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  • Nolan out for third Batman? Who could step in?

    Christopher NolanBill Ramey over at Batman on Film has posted a rather disconcerting report this morning regarding the status of Christopher Nolan’s involvement with a third film in the lucrative Batman franchise.  The info, which is hardly concrete, comes from one of the numerous Bat-related sources Ramey has acquired over 12 years of focusing his site on the development of these films.

    Ramey hedges his bets and writes what we all know, that “it is far from a given” that Nolan will return for another go.  But he offers a few bullet-pointed reasons from his source that certainly make a lot of sense.  Among them, says Ramey’s guy, “the death of Heath Ledger rocked Mr. Nolan hard,” and the project is back to square one with a virtually non-existent story due to the initial planned inclusion of the Joker in the third film.

    It has been reported that Warner Bros. has a shortlist of preferred directors to step in should Nolan decide to walk away from the director’s chair.  The studio is going forward on this whether he is or not, we can all be sure of that.  “Watchmen” director Zack Snyder was one of those names, but Snyder’s people told Ramey he has no interest in tackling the project (thank God).  But if not Nolan, then who?

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  • The movie as a surface

    Tony ScottJust the other day I mentioned the new-ish “Facebook for cinephiles” website The Auteurs and how it’s a breath of fresh for those of us who’d like to have certain classic films at the click of a button.  But in addition to the social networking component, there is also an editorial side to the site.

    The Auteur’s Notebook features frequent contributions from former Premiere film critics Glenn Kenny (which is what brought me there in the first place some months back), but the blog also features other regular authors. One such is Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, who, as part of his weekly “What is the 20th Century?” series of columns, has shrewdly conveyed his sentiments regarding cinema and its constructs in the modern age.

    Vishnevetsky’s most recent item concerns the leader of a film set, the director, and what that role has come to mean for a number of today’s working filmmakers.  It’s a fascinating dissection of a wide variety of helmers, from Abderrahmane Sissako to M. Night Shyamalan to Michael Bay. But what really caught my eye was Vishnevetsky’s classification of the prolific Tony Scott.

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  • Del Toro on novels, video games, his “man cave” and more

    Cover of The Strain by Guillermo Del ToroHas anyone read Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Strain” yet?  The new novel from the genre filmmaker hit shelves weeks ago but I’ve yet to pick up a copy.  It keeps slipping my mind.  This Guy Adams interview with Del Toro in London’s Independent newspaper jogged the memory on that score earlier this morning.

    It’s a fantastic discussion.  Del Toro discusses everything from his “man cave,” a haven five blocks form his Los Angeles home that serves as a personal office and shrine to the many macabre artifacts that became just a little too much for his wife, to his well-reasoned thoughts on video games, which he says he plays “addictively,” deeming them “a living, breathing thing, narrating stories, and illustrating them in the most incredible way.”

    There is also, of course, plenty of discussion concerning “The Strain,” which I didn’t realize was conceived for the small screen.  Some bozo executive opted out of such a fascinating antidote to the recent swath of uninteresting, overly romanticized visions of the vampire world in pop culture, of course.

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  • 6/17 Web Round-up

    Clash of the Titans• “Persepolis” director Marjane Satrapi (along with fellow filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf) presents evidence that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the Iran election. [Adnkronos International]

    • Relax.  Thankfully a handful of the 80s classics aren’t being remade. [Film School Rejects]

    • For no reason whatsoever: the evolution of stop-motion animation. [Empire]

    • Four days after a similar but much deeper story in the pages of London’s The Independent, Christopher Rossen bemoans Hollywood remakes of 1970s classics. [New York Observer]

    • Special makeup effects legend Dick Smith to be feted by his peers. [Los Angeles Times]

    • 10 movies about healthcare Congress should see. (In other news, Christopher Campbell is a list machine.) [Spout Blog]

  • Today is the 50th anniversary of George Reeves’s death

    Cover of the June 16, 1959 issue of the New York PostLou Lumenick reminds me today of the 50th anniversary of actor George Reeves’s untimely death, largely considered by his own hand but some would say there was foul play involved.  The story was dramatized in Allen Coulter’s 2006 film “Hollywoodland,” which featured a top-notch portrayal by Ben Affleck as the doomed Reeves.

    Lumenick also points out a lengthy blog post by John McElwee marking the occasion.  I’m just stunned I missed this tid-bit today.

