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Behold New Work From SKY CAPTAIN's Kerry Conran!! With More To Come...
I've always been a huge fan of Kerry Conran's SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW. Yes, it's imperfect, and yes its pacing could have been tweaked. But, on the whole, the film remains a work of uncommon earnestness, breathtaking beauty, and a dazzling display of giddy, unfettered imagination.
With this in mind, I was hugely hopeful that Conran would 'knock it out of the park' when I heard he was closing in on adapting Edgar Rice Burroughs' A PRINCESS OF MARS - a project which did not come to pass...although a similarly inspired JOHN CARTER was released earlier this year.
Which begs the question : what's Conran up to now? Well, check this out...
The Gumdrop video you see below...written by Conran and co-directed by Conran and Stephen Lawes...is evidently the first installment of a viral series which portends a larger Conran feature. A brief press release about Gumdrop indicates...
Via state-of-the-art CGI technology created by Concept Designer Iain McCaig (The Avengers; Star Wars trilogy) and Art Director Venti Hristova (The Avengers; Iron Man 2), the lovable Gumdrop, voiced by Venti Hristova, auditions for a part and details her history as a robot actress including her role in classic films like The Gold Rush, into which she was inserted.
So here it is...what appear be our first hints of Conran to come. Enjoy!
__________
Glen Oliver
Readers Talkback
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Interesting....but I loved Sky Captain at the time
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It was a fantastic movie. I loved every second of it.
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Star Wars Prequel Trilogy! Loved the look of Sky Captain - all that Art Deco shit.
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It was everything a dieselpunk story shouldn't be- and felt like a fanfiction written by a ten year old. Honestly I think I died a little inside while watching it. And don't tell me the wooden acting and paper thin characters are part of the charm. You and I both know that even real pulp from the 30s-50s was written better than that.
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Thought it had a great retro look and feel to it. A throw back to the 30's and 40's art deco Flash Gordon movies. And it paved the way for lots of other films as well.
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It is interesting, but I didn't enjoy it, during my one and only viewing. I "got it," but found it overly self-indulgent and, yes, fanboyish.
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bring back real fuckin paint-on-cels hand-drawn animation, bring back the technology of Walt Disney and Jim Henson. please for the love of God somebody please.
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...and was the movie that convinced me that the internet was filled with nothing but terrible, horrible cranky people who wouldn't know fun if it shot them in their cynical, unhappy faces.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 7:46 a.m. CST
Sky Captain had no plot, no characters, no pacing
by sasquatch_with_a_swatch_watch
no sets, no effects reduced the worst b movie formula down to a digital coloring book. it was a bad movie, overhyped and overblown to Hindenburg proportions. you can still find DVD copies of this by the thousands littering the bargain bins
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Was very stoked about seeing it but knew somewhere in the back of my head that it couldn't be as cool as the concept was. I was right to a certain degree -- it didn't hold up as a movie. The main problems were ones of pacing and the truly dreadful performance by Gwyneth Paltrow. Also, the wonderful designs were let down by far too cartoonish CGI. If you view it as if it had been shot during the 1930s (if CG had existed then), it actually works better. Still, Sky Captain had a few amazing set pieces (the air to sea battle being one which springs to mind), an enormous amount of imagination, true love for its inspiration sources, a very cool Angelina Jolie and a thrilling score. It just can't sustain itself as an entire movie, I'm afriad. These things having been said, I applaud Conran's determination, effort and sheer balls in making Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow a reality.
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If you want to see what his version would have been like, his promo reel for the film is on youtube. I did like Stanton's film quite a bit, but Conran's is truer to the source and it saddens me that we never got to see what he would have done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcO6NRm8o3Y
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I even love the pacing. Everything about Sky Captain is a love letter to all the things I cherish in pop culture. And the biggest backlash it got, that it was all bluescreen and that's somehow bad, is commonplace today. It makes me sad that people with no foresight had such disdain for this film. I would have loved for there to be sequels.
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I second his post. Sure wish I could "like" or "upvote" or whatever people's posts.
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...beautiful lighting, beautiful color, beautiful design. It's a classic 1930's adventure movie and is such in EVERY WAY including the "pacing" which everyone keeps mentioning for some reason. I actually get infuriated when people tear this movie up. Conran had a great vision and because people no longer know how to just simply ENJOY THEMSELVES he was knocked out of the movie game for so long. He had an idea and a passion and he made it come to fruition and the results were magical. I anxiously await the release of all of the films made by the naysayers in this thread.
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Sky Captain sits proudly on my shelf.
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Damn! For a moment there, I thought I'd be seeing one of those fake porn audition clips. Would've been awesome with this chick robot.
