Monday, November 19, 2018

I, Robot Review











I, Robot


Release Date: 22nd July 2004 - Australia


Production Companies
20th Century Fox
Mediastream Vierte Film GmbH & Co. Vermarktungs KG (in association with)
Davis Entertainment
Laurence Mark Productions
Overbrook Entertainment
Canlaws Productions

Distribution
20th Century Fox Australia


Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: M

Runtime: 115 minutes


Budget: $120,000,000

Box Office Gross: $353,133,898 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
The year was 2035. The robots are programmed to help humanity and follow the three robotic laws to keep them safe. A technophobe detective named Del Spooner investigates a crime involving the apparent suicide of a leading robotics scientist, whom he believes was murdered by a robot. Spooner uncovers a conspiracy to enslave the human race with the help of a robot expert.


Cast
Will Smith - Del Spooner
Bridget Moynahan - Susan Calvin
Alan Tudyk - Sonny
Bruce Greenwood - Lawrence
Robertson
James Cromwell - Alfred
Lanning
Adrian Ricard - Granny
Chi McBride - Lt. John Bergin
Jerry Wasserman - Baldez
Fiona Hogan - V.I.K.I.
Peter Shinkoda - Chin
Terry Chen - Chin
Sharon Wilkins - Asthmatic Woman
Craig March - Detective
Kyanna Cox - Girl
Darren Moore - Homeless Man
Aaron Douglas - USR Attorney No. 1
Emily Tennant - Young Girl
Angela Moore - Wife
David Haysom - NS4/NS5 Robot
Scott Heindl - NS4/NS5 Robot
Shia LaBeouf - Farber

