Before I jump right into this, a couple of notes.
First off, though I've recently moved from Macon, GA., back to Salisbury, MD., I still only get movies that open in the widest possible release, so that's what will be included. Although I'm fairly certain Roman Polanski's "Carnage" and Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" will play wide enough to reach my little corner of the world, I couldn't be sure, so they didn't make the cut.
And second, of course, these are only my picks, so please do feel free to add any at the end that you think I may have snubbed. And with that, let's get right to it, starting with what should be a great one today.
Today: "Drive"
I couldn't tell you what exactly a Nicolas Winding Refn is, but the marketing machine is certainly in full force for what will be the first of his movies I've managed to catch, and why not? Arthouse faves Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan in a movie about a stunt driver who just happens to double as a getaway car artist? I'm there. Enjoy this trailer.
Sept. 23: "Moneyball"
When it comes to sports movies, my two favorite genres are boxing and baseball. In the former (well, MMA, actually), "Warrior" is already a real winner (see it already, people, sheesh), and I'm betting "Moneyball," starring Brad Pitt as Oakland A's bean counter Billy Beane with a script by Aaron Sorkin, will be too. Enjoy this trailer.
Sept. 30: "50/50"
On paper, this one should be pretty dour, and some early reviews I've seen have pegged it as exactly that, but based on the cast I'm thinking I'll still really dig it. In this flick based on writer Will Reiser's battle with cancer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the character based on Reiser, Seth Rogen is his best bud, and definite Reel Fanatic fave Anna Kendrick, who I'll watch in anything without the word "Twilight" in it, plays a shrink. Enjoy this trailer.
Oct. 7: "The Ides of March"
If it's fall, it's the season of George Clooney, and he stars in (and directs) this one and also stars in the aforementioned "The Descendants" too. Clooney has an underappreciated flair as a director, and even though this tale of political operatives and dirty tricks (in which Clooney plays a candidate for president, natch) apparently takes a pretty jaded view of our world, I do too right now, so bring it on. Enjoy this trailer.
Oct. 7: "Real Steel"
If you're going to make movies based on video games, why not Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots? That seems to be exactly what director Shawn Levy has done here for this flick starring Hugh Jackman about, yes, boxing robots. Silly? No doubt, but I'm still betting on a ton of fun too. Enjoy this trailer.
Nov. 4: "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas"
Though the rest of October looks pretty bleak, things will light up again (pun fully intended) as John Cho and Kal Penn return for their third adventure as America's favorite stoners. This time out, Harold (Cho) appears to finally be too old for all this nonsense (though I hopefully never will be), being happily married with children until Kumar (Penn) shows up to drag him away for more ganja-fueled games. And yes, of course, NPH comes back from the dead. Enjoy this trailer.
Nov. 11: "Immortals"
Of all the movies on this list, this one has the biggest potential to simply be awful, but I still have a lot of time for Tarsem, so I'll take a chance on it. If you've never seen his "The Fall," it's a true visionary wonder, and there are few rentals I can recommend higher. This time out, things are a lot more epic as Mickey Rourke (yes, really) plays a king ruling Greece with an iron fist until Theseus (Henry Cavill) leads an uprising against him. Keep your fingers crossed for this one, and enjoy this trailer.
Nov. 11: "J. Edgar"
A complete stranger to subtlety, Clint Eastwood is just a maddeningly uneven director in my book, but there's no denying the pedigree of this grand biopic. With a script from "Milk" scribe Dustin Lance Black, one Leo DiCaprio will play the FBI founder and longtime director who just happened to enjoy wearing dresses. The only trailer I could find for this was a short teaser in which Leo just lights a cigarette, and all the clips I could locate (with funny effect) laid a fart track over it, so no trailer for this one.
Nov. 23: "Hugo"
Even though he's shortened the title from "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" and filmed this in surely unnecessary 3-D, I still can't wait to see what Martin Scorsese comes up with from one of my favorite books, by Brian Selznick. Asa Butterfield stars as our hero, a young boy who lives in the walls of a train station and discovers one of Georges Melies' amazing automatons. Definite Reel Fanatic fave Hit-Girl Chloe Moretz co-stars. Enjoy this trailer.
Nov. 23: "The Muppets"
Everyone who is, like me, of a certain age, remembers Jim Henson's beloved puppets with nothing but fondness, and has probably (also like me) been lapping up everything that's been released already by the Disney marketing machine. The key to a great Muppets movie is an entirely fun spirit, and everything I've seen so far indicates that writer Jason Segel and director James Bobin have just about nailed it, so here's hoping. Enjoy this trailer.
Dec. 9: "The Sitter"
Though as mentioned above I have nothing but love for a good stoner flick, director David Gordon Green proved with the simply awful "Your Highness" that, if you try hard enough, you can certainly make one of those that just sucks. This time out, however, he's playing it much more safely, pretty much combining "Superbad" with "Pineapple Express" for this flick starring Jonah Hill as quite possibly the world's worst babysitter. I'm a sucker for movies starring foul-mouthed kids (the vastly underappreciated "Role Models" gets me every time), so I'm hoping this will be very funny. Enjoy this red band trailer (and be warned, it's plenty foul).
Dec. 9: "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Director Tomas Alfredson's "Let the Right One In" is easily one of my favorite movies of the last 10 years or so (and definitely the best one with vampires), so you can count this follow-up as the one movie I'm most looking forward to seeing this fall. For his take on John Le Carre's novel about the hunt for a Russian mole who has infiltrated Britain's house of spooks, he's assembled a cast that somehow includes Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds and even Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch. Enjoy this trailer, and let the spy games begin.
Dec. 16: "Young Adult"
Director Jason Reitman has yet to make a movie that I haven't mostly loved, and for this hopefully very dark comedy he's reunited with scribe Diablo Cody. In it, Charlize Theron, who proved on "Arrested Development" that she can be extremely funny, plays a writer of teen novels who returns to her small hometown to try and pitch woo with her now happily married former high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). No trailer for this one either yet, but keep an eye out for it soon, most likely right here.
Dec. 21: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Having been burned once already recently by Matt Reeves' extremely by-the-book and just as unnecessary remake of "Let the Right One In," you can color me extremely skeptical about this one, but it certainly fits right in director David Fincher's wheelhouse. Rooney Mara will attempt to step into the shoes of hacker extraordinaire Lisbeth Salander, already perfected on screen by Noomi Rapace in the Swedish original, as she aides Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig, this time) as he tracks down Nazis and other unseemly happenings. Enjoy this trailer.
"Dec. 23: The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn"
What are the odds that even Steven Spielberg can release two movies in the space of six days that are both real winners? Not likely, but this year, on paper at least, it looks like it could happen. In this first one, Hergé's beloved young Belgian detective looks more than a bit odd with the modern touch, but I'm still hoping this will be an old-fashioned tale at least in spirit. Enjoy this trailer.
Dec. 23: "We Bought a Zoo"
After what seems like at least 10 years off, director Cameron Crowe is back this year in a big way, with, first, his documentary about Pearl Jam and then this tale that seems tailormade to his very humanity-heavy style of storytelling. Matt Damon and no-longer-never-nude Scarlett Johansson star in this flick with easily the most "Snakes on a Plane" title of the fall season. Enjoy this still very new trailer.
