Behold the Secret Device!
A magical tool that seems to be used by HETFET activists, this device is used to covertly transmit http messages.
Enter the date of the HBII premiere and you get a message that spells out: lexilloyd.com.
This is a blog by fairy lover, Lexi Lloyd - she's a bubbly little character, ain't she? Watch the videos and you will see she has found a cat with a nametag that says, "Mr. Omatta 12-23-44".
12-23-44 is Hellboy's birthday (on Earth). Mr Omatta is the name of a psychic of the BPRD. Enter Hellboy's birthday in the Secret Device and you find a new site: http://www.panatrog.org.
Also, I forgot to mention there is a site out there for Uthyntrol, the anti-aging drug: http://uthyntrol.com.
Monday, April 28, 2008
HBII Viral Marketing, Part 1
The viral marketing campaign for HELLBOY 2 is in full swing right now, so I thought I would guide you through a few of the sites, and perhaps tease some information out of them. Today we are starting with the granddaddy of all the sites - http://www.hetfet.org/.
HETFET, or Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Fairies, Elves and Trolls, first popped up on our radar after the full-length theatrical trailer showed up at the official Hellboy 2 site.
The members of HETFET are serious about "protecting the rights" of these fantasy creatures and are looking for volunteers to take action. You can support their cause by uploading pictures and videos of your protests and demonstrations, or purchasing "Save the Trolls" T-shirts.
The most significant part of the HETFET site is the Breaking News sections, which so far has reports on the following:
HETFET, or Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Fairies, Elves and Trolls, first popped up on our radar after the full-length theatrical trailer showed up at the official Hellboy 2 site.
The members of HETFET are serious about "protecting the rights" of these fantasy creatures and are looking for volunteers to take action. You can support their cause by uploading pictures and videos of your protests and demonstrations, or purchasing "Save the Trolls" T-shirts.
The most significant part of the HETFET site is the Breaking News sections, which so far has reports on the following:
- The Secret Device is a mysterious portal tool for unlocking secret messages - and leading true HETFET activists to important internet locations. Click on over and see. Many of the sites that are held by the secret device will be discussed in later posts.
- Augustine Pharmaceuticals unveils anti-aging wonder drug. The drug is called Uthyntrol - and it seems to be the new fountain of youth, but how is it made? HETFET has their suspicions - could this new wonder drug be produced through unlawful fantasy creature testing? Only time will tell...
Friday, April 25, 2008
GDT's Journey to Middle Earth
It's official - GDT will be on his way to Middle Earth soon. Whew....the speculation is over. Congratulations to GDT, Peter Jackson, and all involved in this great undertaking. Guillermo is going to be up to his beard in monsters, fantasy and mythology, and I know for him that is a dream come true.
So what are we fans going to do for three years while GDT is off in New Zealand? Usually these productions are pretty tight-lipped, so it might be kind of quiet around here. We may have to just entertain ourselves for awhile.
For those bored fans out there, I recommend visiting http://www.theonering.net/ (or TORN for short). They seem to be on top of the latest news, and it might be a good place to start for learning all about the Tolkien mythology. With such amazing coverage at TORN, I am wondering where DTF will find its "niche" for providing fans information. Tolkien has a large, rabid fan base, and given the limited amount of time that I can devote to DelToroFilms (I am a family man with a 9 to 5, after all), it may be hard to keep up. It would be nice to offer something special (news, feature, production blog) that these other sites can't offer.
Well - we do have a sense of "family" here at DTF. A virtual Shire, if you will.
Without the hairy feet (I hope).
So what are we fans going to do for three years while GDT is off in New Zealand? Usually these productions are pretty tight-lipped, so it might be kind of quiet around here. We may have to just entertain ourselves for awhile.
