Just in the race at 19 is David Fincher's English-language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
I saw Niels Arden Orplev's version of the international best seller and, to be perfectly frank, I wasn't terribly impressed. It seemed to me that it was just a standard detective story that isn't actually solved by the protagonists and one terrific character.
I therefore really believe that David Fincher, the man behind Zodiac, can make a better job of adapting this dense and murky thriller. Especially when working with writer Steven Zaillian who has solid form in the genre. Perhaps the biggest drawback is Lisbeth Salander, the lead female who's damaged history is integral to the plot as well as a number of the meandering plotlines that link the three novels. It probably doesn't matter how well Rooney Mara fits into the character for most of us Noomi Raplace is Lisbeth and it will be difficult to get that indelible performance out of our heads.
Monday, 10 January 2011
20 for 2011: 19 - The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Like a cat with a mouse (Film News - 29/08/10)
I didn't have a news section last week as I couldn't get to a computer, but that's probably a god thing as there hasn't exactly been much going on over the last few weeks. Mainly casting news on projects we've already talked to death here as well as the odd bit of unlikely rumours. Luckily we do have some good stories in the release date sections still to come with December becoming a lot more interesting... First up though is:
Toyer
Gadner McKay's novel is an interesting twist on the serial killer/gorno sub genre where the antagonist kidnaps girls in order to psychologically play with them but not murder or rape them, then once he has his fill releases them again. I can't quite see how - in the universe of the book - this isn't regarded as a major criminal act but apparently our hero is able to get away with it time and time again. If the set up sounds a little Hitchcockian then you won't be surprised to hear Brain De Palma is currently working on a big screen adaptation with the action transferred to the Carnevale di Venezia.
If anyone can make this sort of thing work I imagine it's De Palma (above, holding up a window) with his usual visual tricks and obsession with identity. It's not the first time Brian toyed (sorry) with the idea of adapting it but with nothing else on his plate I hope he finally gets a chance to go ahead with production.
Read on for OAPs, kidnap, terrorism, mass murder, spys, serial killers, the war on drugs and exhaustive gun battles. I'm thinking the OAPs may be out of place in this weeks post.
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Our first confirmed casting story is for Dame Judi Dench who has signed on to play one of the residents in the titular Indian retirement home. We're still waiting to hear which other major British stars of a certain age who will also be signing up.
Carjacked
It's been on the radar for a couple of years now, but Peter Medak's thriller set completely within the car of a mother and daughter who are kidnapped has picked up Maria Bello as the victim and Stephen Dorff as her captor. I suspect this will be more an exercise in style than a great movie - like Phone Booth - but I'll sill be there to see what intensity Bello can bring to the role. Example of carjacking to the left, in case you've spent your whole life in a cave.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Joining Sandra Bullock in Stephen Daldry's 9/11 picture will be Tom Hanks. I'm not sure what part he's going to play - the film revolves around a pre-teen whose father died in the terrorist attacks - but even a cameo role should do wonders for it's overall appeal. Expect it to win all the Oscars in 2012.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Following the announcement that Rooney Mara (Social Network, Nightmare on Elm Street) will be playing Lisbeth in the American remake comes the added rumour that Max von Sydow (looking a little confused on our right) will be the patriarch at the centre of the family who are haunted by the crime that forms the backbone of the plot. It's nice to see there will be some Swedish presence in the remake.
Salt 2
With Anjelina Jolie's spy vehicle passing $110m in it's US gross and with a deliberately ambiguous ending it comes as no surprise that everyone's signed on for a return including Jolie and director Philip Noyce. Whether there's enough plot to make it work remains to be seen but the first film was an enjoyable romp so I expect I'll be up for a sequel. 
Scream 4
Two more starlets, Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell, have been added to the cast of Wes Craven's return to the tongue in cheek franchise. Filming's been going on for some time so I wouldn't expect either actress to make it to the final credits intact.
Triple Frontier
A leaked memo from Paramount executives has announced a number of small and longer term projects currently under development, including within it notes about Kathryn Bigelow's next drug drama. Apparently she has been meeting with Will Smith, Javier Bardem, Christian Bale and Sean Penn which sounds like hell of a cast to me.
