PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Keepin' an eye out

I haven't been writing much lately. Been wrapped up in recent Japan Stamp action, both live and online. There's been some good stuff on eBay. I bought a few things and got most of them. I've got a huge wad of 5000 on paper stamps coming. More soaking. I soak 7-8 hundred a week and it takes a while to go through them. I am constantly upgrading the stamps in my album. I need to sign up to that print your own stamp album site and start printing. It's been hot the last two weeks and I've been sluggish, so that big project, still not started.

Here are some articles from the current Animation Newsletter. Not much about animation, most of the time.

DIE HARD 4 COMING IN 2007 - 20th Century Fox has announced that the next installment in the DIE HARD action franchise will hit theaters next summer on June 29, taking on
TRANSFORMERS for the Independence Day weekend, reports the trades. Bruce Willis will again play tough-talking, New York cop John McClane in LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, which plans to start shooting next month. Len Wiseman (UNDERWORLD) has been hired to helm the film from a screenplay by Mark Bomback.

The story chronicles an attack on the U.S.'s computer infrastructure that cripples the nation. However, the villain behind the plot never expected an old-fashioned cop to get in his way.

So, who would win in a fight between John McClaine and Optimus Prime? Back when Die Hard came out I wasn't very interested in it. I wasn't into action films, nor a Bruce fan. At some point I read that there was a Frank Lloyd Wright bridge in the movie. I was a big FLW fan in them days and that promted me to rent a copy to see if the story was true. Sure enough, there's a Wright designed bridge in the movie. It's only 10-12 feet long. It a white model in what I have always thought of as the board room. I don't remember if they call it that out loud. Joel Silver the producer of the DH and many other fine films is a Frank Lloyd Wright fan. So much so that he has two houses. As time passed I grew to like Bruce as an actor and an action guy. It was watching The Last Boy Scout on laserdisc that made me a fan. I still like that movie alot and watch it regularily.

HELLBOY 2 FINDS HOME AT UNIVERSAL - Universal Pictures is set to fully finance and distribute HELLBOY 2, Guillermo del Toro's sequel to his 2004 film, which was produced by
Revolution Studios and distributed through its deal at Columbia Pictures, reports VARIETY. Universal plans to release the film based on the Dark Horse comic in summer 2008. Del Toro has penned the script and Ron Perlman and Selma Blair will return as Hellboy and his pyrokinetic love interest, Liz Sherman, respectively.  Lawrence Gordon, Mike Richardson, Lloyd Levin and Roth will produce. Comic creator Mike Mignola is set to co-produce with Chris Kenney serving as exec producer. The film will start lensing in April in Budapest and London.

ROMERO TRAVELS TO SOLITARY ISLE - Co-financing partners, Hyde Park Ent. and Kadokawa Pictures, have hired George A. Romero to write and direct the thriller SOLITARY ISLE, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Based on a short story by Koji Suzuki (THE RING, DARK WATER), the $20 million-budgeted film will follow an expedition to a deserted island, which turns deadly as the explorers face an unknown force.

The film most likely will be distributed by 20th Century Fox, where Hyde Park has a five-year, first-look deal. Hyde Park Int'l holds the foreign rights. Hyde Park's Ashok Amritraj will produce with Kadokawa's Jennie Lew Tugend, Lauren Weissman and Shinya Egawa. Romero's partner Peter Grunwald will also produce. Patrick Aiello will oversee for Hyde Park. Los Angeles-based Kadokawa Pictures is a sister company of Japan's Kadokawa Shoten Publishing, which publishes film-friendly horror novels and short stories. The production division is producing and financing ONE MISSED CALL, a remake of the 2003 Japanese film from Takashi Miike.

NEW VILLAIN & COMPOSER CONFIRMED FOR POTTER 5 - Warner Bros. Pictures has confirmed that Helena Bonham Carter has joined the all-star cast of HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. Bonham Carter will play Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius Black's cousin and a Death Eater, who is one of Lord Voldemort's followers. The studio also confirmed that composer Nicholas Hooper will create the film's score, reuniting him with director David Yates. Hooper won a BAFTA Award for his work on the Yates-directed television movie THE YOUNG VISITERS. Their other collaborations include the telefilm THE GIRL IN THE CAFE, STATE OF PLAY, THE WAY WE LIVE NOW and THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.

