Cinematique

Cinematique is moving!

2006-11-30T05:25:00.000-08:00

soon cinematique will merge into something much, much bigger. In the meantime, news will be a little slow here, since I'll be writing for Solace in Cinema until cinematique gets its new home (around a month I should think). I'll be teaming up with culturalelite over at solace for the time being, and no doubt you'll agree, solace is a fine site for movie news, and a pleasure it will be to write there.

So for now, I'll close the doors on Cinematique, but I'll leave it on the latch ;)

Hop over to Solace and check it out folks!

Solace

See you soon,

stay hungry

al

Uwe, Uwe, Oh Uwe...

2006-11-29T02:33:00.000-08:00

Uwe Boll's "Postal" is set to arrive in 2007. I can't describe what little hope I have for any kind of redemtion from the man who brought us such cinema atrocities as Blood Rayne, Alone in the Dark, and House of the Dead. They guy should never be allowed on a movie set again, despite the fact that he can beat up his critics in the ring. (Step up Uwe, anytime, anywhere...)

Anyway, I'm gonna get through this as quickly as I can.

There's a first clip up on the iofficial site, which features Osama Bin Laden. Have a look if you care to, but its really nothing more than a demonstration that Boll's latest will be as formless and horrifically insulting as any other "movie" he's produced/directed.

Anyone got a colt .45 I could borrow? For the greater good...

check it out HERE

Is it a bird? Is it a Plane? no! Its the Superman Ultimate Edition DVD Box Set!!

2006-11-29T01:47:00.000-08:00

14 discs....!!!! 14 DISCS!!!! I mean! What the hell guys?? 14!!!???

Ok, now I've gotten that out of the way... The new 14 disc Superman: Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD is bound to contain everything a Superman fan could ever want! But what would that be?? Well, to put it mildly, a lot! Lets take a look at what you get for your 100 bucks...

Lets take a look...

Disc 1: The Theatrical non extended version of the original Superman. Its perfect, and waaaay better than the extended version which was the only one available until now on DVD. It runs 143 minutes, and has commentaries from producers Pierre Spengler and Ilya Salkind. One problem though, this version of the movie does not contain the original 1978 audio track. It has a remastered track mixed from the 2000 remix. This is something that WB had overlooked and they are issuing replacement DVD's with the original 1978 audio. Kudos WB!

Disc 2: This is the extended Donner cut of Superman and includes a commentary from Donner. This disc is the same as the release in 2000. The disc also contains the soundtrack for fans of the King of the March, John Williams.

Disc 3: This is the first of two bonus discs for the first film, and features a trio of docs that, again, were first seen on the 2000 disc. The screen tests and restored scenes also are from the 2000 edition.

Disc 4: Here's where it starts to get smoochy! We got a vintage TV special of "The Making of Superman". This disc also includes the 1951 feature film “Superman and the Mole Men,” starring George Reeves, who was recently portrayed ont he screen by Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland
his was in an odd way a kind of pilot for the popular TV series. And finally on this uber cool disc of loveliness... nine Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons from the 1940s. omg... I need this so bad...

Disc 5: The "official" version of Superman II directed by Richard Lester. Everyone knows the story about Supe 1 and Supe II being shot at the same time and that Donner due to a dispute with Salkind walked out on the second movie. Lester came in to finish the film, which is indeed a lot from Donner's movie. Theres a Deleted scene here though thats new and the same spengler/Salkind commentary team as from the first disc.

Disc 6: The Donner Version of the movie. Oh yes! Donner also provides a commentary here, and there are a few deleted scenes also.

Disc 7: More treasures from the vault, including “The Making of Superman II” TV special, the rather goofy “Superman 50th Anniversary” TV special hosted by Dana Carvey (and featuring a very brief interview with Superman’s then-chronicler John Byrne), and the remaining 1940s Superman cartoons — this set made by Famous Studios. There also is a new featurette on the Fleischer toons that’s definitely worth a look.

Disc 8: this one has some dodgy things going on. Its the 2000 DVD release of Superman III, BUT... there's been another mistake at WB. It doesn't contain any commentaryies from Salkind and Spengler, no making of, no deleted scenes, basically nothing. This was a mistake (again) and you can complain and get the full DVD with all the trimmings, though I'm not sure how you complain about it, you'll have to do some digging yourself there.

Disc 9: Desperation may set in with “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.” This was the end of the franchise for a while and it’s hard not to see why. The Salkinds were not involved in this film, which pales in comparison to the first two films. Commentary comes from co-writer Mark Rosenthal. There’s a handful of mildly interesting deleted scenes, including an interesting recap of Superman’s origin.

Disc 10: This disc is Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns,” which looks very good in this DVD transfer. The disc is just the film, as all the bonus features on this one are kicked over to …

Disc 11: The centerpiece of this disc is a nearly three-hour documentary (and at this point, you may be punchy enough to want to call it a three-hour tour) on the making of “Superman Returns.” There also is a short featurette on how Brando footage shot for the original film was adapted into the new film, as well as the usual deleted scenes and trailers. What’s disappointing about the two “Superman Returns” discs is the obvious omission of a commentary from Singer and the highly anticipated return to Krypton scene that reportedly cost $10 million to shoot and was cut from the film. Those items surely will turn up on a later edition, much to the annoyance of anyone who’s bought this one.

Disc 12: “Look, Up in the Sky!” If you want to know anything about Superman’s comic book history, this is the one place on this set you’ll see it dealt with in any way. There are interviews here with DC talent such as Denny O’Neil, Elliot S! Maggin, Mike Carlin, Paul Levitz, Dan Didio and Gail Simone. But this also is where comics fans (and anyone with an interest in an accurate and truthful record of the history of Superman) should have a big beef: Siegel and Shuster are barely mentioned as part of the story after the publication of Action Comics #1.

Disc 13: “You Will Believe: The Cinematic Story of Superman” once again recounts the history of the Christopher Reeve films. also 2 featurettes “The Mythology of Superman” and a tribute to Reeve. There's also a rare 1958 TV Pilot, "The Adventures of Superpup". What the...? There's also some cartoons on here too. Sounds a little strange, more of a gap filler disc than the rest perhaps.

Disc 14: The set is wrapped up with a disc of Bryan Singer’s Video Journals, which originally were posted online, including one about Singer’s 2005 visit to Comic-Con, for which he flew 20 hours from Sydney.

Basically, this is the Superman Bible. You get everything (save a few mis-released DVD's included in the pack. I can't imagine doing everything in one sitting, in fact, I should think you'd die if you tried, and if you didn't you'd probably just get really bored with Superman stuff... I'll be purcahsing my copy sooner rather than later!

Smoochy indeed!

Info courtesy of Tom McLean over at Variety

Se7en #1

2006-11-29T01:24:00.000-08:00

Back at the beginning of this month, I ran a story about a possible prequel to David Fincher's Se7en. At the end of that piece, I mentioned that there were 7 graphic novels in the making with various creators bringing the crimes of John Doe to the page, brilliantly drawn by Tommy Castillo. CBR got a look into the first of the 7 graphs: Gluttony, and have a chat with Tommy himself which you can catch HERE.

Check out the images below, which I think you'll find rather good!
Click on them to make them bigger.

Whats the Skinny with Rush Hour 3

2006-11-29T01:04:00.000-08:00

Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, a dynamic duo of action and comedy. We;ve had Rush Hour, in which Lee (Chan) and Carter (Tucker) thwarted the bad guys who kidnapped Ambassador Han's daughter in America, Soo Young. In the second installment, we have Carter out of water whilst Lee feels at home in Hong Kong, the two working together again to foil a rich white man's plans to steal a "money Making Machine". Well, the two of them are back and filming the third installment of Rush Hour, imaginatively titled, Rush Hour 3.

This time, both our characters are on unfamiliar territory. While in Paris, Lee and Carter inadvertantly get mixed up with the Chinese Triad crew. all the ingredients we need for a great BDM (Big Dumb Movie). The movie is currently in production, and with Brett Ratner at the helm again, and no doubt Lalo Schiffrin at the piany, I'm sure we can very quickly skip over the following rumours and scoops that have been kicking around about the movie.

Jean-Claud Van Damme will not appear in the movie. He mentioned in an interview that he may be appearing, but it turns out that he was lying. When confronted about it, he laughed it off as a joke.
Controversially, Roman Polanski will appear int he movie. He has been cast as a French Policeman who harrasses Carter and Lee while they fight a gang of murderous triads. This is interesting as Polasnki the Thesp, hasn't featured in a Hollywood film since "Chinatown" in 1974.
Yoa Ming, the famous basketball player, had been targetted by Ratner to appear, however that one fell through. I can just imagine the homage to Bruce Lee's infamous fight scene with the Giant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the Game of Death in '78 had Ming agreed to appear.
Vinnie Jones will appear in the movie too. *yawwwn*. However no character details have been released as of yet. Understandably, since pretty much all Jones can do is the same character with extrememly broken and "matter of fact" dialogue. He so bores me...

All that said, I'm really looking forward to seeing Tucker and Chan team up for another off the wall action adventure flick that I can switch my brain off to. Even if the movie is rubbish, which I doubt it will be... the cradits at the end with the outtakes are always a hilarious thing!

Rush Hour 3 is released in August 2007.

Invincible Iron Man

2006-11-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

Not to be confused with the John Favreau Iron Man feature flick which we're all eagerly anticipating, but rather, this is the Invincible Iron Man. Latino Review noted that Marvel had posted a new trailer for the upcoming animated DVD, and it looks just smoochy. For those that aren't familiar with this, and think that Iron Man was invented for Robert Downey Jr, its Marvel where it all began. Marvel Studios and Lionsgate have two previous releass on DVD, and this, the third looks to be equally as smashing.

You can check out the trailer over HERE

Death of a comedians career

2006-11-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

Now and again, movie stars get too big for their boots. Occasionally they do something they regret, and usually, it can be resolved by publicists and lawyers. But tonight, I bring you news of the irrevokable death of a comedian... Seinfelds Kramer (Michael Richards) made a big mistake. To an audience at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday, Richards was clearly drunk, and quite obviously volotile when he made remarks that were unquestionably racist and which clearly offended the audience in a huge way. This is inexcusable behaviour regardless of who you are, and in no way should any excuse be made whatsoever after this tirade of abuse and completely unfunny comedy. I've never really been a fan of Seinfeld, but having learned that seinfeld, whilst promoting the 7th season DVD of the hit american comedy on the David Letterman show, insisted that Letterman jibe at Michael Richards. Richards, Despite the wisecracks from Letterman, appeared on the show to offer some defense to his actions. During his explanation, the audience began to chuckle. Jerry Seinfeld was quick to chastize the audience saying: "stop laughing, it ain't funny."

Well no shit Jezzah...

Bruce Lee is to be reborn as a CG actor?

2006-11-28T05:05:00.000-08:00

Its amazing what they can do these days with computer graphics and animation... but just because I can eat marmite, doesn't mean I think its right...

They did it with Oliver Reid in Gladiator, and with much success, but to do it with Bruce Lee... I... I just can't quite stomach the idea.

Latino review ran a story about a film which will star Bruce Lee, but not as we know him. Completely CG... Oh dear lord...

Rob Cohen, who directed Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and The Fast and The Furious and xXx - State of the Union, will bring Lee back to life as a digital actor. *Gulp* He's quoted saying:

The big headline is that I am NOT using clips from the film; I am creating an entirely photo-realistic Bruce Lee with new, advanced digital technlogy. Digital Domain who did "XXX" and "Stealth" with me are on it big time. We are in the vfx development stage.

This will be the first digital actor and I am very excited about the challenge.

Well, Speak for yourself Rob... and what about Jar Jar? Whether we should or not is questionable, but surely we all remember him?

He goes on to say:

We do have the rights to Bruce's films but the lines are all I am going to use. The Lee Family is also involved with me and Dreamworks.

I am doing this to further honor Bruce. It was one thing to make "Dragon" but this will be the Man himself, alive for those of us that didn't get enough and the new generations who should know what he was all about.

Dreamworks... *sigh*

I'm with Grady Hendrix on this one who summed it up quite nicely:

"The film is being made in conjunction with Dreamworks and with the participation of the Lee family, who apparently practice the martial art stance of "Ceaselessly Squeezing Cash from Father's Corpse" and it's called RAGE AND FURY."

Cut Chemist track Features in Nano Ad

2006-11-28T04:48:00.000-08:00

Cut Chemist has been around for a long time. Always in the background though, and in the "shadow" mostly of DJ Shadow (pardon the pun). But this shouldn't be the case and really, he deserves a lot more credit that he's been endowed with. Recently, Cut Chemist released his first ever solo album. The Debut album entitled "The Audience is Listening" really is a remarkable piece that sets Cut Chemist apart from many other DJ artists that stole the stage up until its release.

Seeing the release of the album and its initial success seems to have caused quite a stir as Apple's new iPod Nano advert has the title track from the album featured in its cinema advert for the portable music player. Its a very nice ad I must say, and perfectly complimented with an excellent piece of music.

Something to note though is that the track WAS NOT written specifically for the iPod ad and was licensed for use.

Check out the video HERE

And then go buy the album HERE

The Hobbit - Final word?

2006-11-28T04:30:00.000-08:00

Apparently, according to Brendon over at filmick, the Zaents stroy I ran recently was in fact a little older than I'd thought and actually came prior to Jackson's announcemnt to The OneRing.

"Yes, it is true about Zaentz. He gave his interview to a German magazine, and was quoted on its release. Print deadlines put the interview back some weeks - at least."

*sigh* Well, when AICN printed the news, it was the beat my heart skipped... but alas, it would appear that new line will make the film anyway, and without Jackson...

