RichardKelly Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Our good friends (and partners) over at Moviefone have just debuted the first trailer for Richard Kelly's (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) much-anticipated freaky little sci-fi thriller The Box, starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella. Due in theaters on October 30th (just in time for Halloween), the film follows the story of a couple who receive a mysterious box that grants them one million dollars, but with one catch: once they open the box, a person who they do not know will die. Pretty catchy premise and based on the trailer alone, the movie definitely looks to bring the thriller-ish vibes. I've always loved the look of Kelly's films, and The Box is no exception (something about it -- the cold, stark wintry chill, perhaps -- reminded me of The Shining). Perhaps a more commercial tale will help heal Kelly's former box office woes. He's a darn good filmmaker, and so I hope that's the case here.

Check out the trailer after the jump (or in HD over on Moviefone) and let us know what you think.

OK, I don't necessarily consider myself the biggest Cameron Diaz fan around; seriously, I never really got why everyone found her so funny and lovable on screen (and yes I have seen There's Something About Mary, and yeah; still don't get it). But, comedy seems to be where audiences like her, so why not give them what they want? Variety reports that Diaz might be headed back to the world of comedy for the battle of the sexes flick, Bobbie Sue.

According to Variety, the story will center on "a hard-charging female ambulance chaser whose mindset makes her the ideal candidate to be the face of a prestigious law firm when a powerful client is sued in a sexual discrimination case." Dana Fox (What Happens in Vegas) has already been hired to start polishing the screenplay for Warner Bros, but let's just say I'm not holding my breath that Fox is hard at work turning this script into a scathing comedy about gender politics. In fact, my guess is that we will probably end up with something a little more along the lines of The Proposal.

If you are a regular reader around these parts, then it is no secret that I've got a few problems with 'Chick Flicks' and unfortunately those are usually the only roles that Diaz can score. Now, I might be in the minority, but I have always thought that Diaz's best performances were the ones that finally let her be something other than just a hot chick. Say what you want about Vanilla Sky, but Diaz's turn as a woman who thinks she is immune to the emotional pitfalls of casual sex is probably one of the best things she has ever done. Hopefully when Richard Kelly's The Box hits theaters this fall, it will remind those casting agents out there that Diaz is capable of much more than just dancing around in her underwear.

Tempted though I may be to do so, I won't take credit for Warners' moving up the release of Richard Kelly's hopefully good The Box after I blathered on about it for too long and then some last month. According to BOM, the thriller is now scheduled to open on October 30th and just opposite Saw VI -- and between us, if it was between either the fifth Saw sequel or a title with both Richard Kelly and Richard Matheson's names on it, my moviegoing dollar would surely find its way to the latter.

Going instead into the newly vacated 11/25 slot is the Wachowski-produced Ninja Assassin, helmed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, the third act of The Invasion) and starring that guy Stephen Colbert hates so much. Not much has come of that film beyond a "we're making it!" press conference -- no trailer, no poster, no nuthin' -- but the film has been formally rated R for "strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language," which suggests that the film is completed.

And when you have a completed film on your hands, you generally release it. (And then this'll be the part where the "More You Know" star will shoot overhead...)

Last month, I weighed aloud the notion of relocating oft-delayed con man crime caper The Brothers Bloom just one more time, to somewhere out from under the shadows of many May blockbusters. Summit's reaction to that piece was prompt yet delicate -- they merely blackmailed Universal into moving Bruno away from Bloom's NY/LA bow.

This time around, my latest open letter to futility is being CC'ed to Warner Bros., as my concern now lies with the latest move of Richard Kelly's bumped-and-then-some thriller, The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a couple forced to weigh the cost of one life against a chance at considerable wealth. (In other words, they get to slip into the shoes of Hollywood executives.)

I'm starting to believe that our Eugene Novikov can see into the future.

He knew that I was going to say that Donnie Darko, while somewhat overexposed, holds up to this day as a uniquely poignant coming-of-age drama and not so much the "psychological thriller" as claimed on the back of the box. He knew that I'd be a bit more obvious and say that the sister-starring spin-off, S. Darko, sounds like no better of an idea now that it has a direct-to-DVD release date in April as it did when it was announced back last May.

And he probably knew that this newly released trailer, featuring plenty of time tubes and recurring quotes (though only one returning character), really wouldn't do much to change my mind that this is a tangential-at-best follow-up looking to cash in on something truly, terrifically unique. The thing is: he called it two days ago.

I'd like to be wrong, I really would, but when Richard Kelly can't be convinced to bother lending any sort of hand, skepticism seems as strong a course of action as any. (Care to tip us one way or another, Gene?)

It came to my attention today that: a) S. Darko is going direct to DVD on April 28th, with the hideous subtitle "A Donnie Darko Tale" and b) Cinematical has not made mention of this. The news is a couple weeks old, but I found (b) unacceptable.

Some films get so much acclaim in so short a time that it becomes sort of unhip to love them. Take American Beauty, for example: I don't think people who adored it when it came out (like me) changed their minds, I think they just sort of burned out on it. Similarly, Donnie Darko's "cult classic" status has been drilled into our heads to such an extent that to place it among one's favorite films seems like a faux pas. Call it overexposure.

