Halo: Naomi, Dad, Isaac, and Peter Jackson

Naomi:

Naomi has learned her first video game name. It is Halo!
Give it a listen in .mp3 format: naomi_halo.mp3.

Dad:

Since I purchased John’s Xbox at the beginning of summer, we’ve played countless rounds of Halo 2 in split screen mode. The problem: I can almost never beat David (age 6), and can never beat Isaac (age 10). :: sigh ::

Peter Jackson / Isaac:

Peter Jackson, amazing director of The Lord of the Rings films, has been tapped to run (as executive producer) the Halo movie, coming out in mid-2007.

The photo on the left shows how Isaac reacted to the news that Peter Jackson would be involved with the upcoming Halo movie. If anyone can pull off a successful video-game-to-movie production, it’s Peter Jackson. (Arguably the only game-to-movie film to date that even bears watching is Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.)

Microsoft, film studios tap Jackson for ‘Halo’

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Oscar-winning creative team behind the “The Lord of the Rings” films, including director Peter Jackson, has been named to run the production of the upcoming film based on Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) blockbuster “Halo” video game, the company said on Tuesday.

Jackson and his wife, Fran Walsh, will serve as the executive producers for “Halo,” which is targeted for worldwide release in mid-2007 by Universal Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox film studios.

Universal will oversee the film’s production and domestic distribution. Fox will handle international distribution.

“Halo” will be shot in Wellington, New Zealand, and will use Jackson’s production and post-production facilities there.

“I’m a huge fan of the game and look forward to helping it come alive on the cinema screen,” Jackson said in a statement.

The executive producers will collaborate with Universal, Fox and Microsoft’s Bungie Studios, which created the game.

“Halo,” the best-selling franchise for Microsoft’s Xbox game console, follows the adventures of the futuristic super-soldier “Master Chief” as he battles an alien onslaught.

Screenwriter and novelist Alex Garland wrote the original feature film adaptation of Halo. A director will be named in coming weeks, but the cast has yet to be announced.

And there’s another article at 1Up: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3144311.

Ruth

Thursday night (I realize it’s now officially Friday), I was blessed to attend a New Life Fine Arts musical production of Ruth. Ruth is one of my absolute favorite parts of the Bible (I named a daughter after Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law),* and one of the most deeply moving and touching illustrations of God’s plan of redemption offered to all people.

This musical adaptation (click here for a brief audio sample) provides a detailed, convincing, and highly engrossing presentation. Although there are a few necessary artistic liberties taken in expanding the Biblical story, only one detail seems slightly overdone, and the rest of of it never departs from the plausable.

The story opens with a monologue by the prophet Samuel. The first major scene is in the city of Bethlehem, during the height of a severe famine. The people’s reaction to what they were going through was immediately engrossing, and convinced me this would be more than just a superficial retelling. The characters were self-consistent and varied, the story dealt with the racial tension between Israel and Moab, and the varied attitudes toward strangers in the two lands. I was teary-eyed at least half a dozen times over the course of the evening.

The sets were ingeniously designed, the staging was well choreographed, and to call the music beautiful would be an understatement. See this musical if you have a chance. You will be moved and blessed.

The production has four more shows at the Chevalier Theater in Medford, Ma: one Friday night at 7:30, two on Saturday, and an afternoon show on Sunday.


*I realize that Ruth is, perhaps, the greater of the two main female characters in the story of Ruth, but I have always found the way the name Naomi sounds to be endearing. See the discussion around my daughter Naomi’s name (and middle name) on this post and its comments.

Peter Jackson May Have Pulled It Off (Again)

For years, we waited in fear while director Peter Jackson worked on The Lord of the Rings movies. Those who so loved the books were not convinced, especially given the early press, that any director could possibly bring them to screen in a manner that would please diehard fans.

But he did it. We abandoned our idolatrous worship of George Lucas, and erected a new god in his place: Peter Jackson.

Nichelle and I have just watched the trailer for the upcoming King Kong remake, directed by Jackson, and believe that he may have done the impossible again: Making a good remake, and making a good film out of the King Kong story.

“That was totally wicked!!!!!!!!” (Batman Begins Surprise)

John has been looking forward to seeing Batman Begins for a very long time, and planning on seeing it for his 17th birthday, which is today.

Doug and I first scared John into thinking he was in some serious trouble by calling him upstairs just before 11:00 p.m. last night. He was standing in front of Doug and I was off to the side. We made it seem that he’d done something wrong (but only for a minute, if it was that long).

What John did not know was that Doug had purchased the tickets for the midnight showing online and had the printout behind his back.

John looked very concerned, and after some dialog between us, Doug pulled the tickets out and John couldn’t believe that we were kidding.

