RE:E

Il regista dei primi due Highlander si procaccia cibo frugando tra i rifiuti - ovvero dirigendo il terzo capitolo della saga di Rsident Evil: Resident Evil: Extinction.

Iniziata con il film di Paul W.S. Anderson - che in fondo in fondo era uno dei film meno orribili, tra quelli tratti da videogiochi - la serie è poi precipitata in abissi di pessima recitazione, squallida azione e dialoghi riprovevoli.

L'umanità è quasi estinta - e se si fa fregare da zombie tanto stupidi se lo è pure meritata, diciamolo.
I pochi sopravvissuti sono nomadi, alla ricerca di luoghi sicuri: alcuni di loro si mettono in testa di andare in Alaska, sperando forse che gli zombie non si ricordino che c'era pure quel buffo stato, sulle cartine.
Per andarci serve però benzina e viveri, che pare saggio procurarsi a Las Vegas.
A zonzo per i fattacci suoi, scopriremo risvolti dei rapporti di Milla Jovovich con la sempre cattivissima Umbrella Corporation che, non paga di aver causato tutto 'sto casino, si prodiga di peggiorare le cose, dalla loro rete di bunker assediati da non-morti.

Visto troppo tempo fa per ricordarmi altro della trama (e sì che son passate solo due settimane), quasi tutto si riduce al trovare una scusa per mostrare morti trucolente e combattimenti a dir poco imbarazzanti.

Mal diretto, troppo lungo, con delle coreografie degli attacchi zombie che sembrano prese a piè pari da Grease, questo terzo capitolo potrebbe avere un solo pregio: aver posto la pietra tombale sulla serie.

Qualche momento piuttosto trash in qua e in là (oddio: i corvi-zombie! L'attacco con l'autobotte! I poteri para-e-normali di Milla!), il tutto risulta sufficientemente autopunitivo e sempre buono per una seratona a cervello disattivato.

Voto: 4. Trashometro^® 6/10:
Tags: horror, thriller, fantascienza, azione, zombie, Resident Evil, tratto da videogioco, morte, attacco, Umbrella Corporation, sequel, cani, corvi, elicottero, fuga, salvezza, Las Vegas, nomadi, infezione, esperimento, satellite, bunker, clonazione, esperimento, sacrificio, antidoto, paranormale, cura, mutazione, nudo, arti marziali, balestra, trash.

Anderson, Paul W.S.

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Nome di battesimo: Anderson, Paul William Scott
Data di nascita: 4 March 1965
Altezza: 6' 3" (1.91 m)

Ultimi lavori:

• Castlevania (2009) .... (producer) [produttore]
• Pandorum (2009) .... (producer) [produttore]
• Spy Hunter (2009) .... [regista]
• Death Race (2008) .... (producer) [produttore]
• Man with the Football (2008) .... [regista]
• Necropolis (2008) .... (producer) [produttore]
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) .... (producer) [produttore]
• DOA: Dead or Alive (2006) .... (producer) [produttore]
• The Dark (2005) .... (producer) [produttore]
• AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004) .... (screen story) (screenplay) [scrittore]

Biografia:
Paul W.S. Anderson gained a fair bit of notoriety in his native England when he directed the ultra-violent Shopping (1994) (which he also wrote), starring Jude Law and Sean Pertwee in a story about thieves who steal by ramming a car into storefronts. The film was banned in some cinemas in England, and became a direct-to-video slightly edited release in the United States. Shopping (1994) allowed Anderson to get the chance to direct Mortal Kombat (1995), an adaptation of the hit video game, which showcased his directorial trademarks - visually stunning scenery and quick cut editing. The film did well enough for him to choose his next project, which was _Soldier (1998)_ with Warner Bros., with Kurt Russell in the lead. Unfortunately, Russell decided at the time to go on hiatus, pushing the release date of that film into 1998. In the meantime Anderson directed Event Horizon (1997) from a script by Philip Eisner, which featured Anderson regulars Sean Pertwee and Jason Isaacs. The science fiction/horror film, a gothic horror version of Solyaris (1972), was stylish and scary, but was critically panned and did not do well in the box office, which Anderson blamed on studio-enforced cuts to the story. (Anderson has promised a Director's Cut, though none has been announced as of yet.) _Soldier (1998)_ didn't fare well with critics and box office either, and Anderson's planned 2000 remake of Death Race 2000 (1975) was cancelled. This forced him to think smaller, which led to The Sight (2000) (TV), a supernatural mystery movie that was a minor hit. He then resurfaced to direct another video game adaption, Resident Evil (2002). Long rumored among fans to be a choice comeback vehicle for zombie grandfather George A. Romero, the writing and directing credits eventually transferred to Anderson. He next was given the helm for the long-awaited film adaption of the popular Dark Horse comic book, _AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004)_.

Trivia random: Engaged to actress/model Milla Jovovich.
Citazione random: "_AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004)_ is not trying to be Alien (1979) or Aliens (1986), and it's not trying to be Predator (1987). Those are genius movies. The impact that these creatures had on audiences was immense. But 26 years on, and dozens of comic books later, everyone knows what the Alien looks like. You've got to do something different with it, and make a slightly different movie. So in a way we were definitely making an Alien and a Predator movie, but a different one from the one the other directors had made."

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Resident Evil (2002)

Underground of the Living Dead

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Regista: Paul W.S. Anderson
Scrittore: Paul W.S. Anderson
Genere: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Action
Valutazione: 6.3/10 (44307 voti)
Durata: 100 min
Paese: UK, Germany, France
Lingua: English

Cast:

• Milla Jovovich .... Alice
• Michelle Rodriguez .... Rain Ocampo
• Eric Mabius .... Matt Addison
• James Purefoy .... Spence Parks
• Martin Crewes .... Chad Kaplan
• Colin Salmon .... One
• Ryan McCluskey .... Mr. Grey
• Oscar Pearce .... Mr. Red
• Indra Ové .... Ms. Black
• Anna Bolt .... Dr. Green

Trama:
Something rotten is brewing beneath the industrial mecca known as Raccoon City. Unknown to its millions of residents, a huge underground bioengineering facility known as The Hive has accidentally unleashed the deadly and mutating T-virus, killing all of its employees. To contain the leak, the governing supercomputer, Red Queen, has sealed all entrances and exits. Now a team of highly-trained super commandos including Rain, Alice and Matt must race to penetrate The Hive in order to isolate the T-virus before it overwhelms humanity. To do so, they must get past the Red Queen's deadly defenses, face the flesh-eating undead employees, fight killer mutant dogs and battle The Licker, a genetically mutated savage beast whose strength increases with each of its slain victims.

Trivia random: The presidents of Capcom Japan and America have cameos as zombies. Capcom created the Resident Evil series.
Citazione random: Rain: All the people that were working here are dead.::Spence: Well, that isn't stopping them from walking around.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

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Regista: Russell Mulcahy
Scrittore: Paul W.S. Anderson
Genere: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Action
Valutazione: 6.3/10 (25651 voti)
Durata: Argentina:93 min
Paese: France, Australia, Germany, UK, USA
Lingua: English

Cast:

• Milla Jovovich .... Alice
• Oded Fehr .... Carlos Olivera
• Ali Larter .... Claire Redfield
• Iain Glen .... Dr. Isaacs
• Ashanti .... Betty
• Christopher Egan .... Mikey
• Spencer Locke .... K-Mart
• Matthew Marsden .... Slater
• Linden Ashby .... Chase
• Jason O'Mara .... Albert Wesker

Trama:
Years after the Raccoon City disaster, Alice is on her own; aware that she has become a liability and could endanger those around her, she is struggling to survive and bring down the Umbrella Corporation led by the sinister Albert Wesker and head researcher Dr. Isaacs. Meanwhile, traveling through the Nevada Desert and the ruins of Las Vegas, Carlos Olivera, L.J., and new survivors K-Mart, Claire Redfield, and Nurse Betty must fight to survive extinction against hordes of zombies, killer crows and the most terrifying creatures created as a result of the deadly T-Virus that has killed millions.