For those bored fans out there, I recommend visiting http://www.theonering.net/ (or TORN for short). They seem to be on top of the latest news, and it might be a good place to start for learning all about the Tolkien mythology. With such amazing coverage at TORN, I am wondering where DTF will find its "niche" for providing fans information. Tolkien has a large, rabid fan base, and given the limited amount of time that I can devote to DelToroFilms (I am a family man with a 9 to 5, after all), it may be hard to keep up. It would be nice to offer something special (news, feature, production blog) that these other sites can't offer.
Well - we do have a sense of "family" here at DTF. A virtual Shire, if you will.
Without the hairy feet (I hope).
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Hot Topics from the NYCC
NYCC - That's New York Comic Con for those of you unfamiliar with the DTF parlance. If you're going to party in the Labyrinth, you gotta drink the Kool-Aid.
If you read the full report at DelToroFilms.com, then you are already familiar with the hot topics that got stirred up in GDT world. (It's his world, we're just living in it....and buying $4.00 popcorn). Everybody has an opinion - especially me - but I'm just more informed than most people. That doesn't make my opinions more valid, it just means I spend too much time on the internet googling "Hellboy 2".
So anyway, let's get on it, shall we? It's been more than a week since my last blog entry, and frankly, I'm anxious to get to talking Big Red...
The Sizzle Reel and Seth McFarlane
This is the "trailer" that GDT showed at NYCC. It is a full minute longer than the theatrical trailer, but it has a lot of incomplete VFX. For this reason, you likely won't see it again. But the word on the street is that there was some Johann footage, including some hard-core ectoplasmic action (easy fan-fic folks). But the real news is that GDT confirmed that Family Guy's Seth McFarlane is voicing Johanne. So before you comic purists go crazy thinking the bubble-head is going to be giggling like Peter Griffin and fighting giant chickens, GDT has defended his choice saying that Seth is a remarkable talent and speaks fluent German. That's good enough for me. You can't deny that Seth's voice work is considerable, even if it is more on the comic side. To me, this is like casting Kelsey Grammar as Beast in X3. The casting is so intriguing that you can't wait to see how it works out on the screen, even if you think the actor is all wrong. That controversy raises the level of interest in a film - at least to movie nuts who blog about such things. Ahem. (Incidentally, I thought Grammar was great).
Hellboy 3
GDT has been dropping hints about how The Hobbit is VERY close to being a done deal. That means, if HB2 is a smash, and Universal greenlights a sequel, we may not see it for 5 or 6 years. Ron Perlman will be I think 8o years old by then...wait a minute (checks Wikipedia)...nope, he'll be around 63 or 64. Same difference - either way he'll be eligible for the Senior special at Denny's. (Ron - if you're out there, I'm just kidding. I like to chide old people. They get so cute when they're angry. Like nippy, gray-haired dauchsands).
I think GDT wants to direct HB-cubed himself, but 5 or 6 years is a long time to wait. My gut feeling? Ron is tough and will stick it out. HB2 will do above average at the box office, gangbusters on DVD, GDT will finish the Hobbit, and Universal will bankroll HB3 next on a similar budget as HB2 and rake in more cash. HB3 will be a "sound investment" for Universal, and GDT's best option as he tries and tries to get ATMOM financed.
HETFET.org
HETFET, as we now know, stands for Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Faeres, Elves and Trolls. These viral HB2 sites are blowing up! Start at http://www.hetfet.org/ and navigate your way around the web. There is some clever stuff out there, and some mysteries and riddles (check out http://www.thesecretdevice.com/). Sometime soon I'd like to outline what can be learned from these sites, so we'll see if I can squeeze in another post on this topic soon. GDT seems to be enjoying the joke - as he was recently seen at a HETFET protest rally (picture from Comics2Film).
I wish I had a chance to attend NYCC - sadly, my budget is limited to going to LA this year for the fan screening. I hope to see many faithful DTF fans/Labyrinth readers at the shindig.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
I Am...Disappointed
I finally watched I AM LEGEND last night, and as you saw from the title of this post, I was a little disappointed.
