Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers?
Posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 by David Chen
In this week’s episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Adam Quigley ring in the new year with thoughts on Total Recall, Land of the Lost, and Youth In Revolt. Also, some thoughts on Sam Mendes doing Bond, Spidey IV being scrapped, and the classic Casablanca. Special guest writer/director Rian Johnson joins us this week (and felt incredibly honored to do so). Rian’s latest film, The Brothers Bloom, is now available for purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us in next weekon at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST at Slashfilm’s live page as we review The Lovely Bones.
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Well we certainly didn’t see this one coming. Just yesterday, we reported that Bond 23 was put on hold due to MGM’s many troubles. I figured that we wouldn’t be hearing much else about the movie for some time, but now we’ve learned that Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Away We Go) is is negotiations to direct the film.
While this may seem like yet another scenario where the producers chose to go with an artsy independent director (a la Marc Forster and Quantum of Solace), I’m actually excited about the news because this isn’t the first time Mendes has directed action; 2002’s Road to Perdition— which also co-starred Daniel Craig as the main villain — was actually a decent action film, while also carrying Mendes’s trademark sensibilities.
Hurry up and put your bid in for MGM will you, because it seems that whole situation will have to be settled before the next Bond film makes any more progress. According to producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, “Well, our timeline’s a little up in the air what with the situation at MGM, so we have to be flexible. We just don’t know enough about the situation to comment, but we know it’s uncertain.”
Scary. And I suppose it follows that if Bond 23 can be up-ended like this, so could The Hobbit, another MGM picture…?
I’m still reeling from the crushingly disappointing Quantum of Solace, but I’m continuing to hope for the best regarding future Daniel Craig Bond outings. And if we’re to believe Bond 23 (the film is still untitled) scribe Peter Morgan (The Queen, The Last King of Scotland), the next entry in the franchise may be different than the typical Bond film. Speaking to Bond fansite MI6, Morgan said that the next Bond film has a “shocking story.” It’s easy to read a lot into such a short statement, but as the first real bit of news about the next Bond film, it’s making me hopeful that it’ll resemble Casino Royalemore so than Quantum.
Posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
There’s a complicated story brewing with MGM, which for the last thirty years has frequently been in dire financial straits. The severely abridged form is that MGM and its library have been bought and sold multiple times since the ’80s, and that the company is currently operating with a debt load and interest payment schedule that have analysts and lenders highly concerned about the company’s solvency. Yesterday the studio held a long conference call (or series of calls) with bondholders, and the lingering question is this: is it better for the company’s lenders to let MGM file for bankruptcy or not? If so, they might get some of their money (a nearly $4b debt that may only be worth less than half that at auction) versus none.
What does this mean to you? If MGM files for bankruptcy, assets could be sold to cover that $4b debt. One of the company’s prime assets is the James Bond franchise. And if MGM has no money, Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro’s Hobbit films (which MGM is co-financing and distributing outside the US) might be on hold until a rights sale could be negotiated, likely with New Line / Warner Bros. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Classic James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld was supposedly killed in For Your Eyes Only. Or, at least, we last saw him plunging to what would be a demise for most people. But this is Bond, so nothing is writ in stone (as evidenced by the fact that Blofeld later appeared in the non-canonical Never Say Never Again). Now, The Guardian says that actor Michael Sheen is in talks to appear in the next Bond film as Blofeld. No great surprise that Sheen might appear in the film, as Peter Morgan was just hired to co-write. Sheen and Morgan have worked together several times in the past: in Frost/Nixon, The Queen and The Damned United. If he’s going to appear in this Bond film, why not use the chance to bring back Blofeld, one of the most classic screen villains? Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 by Adam Quigley
This Week in DVD is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.
Please don’t take the commentary on the movies and TV shows too seriously, as they’re meant not to be reviews but rather previews that include the general thoughts and ramblings of a twice-committed DVD addict. The categories represent solely the author’s intentions towards the DVDs at hand, and are in no way meant to be a reflection on what he thinks other people should rent or buy. So if he ends up putting a movie you like in the “Skip it” section without having seen it, please keep in mind that the time you could spend leaving a spiteful but ultimately futile comment could instead be used for more pleasant things in life. Like buying DVDs.
BOLT (Available as single-disc and 2-Disc Deluxe Edition)
Five months ago, the only opinion I thought I’d be spreading in regards to Bolt was pure unbridled hatred. As a major supporter of Lilo & Stitch, I had been following co-writer/director Chris Sanders follow-up project American Dog since the first day it was announced, and everything about the movie looked fantastic. But the higher-ups at Disney weren’t as confident, and questioned the film’s marketability. Their solution was to remove Sanders from the project and give it a substantial overhaul. Bolt was the result of that overhaul. I wish I could tell you that it’s terrible, and the people at Disney made a huge mistake… But damn it all, it’s actually a really solid movie. While I do still wish I could’ve seen what Sanders had in store for us, there’s also no denying that Bolt is incredibly well-made, consistently funny, and genuinely heartfelt. I plan on buying it. Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: 2-Disc includes ‘Super Rhino’ animated short, In Session with John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, ‘A New Breed of Directors’, Deleted Scenes, ‘Act, Speak! The Voices of Bolt’, ‘Creating the World of Bolt’ and Digital Copy.
Last week The Sun reported that Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle is being offered the chance to direct the 23rd James Bond film. We speculated at the time that it was probably an inaccurate story as the source is rather dubious, even though its a newspaper. Well it turns to be false. The filmmaker tells Entertainment Weekly that while he has always enjoyed Bond movies, “I have no plans to direct one.” Boyle went on to say that the story wasn’t true in the slightest: “I don’t know who came up with the story, but please tell them I’m very flattered to be thought of!”
Discuss: So if not Boyle, who should direct the next James Bond movie?
What happens when a Larry The Cable Guy-caliber trailer park hillbilly buys into James Bond’s super secret poker game? I missed this one last week. /Film reader Sam K sends over Saturday Night Live’s “Live Another Death” James Bond Spoof featuring Bill Hader as 007.
BOLT
