Trailer blazing

So Monday saw the release of the new teaser trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” followed by excitement at the few frames that show Tom Hardy as Bane. It’s not a bad trailer, but personally I would have rather seen a bit more from the new film and less clips from the previous two. That said the line “every journey has an end” did get me more than a little excited in anticipation of the conclusion to the Caped Crusader’s story.

Speaking of trailers, in order to combat the “rise” of Batman teasers (boom boom), Marvel have released the first full trailer for The Amazing Spiderman. I wasn't really a fan of rebooting the franchise so quickly after Spiderman 3 (which admittedly, wasn't any good), but as trailers go, it's actually pretty spectacular. Speaking of Marvel, I'm also guessing that they'll start teasing The Avengers pretty much as soon as Captain America’s cinema tenure begins to close. More than likely it’ll all tie in to the post credit sting of Cap… not long to wait now. I’m still predicting Stark or Fury thawing him out.  

And whilst all the talk this week seems to be revolving around the final instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman opus, another trailer has begun to do the rounds. Looking to replace a huge studio budget with originality, the mysterious MH trailer seems suggest something that might shake up the superhero landscape in a way that hasn’t been seen since Kick Ass. I’ll be watching eagerly for more on this project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W10Td90t-Y8&hd=1

Sometimes just a little can whet the appetite for more…

Birthday aftermath

Having a week off of work to celebrate your birthday (and your wife’s much more important birthday) is great, however the combination of heavy drinking, junk food, late nights and lie-ins have left my sleep patterns all over the place. Which meant that at two o’clock this morning when I should have been sound asleep preparing for my return to work and the barrage of emails that surely awaited me, I was instead restlessly watching the green LCD glow of my bedside clock count down to my inevitable lethargic wake up call.

But of course, it had all been totally worth it. I had received a plethora of awesome presents, from a selection of DVDs including season one of “Archer” (my new favourite animated sitcom), to the multitude of awesome T-shirts which covered Kick Ass to Kobayshi Porcelain (you know I love an esoteric reference), my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Belt Buckle, a couple of Jasper Fforde books and Mario Kart to the DS. And not to forget my SHIELD travelcard case.

Whilst I would never play favourites with the gifts I received, special mention to the Star Wars Light Sabre wall light…as soon as I move, that’s going up; and the Marvel Encyclopaedia, which may just be the coolest comic related tome ever. I’ve spent the last three days explaining to Jane why it needs to be our coffee table book.

And importantly Jane had a lovely weekend, and liked the Tiffanies earrings I got her (they only cost me a kidney…luckily I still have another one). We saw lots of friends and family and managed to squeeze some chill time in as well. All in all, a pretty awesome couple of days.

Oh and I had just under 250 emails when I got in. Not bad for a week off. 

The original is not still the best

With the sheer volume of sequels, prequels, remakes and adaptations that seem to be hitting our screens lately, there doesn’t seem to be much room in Hollywood for original ideas. With the notable exception of “Inception”, it’s difficult to think of a mainstream “big” movie that came out last year that wasn’t a sequel, an adaptation or based on factual historical events.

But is it due to a stunning lack of original thought in Hollywood, or is it just because an adaptation or sequel already has a built in audience so studios see it as less risky?

It’s not to say that these types of films can’t be excellent. Discounting “The King’s Speech” (as it was based on actual historical events), look at some of this year’s biggest films: “The Social Network” (based on a book), “Toy Story 3” (a sequel, or threequel if you’re an idiot) and “True Grit” (based on a film or a book depending on who you ask). Some of my personal favourites from last year included “Shutter Island” (based on a book), “Scott Pilgrim vs the World” (based on a comic) and the excellent “Kick Ass” (based on a comic).

This year we’ve got a whole heap of unnecessary sequels – “Fast and Furious 5” (or “Fast Five” if you think it’s cooler), “Scream 4” and “The 5nal Destination” (yes, that’s right, they’ve put a five at the front, how clever. Just be glad they didn’t do that with the last one, or it would have attracted a whole different audience…think about it). There’s also four big comic book movies (which is great for a geek like me), in the form of “The Green Lantern”, “Thor”, “X-men: First Class” and “Captain America”. But where’s the next big original idea?

I think that it’s because of this market place that’s so saturated with recycled ideas, that when something as original as “Inception” comes along it really stands out. We’ve reached the point where a series as popular as the hateful Twilight saga or the outstanding Millennium trilogy comes along, studios pounce on the idea of adapting them for the screen. The Millennium trilogy has been made in it’s original language as well as the coming US remake. Studios are so keen to cash in on the ongoing success of the Harry Potter franchise that they’ll jump on anything remotely resembling family friendly book to film adaptations. See the woeful “The Golden Compass”, “Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief” and “I am Number Four” (which the studio gobbled up on the promise of a six-book series, even though only one has been written).

It’s a sad state of affairs, because I truly believe it stifles the creativity of filmmakers. Surely the film going public is smart enough not to discount a film from the start just because they haven’t read the book/seen the first one? The only good thing (arguably) that comes out of this onslaught of adaptations is that it puts books in front of people who wouldn’t normally read them.

I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but the best film I saw at the cinema last year was “Back to the Future” on it’s 25^th anniversary release. Obviously I’m not entirely subjective as that was a childhood favourite, but they just don’t seem to make them like that anymore, and I think the fact studios are so hesitant to produce original films in more than partly to blame.

You never know, perhaps in 25 years, I’ll watch the re-release of “Fast and Furious 5” and I’ll complain that they ‘don’t make them like that anymore’.

But I doubt it.