Lies, damned lies (and Film News - 03/07/10)

OK, I'll admit it. There are two big fat elephants in the room. I want them to go away, you want them to go away, they're making it difficult to concentrate on the mushroom vol-au-vents of this weeks news and they don't go with furnishings at all. So if talking about the elephants can remove the elephants here goes. I am not interested in seeing Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher, espeically not if it wil be directed by Phyllida Mamma Mia Lloyd. Mark Ruffalo has said he's working on a film adaptation of The Normal Heart - I've pretty much given up on my chances to appear in a local staged version of it (not that I've had a no yet) and it's still a little raw. Have they gone now? OK, lets move onto the rest of the news.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

If you have any knowledge of the British involvement in Iraq you will know a Walter Mitty is a pejorative term for middle ranking intelligence officers who admit we went to war on a lie. That said the original 1947 film (below) starring Danny Kaye and directed by Norman Z. McLeod was a curious romp about a serial fantasist, continuously creating wild alternative lives to remove him from his dull day-job and overbearing mother until a real life adventure (involving crown jewels and shady European criminals) drags him out of his depth. There have been several attempts over the years to resurrect the character, with actors like Jim Carrey, Luke Wilson and Mike Myers all circling the role at one point. The latest star to have an interest is Sacha Baron Cohen, and he might just be able to make the remake a reality. Personally whilst I was underwhelmed by Borat I think he might just be perfect for the role, and will be able to bring both the cocksure attitude and the parcical action together.


Read on for spooky families, magical automatons, sequelitis, international terrorists and the production that's hacking itself to death, as well as the latest production updates from IMDb.



The Addams Family

Fans of the original Charles Addams cartoons (Right) depicting a gothic ghoulish family in an unspecified US location can rejoice as the stop-motion adaptation might not be a complete fabrication. Producer Christopher Meledandri has confirmed he is working on the project, with the aim of asking Tim Burton, or one of his close pals, to direct.

Hugo Cabret

Scorsese's Shutter Island follow-up started filming this week with an extensive list of thespian talent annouced to support Chloe Moretz, Ben Kingsley and Sacha Baron Chen (him again). Including the venerable Christopher Lee, Ray Winston and Jude Law. I'm not sure how they'll all fit into the Children's novel or who will play Melies, but as soon as I know more you'll be the first I share it with.

Mad Max: Furiosa

File this under rumours that make me mad. News from down under indicates that George Miller is prepping a second return to the Mad Max (original on the left, there will be no Mel this time round) universe to be filmed at the same time as Fury Road and to be released soon after. My advice: don't do it. Make one story, concentrate on that. If it does well then you can make a sequel. Thank you.

Nagasaki Deadline

As we anxiously await Spike Lee's feature follow-up to the disappointing Miracle at St. Anna (not that I'd know, it was never released here) we have been given a steady drip drip of potential projects. The latest is a terrorist themed thriller, in the vein of 24 with a FBI agent attempting to prevent two independent attacks on US soil. Lee has shown a shrewd hand in regards to action, with The Inside Man so this could be one to watch.

Scream 4

If you have been waiting 11 years for the fourth installment of the Scream franchise then please be wary that it might be dreadful. The production seems to be going hostface on itself with cast being replaced on a daily basis and even scriptwrite Kevin Williamson now shunned. On the plus side Mary McDonnell (Donnie Darko, Dances with Wolves, Battlestar Galactica) has joined the cast list. P.S. the killer is revealed if you star at the picture on the right until your brain fries.

By the way if you have been waiting for 11 years you should pop over to read Glenn Dunks at Stale Popcorn. He's reviewing the first three movies scene by scene. It's an utterly barmy endeavour, but great fun and worth dropping by for his witty and insightful work.

Production News

Once a month I scour IMDb, looking to see which films mentioned here have gone into production (only about 40% do, you know) and seeing if any other projects catch my eye. The ones covered include Steven Spielberg's War Horse, musical prodigy drama Song of Names, Cage and Kidman together at last in Trespass, the Tupac Shakur biopic, the second part of The Twilight Saga: Breaking (records) Dawn and The Chaperone, from the makers of WWF. As ever some other films came up which I had no idea about:

La Ligne Droite

French director Regis Wergnier, bst known for the Catherine Deneuve starring Indochine, has conceived, written and is now directing this under the radar number. My French is a little rusty, but I tink it means the straight line, which is suitably crytic.

Forrest of Mirrors

CIA conspiracy thriller about the cold war and US involvement in Latin America. Could be diverting, could be trash.

Janis Joplin

The most intriguing is this biopic about Rock and Blues singer Janis Joplin which has appeared under Fernando Meirelles (I was looking to see if 360 was in development). Janis tragically short life and astounding musical influence has been touted for a film for some time, but I can't remember seeing a story that attached it to Meirelles, in fact I've not seen anthing sine there were three projects all in development with Zooey Deschanel, Renee Zelleweger and Pink as propective Joplins back in 2006. I don't know if this is the real thing, but let's hope it is, Joplin's story is immensely cinematic.

Oh, and I must tell you this month we've reached the point when I can safely say I can do a 20 for 2011 (my annual countdown on my most anticipated films) as there are 20 films filming or in post set for next year that I want to see now. Admittedly for the time being they include Scream 4 but we're still six months away so plenty more can kick off. There is one film I mentioned today that's a shoe-in though. Like to hazard a guess which one?