Spy Kid Vega Sings
Alexa Vega, the 13-year-old co-star of the upcoming sequel film Spy Kids 2:
The Island of Lost Dreams, told SCI FI Wire that it was director Robert
Rodriguez's idea for her to perform in a Britney-like music video during the
end credits of the film. "Robert got the idea when we had a talent show at
the wrap party," Vega said in an interview. "The guys were supposed to do a
break-dancing routine, and they chickened out at the very end."
Added Vega, who turns 14 in August, "I didn't sing there, but I did like a four-minute performance, and that was a lot of choreography. And it was [co-star] Emily [Osment] and a couple of other people from the movie and me. We were dancing. It took us about a month to get four minutes of choreography. It was really hard, but we had so much fun. It kind of took off from there. Robert called me up on the telephone [later], and he goes, 'I've got an idea, but I need to hear your voice.' I said, 'OK. Hello?' He said, 'I'm not going to just give you this idea, I'm going to make you audition for it.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' He said, 'Sing to me right now on the telephone.' I'm like, 'What?' He goes, 'Sing something.' 'What would you like me to sing?' 'Anything. Whatever you think that you can sing to.' So I ended up singing When You Believe by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, because my voice can get really loud. But I just sang the very last part, where it's really loud. He goes, 'I don't know. OK, I'll tell you now. You passed.' Robert's hilarious. It just took off from there."
Vega admitted that she got ill just before shooting the video, which has her and co-star Daryl Sabara performing an original Rodriguez song to a theater full of screaming fans. "Actually, when we shot the video, I was really sick," she said. "I was throwing up. I had the worst voice, and as soon as I got there, I was supposed to record it that day. And I'm like [sick voice], 'Hi, Robert.' He goes, 'Why are you sick?' I just got sick on the airplane, and finally my voice sounded a little better, but I wish I wasn't sick, because I could have sounded better than that. But it was still fun." Spy Kids 2 opens Aug. 7.
Del Toro Working on Hellboy
Guillermo del Toro, director of the upcoming feature-film adaptation of the Hellboy comic series, told SCI FI Wire that he is deep into special-effects preparation. "We're on the fifth week of designing the film," the director said in an interview. "I'm going to go into a meeting with the special-effects guys and work on the clay maquettes [three-dimensional concept sculptures]. That's the stage we're at. We're locking up the monsters."
Hellboy will star Ron Perlman as the giant-fisted comic-book superhero created by Mike Mignola. A longtime fan of the comics, del Toro said that he would use the comics as inspiration, but would not base the film's images directly on the comics. "We're using it as a bible, as a reference for the colors and the textures of the movie, but not as a storyboard," he said. Hellboy is in preproduction for Revolution Studios.
Hellboy poster
On Thursday (August 1st) at San Diego Comic-Con, Dark Horse will be
distributing a free, limited-edition Hellboy Movie Teaser Poster at booth
#2115. The rolled poster is limited to 2004 copies-- referring to the release
date of the film. Find the two Dark Horse employees wearing Hellboy
t-shirts-- Rich Powers and Adam Gallardo. These are the only people you can
get a teaser poster from, and it is absolutely limited to one poster per
person.
Blade II DVD review
The Movie:
Late in the Summer of 1998, the original "Blade" was released. Although the trailer seemed to dazzle most audiences, vampire films hadn't met with much recent success and Snipes' box office record hadn't been particularly good. However, the film opened and actually delivered on the promises of said trailer - after a solid opening, the film went on to gross over 100 million dollars and become one of the Summer's biggest hits. Surprisingly, original director Stephen Norrington did not return for the sequel. Instead, director Guillermo del Toro ("Mimic") takes the helm and actually delivers a sequel that surpasses the excellent original, if not by a massive degree.
The sequel, also scripted by David S. Goyer, has half-vampire Blade returning to his fight against his vampire foes. Soon after the film opens, he's reunited with his former mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who was captured by the vampires. During an early attack, Blade finds out that the vampires actually want a truce in order to have him lead a band of warriors to wipe out a new breed of vampires called "Reapers", who want to attack both vampires and humans.