But, uh: I love Donnie Darko. I recently got a chance to see the Director's Cut on the big screen: my fourth or fifth viewing of the movie, though the first of the Director's Cut and the first time on film. I do think the longer version gets a bit hung up on the arcane details of "The Philosophy of Time Travel," to its detriment. But even the slightly more self-indulgent cut is extraordinary, a wonderfully sad allegory about the teenage desire to escape -- no, transcend -- the phoniness, banality and evil of the everyday world. (In this sense, it's like a more earnest Catcher in the Rye.) Donnie Darko is also Exhibit A for why the Gyllenhaals are a big deal.

Well, now I just feel silly -- thanks a lot, Win Butler. Back in May, rumors began to circulate that Arcade Fire members Butler, Regine Chassagne and Owen Pallet were working on the score for Richard Kelly's The Box, but Butler had insisted there was nothing to those rumors. Now it's eight months later, and as it turns out he was just messing with us. In an interview with Pitchfork, Butler finally fessed up that he had been working with Kelly on the orchestral score for the Twilight Zone-inspired drama. He says, "We didn't really think we were going to do the whole thing, and then it just kind of was easier once we got in. It was like, 'Oh well, we'll just keep going.' It has so much to do with the editing, and your job is just to help the director. It's a very different experience."

Kelly's follow-up to Southland Tales is based on Richard Matheson's short story, Button, Button, and centers on a couple who come into possession of a mysterious box that can make all their financial dreams come true. But there's a catch: if they use the box, an innocent person will die (I can almost hear Rod Serling in the background telling me to "Picture a couple..."). The film stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as the husband and wife with financial woes, and Frank Langella as the box's strange 'delivery man'. It's a pretty creepy premise that would appear to be a perfect fit for the music of Arcade Fire ... and Kelly's own twisted sensibilities.

Back in November, Will brought us the news that the film had been pushed back for a second time from March to November 6, 2009. Hopefully the delays aren't signs of another troubled production for Kelly.

A week ago, I finally tore through Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' acclaimed graphic novel, Watchmen, which I'd only recently prompted myself to make the time for after years of recommendations (the recurring threat of ending spoilers for a movie that I'd inevitably see was a catalyst unto itself).

It really is a tremendous work, and I'm as curious as anyone else to see how Zack Snyder's film turns out, but the one comparison that I kept coming back to was how much Watchmen reminded me of Richard Kelly's much-maligned Southland Tales, with each being a sprawling tale of an alternate reality in which several narrative threads are building towards the threat of a looming apocalypse.

Between that and the news of Kelly's latest being pushed back, I find myself tempted to give it another look-see -- especially since my first viewing wasn't exactly held in the most proper of environments. I'm sure that there's a method to Kelly's madness, but it's an indulgent, unpredictable film whose very story density I enjoyed more in and of itself. I doubt that I'd share those sentiments if instead first subjected to the three-hour Cannes cut, but if that version were ever released, I wouldn't be against giving it a spin. (My overall sentiments fall closer to Jette's.)

So, what say you, the readers? Did you see it? Did you finish it? Love it? Hate it? Or maybe, just maybe, did some of you land somewhere in between? (And for bonus points, what don't pimps do?)

Oy vey: after shifting more dates than an old lady working in the produce section, it appears that Richard Kelly's thriller The Box has been bumped once more, from next March to next November. Usually, this would be a bad thing, but I'm still seriously intrigued by this adaptation of Richard Matheson's short story, in which a young couple (James Marsden and Cameron Diaz) are given a mysterious box that can make them wealthy, but at the cost of killing a stranger the moment they use it.

The film is completed enough to merit a PG-13 from our pals over at the MPAA (for "thematic elements, some violence and disturbing images"), so it's not post-production woes holding the film up. One suspects this is a much less sprawling film than his Southland Tales, which we'll come back to soon enough. Is it part of WB's strategy to spread out product as the strike catches up to them, as they had by moving Harry Potter from this week to next summer?

Man, if I could just kill a stranger to get some answers...

I hate to spread totally speculative bad buzz, but if any advance development merits the term "not a good sign," it's a movie getting its release date pushed back seven months to early September, the year's most notorious dumping ground. Yep -- Richard Kelly's The Box is now scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. on September 11, 2009.

Now, to be clear, its original February release date wasn't exactly a plum spot either. But occasionally something sneaks through early in the year -- think Cloverfield. The few weeks around Labor Day are where movies go to die. The only recent exception I can think of is 3:10 to Yuma.

I'm hoping against hope that the switch isn't actually a vote of no confidence, since a Twilight Zone-style sci-fi film from the director of Donnie Darko sounds fantastic. If it is a low-confidence move, I'm hoping it's a case of a studio not knowing a good movie from a hole in the wall. That happens a fair amount, don't you know. Richard Kelly could use a boost after Southland Tales sank last year.

The Box is about a suburban couple who receive a mysterious wooden box with a single button. The box comes with a promise that if one of them presses the button in the next 24 hours, they will get a million dollars -- but somewhere in the world, someone will die. The film stars James Marsden, Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella.

[hat tip: Cinema Blend]