May 2015

Editor: Shelby Dean

New Indiana Jones

Movie Confirmed By
Kathleen Kennedy

The rumours about a fifth Indiana Jones

movie have been in the air for a good few years
now, but in a recent interview with Vanity
Fair, Star Wars and Lucasfilm president and
all-round super-producer Kathleen Kennedy
has officially confirmed that yes, Indy will
be back, although in what form and when
remains to be seen.
[An Indiana Jones film] will one day be
made inside this company, said Kennedy.
When it will happen, Im not quite sure. We
havent started working on a script yet, but we
are talking about it.
There was some very loud chatter about
Chris Pratt picking up the whip, but that
remains unconfirmed, and with his roles in ongoing franchises Guardians Of The Galaxy and
Jurassic World being so similar to everyones
favourite fortune hunter, this might put pay to
that idea - or make it an easier decision for
Lucasfilm to make, should Pratt want the gig.
Theres also been some talk about Steven
Spielberg coming back to direct, and some
thoughts from Chris Pratt himself about the
idea, but with Indiana Jones 5 also announced
back in 2009, its important to not get too
excited about the idea of The Man In The Hat
coming back. If thats even possible.

Ang Lees Next Movie to Use Even

Higher Frame Rate than The Hobbit
Ang Lee is one of a small number
of filmmakers we trust with seemingly
gimmicky innovations. His adaptation of
Life of Pi provided us with further reason
to accept that 3D can be an artistic tool and
not just a means for Hollywood to increase
ticket prices. Now, we can put our faith in
the concept of high frame rate, as Lees
next feature, the 3D war movie Billy Lynns
Long Halftime Walk, will reportedly be shot
digitally at 4K resolution and 120 frames per
second.
You are probably now thinking of Peter
Jackson, another filmmaker weve tended to
trust with new cinema technology. He shot all
three Hobbit movies at 48 frames per second,
but after viewers reacted negatively to its
employment on the first installment, The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Jacksons
wish for them to also be projected at 48fps
was not carried out by most exhibitors. That
innovation was deemed a failure and didnt
seem like it would catch on.
Will a frame rate two-and-a-half times
higher be better received? Actually, its
apparently not clear that the 120fps rate is
that much higher. The Hollywood Reporter
reached out to projector makers Texas
Instruments about the capability for screening
the movie at that rate, and a representative
claimed that since this is a 3D release that
it may in fact be 60 frames per eye. And if

thats the case, they can accommodate.

Also if thats the case, Billy Lynns Long
Halftime Walk wont be the first movie shot
at that rate. Special effects legend Douglas
Trumbull invented the 60fps Showscan
format almost 40 years ago, and while it never
wound up being used for a wide theatrical
movie release (Brainstorm was to be the
first), it was employed for amusement park
rides and other attractions. Lee is more likely,
however, to be interested in Trumbulls more
recent work with high frame rates, a process
called MAGI.
Watch Trumbulls work on his first MAGI
test film, titled UFOTOG, which he presented
at the Toronto Film Festival last fall:
Im surprised that more buzz didnt come
out of that TIFF screening, which seems to
have been a hit for those who attended. The
short also apparently was able to be projected
at 120fps, making for some confusion
regarding the Texas Instruments quote
from THR. This may truly be the future of
cinema, as James Cameron is also interested
in shooting his Avatar sequels in 4K 3D at
120fps.
Billy Lynns Long Halftime Walk, based
on the novel by Ben Fountain and set to
star Kristen Stewart, Steve Martin, Garrett
Hedlund and Joe Alwyn, is scheduled to hit
cinemas, whether or not they can show it as
intended, on November 11, 2016.

