The Princess Bride

Tag Archive: The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride redux–100 actors create a backyard version of the fantasy classic for charity

Filed under: Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix, TV — Leave a comment

July 19, 2020

Why do you wear a mask?

I think they are just terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.

Since–like everyone else–actors are unable to do their jobs until the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, many have offered up some of their time over the past 120 to 150 days to provide fans with extra interviews, table reads (like the Community table read we discussed here at borg), and comic-cons at home, creating some content for the fan base we wouldn’t have otherwise had access to without this strange new normal of sheltering at home, social distancing, and masks. If you don’t subscribe to or know what Quibi is, you may have missed the latest–an ensemble of actors from popular to more obscure re-enacting scenes from Rob Reiner’s fan-favorite fantasy, comedy, and romance, The Princess Bride.

The style is all intentionally low budget–think of the kind of backyard films you might have made as a kid, and in fact, the film is called Home Movie: The Princess Bride. But it’s great fun, all filmed with quarantine safety rules in place (those filming together were already living together), and the kind of thing any classic film fan base would be overjoyed to see created. The best part is learning who had actual historical costumes in their closet to work with (Mad Men man Jon Hamm had a Renaissance shirt in his closet, as did comedic actors Neil Patrick Harris and David Spade, and Rogue One’s Diego Luna), those who didn’t, and who might be better actors than you’ve given them credit for.

Continue reading →

Tags: Andre the Giant, Andrew Bachelor, Andy Serkis, Brandon Routh, Bryan Cranston, Carl Reiner, Cary Elwes, Chris Pine, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Common, coronavirus delays, Dave Bautista, David Oyelowo, David Spade, Diego Luna, Don Johnson, Elijah Wood, Ernie Hudson, Finn Wolfhard, Fred Savage, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Ghostbusters: Afterlife delay, Giancarlo Esposito, Home Movie The Princess Bride, Hugh Jackman, James Van Der Beek, Jason Reitman, Jason Segel, JK Simmons, John Cho, John Malkovich, Jon Hamm, Kaitlyn Dever, Keegan-Michael Key, Mandy Patinkin, Mark Knopfler, Mckenna Grace, Natalie Morales, Neil Patrick Harris, Norman Lear, Patton Oswalt, Paul Rudd, Pedro Pascal, Penelope Cruz, Quibi, Rainn Wilson, Rob Reiner, Sam Rockwell, Sarah Cooper, shelter at home, shelter at home 2020, Sophie Turner, Taika Waititi, The Princess Bride, Tiffany Haddish, Wallace Shawn, William Goldman, Zazie Beetz, Zoe Saldana

Read More & Comment

New book reveals auteur Ray Harryhausen’s lost scenes and projects that might-have-been

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix — Leave a comment

September 18, 2019

Review by C.J. Bunce

As in any creative industry, as much as Hollywood is rife with successes, far more projects barely make it past the idea stage. Others make it through preliminary steps only to get left behind, most never heard of again. Decisions are made, offers are given, and you move forward. The fact that Tom Selleck rejected the role of Indiana Jones is a famous footnote to movie history. Most recently Amanda Seyfried recounted rejecting the role of Gamora in the Marvel films. A Mouse Guard movie made it through pre-production before getting stalled. For every successful project, how many others are left behind? If you’re as iconic as filmmaker Ray Harryhausen, you might have even more projects left in the discard pile than others. Those might-have-been projects, rejected ideas, and even scenes that made it beyond mere idea to concept art come together in John Walsh’s new look at the auteur and father of stop-motion creatures, Harryhausen: The Lost Movies.

