You might remember that there was another city getting an anthology treatment, but outside of the Paris and New York love. Back in March of 2007, I posted about Tokyo, an upcoming triptych about life in the Japanese city -- coming from one interesting collection of directors: Leos Carax, Michel Gondry, and The Host helmer Bong Joon-ho. Now it looks like the title has become an exclamation -- Tokyo! -- The Hollywood Reporter posts that Liberation Entertainment has picked up the North American rights to the feature, and we've finally got some segment details.

"Merde" -- Leos Carax's piece follows "a man who engages in provocative acts on the streets of Tokyo."

"Shaking Tokyo" -- The relationship piece from Bong Joon-ho, this segment focuses on a recluse who falls in love during an earthquake. I guess getting him out of his comfort zone helps matters along.

"Interior Design" -- And finally, there's Michel Gondry's piece, which is said to be "a fable that centers on a couple drifting apart." Knowing Gondry, it'll probably be much more than the story of a deteriorating relationship.

Added note: Julie Dreyfus, aka Sofie Fatale from Kill Bill, has a role in one of the segments. No specific date for the film's release has been set, but Liberation Entertainment plans to get it out by the end of the year. I'll take that as a holiday treat. How about you?

Darned language barriers! You might remember that Erik Davis posted about one of writer/director Michel Gondry's next films, The Return of the Ice Kings, back in January, courtesy of MTV. Well, it seems that there was a bit of a language barrier, because that's not quite what the title is. MTV talked with the director again, and he corrected the mistake. It is actually called: Return of the Ice Kids. Yes, Kids, not Kings.

The film is about some teens who invent a form of water that makes you hear music when you drink it. How "Return" fits in remains to be seen. However, Gondry did describe one of the film's scenes when clearing up the confusion. At one point, one of the teen characters talks about his most embarrassing moment: "He talks about one day when he was at an exam and he made some weird noise with his mouth that sounded like a fart, and everybody noticed -- so he kept making weird noises to cover up his nerves. But then it looked like he was covering up a fart." But it's not just fiction. Gondry says: "This happened to me when I went to high school."

Oh, but this is Gondry, so it's not all that straight-forward. There's kids talking about unimportant things, writing a book of peace, and even some "completely utopian scenes." And yet somehow this will all fit together. Considering the subject matter, I'm with Erik on the thought that this could be that project he's working on with his son. Stay tuned, but in the meantime, Be Kind Rewind.

(The following review ran during the Sundance Film Festival, but we're re-posting it now to coincide with the film's theatrical release.)

In Passaic, New Jersey, the thrift store and video rental emporium Be Kind Rewind offers customers their choice of films to rent, if by 'choice,' you mean 'VHS only.' But while owner Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) is away, his counterman and almost-son Mike (Mos Def) lets Jerry (Jack Black) into the store, against Mr. Fletcher's instructions not to. Jerry is normally a walking disaster -- a dreamer of a mechanic, obsessed with the belief that the power plant he lives near is flooding him with radiation. A failed attempt to sabotage the power plant leaves Jerry energized and magnetized to such a degree that his mere presence wipes all of Be Kind Rewind's inventory. When loyal customer Ms. Kimberly, tasked by Mr. Fletcher to check in on the store while he's away, comes in to rent Ghostbusters, Jerry and Mike's solution to the crisis is hardly logical, but certainly inspired: Produce and shoot a replacement version of the film within 24 hours so she'll be none the wiser about the store's ruined inventory.

But Ms. Kimberly shows the film to some of her foster children, who can recognize that Jerry is not quite Bill Murray, and that Mike is not quite Ivan Reitman, and that holding the right-hand side of Hieronymus Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights" up to the camera is not quite a special-effects shot of a demon-haunted landscape. The foster kids -- thugs and toughs to a man -- come around Be Kind Rewind the next day. But they're not mad; they're curious: "That was pretty good. What else you got?" And other customers are curious about the store's new selections -- which, it's explained, come from Sweden, which is why they cost $20 and you have to request them 24 hours in advance. ...

Written and directed by Michel Gondry, Be Kind Rewind is as much a work of creativity and passion as the re-shot, cut-in-camcorder, home-brew "Swedish Import" re-made Hollywood blockbusters that it revolves around. And, much like Jerry and Mike's re-shot versions of Driving Miss Daisy or Rush Hour or The Lion King, Be Kind Rewind is a film where the plot is less important than panache, where the lack of elegance is made up for by an excess of enthusiasm. Jerry and Mike aren't just shooting day for night; they're shooting day for night, male for female, white for black, Jerry for Jackie (Chan, that is). Aided and abetted by Alma (Melonie Diaz), an early recruit to their shooting requirements (they need a girl for Rush Hour), the store's new offerings rapidly become a sensation, as customers line up to request new films they want to see the 'Sweded' versions of and rent the rest of Jerry and Mike's oeuvre as soon as other customers bring them back. This not only makes Jerry and Mike celebrities (or, more correctly, sub-lebrities) in Passaic, but also may raise the money that Mr. Fletcher's store needs to come up to the building code and avoid being shut down. ...

