Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Blogs | Writers | My Orble | Login

Screen Trek - An Intersection of Movie Reviews, Articles, Essays and Conversation

Screen Trek - November 2009

Up In The Air trailers

November 29th 2009 08:04
Up In The Air, sounds like quite a droll comedy-drama about a man named Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney, whose job entails constantly flying around the country to fire the local corporate employee.

Bingham leads a lonely existence, but he likes its impersonality, the anonymity that constant travel brings, needing only booze, drugs and sex as his companions.

The writer of the book (of same title) Walter Kim, sums up Bingham thusly;
"Ryan is like a masseur who comes in and sort of rubs your shoulders while rolling your desk chair into the elevator."

Director and producer Jason Reitman says, "The movie is about the examination of a philosophy—what if you decided to live hub to hub, with nothing, with nobody?"


But then, all good things come to an end......

Here are the trailers for the upcoming Paramount Pictures release, Up In The Air.

Official poster copyrighted (see below)

Enjoy!





DUE FOR AUSTRALIA WIDE CINEMA RELEASE ON 14th JANUARY 2010


ask your local cinema if you can book ahead and reserve the seats of your choice!

or better still, go GOLD CLASS!!!!

IMAGE CREDIT: POSTER DESIGN: This is the cover art for Up In The Air. Theatrical poster for Up in the Air (film), Copyright © 2009 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

FAIR USE RATIONALE: Low Resolution image not meant for reproduction. Image used here for illustration of film's identity and public promotional image for film review purposes only. Please advise me if as copyright owner you wish image removed.
38
Vote
Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Mountain Fog - Category: No Category
   


How To Train Your Dragon

November 29th 2009 07:41


"Set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, the story centres around a teenager who lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. But when he encounters – and ultimately befriends – an injured dragon, his world is turned upside down." (PRESS RELEASE)



Directed by: Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders
Written By: Cressida Cowell (story) & Dean DeBlois (screenplay)
Starring the voices of: Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Kristen Wiig and T.J. Miller


AUSTRALIAN RELEASE DATE: MARCH 25, 2010.
PARAMOUNT PICTURES DISTRIBUTION

Looks like it might be fun!

Keep an eye out for it.



38
Vote
Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Mountain Fog - Category: No Category
   


PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

November 28th 2009 08:43
A New Release Film Review
by
mountain fog

Official poster: copyright protected (see below).


Not only is this film effective in scaring people, (theatres report people walking out before the film ends, because they were too afraid to stay) it is the most successful film for profit (against production costs) in American film making history. It is now slowly becoming a massive global hit. It cost a mere US$15,000- to produce and has taken; so far, in excess of US$100,000,000- I kid you not!

The road Paranormal Activity has travelled, since being made in 2007, has had many pitfalls; but through support from some big players in the film producers' world and some brilliant marketing techniques, it was saved from an ignored and ignoble lonely place on a suburban DVD store’s shelf, with all the other tripe that, usually deservedly, never gets to the big screen.

Eventful.com was used to virally market the film, asking people online to vote where the film opened next, as the producers carefully staged a limited screen release. Initially choosing to market it to the main target audience, in university towns, word of mouth quickly saw over a million people begging for the film to have country wide release, leading to its incredible and rapid success this year.

Oren Peli, the original conceptualist, director, part camera operator and 'set designer' of this amazing little film, started work on it a year before they shot it, preparing his own house as the set. Peli stated this idea turned out to be advantageous, not only for the film’s budget, but also for getting his house renovated! The actual filming took only seven days, with the actors and Peli working 18 hours a day. It was shot in San Diego, in 2007.

Peli, in order to heighten the reality, or believability of the film, chose to instruct the two young unknown lead actors, Katie Featherston as Katie and Micah Sloat as Micah, as to the scene’s purpose and then allowed them to ad lib. An added advantage was Sloat having had some camera operator experience.

