Planet of the Apes Back on the Big Screen: Not Hard to Fathom At All

Posted on July 13, 2016 by geelw

Image from impawards.com

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but in case you haven’t read that old post, 1968’s Planet of the Apes was the very first movie I saw in a theater. That said, I’m not sure I’ll go to this Fathom Events screening thanks to my backlog keeping my plate full. But to anyone seeing this for the first time or for the first time on a big screen, my glass is raised that your sense of wonder gets the same kick mine did those many years back. If YOU do end up going and are reading this, feel free to drop on by and leave impressions. It’s always fun to hear how modern moviegoers see the classics.

SDCC 2014: IDW Gets All Nostalgic & Modern On You With A Slew of New Titles

Posted on July 26, 2014 by geelw

As you can see, IDW is certainly going all out with these new titles set to arrive in 2014 and 2015. I’m not a huge a fan of these sorts of comics as I used to be, but the title Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: Primate Directive made me laugh for a bit longer than expected, so I’ll have to peek at a few issues when it launches. That Edward Scissorhands book has my attention for the art style, as I’m a fan of the film, so again, I’ll be checking out a few issues over time. I was probably the only person my age who wasn’t terminally obsessed with the Garbage Pail Kids, so I’m a bit ambivalent about this new book. That said, I know fans of those old trading cards are grinning like mad at this announcement.

Angry Birds Transformers? Eek. Yeah, yeah… both are hugely popular franchises, but I’m of the mind that time-eating games like AB should stay in that realm and not cross streams with other media (although the multiple millions made in AB merchandising outside games proves me incorrect). Finally, Orphan Black seems like a fine enough choice for a comic series, but I’d prefer to see the show as the show and not need to dive into other media unless it’s going places the show hasn’t by exploring side stories for each of the clones. Of course, that would mean I’d need to buy some issues or a collection at some point down the road. In other words, I guess IDW will be seeing some of my money at some point in the not too distant future…

Random Film of the Week(end): Planet of the Apes (2001)

Posted on January 25, 2014 by geelw

Thanks to reports from around the internet and a few periodicals about all sorts of problems during the pre-production phase and more issues during the rather speedy shooting schedule to meet a July release imposed by 20th Century Fox, I certainly didn’t want to see the otherwise reliable Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake, but my mother sure did.

I was camping out at her place during that summer after a breakup and on the day the film opened, she pretty much rolled up on me and said we were going to the movies, so off we went. The funny thing was 33 years earlier, she took me, my older brother and sister to see the original film (my first movie experience), so I guess she was trying to jog my memory a bit out of the funk mode it was in. Well, that worked to a point as we both ended up not liking this remake much at all.

Of course, I ended up heading back to that theater a few days later to make sure I was sure I didn’t like the film… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Posted on May 4, 2013 by geelw

BtPotA I usually avoid sticking my nose into other people’s conversations, but I had to poke and sniff lightly into a heated debate this week about Alien 3 being the “only” major sci-fi movie where a main character dies in a “really dumb” manner. For starters, warts and all, there’s a pretty decent (albeit as bleak as rollerskating all the rings of hell in a day) first film in David Fincher’s often negatively discussed sequel/”finale”. I did a RFotW on that a while ago (note that link above – go read it if you’re still one of those who despises the film and maybe it will help out a bit).

And second,Ted Post’s 1970 film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes definitely did its killing off of many major characters (and an entire planet) during the last reel in an even more shocking (and some would say, “really dumb”) manner. It’s actually not a bad film at all, but by upping the shock value of the original classic by obliterating the earth it was definitely a film you didn’t walk out of the theater feeling happy and bouncy after viewing…

Continue reading →