Ah, the quick to judge are already in full force. The talk of the Telluride Film Festival right now is that the 20-minutes of footage shown from David Fincher's highly-anticipated "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," is decidedly underwhelming. Or at least that's how some are feeling. Keep in mind it wasn't a straight twenty minutes from the film, but rather various scenes and footage stitched together. At best reactions seem mixed.
SlashFilm and FirstShowing, two early blog supporters of the film, were slightly disappointed and unimpressed respectively (FS' Alex Billington declared it a "masterpiece" after only seeing the trailer a few months ago). Both sites seemed to find the out-of-context footage confusing. Slash wrote:"The footage I screened tonight was met with disappointment and concern. There are moments of magic and wonder, but interrupted and surrounded by moments which had me questioning, “Is this really the best footage he has?”
"The result was quite unimpressive, but I'm left wondering whether it was the editor to blame for this 20 minute cut or whether the film really has problems," wrote FirstShowing.
Hollywood Elsewhere wasn't there, but two friends called him immediately after to echo the same disappointed sentiments. While visually stunning as you might expect, the footage didn't apparently feel, "particularly exciting or engrossing."
Not every one's seeing it this way. Variety's Anne Thompson didn't have one negative word to say about the clips that were screened and conversely saw the 'Button' footage in a much more positive light, calling the scenes, "artfully edited fragments," and lauded its sumptuous looks."The movie is gorgeously mounted in minute period detail, complete with swooping crane shots and intricate camera moves; Button has a burnished sepia polish."
The Variety scribes notes that five minutes have been trimmed from its alleged three-hour length, that the film sits now at just over two and a half hours and the picture is about to be locked soon (which will mean no more tinkering, unless this bad Telluride buzz pushes that schedule back). Apparently its $150 million cost has been an issue and somewhat of a sticking point with Paramount.
Karina at Spoutblog was more glowing then anyone, calling the footage "impressive," and "absolutely gorgeous." She actually makes it sounds pretty enticing."Though the reel gives every hint that 'Button' is a proper epic tearjerker about love and pain and time... it’s also infused with the dry, quippy sense of humor that cuts through the darkest swatches of Fincher’s filmography."
She also delivers an incredibly detailed description of each scene shown. It's quite impressive actually. In a response piece to all the heat, she seems to think the fanboys may just want another "Fight Club," and the departed tone of 'Button,' might not be something they're looking for and the thought did cross our minds too. A lot of people like David Fincher, this film seems to be miles away from darker, trangressive tone that seems to appeal to younger, male audiences.
Ultimately, we urge everyone not to flip out too much about any of it considering it's only 20 various minutes of non-contextual footage from a two-and-half hour-film. Take it all with a grain of salt and don't sound the alarms yet is all we have to say.
8/30/2008
David Fincher's 'Benjamin Button' Underwhelms At Telluride?
8/29/2008
Wait, No Christoph Waltz Is Main 'Bastards' Antagonist; Kruger Officially Onboard
Man, that was quick. Variety saw what was going on with Quentin Tarantino's new film, made some calls and sussed it out quick, like only the trades can really do. We spoke too soon. Daniel Brühl will not play the role of the main antagonist, Col. Hans Landa in "Inglorious Bastards" (yay, Brühl for Zoller! Brühl for Zoller!).
According to the trade paper, Teutonic actor Christoph Waltz, primarily known for his work on German television, has bagged the role of the merciless and conniving Nazi commander.This makes much more sense. Waltz is older and seemingly better suited than the younger Brühl. Variety says nothing about the "Goodbye Lenin" star, but for his sake, we hope he still has a role in the film, because he's been talking up a storm to the German press (we're pretty sure he'll play Fredrick Zoller, the handsome German celebrity soldier, and it'll be the most ace casting move of the movie so far aside from Brad Pitt if it does happens).
But looks like we were right about Diane Kruger, who has been tapped to play the role of the German actress/ undercover British spy, Bridget Von Hammersmark. And that means poor Nastassja Kinski is out of the frame (which is a bit of a shame).
Lastly, 27-year-old American actor Paul Rust has been cast in the film, presumably as one of the lesser Bastard soldiers as we've never even heard of this kid (the writer, musician and L.A. comedian had a small role in "Semi-Pro," and has written for Human Giant and Adult Swim). This kid just went from being a nobody to being on everybody's radar, right friggin' now. Quentin works in strange ways, maybe he saw him in a comedy club and said, "that's the guy!" Either way, today is probably the happiest day of his life.
