Spock/Nimoy Documentary Releases First Trailer

I didn't know that the son of Leonard Nimoy, Adam Nimoy had a project in the works titled For The Love of Spock. As you may suspect, the project is a documentary about his much loved father.

The documentary really showed it's potential when the documentary, looking to raise startup funds, managed to raise over $660,000 on kickstarter.

Now  the project has generate it's first trailer (below)

For The Love Of Spock Teaser from 455 Films on Vimeo.

Review: Inside Out

Starring the voice talents of 

Amy Poehler as Joy

Phyllis Smith as Sadness

Bill Hader as Fear

Lewis Black as Anger

Mindy Kaling as Disgust

Richard Kind as Bing Bong

Kaitlyn Dias as Riley Andersen

Diane Lane as Riley's Mother

Kyle MacLachlan as Riley's Father

Paula Poundstone as Forgetter Paula

Bobby Moynihan as Forgetter Bobby

I had heard some good things about the animated feature Inside Out, so I finally got a watchable retail dvd to see what all the excitement was about when the movie first hit general release. I wasn't disappointed.

A Pixar / Disney collaboration (is that the proper word? Since they are part of the same company.) That seemed to take the best of both.

I thought with Disney, I was going to get a straight on children's film and in a lot of respects, that is what I got. Oddball characters and even stranger plots. Not disappointed on either front with Inside Out.

But once the main characters are introduced, the plot-line takes a turn towards the dark. The whole plot device being that the major emotions are taken up by identifiable archetypes and we view the majority of the movie from these archetypes view point with occasional forays into the exterior world to observe the interplay between external and internal worlds.

There are several places in the film where each of the characters are highlighted and how they make up the whole. And this is why I have reservation on very young children watching this film. The emotions are strong and intense, so much so that even as an adult I was uncomfortable and uneasy, so I would lean towards older children with more experience with stronger emotions

Review: Ant Man

Paul Rudd as Scott Lang - Ant-Man
Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne
Corey Stoll as Darren Cross - Yellowjacket
Bobby Cannavale as Paxton
Michael Peña as Luis
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson - Falcon

run time     117 minutes

Budget     $130 million
Box office $518.6 million

After research covering years of investigation, scientist uncover how to close gap between atoms.  Enclosed in an armored suit, it gives the wearer the very selfsame abilities. One to shrink to invisibility and second to return to normal size.  

Along the way, our hero has also garnered the proportional strength of the ant as well as the ability to speak to them fluently.

These plot devices are hung as you would xmas bulbs on a tree and in this case, a workman  plot line. 

Our scientist starts a company to study and utilizes this new discovery.  The business   partner proves to be ruthless and evil, with a healthy dose of greed mixed in.  Others in the cast are shuffled back and forth between   both extremes.   

If you havn't guessed yet, science, mostly physics are tossed almost immediately.   But mass and energy are added and subtracted on a whim.  I don't even want to allude to the instances in question.  Rent Ant Man and lets see if you see what I saw.  I can remember thinking "Oh No!  the can not be going to go there!  But they do.  

The plot is fair, The fight sceans as well as the action moments are at best workman. But it is the science that really left me cold. 

The backgrounds are nice, the CGI is grandly overdone and the acting from those like Michael Douglas was workman or better. 

So if you are looking for a comic book adaption then this film is just the ticket but as a stand alone movie it isn't working.  I would have gone a 6 if it was clear they were not tied to their junk science, but when it became clear that they were vested in it that I could not in good conscience go above 4or 5. 

It would make a neat rental and as a kids movie but I would not want friends to know I had this in my stash. 

Check out the Wiki for more info

Loom: a short film from Luke Scott, Ridley Scott & Red Camera

Boy, the things you find when you really are not looking!  I was just following links on YouTube when I came across a startlingly different short film from, of all people, Luke Scott.  Oh yes, that Scott.  The "about" was even more intriguing because for me it was a very stylized film that even now I suspect I do not understand many of the concepts thrown up at me.  This short isn't even some 
some "proof of concept" that many small filmmakers are using as a sales pitch.  Instead it was shot on the "RED" camera system and this film was used as a demonstration of the RED's extended dynamic range (which I have to tell you is absolutely stunning) and doing so in 4k!!

