Louis Leterrier the director of the recent "Incredible Hulk" movie has signed on to remake "CLASH OF THE TITANS!" a film that revolves around the adventures of Perseus as he seeks to save his love Andromeda from the clutches of the Kraken. His adventures lead him to travel to meet the Fates as well face off against Medusa in the film's probably most famous scene. There has been mention that this film will be the start of a franchise and so the events of the original film might be extended and seperated among several films. The original work is also famous because of the creature work of the immortal Ray Harryhausen, whose stop motion animation in films like Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans have earned him a spot as one of the greatest special effects artists in film history.

Given the historical effects used in the film, I would hope that they don't just resort to blindly using CGI effects. Certainly the movie will call for some forms of CGI to be used and can definitely add to the film, but mixing in stop motion animation or animatronics would help balance things out and possibily even serve as an homage to the original. Also, unlike a movie like Troy that totally removed the presence of the Greek gods from the story, I hope that Clash opts to cast the entire group of Greek Gods with older "regal" actors just like the original did...and if all of them are British, that might work out too.

Regardless, I am pretty excited to see what they do with this. I have high hopes, but I'm not going to get ahead of myself...because I know how very quickly a studio can reduce a film that could be great art, down to a bunch of trailer ready film clips with a bigger marketing campaign.

The second film is just announced and is a Hercules based film to be directed by Peter Berg (fresh of his box office success with HANCOCK). The film will follow the story of Hercules and a group of soldiers that travel with him, after the events of Hercules 12 trials. Not much more is known about the film than that. I always enjoyed the Kevin Sorbo Hercules show on television so a story that involves him and others traveling the world definitely could work. I think in this case the success of the film might come down to the casting. Hercules should be a strong presence and definitely have the "aura" of godliness about him...but still be human enough that we can connect with him. That's always been the draw of the character. In other words, casting some supremely 'roided up body builder of an actor just so we can understand the strength of Hercules probably won't work. In the same way that Kevin Sorbo looked strong and capable...he wasn't so ripped out of his mind that it was ridiculous.

Since there isn't as much information I can't really say whether I have any real interest in this film. Perhaps if they cross-over some other mythical characters that Hercules comes across and interacts with it'll be cool, and again the Greek Gods themselves should have a real presence in the film, that is an absolute must. Anything less will just cheapen the films and make them less than worthy of being remotely based on "greek mythology"

More on these films as it becomes available.

Questioning the locals, a picture soon emerges of what has happened. The evil Garbage Men have taken the Giant Kong down to a nearby cove and left it as an offering for their fishy sea god, the Kraken. Sadly, I arrive too late to deny this scaly deity his prize.

Disheartened by my failure and knowing that I can never hope to retrieve the Kong of the Gods from this monstrosity, I depart from this forsaken beach; but on my way back to the village, I encounter a strange and mysterious creature lurking on the edge of a noisome fen.

Being a master of many languages, I am able to understand that he is directing me to a city along the coast where the great Temple of the Giant Kong stands. The citizens of this town worship the Giant Kong and have annual feasts in which they fill it with cookies and biscuits and little bits of kibble, then roll it through the streets so that it disgorges its contents for the happy children. He tells me that one cannot find this city unless one already knows the way, as the paths are hidden and ever-shifting; he agrees to act as my guide, in exchange for a small amount of kibble when we find what we seek.

After traveling for many days through the trackless swamp, during which I several times fear that Caliban, my so-called guide, plans to rob me and leave me for dead, the ground firms up beneath our feet; and, cresting a ridge, I see the vast white metropolis that Caliban described. And there, as promised, is the Temple of the Giant Kong.

Caliban leads me to the door of the temple but says he cannot enter, for long ago he was cursed and banished from this place for stealing a salmon cookie from the sacred jar; and so I enter, alone, through a small side door, into the vast, dark space within. I find the pedestal where the Giant Kong used to stand, before it was stolen. Why did Caliban bring me to this empty place? What is here that he wanted me to see?

Suddenly a shape emerges from behind the pedestal. I hear a faint hissing of snakes, and avert my eyes just in time.

I try to flee, but find that I am surrounded by the statues of petrified explorers. I am soon lost in a maze of stone that was once flesh. I hear following footsteps, the faint hiss of a dozen tiny snakes. At last I find my way back to the hidden entrance, and escape just ahead of the fearsome Medusa, only to find Caliban gone, and two monstrous beasts in his place.

Fortunately my months of crazed running around the back yard pays off, and I quickly outdistance the giant scorpions. But in my haste to escape, I lose my way, and find myself in a featureless wasteland somewhere outside the city, with no supplies, no food, no water, and no idea where to go next. But then, a mechanical voice draws my attention.

The clockwork owl informs me that I may find the Kraken just over the next rise. I follow the robot's directions, and find myself face to face with the hideous beast of legend. Gathering all my courage, I confront the beast and demand that it return what was stolen from the great temple. The monster rears back and, in a nightmare voice, its breath laced with the smell of dead fish and decay, it says:

When I point out that its head is most clearly not nailed to the floor, the creature becomes defensive and refuses to give me any information. Clearly, though, I face a new foe, one even more fearsome than the Kraken.

I must go in search of ... the Piranha brothers.

Clash of the Titans premiered in 1981 with unchallenged state-of-the-art visual effects.  It is important to remember this, as watching it again 27 years later the movie definitely shows its age.  The effects are very subpar next to the technological advances of late, but the themes and the actual story of the movie remain constant and unswerving.

Clash of the Titans' main theme is good versus evil, but also how we handle "curses" or obstacles in life.  This Greek story begins with the story of the son of Zeus and a mortal woman.  His name is Perseus, and is cursed being the only one of the Argos that remains after his people were all punished by Posiden's Kraken.  When Perseus is old enough, he seeks out his destiny in life.  He begins this journey with the help of a poet, Burgess Meredith's character, and some gifts from the Gods.

It is next that he encounters Andromeda, a princess who is cursed by her ex-suitor, Calibos.  We realize that Calibos is cursed as well due to his selfishness.  Perseus breaks the curse on Andromeda by solving a riddle, and cutting off one of Calibos' arms.  Andromeda's mother is so happy, she misspeaks and angers Aphrodite, initiating another curse:  Andromeda will be put to death by the unstoppable Kraken. Perseus' quest truly begins: He must find a way to destroy the terrifying Kraken, to save the woman he loves.

It is through this quest he encounters Witches, gigantic scorpions, other monsters, including Medusa.  Medusa is probably the most threatening in his trek;  she can turn any living creature into stone with just a gaze from her eyes.  This, obviously is her curse.

This movie does have some cheesy parts in it, but watching it in an 1981 state of mind, it is and should be appreciated for the Greek genre alone, and for the strong thematical elements.

I discovered the other day that Lawrence Kasdan, of Star Wars and Indiana Jones fame, has finally been given the green light to remake this movie.(click link below for more information)  Let's hope he keeps the strong elements, yet updates the effects.  If he does that, the remake will be nothing short of epic.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/080627e.php

3.5 out of 5 Reels

DJ’s
Rioteer (NL) Crackbeats, WOOD III, Clash of the Titans
Sawyer (UK) Midlandshardcore, 2 Pints of Tekno, Mutilated Distortion
Koen Rave 2 Hell, Retro Arena (Special oldschool set from 87 till 96!!!)

