MOVIE CAFE

Another Chapter Of Bodyguards And Assassins Epic History

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:12:12 PST

Historical epic movies have bombarded Chinese cinema today, as well as many action-period blockbusters which tried to please everyone. In addition to numerous released and upcoming titles is a film that will portray one chapter from the history of Dr. Sun Yat-sen who is popularly referred to as the Father of Modern China. Sun played a critical role in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the subsequent establishment of a short-lived republic. He is one of few political figures in 20th-century China who is admired by otherwise opposed politicians on the mainland and in Taiwan. However, the story of this star-studded film entitled “Bodyguards and Assassins” is not precisely based on Dr. Sun’s biography, but it’s a fictional account of an assassination attempt on revered Chinese revolutionary and the efforts of kung fu masters who protected him before the Chinese Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911. The film boasts a cast of Chinese and Hong Kong cinema superstars who led by one of the busiest Kung Fu stars in Chinese cinema today, Donnie Yen. He will portray “Gambler,” a character that is shaping up to be somewhat antiheroic in that he is described as not being patriotic or righteous and is uncertain of his place in the revolution. Other leading cast members include Leon Lai as “Beggar,” Wang Xueqi as “Scion,” Nicholas Tse as “Rickshaw Puller,” Tony Leung Kar-fai as “Revolutionary,” Hu Jun as “Assassin,” Eric Tsang as “Police Commissioner,” Simon Yam as “General in Exile,” Fan Bing-bing as “Mistress,” Wang Po-chieh, and Zhou Yun. The film that previously known as “Dark October” has been in development for a decade, it’s directed by Teddy Chan who formerly made Jackie Chan’s “The Accidental Spy”. “I really wanted to make this (film) 10 years ago but the market then just could not support such an expensive and costly film,” Teddy explained. Teddy actually hasn’t done anything of consequence since that substandard Jackie Chan actioner and it’s still ambiguous if he’s up to the task of heading a project of this magnitude, even with 10 years of preparation. On the other hand, “Bodyguards and Assassins” producer Peter Chan does have a good track record with such films as “The Eye”, “Three… Extremes”, “Protégé”, and “The Warlords”. Perhaps with the presence of Peter Chan, and the virtually everyone who matters in current Hong Kong film in the cast, this film should at least do well commercially.

1905, City of Victoria (British Colony of Hong Kong). Before Dr. Sun Yat-Sen can become the Father of Modern China by instigating the revolution of 1911 that overturns the Qing Dynasty, his life is almost cut short when he arrives at Hong Kong for a secret meeting to establish a united anti-Qing revolutionary front.
In the distance of thirteen blocks, the one man Dr. Sun Yat-Sen who holds a nation’s fate must survive relentless attempts on his life with only five bodyguards, a group of ordinary men and women who actually possess extraordinary fighting skills. Against hundreds of assassins, these men must put their courage to the test in order to protect the hope of millions even if it means fighting to the death…

Facts behind the impressive scale of production:

# The role of Sun Yat-sen was originally offered to Chow Yun-fat who opted instead to play Chinese philosopher “Confucius” in an upcoming biopic.

# The film features a truly awesome set which recreates a bustling Hong Kong in the early 20th century. It was the biggest set of its kind ever constructed for a Chinese film.

# According to producer Peter Chan, the actioner is an attempt to make a “new mainstream commercial film” to attract audiences from around the world with a universal storyline, quality acting and inspiring scenes.

# Nicholas Tse had actually auditioned for this film several years ago before the production was held up.

# 150-million yuan of budget have gone into the undertaking, including nearly 50-million yuan and eight months time to construct of a replica of Hong Kong's urban core in 1906.

# The majestic set which is the first one-to-one scale reproduction of old Hong Kong, build in the Song Jiang Province, a western suburb of Shanghai, and is about the size of 10 football fields. Painstakingly focused on keeping historical accuracy and attention-to-detail, the streets and arcades vary from traditional Chinese shophouses to colonial-style buildings to gothic architecture enhanced by props meticulously true to the time, like rickshaws, alcohol bottles and signboards.

# About 500 homes, 200 shops and 4,000 signboards were created for the film.

# Hollywood actress Andie Macdowell and Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle, who were in town for the Shanghai Film Festival, were duly impressed as they toured the set.

# The film features performances by many of the top actors in Hong Kong. Among them are nine previous winners for Best Actor and one for Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

# In their promotional slogan, the producers are promising sixty minutes of non-stop fighting.

Budget: $23 million

Theatrical release dates:
Dec 18, 09: China, Hong Kong, Singapore
Dec 24: Malaysia, Taiwan

Sources: KungfuCinema, Today Online, WuJing.org – Photos courtesy of Cinema Popular

Some Secrets Take Us To Edge Of Darkness

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:58:14 PST

Since Mel Gibson headlined "Signs" and "We Were Soldiers" in 2002, he choose to concentrated on his directing career, and subsequently "The Passion of the Christ" and "Apocalypto" came from his vision as a filmmaker. Now, his first film as a leading actor after seven years is a mystery thriller called “Edge of Darkness.” In the film, he is playing a cop investigating the murder of his daughter, which leads to unraveling a gravely important national security secret. “Darkness” puts Gibson back in familiar territory, to the type of role he has already proven more an adept at handling. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that, even at the age of 53, Gibson is still one of Hollywood’s most credible action stars. It is also probably easier to sell Gibson now than it was in 2006 where he was dealing with numerous real-world incidents, and it's probably easier to sell something he's just acting in, since as a movie star, very few guys have ever enjoyed the run Gibson had for about 20 years. In the other hand, the parent-getting-revenge genre is pretty hot right now, just check last year surprise hit “Taken” and recently “Law Abiding Citizen”. Thus, akin to previous Russell Crowe-starred, “State of Play”, “Darkness” is actually a big screen adaptation to a British television drama serial produced by BBC Television. Also like “Play”, this film has quite a keen suspicion about politicians and where business and politics intersect. The serial that first aired on 1985 has won several prestigious awards, remains highly regarded to this day, and often cited as one of the best and most influential pieces of British television drama ever made. This big screen version directed by Martin Campbell and produced by Michael Wearing, who also directed and produced the series respectively. Since Campbell directed the BBC drama, he has gone on to develop several Hollywood Blockbusters such as “Vertical Limit”, “The Mask of Zorro” and two Bond movies, “Golden Eye” and “Casino Royale. Next, the director should soon be getting to work on DC comic adaptation, “The Green Lantern.” I love a good mystery thriller, and with Gibson kicking ass, Winstone being all mysterious and Campbell directing, I’m just so excited to watch “Edge of Darkness.”Thomas Craven (Gibson) is a veteran homicide detective for the Boston Police Department and a single father. When his only child, twenty-four year old Emma (Bojana Novakovic), is murdered on the steps of his home, everyone assume that he was the target. But he soon suspects otherwise, and embarks on a mission to find out about his daughter's secret life and her killing. His investigation leads him into a dangerous looking-glass world of corporate cover-ups, government collusion and murder - and to CIA operative Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) who has been sent in to clean up the evidence. Craven's solitary search for answers about his daughter's death transforms into an odyssey of emotional discovery and redemption.

# Gibson is a fan of the television series, he attended a gun club with two policemen to improve his marksman skills for the film.

# Robert De Niro had been cast in CIA officer, Darius Jedburgh, role, but dropped out due to 'creative differences' after spending a few days on the set.

# Because principal photography has been started, director Martin Campbell will have to settle with the shooting around De Niro's character until the filmmakers find his replacement.

# The Sugarloaf Mountain reservation was shut down for a few days while it rented out for the filming of “Darkness”.

# Screenwriter William Monahan (The Departed, Body of Lies) has re-written the script completely with the action transferred to American way and given a more contemporary theme.

# Rumor has it that Mel Gibson wants to cast Britney Spears in the movie.

# A couple who own a building in Boston have turned down a proposal to use their site in the film because of the movie's affiliation with Gibson.

Budget: About $90 million
Opening prediction: $21 million
Domestic gross prediction: $80 million

Theatrical release dates:
Jan 28, 10: Netherlands
Jan 29: Finland, USA
Feb 04: Singapore
Feb 19: Norway, UK
Mar 11: Malaysia

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

A Matchless Kind Of Superhero Found In Jeon Woo Chi

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:03:06 PST

Inspired by an anonymously written Chosun Dynasty novel, “Jeon Woo Chi” is a ‘Korean superhero flick’ that fused with local folklore and used Taoism and tradition as its narrative devices. The movie is highly anticipated not just because of buzzes that has been building about a Korean production that looks set to take on “Batman”, “Iron Man” and “Spider-Man” at their own game, but also because of its super star cast and director, Choi Dong-hoon, who made a splash in Korean film industry with his high stakes thrillers, The Big Swindle (2004) and Tazza: The High Rollers(2006). Since the big success of “Tazza”, peoples are concerned about what that Choi would tackle next. While, the fact a young director with two jackpots in the can ends up helming a big budget fantasy action blockbuster is not much of a surprise, but seeing someone like Choi sitting on the director's chair for a likely quite irreverent "Korean superhero" flick like this is not something you see every day. Particularly considering how much of a departure “Jeon Woo Chi” is compared to his first two works. By only taking the basic concept of the legendary character, Choi came with an idea of throwing the ancient hero 500 years in the future, in our very time, but with the same villains, goblins and whatnot to fight with. So you get the unlikely hero coming to terms with a completely unfamiliar environment, some Crocodile Dundee moments ensuing, and then your assorted ass-kicking bonanza in the second act. Though the main plot will be something that doesn't sound like anything you've never seen before, but the idea that the folk idol will find drinking, fooling around and womanizing a lot more fun than going after the baddies is a little more alluring. Of course until justice will call, and he'll have to answer. "It's going to be very different from a Hollywood clear-cut 'good' superhero," the filmmaker told reporters. "Jeon Woo Chi is a rascal and quite mischievous." An ensemble of promising cast this film has also comprised with many alumni of Choi's past works. As the titular role is Kang Dong-won, young star of 'M' (2007) and The "Duelist" (2005) who plays the naughty time transported hero fighting against Kim Yoon-seok the detective anti hero in last year's surprise hit, thriller "The Chaser" (2008). Im Soo-jeong from Kim Jee-woon's "A Tale of Two Sisters" fame and Park Chan-wook's "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" also appears in the film along with Yoo Hae-jin who worked with Choi on "War of the Flower" and a host of other films.

500 Years Ago in the Chosun Dynasty, the Pipe of the prophecy has fallen into the evil hands of the goblins, propelling the world into a whirlwind of disorder. The ancient Taoist wizards turn to the greatest ascetics of their time, the Master and Hwadam for help in vanquishing the goblins and trust each wizard with one half of the Pipe. Meanwhile, the Master’s rascal student Jeon Woo Chi tricks the king with the art of transformation and creates a fiasco, which makes the three Taoist wizards and Hwadam visit the Master. But the Master has been murdered and his half of the Pipe is missing! By taking his master’s pipe out to the market streets, Jeon Woo Chi has been pushed into a corner, ultimately getting sealed into a painting along with his trusty dog, Chorangyi.

Fast forward to Seoul, 2009. For some strange reason, goblins that had been sealed up in the past begin to appear one by one and reek havoc on the world. The three Taoist wizards had been enjoying their years of retirement as a priest, a monk, and a shaman. However, they are now brought together in a search for Hwadam, who is nowhere to be found after going into training over five hundred years ago. After much discussion, the three wizards seek a certain picture scroll in display at the museum. They unseal it and call forth Jeon Woo Chi and Chorangyi. Being offered freedom in return for catching the goblins, Jeon Woo Chi sets out on his task. What began as a hunt for goblins slowly turns into Jeon Woo Chi’s personal sightseeing expedition of the modern day world. To top it off, he meets a woman with the same face as the one that had captivated him so many centuries back. He begins his adventure and the quest for Seo In-kyung, his new, yet old love. When Hwadam finally appears in front of the wizards because of Jeon Woo Chi, it is only to reveal where he has hidden the other half of the prophesized Pipe.

Budget: About $12 million

Theatrical release dates
Dec 23, 09: South Korea

Sources: Cine21, KOFIC, Asian Media Wiki – Photos courtesy of CJ Entertainment

Another Bleak Future Within The Book Of Eli

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:06:57 PST

Post-apocalyptic sceneries are becoming one of director’s favorites as their movie setting these days, though the idea of the end of the world certainly wasn’t new as it gained vitality in the West during the Cold War. The stories for these films are often taking place in an agrarian, non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of technology remain. In the film, mankind itself hangs in the balance -- a reality which lends the post-apocalyptic action its urgency. It is precisely insofar as the future of mankind is at stake that heroism becomes a sensible and important theme in post-apocalyptic films. For the viewer, the real thrill of post-apocalyptic film is feeling the heroic in him or her being called out into a world that in many ways already feels post-apocalyptic. Thus, part of the revelation of post-apocalyptic film concerns what is illuminated in the viewer's own person and world-situation. There are some titles that become genuine classics such as “The Road Warrior,” “Mad Max”, and “Terminator”. Hollywood's obsession with the end of the world also has found its place in 2009 with releases such as “Knowing”, “Terminator Salvation”, “9”, “Zombieland”, “The Road” and “2012” later this year.
“The Book of Eli” is the next film in line depicting survivors of a cataclysmic event. The film is helmed by acclaimed director siblings the Hughes brothers whose last big feature was 2001 "From Hell," a gory and gothic period piece that starred a pre-"Pirates" Johnny Depp as an eccentric and slightly unbalanced investigator chasing Jack the Ripper through the rain-slick cobblestone streets of 19th century London. “Hell” met mixed reviews and middling box office, and not long after that, Albert and Allen Hughes, once considered two of the more urgent and authentic voices in Hollywood, seemed to disappear. While never A-listers in the Hollywood sense, their smaller films earn positive notices and solid box office, and the duo has developed a respected name in the industry. “Menace II Society” pulled in $27.9 million against a $2.5 million budget in 1993, and has an 86% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Two years later, their next offering, “Dead Presidents”, brought in $26.3 million back from a $15 million budget and earned a less impressive, but still solid, 63% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes. With dusty, gritty images and more than a handful of big guns and bigger explosions, “The Book of Eli” looks like “Mad Max” on a bigger budget, which is perhaps, can be a huge return for the duo. It has its strengths, such as Denzel Washington’s charisma which hopefully providing a solid anchor for the film, and its weaknesses, the western genre.

