The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Films

Archive for October, 2009

We begin our look at 1978 on this Halloween weekend, but we won’t be talking about the film Halloween until next week. We start with the top grossing films of the year before moving onto our good and bad lists… and end up arguing about how good at least one of the goods is!

The Bad Lists

The Good Lists

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Having a bad day? Consider Ross for a moment… every week he gets together with friends to record a podcast – it seems like all is mellow, perhaps too much so in the beginning, and then BAM! He is in the middle of yet another argument of opinions with Allen. I am sure he wonders why he bothers, but aren’t we all glad that he does )

John is MIA this week, but should be back next time!

This week we hate on James Cameron, love on Tom Hardy, and argue about what is really going on in Humpday.

Discussed in this episode:

• The Hurt Locker and the Oscars: The last word before nominations
• Box Office (Paranormal Activity reaches #1 – Saw Doesn’t!)
• Opening Next Week – This is It

GBU List: Awkward/Clunky Titles

• The Truth About James Cameron
• Spider-Man 4 Will Serve Up Some Campbell
• Might Tobe Hooper Return for More Texas Chainsaw Massacre?
• Charlize Theron & Tom Hardy Might Be Cast in Mad Max 4?
• Neill Blomkamp’s Next Sci-Fi Project Gets the Greenlight!
• Stallone is Going to Make Rocky 7 After Finishing Rambo 5

Review: Humpday

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We finish up 2004 with our Ugly and Top 5 lists, as well as all the dispute that comes with such proclamations! ¦¬)

The Ugly Lists

The Top 5 Lists

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Hmm… this is the slightly off episode of the podcast, a weak news week made way for discussion and theory for the future of cinemas, alternate revenue streams, and ninjas! Ninjas! NINJAS!!!

Discussed in this episode:

• Box Office (Where The Wild Things Are #1)
• Opening Next Week

GBU Lists: Children’s Books to Film

• The Hurt Locker Makes First Oscars Noise – we re-visit the Oscar rules that could lock The Hurt Locker out of contention, and how the Oscars have disappointed us in the past.
• Paramount DVD release dates angers exhibs – this leads to some theorizing of the future of theatres and alternate revenue streams

Review: Trick `r Treat

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In our second interview, Mark and Allen sit down with local actor, Alex Zahara and talk to him about his already prolific career, the business of film, acting, as well as the state and future of the entertainment industry. Alex generously shares tales from the sets of The 13th Warrior, Open Range, and 2012 with candour, humour and humility.

Alex Zahara grew up in a relatively small, Northern Alberta town, more known for its ties to the oil fields than that of the entertainment industry. Despite his humble beginnings, he now has been in 68 different productions. This versatile actor has been in everything from big budget Hollywood films (13th Warrior, Open Range, 2012) to television (Stargate SG1, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Fringe) to lending his voice to English dubs of Japanese anime and video games as well as over 35 stage productions.

For more information about Alex, please see his website or his imdb page>.

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We begin our coverage of the films of 2004 with a look at the Top Ten grossing films of the year as well as our Good and Bad Lists. Mark also tries to justify cheating in Scrabble!

The Good Lists

The Bad Lists

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Michael Bay announced last week that the second sequel to ‘Transformers’ will premiere on July 1^st, 2011. It’s time for me to warm up the GBUF Predictobot ™ to help with forecasting what may (or may not) happen in the next installment. Given Mr. Bay’s penchant for cannibalizing stories and concepts from 25 years of Transformers history, we’re in for a bumpy ride!

When Transformers 1 came out oh so long ago (in 2007!), Michael Bay was only showing small, alarming signs of mixing things up. He got the core Autobot heroes pretty straight: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ratchet and Ironhide. These five Autobots have been around since the ‘Generation One’ cartoons back in 1984. The Decepticon team, however, was a mishmash of characters from all branches of cartoon and comic continuity. Megatron’s team included such odd choices as Skorponok and Blackout: Characters that were pulled from later iterations of the toy line. This makes predicting a little more troublesome… But things go UGLY in ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ (ROTF). Bay seems to open a portal in the Transformers Universe, where characters are conveniently ripped from their continuity to appease Bay’s convoluted script demands. As much as you’d like to hear Michael Bay tip-tapping away on a script for Transformers 3, you also hear the faint sound of a buzzsaw ripping the innards away from Transformers mythology. With that all said: The final product is fairly entertaining (much to the chagrin of diehard fans), and Bay occasionally shows a glimmer of hope in acknowledging the original material. I won’t even begin to talk about the redsign of certain characters (FLAMES ON OPTIMUS!)… There are many other gifted individuals on the ‘net who have exhaustedly covered this topic.