August 16, 2008
@
The Steeple
Holstraat 67
Waregem

The above words are not my own, but those of Robyn Hitchcock. They've been imprinted deep within the recesses of my mind ever since I heard what I consider his seminal masterpiece, Eye. At some point, I may dedicate an entire article to those words, that album and the I/eye metaphor, but for now I want to focus on another theme that's being pushed into the public mind as of late, tentacles:

As if the opening lyrics weren't illuminating enough, the following from "Clean Steve" (same album), is what inspired/guided me to undertake this present article:

and [he] pointed at the sun
'there's tentacles between our worlds,'
he said, 'so i believe'
i said, 'the man next door's best friend
was making videos with clean steve'

The first time I noticed the tentacle theme may be a meme was through the realm of synchromysticism. I had watched The Mist (per Dedroidify's recommendation), which features a dimensional rift and resulting tentacles in our world. [IMO: worth a view.] A few weeks later, I watched the new Futurama movie, The Beast with a Billion Backs, which is a about a dimensional rift and resulting tentacles. What did Clean Steve say about "tentacles between our worlds?"

Since then, Michael at Hidden Agendas has done an exhaustive investigation into the Futurama movie: SATURNday Synch Winks: Futurama Beastie (Part 1), Part 2 and gone on to write TENtacle Age: Quick Spots. On my end of the Atlanticle, I've been pondering where else these themes are being introduced. I thought of the dimension rift in Southland Tales, but that piece of neuro-linguistic programming (also present day social commentary) will require a review of its own. [Plus, I don't recall seeing any tentacles in it.]

One synch I'd like to add is from Futurama BBB to The Matrix is how in the former, the "octopus god" (Yivo, sounds like "evil") plugs into the back of people's necks. The latter movie also feature octopus-like machines (oddly enough, named Sentinels, which should make sense soon) and plenty of them.

I haven't seen Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest (partly out of my growing aversion to the Disney Mind-Contol Machine, and partly out of not wanting to see anything promoting those Hollywood-glamourized thugs we call Pirates, aka Men of Fire, aka The Queen's Unofficial Navy). But, I will note the movie features a giant octopus (hence, tentacles) referred to as the Kraken (more on that later), a half-man half-octopus villain (more tentacles) and Keira Knightley.

Now that I've mentioned a "Queen" for a second time, I have to add that I found another tentacle reference in yet another Hitchcock song, "Victorian Squid" (which synchs with an odd Victorian painting I discovered on Boing-Boing):

There's old H.G. Wells, lying in bed
With his new housekeeper with, hot squid by their side
Glowing with pride, flushed with exhaustion

That does seem overtly sexual. Another tentacle that directed me and my attention closer to the octopus, was one from my forthcoming blog about condoms. [Soon, soon.] What do tentacles have to do with "rape" I wondered? The answer: plenty!

Well, apparently (new to me) there is a whole genre of tentacle porn out there in the hentai arena. How popular is it? I honestly don't know. Though, the number of Google results, would indicate significance. What I've gathered so far is that rape is a central theme and that the victims are often portrayed as preteen girls. A description from one such site catering to fans of the genre:

It’s a world of unstoppable lust and uncontrollable orgasms that’s waiting for you here, in the realm of tentacle monsters! Extremely cute and fragile looking hentai girls are taken by frightening tentacle monsters. Their snake-like limbs slide over babes’ young bodies and invade all of their orifices at a time bringing unbelievably intense sensations. Don’t miss out on the chance to see this tentacle hentai frenzy!

P.S. It was difficult enough to weed through and narrow down the option of images to include here. I have no intention of turning this site into Gosporn, but included a male image, just for balance. ;-)

The aforementioned synchs combined to serve as the proper mnemonic to help me recall a fascinating mythology from my youth; the multiverse created by Michael Moorcock (the Elric of Melnibone series). One facet of Moorecock's mythos I found particularly appealing, is that the Gods were not reduced to Good or Evil, but into camps of Law or Chaos. The Gods of Law used a single amber arrow as their symbol; the Lords of Chaos chose an eight arrowed insignia.

Above is (1) the Chaos Shield (a device that offers immunity from physical attacks from outer world beings), featuring the symbol, (2) a tattoo of same (an example of how memes are propagated, whether consciously or not) {*1}, and (3) a synch with the Hindu mythology, I believe related to the ancient Sanskirt Ramayan. [Anyone better versed on topic, please comment.]

The synch between the 8 rays of chaos and the 8 arms of the octopus should be self-evident. 8 X 8 = 64, which equals the number of squares on the chess board; the plane where the forces of light/dark (alternately, chaos/law) battle with their minds (¿for control of the mind?). Additional potential sychs from an on-topic excerpt from the Stormbringer volume (the final of six):

A return to the Isle of the Purple Towns, the allies last stronghold, and a pledge from Elric to bring about his fated purpose, or die in the attempt. "Sad Giants Shield. Thirteen times, the steps to the sad giant's lair; and the Chaos Shield lies there. Seven time seven are the elder trees. Twelve times twelve warriors he sees, but the Chaos Shield lies there."

Man's role, on his plane of existence, was to maintain a balance between the Gods, because there was no place for man in a world where either side established supremacy. Were the Chaos lords to win, man would dissolve into the ever-changing swirling chaos; there would be no permanent matter. Absolute Law offered no respite, as men of free will, ultimately, cannot co-exist with perfect order. [¿As would be the case in a/the New World Order?]

So, aside from the synchs already covered, what does the above have to do with tentacles? Well, in the final book, when Elric has to fulfill his destiny, he battles the Chaos Fleet of the Chaos Lord Pyaray. One of the portents signaling the end of the Melnibonean world is the ascent of the Chaos Fleet to the surface.

A passage from Deities & Demigods (Yes, I own a Dungeons & Dragons book. I know this may negatively affect my coupling probabilities, but has "blogging" really helped anyone get laid? Anyone?):

This terrible being is the Lord of the Ocean Abysses. He appears as a huge blood red octopus with a pulsing blue gem fixed atop his head. [Anyone familiar with Roy G. Biv can deduce that blue + red = purple.] Pyaray commands the Chaos fleet, a flotilla of sunken ships manned by undead sailors.

Those unfamiliar with Moorecock, may be familiar with the Call of Cthulhu mythos created by H.P. Lovecraft. The centerpiece of this mythology is an elder cephalopodish god, who lies asleep in the abyss, awaiting for the end times to come, so he can fulfill his role in bringing about the end of man. {*2}

Found a educational synchromystic piece from Live from the Logosphere entitled, Reptilian Brain, Cthulhu, Neptune, Andromeda and the Beast of Revelations. Regarding Cthulhu, he writes:

The story is about a beast that resides at the bottom of the ocean who settled the young earth to control it. Predating any living things in the universe and high priest of reptoid monsters called "the great old ones". Lovecraft seemed to dig into the deepest of unsettling poetic images in our unconscious minds ( the sea/abyss) and created the greatest horrible monster imaginable. So unimaginable it can only be described by statues made after seeing its shocking image.

Going to Deities & Demigods again (Argh! In case anyone missed it the first time. So, what is the numeric representation for slightly less than next to nil???):

In his house in R'lyeh Cthulhu waits dreaming. R'leyh is a great sunken city of non-Euclidian geometry hidden somewhere beneath the ocean. So bizarre is its construction that anyone entering the city (which occasionally rises above the waves) must make saving throws [at +4] against fear and insanity. Cthulhu lies in a huge stone structure sealed with the Elder Sign. If the seal is broken and the god released, everyone (and/or everything) in a radius of 100 miles must make a saving throw against death or go insane. This insanity lasts a number of months equal to the creature's intelligence.

