FILM
Will these be the best films of 2004?
(from www.eye.net)
1. THE LIFE AQUATIC
Despite Bob Harris' hangdog demeanour in Lost in Translation, Bill Murray isn't so averse to travelling -- he spent the fall in Italy filming this movie with Wes Anderson, the wunder-geek who directed the actor to greatness in Rushmore. Here, Murray is a Cousteau-like oceanographer and filmmaker who hunts the "Jaguar shark" that killed his mentor, a scenario that promises suspense, deadpan comedy and French accents. Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Anjelica Huston and Owen Wilson play characters with such quintessentially Wes Anderson-ian names as Jane Winslett-Richardson, Alistair Hennessey, Ned Plimpton and James Roderick Smelldon III. (I only made up the last one.) The Life Aquatic surfaces late in the year.
2. 2046
Making movies is never easy for Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-Wai but this production has been painfully protracted even by his standards. Shoots in Thailand, Hong Kong and China ground on for four years and characters changed radically according to the ever-evolving script, much to the cast's frustration (one Japanese actor quit in 2001 only to return two years later). 2046 is a semi-sequel to In the Mood for Love, incorporating a science-fiction story written by Tony Leung's character in Wong's 2000 hit. Also appearing are some of the Far East's biggest stars, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. Wong is on deadline to finish it this month -- as if! Since Wong thrives on chaos, expect another masterpiece by Cannes time.
3. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
The mindbending trailer for Jim Carrey's foray into the universe of Charlie Kaufman has been in circulation for months. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was originally to be released in November. Alas, director Michel Gondry (whose new compilation of music videos is one of 2003's essential DVDs) wanted more time to tinker with Kaufman's story of a man who allows the memories of his ex-girlfriend to be erased, but then changes his mind. Make a mental note of its new March 19 release date.
4. HELLBOY
The wait for Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Mike Mignola's unfathomably cool comic book has geeks losing sleep. A laconic, crimson-coloured anti-hero, Hellboy is a half-human, half-demon agent in a government agency that fights paranormal nasties. In makeup by Rick Baker, Ron Perlman is the big red one and Selma Blair is his pyrokinetic colleague Liz Sherman. Hellboy's adversary in his inaugural screen appearance (slated for April 2) is not just a Nazi and not just a wizard: he's a Nazi wizard.
5. CHILDSTAR
Don McKellar's follow-up to Last Night wrapped in December and should be done for September's festival season. It's a black comedy about a 12-year-old Hollywood child star who comes to Toronto to make an action movie and blazes out in an orgy of depravity. McKellar plays his driver, Jennifer Jason Leigh his mother and Dave Foley the movie's beleaguered producer. The story was inspired by a meeting between the actor-director and Haley Joel Osment in a Los Angeles bar. However, the Sixth Sense star was not liquored up at the time.
6. THE STEPFORD WIVES
Like every year, 2004 has lots for moviegoers who crave the familiar, including a Walking Tall refitted for the Rock, a Toronto-shot Dawn of the Dead with Sarah Polley and Hollywood versions of foreign hits Taxi and Shall We Dance. The ginchiest remake should be Frank Oz'sThe Stepford Wives, the second film to be based on Ira Levin's satirical novel. Nicole Kidman plays a newcomer to an upscale Connecticut town who discovers a sinister conspiracy of suburban sexbots. Early stills and a trailer for the movie (out in June) promise fabulous wardrobes and kitsch aplenty.
7. ALIEN VS. PREDATOR
Despite the title, this combo of 20th Century Fox's SF franchises stars a whole mess of razor-toothed aliens and dreadlocked predators. On Aug. 6, a scientific outpost in Antarctica becomes the host venue for an interplanetary battle royale. Me, I'm excited about the dialogue. Stirring lines like "hsssssst!" "aaaaarkgh!" and "woaaarrrk!" are bound to attract the Academy's attention.
8. BAD EDUCATION
Pedro Almodóvar's first since Talk to Her is now in the can. A likely festival fave for the fall, his new drama is about the reunion of two men who shared a tumultuous Catholic education during the Franco-ist '60s. The first images to circulate feature altar boys, drag queens and Y Tu Mamá También hunk Gael Garcia Bernal with his shirt off. Good ol' Pedro.
9. COLLATERAL
Currently scheduled for October, Collateral does not feature the historic Adam Sandler/Tom Cruise matchup that was briefly promised. Instead, Jamie Foxx is the cabbie who drives the killer Cruise from hit to hit in Los Angeles. This smells a little Bruckheimer, but there's one good reason to believe Collateral won't suck: the director is Michael Mann, who hasn't tried his hand at a crime thriller since the impeccable Heat.
10. DOGVILLE...
...and many, many other 2003 festival favourites due for wider exposure. In the coming weeks, expect Errol Morris'The Fog of War, the mountain-climbing docudrama Touching the Void and Michael Winterbottom's refugee story In This World. The spring season includes Lars von Trier's Dogville, Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World, Toronto director Sudz Sutherland's decorated debut, Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, and a Cinematheque Ontario run of Father and Son, the latest by Russian Ark director Aleksandr Sokurov.