Crew
Director - Alex Proyas
Suggested by Book - Isaac Asimov
Screen Story/Screenplay - Jeff Vintar
Screenplay - Akiva Goldsman
Script Supervisor - Shelley Crawford
Associate/Visual Effects
Producer - John Kilkenny
Executive Producers - James
Lassiter, Anthony Romano,
Michel Shane and Will Smith
Producers - John Davis,
Topher Dow, Wyck Godfrey
and Laurence Mark
Co-Producer/Unit Production Manager -
Steven R. McGlothen
Casting Directors - Juel Bestrop,
Heike Brandstatter, Coreen Mayrs and
Jeanne McCarthy
Trainer: Will Smith - Darrell Foster (Uncredited)
Robot Movement Consultant - Paul Mercurio
Production Designer/Robot Designer:
Sonny (NS5) - Patrick Tatopoulos
Concept Artists - Ed Natividad,
Andy Chung and Stephan Martinere
Picture Vehicles Designers - Jeff Julian
and Paul Ozzimo
Art Directors - Chris August and Helen Jarvis
Picture Vehicle Art Directors - Simon Murton
and John Clair Watts
Set Decorator - Lin MacDonald
Property Master - Dan Sissons
Assistant Property Master - Antonio Germinario
Weapons Coordinator - Ron Blecker
Costume Designer - Liz Keogh
Prosthetics/Puppeteer - Bill Terezakis
Director of Photography - Simon Duggan
Director of Photography: Additional Action
Unit - Brian Pearson
"A" Camera/Steadicam Operator - David Crone
"A" Camera Assistant - George Marjoros
Unit Production Manager - Barbara Kelly
First Assistant Director - John R. Woodward
First Assistant Director: Second Unit -
Greg Zenon
Second Assistant Director - Paul Barry
Second Unit Director - Kimble Rendall
Additional Second Unit Director: Additional
Action Unit - Andy Armstrong
Stunt Coordinators - Glenn Boswell
and Scott J. Ateah
Special Effects Coordinator - Mike Vézina
Special Effects Workshop Supervisor -
Cameron Waldbauer
Mechanical Special Effects Designer - Paul Noël
Project Supervisor: Patrick Tatopoulos
Designs, Inc. - Guy Himber
Visual Effects Supervisor - John Nelson
Visual Effects Supervisors: Weta Digital -
Joe Letteri and Brian Van't Hul
Visual Effects Supervisor: Rainmaker - Dale Fay
Visual Effects Supervisor: Digital Domain -
Erik Nash
Visual Effects Supervisor: Pixel Magic -
Ray McIntyre Jr.
On-Set Supervisor: Weta Digital - Stephen Rosenbaum
Visual Effects Producers - Karin Joy and
John Kilkenny
Visual Effects Digital Producer: Weta Digital -
Cyndi Ochs
Visual Effects Executive Producer: Digital
Domain - Nancy Bernstein
Visual Effects Executive Producer: Weta
Digital - Eileen Moran
Digital Effects Supervisor - John Andrew Berton Jr.
Digital Effects Supervisor: Digital Domain -
Jonathan Egstad
Previz Supervisor: Pixel Liberation Front -
Colin Green
Animation Supervisor: Weta Digital - Atsushi Soto
Animation Supervisor: Digital Domain -
Andrew R. Jones
Senior Animation Technical Director: Weta
Digital - Shawn Dunn
Animation Lead: Sonny, Digital Domain -
Matthew Hackett
Character Set-Up Lead; Digital Domain -
Steve Preeg
Character Animation Sequence Leads: Digital
Domain - Bernd Angerer and Piotr Karwas
Lead CG Supervisor: Weta Digital - Eric Sainden
CG Supervisors: Weta Digital - Greg Butler,
Dan Lemmon and Guy Williams
Computer Graphics Supervisors: Digital Domain -
Serge Sretschinsky and Vernon R. Wilbert Jr.
CG Robot Lighting Lead: Digital Domain -
Paul George Palop
Digital Modelling Supervisor: Weta Digital -
Matt Aitken
Creature Supervisor: Weta Digital - Dana Peters
Massive Supervisor: Weta Digital - Jon Allitt
Miniature Effects Supervisor - Dave Aisling
Director of Photography: Miniature Unit -
Bill Neil
2D Sequence Supervisors: Weta Digital -
G.G. Heitmann Denners and Mark Tait Lewis
Digital Compositing Leads: Digital Domain -
Joe Farrell, Jessica Harris, Kevin Lingenfelsher,
Brandon McNaughton and Lou Pecora
Compositing Supervisor: Weta Digital -
Erik Winquist
Film Editors - William Hoy, Richard Learoyd
and Armen Minasian
Additional Editors - Jeffrey Ford
and Neil Travis
Associate Editor - Matt Villa
First Assistant Film Editor - Matthew Schmidt
Supervising Sound Editor - John A. Larsen
Sound Designer - Erik Aadahl
Sound Designer/Co-Supervising Sound Editor -
Craig Berkey
Sound Effects Editor - Jay Wilkinson
First Assistant Sound Editors - Skip Longfellow
and Galen Goodpaster
Sound Mixers - Doug Hemphill and
Paul Massey
Foley Artists - Alicia Stevenson
and Dawn Pintor
Music - Marco Beltrami
Score Recordist and Mixer - John Kurlander


Awards

2005 Academy Awards
Best Visual Effects - John Nelson, Erik Nash,
Andrew R. Jones and Joe Letteri (Nominated)


Review
For those who need to know about the late Isaac Asimov and his literary works in the modern science-fiction genre, he was responsible for the three laws in robotics he wrote out. These laws are vital to his stories and even to the future of technology. Alex Proyas has long since developed I, ROBOT based on a suggestion from Asimov's 1950 collection of nine short stories. Rather than being a literal interpretation, the plot of I, ROBOT feels like a different story that falls somewhere along the lines of Blade Runner. It integrated aspects of Asimov's stories, including his three robotic laws on a script by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman.

Will Smith forgoes his usual gangsta routine to the subdued role of a detective, whose bigotry against robots leads him to investigate a murder that appeared to have been committed by a robot. Nevertheless, he has shown restraint in his performance, and before that, he acted in a few dramatic roles that helped him bring this maturity to Del Spooner. It was coincidental that Shia LaBeouf was in the movie in a small part. Three years later, he would have another robot encounter in Transformers.

