Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, THE ROAD, was a profoundly literate and moving work that remains one of the better examples of fiction I’ve read in my lifetime. That makes me somewhat fiercely protective of it in lieu of a film translation, and also incredibly skeptical that it can even be done well. Then again, as accomplished as the language is in the book, at its heart it’s really just a poignant story about the perseverance of love between father and son as they try to survive in a post-apocalyptic landscape. That can be done quite easily in film. It doesn’t hurt that they’ve got a director, John Hillcoat, whose made an excellent film that wrangled with this sort of landscape before (THE PROPOSITION), and actors like Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, and Guy Pearce involved. Anyway, that’s a long way of saying: here’s the very first image to appear from the film expected to be released this fall.
Given that we’re only a few days away from when all of non-press people get a chance to finally see INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, we’re naturally being bombarded with a never-ending amount of info about the film. Cinematical is actually officially making it Indy week with a variety of really neat features (highlighting old trailers, international posters, etc.) Definitely worth checking out.
Seeing as the film premiered at Cannes and has already had some press-screenings, reviews for the film are starting to pour in. Generally reviews seemed to be mixed. Though in an odd turn of events, the majority of the major critics seem to like, while more reviewers from online communities seem to not. Regardless, if you want an overview of things, both Entertainment Weekly and /Film have conveniently compiled the main points of all the reviews out there so far. As for my thoughts on the reviews so far, I’m not entirely surprised. Part of me always worried that things might not turn out so great, but honestly, I’ve reduced my expectations now so that as long as it’s a fun little summer romp I’ll be happy. It’s never going to match the other INDY films (and a fair amount of reviews have noted that this installment just doesn’t feel like the other films), but it might prove to be an exciting action adventure nonetheless.
Finally, if you’re wondering what the brilliant George Lucas’ thoughts are for the future of the franchise, it turns out he already has an idea. Apparently he has the notion “to make Shia [LeBeouf]the lead character next time and have Harrison [Ford]come back like Sean Connery did in the last movie. I can see it working out.” Given that this is the man who at some point saw Jar Jar Binks “working out,” I’m going to go ahead and call this a stupid idea. Especially because I don’t think anyone wants to see Indiana Jones reduced to a side-kick, or see a side-kick get his own spin-off. I was fine with a fourth installment of the series, but I think this should be it. Lucas has a bad tendency of milking his franchises for whatever they’re worth, and though that may do fine for STAR WARS, I think INDIANA JONES should be well enough left alone after this. (Source: “2″ Fox News)
So what are your guys’ thoughts on the reviews so far? What about a potential spin-off, new direction for the franchise? Good idea, or bad idea?
BioShock, released last fall for Microsoft’s Xbox 360, was one of the best damn games I’ve played in my life. It was an incredibly (creepy) atmospheric and cinematic experience, which is why it should come as no surprise that it is being adapted into a film. It seems the project is going to gain some significant steam now as director Gore Verbinski (PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN) is attached to the project. Perhaps not the ideal choice, but the thing is, I don’t think – as other seem to do – Verbinski is all that bad. The first PIRATES was great, and I blame the lacking sequels more on the screenwriters than I do Verbinski. Also, I think the director has demonstrated he can be a little less bombastic with the underappreciated THE WEATHER MAN, and also THE RING.
For those of you unfamiliar with BioShock, here’s a brief description (couresy of moviesonline):
“Developed by 2K Boston and 2K Australia, BioShock is a “genetically-enhanced” first person shooter set in Rapture, an underwater art deco-inspired utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically modified “splicers” and deadly security systems, players have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters.”
Source: The Movie Blog
Word on the street, by which I mean the intersphere (I made that up, what do you think) is that we may be getting that ANCHORMAN sequel sooner than Will Ferrell last led us to believe. Collider recently interviewed director Adam McKay who had the following to say:
Adam McKay: I’m looking to do another movie, I might do this other movie called Channel 3 Billion which is kind of this science fiction/Brazil type comedy. Then after that, Will and I are like let’s do Anchorman 2…so you’re talking like 2 years maybe we’ll do it. But we’re going to do it, for sure.
Collider: That’s like 100%?
Adam McKay: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re dying to do it. Unless we can’t get the cast together, which is always kind of a tricky thing. But, I think, with that cast we’re all friends, so yeah, we want to do it.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of ANCHORMAN, and considered it one of the greatest comedies I’ve ever seen (it’s also incredibly quotable). That of course means on the one hand I’m pretty excited about the prospect of a sequel, on the other hand I’m worried that a sequel would just fail to live up to its predecessor and just screw everything up. It’s always hard as a big fan of something to ask yourself whether you want more of something you love, or just want to stick with what you got, and know is good. Sort of like a commitment phobic boyfriend.
