Submitted by Hollydays on Fri, 28/07/2006 - 23:27.
How about Ultraviolet? Since I don't have the ability to get it together it would be nice to see it with the green screen thing you do - since the movie looks great and sucks in every other way....
It was released on DVD not to long ago, so it would be a timely review.
Another would be:
My Immortal (Ad Vitam) - here is a review from IMDB to give you an idea of the film if you haven't already seen it:
Let me tell you about the director first. Enki Bilal, born in Yugoslavia, moved to France when he was 10, and has become one of the most influential comic book artist in France since around 1980. His works include 'Nikopol Trilogy,' and this French film 'Immortal' (his third entry as film director) is based on the first two books of the series.
I said this because the merit of 'Immortal' lies all in its visual imaginations. The film's story with many characters is very confusing, revealing its origin. The film is visually interesting for it was shot against the background of green-colored screen, on which the buildings or the landscapes of the city is digitally painted. The method is similar to that of 'Sky Captain', but the effects are quite different as I explain later.
[THE STORY] is complicated, and the film refuses to explain some part of it. 'Immortal' is set in the year of 2095, NEw York City, where cars are flying between the skyscrapers, but one strange thing is floating on the air -- that's a pyramid, out of which a naked man with a bird's head emerges. His name is Horus, a convicted deity who is given seven days to do something on Earth, borrowing the body of a convicted human Nikopol.
The nature of the crime of Nikopol (played by Thomas Kretschmann, 'The Pianist') is only vaguely suggested, but anyway Horus possesses his body, and controls him as he wishes. Then, his purpose will be clear when Nikopol/Horus approaches to a mysterious woman Jill (former Miss France Linda Hardy), whose skin is all white and whose blood is blue.
Kretschmann, Hardy, and Charlotte Rampling (as Jill's doctor) appear as live-action actors while most of the other characters are created with CGIs by a French studio. The CGI-created characters look like those you have seen in the film version of 'Final Fantasy' and in this sense 'Immortal' is more ambitious than 'Sky Captain.' Interesting thing is one of the CGI characters (Rampling's estranged husband) is played by uncredited Jean-Louis Trintignant (voice only) who had appeared Enki Bilal's first film 'Bunker Palace H tel.'
[VISUALS] I like the visual imagination of 'Immortal,' but many fans would point out, quite rightly, that the future world of 'Immortal,' impressive as it is on its own way, are not as original as it looks. You remember classic 'Blade Runner' 'The Fifth Element' and one Japanese genius Otomo. To be fair, as I wrote before, Enki Bilal's original comics predate them (the first Nikopol comic was published in 1980), but still complaints are understandable.
But if the film is flawed (and I think it is), that is because of the visual itself, I mean, the CGI parts. To be honest, the CGI-drawn characters (of a greedy senator, a detective, a big company executive, etc.) are all poorly done, and their bodily or facial movements are unnatural and awkward. I am really afraid that they are giving serious damages to the whole film.
But as you will see, the talent of Enki Bilal is undeniable, and his vision is presented effectively with the other-worldly but retrospective descritions of the city of New York in 2095, which is beautifully drawn with blue and grey (red is seldom seen). Far from perfect, but the picture is worth seeing.
Re:suggestions for segments
How about Ultraviolet? Since I don't have the ability to get it together it would be nice to see it with the green screen thing you do - since the movie looks great and sucks in every other way....
It was released on DVD not to long ago, so it would be a timely review.
Another would be:
My Immortal (Ad Vitam) - here is a review from IMDB to give you an idea of the film if you haven't already seen it:
Let me tell you about the director first. Enki Bilal, born in Yugoslavia, moved to France when he was 10, and has become one of the most influential comic book artist in France since around 1980. His works include 'Nikopol Trilogy,' and this French film 'Immortal' (his third entry as film director) is based on the first two books of the series.
I said this because the merit of 'Immortal' lies all in its visual imaginations. The film's story with many characters is very confusing, revealing its origin. The film is visually interesting for it was shot against the background of green-colored screen, on which the buildings or the landscapes of the city is digitally painted. The method is similar to that of 'Sky Captain', but the effects are quite different as I explain later.
[THE STORY] is complicated, and the film refuses to explain some part of it. 'Immortal' is set in the year of 2095, NEw York City, where cars are flying between the skyscrapers, but one strange thing is floating on the air -- that's a pyramid, out of which a naked man with a bird's head emerges. His name is Horus, a convicted deity who is given seven days to do something on Earth, borrowing the body of a convicted human Nikopol.
The nature of the crime of Nikopol (played by Thomas Kretschmann, 'The Pianist') is only vaguely suggested, but anyway Horus possesses his body, and controls him as he wishes. Then, his purpose will be clear when Nikopol/Horus approaches to a mysterious woman Jill (former Miss France Linda Hardy), whose skin is all white and whose blood is blue.
Kretschmann, Hardy, and Charlotte Rampling (as Jill's doctor) appear as live-action actors while most of the other characters are created with CGIs by a French studio. The CGI-created characters look like those you have seen in the film version of 'Final Fantasy' and in this sense 'Immortal' is more ambitious than 'Sky Captain.' Interesting thing is one of the CGI characters (Rampling's estranged husband) is played by uncredited Jean-Louis Trintignant (voice only) who had appeared Enki Bilal's first film 'Bunker Palace H tel.'
[VISUALS] I like the visual imagination of 'Immortal,' but many fans would point out, quite rightly, that the future world of 'Immortal,' impressive as it is on its own way, are not as original as it looks. You remember classic 'Blade Runner' 'The Fifth Element' and one Japanese genius Otomo. To be fair, as I wrote before, Enki Bilal's original comics predate them (the first Nikopol comic was published in 1980), but still complaints are understandable.
But if the film is flawed (and I think it is), that is because of the visual itself, I mean, the CGI parts. To be honest, the CGI-drawn characters (of a greedy senator, a detective, a big company executive, etc.) are all poorly done, and their bodily or facial movements are unnatural and awkward. I am really afraid that they are giving serious damages to the whole film.
But as you will see, the talent of Enki Bilal is undeniable, and his vision is presented effectively with the other-worldly but retrospective descritions of the city of New York in 2095, which is beautifully drawn with blue and grey (red is seldom seen). Far from perfect, but the picture is worth seeing.
...
I'm going to set aside some time to do my own... probably next month.
I'll do a robotech one with the release of Shadow Chronicles being only a few months away.