Del Toro off the Hobbit.

Apparently according to a press release that's on Theonering.net Del Toro is off the hobbit. I'd love to link the Article but their servers seem to be down, I'd assume due to the huge amount of traffic they are getting hit with.

This, in addition to a story which was on Slashdot.org a few days ago stating that the Hobbit was indefinitely postponed do not fill me with much hope for it getting made.

All of this once more proves, that when it comes to any sort of Intellectual property laws, The Fans are always the ones that lose.

Movie Review - The Dish

The Dish presents a sensationalized account of the Parks observatory in Australia during the Apollo 11 Moon landing. It is a charming, and enjoyable movie staring Sam Neil and Patrick Warburton.

The story behind it is, NASA came to Australia looking for Dishes in the southern hemisphere in order to stay in touch with Apollo 11 on its approach to the moon. Parks Observatory was one such dish, it happened to be big enough to receive Television signals and not just still photographs and radio. A goodly portion of the live broadcast of Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong's Walk on the moon was received and Decoded by Parks to be shown around the world.

The Movie makes good use of existing footage from real events, and the feeling of anticipation in the small town of Parks Australia to being " Part of the Team " was incredibly endearing. Despite some initial friction between the observatories operators and NASA's man on the ground, Al, played by Warburton.. and an obnoxious lefty daughter of the local official.. the movie was tremendous fun. It presented a relatively unknown facet of NASA's Space Program, at least to me anyway. I certainly don't remember reading about Honeysuckle and Parks Australia in school.

Reading List So far - Five Month Update

Here we are nearly at the end of May, and I thought I'd update you all (as if you care, right?) on my progress towards my goal of 150+ books in 2010.

1. Sharpe's Tiger by Bernard Cornwell
2. Sharpe's Triumph by Bernard Cornwell
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. Sharpe's Fortress by Bernard Cornwell
5. Sharpe's Trafalgar by Bernard Cornwell
6. Sharpe's Prey by Bernard Cornwell
7. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
8. Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell
9. Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell
10. Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
11. Drawing down the Moon by Margot Adler
12. The Black Company by Glen Cook
13. Shadows linger by Glen Cook
14. The White Rose by Glen Cook
15. Sharpe's Gold by by Bernard Cornwell
16. Devices and Desires by K.J. Parker
17. The Hammer and the Cross by Harry Harrison
18. One King's Way by Harry Harrison
19. The King and the Emperor by Harry Harrison
20. Conan the Defiant by Steve Perry
21. Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind
22. El Borak and Other Desert Adventures by Robert. E. Howard
23. Sharpe's Escape by Bernard Cornwell
24. Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
25. Sharpe's Fury by Bernard Cornwell
26. Conan the Hunter by Sean A. Moore
27. Homeland by R.A. Salvatore
28. Exile by R.A. Salvatore
29. Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore
30. The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore
31. Streams of Silver by R.A. Salvatore
32. The Halfling's Gem by R.A. Salvatore
33. The Faliable Fiend by L. Sprague DeCamp
34. The Silver Spike by Glen Cook
35. Shadow Games by Glen Cook
36. Dreams of Steel by Glen Cook
37. Brak The Barbarian by John Jakes
38. Brak Vs. The Sorceress by John Jakes
39. Brak Vs. The Mark of Demons by John Jakes
40. Brak: When Idols Walk by John Jakes
41. The Fortunes of Brak by John Jakes
42. Robotech: Genesis by Jack Mckinny
43. Robotech: Battlcry by Jack Mckinny
44. Robotech: Homecoming by Jack Mckinny
45. Robotech: Battlhymn by Jack Mckinny
46. Robotech: Force of Arms by Jack Mckinny
47. Robotech: Doomsday by Jack Mckinny
48. Bleak Seasons by Glen Cook
49. Robotech: Zentradi Rebellion by Jack Mckinny
50. Robotech: Devils Hand by Jack Mckinny
51. Robotech: Dark Powers by Jack Mckinny
52. Robotech: Deathdance by Jack Mckinny
53. Robotech: World Killers by Jack Mckinny
54. Robotech: Rubicon by Jack Mckinny
55. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
56. Robotech: The Master's Gambit by Jack Mckinny
57. She Is the Darkness by Glen Cook
58. The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
59. Robotech: Southern Cross by Jack Mckinny
60. Robotech: Metal Fire by Jack Mckinny
61. Robotech: Final Nightmare by Jack Mckinny
62. Evil for Evil by K.J. Parker
63. Robotech: Before the Invid Storm by Jack Mckinny
64. Water Sleeps by Glen Cook
65. Soldiers Live by Glen Cook
66. Robotech: Invid Invasion by Jack Mckinny
67. Robotech: Metamorphosis by Jack Mckinny
68. Robotech: Symphony of Light by Jack Mckinny
69. Conan the Indomitable by Steve Perry
70. Sharpe's Battle by Bernard Cornwell
71. Robotech: End of the Circle by Jack Mckinny
72. Sharpe's Company by Bernard Cornwell
73. Conan the Free-Lance by Steve Perry
74. The Escapement by K.J. Parker
75. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
76. The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee

Hooray!

So.. erm.. Yeah..

Gotta have my Wisdom Teeth taken out.. and a filling replaced due to pressure exerted on it via the erupting wisdom tooth.. best bit is, when I get done I will be totally, flat out broke.. its almost as if when they X-rayed my teeth, they X-rayed my bank account too and figured out exactly how much they could take to be short of an overdraft.

Thing is, I'd already been to see about my wisdom teeth, and two of them are totally MIA, apparently never to be heard of.. lost some where.. probably prancing around with Mr. Tumnus in Narnia or something.. but according to this dentist it's imperative I have them drill into my jaw, risk a punctured sinus.. all for two teeth which even according to them aren't causing any problems...

so.. I think I'm going to say thanks but no thanks on that.. if they cause problems will deal with it then..

Robin Hood

A lot of complaining about this one on the net, it seems its an unwritten law that you aren't allowed to make a robin hood movie without green tights and prancing through the woods ala Eroyl Flynn.. as if its the only Robin Hood movie we could possibly ever need.

I for one quite enjoyed the new movie, I didn't have any problems with it at all until Maid Marien warrior princess shows up.. but its such a tiny thing.. and she disappears so quickly.. I'm convinced that that addition was done at the behest of the studio focus groups.. She shows up, says a few words to a Crowe who's only backdrop is the English beach when just before he had loads of Cavalry and then when her troupe charges.. its as a separate filmed bit.. and then mark strong knocks her off her horse and she spends the rest of the movie wallowing in the surf until Crowe remembers to go back and get her.

nominally, this is a Historical movie and robin hood is only incidentally in it. The movie isn't so much about him as the general period between Richard and John. It is strange since most Robin Hood stories tend to be set during Richards captivity rather than after his death.. since so many of them feature the return of Richard as a pre-requisite of Robin and Marien marrying. I am really glad they didn't go that route, as Everyone has seen it a dozen times.

I perhaps did not like it as much as the Directors Cut of Kingdom of Heaven.. But not bad, with Richard at the end of KOH and at the Beginning of this.. It almost feels like a Trilogy with no middle section.. on the other hand I'm just as glad since if KOH was the first part and Robin Hood was the second part.. it would be sort of a let down.. But if they did another movie and focused it on some one else so that it was only incidentally the middle chapter.. that would be interesting.. I'd personally like to see it focus on Ghassan Mossoud's Saladin. as He did a phenomenal job on that.

For once, Some good news... maybe

According to most of the big Media clearing houses, Megan fox has been canned and will not be appearing in the 3rd Transformers film. However, I've got to wonder about this.. considering it was only a few days ago Bay also claimed that Mudflap and Skids would not be returning.. and yet they much like Megan fox have been spotted repeatedly on the set of the movie which is now filming in various locations around the country.

