FilmRoar

A couple of years ago, while on a business trip to Los Angeles, I had a personal epiphany. I spent a Saturday morning sitting in a hotel room, thinking about my life while the movie Contact (1997) played on HBO. As I pondered how to deal with what seemed like negative influences in my life that were beyond my control, the movie turned to a scene where Ellie, our beloved scientist confronts David, the bureaucrat who has manipulated Ellie’s work to his personal benefit. David attempts to excuse his immoral manipulation and his trespasses against Ellie:

David Drumlin: I know you must think this is all very unfair. Maybe that’s an understatement. What you don’t know is I agree. I wish the world was a place where fair was the bottom line, where the kind of idealism you showed at the hearing was rewarded, not taken advantage of. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world.
Ellie Arroway: Funny, I’ve always believed that the world is what we make of it.

It would be difficult to explain the extent to which this moment affected me. The excellence of the script coupled with the sentiment with which that last line was delivered forced a paradigm shift in my way of thinking. That morning, with the help of that movie, I adopted a new, much more positive, personal outlook that has stayed with me to this day.

I have been looking forward to the release of The Animatrix in June. I thought I would have to wait until then to see the Matrix inspired animation, but just found out that the Animatrix web site is posting four of the episodes. Fhe first wo are already posted with the next two coming in April and May.

Bettie Page

Liv Tyler

www.infobeat.com reports that:

Leather Liv
World Entertainment News Network

Luscious LIV TYLER has signed up to play 1950s icon BETTIE PAGE - and the part requires her to don slinky leather outfits.

The LORD OF THE RINGS star has been desperate to play bondage-loving Page for nearly four years and has been waiting for the right script to come along.

Her interest is supported by producer and director MARK MORI - who owns the rights to Page’s story, which has previously interested GANGS OF NEW YORK film-maker MARTIN SCORSESE.

He says, “Liv Tyler is still attached and she’s more enthusiastic than ever. When I first met her, Liv told me, ‘I was born to play Betty Page’. Right now, we’re trying to develop a script. We may have some sort of announcement to make about a script very soon.”

And even Page’s official biographer is keen on the curvy Tyler.

He gushes, “The meaning and importance of Bettie’s era doesn’t have to be taught and spoon-fed to Liv Tyler - she knows it already.”

Very interesting news, though Liv seems to be the wrong body type to play the curvacious Page.

Update: The title role in The Ballad of Bettie Page (2004) has gone to Gretchen Mol. Here is an image of Mol from The Thirteenth Floor:

There isa slew of high resolution stills from the next X-Men movie up at MovieGod.de. Click on the image above for a full resolution version or follow the link to the image bank.

A very beautiful photo for the new Peter Pan (2003) movie by P.J. Hogan made the rounds last week. The picture shows off the great artistic eye of cinematographer Donald McAlpine (Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet). Click on the thumbnail above for a full size image.

Filmjerk.com has posted information on a new I, Robot movie in production. Here is a taste:

This motion picture (most recently revised by Akiva Goldsman, dated January 31, 2003) will concentrate on Detective Del Spooner, who, with the aid of psychologist, Dr. Susan Calvin, will investigate the death of Dr. Miles Hogenmiller, a brilliant scientist who worked at US Robotics.

Starship troopers was obviously made with a sequel in mind. The movie ends with a clearly stated victory in the battle but not the war and a promise of further adventures for our characters. It seems that the sequel will at last be made, but low budget and direct to video. Stop motion animation Sensei Phil Tippett has been selected to direct.

Moviehole News:

Making “Starship Troopers 2″ - The Budget

In what will be the first of a series of conversations with the creators of the forthcoming “Starship Troopers 2″, Jon Davidson, producer of the film, talked to the site today about the film’s rumoured low budget. “This installment of Starship is being kept low budget for an excellent reason; to provide a comfort level for Sony so that they will hire Phil Tippett as the director. Phil and I have worked together off and on since Dante’s “Piranha”. He sculpted the title character, ran the fish factory, executed many of the effects on location and was an all around great guy. Over the years we’ve tried to work together as a producer/director team but I’ve never been able to make that happen until now. The key was the low budget. Sony is getting a huge bargain on the visual effects in exchange for allowing Phil to helm the film. We will also need lots of help from the talented folks in Phil’s shop to make it happen and be visually exciting. It really has to be a labor of love to pull it off for next to no money.”, says Davidson.