Here’s the latest installment of Hidden Treasures. Also, in case you missed, it, I’ve opened up the doors of Hidden Treasures to give you, yes you, a chance to contribute. Read more about it here
Key Largo (1948)
The first time I saw John Huston’s Key Largo was back in 1984, on a day I was home sick from school. As I sat watching this film, I became so caught up in its energetic dialogue that I completely forget my illness. It proved to be the perfect remedy for whatever it was that was ailing me. Former Army Major Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart), who’s just returned home from the war, travels to Key Largo to visit the relatives of a buddy who was killed in battle. James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), his late friend’s wheelchair-bound father, owns a first-class hotel on the Keys, and his daughter-in-law, Nora (Lauren Bacall), helps him manage it. Mr. Temple and Nora invite Frank to stay for the night, but unbeknownst to the three of them, some shifty characters have already checked in; a gang of thugs whose leader is none other than notorious mobster, Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson). Rocco, who’s been barred from ever returning to the United States, has high hopes of rejuvenating his criminal empire south of the border, in Cuba, and is hiding out in the Keys until he can make his move. However, his plans are temporarily derailed when a violent hurricane paralyzes the entire area, trapping them all inside the hotel as the violent winds rage outside. Aside from being the fourth and final pairing of Bogie and real-life wife, Lauren Bacall, Key Largo also marked the fifth film in which Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson appeared together, a fact that certainly explains why the banter between the two superstars is both sharp and confident. At one point, McCloud is filling the Temple’s in on Rocco’s criminal history, telling them all how big Rocco was in the rackets during prohibition. McCloud then looks at Rocco and says he knows exactly what the gangster wants out of life: more. Upon hearing this, Rocco’s eyes light up. He does indeed want more, and realizes that ‘more’ is all he ever wanted. A bit taken aback by McCloud’s accurate description of his past, Rocco responds, “OK, smart guy, what is it you want out of life?” to which McCloud replies, “To live in a world where there’s no room for Johnny Rocco”. Key Largo is chock-full of spirited give and take such as this, and, thanks to its veteran cast, screenwriter Richard Brooks’ clever dialogue is always delivered crisply.
Dillinger (1973)
Based on the life of John Dillinger, whose bank-robbing exploits propelled him to the top of the FBI’s most wanted list in the early 1930’s, John Milius’ Dillinger wastes no time in getting down to business. In the film’s opening scene, Dillinger, played by Warren Oates, enters a small Midwestern bank, where he proceeds, with the help of his trusty machine gun, to make a rather large withdrawal. It’s a quick start to the action, and Dillinger takes full advantage of it, maintaining this same bristling pace throughout its entirety. By 1933, John Dillinger had already emptied dozens of banks in the American Midwest, but the FBI wanted to take him down for an entirely different reason. A while back, Dillinger and his gang had ambushed some FBI agents in Kansas City, an event that resulted in the deaths of five of the Agency’s top men. The FBI’s Midwest Bureau Chief, Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson), has vowed to bring Dillinger to justice, dead or alive. However, capturing the elusive bank robber won’t be easy. Not only has Dillinger strengthened his gang with the likes of Baby Face Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Steve Kanaly), but his reputation as a bank robber in these dark days of the depression has also turned him into a folk hero to millions across the United States. Obstacles aside, however, Purvis waits patiently for his chance to strike, and for Dillinger to make that one fatal mistake. At the center of Dillinger are two fascinating characters, John Dillinger and Melvin Purvis, and director Milius goes to great lengths to ensure that we get know what makes each of them tick. During the depression, bank robbers were more than just criminals; they were celebrities, and John Dillinger considered himself the best of the bunch. He was completely aware of his own notoriety, and even boasted when he held up a bank. “You’re being robbed by the John Dillinger gang”, he would proclaim proudly, “and that’s the best there is. These dollars you spend here today will buy you stories to tell you’re grandkids and great-grandkids”. On the other side of the coin, Melvin Purvis, who was a personal friend of several of the agents Dillinger and his men killed in Kansas City, has promised to smoke a cigar over Dillinger’s dead body. It seems that Purvis is just as ruthless as the gangster he’s chasing, an ‘ends-justifies-the-means’ officer of the law who is, in reality, the perfect man for the job. After all, if you want to bring a mad dog like John Dillinger to justice, why not send an even madder one to do it? In keeping the action charged, John Milius has done his part to keep Dillinger’s legend alive, thus allowing Dillinger to take its place among the best of the depression-era gangster films.
