lunes, 9 de abril de 2007

Superheroes, lo mejor y peor y la nueva de lunes...

Domingo de descanso...si Jack Bauer no trabaja en domingo, no veo porque yo si. Pero bueno, a darle atomos a las noticias.

* La gente de CNN.com nos trae las mejores y peores batallas de la historia del cine...

Las mejores :

1. Apocalypse Now -- Ataque de los helicópteros
Francis Ford Coppola, 1979
"Amo el olor a napalm en la mañana,I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like victory."
Robert Duvall's helicopters wreak bloody destruction upon a Vietnamese village to the strains of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries in order to secure a beachhead for a bit of post-combat surfing. No cinematic moment better captures the folly, absurdity and tragic human cost of America's war against the Vietcong.

2. Saving Private Ryan -- Omaha Beach landing
Steven Spielberg, 1998
The graphic depiction of the Omaha beach D-Day landing shocked audiences and even induced flashbacks in Normandy veterans. The shaky, hand held cameras, the desaturated color and the unflinching portrayal of the near-suicidal assault all add up to a sickening sense of realism that remains unmatched in war films.

3= Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers -- Helm's Deep
Peter Jackson, 2002
The dull, impending stomp of Saruman's army; the ceaseless onslaught of the Uruk Hai; the inevitable breaching of the unbreachable fort. Jackson captures the desperation of the 300 men facing a host of Orcs 10,000-strong, and the terror of their women and children, against the long, rain-drenched night in the most atmospheric of the Lord of the Rings battles. Oh, the relief when Gandalf arrives on time. (Still not convinced by Legolas skateboarding down the ramparts, though.)

3= Lord of the Rings: Return of the King -- Pelennor Fields
(until the Army of the Dead arrive)

Peter Jackson, 2003
The Orcs get even more hideous, the Oliphaunts are awe-inspiring, the Winged Nazgul had you cowering behind your popcorn. Theoden is at last redeemed on the battlefield, and with one line and swish of her sword, Eowyn proves she's equal with the men. This spectacular whirlwind of CGI, distorted sound and awesome scale stunned audiences, and was rightly hailed as a movie milestone. Then it all goes horribly wrong. (See below.)

5. A Bridge Too Far -- Parachute drop
Richard Attenborough, 1977
Thousands of doomed Allied troops are dispatched behind enemy lines in an awe-inspiring parachute drop, followed by the climactic tank and infantry battle over the bridge at Arnhem. Richard Attenborough's cast is stellar (including Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Sean Connery, Dirk Bogarde, Ryan O'Neal and Robert Redford) and his pre-CGI achievement staggering.

6. Tora! Tora! Tora! -- Attack on Pearl Harbor
Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda, 1970
There are two good films about Pearl Harbor. Neither of them is called Pearl Harbor (see below). If "From Here to Eternity" dealt brilliantly with the human drama of the event, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" captures the sheer audacity of the Japanese aerial raid on the naval base. Massively expensive for its time (it cost an estimated $25 million) and featuring three directors, one American and two Japanese, this is truly filmmaking on an epic scale.

7. Zulu -- Battle of Rourke's Drift
Cy Endfield, 1964
"Zulus, thousands of 'em" -- as Michael Caine never said. The portrayal of the 1879 Battle of Rourke's Drift has proved deeply influential, inspiring Peter Jackson's staging of the Battle of Helm's Deep and echoed in Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers. You still feel the chill in the pit of your stomach when you see the tidal wave of Zulu impis running down the side of the valley at the meager 150 British soldiers.

8. Starship Troopers -- Battle of Klendathu, Battle on Planet P
Paul Verhoeven, 1997
"They sucked his brains out!"
A bloody bugfest on Klendathu sees 100,000 troops hacked, ripped and squished to death in an hour; then we follow Rico's roughnecks to Planet P where his poorly-equipped infantry are sent back as bait for thousands of spiky Arachnids. But is it really the bugs who're the evil ones? Slick, smart B-movie action.

9. Braveheart -- Battle of Stirling
Mel Gibson, 1995
"They may take our lives, but they will never take our FREEDOM!"
Woaded-up Mel Gibson plays Scottish rebel William Wallace and tries nobly to overthrow the beastly English. His victory at the Battle of Stirling is scarcely a model of historical accuracy, but tremendous fun nonetheless and, if there were one, Gibson's rousing taunts would have won him the Oscar for best battlefield banter.

10. Gladiator -- Battle in Germania
Ridley Scott, 2000
Classical chaos in the thrilling Germania opening battle, as the Romans pitch a mudfight against hairy, scary forest-dwelling barbarians. Russell Crowe single-handedly revived epic sword-and-sandal films; thousands of movie extras cheered, then were digitally replaced.

* La gente de Movie Web nos da la nota de que David Goyer esta presentando el proyecto de Green Arrow (comic de Dc) a los estudios Warner para que lo revisen y le den luz verde.

* El nuevo y último poster de Fantastic Four 2 "The rise of Silver Surfer" esta aquí cortesía de la gente de Coming Soon.

* Yo no sabía que se iba a hacer un remake de The Birds de Hitchcock, y que además lo iba a producir Michael Bay. He aquí la nota en Slash Film.

* Y para terminar, esta nota que me sorprende una vez mas la estupidez en la que se puede vivir en este mundo. Se dice que se hara una película basada en la "popularidad" (Whatever that means!!!) de las chicas TATU. He aquí la broma, digo, la nota vía The Movie Blog.