Thursday, November 09, 2006
OMG SPIDEY!
Why are you still here?! Click the pic and check out the trailer!
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Gay Joke Involving 'Mercury' And 'Rising'
I've pretty much made peace with everyone thinking I'm gay. This happens when you are much more attractive than everyone, and you just have to live with it [Ed. - LOL]. It doesn't help that, as a schoolkid, I carried a copy of A Picture of Dorian Gray around in my coat and the first band I got into was Queen. Speaking of Queen, Brian May the curly haired guitarist mentioned to The Daily Express (a terrible newspaper from England) that a biopic of Freddy Mercury is in the works. Yay!
Freddy Mercury was born in Zanzibar which is in evil South Africa, kind of, and was an awkward child, possibly because of having so many teeth, then stuff happened and he wrote Bohemian Rhaspody and that's more than enough biogrpahical background thank you. The point is the current trend of biopics (like Ray and Walk the Line) are terribly serious-minded, respectful hagiographies mythologising musicians into iconic representations of a generation. Freddy's life doesn't really fit the template. Maybe they could show how seeing his black servants oppressed when he was a kid led him to hold champagne parties with naked models covered in liver while late 70's England suffered from blackouts. Maybe they could show how being the son of a middle ranking cashier at the British Colonial Office led him to write the line "Scaramouche, Scaramouche will you do he fandango". Maybe they could show how his struggle with society's homophobia led him to record an album as shit as Hot Space.
Brian didn't mention any details about stars, directors or release dates, possibly because it is a big secret, or possibly because a crappy tabloid newspaper took some idle conversation about future projects out of context, but what should be remembered is that We Will Rock You, the musical based on Queen's music, is really shit. What's interesting is that the posters for it have a picture taken from the stage out at the audience at the big finale- in order to show how everyone really loves the show - and the audience look like the sort that would go to a Toby Keith concert. Or get lost trying to find one. Either way they don't like the sort that would enjoy a film camp enough to accurately depict what Queen got up to during their career. These are the sort of people who would not see the irony of pumping their fist in the air at hearing the news of this biopic. We can hope for an accurate recreation of the set for Flash Gordon, but I fear the best we'll get is the set from Highlander.Dream casting? Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) as Freddy, directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Shortbus, Hedwig And The Angry Inch). To be honest, you could just splice together scenes from those three films, put Queen's Greatest Hits over the top and you'll have a better film that the one we'll get.
More dream casting? Darren Aronofsky directs Christian Bale in a tale of how cocaine and the 1980's will lead to a downward spiral of debauchery, AIDS and disco inspired rock albums.
Even more? Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. They don't really fit, but that bit in Shaun of the Dead when they thump the zombie with cricket bats to 'Don't Stop Me Now' is aces.
That's enough.
Source: The Daily Express (Boooooo!) Discuss this and other Fakery on our message boards! Continue reading Gay Joke Involving 'Mercury' And 'Rising'
News Round-Up: 11/9/06
"This rawkin' all-new 1KB per second modem was the best thing I could've bought. This new Sarah Connor is teh hott."
