Those lovable Twitch boys love their foreign genre fare a whole lot, but when they get THIS enthusiastic about an upcoming project, that's usually enough to get me salivating like a movie-nerd version of Pavlov's dogs. What's the movie that has the Twitch boys extra-twitchy today? It looks to be a VERY enticing flick called Iron Sky, which is a Finnish sci-fi comedy noir (I think) about the Nazis who colonized the moon in 1945 and are due for a return to Earth in 2018.
Yeah, feel free to read that description a second time -- and then click here to visit Twitch and enjoy the very cool promotional teaser for the flick. I know nothing about the movie aside from Todd Brown's basic description and what's offered in the promo clip -- but hot damn I sure hope this movie ends up at one of the genre festivals I'm covering later this year. This is a seriously impressive little mini-movie, from the noirish visual style and the haunting song to the sci-fi slickness and the (very amusing) final shot of the statue... If the movie's only half as cool as Twitch hopes it will be, it will still be pretty damn neat. (For more info, bookmark Twitchfilm and then check out the official Iron Sky website.)
It's here! The day Frank Miller is going to make or break it on his directing debut. Oh, I know it is only the trailer -- but we all know that enough bad buzz on a comic book property (especially one as beloved as The Spirit) could sink it long before its release date.
The trailer comes to us by way of MTV so unfortunately we can't embed it. I barely caught the damn thing before it flashed off the main page. It looks very very Sin City -- which has already caused no amount of criticism. But I can't deny that I think it looks pretty intriguing. Maybe it's just that oh-so-sexy tagline. The Untouchables music is a nice touch, too, but also jarring. It started making me think of that movie instead of the trailer.
So, nothing new really -- Miller may be getting a fanboy reprieve. I'm in your corner though, Miller. The Spirit comes to the theatres January 15th, 2009.
Thanks to our reader Electrix for sending us the YouTube link! Now no one has to spaz out clicking the MTV link, and our international users can get in on the fun.
Having pioneered tech-noir with Blade Runner, Ridley Scott is trying his hand at classical noir with The Kind One. Varietyreports that Scott will direct and produce an adaptation of the Tom Epperson book, with Epperson himself writing the screenplay. The novel is about an amnesiac in 1930s Los Angeles who is informed that before he lost his memory, he was a ruthless gangster named "Two-Gun Danny," and that he works for a fearsome gangland boss. Epperson is a screenwriter by trade, best known for co-writing The Gift with Billy Bob Thornton; The Kind One is his first novel.
The other person to sign on to the project is Casey Affleck, who is clearly enjoying his new lease on life following The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone. He's really the perfect noir hero, scrappy, jaded and intelligent; we saw some of that on display in his brother's film, where he practically disappeared into the tough working-class Boston milieu. He and Scott should be able to hit this one out of the park, if the source material is any good. As always, I'd love to hear from commenters who are familiar with the book.
If he wasn't already damned by writing a Paul Walker dog movie, filmmaker David DiGilio sure is now. According to Variety, the writer of Eight Below has just signed a deal with DreamWorks to bring the graphic novel The Damned to the big screen. Mr. DiGilio will be making his directorial debut on the flick, which is about "a Los Angeles detective who discovers that a new gang with ties to the supernatural has infiltrated the city." Yep, it's a horror noir.
A little more digging (over at Oni Press) reveals a bit more of a plot synopsis: "Caught in the middle of a sinister web of murder, kidnapping, betrayal, and damnation, Eddie -- cursed and unable to rest -- can't escape the city's most ruthless warring demon gangs. This action-packed prohibition-era thriller combines the supernatural sensibilities of Joss Whedon with the stark reality of Miller's Crossing and The Godfather." Sounds all fine and good, but I'd have argue about the "reality" found in Miller's Crossing. It's my all-time favorite gangster movie, but realism ain't exactly what it was going for.
So congrats to Damned creators Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt on the big Hollywood sale. We'll all keep our fingers crossed on the movie version.
