pursued in a cheap, disposable monthly medium affordable to the average middle-class American kid.
In the 80s comics underwent something of a rennaissance. Batman was rebooted in a grittier, morally challenging storyline, the X-Men got serious with Wolverine’s brutal training in Tokyo finally explored, and out of a hole in the sky fell the Watchmen series, one of very few successful stand-alone comic books. Since that sudden reversal of content comic books have floundered in an endless torrent of glossy, cookie-cutter superhero stories. The art styles have gotten more sleek and gratuitous in their anatomic inaccuracies, but the actual content, as far as this detached, casual observer can tell, hasn’t developed into anything really worth taking notice of.
The 90s saw a brief rush of comic book movies — The Mask, Spawn, Men In Black — that were okay, performing so-so at the box office, but it wasn’t until Bryan Singer’s X-Men that the world finally got a superhero flick that did justice to its (overrated) source material. It was fun, subversive, mature and posed a few interesting sci-fi questions, while telling a remarkably personal tale with emotion and flourish. After the critical and commercial success of this pioneering film the floodgates were opened and in the past decade we’ve seen just about every single major character in the Marvel stable trotted out for a cinematic outing or two, and DC haven’t slacked off in their contribution either. But the vast majority of these films have been mindless dross homogenised by the Hollywood machine — witness The Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Elektra, The Spirit, etc., for evidence of this.
There have, however, been many shining lights in the dark. Here are the seven best comic book movies as judged by yours truly.
7 - V For Vendetta (2005)
Socio-political commentary has a propensity to become dangerously dull. How do you make it interesting, you ask? Add masked vigilantism, a fascist regime, some huge explosions, and Tchaikovsky to it. A dark, apparently faithful adaptation of the “graphic novel” (isn’t it cute when they try to sound mature?) of the same name, the V film is dark, violent, and socially relevant. The themes of freedom, justice and masked vigilantism are classic comic book fare, but here it’s all wrapped up in a smart, mature tale that’s pretty fun to watch.
6 – Road To Perdition (2002)
Bet you didn’t know this was originally a comic book. Actually I bet you didn’t even see this movie, hardly anyone did. But it’s got Tom Hanks in it, and a pre-Bond Daniel Craig, not to mention Paul Newman, some delicious cinematography, and some cool shootouts. The story is a tad melodramatic and simplistic, but the scrambled morality of gangster lifestyles is explored in a more compelling manner here than in any Scorcese flick to date. Sam Mendes, of American Beauty, directs.
5 – Iron Man (2008)
Funnyman Jon Favreau miraculously wound up at the helm of this (by ’08) routine superhero origin flick, the first act in an inevitable franchise. Thankfully Favreau kept the film sharp with the casting of Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role as Iron Man / Tony Stark, whose moral compass isn’t as concrete as Spidey’s or the Bat’s, and in the film’s fresh, brisk pace and tone. Anyone who claims not to have had fun watching Iron Man is lying.
4 – X-Men 2 (2003)
Captain Jean-Luc Picard scoots around in a mind-controlled wheelchair, staring people down and unleashing his merry band of mutants on the world, trying to make it a better place, while Gandalf the Grey floats around in a metal bucket for a helmet trying to stop Picard for no other reason than “the Nazis killed my parents, therefore everyone deserves to die.” Okay, okay, there’s more to this sequel to the film that started the heroic avalanche in 2000 — some breathtaking action set-pieces, some palpable drama between the main characters, a very cool sci-fi aesthetic, and the kind of professional filmmaking usually reserved for “serious” movies. X2 perfectly rides the line between mindless entertainment and intellectual stimulation, with great performances all round. Shame about X-Men 3 and X-men: Origins: Wolverine: The Prequel: The Beginning.
3 – The Dark Knight (2008)
Oh Christopher Nolan, you simultaneously delight and disappoint me. The Dark Knight is a big, loud, dark, complex film on every level. Christian Bale’s Batman, introduced in the middling Batman Begins, faces his first true test as a superhero in the form of Heath Ledger’s ultra-villain the Joker. The Joker’s wicked anarchic sense of humour is simultaneously amusing and terrifying, and Ledger’s performance of the character is the stuff of cinema legend. He inhabits the role, a role invested with such realism and integrity as to be utterly repulsive but ultimately fascinating and compelling at the same time. Bats is forced to question his own morality and identity in the face of the Joker’s cruel and unusual pranks and set-ups, meanwhile contending with a psychotically deranged Harvey Dent / Two-Face incited to violence by the Clown Prince himself. Batman’s dark, ugly world is a thematically beautiful and intellectually interesting place: every villain in Gotham City has a fascinating aspect to their psyche, and Batman invariably winds up being the most boring character in anything he’s in. The reason I don’t love Nolan’s second bat-flick is because it’s so cool, so loud, so flashy, so dark and awesome and gritty that there’s very little actual character to latch onto when all is said and done. The emotion is there, it’s just buried miles deep beneath layers and layers of crowd-pleasing aesthetic stylings.
2 – Watchmen (2009)
Having just criticised The Dark Knight for being shallow, I feel a pang of guilt including Watchmen in a higher position on this list. It is literally a shot-for-shot, visual-effects-driven recreation of the original comic book, but beneath the arguably flimsy veneer is the single most coherent, challenging and daring narratives in the history of comics. Some masked vigilante kills some other masked guy, and there’s a scientist who was de-atomised and is now a blue god, and there’s some Rorschach-wearing clown going around being unpredictably awesome for some reason — the plot merely serves as a prism through which comic books can be deconstructed and scrutinised and then spat back out as a damning observation of the world circa 1985, and as such, it is amazingly fun to watch. I identified most with John Osterman (Billy Crudup) as he undertook the journey to coming to terms with his superpowers: Dr Manhattan, as he is known, is an immediately more realistic depiction of a superhero than was ever depicted before Watchmen hit the shelves — he’s over the whole infinite power thing, he’s over seeing through time, and he’s bored of life as we know it. I guess that’s the kind of thing ultimate power brings you — boredom. So why do we all spend our lives scurrying to secure a slice of the power pie? Imagine thoughts like this, suggested constantly and in every scene of this visually entertaining flick, and you have some sense of the extent to which I was engaged and challenged.
1 – Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Ah, the amazing Spider-Man. The original Spidey flick was one of the earlier superhero flicks, and one of the better ones. Director Sam Raimi infused the story with enough classic character archetypes, modern references, universal coherence and pure, undiluted emotion for the film to be a promising start to the franchise. But it was nothing compared to the first and as yet only good sequel, in which the characters set up in the first film are dutifully knocked down in one of the most brutal, uncompromising but ultimately optimistic middle acts in the history of cinema. I enjoy every single scene of this movie, and it’s one of those few movies I could watch a dozen times and not become utterly sick of.
So there you have it, Froley’s favourite 7 comic book movies!
Honourable mention should go to 1978′s Superman for setting the bar for superhero dramas in their current form; Zack Snyder’s 300 proved that sometimes even slavish adaptation of the oft-maligned source material can prove to be entertaining; and David Cronenberg’s A History Of Violence barely even resembles a comic book movie at all, what with the lack of capes and superpowers and whatnot, and is all the better for the absence of such silly things.
What are some of your favourite comic book movies of all time? Do you think Hollywood has gone a little costume-crazy since X-Men was released, ten years ago? Do you think the style of storytelling and characterisation inherent in comic books is leaking into non-comic book movies? I want to know what you think, dammit!
OPINIONS COUNT