A sequel for a movie that's twenty three years old? Sure. War Games 2 - The Dead Code will star Matt Lanter (Heroes) as the Matthew Broderick character. The computer, called Ripley, (played by William Shatner... okay not really) this time around is looking to find terrorists and out them. In the true spirit of our government though, Ripley wants to be thorough. So it basically starts accusing everyone. That doesn't seem quite as gripping as total annihilation via thermonuclear devices, but at least the graphics won't look like they were done on Bob's Amiga. Filming starts in November and is being hosted by our neighbors to the north. -- Scott Roche
Source: Production Weekly
Clive Barker will be writing and producing a new Hellraiser flick. He says, "There are some areas of the first movie where I think we can be a lot more intense and a lot more scary. It will not be simply a reworking or reshooting of the first picture." More intense and more scary is good, Barker being involved is great! -- Scott Roche
Source: Variety
I love me a good spy movie. It doesn't have to have a lot of cool gadgets. It doesn't have to have a lot of sexy women. It doesn't have to be filled with explosions. Mind you none of those things hurt, but the important things in my mind are intrigue, suspense... you know, sneaky shit. And that's good because it sounds like having Hugh Jackman play a CIA cryptographer will be heavy on the sneak. His company, Seed Productions, will be adapting Robert Littell's novel The Amateur and he'll be playing the lead. The character, Heller, is out out to get revenge on the terrorists that killed his fiancee. The novel took place in the 70's but they'll bring it up to today. They're already talking franchise. -- Scott Roche
Source: Variety
In a recent interview, Wolf Creek director, Greg McLean, said Mr. Weinstein wanted him to do a sequel straight away and he said, "I didn't want to cash in now. It just wasn't right, because what that says is that the first film's not serious." Making endless sequels justs makes the films "trashy", he says. His next film is called Rogue, which is about a giant alligator. -- Andrew Clarke
Source: Moviehole.net
The first four images from Hostel: Part II are up over at ComingSoon. None of which are really all that freaky or exciting except for maybe seeing Eli Roth sport a Cannibal Holocaust t-shirt. -- George Merchan
Source: ComingSoon.net
Nominations for The People's Choice Awards were announced yesterday, the premiere awards show for showcasing the American Public's lack of taste. Vote for yourself and show them what's what. There are a few film categories, one of which features Martin Scorsese's The Departed, a film you should certainly consider voting for if you don't want us here at TFL to kill you. -- George Merchan
Source: CBS
The rather attractive Lena Headey (The Brothers Grimm, The Cave, next year's 300) will be donning the automatic weapons and cut biceps for the Terminator-based television series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The show will pick up the storylines established in the James Cameron Terminators and have Connor and her 15-year-old non-Edward Furlong son battle off attackers from the future in present day Los Angeles. Finally, a mother savior I can whack off to. -- George Merchan
Source: Variety, ComingSoon.netDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards! Continue reading News Round-Up: 11/9/06
DVD Invasion - Week Of 11/7/06
The weeks before the unavoidable holiday season seem to be flying by in a blur. Several of the DVD releases this week have "Christmas present" written all over them. I'm surprised they don't come with the little "To and From" sticker already affixed. See for yourself...
CarsIs it fair to say that the extent to which you can enjoy Cars is contingent on your level of devotion to the NASCAR aesthetic? I know the idea of talking cars (one of them voiced by hillbilly favorite Larry the Cable Guy) didn't thrill me too much when I first heard about it, but it's so hard to pass on any film produced by Pixar. The animation studio known for the Toy Story films, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles threw me a little with the car theme. Maybe I'm just biased towards living things (or toys that resemble living things). Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers), Paul Newman (The Sting), Cheech Marin (Up In Smoke) and Bonnie Hunt (Jerry Maguire) among many others provide voices for the anthropomorphic autos. Even if you don't enjoy this feature as much as Pixar's other films, it's a good disc to keep around for the kids (yours, or the visiting kind that have to be distracted from the collectibles sitting around the house that they'd really like to break).
Try not to be pissed off at Disney for releasing a separate Spanish language edition of this film when everyone else just puts a Spanish audio track on their releases. Walt Disney was a Nazi, what do you expect?
PIXELATED PIT STOP features include the all-new animated short "Mater and the Ghostlight," the Academy Award-nominated animated short "One Man Band", a featurette on John Lasseter's inspiration for Cars, a Ratatouille teaser trailer and deleted scenes.
James Bond Ultimate Edition - Volumes 1 & 2So, which incarnation of James Bond is the best? It depends on who you ask. Everyone has a different opinion on the subject. I'm sure there even a few people out there still hoping that George Lazenby (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) will make his second attempt at Bond someday (he's still alive, for those who were wondering). MGM hopes that you love YOUR Bond just enough to give the others a fair shake with these new collector's sets. Each of the four scheduled volumes (Numbers 3 and 4 will be released on Dec. 12th) contain five films from the various Bond eras along with a second special features disc for each film. Volume 1 dishes out two of Sean Connery's best performances with Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever, Roger Moore battles Christopher Lee in The Man With The Golden Gun, Timothy Dalton makes his second-to-last (that's the pessimistic way to say "first") appearance as Agent 007 in The Living Daylights, and Pierce "Born to be Bond" Brosnan contends with Sophie Marceau and Robert Carlyle in The World Is Not Enough.
