Bryan Singer has signed on for a film adaptation of Jack the Giant Killer, a fairy tale that is better known by the variants The Valiant Little Tailor or Jack and the Beanstalk.
The script is being written by Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard). It all starts when a princess is kidnapped, and this causes problems between the peaceful existence between men and giants. At this point, “a young farmer is given an opportunity to lead a dangerous expedition to the giants’ kingdom in hopes of rescuing her.”
It sounds like this adaptation is also based on the classic fairy tale and not a remake of the 1962 film of the same name.
Should be interesting to see a modern take on such a classic tale. I hope its fun.
Thanks for checking out our Forgotten Fridays feature. This is something we want to try out to review some older films that maybe you have forgotten about or maybe never got around to seeing that we just want to share.
Today’s review is First Knight
THE GENERAL IDEA
At long last, the wars were over. Arthur, the great King of Camelot, had devoted his life to building a land of peace and justice. Now he wished to marry. But peace was not to last. The most powerful of Arthur’s knights, the self titled Prince Malagant, had long been jealous of the King’s glory. Now he found cause to quarrel with Arthur and left Camelot with hatred in his heart. And so the land was divided again, between those who rallied to Prince Malagant, seeking the spoils of war, and those who stayed loyal to the King.
And then there was Lancelot, a wanderer who had never dreamed of peace of Justice or Knighthood. Times were hard. A man made his living any way he could. And Lancelot had always been good with a sword. He was a fearless simple man who would compete for money and offer swordplay as entertainment.
Lancelot’s wandering path crosses with Guinevere who’s caravan is ambushed by Prince Malagant on her way to meet her fiance King Arthur.
THE GOOD
Lets just start with the cast. Was there ever a presence that deserved the title of King more than Sean Connery. His every word sounds like nobility and the strength of his voice deserves it. And this is no exception. Connery DEMANDS his presence and is every bit as fitting a King as the character deserves in this. When he speaks of bravery and brotherhood, you feel his sincerety, and when he speaks angry you shrink an inch.
And Richard Gere plays the carefree swordsman so charmingly that all women want him and every man wants to be him. It is no wonder that Guinevere is taken by him. He may come across as a brigand, but he has a code of honour that gives him the heart of a knight even if he doesn’t know it yet.
And Guinevere herself played by Julia Ormond is absolutely captivating. A beautiful woman who’s presence is approachable yet noble. When Lancelot denies his reward of a kiss from the Queen-to-be at the court festival he says it all when he announces, “I dare not kiss so lovely a lady. I have only one heart to lose” And this film made me crave to see Julia Ormond on screen again.
And lastly Prince Malagant. Pure tyrannical meglomaniac. Still ever jealous of Arthur, even with his own followers who fear him but do not respect him. He has an air of royalty but the castle ruins that make his headquarters represent the bleak comparisons of what he has and what he covets.
And then lets address the genre. This movie illustrates exactly how romance within an action adventure. Prince Malagant’s conflict is what draws all the players together but the romance is the subtle glue that binds it all into meaning. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of romance, but it all works.
The action is great and believable and there is a LOT of it. When there is no action, there is enough character interaction to make it worth while to wait. The drama is hearty despite the light adventure feel the movie has.
THE BAD
Malagant’s jealousy is obvious and plays perfectly to his character but they were never quite clear on what brought him “to quarrel” with Arthur. It seems he wanted more which Arthur wouldn’t give him. But its never quite clear HOW Malagant become unworthy of his seat at the Round Table. We just have to accept that he exiled himself.
OVERALL
A fantastic adventure of King Arthur and Guinevere, and the Love Triangle of Lancelot, with enough gushy lovey stuff to make the passion of the action truely majestic. Everything matters. There is no fluff in this film.
Typically this is where we would write a “Out of 10″ rating, but since all of these Forgotten Friday reviews are going to be what I would already give a high rating to, I have made my own rating system.
TV – Make a point of watching it if you see it listed on TV. Rent – Good enough to go out of your way to see it, but not enough to buy it. Buy – So good. You will watch it again and again. Buy it!
Just because as proud John is of his work, sometimes he just doesn’t say anything about it because of the same pride.
Well as John has let me write on this site since it began, sometimes I get the privilege of showing off the efforts of one of my oldest friends. (Old as in longest running… he’s not that old!)
For those of you who don’t already know, John Campea, founder and editor of this very site has tried his hand at a documentary (Prince of Peace: God of War) and now he is taking a big step and directing his first Independent feature film.
The Anniversary has become a “real movie” and actually exists on the hallowed hall of records we call the Internet Movie Data Base.
John (and a lot of other familiar names) has been working hard on his film and that is why we haven’t seen a lot of him online here, but we know it will be worth the wait.
I imagine we will get the exclusive first look at the Trailer as well as the scoop on the release date or posters!
