Achtung Baby!

Under the Sea, Under the Sea....Bioshock: The Film

+ Verbinski to Direct BioShock Film

Gore Verbinski's next film will take us back to Davy Jones' locker -- but this time, into the undersea world of BioShock.

Variety reports that the Pirates of the Carribean director has been tapped to direct and produce a film based on the critically acclaimed world of the Xbox 360 game for Universal.

+ Gore Verbinski talks about directing the Bioshock movie

Gore Verbsinski: Of all the games out there, I think "Bioshock" is the one that's the most engaging. I think the whole utopia-gone-wrong story that's cleverly unveiled to players is brimming with cinematic potential.

+ BIOSHOCK: BREAKING THE MOLD PDF Art Book

Criterion + Blu-Ray

A Criterion "Chungking Express" Blu-Ray? Yes, please!

sassy girls

Following up on [And The American Sassy Girl is.....]. Will this damn movie get a release date? I want to see this remake train wreck already.  As a side note, Jun Ji-hyun has changed her name to Gianna Jun for her debut on an English language movie: Blood: The Last Vampire. eh...ok. Gianna? really?

+ Elisha Cuthbert Gets Her Sassy On In Unusual Romantic Comedy

"What happened?" | "Time happened"

Spin Magazine, February 1998

It wasn't until I was done watching Wong Kar Wai's  "My Blueberry Nights"  that I realized it was the sort of film I was missing, needed, required. Romantics need only apply. The performances the director generated out of all the actor's was great but to me the highlights were David Strathairn & Rachel Weisz. They were just amazing. As usual in his films, music was a character of its own, wrapped between a Norah Jones song and with an appearance in the film and soundtrack by Chan Marshall herself. The soundtrack comes out April 1st.

+ Trailer
+ Norah Jones - The Story
+ Cat Power: "The Greatest" Live

+ "My Blueberry Nights" - The Kiss

"How do you say goodbye to someone you can't imagine living without?"

/a monday miscellany/

Dear Battlestar Galactica Season 4. Get here already!
/ A complete 'Battlestar' refresher

/ This song reminds me of Kate Austen: Kathleen Edwards - "In State"

/ The man above? Michael Emerson: The best actor working in American television today, that's who.

/ Additions to my Burnout soundtrack: Gnarls Barkley's "Run" & "Paper Planes" via this trailer's use of it.

/ Justice League: The New Frontier comes out tomorrow. Here's a review and here's another.

/ The art of Chip Kidd’s new book.

/ Inchworm: Bob Sabiston, creator of the rotoscoping software behind A Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly wanted to draw and animate on his DS...

/ The Dishwasher: I played it over the weekend and became a believer in XNA if games like this are going to  come out of it.

/ If it wasn't for afrojacks, I wouldn't know there's a badass "new" of live VU song out there.

/ Musica! HEAD OF FEMUR: Isn't It A Shame, Delorentos: basis of everything, Great Northern: Telling Lies,  Oren Lavie: Her Morning Elegance.  

/ SXSW is fast approaching, a trip down memory lane: Amy Winehouse live during one of the SXSW daytime parties.

Evan's Trifecta

 

[ Evan Rachel Wood:  It Won't Be Long  ]

I think she has it going on. These 3 performances, 3 years in a row, are priceless.

1. Across the Universe
2. Running with Scissors
3. Down in the Valley

+ Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood to star in Woody Allen's next movie

Double up on Rose

Double up on Rose Byrne goodness by watching Season 1 of "Damages" ( my favorite new show of last year) and "Sunshine" ( I've yet to meet anyone who has seen this movie).

[  The VLA: "When I Am Through With You", the theme to "Damages" ]

+ Tom Waits - Trampled Rose (live)
+ Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Trampled Rose
+ Tori Amos - Almost Rosey (live)

Matadors

Julian Schnabel

+ Matador - trailer
+ Talk To her - trailer

"More human than human" is our motto.

+ NPR: Ridley Scott Refines His Vision of 'Blade Runner'

Media Vice Presidents and CEO's are assholes

+ /Film:"The good guys at United Hollywood have edited together yet another video which nails home why the writers are on strike. The following video is titled “The Heartbreaking Voices of Uncertainty”

Dolores, barely legal

+ Crime To See 'American Beauty' Or 'Lolita'

// Eric Clapton - I Want A Little Girl
// The Strokes - Barely Legal
// The Killers - When You Were Young ( live@Abbey Road )
// Hawksley Workman - Lethal and Young

Kissing My Love

Art: Will Eisner

[ Fiona Apple: Kissing My Love (live) ]

+ Screening at the Austin Film Festival this Friday and Sunday:  Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist

Texas is the Hottest State

by rockwilder

+ Jesse Harris - It Will Stay With Us from the "The Hottest State" Soundtrack.