There's not a lot more story to be discussed and what story there is left unsaid is better left to surprise those who have not seen the picture. Both the original picture and the sequel have a fair amount of differences. Director Norrington approached the original film with a crisp, cold feel that actually aided the drama - the story was more involving because the characters were played with such perfect seriousness. Del Toro goes a different way, but one that's still equally involving - the sequel doesn't take itself quite so seriously, but still remains serious enough so that the story has punch and remains engaging. The sequel is a little less dark visually as well as a lot more graphic in terms of the violence, too.
The acting is again quite good in the sequel. Going with the overall tone, Snipes remains serious, but there's also a few more moments of underplayed humor here. Fine in supporting roles are Ron Perlman ("Alien: Resurrection") and Lenor Varela. Still, this isn't a film without faults. As impressive as much of the action is, there are a few sequences where CGI is obviously assisting in the fighting. As amazing as CGI can be - and there are quite a few instances in this film where it is used quite well - this kind of effect still is not seamless, at least in my opinion (part of one of the CGI fight sequences reminded me of the ninja cats in "Cats and Dogs"). A stoner sidekick for Blade, played by Norman Reedus, is also remarkably irritating.
Still, a few concerns aside, I found a lot to like about "Blade II". It delivers almost continuous action, moves along at a crisp pace, delivers a few surprises and provides the visuals and performances that fans were expecting. Again, while I only found it a slight improvement, I must praise director Del Toro, cast and crew for delivering a sequel that at least partially surpasses an original film that was quite good itself.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Blade II" is presented by New Line Home Entertainment in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. I've gone into great discussion in the past about the high level of quality that the studio's presentations offer. However, the image quality of "Blade II" exceeds even the quality of the best New Line product that I've seen in recent memory. Even though this is - not surprisingly - a dark film, the level of fine detail present is nothing short of extraordinary. There is a "three-dimensional" feel to the image that is highly pleasing, as well.
Trying to pick out any sort of faults with this presentation was certainly difficult, but I did find a couple. Edge enhancement was not spotted duiring the film, nor was any pixelation, making for a smooth and crisp looking film. In fact, the only flaw that I noticed was that there were a few tiny little specks on the print used in a couple of scenes. These were extremely small and definitely will likely go unseen by many.
The film's rich, dark color palette - often showing strong yellows, reds and occasionally, blues - looked stellar. Colors appeared vivid and well-saturated, with no smearing or other faults. Overall, this is outstanding work from New Line.
SOUND: "Blade 2" is presented by New Line in both Dolby Digital 5.1-EX and DTS 6.1-ES audio. As outstanding as the video quality is on this DVD, the audio quality is equally amazing. This is an extremely aggressive soundtrack, with surrounds that push both music and sound effects with exciting, full-throttle force. What's really enjoyable is that the audio doesn't sound "speaker specific"; instead, the film's audio really provides a seamlessly enveloping and immersive feel. Even with the heavy surround presence, the audio is skillfully mixed so that the attention is never drawn from the screen to what the surrounds are offering. I also liked the fact that, while the action sequences provided dazzling use of the surrounds, some quieter moments also made nice use of the rear speakers for more subtle ambience.
Audio quality is as forceful as the soundtrack is aggressive. Strong, deep bass is present throughout much of the film and sound effects come through with an unusually high level of clarity and presence. Marco Beltrami's score - which is often electronic, but occasionally tribal and slightly "Crouching Tiger"-ish - also was crisp and clear. Dialogue sounded natural, as well. Both the Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks provided an enjoyable audio experience, although the DTS soundtrack did seem to provide noticably richer bass and a stronger level of clarity and detail. Either way, this is quite the thrilling soundtrack - the definition of "wake the neighbors" audio. Note: Del Toro's "Mimic", which can be found in many places now for around $9.99, also offers amazing sound design.
