Here is the latest teaser trailer for The Simpsons movie. It is out in July next year.
[youtube]8zhkkiSo7Xk[/youtube]
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Little numbers
It is always depressing to see a really good film die at the box office. But it is worse when you have a creeping feeling that it will struggle to find an audience and then dies anyway. Such is the fate of Little Children, one of the most intelligent and well crafted dramas to be released this year.
In the US it has grossed just over $1 million dollars despite a gradual release on limited screens and mostly positive reviews. In the UK it was a similar story and it only just crept in to the top 10 after its release last week. Maybe it was the enigmatic trailer. Maybe people were putting off by a glut of reviewers inaccurately describing one of the main characters.
One person I spoke to, who did actually go and see it, was non-plussed – his chief complaint was “I couldn’t tell you what it was about”. Is it just me or is it a sad day when films like this, that dare to be complex, subtle and different, don’t get given a chance by studios or audiences?
Everyone is right in hindsight, but surely this was a film that would have benefited from being released later in the awards season? it is also easy to blame the marketing department but here in the UK it seemed to have a very light promotional push.
It was at the London Film Festival and Winslet appeared on Parkinson but there seemed to be little in the way of print or poster ads. And, of course, it opened in the same week as the box office phenomenon known as Borat.
It may still get award recognition (Kate Winslet still looks good for a Best Actress nomination) but it seems like this is going to be sadly overlooked. A great shame indeed.
> Check out Google Showtimes for Little Children if your still interested in seeing it
> Read some reviews of it at Metacritic
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New Spider-Man 3 Trailer
The new trailer for Spider-Man 3 is now showing at iFilm.
And it is here as well:
[ifilm]2783985[/ifilm]
The rather wonderful Lifehacker has posted an excellent set of links and advice for moviegoers:
Here’s the deal: if I’m going to shell out the dough to see a movie in the theater, I like to get my money’s worth, especially since I have to do quite a bit of maneuvering (babysitters, scheduling, etc.) even to get there. I don’t want to waste my hard-earned cash on the newest Rob Schneider craptacular; then again, just because a film has the George Lucas stamp of approval doesn’t necessarily mean it’s my cup of tea.
In this week’s feature, I’ll run down the sites I use before (and after) I go to the movies in order to make my dollar stretch just a little further.
For those of us outside the US its a little American-centric but the links are still worth checking out. (Link via Digg)
On the podcast this week we take a look at Breaking and Entering, the new drama from writer-director Anthony Minghella set in contemporary London and starring Jude Law. Plus, we also review The Prestige, the new drama from director Christopher Nolan, about two rival magicians (played by Christian Bale & Hugh Jackman) in Victorian London. Also out is Starter for 10, a new British comedy set during the 1980s and we also speak to the main actor in the film, James McAvoy.
Our DVD pick of the week is Don’t Look Now – director Nic Roeg’s brilliant and unsettling drama from 1973 which stars Donald Sutherland & Julie Christie as a couple who move to Venice to get over the death of their child.
In the news we examine the success of Borat at the box office and even speak to the character himself about why he made the movie in the first place. Plus, our website of the week is The Movie Review Query Engine.
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Bond is back
I was one of those at the London screening of Casino Royale last Friday and can confirm that Daniel Craig does indeed prove the sceptics wrong. Credit to the filmmakers for going back to basics with the Bond character whilst crafting an entertaining action thriller.
I’ll hold off writing more about it until nearer the release date but given the curiosity factor of a new Bond and the enduring popularity of cinema’s longest running franchise, it seems almost certain to do massive numbers when it opens in the UK and US on November 16th.
> Official site for Casino Royale
> Some early reviews of Casino Royale from various UK critics at MI6 (a very impressive Bond fansite)
> A BBC News profile of Daniel Craig when he first got the role last year
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Borat at the US Box Office
It looks like Borat is on its way to being a box office smash in the US. Despite Fox scaling the release back to 837 screens and fears that it would be another internet fuelled disappointment the film looks on course to be a huge hit.
After broad speculation that Internet buzz on Fox comedy “Borat” could make the pic “Snakes on a Plane 2,” the pic played more like “Fahrenheit 9/11” over the frame, coming in at No. 1 with $26.3 million.
Left-field hit won the frame handily while playing on just 837 screens, four times less than No. 2 finisher, Disney’s third installment in its “Santa Clause” series, which grabbed $20 million.
“Borat’ played to a whopping per engagement average of $31,511.
Pic was also an international sensation over the frame for the studio, which will now ratchet up the pic’s domestic playdates to 2,500 next frame. That move makes an already overcrowded fall that much more swamped with pics vying for attention.
Frame’s other new wide opener, Paramount’s “Flushed Away,” from Dreamworks Animation, came in No. 3 with $19 million.
