Girl with Dragon Tattoo Trailer #2

I’m about to watch the brand new trailer for the American version/remake of Steig Larson’s bestseller ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. I never read the book myself but my mum was a huge fan and hope to one day read it.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Swedish film version; the tense atmosphere, the beautiful cinematography and casting was absolute perfection.  So what is the point of remaking this brilliant film?

Two words… David Fincher.

Director of films such as Fight Club, Seven and The Social Network, this man is a genius and the thought of him delving back into the realm of murder mystery/thriller genre is so very exciting.  The “R” rating is also very encouraging as the themes in the story have a very honest, brutal nature to them.  I will give my thoughts on the new trailer after the jump.

Wow, that was quite a long trailer, almost 4 minutes long.  Things that I noticed:
•    It delivers a comprehensive synopsis of the upcoming film
•    Absolutely amazing cinematography (Fincher’s framing is always phenomenal)
•    A fantastic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
•    Amazing setting
•    Not sure about the casting of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth
•    Not sure about the casting of Daniel Craig as Bloomkvist

Unfortunately, I get a horrible sense of Déjà vu…  This film looks so very similar to the Swedish one it’s uncanny. Remakes can be difficult because do you really want to make the same movie?  The themes and subject matter serve the same purpose so how do you make it any different?  I much prefer the casting of the original film and the original Swedish language makes for a more interesting ride.  With much sadness I have to admit that I’m quite disappointed with the trailer overall.

I still have complete faith in Fincher and believe he will deliver a fantastic film. I suppose trailers are never a good indication of the entire film. 

We will have to wait until January before I can make a clear conclusion.  For now, I remain optimistically sceptical…

Star Wars Revisited Part 1: The Phantom Menace

Upon revisiting the first film in the prequel trilogy there are many things that I really do love about this film, Lliam Neison as Qui Gon Jin (the semi-rouge Jedi Knight that mentored Obi Wan), badass light sabre battles with Darth Maul, our first introduction to Corusant, the submarine adventure through the Naboo core and some really cool space battle sequences.  The problem is that the story is so very thin in this film that it begs the question of how it fits into the entire story…

Essentially the prequels serve as the story of how Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side and became Darth Vader back dropped to the fall of the Galactic Empire.  The Phantom Menace refers to Senator Palpatine and his shadowy plans that will come into fruition in later films to bring the Galactic Empire as the totalitarian ruler of the galaxy.  One of the biggest problems with this film is that is has nothing to do with the overall arc of the prequels and merely served as a device for George Lucas to delve into a filmmaking area that he adores… special effects. 

Jake as Anakin Skywalker is also a horrible casting.  Every line he delivers is so forced, his face scrunches up as if he is concentrating so hard on the script in his mind its painful.  Anakin should have been at least 3-4 years older, early teens, quite a strange kid.  But Anakin is a fun loving, tech nerd that loves to make robots.  How is this kid honestly going to be one of (maybe THE) most evil Sith Lord of all time?

Pod racing is really not as cool as I remember.  C3PO and R2D2 seems so overbearingly sandwiched into the film as if to say, hey this is Star Wars!  Jar Jar Binks is absolutely ridiculously retarded (“How woo’d!”) and his antics really do detract from the experience.  Actually, the whole Gun Gan race is horrific.  Why didn’t George Lucas show the Calimari home planet?  It would have been a very simple swap, added a level of integrity and interest to a race that is held in high esteem amongst Star Wars fans.

Overall, this is a fun film and actually turned out to be much better than I seem to remember it being  However, there are so many problems that I feel as though the prequels only truly start at the beginning the Attack of the Clones. Part 2 coming soon...

Rating: 3.5/5

Star Wars Trilogy Release and Reviews

This week the complete Star Wars Blu Ray box-set is hitting stores and will mark the first time both the original and prequel trilogy have been released in one package.  Everyone loves the original trilogy and whether you grew up with them in the cinema in the 70s/80s or the special editions in the late 90s they hold a special place in your heart.  So instead of reviewing them all I thought it would appropriate to just review the prequel trilogy.

George Lucas copped a lot of scathing reviews when they first came out, the same magic wasn’t there. 
On second review however, the prequel trilogy has a lot to offer albeit with some unnecessary moments in between. 

Over the next few weeks I will review all three of the prequels and give my thoughts on what was good, what wasn’t so great and how Lucas could of improved them. 

First up will be the Phantom Menace.

Horrible Bosses Review

I just got back from a screening of the new comedy Horrible Bosses, here's my review:

In Horrible Bosses Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) loathe their superiors. And who can blame them?  There’s Kevin Spacey as a corporate tyrant who rewards himself with promotions and pay rises, Colin O’Farrell as a coked-up brat and Jennifer Anniston as a psycho-sexual dentist.

Nick, Kurt and Dale are hard-working employees who deserve recognition that they just don't get. Instead they get threats, intimidation and blackmail.  So, depressed and desperate they decide the only way to right the wrongs is to arrange to murder their bosses.


The story is refreshingly difficult to guess due to it’s unconventional formula, but then again Director Seth Gordon doesn't take the plot anywhere particularly interesting. The screenplay is hampered by a make-it-up-as-you-go mentality, a sense the writers didn’t know where they wanted to go. 

Bateman, Sudeikis and Day will connect with audiences but their performances are too bland, too straight-laced, to carry the plot, which tries to be too clever by half and ends up too dumb by double.
The ending is much too coincidental and  the story is wrapped up under a very contrived set of circumstances.  Regardless, Horrible Bosses is enjoyable light weight viewing with occasional bursts of laugh-out-loud moments. 

