Even though it wasn't necessarily my kind of movie, I can't deny that Enchanted was a huge hit -- and not just for the kiddies either. Looking to capitalize on some of that magic, Varietyreports that Warner Bros. has hired Enchanted director Kevin Lima to helm the adaptation of the children's fantasy novel, The Spook's Apprentice (aka, The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch). Note: Thankfully, Donald Trump is not involved.
The story will be based on the first book from Joseph Delaney's The Wardstone Chronicles, and it's centered on a young farm boy named Tom in a fictionalized Ireland known as The County. Tom is the seventh son of a seventh son, which in the world of The County means he is privy to all sorts of info about ghosts and goblins. Most of the story focuses on Tom's introduction to a mysterious sorcerer known as The Spook, and his time as his apprentice.
Originally conceived as a project for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, WB already has a script courtesy of Matt Greenberg. Now that Lima has signed to direct, his team of producers will be in charge of re-working the whole thing. In fact, the group has already flown to London to work on the script with Delaney. Lima made his name as an animator for Disney, but has proven that he is just as capable with flesh and blood actors. There is no word on a release date for Apprentice, but judging from the box office returns Lima has been earning for Disney, I doubt WB is going to waste much time.
The New York Post's Joe Neumaier claims that Jack Nicholson told London reporters that he "warned" Heath Ledger: but about what, exactly? Burning the candle at both ends? Playing a gay cowboy in a homophobic country? "Well, I warned him," is the full and exact quote. Still, under the caption of Nicholson in full purple regalia in the Post, it claims Nicholson "warned Ledger about the part [of The Joker]." Neumaier notes other reports that Ledger had slept two hours a night during the filming of The Dark Knight, and that Ledger had told the press "prescription drugs didn't help."
This might just be a ghoulish attempt to capitalize on Ledger's death by linking him to a celebrated screen and comic book villain, so I thought I'd check Burton on Burton (edited by Mark Salisbury) to see if Tim Burton recalled Nicholson going through similar angst when making the 1989 Batman, giving him grounds for worrying about the stress on another actor playing the role. Not quite. On Nicholson, Burton commented, "He was very cool...he was very calming and helpful and would just say, `Get what you need, get what you want, and just keep going.'" (Thanks to Moviefone for this tipoff.)
Gone are the days when movie clips that are barely longer than a blink of an eye take eons to download. With the wonders of streaming media, you can check out the interview above, with director Tim Burton, which is a whopping 40 minutes long and part of MCN's ongoing Lunch with David (Poland) interview series. He talks about the time that needs to pass before he can enjoy watching his movie (3-7 years), his distaste of becoming a "thing" instead of remaining a person, the struggles of getting his film made, and much much more. Much of it delves into his views on creating the cinematic version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street -- casting, changes from the stage production, capturing eyes and moments...
It's a good interview if you can find the time to sit down and watch it. It makes me wonder how much better DVD special features would be these days if they were personal interviews rather than impersonal video clips. There's just something about the reaction to the question, and a conversation, that's a heck of a lot more interesting than something one-sided.
No Country for Old Men could go on to win Best Director at the Oscars, but unlike the Academy, the Hollywood Foreign Press will actually recognize both of the Coen Brothers. Everyone knows that Ethan and Joel co-direct their films, but due to Director's Guild and Academy rules, only Joel is allowed credit for them. Therefore their win of the Golden Globe for Best Director will be the better honor. And boy do they deserve it! With No Country, they've delivered a stunning film that exemplifies the two major dimensions of the craft: visual storytelling and management of the acting performances.
One thing that has always impressed me about the work of Neil Gaiman -- even though the man writes fairy tales, he never sugar-coats it for the kids. Case in point: the author is now hosting a clip from the upcoming adaptation of Coraline on his personal web site, and it can probably be summed up in one word -- creepy. Based on Gaiman's Hugo award winning novella, the story focuses on a young girl who discovers an alternate world with very twisted versions of her home and family -- for starters they all have buttons sewn over their eyes. The young heroine is then charged with rescuing her family and freeing the souls of trapped children from the clutches of the "other mother."
Coraline stars the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French (or as I like to call them: one of the funniest comedy duos of all time), and Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives) as the "other mother." The film was directed by Henry Selick, who is a stop-motion animation vet and is probably best known for directing Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. Stop-motion animation is probably one of the most painstaking processes around, so I can only imagine how long it took to create the clip on Gaiman's site. Not to mention the fact that this film will be the first to use stop-motion animation in a 3D format. It almost makes you forgive the fact that it's going to a full year before Coraline finally hits theaters on January 16th, 2009.