How did the command to “Love Your Enemies” get so complicated? This was the question I had for years both when I was a minister in the church and ever since I left it. It seemed to me the religious right, more a political force than anything else, who embraced policies of violence, killing and destruction, all in the name of a God they claimed to follow seemed to be at odds with the teachings of the founder of their faith.
For the first three centuries that the church existed, those belonging to the faith of Christianity understood the words and example of Jesus to be a clear directive to never be involved with violence. To be a Christian was to be a Pacifist, and during those formative years the church endured several persecutions at the hands of the Roman Empire itself without ever considering taking up the sword against their aggressors.
How did this faith, known and identified for its non-violent beliefs, go on to conduct the crusades, the inquisitions, witch hunts, and today have 87% of white evangelical Christians support President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq? How did this religion, founded by a Pacifist and known (even criticized) for non-violence, become a religion known for its aggression, war, political power and embracing of violence?
So, in 2006 I decided to travel across North America and talk to scholars, historians, authors and religious leaders on both sides of the issue (not the cheap Bill Maher tactics of only talking to crazy people on whichever side he stands opposed to) to understand why some believe the Christian faith allows for killing and others in the exact same faith believe that to truly follow the faith, one must never take life. The result was this project “Prince of Peace – God of War”
The project took me just over a year to complete and was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, but at the same time one of the most rewarding. As a documentary I am very proud of how the issues are addressed and explored… but at the same time I am very humbled by how much it lacks artistic quality. A gifted documentary filmmaker I am not. But audiences across North America at various film festivals seems to quickly look past my artistic shortcomings and submerged themselves in the issues and discussion in the film. Some agreeing, some disagreeing, but all apparently talking.
Some media folks commented at the time:
“Central to John Campea’s engaging documentary is the question of how it is that 87 percent of self-defined Christians are able to rally fists in support of war when one would assume that conflict is not what Jesus would do.” The Orlando Weekly
“Loved It! An Extensive look at how Christians went from preaching about love and peace to fighting for war.” Peter Sciretta – Slahfilm.Com
“I was gripped the entire run time”
Kurt Halfyard – Twitchfilm.Net
“People should definitely see this… they’re going to love it” Andrew Olson – MoviePatron.Com
“I urge you to give it a look and in all honesty, if your Religious Philosophy professor puts Just War on the curriculum, you may want to suggest he add this film as an introduction.” Marina Antunes – MadAboutMovies.Net
“the documenary does a great job at presenting the facts, with the leading experts on Theology and Christianity and making you stop and think long and hard on a tough topic. ” MoviesOnline.Ca
This project was only made possible by those people who were willing to lend their thoughts, expertise and perspective to the conversation. Both those on the Just War and Pacifism sides of this discussion were beyond generous with their time and insights. To all of them, I am very grateful.
Dr. Tony Campolo
Best selling author, Former Spiritual Advisor to President Bill Clinton
Professor at Eastern University – St. Davids PA
Dr. Brian McLaren
Listed on TIME Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Evangelicals In America
Bruxy Cavey
Author of “The End Of Religion”
Minister of “The Meeting House” – Canada’s largest Church
Dr. David Williams
Academic Vice President Taylor University College
Edmonton AB
Dr. Victor Shepherd
Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology
Tyndale Seminary – Toronto ON
Dr. Stanley Fowler
Professor of Theological Studies
Heritage Seminary – Cambridge ON
Dr. Kent Clarke
Director of the Professor Rueben J. Swanson Ancient Manuscript Collection
Trinity University – Langley BC
Jordon Cooper
Founder of the Resonate Church Leaders Network
Dr. Gordon Heath
Assistant Professor of Church History
McMaster University – Hamilton ON
John Campea
Former Evangelical Christian and Minister
Senior Editor – The Movie Blog
Dr. Gary Yamasaki
Professor of New Testament
Columbia Bible College – Abbotsford BC
Dr. Michael Gilmour
Associate Professor of New Testament
Providence College – Otterburne MB
Dr. Jan Van Vliet
Professor of Theology
Prairie Bible Insitute – Three Hills AB
Dr. Douglas Jacobsen
Distinguished Professor of Church History
Messiah College – Grantham PA
With the festivals far behind me now, and all the DVDs that were printed sold out, I decided to release the movie online for free, just to get it out there and continue to spark discussion (that’s my hope at any rate). So download it, share it, copy it, BitTorrent it, love it, hate it, whatever. It’s amazing what you can do with one cheap little camera, one very cheap little microphone, no crew, no money and a bit of time on the road. I hope you enjoy it, or at least that it makes you think. Cheers!
You can watch Prince of Peace – God of War here:
You can download a higher quality copy here.
Or you can download an iPhone/iPod version here.
