It is Zodiac meets Exit Through The Gift Shop filtered with an X-Files sensibility in one of the most pleasant surprises on the documentary front this year, Jon Foy’s Resurrect Dead (Kurt’s Review.) Structured like a mystery-thriller the doc offers a primer on the baffling 20+ year old history of the Toynbee Tile mystery: A series of linoleum tiles embedded in asphalt across the eastern seaboard, all the way down to a few cities in South America with a rather esoteric text message carved into each one. Resurrect Dead is well worth a look, whether or not you are a fan of documentaries or street art, mainly due to the plethora of interesting personalities and surprises along the way.

Screenings in your area? Check here.

The trailer is tucked under the seat.

Here is why the current trend in documentary filmmaking, the re-purposing of a ‘standard talking heads doc’ with a more structured genre-framework (eg. Man on Wire, The Cove, King of Kong), has yet to find its quality ceiling or go stale. Who would have thought a quirky street art mystery (following on the heels of the wildly successful Exit Through The Gift Shop) would ultimately be about respect, community, passion and human dignity? Prepare to have your mind expanded.

What do Stanley Kubrick, Street Art, a renown meta-history professor, short-wave radio, David Mamet, the construction of a mammoth telescope in Chile, bringing the dead back to life and pigeon husbandry have in common? In Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles, Jon Foy and Justin Duerr tackle the vexing mystery of message-laden linoleum tiles that have been fused into the asphalt of various North American city streets since the early 1980s. All feature the cryptic near-haiku:

Toynbee Idea
In Movie 2001
Resurrect Dead
On Planet Jupiter

Is it a decade spanning street-art conspiracy or the ravings of a lone unhinged individual? The source of the tiles have captured the imagination of many people, before the internet-age, but when websites started to pop up that tracked the location of the tiles (mostly the US Eastern seaboard, and few places in South America) it offered the opportunity to bring some of the more passioned researchers together. Leading this real life ‘Lone Gunmen’ trio is Justin Duerr a Philly artist with a unique background (lots of bullying, life on the streets, a dramatic number of tattoos, including one on his skull) and a life-long obsession with the tiles which seem to have started in his hometown. Piecing together clues in the ‘sidebar text’ of some of the tiles (including a Philadelphia street address, along with media coverage of the Toynbee Idea Tile phenomenon from around the country, and tonnes of emails gathered on the main website dedicated to the mystery, Duerr and his two accomplices Colin Smith and Steve Weinik take a solid run at the mystery where others (including other documentary films) have failed. Their sleuthing yields truths both subtle and obvious, not unlike the tile message itself.

The compelling, and (frankly) quite addicting, result is somewhere between Errol Morris and 1990s era Chris Carter. The soundtrack of the film, written by the director, has a beckoning melody that becomes a character in much the same way as a John Williams or Bernard Herman score does. The final moments may be seen as a cop-out for the mystery (although I’m a firm believe in J.J. Abram’s theory that the Riddle Box is best remained sealed) but it is a remarkable score for empathy and respect. At the end of the day, the tracker and the quarry may have a surprising amount in common, enough so that a spiritual communication is effected by words, linoleum and tar-paper.

[Let this be a lesson to listen to the festival publicist for recommendations. If only a fraction of the nearly 200 HotDocs titles proves to have the depth and engagement of Resurrect Dead this should be one hell of a year for the festival.]

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.

To watch more, visit rightster.com

Anyone who is a parent will walk a fine line between empathy and judgment for the Jenkins family of Chatham, Ontario (Canada) while watching this documentary whodunit. When their 18-year-old Jennifer is brutally murdered in 1998 and their 20 year old son is the prime suspect, well, there are certainly some difficult loyalties to be sorted out. Especially when she was shot multiple times and dragged around the house a bit before passing on. Despite the lurid nature of the crime, the fact that it appears to be done within a family, and in a small town that probably has only a few murders a decade, director John Kastner (Rage Against the Darkness) manages to lay out the facts of the narrative with a look a the small details, both during the case, and of course, the difficult aftermath. This does indeed generate quite a bit of empathy for the parents, Brian and Leslie, although there is not much left in the tank for their incarcerated son, Mason, who is clearly an idiot. But nevertheless is still their son.

