Back in September, we wrote about James Franco’s interest in adapting Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God, probably because his goal of shooting Blood Meridian proved to be too ambitious (or really, because the deal just fell through – at least for the time being). Whether or not he has Blood Meridian in mind still, Showbiz411 seems confident that James Franco is already down in West Virginia directing and starring in his adaption of Child of God.

The only other information that we currently have about the project is that it will costar Tim Blake Nelson and “a number of West Virginia locals” and Franco says that the shoot is going “extremely well” and he is excited to see the results. Now that I know this sucker is in motion, I can say that I am extremely excited to see this myself.

For those unfamiliar with the novel, it is one of McCarthy’s most bizarre stories. In fact, if you had asked me which of McCarthy’s novels I would think would be the last to be adapted for the big screen (and I’ve read them all), this would have been the one. The story follows a murderous sexual predator – with very few redeeming characteristics – named Lester Ballard as he takes on the life of a cave dwelling nomad in the mountains of Tennessee. As he spends more time in isolation, his lust for blood and sex only increase – and I will leave it at that.

I highly recommend you read the source before the film comes out. I insist. So, buy the paperback right here or the Kindle edition right here. I’m pretty excited to see the direction that Franco takes this. I can really see no way of sugarcoating the story or playing down the deviant nature of Lester without lessening the impact of the story.

Soon enough, I reckon, we will find out.

Katherine Heigl. Ouch:

Knightley. Lolz.

Would you like to know more…?

I could have selected one of hundreds of different frames from hundreds of different sci-fi and horror films of the last hundred years, but it was during a recent viewing of the original The Fly (from 1958) that this particular bright neon image reminded me of how much I love a great movie laboratory. From Dr. Caligari to Dr. Frankenstein (isn’t that rig that lifts the monster up during the storm the greatest movie prop ever?) to Dr. Jekyll to Doc Brown and onwards, there’s an abundance of incredible machines, gizmos and flashing doohickies in the labs of mad scientists. I particularly like the bright green and blue blinking tubes in The Fly that have no obvious use and look like someone re-purposed the gleaming beer signs from your local pub. I can only imagine the fun that set designers for those old Universal horror films or any of the Hammer horrors must have had in creating the many different labs – a bubbling liquid here, an electrical arc there and tubes everywhere. Another favourite is the duplicating machine in Terence Fisher’s The Four-Sided Triangle (1953) which is not overly removed from The Fly‘s contraption, but this time with its dual chambers lying flat like beds with semi-cylinders encasing the objects undergoing the experimentation and enough switches and knobs to put any room-sized 1950s computer to shame.

That kind of stuff puts a smile on my face every time.

[Starting Thursday, February 9th, Toronto's TIFF Bell Lightbox will be presenting a retrospective of French master Robert Bresson's films entitled The Poetry of Precision: The Films of Robert Bresson. To celebrate the event, here is a review of Bresson's second film, which will be playing at the Lightbox on February 23rd and March 5th.]

Here, in Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne, is a story that might have been given an unsatisfactory treatment, like so much melodramatic drivel, and instead is carefully invested with some actual weight. Each of the central characters and their concerns are represented with an admirable amount of depth and conviction, elevating the narrative to nearly grand proportions. This shows how, even at just his second feature film, Robert Bresson had a firm grasp on his craft. That craft would eventually grow into a singular, pure style far more severe than what he uses here, yet Les Dames still certainly deserves recognition as a notable (and entertaining) entry in the great filmmaker’s body of work.

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*Some Spoilers, Fair Warning*

Perhaps a goofy co-incidence that Facebook filed with the SEC to launch its $5 Billion (with a B) initial public offering in the same week as this virally advertised film hit cinema screens. The dollar value for the filing is itself equal parts news-catcher, market-hubris and ultimately an underscore on where society, in the here and now, lays its value: Social Networking. Even more curious that the script for Chronicle makes room for Carl Jung and Arthur Schopenhauer, but relegates Facebook and Twitter curiously to subtext. Chronicle is an interesting name for the movie; perhaps more literal in meaning (a chronological ordering of events – here by an unseen editor) but also less on-the-nose than say, “Status Update.”

I’m getting ahead of myself, perhaps.