30 years in the future, in a post-apocalyptic world where a major war has left few people behind and a lot of environmental changes, there’s a lone hero named Eli, whose destiny is to save humanity. He guards a mysterious book which provides knowledge that could offer its owner large amounts of power to guide, lead, control, and manipulate society. Making his way across the desolate wasteland of near-future America, he faces challenge as the despot of a small makeshift town is determined to take possession of the book.

Cast and Characters:

# Denzel Washington as Eli: Lone warrior who fighting his way across a desolate wasteland in order to guard the book with information that can bring back civilization.

# Gary Oldman as Carnegie: A ruthless yet charismatic despot in charge of a town near Sacramento; he's an extortionist, slave driver, saloon keeper, and antiquarian. Age has hardened him. Brutal intelligence is etched on his face. His cruel, ambitious eyes show him to be a man with power, but never enough to satisfy. He built his rotten town out of poisonous rubble and rules it with an iron fist -- but he wants more. A smooth talker, decisive and ruthless, Carnegie is on a collision course with Eli.

# Mila kunis as Solara: she is caught in a terrible trap: local strongman Carnegie can force her to do anything he wants by threatening her mother. Ordered to seduce Eli and keep him off guard, Solara fails in her mission, and soon realizes that Eli is like no man she has ever met: he balks at being reduced to animalistic behavior, and he uses violence to serve a cause greater than his own. Moved by Eli's heart and spirit, Solara opts to follow him on his journey, and becomes his friend and pupil.

# Jennifer Beals as Claudia: she is Carnegie's mistress and Solara's mother, a blind woman who has been sightless since birth. Captured as a prize by Carnegie long ago, she tolerates her life as his sexual plaything, knowing that to refuse him anything will only mean torment for her child. Eventually, she settles the score.

# Ray Stevenson as Redrige: A thin-faced, violent man, Redridge is Carnegie's muscle, the leader of his crew of gunmen and enforcers. Redridge is extremeley loyal, but he’s always watching for an opportunity to win Solara, for whom he lusts, as a prize from his boss.

Facts from the desolate wasteland of near-future:

# Hughes Brothers admitted that “Book of Eli” was actually inspired by Planet of the Apes, though not in a literal way… more of an obscure inspiration.

# The movie’s tone is being compared to “The Road Warrior”.

# Denzel Washington trained in martial arts by Bruce Lee's protégé Dan Inosanto, so that he could do all of his own hand to hand fight sequences.

# Kristen Stewart turned down Solara role due to scheduling conflicts with “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (2009).

Budget: About $80 million
Opening prediction: $35 million
Domestic gross prediction: $75 million

Theatrical release dates:
Jan 14, 2010: Russia
Jan 15: UK, USA
Feb 03: Egypt
Feb 10: Belgium
Feb 18: Australia, Netherlands, Estonia
Feb 26: Germany, Finland, Sweden
Mar 04: Argentina, Czech Rep
Mar 05: Romania
Mar 12: Brazil

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Warner Bros

Contemporary Films That Were Born For Halloween

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:21:08 PST

Every decade produces terrible horror movies and great horror movies and I think most universally recognized horror classics are from years ago. Such titles as “Halloween”, “Friday the 13th”, “Nightmare on Elm St”, “Carrie”, “The Exorcist”, and “Evil Dead”, are all antiques by today’s standards, but they were revolutionary at the time and heavily influenced modern horror. When it comes to the genre, the 2000s also have supplied plenty of thrills, chills and kills. But, what of those that have been released recently that can compare to such classics, while many of them are terrible and lack the originality and scare-factor of those from the “Golden Age”? But here, I try to conceive some of the best this decade has to offer and this is based solely on my own opinion. There may be better films out there that I just haven't seen yet. But for now, these will certainly do.

Let The Right One In (2008 - Swedish)
Director: Tomas Alfredson “She just moved in next door”
With all of the crazy hype surrounding the “Twilight” books and films, along comes one of the best vampire movie ever made. “Let The Right One In” is one of the most beautiful, touching and downright disturbing horror films we’ve probably ever seen. The story centers on a bullied 12-year-old boy (Kåre Hedebrant) newly befriended by an equally solitary girl (Lina Leandersson) who has just moved in next door to him. Their friendship leads to them forming a “blood bond” ... which becomes all the more complicated when she turns out to be one of those bloodsucking creatures. Absolutely a breathtaking film, the cinematography of this film is spectacular, and the direction is sometimes inspired, and always good. LTROI proves that a well made horror film can still have a good story to tell if the horror elements were to be stripped away. It is without doubt a cult classic already and I hope Hollywood, with their upcoming remake, don’t mess the excellent scores this film has built up.

[REC] (2007 – Spanish)
Director: Juame Balaguero & Paco Plaza “One Witness. One Camera”
Named for the record button found on a video camera, this zombie-type film is actually shocky and scary. It turn the hand-held camcorder (ala Blair With Project) that usually annoying, into a really well equipment here. Through the POV viewfinder, the horror freaks joins a television reporter and her cameraman who are covering a fire station for a documentary TV series. While tagging along during a routine call, they become eyewitnesses to a nameless plague that forces the police and military to seal off the apartment building they’re occupying. The gore of this film is fantastic, the scares are all adrenalistic, and the storyline is good enough to keep our interest the whole time. In addition, the ending of this thing is probably one of the better endings for a horror film in quite some time. “[REC]” is absolutely far superior than the American shot-by-shot remake "Quarantine".

The Others (2001)
Director: Alejandro Amenabar

“Close Every Door, Turn Off Every Light”
This film is probably one of the most underrated horror flicks since 2000, but in fact, “The Others” really does make for a top-notch, classy horror movie. In the film, Nicole Kidman, with her brilliant and strong acting, plays the role of a single mother who trapped in a big mansion because of her two children's sensitive and allergic problems with sunlight. Suddenly ghosts are hunting the house. Kidman, her kids and the servants are disturbed by this and the movie shows us the fight on how they try to solve the problem. Chilling and suspenseful without even a hint of gore, it may well be the finest haunted house movie ever made. The foggy landscape around the house and the dark, moody tone of the entire film set a tone in which the scares seem perfectly in step with the rest of the movie, as well as the emotions of the central characters.

The Ring (2002)
Directed: Gore Verbinski “Before you die, you see the ring”
Though the original's Sadako is even more creepy and terrifying than the remake's Samara, but with its visual nature and strong plot, “The Ring” which quite a critically-acclaimed movie is the only Hollywood remake of an Asian horror movie to perhaps stood on the same level with the original. Gore Verbinski proved to have a great handle on the horror genre. He showed a natural instinct towards making this film visually striking while still keeping it about the characters and the story. Naomi Watts stars as a Seattle journalist investigating the urban legend of a videotape that puts a seven-day death curse on anyone who watches it. Weird, scary and with a terrifically wicked ending that best remembered for its signature scene.

The Descent (2005)
Director: Neil Marshall

“Afraid of the dark? You will be”
The horror in “The Descent” is a slow build up, and then suddenly you are immersed in it. It’s about A caving expedition staged by a group of female friends that goes horribly awry. They’re exploring an unknown cave system and get trapped by a tunnel collapse. And all getting worse when they encounter “crawlers,” a blind, feral humanoid race that evolved entirely underground. The film treats its audience with intelligence by never explaining things, but giving you enough clues to let you form your own conclusions. Rather than relying on outlandish death scenes and over-the-top gore, it's slightly restrained in its old-school approach that values tension over eye-candy. In this British movie, you also don't see the banal, formulaic Hollywood treatment such as trying to give each character a special, but superficial "story". In addition, Writer-director Neil Marshall also introduces one of the most compelling plot twists of the decade.

Paranormal Activity (2009)
Director: Oren Peli “Don't See It Alone”
First-time director Oren Peli using his claustrophobic camera made this 2-year-old indie bombshell an immediate classic. This is a film that has been described by many, many critics and movie lovers alike as being one of the scariest, unbridled, hyper-realistic movies in a very long time. Thanks to the realistic performances by its leads, the film delivers the suspense and terror in a way that leaves you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. The scene of the camera videotaping the characters as they sleep and hearing things go bump in the night is horrifying because it preys on a primal fear of ours. “Paranormal Activity” may have been a cheap movie to make, but the scares are anything but cheap.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Director: Scott Derrickson

“What happened to Emily?”
Another horror entry about demonic possession that is actually very creepy and has a very nice concept. The plot is based on Anneliese Michel, a German girl who was said to be possessed by demons and subsequently went exorcism. It adapted into a story that tells the trial of the priest accused of negligence resulting in the death of the young girl who is believed to be possessed In an rare decision, the Catholic Church officially recognises the demonic possession of the 19 year-old college girl Told in flashbacks, the lawyer Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) takes on the church when she fights in defense of a priest, Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson) who performed an exorcism on a young woman, Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter). The acting is excellent from all the cast, particularly Wilkinson and Linney. The exorcism scenes that shown in the flash-backs may be reminiscent of "The Exorcist", but they are terrifying, intense, disturbing, and stays with you long after it's finished.

Drag Me to Hell (2009)
Director: Sam Raimi

“Even nice people can go to hell”
Raimi is certainly summoned as one of the maestro of horror films as he created what many consider to be the untouchable classic Evil Dead series. His returns to the basic with “Drag Me To Hell” is electrically charged with scares and, in classic Raimi fashion, cranking it up full volume with maggots, vomit, projectile nosebleeds, and a demon possessed goat, which reminding us that horror can be entertaining and fun and not just centered on gore and torture. Actress Allison Lohman also successfully steps in as the new Bruce Campbell in Raimi’s horror canvas. Never ever she looked so cute and mesmerizing, she really brought us care to her character by her innocent charm. And it goes without saying that Lorna Raver’s creepy old woman has become a pin-up of 2009’s horror characters.

Shutter (2004 - Thai)
Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun & Parkpoom Wongpoom “The most terrifying images are the ones that are real”
This Thailand horror movie was adapted by the Hollywoods, with the same title, but not as good (scary) as the Thailand version. The story is about a man who is tormented by a girl he killed in a car accident. The girl haunts the man because of it via “creepy” images developed from his camera. A genuinely homegrown, genuinely frightening Thai take on J-horror, “Shutter” is well made and contains more than its fair share of supremely creepy moments. The supernatural power of the piece is how cleverly it is wired into the main character’s guilt. The plot of this one is complete, which is a rare thing in horror movies. It creates substantial tension, backs off beautifully, then when you think it's over it takes you deeper. In addition, there’s also the final chilling twist that is worthy of Hitchcock.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003 - Korean)
Director: Ji-woon Kim

“Fairytales have never been this Grimm”
Based on an old Korean fairy tale, this horror is a dash of haunted house, a dash of reliable evil stepmother, and a helping handful of fashionable questionable narrative reality. This movie is so clever that it will keep you confused until the very end when it just clicks even though no words are said. The twist ending also explain the nature of some of the horrors and past events. It superbly made it clear that this is a carefully structured film about grief and guilt, as well as horror. The acting is excellently done especially from the 2 sisters and their stepmother; the relationships between them are so well thought out and acted that you'll never see the end coming. The soundtrack is faultless, the furnishings in the house, and the use of colors are fantastic. The film also has been remade by Hollywood and of course easily turned into just another Asian horror remake junk.

4bia (2008 – Thai)
Director: B. Pisanthanakun, P. Wongpoom, P. Purikitpanya & Y. Thongkongtoon “Face Your Fears”
When you watch "4bia", you not only pay for the price for one horror movie but four put together! What a bargain! It's rather refreshing to see this kind of anthology played on the big screen. It’s like watching episodes of The Twilight Zone. Each bite-sized tale is a surprise and leaves you with a sick feeling in your gut when it’s over. Talking about taste, there are lots of different flavors packaged within this horror so that there is certainly something for everyone’s savors and vulnerabilities to enjoy. “4bia” also manages to keep the viewer engaged throughout, and as such, it certainly stands as one of the better horror anthologies of recent years..

28 Days Later (2002)
Director: Danny Boyle

“The Days Are Numbered”
After the success of his Oscar winning “Slumdog Millionaire”, it’s nice to go back and look at the craziness that Danny Boyle is capable of doing within the horror genre. In this zombie flick, Boyle applied his gritty indie style to this visceral tale of a highly infectious "rage virus" that turns people across England into red-eyed, zombie-like marauders, and reinventing the walking dead genre for the 21st century in the process. The plot is untraditional in its organization giving it more interest. There’s relatively little gore here, but it's scarier than many recent horror movies because of the combined effects of its great camera work, unconventional movement and interesting settings. Cillian Murphy with his great acting gives us a man in the middle of a crisis, that we truly believe his arc from a pained and scared man just waking up at the end of the world to a man who will fight through all hell to protect those he cares about.

Trick R Treat (2008)
Director: Michael Dougherty“If you don't follow the rules tonight, you won't live to see tomorrow”
A really fun anthology movie specially made for Halloween which has received enough positive feedback to peek my interest. This long-delayed anthology of intertwined Halloween tales sadly never got the major theatrical release it deserved, but that's no indication of its quality. It's an entertaining, crazy ride that confines the magic of Halloween with intriguing characters, twisty storylines and an absorbing mythology surrounding the holiday. There's the gruesome, the macabre, the frightening, and perhaps most importantly the hilarious. The film falls in line with Raimi's comedy horror classics “Evil Dead.” If you're looking for a great way to spend a creepy night, definitely pick this one up. As an anthology, it works very well; but, as an overall film, it's even better.