Volume 2 doubles the Moore quotient with his best turn (Jaws!) and his worst (Grace Jones?) in The Spy Who Loved Me and A View To A Kill. The latter's not-goodness is a real shame, since it co-stars Tanya Roberts, possibly the sexiest woman since skin was invented. Connery rolls through his fourth Bond role in Thunderball (the best Bond title next to Octopussy). Dalton seals his fate in his last Bond film, License To Kill, and Brosnan takes his bow as well in 2002's Die Another Day. Each volume of the Ultimate Collection is riddled with special features, including commentary tracks by cast and crew, behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, archival documentaries and production footage, screen tests and more. Each is also priced between $50 and $60 at most outlets, so your bank card won't complain too much about the inclusion of one or two films that you really don't want. It may be a long time before these titles are released separately again. 
Police Squad! - The Complete SeriesThe introduction of this show to the DVD format has been a long time coming. If you only know Leslie Nielsen as a comic actor, you probably don't know that he played the bad guy in a lot of films and TV shows earlier in his career, and that he turned his less funny work on its ear when he appeared in Airplane! and this short-run TV experiment. The character of Frank Drebin from the Naked Gun films was first introduced in the six-episode Police Squad! series, a spoof of the character-driven crime shows of the 60's and 70's. The show was the brainchild of the trio who brought satire into the modern era, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker and Jim Abrahams. Police Squad! runs hot and fast with the sight gags and verbal quips, just like the movies previously mentioned. All of it is delivered in perfect dead-pan, which is largely the reason why the jokes work so well. It's too bad the original series didn't last longer, but in its current form it stands as some of the funniest material to ever air on the small screen.
NO SAX BEFORE A FIGHT features include commentary by the creators on select episodes, a brand-new interview with Leslie Nielsen, a "Behind the Freeze Frames" featurette, a gag reel, a casting test with Alan North and Ed Williams, the producers' photo gallery of sets and props, a list Of "celebrity death shots" and production memo highlights.
Beverly Hills 90210 - Complete First SeasonMelrose Place - Complete First Season
Some TV shows make you remember how utterly spaztastic you were in high school. Compared to the airbrushed "cool" teens on Beverly Hills 90210, you were seriously in need of a makeover. This show is a "happy 90's" mish-mash of snappy clothing, mutton-chop sideburns, sunglasses and a total lack of zits. Seriously, I can't remember a single storyline, but I do remember the heavy-handed, "topical" bullshit that pervaded almost every episode. Themes like drunk driving, unsafe sex and the homeless were common roadblocks for those just wanting to stare at pretty people for half an hour. In real life, you couldn't throw a couple of Midwestern teens into the fakey environs of LA and expect them to fit in with the locals. They'd be shot, poisoned by smog or addicted to heroin within 48 hours. Hey, I just came up with a new Fox show. This six-disc set contains all 22 episodes from season one. Special features include commentary by Creator Darren Star on select episodes, the "Beginnings with Darren Star" featurette, the "Meet the Class of West Beverly High" featurette, a 90210 behind-the-scenes featurette, and the season one recap.
Melrose Place is not so much a spinoff from 90210 as a spin-sideways. It's got the same pairings of gorgeous people (this time a bit older) who love and hate one another at regular intervals. Think of a soap opera based in an apartment complex. It was and is a very catty program, full of people boinking each other at random and other people being upset about it. It even featured an openly gay character, before gayness was legislated out of our society and used as a term for "lame". Controversy ahoy! I'd love to tell you more, but I really didn't watch the show much. I was one of those sick individuals who got my fix of human despair from 90210 and ignored this show. Still, it's yours for the taking/discovering. This 8-disc set includes all 32(!) episodes from the first season. Special features include a "Melrose Place: Behind the Scenes" featurette, a "Melrose Place: New Style Profile" featurette and the season one episode guide.
