Jonathan Nix, brother of Best-selling fantasy author Garth Nix, is currently in the midst of post-production on a short (approx. 25 min.) animated film, The Missing Key, which from early indications is set to be a surreal fantasy of great beauty, reminiscent of the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki but distinct from them. It is being produced by Garth’s wife Anna McFarlane and their company Cartwheel Partners.
This is Hero Wasabi, a struggling musician, who has journeyed from the Far East to the Venetian Conservatorium to study piano composition. His head, in case you were wondering, is a gramophone. He has a friend, a cat named Jacuzzi, who plays the oboe.
Below is Morsocodo, a professional thief who communicates using morse code:
And this is Count Telefino, an aristocratic pianist with a six-fingered mechanical hand:
This concept trailer was made in 2006 by Terry Howald “as a previz for a future feature film project”. It offers excellent iconic 1950s rocketships and rayguns and the prospect of a gigantic alien creature.
Looks excellent. I like the studied artificially of it, even if that was a product of the no-budget environment. So I hope you’re getting on with it, Terry!
Bloody Disgusting.com has posted some new concept images from the Ancient Romans vs Giant Monster movie, Mortis Rex, which is currently in production. The film concerns the adventures of a disgraced Roman war hero who comes face to face with a supernatural beast… a very big one from the pictures.
Click on the above picture to get a clearer view of the size of the critter in the background.
Godzilla might be currently in retirement, but his lawyers are still fiercely active.
Wired has posted a scary article on Godzilla copyright owner, Toho’s efforts to protect their intellectual property. They and their lawyers have been extremely active and vigilant, it seems.
Warner Bros., for example, didn’t know it needed Toho’s permission to use Godzilla in a 1985 chase scene in Tim Burton’s Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. The Hollywood studio paid an undisclosed amount to Toho after it was sued.
The U.S. division of Honda Motor suffered a similar fate for displaying a Godzilla float in the Rose Parade, and paid an undisclosed amount to settle a 1991 lawsuit.
“I don’t know if it even occurred to them that the character was protected,” says Charles Shephard, a Los Angeles attorney for Toho, whose office is adorned with a poster that says,”If you thought Godzilla was scary, wait until you meet his lawyers.”
Shephard speculates, “If they used Star Wars or Simpsons characters, I guarantee you they would have sought permission. It’s surprising how much this character is misused in a variety of contexts, especially by major advertisers.”
Image-wise, what is this Godzilla that they are protecting? And how is he different from, say, a T-Rex?
“He’s erect-standing. He’s got muscular arms, scaly skin and spines on back and tail and he breathes fire and has a furrowed brow,” [Godzilla attourney, Aaron] Moss says, repeating arguments Toho often makes in its lawsuits. “He’s got an anthropomorphic torso. The T. rex has emaciated bird-like arms and stands at a 45-degree angle.”
The message is, don’t mess with the King of the Monsters!
Remember the open call for people to get eaten by giant bugs that was posted on the Backbrain a while back?
The film wasPesticide (US-2008; dir. Pat Cerrato) and it appears that considerable giant insect mayhem took place on 11 November in Manhattan – South St. Seaport area. The film is currently in post-production.
Possible call description: 8. Uniformed NYPD Officers with their own uniform and/or props …
George got to play rookie cop Paul Mackenzie, in what is his first full-length feature. Below he is seen on-set with director Pat Cerrato. Is that wall covered in insect muck?
George was also involved in ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording):
Possible call description: 1. Adult being eaten by giant insect, screaming, being thrown around, running and ultimately dying on camera.
Sally got to play “Dragging Victim (Supporting)”, as you can see from this shot, with a tow rope substituting for the giant insect that will be digitally added later:
Apparently Sally also worked on the production as a Boom Operator.
Raymond (Mayor), Tim (Cameraman) and Julie (Reporter)
Anyway, there you have it. Kaiju Search-Robot Avery promises he’ll keep us up-to-date on any information relating to this giant insect movie in the making as the bugs crawl out into the open.
Tremors (US-1990; dir. Ron Underwood) remains one of my favourite monster movies. With perfect casting, a beautifully structured and often witty script, great physical SFX, likeable characters and a general air of affable terror, it captures the essence of a particular kind of monster movie — monstrous but not horrendous, thrilling but not threatening … the sort of monster film you emerge from feeling exhilarated but not traumatised. I’m not against being cinematically traumatised on occasion, but sometimes there’s value in well-constructed, humanistic bonhomie, too.
Naturally the film’s success led to a series of sequels (four to date) of diminishing effect, most of which lost the essential spirit of the first. There was a TV series, too.
