The Fisher King

So, I just watched The Fisher King for the first time ever, tonight. It had been on my to-watch list for quite a while. In light of the events of the past couple of weeks...anyway, for me, now was the time. I expected it to be an interesting film for several reasons (Robin Williams of course, story elements from Arthurian legend, director Terry Gilliam) but even expecting the unexpected, I was surprised at how beautiful it was.

In particular, the scene in which Parry (Williams) recounts the story of the titular Fisher King to Jack (Jeff Bridges):

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This film also made me think of the lyrics to the song "I've Been Waiting" by Sixpence None the Richer:

The lyrics to the first verse, to get right to it:

So I'm waiting by a phone, for the blessed ring

Like a holy grail for a fisher king

Time is ticking down like a metronome

Rhythm for my brain and its ceaseless scares...

It's an incredible song, and I now I have a bit more insight into those words, which is very cool.

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When I saw the headline saying the Robin Williams had died, I found myself more affected than I can recall having been for any celebrity's passing. I don't mean to suggest that I absorb the news of most deaths with indifference, but rather that I don't usually feel as though someone whom I've never met was somehow a close personal friend. That's how I felt this time.

There's something very sad about the way that we, as humans, so often find ourselves reappraising people and things--and coming to realize the depth of their meaning--only after they're gone. It feels tragic in itself, a symptom of our tendency to be overwhelmed by the day-to-day details of life to the extent that we don't manage to stand still and really look at and think about things. (I'm speaking for myself.)

I don't know that there's anything that I can say, except that it's an amazing thing to consider that even as fragile and short-lived as we are, that one life can bring so much laughter, joy, wonder and inspiration to so many people. There's great power in that.

To end this post, here is a commercial that Robin and his daughter Zelda did. Like so many of these things, I only saw it after the fact, but it's just about the sweetest thing ever:

If life can be this beautiful, even for just a moment, that's an incredible thing.

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Visualz

I just realized that having something G-Pal-related as my last post is really depressing (once upon a time, that wouldn't have been the case). So to bump to something cooler...

by daRoz on deviantART

Imperial Walkers!

...and early morning in the futuristic high desert, courtesy of KuldarLeement, one of my favorite artists:

"Highways"

...and some Luke Skywalker, because Mark Hamill is on the move, and we're soon in for literally the return of the Jedi:

source

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Having Watched A Film...

I went to see Belle today. It's very good, with some terrific performances, especially by the lead actress. Between that, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Godzilla--an odd trio of films to group together though they may be--I've had good luck at the theater over the past month or so.

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Space and Time

I just watched An Adventure in Space and Time, the dramatic recreation of the birth of the Doctor Who television program in the 60's. I'd been meaning to check it out for awhile, and it was just as good as I'd heard. A very lovely, moving and inspiring trip back in time...

More broadly, this is an exciting time for a science fiction fan. Besides the obvious pick of the upcoming next Doctor Who series with Peter Capaldi, there are also the actor-connections of Karen Gillian in Guardians of the Galaxy and Matt Smith in the on-the-horizon Terminator: Genesis.

Beyond Doctor Who, there is of course Star Wars: Episode VII, which has begun filming and about which there was a new casting announcement today, that Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie have both been brought on board to join the growing ensemble of actors both new and old. I almost cannot believe that this film is really happening, and while it's impossible to not be a bit afraid, there is plenty of reason to be both optimistic and excited.

In particular with regard to the latest news, it's great to have more significant female characters in Star Wars. Many of the books and The Clone Wars show have featured as much, but the films have of course been a bit...lacking, thus far.

Also, there are upcoming 2014 films such as Edge of Tomorrow (looks like a good bet), Jupiter Ascending (looks sketchy, to be honest, but I'm hoping for the best) and Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. Ridley Scott is another director with some sci-fi allegedly in the works, in the form of rumored sequels to Blade Runner and Prometheus, as well as an adaption of the literary classic The Forever War--which I've never read, but which sounds interesting.

But that's not all. James Cameron has three sequels to Avatar on the way, new Battlestar Galactica film content is possibly under development and Roland Emmerich is working on two sequels to Independence Day and future Stargate films. I really love the original Stargate, so that last bit has me very excited.

Finally, I would probably be remiss if I didn't say something about the Star Trek franchise. I'll admit that I'm unusually pessimistic about the forthcoming third film in the rebooted big-screen series. I was very disappointed with Star Trek Into Darkness, and the fact that Roberto Orci, one of that film's writers, has been selected as the director...not what I was hoping for, to say the least.

But anyway, there's a lot to feel good about, out there. I really hope that Star Trek makes it back to the small screen at some point in the near future. Like Doctor Who, television is where Trek truly belongs.

Here's a parting quote, from a 'doctor' somebody, a long time ago:

"Our lives are different from anybody else’s. That’s the exciting thing. Nobody in the universe can do what we’re doing."

