When the rebel scum aren't not around

George Lucas hasn't exactly made the wisest move in his recent re-tinkering of the Star Wars films, a re-tinkering which was a re-tinkering before the re-tinkering before that… basically there was a whole load of tinkering. But, to be fair, his smartest decision was to secure the licensing rights to the Star Wars merchandise. A move that the studio believed to be worthless; he had waived his director's fee in the negotiation, what were they to miss out on?

Lego for some time has released a plethora of Star Wars figures, as well as vehicles big enough to fill a child's room. But you knew that already, and if you didn't have you been on planet Hoth all this time? There's been plenty of homages to the loveable characters, but for me, none quite so inventive in the way Vesa Lehtimäki has photographed them. Shot for his Lego on Hoth book, Vesa brings charm and macro brilliance to the iconic action figures, and looked like he had a heck of a lot of fun in the process.

Procastination

George Lucas and his neck is here

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The Dark Knight Rises Trailer

Christmas has come early for many, as Warner Bros. has released a trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. Admittedly, even I found myself avidly waiting for the HD trailer to download, so it's safe to assume I'm definitely part of that crowd.

Judging by what's been glimpsed so far, be it leaked photos of Catwoman riding the Batpod, as well as her in in a fight scene holding a half-eaten apple, a significant portion of the final instalment will be set in daylight during winter. In the trailer itself, one other key scene being part of a huge melee in Gotham’s financial district (actually shot on Wall Street). As Batman faces Bane for powerful blows to be traded, I wondered whether the snow in the financial district scene is a nod to Bruce's early training with Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins. An epic training setting in the snowy mountains of Bhutan carried through subtly to the final epic film of the series. Added to that is the gas that Bane relies on which is concocted from one of Ra's formulas. With these elements featured, however subtle, are a nice touch in bringing the trilogy full circle.

The Dark Knight Rises is released on 20th July, directed by Chris Nolan (Inception, the Prestige, Memento)

Watch the trailer on Apple

Frozen Planet

After managing to pick up my jaw from the floor I can finally enthuse about this. The most expensive screensaver for your TV; Frozen Planet will be hard to ignore over the coming weeks. The licence fee is worth it alone for this enchanting and captivating new television series. I could go on introducing the show, but seriously, just head straight over to iPlayer, if you haven't already.

Or, make the most of your HD TV and pre-order the boxset here

Is anything more refreshing than a Coors Beer? Apparently nothing, but frozen tight pants come close.

Let's face it when the ad breaks come back on, they are loud, really loud. Maybe perhaps due to being broadcast with compressed audio files which can be ear-shatteringly intrusive even when you're two rooms from the lounge. Who knows? But enough of the technical stuff. One advert came on, that made me dig out the remote from the back of the sofa, fumble for the mute button, to see the mighty Jean-Claude Van Damme muse about his ice cold pants. Complete with mullet and double denim, here's a past glory action figure that clearly doesn't mind taking the mick out of himself. Grab a Coors Light and enjoy...

The website



Jean-Claude doing the rounds

The muscles from brussels

Hard Target: Best scenes

JCVD

Inception - Fortress Level

“Couldn't somebody have dreamt up a 
goddamn beach?” - Fischer

People can be hard to please, really really hard to please. Apparently a number of viewers felt the fortress level in Inception was one of the weakest scenes of an otherwise engaging and intelligent film. To them, it heavily references a level in a computer game, to Chris Nolan, it was his opportunity to play homage to On her Majesty's Secret Service, a bond film he has admitted he was very much inspired by. You can't help but suspect that some viewers just want to find a chink in the armour. But a film, no matter how amazing it is, isn't without it's flaws. Even if the fortress scene looks like it's straight out of a computer game, and that's the worst thing about Inception, I can live with that. 



Filming for the fortress level took place in a ski resort in Alberta, Canada. Once the huge task of constructing the set was complete, film crew waited eagerly for the finishing touch: the snow. With just two days before filming the white stuff finally arrived, and masses of it. This made for some very challenging and intense conditions for the cast.

“I don't think I've ever shot in any climate 

that’s more extreme. There was altitude 
sickness.” 
- Ellen Page

But before cameras even captured explosions and anti-freeze paint was applied to the set, potential actors had to read the script in Nolan's office or have it hand-delivered to their homes, where someone stood guard while they perused it. Despite Nolan's secrecy and his hush-hush nature with the press (and even to actors in the initial stages of his films), he's able to bring back the element of surprise and anticipation to the cinema.

