Previously published at Hope Lies.
During his research for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, director Steven Spielberg latched onto the story of the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter, where a family farm allegedly came under attack by a strange group of small creatures following the appearance of lights in the sky. Spielberg saw the story as a potential spinoff/sequel to his primary film, an acknowledgment of the darker side of UFO lore in the form of a claustrophobic "isolated home under siege" horror movie. In 1979, Spielberg saw the festival premiere of John Sayles' directorial debut, The Return of the Seccarus Seven, and hired Sayles to write a script based on his loose treatment, titled Night Skies.
The story is set in a rugged patch of mountain country, where an unnamed family runs a cattle ranch a few miles from town. The father, Ed, is worrying about his cattle after a neighbor lost a cow in a growing string of mutilations in the area. The mother, Ruth, sets out to be a token housewife, but often gets lost in zealous religious fervor. The elder son, Watt, is tired of his daily chores and the lack of recognition when he gets around to doing them well, and is thinking about joining the air force just so he can get out of this hole. The daughter, Tess, has tremendous talent on a piano, but she's passing up a scholarship for a music school because she's the only one with the patience to care for her younger brother, Jaybird, a mentally handicapped boy who's unable to connect to the world except through geometric patterns. And then there's Gram, a sharp-as-a-tack old granny who has no fun because she's too busy calling it like she sees it in some of the script's funniest one-liners.
Showing posts with label Hope Lies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hope Lies. Show all posts
January 7, 2012
October 31, 2011
We Have Such Sights to Show You: A Dissection of the Hellraiser Franchise
Previously published at Hope Lies.
The Original
Exploding onto the horror scene in 1984 with the first volume of Books of Blood, Clive Barker didn't wait long to make the transition to film, writing the screenplays for Transmutations (1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986). Dissatisfied with how the films, both directed by George Pavlou, ultimately turned out, Barker decided to take his own turn in the director's chair. He settled on an adaptation of his novella, The Hellbound Heart, pulling together his own funds and additional income from a distribution deal with New World Entertainment that left him with a budget of around a million bucks.
Hellraiser (1987) is about a man named Frank (Oliver Smith and Sean Chapman, respectively in and out of makeup). Frank is a pervert and a sadist who's traveled the world looking for new thrills and sensations and acts of depravity. One day, he arrives for his brother's wedding only to deflower the bride on top of her wedding dress. He leaves before the ceremony and the indiscretion is never discovered. During another adventure, Frank comes across a puzzle box known as the Lament Configuration, which opens a portal to the dimension of the Cenobites (led by Doug Bradley in an unnamed role that's never referred to as Pinhead within the films themselves), priests of the art of taking pain and pleasure to such extremes that both fuse together into a single eternal sensation.
The Original
Exploding onto the horror scene in 1984 with the first volume of Books of Blood, Clive Barker didn't wait long to make the transition to film, writing the screenplays for Transmutations (1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986). Dissatisfied with how the films, both directed by George Pavlou, ultimately turned out, Barker decided to take his own turn in the director's chair. He settled on an adaptation of his novella, The Hellbound Heart, pulling together his own funds and additional income from a distribution deal with New World Entertainment that left him with a budget of around a million bucks.
Hellraiser (1987) is about a man named Frank (Oliver Smith and Sean Chapman, respectively in and out of makeup). Frank is a pervert and a sadist who's traveled the world looking for new thrills and sensations and acts of depravity. One day, he arrives for his brother's wedding only to deflower the bride on top of her wedding dress. He leaves before the ceremony and the indiscretion is never discovered. During another adventure, Frank comes across a puzzle box known as the Lament Configuration, which opens a portal to the dimension of the Cenobites (led by Doug Bradley in an unnamed role that's never referred to as Pinhead within the films themselves), priests of the art of taking pain and pleasure to such extremes that both fuse together into a single eternal sensation.
October 29, 2011
[Unfulfilled Hopes] Deader
Previously published at Hope Lies.
Last month, fellow Hope Lies contributor Rob Girvan wrote a great piece about the direct-to-video market and the occasional gems that can be found within. One of the more interesting aspects of the direct-to-video system is how completely original projects can be retooled under a brand label. Sometimes a completed film will simply have its title changed, as with 8MM 2 or several of the Wild Things entries. Sometimes, as with a few of the American Pie spinoffs, scripts will be bought that can easily be revised to tie them into the franchise. Heck, this isn't exclusive to direct-to-video, as none of the four existing Die Hard films featured the character of John McClane in their original incarnations.