Production is supposed to begin shooting October 13 in Germany.
Update: Daniel Brühl Is NOT The Main Villain In 'Inglorious Bastards' Plus Diane Kruger Joins The Cast? Nastassja Kinksi Out?
Update: the story has been proven wrong by Variety, but Brühl may still yet have a role in the film, see below for more info on that character.
Ah, we were just about to leave for the weekend. It appears that German actor Daniel Brühl has not only been officially cast in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Bastards," it looks like he just might be playing the main villain Colonel Hans Landa. Wait, him? He's too handsome and young to be playing someone so nefarious and Machiavellian, no?
Brühl, who gained attention for his roles in "Goodbye Lenin" and "The Edukators," told a local German paper the Berliner Kurier (via the Tarantino Archives) that he nabbed the role.
The story is hard to translate, but it reads like he out bested Leo DiCaprio (who was never really in contention), Gedeon Burkhard and Til Schweiger (another German actor who was in talks with Quentin) for the role of Landa, the "Jew hunter" and ruthless SS German Nazi Colonel (the paper says the "ice-cold SS-officer" but that's likely him). Apparently he's also "scared stiff" about the daunting role, but said working with Tarantino is a like "childhood dream."
We still would have pegged him for the role of the handsome young, German soldier Fredrick Zoller, personally, but the international casting of this film is much more exciting than the American names that have come up frankly, so we'll take it and shut up.
Meanwhile at the Venice Film festival German actress Diane Kruger ("The Hunting Party," "National Treasure: Book of Secrets") said she's been asked to appear in the film too. “I just received a call from Quentin Tarantino, asking me to be in his next movie,” Kruger told the press at the Lido. “I don’t want to give too much away, but I’ll play a German movie star.”
That can only be one character in the script, Bridget Von Hammersmark, the German actress/ undercover British spy. If Quentin is calling Kruger for the role, this also must mean that Nastassja Kinski is out of the picture now because according to the Hollywood trades, she was originally the one in talks to play the only German actress.
Maybe Tarantino's been watching the 2005 French/German WWII movie "Joyeux Noël" which starred both Brühl and Kruger. Could be, right?
'Be Here To Love Me' This Weekend
Snagfilms is offering "Be Here To Love Me" the Townes Van Zandt documentary this weekend for free. You can watch the entire thing here. It's a pretty sweet little doc on a very underappreciated and undervalued country folk artist who have a very tough time of things in his short life.. The film features appearances and testimonials byt the Van Zandt's family as well as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris and more.Perhaps one of the most underrated songwriters of the last century, 'Be Here To Love Me' chronicles the fascinating and often turbulent life of Townes Van Zandt with a simple unpredictability that mimics the way the artist lived his short life. Directed by Margaret Brown, this haunting and lyrical film combines emotional interviews with Van Zandt’s immediate family and such luminaries as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle and Guy Clark with rare footage of Van Zandt at home and on the stage.
Download: Townes Van Zandt - "If I Needed You"
CNN: When Bush First Met Laura In Oliver Stone's "W"
CNN's got a first look at a scene from Oliver Stone's "W," where a young George Dubya Bush (Josh Brolin) first meets his wife-to-be Laura Welsh (Elizabeth Banks) and is pretty much instantly smitten. It's actually pretty much exactly how it's written in the script and basically feels how we pictured it.
Gus Van Sant's ‘Milk,’ Pops
Just got an interesting tip from a friend who got a first look at Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to office in U.S. history slain in 1978 in his San Franciscan city (Milk was the supervisor to the city's then-mayor George Moscone who was also murdered) .
As you might have expected, considering the Oscar-bait-ness of the film (the heavy weight list of actors includes Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco and Diego Luna), the insider tell us the film is much more “old school” Gus Van Sant ala the assured and economical days of “Good Will Hunting,” rather than his recent experimental phase (“Elephant,” et al). Our tipster tell us the editing was fantastic, the use of old, archival footage rather seamless and adroit and that the film “pops” with vibrant color. Update: Heh, having read Jeffrey Wells' piece about our piece, we thought it was rather obvious. The tipster felt overall that the movie was "great," but didn't want to say too much outside of what we have above.
