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buzzdixonwriter · 4 years

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Gorgo

I recently rewatched Gorgo, a 1961 US / UK / Irish kaiju co-production, a film I hadn’t seen in several years (at least five, maybe as many as ten).

The last couple of times I watched it I wasn’t paying close attention, just letting it play in the background as I did other stuff.

Now, having actually paid attention to it again, I’m delighted it holds up as well as my memory told me it did.

I first encountered Gorgo in 1961 when my father took my younger brother and I to see it as the Fine Arts Theater in Asheville, NC.

The Fine Arts, one of only two movie theaters in Asheville (there may have been a 3rd that I didn’t know about due to the segregation laws of that era) specialized in more outre’ fare and typically got the monster and horror shows, as well as the Hercules movies and =ahem!= adult dramas.

It was a memorable trip for several reasons, not the least of which being my younger brother freaking out at the climax when he turned to grab Dad’s arm only to find Dad had gone to the rest room.

Not a great movie but certainly a good one, Gorgo in retrospect was somewhat groundbreaking and as such more deserving of attention.

The late film historian Bill Warren and I would often discuss old sci-fi movies. Bill, of course, wrote the seminal reference work on 1950s sci-fi movies, Keep Watching The Skies (highly recommended; go order it right now).

He argued that the fifties sci-fi boom may have started in 1950* but it really ended in 1962 when the last of the films put into production in the 1950s finally came out.

I argued that the line was fuzzier, greyer, with some titles showing a clearly different mindset than others released the same year.

Such is the case with Gorgo.

Basically, 1950s sci-fi is about re-establishing the status quo. Several end quite explicitly stating this (Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers for one) while others allude to the fact that the menace may return…someday.

But their point always was that by the end of the picture things returned to what passed for normal.

Even Forbidden Planet returns to normal by destroying Altair IV and the truly god-like Krell machines found there, thus preventing anyone else from using them.

But 1960s sci-fi had an entirely different flavor, and that flavor was that by the end of the movie things had changed irrevocably and forever.

There was no going back to the way things were, there was only the new normal -- however different and bizarre that normal might be.

Gorgo is a sixties sci-fi film.

Giant monster movies -- what we now refer to as kaiju due to Japan’s dominance of the genre -- started way back in the silent era (like almost everything else in cinema, Georges Melies got there first) with King Kong as the most prominent example before the atom age.

King Kong’s success on TV in the late 40s spurred Warner Bros. to make The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms and that in turn spurred Toho to make Gojira (US title: Godzilla, King Of The Monsters) and that inspired a giant monster race on both sides of the Pacific.

England, not wanting to feel left out of the fun, made The Giant Behemoth which is an okay but underwhelming example of the genre, noteworthy only for being stop motion animators Willis O’Brien’s last feature work (he worked on other films after that, but not as an animator).

By the late 1950s Godzilla’s popularity inspired the King brothers (US slot machine distributors) to make their own giant monster movie, and despite their unfamiliarity with the genre they made several smart decisions, the first of which was hiring Eugene Lourie.

Lourie had one of those fabulous “cast your fate to the wind” careers that included working as art director on Jean Renoir films in France.

Like so many others, as the Nazis rose in power, Lourie came to America where he continued doing art direction among other behind the camera film work. His experience with special effects got him a gig direction The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms and from there he directed a few TV episodes then The Colossus Of New York (not what we’d call a kaiju film today, but definitely one of the oddest sci-fi movies ever made) and The Giant Behemoth (itself essentially a remake of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms).

When the King brothers approached him to direct Gorgo, he was reluctant, agreeing to make the film only they let him do something no other sci-fi film of the 1950s (or before!) had ever done: Let the monsters win.

While Lourie later complained he felt the film fell short of what he intended, there’s no denying he was swinging for the outfield fence with this one.

The King brothers’ best idea was that they’d start with a 20-ft tall monster getting captured and brought to London, only for the protagonists to belatedly realize they’ve captured a baby and mama is gonna come looking for him.

It ends with Mama defeating everything humanity had to throw at it and returning to the sea with her child, the surviving humans watching them depart and realizing they can no longer consider themselves the absolute masters of all they survey.

That point gets lost in the feel-good moment of mother rescuing child, but it’s there, and it marks Gorgo as one of the first sci-fi films to embrace the concept that change was inevitable and inescapable.

