Following up from the brilliant first trailer of the film last week and the great set of character posters earlier last month, Collider has got a new picture of Henry Cavill as Theseus in Tarsem Singh’s upcoming film, Immortals. Keeping in theme with almost all movies of this scale at the moment, Immortals will be released in 3D on 11th November this year, and also stars Mickey Rourke and Freida Pinto.
Immortals is to be Singh’s third time directing, following 2000’s The Cell, and 2006’s The Fall, the latter of which was financed largely out of Singh’s own pocket. Immortals, on the other hand, has a budget of over $100m., and from the looks of the trailer, the money’s been put to immense use and we have a lot to look forward to at the end of the year.
The film sees,
“The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission. As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity.”
Cavill is most well known for his role as Charles Brandon on the very popular TV show The Tudors, and many will look to his performance in Immortals to see what they can expect from him as Superman in Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated Man of Steel next year. Personally, I can’t wait to see either.
The new image sees him dressed for battle, presumably with his loyal followers behind him, with murderous intent in his eyes. With a spear in one hand, and a shield that’s also holding a sword in the other, I think it’s a safe bet that whoever he’s about to face down is in for a world of trouble. As usual, click to enlarge.
Love and jazz collide quite magnificently in this wonderful animated feature, co-directed by Fernando Trueba (whose live-action film, Belle époque, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film back in 2004).
The story (told via flashback for the majority of the time) begins in late forties Cuba, where talented pianist Chico meets the women of his dreams, in the form of beautiful, up-and-coming singer Rita. The course of love runs far from smooth for the duo however, and due partially to Chico’s misplaced jealousy and emotional short-sightedness, Rita is lured away to the bright lights of New York City, and a potential career on stage and screen. Fortunately, the affection between both proves to a powerful thing, and their dalliances continue in the US and beyond, even when they find themselves in very different situations and lifestyles.
If you’re tired of the increasing number of Hollywood features which fail to evoke even a semblance of genuine love and affection between their flesh and blood leads, Chico & Rita should be your first port of call. The film is a pure delight from start to finish. The characters are incredibly well-drawn (in both senses) and the original soundtrack is full of highly foot-tapable and finger-clickable Latino jazz numbers, all set within a lovingly-crafted world, with a strong attention to detail which superbly brings to life all the locations – whether it be a (reefer) smoke-filled Parisian jazz club or those now iconic-looking, US classic cars-strewn streets in Cuba. In fact, it’s hard to think of any recent works in cinema which have managed to create a sense of time and place so vividly as here. It’s a film which will definitely have you checking out potential Cuban holiday destinations online as the end credits roll.
Using the rotoscope technique (used to similarly stunning effect in the likes of A Scanner Darkly and Belleville Rendez-Vous) of superimposing the animation over actual live-action scenes, the makers have managed to imbue the action and character movements with a realistic, yet float-y, dream-like feel, and there’s a lovely simplicity to the actual animation. An abstract, paint-splashed dream sequence midway through, (where Chico imagines the lovely Rita succumbing to the glitzy life in the Big Apple), is also a thing of wonder, and is something that only an animated tale can really bring to life in a magic and enchanting way.
The inclusion of real-life celebrated luminaries from the world of jazz like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie is a real treat too, and helps to further ground the film within a realistic and human setting.
The story itself is pretty straight-forward, and while some may complain that there isn’t much subtext here or social relevance to the lover’s plight (any commentary on the politics and racial issues of that era is broadly addressed) Chico and Rita make such an engaging and attractive pair, these minor shortcomings don’t really present an issue as such.
The best thing to do here is sit back, take in the lush visuals and breezy, bebop-infused musical numbers, and marvel at the maker’s abilities and achievements in breathing life and a genuine sense of love (and all the human foibles and very relatable flaws that sometimes stems from that) into their 2D creations and the environment they inhabit.
Bryan Singer, who is returning to the X-fold after bailing on X-Men: Last Stand during production, has hinted that should this year’s franchise reboot prove successful, we could be seeing the return of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine for Second Class.
“I think there would definitely be room. I think it would be a very exciting thing. This universe has to establish itself first, but that would be a very interesting and fun thing.”
As for the character’s absence from X-Men: First Class – the only X-film to not feature the character thus far – Singer seems to have consoled himself for now.