Man, we can’t wait…
"Milk" is due November 26 in select cities and then goes wider December 5 and 12.
The synop:Academy Award nominee Gus Van Sant directs Academy Award winner Sean Penn as gay-rights icon Harvey Milk. Mr. Milk (1930-1978) was an activist and politician, and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in America; in 1977, he was voted to the city supervisors' board of San Francisco. The following year, both he and the city's mayor George Moscone were shot to death by another city supervisor, Dan White. Mr. Milk was previously the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary feature "The Times of Harvey Milk," but "Milk" -- filmed on location in San Francisco -- is the first non-documentary feature to explore the man's life and career.
In a strangely prescient omen about his death, Milk once recorded a message that can now be seen as a galvanizing cry to gay rights activism: "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door." Can't wait for a trailer, this is one of our most eagerly anticipated films of the year.
'The Burning Plain' Warmly Received At Venice; Will Arriaga Finally Get Over His Feud With Fellow Mexican Filmmaker?
Guillermo Arriaga's "The Burning Plain," starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger was apparently warmly received by most critics at the Venice film festival.
We just wrote about it yesterday as Omar from the Mars Volta contributed to the soundtrack.
It's the first film Arriaga has directed on his own and his first since acrimoniously splitting with his longtime filmmaking partner Alejandro González Iñárritu (Arriaga wrote all of his big films, "Amores Perros," "21 Grams" and "Babel") and the credit over the "genius" behind these lauded pictures soon led to a falling out between the two of them.These guys just need to grow up and get over each themselves. And frankly, if you parse the original NYTimes piece that chronicled their feud, Arriaga sort of sounded like he was feeling sour-ego grapes because Iñárritu was receiving more press than he was. Maybe the warm glow of Venice will get him over all that past nonsense. As predicatble as Arriaga's everything's-connected interweaving stories have become, they're still rather powerful via Mr. Iñárritu.
ShortCuts: 'Body Of Lies,' 'Grizzly Man Diaries, David Duchovny (LOL) & More...
A new poster of the Ridley Scott-directed "Body Of Lies" poster starring Leonard DiCaprio and Russell Crow is out. Can it get any more facile and predictable? Kinda like how the movie looks. [In Contention]
Dream of "Californication"? David Duchovny has checked himself into rehab for sex addiction. Was he pulling an Eddie Murphy? Was he out with trannies and pulled a preemptive strike before getting caught? No wonder Tea Leoni has thrown herself full on into producing and starring in mediocre films. As long as its work it's a distraction, right? Duchovny has always struck us as being rather vile in his own way, so we can't feel totally surprised here. [Reuters]
"The Grizzly Man Diaries" a sort-of prequel to the remarkable Werner Herzog documentary, "Grizzly Man," airs on Animal Planet tonight. Two episodes of the 8-part series will air every Friday night at 9 p.m. and they showcase tons of unused footage of the delusional Timothy Treadwell, the bear-o-cologist/ wilderness "expert" who dropped out of society to hang out with grizzly bears only to be eaten by the hands of one when his fey, whiny voice ultimately became too unbearable. You can see some new scenes here. [Videogum]
Chuck Palahniuk might just be pulling your leg with this whole "Fight Club" musical story. We wouldn't be surprised frankly. Unless it's glorious absurdia, the idea is mentally challenged. [MTV]
'Towelheads' Respond To Critics That Decry Its "Racist" Title
The scenario studio execs at Warner Independent (RIP) having being dreaming about ever since allowing the name of their newest film to be retitled, "Towelhead," has finally arrived (the film once changed its name to "Nothing Is Private" in its early days). In opposition to the title, an unnamed Islamic group (interns at Warner) have decided to give the most-likely doomed film of the fall tons of free publicity by protesting its releasge because its nom de plume is a racial slur. Shit, really? Alert the media, no one behind the film is actually aware of this!
But with one afternoon of card-playing by the "minority" creators, they have managed to publicity justify the title, make themselves look like the victims and even give themselves some positive spin while they were at it. The author of the 2005 book of the same name, Alicia Erian, responded to the criticism, stating that, "As an Arab-American woman, I am of course aware that the title of my book is an ethnic slur. Indeed, I selected the title to highlight one of the novel's major themes: racism. " She also went on to say that when he book was released three years ago no one had a problem with the title. Well Alicia, because that would require actual umm, reading, and everyone knows that fiction is dead, duh.
