Last weeks situation is about as far from this week as you could imagine - previously we had a small number of releases with a very clear film of the week, now we're facing an onslaught of movies with nothing standing out but lots in contention for the coveted title. Part of the reason for that is half-term so with all the little kiddiewinks taking a break from studies it's no wonder the studios are pushing out a variety of animation and teen-friendly products. Anyone's guess who's going to lead the box office, but my choice is Mary and Max.
Africa United
Not exactly timely release for this football World cup inspired road movie, as four Rwandan teens must make their way across the continent in order to use their cup final tickets. Interesting view of the cultural impact of sport in a fascinating and diverse continent.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Alpha and Omega
Our first animated movie for the half term is the least inspired looking with two wolves separated from the pack and on the quest to return to their families. Dannis Hopper gives his last performance in a supporting role.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
The Arbor
Award-winning Bradford born playwright Andrea Dunbar had her first play produced at 19 but was dead from alcohol consumption within 10 years having written some of the most provocative plays about Thatcherite Britain. This part-documentary/part-verbatim theatre looks at the experiences of her mixed race daughter.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Carlos
It'sthe shortened version (only 2.5 hours) of Olivier Assayas' mini-series about the infamous Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Whilst I hear incredible things about the quality of the work, I suspect a more fulfilling experience would be to rent the full works and watch the whole 6 hours.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Easy A
Emma Stone shines as a high school teen who allows the rumours of her promiscuity to reign in order to protect a friend - rather then shy away from the accusations she embraces the limelight. Could be this years Mean Girls. Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson and Thomas Haden Church bolster the adult talent.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Legend of the Guradians
Anthropomorthism has been a staple of animation and fantasy storytelling for gnerations. So here is the natural amalgamation with a Lord of the Ring type fable as played out by owls. Classy Anglo-Australian cast led by Hugo Weaving, Helen Mirren and Geoffrey Rush.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Mary and Max
Less bombastic animation can be found in this stop-motion picture tracing the relationship between a shy Aussie teenager and her Asperger's suffering penpal in New York. Absolutely unique visual storytelling. Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman are the writing leads.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Paranormal Activity 2
The first Paranormal Activity was a smash-hit sleeper, taking an original idea, a small budget and clever clever sound design to create a scary phenomenon. This is the highly unnecessary sequel. Watch it if you dare.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Ramona and Beezus
Apparantly massively popular as young teen fiction characters with a heavy duty range of books, nevertheless the trailer looks remarkably full of bathos and utterly missable.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Red
This action comedy looks like great value as retired (and extremely dangerous) CIA agents Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman must find out who trying to assasinate them. Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfuss are also on hand in one of the oldest cast lists of all time.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Stoning of Soraya M
Shoreh Aghdashloo stars as a woman fighting against gender intolerance in Iran, especially the barbaric punishment met out on a the titular character after having been accused of adultery.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Friday, 22 October 2010
Penpals Forever (Out this week - 22/10/10)
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Film News (05/06/10)
There's been a (middle) earth shattering piece of news this week which has certainly dominated the headlines of the websites I usually catch up my gossip from, so I'll be starting with that and what it may mean, but after the jump you'll see it wasn't the only thing that happened. Although I'll confess none of the other film stories have been quite as interesting.
The Hobbit
Guillermo Del Toro, the visionary director of Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, has stood down from the Lord of the Rings prequel. In a statement posted on the fansite The One Ring Guillermo starts with "In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life. After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures."
Naturally I feel for the choice that Guillermo has had to make, but I fully respect his decision and his artistic and personal integrity remains intact. Obviously it seems that the continued delays and financial problems within MGM will have long reaching consequences. First Bond falls and now the planned 2012 film will almost certainly see protracted delays. The question now is who will step up to direct, with so much work already have been done which director will be able to handle such a massive enterprise yet still be able to put their own stamp on the property. The obvious choice, writer and producer Peter Jackson, has stated he would direct the film if no-one else will but he also has a contracted Tintin movie in his schedule and I'm not sure that "alright, I'll do it" attitude is what's needed for the project.
This is a hobbit hole, an already envisioned by Peter Jackson and WETA, note whoever takes on the project most of the designs will already be done.
It's not, by the way, a story that I necessarily believe needs telling (and it certainly doesn't need to be split over 2 movies) but I won't deny I will be queueing up for tickets if it ever makes it to cinemas whoever has been behind the camera.
Read on for Brits on holiday, buddy comedy re runs, a virginal couple learning what it all means, a hip hop biopic, the latest productions to get underway according to IMDb and we say goodbye to a very special counter-culture icon.
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Can you imagine a film that brings together British acting icons like Peter O'Toole, Judi Dench, Julie Christie and Tom Wilkinson then throws them all together in a Nursing home on the other side of the World? That's the premise of Fox Searchlight latest development, based on the novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach. When an entrepreneurial Bangalore resident, set to be played by Dev Patel, opens a hotel for elderly Brits to spend their last years in - sounds a touch like Empire nostalgia but I'll let that pass - he gets more than he bargained for. Expect the residents and staff alike to make friends, overcome prejudices and learn valuable lessons about life and death.
Midnight Run 2
In the loose genre of mismatched buddy comedies one of the highlights is 1988's comic gem Midnight Run. A sequel has been on the cards for some time, but this week we came the closest we have done so far to hearing Charles Grodin, the originals mob accountant on the run, will be joining Robert De Niro in it. I hope so. I'm not sure the concept would work without both of the main parties, and it needs to work to get the foul taste of the last Bounty Hunter comedy out of our mouths..
