Archive for the ‘Movie Costumes’ Category

It has taken a long time for the film version of the Green Hornet to make it to the screen but fans will be overjoyed to know that production is already in progress and the film adaptation of the Green Hornet will be hitting theaters soon. Unlike some other superhero franchises based on comics like X Men or Watchmen the story of the Green Hornet has taken decades to get to film even though there was a radio serial based on the Green Hornet and a TV show. The TV show, which was very popular in the 1960s, starred the venerable Bruce Lee as martial arts expert, the Green Hornet’s sidekick.

Comedic superhero Seth Rogan will be taking the role of newspaper publisher Britt Reid, who has a secret identity as the Green Hornet.  The Green Hornet’s martial arts expert sidekick and valet Kato will be played by Jay Chou.  The Green Hornet’s faithful assistant Lenore Case will be played by Cameron Diaz, although in the film adaptation Lenore will be more of a sleuth than an assistant although she never makes the connection that Reid is also the Green Hornet.

The Green Hornet is a superhero that is easily relatable to everyday people. Even though he is a descendent of the famous Lone Ranger he is not taken very seriously in either super hero or law enforcement circles and is friendlier with criminals than he should be. This causes some problems as he tries to use his powers to fight crime and makes the police suspicious of his activities so that more often than not he comes under as much suspicion as the criminals he’s trying to catch. The modern version of the Green Hornet promises to expand the story of Britt Reid and give viewers more insight into the character.

The first serious talk of making a Green Hornet movie was back in the early 1990s when George Clooney and Jason Lee were in talks to take on the primary roles.  After that incarnation of the movie fell through it was rumored that Kevin Smith was writing a screenplay of the Green Hornet, but after years of speculation Kevin announced that he was not involved in the Green Hornet project in any way. Fans assumed the project would never make it to the big screen but in 2009 Sony Pictures announced that it was going to make and release the Green Hornet under the banner of one of its smaller movie imprints, Columbia.

Fans who have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the film version of the Green Hornet won’t have to wait much longer. Some fans are very skeptical about the casting of the film and wonder if Seth Rogan will really do justice to the Green Hornet character but Jay Chou, who was in such hits as Curse of the Golden Flower and Shaolin Soccer, should bring enough action to balance out Rogan’s humor and make the movie a good blend of drama, action and humor.

Furious battles between hundreds of starfighters against a backdrop of alien worlds, a society of mystical knights wielding energy swords and able to turn aside laser beams by invoking a mysterious Force, wisecracking robots, bizarre alien monsters, entire planets covered by cities or ice or festering swamp, weapons able to destroy whole worlds, an evil Empire ruled by a mad emperor wielding dark powers, who is brought down by a farm-boy who is secretly the son of the emperor’s most feared and trusted lieutenant — this is the action-filled panoply of Star Wars, one of the most popular science fiction film series on Earth.

The three original Star Wars movies — A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi — chronicle the desperate fight of a band of plucky rebels to overcome the galactic Empire, ruled over by Emperor Palpatine, which has oppressed the galaxy for decades. The cause of the rebellion is aided greatly when it is joined by Luke Skywalker, a young farm boy who has been trained in the mystical Jedi ways by a mysterious exile, Obi Wan Kenobi. Joining forces with a smuggler named Han Solo and his shaggy alien sidekick, Chewbacca, Luke takes on the Empire after he rescues Princess Leia Organa from Imperial captivity and sees his mentor, Obi Wan, killed by the Emperor’s black-armored lieutenant, Darth Vader, a menacing warrior who is equally deadly with a lightsaber and with the unseen energies of the Force.

As the films develop, Luke discovers that Leia is his sister, and that Darth Vader is his father. Darth Vader attempts to turn Luke to the dark side after defeating him and cutting off his hand in a lightsaber duel high on the catwalks of a floating metropolis called Cloud City. Luke resists the call of the Dark Side, however, and goes on to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, a repulsive slug-like alien, and continues in his crusade to bring the Empire to an end.

