Reverb: The Official UTF Blog

I started my 2007 movie season off with 300. It is a film based on the epic tale of the Battle of Thermopylae told by graphic novelist Frank Miller. In a nutshell, 300 Spartan soldiers led by King Leonidas battle against Xerxes’ larger Persian army. In 60 seconds, here’s my impressions about the film:

1. The cinematography and look of 300 were gorgeous. This is a new standard for film making that I’m sure we will see more of in the future.
2. The film did have some historical inaccuracies, so don’t treat it as the gospel truth.
3. I was glad that Xerxes’ Persian army had many races – Asian, Middle Eastern (Persians at the time), and African. This is historically accurate since his army consisted of many races from different regions.
4. Xerxes wore too much makeup and was over exaggerated in his appearance, but this worked considering the film was based on a graphic novel.
5. Women will love the chiseled and very good looking Spartan army. Men will love the battle scenes and special effects.
6. You should definitely experience 300 on the big screen, preferably an IMAX theater.

Overall, I enjoyed 300 and think this was a very good start for my 2007 movie-going season. Check it out. Read more

Over the past few years, there has been a pandemic rash of remakes by Hollywood. To give you an example, here’s a sample list:

• War of the Worlds
• The Hills Have Eyes
• The Hills Have Eyes II (upcoming sequel for the original film)
• When a Stranger Calls
• The Amytiville Horror
• Hairspray (upcoming remake)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• The Ring (remake of original Japanese version)
• The Grudge (remake of original Japanese version)
• The Stepford Wives
• Darkwater
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

If Hollywood isn’t busy remaking prior films, they’re finding ways to squeeze out as much money as they can from existing film franchises by making pointless prequels/sequels. It’s a disturbing trend, and it appears that the studios are seeking out an easy profit rather than buying/developing new (good) scripts to make movies that haven’t been made before. Oh, I’m not against remakes – if the original film was of poor quality. But, did we really need an Americanized version of the terrible Godzilla film from 1998?

P.S.

Someone please explain how Godzilla bypassed the entire continental United States – without wrecking any city – and landed in New York to lay eggs in Madison Square Garden? Okay, I just spoiled the movie, but you weren’t missing anything anyway.