For Bond, at least; Skyfall.

The trailer has just been released and I can’t stop watching; it is excellent.

Admittedly I am a huge fan of Craig’s Bond, arguably closest to the Bond of the books that there ever has been, but again he looks fantastic in Skyfall.

There is so much in this trailer that makes brings me to the edge of my seat. First and foremost: the imagery. Already this looks like quite possibly the most gorgeous Bond film to date. The colours, the composition; all of it just looks so visually sumptuous the teaser just compels you to watch it over and over and over.

Second up, the feel of the film. Alright the trailer above is only 90secs but still, I get a definite distinct feeling of difference between this and anything, of recent years at least, that’s been before. With Sam Mendes in the driving seat, I am unsurprised. Both American Beauty and Road to Perdition deal with the man-under-pressure (albeit varying degrees and kinds of pressure) situation with equally satisfying self-destructive aplomb and if Craig’s Bond is anything, he is self-destructive.

Several years ago, right after Die Another Day came out, I bought the full set of Bond movies (the one in the fancy metal case) and watched them all, one a night, over three weeks.

AND IT WAS AWESOME

Things I learned:

• George Lazenby is better than people remember (and got a bum deal after Connery)
• Roger Moore is my least favourite Bond (we’re lucky we made it back to today)
• Timothy Dalton was unfortunately ahead of his time (and more Bourne than Bond)
• Sean Connery should’ve quit earlier

And finally, the one thing that stands out is that, believe it or not, there is a single thread that flows throughout. They just connect somehow. Even though they feel different, from film to film, they are all interlock together. So what if Moonraker was brought forward (and taken out of the order of the canon) as a response to Star Wars, who cares if some of the jokes during the 70s were TERRIBLE; the films just work.

Pierce Brosnan did a superb job of reinvigorating the franchise (albeit later than originally planned) and now, Daniel Craig is here and his films are undeniably good. The darker, more vicious Quantum of Solace is a fave.

In closing: with the tonality of Craig and the emotive & visual depth of Mendes, the third of this generation’s Bond is set to be the best one yet.

Between now and then, do yourself a favour and read the books. Go and (re)discover Bond the way he was originally written. Then make your own mind up.

Whatley out.

Hmm… a double-post of trailers this week (not my usual thing, but) The Amazing Spider-Man just dropped its third and final trailer and well, take a look

I’m not frothing at the mouth half as much as I was when I first caught the original preview (I think it trailed in front of a Harry Potter or something) but still, it doesn’t look that bad.

Early previews give good promise too. It’s a big year for comic book films this year: Avengers is done (and is killing it), Dark Knight Rises is next, then The Amazing Spider-Man steps up.

What do you reck’?

Seeing it?

Via

To say I’m a little excited about The Dark Knight Rises would be an understatement. It is the end of the Nolan-universe era and it promises to be… something else.

I’m extremely, extremely lucky to have worked quite close to the film – especially around the 6min prologue released at the back end of last year. Even that was enough to work me up to a frenzy. Tom Hardy, one of my favourite actors, looks absolutely incredible as BANE.

This latest image says it all…

via Screenrant

90 days and counting. Bring it.

I’m all over this -

Launching June 8th

Via

I’m loving pretty much everything I’m reading about Prometheus so far, this one-sheet/poster/ship detail is good, but for some reason – in this instance at least – I expected a little more detail.

What do you think?

Update: more.

Eric Bana
Edward Norton
Mark Ruffalo

Image via Screenrant

I love the look of the new Hulk in the upcoming Avengers film. The third* modern take on the character and I think we’re finally getting him to a decent place…

Good work.

*the two previous films were good, but Hulk was too green and Incredible was too veiny.

In Slovenia last week, one of my hosts, Aljosa Bagola (a cooler cat I never did meet), caught wind that I was a Batman fan and promptly pulled this image up on his iPhone.

Heath Ledger, as Joker, kick-flipping over Christian Bale on the set of The Dark Knight.

So. Freaking. Cool.

Enjoy it for a moment. Look at it over and over again. Then scroll down.

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It’s a fake.

But – like you – for a few moments, before I got ’round to blogging it at least, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

This -

- on the verge of something incredible. I wonder, did they know?

via Supervillain

Singer’s Supes deserves a re-visit –

Seeing Christopher Reeve as Superman is probably the earliest film memory I can muster and, although the fourth installment in the series is by far and away the worst of Reeve’s tenure, I still get chills when I remember my Dad surprising me with a cinema trip when we were off out to visit one of his building sites:

“Dad! Dad! Look!”

“What is it son?”

“That cinema! Look! They’re showing Superman IV!”

“Are they? We best go and see it then.”

It was planned. He knew what he was doing. Site trips were nothing new and going around with Dad in his truck was always great. There just happened to be some building works next to the cinema where we were (already) headed and I thought they were his.

