Some sweet posters for ‘No Country for Old Men’ the new Coen Brothers film have dropped onto the interpipes. Great combination of type and photography. i’m loving it.

I’m actually pretty gutted it’s not playing at the London Film Festival (might be the surprise film, fingers crossed) especially becuase the States get it early November…. and the UK once again gets fucked in the ass with a late January release.

Cormac McCarthy’s books all have a really compelling quality to them, ‘No Country for Old Men’ is really hard to put down, but isn’t half as bad as ‘The Road’ which I read in one sitting.. it’s just that good. It’s a bleak but realistic look at a father and son trying to survive in america after the country has been ravaged by some kind of apocalyptic disaster. The government is gone, the land is gone, most of the people are gone… all that’s left is the occasional survivor, ash, and the search for food.

I read a while back that ‘The Road’ had been optioned to be made into a film and that John Hillcoat (the proposition) was on board to direct it and now Dimension have officially picked it up. There’s also some rumours flying round about Viggo Mortensen being cast as the father, but that’s all they are, rumours… not trumours.

posters via impawards

Zodiac was a fucking fantastic film, I’d go as far to say it’s Fincher’s best film. Unlike a lot of his previous work it was visually quite subtle but ‘the look’ really added a lot to the story overall.

Until now I hadn’t realised how much of the film was enhanced by CGI, in fact I don’t remember actually noticing any on screen apart from a couple of long shots over the Golden Gate Bridge, but that certainly worked in the films favour. The reel above is from the post production company that worked on the film and reveals how much blue screen work was involved with the street scenes, it’s really pretty amazing.

Now we just need to wait for a dvd with extras to replace the bullshit barebones disc currently on release. I want to see some featurettes about the CGI.

(nicked from filmstalker & hollywood elsewhere)

Sure ‘The fountain’ wasn’t for everyone, it was confusing, slightly pretentious in places but well I don’t give a fuck… I liked it. More than anything I admired how brave it was as a film, It took years to make but Aronofsky stuck with it. The film is visually stunning and weaves plots through time and space like few other films have done.

So the dvd for ‘The Fountain’ was released by Warner for some reason without a commentary from Aronofsky, which as we all know sucks. For whatever reason Warner didn’t want Aronofsky spilling his guts about the film, so he said fuck it, did one anyway and has uploaded it to his personal website. If you haven’t seen the film it won’t make a lot of sense, but it’s worth listening too even without the dvd playing to accompany it…

Check it out here

I’m sure this news has been bandied around forever, but seems to have slipped under my radar (as so many things do) but a new film starring Bill Murray is currently filming in Belfast called ‘City of Ember’… here’s the plot synopsis:

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember’s once powerful generator is failing … and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city’s existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever.

Its apparantly based on a popular childrens book (a popular source for movies nowadays) and sounds a lot like a Jeunet Film to me. There’s a really interesting set report over at IGN…

“IGN observed days 58 and 59 of shooting in Belfast. The remarkable sets were constructed at the Harland and Wolff paint hall in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, where the doomed RMS Titanic was painted after being constructed in the shipyard right outside. This industrial location, found after a worldwide search, afforded the filmmakers 90-foot tall ceilings for them to build a fully functional city for the film. This is not your usual movie set, but rather a village of two-and-three-story buildings with actual apartments and stores built inside them for filming…”

sounds pretty fucking epic, read the full report here

There’s a couple of new stills from Wes Andersons ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ up over at IGN; including the first look at Anjelica Huston, check out the full gallery here

While we’re on the subject /film has a look at the new AT&T ads that Anderson directed here

I’ll be catching ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ next month as part of the London Film Festival, but until then I’m keeping my eye out for any new stuff from the film. I’ve kind of flip-flopped back and forth with my enthusiasm for the movie, but a couple of things have recently spurred me on… 1. I watched the trailer at the Press Launch for the LFF, and while funny when I watched it alone at home on my PC, with an audience it kicked it up a notch. and 2. I rewatched ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ and ‘Rushmoore’ over the weekend, and Anderson’s Dolls house worlds never fail to suck me in.

I think people are going to discover a couple of things too; Owen Wilson while funny isn’t as funny as Jason Schwartzman or Adrien Brody. Yeah that’s right.. I live on the edge and make wildly contentious statements… woooooo!. Schwartzman cracks my shit up in everything I’ve seen him in, he plays angy napoleonic characters better than anyone yet can do the same wide eyed optimism acting better than Wilson does it. Oh Yeah, and Adrien Brody is really good at playing funny, if you haven’t seen it you need to check out dummy

I’m sure this is fan art.. but since I found it on a random design site, and the flickr stream is in spanish and gives no information about the image anyway…who knows…

If the Cloverfield beast turns out to be a fucking giant killer whale i’m interested in this film again.

**UPDATE** it’s been confirmed as fan art by cloverfield news, drawn by this guy.. ah well **

Check it out really big here

I really do have a lot of love for the London Film festival, they always seem to have a good mix of mainstream films i’m looking forward too, arthouse films i’ve been reading about and then they throw them all in with a bunch of dark films from Denmark i’ve never heard of and new cinema from China. It’s a great mix.

