Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Armie Hammer Confirmed to Star in 'The Lone Ranger'
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Steven Spielberg's 'The Adventures of Tintin' Teaser Trailer
Paramount Pictures has released the first teaser trailer for the Peter Jackson-produced Steven Spielberg-directed performance capture animated adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin.
I think its interesting that it doesn't become obvious that this is a computer animated film until about 30 seconds in. Its also interesting that the "Secret of the Unicorn" subtitle has been removed, but I guess The Adventures of Tintin is simpler and easier to sell (and they'll need all the help they can get to sell it in the US market). While Tintin is incredibly popular in international territories, the character is rather unknown in the states. And the problem with this teaser trailer is that it doesn't explain much — it doesn't explain who Tintin is.
At the teaser trailer stage, the performance capture computer rendered animation looks better than most of the Robert Zemeckis-helmed projects. I suppose this will play in 3D attached to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides later this week, as the framing seems to focus on some of the 3D aspects (plane crashing as it approaches the camera…etc). Even the subheading of the title is pushing the "in 3D" aspect of the release. So I'm very interested to see how this looks in 3D on the big screen.
Watch the trailer embedded after the jump. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Watch the trailer in high definition on Apple, or in standard definition on Empire.
"THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN"
Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures Present
An Amblin Entertainment Production
A Wingnut Films Production
A Kennedy/Marshall Production
A Steven Spielberg Film
"The Adventures of Tintin"
Executive Producers Nick Rodwell Stephane Sperry Ken Kamins
Producers Steven Spielberg Peter Jackson Kathleen Kennedy
Screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish
Based on The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Cast: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.
Synopsis: Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures Present a 3D Motion Capture Film "The Adventures of Tintin" directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish. Starring Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliot," "Defiance") as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig ("Quantum of Solace," "Defiance") as the nefarious Red Rackham.
Based on the series of books The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé, the film is produced by Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy.
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Monday, May 16, 2011
CD Review: Ladytron - 'Best Of 00-10' (Nettwerk)
Finding 17, well ok, 15, tracks to comprise Ladytron's Best of 00-10 should not have been too much of an arduous task to say the least as, well, you probably could stick most any combination of tra...
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'Napoleon Dynamite: The Animated Series' Trailer
Last May it was announced that 20th Century Fox was developing an animated television series based on the 2004 Fox Searchlight film Napoleon Dynamite. A year later, Fox has released the first trailer for the upcoming series, Napoleon Dynamite: The Animated Series. The one minute promo is only a teaser, as the series won't air until Midseason 2012. Looks pretty much like you would expect, the question is: Is it still funny or are they capitalizing on the popularity of the 2004 indie a little too late? Watch the promo trailer now embedded after the jump. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Trailer:
Creators/Executive Producers
- Jared Hess
- Jerusha Hess
- Mike Scully
Voice Cast
- Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite
- Aaron Ruell as Kip
- Efren Ramirez as Pedro
- Tina Majorino as Deb
- Sandy Martin as Grandma
- Jon Gries as Uncle Rico
- Diedrich Bader as Rex
Official Plot Info:
Based on the hit film, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is an animated series that follows the continuing adventures of America's most awesome awkward teenager and his quirky family and friends as they struggle to navigate small-town life in rural Idaho.
The original cast from the film – Jon Heder, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Jon Gries and Diedrich Bader – will voice their characters in the series, and many new characters will be added along the way.
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Heder) is a 16-year-old boy convinced – for no apparent reason – that he is destined for greatness and blessed with unlimited "sweet abilities." He spends his days practicing ninja moves, drawing ligers, soul dancing and bragging about his "girlfriend in Oklahoma" whom nobody has ever seen. Napoleon's brother, KIP (Ruell), is an unemployed 32-year-old who lives at home and believes he would be an amazing catch for any girl who would respond to his online come-ons. The Dynamite brothers live with GRANDMA (Martin), a crusty woman who can often be found four-wheeling with her lady friends at the local sand dunes.
Napoleon's allies include PEDRO (Ramirez), his unflappable best friend who has recently been elected class president; and DEB (Majorino), an incredibly sweet girl who sees the good in Napoleon and dreams of someday being his wife. Napoleon's UNCLE RICO (Gries) lives out of an orange custom van, where he obsesses over his botched high school football career and dreams up ways to become rich and famous. Then there's REX KWON DO (Bader), a self-proclaimed martial-arts master who runs the local dojo.
Guest voices in the debut season include Jennifer Coolidge ("American Pie," "Legally Blonde"), Sam Rockwell ("Choke") and Jemaine Clement ("Flight of the Conchords").
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is a 20th Century Fox Television production. The series is created and executive-produced by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite," "Nacho Libre"), along with Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Mike Scully (THE SIMPSONS, "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Parks & Recreation"). The animation house is Rough Draft Studios ("Futurama," "The Simpsons Movie").
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Sunday, May 15, 2011
Enrique Iglesias Credits Nanny For His Big Break, Not Famous Dad
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Saturday, May 14, 2011
Watch The Never Before Seen Original Ending of Alexander Payne's 'Election'
One of my favorite films of the 1990′s is Alexander Payne's brilliant dark comedy Election starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon.
For those of you who haven't seen the film, Broderick stars as a high school civics teacher named Jim McAllister who will not let the school's annoying overachieving honor student Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) run unopposed for student body president. He convinces popular varsity football player Paul Metzler (a breakout performance from Chris Klein) to run for president as well, and anything and everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. While the film did well critically (Witherspoon's performance was voted the 45th Greatest Movie Performances of All Time by Premiere Magazine, and the film was ranked at #9 on Entertainment Weekly's 50 Best High School Movies) and was even nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, I run into a lot of film fanatics who have never seen this film (if you're a member of this group, I strongly encourage you to rent or buy it).
I've watched the film countless times, and have even seen the movie three times on the big screen. I was surprised to learn that the film's ending was not what was originally intended/written/filmed. The DVD release of the movie contains no deleted ending, and in doing research for this post, I couldn't even find a reference to an alternate ending for this movie anywhere on the web. But it exists — /Film reader John G sent me a link to the six-minute original ending sequence, which had been recently uploaded to YouTube. This footage was reportedly discovered on an unlabeled VHS tape containing an early work print of the film, sold at a local flea market. Watch the sequence embedded after the jump.
Note: If it isn't already obvious, its probably not worth watching unless you've seen the movie (and yes, spoilers).
In this never-before-seen ending, Jim McAllister does not move to New York City and have a final encounter with Tracey while visiting Washington, DC. Instead, Mr. McAllister becomes a car salesman who gets a last-minute visit from Tracy before she leaves for college. This ending doesn't work, in every possible way, although I can see what Payne was going for (we even get another reference to trash, a visual motief spread throughout the film).
Apparently they screened the film with this ending and the conclusion tested horribly. I heard that they sat on this ending for almost a year, before deciding to reshoot the ending as a more cynical epilogue. The film is based on a novel by author Tom Perrotta, who also wrote the book and screenplay for Todd Field's oscar-nominated 2006 film Little Children. I had never read Perrotta's original novel, but it turns out it included the ending with Mr. M working in car dealership. While I much prefer the theatrical ending that was raptured in additional photography, I'm glad this version has ended up online for all to see. It goes to show you that sometimes art needs time to take shape, even in film. And yes, rarely, test screening prompted reshoots can result in a much better film.
And just in case you are unable to read what Jim write at the end of the scene (the VHS transfer is pretty crappy), here is an excerpt from the original screenplay:
CLOSE ON JIM He looks at the yearbook. He looks at Tracy. He looks out the windshield. It's all so odd. CLOSE ON THE BLANK PAGE JIM begins to write: "Dear Tracy,"
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Friday, May 13, 2011
'Hobo With a Shotgun' and 'A Serbian Film' Directors Recruited For Horror Anthology 'The ABCs of Death'
The horror anthology is really coming back, and if things work out well Drafthouse Films, with Timpson Films and Magnet, might be right at the forefront of the mini-trend with a new project called The ABCs of Death. This is a massive anthology inspired by kids ABC books, in which twenty-five directors and one contest winner will each "be assigned a letter from the alphabet that represents a word to act as a springboard for a short. It will be up to each filmmaker to interpret, from accidental deaths to murders committed in cold blood."
In other words, this might be a bit like Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies. But with directors like Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police) and Srdjan Spasojevic (A Serbian Film) making the shorts, it could get a lot crazier than that. The full director list and a cute teaser poster is after the break.
Producer Ant Timpson said,
This project was inspired by my young sons being introduced to the world through their ABC's books. The idea of subverting that format to reveal a study in all the dastardly and humorous ways a person can leave this world appealed on multiple levels. And it was somewhat fitting to learn that the earliest forms of the ABCs books actually did use fear of punishment to teach the young.
Production should begin next month, and ideally things will be wrapped up early next year for release later in 2012. Variety broke the news late last night. Here's the full director list:
Banjong Pisanthanakun (Shutter), Angela Bettis (Roman), Adrian Garcia Bogliano (Cold Sweat), Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Ernesto Diaz Espinoza (Mirageman), Bruno Forzani and Héléne Cattet (Amer), Gadi Harel (DeadGirl), Thomas Malling (Norwegian Ninja), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police), Simon Rumley (Red, White and Blue), Tak Sakaguchi and Yuji Shimomura (Yakuza Weapon), Marcel Sarmiento (DeadGirl), Srdjan Spasojevic (A Serbian Film), Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre), Andrew Traucki (Black Water), Nacho Vigalando (TimeCrimes), Jake West (Evil Aliens), Ti West (The House of the Devil), Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace), Adam Wingard (A Horrible Way To Die).
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