The Film: The film is cliché in parts and the soundtrack/score is too overwhelming throughout the whole movie ( I don't think there's a silent moment at all ), there were enough funny moments and honest reminders of youth for most people to relate to it in some form or another. I would sum it up as a reminder that love is an overwhelming currency for some.   

The highlight: Norah Jones' surprise performance at the after party. She was flawless.

+ Actor Hawke Screens 'The Hottest State' At Paramount
+ Norah Jones opens new  Austin City Limits season
+ Norah - Ocean of Noise

One Miserable Movie

So it was a few weeks ago, a hot 100+ day in the city, and to cool of we run over to the Angelika and go into whatever show is next. It happened to be "Goya's Ghost". I didn't know a thing about it. I walked by the poster and saw that it was a Milos Forman film and thought it would be good and worth while. WRONG. This is one of the most miserable movies ever. So depressing it could put you in the Suicide Watch Ward at Bellevue. Instead of Ever watching this film, I'll make some suggestions:

If you want to watch a Milos Forman film then give "Valmont" shot.
You know Javier Bardem is a power house, go back and see him in his native tongue in "Live Flesh".    
Natalie Portman didn't do the "Lolita" movie but played the role anyways in "Beautiful Girls".   
Stellan Skarsgård in "Insomnia" is 100% better than Pacino in the remake.

"And the rest is rust and stardust..."

One of the prized books on my shelf, a signed first printing of Stardust signed by Neil with a drawing of a Luna in it. Neil is awesome. Are you going to go see the movie or What!

+ NPR: A Magical Fairy Tale Hits the Big Screen
+ NEIL GAIMAN AND CHARLES VESS' STARDUST - new printing

[ Maude Maggart - Stardust ]

And the rest is rust and stardust. --Nabokov.

Amused by...A Miscellany

// Eisley - Invasion Video

// Tales of Earthsea

+ Trailer

[ Tamiya Terashima - Ihen ~ Ryuu - from Gedo Senki (Tales From Earthsea) Original Soundtrack ]

I was a little disappointed because the film is a little slow and there weren't enough dragons and magic to my liking. Still, even a disappointing Studio Ghibli film is better than half the stuff out there.

 "Licensing problems are in the way of a North American release of Gedo Senki, with the Sci-Fi Channel, which released the miniseries Legend of Earthsea in 2004, currently holding the rights to the property. Under the current situation, the film cannot be released earlier than 2009, when Sci-Fi's rights expire" { source }

// Broken English

+ Trailer
+ 'Broken English' Unscripted - Parker Posey and Drea De Matteo

I'm going to see this next week.

[ Tegan & Sara vs. Mylo - Walking with a Ghost in Paris ]

// Ninja Gaiden Sigma

+ Trailer
Chapter 2 is visually stunning.

// Xbox 360 Achievements

"Wait around at the beginning of the game on the couch with Jenny. After you make out and wait a few seconds, the achievement will unlock, you can then get up and leave." /via

"Teabagger achievement" This is a viral achievement. You must kill and tea-bag someone who already has this achievement. Tea-bagging is standing on their face and pressing the left-thumbstick(crouch) thus making the ball-to-face connection. Repeat as desired for massive damage to the teabagged player's ego. Try not to get killed whilst teabagging as this will invetably lead to a fierce teabagging retaliation. The devs started with this achievement, so that's how the fever got started. /via

// Comics

+ All-Star Batgirl

+ BATMAN #666, "Numbers of the Beast."

+ Rumor: Heroes Game To Be Unveiled at Comic-Con

+ Bring It Home

+  BIG-SCREEN WATCHMEN's FIRST CASTINGS
+  ‘Stardust’ Sword-Fighting Clip
+  First Look: ‘Beowulf’

Rebuild of Evangelion Trailer

Previously.....[ Rebuild of Evangelion ]

+ Gaze at the pretty version of the Rebuild of Evangelion

And The American Sassy Girl is.....

....Elisha Cuthbert

+ My Sassy Girl (2007)

Previously...[My sassy girl keeps being remade ]  "I'm dying to see Hollywood's bright idea of an american version of Jeon Ji-hyeon."

