July 20, 2007
Hard to say goodbye to good friends
It's been almost two months since we got back from the Build-A-Thon...it's hard to imagine, how quickly time moves along...this has been a really good year; getting to know some amazing people, for which I am so grateful, still it's sad to see friends start to go on their seperate ways.Man, who am I going to go to Manafest with now?
more summer pics here
Update: 1-18-08 -- The Internet phenomenon that stays fresh longer!
This is a follow up to my earlier post about the 1-18-08 movie“In the city that never sleeps, somebody's woken up on the wrong side of the bed, and he/she/it has a name... CLOVERFIELD!”
1), the personal look and feel...So far, every official bit of media released about this phenomenon has a “user generated” quality to it. The home video nature of the trailer, and the photos appearing on the only official website all come with a personal touch (there's a new one I discovered today). If this trend continues it seems like it will really have the effect of making viewers feel part of the movie experience like never before.
2), this movie, is the first I can think of, that takes place the exact time as it's opening night in theaters. So, when you go to see it on opening night (And of course you will!), you're seeing something that takes place when you're watching it--like watching imaginary live TV. Could it be, the producers wanted to draw the largest opening-night box-office hysteria yet? I think they'll do it.
The producers no-doubt planned to take advantage of the whole social-networking scene that's taking over the internet. I wonder if they were prepared for the reaction they're getting?
Oh, and I have one more question relating to a peculiar quark in all the hysteria surrounding this mysterious film: If that Ethanhaaswasright.com site isn't affiliated with this movie, then what is it affiliated with? And why were people jumping so quick to assume that it was?
Here's my thought (well actually a friend of mine, who was an English Major in college, thought of this immediately as I told him the details). “the monster: is a giant kick ass lion based on the poem 'second coming' by WB Yeats.
Really the most surprising thing so far, is that despite the tremendous hysteria building around this film, no party associated with the film has come forth to spill the beans.
Labels: 1-18-08
July 17, 2007
Heros
I finely made it around to another one of Charlotte's unique places. The Hero's comic store down on 7th street. It's a nice shop. I hear they put on an annual comic convention. That would be interesting to see. They had 5 out of the 7 issues of an obscure short-lived comic I read in 1995 by Gene Roddenberry called “Lost Universe”.July 12, 2007
What was that?
Well, my last post was about my trip to see the new Transformers movie; what I left out, was the bizarre very creepy trailer for a mysterious upcoming disaster/horror/survival flick that left me confused and very intrigued, and with no idea what it was even named!
From watching it, what I knew for sure was: It's either shot with a personal camcorder, or adjusted to appear as such (which is what I suspect) and that it had pretty amazing special effects. As far as plot and story, it involves a creature of some sort wrecking unbelievable heck on NYC; to include, massive explosions, flaming debris, and ending with the head of the statue of liberty crashing down into the street. The questions is, what's going on? And, is their a Godzilla-like creature involved?
Naturally when I got home from Transformers I had to investigate for several hours about what this mysterious movie trailer was. The only things I knew for sure was it was a disaster film, by JJ Abrams, and there was a movie production company by the name of “Bad Robot” involved.
After some long and hard searching I began to gather more clues about this movie, and I've discovered some very interesting pieces of information. (Most importantly, that I have succumbing to a very elaborately planned form of viral movie marketing unlike anything before. And it's working, there are forums and user-generated videos exploding all over the net. Apparently, I'm not the only one confused and intrigued.) So I thought I'd try to share some of the information I've compiled about this upcoming thriller...
At first, I tried to locate a copy of the trailer on YouTube, but everywhere I looked I got that all to familiar message that it had been removed because of copyright restrictions, and so forth. (Which seems a little odd since it's a trailer, not actually a film that comes with a “don't copy this” message, and nobody even knows what it's even called!) This aggressive removal of the trailer by Viacom only made me want to see the trailer MORE! I felt very clever after I found a page that had, at the time, the best available copy of the trailer somebody had recorded with their cell phone. However, that's all irrelevant now as a much better official version of the trailer (available in High Definition) is up on Apple Trailers.
After more digging, on IMDb forums, and various other movie forum pages, I discovered the film currently has at least 3 “code names” but no actual name. It goes by 1-18-08 (the release date of the film), as well as, “Cloverfield” and “Slusho”. There is also possibly “The Parasite.” On IMDB it's the Unnamed JJ Abrams Project.
