A+F: Film

Mulan

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:41:41 +0000

De Bont to direct Zhang in ‘Mulan’
BEIJING – Hollywood hitmaker Jan de Bont has signed up to direct Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi in an independently-produced, English-language co-production of the classic tale of Hua Mulan, the legendary young heroine soldier who joins an all-male army.
“Mulan” is set to start shooting this fall outside Shanghai, where de Bont, the director of “Speed,” “Twister” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” will attempt to bring romance, action and drama to screenwriter John Blickstead’s re-creation of the Chinese Joan of Arc story that was first described in a 6th century poem. . . .
Hollywood Reporter, September 4

Jan de Bont to direct 'Mulan'
BEIJING -- Action helmer Jan de Bont has signed up to direct Chinese thesp Zhang Ziyi in a new English-language, $35 million live-action version of the folk story "Mulan," which its makers hope will wow auds both in China and beyond.
Zhang will also co-produce the indie project, alongside Beaver Kwei and Ling Lucas, who collaborated with her on her successful romantic comedy "Sophie's Revenge" last year. Also involved are Movie Plus Prods. of Canada, Blighty's Global Film Finance, Beijing-based Bona Intl. Film Group and Salon Intl. Media Fund Pictures. . . .
"Mulan," which is a bit like "Robin Hood" crossed with "Maid of Orleans," was made famous worldwide by the 1998 Disney animation, and there was another live-action version by Hong Kong helmer Jingle Ma last year. The 6th century text is a key element of Chinese folklore. . . .
Variety, September 8

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Coincidentally (or not?), the Guardian's 'Reel history' series just posted an item on the Disney film, giving it a B+ for entertainment value but an E for history.

I'm Still Here

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:21:24 +0000

Mike Fleming:

Quote

Casey Affleck has completed that much-talked about and long-awaited mockumentary he directed about his brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix's eccentric metamorphosis from actor to hip-hop musician (or so we've been led to believe). I'm told that the film made its debut in a private lunchtime screening at WME headquarters last week for buyers -- including Harvey Weinstein -- who were sworn to secrecy.

Tangled

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 06:56:56 +0000

Cartoon Brew is reporting that John Lasseter has fired Glen Keane (son of Family Circus's Bil, and a long-time Disney animator) from his job as co-director of Rapunzel, and the other co-director has "ankled" the project as well (as the trade papers say). Ain't It Cool News, in response, passes along a memo from Disney which claims that Keane has stepped aside for "health" reasons.

Both sources report that Disney has replaced the original directors with Nathan Greno and Byron Howard -- who, as coincidence would have it, previously replaced Chris Sanders as the directors of Bolt. (Sanders directed Lilo & Stitch, easily Disney's biggest non-Pixar animated hit of the '00s -- and on a smaller budget than the others.)

Between this and the meddling Lasseter did on Meet the Robinsons, one wonders what is going on at Disney these days. Am I allowed to say that I also didn't care for his commentary on the new Sleeping Beauty DVD all that much?

The Dark Tower

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 01:13:40 +0000

Just found this IGN report via Hollywood Elsewhere:

QUOTE

IGN has exclusively learned that J.J. Abrams is poised to direct The Dark Tower, based on the Stephen King literary series. Abrams' production company Bad Robot had "no comment" on the matter.

Sources advised us that an official announcement is forthcoming. We have been unable to determine whether Dark Tower will be a film project or a TV miniseries, although the latter is a more likely prospect given the complex nature of King's seven-book series.

Abrams. Hmm. That makes me think that Lost's Josh "Sawyer" Holloway just has the right kind of look for the lead....

Dr. Strange

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:17:39 +0000

Links to our threads on the most recent or currently-in-development installments in the Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Punisher, Fantastic Four, Wolverine, X-Men, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Avengers franchises.

