Tag: Movies and Television Posts

Peter Jackson To Produce "The Hobbit"

 Journal

This is hot off the presses. Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached agreement to make J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” a planned prequel to the blockbuster trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.” Peter Jackson is set to oversee the film adaptation of “The Hobbit.” Jackson, who directed the “Rings” trilogy, will serve as executive producer for “The Hobbit.” A director for the prequel films has yet to be named. Relations between Jackson and New Line had soured after “Rings,” despite a collective worldwide box office gross of nearly $3 billion — an enormous success. The two sides nevertheless were able to reconcile, with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) splitting “The Hobbit” 50/50, spokemen for both studios said Tuesday. I’m definitely glad that Peter Jackson is involved in this project. I think the potential to completely screw it up, especially given the commercial success of the first trilogy, is huge.

Favourite Movie Scene #6: LOTR – The Two Towers

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There are so many incredible scenes in The Lord Of The Rings, it’s really difficult to single any of them out. The books were pretty influential in my early childhood, as well as shaping some of my literary and cinematic preferences in my teens. I am totally a LOTR geek, and even wore a little ring around my neck for a few months after reading the series for the first time. Actually, the first thing you see when you walk in the door at my Vancouver apartment is a framed poster of Aragorn from The Return of the King (so cool, I know). When the movies came out, I was totally excited, and ended up seeing The Fellowship Of The Ring in Ottawa with a group of about ten people. We waited about four hours to see it on opening night. I saw the other two films on opening night […]

Favourite Movie Scene #5: Almost Famous

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Easily one of my top ten films ever (well maybe top 20) is the rare gem that is Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous.” If you haven’t seen it, you should immediately head out to the movie store and rent it. It’s full of touching moments, laughter, self discovery and even a dash of romance. Not only is the writing and story telling superb, but the photography and cinematography are both outstanding. I’ll post a few scenes here I really like (obvious spoilers). The scene on the bus after the Golden God bit is also classic: It’s all happening folks.

Favourite Movie Scene #4: Heat

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Heat is a totally awesome movie starring both Al Pacino and Robert Deniro. There are many classic scenes in it, but one that stands out is the coffee shop banter between Pacino and Deniro where we learn a pile about both characters. This type of scene has been used in countless movies since then, but they all basically pay homage to this part. Why I think it’s so fascinating is that both characters open up to each other and somehow relate, even though they are basically enemies by trade. And let’s be honest, Deniro and Pacino both kick ass.

Favourite Movie Scene #3: Tombstone

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I hung out with some of my old high school friends tonight at a little Christmas dinner, and a few people brought up my recent blog posts about favourite movies scenes. We immediately launched into a big discussion about which other scenes were pretty awesome from our childhood memories, and I think we ended up with a list of about 20 or 30. First movie we talked about was one Brennen and I totally loved years ago: Tombstone. Here’s is the scene where Johnny Ringo and Doc Holliday have their final battle. Obvious spoilers ahead. I’m your huckleberry.

Favourite Movie Scene #2: Star Wars Battles

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The original Star Wars Trilogy really needs no introduction, so I won’t really say much about it except that it totally kicked ass, as would any trilogy involving a bad guy voiced by James Earl Jones. This scene is a classic battle scene involving Luke and Darth Vadar, where of course Luke loses his hand at the end and ultimately learns who his real father is. And seriously, pretty much every kid who ever watches this scene spends the rest of their lives making lightsaber noises whenever they swing anything. Hell, I even hold out my hand when I approach automatic doors and pretend I’m using the force to open them. And I have to ask, when will YouTube finally start supporting non 4:3 aspect ratios? Come on, even most new broadcast TV is shot 16:9 now, and cinemascope is 2.35:1. Step up to the plate, youtube, and aim for […]

Favourite Movie Scene #1: Vanilla Sky Ending

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No, the number 1 doesn’t mean this is my all time favourite movie scene, because I plan to post a lot of these over the next few weeks, and I haven’t even thought about ranking them yet. However, I’ve always really liked this one scene. I could care less if you hate Tom Cruise or think his religion is bogus (even though it is) — this scene is pretty high up there in terms of cinematic perfection in my mind. As a whole, Vanilla Sky wasn’t that great, but this last scene, with the music, the wisps of romance, the vibrant vanilla sky, the New York landscape, and the thought of what it must be like to suddenly realize your life is nothing more than a dream makes for a powerful ending IMO – the realization that everything you ever loved died a long time ago along with the excitement […]

Heroes

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Last night, out of sheer boredom, I drove down to Future Shop and picked up Season one of Heroes, on HD-DVD. Rebecca and John have been recommending this series to me, so I figured I would just go along with their word of mouth and pick it up. I’m about half way through season one already, and so far I think it’s pretty good. A few of the characters I find a bit annoying, but the Tokyo guy who can bend space and time is always entertaining, as well as the guy who can read minds. I’m anxiously awaiting the Heroes to step up and start being cool, but maybe that’s what season two is all about.

Dark City

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One of my favourite movies of all time is a science fiction flick called “Dark City.” Brennen and Jeff took me to it at the UBC theatre years ago, and we were all blown away. Surprisingly, not many people have watched it or even heard of it. When it came out, Roger Ebert took notice and gave it four stars, even going on to compare it to Pulp Fiction in terms of its cinematic perfection. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly suggest that you check it out. The row boat scene near the end is one of my favourite all time scenes in any movie I’ve watched (along the lines of the DeNiro – Pacino coffee-shop banter in “Heat”). Here’s a decent write up about it as well.