You see, while the police have a very strong Mason, and we see this because the filmmakers have access to the police interrogation videos, he maintains his innocence and mom and dad do the tricky balancing act of mourning their daughter and supporting their son. This gets them ostracized from the community, and places a lot of stress on them, the kind of stress that results in medical problems and other physical ailments. And therein lies the interesting thesis of the film, how much will people go through to hold the family unit, no matter how dysfunctional and tarnished, together? Life With Murder would make a great part of a triple bill with Dear Zachary (Row Three Review)and The Staircase (Row Three Review), two other top-shelf documentaries dealing with mysterious crimes contained (more or less) within the family. It would be the middle balance between the angry passion and outrage of Dear Zachary and the cool detachment of The Staircase . Achieving empathy and understanding is the great accomplishment of Life With Murder. You certainly would not want to be in the Jenkin’s shoes, but you do walk more than a mile with them on their difficult journey into the not-so-sweet hereafter, the rest of their lives.

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 too long for such a basic plot have completely missed the point (and the myriad pleasures) that Shutter Island has on offer.

The story is set in the 1950s and follows the investigation of a baffling disappearance by an insane murderous woman from an island-prison off the coast of Boston by a pair of G-Men (Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo). Trapped on the jagged rock by a storm, trying to assemble the strange stories from the patients, and getting precious little help from the warden and doctors, the federal officers fly headlong into conspiracy, paranoia and hallucinatory states of mind somewhere in between M. Night Shyamalan and The Shining. The film spends a significant portion of time discovering the nooks and crannies of the island, with its 19th century fort converted to a dangerous offenders mental ward, complete with well groomed gardens, weeping brick basements, aristocratic doctors quarters, an isolated lighthouse, ragged stony cliffs and leafy forests; the island is a world unto itself. And then there is the head-space of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Teddy Daniels whose opening line is “Pull yourself together, Teddy” and seems on the verge of cracking at just about every moment of the investigation.

So, patients and patience are the focus and core of Shutter Island. The former represent a wonderful collection of great character actors doing their thing. Ben Kingsley plays the head doctor (and head-doctor) who advocates time and care first, drugs and frontal lobotomy a far and distant second. This is Scorsese as a surrogate saying (to me at least) you can go for Avatar (drugs) or Transformers (lobotomy) or you can watch a film interested in building characters and story and theme. Max Von Sydow has a couple wonderful scenes as the more aggressive doctor and Ted Levine (probably best known as Buffalo Bill in another another horror/prodcedural hybrid – Silence of the Lambs) has a show stopper with DiCaprio which takes a big bite at the animal vs. dignity angle woven throughout the film. Shutter Island has been compared by many critics to the seminal films of Val Lewton, it is indeed a throwback film in quieter pacing and emphasis in glue character and plot together. There is certainly plenty of elements of 70s era movie making (of which Scorsese was obvious one of the golden lights) including nods towards Brian DePalma, Roman Polanski and Milos Forman. Yet some spiffy modern effects, in service of mode and tone, and Robert Richardson’s aggressive cinematography make it very much a piece of big budget modern entertainment.

This one should handily reward subsequent viewings, and even those who have elucidated the ‘secret’ from either the marketing materials or the hundreds of hints (indeed Scorsese and screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis have a ball offering sly visual and dialogue tidbits at the drop of a hat) in no way hampers relishing in the voluminous detail or the marvel of having the tricks and traps end up in a message of compassion and human dignity. That, and the thrum-n-drang of well made cinema.

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.

Joon-ho Bong delivers a slowly paced mystery which sometimes feels like more of a thriller than a drama. With every new discovery there’s a sense of dread that accompanies it and just as it appears that the mystery is close to being solved, a new wrench is thrown into the mix until one is left to wonder just how the story is going to end. Yet with all the seriousness, the film also features a healthy dollop of comedy which is natural to the story and never feels forced or out of place.

Kim’s standout performance carries each scene beautifully and with just the right mix of motherly concern and ace detective. Though she sometimes comes off as a simpleton, her eyes tell the story of a wise woman, one who will do anything in her power to save her son. Though she is at the centre of the film, one can’t help but consider the film’s setting, almost a character onto itself with dark corners and unturned rocks at each turn each more dangerous and revealing than the last.

Some may find the film’s decidedly slow pace, particularly in the middle, a turn off but I loved every quiet scene of contemplation, searching and pleading. And then there’s the film’s closing half hour which introduces an entirely new set of moral questions and which truly stretch the old idea that a mother will do anything for their children.