The Original Sassy Girl:

Primes

+ Best Transformers Fan Photos
+ 'Transformers' Targets $150M First Week; Could Pass 7-Day Non-Sequel 'Passion' & 'Potter'; Latinos Flock To See Battle Bots
+ Transformer Toy Designer Alex Kubalsky

Darth Nihilus - Sentational Sith Lord

Darth Nihilus by ~CDXIII

+ Darth Nihilus mental institution call

+ Darth Nihilus Original Interview|Telemarketer Call | Songs | General Goofing

+ Gamorrean guard call

+ The hunt for Darth Nihilus
 

Agent 355 can @&$! you up

After watching "Grindhouse" I just want to throw it out there: For the "Y The Last Man" Movie - Tracie Thoms for the role of Agent 355 would be a great idea.

"Agent 355 is Yorick's intelligent, tough-as-nails bodyguard that works for a mysterious US government agency. Her real name has never been revealed."

+ Sample of Agent 355 at work in the comics

+ Tracie Thoms & Zoe Bell: Whatever-However from the "Death Proof" soundtrack.

el grindhouse

The Cinema of Possibilities
Low budget or big, the energy and imagination of the grind-house circuit is reborn in Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's tribute

Carpenter's Apprentice
Robert Rodriguez on "Planet Terror"

+ 'Grindhouse' In-Jokes: Bread Crumbs Tarantino, Rodriguez Hid In Film

Star Dust

[ Maude Maggart  - Star Dust ]

Directores en Espanol

Quick! name 3 Brilliant Spanish speaking film directors...............OK, I'll do it for you:

1- Alejandro González Iñárritu
2- Alfonso Cuarón
3- Pedro Almodóvar

+ Empire Review: But Cuarón has achieved something tremendous, and his take on the action genre rivals that of Paul Greengrass in terms of invigoration.

+ Sydney Morning Herald: Have you ever seen Sir Michael Caine farting or smoking pot before?" Cuaron asks.

+ Latino USA’s Maria Hinojosa speaks with director Alejandro Gonzålez Iñårritu about his recent movie, “Babel.” [Program 714]

+ The Redemption of Penelope Cruz via Volver: As with all of Almodovar's films, Volver was better the second time around

Out of the 3 sci-fi movies with social commentaries that came out this year, I wonder which one will have the most longevity: V for Vendetta, A Scanner Darkly or Children of Men ?

Miller's The Spirit

[via Lying In The Gutters]

+ Thom Yorke - Street Spirit

Rebuild of Evangelion

Because Evangelion is one of the greatest animes ever they just can't leave it alone. ( i.e. Star Wars, The Matrix, etc. etc. ) Enter: "Rebuild of Evangelion" (via)

+ More info on the four new movies

3 con subtitulos

This week I watched 3 films from directors I have high regards for: Andrew Lau ( "Infernal Affairs" ), Pedro Almodovar ( "All About My Mother" ) and Alejandro González Iñárritu ( "Amores Perros" ).

First up, Daisy [ trailer ] - It goes unsaid that the main draw here for me was Jeon Ji Hyun. I've yet to see one of her movies that I didn't like. A director with pedigree was only a bonus. To me it was a perfect blend of a typical Jeon movie ( a love story, whimsical girl who writes a journal and/or keeps an internal monologue ) and a Lau movie ( Good Cop vs Bad Guy, or is he a Bad Guy? ). It had some soap opera moment though.

Volver [ trailer ] - This movie came off like a complete soap opera which I have never felt from any other Almodovar film. This is Melodrama with a capital M. This one is was just too low key for me. It didn't quite hold my interest. Was it supposed to be some sort of homage to soap operas? Or a revisit to an almost all female cast like "All About Your Mother"? Thankfully I can watch this movie without subtitles and wish nothing but luck to people who have to keep up with them because at times these women were Yentering it up at the speed of sound.

Babel [ Official Site ] - This one is the heartwrencher. Should of known that from all of the other movies by this director. Great but depressing.

Viva el gran Pedro

Why do you direct films?             

PA: I don't know if I do it out of obsession, madness, vocation, boundless artistic ambition, presumption, fear of being alone, or the inability to face my own problems—and as an escape from them. Maybe it's the frustration that I don't dare do anything else, or perhaps it's an addiction to that wonderful, indescribable sensation that I receive when an actor manages to get me to forget that I wrote their words. I suppose it's a bit of everything. Or maybe it is that writing and directing films continues to be the only thing that turns me on.