Gorgo is an expertly crafted film, not perfect by a long shot, but satisfying all the way through. Lourie’s talent as an art director contributed mightily to the film’s final dramatic effect, and the scenes of London panicking as Mama Gorgo comes looking for her child has an intensity lacking in most kaiju films.

As Bill Warren observed, there’s not a lot of originality here, but that’s okay because Lourie and the King brothers covered a number of details typically left out of movies like this, namely how the %#$@ are you going to get your kaiju back to civilization?

Sharp eyed observers will notice a lot of stock footage in this movie (with footage of the British and US navies being used interchangeably for the same ships and crews), but Lourie also disguised some of it well.

The cost conscious King brothers filmed a lorry carrying a full size replica of Gorgo (doped up and trussed up with nets) through a deserted Piccadilly Circus by sneaking cameras in and doing a wholly unauthorized shoot early on a Sunday morning (explained away in the film as the police ordering people off the streets to reduce the danger of Gorgo escaping).

In a couple of scenes Lourie superimposes his actors over background plates shot for big budget WWII epics, creating a far larger sense of scale than the movie actually had.

The miniatures and the lighting of same are exceptionally well done and very convincing for the era. Matte work to combine the Gorgos with humans is pretty seamless.

The Gorgo monster suit itself? Ehhh…not quite so well done. Call it adequate, certainly not an embarrassment, but far from the best example of the genre.

The movie certainly ended in a far different place than other kaiju of the era and ended up having a surprisingly long half-life as a comic book spin off by Steve Ditko that followed the adventures of Gorgo and his Mama.

There’s a lot that can be done with this kaiju combination, and it’s a shame that’s going to waste.

If ever there was a movie deserving of an upgraded remake, it’s Gorgo.

* When a particular epoch in pop culture starts / stops is always open to debate. Since Bill wouldn’t consider short films or serials in Keep Watching The Skies he omits several serials released before 1950 that anticipated the sci-fi boom, in particular The Purple Monster Strikes, the first of Republic’s Martian invasion serials as well as the first cinematic sci-fi excursion to include all of the key elements of 1950s American sci-fi: Paranoia, alien invasion, body possession. (For those keeping score at home, the Republic Martian serials are The Purple Monster Strikes, Flying Disc Man From Mars, and Zombies Of The Stratosphere though one can argue King Of The Rocket Men, Retik, The Moon Menace, and Commando Cody, Sky Marshall Of The Universe are crossovers of one kind or another; the first three serials were unintentionally linked when cost conscious Republic decided to recycle costumes and props and rewrote dialog to refer to prior releases in order to cover their budgetary limits.)

#media #science fiction #Gorgo #Eugene Lourie

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timeagainreviews · 5 years

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CRAB PEOPLE! CRAB PEOPLE!

Giant monster movies are a trend as old as 1933's “King Kong.” Reaching a fever pitch in the 1950's, they had died down considerably by the time "The Macra Terror," had aired in 1967. While the genre continued on in Japan, the closest the UK had seen was 1961's "Gorgo," which was shot around Dublin and in a studio in England. Leave it to Doctor Who then to revive old trends with its smörgåsbord of genre-tripping. And in Doctor Who fashion, it both paid homage, while being something entirely unique.

Sadly, as with many BBC programs from that era, "The Macra Terror," no longer exists in their vaults. But thanks to the advances in digital animation, many of these missing stories have found a second life through animated reconstructions using existing soundtracks from the classic episodes. After having watched these newly released animations, a friend of mine asked me whether or not it made a case for its own existence. Does animation add a dimension that the reconstructions of still images failed to convey? She mentioned to me that "The Enemy of the World," was a somewhat reviled story until the episodes were rediscovered. Being able to see the subtle nuances in Patrick Troughton's performances as two separate characters, added something still images were unable to convey.

Now, I will admit some bias here, but I would be happy for any episode to be animated. But, even I had to agree that at the time it was announced, "The Macra Terror," seemed an odd choice over something like "The Evil of the Daleks." This was their biggest effort yet, having given the production crew a greater budget than any project before. Because of this, they were able to hand animate specific moments, as compared to keyframing everything like some earlier efforts. So why this story?

