ColinFarrell Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Michael Mann's latest crime opus has already hit theaters, and like most of his devoted fans, I was there opening day. Granted, my desire to be first in line for Public Enemies mainly had to do with my preoccupation with pretty boys in nice suits, but trust me, there were some loftier ideals at work. One of the reasons I love Mann's films is that he finds new ways to tell relatively traditional stories...which brings me to Miami Vice. Vice definitely wasn't one of Mann's most popular films, but I always defend this flick, and here's why: growing up, I watched Miami Vice, and I might have loved it, but even at the tender age of 10 I knew it was kind of silly. I had always wondered what the series would have looked like if the show had a little less cheap humor about Crockett and his alligator and a little more 'dignity' -- fast forward to 2006, and that's exactly what Mann did.

Gone were the over the top white suits and wise cracks (I mean, thank god I didn't have to watch Colin Farrell yucking it up with 'Elvis'), and instead, Mann replaced them with a darker, meaner, and (dare I say it?) more realistic Miami Vice. But just because Mann brought Vice into the present, didn't mean that those traditional touches were gone, and the teaser was proof. That first trailer had it all -- the music perfectly timed with every shotgun pump, speedboats, helicopters, guns and hot girls...and you can't get more Miami Vice than that.

After the jump; the teaser and a reminder of Vice on the small screen..

Terry Gilliam's latest fantastical adventure, titled The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, screened at the Cannes Film Festival a little while ago, and the first reviews are out. The film, which is obviously drawing more press because it features Heath Ledger's final performance, is, like most of Gilliam's films, a little on the weird side (read the full synopsis after the jump). When Ledger passed away without finishing his work on the movie, it appeared as if the Gilliam curse had struck again -- leaving him little choice but to either scrap the entire film or hire a new lead actor and re-shoot all his scenes. Thankfully Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law came to the rescue, and they somehow found a way to have these three gents finish Ledger's remaining scenes by playing alternate-dimension versions of the same character. So what's the final outcome?

"... the film's convoluted curlicues are tiring, insisting too loudly on how "imaginative" everything is. And when it descends into the real world – Lucy out of the sky without diamonds, as it were – the film can frankly be a bit ho-hum, with some very broad acting from the bit-part crowd players. Gilliam's previous movie Tideland showed he still has teeth, and he bares them occasionally here. The dark side reveals itself, time and again, in the ruined, unsentimental locations in London. But this movie, though perfectly amiable, could be for fans only." -- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

"Synthesizing elements from several of his previous pictures, including "Time Bandits," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and "The Fisher King," the often overreaching director addresses a mad hatter of a story with the expected visual panache and what is, for him, considerable discipline. With Ledger onscreen more than might have been expected, the film possesses strong curiosity value bolstered by generally lively action and excellent visual effects, making for good commercial prospects in most markets." Todd McCarthy, Variety

More quotes, a scene featuring Ledger and the synopsis after the jump ...

As we wait for an American studio to break down, and cough up the money to buy and distribute Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, some new stills have leaked out that give a hint as to why it's being labeled "too arthouse." (Not that we agree with such things here at Cinematical, obviously. There's no such thing as too arthouse in our books.)

The photos are watermarked Quick Stop Entertainment but I snagged them from the obliging CHUD, who snagged them from a Johnny Depp blog, and no one seems to know quite where they originated. (How appropriate.) The Depp blog also managed to produce a photo that includes Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, and a not-as-scary Christopher Plummer. I would almost suspect it of being fan made except that the costumes Depp & Co are sporting look right for the film.

So, as you await news of a buyer and a release date, gaze at the gallery below and wonder if you should travel to Europe where it's promised a release date. You have to hand it to Hollywood though -- you'd think every studio would be chomping at the bit to get Heath Ledger's last performance, but clearly decency (and squeamishness at the idea of "arthouse cinema") still has some sway in Tinseltown.

If you were getting sick of seeing Keira Knightley reveling in the world of period pieces, here's a feature for you: Variety reports that both she and Colin Farrell have signed on to star in London Boulevard -- the directorial debut of Departed screenwriter William Monahan.