Intelligence! So, the more intelligent one is, the more difficult it is for them to process the nebulous thoughts demanded by exposure to the complexities of what constitutes sanity and reality? Hence, would those pulled into the world of let's say, "tentacle porn," should they be of lower intelligence, simply appreciate it at its basest level (and have a "wank" or whatnot), while those damned to think, have to consider the degenerative effects on the human spirit? As for thought itself, I think I'm starting to understand Illuminatimatrix's assertion that "thoughts are always lies" (not for everyone). Note to self: watch more football! {*3}

From this base level, I think I can answer one of Hidden Agenda's questions regarding the preponderance of purple and pink in the new Futurama movie. Purple, represented by the tentacles, is the phallus in its rigid throbbing state, ready to inseminate. Pink is the color associated with Victoria's secret place. I could expand, but it is not my intent to turn this blog into Penthouse Letters. The two images below (after Frye's realization the tentacled one is coupling with him, combined with our exposure to tentacle porn), speak thousands of words I now don't have to:

I have few regrets in life, and over time, I find I have less and less. One had been that when I went to see Robyn Hitchcock play at some small theater, I (out of my own programming) brought a date along, so rather then going to quaint watering hole down the street afterwards, we went to her house (likely, led by one of my own tentacles). A friend (who I'd have joined) informed me that Robyn showed up, and sat at their table. Always rued missing the opportunity to speak with him one to one (or, eye to eye). Hmm, perhaps it is time I drop this regret too, cause as one of the fans on Glass Hotel (a Hitchcock tribute site) said: "Robyn's my favorite musician: I think he must be an Octopus in disguise."

Now, this is where things start to get really weird [so hard to say that with a straight face]. I found an article entitled Mandy Morbid: Cthulhu is my copilot on some adult video review site. Normally, I wouldn't sponsor/endorse such by linking to, but the article is unreal to such an extent, I fear that some may not believe me. That all said, now try and absorb this:

Tentacular Canadian Mandy Morbid is visited by the chief of The Old Ones in a new video on her site, shot like it's Abraham Zapruder's student film from Miskatonic University.

"It's more hot than gross," claims director Zak Sabbath, but you be the judge. The tentacles were upholstered with a series of black condoms and their issue, Sabbath said, "is a proprietary substance."

Morbid needn't feel ashamed about the attack. It's not like she was asking for it, even sleeping in the provocative way she was; when the tentacles come, there is nothing you can do.

Can a rock not be turned over without finding a Jew under it??? This 1% of the US population, dare I say, has a tentacular propensity to turn up everywhere. It's already beyond debate (didn't need the "Sabbath" reminder), that the American porno industry is completely dominated by Jews. Black robed judges stem from the Saturnalian Cult, that is now Judaism. But, what are the statistical odds of the one person to film the Kennedy assassination being Jewish? {*4}

Per the last link: "Zapruder, the reluctant [?] videographer, had caught the assassination on film, including the horrific shot in which the President's head explodes in a bloody mist of pink and gore." Pink vaginas for insemination. Our pink brains ripe for the insemination of propaganda?

The tentacles seem to pop up everywhere. As Earth-president Nixon synchs (Futurama BBB): "The tentacles are coming toward Earth and there's no stopping it. King Kong is too old to save us this time!"

Aside from the Nixon synch, the image on the right, in lieu of the pending 2008 Presidential [s]election, seems quite ominous. Perhaps Cthulhu wil raise the sceptre of his candid-a-sea in 2012? Or, will he elect instead to control the mind of Arnold Schwarzenegger (etymologically: the eagle power hatched from the black egg) and remain behind the scenes? As for the image on the left, any student (as in one who's actually studied history instead of had it implanted via indoctrination), the only arguable point could be which way the British connection runs.

Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA): Founded in 1976 by Jewish neocons Richard Perle & Eliot Abrams. Its mission is to promote US aid to Israel with military hardware. JINSA has its Jewish tentacles everywhere including the US Department of Defense.

JINSA has a formidable array of Washington power players on its rolls. Prior to Bush’s Presidency, JINSA’s Board of Advisers included Dick Cheney, Elliot Abrams (now the Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy), John Bolton (now Under Secretary of State for Arms Control) and Douglas Feith, who was Bush’s third highest ranking executive in the Pentagon.

I now include the opening and closing stanzas from a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson (another faithful servant of the Queen), which he chose to entitle "The Kraken." Perhaps, Tennyson is a Lord of Law? Read "Loxley Hall" for enlightenment on "the purple twilight" and his hopes for this order where "the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law." [¿I'll assume again, men of free will, won't fit in such?]

Below the thunders of the upper deep,
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee

There hath he lain for ages, and will lie
Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

I found the poem on the-emperor.org, which addresses the surfacing of the meme. The site is definitely worth a read and a pretty good place for all things Cluthlu. So, now we have also synched with Clash of the Titans, Knightly personas, the KK sygil, British Zionism, two cocks, infinite phalli, the MM sygil, possibly The Titanic (¿more souls for Pyaray's/Cthulhu's army?) and what else? The synchromystic cephalopod does indeed have many tentacles. I can't help but note that Danny Casolaro was suicided (i.e., murdered) while researching and writing about The Octopus.

The tentacle Meme goes back some time, and apparently [see image], leads to subconscious repetition. Robyn Hitchcock's biggest influence Syd Barrett, had a song name "Octopus," and was commemorated with Octopus: The Best of Syd Barrett. Radio / television programming is pushing it further and further into our minds. Hoping to turn fiction into reality? Even the Beatles got in on the act with with the innocuous sounding "Octopus Garden:"

I'd like to be, under the sea, in an octopus' garden in the shade
He'd let us in, knows where we've been, in his octopus' garden, in the shade.

I'd ask my friends to come and see, an octopus' garden with me
We would be warm, below the storm, in our little hideaway beneath the waves

We would sing and dance around, because we know we can't be found
We would shout and swim about. The coral that lies beneath the waves
Oh what joy for every girl and boy, knowing they're happy and they're safe

Sounds like a wonderful place to be, doesn't it? But, seeing that the Queen's invasion troops, the Beatles, were sent here to expand the market for her drug distribution empire, and as per blog I am writing in synch, expand H.G. Well's idea of "free love." I'll remain leery of how wonderful a place Cthulhu's garden might be. My programming leans more towards Hitchcock (from "Devil's Radio"):

Evil. Its tentacles are bland. It's like a weevil. It burrows through the land. And everybody smiles. Everybody smiles
We was listening. We was listening to the Devil's radio. And it went na na na na na na.

I had contemplated the effects of music on an unprotected psyche, in another "crazy" blog. Devil's Radio? I like it! What else did I find? More proof that the tentacle rape/sex theme, was not lacking in Futurama BBB. The tentacle god, at the end, breaks up with [literally] everyone and chooses Colleen as his mate. She was the character who could not be satisfied by one man, keeping many live-in lovers.

Note the V so blatant in almost every shot of Colleen through the movie, pointing to her Vulva/Vagina. Her name, could be broken down into the Saturnian double EL sygil, leaving Con (which could imply a scam or tie back to the Cohn/Cohen serpent line I've heard Michael Tsarion discuss). One could go so far as to break down evil by removing the feminine (vagina) and the masculine (the phallic i), leaving us with Jordan Maxwell's true "Lord of the Rings," Saturn (i.e., el). But, enough!

Looking into Cthulhu's realm, sometimes felt as if dancing on the brink of sanity. The Tentacle Rape pornography is one of those things, which sometimes, is best left undiscovered. [Hence, my apologies to those who I've now introduced.] Demonstrating for one of my incredulous friends, we went online to see just how much of it was out there. The answer: a lot. One "game" we found allowed you to be the Octopus and "rape" your victim. I took us a while to figure out why we weren't "scoring" so well; the more you made the child cry, the more points you accumulated! Proceed at your own mental peril. Even Mr. Hitchcock warned of Clean Steve: "They don't come any dirtier than him."

Oddly, one of the more terrifying/fantastic creatures that my mind remembers from Dungeons & Dragons is the Mind Flayer. These creatures were humanoids with an octopus-like head, that attacked the mind before the body. Turning to the Monster Manual, we find this excerpt:

They are greatly evil and consider the bulk of humanity (and its kin) as cattle [¿goyim?] to feed upon. Its more feared attack mode, however, is the mind blast of psionic power. Mind flayers have the following psionic abilities: Willpower Drain, Domination, Telepathy, ESP, Proto Dimension, Dimension Walk.