Untitled Gallipoli Project
Peter Jackson is remaining tight lipped about The Hobbit and Tintin sequels but he has been talking this week about his ambition to retell the Gallipoli story prior to the 100th anniversary in 2015. Unlike Peter Weir incredible 1981 film (DVD cover, right) Jackson intends to balance the politics and show the culpability from the ANZAC commanders as well as the incompetence of the British Generals in charge of the operation. It sounds controversial and with only 5 years to make it it's hard to think he can squeeze it in with both of the aforementioned blockbusters so one of them is likely to give...
Honorary Oscars
We've also learned this week that AMPAS will be bestowing honorary awards on to historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, director Jean-Luc Godard and actor Eli Wallach, as well as the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-director Francis Ford Coppola. Some very good choices there. I'll be watching The Good, the Bad and The Ugly to celebrate Eli's award later. How will you be celebrating?
Release Dates
New York I Love You - Falling back a week - just a week this time - is the follow up to the acclaimed Paris, Je t'aime. I'm not sure but I may have mentioned before how much I'm looking forward to this. Find your love story on 08 October 2010.
Miral - December is beginning to fill up with prestige fare including this look at the Palestinian/Israel issue from avant-garde director Julian Schnabel and it's sure to pose far more questions than it answers. Find out which side of the wall you're on on 03 December 2010.
The Way Back - Peter Weir's part escape-movie part travelogue follows a group of fugitives from the Steppes in Siberia to the Indian subcontinent including Ed Harris and Colin Farrell. Escape from a gulag on 24 December 2010.
How do you Know - James L. Brooks doesn't make many films, but when he does they're usually minor hits critically and commercially, we'll see what happens with this Reese Witherspoon starring rom-com. Decide who you really love on 28 January 2011.
Morning Glory - Harrison Ford gets to play grumpy and Diane Keaton flighty in this warring anchors picture, don't expect much but it could be diverting. Read between the headlines on 28 January 2011.
Black Swan - It's certainly one of the most anticipated movies of the awards season but so far even having seen the trailer we still don't know if Darren Aronofsky's ballet drama is about a nervous breakdown or a malicious spirit. Practise your pirouette on 11 February 2011.
Restless - Gus van Sants low key follow up to Milk has moved out of the busy January schedules to find solace later in the year, it's always going to a tough sell for his more introspective work though. Find your one true love on 11 March 2011.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Who'd have thought the first film to break into the schedules for 2012 would be a remake of a Swedish breakthrough, saying that with it's prominence on the best-seller lists and one of the most publicised casting processes since Scarlett O'Hara it's not a huge surprise the studios thinking ahead. Fight your inner demons on 06 January 2012.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Film News (01/05/2010)
Can you believe it's May already?
I can't - this years going awfully quickly. In this weeks news we've got two stories that relate to Brad Pitt, two that relate to Ron Howard and one that may relate to two films. But none of these are really enough to make me salivate in longing for these films. Saying that there are some new productions kicking off that I didn't pick up on - many of which may just be the ticket.
The Hatfields and The McCoys
First Brad rumour of the week is his potential return to the Western with this adaptation of the infamous family feuds in Kentucky/West Virginia following the close of the American Civil War. The feud, which lasted some 30 years, led to many deaths in both families and an unlikely romance in the younger generation and the whole story takes in desertion, corruption, boot-legging and pigs. If this sounds more like a TV soap, you're right, as it was first translated to the small screen in the mid 1970's. Although the feuding families concept has been a backdrop in many classic Westerns, including The Big Country.
Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) is set to direct with Robert Duvall confirmed in a supporting role.
The Hatfield's pose for thefamily protrait.
Read on for tattoo's, Aliens, cheating spouses and the beam...
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Sticking with Mr. Pitt he's also been linked this week with David Fincher's remake of the Swedish hit drama, along with Carey Mulligan. I'll be honest I have nothing against Carey's casting - alhough you would be forgiven for thinking she's just a little too well known - but Brad is just wrong for the rol of the middle-aged journo played by Michael Nyqvist in the original. The part is meant to be a pretty ordinary guy just investigating a murder, he's no-one that you'd take a second look at if you saw him in the street. With Brad playing this role you would be totally unsurprised that all of the women in the film are throwing themselves at him.