“Borat” won the day, in part, because “Clause” and “Flushed” split their family auds, while the kamikaze Kazakh TV commentator brought in adults. Pic’s demos skewed slightly male and almost half the aud was over 25.
As Anne Thompson rightly pointed out last week, the key difference between Snakes on a Plane and Borat is that the former was a B-movie with a catchy concept whilst the latter is a genuinely hilarious comedy with enormous water cooler potential.
Despite some predictably contrarian reviews that bark up the wrong tree, it is still likely to do spectacular business when it goes wide next week. Here in the UK I imagine it will be a similar story.
> Reviews of Borat at Metacritic
> Box Office Mojo on Borat’s US performance
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Mark Kermode on Pan’s Labyrinth
Mark Kermode has written an excellent feature on Pan’s Labyrinth for the latest issue of Sight and Sound. Frustratingly it doesn’t seem to be on their website yet but an edited version is in today’s Observer.
For those unfamiliar, it is the new film from Mexican director Guillermo del Toro and is a dark fantasy set during the Spanish Civil War. The “Good Doctor” explains:
Set against the backdrop of fascist Spain in 1944, Pan’s Labyrinth is a dark fairy tale that distils his distinctive mix of fact and fantasy, poetry and politics, pain and pleasure. It’s an epic, poetic vision in which the grim realities of war are matched and mirrored by a descent into an underworld populated by fearsomely beautiful monsters – a transformative, life-affirming nightmare which is, for my money, the very best film of the year.
He is not wrong. It is one of the most remarkable films in recent memory – a truly stunning blend of horror, history and magic. Since I saw it last month it has left a strong impression on me and one can only admire how Del Toro juggles commercial projects like Hellboy and Blade 2 with more personal films like The Devil’s Backbone and this. On the surface it may look like a gothic fantasy but it is so much more than that.
I’ll post a longer review nearer the release date, which in the UK is November 24th and December 29th in the US.
> Kermode’s (edited) feature in The Observer
> Andrew Hehir of Salon likes it too
> IMDb entry for Pan’s Labyrinth
> Watch the trailer at Apple
> The All Movie Guide on Del Toro
There was much to enjoy at this year’s London Film Festival. As usual there were a few things I missed (especially when it came to live events) but here is a rundown of the things that impressed me.
The opening film was The Last King of Scotland, an absorbing look at former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Seen through the eyes of a Scottish doctor, who by chance becomes his personal physician, it features some terrific performances. Forest Whittaker is a force of nature as the African ruler managing to convey his childlike charm before the plunging us into a dark vortex of terror. James McAvoy is finally given a role of weight and substance and he manages to hold his own for most of the film against Whittaker, who delivers one of the best performances this year. Although it has taken certain liberties with historical fact, director Kevin McDonald in his debut feature manages to portray things with the same intensity he brought to documentaries like One Day in September and Touching the Void.
Infamous is the ‘other film’ about Truman Capote. Director Douglas McGrath had the misfortune to be preparing a film version of the writing of In Cold Blood at the same time that director Bennett Miller and Philip Seymour Hoffman were getting ready with their version. Although Capote is still the superior film in many respects, Infamous does actually hold up very well. One of the main reasons is the high quality of the acting, in particular British actor Toby Jones who gives a remarkable interpretation of the writer. His physical resemblance to Capote is eerie and he also conveys a dandyish sense of humour that was a little lacking in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s work (great though that was). Watch out too for some sterling supporting performances from Daniel Craig as convicted killer Perry Smith and Sandra Bullock as Nelle Harper Lee. One upshot of two Capote movies could be that film studies classes will be comparing them for years to come.
Another film about a notable 20th century figure was the documentary The US vs John Lennon, directed by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld. Taking a look at the former Beatle and his political activism in the late 60s and 70s it combined an impressive amount of new footage with Lennon’s music from that era. If you are a Beatles or Lennon fan you may be familiar with his anti-war protests and struggle to avoid deportation from New York. But if not, it is still an eye opening tale, not least because of the numerous parallels with current events.
Stranger Than Fiction plays like a literary version of The Truman Show, where a lowly tax inspector (Will Ferrell) finds out that he is actually the character of a book being written by a respected author (Emma Thompson). For about an hour the concept works a treat but sadly it runs out of steam after that as it never really gets to grips with merging the two worlds of fiction and reality. Having said that, Ferrell is very good in a more subdued role and Dustin Hoffman gives amusing support as an English professor trying to get to the bottom of the problem. Maggie Gyllenhall provides the love interest but her character is too underwritten to be truly believable. It is still worth seeing and the boldness of the concept may lead to some scriptwriting nominations for Zach Helm but I couldn’t help feeling that a greater film was there for the taking.