Check out LOOM

Short film: Portal No Escape

I love these short films on youtube that put to use the portal effect.  Here, a woman seems to be in what appears to be in a prison of sorts.....check it out.

"Ambition" a new sci-fi movie from Tomek Bagiński

Tomek Bagiński is not a name I am very familiar with but IS one that I am going to try and reverse that mistake.

His newest project is Ambition, which will see release in late October, looks to be a very interesting movie.   Check out the trailer below.



Ambition:  tells of a young apprentice struggling to master nanotechnology on an alien world and prove herself to her enigmatic master.

I really began to build interest after I saw  Bagiński's short  film The Cathedral, which got an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film in 2002. 



"The Cathedral" is based on a story by Jacek Dukaj under the same title.   If the more (if I may)
Ambitious work is anywhere near the work of Cathedral then I suspect it is going to be a treat in its' own rite.

Beyond: an excellent short SF film

Wow, you have got to check out this short video, it really pushes the envelope when putting on the SF mantle. Some of the ideas are wildly original!

In a somewhat "Bladerunner" type of start,  A woman with who it seems has been modified  genetically and imbued with an ability that allows her to survive teleportation to other worlds is tasked with just that type of mission.  However when she arrives, strange things begin to occur when she receives  a mission that takes her impossibly to a world beyond the universe.

From the brilliant mind of  Raphael Rogers we are treated to the short video "Beyond"

BEYOND, sci fi short film from Raphael Rogers on Vimeo.

Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Directed by   
Rupert Wyatt


Starring   


JDirected by   
Rupert Wyatt


Starring     
 
James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, Andy Serkis

This PotA episode is more like the 72 film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes,  though in truth is not alike enough to be a remake.  So it may be that this version from 2011 is more a  total reboot of the series.  
 
Instead of being the new working class as in the old series (sweep  Caesar) these apes are from medical experiment subjects that become smarter due in part from an intervention by  Caesar who inherited his advanced iq from his test subject mother.  (though how she got that way and how she managed to keep it hid is beyond me) 

As Caesar ages he witnesses human cruelty  and eventually fights back after escaping and releasing other apes.  (there seems to be a lot of experimental apes in San Francisco) But is also helped by a rampant fast moving deadly infection that seems to kill most of the world’s humans.

The movie goes fast add in some fast moving battles.

However in the end you still have cgi apes, with humans doing the initial acting and then have the pes drawn over.  Visually it really isn’t too bad and the apes are at least believable.  

But conversation is a bit difficult.  And the extras are non existent.

You can read the Wiki review here

Review: Hunger Games

Directed by     Gary Ross

Starring     
Jennifer Lawrence
Josh Hutcherson
Liam Hemsworth
Woody Harrelson
Elizabeth Banks
Lenny Kravitz
Stanley Tucci
Donald Sutherland

From the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins

Games is a post apocalyptic very reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery.   So much so in fact that if you are familiar with the story at all, you may find it distracting you from the movie as a whole.  But in fact, I can think of several classics that can be used as a comparison.  Say for instance, Brave New World, Many of the scenes are the “country rube” reacting to the “huge” city.  You can even see some of “The Demolition Man” mixed in.  So yes, my very first comment about the film is that it is derivative.   It is like Survivor gone mental.

But, back to the movie.  It is called Hunger Games because it seems (but poorly explained)  that the Districts that participated in an uprising were and are still being controlled by “starvation” or hunger if you would.  To reinforce the hunger stranglehold, each district must pay tribute of two children who must fight the other districts to the death.  

Alliances are made, unlikely loves grow and in the end a heavily telegraphed ending.  

Based on what I have read, there are already plans in the work for a 2 and 3 and by the performance in the box office, they should do ok.  

But in all honesty, if you are a Science Fiction fan, this movie will fall flat for you right from the premise.  It is supposed to be hundreds of years in the future, which is not borne up in the tech or even society...Far less adventurous films have done far far better at portraying a future society, like the fifth element or Priest.  

