THE BATMAN : Robert Pattinson plays Bruce Wayne and Batman in a 3 hour Action Extravaganza, or so they say !

 

Matt Reeves' new film THE BATMAN is not one to take its subject lightly. The film takes 3 hours to explain us who this character is that is denying himself a normal life and takes on these criminals with nothing more than his protective suit and a souped up car.

The film THE BATMAN stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and BATMAN but his characterisation seems to be that Batman is his true identity and Bruce Wayne his secret identity. As something rather new, Matt Reeves's film does show off Batman as a detective, which is something that we never saw before in any of the films. But where Pattinson is fairly interesting as Batman ( I think he comes across better than Christian Bale did at the time in the Nolan films), his Bruce Wayne leaves something to be desired.

I am not really impressed with the action. Not that we've seen it before but it is not really novel. Okay, this is a new look for the Riddler as well as a new look for Catwoman, (and Zoe Kravitz is quite interesting indeed as Selina Kyle) but three hours of rather relentless action, and the same continously droning noise that has to pass for music, no, thanks. Michael Giacchino is a composer who has done some memorable scores in the past (anyone???) but here, all he creates is 'mood noise' that does not give us any themes for the characters whatsoever. Give me DANNY ELFMAN any day !

But whatever I might be thinking of this film, it has its fans. And my opinion, even though that is the reason I am writing this, is not really of importance to those who like this film. Yes, there are good elements in this film. But if I recall properly, I was not particularly impressed with BATMAN BEGINS either. So if a sequel will be made, I hope it will be better than this film. I hope it will be of normal length and I hope Bruce Wayne will look like what Bruce Wayne should look like.

In the meantime, I have read that a sequel has already been greenlit. That means Pattinson and Reeves will be back for a Part 2. But I suppose that will take a good 2 to 3 years to make. I, for one, am not holding my breath. I do not see Pattinson as the future of Batman on film. Personally, I feel no one has yet surpassed Michael Keaton as Batman and I don't care what you say: I think Ben Affleck was terrific as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. But okay, I will see The BATMAN 2 when it comes. And You ???

ENNIO : a new documentary by Giuseppe Tornatore !

 

This is what we were waiting for all along. Director Giuseppe Tornatore has finally made his documentary ENNIO available in the cinemas and on streaming services. And what a treat it is! Not just for film music lovers, this documentary deals also with a good deal of film history, from 1961, when Morricone did his first work for film, until 2 to 3 years ago. 

Giuseppe Tornatore, who has worked with Ennio Morricone on films like CINEMA PARADISO, STANNO TUTTI BENE, THE LEGEND OF 1900, MALENA and THE BEST OFFER, takes us on a musical history lesson here by talking to Ennio himself about his earlier work. He also talks to other people who have been meaningful in the life of the Maestro: one of his teachers, Goffredo Petrassi is seen talking how proud he was to see his star pupil become so succesful in his lifetime. 

I have had the good fortune of seeing Maestro Morricone conduct his music in several concerts. Every time, it was a great treat of hearing his music performed live by a renowned orchestra. Quite something else than just playing your cd's. And even if Morricone may not come across as a very sympathetic character, he does tell of his work with great passion in this documentary. And why not? His music was his passion !!!!

In speaking with directors like Sergio Leone, Giuliano Montaldo and Quentin Tarantino, this documentary also delves a bit into the side of the making of a film and shows then how Morricone's music helps the film make a big statement. After all, how often do you not find out that the music is the last step in the film's production? 

Normally, the music also is not allotted a proper budget but with Ennio Morricone as the composer one would have a big name there. And in many cases, Morricone also composed the music on the basis of the screenplay and the music would be recorded and then played for the actors while performing. This would often influence the acting itself as well.

A good number of films that are mentioned I was fortunate enough to have seen. (Not a lot of Italian films end up in this part of European cinemas.) A good number of albums and cd's I have myself as well. This means that many points of recognition can be found in this documentary and Morricone's career is highlighted on every side. (Also his experimental music in the Nuovo Consonanza group, that I don't much care for, is talked about.) Also Morricone's fondness for chess is a nice moment, as we see him play with similar passion as he works on his music. 

The Mission, a historical drama by Roland Joffe, is definitely one of Morricone's best scores and when this film was nominated for Best Original Score, it was heartbreaking to see Herbie Hancock win that year for AROUND MIDNIGHT, a film about jazz music. 

Not that AROUND MIDNIGHT was not good in terms of music, but it was jazz music, not an Original Score and it should not have gotten the Oscar in the Best Original Score category. We (including Ennio, who left the ceremony early) were heartbroken to see this Morricone gem overlooked. 

The Academy later saw fit to give Ennio an Oscar for his whole body of work and in 2018, they awarded him the Best Score Oscar for Quentin Tarantino's film THE HATEFUL EIGHT. 

It was a great shock, 2 years ago, when we heard that Ennio Morricone had passed away. But in his long and wonderful life, he has left us so much wonderful music that I can only say: GRAZIE, MAESTRO, GRAZIE !!!

ENNIO is now in cinemas and can be seen on streaming services. Look for it, it is definitely worth it.

STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE: The Directors Edition Now Upgraded to 4K (HD) for the Blu Ray Markets !!

 

The original television series STAR TREK ran from 1966 to 1969 but was repeated all the time after that. But in 1978 this teaser poster was released, promising a new film in December 1979. Of course, this meant that director Robert Wise did not have enough time to fine tune his film. 

From left to right, Leonard Nimoy (Spock), director Robert Wise, producer and creator Gene Roddenberry, DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) and William Shatner (Kirk) posing for a publicity shot.

Robert Wise did not want to release Star Trek The Motion Picture the way it was done in December 1979 because he had had no time to finetune the editing and there was still a lot of work to be done on it. Paramount had however presold the film for the Cinemas in this time slot so there was nothing that could be done. Let's just say that Star Trek The Motion Picture was interesting to watch but maybe it was a little bit too much for just the fans of the original show.

In 2000 Robert Wise was given permission by Paramount to "finish" the film as he had wanted to for a special DVD release. This was released as STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE: The Director's Edition.

And although the film now looked a whole lot better than before, it was not yet HD. HD TV arrived only a few years after and the first series to have the benefit of that was Star Trek: Enterprise, which was also released directly on Blu Ray. But Star Trek The Motion Picture the Director's Edition had been a major investment by Paramount that was not an easy fit for HD formatting. The new masters that had been made of the film were unsuitable for a Blu Ray upgrade so the first Star Trek The Motion Picture blu ray release was still the theatrically released film. 

Now 20 years later, Star Trek The Motion Picture The Director's Edition has been upgraded to 4K, which immediately makes it suitable for a blu ray release. 

As a belated 40th anniversary, the 4K edition can now be seen on Paramount Plus or whatever you stream from. Mind you, this does not make the film inherently better. It just improves the way in which the story is told, so you can understand better what is going on. 

The immense quality of this 4K upgrade can easily be seen in the outer space shots, the special effects shots and the V'Ger Interior FX shots, which are considerably clearer than before. The story is improved upon in this way because now, you can understand it better. Unfortunately, it still is a film that takes it's time and does not allow all the cast members to have their best moments. Sulu and Uhura really don't have much to do.

But still, seeing the old cast back again as they were in 1979 is a joy I cannot possibly describe in words. STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE was not perfect, even as the Director's Edition, but it did show us Star Trek still had a future we could look forward to.