I remember a bunch of years ago when the Sony vx1000 3ccd miniDV camera first came out. People were floored by this thing. The image quality was like nothing that had ever been seen before on a camera of this nature, and it was pretty much the first serious camera that utilized the “new” miniDV technology, taking advantage of a firewire transit system that just about any computer (especially macs) could connect to and use. Combine that with the relatively low cost desktop video editing programs that were popping up (Final Cut, Adobe Premiere) and it became obvious that a revolution was on our hands.
Just as the web democratized the sharing of thoughts, ideas and information, this new technology held the promise of democratizing the making of and sharing of film. Many people speculated at the time that a whole new generation of filmmakers will emerge because now just about anybody can grab a $3000 camera (instead of a $500,000 camera) and cut on a $2000 computer (instead of a $100,000 editing system).
Those predictions didn’t quite come to fruition as quickly as some prognostications guessed, but it is coming, and I’d go so far as to suggest that the tools are now here to do just that.
More and more films are being edited on the relatively inexpensive Final Cut Pro platform (goes for around $1000). It’s an elegant editing tool that I’ve used before that is extremely powerful and surprisingly easy to learn (it takes a while to MASTER, but you could pick up the basics and be editing in an hour).
As far as cameras go, we’ve come a long way from the vx1000. Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor just finished shooting “Crank 2″ in May, shooting basically the entire movie with the simple Canon XH A1 High Def cameras. You can pick these things up in some lower end electronic stores for heavens sake. You can grab one brand spanking new for just over $3000. Is that something the average high school kid can run out and grab on his paper route money? No, but the point is that it’s now much more within the reach of average people without $100,000 in the bank account to pick up some gear and start shooting.
With the internet being what it is, a project doesn’t need a distribution deal to allow people from all over the world to see it. Just upload it and let people know it’s there. No, the old “if you build it they will come” fairy tale cliche won’t work, but at least now the obstacle for indie filmmakers of not having a VEHICLE to present their work is taken out of the equation.
The tools are available. The tools are affordable. The tools are easy enough to use.
The one giant obstacle still standing in the way of aspiring filmmakers (which is all of us really) is still the same one that it’s always been. Not tools, not money, but talent.
Sure, the internet has democratized information and ideas… but some people thoughts that just because a TOOL was now there to share their ideas with millions of people around the world, doesn’t mean a million people were going to bother spending time on their website. You still needed the talent. The talent to write. The talent to express. The talent to entertain or engage or to provoke. Tools without talent are nothing more than personal projects for your own personal enjoyment (and there’s nothing wrong with those either).
The same can be said for the filmmaking world. The tools are there. Yeah you still need to raise a little bit of money, but it’s just a fraction of what it used to be really and is something I think just about anyone can raise. Yes, the tools are there and they are now more affordable and higher quality than ever… but the issue is still talent.
Yes you can grab a $3000 camera. Sure you can install Final Cut on your computer. But do you have a story to tell? Do you have the talent to bring that story to life? DON’T ASSUME THE ANSER IS NO! Why not try? For that much money, why not do something instead of sitting around dreaming about it? What’s the worst that can happen? Your movie sucks and no one likes it… but who cares??? At least you’ll be doing something that everyone else talks about but never has the guts to try. At the very least it could be one of the most fun experiences of your life.
Come up with an idea. Write out a script. Once you’ve got the script to the point that you love it, show it to some people and start trying to get a little bit of money together. Beg family and friends to help you out by being actors or “crew”. Then just do it. Make your damn movie. It’s affordable, it’s easier than you think (by easier I mean really really really hard… but not impossible) and you’ll be doing something almost everyone else wishes they did but never had the nerve to attempt.
Could your movie be the next Clerks or Blair Witch? Sure, it’s highly unlikely, but why not? I did a documentary last year called “Prince of Peace – God of War” for just over $10,000. It was my first attempt at doing anything like that and I discovered I was a horrible documentary filmmaker! But guess what, I had an AMAZING time doing it, it played at a whole bunch of festivals, got some great reviews and I actually made profit off it, selling out all the DVDs and it’s still selling online downloads (shameless plug: You can get the movie here).
But even if your movie sucks… even if no one watches it besides you and your friends… even if you don’t play it at any festivals… even if you are someone with tools but no talent… WHO CARES?!?! Do it anyway! Have fun! Make something even if it’s just for you. It’s an experience no one will ever be able to take away from you and one you’ll cherish forever. YOU MADE A MOVIE. Do it with some friends and you’ll have a bonding experience like nothing else.
One of the perks of my job is that fans send me their home made videos all the time. Yeah most of them suck ass, but some of them are hilarious and completely make my day when I watch them… and no matter how bad your film is, it’ll probably still make someone’s day!
So instead of just talking about films all the time… why not make one. The tools are available and you may discover you have the talent. And even if you don’t it’ll be one of the richest experiences of your life, something you can look back on, something that’s yours.