IGN has been given the gift of two official character stills from The Spirit -- and doesn't Scarlett Johansson look much prettier here than in that leaked costume test? Interestingly, the first official look of Samuel L. Jackson is a very buttoned down one -- not like the leaked stills that caused such a kerfluffle before being yanked. I'm really curious if those were simply tests, and this is the final choice.
Most of them are older still-in-progress shots, starring Frank Miller and a still visible green screen. Unfortunately we were not treated to a look at Gabriel Macht as the titular hero. But as we're getting a trailer very soon, it's not too disappointing. I would rather see the Spirit living and breathing, not just a static still. Can't wait! Head to IGN for larger versions of each.
Superhero Hype got their hands on some exclusive artwork for Frank Miller's adaptation of The Spirit. They're outdoor artwork, so you may be seeing these three posters at a movie theatre near you very soon.
I know I should scream "It's too Sin City!" but forget it, I think they are awesome. I especially love the tagline. As of right now, the MyCityScreams.com URL goes to the same Spirit website, but I bet they are about to revamp it. The teaser and the official poster is supposed to debut at New York ComicCon on April 21st, and then appear online shortly after. Can't wait.
If you'd like a hi-res version of the three posters, head over to Superhero Hype. The Spirit hits theatres January 16th, 2009.
American filmmaker Jules Dassin has reportedly died today in Athens, Greece, of complications after catching flu. Obviously it is a sad time for fans of Dassin's Night and the City; Richard Widmark, the actor who starred in that classic noir, died one week ago.
Dassin was born in Connecticut in 1911, became an actor in Yiddish theater in New York and then went on to Hollywood, where he made films noir like Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves' Hideaway and of course Night and the City, which was his last American film thanks to the persecution of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Fortunately, as an exile in Europe, he continued to churn out brilliant movies, such as the pre-eminent heist flick Rififi, the crime caper Topkapi and the gold-hearted hooker film Never on a Sunday, which starred Dassin and his future wife, Greek actress Melina Mercouri, and for which he received Oscar nominations for writing and directing. His last film was the disappointing 1980 Canadian production Circle of Two, which starred Richard Burton and Tatum O'Neal.
Damn this makes me happy. The Philadelphia Film Festival has always been known for some very fine "genre-style" programming, from U.S. horror fare to the oddest of offbeat imports. So when programmer Lewis Tice dropped me a press release on the 2008 selections, I dove into the email with much enthusiasm. (More specifically, I muttered "Oooh" and then I read the email.)
As much as I hate re-posting press releases with little or no commentary, the truth is that I'm knee-deep in SXSW awesomeness, so I don't have much time to commentate. And since I certainly wasn't going to let someone ELSE post something about PHILLY, the sad truth is that you're getting rooked here. Just movie titles and synopses, with none of that oh-so-awesome Weinberg insight. Try not to hold it against the Philadelphia Film Festival that I'm so lame. Check out the list of films after the jump ...
When I first read the release, I saw the words meth and snake, and immediately thought this was about something else entirely.
Variety reports that Dimension Films has just picked up the rights to Clifford Meth's series Snaked. It is a horror-noir that follows a government employee who lives in a world of dirty politics, unfaithful women, and backstabbing friends -- and one day, abruptly sheds his skin and grows some fangs. It's a loaded metaphor, you see, and plenty of sex and violence follow.
Meth will be penning the screenplay himself. No director has been named yet, but the project is being overseen by producer Richard Saperstein, who was behind the studio's 1408, The Mist, and the Rob Zombie Halloween remake. The premise of Snaked seems to fit right in -- and I think IDW and Dimension are becoming the best of friends. The studio optioned their Joe Hill series Locke & Key only weeks ago.
I haven't read Snaked (Hollywood is buying these up faster than I can read them), so someone is going to have to fill me in. The premise seems to fit perfectly with Dimension -- I'm envisioning lots of gore and female nudity.
And here I was thinking "Wow, we haven't heard much about The Spirit lately."
Frank Miller has posted his third blog on the film's official site and this one finds him full of praise for his cast. "One outstanding reason I am a lucky SOB is because I get to work with beautiful goddesses and gods who also, by the way, can ACT." Miller certainly has lined up a fairly impressive cast -- though even the fanboys are skeptical that Jaime King and Eva Mendes fall into the "great talent" category.
I don't know if it's my compute or the site, but the blog goes blank about halfway through, so if it works for you, you'll have to fill me in on what else Miller says. All in all, his blogs make one hope that Miller directs as well as he writes about directing. . .
Sadly, while he opened the floor to heroic discussion, a look at the forum reveals he never actually stayed to listen. And here I was hoping I'd discovered the secret place where Miller hangs out and talks about bullets, broads, and booze.
The films of the Coen Brothers tend to split their admirers into different camps. Some love everything they do, many favor their loonier comedic endeavors (Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?), and still others pledge allegiance to their more straightforward and violent dramatic offerings (Miller's Crossing, Fargo, No Country for Old Men).
I fall into the latter camp, having first encountered the unique sensibilities of Joel and Ethan Coen on a tiny television in my tiny Brooklyn living quarters in the late 1980s. Even in a bowdlerized version for television, interrupted for commercials every 10 minutes, Blood Simple held me mesmerized from its opening shot -- an extreme low-angle view of a two-lane highway, shredded rubber tire in the foreground -- to its last.
Watching the film again last night, I was struck by how accomplished the film looks. You could play it on a double bill with No Country for Old Men and be reminded that the Coens already knew the power of silence way back in 1984. They also knew a great image when they saw one, appreciated the value of underplaying a performance, recognized the allure of shadows and silhouettes, and treasured subtle nuances. They've grown and matured, expanding their thematic range, but their debut demonstrates that they've always been uncommonly assured filmmakers.
The Trapis an ominous title for an ominous movie. Using the American film noir as a template, this Serbian production injects quiet contemplation of moral dilemmas into the genre. It's like a deep and thoughtful version of Double Indemnity.
In fact, it might be a little too thoughtful for its own good. The plot is admirably straightforward and uncomplicated, but the movie's languid pace makes it feel overlong, an 80-minute movie trapped in the body of a 106-minute movie. A tighter pace, with fewer scenes of the main character caught in indecision -- that kind of thing is almost never interesting outside of "Hamlet" -- would do wonders for it.
Even as it is, though, it's a compelling, unsettling story, and it's easy to see why it made the shortlist of potential nominees in the foreign-language Oscar category. It addresses an issue that most people don't want to face: the fact that some people's lives are more valuable than others'.
One of the many comedies debuting at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Assassination of a High School President is a school-set spoof of film noir, with school paper journalist Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson) going from outcast to in-crowd when he dopes out who's been lifting SAT papers from the administration's office. Funke hits the means, motive and opportunity triple play and pins the thefts on student council president and basketball star Paul Moore (Patrick Taylor); his article earns him a coveted internship with Northwestern's journalism program and the affections of Moore's ex, Francesca (Mischa Barton). It's all looking good. Until it isn't. Funke learns new facts that make his sure-thing story look shaky; Northwestern is calling to fact-check the story, and if they find holes, his internship's over before its begun. But Funke's ready to walk the mean halls of St. Donovan's and scour the Jersey suburbs to get the story right. ...
Many critics and observers have already pigeonholed Assassination of a High School President as"Brickplayed for laughs." And yeah, that's a fairly simplistic assessment; then again, Assassination of a High School President's a fairly simplistic film. Written by ex-South Park production assistants Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski (and between this film and Hamlet 2, it's interesting how the road to Park City, Utah seems to have had an on-ramp in South Park, Colorado this year), Assassination never quite clicks as a total experience. Yes, it's amusing when Thompson, in his self-celebrating inner monologue, says he'll be on the case " ... like pink rubber bands on your sister's braces." And director Brett Simon finds lively, well-shot moments of visual excitement in the clichés of high school life: detention is shot like the big house, a party sequence moves and grooves with giddy chaos. But Assassination has a meandering plot line that dithers when it should drive forward, and lingers at times it should leap ahead. As Funke works leads, we get scenes that expand the running time instead of advance the plot. And yes, holding this film's central pitch up to the life-and-death stakes of Brick -- one of the best films I've ever seen in seven years of attending Sundance -- is going to make the funny-and-goofy stakes of Assassination seem slighter in comparison.