I read the Richard Matheson book several years ago and really enjoyed it (it IS a classic). So naturally, the ending didn't live up to expectations. I won't spoil it here, but it seems like it would be a good idea to leave the book's ending since it EXPLAINS the title of the film. Everybody asks me why the movie was called I AM LEGEND - and all I can say is, "read the book." It seems like, once again, the studio pushed for the "happy Hollywood ending"- essentially making this film just another run-of-the-mill zombie movie. I encourage everyone to read the Matheson novel - it is much more satisfying.
My other major problem with the film is the CGI zombies. The zombie/vampire/monsters in the film are entirely done in CGI. Too much CGI is always a bad thing for the simple reason that you can't quite make CGI characters look 100% convincing. Gollum from LOTR is the best I've seen with a CGI character, and nobody else has come close. I believe the "scare" factor of this film would have greatly benefited from real actors in makeup - I'm glad GDT shares this philosophy.
I am pleased however that a studio took a chance on a big budget special effects horror movie, though. This film did pretty good at the box office, so I'm hoping that movies like this will open the doors for ATMOM to get made. GDT is insisting on keeping out any "happy Hollywood" ending in ATMOM and - judging from LEGEND - seems to be a just battle.
I read the Richard Matheson book several years ago and really enjoyed it (it IS a classic). So naturally, the ending didn't live up to expectations. I won't spoil it here, but it seems like it would be a good idea to leave the book's ending since it EXPLAINS the title of the film. Everybody asks me why the movie was called I AM LEGEND - and all I can say is, "read the book." It seems like, once again, the studio pushed for the "happy Hollywood ending"- essentially making this film just another run-of-the-mill zombie movie. I encourage everyone to read the Matheson novel - it is much more satisfying.
My other major problem with the film is the CGI zombies. The zombie/vampire/monsters in the film are entirely done in CGI. Too much CGI is always a bad thing for the simple reason that you can't quite make CGI characters look 100% convincing. Gollum from LOTR is the best I've seen with a CGI character, and nobody else has come close. I believe the "scare" factor of this film would have greatly benefited from real actors in makeup - I'm glad GDT shares this philosophy.
I am pleased however that a studio took a chance on a big budget special effects horror movie, though. This film did pretty good at the box office, so I'm hoping that movies like this will open the doors for ATMOM to get made. GDT is insisting on keeping out any "happy Hollywood" ending in ATMOM and - judging from LEGEND - seems to be a just battle.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
GDT On Fairy Tales, Part 4
The last in my series of GDT quotes on the topic of fairy tales:
Interview by Elvis Mitchell
EM: We've talked about this before, but one of the things that used to make movies terrifying--all those B pictures we grew up on, the fantastical stories we've talked about, even Grimm's fairy tales, is that--
GT: Children die.
EM: Absolutely.
GT: That aspect of things is mostly sanitized from even the news now. When you'd see footage of a war in the '70s, you would get the occasional retina-burning image of a family running away, being doused with napalm, or a little girl screaming. To me, that's war. It's not soldiers in uniforms looking cool or great night footage of rockets flying. War is when it hits your child or your mother or your grandmother. When you read any of the great fairy tales, be it Oscar Wilde or Hans Christian Andersen, or be it in the oral tradition, they all have a very strong element of pathos.
EM: Which is something that you have in Pan's Labyrinth. In fairy tales we're used to the possibility of wrongs being righted. But that doesn't necessarily happen In this movie.
GT: Because the little girl might have the moment that is an exact quote of the little matchbook girl in Hans Christian Andersen, where she lights the last match and she is finally in a happy place, and she smiles, and then she dies.
EM: But what you get In American movies Is that kids represent innocence, and you can't kill off innocence. So there's a belief that's sort of contrary to what you're saying--that basically evil can consume everybody.
GT: Evil has the characteristic of being resilient. It's harder to work toward what's right, the common good. It's easier to be selfish.
EM: So you're saying that evil is easier because it's an easy way out.
GT: It's the easiest way out. It is the straight path, the shining path, the most tempting path. The rewards of modesty or goodness or kindness are far more subtle.