I guess my optimism that this is accurate is some what tamped down by my cynicism in that.. Micheal bay hasn't done anything right so far.. so why would he start now with firing her? I mean, why changes horses mid-race? Perhaps she just wasn't spray-tanny enough for him.. or she is too old or just isn't putting the sheen on his Ferrari enough to suit his tastes.. who can say.. after all who can really fathom the lives of the vapid and shallow.

Iron Man 2

I'm not the biggest Marvel Comics Fan in the world, I've seen all the movies but never really jumped into the deep end of their comics. Preferring to stay in the shallows of their licensed properties like The Micronauts, Shogun Warriors, Transformers, GIJOE and Conan the Barbarian, So I can't really speak to how accurate to the comics this newest movie is.

It was a good movie, not a Great movie like the first Ironman.. which had everything you could really want in a comic book movie. This one had a great cast, but suffered from some annoying dialogue quirks. I feel this is directly related to who wrote the movie, the layered and babbling dialogue of Stark and Pots in this movie was high reminiscent of Justin Theroux's movie Tropic Thunder (also staring Robert Downey Jr.).

I've seen Iron Man 2 twice now, once on its own, and once after a fresh re-watch of the first one. I feel now that this second film is more of an Encore to the first movie rather than a true sequel, Much the same way Quantum of Solace is to Casino Royal. Best taken and watched back to back rather than separated by any serious length of time.

The Special effects were good, the cast was excellent, and Scarlet Johanson was really hot.. which made up for Gweneth Paltrow being really annoying. It had some good humor, and some really childish stupid stuff too.. which was something I wish they had left out.. but I feel that probably is the first inclination of interference by Marvel's new Rodent Overlords at Disney.

Chronologically this film also takes place before Robert Downey Jr's Cameo at the end of 2008's "The Incredible Hulk", and the After Credit's scene at the end of Iron Man 2 Sets up next years Marvel Release, Kenneth Brannaugh's "Thor".

Hall of Fame: Transformers - Update.

Hasbro has announced the five finalists

Soundwave
Jazz
Shockwave
Grimlock


and.. Dinobot.. still.. grrr

You can vote at this link..

John Woo's Red Cliff - The International Cut.

Watched this a few days ago, and had to rewatch it just to make sure I didn't miss anything. It's a nearly 5 hour long subtitled movie and it is Fantastic. Historical epics are a serious vice of mine I guess.. I will even watch TBN (trinity broadcasting network) if they are running one of the old 50's sword and sandals about Roman Judea.. But it has only been recently that we have begun getting such high quality epics which center on places other than the Holy land or Rome or Medieval England. Ran was alright, but the dodgy fake blood really is distracting in that.. It would have been a better movie in Black and White like the rest of Kurosawa's Samurai pictures..

I liked Mongol well enough when it came out, but Red Cliff is by far the superior movie. It's got tremendous cinematography, which is to be expected from a John Woo film. The Actors in this movie do a great job too, It's partially because I'm not familiar with any of them, but they make the characters they are portraying seem 100% real to me. Almost as if I've hopped into a Time Machine and gone back to watch it. The battle scenes are suitably epic, the scenery is lush and colorful its just a really good movie. And the really amazing thing is, they did it all for about 80million$ which is about 1/4th what The Lord of the Rings cost to make.

Now in the US, and I assume other western countries.. there are two versions of this movie out. One is the real version and its a multi disc affair presenting the entire film this is the so called " International Edition " and its the one I watched, I even avoided going to the theater to see the Western Cut when I had the chance so as not to spoil the real one. And then we have the Western Cut, which takes out nearly HALF the movie. Thats ridiculous.. 45 minutes made all the difference in Kingdom of Heaven.. between a barely watchable Orlando Bloom zoom in fest.. and a grand story of the crusades.. So if you're going to watch Red Cliff, make sure you get the right one. You won't be sorry.