And maybe I have something to announce in the next week or so. :P
No, this is not a shameless plug for John Campea’s Documentary Prince of Peace-God of War, and it also is not about Brett Ratner adapting it to a feature film. I am talking about the video game. In a recent interview it was suggested he is on board to make God of War, based on the very popular video game.
Ratner might be working on a big-screen version of the best-selling video game, God of War.
For those of you who haven’t played it (and I really recommend you do), here is a quick primer: God of War centers on Kratos, a celebrated soldier who is haunted by his past transgressions and his debt to the Gods of Olympus. It could have just been your typical hack and slash game, but the cinematic approach and highly entertaining story line earned it a reputation as one of the best around.
This is not the first time we have been teased with the idea of this game being brought to film. Back a few years ago Paramount was named to produce it and more recently its been said Djimon Hounsou might embody Kratos.
So while the Ratner haters might not like this, they will cheer in the streets when you consider the original director for this was Uwe Boll.
About 8 months or so ago I was at the San Diego FIlm Festival screening my film “Prince of Peace – God of War” (shameless plug). Anyway, the opening night film that kicked the festival off was the beautiful, sweet and completely hilarious little Independent movie called “Kabluey“.
Kabluey follows the story of a guy who is unemployed and pretty down on his luck who moves in with his sister-in-law to help her out with her two kids while her husband (his brother) is off fighting in the Iraq war. She’s having a hard time making ends meet and taking care of the kids on her own. He gets a job at her company putting on a giant blue suit and being the companies mascot named… you guessed it… Kabluey. Hilarity ensues.
Since that opening night screening that was received VERY well by the audience, I’ve heard nothing about the film. Sadly I thought it was going to disappear into indie film obscurity. But thankfully, according to our friends over at Cinematical, it looks like Kabluey may have some life left in it after all:
Scott Prendergast, who wrote, directed, and stars in the film, told us in Oxford that it had been acquired by some division of some studio and would be released in the summer. But as time passed, I noticed with some concern that no release date was being announced. Now, at last, we have confirmation: July 4 in New York, July 11 in L.A., and Aug. 1 in San Francisco. At the moment, that’s it before the film’s DVD release in the fall. So it’s not a huge theatrical release, but hey, it’s something.
Yes, it is indeed something! If you live in NY, LA or San Fran, I URGE you go get and and see this great little movie. If you don’t live around those parts, do yourself a favor and pick up the DVD in the fall. You won’t regret it!
Hey there guys. As most of you noticed last week we started implementing a redesign around here. I didn’t post about the change or mention it out loud because I didn’t want to say anything before it was actually finished. Well… as of yesterday we finished it, so here I am posting about it.
There were a couple of reasons for the change. On the technical end of things, for some reason the layout and theme we were using was putting a HUGE strain on our servers. In other words, the CPU power being used by the site was FAR beyond what it should have been and we were never able to nail down the culprit or the root cause of that system resources hog. This new theme and layout has fixed that completely. Our servers are now MUCH happier and running very smoothly. As a result, you should notice the site is functioning and loading faster and more consistently.
From a practical point of view, with new information appearing on the site changes so rapidly, posts and articles disappear off the front page within a day or two. Our best navigation system for finding older and special content is the sidebar area. I wanted to implement a true “3 column” layout with more space for us to highlight certain content with. ALSO… if you go to an individual post’s page, you’ll notice the first thing in the side bar is now a “More Recent Posts” heading. This means if you read or comment on an individual story, you can click on the next recent story without having the head back to the front page first. We thing this will come in handy for our regular commentors and for first time visitors who land on one of the individual post’s pages.
I know not everyone will like the new layout… every time I’ve changed people talk about how much they hate the new design and loved the old one (which they all said they hated before). I know it will take a little getting used to, but I honestly think this layout and new back end with help make the Movie Blog experience a better one.
Also, a special shout out to Pia, our technical Guru who oversees all our coding and site maintenance, and Dan, who has become our defacto concept artist around here (he also designed the DVD cover for my Prince of Peace – God of War movie). They did a great job pulling this off for no other reason than they wanted to give back and contribute to the Movie Blog community. THANK YOU GUYS!
So there you have it. Feel free to comment or give any feedback you’d like on the design… or request new features… whatever. Thanks guys.
Can this end it now please? Can Paris Hilton just go away now, enjoy her very rich life and stay the hell out of the movie and entertainment business PLEASE. If you, and various small hollywood production companies actually needed empirical evidence that we don’t want to see Paris Hilton in movies, then this weekend gave it to you.
Paris Hilton’s new film, The Hottie and the Nottie, opened up this weekend in limited release on 111 screens. When you break it down (The number of screens it played on, how many shows each screen played over the weekend and how much money the film made over that period), if you bought a ticket to see the movie, in the theater would be you, and 3 other people.