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Movie Seasons

The world of cinema releases is extremely predictable and aptly revolves around a reasonably strict set of rules what I like to call the movie seasons.  Distributers want to get the greatest mileage out of their releases (money, money, money).  Showcasing a film at the correct period can make or break the success of the features box office career. 

There are two main “seasons” within each and every year, the first of which being the “Blockbuster” season, starting around April through to late September.  Films released in this period are generally low on story, character development, relationships and more about the spectacle, the “wow” factor being literally exploded into the minds of the audience. 

The second period is the lead up to the academy awards.  From around the end of the Blockbuster period, studios release their more touching, sentimental, thought-provoking films; usually character dramas, that will cater to the mass audience and hopefully score a few Oscars on the way.

Scattered throughout the year we have other “mini-seasons” being Easter, thanksgiving, Christmas, and studios will once again release films. So what has happened?

Movies are now being manufactured to cater exactly for these times of the year.  They’re becoming more and more generic derivatives of what audiences expect to see.  We need directors to think outside the box in order to find success. 

Person of Interst [John Nolan Interview]

 John Nolan has always taken the back seat as his older brother Chris has steamrolled his way into becoming one of the most bankable directors of recent cinema history.  He is best known for co-writing several scripts with his brother (The Prestige, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) and penning the short story 'Memento Mori' which would eventually provide the initial concept for Chris' sophmore feature 'Memento'.  But now he is stepping out of his brother's shadow with his orginal TV show 'Person of Interst'. Nolan co-wrote the show's screenplay with TV superstar JJ Abrams, a huge talking point for show. 

The show focuses on former-CIA agent Reese (Jim Caviezel), who teams up with a mysterious billionaire named Finch (Michael Emerson),who uses a specialised technology in order to prevent violent crimes from occuring.  Whilst this sounds a little bit Minority-Reportish, the difference and crux of the show revolves around the techology's ability to identify individuals about to be involved in violent crimes but it is unable to determine whether the crime will happen to them or be committed by them.  The show will have an over-arching story that will carry throughout the series (presumably about the origins of the technology and the past of Reese) but in-essence it will be a case of the week crime show.  

CBS Preview Trailer with interviews with Nolan and JJ

To read the entire interview head to http://collider.com/jonathan-nolan-person-of-interest-interview/107990/

Here are a few interesting exerts of what Nolan had to say.

On the case of the week structure:


"We really started with the idea, and the idea seemed to suggest a case-of-the-week structure. I’ve always loved shows that combine both approaches — that have a mythology and a set of characters, whose stories develop and change, and where the relationships evolve and fracture."

On the notion of national security and surveillance

"I was a kid in England, in the 1970’s, and cameras started going up everywhere. In fact, at that point, there were already a lot of cameras up in London. It was during the Troubles and the IRA attacks in and around the UK and Ireland, so the response was to put up cameras everywhere. And then, when I moved to the States, when I was 11 or 12 years old in Chicago, there weren’t cameras everywhere, but 20 years later, they started popping up. After 9/11, you started seeing cameras everywhere. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of a surveillance state. Who’s watching? What are they doing with that information? I felt like it was a really rich story to tap."

On the working with JJ Abrams (Lost, Fringe, Star Trek)

"One of the things that I love about J.J. is that he’s not precious. He creates material. He likes to work. He likes to put kick-ass shows out there. The nature of the TV format is that it’s a big risk. This is my first time doing it. It’s not like a movie where you put it out there and people judge it on its merits. Sometimes it finds an audience later, but it’s a one-shot gig. TV is, as I’m discovering now, a marathon. You have to keep going and going and going. Personally, I think J.J.’s track record in film and TV is unsurpassed."

The idea of two of my favourite writers coming together and collaborting on what seems like a very intersting idea for a crime/case of the week show has got me super exciated for Person of Interest.  

Korean Film Festival Australia (Sydney and Melbourne)

Today whilst waiting for my coffee to be made at the local cafe, I noticed a very exciting brochure advertising the annual Korean Film Festival being held in August and September 2011 in Sydney and Melbourne.  This is second edition of the festival to grace Australia’s shores and this time it is showcasing a number of brilliant features (and shorts) both new and old. 

Below is a complete list of all the feature presentations at the festival, please see the website for more details. 

•    The Unjust / Opening Ceremony + Director / Producer Q&A (SYDNEY)
•    Bunt
•    The Man From Nowhere
•    No Blood No Tears
•    Bedevilled
•    Earth's Women
•    The Journals of Musan
•    The Show Must Go On
•    J.S.A: Joint Security Area
•    Shim's Family
•    Secret Reunion
•    Oki's Movie
•    A Barefoot Dream

http://www.koffia.com.au/?mid=koffia_2011_film_1

Most notably the festival is opening with the action packed thriller “The Unjust” accompanied by a Q + A with the Director RYOO Seung-wan and a few key members of the team that helped make the film.  This will definitely be an insightful discussion and a must see for fans. 

Trailer for “The Unjust”

I have watched only a small number of well-known Korean films; I Saw the Devil, OldBoy, Memories of Murder, The Host, The Good the Bad the Weird, and I wish to delve further into what the region's cinema has to offer.  I especially love the tone and feel of the films are noticeably different and a welcome change to my normal American/Westernised viewing habits.  The way the Korean film makers direct and present their films is absolutely amazing, distinct and highly recommended.

The news that Sydney is hosting this kind of festival is extremely exciting, as I have recently begun to develop an interest in Korean Cinema.  The recent history of the region’s cinema is amazing; since the late 90s domestically produced films have continued to grow and now make up just under half of box office revenue in the country, which is a significant portion.  Comparing this to the state of affairs in domestic Australian releases, it's quite a different story. 

Anyway, I'm very excited for this festival and I hope to see a number of these films!