More Bad Bankers (Film News - 10/07/09)

I was initially worried that it was going to be another very quiet week, the Independence Day holiday limited press office action and the rumour mill. Even on Tuesday there wasn't much happening, but as the weeks gone on we've had a plethora of stories, most of which are at the very early stages but there's enough to get into a mild conversation about them.

Wolf of Wall Street

Leonardo DiCaprio has been linked to the big screen adaptation of Jordan Belfort's "Wolf of Wall Street", for a long time it was likely to one of his collaborations with Martin Scorsese. Now Martin is preoccupied with Hugo Cabret Leo's gone to some of his other former employers to get it underway, including the notoriously busy Ridley Scott. Belfort's memoir is a cathartic expose of his former life as a broker, exposing both the immense wealth he obtained and the close to the line and often downright illegal activities he had to do to maintain it.

What I find most interesting about this story is how little Hollywood has tried to denigrate the financial system which kick-started the last recession. There was a banking conspiracy in The International and lefty Oliver Stone has resurrected the icon of greed Gordon Gekko, but other than that the studios have left well alone.

To me this is as much an indication of how the modern production system has failed as any other. In the 70's satire ruled the box office, the production companies were proud to highlight their views on politics, war and modern culture. Now mainstream movies are so anodyne there is little attempt to reflect the reality of modern life back at the audiences, even the banks and broker houses who everyone agrees are the badguys in this global slowdown have go away without censure.

Perhaps the idea of biting the hands that feed them is too scary to most of the studios, especially in these times of financial woe where reduced funding could well cause even major companies to go the wall - see MGM or the leaked Warner Bros. papers that indicate Harry Potter is losing money! I will certainly be supporting this movie, though. It is time for political cinema to return to the mainstream.


In case anyone's forgotten Leo has other pictures out about now, including the hotly anticipated Inception (above).

Read on for priests, pianists, unlikely sequels, youtube, more fairy tales and the latest news about a major broadway to screen adaptation.


Brother Jack

Machine Gun preacher may still be twos years away but it's already started a trend for religious tinged biopics. The next project is former priest and human rights activist Jack Healey who literally spent time on the streets in order to highlight America's homelessness problems.

Last Airbender sequels

M. Night Shyamalan probably doesn't know what to think right now. On one hand the reviews for his manga-like adaptation (left) have been poisonous beyond expectations but on the other the films taken over $80m so far in the States and will probably easily pass $100m that's more than The Prince of Persia or The A-Team. He's probably very confused about whether to push forward with the idea of a sequel, or even to continue with the planned trilogy. What do you think?

Untitled Liberace Project

Matt Damon thinks Steven Soderbergh's much delayed Liberace biopic, focusing on his outing by the Daily Mail, is still set to be filmed next year. It wouldn't surprise me if he's telling the truth, Soderbergh just can't sit still for ten minutes without starting on a new film and we're probably all desperate to see Michael Douglas in one of the late singers more OTT outfits.

Life in a Day

I don't normally do documentaries in cinema - not that i don't like feature length docs I just would rather watch on DVD in the comfort of my own home - and therefore very rarely feature them here on rlag but the youtube movie has me intrigued. Ridley Scott and Kevin MacDonald have issued an invitation to the world to film their activities on July 24th, submit them to youtube and for consideration to a collection of DIY videos to be released commercially. This could be absolutely fascinating, or it could be just a bunch of cats playing piano and brides fainting at the alter.

Little Mermaid

Hans Christian Anderson was a uniquely gifted storyteller able to fuse incredible truths about societal inequality and heartache to the medium of children's fairytales, well aware it's the story that engages the child but the feeling that makes them remember it. One of his most renowned fables, The Little Mermaid, is currently being prepped for a big screen live action production. Putting aside the practicalities of such a move I imagine that this will such a different experience to the popular Disney version (left) that the two pictures can happily co-exist.

Red Riding Hood

Speaking of fairy tales Virginia Madsen has joined the cast of the little red riding hood adaptation. It's odd but I'm actually beginning to think I may go and see this.

Wicked

The Wizard of Oz prequel has to be the most anticipated musical adaptation for the last 15 years, and the deep expectations of millions of fans will need to been taken into account so the process will be a long and detailed one. This week it was announced the writers have begun to interview directors including J J Abrams (Star Trek, !!!???), James Mangold (Walk the Line), Ryan Murphy ("Glee") and Rob Marshall (Chicago). Which is certainly an eclectic bunch. I an see benefits of any of these choices, but who would you choose?


This has become an iconic logo, how will the impending film poster go one better, or will it even bother trying?