Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
The stylish trailer for The Limits of Control, the latest directorial effort from silverfox indie kingpin Jim Jarmusch, premiered last week to great reception. Today brings the official one-sheet and its retro, Euro-sploitation design is just as appealing; in fact it might even get you laid. Co-starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Gael Garcia Bernal, the film follows a mysterious criminal type (Isaach De Bankolé in the lead) “completing a job, yet he trusts no one, and his objectives are not initially divulged.” Opens this May. View the poster in full after the jump…
Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control Movie Trailer
Posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson
When iconic New York director Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man, Down By Law) and cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Ashes of Time, Paranoid Park) collaborate to immaculately fetishize guns, Spain, babes, and concentration, take a second to enjoy what’s in store. The first trailer for The Limits of Control has arrived, and is available after the jump.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Movie Trailer #2
Posted on Friday, September 26th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
Paramount has released the second movie trailer for David Fincher’s The Curious Case on Benjamin Button is now online. I was bit disappointed after seeing 20 minutes of selected scenes from the film at Telluride, but I can’t help getting excited again after seeing this latest television spot.
Watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple.com.
The official plot synopsis: “I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, “Benjamin Button,” is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button hits theaters on Christmas Day 2008.
First Impressions on 20 Minutes of David Fincher’s Benjamin Button
Posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
I just got out of the David Fincher tribute (which I will write about at length later) but for now I want to share my first impressions on the 20 minutes of footage from Fincher’s new film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was screened at the event. First off, I want to say that I’m a die hard Fincher fan. I’ve loved everyone of his film, with the slight exception of Panic Room, which I still enjoyed. Fight Club is in my top 10 all time favorite films. Like many others, I was amazed at the trailer for Benjamin Button. It was probably the best dramatic trailer I’ve seen in years. So to say that I’m excited about Benjamin Button would be an understatement.
Then rumors began to circulate about a three hour plus long movie, and an angry studio which was battling with Fincher to turn in a shorter film. And then Paramount dropped Fincher’s Heavy Metal, which was set up at the studio. The official reason given was that Fincher’s vision of the project was too dark and sexy for the studio. But if one were to connect the dots, you see a connection to the supposed feud behind the scenes over the Ben Button running time. Last I heard, the film was cut down to around two hours and forty five minutes, and rumor had it that the studio was still unhappy with the length. Again, this is all hearsay. Nothing confirmed, just things you hear around Hollywood.
I’m all for conserving the director’s artistic vision, and I’ve enjoyed most of Fincher’s work, even if Zodiac could have been 30 minutes shorter on the back end. So when I first heard rumors of the studio pushing Fincher to cut back, my first response was to write it off as another movie studio exec that just didn’t get it. But could they be right?
The footage I screened tonight was met with disappointment and concern. There are moments of magic and wonder, but interrupted and surrounded by moments which had me questioning, “Is this really the best footage he has?” The 20-minute package contained bits and pieces of scenes which spanned from the beginning of the film, probably past the half way mark. It was made clear that the film is bookmarked with Cate Blanchett’s character as an an older lady in a hospital bed being read the life story of Benjamin Button by a younger woman, presumably her daughter. But the whole framing device seemed rather confusing. Why is she being read the story of Ben button’s life? It’s hard to understand without context. Again, we’re only seeing pieces of scenes.
We see how Benjamin’s mother died during childbirth, and how his father ran away with the newborn and left him on the steps of a house, for a black couple to discover. A young black woman decides to take Benjamin in, giving him his name. A doctor explains that the child is going through overall body failure, similar to that of an 80-year-old man. This doesn’t scare Queenie off, as she believes he is a miracle. Benjamin is brought to one of those traveling churches with a tent set-up and a preacher who claims to cure people through faith. A 7-year-old Button is brought on stage to be healed. The Preacher gets him to rise up from his wheel chair and walk. But instead, Button slams face first into the floor, prompting a weird moment of laughter from the audience at Telluride. There are many of these moments of comedy that abruptly interferes with the dramatic flow of the scenes exhibited.
Years later, Benjamin is now working on a boat, when his Captain asks him if he has ever been with a Woman, which he had not. So he is brought to a whorehouse and shown the power of a regular income. The moments that really didn’t work for me involved Benjamin’s romantic relationships with the characters played by Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton. And sure, it might have helped to have seen these films in a better context, but the way they were presented, I felt myself becoming uninvolved with the story every time either one of them appeared on screen. I have a strong feeling that if the romantic relationships in this film don’t work, the film might not work. There is even a scene later on where Benjamin watches Cate dance sexily for him in the moonlight. It was one of those sequences which has you wondering, where is this going, when is it going to end, hasn’t it gone on long enough, hoping for the next scene to begin sooner rather than later. I talked to a bunch of festival-goers after the screening, and they seemed to agree that there were quite a few elongated uninteresting moments which might benefit from some trimming.