Trivia random: In the Tokyo scene the sign next to 'Tokyo Metro' reads 'Zatoichi Square' an obvious nod to the fictional Japanese film and television character.
Citazione random: Carlos Olivera: Just promise me one thing. When you get down there...::Alice: Consider it done.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Grease (1978)

Grease - Brillantina

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Regista: Randal Kleiser
Scrittore: Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey
Genere: Comedy, Musical, Romance, Comedy
Valutazione: 6.9/10 (42148 voti)
Durata: 110 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English

Cast:

• John Travolta .... Danny Zuko
• Olivia Newton-John .... Sandy Olsson
• Stockard Channing .... Betty Rizzo
• Jeff Conaway .... Kenickie
• Barry Pearl .... Doody
• Michael Tucci .... Sonny
• Kelly Ward .... Putzie
• Didi Conn .... Frenchy
• Jamie Donnelly .... Jan
• Dinah Manoff .... Marty Maraschino

Trama:
Danny Zuko, leader of the greaser gang "T-Birds" of Rydell High, falls in love with a goody two shoes girl named Sandy Olsen over the summer. They thought she'd be leaving and never see each other again, but to their luck...she begins to attend Rydell High. She is immediately accepted into the group "Pink Ladies" and shortly Danny and her re-meet. Danny has seemed to have changed but in the hopes of winning Sandy back, he changes into the loving, jock Danny Zuko that Sandy met during the summer permanently.

Trivia random: The official premiere after-party was at Studio 54.
Citazione random: Sonny: I'm not taking any of her crap, that's all, I'll take no crap from nobody.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Mulcahy, Russell

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Data di nascita: 23 June 1953

Ultimi lavori:

• The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian (2008) .... [regista]
• Zen in the Art of Slaying Vampires (2008) .... (attached) [regista]
• Crash N' Burn (2007) (TV) .... [regista]
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) .... [regista]
• While the Children Sleep (2007) (TV) .... [regista]
• The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006) (TV) .... [regista]
• AC/DC: Family Jewels (2005) (V) .... (segment "Baby Please Don't Go" ) [regista]
• Culture Club: Greatest Hits (2005) (V) .... (video "The War Song") [regista]
• Mysterious Island (2005) (TV) .... [regista]
• 20th Century Masters: The Best of Alternative '80s - The DVD Collection (2004) (V) .... (video "Video Killed the Radio Star") [regista]

Biografia:
Dynamic film director born June 23rd 1953 in Melbourne, Australia who first gained fame directing visually striking video clips for bands including Elton John, Duran Duran, "The Buggles" and "Bonnie Tyler". Mulcahy is also well known for feature films, starting off with the comedy Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979), the Aussie horror film Razorback (1984), the spectacular sword and sorcery of Highlander (1986), followed by the sequel Highlander II: The Quickening (1991). He directed Denzel Washington and John Lithgow in the violent Ricochet (1991), directed the film adaptation of The Shadow (1994) with Alec Baldwin and took the helm for Tale of the Mummy (1998). In recent years, Mulcahy has been involved in directing several telemovies and episodes of TV shows including "Queer as Folk" (2000), _3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004)_, _"Mysterious Island" (2005)_ and _Curse of King Tut's Tomb, The (2006)_ starring Casper Van Dien.

Trivia random: Directed (among other things) all of Duran Duran's early MTV videos, won Video Award from MTV before it started going to the artists (the year after, Madonna got it instead of her directors).

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Jovovich, Milla

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Nome di battesimo: Jovovic, Militza Natasa Bogdanovna
Data di nascita: 17 December 1975
Altezza: 5' 8½" (1.74 m)
Coniuge: Luc Besson::(14 December 1997 - 12 June 1999) (divorced), Shawn Andrews::(2 October 1992 - 25 November 1992) (annulled)

Ultimi lavori:

• Azazel (2009) .... Amalia Bezhetskaya [attrice]
• A Perfect Getaway (2008) .... Cydney [attrice]
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) .... Alice [attrice]
• .45 (2006) .... Kat [attrice]
• Ultraviolet (2006) .... Violet [attrice]
• Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula (2005) .... Druscilla [attrice]
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) .... Alice [attrice]
• Dummy (2002) .... Fangora [attrice]
• The House on Turk Street (2002) .... Erin [attrice]
• Resident Evil (2002) .... Alice [attrice]

Biografia:
Milla Jovovich is an American actress, supermodel, fashion designer, singer and public figure, who was on the cover of more than a hundred magazines, and starred in such films as The Fifth Element (1997), Ultraviolet (2006), and the 'Resident Evil' franchise. She was born Milica Natasha Jovovich on December 17, 1975, in Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union (now Kiev, Ukraine). Her Montenegrinian father, Bogdan (Bogdanovich) Jovovich, was a medical doctor in Kiev. There he met her mother, Galina Jovovich (nee Loginova), a Russian-Ukrainian actress. At the age of 5, in 1981, Milla with her parents emigrated from the Soviet Union, moving first to London, UK, then to Sacramento, California, and eventually settled in Los Angeles. There her parents worked as house-cleaners for the household of director Brian de Palma. Her parents separated, and eventually divorced, because her father was arrested and spent several years in prison. Young Milla Jovovich was brought up by her single mother in Los Angeles. In addition to her native Russian, she also learned French, German and English. However, in spite of her cosmopolitan background, Milla was ostracized by some of her classmates, as a kid who emigrated from the Soviet Union amidst the paranoia of the Cold War. Many emotional scars had affected her behavior, but she eventually emerged as a resilient, multi-talented, albeit rebellious and risk-taking girl. She was coached by her actress mother since her childhood, first at home, then studied music, ballet, and acting in Los Angeles. In 1984 she made her first career move, appearing on the cover of 'High Times' in the UK, at the age of 9. She shot to international fame after she was spotted by the photographer Richard Avedon at the age of 11, and was featured in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements, and on the cover of the Italian fashion magazine 'Lei' which was her first cover shoot. She made her first professional model contract at the age of 12, and soon made it to the cover of 'The Face', 'Vogue', Cosmopolitan' and many other magazines. The total number of her magazine covers worldwide was over one hundred by 2004, and keeps counting. In 2004 she made 10,4 million dollars, becoming the highest paid supermodel in the world. Milla Jovovich was torn between two professions, before she eventually became one of the very few supermodels who also developed a steady and serious film career. In 1988, at age 12, she made her film debut credited as Milla in a supporting role in Two Moon Junction (1988) by writer/director Zalman King. During the 1980s and early 1990s, she played several supporting roles as a teenage actress in film and on television, then starred in Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991). In 1997 she co-starred opposite Bruce Willis in the sci-fi blockbuster The Fifth Element (1997), then she starred as Joan of Arc, the title character in the eponymous costume drama. In the early 2000s, Milla had a few years of uncertainty in her acting career due to uneven quality of her films, as well as some hectic events in her private life. However, she managed to overcome her personal crisis. With the leading role as Alice in the 'Resident Evil' trilogy, she established herself as a film star, and her success in acting career eventually matched her success as a supermodel. Outside of her acting and modeling professions, Milla Jovovich released several critically acclaimed musical recordings, making her debut as a singer, songwriter and musician with the 1994 release of 'The Divine Comedy'. She also gave several live performances with her band called 'Plastic Has Memory', and was featured on 'Hollywood Goes Wild'. Her vocal recordings appeared on soundtracks of several films. She has been writing music and lyrics to her song-demos, playing her guitar and sampling other sounds from her computer, and allowing free download and remix of her songs from her website. For many years Milla Jovovich has been maintaining a healthier lifestyle, practicing yoga and meditation, trying to avoid junk food, and cooking for herself. Since she was a little girl, Milla has been writing a private diary, a habit she learned from her mother. She has been keeping a record of many good and bad facts of her life, her travels, her relationships, and all important ideas and events in her career, planning eventually to publish an autobiography. After dissolution of her two previous marriages, Milla Jovovich became engaged to film director Paul W.S. Anderson; their daughter, Ever Anderson, was born on November 3, 2007.