Last month, fellow Hope Lies contributor Rob Girvan wrote a great piece about the direct-to-video market and the occasional gems that can be found within. One of the more interesting aspects of the direct-to-video system is how completely original projects can be retooled under a brand label. Sometimes a completed film will simply have its title changed, as with 8MM 2 or several of the Wild Things entries. Sometimes, as with a few of the American Pie spinoffs, scripts will be bought that can easily be revised to tie them into the franchise. Heck, this isn't exclusive to direct-to-video, as none of the four existing Die Hard films featured the character of John McClane in their original incarnations.
October 11, 2011
[Unfulfilled Hopes] The Early Drafts of Star Wars, Part 3
Previously published at Hope Lies.
In the first installment of this article, we explored George Lucas' March 1973 outline, where he used Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as the springing point for what would become The Star Wars. In the second piece, we looked at the first full draft, written over a year later in July of '74, where he poured all of his thoughts onto the page in a massive, rich, sweeping first draft that, as amazing as it is, would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to film at the time. So it's with his second draft, dated January 1975, that Lucas started to strip things down and find his focus.
The Adventures of the Starkiller
Episode I
The Star Wars
In the first installment of this article, we explored George Lucas' March 1973 outline, where he used Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as the springing point for what would become The Star Wars. In the second piece, we looked at the first full draft, written over a year later in July of '74, where he poured all of his thoughts onto the page in a massive, rich, sweeping first draft that, as amazing as it is, would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to film at the time. So it's with his second draft, dated January 1975, that Lucas started to strip things down and find his focus.
Episode I
The Star Wars
October 1, 2011
[Unfulfilled Hopes] The Early Drafts of Star Wars, Part 2
Previously published at Hope Lies.
In my previous installment, I explored Lucas' original outline for The Star Wars, where he used the plot of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as a springboard for his ideas. Now it's time to dig into Lucas' first full draft, written five months later in July of 1974.
We open on a desert world where Akira Valor lives in hiding, teaching his sons Justin and Bink the ways and philosophies of the Dai warriors. The Dai were instrumental in spreading the reach and influence of the Galactic Kingdom before it turned on them, declaring them a rebel cult and all but wiping them out with a rival sect called the Legions of Lettow. One such Lettow warrior, clad in a black cloak and face mask, tracks the Valor clan down and attacks. He's defeated, but not before little Bink is slain. The teenaged Justin tells his father he's tired of hiding and the two decide to return to the front lines.
In my previous installment, I explored Lucas' original outline for The Star Wars, where he used the plot of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as a springboard for his ideas. Now it's time to dig into Lucas' first full draft, written five months later in July of 1974.
We open on a desert world where Akira Valor lives in hiding, teaching his sons Justin and Bink the ways and philosophies of the Dai warriors. The Dai were instrumental in spreading the reach and influence of the Galactic Kingdom before it turned on them, declaring them a rebel cult and all but wiping them out with a rival sect called the Legions of Lettow. One such Lettow warrior, clad in a black cloak and face mask, tracks the Valor clan down and attacks. He's defeated, but not before little Bink is slain. The teenaged Justin tells his father he's tired of hiding and the two decide to return to the front lines.
September 22, 2011
[Unfulfilled Hopes] The Early Drafts of Star Wars, Part 1
Previously published at Hope Lies.
Discussion of the origins of Star Wars must, of course, begin with Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, the tale of a bearded General and a young Princess, both in the guise of peasants, trying to sneak across enemy lines while pursued by the clan who overthrew their kingdom and having to work with a bumbling pair of lowly goons who keep shifting between helping the leads and trying to sell them out and make off with their gold. It's very common to hear comments along the lines of "Star Wars is totally a ripoff of The Hidden Fortress!" but these are overblown and are often made by people who haven't even seen Kurosawa's film. There is a bearded general in Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a feisty young princess, Leia, but not only has the plot of them fleeing across enemy lines together been removed, they never actually meet on screen, and Leia is never disguised as a peasant (these elements would, however, pop up in The Phantom Menace). The scene of the droids R2-D2 and C3P-0 arguing as they wander through a desert is almost identical to the two goons in the opening of The Hidden Fortress, and both pairs are quickly rounded up by slave traders and then freed, but they otherwise have no connection in terms of persona or story. There's also a duel between old allies and the frequent use of wipe cuts, but the point I'm making here is that the influence of The Hidden Fortress was so diluted by the time Star War came to be that claims of how much the final film owes to the earlier work can seem a little unfair.