Beautiful, a little haunting with a lead performance that is always on the brink of being un-hinged, Mother is a fresh approach to the family drama. I can’t wait to see what Joon-ho Bong has planned for us next.

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.

The film doesn’t get itself bogged down in the drama which unfolds and that too is clear from the opening scene in which we’re introduced to Djuro the nose player, providing a voiceover to the film as if it were a long forgotten fairy tale. Will Not Stop There carefully and successfully walks the fine line of drama and comedy and though it keeps you guessing as to whether it will end well or not, the final scene doesn’t feel like a cheap cop out but rather well earned.

Funny, touching and sometimes sad, Will Not Stop There is not exactly a heartwarming film but it is uplifting and down right entertaining.

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.

 David (Sarsgaard), an older, intriguing gent swoops in in his sporty Bristol roadster claiming to be an innocent “music lover” offering help to get her cello home safely as the girl is standing in pouring rain after orchestra practice. And with this first meet, Jenny is left smitten. A string of encounters through the quiet English town lead to the man to the living room of Jenny’s parents. It is here he charms the couple into allowing him to date Jenny. With this, she is taken to a world she thought only lived by her favorite French movie stars, where a lady is dressed in white furs and elbow-length gloves, conversations consist of fine art and decadence, smoking promotes status and your martini is what ultimately defines you. Already a lover of Jazz, and eager to get into fabulous dresses and dance for nights on end with David and his exciting friends, Jenny arrives home to her mother describing it as the best night of her life. Jenny’s mother, a slave to housework sighs in reflection of her own wasted youth.

With her own Jean-Paul Belmondo parked in front of the school everyday she becomes the talk of the school, professors disapproving, peers drooling for details.

Although handsome, playful and respectful, (and Jenny believes him to be the man of her dreams), he is a dark horse. It isn’t until a birthday trip to Paris that she learns the truth David’s crooked success in the shady world of art dealing. But Jenny is now deep in their circle; frequenting auctions, galleries, supper clubs, jazz dens and elite boutiques, it’s an intoxicating and delicious trap, and when David proposes to marry her with no support from his best friends, her investigation of David begins. 

With Nick Hornby’s script set in the sixties, the character of Jenny, her uncensored dialog, honest and naïve mannerism and all around bold persona make her the poster child in a time of revolution. And you get a killer soundtrack!  She represents everything going on with feminism at the time, women challenging a man’s world and a man’s mind. Refusing the traditional roles for women of that time by pursuing a life she wants and eventually realizing that that world isn’t made or broke on a man’s influence. She makes her final decision, and it is ultimately a redemptive one.

Hornby’s characters are wonderfully colorful, ranging from the seductive, hedonist beatnik-types of David’s world; most memorable is his best friend Danny, (Domenic Cooper) identical to Jude Law’s jazz-snob ‘Dickie Greenleaf’ in the noir-thriller Talented Mr. Ripley; to the repressed, working class parents of Jenny, living in a grey world, in which guilt and pressure consumes any chance of pleasure or play. But nobody tops David, an incredibly complex and tortured “gentleman”. As mentioned by Sarsgaard in person at the Q + A, David is a child.Though groomed and intriguing, with a quick wit to match that of any experienced playboy, his blind use of games and baby talk prove him to be a weight in Jenny’s determined path to blossom to her fullest.

With a concept ripped right from the sappy, weepy girl-group anthems of the era, the story matures from its angsty and innocent beginnings found in any Shangri-Las or Spector-produced pop song to a learned, experienced narrator, examining her own worth and finding a road in life where wisdom and independence brings far greater rewards.  A required viewing for any young girl approaching that leap from the nest, especially the ones who seem to be invincible on their path to success!

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!

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!

Trailer is tucked under the seat!

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!

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!

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.

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.

This is the first of at least 224 planned posts in which I shall slowly work through my DVD collection. The reason for doing this is first and foremost to admit that I have a problem. I buy way too many DVDs that I want to watch but never watch. On the morning of May 24th, 2009 I owned 224 DVDs which I have never seen. I have never seen them theatrically, on television, on VHS, on Beta or even by means of the DVD which I own and possess on the shelf. My plan is to watch at least one of these each week. If I’m lucky I will see more than one but to keep this reasonable considering my time restraints one a week is pretty good. I will write up my thoughts on each movie.

