Sunshine Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Never Let Me Go will be Mark Romanek's follow-up to One Hour Photo, the sinister Robin Williams film he directed back in 2002. Romanek, as you may know, is a legendary music video director who has worked with Nine Inch Nails, Michael Jackson, Audioslave and Madonna, among others. You may remember his heartbreaking video for Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt," which was all but hailed as the second coming. Though One Hour Photo was not Romanek's first feature film – that would be Static, the surreal, low-budget 1986 drama he co-wrote with Keith Gordon – but it was supposed to be the beginning of a distinguished film career.

From 2002 to 2008, Romanek became attached to a number of projects, none of which made it out of development hell. He was meant to direct an adaptation of the Philip Gourevitch non-fiction crime drama A Cold Case starring Tom Hanks, but that has thus far gone nowhere. He had decided to tackle James Frey's A Million Little Pieces but that, of course, was before it turned out that James Frey was a honking fraud. In 2008, it looked like Romanek would at last cross the finish line with The Wolf Man – and then he walked out on the eve of filming over creative differences. Journeyman director Joe Johnston will be delivering that finished product this November.

"One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head and that only I can hear." *

The week starts with some unhappy news, as the AFP reports that Academy Award composor Maurice Jarre has passed away at the age of 84. He wrote music for over 150 films, and many of them for the great directors: John Frankenheimer, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Luchino Visconti, David Lean, and Peter Weir.

In his long career, he was nominated for an Oscar nine times, and took home three. His three Oscar wins were for what are probably his most recognizable scores: Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and Passage to India. Doctor Zhivago will alwaos be one of my favorites, and despite that Lara's Theme has been much abused over the years (Roger Ebert calls it one of his least favorite pieces, and Jarre himself was annoyed at the overuse of it in the film), it's a score is just pure sweeping, tragic romance.

Here's a collection someone on YouTube put together of his "greatest hits", below the jump are two of my favorites. One is naturally Doctor Zhivago, but my favorite part is at 1:38.

Please feel free to link to some of your favorites in the comments, it'd be great to hear them.

* ETA As an astute commenter pointed out, he was not the composer for Danny Boyle's Sunshine, but the 1999 István Szabó film. I read his filmography too fast. My apologies.

* ETA Apparently, the quote was a hoax. Thanks for cheapening one man's death for a social media experiment, sir.

Hopefully, here's a couple of welcome tidbits for our geekier readers to enjoy (however that label goes defined).

Bloody Disgusting pal David Harley pointed out an Amazon link to Canada's legit Region 1 release of Spanish spooker [REC] in two weeks, on January 27th. This disc will play in American DVD players significantly better than Sony's non-existent release will (besides, if you and they both wait for Quarantine, what's the use of this anyhow?), and in American dollars, it still comes out to about twenty bucks.

Also, after being tied up in legal shenanigans for over a year, John Murphy's haunting score to Danny Boyle's Sunshine is now available on iTunes and bound to play significantly better than that makeshift bootleg of the album that had been making the rounds (thus, I won't bother linking to that here).

Thirdly... well, actually, that's all I've got for now. So, um, yeah. How've you been? Enjoying this January weather? Expected worse myself. Alright, gotta run. Say hi to your mother for me.

First, the obligatory Slumdog Millionaire endorsement. I saw it in Telluride, for which I am now grateful, but at the time I cursed the fates. Why? Because I couldn't buy another ticket and go see it again then and there. It opens tomorrow, November 12th, in a bunch of cities, and will trickle on out from there. It's rousing, and wonderful, and I can pretty much guarantee you'll love it.

The feel-frickin'-awesome movie of the year was directed by Danny Boyle, whose Millions hinted at his capacity for big-hearted fairy tales, but who is known for darker material. His biggest hit until a couple of weeks from now is the 2003 zombie horror flick 28 Days Later. He gave up the reins of the sequel, 28 Weeks Later, to talented Spaniard Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (whose Intacto was unjustly ignored six years previous), who wound up upstaging him with what was -- to my mind -- a vastly superior film.

The latest had been that up-and-coming horror director Paul Andrew Williams would be stepping behind the camera for the upcoming 28 Months Later. But now Boyle himself has thrown a wrench into that plan. Though he refused to discuss his idea for the third film, he told a table full of journalists that he'd like to return and direct it himself. "I'd certainly like to... I feel the idea is quite a strong idea, and it could well involve directing it. Yeah, absolutely."

We'll see what happens after Slumdog earns Boyle his first Oscar nods. I actually have faith that he won't abandon genre films -- he's so dang good at them (though I think his best showcase in that respect is actually Sunshine). I still prefer Fresnadillo's take on the 28 franchise, but on the other hand Danny Boyle is my new hero. Mixed feelings.

Gregg Araki's stoner comedy Smiley Face (pictured) mysteriously received only a token theatrical release in Los Angeles and New York after receiving favorable reviews (including two from our own Jette Kernion and Monika Bartyzel) from a short run on the festival circuit. Now the rest of us can see it. The DVD from First Look includes a "making of" featurette; look for Erik's review of the DVD later on today.

Danny Boyle's 'space mission to repair the biggest star in the sky,' better known as Sunshine, inspired Nick Schager to describe it as "a gorgeously crafted intergalactic saga sorely lacking in originality or profundity." You know what that means -- it should be perfect on DVD! Fox Searchlight's release includes an audio commentary by Boyle, two short films with intros by Boyle, deleted scenes, web production diaries and an alternate ending.

I loved Emanuele Crialese's Respiro, which featured a great performance by Valeria Golino, so I'm eager to catch up with his latest film, The Golden Door. Eric D. Snider said that this "story of an Italian family emigrating to America circa 1900 ... completely immerses us in the images and sounds of its world." The Miramax DVD has a "making of" feature and an introduction by Martin Scorsese.

Black Irish should play very well on the small screen. As I've written before, the film "revolves around a sterling, thoroughly engaging performance by Michael Angarano as a high schooler in Boston coming to grips with his family and his future; the script and direction by Brad Gann is solid and features a few surprising, gentle twists." The DVD from Anywhere Road Entertainment includes a commentary track and a "behind the scenes" feature.

Also out this week: Eagle vs. Shark, "(in some ways) even better than Napoleon Dynamite," per Scott Weinberg, DarkBlueAmostBlack, "a subtle, rewarding exploration of family," according to Martha Fischer, and Klimt, an unconventional bio-pic by Chilean director Raúl Ruiz.

There's a continuing debate about whether or not computer-animated films should be eligible for visual effects awards. But despite the fine line seen by some, others are quick to point out that many effects artists have the same function on Surf's Up as they do on Spider-Man. To them, it should come as quite a triumph that the Oscar shortlist for the visual effects category includes two animated films, Ratatouille and Beowulf. According to the Hollywood Reporter, they join 13 other effects-heavy movies, including definite front-runners Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spider-Man 3. The trade points out, however, that this is not the first time animated films have joined the effects race. Back in 1994, The Nightmare Before Christmas was one of the three nominees (against Cliffhanger and obvious winner Jurassic Park).

The animated effect issue is different now, though, then it was 14 years ago. Animated films now have their own Oscar category, and it's fair to say that is the place to recognize Ratatouille and Beowulf (actually Beowulf shouldn't be recognized at all). Typically movies nominated in the visual effects category are popular blockbusters that wouldn't otherwise receive notice from the Academy. Until there's an Oscar for best sci-fi/fantasy or action movie, this is one of the best ways for a little movie like Transformers to be put in the spotlight. Sure, I'm being sarcastic, but nonetheless I like the category being the place for those movies actually seen by the majority of Oscar telecast viewers.

Manoel de Oliveira's Belle Toujours is back on the charts this week, playing on one lone screen, in Denver, according to my information. Among its other qualities and achievements, it marks the fourth collaboration of director Oliveira and actor Michel Piccoli (a fifth, a short segment in an anthology film, appeared earlier this year). At 81, Piccoli is practically a living legend, having worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Louis Malle, Mario Bava, and many other greats. He also appears in Jean-Pierre Melville's 1962 Le Doulos, currently re-released on 2 screens. It's a delicate relationship between director and actor; Piccoli and Oliveira seem to be developing a comfortable working relationship in which each brings out the best in the other. This has happened relatively few times over the past century. When it happens, it can be very exciting, but when a director and an actor don't click, everything can fall to pieces.