Dec. 28: "War Horse"
Spielberg's second entry of the week is just the kind of epic movie you'd expect, telling the story of a boy and his horse and their adventures in World War I. And with that, finally, there you have it. Enjoy this final trailer and, as stated above, please feel free to add any movies you're looking forward to that I have somehow snubbed. Peace out.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Fall/winter movie preview
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Wish I was there: Docs that are rocking the TIFF
Actually, before we get into any of that, and trying to stick to some kind of theme after taking more than a week off (living without the Internet, no matter what you might be thinking, really isn't a return to some kind of low-tech paradise, believe me), let's start with news about three things that, at least in my mind, "rock."
First up, a pipe dream, but as with diehard fans of "Arrested Development," the small cult of people who thoroughly appreciated Starz's equally short-lived "Party Down" (of which I'm certainly a member) are new being teased occasionally with the promise of some kind of movie to wrap things up. And though I'm hesitant to get in on that cruel game, I love "Party Down" enough to pass on what the great Adam Scott had to say about the possibility while promoting "Friends with Kids" at the Toronto International Film Festival:
"We're like 90% there, we're hoping to do it maybe next summer, if everyone's schedules work out and the guys get time to write a script. They have kind of a skeleton of a story worked out so we know where it's going to go but we just have to kind of cross the t's and dot the i's, or something. But Starz are being super cool and they're going to let us do it, and we're all excited, we all want to do it."
Like I said, not holding my breath too hard, but I can't imagine Starz has much else to do, so let's just keep hope alive. And moving on to the next thing that caught my attention this morning, and about something much more likely to happen, there's news about Quentin Tarantino's next flick, "Django Unchained."
The latest is that Samuel L. Jackson and Gerald McRaney (Major Dad, yes really) have officially joined the cast, and in even better news, Jackson let slip that filming will begin in January in New Orleans. The movie itself is set to drop as a Christmas day gift in 2012.
And having read the script for this (it's the Internet, folks, you can easily find it), I can say that on paper it's easily Tarantino's most challenging movie, and possibly his best yet, too. The story is about a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) and a freed slave (Django, Jamie Foxx, odd) who join forces to take revenge on slave owners and liberate Django's wife, Broomhilda (again, yes really, and to be played by the truly great Kerry Washington, hopefully). Broomhilda is owned by mandingo fighting ranch owner Calvin Candie, to be played by one Leo DiCaprio.
Sound crazy? It surely is, and thoroughly incorrect in every way, but what else would you expect from QT? Due to the content, I still have some doubts that he can really pull all this off, but here's hoping for sure. Stay tuned ...
And finally, before we get to the TIFF trailers, there are few people I'd rather see return to TV than "Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Fuller, and it seems he's hard at work on a comeback that should be just about perfect.
The hourlong show would examine the relationship between one Hannibal Lecter and FBI profiler Will Graham, with the action taking place before the story in the "Red Dragon" novel. No idea who would play the roles or what network wants this (I foresee a bidding war if it's not yet settled), and it would certainly be just about the polar opposite of the wonder-filled and wonderful "Pushing Daisies," but I can still only say bring it on!
OK, now on to the main attraction today, with a final clip of what should be the craziest movie at this year's TIFF, and possibly the best thing too for people like me.
Though I've yet to see any of them, given the quantity and potential quality of the rock docs coming out now, we certainly seem to have entered a golden age of sorts. Martin Scorsese, no stranger to the genre, has a new one on George Harrison, and Cameron Crowe is beginning his comeback with a look at the career of Pearl Jam (always much too earnest for my tastes, but I'd still love to see the movie as soon as I can.)
And at the TIFF, there are at least three others that look very promising. First up, from "An Inconvenient Truth" and "It Might Get Loud" director Davis Guggenheim comes "From the Sky Down," about a certain band known as U2. Heresy, I know, but those guys have never been among my favorites either. The movie, however, judging at least from this trailer, looks to be a lot more fun than the band itself often is. Enjoy.
Next up comes, I believe, Jonathan Demme's third movie about the truly great Neil Young. For this one, "Neil Young Journeys," Demme (coincidentally enough, the director of the Lecter movie "Silence of the Lambs"), followed Young as he returned to his hometown of Toronto for a concert. One I really want to see, so enjoy the trailer.
And last on the strictly rock menu, though Paul McCartney is clearly just a pop kind of guy, comes "The Love We Make," in which McCartney offers his own reflections on 9/11, a day on which he happened to be in NYC. Kinda heavy for a rock doc, but since this comes from the great Albert Maysles, I'm betting on something worth catching if you can. Enjoy the trailer.
And finally, clearly saving the oddest for last, the title of this next one, "Juan of the Dead," obviously gives away what it's about. A Cuban zombie movie that looks as funny and simply wild as that notion should be, this is one I want to see ASAP. And on a slightly different subject, mi hermano and I managed to catch "Attack the Block" while on vacation recently in Charm City, and I can't recommend any movies that have come out this summer higher than that gem produced by Edgar Wright. And with that, I say thanks to anyone who happened to stop by for this return to my vanity project, enjoy the "Juan of the Dead" trailer, and have a perfectly endurable Wednesday. Peace out.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Roman Polanski and the art of the extremely uncomfortable
OK, I'm more than a little slow. I knew Roman Polanski's next movie was titled "Carnage," and I've seen the Tony award-winning play by Yazmina Reza "Gods of Carnage" while on vacation with my family in Minneapolis, but not until now did I manage to put the two together.
In my defense, why in the world do they have to keep shortening movie titles to as few characters as possible? Martin Scorsese, of all people, found the title of one of my favorite books, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," so odious that he had to cut it all the way down to simply "Hugo" for his Thanksgiving offering. But was "Gods of Carnage" really so long that people couldn't digest it on a poster? Sheesh.
But I already digress. Polanski's "Carnage" has been chosen to open the New York Film Festival on Sept. 30, and for many reasons, the play is just a perfect fit for his style of filmmaking.
First, a bit about what the movie and play are about, and who's starring in the flick. Reza's play (and hopefully Polanski's movie) takes place entirely in one New York City apartment, where two groups of parents are gathered after one child has acted out violently to the other one. I'm just guessing from the photo above here, but I have to think John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster play the parents of the wronged child, and Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz the other couple. Take a second to digest all that star power in one small room.
The setting is key, because in that tight space, the often scathing words aren't just weapons, they're WMD's, and the "Carnage" is immediate and brutal. And, thankfully, Reza's whip-smart play is also devastatingly funny, as when the character to be played by Reilly (again, I assume) explains how he used to be in a "gang" when he was a kid. It's not a comedy of manners, but of pretty much the complete lack thereof, my favorite kind.
In relation to the best of Polanski's movies, it fits in perfectly. The most direct correlation is to "Death and the Maiden," in which Sigourney Weaver traps and torments Ben Kingsley in Polanksi's take on the Ariel Dorfman play. In that and his most recent flick, the political thriller "Ghost Writer" (well worth an immediate rental if you haven't seen it), among others, the tension is not just kept high, but ramped up to the point of suffocation throughout, giving his best movies a very claustrophobic feel.
And that, in short, is why Roman Polanski's "Carnage" is definitely a movie to keep an eye out for when it opens hopefully wide enough to reach even my little corner of the world on Nov. 18. And I'll leave you today with, courtesy of collider, eight or so short clips from another movie I'm certainly looking forward to, "The Help," the movie based on Kathyrn Stockett's insanely popular novel and starring Emma Stone and Viola Davis, set to come out as some relief from the usual August slog on the 10th. Enjoy, and have a great Sunday. Peace out.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Great things coming for the kid in all of us - especially me - from Scorsese and Aardman
Actually, the photo above is one of six or so album cover creations by Next Movie in honor of the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which you may have heard of by now. You can see them all by clicking here, but I just chose the Snape/Elvis because it's an easy classic and Alan Rickman just rules.
