A Titanic Month Ahead

This April 15th marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and those smart people in the entertainment world are making sure there's no shortage of viewing options for you to coincide with this occasion. Perhaps the biggest and most publicised is the 3D re-release of James Cameron's Titanic, but there are also a few home viewing alternatives from our local distros...

Often considered to be most historically accurate telling of the tragedy, Roy Ward Baker's 1958 classic A Night to Remember is getting a long-overdue remastered DVD and Blu-ray from Roadshow. Click here for the trailer.

More recently, ITV produced a four-part mini-series which Shock will release on April 9th. Here's a sneak peek:
And if you want something less dramatised, Madman's got a National Geographic double feature coming too.

Not enough? Try Asylum's shlocky Titanic II - you'll definitely have your fill of the sinking ship by then to last another 100 years.

Old School Pixar

From 1972, this really neat video shows one of the earliest CG 3D animations ever, made by Ed Catmull, the founder of Pixar. It eventually found its way into a sequence in the movie Futureworld. Read more about it here.

Transformers 3: Compendium Post

I was meant to blog something about Transformers: Dark of the Moon post-screening last week but busyness got the better of me, and also 'cos the film was so X-TREME that it temporarily disabled my ability to construct critical thought in a timely manner. So here's a bumper post of all things Transformers 3 from the past week (hopefully that'll cover this film, and Michael Bay, for the next while).

Firstly, some loose, potentially spoilery observations about the film:

• There was a valid, but cautious reason to be pumped: Michael Bay had taken criticisms of no. 2 to heart and vowed to make a better film. He said the "dorky comedy" would be toned down. When the trailer first appeared, it looked like a darker film with no comic relief Transformer in sight. While there might be less comedy than the previous film, it's still there - in abundance - and very bloody annoying and only funny for how unfunny it is. See any scene with John Malkovich, Ken Jeong (WTF dude), Alan Tudyk, Shia's parents, and those two smaller "sidekick" robots. All of this comedy-driven exposition swallows up nearly half the entire running time.
• The 3D was promising in the opening scenes on the moon, and generally better than any post-converted 3D film (a given). But as the film wears on, like most 3D films, you'll mostly forget about the 3D (and remember that it's not a pleasant experience).
  
• Interestingly, shooting in 3D does reign Bay in. Shots are held longer, but not consistently so. You definitely won't forget that it's a Michael Bay film.
  
• Stupid but irresistibly "wow" moments: Shia being flung from Bumble Bee in slow-mo then thrown back inside as it transforms into a car again; those mad base-jumping stunts; Shockwave snapping the high rise in two.
• Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: a shapely vacuum. Her intro into the film is already the stuff of legend (as is a scene that might suggest Bay is a closet tentacle-porn fan).
  
• The film is 157 minutes long. What does Bay think he's making? JFK? Combined with one hour of non-stop destruction, the running time is so punishing the only reaction to feel after it's all over is SWEET RELIEF.
  
• Twitter gets 2 mentions, Facebook only 1.
• Those crappy generic radio-friendly rock songs on the soundtrack...

It might sound that I'm incredibly harsh on the film (yes, it's awful), but the fact of the matter is Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a fascinating film in many ways, inspiring both immediate repulsion and deeper-level discourse. It's been torn apart with acerbic wit by critics (Roger Ebert, Walter Chaw - a must-read!), but I find myself digging those fence-sitters, those writers trying to evaluate Bay in a mixed light and coming up with interesting points of discussion (Nick Schager, Jaime N. Christley). I also love Vern's "software upgrade" description of the film.

Now here's bunch of related stuff that don't require much reading:



Michael Bay reusing scenes from The Island for Transformers 3:



Optimus Prime or Darth Vader?


And if you're wondering what's next on the cards for Bay, he'll be making a "small little movie".