I can’t be the only one with this problem and I hope that by doing this I will encourage you to watch your unwatched DVDs instead of going out and catching some movie that is forgettable. As an example instead of going to see Wolverine this past weekend I decided to sit down and watch Olivier Assayas’ Demonlover.

So I now present to you the first of hopefully many reviews.

Demonlover

I purchased Demonlover a few months ago when a local DVD rental shop was going out of business. I could not remember who had recommended this Olivier Assayas film to me but I knew it had been recommended and since everything was cheap I figured why not throw it in the collection. I am really glad that I did purchase it as it is a movie that I think I’m going to revisit a few times. I am sure that subsequent viewings of Demonlover are going to show me more and more little pieces of information that I missed on the initial viewing. Demonlover throws you immediately into the mix with very little explanation and it really pays off.

Demonlover opens with Dianne (Connie Nielson) taking notes for her employer, Hervé (Charles Berling) on a late night flight while everyone else sleeps. The next morning we watch as Dianne drugs another woman on the plane. By the time the plane lands we learn that the woman she drugged was a supervisor (Dominique Reymond) and business partner to Hervé. From here on in we watch as high stakes business espionage plays out in front of us. I do not want to spoil any of the plot so I’ll just say that it involves companies competing over a new form of pornographic anime that is set to revolutionize the industry.

While I really enjoyed watching the twists and turns of the plot what truly won me over for the first two thirds of Demonlover are the quiet moments. Assayas does an excellent job of balancing the fast paced plot with these quite moments. He is willing to give his characters time to breathe when necessary. The tension is always their but you get the feeling that they are able to escape for short periods and I really enjoyed this as they some of the most beautiful scenes in the movie.

Unfortunately, I do feel that Demonlover continues on a bit longer than necessary. There is a scene between Dianne and another employee that really should be the conclusion. I understand that he wanted to make sure everyone watching would understand what the movie has to say but by this point I feel that anyone who has been paying attention should be able to come to the conclusion which Assayas wanted and the extra 20 or so minutes feels out of place and really comes across as a blunt hammer. This is especially true in the last couple of minutes which really felt like Assayas was not willing to trust his audience.

Overall though I really enjoyed Demonlover and I plan on revisiting this one in the future as I am sure I missed small pieces of information that will make it an even more fulfilling watch.

Late yesterday THR posted news that Reeves is in talks to star in Jekyll, an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” I was ready to assume that this adaptation might go the way a few others have been rumoured to go: big action and not so much story, but considering the folks involved with bringing this to life, I’m not quite sure that’s going to be the case. The film is being adapted by Justin Haythe who was responsible for writing Revolutionary Road (our review) and though it’s his only major writing credit, that film is not exactly action packed; it’s much more a character story which gives me hope for this new incarnation of Jekyll and Hyde.

If that’s not enough, there’s also talk that Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is attached to direct. To mainstream Hollywood, Refn may be a no one but Row Three readers will certainly appreciate that Refn is behind the Pusher trilogy (which Kurt has brought up on more than one occasion), the celebrated Bronson (which was recently released in the UK) and the upcoming Valhalla Rising which looks totally badass (check out the trailer at Twitch).

Admittedly, I have my concerns about Reeves taking the lead role which is bound to require much more acting than we’ve seen in some time but I’m more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and with this much talent behind the scenes, I can’t help but get excited at the prospect. If this pushes through, it’ll be one of my most anticipated films of the coming years.

I was certain that at some point I’d posted information regarding Thomas Jane’s upcoming project but alas, scavenging through the archives has brought up nothing on the subject so I’m left to conclude that at some point I meant to write about it and forgot.

Late in 2007, it was announced that Jane would be moving behind the camera for his directorial debut, a horror film titled The Dark Country, which would be shot for both 3D and 2D distribution. Aside from directing, Jane also stars in the film along with Ron Perlman and Lauren German. Written by Tab Murphy, the film has Jane and German, a recently married couple, en route from Las Vegas, having to deal with a “hellish ride” when they discover a dead body in the desert.

The film has been trucking along for over a year though little has been seen of the production; until now. The always fabulous folks at Quiet Earth have posted the first still from the film and they are very impressive. The boys also have a quote from Jane that the idea is to “remain true to the stylistic choices of film noir” and these first stills certainly suggest that. I’m looking forward to it and who knows, maybe Jane will surprise by delivering a great horror film.

