Someone has recut the Ghostbusters trailer with the Zack Hemsey track ‘Mind Heist‘, which was used on the Inception trailer.
Although this meme played itself out during the summer, with mashups of Heat, The Dark Knight and The IT Crowd, this is a pretty slick edit job.
More proof, if any were needed, that Zack Hemsey’s music can make almost any trailer sound more dramatic.
Two people recenrly won the jackpot in the US Mega Millions multi-state lottery, with each winner receiving $190 million.
But the more interesting story was the fact that 26,000 people won $150 by playing the six lottery numbers from the TV show Lost.
If you aren’t familiar with the series – which involved a bunch of people stranded on a mysterious island – one of the main characters, Hugo âHurleyâ Reyes (Jorge Garcia), won the lottery playing the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42.
The also appear throughout the series as a numerical easter egg: they add up to 108 (another recurring number in the series), the button in the hatch had to be pushed every 108 minutes and Hurley comes across them in documents on the island.
In the episode ‘Numbers’, we see the run of bad luck Hurley has after winning the lottery and Garcia recently blogged (jokingly) that the numbers were bad and posted a picture of a $100 and a $50 bill with the word “Cursed” stamped over them.
To add to the intrigue, all of this happened in the same week that two other Lost-style events occurred when thousands of fish died in South Carolina and dead birds fell from the sky in Arkansas.
ABC must be regretting that the show ended last year, as this would be great publicity if it was still on.
>LA Times on the story
> More on the mythology of Lost at Wikipedia
As I saw my first film of the year last night (Season of the Witch – don’t ask) it felt the time to do a preview of what lies ahead this year.
This isn’t some breathless rundown of blockbusters to look out for (in fact this year already feels like a dire crop is on its way) but rather some general observations on films, awards season and trends to look out for in 2011.
SUNDANCE 2011
In recent years the festival seems to have retreated from the high-profile auction madness of the last decade to its indie roots.
Last year, the big breakout films included Winterâs Bone, Catfish and Restrepo, all of which seemed to reflect the original ethos of the festival.
This year, films to keep an eye on include:
THE KING’S SPEECH WILL DOMINATE THE BAFTAs
Since becoming an audience favourite at Telluride and Toronto, the British drama about the relationship between King George VI (Colin Firth) and his speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) quickly became an Oscar frontrunner.
Given the British bias at the BAFTAs (remember when Atonement beat No Country For Old Men?), it is a shoo-in to win on home turf, although a Best Actor Oscar will probably go Firthâs way too.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK WILL WIN BEST PICTURE
David Fincherâs brilliant drama about the creation of Facebook has dominated the awards season so far, racking up critics awards and dominating end-of-year lists.
Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director now look very likely, although the major acting categories feel like they are going to Colin Firth (The Kingâs Speech) and Natalie Portman (Black Swan).
Other winners in the supporting categories might include Christian Bale (The Fighter), Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech), Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit).
THE TREE OF LIFE WILL BE A MAJOR EVENT FOR CINEPHILES
The latest film from Terence Malick in May will be greeted with relief in a summer dominated by sequels and comic book adaptations.
With a major star (Brad Pitt), Fox Searchlight releasing it and a captivating trailer already out there, this could be an early contender for next yearâs awards season.
If you are depressed at the current state of mainstream cinema with its sequels, remakes and brightly lit comedies starring Katherine Heigl, then this could be the antidote for discerning audiences who don’t give a toss about Thor.
THIS WILL BE A CRUCIAL YEAR FOR 3D
After the box office bonanza of Avatar convinced many studios to shoot big releases in 3D, 2011 will see the results of that production pipeline.
There is an absolute slew of 3D movies out this year, with most of the major tent poles coming out in the format including: The Green Hornet, Sucker Punch, Thor, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Kung Fu Panda 2, Green Lantern, Cars 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Smurfs and The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.
These films will all make money but, aside from the mark-up on ticket prices, will they be much more profitable than if done in 2D? This could be the year when studios crunch the numbers and really decide if 3D is the long term future.
James Cameron accused Piranha 3D of devaluing the format (or âpeeing in the poolâ) and this year we will see the sequel Piranha 3DD (yes, it is really called that) and 5nal Destination (see what they did there?), although more interesting films may include Martin Scorseseâs first film in the format, Hugo Cabret, and the Werner Herzog documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams.
THE FINAL HARRY POTTER FILM WILL RULE THE SUMMER BOX OFFICE
This isnât exactly news given that the Harry Potter franchise is now the biggest in history, but the final film is probably going to be on a different level to its predecessors.
For kids who grew up in the last decade, the Potter series is what the original Star Wars trilogy was to a previous generation, appealing to most age groups.
The fact that this is the climax to the series and will be the final time youâll be able to see one in a cinema means a box office bonanza on a huge scale.
When it opens in July, opening records will tumble and it will probably be the first film to have a serious crack at getting near Avatarâs all-time record.
SUPERHEROES WILL LOSE SOME OF THEIR BOX OFFICE POWER
We are now in the second decade of The Comic Book Movie after a decade which saw several blockbusters based on famous Marvel or DC characters.
Comic-Con has become a mecca for Hollywood executives looking to pander to the nerd hordes and launch a new franchise (and ignore all the disasters that previewed there).
Take a look at whatâs coming out this year and youâll see reboots (X-Men: First Class), lower-tier characters (Green Hornet, Thor) and a character so dated (Captain America) you wonder how it will play around the world (Iâm betting it wonât break records in the Middle East).
The big comic-book franchises that dominated the last decade (Spider-Man, Batman) came after a long period when (with the exception of the Caped Crusader) they were out of favour with Hollywood, but will audiences tire of the same characters being endlessly recycled?
And does anyone really care about The Green Lantern?
SERIOUS FILMS WILL STILL BE MADE AT MAJOR STUDIOS
With the collapse of dependants like Paramount Vantage, Warner Independent and Picturehouse in the last couple of years, it has been a bleak time for films with a more independent edge and flavour.
But although studio resources are geared towards tent-pole releases that keep them profitable, maybe the critical and commercial success of The Social Network (funded and released by Sony) and True Grit (released by Paramount) points towards a future where smart and serious films can be made at the major studios.
There are only so many films that can be based on comic books or board games and talent will always be attracted to material that will get critical and awards attention.
Perhaps itâs blind optimism, but there seems to be a vacuum for smart movies if studios can take calculated risks on the right talent and material and make it for a reasonable price.
APPLE SHOULD BUY NETFLIX
Given that they have a huge amount of surplus cash, Steve Jobs should take film delivery to the next level and purchase Netflix.
Both companies have been at the forefront of delivering music and movies to consumers, so why not join forces and create a home entertainment behemoth?
It would allow Apple to venture into the streaming market that Netflix have pioneered and could mark the moment that legal internet downloads capture the consumers who still want to buy DVD or Blu-ray discs.
A lot of the movie industry (and the media that cover it) is obsessed with the current pipeline of movies, but the average viewer doesnât get to see that many in a year, so is this the year they realise the potential of on-demand viewing?
There are some who see the breaking of release windows as a dangerous heresy, but could an Apple-Netflix combo do to Hollywood what iTunes did to the music industry in the last decade?
> 2011 in film at Wikipedia
> All the UK cinema releases in 2011
Box Office Quant have posted a map which seeks to display whether certain films were better or worse than the original films.
Using Rotten Tomatoes, the originalsâ scores on the X-axis are put against the sequelsâ scores on the Y-axis.
Sequels around the centre line have a similar rating to the original; those above have surpassed the original; and those below, are ones that were deemed worse.
Each film is represented by a bubble and the size of each reflects the box office gross.
There are also a couple of rules: only the second film in any series is included and reboots and remakes are not counted.