Trivia random: She has bluish-green eyes and brown hair originally.
Citazione random: About Madonna: "Oh, my God! I used to ride my bicycle around for hours in the garage of our apartment building singing 'Material Girl.'" (In Style magazine, Sept/2006)

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

kyashan

Gli anni '70! Robottoni! Colori sgargianti! Capelli afro! LSD! Che mito! Che spettacolo!
Certo, personalmente tutti i miei anni '70 li ho passati a dormire, piangere e poppare, ma...
Ehi, non che me ne stia lamentando, è solo che non ero molto attento alla scena culturale dell'epoca.

Ad ogni buon conto: gli anni '70, tra le altre cose, sono stati la culla di una intera stagione di cartoni animati giapponesi pieni di robottoni, eroi fichissimi con capelli improbabili e donnine tutte curve.
Anche se gli eroi erano innumerevoli, non è difficile identificare il vincitore nella classifica dei più truzzi: Kyashan!
Dopo essersi fatto trasformare in androide dal padre indicibilmente sadico (che già che c'era aveva reso robotico il suo cane e tramutato in un cigno meccanico la moglie), Kyashan combatteva contro ondate di robot malvagi con la stessa facilità con la quale l'italiano medio stila la sua personalissima formazione della nazionale. Aveva giusto la sfiga che, andando ad energia solare, era costretto a salvare la Terra all'aperto ed in orario d'ufficio; ma quando sei l'uomo più fico del pianeta queste son quisquiglie...

Nel 2004 esce il film di Kyashan (Kyashan - la rinascita in Italia) con attori in carne ed ossa (beh, più o meno: son giapponesi... ) che reinterpreta il personaggio.
Dopo una tremenda guerra tra Europa ed Asia, l'umanità è sull'orlo della rovina a causa del diffondersi di malattie genetiche; il dottor Azuma, supportato dai militari, cerca di sviluppare una soluzione chiamata neo-cellule; non proprio sorprendentemente l'esperimento - di fatto pezzi di cadaveri in un pentolone da streghe - sfugge di mano ed emerge una nuova razza: i neodroidi, che dopo una quantità mediorientale di trattative giurano eterno odio agli umani.
Come se non fosse già una giornata abbastanza schifosa, il figlio di Azuma tira le cuoia in guerra e l'esimio professore non trova di meglio che immergerlo nel brodino dell'esperimento per farlo rinascere come eroe strafico.
Gironzolando in cerca di refrigerio sull'himalaya, i cattivi si imbattono in quel che sembra il castello delle favole, ripensato da Victor Von Doom ed arredato a suon di granate al fosforo. Collegato all'interruttore della luce del soggiorno, si attiva la mega-fabbrica di robottoni killer che i malvagi manderanno a morire schiantati contro il poootentissimo Kyashan.
Nel mezzo, un po' di politica internazionale ed internale, qualche dramma affettivo ed il visetto innocentissimo di Luna.

Il film lascia con la mascella per terra a livello visivo: spettacolari le ambientazioni steam-punk andato a male, notevole l'uso della computer grafica e del blue-screen (come e prima di Sin City) ed in generale funziona molto bene nell'inventare e nel presentare un futuro alternativo estremizzato.
Eccellente la selezione musicale, sempre in sintonia con le immagini.

Funziona tutto molto bene per una oretta buona.
La pellicola dure due dannatissime ore e venti minuti.
Ecco.

Purtroppo il giocattolo si rompe quando i protagonisti si mettono a sproloquiare sui massimi sistemi, peraltro in maniera non esattamente originale: troppi dialoghi banali, troppe cose che accadono Perché Sì^®, troppi momenti morti (introspettivi? no, no: noiosi) tra un combattimento e l'altro.
A proposito dei combattimenti: maraglissimi quelli contro i robot (salti, pugni, e smitragliate), molto più deludenti e mal girati i pochi uno-contro-uno con gli altri cattivi umanoidi.

La sensazione che resta è che si sia voluto strafare, quando un po' più di moderazione (e forse di consapevolezza dei propri mezzi) avrebbe sfornato un prodotto più coerente e meno visionario (fumato?).
E poi diamine: mancano il cane Flendar (che diciamolo: nella serie vinceva metà delle battaglie da solo ) e la mamma-cigno!

Voto: 5.5 (più che altro in quanto occasione parziamente spercata)
Tags: kyashan, fantascienza, azione, robot, neo-cellule, truzzo, maraglio, giappoe, cina, guerra.

Casshern (2004)

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Regista: Kazuaki Kiriya
Scrittore: Kazuaki Kiriya, Dai Sato
Genere: Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi, Drama
Valutazione: 6.5/10 (2945 voti)
Durata: 141 min
Paese: Japan
Lingua: Japanese

Cast:

• Yusuke Iseya .... Casshern/Tetsuya Azuma
• Kumiko Aso .... Luna Kozuki
• Akira Terao .... Kotaro Azuma-hakase
• Kanako Higuchi .... Midori Azuma
• Fumiyo Kohinata .... Kozuki-hakase
• Hiroyuki Miyasako .... Akubon
• Jun Kaname .... Barashin
• Hidetoshi Nishijima .... Lieutenant Colonel Kamijo
• Mitsuhiro Oikawa .... Kaoru Naito
• Susumu Terajima .... Sakamoto

Trama:
In a world with an alternate history, a great war finally comes to an end leaving the earth diseased and polluted. The geneticist Dr. Azuma vies for support from the government for his neo-cell treatment that he claims can rejuvenate the body and regenerate humankind. The government leaders, guarding their own deeply entrenched powers, turn down the professor. Driven to complete his work, Dr. Azuma accepts a secret offer from a sinister faction of the powerful military. After an incident occurs in Dr. Azuma's lab, a race of mutant humans known as the Shinzo Ningen are unleashed upon the world. Now only the warrior known as Casshern, reincarnated with an invincible body, stands between the Shinzo Ningen and a world on the brink of annihilation.

Trivia random: SPOILER: The German message above Sagure's "entrance" to Dr. Kozuki's home reads: "zur erinnerung an meine verstorbene frau" which essentially translates to "To the memory of my deceased wife".
Citazione random: Kotaro Azuma-hakase: You have no idea what war is like.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Aso, Kumiko

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Data di nascita: 17 June 1978

Ultimi lavori:

• "Jikô keisatsu" (2006) (mini) .... Shizuka Mikazuki [attrice]
• The Uchôten Hoteru (2006) .... Naomi Ohara [attrice]
• Hasami otoko (2005) .... Chinatsu [attrice]
• Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san (2005) .... The Wife of the Bartender [attrice]
• Aoi kuruma (2004) .... Akemi [attrice]
• Casshern (2004) .... Luna Kozuki [attrice]
• Eiko (2004) .... Eiko Akimori [attrice]
• "Shinsengumi!" (2004) .... O-Ryou [attrice]
• Tange Sazen: Hyakuman ryo no tsubo (2004) .... [attrice]
• Zebraman (2004) .... [attrice]

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Sin City (2005)

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Regista: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
Scrittore: Frank Miller
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Valutazione: 8.4/10 (85280 voti) [#62 nella top250]
Durata: 124 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English

Cast:

• Jessica Alba .... Nancy Callahan
• Devon Aoki .... Miho
• Alexis Bledel .... Becky
• Powers Boothe .... Senator Roark
• Cara D. Briggs .... Hearing Panel Person (as Cara Briggs)
• Jude Ciccolella .... Liebowitz
• Jeffrey J. Dashnaw .... Motorcycle Cop (as Jeff Dashnaw)
• Rosario Dawson .... Gail
• Jesse De Luna .... Corporal Rivera
• Benicio Del Toro .... Jackie Boy

Trama:
An adaptation of Frank Miller's stories based in a morally bankrupt metropolis. Chief amongst the town's residents is Marv (Rourke), who trawls the darkest areas of town looking for the person who murdered Goldie (King) while she lay sleeping in his bed.

