A Not Real casting List for a Disney Remake.

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Not Real News Hunchback Notre Dame picture image

Not Real News Hunchback Notre Dame

So this made the rounds and ended up on my news alert. So why not do a quick fire round of casting thoughts on these performers in these roles. This very off impromtu. Read the article here    

Andy Serkis as Quasimodo – Unless it was motion capture I don’t see this casting. Serkis is a great actor but I can’t see him being a innocent child-like Quasimodo.

Gal Gadot as Esmeralda – I get it. She could work as Esmerlada but it’s not a casting that I would have thought of. I think there are better opinions but if did happen probably wouldn’t be the worst.

Peter Capaldi as Frollo – I have never heard of this guy, I apologize.  Apparently I have see him in The Devil’s Whore, which I don’t remember at all.  He has played The Doctor though and he was in the Vicar of Dibley of which I have only watched the last two episode. Well I will say this for this casting HE LOOKS the part so shrugs of this casting. Probably wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Chris Hemsworth as Phoebus –   Did an actual post on this one back in 2012 so read it here.  I guess this a popular casting pick for Phoebus.

Eddie Redmayne as Clopin – No! While I could see him as Gringoire and Disney’s Clopin has elements of Gringoire in his characterization just no to this one.

Kesley Grammar as Victor – I don’t understand this one. I want to but I don’t.

Betty White as Laverne – Don’t put Betty White in a Disney movie. Don’t censor her.

Jack Black as Hugo – Maybe but no. Sure they are both crass but still.

Anthony Hopkins as The Archdeacon –  Well he did play Quasimodo in the 1982 movie so having him in another version could be cool but no. Again not the worst casting but meh.     

  

But what do you think of this fantasy casting?  And will Disney actually remake Hunchback?

Cinema Sins gets it

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Cinema Sins' take on Quasimodo from Hotel Transylvania picture image

Cinema Sins’ take on Quasimodo from Hotel Transylvania

Though considering the totality of the movie it shouldn’t have been surprising that they messed up Quasimodo. I don’t even consider this a version of Hugo’s character.

The Double-edged sword of the Hunchback Regional Productions

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Or my relationship with Google Alerts

warning – this a ramble and a rant

La Jolla Hunchback Poster picture image

La Jolla Hunchback Poster

 

Everyday at about noon I get two google alerts. One for news on Hunchback of Notre Dame and the other for the Notre Dame de Paris Musical.

Now the Notre Dame de Paris alerts doesn’t always bring in news stories about the musical but mostly news stories about the cathedral, which is fine though I tend to ignore them.

Prior to the regional productions of Hunchback, the other google alert  focused on a lot stories that mentioned the Disney movie or the Lon Chaney movie to some capacity. There was a lot alerts about craiglist listings for old Disney merchandise. The point is the alerts did come in everyday an there wasn’t a lot to them.

Now with the regional productions, I get a lot of news stories about the many, many, many productions or even past productions of the musical. While yes it’s great that there is an interest in the shows it does come a bit of a cost.

First off even with the La Jolla and Papermills productions, there is no real version of the show. Every production changes things or puts its own spin on the show. There is no central production to really look to as a benchmark.

Also I can’t review every version of the show. There is too many and they not available to me to review. I have reviewed five iterations of the production, six if you count the movie though maybe 7 if you count in the book. But of the staged productions I have reviews the 1999 German version, the King’s high school production, the Lajolla/Papermills versions, and the Ogunquit playhouse version. I should note that the Ogunquit version is that I saw live. If there was a version close to me I would try and see it.          

The point is while it’s great that there a lot of interest in this show on a regional level the result is that it’s all fleeting. That the news of regional productions clogs my news alerts so that any news that might come in about maybe a new movie version can get lost for a few days, till it clogs my alerts and then petters out to be replaced with more news about regional productions.

It’s just hard to get excited about news about  production after production for a relatively small audience.  Now if the show went to a bigger venue say like Broadway, or the West End or just done on a bigger scale for a bigger audience that would be something but does not seem like that will happen.

In the end I get actual news alerts for Hunchback and not just craiglist stuff but it just the same type of news everyday that I can’t get excited about.

 

side note-  I’m not going to turn off the alerts because sometimes I do get news that is related to upcoming movie/tv  versions.

Adventures in Netflixing; Fantasy Picks: The Seven Deadly Sins

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Meliodas and Hawk, The Seven Deadly Sins picture image

Meliodas and Hawk, The Seven Deadly Sins

Hahahahahahaaa. So the fact that I randomly picked this anime is funny since this anime used to be one my favorites. I still really enjoy this show but I just been on a downward swing with anime as I don’t watch it with some amount of frequency or enthusiasm as I used to. I do have plans to watch the actual second season of this show when it comes to Netflix. I can wait since I have read a lot manga though at present I’m behind.

