Posts tagged WimWenders at Cinematical

Posts with tag WimWenders

Looking at the Planet with '8' Killer Directors

Posted Mar 31st 2008 6:32PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Foreign Language, Casting, Shorts

Every once in a while, a follow-up news piece pops up that makes me wonder where I've been. In case you missed it as well -- there's a new anthology hitting screens this year called 8, and it's got a bunch of interesting directors attached. There are the likes of Jane Campion, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mira Nair, Gus Van Sant, and Wim Wenders, plus Gaspar Noe, Abderrahmane Sissako, and Jan Kounen.

Unlike the "I Love You" odes to famous cities, the film will tackle 8 themes and 8 films from famous directors that focus on the progress, set-backs, and challenges that face our planet. It's not just an environmental picture, but rather, it focuses on themes of poverty/hunger (Sissako's Tiya's Dream), education (Garcia Bernal's The Letter), gender equality (Nair's How Can It Be), child mortality (Van Sant's Mansion on the Hill), maternal health (Kounen's The Story of Panshin Beka), HIV/AIDS and other diseases (Noe's SIDA), environmental sustainability (Campion's The Water Diary) and development (Wenders' Person to Person).

It's sort of like Invisibles, which Kim reviewed from SIFF last year, and which also had a short from Wim Wenders. Now Variety reports that Marta McGonagle (iCarly) has signed on for a role in his segment -- although there is no word on what his segment, titled Person to Person, will be specifically about. For now, you can get a bunch of information from the film's website.

Lovett and Stanton Head for 'The Open Road'

Posted Mar 25th 2008 9:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Casting

The latest Wim Wenders (produced) film, The Open Road, was sounding pretty decent back in February, when Jeff Bridges, Justin Timberlake, and Mary Steenburgen signed on. Now it's gotten even better -- The Hollywood Reporter has posted that both Lyle Lovett and Harry Dean Stanton have joined the cast. I just wish that Wim was heading this feature, since the last time that both Stanton and Wenders were on the same project, it was in the great film Paris, Texas back in 1984. This time around, writer/director Michael Meredith gets the honor (he did write Wenders' Land of Plenty, so this isn't out of left field).

The film is a reconciliation tale that focuses on a man (Timberlake) who is trying to reconcile with his former sports pro father (Bridges) as they head to his ailing mother's bedside. As Christopher Campbell noted back in April of 2007, there's also a girlfriend in the road trip mix. THR says that Kate Mara is the other player in this film, so I imagine she's Justin's love interest. As for Lyle and Harry -- the former plays a Memphis bartender who "lends a helpful ear" to Timberlake's character, while the latter will play his grandfather.

After his creepy stint as Roman Grant in Big Love, it will be nice to see him as a grandfather who isn't some gangster-like Mormon. Then again, maybe he is, but that'd be a totally different sort of story. Production is currently underway in Louisiana.

Timberlake, Bridges, and Steenburgen Head for 'The Open Road'

Posted Feb 8th 2008 6:32PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Casting

When 'N Sync was prancing around the stage in the late '90s, did anyone imagine that one of the dudes would become a pretty successful actor in less than 10 years? I mean, I'm sure Jeff Bridges didn't see Justin Timberlake on the boob tube and say: Gee, that kid should play my son in something! It's as weird as watching Ronnie Regan in his movies and imagining that he'd become President. NOTE: I am, in no way, suggesting Justin will turn to politics -- I'm just noting surprising career moves.

Anyway, Variety reports that Timberlake is about to head on The Open Road with Bridges, the comedy drama that Christopher Campbell first blogged about almost a year ago. Under filmmaker Wim Wenders' watchful eye, writer Michael Meredith will direct his own script. This was going to be a reunion for the Land of Plenty crew, but unfortunately, it seems that cinematographer Franz Lustig has been replaced by Yaron Orbach.