Fortress level in a nutshell:
Level: 3
The dreamer: Eames (Tom Hardy)
The kick: The blowing up of the snow fortress (medical facility)
Location: Fortress Mountain, Kananaskis Country, Calgary, Canada

Entering the geek level...

The first letter of each of the main character’s first names - Dom, Robert, Eames, Arthur/Ariadne, Mal, Sato - spell the word DREAMS.

Prints of the movie were shipped to theaters under the name Hour Glass.

The slow, gloomy, blaring trombones in the main theme of the film score are actually based on an extremely slowed down version of the fast, high pitched trumpets in the beginning of the Édith Piaf song Non, je ne regrette rien.

Ariadne’s hair is in a tight bun in the hotel sequence so filmmakers didn’t have to figure out how her hair should move in zero-gravity.

The third Christopher Nolan movie in which Cillian Murphy’s character spends a significant portion of his on-screen time with a cloth bag over his head.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt went to his audition after a brief character summary, wearing a full suit just in case, unknowingly matching his character’s wardrobe perfectly.

Not counting flashbacks, Cobb’s wedding ring only appears in scenes where he is dreaming.


* Update * 

Oscar wins for Inception:

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Best Achievement in Sound
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Elf Christmas card

Recently, as a personal project, I created a one-off set of gold foil printed Christmas cards that play on dialogue from the well-loved 
film Elf. One satisfying way to spread the Christmas cheer!

007 shaken and stirred in a snowglobe

Would you see Daniel Craig wearing a bobble hat in a bond film today? Not even likely. Looking back, even though Roger Moore was edging dangerously close to swapping his ski poles for a zimmer frame, it didn't really seem to matter to audiences. The activity of skiing was exciting and glamourous. And seeing Bond skiing, in an exotic location, even in a bobble hat and shiny flared sellopetes, looked cool as he escaped the goons dispatched on him.

Snow scenes in the bond films are usually teamed with a heavy dose of action to propel the story along. Here, the pace is really rammed up and you could say there are certain formulas evident; Bahamas for the bikinis, Austria for the sellopetes. The audience is swiftly transported from one place and introduced to another location, bringing a grander scale to the picture. It it this aspect that is a key signature of the bond films, and one that Chris Nolan has admitted he was inspired by for Inception (check out the post here).

But for now, here's a round-up of the iconic Brit spy, being chased, giving, ahem, chase and generally handling tricky situations (garish wardrobes included) in the white stuff as easily as kicking back with a vodka martini.


“He’s branched off”
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
1969
Bond: George Lazenby
Snow scene: Piz Gloria, Switzerland

Bobsleds, trees and St Bernards. Blofeld (Telly Savalas) and Bond engage in a furious bobsled chase down Piz Gloria, culminating with Blofeld becoming snared in a tree branch and injuring his neck. Bond leaps from the out-of-control bobsled just before it crashes; he's rescued by a St. Bernard.


“But James I need you...” “So does England ”
The Spy Who Loved Me
1977
Bond: Roger Moore
Snow scene: Austria

Fur rugs, dodgy yellow skiwear and Union Jack Flags. Roger Moore
(a bond about as cool as your dad skiing and thinking “the mission’s in the bag”) is ambushed by Soviet agents, kills one during a downhill ski chase and escapes via a Union Flag parachute.


“I took the scenic route”
For Your Eyes Only
1981
Bond: Roger Moore
Snow scene: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Northern Italy

Ski jumps, chalet lunches interrupted, slightly better ski outfits. Another scene with Roger’s James (fromage) Bond. Kriegler attempts to kill Bond with his biathlon rifle, and pursues him on a machine gun armed motorcycle, over a chalet balcony, down a bobsleigh track, and into a farm where Bond escapes. Three other men also attempt to kill Bond on an indoor ice rink, but he manages to fend them off.


“We’ve nothing to declare”
The Living Daylights
1987
Bond: Timothy Dalton
Snow scene: Austria

Exploding sheds, Aston Martins and cellos. Bond and Kara (Maryam d'Abo) sledge down a mountain using a cello case as their sled and speed through the border customs kiosk.


“Morning Q. Sorry about the leg. Skiing?”
Goldeneye
1995
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Snow scene: Severnaya Zemlya, Russia

Helicopters, huskies and IT geeks. Ourumov and Xenia steal a prototype Eurocopter Tiger helicopter fly it to a bunker in Severnaya, where they massacre the staff and steal the control disk for the dual GoldenEye satellite weapons. Natalya (Izabella Scorupco), is caught in the devastation and is the lone survivor.


