Cinemania '09 Roundup: 'Eden Is West,' 'The Army Of Crime' & Welcome Home'

"Eden Is West" - The latest from Costa-Gavras is a quasi-autobiographical immigration fable that wavers in the middle ground between broad comedy and poignant melodrama. As the film opens we meet Elias (Riccardo Scamarcio) as he boards a ship that will illegally take him to western Europe. On the way the ship is intercepted at night by customs ageents and decides to risk swimming to shore instead of being arrested and deported. When he wakes up in the morning he finds himself on the beach of, Eden Club Paradise, an all inclusive resort where he goes undercover as a worker, unable to leave because of the heavy police presence searching for other illegals that may have also washed up on shore. His stay at the resort turns into a few days, and he manages to develop a relationship with one of the guests, and seems to hit it off with a visiting magician who tells him to contact him if he ever reaches Paris. With that goal in mind Elias sets off on an adventure that will take him through a wide variety of immigrant experiences. From bring ripped off by would be drivers to finding kindness in the most unlikely places, Costa-Gavras' film is earnest but feels generic. Moreover, there is a strange streak of stereotyping that feels very out of place in such a film, from the boozing German truck drivers, to the white, out of touch resort residents who even spend one evening (rather unbelievably) hunting for illegals on the beach as a group activity. Perhaps Costa-Gavras had these caricatures in place to drive home a broader message about intolerance but he misses the mark entirely. "Eden Is West" more often than not plays as a failed experiment in style.

A week ago we reviewed "Welcome" which played the opening weekend of the festival, and it covered the ground as Costa-Gavras' film without the slapstick, and with a greater subtlety and humanity. Perhaps the legendary director, who is at the festival presenting this film, a new print of "Z" and conducting a master class is in need of a refresher himself. [C-]

"The Army Of Crime" - Based on a true story this film by Robert Guediguian is meticulous and detailed thriller set in German-occupied Paris. The film follows the rise and fall of a single resisitance cell as they try to kill, disrupt and embarras their German occupiers. The group, a motley crew of Armenians, Spaniards, Hungarians, Poles, Romanians and Jews initially start with small, mostly symbolic actions but slowly become organized, with ranking, directives and a payroll under the leadership of Missak Manouchian (Simon Abkarian). As their resistance actions grow deadlier, more disruptive amd garner the attention of the press the harder the German forces crack down on the group. The script offers an intriguing look at the machinations of both the resistance movement, and the German war machine, and in particular how the battle was just as much about the press and public opinion. Guediguian's direction is efficient, if unremarkable but his strong cast, in particular Abkarian and Robinson Stevenin (sort of has a French Cillian Murphy thing going on), are magnetic. Unfortunately, the score by the usually reliable Alexandre Desplat is disappointingly drab playing it safe, perhaps yielding to the thematic importance of the picture. "The Army Of Crime" isn't revolutonary among the genre but it's a fascinating story, well told, and it will certainly satisfy curious viewers. [B]

"Welcome Home" - Robinson Stevenin, who was electric in the previous film, heads the cast of this slow burning drama of forgiveness and redemption. He plays Julien, who has just been released on parole after serving thirteen years for a crime he committed when he was sixteen. He begins trailing a girl he knew back then, to clubs, to her home and work and it becomes clear that she holds an important key for him to try and adjust to the outside world. The first half of the film is beautifully crafted, and shows a keen balance between withholding information (which is why we're being a bit more elusive with plot in this review) from the audience while still maintaining a narrative pull. Unfortunately the second half, as revelations are made and we learn more about Julien's past, stalls more often than not, giving the story a pat resolution when one of uncertainty would've been more honest. "Welcome Home" is an admirable effort, and while Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (there's a name that was made for cinema) does some fine work behind the camera he doesn't have the conviction to see the darker corners of the material through to their logical end. [C+]

Try Not To Get Too Excited About D.C. Comics Adaptation 'Red': Even If Borgnine Is Still Alive For It

Julian McMahon ("Fantastic Four" films), Ernest Borgnine (famous for still being alive at 314-years-of-age) Richard Dreyfuss and Brian Cox are all set to star in the all-star cast of "Red," a D.C. comics film that we probably would just shrug our shoulders at if it weren't for the fact that, so far, the picture has somehow attracted the likes of Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John C. Reilly and Mary Louise Parker.

Sounds great, right? Mmmm, not so fast, one of the main producers is Lorenzo Di Bonaventura ("G.I. Joe," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and other pieces of B-movie dreck like "Doom" and "Constantine") and let's not forget people, Bruce Willis stars. When was the last time he was decent in anything? (without one of the world's greatest auteurs around, Willis reverts back to indigenous states of being terrible). Nerd blogs seem to be as excited as pigs in shit for this one, but then again, they also thought the cast for "G.I. Joe" sounded pretty promising at first too. Stars like paychecks too people and even Morgan Freeman is not above slumming it ("Wanted" had a good cast on paper too, look how that ridiculous thing turned out).

Directed by Robert Schwentke ("The Time Traveller's Wife"), geeks are also excited because this tale of a former black ops agent (Bruce Willis), now in retirement, who has to contend with younger, more high-tech assassins who show up to kill him, is based on a story by celebrated comic book author Warren Ellis (no relation to the beardo guy who works with Nick Cave), but it certainly won't be the first or last time Hollywood fucks up a coveted comic-book adaptation. You can just smell it on this thing.

While we had hopes for "Time Traveler's Wife" (naive), Schwentke is no superstar, so the hot anticipation for this thing is just a lot of wishful thinking which geek sites are generally very good at. Also, this is the company behind "Twilight." Just sayin'...

Eef Barzelay Of Clem Snide Scoring 'Janie Jones'; Plot Revealed

A couple of weeks ago MTV spoke to Abigail Breslin about her upcoming film, "Janie Jones," that was being shot in Iowa, but other than revealing total basics she was otherwise sworn to secrecy as if she was appearing in a Christopher Nolan film. Well, that plot has been revealed and in case you're wondering, it has nothing to do with the Clash song by the same name.