Yes, on average just under 4 people were in the theater each time The Hottie and the Nottie played this weekend. FOUR people. That means one screening must have had 6 people in it, because at the screening I was at, in Hollywood, on a Saturday, there was me and ONE other person. Yikes!
Let’s put this into horrifying perspective. My little movie (Prince of Peace – God of War) played 5 screens and had on average 120 people per show (and one of those shows only had like 10 people at it). Statistically speaking, that means I’m 3000% more of a draw than Paris Hilton. THREE THOUSAND PERCENT. I’m sorry, but if I’m outdrawing your kid’s Lemonade stand there is something wrong.
Ok ok, clearly I’m being a bit facetious, but come on… 4 people per screening. Does this send the message? Will people now finally get it? WE DON’T WANT TO SEE PARIS HILTON IN MOVIES. No one does. Let it go. Walk away.
Hey there Folks. As promised many months ago, we have now made my documentary, “Prince of Peace – God of War” available for purchase by digital download. The DVD is still available for ordering at $17 (we’ve sold just a little over 1000 copies since the end of of November), but you now have the option of downloading the digital file of the movie for just $4.99
For those of you who may be new around here, here’s a little synopsis at what the movie is about:
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT PRINCE OF PEACE – GOD OF WAR
“Central to John Campea’s engaging documentary is the question of how it is that 87 percent of self-defined Christians are able to rally fists in support of war when one would assume that conflict is not what Jesus would do.” The Orlando Weekly
“Loved It! An Extensive look at how Christians went from preaching about love and peace to fighting for war.” Peter Sciretta – Slahfilm.Com
“I was gripped the entire run time” Kurt Halfyard – Twitchfilm.Net
“People should definitely see this… they’re going to love it” Andrew James – MoviePatron.Com
“I urge you to give it a look and in all honesty, if your Religious Philosophy professor puts Just War on the curriculum, you may want to suggest he add this film as an introduction.” Marina Antunes – MadAboutMovies.Net
“the documenary does a great job at presenting the facts, with the leading experts on Theology and Christianity and making you stop and think long and hard on a tough topic. ” MoviesOnline.Ca
SYNOPSIS
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.”
~Jesus Christ
LUKE 6:27-29
No narrator. No rock themes video montages. Just an honest conversation about the issue. For the first three centuries that the church existed, those belonging to the faith of Christianity understood the words and example of Jesus to be a clear directive to never be involved with violence. To be a Christian was to be a Pacifist, and during those formative years the church endured several persecutions at the hands of the Roman Empire itself without ever considering taking up the sword against their aggressors.
How did this faith, known and identified for its non-violent beliefs, go on to conduct the crusades, the inquisitions, witch hunts, and today have 87% of white evangelical Christians support President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq? How did this religion, founded by a Pacifist and known (even criticized) for non-violence, become a religion known for its aggression, war, political power and embracing of violence?
Prince of Peace – God of War is a non-sensationalized visual record of Director John Campea’s (a former evangelical Christian and minister) journey across North America, speaking with historians, professors and religious leaders about these issues. The basic question is a simple one: “Should Christians kill people?”
FEATURING
Dr. Tony Campolo
Best selling author, Former Spiritual Advisor to President Bill Clinton
Professor at Eastern University – St. Davids PA
Dr. Brian McLaren
Listed on TIME Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Evangelicals In America
Bruxy Cavey
Author of “The End Of Religion”
Minister of “The Meeting House” – Canada’s largest Church
Hey there guys. Well it’s finally over. Last night was the end of a VERY long but wonderful journey for me as we had the Canadian premiere and DVD launch party for my film “Prince of Peace – God of War”. The night was an amazing success and I was just floored by the turn out and the response to the film.
So for the last time, THANK YOU to everyone who not only pre-ordered DVDs (YOU CAN NOW ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE DVD AT THE OFFICIAL SITE!) or came to the screening last night, but also to all of you guys here on The Movie blog who have encouraged me through the whole process. This was a fantastic experience for me and one of the best learning experiences of my life.
Doug Selling DVDs before the screening
Doug with Movie Blog reader H.C. Joel
Theater starting to fill up before the screening
DVD Intro Screen
John introducing the film
John and Bruxy during the Question and Answer session
More John and Bruxy during the Question and Answer session
John signing dvds after the screening (That’s Kurt from Twitchfilm in the foreground)
Bruxy signing dvds at the sales table (That’s Mike from MoviesOnline.Ca helping Doug out)
Hey there guys. Well, it’s finally here. Tonight we have the first official screening and official DVD launch of my little documentary “Prince of Peace – God of War“. It’s been 19 months since I first announced that I was doing this little project… a project that in my naivety I thought I would have done by October of 2006… HA! Well here we are… in November of 2007 and we’re finally putting this thing out.