To look at it, "The Macra Terror," doesn't have a whole lot to offer by way of story. The Doctor and his companions, Ben, Polly, and Jamie, find themselves in an isolated future colony of humans. Living in a sort of sterile habitat full of benign activities and health spas, the people seem happy enough. Mind-numbing muzak fills the air as parades of smiling attractive people fill the corridors. Though the giant unmoving face of "The Controller," that comes onscreen every so often to dictate orders, gives an air of Orwellian totalitarianism. When an escaped prisoner, Medok, warns everyone of a more sinister element, the Doctor's suspicions take him down a line of inquiry that leads him to a grim discovery- the colony is secretly being run by giant crabs known as the Macra! Most of the story is a give and go between the Doctor and the police chief Ola, and the charismatic "Pilot," the highest authority below the Controller himself. The Doctor wants to investigate, and they want to stop him. It goes on like this for quite some time.

If I were to wager a guess, I would say the best reason to give "The Macra Terror," such a treatment would be Patrick Troughton, himself. One of the saddest consequences of the missing episodes is the lack of Troughton's brilliant performance as the Doctor. Ironically, some of his best moments have been lost to the sands of time. Despite the rather mundane elements of the story, his Doctor really shines in these episodes. His character seems to congeal here in ways that would establish the tone of the show for future generations. Having a higher budget is a great opportunity to capture one of his better performances in the role. Scriptwriter Ian Stuart Black gives him a lot of great dialogue to work with, and his jokes are very much in line with the tone. But who am I kidding? Giant crabs!

Rare for classic Doctor Who, and even modern Doctor Who sometimes, most everyone in the sizeable cast has a function. The companions, while sleeping, receive hypnotic instructions along with a perfumed chemical cocktail emitted from the walls. But Jamie, being far too Scottish for that shit, resists the programming. Sneaking into their chambers after curfew, the Doctor disables the hypnosis machines and manages to shake Polly out of it. Ben, unfortunately, has gone full Kool-Aid and is now a rabid fanatic for the colony. Noticing the Doctor's handiwork of destruction, Ben alerts the guards causing the Doctor and Jamie to get arrested. Jamie, ever slow on the uptake, now sees Ben as a traitor. While Ben has always been a bit of a conservative companion, he's loyal if nothing else. It makes the most sense that he would react to the hypnosis like this, and in my mind, is pretty decent writing. On a side note, I'm not sure if it was seeing him animated, but Ben's personality really reminds me of Hank Venture from "The Venture Bros." They both possess the same wannabe tough guy persona that I find oddly enduring.

Angry with Ben, Polly runs away causing him to chase after her. During their scuffle, they're confronted by the Macra and flee back to the colony. Now in the custody of the Pilot, Polly reveals their horrifying discovery. However, upon being questioned about the Macra, Ben's programming doesn't allow him to admit they exist, much to Polly's horror. The Doctor, having seen the Macra with Medok earlier, demands answers, but the Pilot himself has a similar brainwashing machine in his office, proving him to be yet another victim of the mind control. This causes the Doctor to question the existence of the Controller, which makes the Controller appear onscreen in his still image form. The Doctor and Jamie demand to see the actual Controller, who as it turns out, is a frail old man. This revelation is far from satisfying and is compounded by the fact that he is then dragged off camera by what looks like a giant crab. However, the Pilot is instructed to forget what he has seen, and the Doctor and his friends are sentenced to work the rest of their lives in the mines below the colony.

Medok, now seen as a lost cause by the Pilot, has also been sentenced to hard labour. Thinking quickly, he demands they have a supervisor before going into the mines. In a moment that had me thinking of "Kerblam!", the Doctor is given the task of working in the control room, as opposed to the physical labour of the mines. We're given a rather humorous moment where the Doctor doesn't realise that between him, Polly, and Jamie, he might be the best equipped for a more supervisory role. This places the Doctor in a unique position to find some answers to his questions. Medok warns Polly and Jamie that the gases in the mines are deadly, and takes on most of the dirty work himself to spare the two of them. The work seems never-ending as they search for more and more of this mysterious gas.

Troughton, yet again, gets another moment to shine as the Doctor as he works an equation out on a wall. The Pilot finds his equation and accuses him of having read top secret files, but it's just the Doctor being the Doctor. Quite chuffed with his accuracy, the Doctor gives himself a ten out of ten. The Pilot is less amused and demands he erase the equation before anyone else sees it. The Officia, a man in charge of the mines, oversees the work underground. During this time, Jamie and Polly discover a door. During the chaos of a ruptured valve, Jamie steals the Offica's keys and escapes through the door, causing Medok to follow after him. However, while searching for Jamie, Medok is confronted by a Macra.

