The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

[samuelrichardscott]

Released in the UK on the 26th and it's one I want to see, especially after Empire's review.

Sample John Williams score:
http://www.cinemamusica.de/1675/John-Williams-Tintin-Tim-Struppi-Einhorn-Unicorn-Score-Music-Filmmusik

Empire review:
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=135271

[Jon]

I read that review yesterday and it just confirmed what I was thinking after seeing the trailer. This looks like a perfect slice of Spielberg and as such, could be extremely awesome! 

[Achim]

I found there had already been Tin Tin live-action films in the 60s, made in France... Not seen them yet, due to this being October and me watching horror.

I for one can't wait to see this.

[samuelrichardscott]

The Guardian only gave it 2/5:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/oct/16/tintin-adventures-secret-of-unicorn

[Rogmeister]

I've seen the trailer and not sure what this is...is it a true animated film or something else?  Spielberg doing an animated film seems strange.  He also has another film coming out in December in War Horse.  Not many directors get 2 films out just a month or two apart.

[samuelrichardscott]

I've seen the trailer and not sure what this is...is it a true animated film or something else?  Spielberg doing an animated film seems strange.  He also has another film coming out in December in War Horse.  Not many directors get 2 films out just a month or two apart.

"While there’s a live-action spirit to the film, the performance capture elements are a skeleton which the animators flesh out; the finished film is up to 85% animation."

I read the article yesterday from here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/steven_spielberg_tintin_85_animation_15_live_action/#

[Jon]

The Guardian only gave it 2/5:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/oct/16/tintin-adventures-secret-of-unicorn

The Empire review is a bit more positive!

[Jimmy]

Count me as one who will pass this one... From the start this project doesn't turn me on. The fact I grew up reading the comic books (all of them were in my small kid's library with all the Asterix and Gaston Lagaffe ) and I can't imagine this with British actors and made in Hollywood... The Tintin character is part of the french culture, not the Anglo Saxon one...

For me Tintin is this or this and even this or this, but certainly not a sanitazed american version...

[Kathy]

I'm grateful for my stupidity in so many areas. Sometimes it seems the more knowledge and understanding one has, the more it distracts from the ability to enjoy certain things.

I have do idea how French culture or Anglo Saxon culture would impact a movie...and I really couldn't care less. 

I'm not picking on you Jimmy - there are many posts that make me feel this way.

Part of the reason I seldom post reviews is because I like most of the stuff I watch...less work for Sébastien too! 

I seldom dig deep into a movie or the film making process. Things such as historical accuracy or the like don't really bother me unless they are blatantly ridiculous.

The only time I'm really bothered is when it revolves around the medical field. Because this is my area of expertise, I often find myself rolling my eyes at things. For example:

Spoiler (hover to show)

In the opening scene of The Sixth Sense I knew that shot was fatal. I figured there was a twist so instead of enjoying the film I kept looking for it

The portrayal and accuracy of nurses in media is of importance to me too if done honestly and with respect. It is too easy to stereotype my profession and is annoying when done in serious film or dramas. Of course films such as Maniac Nurses Find Ecstasy or Naughty Nurses don't count! 

[Jimmy]

I'm not picking on you Jimmy - there are many posts that make me feel this way.

No problem Kathy, it's probably because I'm over protective of my french roots

Part of the reason I seldom post reviews is because I like most of the stuff I watch...less work for Sébastien too! 

Kathy I often post review for film I liked, in fact it's the case most of the time. By exemple of all the films watched in my current marathon only 3 of them got a bad review. Updating the review list is less work for Sebastien that it was for me as he use something to do it automatically (at least this is what I understood), so post your review I want to read them and I ain't the only one.

Of course films such as Maniac Nurses Find Ecstasy or Naughty Nurses don't count! 

I will watch this one soon, since I've previewed to keep one day for watching Troma films this month. So I can't see it as a good representation of the nursing field, me who expected a realist drocu drama with this one

[RossRoy]

Updating the review list is less work for Sebastien that it was for me as he use something to do it automatically (at least this is what I understood), so post your review I want to read them and I ain't the only one.

Well to be honest, it's far from automated. But, it's a lot simpler than what you used to do

Actually, everything is in place to really automate it because basically, the reviews are all in an excel "database". I'd just need to write the macros to automate all the manual parts once the reviews are entered into Excel .. but I just don't have the time to actually do it! So, I update less often, but a lot more manually than I should 

That being said .. Kathy, do post reviews of stuff you watch! It's not really more work for me, and as Jimmy, we'd all love to read you, even if it's just 2-3 lines!