As I’m sure my 9yr old self would say: it was brill.

Between then and now, on the TV front at least, we’ve had the quite frankly terrible Lois & Clark as well as the up and down (but mainly up) ten seasons of Smallville.

Film-wise, we’ve had Superman Returns.

Set in a world where Superman III & IV never happened, Superman Returns is pitched as taking place five years after the events of Superman II. In the original Richard Donner cut of Superman II, scientists discover that Krypton might still exist. Upon learning this, Superman sets out to find his home; a process that takes – you guessed it – five years.

On his return, things have certainly changed. The world has moved on, Lois is with someone else and oh, there’s the small issue of her son as well.

It’s no secret that I am a comic book fan and, on top of that, a film lover also. More often than not, when discussing these two subjects in unison, the conversation eventually arrives at Superman Returns: without doubt, one of the most divisive films I’ve ever come across. People either love it or they hate it.

I love it*.

First up, we need to talk about the fantastic effort that director, Bryan Singer, put into tying this film back into the previous four two. From digging out old footage of Marlon Brando as Supes’ father, Jor-El, through to embracing that score – this truly is an extension of the Superman canon that I (and by all accounts, Mr Singer) grew up with. However, to build this out successfully, you need more than just a few nods to the subject matter’s celluloid history – you also need a decent cast.

Let’s turn to the star of the show himself – Superman. Brandon Routh is terrific as a modern day Kal-El and at times, especially when he’s in costume (as Clark Kent – thank you Bill), it’s like he’s channeling everything that Christopher Reeve first brought to the character and more. The strength, the weight – it’s all perfect. Swell, in fact.

Next, the city of Metropolis [yes, a city can be a character - and in this instance, a very important one at that]. This isn’t Gotham City, there’s no need for darkness here. There’s a timeless romanticism about Metropolis that Singer manages to capture while still maintaining the fresh feel of a latter day thriving and futuristic city of tomorrow. The Daily Planet may be a newspaper from the 40s, but stuck in the dark ages they ain’t.

Which leads me to Luthor, Lex Luthor.

Revisiting the Superman films of old, you realise that Gene Hackman’s interpretation is good but not brilliant. He captures Lex’s mania quite well, and his villainy too – but the darkness that drives the character forward seems to be missing (and perhaps there’s a little too much humour for my liking too). This is where Kevin Spacey’s take steps up – you can see the twisted anger behind the eyes, the obsession with land (another carry over from the first films) is once again apparent, but this time driven with an undying urge to kill Superman. There’s a part, in the final third of the film where he manages to inflict genuine physical pain upon our hero and… well, it’s just plain nasty. Good job.

Superman? Check.
Metropolis? Check.
Lex Luthor? Check.

Someone is missing… and this where things aren’t exactly perfect. I set out to write this post as the final word on my defence of Superman Returns but, whenever this discussion is played out in the pub, there is one big elephant in the room that, when we realise it’s there, threatens to destroy every and any argument that SR is any good: Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane.

She’s terrible.

I mean, literally, the worst thing in the entire film. You could argue that the fact that the character has been given A SON probably threw the fans off a little bit but, even if you took that away, she’s simply fundamentally miscast.

There are two arguments here -

1. Lois Lane is supposed to be a tough-talking, no-crap taking bullish news hound. This is not the case in SR and it just feels like there was no time dedicated to the development of this character at all.
2. If you’re going to very clearly base SR upon and around the original films, then why ignore all of the fantastic foundation work that Margot Kidder laid out for you? OK, so her version of Lois is pretty definitive, but at least try and capture of those smarts? Please? PLEASE? No.

Eugh.

But seriously (and back to the point), Kate Bosworth aside, Superman Returns is a bloody good Superman film.

Alright you could moan that there isn’t enough action, and yes you could bitch about a certain plot device that seems to go against everything else that’s been set up before, but what would be the point? Sometimes it’s nice just to sit back and enjoy the view – and Superman Returns gives us that by the bucket-load. Steeped in nostalgia and soaked in a soft-focus vision of what a world could be like if Superman was real – it deserves a second look, easily.

“Well, I hope this experience hasn’t put any of you off flying…
Statistically speaking, it’s still the safest way to travel.”

Man of Steel is just over a year away and very soon we’ll have a new Superman to marvel at (and pick over). But, for now at least, go and give Superman Returns another look. It really isn’t that bad at all.

And finally.. for the fans out there…

If you followed the film during its shoot, there were rumours of a hugely expensive ($10m!) exploratory ‘Search for Krypton’ opener that Warner Bros cut from the theatrical release. It was denied, however rumours of its existence have long persisted and only recently – and coinciding with the Blu-Ray anthology re-release of all the films as one collection – the footage finally come to light.