[Click here for an enlarged image]
> Box Office Quant
> List of film sequels by box-office improvement at Wikipedia
Back in February 1982 Terry Gilliam appeared on Late Night with David Letterman to talk about Time Bandits as it opened at US cinemas.
It’s an interesting appearance as it was only the third episode of ‘Late Night’ and the banter is a little more irreverent than you might expect from the talk show host these days.
> Late Night with David Letterman at Wikipedia
> Terry Gilliam and Time Bandits at the IMDb
A reporter from the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio recently came across a homeless man named Ted Williams with an incredible voice for TV and radio.
The result, which feels like a real life remake of The Soloist, was this video in which Williams demonstrated his vocal skills and described how he fell on hard times.
It has since gone viral on YouTube and been picked up by mainstream media outlets.
A thread on Reddit has the latest details on the story:
So, a homeless guy down on his luck may find redemption thanks to the good will of people on the web.
Someone has got to snap up the rights and make this into a feel-good movie, right?
For the latest, check out the Reddit thread here or the latest stories on Google News.
UPDATE 05/01/10:
Here is his appearance on the Dave and Jimmy morning radio show on WNCI in Columbus:
The Early Show on CBS interviewed Ted Williams:
> Columbus Dispatch
> CBS News on the story
> Doral Chenoweth on Vimeo
Here is the schedule for UK cinema releases in 2011.
The information is subject to change but hopefully this will be a useful guide to whatâs out in the coming months.
The format is the filmâs title in bold, followed by the certificate (where available) and distributor.
JANUARY 2011
FEBRUARY 2011
Wednesday 16 February 2011
MARCH 2011
APRIL 2011
MAY 2011
JUNE 2011
JULY 2011
AUGUST 2011
Wednesday 17th August
SEPTEMBER 2011
OCTOBER 2011
Wednesday 12th October 2011
Wednesday 26 October 2011
NOVEMBER 2011
DECEMBER 2011
Friday 23 December 2011
Monday 26 December 2011
* Spoiler Warning: If you don’t know about the real life story that inspired 127 Hours then watch the film before reading this *
The gruesome details of the Aron Ralston story are actually what make 127 Hours inspirational.
Although a film featuring self-amputation might not be everyone’s idea of a breezy night out at the cinema, there is something bizarrely uplifting about the climax to the story.
When Danny Boyle’s latest film first started screening at festivals, there were reports of people fainting (or was it ingenious marketing?) and it posed something of a dilemma for those that had seen it.
Although based on a global news story, should viewers mention what Ralston (played by James Franco) had to do in order to get out of the Utah canyon he was trapped in back in 2003?
I’m guessing that by now, anyone planning to see the film probably knows what happened, but the tough, transcendent climax is actually one of the key reasons to see the film.
Furthermore, in an age when audiences lap up the most sadistic kinds of horror, is the sequence really that tough to sit through?
With that in mind, have a look at these two videos which feature the real life Ralston describing the events as depicted on screen.
First, there is this New York Times video profile, Pushing the Limit: Being Aron Ralston, which features the man himself describing the events of 2003 (along with the photos he took in the canyon) and his life since.
Then there is this extraordinary 2005 interview with Tom Brokaw from Dateline NBC, where Ralston returns to the Bluejohn Canyon in Utah and describes in detail the ‘greatest moment of his life’.
By the way, if all this is making you squeamish 127 Hours is the only film this year to feature a giant inflatable Scooby Doo.
> 127 Hours LFF review
> Aron Ralston at Wikipedia
> Read more about the NBC Nightline interview
Animator Pierre Manry has re-imagined Tron: Legacy as an 8-bit videogame, complete with a converted Daft Punk score.
[via Gizmodo]
> Tron: Legacy review
> The Legacy of Tron
> 8 bit at Wikipedia
It is a pretty grim time for UK DVD and Blu-ray releases with all the good titles coming out in the run up to Christmas.
For recommendations check out my picks of the best of 2010.
ALSO OUT
Donnie Darko (Metrodome) [Blu-ray]
A Serbian Film (Revolver Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Deep Red (Arrow Films) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Dog Pound (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD]
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2010
> UK cinema releases over Christmas
Actor Pete Postlethwaite died yesterday aged 64, after a prolonged battle with cancer.
A British stage and television veteran, he began his career at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and went on to work at the Manchester Royal Exchange and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
His film career began with a supporting role in A Private Function (1984) and a memorable performance in Terence Davies’ Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) which helped cement his reputation as a screen actor.
But it was his Oscar-nominated turn as Guiseppe Conlon in In the Name of the Father (1993) alongside Daniel Day Lewis that really established him as an actor in Hollywood.
The success of that film let to further roles in major Hollywood productions such as The Usual Suspects (1995), Romeo + Juliet (1996), Amistad (1997) and Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997).
Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
Although never a leading man, it was a remarkable run of work for a veteran actor in his late 40s, and his reputation was further enhanced when Steven Spielberg proclaimed him as:
‘probably the best actor in the world today’
He continued to work in Britain, with roles in the BBC adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit (1994) and as the passionate band conductor in Brassed Off (1996).
In the past decade the quality of films he cropped up in varied with parts in Ăon Flux (2005), The Omen (2006) and Solomon Kane (2008) beneath his considerable talents, although a key role in The Constant Gardener (2005) was a highlight.
He also returned to the stage in 2008 for a production of King Lear at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and the Young Vic, London.
Politically active, he marched against the Iraq war in 2003, supported the Make Poverty History campaign and also starred in a film about global warming, The Age of Stupid (2009).
In the last year he returned with two small but memorable roles in major Hollywood productions: he was the dying patriach in Inception (2010) and a creepy Boston gangster in The Town (2010).
Postlethwaite was previously diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1990 and continued to work in recent times despite receiving further treatment.
He lived in Shropshire and paid tribute to the staff at his local hospital, the Royal Shrewsbury, telling the Shropshire Star:
“They have been wonderful and I am grateful to them. I cannot thank them enough for everything that they have done for me.”
He is survived by his wife, Jacqui, his son Will and daughter, Lily.
> Pete Postlethwaite at the IMDb
> Obituaries at BBC News, The Guardian and New York Times
> Various links at The Daily MUBi
The last ever roll of Kodachrome film was given to photographer Steve McCurry, who has posted some of the shots he took with it.
December 30th marked the last day it was possible to get it developed at Dwayneâs Photo in Parsons, Kansas, the last lab on the planet to process the film.
Famous for taking the iconic Afghan Girl photograph, McCurry managed to gets some interesting subjects for the final roll, including Robert De Niro, Grand Central Terminal, Amitabh Bachchan and, for the final shot, a cemetery in Parsons.
> Steve McCurry’s final Kodachrome shots on his blog
> NPR interview on the demise of Kodachrome
> Kodachrome at Wikipedia
> The famous Afghan Girl shot at Wikipedia
Back in January 1984 Alan Bowker helped Stanley Kubrick get set up with an IBM XT computer.
Bowker’s website has photos of the famous director at home in the UK, which includes images of his office, printer and two cats.
> Alan Bowker’s site
> Stanely Kubrick at Wikipedia and MUBi
As an alternative to the current end-of-year lists here is a collection of film-related links to things that caught my eye during 2010.
The spectrum is pretty broad but ranges from the location of the crop-dusting sequence in North By Northwest, James Dean punching Ronald Regan, an unaired Orson Welles TV pilot (genius) and a graphic explaining Inception.
Any interesting links you’d like to share? Leave them below.
Filmmaker Jamie Stuart captured the recent East Coast blizzard in a short film called Idiot With A Tripod.
Known for his short films and film festival reports, he went out into a snow covered New York and shot a homage to the 1929 short “Man With a Movie Camera“.