“It’s a completely different film. Xavier and Magneto are important characters as well. It’s just a different X-Men film. I obviously love the character, but you can’t not do it just because he’s not in it.”
It baffles me that the two time X-director even has to say such a thing out loud. I’m sorry, but as a Wolverine hater (yeah, they do exist) it irks me that we can’t even go one movie without name dropping Jackman.
As Singer says, Xavier and Magneto are important characters too, as are the bajillion other X-Men who have been imported for the various instalments.
Boasting an X-Men Origins spin off and already in the throws of production on a sequel (despite the first instalment’s deservedly poor reception), there really is no need to shoe-horn Wolverine into a franchise that for all intents and purposes pre-dates his adamantium claws. How many narrative knots are the studio willing to tie themselves in over bringing back popular and maltreated characters?
Should the series, as has been suggested, jump a decade or so between films, it might be nice to see the impact of the intervening years on the stalwart ensemble Matthew Vaughn has aligned for his take on the superhero team, without yet more focus being heaped on a character that wasn’t all that interesting the first four times around.
Nicolas Winding Refn may have the Logan’s Run remake in his future but we’re concerning ourselves with his Cannes contender Drive here.
He has bagged a great cast with Ryan Gosling taking the lead with Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks and Oscar Issac and all eyes will be on the director’s next move following the acclaimed Tom Hardy film Bronson and his cult favourite Pusher Trilogy.
We’ve already seen a brief clip from the film, which has the intriguing premise of a Hollywood stunt driver moonlighting as a getaway driver. You can bet things don’t go too well.
Collider deserve all the praise for finding these images, the poster and this handy little synopsis if the title just isn’t enough to explain what we’ve got in store on the 23rd of September when the film makes it into cinemas over here.
Driver (RYAN GOSLING) is a stunt driver by day and a getaway driver by night. Doesn’t matter what job he does, Driver is most comfortable behind the wheel of a car. Shannon (BRYAN CRANSTON) is part mentor, part manager for Driver. Since he knows what a great talent Driver is behind the wheel, he either peddles him to film and television directors in the entertainment business or thieves who need an accomplished getaway driver, taking a cut for his own pockets. Always looking to make a buck, Shannon’s current plan is funding a stock car that Driver can race on the professional circuit. Since Bernie Rose (ALBERT BROOKS) is the wealthiest guy he knows, even if the sources of his money are questionable, Shannon proposes he be their investor. After seeing Driver in action at the speedway, Bernie Rose insists Nino (RON PERLMAN) partners with them as well. Primarily a loner and ambivalent about the deals Shannon makes for him, Driver’s world changes the day he shares an elevator ride at his apartment building with Irene (CAREY MULLIGAN).
When he sees her again at the grocery store with her young son, Benicio (KADEN LEOS), he is transfixed, and willingly offers help when they are stranded in the parking lot because Irene’s car won’t start. Soon Driver settles into a routine of driving Irene to her waitress job and watching Benicio, entangled in their lives while her car is fixed. This interlude in Driver’s life abruptly stops when Standard (OSCAR ISAAC), Irene’s husband, is let out early from prison for good behavior. Even though nothing has happened between Driver and Irene, Standard is threatened by another man’s presence in his family’s life. Driver backs off, respectful of Irene’s desire to keep her family together, but when he finds Standard bloodied and lying in the garage with a scared Benicio standing next to his father, Driver is embroiled even further in Irene’s life. Then trouble begins…
The Playlist is showing the first picture of Brad Pitt in the upcoming film, Cogan’s Trade, adapted by writer/director Andrew Dominik from the 1974 novel of the same name by George V. Higgins.
It’s not clear if the picture is an official still or just an on-set photo, but it looks pretty promising either way. Brad Pitt is truly a man of many talents, twice-nominated for an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actor in 1995’s 12 Monkeys, and Best Actor in 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and few actors could pull off the slicked-back hair, goatee-sporting, leather jacket-wearing, and shotgun-bearing look quite as well as Pitt does. And he makes it look good.
Cogan’s Trade sees Pitt as a professional enforcer, hired to get to the bottom of the heist of a high-stakes card game protected by the mob. Scoot McNairy (Monsters) and Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom) are the perpetrators of said heist, and Ray Liotta (Smokin’ Aces) is the one running the game. Richard Jenkins (Let Me In), James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), and Vincent Curatola (The Sopranos) will also be starring. I’m quite looking forward to Gandolfini and Curatola appearing together again after The Sopranos ended back in 2007.
