I'm a fan of Incontention.com and very much enjoy the work of Kris Tapley, however ysterday he published his most anticipated films for 2009 and Tarantino's war epic is down as his least anticipated film. In the comments Kris justifies this by saying "that script is a piece of shit", however it is still bizarrely less anticipated than Emmerich's 2012 and, if you assume every film not on the list is more anticipated than Basterds, Road Trip 2 comes higher on Kris' things to do in 2009.
I will confess that I've not actually read the script. Partly due to not wanting to spoil my enjoyment of the finished film and also even with my limited experience of short films I'm only too aware of the chasm that exists between a script and a final product. But I do include amongst those I am looking forward to for a couple of reasons.
Primarily because every Tarantino film is worth seeing. You might not like them, you might think they're poorly made and overly self-referential, but you cannot deny that Quentin is a major influential force in American cinema.
This may be a controversial opinion, but I'd also like to see a War film where it's not all doom and gloom. Yes War is hell, but war films need not be. I believe it's time for a film that harks back to the manly adventures of The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagels Dare.
Of course I am taking Kris' concern on board as there are still 18 films coming higher on my own anticipated list. The way the script has been leaked and ripped apart on the net may work for or against the film, but the casting certainly seems way off the mark. Mike Myers, Eli Roth, Rod Taylor as Churchill - thank goodness for the German cast who seem to be a much better selection. And I cannot possibly object to any casting of Brad.
He also has assembled a great crew headed by Robert Richardson (Platoon, Kill Bill, Casino) as the DP and Sally Menke, his regular editor, returns.
This could be a disaster - but whatever it is it is a must see for 2009.
Friday, 2 January 2009
20 for 2009 - Inglourious Basterds
Out this Week (02/01/2009)
A quiet week for releases, although that's not unusual for this time of year. Couple that are fighting for my recommendation, but in the end I'd go for Che (Part 1) as the film to see this week. Hopefully I'll get to go tomorrow, in which case a review on Sunday won't be out of the question.
Che: Part one
Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro join together for the first part of their Che Guevera biopic. This, the more upbeat of the two films, follows Che as he leads the Cuban exiles against Batista's regime.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○
The Reader
Kate Winslet gets her Oscar (possibly) for playing a sexually predatory, murderous nazi. Although the film mainatins a detached pov throughout.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
Sisterhood of the Travelling pants 2
The girls are back, swapping their magical jeans and getting into life affirming scrapes. Reviews make this sound not half as bad as it should be.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
The Spirit
Frank Miller proves Sin City was not a fluke and that he can only direct films in that style - albeit with more famous scantily clad women and a great deal more toilet humour. Avoid.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
By the way I never showed the trailer for The Reader, so here you go:
Cuba Gooding Jnr
Happy Birthday to
Cuba Gooding Jnr.
41 today
Cuba is a textbook case of how critial success can spoil you. Back in th day he was an electric force in films like Boyz in the Hood, and a welcome character actor in A Few Good Men. Then Oscar called for his performance as Rod Tidwell and since then it's been all downhill. Maybe we all thought his work in American Gangster in 2007 may be the start of a rehabilitation. Alas no, in the next 12 moths he has a knock-off Resident Evil and a film where he plays second string to Christian Slater. Could he possibly slip any lower?
Thursday, 1 January 2009
20 Films for 2009 - Lovely Bones
As promised here is the first of the 2 films I'm most looking forward to in 2009But before I start let me just be clear about the rules in my selection process.
1. I adjust the film year for the American readership (that makes this sound a lot more official than it is but there you go). So Revolutionary Road is out, even though I will certainly see it.
2. I only include films I think have a reasonable chance of opening in the UK. So no New York, I Love You; although if that does get a UK release it's jumping up to number 2 on this list.
3. On IMDB the filming must have started, and it must be recorded as a 2009 film. It's arbitrary I know, and I'm sure Eastwood will finish The Human Factor in time, nevertheless it's out of this list for now.
Anyhoo the first film, or the twentieth depending on your point of view is Peter Jackson's adaptation of the superb novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Here's a photo of director and some of the cast huging each other on set for no particular reason:
The book concerns (and this isn't a spoiler as it's on the first page) the murder of a teenage girl and how the family and friends cope with their tragedy. I'm not ashamed to admit that whilst reading the book I cried during nearly every chapter, the story packs an enormous emotional wallop and it's hard not to feel an intense connection with the characters. Especially with Susie Salmo, the heroine, looking back on her family from heaven.