I'm off to find the Kleenex :(

You can check out Brendons piece on it HERE

Hitcher remake stills

2006-11-28T04:19:00.000-08:00

Yet again with the remake news... This time its a step forward in somethign we already knew about and hopefully came to terms with in our own little special ways. Some new stills of Sean Bean filling Rutger Hauer's boots in The Hitcher remake. I'm a little surprised that Bean looks so good in the first one. There's a real element of the character's menace captured first by Hauer in the original

Click the images to make them bigger

You can also check out a trailer HERE

Source was Bloody Disgusting

Remaking the Poltergeist!!

2006-11-28T01:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Lord! I really have been banging on about remakes alarmingly frequently of late! We've got one Here, one here, here and here... and too many more to mention all of them... But here i am again, with more remake news... Yep, the 1982 classic, Poltergeist is due for a revamp according to Bloody Disgusting.
Poltergeist was one of my favourite films of the 80's. It was creepy as hell. It really was the first film to disturb me and make me scared of things coming out of my telly (Even though Speilberg penned and produced the original, I didn't find it emotionally challenging, just bloody scary!). Later this fear was overridden by The Ring, but lets not go into that... please!

"In 1982 MGM released one of the scariest films of all time, Poltergeist, which was written and produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper. The film is of legend, being that it's not only extremely scary, but that it was rated PG (after an appeal from an R). Word has come down from various confirmed sources that the once titled "Poltergeist: Kayeri" is now being retooled as a remake of the original film. Poltergeist, which is about a family's home being haunted by a host of ghosts, is now looking to attach a director."

So who could helm a remake of one of the scariest films of all time? Hmm... Imagine what Hideo Nakata might do with this... *Shudder*

Rich Wilkes' Script For Crue Revered

2006-11-28T01:27:00.000-08:00

I recently made it known that there was a movie in the making about the motley crew. I also mentioned a certain actor would be playing a certain rockstar, and having thought about it a lot more, I really think that its a perfect casting choice. Well, Latino Review have reported that Rich Wilkes has absolutely nailed the script for THE DIRT (CONFESSIONS OF THE WORLD’S MOST NOTORIOUS ROCK BAND) - a movie based on the famous Motley Crue. A masterpiece they call it, and make no mistake, I think we're going to get a movie that will go down in history as utterly legendary.
"You know you are in for a ride when the opening title card of the script tells you that…

…THIS IS A TRUE FUCKING STORY!"

With a voice over narration that sets it apart from the cheesy cliches of narrator use we;ve suffered in the past, and sets it akin to the likes of Goodfellas, we can be assured we're set to encounter a remarkable cinematic journey that will follow one of the worlds most notorious rock groups we've ever seen.

Check out the script review HERE

Special

2006-11-27T06:26:00.000-08:00

I'm really looking forward to this one. It looks like a seriously funny dark comedy. Synopsis from the Official Site -

Its an offbeat dark comedy, follows the journey of Les Franken played by Michael Rapaport (Hitch, Grilled) as a superhero for our chemically enhanced time.

Les Franken, a lonely parking enforcement officer who enjoys reading comic books, decides to take part in a clinical trial for a new and exciting antidepressant called 'Special'.

An unexpected side effect of the drug renders him with superpowers - or so he thinks. While his doctor dismisses the drug's side effects as an adverse psychological reaction to the medication, Les takes his cue from the comics he reads to embrace his newfound “powers” and quits his job to devote his life to fighting evil, real or imagined.

Les is an every day kind of superhero, the apparently gifted and yet disturbed human who wishes to save the world. Writers Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore based some of the characters on friends from their youth and use their experiences of drug use, which include the use of anti-depressant medication, in the months leading up to production.

I for one can't wait, and I'm sure having read the synopsis, you can't either, so here's a sneak peak of what to expect.

Clip

Wonderful stuff I'm sure you'll agree!

Comic Renault campaign!

2006-11-27T05:57:00.000-08:00

Over at CBR, they had an interesting piece in the gutter on hollywood stars frequently doing advertising campaigns in foreign countries, or at least countries that casting agenst in the startes won't touch. It would seem that a similar thing may be happening with comic book artists.

CBR writes:
"You know how top Hollywood stars are happy to do advertising in other countries, as long as it isn't touched by the people who make casting and financial decisions back home?

Well, I understand a rather prominent Renault campaign running in the UK and France has been designed by a rather prominent US comic book artist."

They ask for guesses as to who it might be. My source, a very very reliable one, informs me that it is indeed Joe Quesada

Much Kudos to you Jed the comic book Jedi!

Moore's take on Porn

2006-11-27T05:34:00.000-08:00

Alan Moore has written a 12,000 word essay for "Arthur Magazine" issue 25. It's entitled "Bog Venus Vs. Nazi Cock-Ring: Some Thoughts Concerning Pornography by Alan Moore" CBR had the story -

Look for your copy at the beginning of December... 50,000 copies will be available FREE across North America in record stores, comics stores, coffeehouses and various other dens of iniquity. Some copies will make it into London and Manchester, but not many.

People who want to guarantee themselves a copy should reserve one via the website.

This is interesting, as Moore has definately made his feelings on pornography known in the past. Particularly in reference to his extremely controversial "Lost Girls", in which Alice in Wonderland,Wendy from Peter Pan, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, meet in a Swiss hotel shortly before the first World War. Wendy, Dorothy and Alice, three very different women—one jaded and old; one trapped in a frigid adulthood; the last a spunky but innocent young American good-time girl—provide each other with the liberation they need, while also providing very different (and, for this is a pornography, very sexual) versions of the stories we associate with them. We go with the girls, in memory, to the incidents that became the Rabbit Hole, Oz and Neverland. As a formal exercise in pure comics, Lost Girls is as good as anything Moore has written. (One of my favorite moments: a husband and wife trapped in a frozen, loveless, sexless relationship, conduct a stiff conversation, laced with unconscious puns and wordplay, moving into positions that cause their shadows to appear to copulate wildly, finding the physical passion that the people are denied.)

Pretty snazzy stuff huh? If you're interested in taking a gander at Moore's depiction of these iconic childrens fantasy figures (that just sounds wrong...) then you can buy them at amazon

Review: Hollywoodland

2006-11-27T04:55:00.000-08:00

Hollywoodland, is the depiction of the mysterious events surrounding Actor George Reeve's death. Reeve's was the actor who played Superman in the TV series in the 50's.
The movie is a classy trip into these strange and still today unresolved events. It looks at three different possibilities as to how the actor dies. Two murders and one suicide.
About 10 minutes into this picture, I remembered that in all liklihood, this film wasn't going to have a resolution. And although I wasn't wrong, was I disappointed either. It crafts itself around some outstanding performances from Diane Lain, Adrian Brody and probably most noticable of all, Ben Affleck.

Affleck plays Reeve's and is thoroughly convincing. The troubled Superman actor begrudging initially the role that was to make him famous, and then chain him down in his career, which arguably led to his death. Its like a new Ben Affleck. So enthrawling is his portrayal of Reeve's you find yourself forgetting all the reasons you just can't stand Affleck (I speak from personal opinion here of course *cough*daredevil*cough*)

The film is set in the 50's in LA, and you honestly do feel like you've been taken back there, with dazzling parties and afluent party goers, beautiful sets and a cast that is completely capable, all make for an enchanting experience.

So, all praise aside, the movie did leave me wondering if I actually "liked" it. Now, its not the kind of movie thats instantly likable. That said, neither is it a subject that could be considered enjoyable subject matter. After all, it is a movie about a real life death of a much loved actor still to this day unresolved... But after mulling it over for a while, I finally settled that it passes the test.

I'd recommend this movie as a serious film, and one that you should not expect any real conclusion to. Its an exploration into the slow and steady decline of an actor trapped by a role he plays and finding solice in booze and addiction. Affleck is amazing, and Adrian Brody holds his own, with Diane Lane supporting with a sterling performance. One to watch out for on Oscar day no doubt.
4 stars

Go see!

Hot Fuzz Poster - Spot the difference!

2006-11-27T03:41:00.000-08:00

Can you spot the difference??
Solice in Cinema pointed this one out, and I think you'll agree that the Hot Fuzz boys have a soft spot for Michael Bay. A lot of you might question this, but Im with them, can't wait for Transformers! And if its ok with Pegg, Frost and Wright, then its ok by me!

Hows that for a slice of fried gold...

DaVinci code sequel???

2006-11-27T01:55:00.000-08:00

For the love of prickly pete, Hollywood! LEARN YOUR LESSON!!!

Its true though, a sequel for this abysmal movie is in the making. It will be penned by Akiva Goldsman, who adapted the novel from Dan Brown's novel, it will star Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, who'll help a woman discover the links between her fathers death and secret society conspiracies.. Yawn..

Its going to be more of a prequel I'm led to believe, as its to be based on Angels and Demons, the book which precedes The Da Vinci Code.

Just get your chair, adjust it accordingly, slap some emulsion on the dining room wall, grab some popcorn and maybe some ice cream, and stay at home and watch your handy work dry, as no doubt this will be a more fulfilling experience than watching yet another movie in which I'm supposed to feel sorry for Tom Hanks.

Transformers Skorponak image

2006-11-27T01:51:00.000-08:00

This came down as quick as it went up over at AICN. I'm not so jazzed about it as the rest of internet geekdom seem to be, however, it's definately too early to tell since the bad composoting in this image is clearly incomplete given the amount of time the movie has been in post prod, which is not long at all...

anyway, here it is for your perusal. Click the image to make it bigger

Damon talks Oceans 13

2006-11-27T01:44:00.000-08:00

Oceans 12 was crap. I think that's pretty unanymous amongst fans of the first movie. Even Matt Damon in an interview with Empire said as much. However, Damon assures us that the third in the the franchise won't be. "The only reason we want to do it is to make a movie that's better than the first two."
Ok, well, here's hoping Matt... Whilst there#'s little being given away about the plot anywhere, Damon says: "It's kinda like a revenge thing. Someone does something to one of us and we want revenge. And that someone is Al Pacino. We have to take him down". No doubt. The only person from the original cast not appearing in Oceans 13 will be Julia Roberts.
Whilst on this subject, Brendon over at Film Ick had an interesting scoop from what he describes as a reliable source -

"Take this sentence as a spoiler warning because I'm about the spill the beans. The unlucky thirteenth is none other than Terry Benedict, Andy Garcia's character. Nice reversal, eh? ...the gang are taking revenge in the name of Tess. Remember, not only is she Danny's wife, she was Terry's lover too."

Interesting!

Oceans 13 opens in June 07.

Spidey 3 Venom Footage released on Fox TV

2006-11-27T01:24:00.000-08:00

I don't really need to say anything about this, you're all pretty much as up to speed as I am. In bried, there was a leaked trailer with lots of Venom in it. It was promptly taken down, now, its back up!

Nazi Comedy

2006-11-27T01:09:00.000-08:00

Jewish director, Dani Levy is making a movie about Hitler. But, this isn't Hitler as we know him. Instead, the fuhrer will be portrayed as a "Bed-Wetting Drug addict who plays with toy battleships in the bath. Sounds liike it could be pretty amusing! We haven't really had a comedfy about Hitler since Charlie Chaplin days in "The Great Dictator"

Here's the plot.

It's late 1944. Hitler has lost faith in himself and a desperate Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels summons former Jewish acting coach Adolf Grünbaum from a concentration camp to get the dictator back in shape for a mass rally to reinvigorate the German people.

"Don't take the final solution personally," Goebbels tells an emaciated Grünbaum as the professor arrives in the Chancellery surrounded by Nazi officials who keep whipping out their arms in deafening "Heil Hitler!" salutes every few seconds.

Successive attempts by Grünbaum to kill Hitler fail, so he resigns himself to giving the troubled dictator acting lessons and eventually turns into a kind of psychiatrist, discovering that the dictator can't get over the fact that he could never please his strict father.

Lying on the couch of his grand office, Hitler recalls a disturbing childhood incident. "My father once gave me a catapult. He looked up and told me 'Kill that pigeon!' I fired and the pigeon landed at his feet, stone dead. 'That was a fluke,' he said, and walked off." Tears keep trickling down his face.

Another scene shows an embarrassed looking Hitler lying on top of Eva Braun who says "I can't feel you Mein Führer."

It all sounds pretty slapstick. However, I'm certain that Levy has a darker and stronger message. While he delivers a comedy to us with one hand, he asks of us only that we realise the horrifying truth behind his film, though he asks us not without humour.

The filming in Berlin already caused a stir. In March, Levy decked out Berlin's central Lustgarten square in giant swastika banners and hired hundreds of extras to wave swastika and cheer "Heil Hitler" for his final scene. Passing tourists and Berliners alike were aghast.

Filthy little Hobbitses! Jackson to direct aferall!!??

2006-11-26T01:19:00.000-08:00

ACIN just made my week by digging this one out of the ground... If this is true, and the reputable source suggests it may well be (IMDB), then I'll be able to die a happy man!
Jackson, allegedly, will direct The Hobbit. PLease let this one be true...

"From IMDB

As Lord of the Rings fans mounted a protest following word that New Line had dropped Peter Jackson from consideration as director of The Hobbit and another Lord of the Rings prequel, producer Saul Zaentz has given assurances that Jackson will indeed direct the two films. A German website, Elbenwald.de, posted an interview with Zaentz, who acquired the rights to the works of the late Rings writer, J.R.R. Tolkien, in 1976 (the Saul Zaentz Company owns Tolkien Enterprises), in which Zaentz says, "It will definitely be shot by Peter Jackson. ... Next year The Hobbit rights will fall back to my company. I suppose that Peter will wait because he knows that he will make the best deal with us. And he is fed up with the studios: to get his profit share on the Rings trilogy he had to sue New Line. With us, in contrast, he knows that he will be paid fairly and artistically supported without reservation." (The preceding quotation is a translation that appeared on TheHobbit-Movie.com from the German interview posted on Elbenwald.de.)"