The camera was not a tricked up professional cinematic camera, with its cumbersomeness and large attendant crew, but was actually a hand held home movie camera, as was used in The Blair Witch Project. Even though that association initially felt a little like, ‘seen this before’, the special effects and tension builds made this a rather novel experience.

27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0">

First screened at the 2007 Screamfest Horror Film Festival, thanks to the efforts of the Creative Artists Agency (Peli had just signed up with) they then handed out DVD versions to any distributor they could find. The road it then travelled took quite some time before the support of DreamWorks’ Prod. Exec. Ashley Brooks convinced their Production Chief Adam Goodman to see it. Goodman then turned it over to Spielberg.

Now we come to either, another little promotional trick, or it actually happened. If so, I would advise anyone invited to Spielberg’s house to think twice before staying the night! According to reports, Spielberg was not only impressed with the film, just after viewing it, the doors of his bedroom locked shut unassisted, trapping him in the bedroom until he got a locksmith to release him. Sounds very impressive, but its veracity seems highly dubious. Unless, of course, Spielberg owes his own success to a deal done with a daemon?
(SFX Cue: spooky cackle and thunderclap!)

Putting all that aside, Jason Blum and Steve Schneider of Miramax, the film’s eventual producers, worked with Peli to re-edit the original film as shown to them. Eventually, after test screenings, they also decided to not re-produce the film, with screenwriters and the usual Hollywood palaver and go with the film as shot by the intrepid Peli and his cast. In addition, there were three possible endings to choose from. I would be intrigued to see whether any of those would have had a more satisfying effect on me?

I found the released version’s ending too abrupt and slightly annoying, as things were only just hotting up. However, the ending begs the audience to scream for more and a sequel is being planned, as I write.

The abruptness of the ending also says something else which, upon reflection, is proof of my undivided attention and that the film flies along at a good pace, after an initial slow, draw you in start. The slow start is a clever device used to heighten suspense, perfected by some of the greats of suspense of yesteryear, like Hitchcock.

The special effects were minimal, but done with expert finesse. As for the storyline; I did get slightly annoyed at times, as I felt logic would have dictated the girl would run screaming from the house never to return, but, as we are told by a scared psychic, who stays only long enough to blurt it out, that there is no sense in leaving the house, as the daemon will only follow its chosen target. Even so, that scene seemed a little too contrived, an almost Shakespearian theatrical device to drive the plot.

For those in love, I suggest the following;
See the film first, so you appear calm and unperturbed when you go again, with a person with whom you are currently enamoured, thus allowing the object of your desire to cuddle up for protection, from the seemingly strong silent type. If you still accidentally scream, try to cover it with a cough!

I hope the sequel does the following;
Does not rely on a totally handheld format, as this becomes really tiresome, jerking your eyes around and any handheld needs to be interspersed with an ‘outside view’ through a cinematic camera. Also, that the lead does not scream so shrilly and quite so often, unless being rendered limb from limb. Lastly, that any heavy handed production effects are done with subtle sophistication, to complement the (hopefully more deeply drawn) characters in the plot and the subplots. One other thought, a few more gratuitous blood curdling scenes, a la Poltergeist, never go astray.

Overall, I found suspense and the scare factor was raised significantly numerous times during the film, but for me, never quite causing me to reach for the Holy Water and a crucifix. Many who see this film will not agree, for it will scare the believing pants off them!

As this film was shot in seven days straight, shooting eighteen hours a day, for only US$15,000- and taking into account the response so far by so many viewers, that should ensure Paranormal Activity takes pride of place in the annuls of horror moviedom for quite some time to come.

In closing;
Paranormal Activity is a tremendous introduction for a new international rising star of horror film makers, the brilliant and redoubtable Mister Olen Peli.

Directed by
Oren Peli

Produced by
Steven Schneider and Jason Blum

Written by
Oren Peli

CAST
Katie Featherston as Katie
Micah Sloat as Micah
Mark Fredrichs as the Psychic
Amber Armstrong asAmber
Ashley Palmer as Diane (girl on Internet).

