Challenging Kiki

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling, Udo Kier and not one Skarsgaard, but two, in the shape of Stellan and Alexander and now Kiki Dunst has signed on for Lars Von Trier's 'Melancholia' which is his venture into science fiction. It is a disaster film about the death of the planet and with his tag line of "no more happy endings" you can expect therapy afterwards.

This is a very very brave choice for Dunst. I am not saying she does not have the chops, but Von Trier is notorious for being a bit of a whip master with his actresses. On the upside he does constantly get amazing performances out of them (Emily Watson, Bjork, Nicole Kidman, Charlotte Gainsbourg - who obviously did not get enough abuse the first time round).

With Dunst and Gainsbourg the additions of Rampling (yay!) Sutherland is a surprise, but a good one as well. And any film that has Alexander Skarsgaard (who got me all wet in 'Generation Kill) is a must see in my book.

This is good for Kiki though as it shows she is looking for a challenge and is about the art of acting and not her name in lights. I love it when actors challenge themselves.
As one work college said with a chuckle upon hearing this new: "He is going to break her".

Remembering Pocahontas

It was 2005 and one of the most beautiful things to grace the screen came in the form of Q'orianka Kilcher. We have hardly seen her in films since, and the machine loves a great beauty. Strange.

Marvel considers Joss

Joss Whedon is being talked about for the job of ‘The Avengers’ director for a while now, but it appears that Marvel was taking its time to think over its options before finally settling on the final choice.

Since he has written for Marvel (he penned some amazing issues of the Brian K Vaughn-created Runaways series, as well as working on an Astonishing X-Men run) he should be a good fit. Perhaps they are concerned that as a director he is not the most ‘bankable’ and has mainly worked in TV. To that I say – “f*ck you” as his TV work is so much better than most of the drivel that gets released into cinemas.
Whatever people may think, he has the right sort of character focus to hold interest when we are not gawking at the spectacle. That is something that is needed in the summer blockbuster. If the character work is not there, then repeat viewings tend to grate, or never happen.


It will also be interesting to see if he can get the line up of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) or if turns out to include The Hulk, and whether Edward Norton is asked to sign on - or even agrees to do it.

The Avengers will see a line-up that includes Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) teaming up to fight a big threat. Whether that turns out to be The Hulk, and whether Edward Norton is asked to sign on or even agrees, is another matter.

Viola looks for 'Help'

Well it seems that I was right all along. The lovely, talented and Oscarless Viola Davis is in talk to star in ‘The Help’ which I have blogged about before.

Now this is fantastic news (although the character Abeline is slightly older and wider) for the film as it lends some credibility.
My main worry is still the same. If they push the (white) character of Skeeter as the lead and the 2 other leads (Abeline and Minny) as supporting.

The book is written in various chapters, each chapter is following either Minny, Abeline or Skeeter, and sometimes they over lap.
The Skeeter story is probably the least interesting in terms of emotional depth, but it is still a very cinematic one. In fact the book could easily be made into 3 films, one for each character (but that will never happen).

Here is hoping that Viola gets signed. She has the gravitas that can totally pull this all together. It is the most heart breaking role, and one that she will nail even if they shove her into supporting.

In the mean time I will just have to get my Viola fix watching 'United States of Tara' where (so far) she is slightly wasted as a debt dodging hippy - however I think it is all a smoke screen for later depth.

Cannes Line Up

And so it begins! Bolded those to look out for!

Opening film:
Ridley Scott – ROBIN HOOD (Out of Competition)

In Competition
Mathieu Amalric – TOURNÉE
Xavier Beauvois – DES HOMMES ET DES DIEUX
Rachid Bouchareb – HORS LA LOI
Alejandro González Iñárritu – BIUTIFUL
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun – UN HOMME QUI CRIE (A Screaming Man)
IM Sangsoo – HOUSEMAID
Abbas Kiarostami – COPIE CONFORME
Takeshi Kitano – OUTRAGE
Lee Chang-dong – POETRY
Mike Leigh – ANOTHER YEAR
Doug Liman – FAIR GAME
Sergei Loznitsa – YOU. MY JOY
Daniele Luchetti – LA NOSTRA VITA
Nikita Mikhalkov – UTOMLYONNYE SOLNTSEM 2
Bertrand Tavernier – LA PRINCESSE DE MONTPENSIER
Apichatpong Weerasethakul – LOONG BOONMEE RALEUK CHAAT
Derek Cianfrance – BLUE VALENTINE
Manoel De Oliveira – O ESTRANHO CASO DE ANGÉLICA (Angelica)
Xavier Dolan – LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES (Heartbeats)
Ivan Fund, Santiago Loza – LOS LABIOS
Fabrice Gobert – SIMON WERNER A DISPARU… (1st film)
Jean-Luc Godard – FILM SOCIALISME
Christoph Hochhäusler – UNTER DIR DIE STADT (The City Below)
Lodge Kerrigan – REBECCA H. (RETURN TO THE DOGS)
Ágnes Kocsis – PÁL ADRIENN (Adrienn Pál)
Vikramaditya Motwane – UDAAN (1st film)
Radu Muntean – MARTI, DUPA CRACIUN (Tuesday, After Christmas)
Hideo Nakata – CHATROOM
Cristi Puiu – AURORA (Aurora)
Hong Sangsoo – HA HA HA
Oliver Schmitz – LIFE ABOVE ALL
Daniel Vega – OCTUBRE (1st film)
David Verbeek – R U THERE
Xiaoshuai Wang – RIZHAO CHONGQING (Chongqing Blues)

