The thing about being a kid in the 1970s and 1980s was that your view of television history is skewed by the advent of reruns. Ron Howard and Clint Howard are much older than me, and yet because of reruns of The Andy Griffith Show and Gentle Ben, and the original Star Trek, I feel like I grew up along with, or maybe only a little bit behind the characters these actors played at a young age. So for anyone who grew up with the Howards on television or those that only think they did by way of reruns, you’re in for a fun insight into the life of these brothers behind the scenes in their new bookThe Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, available now here at Amazon. Long before Ron would direct Solo: A Star Wars Story and Apollo 13 and Clint would populate all of Ron’s movies and act in most of the Star Trek series as characters from Balok to Muk, a young couple in New York tried to make it in the movie biz.
Get ready for your next immersion into adventure and fun, and it’s in 3D. I love classic storytelling methods that surprise the reader, from the Victorian to modern technology, whether it’s stereoscopic images, View-Master reels, lenticular images, pop-up books, or state-of-the-art digital animation. One of my very first books as a young boy was Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, with 3D diorama artwork and a lenticular cover. I’ve reviewed several 3D movies here at borg, too, from The Creature from the Black Lagoon to Jaws 3D, and Predator and Rogue One. French artist Matthias Picard’s roving young adventurer Jim Curious returns after his debut in 2014’s Jim Curious–A Voyage to the Heart of the Sea in his next book, Jim Curious and the Jungle Journey. It’s a complete 3D adventure using anaglyph 3D, that classic blue-red 3D style and includes two pairs of 3D glasses–just like the kind from 3D movies in the 1920s to the 1980s. The eye-popping images will take your breath away.
This week the Saturn Awards crowned the best of genre film and television, selecting the best works on the screen for the 43rd year. As with last year’s selections, although the start and end dates vary from our own calendar year list, this year’s winners aligned in the major categories with our own borg.com picks of the Best of 2016 from film and television. If the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Emmys, and all those other award recognitions leave you wanting, you can always depend on the Saturn Awards to come through for genre fans.
So we’re happy to see the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films name Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyas Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction in a Film (Gareth Edwards) and Best Film Visual/Special Effects (John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel, Neil Corbould), Doctor Strange as Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture and Tilda Swinton for Best Supporting Actress in a Film, and Star Trek Beyond for Best Film Make-up (Monica Huppert and Joel Harlow). Star of our favorite superhero sequence of 2016, Spider-man Tom Holland was awarded Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Captain America: Civil War. In the television categories, Riverdalewas named Best Action/Thriller TV Series and star KJ Apa won The Breakthrough Performance Award for his work as the iconic comic book character Archie Andrews.* The Best New Media TV Series was a tie, shared between Stranger Thingsand Marvel’s Luke Cage—and Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown was named Best Younger Actor on Television. Even a borg.com Hall of Famer won major kudos this year, Six Million Dollar Man actor Lee Majors was awarded The Life Career Award. We couldn’t agree more with all these selections.
Other works we liked last year that won honors included 10 Cloverfield Lane for Best Thriller Film, Best Actress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Best Supporting Actor (John Goodman), Deadpoolfor Best Actor (Ryan Reynolds), Arrival for Best Film Screenplay (Eric Heisserer), and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for Best Film Costume (Colleen Atwood).
Speaking of Mark Hamill’s performance in this year’s December release Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams said this past week, “I think we are all going to be very upset if he does not win an Oscar.” It’s a great thought, and certainly hits on what must be a significant role in this year’s eagerly awaited Episode XIII. But it’s pretty unlikely if the ghost of Oscars past has anything to say about it. This year is like most years when it comes to Academy Award nominations. Dramas monopolize the nominee categories yet again. When a genre is represented–also as usual–the representations are dramas in genre dress (like Passengers). The usual representation of biopics (like Jackie), movies about Hollywood (like La La Land) and historical dramas (like Hacksaw Ridge) are back as well, sure to take home some of the coveted trophies tonight. But nine nominees for best picture and no Midnight Special?
