A character, late into the game of Martin Scorsese’s wonderful Shutter Island, comments on insanity, “It was like an insect in my brain, pulling my strings” And there, ladies in gentlemen is how a well seasoned and versatile master-filmmaker can take a simple genre movie and elevate it to one of the premiere film events of 2010. The trailer suggests all kinds of horror (and mental asylum) cliches and pretty much gives away the twist ending right there. But no matter, the pleasure here is in the journey, not the destination, and the director (and his long-time collaborating editor) have no problem stepping off the path of the main story to give loads of detail on the denizens, workings and locations of the titular island-asylum-prison. Those who complain that 138 minutes is way to long for such a basic plot have completely missed the point (and the myriad pleasures) that Shutter Island has on offer.
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Remakes. Remakes. Remakes. Here’s another one to add to the ever growing list of remakes though lucky for us, this one may be better than the average.

According to the good folks at THR, what makes this particular project stand out above the rest is the fact that it’s being produced by the crew that brought us Seven. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud was originally a novel from Max Ehrlich before seeing life on the big screen at the hands of J. Lee Thompson (best known for directing the original Cape Fear). It’s the story of Peter Proud, a college professor who has a series of frightening nightmares which, with some help, he discovers to be images from a past life; a life which ended with his murder.

It sounds like an interesting enough story but do we really need a remake? The story doesn’t exactly sound like something that needs to be adapted again, especially by Fincher and writer Andrew Kevin Walker but regardless of how bland it sounds, I can’t help but get a little excited at seeing Fincher take this on. If all goes well, it’ll be dark, gruesome and very morbid (and considering the story has a side plot of incest, we could be in for some eyebrow-raising drama). Apparently the new production will be adapted directly from the novel and updated for today’s audience.

Now that we know it’s coming, the big question is when. Fincher has a slate of films in development that nearly rivals Guillermo del Toro’s; I’m going to guess this thing is a few years away.

A few years ago, South Korean director Joon-ho Bong was essentially mobbed by adoring fans after a screening of The Host. At the time, many of us knew nothing about the director other than the fact that he’d made a monster movie that was more than a monster movie but since then, he’s become a recognizable name (at least among film fans) and the announcement of a new project brought much joy to my heart.

As expected, Mother is more than a mystery. It’s a story of love, devotion and ultimately, sacrifice. Hye-ja Kim provides a tour-de-force performance as a slightly offbeat herbalist/rogue acupuncturist. She lives a meagre life with her son who appears to be a little slow on the uptake. When a girl turns up dead and her son is charged with the murder, Kim takes it upon herself to track down the true killer. Using her considerable skills and a knack for getting people to talk, she beings to pull back the layers of the mystery surrounding the girl’s death but what she finds at the end of the tunnel isn’t exactly what she expected.

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War films are a dime a dozen but I’ve never seen anything quite like Vinko Bresan’s Will Not Stop There. Granted, Bresan’s film isn’t exactly a war film per say since the bulk of the story unfolds after the war but the story starts during the war.

It would be unfair to divulge the plot of the story since one of the film’s major strengths is the way in which it unfolds. The opening twenty minutes of the film are a series of events that seem to lead nowhere and when we finally get there, it’s still not quite clear what Martin, the film’s lead, is up to. With the help of a porn star/nose player (yes, Djuro plays his nose like most people would play a clarinet), Martin goes in search of Desa, a woman he finally finds at a brothel. Why he wants her and what his plan is won’t be clear for some time and film does an excellent job of slowly unfolding the mystery; kudos to Bresan and co-writers Mate Matisic and Franjo Mogus for creating a film which successfully builds the suspense.

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A beautifully told, classic coming of age tale through the eyes of a mature, cultured 16 year old growing up in suburban London in the 1960’s, Jenny (Carey Mulligan). Attending an all-girls school, she is by far the most inspired of her peers, the biggest dreamer. Though the dreams of her stern parents have their little girl studying at Oxford next year (and Jenny has the credentials and talent to see it through) her greatest joys come from listening to her Juliette Greco albums, as oppose to playing her cello, and speaking French instead of her dry school-book Latin. With Jenny’s cross into womanhood playing out for the duration of the film, this familiar struggle is an on going battle between her institutional obligations, and the new world she is carefully escorted into as she seeks her path in life.

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Since his brilliant performance in 2007’s Control, Sam Riley has been keeping himself busy but his film selection has not really panned out. Franklyn sounds like a bit of a mess, and though I’m looking forward to seeing his turn in Géla Babluani’s remake of his own film, 13 could go either way. Thankfully, it sounds like Riley may have picked a winner with his next role.

Based on Graham Greene’s 1938 novel, Rowan Joffe’s directorial debut Brighton Rock sounds promising. Riley stars as Pinkie Brown, a wannabe gangster whose crimes roll from one to the next as he tries to cover up his tracks. In the long trail of crime, he manages to involve Fred and Ida (a nice couple who catch him in the act) and Rose, a young woman who Pinkie marries out of convenience.

It was previously announced that Riley would star as Pinkie and Andrea Riseborough would play Rose and as if Riley’s involvement wasn’t already enough, a recent announcement also adds Helen Mirren and Pete Postlethwaite to the cast in the roles of Ida and Fred.

Brighton Rock starts filing in October and if all goes well, we may have a chance to see it make the festival rounds next year. I sure hope so. I can’t wait to see Riley in action!

It surprises me to find that although the Row Three crew is anxiously anticipating Joon-ho Bong’s follow up Mother, we’ve yet to post a trailer for the film.

