TheBlackDahlia Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Review: August
Few leading male actors have followed the roundabout career trajectory of Josh Hartnett. Though indisputably tall, dark and handsome, Hartnett still manages to avoid the pratfalls of typecasting by landing roles in strange projects with questionable appeal. While this choice comes at the expense of a quality resume, his performances can lend barely competent films at least one redeeming ingredient: I could give or take Wicker Park, Resurrecting the Champ, and even the good intentions of The Black Dahlia, but each benefits from Hartnett's expressive glare, furrowed brow and whispered delivery. He's an instant generator of gravitas.
Although August, director Austin Chick's second feature after the relationship drama XX/XY, doesn't qualify as Hartnett's best movie, it's certainly one of his meatiest roles – right up there with his work in the unfairly maligned Lucky Number Slevin. As the crudely pompous CEO of the mysterious start-up company Landshark in New York City during the summer before 9/11, Hartnett offers a maddened, garrulous anti-hero replete with dark humor and sustained by a surge of baseless confidence. The movie follows the audacious entrepreneur, Tom, as his fifteen minutes begin to run out – and it concludes with him facing off against a freakishly powerful David Bowie as the icy corporate foil. Despite the age gap, both men exude an eerie amount of restraint – which is not the case for the film. August adds up to less than it aspires to be, but it's populated with enough curiosities to keep you watching.
Millennium Films Developing Live-Action 'Hercules'
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
Here's a good question: Has there ever been a decent Hercules movie? I don't mean guilty-pleasure decent; I mean well-made decent. I don't think there has been. Hercules is pretty much synonymous with cheesy Italian films, a cheesy television series, a movie that dared dub over Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice and arguably one of the least interesting animated features Disney has ever made. All this could change, though, if producer Avi Lerner and his Millennium Pictures (The Black Dahlia) does right with a new live-action Hercules feature. Lerner has been responsible for many, many bad films, but there's definitely a chance this could be good. Okay, so it will probably actually follow in the awful footsteps of the Hercules efforts before it. Sean Hood, who gave us the scripts for Halloween: Resurrection and The Crow: Wicked Prayer, has written the screenplay, so there's one thing against it already. I think that the only way we could ever get a good movie about the Hercules character, though not necessarily his legendary adventures, is if Marvel Studios for some reason wanted to do a feature on the Marvel version of the demi-god. Of course, we may get to see him included in The Avengers, but I'm not holding my breath. He never was that interesting in the comics, and I don't think he'd be that interesting in the movie either.
DiCaprio and Mann Team Up For Hollywood Noir
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Casting », Noir », Mystery & Suspense », MGM », Celebrities and Controversy »
Even though I hated his Miami Vice movie, I still consider myself a fan of Michael Mann's work, and I continue to look forward to whatever he delivers next. And it looks like his next will be something to really, really look forward to. Variety reports that Mann will direct a film noir about a Hollywood murder investigation and that Leonardo DiCaprio is expected to play the detective. The project, which was packaged by CAA, is currently being shopped around to the studios with a script written by John Logan. The film will take place in the 1930s on the MGM lot and will apparently feature cameos from people like Judy Garland and Bugsy Siegel (people playing them, anyway). The plot will likely follow the detective as he is hired by the studio to clean up a scandal involving a starlet who may or may not have murdered her husband. The only other part of the script that has been revealed is that there will be a major shootout that takes place in the Trocadero nightclub on Sunset Boulevard. Despite the fact that no studio is yet confirmed (New Line has been revealed to have bid, but too low), the film will start shooting in February.
There can never be too many period noirs set in Hollywood, which had a lot of interesting scandals during the golden era, but after the failure of The Black Dahlia some studios may be hesitant to think there's a chance for another L.A. Confidential. Still, with Mann, DiCaprio and Logan teamed up -- they all worked together on The Aviator, which Mann produced -- it will be difficult to lose with this film.
Cinematical's Fall Preview: RvB's Picks
Filed under: Action », Classics », Drama », New Releases », Cannes », Mystery & Suspense », DIY/Filmmaking », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
There's nothing like the moment of anticipation before you've seen the half-baked, crucially compromised or mortally flawed film in question. Still, when given the choice between summer's poorly animated CGI beasts and fall's Oscar-pimping cat-tearing* among our sweatier over-actors and over-actresses, you don't know which season to worry about more.
Despite the Venice Film Festival's chilly response to The Fountain, I'm going to be waiting for it. The film festival audiences were right about The DaVinci Code, but they're not right about everything. I'm curious why The Black Dahlia (Brian De Palma's new film) didn't get booed, despite its rep as a chestnut-stuffed Joss Harnett-basted turkey. Is it because of a lingering tolerance in Italy for badly-written giallos?
Pan's Labryinth is a film to look forward to this fall -- Guillermo del Toro's odd sensibility blends the weirdest of Mexican horror with an intelligent use of graphics, and I still remember what a startling film Cronos was. It also looks more on the fantasy spectrum like In the Company of Wolves than The Brothers Grimm. Plus, James thought it was good.
Cinematical's Fall Preview: Jeffrey M. Anderson's Picks
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », DIY/Filmmaking »
Summer roller coaster rides aside, fall is the most exciting time for movie buffs. Movies get more serious; the running times increse, and you begin to see more biopics, more 'based on a novel by' credits and more reverent-looking movie trailers. Which middlebrow films will be slathered in awards, and which films will be ignored masterpieces? I know there's at least one out there that could be a life-changing event; here are three possibilities:
The Black Dahlia -- I'm cheating a bit here, because I've already seen this and consider it one of the year's best films. Based on James Ellroy's novel, it won't get nearly as much love as L.A. Confidential did, what with its strikingly literate script and dazzling cast, but Brian De Palma's lurid, obsessive vision goes into darker, snakier places than Curtis Hanson would ever dare dream of. Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart co-star as ex-boxers turned cops who investigate the case of a murdered would-be starlet (Mia Kirshner). Scarlett Johansson plays the woman who comes between them.
Bug -- Reports from Cannes indicate that this new film by Oscar-winner William Friedkin marks a return to form (though for a few of us, he's never really been away). Lionsgate is choosing to market the film as a thriller, but it sounds quite a bit more complex than that. Based on a play by Tracy Letts, Ashley Judd stars as Agnes, a melancholy bartender who meets up with a creepy ex-soldier (Michael Shannon, who played the role on stage) in a deserted hotel room. Bugs that may or may not be real begin burrowing under their skin. Harry Connick Jr. co-stars as Agnes' volatile ex-husband.
Trailer Park: Women and Missing Socks?
Filed under: Trailer Trash »
As I approach 30, I've come to accept the fact I will most likely live out the rest of my life without ever truly understanding women. Also, how is it one sock always manages to disappear after doing laundry? To me, those two are life's greatest mysteries. I don't care where we came from or whether or not God actually exists. Women and missing socks -- that's all I need to understand. Explain them and I'm set for life.
The following films all examine the unique relationships shared between men and women. Boys and girls. Him and her. The dude and his lady. Sometimes a woman can enter a man's life and completely ruin things, turn it upside down and shatter his foundation. However, the presence of a women, so delicate and warm, can also turn into life's most precious reward ... until a sock goes missing. Then it's war. Welcome to this week's Trailer Park:
Girls on Film: Domestic Violence and Media
'Spider-Man 4' Villain Rumor: Rachel McAdams as Black Cat
Original A-Team Making Cameos in New Movie?
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Exclusive: Poster Premiere for 'Extraordinary Measures'
