Time circuits on. Flux Capacitor… fluxxing. Engine running. All right!

It has been a while since the last blog (for those that tend to have a gander) so it seems about time that I got back on the old blogsphere. So what better way to start a new blog then with the recent re-release of Robert Zemeckis’s original ‘Back to the Future’ I thought with this particular blog I would chime in with my own thoughts and reflections on this very special film.

Released in 1985 this film has two very special things which draw me to it, firstly I was born on the date of the American release of the film, hopefully not flying out at 88 miles per hour with two lines of fire behind me. And secondly the first film I saw in the cinema (at least the one I can remember so vividly) was the final part in the trilogy. So as you can see this series seems to be part of my filmic DNA if you will.

But if for a moment we ignore my sentimental reasons behind my love affair with this series (which I have watched back to back every year leading up to the eve of my birthday) what is it exactly that makes this one of the most loved films of a particular generation. Well for starters it still feels as fresh and original as when it was first released, the narrative still erring on the better side of high concepts genre films from the 80’s, and the fact that after some 25 years since its original release it has not really dated as much as say other films concerning time travel. It still has fantastic performances from both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd (as Marty McFly and Doc Brown respectfully) least I forget a possible career best from Lea Thompson as well.

It is a family film which caters so well for all age demographics (similar to how Pixar are in more recent times) it has moments of adult themes but also the spectacle of wonder and amazement for the younger crowd. That it manages to balance these two mixes so well is a testament to abilities of the filmmakers who were able to fully realise their story. The narrative at its most basic is a simple story of family, while at its most complex (particularly in the case of the sequels) is the intertwined nature of time travel, alternative realities and what is deemed ethical. Surprisingly deep stuff for a Hollywood feature film.

While in Marty Mcfly and Doc Brown we have characters the audience can relate to as actual human beings and friends. Even if after some pondering, it does seem a tad weird that these two are friends, but best not to think to hard about that. With Marty we are presented with the quintessential teenager, emotional, an outcast (in some respects) and frightened to take a chance in case he fails. While with Doc Brown we have a stereotypical mad scientist and feels like an eccentric uncle who is humoured by the immediate family. Two unlikely leads in a story about moral lessons and time travel, how on earth did this succeed?

Well it also helps to have a pretty cool time machine, in this case a modified Deloren, which over the years has become more synonymous with the accepted form of time machine and one which instantly becomes the first that springs to mind during heated, geeky discussions. On top of which there is the now iconic ‘Flux Capacitor’ at the back of the car, the blue lightening which illuminates the car during its time travel and the accumulation of the specialist sounds which accompany the machine. It is one of pop cultures most iconic movie vehicles up there with the Batmoblie, KITT from Knightrider, The General Lee from Dukes of Hazard, Mr T’s GMC truck and Phantasm’s Semi-Cuda. Ok maybe not the last one (it is just a personal favourite of mine) but the time machine has still managed to ingrain its self into the public consciousness, which is just another in a long line of achievements for the film.

Then there is the classic and instantly recognisable score by the legendary Alvin Silversteri. When those first few bars of the score are heard it instantly brings a wave of nostalgia crashing over my subconscious, that I can not help but have a giant grin appear on my face. It is one of the rare scores which has been on repeat play on my MP3 player and never manages to get tiring or boring.

It also contains more quotable lines then any cheesy action flick, such as: ‘1.21 giggawatts’ ‘Make like a tree….and get out of here’ ‘Jesus Christ Doc….you’ve disintegrated Einstein’ and many more, too numerous to list here.

Then there is the fact it contains two of the best moments ever…..seriously!

First we have the fact that skateboarding was invented by Marty as a means of escape from Biff and his cronies. This leads to one of the more original Hollywood chase sequences which still have the ability to be fantastic, funny and suspenseful all at the same time. Then the second is the infamous guitar sequence where Marty invents classical rock n’roll with his rendition of Johnny Be Good, as toe tapping a good scene as ever to be found in a movie about time travel. One which has also been found parodied more recently in an episode of Family Guy, almost scene for scene.

All of this and much, much more, not bad for a film which is half a century old and like most things classical only seems to get better with age. Which leaves me to say something along the lines of Doc Brown: When this baby hits 88 miles per hour….your gonna see some serious shit!

