Um dos cineastas mais "malditos" que temos hoje em dia se chama Paul W. S. Anderson. Por favor, não confundir com o renomado Paul Thomas Anderson, ou PTA, diretor de filmes cults como Boogie Nights, Magnólia, Embriagado de Amor e Sangue Negro. Paul W. S. Anderson é um diretor de filmes mais comerciais, e no início de carreira se chamava simplesmente Paul Anderson. Teve relativo sucesso em seus primeiros filmes, mas atualmente não é bem visto e cada novo projeto dele anunciado é muito criticado logo de cara. Isso devido mais aos seus dois últimos e “polêmicos” trabalhos: Resident Evil – O Hóspede Maldito e Alien vs Predador. Ambos renderam nas bilheterias, mas sofreram duras críticas. Resident Evil é baseado no famoso jogo de zumbis da Capcom, e desagradou muitos fãs do original, por não conter o mesmo grau de suspense; e Alien vs Predador resultou num filme “infanto-juvenil” demais, a ponto de nem ter muita violência, destoando demais das duas famosas franquias. Particularmente, não acho nenhum desses dois filmes propriamente ruins e nem tão bons, mas decepcionaram muita gente, e acabaram decretando a má fama do diretor. De qualquer forma, Paul até que acertou no seu primeiro projeto, Mortal Kombat - O Filme. Uma adaptação do famoso jogo de videogame.

Uma discussão recorrente que temos é quanto uma adaptação para cinema tem que ser fiel a obra original da qual se baseia. Muitos dizem que tem que haver um respeito pelo original e por isso o filme tem que ser fiel ao máximo, enquanto outros dizem que o diretor tem que ter liberdade total, então a fidelidade não é necessária. Claro, que muito dessa discussão se refere a filmes baseados em livros e HQs, mas em relação a um jogo de videogame, até que ponto tem que haver essa fidelidade? Essa dúvida não existiu durante muito tempo,  já que jogos eletrônicos não eram adaptados para cinema, simplesmente porque na maioria das vezes, eles nem tinham histórias tão bem desenvolvidas assim, que servisse de base para qualquer coisa. O sucesso de um jogo dependia mais do carisma de seus personagens e pela parte técnica em si (gráficos, sons, jogabilidade, dificuldade), isso gerou uma grande falta de interesse dos produtores e cineastas para esse tipo de “arte”. Mas no começo da década de 90, época em que reinava os videogames de 16 bits de 4ª geração (Super Nes e Mega Drive), finalmente, quatro jogos famosos iriam ser adaptados para as telonas: Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Double Dragon e Mortal Kombat. Os três primeiros fracassaram totalmente, e acabaram caindo na mesma armadilha: Tentaram pegar o que o jogo tinha de melhor que eram os personagens, mas colocá-los em outro contexto, trazendo história que muito pouco lembrava o jogo original (mesmo porque esses jogos nem história tinham). Com isso, presenciamos Mario e Luigi indo parar num universo paralelo onde estranhamente os dinossauros é que evoluíram e não os humanos; ou um Jean Claude Van Damme, interpretando Guile, personagem coadjuvante do jogo, que se transformou no principal do filme onde M. Bison era ditador-presidente de um país em guerra-civil; ou os irmãos “gêmeos” Jimmy e Billy Lee lidando com... com o quê mesmo? Enfim. Nenhum deles conseguiu criar algo minimamente interessante pra quem não conhecia os jogos, e quem conhecia não se identificou em momento nenhum com o que estava sendo mostrado lá. Mortal Kombat, que veio depois destes, resolveu ir pelo caminho oposto, se limitando a filmar a simplória história do jogo, sem maiores malabarismos. Não que seja algo vital numa adaptação, mas nesse caso aqui a fidelidade com o original se mostrou importante para se montar uma base, por onde o filme iria se sustentar.

Falando do jogo, para aqueles que não o conhecem: Mortal Kombat surgiu em 1992. É um jogo de luta, em que dois personagens entravam numa arena e, através de vários comandos específicos do jogador, executa golpes que tentavam derrubar seu adversário. MK se diferenciou de outros títulos desse gênero na época por dois motivos básicos: 1) Realismo. O jogo se propunha a ser realista, já que os personagens eram imagens digitalizadas de atores reais. A gente via pessoas na tela lutando e não “desenhos”; 2) Violência. O sangue que rolava solto a cada vez que o lutador era acertado por algum golpe do adversário, e no fim de cada luta, o vencedor poderia matar o perdedor. Isso fez com que o jogo causasse uma enorme polêmica, chegando a ser censurado em algumas das suas versões. Videogames eram vistos como coisa de criança, então pela lógica do pessoal mais conservador, nenhum jogo poderia conter tanta violência assim. Com isso, para Mortal Kombat II, os realizadores mantiveram toda essência do jogo original, mas resolveram zoar toda essa polêmica que MK causou e foram incluídas coisas como “Babality” e “Friendship”. Um desses golpes consistia em poder transformar seu adversário em bebê, e o outro em fazer uma brincadeira estúpida com o lutador perdedor. Ou seja, o realismo e a violência continuaram mas com uma pitada de sarcasmo. Perfeito. Só que depois disso a série, a partir de Mortal Kombat III, foi caindo gradualmente, e hoje, nem de longe tem o mesmo respeito. Virou jogo de criança mesmo, enquanto o público que gosta de coisas mais polêmicas vai atrás de jogos como GTA e Counter-Strike. O filme não causou a mesma polêmica que o jogo, mesmo porque não veio com a intenção de ser polêmico, mas tem violência e certo realismo, no sentido de que tudo mostrado ali não é tão absurdo, mesmo dentro de um universo altamente fantasioso.

Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Kano, Rayden, Reptile, Goro e Shang T. Sung. Todos esses eram os personagens do jogo Mortal Kombat, e que aparecem também na sua adaptação de cinema, mas ao contrário das outras adaptações citadas, aqui se tem basicamente a mesma história de antes, mesmo que essa não seja grande coisa, afinal tudo gira em volta do famoso torneio Mortal Kombat, torneio esse que vai decidir o destino do planeta Terra. Nada mais além que isso. A maior liberdade que o diretor tomou em relação à história foi acrescentar certos elementos do segundo jogo da franquia, Mortal Kombat II, como a presença dos personagens Kitana e Jax, e o misterioso mundo de “Out World” entre outras coisas. Então, para quem não conhece ou não gosta do jogo, o filme pode não ser nem um pouco atraente, e não seria atraente de qualquer forma, mas para quem jogava e conhecia aquele universo, tudo funciona muito bem. E é bem curioso comparar Mortal Kombat - O Filme com Resident Evil - O Hóspde Maldito, duas adaptações de videogame realizadas pelo mesmo Anderson. No MK, ele tentou seguir o jogo mais à risca, e no Resident, acabou tomando certas liberdades se baseando pouco no original, tentando fazer o filme trilhar um caminho próprio. Ele acabou agradando mais em um e nem tanto no outro. MK se beneficou de algumas coisas como o jogo ter caído nas graças da gurizada daquela época, e tendo esse público como alvo, não foi tão cobrado assim. Ninguém esperava um “grande filme”, mesmo porque as outras adaptações de videogames que saíram antes, decepcionaram muito. MK se encaixou muito bem no que se propusera naquele momento. Já Resident, tinha um público um pouco mais velho, que passou a jogar videogames a partir do momento em que eles se tornaram mais sombrios e realistas. É um público mais exigente que não aceita certas coisas, e assim muitos esperavam um filme de zumbi à lá George Romero, mas receberam um filme bem mais ameno. Talvez a pior coisa na comparação direta desses filmes é ver que o diretor Paul Anderson não evolui como diretor de um filme para outro. Ambos, mesmo dentro dessa diferença em ser mais ou menos fiel que o original, tem esse mesmo clima de filme "pop-adolescente", que acabou sendo a marca registrada dele e o que o faz ser tão criticado.

Uma coisa que se pode dizer de Paul W. S. Anderson é que, apesar dos pesares, ele não é o pior cineasta do mundo, afinal, três dos seus maiores sucessos comerciais, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil e Alien vs Predador ganharam continuações, dirigidas por outras pessoas, e todas são inferiores aos filmes originais (apesar de não ter visto Resident Evil 3 e Alien vs Predador 2, mas não ouvi coisa boas deles), principalmente, a continuação desse aqui, Mortal Kombat – A Aniquilação (John R. Leonetti, 1997), simplesmente “inassistível”, em todos os seus aspectos. Então, têm muito diretor pior que ele por aí, com certeza. Paul tem certa competência, pelo menos quando vai idealizar um filme, ele surge com boas idéias, o problema é que ele não consegue manter essa boa idéia até o fim, tudo vai caindo no meio do caminho, e os filmes se perdem. E nem se perdem tanto, mas ficam bem longe do que se imaginava deles no início de tudo (com Resident Evil e AvP aconteceu assim). Esse aqui foi o filme dele que menos se perdeu no meio do caminho, mesmo porque não eram necessários grandes malabarismos para agradar o público alvo. Todos queriam basicamente um filme que agradasse respeitando o conceito simples do jogo original, e isso o filme consegue fazer, sem muito esforço. E depois de tanto tempo, Mortal Kombat – O Filme ainda é o melhor filme baseado em um jogo de videogame (mesmo porque nenhum grande filme surgiu daí), e também o melhor filme diridido por Paul W. S. Anderson (idem).

