Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Not since the Muppets has a soundtrack for a family film been so anticipated, as is Karen O and the Kids' upcoming release for Where the Wild Things Are. Everything about Spike Jonze's big screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak's timeless storybook seems perfect, and the music from the wonderful lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs makes a perfect fit for the movie. Take a listen for yourself, via a post from IWatchStuff.

I failed to see any posts on any of the normal blog sites I hit yesterday on the weekend's box office performances. Maybe it was because a second week of domination at the hands of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is just slightly disheartening. Still, I am happy to report that my prediction of Fame taking the number one spot was way off, as the film ended up being third overall in a somewhat disappointing showing. Second place went to another debut on the charts, Jonathan Mostow's Surrogates.

Finally, to end a rather slow news day, Asian Movie Pulse announces some upcoming plans of Studio Ghibli. The most important in my mind is that Hayao Miyazaki is now contracted to churn out two more feature films in the next three years. Also, Miyazaki's Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata will be directing his first film in ten years, Taketori Monogatari, an adaptation of an old Japanese folk tale.

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

I thought I would start out the blog today by posting this awesome cover of the upcoming Filter, which prominently features the art and music of Spike Jonze's brilliant-looking upcoming children's flick, Where the Wild Things Are. Among other interviews, I'm informed by WeLoveYouSo that the magazine will conversate with Jonze, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, whom will be contributing some original music to the film as well as two of my favorite actresses Catherine Kenner and Catherine O'Hara, among others.

Away from that piece of eye candy however, the big news for me today was a small trailer posted on Cinematical for a movie I've not heard very much at all about, Defendor, set to make its premiere showing at the Toronto International Film Festival. The original and quirky superhero dramedy looks absolutely perfect to me. The film stars the intriguing combination of Woody Harrelson and Kat Dennings and is written and directed by Peter Stebbings. Personally, I've never heard of Stebbings and after looking over his IMDb page, I am not familiar with anything he's directed, although he has got some starring credentials in a few bit parts of good television series including 21 Jump Street, The X-Files, The Outer Limits and Stargate SG-1. Also, where the hell has Harrelson came from all of a sudden? The sometimes estranged actor I have always felt was a bit underrated, but after this Canadian gem and the upcoming horror/comedy Zombieland, not only is Harrelson bordering on having a respectable career again, but may actually become "hip", as the kids would say, amongst young cineastes, going on eighteen years after the last episode of Cheers. That is actually quite impressive. But all of my raving aside, see if you enjoy this trailer as much as I do.


I always have to follow good news with something that brings all of our cinematic hopes and dreams crashing to the ground. Variety announced today that 20th Century Fox has hired Randi Mayem Singer to write a third installment to the Big Momma's House series. Not that I would enjoy or look forward to the film if Martin Lawrence came back to the series, but who sees Ice Cube doing this and it being straight-to-DVD?

I've always been amazed at the cult success of The Boondock Saints, the off-beat, critically based action movie from director/writer Troy Duffy. Despite bad reviews, the flick continues to have a massive fanbase that goes outside of the normal action movie crowd, that's what I'm surprised that this trailer came up to surprise me. I've heard rumors of a sequel for some time now, but I had no clue it had ever actually gotten off the ground, so here is the new trailer for The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, with Duffy returning as well as the original main cast, sans Willem Dafoe. Sure, Dafoe is a huge loss, but the trailer looks decent enough. Yet, I still don't think I'm going out on a limb by saying that this will not equal up to its predecessor's status at all. (Note: The damn IGN player isn't cooperating, so here is the link, via IWatchStuff. Still, enjoy.)

Monday, August 24th, 2009

I've spotted the 1939 fantasy family classic The Wizard of Oz on several movie blogs today. Some have put in their two cents on the incredible achievement of still being very relevant today, despite the film turning seventy this year. Others have noted a possible sequel being mentioned by way of the Daily Express. More in particular, some blogs have focused on the rumor of Dakota Fanning taking on the role of Dorothy, while others have been focusing on a quote by co-producer Todd McFarlane stating that in this possible sequel from Warner Brothers the character of Dorothy would be more comparable to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley from Alien more so than Judy Garland's turn as the most celebrated cinematic version of L. Frank Baum's leading lady. This "dark" turn may sound shocking, but I'm quite surprised that none of the movie blogs have screeched to a halt while reading this and collectively said, "Holy shit! Todd McFarlane!?". Yeah, the accompanied picture is from McFarlane's "Twisted Land of Oz" toy series. The blindfolded, lingerie-clad, KISS boots-wearing, busty epitome of sexually charged S&M being dominated by some kind of perverted mutants is McFarlane's idea of Dorothy and the sweet little munchkins. I'm not saying this idea would be wholly unwelcome, as I would prefer to have a horror/sexploitation reimagining of the film rather than a failed Hollywood cash cow sequel. I am saying however, that of all the movie blogs I check daily, none of them connected McFarlane and Baum's sacred land of Oz to these very adult toys? Shotty journalism.

Another very interesting story, coming from DeadCentral is that John Landis, made famous by Schlock, An American Werewolf in London, Innocent Blood and the Michael Jackson video/short film Thriller, will be returning to the horror/comedy genre. The film, Burke and Hare, will be based upon a real life crime duo, William Burke and William Hare (check out their Wikipedia page, very interesting) that would kill people and sell their bodies for money during early 1800's Scotland. Oh, and get this, not only should we be excited that Landis is aboard, but Simon Pegg (known for his work with Edgar Wright in the subgenre) is also rumored to be starring in the film.

Spike Jonze's upcoming Where the Wild Things Are just keeps getting better and better. I've seen a few trailers, but I have yet to come across the fact that Karen O, of Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame, is doing several original recordings for the soundtrack that can be listened to for free on the movie's MySpace page right now. I almost can't see how this film can possibly live up to my expectations.

Inglourious Basterds easily took this weekend's box office, also setting a record for a Quentin Tarantino directed film and easily beating last week's top entry, District 9. The only other debut in the top ten would be from frequent Tarantino collaborator Robert Rodriguez in his children's flick Shorts in the six spot. So for next week, does Tarantino's Nazi themed epic stand a chance to stay atop in the wake of Halloween II's release?

Finally, Daily Star has an article stating that Robin Williams has been asked to play breakout Internet star and famed Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle. I personally imagine that Williams wasn't talking about a biopic, and possibly a future Saturday Night Live sketch, but whatever.