Aguirre Wrath of God (1972)
The opening scene of Werner Herzog’s Aguirre Wrath of God looks as if it was lifted directly from a dream, or perhaps even a nightmare. Spanish Conquistadors, with nothing but a crude dirt path and some jagged rocks to guide them, make their way down a rugged mountainside. Slowly, methodically, they descend from the clouds, wondering what perils await them around each and every turn. Thus, the tone of Aguirre Wrath of God is established, its world created. With the famous Peruvian expedition of 16th Century explorer Gonzalo Pizarro serving as the backdrop, Herzog weaves Aguirre Wrath of God into a mystical tale of greed and power. Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) is determined to locate the fabled city of El Dorado, which rumor has it is made entirely of gold. But his men are exhausted from their long journey into the jungles of Peru, so the explorer decides to send a smaller delegation ahead to locate the golden city. This expedition, which will travel by river on hastily constructed rafts, is to be led by Pedro de Ursua (Ray Guerra), with Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski) serving as his second in command. But when a conflict arises between Aguirre and Ursua, it leads to a violent mutiny, during which the power-hungry Aguirre takes charge of the expedition. In typical Herzog fashion, the jungle setting of Aguirre Wrath of God becomes as much a character in the film as any portrayed by the actors. Herzog has stated that he never selects a film’s setting simply for its beauty, or to “dress up” the background. For him, each one must take on “almost human qualities”, and the jungles of Aguirre Wrath of God do just that. It is a fierce, unforgiving place, an untamed wilderness as dangerous as it is beautiful. The rafts are tossed from side to side by the river’s raging current, and the jungle itself, dark and ominous, seems to mock them as their journey stretches from days into weeks, with no end in sight. Herzog’s career is defined by the sacrifices he has made for his art. In Fitzcaraldo, he dragged his crew to the Amazon, where, against everyone’s better judgment, he decided it was best to also drag a 320-ton steamship over a mountain using nothing but ropes, pulleys and an army of natives. To bring a realistic tone to the characters of 1976’s Heart of Glass, which detailed an 18th century Bavarian village, he had the entire cast hypnotized before putting them in front of the camera. With Aguirre Wrath of God, Herzog would suffer through a great many ordeals, including the perils of the jungle and the notorious temper of his leading man, Klaus Kinski. Yet Herzog’s pain never goes unrewarded. As a result of his method, each one of his films exudes a total sense of period and place, as if they’d actually found a way to travel backwards in time, physically inhabiting the world they sought merely to recreate. Aguirre Wrath of God is a perfect example, and is Herzog’s finest achievement. It is so alive, so organically progressive, that it doesn’t even seem like a film. It is a dream…or perhaps even a nightmare.
Welcome to the comedy heavy edition of the trailer roundup. There are a few comedies represented this time around but do any of them crack you up? Lets find out.
I’ve never found Tim Robbins a really funny guy but something about him in this trailer is appealing. True, it didn’t make me laugh out loud but I did smile through most of it.
Robbins plays a guy who is driven mad by the noise in New York City and decides to take vigilante action. Really, how many times have you wanted to throw a brick at the car with the annoying car alarm that goes off constantly?
It’s worth noting is that this is the second film for Henry Bean, the guy behind 2001’s The Believer, the film that single handedly launched Ryan Gosling’s career. Not that it means anything here but it’s a fun fact.
Goes to show that sometimes the word of mouth buzz is right. I was uninterested in Up the Yangtze when it premiered in September at VIFF but buzz from everyone who saw it was that this was the documentary to watch. Over the last few months it’s been making the rounds through various festivals and now there’s finally a trailer kicking around out there and I can see why this film is being so well received.