    I wrote a story in the New York Times back in August of 2006 about “Hollywoodland” called “The (Tinsel) Town That Ate Superman.”  It was one of my favorite assignments from my freelance days there.  I especially enjoyed the two or three email exchanges I had with actor Jim Beaver (television’s “Deadwood,” “Supernatural”) who is actually a Reeves biographer and served as a technical adviser on the film.

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  • TIFF 2009 looms ahead

    2009 Toronto International Film FestivalWith Guy off to Scotland for the Edinburgh Film Festival, I’ve just received my invitation to attend the Toronto Fest once again as returning press. This marks the, um, 16th festival for me (I think)?

    I love TIFF.  I think it’s the single most important cultural event in Canada, and the fall’s most important film festival. Obviously I am biased, but having attended others, I think things are done very well here.

    The first press conference is slated for July 14, later than normal, but I trust that festival CEO Piers Handling knows what he’s doing.  After all, he’s the guy who took the upstart Festival of Festivals into international fame as The Toronto International Film Festival.  I am working on a feature article about the history of the fest and its evolution from a small event struggling to get films to the place to be leading in to the awards season.

    So many Oscar winners and nominees have come from Toronto, but what I like are the little discoveries that have been made, films that otherwise may not have been seen.  As I’ve mentioned before, I clearly remember the bidding war for Robert Duvall’s “The Apostle” when, during the screening of the film, two men got up and ran out of theater dialing their cell phones as they shot up the aisle. One was from Miramax, the other October. And of course October got the film and the rest is history.

    Looking at the films that might come this year I have high hopes that “Where the Wild Things Are” will be in the mix, along with “Shutter Island.”  But who knows?

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  • EDINBURGH: ‘Antichrist’ added to lineup, and first day jitters

    Willem Dafoe in AntichristAfter wrestling with dodgy wireless setups for the better part of the evening, I am happy to tell you that I’m comfortably installed in an Old Town coffee shop with an immaculate connection, so I can fill you in on the day’s doings.

    Outside, it’s one of those balmy Scottish summer evenings with woozy, disconcertingly long daylight hours (the upside of coming in this season) while hordes of kilted, tourist-baiting middle-aged men parade the streets playing popular tunes adapted for the bagpipes (the considerable downside).

    Anyway, I’m even happier to tell you the big festival news of the day. In a major get for a festival that usually deals in more low-key fare, Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” has made a last-minute appearance on the programme. Edinburgh likely benefited from the film’s unexpectedly early UK release date of July 24 — otherwise you can bet the London Film Festival’s Sandra Hebron would have been all over it. Score one for the little guys.

    The film will have its public screening next Wednesday, June 24. However, I’ll be seeing it at the press screening on Monday, and will do my level best to have a review for you shortly afterwards. Apologies to the Von Trier haters who thought the distraction of a festival might stem the “Antichrist” talk from my end for a while. I now await Monday with a mixture of breathlessness and extreme nerves.

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  • THE LISTS: Top 10 movies I watched with Dad

    (from left) Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red OctoberIn case you’re like me and you happen to forget these things throughout the year, let today’s edition of The Lists serve as a reminder: Father’s Day is this weekend!

    With that in mind, and as a personal tribute of sorts to my pops, who turns 56 today in addition to celebrating his 28th Father’s Day on Sunday, I thought I’d offer up a rundown of the films that remind me of those days in front of the big console television growing up back east.

    My personal movie awakening came in the mid-1990s, when films like Michael Mann’s “Heat” and Bryan Singer’s “The Usual Suspects” made me realize I wanted to have a hand in this crazy business for life.  But I can’t ignore the impact decades of film product had on my youth in the form of my father’s viewing habits.  I didn’t like every film my Dad loved.  But somehow, his taste frequently seemed to either correspond with my own or correspond with how it would eventually evolve.

    There are a number of films that didn’t make the collective that deserve some measure of notice, despite not having a particular impact.  Peter Hyams’s “Capricorn One” comes to mind, for instance, or horror flicks like William Girdler’s “The Manitou” and Stan Winston’s “Pumpkinhead.”  Not to mention more recent efforts like George Tillman Jr.’s “Men of Honor.”  And even though I remember watching “The Godfather” with Dad (and Mom, actually) as a kid, I don’t immediately connect the two when I consider Francis Coppola’s film today.

    The order of the list is a mish-mash of criteria.  I wouldn’t say it’s tiered by quality so much as by how much the films remind me of the old man (though quality certainly figures in here and there).  Mostly, this is just a tip of the hat to one guy’s movie tastes that galvanized his son in some way.  I hope you enjoy.

