luc besson Tagged Articles at Cinematical

This week, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released Leon: The Professional on Blu-ray, and because I have the best job in the world, I got to watch it for this column. The truth is that this was a formative movie for me, not only augmenting my budding cinephilia in terms of attention to and interest in strongly visual filmmakers, but in understanding the technical and artistic value of widescreen cinema. Before the film was released on widescreen VHS and later, DVD, I watched the pan-and-scan version when it was first released on video and almost got sick from the cropping and scanning of director Luc Besson's balletic camerawork.

Thankfully, I never have to watch it via that sort of butchered presentation again, and even if you don't think the movie is a masterpiece, at the very least, SPHE's new Blu-ray offers a gorgeously rich transfer that fully celebrates Besson's cinematography. But even though this is a film I've revisited several times since its original release in 1994, I was curious to see how well The Professional would hold up some 15 years later – which brings us to this week's "Shelf Life."

When it reached American audiences two years after it opened in France, 2006's District 13 (or B13 here) served as a breezy introduction to the art of parkour, not to mention director Pierre Morel's knack for shooting action sequences both energetically and visibly (an underrated quality, that last one). Morel moved on to Taken, though, while parkour began to infiltrate more high-profile Hollywood fare, like Casino Royale and Live Free or Die Hard.

However, writer/producer/all-around action maven Luc Besson stuck around to cash in on the promise of a follow-up, and now we're greeted with District 13: Ultimatum, a competent if flabby rehash of the first film's race-against-time plot and dystopian setting.

I've yet to determine whether John Travolta shot The Taking of Pelham 123 or From Paris with Love first, but it's nice to see him progress from a shaved-bald baddie with a fu manchu and a fondness for the f-word to a shaved-bald bad-ass with a full goatee and a fondness for the f-word. Such range he has.

Travolta's Agent Wax (yes, really) is teamed up with American lackey Richard Stevens (played by Dublin's own Jonathan Rhys Meyers) to prevent a terrorist attack in Paris (played by Paris). If the new expletive-laden trailer from Movie City News is any indication, there'll be plenty of wisecracks and crack shots in Pierre Morel and Luc Besson's follow-up to Taken, whose credits alone should've told us as much.

It's strange to see a trailer takes its own tonal turn towards the end, but it looks like things go from cheeky fun to Training Day 2. Let's hope the movie doesn't get bogged down in the same way come next February. You can check out the trailer after the jump, but bear in mind that it is a bit NSFW.

"We're more than just dogs on skateboards." YouTube plans to premiere their first * movie, Reuters says (via The Hollywood Reporter), in an apparent bid to increase revenue, reach profitability, and, perhaps, appear more appealing to advertisers. (The opening statement was made by the company's Paris-based partner development manager.) Yann Arthus-Bernard's documentary Home, produced by Luc Besson, will debut simulatenously in theaters and on YouTube, evidently in the near future.

As I'm writing this article, I'm also watching Werner Herzog's Little Dieter Needs to Fly on YouTube. (I have a 19-inch monitor adjacent to my laptop, which makes it easier to watch and work simultaneously.) The quality is good, though the commercial interruptions are jarring, the same as they are with other free, online viewing sites. The ads are played at pre-determined, timed intervals, and so often appear in the middle of a scene.

YouTube gained its fame from user-submitted content, of course, but, as Elisabeth Rappe noted last November, the video site has begun partnering with studios in order to present full-length movies -- MGM was the first. You can still easily find bootleg rips in 10-minute segments, though is quality is often atrocious and, of course, there's the important issues of legality and piracy that shouldn't be easily ignored.

Where do you stand on the subject of watching movies over the Internet on your computer? Have you embraced the concept, eagerly checking new titles added to Netflix's Watch Instantly program (or iTunes or Hulu or SnagFilms or Jaman or Amazon or ...)? Or is the very idea of viewing a film on such a small screen anathema to you?

* UPDATE: Thanks to Eric Kohn for pointing out, via Twitter, that Wayne Wang's The Princess of Nebraska had its world premiere on YouTube last year. I should have remembered, since Eugene Novikov wrote about it for this very site.

Ever know one of those guys who's always working? Well, if you were able to list their output the same way you could film directors, they would look something like the resumes of these guys. Once the number of movies gets up in the hundreds, it's hard to count because the IMDB starts to list things like participation in documentaries and talk shows, individual TV episodes, uncredited work, etc.. But even if the numbers aren't 100% accurate, the output of these seven filmmakers is indisputable.