I first watched this show back in November 2015. I didn’t watch it because I was interested in it though, shounen shows have never been my thing. The only one I ever really watch before this one was Bleach  WAY long ago. I also did watch Attack on Titan but that show drove me crazy. I did watch and enjoy Yu Yu Hakusho though. Anyway I actually watched  Seven Deadly Sins  because I was to making a list of the best Fantasy anime and this was on my radar. I had very low expectations of it but the first episode was a lot of fun and I binged watch the season after that and have rewatched it a few times since. And I have made three AMVs to this show which is actually harder than you would thing.

All that being said I’m not sure how to review this first episode since it’s just one episode and two unlike that Mermaid show and even the Sinbad show, I have a really good working knowledge of what happens in it.

Let’s just start with some world-building. This is clearly a European Medieval world with knights and magic and talking pigs. Nominally it’s going for Arthurian legend vibe but ONLY with names.

Exposition is done through dialogue of extras and the two leads; Meliodas and Elizabeth. We mosty learn that The Seven Deadly Sins, a group of powerful wanted criminals are still at large after ten years and Holy Knights. Elizabeth explains that she looking for the Seven Deadly Sins because the Holy Knights of her kingdom have taken over and she has concluded to Seven Deadly Sins  are the ones to help.

Now with regards to our two leads, there is a total of three fake out identity involving them in this episode alone and this just episode 1. It’s bit excessive especially as the show actually goes out it way to pull this off as Meliodas’ wanted poster in his own bar doesn’t look like him. There is a slightly plot reason for this but it’s really just a plot mechanic for people to be incredulous towards Meliodas as he looks like a child and not like his poster and to make the audience confused/giggle,   

I would say aside from all the exposition this episode is fun especially between Meliodas and Hawk, the talking pig.

Actually from the vantage point of review this episode it’s a little maddening since things occurred that make some of the character out right liars.

All in all the first episode of Seven Deadly Sins is a fun introductory episode. It hooked me the first I watched it and while at this point I don’t really want to rewatch season one, it was still fun to watch it  the first episode.

 

Site Note – I’m a little bum that I didn’t get a Fantasy Movie from this exercise or a K-drama but can you do. Despite my lack of regular scheduled posts I’m considering continuing the random Netflix posts but with Foreign movies for July. And then in August I thought of looking at other French Musicals, which could be fun. As for getting back to Hunchback versions, I’m still thinking about which one will be next but I’m leaning towards that Roland Petit Ballet version next even though I know nothing about Ballet. It’s just been a crazy summer and it doesn’t look like it will let up soon.

Adventures in Netflixing; Fantasy Picks: Magi: Adventures of Sinbad

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Magi: Adventures of Sinbad episode 1 Child of Destiny picture image

Little Sinbad, Magi: Adventures of Sinbad, Episode 1 Child of Destiny

I  hate that this one got randomly picked as it’s a show I have been meaning to watch anyway since I have seen both seasons of Magi and Sinbad was awesome in that show but this what I got so I shall watch it.

So this is season 1 episode 1 which is entitled Child of Destiny.

I don’t recall to much of Sinbad in Magi, except that he was awesome  but he was cool but he might be a case of less is more and that worries me about this show. Also I don’t recall if he was some awesome chosen  one in Magi. Super awesome child of destiny plots are getting outdated but the show is from two years so methinks of being a tad forgiving.    

This show does has a weird tone. One minute is light then tense then light again. I’m not sure how to feel. I guess because it’s an Adventure it can get away with tonal shifts but it still confusing. At least ease the viewer in the emotional or tense tones.   

There is also a TON of narration for world building mainly about a war, not the best mechanic but plot exposition has to go somewhere. Again it’s the first episode so we can be slightly forgiving but SHOW don’t tell. Maybe that is not the first thing taught for screenwriters?

Mostly this introductory episode is about 5 year Sinbad’s relationship with his Dad,a war-hero turned social pariah. He teaches little Sinbad  what strength means and wars sucks. War does suck.

I would say this wasn’t the strongest first episode of an anime I have ever seen but it was serviceable to get a handle of Sinbad’s origins story, his personality and world-views. Was it the best in execution? No but was middle of the road. I wouldn’t say it would turn me off watching more episodes.

 

Side-note- I apologize that this post was late. Real-life has been tiring and vexing.

Adventures in Netflixing; Fantasy Picks – How to Train your Dragon: Dawn of the Dragons Racers

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Okay so no joke I first got  Mako: Island of Secrets which is the spin off to H20: Just add Water. What are the odds? But when I went to watch it I couldn’t find  it on Netflix streaming.  There is however the Netflix original show  Mako Mermaids which is not the same thing.