The Hitcher

2006-11-22T03:05:00.000-08:00

Remake after remake... It is growing a little dull, or at least had been until I stumbled across this. In 1986, we loved to hate Rutger Hauer on screen as the psychopathic Hitcher. He was the epitome of pure evil, and pulled it off like noone else could! In fact, Hauer was always a pretty stable bet for psychopathic roles, Bladerunner being one of the finest, even though he was actually an android in that, it still counts!

So, they're remaking The Hitcher, a classic. But take a guess at who'll be filling Hauer's boots? I'll give you a clue... Its sean Bean. Oops, more of a give away there, my bad. Bean looks a little like Hauer, but is that as far as it will go? I do rate him as an actor, and therefore I'm pretty confident he'g gonna do the role justice.

Check out the trailer HERE

New Spiderman 3 posters online

2006-11-22T02:13:00.000-08:00

A couple of new Spidey posters have been kicking around online. They're exactly the same save for one of them being graded in a much more Matrix style. Not the best posters in my opinion, but check them out below.

Click on the images to make them bigger!

Note from Altman's Sandcastle Productions

2006-11-22T01:56:00.000-08:00

Robert Altman's Sandcastle Productions yesterday released an official statement following the legendary director's death in an LA hospital monday. He was 81 years old, and much loved amongst filmakers all over the world. Statements from some of the people he's worked with over the years, and become friends with are contained. Again, RIP.

SANDCASTLE 5 PRODUCTIONS

NEW YORK (November 21, 2006) - Academy Award® winning film director Robert Altman died Monday, November 20 in Los Angeles from complications due to cancer. He was 81. He had lived and worked with the disease for the last 18 months, a period that included the making of his film A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION, which was released this summer. His death was, nevertheless, a surprise: Altman was in pre-production on a film he had planned to start shooting in February.

Altman is survived by his wife, Kathryn Reed Altman and six children, Christine Westphal, Michael Altman, Stephen Altman, Connie Corriere, Robert Reed Altman and Matthew Altman, twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Altman died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, surrounded by his wife and children. Memorial services are being planned.

* * *

Throughout his extraordinary career, Robert Altman surprised, entertained and challenged audiences with vibrant, freewheeling films that stretch the boundaries of the medium. He was the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award at the 78th Academy Awards presentation on March 5, 2006, in a ceremony recognizing “a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike."

Altman’s more than thirty features bear witness to an extraordinary creative range: films made with enormous casts (NASHVILLE, SHORT CUTS), as well as with a solitary cast member (SECRET HONOR); films celebrating male camaraderie (M*A*S*H*, CALIFORNIA SPLIT) and those exploring women’s consciousness (IMAGES, THREE WOMEN, COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN). He inverted, satirized and enriched genres like the western (McCABE AND MRS. MILLER), the gangster melodrama (THIEVES LIKE US), the detective film (THE LONG GOODBYE), the biography (VINCENT AND THEO) and the English drawing-room whodunit (GOSFORD PARK). His source material included comics (POPEYE), the ballet (THE COMPANY), the theatre (STREAMERS, FOOL FOR LOVE, Harold Pinter’s THE ROOM and THE DUMB WAITER), contemporary politics (“Tanner ’88” and “Tanner on Tanner”) and contemporary literature (SHORT CUTS).

Altman’s work with actors was legendary. His use of music broke ground in films as different as McCABE AND MRS. MILLER, NASHVILLE, and KANSAS CITY. He was applauded for the technical innovation of multi-layered soundtracks and for his pioneering use of the zoom lens. While his subjects and themes were diverse, he often cast an irreverent eye on the institutions, mores and foibles of American life, matching that with an encompassing, unsentimental humanism.

Altman received five Academy Award® nominations for Best Director (GOSFORD PARK, SHORT CUTS, THE PLAYER, M*A*S*H*, and NASHVILLE), and three for Best Film (GOSFORD PARK, M*A*S*H*, and NASHVILLE).

Altman’s numerous awards include: at Cannes, the Palme d’Or/Best Film (M*A*S*H*), and Best Director (THE PLAYER); the New York Film Critics Circle, Best Film (THE PLAYER, NASHVILLE) and Best Director (GOSFORD PARK, THE PLAYER, NASHVILLE); the Venice Film Festival Grand Prix, Best Film (SHORT CUTS); the British Academy Award (BAFTA) for Best British Film (GOSFORD PARK), Best Director (THE PLAYER) and Best Foreign Television Series (“Tanner 88”); opening night of the New York Film Festival (SHORT CUTS, A WEDDING); and an Emmy for Best Director (“Tanner ’88”).

Career honors have been bestowed by, among others, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Venice Film Festival, the American Film Institute, the Directors Guild of America, the Society of American Cinema Editors, the Cinema Audio Society, the American Society of Cinematographers and the Independent Feature Project.

* * *

“I was friends with Bob for 20 years before we worked together on GOSFORD PARK. It was then that I experienced the real magic of Robert Altman. When he was working he had a youthful joyfulness that was just amazing.” – Bob Balaban

“I have always admired Robert Altman's films and it was an honor to work with him on A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION. We had so much fun working on that project over the past year and I know that he went out ‘with his boots on’.” – Bob Berney, President of Picturehouse

“He was a great man of the cinema and a great man. Everybody who had the privilege to know him will miss him hugely.” - Kenneth Branagh

“There’s no one I’m prouder to have worked with. He was an ecstatic…a magician…a conjurer…a mischievous boy. Perhaps unprecedented. He understood and could express that uniquely American shapeshifting goofiness more than anyone. He was the deepest ocean and the lightest feather at the same time…we all loved him so very much.” - Richard Gere

“Mr. Altman loved making movies. He loved the chaos of shooting and the sociability of the crew and actors --- he adored actors --- and he loved the editing room and he especially loved sitting in a screening room and watching the thing over and over with other people. He didn’t care for the money end of things, he didn’t mind doing publicity, but when he was working he was in heaven.

He and I once talked about making a movie about a man coming back to Lake Wobegon to bury his father, and Mr. Altman said, “The death of an old man is not a tragedy.” I used that line in the movie we wound up making --- the Angel of Death says it to the Lunch Lady, comforting her on the death of her lover Chuck Akers in his dressing room, “The death of an old man is not a tragedy.” Mr. Altman’s death seems so honorable and righteous --- to go in full-flight, doing what you love --- like his comrades in the Army Air Force in WWII who got shot out of the sky and simply vanished into blue air --- and all of us who worked with him had the great privilege of seeing an 81-year-old guy doing what he loved to do. I’m sorry that our movie turned out to be his last, but I do know that he loved making it. It’s a great thing to be 81 and in love.” – Garrison Keillor

“It was inspiring to know that Robert was in preproduction on his next film. Working with him was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I am blessed to have worked with him and to have known him as Bob. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Kathryn and his children.” – Virginia Madsen

"A great man has left this stage. If Bob had his way I'm sure he would want the speeches about him to be short and to the point. In my too brief time with him, his life seemed to be concerned with two things, telling it like it is and having fun. Every one of us has a lot of living to do if we are to follow his example. My thoughts and prayers are with Kathryn and his family, the immediate family and the gloriously extended one. I guess I'll see him in the next reel as he used to say." – John C. Reilly

"I am deeply saddened by the passing of Robert Altman, a great friend and inspiration to me since I had the honor of meeting him in 1990. His unique vision and maverick sensibilities in filmmaking have inspired countless directors of my generation and will continue to inspire future filmmakers. He leaves behind a legacy of great American films and he will be deeply missed." – Tim Robbins

“Bob's restless spirit has moved on -- I have to say, when I spoke with him last week, he seemed impatient for the future. He still had the generous, optimistic appetite for the next thing, and we planned the next film laughing in anticipation of the laughs we'd have. What a gent, what a guy, what a great heart. There's no one like him and we'll miss him so.” – Meryl Streep

Via AICN

Lost Star for X Men role?

2006-11-21T11:14:00.000-08:00

Josh Holloway, one of the favourites with the ladies, was set to star in X Men: The Last Stand as favourite Gambit. This never happened because of TV commitments. Probably meaning he was due to run around not knowing what the hell was going on, aimlessly, in the jungle for a while longer *cough*Lost*cough. The next movie however, will feature the blondie southern drawling owen wilson lookalike as, yep, Gambit.

It'll come as no surprise I'm sure, that Gambit is a bit of a ladies mutant. He's the dark brooding type, with a big thing for Rogue. Another love itnerest for her?

Few of the XMen Trust Gambit when he first arrived, mainly because he was formerly a professional thief. But after time, they figure out that his use of the Bo Staff, his ability to make playing cards explode, and his breaking and entering skills could be used to their advantage.
I have no idea as of yet how much or little they will reinterpret the character to fit in the with melee of misfit mutants we currently have in the next movie, but no doubt, the fans will welcome the introduction of such a well liked character in the series.

Incidentally, next time round, no wolverine, and no Magneto (each have prior engagements making their respective on screen hero/villain flicks, imaginately titled Wolverine and Magneto)

Agent 86 and Agent 99 to hit the big screen

2006-11-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

Its been announced for ages, nearly a year now, but its all been quiet on the Get Smart front for a while now. For those that aren't familiar with the series, which starred Don Adams and Barbara Feldon you need look no further than Inspector Gadget, which was a cartoon inspired by the tv show. If you don't know that either, get out.

The TV show was one of my favourites. I used to watch it avidly on one of its re-runs (I'm only a pup and therefore not old enough to say I saw it first time round). I especially loved the chemistry between the two main characters 86 and 99 (not to mention the bit in the opening titles where the door slammed on his nose! Class!).

Looks like we got a starter for the big screen adaptation. The guys over at Cinematical got the news first by the looks of things, but Peter Segal is set to start filming in March next year for a 2008 release. As they quite rightly pointed out, without Mel Brooks and Buck Henry penning the film, we canonly hope we don't get a revisit of the Inspector Gadget movie... oh dear God...

Steve Carrel will PLay Maxwell Smart, and it looks likely that Anne Hathaway will be teaming up with him as Agent 99. Funny, Carrel also appeared in another remake of a hit 60's comedy show recently... any guesses "Witch" one?

Story via Cinematical

Robert Altman RIP

2006-11-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

Robert Altman, acclaimed man behind M*A*S*H in 70, and Oscar nominee 5 times most recently for Gossford Park in 2001, died on monday night. He was 81 years old.

"No director ever got more best-director nominations without winning a regular Oscar, though four other men — Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Clarence Brown and King Vidor — tied with Altman at five."

Those are some names to be tied with, respect of the utmost regard.

RIP

Who'd Play Bilbo??

2006-11-21T06:37:00.000-08:00

You'd think that it would be tough to find a Bilbo if Ian Holm was considered a bit too over the hill (no offense intended) but the look of Bilbo for The Hobbit surely can't be achieved by anyone else??

According to Brendon over at Film Ick, it would seem that indeed Ian Holm is currently in negotiations to redeem his contract as the spritely little Hobbit, along with Ian McKellen. Rumours though, just rumours... so far!

There's just noone else that could possibly play Gandalf in my opinion, such was McKellen's amazing performance in the LOTR trilogy. Guess we'll have to keep a keen eye on the story over at Film Ick as it unfolds!

More Hobbit Mischief!

2006-11-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

Looks like variety have a slightly different take on the current happenings regarding The Hobbit movie. As I mentioned earlier this week - New line, and Jackson are mid battle in an auditing lawsuit over finance for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. THis time, there's another angle that seems relatively promising. The piece is entitled Who's the Boss of the Hobbit? and what it seems to outline, is that although New Line do own the rights to the movie, MGM in fact own the distribution rights, and it looks as though MGM are in Jackson's corner. Thats some coach to have on your side. One key comment was made which instantly turned my head:

"An MGM spokesman said that "the matter of Peter Jackson directing 'The Hobbit' films is far from closed."

Indeed!

In brief, it would seem that New Line execs are keen to do the movie ASAP as their rights expire relatively soon, but Jackson won't touch it until the lawsuit over the auditing on LOTR is resolved, so New Line wanted to give the movie to Jackson only as part of a reconciliation deal over the lawsuit, Jackson firmly believes that the two things should be kept seperate, and the result - Deadlock. Jackson has officially stated that the possibility of him doing the Hobbit were over, but now that MGM have weighed in as Jackson's big brother, perhaps some of their distribution weight can shift New Line execs enough in their seats to think twice about going with another director. Lets hope so!

Apparently there have been one or two names floating around about who else might do it, one of which being Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who's stunning career so far offers a touch of hope should Jackson not get the gig, with movies such as Amelie and Delicatessen under his belt. But nonetheless, all of us in geekdom remain hopefull that the Jackson/New Line dispute will be resolved, and we can all live happily ever after!

Fingers x'd

Sushi Western from Takashi Miike

2006-11-21T06:02:00.000-08:00

Filming began this week in Japan on what is destined to be an absolute shrine to innovation in film. Hailing from the Spaghetti western, Takashi Miike has embarked on his new idea of bringing the old style western into the 21st century with his "Sushi Western" entitled - Sukiyaki Western Django. The acclaimed director has also managed to talk his good friend Quentin Tarantino into appearing in the flick, after making a guest appearance himself in the Tarantino produced "Hostel".

"To make a western like this has long been a dream for Miike," said producer Masao Osaki. "His father was a huge fan of spaghetti westerns and he always wanted to make his own, so now it is his turn. "And we think it will appeal to all filmgoers," he said. "The older generations will want to see it because of the spaghetti western connection and younger people will be attracted by the great cast."

Tarantino is due to fly out to japan later this month to shoot his scenes, and although nothing has been revealed as to what character he might play, producers are referring to him as "Mystery Man"

Miike is most definately one of the most prolific asian actors of our age, with such complex and compelling movies as Audition and the alarmingly surreal Ichi the Killer (pictured above) under his belt, we can rest assured this one will be a treat and a half!

