Here’s a small deviation from our usual content, folks; the chapter of our podcast focused on the director starring yours truly, Nicole, Hannah, and Nate. Also guest starring the director of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, as well as our wonderful Intro to Theatre professor, Kip Taisey!
There’s always one word that scares anybody that loves video games and movies alike: reboot. Don’t let the title of this post fool you; the reboot we’re talking about here is the kind where the makers of something like a movie or a video game have decided that either A) They want to continue working on a series or franchise, but can’t think of a way to continue it, or the more likely option B) They want to bring back something that has been not as popular as it once was. A recent example of this reboot trend is the upcoming Power Rangers film (which, admittedly, I am very excited to go see). The Power Rangers franchise started off as a live-action TV superhero show, but it evolved into an empire, complete with toys, video games, costumes, and even older movies that were made with the same style and campiness as the show, even starring the exact same cast as the show. But this new movie is an all-out reboot, changing and shifting the entire tone and redesigning many aspects of the show, some of which have fallen under heavy criticism (*cough cough* Goldar *cough*). Even still, it has been stated many times over that this movie is intended for the adults that watched the original season from 1993 when they were kids, and with that in mind, the tone of the movie would be much darker than the campy kid-friendly nature that was the show. And many of the new redesigns were made to help modernize the movie, which might be for the better in the end. After all, it makes more sense that the rangers are clad in full suits of armor as opposed to wearing spandex from head to toe. But still, many fans are nervous that this movie will do the Power Rangers franchise a bit of an injustice. Similar things have happened to reboots in the past, so these concerns aren’t exactly unfounded. Ben Kendrick from Screenrant.com weighs into the topic with why he thinks remakes and reboots are actually a good thing, and why we should respect them. I personally can’t help but agree with him.
A popular trend in the cinema world nowadays is to take something that has existed in the past in the form of animation and give it a live-action remake. Two examples of this in recent times are the upcoming films Beauty and the Beast and Ghost In The Shell, which both respectively started as a Disney Animated Movie and an anime. Similar works have been done in the past, such as the new versions of the Disney movies Snow White and Cinderella, as well as the old Scooby-Doo movies that came out in the early 2000’s. And in Japan, they are adapting the popular anime Fullmetal Alchemist into a film as well (though it has garnered a certain controversy in its casting choices, similar to the American-made Ghost In The Shell movie, but that’s besides the point). It is a trend that has long-since excited audiences, and it is a trend that appears to intend to continue to do so if Disney’s lineup is anything to go on, as they plan on making live-action films for The Lion King, Mulan, and a prequel movie for Aladdin that focuses on the Genie. So, with this in mind, here is a question worth asking; do live-action movies based on original animation make enough money to garner such popularity? After all, Snow White and the Huntsman was certainly not as successful as it had hoped. Well, as it would seem, it really just depends on how it’s made. The internet is pretty conflicted about it, so here is the YouTube channel Watchmojo on their opinion of the worst (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk9Ca6ywEy0), and here’s Gary Susman from Moviefone.com on the best (https://www.moviefone.com/2015/10/23/movies-based-on-cartoons/).
Taking a deviation from our usual content, let us talk today about a video on the website known as Ted Talks. This particular video discussed the effects of the human brain when exposed to video games. The results? Maybe not what you’d expect. Most people assume that an excess of video games is very bad for you. While that is true, and binge gaming is definitely not healthy for anyone, studies have discovered that people who play fast-paced action games have amazing reflex. Someone who plays, say, Call of Duty, would have a much better reaction time in a stressful situation than a non-gamer. And as well, if you play a game that requires you to use some kind of long-range weapon, you tend to have better eyesight than a non-gamer. And finally, someone who plays a game like Tetris is a better strategic thinker than a non-gamer. So overall, video games (in reasonable doses) have actually beneficial effects on the human brain, and can even help one to develop and strengthen your brain. Good thing I’m a lifelong gamer.
When you go see a movie, and its really, really good, what’s your first thought afterwards (besides thinking how much you liked it)? Usually, it’s “Oh man, I can’t wait for the sequel!” But how many sequels can be made before a popular series just feels drawn out and overdone? This post comes from the upcoming highly anticipated superhero film Logan, in theatres March 3rd. Logan is one of many solo films based on the X-Men hero known as Wolverine, who up until now has been exclusively portrayed on the big screen by the amazing Hugh Jackman. But Logan, a take on the comic series known as Old Man Logan, is scheduled to be Jackman’s last outing as Wolverine, ending his streak that started in 2000 with the first X-Men film. Logan is in the same series as X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine, as well as the six different X-Men movies that exist. So, that makes nine films based on the X-Men universe. And there’s no telling if the series will continue after Logan, though it’s always possible that it could. But should it? Many other popular series have many sequels, such as Star Wars and essentially any horror franchise, namely Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. At some points, a series makes it apparent that the ideas have run low, and the movies get more outlandish and dry than creative. So a sequel or two is not necessarily a bad thing, but eight or nine? At some point, you gotta call it quits. The website known as GamesRadar breaks it down with clear examples of series of movies with too many sequels. It’s a bit of a read with 21 pages, but it gets the point across very, very well.