And before we get into the aforementioned great things for kids, both in spirit and in actuality, there's some news out there today from 24 Frames that, while it does involve Santa Claus, really couldn't have less to do with younguns. And if you've seen the original movie, you already know what I'm talking about.
We've been on a pretty solid winning streak for R-rated comedies lately ("Bridesmaids" and "Bad Teacher" have been my favorites this summer), but for me, "Bad Santa" is really just about the best one of the last 10 years or so, mostly because of its joyously unfiltered and thoroughly funny filth, with a genuine holiday spirit somehow still running through the whole thing.
And now, this morning, comes word that Dimension Films has commissioned two competing scribes, Johnny Rosenthal and John Phillips (neither of whom I know anything about), to pen scripts for a "Bad Santa 2," with the winner hopefully getting made and the other one, if it's not just horrible, possibly saved for a "Bad Santa 3." Sequels can often turn my stomach as much as anyone, but I'm a true "Bad Santa" believer, so I can just say bring it on. And every day is really a little bit better with a little "Bad Santa," so here's just a taste of veryfunnylittleman Tony Cox and the late, great Bernie Mac (in, don't say I didn't warn you, a truly and blissfully foul-mouthed clip) before we move on to today's main courses. Enjoy.
OK, moving on to today's main clips (and just about as far away from "Bad Santa" as you can get), the honor of following up that truly foul bit goes to Martin Scorsese, who has really delivered a winner with this first trailer for "Hugo," even if he has obnoxiously shortened the title of one of my favorite books from "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" (was that really too long? Sheesh.)
I'm hardly a moralist, even when it comes to kids' movies, and I wouldn't be a very good one if I ever wanted to be, but along with less fart jokes, what they could really use is much less product placement and more of the three W's, wonder, whimsy and wacky. Well, when it comes to the first two, I haven't been as psyched for a young folks' movie as I am for "Hugo" since Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are," which I still watch a couple of times a year and will never tire of. Except for the awful music, this trailer for Scorsese's Thanksgiving flick starring Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Jude Law and Sacha Baron Cohen gets just about everything else right, and I can promise it will be the only time in the foreseeable future that I'll spring for anything in 3-D. Enjoy.
And when it comes to the wacky, it really doesn't get much better than the claymation offerings from Aardman, best of all the "Wallace & Gromit" collection. For anyone who may not know, a fire struck the main warehouse storing most of Aardman's best stuff in 2005, wiping out, as Nick park put it at the time, the studio's "entire history."
Since then, however, and with a big assist from Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman has rebounded in a big way, and soon (well, March 12 in the U.S. of A., so fairly soon) will be back on the big screen with "The Pirates! Band of Misfits." As you'll see from the first trailer below, it's as loopy as ever, and somehow stars Hugh Grant as the voice of Pirate Captain. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. And if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do some swimming and then try to squeeze into a matinee of that "Harry Potter" flick. Peace out.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
A short Wednesday report, with "Sons of Anarchy," Darren Aranofsky and Sarah Palin
Just a very short report today because I'm soon to head off to Minneapolis/St.Paul to see mi hermano and my parents for a few days, and frankly my mind is already there, but since there's almost nothing on TV right now, why not start with a great development for what's coming this fall.
In its continuing quest to employ every single actor who has ever appeared on HBO's "Deadwood," it seems that FX will next be featuring Georgia actor Ray McKinnon in a season-long arc on "Sons of Anarchy," which has quickly risen to be one of my favorite TV dramas.
As for McKinnon, he may still be best known as the Rev. H.W. Smith on the first season of "Deadwood," but his other great roles have included playing one ornery bastard in "That Evening Sun" and even playing Vernon T. Waldrip in my favorite Coen brothers' movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou." In short, he's just a great actor, and bringing on him to play an unconventional prosecutor who will be on the trail of SAMCRO on the upcoming season will make an already pretty darn good show even better.
And in a bit of movie news before two funny videos that caught my eye this morning, having wisely dropped any plans to make yet another "Wolverine" movie, it seems that Darren Aronofsky is finally closing in on something much more suited to his vision.
He's currently seeking backers for his epic take on the biblical story of Noah and his ark. Take a second to picture how great, or at least epicly bizarre, that could be. No idea if this will actually be his next movie project, but with the script currently undergoing a rewrite by John Logan, who among other things wrote the screenplay for Martin Scorsese's upcoming "Hugo Cabret," things do seem to be moving forward. Stay tuned ...
OK, moving quickly on to the videos today, I had never heard of this movie, "The Guard," until I saw this rather seriously funny trailer this morning. In the movie, best as I can tell, the great Brendan Gleeson plays a rather racially insensitive Irish cop who joins forces with an American FBI agent (Don Cheadle, welcome back) to track some unsavory characters, including Mark Strong. As you'll see from the trailer, it looks like nothing but funny, and Gleeson has proven, best in "In Bruges," that he's a natural comedian. I know this played Sundance this year, but no idea when it will get any other kind of release in the U.S. Keep an eye out for it, and enjoy the trailer.
And to close today, if there's been a sillier season in American politics, I can't remember it. I'm not one to stay up much beyond 11 p.m. on school nights, but if the late night guys aren't just having a field day with the fact that a dude named Weiner is waving his genitals all around, I'd be sorely disappointed. And then there's Sarah Palin, the gift that just keeps on giving. I'd be willing to just let this go, but since her forces have taken to Wikipedia to try and rewrite history in her favor, she's certainly fair game, and this Stephen Colbert Paul Revere clip, though a bit long, is just a hoot. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. As for me, I'm off until next Tuesday, to visit the land of however many lakes there actually are in Minnesota. Peace out.
Thursday, June 02, 2011
A short Thursday report long on fun news
If you skipped Derek Cianfrance's "Blue Valentine" last year, either because of its mind-boggling NC-17 rating or simply because the subject matter sounded so depressing, fix that right away with a rental, because in many ways the movie is a real joy to watch.It is indeed about a marriage that's imploding in front of our eyes, but the acting from Michelle Williams (rightly nominated for an Oscar) and Ryan Gosling is nothing short of amazing to behold, and the story goes on a journey well worth exploring that will make you smile and laugh more than it will make you blue. The "future room" alone makes this movie well worth renting (it's out on DVD now, so check it out).
And even better comes big casting news about Cianfrance's next movie, the crime drama "The Place Beyond the Pines," which reunites him with Gosling. He will play a biker who, after having a child, begins robbing banks to support the baby. And now comes word that Bradley Cooper will play a rookie cop who's on his trail.
Filming will start in July, and Cianfrance is a real talent to keep an eye on, so stay tuned for more on this whenever I find it.
In other news about a director I can't get enough of, it's now guaranteed that even people in my little corner of the world will get to see Tomas Alfredson's follow-up to the simply sublime "Let the Right One In" (still streaming on Netflix), a remake of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."
The news is that Focus Features has taken over distribution from Universal and has set an awards season U.S. release date of Nov. 18, and best of all, will apparently do so in glorious "wide release."