I sincerely hope the filmmakers give Amy Grant a part in this.

http://www.drstrange.nl/drstrange/comics/layout/amygrant_thecollection1.jpg http://www.drstrange.nl/drstrange/comics/layout/drsss14_amygrant.jpg

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Will Dr. Strange Be Marvel's First Superhero To Fly Under the Disney Banner?
EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios has hired Conan scribes Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to write Dr. Strange, marking forward progress on a long-gestating superhero property which will likely be among the first Marvel films generated under the Disney banner. Aside from Conan--the Marcus Nispel-directed Lionsgate film that stars Jason Momoa--Donnelly and Oppenheimer also scripted a live action adaptation of the vidgame Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for Sony and producer Chuck Roven, and they wrote a draft of the Jon Favreau-directed Cowboys and Aliens for DreamWorks/Universal.
Originated in 1963 by Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, Dr. Strange was a self-centered New York surgeon robbed of his touch after a car accident. After a stint as a wandering derelict, he found his way to a healer in the Himalayas, where he learned to tap into psychic powers to battle evil wizards and other wrongdoers. His mind is his weapon, rather than the brute force that distinguish most memorable Marvel heroes. . . .
Mike Fleming, Deadline.com, June 21

46th Annual Chicago International Film Festival (2010)

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:14:10 +0000

The preview went live sometime in the past two or three days. We've got Uncle Boomee and Wasteland, but is it just me or is there nothing else exciting here? Why would anyone, EVER, want to see a film titled Big Tits Zombie? No matter how good it is you still can't talk about it without blushing. And Come Undone is supposed to be stellar, however I'm getting that this month from Film Movement.

Tree of Life

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:47:10 +0000

According to a quick trip through some stories at The Guardian, IMDB, and various online chats about sci-fi and Mel Gibson, it looks like the next Terrence Malick film may be Tree of Life.

Colin Farrell and Mel Gibson are the actors supposedly involved, but it sounds like something along the lines of 2001: A Space Odyssey, beginning in some pre-historic era and jumping forward in time. (And that's interesting, considering how I've heard The New World compared to 2001 several times.)

But this all sounds very vague and speculative. Who knows?

Anybody here heard about this? (I see Peter mentioned it in his blog about a year ago.)

The American (2010)

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:41:50 +0000

IMDB Entry

I like the idea of this collaboration a lot.

Hollywoodnews.com link

The Queen

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:00:39 +0000

Saw this on Friday and was quite impressed. Appropriately, it's a rather humble and considered affair. It focuses on the days following Diana's death which presented the royals with substantial turmoil due to the massive public backlash.

It depends a lot on people's awareness of Diana and her relationship with the royal family but then who isn't aware of this, at least to some degree? I also couldn't decide what I thought of the Tony/Cherie Blair actors. They walk a fine line between lookalikes/actors. It's a bit odd seeing such familiar characters who are still largely in the public eye onscreen. Helen Mirren's performance, however, was impeccable and I didn't for one minute feel uncomfortable with seeing her as the Queen.

Overall an ok film with some fine performances but nothing out of the ordinary. I've always had a soft spot for HRH though, and came out of this with even greater respect for her.

Somewhere

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:43:55 +0000

Links to our threads on Sofia Coppola's previous films Lost in Translation (2003; see also the original thread here) and Marie Antoinette (2006). We don't seem to have any threads on The Virgin Suicides (1999).

Elle Fanning looks so grown up here. I hadn't realized it's been six years since The Door in the Floor already.

Shame

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:27:21 +0000

From the Current:

Quote

British director Steve McQueen and his Hunger muse Michael Fassbender are teaming up again, Variety reports. Their next project, the similarly succinctly titled Shame, sounds like a change of pace from their harrowing first film together: the story is described only as being about “a thirtysomething man living in New York, who is unable to manage his sex life.” We’re guessing that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Shame, which commences shooting in January, will be introduced to potential buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival, which begins Thursday.

Link to the Variety story the Current references. According to this story, the film is premiering at TIFF.

