the most anticipated...

[Джон Рейнольдс]

Sto mu gromova! Sad vidjeh na IMDb-u, Džon Burman radi Čarobnjaka iz Oza! 
To će da bude sjajno, sigurno će strašilo da povali Doroti i ko zna šta će još da se izdešava!

Ti, čini mi se, nisi gledao tursku verziju. Tamo imaš jedan veoma eksplicitan pederski momenat koji je u inferiornoj američkoj verziji gurnut u dvadeseti plan, ako je uopšte primetan. Ne vidim ko i kako može unaprediti tu priču, Burman, ne-Burman režirao ili nerežirao.

[Ghoul]

harv, burman o kome govoriš je dead & buried.

what has he done LATELY?!

[Tex Murphy]

Pitaj me to za oko godinu dana.

Osim toga, nema ni deset godina kako je snimio odličnog PANAMSKOG KROJAČA.

Čak da je samo to snimio, imao bi jedan dobar film više nego Lars fon Trir i Gaspar Noe zajedno.

[Ghoul]

ješćeš ti one ključeve, ješćeš, samo da mi padne šaka ANTIHRIST što pre!

[crippled_avenger]

Poštovani,


Sa ponosom Vas obaveštavamo da je na upravo završenom Kanskom filmskom festivalu akvizicija MCF MegaCom Filma bila, kao i ranijih godina, jako uspešna, tako da je iz zvanične selekcije festivala MCF otkupio i obezbedio za kasnije bioskopsko prikazivanje skoro sve nagređene filmove od kojih posebno izdvajamo dobitnika Zlatne Palme, film



BELA TRAKA (White Ribbon) – REŽIJA: MIHAEL HANEKE  / ZLATNA PALMA

koji će se od decembra naći u domaćim bioskopima



Mihael Haneke, austrijski reditelj, do sada je u Kanu osvojio Gran Pri festivala za film "Profesorka klavira" (2001.) i nagradu za najbolju režiju za film "Skriveno" (2005.).

Radnja filma "Bela traka" smeštena je pred sam početak Prvog svetskog rata u nemačkom protestantskom selu na severu zemlje. Film je snimljen u crno-beloj tehnici, i priča o deci i maldima koji pevaju u horu koji vodi seoski učitelj i njihovim porodicama... Dešava se čudna nesreća koja menja tok događaja...





Kao i sledeće nagrađene filmove:



·         Nagrada za najbolji scenario: PROLEĆNA GROZNICA (Spring Fever), režija: Lu Je, scenario: Feng Mei, kontroverznog autora Lu Jea poznatog sa predhodnog Festivala autorskog filma sa filmom  "Letnja palata".

·         Nagrada za najbolju žensku ulogu : ANTIHRIST (Antichrist), režija: Lars Fon Trir.

·         Nagrada žirija: AKVARIJUM (Fish Tank), režija: Andrea Arnold.

·         Počasna Zlatna Palma za izuzetan doprinos istoriji filma: DIVLJE TRAVKE (Les herbes folies / Wilde grass), režija: Alen Rene.

[crippled_avenger]

Seth Rogen to voice 'Paul' for Pegg
Cast added to Universal, Working Title comedy
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Rogen


Bateman


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More than one option(Co) Working Title Films
(Co) Working Title Television
More than one option(Person) Bill Hader
Actor
(Person) Bill Hader
ActorUniversal and Working Title Films have added Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch to the cast of "Paul."
The road trip laffer stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and will be directed by Greg Mottola.

Pegg and Frost, who wrote the script, will play two science-fiction fanatics on a road trip whose conspiracy dreams come true when they trek to Area 51 and encounter the title character, an escaped alien.

Rogen will provide the voice of the alien.

Working Title partners Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan will produce with Nira Park of Big Talk Prods. Shooting begins in June.

Pegg and Frost starred together previously in the Working Title-produced "Hot Fuzz" and "Shaun of the Dead."

Rogen last worked with Mottola on "Superbad." Hader also starred in that film, and just worked with Mottola and Wiig on "Adventureland."

Working Title and U most recently completed the Paul Greengrass-directed "The Green Zone," and the Richard Curtis-directed "The Boat That Rocked."

[crippled_avenger]

Israeli actress Liraz Charhi has been cast in Doug Liman's "Fair Game" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story follows former real life CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (Naomi Watts). Plame's status as an operative was severely compromised when the Bush administration leaked her identity.

Apparently this happened because of an editorial that Plame's husband, ambassador Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), wrote saying that the administration doctored intelligence on Iraq to make a case for war.

Charhi is set to play the role of Sawsan, an Iraqi doctor living in Cleveland who Plame sends to Baghdad to help gather intelligence on Saddam Hussein's nuclear program.

The catch is that Plame has to bring Sawsan's brother to the U.S.

The film is currently shooting in New York and the Middle East.

[crippled_avenger]

Roger Donaldson ("The Bank Job") is in negotiations to direct the paranoia thriller "Umbra" for Relativity Media says Variety.

Plot details on the project are being kept under wraps. Steven Karczynski wrote the original screenplay.

Hal Lieberman, Ryan Kavanaugh and Tucker Tooley are producing.

[Milosh]

wow... ovo izgleda potpuno dementno, jedva čekam!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxB0yXfpQZ8

[crippled_avenger]

Tom Cruise is zeroing in on the 20th Century Fox action comedy "Wichita" as his next star vehicle.
He'll pair with Cameron Diaz in the James Mangold-directed film. That ends a serious courtship that the star had since January with some of the highest-profile projects in Hollywood.

According to sources, Cruise and Diaz have approved the script, and their deals are in advanced negotiations. While Fox has not officially dated the picture, sources said the studio is eyeing a summer 2010 release.

The script has been through many machinations, but the most recent drafts were done by Scott Frank, with Mangold currently fine-tuning the script with Laeta Kalogridis ("Shutter Island"). Two-hander has several action scenes.

Cruise will play a secret agent who pops in and out of the life of a single woman.

Since the opening of "Valkyrie," Cruise has been courted for and has shown serious interest in the Len Wiseman-directed DreamWorks thriller "Motorcade"; the Bharat Nalluri-directed Spyglass remake "The Tourist"; the David Cronenberg-directed MGM drama "The Matarese Circle"; the Universal/Working Title romantic comedy "Lost for Words"; and "The 28th Amendment," the Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck-directed Warner Bros. thriller.

The competition for the slot came down to "Wichita" and "Motorcade." It is possible that Cruise might do one of the other projects down the line.

[crippled_avenger]

WB nabs 'Hench' for McBride
Studio acquires graphic novel
By MICHAEL FLEMING
McBride


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More than one option(Person) Danny McBride
Story By, Executive Producer, Actor
(Person) Danny McBride
Actor, Director, ScreenplayWarner Bros. has acquired "Hench" and will develop the AIT/Planet Lar graphic novel as the template for a comic screen vehicle for Danny McBride, who is set to write the script with Shawn Harwell.
McBride will play a football player who suffers a career-ending injury and needs a job. He signs on as henchman to a successful villain.

Original Films' Neal Moritz will produce with Jason Netter's Kickstart Prods. and McBride. Ken Levin and Ori Marmur will be exec producers.

The graphic novel was created by Adam Beechen and Mario Bello.

McBride and Harwell have collaborated as writers on episodes of the former's HBO series "Eastbound and Down."

McBride, who next stars opposite Will Ferrell in Universal's "Land of the Lost," is preparing to star for that studio in the David Gordon Green-directed "Your Highness." McBride wrote the script and joins Scott Stuber as producer. After that, McBride will return for a second season of his HBO series.

CAA brokered the deal.

[crippled_avenger]

Verhoeven on tap for 'Surrogate'
Fox thriller lures Dutch director back to Hollywood
By Borys Kit

May 28, 2009, 11:00 PM ET
Paul Verhoeven is coming back to America.

The Dutch director, who most recently helmed his native-tongued "Black Book," has come aboard to develop and direct "The Surrogate," a thriller for 20th Century Fox. Ralph Winter is producing via his Winter Road shingle along with Deborah Giarratana, Robin Guthrie and Susana Zepeda.

Based on the 2004 book by Kathryn Mackel, the story centers on a couple desperate to have a child who find themselves in an unbearable position when they find out the surrogate they hired to carry their baby is insane.

The project originally was set up at Fox Atomic but moved to Fox proper when Atomic was shuttered. Debbie Liebling, who ran Atomic, is overseeing "Surrogate."

Roderick Taylor and Bruce Taylor wrote the original draft.

Winter, a producer on Fox's "X-Men" movies, most recently was a producer on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." 

Verhoeven, repped by ICM and Marion Rosenberg, became one of Hollywood's most sought-after directors in the 1990s with such movies as "Total Recall" and "Basic Instinct." He became disenchanted with Tinseltown after his 2000 sci-fi thriller "Hollow Man" fizzled. He then returned to the Netherlands, where he made "Book." The World War II thriller won several awards and thrust him back in the limelight.

