Andrew Lesnie passes on all too soon

Andrew Lesnie, cinematographer behind both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, has passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. He was 59.

A man of tremendous vision and good humor, Lesnie also collaborated with Peter Jackson on King Kong and The Lovely Bones, as well as lensing the Babe movies, I Am Legend and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. His last film was The Water Diviner, for Russell Crowe. He was an Academy Award winner for his work on The Fellowship of the Ring.

Lesnie took the art of cinematography and pushed it to a new plateau in the modern era, masterfully combining digital effects and color timing with iconic, painterly shot compositions. He was an innovator and a pioneer and one of the great artists of the fantasy genre.

His visions will live on for ages - here's a very small sample of Andrew Lesnie's ability to plunge us into a scene and take our breath away.

The Flix is Out There! X-Files streaming in HD!

Guess what, Scully? The Lone Gunmen just told me that Netflix has begun streaming The X-Files TV series in glorious high definition - for the first time ever!

We'd heard that Fox had begun remastering he series in HD for an eventual blu-ray release, which is probably going to emerge from the shadows when the new limited series begins to air. 

But until then, we can get a taste of how the series looks in widescreen and how those fledgling first season episodes look in high def. 

So turn out the lights - and go tape an X in your window. 

Daredevil mopping up the mean streets

I’m only two episodes in, but I’m pretty much hooked on Daredevil. Marvel’s dominion over the superhero universe continues, now following in the footsteps of Frank Underwood on Netflix with an initial season of 13 episodes. Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire) plays Matt Murdock – blinded in his youth, his other senses become hyper-attuned to compensate, giving him the power to sense approaching threats or tell when someone’s lying to him by the sound of their pulse quickening. By day, Murdock is a fledgling attorney looking to protect the innocent, by night he’s a hooded vigilante looking to punish the criminal underworld infecting New York’s Hells’ Kitchen. 

Season One is very much an early days origin story. Murdock doesn’t yet have his trademark red suit, and he’s still finding his way. Flashbacks to his youth with his pugilist father are particularly effective. So far, Matt’s compatriots, his law partner “Foggy” Nelson (Elden Henson) and client-turned-office-runner Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) less so. But these first episodes are establishing their world, so there’s every hope we’ll see those characters improve. By the end of episode 2 we still haven’t even met crime boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) yet, so it feels like Daredevil is just getting rolling, but in riveting, high-quality style.

Cox is excellent, delivering a calm intensity as Murdock, and we’re seeing a uniformly great cast – Rosario Dawson appears in episode 2. Murdock’s fighting scenes are particularly fantastic. Episode 2 concludes with a spectacular 5-minute single-shot hallway fight sequence that’s like something out of Oldboy or The Raid. This is a grim New York, slowly rebuilding itself in the wake of “the incident” – the catastrophic damage wrought in The Avengers, with shady mob construction deals turning the area into a criminal killing ground – providing plenty of work for Murdock in both of his identities.

While Gotham started out strong, it quickly fell into a rut, feeling more like conventional network TV. Daredevil is much more grounded and realistic, both in the physical environment of New York, and in the bone-crunching cinematic quality of DD’s phenomenal fight sequences. It recently broke that the show has already been renewed for a second season, but with different showrunners, as the incredibly busy Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) is pretty tied-up relaunching Spider-man and Steven DeKnight is working on Incursion, among other things – New Executive Producers Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez have worked closely with Goddard and DeKnight on season one, so we shouldn't panic that the show’s going to collapse after such a promising start.

If you haven’t dived into Daredevil yet, it’s time to get binging!

New Thrones figures from Dark Horse

So great to have Game of Thrones back on the air, and greater still to have new figures appearing in stores! On Friday I nabbed Tywin Lannister, Littlefinger and Joffrey - First of His Name! Pretty fantastic!

Now our pals over at Funko have been awfully cagey about when (dare I say "if?") their next wave of Legacy Thrones figures is arriving. Will they really wait for Comic Con in July?! It's been a while, Funko. But while we're left scratching our heads, good old Dark Horse continues to release new ones, albeit largely unarticulated. In addition to the ones mentioned above, we know we're getting The Hound, a big Hodor and Bran set, plus a terrific sculpt of Brienne of Tarth due as well.

