OxidePangChung Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Jessica Alba's latest, The Eye, is about a blind woman who has an eye transplant that enables her to see into the supernatural world. It's a remake of twin brothers' Oxide Pang Chung and Danny Pang's 2002 Hong Kong horror film Gin Gwai. The new film was directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, with re-shoots (uh-oh) by Patrick Lussier. It was written by Sebastian Gutierrez, who scripted Gothika and Snakes on a Plane (uh-oh again). The trailer is up online over at Yahoo Movies, and you've probably got some questions. Will this one be any better than the average crappy horror flick? Are we talking more The Ring or more The Grudge 2? If Jessica Alba were really blind, could she learn to love a monster like me? Maybe you should take your pretty little eyes over there and check out that trailer, Mogambo!

The trailer feels like more of a long teaser. There is no dialogue, just some pulsing music, and quick flashes telling the story in images. It's nicely done but not mind-blowing. A few moments stood out, like the floating feet and the nice little jump at the end. I also like the bit where she appears to be painfully squeezing fluid out of her eye. It reminded me of trying to put in my contact lenses while hung over. The Eye co-stars Alessandro Nivola (Junebug) and the always delightful Parker Posey. I saw Posey for a half second in the trailer, and no Nivola, but I guess when you've got one of the most beautiful women in the world in your movie, you want to put her front and center. Cinematical visited the set of The Eye back in April, and if you'd like to read a discussion with Miss Alba regarding the film, you can find it here. The Eye is due in theaters on February 1st, 2008.

There have been plenty of wacky ideas over the years on how to promote a movie. Going way back to David O Selznick's search for Scarlett O'Hara to Kevin Smith offering title credits for fans on his MySpace page; movie makers will try anything to drum up a little excitement for a new release.

The Hollywood Reporter announced that Sony is offering Ultra Sonic ring tones in connection with the release of The Messengers. So what's an ultrasonic ring tone? It is a ring tone that is only audible to people under the age of 25. The theory being that as you age your hearing deteriorates, so certain frequencies go undetected, so if you only use those frequencies only teens can usually hear it. The ring tone is available on the official site but you are going to have to cough up $2.49. The ring tone works as a tie-in with the plot of the film, that focuses on a teen girl experiencing supernatural phenomena that no one else can see or hear.

This isn't the only idea that the marketing department came up with for the film. Some of Sony's upcoming campaigns include a 1-800 number, a blog, instant messaging, and a profile of the lead character on social networking sites. So what does all this marketing mean for the movie? Either Sony is just trying to support a new release, or they are starting to get a little desperate for attention.

The last time we had some news about The Messengers, Scott Weinberg let us in on word of delays and re-shoots, neither of which seemed to bode well for the US debut of the Pang Brothers. Well, it looks like Sony is ready to go ahead with the horror-thriller and released the usual trinity of movie marketing, a web site, a trailer, and now the poster.

JoBlo.com has a first look at the one-sheet for the film starring Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, and Kristen Stewart. The story takes place on a sunflower farm, (sunflower farm? Um, ok...) where a family turns on one another as the result of some "supernatural" influences. Thai directors Danny and Oxide Pang (The Eye) are helming the script for the horror written by Mark Wheaton and Todd Farmer. Wheaton, who you might know as Smilin' Jack Ruby from CHUD and Ain't It Cool News, has made the leap from writing about the movies to getting a feature film with a major studio. The bad news though, is that both the trailer and the poster only look so-so. Plus, I think they should have really thought twice about that tagline.

If all of that hasn't managed to cool your jets then you won't be waiting long, The Messengers hits theaters February, 2007.