20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition

I love the London Film Museum, not only are they the home for props, memorabilia and costumes from some of my favourite films ever (Bond, Excalibur, Aliens, Batman, Superman, Star Wars and currently a Ray Harryhausen Exhibition as well as many, many, many more) but some of my best recent film related memories are attributed directly to them (Star Wars Exhibition, celebrating Mr. Ray Harryhausen’s 90th Birthday, Meeting Bond alumni; George Lazenby, Maude Adams & Britt Eckland and separately meeting Herbert Lom & Burt Kwouk (responsible for some of the funniest moments on the silver screen from my childhood), as well as shooting the breeze with Terry (still not a Sir yet) Gilliam, Sir Peter Jackson and John Landis). And that’s just the stuff off the top of my head.

London Film Museum: John Landis & (still not a Sir yet) Terry Gilliam enjoying Harryhausen's Myths and Legends Exhibition launch and Birthday by Craig Grobler

I keep meaning to post more about the London Film Museum and my adventures there but invariably get bogged down by some other time consuming task, the best I have done so far is manage to get some pictures up on Flickr here.

The London Film Museum is like the spiritual home of all things film in the UK. It’s an immersive experience like nothing else. Visiting the studios that make motion pictures is a great but they are operating businesses so very often the bits that would lift these experiences - like visiting a film set are closed to the public and the tactile bits of film history like the relics, memorabilia or props are no longer stored site. So the London Film Museum really has a place as the home for this film history. Where else can you see Rexy from Night at the Museum.

Turn the corner view the Bat Suit while being watched by the Alien Queen and the Terminator?

London Film Museum: Christian Bale's Batman Bat Suit from Batman Begins by Craig Grobler

The place is full of bits of film history and there is something for everyone.

At the moment they have exhibitions featuring pieces from the awe inspiring and must see Ray Harryhausen - Myths And Legends Exhibition (you can see pics of some of the extensive collection over here), a Zulu Exhibition, along with loads of film props you can see some recently discovered original storyboards (pics of some of the collection over here), an Excalibur Exhibition (they have a huge collection of pieces bits from John Boorman’s English classic, with loads of pieces from master armourer Terry English).

London Film Museum: Excalibur Exhibition by Craig Grobler, on Flickr

You can still catch the Charlie Chaplin – The Great Londoner exhibit a retrospective displaying pieces from Chaplin’s life and films.

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London Film Museum: Charlie Chaplin – The Great Londoner by Craig Grobler, on Flickr & 20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Original Alien suit by Craig Grobler, on Flickr

London Film Museum: 20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition by Craig Grobler, on Flickr

To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Twentieth Century Fox the London Film Museum are exhibiting some pieces from Fox’s most loved films. The exhibit includes exclusive prints from the Fox archives and unique props from classic Fox releases including Alien and Star Wars as well as a small display of outfits from some legendary recent Fox films.

Costumes displayed include:

20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Costume Display by Craig Grobler, on Flickr

Larry Daley’s (Ben Stiller) night guard outfit from Night at the Museum an excellent accompaniment to seeing Rexy (the Museum’s Tyrannosaurus Rex) right next to it.

Rexy is also doubling as a Dragon to add to the ambiance of the Eragon outfits. Within his “enclosure” there are two Eragon outfits on display Eragon’s (Ed Speleers) leather and scales armour and Elf warrior Arya’s (Sienna Guillory) tan armour. I’m unsure if she actually wears the lacy skirt with the boots and bodice together in the film.

20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Costume Display by Craig Grobler, on Flickr

The memorable and intricate cheongsam inspired dress that Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) wears to the Ball in Australia is the most beautiful piece on display.

Next to it you can see a Can-Can Dancer outfit from Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge. My understanding is that it is currently unknown who wore this glam outfit in the film.

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20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Wolverine's X-Men suit by Craig Grobler, on Flickr & 20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Sue Storm's Fantastic Four suit by Craig Grobler, on Flickr

The feral Wolverine or Logan’s (Hugh Jackman) leather X-Men suit. Which is very different from the original yellow outfit, wryly alluded to by Logan in the X-Men film. There is still a nod to the comic's original costume with the "claw" design on the shoulders and sides.

Sue Storm’s (Invisible Girl) Fantastic Four suit worn by Jessica Alba in Fox’s Fantastic Four.

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20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Tom Cruise's Precrime jumpsuit from Minority Report by Craig Grobler, on Flickr & 20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Tyler Durden's Fight Club outfit by Craig Grobler, on Flickr

Chief John Anderton’s (Tom Cruise) Precrime Security jump suit worn by Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report.