Well, that covers the book, but what about the movie title? Couldn't they have toned it down a bit, people are actually going to see this, right? [ed. cough] No they couldn't, because the director, Alan Ball ("American Beauty," "Six Feet Under"), thought it was important to keep the title to embrace the struggle of his people. "As a gay man, I know how it feels to be called hateful names simply because of who I am. Therefore, I felt it was important to retain the title of Alicia Erians novel, in which she so effectively dramatizes the pain inflicted by such language, something many people of non-minority descent never have to face."Young John Lennon Film, "Nowhere Boy" Comes Together
Remember the "young John Lennon" film written by Matt Greenhalgh, the first-time feature-length screenwriter who penned the Ian Curtis/Joy Division biopic, "Control"?
Well apparently it's actually moving forward (almost a year to the day it was announced). Once titled "Lennon," and now called "Nowhere Boy," now has a director attached, visual artist Sam Taylor-Wood, according to the Hollywood reporter.
Produced by U.K. company Ecosse Film, the film will focus on Lennon's lonely childhood/teenage years and then ensuing journey to becoming a young rock icon. Casting is starting as we speak, but no one has been announced to play Lennon, McCartney or any of the rest of the members of the Fab Four. Ecosse and finance house HanWay films will try and get buyers to pay attention during the Toronto Film Festival.
Expect the Beatles, but expect key women. Female roles will be pivotal to the movie says the first-time feature director. "The women in John's early life truly shaped who he became," said the female director, Taylor-Wood, "and the strengths and weaknesses of their relationships are central to this film."
We didn't love "Control," but it had strong intentions and there's certainly been many a way worse biopic, so we'll be cautiously optimistic about this one.
The U.K Daily Mail (cue grain of salt) says that Kate Winslet is one of the actresses the director wants to meet for the role of Lennon's mum and Emily Watson is apparently one she would like to see play his Aunt. Taylor-Wood has worked with the Pet Shop Boys and Elton John on various projects and her debut short film "Love You More," featured music by the Buzzcocks.
Abortion Cinema: My Box Office Bologna Has A First Name And It's August 29th
It's biologically the last weekend of August and that means its time for the worst movies America has to offer. And dear god, America has really stepped up to the challenge. Never have we seen a lineup this destined for abject failure.
Five films open in wide release this weekend, (Aug. 29-31) "Disaster Movie," "Babylon A.D.," "Traitor," "Hamlet 2," and "College." "Hamlet 2" made an impressive debut at Sundance and opened in select cities last week to only decent reviews (60% on Rotten Tomatoes). Now gone wide, the Steve Coogan comedy doesn't seem to have fared any better but we liked it because of its demented hilarity. Out of the other four movies debuting wide tomorrow, only "Traitor" and "Babylon A.D." has more than zero percent on Tomatoes (but A.D.'s score is abysmal too). It's like critics didn't even bother to review the last two (oh wait, they were never screened for critics, gotcha).
These films make money and that's the only reason they're continually cranked out. (Thanks pre-teens!). These two vagina farmers (Friedberg and Seltzer) have drummed up such a large amount of loathing, if you patrol their IMDb message boards, you'll find those pleading for their collective assassinations and we have to admit, this is a reasonable request. If you've ever paid money to see one of these films consider yourself dead to us for all eternity.8/28/2008
Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire' Now Set For November 28
Ah, finally, a firm and proper release date and another great film to add to the fall festval schedule. Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" – which is a co-distribution deal between Warner Bros. and Fox Searchlight – is coming to theaters on November 28.
We were worried there for a second because 'Slumdog' was almost lost in the shuffle when Warner Independent Pictures was shuttered in the spring and it looked like the picture might get thrown into film purgatory, but it's premiere was announced for the Toronto Film Festival and then was shared by Warner (who absorbed WIP) and Fox Searchlight (who released Boyle's excellent, but grossly underrated psychological sci-fi drama "Sunshine.")
"I am grateful to Warner for their careful handling of the film," Boyle said in a press release. "I had a great time making this movie and I look forward to working with my old friends at Searchlight to ensure that audiences at Toronto and beyond have a great time watching it.”
Based on a true story, the film is about an illiterate boy from the Mumbai slums who wins a ton of money on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," in hopes of winning the affections of his ex-girlfriend.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions.
We're excited for this one. Boyle had a few missteps around the time of "The Beach," but he's been on serious point ever since "28 Days Later," including the kids film, "Millions" which actually quite fantastic too. We'll hopefully see it during the Toronto film fest in a few short days.
Telluride Film Festival Will Screen First (Small) Peek At Fincher's 'Benjamin Button'
We've never been to the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado (you'd have to send us), but it's an amazing film festival if you consider this insanely quirky aspect of the fest: passes are sold out waaay in advance, like completely sold out. And when do they announce the line-up? What films will actually be playing? Umm, the day of, basically. Telluride starts proper tomorrow morning, but some films have been screened today and the final line-up just went out.
But they get great films and this sort of indie-spirit of Telluride, which makes it all about the films and not the glamor and stars, is the exact reason it attracts so many true filmgoers in the first place. It's kind of a beautiful thing that that many people would show up to a film festival and they don't even know what they're going to see until they get there!
Anyhow, the line-up.
The Festival pays tribute to three film luminaries with its annual Silver Medallion presentation and this year they're going to David Fincher, 79-year-old British actress Jean Simmons ("Great Expectations") and Swedish filmmaker Jan Troell ("The Emigrants"). This means, Telluride audiences will get the first sneak peek at "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," though just some scenes and not the entire thing (similar to last year when Silver Medallion recipient Paul Thomas Anderson showed some scenes of "There Will Be Blood" for the first time ever). The guest director of the fest is that crazy philosopher/cultural theorist, Slavoj Zizek, and Fincher will also show the entire uncut version of "Zodiac," (bring a pillow for those four extra minutes).
The line-up includes, Paul Schrader's ADAM RESURRECTED (Jeffrey Wells called this one early); AMERICAN VIOLET, EVERLASTING MOMENTS (d. Jan Troell, Sweden, 2008); FIRAAQ; FLAME & CITRON; GOMORRAH (lauded at Cannes); Mike Leigh's "HAPPY-GO-LUCKY" (Jeffrey Well's favorite film of the year); HELEN ; HUNGER (another Cannes favorite directed by Steve McQueen); the very excellent animated film about the 1983 Beirut massacre WALTZ WITH BASHIR; I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG starring Kristen Thomas Scott; KISSES (d. Lance Daly, Ireland, 2008); LEARNING GRAVITY (d. Cathal Black, U.S., 2008); O’HORTEN (d. Bent Hamer, Norway, 2008) 
And More: PIRATE FOR THE SEA (d. Ron Colby, U.K., 2007); PRIVATE CENTURY (d. Jan Sikl, Czech Republic, 2007); REVANCHE (d. Gotz Spielman, Austria, 2008); THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD (d. Kim Ji-Woon, South Korea, 2008); THE REST IS SILENCE (d. Nae Caranfil, Romania, 2007); TULPAN (d. Sergei Dvortsevoy, Kazakhstan, 2008); WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (d. Francois Duperon, France, 2008) and the music doc, YOUSSOU N’DOUR: I BRING WHAT I LOVE (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Senegal-France, 2008).
Jeffrey Wells (damn, we've mentioned that bastard a lot this week), just came out and said the Telluride line-up looks a "stiff" and is massively "underwhelming" and in some respects, he's totally right. There's little A-name American films, there's little Oscar bait, and there's few A-list stars or films from the fall film schedule which has bound to have disappointed half the journos and bloggers that braved the unannounced list and flew down. If you're looking for those hotly tipped fall films, and you flew to Telluride, you're surely kicking yourself right now. But for true cineastes there's still a ton of good material to see and those upset folks should relax and try and take in some of the great-sounding films that were lauded at Cannes. We're dying to see "Hunger," "Gomorrah" and "Happy Go Lucky," and in that vein, people should also not miss the very powerful "Waltz With Bashir," which we saw recently.
We must admit, we are having a bit of schadenfreude over the thought of some of the bloggers who went down there thinking they were going to see hot, sexy American films that now are aghast at a line-up of foreign films. Hey guys, give these vegetables a chance and you might realize they're just as good as any film sweets you'd normally ingest, but just in a different (likely smarter) manner.
Guy Ritchie's 'RockNRolla' More Of The Same, But Not As Good? Plus Purposeful Misinformation?