If you've seen Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose, you've seen one heck of a great performance. But will we see another from the actress, or was playing Edith Piaf the role of a lifetime? While I can't imagine her ever making such a huge transformation or giving such a notable, career-defining performance again, I'm excited to see where her Oscar nomination takes her and I hope that she can at least follow it up with some interesting parts. We've already heard that her next major role will be in Rob Marshall's Nine, an adaptation of the musical inspired by Fellini's 8½. After that, she could be heading to Chicago (not Marshall's Chicago, the real city) for Michael Mann's Public Enemies. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Cotillard is in negotiations to play Billie Frechette, the torch singer girlfriend of John Dillinger, who will be played by Johnny Depp. Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff and Jason Clarke have also joined the cast.
As Monika relayed last week, Billie will be a major character in the plot of Public Enemies, which also stars Christian Bale. The movie will reportedly balance between Dillinger's crime story and his love life while also focusing on FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Bale), who famously pursued and caught Dillinger in the mid-1930s. It is interesting to note that Public Enemies will be another singing role for Cotillard, who did not actually perform any of the Piaf songs in La Vie en Rose. But while the actress is not a born singer nor a long-trained one, she did sing in in the 2001 French film Les Jolies Choses(Pretty Things) and will be singing in Nine. Also, if you think Cotillard is suddenly getting work just because of her La Vie en Rose acclaim, you're mistaken. You may have seen her in either of her two English-language movies (Ridley Scott's A Good YearandTim Burton's Big Fish), in any of the three Taximovies, as the female lead in the sweet Amelie wannabe Love Me If You Dare, in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie follow-up, A Very Long Engagement or in any of the many other French films in which she has appeared.
The inaugural AFI Dallas International Film Festival got the city excited about movies last year. True, the purist in me felt it wasn't the most adventurous of programs, and I wish there was a wider range of docs and foreign-language titles, but the festival did stretch the boundaries of what normally plays in the multiplexes. Celebrities like David Lynch (Inland Empire), Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz), and Morgan Freeman (10 Items or Less) grabbed the attention of the local media, and it felt like "the thing to do" for people seeking a night out. I've lived here for years, but I was frankly surprised at how many folks turned out for little-known, unheralded pictures -- staying respectfully right to the end -- as well as the star-driven buzz titles.
The challenge now is to build on that success. Dallas Observer film critic and blogger Robert Wilonsky at Unfair Parkposted the news that the festival has announced the first 15 selections for its second edition, which will be held from March 27-April 6. Two of the films are playing at Sundance: Nacho Vigalando's Timecrimes, a time travel suspense drama I loved when it premiered at Fantastic Fest (Jette liked it too, Kim wrote about the wild Sundance party, and Scott interviewed the irrepressible Nacho), and Alex Gibney's doc Gonzo: The Life & Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
Other docs include the US premieres of Scott Hicks' Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Partsand Michael Albright's Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake as well as Robyn Bliley's Circus Rosaire, Helen Hood Scheer's Jump! and Robert Patton-Spruill's Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome. Narrative feature highlights include Helen Hunt's Then She Found Me, Stuart Gordon's Stuck(based on a true story that took place in nearby Fort Worth), and the world premiere of Jeffrey Goodman's "noirish thriller" The Last Lullaby. As we did last year, we'll be covering the festival at Cinematical, so stay turned for regular updates.
Those lovable Twitch boys love their foreign genre fare a whole lot, but when they get THIS enthusiastic about an upcoming project, that's usually enough to get me salivating like a movie-nerd version of Pavlov's dogs. What's the movie that has the Twitch boys extra-twitchy today? It looks to be a VERY enticing flick called Iron Sky, which is a Finnish sci-fi comedy noir (I think) about the Nazis who colonized the moon in 1945 and are due for a return to Earth in 2018.
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Full 'G.I. Joe' Cast Photos!
