the black dahlia Tagged Articles at Cinematical

So it seems the majority of you agree with Robert Rodriguez in wanting Rose McGowan to star in the Barbarella remake, even though Universal isn't willing to risk $100 million on her name. And I don't blame them. Why Rodriguez needs $100 million to shoot the remake of a campy sci-fi flick is beyond me, but furthermore -- even if Universal got their wish, and Rodriguez ditched McGowan -- are there any females in Hollywood who can carry a film with a $100 million pricetag? This is nothing against women at all (heck, I love all women just as much as the next guy), but I'm really struggling to come up with the last film to gross over $100 million with a female in the lead role (not counting romcoms since credit is also due to the male lead). While you think about that, here's how the last few McGowan films have done: 1. Grindhouse (part of an ensemble -- $25 million gross). 2. The Black Dahlia (part of an ensemble -- $22 million gross). 3. Vacuums (couldn't find anything -- was this even released?). 4. Monkeybone (part of an ensemble -- $5 million gross). Don't force me to continue ... it gets even worse.

Based on those stats, it appears as if Rodriguez would have to shoot Barbarella, with McGowan in the lead role, for roughly $15 million in order to make money. Universal is willing to do it for $60 million. Rodriguez wants somewhere between $82 and $100 million. And for that kind of money, Universal wants someone else in the lead role. So, in your opinion, are there any female actresses out there capable of carrying a film with that high a budget? Because we're always game for the multiple choice answers, Cinematical put together a gallery full of women who we think would be good in the role of Barbarella. Are any of them better than Rose? You decide.

Gallery: Are These Girls Worth $100 Million?

Between the hoards of self-conscious message movies and piles of garbage that didn't screen for the press, I saw, about two dozen films in 2006 that showed any kind of cinematic artistry. The movies that made my top ten list are movies that don't hand over any easy answers and have thus largely gone ignored this year. Moreover, these were films that used the form in a visual way, rather than simply unfolding a story on film like a big book-on-tape. The cinema isn't dead; it's just hiding...

I should note that my two favorite movies this year, Terrence Malick's The New World and Claire Denis' The Intruder officially count as 2005 movies, even though they opened in most theaters in 2006. So, with a broken heart, I leave them off the list. I also want to include a caveat that the year's most anticipated movie, David Lynch's Inland Empire, has only opened in New York and Los Angeles. No press screenings or screener DVDs have been available in any other city, so I have not been able to see it.

1. Three Times (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
One of the world's greatest filmmakers has been working for over twenty years. Yet only two of his films have received U.S. distribution. Each starred the beautiful Shu Qi (known in this country for her role in The Transporter) and each lasted about a week in theaters. Three Times, a triptych about two lovers in the 1960s, the 1920s and the present day, isn't one of Hou's very best films, but the first segment alone -- set in the Vietnam era -- is arguably his most heartbreakingly lovely achievement. It towers over everything else released this year.

Claude Chabrol's The Bridesmaid still hangs on this week, playing on one screen, having earned less than $100,000 in its United States run, despite mostly warm reviews. I can't say what it is people don't like about this movie; I think it's one of Chabrol's best.

It tells the story of an enterprising young man (Benoît Magimel) who meets the mysterious and eerily sexy "Senta" (Laura Smet) at his sister's wedding. She begins making pledges of love and devotion to him, and he responds with enthusiasm and even borderline obsession, but no one knows exactly how far the pairing will go. Chabrol masterfully carries us through the plot, but also delves headfirst into the story's more human, more erotic aspects.

Turns out we were in the mood for a little football this weekend, as Dwayne Johnson (aka the guy who will soon be formerly known as The Rock) and the Gridiron Gang finished first at the box office with $15 million. Pic marks the tenth number one film for Sony this year, breaking the previous record set by the same studio back in 2003.