Verhoeven is developing several projects, including "The Winter Queen," with Milla Jovovich attached to star.

[crippled_avenger]

Matt Johnson's buddy action spec script "Trans Am" has been picked up by Warner Bros. Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

The Southern-fried buddy action script centers on a disgraced sheriff's deputy and a repentant getaway driver who must elude a federal manhunt when they join forces to bring an escaped bank robber to justice.

The action unfolds along the Mississippi River in the vein of a Deep South-set 48 Hours.

[crippled_avenger]

John Stockwell ("Blue Crush," "Turistas") has signed up to direct the action-comedy "Roadkill" for Lleju Productions says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story revolves around two amateur private detectives who take on more than they anticipated when they agree to protect a high-end escort being pursued by a female assassin.

While on the run, they discover what could be a government conspiracy. Nick Ball and John Niven penned the script while Bill Perkins is producing.

[crippled_avenger]

Jake Kasdan ("Walk Hard," "Zero Effect") has signed on to direct the comedy "Bad Teacher" for Sony Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story concerns a foul-mouthed seventh grade teacher who is dumped by her sugar daddy and starts to pursue a colleague, which provokes conflict with the school's model teacher.

Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg penned the script while Jimmy Miller is producing.

[crippled_avenger]

I just got off the phone with actor Dolph Lundgren, where we discussed his latest film on DVD, Direct Contact, which comes to DVD and Blu-ray on June 2, but we also talked about his role in the new Sylvester Stallone film, The Expendables. Here's what Lundgren had to say about the upcoming film.

Can you talk a little bit about The Expendables that you have coming out? Have you wrapped on that?

Dolph Lundgren: No, we're about halfway through. Most of my stuff is still left. I've done a couple of scenes and it's a pleasure working with Stallone again. He's a very experienced guy. You know, I direct myself, so I appreciate his advice because I can pass it on. Few people have more experience than him, a lead in a big action movie. I mean, how many big movies has he done in his career? Maybe 30? Big studio pictures? That was fun, so now that I get to suck up his advice and it's really fun for me. It's a pleasure. It's a really good character for me too. I'm the outcast-of-the-family sort of thing. I go back and forth between the good family and the bad guys, so there's a lot of great stuff and certainly a lot of action.

So, your character plays both sides then?

Dolph Lundgren: Yeah. I get to play both good and bad. It's a little crazy. He's a guy with a heart, and Stallone is no friend of his in the movie. He was my old buddy and we end up parting ways, it gets ugly and there's sort of a surprise. You'll see.

Lundgren also talked about another film he both starred in and directed, Command Performance, and Universal Soldiers: The Next Generation.

You talked a bit about Command Performance, and I have to say the trailer looked awesome, so I was curious if there was a release date planned for that as of yet?

Dolph Lundgren: We just finished the film now and, because it's a smaller movie - it looks big and whatnot - it needs to be screened to the distributors and we'll find out what's going to happen in the U.S. in the next couple of weeks. We'll know more in a month or two.

You also have Universal Soldiers: The Next Generation as well, so how has that work been going?

Dolph Lundgren: Well, I did a small cameo. John Hyams is the director and he's a pretty good writer. That's a really violent movie. It's a very hardcore violent movie. They have a lot of MMA guys in it, we break a few skulls. It was fun to work with (Jean-Cladue) Van Damme again and with John Hyams. I haven't seen much of the film, because I only worked on it for two weeks, but I'm sure it's going to turn out good.

[crippled_avenger]

Halle Berry is in talks to star in thriller "The Surrogate" for 20th Century Fox.
Helmer Paul Verhoeven is onboard to develop the project, which revolves around a couple who hire a surrogate to carry their child and find out mid-term that the surrogate is insane.

Project would mark Berry's return to the bigscreen after having a baby last year. She hasn't starred in a film since 2007's "Perfect Stranger" opposite Bruce Willis.

"The Surrogate," which had been in development at the now-shuttered Fox Atomic, would also reteam Berry with producer Ralph Winter, who produced Fox's "X-Men" trilogy, in which the actress starred.

Rod and Bruce Taylor ("The Brave One") penned the screenplay, which is based on a novel by Kathryn Mackel.

Winter is producing alongside Susana Zepeda, Robin Guthrie and Deborah Giarratana.

Berry is repped by ICM.

[crippled_avenger]

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is starring with Chris Klein, Adam Rodriguez and Richard T. Jones in "Caught in the Crossfire," a police corruption drama. Newcomer Brian Miller wrote the script and is directing.

Lensing is just getting underway in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jackson's Cheetah Vision Films partner Randall Emmett is producing with R.D. Miller, who raised the equity to finance the film through his company Miller and Miller Films. Jackson is executive producer with Chris Lighty and Tim Roth.

The drama concerns two homicide detectives who find themselves caught in the crossfire of a gang-related homicide and a group of dirty cops. Jackson plays a gang-banger who becomes a reluctant informant.

Miller went to film school in Grand Rapids and is making his directing debut on "Crossfire."

Jackson and Emmett launched Cheetah Vision at Sundance. Aside from "Crossfire," they are producing "Jekyll and Hyde," the Abel Ferrara-directed retelling of the classic story that will star Jackson and Forest Whitaker. They are also planning another untitled drama they will self-finance as a star vehicle for Jackson, with Benny Boom ("Next Day Air") directing. Production will begin in October.

[crippled_avenger]

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is following in the footsteps of football star-turned-actor Eric Cantona with his first acting role in Stefanie Sycholt's Themba.


Lehman, who now plays for VfB Stuttgart, has been cast as football talent scout, John Jacobs. The film is currently shooting in South Africa.

Based on the novel of the same name by German-Dutch writer Lutz van Dijk, Sycholt's film follows eleven year-old Themba (whose name means hope) as he journeys from a poor background to playing for Bafana Bafana, the South African national football team.

The cast is made up of a mix of non-professionals, newcomers and well-known South African actors such as Patrick Mofokeng and Anelisa Phewa and rising singer Simphiwe Dana, with Junior Singo in the lead role as Themba.

The German-South African co-production between Zeitsprung Entertainment and Rheingold Films with DO Productions is shooting in English and the local Xhosa language.

The producers are planning to release Themba internationally next summer to coincide with the World Cup in South Africa.

Former Manchester United and France footballer Cantona has an extended cameo appearance in Ken Loach's upcoming Looking For Eric, which is due to be released across Europe this summer.

[Albedo 0]

Sto mu gromova! Sad vidjeh na IMDb-u, Džon Burman radi Čarobnjaka iz Oza! 
To će da bude sjajno, sigurno će strašilo da povali Doroti i ko zna šta će još da se izdešava!

Ti, čini mi se, nisi gledao tursku verziju. Tamo imaš jedan veoma eksplicitan pederski momenat koji je u inferiornoj američkoj verziji gurnut u dvadeseti plan, ako je uopšte primetan. Ne vidim ko i kako može unaprediti tu priču, Burman, ne-Burman režirao ili nerežirao.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0801820/

[crippled_avenger]

Jack Nicholson is in negotiations to reteam with James L. Brooks on the helmer's untitled romantic comedy at Columbia Pictures.
Nicholson is the last piece of casting to come together on the ensemble project, which stars Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson.

For months, Bill Murray had been in talks to portray the blueblood father of Rudd's character, but no deal closed. In recent weeks Murray's interest in the project waned and he fell out of touch.

With Murray unresponsive and production scheduled to start in less than two weeks, Brooks reached out to Nicholson.

Brooks, who also penned the screenplay, is producing alongside Paula Weinstein ("Blood Diamond"), Laurence Mark ("Dreamgirls") and Gracie Films prexy Julie Ansell.

Story involves a love triangle, with Rudd playing a white-collar executive vying for Witherspoon's affections, and Wilson portraying a professional baseball pitcher who is also a love interest.

Two of Nicholson's three Oscars have come via Brooks films: 1983's "Terms of Endearment" and 1997's "As Good as It Gets."

[crippled_avenger]

Overture Films is developing a modern-day adaptation of the William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" with Emile Hirsch starring, "Twilight" helmer Catherine Hardwicke directing and Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen producing.
Ron Nyswaner ("Philadelphia," "the Painted Veil") is adapting the story, in which a young man burdened with deciding whether to take revenge on his father's killer would take place in contemporary America.

"With its universal themes of death, revenge, love and even teen angst - the story of 'Hamlet' is perhaps as timely and influential today as it was when it was written over 400 years ago," said Overture CEO Chris McGurk and chief operating officer Danny Rosett.

Hirsch previously worked with Jinks and Cohen on "Milk" and with Hardwicke on "Lords of Dogtown."

Jinks and Cohen, in an announcement Tuesday, credited Hirsch with the modernized version and said there hasn't been a movie version with an appropriately-aged actor playing the role. Overture said it hopes to have a finished script in the coming months with principal photography commencing soon thereafter.