The best animated film category provides a little relief, with Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle, and Zootopia as nominees. Oscar winner Colleen Atwood is back as a costume design nominee with one of the year’s fantasy releases, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which also garnered a nod for production design. But why Fantastic Beasts? Compare Atwood’s reserved designs for Fantastic Beasts with her elaborate designs for The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Alas, Dave Crossman and Glyn Dillon’s landmark costume designs for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story were completely ignored, as were the hundreds of new, stunning, alien wardrobe designs and Starfleet retro-design uniforms created by Sanja Milkovic Hays for Star Trek Beyond.
As usual you need to look for the technical categories for the genre works. Star Trek Beyond and Suicide Squad, along with A Man Called Ove are the makeup and hairstyling contenders. Considering the fifty unique makeups designed for Star Trek Beyond in the franchise’s fiftieth year, this would be a triumph for the franchise. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story landed multiple nominations this year, including a deserved nod for sound mixing.
The Jungle Book. The Hobbit. Winnie the Pooh. The Last Unicorn. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. The Dark Crystal. Mouse Guard.
There is an exclusive royalty of fantasy tales featuring non-humans in fantastical realms. These books and movies should be on the bookshelves of everyone with an imagination. Strange worlds familiar and yet unfamiliar. Steeped in tradition, filled with myths and legends and populated by extraordinary creatures. These are fantasy masterpieces that make us look beyond our humanity.
Based on a world of characters he created in college in 1996, in May 2005 artist and writer David Petersen self-published the first of several stories of his micro-universe called Mouse Guard. In 2006 Archaia started publishing Mouse Guard issues books. Petersen earned the 2007 Russ Manning Award for Most Promising Newcomer, and in 2008 he earned Eisner Awards for Best Publication for Kids (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 & Winter 1152) and Best Graphic Album – Reprint (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 Hardcover). We at borg.com have been bragging up Petersen’s Mouse Guard series from the beginning.
This month Archaia is releasing the first Mouse Guard Coloring Book, and we have previews of the book below. It is a fantastic book to go crazy with crayons or pencils. But it’s even more. The more than fifty black and white illustrations in a format larger than what is printed in the Mouse Guard series shows the intricate detail of the environments, cities, and characters from across the Mouse Territories. Although some images are printed smaller than the original artwork behind these previously published works, this is the closest you may come to getting your hands on an affordable gallery of Petersen’s original pencil and ink drawings. At a convention commissioned inked 7×7 works from David Petersen go for $500. Original Mouse Guard pages sold for that amount a decade ago but would sell for at least triple that today. So this coloring book serves also as a look at what Petersen sees with his original art pages, as well as a great convention sketchbook. And costs less than $15.
The world needs more “nice” movies, doesn’t it? All the dark and twisted every time you go to the theater gets old fast. So why not a reboot of a Disney classic adapted for live action? The original Pete’s Dragon featured an animated dragon and this year’s Pete’s Dragon remake will feature an updated CGI dragon, furry, green, and huggable, now fully revealed in this week’s latest trailer.
Disney obviously isn’t after another Star Wars win, but with a young boy lead and some familiar stars like Robert Redford, Karl Urban, and Bryce Dallas Howard, it’s aiming for the next Harry and the Hendersons, Jurassic Park, or the Jason Scott Lee live-action version of The Jungle Book. From the trailer, we see more and more that Pete’s Dragon is the third part of a forest-based version of the Mowgli-inspired stories all coming back to the big screen: The Jungle Book, The Legend of Tarzan being the others.
Check out this new trailer for Pete’s Dragon this time featuring the actual dragon, Elliot:
The original Pete’s Dragon featured an animated dragon accompanying the young lead actor of the movie’s title. This year’s Pete’s Dragon remake will feature an updated CGI dragon, as revealed in this week’s latest full-length trailer. The film also stars Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard.