3/4

Jailton Rocha

Titolo originale: Resurrection
Regia: Russel Mulcahy
Uscita: 1999
Attori: Christopher Lambert, Leland Orser, Robert Joy, Barbara Tyson, Rick Fox, David Cronenberg
Durata: 1h 48m
Nazione: Usa
Reperibilità: DVD
Censura: Nessuna

John Prudhomme è un detective della squadra omicidi di Chicago a cui viene assegnato di indagare sul truculento assassinio di un uomo trovato senza un braccio, morto per il suo stesso dissanguamento. A complicare il tutto è la machiavellica scritta “Lui sta arrivando” dipinta col sangue sui vetri della finestra. Gli omicidi continuano ad avvenire e ad ogni cadavere manca una parte diversa del corpo, ben presto Prudhomme realizza che il sadico killer, sta cercando di ricomporre il corpo di Cristo... proprio a pochi giorni dalla Pasqua, dunque dalla Resurrezione.
Russel Mulcahy orchestra tutta l'opera a fatica, disperdendosi nel mare della sua stessa inventiva e nella voglia di narrare incontenibile che sfocia in un inutile estro creativo su pellicola.
“Resurrection” si dimostra come un buon film esoterico con punte di thriller condite col più sano e vivido horror/splatter per la prima mezz'ora, i minuziosi corpi mutilati conditi col sangue a opera d'arte rendono adeguatamente il retrogusto di malsano e demoniaco, poi l'incessante susseguirsi degli omicidi rischia di condurre l'intera opera in sovraesposizione nonché in una sorta di monotonia che rende simili quanto intuibili gli omicidi commessi dallo scalmanato di turno. Il regista di “Highlander” sembra aver perduto quel tocco magico che gli permise di realizzare l'ottimo film sul “ne resterà solo uno”, interpretato -così come in questo film- da Christopher Lambert. Se infatti squadra che cambia non si vince, l'accostamento dei due non ha portato la pellicola ad un successo completo quanto piuttosto ad una semi-disfatta totale.
Nell'oblivio ideologico del film Lambert esprime la sua performance con vigore cercando di caratterizzare a dovere il suo personaggio, ma il trauma per la perdita del figlio di Praudhomme traccia una ferita incolmabile sulla freddezza cui il personaggio cerca di celarsi nella vita di tutti i giorni. La resa umana di questa figura atta a infondere una vena maggiormente drammatica nella pellicola, non fa altro che inondare l'assai esteso fiume del fuoritema in cui tutta la pellicola cade in fallo per più di un'occasione. Il dramma del figlio è puramente costruito ad arte per sostenere la chiusura di “Resurrection” e donare qualche sorta di profondità ad un personaggio di per sé cinico, e senza Dio dalla grave perdita.
Vanno fatti i complimenti per quanto concerne la fotografia, realizzata quasi sempre ad arte tranne che per piccole scene in cui la troppa luce confonde i soggetti e rende visibilmente artefatta l'intera opera.
Accortosi che il terreno della spiritualità è fertile quanto insidioso Mulcahy non poteva far altro che gettare l'ancora in qualsiasi posto si trovasse per tentare di effettuare un cambio di rotta improviso. Se la prima mezz'ora era buona, da lì in avanti l'intera pellicola riversa nella mediocrità di un poliziesco con caccia all'uomo in atto. La bravura dell'assassino nell'adescare le vittime -tutte con 33 anni, e di nome affine agli apostoli- vi sarà solo ed esclusivamente un richiamo, una sorta di ammirazione mostrata da parte di Prudhomme mostrata per l'assassino per la sua dedizione e perseveranza alla ricerca di tutte quelle persone. Ma resta solo un accenno.
Si indaga poco e si scoprono troppo facilmente tutti gli enigmi legati al caso, non si induce profondità né spiritualità, il tutto viene fin da subito mostrato come l'atto di un killer squilibrato.
Ma ciò porta la pellicola al paragone che ogni film non vorrebbe avere: quello con “Se7en”.
La pellicola targata 1995 diretta da David Fincher con Brad Pitt, si dimostra ancora una volta ineguagliabile. Mucalhy nonostante tutta la sua buona volonta, altro non fa che creare un clone di “Se7en”, persino la ritorsione sulla moglie del detective sul finire della pellicola è un altro chiaro segno dell'estinzione in termini pratici di inventiva o di idee originali, lasciate da qualche parte bevendo un caffè o parlando con gli amici. “Resurrection” andrebbe più apprezzato come un poliziesco dai colori forti e dalla regia buona, che per un horror esoterico con qualche aspirazione per il profano. Seppur all'alba del nuovo millennio, il film non fece grande scalpore, e quando si seppe che Russel Mucalhy avrebbe diretto "Resident Evil: Extinction", i più pregarono che il padre degli immortali riponesse l'ascia di guerra (la telecamera) nell'armadio, avendo visto lo sfacelo delle pellicole successive al suo capolavoro indiscusso.
Certo è che lo stesso avrà in mano il remake di “Mortal Kombat”, al che si potranno aspettare buone cose vedendolo adoperarsi in un filone non horror, per ora le statistiche sono contro di lui: due film horror prodotti, due film a malapena sopra la sufficienza.
E a portarlo oltre tale soglia, oltre la sopracitata fotografia ci pensa la colonna sonora rendendo inquietanti le atmosfere in cui gli avvenimenti prendono piede, tappando i buchi lasciati da una trama risicata tirata come una coperta e da un pessimo montaggio che per più volte fa scadere di tono e forma l'intera pellicola, inducendola in un baratro nel cui resterà in stasi, aspettando la Pasqua per la resurrezione.

6/10

Dennis Trotta

¿Habéis visto el último anuncio de Renault? No encuentro el vídeo por ningún sitio. En él aparece Christopher Lambert ataviado al más puro estilo inmortal, tal y como le véis en la imagen. No me digáis que no parece sacado de un "Celebrities", con esa cara rara y como saturado de maquillaje.

Pero bueno, no traigo a colación a este hombre para meterme con él (raro, ¿eh?), mi intención es pedir una ovación para los creativos de Renault que, una vez más, han dado en el clavo con la campaña. El anuncio en sí no es nada del otro mundo, en principio, pero cuando se entra en Internet a buscar el vídeo (como yo, la búsqueda la debe de haber ejecutado mucha gente), uno se encuentra un caramelito que, otra vez, nos devuelve al pasado, pero ahora sin recreaciones.

Como cada vez creo menos en la casualidad y en las coincidencias (debe de ser por la edad), y más es las capacidades del ser humano, pienso que este cruce, dieciocho años después, está fabricado a cosa hecha y con intención y no puedo más que quitarme el sombrero. Esta gente está creando escuela. Ya tengo ganas de ver qué será lo próximo.

Y en esas andaba, pensando en el viejuno Christopher Lambert de hoy, cuando he recordado una curiosidad que tenía pendiente desde que vi Californication. La joven exhuberante que hace de la hijastra de su mujer, Madeline Zima, y a la que podéis ver en este foto-vídeo homenaje de un fan, fue hace tiempo una niña pequeña que tuvo que soportar estoicamente los gritos de la histérica Fran Drescher. Sólo por eso ya tiene el cielo ganado. En el vídeo de abajo podéis verla, cándida e inocente.

E' in cantiere il remake del film del 1986 in cui Christopher Lambert interpretava un guerriero scozzese del XVI secolo che, dopo aver scoperto di essere immortale, si ritrova a combattere attraverso i secoli, fino agli anni ’80, a New York, con gli altri suoi simili per stabilire chi sarà l’ultimo di loro a sopravvivere e a ricevere un immenso potere.

A ventidue anni di distanza, la Summit Entertainment ha acquisito i diritti sull’opera, decisa a produrre una versione aggiornata del film e a donare nuova linfa vitale alla saga fantasy degli immortali. Lo script è stato affidato a Art Marcum e Matt Holloway, autori della sceneggiatura di Iron Man e la lavorazione della pellicola, che sarà un mix di mitologia, azione, Scozia medioevale e ambientazioni contemporanee, dovrebbe iniziare nel 2009.

Ricordiamo inltre che al fianco di Christopher Lambert, recitava Sean Connery nei panni del maestro d’armi Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez: ci sarà qualcuno in grado di rimpiazzarlo ? E come non fare una nota alla colonna sonora capitanata da Kind of Magic dei Queen. Vedremo cosa ci salterà fuori, nel frattempo non dimenticate di andare al cinema.

Summit's signed the "Iron Man" writing team of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway to script, with plans to expand on the original pic's premise of immortals battling each other for a mysterious prize. Company's aiming to go into production next year.

Patrick Wachsberger, Summit's co-chairman and president, said, "I have always dreamed of reinventing this franchise."

Summit production proxy, Erik Feig told Daily Variety that the new pic will mix contemporary settings, action, mythology and medieval Scotland.

"We think the franchise will work on a global basis," he added.

Summit acquired the remake rights from Davis-Panzer Prods. It has tapped Peter Davis, one of the producers of the original film, to produce the new version.

The 1986 original was directed by Russell Mulcahy and starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown and Roxanne Hart. It launched four sequels and three TV spinoffs.

In addition to "Iron Man," Marcum and Holloway also wrote "Convoy" for Par.

Summit has been ramping up operations for the past year from a sales operation into a full-fledged studio with development, financing, production and distribution. It's focused on projects budgeted in the middle range and plans to release 10-12 films annually. Recent pics include "Sex Drive" and Alexander Proyas' "Knowing," currently shooting with Nicolas Cage starring.