"Hamlet" has been adapted numerous times for th screen, including Laurence Olivier's 1948 version, which won the best picture Oscar.

Other notable "Hamlet" pics include a 1969 version directed by Tony Richardson and starring Nicol Williamson, Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 film starring Mel Gibson and Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version.

[crippled_avenger]

Javier Bardem has joined the cast of Oliver Stone's "Wall Street 2" says Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko, and Shia LaBeouf plays a young trader engaged to marry Gekko's daughter in the follow-up to Stone's 1987 feature.

According to the site, the story is set 21 years later in the second half of 2008 when Gekko sees the financial crisis coming but is focused on his estranged daughter (still to be cast) and her upcoming nuptuals.

Bardem will play a hedge fund manager who's dealings have caused the suicide of the mentor of Gekko's new son-in-law (LaBeouf). Shooting kicks off August 10th for a February 2010 release.

[Milosh]

Nisam znao gde drugde da pomenem ovaj zanimljiv intervju u kome predivna Olivia Thirlby, između ostalog, priča o filmu "What Goes Up", a koji zvuči zanimljivo na osnovu ovog opisa:

"Jonathan Glatzer's WHAT GOES UP (formerly SAFETY GLASS), an incredibly ambitious, set-in-1986 dark comedy about a burned-out New York City journalist, Campbell Babbitt (Steve Coogan), who gets sent to "Siberia" (i.e. New Hampshire) to cover the impending launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger - which counts among its crew a local hero by the name of Christa McAuliffe. Almost immediately upon arriving, Babbitt finds himself caught up in the lives of a group of high school-aged outcasts who've built up a cult around their favorite high school teacher - who's just committed suicide. Being that the teacher was an old college buddy of Babbitt's, the kids latch onto the reporter as a replacement guru of sorts. This threatens to go disastrously wrong when the very cute and deeply confused Lucy (Hilary Duff) falls for Babbitt."

a evo ga i kompletni intervju ovde: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/41292

[crippled_avenger]

Assata aka Joanne Chesimard
By RONNIE SCHEIB

Read other reviews about this film
Powered By MRQE Review
An FBFVCO production. Produced by Fred Baker. Executive producers, Kat Roberts-Henry, Baker. Directed, written by Fred Baker.

With: Charles Everett, Erika Vaughn, Char Sydney, Jack P. Dempsey, Kathleen Cleaver, Rosemari Mealy, Assata Shakur.

Revolving around the controversial real-life case of Black Panther Assata Shakur, who famously escaped prison and took refuge in Cuba after being convicted of killing a New Jersey policeman in the '70s, Fred Baker's docudrama, "Assata aka Joanne Chesimard," voices a powerful rallying cry when dealing directly with the activist. Unfortunately, the writer-helmer-producer wraps his slice of history in the half-baked love story of a fictional couple researching the subject, trivializing events in the process. Indifferent writing, poor line readings and an awkward marriage of narrative and documentary elements make the pic unlikely to travel beyond fests.

Through present-day interviews with surviving movement figures, contemporaneous newsreels and black-and-white reconstructions, Baker places Shakur's case in the context of a roll call of slain Panthers, convincingly arguing her innocence and the guilty collusion of police and government agencies. That the FBI posted a million-dollar bounty on the "domestic terrorist" in 2005 only adds contemporary relevance. But atrocious acting -- Baker delivering the only decent performance as lefty defense attorney William Kunstler -- and shots of the bikini-clad researcher/heroine splashing on Havana beaches vitiate the pic's political impact.


Camera (color, DV), Jato Smith; editor, Tracy Utley; music, Roy Hargrove; art director, Shaun Fillion. Reviewed on DVD, New York, April 10, 2009. (In Harlem Film Festival.) Running time: 96 MIN.

[crippled_avenger]

Dachimawa Lee
Dajjimawa Rhee: Aginiyeo Jioghaeng Geubhaengyeolchareul Tara (South Korea)
By DEREK ELLEY

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A Showbox/Mediaplex release and presentation of a Filmmaker R&R production. (International sales: Showbox, Seoul.) Produced by Gang Hye-jeong. Executive producer, Yu Jeong-hun. Directed by Ryoo Seung-wan. Screenplay, Ryoo, Gweon Hyeok-jae.

With: Im Weon-heui, Gong Hyo-jin, Park Shi-yeon, Hwang Bo-ra, Kim Byeong-ok, Kim Su-hyeon, Ahn Gil-kang, Ryu Seung-beom, Jeong Seok-yong, Oh Ji-hye.
(Korean, Japanese, English dialogue)

France's hugely successful "OSS 117" retro spy parodies are joined by the rather less successful "Dachimawa Lee," a tribute to tacky South Korean '60s-'70s actioners that should be way more fun than it is. Slugfest specialist Ryoo Seung-wan ("No Blood No Tears," "Arahan") hits all the right buttons in the first half-hour but runs out of steam and ideas after an overextended midsection. Much-hyped pic performed disappointingly at home late last summer, but genre addicts can check out this curio on ancillary.

The film's extended title (which translates to "Devil! Take the Train to Hell") refers to a 1976 classic of the so-called hwalgeuk genre, directed by prolific action star of the period, Park No-shik. The plot, however, is completely different, and Ryoo's slick production values are vastly superior to those of any of the actual hwalgeuk actioners, most of which look extremely tacky today.

The hero's name, Dachimawa Lee, is Japanese-derived Korean slang for a fight in which one hoodlum takes on many. He's played here (as in Ryoo's larky, low-budget 2000 short of the same title) by Im Weon-heui, with a comically grandiose lack of humor that reps a Korean version of OSS 117's lack of irony. Im's hectoring delivery and didactic dialogue parody an age when South Korea was controlled by a moralizing military junta, and the thesp's performance is the movie's one consistent delight.

After a Bond-ish prologue in 1942 Moscow, involving deadly turncoat Madame Jang (Oh Ji-hye), and a jazzy main title involving lots of split screen and Lalo Schifrin-like music, pint-sized super-agent Lee (Im) improbably races around the globe to find a Golden Buddha statuette containing a list of Korean spies the Japanese also want.

As he flits from Tokyo to Shanghai, from the U.S. to Manchuria, and finally to Switzerland -- the whole movie was shot in South Korea -- Lee is partnered with glamorous femme agent Mari (Park Shi-yeon, good), pines for love-of-his-life agent Yeon-ja (Gong Hyo-jin) and is hunted by enemy agent Damanegi (Kim Su-hyeon).

Action scenes vary from excellent to just OK, and retro production and costume design (except in the Shanghai seg) are strong. But the wind goes out of the movie's sails during a long central section in Manchuria -- involving Lee losing his memory and meeting a kooky girl (Hwang Bo-ra) -- that pales in comparison with anything in "The Good the Bad the Weird." Thereafter, the pic never recovers its opening brio.


Camera (color), Jo Yong-gyu; editor, Nam Na-yeong; music, Choi Seung-hyeon; production designer, Yang Hong-sam; costume designers, Gweon Yu-jin, Kim Na-hyeong; sound (Dolby Digital), Jeong Gun; special effects supervisors, Jeong Do-an, Kim Tae-heui; visual effects supervisors, Lee Jeong-hyeong, Choi Jae-cheon; action choreographers, Jeong Du-hong, Heo Myeong-haeng; assistant director, Gweon Hyeok-jae. Reviewed on DVD, London, May 1, 2009. (In New York Asian Film Festival.) Running time: 98 MIN.

[crippled_avenger]

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
By TODD MCCARTHY

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'The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3'
Subway dispatcher Denzel Washington must deal with a hijacking in 'The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.'
A Sony Pictures Entertainment release of a Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures presentation in association with Relativity Media of a Scott Free/Escape Artists production. Produced by Todd Black, Tony Scott, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch. Executive producers, Michael Costigan, Ryan Kavanaugh. Co-executive producers, Linda Favila, Anson Downes. Directed by Tony Scott. Screenplay, Brian Helgeland, based on the novel by John Godey.

Walter Garber - Denzel Washington
Ryder - John Travolta
Camonetti - John Turturro
Phil Ramos - Luis Guzman
John Johnson - Michael Rispoli
Mayor - James Gandolfini

Predictably ratcheted up a few notches from the original 1974 film and cloaked in contemporary sociological relevance, "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" is an efficiently reworked version of a tense, ticking-clock suspense story. More than anything a fascinating portrait of how much New York has changed in 35 years, the film delivers the goods in excitement and big-star charisma, with the contrasting low-key and cranked-up acting styles of Denzel Washington and John Travolta playing off one another nicely. Comparatively low-tech thriller looks to hijack solid-to-strong returns for Sony before the tentpoles take over most of the nation's screens.