Director Todd Field’s Little Children is one of the best films to come out of America this year. If there is any justice it thius follow up to 2001s In the Bedroom will be a major contender this awards season. Kate Winslet stars as a frustrated housewife stuck in a privileged Boston suburb with a husband who doesn’t love her and a lifestyle she can’t stand. When she begins an affair with a handsome but married neighbour (Patrick Wilson) she also becomes aware that a convicted child molester has moved into the area. To say too much else would spoil some of the many surprises in this intelligent and many layered film. The acting is strong all across the board and different shifts in tone as the narrative unfolds are brilliantly handled.
On the other hand, Breaking and Entering is a major disappointment given the talent involved in making it. After the historical sweep of previous films like The English Patient and Cold Mountain, director Anthony Minghella has opted to make a drama set in contemporary London. An architect (Jude Law) ends up falling for the immigrant mother (Juliette Binoche) of a criminal who keeps breaking into his new offices near Kings Cross. Despite having the technical expertise you might expect from Minghella and featuring a touching performance from Binoche, the narrative drowns in a checklist of half baked liberal concerns (immigration, crime, kids with mental problems) and never explores any of them with any depth or bite.
Half Nelson was the real treat of the festival for me. It isn’t that often that you come across a debut film that is so assured and well made as this. Ryan Gosling stars as a Brooklyn teacher whose illicit drug taking is discovered by one of his pupils one night. However, the trick here is that director Ryan Fleck (who co-wrote the film with Anna Boden) avoids any of the usual stereotypes involved with “teacher-pupil” movies and has crafted a wonderful portrait of two very different characters who become friends. Wisely side-stepping any emotional manipulation and instead portraying the rough edges of an unusual relationship it treats its characters as fully rounded humans. Gosling and co-star Shareeka Epps give two excellent central performances and in an age where even so called indie films seem to be following a text book, this carefully made drama is a real breath of fresh air.
Babel closed the festival last night and it is the third film in a trilogy from director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga that started with Amores Perros and continued with 21 Grams. Like those films it involves three intercut stories, but here the canvas is much bigger, involving a sprawling narrative set across three different continents. A US tourist in Morrocco (Cate Blanchett) is accidentally shot whilst her husband (Brad Pitt) frantically tries to summon help; in the US a Mexican nanny is forced to take two children under her care over the border to attend her son’s wedding; and in Japan a deaf mute girl struggles to deal with her life. As you might expect from Inarritu, the stories deal with big themes and there is a lot of emotional anguish. But don’t let the fact that he has explored similar themes and ideas before put you off. This is still a highly accomplished piece of film making with some marvellous cinematography from Rodrigo Prieto and some superb editing from Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise.
On the podcast this week we take a look at the latest releases. At the cinema, Sacha Baron Cohen wreaks havoc on the USA as Borat is finally unleashed after a wave of publicity.
Meanwhile, Kate Winslet is in superb form as a frustrated suburban housewife in Todd Field’s drama Little Children and the new British comedy Sixty Six takes a unique view of the year England won the World Cup. Plus, we speak to one of the stars of that film, the one and only Eddie Marsan.
Our DVD pick this week is Police Squad!, the madcap TV series that eventually spawned The Naked Gun, and our website of the week is Screen Online – a truly marvellous guide to British TV and Film.
If you have any comments or questions about this podcast go to www.creationpodcasts.com/contact and get in touch.
Although this mashup of Reservoir Dogs and A Clockwork Orange comes across like some kind of dubbed martial arts movie it is still pretty well executed:
[youtube]S69mzTxlkOI[/youtube]
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Tobin Bell on Saw 3
I recently interviewed actor Tobin Bell (who plays Jigsaw in the Saw films) about Saw 3.
Have a listen below
[audio:tobin_bell_on_saw3.mp3]> Official site for Saw 3
> Back of Your Mind – A Saw Fansite
> Dread Central on the news that the series is over
This week on the podcast we review cinema releases All The King’s Men, A Good Year and speak to Tobin Bell, the star of Saw 3.
On DVD we our pick of the week is Hard Candy and in the news we take a look at what’s been happening at the London Film Festival.
Our website of the week is the All Movie Guide.
It would seem the marketing folk at Lionsgate are down with the kids when it comes to promoting Saw 3. They have created one just for YouTube.
[youtube]ee4-g6t4z30[/youtube]
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How the Borat interviews work
BBC News has an interesting article on the people duped in the Borat movie. It talks to some of those interviewed by Sacha Baron Cohen’s spoof character:
Spoof Kazakh reporter Borat – aka Ali G comedian Sacha Baron Cohen – is expected to score a box office hit by offending and humiliating real Americans in a new movie.
When a gangly foreign reporter with broken English, bushy moustache and crumpled suit turned up at artist Linda Stein’s New York studio, she thought she was helping spread the word about women’s rights.