Ray Harryhausen’s creations were cutting edge for the first century of cinema, their creator a special effects visionary who found his niche in fantasy worlds, via films like One Million Years B.C., Clash of the Titans, and Jason and the Argonauts. Documentarian John Walsh met with Harryhausen, who died in 2013, to film a documentary about the filmmaker, and along the way he chronicled 70 projects Harryhausen considered but did not go through with, including script and concept art material. Some of these are projects he was asked to participate in and couldn’t find a fit, or films he passed up for other projects, including films anyone could see translated by Harryhausen, like Conan, Tarzan, King Kong, Moby Dick, John Carter of Mars, and Beowulf. Then there are those surprises fans could only dream about, like Harryhausen’s take on The Empire Strikes Back, The Princess Bride, Dune, or X-Men. Harryhausen: The Lost Movies provides fans with a glimpse into Harryhausen’s involvement in these projects, some with photographic clues of how his input might have resulted in very different films.

Pulling together some never-been-seen-before artwork, sketches, photos, and screencaps of test footage from the Harryhausen Foundation archives, Walsh creates a scrapbook of sorts, an artist’s sketchbook. Harryhausen considered every other major classic fantasy and fairy tale to utilize his brand of special effects storytelling. He created test footage for H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, but his letter to Orson Welles was not answered. His alien designs from that footage are in this book.

Continue reading →

Read More & Comment

Celebrities from TV and film head to Planet Comicon Kansas City in two weeks

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment

March 16, 2019

Captain Kirk, The Fonz, Chewbacca, The Flash, Starbuck, the Weasleys, two Supermans, Tank Girl, and a slate of characters from The Princess Bride are heading to Kansas City

For twenty years Planet Comicon has been one of the Midwest’s biggest comic book and pop culture conventions and that was no less so in 2014 when it became the largest attended event in the history of the Kansas City Convention Center. And it’s only gotten bigger. Last year’s show featured guests including Jason Momoa, John Cusack, Michael Rooker, Danny Trejo, and Alan Tudyk, and this year Planet Comicon Kansas City is bringing in some of the most memorable names from TV and movies from the past and present for its 20th anniversary show. Leading things off, Captain (and Admiral) James T. Kirk, William Shatner is returning to Kansas City for the annual event, which takes place at Kansas City’s convention center at Bartle Hall, March 29-31, 2019.

The guy who invented cool, the first person to “jump the shark,” Arthur Fonzarelli “The Fonz” from Happy Days actor Henry Winkler is making his first comic-con appearance in Kansas City. Star of last year’s big Star Wars event, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo is scheduled to attend. Star of one of the best sci-fi TV series of all time–the reboot of Battlestar Galactica–Starbuck actor Katee Sackhoff will be appearing at the show. Two co-stars of the CW’s The Flash will be on-hand for autographs and photographs: Danielle Panabaker and the original 1990 Flash, John Wesley Shipp, both attending the event for the first time. And for more of your superhero retro fix, two Superman actors, Lois & Clark’s Dean Cain and Smallville star Tom Welling, will have autograph booths on the convention floor.

Famous for her role as Tank Girl, and star of A League of Their Own and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, actor/director Lori Petty will be in the house. Harry Potter fans can meet actors that portrayed three of their favorite Weasleys: Ginny Weasley’s Bonnie Wright, and brothers Fred and George, James Phelps and Oliver Phelps. Also in the fantasy movie realm, three stars of The Princess Bride are making their way to Planet Comicon 2019: Westley’s Cary Elwes will join Prince Humperdinck’s Chris Sarandon and the inconceivable Vizzini himself, actor Wallace Shawn.

–there’s something for every TV and movie fanboy and fangirl at this year’s show.

Continue reading →

Read More & Comment

SDCC 2018–Savage encounters at Comic-Con

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Con Culture, Movies, TV — Leave a comment

July 24, 2018

Consider this your moment of San Diego Comic-Con zen.

