Archive for the &;Hollywood-turkeys&; Category

2012: Sick withCGI

October 7, 2009

The Mayans are coming!  The Mayans are coming! Or at least the supposed Mayan prophesy about the end of the world in 2012.  As the website for the movie 2012 states, &;With the Mayan calendar ending in 2012, a large group of people must deal with natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, typhoons and glaciers.&; Personally I&;m more concerned with the Iranians getting the H-bomb, but then I&;m not trying to sell a movie overstuffed with computer-generated imagery (CGI) and Hollywood hooey. Saw the 2012 trailer before  Zombieland last night, and was repelled by the overuse of CGI. 

Fake cars falling off the fake freeway.  Santa Monica&;s palisades crumbling into the sea.  Fake meteorites hitting the fake highway where John Cusack is driving his RV.   The arms falling off the Brazilian statue of Jesus.  Michelangelo&;s Last Supper, cracking.  St. Paul&;s Basilica, topping over. Fake floods toppling a fake monastery.  Planes flying over a digitally crumbling city. Cusack, usually a great actor, trying to scream on the green screen.

 &;Find out the truth.  Search 2012.&; The truth is that 2012 may make Armageddon look like a classic.  CGI is becoming so horribly overused in action movies that only the exceptions stand out.   District 9 looks so impressively/depressingly &;real&; that the audience is happy to accept people in &;prawn&; suits.  And Gladiator  won the 2001 Visual Effects Oscar, even though it had only 90 special effects shots, as opposed to the 350 in the favored Perfect Storm with its monstrous tidal waves. Unfortunately, filmmakers have not learned from Ridley Scott&;s judicious use of CGI in Gladiator, which he used to enhance the Colisseum and even bring Alan Bates (Proximo), who died during filming, back to life. When will filmmakers learn that with CGI, less is more?

John Cusack in 2012

Tags:2012-The-Movie, John-Cusack, overuse-of-CGI, Ridley-Scott Posted in Hollywood, Hollywood Follies, Hollywood-turkeys, Uncategorized | 1 Comment &;

Protecting Movie IndustryDogs

June 13, 2007

Even the movie industry&;s dogs need protection from pirates.  No, counterfeiters aren&;t keeping their DVD burners going day and night for dogs like Gigli, The Island, Zodiac or Basic Instinct 2.  It&;s the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adorable black Labradors, Flo and Lucky, that need protecting.  Flo and Lucky have the amazing (some might say unbelievable) ability to sniff out the polycarbonate chemicals used in making pirated DVDs (as well as all other kinds of DVD copies.)  So the always-creditable New Straits Times reports that Malaysian pirates are protecting their lairs and wares from the noble chocolate Labs with aggressive bulldogs.   

Undeterred, the pair of public relations dogs have allegedly helped bust over one million pirated DVDs. 

Posted in animals-in-the-news, heroic-dogs, Hollywood-dogs, Hollywood-turkeys, MondayMorningMediaQuarterback, Pets, piracy, Public Relations | Leave a Comment &;