Changing paces, Bong leaves behind the monster film for something a little more subdued, a mystery/thriller about a mother trying to find a brutal murderer who has framed her son for the crime.

The film premiered at Cannes earlier this year and is playing at TIFF in a few weeks’ time which means Kurt should be checking in shortly with a review but until then, an English subtitled trailer has made its way online.

If the news of a trailer isn’t enough, Collider is also reporting that the film has been picked up for North American distribution by Magnolia who are planning on an early 2010 release. That is great news indeed!

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This feels a little like cheating. I say this because the trailer I’m about to share is not in English and though it looks beautiful, I can’t quite follow what’s going on.

Though no one will dispute Michael Haneke’s position as a world class auteur, he’s not particularly well liked. Critics may love him as do many film lovers but his often condescending way of speaking to the audience, not to mention the continuous mindfuck his movies tend to bring, can be alienating. One may not love him but he is good at what he does: making films that make you think. I expect that his most recent, the Palme D’Or winning The White Ribbon, is no exception.

Set in small town Germany between 1913 and 1914, it focuses on a group of children, teens and their families, and follows their actions when a series of strange accidents begin to occur. It sounds like a bit of a mystery mixed in with family drama and small town life but to make things even more interesting, Haneke also sets this on the eve of WWI which will likely throw politics into the already messy mix.

This German trailer suggests the film looks beautiful and the Cannes win, though not always an indication, certainly suggests something great and considering the Cannes Juries have does well in their selections over the last few years, I expect this will be great.

The White Ribbon opens in Austria on August 24th and will open throughout various European markets in the following moths. It is scheduled for limited North American release on December 25th.

Trailer is tucked under the seat!

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I was excited to see that one of Manoel de Oliveira’s new films is playing at TIFF and also a little sad I’ll be missing it.

The story of a man who’s obsession with a woman he sees from his window turns into a bit of a mystery in which said woman takes more than just his heart, Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl looks like classic Oliveira: a little theatrical, a little languid and very beautiful.

For those not familiar with Oliveira’s work but looking for a way in, this may be the film for you. Unlike the majority of the filmmaker’s other works, this is a short film clocking in at just over 60 minutes. If you’re even mildly curious, I recommend starting here. And if you happen to miss it at TIFF, the film has also been announced as a selection for the upcoming New York Film Festival which runs from September 25th to October 11th.

Sadly, this trailer is subtitle free but it also doesn’t feature much more than the characters seeing each other for the first time and shopping for a ring; I assume no one needs a subtitle to take in where the story is going.

Trailer is tucked under the seat!

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One of the little films to make a bit of a splash on the indie circuit last year was Jon Knautz’s Jack Brooks Monster Slayer (our review). That story of a likeable plumber with a short fuse who goes around killing monsters was a whole lot more fun than I had expected and I would happily have taken in a second instalment in the story but it looks like that’s not going to happen, at least not any time soon.

Though it was suggested that a sequel was coming (something which was almost a given considering the film’s ending), the team is back but not on Jack Brooks 2. The Brookstreet production team is hard at work on pre-production for a new feature film which appears to be a little darker than their first. Titled The Shrine, it’s the story of three journalists in the search of information about an American backpacker who goes missing in Europe. Their investigation leads them to a remote Polish village called Alvaina which has a history of strange cultish activity relating to human sacrifice.

Knautz is returning to direct this new film which, at the moment, has cast Aaron Ashmore and Trevor Matthews. As a nice bonus, the crew will be blogging their way through production and you can follow along with the entries at the film’s website. They’re not wasting any time either – a teaser, very short teaser, is already available on the site!

With all this Hobbit talk, I’d almost forgotten that Peter Jackson had made another film. Almost.

Adapted from Alice Sebold’s novel by regular Jackson writers Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, The Love Bones is part part mystery and part drama; a story of a murdered girl who helps her family solve the mystery of her death from “heaven”. Go ahead and read that sentence again if you’d like – I had quite the time putting my head around this one. The casting is excellent: Saoirse Ronan in the lead role as Susie, Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as her parents, Michael Imperioli as the cop investigating the murder, Susan Sarandon as the grandmother and Stanley Tucci as the murderer. If the cast isn’t enough of a sell, the inclusion of Jackson should certainly help but nothing about this trailer is speaking to me. Nothing.

Susie’s heaven looks strung together, wildly beautiful yet unimaginative, the acting looks stilted and to make matters worse, it looks like we may have to rely on Wahlberg’s performace for a part of the story (not to say he can’t be good but here he sounds more like The Happening Wahlberg than Three Kings Wahlberg). The best parts of these two minutes of video are the retro clothes, Imperioli playing the cop rather than the mobster and Tucci looking nothing like his usual self.

I’m not ready to completely write this off in hopes that this is Jackson in Heavenly Creatures mode but truth be told, I’m not feeling it.

The Love Bones opens on December 11th.

Trailer is tucked under the seat or see it in HD at Apple.

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Note to Warner Brothers: you may want to consider giving a little marketing love to the men in Whiteout. I realize that Kate Beckinsale is your big name and the central character but what would it hurt to give Alex O’Loughlin a little love? I can’t find one single image anywhere on the interweb that features the mancandy – I mean actor.

I don’t have much more to say about Dominic Sena’s upcoming film aside from the fact that I love the Antarctic setting, I like Beckinsale and the concept of a mystery that needs solving before the sun sets for six months is intriguing. The trailer starts off well and then collapses into all action and special effects which is fine, except they don’t really sell the movie. They don’t sell much of anything. But Will I still see it? Definitely; I’ll take any opportunity I can to see O’Loughlin back in action, but this isn’t looking all that promising.