At the moment, there’s little to say about the film’s release, which is being handled by Sony, but we’ll keep you posted on new developments. Until then, be sure to check out all the photos tucked under the seat!

Good taste aside, The Da Vinci Code made a nice pile of cash so it’s no surprise that the studio would want to dig in for a second round. What is surprising is that both Howard and Hanks signed on for a second film; maybe they had a really great time on set. One thing is certain, if the book is any indication, the premise for this one will be less mind numbing than the first. Though it takes place before the events of The Da Vinci Code, the stories have no overlap aside from Langdon and a religious conspiracy which, this time, puts the symbologist in the middle of a mystery involving a murder, the Vatican and the Illuminati.

As expected, the new film features quite the cast including Stellan Skarsgård, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ayelet Zurer as the new love interest and Ewan McGregor in a role that is unlikely to be en par with Paul Bettany’s scene stealing performance in The Da Vinci Code. The trailers are far from awe inspiring but they do suggest that the film will sport some awesome locations and I have to admit, this new poster is very nice.

Angels & Demons opens on May 15th.

Directed by Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald and based on an acclaimed BBC miniseries from a few years ago, State of Play stars Russell Crowe as a journalist investigating the suspicious death of a congressman’s mistress.

The film adaptation was at the centre of a bidding war and at one point had both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton lined up as potential stars before Crowe came onto the scene yet, I’ve managed to miss everything about the production which struts a great supporting cast which includes Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright Penn, Rachel McAdams, and Jeff Daniels.

The TV spot left me cold but a glimpse at the cast peaked my interested enough to search out the trailer which is, thankfully, a better experience. Political thrillers rarely hold my interest and I’m not buying Ben Affleck as a congressman (he seems too young) this one is selling me on cast alone. I’m not a huge fan of Crowe’s but he, more often than not, manages a great performance and with this cast, I’m finding it difficult to walk away.

State of Play opens on April 17th.

Trailer is tucked under the seat.

Director: Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City)
Screenplay: Alex Proyas, Stuart Hazeldine, Ryne Douglas Pearson, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, Richard Kelly
Producers: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Alex Proyas, Steve Tisch
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 130 min.

It’s difficult, and a little sad to see the turns that Alex Proyas’ career has taken. It has taken him from one cult film to another and it seemed, on the surface at least, that 2004’s I, Robot could be the film to break him into mainstream popular culture while retaining his great director credibility. The markings were on the wall: the casting of Will Smith in the lead role and the grumblings of the studio mingling in the production raised a few red flags but no one was prepared for the travesty that was the adaptation. And so it seemed that Proyas might be finished. How long can two great films sustain a career?

It was only a matter of time before the director took on another project with a studio that would allow him his own vision and, hopefully, that vision would produce a great final product, but it’s fair to say that no one expected Knowing to be that film. Surprise!

Conceived by author Ryne Pearson and flushed out by a team of writers, the film stars Nicolas Cage as John Koestler a professor of astrophysics who finds himself in the middle of a mystery when his son brings home a sheet of paper covered in numbers which had been stored in a time capsule for 50 years. At first, the numbers don’t seem important but after a few drinks, anything is possible and the doctor thinks he sees a pattern in the numbers. A nigh-full of research later, he has a whiteboard full of circled numbers and a more questions than when he started circling. He’s come to the conclusion that some of the numbers mark the date and number of deaths of major tragedies to have occurred over the past fifty years and even a few that have yet to occur. It all sounds fantastic and yes, you do need to put your brain on a bit of autopilot here because the major plot points are not playing in the realms of reality but don’t fall asleep just yet. The good stuff is coming.

What makes Knowing such a fascinating film is that although the trailer sells it as a disaster film in the vein of The Day After Tomorrow, it’s a much more intricate and in some aspects, grand story. The trailer isn’t false advertising, everything happens the way it’s laid out but, like a good trailer should, it also doesn’t tell you the entire story and its what’s missing that makes the film interesting and what will ultimately doom it at the box office. The masses simply aren’t ready for this film; It’s not fluffy or happy enough for mass appeal and like Watchmen (our review) before it, it asks the viewer to use the brain, dig deep and search for answers to the big questions: is the world determined or do we make our own way? Do we matter to the universe? What is the meaning/power or religion? It’s all here. Some pretty big questions for a film being sold as a thrilling mystery.

Proyas, using digital cameras for the first time, takes full advantage of the freedom of movement allowed by the smaller cameras, effectively using it to put the viewer in the action, something he manages to do without making it feel like a gimmick; a flashy selling point. Though the effects of both the plane crash and later the subway crash don’t look quite as sharp as one would like, Proyas manages to make it work. Great credit for the success goes to the sound design team whose work shines in both of these scenes but also throughout the film. I had some issues with the score which is heavy handed at times but the sound design is spectacular.

As for the acting, there isn’t much to say. This isn’t Leaving Las Vegas Cage but it’s definitely a step up from his last few films. It helps that the film requires him to be in a state of shock for a large portion story but conveying emotion isn’t his strength and most of the scenes that require a little more nuance fall flat. This is also a problem of the script which feels bloated and lazy in places (particularly noticeable in a car scene where Koestler reveals some personal information). Rose Byrne is excellent in her small role and though her character isn’t as pivotal as I expected, it is to the film’s benefit that her character doesn’t fall into the stereotypical female sidekick.

There are some other problems with the film, most notably the final scene which takes away a little from the power of the ending. It will be interesting to see if that scene is included in a director’s cut as it feels like it was tacked by the studio to alleviate some of the bleakness of the previous scene.

It’s all very vague, I know but there’s good reason for that. Knowing is the type of film that works best when you don’t know what you’re walking into. In a few day’s time, once the film has passed the first few days, it’ll be a film prime for discussion and dissection. Until then, just know this: it’s not what you think it is. It’s much more.

Has anyone seen or heard anything about this one? The trailer looks pretty interesting. I’ll throw a review up later in the week but until then here is the synopsis and the trailer.

When we first meet Irena, a young Ukrainian immigrant alone in a bustling Italian city, she is fixated on getting a housekeeping job at a nondescript apartment building. Money is clearly not her motivation; she rents an expensive flat just across the plaza where, from her window, she spies on an unsuspecting family living in one of the building’s sprawling apartments. The doorman, smitten by Irena’s worn beauty, gets her a job scrubbing the floors of the building’s vertiginous spiral staircase. It’s there that Irena calculatedly befriends Gina, the family’s maid, and learns more about the lives of Valeria and Donato Adacher, high-end jewelers whose frayed marriage seems on the verge of collapse. Their only child, Thea, suffers from a rare condition that has robbed her of such crucial defense mechanisms as the instinct to put her hands out when she falls.

Stopping at nothing to insert herself into the Adachers’ lives, Irena finally succeeds in taking Gina’s place as maid and nanny to the fragile Thea, with whom she develops a powerful bond. But as Valeria begins to suspect something isn’t right about their devoted housekeeper, Irena’s violent past resurfaces. As secrets from her past threaten to swallow them all, the final strands of a web of murder and deceit come together to reveal the shocking truth behind Irena’s connection to the Adachers.

Pedro Almodóvar’s new film Los Abrazos Rotos is scheduled to open in Spain on March 18th and the promotion machine has started. Lucky for us, someone’s had the good sense to subtitle the first trailer which means for the non-Spanish speakers in the audience, you too can take in…the confusion?!?

There isn’t much to go on other than Andrew’s previous post that the film features Penélope Cruz as a killer plastic surgeon and a very brief wiki entry which says that the film is a “four-way tale of dangerous love, and was shot in the style of a hard-boiled 1950s American film noir.” The trailer certainly suggests as much.

We’ll keep you posted as more details are uncovered until then, take in the trailer.

I would have no idea how to go about filming this novel which is structured in a strange fashion. The reader (soon to be viewer) knows far more than the characters do, yet the information is not actually provided by the author; rather it is gleaned from veiled and elliptical hints and the readers (viewers) own life-experience. The author’s previous novel, The Remains of the Day, uses a similar narrative technique turned out fine. So yes, I am all for a big screen tale of Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, the cloistered mansion of Hailsham and the scary and unknown world that exists outside.

I do recommend NOT reading the news of the adaptation over at Variety or many of the websites that have picked up the news nearly verbatim: As they drop the BIGGEST OF ***SPOILERS*** in their announcement that Keira Knightley, Boy A‘s Andrew Garfield and Knightley’s Pride & Prejudice co-star Carey Mulligan. No, the casting is not the spoiler, but it is solid enough for the material. I’ll be anxious to see if Ms. Knightley can pull of the naivete of Kathy H.