The highlight and biggest disappointment for me was the outfit that Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) wore in Fight Club. It was great to see it but somehow the charity shop leather jacket and polyester trousers outfit lacks the lustre and edgy coolness when not animated by Tyler Durden. But I still love the early 80s motor cross t-shirt.

You can also see Capt. Jack Aubrey’s sea faring outfit worn by Russel Crowe in Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Along with these outfits the London Film Museum has 100s of others that can also be viewed as well as some special pieces for the Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition.

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20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Obi Wan Kenobi's Lightsabre by Craig Grobler, on Flickr & 20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition - Original Alien suit by Craig Grobler, on Flickr

Above, the original Alien suit from Sir Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic Alien and Obi Wan Kenobi’s Lightsaber from a Star Wars collection.

It’s already been extended once but the Fox display will be finishing its run at the end of September - so there are only a couple more weeks to get up close to these outfits from Fox classics.

20th Century Fox 75th Anniversary Exhibition

Where:
The London Film Museum, 1st Floor, Riverside Building, County Hall, London SE1 7PB

When:
Till the end of September 2010

More info:
Over at the London Film Museum website

See: Batman: City of Scars

Back in April we brought you the trailer for Batman: City of Scars Finally fan Aaron Schoenke's 30 minute short film is ready for viewing.

When the Joker escapes from Arkham and murders the parents of a young boy, Batman recalls the pain of losing his own parents as a child. He is pushed past his limits to the point where his focus becomes revenge on all who stand in his way, including many of Gotham’s underworld. Finally, Batman is forced to look at the psychological profile of his own mind and accept the consequences of his life to find resolve.

More info:
Over at the Daily Motion page

First Look: Fan-made - Batman City of Scars Trailer

From Bat in the Sun comes the latest Batman fan film - Batman : City of Scars. Below is the trailer preceeding the releasee of the 30 minute film on June 20 via Dailymotion.

Batman: City of Scars takes us into the mind of the Dark Knight, who questions the choices in his life after a startling event rocks the core of his being.



First Look: Fan-made - Batman City of Scars Trailer

Where
Daily Motion

When
Expected release date of June 20,2010

More info at Bat in the Sun

Batman: Dead End

Life isn't fair. The Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum. Bruce Wayne puts on his Batman suit, mask, and cape, and goes in pursuit. He's soon found the Joker and begins a fight to subdue the red-eyed, sneering villain. Then, suddenly, things take a surprising turn: the Joker becomes the least of Batman's worries. New enemies appear: it's as if he's found himself in another set of comic books. Can he hold his own?

Batman: Dead End is a fan film made by Sandy Collora that premiered July 19, 2003 at the San Diego Comic Con, and on the internet shortly thereafter.



More info at Collora Studios

Master Wayne you have just been P'wned

Down, Forward, X to throw your Batarang

New Darknight posters

Senate House, Bloomsbury, London - Location of Batman Begins & The Dark Knight

Senate House, Bloomsbury, London - Location of Batman Begins & The Dark Knight, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.

Senate House, the administrative centre of the University of London, lies in the heart of Bloomsbury between the School of Oriental and African Studies to the north, with the British Museum to the south.

The main building contains the administrative offices of the University of London, including the offices of the Chancellor of the University, as well as the entire collection of the Senate House Library. The building consists of 19 floors and is 210 feet (64 m) high. The main entrance is from Malet Street to the west and the rear entrance from Russell Square to the east.

It is thought that the move of the Ministry of Information in the Second World War may have been a source of inspiration for the Ministry of Truth buildings in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Also, a library office there may have been the inspiration for Room 101 in that novel's Ministry of Love. Senate House is also popular with the film and television industries as a shooting location:

- Film of Richard III, 1995 (UK/USA), starring Ian McKellen
- Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984, (UK), where it portrayed the Ministry of Love.
- Blue Ice, a thriller starring Michael Caine and Sean Young, where it portrayed the Royal Hotel.
- Batman Begins 2005 (UK/USA), where it portrayed the hall of the main courthouse.
- The Hunger 1983, where its entrance hallway portrays part of a US hospital.
- Enduring Love
- The Day of the Triffids, 1962, as "The London Tower"
- The Revengers' Comedies

Which Batman Character Are You

Which Batman Character Are You?

Read more at thetravisty.com/Games/s...