Let’s look first at what will definitely resurface in Transformers 3 (SPOILERS):

Shia Labouef and Megan Fox: This is old news. Both main actors are signed to do 3 movies. There is a rumour circulating that Bay wants to kill Megan Fox early in the new movie. And perhaps Labouef will not get in any traffic altercations that will require script rewrites this time.

Optimus Prime and Megatron: Both have survived the last movie. Certainly Bay is gearing up for a final confrontation. I don’t know if any supporting cast Autobots will return, but the love/hate relationship between Megatron and Starscream surely deserves a climax.

GO Army Commercial: When giant robots aren’t battling, count on Michael Bay to give us warm, fuzzy images of America’s finest in action. This is commonplace in EVERY Michael Bay film. Don’t expect him to change his tune on this one.

Bay’s Robot Hybrids: The transforming Frosh girl and ‘Sopranos’ talking RC Truck are some of the interesting additions that Bay has unleashed in the Transformers Universe. There are also the Skids and Mudflap twins (we’ll not go any further on that). It boggles the mind what Bay might be cooking up next…

Characters we MIGHT see in Transformers 3:

Now here’s the tricky part. I need to feed the Predictobot ™ data from the first two films. Analyzing what we have seen in the first two films… I can guarantee a 68.9 % accuracy in the next predictions:

AUTOBOTS

Ultra Magnus: Another holdover from the animated Transformers: The Movie. Bay has already used the Autobot ‘Arcee’ in ROTF. She also had her debut in that film.

Blaster: This just smacks of Michael Bay. A jive talking ghetto blaster robot from the Generation One cartoon! Why haven’t we seen this guy yet?

Hot Rod: The one time saviour of the Autobots (again, Transformers the animated Movie), Hot Rod has stuck around to appear in future incarnations of the storyline. He’s a slick looking race car; and even has flames (that has got to be a plus for Michael Bay). As I mentioned earlier, there are faint nods to previous storylines in Bay’s films: In ROTF, a lot of Jetfire’s story was pretty much a hodge podge of stuff that occurred in the original cartoon, as well as Transformers: Armada (a later cartoon series). Will Bay revisit this pivotal moment involving Hot Rod and his transformation into Rodimus Prime?

Omega Supreme: The bad ass giant Autobot base that transforms into a bad ass giant robot. Notice how Bay keeps trying to make his ‘bots bigger and bigger? This guy is next in the scheme of things.

Perceptor: I can envision Shia LaBouef getting infected with some Decepticon nano-bot at one time or another, this would make perfect sense for introducing a robot that turns into a microscope to make its debut. Of course in the movie, it’s also have flames painted along its side. And shoot missles.

The Dinobots: Bay loves to blow up stuff, and the destructive antics of the Dinobots would fit the mix perfectly. Bay has publicly said he doesn’t think the Dinobots fit into his scheme of things. Too bad.

Other Potential Autobot nominees (when paired with the Michal Bay mindset):

Wheeljack & Mirage:  Jacked up race cars – ‘Nuff said

Punch: An autobot spy:  Retribution for the Decepticon spies in ROTF?

Blur and Kup:  Cybertron outcasts… this one is iffy.

DECEPTICONS:

If guessing the Autobots is tricky, determining the Decepticons that will debut in Transformers 3 is insanely worse. Many Decepticons were remodeled from earlier versions. Galvatron is actually Megatron, and Scourge and Cyclonus are made from parts of other established Decepticons. Will Bay follow a similar path? Probably not – It would make the story too complicated to fit in 2 hours of screen time. A lot of latter generation Decepticons took the form of animals and monsters (Predcons and the err… Terrorcons)… their addition would be very questionable in Michael Bay’s vision of things, if the Dinobots are also getting the cold shoulder. We did get Ravage though! Here are some other predictions:

Blitzwing: A Decepticon that turns into a tank and a fighter jet. Bay should be all over this one!

Trypticon: A giant mobile Decepticon base that looks like a T-Rex. Same argument as the Dinobots.