Discussion of the origins of Star Wars must, of course, begin with Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, the tale of a bearded General and a young Princess, both in the guise of peasants, trying to sneak across enemy lines while pursued by the clan who overthrew their kingdom and having to work with a bumbling pair of lowly goons who keep shifting between helping the leads and trying to sell them out and make off with their gold. It's very common to hear comments along the lines of "Star Wars is totally a ripoff of The Hidden Fortress!" but these are overblown and are often made by people who haven't even seen Kurosawa's film. There is a bearded general in Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a feisty young princess, Leia, but not only has the plot of them fleeing across enemy lines together been removed, they never actually meet on screen, and Leia is never disguised as a peasant (these elements would, however, pop up in The Phantom Menace). The scene of the droids R2-D2 and C3P-0 arguing as they wander through a desert is almost identical to the two goons in the opening of The Hidden Fortress, and both pairs are quickly rounded up by slave traders and then freed, but they otherwise have no connection in terms of persona or story. There's also a duel between old allies and the frequent use of wipe cuts, but the point I'm making here is that the influence of The Hidden Fortress was so diluted by the time Star War came to be that claims of how much the final film owes to the earlier work can seem a little unfair.
August 26, 2011
[Unfulfilled Hopes] King Conan: Crown of Iron
Previously published at Hope Lies.
Conan the Barbarian, raised as a slave and gladiator after his village is slain, who gains freedom and seeks vengeance against Thulsa Doom, the sorcerer cultist who took his father's sword. Conan the Destroyer, who cut down the wizard Toth-Amon and led a band of warriors to kill a god and save a sacrificial princess. One of these films has sunk into the public conscious as an often poetic pulp exploration of freedom, what is best in life, and the riddle of steel. The other is a hacked out two-fisted sequel. Yet both left the promise of something greater to come with their shared final image of an aged and bearded King Conan brooding over his destined throne. There were attempts at a third entry, the longest of which, Conan the Conqueror eventually gave up on the return of Arnold and settled on Kevin Sorbo and the name of another Robert E. Howard hero as it was retitled Kull the Conqueror. It wasn't until John Milius, writer/director of the first, decided to return to the series he had to abandon for Red Dawn that another chapter seemed like a very real possibility.
Conan the Barbarian, raised as a slave and gladiator after his village is slain, who gains freedom and seeks vengeance against Thulsa Doom, the sorcerer cultist who took his father's sword. Conan the Destroyer, who cut down the wizard Toth-Amon and led a band of warriors to kill a god and save a sacrificial princess. One of these films has sunk into the public conscious as an often poetic pulp exploration of freedom, what is best in life, and the riddle of steel. The other is a hacked out two-fisted sequel. Yet both left the promise of something greater to come with their shared final image of an aged and bearded King Conan brooding over his destined throne. There were attempts at a third entry, the longest of which, Conan the Conqueror eventually gave up on the return of Arnold and settled on Kevin Sorbo and the name of another Robert E. Howard hero as it was retitled Kull the Conqueror. It wasn't until John Milius, writer/director of the first, decided to return to the series he had to abandon for Red Dawn that another chapter seemed like a very real possibility.
August 17, 2011
Cowboys & Aliens (2011 film)
Previously published at Hope Lies.
Daniel Craig is the man with no name. Really, he wakes up in a desert with no idea of who or where he is. His only clues are a wound in his side, a photo of a beautiful woman, and a strange metal device clamped on his wrist. After beating down some stray ruffians and stealing a horse and some boots, this man rides into the town of Absolution, where he meets the usual western fare. You've got the weathered old Sheriff Taggart (Keith Carradine made up to resemble Jason Robards) and his rambunctious grandson (The Last Airbender himself, Noah Ringer); the befuddled local saloon owner with bad aim, Doc (Sam Rockwell), and his soothing Mexican wife, Maria (Ana de la Reguera); and the fatherly old Preacher, Meacham (Clancy Brown), who's always there with advice, liquor, a sewing needle, or laugh lines about how holding your gun compares to holding your pecker.
Daniel Craig is the man with no name. Really, he wakes up in a desert with no idea of who or where he is. His only clues are a wound in his side, a photo of a beautiful woman, and a strange metal device clamped on his wrist. After beating down some stray ruffians and stealing a horse and some boots, this man rides into the town of Absolution, where he meets the usual western fare. You've got the weathered old Sheriff Taggart (Keith Carradine made up to resemble Jason Robards) and his rambunctious grandson (The Last Airbender himself, Noah Ringer); the befuddled local saloon owner with bad aim, Doc (Sam Rockwell), and his soothing Mexican wife, Maria (Ana de la Reguera); and the fatherly old Preacher, Meacham (Clancy Brown), who's always there with advice, liquor, a sewing needle, or laugh lines about how holding your gun compares to holding your pecker.
