TomTykwer Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Movies can be very educational, especially if you look beyond the obvious marketing messages that are used to sell them. This past Friday, for example, James Gray's romantic drama Two Lovers was sold as "the movie where you can see what Joaquin Phoenix looks like without a bushy beard and a Grizzly Adams haircut" -- that's why he appeared on David Letterman, right? Tom Tykwer's The International was advertised as a "the movie where you can learn what the banks are really doing with your money." But both of these advertising campaigns obscured the educational possibilities of the films.

Two Lovers. This quiet character study follows the emotionally-wounded Joaquin Phoenix and his relationships with the beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow and the beautiful Vinessa Shaw. Single folks might be surprised at Phoenix's incredibly successful pickup technique. What I learned: He does nothing. Abso-frickin'-lutely nothing. His parents invite Shaw and her parents to dinner, and then she confesses to an interest in him. (Bear in mind that he attempted suicide, like, an hour before.) Shortly thereafter, he meets Paltrow, a new neighbor, in the hallway outside his parents' apartment. Whammo! He's juggling two relationships.

The International. The intended lesson to be learned from Tom Tykwer's tepid thriller is that bank debt is evil and makes CEOs do wicked things. (And here I thought it was simple greed and ignorance.) What I learned: Museums are dangerous. Stay out of the Guggenheim! That place is a shooting gallery. If you carry that thought through to its logical conclusion, then what the movie is really saying is that art and culture aren't good for you. Which ties in to its theme that corporations have taken over the world and there's nothing you can do about it. Unless you're Clive Owen with a three-day beard.

It never fails to impress me, the number of indie filmmakers who come around to crank out big-budget affairs within years of landing on the Hollywood scene. Striking while the iron's hot is one thing, but if you popped up after I pushed stop on a VHS copy of Swingers and told me that same director would also be responsible for not just one, but two high-gloss spy thrillers (The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith), I'd probably be more than a little skeptical (not to mention concerned as to who you were and what you were doing there). Similarly, if you stopped me immediately after viewing Following or Memento and insisted that this very same lot would soon reboot the Batman franchise to record-breaking success, I'd probably grin politely and begin to eye my exits.

My point is, it's been very close to a decade since director Tom Tykwer made a distinct impression with the fast life and loud sounds of his calling card, Run Lola Run, and to see him helming a Clive Owen-Naomi Watts espionage thriller like The International proves that much more unique when one considers how admirably straight-forward and strait-laced the end result is in comparison, to both his own work and that of others.

So Erik-with-a-k covered the coming comedies of 2009, Scott was all over the horror picks (though his inclusion of Race to Witch Mountain still boggles my mind), Eric-with-a-c nabbed the family-friendly fare, and Elisabeth went over the geek fodder that awaits. But while I respect their calendar years and made-up math alike, I've opted to divide my list of 2009's action and adventure flicks into four categories: Action Flicks I Couldn't Care More About, Action Flicks I Couldn't Care Less About, Action Flicks That I Hope Surprise Me, and Those Which Fell In Between. Enjoy!

Action Flicks I Couldn't Care More About: First and foremost -- Watchmen (March 6th). It's one hell of a graphic novel and looks to be one hell of an adaptation (with or without the Giant Blank), but the only problem is it may not hit theaters on time if 20th Century Fox has anything to say about it. Both Fox and Warner Brothers are fighting over who actually owns the rights, and if a judge favors Fox comes January 20th (when the court date is set), we're looking at a delayed release and a whole ton of angry fans. Then there's Public Enemies (July 1st), which has me sold on not the subject matter, but sheer pedigree: Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp and Christian Bale as '30s gangsters. (It doesn't hurt that the earliest word ranges from damn good to great.) On the skimpier side, I can only hope that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17th) streamlines its source material as the previous one had, and I can only hope that Crank 2: High Voltage (April 17th) lives up/down to the depravity of its predecessor. There's one last action movie that I couldn't care more about because, well, I've already seen a version of it. The international cut of Taken (January 30th, though reportedly opening with some R-dodging trims) is about as brisk and butt-kicking as one might hope out of a man-on-a-mission kidnapping thriller, and if you disagree, I'll send Liam Neeson to change your mind.

Gallery: Watchmen

It's amazing what a little Run Lola Run flavor can do for a trailer. Back in September, William Goss shared the first trailer for Clive Owen's The International. It was your typical uber dramatic sort of trailer -- what-if text, overtly dramatic music, gunshots -- way too familiar to really stick out and differentiate itself from every other action thriller out there. As a fan of the Clive, it did nothing for me.