MENUS: New Line provides some flashy animated main menus for both discs. Although those are quite nice, what really continues to please me about New Line's menu design is how terrifically easy the studio makes it to navigate through the material. Things like the fact that even the additional seamless branching material for the documentary has its own index makes the DVD experience easier and more enjoyable.
EXTRAS:
Commentaries: "Blade II" provides 2 excellent full-length audio commentaries. The first commentary is from screenwriter/executive producer David S. Goyer and actor/producer Wesley Snipes. The commentary with Snipes and Goyer is absolutely wonderful, as Snipes - who plays such a serious character - has a surprisingly wicked sense of humor and is occasionally hilarious. Goyer is quite entertaining, as well and sometimes does a nice job playing interviewer. Although a lot of their chat is relaxed and general, the two also manage to add a fine amount of in-depth detail about the production and some of the technical elements.
The second commentary provides the thoughts of Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Frankfurt. This commentary is similar to the other track: Del Toro is frequently witty and hilarious, while Frankfurt often serves as interviewer. Del Toro provides a terrific amount of information about shooting in Prague, some of the technical details and even some funny tidbits, such as how the director bought back some of the props from the first film which were auctioned on Ebay.
What I really loved about both of these commentaries is that they're not simply discussing how great everyone was or talking about what's happening in the film; they're providing genuinely interesting chat about what happened on the set and seemingly having great fun remembering working on the film. Both commentaries are highly recommended listening.
Isolated Score: The first disc includes an isolated score in Dolby Digital 5.1
The Blood Pact: This is the first feature of the Production Workshop, which is the first section on disc two. Ranking along with "Under Pressure" (on the "Abyss" DVD) as one of the most in-depth "making of" documentaries that I've seen, "The Blood Pact" runs no less than 83 1/2 minutes. Director Del Toro, actor Snipes, writer Goyer and many others take part in interviews, most of which are on-set. The documentary also includes a solid amount of on-set footage in Prague, allowing the viewer the chance to watch the crew working out the scenes. The documentary explores all aspects of the film, from the pre-production and story/concept creation to story to action to scoring. New Line even adds to the documentary experience by providing additional footage that viewers can optionally access at different points via seamless branching.
Scene Breakdowns: This section provides a more in-depth look at six sequences from the movie. Viewers are offered the chance to read and compare the shooting script to the final script (with a couple of exceptions where only one or the other is available), look through storyboards and FX planning sheets, watch a featurette that shows the scene being filmed or watch the final sequence as it is in the film. As I commented before, New Line's menu design is excellent and it adds to this area, as all of the elements are presented in a way that allows quick and easy access.
Visual Effects: Synethic Stuntmen: Although I mentioned in the review of the film that there were a few CGI shots during the action sequences that I didn't find entirely seamless, this fascinating documentary does at least take a very interesting look at the how the effects were completed. The visual effects artists are interviewed and discuss their work, but what I liked about the documentary is that much of it actually shows the visual elements being put together as the effects artists talk.
Visual Effects: The Digital Maw: This short featurette looks at how the effects artists added to some of the creature make-up work in the movie.
Progress Reports: Throughout the film's pre-production stage, makeup designer Steve Johnson kept director Del Toro updated of the work that he was doing for the film through videotapes. Although I expected this section to contain a few short clips, it actually offers what must be much of the footage that was videotaped - nearly an hour's worth. Viewers get a chance to watch as the effects artists prepare some of the many large and small physical effects seen in the film.
Notebooks: This section provides a few pages from the director's and script supervisor's notebooks. While the text is near-impossible to read, it's very cool to see some of Del Toro's early pre-production sketches that are included.
Unfilmed Script Pages: Script pages for three scenes that were never filmed.
Art Gallery: This still gallery is split into several sections, including: "Sequence Concepts", "Props and Weapons", "Costume Design", "Set Design", "Character Design" and "Storyboards".