I'm all for actors who try and break out of a preconceived idea about themselves, but sometimes I think there are those who take it all just a little too seriously. Enter Josh Hartnett. In an interview with VH1, Hartnett spoke up his next film Bunraku. The name comes from a traditional form of Japanese puppet theater, and Hartnett told VH1 that the film, "It's a story of revenge...My character is called 'The Drifter,' and he comes into this world that doesn't look like anything like you've ever seen before. It's in the vein of 'Sin City' or something like that, where the world doesn't look like reality at all." So I guess that is where the paper mâché puppets would come in. Luckily this is not a kids movie, and Hartnett told VH1, "[The script] has a lot of fight sequences in it, but it's more about these crazy characters...Like my character, he's a gypsy and he's coming into town and he's got something to prove - and no one really knows what he's about."

The film will also incorporate CGI and traditional puppetry to create an overall look for the universe. But so far even Hartnett isn't sure what to expect when he arrives in Romania to begin shooting, saying, "It's odd; it's out there. I've been trying to do as much artistic fare as I can and things that are compelling to watch as well." Hartnett also compared the film to the work of Michel Gondry and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. Hitchcock's film was famous for appearing to be shot in one long take. Unfortunately, it wasn't technically possible at the time and Hitchcock went for the next best thing. The master of suspense shot the film in 10 minute takes and seamlessly edited them together. But a lot has changed since 1948, so who knows how Bunraku might turn out. Hartnett mentioned that casting hasn't finished yet for Bunraku, and for some reason, he has yet to mention who might be directing this possible 'fruitcake' of a film. Until he does, stay tuned to Cinematical for any updates that might come our way.

A brand new trailer for Be Kind Rewind has arrived online, and I'm ashamed to say this may be one of my favorite trailers of all time. It has nothing to do with the actual movie, mind you, but I love it because Michel Gondry runs around like a loon. Yes, this is a "sweded" version of the actual trailer -- meaning Gondry messed up the film reel and had to re-create his own trailer using whatever props he had on him. Confused yet?

See, Be Kind Rewind stars Jack Black and Mos Def as two guys who run a video store and accidentally erase all the tapes. So, in order to save their business, the men need to re-create all of the classic movies using cheap props they collect themselves (this process is called "sweding"). So now imagine if the film's entire trailer was "sweded" by director Michel Gondry, and that's what you'll find above. Gondry plays all the roles, and he's an absolute riot (partly because we have no idea what he's saying half the time due to his pretty thick accent). When he sang the Ghostbusters theme to himself, I just about lost my sh*t. Gotta watch it now! Check out James' Sundance review of Be Kind Rewind and his interview with Gondry; Be Kind Rewind hits theaters on February 22.

Sometimes I wish I had a large, waiting-to-be-used stash of money that would allow me to go to every film festival that caught my fancy. The other option would be to convince a patron of each fest to wear a mini camera on their lapel, but that would be, well, illegal, so let's stick with the other fantasy. Like many of the big fests, Berlinale is looking to be all sorts of tasty. We've already had some previous screening announcements, and now Reuters has added even more eagerly-anticipated films to the fest list.

In the realm of Berlin's competitive films, Kristin Scott Thomas' I've Loved You So Long has been added to the roster. In the "out of competition" offerings at Berlinale, filmgoers can delight in a who's who of big names. There's Fireflies in the Garden, the Julia Roberts-starring film about a town devastated by an unexpected tragedy. (It's also a film that co-stars the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hayden Panettiere, and Ioan Gruffudd.) Or, if you want to dip back into history, there's Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman's The Other Boleyn Girl. And, what could be better to wrap up the festival than a movie for fans of film? Berlinale will perfectly close with Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind. (Check out James' Sundance review!)

The festival will run from February 7 to 17.

Writer-director Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind follows two small-town friends, Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) as disaster at a VHS-only video rental store forces them to try to replace the wiped tapes ... by re-shooting the films they once contained. When their ultra-low-budget, ultra-high-spirit remakes of films like Ghostbusters, King Kong and The Lion King become hits with customers (who are told the tapes are Swedish imports), Jerry and Mike's absurd yet logical attempt to save the store becomes an unexpected starting point for their own artistic journey -- and a celebration of movie making and movie watching. Gondry brings Jerry and Mike's collaborations to life with the mix of big-idea film making and intimate wonder he's demonstrated in all his work, including Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep and Dave Chappelle's Block Party. Be Kind Rewind will premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival; Gondry spoke with Cinematical about everything from the joy of creation, racism in film and popular culture, and how Sundance feels different from other film festivals: " (At Sundance) ... I felt encouraged to continue; in Cannes, I felt really like people were asking me to stop doing my job."

(The audio file of this interview, like all of Cinematical's podcast offerings, is now available through iTunes; if you'd like, you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below: )



Cinematical: I guess the first, and easiest question is where did the idea behind Be Kind Rewind come from for you?

Michel Gondry: It comes from a utopia I had -- do you say 'having a utopia?' -- a belief I have that people can create their own entertainment. I always wanted to create this community that would come and tell their own story, shoot it -- and watch them. The idea is to not have one entity who creates the work, the project, and another entity who consumes it; the idea is people create their own work, like somebody cultivating his garden.

