COTT MAIN ORIG

Alot To Live Up To

"The original is a reference for creativity, how will the remake stack up?"

Clash of the Titans, the 1981 fantasy adventure film based on the myth of Perseus, was originally released on June 12, 1981. It cost a significant $16 million to produce (Laurence Olivier never came cheap!) for what was a steady if unspectacular return of $41 million at the box office. However the relative commercial success of the original is perhaps the least significant part of the film. Entirely more significant were the highly creative special effects used to create the imaginative creatures in the film and the extent to which these have come to represent a landmark in cinema history.

This was largely the work of the cinema special effects legend that is Ray Harryhausen and his stop motion animation technique. Although more sophisticated technology quickly eclipsed Harryhuasen’s pioneering approach his contribution to this film and the film industry as a whole is not lost on his ever growing legion of fans who have graduated into the professional film industry over the last decade. Although none of Harryhausen's films were ever nominated for a special effects Oscar, in 1992 he was finally awarded a Gordon E. Sawyer Award for "technological contributions which have brought credit to the industry" and near the turn of the 21st century, Harryhausen was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. More significantly in the 2001 Pixar film, Monsters Inc. pays homage to Harryhausen in a scene where characters Mike Wazowski and Celia Mae visit a restaurant named "Harryhausen's". Not quite South Park but a huge accolade none-the-less.

Read More (10 comments)

Categories Film Tags Art culture Design Drama Media

By Juan on 11/1/10

AC MAIN

Double Tour To Arabesque

"Breakdancer, wannabee footballer, premier ballet dancer ... meet Cuba's Carlos Acosta."

The Cuban Revolution some 50 years ago brought with it a much improved state healthcare and education system.  But it also brought Fidel Castro's ambition to see Cuba loved and respected for it's cultural richness.  To some (ok me...)  that means fat cigars and strong mojitos but to others that means dance, particularly ballet.  To Carlos Acosta, an aspiring male ballet dancer, that meant opportunity.

Carlos Acosta was the eleventh and youngest son of a cuban truck driver.  There was very little to go around but like most kids he found contentment in sport and music - he loved his football and he could break dance with the best of them.  However, aged 13 his father recognised the dance talent that lay within and sent him away to a residential ballet school to keep him focused and off the streets.  Football and ballet are the most natural compliment so unsurprisingly there were plenty of times when Carlos rebelled and came home.  But his father was always there to send him back.  Tough love some might say, but his father would ultimately prove right in his actions.

At 16 something clicked.  Carlos became acutely aware of his ability, his calling and subsequently his innate and growing love of ballet.  Embracing and harnessing his talent he won the Prix de Lausanne at 17, and then joined The English National Ballet at 18 quickly rising through the ranks to dance the most principal roles. Now he is one of the most sought after guest stars at the Royal Ballet, Houston Ballet and many other prestigious companies.

He is credited for his outstanding technique and strength (the man has hang time that even Mr Jordan would die for!)  and his acting skills are seen as versatile and strong (check this out for an impromptu performance caught on an audience camera) . 

There are plenty of classical fireworks from Mr Acosta, but In ’Tocororo’ many have said that we see a different side to Carlos; we discover where he comes from, his Cuban roots. When he goes off to the Afro-Cuban beat, and really gets down and loose, you get a sense of that teenage street dancer bustin' out his moves in the 40 degree heat in downtown Havanna.  It has been said, that at this point, for the ladies in the audience the temperature invariably goes up a few degrees in any theatre (....whatever...). 

For his story of determination from the man himself check out the video below.

Read More (81 comments)

Categories Tags Art culture Dance Music Drama

By Juan on 1/12/09

chris Swim MAIN2

Balance = Power

Changing 'I can't' for 'I can' opened up a world of possibility for the UK's leading lady of endurance. 

"Sport has a tremendous power – and can be a force for considerable change. I feel very strongly that as a professional triathlete my impact and message should be wider than my performance on the race course, and last longer than my athletic career." Chrissie Wellington, 3 x World Ironman Champion

Four years ago Chrissie Wellington was asked whether she would ever do an Ironman. Her response? ‘No way, you must be completely mad to do something like that!’

But then in her own words, she changed ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’.  Then with support and mentoring from coaches, friends and family she found a new innner belief, she dared to push herself harder than ever before and in doing so she made her new dreams a reality.

In the early hours of Saturday morning UK time, Chrissie Wellington claimed her third straight Ironman title in a record time at the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.  Her final time of 8:54:02 for the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile marathon was nearly 20 minutes faster than second placed Australia’s Mirinda Carfrae and broke Paula Newby-Fraser’s mark of 8:55:28 set in 1992 (herself a legend having won this event 8 times).  To further put Chrissie's performance into context, on a near windless day where the heat radiated off the pavement and the ink black, sun-baked lava fields, she finished 23rd overall out of 164 pros and a further 1800 competitors from 58 countries, 'chicking' (as is the expression in this brutal sport) a large number of professional male athletes on the day!  