This just in from our infrequent contributor Mr. Snruff who got an early peek at Guy Ritchie's "RocknRolla." We saw it too actually, but we're sworn to secrecy and in all fairness, just saw it. Snruff saw it a week ago and weighs in. And truthfully, he' pretty much on the money.
Yo fag, [ed. nice, thanks]
I saw that Guy Ritchie film you ponce's keep writing about. Your light jabs at the film's expense beforehand started to annoy me, but I have to begrudgingly say you were right. There's nothing here we haven't seen before that wasn't done richer, fuller and better in "Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels" or any of Ritchie's other '90s gangster work.
The acting, characters and script were fine and funny enough - there's a super amusing homosexual subplot between two of the gangster friends that cracked me hella up - but after a while it all got a little old, a little tired and a little done, "been there done that." It also felt really long, like two hours for a bit of insignificant, everyone's-chasing the-money story. And the trailer basically tells you everything you needed to know about the plot. Basically gangsters old and new, amateurish and professional, ruthless and small-time are all after one thing: a McGuffin-like painting tied to a lot of dough, deceit and backhanded deals. And maybe just an excuse for a funny and violent shoot-out.
Since you like the music so much, there was lots of it [the soundtrack details here], but as far as movie-music moments, there were really only three that I can remember.
- The opening-credits song that's featured in the trailer [Blackstrobe's "I'm A Man"].
- The drugged-out junkie rocker kicking the shit out of someone to the Subway's "Rock N Roll Queen' [ed. also featured in the trailer, kinda classic Ritchie]
- A druggie, junkie, stoned out of their gourd scene to Lou Reed's "The Gun." (Btw, the guy who played the rock-star junkie [Toby Kebbell] was pretty great).
I'm not even sure why Ludacris and Jeremy Piven were in this thing their roles were so small. Which leads me to another point, too many characters for what? To purposely convolute/tangle the story lines that are all headed on one predictable collision course? Ritchie, who wrote it, could have dropped a couple characters. I like Tom Wilkinson too, but that guy coulda been any older, cussing British actor. All he did was piss and moan like you'd imagine a big gangster overlord might
Lastly, remember that story on MTV that said their might be some sequels? Let's just say this without spoiling too much, there's part of that news report that seem like blatant misinformation (not from the writers) like a red herring (either that or Thandie Newton's lying and or another ending was shot, but I doubt it). The ending was really disappointing and the whole thing just seemed like a set-up for more sequels which is kind of retarded because a film should stand on its own. The reviews I've skimmed over at AICN seem to say similar things. Kinda fun, with that British/Ritchie whimsy in moments, but overall, kind of "eh" as you and the kids like to say.
'Che' To Announce Its Distributor Any Day Now?
We just asked yesterday, who the hell is tending the 'Che' house? No one seems to be doing publicity for the film. No one in the industry seems to know how to contact anyone about its appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival in less than seven days.
Well, According to Anne Thompson, Steven Soderbergh's two-part, four-hour-plus 'Che' Guevarra epic is currently negotiating a final distribution deal and we should all expect an announcement soon (maybe this is why no P.R. company has been picked to represent the film yet).
Its length makes the film a hard sel as it isl, which is why no one's picked it up for distribution yet. Regardless of that, the pic was met with a mixed response when it made its world premiere at the Cannes film festival in May.
Thompson still thinks HBO would be the smart look for 'Che' - "where smart audiences who would best appreciate the movie could settle down with its full running time on their own terms," but she put her money on Mark Cuban's Magnolia Pictures, the guys who backed Soderbergh's also-difficult, "Bubble" in 2005. Magonlia puts all its films on Video OnDemand and usually early from their theatrical release date.
This also good for audiences who don't live in key markets like New York and L.A. It's not a bad educated guess on her part and one that many of us should have thrown out there long ago. It makes total sense. Though Magnolia do seem to botch a lot of their theatrical releases and film are basically straight to VOD, but maybe that's the whole point especially if they want to show the film entirely uncut or at least it it's full 2-part four hour length. Either way, she said to expect an announcement soon.
Daniel Brühl Apparently Confirmed For Tarantino's 'Bastards,' New (Fake?) Poster Leaks
Has Daniel Brühl been officially cast in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Bastards"? According to the German tabloid Bunte (link appears expire, however, a fan site has the basics) who quoted the star, he has.