Bully to that, because Alfredson has compiled a stellar cast for the Cold War spy saga based on the John Le Carre novel, starting with Gary Oldman as George Smiley, the British spy charged with uncovering a Russian mole in his ranks, and also featuring Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong.
Bring it on already, even for people like me, who live in tiny burgs!
And finally (and inevitably) today, Paramount is finalizing an option deal to develop a movie based on "Furious Love," an account of the public love affair of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and is ready to hand it off to one Martin Scorsese to direct.Scorsese is currently wrapping up "Hugo Cabret" starring Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield (based on one of my favorite novels, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," so bully to that) for a Nov. 23 release, and after that he has a number of potential projects on his plate. Included among those are "Silence," a tale of two Jesuit priests (potentially Daniel Day Lewis and Benicio Del Toro, imagine that) in 17th century Japan, the hitman drama "The Irishman" and a Frank Sinatra biopic.
Though any of those would be a natural fit, I'd imagine he would gladly put them all on hold to jump on this, given his interest in Hollywood history and how simply juicy the story is. Burton and Taylor were both married when they met on the set of "Cleopatra" in 1960, and began a public romance that inflamed the paparazzi. They eventually married in 1964, divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975 and separated for good in 1976.
And with that, I'm off to the job that still pays my bills, so have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Friday fun: Of "Parenthood," time travel and more
After that rather sublime photo of Sir Ian McKellen from the set of "The Hobbit" just well, because, I like it, we actually start with TV and NBC today because it's that time of year, and they keep picking up shows I really like.This one isn't all that surprising, since I think "Parenthood" did very well last season and got stronger as the year went on, but it's still good to know that one of my favorite TV dramas is getting a full third season starting next fall. The show, created by "Friday Night Lights" guru Jason Katims, is indeed soapy and sometimes awfully dopey too, but it has a great cast led by Lauren Graham (welcome back!) and Peter Krause, and it's just full of humor, humanity and heart, the perfect mix after a long day of work. And besides, I challenge anyone to point out a more entertaining hour in the past year on network TV than the "Parenthood" finale, which was just a doozy.
So, great news there, but now on to some movie tidbits. If it indeed seems like just about anything can be fodder for a movie idea these days, you're right, but before you judge this too quickly, remember: At least its not somehow "based" on a board game.
This one, in fact, springs from a classified ad in something called "Backwoods Home Magazine" (yes, really). Here's the text of it: "WANTED: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke ... You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before."
And even though the ad was unfortunately just a joke (and a pretty great one at that), that hasn't stopped Big Beach and the Duplass brothers from picking up on it, and even hiring some dudes named Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly to, respectively, direct and write this. And I'd leave it at that, except that this is also attracting a pretty first-rate cast.
The flick, to be titled "Safety Not Guaranteed," is about a trio of magazine employees who investigate the ad, and it will star Kristen Bell and Aubrey Plaza, and has somehow just added the rather sublimely funny Jeff Garlin of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," too. Stay tuned ...
In other movie news, Martin Scorsese has agreed to be really, really annoyed by Lars Von Trier for something that will definitely be bizarre, but could be a lot of fun, too. Scorsese has apparently taken up the challenge issued by Von Trier to be tortured by the latter in a remake of his own movie, "The Five Obstructions."
The original, which I haven't seen, had Von Trier challenging his mentor, filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake his 1967 picture “The Perfect Human,” five times, with different conditions, or ‘obstructions’ each time (and these are per The Playlist, hence the quotes) — "in Cuba, with no shot lasting more than 12 frames, in ‘the worst place in the world,’ but without showing that place, in any way he chooses (as a punishment), as a cartoon and, in something of a twist, a version already made by Von Trier himself, but with narration from Leth."
Sounds like pretty wicked fun, and though when this was first rumored with Scorsese, the thought was the movie might be "Taxi Driver," nothing has been confirmed yet. What I do know is that, before that, the next movie Scorsese will be making is "Silence," starring Daniel Day Lewis and Benicio Del Toro and set to begin filming early next year.
That is about a group of Jesuit priests who travel to Japan in the 17th century to try and spread the Gospel. Sounds like perfect Scorsese material, and keep an eye out before that for his next movie to hit theaters (unfortunately in 3D), "Hugo Cabret" (shortened from the title of a book I adore, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret"), starring Hit-Girl Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield and coming out Nov. 23.
OK, this has gone on longer than I intended already today, but there's one more movie in the works that caught my eye this morning. Director Jay Roach, when he's not making screwball comedies like "Meet the Parents" or that "Dinner for Schmucks" remake, also manages to make pretty good political dramas, as he did for HBO with "Recount" and is now doing for the network again with "Game Change," about the 2008 Obama-McCain race. And in another project, he's combining those two paths for something called "Rivals" that sounds like it was just tailor-made for me.
Set for release in August 2012, it's set to star Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two politicians jockeying for position in a small congressional district in South Carolina. I'm laughing at that already, so I'm definitely in. And with that, I'm off. Have a great weekend, and definitely go see "Bridesmaids." Peace out.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Remember good, old-fashioned books?
Repackaged TV shows, comic books (too often, it seems) and even board games (yes, really). It certainly seems like anything can be fodder for movies these days, but far too often the most obvious source gets overlooked: Good, old-fashioned books.
This year, three books that I've enjoyed to varying degrees are coming to the big screen, and it starts this week with "Water for Elephants."
On paper at least, Sara Gruen's popular novel, being directed by Richard Lawrence (director of "I Am Legend" and a whole lot of music videos before that), seems like it would be a hard one to screw up in movie form, because the story is just so naturally epic. And with Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz and the great Hal Holbrook, it features a first rate cast, too, so here's hoping it all works out.Another wildly popular book that is making the leap to movies this year is Kathryn Stockett's "The Help," but in this case, I'm hoping the flick will be a lot better than the novel. While I didn't hate Stockett's work, I found it to be full of stock characters drawn in broad strokes of black and white (and that, despite the book's subject matter, has nothing to with race). As a movie, however, it has great potential.
In this case, too, the story of a young Southern woman who led a group of black maids to find the voice for their grievances has a perfect cast, led by solidly funny lady Emma Stone in the main role of Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan and Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark, the leader of the maids. Keep an eye out for this as counter programming to all the super hero flicks and late summer comedies Aug. 12. Here's the first trailer I know of for it:
And finally, from a book intended for readers much younger than me that nonetheless managed to thoroughly engross me, Martin Scorsese will bring Brian Selznick's young adult novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" to the big screen Nov. 23 as the shortened "Hugo Cabret" (and, unfortunately, in 3-D, but I think I've lost that battle already).The magical story is about a boy who lives a secret life inside the walls of a Paris train station. There, he discovers one of French filmmaker George Méliès' automatons, which were mechanical, wind-up figures, and that's when the tale really gets fun.
For the movie, young Hugo is played by Asa Butterfield, with his friend Isabelle being played by Chloe Moretz (a Georgian and the unforgettable Hit-Girl from "Kick-Ass") and the station inspector being played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Even in awful 3-D, I really can't see anyway that Scorsese can make this into anything but a completely fun holiday flick.
I always try to picture the books I'm reading as movies (Williams Boyd's spy saga "Restless" would make a great one, but no one's jumped on that yet), so here's hoping they can continue to inspire great filmmakers in this increasingly digital world. Peace out.
