The Dark Knight >> Images
June 27th, 2007
The Dark Knight is the sequel to 2005’s hugely successful Batman Begins. It, once again, follows billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale - The Machinist, American Psycho) under his superhero guise of Batman has he attempts to stop crime in Gotham City. But Batman’s valiant efforts haven’t gone unnoticed and he soon becomes the target of a sadistic villain named The Joker (Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain, Lords of Dogtown) and it’s up to him to protect himself and his allies before it’s too late. Yep, well, that’s pretty much the long and short of it. Read the rest of this entry »
From two-time Academy Award winning director Milos Forman and three-time Academy Award winning producer Saul Zaentz, Goya’s Ghosts is a sweeping historical epic, told through the eyes of celebrated Spanish painter Francisco Goya. Set against the backdrop of political turmoil at the end of the Spanish Inquisition and start of the invasion of Spain by Napoleon’s army, the film captures the essence and beauty of Goya’s work which is best known for both the colorful depictions of the royal court and its people, and his grim depictions of the brutality of war and life in 18th century Spain. Javier Bardem is Brother Lorenzo, an enigmatic, cunning member of the Inquisition’s inner circle who becomes infatuated with Goya’s teenage muse, Ines, when she is falsely accused of heresy and sent to prison. 
If you’ve not heard already, Quentin Tarantino is planning to release two more Kill Bill films some time in the near future and today, some plot details have emerged courtesy of Bennett Walsh - an executive producer of the previous films. The third series instalment is apparently going to detail the revenge of two killers who Uma Thurman’s character Beatrix antecedently dismembered and the fourth film will supposedly be about a bunch of angry daughters attempting to avenge the deaths of their mothers. No doubt a lot of blood and violence shall be involved, so I will be keeping you posted. 
It looks like the end of Saw IV is going to be a bit of a shocker if director Darren Lynn Bousman’s comments are anything to go by: “When I first read it, I was on page 85 but I didn’t feel any way about it, I wasn’t pissed or excited really until I got to page 87. When I hit page 87, I was like ‘God damn it, they got me!’ And I’ve fucking done this for the last three years and they got me and that’s when I knew that I had to come back because everything before that thing took a whole different light to it.” The Saw series is notorious for it’s unexpected and often ingenious narrative twists, but Bousman’s really sold it to me this time, I mean, it shocked a guy who already knew quite a lot about it! What’s it going to do to me? 
Miklos Dongo is an Olympic gymnast whose career was ended by an injury. He comes to Canada to begin a new life as a coach. Miklos is assigned to train one of Canada’s most gifted young hopefuls. But the young man is vain and volatile and Miklos has difficulty establishing a rapport with him. Miklos comes to understand that if he is to establish a working relationship with the young man, he must overcome his own fears and confront his past, in which he suffered under the brutal training regimen of a diabolical coach. 
It all started when Charlie Logan was ten years old. Breaking the cardinal rules of spin-the-bottle, Charlie refused to lip-lock with a demented Goth girl – and she put a hex on him. Now, twenty-five years later, Charlie (Dane Cook) is a successful dentist…and still cursed. While his plastic surgeon best friend, Stu (Dan Fogler), pursues as many of his patients as possible, Charlie can’t seem to find the right girl. Even worse, he discovers at an ex-girlfriend’s wedding that every woman he’s ever slept with has found true love – with the next guy after him. Before he knows it, Charlie’s reputation as a “good luck charm” has women – from sexy strangers to his overweight receptionist – lining up for a quickie. But a life filled with all sex and no love has Charlie lonelier than ever – that is, until he meets Cam (Jessica Alba). 
The American Film Institute has once again released it’s annually updated list of the “Top 100 Greatest Movies of All-Time”. I personally disagree with a fair few placements, but then again, who am I? I am no film scholar! All I know is that The Shawshank Redemption is better than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - so a gulf of 38 places seems absurd. Maybe I’ll compile my own list, that’ll show them. At the top? Uhhh, an Asian film, you know I’m a sucker for those foreign flicks. Wow, this post was a little more informal than usual. Anyway, read on and experience the AFI list. 
What? Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese are going to work together? Again? Why, that’s unbelievable, who would have dreamed of such a thing? Oh wait…the people who helped make the 8 other films they collaborated on. Yeah well, they’re back together for a ninth time on a new project entitled Frankie Machine, which sees De Niro play a retired hitman. Based on the book The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow, the screenplay will be adapted by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the guys behind such films as Ocean’s Thirteen, Walking Tall and Runaway Jury. No indication of when the project is going to commence shooting and subsequently, no whisper of a possible release date, so be patient! 
Steve Carell (The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine), reprising his role as the polished, preening newscaster Evan Baxter of Bruce Almighty, is the next one anointed by God to accomplish a holy mission in the hilarious new comedy Evan Almighty. Blockbuster comedy director Tom Shadyac (The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty) returns behind the camera for this next episode of divine intervention. This time, however, his cast grows two-by-two. 
Marvel are determined to milk their comic franchises for all they are worth and it has now been confirmed that The Avengers will be the next entity to make the transition from page to silver screen. Zak Penn, the writer behind such films as X2 and Elektra, is due to write the script and as of yet, there has been no news of who will step in to direct. The vast nature of The Avengers as a group could see some of our favourite Marvel characters unite, whether the correct actors will reprise their roles is unknown, but if they did, it would be a pretty cool movie right? 