Notice the use of the track “Painted Sun In Abstract” , which is from the soundtrack to The Social Network by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
After editing and uploading it to his Mutiny Co. website, the link to it spread on Twitter and several blogs before Roger Ebert declared:
“This film deserves to win the Academy Award for best live-action short subject. Any professional will tell you the talent exhibited here is extraordinary.”
From there the mainstream media picked it up and it was featured on sites like New York Observer and the Wall Street Journal.
The changes in a long-term relationship are examined with rare intimacy in this second feature from writer-director Derek Cianfrance.
Over the course of several years we see how a young couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), fall in and out of love over a number of years.
Juxtaposing their initial, youthful courtship (shot on super 16mm) with their marital struggles (filmed on the Red One digital camera), it employs clever framing along side the contrasting visual palettes to convey how their lives have changed.
The narrative and visual design is impressive, conveying the passage of time and providing a highly effective counterpoint for the two stages of their relationship.
Co-written by Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis, the script manages to avoid the clunking clichĂŠs that can haunt mainstream relationship movies.
Not only does it contain telling details that reveal much about the characters, it also significantly leaves room for speculation as to what happened in the intervening years.
Cianfrance and DP Andrij Parekh also shoot scenes with a vivid sense of being in the room with these characters. At times the effect can be claustrophobic, but it heightens the drama without resorting to cheap theatrics.
But what really gives Blue Valentine added kick is the two lead performances: Gosling is a convincing as a genuinely decent man, whose lack of ambition and devotion to his young daughter (Faith Wladyka), make him a bad husband but a good father.
Williams in some ways has the harder role, as a frustrated wife pushing for change but finding herself increasingly isolated in her wants and desires. Together, they form a completely believable couple in both sections of the film.
The almost total lack of false beats in their scenes together seems like a product of Cianfrance giving his actors room to improvise and feel like awkward, real people instead of puppets controlled by a screenwriter.
One of the most astute elements of the film is the way in which it depicts the snowballing conflicts in a crumbling relationship, when innocent words and actions quickly become weapons seized upon by the frustrated parties.
There are other aspects to admire: an atmospheric score from Grizzly Bear, solid â if fleeting – supporting performances from John Doman, Mike Vogel and Ben Shenkman; and an exploration of class, which is rare in most American movies.
The considered pace and often raw emotions might prevent Blue Valentine from breaking out of the indie realm, but it has already garnered deserved praise on the festival circuit at Sundance and Cannes.
Coupled with strong awards season buzz, it marks a remarkable turnaround for Derek Cianfrance, who has persevered for years to follow up his first feature Brother Tied (1998).
The independent film world is currently in a state of crisis, with many films outside the studio ecosystem struggling to be financed or distributed, but the existence of this film is a heartening reminder that the indie flame can still burn brightly.
Blue Valentine opens in the UK on January 14th and is currently on limited release in the US.
> Official site
> Blue Valentine reviews at Metacritic
> Derek Cianfrance at the IMDb
Michael Black of New Jersey shot some revealing timelapse videos of the recent blizzard on the US East Coast.
Filmed on a Canon DLSR with a tripod, a remote timer helped capture an image once every five minutes and this video shows how 32 inches of snow piled up over 20 hours.
Another video shows it from a different angle:
Yesterday, the first video had got 2 million plays and was getting about 50,000 hits an hour.
> Mike Black Photography on Flickr and Facebook
> More on the December 2010 Blizzard at Wikipedia
It is that time of year when film compilations start cropping up on YouTube and this one by Kees van Dijkhuizen does a good job of distilling the year in movies down to 5 minutes and 38 seconds.
> 2010 in Film at Wikipedia
> The Best Films of 2010
My favourite film music of the year included albums by Trent Reznor, Hans Zimmer and Daft Punk, whilst tracks by various artists including Zack Hemsey and Grizzly Bear also stood out.
BEST SOUNDTRACKS
Tron Legacy (EMI): The sequel to Tron was a mixed bag (great visuals, mediocre script) but the score by Daft Punk was unbeliveably epic, fusing their trademark electronica with an orchestra. [Amazon / YouTube]
Inception (Reprise): Hans Zimmer’s score for Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster mixed electronic elements, strings and the guitar of Johnny Marr to brilliant effect. [Amazon / YouTube]
The Social Network (Pid): Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross gave David Fincher’s film about the origins of Facebook a dazzling electronic flavour, at turns pulsating and atmospheric. [Official site / Amazon / YouTube]
The Kids Are Alright (Lakeshore Records): A traditional, but shrewdly assembled collection of traditional and modern songs (featuring the likes of MGMT and David Bowie) which fitted the themes of Lisa Colodenko’s film perfectly. [Amazon / YouTube / The Playlist]
Greenberg (Parlophone): A solid collection of songs from James Murphy alongside tracks by The Steve Miller Band, Duran Duran, Nite Jewel and Galaxie 500. [Amazon / YouTube]
127 Hours (Polydor): Danny Boyle films usually have a memorable soundtrack and this is no exception, featuring music from A.R. Rahman and tracks by various artists including Free Blood, Bill Withers and Sigur Ros. [Amazon / YouTube]
Black Swan (Sony): For Darren Aronofsky’s reworking of Swan Lake, Clint Mansell reworked elements of Tchaikovsky’s original music to spectacular effect. [Amazon / YouTube]
N.B. The soundtracks for Somewhere and Blue Valentine would have easily made the list if they were available to purchase in the UK.
PLAYLIST
The following tracks are not all directly from soundtracks, but may also have featured on trailers and TV spots for various films.
You can download most of these tracks as a Spotify playlist here or just click on the relevant links to listen to them.
If you have any pieces of film related music you want to share, leave a comment below.
> The Best Films of 2010
> The Best DVD & Blu-ray releases of 2010
NATIONAL RELEASES
Little Fockers (Paramount): Thr third film in the comedy franchise sees the war between Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and son-in-law Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) reach new levels.
Directed by Paul Weitz, it co-stars Laura Dern, Jessica Alba and Harvey Keitel, and one revolves around the fact that Greg has two children (the Fockers of the title) and Jack’s suspicions about him having an affair. Expect big business on both sides of the Atlantic as undemanding audiences lap up the slapstick. [Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide / 12A]
Gulliverâs Travels (20th Century Fox): Jack Black stars in this update of Jonathan Swift’s satire as Lemuel Gulliver, a travel writer on his way to Bermuda who ends up on the island of Liliput, where he towers over its tiny citizens.
The trailers and posters for this have not looked promising and the Jack Black brand is considerably diminished of late. But an easy story hook, a good supporting cast (Jason Segal, Emily Blunt and Billy Billy Connolly) might entice audiences during the Christmas period even if reviews are likely to be bad. [Out on Boxing Day]
The Way Back (E1 Entertainment): An epic escape from a Russian gulag during World War II forms the backdrop for Peter Weirâs first film in seven years. Loosely based on Slavomir Rawiczâs book âThe Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedomâ (more of which later), it begins with an soldier named Janusz (Jim Sturgess) being sent to a remote Siberian prison camp on trumped up charges of spying.
After enlisting the help of inmates to escape, including an ex-pat American (Ed Harris) and a tough gang member (Colin Farrell), the group venture on a massive trek across Asia where they meet an orphan (Saoirse Ronan), struggle to survive and attempt to reach the safety of India. Although it suffers from having a tangled truth problem, this is an absorbing, well crafted drama even though the gruelling nature of the story might put some viewers off. [Nationwide / 12A / Out on Boxing Day]
Love And Other Drugs (20th Century Fox): A new comedy drama set in the late 1990s, about a charming pharmaceutical rep (Jake Gyllenhaal) who falls an artist (Anne Hathaway) suffering from Parkinsonâs disease.