Alien Prequel
On the press junkets for Robin Hood Ridley Scott been letting out snippets about his next project - the prequel to the Alien movies. Surprising no-one he's told us that it'll be in 3D (yawn!) and that it will focus on the space jockey glimpsed in the first film. There may also be some references to the company, and how it knows about the Alien before the Nostromo picks it up. What is interesting is that Scott plans to make two prequels, although right now he's focussing on the first.
Cheaters
Formerly Your Cheating Heart, the Vince Vaughn/Ron Hward collaboration has just picked up Jennifer Connelly to play Vince Vaughns wife. With both of them obsessing over whether to tell Kevin James his wife is cheating. In the right hands this could be really funny (imagine classic Woody Allen) but somehow I've got the feeling this will just about be average.
The Dark Tower
There have been rumours for years that Stephen King's masterpiece will make to a screen foramt, although these rumours usually begin and end with a TV miniseries. It is, after all, a dense piece of work; lasting 7 novels and poking it's head into almost all of King's works that involve a supernatural presence. The latest story is the rights have been picked up by Brian Grazer with a view for a Ron Howard directed, Akiva Goldsmith penned big screen version of the first novel (The Gunslinger) and then a TV follow up to bring together the rest of the elements. This may be a good idea for marketing reasons. The Gunslinger is a significantly easier option to start with, largely avoiding the metaphysical detours the later novels enjoy, and if done well it will create a fanbase who will turn to the TV for the next installment.
Ron's also had some success with adapting King's The Green Mile (no mean feat based on the appalling films that have characterised his novels), and that too was originally a number of books strung together. We'll have to wait and see hos this pans out.
Production News
I've been trawling through imdb again looking for new films that have appeared in pre-production to see if I've got a vague interest in them. Many of these I've already mentioned in the news stories, but there's a few that have completely missed me.
The titles that have been covered include the Steven Soderbergh quickie, filmed in Australia whilst rehearsing for a play with Cate Blanchett. It's been called The Last Time I saw Michael Gregg and oddly is creditted as being in Japanese. Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn is up there wih it's new director Bill Condon. Sarah Polley's cheating drama Take this Waltz is back on tracks, as is the Abigail Breslin vehicle Dear Eleanor, which was thought to have disappeared, as was Sam Raimi's Warcraft. Footloose and The Girl with the Red Riding Hood were both mentioned in the last couple of news posts. Scream 4 looks like it's definitely coming - we've had some plot details leaked this week too. And finally casting has begun on the big screen version fo Jack Karouac's On the Road - it's a tricky property to adapt but it'll certainly be worth seeing.
But what else (sounding better as they go along):
Conduct Unbecoming - Not many details around, but I'm hoping it's a remake of the 1975 British Army in India film about an Officer who assaults the widow of a fallen colleague, and the resultant trial.
Little Red Wagon - David Anspaugh adds another project to his slate with this story of a young boy becoming an advocate for the homeless. Anyone know what's happened to Chris Brown vehicle Phenom or the basketball tragedy 4Chosen also on his list of things to do?
Games they Play - Sounding just a little like a more violent retread of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe this two hander follows a romantic(?) dinner between a wife who enjoys emotional torment and a husband who has decided murder is the best way to end it.
The Danish Girl - OK, so the Nicole Kidman starrer about the worlds first transgender operation, performed inside a loving stable heterosexual relationship, has been kicking about for a while. But it is pickingup steam so I thought I ought to mention it.
The Eye of the Storm - if you think there simply aren't enough films about the moral dilemmas in the right to die discussions then this Australian drama with Judy Davis, Geoffrey Rush and Charlotte Rampling is definitely going to be worth watching. Hit and miss director Fred Schepisi takes the helm.