These monsters speak only their own arcane language and several other weird tongues — purportedly those of terrible races of things which dwell in regions of the subterranean world far deeper than mankind has ever ventured. It is also rumored that these monsters have a city somewhere deep beneath the earth. {*5}

Its skin color is a nauseous mauve, its tentacles being a purplish black. A mind flayer's eyes are dead white, no pupil being evident.

Since that manual came out, they've been expanded on and grouped into a class known as Illithids. Another source cited them as having legions of unaware mind-controlled followers on this Earth. These abilities synch with a book I found rather skeptical upon first reading: Subterranean Worlds Inside Earth. The image below does a fairly good job depicting the "mind-flaying" process:

In keeping with the rape theme, anyone's who's been subjected to the experience, will tell you the mental impact is far more damaging than the physical. Yet, ever day, we (humanity) en masse willingly subject ourselves to the mind-rape from a vicious mind flayer we dismiss as "the media." Be it music, movies, television programming or news "coverage" disguised as "reporting," the rape is of a nontraumatic gradual nature (disguised as entertainment), but the net effects are the same. We are being shaped, from the person we could be, to the person our predator wishes us to become. We need our own version of the Chaos Shield. [Maybe Hidden Agendas was onto something with that "symbol shield" phrase!]

As my new logo implies (note the shield too), I had to undertake this adventure, in order to understand this new wizardry. While we may choose to stay out of Cthulhu's realm, the media is intent on bringing it to us. {*6} I've made my journey and I think I made my saving throw. I'll be fine. I think. I am.

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*1: I find the tattoo "explosion" disturbing considering that most people who opt for tattoos, select a symbol they've never properly researched. As an older biker lamented to me once: "Back then, tattoos were a sign of nonconformity and rebellion. Now, everyone's getting them. It's conformity. It's fuckin fashion!" I'll resist the now requisite "tramp stamp" at 16/18 phenomenon, and devote some space/time to the mindless inking of peace, dove and love symbols [hopefully, soon]. [LB]

*2: As I previously expressed, be ware of anyone with a double initial preceding their name. So, we have H.P. Lovecraft. [¿Loves the craft?] Before this is over, H.G. Wells will get another mention. Lastly, some of the imagery conjures up H.R. Geiger's artwork. [LB]

*3: A mind-fuck worth considering: the day the population was convinced/programmed that intelligence was something quantifiable and could be measured with a number (IQ). Honestly, as if such a thing could be calculated. The joke is that it's kind of like a [on-topic] penis measurement or annual salary. Something you know, but tend to not talk about openly, for fear someone nearby might top you. Most Mensa members I've met, excel at regurgitation, but are sorely lacking in the critical thinking department. [LB]

*4: While looking into Miskatonic University, I somehow came across a page talking about a game called "JFK Reloaded," which was released on the 41st anniversary (synchs with 14/41 from last blog), and the point was to assassinate JFK. I tried to find out who was responsible for said game, but other than "Traffic Games, a division of Traffic Software, in Scotland," I found absolutely nothing. What kind of software company doesn't have a website? Try it yourself. As the Venture Brothers might say, "We have a mystery!" Worth a mention: Mary Moorman was standing opposite Zapruder, when she captured her shot of the assassination of another MM's infamous lover. [LB]

*5: Since we're synching back to Hollow Earth, will note that H.G. Well's book on the topic is being remade into another soon to be released disinformation vehicle. Also saw that the "old boy from San Anselmo" is still at it [disinformation], franchising an Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth book (written by a Max McCoy). Speaking of mind-fucks / predictive-programming, the recent Indiana Jones and Crystal Skulls was a sickening display of all phrases contained within this footnote. [LB]

*6: This article was sprouting a new tentacle as soon as I got done chopping one off. Ending it was a challenge. But, I do have to include that tonight as I was writing this out on the back patio, a friend called me in: "You've got to see this." There was a documentary on about this little girl born in India, with 4 legs and 4 arms. Yes, really.

And today (post-publication), I see the above synchronystic image posted on the Alex Jones Infowars site. How "insane!" [¿Thoth = Truth?] See Cthulhu Chronicle #14: The Scroll of Thoth. Hitchcock (the line following opening stanzas from Clean Steve): "You could have knocked him [¡me!] down with a feather!" Finally, an "interesting" find/synch called The Death of Journalism and the Rise of Octopus Porn. [LB]

Finally fans of the epic movie 300 are getting some progress in the quest to see a sequel. Details are kinda complicated but something is sure to hit theatres in 2010. Here are the details:

via THR/Risky Business Blog

Highlights:
The producers who brought you that film, Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton are, like the Spartans and Megarans in the Archidamian stage of the Peloponnesian war, joining forces to come up with a new film. It's called "War of the Gods," it's been snapped up and will be financed by Relativity (and produced by Ryan Kavanaugh), and the hook is that, this time, the gods actually come down to fight.

Plot
"A purported bastard who retains an allegiance to his mother despite the fact that he longs to join the quest of a king who is battling demons in ancient Greece later embarks on a grail of discovery that has him finding he is the king’s son and also fated to become his country’s greatest hero as he leads the successful war against long-imprisoned Titans who are hoping to use the demons to restore their power.")

There is another set of producers from Warner who are also trying to produce a sequel:

Warners has been working on a similar epic-style greenscreen project. It's called "Clash of the Titans," it has Louis Leterrier already attached, and, well, it's going to be a little tough to release two similar movies going after pretty much the same audience in close proximity.

Warners thought so, because there was even talk at the studio of the company buying the "Gods" project -- whose script was said to be further along -- and swapping in that script for the "Titans" one (but still calling it "Titans").

In the end the studio decided to pass and just go ahead with its own movie, leaving Relativity to make the purchase and fast-track the pic. This won't move at the centennial pace of the Grecian wars (or many studio productions); the company could begin shooting as early as the first quarter of 2009.

So from a post-"300" vacuum to two rival projects battling it out to get to production first, to get to theaters quickest, to position itself as the true follow-up to "300." Now there's an epic battle someone should make a movie of.

En cosa de horas, nuevos proyectos ungidos en tierras helenica han tomado fuerza entre tanta noticia de superhéroes. Todo porque desde /Film nos dan a conocer que el remake de Furia de Titanes (Clash of the Titans) agarra vuelo ya que Louis Leterrier, director de El Increíble Hulk, tiene una nueva pega para hacerse cargo de esta película. El proyecto en cuestión, toma fuerza considerando que Lawrence Kasdan (Los Cazadores del Arca Perdida, el Imperio Contraataca & la inminente Robotech) será el encargado del guión. Allí veremos la mítica historia de Perseo que batalla contra la mismísima Medusa para tener una noche de pasión con Andrómeda. Como para quedar gritando, dame tu fuerza Pegaso. Bah, deberás que eso es otro cuento.

Otro proyecto es War of Gods, película que será dirigida por Tarsem Singh el mismo que me tiene pendiente por The Fall, película por la que tendré que esperar al DVD. Volviendo al tema, en War of Gods nos adentraremos en la historia de otro héroe fundador: Teseo, que aparte de seguro meterse en la historia del Minotauro tendrá que juntar a un grupo de dioses del Olimpo y soldados todo terreno para enfrentarse a los Titanes. La gracia de todo es que la película será grabada en el estilo de 300, ya que algunos de los productores de dicha película tienen que ver con este historia que inicia una guerra por que película titánica se estrenará primero.

Pero eso no es todo.

