On October 19th, 2010, Lionsgate will release two versions of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now on Blu-Ray. If you may or may not know from my reflection piece on the film (which can be found here), I am a huge fan of the film and it’s exciting to see it finally come to the high-definition format. Both Blu-Ray versions will contain the 1979 theatrical cut and the 2001 Redux cut. According to IGN, both cuts will be presented in their original theatrical aspect ratios for the first time on home video. For more details on the upcoming release, you can check out here.
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One of the most talked about films this year is without a doubt Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Nolan’s last film, The Dark Knight, was a humongous success when it came out two years ago and built a lot of pressure and anticipation for his eventual follow-up. Instead of going right into a sequel to The Dark Knight, he decided to roll the dice and pursue an original project that he was working on for the past decade. With a 160 million dollar budget, Nolan was able to attract an ensemble cast and shoot at various locations around the globe to finally bring his dream project to the screen. Did Christopher Nolan ultimately succeed in his vision? Make the jump to find out!
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On June 21st, 2010, I had the great opportunity to watch Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier perform a live SModcast performance at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA. The Philadelphia show was part of the Live Nude SMod 2: The Wee, Wee Tour that spanned across the United States. For those who may not know, Kevin Smith is a film director and Scott Mosier is his long-time producer. Since 2007, they have been doing a weekly comedy podcast at Kevin Smith’s house discussing current events and off-the-wall topics.
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Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment, the 2010 summer film season has been underwhelming so far both critically and financially. James Mangold’s Knight and Day is one of last remaining summer blockbusters that people have high expectations for. With Tom Cruise returning back to his action roots and with an amazing supporting cast, it can do no wrong…right? Make the jump to find out!
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With so many problems that happened from principal photography to post-production of Apocalypse Now, it is a miracle that the final cut came out so critically well done. The acting in Apocalypse Now had it’s problems at first, but in the end it was completely jaw-dropping. One of the few editing techniques that worked very well in the film was the use of parallel editing, point-of-view editing, and the shot/reverse shot. The sound in Apocalypse Now was also considered revolutionary in the late seventies due to its natural diegetic sound, unique internal sounds, and the soundtrack. Apocalypse Now was able to overcome every obstacle and was able to focus much attention to the acting, editing, and sound that many films to this very day are still trying to imitate.
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During the past fifteen years, Pixar Animation Studios changed the way we view animation films. With each film they released, the bar was raised in terms of storytelling. After ten films, they have yet to fail critically or financially. This summer, Pixar released Lee Unkrich’s Toy Story 3 with much anticipation from fans of the Toy Story series. Like many threequels in the past, they have the tendency to fail to live up to the expectations from the public. Was Toy Story 3 able to successfully tell a great story and end the series on a high-note? Make the jump to find out!
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Many agree that one of the most highly-regarded foreign directors working today is Werner Herzog. He has created over sixteen feature films (not including shorts or documentaries) for over forty years with much critical success. When Herzog announced Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans with Nicholas Cage playing the main character, many people were ecstatic by the news. The idea of watching Cage playing a dark role again like in Leaving Las Vegas was a good enough reason for people to go see it. However, did it live up to everyone’s expectations? Continue reading →
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The summer of 2008 was without a doubt the summer of Robert Downey, Jr. With his successful performances in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man and Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder, he had the ability to pick from a wide variety of projects for his follow-up performance. He eventually decided to star in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Initially, Ritchie didn’t want Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes because he felt he was too old for the role. However once he met with Downey, Ritchie knew he would be perfect. There was a lot of anticipation from the public for Sherlock Holmes since they wanted to see if Robert Downey, Jr.’s comeback was here to stay or drift away from the limelight. Did it live up to the expectations to at least this blogger? Make the jump to find out.
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