Directed by Ed Zwick, it is loosely based on the book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy and co-stars Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria and Josh Gad. Although the stars do their best with the roles they’ve been given, the inconsistent tone and occasional gross out humour (often involving Josh Gad) might mean reduced box office and mixed reviews. [Out on Weds 29th December]
Arthur and the Great Adventure (Entertainment): A part-animated, part-live action film, which is a sequel to Arthur and the Invisibles. Written and directed by Luc Besson, and starring Freddie Highmore and Mia Farrow. [Nationwide / PG]
ALSO OUT
Chatroom (Revolver Entertainment): A psychological thriller about teenagers who encourage each other’s destructive behavior. Directed by Hideo Nakata and starring Aaron Johnson, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard and Hannah Murray. [Nationwide]
Toonpur Ka Superhero (Eros): Indiaâs first live action full length animated film which stars Ajay Devgan and Kajol. [Cineword Feltham & Ilford, Odeon Greenwich, Vue Acton & Key Cities / U]
> Find out what films are showing in your area with Google Movies or Find Any Film
> The Best Films of 2010
> The Best UK DVD and Blu-ray Releases of 2010
> Check out the films on TV in the UK over the Christmas period
From Wings (1929) to Slumdog Millionaire (2008), the map below shows the location of each film that won Best Picture at the Oscars.
I’m not sure if it says anything concrete about what an Oscar winning movie is, but it can be interesting to note certain trends.
For example, note that lack of winners from California, the home of Hollywood, and the abundance of those set in New York and London.
[Click here or on the image for a full size version]
An epic escape from a Russian gulag during World War II forms the backdrop for Peter Weirâs first film in seven years.
Loosely based on Slavomir Rawicz’s book “The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom” (more of which later), The Way Back begins with an soldier named Janusz (Jim Sturgess) being sent to a remote Siberian prison camp on trumped up charges of spying.
After enlisting the help of inmates to escape, including an ex-pat American (Ed Harris) and a tough gang member (Colin Farrell), the group venture on a massive trek across Asia where they meet an orphan (Saoirse Ronan), struggle to survive and attempt to reach the safety of India.
Weir shoots everything with convincing detail: the prison camp is believably hellish and the landscapes form a frequently stunning backdrop as the prisoners venture across sub-zero Russia, the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas on their way to India.
Visually, the film feels grittier than one might expect, with D.P. Russell Boyd appearing to use a lot of natural light and the splendour of the landscapes are frequently intercut with shots of blisters and the physical cost of the journey.
The performances all round are solid: Sturgess and Harris stand out as the two lynchpins of the group; Farrell is charmingly gruff; Ronan has presence and depth and Mark Strong is believably seductive as a prison camp veteran with his own agenda.
As a narrative experience, the initial tension of the prison break quickly becomes a fight for survival as the group struggle to eat, stay warm and avoid all manner of hardships involving the harsh landscape.
This means that it lacks conventional tension, but there is a certain pleasure in the gruelling sprawl of the story as they keep moving across a bewildering variety of landscapes and adverse weather conditions on their 4,000-mile trek.
Sequences that particularly stand out are the initial prison break in a blizzard, a lake infested with mosquitoes, a harsh desert which drives them to the brink and the latter stages which involve some famous Asian landmarks.
For the most part it is absorbing and features well drawn characters, even though it occasionally suffers from the problem of mixing English and native dialogue, which in the modern era diminishes the overall authenticity of the film.
The film hinges on the central characterâs desire to get back home (hence the title) to see his wife, which we see in a recurring vision, and it is hard not to be moved by the climactic depiction of the personal set against the historical.
But although The Way Back is an undeniably powerful experience, there is a problem at the very heart of the adaptation which directly relates to the original book that inspired it.
Although Rawicz’s account was acclaimed for a number of years, in 2006 the BBC discovered records that essentially debunked his version of events, even though there is evidence to suggest that the journey may have been undertaken by other people.
Peter Weir was fully aware of the controversy surrounding the book when he made the film, hence certain key changes, and overall it demonstrates the taste, tact and intelligence that has informed his career.
But given the extraordinary nature of the journey there is something dispiriting about finding out the truth about Rawicz, even if the actual trek may have been done by someone else.
It remains a powerful and handsomely constructed piece of cinema but also suffers from the shady origins of its source material.
> Official site
> The Way Back at the IMDb
> BBC News story on the controversy surrounding the book and its road to the screen
Radio 4 have announced details of their forthcoming film season which features various material from the BBC archives.
Running from January 14th-29th, there will be a range of programmes exploring the past, present and future of cinema.
Mohit Bakaya, Commissioning Editor, BBC Radio 4, says:
âToday people can watch films outdoors, in living rooms, in multiplexes, on phones, on planes, in cars… almost anywhere. And the digital revolution is changing how films are made and who the filmmakers are. Giving insight into this dynamic industry, Radio 4âs special season of programmes takes listeners to the heart of cinema and explores where our relationship with film is heading.â
The season includes programmes presented by historian and film critic David Thomson, broadcaster Francine Stock, artist filmmaker Isaac Julien, filmmaker Asif Kapadia, broadcaster Barry Norman, writer, journalist and broadcaster Matthew Sweet, with contributions from producer Sir David Puttnam, director Ken Loach and director Sam Mendes.
Radio 4âs The Film Programme and regular arts programme Front Row will also be supporting the season with special features on film.
To coincide with the season, the Radio 4 website has released over two hundred interviews with contemporary film stars, directors and producers broadcast on the network since 2002 via the Radio 4 Film Interview Collection.
Interviewees include: Ben Affleck, Clint Eastwood, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, the Coen Brothers, Helena Bonham Carter and Renee Zellweger.
In addition BBC Archive is also releasing a large collection of radio interviews with the stars of the ‘Golden Age’ of American cinema.
Hollywood Voices features broadcasts and unedited interviews with film stars of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, many of which are being made available in full for the first time.
This collection of interviews features Harold Lloyd, James Cagney, Debbie Reynolds and Rita Hayworth.
Further highlights include a ’round table’ with Charlie Chaplin; conversations with Buster Keaton and Louise Brooks on the early days of American cinema; a fiery exchange with Bette Davis; and an insight into the power of music courtesy of Alfred Hitchcock.
Two galleries of photos from the BBC stills library also provide a rare glimpse of Hollywood in and around the BBC from 1930-1970.
Film season programme information is as follows:
Exploding Cinema and Pocket Cinema will be part of The Radio 4 Choice podcast which can be downloaded here.
* N.B. It is worth noting that if you aren’t based in the UK, you will still be able to listen to these programmes as BBC Radio is available to international audiences *
> Radio 4 film season website
> BBC Archiveâs Hollywood Voices
Love and Other Drugs is a new comedy drama set in the late 1990s, about a charming pharmaceutical rep (Jake Gyllenhaal) who falls an artist (Anne Hathaway) suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
Directed by Ed Zwick, it is loosely based on the book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy and co-stars Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria and Josh Gad.
Zwick’s previous films have included Glory (1989), Legends of the Fall (1994), The Siege (1998), The Last Samurai (2003), Blood Diamond (2006), and Defiance (2008).
Along with his producing partner Marshall Herskovitz, he also created the TV shows Thirtysomething and My So-Called Life.
I recently spoke with Ed in London about his latest film and you can listen to the interview here:
[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Ed_Zwick_on_Love_and_Other_Drugs.mp3]You can also listen to this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.
Love and Other Drugs is out at UK cinemas on Wednesday 29th December
> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Love and Other Drugs official site
> Ed Zwick at the IMDB
A short film based on The Shining demonstrated Joseph Kosinski‘s early talent.
Before directing Tron: Legacy, Kosinski made a name for himself with award-winning commercials and in 2003 he made a short called iSPEC for Apple.
The premise imagines a personal media device and virtual experience which places the viewer within the world of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film.