Rec 2 Bring The Quarantine Stuffs All Back

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:19:59 PDT

The genuinely creepy Spanish horror film “Rec” surely is one of the biggest independent horror success stories of 2007. In the US, the film was quickly snapped up by Sony Picture’s Screen Gems division and put on the studio shelf before being remade in English the following year under the title of “Quarantine.” However, not thrilled with the remake, the two “Rec” directors, Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, decided to go back and make the highly anticipated follow up "[REC] 2" entirely on their own again. “Reading the internet blogs, especially the Spanish and Mexican ones, we felt that the film was no longer ours,” Plaza says. “Fans loved it and spent hours talking about it, developing theories. We didn’t want to spoil it for them. We wanted to give them more of what they liked and surprise them.” Two Spanish directors indisputably gave audiences a unique look into the zombie sub-genre with a handheld, first person perspective film taking place within a single building which bore witness to a zombie outbreak that spread like wildfire. Due to the quarantine lock down of said building, the film also gave us a claustrophobic and dark tone which helped in creating one of the scariest films of all time which quickly became a cult phenomenon. Co-director Balagueró also said that the new story adds some twists, turns and revelations that audiences will appreciate. “At the end of the first movie, we suggested some supernatural elements. But, they were only suggestions, or insinuations. We always wanted to explore them in greater detail. The sequel was perfect because we could use it to totally enter and deal with the [Catholic] church and the demonological landscape. We were really, really excited about it.”In the way to amaze viewers, the filmmakers are attempted to bring back many of the actors who appeared in the first film as well. Perhaps one of the most surprising is the return of actress Manuela Velasco, though her character, the TV reporter Angela, was getting dragged in the darkness at the end of the original. Balagueró found it impossible not to involve her in the follow-up. “She was the iconic face of the first one. We found that most people who liked the movie loved her. Her character really got you through the first movie. We decided that it would be very interesting in the sequel to bring back this very familiar character. But not only Velasco, all of the characters from the first movie appear again. Just for a second, or sometimes a minute. I think the impression for audiences is very familiar and adds continuity.”
This sequel of course will take viewers back to the familiar blood-drenched hallways, corridors and isolated rooms that had terrified them and the tension is expected will be much more intense than it was before for the attacks are exceedingly relentless this time round. But will this sequel ties up loose ends, plot holes, and unanswered questions that fans have been wondering about since the previous installment’s startling and its ambiguous ending? To know the answers, we can check on some available reviews from movie critic who had stamped their appraisals with nothing but a gold token.

Begins mere minutes after part one’s credits have rolled, “[REC] 2” picks up the story outside the quarantined apartment complex, where a special group of elite soldiers- along with a mysterious health department official - are sent into the building to search for survivors, eliminate threats, and most importantly, collect a blood sample from ‘patient zero’ to help create an antidote. Naturally, things become far more complicated and gruesome than expected. A huge twist also comes when the group finds the apartment lab and discovers that there is a far more powerful force behind the exposed virus.

Some facts within the quarantine building:

# Producing company Filmax International describing the film as having "the same claustrophobic concept" as REC but with "new means of transferring fear from the screen to the spectator through the recording lens."

# “Rec 2” went on general release in Spain the first weekend of October, going to number 1 in the Spanish box office and achieving the best opening weekend of the year for a Spanish film.

# Paco Plaza and Jaume Balagueró dubbed some of the infected people.

# Pablo Rosso, the camera from the original "[Rec]", returns this time as the SWAT member Rosso.

# The clothes worn by Manuela Velasco were exactly the same that she worn in the original movie.

# In sound design, the film features ear piercingly sharp, unexpected blips from the video image, moments of silence followed by monstrous screams of the infected, as well as other vocal manipulations.

# New in this sequel is the use of multiple cameras as each member on the squad has their own camera which can be flicked to on a moment’s notice.

Theatrical release dates:
Oct 24, 09: Japan
Oct 29: Argentina, Germany
Dec 23: Belgium, France
Feb 11, 10: Netherlands
Feb 19: Brazil

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia, Fangoria – Photos courtesy of Filmax International

Should We Open This Horrific Case 39

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:47:55 PDT

Another horror thriller preview for this Halloween week special, this time we’ll talk about a film titled “Case 39” and interestingly it starred by the two who have no household names in the genre, Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper. The director is a German filmmaker, Christian Alvart, who could be recognized from his second work in Hollywood, “Pandorum” that funnily was released first. Alvart came to the fore in Europe and attracted Hollywood producers after he made the innovative psychological thriller “Antibodies”, the riveting tale of a serial killer whose malevolent state of mind just might be virally contagious to the police officer questioning him. Celebrated as engrossingly stylish and provocative, the film thrust Alvart into the limelight of today's fastest rising new filmmakers. When invited to bring his vision in the States, Alvart was planning to make a radical departure from horror-thrillers, but something probably changed his mind and he just stretched his horror opus with two more titles. If in “Pandorum”, Alvart had taken us to experience some horrors in outer space setting, but “Case 39” is completely playing in a different arena as it will presenting a familiar terror that often illustrated around a house and troubling child. So, just like currently released “Orphan”, this one is an additional scary kid flick that represented with the presence of actress Jodelle Ferland, who seems to have found a niche playing creepy children in creepy movies (The Messengers, Silent Hill). Also starring in “Case 39” are Golden Globe-winning actor Ian McShane, accomplished Broadway stage actress Kerry O'Malley, and award-winning Canadian star Callum Keith Rennie. Initially scheduled to open wide in U.S. theaters on February 8, 2008, this R-rated movie for violence and terror including disturbing images faced a number of release date changes and was, at one point, totally removed from Paramount's slate before finally resting in the new January 2010 date. Many of cinema's most memorable horror stories have emerged from the tiny cracks in family relationships and the volatile emotions of anxiety, paranoia and uncertainty that hide within. As examples we can take such titles as “The Exorcist,” “Rosemary's Baby,” “The Others,” or “The Orphanage”, but would this Alvart’s effort landed on the same level with them when the distributor itself has no confidence to release it?

Devoted family services specialist Emily Jenkins (Zellweger) has seen it all - lies, neglect, abuse - domestic horrors of every type. That is, until she takes on Case 39: the case of 10-year-old Lillith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland), whose eerie, secretive family leaves Emily shaken and disturbed. When Lillith's parents attempt to harm their only child in a late-night ritual, Emily intervenes. Heartbroken by Lillith's loneliness and innocence, Emily decides to do something she has never allowed herself to do in the past: get personally involved. Hoping to do the right thing for the withdrawn girl, Emily offers Lillith a caring, happy home until she can find an adoptive family. That's when the real terror begins. What pushed Lillith's family to the breaking point? Why does everyone who comes into contact with Lillith seem to suddenly become mad? And how will Emily survive the devastating secret fears that have come to the fore? To discover the truth, Emily must leave behind her rational beliefs and confront her most terrifying nightmares as she enters a supernatural realm where evil preys on humanity. Now, the one thing Emily has to fear is the power of fear itself.

# To gain a more intimate understanding of what real urban social workers deal with on a daily basis, Renée Zellweger spent time at Los Angeles Child Protection Services, making the rounds with visits to troubled families.

# Chloe Moretz (The Eye, The Amityville Horror) and Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan, Ghost Whisperer) were considered for the part of Lillith.

# While shooting one of the fire scenes for the movie, a special effect fire got out of control and burned the whole set down, including the studio stage it was built into and almost all of the crew's equipment. Nobody was seriously injured and filming resumed the very next day with equipment being hauled in from all over the world.

# With one exception, all the shots with Zellweger being close to and around fire are real (practical effects). The one CG-enhanced shot is the wide angle of her sitting passively on the couch while the room was burning around her. This was shot twice: Once with her and no fire and once with fire and no Renée.

# Director Trademark: [Christian Alvart] [mirror shot] As Doug (Bradley Cooper) pulls hornets out of his right ear with a cotton swab, Doug is reflected by three mirrors, effectively showing him four times from all angles (and the hornets as well).

# The film has had many release dates, since it first began production back in 2006. Its initial US release was February 8, 2008 which was changed to February 22, 2008. It was then moved to August 22, 2008, and then moved again to April 10, 2009. It was then totally removed from Paramount's release schedule before set to open the year of 2010.

# Its release has also been bumped many times in Australia, but was settling for a August 20, 2009 date, with promotional posters being seen in cinema foyers, but the release date was changed yet again, to November 5, and an official Australian website has been produced to promote the film.

# On 4 September 2009, The Spanish language version of the movie was leaked onto the internet via various torrent and warez websites.

# The film was released to New Zealand cinemas on August 13, 2009 and in it's opening weekend was ranked #12 with $35,056. Averaging $1,845 at the 19 cinemas it was released, the film failed to garner attendence most likely due to extremely negative reviews.

Opening prediction: $3 million
Domestic gross prediction: $15 million

Theatrical release dates:
Nov 05: Australia, UAE
Nov 12: Argentina
Nov 26-28: Singapore, Taiwan
Dec 02: Egypt, Hong Kong
Dec 04: Mexico
Dec 10: Lebanon, Thailand
Dec 17: Germany
Jan 01, 10: USA
Jan 14-15: Malaysia, India, Romania
Feb 03: Philippines
Mar 05: Ireland, UK
Mar 11-12: Chile, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Venezuela
Mar 17-18: Belgium, Netherlands
Apr 09: Brazil

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia, Movies Central – Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Celebrate The Halloween With Paranormal Activity Phenomenon

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:09:48 PDT

It is on track to gross more than $100 million domestically and will easily become the most profitable film for Paramount Pictures. This week, the very modest budget Halloween special flick "Paranormal Activity", banked a hefty $22 million from 1,945 theaters and win the weekend top spot after five weeks in theaters. The result is easily knocked out the loser “Saw VI” that got stuck in his own trap of sequel greed. Now, “Paranormal” has a running tally of $62.5 million and the film’s October run has seen it accomplish any number of remarkable box office feats that are unlikely to be matched ever again...and Halloween isn't even until next weekend. As the movie continued its impressive run, words are flying in that Paramount is eying to give it a sequel treatment. To the Los Angeles Times, the studio chairman Brad Grey expressed the desire, saying "We have the rights on a worldwide basis to do Paranormal 2 and we're looking to see if that makes some sense." It seems the mountainous studio is not ignoring the fact that "The Blair Witch Project" sequel only earned $26 million domestically on a $15 million budget, while the original took in a shocking $140 million on a $60,000 budget. Anyway, I still hope they will make a decent one for “Paranormal” sequel.

CHECK THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Twist The Bloodsucking Way With The Daybreakers

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:59:18 PDT

The vampire flick has become almost as tired as the zombie’s, but with even greater presence in the mainstream. It's saturated with things like “Twilight” and “True Blood”, transforming the terrifying Draculas and Nosferatus into pop icons and teen idol like Edward Cullen. Now, the vampires will be back in the big screen once again but they will getting more violent and arbitrary as new film “Daybreakers” will bring them to the top authority, the majority, and no need to stay hidden anymore after a plague turns most of humanity into creatures of the night. Directed by Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig, the twin Australian filmmakers who unleashed the no-budget, frenetic, zombie opus titled “Undead” in 2003. After a six year hiatus, they have finally returned and bring this ambitious tale of a futuristic Earth populated entirely by vampires, and the efforts made by the creatures to ensure that their food supply doesn’t run out as humankind is faced with extinction. Three leading actors are also gladly to contribute their sharp acting skill for this new spin on the general world of vampires. Two-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke plays a vampire researcher who tries to save humanity from extinction, Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor in his role as Max Schreck in “Shadow of the Vampire”, Willem Dafoe, plays a former vampire that has miraculously converted back to human, and Sam Neil as the commander of the vampire central government. As vampire films go, this one certainly has an interesting take coz the Spierig brothers seems to take liberally from “Blade” and “Underworld” as well as slotting in several social commentary into the batter. “Daybreakers” might end up as a ground-breaking new horror franchise, or might end up as one of the most stupid things on screen in some time. But according to several peoples who have saw it at the current Toronto Film Festival, they actually thought the film was great and surpassing all of their expectations, which makes me even more excited to eventually see it.

The year is 2017, most of the human race have been infected by a mysterious disease which in turn has transformed the world into a civilization of vampires. The remaining humans are gathered and farmed for their blood which is now the sole food source for an entire planet. The problem is that the human race is now nearly extinct and a crippling blood shortage is causing world-wide starvation. When vampires starve, they degenerate into nasty, winged demons that lose all capacity for rational thought. These creatures, fueled by a primal, predatory instinct, begin feeding on other vampires causing massive panic. The only hope is to find a synthetic blood substitute that can reduce or completely eliminate the need for human farming. Enter hematologist Edward (Hawke) whose experiments with blood substitutes have thus far been explosive failures. He is motivated by an overwhelming sympathy for the human race and a desire to see them revived. When he is contacted by one of the last human tribes in existence, he must choose between upholding his morals and a grizzly death at the hands of his people.

# The Spierig brothers received financing from Australia's Film Finance Corp., with production take place in Queensland.

# Spierigs wrote the script with an Ethan Hawke-type actor in mind while never thinking that they would actually get him into the role.

# Hawke described the film as an allegory of man's pacing with natural resources, "We're eating our own resources so people are trying to come up with blood substitutes, trying to get us off of foreign humans." The actor also said that despite the allegory, the film was "low art" and "completely unpretentious and silly".

# The character played by Ethan Hawke and Twilight's Robert Pattinson share the same first name.

# Weta Workshop which output came to worldwide prominence with director Peter Jackson's film trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”, take responsibility to create the creature effects.

Budget: $21 million
Opening prediction: $20 million
Domestic gross prediction: $65 million

Theatrical release dates:
Jan 08, 10: Canada, Russia, USA
Jan 14: Singapore
Jan 21: Australia
Jan 28: New Zealand
Feb 25: Netherlands
Mar 19: Italy

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia, FilmSchoolRejects – Photos courtesy of Lionsgate

The One Name They All Fear Is Solomon Kane

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:24:51 PDT

Solomon Kane is a 16th century anti-hero created by Robert E. Howard, the legendary creator of Conan the Barbarian. It’s about a horrifically nasty and bloodthirsty warlord who crosses swords with the devil's right-hand reaper and actually lives to tell the tale. With Kane, Conan and his other heroes, the iconic American writer has created this genre now known as “Sword & Sorcery,” in the late 1920s and early 1930s. His work has spawned countless imitators and given rise to his influence in the fantasy genre which can be rivaled only by J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings). Now, just a shy decade later, a live action feature has been developed for the iconic and serialized character. Michael J Basset, whose directorial debut is war horror “Deathwatch” in 2002, was hired as writer and director of the "Solomon Kane" adaptation movie with the brief to write an origin story based loosely on the Howard Poems and classic text. Combining through the several dozen Kane stories in existence, the director sets the film in 1600 in puritan England, a well-chosen era for action purposes as it has both gun and sword as well as violent religious conflict between pagans, puritans, Protestants, and Catholics. Not only tells the origins of Solomon Kane, it’s also hoped to be the first of a trilogy of movies. Unfortunately, in this age, fantasy is not as outstanding as some would lead you to believe. Sure, we get a handful of releases a year -- mostly big budget studio adaptations of young adult fantasy fiction or summer tentpole releases -- but when it comes to more mature fare, fantasy fans are forced to turn to foreign language efforts. And on the festival circuit there isn't much in the way of solid fantasy floating around. Several years ago, Stephen Sommers also has plagiarized quite a bit of style and substance from Howard's character to create his own “Van Helsing”, placing the Puritan monster hunter in the world of the popular Universal's monster. However, the initial reviews for “Solomon Kane,” that already become a part of the Toronto International Film Festivals Midnight Madness currently, have been strongly positive so far. Some reviewers even recommended it as one of the best fantasy efforts in recent years, with the glowing reviews were based on the standout performance by James Purefoy as the titular character, CG creature design, slick photography and plenty of gut-wrenching action and horror, in spite of its independent roots and somewhat meager (at least by Hollywood standards) budget.
Max Von Sydow (The Exorcist), Pete Postlethwaite (The Omen remake), Rachel Hurd-Wood (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), and Alice Krige (Silent Hill) are also among the star in this strange tale of a 16th Century Puritan tormented by his past evils.

