NoCountryForOldMen-related stories
I Reckon Westerns Are Coming Back ...
Filed under: Fandom », Newsstand », Quentin Tarantino », Western »
Of course I'm leaving a few of them out (apologies to the Texas Rangers fans out there), and it's also worth noting that not all of them were successful or popular. Some of them were downright disastrous. But they were made when Unforgiven supposedly shot them down, and they were clearly popular or interesting enough to warrant a few more remakes and revivals. The Lone Ranger is set to call on Silver, the Coen Bros are re-hiring Rooster Cogburn, and Gerard Butler will reportedly try to duck the noose in The Hanging Tale. On the graphic novel end, you'll have Jonah Hex wrecking bloody havoc, and Preacher may finally go to Texas. Today, Variety is reporting that Roy Rogers may rise from the dead for a new film trilogy. It won't be a biopic, nor a traditional Western, but be some kind of "family-fantasy adventure" that will use the characters of Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, capitalizing (their words, not mine) on their iconic status, and introducing them to a new generation.
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 4/7
Filed under: Action », Animation », Classics », Comedy », Drama », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », New on DVD », Family Films », Home Entertainment », Remakes and Sequels »
Doubt
Philip Seymour Hoffman is thrilling to watch as a priest accused of abuse by god-like nun Meryl Streep. Streep's highly-studied Bronx accent cracks me up, but this is a crackerjack stage play by John Patrick Shanley that he adopted for the screen and directed. Viola Davis makes a deep impression, and Amy Adams is a cute nun. Buy it.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Jeffrey M. Anderson's review.
The Tale of Despereaux
Quoting myself: "A slapdash character study of two rodents ... a gentle and nurturing children's story, imparting lessons without being too condescending to its audience." This could become a family perennial. With the voices of Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, and Emma Watson. Buy it.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read my review.
The Day the Earth Stood Still
You've already seen the best bits in the trailer. Seriously. Even allowing for Keanu Reeves' intentionally blank slate and the prototypical "annoying kid," and crushing on Jennifer Connelly, this was a deadly bore that didn't come close to the far superior original. Skip it.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read William Goss' review.
Yes Man
Jim Carrey stars in what our man Will Goss described as "a minor lark in the Canadian comedian's career ... familiar and funny in about equal measure." Still, Carrey familiarity + Zooey Deschanel makes me want to check it out. Rent it.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read William Goss' review.
Adam Sandler has always seemed child-like, but Jette Kernion said: "Watching Bedtime Stories is about as delightful as peeking into your Christmas stocking and finding it empty except for a few lint-covered peppermints." (Note: Released this past Sunday.) Skip it.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Jette Kernion's review.
Fan Made: When Peeps Play Hollywood
Filed under: Fandom », Images », Fan Made »
Most fan-made projects can't hold a torch to the impressive world of Easter Peeps and dioramas. There's something about those marshmallow chicks and bunnies that were just made for the world of Hollywood. For the second year in a row, The Washington Post has held their Peeps contest, and once again, the world of film is heavily, wonderfully, and comically represented. The people that send in these recreated scenes -- they've got some serious talent ... and time on their hands.
Would Ghostbusters have been as eerie if the gigantic Stay Puft monster was actually an enormous Peep with no mouth? And I think the Coens were missing out when they made No Country for Old Men with humans instead of Peeps. There's just something about marshmallow and bloody gore that goes together. But these are only the tip of the iceberg -- other movies that got the Peeps treatment this year: The Wizard of Oz, Full Metal Jacket, Mars Attacks, The Birds, A Christmas Story, Amadeus, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Casablanca.
After a few years of these killer recreations, I'm thinking that Hollywood should dump those competing Easter bunny projects and direct their attention to the Peeps. Check out some of our favorite movie-related Peep creations in the gallery below, then view the rest over at The Washington Post.
Watch This: Coen Bros. Direct 'Clean Coal Air Freshener'
Filed under: Politics », Trailers and Clips »
Last year about this time, Joel and Ethan Coen were basking in the glow of winning multiple Academy Awards for No Country for Old Men. This year, they're hard at work finishing their black comedy follow-up, A Serious Man, which is due out this fall.