The thing is, for Chrissie her will to win is not just born of a competitive spirit.  For her there is a higher agenda, a higher purpose to it all. A balance that she needs to reach and maintain in her life if she is to continue to tap into her inner power and go on scaling the sporting heights in this the toughest of them all.

Read More (3 comments)

Categories Sport Tags Sport Drama

By Juan on 12/10/09

Salute MAIN

The Salute

"What does it mean to truly stand out from the crowd? To stop the world with a single gesture?"

As the anticipation builds here in the UK ahead of London 2012, and on the back of last week's announcement that the games are heading to Rio in 2016 our thoughts again turn to the inspiring stories born out of the Olympic games.  One of the better known, this tale is always worthy of reflection.

It is the Mexico Olympics, 1968. The height of the Vietnam War. The year the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. 14 days after hundreds of Mexican students were slaughtered in Tlatelolco for peacefully protesting against government brutality and repression.

With their famous ‘Black Power Salute’ as they stood on the 200m winners’ podium, Tommy Smith and Jon Carlos struck a blow for human rights that shook the globe. For a moment they were the most talked about people alive. They inspired millions. But in doing so they put their lives at risk; together they were to receive more hate mail than Henry Aaron and Muhammed Ali put together. But these days no-one ever asks: who’s the white dude?

OK, it’s obvious he’s the guy that finished second. What is less known is that Peter Norman, a white Australian, donned a badge on the podium in support of the two Americans’ cause, the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR). On the way out to the medal ceremony, Norman saw the badge being worn by Paul Hoffman, a white member of the US Rowing Team, and asked him if he could wear it. It was also Norman who suggested that Smith and Carlos share the black gloves used in their salute, after Carlos left his gloves in the Olympic Village. This is the reason Tommie Smith raised his right fist, while John Carlos raised his left. Asked about his support of Smith and Carlos by the world's press, Norman said he opposed his country's government's White Australia policy. Blacked out of record books and civil rights stories, here was an example of a white man who gave more than moral support and a cheque in the mail.

They were the three fastest men alive; but then Smith and Carlos were thrown out of the US Olympic team; Norman was reprimanded and ostracised by the Australian media. But in a time when mankind’s savage nature threatened to destroy it’s very future, they did something worth far more than winning an Olympic medal. They won a medal for the human race.

Winner of Best Australian Documentary, with a 10 minute standing ovation at last year’s Sydney Film Festival, and Best Documentary this year at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, Matt Norman’s film “salute” was 6 years in the making and pays tribute to the story he promised his uncle he would one day tell the world. See the story told in full here.

Read More (2 comments)

Categories Sport Tags Drama Endeavour Politics General

By Juan on 6/10/09

28 Days MAIN

Don't Have The Time?

"28 Days later in under a minute. On one Take."

A thing about movies, is that for all the pleasure they can bring, all the thinking they can provoke, all the debate they can stir up, they still take time in the day to sit down, view and enjoy. That's less of  a problem if you have space in your day and hours to kill, but for the time pressured among us, keeping up with the movie scene can be a real stretch.  But does it have to be?

There seems to be a very small trend at the moment towards concentrating the cinema essentials into a smaller package, with a view to delivering a movie's key messages (and to a degree the enjoyment) but in less than half the time.  Check this out for Gran Torino in 10 minutes.

The trade off is clearly around the experience, the scope to suspend our disbelief and immerse ourselves in another life or a different world.  Clearly this approach will never work for some films and most film fans.  But, when you get souls as creative as this crew 'on an alternative set of 28 Days Later' you might end up debating with friends as to where the most immediate enjoyment is actually to be had.

Read More (1 comment)

Categories Film Tags Art culture Drama

By Juan on 30/9/09

AV MAIN

Beyond Our Imagination?

"Coming to a (suitably technically equipped) cinema near you from the 18th December 2009..."

James Cameron has made a career of innovating in film - Terminator (I and II), Aliens, Titanic and now come December, on the distant moon of Pandora we have Avatar. In 3D. For real. Avatar is, they tell us, a world beyond our imagination.

On top of the promise of revolutionary 3D, a key part of a creative storyline appears to revolve around a species called the Na'vi, humanoid aliens into which earthlings are able to implant their personalities.  Unleash your imagination on that!  We start by thinking any passport Gordon Brown might have for pasage in space should be immediately revoked.

If you managed to catch one of the 15 minute screenings at IMAX theatres across the country this weekend, we are more than a little green with envy. 

Read More (1 comment)

Categories Film Tags Art Design Drama Media TV

By Juan on 21/8/09

Notice (8): Undefined index:  paging [APP/views/blog/index.ctp, line 118]

Notice (8): Undefined index:  paging [APP/views/blog/index.ctp, line 125]

Recent Entries

  • Teahupoo TN
  • RFed TN2
  • Billy TN
  • Beach Tramp TN
  • Mbike TN
  • AewesomeTN
  • Proper Vol 2 LondonII
  • Stunt Poetry
  • THE WAND TN

Categories

Monthly Archives