Source: Variety.com

I wish I was surprised about another remake/reboot/rewhatever.. I really wish someone in the movie business would come up with an original idea. I loved the first film. The following sequels were a terrible noncoherent mess. I am hopefull now that the guy who wrote Iron man is involved. This movie is almost as sacred as Star Trek is to me. I asked Conner what he thought about this remake and here is what he had to say.

"I've been alive for four and a half centuries, and I am Immortal. They were bound to do a couple movies about me"
- Connor MacLeod

What's next with these remakes "the facts of life" or even better "Webster" I mean really he could still play himself right???

Peace out and there really can only be one....MajorXero

The theme? Previous incarnations of recent movies

The program?

- Miami Vice (the pilot) - 1984
- Rocky IV - 1985
- Transformers: the Movie (the animated version) - 1986
- The Punisher (the Dolph Lundgren version) - 1989
- Beowulf (the Christopher Lambert version) - 1999

As you can tell, quality wasn't the primary selection criterion (though in a way, it was). But that doesn't mean we didn't have tons of fun.

The best thing that can be said about the pilot of Miami Vice is that it's much more coherent than the recent movie. As for style... well, I'm sure Miami Vice was the epitome of style in it's day, and that's probably what makes it so dated now, and what'll make the recent movie dated two decades from now. Don Johnson's hair looks a lot more natural on him than the crazy wig does on poor Colin Farrell, and Philip Michael Thomas is having a lot of crazy-accented fun, unlike dour Jamie Foxx. In conclusion: the new one has a dreamy style and some stunning photography, but the older version wins this round on the grounds of sheer fun.

As for Rocky IV, I can't really compare, not just because I haven't seen Rocky Balboa, but because this was my first Rocky film, period. Yet another gap in my cinematic education bridged - I am a Rocky-virgin no more. It's a series so ingrained in pop culture, though, that it felt like I'd seen it already. But it's fun: montage after montage, an insanely bulked-up Dolph Lundgren, and patriotic sentiment galore.

Next up were two move movies whose recent manifestations I'd stayed clear of. Transformers: the Movie it most notable for how incredibly exhausting it is: wall to wall music, flashy animation, and pretty much non-stop action, not to mention too many robots to keep track of if you're not versed in the Autobot/Decepticon lore. I wouldn't call it more than an interesting experience.

The Punisher, on the other hand, was probably the most enjoyable movie of the day. Lundgren again, slightly less bulky and with black hair here, and not really speaking that much more. He's a silent, brooding type, but he kicks ass, and I liked how simple and briskly paced it was (it jumps right into the action, forgoing the usual origin story), not to mention some of the very nice, clearly comic-inspired images. And well, while I haven't seen the new one, I'll bet it doesn't feature the Punisher rescuing a bunch of kids from a crazy Yakuza woman. Also: Jeroen Krabbé!

Finally, Beowulf, the only movie not from the eighties (basically, this means the awful synthesizer music has been replaced by even worse techno), featuring the one and only Christopher Lambert with a white haircut that'd make Samuel L. Jackson in Jumper jealous. I wondered why Beowulf needed to be done motion-capture style, and now I'm even more mystified, since it works pretty well in live-action. The clumsiness of the effects even kind of adds to the enjoyment. And who needs fancy special effects when you can resort to that other teenage-boy-trigger: boobs! It's the first thing you think when Kyra (Rhona Mitra) walks into the room, and the Playboy playmate who plays Grendel's mother is so pornoish she gives Angelina Jolie a run for her money.

Next time: a truly artsy double feature to compensate. But I refuse to apologize: bad movies can be much more fun than quality ones, and they beat mediocre ones every time.

http://www.cyberdeliabr.com/2008/05/02/beowulf-0-guerreiro-das-sombras-1999/

Obrigado.

So with no further ado, the List: Part I.

1) OVO/Peter Gabriel

"Scientists agree that in the future..." the narrator booms over the stadium in a deep British baritone, "people will be birds." Thus begins Peter Gabriel's masterful tribute to post-apocalyptic mutations. Part Road Warrior, part Cats, part avian flu, OVO is an epic tale of loss and redemption, love and betrayal, and people with wings.

Or so I can only assume. I haven't actually seen one minute of Peter Gabriel's over-the-top avian extravaganza, but how can it not be good? The British government considered it good enough to put a permanent blight on the otherwise old-world landscape of London in the form of the Millennium Dome just so they could house Gabriel's flock of mad bird people, like an aviary from the future. And that makes it awesome.

_________________________

2) Christopher Lambert

A wise man I knew once said, "The problem with Steven Seagal movies is once you've seen one of them, you've seen them all. They're all terrible and they're all terrible in the same way.

"But," he went on, "Christopher Lambert movies are all terrible in completely different ways." Making them infinitely enjoyable.

Lambert's movies might be terrible in different ways, but his acting is consistently awful. Whether he's an immortal Scottish highlander, a lonely American businessman, or a futuristic Beowulf fighting off Grendel in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Christopher Lambert is always the same wooden, weird looking Frenchman with a stare that could melt iron. Or at least I think that's what it's supposed to be.

Such consistent awfulness in acting in the midst of such varied awfulness in film is nearly impossible to pull off. And that makes Christopher Lambert awesome.

___________________________________________________

3) Stephen Chow

Stephen Chow is a genius. Director, actor, auteur, he stands as a beacon of pure creativity beside a darkened sea of mediocrity. I will let his filmography speak for itself.

In The God of Cookery Chow plays a disgraced Hong Kong celebrity-chef who must learn the secrets of kung fu in order to challenge the pupil who betrayed him in the ultimate kung fu cooking competition. Only then does he regain his title as The God of Cookery and discover he is in fact a fairy descended from the abode of the gods.

In Shaolin soccer Chow plays a down-and-out Shaolin monk who must reunite his fellow monks to use their gravity defying kung fu to help a cursed soccer star get revenge on his former aid, who is now the owner of the Evil Soccer Team.

In a film industry that churns out cliche after cliche in an attempt to be original, Stephen Chow is original by combining every Hong Kong cliche into a ridiculous mix of Chinese wire-fu and Looney Tunes slapstick. And that makes Stephen Chow awesome.

___________________________________

Men and women of awesome everywhere, I salute you.

Vihan päivä on vuonna 2006 valmistunut elokuva inkvisition kourissaan pitämästä Espanjasta. Jos elokuvan tarina siirrettäisiin 1500-luvun Espanjasta 2000-luvun New Yorkiin, sopisi se sinne aivan yhtä hyvin. Kyseessä on siis varsin yksinkertainen hyvä vs. paha asetelma, jossa mikään ei tietenkään ole sitä miltä se aluksi näyttää.

Varsin heppoinen ja mitäänsanomaton. En voi suositella tätä muuhun kuin aivojen tyhjentämiseen ja ehkä vielä pahemman tylsistymisen välttämiseksi. Teitä on varoitettu!

Sigamos recordando, y recordemos al inmortal McLeeod.

“Los Inmortales”, otro de los títulos ochenteros, que dio cuerda (desafortunada), para cuatro secuelas más, un film de animación, y una serie televisiva.

Dirigida en 1986 por Russell Mulcahy, que comenzó su carrera como realizador de videos musicales, y que había dirigido anteriormente dos películas (una de ellas, Razorback (1984)), narra la historia de una raza especial de hombres que sólo pueden morir decapitándose entre sí, hasta sólo quedar uno de ellos sobre la tierra.

Un argumento interesante, para un film que se estrenó sin grandes pretensiones, y que el tiempo ha posicionado como película de culto.

Protagonizada por Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery y Clancy Brown, la acompañaba una interesante música de Michael Kamen, y canciones de Queen, de las que algo se puede escuchar en el trailer, al mismo tiempo que podemos ver las dos épocas principales en las que se desarrolla la película, y hacernos por el, una idea del argumento.

Highlander Trailer

Swanson 

Parece que ya tenemos protagonista para la tercera entrega de la encarnizada batalla entre vampiros y hombres lobo. Underworld 3 no va a contar con Kate Beckinsale, pero sí con Rhona Mitra. Algunos la pueden conocer (como es mi caso) y otros no. Para refrescaros la memoria voy a decir a grandes rasgos su currícuculm.

Se dió a conocer como la primera modelo que promocionaba a Lara Croft en uno de sus juegos -a cada entrega de la serie eligen una diferente, así que ya van unas cuantas-, luego la vimos en esa divertidísima película llamada "Beowulf" protagonizada por Christopher Lambert (cuando la veo de vez en cuando siempre me arranca alguna carcajada), fué violada por Kevin Bacon en la película "El Hombre sin Sombra" -sí, el tío era invisible y estaba más salido que Tarzan con la mona chita antes de conocer a Jane-, realizó mucha serie b, apariciones en series de televisión, papeles secundarios (como en "El Número 23" con Jim Carrey) y recientemente protagonizó una película que prometía mucho y se quedó en poco, "Skynwalkers". Para estrenar tiene una película que puede dar que hablar (aunque luego estas cosas se quedan en agua de borrajas y acabamos diciendo eso de "joer! estaba mejor el trailer. Menudo petardo!!!), "Doomsday".

Bueno, a grandes rasgos ya conocemos a esta actriz. Pues la podremos disfrutar en la tercera entrega de Underworld, con el sobrenombre en esta ocasión de "Ryse of the Lycans".

