Scorsese to be a part of Ramones Film

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/martin-scorsese-attached-ramones-film-728815

     This article is about The Ramones, an American punk rock band, whose 40th anniversary is coming up in the year 2016. For those of you who are new to the name, The Ramones were a band from New York City that influenced punk rock both in the United States and the United Kingdom. Some song titles that you might find familiar are "I Wanna Be Sedated" or "Blitzkrieg Bop". In honor of their anniversary, which is only two years away; it is said that there will be a documentary and theatrical play coming out. To top it all off, there will also be a book and film following those two planned projects for the future. Martin Scorsese, an influential filmmaker, has shown interest in the band and plans to be apart of the film project. Scorsese is a well known, oscar winning director who has already become a big part of Cinema history. Many people love his style of filmmaking, which include a sometimes strong depiction of violence, and can relate to concepts of guilt and redemption. Let's not forget, his Academy Award Winning Oscar for Best Director in The Departed. Personally, his name caught my attention while browsing through articles. Martin Scorsese has always been one of my favorite directors, mainly because of his landmark films such as Goodfellas and The Departed, which happen to be two of my all time favorite films. I believe that there is no other director or better choice on who should have be working on a film like this one in honor of a huge band like The Ramones. I'm very excited for what the future holds for his film and how it has to do with one of my personal favorite bands. As a consumer I'm very pleased to hear that someone like Scorsese would step up into a role like that. The audience will be packed with both fans belonging to The Ramones and Martin Scorsese. It will definitely be a must watch for the year 2016. As a filmmaker I will get the chance to see one of my all time favorite directors make a film about a band I'm very familiar with. This could surprisingly help me better my understanding on how great story telling can make the difference in a film. As a student, I realize that a biographical picture helps us understand the past and how our society was shaped. History isn't just the Civil War or the Vietnam War, but it is also about the music, films, and television shows that were a part of it. How Queen influenced society, What Citizen Kane meant to a film, What a show like Mash did for television, is all a part of our history. That is why The Ramones biographical picture will give us a glimpse into punk rock and its origins, which will in turn help us understand our history. This all raises questions to me like: Do regular films that are not biographical give us an understanding of history as well? Will directors like Martin Scorsese continue to work with films that have a hard influence on society?

David Yates Making Another Comeback?

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/david-yates-in-talks-to-direct-harry-potter-spin-off

This article is about a new Harry Potter spin-off in the process of being planned. The film is said to be based off J.K. Rowling's novel, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. More Specifically; Newt Scamander, a Magizoologist who was the original "writer" of the book, in the world of witchcraft and wizarddry terms. The only problem is, the director is still to be determined. Director Alfonso Cuaron, was in fact considered in the beginning because of already experienced history with Prisoner of Azkaban, the third Harry Potter film. Unfortunately, he turned down the opportunity, which put all hopes on the shoulder's of David Yates. He is currently in talks with Warner about the film, meaning things are not 100% set yet. In my opinion; David Yates should have been thought of for the job first, considering that he is the franchise veteran who directed the last four films. This would be something David is already familiar with and to make things more comfortable with him, the screenplay has been penned by J.K. Rowling like all the other times. I chose this article for several reasons. One being that I am a fan of the movies and books, but also because Harry Potter has been one of the most successful franchises in movie history. All eight movies have managed to accumilate 2.223 billion, compared to another famous franchise like Star Wars, which only made 2.218 billion with all their movies. Although Star Wars is still superior in estimated attendance, Harry Potter still was named Top-Grossing Franchise. Overall, I chose the article because it immediately caught my attention after hearing about another Harry Potter related film in the process of being planned. As a student and consumer, it shows me that movie franchises like this one can use their reputation and fame to be even more successful, but as a filmmaker it kind of scares me. This power that movie franchises have can be a dangerous weapon. Sometimes, filmmakers usually set out to make sequals or a third film because of the success (money wise) they make out of it. This benefits all the people who work on the films, but the complete opposite for their fans. For example, I enjoyed the first Transformers film and would have been completely fine with just one movie. This is just my opinion, but I thought the other three continuous films were terrible. I went from loving the Transformers to hating the entire movie series. So do you see where I'm getting at with this type of power filmmakers have? It's a scary thing because it can ruin a movie you loved from the beginning. This surely raises questions like: Will there be anymore one-movie success films planning to make more sequels or more? Are filmmakers just doing it for the money now? Don't get me wrong, not all sequels are bad or just the idea of it. Sometimes it's a great thing, and I'm just hoping that this new Harry Potter film will be one of those successful films both benefiting the fans and filmmakers.