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"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."
Fans of high fantasy — fantasy that takes place on an epic scale in an imaginary world in which otherwise supernatural creatures and forces are simply a part of the natural environment — were all but left out in the cold in 2012, while superheroes, aliens and secret agents were free to run amok on the big screen. Where were all of the wizards, dragons and elves? Except for animated movies and the pair of Snow White adaptations, high fantasy movies have been noticeably absent from the Cineplex of late.
Thankfully, fans of the fantasy sub-genre will not have to wait much longer with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opening in only a matter of days and Russian director Sergei Bodrov's (Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan) new fantasy adventure, Seventh Son — that's a begrizzled Jeff Bridges in the hood and cloak above, playing an aging knight who must train a new apprentice (Ben Barnes) to help him battle a malevolent witch (Julianne Moore) that seeks to destroy him — debuting next year. In anticipation of the return of magic to movie theaters, help us rate the best high fantasy movies of all time (beyond time).
Rate the Top 10 Best High Fantasy Movies >>
Image courtesy Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures
Posted 12.05.12 by BrentJS -
| Title | Weekend | Total | Analysis |
| Immortals | $32M | $32M | Swords and sandals pic wins weekend |
| Jack and Jill | $26 | $26 | Adam Sandler opens softer than his last movie, Just Go With It ($30M) |
| Puss in Boots | $25.5M | $108.8M | Breaks symbolic $100M mark but still in the red |
| Tower Heist | $13.2M | $43.9M | Brett Ratner comedy 4th after getting fired from Oscars |
| J. Edgar | $11.5M | $11.5M | Good per-screen average ($6,005) for DiCaprio-Eastwood Oscar bait |
Posted 11.13.11 by reelz -
Sure the visuals are stunning in Tarsem Singh's Immortals but is it enough to keep audiences happy? The critics are divided:
"However indulgent, Tarsem brings art museums to the movies, thrillingly injecting popular fantasy with acute senses of the classic and the avant garde."
— R. Kurt Osenlund, Slant"The film is handsome enough to recommend on the strength of the visuals alone, which is basically what I'm doing."
— Matt Singer, IFC.com"...if it's violence ye seek, and violently confused storytelling, look ye no further."
— Kyle Smith, New York Post"...The Immortals is without doubt the best-looking awful movie you will ever see."
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times"As in his The Fall, director Tarsem Singh's visual instincts overwhelm his storytelling finesse."
— Mark Jenkins, Washington Post"...half 300 and half Clash of the Titans, although duller and sillier than both combined."
— Scott Weinberg, TwitchSee more Immortals reviews.
Posted 11.11.11 by reelz -
When director Tarsem Singh's new swords-and-sandals epic, Immortals, opens in theaters this Friday, we'll finally have the chance to see if his description of the movie as "Caravaggio meets Fight Club" is accurate or simply hyperbole. From the looks of the still images and the footage we've seen in the trailers and preview clips, Singh definitely went to great lengths to live up to the Caravaggio reference with his dramatic lighting and highly stylized costumes and set dressings. As for Fight Club, anyone who has seen the shirtless shots of a ripped-up Henry Cavill as Theseus will likely agree that he would fit right in alongside Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden in any basement bareknuckle fight.
Cavill recently explained how he got Fight Club-fit for Immortals by putting in six months of training while waiting for the movie to go into production, training that "helped an enormous amount" when it came time to do the fight choreography and stunts. But, simply looking the part is not always enough to help an actor get into character. In a recent interview with Collider, Cavill revealed that the "fantastic and elaborate" sets Singh had built for the movie helped him to believe that he was a warrior chosen by the gods to save the world.
hear from cavill and watch a bloody new clip >> Posted 11.10.11 by BrentJS -
How do you prepare yourself to portray a "strange visitor from another planet" with the powers of a god? Well, if you're British actor Henry Cavill — who is currently shooting Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, in which he plays the first and greatest superhero, Superman — you first train for months on end to play a steely-sinewed mythic mortal who fights for the gods. Then you read a lot of comic books.