Now there’s a rumour that we might be in for a fifth film, re-located to Australia. Makes sense to me, as an Australian. There’s a lot of desert and other “outback” openness on this island continent — and there’s nothing a Graboid on the prowl likes better than open, desolate space … with dinner walking around in it.
Dump a few travellers in the middle of the Australian landscape and they’re dinner. Maybe these Graboids have taken to prowling the long stretches of highway between eastern Australia and Perth. Maybe all that space has allowed them to grow very very big. The possibilities are endless.
Did I mention that the rumoured name of the new film is Tremors: The Thunder from Downunder?
If you’re one of the sad people of the Earth who don’t know what a Graboid is, here is a rather detailed maquette, though it doesn’t illustrate their full giant-wormy length:
So the news is confirmed that Gore Verbinski will be producing an American remake of the South Korean monster film, Gwoemul [aka The Host] (2006; dir. Joon-ho Bong) for Universal pictures. It will be a debut feature for director Fredrick Bond.
The original film was a record-breaking success in South Korea and across Asia, so probably a Westernised remake was always inevitable, things being as they are in Hollywood.
The story concerns of giant tadpole thing that rises from the Han River in the middle of Seoul, mutated by toxic chemicals carelessly flung into its waters by unethical military scientists. The monster snatches up the younger daughter of a rather dysfunctional working-class Korean family, the members of which must overcome their maladjustments to rescue her. It was both funny and poignant, with some of the most original and convincing monster action we’d seen for a while. Many people rate it as one of the best monster pics ever.
In regards to a US remake, Bond commented that he “embraced the opportunity to mix a larger-than-life monster with a heartfelt family drama.” (Variety)
Well, I hope it works. Certainly producer Verbinski has a way with big monsters, at least in the context of his box-office smash Pirates of the Caribbean movies (click on image to see the giant Kraken’s “jaws” more clearly):
The trouble is, Verbinski isn’t the director or the writer of The Host remake. Still, hopefully he’ll keep an eye on things while he’s off directing his video game adaptation Bioshock.
Naturally, the mere act of remaking what most see as a unique and worthy monster film has been greeted with some skepticism. The Backbrain has a definite opinion, but in the interests of fairness and balance, I asked Kaiju Search-Robot Avery to give his eternally optimistic perception on the issue as well.
Rob’s take:
I confess I’m a bit underwhelmed about prospects for a The Host remake. To me, everything that was good about the original (except the SFX) was quintessentially Korean, stuff that will have to go in a US remake. As I’ve said elsewhere, to me remaking the film seems pointless, as “the visual style, the political irony and culturally specific characterisation that makes The Host so unique will all need to be abandoned.” And what that leaves is a totally generic monster movie. Maybe they’ll make a good one, but it won’t be The Host and they might as well have called it “Attack of the Giant River Tadpole” or something and have done with it. Surely this will be another example of grabbing an easy audience by “remaking” a successful Asian film, abandoning its heart and soul in the process. I guess I’m happy that we’ll be getting a new biggish-budget monster flick, but do we have to trash a world “classic” to get it? Can’t we encourage Western audiences to be a little more cosmopolitan?
Avery’s take:
I keep hearing fans getting upset about the idea of a remake of the film, but I can definitely see some good in the idea of a remake. For one, Gore Verbinski is a rather impressive name to be involved. Also, this is a first-time director helming the project. We shouldn’t be quick to judge what this film will be like without knowing what this director can do. If you’ll all remember, Cloverfield was directed by an unknown, Matt Reeves, and produced by a well-known big wig as well, J.J. Abrams, and look at what they were able to achieve. Why wouldn’t the creators and owners of the copyright want to make a “mainstream” version of the film to appeal to a considerably much wider potential audience than a subtitled version ever would? The general public tend to stay away from subtitled and foreign films and limited release titles. Making an American version could bring in a whole new legion of fans and if done right could still win over the original fanbase. Sure, the downside is that it would most likely lose the wacky Korean humor, but to some that would be a plus. I’ve also heard several say that they weren’t fans of the original, stating that they felt it was too flawed, but that they welcome this version. Well, this new take on the story could actually win them over. Also, why wouldn’t we want more potential fans to be introduced to this film and our beloved genre? It’s definitely a smart business move for sure.
Here are two classic giant moments from Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies: the destruction of the Edinburgh Trader by the kraken from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, using iconic imagery from umpteen old woodcuts; and the unleashing of the Sea Goddess from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End:
Further to our earlier post featuring the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie trailer, Todd Tennant has kindly supplied the Backbrain with these fantastic images of the monster concerned. I have no idea what it is and what role it plays, but it certainly has a big mouth. Hopefully we can get acquainted with it as soon as possible. Click on the images for a bigger view.
