GeekiN #115
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Following E3 week, most of the discussion this week centers around movies. For a full list of discussion topics, keep reading!
Discussion
Television
- A bunch of pictures from The Walking Dead have been released
Movies
- Neill Blomkamp up next for The Hobbit?
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides begins filming in Hawaii
- Paramount comes to a “shocking” conclusion – Two week no-rental policy doesn’t help movie sales
- Benjamin Walker cast as Beast in X-Men: First Class?
- Scott Pilgrim International Trailer
- Marvel Studios developing short films
Other
- Disney’s Star Wars ride, Star Tours, will be getting a new 3D version. May 10, 2011 for Disneyland. May 17th 2011 for Disneyworld
- Wizarding World of Harry Potter has now had it’s Grand Opening event
Geek Jerk Reaction: Knight and Day, Grown Ups
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Tagged under: Scott Pilgrim, Star Tours, The Hobbit, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, X-Men: First Class
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I don’t want Neill Blomkamp to do the Hobbit because I don’t think he’s a good match for the material, unless he can majorly break away from the District 9 style to the point that it seems like a completely different director. David Yates is a better choice, but I’m not sure I’d want him to do it either. I really wish we could use time travel to go back and make the MGM thing go away so Guillermo del Toro could have directed it. His love of fairy tales and directing style would have resulted an awesome and unique vision of the Hobbit.
Whoever ends up directing the Hobbit (assuming it doesn’t get lost in development hell), I hope that they are able to keep the feeling of adventure and fairy tale that runs through the story while putting their unique stamp on the material. Sure, the Hobbit is related to LOTR, but it is a completely different tone and type of story. This is why I don’t want Peter Jackson to direct the Hobbit (other than the fact that he obviously doesn’t want to direct it so his heart wouldn’t be in it).
How do you know what Neill Blomkamp’s style is after only one movie? That’s what I was saying, he needs to do something different, so that he doesn’t get lumped into one style of movie.
You see, if it had just been one movie, I wouldn’t be as concerned about it. However, Blomkamp has done several short films and commercials that are all in the same style as District 9. Alive in Joburg, Adicolor Yellow, the Halo shorts, Tempbot, Crossing the Line, the ad for Citroen (features a dancing robotic car) all use the same or very similar visual styles.
The Hobbit doesn’t have any of the things that are prevalent in Blomkamp’s previous work. Blomkamp seems to enjoy making things that feature realistic depictions of future technology. If he were to direct the Hobbit, he would have to try something drastically different to everything he has ever done. Perhaps he’s capable of that, but Blomkamp just doesn’t seem like a good match for the material to me.
Ya know, in the episode I said I’d like to see him direct Mass Effect. I’d forgotten that I already decided that he should absolutely direct a Half Life movie. He’d be friggin PERFECT for it.
And yeah, I think he would be capable of directing a Hobbit movie, I just have no interest in seeing him do it.
I don’t count short films or commercials as movies, no matter how similar the style is.
I don’t know why you wouldn’t count short films, I’d say they usually represent style better than a feature can as they aren’t bogged down by so much padding.
Not counting short films is silly. They still represent quite a lot of work and stylistic choices.
Hypothetically, if Blomkamp had done several shorts before District 9 that had completely different styles than each other, I wouldn’t be concerned about the prospect of him directing the Hobbit. It would show that he is capable of doing many different things.
But in reality, everything that Blomkamp has done from features to shorts to commercials are all done in the same style. Every single thing has the same feeling to it. There’s nothing wrong with that. People do what they know and enjoy. That just means that Blomkamp is not a good fit for a fantasy adventure fairy tale movie. The last time I checked, the Hobbit didn’t have any guns, mech suits, or alien technology in it.
I don’t count the short films because that has more to do with what his passion is rather than what he CAN do. Also, the fact is, he was hired for Halo for a reason. Because what he had done before that was similar. Halo gave the Halo short films, but the major movie fell through. So Jackson and him wanted to do something similar, almost to prove that Halo could have been a success. So they did District 9.
