Fernando Meirelles, director of City of God and The Constant Gardener, now brings us Blindness.
This looks great! Blindness has a really cool and creepy premise and it is drawing a lot of comparison to The Happening which I have still yet to see. I hadn’t heard anything about this movie before today, and I’m not sure how this one got past me. I’m a big fan of both Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore and with Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal involved as well, I can’t wait.
-Travis
The trailer for the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, was made available this morning.
It looks good. I was really impressed by Daniel Craig’s performance in Casino Royale, as well as the film as a whole. No matter what anyone says, Daniel Craig was the best choice for the role. It doesn’t look like I’ll be let down by this film either.
Quantum of Solace currently has a November 7th release date.
-Travis
Another CG animation movie about a misfit mouse, will be out this winter. This comes by way of The Movie Blog.
Given the basic subject matter, The Tale of Despereaux will undoubtedly draw comparison to last year’s Pixar movie, Ratatouille. This isn’t necessarily bad news, as it could help get people into seats.
The animation on this looks really good. It’s a real departure from the standard that has been set by Pixar and imitated by most other CG animation companies in recent years. The cast is they’ve assembled is pretty stacked too, featuring Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame, as well as Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Lloyd, and more.
The Tale of Despereaux hits theaters on December 19th.
-Travis
Sorry Travis, I had not seen that you already wrote a review… but since I wrote one too (and cut it short once I realized you beat me too it), here is mine:
Pixar’s latest animated feature film, Wall-E, tells the story of the last operational robot left on Earth traveling deep into space, in pursuit of another robot who had made a brief visit to Earth in search of extraterrestrial vegetation. Along the way, Wall-E inadvertently teaches humans what it is like to be social and independent again.
Pixar has created some of the best-animated films of all time. From the classic Toy Story to the previous release of Ratatouille, not one film has come weak (some argue Cars to be below the Pixar standard, but that is highly debatable). So it should come as no surprise that Wall-E is worthy of not only a best-animated film Oscar, but also a best film of the year nomination (a first for any animated film).
Every scene of the film contains such meticulous attention to detail that at certain times it becomes easy to forget that the film is computer generated. With help from cinematographer Roger Deakins (The Assassinations of Jessie James, No Country for Old Men), the film is able to truly achieve a greater sense of reality than any animated film before it has. And with so much visual support, it becomes equally apparent that Pixar has invested a lot in to the sound design by employing Ben Burtt (Star Wars, Indians Jones, Munich) to create not only the sound effects, but also the voice of Wall-E. The voice of Wall-E is also interesting for another reason though, and that is that Wall-E, being a robot, cannot talk past a few simple sounds. Which is presumably a giant risk for Pixar… but that is what they are known best for. Each character relies heavily on body language to communicate, and the way this is achieved is beyond many classic silent films from the past, truly remarkable. In the showing I attended I counted many children and heard even more crying before the film began, but heard hardly a peep throughout the entire film from a single one of them. After the credits rolled, smiles could be seen on everyone’s face, child or adult.
The Pixar creative team has always been known to not stop at just attention to the feature. With Wall-E we are given an amazing short film called Presto. Presto is the story of a magician and his rabbit, which is in my opinion, in the top 5 best Pixar shorts. I won’t give away more than that though. The credits are also a story in their own, they continue telling the story of Wall-E once the feature has ended in several magnificent ways. And, this has yet to be officially confirmed, but once the DVD/Blu-Ray is released, be on the lookout for a ‘Burn-E’ short film.
Wall-E is truly unlike any film I have previously seen. Each aspect of the film has a unique style, almost like a 1980’s science fiction film, only more modern and with a more romantic feel, but that would still not give the film an accurate description. I really suggest you catch Wall-E in theatres many times and then again on DVD, just be able to take in everything offered.
- Keith
Trailer for the Coen Brothers’ new film, Burn After Reading, starring Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, and J.K. Simmons.
I was beyond excited when they announced the cast of this film , and this trailer only further fuels that excitement. The Coens don’t don’t disappoint often, and I don’t expect to be let down by this one either. This looks wild.
-Travis
They’ve finally released the trailer for Guy Ritchie’s newest film, RocknRolla, Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, and Thandie Newton.
Another London underworld movie, involving Russians, Americans and lots of money changing hands. This is not a bad thing at all. It is what Guy Ritchie is good at, and he hasn’t had a miss yet, in my opinion. It has a feeling about it akin to Snatch, and I cannot wait. Plus, Ludacris is in it.
-Travis
I got a chance to go to one of the first screenings of Wall-E last night at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood thanks to the mother-of-a-friend’s-friend.
If you have ever had even a light inkling of interest in seeing Wall-E, DO IT! The whole thing is very impressive and possibly even a little overwhelming. Visually it is one of the best movies I have ever seen, especially compared with most CGI movies. The folks over at Pixar have outdone themselves this time, in both style and story. It is about as far from the “everyday” animated film as you can possibly get.
If asked to assign a genre to Wall-E I don’t think I could bring myself to do it. It is equal parts science fiction, comedy, and romance woven together seamlessly with a little bit of satire. Wall-E himself, is a very endearing character with surprising depth, and personality. I found this to be pretty impressive, considering that Wall-E is basically a trash compacter with limited ability to communicate verbally. Most of the film is pantomime with very limited dialog.
If you’ve seen any of the trailers or commercials, you’ll know that Wall-E is a robot left to clean up the planet after humans abandon Earth. After seven hundred years or so of being alone, with only a roach for a friend, he’s developed quite a personality. His lonely existence is shattered one day by the arrival of EVE, a reconnaissance robot who steals Wall-E’s robot heart and begins an epic adventure, meeting all sorts of wild and entertaining characters along the way.