It is completely computer generated.
You can watch a higher resolution version on Kosinski’s official site (under the ‘Work’ section).
> Joseph Kosinski
> The Shining at the IMDb
The latest Awards Watch roundtable discussion from The Hollywood Reporter features the directors Peter Weir (The Way Back), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech), David O’Russell (The Fighter), Lisa Chodolenko (The Kids Are Alright).
> Awards Watch at The Hollywood Reporter
> Oscar analysis at In Contention and Awards Daily
The famous line ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore’ from The Wizard of Oz has cropped up in a lot of films.
Uttered by Dorothy (Judy Garland) to her dog Toto when she first arrives in Oz, the phrase came 4th in the AFI’s list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.
But this video shows the extent to which it has firmly embedded itself in pop culture.
Here is the full list of films and TV shows in this video:
> The Wizard of Oz at Wikipedia
> AFI 100 Years 100 Movie Quotes
Iranian director Jafar Pahani has been imprisoned for 6 years and ‘silenced’ for 20.
Best known for films such as The Circle (2000), Crimson Gold (2003) and Offside (2006), he was a supporter of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in last year’s disputed presidential election in June 2009 and was arrested a month later.
After being released he showed public support for the Iranian Green Movement at the Montreal Film Festival, as chairman of the jury, in September 2009:
Earlier this year in February he was not allowed to travel to the 60th Berlin Film Festival and in March he was arrested again and taken to Evin Prison.
It has been reported that his arrest was triggered in part by the fact that he had planned to make a film about the 2009 election.
He had been scheduled to be on the jury at Cannes in May and in his absence Juliette Binoche garnered headlines by protesting his imprisonment when she won Best Actress for her role in Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy.
The director of that film, Abbas Kiarostami, is also Iranian and said at the festival:
“The fact that a filmmaker has been imprisoned is, in itself, intolerable”
The INSA news agency quoted his lawyer Farideh Gheyrat:
“Mr. Panahi has been sentenced to six years in jail for acting and propaganda against the system. He has also been banned from making films, writing any kind of scripts, traveling abroad and talking to local and foreign media for 20 years”.
There are 20 days to make an appeal.
Panahi has previously released a statement saying the charges against him are “a joke” and that his house was raided and his film collection seized after being deemed “obscene”.
A fellow Iranian film maker, Mohammad Rasoulof, who was arrested along with Panahi in March, has also been sentenced to six years in prison for “acting and propaganda against the system”.
The Iranian government have often accused Western governments and media of spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
> Jafar Panahi at Wikipedia
> Various links on the story at MUBi
The story of the nativity has been retold by a video which gives it a new twist for the digital era.
Titled ‘The Digital Story of the Nativity’, it was created by Excentric, a Lisbon-based digital marketing company, and reimagines the Christmas story using modern tools such as Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Foursquare.
So far, it has got over 2 million views on YouTube.
> The Nativity of Jesus at Wikipedia
> Excentric
As usual these are my favourite films of the year in alphabetical order (just click on each title for more information).
THE BEST FILMS OF 2010
Animal Kingdom (Dir. David MichĂ´d): The outstanding debut feature from director David MichĂ´d is a riveting depiction of a Melbourne crime family headed by a sinister matriarch.
Another Year (Dir. Mike Leigh): A moving, bitter-sweet drama about relationships, filled with great acting, is arguably the peak of Mike Leighâs career.
Biutiful (Dir. Alejandro Gonzålez Iùårritu): Searing exploration of life and death in a modern European city, featuring a tremendous central performance from Javier Bardem.
Black Swan (Dir. Darren Aronofsky): Swan Lake is retold with glorious intensity, channelling Polanski and Cronenberg whilst giving Natalie Portman the role of a lifetime.
Carlos (Dir. Olivier Assayas): Scintillating and immersive depiction of a 1970s terrorist with a tremendous performance by Edgar Ramirez.
Enter the Void (Dir. Gaspar NoĂŠ): Technically dazzling depiction of a dead drug dealer that also features what is possibly the greatest opening title sequence of all time.
Exit Through The Gift Shop (Dir. Banksy): An ingenious and hilarious hall of mirrors which is brilliantly executed and so much more than a âBanksy documentaryâ.
Inception (Dir. Christopher Nolan): The ingenious puzzles of Christopher Nolanâs early films were given the scale of his blockbusters in this hugely ambitious sci-fi actioner.
Inside Job (Dir. Charles Ferguson): Devastating documentary about the financial crisis which plays like a heist movie, only this time it is the banks robbing the people.
Tabloid (Dir. Errol Morris): The media feeding frenzy surrounding a bizarre 1970s sex scandal provided Errol Morris with the raw material for one of the most entertaining documentaries in years.
The Fighter (Dir. David O’Russell): A boxing story which follows a familiar path but remains energetic, inspirational and funny, with Christian Bale on career-best form.
The Kids Are Alright (Dir. Lisa Cholodenko): A perfectly pitched comedy-drama that explores modern family life with genuine heart and humour.
The King’s Speech (Dir. Tom Hooper): Wonderfully crafted period drama with two brilliant lead performances and a moving story filled with hilarious one liners.
The Social Network (Dir. David Fincher): The inside story of Facebook is a riveting tale of ambition and betrayal, which sees Fincher, Sorkin and a young cast firing on all cylinders.
Toy Story 3 (Dir. Lee Unkrich): The ground breaking animated series gets a worthy final chapter whilst maintaining Pixarâs impeccable standards of story and animation.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
127 Hours (Dir. Danny Boyle)
Blue Valentine (Dir. Derek Cianfrance)
Catfish (Dir. Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost)
Four Lions (Dir. Chris Morris)
Let Me In (Dir. Matt Reeves)
Restrepo (Dir. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger)
Somewhere (Dir. Sofia Coppola)
The American (Dir. Anton Corbijn)
The Ghost Writer (Dir. Roman Polanski)
The Illusionist (Dir. Sylvain Chomet)
Winter’s Bone (Dir. Debra Granik)
> Find out more about the films of 2010 at Wikipedia
> End of year lists at Metacritic
> The Best DVD and Blu-ray Releases of 2010
NATIONAL RELEASES
Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney): The original Tron was about a brilliant software engineer, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who enters into a virtual world whilst this sequel picks up many years later as his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) tries to solve the disappearance of his father.
Responding to a mysterious message he finds himself pulled into the world where Kevin has been trapped. Aided by a female warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son have to escape the new digital universe and the clutches of those who now rule it.
Disneyâs decision to reboot Tron for a new generation, seems to be an attempt to engage audiences who remember it and to adapt the technology driven story for the current digital age, utilising cutting edge 3D and digital effects.
Visually, it looks amazing with director Joseph Kosinski upgrading the look of the first film and making good use of 3D cameras.
The dark, neon lit landscape is a dazzling upgrade from the original and the stylised costumes, light cycles, discs and various vehicles all provide a feast for the eyes in both the action sequences and calmer moments.
However, the script by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis is much more problematic and feels clunky and episodic, playing out like levels on a computer game that are just there to be completed.
This leads to an inherent lack of drama and consequence to the material, despite the visual pyrotechnics that make it so captivating to look at. It also means the performances suffer, as the characters are often just cogs in a wheel.
Disney will be nervous as the film cost a lot of money (reportedly $200 million) and early reports suggest that audience awareness isnât what it could be, which along with mixed reviews could dent its box office potential over the Christmas period. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / PG]
* Read our full review of Tron: Legacy here *
Burlesque (Sony Pictures): A drama about a small-town girl (Christina Aguilera) who ventures to Los Angeles and finds her place in a neo-burlesque club run by a former dancer (Cher).
