"IF AN ADVENTURE HAS A NAME..."

...is it really (still) Indiana Jones? If I'd have to reply to my own question in the profile section: "Which movie would you take with you to a solitary, tropical island (if you can choose only one)?" Without flinching, I'd have to reply: "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

I'm not saying it's the best movie I ever saw. But it may very well be the most entertaining one. For me, everything about "Raiders" is perfect, from the "balls-to-the-walls-sock 'em-and-survive-it" opening (I mean, was there ever a more exciting start for a movie?!?!) to the pseudo-religious opening of The Ark of the Covenant. Harrison Ford was never better. (OK, he was. Once. In Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner". Another undisputed masterpiece in my humble opinion.)

Now, all of us are hearing weird clamors of "Indiana Jones 4". Don't ask me for the title. Nobody knows it yet. Except maybe for Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford. (If they'd tell me, I'd have to make several clones of myself first! It's that simple. It's Top Secret Ultra, man.)

This sequel has been in the works basically ever since 1989, when the previous part, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was released.

They claim we'll meet Indy's son in the Part Four. (Conceived by Karen Allen or Kate Capshaw, perhaps?) The American trades would very much like to see a young fella called Shia LaBeouf in the sonny part. Who the heckolodeon is he, you may well ask?

Well, Shia has done movies like "I, Robot", "Constantine" and "Bobby". And yeah, he's also Michael Bay's chief protagonist in the upcoming "Transformers".

On the basis of what DreamWorks SKG expects of the box-office for "Transformers", I guess people hope that Shia will be Spielberg's next "main man". But Shia himself confirms it ain't so :

http://www.collider.com/entertainment/news/article.asp?aid=3812&tcid=1

Well, time will tell. By summer we'll all know. I just hope they won't stall "Indy 4" any further, as soon Harrison Ford will be old enough to play Shia's grandfather (if he isn't already...).

"THE SCOURGE OF THE SEAS... CAPTAIN JACK RETURNS!"

Walt Disney Company is pulling all the stops in view of third (but maybe not the final part!) of the über-mega-successful "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

The third movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" opens in the U.S. on May 25th. In Finland we get to see it already on May 23rd! (Just don't ask me how on Earth this is possible... I guess they like us!!!)

Particularly the Americans will be enticed with all kinds of special events surrounding the third movie. For instance, certain fans have the chance to be the first in the world to see the new trailer for the highly anticipated upcoming "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" at a special nationwide "Pirates Ultimate Fan Event" on Sunday, March 18th.

The following piece of news is from Dark Horizons :

"Fans are encouraged to log on to: Disney.com/piratesfanevent to win a chance to attend this exclusive event, which will be held at a select theater in each market. Those winners that come dressed in their finest pirates garb will be granted priority admission in each location.

Starting on Friday, March 9th, fans can grab a "Pirate Viral Player" and add it to their own website, social networking page, or blog. Each player will countdown to the online debut of the trailer, and will feature a continuous feed of Pirates video content through the release of the film. The viral player will be deployed in over 30 countries and in 26 languages, counting down to a synchronized trailer launch for fans around the world."

SPOILER ALERT! If you want to spoil it for you already, here's a rumored description for the upcoming trailer of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"... Sounds like a cool and fitting conclusion to the "Pirates" trilogy, if you ask me. "Pirates, ahoy!"

http://www.filmick.co.uk/2007/03/world-ends-on-march-19th.html

"TIME IS ESSENTIAL FOR THIS MISSION, 007..."

Time is, of course, essential to us all. Therefore, for those of you who're obsessed with both time and watches, here's a little piece of info on an auction of James Bond watches:

http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=4811

If you're in hurry, you can still make it to the auction, which will take place in Switzerland next weekend. Those watches for sale would definitely make very nice collector's items... And surely, spending a weekend in Geneva is never a bad idea? You certainly don't need your own private jet for that.

"007 CAR MANUFACTURER HITCHING A LAST-MINUTE GLITCH"

This just in, courtesy of Sky News :

"A last-minute glitch is holding up the change of ownership of prestige car maker Aston Martin.

