Running down the Cannes news

Trisha Lynn

We here at GeekingOutAbout.com are not at the 2010 Festival de Cannes but that’s not going to stop us from bringing you the news about which films are being picked up for international distribution and which films to keep your eye on:

  • Hanna: Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) stars as a teenage assassin in a film that is currently in its last month of filming and will also star Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett. Producers Focus Features are retaining the distribution rights in North America, the U.K., and others while Sony Pictures Worldwide will be able to release it in other countries in continental Europe and Asia. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
  • Passengers: Keanu Reeves will star in this Morgan Creek and Universal picture as the mechanic on a colony ship who awakens 100 years too soon and has to endure the slower-than-light speed trip all alone… except for some robots with personalities and a woman he eventually awakens because he starts to go stir-crazy who have yet to be cast. Being flogged around the festival as “Adam in Eve in space,” the film picked up deals to be shown in Italy—where director Gabriele Muccino (Seven Pounds) is from— and Germany via Medusa and TeleMunchen, respectively. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
  • Hanyo: South Korean Jeon Do-Youn stars in this remake of a classic 1960 film—which you can stream online here—about a maid who has a relationship with her employer, an Alan Sugar/Donald Trump/Mr. Big-type. In contention for the Palme d’Or, the remake turns the relationship on its end from the original by having the maid be less of a harpy and more of a sympathetic justice-seeker.

The festival ends on May 23.

More “news” about BlackStar Warrior?

Trisha Lynn3 Comments

At first, I was dubious at the thought or idea that floating out in the ether somewhere is a blaxploitation version of Star Wars, but I quickly forgot about the whole concept—until my YouTube subscription alert mentioned that the second part of the documentary was online:

Going back to the LandoIstheMan.com blog, I found this blog entry which explained that Alan, the blog’s author, has a friend who created a movie poster featuring Lando Calrissian as the star of a spinoff Star Wars movie called Lando, and it was this action that started the whole thing:

[Alan’s artist friend] Matt decided it would be fun to dig around and explore the rumblings about this supposed 1980’s Blaxploitation film that takes place in the Star Wars universe. After uncovering some tantalizing evidence he thought Marcus might be telling the truth.

I’m totally calling shenanigans on this, because it all smacks of “friend of a friend” business; and yet, subsequent posts on the blog suggest that this Alan guy totally believes it’s real. Also? He’s got consistent pictures of his family on the blog, including candid vacation shots, and I don’t think anyone would do that to their kids on a hoax website… would they?

I’m going to try and get to the bottom of this, because I have to admit, if is fake, it’s really well done.

Trisha’s Take: Micmacs à tire-larigot review

Trisha Lynn1 Comment

Micmacs à tire-larigot (aka Non-stop madness)

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring Dany Boon, André Dussollier, Nicolas Marié, Julie Ferrier, and more
Rated R for some sexuality and brief violence

When I was in the eighth grade, I was given the chance to either take a first year of Spanish at my school or to take a first year in French at the high school across the street from where I lived and where I’d eventually attend.

Impractical youngster that I was in Southern California, I chose French and for five years I was one of the more fluent speakers in my class, going as far as to win the silver medal my senior year of high school at French camp. Those classes were where I first saw or heard of classic French films like Jean de Florette, Le retour de Martin Guerre, and Au revoir les enfants (which apparently was an inspiration for Reservoir Dogs), and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Yes, even Les compères.

Alas, my ear for the language has diminished, but that still doesn’t mean that I’m not about to turn down the chance to see a movie by perhaps one of France’s great directors of the modern era. Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: Micmacs à tire-larigot review” →

Ghost to get remake… in Japan?

Trisha Lynn1 Comment

Though I am quick to enjoy a good “nerd rage” on the idea of yet another remake or readaptation being announced, I do have to say that the news that there will be a remake of the Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore 1990s hit Ghost is making me just a little bit giddy–because it’s going to be in Japanese.

From Cinema Today.jp and Nippon Cinema.com—and our friends at Japanator.com—comes the news that Paramount Pictures Japan and Shochiku have handed over the reins of the Japanese remake to live-action drama director Taro Otani (“Gokusen”), and it sounds like they’re fast-tracking it, too with shooting to begin this June with a release in the fall. Taking on the Swayze role will be Korean actor Song Seung Hun while Japanese actress Nanako Matsushima will be stepping into Moore’s shoes.

No word on whether or not producer Takashige Ichise (The Grudge) will be getting an Okinawan-style comedian to play the Whoopi Goldberg role.

Anna Faris gives new leading man her Number

Trisha Lynn1 Comment

Once off-track due to a problem in lead actor scheduling, the Anna Faris comedic vehicle What’s Your Number? may be back in the pipeline, thanks to Dave Annable. In a Hollywood Reporter exclusive, Borys Kit noted that the “Brothers and Sisters” star was in negotiations to start opposite Faris as her dream guy.

The synopsis of the film goes like this: “Number centers on a woman (Faris) who treks through her sexual past to find Mr. Right, exploring the idea of sexual quotas and whether such numbers matter.”

Number is adapted from Karyn Bosnak’s 20 Times a Lady by screenwriters Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden; Mark Mylod is the director. Also in the cast and previously announced are Joel McHale (“The Soup,” “Community”) who will be playing Faris’ boss, whom she sleeps with and which encounter kicks off the entire search.

As a woman, I find it very difficult to “bring teh funny” as it were, and any time someone laughs at anything I say or write, it always gives me a little thrill. That’s why I really appreciate female comic actresses like Anna Faris because she’s able to be funny and pretty at the same time in movies that while aren’t my typical cup of tea, I’m not going to outright dismiss because one should always be open to the possibility of enjoying something outside one’s comfort zone.

Also, in doing research for this article, I think I’ve fallen in love a little with novelist Karyn Bosnak, whose blog entry about Joel McHale’s addition to the cast you can find here and contains this enthusiastic endorsement of the leading lady:

As for Anna Faris… Now, I’m not just saying this to kiss ass, and if she was only so-so during the reading I would gush about how cute she is (which she is—she’s petite and gorgeous), but my God… she is so freaking talented. With all due respect to the amazing supporting cast, Anna Faris could be in this movie alone talking to plants and it would still be freaking awesome. I mean, she owns this character and drives this script. Like, anyone could read it aloud and it would be funny. But when Anna reads it, she brings an element to it that you just can’t write. It’s like magic. She’s like magic.

For Bosnak’s sake, I really hope that this movie does well, and not just because she’s a fellow New Yorker transplant.

Sir Anthony Hopkins to play a baddie in Arabian Nights

Trisha Lynn

In an exclusive from Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter‘s Heat Vision blog, Anthony Hopkins is in final negotiations to play the villain in The Arabian Nights.

Hopkins’ role will be that of “Pharotu, an evil sorcerer who killed Sinbad’s love, a mermaid, and is looking to amass more magic for himself.” And since previously announced star Liam Hemsworth will not be playing Sinbad, this makes me wonder if the plot of this movie will feature numerous villains, one for each member of the Hitchhiker Heroes.

At our monthly midnight screening series at the Landmark Sunshine in New York City, two of the other GeekingOutAbout.com writers and I were talking about what happens when novels are adapted into movies and the old chestnut about how short stories make the best movie adaptations (Minority Report, Stand By Me).

I firmly believe that it’s just as tough to adapt mythology into a movie, and its $432 million worldwide gross aside, Clash of the Titans—and its original—is only enjoyable as a movie if you completely turn off your brain when it comes to everything you know about the original source material.

Which makes it hard for us geeks to enjoy a movie sometimes, but hey… there are some prices that are okay to pay.

Related Posts: Liam Hemsworth to join Arabian Nights

Trisha’s Quote of the Day: Democracy, with a twist of British

Trisha Lynn

One of the most puzzling features of the current unstoppable wave of political punditry that is flooding all channels and outlets at the moment (including this one of course) is the peculiar propensity of commentators to feel qualified to extrapolate from the election results the Manifest Will of Britain. “The people have voted for change”, “The people have told Gordon Brown that he has got to go” , “The people are saying that they don’t really trust any one party”, “The people have said that they want Parliament reformed, the tea room in the House of Commons redecorated, new carpeting in the women’s lavatory of the House of Lords and a vegetarian option in the canteen.”

—Stephen Fry, attempting to explain who won in the most recent general election in the United Kingdom.

Trailer Watch: Inception first official trailer

Trisha Lynn1 Comment

Well, I think I can officially say that director Christopher Nolan is off his rocker. Just take a look at the below and see if you don’t agree with me.

Here’s a more detailed synopsis of what you just saw:

Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in an original sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible—inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime.

I have to say that now that we know a little more about Inception, I really wish that we didn’t. I groaned the instant I heard Leonardo DiCaprio’s character say that he was doing “one last job,” and I also may have gagged a little when it flashed to a scene of him being emotional while cradling Marion Cotillard, presumably an ex-wife or a former lover.

At the same time, though, the visuals look amazing and I think I’m in love with the idea of being able to use your dreams against you. We’ve already seen in Minority Report how the future can be manipulated, now your subconscious? Really chilling.

Starring DiCaprio, Cotillard, Ellen Page, and Cillian Murphy, Inception will be in theaters in the U.S. on July 16.

Related Posts: Trailer Watch: Christopher Nolan’s Inception teaser,Inception adds star cast, but keeps mum on plot details,Third Batman movie to be delayed by Christopher Nolan’s Inception…

Quick Cuts: 20th Century Fox to make prequel about “damn dirty” Apes, and other stories

Trisha Lynn
  • Just in case you weren’t convinced that New Zealand’s WETA Digital was the go-to SFX house these days, 20th Century Fox will be using them to produce all of the genetically altered-primates in CGI for their film Rise of the Apes, a prequel to the classic sci-fi movie series which was begun by 1968’s Planet of the Apes. The movie will be directed by Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) from a script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (The Relic), and will be released in the U.S. on June 24, 2011. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
  • Dashing my hopes for a female-powered view on Captain America, British actor Toby Jones has entered the final round of negotiations to become the movie’s second villain, Arnim Zola. He’ll join Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull as Chris Evans’ antagonists, and I think I’m starting to see how the storyline’s shaping up and will end with Cap on ice and Zola in a robot suit. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter‘s Heat Vision blog)
  • Finally, if you’ve ever wanted to see all of Metropolis, the sci-fi silent film by Fritz Lang that inspired Blade Runner amongst others, head on over to the Film Forum in New York City today where they will be showing the film in its original complete version for the first time to audiences since its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 1927. Hidden away in a private film archive in Buenos Aires, we have Argentine film archivists Fernando Peña and Paula Félix-Didier to thank for rescuing the movie from the bureaucratic red tape. The most interesting quote from the story?

    “It’s no longer a science-fiction film,” said Martin Koerber, a German film archivist and historian who supervised the latest restoration and the earlier one in 2001. “The balance of the story has been given back. It’s now a film that encompasses many genres, an epic about conflicts that are ages old. The science-fiction disguise is now very, very thin.”

    Additional screenings in other cities and a DVD will follow later this year. (Source: The New York Times)

Trailer Watch: “Illegal” Machete first trailer

Trisha Lynn4 Comments

Boosted from the fine folks at Ain’t It Cool News.com comes what Machete director Robert Rodriguez is calling his “illegal” trailer, and is the first official look at the plot to the film.

I love, love, love the casting of this movie because in addition to Danny Trejo being just badass in general, Michelle Rodriguez gets to kick ass with dual pistols, Jessica Alba gets to be Hispanic, Cheech Marin dual wields shotguns in a priest’s frock, and then you’ve got the “evil” white guys played by none other than Robert DeNiro, Jeff Fahey, and Lindsay Lohan…

God, if loving “Mexsploitation” is bad, then tie me up and call me a piñata!