TheLimitsOfControl Tagged Articles at Cinematical

400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

I'm rather dismayed by the huge success of the awful He's Just Not That Into You (21 screens). I mean, I like Bradley Cooper in general, and Justin Long's character is interesting for a while, at least until his stupid Hollywood redemption during the third act. And it does pose an interesting question: if you were married to Jennifer Connelly and had the chance to sleep with Scarlett Johansson, would you do it? I prefer to think of this question as a koan, or an unanswerable riddle meant to be pondered during meditation. Now, I know what you're thinking: this guy just doesn't like chick flicks. Not true. I love chick flicks, provided they're good, which they rarely are. Chick flicks are almost like horror films; the filmmakers have their audience hooked already and so most of them do the minimum amount of work required to crank out another just like the last one.

A man with no name sits down at an outdoor cafe and orders two espressos in separate cups. A flock of birds gently take flight. A helicopter briefly whirls overhead. The man sips espresso. Silence. Calm.

A man with no name sits down at an outdoor cafe and orders two espressos in separate cups. A flock of birds gently take flight. A helicopter briefly whirls overhead. The man sips espresso. Silence. Calm. He is approached by another person, who sits down. The other person says "You don't speak Spanish, right?" The other person says something more, in Spanish or in another language. The man removes a matchbox from his pocket. The other person places a matchbox with the same design, but a different color, on the table. The matchboxes are exchanged. The other person says something more, and leaves. The man opens the newly-exchanged matchbox, takes out a tiny piece of paper, unfolds it, reads the coded, hand-written message on it, puts it in his mouth, and swallows it along with another sip of espresso.

A man with no name sits down at an outdoor cafe ...

So goes Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control, the perfect summer movie for people who prefer museums to amusement parks. Wearing a multitude of enigmas on its well-coifed sleeve, the film is cool, dark, mysterious, and altogether refreshing. Isaach De Bankolé plays The Man With No Name (actually identified as "Lone Man" in the credits), and if that moniker calls forth memories of Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns, so much the better, though Lone Man's espressos, matchboxes, and chastity place him firmly within the realm of post-modern masculinity.

Let's start this week's Indie Roundup by noting Eugene Novikov's fine article on seven indies that deserve a little love in the next few months. Beyond his picks, my indie summer begins with Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control. Jarmusch is an idiosyncratic director who continues to riff on some of the same themes that have occupied his subtle, haunting, and beautiful films since the 1980s. His latest, photographed by Christopher Doyle, follows a mysterious loner (Isaach De Bankolé) who journeys across Spain. It opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday before expanding in the following weeks.

Deals. Zheng Wei's drama Fish Eyes, which is screening this week at the Tribeca Film Festival, has been picked up by Benten/Watchmaker Films. Shot on a tiny budget with non-professional actors, and set during the period between the Sichuan earthquake and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the film revolves around a father, his son, and a mysterious woman who enters their lives. Fish Eyes is the debut of director Zheng, and also represents the debut plunge into theatrical waters for Benten. The company acquired all North American, UK, and European rights for the film.

Box Office. Playing on one screen, Nursery University resided at the top of the indie charts last weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, grossing $11,307. Directed by Marc H. Simon and Matthew Makar, the documentary aims to provide "a good-humored look at the oddly competitive environment of nursery school admissions," where the annual tuition is upwards of $20,000. James Toback's doc Tyson opened on seven screens and enjoyed decent returns (7,731 per-screen average), with Paolo Sorrentino's biopic Il Divo close behind ($6,934 each at two screens).

After the jump: LAAPFF!

Click image below to view full poster

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for The Limits of Control, which premiered a bizarre-yet-intriguing trailer the other day and comes from acclaimed director Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise, Broken Flowers, Ghost Dog). Starring Isaach De Bankolé, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Gael Garcia Bernal and John Hurt (not a bad cast if you ask me), The Limits of Control follows a mysterious loner (and criminal) who's in the process of completing a job. Not a whole lot to go on there, but the best kept secrets are the ones that are, well, best kept secret.

Also, the music in the film is getting a lot of buzz; the Japanese trip Boris wrote and performed most of the songs, while Jarmusch wrote and performed -- along with Carter Logan (drums, percussion) and Shane Stoneback (carillon, organ) -- the music in the trailer. (Read more about that here.) The film marks the fourth time Jarmusch has collaborated with De Bankolé, not to mention the other cast members who've found themselves drifting through a Jarmusch flick at some point. Really looking forward to this one; the film hits theaters on May 22. Check out the full poster by clicking the image below.

