You’ve got to give credit for such an obvious, yet elegantly simple design of this poster. Fashioned as a prescription form with a very crisp, anxious looking, red tinted photo of Rooney Mara with a blurry Jude Law in the background. It’s almost so simple a design that movie patrons may confuse it with some sort of PSA advertisement, which might be bad marketing, but is actually great thematic design.
I know, I know. Snow White seems so long ago with Tarsem and Twi-White duking it out last spring. But there is one more coming out of Spain in a few months, Blancanieves. This one is Black and White and Silent, so language is simply not a barrier, but culturally it gets away with far more in the visual department being way more Grimm than Disney. More importantly it centres around Bullfighting.
It is inevitable that this film be compared to last years Best Picture Winner The Artist due to the old-style, but this one is far more invested in silent filmmaking at the technical level; German Expressionism plays a fair part in its baroque visual stylings which are laced with hints of Georges Méliès. I caught it at TIFF in September and loved its craft, even if it never melted my heart. Noteworthy also is the evil stepmother who is played by Y Tu Mamá También and Pan’s Labyrinth star, Maribel Verdú.
Say what you will about Zack Snyder films (I like the entirety of Watchmen and the opening 10 minutes of Dawn of the Dead thus far) but the man knows how to approve/select/make trailers for his films. That is, if has any say in this part of the process (I am unclear on how the marketing machine works.) However, abandoning 1990s rock songs and speed ramping for the first time in a decade, Snyder is going for epic. Angels in heaven, full choir epic, mixed with a bit of Kevin Costner and Dianne Lane playing the goodly New England (we’re not in Kansas anymore!) parents until he takes the stage on his own terms. If you treat Superman seriously, then this trailer is for you. If there is any doubt we are in the Christopher Nolan Wheelhouse, well, there isn’t anymore. Still, this indeed looks great as a coming out party.
If you want a fun Superman, well, back to Richard Donner you go or perhaps wait for whatever they come up with for Justice League.
Because it is Trailer Week at Row Three this week, tucked under the seat are all of the Zack Snyder trailer is reverse chronological order so you can, perhaps, see how we got to this point.
This is how you cut a trailer folks. Strange and improbable situations, excellent and communicable character moments, and music for giving good montage demonstrate the craft of good trailer cutting. Most importantly, however, the second trailer for the Johnny Depp/Armie Hammer starring The Lone Ranger offers a feel for the tone of the storytelling and a good look at the world you are going to pay $12 to see. Gore Verbinksi gets better with age, and I have the utmost faith that this film is going to be a lot of fun. Heck, I might even go see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 based on this trailer.
Apparently Christopher Nolan’s influence has fully asserted itself in the blockbuster world judging by all the Star Trek, James Bond and other franchises seeming to shoot and market their films in this manner. Vide the new Tom Cruise sci-fi film Oblivion – a film whose first impression comes from this key art, I know nothing otherwise – and tell me you don’t immediately think of Inception. Based on this bit of advertising, I am not only not excited for the film, I am slightly embarrassed.
A number of people suggested that I take my children to Ang Lee’s Life of Pi as it was a discussion worthy ‘family film.’ While the raging tiger scenes scared my daughter off from going on this particular cinematic journey, my son, Willem had a few things to say about man eating islands, spirituality and religion as well as storytelling and suspension of disbelieve. This is a part of an ongoing series of short film discussion videos in which I take the kids to see stuff without the Pixar/Dreamworks/Disney label attached. Enjoy.
Further Episodes (as well as the Studio Ghibli Marathon done for Twitchfilm.net) can be found at the Kids Talk Film Vimeo Channel.
As if the Dark Knight Rises inspired poster was not sign enough, the blaring horns in this trailer and overall tone suggest that the Bond Franchise isn’t the only one influenced by Christopher Nolan’s in–camera, realistic-grim imagery and tone. Welcome to a Star Trek that certainly isn’t your father’s Star Trek, even as the image above suggests Spock might still ‘die’ in this episode, if you know what I mean. BRAHHHHHHHM!
The writer-director of Primer releases a baffling teaser for his sophomore feature, Upstream Color, which is set to debut at Sundance in January. Yes we are as baffled as you are a) on what this is about, b) that Carruth made this film on the sly after A Topiary fell out or production.
How exciting is it to finally get a new Shane Carruth film in spring 2013 (or January if you are at Sundance)? Very exciting, it’s been 8 years since Primer (a science-fiction favourite in these parts), and while the writer/director’s screenplay for “A Topiary” never got made into a film, he whipped out this surprise to many earlier this week by way of the festival announcement and a very shiny bit of key art which confirms that Carruth will star in the film along with Amy Seimetz (A Horrible Way To Die).
“A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.”
For his second outing with Nicholas Winding Refn, it appears that the soft-faced Ryan Gosling gets in a pretty serious fist fight in Thailand. Thus the Raging Bull inspired, Criterion-esque teaser-poster for the upcoming Only God Forgives. I dig the minimalism of the thing which allows for maximum focus on Goslings tattered visage.
With the impending American Thanksgiving bonanza on the horizon there are a lot of films released today for people to attend in between over-eating and over-shopping. In the weekly Watch This Instead segment (WTI), mustachioed Canuck Mike Cameron, whose handsome mug is seen often over at The Substream, breaks down the pros and the cons of the myriad of movie options before settling on a confident recommendation for his favourite film of the year.
Handsome. That is what I have to say about the new poster for Michael Winterbottom’s latest. This time a biopic about burlesque club owner Paul Raymond. You know when you put Coogan and Winterbottom together you get great cinema. You also get great posters. Note the other collaborations under the seat.
