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  • Gorgeous ‘alternative’ poster for ‘Brothers Bloom’

    I may only be lukewarm on the film itself, but I wholeheartedly adore this poster design for “The Brothers Bloom,” which recalls (to me, at least) a 1970’s Robert Altman effort in its intricate, throwback Americana style. Dreamed up by director Rian Johnson’s cousin Zach, it seems it’s only being used for web purposes, though it captures the film’s retro preciousness a lot better than the thoroughly generic official one-sheet (pictured below the cut).

    One quibble with both posters: I realize that Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz are Oscar winners while Mark Ruffalo remains unnominated (where’s the justice in that?), but hasn’t the latter star at least earned the right to be billed above the title?

    The Brothers Bloom

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  • McG talks ‘Terminator’ sequel

    McGI don’t think there’s a site on the net more trigger happy with the word “EXCLUSIVE” (besides maybe Collider) than MTV’s admittedly whip-smart, on it movies blog.  You take the good with the bad, I guess.  Everyone wants to claim morsels of nothingness for their own in this increasingly copycat coverage age of online journalism.

    Anyway, the crew over there recently cornered director McG on the possibility of a “Terminator” franchise beyond next month’s “Terminator Salvation.”  Bottom line, I really want this film to work.  I felt like I breathed a sigh of relief with “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” in 2003, which I quite enjoyed.  It felt like the franchise dodged a bullet.  I’ve already gone on about how much I love the new trailer, but it’s also clear that a PG-13 rating it’s troublesome to say the least, especially in a franchise that has been dominated by the R.

    In a nutshell, Warner Bros. has made it clear that money is a bit more interesting as of late than most anything else, and a PG-13 rating is likely to bring in a bigger audience than an R.  A tent-pole heavy slate of product has dominated the studio’s list of upcoming works while indie divisions have been cut loose and allowed to disintegrate.

    Keep that in mind as you read through McG’s comments to MTV below.  The bold is mine (and indicative of an obvious desire to see this thing reach “Dark Knight” level business):

    “If we have good fortune we have indeed planned out two more ‘Terminator’ pictures,” explained the director, keeping his fingers crossed that “Salvation” opens strongly on May 21st. “There’s an arc of story [in the new sequels].”

    This arc will be left open with the ending of “Salvation,” which will point to a “Terminator 5” film. “The ending is indeed elliptical,” McG told us. “And it challenges the audience. It’s not a happy little bow of an ending at all. The ending is tough and requires reflection, and in some degrees it bifurcates the audience. You walk back to the car and one person thinks it means this, and the other person thinks it means that.”

    As fans know, McG recently signed on to a film version of the Broadway hit “Spring Awakening,” and is also working on an update of another sci-fi classic.

    “I’m working on ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ out of Disney,” he said of the update of the Jules Verne tale. “I’m prepping that.”

    But if “Salvation” is a big enough hit, those other movies might have to wait until McG and Christian Bale reunite for the fifth “Terminator” flick.

    “I would never presume there would be another picture – that is up to the audience,” he explained. “But if the audience jumps up and likes it and wants another one, Christian and I have been talking about it and we’ll see what happens.”

    “You have to see how the film is received,” McG added. “And that’s in the hands of the fans.”

    I know what you’re all thinking: “McG knows what bifurcate means?”

  • Wells stumps for Bateman

    Jason Bateman in State of PlaySo far, the reviews for Kevin Macdonald’s “State of Play” seem uniformly warm — which comes as a relief to me after the rather indifferent vibe I got from the film’s entire marketing strategy.

    Todd McCarthy describes it as an “efficient, admirably coherent thriller” — welcome adjectives considering the level of condensation required from the original six-hour miniseries — and casts praise in multiple directions, from Russell Crowe’s lead turn (“a brilliant character actor hiding inside a leading man’s body”) to Mark Friedberg’s production design (“won’t likely be matched anytime soon”). Screen International’s Fionnula Halligan sings a similar tune, commending the film for its “edgy bristle” and “surgical” adaptation.

    Both critics also take time to single out the supporting contribution of Jason Bateman for praise, but it’s Jeff Wells who is most impressed by the “Arrested Development” star, going so far as to advocate:

    Hollywood Elsewhere hereby submits Jason Bateman’s performance in State of Play — a performance I admittedly didn’t mention in my review posted earlier today — as the first supporting performance of 2009 deserving of award consideration. He plays a sleazy Washington, D.C. publicist named Dominic Foy, and is quite good in a sort-of sweaty and grotesque way.