WordplayYou know what I hate about crossword puzzles? The fake words. Those little three-letter cheats always seem to be in the puzzle I'm working on, and it never makes sense that they appear so often because they aren't real words. It's not called a crossgibberish puzzle after all, is it? People in the know accept this bit of strangeness, as if those three-letter word bits will add up to something meaningful someday. The latest geeksport documentary to hit stores is Wordplay, an entertaining look at the mother of all daily brain benders, the New York Times crossword puzzle. Puzzle Creator Merl Reagle and Editor Will Shortz, the emperor of all things crossword, add a human touch to the cold, cold business of letters and grids. Throughout the film, their input and insights share screen time with scenes from The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament that is held every year in Stamford, Connecticut. The doc also contains interviews with some well-known crossword lovers, including former President Bill Clinton, former Senator Bob Dole and The Daily Show anchor Jon Stewart. After watching this film, you'll find a way to say, "I never thought a movie about crossword puzzles could be so interesting." Saying that before you watch the film may be hard to pull off.
A THREE-LETTER WORD FOR MANCHURIA features include commentary by Director Patrick Creadon, New York Times Crossword Editor Will Shortz and Crossword Constructor Merl Reagle, deleted scenes, an interview gallery, "The 5 Unforgettable Puzzles Ever" featurette, the "Wordplay Goes to Sundance" featurette, Gary Louris music video: "Every Word", the short film "Waiting for the New York Times" by Patricia Erens, and a photo gallery.
You Can Do More:
Next week: The Da Vinci Code, King Kong Extended Edition, Forbidden Planet, the Oldboy 3-Disc set and much more.
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Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Crom Claims A Musical Talent
1945-2006
Film composer Basil Poledouris, best known for his collaborations with John Milius (Conan the Barbarian) and Paul Verhoeven (Robocop), passed away today of cancer at the age of 61.
We here at TFL don't usually talk up the passing of artists and fimmakers, but in Poledouris' case I felt compelled to at least write a little something since it was his work on Conan the Barbarian that made me personally fall in love with film music itself.
Basil Poledouris attended film school at USC with a graduating class that included such names as George Lucas (Star Wars), John Milius and Randal Kleiser (Grease). He would go on to work with Kleiser on four different films, most notably The Blue Lagoon in 1980. But it was John Milius who really helped to cement Poledouris as a true talent in the industry. With Milius, Poledouris would go on to compose music for Big Wednesday, the aforementioned Conan, Red Dawn, Farewell to the King, and Flight of the Intruder.
In my mind - and I know to many film music fans all over - Poledouris will always be remembered for his stunningly powerful yet elegantly intimate work on Conan the Barbarian. While not a great film by any means really, Conan is one that's really elevated by its score. Conan plays almost like a silent film. It's not heavy with dialogue and it's very keen on its marriage of visual and sound. In fact, so much of Arnold's Schwarzenegger's performance itself is really enhanced by the way Poledouris uses strings and horns to tell the Cimmerian's story. The accompaniment intertwined with the actually very good physical acting of Schwarzenegger make for some of Conan's more beautiful and poetic moments. See the scene where Arnold discovers the Atlantean Sword as well as the final scene following the confrontation between Conan and Thulsa Doom. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.
Poledouris later teamed with Paul Verhoeven for the film Flesh & Blood in 1985 (starring Rutger Hauer) which inevitably led to their wonderful collaboration on the sci-fi classic Robocop. He would again team with Verhoeven in 1997, this time for the completely awesome sci-fi satire, Starship Troopers.
His last work of note was in 1999 for Sam Raimi's For Love of the Game, starring Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston, John C. Reilly, and Brian Cox.
Source: ReutersDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards! Continue reading Crom Claims A Musical Talent
Review: Next: A Primer On Urban Painting
In 1983, Henry Chalfant and Tony Silver's documentary on NYC Graffiti bombers, Style Wars, was shown on PBS. Style Wars was the patient zero of the graffiti movement, spreading the virus around the world through subsequent international airings and tenth-generation bootleg copies, infecting young artists around the world with the urge to pick up the spraypaint can and make their urban environments more beautiful or ugly, depending on your perspective. Next: A Primer on Urban Painting, aims to be a long-overdue update on the progress of those seedlings.