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Vive la femme: The best female performances of 2010
Though it would be hard to call 2010 a banner year for great female movie roles, there have still been some great performances this year from actresses young and old.
So, with the caveat that I have yet to see some potentially great work from Amy Adams in "The Fighter," Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit," here are my picks for the best female performances of 2010. As always, please feel free to sound off in the comments with anyone I may have snubbed.Noomi Rapace: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"/ "The Girl Who Played With Fire": Though she is almost a complete mismatch with the picture of Lizbeth Salander you get in the wildly popular books by the late Stieg Larsson, you won't soon forget how tough and yet vulnerable Rapace is in the role of the talented hacker. Take a weekend and watch these back to back for two of the best thrillers of the year.
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station": The most surprising thing about this movie about the last days of Leo Tolstoy, which was screened by the Macon Film Guild, is just how much fun it is, due in large part to the the interplay of Dame Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer.Chloe Moretz: "Kick-Ass"/"Let Me In": With her work in these two movies, one I love ("Kick-Ass") and one I pretty much despise ("Let Me In"), I'd say the young Georgian Moretz had the best year of any actress in 2010, and probably had the most fun too as the extremely lethal Hit-Girl in "Kick-Ass." Keep an eye out for her next year in Martin Scorsese's "Hugo Cabret."
Jennifer Lawrence: "Winter's Bone": Lawrence's performance as Rhee Dolly, the young woman forced to enter the seamy world of her tangled relations to search for her deadbeat (and possibly just dead) father was the best of 2010, and her reward: She gets to play Raven/Mystique in "Kick-Ass" director Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class." Bully.
Annette Bening: "The Kids Are All Right": I'd have to say she's the odds-on favorite for the Oscar for Best Actress, and why not? Though I found the movie itself to be pretty pedestrian, her performance as one half of a lesbian couple (with Julianne Moore) is fantastic.
Jacki Weaver: "Animal Kingdom": Weaver gets the nod for the scariest character of the year as the matriarch of the Cody clan in this extremely unglamorous Australian gangster flick, and once you see it, she will be burned on your brain (and quite possibly your nightmares). Coming to DVD on Jan. 18.Emma Stone: "Easy A": A silly movie? Sure. But also extremely funny, and at the center of it, Stone is a bundle of comedic energy that never stops running through it. Expect her to make a big breakthrough next year in something more serious, as Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan in the movie based on Kathyrn Stockett's entertaining bestseller "The Help."
Ensemble award: "For Colored Girls": Tyler Perry's movie based on the play by Ntozake Shange is more than a bit of a muddled mess, but his love for black women still shines through in the performances he managed to pull from his large ensemble cast of talented women. Best are Kimberly Elise, Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad as the busybody at the center who ties it all together.
And there you have it. Like I said, please feel free to add anyone I unintentionally snubbed, and have a passable Tuesday. Peace out.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Is there any reason at all to see "Avatar" in the theater again?
From my initial perspective, I'd have to say no, but let's at least look at what you're getting if you do spring for another ride with James Cameron's giant blue horse cats.
The big selling point in trying to nab more of your 3D premium dollars is that there are nine additional minutes (really? sheesh .. wasn't the movie long enough the first time around?) But let's be fair and let the man make his case. Here's what Cameron had to say about it to EW:
"There's a big rousing sequence where they're hunting these herd animals called sturmbeests. There's another new creature that you haven't seen before called the stingbat. There's a really powerful emotional scene toward the end of the film where the leader of the Na'vi is dying after a battle. There's a bit more in the love scene with Jake and Neytiri. There's more bioluminescent stuff in the night forest. Little bits and pieces here and there."
OK, fair enough. The creatures in "Avatar" were uniformly pretty cool (even the horse cats), but I still can't say that's enough to sucker me in again.
It's not that I didn't enjoy "Avatar." In fact, I've seen it twice now, and liked it more the second time around, but after that I really didn't feel I need to visit Pandora again any time soon. The movie itself is really just an old-fashioned, '80s-style sci-fi/action movie with lost of high-tech sheen, and viewed that way, it's a nearly perfectly entertaining bit of fluff.
Oh yeah, I probably should have lead with the fact that, starting Friday, "Avatar" indeed returns to 811 3D theaters, somehow including what's apparently soon to be the only movie theater in Macon (sad but true).
Something you can count me as amped for is the return of "Chuck," which will happen a lot earlier this season, 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20, to be precise (which I have to assume means it will be something approaching a full 22-episode season ... huzzah.)
What we (or at least I) know about the new season is all good so far, starting with the fact that Linda Hamilton will play Chuck's mysterious mom. Even if, like me, Linda Hamilton didn't grow up in Salisbury, Md., I'd still see that casting as nothing but cool (and by the way, Alexis Denisof, a.k.a Wesley from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," is from Salisbury too ... it's a sci-fi mini-mecca!)
In the latest bit of news about "Chuck," Timothy Dalton, perhaps best known as the only person to play James Bond in fewer movies (two, "License to Kill" and "The Living Daylights) than George Lazenby (one, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), will be joining the show for a multi-episode arc this fall (to belabor the Bond thing a bit more, I suppose Daniel Craig's only played him twice too, but I'd imagine he'll get the chance again sometime.)
All that's known so far is that Dalton will be playing "a mysterious stranger who has history with Chuck's mom." Not much to go on, I know, but the return of "Chuck," along with the FX shows "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Sons of Anarchy," are the shows you can count me as most psyched to see again (with Martin Scorsese's "Boardwalk Empire," coming Sept. 19 to HBO, easily the new show I most want to see.)
And all I have after that today is a couple of clips, starting with the first U.S. trailer for Stephen Frears' "Tamara Drewe," starring the not-exactly-hard-on-the-eyes Gemma Arterton as, best as I can tell, some kind of literary muse for a community of English writers. There seems to be more than a little Woody Allen-style stuff going on here, which done right certainly can't be a bad thing. Enjoy the trailer, and keep an eye out for this one starting Oct. 8 in at least America's bigger cities. Enjoy.
And finally today, I know I've been talking about "The American" quite a bit, but I'm convinced that Anton Corbijn's hit man movie starring George Clooney is going to be seriously good. Besides, I somehow only have a three-day work week next week, which means "The American" on Thursday, "Machete" on Friday and maybe even "Going the Distance" some time during the weekend too. A busy movie week, just as I like it. Enjoy this series of four clips from "The American" (the first of which I've posted here before) courtesy of collider.com, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Which of these crazy movie ideas are real?
Actually, I probably shouldn't spoil it, but they all are, which doesn't make them any less bizarre.
1. Anyone who's been here before (and there are apparently somehow a few of you) knows that I'll watch Carla Gugino in just about anything. And even though I enjoyed watching her play a porn star who dresses like a nun in "Women in Trouble," even I wouldn't have guessed that one of her next movies would be called "MILF."
Really? Yes, really, but no matter what you might be thinking that means (keep it clean, people), the acronym here stands for "Mothers I'd Like to Fight", and the movie, which Gugino is apparently in talks to star in, would be a revenge story about a woman who, recently released from prison, returns to the street to take care of some unfinished business.
And yes, cheap, attention-grabbing acronym aside, I'd watch that, though I'd probably buy a ticket from the machine rather than have to actually ask for one to something called "MILF." Just sayin'.
2. Anyone who's been here before also knows that David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's "The Social Network," about the invention of Facebook, is one of the movies I'm most psyched to see this fall. That said, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that in Hollywood, imitation is the most frequent substitution for inspiration, but I just really didn't think it would come quite so quickly.
