For whatever reason in the fall of 2005, I had missed out on the initial local press screening of Terrence Malick's latest epic, The New World, and the reactions that followed were decidedly ... less than appreciative. Shortly thereafter, word had come our way that an alternate cut would be opening instead, and so it was this second screening that I did attend.

For the first half of the film, I was fairly fascinated by the tale of John Smith (Colin Farrell) and his conquest of both what is now America and what was then Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher). However, somewhere around when Smith disappeared and John Rolfe (Christian Bale) all but replaced him, I found my interest waning at a considerable rate.

It's difficult to deny that there were those who still thought the film to be one for the ages, even in its 135-minute incarnation. Those who lucked into the earlier screenings or lived in New York or Los Angeles could briefly get a glimpse of the original 150-minute cut, before certain scenes had been abridged, excised, or even replaced. Now, come October 14th, fans will get the chance to devour a DVD release of 172 minutes in length.

Earlier that same year, I'd found myself fairly unimpressed with the theatrical cut of Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, only to eat my words once the engrossing three-hour-plus director's cut hit DVD after a similar NY/LA bow. Maybe almost three years after the fact, I can bring myself to give Malick's masterpiece another go. Will you?

[via DVD Active]

Christopher Plummer gives a black hole of a performance in Man in the Chair, which opened in New York last week and in Los Angeles this weekend. Every time he appears, he inexorably sucks attention away from anyone else on screen. Eventually, everything revolves in orbit around him, even when he's not present. Somehow, though, even as Plummer merges his soul with his character at the molecular level, he does so in a modest manner. The seams between actor and role are not readily apparent. It's a pity that the film as a whole doesn't rise to level of his magnificent performance, but he elevates the material by his grizzled presence.

Plummer plays Flash Madden, a retired gaffer with a permanent scowl etched on his face. We meet him in a darkened cinema, muttering to himself, talking back to Orson Welles in Touch of Evil, and flashing back to his moment of glory when he was fired, then instantly rehired, on the set of Citizen Kane. He's a moviegoer's worst nightmare, the annoying old guy who keeps up a running commentary while you're trying to enjoy a classic, so our sympathies run toward the man who asks him to shut up. Flash tells the man off, which amuses Cameron Kincaid (a wisely subdued Michael Angarano, who also served as associate producer), a high school senior who wants to win a film school scholarship contest.

Flash puts on a great show of being irascible and irritable, but doesn't seem to mind very much when Cameron begins stalking him. Having overhead that Flash used to work in the movies, Cameron seizes on the thought that the old guy might be able to help him make his student film. From the movie posters hanging in his room and snatches of conversation with his only friend, we get the message that Cameron loves movies. (When he decides to steal a car for a joyride, he insists that it be the same make and model as the titular automotive character in John Carpenter's Christine.) Apparently in common with many young filmmakers today, Cameron wants to make his own movies but doesn't really have anything to say.

With a title like Tree of Life, it had sounded like Terrence Malick's next project was to be in line with his last. It even was set to star his lead from The New World, Colin Farrell -- co-starring with Mel Gibson. But Tree of Life doesn't appear to be about Spanish conquistadors and such -- which is good, since The Fountain already covered that territory. Of course, the actual plot of Malick's script is unknown, and despite the fact that it was going to be shot primarily in India two years ago, the same locations might not be used now that the project is up and running once again.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tree of Life could now star Heath Ledger and Sean Penn, who appeared in Malick's The Thin Red Line. The trade states the actors, as well as Malick, are in talks but that shooting is expected to begin in March. River Road Entertainment, which worked with Penn on Into the Wild and with Ledger on Brokeback Mountain is heading the project with the company's founder, William Pohlad, and Sarah Green (The New World) producing.

As I said, little is known about the film. THR mentions the usual "plot is closely guarded" irritant, and to rub in the annoyance tells us an insider could only say that it's a "complex drama." According to a bit of trivia on the IMDb, Tree of Life actually originated in the summer of 1978, when Malick began working on the project, which was then titled Q. Considered his most ambitious project, Q was originally a multi-character story set in the Middle East during World War I, but it also featured a prehistoric prologue with a Minotaur. Then, by the end of the year, the prologue became the whole film. Like The Fountain, it seems like the plot took place over a long, long time. Unfortunately, in 1979 the director and Paramount apparently had a falling out about money; after that Malick disappeared for twenty years.

Anyway, does it really matter what Tree of Life is about? The important thing is that we could get a fifth feature from Malick!

   • Big Momma's House 2 - In Martin Lawrence's desperate minstrel show, the comedian reprises his role as undercover FBI agent Malcolm Turner, again donning a fat suit to become the sassy, black Southern matron Big Momma. He has to stop a potentially destructive computer hacker, and the movie is broad, shameless and pandering in most every respect. Lawrence appears to assume that we automatically like him and Big Momma, and does little to endear them to us any further. Incessant mugging, weak slapstick and Teflon catchphrases fill in the many cracks of its already shaky foundation, leaving a hammy house of horrors that should have been condemned when it was still a half-baked pitch.
    • Grandma's Boy - Adam Sandler's longtime second-banana, Allen Covert, gets his shot at a lead in this stoner comedy, but despite his appealing, aw-shucks demeanor, the movie, about a 36-year-old video game tester who moves in with his grandmother and her two roommates, is just irredeemably stupid. It is sad to see three lovely ladies like Doris Roberts, Shirley Jones and Shirley Knight stooping for laughs like this, though based on the fact that practically no one saw it in theaters (or will go out of their way to rent the DVD), it is a very minor tragedy.

Theater chains looking to enhance the overall movie-going experience may want to follow in Japan's footsteps and bring back Smell-O-Vision. That's right folks, seven different distinct smells will accompany Terrence Malick's The New World when it's released in Tokyo next month. Since Colin Farrell stars in the film, does this mean audiences will have to endure the stench of cheap sex and cigarettes for a couple of hours?  Actually, no -- that smell is being reserved for Miami Vice.

