BBC doing live-action Jungle Book

I loved “Babe”. It is actually one of my favorite movies of all time. Sure it is aimed at children, but the story is told in a refreshingly original way. It moves along slowly, unlike all the manic kids films today, and there is nary a fart joke to be seen.

I also love the idea of animals talking. I sometimes just wish I could talk to my two little girls (two black girl cats, Murphy and Sophie) and just see how they are. I would ask them questions like why they feel to need to vomit, not on the tiled parts of my flat, but on the carpets.

Although I didn’t love “Narnia” I was impressed with the talking animals once again…especially the beavers.
The combination of these talking animals and the dark tone, especially during the sheering of Aslan was frightening and exciting.
How I would love to have a film that uses the CGI of “Babe” and the dark tones of “Narnia” but was more adult and less whimsical.

Someone heard me.

The BBC has teamed with Pathe for a $50 million live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's “The Jungle Book.”

Woo hoo!!

BBC natural-history filmmaker John Downer will direct, using the technique of filming animals in the wild and then using CGI to make them appear to talk. Downer will shoot in the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in India and mix the footage with that of trained animals on jungle sets in the U.K. and against bluescreens.

The decision to use a natural-history filmmaker is a risky choice. I am sure he will film a world were a bear, a panther, a tiger, a boa constrictor, wolves, monkeys, elephants, and vultures all live on the same continent and make it plausible. And I am sure his footage will be stunning, but can he do story and pacing?

That is a big question, however any of you who have watched any of David Attenboroughs wildlife specials will know that they are some of the most riveting and exciting stories ever put to film. “Planet Earth” is a must see for all of you.

The story is about a boy raised by wolves who is kidnapped by monkeys and rescued by his animal friends. But to become a man he has to face a fight with the tiger Sher Khan on his own

. Production is scheduled to get underway in September and take two years to complete. However I am sure in that time the budget will get just a teensy bit higher.

Anne Hathaway goes dancing

Anne Hathaway has joined the ensemble cast of Dancing With Shiva for Sony Classics.
Bill Irwin, Anna Deveare Smith, and the wonderful been-away-from-the-screen-for-far-too-long Debra Winger will also star in the Jonathan Demme-directed dark comedy.

For Shiva, Hathaway will play an ex-model who has been in and out of rehab and has just come home from an eight-month stay on the weekend of her sister’s wedding.

I am sure Anne can do a lot of research with for this. I can think a more than one child star who has had the spot light, only to end up publicly going off the rails and being forced into rehab….but opposed to the movie…I do not know if I can see a happy ending for Li Lo and Brits. Perhaps Hathaway can visit them for research?

Also, did you know Hathaway’s middle name is Whitney? Talk about being a child star and with a name with that legacy!!! Amazing she avoided a melt down!! (knock on wood).

Winger plays her mother. I am so happy to see her getting a higher profile role than she has been accustomed too. And lets hope this brings Demme a critical hit. The man has not impressed since “Silence of the Lambs” but that is a TOUGH follow up (very high up in my top 10).

Full Toronto lineup announced

As we all know, the Toronto Festival really kicks off Oscar season. Usually the film that wins the audience award goes on to be represented in some way at the Oscars.
We will be looking at films by the following:
Michael Moore (“Sicko”)
Richard Attenborough (“Closing the Ring”)
Kenneth Branagh (“Sleuth”)
Wayne Wang (“A Thousand Years of Good Players”)

These havehave been added to the lineup of the increasingly relevant film festival, which runs Sept. 6-15.
New additions also include movies starring:
Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Before the Devil Knows You're Dead” or “Charlie Wilson’s War”)
Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Death Defying Acts”)
Jessica Alba (“Bill” or “Awake”)
Uma Thurman (“In Bloom”)
Kevin Bacon (“Saving Angelo” or “Death Sentence” or “Rails and Ties”)
Aaron Eckhart (I will assume “Bill”)
Rachel McAdams (“Married Life” or “Return”),
To name just a few. In total, the festival will feature 349 films from 55 countries. Look out for the big breakout as there is always one.

More 'Across The Universe' clips.

I am so bloody excited.
That is all

Across The Universe- Hey Jude

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Across The Universe - Revolution

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Across The Universe - I Wanna Hold Your Hand

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Across The Universe - Do It In The Road

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Samurai, Diamonds, and Nazis

Good casting news as the underrated Liev Schreiber, the delectable Jamie Bell (pictured), Alexa Davalos, and Tomas Arana will join everyone’s new miserable looking stud muffin Daniel Craig in Defiance, a World War II drama for Paramount Vantage.