While they're in that black comedy mood, the Coen Brothers took time out to direct a 30-second TV ad in support of the Reality Coalition. You can watch the video, which is embedded below, thanks to the folks at Funny or Die. The Reality Coalition wants to "expose the coal industry's misleading marketing campaign for so-called 'clean coal,'" according to a prepared statement.
The Coens have always laced their work with sly, subversive messages, but the video is the first time they've been so straightforward in making a contribution to a, gulp, somewhat political campaign. (Don't worry, the ad itself won't knock you over the head with its message.) The press release says they "were excited to be part of this important project."
I love the line, "Clean Coal Clean harnesses the awesome power of the word 'clean' to make it sound like the cleanest there is." Beyond the concept and the ad copy, what makes the spot work is the deadpan comic timing of the Coen Brothers; the 'suburban family trying a new product' is a tried-and-true advertising gambit, but they give it a good, choking spin. Check it out:
What's a Best Picture Nomination Worth?
Filed under: Awards », New Releases », Box Office », Oscar Watch »
You hear a lot of talk by pointy-headed box office types about the coveted "Oscar bump" -- the extra bit of staying power provided by a slew of Oscar nominations. The theory is simple: people want to see good movies, and take Oscar recognition -- Best Picture in particular -- as a surefire signal that a movie is worth seeing. (Not everyone is as cynical as the rest of us.) Going on this assumption, theaters keep nominated films playing longer (or even bring them back), people are inspired to go see them, and everybody wins. But what impact does a Best Picture nomination actually have on a movie's bottom line? In an article they ran a couple days ago, Slate thinks it has the answer: $6,663,508.The way they came up with that number is mildly eyebrow-raising. They looked at box office numbers for the four weeks before and after the Oscar nominations were announced each year, tracking both the Best Picture-nominated films and other "movies that mattered" -- movies they deemed to be "in the running," or otherwise significant. The nominees made, on average, just over $1 million more in the four weeks after the announcement than before, and the other films made, on average, just over $5 million less. Combining those numbers gave Slate their magic figure.
More Like 'No Money for Old Men': Tommy Lee Jones Sues Paramount
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Deals », Mystery & Suspense », Paramount », RumorMonger », Celebrities and Controversy », Miramax », Paramount Vantage »
In last year's Best Picture winner, No Country for Old Men, Tommy Lee Jones played a weary sheriff chasing after a man who was chasing after some money. Well, according to the San Antonio Express-News, Jones is now himself a weary man chasing after some money, specifically from the pockets of Paramount.
It appears that a contract signed by Jones between Paramount and its subsidiary, N.M. Classics, Inc. contained two "mistakes" that may have prevented him from garnering up to, and perhaps upwards of, $10 million in the wake of the film's success. What's worse is that he was still deducted for any number of expenses, despite alleged awareness of the errors on the part of Paramount. As such, Jones wants an auditor to go through their books and figure out just how much he is owed.
Naturally, neither side of the case has made much in terms of formal comment. As his character might say, if this ain't a mess, it'll do 'til the mess gets here.
[Thanks to Movie City News for the tip.]
Coen Bros Cast 'A Serious Man'
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », Casting », Focus Features », Oscar Watch », Cinematical Indie »
How do you follow-up a broad comedy starring the biggest names in Hollywood, George Clooney and Brad Pitt? If you're the Coen brothers, you apparently hit the car in reverse and make your next effort a darker story and cast relative unknowns. Variety reports that the newly minted Oscar winning directors Joel and Ethan Coen have cast Tony-nominated stage actor Michael Stuhlbarg (The Pillowman) and TV's Richard Kind (Mad About You; Spin City) for the two lead roles in A Serious Man, their next film after this fall's Burn After Reading. The actors will play brothers in the 1967-set black comedy, which returns the Coens to Fargo territory by placing the story in their home turf of Minneapolis. In fact, when we first learned of A Serious Man, more than a year ago (and almost a year before the Coens each won 3 Academy Awards, for writing, directing and producing No Country for Old Men), the script was described as being "in the vein of Fargo." Now we get a little inkling more about the plot of Serious: Stuhlberg will play a professor named Larry Gopnik, whose wife is leaving him and whose "socially inept" brother (Kind) won't leave the house. Hopefully, to further repeat the analogy to their double-Oscar-winning 1996 film, the Coens can cast Frances McDormand as the wife, she can then win another Academy Award and Kind (pictured above) can, like William H. Macy before him, finally go from near-obscurity to well-known, well-respected supporting actor within the next decade.
