Klaatu Barrada Nikto, as they say. Or Keanu, Bates, Jennifer Connelly, who are the headliners behind The Day the Earth Stood Still, which is coming to cinemas near you in December. Just for your delectation, we have the trailer. But what you have to decide is - environmental allegory or terrorist scaremongering?
Hey there all you Wild Childs (and wild parents who want to fill up the summer holidays with wholesome fun). To celebrate the August 15 launch of the Wild Child film, there is a ‘fantastic Wild Child Print Club application of the official website‘. There, you will be able to ‘have some wild fun creating your very own Wild Child photo selecting different borders, accessories and fun slogans.’ You can also send the pictures your friends as a jpegs, to rate and be rated.
Phig Billy gives his low-down on the latest Batman flick, The Dark Knight.
Granted, as a comic book artist myself, I’m a fan of comic books in general and Batman in particular, and if you’re well and truly fed up with the recent spate of superheroic spandex silliness at your multiplex then you may react differently. But to be honest I’d still urge you to give it a chance: this film is so much more engaging and interesting than X-Men or Spiderman. As I say, I like comic books and I’ve enjoyed the season’s previous superhero blockbusters Iron Man (mainly thanks to the Downey) and The Incredible Hulk (ditto Ed Norton), but they don’t come anywhere near The Dark Knight. Those films were perfectly well-crafted translations of their comic book sources: charming, action-packed and exciting. Intellectually undemanding, disposable entertainment. But The Dark Knight is something else.
It’s a complete reinterpretation of the Batman mythos, and (as the title may hint) it’s the darkest and bleakest version of the character I’ve ever seen. It’s also incredibly realistic (as far as these things go) and downright terrifying: it’s as much a crime or horror film as it is a conventional superhero flick. And it’s not really a film for kids: it may have secured a 12A certificate, but it’s very intense and not suitable for youngsters. For the uninitiated, TDK is the sequel to Brit director Christopher Nolan’s 2005 reboot of the Batman franchise “Batman Begins”, and it reteams Nolan with his co-writer David Goyer (demoted from screenplay to plot, thank you God, the dialogue in this one is such an improvement), his star Christian Bale (charismatic and compelling, I’m not 100% sure about the Batman growl he’s developed, but this is a minor niggle) and an impressive supporting cast including Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.
Although I loved Begins (going so far as to watch it three times on three consecutive nights), it had its problems, most of which are happily remedied here. The love interest Rachel Dawes (played in Begins by Mrs Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes) is played here by the fabulous Maggie Gyllenhaal and her part is much better written this time round. As I mentioned above, the writing is much better all-round, Christopher Nolan bringing aboard his brother Jonathan, with whom we previously worked on the spectacularly brilliant Memento. Furthermore, TDK reintroduces Batman’s arch-nemesis, previously committed to celluloid so memorably by Jack Nicholson back in 1989, played this time by the late Heath Ledger. I read somewhere that Ledger prepared for his role by locking himself in a hotel room with archive footage of natural disasters and bloody revolutions etc and forced himself to laugh at them. Of course I don’t want to suggest that his immersion in the character led to his suicide, but… I wouldn’t be surprised. The immersion is total! Ledger plays the Joker with utter conviction and is utterly terrifying. As a portrayal of pure evil, it’s up there with the best of them.
I don’t want to say too much. Except, oh yeah, Aaron Eckart is good too. Suffice to say: go see it. Don’t worry about having high expectations, because this film will still exceed them. But possibly leave the kids at home… if they’ll let you get away with it.
When the Screenwriters’ Festival tipped us the wink that the User Generated and User-Owned Feature Film Competition was entering its second round - The Writer’s Brief, we pricked up our ears, put a dumb look on our collective faces and said: ‘What is a User Generated and User-Owned Feature Film Competition?’
And we’re glad we did because it sounds spiffing!
The User Generated and User-Owned Feature Film Competition is a Movie Mogul Fund ‘Micro Movie Lab’ competition, to… err… get a movie made. Round one involved pitching the idea, round two, is writing the idea, followed by directing and producing.
Welsh Filmmaker Ryan Hooper (that’s him at the top of the page) won both the Members Award and the Jury Award with his pitch “Negotiating Life.”: A melancholic life insurance salesman finds his attempts at committing suicide unwittingly thwarted by his disgruntled customers.
In Round 2, budding screenwriters have until July 31 to devise and submit their 500-1200 word story outline, incorporating the title, genre and essence of ‘Negotiating Life’. Subject to members voting throughout August ’08, the top 10 ranking ideas then go before a Jury Panel consisting of industry professionals; Huw Penallt Jones from Capitol Films, Ed Thomas from the Fiction Factory, Mark Sandell from Trinity Filmed Entertainment, Olivier Lauchenauer from Pogo Films and John Shackleton of Movie Mogul Ltd
‘The Writer’s Brief’ main prizes are a Jury Award - £400 screenwriting commission £100 and a share in the film’s profits 1 year’s NPA membership (worth £85) Members Award - £200 1 year’s NPA membership (worth £85) Runner-up £50
Further rounds include an open Director and Producer’s call, to bring the vision to life. The production budget of £100k will be raised by members of the website purchasing affordable units at £4.95 each. All winners and unit holders will share in the film’s profits and own it jointly. The film aims to go into production towards the end of the year, under the supervision of participating Jury members.
