In Contention

Category: Daily

  • Listen to Alan Menken’s ‘Star Spangled Man’ from ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’

    When Alan Menken was tapped last year to provide an original song for Joe Johnston’s “Captain America: The First Avenger,” I had no idea how that made any sense. Not that Menken isn’t able to branch out of his typical milieu, but it just didn’t really compute for this material.

    When I finally saw the film (more when the embargo lifts tomorrow), it all clicked perfectly. “Star Spangled Man” is a rah-rah U.S.O. tune akin to something like “Over There” or what have you, and it’s right up Menken’s alley. So, as it turned out, they wanted him for what he’s best at: song and dance numbers.

    The song — which could earn Menken a record-tying 20th Oscar nomination if the Academy’s music branch thinks it’s deserving — plays over a montage in the film and, given that, will be a stand-out exhibition when they screen the eligible tracks in the context of the various films at year’s end. So, watch out.

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  • ‘First Class’ Friday

    Which will you choose? Via press release:

    LOS ANGELES (July 19, 2011) – Before they were superheroes, the fate of humanity depended on an extraordinary group of youngsters who went on to become X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. Based on the international bestselling Marvel Comics franchise, this box office hit bursts onto Blu-ray and DVD Friday, September 9 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. For the first time ever, “X-Men” fans will have the power to choose a side between Professor X and Magneto with two versions of premium collectible Blu-ray packaging. Also exclusively on Blu-ray, fans receive access to over two hours of special interactive features PLUS ten Marvel “X-Men” Digital Comics including a never-before-seen “X-Men: First Class” backstory— redeemable through each Blu-ray’s unique packaging code…

    The first 1,000 fans to pre-order their Blu-ray or DVD copy of X-MEN: FIRST CLASS during San Diego Comic-Con (July 21 – 24) will receive a free limited edition T-shirt, showing their support for either “Team Charles” or “Team Erik.” Fans can pre-order their copy in person at the Fox booth #4313 or online at www.FoxConnect.com. During this time, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS will be available on Blu-ray and DVD at the exclusive price of $25.00 for Blu-ray and $18.00 for DVD.

    More on specs after the jump.

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  • ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ poster

    Yes, another poster — but it’s a good one, and for a film many of us are awaiting rather eagerly, so hopefully you’ll let it slide. The teaser trailer for Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John le Carré’s classic spy novel (previously, and very successfully, filmed for television with Alec Guinness in 1979) debuted to a warm response a few weeks ago, and this tastefully sober one-sheet, playing up the more cerebral qualities of the material,  further supports expectations of a classy package. (Spot the release date, by the way.) Also nice to see Gary Oldman given lone above-the-title billing, despite the presence of supporting names that might currently be more marketable. Full poster, courtesy of Empire, after the cut.

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  • Surrounded

    I would love to have attended last week’s Dolby seminar “Surrounded: 7.1 Cinema and Beyond.” I’ve been eager to read more about it, but unfortunately it seems the press that did attend haven’t bothered covering it in any real fashion (unless I’m missing something). Leave it to the folks at SoundWorks Collection to cut out the middle man and give us a direct hook-up.

    As more and more movies begin to use 7.1 mixing, the conversation is worth amping up (no pun intended). This year’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is the sterling recent example of the dynamic possibilities at hand. While everyone is obsessed with 3D and candy for the eyes, there is a lot of candy for the ears with stuff like this.

    I haven’t been able to set aside an hour to watch the panel myself yet, but I will as soon as I can. For now, I’ll offer it up for you here. Again, thanks to the SoundWorks Collection for great legwork, as usual. Check it out for yourself after the jump.

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  • ‘Tyrannosaur’ poster

    I’ve just come from a screening of “Tyrannosaur,” Paddy Considine’s feature directing debut that made something of a splash at Sundance in January, winning awards for Considine and stars Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan. I’ll discuss the film in more detail soon, but I’m happy to report that the early festival hype is thoroughly justified — it’s a startlingly severe but compassionate character study broken open by a tremendous pair of lead performances that merit major awards consideration. Strand Releasing have the US rights, though a release date hasn’t been confirmed; for now, however, the film’s cryptic UK one-sheet ranks as one of 2011’s finest. (No, it’s not about dinosaurs.) Check out the full poster after the jump.

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  • ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ teaser trailer

    ZOMG! Okay, here it is, in official form. I have to fess up and admit I watched the sketchy bootleg last week. But it’s nice to finally get a clear gander, and really, it’s nicely achieved, I think, given that there likely wasn’t a lot of footage to pull from and this raises the stakes for the series with just a brief exchange. I have no idea what is up with that chant, though. Anyway, check out the teaser trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises,” via the film’s Facebook page, by clicking the image below or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • The hidden voice of ‘Blue Valentine’

    Fans of “Blue Valentine” — and I know there are many of us around these parts — should be tickled by this little discovery: the previously unidentified singer of “You and Me,” the obscure 1970 soul cut picked out by star Ryan Gosling for a key scene in the film, has been named as Nannie Sharpe, a then 22 year-old church choir member who recorded the demo with her brothers in a single take.

    The song was never released, Sharpe was never signed and she went on to work as a mail sorter for 30 years — so no one is more surprised than her that her 40 year-old recording surfaced on a cassette-tape compilation, happened to catch the collective ear of the “Blue Valentine” team and is now garnering a kind of cult status. It’s a lovely story which you can read in detail at The Other Paper (via The Guardian), and of course, a good excuse to revisit the gorgeous, woozily yearning song:

  • Nolan’s Batman trilogy as a single poster

    Just had to pass this along. Kind of dig it. Courtesy David Chen:

  • Emmy goes to the movies

    We don’t normally pay much attention to the Emmy Awards, this being a site primarily devoted to the bigger screen. But when the recently unveiled nomination list contains such film heavyweights as Todd Haynes, Olivier Assayas and (twice) Martin Scorsese, it’d be remiss not to mention it — and the fact that the line between cinema and television is becoming an increasingly pliable one.