Porque una precuela de 300 está en los planes de los productores que también se encargarán de War of Gods. La idea es que tanto Frank Miller como Zack Snyder estén involucrados en la realización de la película que nuevamente nos adentraría en los dominios del Rey Leónidas. En /Film apuntan que Frank Miller estaría desarrollando una nueva historia, aunque esta vez podría encargarse personalmente de dirigirla después de lo que haga con The Spirit.

Todo indica que en los próximos años tendremos Grecia al por mayor. Pero, a todo esto, ¿Qué pasa con la película de God of War?

There's a controversial feud with film makers battling between the "Clash of the Titans" remake and original film "War of Gods" which are both Greek mythology films. It's Warner Bros. vs. Relatively media, fighting over which film to start production first. Warner Bros is remaking "Clash of the Titans" which will be directed by the same man who made the new "The Incredible Hulk" movie Louis Letterier. "Clash of the Titans" is a 1981 Greek mythology fantasy film, a film about Persues on a journey to battle Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda.

"War Of Gods" is an original film directed by Tarsem Singh and will be made by Relatively Media. As stated above, they are at war on which Greek Mythology film to be made first. "War of Gods" plot revolves around a young warrior prince named Theseus which he forms his own army to battle against another army of demons and titans.

Both can not be made and released at the same time because they don't want two Greek mythology films competing with each other box office wise. Warner Bros. greenlighted "Clash of the Titans" right after they hired "The Incredible Hulk" director.

Variety Reports:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988133.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

What film should I think get made first? Hmmm, this may surprise some of you but I'm gonna go with "War of Gods".

I don't even want a "Clash Of the Titans" remake. The original 1981 film is one of my favorite films of all times, leave the original right where it is. "Clash of the Titans" remake should not be made 'cause it's gonna suck, we all know Warner Bros. is gonna make "Clash of the Titans" remake full of CGI effects and make it a popcorn film. While I have a feeling Warner Bros. will win to get this made first because of how powerful of a company they are, I feel this is a pointless remake. It'll turn out to be a popcorn action family film.

"War of Gods" sounds very good! Sounds like "War of Gods" won't be a family film, it'll be more adult oriented. Maybe "Gladiator" or "Braveheart" style with "War of Gods" if you know what I mean. I would want "War of Gods" get made first. The film is already sparking my interest while I have no interest in the "Clash of the Titans" remake.

Kev

First up, we have God Of War, based on the very famous and pretty much fantastic series of video games. Kratos (rumoured to be played by Djimon Honsou) is a meagre mortal given unlimited power by a bad god in return of being his personal assassin. Until he accidentally kills his own wife, and gets a crisis of conscience, and heads to Mount Olympus to take down the God who gave him the powers in the first place. Its set to be directed by Bret Ratner (obviously the Gods weren't paying attention at this point).

Next up is War Of Gods (we know, right?!), about: “A purported bastard who retains an allegiance to his mother despite the fact that he longs to join the quest of a king who is battling demons in ancient Greece later embarks on a grail of discovery that has him finding he is the king’s son and also fated to become his country’s greatest hero as he leads the successful war against long-imprisoned Titans who are hoping to use the demons to restore their power.” Whatever that means. Its written by the folk behind Wanted, due to be directed by the guys who what made The Cell and The Fall, and will use the same CGI-technology as 300.

And, finally, we have Clash Of The Titans, which was almost to be made using the script that eventually fell into being made as War Of The Gods. Its a remake of the the 1981 film version of the myth of Perseus and his quest to battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to save the Princess Andromeda. It was originally to be directed by Stephen Norrington (Blade, LXG), but has since fallen into the hands of Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk).

All three films are set for release in Summer 2010. Let the wars commence!

Read more HERE.

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This time on ReelTime's web blog movie reviews.. we have, DIRECTORS, yep, my top five.

Hey folks, I wanted to contribute to the growing internet trend of listicles, by making a list of my favorite movie directors! Those who have inspired, entertained, and made Joey Knows the moviefan he is today! In descending order of importance, they are…

5. Joe Dante. Director of Gremlins and Small Soldiers, which would be ’nuff said, but he ALSO made Explorers and The ‘burbs!!! Guy’s a genius!

4. Kathryn Bigelow. K-19: The Widowmaker is one of the most underrated movies of all time. Plus you won’t believe the performance she got out of Ron Silver in Blue Steel! When he lifts those weights! Yikes!!!

3. Jag Mundhra. I admit this one is very personal, but the work of Jag Mundhra, especially Tainted Love, has changed my perspective on what movies can be. It’s not all comic book heroes and comedies. Movies can be very, very erotic!

(tie) 2. Uwe Boll/M. Night Shyamalan. Okay, okay, now I know Uwe gets alota criticism from people, but his movies are SO memorable, first of all, and, futhermore the guy is a master of promotion. Shyamalann, with Lady in the Water is ’nuff said, The Happening was great as well, and he really might be the Next Spielberg.

1. Lawrence Kasdan. While Spielberg is important to many, Scorsese I have also heard (I loved Shine a Light) for Joey, it’s Kasdan. He’s made serious adult movies like Body Heat, and Return of the Jedi. He’s a sci-fi master with Dreamcatcher, and he’s planning the Clash of the Tians remake, which if it’s anything like the first is just going to be Triple A Amazing! And don’t forget he also did my favorite romantic comedy The Bodyguard! (Well, he just wrote it, but c’mon!)

          

Basel, Switzerland is home to Art Basel, the most prestigious contemporary art fair in the world. Art elitists and enthusiast descend on this city every year to check out who is hot and bucking the trend.  This year an expected 55,000 people will show up to attend this week long event. 

Switzerland and Austria are set to host the European Cup this year, which runs every 4 years with 2 years between it and the World Cup.  Funny enough, it is scheduled to kick off in Basel during the middle of Art Basel, with the Swiss and Czech national teams facing off to begin the Cup.  Now I don’t know who thought this would be a good idea, or just didn’t think about the combination of soccer fans and art patrons, but sure brings a smile to my face.  One can only imagine the ambiance surrounding this town during those tense couple of days.   

According to The Wall Street Journal, the art people blame the soccer fans for the incredibly high hotel rates, have forced the hoteliers and city officials to choose sides, and are commandeering all the restaurants with advanced reservations and special favors.  The city has been divided into “fan zones” took keep the groups from tearing each other apart, and the UEFA authorities have turned over their “hooligan database” to the Basel officials.  Now that is serious.

In an effort to show some respect, shall we say, to the soccer community, the fair will have a party for VIPs so they can watch the game, as well as several soccer themed art videos.   From what I understand so far, it’s more of the community and hotel establishments that are having a problem with the two events overlapping.   They should be ecstatic about all the bank they are about to make and have a little faith in people.  I plan on keeping up to date with this situation, so I’ll be sure to inform you if anything interesting happens!

It's a real problem, the human characters in giant monster movies. They're nearly always boring. KING KONG is the exception, as with so many things -- in all three versions of KK, the humans are a bit more interesting than they absolutely need to be. The less-is-more economy and pace of the first film make it the winner, of course. Quasi-sequel MIGHTY JOE YOUNG also does OK -- Robert Armstrong is even more ebullient and explosive than he is in KK. A shame he never played anything Shakespearian on screen. What do you think: Lear? Macbeth?

The '70s KONG has Jeff Bridges as a sort of more passionate and committed version of the Dude from THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and Jessica Lange playing the character who's most like herself (slightly dippy blonde actress). The Jackson version has lots of "characterisation", but doesn't really understand the basic principle of characterisation through action, which is a bit of a shame since it's an action film. For example, Adrien Brody is a writer. Yet, once the drama starts (an hour in) he acts exactly like Indiana Jones. I accept that we might need him to be slightly more physical than, say, Truman Capote, but what's the point of all that set-up if you're just going to forget it once the running and jumping starts?