The film, a documentary which looks at the effects of the Three Gorges Dam which is being built on the Yangtze River looks amazing.
Up the Yangtze has apparently already opened but I expect it will likely play a number of more festivals and perhaps open in a bit wider release later this summer.
I generally try to avoid posting either news items or negativity but this one baffled me on several levels. It sounds like the same Hollywood story: Take what is a tight (well the original version, not the Director’s Cut) cult film with an ending that was pretty final and turn it into a money grab by producing unnecessary sequels. But it is not a big studio looking for the lucre but rather a couple small production companies with a studio distributing. This doesn’t change the non-necessity, the likes of which have not been seen since Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows.
They’ve got Daveigh Chase (apparently doing very little when not on the set of Big Love or dubbing the Lilo & Stitch cartoon) to reprise her role as Samantha Darko, youngest sister of Donnie, of whom the film will follow:
The story picks up seven years after the first film (and Donnie’s death) when little sister Samantha Darko and her best friend Corey are now 18 and on a roadtrip to Los Angeles when they are plagued by bizarre visions.
No Richard Kelly involvement here (and I’m sure some would snarkily comment that after Southland Tales and Domino where is the problem? - although I’m not one of those people). Reinventing a lightning strike is a difficult task and making this thing a road movie seems lazy. The appeal of the original film (beyond the hook of ‘end of the world’) was the suburban social and family tableaux that Kelly covered in great detail and with a lot of flair (see Row Three’s Finite Focus Entry on Donnie Darko), that appeal would likely be lost (for me anyway) in a road picture.
It’s a guaranteed sale though. Fox is already distributing in North America and the budget is $10M, while the rest of the rights of the film will likely be auctioned off at the Cannes film market in a couple weeks.
We’ve been expecting it for a while but I must admit it’s taken much longer than I had anticipated. Last week I managed to track down a very cool interview with director Guy Maddin that showed a little footage of what we could expect from his latest film, the fantastical semi-documentary known as My Winnipeg but IFC has finally released a trailer.
Along with the glorious trailer, we have an official write up of the film direct from the website:
Have you ever wanted to relive your childhood and do things differently? Guy Maddin (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD) casts B-movie icon Ann Savage as his domineering mother in attempt to answer that question in MY WINNPEG, a hilariously wacky and profoundly touching goodbye letter to his childhood hometown. The film is a documentary (or “docu-fantasia” as Maddin proclaims) that blends local and personal history with surrealist images and metaphorical myths that cover everything from the fire at the local park, which leads to a frozen lake of distressed horse heads, to pivotal, sometimes traumatic, factually heightened scenes from Maddin’s own childhood. MY WINNIPEG is Maddin’s most personal film and a truly unique cinematic experience, winning the best Canadian film at the Toronto International Film Festival and the opening night selection of the Berlin Film Festival’s Forum.
Yes, it’s a glorious trailer and thanks to our friends at Quiet Earth for the heads up!
Honestly, this has to be a joke. As if it’s the latest mocking Presidential sketch from Saturday Night Live (sans Dana Carvey, of course). Really, I just don’t understand why Oliver Stone thought it was a good idea to make W., a big-budget, high profile biopic on the man that is still in office, covering parts of his life leading up to as recent as the past few years. How about a little hindsight, first of all?
Secondly, besides curiosity about seeing Josh Brolin’s best Bush impression, a too good looking Elizabeth Banks as the Mrs., James Cromwell as daddy, Ellen Burstyn as mommy, and Thandie Newton as her political twin Condoleezza Rice - who ACTUALLY wants to see this thing because of the story? Three-fourths of Americans are sick of Bush, why would they want to go see a movie about him while he was still in office? And Stone says he is going to make an unbiased, honest portrayal of the man. Naturally, I don’t buy that for a minute. Truly though, the only reason people will see this is because they’ll be curious about the actors’ impersonations.
The EW cover there describes W. as being controversial. The only controversy I can think of is why Stone is wasting the time of everyone involved in this.
Since joining Row Three back in January, I’ve had the pleasure of contributing a weekly posting titled Hidden Treasures, where I present three lesser-known movies that have not received the level of recognition I believe they deserve.