    Wells, meanwhile, is also a fan of the film as a whole. Good news all round, then — I’m looking forward to the weekend just a little bit more.

  • Romanek begins shooting ‘Never Let Me Go’

    Never Let Me GoLast week, I mentioned how fully in the tank I am for Lynne Ramsay’s upcoming “We Need To Talk About Kevin.” Today, meanwhile, brings updated news of another British-funded adaptation with a mighty literary source, perfect-on-paper cast and exciting filmmaker who has been quiet for too long.

    The film in question is Mark Romanek’s take on Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 masterpiece, “Never Let Me Go.” Both Fox Searchlight and Film4 (a pairing that previously brought us “Slumdog Millionaire”) have a hand in the project, which started principal shooting today in the UK. Anyone familiar with Ishiguro’s novel will see why it’s a potentially snug fit for Romanek, the music video auteur extraordinaire who hasn’t settled on a feature-length vehicle for his gifts since the mixed bag that was 2002’s “One Hour Photo.”

    Ishiguro’s supremely elegant science-fiction tale — a romantic dystopian narrative hard to synopsise without entering spoiler territory — should provide the right balance of elegiac emotional texture to complement Romanek’s sometimes distancing visual sheen. With Alex Garland (“The Beach,” “28 Days Later”) handling script duties, the project promises a very exciting merger of three pristine stylists.

    Meanwhile, the cast — a veritable showcase of Britain’s brightest rising talent — isn’t too shabby either: Sally Hawkins has just been added to a roster that already includes Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield (so riveting in “Boy A” and “Red Riding”), with Charlotte Rampling adding veteran class.

    Even if you don’t know the source material, you have to admit this sounds pretty exciting on paper. Of course, Ishiguro’s opalescent, china-fragile prose (okay, I’m a long-time devotee) provides numerous opportunities to trip up less delicate filmmakers — but as the Merchant-Ivory team proved back in 1993, it can be done, and with less intrinsically cinematic source material to boot. I’m sensing something special in the works here.

  • Simon Channing Williams (1945-2009)

    Simon Channing WilliamsThese days, there aren’t many producers in the often too-cosy British film industry who genuinely earn the adjective “fearless,” but Simon Channing Williams, who passed away last Saturday after a long battle with cancer, was one of them.

    As much credit as auteur Mike Leigh deserves for changing the landscape of British cinema with his stinging social comedy and defiantly unorthodox creative process, Channing Williams merits the same appreciation for backing Leigh on every one of his projects since his breakthrough feature “High Hopes” in 1988 — however tenuously defined or commercially unsound they may have appeared to be at the outset.

    The constance of Channing Williams’ collaboration gave Leigh the wherewithal and confidence to push his art into ever more challenging and surprising directions, encompassing the icy philosophising of “Naked,” to the warm domestic melodrama of “Secrets and Lies,” the brittle classicism of “Vera Drake” to the loose-limbed yet black-edged comedy of last year’s “Happy-Go-Lucky.” It truly stands as one of the industry’s greatest producer-director partnerships, and it’s hard to imagine a future Leigh film without Channing Williams’ name attached. As Leigh himself commented:

    He was a natural-born producer, a great leader, always an enabler, a protector; never a dictator or an interferer. Infinitely generous, his life was all about doing things for people, and bringing out the best in everybody. He was the ultimate fixer, and a phenomenal organiser. He relished the impossible challenge, and loved the cut-and-thrust of negotiations, at which he was a genius.

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  • Cameron to showcase making of ‘Avatar’ at upcoming PGA conference

    James Cameron on the set of AvatarI’m not entirely sure, but I think this is a gigantic ruse to get me to shell out at least 250 bucks for “Produced By” registration.  Not gonna happen.  But in all seriousness, “Avatar” is certainly one of the industry’s most anticipated films in a number of years.  It seems any info, any morsel of information, continues to be devoured, analyzed and spit back out as we await the main course in December.

    From the press release, in part:

    If sinking the Titanic was a filmmaking and storytelling marvel that led to the largest grossing film of all time, then Jim Cameron’s Avatar has the industry buzzing about what the maestro of mega-films has up his sleeve with his next hotly-anticipated holiday season blockbuster.  Attendees at the PGA’s inaugural Produced By Conference will get to hear first-hand from Cameron when he makes a rare appearance to discourse on “Seeing the Future in 3D,” June 6 at Sony Pictures Studios.

    Cameron, a pioneer of digital 3D filmmaking, will unveil the craft behind the making of Avatar with its combination of live action 3D and computer-generated, photo-real visual effects.  Avatar, to be released by 20th Century Fox in December of this year, is one of the most highly-anticipated films ever and is Cameron’s first narrative film since Titanic, the biggest box office hit of all time.