The new British owners of one of the most glorious names in motoring history were expected to be named on Friday. But talks are now reported to be still ongoing, with no news expected this week.

"It's pretty likely that this deal will go ahead next week and will be around £400m to £500m," an industry source had said. Ford, the makers of James Bond's favourite cars, is selling the company as part of its cost-cutting programme.

The first 007 - Sean Connery - drove an Aston Martin DB5 in the 1964 Bond movie Goldfinger. Astons appeared in other 007 films, including Thunderball, The Living Daylights, Goldeneye and Die Another Day. The latest Bond - Daniel Craig - drove an Aston Martin DBS in his recent film Casino Royale."

"TONY SOPRANO'S INEVITABLE RETURN... SINCE HE DOESN'T INTEND TO SLEEP WITH THE FISHES..."

There are surely quite a few of us, who dig "The Sopranos" on the tube.

I confess to be a rabid fan of the series. Despite the amount of graphic violence and the occasional sex scene, it must be finest piece of written TV melodrama since a long, long time.

The last season - Season 6: Part 1 - didn't get exactly receive glowing reviews by the critics. Well, it certainly was different. For my personal taste, maybe Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) languished a few episodes too many in his hospital bed, ailing from a huge bullet hole in his chest. Shot by his own uncle, that senile old geezer Corrado 'Junior' Soprano (Dominic Chianese) of all people!

Oh well. Maybe Tony's dreams of Heaven and Hell will actually mean something. Maybe his dreams will give us a clue of his final destiny. I also look forward to Christopher Moltisanti's (Michael Imperioli) plans of making his Ultimate Dream come true -- to make a Mob Slasher pic of his very own.

Let's all hope that these marvellous, well written characters won't sleep with the fishes at the very end. There's even been some preliminary talk of a "Sopranos" movie a few years down the line!

Kudos to David Chase, the genius creator of "The Sopranos". I sincerely hope he has still enough original ideas to create something new, which is at least as fresh, inventive and entertaining as "The Sopranos".

In the United States, the final episodes of "The Sopranos" (or, Season 6: Part 2) will start airing on on April 8 for a final nine-episode run.

One of the most stylish mags I know, Vanity Fair runs a piece written by long time movie journo Peter Biskind, combined with an exclusive photo shoot by the legendary Annie Leibovitz.

Alas, here in Finland these final episodes won't air until in September. It sure feels bittersweet that my fave series of all time will end. Fortunately there's always DVD for visiting Memory Lane...

http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/video/2007/sopranos_video200704

"HOLD 'EM TEXAS STYLE... OR CRY BLOODY TEARS"

He sure looks familiar, doesn't he? Would you entrust your hard-earned millions to this guy, to get "a reasonable rate of return?"

I doubt it. However, the guy above is in my opinion one of the reasons why "Casino Royale" was so darn enjoyable. Of course, I'm talking about the "Dan Dare" of Denmark, Mr. Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre.

I had the honor and pleasure to meet Mads, when he visited Helsinki last November as the very first stop of the "Casino Royale" PR tour. He was a soft-spoken and genial guy, chain-smoking all the way through the interview. Mads said that he prefers to live in Denmark, as it keeps him straight and honest. Well, you have to tip your hat off to a guy, who wishes to keep his priorities straight (Mads is also a responsible family man).

We here at home have been totally hooked by watching World Poker Tour, which is broadcast in Finland every Saturday night. Even though it has proven quite a challenge to keep your eyelids open (especially after a late sauna bath!), we remain utterly riveted by the larger-than-life spectacle that is WPT.

The international DVD/Blu-ray release of "Casino Royale" is imminent. Therefor, for all you Texas Hold 'Em Poker fans (current and future ones) - the following link provides some great tips how to score at the poker table; how to sucker-bluff your opponents into losing great bets, so that you can cry bloody tears at their losses...

http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/articles/training_poker2.php3?t=&s=articles

"CRUISE MISSILE... ERR, SAMURAI MOGUL?"

Maybe. The fact that Tom Cruise is now one of the head honchos at the newly reformed MGM studio is surely the greatest logistical challenge that this mega-star-slash-mogul has ever encountered.