Hunger Games did not leave me hungry for more.  Poorly executed and ill conceived plus the extras on the rental are non-existent!  A 7 at best.  If you have unlimited rentals or streams, watch it on a big screen, otherwise give it a pass.

Review: HOP

Staring 

James Marsden, Russell Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Hank Azaria, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins, Hugh Laurie

Director

Tim Hill

HOP is an Easter-themed live-action and animated comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment.

Here is what the Wiki says about HOP and to start of civil, lets go with that.

• Hop stars the voice of Russell Brand as E.B., a rabbit who does not want to succeed his father, Mr. Bunny (Hugh Laurie), in the role of the Easter Bunny; James Marsden as Fred O'Hare, a human who is out of work and wishes to become the next Easter Bunny himself; and the voice of Hank Azaria as Carlos and Phil, two chicks who plot to take over the Easter organization.

 That's nice. If I had started out, it certainly would not be so civil. First off yes, I know it meant for a younger audience, but I am sorry, that doesn't excuse them from making even a marginally watchable movie. But no, this movie is a flip off for anyone over the age of 10. I honestly have never seen so many actors blatantly go out just for the paycheck! But I have to be honest, 30 minutes was all I could take of this travesty. 

One of the first things I like to do is check the extras in case there is a different cut or options. Again, there seemed to be but it would seem that Universal has jumped on the "lets make renters second class customers" wagon by turning off all the extra features and even worse letting you know they are doing it because you are renting! So you can see the mind set I was in when I started the movie proper. I love animation...mixed media is ok in its place. But after a half hour of wooden dialog and garish CGI sets, I was pushing the stop button out the back of the remote. 

There really isn't much good to say. If you are an animation fan, run as fast as you can away from this disk, if you are a collector, well unless you have toddlers still in diapers, don't waste the shelf space. 

The movie itself is an unwatchable morass of cliches and one dimentional characters. Here it is in a nutshell - I don't want to be the Easterbunny! But you HAVE to be the Easter bunny! I don't want to work in a no where job. You don't want to be the easter bunny? I can be the easter bunny! I just don't understand my son! I love what I am doing now! I love you son even if I don't understand you. cut fade and scene. shudder..... 

I don't give out negative number ratings, because that is a bit nonsensical however this is damn close....maybe a 3 denoting the fact that they could light and shoot the movie even if calling it a movie is a stretch.  Put the DVD back in the rack and step back, now turn and run as quickly as you can away from the movie.

Star Wars Tribute with Cellos & Light Sabers!

From "The Piano Guys" comes a very funny and untimatly entertaining Star Wars tribute with cellos and light sabers no less. The production itself is amazing described at one point as the most demanding they had ever undertaken. Overall it took 70 days, more than 7,000 frames, 72 audio tracks, 24 hours of filming in front of a green screen. Enjoy

Star Trek: Phoenix - Cloak & Dagger pt1

Here is a quick synopsis of this Star Trek episode that can best be described as a labor of love. When we were first introduced to the Phoenix milieu in 2010 it was clear that there was something very special happening. Star Trek Phoenix is a fan produced new series that began on May 2, 2010. When I first heard fan made all I could think of was cheesy sets and corny dialog. Well let me dissuade you because the fans at Temporal Studios have produced a product that may not rival the big studios, but there is little doubt that they could rub shoulders in just about any crowd.

• Star Trek: Phoenix is set in a time period of 42 years following the events in the motion picture "Star Trek: Nemesis and follows the original timeline created by Gene Roddenberry.
  

• The pilot episode titled "Cloak & Dagger" takes place in 2422, one year into the maiden voyage of the Ascension Class Federation Starship USS Phoenix. Part I begins after a major attack on the vessel and the crew attempts to rescue an away team on the remote planet, Katrassii Prime. Little do they know, the rescue team will need saving from the secrets this perilous world possesses.

More can be found at their website HERE

Close Call on 4/5/2011 Soyuz Launch wtf?

