A couple days ago we were fortunate enough to premiere the one-sheet for Woody Allen's new offering Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Now Yahoo! has the second trailer for the movie, and the first one with any dialogue.

I reserve judgment on the film (since, uh, I haven't seen it yet), but I already know that Rebecca Hall deserves an Oscar just for her delivery of "Look, señor, maybe in a different life..." And it's good to see Javier Bardem playing a normal, non-homicidal, fully ambulatory human being.

The most interesting thing for me is that Vicky Cristina Barcelona doesn't fit the mold of anything Woody Allen has churned out in the 21st century: it looks to be neither a goofy screwball comedy nor a slow-burn, class-conscious thriller. Instead, it seems like a perfectly earnest, if idiosyncratic, love triangle. And that's an interesting move at this point in his career.

The plot: A hotshot artist (Javier Bardem) invites two young women (Hall and Scarlett Johansson) on vacation in Barcelona to spend the weekend with him, but his ex-wife (Penelope Cruz) becomes determined to ruin the fun. It must have been a fun shoot for Bardem and Allen, I'll tell you that much.

Cinematical is very happy to bring you this exclusive poster for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (click to enlarge), written and directed by one of my favorite New Yorkers, Woody Allen. Starring the crazy sexy cool trio of Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall, VCB follows two American tourists (Johansson, Hall) on holiday in Spain who find themselves drawn into a series of unconventional romantic entanglements with Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), a charismatic painter who "pursues passions and ardently seeks the meaning of love," according to Kim's very positive review of the film from Cannes. Things become a bit complicated, however, when Juan Antonio's nutty ex-wife (Cruz) enters the picture.

I'm a pretty big fan of this poster as it kinda clues you into the plot of the film without hitting you over the head with it. Obviously the three key players are featured, and Cruz has her arms wrapped around Bardem as if he's her property -- while he and Johansson keep their eyes down as if they're hiding something. I dig it when the poster paints a story ... and I can't be the only one who's interested in seeing this one explored more.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona arrives in theaters on August 15.

Yesterday, I wrote up the press conference for Woody Allen's latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The pic above is a shot of the crazy crowd outside the red carpet for the film; it gives you an idea of how insane the crowds get here for every red carpet -- they're all a little crazy, but this one as even more packed than usual. People pack in like sardines, hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite star, and there are always people in black tie wandering around hopefully with signs reading something like, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona, S.V.P.," hoping against hope that some person might have on hand one of the coveted silver invitations to the red carpet premiere that they don't intend to use. I don't know what the likelihood of that is, but I'd have to imagine it's pretty darn slim.

Below is a gallery of pictures from the press conference. I had to take them of the video screen in the press suite, as I was unable to get into the actual conference for this one. So you're looking at pictures of pictures, essentially, but given the circumstances under which I was working, I think they came out reasonably well.

Upcoming: Reviews of Tokyo Sonata, Hunger and Three Monkeys, plus James's adventures at the Indiana Jones roundtable.

The press conference for Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona was a packed affair. Buzz on the film has been mostly positive, and most of those trying to get in were, unfortunately, shut out. The line of press trying to get shots of Allen and the cast walking in was an utter madhouse; picture something akin to a prison riot, with a mob of press stomping on feet, shoving with elbows, and generally doing their damnedest to jostle into position in the hopes of scoring one or two decent shots in the 15 or so seconds you have to point and click.

I had my foot crushed by a large Belgian woman who muscled her way to the front of the pack on my right, and got smacked quite hard in the head by a Chinese photojournalist's video camera. Working a film fest isn't always quite the glamorous event one might imagine.

I've said before that a new film from Woody Allen is something like getting a Christmas gift from your eccentric aunt; you never know if you'll get a crocheted toilet paper cozy, or a piece of priceless heirloom jewelry. Fortunately, Allen's newest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, turns out to be more like the latter. The story opens with Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), two best friends heading to Barcelona for eight weeks of fun.

Vicky's distant relations Judy (Patricia Clarkson) and Mark (Kevin Dunn) live in Barcelona, and have invited the girls to spend the summer there, where Vicky will do research for her Masters and Cristina will soak up the local culture. Vicky is engaged to be married to Doug (Chris Messina), a stalwart, likable, but rather boring young man, and Cristina is recovering from her latest breakup and looking for an artistic outlet for her pent-up creativity.

Word about Nicole Holofcener's still-untitled new film hit back in December, when Catherine Keener, regular Holofcener star, was circling the project. Now The Hollywood Reporter posts that the film has been picked up by Sony Picture Classics, and three players have been added to the roster -- Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, and Rebecca Hall.