Hollywood Reporter had the news

8 Films To Die For

2006-11-20T06:24:00.000-08:00

Sadly, this Horrorfest is only going to be available in the US at first. Boo! However, I'm sure that sooner or later we'll get a glipse this side of the pond. After Dark Films are running a weekend Horrorfest that will feature 8 new horror movies.
We'll take a look at each of them -

Unrest
View the Trailer

"Alison Blanchard begins her journey to become a physician in her Gross Anatomy class, where she must confront rows of cadavers and her own fear of mortality. When the sheets are drawn back revealing her cadaver, Alison senses a presence in the lab. Her jaded professor chalks it up to first year "jitters" but her worries increase when a friend is found dead in the basement. Alison must find out the truth behind her cadaver before its angered spirit can wreak further vengeance on those who dared to disturb the body."

Penny Dreadful
View the Trailer

"Penny, (Rachel Miner: "The Black Dahlia", "Bully", "The Memory Thief"), a young woman traumatized by a childhood auto accident that killed her parents, accompanies her therapist, (Mimi Rogers: "Austin Powers", "Someone To Watch Over Me"), on a road trip back to the scene of the accident as part of her therapy to overcome her fear of cars. But, when the two women accidentally cross paths with a dark and mysterious Hitch Hiker on a lonely stretch of mountain highway an attempt at healing suddenly takes a terrifying detour into a horrorific life and death struggle with a ruthless, deranged killer bent on preying upon Penny’s worst fears."

The GraveDancers
View the Trailer

"A group of friends' lives are invaded by a trio of hostile ghosts after they engage in a drunken bout of gravedancing during a wake for an old chum."

The Hammiltons
View the Trailer

"The highly-acclaimed winner of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Malibu Film Festival. The Hamiltons seem to be the picture-perfect American family. They are hardworking community members; giving to their local charities, attending town hall meetings and always respectful of their neighbors... except for the fact that they usually end up killing them."

Reincarnation (Rinne)
View the Trailer

" From the director of "The Grudge" and "The Grudge 2" comes Reincarnation,a suspenseful psychological horror film that deals with the topic of reincarnation. "Reincarnation" is the third of six installments of J-Horror Theater produced by Taka Ichise and distributed by Lionsgate. The first two films in the series "Infection" (directed by Masayuki Ochiai) and "Premonition" (directed by Norio Tsuruta) are currently being remade with New Line. The forth film "Retribution" (directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa) was an official selection at this summer's Venice International Film Festival where it received high acclaim. Principal photography has been completed for the fifth film "Kaidan" (directed by Hideo Nakata) and is now in post-production."

Dark Ride
View the Trailer

"Ten years after he brutally murdered two girls, a killer escapes from a mental institution and returns to his turf, the theme park attraction called "Dark Ride". About to crash his path are a group of college kids on a road trip who stumble across the park, unaware that this thrill ride is the last one they're ever going to take."

The Abandoned
View the Trailer

"The shadows of the past always tarnish the present. Marie embarks on a journey to investigate her unknown childhood, returning to the abandoned Russian farm where she was born. Drawn to this location after inheriting it from her long deceased mother, she encounters things far more disconcerting that lurk within those rotting walls… and a nightmarish family secret as the past unearths itself."

Wicked Little things
View the Trailer

"Recently widowed Karen Tunny and her two daughters, Sarah and Emma, move to a remote mountain home which Karen has inherited from the family of her late husband. However, she is unaware that the home is situated near an old mine, the site of an early 20th century tragedy in which many children were buried alive..."

All in all, a good round up of what looks like its gonna be slash-tastic!

Check ou the main site (featured as some of the only trailer links above) HERE

You can also see there's a couple of extra movies tagged on to the end there, including one with Snoop Dog... oh dear!

David Fincher's Zodiac

2006-11-20T05:49:00.000-08:00

Director of Se7en and the cleverly filmed but overly dull Panic Room is ready to slug us in the gut with another serial killer movie, Zodiac. it will star Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. who are in pursuit of a serial killer who leaves encrypted messages they have to decipher. Stylishly shot as is Fincher's way, and no doubt grippling in suspense, this movie looks set to be quite possibly his best since Se7en.

A serial killer in the San Francisco Bay Area taunts police with his letters and cryptic messages. We follow the investigators and reporters in this lightly fictionalized account of the true 1970's case as they search for the murderer, becoming obsessed with the case. Based on Robert Graysmith's book, the movie's focus is the lives and careers of the detectives and newspaper people.

The trailer was released recently, and you can check it out HERE

The New Look

2006-11-20T04:17:00.000-08:00

Cinematique was long overdue for a change in appearance. I trust it doesn't offend! Nothing else has changed, and as such, expect the usual "hot off the press" info to appear here.

Enjoy!

His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass - Casting

2006-11-20T02:43:00.000-08:00

Looks like we're gonna get some "Royale" cast members for the first in the trilogy of the adaptation to Pullmans Novels, His Dark Materials - The Golden Compass. With Casino veterans, Eva Green and the man himself, Daniel Craig working alongside the likes of Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards who'll play Lyra, and Ian McShane/ A delight it shall be no doubt to see McShane in something a little different from his outstanding portrayal of Al Swearingen in HBO's Deadwood.

His Dark Materials is a dark fantasy which follows a young girl, Lyra. The Golden Compass is about a small girl named Lyra who lives in a world where people's souls are disembodied shape shifting animals. Lyra overhears her father talking about a new particle one day. A particle called dust which has the power to connect universes. However, the church believes it to be original sin and caused by their Daemon's, the souls. The church tries to cut daemons away from children in order to save them. Lyra gets thrust into this world suddenly and feels she must put a stop to it and save her best friend.

Gimme Gimme Gimme

Eastern Promises

2006-11-20T02:31:00.000-08:00

David Cronenberg is back at it again. His new picture, Eastern Promises, is due to begin filming in London this week, and with a cast thats pretty much to die for. Viggo Mortenson is back with Cronenberg again as another bad-ass after A History of Violence. Along side him are Naomi Watts (King Kong), Vincent Cassell (Le Haine) and Sinead Cusack (V for Vendetta).

Eastern Promises follows and centers on the story of a London hospital's midwife Ana (Naomi Watts) who witnessed the death of a young girl in giving birth on Christmas Eve and decided to search for her family and identity. The search leads her into the core of dangers of the underground sex-trafficking business operated by the London's Russian crime community headed by Nicolai (Viggo Mortensen) who however turns out not to be what he seems.

I'm fairly sure this will be one to keep an ear to the ground for, so watch this space for set pics and the like as and when the spy's around London get their camera phones on the click!

Night at the Museum Trailer

2006-11-20T02:22:00.000-08:00

Last July we were teased with the teaser for Night at the Museum. And teased I was, as it looked like a genuinely good idea for a Ben Stiller slapstick fest of hapless hilarity. During the previews at Casino Royale, we were treated to the full trailer, which gives a little more away than the teaser, although not much more... The premise is pretty straight forward. A security guard on the night shift at a natural history museum becomes trapped in an all night debaucle in which the exhibits, which include a skeletal T Rex, come to life. Much the same premise as many movies before it, such as Toy Story, in which toys come alive when noones watching, but the first with this setting. Its one I'm eagerly looking out for as Stiller rarely fails to entertain. Go check out the trailer (although at questionable quality) over HERE

Magic Roundabout Still Inspires - Doogle

2006-11-20T00:41:00.000-08:00

It would seem that even after Years, the famous childrens animated show from yester-year is set to be catapulted into the CG laden 21st century. Still glowing from the success of Hoodwinked!, a film I couldn't bare to go and see, the Weinstein Co. strikes while the animated iron is hot with a CG feature inspired by the beloved 1960s British series The Magic Roundabout. In this feature-length adventure, sugar-loving pup Doogal and his crew of unlikely heroes embark on a dangerous journey to fend off Zeebad’s evil forces and save the earth from the deep-freezing power of the three magic diamonds. Most likely, this will do a little better than last year's effort which had a ream of british actors supply the voices. Shame about the actual movie, at least, I'm led to believe anyway. I couldn't bring myself to watch it...

Anyway, catch the trailer for Doogle over HERE

The Hobbit without Jackson??? Lunacy!

2006-11-20T00:18:00.000-08:00

Such is the absolute madness of studio execs. It would seem that New Line, whilst tangled in a law suit with Wingnut Films over accountancy practice on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, have decided that The Hobbit will no longer be on the table for the creative team that brought us LOTR, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, Wingnut. This is absolutely gutting, purely because noone else exists that could feasibly pull it off. New Line are actively seeking a new director for The Hobbit, and another prequel to the LOTR movies, which is about the events leading up to the Fellowship. I can't imagine who could pull it off...

In a letter to the official Lord of the Rings website, The One Ring, Peter Jackson explained the situation. You can read the letter HERE

I personally hope that the movie gets shelved until some resolution comes between New Line execs and Wingnut.

News was via AICN

Such a Bad Santa poster!

2006-11-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

The guys over at AICN got their grubby little hands on the poster for Black Christmas today, and I've got to say, that although I'm looking foward to this film only with a massochistic, self inflicted pain kind of way, this poster certainly hits all the right eggnogs. Stylish, slightly un-nerving and very nicely conceived! Sadly though, no Santa with an axe... awwww! Click the image to make it bigger!

You can check out the original story at AICN

Whats Green, Big, Angry, and a flop at the box office?

2006-11-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

Marvel Entertainment last week announced that it was having a stab at the green giant themselves after Ang Lee's somewhat underrated CG fest, The Hulk. I personally thought Lee's interpretation was pretty sturdy and for the most part enjoyable. It did however, kind of miss the point a bit in a lot of ways, most notably, who the Hulk is, and Why he's such a temperamental big so and so. It would seem that Marvel ent. noticed this lacking factor too. They are making their own movie based on the classic comic-book superhero and has set June 27, 2008 as the release date. Promising news since that will be literally weeks after another guaranteed hit at the box office, Iron Man starring Robert Downey jr, so we're in for a "marvel"lous summer of comic book movies again (I'll get my coat...).

The company promises a return to the roots of the Hulk mythology with the new script, which is being written by Zak Penn (X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand). The film is being produced by former Marvel Ent. CEO Avi Arad, Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige and veteran producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator).

"The Incredible Hulk will be the type of fun, high-octane event film people have come to expect from Marvel,” says Feige. “We could not be more excited about this project and our summer 2008 prospects now that we have both our green goliath and our highly-anticipated Iron Man set for release."?
"We're very happy that Universal is distributing The Incredible Hulk,” adds Marvel Studios president and COO Michael Helfant, who will exec produce the film. “We have a history together and this is a great opportunity for both Marvel and Universal to take the Hulk film franchise to another level."

Source was Animation Magazine

Well, here's hoping!

Powell scores The Watchmen

2006-11-18T06:47:00.000-08:00

An interesting little bit of info appeared over at filmick today, about the Man behind the Music behind the Bourne series, John Powell. Apparently, and accorcing to Animation Magazine who had a very insightful interview with the composer, he is to lend his crotchets to the film adaptation of Alan Moore's The Watchmen. This got me all fired up becuase of two reasons. One, is that Powell is an extremely good composer who's work on the Bourne trilogy very successfully married electronic beats with organic orchestral instruments to tailor the mood and atmosphere of the films to such a degree that its practically unparallelled on screen, and two, the appointment of a composer on a movie usually means there's a much more definate chance that the movie is making strides forward in production.

Powell has been steadily on the up for the past few years, earning his name and staking his place among the very best Hollywood composers around. With a list of films such as The Bourne Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum, Happy Feet and X-Men: The Last Stand under his belt, it would seem he's primed and ready to explode with Watchmen.

I can't wait for the film myself, although I do eye it warily given the lack of involvement from Moore himself and overwhelming possibility that it could very easily turn out to be utter tripe because of that, nonetheless, its easily one of my favourite graphic novels of all time, and Powell nursing the score can only be a good thing in my view.

Lets have it!

The Warriors remake

2006-11-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

Its all I seem to be writing about tonight... which is sad in a number of ways really. Perhaps moreso because its friday night and I'm here, doing this, and not out getting smashed! However, important news is afoot this time. The Warriors, an absolute classic from 1979 which was directed by Walter Hill, who later went on to produce AvP, is about to get a remake. Interestingly enough, not only was The Warriors a hit computergame recentlky, but the multimedia status of The Warriors is shared with AvP, with it being a rather successful game in its time too.
Anyway, the remake, although frightening at the sound of it actually happening for all the usual reasons, will be directed by Tony Scott. I'm a big fan, although I haven't seen De Ja Vu yet, but I like the Washington/Scott combination from Man on Fire. Tony Scot has stated, as most do these days, that he doesn't intend to make a shot for shot remake, and in fact plans to move the location of the movie out of New York and set it in LA instead. He also doesn't want just a few gang members this time, as in the original, no... this time, he wants thousands.

I'll hold the bag for this one as I suspect its going to turn out to be barely recognizable as a remake of the 1979 work, instead, I have a feeling that in Scott's hands, it'll turn out to be a completely different movie entirely.

Jury's out, so I'm puttin me feet up on this one.

You'll neva catch meeee pottahhh!

2006-11-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry... That was a crap headline. But what better to give a crap film, than a crap headline? Again, sorry. I just can't stand the Harry Potter movies. I find them deeply infuriating and enevitably crap. Nonetheless, I bring to you, whoever may be concerned and for whatever reason you might be interested,via YouTube, the first glimpse, at Harry Potter: The Order of The Phoenix.

Post Script: I can't believe I just sat here for 3 minutes quaffing wine and trying to think of one of the magic words they use at Hogwarts to finish this piece off... I'm gonna go get the .357 Magnum and be alone for a while...

Brosnan clinging to some kind of double O status? Me thinks not...