Now back up top, the Officia realises his keys have gone missing, but Ben covers for Jamie, suggesting maybe he dropped them. The Doctor suggests to Ben that he lied because the conditioning is wearing off, but not enough it seems, as Ben alerts the Pilot. The Pilot refuses to let anyone into the shaft, not even the guards. As Jamie is searching the tunnels, he stumbles upon the remains of Medok and finds himself surrounded by Macra. The Controller demands they pipe the gas into the tunnels which animates the Macra into a more active state, leading the Doctor to realise that perhaps the Macra feed off of the gas. This is all great and good, but Jamie is still down there, coughing his lungs out and being lunged at by giant crabs. The Doctor manages to trick the Officia into telling him how to reverse the controls, allowing Jamie to escape. With Ola and his guards now distracted by their manhunt, the Doctor and Polly manage to find their way into the shaft where they discover a control room full of Macra.

Jamie's escape lands him in a room of shining happy people practising a rallying chant for the good of the people. He tries to sneak by in plain sight, and somehow gets noticed. Luckily for him, they figure he's one of the dancers for the event they're planning. In a moment that had me cursing the lack of surviving footage, they ask him to show the dance number he has planned. Jamie begins to leap gracefully to the side, claiming the dance is called "The Highland Fling," named as such because, at the end, you fling yourself out the door! However, his moment is short-lived as Ola and his men are awaiting him outside the door. In what I imagine is a scene specific only to the animated version, the doors continue to swing open and shut, humorously revealing Ola and his men in increments. It's a cheesy little moment of comedy that is not at all unwelcome. It's one more drop into the ocean of reasons I love Jamie as a companion. Ben, on the other hand, is failing as a companion, having tipped the guards off, and leaving Jamie with even more desire to clean his clock.

The Doctor and Polly return. Leading the Pilot toward the pithead and the Macra. Upon discovering them, the Pilot is horrified, leaving the Macra to demand, in the guise of the Controller, that the Doctor and the Pilot be taken into custody as enemies of the colony. They begin a countdown which starts pumping the gas into the colony, choking out its residents. However, it's Ben and his redemption arc that save the day. Within the safety of the pithead, Ben is instructed by the Doctor on how to reverse the flow of gas. Setting off a chain reaction, a rather impressively animated explosion violently rips through the Macra control room, blowing them to smithereens! Now back to normal, the colony celebrates their freedom and their new controller- the Pilot. As the celebration swells, Ben informs the Doctor that he may want to consider leaving soon, as he's heard a rumour that the colony plans on turning the Doctor into their next Pilot. The Doctor looks suitably shaken by the prospect and the camera pulls back, revealing the colony from a distance.

Like I said, it's not an incredibly complex storyline. Most of the enjoyment comes from either the Doctor or Jamie. While I said most characters have something to do, sadly Polly's main function is to scream and get captured, which, for Doctor Who, is par for the course. The Macra themselves have been made more terrifying by the animators, which is a definite improvement. The original production had only a single Macra, which through trick photography they had to make look like several Macra. Not an easy job when you consider no shots of more than one of the crabs was possible. The limited mobility of the puppet didn't help either.

That's not to say, however, that the animated version was without its faults. In some ways, it was almost to its benefit that it doesn't look so good that it failed to capture a lot of the same charm as the old show. I often found myself wondering if this wasn't slightly intentional on occasion. That being said, it was actually rather nice to see they weren't afraid to take some artistic liberties. The version I watched was in colour and widescreen, both things the original version lacked. Other changes such as Medok's body being replaced by a green goo, or the Doctor's writing equations on a see-through chalkboard were a bit confusing at times. I suppose replacing the body may have been a thing of censorship, as this felt like an effort to get the younger generation into classic Doctor Who. I was impressed by the likenesses of the Doctor and Jamie, but was less impressed by Ben and especially Polly, who looked nothing like herself. But regardless of any flaws, this is easily the best-animated reconstruction they've ever done. Some of the lighting effects and the landscapes were flat-out beautiful. The hand-drawn sequences were utilised very well. Most of the gripes I have with the animation are things easily fixed.