Link to the thread on Hunger, McQueen and Fassbender's previous collaboration.

Toronto International Film Festival 2010

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:55:47 +0000

The full schedule was announced yesterday. My schedule is a little wonky because I'm leaving earlier than usual and because, for some reason, TIFF has eliminated nearly all of the weekday morning screenings. I try to see only those films that have no chance of ever making it to Knoxville and only make exceptions when there's nothing else to see in a given time slot.

Here's the first draft of my schedule.

Thursday 9/9
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Film Socialism (Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland)

Friday 10
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A Married Couple (Allan King, Canada)
The Light Thief (Aktan Arym Kubat, Kyrgyzstan)
Guest (Jose Luis Guerin, Spain)

Saturday 11
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Erotic Man (Jørgen Leth, Denmark) OR Poetry (Lee Chang-dong, South Korea)
The Four Times (Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy)
What I Most Want (Delfina Castagnino, Argentina)
Wavelengths 2
In Conversation with Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Wavelengths 3

Sunday 12
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Inside America (Barbara Eder, Austria)
A Useful Life (Federico Veiroj, Uruguay)
The Boxing Gym (Frederick Wiseman, USA)
Wavelengths 4
Wavelengths 5

Monday 13
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The Trip (Michael Winterbottom, United Kingdom)
My Joy (Sergei Loznitsa, Germany/Ukraine)
Nostalgia for the Light (Patricio Guzmán, France/Germany/Chile)
Wavelengths 6
The Ward (John Carpenter, USA)

Tuesday 14
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Norwegian Wood (Tran Anh Hung, Japan)
Oki’s Movie (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)
Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, USA)

Wednesday 15
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Curling (Denis Côté, Canada)
Sleeping Beauty (Catherine Breillat, France)
I Wish I Knew (Jia Zhang-ke, China) OR Promises Written in Water (Vincent Gallo, USA)

Thursday 16
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The Ditch (Wang Bing, China)
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (Andrei Ujica, Romania)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, U.K./Thailand)

Friday 17
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It’s Kind of a Funny Story (Ryan Fleck and Anne Boden, USA)

Converting two-dimensional films into 3-D

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:11:28 +0000

I had seen several horror film collections at Best Buy that claimed to have taken films originally shot in regular two-dimension format, that had been digitally remastered into 3-D. Night of the Living Dead was the big name film, converted by a company named 3D Media Lab IIRC. My first thoughts were that this has to be a joke, since the 3-D process requires 2 cameras which alter the perspective slightly, creating that annoying steroscopic format that doesn't let the eye focus on a single plane (not to mention those awful glasses that makes the experience viewable). I had also asked in another message board if anyone had seen these altered films, and the responses that I got were less than thrilling, although this may have more to do with viewing the films on a TV screen rather than in a theatre. I also know that you have to by a set of glasses, and perhaps some type of processor to attach to your DVD player to view these films, although I can't be 100% sure on that.

But, apparently the method of converting a film shot in regular 2D format to 3D has progressed, and now has some big time proponents, namely James Cameron and George Lucas, who were touting the process in Las Vegas at the ShoWest convention. Still have to wear the annoying glasses, though.

QUOTE(AP)

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas and "Titanic" director James Cameron were among those promoting a new digital alteration that converts two-dimensional movies into 3-D.

Theatergoers still have to wear those familiar cardboard glasses with red-and-blue cellophane, although backers of the new technology say it doesn't cause the eyestrain common with past 3-D efforts.

Lucas said he hopes eventually to release all six of his "Star Wars" movies in 3-D format that can be shown in regular moviehouses, not specialty theaters such as IMAX.

"It looks better than the original, to be honest with you," Lucas told theater owners Thursday at their annual ShoWest convention.

A snippet of "Star Wars: Episode II � Attack of the Clones" converted to 3-D was screened, and the images showed remarkable depth in a scene where Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi pursue an assassin in a flying vehicle.

And from The Hollywood Reporter...