Proving that a small stature doesn’t imply a stunted soul, the powerful mystic Yoda, a green alien living on a swamp world, trains Luke further in the powers of the force. After destroying the Death Star, a huge weapons system that can eradicate a planet with a single shot, Luke confronts the Emperor — only to be defeated by the powerful tyrant. However, Darth Vader cannot bear to see his son die, and kills the Emperor, although he himself is mortally wounded in the struggle. Thus, it is Darth Vader — or Anakin Skywalker, as he is actually named — who saves the rebellion and ushers in a new period of freedom in the galaxy.

The “prequel” movies — A Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith — are set twenty years before and trace Anakin Skywalker’s recruitment into the Jedi order and his fall to the Dark Side. Struggling between his dedication to the Jedi way and his love for a woman named Padme Amidala, Anakin helps the Jedi in their struggle against an unseen menace that is stirring up war in the galaxy. Aided by an army of genetically-engineered Clone Troopers, Yoda and Anakin kill the nefarious Count Dooku and several other villains in their quest to root out the evil.  Check out the Cad Bane Costume pictured to the right.

Eventually, though, Anakin is turned to the Dark Side with the promise of power to save his wife from some unspecified doom, aiding the Emperor in destroying the Jedi and the galactic Republic. Hideously maimed in his battle with Obi Wan, the fallen Jedi is encased in high-tech armor to keep him alive, becoming Darth Vader. His infant children, Luke and Leia, and hidden on remote worlds to keep them safe — and keep the hope of eventual freedom alive.

Painted with epic strokes, vivid scenes, brilliantly memorable or brooding locations, and non-stop action, the Star Wars saga is a modern legend that brings swashbuckling color, heroes, and villains to a futuristic setting — the very stuff of adventure.

The story of Doctor Frankenstein and his creature is a classic horror story as well as a classic literary tale. The idea of a monster created from salvaged parts of human beings and given life by a “mad scientist” is one that inspired many books, movies, and TV shows. It’s tantalizing to humans to think of creating a new life form that mimics humans and has human understanding but isn’t human. However, in the original tale the suffering of the creature is an important part of the story and a warning about the pitfalls of creating another life form.

The original story was written by Gothic writer Mary Shelley when she was just 18.  At the time the novel was written the Industrial Revolution was just coming into full swing and the novel was written as a warning against widespread use of machines as much as it was written as Gothic and Romantic novel. Understanding the context that the book was written in is very important to understanding the significance of the story. Machines that were being created at the time were represented in the story by the monster itself. Pieced together from parts, made larger and stronger than humans, and designed to make life easier for humans it’s not hard to see the correlation between the two. The monster breaking free of Doctor Frankenstein’s control is a metaphor for what Marry Shelley saw as the fate of humankind if it became too dependent on machines.

At the heart of the story though are the classic elements of a Gothic tale that inspire both fear and understanding in the reader. The story of Doctor Frankenstein working in his lab day and night to try and figure out how to bring the monster to life is horror storytelling at its best, and the film versions of the story leave little of the grisly process to the imagination. After a moment of triumph when Frankenstein is able to bring the creature to life comes the horrible realization of what he has done. He has created an incomplete life form, one that will suffer endlessly and needlessly because even though it has the capacity to feel it lacks the capacity to reason or understand at a functional level.  The size and strength of the creature make it frightening and dangerous, but Mary Shelley also wanted readers to feel sorry for the monster and its suffering.

The monster that Frankenstein creates is really the first zombie representation in Western literature. Brought back from the dead with limited reasoning and understanding but an insatiable desire to survive the Frankenstein monster touches off primal fears of what comes after death, the existence of monsters, and the terror of being hunted by something totally alien to the human experience.  Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein was a novel about the human condition as well as a story intended to frighten and fascinate readers. Movie versions of the story, like the classic 1935 Boris Karloff Bride of Frankenstein movie, presented a very different version of the original monster. Both versions will live forever in popular culture thanks to the impact of the story and the visual impact of the monster as brought to life by Boris Karloff.