Deleted Scenes: About 25 minutes of deleted scenes are included in this section, all of which can be viewed separately or back-to-back. Optional commentary from director Del Toro and producer Frankfurt is available here too and is actually occasionally quite funny, as Del Toro doesn't always have a very high option of some of the scenes that had to be deleted. The section even includes some very slight bits that were edited out.
Also: Trailer and theatrical trailer (Dolby Digital 5.1); Cypress Hill music video; "Blade II" video game promotion and DVD-ROM features, including script-to-screen viewer.
Final Thoughts: As much as I enjoyed the original "Blade", I felt that the sequel actually managed to slightly surpass the first film in many ways. New Line has produced one of their finest DVD releases so far for this picture - not only does the DVD provide stunning audio/video, but loads of supplements, too. Definitely a must-see DVD release.
Blade II: Platinum Series
New Line Home Entertainment
2 DVD Set
Dolby Digital 5.1-EX
DTS 6.1-ES
Dolby Digital 5.1 (Isolated Score)
Dolby 2.0
Subtitles: English
1.85:1
Dual Layer:Yes
Rated:R
114 minutes
Anamorphic:Yes
Region:1
Available At Amazon.com
Rick Worthy's Collateral Damage on video and DVD
Release date: July 30, 2002
Rating: R
Format: VHS Tape
Release date: July 30, 2002
Rating: R
Format: DVD
Disney Interactive Launches Online SPY KIDS Challenge Contest Based on the Upcoming Feature Film SPY KIDS 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
Kids Can Play Games and Collect Clues to Win Game Boy� Advance and CD-ROM Products Based on the Film
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)Disney Interactive, a leading worldwide creator and publisher of interactive entertainment, today announced the launch of the SPY KIDS(TM) Challenge, an interactive, online contest that puts kids on a mission to find clues that will help them become top scorers in four games inspired by Dimension Films' upcoming feature film SPY KIDS(TM) 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, in theaters Aug. 7, directed by Robert Rodriguez and starring Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara. Disney Interactive will award 1,000 players who reach ultimate spy status online with SPY KIDS(TM): Challenger for Game Boy� Advance or SPY KIDS(TM): Mega Mission Zone for Windows� 95/98/ME and Macintosh�, which hit Store shelves in August 2002. Published by Disney Interactive, both games were developed in conjunction with Dimension Interactive and Troublemaker Studios.
To test their spy skills, kids must visit the official Web site of SPY KIDS(TM) 2: The Island of Lost Dreams at www.spykids2.com or www.spykids.com. Once on the Web site, aspiring spies can click on the SPY KIDS(TM) Challenge icon where they will be prompted to play four different interactive online games:
Science Shack -- In this multi-level slider puzzle game, kids are challenged to unscramble images of one of seven characters from the film by sliding pieces around until the proper image is reconstructed.
The Temple -- Kids can ride a hovercraft to the temple, firing elastic wonders and avoiding animal obstacles in a quest for the transmooker.
The Tech Room -- Knobs, levers and screens light up in a pattern that kids must recall and replicate to progress.
The Treasure Room -- After players complete the first three games, the Treasure Room is unlocked. This game of concentration will reveal game hints and codes that kids can use in SPY KIDS(TM): Challenger for Game Boy� Advance and SPY KIDS(TM): Mega Mission Zone CD-ROM.
As kids play each game, their score will accumulate. At the end of each game, kids must submit their scores to qualify for the SPY KIDS(TM) Challenge contest. The top 1,000 scorers will receive SPY KIDS(TM): Challenger for Game Boy� Advance or SPY KIDS(TM): Mega Mission Zone CD-ROM.
During online game play, kids will be prompted to enter codes that will enhance their activities and potentially increase their score. Kids can collect codes through Dimension Films' SPY KIDS(TM) 2: The Island of Lost Dreams promotional materials, as well as on the exterior packaging of SPY KIDS(TM): Challenger for Game Boy� Advance and SPY KIDS(TM): Mega Mission Zone CD-ROM. In addition, codes can be found on the products, packaging and Web sites of Dimension Films' partners, such as Toys-R-Us, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Frito-Lay, Inc., McDonald's�, Tropicana, Isuzu and Colorific. Players can also invite friends into the challenge via e-mail for extra points.