    Indeed, there’s still disagreement over which category one of yesterday’s nominees falls into. Assayas’ five-hour stunner “Carlos” may have been produced for French television, but it’s a bit difficult to define a vast work from one of world cinema’s leading auteurs, one that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was theatrically released on the arthouse circuit, as merely a TV miniseries.

    Most haven’t — it won a slew of film critics’ awards last year (and indeed made my 2010 Top 10) before more finicky eligibility rules kept it out of the Oscar race (I know, I know, as if) and in the TV races at the Globe and SAG Awards.

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  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’

    I’ve already given my take on this weekend’s big release, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” People have been lining up for hours, days, whatever, to see this closing installment, so it’s time to offer a place for you to have your say on the film. Let us know when you get around to it. And keep an eye on that box office.

  • ‘Hugo’ trailer

    Annnnddd…another trailer. This one for the hotly anticipated “Hugo,” from Martin Scorsese. And a film that really should have had some sort of presence at Comic-Con, I think, especially with folks like Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg making the trip. It just would’ve been a treat. In any case, some have awards doubts on this one due to the children’s movie aspect, but I’m not sure that’s real cause to doubt just yet. One thing we can certainly tell by the trailer, which just hit Apple, is that the design elements are off the chain. I can’t wait to see this one in 3D, and I don’t say that often (if ever). Check out the trailer by clicking the image below or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • ‘John Carter’ teaser trailer

    Tons of trailers in the lead-up to Comic-Con this week. Today, it’s Andrew Stanton’s live-action debut, “John Carter” (which won’t have a presence at Comic-Con because Disney wants to be competitive with its D23 event). I’m not too sure about this one, and I think the reasoning for diminishing the brand appeal by shortening the title from “John Carter of Mars” is flimsy at best. But this will certainly be unique against the fray next year. Check out the new teaser trailer, via Apple, by clicking the image below, or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • Spielberg to make first-ever Comic-Con appearance

    I’m still wishy-washy on Comic-Con this year. I’ll be there for this and that, but I’m not that jazzed about extensive coverage. But this nugget is worth noting. Via the LA Times’ Hero Complex:

    The Oscar-winning director who ushered in the blockbuster film era with “Jaws” and brought sci-fi to the masses with movies such as “E.T: the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Minority Report,” will make his first appearance at Comic-Con International when he takes the stage in Hall H July 22.

    The 64-year-old filmmaker will receive an Inkpot Award, which has been presented since 1974 to signature figures in comics and genre entertainment, among them Ray Bradbury, Jack Kirby, Hayao Miyazaki and R. Crumb.

    Naturally, he’ll also be screening footage from “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.”

    Coppola and Spielberg at Comic-Con. Paramount should have cooked something up for “Hugo” and got Scorsese in on the action, too.

    [Photo: Forbes]

  • ‘Contagion’ trailer

    Warner Bros. showed Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” to a handful of journalists a few weeks ago. I wasn’t on the cool-kids list for that, but I hear the film is a cross between “Traffic” and the first half of “The Stand,” or whatever happened before “The Road,” or some such. That’s basically the vibe we get from the trailer, which just landed at Apple. The film is set for a September 9 release and looks to be a commercial play more than anything else, but personally, I can’t get Wolfgang Peterson’s “Outbreak” out of my head every time I think of it. Anyway, check out the trailer by clicking on the image below, or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • Simply brilliant

    (Courtesy: Daily Blam via /Film)

  • Twigs off ‘The Tree of Life’

    After two internet-free weeks in the Italian countryside, I’m gradually sifting through recent film news and coming to the conclusion that I chose as good a fortnight as any to drop out of the world. (File “Cars 2” and “Transformers Trois” under Things That Can Wait; ditto the Oscar-motivated fang-sharpening of rival Glenn Close and Meryl Streep camps.)

    The fact that I returned home days after “The Tree of Life” finally hit UK theaters, prompting a fresh gust of ooh-ing, aah-ing and arguing, only enhanced my sense that Terrence Malick’s arthouse blockbuster is the only true movie event of the summer thus far, so forgive me for making it the subject of yet another post, but I thought it was worth drawing attention to two unrelated snippets on the film.

    Particularly welcome is this LA Times piece that delves into the film’s spectacular soundtrack — where Alexandre Desplat’s typically intelligent original contributions nonetheless take a back seat to the dense collage of interpolations of existing classical music that is customary for a Malick film.

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  • ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ trailer

    I dug Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” enough two years back. I thought it had the best production design of that year and a brilliant score to boot. Both were recognized at the Oscars. Judging by the trailer for “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” just-premiered at Apple, the design is richly detailed once again. I’m left a bit cold overall, mainly because I have literally no idea what’s going on (beyond the fact that Jared Harris looks predictably awesome as Moriarty). Not that I need the plot rolled out in full or something, but anyway, check out the trailer by clicking the image below or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • ‘50/50’ poster

    One comedy that could light up the awards circuit later this year is Jonathan Levine’s “50/50.” I noted some potential awards prospects when the trailer hit two months ago (and I think we can add Anna Kendrick to the list of possibilities, too). Today, courtesy of /Film, we get a look at the poster for the film. Check it out in full after the jump.

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