The latest found footage movie is one of the more interesting uses of this increasingly strained sub-genre and this is why: The main character, an angry young man with nascent telekinetic powers who is well on his way to becoming a super-villain, not only self-incriminates himself by filming the process of his road to villainy but (and here is the kicker) he uses his powers control the camera’s framing of his own story. In the case of the films big climactic show-down, the full self-realization/actualization of himself as the Apex-predator, he uses dozens of cameras to capture things from multiple angles. The thing that always struck me as strange with the outbreak of social networking, is how so many young people capture themselves drinking underage, skipping school, or other such activities that are both unacceptable in society (but also loaded, perhaps, with a cachet of cool) and upload it THEMSELVES to later be prosecuted, ostracized, or whatnot by their own self-publication. To make the the unspoken, but underlying ‘thesis’ of the film is interesting to me. I wish the filmmakers (Josh Trank and Max “son of John” Landis) did not have to be so overt with every character justifying or explaining why they are filming all the time (see also George Romero’s Diary of the Dead) because, dammit, it is 2012 and rather obvious that we are race of beings whose souls are been stolen by the camera on pretty much an hourly basis – from mall and street security, to our own goshdarned phones!

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The Student Comedies is a DVD collection of some of Yasujiro Ozu’s earliest feature films, all part of the ‘student-comedy’ genre, popular in Japan at the time (the late 20′s and early 30′s). The films include Days of Youth (Wakaki Hi), I Flunked, But… (Rakudai Wa Shita Keredo), The Lady and the Beard (Shukujo To Hige), and Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (Seishun No Yume Ima Izuko). Below I give brief reviews of each feature and look at the set as a whole.

Days of Youth

Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Screenplay: Akira Fushimi
Starring: Ichiro Yuki, Tatsuo Saito, Junko Matsui
Country: Japan
Running Time: 99 min
Year: 1929

(3/5)

Ozu’s earliest surviving film and his first feature length film as director, Days of Youth follows two student friends as they (at first unknowingly) chase the same girl. One is a glasses-wearing bookworm, the other a cheeky prankster who will pull any dirty trick he can to get the girl. These come to a head when the three of them take a skiing trip together.

Like most of the films in this collection, Days of Youth strikes an odd but successful balance between gag-comedy influenced by the Hollywood comedies Ozu loved and mildly melancholic drama which suggests the direction he would take in his later years. The film isn’t one of his masterpieces it must be said. The artistry and subtlety the director is famous for is in it’s fledgling years, but nonetheless there are signs of future genius in the film. Although not nearly as funny as the silent comedies of Lloyd, Keaton or Chaplin (Ozu’s cast don’t have the charisma or comedic prowess of these legends), the film does have a human and naturalistic element that most cinema of the time lacked. Visually there are a couple of nice touches too, with some early use of his famous low angled static wides and signs of his careful framing, although there are a fair amount of conventional Hollywood techniques on show too.

So it’s an interesting glimpse into how the great master started out, but taken on it’s own is not much more than a simple yet charming diversion.

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• Errol Morris’s continuing series of Microdocs for the NYT: Eating Champion ‘El Wingador’
  “El Wingador is a man truly committed to a certain kind of excellence — or at least, a certain kind of excess. Sure, I could have picked a different eating champion, but I guess I have an affinity for chicken. It is evident that chicken is his favorite competition food — particularly chicken wings. I asked him, “Why not hot dogs?” The simple and compelling answer: “Hey, my name is ‘El Wingador,’ not ‘El Hotdogador.’ ” A New Jersey native, he is the five-time champion of the Wing Bowl and has come out of retirement to compete once again this year.”
• Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi: Why Digital is Far Superior to Film
  