The bad news is that Ed Zwick will direct from his own screenplay.
We can expect another action fest with slush and morals that are battered over your head till you leave the cinema numb.

The story is about Jewish brothers (Craig, Schreiber, and Bell) who escape Nazi-occupied Poland and join Russian resistance fighters in battling the Nazis. They build a village hidden in the forest and save more than 1,200 Jews.
Up and coming actors + Holocaust usually = Oscar attention. However the director/screen writer leaves a lot to be desired, even though his last film won 6 nominations (why?) last year.

I am not hopeful with this, and a message to Zwick is this: You don’t f*ck with one of humanities darkest times with sentimentality. If you have to resort to slush to tug at the movie goers heart strings when making a film about the holocaust, you have done something very very wrong.

Zwick's screenplay is based on Nechama Tec's book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans. Davalos will play a Polish refugee and the love interest of Craig's character, and Arana will play a leader in the resistance.

"I'm Not There" trailer

I love Todd, and I was of the opinion that the casting of Cate is a gimmick. However I see that even a little black boy is playing Dylan, so I get it now, there is a part of Dylan in everyone.
I am still hoping that some of the other cast members out shine ole Cate, as everyone is talking so much about her in this and "The Golden Age". I am a little sick to be honest.

The return of M.I.A.

After her absolutely brilliant debut album "Arular" she retuns with "Kala". And she follows it up with another corker of an album.
You Tube has most of the songs up in some format, so I urge to click on the video below and give them all a listen!! (read her Wiki page, she has lead an interesting life.)

(Andra this means you!!!)

The song and video for 'JimmyI is so much fun, and quite commercial sounding for her. I also urge you to check out the song "Paper Planes" (At the bottom of the post) as it just proves what considerable talent this young woman has.



"Paper Planes" (lyrics)

I fly like paper, get high like planes. If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name. If you come around here, I make 'em all day. I get one down in a second if you wait

I fly like paper, get high like planes. If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name. If you come around here, I make 'em all day. I get one down in a second if you wait

Sometimes I feel sitting on trains. Every stop I get to I'm clocking that game. Everyone's a winner now we're making that fame. Bonafide hustler making my name

Sometimes I feel sitting on trains. Every stop I get to I'm clocking that game. Everyone's a winner now we're making that fame. Bonafide hustler making my name

All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!), and (KKKAAAA CHING!), and take your money
All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!), and (KKKAAAA CHING!), and take your money
All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!), and (KKKAAAA CHING!), and take your money

Pirate skulls and bones. Sticks and stones and weed and bombs. Running when we hit 'em. Lethal poison through their system

Pirate skulls and bones. Sticks and stones and weed and bombs. Running when we hit 'em. Lethal poison through their system

No one on the corner has swag like us. Hit me on my banner prepaid wireless. We pack and deliver like UPS trucks. A radio in hell just pumping that gas

No one on the corner has swag like us. Hit me on my banner prepaid wireless. We pack and deliver like UPS trucks. A radio in hell just pumping that gas

All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!), and (KKKAAAA CHING!), and take your money
All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!), and (KKKAAAA CHING!), and take your money
All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!), and (KKKAAAA CHING!), and take your money

M.I.A.. Third world democracy. Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B.. So, uh, no funny business

Some some some I some I murder. Some I some I let go. Some some some I some I murder. Some I some I let go

Cassandra's Dream Trailer

The new Woody Allen movie trailer arrives!
this does look like a nice departure for him, darker and more intense than usual. You should never judge a book by it's cover, but it looks as though all three main actors will bring their game on big time, especially Tom Wilkenson, and perhaps Ewan McGregor.
Not a big Woody fan, but I have to say I am curious now.

Ice Cubes galore

Sorry, news is really really slow.

Mr Cube (Ice to the rest of y’all) will produce and star in a live-action adaptation of Shannon Eric Denton's graphic novel 10 for Dimension.

The story is about a guy who gets a letter saying he's in a competition with nine others and that whoever gets out alive wins. He thinks it's just junk mail until a man toting an ax shows up at his door.

As much as I love a good graphic novel, I have been under whelmed by the big screen adaptations of them (although I did really enjoy “Sin City”)
Having Cube involved does not heighten this project at all, but stranger things have happened.