Solomen Kane is a somber and gloomy man of pale face and cold eyes, all of it shadowed by a slouch hat. He is dressed entirely in black and his weaponry consists of a rapier, a dagger, and a couple of flintlock pistols. Kane who is a mercenary of Queen Elizabeth I fighting in Africa, is known for his brutal and cruel actions in battlefields. But after an encounter with a demon, The Reaper, he realizes he must seek redemption or have his soul damned to Hell. He returns to England and lives a life of peace, converting to puritanism, but soon his peaceful life is threatened when dark power arrives. The innocent daughter of a Priest (Pete Postlethwaite) who had befriended Kane is taken prisoner and to save her, Kane will do whatever he needs to do — even if that means killing a few people along the way. Plus, an all-consuming evil is threatening to take over England and Kane has decided that man of peace or not, he can’t let that happen.

# In 2001 when it was announced that producers Samuel Hadida, Paul Berrow, Michael Berrow, and Don Murphy were developing the film for New Line Cinema, Christopher Lambert was offered the role of Kane and was seriously "considering it as it's a very compelling part".

# Jan Cileček, a czech artist produced a number of sculptures for the movie and there are some photographs available on his website.

# An article in the Daily Mail states that during the production Purefoy was injured while staging a sword-fight with a stuntman, resulting in his getting five stitches to the forehead. The article also mentions that Michael J. Bassett is into extreme measures "so his cast and crew have been working in the cold, the rain, and as much mud as possible."

# The final scenes of the film were shot in England on the North Devon coast. It was all done on a private estate which used to belong to the real Sir Richard Grenville"

Budget: About $40 million

Theatrical release dates:
Dec 23, 09: France
Dec 31: Russia
Jan 14, 10: Netherlands

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Davis-Films

Where The Wild Things Are: Not Another Children's Movie

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:50:23 PDT

If you do go see “Where the Wild Things Are” with an idea that you’ll have the same feelings with watching "Up" or even "Shrek", then think again, this film is entirely different. Though it taking the picture of childhood, but this Spike Jonze-directed film is actually not fully contributes for children. However, it was adapted from the beloved classic children's literature written in 1963 by Maurice Sendak, which theme of dealing with dark emotions was also rare in children's literature, especially in picture book format for young children. But what keeps it popular is not the impact of the book on the field of children's literature, it is the impact of the story and the illustrations on young readers. The story, as millions of children and grown children know, is about nine years old lonely boy called Max (Max Records). The little boy feels betrayed when his teenage sister (Pepita Emmerichs) no longer wants to play with him and a harmless snowball fight ends with her friends trashing the snow igloo he's made in the front yard. Max's caring single mother (Catherine Keener) tries to comfort him, but his unruly behavior only gets worse after she invites her new boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) over for dinner. In a night where everything goes wrong, the boy left the house, shipped in a small sailboat which went to sea and discover a remote island. It was inhabited by mysterious and strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and unpredictable as their actions. The Wild Things desperately long for a leader to guide them, just as Max longs for a kingdom to rule. When Max is crowned king, he tries to reign over these nice monsters, but not without difficulty. The child-like autocracy of fun is easy, but the party's sheen wanes, and Max faces the actual responsibilities of leadership. When forced to deal with being a caretaker, mediator, and confidant to his kingdom's dysfunction, Max is in way over his head. The monsters of his fantasy world engage in the same frustrations and pettiness he sees in adults of his real childhood, and the solutions to their problems reveal deeper fissures in the group's fabric. Five years in the making, the part live-action, part puppetry, part computer-animated version of "Where The Wild Things Are" by Spike Jonze, a visionary director with two original films to his credit ("Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation"), now arrives in theaters across the world to a mixture of glowing reviews and deep reservations.

# The style and spirit of Spike Jonze are recognized in every scene and even every shot of the film.

# As in his earlier features, Jonze's approach here is also to situate a peculiar outsider characters into unfamiliar, ominous conditions, where they might not have been in before, and then force them to deal with those positions in a fresh, individualized manner.

# This Jonze's adaptation which expands Maurice Sendak's narrative is a heartfelt and very emotional interpretation.

# The plot offers a fresh view at the many aspects of childhood, particularly the tough ones, the isolation and loneliness, the inability to communicate with a parent and sibling.

# Although the film is as inventive and enigmatic as a dream, but it's thematically and psychologically rich.

# Through puppetry and computer animation, the filmmaking teams have successfully put a world of childhood imagination on the screen.

# The film not consistently engaging from an emotional standpoint, because it leaving plenty of time for the audiences to think over about what they're seeing.

# There was one significant alteration from the original source which is how Max enters the world of the Wild Things. In the book, his bedroom transforms into a lush forest while in the picture, Max runs away from home, running down city streets and past dark parking lots until he finds a waterfront with a boat, and then he sails to the world of the Wild Things.

# Though this film is his acting debut, but Max Records, who plays the little Max, is clearly a natural. He gave an excellent acting throughout.

# The wild things are played by an ensemble of gifted actors. While covered with costumes, they still manage to be impressive and singular in both delivery of dialogues and behavioral gestures. James Gandolfini, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara, Lauren Ambrose and Chris Cooper make valuable contributions for these characters.

# Children might enjoy the goofy monsters and their fights and squabbles, but some scary scenes, cartoon violence, and a lot of talky parts that slow down the pacing, could be enough reasons that make the film might not be kid-friendly as well.

# The story loses some of its steam toward the middle, when certain scenes seemingly have been drawn out as long as possible to give the film a bump to above an acceptable hour and a half mark.

# Cinematographer Lance Acord superbly takes huge advantage of the hills, sand dunes and shores of the outer Melbourne area to create the changeable landscapes of the visually striking world in this film.

# Jonze's decision to use a hand-held camera also affords a lot of maneuverability, allowing us to experience the world from the viewpoint of a child.

# The music for the film is also perfect. Written by Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), the songs provide a youthful energy that complements the action on screen.

Overall Score: 8/10 (Satisfy, visually entertain, and open your eyes)

See And Remember The Superior Legend of Confucius

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:05:36 PDT

Born in 551 B.C., the same time as the Greek philosopher Socrates and the Buddhism founder Siddhartha Gautama, Confucius is one of the most important persons in the history of Chinese philosophy. He was the greatest teacher, philosopher, educator and founder of Confucianism whose theories and principles not only have influenced how the Chinese government has run the country for the past 2000 years, but also Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese thought and life. Confucius’s teaching style was more in the way of informal conversations than formal classes. Roughly speaking, his discourse covered three fields, the classics and philosophy, including his views on reforms which would bring the government of the ducal states back to what he considered the ideal of ancient times, the forms and ceremonies of those past times; and poetry and music. Though his teachings were banned under Mao Zedong, who oversaw the destruction of his family home during the Cultural Revolution, but Confucius has finally been given the Chinese government's seal of approval with the announcement that Chow Yun-fat will star in a big-budget, state-backed film to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, as well as the 2,560th birthday of Confucius himself. Chow Yun-Fat, now in his 50s, is a legend of Hong Kong cinema for his spectacular performances in action and martial arts movies. Very well known with such high-octane Hong Kong gangster fare by John Woo like “Hard Boiled” and “A Better Tomorrow”, also Oscar-winning “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” by Ang Lee, but much like his peers Jackie Chan and Jet Li, he has been seizing the opportunity for more dramatic roles as he gets older. Besides, after the walking train wreck that was “Dragonball Evolution”, it's absolutely nice to see the actor in a respectable film once again. However, the challenge of playing Confucius is rather like taking on the role of Socrates or Moses. To many people, Confucius was a saint, everybody has powerful, fixed ideas about the revered figure and people are bound to be offended by some aspects of any portrayal. Thus, after the project was announced, the reaction in China was decidedly mixed. As the film is made in Mandarin, many have expressed concern that Chow, a native of the Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong SAR, will lack the requisite Mandarin-speaking skills to portray the revered philosopher. Others were concerned that Chow, a veteran of action and Kung Fu-cinema, would turn Confucius into a "kung-fu hero." Such concerns were only exacerbated after mainland star Pu Cunxin criticized Hu Mei's script as containing inappropriate levels of action and romance for a film based on Confucius' life. But so far, the production values and the decorated sets featured in the images and video previews for this film are looks absolutely gorgeous. Perhaps this is instead could turn out into the role that will catapult Chow back into the winning spotlight after his last couple misfire.

The film is directed by Hu Mei of “Army Nurse”, “Far from War”, and “For All Eternity” previously. She is one of the best known female directors of China's vaunted fifth generation, and a classmate of more famous Fifth Generation directors like Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang. The film-maker has her own history with the authorities as her father, a conductor for an army orchestra, was imprisoned by the Red Guards, while her grandfather died in custody. Also starring in the 150-million-yuan (US$22 million)-budgeted biopic are veteran actor Jiao Huang as Laozi or Laotzu, another Chinese philosopher and the founder of Taoism who gave Confucius advice on history and the arts, and Zhou Xun (Painted Skin) as Nan Zi, an imperial concubine of the Wei Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC).

Confucius was a famous Chinese philosopher, who was born Kong Qiu in 551 BC and died in 479 BC. He was the second son of a minor aristocratic family that had fallen from power and as a result, Confucius was orphaned as a child and grew up in relative poverty. A voracious reader, he educated himself, eventually becoming a private tutor for the sons of wealthy gentlemen. Distressed by the division of China into fiercely competitive and often warring states, Confucius, like many other thinkers of his era, devoted much time to pondering ways to restore order to the chaotic world in which he lived. For a decade beginning when he was about 55, Confucius wandered through neighboring states, attempting to convince various rulers of his worthiness for political positions through which he could introduce his planned reforms. Confucius was able to gather a substantial number of students who devoted themselves to his school of thought. Though it has been described as a religion, Confucianism is more of a political and social philosophy based on humanism, rationality, education, and virtuous example.

Confucius has enjoyed a radical rehabilitation in China in recent years – vilified during Mao's rule, when his philosophy of harmony and respect of social hierarchies was at odds with Marxist ideology of progress through conflict, his teachings are now popular again. A recent book on his classic text, the Analects, became a literary hit and a Confucian quote formed a key part of the lavish opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics last year. The government is also investing in Confucius Institutes abroad to promote Chinese culture. Even prison inmates are reportedly being taught Confucian philosophy.

Study the past if you would define the future:

# "Confucius" will be China's first feature film about the sage who lived from 551-479 BC.

# Two years ago, when director Hu Mei offered him the first draft of the film's screenplay, Chow refused, because the character of Confucius was too young. He only said yes when the script was revised and Confucius was made older.

# Chow is expensive and the payment to him will probably equal to a third of US$21 millions, budgeted for the film. But director Hu said it was well worth.

# Some cybercitizens say they don't want to see a Cantonese-speaking Confucius, suggesting Chow first needs to improve his Mandarin Chinese. Some also doubt whether Chow knows enough about the philosopher's thoughts and teachings to deliver a convincing portrayal. But the director is very confident in Chow's ability to deliver a convincing Confucius.

# It is reported that before Chow was cast, the producers had approached distinguished TV and stage actor Pu Cunxin. Pu reportedly turned it down because of script problems, saying Hu's film portrays the sage as a "kung fu master".

# Strikes back Pu’s statement, director Hu Mei said there was 25 editions of the script and it took them two years to develop the final draft. What Pu read was very different from the one given to Chow Yun-Fat. She said the final draft was approved by several historians and every story in it was backed by historical record. She claimed Confucius knew how to drive a cart, how to shoot arrows, and even once commanded a little war. Some historical book describes Confucius as a big guy who was "strong enough to fight a bull."

# It rumored that the story of the film will reflect eight historical events in the life of Confucius and the final film will be split into two episodes

# Kong Demao, a 93-year-old descendant of Confucius and renowned calligrapher, has given her stamp of approval to Chow Yun-fat's impersonation of her ancestor. "His Confucius is convincing and the setting is faithful to history," she says. "I think this would be a good film to promote Confucius' thoughts across the world."

# The biopic is scheduled to hit screens in Chinese mainland during the new-year season of 2010.

Sources: IMDB, English CRI, Wikipedia - Photos courtesy of Dadi Cinema

Mulan: Legend Of A Tough Side of a Lady

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:38:47 PDT

After Disney has had international success with their animation version of “Mulan”, news concerning Chinese-speaking filmmakers shooting a new real-life version of the movie since Shaw Brother's epic in 1964, has been endless. And now there are currently multiple projects about the Chinese folk heroine Hua Mulan, the same figure who inspired the Disney’s 1998 animated feature, in the works in China and it looks as though the first out of the gate will be Jingle Ma's version with Vicky Zhao (Red Cliff) in the title role. Hua Mulan is a war-faring female made famous in a Chinese collection of 12th century lyrics and poetry. When the country is threatened by invaders she sneaks away from home, dresses as a man and joins an all-male army where she eventually has a critical role in defending the nation in a time of war. A feature film about Mulan has been in development for years with a number of actresses considered for the lead role including Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Liu Yifei before Zhao was finally picked. Best known for her supporting role opposite Stephen Chow in the action comedy “Shaolin Soccer”, and has prominent roles in John Woo’s “Red Cliff”, Zhao is not an action star by trade but has had some screen fighting experience in past film and television roles under the action direction of veterans like Corey Yuen and Ching Siu-tung. The question of whether Zhao is an appropriate Mulan will be answered once the movie is in theaters. Right now, the media is just curious about the degree of similarity between her role as Mulan and her portrayal of Sun Shangxiang from “Red Cliff”. When talking about her role, Zhao Wei admited that playing Hua Mulan is harder than playing Sun ShangXiang, "Mulan's male impersonation cannot be portrayed as simply wearing a man's clothing, or imitating the way a man spoke. The ancient battlefield has brought me some inspirations. In my opinion, for Mulan to be able to impersonate a man and rise from a small soldier to a great general, the key is that she is broad-minded and has an ambitious vision." Also joining the cast are Chen Kun (Painted Skin, Playboy Cop), who will play general Li Guang, a close friend of Mulan; Xu Jiao (CJ7), who will portray young Mulan; Jaycee Chan (The Sun Also Rises), and Russian singer Vitas.