On Chesil Beach
With the critical and commercial film success of Ian McEwen's novels Enduring Love and Atonement it's a wonder Hollywood hasn't jumped all over his back catalogue. Maybe it starts here with Sam Mendes announcing his intention to film On Chesil Beach, McEwen's novel (left) about a pair of repressed virgins trying and failing to make love for the first time in 1960's Britain. I'm not sure where the novel goes with that, Amazon warns of doubts and recriminations, but it will certainly be an interesting counterpoint to Mendes' Revolutionary Road.
Tupac
Did you think that 2009's Notorious, the biopic of East Coast rapper Notorious B.I.G, came short on the feud between rival labels that left him and Tupac Shakur both dead? Well prepare to be disappointed again as Tupac's side of the relationship in under covered in his biopic. I could be wrong but I imagine that whilst this may be the most intriguing part of their careers the writes and producers will feel it's mud that's best not scrapped.
Dennis Hopper
This week we learnt of the unsurprising but still shocking passing of one of cinema's most prolific and out-spoken talents. As an actor he was forthright and showy stealing scenes from much bigger stars and he was an amazingly accomplished photographer and painter, but it's as a director that I will remember him most. In 1969, with the release of the seminal Easy Rider, he brought the counter culture into the mainstream acknowledging it's upcoming failures and single-handedly changed the American Indie Movie making scene forever. Without Hopper paving the way we would not have the variety and accessibility of cinema we have today and for that we truly salute his achievements.
Dennis Hopper, 1936-2010
Production News
I've been peeking on IMDb again, trying to see what new pictures have stepped up a gear in production. I have to say it is a bit of a losing battle as for every new film I want to see we do lose a couple, maybe they're cancelled or postponed or drift straight to DVD, but I dare say some of these movies listed below will make it to a cinema near you.
This month has seen production start on a large number of projects I've already highlighted in the news section. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, with it's continuous stream of casting rumours (Daniel Craig being the latest); Jane Fonda's latest comeback movie Peace, Love and Understanding; Lone Schefig's One Day; fish out of water satire Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; biopics of Marilyn Monroe (Blonde) and Sam Childers (Machine Gun Preacher); portmanteau movie Shanghai, I Love You; two polar opposite sci-fi properties Paani, about a future with no water, and Keanu Reeves getting lonely in space for Passengers; and Pedro Almodovar's horror film The Skin I Live In.
As usual though there are a few films that have sneaked into production with me knowing absolutely nothing about them. It's rare that I would consider these ones to be good - after all there's probably a reason the studios aren't advertising - but there's certainly a lot of fun trying to work out how bad they're going to be.
Toad Trip - live action fairytales are suddenly popular with Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood and Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Killer leading the way so it seems plausible that a Frog Prince would be greenlit. Although you'd have thought this would be too close to the same ground that was covered in Disney's The Princess and the Frog, and that punny title really has to go.
El Lector - indie director Victor Nunez cranks out a film every few years that's warmly received, his most famous being 1997's Ulee's Gold which earned Peter Fonda a Best Actor Academy Award nomination. His last was Spoken Word, starring Kuno Becker as a street poet, which disappeared without trace following it's debut at the Toronto film Festival. Nevertheless I'm still keen to see his latest work, the title of which translates to The Reader, and may relate to monastic orders.
No Man's Land - it's probably a bit harsh putting Sam Raimi's most recent picture in this section, but I really can't remember seeing any details about it before. It looks like it might be a remake of countless movies about people in a waiting room between death and the next life. As a concept it could be as intellectually challenging as Sartre's No Exit or as pulpy as a Hammer horror - with Raimi I'm hoping for the former and expecting the latter. 
I doubt this picture, which comes up when you search for God's waiting room on Google, is relevant, but I do like it with thanks to the source.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Dennis Hopper
Happy Birthday to
Dennis Hopper
73 today
In 1969 Hopper made afilm that no-one thought would suceed with a few mates and loads of drugs in Middle America. Not only was Easy Rider a massive success but it also created American Independent Cinema. Shame he's coasted for most of the next 40 years.
Monday, 21 July 2008
Giant
1956. Dir: George Stevens. Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker and Jane Withers. ●●○○○
Giant is the sort of sprawling epic that they just don't make any more. Only they do make them like this, except they make it cheaper with less well known stars and put it on television 3 times a week. That's right; if it looks like soap, sounds like soap and feels like soap it must be soap.
The action opens in Dr. Lynnton's northern estate where Jordan Benedict (Hudson) is buying a horse. The horse is a favourite of Lynnton's daughter Leslie (Taylor) and it soon becomes clear that Benedict won't be returning to Texas alone. Once the action shifts to the Raela ranch we are introduced to Bendict's sister Luz (Mercedes McCambridge) and employee Jett Rink (Dean).
Characters come, go and die, inherit, get rich, have children (who grow up marry and have their own children), and pretty soon 3 hours of your life have gone.
The film isn't short of good ingredients, though.
It's themes of gender and racial equality are important to make but Dennis Hopper's leaden speeches aren't enough and the promise of Taylor leading female emancipation in the partriachical Texas society is never exploited. Liz Taylor is luminous (even if her wardrobe is unflattering). McCambridge gives a pitch perfect performance, although this too is wasted because every tiem she speaks the camera cuts to an extreme close up or she appears somewhere way off centre.
The best elements of the film come and go quickly - James Dean striking oil (bizarrely cut with a party at Reala), McCambridge riding the new stallion in silhouette, the interior of Reala until the Benedict's start striking oil.
The bad points are much more prevalent: In the later stages of the film Dean and Hudson stop acting and let their make-up do all the work as their characters age and the script lurches from one melodramtic speech to another. Generally the entire production seems ham fisted and amateurish.
Bizarrely this film was nominated for 10 oscars, winning one for George Stevens' direction, and is regularly voted as one of the best films of all time. I can only hope they have been wacthing another film.