This Pete’s Dragon does not appear to be the stuff of the Disney blockbuster, but perhaps it will fit into the pocket of endearing, memorable films like Harry and the Hendersons or the Jason Scott Lee live-action version of The Jungle Book. Or, from what we learn from Howard’s character about the little boy raised in the woods without humans in the trailer, this could also go in the direction of Jodie Foster’s Nell. Then again, it’s a Disney flick, so probably not.
It is a bit strange that Disney is dipping back into its past so much coming off of a year of record sales from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Yet another remake of another children’s favorite, The Jungle Book, is due out from Disney this April.
In case you missed the Super Bowl this past Sunday and haven’t caught up on the movie trailers that aired, we’ve stacked 15 of them up here at borg.com for your viewing pleasure. Plus we’ve added The Lobster–a darkly wacky looking film that we can’t quite categorize yet. Is it science fiction? Fantasy? You be the judge. It may just be on that short list of quirky British comedies that manage to work (or not). Plus it has Rachael Weisz and Ben Whishaw so that’s something.
Let’s start with what looks like the best of the bunch, a live-action reboot of The Jungle Book:
Unless you’re watching the Super Bowl to actually see the game today, you can find all the commercials online today, freeing up your schedule to watch Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl XII. It’s hard to believe we’ve been watching this too-darned-cute puppy outing for twelve years now. Catch it throughout the day today on Animal Planet. Get more information, including how the event is helping animals, at the Animal Planet website here.
Many of the ads from today’s game have been released already, so take a peek at a handful of them below.
As with past years, commercials airing during the Super Bowl featuring dogs seem to be the winners, although Kevin Hart has a pretty funny entry in his Hyundai ad, and we could watch Arnold Schwarzenegger Mobile Strike ads all day long. Snickers is doing their thing again, this time with Willem Dafoe, and look for Christopher Walken in a car ad. Also come back later for expanded movie trailers from what is previewed below, including one from the fifth Jason Bourne movie.
Enjoy your chicken wings, and don’t forget your Tums, Rolaids, Gaviscon, etc.
I consider myself a big-time fan of Disney’s 1967 adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 work The Jungle Book. To me, it has always been Disney’s #1 animated movie–from the perfect George Bruns score and memorable songs by Terry Glikyson and the Sherman brothers, including The Bare Necessities, Colonel Hathi’s March, Trust in Me, and Abba Dabba Honeymoon. Back in 2012 here at borg.com I named it in my top five favorite fantasy movies. (Quick trivia: It’s even one of Clint Howard’s earliest projects). I even named one of my beautiful bear-cub looking dogs Baloo after the incredibly friendly best pal of Mowgli (and unsuccessfully petitioned the powers-that-be to name his sister after the protective panther Bagheera). Although the animation itself isn’t Disney’s best, it doesn’t take away from the fun of the movie. The animated version of The Jungle Book is a gem and a true classic.
So it was with some trepidation that I watched the first live-action adaptation of the story with Disney’s 1994 version of The Jungle Book. This time the jolly, sing-along music and talking animals were gone. But I was pleasantly surprised. Solid direction by Stephen Sommers (Catch Me If You Can, The Mummy, Van Helsing, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) plus excellent acting and faithful characterizations allowed Jason Scott Lee, Lena Headey, Sam Neill, Cary Elwes, and John Cleese to make a truly enjoyable dramatic movie.
In 2016 Disney is trying again with another live-action version of The Jungle Book, this time directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man) with a different twist: voice-over actors for the animals, including Bill Murray as Baloo, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Christopher Walken as King Louie, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, Lupita Nyong’0 as Raksha, and young actor Neel Sethi as Mowgli. Expect this version to be heavy on special effects. How will it compare to the prior versions? One plus is that the original songs from the 1967 animated movie will be back, as hinted at the end of the first trailer just released for the movie.