Road is a reconciliation tale about a young man who reconnects with his dad, "a legendary athlete, as he struggles to get him home to his ailing mother's bedside." While the parts aren't specifically laid out, I imagine Bridges is the dad, Timberlake the son, and Mary Steenburgen is the mom. Initial reports also described a girlfriend on the trip, but there is no word about that role in this latest bit of news. This could be at least partly autobiographical, as Meredith's dad is ex Cowboys QB Don Meredith, but for this film, the sports figure is a baseball legend. Personally, I'm interested in seeing how Meredith handles the comedic aspects since Land of Plenty was all sorts of somber -- good, but somber. The film is scheduled to slip into production in Louisiana later this month.

Wim Wenders Ushers New Director Down 'Open Road'

Posted Apr 9th 2007 2:01PM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Independent, Sports, Cinematical Indie

It has been a couple years since Wim Wenders' last feature film (Don't Come Knocking), as the director has been busy working on shorts for three different compilations (including the Cannes showcase, To Each His Cinema). And now it appears that instead of immediately heading back to a full-length of his own, he will be very closely producing Michael Meredith's second feature, Open Road. Meredith wrote Wenders' Land of Plenty and previously directed the little-seen 3 Days of Rain, an interlocking of six Chekov adaptations, which starred his father, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith, and Peter Falk, who also starred in Wenders' best film, Wings of Desire.

The film is a father-son reconciliation tale (after The Thing About My Folks, also starring Falk, I could do without another) about a man who heads out on a road trip with his girlfriend and his estranged father, a former sports pro. Although this sounds like it could be autobiographical, the father in the film will be a baseball legend, not a football legend. Still, even if the elder Meredith is not cast in the role, it will be easy to make the assumption. As an added attraction for sports fans, there is a chance that real baseball legends, such as Yogi Berra and Johnny Bench, will have cameos. Wenders is apparently holding Michael Meredith's hand on the film, serving as a visual consultant and seemingly a liason to German cinematographer Franz Lustig, who shot Land of Plenty and Don't Come Knocking. The collaboration should begin shooting this summer in Louisiana.

News Bites: Obi's Cloak, Money for Antonioni/Wenders and Painting Becomes a Movie

Posted Mar 9th 2007 4:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Action, Drama, Foreign Language, Deals, Fandom, Family Films

Nibbles for you:

In January, Erik reported that Obi Wan's brown cloak from the Star Wars movies was going on the auction block. While bidding didn't explode past the approximately $100,000 starting price, it did make its mark, selling for $104,000 to an anonymous telephone bidder. Did Mr. Lucas slide his own bet in, using the Dark Side to keep others from bidding the price up? Good lord, you could buy an island for that! Personally, I would've grabbed Terry Jones' metal helmet from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That went for what seems like a paltry $19,300 in comparison.
Sicily has a new funding program for films, budgeted at $9.2 million, that is going to help two premiere foreign filmmakers, and Oscar nominees, make their next features. Michelangelo Antonioni will use his funding to make Aquiloni sull'Etna, translated as North Winds on Mt. Etna, while Wim Wenders will use his share to make Palermo Story. First, props to Antonioni for making a feature at 95, and second, I hope this Wenders film doesn't get swallowed for years like Land of Plenty did.
When you can't find adaptation inspiration in literature or television, where do you turn? Well, Lionsgate and the Firm think you turn to art. Thomas Kinkade's painting, The Christmas Cottage, will be the source for the feature, and the aim is to release it as Santa rolls around next Winter. The movie, which was written by Prairie Home Companion collaborator Ken LaZebnick, will use the painting to discuss the artists life -- he began painting when his mother was about to lose the family home. I can't blame the studios for wanting a piece of this -- Kinkade's company claims they sold $1.7 billion of his artwork at retail, and $2.4 billion in licensed products. I guess he's not starving.

