Star Trek 2: Various film news sites are reporting the much anticipated confirmation that Star Trek 2 WILL be JJ Abrams next picture. However, there is still debate about when it will be released; Paramount had it already slated for a June 2012 release but since Abrams has only just finished up work on Super 8, there may be a delay – he is unwilling to deliver a shoddy follow up and no-one can blame him for that.
Flight: After far too long in the world of motion capture, visionary director Robert Zemeckis is set to direct his first live action feature in many years. It will be an adaptation of a novel called Flight; a pilot’s dark past comes back to haunt him after becoming a celebrity after saving his flight after an emergency. Denzel Washington is being mentioned as the lead. This one is most definately on my radar as one to watch.
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After the dreadful misfire that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, fans of the franchise would have been right to think that there would be no more big screen adventures for the X-Men as a team.
Thankfully, this reinvention of the universe – charting the early days of the friendship between Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) and the formation of the X-Men – is unlike anything we have seen before in the franchise, or any other comic book movie for that matter.
The film is epic, charting large swathes of time and history. The way it integrates the mutant powers we love into moments of history is fun to watch – like most reviews have said, here it is a cross between Connery-era Bond and the best of the X-Men storytelling – longing for acceptance.
The cast are exceptional – James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender make this friendship, and it’s inevitable end, utterly believable. They also make the roles their own – capturing the essence of the future characters portrayed by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan, but not mimicking
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James Bond 23: The release dates have been set for the next instalment of the James Bond franchise; UK fans can catch their favourite spy from October 26th 2012, but our friends will have to wait until November 9th 2012 (revenge for making is Brits wait two months for Super 8!).
Life Of Pi: The release date of Ang Lee’s long-gestating adaptation of Life Of Pi has been announced; December 21st 2012. This is a slight shift by Fox following Warners confirming the release date for The Hobbit.
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Django Unchained: Various film news sites are reporting that Leonardo DiCaprio is being circled to play the villain in Quentin Tarantino’s next film. After Leo’s recent output, I really hope this comes to fruition.
Dark Shadows: Production has commenced on Tim Burton’s latest – Dark Shadows – an adaptation of the cult 60s soap. Burton states that the film will buck the trend and not go 3D and will be similar in tone to the creepy original show. I hope this is more in the vein of Burton classics like Ed Wood – his recent movies have been too over-the-top – see the awful Alice In Wonderland.
The Hunger Games: Donald Sutherland has been cast as President Snow in the adaptation of The Hunger Games. Having not read the books, the growing stellar cast is getting me more intrigued – though it does sound like an American (aka tame) version of the awesome Battle Royale.
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For this film fan, it is always a good year when their is a new Steven Spielberg picture on the horizon. Thankfully 2011 is one of those years.
After a few years away, Mr Spielberg is back and he is back with some tricks up his sleeve.
Suitably impressed with the technology created by James Cameron for Avatar, Spielberg and fellow filmmaker Peter Jackson have decided to embark on a mission…together. Together they will create – via state-of-the-art motion capture and 3D technology – the world of Herge’s Tintin.
Spielberg will direct the first instalment, Jackson will direct the second and the third spot has yet to be filled.
Behind the camera are a team of superb writers – Joe Cornish, Edgar Wright and Stephen Moffat.
Donning the leotards and having their motion captured are Jamie Bell (Tintin), Daniel Craig (Captain Haddock) and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (the professor twins).
A brief teaser trailer has now been released, giving audiences their first look at this hybrid world – I for one think it looks superb (even more so in
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The Hobbit: Today, the titles of the two movies that will comprise the adaptation of classic novel have been announced; “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” will be released in December 2012 (hmmm, that’s in time for my birthday – what a treat!) and “The Hobbit: There And Back Again” will be released in December 2013 (ouch! That’s a year to wait!).
Elysium: The cast for Neil Blomkamp’s (director of District 9) next movie grows further; Alice Braga (Predators, Repo Men, I am Legend) has been cast in an unspecified role – joining Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley. The plot for Elysium remains tightly under-wraps.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: The first official pictures from the upcoming movie have begun to surface (see Collider.com). The film – directed by Tomas Alfredson (director of the original Let The Right One In) – is based on a novel by John Le Carre and was adapted for TV some years ago. Set during the Cold War, the story sees a semi-retired agent trying to flush out a Soviet mole in MI6. Due out
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Despite not being meant to officially debut until next week, the “red band” (trailer with swearing, violence etc) for the U.S. version of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” has shown up online – to the delight of film fans everywhere.
The remake of a very good Swedish adaptation of a very good novel would not normally cause such a stir but one name already makes this a must see – David Fincher.
The one question that many film fans have had since the remake was announced – will the Americans water down this hugely dark and intense story? – can safely be answered, after seeing this teaser, with a resounding “No”!
With Fincher on a roll in the director’s chair and experience with the darkest of dark material (Seven), the film certainly looks fantastic and with Daniel Craig and (an recognisable) Rooney Mara (recently seen in The Social Network) in front of the camera, the film has good anchors.
Lastly, the commitment of the studio should also be noted – the trailer proudly claims it as “the feel bad
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Oh dear – well, for me anyway, this was the end of the Pirates franchise.
After two already shaky sequels (Dead Man’s Chest and At Worlds End) comes a fourth instalment that is so uninspired and dull that this viewer actually fell asleep at one stage – not a sign of a good movie.
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp in a now routine performance) returns – for no real reason – and is embroiled in a journey to discover the Fountain Of Youth.
It’s hard to review this film as so much of it is completely void of anything – the aforementioned outline is as deep as it gets. Yes, there are sub plots, Blackbeard, some mermaids etc, but it is all so clunkily flung together that the whole thing just blurs into a mess.
The addition of a love interest for Jack – in the form of Penelope Cruz – doesn’t add anything to the plot as we get just another dose of sea faring and island exploring – this entry doesn’t even benefit from the epic feel of
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Just the concept of Attack The Block – alien invaders taken on by Inner City kids – was enough to peak my interest, but I am glad to report that this film is another success for British cinema.
Sam, a nurse, is on her way home from a late shift at the hospital when she is mugged by a bunch of “yoofs”. During the attack, an object crashes down from the sky and a strange creature runs into the night. Thinking there is money to be made, the gang set off in pursuit of the creature and quickly discover that their home – The Block – is under attack from vicious aliens.
So far so tacky. But the great thing about this film is how it deftly juggles real life scenarios with out of the world set pieces.
When we first meet the gang, they are the stereotype we are all aware of – hoodies, incomprehensible slang etc – but as the story rolls on, we discover they are just frightened kids just trying to make their mark on a
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Following his success with Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, director Joe Wright may have seemed like a strange choice as director of the Bourne-esque thriller Hanna.
The film opens on a beautifully shot snowy landscape – seeing a young girl methodically dispatching of some local wildlife for her dinner. Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) it seems, lives in total isolation with her father (Eric Bana) and has never seen the outside world. It is clear, however, that Hanna is being primed for a larger purpose – learning multiple languages and skills in combat. One day Hanna’s father reveals more of her past and she sets off on a quest for vengeance.
What follows is a blend of Bourne style espionage and a tale of redemption and revenge in the vein of Leon.
Unfortunately, despite the superb cast (also including Cate Blanchett as Hanna’s target) and stunning photography, this film did nothing for me. Maybe I was expecting it to be something else but I found it actually boring at times – there was nothing new on offer in the plot to keep
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