Chris Hemsworth or Brad Pitt ... do I *have* to choose?!

Yes, Aricia, you have to choose, because unless we're talking about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which is a very special case, you can only have ONE actor playing the same part in he same movie at the same time! (Well, Doctor Who can be played by up to five actors at once, but only when there's a temporal screw-up and the universe is about to collapse. So that doesn't count. Right.)

And The Mighty Thor is the part to end all parts ... and it went to another emerging Aussie, a lad by the name of Chris Hemsworth:


Part of me (and a large part -- which isn't fair to Chris. But still, see below) wants to say, "Durnitall, I wish they'd twisted Brad Pitt's arm a bit harder, or maybe offered him some more money."

But the fact is, that's rather a daft thing to be saying in any case, because before I saw The Fellowship of the Ring, I was saying, "Viggo who? Orlando what--?" And a week before Avatar a lot of us, self included, were saying, "Sam, who-d'you-say?"

So to speak, give the lad a chance for goshsakes, because ... well, pictures speak louder than words, so let me clam up and show you a few!






And you have to admit ... if you couldn't get Brad ... about which, whimper, but they couldn't, obviously, for reasons undisclosed. Maybe Brad is too sleep deprived with all those babies running amok in the house? And just maybe he's had quite enough of living in the gym, pumping enough iron to build the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and eating like a rabbit while he does it! Don't be fooled, kids -- that's what it takes to get the ripped physique. It don't happen in nature, only in the gym where the salad bar is your only comfort. Gak. Where did I put my Mars Bar?

As I was saying, if you couldn't get Brad, get someone who'd easily pass for Brad in dim light, and especially if he can act as well. And it turns out, the lad can! The official trailer is playing across the www right now, so check this out: (click on the little icon to PLAY FULL SCREEN ... it looks great that way...)



So don't be deterred by the Bradlessness of The Mighty Thor, because I have a feeling the Aussie assault on Hollywood is about to continue with a vengeance. The late Heath Ledger, plus Hugh Jackman, Sam Worthington, Eric Bana, and before them it was Russel Crow, Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, and these are just the mega-stars. There's also hosts of slightly-lesser stars without whom movies just wouldn't be the same. In recent years, Sam Worthington in particular has impressed the heck out of me. He was brilliant in Terminator Salvation, and it was so cool to actually hear him in Clash of the Titans, where they let him "do" it in his own voice. Yes!! Go Aussie!! [Waves flag till somebody throws beer cans]

So I do expect to be well and truly impressed by Chris Hemsworth in this one, and I think that after May 11 you'll have a hard time visualizing anyone else in the part. Still, though, I can help thinking back on Brad Pitt in Troy, and I know I've said elsewhere on this blog that Achilles looked more like Thor than Thor does! Would I kid you? You want the evidence? Here you go:



From the trailer, it seems to me that Marvell is gifting The Mighty Thor with all due gravitas, and this is great. The one thing that had concerned me was that the project would get trivialized in the translation to the big screen. Needn't have worried, and after Iron Man, it was probably never something to waste worries on. Roll on May 6!

Avatar ... "see it again for the first time" -- trust me on this!

It's not often that I review a movie, much less a DVD, but this time I can't resist! This one actually came out waaay back on November 16, but since it was gift wrapped and under the Christmas tree, I had to wait for it...

It's the Avatar Extended Collector's edition -- 20 minutes longer than the 3D version we saw about a year ago. Verdict?

Whooooooo! Words fail me. In places, it's like you're seeing the movie for the first time. It must have broken the hearts of James Cameron and company, having to trim the movie to the theatrical release version. Especially as you'll find, on the disks, that even after 20 was put back in to create the 3-hour version seen here, there's still another 45 minutes of deleted scenes!

Meaning, one day (next Christmas?) They might field the 4-hour version, in ultra-widescreen, not to mention 3D, for those people who have the occasional five grand to invest in the tv set to play it. I'm not investing in 3D tellies for a while. The first ones to go on sale just months ago are already being called obsolete, so I'm waiting a few years till the technology is passe, it's good enough to a) be worth the asking price, b) be stable enough for the hardware not to go obsolete while cringe over your credit card balance. And also, there needs to be a lot more 3D movies to feed it, to make it worth the hammering the Visa card is going to take!

But this version...

...is magnificent. There's no other word for it. If you've seen Avatar before, but haven't seen this version -- well, it only costs $19.99 in a sale, and if you can use it to invite yourself over to a mate's place, because you've got the DVD and they've got the bigscreen TV, so much the better. Have a look at this:



If you like your movies epic, as I do, and you like your SF breathtaking, just bite the bullet and buy it again!

One other thing: keep a box of kleenex handy, because the additional material puts a heavy kick into situations and scenes that were already highly-charged.

Mad Max 4: not coming soon to a theater anywhere near you

Mad Max 4 ... and it's not good news. With the movie delayed yet again, all cst announcements (or predictions, or inspired guesses) made in the past are void. If you check Sam Worthington's page at IMDB.com, you won't see a mention of Mad Max 4 there. [AG sighs heavily]

The reason for the current delay: Climate Change-1, Max Rockatansky-0.

Seriously. This ran on the ABC in October, and they were not joshing you:

Filming of George Miller's fourth Mad Max, Fury Road, has been postponed for a second time.

Production is now expected to begin in Broken Hill in 2012.

Accommodation provider Hugh Gough says he received an email from Kennedy Miller

Productions at the weekend informing him filming would not start in February as planned.

Mr Gough says no reason was given for the delay.

This is the second time the film has been delayed. In July, Kennedy Miller Productions said unseasonal rains had made Broken Hill too fertile.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/11/3034506.htm

If I had to make an inspired guess, I'd say Kennedy Miller will have to shoot around Sam Worthington's schedule ... no longer do you just give out your orders about when you want to shoot. He's a busy boy and a mega-star. That'll push the scheduling for the movie around -- and there's no guarantee you can get him in any case.

Also, you wait for Mama Nature to turn the Broken Hill region back into an iron oxide desert, if you want Mad Max to look like, well, like Mad Max. No good filming there, if it looks like Ireland! See what climate change is doing, and how real it is? Sheesh. Can't even make a movie without being sabotaged by fields of flowers in a region that oughtta look like the planet Mars.

Breaking into song for a second, "You must remember this..."





And it's a real pity the delays have caused the cast to evaporate, because I could really believe Sam Worthington in this part...




Back to the drawing board. Patience is a virtue ... I guess. Well, poop.

Sam Worthington and Mad Max 4 ... wowzer!

Mad Max ... Sam Worthington ... say them in the same breath and then indulge yourself in a pleasant little shiver. Oooooooh, yes!

I know, I know, I've been silent as the tomb on this blog for more than a year, but my life went berserk. Crazy. Insane. It's only now that I can start to think about posting here again ... and what should come along right at the crucial moment? Try this:

June 9, on the Perth Now website:

Mad Max to hit road again, Sam Worthington tipped for lead

Here's the teaser for the feature, and a link to get you through to the rest of it:

THIRTY years after the original, Mad Max 4: Fury Road will kickstart the local movie industry - with WA star Sam Worthington tipped for the lead role.

THE original Mad Max put the Australian film industry on the map and launched the career of one of our most recognised actors, Mel Gibson.

Thirty years on and Mad Max 4: Fury Road is about to restart the local movie industry, being filmed entirely in Sydney and Outback NSW.

The Daily Telegraph reports that work on the film will start immediately, injecting tens of millions of dollars into the economy and creating more than 500 jobs.

Here's your link to the rest!

If you're wondering why this would show up on Perth Now ... well, after AVATAR and TERMINATOR 4 you might be assuming that Sam Worthington is an American star. Not true. He was born in England and came out to Aus -- Western Australia, the capital of which is Perth! -- as a wee little kid.

Having been too busy to blog for a loooong time, I've missed blogging about Iron Man and Avatar and Inkheart, and so much more. But you knew I'd be back, and -- better late than never, here I am. I'm going to be playing catch-up for ages. It's going to be all kinds of fun...

So, let's have some more Sam Worthington pictures before I leave you for today...