Yeah, it’s a pretty good trailer for the second installment of the long NARNIA franchise we are to endure over the coming years but the memories of the painful first movie two years ago still lingers strong in my stomach.
I like that I see Tilda Swinton is back (I don’t know any book beyond THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE so that was a surprise to me) and the film certainly has a more adult and edgy feel to it. This one doesn’t look as bright or as clean as the last.
Still nothing distinct about this film from Andrew Adamson, a guy who seems to be desperately trying to find his own voice and visual style in the industry but it just ain’t happening for him. We already know Michael Apted (THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, ENIGMA) is taking over the directing duties for third movie.
I won’t say that is a necessary change until I’ve seen this movie. Or did I just say it anyway?
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I love IMDB but the greatest movie website of all time doesn’t half frustrate me sometimes. I love how anyone can vote for their opinion on each and every movie they have seen and it all gets logged and recorded, generating in a list which depicts the favourite movie of all time as voted by us.
But what about voting for actors and directors? Why can’t we do that?
Why can’t we see if Alfred Hitchcock really is the greatest director of all time, or at least his films the most popular?
Do we really hate Uwe Boll’s movies as much as we say?
Why can’t we knock Gore Verbinski off his high perch when he directs something like PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3?
That’s pretty much the aim of this new feature we are trying here at OWF. Each and everyday we are going to give you access to a new director’s page where you can see the filmography of his career and vote for their body of work.
These pages will stay up and running 24/7, just like IMDB. So if you give Christopher Nolan a 10 but then THE DARK KNIGHT sucks (which it won’t) next year, then you can bring that rating right down.
We are just counting the films these guys and gals have DIRECTED, and not anything they have written. If you have only seen a couple of the director’s movies, then I’m totally leaving it up to you to decide whether you have seen enough of the director’s filmography to give them an accurate rating.
Basically, you are just voting like you would on IMDB.
So first up, you have access to vote on the filmography of X-MEN, SUPERMAN and USUAL SUSPECTS director Bryan Singer. We would appreciate it if you took the small time to register with us before you vote so we can track everyone who has voted and as we add more, we will be keeping a rankings table, etc.
This is hardly news really, this is something we have known since PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END opened in May. But I will say it again for you…
Kiera Knightley and Orlando Bloom won’t return for anymore PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies.
It’s funny. I was watching FRIDAY NIGHT WITH JONATHAN ROSS here in the U.K. some months back when Knightley was out promoting ATONEMENT here in the U.K. and the subject turned to the PIRATES franchise and you could kinda tell that she didn’t have a good time on the last two movies.
She was all praise for the first film but when the subject turned to the last two movies, she only spoke of how fun it was to be fighting now. She even came up with the comment that she hadn’t even seen the last PIRATES movie, which to me just shows you how far she had put that franchise behind here.
So Kiera’s latest comments at a press junket for ATONEMENT once again (this time in Manhatten) aren’t really surprising but here they are…
“I can’t imagine doing another one. That was an amazing experience, really was, totally extraordinary, but I think three for me is probably enough.”
Will we miss Kiera or Bloom?
Not really. It’s plainly obvious that Jack Sparrow is the star of this franchise and is the only character that the screenwriters will focus on, with everyone else around them playing second fiddle. Their characters had very little to do in the last two movies and I firmly believe the young Brits starred in them for their paycheck and to honor their contracts.
The next PIRATES movie will be Jack Sparrow on his own, no question about it, probably with Geoffrey Rush in a supporting role. To be quite honest, Kiera is too good at what she does to carry on playing this mis-cast character (she was perfect for the first film, not for the action hero sequels).
Empire caught up with Mathieu Amalric, the French actor rumoured to be playing the villain in Daniel Craig’s next James Bond outing, and asked him about his possible involvement in the film.
Usually when this kind of thing happens the actor will dodge the question with a “no comment” or deny any involvement.
Kudos to Empire then for getting the star of THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTERFLY to come out and admit that he will be facing off against 007 in BOND 22. I hope they didn’t strap him to a seat-less chair or train a laser to his crotch to get that info out of him!