Sony Pictures Classics presents VIVA PEDRO, the theatrical re-release of eight of celebrated auteur Pedro Almodóvar’s greatest films. WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN/ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER/TALK TO HER/FLOWER OF MY SECRET/LIVE FLESH/LAW OF DESIRE/MATADOR/BAD EDUCATION

+ Trailer
+ Women, Windmills And Wedge Heels
+ The Man From La Mancha

80's cartoon festival week one

Thanks to BitTorrent I can have my own "cartoons from my youth" festival whenever the hell I want. This week its M.A.S.K, Transformers, Mazinger Z & Visionaries.

+ Mazinger Z Opening [ in Spanish! just the way I remember it - bless you YouTube ]

+ Transformers Opening with Movie soundtrack

+ Visionaries Intro Opening

+ Comic Con 2006: Optimus Prime & Voltron

Dahlia

The Black Dahlia trailer

Josh Hartnett looks terribly miscast. Ridiculously miscast. Also, "SCOOP" comes out tomorrow.

+ Scarlett Johansson Hearts Reebok

the 80's are back

Transformers: The Movie – 20th Anniversary Special Edition | Venom | TMNT| Voltron: Defender of the Universe Vol 1 |  She-Ra | Scarface: Scarred for Life | Ultimate Ghost 'N Goblins

Who asked for this? : Disney planning Adventures in Babysitting remake

Star Wars Illusions

The Farce Is Strong - Cedric Delsaux's Star Wars Illusions

+ There's a ligh saber in the Kent farm?

Woody Allen and His Muse

“I can only quote myself from the movie Manhattan,” he says. “Scarlett is God’s answer to Job. God would say, ‘I’ve created a terrifying and horrible universe, but I can also make one of these, so stop complaining.’ ”

+ New York Magazine: And God Created Scarlett 

Sofia's Influences

In which La Premier Magazine Cinema illustrates Sofia Coppola's influences.

+ HIROMIX
+ W. EGGLESTON
+ Joseph SZABO
+ Guy Bourdin

I call him Jesus

Any time I see a trailer with Martin Donovan I think "hey, its Jesus" because of his part in the film "The Book of Life". The latest trailer I saw with him in it is for the film "At Last", which looks like a standard mid-life crisis drama to me. He is also in an upcoming movie with Elisha Cuthbert via the thighmaster. Martin Donovan has been in movies directed by Hal Hartley. Hal Hartley directed Henry Fool. Henry Fool starred James Urbaniak. James Urbaniak is the voice of Dr. Venture in the awesome cartoon The Venture Bros. : Venture Bros. Creator - The SuicideGirls Interview. For extra credit I'll connect to my last post: James Urbaniak was the Woody Allen stand-in character in Sweet and Lowdown.  Also, ABOUT THE VENTURES’ 2ND SEASON. 

Scarlett and Woody: Round 2

This is cute, SJ fits right into a very archetypal Diane Keaton part. Dear Wolverine, why are you all over SJ? You bastard.

+  worstpreviews: SCOOP Trailer

Mutation......

I'm a big x-men fan and tonight is the night. X-men at midnight. I can't wait.

One of my favorite storylines:
+  Dave's Long Box | NEW X-MEN "E IS FOR EXTINCTION"  

X-men comics were terrible for years and then...
+  Splash Panel | Astonishing X-men

+ Random X-men trivia

its hard out there for an artist

The creators are out there pimping the hell out of this movie, and considering how much I love Ghost World, it is overdue that I join in even though I dunno when the hell this is opening in my city.

"Everybody thinks that Ghost World was really popular and made a fortune," he continues, pleasantly. "But it was only in 120 screens at its height, which is nothing. It's what the lowliest Persian documentary gets. They just had no faith in it till it was out in the theaters, and then all of a sudden, it was doing really, really well." - The class struggle of Daniel Clowes

+ art school confidential:   A Sceenplay
+ IGN Terry Interview
+ wired: Daniel Clowes Talks  Confidential
+ The Misunderstanding of John Malkovich

Bogie & Bacall

On the heels of a funny apperance by Lauren Bacall on the Sopranos last week, the above boxed set was released this week. I'm a litte annoyed b/c I already have the first Bogart dvd boxed, which was missing "To have and have not" and "Dark Passage". This new box is a perfect replacement.

Trivia for "To Have and Have Not" - Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall fell in love during production. Director Howard Hawks afterward said that it was actually Bacall's character Marie that Bogart had fallen for, "so she had to keep playing it the rest of her life."

Lady Vengence

The media page at the official site for the movie has the whole soundtrack for the movie availabe on mp3.