Hey, wanna see a close call that will make you damn glad you are NOT an astronaut? Check out this video of the April 5th 2011 Soyuz Spacecraft launch. I think if I were on-board and knew this was going on around the launch vehicle, I would have wet my space diaper for sure. Now I don't know how authentic the film is. (I first saw it on Daily Galaxy website) and since absolutely no one reacts to what happened, and I don't remember anything like this on the news right? So I am leaning towards hoax. But you watch it and let me know your take.

The Incident at Tower 37 - a short clever cg film

Here is a short C-G film call "The Incident at Tower 37" written by Chris Perry. Anything I can tell you about the film gives something away. I can say that it is VERY well done and for a film with no spoken words, that is saying a great deal. There is a lot of movie packed into a time line just a hair short of 11 minutes.

Corning's " A Day Made of Glass

Corning put together this video called "A Day Made Of Glass," which seems to be getting a great deal of attention on YouTube. The idea of the video is that the near future will be full of touchscreens, smart windows and appliances like stoves which are all made with glass! The neat thing is that the video shows everything from the house, to the car, to shopping and work-place all working together. IO9 blog of course has a somewhat different view of the milieu. Check out the IO9 blog comments here

Outside In - Saturn flyby

The Dvice blog brought this neat project to my attention. The Outside In project is a full-length feature IMAX film that aims to take the watcher on a breath taking tour of the Solar System. What will make this project truly unique will be the source material. No CGI will be used. Instead the movie will be built up from literally thousands of photographs taken of the Solar System by a variety of space craft. The whole project is dependant completely on donations, but instead of waiting for the money the film's producers have worked on completing part of the film consisting of a fly-by of the Saturn system using Cassini photos. This short alone is spectacular! The composites are flawless in my opinion. Check this short out and take a look at the film's web site here.

Outside In Concept Teaser Trailer from stephen v2 on Vimeo.

The known universe by the American Museum of Natural History

Again, just for a few moment, sit back and let this short video do it's magic. From the American Museum of Natural History we have a quick trip through the known universe. Believe me, just one minute out at light speed and you start feeling VERY insignificant!

2001: Seventeen Missing Minutes?

• In a Kansas salt mine, deep underground, there exists a repository of national significance. Part of this repository contains original reels of classic and contemporary films. One of these films is Stanley Kubrick's 2001. However when film historian Douglas Trumbull gained access to the film archives he found more than just the original cut but seventeen here-to-fore unseen minutes of the movie.

According to the Boing Boing article:

• The film originally premiered at 160 minutes. After the premiere, director 'Stanley Kubrick' removed about 19 minutes' worth of scenes and made a few changes:
• Some shots from the "Dawn of Man" sequence were removed and a new scene was inserted where an ape pauses with the bone it is about to use as a tool. The new scene was a low-angle shot of the monolith, done in order to portray and clarify the connection between the man-ape using the tool and the monolith.
• Some shots of Frank Poole jogging in the centrifuge were removed.
• An entire sequence of several shots in which Dave Bowman searches for the replacement antenna part in storage was removed.
• A scene where HAL severs radio communication between the "Discovery" and Poole's pod before killing him was removed. This scene explains a line that stayed in the film in which Bowman addresses HAL on the subject.
• Some shots of Poole's space walk before he is killed were removed.

IMOB article on various versions IO9 article on lost footage

'Inceptión' Starring Dora the Explorer

I know this is a bit dated, but after watching Inception last night, this struck me as wildly funny! It's 'Inceptión' Starring Dora the Explorer

Comedic post apocalyptic education film

Here is a very funny, if somewhat twisted fake post apocalyptic survival guide. The seriously tongue in cheek film covers everything from post-apocalyptic fashion to unique uses for surplus human skulls. Titled "Ducked and Covered: A Survival Guide to the Post Apocalypse" the film, according to the IO9 article:

• ...won the Audience Award – Best Animated film at The Maelstrom International Film Fest 2010 and has been part of the official selection of The Williamsburg International Film Festival, New Filmmakers NY 2010, Cinequest 20 Film Festival in San Jose, CA and the upcoming Doomsday Film Festival in Brooklyn, NY.

Ducked and Covered: A Survival Guide to the Post Apocalypse from Nathaniel Lindsay on Vimeo.