surveillance Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 8/18
Filed under: New Releases », DVD Reviews », New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
The Last House on the Left
A remake of Wes Craven's 1972 film, starring Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Sara Paxton, and Garret Dillahunt, the film is a harrowing look into how a family reacts to the crimes played out on their daughter. In his review, William Goss said: "for those who willingly subject themselves to the harsher experiences that storytelling has to offer, this version is a capably, confidently, and chillingly effective opportunity to place ourselves in the worst possible shoes for a length of time." Rent it. Also on Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Miley Cyrus' Disney icon finally made her way to the big screen. In his review, Nick Schager said: "and the nicest thing one can say about the film is that at least it's not The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: The Movie." I highly doubt anyone who wants the film will be reading this, so I'll just skip to: Skip it. Also on Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
Julia
Tilda Swinton stars as a 40-year-old alcoholic who makes a last effort at full-on sobriety. In his review, Peter Martin said: "To say that Tilda Swinton gives a riveting performance as Julia is almost to damn her with faint praise. It's her character's story, of course, so we expect that she'll dominate the screen time, but even with all that exposure, there's never a hint of artifice or self-conscious primping to make herself look better as an actress." Buy it.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
Also out: Wyvern, The Wedding Bros., Bridge to Nowhere, The Final Destination Collection
Review: Surveillance
Filed under: Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Magnolia », Theatrical Reviews »
Surveillance may involve three separate interviews about the same event, but Rashomon it most certainly is not. Ascertaining the truth through multiple narratives is certainly central to Jennifer Lynch's long-delayed follow-up to 1993's polarizing Boxing Helena. The three accounts provided, however, aren't juxtaposed or in real conflict; rather, they coalesce to form a tale about the fateful affairs that led FBI agents Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Hallaway (Bill Pullman) to a middle-of-nowhere New Mexico police station to investigate a horrific crime. That offense is initially shrouded in mystery, with details elucidated slowly through the agents' briefing and subsequent interviews – conducted simultaneously by Anderson and local cops, and monitored via closed-circuit video feeds by Hallaway – of the surviving eyewitnesses: traumatized 12-year-old Stephanie (Ryan Simpkins), defiant junkie Bobbie (Pell James) and combative officer Bennet (Kent Harper). It's the set-up for a rather routine procedural. Yet in a development that will stun no one who's seen Boxing Helena or any of her father's films, Lynch isn't interested in straightforward genre mundanity, and even during Hallaway's first appearance – his face twitchy, his speech halting, his eyes nervous and his comportment slightly askew – there's an underlying sense that this ordinary reality is somehow off-kilter, corrupted.
Trailer Park: Orphans of the Anvil
Filed under: Trailer Trash », Trailers and Clips »
Drag Me to Hell
Sam Raimi has a new horror movie? How can this not be a good thing? Yes, he's been directing the adventures of Spider-Man in recent years (and really should have stopped before the third installment), but Raimi's first film was the horror classic The Evil Dead, and The Evil Dead 2 was one of the few sequels to improve upon the original. The plot for Drag Me To Hell is fueled by that old horror movie chestnut, the gypsy curse. When a young bank officer refuses to give a payment extension to an old woman, she is soon being stalked by a demonic entity which, as the title says, ultimately wants to take her to hell for all eternity. This one hits on May 29th.
The Orphan
Here's the latest entry in the long running "creepy little kid" sub-genre of horror, and it reminds me quite a bit of 2007's Joshua. A seemingly angelic child is adopted by a loving family but things take a dark turn when bad things start happening to anyone who wrongs the newest addition to the family. Nothing too original here, but it could be good for a few scares. No release info for this one yet, in fact it's not even listed on IMDB.
Cannes Deal: Magnet Picks Up Jennifer Lynch's 'Surveillance'
Filed under: Thrillers », Deals », Magnolia », Distribution », Cinematical Indie »
While David Lynch prepares to team up with Werner Herzog to make a guerilla-style murder drama, his daughter is doing quite well on her own, thank you very much. indieWIRE reports that Surveillance, the first film by Jennifer Chambers Lynch in 15 years, has been picked up by Magnet Releasing for distribution in the US. The thriller will be playing out of competition at Cannes next week in one of the three Midnight screening slots. Surveillance is set in the Santa Fe desert, where a blood-curdling killing spree has been unleashed, according to the official synopsis. The FBI arrives and listens to three eyewitnesses, including an eight-year-old girl whose family was brutally murdered. It becomes clear that the little girl knows something about the FBI agents ... and then two more bodies are found.
Creepy, eh? But not nearly as creepy as Lynch's first film, Boxing Helena, in which a surgeon held a woman captive and started amputating her limbs, all in the name of love. Based on the premise, Surveillance sounds much more straightforward, but perhaps the younger Lynch has some surprises up her sleeve.
The film stars Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman (David Lynch's Lost Highway) as the FBI agents, Pell James, Ryan Simpkins, and Kent Harper as the witnesses, and Michael Ironside as the local police chief. French Stewart and Cheri Oteri are also featured. Harper co-wrote the script with Lynch. Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, plans a fall theatrical roll-out.
Quickhits: Burke Under Surveillance, Whittaker/Mortenson are Good and Crowe Nixes Steve Irwin Rumors
Filed under: Drama », Casting », RumorMonger », Celebrities and Controversy », Newsstand »
Odds and ends from Monday:
- Billy Burke (Ladder 49) has signed on to star in Jennifer Chambers Lynch's (Yes, that's daughter to director David Lynch) Surveillance, her second directorial effort following 1993's Boxing Helena (Yes, that's fifteen years since her last film). Pic follows an FBI agent who gets help tracking a serial killer from the lunatic's would-be-victims. Production is set to begin in or around October.
- Newbie Jodie Whittaker and Viggo Mortenson will take lead roles in Good, an adaptation from the award-winning play. Directed by Vincente Amorin, story revolves around a German professor who, during the 1930s, is seduced (I take it flowers and a goodnight kiss weren't involved) by the Nazi party. Yeah, it's safe to say things didn't go well there from then on out.
- Shortly after the death of animal lover Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin, the rumor mill jumped all over Russell Crowe saying the actor was interested in playing Irwin in a possible biopic. However, Crowe shot down the reports (in a rather
absurdCrowe-like way) by saying, "That's one of those appalling pieces of sh*t that's come out of the press. While my friend's body is still warm, I'm being accused of doing commerce over his grave, and it absolutely disgusts me." He then picked up Irwin's coffin and chucked it at the reporter. I mean, so they say ...
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