Trailers for The Soloist, Changeling and The International

In the last couple of days three great trailers have made their way onto the web for us all to check out. They are the new Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx drama The Soloist, the new Angelina Jolie period-piece Changeling and the Clive Owen and Naomi Watts thriller The International. Check them out below:

The Soloist

I just think this looks fantastic. I mean even the mention of the words Robert Downey Jr gets me instantly interested and the addition of Jamie Foxx to the mix doesn’t exactly hurt (he’s one of the few rappers-turned-actors who actually has acting skills). This is directed by Joe Wright, the guy who directed Pride & Prejudice and last year’s Atonement. It’s a weird film for him to have taken on but his track record shows he knows what he’s doing so I have every faith in him. Again this looks fantastic.

Changeling

Wow, Angeline Jolie sure does look different to her usual self in her period garb. But that aside this is shaping up to be very good indeed. Not only do we have Jolie’s talent (she can actually act when she is given the right roles) but also John Malkovich supporting her and Mr Clint Eastwood behind the camera. I can’t see how this won’t be good.

The International

I have every faith in director Tom Tykwer, especially when it comes to a thriller like this. He did the fast-paced joy-to-watch that was Run Lola Run (if any of you haven’t seen that already I urge you to do so asap) so I’m sure he’ll bring his skill at creating excitement to the table here. I love both Clive Owen and Naomi Watts  so like The Soloist and Changeling I am very much looking forward to this.

Out of the three I am most looking forward to The Soloist, simply because RDJ but that’s taking nothing away from the other two. All three look fantastic, which one do you like the look of most?

Hoffman responds ‘no’ to Penguin rumours

Rumours have been buzzing around the net that Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman will be playing The Riddler and The Penguin in the next Batman film. Well straight from the horse’s mouth, it’s been confirmed that at least Hoffman is not going to be playing The Penguin. MTV gives us the news:

“No one has talked to me about it ever — never,” replied Hoffman. “It happened, like, five years ago, too. It was a rumor back then and it’s still a rumor. [laughs] It’s just in the press. It’s funny.”

To further cement this issue, Hoffman added that he’d never met Nolan (”Maybe I did or met him in passing?”), and that his interest in comic book movies is purely on a fan level, and he intended to keep it that way.

“I’m such a fan of those movies,” related Hoffman. “Comic book movies in general I look forward to — I am a real cheerleader for them. I want them to do well because those are terrific stories. As a kid I was a big comic book collector. What [Nolan]’s doing is taking it in a whole other exciting great place. I’m more a fan, so the interest of being in it isn’t that great. It’s more the interest in wanting to see the next one. It’s probably better that way.”

When further pressed for his level of interest if Warner Bros. approached him about the role, Hoffman said, “I don’t know. I think I’m more interested in seeing someone else do it. I don’t know if I’d be a good Penguin to be quite honest. [laughs]”

Although I wanted the rumours to be true, particularly Hoffman playing the respective part, I never really believed them. It’s far too soon for there to be casting, especially of roles as big as these. Christopher Nolan isn’t even signed on to direct another one so do you really think Warner Bros. are going to go behind the creative force and say, “These characters are going to be in it, and these are the guys who are playing them.”? I don’t think so. Consider the rumour that Hoffman is playing The Penguin absolutely false (at least for now, no one knows what may happen in the future) and I’m sure the Johnny Depp as The Riddler one will soon follow.

Inside Man 2 in the works

Word has come out that a sequel is being made to the Spike Lee film from a couple of years ago called Inside Man. We get the scoop from our friends over at FilmSchoolRejects:

“Universal Pictures is in negotiations to have Terry George write the screenplay and Spike Lee to direct the sequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Russel Gewirtz wrote the original. Inside Man 2 is the working title.

Inside Man was Lee’s biggest box office weekend opener, focusing on the relationship that emerges at a New York bank between a bank robber (Clive Owen) and a hostage negotiator (Denzel Washington). Lee says he imagines a continued relationship between the two main characters, only in a new high-tension situation. Both Washington and Owen have expressed interest in appearing in the sequel.

“I want the script to be even better than Russell’s, and Russell wrote a really good script,” Lee said. While this may seem like a large task, George has some notches on his belt as writer/director of Hotel Rwanda and writer of In the Name of the Father.”

I absolutely loved Inside Man. I thought it was one of the smartest, most entertaining and most on-the-ball films of it’s type in years. A lot of people were let down by the ending because it wasn’t a big hoorah of one but personally I thought it was in tune with the feel of the rest of the movie – remember things don’t always go as you’d expect, sometimes it’s not always as exciting as most movies tell you.