Milos Forman has coaxed and guided some great performances over the years, notably Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus and Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon. But he has rarely been praised for directing women, as evidenced by his awkward handling of Natalie Portman in the awful Goya's Ghosts (37 screens). The movie earned advance attention for its nude/sex scene, but will probably be remembered for fitting Portman with a set of humorously bad fake teeth and for her self-consciously dazed walk, newly released from prison, through a chaotic town square. Forman may be to blame, but Portman is out there, on the screen, all alone and in front of everyone.

By now, I think most of us have given up on ever seeing that Trainspotting sequel, so at least we can get the next best thing, another Danny Boyle film. Variety reports that Celador Films and Film4 have given the green light for Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. Slumdog will Boyle's first film with Film4 since working with them on A Life Less Ordinary, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave. Slumdog is based on the true story of a young street kid who goes on to be a champion on the Indian Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. But according to Boyle, the film is really a love story. Boyle describes the film as, "a love story set in the most extreme city on earth. The Maximum City -- Mumbai. From its slums, a kid challenges for the biggest prize on world television. All he knows is that the girl that he loves - and whom he has lost in the chaos of Mumbai - watches the show every night ... if he can stay on the show as long as possible, he might find her again".

Starring newcomer Dev Patel in the lead, the film was written by The Full Monty scribe, Simon Beaufoy. Boyle has always been drawn to different projects, ranging from horror to musicals, so a romance film isn't that far from the realm of possibility for the director (you can also read James' round table interview with the director here). Slumdog is set to start shooting on location in Mumbai this November.

A conversation arose in the screening room the other day about the sorry state of young, romantic performers in movies today and the overwhelming blandness slathered across our movie screens. Pretty, plastic, chiseled faces smile at one another and sometimes kiss, and their efforts leave everyone cold. Critics and audiences often use the word "chemistry" to describe these encounters; either the characters have it or they don't. Strangely, there's really no way to tell if it's even there until the movie is finished. You can put two actors in a room together, or screen test them, but none of it comes together until the audience becomes a factor.

One reason most movie couples have been so bland lately is the ever-increasing control that studios are demanding of their product. Every aspect of filmmaking must be regulated and stabilized, and so, to make the most of their romantic stories, these same studio people very simply cast the most beautiful actors they can find. Beautiful people sometimes explode on the movie screen with lots of personality and star power, but just as often, they don't, looking more like polished statues without so much as a heartbeat. James Dean was very handsome, but he had a surprising element, a kind of unpredictability, as well as world-heavy sadness. But James Franco, who played Dean in a TV biopic, has only the looks. As shown in his most recent film, Spider-Man 3 (151 screens), where there should be passion and danger and excitement, there's only grooming. At times I honestly can't tell the difference between him and Paul Walker.

From surfing through the early mixed reviews, I had the impression Danny Boyle's meditative science fiction drama Sunshine was not generating much excitement, a feeling reinforced by Nick Schager's Cinematical review ("a gorgeously crafted intergalactic saga sorely lacking in originality or profundity"). While it may not be winning unqualified raves, Rotten Tomatoes estimates that 68% of reviews were positive, more than 12,000 IMDb readers have rated it as 7.3 out of 10 and US theater-goers flooded into the ten theaters where Fox Searchlight opened it on Friday. Leonard Klady at Movie City News estimated that Sunshine earned $223,400 over the weekend for a healthy $22,340 per-screen average. It will expand to more than 400 screens next Friday.

Sicko expanded even wider into "scores of cities that never have a documentary come to their local theater," according to director Michael Moore; it dropped only 30% from its previous week of release and has now grossed more than $19 million, overtaking Waitress to become the top-grossing "limited grosser" for the year. Sicko is playing more than 1,100 locations. In its second week of release, Talk to Me averaged a very good $9,250 per-screen average, dropping just 17% while adding three theaters.

Cashback played on nine screens and earned an estimated $12,800 for Magnolia before its DVD release on Tuesday. As Kim Voynar wrote in her review, it's a funny movie well worth seeing, and I was glad I got to see it at a festival screening last fall. Among the other new limited releases, Klady estimates that the French-language comedy My Crazy Aunt had the second highest per screen average ($4,030), playing on 35 screens -- looks like it's only playing in Quebec, Canada. Distributor IDP sent Goya's Ghosts out onto 49 screens; Milos Forman's biographical costume drama starring Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman pulled down an estimated $150,000.