Trivia random: Robert Rodriguez originally envisioned Johnny Depp in the role of Jackie Boy. Due to prior commitments, Depp could not play the part. While at the Academy Awards, Rodriguez saw Benicio Del Toro with long hair ("Wolf Man" hair, as he describes it) and said that he "was looking at Jackie Boy". He told Del Toro not to cut his hair and mailed him the comic book and a copy of the short, "The Customer is Always Right." Del Toro immediately signed on.
Citazione random: Yellow Bastard: [referring to 19-year-old Nancy] A little old for my taste, but I can forgive that just this once!

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

"Shinzô ningen Kyashân" (1973)

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Genere: Action, Animation, Sci-Fi
Paese: Japan
Lingua: Japanese

Cast:

• Ikuo Nishikawa .... Casshân/Azuma Tetsuya (voice)
• Masato Yamanouchi .... Azuma Kôtarô
• Reiko Mutô .... Azuma Midori/Swanny
• Kenji Utsumi .... Blayking Boss (voice)
• Emiko Tsukada .... Kôzuki Luna
• Kazuya Tatekabe .... Barashin
• Osamu Katô .... Sagray
• Ryûji Nakagi .... Akubone
• Shôji Kato .... Friendar
• Gorô Naya .... Opening Narration (voice)

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

I am legend

Io Sono Leggenda non ha praticamente alcun punto di contatto con l'omonimo libro di Richard Matheson. Non sono un fan della fedeltà assoluta al materiale originale: altri film tratti dallo stesso libro sono dei capolavori, pur non sempre fedeli; nel caso specifico mi chiedo però che senso abbia avuto comprare i diritti, per poco siano costati.

Robert Neville, militare e scienziato, tenta disperatamente di combattere un virus mutato in laboratorio che sta sterminando l'umanità.
Fallisce, ed in poche settimane si ritrova ad essere l'ultimo dei sopravvissuti (per quanto ne sa); il 90% delle persone sono morte lasciando l'1% immune in balia del restante 9%: violente iperattive creature assetate di sange che infestano la notte.
Nella New York post-catastrofe vivrà la sua vita, ancora alla ricerca di una cura per quel 9% di popolazione ora trasformate in mostri.

Quasi tutto il film funziona egregiamente: fintanto Neville è solo, alla caccia di cibo o cavie per i suoi esperimenti, tutto fila in maniera fantastica.
Il giocattolo si incrina quando entrano in scena i mostri: fatti così-così e comunque poco interessanti, ma ci si potrebbe ancora convivere.
Capisci che si rischia la puttanata circa a 20 miniti dalla fine, ma un po' di speranza ancora ce l'hai.
Gli ultimi 5 minuti, sono uno dei più clamorosi casi di stupro cinematografico a cui abbia mai assistito: tutto il materiale di partenza viene tirato nel cesso, assieme alla speranza di vedere un finale fatto come si deve. Peccato davvero.

Ho già parlato in altre occasioni del buonismo imperante e dello scarso coraggio delle mega-produzioni, e questo ne è un caso lampante: 20 anni fa questo film sarebbe finito come doveva finire.
Lo stesso significato del titolo - "io sono leggenda" - viene ribaltato e stravolto, costruendo una spiegazione debole e di nessun interesse.

Comunque, bravo Will Smith a reggere il film da solo, non dannosa la regia, notevole la ricostruzione di New York post-catastrofe.

Oltre al raffronto col libro, questo film esce con le ossa rotte anche dal confronto con altre pellicole da esso tratte, come The Omega Man (1975: occhi bianchi sul pianeta Terra) con Charlton Heston e l'eccezionale L'Ultimo Uomo della Terra di Ragona con Vincent Price.

Sunto: è obbligatorio leggersi il libro e vedersi L'Ultimo Uomo della Terra del 64.

Voto: 5.5 - non certo una catastrofe, ma resta il fatto che qualunque alternativa è una spanna sopra.
Tags: fantascienza, horror, drammatico, azione, Richard Matheson, Will Smith, Io Sono Leggenda, romanzo, catastrofe, virus, cancro, mutazione, sterminio, esperimento, laboratorio, cattura, caccia, trappola, luce, zombie, notte, cane, immunità, isolamento, evacuazione, fucile, coltello, solitudine, cura, manichino, vaccino, messaggio, radio, colonia, sopravvissuti, morte.

Ragona, Ubaldo

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Data di nascita: 1 December 1916

Ultimi lavori:

• Vergine per un bastardo (1966) .... [scrittore]
• The Last Man on Earth (1964) .... (screenplay) (as Ubaldo B. Ragona) [scrittore]
• Fiesta en el Caribe (1958) .... [scrittore]
• Il Fiume dei faraoni (1955) .... [regista]

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Heston, Charlton

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Nome di battesimo: Carter, John Charles
Data di nascita: 4 October 1924
Altezza: 6' 3" (1.91 m)
Coniuge: Lydia Clarke::(17 March 1944 - present) 2 children

Ultimi lavori:

• Ben Hur (2003) (TV) .... Ben Hur (voice) [attore]
• My Father, Rua Alguem 5555 (2003) .... The father (Josef Mengele) [attore]
• Cats & Dogs (2001) .... The Mastiff (voice) [attore]
• The Order (2001) .... Prof. Walter Finley [attore]
• Planet of the Apes (2001) .... Zaius, Thade's Father (uncredited) [attore]
• Town & Country (2001) .... Eugenie's Father [attore]
• Any Given Sunday (1999) .... Commissioner [attore]
• "Camino de Santiago" (1999) .... Professor Marcelo Rinaldi [attore]
• Gideon (1999) .... Addison Sinclair [attore]
• Armageddon (1998/I) .... Narrator (voice) [attore]

Biografia:
With features chiseled in stone, who else but Charlton Heston could you picture as Michelangelo, as Ben-Hur, as Moses? Heston's movie career took off with The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and reached light speed with Ben-Hur (1959). Although he has played a pantheon of larger-than-life roles, he usually prefers to talk about the day-to-day daily grind of the movie business, and especially credits the writers and directors he has worked for much of his success. Though aging gracefully, the venerated Heston has lately been more interested in promoting right-wing political issues than acting.

Trivia random: Along with Tony Curtis, Heston admitted to voting for Russell Crowe to win the Best Actor Oscar in 2001, saying before the ceremony, "I hope he gets it. He's very good."
Citazione random: "If you need a ceiling painted, a chariot race run, a city besieged, or the Red Sea parted, you think of me."
Salario massimo: $250,000, per The Buccaneer (1958)

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Am Legend, I (2007)

Io sono leggenda

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Regista: Francis Lawrence
Scrittore: Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Drama
Valutazione: 7.4/10 (52779 voti)
Durata: USA:101 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English

Cast:

• Will Smith .... Robert Neville
• Alice Braga .... Anna
• Charlie Tahan .... Ethan
• Salli Richardson .... Zoe
• Willow Smith .... Marley
• Darrell Foster .... Mike - Military Escort
• April Grace .... TV Personality
• Dash Mihok .... Alpha Male
• Joanna Numata .... Alpha Female
• Samuel Glen .... Military Driver - Jay

Trama:
It is the year 2012. In the ruins of New York city. Robert Neville who is a military scientist who is the lone survivor of a biochemical disease which was supposed to cure cancer 3 years previous. With only blood thirsty zombies as his neighbors and his trusty dog, Samantha, Robert is trying to discover a cure for this disease and to find out any other people who might have also survived.

