FilmRoar

The official web site for Underworld has opened and is worth a visit. The site is very well constructed with a good look and theme.

The question which most bothered me after watching The Matrix Reloaded (2003) was trying to make sense of the discussion Neo (Keanu Reeves) has with The Architect (Helmut Bakaitis). In essence trying to make sense of the story line. I have some theories on what is going on, or what is ‘actually going on’ in the story so far, but I will not go into them, rather I will wait until November to find out what happens next. For those of you working through the same set of questions I offer a transcript of the Neo / Architect scene, originally posted on www.theantitrust.net/.

* Spoiler Warning * Do not read the rest of this post if you have not seen the movie. Not only will it not make much sense but it will ruin some key scenes
Read the rest of this entry »

I left the theater after watching The Matrix Reloaded (2003) with a bunch of questions. One was wondering what happened to Tank. Tank’s sister mentions that she ‘lost two brothers to that ship’ but the character was still alive by the end of the first movie and gone in the sequel. I just found the answer in a Reuters article about actor Marcus Chong’s lawsuit against the film makers for reneging on their promise to include him in the sequels. Here is an excerpt:

Chong, 35, also accused the filmmakers of “intentionally publishing numerous false statements … that he was a terrorist,” and of conspiring to blackball him in Hollywood.

A bail receipt document posted on a fan Web site shows that Chong was arrested on Oct. 18, 2000 for allegedly making threats — five days after his salary negotiations with the studio collapsed.
Film industry sources said the actor made repeated phone calls of a harassing nature to the filmmakers after his salary demands were not met. Tank was subsequently written out of the sequels and replaced with a character named Link.

What looks like a classic, smells like a classic, sounds like a classic and acts like a classic movie? Why The Guns of Navarone (1961), that’s what. Movies like these make me wonder if they realize they are making a classic movie as they make it. I would guess not.

The Guns of Navarone stars Gregory Peck though at times it seems more like starring Gregory Peck’s chin. It is a heroic film of epic proportions, one of those where showing that you are willing to die for your country is simply not enough. At least not if you want to still have any cache among this band of badass hombres. While I was not as impressed with the movie as I think I was supposed to be, I do recommend it to anyone who wants to fill in the gaps on classic movies every moviephile should see.

Today the geekroar.com film blog underwent a slight name change from ‘Film Talk’ to ‘Film Roar’. I originally named the blog Film Talk when I launched it back in December of 2002. At the time the concept was still evolving and I thought I might want to include a chat board to the site. I was never fully pleased with the name and thought of renaming the blog to the more appropriate ‘The Film Geek’ but decided against it when a google search for that name revealed http://www.filmgeek.com/ along with many other sites and pages.

When I asked friends for advice on a new title they pointed out that one of the things that sets geekroar.com apart from other sites and makes it interesting is that it is not full of just movie news or reviews, but opinions. That is where the site name originally came from and the blog name would do well to reflect it. So, at Sven’s suggestion the blog is now called Film Roar.

Many years ago I got into an argument with an ex-girlfriend over the existence of dolphins on the Enterprise D. Yes, I realize that is an odd subject to get into an argument over, but you see both my girlfriend and I were avid Star Trek watchers and details like these can make a difference.

I claimed that I had seen in a technical diagram of the NCC 1701-D a deck with a dolphin tank. My memory was that the dolphins were explained as being part of the crew. I also remembered having seen an episode where Geordi made mention of the dolphins to some visiting dignitary. She was unmoved by my assurances and would not believe the presence of sea mammals aboard a starship without tangible proof.

Years later I purchased a copy of the “Star Trek Next Generation Technical Manual”. It took some looking but I eventually found the entry. According to the manual there are not only dolphins but also two whales present to aid in interstellar navigation. By now I had lost contact with my ex and could not offer the proof, but having been set on this mission of finding the original sources I was not ready to give up.

While watching the ST TNG Season 5 DVDs I finally found the original show quote. The episode is ‘The Perfect Mate’. The scene is one where a Ferenghi is nosing around the cargo bay and annoying Picard. To get rid of him Geordi puts his arm around the Ferenghi and says, “Have you had a chance to see the Dolphins yet?” as he leads them away. It must be about ten years since I started the quest to find that quote, but I got there in the end.

The British Zombie flick 28 Days Later (2002) by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting (1996), Shallow Grave (1994)) due to come out in the US on June 27th seems to be available on DVD in what I assume is UK regional encoding. The R2 Project has a review that makes the movie sound quite interesting. Here is an excerpt:

In the end though, its not the dead the living need to worry about, it’s each other. Without wising to spoil anything, the film is neatly divided into two halves, the living vs. the dead and the living vs. the living and in many ways it’s this second half that is the most chilling, how many meals are we away from returning to the jungle?