Flights of Fantasy

It looks like the aftershocks of Lord of the Rings are starting to quiver underfoot.

Here are some pretty looking epic fantasy films bulging with stars, ready to burst onto your cinema screens. They all come from reputable source material apparently and they look reasonably well crafted.

Stardust


The Golden Compass


Also, shots are leaking out of The Dark Is Rising set. Looking forward to this but terribly weary of Walden and their cookie cutter adaptations. They'd better not fuck with my childhood



And in other adaptation news. Filmstalker reports that Christopher Lee is off of Sweeney Todd because Tim Burton's extra characters had been removed. Burton tinkering with Sondheim, hmmm, as long as he isn't getting Elfman to rescore it, I'm happy.

Video Response - The Wicker Man

Richard just posted a bit of a slate against Neil La Bute's rehash of The Wicker Man

I'd like to supply some supporting evidence:



Get the point? Hmmm...

MQFF

The Melbourne Queer Film Festival always seeks to balance the crowd, pleasing “bums on seats” popcorners with some more challenging fare. But if you’re not feeling too adventurous, there are a few films to test the waters of the not-quite-so-shallow end.

I've started with Tan Lines / Far From Sunset Boulevard / Boy Culture over at The Program but there are more to come...

Tix are on sale now!

The Ubiquitous Samuel L. Jackson James McAvoy

It is rare that I go ga-ga over an actor. And I am not going ga-ga now. Well maybe a little. It is just kind of nice that Shameless' James McAvoy is hitting it big.

He's everywhere at the moment. First Mr Tumnus, then the last king of Scotland. He has three movies coming out in the next few months, one in post production and another kicking off.

I am starting to think you can't get a film greenlit unless James is in it.

Wouldn't that be nice.

Anyway, here is a snippet of why he is so great. Some bravura acting from Channel 4's Shameless. This has to be one of the most heart-wrenching scenes on television in the last few years. (And how far downhill did Shameless go when he left?)



Okay, so you want to see more. Check out these new flicks with Jimmy. There's one about a pig girl, one about an Essex lad and one about some English broad who wrote shit.

Click on the pretty pics to be whisked away so you can stare at James.

Let the Sunshine In

Some marketing company is trying to go grass roots with the new Danny Boyle flick.

I'll play along. Here is the new trailer for Sunshine. Boyle has teamed with Garland again. Sure he wrote that abomination of a novel The Beach but he also gave us 28 Days Later so I am waiting to see what he can pull together with this one. Apparently the dialogue is quite stilted but from the trailer the action looks pretty tight.

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Fingers crossed.

At the very least we know that Danny Boyle can make even the most appalling screenplay intriguing. Just look at A Life Less Ordinary.

The Maltese Falcon (or, First, first, first!)

I caught The Maltese Falcon at acmi the other day. Richard has taken it upon himself to accompany on a brisk walk through early noir cinema. It all started with Double Indemnity a few weeks ago and it looks like it is going to continue very soon with To Have and Have Not.

Anyway. Loved The Maltese Falcon. Loved the creeping menace of the film. Loved the dialogue, especially Bogart's final speech. Loved Peter Lorre's gayer than gay character (as highlighted in The Celluloid Closet).

It is easy to see why it is considered a classic and championed as the beginnings of noir. Though it was a shame that the print acmi is showing is rather decrepit.

I don't suppose I can lay claim to not having seen a Bogart film any more. Or a Huston film. I can only consider that a good thing.

Ahh, Childhood!

The other day, just for kicks, I decided to re-visit one of the movies that I had vaulted in my memories of childhood, The Pirate Movie.

Ever since I firsts saw it at the age of 9, I have remembered it as an hilarious pirate romp with fantastic music and that gorgeous actor, Christopher Atkins.

Well... Um... No!

What can I say? Christopher Aitkins is about 12 years old and seems to have graduated from the Mickey Mouse School of Grating Child Actors, the "new" songs (as opposed to the G+S numbers) were like the b-sides of the Xanadu soundtrack and it was about as funny as slamming your knob in a door.


I think the line he was singing was, "You move me like the moon moves the tide."

That said, I was surprised to find that it was an Australian production. Gary McDonald (who was about the best thing in it), the "Freak" from Prisoner and... Rhonda Burchmore! Now there is some class!


See, gum trees!


"Desiiire!!!" (Ask Stu)

And it is all shot around Werribee Park and the Botanical Gardens.

Check it out if your fast forward button is working and you have half an hour to spare!

Tags: movies, movie musicals, Australian cinema

Andrew Adamson to direct PrinzzzZzzZz...

Dark Horizons reports that Andrew Adamson has been announced as the director for the next installment of the budding Narnia francise.

Given his work with The Lion, The Witch and The Cupboard was so wooden and paint-by-number, and that Prince Caspian is an even more insubstantial book than its predecessor, I couldn't be more underwhelmed.

My only hope is that, seeing as the book is so light on and lacks any real "baddie", they may branch out a little and add something to the film version out of pure necessity. Down with slavish reproductions!

And the winner could possibly be...

Oscar noms are out!

Brokeback is up for eight as I count them:

Best actor - Our Little Sandgroper
Best Supporting Actor - Donnie Darko
Best Supporting Actress - Mrs Our Little Sandgroper
Best Cinematography
Best Director - Ang Lee
Best Score (Who scored better Jake or Heath? Talk amongst yourselves!)
Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay

Other films gaying up the Academy Awards this year are Capote and TransAmerica, neither of which I have seen but certainly plan to soon. Just from the trailer for Capote I would be happy to see Phillip Seymour Hoffman win the award over Ledger but I think Heath was fantastic.

I'm very interested to see how Jon Stewart handles the ceremony after Dave Letterman failed so dismally at his turn at hosting.

For the full list go here!

Predict away ladies...

Tags: movies, Oscars, Academy Awards, cinema

(Upside-Down) Cross Promotion

This is great!

As if in preparation for the Omen remake, Plan 59 have released these fantastic images of kids staring demonically at food.

Bon apetit! (via boingboing)