Especially after he and his production company got unceremoniously booted off the Paramount lot last fall by the Head Honcho himself, Sumner Redstone.

I like many of Tom's movies. I have the outmost respect for his Talent. But he may have displayed his love for Scientology wee too much in his recent public statements and appearances. (Remember that outrageous hopping and screaming in "Oprah," anyone???)

Well. Here's one of most highly respected film biz pros (Peter Bart of Variety) giving some sound career advice to TomKat. It's up to you decide if his advice is too harsh :

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960817.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

"TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE"

For those of you, who're hard-core Trekkers, the following interview link might be especially interesting, especially if you're looking forward to the next "Star Trek" movie by J.J. Abrams :

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72914-0.html?tw=rss.index

Wired has always been one of my fave mags. I put a lot of hope in J.J. Abrams that he'll be able to pull off a prequel movie, which even non-Trekkers like myself will be able to enjoy.

"NOBODY DOES IT BETTER... THAN CLASSIC BOND CARS!"

Those of us who know and love our classic Bond cars, here's a nice and nostalgic link. Alas, the following toy manufacturer is about to STOP manufacturing their toy Bond cars. I just had to buy mine late last year (from Forbidden Planet in London), it's the new model of Aston Martin DBS from "Casino Royale" (the above image is the classic DB5 - "The Most Famous Car In The World") simply because I think it looks just damn sexy, sleek and gorgeous... It's also featured in the below link, gets good reviews too.

The following link is for you hard-core toy collectors, current and future ones :

http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/articles/collecting_rc2_index.php3?t=&s=

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"JOHN CARTER OF MARS BY WALT DISNEY?" (AT LAST!)

Since Disney took over Pixar, new winds have started blowing in the company. John Lasseter ("Toy Story 1-2", "Cars"), the creative director at Pixar, has his hands even more full than ever before. From Pixar's Emeryville, S.F. headquarters Mr. Lasseter has to commute twice a week to Disney's HQ at Burbank.

I salute Disney's and Lasseter's decision to return to form in view of traditionally animated pictures. Harry Knowles' AICN (Ain't It Cool News) website tells us the following:

"THE FROG PRINCESS will be a traditionally hand-drawn Disney flick set in New Orleans, with the "very first African-American Disney Princess," a soul-singing alligator and Randy Newman doing the music."

All those of us, who're awaiting anxiously the inevitable return of Woody and Buzz Lightyear also have great news: Pixar will release "Toy Story 3" in 2010, with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen returning to voice Woody and Buzz! Woo-hoo!! How cool is that?!?!

The one very "hush-hush" piece of information that intrigues yours truly the most involves the evocative piece of concept art above. As far as I can tell, it's from one of the 11 books in the "John Carter of Mars" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I read somewhere once that ERB always loved the "Mars" stories more than the "Tarzan" novels. (But "Tarzan" reportedly sold better.)

The first John Carter novel, "The Princess of Mars" (1912) was about a Virginian officer in the mid-1800's who perishes after a firefight with Apaches in the Arizona desert. His body is transported to Mars - or Barsoom as it's known in the novels - where Captain Carter encounters a plethora of exotic, alien creatures from the Giant Green Men of Barsoom to the Great White Apes and the Red Martians, who're most similar to Man on Earth. There's a lot of larger-than-life sword fighting in the books, which would have given even Errol Flynn a run for his money.

These books have been previously deemed impossible to adapt for the screen, due to the heavy workload of special effects. Nowadays, of course, only the imagination is the limit in any movie genre.

It remains to be seen, if "John Carter of Mars" will finally see the light of day as a CGI feature either by Pixar or Robert Zemeckis (who has recently signed with Walt Disney) or if a fearless entrepreneur like Jerry Bruckheimer finds his next, über-successful franchise in "John Carter of Mars", made as live action...

It remains in my very biased opinion the finest piece of pulp sci-fi/fantasy ever written. Just like Jules Verne's best works, ERB (Edgar Rice Burroughs) was vastly ahead of his time. Along with J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and Eric Van Lustbader's "The Ninja", it gave me as an adolescent boy a helluva lot to aspire to.