Similarly, Jamie Bell is established as a kid who's never fired a gun in his life, yet soon he's shooting insects off Adrien Brody's privates with the skill of a veritable Lee Harvey Oswald (ah, if only L.H.O. had confined his marksmanship to shooting insects off Adrien Brody's privates, how different the political scene might be today).

(I remember seeing the DJ-musician Moby introduce a GODZILLA movie on TV, with the words, "As kids, we were very keen on monster movies, because the alternative seemed to be movies without monsters, and who would want that?")

I love Ray Harryhausen's work (he's coming to the Edinburgh Film Festival -- we've bought our tickets), but few of his films manage to create endearing human characters to compare to the little rubber guys. The great Lionel Jeffries in THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON is one (and that film is probably the best film qua filmof Harryhausen's oevre) and Raquel Welch certainly makes her presence felt in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. but I'm not sure that's anything to do with characterisation. I think she's there to make the dinosaurs look more life-like by comparison. JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS is jam-packed with fascinating thesps, from Nigel Green to Niall McGinnis, and they're always welcome, but they don't make much impact as human beings, since their dialogue is a bit stiff and their scenes feel like between-monster padding. Harryhausen's last opus, CLASH OF THE TITANS, populates Olympus with an improbable throng of thesps (Olivier & Andress! Maggie Smith and Pat Roach!) but they have little of the snazziness James Woods brings to the role of Hades in the Disney HERCULES -- the high-water mark of Greek god impersonation in Hollywood cinema.

In a lot of monster attack films, like WAR OF THE WORLDS, the heroes, being unable to do meaningful battle with an enemy so much bigger than themselves, are reduced to running around helplessly and speculating about what might be going on. Spielberg's version actually gets around this for most of its running time by putting the protagonist and his family in a lot of very dangerous situations, but he comes a cropper on the ending, in which the Earth is saved no thanks to Tom Cruise.

Actually, if we accept JAWS as a monster movie, which I suggest we have to, Spielberg and his writers deserve a bit of credit for serving up engaging, if 2D, characters who actually occupy far more screen time than the sea beast. Of course, his three leading men are very watchable anyway.

I'm going to throw in a mention of TREMORS as well, since that has enjoyable, affable lead characters also. Why is this so hard as soon as a monster rears its head? I suppose these films typically didn't attract the best actors, as much of the budget went on special effects. And the directors were usually ex-designers, photographers and special effects men themselves, rather than "actors' directors". And the writers? Science fiction is full of authors whose ability to deal with wild ideas outstrips their ability to deal with human conversation, so that could be part of it. KRONOS has some decent ideas, but flat characterisation. Imagine a giant monster movie written by Harold Pinter. That would be GREAT. Giant lizard feet could trample Buckingham Palace during the pauses.

THE GIANT BEHEMOTH, A.K.A. BEHEMOTH, A.K.A. BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER, which we watched recently, suffers the same problems of boring scientists and passive protagonists. The film is the work of art director Eugene Lourie, who turned director and gave the world this thing and also GORGO, a man-in-a-suit monster movie much loved for its plot twist of the even larger mummy monster coming to rescue the baby. It's the DUMBO of kaiju films. Oh, and he did Harryhausen's THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, "suggested by" Ray Bradbury's great pulp-poetry story The Fog Horn, which my mum told me about when I was little, sparking my imagination wonderfully (thanks mum!) and THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK, which to my regret I haven't seen.

The monster in BEHEMOTH is another of those radioactive dinosaurs, whose sinister emanations have the effect of turning bystanders into drawings of skeletons. Nasty stuff, that radiation.

The only human element in the film is Jack MacGowran, an actor incapable of being uninteresting for a second or of underplaying for a frame. Here he's on good form, having not yet succumbed to the bottle altogether. By the time of Peter Brook's glum and fusty KING LEAR, MacGowran, though still somehow able to remember his lines, was quite unable to remember what they meant. Some how he still compels attention in that film and in THE EXORCIST (that "cursed movie" which supposedly claimed his life), but he's much better when he actually knows what he's doing. It's such a relief when he ambles into BEHEMOTH halfway through -- an eccentric showstopper, a smirking onrush of tics and mannerisms -- and such a shame when he and his helicopter are subsumed by a hungry saurian just minutes later. It's arguable that MacGowran's thespian rampage is far more damaging to the film than the monster is to London -- he makes everything seem so dull by comparison.

The behemoth is played by a glove puppet for most of the film, turning into an animated Willis H. O'Brien creation in the last ten minutes. Too little too late, though all the rampaging provides the usual fun (only kids and monsters actually rampage. Native people go on the rampage, which seems to be subtly different). And we do get a few underwater shots, which for some reason is rare in these movies.

But apart from MacGowran and the above examples, human characters in monster films still seem like an endangered species.

I guess there's always the Peanut Sisters from GODZILLA VERSUS MOTHRA. Their characterisation consisted of (a) the fact that they were very small, and (b) the fact that they were called the Peanut Sisters. Oh, and I think they sang a song.

That's more than can be said for Tom Cruise.

Part I - Z-Trip [audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/27/1611536/CLASH%20OF%20THE%20TITANS%20-%20%20Z-Trip.mp3]

Part II - MSTRKRFT [audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/27/1611536/CLASH%20OF%20THE%20TITANS%20-%20MSTKRFT.mp3]

Courtesy of Obey.

Hoci s prerábkami filmov sa svet kinematografie stretáva už pár desaťročí, obrovský posun v tomto trende nastal až koncom minulého storočia. Asi najväčším dôvodom bola revolúcia v oblasti vizuálnych efektov spôsobená nástupom CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery, teda digitálne triky), ktorá filmárom umožňuje na striebornom plátne vizuálne stvárniť to, o čom sa pred pár desaťročiami nikomu ani nesnívalo. Štúdiá sa začali zameriavať na obrovský potenciál, ktorý leží vo filmovej histórii – nadmieru úspešné filmy 20teho storočia, ktoré by mohli byť teoreticky úspešné zasa aj dnes, hlavne vďaka osvedčenému príbehu a scenáru. Odvar sa doplní o spomínané CGI efekty, aktuálne filmové hviezdy, vo väčšine prípadov aj o masívnu reklamnú kampaň a z klasického filmu zlatých rokov Hollywoodu je zrazu trhák, ktorý zarobí stovky miliónov dolárov po celom svete (s tým sa teda aspoň počíta).

Úspech však nikdy nie je zaručený, niekedy je dôvodom príliš modifikovaný scenár, inokedy zasa nevhodný výber hercov a v neposlednom rade aj režiséra. Zriedkavé sú aj prípady, keď je prerábka bojkotovaná fanúšikmi pôvodnej predlohy, ktorí ovplyvňujú napríklad hodnotenia na filmových portáloch ako je IMDB a snažia sa odrádzať ostatných. No a v neposlednom rade je príčinou aj nedostatočná reklama, ktorá je v dnešnej dobe nevyhnutná a zaručuje dobré výsledky v Box Office. Ako príklad kombinácie zlého scenára (alebo v tomto prípade skôr jeho časti) a následne znechutenia fanúšikov uvediem remake Planéty Opíc z roku 2001, ktorého autorom je Tim Burton. Scenár viac menej opisoval kontúry toho pôvodného, až pokým sa neobjavil záver filmu, ktorý žiaľ nebol práve najšťastnejším riešením a úplne pochoval jednu z najviac ikonických scén v histórii kinematografie, čo sa samozrejme nepáčilo filmovej komunite a debakel bol na svete. Ďalším prípadom je Ružový Panter, ktorý bez Petra Sellersa nemal tie správne grády a bol odsúdený na neúspech a to nielen v prípade kritikov, ale aj z finančného hľadiska – celosvetové tržby nestačili ani na dvojnásobok nákladov, čo je vo filmovom svete považované za totálny prepadák.