2006-11-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

Nah, he's just likely to embarrass himself a bit really. Not sure how true the rumours are, but apparently Brosnan wasn't at all happy about the way his tenure as 007 ended. Meh, I never liked him as Bond anyway, and with the new movie Casino Royal which I totally loved by the way, I can never look back til I see where Daniel Craig takes Bond.

Brosnan however, seems to be weakening at the knees a little, with a touch of nostalgia perhaps, and has signed on to New Line's Spy vs STU... even the name sends shivers down my spine... It sounds like a comedy (self ridicule 007?) and focuses on a commitment-phobe planning to finally propose to his girlfriend while on a luxury tropical holiday. But sadly for him, there’s a sexy, debonair spy on the island who has just finished saving the world and decides to celebrate by wooing Stu’s would-be missus. So begins a competition to see who can get the girl – the ordinary bloke or the cool secret agent.

Likely to be one to skip, but then, the Matador, in which he played another spy type person, was actually rather palatable with Brosnan turning in a pretty reasonable perfomance, so perhaps we'll be surprised?

Inland Empire

2006-11-17T14:28:00.000-08:00

I suppose its about time I mentioned this one really. Long overdue, and I slap my wrist at not having done it sooner. Thing is, I just wasn't that jazzed about it when I first heard about it, and, well... I suppose I dropped the hat a bit. David Lynch is hard at work again, and in many ways. One of the more surreal ways, was a couple of weeks ago when he decided to embark on an adequately surreal advertising campaign for his new movie, Inland Empire. Its usually about here that I'd offer some kind of meager offering in shape of a synopsis, but in true Lynch style, I ain't gonna, because when he was approached about the movie and what it was about Lynch responded that it is "about a woman in trouble, and it's a mystery, and that's all I want to say about it." Fair enough. Anyway, as I was saying, he was out on an advertising campaign last week with a cow on a leash beside him and a huge poster saying "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION". With Laura Dern's face smack bang in the middle of the poster, it seems its more a promotion of her performance in Inland Empire. Check out the fruit sat on his laurels with a cow on a leash beside him over HERE

What a nut!

Suffice to say, this article wouldn't be very interesting if I left it there, so the movie itself is looking likely to be another voyage into the utterly surreal and frustratingly challenging with "a plotless collection of snippets that explore themes Lynch has been working on for years," including "a Hollywood story about a young actress who gets a part in a film that might be cursed; a story about the smuggling of women from Eastern Europe; and an abstract story about a family of people with rabbit heads sitting around in a living room."

The film supposedly includes several hallucinatory scenes, and Naomi Watts' character in the film is as one of the aforementioned "talking rabbits", in a cameo role. It is unclear if Watts' character corresponds to Lynch's web-only film series, Rabbits, in which she also appeared.

So, while with one hand I offer apologies for leaving this one out in the cold for so long, with the other I shrug and say - It just didn't sound like I was gonna dig it!

Still don't, but kudos to Lynch for mainting such a solid career in making completely surreal movies! Here's hoping I'm pleasantly surprised at Inland Empire, for which there's currently no scheduled UK release, but I'd expect that to come pretty soon as Lynch seems keen to take the movie on tour in the states in January. Lynch is distributing the film himself, having bought the rights from the film's producers.

Remake THE THING

2006-11-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

IN the 1980's, Kurt Russell was one of those actors that pretty much shone in almost everything he did. It seems now looking back, as though his career was booming in the 80's, but, to be fair, he didn't actually star in a ridiculously large amount of movies in the 80's. The one's he was in however, or at least the majority of them, were pretty big ones. You had the decade kick off with Escape From New York and with a reem of great and classic films to follow in the next ten years, such as Big Touble in Little China right through to Tango and Cash (granted, this was rubbish), I'm sure Kurty boy looks back on the decade as a defining period for him. Amongst those movies, was a film that is today still revered as a classic. John Carpenter's THE THING. A treasure of a movie, and some would agree, not one to be fucked with lightly.

The guys over at AICN had the news that Universal plan to remake THE THING, and although AICN seem extremely sceptical about the remake, I'm a little more enthusiastic given the crew involved with the remake at this early stage in the project.
Penned by Ronald D. Moore of recent Battlestar Galactica fame (he wrote and produced BG), Produced by Marc Abraham and Eric Newman of recent Dawn of the Dead remake (uh oh, remake monger alert)but hold the phone, it looks like there's at least one ray of hope, David Foster, Producer of Carpenter's original is on board. In what capacity is unclear, but at least one of the original helmers is present to make sure this doesn't go too far awry. We're gonna have to wait and see it would seem, but if they do it right, this could be a good movie. Apparently, producers of the remake have been quoted saying that they aren't intending on doing a shot for shot remake, instead more of a "sister" of the original. Scary stuff, but I'm still not too shaken. When I find out who gets cast as R.J. in the remake, then I'll start worrying unless they find a suitable candidate to fill Russells size 12's.

Open Memo to Tom Cruise

2006-11-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

Variety Editor in Chief has written an open memo to Tom Cruise following cruise's, shall we say, eventfull recent past what with him being dropped from Paramount, and subsequently setting up his own production company with his long time producing partner, Paula Wagner, following which he took to the helm of the rapidly failing United Artists. The memo, although peppered with sarcasm, is indeed an interesting read and insight into how Cruise is perceived in the showbiz world.

Source was obviously Variety -
"Memo to Tom Cruise
Peter Bart - The Back Lot

MEMO TO: Tom Cruise.

You seem to be living at a remarkably high decibel level for someone who's recently been fired, Tom. Paramount may not want you, but filmmakers all over town are submitting projects for your approval as the new co-head of United Artists and you've just greenlighted one of them, co-starring Meryl Streep and (who else) Tom Cruise. Further, there's more buzz surrounding your wedding than there was around the release of "Mission: Impossible III."

And the CEOs of all the congloms (including Paramount's Brad Grey) have signed on to co-host a big charity dinner honoring you, as though to reinforce the question, "Why would anyone fire Tom Cruise?"

Since you continue to be at the center of the storm, Tom, I thought I'd pursue my policy of offering unsolicited advice about the conduct of your career and the rebirthing of United Artists:

Your fans, Tom, want you to turn off Cruise Control. Actors and filmmakers who have worked with you in the past testify that you're both considerate and supportive as a colleague, not the manic control freak depicted by the media. In presiding over your new company, it's more important than ever to foster a kinder and gentler Tom Cruise who creates a positive presence in the community.

Both you and your producing partner, Paula Wagner, are closely identified with the Power Establishment, which can be a strength. Remember, however, that UA in its banner days under Arthur Krim and David Picker built its reputation by welcoming mavericks and outsiders. Tony Richardson was hardly a hot Hollywood director when Picker signed him for "Tom Jones" (which won an Oscar). Similarly, the James Bond books had been sitting on the shelf for a few years before UA mobilized the franchise.

In its prime, starting in the '60s, UA fostered brilliantly idiosyncratic niche films rather than tentpole pictures. During your Paramount deal, Tom and Paula, you clearly tried to sandwich provocative fare between your "Mission: Impossible" pictures, but both "Ask the Dust" and "Elizabethtown" turned out to be cutting edge without the edge. Was it that your "Mission" projects sucked all the energy out of the company?

The major talents, and their reps, by and large, believe that the studios are scaling back both in marketing and dealmaking: Witness that "Borat" became a hero at Fox, but his next movie was set up at Universal. Or that Martin Scorsese made his biggest hit at Warner Bros., but now has closed an overall deal at Paramount. Talent is looking for love and loyalty, Tom. You're in an excellent position to provide the nurture.

The last few years of your career, Tom, have provided reinforcement for the notion that stars should avoid providing TMI -- too much information. The studios of old used to shield the private lives of their stars from public scrutiny. Whatever details we learned were usually phony -- even bios were dreamed up in the offices of press agents. So remember, Tom, your fans don't need to know about the teachings of Scientology. I've had many friends over the years who were Quakers or Mormons, but they never shared their doctrinal epiphanies with me. Try thinking like them, Tom. They're nice people, too.
Now you might very well ask, "Who are you to give me advice, especially about United Artists?" That's a good question, Tom, but I would offer the following: I was once the nominal head of UA during its darkest days in the late '80s. I say "nominal" because UA, at the time, had been stripped of its identity. A percentage of MGM releases were arbitrarily assigned to UA without thought of style or subject matter. As a member of the MGM management team, it was my job to nurture them.

MGM's new hierarch, Harry Sloan, wants to change all that, and I hope you will help him bring it off.

And, yes, the time may come when you, too, may have to fire someone. I know you'll think twice, or three times, about it."

DOA Alive or Dead???

2006-11-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Corey Yuen's action packed sleezefest of an adaptation from video game to movie, Dead or Alive, is looking like its on the rocks. The film was due for a December release, however, the good folks over at Twitch have it that the Weinstein Company are sending it back to the shelves again. I don't understand... The trailer, although it didn't say much for the movie, was truly inspired, with the hilariously provocative and infamous amongst internet movie geeks "Bra Fight" was surely worth a holiday blockbuster of a BDM (Big Dumb Movie).

Oh well, maybe it'll resurface sometime in the future... one can but hope!

Catch said trailer (in german sadly) over HERE for download. Worth a look for the sake of fun at the least!

Bond vs Bourne - Who'd come out top?

2006-11-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

Craig's Bond vs Damon's Bourne

Two guys, each with an alarming amount of skill in what they do, but who'd have the edge?? Lets get geeky and examine it a little. Courtesy of my agent in London this one - Kudos to you M (shall forever remain nameless)

This is Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) vs James Bond (Daniel Craig) all other incarnations of Bond shall be disregarded to alleviate confusion

In a fight?

Too close to call, Bourne has an array of martial arts at his disposal, and none of the flashy showy moves, just simple effective stuff. He’s probably not a match for the raw hard brutality of Craig’s Bond. Bourne would have to make sure he didn’t meet him head on, more catching him from the side, or taking him outside the comfort zone of his raw strength, being lighter and faster.

A very close and uncomfortable long and drawn out 50/50.

On a mission?

Again, a very close one. At this stage, Bourne appears to have the egde when it comes to language skills, but how much that makes an agent is changing all the time. It’s a good skill set to have, but there are plenty of agents who work under the idea that if you’ve reached a stage where you’re struggling to get by with the basics, you’re in the sh** anyway. There again, Bond has a way with women, and women can often get you places you wouldn't be able to get to otherwise, like the big crime boss's apartment.

Bourne’s advantages over Bond?

Younger, lighter, faster, able to adapt everything in the bigger picture in a split second as the situation dictates.

Bond’s advantages over Bourne?

Bigger, stronger, more support behind him, potentially may be able to alarm Bourne long enough with a quick witted quip to be able to disarm him and take him down.

Hmm, how do we conclude this issue of absolute paramount importance?

Well, I'll leave that up to you lot!

Yes, Considerably.

Turistas clips and goodies

2006-11-17T03:53:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned recently, despite the probability of this movie being utter tripe, I'm quite looking forward to Turistas

And to fuel the fire, there are a few clips and a couple of trailers to check out of the upcoming horror flick.

Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Clip 4
Clip 5

And the trailers -

Trailer 1
Trailer 2

What you think? Tripe, or a slice of fried gold?

Casino Royale with Cheese - Review!!!!!! We DEFINITELY need more exclaimation marks!!!!!!

2006-11-17T02:44:00.000-08:00

Actually, Hold the cheese, we won't be needing it this time round. Yep, Bond is back, and this time, he's brutal! Brutal in the sense that he means business.
I'm not sure where to start with this one, so I'll just let this review become the brainfart its always going to be, such is my overwhelming excitement at how goddamn good Casino Royale is.

We sat down, settled ourselves, and the previews rolled through. The film begins. It opens with a black and white intro which instantly draws your complete attention. Its an extremely stylish and very well conceived noir opening scene, with some very subtle but truly amazing shot framing. It really sets us up for whats about to come. Bond, but not as we ever, EVER knew him. Straight in with the utterly gripping, nail biting brutal side of Bond we were so often depraved of with the camp character we've come to know since connery quit (with the exception of Lazenby and Dalton perhaps). This opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the entire movie, and boy does it leave you feeling excited inside! After the Chris Cornell opening titles which are visually very stunning, but aurally an absolute onslaught, the movie begins, and I guarantee your feet won't even touch the floor for the next 2 hours.

Throughout the movie, and through my uncontrollable boyish grinning, I kept catching myself looking at Craig as Bond, and thinking to myself "I just Don't recognize this Character on screen... I know its Bond, but where has he been for the last 35 years!?" such is Daniel Craigs truly remarkable performance and absolute reinterpretation of James Bond. What we get here, is Bond as Flemming intended. Casino Royale is the opening film with the new and improved James Bond. We're back to basics. No gadgets, no elaborate plans to take over the world, less cheese, a noticable lack of presence of eyebrows and definately no invisible cars. All bond has is a secret compartment in his unbelievably gorgeous Aston Martin, and his total manly braun. Bond is younger. Not so much in the flesh, he still epitomizes everything that Bond is and needs to be, sophisticated, un-phased, cool, collected, and a bit of eye candy for the ladies, but perhaps a little more mischievous, for want of a better word, younger. He's not as cynical or worn out by his job, and he's certainly not trying to crowbar all things "British" down our throats at every given oppertunity (...oh roger...). He's not afraid to get his hands dirty. This reminded me of how Connery was in the beginning. Sure he was suave and sophisticated, but there was always an edge to connery's Bond that made you think he really could slap ten shades of shit out of you and not drop his Vodka Martini. Craig, similarly, has something of a raw edge to him. Something bold and dangerous, yet cunning and wry at the same time. He can take a punch (and does, regularly) in some of the best looking brutal fight scenes since the Bourne Identity. We're pretty much looking at Connery's Bond but a few years earlier. I was completely and utterly convinced. I hereby slam all Daniel Craig naysayers out there with the words: This could quite plausibly be the best Bond interpretation ever.