"THE BOND CAR BRAND FINDS A NEW HOME?"

Yes indeed. But some of you may wonder "what-the-heck" is this piece of news doing here.

Well, why not? Personally I adore fast, exotic cars. What's good enough for 007, is good enough for me. Not to forget to mention the fact that Bond's classic Aston Martin DB5 was the second toy car I ever owned, apart from The Batmobile of the 1960's, both by Corgi. Fond memories of green.

Daniel Craig is to me the ultimate James Bond. "Casino Royale" was my favorite movie in 2006. The Aston Martin DBS is just a gorgeous piece of work, as you can see for yourself above. Truly one slick 'n' sleek peace of metal banged by hand. One covetable automobile, if there ever was one. My only real piece of criticism of "Casino Royale" was that Bond just totalled the car way too early... (But no doubt we'll see more thrilling car chases in the future Bond flicks, after all, 007 had to pay his dues in "Casino Royale"...)

Anyway, it looks like Ford - who's inexplicably selling off this bestselling car brand - is now close to finding a buyer. Fingers crossed (this from The Daily Telegraph) :

"Aston Martin owner Ford is expected to sign the deal early on Friday in Detroit, The Telegraph said. The sale will see ownership of the 86-year-old British GT maker transfer to a consortium of business interests from the U.S. and the Middle East, headed by Prodrive founder and world rally championship owner David Richards, the newspaper said.

Prodrive, which runs Aston Martin's works racing team and has worked with the company for many years, has emerged ahead of the remaining bidders, Doughty Hanson and Syrian property businessman Simon Halabi, The Telegraph said. The price is rumored to be in the region of GBP500 million, about half what Ford was asking when it first put the company up for sale six months ago, The Telegraph said."

"TWO TO BEAM UP, SCOTTY..."

It must have been some time in 1972, when I was six years old. Around the same time I must have seen "Thunderbirds" by Gerry Anderson for the first time. That marvellous, immaculately stylish British puppet sci-fi show.

But this one was different. It had real actors, with zany-looking but lethal rayguns. The Captain was a handsome fella, who looked he had no problemos of sweeping pretty female Ensigns off their feet (which he certainly did quite regularly, we found out, as the series progressed). The other fella, with those funny-looking, pointed ears was my personal favorite.

Obviously, I'm talking about Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). I never was a Trekkie, short for a "Star Trek" fan-boy. But I liked those ray-guns, and I loved the functional design of the original U.S.S. Enterprise. "To boldly go where no man has gone before..." To a young boy with an all too vivid imagination, S.T. somehow "made sense" design-wise. (But not enough... I later became a rabid "Star Wars" aficionado.)

Now J.J. Abrams ("Lost", "M:I:3") is preparing to shoot a prequel "Star Trek" movie, which will open at Christmas 2008. I think Abrams has all the chances to make a great and rousing "Trek" movie, if he'll just keep the backstory and production design intact to avoid alienating the hard-core Trekkies. To introduce younger versions of Kirk and Spock to younger audiences is a great idea worth an applause.

The trades are already talking about actors like Matt Damon for Kirk, Adrian Brody for Spock and Gary Sinise for Dr. McCoy. Nobody is confirmed yet, but I think those actors could really pull it off, adding some personal quirks of their own into the roles.

I was never a Trekkie as I said, but for some weird reason I really look forward to this flick. I guess I'm getting ever more nostalgic as I get older...

"NOT JUST FOR FRANCOPHILES..."

So, Tintin, the legendary boy detective of the late Belgian artist Hergé is finally reaching the screen in 2009. Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we.

The name and the quintessential image of the ever energetic Tintin conjures up many fond childhood memories for me. He was certainly a hero of a much more innocent time. In the early Seventies when I read the "Tintin" graphic novels, I was always inspired by his boyish courage, and had many good laughs at the hilarious blasphemies of his friend Captain Haddock and the "idiotic genius" Professor Calculus.