Napriek tomu, že škála rizík je pomerne široká, oznamov o remakeoch od rôznych filmových štúdií neustále pribúda a niektoré z nich sa naťahujú už aj po tých najviac kultových predlohách. Preto som pripravil zoznam, ktorý vás upovedomí o tom, čo všetko sa chystá a aby ste sa dozvedeli, ktorému projektu máte držať palce, aby ho jeho tvorcovia úplne nepokazili:

1984
V tomto prípade ešte nejde o potvrdený projekt, producent Tim Robbins oznámil, že by dal rád prerábke zelenú, niektoré zdroje tvrdia, že film je už v predprodukcii, iné zasa, že nik nie je ochotný ho financovať. Originál, ktorý je adaptáciou slávnej knihy Georgea Orwella, režíroval Michael Radford a v hlavných úlohách sa predstavili John Hurt a Richard Burton. Ak sa nájde finančná injekcia, premiéra remaku je plánovaná na budúci rok.

The 7 Samurai
Drvivá väčšina z vás istotne pozná westernovú legendu 7 Statočných (Magnificent Seven). Táto legenda bola inšpirovaná nemenej kvalitným snímkom Akiru Kurosawy 7 Samurajov z roku 1954 (IMDB hodnotenie 8.8 z 10, hlasovalo skoro 70 000 ľudí), ktorý sa taktiež po viac ako polstoročí vráti na strieborné plátna. Zodpovednosť za to nesie Harvey Weinstein, dobrou správou je, že pôvodný scenár bude iba upravený Johnom Fucsom, ktorý je autorom Mladých Pušiek (Young Guns) alebo Oceána Ohňa (Hidalgo). Produkcia už beží v plnom prúde, povráva sa o účasti Ziyi Zhang, ale to sú zatiaľ iba dohady. Pôvodne bola premiéra plánovaná na tento rok, zjavne sa to ale posunie, keď sa niečo dozviem, dám to na web.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (Nočná Mora z Elm Street)
O tento remake sa osobne postará jeho pôvodný režisér Wes Craven. Produkčne ho podporuje Michael Bay, na filme sa už pracuje a pod ochrannými krídlami ho má spoločnosť Platinum Dunes, ktorú tu dnes spomeniem viackrát. Najväčšie negatívum na tomto projekte je už známe – Rober Englund, ktorého Freddy Krueger vydesil milióny ľudí po celom svete, sa už do svojej úlohy nevráti, jeho nástupca ešte nie je známy, v každom prípade je to veľká škoda. Nočná Mora by sa mala v kinách objaviť v roku 2010, času je ešte dosť.

Clash Of The Titans (Súboj Titanov)
Tohto remaku sa ja osobne obávam najviac. Originál od Desmonda Davisa patrí jednoznačne do prvej desiatky môjho osobného filmového rebríčka, je to vôbec prvý film, ktorý som videl (ešte ako dieťa) a mám k nemu nostalgický vzťah. Režisérom bude tento krát Stephen Norrington, ktorý sa postaral o prvého Bladea a doslova zlepil Ligu Výnimočných (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Čiže on predstavuje prvé potenciálne nebezpečenstvo pri ceste k úspechu. Scenár píše legenda Lawrence Kasdan (Star Wars V, VI, Indiana Jones a Dobyvatelia Stratenej Archy), takže ten bude hádam zárukou kvality. Ďalšia vec, ktorej sa ja osobne obávam, bude pravdepodobne prehnané množstvo CGI, ktoré doslova naruší vizáž celého projektu a pokiaľ sa do toho nepustí Weta alebo ILM, tak sa dajú očakávať problémy. No veď uvidíme. Produkčný proces sa má začať tento rok, v kinách sa má snímok objaviť v roku 2010.

Conan The Barbarian
Aj film, ktorý preslávil terajšieho guvernéra Kalifornie Arnolda Schwarzneggra, dostane nový šat. Hoci sa spoločnosť Lionsgate dostala vďaka plánovanému remaku do naťahovačiek ohľadom rozdeľovania potenciálnych zárobkov z projektu, Thomas Dean Donnelly (Sahara) usilovne ďalej pracuje na scenári. Režisér ešte nie je známy, hoci Brit Neil Marshall sa vyjadril, že by sa na snímku rád podieľal a dokonca sa stretol aj s producentmi. Jediné, čo je známe z hereckého obsadenia je to, že Arnieho vo filme neuvidíme, nechajme sa prekvapiť, kto ho bude v tomto prípade zaskakovať. Plány na premiéru zostali zatiaľ nezmenené, teda rok 2009.

Dune (Duna)
Kedysi sa tvrdilo, že jedno z najznámejších diel Sci-fi Franka Herberta je nezfilmovateľné. V roku 1984 však pravdivosť týchto povier významne narušil David Lynch a vytvoril vizuálne prekvapivé dielo sprevádzané skvelým soundtrackom od Briana Ena a skupiny Toto. Film bol v tej dobe prijatý rozporuplne, dnes je však všeobecne považovaný za kultový Sci-fi snímok. Minulý rok v Decembri sa americký režisér Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom) vyjadril, že bude režírovať vysoko nákladový filmový projekt – remake spomínaného filmu Dune. Povedal taktiež, že práce na scenári sa oneskorili vďaka štrajku scenáristov, film sa mal pôvodne začať natáčať už tento rok, zjavne sa to však prinajmenšom o pár mesiacov odloží. Povráva sa, že Berg dostal na projekt sumu podobnú tej, ktorú dostal Peter Jackson na Návrat Kráľa, pôjde teda zhruba asi o 100 miliónov Dolárov, čo vôbec nie je malá suma. Ostatné detaily sú zatiaľ utajené alebo neznáme, viac by sme sa mali dozvedieť v jeseni.

Robocop
Tento film Paula Verhoevena hádam netreba nejako extra predstavovať. V každom prípade aj o jeho prerábke sa už začalo pošuškávať, keď spoločnosť MGM zverejnila v Marci svoje produkčné plány, kde bol medzi filmovými projektmi spomenutý práve tento. Chýry o novom Robocopovi sa šírili už v roku 2005, avšak po nich prišla správa, že produkcia bola pozastavená. Viac informácií samotné MGM neponúklo, Verhoeven sa však do vedenia projektu asi nedostane, pretože bude pre MGM režírovať pokračovanie Aféry Thomasa Crowna. Dátumy ešte taktiež nie sú známe, viac informácií neskôr.

The Birds (Vtáci)
Výborný thriller (čiastočne aj horor) z dielne majstra Alfreda Hitchcocka z roku 1963 sa nevyhol modernizácii a prerobenej verzie sa dočkáme už budúci rok v lete. Možnosť predviesť svoje schopnosti v oblasti hororu dostal pre produkčnú spoločnosť Platinum Dunes (áno, zasa oni) Martin Cambpell, ktorý si dôveru zo strany veľkých štúdií zabezpečil vďaka znovuzrodeniu Jamesa Bonda v Casino Royale. V Prípade Vtákov sa dokonca už povráva aj o možnom hereckom obsadení, hlavnú úlohu vraj dostane Naomi Watts, čo by podľa môjho skromného názoru nebolo vôbec zlé. Uvidíme, či sa Cambpellovi podarí udržať v snímku tak napätú náladu, ako sa to podarilo majstrovi hororu Hitchcockovi.