This weekend I got a chance to visit Weta Workshop’s booth at the San Diego Convention Center. Lucky for me I was there the same time as Mythbusters and Tested’s Adam Savage. I got to marvel at Adam while he got to marvel at one of the many incredible artisans from New Zealand’s Weta Workshop, presenting at their booth before one of Adam’s panels (the Weta folks gave him his own sword of Boromir from The Lord of the Rings). This is what genuine curiosity looks like. Adam often attends the show incognito, so actual sightings are a bit rare, and he was quite fun to watch being another one of us at the Con.

Then a funny thing happened.

Continue reading →

Tags: Adam Savage, Adam Savage Comic-Con 2018, Comic-Con, Frank Cho, Fred Savage, Fred Savage Comic-Con 2018, Friends from College, Savage Wolverine, SDCC 2018, Tested, The Princess Bride, WETA Workshop

Read More & Comment

The Clockwork War, a new steampunk tale for kids

Filed under: Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms — Leave a comment

May 22, 2018

Review by C.J. Bunce

Originally self-published via Kickstarter as With Kind Regards from Kindergarten, a new steampunk children’s chapter book arrives at bookstores this month from Insight Kids, renamed The Clockwork War. Bookended by a grandmother trying to persuade a hesitant granddaughter to give kindergarten a try, in the style of William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, Kline creates a fantasy tale about an orphanage, two friends, and a giant oak tree to nudge the granddaughter along. Addressing those time-honored angsts of childhood: bullies, advertising, commercialism, roaches, the lack of monsters under one’s bed, plastics, progress for progress’ sake, soot and smog, and henchmen, author Adam Kline assembles a clockwork fantasyland in a fable style pointing young ones to the inevitable lesson that at some point everyone must “rise to the occasion.”

Karlheinz Intergarten and Leopold Croak begin their story under the tutelage of Miss Understood and her orphanage, both fast friends with active imaginations. Miss Understood will be likeable for kids, full of mixed-up (but apt) sayings like “the early nerd gets the worm,” “all’s well that smells well,” and “money can fry happiness.” While playing in the giant oak tree during a storm, Leopold is struck by a lightning bolt, and loses his imagination. Lonely when Leopold no longer wants to play, Karlheinz (Karl) leaves town to become apprentice to a clockmaker, whose companion is a clockwork mouse named Pim. Many years later Karl becomes a brilliant clockmaker in his own right, and when his mentor dies he returns with Pim to the town of his youth to find it dying and polluted, driven into the ground by the richest man in town: his old friend Leopold, who has lost sight of fun and friendship and focuses only on his corporation and his moneymaking, popular line of electronic toy girl dolls. He has seemingly forgotten the needs of his real daughter, who is perched above town away from all others, allergic to everything but cucumber tea.

“Some rats are evil, Pim,” sighed Karl. “I won’t argue that. But they’re almost never born that way.” And this is true–of rats, of cats, of dogs, and everything else. It’s especially true of people.

A clockwork fly and mouse, a hungry dog, cats’ fear of any loud noise, a giant thug, a pirate ship, and a dragon all come together under Karl’s guidance to teach lessons to both Leopold and the granddaughter at home hearing the tale. Kline pulls themes and styles from a variety of classic and modern sources, from Pinocchio to Edward Scissorhands, from Aesop’s Fables to the Grimm television series and Mouse Guard, and from The Invisible Man and Hugo to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Continue reading →

Tags: Adam Kline, chapter books for kids, Dan Whisker, Insight Kids, Kickstarter, steampunk, The Clockwork War, The Clockwork War book review, The Princess Bride, With Kind Regards from Kindergarten

Read More & Comment

Director Rob Reiner’s fantasy classic The Princess Bride, thirty years later

Filed under: Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix — Leave a comment

October 21, 2017

Last week The Princess Bride turned 30 and it returned to theaters this week as part of the Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies partnership (more classics are on their way to your local theater so keep an eye on the Fathom Events website for updates). We’re big fans of The Princess Bride here at borg.com–more than five years ago it made 3 of our 4 lists of all-time favorite fantasy films. This week’s screenings included Ben Mankiewicz interviewing director and producer Rob Reiner, and what shines through is Reiner’s enthusiasm for the film, three decades later. He’s had several hits, from This is Spinal Tap to A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and The American President, and more, and now in theaters is his latest–LBJ. But so few films are beloved like The Princess Bride.

Why does it work so well? Part of the film’s success is due to its sincerity. It’s true to its source material, William Goldman’s novel The Princess Bride–the favorite of the author’s works. Reiner tells a story of the difficulty in getting novelist William Goldman to sign over the film rights. After countless big names were denied, Reiner was successful by agreeing simply not to change the story. Goldman, who won Oscars for his screenplays to All the President’s Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, also penned the film adaptation, further ensuring his original vision. The story is bookended as only a fairy tale could be told (with a few interruptions) by Peter Falk’s Grandpa and Fred Savage’s Grandson, just having storytime. The Grandson’s 1980s room provides plenty of nostalgia for kids from the period–a “Refrigerator” Perry poster, a Cubs pennant, Burger King The Empire Strikes Back drinking glass, He-Man action figures–this Chicago kid had a fun room. But the family bonding is the thing–an old book keeping a story that bridges generations, inside the movie and out, told by an old man with glasses, gray hair, and a fedora. And the story is sweet and about love–nothing in the movie is embarrassing or gross or disturbing–it’s safe territory to kick back and have a good time–for everyone.

Rob Reiner’s humor must also be a big component of the film’s success and appeal. His choices, his casting, his own humor comes through, no doubt influenced by a lifetime in film thanks to his comedy dad Carl Reiner. Carl belonged to that classic comedy school that also includes Mel Brooks. It’s Brooks’ Young Frankenstein that The Princess Bride reminded me of the most in the theater. What Young Frankenstein was to classic monster movies, The Princess Bride was for the fantasy film genre. Is The Princess Bride a parody? It doesn’t have those obvious, direct ties to specific classic scenes like Young Frankenstein, but it’s an homage to several–from Errol Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood to Zorro and from Ivanhoe to Captain Blood and Sleeping Beauty. The Pit of Despair, where Cary Elwes’s Dread Pirate Roberts is tortured, looks as if it could have been designed by the same crew as the laboratory set in Young Frankenstein (it didn’t but it did share its set designer–Richard Holland–with fantasy classics Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal). But Rob Reiner’s humor is his own. He never sits on a joke like the old masters of Hollywood comedy. He leaves a laugh and keeps moving, which keeps in step with classic fantasyland storytelling. You can laugh but the goal is the goal: Rescue the Princess!

The classic archetypes are there: the Princess (Robin Wright), the Farmboy Hero (Elwes), the Three Woodsmen (Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant), a Wizard (Billy Crystal), a Crone (Carol Kane), an Albino (Mel Smith), and plenty of Villains including the Evil King (Chris Sarandon)–with a classic “rescue the Princess” plot. But the movie is also unique. What else has Rodents of Unusual Size? The accents of Wallace Shawn as Vizzini and Peter Cook as the Impressive Clergyman? An ad-libbing Billy Crystal partnered with a wonderfully badgering Carol Kane (Humperdinck! Humperdinck!)? A real giant? Two brave, swashbuckling heroes and two key villains (don’t forget Christopher Guest’s Count Rugen). And the quotable lines! It surely has as many big lines as Caddyshack: As you wish… My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my Father. Prepare to die… Never get involved in a land war in Asia!… Inconceivable!… I do not think that word means what you think it means… Mawwiage! … And an endless litany of “boo”s. The Pit of Despair! The Cliffs of Insanity!

Continue reading →

Read More & Comment

Buttercup, Batman, Barbossa, Buddy, Bond and more–Prop Store lines up giant entertainment memorabilia auction for September

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment

September 13, 2017

For more than six years we at borg.com have been covering entertainment memorabilia auctions–sales of not merely replicas or mass-produced collectibles, but the real objects seen on film–rare or even one-of-a-kind costumes created by award-winning Hollywood costume designers, detailed props created by production crew, model vehicles created by special effects departments like Industrial Light and Magic, prosthetics created by famous makeup artists, set decoration, concept art, and much more. Amassing a wide variety of artifacts from classic and more recent film and television history, London and Los Angeles-based Prop Store is hosting its annual auction later this month. Known for its consignment of some of the most well-known and iconic screen-used props and costumes, Prop Store’s ultimate museum collectibles auction will be open for bidding from anyone, and items will be available at estimates for both beginning collectors and those with deeper pockets.

The Prop Store Live Auction: Treasures from Film and Television will be auctioning off approximately 600 items. You’ll find the following movies and TV shows represented and more: 3:10 to Yuma (2007), 300, Aliens, Back to the Future films, Blade Runner, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Chronicles of Narnia films, Elysium, Enemy Mine, Excalibur, The Fifth Element, Gladiator, The Goonies, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Jason and the Argonauts, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the Indiana Jones films, Iron Man, the James Bond films, Judge Dredd (1995), the Jurassic Park films, Kick-Ass 2, Kingsman: the Secret Service, Lifeforce, Looper, The Lost Boys, The Martian, The Matrix, Men in Black III, Mission: Impossible (1996), The Mummy (1999), Patton, Pirates of the Caribbean series, Predators, the Rocky films, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, Serenity, Shaun of the Dead, Shawshank Redemption, Sherlock Holmes (2009), Star Trek franchise, Star Wars franchise, Starship Troopers, Superman films, Terminator films, The Three Musketeers (1993), Tropic Thunder, Troy, True Grit, Underworld: Evolution, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Willow, The Wolfman (2010), World War Z, and the X-Men films.

You can flip through the auction house’s hefty 360-page catalog, or start with a look at what we selected as the best 50 of the lots–what we predict as the most sought-after by collectors and those that represent some of fandom’s favorite sci-fi and fantasy classics and modern favorites.

Industrial Light and Magic 17 3/4-inch Rebel Y-Wing filming model from Return of the Jedi
Sark (David Warner) Grid costume from the original Tron (1982)
Julie Newmar’s Catwoman costume and Burgess Meredith Penguin hat from the classic Batman TV series
Buttercup (Robin Wright) Fire Swamp red dress from The Princess Bride
Chekov (Walter Koenig) “nuclear wessels” costume, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) costume, and Sulu (George Takei) double shirt from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Full crew set of costumes (Malcolm, Zoe, Wash, Jayne, Inara, Kaylee, River, Book, and Simon) from Serenity (sold as individual costume lots)
Jack Nicholson purple Joker costume, plus separate coat and hat, from Batman (1989)
Enterprise-D 48-inch “pyro” model from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Will Munny (Clint Eastwood) stunt shotgun from Unforgiven
Star-lord helmet from Guardians of the Galaxy
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) Mjolnir hammer from Thor

Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II jumpsuits made for Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman
Witch-king of Angmar crown from The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Val Kilmer Batman suit and cowl from Batman Forever
Maverick (Tom Cruise) flight suit from Top Gun
Geoffrey Rush Captain Barbossa costume from the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, Curse of the Black Pearl

And there are so many more. Like…

Continue reading →

Tags: 300, 3:10 to Yuma, Aliens, Army of Darkness, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Auction, Auctions, Back to the Future, Batman, Batman Forever, Batman TV series, Bill Murray, Blade Runner, Bruce Campbell, Burgess Meredith, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chris Hemsworth, Clint Eastwood, Cool Runnings, David Warner, DeForest Kelley, Doctor Who, Doug Jones, Elf, Elysium, Enemy Mine, entertainment memorabilia, Excalibur, Geoffrey Rush, George Takei, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2, Gladiator, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Guardians of the Galaxy, Harry and the Hendersons, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Ian McKellen, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Industrial Light and Magic, Iron Man, Jack Nicholson, James Bond, Jason and the Argonauts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jessica Chastain, Judge Dredd, Julie Newmar, Jurassic Park, Kick-Ass 2, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kristanna Loken, Lifeforce, Live and Let Die, Looper, Matt Damon, Men in Black III, Michael J. Fox, Mission: Impossible, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, movie models, Papillon, Patton, Peter Weller, Pirates of the Caribbean, Predators, Prop Store, Prop Store auction 2017, Return of the Jedi, Robin Wright, RoboCop 2, Rocky, Roger Moore, Sark, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, screen-used movie props, screenused costumes, Serenity, Shaun of the Dead, Shawshank Redemption, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Wars, Starship Troopers, Steve McQueen, Superman, Sylvester McCoy, Terminator, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Empire Strikes Back, The Fifth Element, The Goonies, The Lord of the Rings, The Lost Boys, The Martian, The Matrix, The Mummy, The Princess Bride, The Shining, The Three Musketeers, The Wolfman, Thor, Timecop, Tom Cruise, Top Gun, Tron, Tropic Thunder, Troy, True Grit, Underworld: Evolution, Unforgiven, Val Kilmer, Walter Koenig, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Will Farrell, Willow, World War Z, X-Men

Read More & Comment

Library of Congress adds The Princess Bride, 25 genre faves, and film classics to National Film Registry

Filed under: Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café — Leave a comment

December 15, 2016

The National Film Registry has grown to include 700 films this year with the addition this week of 25 films. In accordance with the National Film Preservation Act, a film is eligible to be preserved under the registry if it is at least a decade old and recognized in the National Film Preservation Board’s view as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The Librarian of Congress makes the final determination, considering public nominations in the analysis.

The new list includes Rob Reiner’s adaptation of William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, possibly the most beloved of all live-action fantasy films. The Howard Hawks/Billy Wilder classic, Snow White-inspired comedy Ball of Fire, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper also made the cut. Robert Zemeckis’s live action/animated caper Who Framed Roger Rabbit is on this list, along with the John Hughes coming of age film The Breakfast Club.

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds increases the famous director’s horror film count on the preservation list along with the likes of Rear Window, North by Northwest, Vertigo, and Psycho. And Elia Kazan’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s coming of age story East of Eden, starring James Dean, joins the list. Now all three of the films Dean is known for are on the list, adding to prior registry films Rebel Without a Cause and Giant.

Below is the full list of films named to the registry for 2016:

Continue reading →

Read More & Comment

Review–Gorgeous new Labyrinth Visual History chronicles magical work of Jim Henson & Co.

Filed under: Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix — Leave a comment

November 7, 2016

Fans of Jim Henson are always waiting for the next pebble of gold about the beloved creator of the Muppets and other fantastical creations on the big and small screen. Whether via a retrospective image or a story from someone who worked with him, it’s as if we need to make up for the time stolen from us by his untimely death by seeking out every snippet of his life we can find. The latest treasure chest of Henson memorabilia is Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann’s beautiful hardcover, 30th anniversary celebration Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History, published by Insight Editions. Labyrinth, the 1986 fantasy classic that starred rock star David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly decades before she’d be awarded an Oscar, is in a small class of cult classic fantasies that came out of the 1980s that included The Princess Bride, Willow, and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.

Like so many of those “vault” books published for big genre franchises, Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History is not simply a book of high quality photographs of behind-the-scenes views of the cast, creatures, and crew and images of concept art, it’s all that plus more. Like more than 20 inserts reproducing treasures from the Henson Archives, including a pull-out of the full-color, theatrical one-sheet movie poster created for the film by Ted CoConis. You’ll find classic style tipped-in concept art, draft script pages, and memos from Henson, with many items showing his hand-written notes.

