Van Helsing

[nobbie]

Judging by the trailers and previews, this looks like a pretty cool, fast paced and fun monster flic:

http://www.vanhelsing.net/

[Bun-Bun]

Alas, the previews at aint-it-cool-news.com are almost uniformly negative. Given that that gestalt view usually hews fairly close to my tastes, I think I'll give it a miss unless some rave reviews pop up.

Maybe I'll just see Hellboy again. Good flick!

[[wcip]Angel]

imdb.com-people say the story sucks, but that the graphics are unbelievably great.

Hmmm.. dèja vu.

[--Pete]

Hi,

imdb.com-people say the story sucks, but that the graphics are unbelievably great.


That's because movie makers are substituting technology for talent :)

Hmmm.. dèja vu.

Shouldn't that be, "Hmmm.. dèja vu all over again"?

--Pete

PS Since it's not your culture (some would say it's no culture at all ;) ) you might not get the joke. Maybe a link will help.

[Jeunemaitre]

My favorite (that I didn't see on the list) is: "It gets late early out there."

At least I think thats a quotation from Yogi. I could be wrong about that, if I'm not right...

[[wcip]Angel]

Hi,

imdb.com-people say the story sucks, but that the graphics are unbelievably great.


That's because movie makers are substituting technology for talent :)

Hmmm.. dèja vu.

Shouldn't that be, "Hmmm.. dèja vu all over again"?

--Pete

PS Since it's not your culture (some would say it's no culture at all ;) ) you might not get the joke.  Maybe a link will help.

1. Spot on, Pete. I was not aware of the cultural reference. I was just thinking of the Matrix.

2. Yogi Berra. Wasn't that the cartoon bear who used to steal all those picnic baskets? Or was that Yogi Bear? I don't believe this. I can't remember what I had for supper 2 hours ago, but I can remember a boring cartoon character I saw on Swedish television 15 years ago. How is that possible?

3. Thanks for the link; it *did* help. You're starting to get to know me :)

[--Pete]

Hi,

Yogi Bear was, indeed, the cartoon bear in Jellystone (IIRC) Park. Yogi Berra was a great baseball player, coach, manager who was famous for his quips (and I suspect a lot of them were intentional -- I've seen interviews with they guy nd he's pretty sharp). I've often suspected that the bear might have been modeled after the player, but I've never bothered to check it out.

Recently I heard that Yogi's son when asked in an interview if he was like his father replied, "The similarities between us are mostly different." Perhaps an urban legend, perhaps it runs in the family :)

--Pete

[Cryptic]

This is a fascinating study in thread diversification.

Carry on.

:P

[[wcip]Angel]

Noisy/Trombones

[nobbie]

Alas, the previews at aint-it-cool-news.com are almost uniformly negative. Given that that gestalt view usually hews fairly close to my tastes, I think I'll give it a miss unless some rave reviews pop up.

Well, I don't expect this to be an in-depth movie at all, but an entertaining horror popcorn-movie with lots of eye-candy and effects a la "The Mummy" :)

[Bun-Bun]

On the general principle that more good movies are a good thing, I hope you're right. I'd appreciate any opinions or comments you could share once you've seen it; I'd hate to miss a good popcorn flick because of a bad web review.

But in the words of the immortal Marty Feldman, "I'll not be the first!" Or something like that.

[Medicine Man]

Van Helsing is in fact directed by the chap who did "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns", as you probably already realize. Based on the director's resume, I'm already inclined to give the Van Helsing a big pass. I'd say there's more than a 90% chance that it will be super flakey (read: flakey as pastry or perhaps a nice croissant).

While I believe there is entertainment to be had from the occasional lightweight action movie, I draw the line at films that are completely shallow and stylistic -- what I strongly suspect this movie will be. I think I'll wait for Troy to come out before returning to the theatres.

[Fragbait]

Hi,

films that are completely shallow and stylistic

You mean like 'Charlie's Angels 2: Full Power' ? :rolleyes:
Definitely not worth the ticket.
Another candidate: 'Men In Black 2'.
Crap.


Greetings, Fragbait

[[wcip]Angel]

And Matrix 2 & 3... not to mention about 80-90% of last year's crap fests that made it out of Hollywood.

[Fragbait]

Hi [wcip]Angel,

Tired of Hollywood?
If you get to watch them, try and enjoy some German films. The last years presented us some good ones, for example 'Good Bye Lenin', or 'Schuh Des Manitou'. Don't know in how far they have been translated, or were played up in Norway, though. But you are living in Norway, right???
Not that I'm getting something wrong again... B)

Greetings, Fragbait

Edit: Argh, typo!

[Tal]

Yogi Bear was, indeed, the cartoon bear in Jellystone (IIRC) Park.  Yogi Berra was a great baseball player, coach, manager who was famous for his quips (and I suspect a lot of them were intentional -- I've seen interviews with they guy nd he's pretty sharp).  I've often suspected that the bear might have been modeled after the player, but I've never bothered to check it out.

You suspicions are correct, at least as far as this online source and the Media Encyclopedia in Reference are concerned. You were also recalling correctly that Yogi lived in Jellystone. As a side tidbit of useless knowledge there are now many Campgrounds across the country where you can stay with Yogi and Boo-Boo year round. My daughter loves staying at Jellystone the weekend of the Toddler's Halloween. ;) /useless trivia.

[--Pete]

Hi,

I guess I'm out of touch with the children's world. I had no idea that Yogi Bear was still going so strong :) As to The Honeymooners relationship to The Flintstones, any American of my generation hardly needs that pointed out. Scary when things you grew up with become "historical" ;)

--Pete

[Rhydderch Hael]

My sister made an apt observation when she watched a rental viewing of Batman Forever.

"That's just like the stunt show at Six Flags..." Which it basically was. A silver-screen adaptation of an amusement park's stunt show.

[Yrrek]

I was going to go see "Good Bye Lenin," but the theatre it was playing at stopped showing it the day before I was going to go see it! :angry: :o :(

[nobbie]

I'm just back from "Van Helsing" and it delivered exactly what I expected in advance. A rather thin story, but gorgeous special effects and creature effects by the world's best F/X company Industrial, Light & Magic (ILM). The film is basically an amazing thrill-ride in a cinematic ghost-train, and if you like such stuff, I think you'll be pleased. In fact, if ILM would release an annual F/X demo reel, this would be it for 2004 :)