1. Steven Spielberg
Love him or hate him, he's an uncanny businessman, a pure entertainer, and a genuine artist with a highly recognizable style (though he rarely transcends the middlebrow), and he has remained relevant for four decades. He has launched or at least aided some interesting careers, most notably Joe Dante (Gremlins), sometimes referred to as the anti-Spielberg, and Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit), who unfortunately went on to make more films. It would take a book to talk in detail about Spielberg's wide-ranging and influential achievements, from "Columbo" to the one-two release of Jurassic Park and Schindler's List in 1993. He's enormously popular, but he has his share of unsung masterpieces that intellectuals can continue to debate and defend. Indeed, in terms of both quantity and quality, I'd argue that few other cinematic legacies come close to this.
Title Count: nearly 500
Essential Films: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Innerspace (1987), Empire of the Sun (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

It's awesome, somehow, that Liam Neeson (along with some nifty marketing, it's true) can open an action movie to the tune of $24.6 million. Maybe it's the fact that Taken's debut at #1 comes after two depressing weeks when Paul Blart: Mall Cop inexplicably dominated the charts (and indeed, Paul Blart continues to rake in big bucks, falling off only 35% to second place). Taken opened in just about every other part of the world in 2008 and has already grossed nearly $70 million worldwide; put this one into the win column for Luc Besson and his production team.

The Uninvited's third-place, $10.5 million bow is a disappointment -- to Dreamworks, but also to me, since I think it's superior to most of the PG-13 horror that's been doing so well lately. (Certainly it kicks The Unborn's ass six ways from Sunday.) I think the advertising was a bit too stately, emphasizing Elizabeth Banks in creepy mode rather than the shock effects that tend to draw the crowds. Not a tragedy for the relatively inexpensive film, but perhaps a missed opportunity.

New in Town was defeated by a beatdown of scathing reviews, a wimpy, girly-man 1900-screen release, and a marketing effort that wasn't up to the task of capitalizing on Renee Zellweger's star power. Zellweger eats $6.75 million for breakfast.

For the first time since January 9th, Slumdog Millionare made less than it did the previous weekend, but it's up to a not-too-shabby $67 million cume. I wouldn't rule out $100 million before it leaves theaters.

The full top 10 after the jump.

One would like to think that they're only asking for so much when they opt to see a flick titled Transporter 3, and that fulfills our end of the bargain. We, the audience, provide the expectations, however modest, and they, the filmmakers, provide the execution. Frank Martin knows when he has to deliver; after all, it's his job.

Olivier Megaton, on the other hand... not so much.

Megaton has taken on the job after serving as second-unit director on Hitman. Given that both stories are about stoic bald dudes kicking butt across Europe with a native femme in tow, I'd guess that's as good a qualifier as any, though not good enough in hindsight. Our stoic bald dude is Frank Martin, natch, and he's once again played by Jason Statham with all the steely glares and ab crunches that come with the territory (and seemingly every role he takes).

Supposedly retired action maverick* Luc Besson, currently making the rounds on behalf of Transporter 3 (which he produced), told Collider that not only was 1997's The Fifth Element supposed to be the first in a trilogy, but that he also has vague plans for another sci-fi trilogy after finishing up the two sequels that no one asked for to Arthur and the Invisibles (see a pattern here?).

I must say: more power to the man if he just keeps coming up with ideas and happens to be good at executing them. As flimsy as his promise of retirement has been, if it brings us a sequel to District B13 and the reportedly entertaining Liam Neeson vehicle Taken (which doesn't open in the States until next January), then I can live with watching him keep on keepin' on, as it were.

(Well, except for those Arthur flicks, but perhaps that's a finger of blame better pointed towards the Weinsteins...)

*Us film bloggers are taking this word back, damn it.

I'm not convinced that the Liam Neeson kidnapping thriller Taken, due during this year's annual September movie wasteland, is going to amount to much. I can't get too excited about the concept -- former superspy goes after his kidnapped daughter instead of paying ransom -- and I'm not nearly as enamored with director Pierre Morel's parkour-popularizing debut, District B13, as other folks are. But I'll say this: the speech that's the centerpiece of the film's new trailer, which you can see above, is kind of a tour de force. Casting Neeson was a masterstroke, and the fact that he took the role speaks well of him, I think.

By the way: that's a masterfully cut trailer, don't you think? Quick, exciting; maybe a bit too revealing for my tastes, but still vague enough that it doesn't (seem to) give away the whole thing. I love the way it's driven by the sound of Neeson's voice, using it to build momentum.

The movie was written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, who also collaborated on the Transporter films. Besson, of course, also produced, wrote, and brought to prominence District B13.

I was determined to see Banlieue 13, or District 13, as soon as I saw David Belle fly feet-first through a transom. (That little ditty, in the middle of one sweet parkour scene, is above.) Action scenes usually don't prompt me to watch a movie, but the fluidity of the action was just too much to pass up. No, the film is not the greatest cinematic achievement; however, it did make me a huge Belle fan, itching for another Belle/parkour-based film.

And now it looks like we're getting it. Twitch noticed a casting call for Banlieue 14 on the official parkour website, and Allocine.fr reports that Patrick Allesandrin will direct the film, from a script by Luc Besson, when production starts next month.

While there was a casting call, I'm really hoping that this will be another Belle-starring feature. You can't really get better parkour than from the man who created it. Maybe Leito becomes a part-cop, or renegade hero, and sets out to help out other districts in France? Are you ready for more parkour?