It’s a little known historical fact that after the Knights Templar stopped their shenanigans during the Crusades and decided to head home, they encountered an army of pesky medieval vampires setting their sights (and teeth) on destroying the Holy Grail. Adamant on not running away, the Knights stood their ground
Historians and aspiring screenwriters Adam Torchia and Justin Stanley have taken it upon themselves to draw attention to this forgotten piece of the world’s past by turning it into a film, one being produced by Timbur Bekmambetov (director of NIGHT WATCH, DAY WATCH, the upcoming WANTED) and Marc Platt, who feel it to be their moral obligation to assist Torchia and Stanley in making everyone aware of the valiant and noble efforts of the Knights Templar who may very well have saved our world from being shrouded in overwhelming orthodontist bills, pale skin, and gaudy trenchcoats.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
To the shock of probably no one (or perhaps it was simply serendipitous timing), Marvel has announced its feature film slate for the next fears. In 2010 we’ll be getting IRON MAN 2, as well as the Matthew Vaughn (LAYER CAKE, STARDUST) directed THOR. In 2011, we’ll get another piece of the Avengers puzzle, with THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA (ugh, enough with the colons already! Just call it friggin’ CAPTAIN AMERICA!) in May, and then the actual AVENGERS film hitting theatres in July of that year.
Am I the only one who thinks making a THOR movie is a dumb idea? I just find it hard to imagine that anyone can pull off a film about someone who isn’t a superhero really, but a Norse god. I just don’t see how this can be anything but silly. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong. Well maybe not hopefully because Thor is pretty boring. Then again I thought the same of Iron Man. As for the rest, I think it’s actually pretty neat to have a CAPTAIN AMERICA stand-alone movie come out right before he heads the Avengers a few months later in theatres. It’s really driving home that Marvel – like the Cylons – have a plan for their universe, and are really trying to create a cohesive, inter-connected world.
Source: Cinematical
Reading through Variety’s report that Jessica Chastain has been cast along Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in Terrence Malick’s (BADLANDS, DAYS OF HEAVEN, THE THIN RED LINE, THE NEW WORLD) what struck me was the plot description in the article. Until now I’d always assumed the film was as the synopsis on IMDB describes it: “In a mystical world of folklore, several individuals embrace in a race to find the Tree of Life, said to give immortality, fertility, and other supernatural powers.” Yet, the Variety news piece notes that “[the] story concerns the loss of innocence as seen through the eyes of the son of the characters portrayed by Pitt and Chastain.” Now I suppose the two synopses are not incompatible, even if one sounds like either a Terry Gilliam film or THE FOUNTAIN, and the other sounds like the kind of promising dramatic coming of age story Malick is perfectly suited to take on. It just seems odd to me to have two different respectable sources describing the story in different ways. Especially when you get this state of the union piece from Screengrab that discuses the story in the same way Variety does. Given the shroud of secrecy Malick surrounds himself with there seems little chance of getting any clarification from the man himself. Regardless, a Malick film is always an event to behold, so I can’t wait till it comes out next year.
Source: Variety
As a gigantic fan of the television show BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, I’m naturally very enthusiastic to hear the news that BSG’s showrunner, Ronald D. Moore, has signed up with United Artists to forge ahead into new material and create his very own science-fiction trilogy. Sadly the Variety article doesn’t give us any information about what that trilogy might be about. Then again, for now it doesn’t matter, because clearly the guy knows how to write science fiction. If BSG is not enough credentials, the guy also wrote the screenplay for STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT, which was about the only STAR TREK film – aside from WRATH OF KHAN – this non-Trekkie was able to enjoy. It’s also just nice to know that somebody is acknowledging that Moore is probably a decent part of BATTLESTAR’s awesomeness and allowing him the chance to branch out and explore his own stuff.
Source: Variety
Hollywood is shamelessly insecure, if that hasn’t become apparent to you already. If Studio #1 sees Studio #2 buying a certain script that deals with a particular issue, Studio #1 will often get paranoid Studio #2 might be on to something Studio #1 could also make money off of. So they buy something like it. That – to me – is the only way to explain why so many treasure-hunting related movies have been released recently, and are now in development (including this one as of today). The same goes for multiple personality disorder films which seem to be popping up everywhere. Now, Halle Berry has signed on to produce and star in FRANKIE AND ALICE, which “follows a young woman struggling with multiple personality disorder and torn between who she is and a racist Caucasian alter-personality that preys upon her mind.” Call my cynical, but doesn’t this sound so absurd that it seems more like a SNL-skit spoofing multiple personality disorder?
Source: Variety
Though the loose reason for writing this REEL news installment is the fact that Vivendi Entertainment and Palm Pictures has secured the distribution rights to NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU in North America, I just really wanted a chance to shamelessly gush about how excited I am about this project.
For those of you not in the know, NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU is a spiritual sequel of sorts to one of my favorite films of last year, PARIS, J’TAIME. The basic idea behind the movie was that several filmmakers (mostly writer-directors) came up with roughly ten minute short films dedicated to why Paris was great. Now that same concept is being applied to New York. Given that it’s the Big Apple, needless to say the turnout of actors, writers, and directors is pretty spectacular. For directors we have among others, Andrei Zvyaginstev (THE RETURN), Shehkar Kapur (ELIZABETH), Joshua Marston (MARIA FULL OF GRACE), Brett Ratner (RUSH HOUR, RED DRAGON), Mira Nair (MONSOON WEDDING, THE NAMESAKE), and Allen Hughes (MENACE II SOCIETY, FROM HELL). We’re even going to be blessed with the directorial debuts of both Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. As for actors, well, you’re probably best off just reading the IMDB rap sheet because it’s pretty nuts.
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