And now for the purpose of this post. Today I felt like being a little bit more productive than I have been during this Christmas break (it’s called “break” for a reason, right?) and I saw that my friend Andoni Garrido had posted on his Facebook timeline a link to the poster of his upcoming movie Narración Delegada.
Since I know that he used MS Paint to do the original poster I took it upon myself to do something with it. Without any raw materials, pictures or anything. I simply took the old poster and spiced it up a little bit.
Not much of an improvement, but at least it’s something that I know he’ll like to use around to promote his quirky, special effects-filled movie.
As for those wondering what this movie is about, first of all please mind that it’s in Spanish (though if Andoni asks I won’t mind making the subtitles in English myself).
And second, this is quite an ingenious little story in which the protagonists start to notice that their lives are being narrated by someone else.
As the tagline suggests: “How would you escape from your own narration?”
Expect to see this short movie soon enough both on his blog and on my website. Andoni says it should be ready to go in about a month. And after seeing some of the clips for the special effects tests I can’t wait!
Once upon a time I, and only me alone, created a short movie called….
Uhh… Ok, I’ll admit this one is not myshort movie even though had I still been in Pamplona I would have died to give as much of a helping hand in it as possible.
This is “No es País para Zombies” (No Country for Zombies), my friend Andoni’s latest work and what I think will be for quite some time his best project to beat for himself.
While I wasn’t in Pamplona to help him do it, unlike with the movie Conspiración Roswell, I was still able to help a little bit with a few things even from Copenhagen.
So what is this about? I’d rather not tell so you can watch it right here . Enjoy!
I finally had the chance to watch the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World and well, what can I say, a movie that begins with an 8-bit version of the Universal Studios logo (8-bit music included) immediately wins my heart.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is what real life would be like if it was a videogame, no doubt. Every element is here: enemies, bosses, experience points, score, life-ups… and of course the ever-present girl to reach at the end of the game.
The story itself when written on paper sounds ridiculous and overly simplistic. But mix it all with a perfect mash-up of comic book styled shots, bleeps and blops in the background that come straight out from old Nintendo games and a thousand little references to everything videogame from Zelda to Half-Life and you’ve got a winner.
I should mention that this is also the first time I see actor Michael Cera do something else than just whine on the screen. Don’t take me wrong, I like him as an actor, but all his roles until now have been the same emotional portrayal. In Scott Pilgrim he still whines a lot (some things never change I guess) but this time he literally kicks ass as well. Seeing him punch the first evil ex-boyfriend of pink-haired girl Ramona causes quite an impact because of the huge contrast between whine-Scott and fighting-Scott.
You see, in this movie Scott Pilgrim wants to date Ramona, but in order to do so he is going to have to defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. As crazy as it sounds, this is the main plot that weaves it all together. During the entire movie you really wait expectantly to see who is going to be the next evil ex-boyfriend and what will make him special (surprise: they all have superpowers).
It’s exactly the same feeling as old-school videogames in which you advance through the level wondering what the next boss is going to be like.
All of this is greatly enhanced by the amazing visual style of the movie. If a telephone rings you will see the word “RING!” emerging from the phone. Characters move insanely fast to create some of the most comical situations (someone says Scott’s hair is shaggy and less than a second later Scott is seen wearing a hat he’s quickly pulled out to cover it). And comic book panels in the screen become the norm here.
You really never grow bored of Scott Pilgrim’s own little world. It’s a strange one, sure, and those who haven’t played videogames will probably not get half of the jokes and references, but once you dive into it there’s no coming out. You want Scott to win the girl as much as he does. But you don’t want the game to be over. Sadly, the movie does end.
Certainly a movie I can recommend to anyone who wants to see something different. THIS is different. Not in a revolutionary way but it will make you constantly glee. If you haven’t watched it yet (or if it’s still not out in your country, like Spain or Mexico) go book a ticket right now. You won’t regret it.
If you didn’t recognize those sentences then you’re probably not the target audience for this awesome movie that is being produced by Ki-Voltage Productions.