Trivia random: Warner Bros. Pictures has owned the rights to the book since the 1970s. The studio first attempted adapting it was as The Omega Man (1971) with director Boris Sagal, starring Charlton Heston. Then as 'I Am Legend' with director Ridley Scott, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which fell through when the production went over-budget. And then in 2002, Michael Bay was set to direct Will Smith, but they decided to make Bad Boys II (2003) instead.
Citazione random: Neville: I can provide food, I can provide shelter, and I can provide protection.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Matheson, Richard

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Data di nascita: 20 February 1926

Ultimi lavori:

• The Box (2008) .... (story) [scrittore]
• The Incredible Shrinking Man (2008) .... (novel "The Shrinking Man") [scrittore]
• I Am Legend (2007) .... (novel) [scrittore]
• Blood Son (2006) .... (short story) [scrittore]
• My Ambition (2006) .... (short story "Blood Son") [scrittore]
• Stir of Echoes (1999) .... (novel "A Stir of Echoes") [scrittore]
• What Dreams May Come (1998) .... (novel "What Dreams May Come") [scrittore]
• Trilogy of Terror II (1996) (TV) .... (also story Prey) [scrittore]
• Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994) (TV) .... (teleplay) [scrittore]
• The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 (1992) (V) .... Senator #3 [attore]

Biografia:
Born in New Jersey and raised in Brooklyn, Richard Burton Matheson first became a published author while still a child, when his stories and poems ran in the "Brooklyn Eagle". A lifelong reader of fantasy tales, he made his professional writing bow in 1950 when his short story "Born of Man and Woman"? appeared in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction"; Matheson turned out a number of highly regarded horror, fantasy and mystery stories throughout that decade. He broke into films in 1956, adapting his novel "The Shrinking Man" for the big-screen "The Incredible Shrinking Man."

Trivia random: Originally wrote a screenplay for the sequel to The Incredible Shrinking Man called The Fantastic Shrinking Girl, of which the protagonist's wife in the first movie begins to shrink herself. The idea was abandoned.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Omega Man, The (1971)

1975: occhi bianchi sul pianeta Terra

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Regista: Boris Sagal
Scrittore: Richard Matheson, John William Corrington
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Drama
Valutazione: 6.8/10 (5884 voti)
Durata: 98 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English

Cast:

• Charlton Heston .... Robert Neville
• Anthony Zerbe .... Matthias
• Rosalind Cash .... Lisa
• Paul Koslo .... Dutch
• Eric Laneuville .... Richie
• Lincoln Kilpatrick .... Zachary
• Jill Giraldi .... Little Girl
• Anna Aries .... Woman in Cemetery Crypt
• Brian Tochi .... Tommy
• DeVeren Bookwalter .... Family Member

Trama:
Robert Neville, a doctor,due to an experimental vaccine, is the only survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. The plague caused by the war has killed everyone else except for a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people calling themselves "The Family". The plague has caused them to become sensitive to light, as well as homicidally psychotic. They believe science and technology to be the cause of the war and their punishment, and Neville, as the last symbol of science, the old world, and a "user of the wheel", must die. Neville, using electricty, machinery, and science attempts to hold them at bay.

Trivia random: British studio Hammer had planned production of Matheson's own scripted version of "I am Legend" entitled "The Night Creatures". However, after being deemed too graphic by censors, the script was rejected and the project lingered, eventually dying.
Citazione random: Black Power Lisa: [Lisa is drawing blood from Neville for a vaccine] Will one bottle be enough?::Robert Neville: It's genuine 160-proof old Anglo-Saxon baby.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Smith, Will (I)

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Nome di battesimo: Jr., Willard Christopher Smith
Data di nascita: 25 September 1968
Altezza: 6' 2" (1.88 m)
Coniuge: Jada Pinkett Smith::(31 December 1997 - present) 2 children, Sheree Smith::(9 May 1992 - 1995) (divorced) 1 child

Ultimi lavori:

• Monster Hunter (2010) .... (producer) [produttore]
• Pursuit (2010) .... (producer) [produttore]
• The Secret Life of Bees (2009) .... (producer) [produttore]
• "The Cipha" (2008) .... (executive producer) [produttore]
• Hancock (2008) .... (producer) [produttore]
• The Human Contract (2008) .... (executive producer) [produttore]
• Lakeview Terrace (2008) .... (producer) [produttore]
• MILF & Cookies (2008) (TV) .... (executive producer) [produttore]
• Seven Pounds (2008) .... (producer) [produttore]
• I Am Legend (2007) .... Robert Neville [attore]

Biografia:
Will Smith was the second of four children of Caroline (school board employee) and Willard C Smith Sr. (owner of a refrigeration company). He grew up in middle class West Philadelphia. Will attended the Overbrook High School in Winfield, Pennsylvania, and got the nickname 'Prince' because of the way he could charm his way out of trouble. Bright student Will also signed up with the high-status Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia. Pursuing music, he met Jeff Townes at a party and they soon began performing together as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. When the duo took off in popularity, Smith made and spent a lot of money on a house, cars and jewelry; leading to his near bankruptcy in his early twenties. Luckily, in 1989, he met Benny Medina, who had an idea for a sitcom based on his life in Beverly Hills. Smith loved the idea as did NBC which put on the "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990). The plot was simple -Will basically played himself; a street-smart West Philly kid transplanted to Beverly Hills. The series lasted 6 years. During that time, he ventured into movies where the critics took note of him in Six Degrees of Separation (1993). With the success that came with the action picture Bad Boys (1995), Will's movie career was set. His had a huge hit with the Blockbuster Independence Day (1996) where he plays the alien-battling Marine Corps Captain Steven Hiller.

Trivia random: As a public role model, hosted the Presidential Inaugural Celebration for Youth, as part of the Gala for President Bill Clinton. [January 1993]
Citazione random: Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like.
Salario massimo: $28,000,000, per I, Robot (2004)

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Lawrence, Francis (II)

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Ultimi lavori:

• Eddie Dickens and the Awful End (2008) .... [regista]
• Snow and the Seven (2008) .... [regista]
• I Am Legend (2007) .... [regista]
• OK Go: Oh No Special Edition (2006) (V) .... [regista]
• Constantine (2005) .... [regista]
• Britney Spears: Greatest Hits - My Prerogative (2004) (V) .... (video "I'm a Slave 4 U") [regista]
• From Janet. To Damita Jo: The Videos (2004) (V) .... (videos "Someone to Call My Lover", "Son of a Gun" and "All Nite") [regista]
• Jennifer Lopez: The Reel Me (2003) (V) .... (videos "Waiting for Tonight " and "Play") [regista]
• Green Day: International Supervideos! (2001) (V) .... (video "Warning") [regista]
• Jennifer Lopez: Feelin' So Good (2000) (V) .... (video "Waiting for Tonight") [regista]

Trivia random: Is a popular music video director, having directed videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Will Smith, Sarah McLachlan, and Aerosmith.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Last Man on Earth, The (1964)

Ultimo uomo della terra, L'

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Regista: Ubaldo Ragona
Scrittore: Richard Matheson, William F. Leicester
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Drama, Horror
Valutazione: 7.0/10 (2833 voti)
Durata: 86 min
Paese: USA, Italy
Lingua: English, Italian

Cast:

• Vincent Price .... Dr. Robert Morgan
• Franca Bettoia .... Ruth Collins
• Emma Danieli .... Virginia Morgan
• Giacomo Rossi-Stuart .... Ben Cortman
• Umberto Raho .... Dr. Mercer
• Christi Courtland .... Kathy Morgan
• Antonio Corevi .... Governor (as Tony Corevi)
• Ettore Ribotta .... TV Reporter (as Hector Ribotta)
• Rolando De Rossi

Trama:
Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the only survivor of a devastating world-wide plague due to a mysterious immunity he acquired to the bacterium while working in Central America years ago. He is all alone now...or so it seems. As night falls, plague victims begin to leave their graves, part of a hellish undead army that''s thirsting for blood...his!

