Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ “Kong: Skull Island” transports the big screen’s favorite giant gorilla to the Vietnam era (riffing on “Apocalypse Now”) and takes full advantage of the land-out-of-time motif. So it’s fitting that the film also returns to the original 1933 stop-motion design of “King Kong” to animate the beast.
“Kong” creator Willis O’Brien would be pleased. He’d also be amazed at the technological advancement, which even surpasses Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake that won the VFX Oscar for its CG and performance-captured brilliance.
“What’s interesting is that Kong is intentionally not a gorilla in this film,” said Ilm’s VFX supervisor Jeff White. “Jordan wanted to go back to the 1933 version where Kong was more of a new species — a hybrid of man and gorilla. And we came back to the idea that he’s a movie monster, so he doesn’t walk on all fours. And...
“Kong” creator Willis O’Brien would be pleased. He’d also be amazed at the technological advancement, which even surpasses Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake that won the VFX Oscar for its CG and performance-captured brilliance.
“What’s interesting is that Kong is intentionally not a gorilla in this film,” said Ilm’s VFX supervisor Jeff White. “Jordan wanted to go back to the 1933 version where Kong was more of a new species — a hybrid of man and gorilla. And we came back to the idea that he’s a movie monster, so he doesn’t walk on all fours. And...
- 3/10/2017
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
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The Shannara Chronicles ends season 1 on a characteristically uneven finale. Will MTV renew the show for season 2?
This review contains spoilers.
1.10 Ellcrys
As The Shannara Chronicles reaches its finale, it’s difficult to know which version of the show will turn up. Will it be the entertaining fantasy romp with a mature edge as demonstrated in Changeling and Pykon or the cheesy and cliché-ridden mess that typified episodes such as week eight’s Utopia? Perhaps fittingly, Ellcrys provides a little bit of both but ultimately delivers more of the former, ensuring an enjoyable, if flawed, ending to a show that has attracted derision and lukewarm praise in mostly equal measure.
The episode kicks things off with a less than stellar quasi-dream sequence featuring Amberle in conversation with a manifestation of the Ellcrys tree. The scene is designed to inform viewers of something book readers will only be...
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The Shannara Chronicles ends season 1 on a characteristically uneven finale. Will MTV renew the show for season 2?
This review contains spoilers.
1.10 Ellcrys
As The Shannara Chronicles reaches its finale, it’s difficult to know which version of the show will turn up. Will it be the entertaining fantasy romp with a mature edge as demonstrated in Changeling and Pykon or the cheesy and cliché-ridden mess that typified episodes such as week eight’s Utopia? Perhaps fittingly, Ellcrys provides a little bit of both but ultimately delivers more of the former, ensuring an enjoyable, if flawed, ending to a show that has attracted derision and lukewarm praise in mostly equal measure.
The episode kicks things off with a less than stellar quasi-dream sequence featuring Amberle in conversation with a manifestation of the Ellcrys tree. The scene is designed to inform viewers of something book readers will only be...
- 3/2/2016
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
In just three movies, South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (who now lives in Canada, actually) has established himself as a science-fiction visionary, fearlessly taking audiences into the distant future while reminding them very much of the world in which they live. This can mean shining a light on refugee aliens in a derelict Johannesburg in "District 9" (an allegory for immigration and Apartheid, amongst other things) and making the gap between the wealthy and the poor a glittery technological gulf exemplified by a ritzy space station in the unfairly maligned "Elysium."
In his newest film, "Chappie," Blomkamp returns to Johannesburg to focus on a broken police robot who is given a new personality chip by an intrepid inventor (Dev Patel) and then promptly stolen by a couple of low level thugs, played by Ninja and Yolandi Visser from the South African rap-rock outfit Die Antwoord. Oh, and Hugh Jackman plays a cargo short-wearing Luddite.
In his newest film, "Chappie," Blomkamp returns to Johannesburg to focus on a broken police robot who is given a new personality chip by an intrepid inventor (Dev Patel) and then promptly stolen by a couple of low level thugs, played by Ninja and Yolandi Visser from the South African rap-rock outfit Die Antwoord. Oh, and Hugh Jackman plays a cargo short-wearing Luddite.
- 3/4/2015
- by Drew Taylor
- Moviefone
The 13th Tribeca Film Festival has announced its complete lineup for next month’s New York celebration, which runs April 16-27. Culled from more than 6,000 submissions, Tribeca 2014 includes 55 world premieres, 37 first-time filmmakers, and 22 female directors. Half the slate had been announced on Tuesday, with Spotlight, Midnight, and Storyscapes films unveiled today, as well as special screenings. “Spotlight and special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s program, both in range of styles and stories,” said Genna Terranova, Tribeca’s director of programming. “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we...
- 3/6/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Tribeca Film Festival 2014 world premieres include Every Secret Thing, Miss Meadows and Zombeavers.
Spotlight features 31 films comprising 22 narratives and nine documentaries, of which 20 receive world premieres. The Midnight section will open with Preservation and includes the Efm buzz title Zombeavers.
Special Screenings include 6, a work-in-progress documentary by The Cove director Louie Psihoyos. The transmedia Storyscapes line-up returns for the second year. As previously announced, the festival will open on April 16 with the Nas documentary Time Is Illmatic and runs through April 27.
“Spotlight and Special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s programme, both in range of styles and stories,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we see personal relationships at pivotal moments of transition. We look forward to sharing these engaging stories with audiences.”
“Whether they made us laugh, squirm, or plain scared the heck out of us, each of the...
Spotlight features 31 films comprising 22 narratives and nine documentaries, of which 20 receive world premieres. The Midnight section will open with Preservation and includes the Efm buzz title Zombeavers.
Special Screenings include 6, a work-in-progress documentary by The Cove director Louie Psihoyos. The transmedia Storyscapes line-up returns for the second year. As previously announced, the festival will open on April 16 with the Nas documentary Time Is Illmatic and runs through April 27.
“Spotlight and Special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s programme, both in range of styles and stories,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we see personal relationships at pivotal moments of transition. We look forward to sharing these engaging stories with audiences.”
“Whether they made us laugh, squirm, or plain scared the heck out of us, each of the...
- 3/6/2014
- by [email protected] (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Tribeca Film Festival 2014 world premieres include Every Secret Thing, Miss Meadows and Zombeavers.
Spotlight features 31 films comprising 22 narratives and nine documentaries, of which 20 receive world premieres. The Midnight section will open with Preservation and includes the Efm buzz title Zombeavers.
Special Screenings include 6, a work-in-progress documentary by The Cove director Louie Psihoyos. The transmedia Storyscapes line-up returns for the second year. As previously announced, the festival will open on April 16 with the Nas documentary Time Is Illmatic and runs through April 27.
“Spotlight and Special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s programme, both in range of styles and stories,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we see personal relationships at pivotal moments of transition. We look forward to sharing these engaging stories with audiences.”
“Whether they made us laugh, squirm, or plain scared the heck out of us, each of the...
Spotlight features 31 films comprising 22 narratives and nine documentaries, of which 20 receive world premieres. The Midnight section will open with Preservation and includes the Efm buzz title Zombeavers.
Special Screenings include 6, a work-in-progress documentary by The Cove director Louie Psihoyos. The transmedia Storyscapes line-up returns for the second year. As previously announced, the festival will open on April 16 with the Nas documentary Time Is Illmatic and runs through April 27.
“Spotlight and Special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s programme, both in range of styles and stories,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we see personal relationships at pivotal moments of transition. We look forward to sharing these engaging stories with audiences.”
“Whether they made us laugh, squirm, or plain scared the heck out of us, each of the...
- 3/6/2014
- by [email protected] (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
A lot has changed since Alan Jones from Total Film coined the term Splat Pack referring to a group of gory movie makers who sought to stretch the boundaries of what would be considered acceptable in an R rated film. The sea of blood and guts that rolled across the cinema screen starting in 2002 gradually pulled back to low tide. PG-13 became the new R rating once again and the MPAA decided to pull itself up by its bootstraps to enforce its code. For the Splat Pack, originally consisting of Rob Zombie, Eli Roth (the Frank Sinatra of the Pack according to Quentin Tarantino), James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Robert Rodriquez (added later by association), Greg McLean, Neil Marshall, Alexadre Aja and Darren Lynn Bousman, filmmaking has gone as usual, and each has made a substantial contribution to the horror genre in a positive way, testing the limits of our stomach...
- 8/8/2013
- by Jimmy Terror
- The Liberal Dead
How about that Disney/"Star Wars" news, eh? It's like the shot heard 'round the galaxy right now, given the magnitude of the announcement and the reactions to the news. We're thinking it ranks pretty high on the Nerd News Richter Scale, which got us thinking about other memorable moments in geeky history, along with the moments we wish would register on that scale.
Here are the top 10 events (several of which are real and several on our wish list) that register on our Nerd News Richter.
9.0 Disney Buys Marvel: Up until yesterday's announcement, the 2009 shocker that Disney had acquired Marvel was the most interesting aquisition news to come along in quite some time.
7.2 Ridley Scott Returns to "Alien": The most devout "Alien" fans could not allow themselves to be fully excited for the long-rumored reboot/return to the franchise until Fox made the announcement that Scott was at the helm.
Here are the top 10 events (several of which are real and several on our wish list) that register on our Nerd News Richter.
9.0 Disney Buys Marvel: Up until yesterday's announcement, the 2009 shocker that Disney had acquired Marvel was the most interesting aquisition news to come along in quite some time.
7.2 Ridley Scott Returns to "Alien": The most devout "Alien" fans could not allow themselves to be fully excited for the long-rumored reboot/return to the franchise until Fox made the announcement that Scott was at the helm.
- 10/31/2012
- by Kara Warner
- MTV Movies Blog
We've updated our Film4 Fright Fest line-up story with tons of images. Read on to see what you may have missed and what's brand spanking new! Dig it!
Programme - Screen 1
Thursday Aug 23
Opening Film - The Seasoning House (World Premiere)
Special make-up prosthetics and splatter genius Paul Hyett makes his directorial debut with a harrowing exploration into tense claustrophobia, hard-hitting action and rollercoaster suspense. In a Balkan brothel, where girls kidnapped by soldiers in war-torn zones are prostituted to the military and civilians alike, Angel (Robin Day) is the deaf mute orphan enslaved to care for the inmates. But unbeknownst to her captors, she moves between the walls and crawlspaces of the seasoning house planning her escape. Psychological horror in the nerve-shredding Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski style but with an ultra-modern twist.
89 mins Director: Paul Hyett UK 2012
Rosie Day – Angel
Sean Pertwee – Goran
Kevin Howarth – Viktor
David Lemberg...
Programme - Screen 1
Thursday Aug 23
Opening Film - The Seasoning House (World Premiere)
Special make-up prosthetics and splatter genius Paul Hyett makes his directorial debut with a harrowing exploration into tense claustrophobia, hard-hitting action and rollercoaster suspense. In a Balkan brothel, where girls kidnapped by soldiers in war-torn zones are prostituted to the military and civilians alike, Angel (Robin Day) is the deaf mute orphan enslaved to care for the inmates. But unbeknownst to her captors, she moves between the walls and crawlspaces of the seasoning house planning her escape. Psychological horror in the nerve-shredding Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski style but with an ultra-modern twist.
89 mins Director: Paul Hyett UK 2012
Rosie Day – Angel
Sean Pertwee – Goran
Kevin Howarth – Viktor
David Lemberg...
- 7/3/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
The Hobbit Begins Casting to the Disdain of the Screen Actors Guild
The casting process has begun for the two-part film adaptation of The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien; but the SAG has issued a warning urging actors to stay away. [Click on the image to enlarge] An open casting call for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit has been published in New Zealand's daily newspaper the Wellington Dominion Post (via The Playlist), asking for actors and actresses who fit certain height requirements: The Hobbit Casting Department are starting to prep their short and tall persons file in a search for Scale Doubles for the film. Please Note: This is Not an extras casting call. There will be other casting calls at a later stage for different roles. Although director Guillermo del Toro recently relinquished his duties with the two-part film, Peter Jackson is apparently still hoping...
- 9/25/2010
- by Pietro Filipponi
- The Daily BLAM!
London, Sep 25 – Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films has announced in New Zealand it is looking for people with diminutive structure to appear in ‘The Hobbit’.
Advertising in a Wellington newspaper states that Wingnut Films is looking for men 123cm (4ft) to 158cm (5ft 2ins) tall and women measuring 123cm to 153cm (5ft).
Wingnut spokesman told a foreign news agency that the call was for “scale doubles” for actors with speaking roles, and further auditions for extras would take place at a later date.
“Scale doubles appear in some wide shots in place of our actors and with other adult actors when we need people to look smaller or taller,”.
Advertising in a Wellington newspaper states that Wingnut Films is looking for men 123cm (4ft) to 158cm (5ft 2ins) tall and women measuring 123cm to 153cm (5ft).
Wingnut spokesman told a foreign news agency that the call was for “scale doubles” for actors with speaking roles, and further auditions for extras would take place at a later date.
“Scale doubles appear in some wide shots in place of our actors and with other adult actors when we need people to look smaller or taller,”.
- 9/25/2010
- by News
- RealBollywood.com
Are you between the ages of 16 and over? with a height of 1.23 metres (4ft) to 1.58m (5ft 2in)? Then your in luck because the first advertised casting call for Sir Peter Jackson's The Hobbit has been....called. If your a resident of our fair country New Zealand, and match the requirements then you have the chance to roll on down to the capital this weekend to audition for a part in the upcoming Lotr prequel The Hobbit: Part 1 -- presuming it has no green-light I don't see the point in any further pre-production but you have to admire Jackson's sense of drive which was what made the last films so great.
This Thursday (Nz time) The Hobbit casting department posted an add in Nz newspaper The Dominion Post, calling all "short and tall" people to audition for the parts of scale doubles for speaking cast members -- and...
This Thursday (Nz time) The Hobbit casting department posted an add in Nz newspaper The Dominion Post, calling all "short and tall" people to audition for the parts of scale doubles for speaking cast members -- and...
- 9/25/2010
- by [email protected] (Alex Shatford)
- Cinema Sharks
Short Stars Wanted For Hobbit Movie
Long-delayed Lord Of The Rings prequel The Hobbit appears to be back on track after movie bosses issued a casting call for diminutive New Zealanders to star in the film.
The blockbuster, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's first book, has been on hold due to ongoing financial problems at MGM Studios, which was put up for sale in 2009 after falling heavily into debt.
Guillermo Del Toro quit the project because of the lengthy delays and the movie remains without a director after Lord Of The Rings helmer Peter Jackson insisted he would not be able to take over, but would remain as a producer.
But work on the film appears to be slowly moving forward with the news that executives at Jackson's Wingnut Films production company have issued a casting call for wannabe stars under five foot two inches (153 centimetres) tall in New Zealand, where the movie will be shot.
An advert posted in the country's Dominion Post newspaper on Wednesday revealed casting bosses are looking for men and women aged 16 and over to work as "scale doubles" for the film's cast.
A spokesman for Wingnut Films adds, "Scale doubles appear in some wide shots in place of our actors and with other adult actors when we need people to look smaller or taller."...
The blockbuster, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's first book, has been on hold due to ongoing financial problems at MGM Studios, which was put up for sale in 2009 after falling heavily into debt.
Guillermo Del Toro quit the project because of the lengthy delays and the movie remains without a director after Lord Of The Rings helmer Peter Jackson insisted he would not be able to take over, but would remain as a producer.
But work on the film appears to be slowly moving forward with the news that executives at Jackson's Wingnut Films production company have issued a casting call for wannabe stars under five foot two inches (153 centimetres) tall in New Zealand, where the movie will be shot.
An advert posted in the country's Dominion Post newspaper on Wednesday revealed casting bosses are looking for men and women aged 16 and over to work as "scale doubles" for the film's cast.
A spokesman for Wingnut Films adds, "Scale doubles appear in some wide shots in place of our actors and with other adult actors when we need people to look smaller or taller."...
- 9/24/2010
- WENN
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