I streamed the digital edition of Labyrinth (available here) to re-familiarize myself with the film before reading this new work, and was pleased to see every human character, every creature (all those goblins!), every scene, and every magical effect discussed in detail in this volume. Three key images came to mind from viewing the film years ago: Bowie walking the M.C. Escher room in the show’s climax with a crazy upward, almost Michael Jackson-inspired move (turns out a stuntman worked the scene), Bowie’s flawless contact juggling of crystal balls (we learnit was a professional juggler’s arm actually doing the trick), and the masked ball (a pre-Star Trek Gates McFadden helped coordinate the scene). Each of the scenes and production steps are described through contemporary or recent interviews with Jim Henson, Brian Henson and his siblings, Brian Froud (whose incredible concept art is sprinkled through the book and incorporated into its layout design), Toby (the striped baby) Froud, creature makers and players Kevin Clash and Dave Goelz, executive producer George Lucas, and actors Connelly and Bowie, among many others.

Continue reading →

Read More & Comment

The year’s first great fantasy: The Huntsman–Winter’s War

Filed under: Fantasy Realms, Movies — Leave a comment

April 25, 2016

Review by Elizabeth C. Bunce

We’ve said it before: It’s the rare sequel that’s actually better than its preceding installment (Terminator 2, The Empire Strikes Back, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), but back in a preview last month here at borg.com, we predicted that The Huntsman: Winter’s War might just break through to join those few. The original Snow White & The Huntsman (2012) was fun but forgettable, despite high-profile headliners Kristen Stewart (the Twilight Saga), Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Star Trek), and Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Italian Job, Aeon Flux). It must have been fun enough, however, since Theron and Hemsworth, along with several other original cast members, signed on for a second film–and convinced star-powered newcomers Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, The Adjustment Bureau) and Jessica Chastain (Crimson Peak, Zero Dark Thirty) to join them. Thanks in no small part to the stellar cast, plus gorgeous special effects, and elaborate costumes by Academy Award-winning costumer Colleen Atwood (Arrow), The Huntsman: Winter’s War stepped up its game and really delivered a great fantasy film experience.

It’s no secret that a great backstory adds layers and richness to a film, and filmmakers capitalized on that to develop the all-new plot to Winter’s War, reaching well beyond the Grimm-fairytale framework of the “Snow White” story. In the original film we were introduced to Theron’s incarnation of Snow White’s evil stepmother, Queen Ravenna, and her magical, corrupting golden mirror. In Winter’s War, we meet Ravenna’s younger sister, the lovely Freya, content to live in her sister’s shadow, as long as she has love in her life. But when her infant daughter dies, Freya’s heart is frozen, and her own cold magic awakens. In an unsubtle nod to Disney’s Frozen, Freya becomes the Ice Queen (actually called “The Frozen Queen” in the trailer), and conquers all the lands of the north, marshaling unbeatable armies of child soldiers she raises in place of her lost daughter. “In my kingdom we have but one law,” she says: “Do not love.”

Inevitably, two of her most prized soldiers–her children–break that law. Young warriors Sara (Chastain) and Eric (Hemsworth) woo and wed in secret, until betrayed and ripped apart by the queen’s jealousy. Eric ends up in service to Ravenna, to play out the adventure in The Huntsman. Seven years pass, and Winter’s War then turns from prequel to sequel. When in service to Snow White’s kingdom, Eric is charged with a task worthy of a true Huntsman: Recover Ravenna’s mirror and deliver it safely to Sanctuary, where it and its magic can be locked away for good. Thus begins a lively quest, aided by familiar dwarf ally Nion (Nick Frost, Shaun of the Dead, Attack the Block) and delightful newcomers Mrs. Bromwyn (Sheridan Smith, Galivant), Gryff (Rob Bryson, Cinderella), and Doreena (Alexandra Roach, Being Human).

Continue reading →

Read More & Comment

borg

Millions and Millions Served

Tag Archive: The Princess Bride