Ms Stein, with two other members of Veteran Feminists of America, agreed to be filmed for what they thought was a documentary to help third world women. But then the reporter started talking about his wife’s farm work (“she pulls the plough”), women walking three steps behind men (“it used to be 10 steps, my country is advancing”) and asking how to contact Pamela Anderson.
“I thought I was talking to an uneducated man, maybe from a tribal community,” Ms Stein says. “I mean, that’s how it seemed to me. In our earnestness, we were trying to help women around the world.”
It also discusses how some the interviews were arranged:
Most of Borat’s victims were ensnared in a similar way. They would be contacted by a woman calling herself Chelsea Barnard from a fictional film company, One America Productions.
They would be told about the foreign correspondent making a film about life in the US, with the pitch tailored to each person’s specialist subject.
Then on the day of the interview, they would be presented with a release form at the last minute, be paid in cash and, finally, Borat would amble in, beginning with some serious subjects before starting his provocative routine.
> The BBC News article on Borat
> Borat on MySpace
> Find out more on the Borat movie at Wikipedia
Outside the Odeon West End in Leicester Square after a screening of The US vs John Lennon at the 50th London Film Festival.
This documentary about Lennon’s political activism and his struggles with the Nixon administration also screens tomorrow at 1pm.
It opens here on December 8th.
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The Good German – Trailer
Here is the trailer for The Good German. Directed by Steven Soderbergh it stars George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire and is a murder mystery set in Berlin at the end of World War II.
It opens in the US on Friday 8th December and in the UK on Friday 9th March.
[youtube]0O6YPAv1Hx8[/youtube]
> IMDb entry for The Good German
> More on the film at Wikipedia
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The new iFilm
Before YouTube and Google Video, there was iFilm. The slow loading times and annoying ads drove me away but the new beta version looks much better. (Link via The Download Squad)
For example this clip of German actor Klaus Kinski going nuts at a press conference loads pretty quickly:
[ifilm]2764621[/ifilm]
> The new iFilm
> Comparison of different video services at Wikipedia
I’ve done a lot of interviews over the last few years with actors and film makers and I’m in the process of archiving them here on FILMdetail.
I’ll post some more up soon but for the moment here is one I did earlier this year with Joss Whedon. The writer and director came to the UK back in February to promote the DVD release of Serenity and you can listen to it below.
[audio:Joss_Whedon_on_Serenity.mp3]> Original Post
> Buy Serenity on DVD
> Find out more about Joss Whedon at Wikipedia
> IMDb entry for Joss Whedon
> Discover more about Firefly at Wikipedia – the TV series that led to Serenity
> Whedonesque – Extensive fansite
On this week’s Movie-Cast we discuss Marie Antoinette, director Sofia Coppola’s stylised biopic starring Kirsten Dunst as the infamous French queen. Plus, Zach Braff returns again as an angst ridden twentysomething in The Last Kiss.
Our DVD pick is The Omen (the 1976 version, not the remake) and in the news we look at a recent poll of the scariest horror films of all time.
Our website pick this week is the surprisingly entertaining Four Word Film Review.
It might not be as big or as important as Cannes or Toronto but the London Film Festival starts today and I’ll be posting some updates as it goes on.
Some of the films at the festival are likely to be contenders in the upcoming awards season so it is worth keeping an eye out for what’s going on. Plus it is held in the city where I work so it seems only natural to cover it!
There’s a lot of films on but here are a select few that I’m paticularly looking forward to:
- The Last King of Scotland: Director Kevin McDonald’s feature debut with Forrest Whitaker as 70’s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin
- The Caiman: Director Nanni Moretti’s satire on Berlusconi’s Italy
- For Your Consideration: The latest docu-spoof from Christopher Guest and his ensemble
- Catch a Fire: Drama dealing with Apartheid in 1980s South Africa
- Little Children: Kate Winslet stars in director Todd Field’s drama set in US surburbia
- Black Book: Paul Verhoeven makes his first European film in years with this tale of a Jewish woman separated from family during World War II
- Bug: William Friedkin’s adaptation of Tracey Letts’ off-Broadway play
- Babel: The latest film from Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu which stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gabriel Garcia Bernal.
There are some that I’ve already seen (Breaking and Entering, Stranger Than Fiction and Borat) but I’ll be posting my thoughts on those too as the festival goes on.
If you are in London or fancy visiting to see a film then just click on the official website below which should have all the information you need.
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Oliver Stone to make another 9/11 film
Variety has reported that Oliver Stone is set to make another 9/11 film. After World Trade Center (which got a lot of unfair flak from certain UK critics) he is slated to direct Jawbreaker, which focuses on the immediate military response to the terror attacks on September 11th.