But to me I can’t really see the point in doing a sequel to it other than to explore the characters a bit more. To me it’s great as it’s own film and I don’t feel the need to extend the story any; it’s fine the way it is.

What are your thoughts on the idea of an Inside Man 2?

Dreamworks Sued for Ripping Off ‘Rear Window’

It appears that Dreamworks are being sued for ripping off the idea of Rear Window for the recent movie Disturbia starring Shia LaBeouf. We get the story thanks to our friends over at Cinematical:

“And now, not surprisingly, Dreamworks, its parent company Viacom and Universal Pictures, is being sued for creating an unauthorized remake.

The defendant in the case is not exactly related to Hitchcock’s film, though; the lawsuit was filed by Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, which owns the rights to Cornell Woolrich’s original short story “It Had to Be Murder” (called “Murder from a Fixed Viewpoint” in the article), upon which Rear Window is based.

“What the defendants have been unwilling to do openly, legitimately and legally, (they) have done surreptitiously, by their back-door use of the ‘Rear Window’ story without paying compensation… In the Disturbia film the defendants purposefully employed immaterial variations or transparent rephrasing to produce essentially the same story as the Rear Window story.”

Rear Window is in my top 10 films of all time and my disgust when I saw Disturbia in the cinema was very high indeed. Basically it was just Rear Window for dummies, a modernization of a story that didn’t need to be so. If you wanna’ experience this story then go and bloody watch the original Rear Window (or in the studios case just re-release it in cinemas) instead of hashing out a modernized, gadget-filled piece of crap that’s only real merit was David Morse as the villain (which was down to him as an actor being awesome and not necessarily the film).

If this company had the rights to this story and Dreamworks did this story without acquiring what should be known as “rights to a remake” then they have every right to sue the hell out of them. I urge anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of seeing Rear Window to go and watch that and do not watch it’s modern-day, infinitely inferior remake that is Disturbia.

New Quantum of Solace trailer

A new, full trailer for the next Bond film Quantum of Solace has been made available and is provided below for your viewing pleasure.

This flick is looking better and better by the minute. The first kind of teaser-ish trailer they released was awesome in it’s own right but this official one just kicks it up more than a few notches. Casino Royale kicked all sorts of ass but if there is such a possibility this next instalment in the long-running franchise looks like it will be even better. Everything about this movie has me really excited to see it (well except for the name, anyway). Quantum of Solace is released on 31st of October in the UK and 14th of November in the US.

Passengers or Knowing?

Which do you prefer the look of; the new Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson thriller Passengers, or the upcoming Nicolas Cage thriller Knowing? Both involve supernatural elements about seeing the future or having extraordinary knowledge/abilities. Well, something to that affect anyway. The reason I have compared the two, despite the similar plot elements, is a strikingly similar still from each film that I ran across on the net. Check them out below:

Passengers

 

Knowing

Seems like they both centre around some sort of plane crash, with Passengers it seems obvious why but with Knowing it’s not so easy to know (get it?). Personally I prefer the look of Knowing, as Passengers looks the more run-of-the-mill of the two and apart from the inclusion of Patrick Wilson and Anna Hathaway I can’t say I have a strong interest in it. Knowing has a bigger potential to be total crap, but I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt because of it’s intriguing storyline. To help you make up your mind the trailers for both films are provided below.

Passengers

Knowing

What We’ve Been Watching – Issue #2

Paths of Glory – 4.5/5

Stanley Kubrick’s intimate World War I film ranks amongst the best war films of all time. Dissimilar to most in the genre, this is less worried about epic battle scenes (although there is one continuous shot of soldiers advancing into battle which is mesmerizing) and more about personal relations of people and consequences of certain of their actions, even if the result of those actions is not necessarily their fault or intention.

Kirk Douglas, working with Kubrick three years prior to their legendary collaboration with Spartacus, is astonishing as a man who does everything he can to stop the execution of three soldiers who are unfairly prosecuted for retreating from battle. There is a clear sense that Kubrick and Douglas were on the same level when making this film, the camera, guided by Kubrick, just seems to work completely in tandem with Douglas. As much of a master that Kubrick was this is as much Douglas’ film as it is his, with the performance of him taking the centre stage just as much as Kubrick’s directing expertise does.

A group of people singing together is usually and supposed to be a happy thing. But the song at the conclusion of Paths of Glory just makes us feel all the more saddened by what has happened throughout the coarse of the film. Kubrick was indeed a master and Paths of Glory ranks amongst his best. – ROSS

Kevin Smith gives thumbs up to Star Trek

It appears that J.J. Abrams has produced a rough cut of his new take on the classic Star Trek world. And he has allowed a select few to have a look, one of whom is writer/director Kevin Smith. And according to him it’s looking good. Thanks to TrekMovie.com we have Smith giving it a very positive review, albeit in a very roundabout, “not actually saying what movie it is but strongly implying it” kind of way. Check out his TV interview below:

Host: So thumbs up on The Watchmen, what else you got?

Smith: I saw a movie last night that I cannot talk about.

Host: Was it good?

Smith: It was phenomenal.

Host: Any stars, any break out stars, and do they trek?

Smith: The stars absolutely trek in this film. It is fantastic. Anybody who was worried doesn’t need to be worried–about this film I cannot talk about…It was in very capable hands. The director did a phenomenal job–the director and his crew. Top notch cast and the guy that plays the lead is an instant star. That dude is going to be so famous. He is so wonderful. He picked up a role that I would say is pretty challenging for someone to step into the shoes of, because it is a role that has been played before many times by the same guy.

Host: How do you out Shatner, Shatner?

Smith: I don’t know what you are talking about.

Host: I was just saying that as an expression.

Smith: Yes, absolutely, in a world of expressions, I would agree with that…I am so not good with this game, you are going to bury me man.

Host: We had you on before The Dark Knight and I remember asking you if you could direct a movie like Dark Knight and you said ‘hell no’ it was so far out of your sphere…but I bring that up to preface this. Let’s say a franchise like Star Trek, not that you have seen the movie or we are talking about the movie, but we are talking about it for example. That is something that is so dangerous to attempt. Is that the kind of project you would like to do? Would you like to be the guy who gets to do a movie like that?

Smith: I would not like to be the guy. In the case of something like Star Trek, it would take a really insanely talented filmmaker–storyteller. Like in the case of Star Trek, JJ Abrams. So leave it to the people who are best equipped for it. I am just the guy who should be watching those movies.

This is very good news indeed. As someone who is not at all a fan of Star Trek (I’ve never seen any of the movies and can only vaguely recall the TV series) I am strangely very much looking forward to J. J. Abrams’ takes on it. Since he was one of the people who originally brought us my favourite TV show of all time, Lost, and he was the man behind the insanely fun and original monster movie Cloverfield, I subsequently have every confidence in the man that he is going to give us something special with this.

In my following of the man, Smith has always been someone who’s early opinion of a film has been very trustworthy. I suppose since so many people love his films, filmmakers seem to want to want to show him their movies before pretty much anyone else. They also know that the general movie going audience, those who will end up seeing the movies, see Smith as a movie god and know that people will listen to his opinion. I am certainly one of those people.

Fast and Furious trailer online

The trailer for Fast and Furious (or the fourth film in The Fast and the Furious franchise) has been made available online and provided for you below. Take a look.

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I am not ashamed to admit I rather liked the first Fast and the Furious film. To me it was pure, mindless entertainment that was fun and I find it more rewatchable than most films of it’s type. The second film was a blur of rappers riding around in flashy cars and trying to look tough. And the third I only vaguely remember which doesn’t exactly say it was at all memorable. But I must admit that the trailer for the fourth film in the franchise looks promising to me, with the first minute or so being particularly well done. I am glad they have gone back to the original cast and continuing with the original storyline from the first film; as the tagline says, “New model. Original parts.”

What do you make of the trailer and there being a fourth film in the franchise in general?

Sukiyaki Western Django clip featuring Tarantino

Auteur Japanese director Takashi Miike has his new film Sukiyaki Western Django coming out soon in the US (August 29th), after playing the festival circuit. Now thanks to our friends over at ComingSoon.net we have a clip featuring Mr Quentin Tarantino (an odd casting choice if I ever saw one). Check it out below:

 

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Now as a loyal fan of both director Takashi Miike and Quentin Tarantino, obviously to see them two work together in any way, shape or form makes me extremely happy. But I will admit Tarantino looks out of place here, I think he hasn’t got it through his head yet that he isn’t an actor…he’s a writer/director, and a damn good one at that. With the exception of his adequate performance in From Dusk Till Dawn (which he wrote the screenplay for, so it was hardly a stretch to pull off his own character) he has proven himself to not have any acting skills. Having said that having heard details about Sukiyaki Western Django, perhaps this odd casting choice suits the loppy feel of the film.

The clip has me even more excited to see this thing, as out of place as Tarantino looks, that 38 seconds looks badass I must say. What do you make of it?