G.I. Joe The Real American Hero

G.I. Joe was the first action figure ever produced, and one of the first dolls made to be marketed specifically to boys.  When Barbie dolls were first introduced they immediately became popular, but there was no toy equivalent to the Barbie doll in size and scale for boys.  The idea of a military based doll was introduced by a toy creator who was inspired by the idea of the military to create a doll for boys based on the armed forces.  Citing the 1945 movie The Story of G.I. Joe the toymaker decided to call the doll G.I. Joe, or Government Issue Joe, which was a slang term for Army soldiers.  The original G.I. Joe was based on a WWII infantry soldier but had a uniform and gear that blended the styles of WWII and the Korean War. Originally four different versions of the doll were made, one for each branch of the armed forces.  The dolls, which were called “action figures” to make them more appealing to little boys, came with a uniform and a few pieces of gear but most of the gear was sold separately in action packs. One of the most prominent pieces of G.I. Joe’s gear, his gun, was sold separately which angered many parents.

After the Vietnam War created a highly anti-military sentiment in the general population the marketing team of the G.I. Joe action figures started focusing less on the military aspect of the dolls and focused on rebranding the figures as part of an “Action Team” that was created to fight the evil Cobra Command who were trying to take over the world. After the rebranding the G.I. Joe franchise became more popular with the public. When action cartoons became popular in the 1980s an animated G.I. Joe series was created as a merchandising vehicle for the action figures and the gear sets which became some of the most popular toys of the 1980s. In 1985 the marketing team again rebranded the line going back to the military roots of the figures and portraying the G.I. Joe team members as Special Forces type operatives who were caught up in a classic Good vs. Evil battle to save the world using super secret military training and cutting edge weapons. The size of the figures was reduced from 12 inches to about 3 inches to make them competitive with the popular Star Wars action figures that were selling out of store shelves all around the world.  With the reduced size and then new storyline the G.I. Joe franchise became popular with an entirely new audience.

In the early 1990s interest in G.I. Joe was still strong but waned as the decade progressed. Until the 2009 G.I. Joe live action movie there was relatively little interest in the figures or in the franchise. The live action film renewed interest in the franchise for both older generations who grew up with G.I. Joe and with younger audiences whose first experience with G.I. Joe was the 2009 movie.

Robin Hood is one popular figure. This popularity is proven by so many things – Robin Hood movies, Robin Hood cartoons and animation, Robin Hood songs and even Robin Hood costumes for Halloween. We all know him as the man who robbed the rich people so that he can give to the poor. When we think of Robin Hood, we all imagine a man wearing a green suit and carrying a bow and arrow. Let us take a deeper look at how the story of Robin Hood began and how history plays a role in the creation of this popular “prince of thieves”.

In folklore, popular culture and in history, the man known as Robin Hood or Robyn Hod was based in the Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire of England. Whether he is a fictional character or a real man who existed, Robin Hood will be part of the English rich history. The story of Robin Hood became popular with ballads as traveling minstrels would often sing about his story. Thus, the story of Robin Hood spread and changed with every telling.

His birth was attributed to many places but many believe that he was sired from Loxley in South Yorkshire. Some believed him to be born in 1160 while some in 1285 or 1295. Robin Hood’s character is what made him quite popular. He is known as the outlaw who robbed the rich in order to give to the poor so his support from the common people was never lacking. He is often thought of as a representation to nature (as seen in his green attire) and freedom (as he fought against injustice). While he may be an outlaw who fights against injustice, stories about Robin Hood tell about him being fun and light in character. In modern stories, he and his merry men were often characterized as simple men who can have some laughs despite the seriousness and danger of what they do.

Robin Hood’s weapon is a longbow. His bow is made out of the English ewe tree and he is well known for this excellent skills in archery. This is quite natural in the 13^th and 14^th centuries as bows and arrows were used in hunting and also weapons for survival and protection. Until his death, Robin Hood is known to have demonstrated his skill in archery excellently.