I'm certainly keen to see what can be made from this beautiful novel, however I have my doubts about Peter Jackson being the man to do it. Yeah, LOTR was fine but I can't be the only person who thought King Kong was a touch self-indulgent. The cast also fills me with dread - Marky Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz are both extremely atractive but limited performers and if Marky tries to act like he did in 2008's The Happening we could all be in trouble.
Finally I'm worried about Heaven. What I liked about the novel was hat Heaven didn't appear to be overly supernatural. There have been delays in the filming due to the design template of this, so clearly they are not going for a naturalistic tone, if this detracts from how heaven works in Sebold's novel I will be greatly disappointed.
Please feel free to comment about whether you're looking forward to The Lovely Bones, should it be higher on the list or should I forget about it completely?
Valentina Cortese
Unless you're a resonable cinephile I doubt you'll have heard of Valentina (by all means disagree in the comments) but I couldn't let today pass without a celebration of her birthday. If only because of her superb scene in Day for Night where she's reading the lines off the furniture. Pure comic gold.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Oh yes, the blog
I have some excuses...
The tour was heavy - that's the Of Mice and Men tour fantastic reviews by the way.
Straight after it finished I went to Bahrain to see my neice. Ahhh.
Then my boyfriend left me. Not so Ahh.
I went home to the folks for Christmas and now I'm unemployed and looking for a new home.
So the blog was put on hold a little. It will all pick up agian tomorrow. We'll have a star birthday, an update on my acting gigs coming up (2 whole plays) and I'll even start a countdown of the 20 films I'm most looking forward to in 2009.
For the moment here is a photo of the cast of Of Mice and Men. This was early on in the tour so we all still look awake:
In case you're wondering I'm the guy on the left with the broken nose and receeding hair - gotta love being a character actor....
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Friday, 31 October 2008
Lee Grant
Happy Birthday to
Lee Grant
81 today
A superb actress with a fascinating back catalogue, it's a pleasure to celebrate your 81st here.
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.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Catching up - Birthdays
Here are the birthdays I have missed:
Name Age Birthday Coming Soon (if I have an interest in seeing it)
Bill Murray 58 21 September
Mickey Rooney 88 23 September
Will Smith 40 25 September Seven Pounds
Gwynneth Paltrow 36 27 September
Mira Sorino 41 28 September
Marion Cotillard 33 30 September Public Enemies, Nine
Julie Andrews 73 01 October
Clive Owen 44 03 October Duplicity, Boys are Back in Town
Susan Sarandon 62 04 October Lovely Bones
Kate Winslet 33 05 October Revolutionary Road, Reader
Mary Badham 56 07 October
Sigourney Weaver 59 08 October Avatar
Melinda Dillon 69 13 October
Angela Lansbury 83 16 October
John Lithgow 63 19 October
Viggo Mortensen 50 20 October Appaloosa, The Road
Joan Fontaine 91 22 October
Kevin Kline 61 24 October
Bob Hoskins 66 26 October Christmas Carol
Peter Firth 55 27 October
Jane Alexander 69 28 October
Richard Dreyfuss 61 29 October W.
And a picture for Richard as it's his birthday today:
Cathcing Up Part 1
It's hard to believe it's been 40 days since I last posted but I honestly have a reasonable excuse - work.
Yes I have been doing some acting stuff - a TIE tour of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men to be precise. I'll let you guess who I'm playing...
It's been exhausting; we've been performing in 2 schools a day for the last 4 weeks. It's currently half term but next week we return for another 6 weeks until the end of the year.
Over the last weeks I have allowed a couple of things to slip either from choice or because of circumstances. I didn't get into the London Marathon on the ballot, although I'm waiting on a response from my first choice charity. As a consequence the running suffered a little - I've been going out but only once or twice a week, and I missed the Birmingham Half (Although only because my car wouldn't start).
I've been to the cinema only once, Burn after reading, review's on the way.
Oh, and my sister's had a beautiful baby girl.
Over the next couple of days I'll blitz through the film news and write down anything else that comes to mind.
Cheers