The story itself is direct from Flemmings first ever Bond novel, and its pretty accurate, give or take. Its set around a high stakes card game. One thing I was pleased about in the whole premise was the change from Bonds traditional game of Baccarat to Texas Holed 'em Poker. Bond is staked in the game with funds from the british treasury (obviously with slight concern) to play against known terrorist, Le Chiffre. Now this is a real Bond villain. He's right there, all the time, getting his hands dirty. No big monstrous contraptions designed to kill people excrutiatingly slowly. He's mean, creepy and very very scary (He cries tears of blood for christ sakes!) Bond is up against it and make no mistake. The locations are amazingly good and really set the timbre of the film. The action is plentiful and so well done that I literally found myself on the edge of my seat on many occassions. Its humorous, witty and stylish. Craig's Bond is cool, collected and a little bit of a live wire every so often.

In short, if you are a true Bond fan, you ARE going to LOVE this movie.

Marks - 5/5

I'm going to see it again this weekend, I suggest you all do the same!

The Host

2006-11-17T02:31:00.000-08:00

The Host is definately not the one with the mostest. Being a big fan of Korean cinema, I was eagerly anticipating this movie, as I'd head that it had done really well in Korea, and the internet buzz was pretty positively looking forward to it. So, I toodled along down to the cinema to be entertained. I wasn't expecting anything more than a creature fest, with a little style. Sadly, I was thoroughly disappointed.

Its the story of a beast thats born through a chemical mishap in the Han River (which incidentally is a beautifull place!). Creature gets big, people get eaten and chased. There's a Virus that people that come into contact with the beast contract, and there's also confusion over whether a virus actually exists or not (I didnt quite figure this one out even though I sat through the whole thing). a girl gets taken to its lair, from where she calls her dad on her cell phone. Her dad, an absolute idiot, embarks on a mission to save her. Now, I'm not an easy man to disappoint when it comes to Asian Cinema, however, this one took the biscuit. The subtitles for a start, were extremely badlyu translated. It would seem whichever translation company got the gig either didn't have enough time, or they were very, VERY cheap. The acting is atrocious. Even for slapstick asian style flicks. As for the creature, please... most of the time it looked like a big blob with a couple of legs. Really badly designed, absolutely nothing new at all. It can swin, and it can swing under bridges, and it has a massive tongue. I'm bored even describing it to you it was that uninspiring. The CG, while it had its moments, and despite the poor design of the creature, was somewhat crappy too. Without spoiling it (it does a good enough job itself!), the fire at the end is possibly the worst CG effect I've ever seen.

People, I'm sad to say, avoid this one at all costs. Given the option to give it a second chance, I think I'd rather sick up a lung.

Paths of Hate

2006-11-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

As with my fascination with BLUR and their work, my enthusiasm for animated shorts by hugely talented studios extends to even the lesser known studios. In fact, sometimes its better when something comes out of something that noones heard of at all! Annie and Boo, a touch of class there - Fallen Art, genius... and now Paths of Hate which comes from little known Platige Image. Its a WWII Ariel animation, and no doubt all of you will agree, it looks freakin stunning.
Check out the remarkable trailer HERE

Lets start stamping our feet for a feature from Platige!

Dynamite Warrior!

2006-11-15T07:22:00.000-08:00

Dan Chupong is set to explode onto UK screens in true Ong Bak style. Dynamite Warrior, or TabunFire as it was still called when this trailer was made (amongst many other titles its been through and used up!), is a stunning looking martial arts fest with lots and lots of ridiculous stunts, knee's to the head, running on rockets etc etc. I for one, being a huge Tony Jaa fan and fan of the Ong Bak movies, can't wait!

Twitch had the trailer for download, which saves us squinting at the crappy YouTube encode. I strongly urge you to take the time to download this and have a squiz, if cracking heads and death defying stunts are your bag. They're certainly mine!

Trailer is HERE for download!

Smokin' Aces looks "Smokin'!!!

2006-11-15T07:08:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love those kinds of movies that are just cool? A bit of comedy, a bit of flashy gunfighting, a lot of assassins, and a hapless piss artsist of a target. Smokin Aces promises to deliver all of the above and then some. An FBI agent (Reynolds) hunts for a Las Vegas stand up comedian (Piven) who has decided to squeal on the mob but, before he heads off for protective custody, decides to go to the casinos at Lake Tahoe for one last good time, drawing a crowd of assassins (including Affleck and Keys)all abying for his blood in order to stop him from snitching. Couldn't be more simple!
The immediate stand out for me with this one is Jeremy Piven. He plays the delerious old school friend to Martin Blanke in Gross Point Blank, and the ludicrously funny Agent Ari in the HBO hit series "Entourage". Can't get enough of this guy, and by the looks of things he's gonna shine in Smokin Aces too!
While folks in the US can get a look at this in January 2007, us poor unfortunates in the UK will have to wait til March. *sigh*

Check out the trailer HERE

The Tribe

2006-11-15T06:12:00.000-08:00

This one landed in my lap with a thud! The Tribe is a kind of predator style flick, and one that looks like it pulls out all the stops to be a complete no brainer! It tells the story of a young girl's journey from a scared, co-dependent girl to a self-evolved, powerful woman. Liz (Played by Jewel Staite of Serenity fame)and her boyfriend and some friends take a boating trip, but guess what? Something goes wrong. They end up stranded on a jungle island, being stalked by... you guessed it.... weird horrible creatures!

The two best things that I can make out from this film, are that the baddies aren't CG, instead, they're just men in suits (Man in suit horror!!!) and it stars Jewel Staite, who from her days as the Serenity's engineer, can oil my cogs anytime!

Be sure to check out the trailer HERE

Theres also a production blog over HERE

Bring it on...

"Goooo get to de chapperrrr!"

Little Children

2006-11-15T05:11:00.000-08:00

Occassionally, we go see a film, and walk away knowing you've seen something special. The kind of movie you watch, it moves you, and you catch yourself giving the best actor oscar to at least half the cast, along with every other oscar available for each respective part of a movie. This is the case I'm told, with Little Children.

Little children is a slice of suburban life. It follows two parents, Brad and Sarah who meet on a playground and fall for each other. It also shows the life of a released sex offender who has moved into the heavily child populated neighborhood. It stars Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Noah Emmerich and Jackie Earle Haley. It's directed by Todd Field and adapted by Fields and his writing partner Tom Perrota from the novel of the same name.

Winslet is apparently outstanding, delivering a beautifully natural performance, as we all know she's more than capable of (Heavenly Creatures), and Patrick Wilson, offering us a glimpse at his ability first with Hard Candy, now staking his claim as a great actor firmly with Little Children.

Go see this movie, thats an order!

And watch for this one at awards times!

40 things that only happen in movies

2006-11-15T04:21:00.000-08:00

Cliche after cliche, nostalgia central hit the nail on the head with their interpretation of Hollywood and its many unrealistic failings. You gotta love these! So funny cos they're so true!

40 Things That Only Happen In Movies

1. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly outside or opposite the building you are visiting.

2. When paying for a taxi, don't look at your wallet as you take out a note. Just grab one out at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.

3. Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment it's aired.

4. Creepy music (or satanic chanting) coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated.

5. Any lock can be picked with a credit card or paperclip in seconds. UNLESS it's the door to a burning building with a child inside.

6. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.

7. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red digital displays so you know exactly when they are going to explode.

8. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to learn to speak German. Simply speaking English with a German accent will do. Similarly, when they are alone, all German soldiers prefer to speak English to each other.

9. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off. Even while scuba diving.

10. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window of any building in Paris.

11. Any police officer about to retire from the force will more often than not die on their last day (especially if their family have planned a party). (Caveat: Detectives can only solve a case after they have been suspended from duty).

12. Getaway cars never start first go. But all cop cars do. (They will also slide to a dramatic stop in the midst of a crime scene).

13. If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises wearing their most revealing underwear.

14. On a police stake-out, the action will only ever take place when food is being consumed and scalding hot coffees are perched precariously on the dashboard . . .

15. All grocery shopping involves the purchase of French loaves which will be placed in open brown paper bags (Caveat: when said bags break, only fruit will spill out).

16. Cars never need fuel (unless they're involved in a pursuit).

17. If you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts, your opponents will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around you in a threatening manner until you have defeated their predecessor.

18. If a microphone is turned on it will immediately feedback.

19. Guns are like disposable razors. If you run out of bullets, just throw the gun away. you will always find another one.

20. All single women have a cat.

21. Cars will explode instantly when struck by a single bullet.

22. No matter how savagely a spaceship is attacked, its internal gravity system is never damaged.

23. If being chased through a city you can usually take cover in a passing St Patrick's Day parade - at any time of the year.

24. The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. Nobody will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building undetected.

25. You will survive any battle in any war UNLESS you show someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.

26. Prostitutes always look like Julia Roberts or Jamie Lee Curtis. They have expensive clothes and nice apartments but no pimps. They are friendly with the shopkeepers in their neighbourhood who don't mind at all what the girl does for a living.

27. A single match is usually sufficient to light up a room the size of a football stadium.

28. It is not necessary to say "Hello" or "Goodbye" when beginning a telephone conversation. A disconnected call can always be restored by frantically beating the cradle and saying "Hello? Hello?" repeatedly.

29. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at once (it's called Stallone's Law).

30. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in you room will still be visible, just slightly bluish.

31. Plain or even ugly girls can become movie star pretty simply by removing their glasses and rearranging their hair.

32. Rather than wasting bullets, megalomaniacs prefer to kill their enemies with complicated devices incorporating fuses, pulleys, deadly gases, lasers and man-eating sharks.

33. All beds have special L-shaped sheets that reach to armpit level on a woman but only up to the waist of the man lying beside her.

34. Anyone can land a 747 as long as there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.

35. During all police investigations it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.

36. You can always find a chainsaw when you need one.

37. Most musical instruments (especially wind instruments and accordions) can be played without moving your fingers.

38. In Middle America, all gas station attendants have red handkerchiefs hanging out of their back pockets.

39. All teen house parties have one of every stereotypical subculture present (even people who aren't liked and would never get invited to parties).

40. Trucks use their horns at random (no hang on, that happens in real life too!).

Turistas

2006-11-15T03:36:00.000-08:00

I like the look of this one... Yeh its not really anything too different from what we've already seen, but it does look like its going to be a pretty harrowing tale of a holiday gone wrong. Sounds just like Hostel doesn't it? Well you wouldn't be far wrong. This one is pretty much Hostel but in South America's Brazil. A group of friends get marooned in a small Brazilian town when their bus crashes. At first, things seem to be fine, but soon the truth behind this strange and creepy village begins to show its face. Expect some grotesque and unimaginable ways to die, a lot of "jock" talk, and the occassional flash of butt and boob! A perfect recipe for a horror/thriller. Released in the states on December 1st, but us lot over the pond here in the UK won't get to see it until April 2007. Boo!

Check out the trailer HERE

or in HD - 420p - 720p - 1080p

Not a lot o people know that!

2006-11-15T03:18:00.000-08:00

Here's one that could very easily have slipped under the radar. Michael Caine stars in a 60's London Heist movie. No no no, I'm not getting confused with some of his greatest moments of cinema such as The Italian Job or Gambit (A true classic by the way!) in which Caine starred alongside Shirley MacLaine. This one is called Flawless, for reasons which the synopsis will give away.

It stars Michael Caine, and Demi Moore. Sadly, although Caine has a big part, he's not the principle character, Moore holds that egg. Its the story of an American working in London at the London Diamond Company (aha! the truth outs itself with regards to the title!) who is constantly overlooked for promotions and generally treated badly because she's a woman. Can you tell where this is heading? Caine plays a soon to retire Janitor in the building, who has a plan. He nabs Moore's disgruntled ear, and convinces her to pull of a fine heist by stealing diamonds from her employer. Sounds simple enough! I do love my heist movies, and since this one seems nothing of the Oceans ilk, I'm genuinely quite excited about it! Due for release in 2007, with no fixed date as of yet. watch this space!

Is Cruise a Lion or a Lamb?

2006-11-15T03:01:00.000-08:00

We're about to find out. Tom Cruise's first venture after the United Artists rescue will be a movie called Lions for Lambs. "Lions for Lambs is a drama that consists of three interconnected storylines. Cruise will play a congressman who interacts with a journalist (Streep). Redford will be an idealistic professor who attempts to inspire a privileged student in his class. And a third storyline will be about a pair of American soldiers wounded in enemy territory, one of whom is Redford's former student."

Thankfully its not a balls to the wall action flick. I rate Tom Cruise very highly, but moreso in his less wham! Bam! roles. He was fantastic in Magnolia, showing us he is a truly gifted actor, and Vanilla Sky was another tremendous feat. So it pleases me to see that his new production company, and his new found United Artists associations will kick him off with something that he can actually get his teeth into. One to watch out for, Lions for Lambs will no doubt be a formidable movie when reviewers get their grubby little hands on it, though that won't happen until sometime next year. Variety seemed to think it would happen around November 07.

American Gangster

2006-11-15T02:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a movie that nearly never was. With a troubled history of poor scripts, it nearly didn't see the light of day. Originally penned to star Benicio Del Toro and Denzel Washington with Antoine Fuqua to direct, Universal shelved it with only a month to go before shooting. That was back in 2004. Now, its alive again, but minus Benicio. Instead, it will star Denzel Washington as originally planned, and along side him, the angry brooder, Russel Crowe. But, and here's the real kicker, to helm the flick this time round, we've got Ridley Scott. Scrumptious!

Its the story of a Harlem Heroin dealer who figures out a scam to smuggle heroin into America in the coffins of dead Vietnam soldiers. The rise of a gangster. Yeh I know, we've seen it all before, but I honestly think that this one might have the edge on so many flawed gangster flicks. Latino Review have a very interesting script review posted at the moment. I urge you to go check it out HERE

Something Stinks!