If you're a fan of Smith's comedic antics, you find this film too subdued. It demonstrates his flexibility as an actor. If you're someone into these visual experiences, you're in a feast for I, ROBOT, as it showcases Asimov's dream of the future.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

In Memory of Stan Lee (1922-2018)












Stan Lee (1922-2018)

Greetings, everyone. I regret to inform you that Stan Lee, the legendary comic book writer and editor of Marvel Comics, died at age 95 on November 12th, 2018. The man was a real-life superhero known for creating iconic characters such as Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, Silver Surfer, and Black Panther. Each of these transcended into household names of pop culture. Since then, the characters from his comics have made an impression on all readers. They have been adapted countless times to the big screen for moviegoers. Though loved by many comic-book fans, we will not forget his memorable creations, his life's work and his signature phrase, "Excelsior!"

In his early years, Lee had grown up watching Errol Flynn movies and dreamed of writing the "Great American Novel". He entered the comic book business in 1939 with the newly-formed Timely Comics, which later morphed into Atlas Comics in the 1950s and then branded into Marvel Comics in the early 1960s. Lee had started to work with Joe Simon and his future collaborator Jack Kirby to write up a story in their original comic Captain America, which he did. In later years, Lee would team up with Kirby again to shape the character's future. In 1941, with the departures of Simon and Kirby, Stan Lee, at 19 years of age, got promoted to interim editor of Timely Comics after having graduated to some writing work. During World War II, Lee enlisted in military service by joining the Signal Corps. During his war experiences, he wrote manuals and training films with a group that included Oscar-winning Director Frank Capra and future children's author Theodore Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss).

Lee returned to Timely Comics as an editor, which lasted for decades. In the early 1960s, in the wake of DC's success with Justice League, Lee and Kirby began writing their superhero team of Fantastic Four for the newly evolved Marvel Comics. Then, they created Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Silver Surfer, and other characters. He collaborated with comic book artist/writer Steve Ditko in creating the web-crawling Spider-Man and the mystical Doctor Strange and Bill Everett with their blind superhero, Daredevil. In 1972, Stan Lee was named the publisher and surrendered all his editorial reins to promote his company for the time being. He purchased an animation studio in 1980, which he renamed "Marvel Productions", and began to form relationships in Hollywood.

Besides writing, editing and publishing his comics, Stan Lee contributed to the motion picture business as an executive producer. He has had several cameo appearances in numerous films adapted from his comics. Stan also guest-starred in non-Marvel projects, including films like "Mallrats" and "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies". He even appeared in television shows such as "Muppet Babies", "The Simpsons", "Chuck", "The Big Bang Theory", and "Robot Chicken".

Back to Home

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Bohemian Rhapsody Review











Bohemian Rhapsody


Release Date: 1st November 2018 - Australia


Production Companies
20th Century Fox (present)
GK Films
New Regency Productions (present)
TSG Entertainment (made in association with)
Queen Films Ltd. (uncredited)
Tribeca Productions (uncredited)

Distribution
20th Century Fox Australia


Genre: Musical/Drama

Rating: M

Runtime: 134 minutes


Budget: $55,000,000

Box Office Gross: $910,809,311 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Celebrating one of the greatest rock bands in history, their lead singer Freddie Mercury has defied stereotypes and become one of the best-known entertainers in the world.

It all started in 1970s London when Freddie was a poor but talented Indian refugee who became the lead singer of a band that changed its name to Queen. Thus began an incredibly successful career for a band as their revolutionary music style and iconic songs helped shape the world of rock n' roll. However, beneath that colossal fame is the inner turmoils of Freddie as he faces poor decisions and an AIDS diagnosis before reuniting with Queen once more in a Live Aid concert at Wembley that would go down in history as one of the legendary rock performances.