The end of the school/college term, and other than signing each others clothes and/or bodies, what are the articulate, outgoing 15 to 19 year olds to do? (Don’t all answer at once.)
Lambent Productions is looking for young people for their Lifeproof series - 10 half-hour films about how young people deal with the many problems relating to growing up, especially their relationships with each other.
Each film, they tell us, ‘will focus on one teenager and their closest friends and will involve them using cameras to film their different perspectives’, which in true Channel Four style will cover your ‘love-life and relationship dilemmas. How do you deal with those tricky relationship issues? Love, sex, jealousy, heartbreak, temptation, fancying a friend, keeping/losing your virginity, pressure to conform etc’.
You take the camera, record your story pass it to your friends and get their advice .
All filming is to take place during August, so if you’re interested, or if you’d like to know more, get in touch with Jenni or Lara on 01273 648380 or email jenni@lambentproductions.co.uk
Get that Friday feeling - anytime in the week with the YouTube super Fridays from Fresh Shorts. The cheerleaders of top-notch international short film have set up their very own YouTube channel and every Friday they celebrate by adding another short to the already long list. Of course, we don’t subscribe to their button down view of the world and watch films everyday of the week. Go on, try it yourself.
Here’s just one example: The Open Doors by James Rogan.
Big Brother has claimed one of our own. Belinda Harris-Reid, who is now in The House, is partner in crime to Josephine Larson, who ran the onscreen acting tips series with us (catch them on the D+CFilm channel on iTunes). In fact Belinda worked the camera during those videocasts.
And Josephine is speaking to Big Brother’s Little Brother today. You go girls! (We’re assured that’s the correct patois for such occasions.)
At this point we would usually point you to the Surreal Saloon films on youtube. Hmm, but somehow they have all been removed by the user. Perhaps Channel 4 only wants us to get our kookiness through them, the dears.
For those of you considering a post prandial today, spare a thought for the French fella Philippe Petit, who on August 7, 1974, stepped out on a wire suspended between New York’s twin towers, then the world’s tallest buildings. He spent an hour dancing around before he was caught and thrown into jail. (more…)
Christopher Hampton the Oscar winning writer of Dangerous Liaisons takes a look at his recent adaption of Atonement at the Screenwriters’ Festival
Already in its third year, the Screenwriters’ Festival will unravel its own special plot between Tuesday and Thursday (July 1 and July 3) next week. There are only 50-ish tickets left, but do not fear, your trusty D+CFilm will be there covering all the action/romance/comedy, etc. (more…)
Call us old fashioned, but we’re always quite keen on the idea of a world within a world, where assassins with superpowers protect us all against certain annihilation, especially if the idea has come from a comic book. So, with that in mind we turn to a few production notes on Wanted, which is due for release on June 27. (more…)
Just because today’s Sunday we thought we’d dip our toe into the wider world of cinematic wonder and bring you the trailer of the Oscar winning No Country for Old Men.
If you were to ask why, we would tell you that it’s because industry supremo and fave of the Coen brothers Roger Deakins was director of photography is from Torquay. But it don’t half help that he creates a beautiful and powerful images – lovefest over, sit back and take a squint at the tailer.
The boy from Swansea who once said: ‘The function of posterity is to look after itself,’ has had a biopic made of his life, and – now here’s the fun bit – the director, John Maybury, will be interviewed on live satellite link up to be beamed and bounced around the whole of the Picturehouse empire.
love in the devil trailer
On Sunday June 22 there will be a special screening of The Edge of Love about the complicated love life of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, followed by a live interview and Q&A with director John Maybury. (more…)
Whenever the Picturehouse cinema network announces Q&As you suspect a multi-media event throughout its national - or even international – network, which is why the live tour of former Stangler Hugh Cornwell is such a big thing.
This weekend’s mainstream offering is from The Happening, ‘a paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity’, according to the blurb. We suspect it’s another frolicking mess from M Night Shyamalan, but watch the trailer and tell us what you think. It stars Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo, and opens on Friday June 13.
If any of you guys have a Bristol connection, you may be interested to know about the forthcoming Bristol Filmmakers Festival.
On June 14-15, that up country bunch will host an event that celebrates independent film with special screenings and what not.
The call has gone out to all independent filmmakers of Bristol to submit a film on DVD. Submission forms can be obtained from bfmf2008@yahoo.com. Which is also the address to send any questions. The deadline is Monday May 26.
