the blood diamond Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Yes, Leonardo DiCaprio is still alive. In fact, he's been busy making a long-ass movie -- it's called The Blood Diamond and, though the film isn't due to hit theaters until December, the test screenings have apparently begun. And, as happens with any such screening these days, a viewer immediately ran home and sent a review to AICN.

Alongside DiCaprio, who plays a diamond-chasing mercenary with an annoying accent, the movie stars Djimon Hounsou as a fisherman whose family was caught up with a rebel group involved in diamond-mining; his character was briefly enslaved, during which time he hid a huge-ass diamond somewhere. Oh, and Jennifer Connelly is there, too. According to the AICN reviewer, she plays "a cliched American knockout journalist with an edge" who spends the movie -- during which Hounsou and Leo go after that hidden diamond, and Hounsou tries to find his family -- "just kind of [cheering] them on while bemoaning the injustice of it all." (Unsaid, of course, is "But she's hot, so no one will really care.")

That said (and despite the fact that the current edit is nearly three hours long), the reviewer liked the movie. He was particularly impressed with Hounsou, who he says out-acts DiCaprio at every turn; the movie would be a lot better, apparently, if DiCaprio's character was trimmed down, and the film was allowed to focus on Hounsou, and his struggle to find his family. In addition, the report says the movie is crazy violent -- ala Total Recall, if you can believe that (though since an ENTIRE PLANET DIES in Total Recall, I think we're safe in assuming the body count is at least slightly lower) -- but fails to mention whether or not Connelly takes her clothes off.

On this edition of Movie Pics, we get our first look at the new Leonardo DiCaprio flick, The Blood Diamond, George Clooney returns to black and white in The Good German and Christina Ricci moans for a big, black snake:

• Though it's not much, here is the first image from Edward Zwick's African thriller, The Blood Diamond. In the pic, Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou star as two African-born men, with very different lives, who join together on a quest to recover a rare pink diamond. Release date: December 15
• Man, is there a film in which Christina Ricci doesn't look good? Sure, she's got a big forehead, but I feel it just adds to her personality. Here are some more pics from Black Snake Moan; director Craig Brewer's highly anticipated follow-up to Hustle and Flow. Film stars Samuel L. Jackson (what is it with him and these damn snakes?) as a blues musician who rescues a wild child (Ricci) upon finding her beaten and left for dead. Oh, and be sure to check out these nifty little posters over on AICN. Release date: February 16, 2007 [via JoBlo]
• Based on the novel by Joseph Kanon, The Good German tells of an American journalist is lured into a murder mystery while trying to find his former mistress in post-WWII Berlin. Steven Soderbergh jumps into the directors chair with a cast that includes George Clooney, Tobey Maguire, Cate Blanchett and Beau Bridges. Currently, there's only one pic available. Release date: December 8.

[Thanks to Alex from First Showing for the tips]

In the wake of all sorts of special interest groups getting offended by the phenomenon that is The Da Vinci Code, news comes from MSNBC that the U.S. jewelry industry "is gearing up to counter any negative effects from the upcoming film The Blood Diamond, which shows how illicit gem trade fueled bloody civil wars."

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a South African mercenary jailed for smuggling in Sierra Leone circa 1999, a time when the nation was in the midst of a terrible civil war. DiCaprio's character specializes in the sale of "blood diamonds" which are used to finance rebellions and terrorists. Apparently the chairman of the Kimberley Process, an international certification program, wrote to the producers of The Blood Diamond asking that it include an epilogue explaining the measures taken to stem the illicit diamond trade.

Similarly to The Da Vinci Code's ways of trying to control religious controversy surrounding the film, it appears that jewelers are already taking defensive measures: "The danger is that people will think the situation in the film is continuing today . . .We're going to educate our jewelers about the issue." A new Web site on diamonds is being set up to answer questions from consumers.