QUOTE

Appearing as part of a sextet of high-profile directors promoting 3-D and digital cinema at ShoWest on Thursday, Lucas said he hadn't yet committed to a precise schedule but hoped to have the first film ready for the 30th anniversary of the original "Star Wars" movie in 2007 and that he would then rerelease one "Star Wars" film per year in 3-D.

Lucas was joined by James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, Robert Rodriguez and Randal Kleiser. Peter Jackson joined the group via a pretaped 3-D segment. They all implored the exhibition community to invest in digital projectors, which would allow theaters to show their upcoming movies in 3-D. Cameron is in preproduction on the 3-D film "Battle Angel," planned for a 2007 release. Zemeckis has two 3-D features in production, and Rodriguez is readying "The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D" for release in the summer. Jackson, who is currently filming "King Kong," announced no specific 3-D plans, but according to sources he has installed a 3-D master suite in his production offices in New Zealand.

I'd definitely check out episodes IV - VI.

Full AP story here.

Machete

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:01:26 +0000

Oh. My. Goodness.

De Niro earns a lot of forgiveness points for this.

The Hobbit

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:31:28 +0000

The problematic rights issues over J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit may be cleared up, if Time Warners bid for MGM goes through. Sony Corp. seems to be the only other serious bidder... story here.

Reagan

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:53:12 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: Ronald Reagan biopic planned
The story of Ronald Reagan's life -- from boyhood to Hollywood actor to leader of the free world -- is about to spill out on the big screen in a way quite different from the miniseries that caused such a stir seven years ago.
The feature film, titled "Reagan" and sporting a $30 million production budget, is set for release late next year and will be based on two best-selling biographies of the 40th U.S. president by Paul Kengor: "The Crusader" and "God and Ronald Reagan."
Mark Joseph, who optioned the books four years ago, is co-producing with Ralph Winter and Jonas McCord wrote the script.
Winter's producing credits include four "X-Men" movies, two "Fantastic Four" movies and the 2001 remake of "Planet of the Apes." Joseph, a marketing and development executive, worked on "Ray," "Holes," "Because of Winn-Dixie" and "The Passion of the Christ."
McCord, whose credits include "Malice" and "The Body," said he wasn't a fan of Reagan but was drawn to the project as he researched the former president's upbringing. . . .
McCord describes Reagan's childhood as "a surreal Norman Rockwell painting with his alcoholic Catholic father, devout Christian mother, Catholic brother and ever-changing boarders the family took in." . . .
Hollywood Reporter, September 7

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FWIW, earlier this year, McCord was attached to direct a movie about the Resurrection for Samuel Goldwyn.

Never Let Me Go

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:28:04 +0000

I loved the novel Never Let Me Go.

I loved the sense of melancholy and mystery, the beauty and the brokenness, and the same eye for exquisite details that Ishiguro displayed when he wrote The Remains of the Day.

It was one of those rare reading experiences where there's a Big Mystery that runs through the course of the book, and you have the pleasure of slowly unveiling it, without any mass media spoiling the surprise for you.

Well, guess what.

Variety, in their announcement of Mark Romanek's plans to film the movie with Keira Knightley as the star (excellent, excellent choice), spoiled the surprise about as quickly and bluntly as they could.

Makes me sad.

Imagine if The Crying Game had been promoted with Dil on ther poster and a teaser that said "She's a he!"

Lame, lame, lame.

I'm also disappointed that this has gone to Romanek. It's the kind of story that Ang Lee could craft into a masterpiece of subtlety, detail, and mood.

Ridley Scott's Untitled Alien prequel

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:36:16 +0000

Alright, probably time to get this thread started. Ridley Scott has been doing the rounds for Robin Hood, and has started dropping hints as to possible storylines for the Alien prequel. From an interview with MTV, it looks like Scott is going to focus some of the story on the race of Space Jockeys, but he is also going to have a human element involved in the form of terraformers and the Weyland Corporation.