It kind of sounds a little "Somewhere"-esque (the recent Sofia Coppola film), a drama about a young girl (Abigail Breslin) who informs a fading rock star (Alessandro Nivola) that she is his daughter. It's a decent cast that also includes Brittany Snow (surprisingly good in "The Vicious Kind"), Elisabeth Shue, Peter Stormare and is directed by David M. Rosenthal ("See This Movie").

Eef Barzelay, formerly of Clem Snide, is writing the music to the film, which is good news for fans of the clever wordsmith and his old, alt-country-ish band, but bad if you heard the score to the 2007 indie film, "Rocket Science." While director Jeffrey Blitz has done some interesting work (the winning documentary, "Spellbound," episodes of "The Office" and "Parks And Recreation"), his debut feature "Rocket Science" was not one of them and Barzelay's kitchen-sink like score was, frankly, almost as obnoxious as that film.

Here's hoping that we hear a major improvement. Barzelay also scored the 2008 romantic drama, "The Yellow Handkerchief" with William Hurt, Maria Bello and Kirsten Stewart, but we honestly didn't see it (and we're not sure we know a soul who did). Nivola is always great though, so here's to hoping.

Howard Shore Replaces John Corigliano For 'Edge Of Darkness Score'

Ever wonder why "Edge Of Darkness" went from being the much-anticipated Martin Campbell follow-up to the excellent Bond film, "Casino Royale," to being a generic-looking thriller now bound for January 2010 dumping-ground season?

Sounds like composer John Corigliano has inadvertently given us the answer and it sounds like classic indecision, the hedging of bets and creativity by committee that ruined the original idea.

Originally, Campbell hired Corigliano to score the revenge picture because he wanted Gibson seen in a "more introspective and intimate way than he is usually portrayed." Sounds great, anything that isn't conventional is always needed in a revenge film.

Cut to months later, his score is rejected and then replaced with one by Howard Shore (the "Lord Of The Rings," many David Cronenberg films), because the studio (or producers) changed their minds on the picture's tone.

"They wanted it to be more of an action film," Corigliano told MovieScoreMag. "So they filmed more violent scenes, and wanted a score to match the macho image they wanted to create for their star. If I had been asked to score a Mel Gibson action film, I would have refused it – not because it isn’t a perfectly valid idea, but because it is wrong for me. On the other hand, this happens all the time. Howard Shore – whose music replaced mine -had exactly the same thing happen to his score for King Kong, which he’d composed, recorded, and had replaced by James Newton Howard’s music. It just hadn’t happened to me before.”

Pretty telling. Bit of a shame too because "Casino Royale" even impressed the shit out of skeptics like us, but 'Darkness' looks like it's headed for the bottom of the delete pile.

Keeping Score: New 'Crazy Heart' Poster & 'Norman' Scored By Andrew Bird

- "The harder the life, the sweeter the song." That's the tagline for the new "Crazy Heart" poster suggesting a hardscrabble life and a hardwon comeback in the country music film starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Colin Farrell. There's a lot of Oscar buzz for Bridges and Gyllenhaal, but Oscar bloggers are also known to get over excited when they're bored. We'll find out soon. T-Bone Burnett has composed the score. The film has been rushed into theaters for a December 16 release.

- Speaking of films featuring music, a new biopic of blues legend Robert Johnson is currently being shopped around. The script was written by Jimmy White, the screenwriter for the Academy Award-winning film, "Ray," so he obviously knows a thing or two about biopics. Johnson's life was full of mystery including his birth date, how he died, and how his guitar playing all of a sudden accelerated in talent after he left town which led to the legendary soul-selling at the Crossroads myth. There's not a lot of competition out there with blues biopics. Many of them are not good, but it at least has to be 10,000x better than "Crossroads" with Ralph Macchio.

-Chicago violinist/alt-musician, sometimes-Wilco collaborator, Andrew Bird is going to score the school dramedy "Norman" starring Adam Goldberg and Richard Jenkins. Directed by Jonathan Segal ("The Last Run") the film is in post-production and almost complete. Smells like a Sundance 2010 premiere to us.

Here's a look at Goldberg in the picture (he plays a teacher), but the movie actually stars two younger actors and is about a troubled high-school kid (Dan Byrd) pretending to be dying of cancer, who encounters problems with his new girlfriend (Emily VanCamp) and others when he's exposed as a fraud.

Bird told TwentyFourBit that soundtracking may not be for him. ““This is the first legitimate full length film that I did,” he said. "I had the monitor of the film in the studio and I’m playing. It’s a lot of work. I don’t know if I ever want to do it again.”

- The European Film Award's were recently announced and the four nominations for the 2009 European Composer went to Alexandre Desplat for "Coco Before Chanel," Jacob Groth for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Alberto Iglesias for "Broken Embraces" and Johan Söderqvist for "Let the Right One In." We're big fans of Iglesias' work, so we're glad the imperfect, but still pretty lovely, "Broken Embraces" score is getting some shine.

Review: 'The Messenger' Is A Visceral Knockout

Incredibly visceral, gripping and yet compassionate in its quiet way, Oren Moverman's "The Messenger" featuring remarkable performances by Ben Foster, and Samantha Morton and a particularly extraordinary Woody Harrelson, is an arresting and very humanizing portrait of post-war soldiers trying to adapt to life after Iraq — saddled with perhaps the most emotionally difficult job an officer can face.

Calling it "Iraq" anything is also largely unfair, considering that label can be a near kiss of death to any film these days, but it does tell the story of an American soldier (an uncannily good Foster) who has returned from duty in the Middle East. Psychologically distressed and out of sorts as it is, and only weeks away from fulfilling his duty, he is then assigned a detail to be a next-of-kin messenger to those whose children have died in Iraq. Alongside an older blunt and brusque Lieutenant (Harrelson) who teaches him the inhuman and distant rules and ropes of NOK (next of kin) death notification, Foster's Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery struggles deeply with the responsibility and weight of bearing such tragic news to unsuspecting family members from all walks of life.