Back To The Future, I salute your movie greatness.

Avada Kedavara!!

(Guest blogger for this post, for a bit of a change)

Hubble bubble toil and trouble, abracadabra – these are never the words heard in the series! No, things like ‘Harry Potter must die’, ministry of magic, the Weasley’s oh and my favourite the ‘one who must not be named’. Yes my fellow muggles, I am talking about the last adventure of thee Harry Potter. I introduce Harry Potter and the deathly hallows. For it wasn’t long ago that I had thrills and excitement reading Harry Potter in libraries when I was 15 years old and now to be here 10 years later (woops I’ve given away my age) to witness a momentous history in the making – for fellow fantasy enthusiast like myself, I am actually quite excited.

For those who have not kept up with the series, because of fears of looking ‘immature’, I’m afraid a good telling off is in order. You have from now till November to watch its predecessors so that you can enjoy the full effect of the finale and let’s face it, do you think its ‘intended’ audience would really get how dark, how sinister this film is or even what a Horcrux is?.

Its no lie Harry Potter has come a long way, from directors like Chris Columbus painting him out as a child thrown into a world of magic to Alfonso Cuarón portraying the true hardship and struggles a 13 year old should never experience. However, with more visual teasers and photos released, my favourite so far would have to be Harry Potter 7 and I have only the trailer to help make that decision.

Although, recently disappointed by previous Harry Potter films (none to mention…okay, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) I am inclined to believe that Harry Potter 7 will truly be worth the wait…I mean it had the awesome trailer, all the right marketing just like Harry Potter
6, but again I was disappointed. Once I saw the trailer I was amazed by its special effects and I thought right I wanna see this. But after watching Harry Potter 6, it differed slightly portraying the film to be more of a biographical tale and less of an adventurous one, don’t get me wrong, it was alright it was just missing quite a few thing and had me confused some times. (HP 6TRAILER SHOWN )The question on my mind was what has David Yates done to harry potter 6 and can his work on the final film be saved or at least done respectively….

After his directional debut of the fifth installment, I was overly pleased by his work and felt okay, cool, we have something here that looks awesome! You had it all Romance, Drama, Death, betrayal and cool fighting.

It had everything only nerds and geeks alike could ever dream of seeing; the big fight at the ministry, the sad death of Sirius and of course my favourite part – Dolores Umbridge hilarious departure from Hogwarts. Perhaps I didn’t think much of the 6th book, because it wasn’t as interesting as its predecessor, off course with the exception of ‘mourning’ over Dumbledores death. Anyway 3 ½ years later I have yet to see just how truthful the HP7 trailer is; will it be full of intense fights involving the wondrous words of “expellaramous”, “stupefy”, “levicorpus”, “Avada Kedavar” or maybe a piece of ‘alohomora’. How about the chance to see a true battle between Voldermort and Harry (as it has been shown in the first trailer – or do we have to wait 8 months to see that). Either way my fellow muggles, we are sure in for a surprise this November and maybe to celebrate I bring my firebolt* (*version differs slightly) and park a space in the back row and watch the beginning of an end.

Busy Issy

(Busy Issy is the writer of this Blog post and is her first film post-Thegreatob)

“Nobody follow us or I kill myself and then her!”

After the first trailer for Tom Cruise’s new star vehicle “Knight and Day”, I was left feeling a little underwhelmed. It seemed uninteresting, stupidly inept to the point of absurdity and downright clichéd for Cruise (agent on the run how very 96’ Mission Impossible of Hollywood). Also if you know my writing, I have for better or worse lost faith in Hollywood summer Blockbusters. But being the fickle film fan that I am, I thought “why not give the new trailer a go”, thankfully I am quite glad I did. On the plus side this looks surprisingly light hearted and fun, on the minus I might actually go to the cinema to see it after my initial reservations have subsided.

Directed by James Mangold of “Walk the Line” and “Identity” fame is tackling the action raines, and if there is one thing these new trailers have is enough action if little on story, but this is summer blockbuster territory so story is the least of a big budget film. So after the first few trailers uninspiring trailers which felt like a limp mix of the Mission Impossible films with added parts “Mr and Mrs Smith”, has interestingly turned into an old school action buddy comedy (so my 80’s and 90’s action film heart is a fluttering at that prospect) with what seems to be good chemistry between the leads.