This week, we finally get to see what the ghoulish Sweeney Todd is made of; or, rather, what he's like in the mind of Tim Burton. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street comes out this Friday, and Moviefone has unleashed its latest Unscripted interview between director Tim Burton and star Johnny Depp. If talk of shoes, touching moments, and letter-writing weren't up your alley with Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank in the P.S. I Love You installment, this should entertain you a little bit more.
They've both faced a mountain of scary things, from the eerie Legend of Sleepy Hollow to, well, a murderous barber, but this time around, they're both scared. I guess there's just something about unscripted reality that's a bit more daunting. There's talk of flatulent horses, how the two met, fans, reality, and Depp's inspiration for the film. Johnny talks about Steven Sondheim's music, and how that brought the character to him, but unfortunately, he doesn't mention his eerier actor practices, which came out last December -- him listening to creepy music and slicing through the air as if he was slicing throats.
But the best should come on Friday, when the film hits theaters. If you've never stepped onto Fleet Street before -- Todd is a bitter man who was wrongly imprisoned and is determined to have his vengeance. Instead of going Dexter, Todd decides to open up a barber shop to kill his victims, with the help of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), a woman who knows what spices complement human flesh.
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is not technicallyTim Burton's. He produced the film and conceived it, but it was, in fact, written by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) and directed by Henry Selick (who later helmed the bizarre but unjustly hated Monkeybone). Still, you feel Burton in every single frame. As audiences eagerly await Burton's Sweeney Todd, I thought this would be an ideal time to look back at his previous stab at the musical genre.
The story of Nightmare is a simple one. Jack Skellington (voiced by Prince Humperdinck himself -- Chris Sarandon, with composer Danny Elfman handling singing duties) is the "Pumpkin King" of Halloweentown, but he has become bored in the role. He literally stumbles into a place called Christmas Town, loves what he sees, and decides to hijack the holiday. Skellington even (in the film's funniest segment) takes over the gift delivery duties for Santa Claus ("Sandy Claws"). And of course, there's a not entirely necessary love interest -- Sally, voiced by an unrecognizable Catherine O'Hara.
Speaking of Elfman, the scores he has written for Tim Burton's films are some of the most memorable in modern film. Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman/Batman Returns, and Edward Scissorhands wouldn't have been nearly as wonderful without Elfman's glorious music. In The Nightmare Before Christmas, the music of Elfman is front and center, and his songs -- whose staccato rhythms and mixture of singing and speaking certainly owe a debt to Sweeney Todd composer Stephen Sondheim -- suit the film perfectly. The catchiest of Elfman's tunes is "What's This?" It's the kind of song you'll find yourself singing days later, during the most mundane of activities. Just this morning, I walked into the bathroom singing "What's this, what's this? My toothbrush on the sink! What's this, what's this? I'll brush my teeth I think!" Thank God I live alone.
It was over two years ago that word started to rumble that Paul Reubens, otherwise known as Pee-Wee Herman, was going to find his way to the big screen once again in two new features -- something for kids, and something a bit more adult-tantalizing. Most recently, there was word in April, when Ruebens said the one was in "pre-pre-pre-production." Making a tortoise look speedy, neither are in the works yet, but Pee-Wee talked with MTV recently and said that they're both ready to go, and gave some plot details.
The first, you might remember, is a kid-friendly spin-off of his Playhouse, featuring all the original characters. This time, however, the film would take him and his friends out of the house for the first time. "this [film] takes place out of the playhouse. I think there are one or two scenes in the playhouse in the beginning. Basically, it's all in a fantasy land. It's like a Wizard of Oz, H.R. Pufnstuf epic adventure story." The second, the "dark" Pee-Wee movie, won't be R, but it will be Herman as a famous singer: "He has a hit single and gets brought out to Hollywood to make musical movies. He does everything wrong and becomes a big jerk." He insists that it isn't biographical.
But there's the kicker. He feels confident that he can star in both, but if he doesn't... "My second option is to have Johnny Depp play Pee-Wee." He says that he has even approached Depp about it, and that Johnny told him: "Let me think about it." Could that mean Tim Burton could return to the Herman fold? Of course, Reubens also talked to him, and says: "I have talked to Tim about one of them about a year ago. But Tim is booked. I think he would be interested in it, but he's really busy."
Reubens wants to "switch into a higher gear" to get these films made in the New Year, so maybe we won't have to wait another two years before something actually happens with this production. Excited yet?
Most people consider the National Board of Review irrelevant, and yet they continue to write about the organization's annual film honors. Like the Oscars, though, it doesn't matter if the NBR is irrelevant or not. It's been around for nearly a century now, and it's been a significant part of awards season for many decades. Maybe the organization is made up of paid-entry film buffs rather than critics or "experts" but at the end of the day its members are simply movie lovers like you and me. And sometimes those members even champion and endorse movies that deserve that extra notice.