La no inclusión de Kate Beckinsale en esta tercera entrega se debe a que hablamos de una precuela, con lo que su personaje (o igual la actriz no estaba muy interesada por el papel, a saber...) no tenía mucho sentido para los guionistas de la saga.
El papel de Rhona Mitra sería el de Sonja, hija del vampiro Victor (habitual de esta franquicia). Al ser amante de Lucian, un hombre lobo (esto parece Romeo y Julieta), la guerra entre ambas especies estalla de inmediato.

RHONA MITRA COMO LARA CROFT 

CLIP DE "EL HOMBRE SIN SOMBRA"

TRAILER DE "BEOWULF"

TRAILER DE "SKYNWALER"

Fdo: Snake  

Los inmortales es una de esas sagas que dividen mi corazón, por un lado tenemos peleas con espadas, decapitaciones a diestro y siniestro de seres que luchan por proclamarse vencedores de un dantesco juego, la frase "solo puede quedar uno" que me pone la carne de gallina cada vez que la escucho, buenos personajes, etc. y por otro lado tenemos los Inmortales 2 que vendria a ser como ver una discusión de tartamudos: no te enteras absolutamente de nada y te preguntas repetidamente que haces viendo algo así.

Todo empezó con los Inmortales (1986), película que narra la historia de Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert aka Rayden) un escocés nacido en 1518 que fallece en una batalla entre clanes y poco más tarde revive conllevando la expulsión de su clan por brujeria (origen del 99% de personajes de la saga).

Poco más tarde hace su aparición Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery) inmortal de origen egipcio pero con nombre español que empuñaba una katana forjada por su suegro el emperador de Japón (mmm... si claro, ¿algo más? ¿un extranjero se beneficia a la princesa de Japón y en vez de hacer sushi con el le dan una katana y una palmadita en el hombro? siempre he sospechado que este personaje no era inmortal, fijo que era un pobre senil que habia robado una katana por ahí o algo parecido).

Mientras este curtido mestizo enseña a Connor el arte de la espada le cuenta todo lo que sabe acerca de los inmortales: solo pueden morir decapitados, solo puede quedar uno y el vencedor tendrá derecho a reclamar un premio.

Entonces hace su aparición el malo de turno (que no se porqué tiene que haber un malo en una peli de gente que se dedica a cortar cabezas, supongo que el tio disfrutaba más de la cuenta): El Kurgan, un inmortal contemporáneo a MacLeod que entre muchos otros acaba con el pobre Ramirez.

Al final se enfrentan Connor y El Kurgan y como siempre el bien vence al mal, Connor, coronandose como "el unico" (lo siento Jet Li) , pide ser un humano corriente para vivir una vida normal.

Un gran desenlace para una gran película de aventuras que de haberse quedado ahí seria mejor recordada de lo que es actualmente pero como siempre el negocio del cine es más fuerte que el arte. Señores guionistas: "Solo tenia que haber una".

Próximamente: Los inmortales 2

In the ‘80s I was introduced to Conner MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) and the concept of the immortal hero.  The movie spawned a 20+ year franchise that included a Highlander TV series.

(Just for the record, I'm sure other immortals in television and film existed before the ‘80s, but I'm going to claim that I'm too young to remember them as an excuse for not including them.)

A decade after Highlander hit the big screen, I started watching a show about another immortal - one who had a questionable past.  Cursed with a soul by gypsies, the vampire known as Angel (David Boreanaz) patrolled the streets of first Sunnydale, then Los Angeles helping people in an effort to make reparations for all the evil he'd done.

And now, before adding New Amsterdam to the list, I am watching two more shows with leads that cannot die - Moonlight and Torchwood.  Moonlight is about another vampire that doubles as a detective while Torchwood features Dr. Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), a time traveler from the future who is unable to die after an adventure with The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston/David Tennant of Doctor Who).

After watching the premiere of New Amsterdam last night I think the drama has potential.  After all it has all the ingredients for a successful immortal.

Immortality Brought on My Death

Like others before him, John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) had died and lived to tell about it.  In fact in the pilot, John dies twice - once in the flashback where he received his immortality from an Indian shaman (Carla Rae Holland) and once in the opening sequence (I won't spoil the why here).

Of course, both Angel and Nick St. John (Alex O'Laughlin) died to become vampires.  Captain Jack was brought back to life when Rose (Billie Piper) saved him from The Bad Wolf.  And Conner found out about his immortality after being mortally wounded in battle.

A Quest

John's quest is unlike like other immortals, but it's a quest nonetheless.  Angel seeks to redeem himself.  Nick is search for a cure.  Conner battled for The Prize and Jack is trying to save Earth.  But John's quest is more personal.  He's looking for love, not any love, but his one true love.  When he finds it, he can finally grow old.

A Hero complex

With immortality comes responsibility.  Conner fights evil immortals.  Jack protects the earth from aliens.  Angel and Nick are both private detectives.  And John partners with fellow cop Eva Marquez (Zuleikha Robinson) to fight crime, although he hasn't always worked a cop.

Wear a Long Coat

The long coat must be part of the hero fashion statement, because all the immortals are wearing one, each for their own purpose.  Jack's dates back to his World War I days.  Conner used it to hide his sword.  The long coat looks really cool flapping in the breeze like wings when Angel and Nick leap from tall buildings.  I'm not sure what John's purpose for his coat is yet (a throwback from his past?), but I'm willing to stick around to find out.

Loners with a Confidant

Since immortals can outlive everyone they know, it's no surprise that they are all loners.  But that doesn't mean they are totally alone - they have confidants.  Jack has his Torchwood staff.  Nick has fellow vamp Josef (Jason Dohring).  Angel had Doyle (Glenn Quinn) and then Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter).  Conner had Juan Sanchz Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery).

John has Omar (Stephen Henderson).  We met the 65-year-old jazz club owner in the pilot.  He was in trouble with some bookies and John helps him out.  He returns the favor by keeping John's secrets.  But maybe that's not the only reason.  According to TV Guide, Omar is John's son (one of many children his fathered over the years).

Achilles' Heel

Immortality does come without some downsides.  Each of these immortals has a mortal weakness - something that can kill them immediately.  Conner must be beheaded to die.  Beheading, fire, sunlight and stakes are all lethal to Angel, while beheading, fire and extreme sunlight are the only things that can put an end to Nick's life.  I don't want to give away Jack's secret, I'll just say tune into Doctor Who's third season.

But what can kill John?  Ironically, it's the same thing that he searches for - true love.  Once his soul is wed to that of his one true love, he can grow old and die.

Women

Some might argue that women in and of themselves are man's Achilles' heel.  I'll save that debate for another day.  But I did notice that all the immortals have their fair share of women around.

Conner had Heather (Beatie Edney).  Nick has Beth (Sophia Myles), the girl he loves, and Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon), the wife that turned him.  Angel has a couple ladies on his list - his sire Darla (Julie Benz), his true love Buffy (Sarah Michelle Geller) and Cordelia.  The unconventional Jack has a slew of people - both men and women - that he shares chemistry with including Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd), Gwen (Eve Myles) and Captain John Hart (James Marsters).

Who keeps John company?  Over the years he's had several wives, but as he told us in the pilot only one at a time.  Currently, in addition to his partner Eve, John has crossed paths with Dr. Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore).  Is she is one true love?  Only time will tell.

Living under the Radar

In order to avoid someone noticing that they are living forever, immortals must fly under the radar.  Angel lives in the shadows.  Nick pretends that he's his own son.  And Conner moved around.  I have no idea how Jack has remained undetected.

John changes names and careers.  In the pilot, we heard at least two other names he used, one being Charlie and the other the name of an artist he once was.  The constant mystery of the person that he was should provide an intriguing backdrop for the show.  And the random why he throws out tidbits - that he knows no one will believe - suggesting his real age adds a touch of humor to the show.

Flashbacks in History

The great thing about living for hundreds of years is the unfolding history.  And a good show about immortals explores that history through flashbacks (or in Jack's case flash forwards since he's from the future).

New Amsterdam promises to follow in the footsteps of other shows about immortals giving us glimpses into John's past lives.  In the pilot, we saw how John became immortal as a Dutch soldier in 1642.  The flashbacks are possibly the part I'm looking forward to the most.  I like the idea of peeking into someone's past to learn more about them and I enjoy historical stories, so bring on the flashbacks.

Overall, I think that Fox has the makings of a hit on their hands.  But I'm worried that New Amsterdam will be lost among the reality show swamp the network has become.  So far the network is not doing the show any favors by moving the show around its schedule - it premiered on a Tuesday night, the next episode is on Thursday, followed by an episode on Monday.

If Fox can secure a decent place in the schedule for the show, New Amsterdam might live a long life - even if it's not immortal.

Am Genick aufgehängt werden sollte jeder, der verrät, mit welcher Variante Frank Darabont in seiner Filmversion Stephen Kings klassische Gruselmär um geschlossene Gesellschaften und Monster, die im Nebel lauern, enden lässt. So jedenfalls fordert es mit einigem Nachdruck und, um im Bild zu bleiben, dem ihm eigenen Galgenhumor kein Geringerer als der Autor selbst. Seine Mutter habe das Ende nie so richtig gefallen, und deren Meinung sei ihm immer am wichtigsten gewesen. Schön also, dass Mrs. Kings Urteil nun mehr als ein Vierteljahrhundert später endlich einer ziemlich wirksamen Exekutive unterzogen wurde – wenn auch nur posthum.

Überhaupt, die große Schwäche des Meisters lag schon immer darin, eine Geschichte zufriedenstellend zu beenden. Ausufernd, unentschlossen, ernüchternd oder belanglos – die Liste ließe sich beliebig erweitern. Stephen King kann sich von seinen Plots und Charakteren eben nur ganz selten gebührend verabschieden. Doch da steht er nicht alleine, und die Angst vor dem Finale schwebt als ziemlich bedrohliches Damoklesschwert bekanntermaßen ganz besonders über den Köpfen der großen Studios. Denn mit den letzten Minuten eines Films muss das Publikum fortan leben, und von ihnen her bestimmt sich der an Nachwirkung reichste Eindruck – und damit der Wille zur Weiterempfehlung. Wie gewichtig dieser Faktor ausfällt, belegen die zahllosen Alternativenden aus fehlgeschlagenen Testvorführungen, die heute zum DVD-Standardbonusmaterial gehören und einem im Nachhinein gehörig den Spaß verderben können. Die Autorität einer Geschichte bestimmt sich nun einmal schon dem Wort nach immer noch vom Autor her, und wenn der sich nicht sicher ist, muss sich sein Publikum wohl oder übel alleingelassen fühlen. Frank Darabont weiß das ziemlich genau, und so bleibt Kings Finale im eigentlichen Sinne auch unberührt. Oder eben genau nicht, und darin liegt die entscheidende Stärke dieser Variante, die Mrs. King hoffentlich gefallen hätte. Obwohl – aber nein, mehr zu sagen würde den Strick bedeuten.

Bemerkenswert ist, wie gut Kings Marketingtrick funktioniert, denn offensichtlich ist kaum ein einziger Artikel zum Film in der Lage, sich einer wie auch immer gearteten Stellungnahme zum alternierten Ende zu enthalten (Beispiel siehe oben). Im Wesentlichen ist man sich jedoch einig, dass einem Darabonts Lösung nicht wirklich gefällt, nur kann man ja nicht sagen warum (und könnte es vermutlich auch nicht, wenn man denn dürfte). Was da wie die trotzige Reaktion eines Kindes aussieht, dem man nicht erlaubt, überall dort zu spielen, wo es ihm gerade passt, ist vermutlich das Resultat einer falschen Erwartungshaltung, und die erstreckt sich auf den gesamten Film. Das liegt an zweierlei. Zum einen ist „The Mist“ nach „The Shawshank Redemption“ und „The Green Mile“ bereits Darabonts dritte (mit dem Kurzfilm „The Woman in the room“ eigentlich vierte) King-Verfilmung und leidet so unter dem Druck der Vorgänger. Zum anderen könnte sich das Sujet nicht merklicher von den beiden anderen Filmen abheben, denn im Gegensatz zu diesen ist „The Mist“ klassischer Horror, wenn auch in der King-Variante. Darabont muss es also nicht nur seinen bisherigen Fürsprechern recht machen, sondern auch noch den Vorgaben eines eingefleischten Genre-Publikums entsprechen – von der King-Gemeinde, den Kingianern etwa (oder Kingonen?) ganz abgesehen. Keine leichte Aufgabe also.

Dabei ist sein Film so werkgetreu, wie man es sich nur wünschen kann (was sich von der überwiegenden Zahl aller sonstigen King-Verfilmungen nun beim besten Willen nicht sagen lässt), und alle Abweichungen vom Original fallen äußerst behutsam zugunsten der Geschichte und ihrer Charaktere aus. Das alleine ist in der langen Liste von Leinwand- und TV-Produkten, die sich in irgendeiner Weise die Marke Stephen King auf die Fahne geschrieben haben, eine echte Seltenheit und hat damit zu tun, dass Darabont von all seinen Kollegen nicht nur der größte Fan des Autors ist, sondern auch als einziger wirklich begriffen hat, welches Prinzip hinter dessen massivem Erfolg steht und seinen immensen Output im Innersten zusammenhält. Das zu beweisen fällt anhand eher unüblicher King-Stoffe recht leicht, weil keine Geister, Monster, Untote und sonstige Angstmacher aus dem Schreckenskabinett der Popkultur jeglicher Charakterzeichnung im Weg stehen und Aufmerksamkeit für sich beanspruchen (und damit den Filmemacher vor eine Aufgabe stellen, der sich die meisten lieber entziehen). Der Schritt ins archetypische Territorium des Autors fällt von dorther selbstredend umso schwerer – und das vor allem für Publikum und Kritik. Rob Reiner hat es deshalb auch vorgezogen, seinem Achtungserfolg von „Stand by me“, der ersten sozusagen horrorfreien King-Verfilmung, mit „Misery“ einen Stoff folgen zu lassen, der sich ohne Monster und übernatürliche Fähigkeiten immer noch leicht unter der Dachmarke eines Psychothrillers verkaufen ließ, und Lawrence Kasdans in der ersten Hälfte exzellentem „Dreamcatcher“ ist die völlige Unfähigkeit im Umgang mit Kings wilden Alien-Fantasien im Verlauf der Geschichte sichtbar anzumerken. Darabont allerdings ist dieses Problem fremd, und so rettet er einiges von Kasdans guten Ansätzen in seinen eigenen Film herüber (darunter auch „Punisher“ Thomas Jane, der optisch zwar als jüngerer Bruder von Christopher Lambert durchgehen mag, sich inhaltlich aber so perfekt in die Riege unfreiwilliger Helden des King-Universums einfügt, dass man sich dringend zeitgemäße Remakes von „Pet Sematary“ und „Salem´s Lot“ mit ihm in der Hauptrolle wünscht).

Die Geschichte funktioniert recht einfach und bietet jedem, der bisher die Finger von Stephen King gelassen hat, einen kompakten Einblick in die Funktionsweise seiner Arbeit. Nach einem heftigen Sturm wird eine amerikanische Kleinstadt von mysteriösen Nebelwänden heimgesucht, die sich so rasch verdichten, dass bald schon alles Leben zum Stillstand kommt. Eine recht heterogene Gruppe von Einheimischen und Wochenendlern verschanzt sich in einem Supermarkt, um die Lage abzuwarten. Schnell jedoch wird offensichtlich, dass draußen im Nebel eine Bedrohung lauert, mit der weder physisch noch psychisch fertig zu werden ist. Bei dem verzweifelten Versuch, einen Ausweg aus der zunehmend dramatischer werdenden Lage zu finden, spaltet sich die Gruppe, und die Dinge nehmen ihren unguten Lauf.

Enklavische Konstellationen bestimmen alle vier Verfilmungen Darabonts, nur sind sie bei „The Mist“ der eigentliche Motor der Geschichte. Ästhetisch findet das seinen Niederschlag in der fiebrigen Kamera-Arbeit von Ronn Schmidt, den Darabont anlässlich eines Intermezzos bei der Cop-Serie „The Shield“ kennen lernte. Schmidt bringt einiges vom visuellen Stil der Serie mit, und das verleiht dem Film eine interessante Rohheit, die den beiden Vorgängern abgeht und die gefährlichen Spannungen zwischen den Charakteren in den Mittelpunkt rückt, noch bevor diese eruptiv werden. Ähnlich roh gibt sich das Produktionsdesign, das für Interieur und Warensortiment des Supermarktes nahezu keine Farbabstufungen zulässt. Rot, Gelb, Blau und Grün gibt es im Wesentlichen nur in einer einzigen plakativen Temperatur. Nuancen gehen unter, und so wird es im Verlauf auch dem Konflikt der Charaktere ergehen.

Nur wenige Angriffe der Kreaturen aus dem Nebel gibt es zu sehen, aber diese geraten dafür umso effektiver (eine Seite des Films, die mancher seinem Regisseur vielleicht nicht unbedingt zugetraut hätte). Dass sich parallel dazu aber ein gefährlicher religiöser Fanatismus breit macht, der dem Bedrohungspotential der Monster von außen in nichts nach steht, ist keine Erfindung Darabonts. Ein bisschen intensiviert und zugespitzt hat er das Motiv, aber das Grundkonzept setzt sich bereits in Kings Vorlage durch. Das ist umso interessanter, als es den einen oder anderen dazu bewogen hat, die Konfliktsituation von „The Mist“ als Bestandsaufnahme der Folgen amerikanischer Bedrohungspropaganda zu lesen. Das mag man tun oder auch lassen, Tatsache ist, es bleibt bekanntermaßen der Schlaf der Vernunft, aus dem die Monster geboren werden, und diesen Gedanken spielen King und Darabont mit einiger Aufmerksamkeit durch. Ob sich das allerdings auch auf eine mögliche Lesart des Finales auswirken mag, sei als offene Frage mit auf den Weg gegeben. Denn an dieser Stelle mehr zu sagen, könnte einem bekanntermaßen das Genick brechen.

Artikel © 2008 Thomas Lenz. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Filmplakat: Senator Entertainment AG

Todo ha cambiado desde que he descubierto a Christopher Lambert.

Como ya habreis leido en otro de mis posts, la permanencia en Hollywood de Christopher Lambert no se explica de otra manera que por su condición de Dios. Si no lo has leido no tienes mas que pinchar AQUI.

Todo esto empezo hace mucho tiempo, junto con Canya y Equécrates, reiamos comentando a Christopher Lambert, pero la idea original propuesta aquellos años, la deidad de Christopher Lambert, no ha abandonado mi mente en ningun momento.

Recientemente enlas TdN 2007, he predicado la doctrina sobre Christopher Lambert entre los Murcianos, de los cuales Charlie, Migue y el Friki, quedaron tan impresionados que empezamos en serio a plantearnos nuestra religión.

Hemos llegado a varias conclusiones:

• Christopher Lambert no es un Dios, es 2, Christopher Lambert y Rayden
• Tiene muchas encarnaciones, que corresponden a los múltiples aspectod de Christopher Lambert (Beowulf, Vercingétorix, Connor McLeod, Rayden, Connor McLeod, Henry Brennick, Connor McLeod)
• El nombre de Christopher Lambert contiene mensajes ocultos:
  • Christo (clara referencia al Cristianismo)
  • Chris Lambert - Chris Lam - Islam (referencia al mundo árabe)
  • Lamb - cordero (referencia al judaismo)
  • Si reordenamos Lambert obtenemos Temblar
  • En resumen referencias a tres grandes religones y temblar... ¿Coincidencia?

Conforme vayamos descubriendo nuevos datos iré ampliando el post. Cuento con vuestras colaboraciones en los comentarios.

Por ahora hemos semi-jerarquizado el Christopherlambismo:

• Yo fuí nombrado Sumo Pontífice
• Carlos (Charlie) es el Guardián de los aspectos de Christopher Lambert
• Friki y Migue (Alcanor) son Arzobispos del Chritopherlambismo.
• Canya fue el profeta primigenio.
• El Maligno es el Telepredicador del christopherlambismo.

Que Christopher Lambert este con todos vosotros, y que la sabiduría de Rayden guie vuestras palabras.

Solo puede haber uno, el único, Christopher Lambert.

Dedico esta entrada a Gabri, por iniciarme en el mundo de la devoción a Christopher Lambert.

Normalmente mis Me Cago en van cargados de crítica no constructiva y odio visceral, en éste caso no es así, es pura envidia.

Chistopher Lambert es mi Dios personal, ¿Como puede alguien seguir siendo contratado como actor después del historial de C.L.?

Pongamonos en antecedentes, Christophe Guy Denis Lambert nacio en Long Island, con dos años sus padres se mudaron a Suiza, Chris estudio en Ginebra y mas tarde estudio en el conservatorio de Paris. En Francia participo en algunas películas no reseñables, tras esto da el salto a Hollywood con Greystoke, y poco despues Los Inmortales. Este es el momento en que Chris se equivocó, pues siguió adelante cuando se tenia que haber retirado.

El problema es que Chris, tras estos dos bombazos, se creyó un Dios del celuloide, y no iba muy descaminado, porque lo es, porque si no nadie entiende como coño no lo han mandado de Los Angeles a Suiza de nuevo de una patana en su divino trasero.

Analicemos el resto de sus grandes bataquillazos y como se convenció Chris...

Los Inmortales II: Si ha funcionado la primera funcionará la segunda...

Los Inmortales III: A Sean Connery ya no lo timaron pa esta, Chris seguia confiando.

Los Inmortales IV: Esta si que si, la peli es buena... la serie es buena... si las mezclamos no puede fallar.

La Fortaleza Infernal: Bueno, el guion tiene buena pinta, a la gente le gusta la Ci-Fi y las peliculas de carceles... esta funciona..

La Fortaleza Infernal 2: Esta no tengo ni putisima idea de que coño estaba pensando Chris.

Mortal Kombat: Adjunto el dialogo entre el productor y Chris

Prod: Hola, venia a ofrecerle un papel en una pelicula

Chris: ¿Cual?

P: ¿Conoce usted el Mortal Kombat?

C: ¡¿El Videojuego?!

P: Mmm... si

C : Yo Rayden

Mortal Kombat Annihilation: Remitirse al anterior.

Adrenalina: El nombre ta to wapo... tiene que ser buena.

Nirvana: P: Tengo un papel para usted. C: ¿Que peli? P: Nirvana C: Yo Kurt Cobain, como Kilmer en los Doors. P: No, no va de eso C: Da igual, el nombre vende.

Beowulf: Ostia.. un poema épico, y escrito en Nórdico, esto va a ser la bomba, como Ben Hur, de esta me llevo el Oscar... irrechazable.

Druidas (aka: Vercingétorix): Esta merece dialogo:

P: Hola, venia a ofrecerle un papel en una pelicula

C: ¿De que va?

P: Es como Braveheart, pero en la Galia en vez de Escocia

C: ¿Como se llama el prota?

P: Vercingétorix

C: Yo Vercingétorix

Bueno, una vez visto lo mas destacagado de su filmografía, espero que entendáis porque lo considero un Dios, le tengo tanta envidia y Me Cago en Él.

Solo me quedan varias preguntas:

¿Porque no hizo de Aragorn en El Señor de los Anillos? ¿Y de Gandalf? ¿Y por que no de Aragorn y Gandalf en un reto interpretativo?

Y un anuncio: Que sepais que ya esta anunciada Mortal Kombat 3 (Devastation) y que sale Chris... ya estoy reservando entradas ¿Quien se apunta?

Christopher Lambert describes Doug as a very visual director, and the Highlander franchise is certainly no stranger to visual directors. Russell Mulcahy, who established the Highlander style of awesome swordplay, beautifully filmed flashbacks, and heartbreakingly good character moments that explored what it means to be an Immortal, directed the first two films. Mulcahy had cut his teeth directing music videos just like Andy Morahan, who directed Highlander: The Final Dimension. It was the first feature film for both directors.

And while Highlander: Endgame also marks Doug's directing debut, his filmography as a first assistant director reads like a who's who of the most talented and visionary directors working today on some of the most cutting edge films of the last decade. Doug performed first A.D. duties for Robert Rodriguez on The Faculty and the George Clooney vampire flick From Dusk Till Dawn, Jay Roach on the hit Mike Myers comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, and Richard LaGravenese in the critically acclaimed Living Out Loud, which starred Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito as two troubled people who form a fragile and unlikely friendship. He was also first A.D. for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for Terry Gilliam, whose own directorial credits include Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, Time Bandits, Brazil, and 12 Monkeys. It's quite a varied and talented pool of directors with whom Doug has worked.

The Faculty found him in front of the camera as a coach, and Austin Powers made his voice a star. Listen in the scene where Dr. Evil talks on the phone. The voice on the other end of the line is Doug's. "Yeah, I made it into some sort of cult status," he laughs. "I'm the Phone Guy. It's a funny story. They happened to be at the looping stage that day and they were doing some work with Mike and I happened to be there at post and Mike wanted to play off somebody on the phone. He said, 'Doug, come on down here and jump on the mic. It'll be fun. I'll talk and you just answer back.' So I sat there and just sort of did improv for like 20 minutes on the phone and we had some fun with it. I didn't think they'd keep my voice!"

It was on the Austin Powers set that Doug met his wife, Suzanne Todd, one of the film's producers. They are now proud parents of a little boy named Hunter, named after Steve McQueen's last movie. Doug has called Los Angeles home for the last fifteen years, though he grew up in the Bay Area. He is very relaxed, open, and exuberant as we discuss Highlander: Endgame.

"There are so many websites!" Doug says of the Highlander fan community. "That's incredible! I knew of the first Highlander movie but I'd never really seen the series or the second or third movies."

Indeed, Doug was too busy making great movies with great directors. But that work caught the attention of Miramax, whose genre arm, Dimension Films, will release Endgame on September 1.

"The last show I did with Robert was called The Faculty," he explains, "and we were shooting some additional photography that Robert was unable to attend. So he recommended me to Miramax to finish the film. I shot some of that and they were very impressed with what they got back."

So impressed, in fact, that they turned to Doug to film additional material for the upcoming Dimension Films western Texas Rangers, which was filmed in Canada. "I went up there and I shot some promotional stuff for them, and as it turned out they had a very troubled schedule due to the fact that all the stars in that movie were television stars, so when they had an end date they had a drop-dead end date. They basically created a third-unit action unit that I was directing, and I went on to become a second unit director. We ended up shooting for what was supposed to be six days but ended up being almost six weeks. It was pretty intense. Once I got finished with that, Miramax was becoming a bigger and bigger fan of my work and they said, 'We need to put you in a film right away. The next film we do that gets green lit we're going to put you on.' And that was Highlander. It all happened literally over a span of about two weeks."

While Doug had already established himself by helping other directors bring their visions to the big screen, Endgame was Doug's baby from the word go. "We didn't have a lot of prep time, unfortunately, on this film, and it was kind of a crash course in preparation for photography due to the fact that we had to finish before the holidays. So we literally only had five weeks, which is probably about half of what this movie would normally have had for prep. So there wasn't a lot of time to brainstorm and come up with 'How are we going to develop this in a new way?' When I spoke to (Bill) Panzer and (Peter) Davis and Miramax I pitched them my ideas to take Highlander in sort of a new direction, which I think excited a lot of people and scared a lot of people. It's hard when people get familiar and used to a certain format for a story like Highlander. I'm sure it's the same as if somebody went in for Star Trek and said, 'Let's lose the Enterprise!' You know what I mean?" he laughs. "People go, 'Wow, we kind of like it, but ... I don't know.' It's a tough film to follow. So we tried to go in and develop some interesting ideas and certainly wanted to take the fighting to a new level. And that's what we really concentrated on the most in this film. Everyone's familiar with the story, and you can only do so much with the story. And so what we really tried to concentrate on was to give the fans something that they would really be excited about, in terms of the fighting and in terms of the swordplay. Coming on the heels of a film like The Matrix, people expect so much more out of films these days. You just can't give them the same old one-two-parry, one-two-parry and the guy's head comes off. Nobody's going to buy it. They want something a notch, or five, better. That's what we really tried to do, and Miramax did a fantastic job in terms of casting because they gave me Donnie Yen. He is fantastic. When they showed me his movies and they showed me his martial arts tapes, I did a back flip! It was incredible! He came on the set and he just took it to another level. And the fight between him and Adrian, I think, is pretty spectacular. Being the fourth film and me being a first-time director meant giving the audience something new, and that's what I really wanted to bring to the table. I wasn't trying to emulate any of the other directors. I tried to come up with something that would really stylistically show off what I knew, and that was action."

