Pineapple Express marks David Gordon Green’s entry into the world of studio productions, following four acclaimed indie films. Beneath the pot smoke and gunfire, there’s a touching vision of friendship and neediness at the film’s core.... »
The titles, which play at the end of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, serve as a stylish recap that draws on and pays tribute to the Chinese culture that inspired the film. F&V talked to Fong and Fuller about inspiration and execution.... »
Hellboy II: The Golden Army is populated by even more numerous otherworldly monsters than its predecessor, and some of the critters only appear in a shot or two. According to Eamonn Butler, animation supervisor for the project at London’s Double Negative, that amounted to a huge challenge — but it was made easier by Guillermo del Toro’s ability to communicate clearly with the VFX crew, using common reference points to get everyone on the same mental page.... »
Journey to the Center of the Earth, directed by Eric Brevig — a filmmaker with lots of experience in the VFX realm — might not have the same historic impact as The Jazz Singer or Becky Sharp, but as the first live-action VFX-driven feature film to be shot for 3D, it can’t help but break new ground.... »
Panavision, da Vinci Systems, Gamma & Density, and Modern VideoFilm all came together at Cine Gear Expo 2008 to reveal what happened the first time the ASC’s CDL has been put to a real-world test, on the forthcoming State of Play, shot on 35mm film and the Panavision Genesis by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto.... »
Kung Fu Panda has captured critics and audiences with its irreverent mix of kung fu and heart, a tale of a slacker panda who dreams of being a kung fu master. Design and branding studio Shine was tasked with creating a main title sequence that conveyed all this while serving as a bookend to the 2D dream sequence that opens the film, and crediting 900 people who worked on it. The result, which clocks in at nine minutes, is a mini-movie in its own right.... »
Guy Maddin’s work is steeped in fantasy, pastiche and film references, often recreating a past or place that only ever existed in the cinema. Maddin’s style continues to draw upon silent cinema, but here he uses a variety of cameras to create a unique look.... »
Gordon's version of the story, which stars Mena Suvari as the driver and Stephen Rea as her victim, is rewritten to give the poor guy a fighting chance. It's a violent B-movie that's as disturbing as it is funny, a black comedy that's genuinely interested in the psychology of a driver who could ignore the dying man stuck in her windshield.... »
Working from her New York apartment, Nina Paley expanded the scope of a series of shorts she had been working on (they set stories from an ancient Hindu epic, the Ramayana, to the tunes of early jazz singer Annette Hanshaw) to feature-film length. Talk about a personal film.... »
Whatever you think of Speed Racer, the new alternate-reality VFX fest from the Wachowski Brothers directorial team, you'll have to admit that it doesn't look like anything you've seen before.... »