  Gamble on Celluloid vs. Digital in the projection booth: “Cinephiles cry out about the loss of film citing the lower picture quality and the dangerous precedent set on the levels of their oh so precious film grain, but frankly, after being in the film exhibition business (i.e. movie theatres, for those unencumbered by the burden of industry jargon) for over a decade, I see digital as a welcome upgrade. And in some instances, a god damn savior. Here’s why.”
• Wolves in Sheep Clothing (Genre as Sartorial Satire): Robin Hardy talks the Legacy of The Wicker Man the Timing of The Wicker Tree, and 40 years of History
  While The Wicker Tree got only the tiniest of Theatrical releases from Anchor Bay last week, here is Kurt Halfyard and Michael Guillen in a lengthy (over an hour) conversation with director Robin Hardy, who is not shy with his opinions on the world and politics.
• John Anderson sits down for a chat with the legendary Douglas Trumbull
  “When the special-effects whiz and director Douglas Trumbull receives a special Oscar on Saturday — the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for filmmakers “whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry” — it could be taken as a valedictory tribute, the cap on a career that began with Stanley Kubrick and “2001: A Space Odyssey” and includes a best-picture nominee this year, “The Tree of Life.” But Mr. Trumbull, 69, is hardly finished with his contributions.”
• Josh Fox Arrested on Capitol Hill While Filming ‘Gasland’ Sequel
  “According to Politico, Fox was led out in handcuffs before the hearing began while shouting, “I’m within my First Amendment rights, and I’m being taken out.” Fox’s “Gasland” took on oil and gas companies for their policy of using hydraulic fracturing to obtain fuel from underneath layers of otherwise unpenetrable rock. The process has been accused of contaminating drinking water in rural mid-Atlantic towns, and Fox’s film is famous for showing residents set fire to the water coming out of their kitchen sinks. He was in the Capitol shooting a follow-up.”
• Cafe de Flore comes out on DVD in a couple weeks, here is Joseph Belanger talking to Jean-Marc Vallée
  “While I flat out refuse to divulge what exactly the connection is between these vastly different plots, I will say that a simple song connects them on screen and that song also served as the filmmaker’s inspiration for the entire film. The name of that song? Why, “Café de flore”, of course. When he first heard the Doctor Rockit song, Vallée thought, “It’s so epic. I’m going to make a film with this track.” And so the movie is built around this song as well as a general appreciation for music itself. This aspect of the film is the director’s most autobiographical. “Music makes me feel so good, makes me feel alive, makes me dream, makes me want to make movies,” Vallée asserts right before he starts humming the catchy accordion hook from the film’s title track to me.”
• The Hulk Persona writes (shouts) an open letter to NBC on the necessity for saving COMMUNITY
  “WE SOMETIMES FORGET THAT PART. BRANDS, NETWORKS, AND INDIVIDUAL SHOWS HAVE AN ETHEREAL, YET INESCAPABLY-PRESENT CACHET. AS MUCH AS SOME NETWORKS SEEM TO BE AT ODDS WITH THIS CONCEPT AT TIMES, THE TRUTH IS THAT THEY SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TRYING TO CREATE AN IDENTITY. SO OF COURSE IT MATTERS. BUT WHY IS NETWORK IDENTITY SO NECESSARY? FOR LONG-TERM BUSINESS EFFECTS, OF COURSE. HECK, BRAND IDENTITY IS THE ONE THING THAT A NETWORK CAN RELY ON IN THE EVER-CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF TELEVISION.”

Picking up one of our cats and going “I’m gonna hold him and squeeze him and call him George” while cuddling them so close the cat stares at us in disdain is not uncommon in my household. Seemed like a good time to revisit the classic Chuck Jones cartoon that inspires those outpourings of affection. Bugs and Daffy take that wrong turn in Albuquerque and wind up in the domain of the Abominable Snowman. But the extent of his abominability is that he just might love you to death. Filled with classic Jones face-pulling and bright, minimalist backgrounds.

Rest in Peace, Jackie Treehorn. Ben Gazzara died today of pancreatic cancer.

2012 is starting out surprisingly strong, isn’t it? We look at the just-released Chronicle, and the notion of “found footage” movies in general, and then step back by a week and examine the reborn career of Liam Neeson, c/o The Grey.

Mamo #239: Neesonomics [ 30:00 | 0.01 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

To download this episode, use this URL: http://rowthree.com/audio/mamo/mamo239.mp3

I could not tell you what this film is about from this minimalist design, but could tell you the film has played a lot of festivals! Actually, the third film from Russian visual-stylist Andrei Zvyagintsev (Think the Russian version of Anton Corbijn) is a cause for celebration. While The Banishment didn’t light the festival circuit on fire (it was really solid – I liked it), the director’s debut, a meditation on manhood and fathers and sons, The Return, was one of the best films of 2003, period.

…Or a lady with a body from outer space. Mere child’s play to what The Crüe has in store for us this Sunday.

The internet these last few days has been abuzz with Super Bowl commercials. I don’t even need to watch the game this year. Usually I watch to see some of these fun ads and eat mini-wieners. These days I’ll just eat the mini-wieners as I’ve already seem all the good ones.

So in am effort to be more of a sheep than I already am and conform even further, how can I not post my favorite pre-Super Bowl ad right here on our movie site?

Now you might be thinking, “This is Andrew so he’s totally going to post the dogs barking out The Imperial March.” But you’d be wrong. And of course Old Spice has been a champ for the last couple of years. But remember, I’m a child of the 80s who dreamed of being a rock star. So ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the carnival that is Mötley Crüe (and bronco rhinos, flaming face kicks, giant sandwiches and lumberjacks)…