It is always tragic when a beloved actor or actress passes away. We have to accept that an iconic character of theirs will never properly return to media. Or at least, we had to accept that fact. Now, given the wonders of technology, we can once again see the return of those long gone. But is that truly a sight for sore eyes, or is it something less?
*WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS FOR ROGUE ONE WILL ENSUE*
In the movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that came out only a month ago, we were greeted to the return of a familiar face: the nefarious Grand Moff Tarkin, who was last seen played by the late Peter Cushing in 1977’s Star Wars. And when Tarkin finally turns around and we see his face for the first time, it actually is Peter Cushing’s face. How, if he had passed away in 1994? Well, Tarkin himself was actually played by English actor Guy Henry, who is well known for his role as Pius Thicknesse in the Deathly Hallows two-parter. Cushing’s face and likeness was then superimposed onto Henry. The ILM team (Industrial Light & Magic) searched through hours of footage to find suitable material of Cushing to build from, but footage from A New Hope was lit very differently to the lighting used in Rogue One and had to be digitally changed. The more they manipulated the lighting to match the other actors in the scenes, the less like Cushing the character model looked, which meant creating a balancing act between “a digital figure” and “one who looked precisely like Cushing”. The owners of Cushing’s estate were heavily involved with the creation and had input right down to “small, subtle adjustments”. The result, which has been called “one of the most complex and costly CGI re-creations ever”, received a mixed response, with questions being raised about the morality of using a dead actor’s likeness. The ethical and moral debate about the usage of a dead actor’s likeness has gone on for a while. The late Robin Williams specifically stated in his will that nobody could use his likeness for any reason until 25 years after his death. And now, with the recent passing of Carrie Fisher (who is well known as the Star Wars character Princess Leia), many wonder if they will use her likeness to bring Leia back for Episode IX, as she had completed filming for Episode VIII. So far, her family has not granted permission for this to occur, so it is most likely that Leia will be written off as having died in between Episode’s VIII and IX. But the question still remains: if they did give permission and Leia appeared in Episode IX, is that really something that should be done? Or should we let the dead stay dead? Sarah Moran of Screenrant.com analyzes this dilemma in great detail, and her prime example is indeed Tarkin.
Everybody loves a good movie! And everyone loves a good game! But what happens when the two cross? As history would tell us, nothing good. Many films based on games (such as Super Mario Bros., Lara Croft, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and many many others) have performed poorly, usually not being box office hits or not getting good critical reception from both critics and fans of the source material. Not even a month ago, on December 21st, we were given another entry into the massive list of films for video games. This outing was Assassin’s Creed, based on the very popular 3rd person stealth adventure game. Canonically, in the games, your actual character is hooked up to a machine known as an animus. The animus allows the user to search through their genetic code and relive the memories of their ancestors, and your character’s ancestors are normally Assassins, who are members of a secret and ancient creed dedicated to the destruction of their mortal enemies, the Knights Templar. The Templars wish to bring peace on Earth through control and enslavement, while the Assassins believe that peace can only be achieved when a person’s free will chooses there to be peace. The two most popular Assassins in the entire series are Altair Ibn La-Ahad, an Arabic assassin who existed in the time of the Crusades, and Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, an Italian Assassin who lived during the time of the Renaissance. Either of these men could easily be the stars of any Assassin’s Creed film, but the director of the final film Justin Kurzel made a bold choice; he introduced an entirely new Assassin and modern-day descendant, the former having lived in Spain during Tomas De Torquemada’s Inquisition. Perhaps this was a good strategy on Justin’s part, since the film can’t entirely be compared to the source material other then just capturing the essence of the video games. Personally, I rather enjoyed the movie; it maintained many familiar elements from the games and was a cinematic marvel to watch. It felt like a natural addition to a franchise I love. Still, one bad apple can spoil the bunch, and not much changes when you add a good apple to a rotten bunch. Assassin’s Creed may not be the worst video game movie ever made, but plenty of bad ones still exist. But the question remains: why? Why do they normally turn out so badly? What makes video game movies so bad, and what can we do to make them good? Scott Steinberg of CNN took a crack at answering this head-scratching mystery, and his analysis and conclusions are fairly sound. But do keep in mind that this post was made in 2010, so an Assassin’s Creed movie is only an afterthought at this point (though it is briefly mentioned in the article).
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/06/08/video.game.movies/index.html
On this blog, we shall discuss and view the most recent and exciting news about cinema!
May it be the most recent children’s movie, the latest action flick, or the newest horror outing, we’ll discuss topics about the movies coming out and where these movies first became born from an idea (if such knowledge is known).
I hope you enjoy your time here!