Apparently at least some people who saw those YouTube and Twitter movie spoofs (I posted one here, and they're actually quite funny) didn't realize that they were meant to be a joke, because brace yourself now for the Google movie (and again, yes, really.)
According to Deadline, Ken Auletta's bestseller "Googled: The End of the World as We Know It" is being made into a feature film. The book tells "the biographical story of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the famously private founders of Google, and their meteoric rise to becoming two of the most powerful men on the planet."
OK, that does make it sound like it could actually be pretty good, but could this please be the end of movies about computer breakthroughs (one can dream, I suppose, but since Peter Berg is actually making a movie from the game Battleship, I know it's futile.)
3. When a sentence starts with "Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy have signed up to star in a romantic comedy ...", it would probably just make me say meh, except for the sentence ends "... about the invention of the first vibrator."
Per Variety: "The period drama, titled Hysteria, centres on two doctors in Victorian London who experiment with an electrical device to treat irritable and angry women. Dancy and Jonathan Pryce will play the physicians."
That actually sounds pretty funny to me already, and just in case you were wondering if Gyllenhaal might play one of the test subjects, again, keep it clean - she's actually set to play the daughter of Pryce's character, assuming this ever gets made.
OK, enough of that. All I have left today is a picture that immediately caught my eye and Lewis Black's "review" of "Eat, Pray, Love."
First the picture. If Martin Scorsese weren't filming "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" in 3D, you could call it probably the movie I'm most psyched about for next year (actually, since it's based on a book I truly adore, it still is, but why the 3D? Sheesh.)
And even though Scorses has apparently also shortened the title from Brian Selznick's novel down to simply "Hugo Cabret," the story is still a real charmer. The book is about an orphan who lives a secret life in the wall of a Paris train station, where he gets drawn into the magical world of George Melies and his automatons. There's a lot more going on in the book, and it's all a lot of fun.
As you'll see from the first picture below, Asa Butterfield plays the titular Hugo, and Chloe Moretz is his young co-star, and if the sight of Hit Girl in period costume doesn't make you smile at least a bit, well, you probably don't smile enough. Enjoy.
And finally today, in a clip that I'd have to say is just about perfect for a Friday morning, here's Lewis Black's seriously funny "review" of "Eat Pray Love" from "The Daily Show." Black, who screams way too much for my taste, isn't always my kind of funny, but I guarantee that by the time he gets around to his "Eat, Pray, Love machete," you'll be laughing at this. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Back in Black - Eat Pray Love | ||||
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Mid-year report card: One man's picks for the best movies of 2010 (so far)
After a more than slightly disappointing beginning to this movie year, we've been on a real roll of late.
The winning streak started with "Toy Story 3," the perfect ending to a great movie trilogy, and continued with the surprisingly charming "Despicable Me" on through the ambitious mindbender "Inception" (and if you really think you can explain that one to me, bring it on.)
Overall, not nearly as good a movie year as 2009, but it's clearly getting better, and the fall should have some real winners (more on that in coming weeks). Here is one man's opinion about the best movies (so far) of 2010, in order of preference.
10. "Shutter Island": I'd say Leonardo DiCaprio was in a mindbending movie rut if the ones he's been in this year weren't so good. "Shutter Island," a Martin Scorsese movie based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, was a B-movie flick with A-level acting and style. Now on DVD.9. "Alice in Wonderland": Though many - if not most - of director Tim Burton's adaptations/remakes are tired, this was a welcome exception. It was full of whimsy and surprising restraint from Burton, and for once, Johnny Depp was funny rather than simply creepy in a Burton movie as the Mad Hatter. Now on DVD..
8. "Date Night": This is most certainly the year of Steve Carell on the big screen, and since he's soon likely to quit "The Office," why not? Though this flick with co-star Tina Fey lacked the anarchic spirit of Scorsese's "After Hours," from which it clearly draws inspiration, it was still a fun night out with two very talented comedians. Coming to DVD on Aug. 10.
7. "Despicable Me": Carell again, in a flick that proves Pixar doesn't have the market cornered on mixing wicked humor with heart. After a slow start full of run-of-the-mill jokes, it develops into a thoroughly charming animated tale, and contains my single favorite movie line of 2010 so far: "The physical appearance of the please makes no difference." In theaters now.,
6. "Inception": This is, of course, all anyone is talking about now when it comes to movies, and what more can you ask for than that? Christopher Nolan's dreamscape may well move up on this list over time, but for right now, I need to see it again, because after one viewing it left me with as many questions as answers, and that's far from a complaint. In theaters now.
5. "A Prophet": It has been called "The French Godfather," and though that's clearly a high bar to set, the comparison actually works on many levels. The story about what one man has to do to survive a long stint in prison - from unsavory alliances to even more unsavory activities - is simply mesmerizing from start to finish. Out on DVD Tuesday.4. "Kick-Ass": Really? Yes, really. Though there are clearly questions about the morality of a 13-year-old, extremely foul-mouthed and even more lethal "Hit-Girl," played by young Georgian Chloe Moretz, there's no denying that it's funny. And this is, after all, a comic-book movie, and one that in the hands of director Matthew Vaughn breathes new life into that very familiar genre. Now on DVD.
3. "That Evening Sun": A definite highlight of the 2010 Macon Film Festival, this stars Hal Holbrook in a revival of the great Southern movie, a genre that's becoming far too much of a rarity. He's angry, ornery and excellent as an old man who escapes from a nursing home to reclaim his former home, now being inhabited by another Macon Film Festival favorite, Ray McKinnon. Not to be missed, and coming to DVD on Sept. 7. And the Macon Film Festival will return Feb. 17, 2011, so stay tuned.
2. "Toy Story 3": Is Pixar's marquee trilogy also now the best movie trilogy of all time? The argument can certainly be made, since it started with a groundbreaking original, upped the ante with a second chapter that was even better in terms of story and humor, and then finished up (we assume) with a final chapter that was both a rousing adventure and a definite charmer, and yes, the ending did make this grown man cry (admit it, you did too.) In theaters now.
1. "Winter's Bone": Debra Granik's movie takes a classic film genre, the film noir, and sets it in just about the bleakest possible setting, the Missouri Ozarks. And though it can often indeed be as depressing as that sounds, it's also riveting as newcomer Jennifer Lawrence tries to unravel the mystery of what has happened to her deadbeat father, who has put up the house she shares with her two young siblings as a guarantor that he'll appear in court on charges of making meth. This is, indeed, the perfect kind of movie for the Macon Film Guild to offer this fall (though I don't have any say in that), and worth seeking out now in select theaters.
Honorable mention: "Youth in Revolt", "Edge of Darkness", "Ghost Writer", "The Crazies", "The Good Heart", "OSS 117: Lost in Rio", "Splice", "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work", "Get Him to the Greek" and "Cyrus"
So, there you have it. Please feel free to share any you think I may have snubbed (and there's surely more than one), and to offer any of your favorites from this movie year so far. Peace out.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Hulu Plus: Why in the world would anyone pay for this?
The rumored day that Hulu goes to pay-per-view is almost here as the TV-online service is previewing its subscription service - Hulu Plus - and for so many reasons it's pretty much predestined to fail.
Before I get into why, here are the specs. Hulu Plus will offer content not available on the free site, including full current seasons of certain shows, plus all the past seasons of shows like "Glee" and "House" (those were the two most often mentioned in the write up I saw, so I suppose Fox is full in here.)