And so they should have as this is the second time Cruise and Diaz have teamed up in less than ten years after 2001’s “Vanilla Sky” (ps as a side note if you have only seen this remake check out “Abre los ojos”-aka “Open your eyes”, worth checking out), so they have chemistry already built upon which bodes better for the films enjoyment within my books. Then there is the feeling of a good light hearted summer romp which has been few and far between over the last few summers, as each big budget action epic seems to take its self too seriously. With these new trailers there is a sense of fun with its funny one liners such as my blog title, check out the trailer to see for yourself as it seems Cruise is on top form both comically and physically.

Then there is the action set pieces and boy oh boy do they throw them at you with this new trailer. It is impressively outlandish and over the top in a way that only a big budget can be, it also contains a car flip to make “Die Hard 4.0” envious. I know what you will be thinking for those who don’t like Cruise, why did it not land on him, personally I think he grinned it away, but I digress. What is shown within its two minutes and thirty seconds is a chase through the streets of Madrid during the Bull Run including car flips and shootouts within the same sequence, lots of explosions either on the motorway or on an island. All contain impressive crowd pleasing multiplex moments by being incredibly loud and bombastic in its style, which ironically suits its stars, Cruise in particular seems to be in his element with the action as well as his crazed and whacked out charm offensive.

This is certainly shaping up to be an enjoyable piece of big budget fluff, ideal for summer crowds who are looking for a quick action fix. From my own point of view the action sequences have managed to get my blood going, now for a Hollywood film that has been an occasion all too rare in recent years.

Check out the latest two trailers for yourself and let me know what you think; they certainly are not breaking new ground with film. But I dare you not to crack a smile and find part of the trailers at least a little bit enjoyable. Myself, I am glad I gave the new trailers a look it will not be genre defining or even original, but it will be fun. And in the summer sometimes that is all you need even if Cruise is grinning like an idiot, least its better then a recent Michael Bay schlockbuster.

Holly-Greek-Wood

So 2009 seemed to be the cinematic year of the robot, or rather man Vs machine in varying forms both big budget such as the abysmal transformers 2 which on repeat viewings really is honestly and truthfully monumentally awful as it fails at being anything other then loud and migraine inducing (and not in over used editing sense) in the sense that is so bum-numbingly boring and utterly inane at the same time, it actually defies convention. Subsequently it must represent what an over excited Michael Bay does, when he Bay-ism’s over the idea of big bangs and stereotypically racist robots.

While on the other end of the spectrum you had Duncan (Zowie Bowie) Jones’s directorial debut “Moon” a low budget but beautifully conceived homage to 70’s science fiction (a la alien and 2001 a space odyssey) . But all of this was earlier this year and unfortunately not the topic of discussion for this current blog, no what I want to lightly skim over is the lead up to some of next years bigger summer cannon, more specifically Hollywood’s sudden producing of Greek Mythology themed action blockbusters.

“At my signal, unleash hell”……hang on wrong film….woops!

March of 2010 is going to be something to look forward to with the spectacularly epic release of Louis Leterrier’s Clash Of The Titans (oddly for some reason the summer blockbuster season seems to be getting earlier every year) , from the first trailers and officially released stills this is slowly shaping up to be a remake (its not a reimagining that is just a coined Hollywood term) and I am not a huge fan of the constant stream of big budgeted remakes of both utterly timeless classics and some of the pure stinkers of yesteryear. Check out the trailer and see what you think has Hollywood blown its Greek mythology or ruined what many purists out there love about the 1981 Harryhausen animated epic.

Sam Worthington is slowly gathering speed as a new Russell Crowe (excuse the obvious Australian referencing) and all the connotations are inherently present and correct in this first trailer, the only thing his character Perseus is missing saying is “Are you not entertained!” although it is more then likely to be uttered by my own fair lips more so, then Perseus himself.