Monday, 5 April 2010
Film News (05/04/10)
You would've thought that coming back after a few weeks off would mean there were literally hundreds of news stories to catch up on, however there have been surprisingly few. Perhaps it's just the wrong time of the year (post Oscars, pre summer) or perhaps the studios just aren't funding decent sounding films anymore? I know that right now there are only two films I want to see in each of the summer months, and with the current release dates set I'm currently looking at 34 films by the end of the year (down 8 on 2009). Still the following stories all caught my eye:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Stephen Daldry has a serious reputation to protect, after all he has three best director nominations from three films - a bit of a record. So when he choses a project you know it's going to be serious and hard hiting. And Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is certainly hard hitting, based on the 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer the film centres around a nine year old who lost his father in the September 11 attacks and has become obsessed with finding the lock that fits a key his father left him.
This could go either way but with Daldry's steady hand and Eric Roth providing the screenplay I'm fairly confident that it will flirt with pathos but won't drift into smaltz. 
Click on the jump for Swedish remakes, a Leonardo DiCaprio double bill, tragic surfers and a subtly named whodunnit... As well as all the release date changes from my six weeks on tour.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The first of the Millenium trilogy, the postumous works of Stieg Larsson, has barely opened in cinemas but with a huge following from the books it's no surprise that Hollywood is already working on an American remake. Set to direct the first will be David Fincher. This could be a perfect fit - the gothic sensibilities of the original and the macabre details could mark a return to the rain drenched streets of Se7en. Definitely one to keep your eyes on.
Hoover/Travis McGee
For you Leonardo DiCaprio fans out there it's always pleasing to see him trying new things - I personally believe he's one of the finest actors of his generation. Slowly he's proving himself as a box office draw even in more complex pictures (like last months Shutter Island) and that sort of pulling power will be absolutely necessary for the couple of projects I heard bandied about over the last few months. First up will be a straight biopics of J. Edgar Hoover, the man who created and ran the FBI. Incredibly powerful Hoover's long rumoured prediliction for cross dressing may mean this is a story just crying out to be told.
If the thrills you seek are a little more traditional then Leo's other film, Travis McGee, may be more up your street. It's essentially a knock off of the Bourne films which could mean a built in audience and sequel potential, as well as plenty of excuses to see cool fights and expensive hardware. 
Mavericks
Extreme sports don't lend themselves well to the medium of film. It's not like you have a team of different characters who can work together to beat all the obstacles in their way. Nevertheless a biopic of surfer Jay Moriaty is in the works. Moriaty was a world class surfer, breaking many reords and taking on any challenges, until his untimely death, aged just 23. I'm hoping this will buck the trend.
Murder Mystery
Can you imagine anyone having the balls to call a film Murder Mystery? It seems there are Disney producers who thinks that's a good idea. James Vanderbilt's script follows a Honeymooning American couple who stumble across a body and consequent intrigue in Europe. I'm going to be shouting my guesses right at the screen when that one comes out.
Release Date News
The Ghost - Shifting back a few weeks (presumably because I've already loaded up the trailer) is Roman Polanski's latest venture. Discover a conspiracy involving an ex Prime Minister on 16 April 2010.
Wild Target - It had been due to clash with Rupert Grint's other post-Potter film Cherrybomb about a teenager finding love so this hitman comedy did the decent thing and changed it's date. Learn to be a cold blooded killer on 18 June 2010.
Whatever Works - The last of my top 20 for 2009 (yes really) has finally got a UK release date, oddly Woody Allen's latest has taken nearly a year to cross the Atlantic. Get all angsty on on 25 June 2010.
Wall Street: Money Never SleepsThe Ghost - However advanced the publicity campaign for this 25 year later sequel it wasn't enough to stop it falling back 6 months to rumours of poor test screenings. Find out if greed is good on 24 September 2010.
Next Three Days - Russell Crowe's wife is banged up for a crime she did not commit, and rather than go through the courts he decides to break her out. It's not as simple as it first seems. Try a prison break on 07 January 2011.
True Grit - The Coen brother remake of John Wayne's classic Western will be coming out during the height of the Oscar season - strange as Bridges has just won his statuette so they could spend a few more weeks in post if they wanted. Avenge your fathers murder on 14 January 2011.
I have had my share of disappointments these last few weeks with New York, I Love You losing it's UK release - it's still tentatively looking at an August date but I'm waiting for confirmation. Oh, when will I get to see this movie?