The story of Hua Mulan was described in a famous Chinese poem known as the Ballad of Mulan. The poem was first written in the Musical Records of Old and New from the 6th century, the century before the founding of the Tang Dynasty; the original work no longer exists, and the original text of this poem comes from another work known as the Music Bureau Collection, an anthology of lyrics, songs, and poems, compiled by Guo Maoqian during the 12th century. Whether Mulan was a historical person or whether the poem was an allegory has been debated for centuries—it is unknown whether the story has any factual basis.
Hua Mulan, the heroine, is a young maiden who lives with her elderly father during the Northern Wei dynasty. When China is invaded by nomads, her father is called into service by the Emperor. In a scene of filial piety, Mulan dons her father's old armor and takes his place in the army. During training, the "feminine" Mulan is teased and harassed by other draftees who she promptly beats one by one to the ground. Admonishing them to unite together instead of harassing one another, she reminds them that the true enemy are the nomads invading their country. Also during training, she meets with Li Guang who becomes her loyal friend. Eventually Mulan is set to the frontline where she meets with the army's weak commanders who flirt with the idea of cooperating with the nomads rather than fighting with them. In particular, the advisor to the general pushes for collaboration. Mulan disgusted, dresses as a nomad and spies on the enemy when she learns that an attack is imminent. Returning to her home camp, her warnings are ignored by the general to disastrous results. When the attack finally happens, the General is killed, but not before putting Mulan in charge. Mulan regroups the Chinese forces and defeats the nomads, but not before Mulan herself kills the General's erstwhile advisor.

# Director Ma thinks the Hollywood Mulan doesn't match his impression of the heroine. "Zhao Wei's appearance is closer to that in my imagination," he said

# Ma took the directing baton of "Mulan" from Stanley Tong, who was reportedly hoping Zhang Ziyi could play the character.

# Shooting was held up for two days after villagers in Yixian, in China's Hebei Province, took revenge for an earlier film shoot they allege left town without paying the bills.

# Russian pop singer Vitas’ agent told the media that the film director had planned voice dubbing for Vitas but the pop singer insisted on using his own. What kind of role Vitas plays in the film is still a secret. Unnamed sources revealed he plays a singer who is later captured.

Sources: Wikipedia, WuXia Society

Invictus Is A Game Played By Gentlemen

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:15:10 PDT

After "Gran Torino," in which he also starred, became the biggest box-office success of his directing career, the 79 years old actor turned director, Clint Eastwood, shows no signs of slowing down. He’s soon will be back with his latest film “Invictus” which is based on the book “Playing The Enemy: Nelson Mandela And The Game That Changed a Nation” by John Carlin. The book which focuses on a true story around rugby and Nelson Mandela is in fact has this storyline that needed to be told in a much broader media because it was beautiful, heart warming, if not mildly simplistic story of what sport can do for a country. John Carlin explores the intersection of the end of apartheid with the World Cup of Rugby held in South Africa for the first time since being boycotted by the rest of the world. The adaptation film, which previously titled “The Human Factor”, sees Matt Damon as rugby star Francois Pienaar, who created, along with Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman), an event that gave whites and blacks in South Africa a common cause to rally around as the country was trying to heal from the wounds of apartheid. Freeman, who had the idea for the film, brought Eastwood and Damon on board, and has previously described the Mandela role as the role of his life and the most challenging one of his career. Damon himself who has previously played a confused secret agent, a crooked cop, a trouble serial killer, Las Vegas robber with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, and just recently appear as a chubby corporate whistle-blower in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!”, is now set to take on the role of another South Africa's most iconic figures, the captain of South Africa's 1995 World Cup-winning rugby team. Eastwood pairing with Freeman to create the story of such an important historical figure seems like it could print its own Oscar ballots, and that late-December release date definitely backs that theory up. Hopefully we're really in for a fantastic film just like the novel version.

The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Freeman), from the fall of apartheid, joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team and using a sporting event—the Springboks rugby team in the 1995 World Cup—to mend South Africa. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela encouraged his countrymen to rally behind their Rugby’s team, The Springboks. Sports and politics are always mixed together into the cultural fabric of a nation. Rugby in South Africa shares a unique past. As "the opium of the boer," rugby was traditionally the most segregated of all sports in South Africa, it represented the worst of humanity, of the tyranny and endemic white racism that oppressed the black majority. It was therefore significant that Rugby was the sport that would bring the 2 sides together. Mandela understood this, and so therefore Rugby was a critical component in his plan for the healing process. Led by their captain Francois Pienaar (Damon), the South African team wins the tournament; make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match by upsetting the favorites New Zealand 15–12 in the final.

Some facts from the field goals:

# Minutes after completing press for "Gran Torino," Eastwood soon tackled the task of directing "Invictus."

# Eastwood drew the title of the film from a short poem often recited by Mandela.

# Morgan Freeman knows Mandela personally and has spoken of the role as one of the most desired and challenging of his career. He also having starred in both of the films of Eastwood's that won Academy’s Best Picture: "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby."

# Freeman studied video and audio of Mandela to master his dialect.

# At the time of filming in early 2009, Freeman was still recovering from his near-fatal car crash of August of 2008 and required therapy for his hands.

# For his role in this film, Matt Damon who’s actually 13cm shorter than the real Pienaar, had to quickly get himself back into shape after getting doughy for his role in Soderbergh's "The Informant!”. He also has dyed his hair an uncharacteristic blond for the role.

# Damon was given intensive coaching by Chester Williams at the Gardens Rugby Club.

# Over Christmas 2008 auditions had taken place in London to try and find a well-known British actor to play Pienaar's father, but the casting agent couldn't find anyone who they trusted to handle the accent, so the part went to a local actor without name recognition but with lingual accuracy.

# Eastwood’s son, Scott, was cast in an unspecified role, but it is understood to be flyhalf Joel Stransky (whose drop goal provided the Springboks' winning margin in the 1995 final).

# The ex Bath Rugby player Zak Feaunati, who now is head of Rugby at Bishop Vesey's Grammar school in Sutton Coldfield, has been cast as New Zealand player Jonah Lomu.

Budget: About $50 million
Opening prediction: $1,5 million
Domestic gross prediction: $55 million

Theatrical release dates:
Dec 11, 09: USA
Jan 21, 10: Australia, Czech Rep
Jan 28: Argentina, Spain
Feb 04-05: Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, UK
Feb 12: Italy
Feb 17-19: Belgium, Germany, Romania
Feb 24: France
Feb 26: Finland

Sources: IMDB, WP, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Warner Bros

Thank You For Being Up In The Air

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:25:40 PDT

In 2007, director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody brought teen-pregnancy comedy "Juno" to the widescreen; the movie went on to become a $225m global breakout and scoop up a batch of Oscar noms. This year, Cody made a comeback with new piece called “Jennifer’s Body”, while Reitman also set another arrival with a comedy drama entitled “Up in the Air”. But different with Cody which “Body” was hated by critics and moviegoers, Reitman is luckier with his new project cause reviews for “Up in the Air” have been generally positive and the film was the highest profile hit during the current Telluride film festival. Loosely based on Walter Kirn's novel with the same name, Reitman also co-wrote the script with Sheldon Turner which he indicated is a more deeply personal effort than his previous two films. According to him, "In one sense, it’s a movie about a man who fires people for a living. In another sense, it’s a movie about a man who collects air miles excessively. In another sense, it’s about a man who meets a woman who’s so similar to him that even though they both believe in the idea of living solo, they begin to fall in love." This film should land the director back in the coolly satirical territory of his 2006 debut “Thank You for Smoking” – another Reitman-penned adaptation. While “Up in the Air” probably has a nervy subject for a feature film in the midst of a global economic recession like now, but critics instead admire it especially for the sure-handedness with which it navigates the country’s current economic turbulence. A positive reception that film has garnered could establish Reitman among the year's Academy Award heavyweights while furthering the 31-year-old's status as one of his generation's best new filmmakers. A serious contender in this year's award race is somewhat a notion Paramount Pictures looks to be betting heavily on. A strong award prospects also goes for main actor George Clooney who play Ryan Bingham, the man who spends so much time traveling, as well as the supporting cast which include Vera Farmiga (The Departed), as the seductive fellow traveler whose disdain for commitment rivals Bingham's own, and Anna Kendrick (Rocket Science, Twilight) as an ambitious young colleague who threatens Bingham's way of life by devising a new method to fire people online and eliminating the need for travel.

"Up in the Air” is a comedy described as a story of the self-realization and self-redemption of a man who fires people professionally. Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizing expert whose job is to travel around to different companies and determine who needs to be terminated. On occasion he delivers motivational speeches about the virtue of a relationship-free life. Spending most of his time flying around from city to city for his job, his only joy in life comes from the prospect of scoring his 10 million frequent flier miles and relishes the comfort of being anonymous during his perpetual travels. Bingham does not have a personal life and he numbs himself with sex, booze and drugs. But, as he closes in on his goal and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams, his company chooses to ground him and keep him at the corporate headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska.

Facts about traveling via airplane:

# Reitman has started working on the adaptation film to Walter Kirn’s novel since six years ago.

# Reitman wrote the main characters specifically for George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Danny McBride, Melanie Lynskey, Amy Morton, Sam Elliott and Zach Galifianakis.

# Approximately 4,600 people signed up for the chance to be an extra in the film during the open call on January 24, 2009 and January 25, 2009 at Crestwood Court in St. Louis, Missouri. “Up in the Air cast 2,000 extras with 15 to 25 Missouri actors in minor speaking roles. TalentPlus was resposible for casting in St. Louis. Competing talent agencies in the area complained they were excluded from the casting of the film.

# About 250 extras were used from the Omaha, Nebraska area. They were used for filming inside and outside the terminal at Eppley Airfield, while Clooney shot most of his scenes inside the terminal.

# Reitman placed classified ads in Midwest newspapers indicating that he was filming a documentary on the effects of layoffs. He interviewed 100 people who lost their jobs and included footage from 20 people in the film.

# The film includes 80 different sets at 50 locations throughout the St. Louis area, including Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Concourse D, the Mansion House in downtown St. Louis, Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark, Hilton St. Louis Airport, and the Cheshire Inn.

# Some of the scenes were shot inside the Visitor's Bureau and in a condo in the Old Market area of downtown Omaha. Filming also occurred at the south end of the main terminal at Eppley Airfield.

# Reitman needed fifty days to shoot the film, eight of which were devoted to aerial shooting. The aerial shots turned out to be more difficult than he had expected. He was unable to use three days of the aerial filming. Many of the aerial shots, such as the crop circle on fire, are featured in the trailer but are not used in the film. The pilot who flies the Boeing 747 that carries the space shuttle flew the aircraft used for the aerial shots.

# The movie wasn't supposed to be ready for this year release but Reitman badly wanted to keep the Toronto streak going.

# After the press showing held during the Toronto International Film Festival, Jason Reitman introduced his father, Ivan Reitman, and many of the producers associated with the film. Jason Reitman stated that his father wrote the best line in the film.

Budget: $30 million

Theatrical release dates:

Paramount had originally scheduled the North American release for a December 4, 2009. With the enthusiastic reception it received at Telluride, Paramount later planned a release in limited markets on November 13, 2009, and a wide release on November 25, 2009 for the Thanksgiving Holiday. However, this release schedule conflicted with the release of “Men Who Stare at Goats,” another Clooney film. Paramount later scheduled back the limited North American release on December 4, 2009, broadening the release the next week on December 11, 2009. Wide release is set for Christmas, December 25, 2009. The release date for other countries will be later.

Dec 04, 09: US
Jan 07: New Zealand
Jan 13-14: Switzerland (Fr), Australia, Netherlands
Jan 15: Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, UK
Jan 21: Greece
Jan 28-29: Denmark, Switzerland (Ger), Austria, South Africa
Feb 03-04: Belgium, Argentina, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Peru, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovenia, UAE
Feb 05: Brazil, Colombia, Cyprus, Mexico, Panama, Romania, Spain, Venezuela
Feb 10-12: France, Croatia, Korea, Portugal, India
Feb 17-18: Egypt, Israel
Feb 20: Japan
Feb 25-27: Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Poland, Turkey, Taiwan
Mar 03: Philippines
Mar 05: Indonesia
Mar 11: Czech Rep, Hungary
Mar 19: Finland

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Zombieland: A 28 Days Later Played For Laughs

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:16:54 PDT

At first, I think that there are already too many zombie films that have been made, so I hope “Zombieland” will be a good one. Hopefully, this movie also has the right comedy and some sort of scary moment that will make me jump out of my seat. In the film, a young boy Columbus [Jesse Eisenberg] is headed East when a lethal virus has broken out and wiped most of the population, turning all the infected into flesh eating zombies. Along the way, he has created 32 rules for staying alive. Those rules get posted on the screen each time he applies one to some life-threatening situation, often to very comic effect. While wandering lonely across the burnt-out highways of America, Colombus runs into the "bad-ass tough guy" (Woody Harrelson) who refuses to give his name but invites Columbus to call him Tallahassee. Things start to change when they hitches a ride together, although it takes a while for their relationship to thaw. The pair is an opposite numbers, evidenced when they see a zombie woman devouring a corpse: Columbus remarks that it’s a reminder of how far the world has fallen; Tallahassee, on the other hand, says it makes him hungry to burst the zombie’s head. The journey takes the guys into a supermarket where they find their female counterparts in a feeble situation. Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) aren’t as innocent as they seem, but the tension fades and the four decide to join forces and drive cross-country so Wichita can make good on her promise to take Little Rock to an amusement park in California.

# New director Ruben Fleischer proves to be a capable enough helmer for “Zombieland”. He shares lot of good moments in the film which likely comes out of his own understanding of what kind of zombie flick this is.

# The screenplay that scribed by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick is full with great laughs throughout the entire duration.

# The opening credit sequence is astounding, showing moments from the zombie outburst in its slow motion glory, filmed with the Phantom camera, and set to Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. However, the style was also nearly identical to what Zack Snyder did in “Watchmen”.

# The cinematography is a top notch, scene to scene are packed with vivid imagery and dazzling set designs.

# There are some original zombie situations and action that added up to a huge amount of fun.

# There's also a lot of gore, plenty of famous curse coming out of mouths and a very vigorous dose of exploding heads are all included.

