I have to ask because I spend all week with my nose to the ground, digesting press releases and sorting through the flotsam and jetsam of film news coverage all to discover there's naff all going on.
Sure I could mention the fascinating but far too young list of actors being considered for Steven Soderbergh's Man from U.N.C.L.E remake (don't get me wrong, I like Ryan Gosling and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as much as anyone but they're no Robert Vaughn). 
Or how about the latest star character actors queuing up to join Robert Redford's The Company you Keep, and I'm not complaining about getting a chance to see Stanley Tucci and Chris Cooper strut their stuff in a parable about politics and journalism, it just shouldn't be the biggest story I have, should it?
Indeed the only titbit that even vaguely caught my eye was Gus van Sant saying at Toronto that's he's still trying to adapt Tom Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid test for the big screen. This is the legendary drug-fuelled road trip Ken Kesey went on before writing One flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. That's great - and I do really want to see that at cinemas - but we've been talking about it since October 2008! Now I want more than talk.
Maybe I've just missed something. Maybe there's been loads of delightful news stories that have just passed me by. If you've read anything over the last 7 days that made you go "Hmmm.... That seems like a great idea for a movie." Please let me know in the comments. There must be something out there to raise some interest.
Saturday, 17 September 2011
What's the B****y point (Film News - 17/09/11)
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Catching up - Film news
I'm going to now squeeze into one post all the news I've picked up over the last 5 weeks that I feel is fit to print. Enjoy wading through for anything that you might like.
By the way I'm deliberately avoiding release schedule changes (Bye Bye The Soloist, Cheerio The Road, see you in 2009) and I'm trying not to dwell on castings in films I've already mentioned before (Helen Mirren in The Tempest - Yeah!!! - Helena Bonham Carter in Alice in Wonderland - really?).
Biutiful - Javier Bardem is set to join Alexandro Gonzales Inarritu's latest crime drama. Seems to be a modern update of Angels with Dirty Faces/Dead End only without the Bowery boys.
Book of Shadows - apparently a book chock fulls of spells and wicca and in need of closing to restore balance to the world. I'm not sure why Rob Reiner is the choice to direct this.
Coming after the jump - Brad Pitt's Bum and lots of drugs...
Only not straight away...
Buried - Todd Field's next project will concern a couple so desperate for money they bury a rich man alive and nick his dosh. Given that in Field's last 2 films (Little Children and In the Bedroom) he directed some great performances of desperation this could be worth seeing.
Steven Soderbergh - I manage to spell his name incorrectly in a different way every time I do it - has 2 new films on the go. The Girlfriend Experience about prostitution and [potentially] a Cleopatra musical starring Catherine Zeta-Jones. If that's not diversification then I don't know what is.
Dear John - I'd love this to be a cinematic rehash of the classic BBC comedy series about a depressive who's wife leaves him and then reenter's the singles circuit, but apparently it's about a soldier and a college student. Now starring Henry Thomas.
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Following their successful (looking at the internet buzz) collaboration on Milk Gus Van Sant and writer Dustin Lance Black are to team up again with this true life tale of Ken Kesey, a small van and lots of drugs. Competition to the Hunter Thompson biopic?
High and Low - English Language remake is usually a phase that turns me off, but with Mamet writing, Mike Nichols directing and the source coming from Kurosawa (who's films often translate well) I'm unusually expectent. And the tale of a executive choosing between buying out a company or paying the ransom for his driver's son (it's complicated) sounds like a great dilemma movie.
Matarese Circle - No, I don't understand the title. However it's written by the guy behind the Bourne trilogy, will star Denzel Washington and has Cronenburg at the helm. Could be brilliant, could be barmy, can't wait to find out.
Brad Pitt Double bill - Brad's always choosing interesting films, and hasn't appeared to seek box office championship status since Troy but he's about to return to swords and sandals with the Homer's follow up - The Odessey (since Achilles is dead he's taking the Odysseus role). Hopeful it will be another chance to see his naked torso mmm. He's also lining up Moneyball about computer modelling in baseball. Yes you heard that right. Brad playing a computer nerd - gotta love it.
Scorcese's next move - After tiring of Leo, Scorcese has lined up Robert De Niro to star in his next film about the killer of Jimmy Hoffa (influential corrupt union boss in the 50's). Given their shared history includes Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas this is a must see.
Sunny and 68 - Vince Vaughn is a better actor than he is given credit for. I'm not sure this family drama is the way for him to prove that though.
Thor - has been greenlit with a tentative 2010 release date. I like the idea of a comic book movie based on Norse mythology (even if I am unusually ignorant about the source material) so I'll keep my eye out for news on this.