The cinematography was beautiful yet subdued from Fincher’s usual flash. Brad Pitt delivers a performance that will make you forget that he’s behind the make-up. The transformation will make you believe that a man can age backwards. I’m still excited to see the finished product, I’m just a little disappointed. It was good but not great. Could it be that the film wasn’t what I expected, or maybe not what I wanted?
Burn After Reading International Teaser Trailer
Posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
Focus Features have released an international teaser trailer for The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading on MSN. This is a perfect example of a fast cut, no nonsense teaser trailer which gets it right. And you have to love Brad Pitt’s “Appearances can be Deceptive” line. Classic. And why isn’t JK Simmons getting a topline credit? He’s all over the trailers. Tell me what you think in the comments below!
Official Plot Synopsis: A dark spy-comedy from Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen. An ousted CIA official’s (Academy Award nominee John Malkovich) memoir accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees intent on exploiting their find.
Burn After Reading hits theaters on September 12th 2008.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Movie Trailer
Posted on Thursday, June 12th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
The American teaser trailer for David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has finally shown up online on Trailer Addict. The trailer received huge buzz when it premiered attached to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last month. Check it out, after the jump.
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Focus Features has released a red band movie trailer for Burn After Reading. Written and directed by The Coen Brothers, this new dark-spy comedy stars Academy Award nominee John Malkovich as an ousted CIA official, whose memoir accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand) intent on exploiting their find. Also featuring George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins. It looks like the Coens have hit another home run. Could Burn after Reading be to No Country for Old Men what The Big Lebowski was to Fargo? As long as its not another Ladykillers, I’ll be happy. Watch the trailer below and tell me what you think in the comments!
You can watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple. Burn After Reading will hit theaters on September 12th 2008.
See The Movie Trailer for David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Posted on Friday, May 23rd, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
Update: We’ve embedded the International version of the movie trailer in this posting.
Want to see the movie trailer for David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? I’ve heard it’s playing in front of most prints of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And word has it that the trailer won’t show up online in official form until the end of next week. International trailer below:
So if you haven’t seen Indiana Jones 4, you might now have a reason. From what I understand the majority of the trailer has no dialogue and is almost completely cut to music (I’m being told that it uses “Aquarium” section of “The Carnival of the Animals” by the composer Saint-Saëns). Alex Billington of FirstShowing saw the trailer and is already calling the movie “next year’s Best Picture.”
“At my local theater nearby, I’ve gone in and watched this trailer four times just to bask in its brilliance, writes Billington. “I wouldn’t be hard-pressed to call it potentially a masterpiece. The music in the trailer is really what makes it extraordinary. It’s one of the most emotional, thrilling, and tragic trailers I’ve seen that encapsulates the entire story in itself. … I haven’t been this affected since I saw the trailer for Zack Snyder’s 300 back in at Comic-Con in 2006.”
Sure, Mr. Billington tends to get excited easily, but I’ve gotten a bunch of emails from readers and friends who were also taken away by the surprise trailer. One reader named Andy actually sent us an email about the trailer from his screening. Here are some other reactions:
LiquidFilmmaking: Even if [Indy 4] sucked that is one of the best trailers I’ve seen. It’s up there with the Thin Red Line trailer or the Episode 1 trailer, at least for me.
Steven Cravens: Just from the trailer I can tell Fincher is going to get his nomination. It was epic as hell. I can’t wait.
JimmiesCoffee: My jaw dropped throughout the entire thing. The best part was that David Fincher never put his name on the screen. Now THATS modesty. Eat your heart out Brett Ratner. Its #1 on my list of movies this year. I cannot wait. WOW.
Carson Patrick: This was one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen. Didn’t give too much away, and left you really wondering what it was all about. plus, the imagery and the scope of the movie was amazing and epic. Fincher seems to have really outdone himself with this one. I hope he and Brad get Oscar nominations.
HurtsLikeHellFire: Freaking sweet! Great trailer. The fx look worth the long wait. And what beautiful music. I almost didn’t notice it I was so engrossed with the images.