Mr. Holmes Trailer: Unravel the Mystery of the

Worlds Greatest Detective

Daniel Radcliffe
Is Igor In the First
Images from Victor
Frankenstein

The story of Frankenstein, the mad scientist

who creates new life out of the reanimated
parts of dead people, has been told so many
different ways that it feels like a story as old as
time. In reality, Mary Shelleys story is a rather
young 197 (for comparison, Romeo and Juliet
is 427 years old), but its been approximately
8 minutes since weve seen a new version of
it, so were due for an updating.
The latest version is titled Victor
Frankenstein, but dont let that fool you into
thinking its all about him. The twist here
is that its primarily about the relationship
between the mad doctor and his assistant Igor,
played by James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe
respectively. And today weve gotten our first
look at the pair in their period piece costumes,
seated in front of what certainly looks like the
mangled remains that theyre trying to breathe
life into.
Written by Max Landis (Chronicle) and
directed by Paul McGuigan (Push), Victor
Frankenstein also has a medical school
twist to it, so dont expect to find McAvoy
cooped away in a dingy castle somewhere.
In a way, that makes this closer to H.P.
Lovecrafts Frankenstein parody Herbert
West - Reanimator than Shelleys original,
which doesnt even have Igor in it as a
character; he was a creation of the movies
from the early 1900s. Lovecrafts version is
also about a medical student who gets thrust
into a relationship with another student who
is trying to bring the dead back to life, and
whose experiments increasingly spiral out of
control.
Victor Frankenstein hits theaters on October
2, 2015.

At this point, prequels are pretty well played

out. Theyre frustrating to begin with, since
by their very nature they tell backstories
instead of stories, and after being inundated
with Hollywood prequels for several years
in the late 2000s and early 10s, whatever
appetite audiences had for them is long
gone. So maybe the future is in postquels;
movies set long after the adventures of
heroes we know. If so, Mr. Holmes could be
the start of a whole new trend.
Would you say such a trend would be
elementary? Of course not, that would be a
terrible Sherlock Holmes joke.
Ian McKellen stars as the worlds greatest
detective at the end of his life. This Holmes
is not the man we know from Arthur Conan
Doyle stories and Benedict Cumberbatch TV
shows. That Holmes, McKellen claims, is a

fabrication and embellishment of Dr. Watson. He never wore a deerstalker cap and he
prefers cigars to pipes. But he is a detective,
and even in his later years hes still up for
a good mystery, one that begins to unravel
before him in the film, which is directed
by Bill Condon of the final Twilight films,
Dreamgirls, Kinsey, and the superb Hollywood biopic Gods and Monsters, which also
starred McKellen and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Hopefully this collaboration between McKellen and Condon is just as fruitful as the
last one; certainly it looks very promising
(and, in a way, tonally and thematically
similar to Gods and Monsters). Mr. Holmes
opens in theaters on July 17, where it might
be a refreshing change of pace from the
typical summer blockbuster fare.

Why the Marvel Movie Guys are

Annoyed with Joss Whedon
The Age of
Ultron
director
reveals that hes
made the movie
people cross.
By Chris Tilley
: Joss Whedon has
been talking about
the confusion he
caused by killing
off Agent Coulson
in The Avengers
movie, bringing
him back to life
in the Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show, but then keeping
him dead for Avengers: Age of Ultron.
We caught up with the writer-director
to discuss the new film, and asked if Phil
Coulson is indeed still deceased as far as the
movies are concerned.
Yeah hes dead. The entire television
series is just a fever dream. Its a Jacobs
Ladder moment hes having at the point of
death, but we dont give that away until after
season seven. And theres a snow globe.
Now Ive given it away. Bollocks!
Its a weird little yes and no. As far as
Im concerned in the films, yes hes dead.
In terms of the narrative of these guys [The
Avengers] his loss was very important.
When I created the television show, it was
sort of on the understanding that this can

work and we can do it with integrity, but

these Avengers movies are for people to see
the Avengers movies and nothing else. And
it would neither make sense nor be useful
to say Oh and by the way remember me? I
died!
And it sounds like the somewhat confusing
decision has caused some consternation
within the MCU.
I think actually the movie people were a
little bit cross about the TV show Whedon
revealed. They were sort of like Well you
can have this but not this. And this but not
that. Its complicated enough as it is without
me adding another layer of complication. We
also created a TV show called S.H.I.E.L.D.
right before they made a movie where they
destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D.. So everybodys
having a GREAT time!