# Woody Harrelson owned most of the remarkable one liners to himself. He chews them up and shouts them out with a natural hilarity.

# Eisenberg play this Mountain Dew-chugging loser whose introverted ways have turned him into an ideal loner for the post-apocalyptic realm. He does the unconfident shtick but he also adds in personality – some heart and some guts added convincingly when the story calls for it.

# Harrelson and Eisenberg play very well off each other and provide plenty of memorable moments.

# Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin are fine in roles in which they're not asked to do much beyond handle various firearms.

# Breslin steals quite a few scenes from the rest of the cast, including one in which she fires a shotgun into the air as a warning, then smilingly remarks on the improbability of it.

# The story also shares each character’s troubled past and even a hint of distress over the current zombie infestation, but never enough to slow the film down.

# Here, the zombie holocaust is more or less just the scenery to the actual narrative on the subject of lonesomeness and associations.

# The film has this surprising ‘special cameo’ in its later half that appearances will certainly be one of the best and most unforgettable cameos of the last decade.

# “Zombieland” is another example of a lower budget studio movie but with some of the surprisingly big budget visuals.

# Just stick around until the end of the credits, and you will get an extra glimpse of worthy guffaw moment.

Overall Score: 8/10 (A lot of fun movie with lots of clever humor and lots of flesh eating zombies.)

Remake In The Name Of The Brothers

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:29:20 PDT

For me, the premise of Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish film, “Brothers” (aka Brødre) sounds a bit similar with Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor”. But rather step forward with the complicated affair tale between a soldier, friend and his girlfriend, this “Brothers” follows the intricate relationships between a marine, his wife and his fresh-out-of-jail sibling. The gripping drama which stars some of the biggest actors in Denmark at the moment won a number of accolades including a number of audience awards from festivals like Boston, Creteil, and Sundance. Now, a couple of years later, the story went to Hollywood that adapted it into an English language film starring three really high profile Hollywood actors. The two brothers who get torn apart by war, assumed death, and familial drama starred by Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas previously, but for this Hollywood version, two rivals for the web of Spider-Man, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire, took their chairs. Meanwhile, role for the gorgeous wife that played by Connie Nielsen who earned 2005 Bodil (the Danish Academy Award) Best Leading Actress for her performance in the original film, went to Oscar nominated actress Natalie Portman. Portman’s involvement in the film was announced in Variety all the way back in 2007, so this one seems to have taken its time in getting to the screen. “Brothers” Hollywood remake is directed by Oscar nominated filmmaker Jim Sheridan. His prior films have garnered 16 Academy Award noms and won two statues, for lead actors Daniel Day Lewis and Brenda Fricker in “My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown.” Sheridan himself has personally been nominated six times, for writing the screenplay of “In America”; for writing, directing, and producing the best-picture nominee “In the Name of the Father”; and for writing and directing “My Left Foot”. “The Boxer”, “In America”, and “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” also some of his previous work. Will this remake film finally open his chance to win the statues? "Brothers" is seemingly aiming for one of those ten Best Picture nomination spots in Academy Awards, it surely has this tough story for many reasons and also has a good cast, but is it going to actually be any good like the original? We'll find out in December whether it is or not.

“Brothers” tells the powerful story of two siblings, thirtysomething Captain Sam Cahill (Maguire) and younger brother Tommy Cahill (Gyllenhaal), who are polar opposites. A marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, the aptly named Grace (Portman), with whom he has two young daughters (Bailee Madison, Taylor Geare). Tommy, his charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who’s always gotten by on wit and charm. He slides easily into his role as family provocateur on his first night out of prison, at Sam’s farewell dinner with their parents, Elsie (Mare Winningham) and Hank Cahill (Sam Shepard), a retired Marine.
Shipped out to Afghanistan, Sam is presumed dead when his Black Hawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains. At home in in a small, snowy Pennsylvania town, the Cahill family suddenly faces a shocking void, and Tommy tries to fill in for his brother by assuming newfound responsibility for himself, Grace, and the children.
But Sam is not dead; he and a fellow soldier have been captured by Taliban fighters. In Afghanistan’s harsh, remote Pamir Mountains, Sam is subjected to traumas that threaten to rob him of his very humanity. At the same time that Sam’s sense of self is being destroyed overseas, Tommy’s self-image is strengthening at home. And in the grief and strangeness of their new lives, Grace and Tommy are naturally drawn together. Their long standing frostiness dissolves, but both are frightened and ashamed of the mutual attraction that has replaced it.
When Sam unexpectedly returns to the States, a nervous mood settles over the family. Sam, uncharacteristically withdrawn and volatile, grows suspicious of his brother and his wife. Their familiar roles now nearly reversed, Sam and Tommy end up facing the ultimate physical and mental challenge when they comfort each other. In the shifting family dynamics, who will dominate? And how will the brothers come to terms with issues of love, loyalty, and manhood – and with the woman caught between them?

Theatrical release dates:
Dec 04, 09: USA
Dec 10: Netherlands
Dec 23: Belgium
Jan 22, 10: UK
Jan 28: Denmark
Feb 26: Sweden
Mar 05: Finland

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Lionsgate

Phobia 2: When Fears Become Entertaining And Addictive

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:28:32 PDT

Like its first effort which is one of the best anthologies I’ve seen in a long time, “Phobia 2” also has these variety of short horror tales that each story was uniquely has its own beast and could have all worked as stand-alone shorts. But while there was no thread connecting them other than them all being horrors about karma, they flowed very naturally into one another. It’s like watching episodes of The Twilight Zone. There are lots of different flavors packaged within “Phobia 2” so that there is certainly something for everyone’s tastes and vulnerabilities to enjoy. Each bite-sized tale is a surprise and leaves you with a sick feeling in your gut when it’s over. Also does toy a bit with the conventional Asian horror themes, the new anthology which now consists of five shorts by five directors still manages to deliver some good scares as well as bringing about huge laughs and quality film making. Also, in this kind of film, restless spirits aren’t looking for sweet, warm closure. They want someone to pay, and aren’t particularly choosy about whom. And in the end, isn’t that what we’re looking for in a scary movie? If brutal, unfair, bloody twists of fate aren’t your bag, you might be better off keeping your head under the blankets.

By sequence, the stories are "Novice", "Ward", "Backpackers", “Salvage” and "In The End". Each runs about almost half an hour and you will find that they go straight to the point, without much hesitation and the unnecessary chitchat in between.In “Novice”, there’s a boy who committed a crime, so his mother decides to put him in a monastery in hope to avoid being caught and sent to jail. However, the karma of his action is catching up with him quickly. This story takes us deep into the remotest jungle in the darkest nights where ghastly creatures without restraint are ramble and ready to petrify us. As the first segment, this will give you all the creep you need to start the horror-coaster. Combined the urban legend, Buddhist teachings and old school horror, “Novice” also has this great use of special effects especially in the last scene. “4bia” returnee director Paween Purijitpanya already known for his visualization and CG characters, and the result here is effective also conceivably could be his best work yet.“Ward,” the second short, is focusing on a young man in hospital because of his motorcycles accident. The story reiterates how frightening an empty hospital ward at night can be, especially when a hapless man recuperating from broken legs rests on a bed next to a brain-dead patient who comes alive (and vengeful) when no one else is around. This shortest of all the short segments goes pretty standard and lack of details. But while the story may seem pedestrian with an outcome that you can expect, it still provides some shocking moments. However, credit must go to the actor Dan Worrawech with his one-man show.The third one is called “Backpackers” and this is somehow a Thailand’s answer to Hollywood zombie movies. Sadly, that’s actually what make this segment not original and openly borrows the stock atmosphere of lonesome highways and creepy truck drivers from American B-movies. It telling the story about two Japanese teenagers who decide to go hitchhiking around Thailand. But when they manage to get a ride on a truck heading to Bangkok, the horrific truth is about to be revealed in the back of the truck. Don't expect some parts of this segment to make any sense though, just enjoy it for its popcorn zombie fun flick that would make George A. Romero proud. Anyway, the bleak ending really screams for any possibility to bring the backpackers back in a sequel.For sure, the majority of the five segments are sharing a theme of karmic retribution, and this fourth short, “Salvage” by Parkpoom Wongpoom would love to show you once again about those karma and chicanery stuffs. This one features Thai beauty lady Nicole Theriault who plays a dealer of secondhand cars who, probably as her profession requires, has tricked a number of customers into buying retouched, repainted wrecked cars - some involved in fatal accidents - as new. Seem to borrow a couple of scenes from contemporary Hollywood horrors such as Sam Raimi's “Drag Me to Hell”, and Franck Khalfoun's “P2”, “Salvage” loses focus as the plot wavers between the woman’s hysterical search for her missing son and her being haunted by gore-drenched spirits of the people who died in the cars that end up in her used automobile business. The segment also face a letdown by its execution aspect and some scenes that felt terrifying in the trailer didn’t appeared to excel so much while played out in full.Finally it’s “In the End,” my most favorite segment of all. This one is again benefits tremendously from Banjong Pisanthanakun’s clever blend of humor and suspense like his previous “In the Middle” short in “4bia.” The plot has you laughing from start to finish but there is enough spooky haunting going on to give you the chills and thrills you would expect from this growing master of horror. Story is happens in a shooting of a horror film called “Alone 2″ the fictional sequel to a popular real-life horror flick by Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, “Alone”. One of Thailand’s superstars, Marsha Wattanapanit who is the lead actress of that real-life prequel, is comeback to playing herself here. And there are also four camper guys from “In the Middle” who are back to play clownish members of the film crew. They are trying to finish the last scene when an aspiring actress who plays the ghost suddenly passes out on the set. Though she is immediately sent to the hospital but the supporting cast mysteriously dies. The crew debate whether they should let the main actress know the truth so they all can start running while the dead girl is also return to the set and ready to finish her part. Plenty of fun in this piece with the top notch acting amongst all actors involved, excellent horrific make up, and of course the plot that traverses through so many exciting twists and turns that are worth re-watching. The director once again skillfully alludes to clichés often used in modern day horror movies, he even went on to poke fun of overacting in the genres and how bad decisions were made on set while filming. Audiences may think that they are one step ahead of the story, but this ultimate segment manages to deliver a satisfying jolt at the end.

Overall Score: 8/10 (Can’t wait for “Phobia 3”!)

Get Spooked By The Paranormal Activity Project

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:32:09 PDT

The homevideo documentary style films got their own charm. When "The Blair Witch Project" which cost only $35,000 to make, brought in a massive $250 million of ticket sales, people start to think about the prospective of this micro-budget production. In 2008, J.J. Abrams released his big-budget monster-movie crammed with visual effects, “Cloverfield”, but it borrows admiringly from the "Blair Witch" playbook. The formula is still the same, making the film as real as possible by casting unknowns who can improvise and build suspense by not showing everything. There are also some other titles which put their effort to following the trend but somehow the charm that made “Blair Witch” so special in the first place is gone. Now, you might have thought that the horror-captured-on-videotape genre was all played out, but next up on the docket is “Paranormal Activity,” a shocker that Paramount hopes will develop into a “Blair Witch II,” in a way that the real “Blair Witch II” obviously never did. “Paranormal” is a $15,000 horror movie made by Oren Peli, an Israeli-born video game designer who had no formal film training, which actually was completed in 2007. He used a hand-held video camera and a crew of several San Diego friends. But his project has built up so much good buzz that both Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks have become involved. The ultra-low-budget horror film build the praise for the past few years—with its successful showings at the Screamfast and Slamdance film festivals, and most recently at Telluride. Judging from the critical response to this film at the various festivals (As at 15th of September 2009, the movie has a 100% Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on 7 ratings), Peli’s low budget experiment will also get some sort of reaction out of you.

The idea for "Paranormal Activity" came when Peli and his wife moved into a new house in a San Diego suburb and were frightened by strange noises. "What if a video camera filmed the house at night?" Peli asked. "Then we would know what was happening." The film centers around a young, middle class couple (played by Micah Sloat and Katie Featherstone) who moves into what seems like a typical suburban 'starter' tract house. They soon learn that their house is haunted, and end up having increasingly disturbing experiences. It consists entirely of home video footage, which is probably why it’s drawing comparisons to “Blair Witch.” But according to people who’ve seen it, this film crams a lot more story and character development into 10 minutes than the entire “Blair Witch,” and the crappy sequel. In late 2007, an intimate fear is what Paramount-based producers Jason Blum and Steven Jay Schneider responded to when they decided to take on "Paranormal Activity" after seeing a screener in Screamfest Film Festival. Blum who is now an exec producer, and Schneider a co-producer for the film sent out DVDs to anyone who would take one, looking for a theatrical distributor for the film and future jobs for Peli as a director. No one stepped up to distribute the movie, but Schneider and Blum thought Peli's first feature was so compelling that it deserved better. And when Spielberg and the DreamWorks team believed, the movie held a special appeal -- it was original and scary -- the next challenge was to fit this round peg into a DreamWorks square hole, a process that would ultimately take more than a year and a half, the delay exacerbated by the slow collapse of Paramount's acquisition of DreamWorks.

Back when the studio was trying to decide whether it wanted to be part of the supernatural thriller, Spielberg had taken "Paranormal Activity" DVD to his Pacific Palisades estate, and not long after he watched it, the door to his empty bedroom inexplicably locked from the inside, forcing him to summon a locksmith. Spielberg refused to have the disc anywhere near his home, so he quickly brought the movie back to DreamWorks in a garbage bag. At that point, the studio made up its mind and wanted to make a deal with Peli, but instead of releasing the film theatrically, it would hire him to remake it with a bigger budget and more resources. Peli agreed, but he and Blum, knowing that the movie played much better in a theater than on a TV set, wrote language into their deal that DreamWorks had to hold one "Paranormal Activity" test screening before starting the remake. In March 2008, a screening was held in Burbank with both screenwriters and movie-goers in attendance. Not long into the movie, audience members started to walk out, claiming that it was just too scary for them. At that point, DreamWorks abandoned the remake idea and began focusing on editing the original film. Yet as preview and film festival audiences can attest, "Paranormal Activity" exhibits something many fright flicks don't -- goose-bump inducing, gore-free scares. Now it's up to the film (and Paramount) to translate Internet buzz into a "Blair Witch Project"-style phenomenon.