I am actually quite excited about this as Leterrier did a stand up job on the Hulk “reimagining” (I truly hate that description that keeps getting banded about) as it was both exciting , fun and emotional particularly when watching some of the exercised scenes that did not make the final cut. So I can see why he was chosen to carry the effects heavy burden of Titans epic scale. Come March next year it will see the start of Hollywoods already apparent hot new genre trend for the summer of 2010, as Clash of the Titans is not the only Greek Mythology themed cinematic indulgence.

“Harry who?”

Chris Columbus started the adaptations of the first two Harry Potter films and although not as critically acclaimed as the later instalments have been, it was still a good starting point for the series. Now almost ten years later after starting the first Potter picture he is at it again with another teen fantasy series, in the form of author Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson” series of books. From what I have gathered it is a popular series of novels in the states, not to the scale of Potter but it has a modest following. The story concerns a young boy named Percy Jackson whose father was a Greek god so with his friends must battle various demonic creatures and encounter assorted nods and references to original Greek Mythology. From the look of the first trailer I think there is hope of this being some sort of moderate success and bankable hit for the studio almost with the sense of déjà vu hot on the heels of the tail end of Harry Potters reign. I am not sure, definitely aiming at the teen boy market with his one, and Columbus has always been a competent and fun director, which makes this one to keep an eye out for at least. I think after these two films there needs to be a short break in Greek Mythology themed genre pieces, there is only so much of Demi-gods and chosen ones that I can tolerate and may Zeus shove a lightning bolt up my ass (insert Samuel L Jackson impression here circa 1995, Die Hard With A Vengeance) if the studio heads that be decide otherwise. Looks like 2010 is going to be the year of the gods and Liam Nesson in a big beard although quite possibly without a lightsaber, somebody tell George Lucas Qui Gon Jinn is alive!!

Comic Book adaptations

With the release of the big screen adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen looming ever closer (I personally can not wait) it looks set to be the first adaptation of an Alan Moore graphic novel which could be good, banishing memories of the atrocious League of Extrodinary Gentlemen,  the equally awful From Hell (read the novel it really is epic in every sense) and the slightly medicore V for Vendetta. So it makes me wonder bout other comic-to-film adaptations which I have either enjoyed or been bored though particually as the source matrieal for some is not ideal for filmmaking or even that intresting. Since 2000 there has been on average around 2 to 3 comic to film adaptations a year, the majority being Marvel comic based and I think this is down to the popularity of both the first Blade film and the first X-Men film. Immensley enjoyable both in their narrative and set pieces with Blade being the real standout with its bloody , brutal vampire rave which sets the tone for the rest of the film. Managing to be a mature comic book adaptation with a black superhero (or rather anti hero)  and being better then its orignal 70′s source matieral.

Each year with each adaptation Marvel seem to be leading the pack with more hits then misses, last year there was both Iron Man and The Increible Hulk released a month between each other both containing elements which tied both films into something bigger (whether we will see the avengers film is another thing), and for geeky fanboys everywhere it was the start of something intresting, two Marvel characters from different film studios directly crossing over into each others films.

So at the moment Marvel is the forerunner for enjoyable film adaptations with DC slacking on the film front, its primery source being Batman (The Dark Knight is a pheonminal film) and  Superman (which is being planned to be Re-booted again). It will be intresting to see characters such as The Green Lantern , Wonderwoman and The Flash (a personal favorate of mine) adapted on to the big screen instead of just tv series (which they are ultimately quite good at doing).

The last few years there has been a steady decline in Marvels film features such as Electra (felt rushed and quite shallow), Ghost rider which I actually enjoyed though not on a level as much as sayX-Men 2 or Spiderman 2 but purely for its wow factor of a flaming skull headed anti-hero. Same goes for Rise of The Silver Surfer the fantastic four sequal, the silver surfer was amazing to see on the big screen the rest of the film was a bit cheesy to say the least.

But comic book films seem to have a long way from the first adapatations , but pre-Blade and X-Men seemed to be missing that core spark that made them so much fun to watch, a film maker who was intrested in the various backstories and mythology of the characters, each new film seems to be written and directed (some better then others) by true fans of the source matieral and as Watchmen comes closer I hope this is a turning point for more faithful comic book adaptations.

Embrace the Inner Geek!