You may not know this, but for a short amount of time, I studied animation before moving onto film. One of the most common tools in animation is embellished movement. A character doesn't simply reach for an object. Due to the nature of animation, animators found it more satisfying to watch if a character, while reaching for an object, extends just past the object a little before grasping. This overextension allows for a brief pause before the action. Animation is, much like film editing, a series of beats. The better an animator can hit those beats, the better things flow. This gives the audience more time to look at what they are seeing; to take in the information. The problem with this is that it doesn't look as real. It's part of why an audience's initial reaction to a cartoon is laughter, even if the subject matter is serious. We run into this issue with these reconstructions. What we're viewing is an almost retro-rotoscope in effect. Animators are trying to recapture what they imagine the movement of the actors may very well have been. In this, we have to consider these animations as their own animal, separate from the original material. Though completely complimentary.

Bearing this in mind, I do still believe there are a few things they could do to make the cartoon look more like the source material, and these things are dead easy to employ. Mike Judge, the creator of "Beavis and Butt-Head," once pointed out something about animation that I've never been able to unsee. Cartoonists tend to position one arm of their characters in the air, elbows crooked and hand open, while the other arm hangs to the side, slightly crooked, maybe resting the hand on their hip. (See the diagram below) He had a problem with his animators drawing Beavis and Butt-Head this way in the earlier cartoons. He actually had to retrain them to draw the duo with their hands at their sides. "Why was this a problem?" you might ask. Well, it's not so much a problem, people talk with their hands a lot, but in cartoons, that embellishment comes in. This may work for Bugs Bunny, but if you want to make people seem more realistic, their arms should hang naturally. While I admired the hand animations of the Pilot suggesting spa treatments, some of the other postures reeked of this cartoonishness that many an artist pick up from the cartoons they watched as children. Animating is a form of performance. Giving more thought into what the arms might actually be doing would only add to the experience.

Seeing how much artistic license is taken with the story, I’m surprised there seems to be one sacred cow which they seem the most afraid to alter, and that’s the sound. I understand why they may not want to mess with it too much. It being the one element of the missing episodes still completely intact, it’s the only part that is truly as intended. I imagine there is a bit of remastering involved. But when you consider the anachronistic synth work at the beginning of the episode on top of the newly added sequence aboard the TARDIS from “The Moonbase,” I don’t understand why they would stop there. I imagine some foley may have been added to the end explosion, but I couldn’t say for certain. Either way, some creepy crawly sounds for the Macra would have added something to their menace.

Another issue is the camerawork. While the wide shots were a marked improvement, I couldn't for the life of me understand why every shot employed was static. Sure, we may get a pan from left to right, but it's the steadiest pan in the world. It's a little extra effort but making some of the shots appear handheld would have increased the immersion considerably. When "South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut," came out, making the animation look like it was shot on a handheld was cutting edge technology. Nowadays, it's a program filter. Just a little jitter or bob here and there would have been appreciated. That said, the pulling of focus gave great depth to scenes that could have otherwise looked flat. They employed camera, lighting, and colour in ways that have pushed these reconstructions further than ever. And while some of the colours come off as oversaturated, they're a definite improvement over "Shada," which often times looked garish and without texture. Believe it or not, but sometimes the best way to utilise colour is to tone it down a little. Speaking of toned down colour, was anyone else disappointed by the lack of colour in the opening scene? I know they were doing a sort of "Wizard of Oz," thing with exiting a black and white world into a world of Technicolor, but the promotional image of that shot was in colour, and very beautiful.

The packaging itself was very nice. I opted for the steelbook, because what's two quid? I was happy the little "booklet" inside had the cover art from the regular DVD/Blu-Ray release as I liked the art. I say booklet, but it's really more like a pamphlet. The art on the outside and inside of the steelbook are moody and atmospheric. The extra disc containing Gridlock is a nice little addition. The ten minute short from "The Wheel in Space," left me wanting more in a good way. I've yet to watch the black and white version, but I'm looking forward to it. I almost considered watching that one first, but I figured they wanted me to see it in colour, so I'm going to watch it in colour. And that's really the best attitude to take toward these animations. They're not perfect replacements, they've been reimagined. Keep an open mind, and remember what watching reconstructions usually feels like! I'll take watching a keyframed animation over still images with sound and scrolling text any day. I can't wait for more of these!

Well friends, that’s it for now! I’ve got some ideas on the backburner at the moment! I’m thinking of possibly an article on the Eighth Doctor soon. I don’t know if I will be doing it about his movie, or about him in general. We’ll see. What did you think of the Macra Terror? Did you enjoy the animation? Was it everything you wanted, or did you want more? Let me know!