Editing by
Oren Peli

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTORS: ICON FILM DISTRIBUTION
Distributed by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures
Running time 86 min.
Language English
Country United States

Release date(s)
Australia
December 3, 2009

United States
October 14, 2007
(Screamfest Film Festival)
January 18, 2008
(Slamdance Film Festival)
September 25, 2009
(Limited)
October 16, 2009
(Wide)
United Kingdom
November 25, 2009

Budget $15,000
Gross revenue $106,407,695

IMAGE CREDIT: POSTER DESIGN: This is the cover art for Paranormal Activity. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks, or the publisher of the film. Please advise me if you wish your name as poster designer to appear here.


FAIR USE RATIONALE: Low Resolution image not meant for reproduction. Image used here for illustration of film's identity and public promotional image for film review purposes only. Please advise me if as copyright owner you wish image removed.



56
Vote
Comments (10)Comments (10) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Mountain Fog - Category: No Category
   


2001: A Space Odyssey

November 22nd 2009 07:19
Original film poster by Robert McCall


A Classic Cinema Review
[ Click here to read more ]
68
Vote
Read MoreRead More Comments (6)Comments (6) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Mountain Fog - Category: No Category
   


How Do You Do!

November 19th 2009 07:34
So, how do you do?

I sincerely hope a LOT better than my good self at present


[ Click here to read more ]
49
Vote
Read MoreRead More Comments (4)Comments (4) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Mountain Fog - Category: No Category
   


FAREWELL SCREENTREK

November 18th 2009 04:52
Farewell Screentrek
That's me on the boat. I'm the captain.

In the information hustle and bustle that dominates the Internet, so many blogs wind up abandoned, pieces of cyberspace junk floating in the ether, unvisited except for the occasional Google typo.

[ Click here to read more ]
58
Vote
Read MoreRead More Comments (12)Comments (12) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Matt Shea - Category: No Category
   


PRIME MOVER: JACKKNIFE ON THE HIGHWAY

November 10th 2009 03:51
Emily Barclay in Prime Mover
Emily Barclay in Prime Mover

Visiting an Australian cinema in recent times, you almost certainly would have witnessed the solemn adverts blaming piracy for a decline in the local film industry. Perhaps the ads have a point, but the Australian film bodies should first take a closer look at the material they’re producing to better understand why things might be in such a parlous state.

[ Click here to read more ]
52
Vote
Read MoreRead More Comments (3)Comments (3) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Matt Shea - Category: No Category
   


2012: DESTRUCTION OF THE MASSES, FOR THE MASSES

November 6th 2009 09:34
Roland Emmerich 2012
Learning to surf is easy once you know how to snowboard.

What an experience it would be to peer inside the frazzled brain of Roland Emmerich: Aliens! Monsters! Natural disasters! Danny Glover as President! The man obviously has problems.

[ Click here to read more ]
43
Vote
Read MoreRead More Comments (4)Comments (4) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Matt Shea - Category: No Category
   


RETROSPECT: THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND (1976)

November 3rd 2009 07:42
Simon Burke in The Devil's Playground
Simon Burke as Tom in The Devil's Playground

It sometimes seems a monumental risk for a first-time feature-maker to tackle a subject too close to his or her own personal experience. A reverence for the material can dominate the screenplay, muddying the narrative and crippling the final product.

[ Click here to read more ]
38
Vote
Read MoreRead More Comments (4)Comments (4) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Matt Shea - Category: No Category
   


More Posts
February 2010
3 Posts
January 2010
2 Posts
December 2009
10 Posts
Older Posts
121 Posts dating from March 2008
Email Subscription
Receive e-mail notifications of new posts on this blog:
[ View Blog Summary ] [ Create A New Post ]
Moderated by Mountain Fog
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]