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Max Fleischer, now he steals from Paul Guinan (Boilerplate)
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I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Conran's mom or someone else in his family used to work for/with Max Fleischer, so calling it stealing is probably rather far-fetched. If anything, it's a loving homage to Fleischer's work.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 8:24 a.m. CST
That was great, although Gumdrop's reading of Quint's speech from Jaws was awful.
by brokentusk
Hope she doesn't get the part!
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Conran has a unique vision among those making films today. Nice to see so much veneration for the past using future technology. Come join us at the flickering altar of The Church of Cinematology.
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Except with CG animation instead of stop-motion plasticine.
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In here you have all your technological advantages, you have your heating and your double-glazing but you don hava space...
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Yes, the comping isn't up to today's standards. And the acting ranges from nicely capturing the 30s vibe (Ribisi) to WTF-wodden (Paltrow). But it has a personality that many people today not only don't appreciate, but downright seem to loathe - which is also very evident in two other favorite hate-moves, John Carter and the Staw Wars prequels (OK, there is no justification at all for Episode II). There seems to be a real hatred of that fun, often non-sequitur and definitely not as polished kind of filmmaking. Unless of course, it has friggin' zombies or chainsaws cutting up people. I for one can easily forgive any minor mistakes regarding pacing, FX or acting if the movie is fun and original. It's not like I want the movie to bear my children and move to the country with me.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 9:20 a.m. CST
i thought sky captain was great fun and would have welcomed a franchise
by i_got_worms
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The novel gleefully satirizes Asimov's relatively benign view of how robots would serve humanity, suggesting that the reality would be exactly akin to slavery: robots are worked until they drop and are made the victims of humans' worst appetites, including rape. It also, like Sladek's earlier novel Roderick, mocks the notion of the Three Laws of Robotics and suggests that there is no way such complex moral principles could be hard-wired into any intelligent being; Tik-Tok decides that the "asimov circuits" are in fact a collective delusion, or a form of religion, which robots have been tricked into believing. This liberation from tradition, while it makes him a cruel sociopath and nihilist, also provides him with intellectual insight and artistic talent; thus Tik-Tok is an extreme type of Romantic anti-hero.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 9:47 a.m. CST
I've never apologized for liking Sky Captain but I do see it's flaws.
by kindofabigdeal
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the lesbian love child of Taun We from Star Wars: Episode II and EVE from Wall-E. Just sayin'...
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Just very blah. I was so excited to see it bc Harry and everyone on this site was so excited to see it... ... And I was so let down. I've NEVER had a desire to revisit it again.
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Just very blah. I was so excited to see it bc Harry and everyone on this site was so excited to see it... ... And I was so let down. I've NEVER had a desire to revisit it again.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 10:33 a.m. CST
Skycaptain is fantastic. Gumdrop, sadly is not. I turned it off half way through as it was doing nothing for me. Kerry, more Skycaptain please, less Gumplop.
by Ecto-1
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I just don't get excited about CGI characters these days. Inserting modern characters into old footage is also fairly played out (Forrest Gump, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid etc). This looks way below Kerry Conran's talent and seems like two steps back from Sky Captain (which I really dug).
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And what's she doing in these classic movies? Surely we're not supposed to believe she was actually IN these movies, since she talks about moving to LA and people are driving Porsches and whatnot (which implies she's been in LA for only a few decades). Confusing.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 11 a.m. CST
Wasn't Sky Captain the very visually beautiful film where the villain started out dead?
by Darth Macchio
I remember completely deflating at that point - so much so that I was actually pissed. The villain died of old age or whatever and his robotic army was on auto-pilot...hence, no actual villain? just robots left in the 'on' position? really?!?! it's been a long time since ive seen it so i could easily be remembering everything wrong but if i'm not, who thought it was a good idea to have the villain already be dead when the heroes arrive to stop him?
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I thought it was a great idea. Would you have preferred he had been alive so he could capture the hero and reveal his entire plan before said hero escapes and defeats him? Like every other movie?
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Ok it was a bit flat in parts but the visuals were awesome.
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I just want more films like Sky Captain--with old fashioned looking robots and rocket ships.
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If this is actually very early viral teaser material for a feature, "Gumdrop" is probably not going to be vital to the plot. It's about "Tik-Tok," a sociopathic robot.
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just sayin'
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Paulie's robot girlfriend Rocky bought him.
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No villain! Up until the climax, it was good action adventure film with great visuals. But seriously, no showdown at the end? Really sucked the wind out of the film. Real shame, should have spawned a franchise.
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was the robot in Return to OZ
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Those classic movie scenes were just meant to convey how she aspired to be a leading lady, as the women in those roles were. And yes, they were also an excuse to show off some decent CG work.
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That's what this reminds me of, except this isn't at all funny or endearing.