Or at least its trailer.
Sure, the plot of this fan-made trailer is campy at its best, but you’ve gotta give credit to producers Dylan Innes and Lee Majdoub for creating the most amazing insight on how Pokémon would look in full-blown movie (which, for the sake of our world, I hope never comes true).
They have definitely thought of everything: from Ash to Misty and Brock, including Doctor Oak, and Team Rocket members Jessie and James.
Given the impressive level of detail in the art department I’ve taken some still shots of the best moments of this action-packed trailer, plus the trailer itself. Enjoy! (Don’t forget you can zoom in the pictures by clicking on them!).
Bulbasaur and Pikachu start a Pokémon battle
An incredibly detailed Pikachu chained
Ash Ketchum capturing a Snorlax
Professor Oak in his lab
James from the Team Rocket
Gyarados strikes the city of Celadon
Quite an impressive and original portrayal of Team Rocket’s Jessie and James
Misty, the water Pokémon trainer and her Psyduck
One of the Super Nerd trainers attacking Brock with a Magnemite
A quite shocking (but funny) scene with Jessie, James and Meowth shooting
Llevaba un buen tiempo sin escribir nada de cine y he creído que Iron Man 2 sería una buena oportunidad para retomar viejas costumbres de Anchel.com.
No espero tampoco escribir aquí un análisis de la película, simplemente unos breves comentarios.
Iron Man 2 empieza justo en el mismo momento donde terminó la anterior para introducirnos al nuevo villano de la película. De ahí adelanta la historia a unos meses más tarde donde Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) se ve presionado por el Senado, que quiere poner el traje de Iron Man al servicio del ejército.
Aunque Iron Man 2 es una película de acción, el mayor atractivo viene dado por los diálogos y forma de actuar de Tony Stark. Su humor ácido y ritmo frenético le otorga una carisma muy particular. Esto queda patente sobre todo en las escenas con su novia y asistenta personal Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow).
Pero como el público acude a ver esta película por sus “escenas de tiros” puedo asegurar que están muy logradas. En ningún momento llegan a cansar al estar muy bien dosificadas con el humor, y los efectos especiales son muy efectivos. De hecho explosiones no le faltan. Cabe mencionar una escena de acción muy entretenida con Scarlett Johansson en el papel de Natalie Rushman, aunque a pesar de ser muy atractiva, deja la sensación de no acabar de pegar en la película. Así mismo Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) hace perfectamente el papel de malo como alivio cómico sin quitarle seriedad al filme y se hace siempre ameno verlo actuar en pantalla.
Scarlet Johansson y Sam Rockwell en los papeles de Natalie Rushman y Justin Hammer
En cualquier caso Iron Man 2 es una película que, si bien intenta acercar a los que no hayan visto la anterior a la historia, es difícil y casi imposible de comprender. De modo que si tenéis interés en ver esta película, lo cual os recomiendo que lo hagáis si buscáis una película de acción decente y entretenida, os veáis primero la anterior.
Reconozco que cuando Andoni Garrido me pasó el guión para el corto que quería hacer, no me lo leí de inmediato. Ni al día siguiente. Ni una semana después.
Es más, de los dos días de rodaje que hubo, ni siquiera toqué el guión hasta el segundo. Pero bueno, la cámara era mía y además necesitaba a un actor para hacer cierto papel. Al final se me ocurrió que sería mejor coger a Daniel Pérez Álava para hacer de ese personaje.
Al final tras unas cuantas vueltas de edición (¿he dicho ya que soy el editor?) Andoni y yo decidimos cambiar un poquillo el ritmo del cortometraje.
Y aquí, señoras y señores, está el resultado final.
A tener en cuenta que se trata de un corto producido con muy pocos medios (la iluminación se lograba con una lámpara de estudio y el sonido se cogía de la misma handycam).
El nuevo caso Roswell… después cambiado por “Conspiración Roswell”:
. Enjoy!