Will these be the best films of 2004?
(from www.eye.net)
1. THE LIFE AQUATIC
Despite Bob Harris' hangdog demeanour in Lost in Translation, Bill Murray isn't so averse to travelling -- he spent the fall in Italy filming this movie with Wes Anderson, the wunder-geek who directed the actor to greatness in Rushmore. Here, Murray is a Cousteau-like oceanographer and filmmaker who hunts the "Jaguar shark" that killed his mentor, a scenario that promises suspense, deadpan comedy and French accents. Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Anjelica Huston and Owen Wilson play characters with such quintessentially Wes Anderson-ian names as Jane Winslett-Richardson, Alistair Hennessey, Ned Plimpton and James Roderick Smelldon III. (I only made up the last one.) The Life Aquatic surfaces late in the year.
2. 2046
Making movies is never easy for Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-Wai but this production has been painfully protracted even by his standards. Shoots in Thailand, Hong Kong and China ground on for four years and characters changed radically according to the ever-evolving script, much to the cast's frustration (one Japanese actor quit in 2001 only to return two years later). 2046 is a semi-sequel to In the Mood for Love, incorporating a science-fiction story written by Tony Leung's character in Wong's 2000 hit. Also appearing are some of the Far East's biggest stars, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. Wong is on deadline to finish it this month -- as if! Since Wong thrives on chaos, expect another masterpiece by Cannes time.
3. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
The mindbending trailer for Jim Carrey's foray into the universe of Charlie Kaufman has been in circulation for months. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was originally to be released in November. Alas, director Michel Gondry (whose new compilation of music videos is one of 2003's essential DVDs) wanted more time to tinker with Kaufman's story of a man who allows the memories of his ex-girlfriend to be erased, but then changes his mind. Make a mental note of its new March 19 release date.
4. HELLBOY
The wait for Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Mike Mignola's unfathomably cool comic book has geeks losing sleep. A laconic, crimson-coloured anti-hero, Hellboy is a half-human, half-demon agent in a government agency that fights paranormal nasties. In makeup by Rick Baker, Ron Perlman is the big red one and Selma Blair is his pyrokinetic colleague Liz Sherman. Hellboy's adversary in his inaugural screen appearance (slated for April 2) is not just a Nazi and not just a wizard: he's a Nazi wizard.
5. CHILDSTAR
Don McKellar's follow-up to Last Night wrapped in December and should be done for September's festival season. It's a black comedy about a 12-year-old Hollywood child star who comes to Toronto to make an action movie and blazes out in an orgy of depravity. McKellar plays his driver, Jennifer Jason Leigh his mother and Dave Foley the movie's beleaguered producer. The story was inspired by a meeting between the actor-director and Haley Joel Osment in a Los Angeles bar. However, the Sixth Sense star was not liquored up at the time.
6. THE STEPFORD WIVES
Like every year, 2004 has lots for moviegoers who crave the familiar, including a Walking Tall refitted for the Rock, a Toronto-shot Dawn of the Dead with Sarah Polley and Hollywood versions of foreign hits Taxi and Shall We Dance. The ginchiest remake should be Frank Oz'sThe Stepford Wives, the second film to be based on Ira Levin's satirical novel. Nicole Kidman plays a newcomer to an upscale Connecticut town who discovers a sinister conspiracy of suburban sexbots. Early stills and a trailer for the movie (out in June) promise fabulous wardrobes and kitsch aplenty.
7. ALIEN VS. PREDATOR
Despite the title, this combo of 20th Century Fox's SF franchises stars a whole mess of razor-toothed aliens and dreadlocked predators. On Aug. 6, a scientific outpost in Antarctica becomes the host venue for an interplanetary battle royale. Me, I'm excited about the dialogue. Stirring lines like "hsssssst!" "aaaaarkgh!" and "woaaarrrk!" are bound to attract the Academy's attention.
8. BAD EDUCATION
Pedro Almodóvar's first since Talk to Her is now in the can. A likely festival fave for the fall, his new drama is about the reunion of two men who shared a tumultuous Catholic education during the Franco-ist '60s. The first images to circulate feature altar boys, drag queens and Y Tu Mamá También hunk Gael Garcia Bernal with his shirt off. Good ol' Pedro.
9. COLLATERAL
Currently scheduled for October, Collateral does not feature the historic Adam Sandler/Tom Cruise matchup that was briefly promised. Instead, Jamie Foxx is the cabbie who drives the killer Cruise from hit to hit in Los Angeles. This smells a little Bruckheimer, but there's one good reason to believe Collateral won't suck: the director is Michael Mann, who hasn't tried his hand at a crime thriller since the impeccable Heat.
10. DOGVILLE...
...and many, many other 2003 festival favourites due for wider exposure. In the coming weeks, expect Errol Morris'The Fog of War, the mountain-climbing docudrama Touching the Void and Michael Winterbottom's refugee story In This World. The spring season includes Lars von Trier's Dogville, Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World, Toronto director Sudz Sutherland's decorated debut, Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, and a Cinematheque Ontario run of Father and Son, the latest by Russian Ark director Aleksandr Sokurov.
posted by D @ 10:43 AM
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