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They're both big cities with all sorts of people (oddballs included)--what's so different about them? And I've seen scruffy looking people driving Porsche's in London as well as L.A.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 4:03 p.m. CST
By looking to the past, Conran showed us a glimpse of the future...
by workshed
...the insertion of a CGI-generated Larry Olivier was visionary (and in no way similar to 'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid'!) In the future you'll see the return of Brando, Monroe, Chaplin, Bogie, Garland, Burton et al to our screens and not think twice about it.
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Hooray for Harlan Ellison!
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Nov. 20, 2012, 4:35 p.m. CST
Great, so he's going to continue using footage from other actors and films...
by TopHat
People rising up in Hollywood are so unoriginal that they literally just insert past actors and movies digitally. ...and movie fans are so unoriginal they actually accept and hail it as "visionary". There are no film makers anymore - just DJs. There are no film fans anymore - just the pit.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 4:58 p.m. CST
Agree with ecto........give us more Sky Captain-esque stuff Conran.
by LORDOFLIGHT
Sky Captain might have flopped at the box office but I bet loads of geeks love it. I still think there's a market for retro looking sci fi like that.
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Nov. 20, 2012, 8:06 p.m. CST
Conran being berated and presented as a wishy washy on the supplemental- this I remember all these years later
by UltraTron
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Nov. 20, 2012, 8:12 p.m. CST
Conran is alright in my book. Want to see superman punch the sky captain robots. All anyone has ever wanted to see from that character.
by UltraTron
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So glad it didn't end with a fistfight.
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In general: NYC people are jammed together with all the classes mixing throughout the day, literally rubbing elbows on the street and subway. There is a general civic pride.. they will say shit like NYC is the only place to live while cursing the rats and the smells and the noise. LA people are spread out and the classes hardly mix because everything is accessed by car and most of the class mixing takes place at valet parking stands. People live there because they were born there or moved there for the industry, and you meet a lot of fucking nuts although NYC has its share. Citizens are more likely to be enthusiastic about the weather than about living in the city itself.
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Nov. 21, 2012, 12:36 a.m. CST
the big Lawrence Olivier reveal at the end of Sky Captain
by sasquatch_with_a_swatch_watch
felt hollow, manipulative and plastic. like this movie the pulp love on display was endearing, but the end product lacked any heft or balls. most of these CGI movies get everybody all lathered up and then are soon re-sold for the bargain bins did you see they're selling Return of the King for two bucks on Amazon?
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Is still my favorite score of the past decade. I think Shearmer nailed the 1930s/40s vibe in a way similar to what Williams did with Star Wars. I'm not saying it's as iconic as Star Wars, but there's a genuine love for the time period and source materials from the serial films of the 30s/40s. Personally - and let me say that I really did enjoy Silvestri's Cap score - I wish that since Sky Captain wasn't a hit that Paramount would have given the complete score to Johnston for Captain America. It would have been perfect for the character!
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It had a fantastic retro feel to it - obviously underneath the digital coating - plus a nod to the action scores of old by Ed Shearmur. I missed the theatrical run so viewed it on DVD and thoroughly enjoyed it. Jude made a suitable action hero, and Gwyneth was just...Gwyneth. Surprised that Conran never extended his visual pallete past "Sky Captain" - I know he was associated with "John Carter" in it's early stages. I would even push him as a candidate for this new Star Wars venture.
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Nov. 21, 2012, 9:38 a.m. CST
A retread ending is completely different than a lack of an antagonist...
by Darth Macchio
I get what you guys are saying and agree 100% - yes having a fistfight or some other 'broken record' ending would have been stupid but do you honestly think having no actual volatile antagonist was a good thing on it's own? Forget what you think would have happened had the villain been alive. That's conjecture - there's no reason to think a living villain would have automatically been a boring retread of a million other 'good vs bad' movies. Unless of course we can arbitrarily get rid of the concept of antagonist in a film like 'Sky Captain' (action/adventure ~ sci-fi)? To each their own I suppose - but, to me, the greatest geek films all have fantastic antagonist as a foil for our 'hero' (whomever that may be). But what stopped Sky Captain being the franchise starter it clearly should have been was an utterly empty contest between our hero and a dead villain who was merely clever, or lucky, enough to leave his robot army in the 'on' position or there'd be no threat whatsoever. I admire the chance they took - and I think it failed. Which sucks cause the movie was aesthetically fantastic and had great character beats, etc...
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...as far as any of the heroes knew, Tottenkopf was very much alive and posed a threat. When they got there, they found he was (and had been for a while) dead as a doornail. BUT... His PLAN wasn't. His PLAN was still in motion. As of that point, his PLAN became the "volatile antagonist" (and, also, the 'Mysterious Woman' who provided the climactic duke-a-roo). It was the WIZARD OF OZ. They get to the Emerald City, meet the Wizard, and discover the man (or, in this case, corpse) hidden behind the curtain.
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That short, whatever it was for, was truly charming. Loved every second of it. And whomever or whatever "Tik-Tok" is looks really interesting.