(I'm one to talk .. haven't reviewed anything in like forever .. though i don't watch much of anything these days .. don't think you'd want me posting my impressions of last night's late late show with craig ferguson every day haha!)

[Silence_of_Lambs]

Gaston Lagaffe

Memories ...

[Jon]

I'm grateful for my stupidity in so many areas. Sometimes it seems the more knowledge and understanding one has, the more it distracts from the ability to enjoy certain things.

I have do idea how French culture or Anglo Saxon culture would impact a movie...and I really couldn't care less. 

I'm not picking on you Jimmy - there are many posts that make me feel this way.

Part of the reason I seldom post reviews is because I like most of the stuff I watch...less work for Sébastien too! 

I seldom dig deep into a movie or the film making process. Things such as historical accuracy or the like don't really bother me unless they are blatantly ridiculous.

The only time I'm really bothered is when it revolves around the medical field. Because this is my area of expertise, I often find myself rolling my eyes at things. For example:

Spoiler (hover to show)

In the opening scene of The Sixth Sense I knew that shot was fatal. I figured there was a twist so instead of enjoying the film I kept looking for it

The portrayal and accuracy of nurses in media is of importance to me too if done honestly and with respect. It is too easy to stereotype my profession and is annoying when done in serious film or dramas. Of course films such as Maniac Nurses Find Ecstasy or Naughty Nurses don't count! 

I know what you mean, Kathy. I always try in my reviews to focus on how the film plays out right now in front of you, because that's how most people will find it. I think because I wasn't blinkered into dismissing the American remake of Let The Right One In out of hand, I found what should have been a superb horror. In conclusion, I did have to say though that people should make the effort to see the original which was superior. So basically I sit on the fence!  Another example is Watchmen; that film was impossible to make and Zack Snyder proved it, but as failures go, it's magnificent and I tried to express that in my review. I could say that you should enjoy it, but if you do, take a moment to get the book and understand the point of it even more so.

In truth what I insist on in any film is honesty and integrity to whatever the premise is. So if it happens to be a remake or an adaptation, I don't pre-judge it, because there is a chance the film-maker has understood what the original was intended to mean and has made an effort to replicate it and make it relevant, or perhaps subvert it. The remake 3:10 to Yuma didn't change the ending, but it did it in a different way, because the writer felt he wanted to express something different. In the end, I still much prefer the original, but I respect them for making their own film. Apparently the remake of Straw Dogs was remade precisely because the director loved Sam Peckinpah's film, but passionately disagreed with the underlying message. It may turn out to be shit, but hey, he's trying to say something important to him.

For context, the opposite of this is stuff like Quarantine, Last House On The Left, The Grudge, The Ring... they were all remade just because the studio thought they could make fast money. Bastardising something like that is unforgivable. Heck, the original Last House is possibly the worst film I have seen, but to attempt to remake it is absurd.

I'm much quicker to criticise a "cover version" when everyone else seems to have missed something. The Matrix is not the film it was made out to be, it was just a bloody good action film. As science fiction goes, the films existence and peoples willingness to believe the hype was actually damaging to the genre. What was made out to be cutting edge was in fact a clever cloak and dagger illusion that was ripping off Ghost In The Shell. I'll bang on about that forever more because Ghost deserves the publicity.

And as for Tintin, there's a lot going for it. Spielberg seems have his mojo back and that's the best possible news for cinema and he's done it by embracing new technology, which is interesting because he is famously old fashioned and has resisted digital for a very long time. He would only go for motion capture if it actually worked, so... it must have. Is it exploiting the spirit of the original stories? I don't think so, but I haven't read them and I do absolutely understand any fans reservation. But reading that Empire review, it does seem like Spielberg and Jackson have worked very hard to preserve it. The reason for doing it at all is because of their respect for the source.

[samuelrichardscott]

$55.8m opening week. Bearing in mind it hasn't opened in many territories yet (North America the biggie), that's a strong opening.

[Jimmy]

To be honest that doesn't represent if the film is or isn't good, it just shown that the marketing was well done or nothing really good start this week or it was shown on a tons of screens...

When a film irrelevent like Footloose earn $15,556,113 in its openning weekend for me it isn't impressive at all, it just represent how the young today are dumb, clueless and watch whatever is on the theatre...