When is a panopticon not a panopticon? When it is the new movie from Immortals and Mirror Mirror director Tarsem Singh. The filmmaker has signed to direct a film called The Panopticon, called an "original action-thriller featuring sci-fi elements" and scripted by Craig Rosenberg (After the Sunset). The Wrap reports that the plot follows "a seemingly ordinary man…
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I don’t like to talk about movie marketing when reviewing a film. The trailer isn’t the movie. Each has completely different aims, and judging a movie based on a trailer is the wrong road to take. But in the case of Tarsem’s slightly modern, very kid-oriented Snow White story Mirror Mirror, the trailers are worth…
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Tarsem Singh has made his name on lush, even indulgent visuals in films like The Cell, The Fall, and Immortals, as well as in music videos that preceded his feature work. His new film, the Snow White retelling Mirror Mirror, seems to be scaled back just a tiny bit from the all-out 'feast of design'…
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The Great Snow White Race of 2011 resulted in two films: Universal's Snow White and the Huntsman, a Lord of the Rings-style action film starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth, and Relativity's Mirror, Mirror, a lighter, more family-oriented comedy featuring Lily Collins, Julia Roberts and Armie Hammer. Mirror, Mirror will be the first…
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For years we didn't hear much at all about Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall). But his new film Immortals opened a week ago to generally negative opinion (I liked it more than most, though I'll never argue that it is 'good') and the trailer for his family-oriented Snow White comedy Mirror, Mirror just hit…
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Immortals is a flagrantly artificial, insanely violent film. 'Insanely' violent because minutes at a time pass where the frame is filled with nothing but graphically split bodies and crushingly brutal combat, with no point beyond the arresting visual of digital viscera in slow motion. But the director of Immortals, Tarsem, who also made The Cell…
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Two Snow White films have been in production since summer, and we've already seen images from one, the action-oriented Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart as Snow White. Now here are the first images from the other, Relativity and Tarsem's currently untitled Snow White movie starring Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer and Lily Collins.…
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Here's the third trailer for Tarsem's stylishly violent Immortals. (See the first and second ones if you haven't already.) I like this trailer a lot more than either of the previous ones; there's a good voiceover that explains the background and early plot beats, and helps contextualize some of the pretty shots we've been seeing…
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A second trailer for Tarsem's Immortals -- aka his Fight Club + Caravaggio + Clash of the Titans + 300 -- has arrived. There isn't a lot of new footage within, but there is a much greater focus on story this time out. If you watched the first trailer and wondered what the hell the…
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Relativity has set Tarsem Singh's untitled Snow White film in motion, with the production beginning photography this week. The film stars Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer and Nathan Lane, and at this past week's licensing expo, Relativity unveiled some production art for the film. Now one big piece of art has graced the pages…
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Relativity is moving forward quickly with the film formerly called The Brothers Grimm: Snow White. The title has been ditched (it's just Untitled Snow White Film for now) but Tarsem is still directing Lily Collins as Snow White, Armie Hammer as the Prince and Julia Roberts as the Queen. Nathan Lane will be "the Queen's…
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This is the sort of story that you'll probably find interesting only if you consider the backstage maneuvering of producers and studios to be fascinating stuff. We've been watching with some distant interest as Universal and Relativity Media both prep Snow White films with release dates that were originally six months apart. ("Does anyone actually…
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The official release of the trailer for Tarsem's Immortals is now out. Now you can see just what Tarsem meant when he said he was going for a sort of "Caravaggio meets Fight Club" approach -- really, it looks more or less like established Tarsem style as seen in The Cell and The Fall, filtered…
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There are five new character posters for Tarsem's Immortals, which tells a very Clash of the Titans-style story. These images dramatically play up the sort of imagery that became the accepted mainstream way of envisioning burly ancient warriors thanks to 300, but if you look at the actual stills for the film you'll see the…
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Minor news on the Snow White battle front today. We've talked twice about Julia Roberts possibly joining the cast of Relativity's The Brothers Grimm: Snow White, to be directed by Tarsem Singh. First time was when she was rumored, then when it looked like she would take the plunge. Now we've got confirmation that Tarsem's…
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It's obviously time for another Snow White development report card. Universal's Snow White and the Huntsman is getting closer to 'go time,' and we just reported that Kristen Stewart has been offered the role of Snow White and is in talks. And Disney's Snow and the Seven now boasts Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt…
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There are three outfits running in the race to make a new film version of Snow White. One is Disney, which has Snow White and the Seven in development. Number two is Universal, which is a few steps ahead with Snow White and the Huntsman, which has a script (by Evan Daugherty) and a director…
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There has been talk in the last couple months that War of the Gods, the new film from Tarsem Singh, might be retitled. Dawn of War seemed to be an option at one point. Now the film has been given a new title -- Immortals -- and has gained a few new cast members as…
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I hated The Cell, but Tarsem's visual feast The Fall finally convinced me of his genius. He may not be a master storyteller, but the man is a visual powerhouse. Empire recently caught up with him and was able to coax some plot details and prospective talent on his next project, War of the Gods:…
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