The struggle — which takes a brutal internal and intense toll with each new assignment (just watching their attempting-to-be-muted responses is harrowing) — is further complicated as Montgomery reaches an ethical dilemma when he becomes involved with a widow of a fallen officer (Samantha Morton). This plot line — the unexpected romance via the soldier's misplaced empathy — seems cheap and predictable on paper, but thankfully lands in unexpected places that don't resolve themselves nicely.

"Are you a headcase?" the sharp and unmannerly officer asks his subordinate when he's explaining the rigors of the assignment and though his response is vehemently no, he's "fine, sir" it's clear that behind these weary eyes lies a very troubled, psychically damaged soul, so shellshocked from his experience he is uncomfortable in his own skin. Watching Foster's twitchy, uncomfortable experience is amazing (it's as if he could rip off his skin and charge out of his body if possible), but as we've been saying for years now, he's incredible.

If there are some issues, they come up in the second act, two-thirds in, where the picture tends to meander a bit and veer slightly off message. Perhaps the almost-levity-like scenes between the two soldiers who eventually become friends (via boozing, roadtrips and chicks) is meant to balance out the more tormentingly affecting moments (that sometime make you feel like you're having a mental ulcer), but the leisure-like moments just don't feel as strong or moving as that emotive first half. Maybe it's emotional ventilation that was needed.

As mentioned, all the actors are outstanding, but Woody Harrelson is especially phenomenal perhaps just because we can't remember the last time he was this incisive and authoritative. Some may be shocked by Fosters acute and electric portrayal of the intense young solider, seemingly imploding inside daily, but this is just another great performance in a short, but fantastic line of head-turning performances in the last few years (yes, years ago circa 2004 he was a complete revelation, see "3:10 To Yuma," "Alpha Dog" and more). If there's a "weak link" in the picture its Morton, but perhaps because she's a shattered and hollow shell — that character is practically dead to the world, she's been through so much— and is on another narrative trajectory, she cannot match the raging fury of the other two. But nor is she trying. Her quiet despondency is really almost as fierce (though we have seen her put in a more commanding performance before — again maybe just the lifeless character). These are quibbles from biting and compelling turns. Everyone is generally on their A-game.

Jena Malone co-stars as Fosters ex-love (a decent job, but it's a small role) and Steve Buscemi turns in a haunting cameo as a bereaved father full or rage and resent ("why aren't you dead?" he screams at the soldiers as they deliver the horrible news). Other performances by mostly unknowns receiving notice of their dead children are largely gut wrenching with one Spanish-speaking grandfather delivering a devastating turn when the soldiers notify him of his daughters death. It will stop you in your tracks. Moment upon moment of these scenes are excruciatingly real, but never do they feel manipulative or as if they're pounding you into empathetic submission. In fact, almost all these scenes are captured in a remarkably matter-of-fact manner, free of sentimentalizing or editorial underscoring.

Some have said the film has a documentary feel which is a bit excessive, but raw and unadorned it certainly is.

Though the soundtrack largely features a lot of aggro metal we (or I at least) would never actively listen to (though Pelican are great), within the context of the film and Foster's tightly wound and internally brooding character, the mood set by the aggressive and corrosive music he listens to at home to "unwind" (drink, punch holes in walls) is perfectly used.

While as mentioned, the picture does tend to lose its bearing and focus ever so slightly in the latter second half (and perhaps is slightly just too long at 105 minutes), it does finish well and redeems any second-act meandering plot tangents.

A powerful piece of work, the picture is even more astonishing considering it is Overman's debut feature-length film as a director (he co-wrote the multiple-character prism that was the Dylan-fantasy biopic, "I'm Not There" with Todd Haynes). And it rivals "A Single Man" as the most striking and assured directorial debut effort of the year. "The Messenger" is thoroughly captivating, fierce and a must-see film that while perhaps not entirely flawless (what is, really) will take your breath away more than once in a few crucial and agonizing scenes. It would be nice for several of these actors to get some Oscar consideration, but like "Wendy & Lucy" last year, "The Messenger" (same company distributing) might just have to unfortunately wait for the Independent Spirit Awards. Though if there's any justice in the world, they will merit some close and serious Academy consideration. [A-]

AFM Rundown: Remakes, Reboots and Romance

Collider has gotten their hands on a stack of promo photos and synopses from the American Film Market and we've sorted through to give you the, ahem, *cough*, "highlights." As we previously reported, the long completed and totally forgotten Penelope Cruz and Adrien Brody bullfighter film, "Manolete" is still looking for someone to buy the film, and at the very least, release it on DVD. That might be the fate of many iff-sounding AFM films frankly. This most recent crop isn't anything to get excited about.

Remakes:
Transplanting British thrillers that starred Bob Hoskins to American soil seems to be a developing trend with two ill-advised remakes being hustled at AFM.

"Mona Lisa" - Way back in May, it was reported that a remake of Neil Jordan's "Mona Lisa" was going to be under way with Larry Clark directing and Mickey Rourke starring. From there Rourke said he'd hoped to convince Mick Jagger to take a role.Well, someone wants for money for it as its up for grabs on the festival floor. The synopsis is pretty much identical to the original except it appears to be taking place in the American North East, with its final showdown set for Niagara Falls. It appears that Clark is still attached, but as he's currently filming "Savage Innocent" (aka "Wild Child"), and with the safe guess that Rourke has moved on, we imagine producers are at square one with the project, seeking financing to get things rolling.

"The Long Good Friday" - At least with Larry Clark there is a potential for an interesting take on whatever remake material he tackles, but the idea of video game movie hack Paul W.S. Anderson attempting to put his spin on "The Long Good Friday" makes us hope that this project dies a horrible, fiery death. The original, 1980 film by director John Mackenzie, is revered because aside from its crime flick through line, it was very much a film of a particular time and place, that resonated deeply with viewers. Anderson's version will take place in Miami, will most certainly have no political and cultural undercurrents, will probably involve Milla Jovovich and most definitely will thoroughly suck. Here's hoping we're not the only ones who think this has disaster written all over it.

Romance:
"Small Town Saturday Night" - We'll let the official synopsis for this one speak for itself: "Days before leaving for Nashville, Rhett Ryan (Chris Pine) discovers that the desire to follow his dream of becoming a singer-songwriter will get in the way of being with the woman he loves. While Samantha does loves him, she starts to realize what’s best for her daughter and their future may not be what’s best for him." We're sure that in Ryan Craig's feature film debut, Rhett and the woman will find a way to stay together. This appears to be a low budget affair, as Pine is the only big name attached to the picture. The supporting cast includes John Hawkes, and a host of lesser known character actors. According to IMDB, there are no domestic or international distributors attached, though the sweet sounding story will probably ensure that it gets picked up before the week is through. Uhh, or either that or it will limp onto DVD.

"Earthbound" - Kate Hudson plays a carefree woman who "never lets herself experience love, preferring to keep her relationships light and easy." Gael Garcia Bernal "is a successful doctor who has grown a hardened exterior from years of being the bearer of bad news. His detachment prevents him from getting close to anyone." The last line of the synopsis pretty much summarizes this perfectly: "'Earthbound' is a surprisingly funny and heartfelt story that proves sometimes laughter is the best type of medicine." Uggghhhhhh. The only reason we're bothering with this is that Bernal is usually quite good, but the film appears to be quite a left turn not only for him, but for director Nicole Kassell who previously helmed the sober drama, "The Woodsman." According to the one sheet production starts on January 18th in New Orleans, and we're guessing domestic distribution is probably close to being sorted out. It's probably left to see what international territories want to take on another Kate Hudson rom-com.

Reboots:
"Hellraiser" - Okay, okay it's only one reboot, but we wanted to keep the alliterative headline. The original Clive Barker "Hellraiser" came out a little over twenty years ago, so we guess someone, somewhere wants to bring back Pinhead for a "new generation of viewers." A new version of "Hellraiser," based on Clive Barker's book "The Hellbound Heart" is being shopped around the market floor. Horror reboots these days tends to mean just coating a nubile young cast in grease, cranking up the volume and making lots of quick edits. We're sure someone will take on the franchise as every studio in town wants their own "Saw," but we couldn't be less interested.

'Hunger,' 'Revanche,' Classic Max Ophüls' Film & More Coming To Criterion In February

Today Criterion announced their February slate and any disappointment we might still be suffering over a couple of lackluster months this winter have all but dissipated. Between this and their January titles (which we looked at here), plus all the stuff that hasn't been officially announced yet but we know will be coming soon (Guillermo del Toro's "Cronos," Ang Lee's "Ride with the Devil," Alfonso Cuaron's "Y Tu Mama Tambien," plus a shitload of IFC titles) and 2010 is looking to be an absolutely dynamite year for our beloved Criterion Collection.

But what's on the docket for February?

First up is "Revanche" (spine #502, also on Blu-ray), which we're very excited about. The slow-burning Austrian revenge film, which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language during its brief theatrical stint this year, was pretty phenomenal, but never really got it's due outside the Oscar nod and a few critics. But this was the first movie that Criterion themselves distributed in roughly a billion years, so you know there's quality behind it.

Next is Max Ophüls' sumptuous and opulent final film "Lola Montes" (spine #503, also on Blu-ray), which we're assuming is struck from the same gorgeous print that screened at the New York Film Festival last year. If so, we're all in for a treat. And to think that Ophüls' classic will be available on high definition too, well, it's very, very exciting indeed.

From the new IFC deal comes their edition of Steve McQueen's debut feature "Hunger" (spine #504, also on Blu-ray), a movie we also saw back at the New York Film Festival last year. While we're still sorting out our feelings on this fractured tale of the IRA hunger strike, it's an unquestionably moving and powerful film (just one that's very hard to sit through).

Lastly we have Leo McCarey's "Make Way for Tomorrow" (spine #505, DVD only), which we've never heard of but don't feel too bad about. According to the write-up, the film is "one of the great unsung Hollywood masterpieces, an enormously moving Depression-era depiction of the frustrations of family, aging, and the generation gap." Sounds good to us.

While there's nothing new in the catalog-stuff-coming-to-Blu-ray department, it should be noted that this is the closest 1:1 ratio of new Blu-ray titles (three out of the four titles announced with also hit high-definition). Still, we pray every night for a nice Blu-ray of "Mishima" or "All That Heaven Allows."

On the Eclipse front, there's a new set (no. 20), George Bernard Shaw on film, which sounds pretty awesome but we're just going to run what the website is telling us: "The hugely influential Nobel Prize–winning critic and playwright George Bernard Shaw was notoriously reluctant to allow his writing to be adapted for the cinema. Yet thanks to the persistence of Hungarian producer Gabriel Pascal, Shaw finally agreed to collaborate on a series of screen versions of his witty, social-minded plays, starting with the Oscar-winning 'Pygmalion.' The three other films that resulted from this famed alliance, 'Major Barbara,' 'Caesar' and 'Cleopatra, and Androcles and the Lion,' long overshadowed by the sensation of 'Pygmalion,' are gathered here for the first time on DVD. These clever, handsomely mounted entertainments star such luminaries of the big screen as Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Wendy Hiller, and Rex Harrison." — Drew Taylor

5 Best Music Scenes in Wes Anderson Movies

When shelling out for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” this week (for those of you in New York And L.A. of course, the rest of the country has to wait a week), Wes Anderson fans can be certain their favorite filmmaker will pepper his newest effort with a few of his stylistic quirks: stylishly dressed characters, meticulous set design, an appearance by a Wilson brother, and of course, a few scenes scored to retro pop music. The latter has been a major part of Anderson’s style since 1996’s “Bottle Rocket,” and reached its peak with 2004’s overstuffed “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” Taking a cue from his idol Martin Scorsese, Anderson at his best uses the music to take the scene to a magical, transcendent level — at his worst, a good song distracts from the on-screen action. Here’s a list of our favorite music scenes from each of Anderson’s films:

“Bottle Rocket”: Oliver Onions “Zorro Is Back” – Anderson’s first film features a surprising number of pop music selections, considering the limited budget. Though the uses of songs by bigger acts like The Rolling Stones’ “2000 Man” and Love’s “Alone Again Or” and even the stateside one-hit wonders Proclaimers’ “Over and Done With” are all used memorably, the one that wins out for both song quality and use in the film is Oliver Onions’ “Zorro Is Back.” Oliver Onions was the recording name of Italian brother duo Guido and Maurizio de Angelis, who did soundtrack and song work for a number of Italian films. “Zorro Is Back,” unsurprisingly, comes from the soundtrack of a 1975 Italian version of the masked hero. Anderson uses the song during the “on the lam” montage where the gang buys and shoots fireworks from their car right after Anthony (Luke Wilson) has found that Dignan (Owen Wilson) has been keeping the truth about the legendary Mr. Henry (James Caan) from him. The snippet of the jaunty, South of the Border-influenced tune fits Dignan’s “inappropriate” happiness (as Anthony calls it) so perfectly, that we can forgive Anderson for cutting off the rest of this beautiful tune. Unfortunately the scene isn't on YouTube, but the song is. For more check out a feature we did on all the music featured in "Bottle Rocket."


“Rushmore”: The Who – “A Quick One While He’s Away” – With a bigger budget, Anderson was able to make the soundtrack to his sophomore effort something of a British Invasion primer, featuring classic rock mainstays the Faces, Donovan, and, his favorites, The Kinks (Anderson had originally planned to use Kinks music exclusively for the film). Let's face it, musically, none of his other films compare here and we could have easily picked five selections from “Rushmore” alone (springing to mind: the iconic Creation, “Makin’ Time” montage sequence, the show-stoppingly melancholy “I Am Waiting” by the Rolling Stones, the hilarious use of John Lennon's “Oh Yoko!” while Bill Murray’s Herman Blume and Jason Schwartzman’s Max Fischer pop wheelies in unison) the one we picked is so good, effective and unexpected, that we can’t overlook it. Using the third and final part of the band’s eight-and-a-half minute mini-rock opera (“The Kids Are Alright” version, not the Live at Leeds version found on the soundtrack album and used in the original trailer, but the one from the Rolling Stones' Rock N' Roll Circus album and movie), the cue plays over the film’s “revenge sequence,” beginning with Max using his considerable beekeeper skills on Blume’s hotel room and ending with the cops carrying Max away for cutting the brakes on Blume’s Rolls Royce. With all due respect to Mr. Townsend and co., this song will forever be tied with the words “five foot three, 112 pounds, black hair, glasses, oval face”—not to mention Anderson’s best use of slo-mo yet. For more check out a feature we did on all the music featured in "Rushmore" a few years back.


“The Royal Tenenbaums”: The Rolling Stones – “She Smiled Sweetly” Though this film is legendary among the 20-something, Urban Outfitters set for its use of music, the wall-to-wall soundtrack in “Tenenbaums” is where things started to fall apart for us. While the music selected is almost uniformly excellent and indicative of good taste, Anderson’s use of it is no different than a director who instructs his composer to layer a swell of sappy strings over an emotional scene — we’re thinking the use of Nico’s “These Days” in particular. Admittedly, most of the songs work on initial viewings, but watching the film these days the music feels distracting — like Anderson is showing off his impressive record collection rather than scoring the scene with the intent of taking the on-screen action to the next level. However, there are exceptions, one being his third use of a Rolling Stones song in three films, “She Smiled Sweetly.” Taken from young Margot Tenenbaum’s favorite album 1967’s Between the Buttons, the song, playing from a toy record player, subtly layers a dark (for Anderson) and emotionally real scene between a post-suicide attempt Richie (Luke Wilson) and his sister (Gwyneth Paltrow)— excuse us, adopted sister — where the characters reveal their scars, both emotional and physical, and admit the truth about their “frowned upon” love. According to Anderson's audio commentary, when the scene went too long and needed another song, he picked another track from the U.S. version of the album that compliments “Sweetly” quite well— the number one hit “Ruby Tuesday.” Though let's note our favorite, favorite use of music in the film, is actually the use of Bob Dylan's "Billy - Main Title" from his score to Sam Peckinpah's 1973 version of "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid," recycled for 'Tenenbaums' and used as the sad, disgraced music that plays as Royal Tenebaum's (Gene Hackman) cancer hoax is revealed to a scam to the utterly disappointed and heartbroken family (but the scene isn't available unfortunately,but here's one version of the song). For more check out a feature we did on all the music featured in 'Tenenbaums' back in 2007.


“The Life Aquatic”: The Zombies – “The Way I Feel Inside” – Widely considered Anderson’s weakest effort, his fourth film suffers from the same packed-to-the-gills-with-pop-songs-itus as “Tenenbaums.” The filmmaker tries changing it up by having all but two David Bowie songs played live — in Portguese — by Seu Jorge, and picking a few songs outside his standard ‘60s/’70s songs wheelhouse, but he’s only half successful. While Devo’s “Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy” works, he stumbles with his use of Sigur Ros’s “Staralfur” during the jaguar shark encounter. While it sort of worked on initial viewings, the track now seems terribly out of place. A dubious choice, and frankly, we’re not sure where the man’s head was; early test screenings reported the use of Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place” during the “let me show you my boat” scene, so perhaps it could have been worse. But, like some sort of savant, Anderson once more took a sad, ‘60s British rock song, and found a way to squeeze something great out of it. In this case, The Zombies' “The Way I Feel Inside” plays as Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) carries his dead son Ned/Kingsley (Owen Wilson) out of the water after a bloody helicopter crash. A capella, save for a lone organ that enters halfway through the brief tune, the use of the song seems as much about lyrics as the music itself — unusual for Anderson who has been criticized in the past for using songs with little regard for incompatible lyrical content. For more check out a feature we did on all the music featured in "Life Aquatic."


“The Darjeeling Limited”: The Kinks – “Strangers” – While Anderson decided to scale back the pop music on his most recent effort, the amount of transcendent musical moments are few and far between: his obligatory Rolling Stones song, though an excellent choice, falls flat in context — as do the other two Kinks songs, and his use of Satyajit Ray music isn’t as good as it could be. Still, Anderson manages to use the Dave Davies written track memorably, scoring the film’s funeral scene (shot in slow motion, naturally) with the gorgeous, acoustic based song blaring on the soundtrack. Again, Anderson seems to be taking lyrics into consideration — the words “For many men there is so much grief/And my mind is proud but it aches with rage/And if I live too long I'm afraid I'll die/Strangers on this road we are on” are insightful in context, like something Owen Wilson’s Francis might say if he were more eloquent. A bit too on the nose, maybe, but then so is picking the “brother band” The Kinks to score a movie about brothers. We’ll let it slide — it also doesn’t hurt that it’s one of our favorite Kinks songs ever.


For "Fantastic Fox"? The pop music in the film is... fine. The use of the Beach Boys' soft and sweet, "Ol Man River" is the best pop song used, but overall? We give an A+ to the score composed by Alexandre Desplat as it's one of his best ever and rivals Mark Mothersbaugh's scores for "Rushmore" and to a lesser extent, 'Tenenbaums.' For more, you could also check out (download) the If I Were Wes Anderson imaginary soundtrack collection we made a few years ago.

First Look At 'Manolete,' With Penelope Cruz & Adrien Brody, But Is The Long-Delayed Film Ever Coming Out?

Ok, generally we're not excited about the new directorial effort from the guy who helmed "Martian Child," Menno Meyjes, but this first look at his new movie, "Manolete," from Collider is intriguing if only because of the cast (but hold the phone...)

We'll admit, this is the first time we've heard about this film (there's a reason for this), but with Penelope Cruz and Adrien Brody, this story about Spain's most famous and revered bullfighter could be interesting. We're not sure if it's Oscar-baity, we're just going off photos (and with Meyjes career, just ok pictures like "Max" it seems doubtful), but it appears to be a step in the right direction for Brody who's Oscar-winning career has been sidetracked by a lot of B-movie dreck.

This extraordinary film tells the true story of Spain’s most famous bullfighter, Manuel ‘Manolete’ Rodriguez, whose original style and tragic death in the bullring at 30 years old turned him into a legend. The film centres around the bullfighter and his obsessive love for Lupe Sino - an actress and social beauty who becomes the love of Manolete’s life, despite fierce opposition and jealousy from those closest to him. In Manolete’s world, it is considered bad luck to befriend a woman, let alone fall in love with one. Lupe and Manolete couldn’t be more different from each other. She is in love with life and he is in love with death. Their love for each other is passionate, explosive, dangerous and ultimately tragic. On the last day of Manolete’s life, after a bitter argument with Lupe, he enters the bullring for the last time filled with sadness and rage. He has lost the will to fight. Having shown Manolete how to live, Lupe ultimately also shows him how to die.

But uhh, here's where we sort of lose our interest already (that was fast). This film has been sitting around since 2007 and still hasn't even gone the film festival route, which is not a good sign. As some have noted, there's a lot of chum at AFM, the American Film Market where these images come from (in fact some recent "new" images are for films that already came out and are on DVD and Blu-Ray, see "The Tournament"), so this might be a final salvo in trying to get someone buyers interested in a film that no one originally was. In fact, "Manolete" was actually shot before "Martian Child" and still the latter film came first. In fact, a trailer for the film has been available on YouTube since 2006 and it looks terrible.

The best unintentionally funny (perhaps truthful) moment in the trailer? Cruz looks on lovingly to Brody and says, "you really the most beautiful ugly man I have ever seen." Funny.

Does not bode well. Maybe at this point, they're just trying to sell it to the AFM DVD market. It's a total possibility.

In Theaters: '2012,' 'Pirate Radio,' 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'

Hollywood seems to be saving its best for last this year, or maybe they don't have many aces up their sleeves after all. Last week, "Disney's A Christmas Carol" opened to decent, not spectacular box office, but may have legs through the season. This week though, expect the end of the world to drum up anything but apocalyptic numbers as "2012" is unleashed in theaters nationwide.

In Wide Release: Nuclear November kicks off with Roland Emmerich latest disaster-porn flick "2012." With "The Road" set to open in a couple weeks, audiences should get their fill of the apocalypse, both grandiose and poetic. The film takes it cues from the Mayan calendar, which ends in 2012. A great excuse, of course, to show the entire world meeting an unsettling demise. You could say John Cusack stars in this thing, but we all really know that the visual effects take centerstage here. For some, this will be the ultimate guilty pleasure film of the season, but we'll get our kicks with John Hillcoat's film a couple week from now. The cast also includes Chjwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, and Oliver Platt. Rotten Tomatoes has a fresh rating of 37% for this one, while Metacritic has a score of 50.

Also in semi-wide release (900 screens) is Richard Curtis' new heart-warmer "Pirate Radio." The "Love Actually" auteur brings us the story of eight DJs in 1960 England who defy the government's anti-rock and roll laws and set up a pirate radio station aboard an offshore vessel. Curtis assembles a fantastic cast that includes Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Rhys Ifans, and Emma Thompson. We posted our take yesterday, finding the film to be 75% good fun but harmed from a preposterous final act. The film is at a just-ok 55% fresh at RT with a Metacritic score of 56.

In Limited Release: Wes Anderson's sixth feature, the animated "Fantastic Mr. Fox" emerges on only four screens this week in New York and L.A. before going wide on Thanksgiving. An adaptation of Roald Dahl's book of the same name, Anderson wrote the screenplay with Noah Baumbach and directed the stop-motion animated remotely from around the world, to the apparent chagrin of some of the crew. We've been following the film for years, and are excited to see Anderson doing something different and original with his talents, instead of regurgitating the same formula. With a voice cast that includes George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe and Jason Schwartzman, the film is stacked with great talent to accompany the whimsical old-school animation. We have a couple takes on the film and are pleased with the picture, a nice, charming return to form for Anderson. The critics have fallen in line with a 91% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 88 score from Metacritic.

A great cast headlines director Oren Moverman's "The Messenger." Ben Foster ("3:10 to Yuma," "Freaks and Geeks") stars as a solider who, upon returning from Iraq, is assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification Service. He along with another solider, played by Woody Harrelson, are tasked with giving the bad news to fallen soldier's families. We saw the movie recently and found it to be riveting with amazing performances from the whole cast (review coming momentarily), which also includes Samantha Morton. It is great to see Harrelson working more and getting higher quality roles and he is a revelation in this film. RT tracks the film at an excellent 90% fresh with a Metacritic score of 80.

Directing team Scott McGehee and David Siegel ("Suture," "The Deep End") new film "Uncertainty" opens in limited release today. Two different plotlines are explored in the movie, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins as couple who make a decision at a flip of a coin. One side takes them to Brooklyn, another to Manhattan. One is a thriller, the other a drama. The trailer looked interesting, but jarring. We'd love to see these filmmakers pull off a project like this, but we're skeptical. "Uncertainty" is currently at a low 45% on RT with a Metacritic score of 46, suggesting it's not great. And a couple of reviews we've read have said the same, which is too bad because Gordon-Levitt is generally great in everything he does.

Also in limited release this week, "Women In Trouble" from writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez. It presents one day in the lives of ten seemingly disparate women and stars Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Simon Baker. We saw the movie and sort-of reviewed it earlier this week. It's campy and Oxygen-network worthy, but we can't really endorse it. RT rates it a low 31% and Metacritic gives it a 43 score.

Also in theaters in limited release is the documentary, "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe," which has an agreeable 75% RT rating, and the Sundance film "Dare" starring Emmy Rossum and Zach Gilford that has an not-great 44% score.

Werner Herzog Wanted To Cast Abel Ferrara In His Version Of 'Bad Lieutenant'

Where did the beef between German director Werner Herzog and cantankerous Bronx-born filmmaker Abel Ferrara net out?

In case you've lived under a rock: Herzog and Ferrara exchanged words several times over the last 12 months over the former's "remake"/not-a-remake of the latter's 1992 scuzzball classic, "Bad Lieutenant" starring Harvey Keitel as a drugged-up, out-of-control police officer.

As discussed umpteenth times, Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" borrows the name of the project (because the same producers own it and insisted on using it, even though Herzog was initially resistant) and uses the idea of an unhinged, drugged-up cop (this time played by Nicholas Cage), but having seen the wackball movie, we can say (as Herzog has said all along) it's largely a very, very different picture with a completely different tone (one is jizz-stained, one is off-the-wall and comical).

So where did their war of words and feud pan out? Herzog insists that he has still never seen the original film (and somehow says he doesn't know who Ferrara is despite the fact that they've thrown tons of digs at each other), but at the Venice Film Festival, he gave forth a laurel of peace suggesting the two should discuss their grievances over a drink. "We should meet up soon over a bottle of whisky," Herzog told the press as a sort of public gesture to Ferrara if he was listening.

So, with "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" opening up soon (November 20), is that imbibing and burying of the hatchet going to happen? Probably not.

IFC talked to Alan and Gabe Polsky, the first-time producers behind Herzog's film and they said Ferrara wouldn't even take their calls. The other revelatory admission they make? Herzog wanted to actually cast Ferrara in the film (so much for not knowing who he is).

"We actually did reach out to Abel originally. We tried to get him on the phone with a couple of writers, it didn't go anywhere and we just wanted to move forward. It's unfortunate, because I know that Werner would've loved to have cast Abel in the movie. He wouldn't have cast Harvey [Keitel], but he would've loved to cast Abel, but Abel was really not cool with what was going on."

Would have been an need tip of the cap to the original if Ferrara did appear, but it sounds like even that drink isn't going to happen anytime soon. In the meantime, Ferrara is helping Wesley Snipe pay off his IRS bills by casting him as the lead in the action thriller, "Game of Death."

Gus Van Sant's 'Restless' Becomes Untitled, Dennis Hopper's Son & Sissy Spacek's Daughter Join Cast

Alright, Gus Van Sant's "Restless" has now become an untitled project. We'll see how long that lasts. Remember when Noah Baumbach's "Greenberg" became untitled and now all of a sudden Focus Films is calling it by its original title?

Don't count it out yet. Meanwhile, the adolescent teen drama/ love story — which as we noted might be a strange, but good project for Van Sant as it's also a bit of a dark comedy and features a weird ghost — that stars Mia Wasikowska, has finalized it's casting which is good, because it starts filming today.

Van Sant known for working with a lot of unknowns or untrained actors seems to have gone this route again. Dennis Hopper's son, Henry Hopper will play the emo-like, angsty male lead suffering from the loss of his parents opposite Wasikowska and its his first starring role. Sissy Spacek's daughter Schuyler Fisk will play Waskowsk's older, protective sister and the Japanese kamikaze-pilot ghost who is the male lead's best friend (no we're not kidding) will be played by young Japanese actor Ryo Kase. Malaysian actor Chin Han (had a small role in "The Dark Knight" plays a doctor and Jane Adams plays Hopper's underappreciated aunt.