The rough German translation from the magazine is this:
"In addition, [Brühl] revealed that he will appear in front of the camera shortly for Quentin Tarantino's [Inglorious Bastards]."I look[ed] forward to this role. If I had not gotten [it], I would have been genuinely, madly disappointed."
The British papers were reporting a week ago that the German, "Goodbye Lenin" star had been in talks with Tarantino, but it sounds like it's a done deal now (German actor Til Schweiger was also evidently in talks with QT). Brühl didn't say who he would play, but we hope he got the role of Fredrick Zoller, the younger, handsome German soldier who tries to woo the lead female protagonist, Shoshanna. We wouldn't be mad at that choice at all.
Meanwhile, a "Inglorious Bastards" teaser poster which may or may not be fake (50/50) has appeared over at the Tarantino archives. And lastly, we're hearing from a very solid source about a delicious Tarantino/Leonardo DiCaprio story that we can't really repeat here. But, we will say this Leo wasn't exactly QT's first choice for the role of Colonel Hans Landa (*snicker*).
Hans Zimmer & Omar Rodriguez-Lopez From The Mars Volta Team-Up For 'The Burning Plain' Score
A film we've been greatly anticipating and one that's about to hit the Toronto Film Festival is the directorial feature film debut of screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, called "The Burning Plain."
The every things-always-connected screenwriter behind, "Amores Perros" (2000), "21 Grams" (2003), and "Babel," (2006), Arriaga is main figure in the Mexican film renaissance in recent years (which includes Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón and his now estranged film partner, Alejandro González Iñárritu, who directed the aforementioned every things-always-connected trifecta).
Well, we just got word that composing the score for "The Burning Plain," which stars Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, is Hans Zimmer and his partner this time (he's had a few lately) is Omar Rodriguez-Lopez from the Latin, psych-rockers The Mars Volta, which makes sense given then Mexican flavor Arriaga has in all his films. We can totally hear some screeching, rather noise-flaring guitars and Pink Floyd-esque feedback being used in tandem with Zimmer's more traditional orchestral film scores.
The film's multi-part story strands (naturally) are woven together to chronicle "very intense love stories here that take place in different places and times," Arriaga told Variety in July of last year. Oh yeah, there's a lot of forgiveness and redemption thrown in to boot (but of course).
Other songs included in the film include tracks by Madeleine Peyroux, Julianna Raye, Vienna Teng, Flaco Jimenez, Mando Lopez Y Los Muchachos.
Zimmer's been on a collaborating tear of lately working with the Wu-Tang's RZA, Black Eyed Peas' Will. I. AM, and incorporating rock and atonal industrial sounds in his work ("The Dark Knight") so it's no wonder he's working with Rodriguez from the loud and fierce prog-rockers in the Volta.
Lopez previously scored Jorge Hernandez Aldana's "El Bufalo De La Noche," in 2007, another film written by Arriaga.
Zucker Brothers Make Us Groan With Michael Moore Spoof No One Will Ever Watch
Thanks to Apple.com, we now know about the existence of the new comedy directed by "the master of movie satire" David Zucker, called "An American Carol."
This laughable waste of filmstock is evidently modern day telling of the classic "A Christmas Carol," except it lampoons documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. Michael Malone (clever), played by Chris Farley's brother Kevin, wants to abolish the fourth of July holiday, and apparently he gets visited by country music superstar Trace Atkins, General George Patton, (Kelsey Grammer) and George Washington (Jon Voight). Voight's career has been in the toilet for some time now after "SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2" and "Bratz," but he clogs the toilet with this silly looking turd. Maybe he will reprise his role as Bill Biscane in "Baby Geniuses 3" (Seriously, it actually exists.)
Also, does this mean "Top Secret" was meant to be taken seriously and not as a farce?
George Clooney Circling Jason Reitman's 'Air'
George Clooney is apparently in talks to take the leading role in the adaptation of the novel, "Up In The Air," a project that "Juno" filmmaker Jason Reitman is writing and directing.
If Clooney takes the role he'll play an ruthless human resources exec in zealous pursuit of his millionth frequent flyer mile because his life otherwise sucks.