The trade paper says:
After steering clear of political controversy with 9/11 heroism tale “World Trade Center,” Oliver Stone and Paramount Pictures are venturing into edgier territory with “Jawbreaker.” Pic will focus on America’s response to the terrorist attacks with the invasion of Afghanistan and hunt for 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden.
Cyrus Nowrasteh, whose most recent credit was the controversial ABC miniseries “The Path to 9/11,” is set to write a second draft of “Jawbreaker.” Script is based in part on a memoir of the same name by Gary Berntsen, the CIA’s pointman during the invasion, who coordinated the efforts of the CIA and Special Operations Forces to end Taliban rule.
Stone and Par bought the book months ago and kept it hush-hush so that “World Trade Center” could open unencumbered in the U.S. and overseas. A first draft was written by Ralph Pezzullo, who co-wrote “Jawbreaker” with Bernsten.
With “World Trade Center” on track to gross upward of $125 million worldwide, Par was eager to take the subject to its next logical step.
Is Stone going to make a 9/11 trilogy in the same way that he made three films (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth) about Vietnam?
What are your thoughts?
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Movie Mistakes
BS News has some images of mistakes in movies. Most of them look real but I have a feeling that the first one (Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean wearing an Adidas hat) may be some kind of photoshop joke… (Link via Digg)
> Check out the pics at BS News
> More bloobers at Movie Mistakes
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Roger Ebert reviews The Queen
Roger Ebert has been off ill for a few months but penned a note from rehab a couple of days ago describing his time in recovery and his plans to return to active duty.
He has also posted his first review since the summer. Check out his take on The Queen at RogerEbert.com
Get well soon Roger.
> Roger Ebert’s official site
> Wikipedia entry for the famous Chicago Sun Times critic
This week on the Movie Cast we review The History Boys, the film adaptation of Alan Bennett’s stage play and Idlewild, a hip hop musical starring the members of Outkast.
On DVD we take a look at 24: Series 5 and the double pack of Airplane! and Top Secret!
In the news we discuss Google’s purchase of YouTube and our website of the week is The Oracle of Bacon.
The trailer for Robert Rodríguez and Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming film Grind House is now online.
[youtube]bUuuBe4Glmk[/youtube]
> Grind House at the IMDb
> Wikipedia entry for Grind House
> Teaser Posters at Trouble Maker Studios
> Rodriguez discusses the film with IGN
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Early Oscar contenders
David Germain of the Associated Press has written a piece about the early Oscar favourites:
Helen Mirren could be crowned best actress at the Academy Awards. Seven-time loser Peter O’Toole may finally win that elusive Oscar. Jack Nicholson could tie Katharine Hepburn with a record fourth win.
And Clint Eastwood may establish himself as one of the winningest directors in Oscar history. Though plenty of Oscar-worthy films will not hit theaters until December, many potential contenders and a few early front-runners have emerged for Hollywood’s big night Feb. 25.
Leading the way could be Eastwood, 2004’s top winner, who won his second best-picture and directing prizes with “Million Dollar Baby.” Eastwood is back with the World War II saga “Flags of Our Fathers,” a sprawling account of the Iwo Jima invasion and the controversial circumstances over the raising of the U.S. flag there, an event immortalized in Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s picture.
Still to come late this year are such films as the musical “Dreamgirls,” with Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy, the post-World War II tale “The Good German,” directed by Steven Soderbergh and featuring George Clooney and Cate Blanchett, and “The Good Shepherd,” starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie in a CIA saga directed by Robert De Niro.
It might be a few months before the BAFTAs and the Oscars but the awards season is already under way.
It is still too early to come up with any solid predictions but I would think that Helen Mirren in The Queen is already a very strong candidate for Best Actress whilst Clint Eastwood’s World War II drama Flags of Our Fathers looks likely to be nominated in a few categories. Of the other early candidfates you would have to say that Dreamgirls, Babel, The Good German, Little Children are also early frontrunners.
It will be interesting to see what happens to Martin Scorcese and The Departed. Despite the rave reviews and solid box office, it is the kind of dark, violent and contemporary drama the Academy normally shuns. But given previous snubs will there be a feeling that they should just give Marty an Oscar to atone for past sins?
> Original article at the AP
> Gurus of Gold at Movie City News
> The Envelope at the LA Times
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Google buys YouTube
It is now official. Google has bought YouTube for $1.65 billion.
Your thoughts are welcome…
> The official Google press release confirming the purchase
> TechCrunch with all the details
> BBC News on the story
> Get the latest blog reaction from Technorati
Who would have thought Cocktail – a rather cheesy 1988 film with Tom Cruise as a barman – would provide such rich source material for trailer mashups?
There is Bar Wars: Cocktail Hour (Cocktail mixed with Star Wars) by the clever people at Company X.
Then there is Caaktail – a Bollywood version:
And finally, a horror version:
(Links via The Trailer Mash)
> Original trailer
> More on Cocktail at Wikipedia
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Google to buy YouTube?
Techcrunch and the Wall Street Journal are reporting a rumour that Google could be buying YouTube for $1.6 billion. Its overpriced but the Mountain View search behemoth can clearly afford it.
The big question if they do buy it, will be what they do about the potential copyright lawsuits that could be slapped on them by media companies whose content is all over the video sharing site like a huge rash.
I’m sure they know all this but maybe they have a cunning plan that involves cutting deals with the likes of Viacom and Time Warner in return for ads or video channels on YouTube.
> TechCrunch with the latest rumours
> The Wall Street Journal with the story
> The (London) Times with their take
I spoke to Leonardo DiCaprio about The Departed.
We discussed the film and his ongoing collaboration with Martin Scorcese, which included:
- How this was different from his other films with Scorsese
- The relationship with the Asian film that originally inspired it.
- The single best thing about working with Scorsese.
Have a listen to the interview here:
> The Departed at the IMDb
> Official site
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The Departed
Martin Scorcese’s latest film is a striking return to form even if it never quite scales the lofty heights of his very best work.
A cinematic legend like Martin Scorcese has an unusual problem when he directs a new film. He knows it will be compared to some of the most admired work in recent cinema history. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas are all certifiable classics that have influenced a generation of film makers and still resonate to this day.
Despite a large number of critics drooling over it in the US, The Departed (a reworking of the brilliant 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs) is not quite up to those exalted standards. But nonetheless it is his best work in many years and recaptures the raw energy and passion that was lacking in recent films like Gangs of New York and The Aviator.
Despite being re-written by screenwriter William Monahan, the plot is fairly faithful to the Asian original even though it is now set in Boston. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Billy, an undercover cop who is asked by his superiors (Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg) to infiltrate an Irish crime gang led by the ruthless Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson).
In the Boston police department Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is an ambitious cop investigating Costello’s gang but is actually a secret informer for him. As each side tries to outwit one another both moles realise that they could be uncovered at any time and the tension starts to rise. The first and most striking aspect of The Departed is the raw energy of the script and performances.
It is an energy that was distinctly lacking in his recent films. Whilst Gangs of New York and The Aviator had their technical merits they lacked the exuberance that characterises much of Scorcese’s best work. Aided by Monahan’s dialogue that allows for a lot of sly humour amidst the tension and violence, Scorcese recovers the gritty urban vitality of films like Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas.
It is more of a procedural police thriller than those films but it still filled with themes he has explored before. Guilt, betrayal and violence are all issues that have cropped up in his films and at times The Departed is overflowing with them. Plus, the use of music (such as the Rolling Stones) in certain sequences harks back to memorable moments in his output. Added to all this is a truly exceptional cast in which nearly all the main actors fit snugly into their roles.
DiCaprio and Damon do solid work in each of their sections (like De Niro and Pacino in Heat they actually have very little screen time together) and manage to convey the kind of mature weariness that they haven’t been able to explore in a lot of their roles to date. Jack Nicholson eats up a lot of scenery as the gang boss and his flashes of dark wit are entertaining but his character is slight less menacing than he might have been.
In the supporting cast Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen exude different kinds of authority as members of the police department and give solid performances. But it is Mark Wahlberg with a terrific turn as Sheen’s aggressive and foul mouthed partner who really steals the show. But despite all that is good in The Departed I have to confess that I spent much of it thinking about Infernal Affairs.
It is a remake (or reworking) of that film and although Scorcese has brought a lot to this adaptation it lacks the urgency and clockwork tension of the original. There are some changes that work and some that don’t but the original has a narrative grip that this film doesn’t match.
To be fair to Scorcese, perhaps he wanted to explore and adapt different themes – at one point a cop screams “Patriot Act, baby!” when stakeout is under way. It does seem to be making the point that in modern America the methods used by law enforcers are growing ever closer to those adopted by criminals but thematically it lacks the social bite that was a hallmark of say Taxi Driver or Goodfellas.
One plot strand involving a police psychologist (Vera Farmiga) and her relationship with the two leads is not only unconvincing but compares unfavourably to the Asian film by conflating two characters in to one. It not only stretches credibility but doesn’t really add anything to the narrative other than give a loose coincidental connection to Damon and DiCaprio’s characters.
Although the work of Scorcese’s usual cinematographer Michael Balhaus is always good to look at it doesn’t quite have the same flair and invention of the original. This is apparent late on in a key sequence and is surprising given the high standards he has set himself. Despite all these caveats though, The Departed is still one of the most enjoyable thrillers in recent memory and whilst it doesn’t break new ground for the legendary director at its helm, his return to form is more than enough for now.