There are different versions of how Robin Hood died. One of the stories tell about him and Little John going to the Priory in Yorkshire where his aunt is the prioress. One version says that Robin Hood was poisoned to death by his aunt in order to hide the latter’s secret affair. Another version says that he was bled to death under the pretention that the aunt was medicinally healing him. Little John  came to his rescue but it was too late; Robin Hood can no longer be saved from the effects of the poison/bleeding. In a last attempt to give respect to his beloved friend, Little John placed Robin Hood’s bow and arrow on the dying’s hands. Robin Hood shot the arrow outside the window and told Little John to bury him where the arrow falls. The arrow landed in the yard of the priory where his grave can still be seen today.

The recent Tim Burton adaptation of the story of Alice in Wonderland has renewed interest in a classic childhood tale that has been celebrated around the world for inspiring the imagination of children and making adults remember the joy of being a child.  In the Tim Burton adaptation of the story Alice is all grown up, and returns to Wonderland as an adult when she is running away from a marriage proposal that she doesn’t want to accept.  Falling through the rabbit hole again into Wonderland she starts to remember bits and pieces of her adventures in Wonderland before, although this time the inhabitants of Wonderland have brought her back to help them fight off an enemy who wants to overtake Wonderland. This new twist on the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland has spawned renewed interest in Wonderland and in the classic Alice in Wonderland characters.  Already Alice in Wonderland costumes based on the interpretations in Tim Burton’s movie are selling out for Halloween and also for birthdays, parties, and even wedding receptions that have an Alice theme.  The amazing costumes and makeup in Tim Burton’s imaginative re-telling of the classic tale will be some of the most sought after Halloween costumes in 2010 because of their artistry and fantasy.

Alice in Wonderland is one of the most popular children’s stories of all time. The entire ‘nonsense’ genre of children’s literature sprang from the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland which was written by Charles Dodgson under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. He told the stories originally to the children of a friend of his to pass the time during a river trip, and the children loved them so much he later wrote them down and published them. All of the characters that he created for the stories are animal versions of people who were known to the children, and Alice herself was based on one of the children.

The tales of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland went on to influence other famous tales.  Some literary critics say that Carroll’s books about Alice led to other famous stories about girls who are dropped into alien and unfamiliar worlds and have adventures meeting strange characters like Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz, Lucy Pevensie in the Chronicles of Narnia, and Wendy in the Peter Pan stories. Another famous novel, Finnegan’s Wake, also borrows from the Alice story.  There have been more than a dozen retellings and interpretations of the story of Alice in Wonderland throughout the years in film, TV and in literature and those retellings have also influenced writers and film directors to add their own visions of Wonderland to the original vision that Lewis Carroll committed to paper so long ago.  There is a lot of artistic variation when it comes to creating costumes for the characters of the Alice adventures because there are so many different interpretations of the story. The stylists and costumers who worked on the latest adaptation of the story created costumes that are in keeping with the feel of the original story but have a modern twist to them which will make them popular choices for Halloween costumes for years to come.

The movie is another creation with basic foundations on legends of Greek mythology. Percy Jackson the protagonist, soon found out that he is Poseidon’s son, ruler or primarily the god of sea and that of earthquakes. He also found out that the beings of the Greek Mythology considered as legends exists and has always been in existence, to include the monsters and Greek gods who lives in Olympus, which is now located at the Empire State Building’s 600th floor. Percy is always under attack by monsters for being one of the sons the “Three main gods”: the lord of the sky, Zeus, the ruler of the sea, Poseidon and the king of the Underworld, Hades who made a covenant after the Second World War not to have any offspring because they were unpredictable and very powerful.