The process has been an amazing one, and its also been an insane learning experience for me. This was the first time I’ve ever attempted something like this… and except for the remarkable Jay Cheel who cut the first edit of the film, I pretty much did it alone (I’ll never do that again).
Overall I’m very proud of this little project and I think those who watch it will walk away with a lot to think about. I don’t know if I’ll ever do another one again… this was a lot harder than I thought it would be. :)
So if you live within driving distance of Toronto/Hamilton/Oakville, I’d love it if you’d join us tonight
Date:
Friday, November 23, 2007 Time:
7:30pm – 10:00pm Location:
The Meeting House
2700 Bristol Circle
Oakville, ON
And if you can’t join us tonight, you can order your copy of the DVD here.
Ever since making “Prince of Peace – God of War” I have developed a major respect for those who can skillfully make documentary films. I’ll be honest with you, even though I’ve always enjoyed documentaries, I quite frankly thought it looked easy to do. I WAS WRONG. Telling a narrative where no narrative exists is a major challenge, and those who do it well should be admired.
Anyway, the eligibility list has just been narrowed down to 15 (which will later be narrowed down even more). Here is the list:
White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Please Vote for Me
A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman
The Price of Sugar
Autism: The Musical
Taxi to the Dark Side
Nanking
Lake of Fire
Sicko
For the Bible Tells Me So
War/Dance
Body of War
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience The Rape of Europa
There are a couple on that list that I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing yet (I’m dying to see Lake of Fire), but my favorite one would have to be Body of War, Sicko, The Price of Sugar… but if I got to pick the winner it would be No End In Sight I think. Anyway, great crop of films this year.
The plot synopsis has been released for the upcoming Castlevania movie. We get the skinny from moviesonline:
It is the year 1691…The land of Transylvania has been at peace for 100 years now, and the peasants and villagers have begun to purge their minds of the memories of the times when the lands were dominated by chaos and shadows, and when the undead walked the earth…However, there are those that remember that the evil Count Dracula returns every 100 years to plague the land, bringing with him the forces of Hell…Thus, one evening, the Prince of Darkness rises and returns to Castlevania, his ancestral home, calling forth his minions to purge the world of human flesh. The people cry out for a hero — someone to defend them from the evil desires of the count.
No Surprises here, pretty much stays true to the video game from what I remember. Simon Belmont, great-grandson of Christopher Belmont then goes to the castle and begins kicking vampire minion caboose until he reaches the big boss at the end of the game/move.
Having stages of villains works great in both video games and film. Bloodsport, Diggstown, Game of Death all build tension and weave a story as they climb a ladder with foes as rungs. If they are able to keep this tournament style of progression, I think the movie could come together nicely. I also look forward to seeing Belmont whip the hell out of people.
My buddy Bill pretty much loves Castlevania more than most folks love their kids. He is excited to see this movie and has been talking about it for some time now. I hope they do the series justice, otherwise I fear for the safety for all involved. Bill (AKA the Tub Lord) will throw 7-11 slurpees in their faces only to be followed up with the additional insult of a devastating flat-footed shin kick. When we review this movie, I will see if we can get Bill’s review for all of you. He is a Castlevania virtuoso and you all deserve his thoughts on the matter.
In the spirit of Halloween, our friends over at Film Junk made a really fun short movie that they filmed in one day) called “The Running Tunnel”. It’s directed by Jay Cheel (editor of The Documentary Blog), who also worked with me on Prince of Peace – God of War. Check it out:
(Just so you know, there are newer posts below, I’m just keeping this at the top of the page for the next couple of days)
Hey there guys. Well, my little journey is almost finished. Way back last February when I first announced my little documentary project “Prince of Peace – God of War”, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and I thought I would be mocked resoundingly. But instead, you guys were constantly cheering me on and encouraging me for which you will never know the true depth of my gratitude.
And now, I’m finally able to announce that we are now taking pre-orders for the DVD which will ship November 24th. We’re only having a limited number of DVDs made (cause I can only afford to have so many made) and I wanted to make sure they were made available to the Movie Blog International Friends first.
Thanks again for all your support, and thanks in advance for ordering 20 copies each to use as stocking stuffers! Oh, and a VERY special thanks to Gordon, who even before I put this post up became the very first person to order the Prince of Peace – God of War dvd!
The Movie Blog is (are you ready for this?) a blog about movies. In 2001 I began blogging (keeping a web based journal where I would share my experiences, thoughts, opinions and interesting links with people). I realized that more and more I was posting thoughts about film… so in 2003 I started up The Movie Blog. It’s just that simple.
This is not a news site per se (although you’ll get a lot of news here), but rather a place to give thoughts and opinions on movies and movie news. A pundit site if you will for the Movie Industry.
