Posts Tagged ‘mystery’

  • 02 Mar

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    NEVER LET ME GO.

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    nletmegoI have only read one Kazuo Ishiguro novel, and it was this one. It is dear to me in the way the book is both oblique and fragile: A Fabergé egg. Mark Romanek, an “A”-list music director (who is given a pass for life for his sublime video for the Johnny Cash cover of NIN’s Hurt) seems like a very good choice, considering the muted and ominous tone of his 2002 feature film One Hour Photo. While Ishiguro has done screenplays in the past (Guy Maddin‘s The Saddest Music in the World being a notable one), here the screenplay adaptation is from Alex Garland who has turned out some solid screenwriting for Danny Boyle in the past (The Beach, 28 Days Later…, Sunshine).

    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.

  • 20 Nov

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    Trailer for Henry Selick’s Coraline

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    Coraline Movie StillEarlier this year a short clip for stop motion master Henry Selick’s vision of Coraline.

    Based on a book by Neil Gaiman and adapted for the screen by Selick, the story is that of Coraline, a bored girl who finds mystery and adventure when she enters a parallel world through a door behind her couch. This new world seems perfect except that her “other” father and mother have button eyes.

    I’ve since read the novel that the film is based on and rather unexpectedly, it’s very dark and creepy and I was a bit mystified as to how it would translate onto the big screen but I think I’ve got my answer. From the trailer it looks as though they’ve capture the basic essence of the story but I’m not sure the creepy bits will translate as well (though it’s worth noting we don’t get to see any of those bits so there is still hope that they’re in there). This looks fantastic, more like computer animation than stop motion and Selick really is a master at what he does so yes, I’m rather excited to see it. My single complaint: the gimmick that this is being presented in 3D. I’m hopeful that there will also be a regular release.

    Coraline, which stars the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Ian McShane and Teri Hatcher, opens on February 6th.

    Trailer is tucked under the seat!

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  • 30 Oct

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    Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons Trailer

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    Angels & Demons Movie StillMuch like John Grisham’s novels tend to be similar, so are Dan Brown’s and to say that “Angels & Demons” is a better book than “The Da Vinci Code” isn’t saying much about either work. They’re quick reads, the kind of novel you chew into during a commute, one that you can put down and pick-up at any time, maybe even dozing off a bit between readings, skipping a few pages and paragraphs and still know everything that’s going on. I don’t care much for Brown’s writing but I do like some of the concepts he makes use of and it was those concepts that I was excited to see on the big screen when Ron Howard and company released The Da Vinci Code. Unfortunately, the film was a huge failure and aside from the locations and a great performance from Paul Bettany, the film was quickly passed over.

    For one reason or another, Howard and Hanks have decided that they’re not done with Brown’s novels and now we have a first look at a second adaptation: Angels & Demons. In the timeline of protagonist Robert Langdon, this story comes before that of The Da Vinci Code though it hardly matters as the stories have little in common aside from sharing the central character, a conspiracy and religious overtones (so almost everything). This time Langdon tries to stop the Illuminati from destroying Vatican City. Hanks is reprising his role as Langdon (thankfully it looks like his hair is back under control) who prounces around with a female counterpart, this time played by Ayelet Zurer and along for the ride are Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård in supporting roles.

    A teaser trailer has appeared online and rather unsurprisingly it’s pretty bland. It’s dark, melodramatic, choppy and gives you nothing of the story, which is fine for a teaser, but it’s still likely to capture the attention of conspiracy theorists and Hanks fans. If nothing else, this film should (as the first film did) feature some great locations shots but that’s simply not enough to keep anyone entertained for a film’s running time. I’m curious to see if this does any better than the first one.

    Angels & Demons opens on May 15th.

    Trailer is tucked under the seat!

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  • 21 Oct

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    13 Tzameti Re-Make Announced

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    13 Tzameti Movie StillA few years ago I took a film class which required a presentation. Basically, you’d show a scene of a film and then talk about it for 5 minutes. Looking through my DVD shelf, I decided to show the class a short clip from Géla Babluani’s first feature, a crime thriller titled 13 Tzameti. At the time, it was a fairly low-key film but I can tell you that the scene peaked a whole lot of interest and for weeks after the fact, my DVD made the rounds to a whole lot of my fellow students.

    Babluani’s film is about a young man who finds some cryptic instructions and heads out on an adventure that will likely make him a whole lot of money but he doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into until he arrives at a delapedated house and discovers that he’s become involved in a game of Russian roulette. The film makes some observations on the lengths people will go to for entertainment, the lengths some will take to survive and the dire situation of immigrants and though some of these themes are handled better than others, the film’s magnetic scene of round one is a crowning achievement in tension.

    It was only a matter of time before it happened but the wait is over. Screen Daily reports that Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Sam Riley and 50 Cent will all be appearing in the remake, simply titled 13, that will also be directed by Babluani (another director reamking his own film for an American audience). I can’t quite figure out what roles Rourke (the organizer?), Statham (the master of the game?) and 50 Cent (??) will play but I have a nagging feeling that Sam Riley (who was brilliant in last year’s Control) will play the lead role which was orinigally filled by the director’s brother.

    Considering the original wasn’t exactly a box office success, it doens’t appear to have played outside of the festival circuit in the US, chances are most people will be coming to it fresh. Though on the one hand I think the original trailer, which featured the film’s best scene, was a brilliant way to capture the audience’s attention, I’m hopefull that the Americanized version avoids using it in the trailer and saves it as a savoury surprise for film goers. I doubt it but a girl can hope.

    As for those looking to catch up with the original, the film was released on DVD by Palm Pictures. To see what I’m talking about, be sure to check out the trailer under the seat.

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  • 26 Jul

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    Review: The X-Files: I Want to Believe

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    The X-Files: I Want to Believe One Sheet

    Director: Chris Carter (The X-Files)
    Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz
    Producers: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz
    Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Xzibit, Callum Keith Rennie
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Running time: 105 min

    For me, “The X-Files” will for ever be linked with one of the most traumatic days of my life. I was 15, home on a Friday night. Mom was working and dad was in the yard and at 8:30PM, my sister and I started to pack up the evening activities. We changed into our PJ’s, poured ourselves a glass of milk and wrapped ourselves in a blanket in preparation for the final hour before bed time. The minute long set-up came on and then Mark Snow’s much hummed theme music kicked in. “The X-Files” was about to begin. It was at that moment, partway through the theme, that we smelled smoke. That was the night our house burned to a cinder and when asked about it years later, I can clearly recall the circumstances of our escape.

    The X-Files: I Want to Believe Movie StillI always imagined that at some point in my life I’d come to associate the show with that tragic event in my life but it never happened. If anything, over the years we, my sister and I, have become even more fanatical about the show that provided us with hours of midnight chats and nightmares. While the show was on the air, we collected everything from comic books (to this day sealed and protected in limited edition numbered plastic wrap) to trading cards (the entire first season including the specialty cards). It’s fair to say that I’m a big fan of the show. Yet, when the production headed South in season six, I started to lose interest. The move, in combination with the release of the film in 1998, marked a difference in the series and almost immediately, the tone of the show seemed to change. It was darker, the characters a little more pessimistic and overall, less interesting. I stuck around for a few more seasons until Fox left the show at which point, I completely lost interest. I caught it here and there when nothing else was on TV but gone were the days of ritualistic weekly viewing.

    I tried some of Chris Carter’s other projects; “Millennium” was excellent while it lasted and “Harsh Realm” seemed to have potential before it was canceled but nothing nothing seemed to stick any more. Carter, who had once seemed a bright beacon in TV land, seemed to be fading and when “The X-Files” finally went off the air in 2002, Carter seemed to go into seclusion. Over the years there was occasional talk of another film but those rumours never seemed to go anywhere. So when David Duchovny started to talk about the potential for another movie, no one paid much attention. It wasn’t until the film was finally announced that fans started to believe something could come together. So here we are, a little over a year since the initial announcement of the film and The X-Files: I Want to Believe has brought back the once unstoppable team of David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and Chris Carter. The fans have been anxiously awaiting the return but was it worth the wait? In one word: yes.

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  • 17 Jul

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    Zack Snyder’s Watchmen Trailer

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    Watchmen Movie StillFor one reason or another, likely because everyone else and their mother is gushing about it, we haven’t posted anything on 300 director Zack Snyder’s much anticipated upcoming film Watchmen.

    Based on the acclaimed graphic novel from Alan Moore (to this day the only graphic novel to have won a Hugo) the film stars a whole load of people that has me quite excited: Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Goode, (that’s quite the trio!) and Jackie Earle Haley among a load of others.

    I had to read the wiki entry for the book to get a gist for what was going on because the trailer doesn’t give us non-fans much. What I can gleam from it all is that the story takes place in an alternative history United States in which “a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own.”

    The comic is considered to be quite groundbreaking and I’ve read and enjoyed some of Moore’s other works (notably “V for Vendetta” and “Top Ten”) but this one has continued to elude me, mostly because it always seems to be sold out at my local comic haunt. I’m just not hardcore enough to order it or ask them to reserve me a copy.

    Thanks to Devin at CHUD for the tip, the trailer is up over at Empire. It’s gorgeous, I give it that, but it’s also slightly mystifying. I have no idea what’s going on. I may have to break down and order that book after all.

    Watchmen opens March 6, 2009.

    If you prefer, you can also watch it right here:

    Watchmen Teaser Trailer

  • 15 Jul

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    Frank Miller’s Second The Spirit Trailer

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    The Spirit - Octopus Banner

    I wasn’t sold on the first trailer for Frank Miller’s upcoming directorial debut. Admittedly the style of the film certainly looks good but style alone doesn’t make for entertaining film watching.

    Starring Gabriel Macht in the title role, The Spirit is the story of a a rookie cop who is murdered and comes back as The Spirit in order to fight the “dark forces” at play in Central City. From this new trailer, it also seems that along the way, he keeps bumping into women he’s had relationships with and what a group of vengeful women they are: Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Jaime King, Paz Vega and Sarah Paulson. There seems to be a whole lot more at play here than I originally anticipated and I must admit that I’m a bit smitten by the the supernatural bend of the trailer. I’m neither a big fan of noir nor a connoisseur of Will Eisner’s classic but this new trailer comes as an unexpectedly positive surprise.

    The film was originally scheduled to open in January but it looks as thought the forces that be have decided that this is good enough for a holiday release and The Spirit has been bumped up to open on December 25th.

    The new trailer is tucked under the seat!

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