To date, Dominik has written and directed two films, both of which have been very much well received. His first film, Chopper, essentially put Eric Bana on the map, and his second, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was quite simply brilliant, and gave Casey Affleck a chance to show he’s every bit as good an actor as his brother, Ben. Given Pitt and Dominik’s brilliant work together on Dominik’s second film, I think the pair teaming up again for Cogan’s Trade promises much. It will undoubtedly be ranking high on many people’s Top Lists of 2012, certainly including my own, with a release date scheduled in just under a year from now, on 3rd March next year.
In all honesty, I’m yet to see Pitt in a single film that I haven’t loved. There are few actors with such an impeccable track record as his, and Cogan’s Trade sounds like it’s going to be another addition to Pitt’s already exceptional career.
Here it is people, the fifth movie in the Final Destination franchise. Interestingly, the previous movie was called The Final Destination but obviously people flocked to the cinema in droves to see it therefore bring us the fifth!!
Final Destination 5 stars Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Arlen Escarpeta, Tony Todd, David Koechner and is directed by Steven Quale.
In this fifth instalment, Death is just as omnipresent as ever, and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of coworkers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But this group of unsuspecting souls was never supposed to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated group frantically tries to discover a way to escape Death’s sinister agenda.
Check out the trailer below and thanks to LatinoReview for finding it!
During a roundtable junket with Martin Sheen for The Way, Sheen went on some fantastic tangents and rather than include them in our coverage of the The Way interviews (which can be found here) we’ve instead collected them here.
On the question of working on The Amazing Spider-Man Sheen spoke briefly about his experience on set and his role in the film. Although none of this will probably be too surprising for anyone familiar with Spider-Man be aware that there are some spoilers for the film contained within the below quote (also keep in mind that this roundtable took place in February).
I’m not in any of the scenes where he’s Spider-man. He’s still a little boy. He’s a teenager when it starts. I’m a surrogate father really, I’m his uncle. And so all of our scenes are just like you and I talking now. I’m dealing with this adolescent who is having problems with changes, with hormones changing and his getting out of hand. I have to give him the marching orders and so forth. It’s all very normal. And the guy playing him is wonderful…
…He [Andrew Garfield] called me up and said he’d like to meet me and I said who are you and he said I’m playing your nephew. I said, you’re Spider-man! And we met for lunch and he was delightful. He just wanted to see who I was and whether I was open to changes, whether he could improvise with me. I was delighted and we had a wonderful time… I’ve never seen him in the uniform, I’ve never seen any of the stunts, any of the special effects, the green stuff. All my stuff is like normal acting and I don’t do anything with him otherwise. I’m dead in reel one y’know. I don’t do the end until I’m in New York. In April and May, that when I finish up with him. That’s where I get shot. There’s no special effects for me, that’s for the other characters.
The Amazing Spider-Man is currently set to be released in the UK on the 4th of July 2012
Argo, it’s a wonderful story… There’s a part in there I’d love to play. There’s probably not a chance in hell I’ll get. That’s just the space that my career is in right now, I’m seventy years old. I don’t get a lot of offers for those kinds of pictures. But I’m playing Uncle Ben, so that’s okay [laughs].
Finally, below you can find an audio snippet from the interview in which Sheen shares some Marlon Brando anecdotes and even does some impressions of Brando. These were frankly too entertaining to simply transcribe.
Apocalypse Now returns to UK cinemas on the 27th of May 2011.
It’s impressive really, that Top Spin has been able to muscle its way onto gaming’s Centre Court over the years.
Virtua Tennis, since its very first incarnation, has managed to bottle the irresistibly entertaining lightning captured within what is – for all intents and purposes – Pong on Steroids.
So 12 years after its not-too-shabby debut, what else is there to bring to the table?
Well with new technology comes a whole host of shiny add-ons designed to tempt you into parting with your cash above and beyond the consistently enjoyable, eternally reliable tennis mechanic.
Yip, Virtua Tennis 4 comes with 3D TV compatibility and motion controller support – so with a boldly stated ‘Better With Kinect’ strapline plastered across the front of the box (and Playstation Move functionality for the PS3 fans), it certainly has a lot to live up to.