Not to mention that über-cool shark submarine and red-and-white checkered moon rocket, which I've always wanted as models...

Now Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks SKG are gearing up to do a movie adaptation. This straight from the horse's mouth (actually The Hollywood Reporter) :

"Herge Studios chief Nick Rodwell said it is still unclear which of the 23 Tintin books will be chosen for a first movie, nor could he say whether the film would be live-action, traditional animation or CGI. "With Harry Potter, everyone knows that there will be seven films. We have 23 scripts. If the first one works, we'll make another," he said.

Well. I can only hope that Spielberg & Co. will pull this one off. Personally, I'm not at all sure if Tintin even works that well in English. I'm not a Francophile, but I feel that "Tintin" should be shot in French. (Yup, no typo there. I mean, can you imagine Captain Haddock swearing in a Cockney or New York accent?!?! Oh boy.) Then again, you certainly don't have to be French, Belgian or a hard-core Francophile to get Tintin.

When I interviewed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Alien: Resurrection", "A Very Long Engagement") a few years back, I had the nerve to tell him "mano a mano" that I thought he would be the perfect man for the job. To direct "Tintin". To my surprise, he agreed.

"THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING..."

What an excellent piece of moviemaking. David Fincher's "Zodiac", that is.

It won't be for everybody, though. If for no other reason than it's very different from everything else that Mr. Fincher has done so far. I won't delve into the historical background of this (in)famous serial killer. Try Wikipedia for that.

Suffice to say, Zodiac really existed. He was the modern Jack The Ripper. (Just like Jack, Zodiac never got caught, by the way.) They even did a movie about him in the early Seventies. Kind of. I mean, The Scorpio (Andy Robinson in a masterful, career kamikaze perf) of "Dirty Harry" (1971) was a carbon copy of The Zodiac.

'Nuff said. Fans of "Se7en" (1996) and "Fight Club" (1999) won't get their kicks from "Zodiac". At least not in terms of excessive violence and angst. "Zodiac" has much more in common with classic political thrillers like "All the President's Men" (1976).

It's not about the gore, the splatter or the kills here. Oh no. It's about police procedure. What makes "Zodiac" so chillingly effective is not because Fincher has hidden his guns and bagged his tools. No, just like in the case of "Se7en", once again he has a classy SCRIPT. And an excellent CAST.

I dare to claim that actors like Jake Gyllenhaal, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey, Jr. and Mark Ruffalo have NEVER been in roles quite like these, which are so well suited to their own personalities and individual quirks. Even David Shire's retro score underlines this. "Zodiac" comes highly recommended, if you can endure a lot of talk and narrative cleverness.

Come Oscar time next year, I think "Zodiac" will be remembered. Makes me pine back to San Francisco...

"COWABUNGA!"

Some of my oldest friends know that I've always been a sucker (no fetish per se) for ninjas. Although I practised karate and Krav Maga for a while, my present agility would hardly allow a hard-core, all-out ninjutsu workout. Ah well. You can always dream, and maybe buy your own nunchaku. (Feel free to whack yourself in the head with it at breakfast.)

Any-whoo. I'm happy to see Hollywood taking again some bad-ass ninja action presently. Tinseltown is resurrecting those sympatico "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (yup, the pic above is from the upcoming CGI movie). Hopefully it'll help to remove the stale taste that "Elektra" left in my mouth a few years back.

It's "Cowabunga Time" once again for the Merry Turtle Men Quartet of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael. Or "TMNT", for short. We'll see in a few months' time, if CGI (Computer Graphics Imagery) will help to make those fervent fellas a little more agile and speedy.

My lifetime interest in ninjas really began with American bestselling author Eric Van Lustbader's "The Ninja"; one helluva violent and erotic novel written in the early Eighties. I could not believe that somebody could write martial arts sequences like the ones described in the novel, let alone shoot them. EVL always writes in a very evocative style; as an aspiring screenwriter I owe an artistic debt to his narrative.