First adaptation of John Godey's novel is a minor classic in the early-'70s school of gritty Gotham crime yarns. Directed by Joseph Sargent and written by Peter Stone, it pitted Walter Matthau's sardonic subway dispatcher against Robert Shaw's cold-blooded mercenary as the latter commandeered a subway train and promised to start killing one hostage per minute unless $1 million in cash was delivered within an hour.

The contrast between the old and new pictures is less interesting as a comparison of styles -- with Tony Scott, you know what you're going to get in terms of heavily worked images and blaring soundtrack -- than as one of society. In the early '70s, as reflected in "Pelham," the city looked grungy to the point of dilapidation, verging on political meltdown (the portrait of a sickly mayor who just wants to hide in bed is jaw-dropping) and dominated ethnically by Jews and Italians.

This time around, the transit system's central control HQ is as high-tech as a NASA command post, local authorities are tight knots of anxious professionalism and the population is a rainbow coalition come to fruition. Communication is also a whole lot better -- even if there's still no wireless service on the subway -- and the casual racism and sexism of some of the characters in the original are mostly gone.

Eschewing inessentials, Scott and screenwriter Brian Helgeland get right down to business. An armed gang of four, led by the thuggish-looking Ryder (Travolta), efficiently takes over the lead car of a downtown 6 train, shoots a plainclothes cop and, with 18 hostages cowering at gunpoint, gives the city 60 minutes to hand over -- inflation well taken into account -- $10 million.

Finding this crisis in his lap is dispatcher Walter Garber (Washington), who insists to Ryder that he's "just a guy," a cog in the city bureaucracy with no power to deal with a high-stakes hostage situation. But in between issuing blunt demands and threats, Ryder takes an apparent liking to the regular Joe, pressing him about his life and, in the process, revealing scraps of useful information about himself.

Helgeland's script thus pushes into directions Stone's did not, establishing personal links between the hijacker and his opposite number. But the film also is interested in a bigger picture; a dark episode in Garber's career is pushed front and center, forcing a facile but still provoking contrast concerning degrees, gravity and justifiability of different types of criminality, from high to low, white-collar to blue-collar, municipal to private. Pressed any further, the thematic implications would become pretentious but, as is, the elaboration grafts a little meat onto generic characters.

With the minutes quickly counting down, Garber is briefly replaced at the microphone by a professional hostage negotiator (John Turturro); the mayor (James Gandolfini, very good) moans and groans while dashing about town; hundreds of cops are deployed; and, with another killing, Ryder makes it deadly clear he's not kidding.

Compact story and high-pressure situation would seem to make this an all but fool-proof thriller concept, and Scott messes up only in his execution of a climactic stretch in which Ryder sends the subway car loose on a high-speed run toward Coney Island. By artificially jimmying the film speed, indulging in step-framing and his other visual tricks, the director in fact decreases the terrifying sense of speed that smart editing of real-time cinematography can provide.

Final act has been contrived to get Garber out of his antiseptic office and down into the subway tunnel, where he can morph into something resembling an action hero. Washington's notably increased bulk makes it unlikely he could run as fast and far as he must here, but the actor's time-tested skill at quietly setting the bait with masterful underplaying and making it all pay off down the line prevails once again.

As for Travolta, his over-the-top early scenes create some concern. But as Ryder settles into his verbal sparring with Garber, the characterization becomes more modulated, and the actor's obviously delight with his role becomes contagious. Shaw gave real, understated gravity to his version of the part and remains the strongest element of the original film, but Travolta takes the baddie in an entirely different direction and does just fine.

Ryder's three cohorts should have been given a few lines with which to individualize themselves, while a few of the hostage characters have their moments. Location work provides plenty of atmosphere, as do the extensive scenes below ground.


Camera (Deluxe color, Panavision widescreen), Tobias Schliessler; editor, Chris Lebenzon; music, Harry Gregson-Williams; production designer, Chris Seagers; art director, David Swayze; set decorator, Regina Graves; costume designer, Renee Ehrlich Kalfus; sound (Dolby Digital/SDDS/DTS), Tom Nelson; supervising sound editors, Kami Asgar, Sean McCormack; sound designer, Paul Pirola; supervising sound mixers, Paul Massey, David Giammarco; senior visual effects supervisor, Nathan McGuinness; visual effects supervisor, Marc Varisco; visual effects, Asylum; special effects supervisor, John Frazier; stunt coordinator, Chuck Picerni; associate producers, Don Ferrarone, John Wildermuth, Richard Baratta; assistant director, Wildermuth; second unit director-camera, Alexander Witt; casting, Denise Chamian. Reviewed at Sony Studios, Culver City, June 2, 2009. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 106 MIN.

[crippled_avenger]

Newsmakers
Goryachie Novosti (Russia - Sweden)
By ALISSA SIMON

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A Cinema Without Frontiers (in Russia) release of a Tandem Pictures (Russia)/Illusion Film, Film i Vast (Sweden)/Maywin Media (Russia) production, co-financed by Swedish Film Institute, Peter "Piodor" Gustafsson, in association with Media Asia Films. (International sales: Cinema Vault, Toronto.) Produced by Sam Klebanov, Anna Katchko. Executive producers, Tomas Eskilsson, Johan Falemark, John Chong. Co-producers, Peter Hiltunen, Alexander Sizov. Directed by Anders Banke. Screenplay, Sam Klebanov, Aleksandr Lungin, based on the original film "Breaking News."

With: Andrei Merzlikin, Yevgeni Tsyganov, Mariya Mashkova, Sergey Garmash, Maksim Konovalov, Yuri Shlykov.

Hong Kong helmer Johnnie To's 2004 crimer/media critique, "Breaking News," spawned several remakes; the first to hit screens is Russian-Swedish co-production "Newsmakers," from Swedish director Anders Banke ("Frostbite). The Moscow-set actioner tracks a showdown between a gang of resourceful thieves and local police that escalates into a full-scale special-forces attack shown on live television. Although the transposition of the narrative works well, the result proves more cynical and self-conscious than To's pic and lacks its bravura moving camera. Still, Banke's near-cartoonish version provides some undemanding thrills that will entertain cineastes and genre fans. Pic opened wide locally in April.

The first-ever Russian remake of an Asian title, "Newsmakers" opens with old-school plainclothes officer Smirnov (Andrei Merzlikin) in a residential neighborhood near the center of the capital, tailing a group of heavily muscled, well-armed robbers, led by the ever-calm Herman (Yevgeni Tsyganov). When the police accidentally spook the bad guys into a show of firepower, a nearby TV cameraman captures the resulting battle.

The footage, which shows a number of dead bodies and a cowering, crying rookie cop, transfixes the nation and infuriates top staff at police HQ (who have heard a thing or two from the Kremlin). Callow PR director Katya (Mariya Mashkova) takes a crack at the image problem, suggesting they create a reality show that demonstrates the efficiency and humanity of the police as they capture the gang.

After Smirnov and his men track the robbers to a high-rise housing project, Katya, no believer in "that tired old secrecy," deploys special-forces teams equipped with tiny cameras on their helmets, and invites the media to follow the assault in real time. As Katya works on product placement, blithely assuring her distraught elders that each unfavorable turn of events can be corrected in editing, the criminals engage in some media spin of their own.

Gleefully mordant script, by producer-distrib Sam Klebanov (who has an amusing turn as a big-name advertising director) and Aleksandr Lungin, pokes fun at the locals' lack of esteem for the Russian police and the forces' reputation for corruption. Overall, however, the characterizations are broader and less developed than in "Breaking News."

Although he may lack To's cinematic flair, Russian-fluent helmer Banke here displays the understanding of genre, suspense and comedy that distinguished his debut, together with the ability to make a little look like a lot. Used iconically, the large cast of top Russian talent looks good, but the weak link is Mashkova, who is unable to translate her beauty into a more formidable screen presence.

Slick tech package does its best, but can't quite disguise the pic's relatively low budget.
More than one option



Camera (color), Chris Maris; editor, Fredrik Morheden; music, Anthony Lledo; production designer, Grigori Pushkin; costume designer, Tatiana Vodovina; sound (Dolby Digital), Niclas Merits, Niklab Skarp, Per Bostrom. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (market), May 19, 2009. (Also in Tribeca Film Festival -- Midnight.) Running time: 110 MIN.

[Son of Man]

Nisam znao di da turim pa ga evo  :

Another Manson Film On the Way?

We've heard from a couple of reliable sources that last week's rumored collaboration between Oliver Stone and Vincent Bugliosi for a big-screen reboot of Helter Skelter was just that -- a rumor. But apparently Bugliosi's involvement with Charlie Manson is far from over as he IS attached to the upcoming Taming the Beast as an Executive Creative Consultant.

