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Scenes We Love: Hunger

Todd Gilchrist — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:50:00 +0000

On February 16, 2010, Criterion Collection released Steve McQueen's amazing film Hunger on DVD and Blu-ray. Although I saw the film a year earlier when it briefly enjoyed a theatrical run, the impact of its filmmaking and storytelling failed to quite sink in for a while; indeed, I unfortunately shelved even Criterion's glorious Blu-ray while I tended to other releases both home-video and theatrical. Following South by Southwest, however, I was renewed in my interest in these smaller, more substantial movies, which far too often get obscured by their more heavily-marketed, mainstream competition. As such, McQueen's film topped my priority list, and as expected the home-video release looks and sounds glorious, both in terms of presentation and content, even if I'm overdue to say so.

Filed under: Independent, Fandom, Home Entertainment, Scenes We Love

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SXSW Review: Centurion

Scott Weinberg — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:45:00 +0000

Imagine a flick like Braveheart, 300, Gladiator, or King Arthur, only those films have just been stripped of all those boring scenes about kings and princes, peasants and slaves, taxes and trades, and all that jazz. The result would be a movie that looks a lot like Neil Marshall's Centurion, a fast-paced, visually stunning, and action-heavy period piece that focuses on what matters most in a Saturday afternoon matinee: the good stuff. Boasting nary a subplot or an extraneous character to deal with, Centurion seems fully intent on delivering an old-school action adventure that tickles the eye without taxing the brain. And it succeeds on all counts.

It's the story of Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender), a trusted officer in the Roman army. Following a brutal attack by the barbaric Picts (ancient Scots are what they are, I do believe), Quintus finds himself stuck deep inside an enemy village -- but not for long. Quintus' escape is aided by the last few survivors of the legendary Ninth Legion, and together the small band of soldiers must make their way to a friendly border. Not only do they have a long way to go, but they also have on their tails a tenacious group of Pict trackers, which is led by the ferociously unwavering Etain (Olga Kurylenko).

Filed under: Action, SXSW, Magnolia, Theatrical Reviews, Fantastic Fest, War

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Viggo Mortensen Will Take David Cronenberg’s ‘Talking Cure’

Elisabeth Rappe — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:02:00 +0000

When an actor wins an Oscar, all bets are off, including the ones he's made with David Cronenberg. Last December, Cronenberg revived The Talking Cure and had recruited Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, and Christoph Waltz to psychoanalyze one another in the name of love and medicine. But Waltz has been buried in offers, and Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that he's dropped out of the project in favor of Water For Elephants. Luckily, Cronenberg has a very good actor and friend in his contacts, and he just called him up. The result is that Viggo Mortensen has now joined The Talking Cure as Sigmund Freud.

Cure centers on a young Carl Jung who uses Sigmund Freud's "talking cure" on a young and troubled Russian woman. In the process of psychoanalyzing her, he falls in love with her. Freud comes along, marvels at his success, and anoints him his psychiatric successor. When Jung starts to develop his own ideas about therapy, Freud isn't too happy, and their professional relationship sours. DHD says that the producers have promised "lots of spirited sex" which Cronenberg has always filmed rather well, so no surprise there.

Mortensen and Cronenberg have two excellent films under their belt, and there's no reason to sneer at a third. (Or a fourth if they ever make that Eastern Promises sequel.) I'm eager to see Mortensen work with Fassbender and Knightley (who both rank among my favorites) and the two method men should really fire up the screen. It's going to be good.

Filed under: Drama, Independent, Romance, Casting, DIY/Filmmaking

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‘Centurion’ Trailer Brings You Blood, Ice & Picts

Elisabeth Rappe — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:15:00 +0000

There are currently two films about the legendary Ninth Legion in post-production -- Kevin MacDonald's Eagle of the Ninth, and Neil Marshall's Centurion. They might be tackling the same missing Romans, but they couldn't be more different in the way they're approaching the story. Eagle takes place decades after the legion goes missing. Centurion, as you can see from this first trailer, takes place in the minutes immediately following their slaughter.

I can't get enough of Roman settings, but if I was forced to choose just one to watch right now, it'd be Centurion. This trailer is fantastic. It's cold, bloody, and terrifying. Marshall seems to be fascinated with the same element of Roman Britain that I am -- the idea of Roman soldiers, with all their rules and regulations, being flung into distant and "uncivilized" lands for years on end. Colonies are always alien things on a landscape and culture, but there's something about Rome's occupations that's more eerie and enticing to the historical imagination.

Of course, that's just getting into misty territory. Most will just enjoy the trailer's snowy landscapes, splatters of blood, grim battles, terrifying Picts, and the intensity of Michael Fassbender and Dominic West. Those two could make a movie where they fiercely read a phone book, and I'd still watch.

The trailer is embedded below, courtesy of IGN. Centurion does not yet have a release date, which is the worst news I've heard all week.