Star Trek
I stopped watching trailers and clips for Watchmen awhile ago because I want to save something for the final release. I'm almost at that same place with JJ Abrams' new Star Trek movie, but this latest Trek trailer throws out some tantalizing bits. Kirk's dad was in Starfleet? He knew Captain Pike? Don't bother with the transporter, I'm already on board for this one, and it hits on May 8.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
If you're a hardcore Harry Potter fan you've probably already finished reading the novels, so this penultimate film in the series will have no real surprises. The question is how well will the film retell Rowling's story, and if this trailer is any indication the answer is "quite well indeed, thank you very much." Hope everyone's gotten their letter from Hogwart's because the Hogwart's Express departs on July 17.

The Limits of Control
This trailer will have you wondering what the heck is going on, but it piqued my curiosity enough to make me want to see the movie. There's this mysterious guy, there's talk of revenge and how useless it is. It's all pretty cryptique. My enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that this is from Jim Jarmusch, director of the disappointing Broken Flowers, but who knows. This one gets a limited release on May 22.

I regret to say that I don't feel that I've seen enough of Jim Jarmusch's work to determine whether or not I'm a capital-f Fan, but I do know that I do like what I have seen -- namely, Broken Flowers, much of Coffee and Cigarettes, and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

That last title seems to be the one to which his new film, The Limits of Control, merits the most comparison, if this new trailer (watch at Apple or below) is any indication. This time, though, our stoic assassin (Isaach De Bankole) has a bit more of an ensemble to work with on the streets of Spain, including Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Gael Garcia Bernal and melonfarmin' Bill Murray.

Normally, I'd be put off by the hipper-than-thou fortune-cookie banter we're treated to here, but I've got a feeling that there might be more than meets the eye (namely, the other 98 minutes of the movie), and speaking of 'meets the eye,' it certainly never hurts when cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Hero) is lensing your latest.

The Limits of Control goes into limited release on May 1st.

When news broke about Jim Jarmusch's next film back in November, The Limits of Control, it was said that JJ regular Isaach De Bankolé would star, along with "an international collection of bankable stars." Well, they're certainly living up to the promise so far. Reuters reports that the filmmaker has once again grabbed Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton for roles, both of whom appeared in Broken Flowers, as well as Gael Garcia Bernal. That fills the old comedy contingent, the drama power, and the young Mexican boy-crazy crowd.

It turns out that this will be a road movie of sorts -- how, they're not saying. We know that De Bankolé will play an outlaw doing some sort of job in Spain, and Reuters adds that he's a loner, but that's it. Since the road comes into play, I imagine either he'll try to hook on to some innocent roadtrippers to escape the area, or maybe they'll be his accomplices -- but that latter doesn't work with the loner deal. The film shoots this month in Spanish cities like Seville, Madrid, and Almeria, so hopefully we'll hear more soon.

Meanwhile: Swinton has been busy all over the literary world, from filming Burn After Reading, to some Narnia, to Lewis Carroll and a stint as Lady Macbeth, Bill's spent some time getting Smart and leading the City of Ember, and Bernal has been busy with a number of foreign projects from Mammoth to Pedro Paramo.

There's nothing like a little Jim Jarmusch to get the blood flowing.There's Johnny Depp traveling the frontier in Dead Man. Or, perhaps some Coffee & Cigarettes with the wonderful Tom Waits. Or even something like Broken Flowers that has Bill Murray looking for a long-lost son while Jeffrey Wright goes nuts with the channeling of Nancy Drew. (I would love a whole movie with Wright as a zany sleuth.) Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Jarmusch is teaming up with Focus Features again, who will deal with the film's worldwide distribution, for his next project -- the currently-titled The Limits of Control.

The movie focuses on "a secretive, mysterious outlaw" played by Jarmusch pro Isaach De Bankolé, who is "in the process of completing an undisclosed criminal job around Spain." Like Flowers, the actor will be teamed with "an international collection of bankable stars" to up the appeal to wider audiences. He has, however, had his own share of high-profile flicks, nabbing parts as Steven Obanno in Casino Royale, and Neptune in Miami Vice. (Although my favorite role of his is his stint as Timothy in Manderlay -- iffy movie, good role.) Either way, the casting plan worked last time, as Flowers nabbed the Grand Prix award at Cannes, and was the filmmaker's highest-grossing film. Production begins in Spain this February.