There were other young demigods met by Percy who were friendly and there were also those who were hostile, who were also discovering their powers and ascendancy. Percy Jackson movie was actually an opportunity to give life and modern visual effects to the adventures of Greek mythology which in earlier times back in the 80s were considered to be primitive. The movie was intended to fascinate people of all ages, a combination of modern day setting and mythological creatures.

Although with some modern visual effects in the movie, it is considered to be average it didn’t remain long on cinemas. The way the story go did not really had an effect that would influence viewers to the extent of creating an impression that would last, something that people may want to talk about or generate much interest. Greek mythology is a great masterpiece by past creative writers and would have been much greater and accomplished a lot should the story have been given a classic touch. There is nothing wrong with mixing legends with contemporary imaginations of modern day writers; given the facilities we have today it is a clear manifestation of the advantage we have and this movie could have been more than what it had accomplished.

There have been many movies that were like Percy Jackson, it was all based on a book and the story may have gained much interest that it becomes best selling. However when you give life to a story fiction or non-fiction it becomes different. As what we see may not always be something that everybody perceives in what they read.  It is always difficult to please everybody particularly in the field of entertainment; keeping the peoples’ interest aside from cinematography it is important to consider the flow of the story. How it went and connects with the theme, each situation of the film not only should it have significance it should also have the essential element which is to keep viewers’ interest on each part of the scenes. This may sound simple but it actually involves the actors’ portrayal of the characters they play, it is one of the biggest part which should be taken into account, actors’ way of taking hold of the viewers.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one of the most anticipated movies of 2010. Based on wildly popular Prince of Persia video game the movie tells the story of Dastan, a poor street orphan in 6th century Persia. Dastan is adopted by the king of Persia after he displays courage in a fight which the king sees. The king doesn’t want his own children fighting over his throne so he adopts Dastan to take over the throne after him since he proved to the King that he is courageous and has a good heart.  Dastan finds a friend and companion in the princess Tamina and they go on an adventure together to steal a special prize, the Sands of Time, from an evil Persian nobleman named Nizam.  The Sands of Time was given to humans by the gods and with it a human can control time, so Dastan and Tamina are determined to get it for the King. In the movie version of Prince of Persia Dastan will be played by Hollywood favorite Jake Gyllenhaal. Tamina will be played by Bond girl Gemma Arterton and the evil Nizam will be played by legendary actor Ben Kingsley.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will be produced by veteran Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Jerry first became interested in the Prince of Persia project after the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, the Curse of the Black Pearl, turned out to be much more successful than anyone had thought it would be.  Studio execs at Disney realized that there was a huge market for period action movies and started development to bring Prince of Persia to the big screen.  The Prince of Persia video game is one of the most successful video game franchises in history and the storyline of the poor street boy Dastan raised to unbelievable wealth as the King of Persia’s adopted son is a great premise for an action movie so it seemed like a perfect fit for the studio.  The actual filming of the movie didn’t take place until 2008 though because the studio was scrambling to finish the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  Originally no sequels to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie had been planned but after the wild success of the first film Disney quickly ordered two more to cash in on audience’s love for the characters and desire to see more of them.

Because the Prince of Persia movie is based on a video game there are plenty more storylines available if Disney again decides at the last minute to create sequels to the movie based on box office success. But, currently there are no sequels being planned for the Prince of Persia . However, if audiences love The Sands of Time as much as they loved Curse of the Black Pearl Disney may once again be working overtime to produce scripts and film sequels to keep fans happy and to keep the storyline of the Prince of Persia going.