Directed by Steven Antin, it co-stars Cam Gigandet, Stanley Tucci, Alan Cumming, Kristen Bell and Eric Dane. The script was originally written by Diablo Cody and later revised by Susannah Grant. This appears to be a tamer version of Showgirls and the critical reaction is likely to be mixed. [Nationwide / 12A]
Animals United (Entertainment): An animated film with an eco-message about a group of animals, including a meerkat and a lion, who team up to protest at the UN about climate change. Directed by Reinhard Klooss and Holger Tappe, it features the voices of Ralf Schmitz, Thomas Fritsch, Christoph Maria Herbst and Vanessa Redgrave. [Nationwide / U]
ALSO OUT
Catfish (Momentum Pictures): One of the most talked about films of the year is this intriguing documentary about a group of New York filmmakers who go on a road trip to find out more about a woman one of them has befriended online.
Even though there has been much controversy about the âtruthâ depicted in the film, it is a gripping experience that has been put together with considerable taste and skill. (Warning: you should know as little as possible before seeing it). [Curzon Soho, Screen on the Green / Various VOD outlets including Lovefilm and iTunes / 12A]
* Read our full review of Catfish here *
Boudu Saved From Drowning (Park Circus): A re-issue of Jean Renoir’s 1932 comedy about a Parisian bookseller (Charles Granval) who rescues a drowning tramp named Boudu (Michel Simon), which leads to considerable complications when he invites him to stay at his home. [Curzon Renoir, Curzon Richmond & Key Cities / PG]
Cuckoo (Verve Pictures): British thriller starring about an academic (Richard E Grant) and his troubled research student (Laura Fraser). [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Clapham Picturehouse & Key Cities]
Fred: The Movie (Lionsgate UK): The feature film version of a YouTube phenomenon about a teenager named Fred with a speeded-up voice. [West End Vue & Key Cities / 12A]
Loose Cannons (Peccadillo Pictures): Italian romantic comedy about what happens when two scions of a family are reluctant to take over a pasta business. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Cine Lumiere, Odeon Covent Garden, Shepherds Bush Vue & Key Cities]
> Find out what films are showing in your area with Google Movies or Find Any Film
> UK DVD and Blu-ray Releases for Monday 13th December 2010
Here are my TV film picks for the festive season if you want to plan ahead and programme the DVR.
SUNDAY 19th DECEMBER
MONDAY 20th DECEMBER
TUESDAY 21st DECEMBER
WEDNESDAY 22nd DECEMBER
THURSDAY 23rd DECEMBER
FRIDAY 24th DECEMBER
FRIDAY 25th DECEMBER
SATURDAY 26th DECEMBER
MONDAY 27th DECEMBER
TUESDAY 28th DECEMBER
WEDNESDAY 29th DECEMBER
THURSDAY 30th DECEMBER
FRIDAY 31st DECEMBER
The SAG nominations have been announced and Colin Firth, Jesse Eisenberg, Annette Benning, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Hailee Steinfeld are among the nominees.
Give or take a few actors here and there, this is likely to be the same group nominated for Oscar nominations in January.
The main surprises would appear to be the exclusion of Javier Bardem (Biutiful), Ryan Goslin (Blue Valentine) and Lesley Manville (Another Year).
If pushed for potential Oscar winners I’d still say that Colin Firth, Natalie Portman and Christian Bale are frontrunners, although Best Supporting Actress is hard to call at this point.
Here are the nominations in the film category:
Best Male Actor (Leading Role)
Best Female Actor (Leading Role)
Best Male Actor (Supporting Role)
Best Female Actor (Supporting Role)
Best Ensemble (Cast)
Stunt Ensemble
> Full list of nominations at the SAG Awards site
> Analysis from Scott Feinberg, In Contention and Awards Daily
A New York Times article from 1982 shows the legacy of Tron and the interesting parallels with its sequel.
Tron: Legacy opens in cinemas tomorrow and utilises the latest filmmaking technology, but how was the first film viewed 28 years ago?
At the time Disney’s film division were scrambling for a hit and saw Tron as way of tapping in to the videogame boom of the early 1980s and the success of Star Wars.
One startling fact the New York Times revealed back in 1982 was just how profitable video games were at the time.
…games currently gross between $8 billion and $9 billion a year, compared with about $3 billion a year for all the movies shown in theaters.
Last year, in fact, the most popular video game, Pac-Man, grossed about $1.2 billion – three times as much as ”Star Wars,” history’s most popular movie, has earned in the five years since its initial release.
Think about that for a second: Pac-Man out grossed the first Star Wars film.
Obviously this trend has continued over the years, with The Observer reporting last year that combined software and hardware sales grossed over ÂŁ4bn.
This was more than DVD and music sales combined, and over four times what films made at cinemas.
However, the original Tron was a relative commercial disappointment, even though it became an influential cult film that spawned the current sequel.
But the 1982 article brings up interesting parallels with the present day.
It talks of the visual effects revolution ushered in by Star Wars:
When ”Star Wars,” with its futuristic setting, androids and computerized space warfare, became the first film in history to make $100 million in 1977 (it has now grossed four times that), Hollywood decided that what the public wanted was more and better special effects. In the next five years, armed with huge budgets and increasingly sophisticated technology, filmmakers rewrote the book on creating illusions of reality.
Now in 2010, Tron: Legacy is part of a new wave of 3D movies ushered in by the enormous success of Avatar.
But let’s go back to 1982 and the films that were then pushing at the limits of technology:
Special-effects pictures now dominate the nation’s screens. The first month of summer witnessed the release not only of ”E.T.” but ”Poltergeist,” ”Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” ”Blade Runner,” ”Firefox,” and ”The Thing.”
There is no doubt that visual effects have come a long way since these films, with landmarks being Terminator 2 (1991), Jurassic Park (1993), Titanic (1997) and The Lord of The Rings trilogy (2001-03).
But with the advent of digital camera systems and 3D are we at a similar point of change?
Films such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Avatar (2009) and Inception (2010) have all pushed the envelope in different ways and even a film like The Social Network (shot entirely on the RED camera) seemed to show that digital cameras have truly arrived in the mainstream.
Another interesting aspect of the article is how perceptions of films can change over time.
“…critics have praised the special effects in such films as ”Blade Runner” and ”The Thing,” while damning the quality of the storytelling.”
No-one could dispute that storytelling is important in a visual effects movie, but to time has been much kinder to both Blade Runner and The Thing.
Ridley Scott’s film underwent a gradual re-appraisal and is now considered a landmark whilst John Carpenter’s horror (which repulsed critics at the time) is also more highly regarded.
Nicholas Meyer, who directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, is quoted on the effect of television on audiences expectations for a movie:
“…television has eroded the audience’s patience with exposition and the groundwork that narrative requires, so that now you have movies and television shows where there’s no plot at all, just stunts or star turns.
Could there be a parallel made with the rise of the Internet and its possible effect on cinema audiences today?
But what about TRON?
It is described as:
…a $20-million cinematic journey through the mind of a computer, frequently looks like the ultimate video game, played by – and with -human beings on a screen 70 feet wide and 30 feet high.
These words could describe the current sequel, even though it is reported to have cost $200 million and, if you see it on IMAX, will play on screens 85 feet wide and 65 feet high.
The article also quotes Thomas L. Wilhite, Disney’s then head of production:
‘We invested $20 million in our belief that the characters in this computer world, invented by man in his own image, would appeal to people,”
Obviously it didn’t work out that way but it is similar to how the studio now feels about the sequel, although they’ll be hoping for a better return on their money.
But what was the landscape like for digital effects back in 1982?
Tron director Steven Lisberger was prescient in predicting the future:
Mr. Lisberger is among those who believe that computer-generated imagery will eventually replace all forms of optical effects – but he concedes that ”it’s still very expensive to lay all the information describing a setting into the computer.”