2006-11-15T02:36:00.000-08:00

I've been holding off on this one a bit, but the time has come for Cinematique to to tip its hat at what promises to be a splendid film. Perfume.
It looks like a creepy tale of a man with an extraordinary sense of smell. Perfume: The story of a murderer follows the life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a boy born with such an amazing sense of smell and fascination with scent, that it drives him to become something grotesque and savage and creepy. The trailer, says it all. I shall be waiting to get a sniff of this one with baited breath!

Check out the disturbing trailer in HD

480p - 720p - 1080p

Cohen to team with Burton and Depp

2006-11-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

Sacha Baron Coehn, following the enormous success of Borat, plans to follow it up with a role in Tim Burton's Sweeny Todd. Sweeny Todd will star Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.

variety had the news -

Cohen will play Signor Adolfo Pirelli, a barber who becomes the nemesis of Sweeney Todd. Todd's the barber who teams with the murderess Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) to kill people, grind them up and use them in her meat pies.

Based on Stephen Sondheim's musical, in the hands of Mr Burton, I think we can prepare ourselves for a special treat!
Shooting begins in London in February. £5 for anyone who manages to "High Five" him on the set!

Venom

2006-11-14T06:17:00.000-08:00

U just gotta love the commitment some internet geeks show time and time again! Here's a smoochy lil gif someone from cyberland knocked up!

300 Q & A and New Images

2006-11-13T06:46:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned before time and time and time and again... I'm a little excited for 300. So, imagine my surprise and delight when I came across some brand spanking new images from the film over at IGN. Miller and Snyder were talking about the transition from graphic novel to film, and snyder presented several scenes from the movie.
Snyder said, "For Frank's work, it's amazing and the book that he made -- every frame is like a painting. So we just felt that the only way to get at that and to respect that and to do it justice was to make sure that we weren't ... You can imagine us in some dusty mountain pass up in Mulholland or up by Vasquez Rocks. But I feel this way is more like the drawings, especially in terms of what he does."

Get yer buns over to IGN right now for a read of the full article HERE and a juicy look at some huge images HERE

Magicians

2006-11-13T06:15:00.000-08:00

What a lot of hocus pocus there is kicking around of late. With The Illusionist, The Prestige and now Mitchell and Webb (of peep show fame) are ready to alakazam onto the big screen. This is the first shot of the upcoming comedy film starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb of Peep Show fame.....

Due for release in April of 2007, 'Magicians' is the tale of a pair of rivaling stage magicians that are forced to confront their falling out over a guillotine mishap when they compete in a magic competition.

Directed by Andrew O'Connor, and filmed in the UK, the film is the comedy duo's first big step onto the big screen.

Source - Eurofusion via Suv. Cheers for the heads up!

Best...Episode...EVERRRR!

2006-11-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

Possibly the worst thing that could have ever happened to the Simpsons character The Comic Book Guy, is about to happen. A rival comic book store is coming to springfield! Yeh Yeh I hear you mutter, but this is actually something of a scoop!
Said new comic book store is cool. So cool in fact, that it manages to get the writer of The Watchmen to come along to do a special signing! There it is... Yes folks, Alan Moore is to appear in The Simpsons. The legendary writer of The Watchmen and V for Vendetta is apparently a big fan of the simpsons, and jumped at the chance to appear in the show, which came about through a chance meeting between producers of the hit comedy cartoon and Moore's fiance. Mr Moore said: "Mel was in America promoting our new book The Lost Girls and one of the Simpsons producers spoke to her and asked if I would be in the show.
"She said: 'Why don't you give him a ring he's very approachable'. "I was happy to do it. I'm a big fan of The Simpsons." CBR had the news, and there's a little more on the Northants News site

Borat's Movie Film is Nice!

2006-11-13T05:26:00.000-08:00

I just don;t know how the hell he gets away with it... Sacha Baron Cohen reaches all new levels of cringe-worthy depravity with Borat and his quest across america to experience cultural learnings for make benefit great nation of Kazakhstan. We follow the hapless journalist through excrutiatingly difficult situations with all manner of scenarios. I had expected to be a little underwhelmed at this, assuming it would be much like an extended episode of the character from Da Ali G Show, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I chuckled. One notable comment to make would be to offer credit to cohen for absolute absurdity in letting a fat man sit on his face... naked. Bleurgh... They then continue to wrestle... naked... throughout the lobby of a swish hotel, and burst into an ongoing conference of mortgage advisors. Truly classy stuff! I'd wait for the DVD if I were you though, go see The Prestige instead!

Kiwi!

2006-11-13T04:28:00.000-08:00

This is a delightful, yet sad little tale of a bird(?) creature who can't fly, and makes the ultimate sacrifice to experience flight just once.
An excellent little short. Full marks!

The Prestige is prestigious indeed!

2006-11-13T04:09:00.000-08:00

I finally got to see Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige" this weekend, and although I suspected I would be treated to a very special film, I had no idea to what extent I would walk away feeling I'd just seen something very special.
Based on the Novel by Christopher Priest, it is a tale of two rival magicians, each doing their utmost to sabbotage the other and win victory as the holder of the greatest secret, the greatest trick!
Two outstanding performances from both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, the latter slightly outshining the former in this respect. Appearances also from Michael Caine and Scarlet Johanson pepper the screen with such obvious talent, and with Johanson in yet another period costume, its safe to say that I can barely picture her dressed anything else these days. A truly marvellous piece, expertly sewn together by Nolan's film making wizardry, I thoroughly recommend this. So highly do I regard it, that it will go down as one of my three favoirite films of this year alongside Gilliam's Tideland, and Brick by Rian Johnson.

A Masterpiece. Go see!!

And the real deal with the Spidey Trailer

2006-11-13T04:01:00.000-08:00

All that leakage about Venom... Pah... *Ahem!* Scuse me, dunno what came over me there... This is the official trailer Sony released. Shows you exactly whats so hot about the other one... I personally think that Sony should have had more footage of venom in the official trailer. Although, I do understand they wanna keep something under wraps and not reveal everything too early... but, with a may 07 release date... us spidey freaks just CAN'T wait that long!!!

You can also check out some HD versions of the trailer (well worth it!) over here:

480 720 and 1080

Spidey 3 - Venom footage!

2006-11-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

I have no idea how long this will last online as its quite obviously a lot of pre vis work. Some seriously smoochy glimpses at venom though!!! Good God... this movie is certainly not going to fail to impress me, despite Kirsten "I just don't get emotion" Dunst and her neverending efforts in the romance department *Yawn*
Gimme Gimme Gimme!

The Simpsons Movie trailer!!!!!!!!!

2006-11-13T03:41:00.000-08:00

Its here, the official simpsons movie trailer!!!! And I just dunno what to say!!!! We need more exclamation marks!!!!!!

Check it out HERE!!!!!

Fanboys

2006-11-13T03:28:00.000-08:00

The story is pretty simple. A bunch of fanboys, in 1998, set out to see George Lucas' Phantom Menace early, because one of the friends in the group is diagnosed as terminally ill and won't live long enough to see the film when its officially released. The trailer doesnt really give that away though as it seems to focus more on the comedy side of things, of which there is bound to be plenty with such fruitful subject matter as Star Wars fanboys vs Star Trek fanboys :)

Check out the trailer over at iesb HERE

RIP Jack...

2006-11-13T03:22:00.000-08:00

On Friday evening, legendary actor Jack Palance died peacefully at the age of 87.

RIP

Richard Donners Superman II available for Pre-Order!

2006-11-09T02:55:00.000-08:00

Now then! In the 70's, Richard Donner was signed to do TWO superman movies. Superman, and Superman II. He was doing them both simultaneously. However, because of some Differences, and arguements, he never finished Superman II. And much to its detriment if you ask me (although this is just my own opinion!) Richard Lester came on board to finish Donner's Superman II, however he made some changes of his own, and in fact, the movie, according to Donner, turned out to be a completely different one to that which Donner was intending to make.
Well, now... after all these years of us thinking Superman II is a much lesser film than Superman, we finally get to see Donners original version.
This is where I'm a little confused... Warners is releasing, at the end of this month, an "approximation" of the version Donner had originally intedned. Hmm. Although I'm quite excited about this... I really wanna hear what Donner has to say about how close it actually is to his original. I suppose the chances of us being treated to some Donner interviews or perhaps even commentaries in the extras wouldn't be out of the question? whatever they spoon feed us, I'll be buying this. You can pre-order over HERE
You can also check out some exclusive clips of the version over HERE at IESB.

Either way, if you wanna read a review of this Donnerfied version, head over to AICN and check it out. Be warned though, it contains SPOILERS!

Walken to play Ozzy??

2006-11-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

A new Hollywood flick based on the Motley Crue's 2001 biography - The Dirt: Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band is set to have a cameo appearance from Christopher Walken as Ozzy Osbourne! At first, this got a raised eyebrow from me, but the more I think about it, the more it actually makes sense!
He's perfect for it!

Ozzy Osbourne toured with the Motley Crue once and features in the book doing various typically disgusting things, such as snorting a line of live ants and eating LSD consistantly for a year. Way to go Ozzy!

Val Kilmer is also tipped to play David Lee Roth in the movie.
The rest of the bands members will be played by unkown actors. How odd that a bunch of unknown leads will be supported with cameo's from such giants of cinema!
I'll be looking out for this one!

Strutter Direct!

2006-11-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

A work colleague turned me on to this one. Marvellous!

Cheers Matt -

"Paul Kaye (Dennis Pennis) has a character called Mike Strutter, and MTV have given him a show, Thursday at 10.30 (UK Times).
Think Joe Pesci in Goodfellas.
If it’s anything like the stuff I saw on a video about 6 years ago then it’ll be an endless and amusing tirade of foul language and violence.

Warning, contains strong language!!

Ledger talks Joker

2006-11-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

Heath "Brokeback" Ledger has been divulging some thoughts on how he plans to play the joker to Latino Review. Judging from this picture, he's been practicing the smile too, possibly in order to negate the necessity for extreme make up. Maybe he has particularly soft and reactive skin? We'd have to ask Jake Gyllenhaal I guess.
Sorry, I'll get my coat.

Latino Review's brief encounter with the actor went a little something like this:

"What's next for you?

Ledger: Next thing is playing the Joker next year.

What motivated you to take on the role? Were you familiar or a fan with the character?

Ledger: I guess if I was a fan of a comic book character it would be the Joker. The offer motivated me to take it, the opportunity to play this guy. Somewhere inside I kind of knew instantly what to do with it. I didn't feel like I had to search for it, I feel like I have a plan of attack already and that usually dictates whether I want to do something or not, if I have an understanding of it straight away.

Have you met with Chris or Christian or have you just formulated what you want to do independently?

Ledger: At this point it's solo. Chris Nolan's still busy, or he was, with "The Prestige" and they're still writing the script. They're so guarded, even with me. I don't have a script. I've read it once, at Chris Nolan's house, but he wouldn't let me leave with it. "

I'm hopeful he can pull this out of the bag. The Joker should be as critical to the new Batman franchise as Batman himself. Big shoes to fill Heath... and we're not talking clown shoes either!

Frank Miller Slams claims that Sin City 2 is in great peril!

2006-11-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

Its been kicking about for a few days now, that Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez had a falling out. No doubt this had caused much concern amongst the geekdom people with us all fretting that the feud was going to result in Sin City 2 being canned. Not so! We can all breathe a deep sigh of relief as Miller slams the accusations to the ground and feed the dogs with its endtrails. Phew!
Cinematical had the story courtesy of CBR -

"I've been told by Frank Miller's attorney, Harris Miller, that this is incredibly incorrect and there's not even anything yet to which to call a halt. "Frank's working on 'The Spirit' and his comics work, and Robert's working on 'Grindhouse' and other projects. Nothing's been set yet and nothing's been altered. There are certain discussions that must take place before the sequel is scheduled, and those talks haven't even begun. . . . . And Frank and Robert aren't having any disagreements, significant or otherwise."

Frank himself is reportedly quoted saying:

"This is patent nonsense. Cybercrap."

Way to go Frank. Put us in our place to be sure!

We're back on! And after gridhouse, what better to follow with than Sin City 2!

Smoochy!

We demand the finest wines available to humanity...

2006-11-08T03:56:00.000-08:00

...and another teaming of the great duo that encapsulated everything students and real people alike know and love and also hate about drugs - Thats right, Withnail and I are back.
Not actually in so many words... Richard E Grant and Paul MCGann will indeed be teaming up again, although quite thankfully, not for a Withnail sequel! Phew!
Good ole Brendon over at filmick was way ahead of me with the news that the spaced out due are together again at last for a short entitled Always Crashing in the Same Car

Synopsis:

Always Crashing in the Same Car tells the story of two men, James and Bill, who are an important power team but personally hate eachother. James is driving home after a very confrontational meeting in the early hours of the morning and runs over and kills a homeless woman. He has no one to turn to except Bill, who expertly covers up the crime.

There's a massive spoiler over there at filmick too, but I won't repeat it here as some of you might want to keep the final twist as a surprise!
You know, the thing about this bit of gossip that made me cough coffee out my nose, was its producer. One Zoe Ball
...yeh, wipe up the coffee you just spat everywhere... Indeed, the very same Zoe Ball you're probably picturing and saying "Nahhhh it can't be" to yourself right now. None other than Mrs Fatboy Slim.
What the...???
No release date as of yet, but I'll keep an eye on this one!

Oh, its also the name of a David Bowie song...

Babel

2006-11-08T03:30:00.000-08:00

"Therefore is the name of it called Babel because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." Genesis 11:9

And so the final installment in visionary director, Alejandro González Iñnáritu's trilogy is upon us. I've held off on this movie since I didn't want to make any assumptions whatsoever about the films premise or worth at following two fantastic films - Amores Perros and 21 Grams.
Reviews are starting to hit now, and it looks like the verdict is unanymous. Genius. I expected no less. The film is apprently shot with unbelievably stunning cinemtatography, and whilst locations shooting covered such locations as Tunisia, Morocco, Mexico and Japan, all in the space of a year, its very tough not to feel like something really special is on the horizon.