Sure, the 2007 mentions by the NBR seem so exhaustive that I almost can't even think of a movie that didn't get an award. Also, many of them seem like obvious and predictable decisions (doesn't this just mean the movies were noteworthy enough to receive the awards anyway?). Some of the winners, though, are pretty satisfying. Tim Burton probably won't win an Oscar for best director, so it's good to see him honored here. Also, I wouldn't have expected Lars and the Real Girlto get an original screenplay mention from anywhere. Nor did I expect for The Bucket Listto land on any top ten lists. Mostly, I'm delighted to see Casey Affleck recognized for his acting.
Heeeeeere's Johnny! No, really. He's here, or he will be on Wednesday, December 5. By "Johnny," of course, we mean the man better known to fans of Pirates of the Caribbean and 21 Jump Streetas Johnny Depp; and by "here" we mean right here in Moviefone's studios, answering your questions with director Tim Burton as part of our Unscripted interview series.
Depp is starring in one of the most anticipated films of the season, and that's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the Stephen Sondheim musical that's finally getting the lavish on-screen treatment it's due. At the helm is frequent Depp collaborator Tim Burton; and if you've ever been lucky enough to catch the musical, you'll know that Burton is perfect to direct the dark and twisted tale of Sweeney Todd (Depp), "the demon barber of Fleet Street," who, with the help of his landlady (Helena Bonham Carter), kills people and bakes them into scrumptious meat pies. It's sort of like Waitressexcept with killing, crazier hair ... and singing!
There's been a ton of Oscar talk around the movie, Depp, Burton and Bonham Carter, and now's your chance to interrogate both Depp and Burton for yourself. Hit Captain Jack and, uh, Mr. Burton with whatever you're dying to know, then check back the week of December 17 to see if your question made it on the air.
To submit a question, you can leave it here in the comments, or you can text one to AskCelebs@aol.com (brought to you by Verizon Wireless). Please provide your first name and your city and state, and if you're looking for inspiration, then take a look at some of our past Unscripted interviews here. Good luck!
Several people who have attended the first critic's screenings of Sweeney Todd-- a.k.a., not me -- are declaring themselves totally wowed, although they're all bending over backwards to respect an embargo. Jeff Wells at Hollywood-Elsewhere was so impressed by the film that he declared Tim Burton's decade-long decline to be now officially reversed. He also speculated that Sweeney Todd may be Burton's best film since 1988's Beetlejuice -- high praise, indeed. Wells even goes a little overboard, stating that "at times it melted me like a candle. I was lifted, moved. I was never not aroused." Okay, we get it Jeff -- the movie better live up to that embarrassing hyperbole.
Tom O'Neil at The Envelope starts his review thusly -- "'Sweeney Todd' is the best pic of 2007" -- pretty straightforward, no? "Everybody whose opinion I pooled after the screening tonight said they thought the movie and Johnny Depp were brilliant," he goes on to say. But like Wells, he thinks the film may see its Best Picture hopes held up by a childishly heavy focus on gore. There are apparently rivers of blood in this film, to the point that even some who enjoyed the film tremendously claimed to be turned off by that aspect.
David Poland joins the chorus of cheers, predicting that Depp will win the Best Actor award for his performance as the demon barber and saying that the film demands multiple viewings just to take it all in. Okay, you've twisted my arm -- I'll go see it.
"I promise to polish you off quicker than any barber in London," simpers Mr. Todd, as played by the obsequious Mr. Tod Slaughter. While we're waiting for the new Depp/Burton Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, we can scan over the ancient version, maybe while playing the Stephen Sondheim album in the background. The 1936 film has a reputation for creaking like a badly-greased windmill, while an eye-rolling British ham goes through his rounds. Expect to hear just that received idea in many a review of the upcoming Sweeney Todd. Such is the craft of what a friend refers to as "bullcrit" (n., the repeating of overheard ideas without personal experience).
In this space, writing about Orson Welles' Mr. Arkadin, I was mentioning how much I was coming to enjoy really ripe theatrical acting. And then comes this brilliant New Yorker article by Claudia Roth Pierpont (only abstracted on their site, unfortunately). She discusses the different approaches to Shakepeare on film by Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles. Both were primarily theatrical actors, given to exotic makeup and putty noses. I'd never compare Olivier and Tod Slaughter, but to use the evolutionary parlance, they had a common ancestor: the flamboyant British stage actor Edmund Kean, whose bravura knife-waving performances of the Bard used to electrify audiences of the early 1800s. As the vengeful razor-man, Slaughter is actually better than you've heard. I was happy to read that then film-critic Graham Greene once praised Slaughter as "one of our finest living actors."