In addition to the skills Adrian and Donnie brought to the Endgame table, F. Braun McAsh was back as the Highlander swordmaster after playing that role for four seasons of the TV series. "F. is one of those guys," Doug says, "who you know, when he's telling you how something is done or how a specific move is executed, you know you're getting the best information money can buy. I keep waiting to see him on the 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' game show. He'd clean up. The guy knows something about everything. His nickname should be 'Hard Drive.' He's brilliant."

All this talk about action was sending my excitement through the roof, so I took the opportunity to start blabbering to Doug about the trailer, and how colorful the film looks. The scene I mentioned shows Connor fighting Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne) at the edge of a cemetery. In the woods beyond the Immortals, stark brown trees meet rich grays and blues that mingle in the mists and contrast the white grave markers. Kell, draped in a long black coat with a shining silver sword, battles Connor, wearing a long brown coat that plays beautifully against the bright gold guard of his katana, the sword's ivory dragon handle, and the dark gloves that have become a Connor MacLeod trademark. Doug talks about color in Endgame.

"We were very concentrated on the color scheme of the film. Wendy Partridge, who was our costume designer, and I spent many hours trying to design a look that was not just black. We didn't want to just do Blade, as great a movie as Blade is," he says, referencing the 1998 Wesley Snipes hit that featured its own fair share of kick-ass martial arts and swordplay. "We didn't just want to go jet black, jet black, jet black. As you look at the film, you'll see that there are a lot of browns, and that's just a conscious decision we made. These people are Immortals. They live amongst us, and they blend in as opposed to stand out. They're not walking around looking for battles. The battles find them. So we wanted to put them into an everyman's world. We felt that by taking the black away we put you in an everyman world as opposed to everyman into a movie world. And then Doug Milsome, our director of photography, and I sat down in Romania and came up with a couple of ideas."

Milsome was a camera operator on the first Highlander, and has provided cinematography for films like Full Metal Jacket, Breakdown, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The Endgame director speaks highly of him. "When you have somebody that talented, you literally let them run with it. I say, 'This is what I want and this is the kind of feel I'm going for,' and provided you guys are on the same page, you just let that guy go. He's talent 101."

I told Doug that both he and Milsome have appeared in the daily photos on Adrian Paul's PEACE website, and it was then that our conversation turned to the man behind Duncan MacLeod. "Adrian is such a great guy, and obviously what he does with his charity is just fantastic. I'm glad for him and I hope people will check out his website. He really does put heart and soul into the MacLeod character."

At the Gathering 5 convention held this March in Denver, Adrian praised Doug and said he'd love to work with him again. "Wow! The feeling is definitely mutual," Doug says. "Adrian puts 110% into everything that he does."

And so, says Doug, does Christopher Lambert.

"I feel so fortunate as a first-time director having the opportunity to work with two actors who truly knew who their characters were in Christopher Lambert and Adrian Paul. I would sit down with them and we would talk about what we wanted to achieve in the scene. Instead of me trying to sit there and say, 'You know, Adrian, I know you've played this character for nine years but I think he would do this,' there was none of that because they are the characters. They know exactly where they're going, where they've been, and how they got there and what journey their characters have taken. For them to get into a specific zone, if you will, man, it's just like flipping a light switch. They are there. I was shocked. I didn't actually know that ("The Gathering") was the only episode they'd done together. When they came on the set, it was like two brothers. Their camaraderie was incredible. We were out at dinner one night and I said, 'How many shows have you guys done together?' And they said, 'One.' So I said, 'Come on, you guys see each other all the time at conventions and stuff, right?' And they said, 'No.' But there was just something there. It was really a kinship. It was really bizarre. What better way to play off of two guys who, in the story, haven't seen each other for ten years and then come back together? They were truly living out the story, which was great. And they never missed a beat. They got together and it was just BOOM. It was like butter. Especially for me! I just sat back and enjoyed the performances."

Doug explains how Adrian gets the most out of himself and everyone around him, though never at the expense of the other actors or the crew. "Adrian is very respectful in terms of everybody's job. Adrian is one of those guys where I guarantee you he can do everybody's job. He could pull focus. He could work the smoke machine. Design the costumes. He could run the DAT machine and do sound at the same time. The guy is just so multi-talented. He blows me away. He really does. He reminded me a lot of Robert Rodriguez, who literally could do anything. He was really, really talented, but very respectful and never tried to push his way into somebody else's thoughts. He was always there for support. If you had a question and you wanted to involve him he was definitely there and he'd tell you what he thought about whatever it was you were asking him. But he was very mellow, very laid back, and was definitely a team player. In this kind of shoot, you needed to have somebody like that. You really couldn't have an egomaniac on this film because the time crunch was so intense. Shooting in Bucharest was so brutal, there was really no room for egos."

Endgame marked several firsts. It was Doug's first directing gig and Adrian Paul's first time bringing Duncan MacLeod to the big screen. Jim Byrnes and Peter Wingfield were making their movie debuts, so was the WWF's Edge (Adam Copeland), and Donnie Yen was also making his first appearance in an American studio picture of this size. "You have to be sort of a conductor and a shrink at the same time," Doug laughs. "You really have to sort of feel out your actors and try to understand their fears and be aware of their concerns and really be there for them. It was such a melting pot of backgrounds. The TV actors I've worked with, obviously the guys on Texas Rangers, they're so dialed in. They are so sharp. They don't get 25 takes. They get in, they've got to hit their mark, they've got to say their lines, they've got to deliver their performance. So they're really, really tight, and I've found that the film guys are just as tight, yet they sort of want to mature within the takes and they really want to try different things and you have to respect that. It's a fine line. You have to draw it, and walk it, and be careful that you don't trip on it."

Every good action film needs a good bad guy and a pretty girl. Endgame won't disappoint. The Immortal villain of Endgame, Jacob Kell, is a Highlander himself whose connection to Connor MacLeod goes back to Scotland where they grew up together. When I asked Doug about Bruce Payne, who plays Kell, I swear I could hear his smile through the phone. "Bruce Payne," he says, "is the consummate professional." Payne has a long list of movie bad guys under his belt, most notably making trouble for Wesley Snipes as Charles "The Rane of Terror" Rane in Passenger 57. "That guy is so tight. I worked with Bruce years and years ago when I was a second A.D. on a film called The Howling." Subtitled The Freaks, the film was the sixth sequel in the Howling series of werewolf movies. This one found a reluctant werewolf battling an evil vampire in a circus freak show, and Bruce played the vampire. "At that time I wasn't writing, I wasn't even thinking about directing. I was just happy to be an A.D., to be working in Hollywood. Bruce was the villain, and he and I just hit it off. Usually actors and assistant directors are at each other's throats, and due to scheduling and everything else that goes on you usually don't end up being friends with actors per se. Bruce was just a great guy, and truly a hard worker. We hit it off. We had not seen each other since then, and when I got this job and I read the script and read the character of Kell, I knew that was Bruce. I got on the phone with our L.A. casting director and with our London casting office and I said, 'You have to find Bruce Payne.' We were seeing wonderful actors, I mean, really, really great actors, and always in the back of my mind I knew this was a part that Bruce Payne had to play. I tried to be very democratic about it. I tried to be very open-minded. I saw the other actors and I thought some of them were just absolutely incredible and did a wonderful job, but it's like when you see a girl on the subway, you just go, man, if I'd just stayed on and waited I wonder what would have happened. You should never let that instinct go. We found Bruce, and he came in, he sat down and read for me, and he was the girl on the subway that I knew he was going to be," he laughs, "as terrible as that sounds!" I tell him the metaphor works. "He was the girl on the subway that I couldn't let drive away. And we had a great time working together."

"Speaking of the girl on the subway," I ask, "what about Lisa Barbuscia?"

I can hear Doug smiling through the phone again as he begins to talk about the actress who plays Faith, an Immortal femme fatale who is the key to Duncan MacLeod's darkest and most painful secret. "Lisa B.," he says, savoring the name. "Yeah. Yeah! Wow. Talk about pulling somebody out of thin air. She walked into the London casting office and I had never heard of her. Obviously our London casting director had heard of her having a model background and a singing career. She came in and did a reading and took direction so well. Literally she walked out of the room and we turned to each other and said, 'OK. We've got her. There she is. That's her.' Michelle Gish, who was our casting director in London, had never seen her do anything of any sort of grit, and she was just blown away. She said, 'I didn't know Lisa had that in her.' She did!"