I'll be checking this out sometime in the next few days, and I'll strongarm a review together once I'm "in the room". In the meantime, feast your eyes on the trailer for what promises to be a spectacle you'll never forget.

Normal Res
HD Res

Spidey 3: Early concepts for Villains

2006-11-08T02:19:00.000-08:00

I cant get enough of the spidey franchise. And it looks as though Raimy is taking the reigns as seriously for 3 as we'd hoped. Some new images were posted yesterday or the day before of some [very] early concepts for the main villains Spidey will be up against, and they look freakin sweet! AICN had it initially, but Sony apprently quickly asked them to remove the images. But some of us geeky types out there in cyber land, were a bit too quick on the draw!
I've sat on them for as long as I could so as not to get in trouble with the big boys, and now it seems the images are very very slowly creeping onto the net, so cinematique isn't scared anymore. We boldly go, where few dare...

Click images to Enlarge

Indiana Jones and the Frog-Chinned Naysayer

2006-11-08T01:55:00.000-08:00

Indy4, as its come to be known amongst internet movie geeks and fans alike, is looking like its about to get tossed into a pit of seething snakes for ever and ever. But wait, I was under the impression that it was a goer... so what happened?

Well, Harrison Ford was keen, providing the movie could begin shooting in the next year, claiming any longer in pre-prod, and he'd be too old. I'll give him that one. Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption) had penned a script he was pleased with ( I think we can cast those rumours that Indy4 was going to be about Indy looking for UFOs or whatever it was into that same pit of snakes)m and Spielberg loved it. He loved it so much in fact, that he said it was the "best draft of anything since Raiders of the Lost Ark.". The only hurdle left to leap, was the frog-chinned wrecker of dreams, George Lucas. Spielberg was set to start shooting, but Lucas had other ideas. Darabont had this to say about when Lucas got the script:

"And then you have George Lucas read it and say, 'Yeah, I don't think so, I don't like it.' And then he resets it to zero when Spielberg is ready to shoot it that coming year, [which] is a real kick to the nuts." No kidding Frank...

So it seems that George Lucas could have killed Indy forever. Pah! He must be getting quite used to approaching these kinds of things with an elitist attitude. That being said, we only have Darabonts view to go on when we assume Indy4 won't be happening, and to be fair, he's probably feeling a little bashful and hurt that his script was tossed aside so wantonly. No doubt he'll be sticking pins in a David Keopp shaped voodoo doll right now, as its alleged he is penning a new draft.

So all hope is not lost, but lost it seems, is the oppertunity to see Indy made with a script from an extremely talented writer, instead, we can only hope we still see Indy one last time, from a slightly lesser writer. Having said that, carlitos Way was excellent, and we can thank Koepp for that screenplay.

Here's hoping they manage to bring Lucas down a peg or two and accept a script in time to make it before Ford gets so wrinkly we can't tell where his face stops and the hat starts!

New Blur Studios Short

2006-11-08T01:36:00.000-08:00

Pretty much anything that comes out of Blur Studios makes me go weak at the knees. Rock Fsh was stunning and intriguing and utterly loveable. In the Rough made me chuckle with glee. They have an unparalleled ability to evoke such immense emotion with their visuals, and the simplicity with which they story-tell is truly endearing. A new short is on the horizon from these pioneers of imagery. "Gentleman’s Duel" looks to be a slight departure from the typical Blur trademark look, however, beautiful as anything they've conjoured up before. Its the first short amongst their arsenal of award winning animations in which the characters have speaking parts of any real significance.

The film is about, well, two gentlemen erm, duelling.

" To vie for the affections of a wealthy woman, a Frenchman named Dubois and an Englishman named Weatherby fight a duel with two peculiar weapons: steam-powered mechs. Dubois, the Frenchman, is large, pompous, with a giant bloated chest and the air of being high society even though he might not be. Weatherby, the thin, high-strung Englishman, has bags under his eyes as if something troubling him has made him tired. The viewer has no idea what weapons they’ve chosen until they take their paces at the beginning of the duel. “Instead of turning to fire,” Fowler says, “they run off into the forest.” The ground shakes. Trees rustle. When they walk out of the forest, they’re inside 10-foot tall steam-powered mechs."

Oh yes!

While I eagerly await a chance to see this short, I feel vaguely satisfied at the stills we're treated to in the meantime. Image rights obviously belong to Blur Studios, who's site you can find many other goodies on over HERE

Click the Images to enlarge.

Enjoy!

Tenacious D: Pick of Destiny - Footage online!

2006-11-08T01:18:00.000-08:00

It would seem that the first 6 minutes of the new Tenacious D movie - The Pick of Destiny, is up online for all and sundry to have a gander at! I haven't been hugely anticipating this movie, despite being an avid fan of the cumbersome and talented pair of fockers! Nonetheless, its a good glimpse of the flick, and it made me wanna go see it ASAP! Having said that, it could be that this is some sort of promotional campaign. Lets see how long it lasts on youtube before we draw any real conclusions

Korea ready to sucker punch naysayers with D War

2006-11-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, This one's been looming in the wings for long enough, its time cinematique gave it its just desserts.
Whats it all about? Its pretty straight forward in premise... dragons smashing shit up. Its a Korean film, set in LA, with a predominantly american cast. Most of this we can probably safely assume is down to the film makers wanting to sell it to the American market, and no doubt, they're going about it the right way.

"Based on the Korean legend, unknown creatures will return and devastate the planet. Reporter Ethan Kendrick is called in to investigate the matter, and he arrives at the conclusion that a girl stricken with a mysterious illness named Sarah is suppose to help him. The Imoogi makes its way to Los Angeles, wreaking havoc and destruction. With the entire city under arms, will Ethan and Sarah make it in time to save the people of Los Angeles?"

Cheese-Tastic!

I for one, cannot wait!

You can check out some of said dragons smashing shit up over HERE as a downloadable asf

Kubrick's Lost Films??

2006-11-07T04:44:00.000-08:00

Stan Kubrick is hailed as one of the most prolific film makers of all time. His legendary status is right up there with the likes of Hitchcock, and rightly so. That being said, Kubricks last film, Eyes Wide Shut, left somewhat of a bitter taste in many peoples mouths. Since, there's only been the bastardizing of A.I by Spielberg (it really was sacrilage!).
With the bitter taste from his last movie (I exclude myself from that group as I actually rate the film quite highly), fans of the legend may be pleased to hear that when Kubrick moved from Hollywood to London in '61, a lot of things got lost in the shuffle. Included with these lost items it seems, were some film treatments Kubrick had been working on. Now isn't that a delight to hear. However, hold your tongue for now, as I'm sure you'll agree, since A.I. and what spielberg did to it (bleurgh!) its going to be very difficult to imagine anyone stepping into Kubrick's shoes to finish a half complete idea or two. Is there anyone we could actually trust to perform such a hefty task??? I can't think of anyone...

Anyway, the scripts and treatments were stumbled upon by Kubrick's Son in Law, Philip Hobbs, who found an 80 page treatment for a film called Lunatic at Large. The film is described as “dark mystery thriller about an axe-murderer who has escaped from an asylum”. It would seem also, that this is being crowbarred into production already (oh dear...) with Christopher Palmer reportedly directing, and Colin Farrell being offered the lead role.

Other unfinished Kubrick scripts that have been discovered include Killer’s Kiss (”the missing link between A Clockwork Orange and The Shining”), The Down Slope (an American Civil War epic) and God Fearing Man (based on the true story of a priest who becomes a bank robber).

In my opinion, I would be a happier movie-goer if these films never saw the light of day, or if they did, that Kubrick's name is not attached to them. What do you lot think? Should we avoid another A.I. at all costs??

Balls of Fury!!

2006-11-06T02:35:00.000-08:00

This could be a stroke of genius! A movie that seems to be loosely based around the premise of a few classic movies, namely Enter the Dragon and Dodgeball. It looks to be a crazy ping pong competition movie, with some easy going slapstick humour. Christopher Walken plays what looks to be an absolutely exxentric, sadistic, drag wearing mentalist villain, just what he's perfect for! He could also easily be confused with Ming the Merciless! Never a bad thing! Walken was the only (and I mean ONLY) redeeming feature in this years flop, CLick. Lets hope if the movie is in fact aweful, that he shines a little of his celestial slow speaking light on Balls of Fury. You gotta at least love the name!
You can have a giggle at the trailer over HERE

The Number 23

2006-11-06T02:06:00.000-08:00

The last 3 movies that Jim Carrey was to star in ended up canned or falling apart somehow or another. Not it seems, 23. Its the story of a number, The Number 23, and how it directly relates and completely takes over a mans life. It looks like Carrey is giving another go at the straight faced rather than gooey faced with this one, and after Gondry coaxed such an excellent performance out of him in ESOTSM, I remain pretty hopeful. Joel Schumacher directs Carrey as an obsessed and potentially dangerous Walter Sparrow. Fingers crossed it turns out well. Catch the trailer over HERE

Silent Night, Deadly Night!

2006-11-06T01:26:00.000-08:00

Something to look out for this christmas (which is hurtling towards us at a fantastic pace now! Best start drinking pretty soon!) for a seasonal bit of slasher action, is Black Christmas. Its a remake from the 1984 controversial "Silent Night, Deadly Night" which endured much criticism amongst parents at the poster for this movie depicting Jolly old saint nick with an axe in his mits! Understandable I guess, children can be like little sponges and I'm sure seeing Santy Claws with an axe could be quite disconcerting for a little youngster. Oh, incidentally, it was rubbish. This time round however, Black Christmas could be worth a spin. Its got a no name cast, a truly genius strap line: "One Hell of a Slay-Ride", and possibly the best thing its got going for it would be its director, Glen morgan, of Final Destination 3 fame. (He also directed The One with Jet Li, which I cant help but have a little soft spot for!)
So, we can sit on our laurels with mince pies and christmas pudding and be pretty sure we're gonna get something that we're unlikely to have to think about. Once in a while, its nice not to have to use your brain at the flicks and instead just sit back and watch the claret flow!
Catch the trailer over HERE

10

2006-11-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, you get a short that really sits right in all the areas necessary. So many shorts can be utter pap, but this one from Scott Smith, 10, is a little gem. Its a very short short, about a man who breaks all ten commandments before breakfast! Simple enough!
Check it out HERE

Be Kind Rewind

2006-11-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

Filming is currently underway for Michel Gondry's latest forward march into the relatively obscure and delightful, Be kind Rewind. After The Science of Sleep, it seems that although maintaining his slightly off the wall premise, Gondry is going to tone it down just a tad. Jack Black will star, which, after Nacho Libre, (a film which grossly underused Blacks comedic abilities) holds great promise given the films premise.
A man (Black) whose brain becomes magnetized unintentionally destroys every tape in his friend's video store. In order to satisfy the store's most loyal renter, an aging woman with signs of dementia, the two men set out to remake the lost films, which include Back to the Future, The Lion King, and Robocop.

*SHH! You had me at "Magnetized"...*

Something about this idea really does stir memories of being a kid jumping around with a big stick pretending I was Luke Skywalker and making all sorts of strange noises!

Some stills of Black filming have been leeked onto the net, which one can only assume are part of the "re-shoots" the characters do in the film. Cast your beedy eyes over them HERE, HERE, HERE, oh and ummm... HERE

"MARTY!!!"

Ramirez blows Bernal out of the water for Bourne Ultimatum!!!

2006-11-03T01:06:00.000-08:00

For a while now, I had been childishly gleefull that Gael Garcia Bernal had been attached with the Bourne Ultimatum to play the role of villain, Paz. He was perfect for it in every way, and I relished the chance to see him perform in a role that would be something more than his usual placid, boyish and endeering roles. Sadly not the case. It would seem that Edgar Ramirez, of Domino fame, has been selected to pursue the forgetful Bourne. Not a bad thing really, and as soon as I'm over the disappointment of it not being Bernal, I'll welcome it as a sturdy and educated choice.

Kung Fu

2006-11-02T02:15:00.000-08:00

Variety had it that the Hughes Brothers (From Hell, Menace 2 Society) latest flick will be the movie adaptation of the 1970's hit series, Kung Fu. This stirs up many emotions for me. Firstly, the original series should have starred Bruce Lee. Instead, producers of the TV show thought that with Bruce Lee being a little known eastern actor, that the safest bet would be to "chinese-ify" an american actor. Cue David carridine. Just imagine what the series would have been had Lee got the gig. And imagine Lee's bitterness at being all set to go on the series, and have the carpet pulled from under his feet because they wanted an american actor to play the part as it would be more "accessible" *sigh*
Nonetheless, I'll be looking forward to the new take on this epic and beautiful story.
The Hughes bros haven't really done much since From Hell which starred Johnny Depp, at least on the big screen. They've covered numerous smaller projects, namely advertising campaigns for the likes of Heineken, Coke, Reebok and Nike (boo!)and now they're set to embark on the Kung Fu adaptation.
Cory Goodman, of graphic novel "Priest" fame will be rewriting the script which Howard Friedlander, a writer on the original TV series penned initially. This sounds like a good move.
Th emovie is due to go into production next year.
We sit and wait... silently... like caine would.

28 Weeks Later footage!

2006-11-02T02:04:00.000-08:00

Whilst I inherently distrust any sequels with few or none of the original people involved, I still remain vaguely hopeful for the sequel to 28 Days Later. I did thoroughly enjoy the first film, and with Boyle producing this time rather than directing, it could go either way...
Still, nice to see some footage kicking about! Robert Carlisle...! Curiouser and curiouser...
Check it out HERE