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December 18, 2009

Iron Man 2 - First Trailer

Iron-man-war-machine

Thanks a lot Marvel. Wait until I’ve started my Christmas break before dropping the unutterably awesome new trailer for Iron Man 2.


Watch the embed below or, probably more sensibly, jump over to YouTube to watch it in full screen HD-o-vision. See Robert Downey Junior being all insouciant and cocky as Tony Stark again.  See Whiplash trash a racing car, see Black Widow hit the ground like Silk Spectre II, but most of all…


See Iron Man and War Machine together blowing stuff up.


Now, unless someone can invent a way of fast-forwarding time until next May I’m getting back to my Christmas wrapping…

Posted at 12:05 PM in Avengers Assemble!, Best of 2010, Iron Man, Trailer Park | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 16, 2009

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland | New trailer and pictures

Here are some tempting snippets from Tim Burton's 3D epic Alice in Wonderland, set to hit UK cinema screens on March 5th 2010. 

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Featuring an all-star cast, pushed through Burton's visionary blender, state of the art Disney special effects and vocal support from a wealth of UK talent, be prepared for a wonderful balance of adventure, shocks and comedy.

More pics and a the new trailer after the jump...

Continue reading "Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland | New trailer and pictures" »

Posted at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

December 14, 2009

Avatar: The Buzz review

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Let’s start, as we often do, with the basics: Avatar is a brilliant movie and if you see it your 160-odd minutes will not be wasted.

Continue reading "Avatar: The Buzz review" »

Posted at 12:59 PM in Avatar | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

December 11, 2009

Avatar: Online reaction

With production costs rumoured to be in the region of $240 million, Avatar needs to do more than moderate business. The reputations of both 20th Century Fox and the film’s creator and Director James Cameron are on the line  - with a project of this magnitude and vaulting ambition even the slightest weakness would be seized upon by the internet chatterati.

But, so far, reaction has been entirely positive. Scoring 100% approval on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Avatar currently ranks alongside previous Cameron successes Terminator and Aliens.

The Sun focused on the Cameron’s revolutionary use of 3D technology: “People will look back on in years to come to comment on how it transformed cinema.

Anna Kier in The Independent also marvels at the film’s 3D immersiveness: “The final battle is worth the price of your 3D glasses alone.

Todd McCarthy, writing for Variety notes the long gestation period for the film, made necessary by all this technological development: “Cameron reportedly wrote the story, if not the full script, for "Avatar" at least 15 years ago but decided he had to wait until visual effects capabilities advanced sufficiently to credibly render his imagined world and its inhabitants. On this fundamental level, the picture is a triumph”

Kirk Honeycutt from The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film’s epic length flew by: “The movie is 161 minutes and flies by in a rush. Repeat business? You bet. "Titanic"-level business? That level may never be reached again, but after the film's December 18 release, 20th Century Fox will see more than enough grosses worldwide to cover its bet on Cameron”

Wendy Ide, writing for The Times also expresses some doubt that Avatar will equal the colossal success of Cameron’s previous effort but is still unstinting in her praise: “Will the film match Titanic’s gigantic box office haul of $1.8 billion? Possibly not. The soppy, soggy doomed love story of Jack and Rose hit a particular chord with audiences. But I would be very surprised if James Cameron didn’t have another sizable hit on his hands.”

Chris Hewitt, writing in highly rated specialist movie magazine Empire, is already looking forward to a sequel: “It’s a world, not to give too much away, that Cameron clearly fully intends to return to and further explore. When he does, our bags are already packed”

The only sour note to be found in any current report was a rather sceptical assessment of 3D’s future from Wales Online, quoting film lecturer Dr Nathan Abrams, who believes that the latest generation of the technology will prove to be a fad..

Fad or not, with early notices this positive, and with an even bigger marketing push expected over the weekend, Avatar seems set to be the cinema smash of 2009

Posted at 12:42 PM in Avatar | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBack (0)

Avatar: James Horner on composing the music

Owen Vaughan chats with James Horner, soundtrack composer for Braveheart, Titanic and now Avatar

 

 

Blockbuster Buzz - How do you follow a movie, a score like Titanic?


Horner Avatar is so different from Titanic. Visually it’s a masterpiece. In Titanic Jim was a lot more conventional in terms of what he did with his cameras. For Avatar he has invented a new camera technique. The film will have completely different look and feel, and it is just extraordinary to look at. In terms of what the music will be doing — it’s always an interesting dilemma. Visually, audiences are able to accept almost anything, no matter how avant garde, but in terms of film music, I can’t put something in front of them that’s light years ahead and expect them to accept it.

Blockbuster Buzz - That was George Lucas’s dilemma with Star Wars. He wanted the sound of the score to be familiar to audiences - 19th century, romantic music, big recognisable themes - because what was happening on screen was strange and unfamiliar.

Continue reading "Avatar: James Horner on composing the music" »

Posted at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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