As I didn’t not foresee the Movie/Tv show that I randomly get not being available  I suppose I should make addendum to the rules in which I will re-spin if the assign movie/show is not available for streaming. I mean I would have watched it but it’s not there for me to watch and since I purposefully didn’t add Hulu to the mix I won’t watch things on there for this purpose. Nor can I really get the  physical copy of the movie/show So re-spining…

And we got How to Train your Dragon: Dawn of the Dragons Racers   

Hiccup and Toothless How to Train your Dragon Dawn of the Dragons Racers picture image

Hiccup and Toothless

I like the How Train your Dragon movies but this seems sparse in terms of scope. Sure it’s for a straight to DVD video  but it just very meh and makes me wish I was watching one of the other movies. What I liked about the first movie was the lighting which this doesn’t have. It’s looks flat. At least Toothless is still cute

The story is told as flashback on the formation of The Dragon Racing. Basically we have a basic tradition vs modernity story. Regattas are  boring and old fashion and Dragon racing is cool and hip. My issue that takes me right on out is the use of the word Regatta which is Italian in origin and comes out the 17th century. This story is set with vikings, or roughly 760 to 1060.

So ergo Regatta CAN NOT BE OLD FASHION to to their own world building.  Oddly though if you look up viking boat race on google you get a to the howtotrainyourdragon wiki for the Regatta. Then again they are using Scottish accent for Norwegians so I don’t think there is much attention to internal consistency. Somehow the word Regatta gets annoys me more than the name of the characters or the place of Berk. Then again this is fantasy so I shouldn’t be so nitpicky about a word choice. I’ll admit that.

My point is they could have picked a better word then Regatta, their target audience wouldn’t have know the word so who cares?   Also Stoic is totally cool with forgoing the boat race for Dragon racing so whatever. Let’s turn something inclusive that most of the people can watch to something exclusive that no one can really watch. At least Toothless is still cute!

I feel like this whole thing is How to Train your Dragon: Quidditch Style. It’s not even a race it’s getting sheep for a points. It’s more like flying polo.

Also where did the snow area come from? During the race there was a snowy area. Where was that ? Up a mountains? Another planet? A Fjord? Answer me! Because nothing else was snowy.

While I do like the other How Train your Dragon movies this was not good and more confused then entrained. At least Toothless was cute!!!!!!

Adventures in Netflixing; Fantasy Picks – H20: Just Add Water Episode 1

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Season 1 Episode 1 H20: Just add Water

Cariba Heine as Rikki, Phoebe Tonkin as Cleo & Claire Holt as Emma H20: Just add picture image

Cariba Heine as Rikki, Phoebe Tonkin as Cleo & Claire Holt as Emma, H20: Just add Water

I can appreciate that this children/teen show from Australia is not for me or my demographic but that being said everything about it sucks except for that one dolphin.

The premise is that these three teenage girls get stranded on a creepy island after a rich bully was a jerk. On this island they find this tide pool that was in a dormant volcano and somehow being in the water with a full moon causes moon magic to happen. So now when they touch water they turn into mermaids and they have water magic. Maybe the mechanics of the how is addressed later.

This show has a very 80’s approach to it. It feels like it was made in the 80’s but it’s from 2006. However it having an outdate vibe doesn’t make it bad, you know what does?  Everything. The acting is stilted and unnatural. The camera work is dreadful unless it’s underwater.

Even the structure of how the characters are introduced is awful. They just show up. I guess they all go to school together. Emma swims, that is her introduction. She’s on the swim team. Then Cleo gets tricks on a boat by the rich bully, the kind of character you see in every teen movie in the 80s. The rich asshole does this because the boat is broken because his spark plug was taken and for some reason he gets Cleo on the boat before untying it. Why does he do this? He’s an asshole.

The the last  girl, Rikki, jumps on the boat to saves Cleo. Rikki is the one who stole the spark plug, she admits this because tell don’t show.  They then boat around and run in Emma who joins them for boating fun-times.  That is how these three come to together. We don’t know much about them before said metamorphous.

At least we know that Emma is motivated, maybe. Rikki is impulsive, maybe.  And Cleo is timid, I guess.         

This is show awful, everything sucks. I suppose if you like attractive young ladies swimming you could like it. Or if you want ever wanted Splash meets the Secret Life of Alex Mack but with a Australian 80’s/2000’s vibe this could be the show of your dreams, but that is very specific.