Out of Competition:
Woody Allen – YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER
Stephen Frears – TAMARA DREWE
Oliver Stone – WALL STREET - MONEY NEVER SLEEPS

Midnight Screenings:
Gregg Araki – KABOOM
Gilles Marchand – L'AUTRE MONDE (Blackhole)

Special Screenings:
Charles Ferguson – INSIDE JOB
Sophie Fiennes – OVER YOUR CITIES GRASS WILL GROW
Patricio Guzman – NOSTALGIA DE LA LUZ (Nostalgia For The Light)
Sabina Guzzanti – DRAQUILA – L'ITALIA CHE TREMA
Otar Iosseliani – CHANTRAPAS
Diego Luna – ABEL (1st film)

Jackie O

So Darren Aronosfky is a friggin interesting director.
I have either loved ot greatly admired every one of his films, and they each fall into very different genres.
The fact his is taking on the story of Jackie O is kind of all sorts of exciting.

It will follow the days after the assassination of Kennedy in 1963 where she had to deal with not only the horrific circumstances of her husbands death, but al the immense public attention directed her way.

What is rather exciting is the casting. It seems he has cast his wife, Rachel Weisz in the role, and all I can say it is a wonderful fit.
Sure some people may be upset that an English actress is taking an American role, but how many Americans play foreign roles, taking chances from lesser known actors – and most of the time they do not even bother with an accent!

This sounds like it will be a very very intense and emotional piece. I for one cannot wait.

Muppets camera test.

So bizarre and wonderful:

Work it Goldy

So my dear friend had to walk the red carpet in Leicester Square for the premier of her movie 'It's a Wonderful Afterlife'. I was there cheering her on.

There is something magical about watching a red carpet event, especially in this case where you are watching someone you know, who has worked hard her whole career and then finally gets this moment in the spotlight.

Next up she has a small role in 'Sex and the City 2' and after that, who knows what excitement awaits. As for right now I am so proud to walk around London and see her (sadly rather photoshopped) face looking back at me from the posters which are placed all around the city.

I would like to take credit for her dress (I did say months ago that anything in the turquoise, purple and emerald families would look amazing on her) but it was all her and she rocked it.

You looked beautiful honey - this is your moment - enjoy it all up!

'Butter'

In Bermuda we had the Agricultural Exhibition – or Ag Show as we called it – I was always excited to go into the special refrigerated rooms to look at the butter sculptures.
They were so impressive and delicious – Julia Childs would have been in heaven.

I was kind of excited to see that there is a film all about butter sculptures being made. Jim Field Smith is directing and the story revolves around Jennifer Garner as an ambitious butter-carving who tries to take over the mantle from her retiring champion husband ('Modern Family's' try-hard Dad - Ty Burrell).
But there’s the small matter of the young girl (Yara Shahidi) who is proving to be a major player in the world of dairy art, spurred on by her foster mother (Alicia Silverstone). Also in the cast are Olivia Wilde and Ashley Green. Now it seems that the one and only Hugh Jackman has signed on playing the boyfriend.
As if the cast was not intriguing enough.
I actually sometimes play pretend that Hugh Jackman is my boyfriend and we live in a huge house and BBQ every night. My real boyfriend/hubby-to-be does not really like this.

Toni 'Foster'

Oh praise be. As much as I love the Goddess Collette in ‘The United States of Tara’ she does belong on the big screen where we can all bask in the subtlety of her emotional range.

Well now she is joining writer/director Jonathan Newman in the indie drama ‘Foster’ which is about a couple who are still struggling to deal with the death of their son who passed years earlier.

Now Collette can do anything, but she is a master with grief. Any one who has seen ‘The Sixth Sense’ or ‘Japanese Story’ will know. She of course will play the mother, opposite Ioan Gruffudd (yum).

Also joining the castare Richard E. Grant, the amazing Anne Reid and (be still my heart) my childhood crush Hayley Mills.

The film starts shooting in London this week. Time for me to start stalking the neighbourhood they are filming in so I can find my Goddess.

'Sex and the City' trailer 2

Ok, ok, ok. I am excited about this.
I really am
I know I should not be, the whole Carrie/Aiden/Big thing is all played out. But I am excited because these women mean a lot to me and they all look so amazing whilst ageing. Also my friend Goldy has a small role, so doubly excited about that.

'The Kids Are Alright' trailer and poster

Now this is more like it.

So far I am loving this film. Annette Bening appears to be getting better and better each year, and hopefully 2010 will see her with two Oscar calibre performances and finally a win.
Here is hoping this movie can also see a possible win for Julianne Moore, and first nomination for Mark Ruffalo and the continued rise of Mia Wasikowska (who looks to be having a stellar year of mixed genres).

Watch the trailer here

Another 'Chanel' movie

Wow, this looks so ......... ..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz * snort * zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz * fart * zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Even in the poster she looks a little bored.
It will be all about the costumes and set decoration. When there are two movies being made about the same subject, you never want to be the second one coming out.

'I Am Love'

And I am in love with this poster. So far my absolute favourite of the year.


The film has been getting all sorts of really good reviews over here in the UK, so much so that even people at work are talking about it. So I guess I need to get over to a cinema to see it and pronto.

Plus it stars Tilda Swinton who, although is an Oscar winner, should really have been a Best Actress nominee at least 3 times ('Orlando', 'The Deep End', 'Julia'). Perhaps this film can do it?

In the mean time here is the stunning trailer:

More Characters for the Toy Box!

I have to say these 'Toy Story 3' characters are getting me a little excited for the film.

Knowing Pixar there are going to be some rather funny character quirks that go along with these new fellas.
My main concern is there may be too many.

There are 14 new characters in addition to the 16 plus characters from before. We have "Peas-in-a-Pod”, “Twitch”, “Stretch”, “Sparks”, “Mr. Pricklepants”, "Ken”, "Chunk”, "Chatter Telephone”, “Dolly”, “Buttercup”, “Lot’s-O-Huggin Bear”, and “Trixie the Triceratops.” Today the last two additions have been revealed and their names are “Bookworm” and “Big Baby.”

How will they make them all unique and not seem too "afterthought for easy laughs sake"? Will they be developed enough to add to the story line or will they just concentrate on the core characters like Buzz, Woody, Mr. Potato Head, Jessie, Slinky Dog, Rex and Hamm?



Then again this is Pixar and they hardly ever steer you wrong - except their decision to do 'Cars 2'.
True I have never seen the first one, but it so does not appeal to me at all - I was never one of those little boys who were excited about vroom vrooms.

Sadly it looks like their 2011 outing 'Newt' may not come to pass.
That is sad. I was rather looking forward to seeing this story about the two last species of newts forced together for a scientific breeding experiment.
Now, with the possibility of 'Monsters Inc. 2' as filler, we may have three consecutive years of sequels - let's hope not.

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Comeback Special

So Winona Ryder is joining a Ron Howard comedy (apparently beating out Uma Thurman and Kate Beckinsale for the role) called 'Your Cheating Heart' (or 'Cheaters') in which she plays wife to Kevin James. Vince Vaughn plays the best friend to James who discovers that Ryder is cheating on her husband.
With this news, and Ryder just wrapped filming on Darren Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' people are shouting the words "COME BACK" all over the place. Talk about pressure.

Imagine if both films flop, the spin will be it was her fault. Build 'em up, knock 'em down - an all too familiar and disgusting human characteristic.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE casting news. I like to project awards potential, imagine my enthusiastic reaction to the film when I see it, picture the rave reviews and finally day dream about the name - fresh from the envelope - being read out.

I do all this in my head, but try not to get carried away on here too often (I know, I know I was a 'Precious' Nazi last year before I saw it - but in defence it did combine so many great loves of mine).
Well I sometimes get carried away, but not often by news like "Pretty white lady gets lead role in film". I start getting excited once a rave review comes out - or trailer.

Back to Ryder though. This latest casting tid bit is kind of cool though. I much prefer dark modern day Ryder over period piece Ryder.
Here is hoping she does good, but for me, I prefer a comeback when the downfall is not self inflicted.
There are far too many great women not getting chances out there. Expand the pool Hollywood.

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