The producer duo Richard Zanuck and David Brown tried to tackle EVL's "The Ninja" shortly after the novel was published. They even hired John Carpenter ("Halloween", "The Thing") to direct the adaptation. In those times, Carpenter would have admittedly been a kick-ass choice. But alas, the project was promptly shelved - put into development hell, as they say in Hollywood - as the film market was flooded with endless really bad and miserable ninja flicks from Hong Kong.

Shô Kosugi (the Japanese martial artist) who starred in many of them was über-cool, but he was no Nicholas Linnear, the protagonist of "The Ninja". Not the guy I imagined to play my favorite hero in EVL's classic thriller.

I'm glad to able to report that there's once again an adaptation of "The Ninja" in the works, by 20th Century Fox. The author tells me that he can't divulge the director or the writer, but that it'll be worth the wait. It would be so cool to see "The Ninja" finally done right on the big screen, in that intrinsic and hyper-dynamic fashion Eric Van Lustbader originally envisioned it. I actually had the honor to meet the author in NYC in the early Nineties (when the WTC towers were still standing...). That trip was one of the highlights in my career as a film journalist. I couldn't have met a nicer or more generous guy. EVL wears his fame very elegantly, more kudos to him! He's a true mensch, as they say in Hollywood.

"TONIGHT, WE DINE IN HELL!!!"

Indeed. How familiar it sounds. Almost conjures up images of Russell Crowe giving a little "pep talk" to his Roman soldiers at the beginning of Ridley Scott's masterful "Gladiator" (2000).

I hear through my American contacts that Zach Snyder's "300" is tracking huge at the moment. That means that the polls project "300" to score huge box-office by next Sunday evening in North America.

I'll see "300" next Monday in a sneak preview here in the arctic plains. I expect a flashy, violent, action-packed yarn. With lots of half-naked male athletes (yeah, I know I can't get that fit anymore...) running around and butchering each other to little pieces.

The Americans have already detected political metaphors in this slick, visually arresting ultra-violence sandal pic. Some ask if George W. Bush is more like Leonidas (the King of the heroic Spartans) or Xerxes (the King of the Persians).

Personally, I couldn't give a toss. I just look forward to being entertained. Like Maximus put it so memorably in "Gladiator": Are you entertained?!?!

Yes sirree, we hope to be. Not by the butchering, but by the sheer spectacle, visuals and sheer technical prowess. (Don't forget that director Zach Snyder is the guy who's this close to getting green light on Alan Moore's "Watchmen" - the mother of all dystopian anti-comic book hero works. It's a true masterpiece. Don't miss the graphic novel!)

Those of us who know a little history, remember that "300" derives its title from the (seemingly impossible) but true fact that in 480 B.C. during The Battle of Thermopylae only 300 brave Spartans fought against an army of Persians, whose numbers was much, much higher (around 100.000 in fact, or so the sensationalistic historians claim!).

Gee. That almost makes me think of the feat we Finns accomplished against our mighty arch-enemy, the Russians in the Finnish Winter War in 1939. (We never got invaded by the way, but it sure was bloody close.)

The real Spartans in modern Greece - where the local city fathers are keeping their fingers crossed for big box-office in hope of lucrative tourism - have already critized "300" for its blatant historical inaccuracies.

Oh well. If you want to see historical accuracy, watch The History Channel.

WELCOME TO MY WORLD… ERR, MY BLOG

Hi there, folks. I'm a 41-year-old male Finnish film journo and aspiring screenwriter.

This is my blog - THE NURMSTER BLOG.

It's my intention to post all kinds of stuff in this blog, which personally interests me. (And maybe - just maybe - you, too.)

A gentle warning. I'm a film buff. An afícionado. Somebody would even call me a GEEK. (Yes, we know who you are, you cheeky bastards!)

Needless to say, I breathe movies and movie culture almost 24/7. At least when I'm not spending quality time with Päivi, the love of my life.

So, without further due, I bid you cordially welcome to check up regularly on what kind of loony mischief I have to offer in terms of biased opinions, reviews and links.

It's not my intention to offend anyone. But my views and tastes are admittedly somewhat skewed.

Therefore, be warned. But feel welcome.

Cordially, Juhani Nurmi

The Watchman of The Nurmster Blog