Director Pablo Aravena has traveled the world filming graff artists in action and capturing their words and images on film. While the nature of Next doesn't allow for him to get as close to the individual artists' lives as Chalfant and Silver did, he is able to paint a larger mural of a movement that is both international and local, where the social pressures and graphic traditions of each location influence the art produced. The journey begins in NYC, with contemporary interviews with Chalfant and Style Wars vets like Lee Quinones, establishing the origins of the graffiti-as-art movement while updating on where the original generation is today. From their, the story moves to Canada, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, The Berlin Wall, Tokyo, and Sao Paulo, before circling back to New York to check up on the current generation of artists.
While the movement is international, each city has its own personality, its own attitudes on the art. When artists started writing in Barcelona, they were surprised to find no real opposition from the citizens, who were all happy to have some new works of public art. Other cities, such as London, have harsh laws against such vandalism, producing very different graffiti cultures. The Barcelona writers have adopted a zen-like approach, investing hours in painting masterpieces that they know will be painted over by another artists within a week. In London, the art takes on a more political edge, with statements against gentrification and class warfare manifested in the art. In Montreal, an artist named Other spends his days bombing freight trains. The history of graffiti goes way back: Other talks about a reference to hobos leaving graffiti on freight trains that he found in a Jack London book, and in the most exciting segment, Parisian writers point out graffiti left in the catacombs beneath Paris from the 19th century.
The scene in the catacombs is amazing. These artists have gone beyond writing and painting on the walls--they've actually begun carving elaborate sculptures out of the stone walls below the city! Not only is it impressive art, but it's art that seems to emerge naturally from the environment, in a direct lineage from the officially-sanctioned sculpture and architecture of the city above.
I'll admit that my own feelings about graffiti are somewhat ambiguous. Driving around L.A., the fantastic murals that adorn the freeway overpasses, billboards and buildings around the city make for the best public art L.A. has to offer. On the other hand, the simple signatures that appear on every surface in Magic Marker or spraypaint seem closer to litter than art to me, and I'm sure would be even more irritating if they appeared on my shit (which, so far, they have not). I had hoped there might be some attempt to wrestle with the issue in Next, but ultimately there seems to be no reason to muddy the waters with controversy. Next is a celebration of art and artists.
For the time being, Next is traveling the festival circuit, with a gallery show in tow for most stops. You can find out where it plays next, and see some nice video, at the official site.
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News Round-Up: 11/8/06
You know you're the shit when your moms puts out the above.
CHUD has a couple of exclusive talks with filmmaker Frank Darabont where he spills on everyone's favorite vaporfilm Indy IV, and his upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist. On Indy, Darabont doesn't think it'll happen. The script, which involved Indiana and aliens (insert Calista Flockhart joke here), was apparently loved by Spielberg and given the big meh by Lucas. That probably means it was twelve kinds of awesome. Darabont said, "I can’t get into George’s head." Here's a hint: try a crowbar. -- Scott Roche
Source: CHUD
Here's the one sheet for Ratatouille, the upcoming CG family film written and co-directed by Brad Bird, the same genius that gave us The Iron Giant and The Incredibles. Hopefully it will be a return to greatness for Pixar after the apparently mediocre Cars. -- Scott Roche
Source: AICN
As of this writing, Martin Scorsese's The Departed has taken $102m at the US box office. Woo! Despite the film becoming unbalanced by Nicholson's increasingly jokey performance (jumping the shark moment is the sex scene), it is awesome and, in a 'through the looking glass moment', US audiences agree. The next thing you know, Democrats will control the House Of Representatives. Anyway, Paramount has given Marty a four year first look deal. This business jargon means that Scorsese can spend his twilight years making films in studio-backed comfort before his coke-engorged heart explodes. -- Andrew Clarke
Source: Dark HorizonsDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards! Continue reading News Round-Up: 11/8/06
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Trailer Park Handjob: 11/7/06
Watching little bits of a movie very quickly is good because you don't have to watch the whole thing. After all, it's obviously going to suck. Everything sucks. If it doesn't suck now it will get a sequel, which will suck. It's cold where I am now.