Then about a week ago, it struck me: while I’ve seen my fair share of movies over the years, I’m sure there are plenty of you out there in the Row Three community who’ve had the pleasure of watching films I may never have heard of, and which you believe would make great Hidden Treasures themselves. Well, I’d like to know what they are.
So, going forward, I’m setting aside the third Thursday of every month to be a ‘guest Hidden Treasures’, where I’ll turn the posting over to you, allowing you the chance to present your choices for films that you feel deserve some recognition.
Here’s how I’m thinking it will happen (and this is not set in stone…I’m open to suggestions):
1. If you’re interested in participating, please e-mail me (at dbjb6972@gmail.com, and using the subject header “Hidden Treasures”) your film of choice, as well as a write-up (including a brief synopsis and the reasons you believe people should see it). I’m requesting that each write-up be at least 350 words, but no more than 500.
2. I’d ask that all submissions be sent to me by the Monday before.
3. On the 3rd Thursday, I’ll present three submissions for that week’s Hidden Treasures, and post them accordingly.
A few things I want to point out:
* This is not a contest, and I am not going to ‘grade’ your submissions. My choices will be made on a first-come, first serve basis, meaning the first three submissions I receive will comprise the first guest posting. All subsequent submissions will carry over to the next month, then the next, and so on. Also, each person will be permitted one submission per month, meaning I plan to list three hidden treasures, each one from an entirely different contributor, each month. You can submit as many as you like at one time, but know that I will only use one for each month’s entry.
* I have no intention of editing your write-up in any way. This is your opportunity to speak your mind. Therefore, I ask that you please run a spell-check prior to submission to guard against any possible errors.
* While I’ve been known to ‘push the envelope’ as to what one might consider a true ‘hidden’ treasure, I do try to select films that a good number of you may never have heard of. As such, I’d ask that you try to do the same.
* I’d ask that you limit yourself to films that are available on DVD in most markets (after all, I want to be able to see them!).
* I will handle selecting the thumbnail pic for your submission.
The first edition of this community Hidden Treasures will be posted next Thursday, May 15th, so if you want to participate please send me your choices, as well as your write-ups, as soon as possible.
I look forward to seeing what movies you select, and as always, welcome all suggestions and feedback
Last year I finally caught up with Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. That little documentary, from local heavy metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn was a wicked trip down heavy metal history and I only wished he’d gone into more detail about the various genres of heavy metal not to mention that his heavy metal “family tree” is genius.
I didn’t realize that Dunn and co-writer/director Scot McFadyen were working on a new project but thanks to a post from regular reader Shannon the Movie Moxie, I bring you the greatness that will be Global Metal.
Directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn set out to discover how the West’s most maligned musical genre – heavy metal – has impacted the world’s cultures beyond Europe and North America. The film follows metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn on a whirlwind journey through Asia, South America and the Middle East as he explores the underbelly of the world’s emerging extreme music scenes — from Indonesian death metal to Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal. GLOBAL METAL reveals a worldwide community of metalheads who aren’t just absorbing metal from the West – they’re transforming it. Creating a new form of cultural expression in societies dominated by conflict, corruption and mass-consumerism.
I was in before I even saw the trailer but now I’m chopping at the bit. The film will be playing a number of festivals over the next few months and then it will open in Vancouver and Toronto on June 20th and in Montreal on June 27th!
It was only a matter of time before it happened and it looks like the time has finally arrived. The folks over at Criterion are jumping on the Blu-ray bandwagon. They have selected a number of titles from their collection that will be available in the hi-def format later this year. The initial offerings are:
The Third Man Bottle Rocket Chungking Express The Man Who Fell to Earth The Last Emperor El Norte The 400 Blows Gimme Shelter The Complete Monterey Pop Contempt Walkabout For All Mankind The Wages of Fear
According to an email sent to newsletter subscribers, the new releases will be priced to match the standard-def editions. If that’s not enough, there’s also this little extra tidbit:
Alongside our DVD and Blu-ray box sets of The Last Emperor, we’ll also be putting out the theatrical version as a stand-alone release in both formats, priced at $39.95. Our Blu-ray release of Walkabout will be an all-new edition, featuring new supplements as well as a new transfer; we will also release an updated anamorphic DVD of Nicolas Roeg’s outback masterpiece at the same time.