The Evil Dead (Lesný Duch)
V tomto prípade sa režiséri možno meniť nebudú a Sam Raimi (Spiderman 1-3, The Quick And The Dead) si prepracuje svoj vlastný skvost z hororového žánru. Napísal som možno, pretože Raimi sa ešte stále nerozhodol, či bude projekt aj režírovať, alebo zostane iba pri scenári a jeho produkcii. V jeho prípade je prioritou nájsť človeka, ktorý je dostatočne vhodný do takejto úlohy, čo sa týka finančnej stránky, s tou Raimi problém nemá, vďaka úspechu série o Spidermanovi si môže dovoliť hocičo. V kinách si Lesného Ducha pozrieme možno budúci rok, v tomto prípade vďaka Raimiho nerozhodnosti sa to však môže oneskoriť.

Tron
Prvý film v histórii kinematografie, v ktorom boli použité počítačové efekty namiesto modelov je posledný v mojom zozname. Disney (ktoré produkovalo a aj distribuovalo originálny Tron) sa v poslednom čase preorientováva na hrané filmy a má na pláne predstaviť Trona aj dnešnej generácii. Divným krokom však je, že týmto projektom štúdio poverilo úplne neznámeho a neskúseného režiséra Josepha Kosinskiho. Je pravda, že na scenári pracujú také mená ako Adam Horowitz (Lost) a Steven Lisberger (autor a režisér pôvodného filmu), ale predsa len je to dosť veľké riziko. Premiéra je plánovaná na rok 2010, dovtedy sa toho ešte veľa môže zmeniť.

Case # 1:

From the director of

In 2010, comes the remake of:

Now, anyone who knows anything about the movie world will know what a cluster-fuck The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen slowly become, and not all of it can be pinned down to director Stephen Norrington. Sure, he directed Blade with some hazy finesse, which showed he was capable of off-centre comic-book adaptations. But all the talk of Connery taking over as director during the editing process, while unfounded, doesn't take away from the fact that all he was doing was re-editing footage that was already shot. And that footage? Was kinda lousy. And now he's been given the reigns to take over Clash Of The Titans, with early word budget at excess of $200 million. Money well spent, non?

Case # 2:

From the writer of

In 2010, comes the adaptation of the famous video game

Time for a revelation: I kinda loved Silent Hill. Yes, it was a mess of a film in terms of plot and story development and script and most things that make a film good. But it looked amazing, the sound design was fantastic, and the general feel of the film was spot on in terms of faithful adaptation. It just wasn't a good film. And that was mainly down to Roger Avary's dodgy-ass script. And even though he wrote/directed the rather brilliant Rules Of Attraction, I think its fair to say that massive budgets he does not go hand in hand with. And now, here he is, writing the adaptation to another video game, this time directing it also, and on top of that, its gonna be mucho expensive, considering its about a WWII soldier trying to destroy the super-natural enemies with the Nazi camps in Germany. Yes, Return To Castle Wolfenstein sounds ludicrous, but could be potential fun, had it been directed by Paul Verhoven or even Jan De Bont. Alas, this is not the case.

Consider us slightly worried about 2010, so far.

Link to buy the shirt.

(not counting in the modern warfare bits at the back)

i like clash of the titans a lot, and it was one of the first movie i watched when i was very young and still remember it. i know i always talk about the strange creatures and characters..(the blind witches and medusa) inside to my mother. and of course, everybody loves the unicorn.

One fun thing about this joint -- from MY point of view anyhow -- is that I can see in my Blog Stats exactly what kind of web searches people use to find the site. Yes, I am looking into your dark hearts as you navigate the murky waters of the web and come into dock in my cyber-harbour.

As a result, I have become aware that two of the personages I've mentioned in passing have attracted quite a lot of notice. They are '60s British character star Murray Melvin, and Greek mythological character Medusa.

So, whopping great whore that I am, I thought I'd prepare a special blog posting about Murray Melvin and Medusa. Oh, and I'll throw in this random mention of ST TRINIAN'S head girl Gemma Arterton too, since so many of you seem to find her so damn interesting.*

Medusa was head girl of the Gorgons. She had snakes for hair.

Murray Melvin has hair for hair. He starred in A TASTE OF HONEY and pops up in Ken Russell's epic film maudit THE DEVILS, and Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON (the litmus test film that hardcore Kubrickians admire most, and that nobody else likes all that much).

Medusa had a petrifying gaze.

Murray Melvin is a petrifying gay.

Actually, I have no private information about Mr. Melvin's sexuality at all, so I take that back. He was cast as gay in A TASTE OF HONEY and it kind of stuck. He played highly repressed characters in THE DEVILS and BARRY LYNDON, and is a sort of Poster Boy for British Sexual Ambivalence (B.S.A.). I find it interesting (and definitely regrettable) that British cinema has made so little use of him since the swinging 'sixties and 'seventies. My theory is that Melvin's camp quality is out of fashion in a world that either wishes to ignore homosexuality, or is eager to present images of gay men that don't fit the camp stereotype. But some gay men ARE camp, if you want to use that word, and Melvin is an excellent actor, so where's the problem?

It reminds me of the way Hollywood discovered racial sensitivity in the 'forties and slowly phased out most most of the actors who'd made a living playing "comedy negroes" and servants. Replacing them with...virtually nothing. There's an argument that flawed representation is better than NO representation.

The possibility also arises that M.M. was acting camp in films because the roles demanded it, and could just as easily play Dead Butch. It would be slightly surprising to me, but it's still possible. In which case his recent disuse by our national cinema is even sillier.

The last time I saw M.M. at the cinema was way back in Scots director Bill Douglas' COMRADES, which also featured Barbara Windsor and Robert Stephens, who likewise should have been in far more movies.

When Harry Hamlin Perseus lopped off Medusa's serpentine head, her stare maintained its terrible power after death. Still going strong in his seventies, Murray Melvin likewise maintains his momentous powers of dramaturgical dazzlement.

*"Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" ~ Johnny Rotten.

My partner's brother Roddy is a movie buff too. He has learning difficulties, which partly means he's even more certain about what he likes than most of us, and what he likes is Hammer Horror. As he's with us for Christmas, we're going en famille to the digitally restored DRACULA tomorrow, but this afternoon we ran Terence Fisher's lesser-known THE GORGON, also with Cushing and Lee.

It's a slow-paced bit of thick-ear, with a Greek gorgon rather oddly transplanted to Germany, and an unusual restraint shown in revealing the monster, perhaps due to the makeup and special effects departments' inability to muster a convincing headful of serpents for the titular mythological beast-woman. They really needed Ray Harryhausen to pull this one off.

Then there's a distinctly Scooby Doo shortage of suspects -- there is precisely one. Essentially all we have to see us through to the climax is atmosphere (dry ice and lighting, sets, Peter Cushing and what Scorsese calls "the precision of his movements within the frame", James Bernard's yowling score) and a few petrifications, though at the end there's a rather lovely effect as we are startled by the decapitated gorgon Megaera's transmutation into -- the only other woman in the film!

THINGS SAID BY RODDY DURING "THE GORGON"

"Is this black and white?"

"Where's he going?"

"Who's this?"

"What's he doing?"

"Where's he going?"

"I don't think it's her."

"I can't see a thing."

"Where's Christopher Lee going now?"

"Uh oh."

"That did the trick."

Harryhausen can't help but make monsters more monstrous than they're supposed to be! His cyclops has goat legs, his troglodyte has a horn on his head, and Medusa is kitted out with scales and a serpent's body. Generosity, that's what I call it.

Working off a script originally written by Travis Beacham before being re-written by Lawrence Kasdan, this will be Norrington's first directed film since 2003's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Warner Bros., and Legendary, are prepping the project for a 2008 start of production.

Source: Variety

[audio http://on221.wordpress.com/files/2007/10/jay-z-ignorant-shit.mp3]

Don't fear no rappers, their all weidos
Deniros in practice
So don't believe everything ya earlobe captures
- Jay-Z

BY THE WAY:

Nas' "Greatest Hits" is droppin the same day as "American Gangster," Nov. 6 (hope they don't try a "Clash of the Titans part 2")