McKellan and Caviezel look set to rescue ‘The Prisoner’! AMC’s 9 minute promo!

June 28th–

AMC has decided that we, the viewing audience, need INFORMATION!! So, they rolled this nine minute promo clip out for their new remake of the surreal Brit drama The Prisoner. Patrick McGoohan played the original Number 6, and is replaced here by Jim Caviezel, who seems to be taking the character in less of a lone-wolf direction. Ian McKellan is the head of the Village and I’m glad to see him here. He’s exactly the kind of presence that will help make this work.

Overall, Im impressed. This is going to be a 6 part mini-series starting in November. All of the elements are here, just updated and re-arranged. Save for Rover, which looks about the same except alot bigger.

Check it out HERE.

Maurice Sendak talks Wild Things, Spike Jonze, and the new movie!

July 28th, 2009–

This is really cool. I’ve been a big fan of Maurice Sendak and his work ever since pulling that battered, old-glue smelling copy of Where The Wild Things Are off the school library shelf some 25 years ago.  Over the years, I’ve attempted to keep track of the man and what he’s been up to, but it’s neat to see him here reflecting passionately on his now 40 year old book. It’s also a good sign, and a vote of confidence, that Maurice seems to be just as excited and encouraged by what Spike Jonze has done with the movie. If you are a Wild Things fan, a Sendak or Jonze fan, or just love seeing people discuss their art then this will be a bright spot in your day.

If nothing else, you get to see some Wild Things clips and some great talking head stuff by Sendak.

Check it out HERE.

Fantasia 09 Review: Whose Watching ‘The Children’?

The Children (R) 84 min. Directed by: Tom Shankman. Written by: Paul Andrew Williams. Starring: Hannah Tointon, Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield, Rachel Shelly. Cinematography: Nanu Segal. Original Music by: Stephen Hilton.

I’m a little conflicted about Tom Shankman’s  Brit thriller, The Children. Running only 84 minutes, the first 20 minutes are a little too sedate and clunky, and the last 20 too overtly shock-centered. Those 40-some odd minutes in the middle though, after the film has revved itself up, are nothing short of terrifying. It isn’t very often I’m unsettled by a movie, and even less often that one actually manages to scare me. But like it’s older cousin, Descent, this nasty bit of creepy kid horror intensifies to the point that even ominously structured glimpses of day-to-day life become anxiety-inducing. Forget Orphan, Joshua, The Good Son, or any of those recent milque-toast dramas about bad seed progeny chasing their unwitting parents. The Children reaches all the way back to the The Bad Seed and Ray Bradbury’s short story, The Small Assassin and draws on a deeply-buried fear of those small versions of ourselves we give our lives to trying to raise.

Fantasia 2009 Review: ‘Queens of Langkasuka’ explores Thai fantasy world

Queens of Langkasuka (NR) 2008, 133 min.Directed by: Nonzee Nimibutr. Written by: Win Lyovarin
Starring: Jarunee Suksawat, Ananda Everingham, Jesdaporn Pholdee, Dan Chupong

Queens of Langkasuka is one big mess. Spreading palace intrigue, ancient world power struggles, naval warfare, martial arts, sorcery, sea beasties and roving pirates over a sagging 133 minutes, Langkasuka has no idea how to manage any of it. Fortunately for the audience, the high-profile Thai fantasyhappens to be an entertaining and enjoyable mess. Borrowing elements of Old Hollywood  adventures like 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and taking a cue from Pirates of the Caribbean and other big budget American popcorn pics, Langkasuka marks a step forward for Thai cinema. Recently, the scene has mostly been cluttered with raucous martial arts movies and tepid horror films. Queens is on a grander scale than anything I’ve previously seen out of the country, and for the most part it accomplishes what it sets out to do. I wasn’t bored, and thats much more than I can say for several of this summer’s big profile ‘blockbusters’.

The Hi-Def Version of the ‘Tron Legacy’ footage…Groovy!

July 27th, 2009–

“Who’s that guy?”

“That’s Tron. He fights for the Users.’

Ahh. Tron. One of the pure bastions of the 1980s. Love it or hate it, Tron really encapsulates that decade’s attitude and perspective on technology, gaming and the idea of virtual identity. To think that this film was released when video games were little more than Pac Man and Space Invaders and yet look at the way in  which it approaches the idea of  interactive environments and user avatars. It was clearly ahead of its time. As a kid I wasn’t a fan. I’d watch it in the same capacity I also watched Dune or The Blackhole; drawn in by the complex oddness on-screen and a world  so completely alien that I kept looking at it even when the ideas didn’t make much sense or the characters failed to compel. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Tron and I think I’m ready to take another look.