> Official site for The Departed
> Check out other reviews at Metacritic
> Martin Scorcese at Wikipedia
> Infernal Affairs at the IMDb
This week on the Movie Cast we review Martin Scorcese’s latest film The Departed starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. Plus we also take a look at The Devil Wears Prada, a comedy starring Meryl Streep as a ruthless fashion editor in New York.
Our DVD pick is Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut, whilst in the news we discuss the new Borat movie which is out in the UK and US on November 3rd.
Our website of the week is Notstarring.com.
Categories
New Trailer for 300
Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300 is being brought to the screen by director Zach Snyder and Warner Bros have put up the latest teaser trailer on Apple Trailers.
They also have a production blog with video journals from the behind the scenes.
> Teaser trailer at Apple Trailers
> 300 on MySpace
> Official site for 300
I spoke to British actress Emily Blunt recently about her role in The Devil Wears Prada.
Listen to the interview
[audio:Emily_Blunt_on_The_Devil_Wears_Prada.mp3]I had a feeling the Borat movie was going to cause a stir but now it’s become official. Erlan Idrissov is Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and he has penned an attack on the film for The Guardian at Comment is Free:
Humour can be used to defuse tensions and heal divisions – as Tony Blair demonstrated to brilliant effect at the Labour party conference. But if it exploits ignorance and prejudice it can have quite the reverse effect.
I fear that the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, the creator of Borat Sagdiyev, whose new movie opens here next month, does not understand this. Baron Cohen possesses a great comic talent and remarkable inventive powers. So inventive, in fact, that in creating Borat he has also created an imaginary country – a violent, primitive and oppressive place which he calls “Kazakhstan”, but which bears no resemblance to the real Kazakhstan.
An “imaginary country” that bears no resemblance to the real one? May be that’s because it is imaginary. But wait, there’s more:
Why has Baron Cohen chosen Kazakhstan as the vehicle for his comic talents? Kazakhstan is the size of western Europe. Far from being a backwater, it is set to become one of the top five oil producers in the next decade; in the past six years it has had an annual growth rate of about 10% and, over the past three years, the proportion of those living below the poverty line has fallen from 25% to 16%. There is growing appreciation of Kazakhstan’s importance in the fight against terrorism and of its role as regional economic and political pace-setter.
But, sadly, it is still the case that few people in Britain or America know anything about Kazakhstan or can even locate it on a map. They are in no position to judge whether Borat or his movie is remotely credible or fair. Baron Cohen exploits this ignorance to the full.
We are an easy target. Borat could have been made the citizen of a country with a truly awful record on human rights – say Afghanistan in the days of the Taliban. But that would have been risky for Baron Cohen. Many Kazakhs who have seen Borat on television have been offended and incredulous. But the critics of my country, including Baron Cohen, are more likely to receive an invitation to address their concerns at an expenses-paid conference in Kazakhstan than they are to receive a fatwa.
I don’t actually think Sacha Baron Cohen is a critic of Kazakhstan. He is merely making a joke at the expense of it. It is an important distinction to make, as only a total and utter moron would actually take the Borat movie as a genuine depiction of the country. It is deliberately outrageous for comic effect in how it presents the country and its citizens. It is also worth noting that for much of the film Americans are the butt of most of the jokes as the main action takes place there. Will they be complaining in this manner once the film is released next month?
But Mr. Idrissov goes on:
Some British friends who know Kazakhstan tell me that the misrepresentation is on such on absurd level that I should not be concerned. I am tempted to reply: if the only things that millions of people knew about your country originated in the anarchic and slanderous imagination of a TV comedian, wouldn’t you want to see the record put right?
British caricatures have been a staple of many Hollywood movies, often popping up as sneering villains like Charles Dance in The Last Action Hero or Jason Isaacs in The Patriot. As a Brit, do I think or care that people will take these characters to be representative of Britain as a whole? No, I don’t.
But let’s leave Sacha Baron Cohen aside for one moment. The ambassador is clearly unimpressed with his comedy and his new movie (even though it isn’t clear whether he’s actually seen it). What does he make of the UK’s biggest media outlet, the BBC? They have this to say about Kazakhstan in a BBC News profile:
…poverty is still widespread and Kazakhstan continues to face major economic challenges, particularly with unemployment and inflation. At the same time, an elite group of people have grown very rich since independence through privatization and other business deals which opposition figures allege to have been corrupt.
The same profile discusses recent elections:
Elections in December 2005 returned Mr Nazarbayev for a further seven-year term with more than 90% of the votes. The opposition protested that the ballot had been rigged and OSCE observers declared it to have been seriously flawed.
And the media:
Press freedom is enshrined in Kazakhstan’s constitution, but media rights monitors say the privately-owned and opposition media are subject to harassment and censorship. In 2004 the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists identified a “growing pattern” of intimidation of the media.
