Possible movie plot lines - Alita

As most of you know, James Cameron took a stab at two CG-heavy sci-fi narratives at the same time - Avatar and Yukito Kishiro' Battle Angel Alita. Avatar won out as the first to come out as the script came along faster. This isn't exactly surprising considering the density of the Alita story. The main problem with scripting a 2 to 3 hour movie about her is that the origin story doesn't take a full 2 hours to plough through, so in other words there will have to be one or two extra story lines to fill it out. While this would be a fairly large departure from the actual manga, it's probably acceptable due to the fact that someone like Cameron actually cares about things like telling a story and that there is a good chance that Yukito Kishiro will have some input as to the actual story.

I would guess that the Motorball derby saga isn't going to be part of it as although it has the most spectacle (and admittedly, I would LOVE to see that on film), the whole saga was a diversion in her life to "get away from it all". I think Makaku the Sewer-Orphan is a likelihood as it leads into the Desty Nova/Tipharean plotline, and Zapan's Revenge is a continuation of it and possibly the climax. All of it takes place in the Scrapyard and contains the same characters from the beginning.

If there is a second movie, I would guess it would combine the Barjack/Den road warrior-ish plotline combined with the Secret of Tiphares. This is a lot to combine into one 3 hour flick, but very possible. The problem with all of this is that it leaves out the Motorball story which *barely* fits into the larger Tiphares plot, but has some of the coolest and exciting visuals ever committed to print. Realistically, it could set a new standard for science fiction hyper action. It would pale the highway chase of Matrix Reloaded, Speed Racer's headache inducing races, and any race car flick like Driven and Days of Thunder by light years. A possibility is that Motorball is a second movie and Barjack/Tiphares is the third to finish off a trilogy .

A New Standard of Irresponsibility - Kick-Ass

I don't think I have laughed out loud reading a comic book as much as I've done while reading Mark Millar and John Romita's Kick-Ass, soon to be a live movie by Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust). An exercise to show you why people don't become superheroes in real life, Millar lets it rip with off-color humor, extreme violence and sensibilities unbecoming of a Joss Wheedon production.

High school loser Dave Lizewski has a wierd fetish. He feels compelled to dress up in skin tight spandex and fight crime as a costumed do-gooder despite having no training or rational reason for doing so. Putting it bluntly, he's just a stupid insecure kid who has to pretend he's a non-threatening gay best friend in order to get any attention from the school babe. His first fight ends up with him getting stabbed and hit by a car, ending up with a fractured spine, skull, punctured lung and two broken legs. But he somehow manages to get his spandex costume off before the ambulance comes so as the doctors and police won't figure him to be a pervert.

When he finally miraculously has a successful combat experience, he's caught on Youtube and christened "Kick-Ass" to be made a media-hero. But soon he has copycats that show him up and encounters the 10-year old Hit Girl and her pop, Big Daddy, two truly skilled spandexed enforcers that would make the Punisher proud. These two are professional killers rubbing out the mob while spouting neo-Con pro-Republican propaganda - and so of course they invite Kick-Ass to sit down with them at the Table of Justice.

Blue Submarine No.6 Live Version still underwater

Blue Submarine No.6 was one of my favourite anime from the the late 1990s solely because of the combination of high animation quality and pioneering underwater effects. It literally blew me away with its depiction of an ambient soundtrack, water echo, time delay and aqua-sound usage. The animation itself was one of the first hybrids of CG mixed with traditional cel productions. So-called live movies such as The Hunt for Red October and even the current G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra's conceptualizations of underwater warfare are still a joke in comparison.

As per typical serial OVA, Blue Submarine is a complex narrative with multiple story arcs going in different directions - but at its basis is a war between the naval forces of humanity against marine hybrid offshoot creations of the scientist Zorndyke. In some ways similar to Space Battleship Yamato (or Star Blazers to North Americans), the tale centers around the crew of a submarine (as per the series title) and its battle against Zorndyke's forces. At once a study in underwater/naval warfare but also an ecological study and a philosophical query as to the nature of humanity (is conflict necessary for the advancement of the species?), Blue Submarine No. 6 is one of the standout combat-related anime out there.

So with anything this high concept and high quality, it comes as no surprise that a live version is the in works. However, this one is going to be made in Japan, meaning its penetration overseas will be limited to anime festivals, foreign film festivals, and cult appreciation. The budget will be US$84 million and will be directed by Masahiko Ohkura.

Ghost in the Shell live version

I was a big fan of Ghost in the Shell for several years and having lived in Tokyo during the Stand Alone Complex years it was a thrill to be on the cutting edge of all the promotional marketing being rammed through my eyes while walking through the backstreets of Shibuya. I felt like that simply because I was a casual fan of the storyline, I was being forced to watch the series to see how it developed.

Being a bigger fan of the manga than I was of the movie (and its sequel, Innocence) I was still taken aback and impressed by its transplantation of the setting to Kowloon, Hong Kong instead of.... well frankly the manga made it looked like a cross between Sapporo's Susukino district and the Minatomirai area of Yokohama with bits of Shinjuku thrown in.

