jrvintageblog

Country: USA | UK

Language: English

Release Date: 15 April 2016 (USA)

Also Known As: El libro de la selva

Filming Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA 

The Jungle Book has a special place in our hearts. Some fail to fathom the hype in our heads. We have waited impatiently for this movie to release and jog us down the forgotten memory lane ever since the news broke loose. The sole reason: 1989 show Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli! The dubbed TV show used to be our all-time favourite. Its outspread wings covered more than 20 languages all across the globe, a commendable feat to score even during that span. The acclaim was such that its song would be on every child's lips. That explains our inane fandom behind it.

Coming across the Rudyard Kipling excerpt was enthralling too as images from the anime would come running down to fill the voids. Every character had a face. Every word had a voice. My fanatic knew no bound when I heard it was going big screen.

Now that we have finally arrived at a juncture where Jon Favreau has successfully helmed the gorgeous telling story to justify the awesome Kipling book, it is hard not to give him an ovation. With a superb CGI that walks hand in hand with realistic looking animals and endearing voiceovers, The Jungle Book era seems to have finally met a new high. The kind we, as die-hard fans, were looking for. Whilst little has been done to mould the plot, which is by the way just perfect, we are racing down to meet exceptional twists and turns in its impending installments. Way to go Favreau! Shere Khan is simply a badass. He carries a demonic mien that will give you the chills looking at him. Idris Elba takes him to fearsome heights. Baloo's entry is well thought of and perfected by Bill Murray. Ben Kingsley imparts a thoughtful grim demeanour to Bagheera. You cannot ignore Christopher Walken's perfect voice for King Louie. He puts life into that animal. Lupita as Raksha is magnificent. Adorable wolf-cubs in the movie will fill your heart up with delight.

Screenplay is kind of average, sticking to origins at times, sometimes swaying, but not really that powerful.

The parts that I didn't like much were these trivial insignificant things which I choose to ignore: Starting off with Neel Sethi, we could have done better. The lad, although great in resemblance, doesn't really fit the bill. He looks absent emotionally as he if knew he was surrounded by CGI and not the real deal. Favreau fails to milk his emotions enough. Sentient things seemed aloof. Sometimes the CGI would dwindle when showing movements of animals and things would awkwardly move into the animated horizon. But still it all held up pretty fine.

Rest everything was just the way I had wanted. Great stuff!

Country: USA | UK

Language: English

Release Date: 17 April 2011 (USA)

Also Known As: A Song of Ice and Fire

Filming Locations: Iceland

First of all, I am a huge fan of the books, and I find it exhilarating to see a show that is so close to what I made in my mind while reading it.

I see some of the reviews are complaining about the sex and violence, to me that is like going to a restaurant, order a steak and complain about getting meat..

They keep true to the epically written book, and they depict the characters in an excellent way.

With a few exceptions I would say they have made what will be an epic show here, and I would really hope that they continue for all the books.

Country: USA

Language: English

Release Date: 17 June 2016 (USA)

Also Known As: Raiders!

Greetings again from the darkness - from the Dallas International Film Festival 2-15. Most documentaries are pretty simple to recap: A filmmaker makes a movie about a topic or person. However, simplicity just doesn't fit here. Filmmakers Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen made a movie about the making of a movie that is a movie re-made in honor of a movie that was already made. This isn't Coppola's Hearts of Darkness which portrays his difficulty in making Apocalypse Now. Far from it. This is a modern day look back at two/three geeky eleven year old boys making a shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg's classic Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Coon and Skousen catch up with forty-somethings Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos and Jayson Lamb as they are trying to put together the financing and logistics to film the final scene of their unfinished movie Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. These are the same boy that started the process in 1982 and filmed each of the next seven summers until they graduated from high school.

If you are a total film geek, you have probably heard of their film and know that it has been an underground film favorite for years. But you may not know the real life details behind it and certainly not the modern day drama of Eric and Chris as they try to complete it. How about some interviews with their mothers? How about the real world possibility that Eric risks losing his job to complete this thirty plus year old kid's summer project? How about the personal struggles of Chris over the years, or the fallout with Jayson as he is left out of this final chapter?

Director Eli Roth was instrumental in spreading the word of this film project throughout Hollywood, and the boys even got invited to meet with Spielberg. Mostly we are left with the fascination that young boys can have such passion and persistence over so many years. When asked about whether they missed out on their childhood, Chris responds "We filmed childhood". A true and fitting response, that doesn't tell the whole story. Fortunately, Coon and Skousen do.

Official Sites: Official site [Japan]

Country: Canada | USA

Language: English

Release Date: 17 June 2016 (USA)

Also Known As: El payaso del mal

Filming Locations: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Details : Official Sites: Official site

Country : USA

Language : English

Release Date : 1 July 2016 (USA)

Filming Locations : Los Angeles, California, USA