It's easy to pile on Hollywood for its craven cash grabs, sequelitis and other low-hanging fruit harvested and passed off in the name of popular entertainment. It's also fair, after a glance at the top 20 or so openings of all time, to acknowledge that mass audiences have tended to let studios get away with such output over the last decade in particular. But if we're to take anything from the huge opening-weekend success of The Hunger Games, it might be to look at its place on that list — squarely in third place, below even better-regarded cinematic efforts Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and The Dark Knight. With this development, could crowds and critics alike have proven what the sheer volume of lesser hits would seem to contradict — that quality matters?
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Anyone? "I don't think the Oscars like commercial films, or kids' films, unless they're directed by Martin Scorsese. I was watching Hugo the other day and going, 'Why is this nominated and we're not?' I was slightly miffed." [Radio Times via NY Post]
Here's a treat for all of you out there who squealed in your seats when Ron and Hermione engaged in their passionate first kiss in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2. After the jump, watch as director David Yates explains how adorably nervous Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were when their big smooching scene came up, then behold, the sight of two young actors -- "they're like brother and sister," says Yates -- jumping into action, face-first.
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Yes, I know. You Harry Potterites well know what Horcruxes are -- the magical vessels that can house a fragment of a wizard or witch's soul -- but the rest of us Muggles might need a little refresher going into July's franchise-ender Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. Luckily, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort himself!) and others have put together a handy featurette packed with footage to explain.
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Perhaps in response to all those people left stymied by Hereafter's Oscar nomination for visual effects (especially when Tron: Legacy got shut out of the category, poor thing), Warner Bros. have released a shot-by-shot reel showing how VFX supervisor Michael Owens and Scanline VFX put together that nine-minute opening tsunami sequence. And when you see how the live-action parts came together combining CG, green screen, water tanks, and on-location photography -- well, "Oscar-nominated Hereafter" doesn't sound so silly anymore.
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