Manson followers are probably familiar with the novel Taming the Beast: Charles Manson's Life Behind Bars, which was co-written by Edward George, who was Charles Manson's prison counselor for eight years during the late 1970's/early 1980's, and Dary Matera, an author and newspaper columnist who specializes in real-life casebooks. Producer Thurane Aung Khin adapted the screenplay from the book and dropped us a line with a link to the Taming the Beast MySpace page, according to which Jeremy Davies of "Lost" was at one time approached to portray Manson.

http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/31864/another-manson-film-on-way

Dojaja, ali dojaja, pa realno Jeremy Davis je pokido ulogu u Helter Skelteru directors cutu, i ja mislim da samo on i treba da igra Mansona ubuduce jer cak i u Lostu on ima taj specifichan trip sa rukama i uopste sa govorom tela ko Charli 

[crippled_avenger]

Time Inc. Studios and XYZ Films have joined the race to mount biopics of John DeLorean, the innovative car designer who lost everything when he was accused of drug trafficking in an attempt to save his failing car company.
The Time/XYZ project joins two other projects aspiring to bring the DeLorean saga to the bigscreen. "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner is using his first-look deal with India's Reliance Big Entertainment to set up a DeLorean pic he plans to direct, with James Toback writing the script and Robert Evans producing.

And producer David Permut is working on a DeLorean pic with producer Steven Lee Jones that is using life rights from the late DeLorean's longtime attorney, Mayer Morganroth (Daily Variety, March 4).

Time Inc. Studios, which forged a deal with XYZ Films last year to hatch films fueled by underlying rights from articles culled from Time Inc. magazines, kicks off the untitled project with a rights package that includes articles from Fortune and Time; the Hillel Levin-penned DeLorean book "Grand Delusions"; and an unpublished memoir written by DeLorean himself. Just as important, Time Inc. Studios and XYZ say they have cooperation from the car designer's longtime friend and business partner Fred Dellis and from DeLorean son Zachary DeLorean, executor of the DeLorean estate.

The picture will be produced by Time Inc. Studios president Paul Speaker; XYZ partners Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer and Aram Tertzakian; and Tamir Ardon, who is himself producing a docu on DeLorean.

Spicer said that the DeLorean tale has long tempted filmmakers, but while he was alive, the carmaker would never let a picture be made without steering it himself. DeLorean's son and friend, however, are ready for a truthful telling of the rise and fall of the entrepreneur, bolstered by 500 pages of the DeLorean-penned memoir.

After his arrest in 1982, DeLorean pressed a defense that he was entrapped by the FBI and was eventually acquitted. Still, his company went bankrupt after producing only 9,000 automobiles, including the DMC-12 model featured in the "Back to the Future" films.

"It is almost like an updated 'Citizen Kane' story of the great American entrepreneurial hero and how it all went wrong," said XYZ's Spicer.

[crippled_avenger]

Liam Neeson is in negotiations with 20th Century Fox to star in its long-gestating bigscreen adaptation of "The A-Team" as Col. John "Hannibal" Smith. Bradley Cooper is in early talks to play Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck in the Joe Carnahan-directed pic based on the 1980s TV series.
Production begins in late August for a June 11, 2010, release.

Ridley Scott is producing with Jules Daly and series creator Stephen J. Cannell, with Tony Scott exec producing through Scott Free. Carnahan and Brian Bloom polished a script by Skip Woods, whose recent script credits include "G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra" and "Wolverine."

Neeson is in talks to play Hannibal, the role originated by George Peppard, while Cooper would play "Faceman," the role played by Dirk Benedict.

Neeson and Fox are working out money issues. He is coming off the global hit "Taken" and most recently completed "Chloe" and "Clash of the Titans," playing Zeus in the latter.

Cooper has established himself as a commodity after his starring role in Todd Phillips-directed hit "The Hangover." He just completed playing the title role opposite Sandra Bullock in "All About Steve."

Carnahan, Fox and Scott Free have kept the series premise -- four war vets wrongly convicted of armed robbery escape from a military prison to become do-gooder mercenaries -- but they've replaced the campy nature of the series with a tone closer to those of "Mission: Impossible" and "Ocean's Eleven."

Still to be cast are the roles of Capt. "Howling Mad" Murdock, played by Dwight Schultz in the original, and Sgt. "B.A." Baracus, the role that made Mr. T an '80s icon.

[crippled_avenger]

DreamWorks has purchased the family adventure feature "The Defenders" from "Heroes" actor Masi Oka says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story centers on a group of mostly teenagers from around the world who are involved in a multiplayer video game, each unaware of who they really are behind the cover of their consoles and avatars.

They are forced to come together for a real adventure, becoming inadvertent heroes in the process.

"Star Trek" and "Transformers" scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci will produce, Gary Whitta will write the script and D.J. Caruso ("Eagle Eye," "The Salton Sea") is in negotiations to direct.

[Milosh]

Trejler za Shutter Island: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/shutterisland/

Ovo na osnovu trejlera deluje kao B film sa all-star kastom i pomalo podseća na Cape Fear... Jedva čekam!

[crippled_avenger]

Zombie 'Deadworld' on the horizon
Dark Hero, Pandemonium team on feature franchise
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Hayter


Carver


Mechanic


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Dark Hero Studios partners David Hayter and Benedict Carver have joined with Pandemonium's Bill Mechanic to turn the comicbook "Deadworld" into a zombie feature franchise.
Hayter ("Watchmen") will write the screenplay, and he and Mechanic will produce with Framelight's Robert L. Robinson Jr. and Jeffrey D. Erb. Carver and Pandemonium's Suzanne Warren will be exec producers along with Gary Reed, who wrote and co-created the comic.

Pandemonium and Framelight will finance development.

"Deadworld" veers from the popular zombie mythology of depicting an apocalypse in which humans are overrun by flesh-eating corpses. "Deadworld" picks up four months after that event, where the Dead overtake the Earth, with humans few and far between. Protag is King Zombie, a Harley-riding corpse who holds a grudge against the survivors who made him an outcast.

The plan is to begin production next year.

Mechanic, who ran Fox when Hayter wrote the first "X-Men" film, saw the scribe as ideal to lay out what he hoped could be a multipic story arc. The offer fit in perfectly with Dark Hero, which Hayter and Carver formed as a way to put Hayter's creative stamp on numerous films, TV and Internet properties in the sci-fi and horror genres. Aside from writing the script, Hayter will conceive and design the look of the film.

"It's very much about the design of the Deadworld and creating cool, frightening but not necessarily gory creatures," Hayter said. "I am a huge fan of zombie mythology."

Mechanic said, "I've never done anything close to this subject, but I loved the whole world because it's so unique."

Mechanic, who most recently produced "Coraline," adds "Deadworld" to several plum projects that include "Ness," an Ehren Kruger-scripted graphic novel adaptation that has David Fincher and Matt Damon attached; "The C.O.," scripted by Robert Schenkkan; and "Love Undercover," which Brian Yorkey is penning.

[Ghoul]

Trejler za Shutter Island: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/shutterisland/

Ovo na osnovu trejlera deluje kao B film sa all-star kastom i pomalo podseća na Cape Fear... Jedva čekam!

odlično to izgleda, ali... leo.
jebeni LEO!

kako njega ozbiljno shvatiti?

[crippled_avenger]

Filmmaker Danny Boyle has inked a three-year producing pact with Fox Searchlight and Pathe Pictures, both of which played a crucial role in propelling Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" to worldwide success.
Under the terms of the deal, Searchlight and Pathe will co-finance and co-produce Boyle's projects.

The director has yet to announce his next film.

Searchlight will distribute in the U.S. and a number of foreign territories not handled by Pathe.

Pathe will distribute in territories including the U.K., France, Ireland and Switzerland.

Boyle has strong connections to both companies. Pathe boarded "Slumdog Millionaire" early on and handled international sales, as well as distributing in the U.K.

Searchlight stepped forward and took over domestic distribution of "Slumdog" from Warner Bros. at the 11th hour, after Warner Independent Pictures was shuttered. (Warners remained a financial partner.)

Boyle has produced three other movies for Searchlight, including "28 Days Later."

Only recently did Boyle step off the months-long publicity campaign for "Slumdog." Around the time of its Oscar wins, the pic began its foreign run in earnest. After that, there was the film's release on DVD to promote.

"Slumdog" is one of the most successful indie movies of all time at the worldwide box office. Film grossed $114.3 million worldwide and $211.5 million overseas for a worldwide total of $352.8 million.

Boyle's producing partner on "Slumdog" was Christian Colson.

The first-look pact comes at a fortuitous time for Searchlight, which has new toppers in Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley, both veterans of the specialty label. Duo took over the reins of leadership upon Peter Rice's departure earlier this year to become entertainment chairman at Fox Broadcasting Co.

[crippled_avenger]

Screen Gems prevailed in a spec auction for "Beautiful Girl," a scary genre thriller from a most unlikely source: Michael Cunningham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Hours."
Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher are producing through their Red Wagon banner.

Story concerns a shy but brainy high school girl who returns for senior year after having slimmed down six dress sizes. She finds herself flirting with the handsome English lit teacher, but the mutual crush turns deadly when the teacher's obsession with the student compels him to exact maniacal revenge on everyone who was cruel to her.

Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper met Cunningham through Wick and was surprised to find a genre junkie, even if his love of blood-soaked movies didn't seep into his books, or scripts like "A Home at the End of the World."

Cunningham said he has always been a huge genre fan and, when sitting with Wick, would argue such basics as whether the second "Hostel" was as good as the first one.

"While I was writing about Virginia Wolff, my mind was never far removed from the idea of girls in bikinis being hacked up by guys wearing hockey masks, and I vowed that if I ever had a good idea, I would write one of these scary movies," Cunningham told Daily Variety.

"We've become such genre paisans, and when I showed the script to Doug, he showed it to Clint, and it was instant love," Cunningham said. "This summer, I will finish a novel where nobody gets anything gouged out of them, but my plan is to then write another idea I have for an actual monster movie. As it turns out, we sometimes find we can do more than one thing in our lives."

Cunningham is repped by CAA and lit agency Brandt & Hochman

[crippled_avenger]

MORGAN, PURVIS & WADE TO WORK ON BOND, JAMES BOND


LOS ANGELES, CA June 12, 2009 – Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions Ltd and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures have today announced that Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale) will be the screenwriters of the 23rd James Bond adventure.



Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in the film, which will be a MGM release of an EON production.  Bond 23 is the latest installment in the longest-running franchise in motion picture history and will be produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.  A date for the start of production is yet to be confirmed.
 


"Peter, Neal and Robert are extraordinarily talented and we're looking forward to working with the three of them," commented Wilson and Broccoli.



Peter Morgan is the award-winning writer of such films as The Last King of Scotland, The Queen and Frost/Nixon, which was based on his play.  He has also scripted the upcoming The Special Relationship for HBO and Hereafter for DreamWorks.  He will turn his attention to Bond 23 on completion of these duties.  Morgan is represented by UTA (US) and Independent Talent Group (UK).
 


Since 1991 Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have collaborated on a diverse range of projects including The Italian Job, Johnny English and the past four Bond films. They recently adapted John Le Carre's The Mission Song and are also working on the upcoming sequel The Brazilian Job.  Purvis and Wade are represented by Endeavor (US), Casarotto Ramsay & Associates (UK).
 



[crippled_avenger]

Paramount Pictures has preemptively bought action-comedy pitch "Honey Pot" from scribe Liz Meriwether for the Montecito Co. to produce.
Details of the storyline are being kept under wraps. Pic will feature two female leads and be set in the world of international espionage.

Meriweather described the project as what happens "when a bunch of hot, funny women get their 'Bourne' on."

Montecito principals Ivan Reitman, Tom Pollock and Jeffrey Clifford will produce.

Meriwether penned the Off Broadway play "Mistakes Madeline Made," which led to the Fox TV pilot "Sluts" and friends-with-benefits comedy "Fuckbuddies," which Montecito is also producing.

Meriwether is adapting Rudolph Delson's tome "Maynard and Jennica" for producer Scott Rudin.

Montecito's recent films include "I Love You, Man" and "Hotel for Dogs." Upcoming projects include Jason Reitman comedy "Up in the Air," starring George Clooney.

[crippled_avenger]

Blood: The Last Vampire
(Hong Kong-France)
By PETER DEBRUGE

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A Dimension Films/Samuel Goldwyn Films (in U.S.) release of an East Wing Holdings Corp. (Hong Kong)/SAJ (France) presentation in association with Beijing Happy Pictures Cultural Communications. Produced by Bill Kong, Abel Nahmias. Co-producer, Alice Yeung. Directed by Chris Nahon. Screenplay, Chris Chow, based on the 2001 anime film by Kenji Kamiyama, Katsuya Terada.

Saya - Gianna
Alice McKee - Allison Miller
Michael - Liam Cunningham
Luke - J.J. Field
Onigen - Koyuki
Kato Takatora - Yasuaki Kurata
General McKee - Larry Lamb

There will be plenty of the red stuff spilled in "Blood: The Last Vampire," a live-action adaptation of the cult 2001 anime, though oddly enough, none of the damage is caused by vampires. Instead, it's a 400-year-old samurai named Saya (forever 16 in the flesh) who's responsible for most of the bloodletting. Charged with ridding the world of demons and vampires, she slashes her way through all manner of supernatural adversaries in this peculiar blend of horror tropes and Hong Kong action devices. Western prospects look slim, though the pic is polished enough to suck in genre fans back East.

The internationally executed project cuts a wider swath than the material might suggest: Staged in China and Argentina by French helmer Chris Nahon ("Kiss of the Dragon") with a diverse talent roster that ranges from Korean star Gianna (known as Jeon Ji-hyun in her home country) to American, Japanese and European supporting players, "Blood" seems engineered to appear Hollywood-made to its Asian target aud. However, while foreign viewers are apt to focus on the action, native English speakers can't help but notice the sheer awkwardness of the perfs.

The first half of the film hews close to the original anime before expanding to accommodate a new backstory, which owes a good deal to the American-made "Blade," in which Wesley Snipes played a sword-wielding half-vampire hybrid. Saya is a similarly conflicted "halfling" tasked with hunting down her own kind, and, as essayed by Gianna, she's more fetish object than star. The character survives on bottled blood provided by a secret organization called the Council and spends her days picking off vampires brazen enough to show their faces in public.

When the Council assigns Saya to protect the students at a demon-infested American military base, she trades her duds for a kinky seifuku (schoolgirl uniform) and over-the-shoulder poster tube (all the better to conceal her samurai sword) and tries to appear demure among the more outspoken American students. But it's hard to keep a low profile with bloodsuckers about, and by the end of the day, Saya's blown her cover to the general's daughter, Alice (Allison Miller), a mousy girl with an uncanny knack for attracting vampire attacks.

Playing it fast and loose with existing vampire mythology, "Blood" presents Saya's undead adversaries as lumbering, zombie-like creatures who never pose a sufficient threat to Alice or the others, since Saya is skilled enough to dispatch dozens of them on her own. The most powerful of these attackers are capable of transforming into winged demons, which are rendered in herky-jerky CG, as if in tribute to stop-motion wizard Ray Harryhausen. (Other effects, including a "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-style rooftop chase, look merely cartoony).

The collaborator most likely to impress fans of the genre is action director Cory Yuen, the fight choreographer-turned-director responsible for "The Transporter." However, while Yuen orchestrates at least four noteworthy confrontations, Nahon's longtime editor Marco Cave seems unfamiliar with Asian action sensibilities, reducing all but one of the fight scenes into a flurry of cuts.

The finale suffers, despite the presence of an all-powerful super vampire (Koyuki) who can make heads explode merely by snapping her fingers. Fortunately, a key flashback in which Saya and her samurai mentor (Yasuaki Kurata) confront a band of undead ninjas survives more or less intact, demonstrating the level at which Yuen and Nahon actually conceived the action. Owing heavily to director Zhang Yimou (whose recent epics also were produced by "Blood's" Bill Kong), the scene mixes gravity-defying feats of skill with intense hand-to-sword combat amid scenic woods.

Helmer Nahon surfaces in the final scene as a U.S. Army interrogator with a strong French inflection, betraying the film's ambivalence to accents and acting ability alike. Behind the camera, Nahon privileges surface appeal and kinetic energy over narrative logic, and finesses the footage with an unpleasant yellow tinge that gives everything a vintage chopsocky feel.


Camera (color, widescreen), Poon Hang Sang; editor, Marco Cave; music, Clint Mansell; production designer, Nathan Amondson; art directors, Sun Li, Rika Nakanishi; costume designers, Constanza Balduzzi, Shandy Lui Fun Shan; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS), Martin Trevis; action director, Cory Yuen; visual effects, Eclair VFX, Menfond Electronic Art & Computer Design; creature and makeup effects, Spectral Motion. Reviewed at Interactive screening room, Los Angeles, June 11, 2009. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 89 MIN.

[crippled_avenger]

Easier With Practice
By JUSTIN CHANG

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'Easier With Progress'
'Easier With Progress'
A Forty Seconds Prods. presentation. (Sales: Lantern Lane Entertainment, Calabasas, Calif.) Produced by Cookie Carosella, Kyle Patrick Alvarez. Co-producer, David Melito. Directed, written by Kyle Patrick Alvarez, based on the article "What Are You Wearing?" by Davy Rothbart.

With: Brian Geraghty, Kel O'Neill, Marguerite Moreau, Jeanette Bronx, Jenna Gavigan, Kathryn Aselton, Eugene Byrd.

Amusingly predicated on the romantic possibilities of phone sex, "Easier With Practice" pushes past its titillating premise to become a quietly provocative love story about emotionally stunted manhood and the risks some guys will take to connect. Distinguished by a fine central performance from Brian Geraghty and a profound sensitivity to the awkwardness and alienation often felt by the ostensibly tougher sex, this perceptive, funny-sad character study reps a strong calling card for debuting writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez and merits a shot at Stateside theatrical play once it's finished roaming the fest circuit.