Quote

"It's set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney [Weaver's character Ellen Ripley]. It's fundamentally about going out to find out 'Who the hell was that Space Jockey?' The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle — there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer's chair ... Our man [Tom Skerritt as Captain Dallas] climbs up and says "There's been an explosion in his chest from the inside out — what was that?" I'm basically explaining who that Space Jockey — we call him the Space Jockey — I'm explaining who the space jockeys were ... [The film] is about the discussion of terraforming — taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life."

Links to some earlier posts in the Alien: The Director's Cut thread, speculating some ideas that might be used in the prequel.

Star Wars - 30 Year Anniversary

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:51:20 +0000

Just came across this article marking the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, and lo... our own SDG is quoted in it!

I'm inviting folks to share their first Star Wars memories at Looking Closer.

Toy Story 3

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:46:31 +0000

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Shrek Forever After

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:43:08 +0000

Links to the threads on Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007) and Shrek the Broadway musical.

Star Wars on Blu-Ray

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:40:36 +0000

Links to the threads on Episode I, Episode II, Episode III, Episode IV, Episode V and the 2004 and 2006 editions of Episodes IV, V and VI on DVD, as well as The Clone Wars and the various rumoured TV series (plus one quasi-duplicate thread on the comedy series).

See also the threads on 'Star Wars Debate Redux' (which began as a place to bash Episode II; Jul 8 - Nov 11, 2003), 'Sci fi = spiritual? Star Wars, X2, etc.' (Apr 12-14, 2004), 'Best Star Wars Movie? (with poll; Apr 18-20, 2004), Top 100 Discussion: The Star Wars original trilogy?' (May 6-7, 2004), 'Is Star Wars Blasphemous?' (Jun 15 - Jul 25, 2005), 'Star Wars in 20 minutes' (Aug 8-9, 2006) and 'Star Wars: Uncut' (Apr 2010).

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‘Star Wars’ Films Coming to Blu-ray Next Year
A boxed set containing the Blu-ray versions of the movies, spanning from 1977’s “Star Wars” through the final 2005 prequel, “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” will mark the first time the films have been offered in a high-definition home format, and will include documentary features and previously unseen footage. . . .
Mr. Lucas said the versions of the first three “Star Wars” films – “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” – included in the Blu-ray boxed set will be the special-edition releases that were shown theatrically in 1997 and digitally restored for a 2004 standard-definition DVD boxed set.
Perhaps bracing for the reactions of fans who decried some of the changes made to the special-edition films – like, say, an exchange of gunfire between Han Solo and a certain green-skinned bounty hunter – Mr. Lucas said that to release the original versions of these films on Blu-ray was “kind of an oxymoron because the quality of the original is not very good.”
“You have to go through and do a whole restoration on it, and you have to do that digitally,” he added. “It’s a very, very expensive process to do it. So when we did the transfer to digital, we only transferred really the upgraded version.” . . .
New York Times, August 14

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Note how the reporter completely neglects to ask what new changes will be made to the films in 2011. Heck, he even seems ignorant of the fact that the 2004 versions of the original films were NOT identical to the 1997 versions of those films.

Transformers 3

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:34:05 +0000

Links to the threads on the first and second films.

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'Transformers 3' confirmed for 2011
Ending a complete lack of suspense, director Michael Bay announced on his Web site Thursday that he is officially on board to direct a third "Transformers" film for Paramount. The release date has been shuttled up a full year, from July 1, 2012, to July 1, 2011.
Stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are slated to return, as is "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" co-writer Ehren Kruger. Steven Spielberg will executive produce, as he did on the first two films, which have grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide.
Hollywood Reporter, October 1

Animal Kingdom

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:22:26 +0000

Animal Kingdom is a new crime film from Australia, being released in the U.S. on the 13 August 2010. Not being one to share my thoughts to often, I look forward to hearing from anyone else who catches it. Here is the trailer:

Collision

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:31:58 +0000

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