In a recent interview, Cavill discussed why he worked out so long and hard to play Theseus in director Tarsem Singh's Immortals, and why he didn't study Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman when prepping for Man of Steel.
what did cavill say about Immortals and Man of Steel? >> Posted 11.09.11 by BrentJS -
Initially, most of the buzz — and the marketing campaign — surrounding Immortals had to do with the involvement of Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari, who brought their experience as the producers of 300 to director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) swords-and-sandals epic, and with the casting of then-hot Mickey Rourke — coming off of his career-rebounding performance in The Wrestler and his high-profile villain role in Iron Man 2 — as the antagonist, the blood-thirsty Titan, King Hyperion. However, after British actor Henry Cavill landed the role of Superman/Clark Kent in director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, much of the attention shifted over to him and pretty much stayed there.
While Cavill's rising super-star status has undoubtedly been good for Immortals, the unfortunate thing about it is the fact that many of the other excellent members of the cast have pretty much been overlooked. It appears that Relativity Media and Universal Pictures have finally noticed their Cavill marketing bias because they just released two new featurettes that shine the spotlight on Isabel Lucas (Daybreakers) and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), and the roles their characters play in the movie.
watch the new Immortals videos >> Posted 10.29.11 by BrentJS -
With director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) new movie, Immortals, opening in theaters in less than three weeks, Relativity Media and Universal Pictures have ramped up the promotional campaign for the swords-and-sandals epic. In the past week, the studios have released a large selection of high-quality still images that show off the movie's lush, extravagant costumes and set pieces; a new character featurette focused on the hero of the movie, Theseus (Henry Cavill), who was chosen by the Olympian god Zeus (Luke Evans) to defend humanity from the threat of the mad Titan King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke); and a preview clip from the movie that proves Rourke can deliver a performance that is both menacing and powerful without having to rely on much more than his voice.
watch the character featurette and preview clip >> Posted 10.24.11 by BrentJS -
Fans of hunky British actor Henry Cavill have two, yes, two opportunities to see the up-and-coming actor in all of his shirtless glory today. Relativity Media and Universal Pictures have released two new still images from Cavill's latest movie, director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) swords-and-sandals epic, Immortals, showing him as a svelte, bronze-age warrior. And, coincidentally, three new "spy" pics have leaked out from the Alaskan set of Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, Man of Steel, showing Cavill as a bulkier, bearded Clark Kent.
see the new images of Henry Cavill & learn more about Immortals and Man of Steel >> Posted 10.14.11 by BrentJS -
The first TV spot for director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) new movie, Immortals, has been made available for viewing online and it contains over a minute of epic stylized action in the vein of 300. Written by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides, the movie combines elements of the Greek myth of the Titanomachy, the war between the Olympian gods and the Elder Gods, the Titans, with the legends of Theseus, the mythical founder-king of Athens.
The plot of the movie revolves around the return of the Titan King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) years after the Titanomachy. With an army of killers behind him, Hyperion begins to lay waste to Greece in an effort to find the legendary Bow of Epirus, a powerful weapon that the mad king plans to use to free his fellow Titans from imprisonment and seek vengeance against Zeus (Luke Evans) and the rest of the Olympians. Unable to interfere in Hyperion's war against humanity, the fate of the Olympians and all of the world falls on the shoulders of the gods' champion, Theseus (Henry Cavill), a simple stonemason whose mother was killed during one of Hyperion's raids.
watch the action-packed tv spot >> Posted 09.23.11 by BrentJS -
So, you saw the publicity still of Henry Cavill in costume as Superman that Warner Bros. distributed to promote Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and now you're itching for more? Well, don't expect to see any footage of that anytime soon. Sure, some "spy" footage from the Illinois set has leaked out, but other than Cavill walking around and smiling that's about all that it has yielded. Still, you can get an idea of what Cavill will look like as an action hero by checking out the latest trailer for his new movie, Immortals, a swords-and-sandals fantasy epic from director Tarsem Singh (The Cell). In the movie, written by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides, Cavill stars as Theseus, a mortal who is chosen by the Greek gods to stop the bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his Heraklion army from finding the invincible Bow of Epirus and laying waste to the worlds of both the mortals and the immortals.
watch the new trailer >> Posted 08.18.11 by BrentJS