When he was chosen to direct Halo, it was crazy, because he had very little experience whatsoever. The commercial was the biggest thing he had at the time. From there, it all sort of built onto that. So Halo and District 9 to me are the same project.
I find it ridiculous that people would classify him as a Genre director when he’s A> Done one real film, B> Only been doing stuff for 4 years, and C> Only done 5 things total. That is just absurd, and it’s the reason people get typecast.
Peter Jackson said he thought he could do a major motion picture when all he had done was his commercial. Everyone scoffed. He didn’t do Halo, but he ended up doing District 9, which while it wasn’t nearly my favorite movie of the year, it was a solid movie. Now Peter Jackson may (or may not think) that he can do something outside the genre, and people scoff again. Perhaps it’s possible that Peter Jackson may know more about this relative newcomer to the industry than we do?
Personally, this debate makes me hope he takes the project and nails it. You can’t judge “fit” on, what? 4 hours of work?
I agree with you to a point on rushing to typecast people too early, but I still think that ignoring Blomkamp’s short films is a bit silly. You discount them because they have to do with what his passion is. I include them for the exact same reason. I’m not saying that Blomkamp isn’t capable of making a large movie like the Hobbit. I’m just saying that from his background in visual effects and the several short films and commercials he has made that it appears his passions lie much more in the realm of science fiction than fantasy.
Part of the reason LOTR ended up being great is due to all the passion that went into it by just about everyone who worked on it. I mean one of the guys made most of the plastic chainmail by hand because he thought it was the best way make it look great on film. All the loving detail that went into the miniatures, sets, costumes, props, visual effects, music, performances, etc on those films were a direct result of people doing what they were passionate about.
Anyway, I guess this discussion is a bit moot by now as the rumors about Blomkamp have been proven false. He is currently working on a science fiction movie called Elysium.
Oh come on, Scott……you know you want to keep talking nonstop about Scott Pilgrim. ;)
You’re right. What was I thinking?? SCOTT PILGRIM SCOTT PILGRIM SCOTT PILGRIM!!
I need to go see Toy Story 3 this week. I didn’t get a chance to see it this weekend because I was too busy. :(
In preparation for Twilight Eclipse next week, everyone should watch this video from Screened.com where the two guys that run the site taped themselves watching the first two Twilight movies for the first time. It is pretty amusing watching them soldier on and getting more and more run down as time goes on. Their reaction to sparkling vampires is priceless.
Twilight Viewing Party
FYI, this video is 35 minutes long, so make sure you have some time to watch it or at least skim through it a bit.
And the linkage continues! This time for a Black20 trailer! It turns out that Jackie Chan Hates Karate Kids!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85WNaVTXVaI
While funny, it is worth mentioning that Jackie Chan never attacked any kids in Karate Kid. They attacked him. Repeatedly. Like morons. But still funny. :)
Just posting here coz I can’t think where else to post it. Have you guys seen The Green Hornet trailer? I am actually so excited for this movie now, I always had an interest but this looks spectacular, I actually can’t wait, if this was coming out this year I don’t know what I’d be more excited for GH or Scott Pilgrim.
The Green Hornet trailer was a lot of fun. If it were coming out this year, I would still be more excited for Scott Pilgrim though.
LOVED The Green Hornet trailer, but yeah… no way does it even have a chance of being better than Scott Pilgrim. If for no other reason then I’ve only enjoyed one of Gondry’s films (tho to be fair its my favorite of all time) while Wright hasn’t done anything I haven’t loved ever.
But The Green Hornet definitely looks like a ton of fun and I’m officially excited.
I just came back from Toy Story 3 and loved it. It’s a funny franchise in a way. I was a kid when the first one came out and saw it with my mom and sisters, a teenager when the 2nd one came out and saw it with my friends and now as an adult the third one came out and I saw it by myself.
It’s funny.
And now I have to go to my mom’s house and liberate the box of toys I have left sitting in the basement.
If Toy Story has taught me anything, it’s that you are a horrible, horrible person. Neglect is not something to be taken lightly.