HEROES
Saul (James Franco) and Dale (Seth Rogen), PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
It’s always fun and/or thrilling to see regular dudes thrown into the deep end of a live or death situation in a wrong man type of scenario. It was a particular pleasure to watch Saul and Dale – as unassuming as anyone can probably get – constantly scramble to find themselves out of their situation. It was distinctly relatable while still being utterly absurd and hilarious.
Tony Star/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), IRON MAN
Tony Stark is classic hero in the sense that he starts off as anything but, discovers his conscience, and then decides to do the right thing. It’s a solid, well established heroic trajectory, yet what made Stark somewhat refreshing is that in his transformation he is never saccharine. Afterwards he still maintains that devilish rogue charm and cocky swagger that made him such a fun and appealing character. He’s a hero, but never a square. That’s exactly how Stark would have it.
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
See? I do have positive things to say about THE X-FILES movie. Aside from Anderson being more gorgeous now than she was on the show (okay, that has nothing to with her character being a hero), Scully was the highlight of the film for me. She was sensitive and engaging, and her noble (and heroic) struggle – medical, emotional, moral – to try and help a terminally ill child almost made the film worth the price of admission. Almost.
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With the world seemingly revolving entirely around THE DARK KNIGHT these days, and everything in its wake at the box office having been pulverized (except MAMMA MIA!), there’s been one very big and unfortunate casualty: HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY.
After a solid $34.5 million opening weekend pull from July 11-13, HELLBOY II was slaughtered this past weekend, dropping a brutal 70.7% to bring in a measly $10.1 million. I guess with Batman and The Joker fighting it out on thousands of screens, it seems audiences have forgotten about Hellboy, or only have room for one superhero movie in their hearts right now.It’s unfortunate because HELLBOY II definitely finds its place in my Top 10 Superhero Movies of All Time (an updated version of that list to be published later this week). Here’s a few reasons why - now that you’ve had your Batman fix - you should make the effort to still go check out HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY.
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When Guillermo Del Toro was asked by Page Six whether he would ever be interested in doing a romantic comedy, he had the following to say:
“No way. Sleepless in Seattle can go [bleep] itself,” Guillermo Del Toro said. “Monsters are the most beautiful creatures in the universe. I have no interest in everyday life, except through a twisted mirror.”
For once I have nothing to say. I think this hilarious quote speaks for itself. Well done, good sir Del Toro. Well done.
Finally, it’s official! Guillermo Del Toro is directing THE HOBBIT. Rumors of Del Toro helming the film adaptation of THE HOBBIT (the prequel to THE LORD OF THE RINGS, if you aren’t familiar with your Tolkien novels), have been swirling around for while, but now it’s a done deal. What’s more – and I didn’t know this part until now – apparently he’s going to be directing two films back to back, one THE HOBBIT itself, and the subsequent one dealing with the sixty years between the events of that film and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Del Toro is so committed to the project that he’s actually moving to New Zealand for the next four years (after he wraps post-production on HELLBOY 2) to shoot both films together with the help of WETA, the guys who did the special effects for THE LORD OF THE RINGS. There’s no script yet, but its presumed Del Toro will collaborate with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens, the screenwriters of Tokien’s trilogy.
I couldn’t be more excited about this news. THE HOBBIT was a huge part of my childhood, and in many ways holds more of a place in my literary heart than THE LORD OF THE RINGS ever did. The fact that it’s going to be produced by the visually inventive and fantastical mind of Del Toro – who has yet to make a bad film, in my opinion – eases my mind about the novel getting its proper due. Ian McKellan has also openly stated that he would gladly reprise his role as Gandalf (who does appear in THE HOBBIT), so bit by bit the pieces are falling into place. Now let the speculation begin as to who will play Bilbo Baggins begin.
Source: Variety
Del Toro has emerged as one of the most inventive, creative directors working in Hollywood (and outside of it) today. Sure, he’s given us exciting action-adventures like BLADE II, and HELLBOY, but it’s his independent work that makes me love the guy. You can’t go wrong with meaty dramatic films like THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE and the visually sumptuous PAN’S LABYRINTH. At the New York Comic-Con over the weekend he revealed that he intends to make another film in what he loosely calls his “childhood” series. This one is to be called PLANET SATURN: END OF DAYS, and will follow a young boy running errands back and forth from a supermarket as the apocalypse happens around him. Again Del Toro seems to want to explore horror through the perspective of youthful innocence, though this time he’s at least finally (I think) moving away from the Spanish Civil War to do so. Personally, I’m excited, not just because it’s a cool idea, but I’ve always enjoys projects that view disastrous events through a small-town, non-military perspective, whether it be something like CLOVERFIELD, or the novel ALAS, BABYLON.
What do you guys think? Do you prefer the more blockbuster style work of Del Toro, or have you enjoyed his smaller, Spanish-language films more? Or do you want him to just get going on THE HOBBIT movie already?
Source: /Film
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