#Doctor Who #patrick troughton #second doctor #bbc #the macra terror #animation #reconstruction #missing episodes #jamie mccrimmon #ben jackson #polly wright #Anneke Wills #michael craze #tardis #macra #review #Time and Time Again

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callingouthaters · 7 years

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*cough*

Okay, I do understand some of the cringe-worthy material of Justice League can be attributed to Joss Whedon.

But if you think Zack Snyder is incapable of doing films that objectify women or give female characters problematic plots, I think you might be a little biased.

If I can list a few non-Sucker Punch examples: Queen Gorgo’s subplot in 300 that doesn’t contribute a whole lot to the overall story and at one point involves rape for instance, one that wasn’t even in the comic. Oh and the one shot in Batman v Superman where Wonder Woman splayed out and shot at an angle where people could see up her skirt? Whedon sure as hell didn’t touch that one.

And I know I’m going to get a lot of hate for this, but I’m just awfully sick of the narrative pushed that everything wrong with Justice League can just be solely put on Whedon. I’ve seen Zack Snyder’s films enough to know he has his own problems as a filmmaker in depicting women.

Poster Created by: Warner Bros

Courtesy of: Wikipedia

#justice league #warner bros #zack snyder #joss whedon #dc #dceu

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tvseriesonlinetv-blog · 7 years

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300: Rise of an Empire - Shock Combat: Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) tells the story of the bloody Battle of Marathon. BUY THE MOVIE: https://www.fandangonow.com/details/movie/300-rise-of-an-empire-2014/MMV05DCBC3139D57061B61ADD470E27A15E3?cmp=Movieclips_YT_Description Watch the best 300: Rise of an Empire scenes & clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL3XXWrIPol72L4_AYOVxS3ruwuaFaGYI FILM DESCRIPTION: While King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans have their date with destiny at Thermopylae, another battle against the Persians is brewing, this time at sea. Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton), a Greek general, sees the threat posed by the God-King Xerxes of Persia. He knows that he must unite all of Greece if he is to stand any chance of repelling the Persian invasion. Even if he accomplishes his mission, Themistocles must still face Artemisia (Eva Green), the ruthless leader of the Persian armada. CREDITS: TM & © Warner Bros. (2014) Cast: Lena Headey, Sullivan Stapleton Director: Noam Murro Screewriter: Kurt Johnstad, Zack Snyder WHO ARE WE? The MOVIECLIPS channel is the largest collection of licensed movie clips on the web. Here you will find unforgettable moments, scenes and lines from all your favorite films. Made by movie fans, for movie fans. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MOVIE CHANNELS: MOVIECLIPS: http://bit.ly/1u2yaWd ComingSoon: http://bit.ly/1DVpgtR Indie & Film Festivals: http://bit.ly/1wbkfYg Hero Central: http://bit.ly/1AMUZwv Extras: http://bit.ly/1u431fr Classic Trailers: http://bit.ly/1u43jDe Pop-Up Trailers: http://bit.ly/1z7EtZR Movie News: http://bit.ly/1C3Ncd2 Movie Games: http://bit.ly/1ygDV13 Fandango: http://bit.ly/1Bl79ye Fandango FrontRunners: http://bit.ly/1CggQfC HIT US UP: Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1y8M8ax Twitter: http://bit.ly/1ghOWmt Pinterest: http://bit.ly/14wL9De Tumblr: http://bit.ly/1vUwhH7

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igamezonenet · 7 years

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300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE – TV Spot Kämpft für euren Ruhm 20 deutsch HD

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Ab 6. März 2014 im Kino in 2D und 3D. http://ift.tt/1mFQw7r

