The 3D revolution (or fad, depending on how you see it) has finally engulfed the classics. Specifically, the format has reached out to Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling adventure story The Three Musketeers, which Paul W.S. Anderson has co-scripted and will direct as a 3D feature.
On the same day we heard about this news, Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News relayed a rumor that Iron Man 2– and possibly the first Iron Man– could also get the 3D treatment, through a retrofit conversion process. Provided he didn’t simply mishear some kind of reference to Dumas’ The Man in the Iron Maskthis would be another big step in the development of 3D cinema.
But is it still too early for all these 3D movies to be getting the greenlight? Sure, The Final Destination 3Ddid great business over the past weekend, but its 3D effects were terrible. And we’re still unsure whether or not Avatarwill be the success that Hollywood hopes it will be.
Since TFD3D topped the box office, though, we’ve been hearing about more sequels and more old movies that we can expect to hit theaters in 3D over the next few years and beyond (provided they continue doing well). So, many a film blog has begun suggesting other movies to be fitted and retrofitted with the technology. Some of them are sampled after the jump and we encourage you to submit your own pitches in the comments section below.
There will be sequels to both Star Trek and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Not only are these now officially greenlit, but they’re also what we call “likely sequels” prior to their certainty — meaning we all saw them coming way before Paramount and Fox, respectively, announced them. However, it’s not necessarily a given that a successful movie will always spawn a follow-up. For example, box office record-holder Titanic could never become a franchise.
Of course, people will always joke about the possibilities for a Titanic sequel, and that kind of humor is what makes the Twitter meme #unlikelysequels so entertaining. Unfortunately, 140 characters allows for little more than a proposed sequel title (and yes, “Titanic 2: Jack’s Back” is among them), so we have decided to expand on ten favorites by providing the synopsis and, for some, casting suggestions. …Read more
I saw Christmas decorations in a storefront Sunday, so I guess it’s already time to break out the holiday movies. And it’s evidently time for distributors to release holiday fare to theaters, even if Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), which hits theaters this Friday, isn’t exactly the latest crowd-pleasing installment of the Santa Clausefranchise. In fact, with such ingredients as estrangement, mental illness, alcoholism and cancer, it doesn’t seem like a very happy holidays kind of film. Even if it is actually a comedy.
But then how many holiday movies are completely void of depressing themes and scenes? I’m sure to have grown up thinking more about the homeless, suicide and family dysfunction from films set at Christmas and Thanksgiving than I did thinking about the happiness that comes with these holidays. One of the most tearjerking moments for me as a kid was certainly seeing Mickey Mouse crying over his dead son in Mickey’s Christmas Carol. It’s no wonder so many people get sad this time of year. Movies are influential, and for every bit of slapstick we see this season, there’s potentially room for thoughts of abandoned children to go along with it.
Worse for our tearducts are the films that aren’t necessarily thought of as “holiday movies,” which are typically more honest about how much of a bummer holidays can truly be. So get out your hanky and check out our list of ten most depressing holidays in movies:
When I saw the title of Olly Richardson’s rant on The Empire Blog asking if CG has killed our imaginations, I presumed he meant filmmakers’ imaginations and how special effects are less creative when done with the ease of computer graphics. But no, he’s really talking about our imaginations, meaning me and you and everyone we know. I’d never given it too much thought, but maybe modern audiences are really losing their ability to believe at the movies:
We never used to be so picky. If somebody watches the original King Kong or any of the works of Ray Harryhausen, you will never hear them complain about how the skeletons were a bit jerky or that the big ape’s fur didn’t blow realistically when he was climbing the Empire State Building (if they do complain, however, you should feel free to shoot them on the grounds of wrongness and philistinism). You just watch the film, acknowledge that what you are seeing couldn’t possibly exist, admire the artistry it took to create it and choose to believe it anyway. That’s what suspension of disbelief is: ignoring the protests of your eyes and more logical parts of your brain in order to enjoy a good story.
After being extremely jealous of anyone out in L.A. who attended last month’s “Dante’s Inferno” program at the New Beverly, I’m glad that I now get to enjoy something new and Joe Dante-related. Even if it only has to do with characters from his films.
Yes, those are THE Gremlins appearing in a British ad for BT Group (if the YouTube is down, visit the link for another format). Complete with Mohawk, the trademark giggles and Jerry Goldsmith’s theme song. And they’re not selling Direct TV!!! This ad actually adds to the franchise in a way that respects my childhood. Take that, Christopher Lloyd and Sigourney Weaver!
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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The 3D revolution (or fad, depending on how you see it) has finally engulfed the classics. Specifically, the format has reached out to Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling adventure story The Three Musketeers, which Paul W.S. Anderson has co-scripted and will 