Even though I know he has sung before on screen, I've got to tell you -- I'm not accustomed to listening to Johnny Depp sing Sondheim. The official website for Tim Burton's big-screen version of Sweeney Todd has undergone a makeover and is now packed with musical clips, downloads, and the behind-the-scenes featurette that was making the rounds on the net recently.
The film stars Depp as the murderous Barber of Fleet Street and Burton's latest muse (and wife) Helena Bonham Carter, as Todd's partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, the story follows Sweeney Todd, who returns home to London after escaping the life imprisonment of Benjamin Barker only to find his wife and daughter Johanna have suffered at the hands of the man who had him falsely imprisoned (Alan Rickman). With the help of his former landlady (Carter), Sweeney launches a plan for revenge.
So if you are like me and aren't quite used to the idea of a musical Johnny Depp, then this is your chance. Because unlike most of the TV spots for the film, the web site is all about the music; in fact, you can't get away from it even if you wanted to. Depp has been quoted as saying that he took a "punk rock approach" to his singing parts in the film, and you can definitely hear a little Johnny Rotten mixed in there along with the Broadway stylings. So even though I'm not a huge fan of musicals, the combination of Burton, Depp, and Carter (who has always been one of my favorite actresses) is perfect for the black humor needed to make this film work. I'll keep my fingers crossed when Sweeney Todd hits theaters on December 21st.
A new Sweeney Todd making-of featurette has hit the internet, and any fan of either Johnny Depp or Tim Burton's well advised to check the footage out; of course, as with any piece of marketing making-of material, what the piece doesn't say is almost as interesting as what it does. One of the more notable bits in the featurette is how it almost seems to be bracing audiences for how violent the movie's going to be; this is, after all, a movie about a mass-murderer. Alan Rickman notes with a jovial grin that "There'll be loads of blood spraying all over the place, so if that's your thing, you're going to have plenty of it. ..." So, then, squeamish moviegoers: You can't say you haven't been warned.
Another sequence in the piece offers an in-depth look at the title character's implements of death, the straight razors he used to wield bloodlessly as a barber. After several close-up shots of the wicked-looking blades, Burton notes of Sweeney's tools that "The razors are just an extension of him, really." We then cut to Depp, in character, holding a razor aloft and exclaiming "My arm is complete again. ..." Depp, Burton and a lead character with a sharp object at the end of his wrist; I guess someone thought that it might be wise to evoke the visuals (if not the gentler spirit) of Edward Scissorhands.
But with all the warnings of bloodshed and the invocation of past collaboration in the spot, it's still notable that the piece doesn't mention the film's musical nature, and only includes a brief section of a musical number -- and even that's more spoken than sung by Depp. I guess the question is: Are modern audiences more afraid of musical numbers than bloodshed? And is DreamWorks actively trying to hide Sweeney Todd's Broadway origins?
I don't believe the hype that 3-D will dominate the movie world in the near future, but it does seem like a lot of movies are using the technology these days. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Disney will release the animated feature Bolt, (once called American Dog) in Digital 3-D next year. Bolt features the voices of John Travolta, Woody Harrelson, and Susie Essman (who had better curb her Curb Your Enthusiasm language!). It tells "the story of a TV star dog named Bolt (Travolta) who is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York, where he begins a cross-country journey through the real world." Chris Williams directs the film.
Disney has been one of the biggest supporters of 3-D. In recent years, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, andthe sweet, sweet Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas were all released in the format. Speaking of Nightmare, as Monika told you earlier this month, Tim Burton has signed to produce and direct 3-D versions of Alice in Wonderland and his own terrific short film, Frankenweenie for Disney. On the opposite end of the cool spectrum, Disney's next 3-D release is the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour, which will play in theaters Feb. 1-7. Start scalping those tickets now!
Even though it wasn't necessarily my kind of movie, I can't deny that Enchanted was a huge hit -- and not just for the kiddies either. Looking to capitalize on some of that magic, Variety reports that Warner Bros. has hired Enchanted director Kevin Lima to helm the adaptation of the children's fantasy novel, The Spook's Apprentice (aka, The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch). Note: Thankfully, Donald Trump is not involved.
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This week, we finally get to see what the ghoulish Sweeney Todd is made of; or, rather, what he's like in the mind of Tim Burton. 
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Most people consider the National Board of Review irrelevant, and yet they continue to write about the organization's annual film honors. Like the Oscars, though, it doesn't matter if the NBR is irrelevant or not. It's been around for nearly a century now, and it's been a significant part of awards season for many decades. Maybe the organization is made up of paid-entry film buffs rather than critics or "experts" but at the end of the day its members are simply movie lovers like you and me. And sometimes those members even champion and endorse movies that deserve that extra notice.
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Full 'G.I. Joe' Cast Photos!
