Though it looks schlocky as hell, Iron Sky has intrigued me since day one. Following the director’s diaries on YouTube and gathering intel through photo shoots and behind the scenes images and stories on the production blog has been a little bit of fun over the past 18 months or so.
Anyway, looks like we’ll finally be able to see this thing in April of next year. Until then, enjoy some Udo Kier goofiness as he makes plans to topple humanity as we know it…
With so much to cover this week, we’ll skip the formalities and get right to the goods starting with…
Why anyone would bother with a remake of Sam Peckinpah’s great film is beyond me but here we have it, at the hands of Rod Lurie and starring James Marsden and Kate Bosworth as the couple who, this time, move to the young woman’s home town in the deep South and find themselves under attack by the locals.
If this starred anyone else, I might skip it all together but the production also had to go and snatch up both Alexander Skarsgård and Dominic Purcell making it one I really can’t skip.
Straw Dogs opens September 16th.
Here’s an odd one. Playing at Cannes, This Must Be The Place stars Sean Penn as Cheyenne, a bored, retired rock star in full goth gear who sets off in search of his father’s executioner, a Nazi war cirminal who is living in the US as a refugee. What Frances McDormand has to do with this story is beyond me but judging from this first clip from the film, she knows Cheyenne.
This is another one I’d generally skip, I’m not a huge fan of Penn and as much as I love McDormand, this is just doesn’t sound like my cup of tea. And then I look to find that this is directed by Paolo Sorrentino, the same Sorrentino who in 2008 impressed with the offbeat biographical drama of Giulio Andreotti Il Divo. Another one to add to the must see list.
This Must Be The Place currently has no release date.
If there’s one director that can be called truly an auteur, it’s Pedro Almodóvar. Since I’m a lover of anything unique, it’s no surprise that his latest, The Skin I Live In, is one of my most anticipated films of the next year. Arguably the most prolific foreign director of this generation, surprisingly this is Almodóvar’s first step into the realm of horror; at least “horror” as Pedro sees it.
Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault.
In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig…
The trailer (actually just a quick scene) has finally arrived as a treat for all of us not lucky enough to be at Cannes this year. Not sure how I would categorize this scene. Is it creepy or comical or emotional? Likely a conglomerate of all three when put into context of the film. It’s been a while since Banderas has been in anything worthy of mention, but after having seen Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! earlier this year, I have no doubt he’ll be back on the top of big name stars by year’s end with Pedro’s (and Soderbergh’s) help.
Thanks to Twitch for the above synopsis and the heads up on the trailer…
Absent from Marina’s trailer round-up post from earlier today (probably because those are likely to actually be good films), is this little summertime (releasing in August) gem that is part 300 and part Prince of Persia with not a hint of Schwarzenegger. Yeah kids, before he was governor of Caleefonya, he was Conan. Now it’s some other dude. Check it out…
This week’s edition of the trailer roudup holds a little something for everyone: a bit of documentary goodness, a bit of indie goodness, a few international offerings and a movie that may have it’s cast hiding it from their credits in the years to come.
The 1970s may have ushered in disco but it also brought with it something so much better: Funk. And if you were looking for good funk music, you needed look no further than Thunder Soul, a musical powerhouse made up of highschool students led by Conrad “Prof” Johnson. It was unheard of to have an all black band, never mind one led by a black music director, but these guys had the sounds and the moves to capture international attention.
Now, 35 years since they last played together, band members get together to celebrate the life and legacy of Johnson and the result looks like a feel good documentary laced with emotion; not to mention a few laughs. This is, undoubtedly, going to be one of those get up and cheer sorts of docs and the music will certainly go a long way in making this memorable.
Thunder Soul opens September 23rd.
It’s the late 1920′s and Mexico is at war. The people have risen against the government for attempting to secularize the country. It’s against this backdrop that visual effects producer Dean Wright sets his directorial debut.
The film, which follows a group of religious supporters as they fight the Mexican army, stars an imprive cast including Andy Garcia, Nestor Carbonell, Eva Longoria, Peter O’Toole as a priest and Bruce Greenwood as the American Ambassador looking out for American’s best interests. The cast has caught my attention as has the story which covers a period of history that I’m not familiar with but I’m just not sure about this trailer. There’s not enough focus and I’m not quite sure what story they’re actually telling (is this actually about the war or about one or a group of people’s experiences with it?) and that doesn’t bode well for the film itself.
Will be curious to see if this is expanded outside of Latin markets.
Cristiada is currently in post production with no details on a release date.
Those folks at AMC really seem to know what they are doing over there. Not only have they created the two best dramas on television – Mad Men and Breaking Bad – they have also tapped into the zombie horror crowd (the decent enough The Walking Dead) and the CSI/Cold Case/NCIS crowd with the much more intelligent The Killing. Now, they are continuing to push the boundaries, this time creating an epic western drama series.
While given the awful title of Hell on Wheels (anyone else thinking unknowing people might get this confused with Sons of Anarchy – still, Wikipedia describes Hell on Wheels as the “itinerant collection of flimsily assembled gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels that followed the army of Union Pacific railroad workers westward as they constructed the American transcontinental railroad in the 1860s,” so I guess it is historically appropriate), the trailer still excites the western fanatic that I am. Here’s the official plot, courtesy of Ace Showbiz:
[Hell on Wheels] features Anson Mount as a former confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon who is seeking revenge on the Union troops who killed his family. His quest leads him to the Union Pacific Railroad’s westward construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad. Set against the backdrop of America post-Civil War, the Western drama documents the institutionalized greed and corruption, the immigrant experience, and the plight of the newly emancipated African-Americans during reconstruction. Over time, the show also chronicles this potent turning point in our nation’s history, and how uncivilized the business of civilization can be.