Bruticus: Five military vehicles that combine to form a giant robot destroyer. Once again, this is practically screaming ‘Michael Bay’!, and I’m sure he’s saving this guy for the next movie. Then again… maybe not – One part of Bruticus, was used in the first movie as ‘Brawl’.

So with these new characters, where does the story go? I’m guessing 2 ways…

The Unicron Saga: Michael Bay upped the ante in ROTF and almost had the Fallen wipe out our sun. Where does he go from there… The only way in Michael Bay’s world is bigger and badder – Unicron is the moon sized Transformer that eats planets for sustenance. Could this be the next nemesis? (BTW, I thought the Fallen was Bay’s idea, but it turns out this character first debuted in a Dreamwave comic series {Thanks G-Kwan155 for pointing this out}

Headmasters/ Targetmasters/ Powermasters: The last shot of ROTF had Sam (Shia LaBouef) and Optimus standing side by side and looking off in the horizon. In the Transformers cartoon series’, a whole story arc was devoted to the Autobots/ Decepticons merging with humans/ aliens to create superior constructs. Will a merging of the two be in the cards? Sam has already absorbed a lot of Cybertron data through the all-spark splinter, and we have seen Optimus merge with Jetfire… a merging of human and robot to fend off the ultimate villain (Unicron) would serve as a logical finale.

The guessing game is lots of fun, and far from over. Send in your thoughts on Transformers 3, and I will post the best ideas! I’ll also try to keep this page updated as future news (and Megan Fox tantrums on the set) breaks.

Ross leaves us halfway through to return to the VIFF, so John, Mark and myself take the opportunity to wax poetic about the glories of Francis Ford Coppola and his amazing, and continuing, contributions to cinema… or do we??? I guess he’ll have to listen. ¦¬)

Discussed This Week

• Ross at the Vancouver International Film Festival
• Box Office (Couples Retreat #1, Paranormal Activity surges)
• Opening Next Week (Where The Wild Things Are, The Stepfather remake)

GBUF Lists: Prison Movies

Check out our review of "Bronson"

• Did Stupid Marketing Kill "Jennifer’s Body"?
• Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods Pushed Back to Early 2011!
• Horror Victory! ‘Paranormal Activity’ Hits One Million Demands, Opens Wide!
• Fans Come Together To Complete Star Wars Uncut
• New National Lampoon’s Vacation Sequel In The Works
• ‘Predators’ Cast Begins With Adrien Brody and Topher Grace
• Marlon Wayans to Replace Eddie Murphy as Richard Pryor?!
• The Screening Room’s top 10 movie shoots from hell

Review: Drag Me to Hell

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Our guest this week is Trent Opaloch, Director of Photography on the 2009 summer hit ‘District 9’. I first was introduced to Trent’s camerawork a few years ago with the short film ‘Tempbot’ (directed by Neill Blomkamp, who also directed ‘District 9’). Trent’s work behind the camera is brilliant and groundbreaking – evident in his early work on short films like the aforementioned ‘Tempbot’, as well as ‘Peeper’ and ‘Terminus’. I recommend you check out some of these short films; then watch ‘District 9’ again to see the beautiful evolution of his unique style of cinematography. Trent is destined for even bigger and better things in the world of film, and I was grateful to have him answer some of our questions about ‘District 9’ as well as filmmaking in general.

GBUF: First of all, thanks for taking some time from your busy schedule to answer some of our questions. If there was one recent hot topic for discussion on our weekly goodbaduglyfilms.com podcasts, it would have to be ‘District 9’ and its innovative production techniques. So onward with the questions:

How do you like using digital vs. traditional film?

Trent: I actually enjoy shooting both digitally & 35mm depending on what the project is.  I initially rejected HD technology back in the F900 days but I’ve  grown to have an appreciation for it.  It’s hard to ignore technology that is advancing at that rate.

GBUF: You shot what looks like a 100 million dollar film for a third of the production cost. How instrumental was the RED camera in keeping the cost so low? Were producer Peter Jackson’s inroads to WETA also a factor?

Trent: The fact that we shot on the RED ONE camera system was one of many factors that made District 9 possible for that budget.  Sharlto Copley, who plays Wikus, was able to run amok improvising with the scenes – which is what he does so well, and it certainly allowed us to explore the scenes without the stress of running filmstock through the cameras.  On the other hand you pay in other ways as far as managing that volume of data through the pipeline.  At that time Sharlto was also a bit cheaper than say Will Smith or Johnny Depp so that helps out as well.