+ Review - Lady Vengeance - Those still uncertain about Eastern cinema but willing to give it a try after the Kill Bill's would do well to start with Chan-wook Park's vengeance trilogy.

+ TRAILER PAGE

+ Asian Movies To Watch in 2006 - "DAISY" featuring my Korean crush Jeon Ji-Heon is already going to be remade in english. 

+ For the hell of it Jeon Ji-Hyeon + PS3 [via]

+ I love March birthdays

"Sex! Terrorism! Politics!"

+ Get Moore....For Free

+ Alan Moore + BBC

+ Natalie Raps

+ Random Fact: Any of the "100 Bullets" books would make a great movie.

Metropolitan

I can't quite pin point why I like Whit Stillman movies so much ( late 80's nostalgia? ) but one thing is for sure: I've never met anyone else who does. In fact a friend of mine goofed on me for liking "The Last Days of Disco" ( Sevigny before Boys Don't Cry - Beckinsale before Underworld - Robert Sean Leonard before House M.D. ) On the off chance someone else cares, "Metropolitan" finally comes out on DVD this week and it was produced by Criterion to boot. This film may possibly interest people who are into Jay Mcinerney, Bret Easton Ellis and Woody Allen.

+ THE KIDS STAY IN THE PICTURE: WHIT STILLMAN - Fifteen years on, the recognizable world of Whit Stillman's Metropolitan

+ Filmaker Magazine: DOWN AND OUT ON PARK AVE

+ An Accidental Review : Whit Stillman and a Friday Night

Miyazaki + fest + Earthsea

Studio Ghibli's next film is Tales from Earthsea based on the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin.

+ Miyazaki Fest starts tonight [ via ]

Matchpoint Podcast

Matchpoint Podcast #2 (video) w/Scarlett - and by podcasts Dreamwoks seems to mean - repackaged material from the EPK?. More of them and movie clips @

Parker Posey is Fay Grim

"Why is it that when someone starts talking about civillization I hear the sound of machine guns"?

"Henry Fool" is one of my favorite movies. Just the other day I was telling a buddy of mine that if I had my own movie theater I would always show this film.

I had an argument with someone once about the ending. I saw it as happy and she saw it as sad. Now here comes the sequel to dispel it either way. I'm excited about seeing these characters again.

+ Overview - FAY GRIM
+ Hal's Possible Music 1
+ Previously.. "Dear Parker Posey"
+ Thought for the Day: Parker Posey is a god.
+ "In Images We Trust": Hal Hartley Interviews Jean-Luc Godard

kinski and scarlett

Before Scarlett was all that she made a great ( for its genre ) little movie called "AN AMERICAN RHAPSODY". That she was able to steal the movie from Kinski speaks volumes about where she was headed.
+ Ebert's review gets a lot right.

Speaking of Nastassja Kinski, this is a  "Paris, Texas" inspired photo shoot.

Speaking of Wim Wenders, Sarah Polley is in his new movie. If you need a Sarah Polley movie to watch, let me mention "Guinevere".

We love what we can't have...

"We love what we can't have, and we can't have what we love"
- Wong Kar-wai

+ Wong Kar-wai talks to TIME about 2046
+ Eros to be released   in February. 
+ Wong Kar-wai Dominates Uneven "Eros"

Match Point trailer

/ Match Point Trailer

hmm....this does not look like a Woody Allen movie. Well , I take it back, it reminds me of Crimes and Misdemeanors .

+ Previously...

"a woman is.."

"a woman is more authentic the more she looks like what she has dreamed for herself"
Pedro Almodóvar - La Agrado's Monologue

+ Online Journal for his new film "Volver"

3 movies about the fucked up youth

Thumbsucker
Pretty Persuasion
The Chumscrubber

Bill Murray in Broken Flowers

[ Trailer ]

Fantastic Four Sell Out

The Fantastic Four, brought to you by KOOL-AID® Invisible™, Mountain Dew Code Red, X-Box, Pepsi, Arnette, Dell, Samsung, Fox, Activision, Wal-Mart, et al. Mind you, this is one still of a 123 minute movie. No telling what brand of sun screen Dr. Doom has in his office. And I thought the Batman Diet Coke commercial was bad.