Kids movies are in high demand, and audiences can’t get enough of clever adaptations of popular books and TV shows that incorporate storylines that will please kids and adults.  Many children’s movies these days use a lot of jokes and references for parents as well as using storylines that appeal to kids. This year in addition to several movies based on popular TV shows a movie featuring the characters in the very popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series will be released. The movie version of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid is expected to be released early in the spring of 2010.  We expect to see many kids wanting to dress according to the movie.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie is based on the bestselling children’s book of the same name. In the book the author takes readers through a year in the life of Greg Heffley, an average middle school kid, and his best friend. Greg chronicles his life through a series of diary like entries and cartoons that he draws illustrating what life is like for an average middle school boy. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, is a big part of the story. Also involved in the day to day adventures of Greg and Rowley are their parents, teachers, and other kids from school.  During the course of the year the comics document normal kid adventures like trick or treating, not getting the presents that they want for Christmas, and dealing with the intricacies of middle school social politics. The movie is based on the first book in the series of Wimpy Kid books but incorporates characters from the other books, although that doesn’t  mean that there won’t be future Wimpy Kid movies.  If the first movie does well the studio will consider making sequels based on audience demand. In the movie experienced child actor Zachary Gordon will be Greg Heffley, and Robert Capron will play his best friend Rowley Jefferson.

Special editions of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are already being planned that will have illustrations, photos, and other features that tie in with the movie.  Merchandizing for the movie is already in full swing, and Halloween costumes based on the characters in the movie are predicted to be very popular for Halloween 2010.  Even though the stories that are told by Greg aren’t new and have been experienced by children throughout history Greg is able to give typical pre-adolescent problems a new and modern viewpoint by presenting them in the cartoon format.  Kids everywhere embraced the book because they could relate to the character of Greg and to the stories about his life that mirror the things they experience everyday like watching your best friend drift away and start to have other friends or getting something you wrote or drew in the school newspaper.  Parents and kids will enjoy watching the Diary of a Wimpy Kid together and can go on to read more of the Diary  of a Wimpy Kid books together as well.

Even though the second Chronicles of Narnia film, Prince Caspian,  didn’t perform as well as movie executives had hoped the anticipation is high for the new Chronicles of Narnia film Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  The third film in the Chronicles of Narnia series will be the first one not distributed under the Disney banner.  It also is sure to influence costumes for Halloween. Disney backed out of the Chronicles of Narnia series after the disappointing returns brought in by Prince Caspian.  But, industry experts predict that Disney will end up regretting that move because the buzz for Voyage of the Dawn Treader is already in full swing and audiences are excited to the film adaption of the most popular book in the Chronicles of Narnia series.

In Voyage of the Dawn Treader pint sized heroes Edmund and Lucie Pevensie are back, but are shipped off to stay with cousin Eustace Scrubb for the summer. The children are sucked back into Narnia through a maritime painting and end up on the Dawn Treader with old pal Caspian, who is now King Caspian. They join King Caspian for a journey through uncharted Narnian waters on the Dawn Treader and find themselves in many different adventures battling sea beasts, meeting with magical water folk, and once again fighting to save Narnia from changing into an unrecognizable and inhospitable place. Skandar Keynes and George Henley return to play Edmund and Lucie, and Ben Barnes is also back as King Caspian. Liam Neeson returns to voice Aslan, and comedian Eddie Izzard is still the voice of Reepiecheep.

The filming of the movie was put on hold briefly because much of the movie was scheduled to be shot in Mexico using the same sets that epic water movies Titanic and Master and Commander had used but due to ongoing instability in Mexico the movie studio was worried about the safety of the cast and crew, especially the young stars. Eventually an alternative shooting location in Australia was procured and filming was resumed, although the release date of the movie was pushed back several months as a result of the delay.  Other delays resulting from script rewrites and the uncertainty of the film when Disney pulled out have cost the production quite a bit of time but the movie is on schedule now to be released in December of 2010, just in time for Christmas. The movie will premier in Australia a day before it premiers in the US.

Even though Disney executives didn’t have a lot of faith in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader many parents and children are already looking forward to the film. Since many people have limited budgets for entertainments like movies this year thanks to the current economic situation parents are going to be choosing movies very carefully, and it will take movies like Voyage of the Dawn Treader that have a special emotional appeal to get parents to want to spend money on a night out at the movies for the family. Since millions of parents read and loved the Chronicles of Narnia series when they were younger they will make it a priority to share Voyage of the Dawn Treader with their own children.