Cast
Rami Malek - Freddie Mercury
Lucy Boynton - Mary Austin
Joseph Mazzello - John Deacon
Mike Myers - Ray Foster
Ben Hardy - Roger Taylor
Aiden Gillen - John Reid
Gwilym Lee - Brian May
Tom Hollander - Jim Beach
Allen Leech - Paul Prenter
Jess Radomska - Cheryl
Aaron McCusker - Jim Hutton
Michelle Duncan - Shelley Stern
Meneka Das - Jer Bulsara
Ace Bhatti - Bomi Bulsara
Priya Blackburn - Kashmira Bulsara
Dermot Murphy - Bob Geldof
Max Bennett - David
Dickie Beau - Kenny Everett
Tim Plester - RT Baker
Jack Roth - Tim Staffell
Max Bennett - David
Neil Fox-Roberts - Mary's
Father
Matt Greenwood - Young Man at Clinic
Rosy Benjamin - Dominique
Leila Crerar - Chrissie
Katherine Newman - Veronica
Adam Rauf - Young Farrokh
Phillip Andrew - Reinhold Mack
John Ottman - Live TV Director (Cameo)
Adam Lambert - Truck Driver (Cameo) (Uncredited)

Crew
Executive Producer (Uncredited)/Director -
Bryan Singer
Story/Screenplay - Anthony McCarten
Story - Peter Morgan
Executive Producer/Director: Completion of
Photography and Editing (Uncredited) -
Dexter Fletcher
Executive Producers - Justin Haythe,
Arnon Michlan, Denis O'Sullivan and
Jane Rosenthal
Producers - Jim Beach and Graham King
Co-Producer - Richard Hewitt
Archive Consultant: Queen - Greg Brooks
Movement Coach - Polly Bennett
Production Designer - Aaron Haye
Supervising Art Director - David Hindle
Supervising Art Director: Additional
Photography - Stuart Kearns
Art Director - Alice Sutton
Art Director: Additional Photography -
Marco Anton Restivo
Standby Art Directors - Rachel Aulton
and Claire Shakespeare
Set Decorator - Anna Lynch-Robinson
Set Decorator: Additional Photography -
Sarah Whittle
Costume Designer - Julian Day
Makeup & Hair Designer - Jan Sewell
Prosthetic Makeup Designer - Mark Coulier
Director of Photography - Newton Thomas Sigel
Directors of Photography: Second Unit -
Nanu Segul and Rina Yang
"A" Camera/Steadicam Operator - Peter Robertson
Stunt Coordinator - James O'Donnell
Aviation Coordinator - Mike Woodley (Uncredited)
Special Effects Supervisor - Mark Holt
Special Effects Coordinator - Lucy Myers
Visual Effects Supervisor - Paul Norris
Visual Effects Producer - Tim Field
Visual Effects Production Managers - Ana Grgic
and Louise Simpson
Editor - John Ottman
Supervising Sound and Music Editor - John Warhurst
Supervising Dialogue/ADR Editor - Nina Hartstone
Production Sound Mixer - John Casali
Sound Effects Editors - Alistair Hawkins,
Andy Kennedy and Alastair Sirkett
Re-Recording Mixer - Tim Cavagin
Re-Recording/Music Mixer - Paul Massey
Foley Mixers - Glen Gathard and
Jemma Riley-Tolch
Foley Artists - Peter Burgis
and Zoe Freed
Executive Music Producers - Brian May
and Roger Taylor
Music Supervisor - Becky Bentham
Conductor/Orchestrator/Score Producer -
James Shearman


Review
I've been listening to the band Queen ever since I can remember, with such favourites as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions", and "Don't Stop Me Now". Named after the famous song that spawned the iconic music video and, in the early 80s, led to the launch of MTV. I wasn't sure about BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY after its release due to a range of issues noticed by other critics. These include inconsistent direction, gaps in the plot and several historical inaccuracies. It is not the biopic I was hoping for, but there are a few redeeming moments, such as the recreation of the Live Aid concert performance.

Rami Malek was incredible in the lead role of Freddie Mercury and did a great job of channelling the singer's flamboyance and body language. On a fascinating note, Mike Myers plays a record executive, reminding viewers of his character from Wayne's World. Here, there's no headbanging.

If you're a stickler for history, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY may not be your cup of tea. If you're passionate about Freddie Mercury, Queen, and their music, Bryan Singer's latest production is a fitting tribute to glam rock. The show must go on for BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. And in this case, there would be no doubt of that.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

Back to Home