Val Kilmer & what happened? With some Richard Stanley thrown in

OK!! So my pal Mart & I were chatting about Val Kilmer (I had just watched Tombstone) and Doc "I'm here Huckleberry" Haliday deserved a mention. Kilmer seemed to have the world at his feet sky rocketing career, buckets of talent and the golden touch. What went wrong you may ask yourself?

He brought some great characters to life:

Nick “my father thought of it while shaving” Rivers - Top Secret (I was 14)
The Iceman - Top Gun (I was 16)
Madmartigan - Willow (OK I wasn’t a big fan of this one, but worth a mention)
Jim Morrison - The Doors (as a period piece, pretty good)
Doc Holliday - Tombstone (awesome)
Chris Shiherlis - Heat (acting for a change)
Entourage - The Sherpa (Episode 05, Season 01)

Yea I think that's it. Pretty much everything else he did was crap &
got exponentially worse. 3 unsubstantiated stories I can repeat - to add to the "Kilmer is difficult and brings it on himself" are:

I should mention that these stories are hearsay & never been proven in a court of law.

1. Circa 1980 - Apparently Kilmer & Kevin Spacey were amigos before either made it big. Val is set to go to Juilliard and become an ACKTor. He convinces the penniless Spacey to do the same. So spacey borrows the tuition fees from Kilmer's father. Spacey never repays the loan. This causes a rift between the 2 friends that continues to this day.

Side note: Up until 2002 Kilmer was the youngest student ever accepted into Juilliard's Drama department.

2. Circa 1986 - Val is up for a career making role as Kyle Reese the hero in an edgy sci-fi film called the Terminator. For some reason Arnult nixes the idea and squashes Val's chances. Ironically Arnult was the first choice for Kyle Reese, but when Cameron meets him, he decides he is more Terminator material.

The role eventually goes to Michael Biehn who does a great job anyway. Ironically Kilmer's Doc Holliday faced off against Biehn’s Johnny Ringo in Tombstone

This comes back to haunt Arnult years later when he is put forward
for the role of Mr. Freeze in "Batman 93 - Mo bat crap". Naturally being an ego less artist Val kicks up a fuss. The ensuing conversation
must have gone something like this:

Val: "I don't think so. Listen Mr Producer only one of us is going to
be in this film. So it's either Arnult or me. Need I remind I am the
greatest actor of my generation and you'll remember me from such films
as Afterschool Special: One Too Many, Spartan, Red Planet, Batman Forever and Alexander."

Producer:"PA get me Clooney on the phone & Val Don't slam the door too hard on your way out.

3. Circa 1995 - Kilmer career is bottoming out but gets the chance to act in a contemporary version of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" with Marlon Brando. By now Kilmer is a few roles away from Van Damme/Lundgren/Rourke status. However the producers clearly happy to have Kilmer on board and buckle to his ongoing demands including swapping from the lead hero to the Doctors sidekick.

Richard Stanley the skilled but relatively unknown director is continually at odds with Kilmer. After making a couple of low budget sci-fi/horror films including; "Hardware aka M.A.R.K. 13 & "Dust Devil". The underrated South African gets:
- a break that could make him
- gets a decent budget to play with
- gets to direct a classic story
- gets to work with Marlon Brando
- gets to work with Val Kilmer

However ongoing clashes between Kilmer & Stanley continue. Eventually Kilmer gets Stanley replaced by Frankenheimer. Putting Stanley’s career on hold again. Ironically by the end of filming Frankenheimer vows never to work with Kilmer again.

In a bizarre move Stanley hides out on the island set, gets disguised as one of the "mutated" extras and continues to be part of the film. Seriously who can blame the guy for not letting go of his dream?

Yea!! I'm rooting for the guy he's talented and will eventually break Hollywood. Just watch "Hardware aka M.A.R.K. 13" his first big effort. The screenplay was written by Kevin O'Neill (comic legend).

Although a low budget, the film exudes imagination, skill & talent. C'mon Iggy Pop as the DJ voice of Angry Bob. The destined for eventual greatness Dylan McDermott is the protagonist in this tale of a dystopian future.

Richard Stanley is coming back to Montreal. Last year he presented Dust Devil, this year he brings us his director's cut of the 1990 film Hardware, one of the few good cyberpunk films. A hallucinatory, drug-fuelled blend of Terminator, Mad Max and Blade Runner (with a cameo by Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmeister!), Hardware suffered at the hands of those shadowy studio types who always manage to fuck things up for creative and ground-breaking filmmakers. - montrealmirror

OK so on balance Kilmer's ego seems to be writing cheques his talent can't cash.