Currently, I blog from my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario Canada (about 45 minutes from Toronto) serving in my capacity as Exalted Grand Imperial Poh-Bah and High Lord of Being Sexy (that title was hard to get on the business card).
Got anything else you’d like to know about The Movie Blog? Feel free to Contact us. Cheers!
Your regular contributors
John Campea
John is the Senior Editor of The Movie Blog. Former Client Services Director/Producer Wannabe of Satellite Studios (Visual Effects and 3D animation Studio which worked on films like Sin City, Spy Kids 2, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and The One). After producing his own Documentary (Prince of Peace: God of War) John has now written and directed his first feature film The Anniversary.
Rodney has been with The Movie Blog from its inception. Rodney’s understanding and knowledge of the comic book universe gives him a great insight into the world of Comic Book/Sci-Fi/Fantasy film that he brings to his posts every day. Rodney is a published author and graphic designer.
What can we say? Dan just rules! Dan has helped shape the look of The Movie Blog over the last few months from his introduction as cover designer for John Campea’s film Prince of Peace God of War. A designer with over 12 years experience of working in media graphics and he has grown a rather unhealthy habit of listening to too much thrash.
I’m a big James Purefoy fan. The man has never been a big A List name, but even in his crappier films, his performance always stands out to me as a bright spot (great example of this is A Knight’s Tale where he played Prince Edward). Not to mention it seems that anyone associated with ROME right now is hot for casting directors… so why not Purefoy? Looks like James has been given the lead to play Solomon Kane. Reuters gives us this:
James Purefoy has been cast as puritan swordsman Solomon Kane in a movie of the same name to be made from the stories of “Conan the Barbarian” creator Robert E. Howard. Kane is a 16th century soldier who learns that his brutal and cruel actions have damned him but is determined to redeem himself by living peaceably. But he finds himself dragged out of retirement for a fight against evil.
I love the sounds of this. Not just because it’s epic fantasy type material, and not just because I like Purefoy… but I love the theme. You see, I’m a total sucker for redemption themes. I think that’s why my favorite Lord of the Rings character (book and movies) has always been Boromir. I think it comes from a sense most of us have of needing redemption for one thing or another. So many things I wish I could make up for, or make good on… but that’s a post for another blog.
Hi there guys. Once again, sorry about my lack of posting this week, but as some of you know, I’m in California at the moment getting ready to show my movie, Prince of Peace – God of War at the San Diego International Film Festival. We screen it on Saturday… I can’t even begin to tell you how nervous I am. Anyway….
What you may not know is that the movie is also opening at the film festival in Orlando this weekend. It was brought to my attention that a local paper “The Orlando Weekly” just included Prince of Peace – God of War in their article entitled “Our top-10 selection of films not to be missed at the Global Peace Film Festival”
They went on to say this:
“Central to John Campea’s engaging documentary is the question of how it is that 87 percent of self-defined Christians are able to rally fists in support of war when one would assume that conflict is not what Jesus would do. The film is a heady affair, too, wherein the “Just War” crowd are intellectually pitted against the pacifists in a debate as to the directives implied in the Bible. While it may seem a distant, simple – even annoying – feast of hypothetical subject matter, the underlying question may be an open door into the religious right’s base politics. Have they skipped Jesus and leapt straight to the Crusades? And why? God knows.”
I am beyond a nervous wreck right now, but excited at the same time. If any of you are in Orlando for the festival and catch the screening, please email me your feedback… I’d love to know how it goes
Hey guys. As some of you may or may not know, right now I’m down in Los Angeles having some meetings and getting ready to head to San Diego tomorrow for the San Diego International Film Festival where I’ll be premiering my new film “Prince of Peace – God of War“. This is my 5th trip down here in just over a year. Hence my lack of posting this week (special thanks to Serena and Rodney for helping to pick up the slack).
Anyway, last night I was invited to the world premiere of the new Morgan Freeman / Greg Kinnear film “Feast of Love” which was held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. What an amazing theater with so much stuff inside. Anyway, I’m standing around in the foyer a few minutes before they start the movie and Sharon says to me “Hey John… behind you”… so I turn around and I’m standing right beside Morgan Freeman. Later I had a bit of a geekgasm when I got to meet Fred Ward (Remo Williams himself bitches!), have drinks with a Vice President of MGM and chat for a moment with Toby Hemingway. Earlier in the week I bumped into Michael Bay, was bought lunch by a big Hollywood publicity company and had a meeting at the head offices of Lakeshore Entertainment. The other day I spoke with Kevin Smith and had The directors of Crank call into the live show with me. Later today I’m having coffee with Johnny Whitworth (CSI Miami and AJ on Empire Records) and drinks later in the evening with some more studio folks.