Sounds good to me! I’ve been wanting to pick-up a copy of Walkabout for a while and it looks like this may be the perfect opportunity!
For some reason I’m obsessed with award ceremonies. Yes, even the MTV awards were of some interest in the past. Not for their necessity and obviously not for taking them serious or giving films any sort of leg up (if anything, it probably hinders a film’s credibility - at least those of us in the above 13 age group).
But in the past, I always liked some of the more fun awards (best fight, best kiss, etc). Not to mention we now have the most ridiculous category of all time: “Best Summer Movie So Far” - what the fuck is that? But I also always liked how they at least tried to recognize comedy (unlike the Oscars). So yeah, they mean nothing, they’re pretty shallow and petty and ultimately stupid; but for some reason The MTV Movie Awards are entertaining and I can’t not look.
And this year, the nominees are so utterly preposterous that I can’t see how you can NOT be interested in this. I mean seriously, when you’ve got an award show in which the nominees for best picture include I Am Legend (I wonder if MTV has a vested interest in Will Smith?) and National Treasure 2, how can you not watch this? It’s like the Uwe Boll version of award shows. So without any further commentary (I leave that to you), the nominees for the 2008 MTV Movie Awards are:
Director: Helen Hunt Writers: Helen Hunt, Vic Levin, Alice Arlen Producer: Helen Hunt, Pamela Koffler, Katie Roumel, Connie Tavel, Christine Vachon Starring: Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick, Ben Shankman MPAA Rating: R Running time: 100 min
As with any other human being with a heart, I long for a story of love. We see them pop up on film relentlessly but more often than not, they’re passing interests or side stories within a larger story that leave a sour aftertaste. Even worse, they’re often half-baked unbelievable romantic comedies with laughs but little heart and though occasionally a few succeed, more often than not they fail to be either romantic or funny. I didn’t set out to find a good romantic film but walking away from Then She Found Me, I realized that that’s exactly what I had just seen.
I went into Helen Hunt’s film to see if Hunt could actually direct. She’s won an Oscar and a whole load of Emmy’s so apparently she can act, though I don’t recall seeing her in anything particularly memorable, but I didn’t expect to find a touching and realistic account of a modern woman. Based on a novel by Elinor Lipman, the film is the story of April, a woman on the brink of middle age, recently separated and in a panic to have a child before her biological clock stops ticking. It’s no surprise that Hunt has taken the juicy lead role for herself. We’ve often complained about the lack of good roles for women, never mind for women over the age of 30 and here we have April, an independent and intelligent woman, shaping her own life without a man. But April isn’t perfect – she begins a new relationship mere days after her husband leaves her, she cheats on said new love interest with ex-husband, she’s bull headed and she jumps to conclusions yet she feels like a real woman even when the situations surrounding her are as far from reality as one can get.
Enter the biggest flaw of the film: the unbelievably of the events surrounding this very real character. They say bad things come in threes but it’s ludicrous to think that this many life-altering events would come so close together. April gets dumped by her husband, a few hours later she meets a new love interest, a few days later her mother (adoptive) dies, a few days after that her real mother comes out of the woodwork and wants to be a part of her life. If that’s not enough, there’s also the pregnancy that comes as a result of her last encounter with her husband – on the day he dumps her. Yes, there are a few too many what ifs in this story but the events in the film are only secondary to the real gem: the characters.
In nearly every origin story of every comic book film ever made, there is a sequence where the hero and the audience discover the scope and novelty of the superheros abilities ‘out in the field’. Whether it be Tobey Maguire discovering his ability to climb walls and swing around in Spiderman, the ‘Slimer’ sequence in Ghostbusters where the boys find novel ways to destroy an upscale New York hotel, or even less comic book-ish hero stories such ‘The Quickening’ scene in Highlander.
Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop (aside: a film with more DVD releases than Terminator 2 or Army of Darkness), goes about showing off its hero’s first time in the field by having him stop thuggish Detroit low-lives, including a convenience store robber (and Randall “Tex” Cobb lookalike) - who notably buys an issue of Marvel’s Iron Man comic before the hold-up; two would-be rapists - one of them gets a bit of poetic comeuppance (pun intended); and the former Mayor of the old city who has bypassed the usual electoral process by taking hostages in City Hall.
Notice in the recent Iron Man film having the ‘field test’ sequence divided across first escaping the middle-east where the excessive direct-shooting followed by lumbering slugfest echoing the convenience store shoot-out, and secondly Stark re-entering with the Mark 3 suit where the film borrows the hostage targeting gag (with head shots of nameless terrorists replacing the castration - Welcome to the strange logic of PG-13!)
This scene also integrates many of the story-telling techniques that Verhoeven puts to excellent use: The pervasive ‘American Benny Hill’ show that everyone in Old Detroit seems to watch is on the TV in the store both before and after the robbery; the first person Heads-Up POV display which delineates Robocop’s video-scan-line view of the world compared to the crisp clarity of 35mm film (all throughout the film there is marvelous use of POV camera); and the recurring use of a TV headline-news show (complete with fake commercials) to handle the big-picture exposition. With comicbook films regularly clocking in over 2 hours, Robocop should be admired for its 100 minute brevity that it accomplishes a solid superhero story in addition to showing a dense urban ecosystem of corporate executives, the police grunts, research scientists and the pecking order in the criminal element. It also manages very sharp and subtle satire of the privatization ecomonics of Regan era of America with barbs thrown at the dumbing down of media (predating Fox News by years); and it manages to work it no less than 3 fake commercials. If you want more, a lot more, with your comic book movies, here is where it is at.
Roman Polanski is a fabulous director, but also a notorious one. In 1978, Polanski pleaded guilty to the statutory rape of a then 13, Samantha Geimer. Polanski fled to Paris, where he remains today, to avoid being sentenced.
I personally knew nothing of this story until a few years ago when The Pianist was up for best picture and the tabloids were a buzz with predictions of whether or not Polanski would show up at the ceremony or not; risking being arrested.
But now, film maker Marina Zenovich has put together a documentary that takes a serious look at the case and hopefully will provide some answers to the slight mystery of what actually transpired between Polanski and Geimer. The film, entitled Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, apparently made a bit of a splash at Sundance a few months back and has now been picked up for television and theatrical rights by THiNKfilm.
So I hadn’t heard about the film until today, but I must say I’m intrigued as the word around the campfire is that it’s pretty well made and gets to the meat of some hidden issues. Director Zenovich had this to say about working on the film:
“In 2003, talk of [Polanski] winning an Oscar and whether he’d risk coming to accept it started me thinking about this case because nobody knew exactly what happened. Fearing sensationalism, nobody would talk to me. It took five years. Eventually those involved realized I had good intentions and just wanted to tell the story. I met [Geimer's] lawyer and then Samantha, the girl herself. Why she consented, I don’t know. Even her mother talked to me. Now blonde, clear-eyed, 45, with three kids, Samantha lives in Hawaii and she basically has forgiven him.“
If, like most of us, you’re not able to make this doc’s international debut at Cannes in just a couple weeks, HBO will air it on June 9th, with THINKFilm’s theatrical engagements beginning with a New York opening on July 11th. I for one will do what I can to catch this when it airs in June.
Here’s an interview with Zenovich and Polanski regarding the film from Sundance:
One of the most well loved and respected British novels is getting a big screen adaptation starring Canada’s very own superstar, Ellen Page.
Screen Daily has news that Page has signed on to star in the BBC Films/Ruby Films co-production of Jane Eyre unfortunately, that’s all the information currently available on the project which seems to be in the very early stages.
I love Page, I do and I liked her in Juno but I prefer my Page a little more serious. I have no doubt she can handle and embody the complexity and intelligence of Jane but can she look the part? Page doesn’t exactly look her age and I’m interested to see if she can physically embody the character.
