Posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 by David Chen
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, and Adam Quigley ponder the implications of drastic changes to The Warriors, complain about different versions of movies in theaters, remember cinematic versions of Shakespeare plays, and mourn the loss of a beloved actor. Special guest Katey Rich joins us from Cinemablend and Jesse Thorn joins us from The Sound of Young America. Also, Dave interviews actor Jeremy Renner from Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming film The Hurt Locker.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next Monday at 9PM EST / 6 PM PST at Slashfilm’s live page as we review The Taking of Pelham 123.
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Overture Films has announced a new, modernized version of Hamlet. This one is to star Emile Hirsch in the title role and be directed by his Lords of Dogtown collaborator, Catherine Hardwicke. The screenplay is being written by Ron Nyswaner who was previously a writer on Philadelphia, Smithereens and apparently, though without a credit, Jonathan Demme’s greatly undervalued Swing Shift. Without Nyswaner on board I’d have absolutely no hope for this film at all.
The movie trailer for Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock premiered tonight on Important Things with Demetri Martin. Based on Elliot Tiber’s memior, Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life, the comedy tells the story of Mr. Tiber, who played an unexpected but pivotal role in making the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the famed happening it was. Watch the trailer after the jump, and leave your thoughts in the comments below. Read More »
Posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 by David Chen
When watching a movie with an overt political message at its core, it’s sometimes difficult to divorce the movie from the cause. The film Milk espouses a lot of messages that I believe in, including equal rights for everyone and a belief in the transformative power of community organizing. But does the film succeed at creating a nuanced and fascinating portrait of its subject? Or does it rely too heavily on the conventions that are characteristic of the biopic genre? Read More »
Focus Features has released 13 new production photos from Gus Van Sant’s Milk. The film will premiere in San Francisco next week at the historic Castro Theatre. Check out 12 more photos after the jump.
Posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 by David Chen
After crafting the critically acclaimed Paranoid Park, director Gus Van Sant now seems poised to follow it up with yet another audacious and powerful film. The trailer for Van Sant’s Milk debuted on Apple today and it masterfully sets up some of the main conflicts of the film (namely, the social climate in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk’s conflict with city supervisor Dan White, and the threats to Milk’s life). The trailer also gives us glimpses of some of the film’s main performances. Along with an unrecognizable Emile Hirsch, Sean Penn looks to give an understated performance as the titular character and Brolin continues his unstoppable career revival by playing White (does anyone remember when Brolin was still cavorting around in films like Hollow Man?I do *shudder*).
Harvey Milk was a gay rights activist and a San Francisco city supervisor, widely regarded as the first openly gay man elected to any political office in America. He was the subject of the 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Milk will be the first non-documentary film based on his life.
As always, feel free to leave your thoughts about the trailer in the comments below. Milk hits theaters on November 26th 2008.
Our amigos at First Showing directed us to these new lysergic images from the Wachowski Brothers‘ Speed Racer. The still above makes me want to sink into an altered state and get a $50 car wash with a $5 Sweet Pear air freshener. That’s a first. These images will appear in an upcoming cover story of EW, complete with fresh explanations of the film’s divisive green screen special effects included below. Every time we scoff at this movie, it pulls Slashfilm back in (and vice versa)!
“If these photos are looking a bit more two-dimensional than usual, that’s by design. The Wachowskis “wanted to incorporate some of the limitations of ’60s cell animation in the movie,” says Leo. Explains fellow effects supervisor Kim Libreri: “The backgrounds are mostly from photographic elements that have been shot from locations around the world [and then] intensely processed to be super-colorful and super-contrasty.”
“Do you remember the 1980s video game Outrun,” asks Libreri, “with the palm trees flying past? A lot of the movie looks like that. But instead of using painted elements that they used the early days [of anime]. there are actually photographic elements flying past the road.”
More images and “car-fu” effects descriptions after the hop…
Discuss: Not sure about you, but I think Kim Libreri’s Out Run reference is quite ace. Is there another film that did the “candy store aesthetic” better than what you’ve gleamed from Speed Racer?
Warner Bros has released four new character movie posters for The Wachowski Brothers’ Speed Racer.
I had high expectations for this film, and the first few movie trailers disappointed me greatly (as they did most of the internet). The recent domestic trailer got me back on board the Mach 5. But these new character posters look rather cheesy (but in all fairness, what character posters don’t look cheesy). The four posters feature Emile Hirsch as Speed, Christina Ricci as Trixie, Matthew Fox as Racer X, and the Mach 5. Check out the new posters after the jump.
Posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
Vanity Fair decided to recreate some of the classic scenes from the films of Alfred Hitchcock using modern day actors and actresses. Imagine Charlize Theron in Dial M For Murder, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. in To Catch a Thief, Seth Rogen in North by Northwest, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem in Rear Window, Niomi Watts in Marnie, Keira Knightley and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Rebecca, Emile Hirsch and James McAvoy in Strangers on a Train, Rene Zellweger in Vertigo, Jodie Foster in The Birds, or Tang Wei, Josh Brolin, Casey Affleck, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Foster, Omar Metwally and Julie Christie in Lifeboat.
Well stop imagining, the photos are after the jump. As always, click to enlarge. Pick up the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue for the full sized photo-spreads.
Posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
Jeremy Hooper sent me a link to this video footage from the Castro Street San Francisco set of Gus Van Sant’s Milk, mostly all store fronts we’ve seen before. But about 2:25 in you get to hear some of Sean Penn’s performance as Harvey Milk. Emile Hirsch also appears flaboyantly playing his character of Cleve Jones later on. It’s worth checking out, after the jump.
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, and Adam Quigley ponder the implications of drastic changes to The Warriors, complain about different versions of movies in theaters, remember cinematic versions of Shakespeare plays, and mourn the loss of a beloved actor. Special guest Katey Rich joins us from Cinemablend and Jesse Thorn joins us from The Sound of Young America. Also, Dave interviews actor Jeremy Renner from Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming film The Hurt Locker.
