It's no secret that the key to the success of the «Pirates of the Caribbean» movies was Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, so you can understand why Disney would be so eager to build another potential
franchise around the actor.
In the flood of online wakes that seem to
accumulate around every actor's death it has become nearly impossible to overlook anyone's passing so you can imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that one of my favorite British actors, the talented Simon Ward, had passed away in July following a long illness and I had managed to overlook it.
Lubezki shot exteriors in the Canadian Rockies and the tip of Argentina in natural light, with Steadicam and the untested Alexa 65, the first large - format digital camera — for 360 - degree, high dynamic range compositions with very wide lenses that
wrap around the actors only inches away.
It was during the filming of «Martha» that he developed the then - astonishing 360 - degree tracking shot that allowed the camera to move in a full
circle around the actors, a trick that would eventually become one of his signature moves.
Even then, you may spend more time gawking at the green - screen
blurs around each actor as they walk through yet another endless desert.
When McAvoy's name cropped up a few weeks ago, the word was that Condon's movie would
shoot around the actor's X-Men schedule.
Highly stylized, the masterful direction immediately jumps out; the camera is perpetually moving, with long and involving shots that
roam around the actors, thrusting you right into the middle of the powerful, visceral drama.
Thanks to the magic of technology, they are going to move in and out of the train, up and down walls, and
all around the actors... in one long continuous take!
Sometimes, like during a scene of dialogue between Bourne and the brother of his murdered girlfriend (played by Daniel Bruhl), the camera fidgets for no apparent reason,
shaking around the actors» faces like a nervous bumblebee, something that brings the entire enterprise dangerously close to self - parody.
Whereas the prestige MGM films of the period are characterized by low contrast, brightly lit scenes and subtle soft focus, «Spellbound» adds extra layers of shadows and abstract patterns; and sharper detail, with a peculiar
glow around the actors: characters glow with hypnotic power, as though the film stock was imbued with the luminescence of fine lead crystal.
With a story that
revolves around actors and models teaming up to save the world against evil that takes over the bodies of directors and photographers, you can be forgiven for second guessing this one.
WHY: After enjoying so much success with the Johnny Depp - led «Pirates of the Caribbean» movies, it's easy to see why Disney was so eager to build another
franchise around the actor.
There's been Oscar
buzz around both actors and I wouldn't be surprised to see both of these guys nominated for acting awards come February.
But when it comes to doing stunts in the real world, rather than animating
them around actors, Stephenson seems to come unstuck in a largely unsatisfying way.
It's likely going to center
itself around an actor acting really cocky for two hours and without other characters to ground him (like if it's a simple smuggling scenario), I'm not sure that's the kind of story I want to watch.
When you see the level of digital artifacting in this disc, including poor shadow detail, pixelisation of flesh tones and bright natural colours, halos
around the actors, you can't help but ask where all the time preparing this disc was spent.