August 14th, 2008
According to the movie news site Cinematical, Warner Bros. has moved the release date of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE from Thanksgiving of ‘08 to summer of ‘09.
Here’s what WB honcho Alan Horn said in a press release: “Our reasons for shifting Half-Blood Prince to summer are twofold: We know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent-pole release…. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers’ strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films, changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of…. [Half-Blood Prince] perfectly fills the gap for a major tent-pole release for mid-summer.”
Blah, blah, tentpole, yada yada, impacted… If you ask me, this means WB saw this summer’s slate — THE DARK KNIGHT, INDIANA JONES, IRON MAN, WALL-E — and realized next summer could be wide open for HALF-BLOOD PRINCE to bring home the kind of bacon you just don’t find between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Personally, I always thought the British vibe of the POTTER films worked nicely with a holiday season release, but I’m not the one making these decisions.
So start standing in line now. July 17 — the new opening day — will be here before you know it.
On the plus side, VALKYRIE — the Tom Cruise movie about a plot to kill Hitler — has been moved from 2009 back to 2008. It opens the day after Christmas. Maybe Cruise’s much-hyped role in TROPIC THUNDER has won him some goodwill at the MGM.
August 14th, 2008
One of my favorite film critics, Glenn Erickson, has an interesting article over at his DVD Savant site. It’s titled “Whatever Happened to Great Fight Scenes?,” and, as you may have guessed, it looks at modern movie fight scenes and finds them lacking. I agree with Glenn that many modern fight scenes are editing so frenetically that its impossible to tell what’s happening. Like dance scenes in modern movies — think CHICAGO — this editing allows less-than-perfect dancers (or, in our case, fighters) to look like real pros. I’m a fan of THE DARK KNIGHT, but I agree with Glenn that the fight scenes are arguably the weakest part of the movie. (And that bulky Batman costume ain’t helping any.)
If you want to see some stunning fight scenes, check out any of the battles from Jackie Chan’s prime period (i.e., before he starred in RUSH HOUR). Jackie was a trained fighter and acrobat, and so were his co-stars. Here, for instance, is a fight from POLICE STORY 2…
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Notice how most of it is in a wide shot, allowing you to (a) keep track of what’s happening, and (b) appreciate the artistry of the stunts. The Hong Kong influence has been felt in Hollywood for years (think of THE MATRIX), but there’s still nothing like the real thing.
And, if you want to see some real fisticuffs from old Hollywood, here’s a clip from the 1954 DRAGNET movie. Jack Webb isn’t known as a great screen brawler, but I think you’ll agree this is a pretty impressive battle. Love those POV shots!
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