Created by NTT Communications Corp., this version of Smell-O-Vision will not just match scents up to certain scenes. Instead, it is hoping to tap into the emotion of a scene by releasing a pleasant fragrance throughout the theater. For example: If it's a love scene, then a floral scent will roam about. In a sad scene, the smell of peppermint and rosemary will take over. Oh, and every time Colin Farrell is on screen, the smell of hot will engulf all females present. Guys, start growing a goatee.

The same company is also producing a $680 dollar home version of the scent system that can be synchronized with DVDs. Um, why would I pay that much money for something like that when I can simply spray some air freshener and get the same exact result for, like, three bucks? Do you ever think that Smell-O-Vision would fly here in the States? Better yet, throughout the world? If not, why?

 

As Indian film fans rioted yesterday, Jennifer Aniston fans were pandered to by Universal, and a Japanese firm announced a sure-fire way to get kids to pay to see The New World. Remember, this is your last day to suggest permanent names for the podcast, so drop 'em in the comments if you haven't. And, with our first week of 'casting wrapping up, let us know what you think of the show so far. Happy assorted religious and secular holidays!

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Hosts
Karina Longworth

Editor
Randall Bennett

Music
Love as Laughter - I'm a bee

Format
5:08, 29 MB, MPEG4 (iPod / PSP compatible)

Program
00:00 - Smell-o-vision, not just for John Waters's films anymore
02:15 - Indian film fans riot over Raj Kumar's death
03:23 - George Lucas selected Guest Director of LA Film Fest
04:17 - Re-shot ending of The Breakup *gasp* might have turned out as bad or worse than original!

According to early box office estimates, Screen Gems' clever ploy of not screening Underworld: Evolution for critics had the desired effect: the film took in about $27.6 million this weekend, more than doubling the take of any other film and even bettering the open of the first installment in the series. This weekend's other major release was End of the Spear which, though it didn't make much (about $4.2 million) depending on your source), was shown in fewer than as half many theaters as Underworld; it ended up in the eighth spot. Holding steady in second was Hoodwinked, which made just over $11 million in its second week of release; it was followed by Glory Road and Last Holiday, both of which took in $9.1 million in week two.

Among Oscar hopefuls, Brokeback Mountain's expansion to about 1200 screens earned it fifth place and just under $8 million - I guess all those Golden Globes didn't hurt, huh? And appearing for the first time in the charts this weekend is Terrence Malick's The New World, which was released in its recut form on Friday. The film took in a modest $4.3 million, which was good enough for the final spot in the top 10. The growing audience bodes well for both Malick and his film, as does the positive critical response to the new edit. (For the purposes of comparison, Hostel, which is in its third week of release, also made $4.3 million - but on 2,258 screens to The New World's 811.)

BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts) announced the "longlist" for their British Academy Film Awards, and something clearly went terribly wrong. While Brokeback Mountain did receive 13 nominations (as did The Constant Gardener and Good Night, and Good Luck), it was beaten out by Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha, which led the pack with 15 total mentions. Um, BAFTA? Did you not hear? Gay cowboys are supposed to win everything, and besides, Memoirs of Geisha really isn't very good at all. Come on, people - get with the program.

There's still hope, however, that the natural order of things will be restored. BAFTA's longlists consist of the 15 films in each category that made it through the first round of voting. A second round - completed on January 12 - will narrow the groups down to five finalists. Sadly, things can only get worse for both Munich, which was late in getting screeners out and is on only two lists (for best director and adapted screenplay) and The New World, which failed to receive a single mention.

It's now been officially confirmed that, as had been rumored over the past couple of weeks, the print of Terrence Malick's The New World that goes into wide release on January 13 will be shorter than the 155 version currently playing in New York and Los Angeles. According to Sarah Green, one of the film's producers, Malick himself made the cuts, and the film remains largely intact: "None of the scenes were cut out, all the scenes are intact, but he did trim down scenes and made a tighter cut of the film."

In addition, Green confirmed to an AICN tipster that New Line has agreed to release an even longer, super-mega version of the film on DVD at some point. No date was mentioned, nor was the issue of exactly how many different The New Worlds will eventually show up on DVD addressed - if Green is telling the truth, it's safe to assume that the theatrical version and the as-yet-unseen longer version will both come out, though what will happen to that 155 minute cut is anyone's guess.

As probably befits a man who makes a movie every eight years or so, Terrence Malick really isn't into doing publicity. And this is for real, not the Steven Spielberg "I'm not promoting my movie except for the odd cover story" approach - Malick just makes his movies and goes home, leaving them, for better or worse, to speak for themselves. Except, apparently, when it comes to little Bartlesville, Oklahoma, which has a population of less than 35,000.

Bartlesville, which also happens to be the hometown of Malick's parents, played host to a giant celeb-fest this week when it welcomed an advance screening of the director's The New World, accompanied by Malick himself, star Q'Orianka Kilcher, and a group of Native American actors who played major roles in the film. While everyone at New Line must have fainted dead away when their most reclusive director called them up and told them he was going to see his parents and wanted to take his movie along, to their credit they supported the venture, going so far as to send some medium-wigs along to the event.

After the screening, Malick and Kilcher (as well as, oddly, Malick's wife) took questions from the audience. Though no new ground was tread (Malick shot a lot of footage - "My attitude is always let it keep rolling" - and spent 10 months editing the film; Colin Farrell "was one of the gentlest gentlemen" to Kilcher), it's pretty awesome that the event took place at all. It's hard to think of too many other big name directors who would be willing to do something this personal and low-profile.

[via Risky Biz]