    James Cameron noted, “This is the perfect opportunity for me to share what I’ve learned from making AVATAR about the cutting edge 3-D technology that is re-shaping how people make and view movies.”

    (Full press release after the jump.)

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  • Philippe Petit to perform high wire acts in U.S. next fall

    Philippe PetitIt seems the focus of last year’s Oscar-winning documentary feature will be putting on an encore.  From the AP:

    The 59-year-old says they’ll include midtown Manhattan, and will promote literacy. He’s keeping mum about other details.

    Secrecy also preceded Petit’s 1974 walk between the World Trade Center towers. A documentary about it, “Man on Wire,” won an Oscar.

    Petit has been an artist-in-residence at Manhattan’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine since 1982. He keeps a practice wire strung high inside a hall there.

    He’s also braved a wobbly ladder to reach cathedral chandeliers.

    Jokes Petit: “Now you know how many wire walkers it takes to change a light bulb.”

    No matter the issues I have with “Man on Wire,” I can’t deny the act and the awe around the man.  I’d line up for this.

    Here’s Petit goofing off in Washington Square four years ago:

  • “My life”

    Faith in mankind restored. SUGAR doubled this weekend ($125K) what it made last weekend ($60K). And Indiewire reports: “What’s more, its $6,389 average was up near $1,000 from last weekend.” Now if only this continues.

    From family & friends who were at Q&As at 4/3 & 4/4 , 4/10 Boston plus I was at 4/11 SF, all were sold out – but then again all are Fleck/Boden home turf.

    One thing that struck me at SF was a 20 y.o. Chinese immigrant student, a 35 y.o. woman immigrant restaurant worker, and a U.S.-born 40-something Filipino gay man literally saying “That is *my* life!” (An extraordinary statement, especially by the women, if you think about it.)

    From commenter Ligaya on a recent “Sugar” post/plea for business.

  • Startling ‘Antichrist’ trailer

    Put Lars von Trier and Charlotte Gainsbourg together, and you have me at hello, so I don’t need to be sold — but damn it if this fragmentary-nightmare trailer doesn’t sell me on the film anyway.

    I wasn’t quite expecting a full-throttle dive into horror from von Trier, but that’s certainly the vibe given off here. Intriguing. I assume this will crop up at Cannes?

    [Source: First Showing]

  • Biiiiitchhhh, pleeeeeezzzee…

    Michaela Watkins has definitely been my least favorite cast member on “Saturday Night Live” as of late. A combination of “she’s kinda creepy” and an honest-to-God lack of any exciting comedic spark.

    But then this “Bitch Pleeze” riff on film blogging and online film criticism had me laughing pretty damn hard:

  • Take the money and run, part two

    Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las VegasJust a few days after I bemoaned the fact that an actor of Jackie Earle Haley’s calibre must resort to headlining a retread of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” comes even more depressing news.

    Almost fifteen years after collecting an Oscar nomination for a performance that most actresses would find to be career-making, poor Elisabeth Shue is reduced to starring in Alexandre Aja’s remake of “Piranha.” In 3-D, mind you.

    Shue’s career trajectory, post-“Leaving Las Vegas,” has long been a mystery to me: beautiful, well-liked ingenue with a decent commercial track record finally gets a chance to show her serious dramatic chops, is duly recognised for her efforts, and then … nothing, save the obligatory Woody Allen ensemble slot, some window-dressing in a few flop action flicks, and now the chance to work with the creative force behind “Switchblade Romance” and “The Hills Have Eyes.” (The remake, of course.) Lucky lady.

    Somebody stop the madness. Or the remakes. Whichever comes first.

  • ‘Moon’

    I’ve been quasi-fascinated with Duncan Jones’s “Moon” ever since early talk was making its way out of Sundance back in January.  Sam Rockwell really looks to be turning in a special performance and the general anxiety inside me that hopes to see another amazing space film finally stick the landing (Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine” came SO close) has me waiting with bated breath.

    The trailer was released last week and today we get a look at the poster.  Both are below (though forgive the annoying IGN watermark on the trailer, which is apparently on every single YouTube embed.  Gotta raise that awareness!)