Despite lukewarm reviews and its debuting in over a thousand less theaters, Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia snuck into the weekend's number two spot with $10.4 million. Even with an all-star cast that includes Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank, I'd expect the negative buzz to hurt the film heading into its second week. Let's see if I'm right. With not much family-friendly type stuff out in theaters, Everyone's Hero (the animated film Christopher Reeve was working on prior to his death) snatched up the third spot, bringing in roughly $6.2 million from 2,896 theaters.

With only a couple thousand dollars separating the two, The Last Kiss (in which Zach Braff stars as a guy who's dissatisfied with where his life is at) just barely beat The Covenant (whose $4.7 million marked a 46% drop off in sales from the previous week in which it finished number one), capturing roughly $4.702 million.

Full numbers after the jump.

Brian De Palma arrives in the final third of 2006 with one of his best films, and yet no one will realize it for years to come. De Palma's work is routinely ignored and undervalued for the very simple reason that he makes cinema. He hasn't shown much interest in making socially significant films; he probably won't make a To Kill a Mockingbird or a Hotel Rwanda anytime soon. And he's not much interested in adapting Henry James or E.M. Forster for the big screen. As a result, he is often seen as inferior. He never reaches beyond cinema into other realms; he only makes movies.

Thirteen years later, many see Carlito's Way as arguably De Palma's greatest achievement. (The film critics at Cahiers du Cinema selected it as the best movie of the 1990s.) And yet in the thick of 1993, no one cared. Schindler's List, The Piano and The Age of Innocence were the rage. And it's noteworthy to remember that, as beloved as his Scarface is today, De Palma received a 1983 Razzie nomination for his trouble (he has received five in all).

There's nothing like the moment of anticipation before you've seen the half-baked, crucially compromised or mortally flawed film in question. Still, when given the choice between summer's poorly animated CGI beasts and fall's Oscar-pimping cat-tearing* among our sweatier over-actors and over-actresses, you don't know which season to worry about more.

Despite the Venice Film Festival's chilly response to The Fountain, I'm going to be waiting for it. The film festival audiences were right about The DaVinci Code, but they're not right about everything. I'm curious why The Black Dahlia (Brian De Palma's new film) didn't get booed, despite its rep as a chestnut-stuffed Joss Harnett-basted turkey. Is it because of a lingering tolerance in Italy for badly-written giallos?

Pan's Labryinth is a film to look forward to this fall -- Guillermo del Toro's odd sensibility blends the weirdest of Mexican horror with an intelligent use of graphics, and I still remember what a startling film Cronos was. It also looks more on the fantasy spectrum like In the Company of Wolves than The Brothers Grimm. Plus, James thought it was good.

Summer roller coaster rides aside, fall is the most exciting time for movie buffs. Movies get more serious; the running times increse, and you begin to see more biopics, more 'based on a novel by' credits and more reverent-looking movie trailers. Which middlebrow films will be slathered in awards, and which films will be ignored masterpieces? I know there's at least one out there that could be a life-changing event; here are three possibilities:

The Black Dahlia -- I'm cheating a bit here, because I've already seen this and consider it one of the year's best films. Based on James Ellroy's novel, it won't get nearly as much love as L.A. Confidential did, what with its strikingly literate script and dazzling cast, but Brian De Palma's lurid, obsessive vision goes into darker, snakier places than Curtis Hanson would ever dare dream of. Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart co-star as ex-boxers turned cops who investigate the case of a murdered would-be starlet (Mia Kirshner). Scarlett Johansson plays the woman who comes between them.

Bug -- Reports from Cannes indicate that this new film by Oscar-winner William Friedkin marks a return to form (though for a few of us, he's never really been away). Lionsgate is choosing to market the film as a thriller, but it sounds quite a bit more complex than that. Based on a play by Tracy Letts, Ashley Judd stars as Agnes, a melancholy bartender who meets up with a creepy ex-soldier (Michael Shannon, who played the role on stage) in a deserted hotel room. Bugs that may or may not be real begin burrowing under their skin. Harry Connick Jr. co-stars as Agnes' volatile ex-husband.