EM: But those rewards that you're talking about--the ones that come with sacrifices and compromises--are about being an adult.
GT: That's why I think the best way to address these little truths is in fables. This conversation is taking place, and we may be nodding or not, but the reality is that fables get at what we're talking about so much more efficiently.
EM: Do you think you could make a movie like Pan's Labyrinth in America?
GT: No. Never. Impossible. Because the biggest stigma of genre or fantasy movies is that they are supposed to be watered down. The studio's mentality is like, "How do we make this fully accessible?" If we had tested the movie with an audience, the ending would be completely different.
EM: If Bambi [1942] were made today, his mother wouldn't die.
GT: No. But Walt Disney, the original man, anti-Semite or not, the guy understood the value of pathos. Fantasia [1940], Pinocchio [1940], Alice in Wonderland [1951]--they're all full of darkness.
EM: Do you feel now like you've had a chance to expunge some of the darker fairy tales that you wanted to get out of your system?
GT: I would like to continue. You know, Hellboy II is also a bit of an exploration of the fairy world. It's a funny thing: I have an impediment that most certainly makes me the least accurate judge of what it is, but to me, Hellboy is the sort of film I've done that I group with The Devil's Backbone and Cronos and Pan's Labyrinth. I don't group it with Blade II [2002] or Mimic. I think of Hellboy as a personal movie, strangely enough. I can defend Blade II and say that I love it, but it's not as personal a movie in the way that Hellboy is for me. Hellboy II is even more personal to me than Hellboy. I really have a grand plan for taking him all the way to the fulfillment of his destiny.
EM: And you're not a guy who tends to be drawn toward happy endings.
GT: Not really. There was a great phrase that I love in a screenplay written about a decade ago where a demon says to a guy, "Lost causes are more beautiful." I really believe that.
Interview by Elvis Mitchell
EM: We've talked about this before, but one of the things that used to make movies terrifying--all those B pictures we grew up on, the fantastical stories we've talked about, even Grimm's fairy tales, is that--
GT: Children die.
EM: Absolutely.
GT: That aspect of things is mostly sanitized from even the news now. When you'd see footage of a war in the '70s, you would get the occasional retina-burning image of a family running away, being doused with napalm, or a little girl screaming. To me, that's war. It's not soldiers in uniforms looking cool or great night footage of rockets flying. War is when it hits your child or your mother or your grandmother. When you read any of the great fairy tales, be it Oscar Wilde or Hans Christian Andersen, or be it in the oral tradition, they all have a very strong element of pathos.
EM: Which is something that you have in Pan's Labyrinth. In fairy tales we're used to the possibility of wrongs being righted. But that doesn't necessarily happen In this movie.
GT: Because the little girl might have the moment that is an exact quote of the little matchbook girl in Hans Christian Andersen, where she lights the last match and she is finally in a happy place, and she smiles, and then she dies.
EM: But what you get In American movies Is that kids represent innocence, and you can't kill off innocence. So there's a belief that's sort of contrary to what you're saying--that basically evil can consume everybody.
GT: Evil has the characteristic of being resilient. It's harder to work toward what's right, the common good. It's easier to be selfish.
EM: So you're saying that evil is easier because it's an easy way out.
GT: It's the easiest way out. It is the straight path, the shining path, the most tempting path. The rewards of modesty or goodness or kindness are far more subtle.
EM: But those rewards that you're talking about--the ones that come with sacrifices and compromises--are about being an adult.
GT: That's why I think the best way to address these little truths is in fables. This conversation is taking place, and we may be nodding or not, but the reality is that fables get at what we're talking about so much more efficiently.
EM: Do you think you could make a movie like Pan's Labyrinth in America?
GT: No. Never. Impossible. Because the biggest stigma of genre or fantasy movies is that they are supposed to be watered down. The studio's mentality is like, "How do we make this fully accessible?" If we had tested the movie with an audience, the ending would be completely different.
EM: If Bambi [1942] were made today, his mother wouldn't die.