OK, fair enough, but does anyone else see the huge problem here? If you subscribe to Netflix, as I do, you probably well know that, for the same $9.99 price tag (I think - it may have gone up without me noticing), you can get not only the two or three movies at a time mailed to your house, but also a seemingly always-increasing library of TV shows you can watch on your computer (sound familiar?).Even better than that is that, in perusing the offerings in the latter category, they certainly seem tailor-made to my tastes. I've recently enjoyed past seasons of "30 Rock," "The Office," "Friday Night Lights" and even somehow "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" too. Perhaps best of all, they have the current season of "Party Down" for all of you who don't get Starz, and even without Jane Lynch, that show is almost as wickedly funny as it was in season one.
So, if you can get Netflix's movie library (supplemented very well by the documentary offerings of Docurama) plus its TV on DVD content via computer content, why in the world would you pay the same price for simply the TV offerings, and surely not as much content at that?
The only thing that stood out in the Hulu press release is that you can stream content to your cell phone. Wow. Now if I ever a) feel the need to buy a cell phone or b) want to watch TV on a screen so small it will make my eyes bleed, I know where to go.
OK, enough of that. There has to be some actual good movie news out there today, right? Yes, and it starts with Martin Scorsese's adaptation of one of my favorite books by Brian Selznick, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret."As production starts this week on that December 2011 flick, it's just been announced that Jude Law and Reel Fanatic fave Ray Winstone have joined an impressive cast that already included Sacha Baron Cohen, Sir Ben Kingsley, Hit-Girl Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield (who had the misfortune of starring in the simply dreadful "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" - meh.)
The story itself is about an orphaned boy (Butterfield) who's living in the walls of a Paris train station, where an encounter with a broken-down machine leads him into the world of silent filmmaker George Méliès (Kingsley) and his automatons. Baron Cohen will play the station inspector and Moretz the young female lead, but nothing is known yet about the roles Law or Winstone play.
Even if this is being filmed in 3-D (why in the world?), it's still easily one the movies I'm most looking forward to for 2011.
And in one more bit of news before we get into the videos which, yes, feature a rant from John Cleese, there's a music biopic in the works that has caught my eye.
How do you spark interest in this fairly tired genre? Well casting a great actress or actor to play an interesting subject is certainly the best way. Casting Chiwetel Ejiofor to play Fela Kuti (which has so far only happened in my overactive imagination) would certainly be one way, as would casting Peter Sarsgaard to play bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, which has actually just happened in the real world.
I really can't see the kids en masse getting into bluegrass, but Sarsgaard is easily one of my favorite actors (witness his truly skeevy performance in "An Education" for the most reason example of why), and this aging dude digs that high and lonesome sound, so count me as intrigued by this.
OK, since there's no World Cup futbol until Friday morning, how better to fill the void than this classic rant from John Cleese about the differences between futbol and American football? I love the latter far too much, and unlike Cleese find it to be plenty full of creativity, but there's no denying that this clip, which I found in the latest Roger Ebert Club newsletter, brings the funny. Enjoy.
Until I found out otherwise yesterday, I just assumed that no one would dare open opposite "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," but it seems that one M. Night Shyamalan is brave and foolish enough to enter that fight with "The Last Airbender." And, I have to say, even though M. Night has now delivered more stinkers than winners, he'll still be getting my movie money (in 2-D) this weekend, partly because I love the Nickelodeon "Avatar: The Last Airbender" series it's at least loosely based on, and just out of sheer curiosity. To get ready for it, enjoy this clip of the Slumdog Millionaire engaging in a battle of the elements with some young lady whose name I don't know.
And finally, in what might be - even with John Cleese included - a case of saving the best for last, here are the first five minutes of "The Disappearance of Alice Creed," a crime drama set to drop in at least some American cities in early August. As you'll see from the clip below, it stars Reel Fanatic fave Eddie Marsan as one of two ex-cons who plot to kidnap the daughter of a rich businessman. This could easily devolve into your average torture porn, especially with the rather beguiling Gemma Arterton playing the victim, but judging from the methodical nature of the beginning (I can't do anything about the script at the bottom - sorry), I think director J. Blakeson is up to a lot more than that here. Enjoy, and have a perfectly endurable Wednesday. Peace out.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Represent! Watch U.S.A. v. England, of course, but first, some news
If you were to ask me who the funniest two people in the world are, I'd respond, in this order, Ricky Gervais and Larry David, so if you bring them together, even for just one episode, you're gonna get my attention.
I'm not sure when we'll be able to see the eighth season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," David's much more bitter and, yes, funnier, HBO follow-up to "Seinfeld," but when we do, it's been announced that Gervais will indeed be appearing as himself on the eighth episode.Is it possible to have too much funny? I think not, and luckily, HBO definitely doesn't think you can have too much Ricky Gervais. Just last night I finally sat down and watched a few episodes of "The Ricky Gervais Show," which is essentially just animated visuals to go along with podcasts he makes with comedic partner Stephen Merchant and foil Karl Pilkington, and for which HBO has already ordered a second season.
The show itself is hampered by both that extremely limited format and by the fact that Gervais, in baiting Pilkington, often comes off as a bully. It still works, though, because these are three extremely funny guys, and because Pilkington in particular is at least as much a savant as he is an idiot. The best bits so far have been a "Monkey News" segment in which they debate whether or not a monkey can host a talk show, and another one in which Pilkington shares his birthing theory that when you die, you should immediately turn in to a baby again.
The bottom line: if you like cerebral funny, these guys deliver it, and I'm a fan. And in even better news, Gervais is now launching a new series for the BBC titled "Life's Too Short," which will "document" the life of showbiz little guy Warwick Davis, who has already made an appearance with Daniel Radcliffe on the Gervais/Merchant series "Extras." When and if this crosses the pond, it's extremely likely it will be to HBO too, and I can only say bring it on, because I'll admit I really like good jokes about little folk.
In other news, I really don't think there's any way Disney can get me too excited about another damned prequel, this one for "The Wizard of Oz," but they're certainly trying. Vulture reports today that the studio has offered Sam Raimi the reins for this project, in which Robert Downey Jr. would apparently play the wizard himself if this ever gets made.I'd still lean toward just saying no to this, but if you've seen "Drag Me to Hell," you know Raimi still has some fun left in him (and if you haven't, and can handle a wickedly funny and equally gross horror flick, rent it immediately.) I suppose the man's gotta work, especially since they swiped the "Spider-Man" franchise from him, but if he jumps at this, he'll be far from alone in returning to the land of Oz.
Because absolutely nothing in Hollywood happens in a vacuum, there are at least three other "Oz"-related projects coming together, the furthest along being an upcoming 3D animated film "Dorothy of Oz." Nothing about that would make me say anything but meh except for the fact they've now cast "Glee" star Lea Michelle as the lead, and being an admitted and devoted Gleek, I figured I'd at least be the messenger on that too.
In the same press release, however, came this rather ominous note: "15-time Grammy winner Bryan Adams is currently moving forward on the first songs and lyrics for the film." Sheesh. OK, enough of that. On to the videos ...