Bonham Carter joins a cast including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who are reprising their roles as close-knit teen wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The stellar cast also includes Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, David Thewlis, Fiona Shaw, Richard Griffiths, David Bradley, Robert Hardy and Mark Williams.

As Bellatrix Lestrange, Bonham Carter is only one of several newcomers to the "Harry Potter" film franchise, also including: Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge; George Harris as Kingsley Shacklebolt; Natalia Tena playing Nymphadora Tonks; Kathryn Hunter in the role of Mrs. Figg; and 14-year-old actress Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood.

The fifth film in the series is produced by David Heyman and David Barron, from a screenplay by Michael Goldenberg (WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, PETER PAN, CONTACT). The behind-the-scenes creative team is lead by director of photography Slawomir Idziak, production designer Stuart Craig, editor Mark Day, costume designer Jany Temime, creature effects supervisor Nick Dudman, special effects supervisor John Richardson and visual effects supervisor Tim Burke.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX will be released on July 13,
2007.

Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix is one of the best of the castings in the series. Most of the characters are not like the book in so many ways. While it doesn't bother me in anyway that would appear psychotic, it's nice to see one or two characters being played by actors that can capture the look and personality from the book. I am betting HBC can act up to Bella's level of insanity quite readily. She is a delightfully evil character.

Friday Night Movies 70

Of the seven movies I watched today, Ultraviolet was by far the worst. As we were sitting, and the movie was in it's 12th minute of exposition, I commented that someone on the IMBd will really like this movie. It gets a 3.7 rating, so it would seem not too popular, but I was right. Here's a gal on the movie's message board who likes the movie. Her comment is first, then the second comment is positive. It's the third and final comment  that nicely sums up the problems with the movie. I'm spoiled. I like nice things and good stories. There isn't much of a story here, just lots of style and movement. Much as I like style, I do like some story to go with it. Milla Jovovich looks nice but she can't do much with the mediocre dialog. There are lots of shots of her ass. Nice as that is, I just don't care, I've seen asses before. We watched the 94 minute unrated extended version. There was a nude shot of Milla's ass. The theatrical release was 87 minutes, and PG-13, probably no ass there. Some reviews mention that the studio cut the movie by 30 minutes. Adding 30 minutes of story back in might not have helped this movie. The presentation just isn't very good and even more importantly I didn't like any of these people. It's a mostly CGI movie, all the scenes treated someway, with a bit of the look of a comic. At least I didn't buy it. Renting does serve it's purpose. I should join netflix. Joe rented both the movies tonight. He's tired of watching our usual crap. Too bad he picked such a looser.

He did better on the second feature, Underworld - Evolution, the sequel to Underworld. I never saw the first movie, it turned up at movie night when I was out of town. There's a vampire - werewolf war going on. Each group was started by the son of an immortal guy, played by Derek Jacobi, one bitten by a bat and the other bitten by a wolf. The wolf boy is in a cage under the ground. He's been there for hundreds of years. His brother, now some sort of flying vampire hybrid, plans to let him out. I guess he's missed him. Kate is the key to the brother's prison. It's in her blood. Really, vampireboy can see her memories when he feeds on her. That's a handy thing to have. There's a lot of action, people weren't falling asleep in the first 10 minutes like during Ultraviolet, and there are more interesting characters. It's a very blue movie, rarely do scenes take place during the day, and rather nice looking. I'll have to keep an eye out for a cheap copy, but it will be pretty far down my want list.

I mentioned earlier that I had watched some better movies. I took the afternoon off to soak stamps and watch tv while not at work. I watched several movies before I had to have a nap. Some how I managed to get up at 3:30 am friday morning and not get back to sleep. About 6 pm I finally had a nap, waking just in time to go to movie night. I watched The Picture of Dorian Gray, A Girl In Every Port, National Velvet, and The Hoodlum Saint. All from TCM's film vault. They were a mixed bag quality wise, but I found I really was touched by National Velvet, especially the scene with Velvet and her mother. Good horse race too. After I got home from movie night I put Billy Wilder's Sabrina on to watch while I do this entry. It's why it always takes me so long. So many distractions, on my mind. Now to take my mind and go to bed.