“See you back at the lodge”
The World is Not Enough
1999
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Snow scene: Azerbaijan

Snowmobiles, bug-faced henchmen and avalanche airbags. During a tour of the pipeline's proposed route in the mountains, Bond and Elektra (Sophie Marceau) are attacked by a hit squad in armed, paraglider-equipped snowmobiles.



“I have been known to keep my tip up”
Die Another Day
2002
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Snow scene: Iceland

Satellites, ice palaces and spikey tyres. Bond attempts to rescue Jinx (Halle Berry), where he is discovered and chased by Zao. Zao dies after Bond tricks him into crashing his car into a flooded portion of the facility and causing a chandelier to fall on him.

Let Me In

This week Director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) brings us his version of Let Me In, the drama/horror film based on the 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist and the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In, directed by Tomas Alfredson. It tells the story of a bullied 12-year-old boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who develops a friendship with a vampire child (Chloë Moretzin - Kick Ass) in a New Mexico town in the early 1980s.

Alfredson was against Reeves' version. Concerned that his touching and haunting film has evolved into something mainstream he has stated "If one should remake a film, it's because the original is bad. And I don't think mine is. Remakes should be made of movies that aren't very good, that gives you the chance to fix whatever has gone wrong. I'm very proud of my movie and I think it's great, but the Americans might have another opinion."

The comparison between the films is perhaps playing on Alfredson's mind more than critics, as both films have/are being received well.

Let The Right One In had less of a commercial push and hype prior to it's release, however it's worth checking out. Brilliantly adapted from the novel with a chilling atmosphere; its good to see some originality in a story that steers away from the usual vampire-flick clichés. A decent time-filler whilst you wait for the Let Me In DVD to drop on your doormat.

Let Me In is released in UK cinemas 5 November
Tell me more about Let The Right One In
Check out the book

Steven Seagal vs huskies and Lego hair

Love him or hate him, Steven Seagal tries hard, he tries really hard. It's probably fair to say the actor/producer/director/martial artist/guitarist/activist/deputy sheriff isn't blessed with cinema goers racing to see his latest flick. But like I said, the guy puts in the effort, albeit taking himself maybe a little too seriously.

Back at the peak of his career he could have really excelled. As a former Navy Seal taking on a group of mercenaries on a US navy battleship, Under Seige was his first big break. The film made him a household name, a fresh face in the celluloid industry that had people stopping and paying attention to this unknown and mysterious martial arts guru. But without sounding too harsh here, Seagal's choice of future films were like going on a second date with someone and realising the charisma and charm that was evident the first date is all but gone, leaving you thinking "what the heck did I see in them before?". Not that I'm saying Seagal was a romantic fascination or even a pin up stud to me, but audiences and myself had sobered up and promptly lost interest.

The studios were thrilled with the box office success of Under Seige, offering Seagal the sequel Under Seige 2. Seagal agreed, but only on the condition he could make and produce a film about Eskimos in Alaska. Eskimos? The studios didn't quite share the same enthusiasm, but Seagal was adamant and the film On Deadly Ground went ahead, despite skepticism from critiques and studios alike. To them it was simply career suicide. It was the equivalent of Jake Gyllenhaal deciding to make 'Teletubbies: The Movie' after the success of Brokeback Mountain.

However On Deadly Ground is so bad, that it's actually is quite good. The classic made-for-TV film that is often quite amusing, but for all the wrong reasons. Micheal Caine sporting blacker than black lego hair being just one of numerous reasons. Not simply content with peppering the plot with Seagal trademarks like knife wielding, semi automatic weapon handling and a frown that would snap a chopstick, Seagal wanted the film to have a heavy environmental message throughout. Our treat for the end of the film (once you get past the bad wire stunt work, angry huskies and hallucinogenic eskimo dream sequence), has Seagal's character, 'Forrest Taft', delivering a speech on pollution, corporate greed and the general fragility of Mother Earth. With oil rig villains dispatched, this is the poignant moment people, so pay attention. The speech was intended to be over 10 minutes long and thankfully was reduced to 4 minutes. Despite it's best efforts to captivate and educate, it was drowned out by the sound of seats flapping as the majority of the audience got up to leave the screening in complete disinterest. Oh dear.

See it and weep On Deadly Ground speech

Seagal doing the rounds

Golf buggie chase and movie pitch in the Orange ad
One for the ears Songs from the Crystal Cave
On TV Lawman

Like the illustration? Check out another here

Illustration: katejonesdesign.co.uk

Star Wars galaxy

I came across Justin Van Genderen who's created simple but stunning poster art of the iconic planets found in a galaxy far far away.