Secret Cannes Film No Longer a Secret

Posted Feb 20th 2007 4:01PM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Foreign Language, Cannes, Shorts

Earlier this month, I posted about a secret film debuting at the Cannes Film Festival. All that was known at the time was that it would be a compilation of 30 shorts, each about three minutes long and directed by an internationally respected filmmaker, and that it wouldn't be shown to the public. Now, thanks to an official press release, we learn that there are in fact 33 shorts from 35 filmmakers (including two pairs of brothers) and that the film, titled To Each his Own Cinema, will air on French television on May 20 following its premiere at the festival. So now I don't have to wish I could attend Cannes; I have to wish I got Canal +.

Also revealed are the names of the 35 participants, all of whom were supposed to be kept secret until the film's unveiling, and a few details about the project. Each director was assigned the task of filming, "their current state of mind as inspired by the motion-picture theater." The only individual specifics mentioned in the press release, which was written by festival head Giles Jacob, are that Wim Wenders shot in the Congo, Tsai Ming Liang shot in Kuala Lumpur and David Cronenberg shot "in the ... toilet!" (probably meaning the bathroom, not the bowl). But anyone familiar with the directors involved can imagine the kind of diversity that will be seen in the film.

See the names of the 35 collaborators after the jump.

Continue reading Secret Cannes Film No Longer a Secret

Greatest Living Filmmakers United for Secret Cannes Project

Posted Feb 8th 2007 5:31PM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Foreign Language, Cannes, Shorts, Quentin Tarantino

For its 60th year anniversary, the Cannes Film Festival will premiere new films from many past winners of the Palme d'Or. It isn't known how many of these winners will have new material this year, but apparently festival president Gilles Jacob and artistic director Thierry Frémaux tried to get many of the living "Golden Palm" vets -- winners and nominees, both -- to contribute to a special project.

Each participating filmmaker has directed a short film of 2-3 minutes in length that will be shown together as a feature-length film at a gala event on May 20. Variety reports that those known to be included are Ken Loach ('06: The Wind That Shakes the Barley), Gus Van Sant ('03: Elephant), Lars von Trier ('00: Dancer in the Dark), Theodoros Angelopoulos ('98: Eternity and a Day), Abbas Kiarostami ('97: Taste of Cherry), Chen Kaige ('93: Farewell My Concubine), Wim Wenders ('84: Paris, Texas) and non-winners (though often-nominated) Wong Kar-Wai, Michael Cimino, Amos Gitai, Manoel de Oliveira, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang. There are 30 shorts in all, so obviously a lot of other contributors are as yet unknown. Only Pedro Almodóvar (also a non-winner, and never a nominee) is known to have declined the offer.

Continue reading Greatest Living Filmmakers United for Secret Cannes Project

Wenders and Bardem are Invisibles

Posted Sep 26th 2006 8:02PM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Casting, Deals, Shorts, Politics, Cinematical Indie

http://www.cinematical.com/media/2006/02/javier-bardem.jpg

Am I the only one who didn't know anthology films compiling related segments by different filmmakers (New York Stories; Four Rooms) are called "portmanteau" films? Well, regardless of what we call them, there's a new one in the works called The Invisibles. Though it may sound like a comic book movie, it is really a set of four stories focusing on overlooked conflicts and world causes. Wim Wenders is doing one of the segments, which is about violence towards women in the Congo. The other subjects are sleeping sickness in Africa, young soldiers in Uganda and a non-fiction part about displaced Colombians (this time I spelled it right, even though Empire Magazine didn't!). Other people involved in the project include Oscar-nominated actor Javier Bardem, Spanish directors Fernando León, Mariano Barroso, Javier Corcuera and Isabel Coixet (wait, I have a feeling there are more than four segments).

Wenders may seem to stick out like a sore thumb, but I'm sure he isn't the only one whose segment is worth watching. Typically, I figure there's at least one part in these things that weighs the quality of the whole film down. Although, after Eros, which I hear was weak all around despite featuring three very well-regarded filmmakers, we probably can't even depend on the majority of the segments to be worth the effort.