So I wonder what the live version will look like, with Steven Spielberg having optioned the rights to it in 2008. It's obviously not on his next-to-be-made list, what with Tintin slated to arrive soon. But I can only guess what elements of the manga or anime he will take for the film. Will the characters remain Japanese? Will it take place in Japan? Or will the whole thing take place in America? With the global market now bigger than the American market, there may be a chance that it will still be a Japanese story. I remember that there was talk of making a live version of Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira but having it take place in NYC instead of Neo-Tokyo, which would have been complete bullshit.

But nonetheless, if they keep to the ultra-cyber mysticism of the original storylines, they should maintain a compelling story - Minority Report being a good example.

Best cinematic vampire get-ups, Pt 4

And there you go.

Best cinematic vampire get-ups, Pt 3

Part 3 of the most snappy dressers of the undead

Best cinematic vampire get-ups, Pt 2

Best cinematic vampire get-ups, Pt 1

I have a wierd fetish for the leather-clad ultra-urbane vampire who oozes polish, style, overcoats, and a love of senseless brutal violence, much like the majority of the Russian population. The main issue is that the films that they tend to come from are cult-ish in nature or just didn't do very well at all. But then so is the nature of B-movie concepts with R ratings. Go figure that the formula for bloodsuckers ends up being a monumental moneymaker when its targeted at teenage girls in a movie - natch with low bodycounts, gore and a seeming absence of black leather.

So I include pics here of the best-dressed undead, vamps and a couple of vampire killers who may or may not be vampires themselves.

Like we can't see this one coming

Soon to be at the conventions ね？

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/

Neon Genesis Evangelion live movie by Weta Digital

Yeah you read that right. Peter Jackson's CG, special effects and design studio had actually optioned to make the live version of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Obviously, not much has come of this recently or we would be hearing about it. If they had proceeded with it, Peter Jackson and not James Cameron would be the first out of the door with a A-tier movie based on Japanese OVA. But....since it's not happening the first out was Dragon Ball Z which nobody in their right mind would go see, the second will be Avatar the Last Airbender by the DIRECTOR WITH NO SKILL, M. Night Schmalyan, or however you spell that as I don't care, and the eagerly-awaited Cameron's Battle Angel Alita in about two years. However, the concept drawings are still out there and they do indeed look cool.

The full list of artworks is here: http://features.cgsociety.org/story.php?story_id=1901

The real story is that several years ago, there were other works that had been optioned but none of them ever saw the light of day which was probably for the better - these included Akira and Space Battleship Yamato. Yamato, maybe - Akira, not a chance. I couldn't bear to see Kaneda and Tetsuo Caucasian-ized.

Paradise Lost

Quite possibly the most ambitious undertaking that the cinema world will yet (or not) see is the adaptation of John Milton's Paradise Lost. Yep, that's right - someone actually has the cojones to actually try to make a film about the fall of Satan from the Kingdom of Heaven and the exile from the Garden of Adam and Eve. Good luck. For current details, check out:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484138/

Personally, I would LOVE to see the attempt, kind of like the same attitude I had when I knew someone was seriously attempting The Watchmen. Unfilm-able but kinda glad someone was gonna give it a go. I've never heard of the director, Scott Derrickson, and see that his pedigree lay in B-movie horrors and science fiction, which is where Peter Jackson started. But I also note that he has also opted to create the Hyperion Cantos (of which I will eventually cover) and is equally unfilm-able.

In the meantime, the only visuals we have are the works of John Martin, the lithograph printer of the 19th century was commissioned to do the original illustrations. His frankly speaking frightening visions of Old Testament dogma would be an awesome starting point for anyone.

http://www.wojm.org.uk/

Gotham City

Gotham City is a beast, the dark sister city of bright and beautiful Metropolis, which is probably why people just love the dark deco monstrosity that it is. Did you know that in the Tim Burton movie, Vancouver BC's map was used as the geographic layout of the city? Throughout history, everyone has had a take on what the city should look like. It's an architect's dream and a civic planner's nightmare. Here's some takes by Anton Furst, Chris Nolan, DC Comics and DCAU

Upcoming Movie - The Losers

One of the best new things I've heard recently has been the announcement that they will be making a movie out of the DC Vertigo series, The Losers. Based on a WWII strip, the updated series by Brits Andy Diggle and Jock won a slew of awards, notably the Eisner that year for its writing and artistic style. Storyline-wise, its similar to the A-Team, except given a Hard R rating and with modern sensibilities, dealing with the war in the Persian Gulf, the Mujahadeen and your classic James Bond-style villain. A black ops team ends up getting screwed by their CIA handler and after surviving their intended assassinations declare war on the mysterious faceless entity who called in their deaths. Tagging along for the ride is a deathbitch killing machine from the mountains of Afghanistan named Aisha. Cool thing about the characters is that each person is a Jason Bourne, and given very strong personalities. I found it compelling, much moreso than many other titles and considering the amount I've read, to find myself literally sitting at the edge of my seat over a comic book is saying something. The movie apparently has Jeffrey Dean Morgan as sardonic commander Clay, Chris Evans as the motormouth special forces hacker Jensen and Zoe Saldana as the castrating, ear-cutting, machine-gunning zealot Aisha. I believe this flick is gonna come out at approx the same time as the actual movie rendition of the A-Team but if they stick to the original Andy Diggle script, they may actually win.