“Paranormal Activity” is kicking off its screenings at Austin’s Fantastic Fest at midnight on September 24th, with select showings the following day on September 25th. Here’s the short list of locations where the film is showing:

# Austin (Alamo Draft House)
# Seattle (Neptune)
# Ann Arbor, Michigan (State)
# Durham, North Carolina (Southpoint 16)
# Baton Rouge, Louisiana (RAVE Mall of Louisiana 15)
# Boulder, Colorado (Cinemark 16)
# Columbus, Ohio (Studio 35)
# Orlando, Florida (AMC Universal Cineplex)
# Madison, Wisconsin (Marcus Eastgate 16)
# Santa Cruz, California (Del Mar 3)
# State College, Pennsylvania (Premiere College 9)
# Tucson, Arizona (El Con)
# Lincoln, Nebraska (Ross Media Center)

More screenings are set to follow on September 26th and October 1st, 2nd and 3rd. But it will get a much wider release if you can “Demand It” at the film’s website.

Sources: IMDB, LA Times

The Informant!: Frenzy Of Corn, Lies and Wiretaps

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:43:04 PDT

Another movie based on a true story about corporate whistle-blower (ala "Silkwood" and "The Insider") came from Steven Soderbergh. “The Informant!” maybe not a film for everyone but it still managed to earn an estimated $10.5 million from only 2,505 venues in its opening weekend. Soderbergh who was coming off of two Che Guevera flicks that failed badly and hadn't had a successful non-Ocean's movie since “Traffic” in 2000, really needs a hit with the new film. And while “The Informant!” also finished at 76% fresh at RottenTomatoes currently, it seems the film could be a win for the director. This film is one of the few to maintain a truly independent spirit, and a conception of Soderbergh’s art, which prohibits any hasty categorization of his films, even himself. Another valuable asset of Soderbergh, who is Matt Damon in the role of Mark Whitacre the informant, delivers a top notch performance while occasionally fattened for more than 30lbs to fit the shoes of Whitacre.
The story began in 1992 when Mark Whitacre, Ph.D. (Damon) was still a biochemist and VP at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Mark has worked for many years developing lysine, a food additive, for ADM. Mark is having problems with producing enough lysine when he learns that there is someone sabotaging his project. Mark gets a phone call from someone who tries to extort $10 million from ADM to identify this person. The FBI is called in. Mark is a little paranoid with the investigation, and soon he believes the FBI is after him. With the encouragement of his wife, Mark becomes a whistleblower of ADM's illegal price-fixing tactics and agreements with competitors around the world. Over the next several years, Mark begins to audio-tape hundreds of hours of conversations between ADM executives. The result is the largest price-fixing case in history in 1995.# This film is a light-hearted twist on a serious ‘based on true story’ subject. It involves international corporate conspiracies, corruption, deception and betrayal. But somehow, Soderbergh is very good at giving the film a brisk pace, turning a fundamentally tragic story in a fun and comedy on the edge of the surreal almost like a Coen Brothers movie.

# Soderbergh stayed true to reality, he’s keeping the events mostly accurate to Kurt Eichenwald's book described. The screenplay by Scott Z. Burns also does an admirable job of sticking to the true events with enough creativity, humor and originality.

# The plot does a good job of making Whitacre out to be the Protagonist for the first half, then making him the "bad guy" in the second half.

# The aim of the plot is not necessarily the denunciation of unfair trade practices, but the subtle exploration of barriers or accelerators for the public to identify with a protagonist who repeatedly betrays his moral integrity, and with it the trust we have invested in him.

# This might be Damon's most sophisticated acting to date. Brilliantly he brought us into the inner-self of Mark Whitacre, a complex, bi-polar whistle blower who exposed himself as a criminal while taking down the corporation he worked for.

# Sure there were funny parts, and the whole thing seemed like some satirical trip, but it’s not a laugh out loud riot like the posters and promos made this film out to be.# Shot in 1970s style, “The Informant!” once again shown the creative cinematography and compositions of a Steven Soderbergh.

# The supporting cast does a fine job and perhaps the most notable are Scott Bakula as the benignly professional FBI agent Brian Shepard and Melanie Lynskey, who portrays Whitacre's devoted wife, Ginger.

# The voice-over narration is creative and it effectively identify the neurotic character and mind of Mark Whitacre.

# The quirky, almost cartoonish score sometimes doesn't seem to fit and a bit intrusive.

Overall Score: 7,5/10 (Steven Soderbergh shows that it is in full possession of his talent when he directs a comedy of manners. This film seems to be well within the realm of “Erin Brockovich”, a comedy inspired by a true story.)

Welcome To The Surreal Imaginarium Of Dr Parnasus

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:01:13 PDT

It's good to get excited about Terry Gilliam’s upcoming film “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus”, a fantasy flick about an immortal man with a traveling show and the gift of guiding the imaginations of his audience. Not only because the film marks the last film performance of Academy Award-winner Heath Ledger but also the visuals for “Imaginarium” should be amazing and remind us of Gilliam's visual masterpiece “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”, as it apparently spends a lot of time in "a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles." Two main stars in the film are Christopher Plummer (most well known for his role opposite Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music”, and the voice of Charles Muntz in “Up”) in the title role of Doctor Parnassus, a man whose made a deal with the Devil, and Ledger who plays a mysterious outsider who joins Parnassus’ group. Heath Ledger’s untimely death left an unfinished performance, and therefore no way to conclude the film as planned. The tragedy which happened one-third of the way through filming caused production to be suspended for a few months. but Gilliam fought to reconfigure the story without losing the fine performance which his star had already committed to film. Eventually, actors Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law were cast to replace Ledger, portraying the new idea of transformed versions of his character traveling through magical realms, thus the footage shot with Ledger would remain in the film as his character's "real-world" appearance. Johnny Depp plays Tony’s first transformed corpus, while Colin Farrell and Jude Law follow as transformations two and three, respectively. “I am grateful to Johnny, Colin and Jude for coming on board and to everyone else who has made it possible for us to finish the film,” said Gilliam, “and I am delighted that Heath’s brilliant performance can be shared with the world.” Despite the attractions of a stellar cast, its appeal will be largely confined to loyal Gilliam fans and those seeking a last look at the legacy of the late Heath Ledger.

In the present day, immortal 1,000-year-old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) leads an extraordinary traveling theatre troupe called 'Imaginarium', where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick (Tom Waits), in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Parnasus’ precious daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), is now rapidly approaching this 'coming of age' milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus helped by his troupe—including a sleight of hand expert, Anton (Andrew Garfield), a sarcastic and cynical sidekick, Percy (Verne Troyer) and a mysterious outsider named Tony (portrayed by Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell)—must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all...

All those facts behind the magical mirror:

# “Imaginarium” is the first film that Terry Gilliam storyboarded himself since “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” (1988).

# Gilliam and screenwriter Charles McKeown based the character of Tony on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who "would say the most insane things and probably he'd believe them himself".

# From the start, Ledger and Gilliam regarded each other as kindred spirits. The two first met when the director cast Ledger opposite Matt Damon in the 2005 film “The Brothers Grimm.”

# Gilliam was presiding over concept art when he received the phone call that told Ledger had died; his initial thought was "The film's over, it's as simple as that." Although production was suspended indefinitely by January 24, according to Christopher Plummer, who plays Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam, determined to "salvage" the film, initially considered using computer-generated imagery to make Heath Ledger's character magically change his appearance, perhaps into another character, in order to keep his final work in the film, and, if the film was made, would dedicate it to Ledger.

# Johnny Depp was a friend of Gilliam who starred in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and the aborted “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”, and had been compared to Ledger by cinematographer Nicola Pecorini.

# Law was a friend of Ledger and had been considered for the role of Tony, and Farrell had also been friends with Ledger.

# The three actors opted to redirect their wages for the role to Ledger's young daughter, Matilda, who had been left out of an old version of Ledger's will, and Gilliam altered the part of the credits saying "A Terry Gilliam film" to "A film from Heath Ledger and friends."

# According to Gilliam, the last line Heath Ledger spoke for filming on the set was "Don't shoot the messenger." When Johnny Depp filmed his role after Ledger's death, Depp asked Gilliam if he could try a new ad-lib: "Don't shoot the messenger", unaware that Ledger had improvised an identical line. Gilliam was astounded, remarking, "Heath is still out there. Johnny's channeling Heath somehow. I mean, Shirley MacLaine would love all this."

Budget: About $30 million
Opening prediction: $25 million
Domestic gross prediction: $60 million

Theatrical release dates:
Oct 16, 09: Bulgaria, Italy, UK
Oct 23: Spain
Oct 29: Australia, Czech Rep, New Zealand
Nov 05: Argentina
Nov 11: France
Nov 19: Portugal
Dec 03: Slovakia, Switzerland (Ger)
Dec 04: Norway
Dec 25: Canada, USA
Jan 07, 10: Germany
Jan 08: Poland
Jan 30: Japan
Feb 11: Netherlands
Mar 12: Turkey

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Sherlock Holmes Return With A Rougher Fiercer Adventure

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:34:35 PDT

Following the successful reboots of Batman, James Bond, and currently Star Trek, another venerable legendary character will also return to the big screen with its back-to-basics version. The master detective of Arthur Conan Doyle’s 19th Century fiction, “Sherlock Holmes”, has led to many stage and cinematic adaptations. The Guinness World Records even has consistently listed Holmes as the "most portrayed movie character" with over 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films. Only Count Dracula comes close to matching this record. The character is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skillful use of astute observation, deductive reasoning, inference to solve difficult cases, and of course his trademark outfits.
But this new version of Holmes will not be wearing a deerstalker hat. Nor will he be wearing an Inverness overcoat, the kind with the dashing cloak that hangs over the shoulders as extra protection against the English rain. But he will be rougher, more emotionally multilayered, more inclined to run with his clothing askew, covered in bruises and smudges of dirt and blood. Robert Downey, Jr., the proper action movie lead after the success of “Iron Man,” stars as this younger, more physical Holmes along with Jude Law (Cold Mountain, Alfie) as a markedly different Dr. John Watson than the fusty, bumbling, middle-aged character we're used to seeing in previous Holmes' adaptations, turning him into a youthful ally for the great British detective. There will be plenty of fighting (Bare-fisted boxing, sword fighting and a mastery of martial arts have been added to Holmes’ arsenal of weapons) and the film will explore the "co-dependency" and "bromance" between Holmes and Watson.

Guy Ritchie, known for stylized, quick-talking, fast-moving films set among the criminals, lowlifes and hard men of London’s underworld, would seem to be something of a gamble as director of such a big Hollywood production. His early films, including “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch,” remain his most successful, and he has had some bad patches. (Don’t mention “Swept Away,” which starred the ex ‘queen of pop’ wife) His latest film, “RocknRolla,” was seen as a return to form by many critics and did well in Britain. But it made only $5.7 million in the States. Ritchie said that he wanted to make his “Sherlock Holmes” more "authentic" to Doyle’s original work, explaining, "There's quite a lot of intense action sequences in the stories, [and] sometimes that hasn't been reflected in the movies." Holmes' "brilliance will percolate into the action", and the film will show that his "intellect was as much of a curse as it was a blessing". Ritchie sought to make Sherlock Holmes a "very contemporary film as far as the tone and texture", because it has been "a relatively long time since there's been a film version that people embraced". However, the film also will be based on an original comic book currently being penned by one of the film’s producer Lionel Wigram. Joining Downey Jr. and Law in the cast ensemble are Mark Strong (Body of Lies) as the master villain, Kelly Reilly (Mrs. Henderson Presents) as Watson's love interest Mary Morstan, and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, a wily female criminal described by creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as "the only woman who ever bested Holmes." and maintained a tempestuous relationship with the detective. All involved made it clear that this version is going to be a sexier, more rousing, and action-stacked take on the author's legendary detective. I've always enjoyed the classic tale of Sherlock Holmes, but this finally looks like it'll be the Holmes we've never seen before.

Plot: Set in 1891, the film revolves around Holmes (Downey Jr.) and Watson (Law) stopping a conspiracy to destroy Britain. The film opens with Holmes apprehending the murderous cult leader Lord Blackwood (Strong), who promises he will return from the dead and exact his revenge as he is being led to the gallows. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down this new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.

The adventure of the facts:

# This film will be the first Sherlock Holmes film to reach U.S. movie theaters in over twenty years, since the 1988 comedy “Without a Clue” (1988) with Michael Caine as Reginald Kincaid/"Sherlock Holmes".

# Ritchie initially felt Downey was too old for the role because he wanted the film to show a younger Holmes on a learning curve like “Batman Begins.” However, Ritchie decided to take a chance on casting him in the role, and Downey told the BBC that "I think me and Guy are well-suited to working together. The more I look into the books, the more fantastic it becomes. Holmes is such a weirdo."

# Downey lost weight for the part, because during a chat he had with Chris Martin, Martin recommended that Holmes look "gaunt" and "skinny". The actor also read many Sherlock Holmes stories and watched "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1984) by Granada Television (starring Jeremy Brett) in order to learn more about the character.

# Both Downey and Ritchie are martial arts enthusiasts, and have been inspired by the bartitsu mentioned in the 1901 story “The Adventure of the Empty House.”

# Jude Law was cast because he had a positive meeting with Downey and concurred the film would have to explore Holmes and Watson's friendship. Downey believed by emphasizing Watson's qualities as a former soldier, a doctor, a womaniser and a gambler, it would make for a more interesting foil for Holmes.

# Law made a notebook of phrases from the stories to improvise into his dialogue. Previously the actor has appeared in the Granada Television series “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” in an episode based on “The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place.” That was the series featuring Jeremy Brett, which is a favorite adaptation among Sherlock Holmes fans.

# Guy Ritchie originally envisioned Russell Crowe in Watson’s role and Colin Farrell also was in talks to play the role before Law was cast.

# Downey convinced Ritchie to cast Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, arguing she would not look too young to be his love interest. Actress Sienna Miller previously also was in talks for the role.

# For her part, McAdams describes her character as an underworld adventuress with a criminal mind, but who also has her romantic and "delicious" sides. She says it will be a pleasure working with Downey Jr. and Ritchie, whom she calls a "collaborative, experimental director."

# The main antagonist Lord Blackwood is based on Aleister Crowley, which was due to Doyle's own fascination with the occult. The producer felt he was "almost clever" pitting Holmes, who has an almost supernatural ability to solve crimes, against a supposedly supernatural villain.

# Producer Lionel Wigram remarked that for around ten years, he had been thinking of new ways to depict Sherlock Holmes. Wigram wrote and John Watkiss drew a 25-page comic book about Holmes in place of a spec script.

# Arthur Conan Doyle's estate had some involvement in sorting out legal issues, although the stories are in the public domain in the United States.