Inspired by Davy Rothbart's autobiographical GQ magazine article "What Are You Wearing?" "Easier With Practice" follows sensitive, nerdily handsome 28-year-old Davy Mitchell (Geraghty, "The Hurt Locker"), an aspiring writer with a slim volume of short stories to his credit. Winding his way through New Mexico on an ill-advised book tour with his younger, meaner brother Sean (Kel O'Neill), Davy finds himself alone in their motel room one night when he receives a phone call from a mysterious "Nicole," whose inviting, very accommodating voice more or less has him at hello.

In an impressively sustained long take that morphs from mundane to perplexing to hilariously awkward to dangerously erotic in a matter of minutes, Nicole leaves Davy satisfied but eager for more. And so begins a decidedly long-distance relationship, marked by frenzied interludes of loquacious lovemaking followed by tender postcoital bonding. Nicole proves eager to please sexually but more elusive emotionally, declining David's invitations to meet in person and never even giving him her number, instead initiating every call on a private line.

As his book tour runs its pathetic course, Davy finds it increasingly hard to hide the truth from Sean, whose glee in humiliating his brother goes beyond immature to borderline-sadistic. Things don't improve when the siblings return to their Midwestern hometown, as Davy's growing obsession with his fantasy girlfriend forestalls his connection with a lovely former flame (Marguerite Moreau).

Davy's presence in almost every scene has a calibrating effect, lending the film its quiet, intimate focus; even occasional scenes of group activity are lensed so as to accentuate the character's profound isolation even from close friends. Brave isn't too strong a word to describe Geraghty's performance, which requires the thesp to talk dirty and simulate masturbation (usually at the same time), all the while sustaining a level of self-delusion that risks turning off the unsympathetic viewer.

But Alvarez never lets his actor down, credibly and compassionately illuminating Davy's shame, vulnerability, social awkwardness and lack of sexual confidence, and subtly suggesting that this brand of wounded, tongue-tied masculinity is by no means unique. Offering terrific support are O'Neill, Moreau and Eugene Byrd in a small but pivotal role as a friend who identifies with Davy's misfit status.

"Easier With Practice" gathers momentum as it builds toward a possible meeting between Davy and Nicole; what transpires is surprising on a narrative level but proves entirely in keeping with Alvarez's thematic concerns. The deeply resonant finale leaves more questions than answers -- in some ways, it feels less like an end than a beginning -- and is all the more poignant for it.

David Morrison's Red-One digital lensing of Albuquerque locations provides a suitably drab palette. Pic relies somewhat too heavily on the narrative shorthand of the pop-scored montage, veering into the conventional romantic-comedy territory it otherwise so deftly sidesteps.
More than one option

    * (Person) David Morrison
      Song
    * (Person) David Morrison
    * (Person) David Morrison

Camera (color, DV), David Morrison; editor, Fernando Collins; music supervisors, Marguerite Phillips, Colin Wyatt; production designer, Brooke Peters; art director, Gary Barbosa; supervising sound editor, Jeffrey Kaplan; assistant director, Michael Breines; casting, Nicole Arbusto, Joy Dickson. Reviewed at CineVegas Film Festival (Jackpot Premieres), June 12, 2009. (Also in Edinburgh Film Festival -- Rosebud.) Running time: 100 MIN.

[crippled_avenger]

Aussie scribe Stuart Beattie ("30 Days of Night," "GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra," "Australia") will make his directorial debut on an adaptation of the young-adult novel "Tomorrow, When the War Began" for Paramount Vantage says The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on the first novel in John Marsden's popular seven-book series penned throughout the late 90's, the story details the insurgency efforts of a band of teenagers fighting off an enemy invasion and occupation of their homeland.

The filmmakers plan to make a trilogy of features from the first three books and then, if they're successful, spin the next four off into a TV series.

The project is currently casting and filming will get underway in September in Australia

[crippled_avenger]

Jack Black comedy "Man-Witch" looks like it's headed into production according to scribe's Josh Stolberg's official blog.

"It's looking like Man-Witch is a go at Warner Bros. I can't say much about it at this point because the casting hasn't been officially announced but it's looking really, really good" says Stolberg ("Good Luck Chuck," "Piranha 3D").

Black plays a schoolteacher who suddenly discovers he has witch-like abilities. Taken in by a coven, he is persuaded to attend a school for witches, only to discover that his classmates are all girls.

Todd Phillips ("Road Trip," "The Hangover") is slated to direct.

[crippled_avenger]

Natalie Portman is attached to play the lead in Darren Aronofsky's supernatural thriller "Black Swan" says The Hollywood Reporter.

"Black Swan" centers on a veteran ballerina (Portman) who finds herself locked in a competitive situation with a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance.

But it's unclear whether the rival is a supernatural apparition or if the protagonist is simply having delusions. Mark Heyman has done a rewrite of John McLaughlin's original script for the film.

Mike Medavoy's Phoenix Pictures and Aronofsky's own Protozoa Pictures are producing.

[Meho Krljic]

Dakle, nešto kao Tokyo Fist, samo sa baletom? Hmmmmmmmmmm.....

[crippled_avenger]

Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Elijah Wood and Cam Gigandet will star in "The Experiment," a remake of the German psychological thriller "Das Experiment" for Inferno Entertainment and Magnet Media Group.

Marty Adelstein, Inferno's Bill Johnson and Magnet Media's Jeanette Buerling and Maggie Monteith will produce. Magnet and Inferno are co-financing and Inferno's handling international sales.

"Prison Break" creator Paul Scheuring is directing from his screenplay. Filming begins in Iowa next month.

"Das Experiment," directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, centered on a group of ordinary men recruited to take on the roles of guards and prisoners as part of a research study and examined how the effects of assigned roles, power and control affected the participants. Brody will portray the de facto leader of the prisoners while Whitaker will play a guard who's corrupted by the power he's given.

Inferno's Jim Seibel and Tracee Stanley and Magnet's John Michaels are exec producing along with Scott Nemes and Dawn Parouse.

Brody's recent credits include "Cadillac Records" and "The Brothers Bloom."

Whitaker stars in the upcoming "Where the Wild Things Are," "Repossession Mambo" and "My Own Love Song." He's also set to star in, direct and co-write the Louis Armstrong biopic "What a Wonderful World."

Inferno produced and financed "The Women" and "Hachiko: A Dog's Story," which is set for an October release. It's also prepping actioner "The Killer Elite."

Magnet launched its equity film finance fund a year ago and entered into a co-financing and co-production deal with Inferno to co-fund $250 million for thriller, action and comedy films in the $10 million-$60 million budget range. It recently financed "13," sold by Paramount Vantage; it also recently executed a first option to finance the musical "Cleo."

[crippled_avenger]

Frat House Massacre
By DENNIS HARVEY

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A Screamkings production in association with Alex Esber. Produced by Alex Pucci, Alex Esber. Executive producer, Pete Jaccione. Co-producer, Philip R. Garrett. Directed by Alex Pucci. Screenplay, Draven Gonzalez, based on a story by Gonzalez, Pucci.

With: Jon Fleming, Rane Jameson, Niki Notarile, Lisa DiCicco, Chris Prangley, Andrew Giordano, Ryan Ross, Michael Galante, Jim Ford, Georgia Cladden.

Trashy late-'70s/early-'80s slasher pics get a diverting homage/satire in the self-explanatory "Frat House Massacre." Reversing the genre norm, pic shows more buff male skin than T&A (though femmes remain prone to sentiments like, "Studying always gets me horny!"). Otherwise, "Massacre" serves up the requisite gore, sex, recreational drug use, random logic gaps, implausible resolution, cheesy synth score and other details faithful to bottom-rung early slasher convention. Second feature for helmer Alex Pucci and scenarist Draven Gonzalez should follow their prior "Camp Daze" to DVD.

Sean (Jon Fleming) arrives at college in 1980 sans sibling Bobby (Rane Jameson) -- the latter comatose after an unsolved hit-and-run -- only to become one more frat pledge whose disappearance oddly attracts little notice after fatal hazing hijinks. Once Bobby awakens, Delta Iota Epsilon members and almost everyone else on campus start suffering gruesome deaths. Any doubts of tongue-in-cheek intent should be erased by the full-on disco production number that precedes the blood-soaked climax. The production packaging, including retro fashions and dance tracks, hews close to C-grade originals.


Camera (color, DV-to-HD), Alex Esber; editors, Esber, Drew Pannebacker, David J. White; music, Claudio Simonetti; production designer, Ben Miller. Reviewed at Another Hole in the Head, San Francisco, June 15, 2009. Running time: 100 MIN.

