Julie Taymor is directing a film adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which will star plenty of Oscar-caliber performers, including Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons, Djimon Hounsou and possibly Geoffrey Rush (Also: Russell Brand as the jester, Trinculo!). Taymor’s version should be interesting considering her postmodern take on the Bard’s Titus Andronicus for her film debut, and she’s already revealed one twist by casting Mirren in the lead, as a gender-reversed “Prospera”. But I bet it still won’t out-arthouse Peter Greenaway’s film version of the play.
Forest Whitaker, who has already portrayed jazz saxaphonist Charlie Parker on the big screen, will play Louis Armstrong in a biopic obviously titled What a Wonderful World. Whitaker is also directing the film, though, so don’t expect this to be quite as Oscar-baited as it seems.
Hollywood is going ahead with more than 40 major projects that will each lack strike protection despite the continued possibility of an actor walkout. According to Variety, the studios are indeed worried about the financial ramifications of a SAG strike, but they’re more concerned about not having enough tentpoles to release in 2010 and 2011. Because moviegoers will put up a fuss if they don’t get their Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 and remakes of RoboCop, Fame, Footloose, Clash of the Titans and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
What should we do about the financial crisis? Kill the poor — or eat them? — says a new sci-fi film titled Fortuna that’s heading into production next month. Likened to Soylent Green, the pic will be set in 2100 when the middle class is gone and the rich have created a deadly contest with which to eliminate poverty.
As I mentioned back when I reviewed the film’s trailer, I will be seeing Tarsem Singh’s The Fallfor the eye candy alone. But now Roadside Attractions has unveiled a clip from the fantasy drama (via Yahoo!), and there’s not one bit of that sweet, delicious spectacle I crave. Fortunately, the scene actually works for the film because it has none of the flashy visuals. The young actress here is terrific, seemingly working off her costar with a combination of innocence and improvisation (the miscommunication at the end is priceless, whether it was off the cuff or scripted that way). It gives us a sense that this isn’t a film only for the eyes, but is also for the heart, as in a Cinema Paradisoor (2008 Sundance-winner) Captain Abu Raedor something. In fact I kind of wish the man in the scene was a much older fella.
Call me crazy (again), but I really like Tarsem’s debut feature, The Cell. If I had any complaints, though, it would be that there wasn’t enough visual stimuli. I’m sure others would have preferred a better story instead, but I have a greater appreciation for those films that are primarily meant to be looked at, and not as much followed. Favorites include Terry Giliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Julie Taymor’s Titus and Zhang Yimou’s Hero, though I could probably go on and on. It’s an interesting affection coming from me, a guy occasionally inclined to criticize Hollywood’s spectacle-over-substance model of blockbustering. But I can’t help falling for a combination of beautiful cinematography and art direction. I shouldn’t, but I’ll even admit to enjoying What Dreams May Come– with my eyes wide open and my ears plugged shut, of course.
The problem, though, with filmmakers like Tarsem and the rest is that eventually their painterly visions may dry up or become repetitive or obvious, or they’ll simply fail to reach enough of an audience that they cease to acquire enough funding to adequately present their style believably. I’ve already grown bored with Taymor and Zhang (Gilliam hopefully still has some surprises), and I’m thinking it won’t take long for me to tire of Tarsem, too. As gorgeous as his sophomore effort, The Fall, looks, it also seems a bit cheap, as if it had only the budget of one of his music videos (he directed R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” and Deep Forest’s “Lullaby”). Yet perhaps it only feels like that to me now because I’m viewing the film as a short montage of shots. I’m willing to give any of these visionary filmmakers a chance until they disappoint me enough that I scream (figuratively, through criticism, that is — see any of my mentions of Taymor’s Across the Universearound the web).
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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As I mentioned back when I reviewed the film’s trailer, I will be seeing Tarsem Singh’s The Fall for the eye candy alone. But now Roadside Attractions has unveiled a clip from the fantasy drama (via Yahoo!), and there’s not one bit of that sweet, delicious spectacle I crave. Fortunately, the scene actually works for the film because it has none of the flashy visuals. The young actress here is terrific, seemingly working off her costar with a combination of innocence and improvisation (the miscommunication at the end is priceless, whether it was off the cuff or scripted that way). It gives us a sense that this isn’t a film only for the eyes, but is also for the heart, as in a Cinema Paradiso or (2008 Sundance-winner) Captain Abu Raed or something. In fact I kind of wish the man in the scene was a much older fella.