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  • Michael Mann goes deep on ‘Public Enemies’

    Michael MannThere’s a reason Michael Mann is my favorite working director.  Consistently saddled with accusations of unyielding perfectionism and idiosyncrasy, he is a filmmaker who sets out to make exactly the film he wants to make every time, and he has the goods to back up the artistic aggression.  The last two times out of the gate (2004’s “Collateral” and 2006’s “Miami Vice”) didn’t exactly capitalize on his considerable talents, but when “Public Enemies,” which I saw last night, plays the Los Angeles Film Festival next week and eventually opens nationwide July 1, I think audiences and critics alike will see it as a return to muscular, yet patient storytelling form.

    Patrick Goldstein, writing at The Big Picture blog in the Los Angeles Times, has crafted a wonderfully fair and engaging interview piece with the director (which is also a coup for Universal publicity).  He doesn’t skirt the issue when it comes to Mann’s industry infamy, dedicating a considerable chunk to the director’s professional head-butting with Sony honcho Amy Pascal concerning the particular’s of 2001’s “Ali.”  But the work stands head and shoulders above the off-the-screen conflicts every time.  Says Pascal in the piece, “You forget about the pain of childbirth too. I mean, whatever you go through, you still want another baby. It’s like that with Michael too.”

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  • 6/16 Web Round-up

    Bengt Ekerot in The Seventh Seal• Tom O’Neil ponders the awards prospects of comedy box office hit “The Hangover.” [Gold Derby]

    • Eugene Hernandez talks to Dennis Hopper at CineVegas. [indieWIRE]

    • Joe Flint, meanwhile, chastises Heather Graham for again playing the girl with the heart of gold from the wrong side of the tracks. [Company Town]

    • Miki Turner talks “Whatever Works” (which doesn’t really work) with Larry David. [MSNBC]

    • Nathaniel Rogers runs an early screening review of “Brüno.” [The Film Experience]

    • A.O. Scott takes a look back at “Dog Day Afternoon.” [New York Times]

    • Detroit’s woes didn’t keep bad-ass muscle cars from the screen in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” [USA Today]

    • As the film makes its way to Blu-ray, Glenn Kenny dives back into “The Seventh Seal.” [Some Came Running]

  • Mo’ money, mo’ problems

    Harrison FordPower and money don’t go hand in hand, it would seem.

    If Forbes’ recent list of the world’s most powerful celebrities — you remember, the one that informed us that Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston wield more power than Barack Obama — was quite amusing, their new ranking of Hollywood’s 20 biggest earners is simply depressing.

    The list is headlined “Hollywood’s Top-Earning Actors,” but Forbes never makes clear whether the term “actor” is being applied in the currently PC gender-neutral sense, or whether an accompanying list of “Top-Earning Actresses” is on the way.

    It’s an interesting question, because while the aforementioned Jolie may apparently be the world’s most powerful celebrity, she evidently doesn’t have the clout to rank among the industry’s most well-paid. More to the point, nor does any other woman, with the top 20 a boys-only club — an unhealthy, if sadly unsurprising, state of affairs. Is this represantive of the industry’s gender divide, or has the list been segregated? Anyone?

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  • Edinburgh calling

    EdinburghIn a little over an hour, I’ll be hopping on a (very) early morning train and making the 300 mile journey up north to Edinburgh. Ordinarily, this alone would be cause for excitement — for me, Scotland’s capital, with its curious combination of twisty Medieval quirk, stately academia and cooler-than-thou cultural swagger, is one of the most delightful cities in Europe. On this occasion, however, it boasts an extra drawcard — the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

    It may lack the glamor of Cannes or the breadth of Toronto, but the EIFF has been modestly chugging along since 1947, making it one of the most senior of all international film festivals. It doesn’t necessarily get the glitzy international premieres that the London fest now commands, but it’s an essential date on the calendar for burgeoning UK and international filmmakers. Meanwhile, it supplements its sizable showcase of new talent with a scattering of classic retrospectives as well as new works from more established filmmakers.

    Like its London counterpart, Edinburgh takes a similar “cherry-picking” approach to programming, selecting a number of proven successes from other festivals, as well as international markets. As a result, this year’s festival brings us the UK premieres of Sundance hits such as “Sin Nombre,” “Humpday” and “The Maid,” while the event I am most anticipating is the first post-Cannes screening of Andrea Arnold’s Jury Prize winner, “Fish Tank.”