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Ranking Marvel Comics Films

Having recently enjoyed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I felt like revisiting and updating my personal rankings of the Marvel Comics-based films that have been released so far. While The Winter Soldier is, in my opinion, the best film yet produced in-house by Marvel Studios, I cannot quite rank it as the top film in this list alongside films produced by Sony and Fox.

There are several Marvel-based films that I have not yet seen - the Blade, Punisher and Ghost Rider franchises as respective wholes, Elektra, Howard the Duck, the 1990 Captain America film, etc.

Anyway, here is how I rank what I have seen:

1.  X2: X-Men United  -  The most thematically powerful, comprehensively well-made Marvel film.

Highlight  -  The 'coming out mutant' scene at Bobby Drake (Iceman)'s parents house.

2.  Spider-Man 2  -  No other Marvel movie has more heart. From an emotional standpoint, this is an incredible film.

Highlight  -  The Train Sequence

3.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier  -  Mature tone, spy-genre sensibility and a great ensemble cast playing out a resonant story.

Highlights  -  Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce. The breathtaking design of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, the Triskelion.

4.  Spider-Man  -  A remarkably pitch-perfect comic book film, translating the aesthetic and fun straight off of the page and onto the screen.

Highlight  -  J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, a comic book character brought brilliantly to life if ever there was one.

5.  Hulk  -  Under appreciated and a bit on the weird side, but few superhero films have ever been so thoughtful and ambitious.

Highlights  -  The incredible combination of sets, cinematography and editing. The psychological depth of the story.

6.  Iron Man  -  Tight, concise and surging with charisma. This was a masterstroke for Marvel Studios.

Highlight  -  Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark.

7.  X-Men: First Class  -  A great spread of back-story and foundation, wrapped in fab 1960's historical fiction.

Highlights  -  The set and costume design. Arguably the best climactic set-piece of any film on this list.

8.  X-Men  -  A strong, character-driven foundation for modern, serious comic book films.

Highlights  -  Phenomenal, diverse casting. The Wolverine-Rogue subplot.

9.  Thor  -  The perfect approach to this character, techno-Vikings and science geeks, given Shakespearean flair by the perfect director, Kenneth Branagh.

Highlights  -  Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston as Thor and Loki, respectively. The gorgeous visual design of Asgard.

10. The Wolverine  -  Dark, stripped-down and visceral. If it weren't for the inconsistent ending, this would be ranked much higher. (I still have not seen the Unleashed Extended Edition, which is reputedly a better version.)

Highlight  -  Rila Fukushima as Yukio.

11.  Iron Man 3  -  A very satisfying end to its trilogy, with a great mix of pathos, action and humor. The 'Mandarin twist' is divisive, but I loved it. How often do you get a true surprise in one of these films?

Highlight  -  The Air Force One Rescue Sequence

12.  Captain America: The First Avenger  -  Lovingly constructed and wonderfully earnest, although it plays as a bit of a montage. Marvel Studios crammed quite a bit into this film.

Highlights  -  Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell as Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter, respectively, both separately and together.

13.  The Avengers  -  No other film is as much fun, or quite the same team-building landmark. Still, the plot and climactic villains (the Chitauri) both strike me as sub-par. This is an instance of sheer charisma covering the weaknesses. But there are weaknesses.

Highlight  -  The witty, endlessly entertaining banter between the characters.

14.  The Incredible Hulk  -  A solid take on the character, but in over-correcting for Hulk's weirdness, this film limited itself to the relatively mundane.

Highlight  -  Edward Norton in the lead role.

15.  Spider-Man 3  -  Overstuffed with villains and plot lines, and not a little bit crazy, but satisfying and spiritually consistent nonetheless.

Highlights  -  Thomas Hayden Church as Flint Marco/Sandman. Also, the emo Peter Parker dance sequence, because sometimes there's nothing better than taking a step into the bizarre.

16.  Iron Man 2  -  Disjointed as an overall film, but enjoyable in spite of its unevenness.

Highlight  -  The Howard Stark/World's Fair/New Element plot device, a very inspiring conception, even if a bit clumsy in execution.

17.  X-Men: The Last Stand  -  A decent film in its own right, but a drastic drop in quality and change in tone from the first two X-Men films.

Highlights  -  Ummm...I suppose, the final teaser scene with Magneto. Otherwise, there just is not a lot to choose from here.

18.  Daredevil (Director’s Cut)  -  An odd combination of gritty and downright whimsical. The net result is, to me, somewhat less than compelling.

Highlights  -  The small pleasures, such as the design of Matt Murdock's apartment and Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey herself) as legal secretary Karen Page.

19.  Fantastic Four  -  Fun, lively and easy-viewing family entertainment. Also campy, unfortunately, and a decidedly underachieving representation of the source material.

Highlights  -  Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis are superbly cast as Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, respectively. A pity that the rest of the cast is not so pitch-perfect.

20.  Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer  -  A reasonably thoughtful, dynamic sequel. Same basic issues as its predecessor, though.