Filed under: Action, Independent, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, War, Trailers and Clips

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Review: Fish Tank

Cinematical staff — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:50:00 +0000

By Todd Gilchrist (reprint from the 2009 AFI Film Festival -- 11/14/09)

The movies' penchant for wish fulfillment often requires them to make their triumphs monumental, but the new film Fish Tank makes a convincing case for modesty. The story of a teenage girl discovering herself in Great Britain's equivalent of a housing project, its very conception is steeped in understated humanity, but writer-director Andrea Arnold refuses to indulge melodrama at every turn, creating a film that feels like a less romantic counterpart to another recent coming-of-age story, An Education, but is just as substantial.

Katie Jarvis plays Mia, an embittered, hostile 15-year old who comes home one day to discover that her party-girl mom Joanne (Kierston Wareing) has a new boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender). Though initially standoffish, she slowly succumbs to his charms, especially after he encourages her to develop her burgeoning talents as a dancer. But as she advances closer to womanhood, attracting the attention of a young man her own age, Connor becomes increasingly protective of Mia, eventually drawing her into a relationship that tests the limits - as well as the boundaries - of their fragile, fledgling emotional bond.

Filed under: Drama, Theatrical Reviews

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‘Jonah Hex’ Reshoots Mean More Megan Fox

Elisabeth Rappe — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:02:00 +0000

Last month it was rumored that Jonah Hex was reloading its ammunition to undergo reshoots. The news has been re-confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, and it doesn't appear to be an automatically bad prognosis for the movie, as many seemed to feel it was.

According to THR, the reshoots will only last ten days and not the full two weeks that was initially reported. Twelve pages of additional script are being added, along with a little more action. They've called Megan Fox, Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, and Michael Fassbender back to do some shooting in Los Angeles. So while the new scenes may include President Andrew Johnson as hinted by the casting call, what really matters for 50% of the world population is that Fox may have a few extra scenes in that tiny, tiny corset. Maybe it'll take 5 of the 10 days just to shoot her scenes because she'll need to be let loose between gunfights.

Hex was originally scheduled to be released on August 6, 2010 but it was moved up to June 18. There's two stories circulating as to why Hex needs a bit more work. Some are saying the additional scenes and extra money are to fix "certain problems with the movie." Others say it was to really polish up the moderately-budgeted film and make it look more like a summer tentpole. I'd like to believe the latter, particularly since I thought moving up the release date was a mark of confidence in what Jonah Hex already was. Come on, any movie (especially one aiming to be a summer blockbuster) can use a little more Malkovich, Brolin, and Fassbender, right?

Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Western

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Steven Soderbergh Gets a ‘Knockout’ Cast

Monika Bartyzel — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:32:00 +0000

You might remember that back in September, we learned about Steven Soderbergh's upcoming Lionsgate feature Knockout. A film said to be in the "vein of La Femme Nikita" (presumably without the mind murder), it was slated to star mixed martial artist Gina Carano. Now, well, she's got one hell of a killer roster of actors to back her up. The Playlist reports that the principal cast includes Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid, Michael Douglas, and my favorite new, must-watch actor Michael Fassbender.

After tossing aside the original premise of girl from the wrong side of the tracks who gets a second chance, now the film is said to be a "revenge action-spy thriller." Carano's Mallory Kane is no longer the wrong-side girl, but rather someone coming from "military honor and academia," who leaves the military to become a black ops soldier. Unfortunately, she gets double-crossed by someone on her team, and she sets out to nab the person who set her up for a job-gone-bad. Douglas plays the classic governmental figure, Fassbender and a still-unnamed known actor play members of her unit -- one of whom is the double-crosser, and McGregor plays the head of a private military company they're all a part of. There's no mention of who Quaid plays -- maybe another government figure? Older black ops tough guy?

Any guesses on who that unnamed actor will be? The Playlist says he's a "fairly big name." Let's hope it isn't Taylor Lautner.

Filed under: Action, Thrillers, Casting

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U.S. Trailer for Andrea Arnold’s ‘Fish Tank’

Monika Bartyzel — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:02:00 +0000

It's traveled through the film circuit collecting killer reviews, and now Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank is gearing up for a January 15 release with a U.S. trailer, which backs up the buzz. The film follows a young and troubled girl named Mia (Katie Jarvis) who lives in mediocre housing with her cold, single mother (Kierston Wareing). She clashes with just about everyone -- mom, kids, the authorities -- until her mother starts dating a new man, Connor (Michael Fassbender), who she feels connected to.

The trailer pretty much lets the film speak for itself -- troubled girl in crappy circumstances, struggling to stay afloat. But like Red Road, which took a simple premise and formed it into a gut-wrenching affair, Fish Tank looks to have a whole lot of depth to back up the usual coming-of-age tropes.

As for the killer reviews... It's got a 92% fresh rating out of 36 reviews, and our Todd Gilchrist wrote from AFI: "Arnold has really created one of the absolute best coming-of-age stories I've seen in several years, because it accurately observes that sometimes just being able to survive is triumph enough, even if all of your hopes and dreams don't come true." (Part of that quote appears in the film's trailer.) On top of that, it's won almost every award it's been nominated for.

Need any more reason? Head over to Apple to see for yourself.

Filed under: Drama, Trailers and Clips

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