The Faith character loves Duncan MacLeod in the past and hates him in the present, which allowed Lisa to explore different sides of the same character. "It's really apparent when you look at her. Obviously the look of her character-contemporary as opposed to the past-she's very soft, sort of a princess in the past, sort of an angelic look, wide-eyed. In the present, she's much harder. She's been around the block … a few hundred times! Lisa just grabbed on and she really worked hard in terms of trying to realize where she'd come from and how she would feel today when she saw (Duncan MacLeod) again."

Doug explains that Adrian helped Lisa when it came to playing the same character in different time periods and states of emotion. "Again, Adrian lent so much to the other actors. He was very supporting to them in terms of either being in their position or working with someone who's been very close to their position, in terms of the structure of the story and in terms of the time lapses and all that. So it was again great to have Adrian there. He could say, 'Well, back in episode #18,' or what have you, what you have here is what you had there. And (Lisa) really took that to heart and really, really worked hard in rehearsals. It shows."

You can't have Highlander without swordfights, and you can't have Highlander without romance. Adrian and Lisa share some pretty hot love scenes in Endgame. "Whoa!" he says, laughing. "I have to tell you, we shot the film with sort of a Rated R version in mind," Doug explains. "The marketing at Miramax, at one point, had wanted a PG-13 for obvious reasons. They wanted to broaden their audience. They feel that more people can enjoy a film with a PG-13 instead of an R. But we knew. Because of what Highlander is. Because of the action that takes place. Because of what audiences expect in terms of the action. And there's violence. As terrible as that is, when there can be only one, the only way to go down is to get your head cut off. So we tried to do that very stylishly, and the love scenes as well. I can say they're very, very steamy. You're going to see a lot of skin, both Adrian and Lisa. But I think it's done very tastefully. Both of the actors have seen it and they're both very pleased with it. Nick Glennie-Smith, who did the score, gave us some music that's really wonderful. And ladies want to see Adrian's backside. There's a lot of his backside in (the love scenes). If I was a gal and I was watching him for seven years on television, I mean, God! How can you not love that? When does reality take over from the fantasy? It does in this movie. When we would walk into a restaurant in Bucharest, literally you'd have thought these women had been on an island and had not seen a man in thirty years. It was pretty amazing."

Though Doug never had a shortage of good material to film, the filming itself was often complicated by the locations in Romania. "Moviemaking is really about challenges, whether you have the best-case scenarios or the worst-case scenarios. It's all about problem solving. Being in Romania amplified the problems. It's a society that's post-Communism and is really just coming out of it. It's very hard for people to sort of stand up and be counted. They really are used to staying back and laying low and not drawing attention to themselves. On a film set that's very difficult because it's all about getting stuff done, thinking ahead, and really planning your day and being able to move left at a moment's notice. And they were not set up to do that. We had some Americans, some British, and it was hard for them to get the level of work they were used to out of the Romanian crew. But let me tell you this: They are the sweetest people. They worked really hard. It's like never having skied before. 'Jump on the skis and go down this hill.' You might want to do it, and you might love it, but it doesn't mean you're necessarily good at it. And I think this film was definitely the biggest budget film they had had. They've had a lot of direct-to-video million-dollar budgets, things like that. I think they were kind of blown away by the speed and the efficiency we tried to bring to them."
The Endgame crew, meanwhile, was nearly blown away by the weather. When filming resumed this year after

Bruce Payne recovered from a nasty bronchial infection, the production found itself in London because key locations were covered by snow. "That was unfortunate. But we knew the weather was coming, and there it was, unfortunately, right smack in our face when we tried to go back there. The producer of the movie, Patrick Palmer, who's been around for a long time, went over to Romania and found there was absolutely no way we could do this. He made an educated decision and it really saved the movie, because we would have had to shoot everything there over again. I actually never made it back to Romania. I was leaving for the airport when Patrick called me and said, 'Stop everything, turn your ticket in, you're heading to London.' It was a complete about-face."

London, Doug says, provided more of the "creature comforts that movie people are accustomed to, fine restaurants, a nice hotel with hot water, that kind of thing. We were able to recreate Bucharest. When you watch the cemetery scene, half of it is shot in Bucharest and half of it is shot in London, and I defy you to tell me which half is which. The production designer in London, and again, Patrick Palmer, scoured the countryside to find just the right hills, just the right trees, just the right backdrops. If you show me where it's broken down between Romania and London, I will buy you a steak dinner, my friend."

"I'll take you up on that," I replied.

"You got it!" Doug laughed.

With all this talk of what was shot where, Doug explained that he and Chris Blunden, "a very talented editor," did a lot of the film's editing in London. "We had a great time there."

But London would not be the last stop for Endgame. Some second-unit footage was shot in Scotland, and additional footage was filmed in Luxembourg. One of the additional scenes is a kata performed by Adrian Paul, who talked at length about the sequence at Gathering 5. Doug was just as excited as Adrian about the results. "We did shoot the kata sequence, in Luxembourg. Highlander is a worldwide film! We had a week of additional photography in Luxembourg doing some green screen and some of the martial arts stuff like the kata. It's a moment where he's getting ready to do battle and he does a kata to prepare. It was one of those scenes where it was always on the schedule and always in the script and we never had the time for it. But Adrian hung in there and trained and trained, and got ready for it. He worked so hard. And literally he and I would go out at our lunchtime and take a handful of crew and go out and shoot the kata every day for a week. It's a great scene. He's such a bad-ass."

Adrian's bad-ass self isn't the only TV series face that will show up in Endgame. Jim Byrnes reprises his role as Joe Dawson, and Peter Wingfield is back as Methos. "Peter and Jim," Doug explains, "both came attached to the project via the TV series, and I quickly became a huge fan of both of these gentlemen. I had never worked with them before, I had never met them. They were really open to my suggestions in terms of what I wanted to get out of the various scenes which a lot of times meant changing the way they delivered their lines or their motivations. For me, as a director, I love actors who take chances and aren't afraid to go left when everyone else is going right. Even though Peter and Jim had done these characters for years, they were willing to not only go left if I asked, but they'd ask me how far. I love that."

Adam Copeland, better known as the "The Edge" of the WWF, also made his feature debut. "Adam is just a great guy. He obviously had never done anything in terms of film, but what a presence, man, I mean, he knows acting, without a doubt. It's like, 'Hey, cool, let's do it again. Great!' For him it's just one shot, usually, you say your lines, you scream at the audience, you do your thing." Doug says that Adam Copeland is not "The Edge" when he's not in the ring. "We only had him for two days. He walked on the set and we were like, 'That's him?' I was expecting some big, heavyset guy. But he was like one of those professional models, this ripped, cut, great-looking guy who spoke wonderfully and came in and was really nice to everybody. We put shitty teeth on him and he was ready to rock and roll. We had a lot of fun. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets nailed for a few more parts."

It's been three years since Adrian Paul signed on for the new Highlander movie in September of 1997. In that time the film has been through several writers and titles. Doug says that by the time he came on board, everything had already been worked out. Endgame is a script by Joel Soisson from a story by Gillian Horvath and Bill Panzer. It's a story that Doug speaks quite highly of. "What storyline can you address that hasn't been addressed over seven years on the TV series? We had to work it into something new that people are excited about."

Doug won't go into many details about the story. A theme, on the other hand, is something he readily offers. "Without a doubt, redemption," he says resolutely, echoing Adrian Paul's one word summary of the film from G5. "Adrian and Christopher and myself have had hours and hours of discussion about the film and the arc of the characters and why this story needed to be told."

And though Doug won't say what's in the movie, he does comment on something that isn't. The latest trailer shows Connor slicing Kell in half, only to watch each half grow its own Kell. Doug explains that this and other special effects shots were done only for the trailer and do not appear in the film. "That is actually not in the movie. That was for the trailer. A lot of times the things you see in the trailer are not in the film, for better or for worse. We didn't want to go into Kell being a sorcerer like Mario Van Peebles. We wanted to keep it on a human level. We didn't want to get into the supernatural thing at all because it really contradicts what Immortals are all about. We tried to make it two people who you wouldn't look twice at walking down the street that melt in amongst us. That's what it's about. The first movie was simple in its concept and so direct in its execution. But the other two, they were contradicting what the first one had set up. They tried to take it somewhere where it really didn't need to go. It's not about sorcery. That is not representative of what the film is about."

As for Doug's future, he's writing a script about a college student who's framed for murder and finds himself in a world of corruption and deception. "It's very much in the vein of The Fugitive," Doug says. And as for the future of Highlander, Doug says, "I have heard rumblings that there may in fact be a fifth installment. But at this point they're only rumblings. I hope for the fans' sake they will allow Adrian to carry the torch for at least two more. There are great stories yet to be told, and I really feel Adrian is on the brink of big screen superstardom. Whether or not I would direct another Highlander ... I think for me, there can be only one. But then again, Connery said 'never again.' So, I'll never say never."

But in the meantime, there's Endgame. The previous Highlander sequels, Doug explains, were simply not "chapters" of the same story introduced by the first film. "When I came on board I was very concerned that we didn't go off in a direction that the fans would be unhappy with. This film is for the fans."
It's something that Doug, Christopher, and Adrian were aware of before and during filming, and Doug is certain the finished product will reflect that.

"Redemption always, always popped up. When you see the film, you will realize why that is."

Highlander: Endgame, a Doug Aarniokoski film starring Adrian Paul and Christopher Lambert, opens September 1 in a theater near you.