We're not huge fans of Reitman, but Walter Kirn, the author of the novel, previously wrote "Thumbsucker," which was nicely adapted by director Mike Mills in 2005, so this could be ok. The project has been around for a long time apparently with "Austin Powers" director Jay Roach once attached (yikes). The film is a Dreamworks project and there's evidently no timeline yet of when it's supposed to start shooting. As long as Clooney doesn't ham it up too much we all should be fine (he's great in the screwball comedies, but enough is enough). Maybe they'll be a spot for Yo La Tengo this time.
Does Jeffrey Wells Hate Mike Leigh's Happiness?
Does Jeffrey Wells need a hug? The Hollywood movie critic seems to have picked up an odd distaste for Mike Leigh's newest film, "Happy-Go-Lucky," a British romantic comedy that centers around a thirty year old school teacher (played by Sally Hawkins) who loves life, and couldn't be happier, no matter how many bitter, or angry people she encounters.
Wells wasn't having it. "I hate people who ask me if I'm happy because, of course, they're not really asking me that. They're saying they've observed my behavior, examined my vibe and decided that I just don't have the right peppy-happy attitude, and that I need to adjust it right away so that it pleases them." Wells went on described why these happy-wanderers piss him off so, "They're determined to beat you over the head with it until you're on your knees, bloody and begging them to stop." Shit, someone had a bad day. He went from dissenter of the film to melodramatically declaring that it was not only a crappy movie, but a threat to the America way of life by describing it as "oppressive" and a from of "emotional fascism."
Todd Solondz Finally Finds Financing For 'Life During Wartime' New Untitled Quasi Sequel To 'Happiness'
We were asking just a month ago, 'what the fuck happened to Todd Solondz?' The provocative miserablist hadn't directed a film since 2004's straight to art-house-cinemas-only creep-fest, "Palindromes," and that flick did so poorly, we wondered aloud if he'd ever make a movie again.
Well, apparently he is. For years now he's had a "sexual obsessions dark comedy" incubating that he called, "Life During Wartime," which was supposed to be a quasi-sequel/ companion piece to his creepy and critically acclaimed, 1998 pedophilia-sympathizing film "Happiness," and this can't be any other film than the same project, only now it actually has financiers (a new indie - gulp - company called Werc Werk Works).
Variety says the project is untitled, so perhaps he ditched the Talking Heads'-inspired title or is still searching for a better one (either that or the concept shifted slightly).
The trade also says the writer/director's film is much like his past movies as its narrative relies on an interconnecting ensemble piece of weaving love stories, or a "group of struggling individuals struggling to find a place for themselves in an unpredictable and volatile world...the past haunts the present and imperils the future: ghosts circle and loom, trouble and console."
The film is scheduled to start production in October and casting is apparently underway (which hopefully won't be jinxed as production was supposed to commence three times before this and always fell apart).
Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Reubens has been attached to the project for years, but it's probably up to scheduling now (but he has all the free time in the world, no?) Other names thrown around for this film at one time or another include Hope Davis, Demi Moore, Emma Thompson, Kenneth McBride, Chane't Johnson, Paul Dano, Renee Taylor, Faye Dunaway, and Dennis Franz. It'll all be up to who's available now.
In January 2008, Reubens told MTV that about the project and said it was being done in a "Palindromes"-like manner insofar as new actors would be standing in for old characters from the Solondz millieu. “It’s characters from ‘Welcome to the Dollhouse’ and ‘Happiness’ whose paths converge. It’s all different people playing the same roles,” he said. “I’m playing a role someone else played in one of those movies.” (note Variety says nothing about 'Dollhouse,' but "past ghosts" could mean those very characters).
Even then Reubens sounded skeptical that the project would ever get off the ground. “If it gets made, I’m doing it - but I’m not sure. It’s gotten pushed three times. He’s had problems with the financing on it. To me it’s such a sad state of events that he can’t get that movie made. He’s such a talented guy.”
Paul, you better get your agent on the phone, your one comeback shot is currently open, but the way indie companies are going these days and new fledgling ones at that, he better hope they have enough money to take this thing through editing at least.
Sometimes we wonder if we're only the ones on the planet that actually saw "Palindromes." What's even creepier/amazing about the film the contains teenage anal rape, retarded kids gleefully dancing and other trangressively predictable Solondz button-pushing moments is that I saw it with my dad and we both had to laugh at how uncomfortable it made us. Fortunately for me, he's got a great sense of humor.
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