Die Verfilmung von Frank Millers neuestem Comicroman „Xerxes“ wird mit derselben atemberaubenden Optik erzählt wie der Blockbuster „300″: Dieses neue Kapitel des Epos führt uns auf ein weiteres Schlachtfeld — das Meer: Der griechische General Themistokles versucht ganz Griechenland zu vereinen, indem er einen Angriff wagt, der in diesem Krieg die Wende bringen wird. In „300: Rise of an Empire“ trifft Themistokles auf das gewaltige persische Invasionsheer unter der Führung des zum Gott erhobenen Xerxes und der rachsüchtigen Flottenkommandeurin Artemisia. Warner Bros. Pictures präsentiert in Zusammenarbeit mit Legendary Pictures eine Cruel and Unusual Films/Mark Canton/Gianni Nunnari Produktion: „300: Rise of an Empire“. Die Hauptrollen in dem Action-Abenteuer spielen Sullivan Stapleton („Gangster Squad“) als Themistokles und Eva Green („Dark Shadows“, „Casino Royale“) als Artemesia. Lena Headey spielt wie in „300″ die Spartanerkönigin Gorgo, Hans Matheson („Kampf der Titanen“) übernimmt die Rolle des Aeskylos, und Rodrigo Santoro ist wieder als Perserkönig Xerxes zu sehen. source

Der Beitrag 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE – TV Spot Kämpft für euren Ruhm 20 deutsch HD erschien zuerst auf iGamezone.

from iGamezone http://ift.tt/2mWDQ5i

#iGamezone

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grandomegaminus · 7 years

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3/2/17 playlist

*** selections by dj dubious jay

hour 1

Igor Wakhévitch - “Hymne À Sathanael (Aimantation Des Forces),” “Grand Sabbat Luciférien (Régime Des Arches),” “Rituel De Guerre Des Esprits De La Terre” (Hathor [Reissue], Fauni Gena, 2012 [orig. 1973])

Univers Zero - “Combat” (Ceux Du Dehors, Recommended Records, 1981)***

Guru Guru - “Globetrotter” (Globetrotter, Brain, 1977)

...<talk break>...

Il Volo - “Gente In Amore” (Essere O Non Essere?, Ariola, 1975)***

Nico Fidenco - “Bellies Orient Dance” (Black Emanuelle: Orient Reportage [Reissue], Dagored, 2014 [orig. 1976])

Gong - “Tried So Hard” (Camembert Electrique [Reissue], Charly, 2014 [orig. 1971])***

Lonnie Smith - “For The Love Of It” (Funk Reaction, Lester Radio Corporation, 1977)

Magma - “Liriïk Necronomicus Kanht (In Which Our Heroes Ourgon & Gorgo Meet)” (Attahk, Tomato, 1978)***

hour 2

Miroslav Vitous - “New York City” (Magical Shepherd, Warner Bros. Records, 1976)

Sensations’ Fix - “Fragments of Light” (Fragments of Light [Reissue], Superior Viaduct, 2013 [orig. 1974])***

Caravelli - “Jeux De Bulles” (April Orchestra Vol. 31 - Claviers Electroniques, CBS, 1978)

Heldon - “Bal-A-Fou” (Interface [Reissue], Superior Viaduct, 2013 [orig. 1977])***

...<talk break>...

Midas Touch - “Jack-Knife” (Melting Pot, JW Theme Music, 1980)

Quiet Sun - “Bargain Classics” (Mainstream, Polydor, 1977)***

Michel Conte - “Le Pays Dont Je Suis” (Les Enfants Du Ciel, London, 1977)

Francis Monkman - “Main Title,” “Overture” (The Long Good Friday [Reissue], Silva Screen, 2016 [orig. 1983]) ***

Astral Sounds - “Rocks Away” (Melodious Thunk, Music De Wolfe, 1982)

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mexcine · 7 years

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The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) review

The LEGO Batman Movie is amusing enough, but hardly a masterpiece of comedic inspiration or execution. I smiled a few times and snickered audibly once, and was never really bored, so I guess I could say it was an entertaining experience. Not great, not transcendent or life-changing but decent enough.

I had similar feelings about The Lego Movie (2014)--it never quite got over the hump from "alright" to "really good." The LEGO Batman Movie retains much the same visual aesthetic as its predecessor (i.e., everything in the world has Lego-like textures), and also spreads on a thick layer of moralising (not quite as heavily as the first movie, thankfully) along with the humour. I had higher hopes for The LEGO Batman Movie because my favourite thing about the original was the Batman character, and while he's still good here, he's less funny because he's humanised and has to learn a lesson about friendship, love, teamwork, and so forth by the end of the story.

Perhaps I'd have found the film to be funnier if the self-centered Batman of The LEGO Movie hadn't been softened up for this one: of course, in that film he wasn't the center of attention and thus didn't have to have a dramatic arc that taught audiences a "lesson," so he could be an essentially annoying, one-note (and hilarious) character. But studios are understandably reluctant to have unsympathetic protagonists for their movies.

One aspect where The LEGO Batman Movie differs from its predecessor is its formal usage of Legos in its plot. The LEGO Movie was essentially about the nature of Legos and the world(s) created with them, and even included live-action sequences revealing that everything had been taking place in Lego-built locations in a family’s suburban basement. The LEGO Batman Movie pays only passing lip-service to this: there is a reference to Gotham City being constructed on several flat plates and thus vulnerable to destruction, and at the film's conclusion this catastrophe is foiled by having the characters all link together to prevent this (however, this would also have been possible just by having everyone grab each other, and thus interlocking Legos were not the only solution). There are almost no other meta-references to Legos and no live-action framing story to suggest the film is taking place in an artificial world.

[I should mention that, particularly in the early part of the movie, characters firing guns go "pew pew pew," which was mildly annoying. Since most everything else is "realistic"--within reason--this seems like a pointless affectation, especially since (as noted above) there is no suggestion that this film is being "imagined" by a child with a Lego set.]

The The LEGO Batman Movie could thus easily--with little or no revision-- have been done as a "straight" animated comedy. Of course, this would have defeated the main purposes of the project: (a) to sell Legos and (b) to capitalise on the popularity of The LEGO Movie. The "look" of the film would have been quite different, but in terms of the characters and what goes on in the plot, you could take the soundtrack from The LEGO Batman Movie and create a perfectly adequate film that just had an entirely different, non-Lego visual aesthetic--and, I would argue, it might have been just as enjoyable.

The plot: Batman fights crime in Gotham City, but his stubborn insistence on remaining emotionally detached (because he doesn't want to feel the same pain he felt upon the death of his parents) means he lives a lonely life. The Joker's feelings are hurt whene Batman won't admit he's the hero's "greatest enemy," so he concocts an elaborate plan which results in the release of numerous famous criminals from the Phantom Zone (including Sauron, Voldemort, King Kong, and so on). Batman has to cooperate with new police commissioner Barbara Gordon, his butler Alfred, and his accidentally-adopted son Dick Grayson aka Robin, in order to save Gotham from total destruction.

My ambivalent comments above shouldn't be taken as a condemnation of The LEGO Batman Movie. It's at least consistently amusing and there are bits throughout which are legitimately funny. As would be expected, the film is loaded with homages and meta-references and in-jokes, including a couple of digs at Suicide Squad. The various “group” scenes--the Joker's original gang, his Phantom Zone cohort, the Justice League at their anniversary party (to which Batman wasn't invited!)--are sometimes too crowded to get all of the jokes and recognise all of the comic book and movie characters (I still contend that the giant lizard monster more closely resembles Gorgo than Godzilla--despite his ability to breathe "fire"--although he has more arms than either of these screen creatures). I like the inclusion of monsters and villains who aren't part of the DC/Warner Bros. product line, including King Kong, Dracula, Gorgo and/or Godzilla, Jaws, the Wicked Witch of the West and Sauron.

The dialogue is quite good and the voice acting is fine. The only actors whose names I knew in advance of the screening were Will Arnett (Batman) and Zach Galifanakis (the Joker), and I was quite surprised to see the all-star lineup of supporting players--Conan O'Brien, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Cera, Ralph Fiennes, Rosario Dawson, Eddie Izzard, Seth Green, Jermaine Clement, Channing Tatum, Hector Elizondo, Mariah Carey (?!), among others--although most of these amount to little more than cameos (Cera as Robin and Dawson as Barbara Gordon are the exceptions).

I will throw in one more minor criticism of The LEGO Batman Movie: when Bruce Wayne first sees Barbara Gordon, he's smitten (so much so that in his distraction he inadvertently agrees to adopt Dick Grayson). This initial attraction is almost immediately tempered by her insistence that Batman can no longer by Gotham's lone wolf vigilante, and their relationship is adversarial throughout most of the rest of the picture, so perhaps it is acceptable to have him describe Barbara as just his platonic partner at the climax. Still, that would suggest that his original favourable reaction to her was based solely on her appearance, which is curiously un-PC.

The LEGO Batman Movie isn't great but it's certainly good enough to see at least once (perhaps twice just to get all of the in-jokes).

#the lego batman movie #movie sequel #comic book movie #CGI-heavy film #comedy film #animated movie

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