I think they took a big risk with the lack of dialog in the film, and I think it payed off big time. My hat is off to Andrew Stanton on this one. To create a story containing deep, lovable characters, predominantly without the use of words is truly a great feat. I was also very impressed by the choice of the soundtrack for the film.
Anyway, Wall-E is a great movie for everyone, kids and adults, and is a must see for any Pixar fan. SEE THIS MOVIE
-Travis
My Name Is Bruce was finished about a year ago, but very few people have ever seen it. The story is stars Bruce Campbell, star of the Evil Dead trilogy, playing himself. Fans mistake him as the character he plays in the films, Ash, and he is dragged from his Oregon trailer into a fight with a real monster.
It Seems that My Name Is Bruce is finally getting a wide theatrical release, as well as some money for a reshoot. This news comes from The Movie Blog by way of ShockTillYouDrop:
ShockTillYouDrop.com attended the Saturn Awards on Tuesday night in Universal City, California and caught up with Dark Horse Comics’ Mike Richardson, who told us that Bruce Campbell’s My Name is Bruce will hit theaters this October.
“Some people maybe thought the film fell out or that there was something wrong with it,” Richardson says, touching on Bruce’s slow journey getting before wide audiences. It was roughly a year ago that it screened to CineVegas film fest attendees. “We did our shoot, put it in the can and the studio that financed it liked it so much they gave us more money to do a second shoot. We beefed it up so it could go into the theaters.”
This is awesome news! This movie looks pretty hilarious, and I can’t wait to see what it looks now that they can afford to beef it up.
Here’s a trailer from last year.
-Travis
My life has taken a few weird turns in the last few months. I’ve neglected this site for far too long. Sorry.
-Travis.
Summer 2008 is going to be undoubtedly something to remember for a long time, so before we get there, I want to compose a list of reason and why I am looking forward to some, but not others.
First, Wall-E. Ratatouille was good, so were the rest of the Pixar features and shorts for that matter, but none are recognized as 10/10 by critics or fans… maybe a few here and there, but not significantly. So why am I so anxious to see this animated film? The world of cinema needs more animation. The Academy Awards need to be able to nominate an animated feature for best picture. There is no dialogue in the film.
I am a big fan of silent cinema, so when I found out that Wall-E didn’t have much of a vocabulary, I immediately decided this was in my “top 10 films of all times” list… and then reality came back and I still had not seen the film. Maybe it’s all hype at this point, but I cannot wait much longer to see Wall-E.
Second, Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Pan’s Labyrinth was visually stunning, with all it’s Guillermo Del Toro influence, I am amazed it is not held to higher praise. Hellboy 1 had it’s weak spots, but was still an excellent comic book adaptation. Hellboy II looks more like a continuation, or maybe a cross over of the two Guillermo worlds. Meaning this could very well be an amazing film, featuring some of the most unique and terrifying monsters ever shown on screen. I must be quite the Guillermo Del Toro fan, I cannot find many others who share my excitement for this Hellboy installment.
Third, The Dark Knight. Everyone seems to be looking forward to this huge name film, which is well deserved though. Batman Begins was magnificent, one of the darkest and most appropriate superhero films made to date. The viral game ads to it the anticipation also, however, I am not a follower of it. I regret not getting in to the game from the beginning, but that was beginning while the Cloverfield ARG was underway, and I felt as though there was much more mystery behind that (since it wasn’t intentionally a game from the beginning). Heath Ledger makes an awesome Joker, an since his recent passing away, having him get an Oscar nomination for this role would be great. The film’s posters, fan made included, look awesome and are giving myself, and everyone else, unreal anticipation for this film.
Forth, Ironman. At a sort of unfair advantage, Ironman has been given several early reviews of nothing but praise. Hopefully the critics in this case are not full of hot air, I find myself holding quite high expectations for this. I have also been following the progress of the film since early pre-production, so my exposure to the idea has had time to grow and I’ve become very fascinated by the idea. Also, Avengers movies.
Fifth, The Son of Rambow. I’ve only seen one good preview for the film, but now I cannot find that same preview again. That preview has given me such great hope for this film that I now talk about it constantly. The idea is original, the story seems touching and the critics that were at it’s premiere all seemed to love it. This may be a surprise blockbuster.
Sixth, Hancock. Will Smith.
Seventh, Mongol. I had the opportunity to see this at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival but I blew it. Now I’m kicking myself with regret. Oh well, I am glad this is getting a large release and actually being advertised in front of popular feature films. Mongol looks amazing and I’ve heard great things from high places.
Eighth, Speed Racer. The trailers are making this appeal to mostly 6 year olds, but one trailer that has not made it’s way around very well is actually very dark and appealing. I do not know why these films are marketed like this. I love being jaded by visual effects in stupid movies as much as the next 300 fan (however, I’m not a 300 fan), but this seems like it may actually have a deeper message and some seriously ground breaking green screening.
Ninth, The Fall. I have only recently seem the trailer for this, and I am I huge Spike Jonze and David Fincher fan. This film not only looks beautiful, it looks like it may be one of the best released this year. I actually only learned of it while writing the list below, or I would have placed this much higher.
—— I’m looking forward to the above nine films more than the rest, but there are still a handful of films months away from being released that I cannot wait to get my eyes on. Among them are: The Wackness, American Teen, Pineapple Express, Choke, Tropic Thunder, Vicky Christina Barcelona, Religulous, The Go-Getter, Baghead, Towelhead, Transsiberian and a few others that I may have forgotten to name.
-Keith