So here’s a quick line-up of films i’m looking forward to at the LFF, based purely on my first glance through the brochure. I’m sure there’s a lot more i’ll want to see as I hear about films from friends or read reviews of something I’ve missed.

Eastern Promises & Darjeeling Limited (Dir: David Cronenberg / Wes Anderson)
I’m lumping these two together as they were announced ages ago and I think it goes without saying that I’m really looking forward to both of them. Viggo playing a russian mobster and kicking the shit out of people in steam baths, and Owen Wilson and Adrian Brody wrestling on a train in india.. you can count me in.

Lions for Lambs (Dir: Robert Reford, Stars: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise)
My interest in this film is more curiosity than anything else, I’m hoping it’s more political drama/corridors of power than overly-important commentary on the ‘war on terror’ because that’s how the trailer strikes me. I also find it difficult to watch Tom Cruise on screen anymore… he gives me the creeps… but still I’ll be checking it out.

Lust, Caution (Dir: Ang Lee. Stars: Tony Leung, Joan Chen)
Ang Lee for my money is one of most consistantly great directors working today. His new film looks really similar to ‘In the mood for love’ but that’s such a fantastic film that comparison only makes me want to see it more. Plus I grab hold of any chance I get to see Tony Leung on screen… the guys incredible.

I’m not there (Dir: Todd Haynes)
This is that interesting looking film about the life of Bob Dylan, with everyone from Christian Bale to Cate Blanchett playing him over the course of his life. Looks different if nothing else… and I read a couple of good reports from the Toronto film festival.

Juno (Dir: Jason Reitman)
Jason Reitman’s last film ‘Thankyou for Smoking’ I liked but wasn’t blown away by, apparantly Juno is a step-up and i’ve heard consistantly good things about it. I also really like Ellen Page a young actress that’s only done a couple of films but has been great in all of them (I’m not counting X-men 3 in there). They played a short piece from the film at the Press Launch and it seemed charming and funny. (Oh and there’s a trailer out now too.. check Slashfilm here)

Gone Baby Gone (Dir: Ben Affleck)
It’s a shame yet understandable why this has been withdrawn from the festival as the storyline is very close to a kidnapping case currently dominating the british press. Ben Affleck directing sounds strange to say, but the early word on this film has all been incredibly positive…

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dir: Andrew Dominik)
I’m not sure which version of the trailer they showed at the Press Launch but it actually reignighted my interest in this film. Brad Pitt’s alway interesting to watch, but the real revelation appears to be Casey Affleck who finally seems to be getting the recognition and parts he deserves.. and not just parts in crappy ‘Oceans XX’ movies.

Funny Games (Dir: Michael Haneke)
I’m not sure If I’m interested in this film or if it’s just sick curiosity to see a great filmaker like Michael Haneke do a shot-for-shot reamke of a film he’s already made.. only this time in English. Either way i’ll be sat in the theatre…

Far North (Dir: Asif Kapadia)
I know nothing about this film, but they played a short piece from it at the screening that involved Michelle Yeoh pushing a bunch of evil guys down an Ice crevice. done.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Dir:Julian Schnabel)
A couple of the people who write for Solace have been keeping an eye on this film for ages. The story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editior of French Vogue who suffered a heat attack at 43 leading to ‘locked-in syndrome’. Early reports from Toronto were overwhelmingly positive.

The Bands Visit (Dir: Eran Kolirin)
Again something they played clips from at the launch, and it appeared to be a really charming little film. Telling the story of an egyptian police band that arrive in Israel to perform at the ‘arab cultural seminar’ and then get stranded on the evning of Shabat. Hilarity ensues.

Grace is Gone (Dir: James.C Strouse)
Again another film that comes to the LFF after having recieved much acclaim from Toronto and Sundance. It’s John Cussacks portrayal of a father having to raise his 2 girls alone after their mother is killed in a conflict in Iraq, that’s won praise at all the festivals so far.

Rescue Dawn (Dir: Werner Herzog)
Werner Herzog directing a dramatised version of a true story he’s already made a documentary about. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, and finally it’s arriving.

Reservation Road (Dir: Terry George)
The trailer for this hits me everytime. When you cast a group of actors as good as the ones on display here, it’s difficult to fuck it up.. or at least ..thats what I’m hoping. Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Connelly in a suburban drama/revenge film. I’ll be there.

A couple of others I don’t have time to write about:
- The Savages (I could watch Philip Seymour Hoffman read the dictionary for 2 hours.. although hopefully I won’t have to)
- Son of Rambow (Eventually we might get a trailer for it… eventually)
- Battle for Haditha (New Nick Broomfield doc about Iraq)
- Echo (Ekko) (new film from Anders Morgenthaler, the guy who directed last years ‘Princess’. heavy.)
- Does Your Soul hHave a Cold (Mike Mills documentary about Depression in modern Japan)

Oh and there’s a talk by David Lynch and Donnovan (go figure) about meditation and conciousnous. Sounds.. odd.

Is there anything I missed you’re really looking forward to? leave a comment below….

(Photo stolen from Sizemores flickr stream)