Only the pilot has been filmed so far an according to AMC’s blog, production will begin on May 16th for an air date of this upcoming fall. If nothing else, it should keep us occupied until the new season of Mad Men airs in 2012.
Leave your thoughts on AMC and their new series in the comments!
At the risk of restarting the favourite debate around here on what film is better, 28 Days Later or 28 Weeks Later – regulars around here will be well aware that I am in the Weeks camp – almost entirely due to the direction and intensity of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. (see also: Intacto) While i’m less interested in him taking the helm at rebooting The Crow franchise, I have a treat today in the form of this latest film which has the stacked cast of Clive Owen, Daniel Bruehl, Kerry Fox and Carice van Houten. All exceptionally talented character actors who occasionally get star turns. The film is a supernatural thriller involving parents passing their own personal fears (demons if you will) down to their young children. Knowing Fresnadillo’s talent for atmosphere and visual flair, seeing him do an Exorcist type movie has me chomping at the bit. Intruders is now one of the most anticipated genre films of the year!
In Madrid, a young boy’s nightmares have led his mother to seek guidance from a priest. In London, a young girl’s nightmares have led her parents to consult a psychologist. Both are linked by visions of a sinister intruder in their homes with designs on the children.
The trailer is tucked under the seat.
Being a big Anne Hathaway fan has cost me a little (see Bride Wars). But it’s also been a lot of fun and easy to maintain the crush with other things before and since. This trailer doesn’t do much to inspire me, but it does have a couple major pluses.
One, Patricia Clarkson; ’nuff said. But secondly, this is the sophomore effort from director Lone Scherfig, who’s first film, An Education slid easily into a decent spot in my top ten of 2009. So while this trailer doesn’t do too much to get me excited, the cast and director is more than enough to give the benefit of the doubt. Even if the story line does seem a bit gimmicky and simple, we shall see.
The trailer is tucked under the seat.
South Korean director Hong Sang Soo is a bit of an acquired taste (one that I’ve certainly acquired anyway over the past five years of festival screenings.) His relationship-and-drinking dramas (or quiet tragicomedies) are not big on plot, but live or die on body language and observation. Watching the trailer for the Cannes bound The Day He Arrives, it took me a few seconds to even realize that everything is going in reverse. The effect makes the dissipation of a social group look more like a gathering Kind of effect of memory or nostalgia. Am I keen on seeing this film? Yes.
Sang-Joon is a professor in the film department at a provincial university. He goes to Seoul to meet his senior Young-Ho who works as a film critic. Sang-Joon stays in a northern village in Seoul for 3 days.
The trailer is tucked under the seat.
Still chuckling (or curled up in a corner sobbing) over that 2006 re-envisioning of The Wicker Man with a very “punchy” Nicolas Cage? The original director, Robin Hardy, has been working for years to get a sequel (of sorts) called Cowboys For Christ made, and the film being complete, and retitled, The Wicker Tree. He has been working on this for a while, as the film comes up several times in the book “Inside the Wicker Man: How Not to Make A Cult Film” (a good read) and that was written in 2000. Looks like the film is finished and heading to Cannes (according to Business of Cinema,) the release company, High Point, who will be pursuing sales rights to international markets, while British Lion is already handling Canada, US, and UK – the film is not in Competition or Un Certain Regarde. This is not surprising because the film looks to be in the murky territory of loose remake but also sequel involving two American Christian country singers that arrive in remote Scotland to preach the gospel, only to be bulldozed (and sexed up) by the local pagans. Although the original director, producer, and star Christopher Lee all being involved (impressive as the Wicker Man was made nearly 40 years ago!), I can’t say the trailer gives me a lot of hope that this will be as nuanced and off-kilter as the original, frankly it looks a little shrill, but you can bank on the fact that it will clear the low-bar set by Neil LaBute and Mega-Cage. Somebody out there, please pick up the rights and give show it over here.
You can see for yourselves in the trailer which is tucked under the seat.
I managed to catch this Guillermo Del Toro produced Spanish ghost story in Toronto (even briefly running into the big man himself, which was pretty cool.) Directed by Guillem Morales, Julia’s Eyes went on to be the opening night film for the 2010 edition of Sitges, where leading lady Belén Rueda (The Orphanage) turned quite a few heads in a red dress. But enough about these little festival details. The film is being released commercially in the UK by Optimum (May 20th, 2011) releasing and they have issued the first English friendly trailer for the film (no word on this side of the pond yet.) High on atmosphere and virtuoso camera work, maybe a bit low on originality, it is a workman film that yields a good time at the movies considering what often passes for horror or scares out of Hollywoodland. Jandy liked it a bit more than I did.
Julia, a woman suffering from degenerative sight disease, finds her twin sister Sara, who has already gone blind as a result of the same disease, hanged in the basement of her house. In spite of the fact that everything points to suicide, Julia decides to investigate what she intuitively feels is a murder case, entering a dark world that seems to hide a mysterious presence.
The trailer (thanks QE!) is tucked under the seat.
Paul Rudd is no stranger to playing the idiot role, but it is usually always as a supporting character. When given the chance to carry a film, he generally plays the straight man. I’ve never thought that Rudd gets the credit that he deserves. If you look at his filmography, it is easy to see that he has played a wide range of characters.
Our Idiot Brother, his latest film, seems promising, not just because of the positive word of mouth from early screenings, but a killer cast that includes Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Steve Coogan, Hugh Dancy, Rashida Jones, and Adam Scott. The film we be released on August 26, 2011, so I suppose we will find out then.
Meanwhile though, let’s talk Rudd: are you a Paul Rudd believer? If so, what are you favorite Rudd roles?