Highlights  -  Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer. Also, I'm going to break with the common consensus and say that the "space cloud" depiction of Galactus was a good idea and makes sense.

21.  The Amazing Spider-Man  -  Fantastic first twenty minutes. This should have been incredible - just look at that killer cool poster art. But the producers neglected the story, and that is the cardinal sin.

Over the course of two hours, this film devolves from a promising reboot into an unrealized, lesser imitation of Spider-Man 1 and 2. A pity.

Highlight  -  The outstanding cast.

22.  Thor: The Dark World  -  A stakes-raising sequel with no true drama and an almost complete absence of substantive character development. Nothing about this film is egregiously bad, but it's difficult to find anything especially good, either.

Highlight  -  The eye contact shared between Jane Foster and Sif as they walk past each other in Asgard. Unfortunately, this dynamic is given mere seconds of onscreen insinuation. There is romantic drama (with a potentially fascinating love triangle) waiting in the wings, but it goes mostly unexplored.

23.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine  -  A disjointed feature-length montage full of ludicrous, over-the-top action sequences and disappointing character portrayals.

Highlight  -  The sparse, beautiful Canada sequence with Lynn Collins as Kayla Silverfox. That part of the film should have been the template for its entirely, and indeed looks forward to the more intimate tone of the vastly superior The Wolverine.

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Star Wars Expanded Universe Characters

I posted a new editorial write up, 'Film-Usable Star Wars Expanded Universe Characters,' at ComicBookMovie.com as Wolf38. The 'Expanded Universe' refers to material from books, comics, video games and so forth - i.e. sources other than the primary films and Clone Wars television shows. The write up short summary is:

Plenty of intriguing actors have tested for roles in Star Wars Episode VII. In spite of some hints, those roles themselves remain a mystery. Here, I survey established non-film characters who could reasonably make the jump to screen...

I got really psyched to make this list of characters, partly because it allowed me to take a trip to nostalgialand. So that part was fun. However, in the comments, someone brought up some some uncanny...matching points between the subject matter in all of the books so far, the timeline, and the fact that the new film 'Episode VII' is going to be set thirty years after Return of the Jedi. The more that I thought about it and looked into it, it totally rallied my mind.

The question is still whether or not all of the stories/characters from the books (in general at least - I'm sure that some of the bad ones will be ignored) will be retained as part of the canon or 'official continuity' feeding into the new films. I have a hard time believing that on certain levels. But on the other hand, it could happen. Which is to say that the characters, both old and new, who are sill alive in the books thirty years on...they could very well be the roles being cast for Episode VII.

I'm a little bit freaked out.

Damn it Chloe, we don't have time!

24: Live Another Day

(The new show title is very reminiscent of 'Die Another Day.' But more appealing on multiple levels.)

Fantastic Four Fan Poster

The past couple of weeks have seen some long-awaited casting news for Fox's long-in-development Fantastic Four reboot, set to reach theaters next summer. While not everything is sealed in stone yet, officially speaking, we can move forward assuming that the main cast will consist of Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now) as Reed Richards, Kate Mara (House of Cards) as Susan Storm, Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) as Johnny Storm and Jamie Bell (Man on a Ledge) as Ben Grimm. Their heroic nicknames being, in the same order, Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl/Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing. Here they are:

I won't get into the debates that are raging in the fan sector, but suffice it to say, the aforementioned actors are younger than the Fantastic Four are typically portrayed as being. That suggests that the "take" on their origin story this time may be influenced by the Ultimate Fantastic Four, a relatively recent and re-interpretive spin on the characters. That's okay with me. I really like this cast. I've only seen Teller and Jordan onscreen, but I have no reason to disapprove of Mara or Bell. I guess that I need to overcome my Kevin Spacey aversion and watch some House of Cards.

But enough talk; check out this lovely fan-made poster created by MrSteiners on deviantART:

(click here for larger version)

(The Thing used is the Michael Chiklis version from the previous films, for practical reasons. Given Bell's history with motion capture filming, it seems probable that the new version of the Thing will be a blend of actor and CGI similar to the Hulk portrayed in The Avengers.)

I love the overall composition, and the watermark-styled "4" in the background that echoes the current poster art for Fox's upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past. Hopefully, there will be a cleverly staged Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover in the near future, as has been hinted.

Anyway, there are few things that I love more than unofficial-but-awesome film poster art, and this example makes me very happy.

[Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images used in this post; they are employed solely for illustrative purposes.]

Comic Book Movie Romance

Yesterday, I posted a new editorial, "CBM Romance - Strength or Weakness?" at ComicBookMovie.com under my alias there, Wolf38. The subject matter is as follows:

CBMs [comic book movies] always cast a "love interest" to offset the hero, but there is not always much actual love happening onscreen. Here, I take a look at the CBM landscape with regard to romance, when it is used as a prominent story element, and how that can either hurt or help a film.

I wanted to write an analytic opinion piece that tackled a relatively seldom-examined topic. I have detected a couple of small errors since posting the editorial, but for the most part, I think that it turned out well.