Steven Spielberg, who was basking in the box office glory of E.T. that summer, is quoted as saying:
”there will be a day …when it will be possible to create an entire civilization at the cost of two days’ shooting.”
Films such as Lord of the Rings and Avatar seem to have proved his general point right, although the cost of effects has risen in line with their quality.
The existence of the new film also speaks volumes about the current studio obsession with Comic-Con, the annual geekfest in San Diego where films are announced or unveiled to expectant crowds.
When Disney were pondering whether to make Tron: Legacy, director Joseph Kosinski made a short test film featuring Jeff Bridges that demonstrated what the sequel would look like and the crowd went predictably nuts:
(You can watch a higher quality version here)
Disney will be banking that the Comic-Con demographic, who grew up watching the original on video, will help make the sequel a success.
But going back to the 1982 article, perhaps the most fascinating part is when it mentions a young animator named John Lasseter:
Disney is taking the next step in computer technology. Two young animators, John Lasseter and Glenn Keane, are planning a 30-second scene from Maurice Sendak’s modern children’s classic, ”Where the Wild Things Are,” in which the little boy called Max chases his dog out of his room and through the upstairs hall and down the stairs.
Max and his dog are being animated conventionally, like the characters in all the other cartoons made by Disney – or by Mr. Bluth. But Max is being colored by computer, eliminating the need for those who now paint each individual animation cel. Even more revolutionary, Max’s room, the hallway and the stairway are being planned to be executed by MAGI as Computer Generated Environments.
This was the test footage from that test:
Of course Lasseter’s vision for Where the Wild Things Are never made it to the big screen and it wasn’t until 2009 that a version directed by Spike Jonze came out.
But Lasseter was inspired by Tron when he was at Disney and felt that the visuals represented the future:
“It absolutely blew me away! A little door in my mind opened up. I looked at it and said, `This is it! This is the future!'”
Lasseter was soon to leave Disney and join Lucasfilm Computer Graphics, which would later be bought by Steve Jobs and renamed Pixar in 1986.
Over the next twenty years he oversaw their ground breaking and enormously successful film output, directing Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), and Cars (2006).
In 2006 Disney purchased Pixar and Lasseter became chief creative officer of both Pixar and Disney animation studios.
Earlier this year it was reported that Tron: Legacy was shown to a team at Pixar that included …John Lasseter.
Sean Bailey, Disneyâs president of production said:
âTron is very much Joe Kosinskiâs vision, a vision which is thrilling to me and I hope is thrilling to the fans. What I give Joe and the filmmaking team immense credit for, is this was all born out of how do we give the fans the best movie we can. We were very fortunate that Pixar wanted to play a part in it.â
Let’s go back to the final paragraph of the New York Times article:
In the final analysis, however, it isn’t the special effects techniques that make an ”E.T.” or ”Bambi” endure. The creature made of rubber and steel, the deer made of pencil marks on paper, all participate in narratives that compel belief. As Walt Disney never tired of saying, ”First get the story right.”
If Tron: Legacy doesn’t live up to expectations, will Walt’s old saying come back to haunt the current studio?
> NYT article on Tron in 1982
> More on Tron and Tron Legacy at Wikipedia
> Tron: Legacy review
A recent interview sheds light on the history of CAA and the entertainment business.
Last month Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen sat down with former super-agent Mike Ovitz for a discussion about the latter’s career in Hollywood.
Andreessen co-founded Netscape in the 1990s and currently sits on the board of Facebook, eBay and HP, whilst Ovitz co-founded CAA (Creative Artists Agency) in 1975 and served as chairman until 1995.
Both helped revolutionise their respective industries, so when they spoke together at the offices of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, it made for an interesting discussion.
The focus is mainly on the history of CAA and how Ovitz upturned established Hollywood rules, but it also encompasses the wider changes in technology which have affected the media industry.
[Via AllThingsD]
> Marc Andreessen and Mike Ovitz at Wikipedia
> Andreessen Horowitz
The trailer for Terrence Malick’s latest film The Tree of Life has surfaced online.
Set in the 1950s, it is the story of an eleven-year-old boy named Jack (Hunter McCracken) growing up in the Midwest with his father (Brad Pitt) and mother (Jessica Chastain), and his life as an older man (Sean Penn).
It opens in the US on May 27th 2011.
> Tree of Life at the IMDb
> More on Tree of Life at Wikipedia
Soundworks have released a video detailing how the sounds of Black Swan were achieved.
Craig Henighan has worked with director Darren Aronofsky since Requiem For A Dream (2000) and his work on this film (as sound designer, supervising sound editor and sound re-recording mixer) is a key element of why it works so well.
SoundWorks Collection – The Sound of “Black Swan” from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.
> Black Swan at the IMDb
> My LFF review of Black Swan
An increasingly mysterious online relationship forms the backdrop for a compelling documentary.
The first thing to say about Catfish is that you should know as little as possible before seeing it.
This was a common refrain when it premièred to buzz and acclaim at Sundance back in January, but it really is true.
So, even though this review wonât reveal full spoilers, if you havenât seen the film Iâd highly recommend you stop reading this right now and come back after watching it.
It begins when Nev, a 24-year-old photographer based in New York, is contacted online by Abby, an 8-year-old girl from Michigan, who wants permission to paint one of his photos.
An online correspondence develops with Abbyâs family and things get stranger when Nev also virtually befriends Abbyâs older sister, Megan, who appears to be a musician and model.
Up to this point everything we see has been filmed by Nevâs brother Ariel Schulman along with their friend Henry Joost, and in a pivotal scene Ariel persuades his sibling to actually meet Abby and Megan in the real world.
This is when things get really interesting, with the gradually unfolding mystery playing like a suspense thriller.
Except this is arguably more exciting, as fictional films can often be predictable and this is anything but that, as we share the curiosity and excitement of the three young men on screen.
It also explores the impact of modern technology and how the web has gradually embedded itself into the rituals of everyday life, through mobile devices, email, social networking sites and video.
These issues are reflected in the form of the film, which was co-directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. The raw footage was shot handheld on consumer digital cameras and the online elements are cleverly integrated into the overall look.
When they set off on a journey we see it through a Google Maps graphic; we see close-ups of the central characters using Facebook and the visual look of the film reflects a generation who donât think twice about filming their everyday lives.
The titles and graphics are tastefully rendered and the editing is especially noteworthy, managing to build and maintain the raw suspense whilst never letting the basic story drag.
Watching it with an audience at the London Film Festival was fascinating: they audibly gasped at certain moments and it seemed to tap right in to contemporary questions and fears about how people connect online.
Unsurprisingly, it made a big impact at Sundance and was the subject of a bidding war before being acquired by Rogue Pictures and Universal, who gave it a limited US release last October.
But it was also at Sundance that some viewers began to ask questions about the film and doubt its veracity as a documentary.
This is where the story gets even more interesting: does the film have a âtruth problemâ? Was it manipulated for effect? Is it even a documentary?
In a year that has seen âfakeâ documentaries like Exit Through The Gift Shop and Iâm Still Here, such questions seem to reflect a wider ambiguity about the genre itself.
As for Catfish, there are nagging doubts that creep in retrospectively.
Was it always their intention to make a film? Would a group of savvy New Yorkers really be this naĂŻve about strangers online? Are the events that unfold too structurally perfect?
There is also one scene where they look at videos on YouTube which seems like the audio has been altered in post-production, although this may not be the case.
Charges that the film is a fake documentary have been vigorously denied by the filmmakers ever since the likes of Morgan Spurlock and Zach Galifianakis cast doubt on it at Sundance.
Unless there is compelling evidence to suggest otherwise, proving whether the film was real or not is possibly a rabbit hole from which no definitive conclusion can be drawn.