The SPY KIDS(TM) Challenge contest begins July 15, 2002 and ends Sept. 30, 2002.
SPY KIDS(TM): Challenger for Game Boy� Advance
In SPY KIDS(TM): Challenger for Game Boy� Advance, our favorite SPY KIDS(TM), Carmen and Juni Cortez, recruit, train and challenge players to become new SPY KIDS(TM) for the OSS Secret Service. As a new recruit, players must score as high as possible in three unique games based on actual missions from SPY KIDS(TM) 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. Kids achieve a higher rank in the OSS as they master each new training challenge.
SPY KIDS(TM): Mega Mission Zone for Windows� 95/98/ME and Macintosh
Carmen and Juni are on a secret mission to find a new SPY KID recruit to help them protect the world. SPY KIDS(TM): Mega Mission Zone for Windows� and Macintosh allows kids to travel through action-packed locations from both the original SPY KIDS(TM) AND SPY KIDS(TM) 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, collecting gadgets and completing missions that make spying fun. As kids solve spy conundrums and battle evil, they increase their spy skills and earn powerful OSS clearances.
From an interview with the direcotr of Spy Kids 2:
Do you have any plans for the DVD and also a special edition of the first Spy Kids?
RR: Yeah I didn't know when to put out the special edition I've always been so busy, and I thought we are already doing Spy Kids 3 and it will be out next July 23, that means the DVD will come out that Christmas. I think I'll wait until then to do a triple box set that has all the making of's, and all the fun film school for kids, and do just one big thing, so I don't have to sell the people the same movie twenty times.
So does that mean this one will also come out as just the movie before you do a three pack?
RR: Right. This will probably come out, I think, in December or something.
So the extra scene you put into Spy Kids 1 that won't be available until?
RR: It won't be available, that's the best scene in the movie too. It's a great scene, they go swimming through a cave of sleeping sharks and they wake all the sharks up.
When was the decision made to go ahead with number three, since this one hasn't even come out yet?
RR: I called the studio back in March and said, guess what we're making? Spy Kids 3. They said, I didn't know there was going to be a three. I said, neither did I, but I've got an idea and I'm going to tell you right now. I told them the idea, and they said, "Oh my God, let's make Spy Kids 3."
When will you be shooting it?
RR: We shoot in November, yeah.
So you wrote the script already?
RR: I'm still writing the script, I mean, it just comes. It's one of those big ideas that just?you don't even have to write it, it just comes to you. Ahh, that's what happens next! I keep drawing it.
"Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams" Premiere
July 28, 2002 - Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Hollywood, California USA
A Martinez Leaving 'General'
RADNOR, Pa. (AP) A Martinez, the actor who has played Roy DiLucca on "General Hospital" for nearly three years, says he expects to leave that show soon to concentrate on "For the People," a new legal series on the Lifetime cable network.
"My typical week comes close to being unreasonable," Martinez says in the Aug. 3 issue of TV Guide. "I don't think it's wise to do two things like this at the same time."
His contract with "General Hospital" ends in September.
"My guess is I'll probably fold up my tent at `General Hospital," Martinez says.
On his new show, he plays Michael Olivas. He supports star Lea Thompson, who plays Los Angeles deputy prosecutor Camille Paris.
A Martinez: Lifetime's new legal drama For the People stars Lea Thompson as a liberal chief deputy assistant district attorney who finds her life in turmoil when a conservative D.A.(Debi Morgan) becomes her boss. Luckily for Thompson, Martinez plays her former husband and current confidant, a man capable of helping her make the best of any bad situation. In the new TV Guide, the handsome actor makes it clear that he doesn't want to renew his contract with ABC's General Hospital in September because working on multiple shows at the same time is too time consuming. Don't be surprised if daytime executives at ABC offer some green incentives for their man to hang around. Soap fans thought he was dead to the show once before. Anything is possible.