But now the international trailer is out (go see it over at First Showing) and it looks like The International has hit its stride and made itself stand out. Ironically, they did it by going back to the familiar, the film that made director Tom Tykwer recognizable -- Run Lola Run. The trailer starts off typically, but then the beats slip in as "From Columbia Pictures" slips on the screen. Soon Owen is walking along a roof and it seems like Lola is going to rush by him at any second. While this might make the whole thing seem typical, it's still easy to see that this is nothing like Tykwer's run fest, even if the trailer has its share of running set to the beat. The music merely does its job at piquing interest and excitement.

I think I know what I'm doing on Valentine's Day. How about you? (The film hits theaters on February 13, 2009.)

Remember how Clive Owen showed up in The Bourne Identity as a fellow/rival assassin to Matt Damon's butt-kicking amnesiac? After watching the trailer for his new film, The International, I feel like director Tom Tykwer decided that he wanted to make something like that guy's own movie.

Okay, so maybe it's a bit more generic than that, with Owen playing an Interpol agent teaming up with a partner/potential love interest/possible traitor* (Naomi Watts) to take on some big bad bank with ties to all sorts of global espionage, and probably some ridiculous withdrawal fees to boot.

I'm not so hot on the prospect of the February "dumping ground" release date (see: Jumper, Vantage Point), but it'll be nice to have a more testosterone-fueled offering to counter-program all that other Valentine's Day fare. Besides, if Tykwer (Run Lola Run) decides that a big-budget thriller is worth his while, maybe it'll show past the paycheck -- I mean, if the director of Swingers can show us...

*Come on, he's even fed that adage of "Everyone is involved." Think about it...

Like many of the characters he plays, Clive Owen was reserved, astute and insightful throughout his public appearance at the Apple store in downtown Manhattan on Friday. Interviewed by American Psycho director Mary Harron as a part of a series of conversations co-hosted by Apple and indieWIRE, taking place during the Tribeca Film Festival, Owen touched on two of his recent projects while fielding broad questions about his professional interests.

Although not currently starring in any theatrical releases, Owen was in town performing opposite Julia Roberts in the corporate spy thriller Duplicity, the sophomore feature from Michael Clayton director Tony Gilroy (a special guest at the store the following night). "I read the script and thought it was brilliant," Owen said, adding that shooting was halfway done. "I'd met Tony already, and he screened Michael Clayton for me. Obviously, when I saw that, it was a no-brainer." Meanwhile, Owen has another thriller in his queue: He plays an Interpol agent fighting global arms dealing in The International, which finished shooting in New York last January and hits theaters next year. Directed by Run Lola Run visionary Tom Tykwer, The International has provided Owen with "as good a director as I've ever come across. He's incredibly on top of every aspect of filmmaking."

If you've ever quickly passed by the DVD for Lilya 4-ever in a store, you might have had to do a double take, thinking the girl on the cover was Michelle Williams -- a very young Michelle Williams, that is. The lead actress in that film, Oksana Akinshina, doesn't exactly look like Williams, but there are a few shots where you can see a resemblance. Take a look at this still, and this one, to see what I mean. With this in mind, I wonder if Lukas Moodysson, the writer-director of Lilya, was also thinking of Akinshana when he cast Williams to co-star in his next film, Mammoth. According to Variety, the Oscar-nominated actress will play the wife of Gael Garcia Bernal, who we previously learned would appear in Mammoth, which will be Moodysson's English-language debut. The film, about a couple "facing a crisis", begins shooting next week in Thailand. Filming will also take place in the Philippines, Sweden and New York.

Though the exact plot is still unclear, I previously made the prediction that it involved an affair between the husband played by Garcia and his 8-year-old daughter's nanny played by Filipino actress Marife Necesito. But then, I just assume all movies these days are about infidelity. The most I've read about the story so far is that Bernal's character is on a business trip to Thailand when he decides to seriously alter his life. I guess that could very well mean something other than cheat with the nanny. Whatever the plot, I'm excited. I am typically dubious regarding a favorite foreigner making an English-language film, but with Bernal and Williams on board, I am imagining great things. And this is even without the involvement of Lars von Trier, who had previously been named as a producer. However, Lars Jönsson, who has produced much of the work of both von Trier and Moodysson, is still attached, as is regular von Trier-producers Vibeke Windeløv and Peter Aalbæk Jensen and long-time Tom Tykwer-producer Maria Köpf. Sounds like it could be one of the best non-foreign-language foreign films to come out next year (so far it's set for Swedish release in August, but hopefully it will be easily picked up for the U.S., too).

It was back in April that Clive Owen became The International, switching things up after his time as a bank robber on Inside Man. Now he's finally got a co-star in Naomi Watts. Word over at The Hollywood Reporter is that she just signed onto the action thriller, which will head into production this fall at the hands of Run Lola Run helmer Tom Tykwer, from a script by first-time-scribe Eric Singer. The movie is about an "obsessive Interpol agent," played by Owen, who is leading an investigation into one of the most powerful banks in the world. His aim -- to expose their penchant for world-wide arms brokering, corruption and murder. Watts will be an assistant district attorney from the Big Apple who teams with Owen to bring the bank down.

This is an old, oft-used story -- the evil big business that must be brought down by the unstoppable and honest good guy, but I'm hoping that Tykwer infuses it with some Lola energy. I'm actually one of those people who liked both The Princess and the Warrior and Winter Sleepers, so I'm not too worried. Watts should be ready for the task -- she just finished hunting down answers against the Russian mob for Eastern Promises. As for Owen, I'm sure he'll be great, as long as the script is nothing like Derailed -- a movie that even he couldn't pull from the stinky depths of crap.

It's usually only a matter of time before any filmmaker makes a bad film, but early in many careers it is easy to think certain directors can do no wrong. Currently I feel this way about Tom Tykwer, who has been solid since his debut film, Deadly Maria. I have to confess I haven't yet gotten around to viewing the two films he made prior to his breakthrough, Run Lola Run, but I mean to really soon (if only watching movies was my first priority these days). The thing that is so special about Tykwer, though is, visible just with his last four features: He keeps improving upon his visual style while constantly changing things up a bit. Following last year's beautifully enchanting Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, I am very eagerly awaiting his next film.

That film has just been officially announced as The International, and it is set to star Clive Owen. And, from the sound of what little there is to know about the plot, it sounds like this is a film for anybody who still wishes Owen could play James Bond. It is an action-thriller about an Interpol agent (Owen, I assume) working on a case involving corruption and arms-dealing within a powerful banking institution, one which his own agency seems to be protecting. Tykwer is expected to begin shooting from Eric Singer's script this September.

This news is exciting because Owen's involvement could expose Tykwer to a bigger audience. Run Lola Run should have made the director a big name, but unfortunately too few people saw his even better subsequent films. Of course, we all saw recently with Children of Men that Owen isn't exactly the big draw that he should be either. Whether or not people see the film, though, is their own business. For me, I am only a bit worried about this film's script. It seems to be Singer's first screenplay, so it is hard to be prejudiced, but that doesn't mean I'm not wary. That said, though, the director's last two films were based on the work of others (he was fortunate enough to work off of Kieslowski on one of those) and were still great, so hopefully this won't be a problem.

I posted several months ago about the first, tension-filled teaser for Tom Tykwer's Perfume. For those of you who, understandably, haven't been following along, the movie is based on a German novel (For what it's worth, it's been "hailed as one of the most influential works of German literature in the past two decades" -- are you suitably impressed?) about a guy with the earth's best sense of smell but also, sadly, no personal aroma whatsoever. Ah, irony. He becomes obsessed with bottling the scent of a virgin and, while it's unclear whether he's got a specific virgin in his sights or is after a more general smell, the trailer makes it clear that some of the ladies don't live through the extraction process. (Of course, given that the novel's full title is Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, the deaths aren't exactly shocking.)

Though the movie doesn't come out in Germany until September, the first full trailer has emerged and, despite the fact that I understand not one word (it's in German, you see), it retains the eerie intensity of that early teaser, and does nothing to reduce my (fearful) eagerness to see the film. There's a lot more to see here than in the teaser -- we get a greater sense of the supporting characters (including Dustin Hoffman, who I think plays a non-violent perfumer, and Alan Rickman, who seems to be involved with one of the unlucky ladies, and looks very funny in a period wig), as well as further confirmation that the movie is going to be creepy as hell (was that a girl in a life-sized test tube?).

Perfume comes out in the US in December.

[via AICN]