What I did not know until today is that they have a wave in the chamber for this September, too, featuring none other than Ser Jorah Mormont! Jorah looks great, and while this isn't my favorite armor of his, it's a pretty great sculpt of a particularly awesome character. 

                                                                                                                                                               

Then we have Dark, or "Darth" Sansa, as some folks like to call her. While a great rendering of the character, it feels like they've missed the likeness mark here, and her expression is just a bit too Stepford for me. Still! A great addition and now Baelish won't have to stand around by himself! So a pleasant surprise on the heels of another fascinating episode of Thrones last night. 

Dark Horse is plowing through most of the major characters. Come on, Funko - step it up! I'll be honest - I was bowled over by the articulation of Funko's Legacy line - their Jaime Lannister is amazing. But Dark Horse has given their figures a certain...something. I guess I'm just going to have to collect both!

Rogue One: Star Wars without Jedi!

A Star Wars film that puts the emphasis on Wars, director Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) helped wrap up events at Star Wars Celebration by giving a preview of what to expect from next year's first Star Wars stand-alone picture, Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One.

We'd heard that this initial non-trilogy outing might focus on events prior to A New Hope, which Edwards and team confirmed, announcing that Rogue One would show the original raid that allowed the Rebellion to gain possession of the plans to the Death Star. 

Starring Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) as a rebel soldier, Rogue One will evidently be a sci-fi Where Eagles Dare, with Edwards citing Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan as inspirations. Edwards went on to explain that the film's tone will exist in a gray area where villains aren't totally black and good guys do bad things - it's war, with both sides doing what's necessary to survive. 

Rogue One won't involve the Jedi, but will instead focus on the soldiers - the boots on the ground. People without powers being heroes. This all sounds terrific, evoking a real Empire Strikes Back vibe. Zero Dark Thirty Director of Photography Greig Fraser has been recruited to give the film the necessary Seal Team atmosphere and feel.

I had my issues with Godzilla, but the HALO jump sequence was spectacular. If  Edwards can bring that kind of juice to Rogue One, it should blow the doors off.

Anthology will be the brand given to all standalone/spin-off Star Wars films. Rogue One starts shooting this summer

for a December 2016 release.

Trailer for The Force Awakens energizes and delights

The fan community and the public at large converged mightily yesterday, damn near breaking the internet with the gleeful discovery of the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You've undoubtedly already seared your retinas by now, but here it is again anyway:



Pretty impressive. I love the epic sensibilities on display here, especially in shots like this:

We're seeing beloved iconography turned on its ear and revisited in new and slightly disturbing ways, cementing the notion of a new era that's been shaped by the memories of the past:

It's been a long time since the Endor funeral pyre, but artifacts of this bygone era are resurfacing. 

And speaking of artifacts, visitors to Celebration Anaheim got an up-close reveal of some of the new costumes, and learned that in this new Star Wars era, the Rebellion will be referred to as "The Resistance," and the Empire will be called "The First Order."

We also learned the name of a new planet - Jakku. 

But perhaps most intriguingly, Mark Hamill's familiar voiceover about the strength of The Force in his family concludes with a new wrinkle: "...you have that power, too." So who's the new member of the family? A son or daughter of Luke? Of Leia and Han? 

J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy have managed to deliver a tantalizing glimpse that delights and satisfies, giving us some wonderful echos of the past, deftly reimagined, feeling both fresh and new.

Abrams also bought pizza for the throngs camping out overnight at Anaheim, eager for their Force Awakens experience. 

Clearly, a guy who really wants to deliver and satisfy the audience. 

J.J., you've got us hungry for more!

Force Awakens Imagery Avalanche!

With Star Wars Celebration Anaheim underway, we're seeing the arrival of some of the most detailed promotional art to date, with detailed reveals of Kylo Ren and Chrome stormtrooper Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie). 

With the trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens due shortly, this looks to be the beginning of a major new phase of promotion and revelations!