As we noted, this is a bit of an left turn for Gus Van Sant and could be his most unique film in a long time. "Restless," sorry, the untitled project (for now) was written by Jason Lew, one of Bryce Dallas Howard's (one of the producers) film school friends and was based on one of his plays. It feels a bit emo-teen love story (maybe superficially "Twilight"-esque, minus the vampires and retardation), a bit "Harold & Maude" (the lovebirds crash funerals together) and "Love Story" (it's a bit tragic).

But Van Sant obviously is attuned to teenage sensibilities. "I think that Gus was drawn to this story because he has an uncanny ability to convey the complexities of youth and outsiders, and this is, above all else, the journey of an outsider," Dallas Howard told THR.

Should be an interesting project. We thought it was a very unique script. No word on who is lensing it yet, but we're hoping "Paranoid Park" DOP Christopher Doyle comes back.

Contest Giveaway: 20 Double Passes To The Montreal Advance Screening Of 'Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans'

We have a ticket contest for you today in conjunction with the Montreal Mirror & VVS Films.

We have twenty double passes to the advance screening of Werner Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans" taking place Thurday, November 19th, at 7 PM at the AMC Forum in Montreal, Quebec.

To win, all you have have to do is email us your name and the answer to this question: Who plays the role of Genevieve in the film?

The first twenty correct answers win. Winners will be contacted by email.

Update: Contest is closed. Winners will be contacted shortly.

"Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans" opens in Montreal exclusively at the AMC Forum on November 20th.

'Paranormal' Scares Up $100 Million; Scorsese Ready For His Closeup; Colin Firth Stammers; Turteltaub Joins Greenpeace

-After a summer's worth of viral based buzz that Paramount's marketing team gradually built into mainstream attention, "Paranormal Activity," in its fifth week of national release has joined the $100 million club. Oren Peli's $15,000 movie that could is now the top grossing, R-rated thriller of all time but don't think that studios are banging down his door just yet. The director is currently filming "Area 51," an alien thriller, and the rights are currently for sale at the American Film Market. However, while it was mentioned earlier in the week that studios were in small bidding war for the picture, it appears things have deteriorated to such an extent that IM Global’s Stuart Ford, who is repping the picture, says there is no interest in the picture from any of the studios, while on the other hand saying that is deal is in the works. Studio suits may feel that Peli's success was a one time thing, but may be forgetting that film worked because it seemed to genuinely scary (though, we haven't seen it yet so don't take our word for it). Either that, or Peli and his team, perhaps feeling a little more entitled this time around, may be asking for far too much for his next picture. With the budget of "Area 51" at $5 million, its sixteen times the $300,000 Paramount paid for the rights for "Paranormal Activity" the first time around.

-Martin Scorsese and Ricky Gervais are together at last. It was announced yesterday that Scorsese would be this year's recipient for the Cecil B. De Mille Award for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field" at this year's Golden Globes. Scorsese is joining rarefied company, as the last director to receive the award prior to Steven Spielberg's 2007 honor, was Alfred Hitchcock way back in 1975. Gervais will get his moment to rib the famed director on live television when the show is broadcast on Sunday, January 17th. We find it kind of amusing and sadly ironic that the Golden Globes people are still taking the time broadcast their honorary awards, while the Academy people are shutting away this year's recipients who include Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman, Gordon Willis and John Calley, giving them a glorified dinner party on November 14th.

-Director Tom Hooper is trading in his cleats for the throne. The director of "The Damned United," has lined up a fantastic cast for his next film, "The King's Speech," which started shooting yesterday. Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Ehle, Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon are all on board in the film that tells the story of King George VI (Colin Firth) who overcomes his stammer with the help of speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Though we're wary of this becoming unintentionally hilariously sappy, we trust that with the talents he has on hand, Hooper will point the production in the right direction. The Weinstein Company, who are hoping to get Firth his first Academy Award for "A Single Man," will be distributing the film which is slated for release next year.

-Jon Turteltaub, who hasn't made a single film worth discussing (okay, "Cool Runnings" is a guilty pleasure), is ready to tackle his first serious film (sorry, "Instinct" doesn't count). The "National Treasure" director has come aboard a currently untitled project that will profile the founding of the highly influential environmental organization, Greenpeace. Set in the 1970s and 80s the film will follow founders Bob Hunter and Rex Weyler, and their merry band of pacifists, ecologists, musicians, teachers, sailors, and scientists as they tried to stop whaling, nuclear testing and seal hunts all while managing to form a powerful activist voice. The film will be adapted from two books, Weyler's "Greenpeace: How a Group of Ecologists, Journalists, and Visionaries Changed the World" and Hunter's "Warriors of the Rainbow: A Chronicle of the Greenpeace Movement," and while there is no script in place, producers are already in talks with Aaron Sorkin to wield his mighty pen. So just to summarize, Jon Turteltaub is set to direct a film about environmental activists that will possibly be written by Aaron Sorkin. And, no, today is not April 1st.

- Remember "Cracks" the suspenseful boarding-school girl drama (look people, not a "thriller") that Ridley Scott's daughter Jordan Scott directed? It stars Eva Green and Juno Temple, it played at TIFF earlier this year (we saw it) and now it's been picked up by IFC Films for a 2010 release. Good on 'em. Trailer and photos here if you missed.

-The teaser for the latest Happy Madison abomination has arrive and is just as craptacular as you might expect. "Grown Ups" stars Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider and David Spade as five high school friends who reunite decades later for a 4th of July party. Somehow, Salma Hayek and Maria Bello were also roped into this thing. The centerpiece of the minute and a half trailer is a fat man falling down a hill. If that tickles your funny bone, watch the below: