Archive for the 'Movie' Category

Filed under: Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Movie Marketing

So it looks like Vin Diesel is headed back to science fiction after his attempts at drama and family friendly comedy met with middling success. Teaser footage from Diesel’s new sci-fi flick Babylon AD has hit the net with behind-the-scenes video and a glance at some “money shots” — i.e., stuff blowing up. The footage was shown on the French TV station Channel Four when director Mathieu Kassovitz (whose last directorial attempt was the slightly limp supernatural thriller Gothika, so here’s hoping that he can do better with sci-fi than what he did with horror) and co-star Michelle Yeoh were in Cannes to promote the film. The script, written by Eric Besnard, centers on a mercenary for hire (Diesel) who is hired to escort a woman carrying the genetic material for a new messiah. Yeoh also stars as an ass-kicking nun who is along for the ride.

There are a few more behind the scene looks at the film on Vin Diesel Video, but it seems that we are going to get a full trailer sometime soon, since the film is already trying to drum up a little business. Diesel had been spotted filming in the Dominican Republic last year, and while the smart bet was that Diesel was finally getting to work on his long promised film about Hannibal, in retrospect, it was probably for Babylon. The last we heard out of the Hannibal project was the promise that it was about to made “very, very, soon” — albeit in a slightly different form, but that was almost a year ago, maybe Diesel’s definition of “soon” is a little different from the rest of us.

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Filed under: Documentary, Cannes, Celebrities and Controversy, Movie Marketing, Politics

You know you’re an expert at causing controversy when you earn your very own investigation from the Treasury Department. So, we should all probably get comfortable with the arrival of Michael Moore’s new documentary Sicko, which just recently screened at Cannes, and will be stirring up who knows what kind of trouble as its release date gets closer. Moviefone is now hosting the trailer for the documentary, which gives us a look at what looks to be another well-meaning, if not-a-little-biased entry from the socially conscious filmmaker. It includes a quick look at the stunt that landed Moore in trouble with the Treasury Department in the first place.

The film, as you probably know, is Moore’s expose of the U.S. health care system. The response to it has been pretty positive so far, and inexplicably the doc even managed to get thumbs up from Fox News. But not everyone is feeling the love for the film — a group of disgruntled Canadian journalists recently confronted the filmmaker at a press conference claiming, “We Canucks were taking issue with the large liberties Sicko takes with the facts.” Mainly, their problem is that Moore patronized Canada by claiming their health-care system was problem-free, which, as I am sure my fellow countrymen know, is not the case. Sicko is set to hit theaters June 29th.

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Deals, Cannes, RumorMonger, Games and Game Movies, War

Depending on what your take was on the film version of the horror video game Silent Hill , this could be either very good or very bad news. IGN News is reporting that Christophe Gans, who directed the console-to-screen horror Silent Hill back in 2006, has signed on to direct a big screen version of the Capcom action title Onimusha. The story focuses on a 16th Century Samurai who is after a resurrected bad-guy and on a mission to save a princess — think of it like Mario Brothers but with way more mortal wounds. Gans will be working from a Leslie Kruger and John Collee (Master and Commander) script, and while there is no word on a cast so far, already several studios have expressed interest in the project.

According to IGN, Gans is currently in Cannes shopping around the $70 million production and with no shortage of enthusiasm, was quoted as saying, “I have loved the Onimusha story for years and am overjoyed to have the opportunity now to bring it to life for worldwide film audiences and to access the unparalleled film resources of China to do so on the scale that the story demands.” Production is set to begin later this year and already Gans and producing partners Davis Films are eyeing a release in December 2009. Not to be picky about the whole thing but from what I remember of the games - other than that they were kind of repetitive, was that they are set in Japan, not China. But then again, maybe $70 million doesn’t cover that kind of location cost.

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Filed under: Drama, Independent, Casting, Cinematical Indie, War

So maybe all that talk of ER outliving its appeal has spurred one its stars to head back to the big screen. Variety reported out of Cannes that Parminder Nagra, who plays Dr. Neela Rasgotra on NBC’s ER, has signed on to star in the film Fallen Heroes. The film also stars Naveen Andrews and is the story of a battle scarred soldier (Andrews) who returns to his village to try and resume a normal life - and it seems like Andrews has had plenty of experience playing that kind of role since he has been playing a guilt ridden Iraqi soldier on LOST for the last three seasons. There is no word on what role Nagra is set to play, but I can only assume it would be “the girl” in the film. Nagra, who only has a few feature film credits in her extensive resume, was last seen in the U.K. fantasy film In Your Dreams, but is still probably best remembered as “that girl from Bend it Like Beckham.”

Fallen Heroes will be directed by Partho Sengupta, whose 2006 documentary The Way of Beauty will be screening this summer at the Durban International Film Festival. The film is set to start production this summer with a relatively small budget of $50 million. Since both stars currently earn their bread and butter on the small screen, it would appear that they are planning on making the most out of their hiatus.

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Filed under: 20th Century Fox, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Games and Game Movies

I’m going to say a phrase and then I want you to close your eyes and imagine what sort of movie that phrase would make. OK, ready? Here we go: “The Sims Movie.” Let it sink in for a bit. Are your eyes closed? Good. Now imagine a live-action 90-minute movie in which all the characters do is lounge around the house, take a few showers, pee a lot, cook food, call people, wash toilets, work out, buy furniture, pee some more, woo neighbors, put out fires, dance strangely, collect mail, pee once more, read a book, and then walk outside yelling Buuu-fwoobadooo-mWAH! to anyone within earshot. Sound like fun? Well then Fox has a movie for you. (Oh, and I know you were cheating. You can’t read movie blogs with your eyes closed!)

According to Variety, 20th Century Fox has acquired the rights to The Sims, and not only are they actually planning to make a movie out of it, but they’ve already hired a producer (John Davis) to oversee and a screenwriter (Brian Lynch) to translate all the floobadoo-fwahs into actual dialog. For those who choose to pay attention to such things (like me), John Davis produced movies like Norbit, Eragon, Fat Albert and Garfield 2. Yeah. Variety claims that Mr. Lynch was a writer on Scary Movie 3, but the IMDb doesn’t seem to agree with the trade paper on that point. (Then again, the Scary Movie flicks have more writers than The New York Times, so I imagine it’s tough to keep track.)

So yeah. A Sims movie. We can’t wait for the expansion packs sequels.

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Filed under: Fox Searchlight, Obits & Memorials, Columns, 400 Screens, 400 Blows, Cinematical Indie

Adrienne Shelly’s Waitress (116 screens) is a delightful little film, a yummy food movie and a romance with a dark, quirky, funny edge to it. Everyone seems to like it. It has made over $2 million so far in its brief run, and its IMDb ratings are high. Word of mouth should keep it running for a good long while. Certainly it’s one of my favorite films this year so far, or at least one that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend or perhaps even see a second time. But there’s another element to the film that permeates, yet comes from outside it.

On November 1, 2006, Shelly’s husband found her body hanging by a bedsheet in her Manhattan bathroom. At first glance, it looked like suicide, but clues quickly led to the arrest of 19 year-old construction worker Diego Pillco, who confessed to the crime. Apparently, Shelly, 40, had complained about the noise he was making in the apartment below. Waitress had been completed and was ready to roll at the Sundance film festival just two and a half months later.

Continue reading Jeffrey M. Anderson’s 400 Screens, 400 Blows - Last Call

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