GT: No. But Walt Disney, the original man, anti-Semite or not, the guy understood the value of pathos. Fantasia [1940], Pinocchio [1940], Alice in Wonderland [1951]--they're all full of darkness.
EM: Do you feel now like you've had a chance to expunge some of the darker fairy tales that you wanted to get out of your system?
GT: I would like to continue. You know, Hellboy II is also a bit of an exploration of the fairy world. It's a funny thing: I have an impediment that most certainly makes me the least accurate judge of what it is, but to me, Hellboy is the sort of film I've done that I group with The Devil's Backbone and Cronos and Pan's Labyrinth. I don't group it with Blade II [2002] or Mimic. I think of Hellboy as a personal movie, strangely enough. I can defend Blade II and say that I love it, but it's not as personal a movie in the way that Hellboy is for me. Hellboy II is even more personal to me than Hellboy. I really have a grand plan for taking him all the way to the fulfillment of his destiny.
EM: And you're not a guy who tends to be drawn toward happy endings.
GT: Not really. There was a great phrase that I love in a screenplay written about a decade ago where a demon says to a guy, "Lost causes are more beautiful." I really believe that.
GDT On Fairy Tales, Part 3
More quotes from Guillermo on the topic of fairy tales:
From Atomic Chat:
The reality of that is cemented deeply into the most traditional fairytales that used to come out of the most harrowing of environments. People tend to forget that Hansel and Gretel came out of one of the biggest famines in Europe. Fairytales come from times of plague, famine, war. And we’re also seeing brutal moments of mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide, murder, you know, but fantasised. It is make believe, but the horror deal comes as a direct descendant of the fairy tale.
From Combustible Celluloid:
(On fairy tale themes of PAN'S LABYRINTH)
"There is such a huge tradition in fairy tales of the pre-pubescent heroine going through the tasks and the rite of passage," he says. "There are even books written about it by feminists and studious people who analyze fairy tales. The most powerful example is a tale by Hans Christian Andersen called "The Snow Queen," where the girl has to go through an ordeal that is ambiguous and scary and vaguely disturbing to rescue the boy she loves. You can have all the other films and stories added to that pile, and it's really a tradition."
From HighBeam Encyclopedia:
EM: Where did the idea for Pan's Labyrinth come from?
When I first thought of the idea, I was reading a book called The Science of Fairy Tales. I started making notes about the essential images and symbols in fairy tales: the key, the dagger, blood spilled, the choice, the three doors, the moon, the mother, the rose, the toad, the root, the underground, the mandrake, the unborn baby as a token for passage. So I distilled these elements and took them into another context, which was fascist Spain in 1944.
From Atomic Chat:
The reality of that is cemented deeply into the most traditional fairytales that used to come out of the most harrowing of environments. People tend to forget that Hansel and Gretel came out of one of the biggest famines in Europe. Fairytales come from times of plague, famine, war. And we’re also seeing brutal moments of mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide, murder, you know, but fantasised. It is make believe, but the horror deal comes as a direct descendant of the fairy tale.
From Combustible Celluloid:
(On fairy tale themes of PAN'S LABYRINTH)
"There is such a huge tradition in fairy tales of the pre-pubescent heroine going through the tasks and the rite of passage," he says. "There are even books written about it by feminists and studious people who analyze fairy tales. The most powerful example is a tale by Hans Christian Andersen called "The Snow Queen," where the girl has to go through an ordeal that is ambiguous and scary and vaguely disturbing to rescue the boy she loves. You can have all the other films and stories added to that pile, and it's really a tradition."
From HighBeam Encyclopedia:
EM: Where did the idea for Pan's Labyrinth come from?
When I first thought of the idea, I was reading a book called The Science of Fairy Tales. I started making notes about the essential images and symbols in fairy tales: the key, the dagger, blood spilled, the choice, the three doors, the moon, the mother, the rose, the toad, the root, the underground, the mandrake, the unborn baby as a token for passage. So I distilled these elements and took them into another context, which was fascist Spain in 1944.
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