Insulting the president and officials is a criminal offence; the private life, health and financial affairs of the president are classified as state secrets. The government controls the printing presses and most radio and TV transmission facilities. It operates the country’s national radio and TV networks.
The president’s close associates, including his eldest daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva, and son-in-law, have benefitted from the privatisation of the former state media. Dariga heads the influential Khabar Agency which runs several TV channels.
I certainly wouldn’t claim to be an expert on Kazakhstan but the BBC are making some serious points here. Are they being as “slanderous” as Sacha Baron Cohen? Or are they discussing a state which has a serious problem with the dissent and free speech that is the life blood of any comedy?
> Erlan Idrissov’s article at Comment is Free
> BBC News profile of Kazakhstan
> The Economist with a fact sheet on Kazakhstan
> Matt Deegan with his thoughts on Borat (like me he has actually seen the film)
> Borat on Myspace
Categories
Ten Films in the Public Domain
Chris Baker at Wired has compiled a list of the ten best movies in the public domain that can be downloaded via sites like PublicDomainTorrents.com or Archive.org.
They are:
1) Detour (1945)
Snappy dialog, femme fatale, guilt-ridden hero, flimsy sets – it’s protonoir that helped launch a genre.2) Driller Killer (1979)
Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) directs and plays a homicidal artist. Not the 1948 dance hit Killer Diller.3) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
George Romero’s gritty classic out-brains the avalanche of zombie flicks it inspired. Mmm … brains.4) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
It’s a Wonderful Life is out of the public domain? So what. The interplanetary battle for Christmas rules!5) Superman cartoons (early 1940s)
Modern superhero flicks got nothin’ on these perfectly drawn shorts.6) The Battle of San Pietro (1943)
Forget Private Ryan and get into real WW II bunkers with this gripping John Huston documentary.7) The General (1927)
Buster Keaton is still the king of physical comedy. This train-hijacking romp is his masterpiece.8) The Lost World (1925)
We’ll take the stop-motion dinosaurs in this seminal f/x flick over Jurassic Park’s CG crap any day.9) The Street Fighter (1974)
Quentin Tarantino’s idol Sonny Chiba literally tears bad guys apart in a graphic karate-palooza.10) Reefer Madness (1936)
One puff of wacky tobacky turns Depression-era teens into sex fiends, pinkos, and jazz pianists.
My two favourites here are Night of the Living Dead and The General but Reefer Madness is also a complete hoot.
> Original article at Wired
> Wikipedia on the Public Domain and a comprehensive list of movies in it
> PublicDomainTorrents.com
> Archive.org
> Watch The General at Google Video
Categories
The roles some actors never got
Guardian Film has a list of actors who were considered for roles they didn’t get:
There is a famous example:
Tom Selleck (Indiana Jones): Selleck declined because of his commitments to Magnum PI. The part went to Harrison Ford.
A more recent one:
Ben Affleck (Brokeback Mountain): One of the actors whom director Ang Lee talked to about starring in the love story between two ranch-hands. The part went to Heath Ledger.
And two that get the head spinning:
Kevin Costner (The Matrix): Costner was apparently considered for the role of Neo (seriously). The part went to Keanu Reeves.
Chevy Chase (American Beauty):Turned down the lead role of Lester. Jeff Daniels was also considered for it. The part went to Kevin Spacey.
They also link to website that has many, many more examples. (Link via Movie City News)
> Guardian article
> The Top 25 Rejected Movie Roles at NotStarring.com
Categories
The Three Mexicans
Thanks to Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere for linking to a very interesting LA Times piece by Reed Johnson on Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu that discusses their films and the faternity that exists between them.
It reminded me of a BAFTA screening of 21 Grams back in December 2003. Cuarón (who at the time was filming Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkabhan) introduced the film and sat in on the Q&A afterwards with Iñárritu. They were not only intelligent and engaging speakers but their deep respect and admiration for one another was clear. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (who has worked on all of Iñárritu’s films) also participated, even though London traffic meant that he turned up a little late.
I haven’t yet seen Babel or Pan’s Labyrinth but if either are as good as Children of Men then it will indeed be a remarkable trio of films from these directors.
> The LA Times article by Reed Johnson
> Official Site for Babel
> Official site for Pan’s Labyrinth
> Official site for Children of Men
> BBC News article on Children of Men with cast and crew comments
> Jeffrey Wells interviews Iñárritu about Babel back in May
> Cuarón discusses his influences in a short interview with New York Magazine
> Anne Thompson also profiles the “Three Amigos” at the Hollywood Reporter
> Rodrigo Prieto discusses shooting Babel with with Debra Kaufman of StudioDaily.com
I recently interviewed 9/11 survivor and former New York cop Will Jimeno about the new Oliver Stone film World Trade Center which is partly based on his experiences of that day.
Listen to the interview here:
[audio:Will_Jimeno_on_World_Trade_Center.mp3]