Full SXSW feature film lineup hits the streets

Posted Feb 6th 2006 5:08PM by Jette Kernion
Filed under: SXSW

SXSW released its complete list of features for the 2006 film festival today. It's a long, varied list and a little intimidating to absorb all at once. Depending on what type of films you want to see, you can look at the list in several ways:

The SXSW regular: "I see Joe Swanberg has a movie at SouthBy again this year (LOL), as do Jacob Vaughan and Bryan Poyser (The Cassidy Kids). Be nice to see them all again. Bradley Beesley is back, too, co-directing the documentary Summercamp with Sarah Price. Do you think the documentary Fuck is just a riff on The Aristocrats?"

The all-star premiere fan: "Ooooh, Hugh Grant And Dennis Quaid in American Dreamz, Kim Basinger and Danny DeVito in Even Money, Ben Stiller in Andy Dick's film Danny Roane: First Time Director, and Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta. How early should we get in line at the Paramount to see A Prairie Home Companion and Friends with Money?"

The arthouse film geek: "Can't miss the Wim Wenders film (Don't Come Knocking) and the Jonathan Demme documentary about Neil Young. Look, Richard E. Grant is directing a movie (Wah-Wah) that stars Gabriel Byrne. And it's a great chance to see some movies we missed at Sundance: Old Joy, Thank You for Smoking, Forgiving the Franklins, Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That, and Kinky Boots."

Me: "Wow, look at all the cool documentaries. How many movies can I see in ten days?"

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Monika Bartyzel	160	0
2	Erik Davis	121	49
3	Elisabeth Rappe	84	0
4	Eugene Novikov	56	18
5	Kim Voynar	41	20
6	Jessica Barnes	39	0
7	Scott Weinberg	39	15
8	Peter Martin	27	17
9	James Rocchi	25	1
10	Eric Kohn	25	4
11	Jeffrey M. Anderson	21	4
12	Eric D. Snider	19	0
13	Matt Bradshaw	13	1
14	Joel Keller	13	1
15	Christopher Campbell	9	6
16	Jette Kernion	5	2
17	Patrick Walsh	3	1
18	Willy Volk	2	0
19	Nick Schager	1	0
20	Richard von Busack	1	0

Dept. of Transportation: Airlines should auction off flight slots Free drinks on Wednesday Virgin America flights Air travel tidbit: The horrors of the middle seat pocket	Great green garlic Would you drink wine from a juice box? German pancakes- a perfect weekend breakfast dish
Reality Show casting calls Creator Hart Hanson talks about Bones South Park DVD won't have Rock Band tracks after all	The New Kids on the Block are back, and I'm dancing. Are you? In search of vitamin D, and sunscreen too Training for high altitude at low altitude
Hello, New Vampire Story Cannes 2008: Vicky Cristina Barcelona Press Conference Trailer Park: Rube Goldberg Edition	Oscar Pistorius free to qualify for Olympics on prosthetics Custom Illuminated Confusion Nikes light up the streets, your life Alligator skin Xbox 360 case is a bit too realistic

Looking at the Planet with '8' Killer Directors

Lovett and Stanton Head for 'The Open Road'

Timberlake, Bridges, and Steenburgen Head for 'The Open Road'

Wim Wenders Ushers New Director Down 'Open Road'

News Bites: Obi's Cloak, Money for Antonioni/Wenders and Painting Becomes a Movie

Secret Cannes Film No Longer a Secret

Greatest Living Filmmakers United for Secret Cannes Project

Wenders and Bardem are Invisibles

Full SXSW feature film lineup hits the streets

Cinematical Features

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Featured Stories

Sponsored Links

Recent Theatrical Reviews

Cinematical Interviews

Cinematical bloggers (30 days)

Most Commented On (60 days)

Weblogs, Inc. Network