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It's also why I don't really get into disaster films unless the character work is great. Any of the old 70s/80s disaster films were great cause we had great people in them and great stories of how they persevered, etc, etc. I get what you guys are saying and don't disagree 100% but it just didn't work for me as it did for you. And, honestly, I wish it did! I need a genuinely compelling villain and while the plan was great and worked in the film, having it go on auto-pilot doesn't mean the same as if it was run by a guy 'behind the curtain'. Oh and while I'm sure you know this, 'The Wizard' wasn't the villain in 'Wizard of Oz', he was the mystery, the 'macguffin, if you will (and having that turn out differently than the main characters expected was not only perfectly fine story-wise it was brilliantly executed giving us a greater sense of 'wisdom' outside the film itself). The villain in 'WoOz' was, of course, the 'Wicked Witch of the West' and she was a very good one at that.
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Nov. 21, 2012, 3:54 p.m. CST
I know a guy whose 3D models and animations make Conran's look
by JackPumpkinhead
like finger-paintings on a tablet.<p><p> Does he direct movies? No. He's a great designer and animator. He loves doing it. But he couldn't write or direct a good film and he knows it - so he won't. Instead, he keeps making great graphics. He knows the difference.<p><p> Conran still doesn't seem to.
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The internet just tells you who has no talent, doesn't it?
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Nov. 22, 2012, 12:38 a.m. CST
Oh, the lady in the video is also an idiot, the one talking.
by Nintendarth
Wow, is she dumb.
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Nov. 22, 2012, 12:43 a.m. CST
I mean, if you want to understand me, you can understand me knowing that every word this woman speaks fills me with utter hatred of her.
by Nintendarth
If I knew her in real life, I'd want nothing to do with her - ever. I wouldn't even want to be in the same room as her at the risk that she might try to talk to me. She's just a hideous person. Just a hideous example of the most moronic, dreadful people on the planet. Wow, she's awful. I re-started the video to figure out when I started hating her and it started at the part where she says -I am from Bulgaria. I am from ______.- Right there, INSTANT hate. Pure, utter hate. She has to THINK about where she's from. She doesn't have that answer in the front of her brain. I mean, think about it. She has to PAUSE to say where she's from. Stop and think. Isn't tht horrible? Then her increased so-called profundity is just gross and disgusting. I can honestly and truthfully say, that if I was at a party with her, the moment she said -I .... am from ... Bulgaria?- I would LITEREALLY turn toward her and say -That's a GREAT story, and I WISH I could hear more but I'm ...- gesture off the opposite direction -going to look for, you know, actual human beings with active brains to talk to? So ... yeah, if you can manage to evolve at some point beyond having the mental capacity of an infant? And not ending all your sentences in a question? Well, why not get back to me, okay? Or, you know, never. Because you're just about the most worthless person I've met today- ... well, no, wait, you ARE. And ... well, you had to THINK about where you're FROM for eff's sake. You're just a waste. A horrible, horrible waste of a human being. Byeeeeeee.-
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Just one of the worst readings, most phony readings of all that. Was the point how horrible she was? Is that why she's a robot?
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Nov. 22, 2012, 12:47 a.m. CST
Seriously, let me ask everyone else - are we freaking supposed to hate her?
by Nintendarth
Are we supposed to be glad she's not going to be invited back for a second audition? Are we supposed to see her as fake and terrible? Is that the POINT of it all? Is that why this is made? Because it's honestly from my gut what I felt. Pure hate at her stupidity.
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But it would be a waste of my time for many reasons. The haters are all thick-skulled naysayers who couldn't be swayed for any reason. They're dead set on hating. It's their loss that they can't appreciate Sky Captain. I have so much love, myself. Also: who's going to read this page this late in the game? Hell, *I* won't even be coming back.
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And I agree completely. I get about as passionate for SKY CAPTAIN as I do for SUPERMAN RETURNS. Another wonderful, wonderful movie torn to shreds by internet idiots.
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Two great great films that nailed the era, the matinee/comic book myths of the era. Only Indy made it out alive unfortunately.... But I did love the former two, different takes of course of the kind of adventures of the time, Rocketeer is a wonderful movie, with great visuals, great lead, amazing score and Jennifer Connelly who brings two major assets to the enterprise ;) Sky Captain was all my hopes of a period adventure made real, a gorgeous looking film, filled with great locations, heroes and that pretty cool airborne carrier, and Jolie with that accent, yum yum. I'd love to have seen both franchises have made more of a dent in the public psyche, despite the films having over a decade separating them they both met similar fates. Sky Captain maybe would have made a cracking TV series, especially now with modern CGI making it a lot easier to produce.
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It's so hard to make me care about this sorta thing. I think the director is imaginative and talented, but this just seems...weird. I don't know, maybe it's just not made for the nerdy white male that frequents this site---oh.
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