Archive for January 26th, 2007
The Host is not about a giant mutated amphibian stalking the Han River in Korea. Well, okay, it is about a giant mutated amphibian stalking the Han river but the film offers and delivers so much more in terms of drama, emotion, political allegory and social comment than any movie of it’s type since the original Godzilla arrived half a century or so ago with it’s bold Hiroshima rhetoric. It’s exciting, it’s terrifying, it’s tragic, funny, heart warming and thought provoking - is there anything that ‘The Host’ doesn’t do brilliantly? Well no, actually, there isn’t.
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Posted in Movies, Reviews •
Earlier this morning we took up a rumour that actress Katie Holmes would not appear in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight, the sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins.
Variety has now confirmed this in an article about Mad Money, a film project Holmes and Queen Latifah are attached to: “Holmes, who is making her return to acting after maternity leave, has dropped out of ‘The Dark Knight’, Warner Bros.’ Christopher Nolan-directed sequel to ‘Batman Begins’”. The rumour from earlier suggested that Holmes’ character Rachel Dawes was still in the story, but would be portrayed by a different actress.
Click here to discuss The Dark Knight on the X-Boards.
Posted in Batman, Movies •
David Wenham, best known for his portrayal of Faramir in the second and third Lord of the Rings movies, has been cast in Baz Luhrman’s (Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge) upcoming new film Australia, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Wenham will play the film’s antagonist to the principal characters played by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. His character is a station manager who plots to take over the Faraway Downs ranch which Kidman’s English aristocrat character inherits. The film is set in pre-World War II Northern Australia and will see the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces. Shooting is set to begin in April.
Click here to discuss Australia on the X-Boards.
Posted in Movies •
French director Xavier Gens spoke to Allocine about his plans for his film adaptation of the popular Eidos video game series Hitman.
Gens said he imagines the film more along the lines of Robocop (i.e. dark and violent) than as “a fun and popcorn movie like The Transporter“. He plans on emphasizing the loneliness of the lead character and his quest for identity, along with a violent and dark narrative. Gens would like the photography to be inspired by cameraman Robert Richardson’s work on Scorsese’s Casino, and sees the film closely following the atmosphere of the game, including an orchestral and operatic score.
Click here to discuss Hitman on the X-Boards.
Posted in Movies •
Latino Review are running an intriguing report on the casting of the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight. The site claims to have received the information from the same source who enabled them to write the world’s first Batman Begins script review three years ago.
The insider states that actress Katie Holmes will not reprise her role in The Dark Knight. While the character she played, Rachel Dawes, will still appear in the movie, she is slated to be portrayed by a different actress. (This comes amid criticism that Holmes was the weakest link in the first film’s strong ensemble cast.) The source also addresses the casting for the role of Harvey Dent aka Two-Face, claiming that, after Matt Damon passed on the role, there was now interest in Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx and Ed Norton. Apparently, the Penguin will not make an appearance yet in the second film. The full details are available here.
Click here to discuss The Dark Knight on the X-Boards.
Posted in Batman, Movies •
George Miller, the director of the three Mad Max films starring Mel Gibson, and more recently of the animated film Happy Feet, told The Age that he is considering shooting new sequels for both:
“It’s certainly now a real possibility,” Miller said about a possible Happy Feet 2. But there are other projects he’d like to turn to first: “There’s about two or three films I want to do before we would ever embark on that, including another ‘Mad Max’ sooner or later.” Miller stated that Mel Gibson would probably not be involved in a new Mad Max film and chose not to elaborate on what the other two film projects could be.
Click here to discuss Mad Max 4 on the X-Boards.
Posted in Movies •
Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski recently updated his blog on the status of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, the direct-to-video film continuation of the popular TV show.
JMS mentions that they will start looping the dialogue and reviewing some finished effects shots by the end of the month, that they have created a new title sequence emphasizing the major characters and how they’re interconnected, and that there will be a new set piece just prior to the main title which will tie back visually to the TV series’ finale “Sleeping in light”. The writer/director also talks about behind-the-scenes material that will be part of the DVD set. Last but not least, he’s posted a bunch of new production photographs showing various wardrobe tests and someone standing inside a Starfury without a pressure suit. See it all here.
Click here to discuss Babylon 5: The Lost Tales on the X-Boards.
Posted in Movies, Television •
I am a little leary of the situation. The truth will come out when, and if the US economy, and the dollar begins to strengthen. If prices remain high, you’ll know someone is lying. Either OPEC doesn’t have the supply they claim they have, or Analysts are incorrect when they say demand has decreased. Personally, I don’t buy the claim that demand has decreased. Population is ever increasing, so, the the demand should always be increasing. 