# In late November 2008, stunt man Robert Maillet was filming a fight scene at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, and accidentally punched Robert Downey, Jr. in the face, causing Downey to be bloodied and knocked down, but not knocked unconscious as originally reported.

# The director kept to the tradition of making Holmes and Watson's apartment quite messy, and had it decorated with artifacts and scientific objects from the continents they would have visited.

# The set for Sherlock Holmes's home in this film was previously used as Sirius Black's home in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (2007).

# The song that plays from 1:03 to the end on the second trailer is a piece called "Unstoppable" by the group E.S. Posthumus (specifically 1:47 to the end on the track).

# There were rumors that Brad Pitt has been cast as Professor Moriarty and re shoots have taken place, but the rumors were quickly denied. Moriarty's existence is hinted in the script to set up the sequels.

# The news media began to label the production as cursed after a series of unfortunate incidents, including Ritchie's divorce from his pop-star wife of eight years, Downey's injuries during a fight scene that required six stitches and an exploding tanker truck.

# This film will not the only one to re-imagine Holmes character. A comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen as Holmes and Will Ferrell as Watson is in the works. And the BBC is filming a one-hour story about Holmes, set in present-day London.

Budget: About $80 million
Opening prediction: $35 million
Domestic gross prediction: $110 million

Theatrical release dates:
Dec 24, 09: Hong Kong, Malaysia
Dec 25: Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland (It), USA
Dec 26: Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, UK
Dec 30-31: Egypt, Portugal, Ukraine
Jan 06-08: Belgium, Czech Rep, Netherlands, Brazil, Norway
Jan 14-15: Argentina, Russia, Spain
Jan 28: Germany, Switzerland (Ger)
Feb 03: France, Switzerland (Fr)
Apr 03: Japan

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia, NYtimes – Photos courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

9: Good For Its Unique Style And Design

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:55:18 PDT

Previously, a film called “District 9” became an impressive word-of-mouth in Hollywood while it was only made by this new filmmaker, Neil Blomkamp, who garnered such of buzz because he is an apprentice of Peter Jackson. Now, another new name that also started his creation in a short movie frame, Shane Acker, is following Blomkamp’s step by entering the film business under the wings of two famous visionaries, Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. They lend their producing credits in Acker's debut animated science fiction film, “9”, which offered plenty of visual artistry from the director. Based from Acker’s short film under the same name who had made a sensation (nominated for an Oscar in 2006), the story which once again brought another post-apocalyptic world images where machines had turned against their creators is actually a nothing new since it's been done by other films before. But if you're going to see an animated film this year for its unique style and design also cinematography, creations and colors out of the netherworld of a splendid imagination - plus it's not from Pixar - “9” perhaps would quite satisfy you.# I liked the creativity and simplicity of the graphics, the idea & concept of ragdolls and yet the complexity of the machines, that mash together to form a well-balanced and not too overly grossed animation, that is refreshing.

# Plot of the film suffers from too many ideas for its truncated 79 minutes runtime.

# The story of “9” also unfortunately tears off into confusion, we are forced to identify with 9 as he charges full-steam into danger he doesn’t fully comprehend. It’s a disorientating approach that severs any emotional concentration, preferring to wow the eyes with fantastical sights rather than hit the heart with more deeply felt motivation.

# There is no development or shading, not even a surprising facet that emerges during the course of the story.# It’s too dark for young children, but not rich enough to entertain sustained an adult audience.

# Action sequences still provide the thrills, though the setting and man vs. machine apocalypse have seen many many times before. The confrontation scenes with the robots are pretty exciting.

# One of the plus points here belong to the voice casting. With the likes of Elijah Wood as the titular character, and supported by Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Jennifer Connelly and Fred Tatasciore (yes, 7 because 2 of the characters are mute).# The connectivity of the story arcs felt rather patchy and connection between sequences were either speeded up or left missing.

# The lead up to the climatic rescue scene had us scratching our heads on why and how did a rescue plan was formulated. Things just conveniently fall together for our heroes and it didn’t felt like our heroes went through too much difficulties or struggle.

# The film really lacks this kind of epic, that would do credit to the exquisite quality of the animation, which has worked hard to visualizes a dark world and yet enchanting.Overall Score: 6,5/10 (A tale with so much potential and so many intriguing characters in it but ultimately, the movie failed to utilize them to it’s full potential, but those attending the film for visual delights will not be disappointed)

The Return Of The Storm CGI Martial Arts Warriors

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:58:18 PDT

A decade ago, a comic-adapted movie “The Stormriders”, starring pop idols Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng, premiered in the summer of 1998. The movie was soon became a massive box office hit and topped the chart for the year in Hong Kong and Mainland China. It was a milestone in Asian fantasy cinema, boasting a previously unseen quality and quantity of special effects. So, it’s a rather surprising that a direct sequel was not immediately forthcoming, but soon the wait will be over. Hoping for another box-office success, the film’s producers are back with “The Storm Warriors,” the second movie based on the bestselling, long-running Hong Kong comic book series Fung Wan (Wind and Cloud), by Ma Wing Shing. The Pang brothers (Oxide and Danny) have been attached to replace Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs), director of the original. Oxide and Danny are very well known as the dynamic team behind “The Eye” franchise (which got Angelica Lee her best actress award, and spawned two sequels and a Hollywood remake), and hit Thai crime thriller “Bangkok Dangerous.” But after the dismal debut of their own Hollywood remake for “Bangkok,” it’s really a right time for them to return in Hong Kong and made this latest exploration into martial arts.
However, the Pangs have stated that the film is not a direct sequel to “The Storm Riders,” but more of a stand-alone film with a separate storyline. For this film, they were inspired by Fung Wan's popular Japanese Invasion story arc “The Death Battle”. “The story arc is one of the most interesting and popular in Fung Wan. Even fans of the comic agree that this part of the series is the best,” said Danny. The brothers also intended on giving a similar look and feel to that of the 2007 Zack Snyder’s “300”. But they decided not to shoot the film entirely in bluescreen, as it would have cost money and ruin the look of the film. Oxide Pang commented on the film's look: “We decided to make it more realistic-looking, and less like a comic book, but you will instantly know that it is a movie made out of a comic book just by looking at the background.” Pangs are not new either to CG effects. They had previously put them to good use in their visually arresting 2006 fantasy/horror film “RE-CYCLE.”
Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng are returning to their original roles, what is interesting this time is that the story features a complete role reversal for the two main characters. Where the first film pitted a pensive and calm Wind against a moody, rage-filled Cloud hell-bent on revenge against his master Hong Ba, this time it is Cloud who has to stop Wind from heading down the path of no return, and becoming a “demon”.Besides the anticipated showdown between Wind and Cloud, the story also includes a new villain, Lord Godless (Simon Yam), and an introduction to one of the comic’s longest-living villains – Heart (Nicholas Tse). I think this film will be one of those Asian answers to Hollywood’s comic book superhero movies and should at least make for an interesting popcorn flick.

Japanese evil warlord Lord Godless desired to conquer China. He imprisoned a large number of martial artists and tried to make them subjugate. Among the prisoners were Cloud and the martial arts elder statesman Nameless. Wind came to the rescue. The trio was badly wounded by Lord Godless’s evil martial arts attack. Chu Chu was also knocked out when she blocked Cloud from Lord Godless’s strike. The remaining martial artists sacrificed their lives to save the trio, in the hope that the trio would beat Lord Godless one day and save the country. Chu Chu was badly wounded and stayed unconscious. Cloud was filled with remorse and vowed to take revenge. Wind chose to take the evil way to quickly boost up his martial arts skills, so that he could protect the people. During his training, he met the girl who hanged his life, Dream. Meanwhile, the troop of Lord Godless came to attack. Wind’s training was interrupted when he tried to save Dream from Lord Godless’s assault. After some killings, Wind ran away and disappeared… Lord Godless took The Emperor in captivity and stationed his troops in Heaven Cave. Cloud arrived alone and started a combat with Lord Godless. Lord Godless had the upper hand. In the meantime, the half-evil Wind appeared and joined the battle. During the fight, they inadvertently discovered the secret of the sovereign. The real intention of Lord Godless’s invasion was related to an ancient tomb, a forbidden ground buried with the Royal family’s secret. The truth was finally revealed. At last, how would the battle end? Who would eventually rule over the country?

Facts behind the martial comics mythology:

# The film was produced as part of the Pangs' ten-year motion picture deal with Universe Entertainment. The Pang Brothers replaced director Andrew Lau, and Universe Entertainment gained the rights to production from Golden Harvest after the latter company's ten-year production rights to the Fung Wan franchise expired

# The film also known by its English-language working title, “The Storm Riders II,” a title that was changed in order to avoid any potential copyright disputes with the comic book’s current license holder who is no longer associated with the film’s financiers.

# “The Storm Warriors” was shot primarily in Bangkok, Thailand, and marks the first Chinese film to be shot in bluescreen and on custom-made sets.

# The film shot entirely in three studios occupying 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) in Bangkok’s Pak-Gret district. Members of the media and the film’s distributors across Asia were invited to visit the shooting location.

# Filming also consisted mainly of a Thai production crew, as the Pangs felt comfortable it was probably much more cheaper to shoot the film in Thailand in their native Hong Kong.

# Lord Godless’ character is based on the comic book's Japanese Invasion story arc, The Death Battle.

# Danny Pang served as a co-editor on the 1998 film “The Storm Riders.”

# Visual effects for the film were produced by Fat Face Productions, which has been a leader in digital effects work in the Asian region with past credits that include “The Warlords”, and “Kung Fu Hustle.”

# The Pangs intended on making a third installment for the series. Once again inspired by the Fung Wan comic book series, this will take a significantly different, post-modern tone.

# Andrew Lau, director of the first movie, has plans to produce the sequel but based on a different arc of the manwah. His sequel is called "Goodbye Nameless". Cheng and Kwok are to reprise their roles as Wind and Cloud, and Andy Lau was to play the role Nameless. However, due to buget issues and the script is still being revised by the director for the last 10 years, when this movie will be made is unknown.

# Aaron Kwok wore specially made boots on the set to make himself 3 inch taller to match the height of Ekin Cheng. The reason for this is because according to the manwah, Clould is meant to be alot taller and bigger built than Wind.

Theatrical release dates:
Dec 17, 09: Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore

Sources: Wikipedia, IMDB – Photos courtesy of Universe Entertainment

Other Philosophy Inside The Ancient Agora

moviecafe@ymail.com (Jaccstev) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:18:37 PDT

Why I’m really admiring this Spanish-Chilean director Alejandro Amenabar? It’s all because of his previous works. “The Others,” a horror thriller starred Nicole Kidman still standing as one of my favorite horror films of all time. Amenabar has made it as a suspenseful horror film unlike many of these days. With its atmospheric, spooky, bloodless, and carried by strong acting, fleshed out characters and wonderful cinematography, it was also one of the more competent ghost films in recent memory. 2004 drama, "The Sea Inside," which won him the Academy Award for foreign-language films remains one of my favorite films of the decade as well.
Now, after five years, he’s back with his second English-language film which already became Spain's biggest production ever, “Agora.” For the film, Amenabar with Oscar winning actress Rachel Weisz traveled back to ancient times to tell a modern story about a progressive woman standing against religious dogma and persecution. Has been premiered at the recent Cannes Film Festival, “Agora” will introduces the little-known scholar Hypatia, a brilliant astronomer and mathematician working in a man's world in 4th century A.D. Egypt.
Shot largely on location on huge scale, authentically detailed sets and a high profile international cast, this film is really promising some wonderful looks from its production design and a fascinating view at the religious feuds of the time. So far, the trailer for the movie had offered a glimpse of what that will be a new epic on the grandest scale. It’s appropriately epic and lush, though I probably shouldn’t expect anything less from Amenabar, who has always been a visually interesting director.

“Agora” is a rousing historical epic recreating the early religious conflicts of fourth-century Alexandria, Egypt.
Beginning in AD 369, tensions between pagans and Christians in Egypt reach a new high, setting the stage for an inevitable clash of loyalties. At the time, the Pagans, who worshiped Egyptian gods, made up a majority of the population, but Christianity was spreading and soon began to take over the city. Initially, in the famed Alexandria library compound where pupils of all faiths gather to learn under the guidance of Hypatia (Weisz), these pressures are set aside. While she conducts lessons in mathematics and astronomy, Hypatia privately tackles the riddle of Ptolemy’s theory of the solar system and its planetary orbits.
Soon, however, conflict erupts as the pagans attack the Christians. Though the massacre leaves many Christians dead, the pagans nonetheless find themselves outnumbered and barricade themselves inside the library for safety. Hypatia is among those trapped, and her protection becomes the primary concern of her pupil Orestes (Oscar Isaac) and her slave Davus (Max Minghella), both of whom are deeply in love with her. This love triangle is put to test under the weight of the city’s violent social upheaval. In the whirlwind of chaos and bloodshed, the three are inevitability separated.
Christianity sweeps across Alexandria not just as a force of enlightenment but also simply as force. As Davus falls under the sway of extremism and Orestes struggles with his new faith, Agora takes up big themes of religion and allegiance, and how violence can enforce both.

The facts inside the city of Alexandria:

# Alejandro Amenábar decided to make a movie about the cosmos after "The Sea Inside." He dove into astronomy research but said he did not want to make a movie about a figure such as Galileo because everyone already knew his story. Amenabar's studies eventually led him to Hypatia, a woman dealing with current issues in ancient times.

# The director wrote the script with Rachel Weisz in mind to play Hypatia, the lead character.

# Weisz had never heard of Hypatia before reading the script, but she said the woman's story resonates today. "Really, nothing has changed. I mean, we have huge technological advances and medical advances, but in terms of people killing each other in the name of God, fundamentalism still abounds," Weisz said. "And in certain cultures, women are still second-class citizens, and they're denied education."

# The set was built on the exact same spot (Fort Ricasoli, Malta) where the Coliseum was built for “Gladiator” (2000). Fort Ricasoli was also used for “Ceasar” (2002), “Helen of Troy” (2003) and “Troy” (2004).

# There were days when shooting had to delay for a few seconds. This was because of the nearby churches of Kalkara, Vittoriosa amongst others which had their bells activated at mid-noon. The bells could be heard from the sets of Ricasoli.

# Rachel Weisz has said that she did not use a body double for the nude scenes in the film. The actress told the Daily Mail that it is her body in its two naked scenes. Weisz said: "It was all me, never even thought of using a double. Weisz welcomed her first son with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky in 2006 and immediately set about shedding the pounds so she could bare it all in “Agora”.

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Twentieth Century-Fox