books Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Another Poster for 'The Spiderwick Chronicles'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Paramount », Family Films », Movie Marketing », Posters »
ComingSoon.net has the latest poster for the big-screen version of The Spiderwick Chronicles, and I'm afraid it is just another installment of one-sheets that I think looks pretty 'blah.' Sure, they all have the same look and feel, but since they aren't exactly the most eye-catching designs in the first place, this is not necessarily a good thing. Directed by Mark Waters, Spiderwick is based on the best-selling fantasy series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. This is the third poster release for the film, and there was also a teaser trailer released in July. I'll admit that after watching the teaser, I couldn't help but think the whole thing seemed an awful lot like Pan's Labyrinth -- but without all of the trauma.Set in the US, the story revolves around three siblings who stumble across a "field guide to faeries" that opens up a parallel world. While the trio are discovering all kinds of benevolent little creatures, they come across some slightly less-friendly ones as well, and the latest poster even works in a little menace by adding 'Beware' to the heading. The family flick stars Sarah Bolger as Mallory Grace and Freddie Highmore as both Jared and Simon Grace. Rounding out the cast is David Strathairn as Arthur Spiderwick and Mary Louise Parker as Helen Grace.
There were over 12 books published as part of the series, including supplementary books, so there is a lot of material if Nickelodeon decides to make a franchise out of the film. Now that The Golden Compass' future is a little less sure, maybe Spiderwick can take the place of the "heir to Harry Potter" for children's fantasy films. The Spiderwick Chronicles opens on February 15th, 2008.
New Ingrid Bergman Bio Supposedly Has Much New 'Casablanca' Info
Filed under: Classics », Drama », Mystery & Suspense », War »
Casablanca is pretty much a perfect film, but the making of it was anything but smooth. If you pick up the 2003 DVD of the movie, there's documentaries and great commentaries by Roger Ebert and Rudy Behlmer that can attest to this. But a new biography gives us a more inside perspective. The info comes from one of its stars, and one of the most beautiful women ever to grace the big screen: Ingrid Bergman. The book, cleverly titled Ingrid, was written by Charlotte Chandler and looks to be chock full of fascinating stories for fans of the classic movie. In one, Bergman remembers sharing a lunch with Humphrey Bogart before filming began, where "the only subject they found in common was how much they both wanted to get out of Casablanca." Thank God they didn't!
Chandler has written several other Hollywood biographies, and like her books on Bette Davis, Alfred Hitchcock, and Billy Wilder, Ingrid is referred to on the cover as a "personal biography." "It's because I knew the person and spoke with the person and (the book) is based on what they said to me," she says. "It's almost autobiographical. I wanted to keep the voice of the person." Sounds like a great read, and don't worry gossip hounds, the book also explores her personal life. That includes her scandalous relationship with Roberto Rossellini which rocked Hollywood in the 1950s and resulted in the lovely Isabella Rossellini. If you haven't seen Casablanca at this point, shame on you! It almost always ranks in the Top 10 on "Best Movies of All Time" lists, and righfully so. And for more top-notch Bergman, let me recommend the incredible Notorious, one of my favorite films and for my money, the best movie Hitchcock ever made.
Fox Throws a Hail Mary
Filed under: Drama », Sports », Deals », 20th Century Fox », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
Are you ready for MORE football? 20th Century Fox thinks you are, as they've gone and snatched up the rights to Michael Lewis' (Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game) latest book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. Released yesterday, the book garnered interest from a few other players including New Line and Mandalay. In the end, Fox won out with a deal for $200,000 against $1.5 million.
Blind Side, which revolves around the growing race for bigger (and when I say bigger, I mean BIGGER) football players, is one of several Lewis books that have been optioned over the years, with none of them moving ahead to production. However, with football as popular as it is right now on the big screen, Lewis feels this one definitely has a shot. The main plot focuses on a 16-year-old African American whose father was murdered and whose mother turned to crack. Though, at 344 pounds, the boy knew how to move and, thus, was taken in by a wealthy white couple who groomed him to be one of the top high school football prospects in the country.
Lewis notes, "Of all the books I've written, this is by far the most likely to be made into a movie." Whaddya say folks, how about we throw Eddie Murphy in a fat suit and watch this sucker fly?