I’m very excited about this film. Fincher’s Fight Club is one of my all time favorites. Panic Room felt more like a pointless clinical cinematic experiment than anything else, and Zodiac was probably one of the best films of last year films, bad sadly mis-marketed and underrated. Academy Award winner Eric Roth also wrote the screenplays for Forrest Gump, The Horse Whisperer, and Munich. But what is Benjamin Button about? I’ve included the official plot synopsis below
“I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins “Benjamin Button,” adapted from the classic 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards. A man, like any of us, unable to stop time. We follow his story set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the twenty-first century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, “Benjamin Button,” is a time traveler’s tale of the people and places he bumps into along the way, the loves he loses and finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.
Three Video Clips from Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York
Posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
Cannes2008 has released thre first three clips from screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind) directorial debut Synecdoche, New York. The three clips don’t reveal much. The first screening of the film happened at Cannes on Saturday. Anne Thompson writes that those who have seen it describe the movie as “ambitious, arty and brilliant, if not entirely accessible.” Others have said that like Eternal Sunshine, Synecdoche stays with you for a few days.
Synecdoche, New York stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director named Caden Cotard, whose life in Schenectady, New York is looking bleak. His wife Adele has left him to pursue her painting in Berlin, taking their young daughter Olive with her. A new relationship with the alluringly candid Hazel has prematurely run aground. And a mysterious condition is systematically shutting down each of his body’s autonomic functions. Worried about the transience of his life, he moves his theater company to a warehouse in New York City. He directs them in a celebration of the mundane, instructing each to live out their constructed lives in a growing mockup of the city outside. Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton and Tilda Swinton co-star.
Kaufman described the film to the hollywood reporter: “it’s about people’s losses and death and fear of death and intimacy and relationships. Romance and regret and struggle and ego and jealousy and confusion and loneliness and sex and loss — all those things are in the movie. I wanted it to be an all-inclusive experience of a person’s life. It’s this guy’s world.”
Check out the three video clips after the jump.
First Look: The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading
Posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 by Hunter Stephenson
Our fellow War Machines at FirstShowing just nabbed a small crop of new images from Joel and Ethan Coen’s follow-up to their Best Picture winning No Country For Old Me, Burn After Reading. Lots of comical mouth-breathing going on here, and it’s nice to see Brad Pitt in a role that recalls Floyd from True Romance with the addition of yoga, a shower, ProActiv and highlights. Add to the mix John Malkovich, George Clooney, Francis McDormand and Tilda Swinton, and expectations could not be any higher for the bros’ signature dark comedy opening this September.
What’s it about?: Malkovich stars as a former CIA agent with a soon-to-be ex wife (Winton) who steals a CD containing his memoirs and government secrets. Two gym employees/plebes (Pitt, McDormand) steal the CD and attempt to make a profit, leading the CIA to unleash Clooney (whose character is also a complete doof according to the actor) to clean up the mess. Good to see Malkovich back to facing off with Hollywood’s uppercrust and having some fun in a high profile flick.
Discuss: The next Raising Arizona or The Ladykillers? Is Clooney better suited for comedy or dramas or Coen Bros movies?
Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Gael Garcia Bernal to Star in The Limits of Control
Posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 by Hunter Stephenson
While watching There Will Be Blood, I found that I was drawing thematic, musical and enigmatic comparisons to Jim Jarmusch’s American study Dead Man. It would make for an interesting essay. Jarmusch’s films are always unpredictable meditations and the director’s next movie, The Limits of Control, due in 2009, doesn’t look to break the mold. Bill Murray has signed on to star, marking his third film with the New York visionary, after Coffee and Cigarettes and Broken Flowers, which I found to be so-so efforts from both talents. Actress Tilda Swinton, hot off Michael Clayton and a Broken Flowers co-star, is also on board alongside Gael Garcia Bernal (The Science of Sleep). Their roles have not been identified as of yet, and a few star cameos are said to be expected.
The film is set in Spain and follows “a mysterious loner as he attempts to complete a criminal job.” Memorable actor Isaach De Bankole, who played the French ice cream man in the director’s classic Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, will play the loner.
Murray will next be seen in this summer’s Get Smart, followed by October’s ambitious fantasy City of Ember, which we haven’t seen much from as of yet. He’s also doing voice work for Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I have incredible hopes for. As for a Ghostbusters 3, animated or otherwise, Ivan Reitman was recently quoted as saying “don’t bet on it.”
Source Link: HR
Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York begins in May
Posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 by Peter Sciretta
Academy Award-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman will begin principal photography on Synecdoche, New York in May.
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