Trivia random: This film was originally going to be produced by Hammer Films of Great Britain. They decided not to make it and passed the script over to their U.S. associate, Robert L. Lippert, who produced the film in Italy.
Citazione random: [first lines]::Robert Morgan: Another day to live through. Better get started.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Price, Vincent (I)

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Nome di battesimo: Jr., Vincent Leonard Price
Data di nascita: 27 May 1911
Data di morte: 25 October 1993
Altezza: 6' 4" (1.93 m)
Coniuge: Coral Browne::(24 October 1974 - 29 May 1991) (her death), Mary Grant::(25 August 1949 - 1973) (divorced) 1 child, Edith Barrett::(23 April 1938 - 4 June 1948) (divorced) 1 child

Ultimi lavori:

• The Heart of Justice (1993) (TV) .... Reggie Shaw [attore]
• The Princess and the Cobbler (1993) .... Zig-Zag the Grand Vizier (voice) [attore]
• Catchfire (1990) .... Mr. Avoca [attore]
• Edward Scissorhands (1990) .... The Inventor [attore]
• Dead Heat (1988) .... Arthur P. Loudermilk [attore]
• The Offspring (1987) .... Julian White [attore]
• Sparky's Magic Piano (1987) (V) .... Henry, Sparky's dad (voice) [attore]
• The Whales of August (1987) .... Mr. Maranov [attore]
• Escapes (1986) (TV) .... Host [attore]
• The Great Mouse Detective (1986) .... Professor Ratigan (voice) [attore]

Biografia:
Actor, writer, and gourmet, Vincent Price was born in St Louis, Missouri. He traveled through Europe, studied at Yale and became an actor. He made his screen debut in 1938, and after many minor roles, he began to perform in low-budget horror movies such as House of Wax (1953), achieving his first major success with House of Usher (1960). Known for his distinctive, low-pitched, creaky, atmospheric voice and his quizzical, mock-serious facial expressions, he went on to star in a series of acclaimed Gothic horror movies, such as Pit and the Pendulum (1961) and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971). He abandoned films in the mid-1970s, going on to present cooking programs for television - he wrote "A Treasury of Great Recipes" (1965) with his second wife, Mary Grant - but had two final roles in The Whales of August (1987) and Edward Scissorhands (1990). He also recorded many Gothic horror short stories for the spoken-word label Caedmon Records.

Trivia random: Charlton Heston starred in The Omega Man (1971) and Will Smith starred in _I Am Legend, the remakes of Price's The Last Man on Earth (1964). Prior to this, Heston and Price worked together in The Ten Commandments (1956).
Citazione random: A lot of the recent actresses look and act like my niece. Now, she's a good girl, but I wouldn't pay to see her.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Cowboy Bebop: the movie

Rivisto il film di Cowboy Bebop, recentemente acquistato in DVD.
Di suo andrebbe considerato un eccellente film d'animazione, va però detto che sfigura un po' di fronte ad una delle migliori serie di tutti i tempi.

Marte, anno 2071, un attentato terroristico con armi nanotecnologiche fa decine di morti. Il governo locale mette una enorme taglia, che ovviamente fa gola anche ai cacciatori di taglie della nave Bebop.
Durante le difficoltose indagini verrà alla luce un piano più ampio, che prevede uno sterminio di massa.

Trama un po' troppo semplice per un film di quasi due ore, e sviluppata in maniera troppo canonica; il cattivo di turno sarebbe anche stato interessante, ma viene approfondito poco. Lo stesso si può dire dei protagonisti: nessun problema per chi già li conosce, ma forse andavano meglio delineati per il pubblico occasionale.
Come detto, comunque, questi sono difetti che si notano soprattutto nel confronto con l'opera di riferimento: la regia è infatti molto buona (dannato Shinichirô Watanabe: lavora di più! ) e non manca l'azione.
E poi ci sono le musiche di Yôko Kanno, che per Cowboy Bebop ha davvero dato il massimo.

Piccola nota di demerito per Amazon: ringrazio di averlo pagato, nuovo, meno di quanto non tocchi spendere per un usato in Italia, ma nella pagina si parlava esplicitamente di doppiaggio in italiano, che invece è assente. Le voci italiane erano perfette, mentre quelle inglesi non mi fanno impazzire (e poi Ed risulta di fatto incomprensibile - per fortuna ci sono i sottotitoli). Qualche extra, ma niente di fondamentale. Ottima la qualità audio e video.

Voto: 7.5 - la serie è d'obbligo, il film male non fa.
Tags: animazione, avventura, azione, Marte, fantascienza, terrorismo, Cowboy Bebop, cacciatori di taglie, hacker, inseguimento, attentato, morte, casbah, nanotecnologia, soldato, memoria, amore, sparatoria, parata, Halloween, arti marziali, fatalismo, gioco, farfalle, gun-fu, monorotaia, industria chimica, esperimento, anime, visione, sogno.

Watanabe, Shinichirô

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Ultimi lavori:

• Genius Party (2007) .... [regista]
• A Detective Story (2003) .... (writer) (as Shinichiro Watanabe) [scrittore]
• Kid's Story (2003) .... (written by) (as Shinichiro Watanabe) [scrittore]
• The Animatrix (2003) .... (written by) (segment "A Detective Story") [scrittore]
• Kaubôi bibappu: Tengoku no tobira (2001) .... [regista]
• "Kaubôi bibappu" (1998) .... (unknown episodes) [scrittore]
• "Tenkû no Esukafurône" (1996) .... (unit director) (unknown episodes) [misc]
• Macross Plus (1994) (V) .... (co-director) [regista]

Trivia random: Best known for his work on the anime series 'Cowboy Bebop'.
Citazione random: It actually kind of sucks having to be a director. Once you do it, you discover how hard it really is. This is no kind of a job for a human being, let me tell you. I think I ought to quit, but I can't really do anything else! [When asked what the worst elements of his job are, Newtype USA Magazine, July 2005]

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Kaubôi bibappu: Tengoku no tobira (2001)

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Regista: Shinichirô Watanabe
Scrittore: Keiko Nobumoto, Hajime Yatate
Genere: Sci-Fi, Crime, Animation, Action, Comedy, Thriller
Valutazione: 7.7/10 (10053 voti)
Durata: 116 min
Paese: Japan, USA
Lingua: French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, English, Arabic

Cast:

• Steve Blum .... Spike Spiegel (English version) (voice: English version) (as Steven Blum)
• Martin Halm .... Spike Spiegel (voice: German version)
• Bruno Mullenaerts .... Spike Spiegel (voice: French version)
• Kôichi Yamadera .... Spike Spiegel (voice: Japanese version)
• Beau Billingslea .... Jet Black (voice: English version)
• Unshô Ishizuka .... Jet Black (voice: Japanese version)
• Megumi Hayashibara .... Faye Valentine (voice: Japanese version)
• Wendee Lee .... Faye Valentine (voice: English version)
• Yolanda Quesada .... Faye Valentine (voice: Spanish version)
• Marion Sawatzki .... Faye Valentine (voice: German version)

Trama:
A tanker truck is blown to smithereens in the middle of a busy street, and a deadly viral infection is released with the explosion. The Bebop crew - Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, and Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV - are instantly after the culprit when the gargantuan reward of 300,000,000 woolongs is announced. But the case gets stranger and stranger as the cold-blooded Vincent Volaju, who supposedly has been dead for ten years, seems to be the prime suspect. Meanwhile, Spike encounters the dangerous Electra, who too seeks the madman. Conspiracies and secrets better left alone are uncovered, and Vincent's reign or terror is nowhere near over yet...

Trivia random: The mysterious Rasheed is based on the Moroccan guide who accompanied the movie-staff while they were scouting locations.
Citazione random: Jet: Spike, if that hostage had been shot, what would you have done then?
Spike: If it happens, it happens...
Jet: Really... As usual, for a 125,000-Woolong criminal, there were too many risks involved. Bounty hunting is harder than just that. Before I teamed up with you, I lead quite a normal life.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Kanno, Yôko

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Data di nascita: 19 March 1964
Coniuge: Hajime Mizoguchi::(? - present)


Trivia random: Does some of her own singing (under the name "Gabriella Robin") for the music she writes (such as lead vocal for Green Bird, and chorus for Blue, both from "Kaubôi bibappu" (1998) .

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Splice

Disturbante. E non è un termine che uso spesso, associato ad un film.
Splice sembra aver diviso molto il (poco) pubblico che - specie in America - pare non averlo digerito molto.