Fantasia 2009 Review: ‘Daytime Drinking’ Without the Hangover

Daytime Drinking (NR) 116 min. Written and Directed by: Young-Seok Noh Starring: Kang-Hee Kim, Sam-Dong Song Cinematography and Original Music by: Young-Seok Noh

 After seeing so many of the Fantasia Fest entries this year (and I’ve got a ton of reviews on the way) one begins to notice the overarching differences between the various strains of Asian film. China seems to still be primarily focusing energy on martial arts and historical action pictures; Japan is all over the wacky place with some really bold dramas and alot of comic-book fueled madness; Thailand is mostly concerned with how to actually kill its stuntmen during filming; and then, there is South Korea. In the past five or six years Korean film has leapt to the forefront of the cinematic landscape. Producing work both provoking, artistic and just plain-out entertaining, Korean filmmaking is in the midst of a significant evolution forward. When I look at movies like Oldboy, The Chaser, or the work of Kim Ki-Duk, what I see reminds me of the artistic explosion that occurred in the film world here in America during the 1970s. That era bought about a new viewpoint through which artists considered the opportunities the medium of film afforded.

Now Playing:Rockwell Encounters The Darkside of ‘Moon’

Moon (R) 97 min.

For here I am sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet earth is blue
And theres nothing I can do

Though Im past one hundred thousand miles
Im feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows

–Space Oddity, David Bowie

Those haunting lyrics to Bowie’s song about a lonesome and isolated astronaut seem to echo in every silent space of Duncan Jones’  new hard-science fiction Moon.  And there is a certain sense of symmetry there when you consider that Jones is Bowie’s son and this movie his first directorial debut. What a debut it is too! Starting small and quiet and then gaining momentum slowly and purposefully, Moon tells the story of astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), a company man fulfilling the last bit of his three year contract on the lunar surface where he is the only human member of a mining operation. What is it exactly Sam is mining ? Helium-3, a clean fuel source that is abundant on the moon but provides the key for Earth’s energy crisis. Employed by Lunar Industries, Sam’s primary job is to oversee the automated robotic process. As a result, that means Sam’s only crew member is the base’s A.I. system, GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacy as a cross between Hal 9000 and Robby the Robot). 

Movie Review: ‘The Half Blood Prince’ is a worthy succesor

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (PG) 153 min.

 

Okay, I’ve been sitting on this one awhile. Being incredibly busy and having a ton of films to write-up, I haven’t gotten much chance to post lately and wanted to be able to hit several at once. So, consider this the first of a flood of new reviews rolling out over the course of today and tomorrow. And there is no better place to start than with David Yates’ newest inclusion in the Harry Potter series.

I saw HP6 last Thursday and it took me a few days to parse exactly how I felt about it. Admittedly, it took me a little while to warm up to this new Harry. I have enjoyed all of the Potter movies, including the two that jump-started the series, and I’ve read all of the books. In particular, I remember devouring Half-Blood Prince shortly after returning from my honeymoon; sitting curled up next to my wife in our small but cozy apartment, caught up in this tale of the ‘Boy Who Lived’ and his growing battle with ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’.

‘Alice’ Looks Curioser and Curioser! A trailer for Wonderland finally arrives!

July 23rd–

Fantasy seems to be in the midst of it’s second wind here in America, finally recovering from the glut of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter imposters; not completely though, afterall what WAS that new Chris Columbus trailer in front of Potter 6?  Part of this new re-birth includes a return to stories and ideas that while fantastical, are a little more difficult to translate to screen. Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are looks to be one of the best movies of the year, but I don’t see any kind of epic structure there. Alice is like that too. The trailer is full of recognizable imagery, especially if you are a fan of the books and not just the Disney film, but the actualy story is rather loose when it comes to narrative. Will Burton work around that by focusing on the characters and the creatures of the world, and letting Alice play tour guide? It looks that way so far. Hey, Im just glad that  we  have a Cheshire Cat that isn’t just Whoopi Goldberg’s face in Zoobilee Zoo make-up.

Attention Baltimore Film Fans! Aliens Are Trespassing At A Drive-In Near You!!

July 17th, 2009–

Wow, when it rains it pours. It’s a great weekend to be a film fan in Baltimore, but there are so many choices that you are sure to end up missing something no matter how you tailor your schedule. With the usual vat of new releases, the Senator playing Rashomon and Artscape and The Charles putting on that big show in the city it would be easy to overlook something like this. However, I think that would be a mistake. The above movie is Alien Trespass and while I haven’t seen it, with a poster like that, now I know I need to! Looking like it was made in 195o (it was actually filmed last year on an indie budget) with the likes of Dan Lauria and Robert Patrick showing up, Alien Trespass is probably a movie that could ONLY be properly enjoyed in that late summer night ambience that only the drive-in can provide. And if you are interested in checking it out, you can get into Bengies Drive-In, located in Middle River, Baltimore, MD (see the WEBSITE for showtimes and directions and all that other stuff) for 8 bucks and that includes not only this little gem but two other films as well.