The Punisher - Extended Edition: Coming to a 'New Releases' shelf near you on November 21st and to a '3 for 2' deal on the 28th, this is the double dip for the recent re-imaginging of the Marvel Comics pyschopath. Seventeen minutes extra footage! Images of Punisher comic bok covers! A Flash animated version of the opening battle they cut from the original film because they were too tight! They are actually featuring these things prominantly in the trailer! Trailers for violent films are only good if they show a: violence and b: tits. This trailer shows neither so let's hope that, this time, double-dipping refers to water boarding. -- Andrew Clarke
Bee Movie: Larry David, it turns out after watching Curb Your Enthusiasm, was responsible for the brilliantly accurate observational comedy about the foibles of human hubris that filled the Seinfeld show. Jerry Seinfeld, it turns out, was responsible for all the jokes about airplane food. Jerry's involved in a CGI movie about bees and the trailer has been released whic features no CGI but a lot of Jerry Seinfeld in a bee costume. And Chris Rock in another insect costume. It didn't make me laugh as such, mostly because smiling makes me cry, but I like it. Also Eddie Izzard, who could appear in The Avengers for the next 30 years and I would still love him. -- Andrew Clarke
Evan Almighty: Comedy for the 'nice' parts of America, where they tell you to 'have a nice day' and really mean it, mostly because they haven't advanced enough for bitter, hateful sarcasm. Steve Carrell plays Evan who is visited by God who tells him to build another ark, presumably because he wants to viciously kill evryone again with flooding. Steve Carrell then grows a beard, just like they had in Biblical times. Sort of a cross between The Santa Clause and Left Behind. Take away the attempts at humour and you have how large chunks of America actually see the world, deep down. Take away the actually funny bits and you have exactly the same trailer. May not play too well in New Orleans. -- Andrew Clarke
The Number 23: This is a Joel Schumacher "Psychological Thriller" about the number 23 and how everything on planet earth somehow, someway relates back to that number. Including, and not limited to, EVIL. It stars a woefully miscast Jim Carrey. And it made me laugh. Out loud. "Psychological Thrillers" are supposed to do that, right? -- George Merchan
Meet the Robinsons: Apparently the new Disney/Pixar amalgam that doesn't even show the slightest hint of Pixar's involvement. CGI Movie #34320958 seems to be starring the digital version of the kid from Jerry Maguire as he ventures on a quest through the space-time continuum to find his family. Kids will love it. The fuckers. -- George Merchan
Black Christmas: A remake of director Bob Clark's other holiday classic of the same name. The original starred the hotness that was Margot Kidder and Lynne Griffin. This new version will feature the slightly more sumputous forms of Michelle Trachtenberg and Lacey Chabert, among other nubiles. I can't get the trailer to work for me, but here it is anyway. Maybe you'll have better luck. -- George Merchan
And finally, the trailer for Spider-Man 3 will be available online over at iFilm this Thursday. So set your calendars, grab a Snickers bar, and be ready to enjoy the pixellated glory, you raging nerds. I know that's what we'll be doing.
Source: VariousDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards! Continue reading Trailer Park Handjob: 11/7/06
News Round-Up: 11/7/06
Rich people do things far away.
Film Threat has the first six minutes of Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny. The little kid version of Jack Black is eerily perfect. Click here! -- Doug Slack
Source: Film Threat
New Bond movie Casino Royale is being cut for UK screens. The infamous bollock-beating torture scene has been cut for sensitive British audiences. The shots gone: "lingering shots of a rope" and "close shots of Bond's facial reaction". Torture lovin' Americans get the whole deal. -- Andrew Clarke
Source: Teletext
The Incredible Hulk release date has been set. It will come out on June 27th, 2008 - the same summer as Iron Man. Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2, Unleashed) will be directing and it sounds like they will do everything in their power to make this fun and action packed. I guess that's because the last one didn't perform as expected. I for one am glad that the first one took some chances, but a more traditional approach could be a lot of fun. If it has the wide open action that Transporter 2 had (itself very much a comic book-y movie) then Excelsior! -- Scott Roche
Source: Superhero Hype!