Cinematical: And in the film, we see the characters go from imitation to actual creation; that was always part of the idea?

Michel Gondry: Yes; it's very important to me that they go through this journey; I don't want to advocate imitation; I want to encourage creation. In this case, they start with imitation because their goal is not being creative; they don't realize they're being creative until they become successful and they are forced to be creative. And actually Alma (Melonie Diaz), who's sort of the smarter, the smartest guy of the band -- she's a girl -- tells them that they are much more creative than what they think they are. And then they realize that they don't have to copy movies; they can create their own. And I think it's very important that people not just make their own entertainment, but that they create it, that they really invent the story.

Though he still has to debut his latest -- and perhaps most commercial -- effort, Be Kind Rewind, writer-director Michel Gondry is constantly looking ahead toward his future projects. The man behind two of my favorite films from the past few years, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, revealed to MTV a new project he's working on called The Return of the Ice Kings (which may or may not have something to do with that project he's working on with his son). Once again Gondry plans to return to the world of science for a story he describes as being "about kids who invent a water that makes you hear music when you drink it." He claims to be already scoping out talent to star in the flick, though he admits the script needs to be completed first. Gondry adds: "It's going to be a scientific story, but completely unrealistic." Not sure about that -- I have friends who hear all sorts of things when they drink.

When asked about his obsession with science, Gondry explained: "I'm into science - in fact, I read more about science and astronomy than about movies. Science is re-questioning itself all the time, and it's still at a stage where anything is possible." Additionally, he teased one scene from the film that still needs to be written: "At one point, they see the end of time in the movie. So, we'll have to shoot it somewhere that looks like the end of time." While Gondry often taps into his childhood for inspiration, this would mark the first time the writer-director works with children in a film -- so I can't be the only one excited to see where he goes with it. We'll be reviewing Be Kind Rewind this month as part of our Sundance coverage, and the film will officially hit theaters on February 22.

As a part of an ongoing series that brings indie filmmakers to you at Apple stores, our good friends over at indieWIRE are bringing you Michel Gondry, director of Be Kind, Rewind, which we'll be reviewing at Sundance. This time around, indie film fans in New York, San Francisco and Chicago will have an opportunity to hear Gondry talk about his latest film. Here's all the scoop:

Apple Store, San Francisco
Monday, January 7th - 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m
http://www.apple.com/retail/sanfrancisco

(This event will be moderated by SF360's Susan Gerhard.)


Apple Store, North Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Tuesday, January 8th - 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m
http://www.apple.com/retail/northmichiganavenue

(This event will be moderated by Time Out Chicago's Ben Kenigsberg.)


Apple Store, SoHo, New York City
Friday, January 11th, 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m
http://www.apple.com/retail/soho

(This event will be moderated by indieWIRE's Editor in Chief Eugene
Hernandez.)

Seating for all these events is first come, first served, so you might want to show up a tad early. If you're in any of those cities and go to the event, come back and let us know how it goes.

We're already well aware at how nutty some studios are getting with regards to marketing certain movies. Seeing the Empire State Building lit up yellow in honor of The Simpsons Movie DVD release was just one example of where movie marketing is heading in 2008. Some might feel all the viral websites, phone numbers and staged events are a little too much, while others welcome the additional moviegoing experience with open arms. Personally, I'm somewhere in between: The viral sites and videos are good time wasters so long as they don't ruin the film, but I'm not crazy about plastering an entire city with posters and images in order to promote a film people were already well aware of. That said, New Line is currently right in the middle of a fun promotion for Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, and according to an article in the LA Times, the marketing for that film is about to get a lot cooler.

Be Kind Rewind stars Jack Black and Mos Def as a couple of guys who attempt to re-create a bunch of classic movies after the VHS tapes at the video store they run are destroyed. This process of re-creating a piece of work using whatever crap one has stored around the house has been given the name "Sweding." While explaining "Sweding," Gondry says: "I wanted a name that meant nothing. I had in mind, like, the suede shoes -- a fake velvet. A sort of ultra-suede? But I always get the word wrong because I'm French." Fans already have a chance to "Swede" a whole bunch of stuff over on the film's official website, but New Line is taking it one step further by transforming a New York City art gallery into a "Sweding" studio for roughly a month, beginning January 24 -- one day before the film hits theaters. Here's how it's explained in the LA Times:

"Groups of people walk in and will have access to a workshop," Gondry explained. "There is a very simple protocol: You shoot in camera, edit while you shoot -- which means you stop the camera when you want to go to the next scene, you don't edit. Story lines last five to 10 minutes. And most of the exhibition will be a mini back lot with 15 little sets."

That sounds like all kinds of awesome. Additionally, while at the Sundance Film Festival (where Be Kind Rewind is set to have its premiere), Gondry will be on hand to perform music from the movie along with Mos Def and Jean-Michel Bernard (both of whom wrote the film's score). The LA Times also says that New Line will open up a "Sweding suite" on Main Street where folks can stop by and "participate in Sweding, such as inserting themselves into photos from the film."

[via Slashfilm]