Batman Begins was awesome! John and I went to see it together and I will have to say that it outdid the first two Batman movies. I can’t wait to go and see it again. I was planning on staying home with our kids so Doug could take a group of John’s friends to see it on Friday. Well, now I’m hoping to be there to see it with them. It’s too cool to pass up.

Ah, Batman Begins … another opening night showing. I can’t wait to see it again.

So, You Wanna See Star Wars in Digital?

There aren’t very many digital cinemas, nationwide. There were 83, if memory serves, when Star Wars Episode I opened. We were fortunate enough to live near one.

Try this digital cinema finder, from Texas Instruments, the folks who bring you DLP, to see if there is one near you.

DLP is, quite frankly, an amazing improvement over film. I have heard that there are some theaters with a newer DLP projector that has even higher resolution.

The Force at Midnight (The Star Wars Episode III Experience)—No Spoilers

Being at the first showing of Star Wars Episdode III was really exciting in many ways.

Nichelle and I weaseled our way into attending the midnight opening at the Apple Tree Cinemas, along with our friends Mark and Shelby Sohmer, and six of their friends: Matt and Wendy Camillieri, Phil and Jennifer Wilson, Matt and Heather Graves. Their plan was to go out to eat ealier at the nearby 99 restaurant, and then head over between 9:30 and 10:00 to get into line.

I still had my Jedi costume from Episode I, and Nichelle surprised me by announcing that she would also create a costume. She found one of David’s action figures that would be possible to re-create, and hit the costume shops for makeup, thrift shops for the clothing, and a fabric store for a few dollars’ worth of material.

Nichelle and I had our Wednesday night Bible study at church, and then needed to install the baby sitter(s) at our house and change into our costumes, so dinner with the group was out for us. We got to the theater just before 11, and found the rest of our group waiting out back for the opening at 12:01 a.m.

Below are the costumes my wife Nichelle and I wore (and our son, Isaac, hamming it up). Nichelle is dressed as Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. (Disclaimer: This is a very unflattering picture of Nichelle, and not a very good idea of what my Jedi costume looked like, either.) Nichelle and I were asked to pose for pictures on our way in, and complimented on our costumes on our way out.

Star Wars fans are an interesting bunch, and the fandom was truly in Force (I couldn’t resist—sorry) that evening. The lines went out around the building in every direction. While waiting for the film, we saw dozens of costumes: Lea Organa, Darth Vader (thanks primarily to the Darth Vader Voice Changer helmet now available in toy stores everywhere), Boba Fett, an attempt at General Grievous (which I didn’t figure out until the next day), several jedi. Light sabers were in abundance, including a few very nice plasma-tube models with realistic sound effects and a very convincing (if permanently attached) blade, the plasma in which extended and retracted when it was powered up. (Of course, there is such as thing as going overboard with this.)

Most of our group was at the far back of the line, and when we got in, Nichelle and I discovered that only 8 seats had been saved instead of 10. We settled for what appeared to be the only two adjoining seats left, in the far left of the third row of the “orchestra pit” section of the theater—not really ideal viewing.

We ran into several people from our church, most of whom were guys who had left their wives at home with the children. (Personally, I hate attending anything without Nichelle, although a break from the kids is sometimes welcome.)

There was quite a bit of time to wait between opening the auditorium and starting the movie. Some fans brought laptops or portable DVD players and were watching the other Star Wars films. People were chatting, laughing, trying to make pithy (perhaps Sithy) remarks. The atmosphere was festive, yet full of anticipation.

The management held a costume contest, which we had not known about. (As a prize, in our auditorium they gave away the full-size Chewbacca cardboard stand-up which had been used for promotion before then.) About a dozen of us lined up in front of everyone, and a cheer-based voice vote was conducted. It became clear that the winner would not be the one with the best costume, but the favorite character. Nichelle and I did fairly well; ultimately, though, Boba Fett won out over Darth Vader. Vader then attacked Boba with a light saber, which generated laughter and applause.

Our friend Phil Luchon reported via cell phone that in his theater in Randolph, Massachusetts, people set off the fire alarm twice, and they had to evacuate the auditorium. A guy dressed as a stormtrooper yelled, “The first transport is away!” and everyone cheered.

Finally, although a few minutes late, the lights went down, and the trailers started. Of particular interest to our group was the Chronicles of Narnia (see also this site).

Then the magic began! (Except that the left half of our screen was badly out of focus, and I found that very distracting, especially being so close to the front. The manager of Apple Tree Cinemas is sending us VIP passes—there was, indeed, a problem with the lens.)

Without revealing much in this non-spoiler article, we really loved the film. Anakin’s complete turn to the Dark Side is indeed very disturbing. Yoda is amazing in both action and dramatic expression. The integration of the prequel and sequel story lines, and some nagging questions left over from Episode I are handled wonderfully. Lucas has finally succeeded in making a prequel that works.

When we got home, we discovered Isaac had written this note, and put it in front of our bedroom door:

We took the kids to see the film on Saturday afternoon. 🙂

Mulan II: “Dishonor! Dishonor on your whole family! Dishonor on you … dishonor on your cow …”

Last weekend, we decided to rent a movie for the kids to watch, and Mulan II was one of the things in which they had expressed an interest. The following commentary is put together from Nichelle’s comments and mine, with individual comments where noted. (Caution: Spoilers within.)

Mulan, the original, is one of Disney’s finest pieces of animation, with a compelling story, delightful characters, masterful animation, thrilling music, and an overall moral lesson of willingness to sacrifice one’s own life in order to save the life of her beloved father. Although the heroine is slightly flawed—she attempts to cheat on her matchmaking exam—the results of her cheating are appropriately disastrous.

The overall moral message of Mulan II is “Follow your heart, regardless of duty, honor, or propriety.” The second immoral theme is, when all else fails, propagate a lie. (I haven’t seen this much pervasive selfish behavior since the abhorrent Titanic.)

(Doug) I also have major gripes with the overall quality of the film. Character animation design has changed dramatically with several characters, perhaps most with Cri-Kee the cricket. A children’s fight training scene at the beginning, meant to be reminiscent of the amazing “Be a Man” training sequence from the original, is barely worthy of modern television cartoons, and seems to be jarringly out of place with the style of animation used in both films. Facial and body movements do not match the first film for many characters, which further separates one from the illusion of continuity.

Other than noticing the animation changes, our initial thoughts about the movie were good. The humor was great. We were laughing for a while, and then things went a different way. I’ve seen other sequels to Disney movies, but haven’t been disgusted by one of them as much as with Mulan II.

Mulan claims she was “following her heart” when she took her father’s place in the first film. Not true! She did that to save his life at the risk of her own, and pressed on when her heart told her to give up.

In Mulan II, Mulan and General Li are ordered to safely transport the Emperor’s daughters to the another province, where the princesses were to be married to seal a mutual protection pact. If that does not succeed, China fall prey to the superior forces of the Huns, who would invade, causing perhaps millions to die and the destruction of the empire.

All the characters, including the princesses, start off by reluctantly fulfilling their duty. Mulan soon expresses her disapproval of an arranged marriage, and leads the princesses to believe that all would be well if they simply followed their hearts. Nichelle and I both thought of Jeremiah 17:9—“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The princesses (within hours) fall completely in love infatuation with their three guards, who are, as one might expect, Yao, Chien-Po, and Ling from the first film. This infatuation, combined with Mulan’s coaxing, the guards’ misdirection, and Mushu’s machinations, leads to the princesses’ abandoning their mission. In the end, when she believes General Li to be dead, Mulan determines that she will complete the mission by offering herself to wed the eldest prince in the place of the princesses.

With its predictable plot moving in such uncomfortable directions, I began to have serious misgivings about the film early on. (Doug) I actually found myself getting sick to my stomach toward the end, particularly as I considered the intended audience. I want my daughter to be like the first Mulan, willing to give her life for an extremely noble cause, not like this version, willing to follow her heart toward whatever selfish desire it happens to find.

We stopped the film at one point, and talked about “following one’s heart” with the boys. They agreed that honor, duty, and obedience were rather to be chosen. We explained that this movie would not be purchased or watched by them again. (They had no complaints.)

There were no negative consequences for the characters’ dereliction of duty and direct disobedience to the Emperor. In the final scenes, General Li arrives to prevent the marriage of Mulan, and Mushu impersonates the Golden Dragon of somethingorother. Mulan and the General seem to have no problem in going along with such an obvious deception. It is accepted, with an “all’s well that ends well” finale that would make Machiavelli proud. The princesses get to marry who they wanted by going against everything their father said, and doing the opposite of what they were committed to.

Deception was Mushu’s way of getting what he wanted (which is not much different than the first film, so at least his character is consistent), but he did admit to his deceit and selfish motivation later in the first film. Misguidedness, deceit, and a lack of honor could have destroyed all that Mulan originally fought for. (Nichelle) Now that I look back, the only one who actually wanted to do what was right in the film was Cri-Kee! I have been quite disappointed with a few other Disney films having such poor messages (such as The Lion King), but, Mulan II may be the worst to date.

Get your kids the first Mulan, The Emperor’s New Groove, or Lilo & Stitch instead.