    Moon

  • Edward Margulies would be…proud

    Welcome to the fray, new and…improved…Movieline:

    Movieline

  • TCM’s top 15 most influential classic movies

    MetropolisWell, here’s something I guess.  Rope of Silicon points us to TCM’s list of the top 15 most influential “classic” films of all time.  I actually started working up such a list for the site a while back but abandoned it for whatever reason.  It was going to include all comers, though, not just classic films.  They seem to be listed in chronological order over at TCM.com.  The 15:

    “The Birth of a Nation” (1915)
    “Battleship Potemkin” (1925)
    “Metropolis” (1927)
    “42nd Street” (1933)
    “It Happened One Night” (1934)
    “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
    “Gone with the Wind” (1939)
    “Stagecoach” (1939)
    “Citizen Kane” (1941)
    “The Bicycle Thief” (1947)
    “Rashomon” (1950)
    “The Searchers” (1956)
    “Breathless” (1959)
    “Psycho” (1960)
    “Star Wars” (1977)

    My list certainly included most of those, which are by and large hard to argue with.  “Birth,” “Battleship,” “Metropolis,” “Night,” “Snow White,” “Wind,” “Kane” and “Star Wars” were definitely included in my tally.  If we were to extend it beyond the “classic” realm, I think we’d have to include “Jurassic Park” and the “Lord of the Rings” franchise.  “Toy Story” would have to have a secure place, while “Pulp Fiction” obviously sparked a revolution some would argue had roots in “sex, lies and videotape” (also a contender for an “all-time” list).

    Since TCM’s idea of “classic” obviously stretches into the late 1970s, I think it’s rather foolish to leave off “Jaws” and/or “The Godfather” considering what they meant to big business theatrical revenue before “Star Wars” came along.  And going way back, “The Great Train Robbery” had people running from the theater screaming after the final image of a bandit firing his gun at the camera.  There’s something to be said for one of the first films to enthrall like that.

    And what about “The Jazz Singer?”  How do you leave that title off a list of “classic” cinema?  I guess it had to be narrowed to 15 but there are a couple of films on that list that could have been bumped, I think.

    Let’s put it to the readership.  Assuming an “all-time” list rather than limiting it to the classics, what would you say have been the most influential films?  I could make a mean case for “Die Hard,” but I’ll anxiously await your input.  Rattle off your lists and maybe we’ll settle things with a series of polls.

  • Chirp…chirp…

    Is there anything out there worth talking about?  Bueller?  Bueller?  I got nothin’.  Though some recently released stills from Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables” (via /Film) remind me just how testosterone-laden that cast is.

    Call this an open thread, I guess.  Sound off.

  • Ron Howard on Real Time

    Ryan Adams over at Awards Daily reminded me of Ron Howard’s Friday appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, so I figured I’d offer the same trio of clips here.  It was actually a pretty sober and valuable half hour chat, I thought.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Whoa, Montana!

    Hannah Montana: The MovieMiley Cyrus proved to be just as popular in two dimensions as she was in three as “Hannah Montana: The Movie” opened at the top of the Easter box office chart with $34 million.  Given that $17 million of that came from Friday alone, one could assume that this will be a one-week wonder.  However, most kids were out of school for Good Friday so you have to cut it a little bit of slack.

    The debut couldn’t quite match the $40 million of “High School Musical 3” but it far outpaces the $20.6 million debut of the last Disney Channel princess to get her own movie (anybody remember Lizzie McGuire?)

    Seth Rogen tested his appeal by appearing in a pitch black comedy from the creators of HBO’s “Eastbound & Down” and the result was a relatively soft $11.1 million for “Observe and Report.”  The women who make up more than 50% of the audience for films like “I Love You, Man” and “Knocked Up” just weren’t interested in a film that includes possible date rape in its trailers.  Go figure.  Warm reviews and a long life on DVD will have to be the rewards for making something unique and interesting.

    Way back in seventh place is Fox’s third disaster of the year, “Dragonball Evolution,” with a limp $4.7 million.  Missing the boat by a good 10 years in terms of this property’s appeal, the existence of the film in 2009 is completely baffling.  I’m gonna go out on a limb and declare its Oscar prospects to be minimal.  Maybe if Fox Searchlight had released it instead.

    Even with no school on Friday, “Fast & Furious” dropped a hefty 59% from last weekend.  Apparently the title refers to how the film will exit the theaters.  “Adventureland” had a better decline of 40%, but still too high for a film relying on word of mouth to get somewhere.  It’s partly my fault since I thought about seeing it this week but ultimately saw “Duplicity” instead.  Probably a mistake, since that film was mildly amusing at best.

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  • Self-promotion

    For those interested, I reviewed the trade paperback Batman arc “Heart of Hush” for Bill Ramey, a.k.a. “Jett,” over at Batman-on-Film.  Reviewing comic books.  There’s a first for everything, I guess.