It’ll be a while before we see this project which is still in what sounds like the infancy stage. No other cast has been announced and according to Screen Daily, the producers are looking to add a few more co-production partners.
If you saw Iron Man, then you probably already saw the new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, but give it another watch anyway. There is plenty of new footage, a fancy voice-over by Indy himself, and well - I think my high expectations will be fulfilled.
In other news, John Hurt’s character has been confirmed to be named Professor Oxley - so that throws a curveball at those mumblings all over the internet that he may be somebody that we’ve only heard by name in the Indy-verse before.
Is anyone doubting that Indy will be the box office champ of the year? Is anyone getting sick of seeing Indiana Jones’s face everywhere yet? I’m sure not - having Indy on cereal, candy bars, lunch boxes, soda cans, Happy Meals, magazine covers, trading cards, Indy 500 cars, underwear, and Legos is pretty much what I’ve always envisioned heaven being like.
Recently we found out that Russian helmer Timur Bekmambetov’s Dusk Watch was sitting on the back burner but news from Variety has Bekmambetov working on another, fantastically wicked film.
Titled The Knights Templar this is no typical crusade film. Oh no, that’s much too simple for Bekmambetov who’s made a career for himself from fantastically convoluted stories we can’t help but love. In this version of the story the Knights Templar, fresh from the Crusades, are forced to fend off an invading vampire army set on destroying the Holy Grail. We have knights fighting off vampires? Bring it on!
At the moment, there’s only one small glitch with this fantastic story - Bekmambetov isn’t set to direct. Instead, he’s trying his hand at producing this fabulous idea. I’m secretly hoping that he decides to step up to the directing plate because the opening moments of both Night Watch and Day Watch have great looking period pieces but I’m not holding my breath. We should be seeing more details on the project popping up over the next few months!
A few weeks back I brought up how fabulous the upcoming Iron Sky sci-fi parody film was looking and the crew behind the production has been working hard to finish off the trailer which went live a few hours ago and it was well worth the wait.
It’s clear almost immediately that these guys have a little more money this time around and for a moment, I wondered if they were going down the more serious route but the closing scene is clear indication that there will be a few more laughs. If this teaser is any indication, we’re in for a nice treat.
Andrew has already said all there is to say about this upcoming film. All I want to add at this point are that:
1) There goes the speculation that Speed Racer would make even more money because this teaser trailer would premiere with that film later this week,
2) It looks better, and much brighter, than I expected,
3) Let the teen girls fret over even single frame of that short trailer (I guarantee I they will) and
4) I have something to look forward to this Christmas.
Not a list of every DVD that is being released this month. Just a list of DVDs I found noteworthy or might be of interest to someone. If you have more, by all means post ‘em in the comments section. Aside from the opening week, this is a pretty lackluster month in terms on new release DVDs. Oh well; theatrically speaking, May is looking up compared to the early part of 2008. Spend your money there instead. Nevertheless, here are DVDs for May…
Most browsers will allow you to rollover an image for the complete title
Each image links to the IMDb profile for that title
Key Largo (1948)
Dillinger (1973)
Aguirre Wrath of God (1972)
After the Credits Episode 22 - All About Bruce [21:05m]: 
I went into Helen Hunt’s film to see if Hunt could actually direct. She’s won an Oscar and a whole load of Emmy’s so apparently she can act, though I don’t recall seeing her in anything particularly memorable, but I didn’t expect to find a touching and realistic account of a modern woman. Based on a novel by Elinor Lipman, the film is the story of April, a woman on the brink of middle age, recently separated and in a panic to have a child before her biological clock stops ticking. It’s no surprise that Hunt has taken the juicy lead role for herself. We’ve often complained about the lack of good roles for women, never mind for women over the age of 30 and here we have April, an independent and intelligent woman, shaping her own life without a man. But April isn’t perfect – she begins a new relationship mere days after her husband leaves her, she cheats on said new love interest with ex-husband, she’s bull headed and she jumps to conclusions yet she feels like a real woman even when the situations surrounding her are as far from reality as one can get.