"Hello I'm Michael Bay, Director of Transformers"

Say what you will about Michael Bay's films, but you gotta give the man some credit for going the extra mile to make sure the 3D presentation of Transformers: Dark of the Moon is primo. This letter written by Bay to projectionists was posted on American Cinematographer's facebook page and details his wishes for how his film should be presented (I wonder if the letter will be posted for tonight's IMAX screening?). It's an interesting insight to a process that's rarely acknowledged or done these days. Click here to see some more letters to projectionists from visionary directors such as Terrence Malick, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch.

PS. I'll report back on the movie tomorrow (not a fan of the films, but I'm strangely hyped for this one; will I ever learn?). Until then, here's a glowing review by Harry Knowles.

The Lion King Roars Back to Theatres and Home Video - in 3D!

Great news for those of you lamenting the unavailability of this much-loved 1994 Disney classic on DVD. I just received a press release from a Disney publicist stating that it will be released from the vaults on October 12 this year, to coincide with the release of the film in theatres in "breathtaking 3D". Okay, so stick these dates in your diary:

• September 29, 2011 - 3D version hits theatres for the first time ever (only for 2 weeks)
  

• October 12, 2011 - available on Blu-ray™ Hi-Def, Blu-ray 3D™ and DVD (again for a limited time!)
  

Look Ma, No Glasses!

Finally! A new invention designed for haters of 3D glasses: NO glasses. Watch this video, hoax or not?

Are 3D Movies Even 3D?

I'm not asking this facetiously; after last night's premiere of Tron: Legacy, I feel compelled to whine again about the non-3D-ness of recent so-called "3D movies". I've posted a bit about this on my Avatar review from a year ago, and now a year later, nothing's really changed: 3D movies simply don't look 3D enough to warrant the ticket price or the experience. You just have to look at the 3D intros of IMAX or Disney (see below, in 2D) to see the difference. The IMAX intro practically destroys you with its depth - it's IN YOUR FACE. And you want to reach out and GRAB the images. On the other hand, the "immersive" thing of most current 3D films go for strikes me as just pointless. It's disappointing after being hyped up by these eye-popping intros to find that the main film is kinda flat-looking and not as visually striking. If someone can tell me why this is, I'd appreciate it!

First Impressions: Tron: Legacy Sneak Preview

Last night Event Cinemas and Disney treated the public to a free 20-minute sneak peek of TRON: Legacy, the upcoming update-cum-sequel to the influential 1982 cyber-reality cult classic that's due for release on December 16. I'm not usually one for short "sneak peeks" like these, but my curiosity got the better of me (plus I needed some sort of feel for the film for a feature I'm writing on it).

The screening took place at the IMAX, and if there's one place I'd rather not be watching 3D anymore, it's here. Those big plastic glasses are crapola, and for an effects-spectacle-driven thing such as this, it's going to be headache city staring at the IMAX screen for two hours (20 minutes was almost enough...). Anyway, so around 5 scenes from the first hour of the film were presented to us - I won't go into too much detail, but I'll give you a general idea of the vibe I'm getting.

The first scene was purely exposition (a lot of this appears in the trailer), a meeting between Tron's original programmer Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner reprising his role), and Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of Jeff Bridges' Kevin who has disappeared. Next Sam visits his father's now-old-and-dusty arcade shop, finds an underground office, and soon gets zapped into the cyber world. It was kinda cool seeing the old arcade, but I don't think I like Hedlund as a lead at all, too bland (stiff?).

The next few scenes showcase the effects and action a lot more, drawing us into the freshly rebooted Tron universe. The basic neon circuitry design - the suits, the buildings, the machinery - is still there but with noticeably added dimension, sleekness, and general Blade Runner-sized epicness. Visually, it's impressive and trippy as hell, especially in 3D - but I don't know if the film will be as striking in the acting and writing department. At worst it brings back bad memories of something like Spy Kids 3D or any other soulless video gamey/3D-oriented sci-fi flick, and in the scene where Sam and Kevin are reunited, you feel like the film's mythology and seriousness will eventually bog things down in turgid Matrix: Reloaded fashion.

Anywho, I don't doubt Tron: Legacy will deliver some snazzy action and visuals to satiate your eyeballs in some way, I'm just a little skeptical about everything else.....