Adventures in Netflixing; Fantasy Picks

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Now that Once Upon a Time is done I thought it would be a good time to do another round of random picks from Netflix but this time with Fantasy movies. Since Fantasy is like Fairy Tales.

Every Thursday in June there will be a review of some random Fantasy movie off Netflix.

Just like last time the selection is through https://reelgood.com/roulette/netflix.  There will be no re-rolls, you have my word.

A few guidelines;

  • If I get a show I will only watch/review the first episode.
  • I reserve the right to stop watching the movie/show at least the 30 minute mark. It does take me a lot to quit a movie but I don’t want to waste my worthless time either.
  • If I have seen the movie before I will still review it but in the event that I get a movie/show I have already reviewed before I reserve the right to re-roll but I shall make a note in the post of that event.  The odds of very low of though so I don’t imagine that will happen.

First one is on June 7th!

Idris Elba to play Quasimodo

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Idris Elba picture imahe

Idris Elba

A few days ago it was announced that Idris Elba is going to direct, star, and produce, and create the  music for an upcoming version of Hunchback. I want to make a joke about him catering the project too but only because The Critic TV show.

This version will be a Netflix original and will be a modern version, so akin to Quasimodo d’el Paris though I doubt it will be a comedy BUT it was the last movie version to be made. However according the vulture and THR articles it will be a “sonic and musical experience,” so a musical.

This will not be Elba’s first foray in directing, producing, or music. He has directed Yardie  and the Netflix comedy series Turn up Charlie. He has a music credit on Jay-Z’s American Gangster soundtrack album back in 2007 as well as other credits. He is also a DJ and a musician.  Elba is producing the film alongside his producing partner Ana Garanito, Fred Berger (La La Land), and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Midnight Special).

The project is also being written by Michael Mitnick, who has written screenplay for The Giver,  The Current War and The American.

While this is exciting, I would like to see a release date before I get too hyped.

What are your thoughts on this project? A Modern Musical of Hunchback on Netflix? Or are you more hyped to find what what Josh Brolin means by “Jazzy”? Or making sense of the roles in the Max Ryan version?

 

 

(Sources)
http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/idris-elba-playing-hunchback-of-notre-dame-for-netflix.html
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/idris-elba-star-hunchback-notre-dame-netflix-1111638
http://collider.com/idris-elba-hunchback-of-notre-dame-netflix/

 

Saint Sara la Kali, The patron Saint of the Romani

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Statue of Saint Sara la Kali picture image

Statue of Saint Sara la Kali

May 24th marks the Feast day of Saint Sara  also known as Sara la Kali. She is venerated at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the South of France. It is a place of pilgrimage for the Roma to honor Saint Sara la Kali.

But who was Saint Sara? There are a few accounts about her origins. Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer was the place that the three Marys fled to after leaving Palestine. Saint Sara was said to have saved them. In other accounts she was their servant from Upper Egypt and othe othe say she was an Egyptian Princess.

Saint Sara makes her first appearance in Golden Legend which is collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine which is from the late medieval period. The Legend of the Saintes-Maries (1521), where she is portrayed as “a charitable woman that helped people by collecting alms, which led to the popular belief that she was a Gypsy.”

Though Ronald Lee, a Canadian Romani writer, linguist and activist suggested in 2001 that Saint Sara la Kali  was part  who is actually part of Kali/Durga and that Goddesses were transferred to a Christian figure. This is due to how she is worshipped on her feast day.    

While it’s unclear what Saint Sara la Kali’s origins were, what is very clear is the devotion and love she inspires in her followers. Devotees say she their “mother.” The first aspects of the veneration of Saint Sara la Kali is the pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.  The pilgrimage is an important aspect of spirituality to the Romani, and they have been making the Pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer since the 19th Century.

The next aspect of the veneration of Saint Sara la Kali is her effigy which is kept underground in the church. The statue is dressed in bright clothing made by the Romani.  A tiara adorns her head. People touch and kiss her clothing. They pin notes to them, leave photos of departed loved ones and trinkets.

The statue of Saint Sara la Kali is then carried from the church to the sea in a ritual bath so to speak. It also reacts her arrival in France. The ritual is also parallels the worship of Kali. The procession is a grand affair led by the Archbishop of Arles and Aix-en-Provence, complete with people singing, playing instruments and men on horseback.  

Martine Guillot is a lay member of the ministry team at the church. “In all the stories about Sara, I think the most important thing about her is that she loved and served the Holy Marys, and if she loved them she also loved Jesus,” she says.

“She’s an icon of love and welcome.”  (Source)

Thanks to Fatma for suggesting this post!

Sources
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/28211422
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sarah
https://sacredmysticaljourneys.com/festival-st-sarah-black-madonna/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Legend
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Lee