It's bad enough that another Rambo movie is coming out, but apparently they're going to reduce the only thing that makes Rambo interesting, an unlimited supply of bullets and targets. They're filming it in Thailand and the Thai government wants the violence to be "reasonable". They also want to make sure that no harm is done the the jungle. Isn't that like asking studios not to make bad remakes? -- Scott Roche
Source: Variety
Mischa Barton (The O.C.) will be playing an "an American student who is hit by a London taxi and finds herself disoriented in Sunderland, where she has to navigate a macabre underworld of characters". For those of you that don't get it this is a "re-imagining" of Alice in Wonderland called “Malice In Sunderland” (ugh). In a world were darker is always better I'm guessing that this will be Lewis Carroll's world as seen through the eyes of Jigsaw. I think that the world through the looking glass is dark enough and if you're going to screw with it, just de-Disney-fy it. That'd be enough. -- Scott Roche
Source: Production WeeklyDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards! Continue reading News Round-Up: 11/7/06
Monday, November 06, 2006
Review: The Host
The titular monster of The Host, the new film by Korean director Bong Joon-Ho, isn't subtle. It's a slimy, rampaging beast that looks and moves something like the Samael creatures from Hellboy, and reveals itself in full daylight early on. The movie itself is far sneakier, starting out as a campy creature feature mixed with dysfunctional family comedy, none of which appears very well done at first. The comedy seems too broad, the monster reveal clumsy and premature. But this story has dark tentacles hidden beneath the surface, which slowly reveal themselves as the movie progresses. By the time it enters its final half-hour, it might be the scariest straight-up monster movie since the original Alien.
The story centers not on the monster, but on the Parks, a family whose patriarch, concession stand proprietor Hie-Bong, is trying to keep his brood of damaged adult children together. His daughter Na-Ju is a champion archer who habitually loses gold medals by hesitating too long. One son, Nam-Il, is a college graduate who, unable to find work in the depressed Korean economy, is drinking himself to death. The other son, Kang-Du, is a slacker who sleeps most of the day while working at the stand, neglecting the young daughter he has been left to raise alone. When Kang-Du's daughter, Hyun-Seo, is carried away in the monster's jaws, what little is left of the family's stability disintegrates. While it's probably not giving away any great secret to reveal that the family manages to pull it together enough to launch a rescue attempt, there's no cheating here. This movie plays for keeps, and things get very grim indeed for the Parks by the end.
Ko Ah-Sung, the 14-year-old actor making her debut as Hyun-Seo, deserves special mention here. Finding herself a captive of the monster in the sewers off of the Han river, Hyun-Seo must go into survivalist mode, and Ko nails the mixture of horror and courage as the situation becomes more and more dire. Her face, covered in the dirt of the sewer, is the image from the film that has stuck in my mind, far more than the slimy monster.
In the best tradition of monster movies, the creature is an incarnation of real-world social ills. As Godzilla embodied the destructive power of nuclear weapons, the monster here is spawned by a chemical spill, one which was inspired by actual events when U.S. civilian contractors dumped formaldehyde into the Han river, contaminating the drinking water. Bong portrays American forces as arrogant and destructive, unbothered by the misery they cause the Korean people, although he does give at least one American soldier a moment of genuine cowboy-style heroism early on. Korea itself is hardly let off the hook either, portrayed as a corrupt country where a disillusioned generation turns their rage at the broken economy on themselves and each other. Nam-Il complains that "I gave the best years of my life to the democratization and they can't even give me a job."
After the credits rolled on Saturday's screening of The Host, and the applause died down, someone in the audience expressed the enthusiasm of the crowd by yelling out, in that moment of silence, "That was fuckin' awesome!" Which I think sums up my feelings on this movie nicely. The Host has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Magnolia Pictures, who will be releasing it into theaters in January. As reported last week, Universal has picked up the rights to the remake.
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