Peccato, perché è uno dei rari esempi recenti di fantascienza fatta come si deve: con uno spunto interessante e capace di stupire. E con le palle, cosa davvero non da tutti, di questi tempi in cui ci si appiattisce regolarmente sul minimo sindacale, per non pestare i piedi a nessuno.

Brillante coppia di genetisti mette a punto un paio di singolari creature capaci di sintetizzare tutta una serie di molecole utili all'industria farmaceutica. Un inopportuno cambiamento manda però a gambe all'aria la presentazione agli azionisti ed i due cadono in disgrazia.
Riusciranno però a portare avanti un loro personalissimo piano, creando qualcosa di davvero nuovo che contiene in sé anche geni umani.
Come prevedibile si affezioneranno alla creatura, che cresce e cambia in fretta, trascinando i due scienziati (che già non erano sanissimi di loro, se vogliamo ) in un incubo senza fine.

Come detto: disturbante. La piega che ad un certo punto prende il film rasenta il sordido, e non faccio fatica a credere che parecchi abbiano storto il nasino delicato.
VM 14 meritatissimo, per la cronaca.

Molto ben diretto (giù il cappello a Vincenzo Natali), creativo ed inventivo alla David Cronenberg e con un make-up intrigante, il film soffre però anche di una serie di indubbi difetti: partenza piuttosto lenta, qualche dialogo rivedibile, un po' di ingenuità assortite e - soprattutto prove attoriali scadenti.
Così-così Sarah Polley e continuo a pensare malissimo di Adrien Brody; mooolto brava invece Delphine Chanéac nel ruolo della creatura adulta.

Detto ciò, avercene di film del genere.

Voto: 9. NB: se poi vi fa cacare, non fatevela con me.
Tags: fantascienza, horror, drammatico, thriller, Vincenzo Natali, creatura, genetica, genetisti, scienziati, coppia, gene, mutazione, multinazionale, affetto, granaio, fuga, omicidio, veleno, ali, anfibio, morte, gatto, violenza, stupro, sesso, esperimento, madre, fratello, nudo, chimera, etica, gravidanza, sangue.

Chanéac, Delphine

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Data di nascita: 14 November 1978

Ultimi lavori:

• Mens Insana (2011) .... Eva Von Nagel (rumored) [attrice]
• L'amour vache (2010) (TV) .... Lili [attrice]
• The Big Black (2010) .... Eve [attrice]
• Splice (2009) .... Dren [attrice]
• Verso (2009) .... Anja Lagrange [attrice]
• "Madame Hollywood" (2007) .... Sybille [attrice]
• Trenhotel (2007) (TV) .... Chloé [attrice]
• Incontrôlable (2006) .... Laura [attrice]
• "Laura, le compte à rebours a commencé" (2006) (mini) .... Laura [attrice]
• The Pink Panther (2006) .... Ticket Checker (as Délphine Chaneac) [attrice]

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Cronenberg, David

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Nome di battesimo: Cronenberg, David Paul
Data di nascita: 15 March 1943
Altezza: 5' 9" (1.75 m)
Coniuge: Carolyn Zeifman::(1979 - present) 2 children, Margaret Hindson::(1970 - 1977) (divorced) 1 child

Ultimi lavori:

• A Dangerous Method (2011) .... [regista]
• London Fields (2010) .... (writer) [scrittore]
• The Plan (2008/I) .... (executive producer) [produttore]
• Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s'éteint et que le film commence (2007) .... (segment "At the Suicide of the Last Jew in the World in the Last Cinema in the World") [regista]
• Eastern Promises (2007) .... [regista]
• A History of Violence (2005) .... [regista]
• Spider (2002) .... (producer) [produttore]
• Jason X (2001) .... Dr. Wimmer [attore]
• Short6 (2001) .... (writer) (segment "Camera") [scrittore]
• The Judge (2001) (TV) .... Det. Stobel [attore]

Biografia:
David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father was a journalist, and his mother was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early age (he wrote and published eerie short stories, thus following his father's path) and for music (playing classical guitar until he was 12), Cronenberg graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Literature after switching from the science department. He reached the cult status of horror-meister with the gore-filled, modern-vampire variations of Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977), following an experimental apprenticeship in independent filmmaking and in Canadian television programs. Cronenberg gained popularity with the head-exploding, telepathy-based Scanners (1981) after the release of the much underrated, controversial, and autobiographical The Brood (1979). Cronenberg become a sort of a mass media guru with Videodrome (1983), a shocking investigation of the hazards of reality-morphing television and a prophetic critique of contemporary aesthetics. The issues of tech-induced mutation of the human body and topics of the prominent dichotomy between body and mind were back again in The Dead Zone (1983) and The Fly (1986), both bright examples of a personal filmmaking identity, even if both films are based on mass-entertainment materials: the first being a rendition of a Stephen King best-seller, the latter a remake of famous American horror movie. With Dead Ringers (1988) and Naked Lunch (1991), the Canadian director, no more a mere genre movie-maker but a fully realized auteur, got the acclaim of international critics. Such profound statements on modern humanity and ever-changing society are prominent in the provocative Crash (1996) and in the virtual reality essay of eXistenZ (1999), both of which well fared at the Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals. In the last two filmic projects Spider (2002) and A History of Violence (2005), Cronenberg avoids expressing his teratologic and oniric expressionism in favour of a more psycological exploration of human contradictions and idiosyncrasies.

Trivia random: Deferred his own salary to make Spider (2002).
Citazione random: I have no rules. For me, it's a full, full experience to make a movie. It takes a lot of time, and I want there to be a lot of stuff in it. You're looking for every shot in the movie to have resonance and want it to be something you can see a second time, and then I'd like it to be something you can see 10 years later, and it becomes a different movie, because you're a different person. So that means I want it to be deep, not in a pretentious way, but I guess I can say I am pretentious in that I pretend. I have aspirations that the movie should trigger off a lot of complex responses.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Natali, Vincenzo

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Data di nascita: 6 January 1969

Ultimi lavori:

• Splice (2009) .... (screenplay) (story) [scrittore]
• Rip Cage (2007) .... Marcus Fiehls [attore]
• Paris, je t'aime (2006) .... (segment "Quartier de la Madeleine") [scrittore]
• Getting Gilliam (2005) .... [regista]
• Tideland (2005) .... (director: making of documentary 'Dreamland') [misc]
• Nothing (2003) .... (executive producer) [produttore]
• Cypher (2002) .... [regista]
• Made in Canada, Volume 1: Best of the CFC (2002) (V) .... [regista]
• Cube (1997) .... (written by) [scrittore]
• Elevated (1997) .... (writer) [scrittore]

Trivia random: The Twilight Zone Episode: "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" was an inspiration for his film "Cube".

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Brody, Adrien

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Data di nascita: 14 April 1973
Altezza: 6' 1" (1.85 m)

Ultimi lavori:

• Detachment (2011) .... (executive producer) [produttore]
• Midnight in Paris (2011) .... [attore]
• Sweet Baby Jesus (2011) .... Joe (rumored) [attore]
• Waco (2011) .... Steve Schneider [attore]
• High School (2010) .... Psycho Ed [attore]
• Predators (2010) .... Royce [attore]
• The Experiment (2010/I) .... Travis [attore]
• Wrecked (2010) .... (executive producer) [produttore]
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) .... Rickity the Field Mouse (voice) [attore]
• Giallo (2009) .... (producer) [produttore]

Biografia:
The son of Hungarian-born photographer Sylvia Plachy and retired history professor Elliot Brody, Adrien Brody grew up an only child in the Woodhaven section of Queens, New York, where he accompanied his mother on assignments for the Village Voice. He credits her with making him feel comfortable in front of the camera. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York. Despite a strong performance in The Thin Red Line (1998), time constraints forced the director to edit out much of Adrien's part. In spite of his later work with Spike Lee and Barry Levinson, he never became the star many expected he would become until Roman Polanski called on him to play a celebrated Jewish pianist in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. He pulled off a brilliant performance in The Pianist (2002), drawing on the heritage and rare dialect of his Polish grandmother, as well as his father, who lost family members during the Holocaust, and his mother, who fled Communist Hungary as a child during the 1956 uprising against the Soviet Union.