Written by Holofcener, the film focuses on a New York couple (Keener and Platt) who own the next-door apartment, which is occupied by a "cantankerous, elderly woman." The pair want to reclaim the apartment, so they're anxiously waiting for the woman to die so they can grab it back. It's not the most charming plan, but certainly understandable in a morbid way. But then their impatience is complicated by the presence of the woman's two granddaughters, who the couple befriend (Peet and Hall) -- it's not so easy to itch for death when the whole scenario becomes more real.

The film is scheduled to begin production in mid-May, with plans to wrap before that looming, potential SAG strike. In the meantime, a number of roles still need to be cast -- namely the grandmother who won't die, and the couple's daughter.

Back in October, Woody Allen changed the title of his next shrouded-in-secrecy film from Midnight in Barcelona to Vicky Cristina Barcelona. While it's not the choice I would have made, considering the 473 titles that the new Rambo flick went through, there's a chance it will get changed again. However, beyond bits of news like that, word on the production has been pretty meager. We know it's about a painter who gets interested in some American tourists, and that his jealous ex isn't too happy about this. Now the painter, one Mr. Javier Bardem, has spoken with MTV about the title of the film and his artsy role in Woody's first bilingual production.

As he confirms, the title comes from the names of the two tourists, Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson's characters. As Bardem describes it: "[They're] the two girls that go to our salon; but I don't know if that is going to be the final title or not." I imagine the "our" is Bardem's character and his ex, played by Penélope Cruz. Early reports have suggested that Cruz is his ex-girlfriend, but Javier says she's his ex-wife in the triangle, but also notes that "it is much more than that."

He paints in the film (Anyone want to make bets that he'll partake in some risque American tourist nudes?), and says he got inspiration for his role from the man who painted the works in the film, as well as from director and artist Julian Schnabel, who worked with him on Before Night Falls. But if you're one of the people allergic to subtitles, he also discusses just how bilingual the film is. While most of his lines are in Spanish, he explains: "It has both, Spanish and English, but most of the time English." We'll get to see what Woody makes of his love for Barcelona some time next year.

I'm not a complete Woody Allen snob, but I am picky and I haven't been satisfied with any of his films since Sweet and Lowdown. For me to have liked even Match Point I would have had to lower my standards and expectations, and in the end I decided it didn't work for me. One of my problems with it is Scarlett Johansson, who I may never be able to enjoy as an actress. As a handbag model she's great, sure, but as someone who has to portray any feelings on the big screen she can't get my attention. I don't avoid her work, though, because some of her films are good despite her. I couldn't bother with Allen's Scoop, but now the filmmaker has cast the actress in another film, his untitled Spanish project, which I'm at least intrigued about.

So far we had learned that Allen would be shooting in Barcelona and Asturias this summer with the great Spanish actors Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. His new additions include Johansson and her co-star from The Prestige, Rebecca Hall. This will now be Johansson's third film for Allen, putting her closer to the level of collaboration as Louise Lasser, Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow, all of whom Allen had been involved with romantically. I'm not saying that Soon-Yi should be worried, at least if she doesn't mind Allen simply looking, but it is a bit strange. Following this film, Allen will return to England for his next film, which will go into production in 2008, hopefully without Johansson.

I love it. Before the man even finishes the script, Woody Allen already has part of his cast and his plan all set. I was starting to wonder if he would sign on cast members as the characters popped into his head and were written on the page, but it seems that he's finally finished the script. The director's recent chattings with Spanish media have been reported by Screen Daily, and the director apparently let loose some more details about his upcoming and still-untitled film that will shoot in Spain this summer. We previously brought word of his desire to have Penélope Cruz head it, and then Erik covered Javier Bardem joining the upcoming production.

Now the crazy old man is wanting a little more Scarlett Johansson in his cinematic diet. She's already been in two of the director's last three films -- Match Point and Scoop. Spanish Untitled would make three. But as we all know, two sexy women aren't enough for Allen. He's also looking into casting Rebecca Hall (The Prestige) as another co-star. He is currently auditioning English-speaking actors, so we should have more solid cast news soon. We still don't have much word about the plot, but the Spanish press reportedly say that Allen is describing the film as "romantic but serious." So, basically, it's like his other films. Reports also state that his crew will be all-Spanish and Javier Aguirresarobe has signed on as cinematographer. I've got to give Allen credit, he's setting up a big bilingual challenge, so hopefully it will pay off and not flop.

[via Cinema Blend]