It’s been three years since Steven Spielberg last had a film in theaters bearing his credit as director. This year, however, we get two: the WWI stage play adaptation War Horse, opening on December 28, and the long-in-development The Adventures of Tintin, which hits Europe in little over a month and will play in the US beginning on December 23.
Both these films have had a low profile so far, at least in the US. There’s just one trailer for War Horse, for example. The film nerd crowd has been all over Tintin because of the fact that it represents a union between Spielberg, Peter Jackson and WETA, but even with that in mind I feel like US audiences are relatively ignorant of the film. A few preview rolls of footage have been shown at conventions and press events, but there’s a lot of audience awareness left to raise.
So for those who are still a bit in the dark about Tintin, or just want to see more evidence of what Spielberg, Jackson and WETA have achieved with the visual presentation, check out a massive gallery of new stills below. Read More »
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Andy Serkis’ work in Rise of the Planet of the Apes locks his position amongst legendary ‘monster’ actors such as Lon Chaney, Sr, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Boris Karloff. That might not seem to be the greatest compliment at first; that roster of actors shouldn’t be marginalized so. I think all would bristle at being considered as performers we take seriously only when they work behind makeup and prosthetics or their digital equivalents.
The fact, however, is that Andy Serkis’ best work has been done in conjunction with groundbreaking washes of pixels. Beginning with his portrayal of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, continuing on through Peter Jackson’s King Kong and now culminating with Caesar, the ape at the center of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the partnership between the actor and effects house WETA has done far more than most to advance the idea of what the nature of screen acting really is.
Serkis and WETA lend Caesar a moving depth of personality that goes beyond the bounds we’re accustomed to seeing in non-human characters. And, as many of his interactions with the other simian characters are necessarily devoid of dialogue, the film displays a spirit that cuts closer to pure cinema than I expect from the seventh film in the 40-year old franchise. Read More »
Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens this Friday but it’s already begun screening and the buzz is big. Peter tweeted that “Rise of the Planet of the Apes vindicates this summer movie season.” George Roush of AMC echoed that by saying “Rise of The Planet of the Apes is hands down one of the best movies of the year.” Edward Douglas of Coming Soon says “Rise of the Apes was absolutely fantastic– one of the best franchise reboots since Batman Begins. Andy Serkis gives an inspired performance.” And Devin Faraci of Badass Digest added the following: “What’s great about APES: the apes. They work, completely and totally. They are the heart and life of the film.”
Which leads us to today’s video. It’s of how WETA used innovative motion capture technology to create the apes in the film. Check it out after the jump and read more Apes praise. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 by Angie Han
20th Century Fox has been working hard to promote Rise of the Planet of the Apes, releasing trailers, clips, and even a series of viral videos. With just a couple weeks to go until the film’s opening, the studio has released another new clip, this time introduced by star Andy Serkis. The scene shows off main ape Caesar (Serkis) and his relationship to his caretaker Charles Rodman (John Lithgow) before all that “taking over the world” stuff happens. Watch the scene, which clocks in at just over three minutes, after the jump.
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At this point what more is there to say about yet another dwarf reveal from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? (Other than, perhaps, “uh, where’s Thorin?”) Here is the latest image dispatch from Peter Jackson‘s version of Middle-Earth, featuring Ken Stott as Balin (on the left) and Graham McTavish as Dwalin.
These two guys are peers, more or less, for Thorin, the dwarf who assembles the company that travels from the Shire to the Misty Mountain. We’ll likely see Thorin next week, and hopefully a couple of the new human character, too. In the meantime, see the full new image below. Read More »
Here’s the first full-length trailer for The Adventures of Tintin, which Steven Spielberg directed as a mo-cap animated adaptation of one of Herge‘s classic Tintin tomes. This is our first good look at the action and adventure promised by the title and poster, and our best look yet at the animation, produced by Peter Jackson and enabled by WETA. Jamie Bell plays Tintin, who finds a replica of the ship Unicorn, and is led to treasure and danger. Andy Serkis plays his cohort Captain Haddock, while Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play the bumbling detectives Thompson and Thompson. This trailer gives a quick look at the villain Red Rackham (Daniel Craig) as it gives off the same sort of old-school adventure vibe that Steven Spielberg once captured so well in the first Indiana Jones films. Can The Adventures of Tintin bottle that same lightning once more? Make an early call by watching the trailer after the break. Read More »
Peter Jackson just released a video allowing us to fly across Middle Earth with him, scouting locations for The Hobbit. The first block of the massive 254 day shoot on Jackson’s two part version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book recently came to a close and, to mark the occasion, the director has finally released his second production video. Video number one came soon after the beginning of filming and focused on the rituals of prepping such a huge undertaking. Now, almost three months later with 20% of the shoot in the bag, this second video focuses on location scouting for the second block of filming which beings in September. Check it out after the jump. Read More »
Here are two projects that might happen, but at this point the safest approach seems to be an emphasis on ‘might.’ One is a Jimi Hendrix biopic that has been gestating for some time with André Benjamin (aka André 3000 of OutKast) playing the iconic rocker. The other is a new version of George Orwell’s classic novel Animal Farm, which could be a reunion of Rise of the Planet of the Apes talents Andy Serkis and Rupert Wyatt. Details on both are after the break. Read More »