So what’s the point? The point is I still freak out about all this stuff. I mean holy shit… I’ve talked to people who have been movie journalists for like 6 months who don’t geek out anymore about getting to do all this stuff… me… I’ve been doing this for over 4 years now and I’m still as amazed and bedazzled by the world of movies as I’ve ever been. There I was, standing in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and I felt like I snuck in or something… because I’m just some wide eyed movie geek feeling like he’s about to wet his pants because HOLY CRAP THERES ROBERT BENTON!!!!
So why can’t I get used to this? Why aren’t I “cool” like all the other people who “cover” the movie industry and not get phased or excited by all this? I remember standing at Comic Con with another web guy and across the room I saw Robert Downey Jr. I freaked out a little and say “Holy crap, don’t look now, but there’s Downey Jr!” To which the other guy (who is much cooler than me) turned his head… said “oh yeah” and then just went on with our conversation like it was no big deal. I felt like such an absolute nerd… but I can’t help it… I AM an absolute nerd.
It’s not because I think any of these people are BETTER than anyone else, and certainly not any more important than anyone else. I think it has more to do with my (and our) fascination and love of the movies that gives me an unyielding appreciation and envy (there, I said it) for those who get to live and work inside that world. It’s not that Fred Ward is so important… it’s that he’s got to do so many cool things and be involved in so amy great movies that I just want to talk to him, hear about his experiences, what he’s seen, what he’s done and what he’s going to do. I think that’s why I get just as pumped about meeting studio people… because they’ve seen and been involved in so many cool things, that all I want to do is buy them a drink and pick their brains about their experiences for hours. I’m standing on a red carpet and had Jon Voight walk up to me… my first instinct wasn’t to ask him about the event… my instinct was to go “OH MY GOD! YOU’RE JON VOIGHT! TELL ME WHAT IT WAS LIKE MAKING DELIVERANCE!”
Is that “unprofessional” of me? Yup… sure is. Is it nerdy of me? Yes. Does it make me look like a loser? No doubt. And ya know what? I DON’T CARE.
I am, and have always been (like most of you guys) just a dude who LOVES movies. This whole site is nothing but an expression of my (and yours) enthusiasm for movies… and sometimes I feel like my whole existence is powered by my enthusiasm for movies. And I make no apologies for it. Let other people be professional. Let other people be cool. I run an irrelevant pointless website… but it let me have drinks with Zachary Quinto while talking Heroes and his new role in Star Trek… so I love my life, and I hope I never get used to it.
How did the command to “Love Your Enemies” get so complicated? This was the question I had for years both when I was a minister in the church and ever since I left it. It seemed to me the religious right, more a political force than anything else, who embraced policies of violence, killing and destruction, all in the name of a God they claimed to follow seemed to be at odds with the teachings of the founder of their faith. 
I remember a bunch of years ago when the Sony vx1000 3ccd miniDV camera first came out. People were floored by this thing. The image quality was like nothing that had ever been seen before on a camera of this nature, and it was pretty much the first serious camera that utilized the “new” miniDV technology, taking advantage of a firewire transit system that just about any computer (especially macs) could connect to and use. Combine that with the relatively low cost desktop video editing programs that were popping up (Final Cut, Adobe Premiere) and it became obvious that a revolution was on our hands.
No, this is not a shameless plug for John Campea’s Documentary Prince of Peace-God of War, and it also is not about Brett Ratner adapting it to a feature film. I am talking about the video game. In a recent interview it was suggested he is on board to make God of War, based on the very popular video game.
About 8 months or so ago I was at the San Diego FIlm Festival screening my film “
Can this end it now please? Can Paris Hilton just go away now, enjoy her very rich life and stay the hell out of the movie and entertainment business PLEASE. If you, and various small hollywood production companies actually needed empirical evidence that we don’t want to see Paris Hilton in movies, then this weekend gave it to you.
Hey there Folks. As promised many months ago, we have now made my documentary, “Prince of Peace – God of War” available for purchase by digital download. The DVD is still available for ordering at $17 (we’ve sold just a little over 1000 copies since the end of of November), but you now have the option of 
The plot synopsis has been released for the upcoming Castlevania movie. We get the skinny from 
Rodney has been with The Movie Blog from its inception. Rodney’s understanding and knowledge of the comic book universe gives him a great insight into the world of Comic Book/Sci-Fi/Fantasy film that he brings to his posts every day. Rodney is a published author and graphic designer.
What can we say? Dan just rules! Dan has helped shape the look of The Movie Blog over the last few months from his introduction as cover designer for John Campea’s film Prince of Peace God of War. A designer with over 12 years experience of working in media graphics and he has grown a rather unhealthy habit of listening to too much thrash.
I’m a big 
Hi there guys. Once again, sorry about my lack of posting this week, but as some of you know, I’m in California at the moment getting ready to show my movie, 
