Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Last Airbender Trilogy Not Being Filmed Back-to-back, May Take Over 6 Years to Complete
Posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
Last Airbender producer Frank Marshall recently confirmed that the trilogy of films will not be filmed back-to-back (Lord of the Rings style), but will instead be shot one at a time. M. Night Shyamalan is still working on the script for the second film, while also sketching out the trilogy’s greater mythology. Marshall notes that they still plan to take advantage of the sets and other elements from the first film in the sequels:
One of the things we’ll be doing is using the sets, ships and elements for each different nation in this film and incorporating them into movies two and three. We’re not waiting. There just isn’t enough time. Night will finish this movie, then the script and then we’ll prepare for the next one. I think it’ll probably happen over six years.
He also confirmed on Twitter that fan-favorite animal characters Appa (a flying bison, think Neverending Story), and Momo will be in the film.
“God damn it.” That was my first thought when I first caught word that Michael Jackson had suffered a heart attack earlier today. Like many, I kept my eye on Twitter for updates, all the while hoping for the best. Seriously, in what kind of sick sad world could we lose Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson on the same day? TMZ was the first to report his death, and it was eventually confirmed by the LA Times.
By now it’s probably not worth rehashing the events of today any further. Those of you who care are already thoroughly depressed, and those of you who don’t have probably clicked away. I don’t even consider myself a diehard fan, but I thought a few words are in order for the passing of a man who has left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry.
Oscars Will Now Feature 10 Best Picture Nominees
Posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
In yet another attempt at maintaining the Academy Awards’ relevance, the Motion Picture Academy announced today that there will be 10 films competing for Best Picture at next year’s 82nd ceremony. This is the first time since 1943 that the Best Picture category has had so many contenders, and it seems to be a return to the earlier years of the Academy where it was not uncommon to have more than 5 nominees.
The move is clearly a follow up to the Academy’s revamping of the ceremony this year with Hugh Jackman, and will allow more crowd-friendly films to be in the running for best pic. I wouldn’t be surprised if a good number of the choices next year have no chance of winning at all. It’s a smart move that will generate more public interest in the Oscars, and I can already see the mouths frothing of fanboys and girls everywhere.
President of the Academy, Sid Ganis, had this to say on the change:
Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize. I can’t wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.
The 82nd Academy Awards noms will be announced on February 2, 2010.
Discuss: Will this change make you more, or less interested in the Oscars? What else can the Academy do to help make the awards more relevant?
Guillermo del Toro Talks Vampire Novels, Slaughterhouse-Five, and the Future of Storytelling
Posted on Sunday, May 24th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
Guillermo del Toro is a busy man. Not only is he facing what must be insane amounts of pressure to make The Hobbit duo of films live up to Peter Jackson’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, he’s also stepping up to adapt Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughter-House Five, starting a series of vampire novels (The Strain, co-written with author Chuck Hogan), and, oh yes—at some point, he wants to help spearhead the convergence of multiple entertainment mediums into an interactive, hybrid storytelling model.
Wired recently spoke to del Toro, and while he was mum on all things Hobbit-related, the Q&A reveals the mind of a man who seems to thrive on pressure and juggling multiple projects at once—all the while remaining conscious of the fact that the entertainment industry is going to look mighty different in 10 years.
Chuck Renewed, Sarah Connor Chronicles Gets Canned
Posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
It looks like Chuck fans can rest easy. NBC has announced tonight that it will be renewing the show for a third season, though it will receive a shortened 13-episode season along with other possible budget reductions. Ausiello reports that the show may lose a cast member, and possibly two staff writers as well. Given that the series has many secondary characters, I’m thinking we could easily lose someone without affecting the core of the show at all. The writer cut also makes sense given the shortened season run.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles fans unfortunately have less to celebrate. While I can’t find any other sources corroborating this, Ausiello has updated the show’s status on his fall tv cheat sheet to “officially cancelled.” Given that he already reported that the show was pretty much down for the count last month, the show’s fate is not all that surprising. As a person who appreciated the series, I’m saddened to see the show go.
Rinko Kikuchi Starring in Film Adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood
Posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
I’m not sure how I missed the news that Haruki Murakami’s tremendous novel Norwegian Wood was being adapted to film, or that one of my favorite little-known directors, Tran Anh Hung (Cyclo, The Scent of Green Papaya), was helming the project. If so, my mind would have been slightly more prepared to absorb the casting news we’ve received today.
Kenichi Matsuyama, best known as L in the live action Death Note films, has been cast as Toru Watanabe, the main character in the film. More interesting to me (and I assume all of you) is the addition of Rinko Kikuchi, who has made her mark with Babel and The Brother’s Bloom, has been cast as Naoko, the emotionally trouble love interest who causes all sorts of heartache for Toru. The book is essentially a tale of Toru’s love life in his younger days, but as with everything Murakami it’s also so much more.
Live-Action Blood: The Last Vampire Coming to the U.S. via Sony, New Trailer is a Must Watch
Posted on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
Blood: The Last Vampire was a significant anime milestone for two reasons; one, because it was one of the first anime films produced for an English voice track (a move that was directly aimed at making it more palatable for overseas markets), but also, because it was one of the first anime features to be completely digitally animated. There was little surprise when an English live action remake was announced, and given that the original film was more an exercise in style than an anime classic, it’s also not the sort of thing that diehard fans would nitpick too much. This was a remake practically begging to be made.