Based on the novel by Ken Bruen (that Monahan nabbed almost a year ago), the film will focus on a criminal in South London (Farrell), who has just finished doing time in prison for assault. He gets a gig as a loan shark enforcer for a while until he finally finds a new, legitimate job -- handyman for a reclusive young actress (Knightley). This doesn't sound like the sort of gig an ex-criminal would get, but as per usual, it all comes down to the hormones. As Booklist describes it, she's "eager to reward him with cash, cars, and sex."

But don't expect some sort of sexy Basic Instinct movie. He might get the job, but there's also much more London underbelly and revenge drama to add into the mix. Still, it'll be a bit of a change for Knightley, who usually gets to play the paramour, but never the modern-day rich woman looking for a boytoy. We know Farrell can do "bad boy" pretty well, but what about Knightley?

The latest theme to hit the Hollywood water supply and spread -- WWII Russia. Just as Defiance (the story of three Jewish brothers who escape Poland and join Russian resistance fighters) gears up to hit screens, the cast for another is just about set. Variety reports that Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, and Saoirse Ronan are in final negotiations to star in Peter Weir's The Way Back, which Eugene wrote about back in October.

The film will focus on a group of soldiers who engineered a grueling escape from a Siberian gulag in 1942 -- walking thousands of kilometers through the Gobi desert and over the Himalayas to India and freedom. Like many stories these days, Slavomir Rawicz's tale has been challenged, but it's an interesting story, and true or not, it should make for a compelling film -- especially under Weir. Should the negotiations work out -- Farrell will be a tough and tattooed Russian, Harris will play an American, Sturgess will play a Polish inmate, and Ronan will be a Russian on the run who joins the fugitives.

I'm intrigued, and will definitely check this out, but could we please have more true, or at least confirmed accounts? Many stories coming out of WWII are compelling without added embellishments like food throwing over fences and hikes across the desert. I grew up hearing my grandfather's accounts of working for the resistance and escaping camps, plus reading accounts of fighters like the Kosciuszko Squadron -- there's plenty of cinematic war fare out there. Oh well, at least it's not more Iraq war cinema!

Earlier today I noticed on three different sites (including this one) that Nicolas Cage's name was spelled wrong, with the writer opting for Nicholas over Nicolas. Simple mistake, yes, but I began to think about all the different celebrities and films with names and titles we just can't seem to spell right no matter how hard we try. As far as film titles go, the most confusing one of 2008 and 2009 has to be Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds -- a title that comes with at least one "Hey, are you sure they spell it that way?" instant message or email each and every time I write about it.

I introduced this question via Twitter (feel free to follow me and find out how lame I really am) a little while ago, and the most popular misspellings for celebrities were Shia LaBeouf, Steve Carell, Will Ferrell and Colin Farrell. Folks usually have the most trouble with names that could have a double 'L', and long hard-to-pronounce last names are also a pain in the neck to figure out (ie: Timur Bekmambetov). Which film title or celebrity name do you find yourself misspelling on a regular basis?

(Gavin O'Connor's "Pride and Glory" opens in wide release this weekend, so here's a reprint of our TIFF review from early September.)



By Eugene Novikov

There's a familiarity to Pride and Glory that, depending on your perspective, could be either horrendously tiresome or part of the charm. By all accounts it's a middling film, an overwrought and occasionally laughable corrupt cop drama that you've seen countless times. But for me, going back to this world of divided loyalties, broken oaths, outraged good guys, and "we protect our own" machismo was like settling into a comfortable recliner. An extremely comfortable one, actually: Pride and Glory is moody, attractive and well-acted. I think director Gavin O'Connor intended it to be grim and upsetting, but at best it's pulpy entertainment, a highly watchable series of well-worn, well-executed clichés.

The closest recent analogue to Pride and Glory is probably James Gray's far superior We Own the Night. There, too, father and son cops wrestle with their commitments to each other, their families, themselves, and the often abstract notion of being policemen. In O'Connor's film, these themes play out along thoroughly conventional lines. Edward Norton and Noah Emmerich play brothers; Emmerich's Francis is a respected commanding officer, while Norton's Ray, despite his talent and promise, has relegated himself to Missing Persons after an initially-unspecified Traumatic Incident some years back. Their Dad, Francis Sr. (Jon Voight), is an experienced careerist who has worked his way up through the ranks. When a failed drug bust results in the shooting death of four officers, Ray brings himself out of self-imposed semi-retirement to investigate – but his sleuthing leads him to a corrupt cabal that may include his brother and longtime family friend Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell).

