Ender's Game - 2013. Thoughts?

[Dave (imported)]

You expect them to make an oriental version of AKIRA?

Fat chance. They are too afraid that an audience in the USA will not pay to see oriental actors.

And they say racism is dead -- hah!

Read This:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/1 ... 97227.html

In an appearance on The Daily Show last night, George Lucas said that he had trouble getting funding for his new movie, "Red Tails," because of its black cast.

"This has been held up for release since 1942 since it was shot, I've been trying to get released ever since," Lucas quipped to Jon Stewart. "It's because it's an all-black movie. There's no major white roles in it at all...I showed it to all of them and they said no. We don't know how to market a movie like this."

"Red Tails," which stars Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Terrence Howard, is based on the Tuskegee Airmen, the group of pioneering black pilots who fought in the United States' segregated armed forces during World War II. The movie is directed by Anthony Hemingway, the rare black director getting a chance to direct a big-budget feature.

Last week, Lucas told USA Today that he was worried that if Red Tails was a failure, it could have negative repercussions for black filmmakers. "I realize that by accident I've now put the black film community at risk [with Red Tails, whose $58 million budget far exceeds typical all-black productions]," he said. "I'm saying, if this doesn't work, there's a good chance you'll stay where you are for quite a while. It'll be harder for you guys to break out of that [lower-budget] mold. But if I can break through with this movie, then hopefully there will be someone else out there saying let's make a prequel and sequel, and soon you have more Tyler Perrys out there."

[Slammr (imported)]

Back to Ender's Game:

I just listened to the 20th anniversary audio version of Ender's Game. At the end of it Card talks about the movie. He says that it is in his contract that Ender has to be played as a boy under the age of 12. How they are going to bring that off with Asa Butterfield, who will be 15 in April, I don't know, except that in Hugo, he did look young. The movie will be different from Ender's Game, which took place mainly in Ender's head. The movie will combine Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, which is about Bean. It will be more about their interaction and competition in Battle School. Until the end it won't be clear which of the two will become the Commander. Of course, we know it will be Ender. Now, I'll have to listen to the audio version of Ender's Shadow. Although I've read it and all the Ender books, it's been a while. Card says he's going to say more about the movie at the end of it.

I would say not to go to the movie expecting to see Ender's Game, the book. Since that story took place over several years, it probably couldn't have been made. I expect what we will see will be the last year of Battle School. Card sounds enthusiastic about the movie, and since he held out against making it about teenagers, it might be all right.

[Dave (imported)]

Let me say that if you watch Daniel Radcliffe in the last HArry Potter you don't see any beard. Harry is really hairy and has a black beard when he is photographed live. I'm not even sure that his beard shows up in THE WOMAN IN BLACK's trailers. So I can imagine that 15 could pass for 12 years old. IT also depends on the voice. He needs that high kiddy voice to make it work.

[Prudence (imported)]

Have you seen the Previews for Enders Game yet? If so, what do you think?

I think the movie looks really good.

Supposed to hit theaters in November 2013.

[Paolo]

I can only shake my head and sigh.

Ender, Akira... Good God, Gertie - as our old neighbor used to say.

Just don't tell Wil Smith about these ideas. I'm still having nightmares that MIB IV will have him and his son in it, with Jaden being a human/alien hybrid.

Back to Ender, though. No, the kids are too old, and the book too intense to make a suitable movie that will be accepted in the USA. I'm going to have to read it again, because I can't remember who the kid was that Ender killed in the shower scene. That one's certainly not gonna make it to the movie, and it's a very important moment in the development of Ender.

[cheetaking243 (imported)]

If we were only judging this movie by its cast and the fact that they're making this book into a movie in the first place, I'd be completely excited. But judging by the fact that it's being written and directed by a director whose only previous major Hollywood movies are "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and "Rendition," I have zero expectations whatsoever. I'm basically expecting a mediocre effort with a few good parts but that doesn't really live up to the full possibilities of its premise.

[A_Casual_Reader (imported)]

I don't like how Ben Kingsley looks as Mazer Rackham. I think Ford would make a much better crazy old war hero, while Kingsley should've been Graf

. . .

Back to Ender, though. No, the kids are too old, and the book too intense to make a suitable movie that will be accepted in the USA. I'm going to have to read it again, because I can't remember who the kid was that Ender killed in the shower scene. That one's certainly not gonna make it to the movie, and it's a very important moment in the development of Ender.

. . .

Bonso - Bonito de Madrid - Commander of Salamander Army. I doubt whether Bean's antagonist will show up, either - what with the child prostitute angle

[Dave (imported)]

I read "Ender's Game" very long ago and don't remember anything of the book so I've watched and read the articles about it with detached indifference.

AIN'T IT COOL NEWS posted a trailer that made me want to see the movie.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/63585

It is a good trailer.

So I've suspended my mind from judging the movie before it opens.

[Paolo]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2026536/?ref_=tt_cl_t9

Aramis Knight plays Bean. Not my idea of Bean...

[Slammr (imported)]

Card once said that he was holding out for Ender to be played by a younger boy, not a teenager, as is being played by 16 year-old Asa Butterfield, but Card has capitulated, which doesn't surprise me in the least. Whereas, I used to love his stuff, Ender included, nothing he has written lately is worth a crap. I didn't finish the last book of his I started, and I won't start any other one he writes. He obviously writes for money not to produce art, which I consider good writing to be.

Given that, I do want to see the movie, but to enjoy it, I will need to go to it without the expectation of seeing an exact rendition of the book. That is disappointing. I wish the characters had been played by younger kids. It won't be - can't be - the same story, but few movies compare to the books. I'm usually disappointed when I've read the book before seeing the movie.

The Life of Pi is an example. The movie was a visual masterpiece, but after reading the book, which was enchanting, it mostly bored me. It glossed over the part in the book, a glimpse into the boy's soul, that made the book so enchanting.

16 year-old Asa Butterfield - and I really loved him in Hugo - can't possibly play the Ender Wiggin of Ender's Game. I'm going to try my best to go into the movie without any expectations left over from reading the book, and I have read it several times over the years.

Damn...I used to love Card's books. He has obviously sold out, like many others, and is only doing it for the money.