"...the first origin didn't make a whole lot of sense if you looked at it too closely. Why would a scientist bring his girlfriend and her teenaged brother on an unauthorized, highly dangerous space flight? "
+ Unstable Molecules: The True Story of the Real People Who Inspired the Fantastic Four - Review, Another Review

+ Fantastic Four Monopoly Game

80's movie trilogy

It is a disgrace what they do with DVD covers sometimes. Just use the damn movie poster.
+ Flight of the Navigator Original Poster
+ D.A.R.Y.L Original Poster
+ A miracle! the Cloak and Dagger poster was left alone.
+ Speaking of "Flight of the Navigator"...Temporal Anomalies in Time Travel Movies

Speaking of the 80's... Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years" (1988) is in Stuff.

Kubrick's $200 book

I saw this on thighmaster's "Books I Plan To Read But I Is Too Darn Lazy" list:
"The Stanley Kubrick Archives". I want it just for the Lolita chapter.

+ The Stanley Kubrick Archives - Facts
+ Newsweek: Chasing Kubrick
+ How big is this book? Bigger than a 12" PowerBook
+ More pictures of/from the book

Speaking of High Priced Books:
-  The Andy Warhol Show
-  WATCHMEN: THE ABSOLUTE EDITION 
-  THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL. 1: THE ABSOLUTE EDITION
-  THE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY VOL. 1

Que Es El Sith?

Joanna Newsom + Darth Vader

History of the word Sith: "I came across a site on Greek mythology that spoke of the history of Sithonia (named after the Poseidon's son Sithon), a greek peninsulia that contains some cool rock formations. The myth is, that this was a battle ground for gods that grew jealous of each others powers and killed each other off by throwing theses giant boulders....sound familiar?"

The Rule of Two: "Always two there are, no more, no less.  A Master and an Apprentice."

Who is Darth Bane? : "Eventually, Bane took his own apprentice, and set his new order in motion. Future Sith Lords were taught the virtues of patience, planning, and secrecy, and each was to take on the title of Darth."

Chepo's Adventures with a film reel of Empire Strikes Back: "..they acquired a reel of 35mm film marked THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. The exact contents of the reel where unknown. The reel had grease pencil marks and a big yellow line through the entire reel. It had to be something. Was it outtakes? An alternate edit? Where they sitting on a goldmine? Whatever it was, it was Star Wars, it was film, so it was cool by me. NO WAY Lucas was getting his hands on this to insert some CGI bullshit."

Have chronic diarrhea? You may be a Jedi : "Oh, the whole chosen one thing? Why did the Jedi think “Balance” meant, “No more evil.” I guess “Math” is one of the things in the list of stuff A Jedi Cares Not for. Okay, so before Episode III you have two Sith, and a passle of Jedi. That, dear reader, is unbalanced. After Episode III you have two Sith and two Jedi. That dear reader is balanced."

+ G4: Star Wars Games
+ MTV: Star Wars Memories
+ Daily Show: Star Wars Merchandising
+ Anakin Dynamite
+ SW Icons

Match Point at Cannes 05

Cannes 2005: Festival opens with a treat :

Woody Allen's Match Point is being sold as a return to form after his recent run of flops. It has the novelty of being set in London rather than New York, though the capital it depicts is barely distinguishable from the never-never metroland of Richard Curtis movies. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays a lowly-born tennis coach who gets in with a group of nice aristos, one of whom (Emily Mortimer) he marries. Unfortunately, he also falls in love with a struggling American actress (Scarlett Johansson).

So - new city, old Woody. A sensitive, Dostoevsky-reading man torn between two cuties, characters who spend half the time watching arty film at the pictures, a very pleasant pre-war soundtrack. The central theme - the importance in life of fate or chance - is spelled out early on, and clung to steadfastly in order to underwrite the rather sketchy narrative flow.

+ Johannson and Meyers star at Cannes premiere
+ Woody Allen turns sexy and violent  /Is Woody Allen Back? [ via ]
+ London Drama For Woody Allen
+ SJ in The Black Dahlia

Also at Cannes...

/The Trailer /

Star Wars + Shirts

Miyazaki's Howl

 
(Hauru no Ugoku Shiro)  Howl's Moving Castle

Music from the Score - (if you like the music in "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" you may like this)

Liz, Kim and I are overly excited about this movie. I saw it and while at first I wasn't that interested ( I was noticing too many Miyazaki staples and was becoming bored ) at some point it took a turn and completely pulled me in. "Princess Mononoke" remains my favorite Miyazaki movie because of all the action it has.

"Online Ghibli reports that according to the Nanjing Morning Post, Studio Ghibli has decided that the next feature movie project from the legendary Hideo Miyazaki ("Spirited Away", "Princess Mononoke") would be an adaptation of a children novel called "Wo diushile wode xiaonanhai (I Lost my Littl