Though the film is not quite finished yet, a post-production teaser/behind the scenes video for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus has arrived online via QuickStopEntertainment. Watch as Gilliam introduces his fantastical new world -- showing artwork, set design and brief glimpses of actual scenes -- all while briefly explaining the film's bizarre storyline ("it feels like some of the films I made when I was younger," he notes).

Gilliam says, "The film begins in modern London. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is a thousand years old. Parnassus as the power to expand your mind beyond anything you've ever dreamed of. For centuries he's been traveling the planet with his traveling theater, The Imaginarium. Parnassus is a prophet; he has a secret he made once long ago with the devil -- and that secret will possibly destroy all their lives or possibly save them. It depends on who they meet ... and who they meet is a man named Tony (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law), hanging from a bridge in London. They save his life. Is he there to save them? Or is he working for the devil? These are the things we unravel as the story unfolds."

Yup. Makes about as much sense as most of Gilliam's work, but the visuals he reveals in the video look amazing and beautiful and definitely pique my interest. Not to mention the Tim Burton-esque score quietly playing underneath it all. Check it out above, and thanks to Matt for sending it our way. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is due in theaters next year.

It's the end of the world as we know it ... and I have a good feeling about Chris Pine.

Terminator Salvation: Will the Governator show up in the new Terminator film? While Arnold won't be officially reprising his role in the flesh, word has it the legendary action star turned Governor of California was on set providing voice work so that those Hollywood effects wizards could take his old face and put it on someone else's bulked-up body ... and still have the Arnold we all know and love. Latino Review is currently hosting a photo that shows Arnold talking to Christian Bale behind the scenes. Is it a real photo? A photoshop job? We can't tell, but I wouldn't put it past McG to have more than a few surprises up his sleeves. Terminator: Salvation hits theaters on May 22.

Star Trek: While we won't be getting a brand new re-booted Star Trek movie for Christmas (thanks for nothing Santa!), the new look Trek will eventually touch down next May. However, one filmmaker has seen the almost-finished product and he's spilling only one or two of the beans. Speaking to MTV, Kevin Smith said "It's really strong. [J.J. Abrams] was rejiggering the opening few scenes. It's one of those things where you first heard about it and were like no they're not going to redo 'Star Trek'! And then you see the movie and you think, wow he did pull it off! He turned it into a viable renewed franchise." According to Smith, Chris Pine steals the show as the young Captain Kirk and Zoe Saldana is "really great" as Uhuru too.

After the jump: Paging Dr. Watson, a cocky Irish chain-smoker is waiting to see you in the lobby ...

There's a familiarity to Pride and Glory that, depending on your perspective, could be either horrendously tiresome or part of the charm. By all accounts it's a middling film, an overwrought and occasionally laughable corrupt cop drama that you've seen countless times. But for me, going back to this world of divided loyalties, broken oaths, outraged good guys, and "we protect our own" machismo was like settling into a comfortable recliner. An extremely comfortable one, actually: Pride and Glory is moody, attractive and well-acted. I think director Gavin O'Connor intended it to be grim and upsetting, but at best it's pulpy entertainment, a highly watchable series of well-worn, well-executed clichés.

The closest recent analogue to Pride and Glory is probably James Gray's far superior We Own the Night. There, too, father and son cops wrestle with their commitments to each other, their families, themselves, and the often abstract notion of being policemen. In O'Connor's film, these themes play out along thoroughly conventional lines. Edward Norton and Noah Emmerich play brothers; Emmerich's Francis is a respected commanding officer, while Norton's Ray, despite his talent and promise, has relegated himself to Missing Persons after an initially-unspecified Traumatic Incident some years back. Their Dad, Francis Sr. (Jon Voight), is an experienced careerist who has worked his way up through the ranks. When a failed drug bust results in the shooting death of four officers, Ray brings himself out of self-imposed semi-retirement to investigate – but his sleuthing leads him to a corrupt cabal that may include his brother and longtime family friend Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell).