“Just because its a big genre picture you should still put a lot of layers to those characters.”
– Sigourney Weaver
After 30 years in Hollywood Sigourney Weaver has created a filmography that would be the envy of any young ingénue. From Alien to Ghostbusters to three Academy nominations, this beautiful actor has created some of the compelling characters ever.
Her latest is Sandy Travis in Imaginary Heroes, which was written and directed by 25 year old Dan Harris. The film follows one year in the lives of the Travis family. After a terrible tragedy, the family pretty much falls to pieces. Teenage son Tim [Emile Hirsch] sleepwalks through life, mother Sandy [Sigourney Weaver] finds escape in smoking pot, and father Ben [Jeff Daniels] goes into shut-down mode, disconnecting from his family
“You must not forget that all the people in the movie are perpetrators and are bad.”
– Oliver Hirschbiegel
Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich is a very difficult but important film. The plot of the movie has Traudl Junge [Alexandra Maria Lara], the final stenographer for Adolf Hitler [Bruno Ganz], telling the story of the Nazi dictator’s final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII. Downfall has been nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
Oliver Hirschbiegel is the brilliant director of Downfall who first made an impression on US soil with the psychological horror film Das Experiment which was partially based on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Before making that feature he created Kommissar Rex and directed dozens of television movies. With Downfall he tackles another very high pressure situation which has become his trademark.
“Most people are just happy that I punched David Duchovny.”
– Madeline Zima
I actually met Madeline Zima in person at the South by Southwest film festival where her new film, Crazy Eyes, premiered in March. I ended up sitting right next to her as she took the reserved seat to my left. She was perfectly lovely and laughed throughout the film.
By midway through the film I was surprised she found it so funny though, considering many of the scenes involve what they call “Struggle Fucking.” It’s what it sounds like, you fuck someone even while they’re struggling against you. If Zima was in the scene and she was laughing, then I guess it’s okay to laugh.
Crazy Eyes is a semi-autobiographical film from writer/director Adam Sherman. Lukas Haas plays Zach, an aimless hard partying drinker who becomes obsessed with Rebecca (Zima.) He calls Rebecca “Crazy Eyes” and pines for her even though she’s made it clear she’s not interested in him, hence the struggle fucking.
Now that the film is out, I got to catch up with my movie date properly. Speaking by phone, Zima wasn’t quite as aggressive as her character in the movie, or certainly her character Mia Lewis on TV’s Californication. Zima actually revealed some vulnerable moments and had fun discussing the ins and outs of struggle fucking with me.
“What if the Devil was not the bad guy? Maybe he’s been painted in a wrong light. What if God was not so good?”
– Darren Lynn Bousman
Director Darren Lynn Bousman has been to hell and back getting his recent projects to the big screen. Since leaving the Saw franchise behind after helming films II, III and IV, he’s been forced to seek alternate routes to get his work seen. If necessity is the mother of invention, then Bousman’s latest Rocky Horror-inspired project, The Devil’s Carnival, is invention’s demented bastard child.
Bypassing traditional distribution channels entirely, Bousman took the first installment of his unique episodic cinematic rock opera direct to his considerable fan base via a rock & roll-style cross-country tour earlier this year. The film-cum-theatrical experience played to mostly sold-out houses packed with the willfully immersed, prompting an encore tour – the first date of which was at San Diego’s Comic Con. We caught up with Bousman by phone as he boarded the train back from the annual geek fest…
When director Christopher Nolan took over the ailing Batman franchise with 2005’s Batman Begins, expectations were exceptionally low after the one-time powerful film series had been reduced to a less than Adam West-worthy version in the final two ‘90s movies.
Nolan resurrected the bat with Batman Begins and raised the stakes even higher with 2008’s The Dark Knight, which is now seen as one of, if not the greatest, single comic book movie ever made. It was with baited breath then that comic book and movie fans alike anticipated the release of Nolan’s final film in the Batman trilogy, aptly titled The Dark Knight Rises.
The film was a guaranteed hit even before it was released in theaters today. The real question therefore was how much quality would be in Nolan’s film to go along with the quantity of tickets that would assuredly be sold.
A the point where the story picks up, our hero Bruce Wayne (played brilliantly by Christian Bale, who was the best Batman this side of Michael Keaton) has been retired for 8 years. Meanwhile Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) has managed to clean up Gotham City to a pristine level, and organized crime has been wiped off the map. Enter big, bad mercenary Bane (Tom Hardy), whose sole purpose in life is seemingly to create anarchy in a world ruled by an iron fist. Without giving away any kind of spoilers, the depths of this plot go much deeper than a madman hell bent on chaos (see The Joker in The Dark Knight for a lesson in that).
The dialogue and story in The Dark Knight Rises are once again superb. Nolan and his brother Jonathan have woven a tale that pays homage to both great cinema and the comic books the characters were based on. There are more than a few twists and turns, and while most take place in the final 30-minutes of the film, the set up that leads up to the final few scenes is brilliant.
Bale is a stalwart in his role as Bruce Wayne, the billionaire philanthropist, who has become a bit of a hermit since his caped alter-ego became vilified instead of celebrated. Anne Hathaway gives a strong performance as Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman, although her purr isn’t nearly as powerful as Michelle Pfeiffer’s as seen in1992’s Batman Returns. Still, Hathaway plays a coy and younger version of the classic cat burglar, and a much more modern Selina Kyle for those that read any modern Batman comic books.
The brutish and powerful Bane played by Tom Hardy is a far, far cry from the outstanding and commanding performance given by the late Heath Ledger in his portrayal as The Joker in the last Batman film, but these are two completely different characters. Bane is a hulking thug who uses his fists and fighting style to get his point across, rendering the muffled words that come out of his mask covered mouth almost irrelevant. Hardy should still be commended however for being the element that makes Batman look mortal, as he casts a rather large, muscular shadow over the Dark Knight. The real star in this film however is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays beat cop John Blake. Levitt shines in a cast full of stars with his quiet and calm demeanor. He unleashes a masterful performance when the buttons get pushed and the bombs start exploding.
If there is one complaint to be made in The Dark Knight Rises, it’s some classic comic book mistakes and plot holes that open up during some of the film’s lesser moments, but those are quickly cast aside thanks to a determined screenplay interlaced with quick, slashing dialogue and plotlines.
The Dark Knight Rises is the final cape and cowl movie from director Christopher Nolan, and while rumors have already begun to swirl that another filmmaker will soon take over the reigns of the powerful DC franchise, it really seems like a shame. Much like when Superman 2 ended and you felt a real sense of closure, the final moments of The Dark Knight Rises makes you believe this is just the way the Batman story was meant to end.
With this film, Nolan’s showed everybody once again that comic books aren’t just for kids and great filmmaking can also involve a superhero wearing a cape and a cowl. The Dark Knight Rises may not be on par with its predecessor, but in the pantheon of great film trilogies, this Batman story can be seen as one complete masterpiece with no failing parts tearing at the seems of a perfectly woven story.
San Diego Comic Con 2012 was packed with so much news that we couldn’t fit it all in one place. Yesterday, I covered the news about the major movies coming from Marvel and DC. In this column, we’ll take a look at some other movies and the rest of the news from the nerd fest.
It was a few years ago at 2006 Comic Con when Edgar Wright first talked about doing an Ant-Man movie. While there still isn’t a date scheduled for it, Wright did come out during the Marvel movie news panel to show off a short teaser trailer. All of the copies of the teaser that made it online were promptly taken down, but the fans that saw it at Comic Con have been raving about it.
If they don’t get their skates on and hit a looming contractual deadline, Fox face losing the rights to Daredevil, a prospect that’s becoming all the more real now that David Slade is out of the picture and the project is director-less. However the studio is moving forward with a new Fantastic Four project before they lose control of those rights too. Josh Trank, director of Chronicle, is confirmed as the director for the upcoming Fantastic Four flick. Fox still has the Wolverine and First Class sequels to push out before they move on the Fantastic Four project however. We’re told there will be an entirely new cast, but it is unclear if the forthcoming Fantastic Four film will be a reboot or in the same continuity. It is confirmed that Jeremy Slater will be writing the next movie though.
The CW’s The Arrow is turning out to be a much darker show than any superhero TV series before it. Calling The Arrow a superhero show might be a stretch as what we’re seeing in the previews makes him out to be quiet the anti-hero. This is the Green Arrow like you’ve never seen before. In the newest clip released by the CW, Green Arrow kills several of his captors to protect his identity.
Suck it, Wolverine! That’s the tagline of the new Deadpool video game being designed by High Moon Studios. The merc’ with a mouth is getting his own game where he’s going to kick a bunch of ass, make a ton of inappropriate jokes, and constantly break the fourth wall. The trailer for the game captures Deadpool’s unique sense of humor and has fans ready well ahead of the 2013 release.
DreamWorks animation is in talks with Classic Media to acquire several classic cartoon properties. Among the titles included in the $150 million dollar package are: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Voltron, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Waldo from ‘Where’s Waldo’, and Lone Ranger. If DreamWorks can make this deal happen, we will likely be seeing CGI remakes of all these titles in the coming years.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on October 14. Several of the cast were in attendance at SDCC for The Walking Dead panel, which featured clips from the upcoming season three as well as fan questions and answers. The full trailer, which was debuted at the panel, was released online, and there are some special surprises, including an appearance by the Governor.
To wrap things up, Karl Urban promised fans a sneak peak of Star Trek 2 during SDCC. He lived up to his promise, releasing a four minute video of him surfing while music plays. Only in the last ten seconds of the video is there some footage of a wrap from the Star Trek 2 set.
Last weekend was San Diego Comic Con, the premier nerd convention of the year. Both major comic companies were present as well as several movie studios, prominent actors, and nerd icons of all kinds. Everyone was eager to show off their newest projects.
New clips for The Dark Knight Rises were previewed at Comic Con. The first was a teaser of Morgan Freeman showing off a new vehicle, The Bat. The second clip establishes the movie takes place eight years after The Dark Knight in a conversation between Officer Blake and Commissioner Gordon. The Dark Knight Rises premiers in theaters July 20.
Batman is one of the most popular heroes in the world with one of the most iconic cars ever. This year at SDCC, each of the classic Batmobiles were on display. The Batmobiles were all lined up and a new documentary about the cars was previewed at the con. The Batmobile is a documentary that features Batmobiles throughout time and the Batmen that drove them.
The Man of Steel had a panel at Comic Con, helping shed some light on the rumors surrounding the project. A short clip was shown to the audience and it was met with positive reviews. There’s a new teaser poster on their Facebook page as well.
Iron Man 3 had a major presence at Comic Con. During the Iron Man 3 panel, Kevin Feage, Shane Black, Robert Downey Jr., and Don Cheadle were present to talk about the upcoming movie. They discussed both rumors and the movie story, without giving much of anything away. All of the Iron Man armor from the past movies, as well as the armor from the upcoming movie was on display as well. Men might not be the only ones putting on armor in Iron Man 3 however, the new rumor is Gwyneth Paltrow may be dawning the rescue armor this go around.
Marvel revealed the titles to their upcoming sequels at Comic Con, and it looks like Bucky is coming back since the title of the Captain America sequel is Captain America: Winter Soldier. Bucky was the original Winter Soldier so it seems likely he’s returning as a villain. While Bucky isn’t confirmed beyond the title, Falcon will make an appearance in the film. Anthony Mackie will be playing the part. Winter Soldier is scheduled to release April 14, 2014.
The Thor sequel is entitled, Thor: The Dark World. A few things are known about Thor at the moment. The movie will explore Thor and Jane’s relationship. Loki will not be the main villain in the film, and the current rumor mill points all signs to the Enchantress. With a new director on board, it’s set for theatres sometime in 2013.
Marvel officially confirmed they are filming Galactic Guardians after Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: Winter Soldier. They also revealed the cast of the Galactic Guardians team will include: Drax the Destoryer, Gamora, Groot, Star-Lord, and everyone’s favorite, Rocket Raccoon. Galactic Guardians is slated to start in theaters on August 1, 2014.
That’s the first half of Ur W33K 1N G33K’s Comic Con coverage. Check back in for the rest of the news from the convention.