As I kept digging I found this guys YouTube clips that offer some absurdly in-depth analysis of the trailer and related materials. I can't believe the level of detail he's put into researching this mysterious trailer. Apparently the trailer is rich with potential clues as to an explanation of what this movie really is about. And he's funny too, hey wait a minute!...Maybe he's part of this viral marketing conspiracy? (Well, consciously or not, I guess anyone reading any of this is.)
Oh, and in a couple places (IMDb forums and such) it seems to be popular for people to link to this specific part of a page on Wikipedia about a Jappanese horror flick in the same vein as Godzilla.
Apparently, there is only one “official” page for the movie, which is here. If you go there you'll see two photographs that relate to the film that you cam move around. Listen to NightOwl3090's analysis about the picture of the women.
But I found a couple other really helpful pages, including this one that gives information about the cast, these other two potentially related websites.
Wow, up until the release of Transformers, nobody knew anything about this film. This movie already is amazing, just with respect to the elaborate nature of all of this viral marketing. The less I know, the more curious I am.
As a final note: I consulted a friend who was an English major and he instantly had a clue as to what this movie MIGHT be about that I think no one else on the various forums has figured out yet. The trailer reminded him of a famous poem by the Irish poet WB Yeats, about a Lion monster. Check it out. However, that guess is somewhat influenced by the fact I thought the guy on the street was saying “It's a Lion, it's Huge” when it turns out, according to the analysis by nightbowl3090, it's really “It's Alive, It's huge.” But, who knows, that poem might still be related.
I suspect that it won't be just another Godzilla movie, but from the looks of it, will be more like a documentary about what would happen if Godzilla got hammered on Redbull and Vodka. Whatever this film's about, it's likely to be effectively scary/thrilling and huge in the box-office.
Labels: 1-18-08
July 11, 2007
More than meets the eye
A few days ago I went with some friends to see the newest reincarnation of Transformers now in live action.
Leading up to the release of this film in theaters I kind of avoided reading much about it. And to be honest, had fairly low expectations. It is, after all, a movie where good and evil are represented by living robotic vehicles that transform into fighting robots. And I gotta say, having seen it, I was surprised at the justice the film makers gave this classic from my childhood. It was really good! For one thing, the special effects were perfect. The Transformers looked completely realistic (or well as realistic as can be for 18-wheelers, hot rods, and fighter planes that transform into two-story-tall fighting robots). Bay did a great job; which didn't surprise me, considering the quality of the FX of his last film. And the story matched up very well with what I would have expected as that five-year old who loved the original show.
It makes me wonder, as a child what was it that made them so extraordinary. The very idea of them was captivating. There was indeed something more than meets the eye. I guess sometimes it takes something extraordinary to show how nothing is merely ordinary. And I guess that reminds me of something becoming increasingly less obvious to my eyes as I continue to phase into "adulthood." I keep forgetting...it's important to take time out to recognize the miraculous nature of each and every moment.
Here is a list and brief description of some of the other films looking pretty interesting coming down the pipe...
Bourne Ultimatum - IMDb - Apple Trailers - 08.03.2007 - the third in the Bourne TrillogyAcross the Universe - IMDb - Apple Trailers - 09.28.2007 - looks like a 70's era flick heavy with Beattles references and drug-use imagry.
I am Legend - IMDb - Apple Trailers - 12.14.2007 - Will Smith is the last human alive living in Manhattan. Oh, and everyone else is either a vampire or a zombie.
30 days of night - IMDb - 10.18.2007 - another zombie film taking place geograpically where the sun stays down for 30 days.
Note: I remember that my parents didn't take me to see the original 1986 animated Transformers movie, even knowing full-well how much I enjoyed the show. I guess at some point I lost interest in seeing it. But in college I decided to rent it to see what I had missed, and having seen that, I wonder if my parents were tipped off by someone that taking me to see it would have destroyed me; shortly into the movie, in a heroic battle, the character I adored most, the character we all adored most, Optimus Prime, is fatally wounded, and the rest of the movie is about the remaining transformers trying to make a last stand. If that's the case, then well done parents. You made a good decision.
Labels: movies