EXCLUSIVE: 'Burn After Reading' Poster Premiere!
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Mystery & Suspense », Fandom », Brad Pitt », Images », Posters »
Cinematical is absolutely stoked to be premiering this exclusive poster for Burn After Reading (click to enlarge), written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen -- whose last film, No Country for Old Men, caused quite the stir last year online, in theaters and at the Academy Awards. Not sure if you heard of it ... something about a cowboy and a weird haircut? Yes? Maybe? Anyway, one thing the Coen boys are known for are their casts, and Burn After Reading is no exception; this flick boasts appearances from, well, read the poster. You've got Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton. Need I say more? Or less? (Will this post self-destruct in sixty seconds?)
What's being touted as a "dark, spy-comedy," Burn After Reading looks to return the brothers to the kind of humor that was found in films like Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski (two of my personal favs). The synopsis goes a little something like this: An ousted CIA official's (Academy Award nominee John Malkovich) memoir accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees intent on exploiting their find.
Burn After Reading will premiere at the 2008 Venice International Film Festival before arriving in theaters on September 12th.
Details from 'The Road' Revealed
Filed under: Drama », Fandom », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
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Just when it was looking like No Country for Old Men had a monopoly on successful interpretations of Cormac McCarthy's drearily minimalistic prose, production on an adaptation of The Road suggests the possibility of healthy competition. The movie, which recently finished shooting in Pennsylvania and hits theaters in November, remains a wild card until post-production wraps. Nevertheless, if this colorful report from the set in The New York Times offers any indication, The Road appears poised to capture McCarthy's original gloomy lyricism. Reporter Charles McGrath points out the difficulties the filmmakers endured when the weather got too nice and the grass looked too green. In other words, they're working really hard to keep things bleak. The story, about a father and son wandering through desolate landscapes after a cataclysmic event destroys civilization, demands that the dark aura remain intact. However, it wouldn't work without two strong leads, and McGrath implies that with Viggo Mortensen and eleven-year-old Kodi Smit-Mcphee (the next Haley Joel Osment?), that need has been fulfilled.
The best match for The Road, however, is its director, John Hillcoat, whose work on The Proposition proves he's the man for the job. That woefully undervalued western had the intensity of a Sam Peckinpah movie in overdrive, and The Road screams for the same raw, stripped-down approach. It's nice to hear that Hillcoat sees the movie as an antithesis to Mad Max, meaning he wants to eschew cartoony violence in order to create a scarily realistic depiction of post-apocalyptic duress. Bring it on.
[Photo above: Kodi Smit-Mcphee on the set of The Road, courtesy of the New York Times]
'The Dark Knight' Takes Best Trailer of the Year
Filed under: Action », Awards », Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels », Trailers and Clips »
After a long, hard-fought battle, the second official trailer for The Dark Knight took home top honors at this year's Golden Trailer Awards (with a margin of victory of 44%). The contest, held over at USA Today, tallied votes on films from several different categories -- all of which were chosen as this year's Golden Trailer winners earlier in the month. Among the top trailers users had a chance to vote on were Enchanted (Best Animation/Family), Tropic Thunder (Best Comedy), Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (Best Documentary), No Country for Old Men (Best Drama), I am Legend (Best Horror) and Iron Man (Summer 2008 Blockbuster), among others. While there are certainly other trailers I would've picked to win their respective category (Pineapple Express, for one), I think we can probably all agree that The Dark Knight trailer is definitely tops.
Check out the trailer one more time above, then head on over to USA Today to see what else was nominated (as well as the official site for The Golden Trailer Awards). In your opinion, does anything beat The Dark Knight?
Credits Report: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Discuss: From Big Screens to Boob Tubes
Harrison Ford Returning for 'Indiana Jones 5'?
A Trailer for Gyllenhaal and Maguire's 'Brothers'
Ron Weaseley Has Swine Flu
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