[crippled_avenger]

Doghouse
(U.K.)
By LESLIE FELPERIN

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A Vertigo (in the U.K.) release of a Carnaby Intl. presentation of a Carnaby Film Prods. production, in association with Hanover Films (U.K.), Molinare Prods. (International sales: Carnaby, London.) Produced by Mike Loveday. Executive producers, Terry Loveday, Andrew Loveday, Terry Stone, Toby Richards, Billy Murray, Mike Diamond, Steve Milne, Mark Foligno, Deepak Sikka. Associate executive producers, Simon Feather, Edwin Beardow, Anthony Silver, Lee Richards, Ivor Ponting, Michael Shadwell, Sandra Shadwell, Glenn Wheeler, Anthony Rosato. Directed, edited by Jake West. Screenplay, Dan Schaffer.

With: Danny Dyer, Noel Clarke, Stephen Graham, Emil Marwa, Lee Ingleby, Keith-Lee Castle, Christina Cole, Terry Stone, Neil Maskell, Emily Booth.

Schlocky, but mildly amusing as long as a little lighthearted misogyny doesn't bother you, Brit horror-comedy "Doghouse" pits a ravenous pack of mutant "man-hating, feminist cannibals" against some blokes who just wanted a weekend of male bonding. Pic is nowhere near as enjoyable as breakout hit and obvious exemplar "Shaun of the Dead," but it's still slightly better than like-minded genre-mate "Lesbian Vampire Killers," thanks to better one-liners. "Doghouse" bit into a meager domestic B.O. bone of $91,000 on its June 12 opening weekend, but should get more meat from its natural diet of ancillary earnings.

After some brisk, character-sketching introductions, the pic quickly gets down to business by packing off seven disparate buddies to the remote English village of Moodley (credits list West Sussex as a location) where the women are said to outnumber the men four-to-one, odds that will not work well in their favor once the mayhem begins. The lads' objectives are to get drunk, pick up some femmes (or not, in the case of token gay character Graham, played by Emil Marwa) and help recently separated nice guy Vince (Stephen Graham, "This Is England") heal his broken heart.

However, it soon becomes clear that some kind of ill-explained airborne virus ("Bird flu?" someone suggests) has turned all the town's women into flesh-eating "zombirds." The men are forced to take shelter as the newly zombified womenfolk (all dressed in stereotypical gear like bridal wear, shopkeepers' aprons and hair curlers) shuffle into the streets and besiege their hiding places.

Punchy script by newcomer Dan Schaffer walks a fine line between sending up men's fear of women and endorsing it. When inveterate skirt-chaser and all-around dog Neil (Danny Dyer) hesitates over killing a female attacker, Vince urges him on with one of the pic's best lines: "Today is not the day to stop objectifying women." Auds may feel less comfortable, however, with cries like "Take that, bitch!" as subsequent zombirds are slaughtered.

Still, "Doghouse" never takes itself too seriously and clearly doesn't expect anyone else too, either. Pic takes an admirable relish in baiting p.c. sensibilities: In a moment of quiet, the men discuss which of the zombies they'd most like to shag, were circumstances different.

Helmer Jake West (whose previous features include "Evil Aliens" and "Razor Blade Smile") clearly knows his target aud's tastes, and salts the pic heavily with references to the gorefest canon. There's plenty of blood but hardly any scares, and the atmosphere remains playful, even cheerful, especially at the goriest moments. The actors seem to be enjoying themselves, especially Dyer and Graham.

General low-budget look doesn't do any harm, given the intentionally slapdash, made-up-as-it-went along tone.

Camera (Deluxe color, widescreen), Ali Asad; music, Richard Wells; music supervisor, Peter Hadfield; production designer, Matthew Button; art director, Daniela Faggio; costume designer, Hayley Nebauer; special effects makeup designer, Karl Derrick; sound (Dolby Digital), Adam Garston, Carl Homer. Reviewed at Odeon Norwich, June 17, 2009. Running time: 89 MIN.

[crippled_avenger]

Supermen of Malegaon
(Documentary -- Japan-South Korea-Singapore)
By EDDIE COCKRELL

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A Mediacorp (Singapore)/NHK (Japan)/KBS (South Korea) production for the Asian Pitch. Produced by Faiza Ahmad Khan, Siddarth Thakur, Siddharth Thakur, Gargey Trivedi. Executive producers, Junichi Katayama, Chung-Yong Park. Directed by Faiza Ahmad Khan.

With: Sheikh Nasir, Akram Khan, Shafique, Farogh Jafri, Shakeel Bharati.
(Urdu, Hindi dialogue)

An agreeably ramshackle film about the unshakable commitment of an equally rickety group of dirt-poor movie tragics producing a superhero spoof in their Muslim village, "Supermen of Malegaon" poses no threat to Warner Bros. but possesses a loopy, energetic DIY charm. Pic, which won the jury award for docu feature at Italy's annual Asian film confab, the Asiatica Film Mediale, is too specialized to support a theatrical campaign, but is bounding along the fest circuit and should show its strength in ancillary.

Like "American Movie" before it, "Supermen of Malegaon" is about dreamers with more ambition than talent or resources. Here, the dreamer is wedding videographer and former videotheque proprietor Shaikh Nasir, who runs a cottage industry making spoofs of Hollywood fare and the Bollywood films produced a hundred miles away in Mumbai. The locals eat these films up, as life in the cotton-mill town of Malegaon provides little other entertainment.

Nasir is budgeted the equivalent of $1,200 for the project, which he explains by saying, "So far, nobody has messed with Superman." One of his screenwriters, Farogh Jafri, reasons, "You open with a blast, so that you have the audience's concentration," while another, Akram Khan, who plays the bad guy, has a weird obsession with filth.

Reasoning that Superman would be "a victim of many diseases" with "asthma from flying through pollution," they hire a scrawny guy named Shafique (who's a dead ringer for Charlie Callas) to be their hero.

The shoot isn't without incident: The helmer drops his camera into a river, Shafique needs four days off for his wedding, the handmade uniform must be washed and dried every day, and a local paper's coverage repeatedly refers to the production as "Spider-Man." Finally, the film, with the poster tagline "The Pack of Blasting Comedy," is preemed at the resuscitated video parlor to much excitement.

Docu helmer Faiza Ahmad Khan is clearly fond of this endeavor and takes a benevolent view toward these passionate cineastes. Seventy-nine-minute version screening at SilverDocs appears to be a pre-existing 52-minute cut with the actual finished product grafted on; as rough as its creation would suggest, the pic sports a subversive humor.

Camera (color, HD), Gargey Trivedi; editor, Shweta Venkat; music, Sneha Khanwalkar, Hitesh Sonik; sound, Gunjan Augustine Sah; sound designer, Niraj Gera. Reviewed on DVD, Sydney, Australia, June 7, 2009. (In Silverdocs Film Festival, Silver Spring, Md. -- Silver Spectrum.) Running time: 79 MIN.

[crippled_avenger]

Coming Soon
(Thailand)
By DENNIS HARVEY

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A GTH presentation of a Joy Luck Club production. Produced by Jira Maligool, Yongyooth Thongkongtoon, Chenchonnee Soonthornsaratul, Chanajai Tonsalthong. Executive producers, Paiboon Damrongchaitham, Boosaba Daoruang, Visute Poolvoralaks, Jina Osothslip. Directed by Sopon Sukdapisit. Screenplay, Sukdapisit, Kongkait Komesiri.

With: Vorakan Rojchanawat, Chantavit Dhanasevi, Sarinrat Thomas, Thanatorn Oudsahakul, Wanchat Kwangmuang.

Going to the movies -- let alone pirating them -- just got a lot more hazardous, at least within the clever story concept of "Coming Soon." First directorial feature by Sopon Sukdapisit, co-scenarist of Thai horror megahits "The Shutter" and "Alone," revolves around a film-within-a-film whose villainess reaches off the screen to terrorize viewers. Effectively creepy piece is essentially a tricked-up slasher-cum-ghost tale, but decent chills and an offbeat hook make for solid genre fare. Remake potential is ripe.

Shy projectionist Shane (Chantavit Dhanasevi) has kicked a drug problem, though ex-girlfriend and multiplex co-worker Som (pop star Vorakan Rojchanawat) still doesn't trust him enough to reconcile. Sticking to the straight-and-narrow, he's nonetheless muscled into letting a print of as-yet-unopened new horror film "Vengeful Spirit" be copied for pirate DVD. But watching "Spirit" in any form proves dangerous, since the child-snatching, witch who inspired it exacts revenge upon those who watch the screen re-enactment of her death at the hands of vigilantes. Shane and Som investigate the mystery while theater employees and others are picked off. Neat premise's possibilities aren't fully explored, but this well-crafted item delivers the basic goods.


Camera (color), Somboon Phopituckul; editor, Thammarat Sumethasupachak; music, Terdsak Janpan; production designer, Sopon Phulsawasd. Reviewed at Roxie Cinema, San Francisco, May 12, 2009. (In Another Hole in the Head, San Francisco.) Running time: 83 MIN.