Trivia random: Was dressed by Zegna for the Academy Awards.
Citazione random: [On playing hero Jack Driscoll in Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005)] I've always wanted to do something like King Kong. It's a phenomenal role that any actor would kill for. I've been looking for this kind of iconic leading man guy for years, but they are hard to find.
Salario massimo: $2,750,000, per The Village (2004)

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Polley, Sarah (I)

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Data di nascita: 8 January 1979
Altezza: 5' 2" (1.57 m)
Coniuge: David Wharnsby::(10 September 2003 - present)

Ultimi lavori:

• Take This Waltz (2011) .... (producer) [produttore]
• Trigger (2010/II) .... Hillary [attrice]
• Mr. Nobody (2009) .... Elise [attrice]
• Splice (2009) .... Elsa Kast [attrice]
• Away from Her (2006) .... (written by) [scrittore]
• Beowulf & Grendel (2005) .... Selma [attrice]
• Don't Come Knocking (2005) .... Sky [attrice]
• The Secret Life of Words (2005) .... Hanna [attrice]
• Dawn of the Dead (2004) .... Ana [attrice]
• Siblings (2004) .... Tabby [attrice]

Biografia:
Sarah Polley is an actress and director renowned in her native Canada for her political activism. Blessed with an extremely expressive face that enables directors to minimize dialog due to her uncanny ability to suggest a character's thoughts, Polley has become a favorite of critics for her sensitive portraits of wounded and conflicted young women in independent films. She was born into a show business family: her father, Michael Polley, appeared with her in the movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) and on the television series "Road to Avonlea" (1989); and her mother, Diane Polley, was an actress and casting director. It was her mother's connections that launched Sarah, at her own insistence, on an acting career at the age of four, following in the footsteps of her older brother Mark Polley. A second brother, John Buchan, is a casting director and producer. Her career as a child actress shifted into high gear when she was cast as the Cockney waif Jody Turner in Lantern Hill (1990) (TV), for which she won a Gemini Award, the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy, in 1992. Produced by Kevin Sullivan, the film was based on the book by Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables (1985) (TV). When Sullivan created a television series based on Montgomery's work, he cast Polley in the lead role of Sara Stanley in "Road to Avonlea" (1989). The series propelled Polley into the first rank of Canadian TV stars and made her independently wealthy by the age of 14. Her personal life was deeply affected by the death of her mother Diane from cancer shortly after her 11th birthday, a development that ironically paralleled the fictional life of her character Sara. Highly intelligent and politically progressive at a young age, Polley eventually rebelled against what she felt was the Americanization of the series after it was picked up by the Disney Channel for distribution in the US, eventually dropping out of the show. Though she does not blame her parents, she remains publicly disenchanted over the loss of her childhood and, in October 2003, said she is working on a script about a 12-year-old girl on a TV show. Polley, who picked up a second Gemini Award for her performance in the TV series "Straight Up" (1996), subsequently quit acting and high school to turn her attention to politics, positioning herself on the extreme left of Canada's left-of-center New Democratic Party. The publicity ensuing from her losing some teeth after being slugged by an Ontario policeman during a protest against the Conservative provincial government, plus the stinging cynicism from some other activists unimpressed by her celebrity, led her to lower her political profile temporarily and return to acting in Atom Egoyan's film The Sweet Hereafter (1997). It was her appearance as Nicole, the teenage girl injured in a school bus accident who serves as the conscience of the small town rent by the tragedy, that first brought her to the attention of critics in the US. In Canada, the role was heralded by critics as her successful breakthrough to adult roles. It was her second film with Egoyan, who wrote the part with her in mind when he adapted the novel by Russell Banks, who, ironically, is American. Predictions of an Academy Award nomination and future stardom were part of the critical consensus, and she received her first Best Actress Genie nomination from Canada's Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and the Best Supporting Actress award from the Boston Society of Film Critics. It was the buzz created at the Sundance Festival, where her starring role in the film Guinevere (1999) was showcased, when the entertainment media crowned her the it-girl of 1999. Intensely private and extremely ambivalent about the personal cost of celebrity and the Hollywood ethos Fame is the Name of the Game, Polley could be seen as rebelling against the expectations of mainstream cinema when she embarked on a career path that took her out of the spotlight thrown by the harsh lights of the Hollywood hype/publicity machine after shooting the film Go (1999). She dropped out of Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous (2000), the US$60 million mega-hyped vehicle that was supposed to make her a mainstream star in the US, choosing to return to Canada to make the CDN$1.5 million The Law of Enclosures (2000) for Genie Award-winner John Greyson, a director she admires greatly. The film grossed poorly in Canada and was not released in the US, but it did garner Polley her second Genie nomination for Best Actress. While her replacement in Almost Famous (2000) went on to win an Oscar nomination and a career above the title in glossy Hollywood films, she took a wide variety of parts, large and small, in independent films, including significant roles in the ensemble pieces The Claim (2000) and The Weight of Water (2000); bit parts in eXistenZ (1999) and Love Come Down (2000); and the lead in No Such Thing (2001). Her choice of projects showed her to be a questing spirit more focused on learning the art of her craft than on stardom. She has said that her choice of film roles, eschewing mainstream Hollywood movies for chancier, non-commercial independent fare, was the result of an ethical decision on her part to make films with social importance. A less-observant viewer might think that the rebel Polley played in her political life that had previously manifested itself in her profession was now driving her to the verge of career suicide in terms of popularity, marketability, and choice of future roles. However, that interpretation does not recognize the extraordinary talent that will always keep her in demand by directors, if not casting agents, with an eye on the opening weekend box office. One must understand Polley's career progression in light of her attendance at the Canadian Film Centre's directors program and her production of short films, including Don't Think Twice (1999) and the highly praised I Shout Love (2001). Polley is a cinema artist. This woman wants to make, and will make films. Thus, we can understand her career choices as a desire to work with and understand the technique of some of the best directors in film, including David Cronenberg, Michael Winterbottom, and Hal Hartley. Polley is as renowned for her intelligence as for her remarkable talent. The problem of the intelligent person in the acting field is that the actor, as artist, in not ultimately in control of their medium, and it is artistic control that is the hallmark of the great artist. The controlling intelligence on a movie set is the director, and her attendance at the Canadian Film Centre has given her a new perspective on acting. The actor, she says, should not try to give a complete performance for the camera (that is, control the representation on film) but must remember that the function of the actor is to give the director as much coverage as possible as a film, as well as a performance, is made in the editing room. According to Polley, this realization, that the film actor exists to serve the director, has given her new enthusiasm for acting. Thus, her career, and her career choices, can be seen as a quest for knowledge about the art of cinema, a journey whose fruition we will see in her future feature work as both actor and director.

Trivia random: Her father, Michael Polley, said of his famously independent daughter in 1997, "She was at her best when she was out of kilter with society in some way."
Citazione random: I always think it's a bit of a joke when I get described as an activist. Really, for two or three months of my year I organise stuff, but I'm not as involved as I used to be.

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

Splice (2009)

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Regista: Vincenzo Natali
Scrittore: Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant, Doug Taylor
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Valutazione: 6.4/10 (9122 voti)
Durata: 104 min
Paese: Canada, France, USA
Lingua: English, French

Cast:

• Adrien Brody .... Clive Nicoli
• Sarah Polley .... Elsa Kast
• Delphine Chanéac .... Dren
• Brandon McGibbon .... Gavin Nicoli
• Simona Maicanescu .... Joan Chorot
• David Hewlett .... William Barlow
• Abigail Chu .... Child Dren

Trama:
Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named "Dren", the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera, who forges a bond with both of her creators - only to have that bond turn deadly.

Trivia random: Delphine Chanéac, who plays the creature Dren, shaved her head for this film.
Citazione random: Elsa Kast: [crying] What do you want? What do you want?
Dren: Inside... you...

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Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.