August
27
Wachowski Bros. Breaking Barriers with Speed Racer
[Posted by Peter Debruge]
I’ll be subbing in while Anne Thompson is on vacation this week, doing my best to keep the updates frequent and lively. Comments are welcome and will be read, but let's try to keep things civil (that means you, Don Murphy).
My friend Steve at Collider.com has been sitting on a big Speed Racer scoop. True to form, he took full advantage of the In the Valley of Elah press conference to get Susan Sarandon (who says of Speed, “all I do is make pancakes in the movie”) to confirm a juicy rumor about the Wachowskis’ latest game-changing innovation. According to Sarandon:
They’re doing something where they’re layering film so that the front and the back are in focus like a cartoon and they’re also doing two dimensional and three dimensional stuff and mixing and everything is very, very saturated with some new kind of film, so they actually have to treat the actors in some way so we can hold our own with the background. So it’s every color that wasn’t in The Matrix is seriously in this film.
Now, I know Speed Racer is the toon that introduced a generation of Americans to Japanese anime, but until now, I hadn’t understood why the Wachowskis would pick this as their next project, fearing that their G-rated live-action stab would turn out like another Herbie movie. Sounds like they’ve got it all figured out. (Who knew it would take 40 years for HD technology to catch up with primitive animation techniques?)
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We all know how successful Dick Tracy was with it's innovative use of only saturated primary colors.
I'll watch the movie, I'll probably like it, the Wachowski's will hopefully bring new audience, but as I'm fond of saying...I worry. I worry, I worry, I worry. This might be a huge flop, and it might stink to high heaven. I hope not, but I worry.
As for what introduced "Americans to Anime." GIGANTOR and ASTRO BOY are usually the shows mentioned. For me, it was STAR BLAZERS but I am "middle aged" (meaning Gen X) for an otaku.
Posted by: Christian Johnson | August 27, 2007 at 11:39 AM
How can the comments stay civil when an unprofessional suckass like you is allowed to run a blog for a "professional" site? Variety should be ashamed.
Posted by: Don Murphy | August 27, 2007 at 03:38 PM
"Speed Racer" is using the new Sony F23 camera on loan from Pace Technologies.
Posted by: Pepto Bismal | August 28, 2007 at 01:34 PM