I think a number of things come into play here though –  the director Neill Blomkamp comes from a visual fx background and is extremely capable and knowledgeable about how vfx can be used effectively.  Certainly Peter Jackson’s involvement is huge as well as WETA but remember that most of the vfx shots were from Image Engine & The Embassy VFX here in Vancouver.  Basically Image Engine did the aliens, The Embassy did the Exo Suit and WETA did the dropship.  It’s not as simple as that but that gives you a rough idea of what the different players were up to.  The fact that we shot in South Africa certainly help stretch the budget.  Of course we also had the guidance of some very experienced & successful filmmakers with the team that Peter Jackson assembled so really it’s a number of factors that add up.

GBUF: How difficult is shooting when you have to compensate for the effects in post production?

Trent: It actually not really difficult as long as everyone is clear about what we’re doing at the time.  There are technical requirements to each shot but you’re always able to bounce stuff back and forth with the vfx supervisors on set to make sure they’re getting what they need.  Neill can also be very hard core about not altering the shot just to make it easier on those guys.  There are a few shots that give me chills as far as the amount of roto that must have gone into them but they are 100% effective when you see them in the film.

GBUF: What impact on the film industry do you feel the success of ‘District 9’ will have?

Trent: I really have no idea what kind of impact it will have on the industry as a whole.  I doubt studios are going to start handing out 30 million dollar envelopes to first time directors and actors after this.  I’m just happy it’s been so well received on such a large scale.  I love that the whole thing started with Neill running around Soweto with a video camera and putting his stuff up online. Hopefully it inspires people and gets them excited creatively to do their own thing.

GBUF: What advice would you give aspiring cinematographers in regards to technique and film equipment? How important is film school in comparison to on-set experience?

Trent: I really enjoyed and appreciated my film school experience.  The majority of people I know in the industry that went to film school don’t seem to remember or appreciate their time in school that much.  I think the most important thing is to have a group of people, in school or not, willing to share their time and energy to put something together.  The technology is available with cameras and software so there’s no excuse not to be shooting stuff and developing your craft.  One thing film school does is to immerse you in an environment where you can learn with others and access the hardware and software tools.  Unfortunately some of these places are business enterprises under the guise of educational facilities so their priorities are skewed.

GBUF: What films and/or filmmakers initially inspired you to enter your profession?

Trent: “Matewan” and pretty much any John Sayles film and then all the usual suspects – Scorcesse, Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, etc.

GBUF: You have an uncanny ability to visually capture the sense of social isolation in many of your films. From the hapless android in ‘Tempbot’, or the haunted businessman in ‘Terminus’, to the castoff aliens in ‘District 9’. What draws you to this recurring theme? (BTW, your shots of Montreal retro architecture in ‘Terminus’ are absolutely brilliant).

Trent: That’s funny, I never really thought of that before.  It must have something to do the fact that those films were directed by ex-visual effects artists so I guess ’social isolation’ is part of the gig.

GBUF: What upcoming film projects can we look forward to seeing from you?

Trent: I’ve got some cool stuff coming up with Neill and I’m reading other scripts that aren’t confirmed yet so we’ll see.

GBUF: We can’t envision a ‘District 10’ without your involvement. What’s the status on the sequel, and do you have any recent news that you could share with us on its progress?

Trent: I honestly don’t know.  I’d love to revisit that world myself and I know there’s a lot more to explore but you never know with these things.  I think the success of District 9 means Neill will have a lot of opportunity to do some very interesting work in the next few years so I’m just as excited as anyone else to see what he comes up with.

Thanks again, Trent. All the best in your future endeavours – from all of us here at goodbaduglyfilms.com

Links:

• Trent Opaloch’s Website Includes lots of video of Trent’s work including the Short Film “Terminus”
• Trent Opaloch’s IMDB Page
• The Official District 9 Website

Special thanks to Dean Whiting for all his help in setting up this Interview!

In part two of our look at 1999, Kubrick’s final film proves to still be as divisive as it was a decade ago as we list our best and worst films of the year.

The Ugly Lists

The Top 5 Lists

Special Mentions: Sleepy Hollow, Titus, The Straight Story, The Green Mile, Girl Interrupted, Ghost Dog The Way of the Samurai, & Lake Placid.

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