Don’t worry, I am not saying this is going to be a runaway hit. It does sound very “The Game” to me, but still the premise is very intriguing. It is a shame there is not more talent involved.
Dimension films is a bit of a joke now isn’t it? When I see it’s logo appear, I prepare myself for another crapsterfest.

Walk Hard Trailer

"Walk the Line" is one of those movies you NEVER EVER imagine being made into a piss take.
It seems it is possible to do so, and curses to the heavens above the dumb toilet humor made me laugh out loud.
I try to rise above it but for some reason, something deep down inside me longs to laugh at oral sex jokes and serious movies being ripped to shreds.
I am a bad person.

Atonement Review

I am pissing myself with excitement now at this. Empire has reviewed it and they completely RAVED it up and down. Most notably is this part of the review.

”if McAvoy impresses once again, it’s Knightley who finally stakes her claim in a grown-up part. Those cut-glass tones are exactly posh enough to fit Cecilia, a more brittle role than the feisty grrrrls she’s played before and one more suited to her delicate beauty. She might want to specify that Wright direct every film she makes in the future.

Romola Garai gets the more difficult role, a character who lives an almost entirely internal life. She does a fine job, but frankly she’s eclipsed by Saoirse Ronan as her 13 year-old self.”

Looks likely we may have another young supporting actress nominee. Great news for Peter Jackson’s reputation.
Read this great review of Atonement.

You can also check out another review here which is not as glowing, but still strong saying:

”And what fine actresses they are! Knightley is again in top shape, showing that her Oscar nomination for Pride & Prejudice was no accident, …. She has not a whole lot of material to work with but fills the screen with a magnetic presence (reminiscent of the Hollywood stars of the 1940s and 1950s) that nevertheless leaves her enough room to simply be the character. Saoirse Ronan is equally impressive as the young Briony….
....But the real revelation of Atonement is James McAvoy, whose Robbie is so convincing that it is no wonder that Cee doesn’t care he is not from the same class as she is. His natural charm and utterly honest demeanour are a wonder to behold and are especially noteworthy in the film’s single best scene, in which Robbie and Cee meet again for the first time after his imprisonment, in a noisy canteen somewhere in wartime London. Neither of them speaks much, but the way McAvoy and Knightley play the crude, untold emotions of this long awaited and much dreamt about encounter is simply heartbreaking.”

And that should pretty much seal it's Oscars fate.

Jennifer Eyebrows and the art of bland

Jennifer Eyebrows is in talks to star in “He's Just Not That Into You”, a comedy that Drew Barrymore is producing and starring in for New Line Cinema.
Also in negotiations to star are Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Justin Long , and Ginnifer Goodwin.
Ken Kwapis is directing the film, which is based on a best-selling book about modern-day relationships. The book's authors, Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, worked together on Sex and the City as a
consultant and writer, respectively (I wonder which episode???? he sneers sarcastically).

For “Into You”, Jennifer Connelly will play a woman trapped in a tired marriage with Cooper's character.
Kevin Connolly will play a man pining after a woman (still not cast) who is having an affair with Cooper, while Goodwin will portray a woman, obsessed with Kevin Connolly's character, who tries to set up accidental meetings with him.
Long will play a friend of Connolly's character who takes on Goodwin as a My Fair Lady experiment. Finally, Barrymore plays a woman confused by dating in a culture obsessed with technology rather than actual human contact.

Deep breath…Inhale!!
Wow that is a lot to take in.
I have looked up the book and it looks, well…eh…chick lit light.
Not only do I pine for the day when Drew will dazzle me, but I wish Eyebrows would begin acting again.
Ever since “Requiem for a Dream” she seems to be walking around in a cinematic daze. Sure she is not hopeless, but she is also not deserving of the ‘Academy Award Winner’ title either. What with lack luster and CGI performances in her resume the woman needs to find a role she is not comfortable with, and perhaps she will rise to the occasion.
I cannot see her in a rom com. I imagine it to be a case of woeful mis-casting. So perhaps she will be a revelation.
God knows she needs to do something to her career. I can imagine her getting Kidman’s sloppy second scripts. “Ok…we can’t get you Nicole, but how about we throw in Jennifer Connelly and a Porsche?”
She needs to do something to erase the memory of that Oscar night when she stood on the podium, mumbled a speech off a bit of paper and had the nerve to wear what I can only describe as a band aid (plaster for you Brits) with raccoon-esque eye make up.

Don’t let “Labyrinth” and “Requiem” be your career highlights!!