Archive for March, 2011
The Polish Battle of Britain
I wasn’t expecting a lot from The Polish Battle of Britain. Dramatised documentaries tend to be very hit and miss, and I’ve seen quite a few misses. But this was a World War II documentary, so I was keen to find out about these apparent heroes of the Battle of Britain, heroes that I had never heard anything about before.
The 303 Squadron were comprised of 34 Polish fighter pilots who wanted to do nothing more than to kill as many Germans as possible. Having made it safely to Britain however was only going to be part of their struggle. They had to face the absurd Englishness of the RAF.
As they struggled for acceptance, these trained pilots were first forced to learn rudimentary English before they were allowed to train in the British Hurricanes. Even then they were not thought of much, seeing as the Polish air-force had bee beaten by the Germans in three short days.
The Poles were however about to teach the British a thing or two, now that they were able to fly planes that were the equal of their German counterparts. Read the rest of this entry »
Next Narnia To Be A Prequel
A couple of years back when Fox announced that they would be taking over the Chronicles of Narnia series from Disney, it looked like they were taking a pretty big risk. The second film, Prince Caspian, had made almost 50% less than the The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and it seemed like public interest was fading fast. However, they managed to cut down the budget of the third film significantly and in the end, after all the foreign box office numbers were tallied, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader still made about the same amount of money as Caspian. Apparently it was at least profitable enough that they are now contemplating a fourth film. What’s surprising, however, is that if there is another film, it looks like it will not continue on with the series chronology. Instead, they are planning to go back to the very first book in C.S. Lewis’ popular fantasy series and tell Narnia’s origin story. In a recent interview with The Christian Post, Michael Flaherty, co-founder and president of Walden Media, revealed that they are looking at The Magician’s Nephew as the next film as opposed to The Silver Chair. Although this book was actually the sixth one written by C.S. Lewis, it is considered a prequel to the entire series. The story revolves around two kids named Digory and Polly who get caught up in the magical experiments of Digory’s Uncle Andrew and witness the very creation of Narnia. I have to admit, I didn’t really think we’d ever see a fourth film, but if they do make one, The Magician’s Nephew is probably a good choice. The protagonist in The Silver Chair is Eustace, the annoying cousin introduced in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and I seriously doubt that kid could carry a film. Plus, the fact that it is a prequel won’t exclude viewers who missed the last two films. Either way, it is probably still a few years off since they are just now entering discussions with Fox and the C.S. Lewis estate, and the next step will be to hire a writer. – FilmJunk
A Million
A Korean reality TV show advertises for 8 contestants to take part in a new show where they will spend seven days in the Australian outback, competing in seven different games to see who survives to claim the US $1 Million prize. They are picked up at a remote Western Australian airport and driven through the night to a remote cabin where they are left to rest and prepare themselves for the first game on the following day.
The first challenge turns out to be your usual run of the mill Survivor type game, but things soon heat up after the winning team discovers that despite winning, they are all up for elimination, by form of a secret ballot. The looser is not impressed but has to say goodbye to the remaining seven contestants.
On returning to the cabin the seven find that the eliminated person’s bags and passports are still in the cabin. Confused but not overly worried, they go to bed, in anticipation of what the morning will hold.
The second day brings a new challenge, a treasure hunt, but when one of them finds the body of yesterdays eliminated contestant, things start to get a little freaky. Then when the show’s director kills the loosing contestant for the day, right in front of everyone, the films spins into a surreal survival horror. Read the rest of this entry »
