June 29th, 2006
Fans of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy will be very interested to know that Chris Weitz has found a suitable girl to play the lead role of Lyra Belacqua. Empire today reported that Dakota Blue Richards is a newcomer to the industry and was chosen from the 10,000 girls that auditioned. The first film in the series, which is to be entitled “The Golden Compass” will commence filiming on 4 September and is expected to reach cinemas by 16 November 2007.
Posted by David in General, News
June 28th, 2006
Despite having already been “unofficially” confirmed, Fox has finally decided to let us know that an X-Men spin-off centred around Wolverine, will definitely go ahead and could be released as early as next year. Empire reports that the announcement was made at Cine Expo in Amsterdam and featured a video of Hugh Jackman talking about and stating his involvement with the project [cue sighs of relief]. A 2007 release seems unlikely but this piece of information will be enough for the fans, for now.
Posted by David in General, News
June 28th, 2006
Director of the first Resident Evil movie and writer of both, Paul W.S. Anderson has voiced his opinion on video game adaptions for the big screen. At the recent Hollywood and Games Summit Anderson made a speech regarding his gaming past and the difficulty of faithfully adapting a gaming concept for the movie industry, “Clearly, it’s a minefield. And it’s a minefield as a film-maker you’d better learn to navigate,” he stated. “If you stray too far from the source material you’re doomed, but if you stay entirely true, you’re equally doomed.” Well, if you say so Paul.
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Posted by David in General, News
June 27th, 2006
As a big fan of Hong Kong action movies myself, it was with excited fervour that I opened this 2 disc special edition of John Woo’s classic “A Better Tomorrow”. Faced with the prospect of a disturbingly stimulating set of extra features, it was a struggle not to abundantly salivate as my excited paws ushered the first disc into the tray. First hurdle down and it was time to sit back and admire the wizardry of a legend in his prime. “A Better Tomorrow” was the film that forged the infamous Chow Yun-Fat/John Woo partnership - a unity that would dominate Asian action cinema for the ensuing decade. The duo essentially made careers for each other, both had a history of hideously mediocre proportions (Woo was stuck directing comedies and Yun-Fat in the world of television) and ABT was the film that effectively brought them both out of their creative slumps and steered them towards greatness.
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Posted by David in General, Reviews, DVD
June 27th, 2006
Yet another promo trailer has been released for the increasingly popular “Snakes on a Plane” - a film with a quite literally self explanatory title. The new trailer features a bit more footage than we saw from the previous (official and fan-made) ones and has already started winging it’s way around on the forum circuit, provoking yet more second-rate puns. Already widely acclaimed as a cult hit before it’s release, “Snakes on a Plane” will hit cinemas on August 18th and seems set for box office success - although the tiring joke may have run it’s course by then. Watch the trailer over at Yahoo Movies.
Posted by David in General, News, Trailers
June 26th, 2006
Director Michael Bay is looking for 16-23 year olds to appear in his forthcoming “Transformers” movie. If you look like a high school student and would fancy the chance to stake your claim in history (well, you get the idea) then this could be your chance. The open call is set to be held at Central Casting in Burbank, California and they are looking for both SAG and non-union members. This is every geek’s dream, which is why most will probably turn up - any parts available are likely to be open to an incredible wealth of competition.
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Posted by David in General, News
June 25th, 2006
There is now an exclusive 4 minute “Clerks II” featurette online over at Apple Trailers. Entitled “Train Wreck”, the video gives us a glimpse into production of the film, it’s successful exhibitition at this year’s Cannes Festival and [positive] opinions from both Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Providing another exciting morsel for us to devour as the impending release date looms - expect to see it at US theatre’s on July 21. Watch the featurette.
Posted by David in General, News, Trailers
June 22nd, 2006
The creative talent behind “Peace Hotel” is almost overwhelming; a capable up and coming director/writer (Ka Fai-Wai) coupled with two of the biggest names in the Cantonese industry (Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo), one of whom is arguably amongst action cinema’s most respected icons and you seem to have compiled a definite recipe for success. However, some expectations are there to be trodden on and it seems that, from the outset, “Peace Hotel” is a slight departure from Woo and Yun-Fat’s previous work and therefore not in their immediate area of expertise. There’s still a fair bit of martial arts, but the twisted romance that we witness blossoming, is what the film really focuses on.
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Posted by David in General, Reviews, DVD
June 22nd, 2006
Despite the heavily laden releases already available for the whole trilogy, more “special” edition extended Lord of the Rings DVDs are on their way. Due for an August release, the three two disc sets will feature a new set of “making of” documentaries and over 300 minutes of new extras between them. And if extras don’t really tickle your fancy then you may be interested in the fact that these new editions will feature both the theatrical and extended cuts of the films, allowing you to select your preference.
Posted by David in General, News, DVD
June 21st, 2006
Despite the recent re-make of “The Pink Pather” being utterly shameful, Steve Martin has expressed his wishes to star in a sequel or two. Rachel Stevens, of former S-Club 7 fame, is rumoured to be appearing in one of the sequels as leading lady, but Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, and Emily Mortimer have all made [sensible] decisions and will not be coming back. The projects have a better team behind them this time, but it seems that the franchise is already beyond rescuing. Not even hardcore Martin fans will feel obligated to go and see these.
Posted by David in General
