max von sydow Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Don't worry, I'm not going to go off on a tangent here about how things were better in my day, but I will say that watching the whacked out 80's incarnation of Flash Gordon is one of my favorite childhood memories (I can hear the strains of Queen's theme song as I type this). So you can imagine I wasn't exactly thrilled with the news that the man behind the 'swashbuckling bomb' Sahara had signed to direct an update of the classic sci-fi story. Variety reports that Sony has won the bidding war for the rights to make a live-action film based on Alex Raymond's original comic strip with Breck Eisner at the helm.

In the original story, "Flash was a handsome polo player who is kidnapped and taken to the planet Mongo. He is pitted against an evil ruler named Ming the Merciless." Some of the other incarnations of Flash included making him a football player, and a hover-boarding teen in the 90's (um, OK). In 2007, the Sci-Fi channel also attempted to reboot the series with Eric Johnson in the lead, but the series was canceled shortly after.

Believe me, I know the 1980 film was a total flop, and most of it looked like it was conceived on a mushroom trip. But how you can say no to flying hawk men, Timothy Dalton dressed like Robin Hood while in a fight to the death, and Max Von Sydow in a skull cap?

One day after the latest Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio film, Shutter Island, got sold to some European territories, they've added even more irresistible cast members. There's already Leo, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley. Now The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Max von Sydow, Emily Mortimer, and Jackie Earle Haley have signed on for roles.

Based on Dennis Lehane's novel, the film is a period piece about two U.S. Marshals (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) in 1954 who investigate the disappearance of a murderess from a hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island in Massachusetts. "Chaos ensues for the two as they encounter a web of deceit, a hurricane, and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island." Von Sydow will play a hospital physician, and it looks like Clarkson is not the one who will get to play Rachel Solando -- it will be Mortimer. As for Haley, it looks like he'll be making the most out of his post-Watchmen uber-tough physique (the man is an absolute powerhouse these days) -- he'll be playing an inmate. Production will begin March 6.

Last year, Jessica was keeping us up-to-date on the beginning morsels of the Solomon Kane project. First, James Purefoy signed on to star, and then a poster was released, although the rest of the cast had yet to be named. Finally, Empire has reported on the growing cast, which is one hell of a great collection of character actors. Production is about to begin, and these are the guys and gals that will be joining Purefoy on the big screen -- Pete Postlethwaite (The Omen), Max von Sydow (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Rachel Hurd-Wood (Perfume), Alice Krige (Star Trek: First Contact), and Mackenzie Crook (the one-eyed dude from Pirates of the Caribbean).

This project is planned to be the first of three films, and with more of these guys to come, here's who they will play -- von Sydow will play Kane's father, Hurd-Wood will play Meredith, Kridge will play Meredith's mother, Postlethwaite will take on the role of her dad, and finally Crook will play Father Michael. Solomon Kane is about, believe it or not, a somber Puritan who travels the world and saves it from all forms of evil. I wonder how Robert E. Howard came up with that. Puritans aren't the sort of people that usually bring to mind heroism. Anyway... Production begins really soon in Prague, with Michael J. Bassett (Deathwatch) directing.

If you don't know Woody Allen loves the films of Ingmar Bergman, you don't know much about Woody Allen. When I read that Bergman passed away on Monday, I actually thought about Allen and how upset he must be. But there's no reason to single Allen out. Many filmmakers were inspired and influenced by Bergman and so many were saddened by the loss of one of cinema's great masters. Online, there are two compilations of statements regarding Bergman's death. One by Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily and one (technically two, actually) by Roger Ebert. Of course, Woody Allen, who paid Bergman direct homage with his 1978 film Interiors, is present in both compilations. He offers us an honorable joke about Bergman's desire not to die on a very, very sunny day. He wrote, "I can only hope it was overcast and he got the weather he wanted."

Another person able to keep spirits high was Bibi Andersson, who acted in many of Bergman's films, including The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. She admits to being sad, but points out that Bergman was old and we were prepared for this. Other collaborators paying tribute included actor Max von Sydow (also in both The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries) and Fanny and Alexander producer Jörn Donner. Ebert also give us older quotes from the late cinematographer Sven Nykvist (Oscar winner for Fanny and Alexander and Cries and Whispers) and actress Liv Ullman (Cries and Whispers; Autumn Sonata). Other more Bergman-related persons include Astrid Soderbergh Widding, who heads the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, and Cissi Elwing, who heads the Swedish Film Institute.

The rest include a variety of Bergman fans. Finke's compilation has filmmakers Bille August, who says he's in shock, Sir Richard Attenborough, Michael Apted and Andrzej Wajda, plus Cannes Film Festival president Gilles Jacob. Ebert, who actually wrote his own tribute, which included statements and quotes from others, as well as a list of statements he received personally via email, gives us David Mamet, David Lean (another old quote, obviously), Haskell Wexler, Studs Terkel, Paul Cox, Paul Schrader, Richard Linklater, Gregory Nava, Guy Maddin, David Gordon Green, Paul Theroux, Sally Potter and film historian David Bordwell.

Just last night, I was discussing TIFF with my favorite fest-buddy. No matter what we do, we keep finding ourselves in disappointing final films. To stop this, we tried to come up with a game plan for this year, so that on that final day, we could wrap up the fest with a hearty "huzzah!" or, at least, not feel weary and disappointed after a few dozen films. Where we are looking for something light, TIFF has chosen to close with something dark -- but presumably much better than my previous final picks. The latest news from the Toronto International Film Festival is that Emotional Arithmetic, a Canadian drama about the reunion of three Holocaust survivors, will close the fest.

TIFF co-director Noah Cowan says: "The inclusion of this powerful film reflects the robust nature of our industry." Yet it's more than just a Canadian film, it's quite a star-studded affair, moulded by the hands of director Paolo Barzman. The film stars Susan Sarandon, Gabriel Byrne, Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow. The film is about Sarandon and Byrne, who are playing survivors of a Jewish internment camp from World War II. "They make plans to reunite after discovering the political dissident (von Sydow) who had protected them at the camp did not die at Auschwitz as they had thought, and is still alive." Meanwhile, Sarandon's character is trying to deal with her experiences from the camp, while also fighting depression and a poor relationship with a philandering husband, played by Plummer. It's a pretty interesting mix of high-profile talent, and looks to be a serious but worthy wrap up to this year's festival.

In my mind, there's nothing more intense and powerful than a story that revolves around those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis in concentration camps during WWII. As I write this, two of my favorite films on the subject come to mind: Life is Beautiful and Schindler's List. While both were extremely different in tone, there's no escaping the horrific setting each of them share.

For a different take on how these camps affected those that actually survived, Paolo Barzman will direct (off a script from Jefferson Lewis) an adaptation of Matt Cohen's novel, Emotional Arithmetic. The book centers around three people who reunite on a renovated farm forty years after they formed life-long bonds while prisoners in a concentration camp. Signing on to star in the pic are Gabriel Byrne, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow, Roy Dupuis and Susan Sarandon. As each of them struggle to play with the hand they are dealt, a darkly disturbing past continues to remind them that "moving on" might not be so easy.