Brendon’s already given us a first look at the remake when he covered the first Japanese trailer a few months ago, but now we have a few status updates on the project. First is the unsurprising news that the film’s North American rights have been picked up by Sony, with U.S. theatrical distribution this summer by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Also, I came across a newer trailer for the film on Japanator that makes me all sorts of excited for this project.
Movie Review and Q&A: Alex Rivera’s Sleep Dealer
Posted on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
Filmmaker Alex Rivera stopped by my sleepy little town (Amherst, MA) this past week to screen Sleep Dealer, his insanely ambitious debut feature film which debuted at Sundance ‘08, and was also nominated for the Grand Jury prize. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Rivera attended nearby Hampshire College, so his visit was also a bit of a homecoming as well. He seemed overjoyed to be back in his old stomping grounds, but the near sold-out crowd at the Amherst Cinema was even more excited to see the film.
Peter reviewed the film favorably last year at Sundance, and I’ve been eager to check it out since then. Read More »
James Gunn’s Greatest Horror Tale Yet: Working for Microsoft
Posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
A while back, director James Gunn (Slither) produced a series of shorts for Xbox Live that gathered together some of the new talent in horror films today. Dubbed Horror Does Comedy, the series was supposed to allow Gunn and other horror directors like James Wan (Saw) and David Slade (Hard Candy) creative freedom to produce some quick and dirty content exclusively for Xbox Live. Unfortunately, according to a blog post by Gunn, the process was more akin to an elaborate torture scene from Saw.
He describes his first short, Humanzee, as “the most balls out, fucked up thing” he’s ever done. Unfortunately, it was a bit too much for the Xbox folks and it was never aired. Gunn recovered the rights to Humanzee and then went on to develop Sparky and Mikaela, the superhero crime fighting tale of a young girl and her best friend (who happens to be a racoon). The Xbox folks said they would approve of it as long as it was along the lines of PG-13 with no sex, but apparently the finished product freaked them out again. Read More »
If Battlestar Galactica asked the question “How would humanity survive a holocaust led by our most advanced technology?”, Caprica asks “At what point does our need for progress supplant our humanity?” Even though it’s set a mere 58 years before the events of the Galactica series, Caprica has a startlingly different tone. It makes sense, I suppose, since there are no Cylons hunting humans down to extinction (yet). Instead, Caprica gives us a look at a society on the brink of civilization-changing technological discoveries—with all of the hubris that follows unchecked progress.
For those confused by the release of Caprica, the DVD and digital download being released today is actually an uncut version of the 90-minute pilot. The series proper won’t start airing until early 2010, at which point we’ll also see a more tame version of the pilot aired as well. I’m not sure about the logic in waiting so long to premiere the series—Sci-Fi is aching for new content and BSG is the closest thing they’ve had to a hit in some time. It would make more sense to try and get this on the air by Fall 2009. Then again, this is the same network that spread the release of the fourth Galactica across 2008 and 2009 for no good reason. Read More »
Joss Whedon on Dollhouse’s Survival for a Second Season
Posted on Saturday, April 18th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
It’s safe to say that Dollhouse has finally kicked it into high gear in the second half of this season. While the first crop of episodes were mostly episodic and felt strangely generic, all of the episodes after and including “True Believer” (the fifth, written by Angel and Firefly vet Tim Minear) have proven that Dollhouse is a bonafide Joss Whedon show. In the second half of the season we’ve seen the depth, humor, and excellent character work that we’ve come to expect from Whedon, but that rise in quality has unfortunately not been reflected in the show’s ratings.
In a recent conversation with Whedon, Sci Fi Wire reports that all may not be lost for the show. When asked if he’s heard anything about cancellation, Whedon responds:
They haven’t said anything about a number, and they haven’t said anything about a date. What they have said is “We get it. We get that the numbers are soft, but it’s not a Nielsen world. The DVR numbers are good, and the show’s getting better, and the demographic is good, and we all have a crush on [star and producer] Eliza [Dushku].” So they’re basically fans.
Obviously, there has to be a number we reach that is viable for them economically, or it would be senseless for them, unless they were insane fans like me. But they get it. They get the show, and they get what works. So they’re anxious for it to stay at a level where they can justify throwing down some more. Hopefully that’ll happen.
Johnnie To may be one of the most prolific Hong Kong directors working today, having directed at least two films a year since the early 90s, but he’s also one of the most important. With John Woo and many other prominent HK directors crossing the waters to direct films in America during the 90s, things back home started to get a bit stale, especially when it came to modern-day crime films. Johnnie To helped rejuvenate Hong Kong cinema with some stellar crime and action films (see The Mission and Fulltime Killer), and he’s only gotten better over time. 2006’s Exiled (now available on Netflix Watch Instantly) is a prime example of his dedication to characters, slick action, and all-out baddassery.
Now we have a trailer for his upcoming film Vengeance, and it surely doesn’t disappoint. The film stars French actor/musician Johnny Hallyday (wearing the Charles Bronson mask well, I might add), and To regulars Simon Yam and Anthony Wong. If you’ve seen any major HK films in the past ten years, you’ll probably recognize the latter two.
The synopsis:
A father comes to Hong Kong to avenge his daughter whose family was murdered. Officially he’s a French chef. Twenty years ago, he was a killer.