Amalric’s villainous role is thought to be that of Vespa Lynd’s boyfriend, a character hinted at towards the end of CASINO ROYALE.
I always see these villain roles are something of a thankless task. We love these films primarily because of Bond and his sexy and exotic arm candy. The villain usually just has to turn up, be all shifty and sinister and make sure you don’t stink up the joint by being overly hammy.
BOND 22 will start shooting in January under the directon of Marc Forster.
HBO Films are partnering with Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden on SUGAR, the duo’s follow-up to the well received HALF NELSON.
The network is currently mulling over whether to debut SUGAR on their TV network or give it a theatrical release through theatrical distribution company Picturehouse.
SUGAR, which has completed filmming, is described as…
“…a fish-out-of-water story about immigration and baseball. The fictional tale follows Miguel “Sugar” Santos, a Dominican baseball prospect who is sent to play in a small Midwestern town after being scouted in his home country.”
I liked HALF NELSON quite a lot, though it maybe wasn’t as great as the sum of its parts. Ryan Gosling’s performance was a revelation and the soundtrack, largely provided by Canadian indie rockers Broken Social Scene, both helped elevate the movie to something more than it was.
Fleck is a fairly economical, to-the-point director and he and partner Boden know how to craft believable, distinct characters so hopefully SUGAR will see them progress further as filmmakers.
The pair are also working on SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS for producer Scott Rudin at Miramax. The film focuses on a high school girl and a secret society.
I’m not sure what the hold up is in announcing the JUSTICE LEAGUE cast. There’s been so many rumours and “cast lists” that pretty much everybody who’s going to be in the film will have probably been identified by now. It’s the old monkeys-at-a-typewriter-coming-up-with-Shakespeare theory. Eventually the monekys get it right.
For now, I guess this LA Times article is the closest there is to something official.
Adam Brody has closed negotiations to play the Flash, the super-fast superhero in director George Miller’s “Justice League of America,” a source close to the deal said Tuesday. Warner Bros. Pictures, however, won’t confirm the news, saying the film still hasn’t been green-lighted.
The studio is expected to hold off on an announcement until all the roles are cast and a splashy news conference can herald the return of the beloved series. “Justice League of America” is one of Warner Bros.’ highest-priority films right now, with an anticipated 2009 release.
Brody has had a brush with superheroes before, getting the ultimate fanboy striptease in an episode of his TV show THE OC.
The paper also mentions Megan Gale’s alleged casting as Wonder Woman.
Brody, best known as the heartthrob on “The O.C.,” joins Australian supermodel Megan Gale, who was reportedly cast as Wonder Woman, apparently beating out Jessica Biel for the part.
Here’s a video of Gale from a recent talk show appearance. She has the looks for the part but obviously she’d have to de-Aussiefy her accent a bit.
Can she act, though? Personally I don’t think that really matters. If Tom Welling and Brandon Routh are proof of anything, it’s that the majority of geeks are perfectly happy to accept not very good good actors in these iconic parts so long as they look vaguely like the character.
Whilst on the YouTube jaunt I found a video of Armie Hammer, the 21-year-old actor who’ll probably be playing Batman. Hammertime had a part in a recent episode of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES where he flexed his acting chops playing “Hot Drug Dealer” opposite former Lois Lane Teri Hatcher.
Surprisingly after seeing that clip I don’t hate the idea Hammertime as Batman as much as I originally did. He has the build and voice for it but he’s still way too young. If the JUSTICE LEAGUE Bats was college age then great - but this is a grizzled, paranoid Dark Knight who sets up the Brother Eye spy satellite because he’s terrified of what the other heroes can do.
If Hammer wants to go all method as Bruce Wayne then he shouldn’t have a problem. Like Wayne he’s old money; Hammer’s great grandfather is famous industrialist Armand Hammer.
By the way, writing this post has made me realise how great YouTube is. Can you imagine the fun people would have had making early judgement calls on the likes of Sean Connery and Christopher Reeve if the net was around when they scored their big roles?
By simply listening and never judging his subjects, Morris has made a film that offers a fascinating perspective on one of the biggest foreign policy disasters in American history.
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UPDATE: 13:03 on March 19th
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