It’s gorgeous.

A totally unscripted six minute journey through the remnants of Krypton, this pre-credits sequence would’ve set the film up in a totally different way.

What do you think?

Whatley out.

;

;

*with the exception of Lois Lane, obviously

Five things of note for the week ending Friday March 23rd, 2012

1. Obama using sign language

I’ve taken sign language lessons in the past and, as much as the simple (yet purposeful) sign for ‘thank you’ isn’t actually that hard, the fact the President of the United States was able to respond in such a way is pretty damn ace. Stephon, the chap that Obama was responding to, was understandably over the moon about it – as you’d hope you would be at such a fantastic moment.

Obviously it was reported on, and you could say ‘Yeah? And?’, but the point is knowing a different language – including something like Sign – can turn out to be useful at the most random of moments. I spent some time learning sign in my late teens (what I remember is basic, at best) but I’ll never forget, perhaps a week or so after my course finished and while working away at my local fast food joint (it was a college job!) being able to offer a deaf customer the option of signing his order to me. That understanding, that moment of surprise and delight was magical! ‘Wait, you know Sign?’  he signed to me. ‘A little’ I signed back, smiling.

This item goes in because it reminds me of that day.
And it makes me want to learn Sign again.

2. Where Good Ideas Come From
I’ve been reading the above book for a little while now (it’s not a huge read, but I have a tendency to read three books at once) and the current section - on the strength and important of platforms when it comes to innovation – has led to one awesome discovery and one equally awesome reminder.

First: the invention of GPS -

“…inspiration for GPS came when the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite,Sputnik in 1957. Two American physicists, William Guier and George Weiffenbach, at Johns Hopkins’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), decided on their own to monitor Sputnik’s radio transmissions. Within hours they realized that, because of the Doppler effect, they could pinpoint where the satellite was along its orbit from the Doppler shift. The Director of the APL gave them access to their UNIVAC to do the heavy calculations required.
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When they released the orbit of Sputnik to the media, the Russians were dumbfounded to learn how powerful American computers had become, as they would not have been able to calculate the orbit themselves. The following spring, Frank McClure, the deputy director of the APL, asked Guier and Weiffenbach to look at the inverse problem where you know the location of the satellite and you want to find your own location. (The Navy was developing the submarine-launched Polaris missile, which required them to know the submarine’s location.) This led them and APL to develop the Transit system.”

- Wikipedia

Er, so two young physicists wondered if they could spot the tell-tale radio signal of the Sputnik satellite  – from their office – back in 1957 and now, 55 years later, that exact same thinking is powering urban games, geo-tagging photos and generally baked into every single modern smartphone in the world. Amazing.

Secondly: the reminder of Delaware Subway Coral -

I can remember reading about this when it happened, but the book touches upon it and it made me go and seek out the pictures again. It’s a great idea; use the hundreds upon hundreds of retired New York subway cars to help build a new marine ecosystem off the coast of Delaware – and it’s working.

Also – read this damn book.

3. The Nova Festival
With summer just around the corner the UK festival scene is preparing its sunglasses and its wellies for a season of muddy music-based merriment however, this year, two of my favourite haunts are taking a year off – there will be no Big Chill or Glastonbury in 2012.

So what to do?

Well, I’ve already booked myself a ticket for the Isle of Wight festival with some friends of mine and, given that I’ve never really done two festivals in one season before, I’m giving serious consideration to attending the Nova Festival too. Setup by two of the original producers of the Big Chill, it looks like it might be the soothing and dare I say it chilled way to spend a long weekend in July. Maybe. We’ll see…

4. Knowing when to unplug
This thought came back to me this past week. Being on your laptop / iPad / mobile phone from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you close them again is no way to live a life. Keep that thought clear, unplug every now and then and go out and enjoy the sunshine.

5. The Hunger Games

Went to the premiere, which was pretty damn cool. I think this is a bit late mind (yes, it is – this was back on March 14th – I just forgot to write it up). I don’t feel like I gave the film a fair chance though to be honest. Because it was a premiere, once you’ve been ushered in you have to wait for all the stars to finish signing autographs etc before they start the film. Which meant we had to wait an hour after we’d taken our seats before anything got under way.

I haven’t read the books (bad Whatley), I didn’t think the film was ‘ZOMG!! LIKE BEST MOVIE EVA!!’ nor did I think it was particular rubbish. It was.. all right. Not brilliant, not bad, just OK. It probably deserves a second viewing.

And I should really read the books too.

Bonuses – another Prometheus trailer (I’m more excited about this than I think DKR or Avengers); a kitten playing with a super patient St. Bernard; Baboons that steal puppies then train them as guard dogs (for realsies); and a company called Calera seems to be doing things that completely blow my mind.