June 14, 2011
[Kubrick] The Space Odyssey Is Worth Continuing in Peter Hyams' 2010
Previously published at Hope Lies.
Let's get this out of the way up front: 2010 is not 2001. It just isn't. It's not an artistic experience that challenges the mind while painting for people an amazing future that never before felt so real and raises questions about existence and creation and why are we here and what else is waiting outside the fence of our atmosphere that will make our greatest most miraculous achievements seem tiny in comparison. It's not a film that's more about an experience than a narrative, nor a film that redefines a genre, a style, effects techniques, hell, cinema itself for decades to come.
But it is a good film, a very good film, one that's been a personal favorite since I first discovered it and its predecessor in my early teens. It doesn't sweep me away as much as 2001, but it still captures my imagination and challenges me to think and ask, and gives me the drive to seek out the hard questions, but still know when the price of knowing an unknown might not be worth it.
Let's get this out of the way up front: 2010 is not 2001. It just isn't. It's not an artistic experience that challenges the mind while painting for people an amazing future that never before felt so real and raises questions about existence and creation and why are we here and what else is waiting outside the fence of our atmosphere that will make our greatest most miraculous achievements seem tiny in comparison. It's not a film that's more about an experience than a narrative, nor a film that redefines a genre, a style, effects techniques, hell, cinema itself for decades to come.
But it is a good film, a very good film, one that's been a personal favorite since I first discovered it and its predecessor in my early teens. It doesn't sweep me away as much as 2001, but it still captures my imagination and challenges me to think and ask, and gives me the drive to seek out the hard questions, but still know when the price of knowing an unknown might not be worth it.
May 25, 2011
[Kubrick] I Am Spartacus: The Film Stanley Kubrick Was Never Able To Claim As His Alone
Previously published at Hope Lies
Ah, Spartacus. The lone wolf. The odd man out. The "one of these is not like the others". Ask a fan of Kubrick what they think of the film, and they'll usually be disappointed because it's done in a much more commercial style than the rest of his work. Ask someone who's not a fan of Kubrick what they think, and they usually quite like it... because it's done in a much more commercial style than the rest of his work. Out of all the films of Kubrick's career, this is the only one that he didn't personally select and build and nurture from the earliest outline to the final edit. This is a film directed by Kubrick, but it's not a Kubrick film.
Ah, Spartacus. The lone wolf. The odd man out. The "one of these is not like the others". Ask a fan of Kubrick what they think of the film, and they'll usually be disappointed because it's done in a much more commercial style than the rest of his work. Ask someone who's not a fan of Kubrick what they think, and they usually quite like it... because it's done in a much more commercial style than the rest of his work. Out of all the films of Kubrick's career, this is the only one that he didn't personally select and build and nurture from the earliest outline to the final edit. This is a film directed by Kubrick, but it's not a Kubrick film.
May 5, 2011
Why Is Pirates Of The Caribbean My Favorite Film Trilogy? Sea Turtles, mate.
Previously published at Hope Lies.
Being a member of the geek communities that I am, the question often arises of which trilogy I prefer: Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings. To the puzzlement of many, I always answer with Pirates of the Caribbean. But Star Wars is a classic, you say, that revolutionized filmmaking and technology while hearkening back to the theme of classic legendary storytelling. Yes, but other than the middle entry, The Empire Strikes Back, there's little depth beyond the surface archetypes. It's all spectacularly well put together, but it's almost iconic to a fault, lacking much to chew on beyond what's clearly there. And then there's The Lord of the Rings, equally revolutionary, and filled with depths and layers as it adapts a fully fleshed tribute to the lore of ancient times. Marvelous films, all three, but extremely heavy and ponderous at times, particularly in the never ending third entry. There are moments I treasure, and moments that feel like wading through mud to get to those moments I treasure.
And then there's Pirates of the Caribbean.
Being a member of the geek communities that I am, the question often arises of which trilogy I prefer: Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings. To the puzzlement of many, I always answer with Pirates of the Caribbean. But Star Wars is a classic, you say, that revolutionized filmmaking and technology while hearkening back to the theme of classic legendary storytelling. Yes, but other than the middle entry, The Empire Strikes Back, there's little depth beyond the surface archetypes. It's all spectacularly well put together, but it's almost iconic to a fault, lacking much to chew on beyond what's clearly there. And then there's The Lord of the Rings, equally revolutionary, and filled with depths and layers as it adapts a fully fleshed tribute to the lore of ancient times. Marvelous films, all three, but extremely heavy and ponderous at times, particularly in the never ending third entry. There are moments I treasure, and moments that feel like wading through mud to get to those moments I treasure.
And then there's Pirates of the Caribbean.
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