As all good British Tennis fans are preternaturally braced for disappointment anyway, we’ll deliver the bad news first.
The Kinect mode is, well, a massive misserve.
If you’re expecting to run around your living room firing lobs and smashshots with carefree, sofa-tripping abandon, you’re in for a shock. Your character’s spacial movement is controlled by the computer, meaning you’re left with little to do but swing your arm back and forth. Which is fine, if there was a certain level of complexity or controller nuance. Yet the Kinect’s impressive, intricate body-speccing tech is woefully wonky here.
Still, imagine the Motion Controls as SEGA’s Tim Henman; heavily hyped and endlessly promoted, but all but forgettable in the grander scheme.
The mechanics, physics and graphics are as excellent and devilishly addictive as ever, with the generic Arcade Mode and Multiplayer offering the perfect blend between arcadey accessibility (the newly added Super Shot – which slow-mo’s everything as the camera swivels around your player – is superbly silly but endlessly entertaining) and that of a sim’s authenticity.
SEGA’s predictably quirky sensibility is back in force with the game’s most effective addition, the World Tour mode, which acts as a Career Mode that allows you to build your player’s stats through EXP points and improve their career by travelling along a series of board game-like squares across a world map.
Your successes afford you ‘tickets’ that you can use to travel around the map, while numerous mini-games (everything from fan signings to fancy dress matches) offer a unique spin on the genre’s most undeveloped of modes.
So while it’s not quite the Ace that fans had been hoping for, Virtua Tennis 4 still proves the franchise is still in with a decent shot for the genre crown, serving up a refreshing and engaging experience its competitors will struggle to (game, set and) match.
****~ (4/5)
Virtua Tennis 4 is on General Release now, and available on Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Wii.
“Are your parents home?” “Yes, but they don’t live here”. Do you remember this scene, with a smirking but very confused Joe Pesci standing by the entrance of the McCallister house, dressed up as phony policeman, while a multitude of people rushes around screaming and bellowing for pizza and voltage adaptors? Well, now you can re-enact it – in the movie’s very same settings – because the famous Home Alone house has been put on sale.
For $2.4 million, in fact, a lucky buyer will get to call home the house that Macaulay Culkin fought so relentlessly to defend from hopeless robbers Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern in the 1990 family favourite movie.
The mansion boasts four bedrooms and two grand suites, as well as “a large sunroom, spacious master bath, an elegant sitting room with built-in bookcases and a wood-burning fireplace with a carved marble mantle”, as reported by E!Online.
But while movie fans may see it as a huge piece of cinema memorabilia, the house holds precious family memories for soon-to-be ex-owner John Abendshien, who says it has been the perfect location to raise his daughter and that they’ll always had fond memories of the fun they had there.
Just remember not to leave your child behind if you go away on holiday…
This week, the 64th Cannes International Film Festival kicks off and you’ll no doubt see more trailers and posters for movies screening there as the week progresses. One such movie is ‘Unlawful Killing’ a documentary directed by Keith Allen looking in depth at the death of Princess Diana on the year that she would mark her 50th birthday.
This no doubt controversial documentary is set to screen on Friday 13th May in Cannes – mixes candid interviews with recreations of some of the key moments from the official inquest. The questions the film asks, as it seeks to uncover the truth about the world’s most famous car crash, could shake the public’s perceptions of how Diana and her partner Dodi Fayed died – and where responsibility ultimately lies for this apparent Establishment cover-up perpetrated by “Dark Forces”.
Below is the trailer for the documentary which shows interviews with some of Diana’s friends and you can make of it what you will. I guess the title in itself suggests what sort of angle the makers of the movie will take.
Personally I’m not sure what to think. I don’t really like the way the trailer opens like a horror movie but would value your opinions. Check out the trailer below and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below:
Following up from the brilliant first trailer of the film last week and the great set of character posters earlier last month, Collider has got a new picture of Henry Cavill as Theseus in Tarsem Singh’s upcoming film, Immortals. Keeping in theme with almost all movies of this scale at the moment, Immortals will be released in 3D on 11th November this year, and also stars Mickey Rourke and Freida Pinto.
Nicolas Winding Refn may have the Logan’s Run remake in his future but we’re concerning ourselves with his Cannes contender Drive here.