As for my own take, it seems that the film is basically real but polished in post-production to the point where people began to have nagging doubts about its presentation of events.
Whatever the truth, it seems fitting that a film which depicts the uncertainty of online identities should have its own personality crisis.
Despite, or possibly because of this, Catfish is still a notable achievement.
It captures a cultural mood, inspires instant debate and stretches the documentary form in new and imaginative ways.
Catfish opens at selected UK cinemas on Friday 17th December and is also available to watch on various VOD platforms including iTunes, Lovefilm and Sky Box Office
> Official site
> My strange Catfish experience at the London Film Festival
> Reviews at Metacritic
> Movieline and Moviefone on the âtruthâ of Catfish (Spoilers)
> Guardian article on Catfish (Major spoilers so don’t read unless you’ve seen the film)
270 films released in 2010 have been edited to form this extended six minute montage.
YouTube user Gen I has cut them to six music tracks and the result is impressive:
Music Used
1. Ratatat – Nostrand [Link]
2. Kanye West – Power [Link]
3. Rooney – Not In My House [Link]
4. Apartment – Fall Into Place [Link]
5. Civil Twilight – Letters from the Sky [Link]
6. SUNBEARS! – Little Baby Pines [Link]
Full list of films (in order of appearance)
01. Iron Man 2
02. The Social Network
03. Saw 3D
04. TRON: Legacy
05. Never Let Me Go
06. Legion
07. The Book of Eli
08. Easy A
09. The Runaways
10. Farewell
11. Kick-Ass
12. Jonah Hex
13. Harry Brown
14. The Sorcerorâs Apprentice
15. Percy Jackson & The Olympics: The Lightning Thief
16. Despicable Me
17. Stone
18. Dinner For Schmucks
19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
20. Hereafter
21. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
22. Black Swan
23. Howl
24. Faster
25. Casino Jack
26. Casino Jack and the United States of Money
27. Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel
28. Waiting for Superman
29. Inception
30. Resident Evil: Afterlife
31. The Town
32. The Expendables
33. The A-Team
34. The American
35. The Concert
36. The Tempest
37. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
38. The Tourist
39. Metropia
40. Burlesque
41. Love Ranch
42. Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
43. The Warriorâs Way
44. Twelve
45. Going The Distance
46. Chain Letter
47. Catfish
48. Machete
49. Step Up 3D
50. Devil
51. Clash of the Titans
52. Countdown to Zero
53. Jackass 3D
54. Alice in Wonderland
55. Buried
56. Red
57. Mesrine
58. Predators
59. MacGruber
60. Robin Hood
61. Green Zone
62. The Way Back
63. Due Date
64. Daybreakers
65. Knight and Day
66. Heartbreaker
67. The Karate Kid
68. Secretariat
69. Middle Men
70. Repo Men
71. Hot Tub Time Machine
72. All Good Things
73. Skyline
74. Animal Kingdom
75. Fair Game
76. Paper Man
77. Eclipse
78. Megamind
79. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
80. True Grit
81. Accidents Happen
82. Date Night
83. Perrierâs Bounty
84. Killers
85. How To Train Your Dragon
86. The Other Guys
87. Unstoppable
88. Leap Year
89. Cop Out
90. When In Rome
91. Centurion
92. Salt
93. Takers
94. Barneyâs Version
95. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
96. The Winning Season
97. Just Wright
98. Legendary
99. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornetâs Nest
100. Ong Bak 3
101. Rogues Gallery
102. Defendor
103. District 13: Ultimatum
104. Conviction
105. The Losers
106. The Disappearance of Alice Creed
107. Brooklynâs Finest
108. Wild Target
109. Four Lions
110. The Kingâs Speech
111. Boogie Woogie
112. 127 Hours
113. Somewhere
114. Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll
115. Letters to Juliet
116. The Kids are All Right
117. Sex and the City 2
118. Vampires Suck
119. Love and Other Drugs
120. Life As We Know It
121. Blue Valentine
122. Jolene
123. The Extra Man
124. The Last Song
125. Our Family Wedding
126. Morning Glory
127. Greenberg
128. Remember Me
129. Please Give
130. Certified Copy
131. The Last Exorcism
132. Peacock
133. Flipped
134. Cemetery Junction
135. I Love You Phillip Morris
136. Toy Story 3
137. The Romantics
138. Welcome to the Rileys
139. Iâm Still Here
140. Get Him To The Greek
141. The Yellow Handkerchief
142. The Greatest
143. The Virginity Hit
144. Furry Vengeance
145. Eat Pray Love
146. Don McKay
147. Solitary Man
148. Cyrus
149. Case 39
150. Dear John
151. The Good Guy
152. Jack Goes Boating
153. You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
154. Leaves of Grass
155. How Do You Know
156. Death at a Funeral
157. Tamara Drewe
158. The Killer Inside Me
159. The Back-Up Plan
160. Another Year
161. Great Directors
162. The Ghost Writer
163. Splice
164. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
165. The Wolfman
166. Piranha
167. A Nightmare on Elm Street
168. Charlie St. Cloud
169. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
170. Biutiful
171. The Lovely Bones
172. Monsters
173. Cairo Time
174. The Crazies
175. Valhalla Rising
176. Ondine
177. Itâs Kind Of A Funny Story
178. Stolen Lives
179. Creation
180. Chloe
181. The Debt
182. Princess Kaâiulani
183. Like Dandelion Dust
184. Shutter Island
185. Inhale
186. Heartless
187. Rabbit Hole
188. Let Me In
189. Hemingwayâs Garden of Eden
190. The Fighter
191. From Paris With Love
192. Shrek Forever After
193. The Next Three Days
194. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of GaâHoole
195. Spring Fever
196. Stonewall Uprising
197. Smash His Camera
198. My Soul To Take
199. Life During Wartime
200. The Joneses
201. Mr. Nobody
202. The Good Heart
203. The Lottery
204. Leaving
205. Night Catches Us
206. Nowhere Boy
207. Babies
208. Barry Munday
209. Tooth Fairy
210. Yogi Bear
211. The Borrowers
212. You Again
213. Standing Ovation
214. Soul Kitchen
215. Multiple Sarcasms
216. The Nutcracker in 3D
217. The Last Airbender
218. Youth in Revolt
219. Edge of Darkness
220. Last Night
221. Extraordinary Measures
222. Ramona and Beezus
223. Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
224. Alpha and Omega
225. Tangled
226. Marmaduke
227. Grown Ups
228. Inside Job
229. Gulliverâs Travels
230. The Spy Next Door
231. The Dry Land
232. Tiny Furniture
233. La mission
234. City Island
235. Letters to God
236. Sheâs Out of My League
237. Lottery Ticket
238. Wonderful World
239. The Infidel
240. Holy Rollers
241. Why Did I Get Married Too?
242. Paranormal Activity 2
243. Frozen
244. The Switch
245. Finding Bliss
246. Made in Dagenham
247. For Colored Girls
248. Crazy on the Outside
249. The Last Station
250. The Bounty Hunter
251. Iâm Here
252. I Am Love
253. Red Hill
254. Country Strong
255. Peepli Live
256. Oceans
257. Sanctum
258. Little Fockers
259. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
260. Exit Through The Gift Shop
261. Winterâs Bone
262. Get Low
263. Fish Tank
264. Valentineâs Day
265. The Tillman Story
266. The Company Men
267. Tales from Earthsea
268. Spoken Word
269. To Save A Life
270. Hubble 3D
YouTube user Estevez has created this amusing mashup of the forthcoming Yogi Bear and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
If you want to see the original scene from Andrew Dominik’s 2007 film click here.
Painfully obvious spoiler warning: Jesse James (Brad Pitt) is assassinated by Robert Ford (Casey Affleck).
> The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford at Wikipedia
> Yogi Bear at the IMDb