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  • SonyMount? Universal Mount?

    ParamountThis Reuters item, via Forbes, could be the biggest case of leaping before looking in film journo world this week.  And it’s only Monday!

    Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures could merge with Sony Pictures, Universal Studios or another movie studio amid a wave of consolidation in the industry over the next few months, veteran investor Mario Gabelli said in the latest issue of Barron’s.

    The chief executive of Gamco Investors Inc, who owns shares of Viacom, said he expects dealmaking among movie studios as they seek to cut costs…

    ‘Today there are seven or eight motion-picture studios. A round of consolidation will occur in the next six to 12 months because of the costs of financing, prints and advertising, the benefits of globalization and such,’ Gabelli said. ‘We hear talk of something going on.’

  • Wilder on Wilder

    Cover of Billy Wilder SpeaksI don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with TCM’s “Great Directors” theme this month.  A new vanguard every day for 30 days.  My DVR is getting a workout.

    Anyway, if I could spend a few hours with any director, alive or dead, it would have to be the affable, wily Billy Wilder.  I love his philosophy on filmmaking, his attitude through the years, his no nonsense artistry, etc.  If I had made it to Los Angeles prior to his death in 2002, I’m sure I’d have stalked his Brighton Way office in Beverly Hills like a moth to the flame, Bela Lugosi to my impressionable Ed Wood.

    I bring this up because I caught up with Volker Schlondorff’s “Billy Wilder Speaks” this morning, which ran on TCM Saturday amid a retrospective of the director’s greatest hits — “Double Indemnity,” “Stalag 17,” “The Apartment,” etc.  It’s a fascinating look at Wilder’s career through his own eyes, the old codger spinning anecdote after anecdote.

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  • The Auteurs: Your online cinema, anytime, anywhere

    TheAuteurs.comI’m quite late to the table on The Auteurs, an on demand film streaming and social networking website mentioned briefly in this morning’s round-up.  I probably should have given it a closer look, since I’ve certainly noticed Glenn Kenny’s continued editorial contributions to the site, but I didn’t really get in there and start digging until over the weekend, when I noticed CNN’s story concerning a partnership with Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation to exhibit restored lost classics.

    “The basic ambition behind The Auteurs,” writes CNN’s Mairi Mackey, “is to make high quality cinema accessible to a young, global audience by making it available on demand cheaply…The Auteurs’ particular niche is auteur-driven cinema combined with social networking.”  The site is the brainchild of former Goldman Sachs banker Efe Cakarel and was funded by Argentine millionaire Eduardo Costantini of Costa Films.  It features a novel community component where you can create a profile, designate your favorite films and interact with other users as well, creating a “platform for discovery,” as Cakarel puts it in the CNN piece.

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  • Still got it

    Sorry if there’s been a lot of star-gazing on the site lately, but while I was queuing in the supermarket this morning, I was struck by these magazine covers sitting appropriately side-by-side on a display rack. It’s interesting and heartening to see major face space given to two actresses on the wrong side of the industry’s favored age bracket — contrary to appearances, Uma Thurman is 39, while Julianne Moore is a full decade older.

    Uma Thurman Julianne Moore

    It goes without saying that they both look red-hot, while it’s just as redundant to note that they are both among the finest actresses of their respective generations. So where are the roles?

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  • Summer hopefuls that can go the distance

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerOver at Examiner.com, Jeff Sneider (you know him around these parts as “The InSneider”) has put together a rundown of the 10 summer movies that have a shot at awards glory.  In my post-Cannes Oscar column I mentioned how dreadfully quiet the first half of the year has been for awards hopefuls.  After all, this time last year we’d already seen “The Visitor” and “WALL-E” as viable contenders, but this year — nothing.

    Sneider is hanging his hat on a number of films he apparently hasn’t seen yet (Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies,” Judd Apatow’s “Funny People,” etc.), but most of the love goes to Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” which I’ll be getting to in due time.  And I can’t say I disagree.  Along with the perennial Pixar entry of the year, Bigelow’s Iraq character study clearly has the stuff if Summit is willing to go there.  It needs to make money first, of course, which is why we’re getting trailers and posters that amp up the action elements.  But it’s Bigelow’s best work ever and features awards caliber performances from Anthony Mackie and especially Jeremy Renner, both of which are mentioned in Sneider’s column.

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  • Unfortunate then and now

    George Lucas

    (Courtesy: /Film)