Sticking with HBO first, this is the third, and best, trailer I know of the Martin Scorsese-produced series "Boardwalk Empire," which will chronicle the rise of Atlantic City's gambling empire and is set to debut in September. As you'll see from the trailer, the best one yet, it stars Steve Buscemi. Enjoy, and if you're a Sookie Stackhouse fan like me, of course tune in at 9 Sunday night for the season three premiere of "True Blood."
"Futurama" is rather inexplicably but thankfully set to rise again very soon with new episodes on Comedy Central, with the first two coming back-to-back June 24 (and yes, with all the original voice cast members.) Here, courtesy of the network, is first 90 seconds or so of the first new episode in which, predictably, we already find Fry in a tight spot. Enjoy.
And finally, the big day is finally here. The U.S.A. takes on England today in South Africa, and if you're somehow in Macon and interested, the rather unfortunately named Bottom's Up (not a titty bar, despite that name) will be open downtown and I and some fellow soccer geeks will be there to watch as the game begins at 2:30 EST. In the meantime, soccer fan Rivers Cuomo and his Weezer bandmates have recorded "Represent," an unofficial theme song for the squad, and it indeed kicks ass. Enjoy along with this video tribute to the team, and definitely tune in for what will hopefully make the U.S.A. undefeated (2-0) all time in World Cup matches against England. Peace and futbol to all!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
If I made a Muppet movie ...
I'd certainly put myself in the human starring role too, but more on that in a little bit, because the best possible news to start off this particular Tuesday would have to be the possibility of more "Curb Your Enthusiasm."For my money, there isn't anything funnier on TV, and hasn't been for at least the past 10 years. Larry David's mix of eventually sweet but very bitter along with the way is just comic perfection, so any news of an eighth season would certainly be welcome.
And being an ornery showman, David offered only the slightest hint it might happen when he recently showed up at the TV confab PaleyFest.
After shooting down the possibility of a movie (thank God for that), he finally got around to saying "I think there's a pretty good chance" and "We're working on a couple of things."
Not much to work with there, but since baseball season is almost here, it's all about hope around here, so here's hoping he gets busy on this soon, and stay tuned until the end for the reason HBO is going to get me to re-up very soon.
And now back to the lead. If I were somehow the person writing a new Muppet movie, you can certainly bet I'd cast myself in it as the human lead, which is apparently just what "Freaks and Geeks" vet Jason Segel has done.
Though the plot of the new Muppet movie he wrote with buddy Nicholas Stoller is still under wraps, we do know it's called "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made" and it's being directed by James Bobin of "Flight of the Conchords." Apart from that, it will of course be about the Muppets reuniting for a big show (what else, after all?), and Segel will apparently be the human who leads the effort to reunite them. That all sounds like nothing but fun to me, so get on with it already!
Scorsese's "Hugo Cabret" taking shape quickly
It can be maddeningly difficult at times to figure out what exactly Martin Scorsese will work on next, but with the cast taking shape seemingly instantly, we can now be certain it is "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." And having read and adored this "children's" book, that's definitely good news to me.
The book itself by Brian Selznick is about an orphaned boy who ends up living in the walls of a Paris train station with his uncle, and operating the station's clocks when his uncle is too drunk to do so. Along the way, he encounters filmmaker Georges Melies and his mechanical men and, well, it's just gets more and more fun from there.
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has signed on to play the station inspector, and Sir Ben Kingsley will reunite with Scorsese to play Melies (if you haven't seen "Shutter Island," by the way, you're about to miss your chance ... I thoroughly enjoyed it.) As far as the kids go, Asa Butterfield, who had the misfortune of starring in the simply dreadful "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," will play our young hero, and that foul-mouthed hit girl Chloe Moretz will play the female lead, Isabelle.
There's certainly a lot of fun stuff for Scorsese to play with here, so definitely bring it on.
Inside the mind of Michel Gondry
It can be even harder to tell what's up with Michel Gondry, but since I almost always dig whatever finally springs from his overactive imagination, it's worth keeping track of.
He is, of course, now shooting "The Green Hornet," starring Seth Rogen (yes, really) from a script by the "Superbad" duo of Rogen and Evan Goldberg. You can count me as mildly intrigued by that, but it's with what might come next that things really start to get interesting.
He says that after that will come the indie drama "The We & The I," which is based on his own book, "You'll Like This Film Because You're In It: The Be Kind Rewind Protocol." I haven't read that, but probably will soon, and here's what Gondry had to say about the flick:
“It’s about the group effect, how people in groups transform when the group is dislocated, because everyone jumps out of the bus at different times, there is a smaller group and how the relationships evolve. .. it’s kids on a bus, it’s more like a social thing. It’s not [well-known] actors, it’s going to be kids from a school in the Bronx. I love kids and just [regular] people too because they are not polluted by the medium. They come as they are and they have beautiful stories to tell, so I want to show that.”Not sure what in the world all that will produce, but his music videos (mi hermano gave me a collection of them for Christmas a few years ago, fantastic viewing) and "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" have shown he can have some real fun with crowd dynamics. After that, thankfully, things just keep getting odder and odder.
He's also working with funnybook writer and "Ghost World" scribe Daniel Clowes on some kind of time travel movie which would somehow star Ellen Page (remember her?) Called "Return of the Ice Kids," it's apparently about a group of teenagers who invent a kind of water that makes you hear music (believe me, I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to.) Here's a bit of what he had to say about Page's role in it:
“I’d like to do a movie of this size with my own story, which would be quite amazing. But we’ll see. I’m developing a screenplay with a writer right now about kids who travel [into] the future by mistake and a machine [that] keeps people younger… ehhh, it’s complicated to explain…Ellen Page is supposed to be the main character…She’d play Nancy, a young woman who participates in the discovery and changes the world.”
Also on Gondry's apparently indefatigable mind is an animated movie called "Megalomania," which he's been working on since 2007 with Clowes and his son, Paul. Here's what he had to say about that:
“It’s about three kids who discover how to create energy from hair. And they shave everyone on the planet. The rich people wear and rule the world. So the rich people wear wigs and the poor people are just bald. And they want to make a better world, but the maker — which is sort of based on my son — is a horrible dictator…"
And here's what he has to say about his son:
"I didn’t want him to be the son of me, I want him to be his own person. I always saw him as an individual from the first second he was born. I always appreciated from him from how different he was from me. He’s very well dressed and stylish and much more confident then me. He’s street smart.”
The film is currently set to star the voice talents of Steve Buscemi, Seth Rogen, and Juliette Lewis. And like I said, though it certainly be frustrating to keep track of all that, it's very often well worth it when you see what he finally comes up with. Stay tuned.
OK, after that, all I have today is a trio of videos, starting in honor of today's big release of the Drive-By Truckers' new album "The Big To-Do." It's the band's first album of all new material in a few years, and having listened to it streaming for the last week or so, I can tell you it's a grand rock record well worth a few bucks if you dig that kind of thing. The guys (and gal) are apparently releasing webisodes about the making of each track, which is more than a bit of overkill, but the first one at least, for the sensational Mike Cooley track "Birthday Boy," is very entertaining. Enjoy, and go buy the album too!
And finally today, two videos for David Simon's New Orleans series "Treme," which is finally coming to HBO (along with my money) on April 11. It stars "The Wire" vets Clarke Peters and Wendell Pierce, Melissa Leo of "Homicide" (and a lot of other things), and even somehow Steve Zahn and John Goodman too. It takes place three months after Katrina, and I think you'll agree that in at least these short glimpses, he and co-creater Eric Overmyer have really captured the city's rhythm. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.