Big Screen Little Screen

Here’s your first seven minutes of The Wachoski Brothers’ cinematic hard candy.

“This is a deranged, steroid-cranked family-action movie…the work of madmen — undeniably brash and looney and, I feel, desperately in need of a quaalude. Speed Racer is a piece of very audacious, high-quality….I was going to say “torture” but it’s not. It’s extremely nervy filmmaking…The performances are okay, but I found more fascination in the face of Chim-Chim than anything the humans came up with. I loved that fucking monkey…” - Jeffrey Wells

“It’s a terrible stereotype… but it is quite fascinating to me that the negative reviews of Speed Racer all seem to sound the same.

‘It’s too loud!’

‘It’s too fast!’

‘It’s too long!’

‘Too many colors!’

I am sympathetic to complaints about the visual intensity of this film. Seeing the film in IMAX last night was a bit of sensory overload. Very intense. And exhausting. (And in many ways glorious.)” - “No Movie For Old Men” - David Poland

Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) directed this back-in-black comeback comedy with Rainn Wilson (because Jack Black was unavailable) as a long ago dismissed drummer given another shot at glory twenty years later - backing his reject nephew’s band (Jonah Hill, also unavailable). Cast includes Jeff Garlin, Will Arnett, Christina Applegate, Jason Sudekis, and Emma Stone (Superbad). Screenplay from Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky (stints at The Larry Sanders Show and The Simpsons, respectively). Scheduled release: August 1, 2008.

The Rocker trailer

“I was always fascinated by the infinite, strange and ‘scandalous’ ways
that insects copulate.”

Green Porno - Isabella Rossellini directed and starred in these eight, minute long shorts for the Sundance Channel. The network approached Rossellini to create experimental videos for small, mobile screens, and she came back to them with insect world Sex Ed spots: all Bjork-like, green minded head-scratchers that might be considered obscene if they weren’t so goddamn cute. See the internationally fawned-over actress costumed as a randy earthworm, dragonfly, and more, offering astute bug wisdom like “If I were a firefly, I would light up my ass at night.” (via Indie Eye)

American Beauty writer and Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball’s first directorial outing, based on Alicia Erian’s 2005 novel Towelhead, was originally called Nothing is Private. The film is led by newcomer Summer Bishil - playing 13 year-old Jasira, of Lebanese decent. Jasira is passed off by her mother (Maria Bello) in Syracuse to live with her father in the suburbs of Houston - where she learns about and obsesses over her sexuality, faces local racism, and endures abuse from three different men - her father, her mother’s boyfriend, and a neighbor played by Aaron Eckhart.

It screened for audiences at The Toronto International Film Festival in September and was reamed from both ends of the critical spectrum by Roger Friedman of Fox News and The Reeler’s Stu VanAirsdale. Freidman called the rookie effort from Ball a work that “verges on kiddie porn” from “its graphic depiction of sexual, mental and physical child abuse,” labeling it “the feel-awful movie of 2007.” VanAirsdale, much more highly regarded in film circles in regards to taste and range of palette, nonetheless bashed Private in his own way, stating it was “like Todd Solondz remaking Crash in a cul-de-sac, but with twice the tampons and a quarter of the self-respect.” His vitriolic response was even worse towards the director, whose film treatment stirred such rage in VanAirsdale that he wrote that he wanted to train as a projectionist to work the New York premiere of the film so he could “smuggle the last reel down to the seating level and BLUDGEON THE MOTHERFUCKER [Ball] TO DEATH WITH IT.”

Advanced word hasn’t been entirely negative across the board though - Cinematical’s Ryan Stewart called it an “alternately moving and bitingly funny portrait,” while Jeffrey Wells said it’s “obviously one of the most original, daring films about adolescent sexuality ever delivered by a quasi-mainstreamer.”

Back in September (indieWIRE), Ball said that he wanted to use the title Nothing is Private because using Towelhead would make the story more about race and ethnicity and less about his intended focus, “a universal coming-of-age moment in a young person’s life.” Fast forward to this year - Warner Brothers reverts the name back to Towelhead. Despite Ball’s surprise over the shocked responses (NY Post), he should know by now that Towelhead (scheduled for an August 8th release) has a couple things to be mindful of - the racially charged title, along with a “kiddie porn” tag, and a critic looking to jump out of hiding just to kick his ass.

Like Lars and the Real Girl, if you substitute Luke Wilson for Ryan Gosling, sun-soaked Los Angeles for snowed-in Midwest, despondency for delusion, and apparitions of Jesus for replications of the female anatomy. Scheduled release: August 15th, 2008.

Henry Poole is Here - Quicktime trailer

The filmmaker blog Stream has an interview with Brent Hoff, the former Daily Show and Best Week Ever writer, who along with Dave Eggers, created and curates the McSweeney’s DVD magazine, Wholphin. Having featured short films from Spike Jonze, David Russell, Miranda July, and Alexander Payne, in addition to countless videos from up and coming filmmakers, Wholphin compiles rare and unseen works: dead pilots, documentaries, and rescued videos - in the case of the the current issue, “a short film about Darfuri rebels literally smuggled out of Sudan in the back of a horse cart.”

Hoff talks about the beginning of the magazine, the selection process, and what’s in store for the future of the magazine, like working towards full, downloadable issues.

– Read the interview

– Watch a trailer for House Hunting, based on a short story by Michael Chabon, starring Paul Rudd and Zooey Deschanel. Directed by Amy Lippman. Part of the Winter 2008 issue.

– April 29th: preview screening of issue 6 in Los Angeles

Bjork’s Wanderlust video has been released to Wired Magazine as it was meant to be seen - in three lush, hypercolor dimensions. If you’re the crafty type, they’ve given instructions to make your own glasses. For those that possess superhuman patience, One Little Indian will snail mail you a pair for one self addressed stamped envelope. If you’re of the lazy, but still slightly curious variety, Wired also has the video in high-res 2D. (via YESORNODC)

Related: Drowned in Sound editors’ Top Ten unmistakably Bjork videos (via jeffmradio). I’ve always been partial to the Michel Gondry directed Jóga.

Bits of color contrasted against noir looking familiar? It should. Frank Miller takes the next step from comic creator to screenplay scribe to the director’s chair. Based on the comic series created by Will Eisner in 1940. Starring Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson. Scheduled release: January 16th, 2009.

Related: Hubbub over Johansson’s (debatably) sexy nurse images. (via Defamer)

Struggling actor and high school drama teacher Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) sequels Shakespeare to save the at-risk theater department (in lieu of the rec center or mom-and pop-corner store) in Hamlet 2, the first and most expensive purchase from this year’s Sundance Festival ($10 Million, Focus Features). Co-starring Catherine Keener as Marschz’s wife, plus David Arquette, Elisabeth Shue, and Amy Poehler. Pedigree for the film includes Nancy Drew, Dick (director Andrew Fleming), Hot Rod, South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut, and Team America: World Police (writer Pam Brady).

Early analysis: “A shoddy and indulgent mass of bits from other movies…I asked a fellow critic and friend what he thought now that he’d seen the heavily-buzzed big sale of the festival, and his answer summed things up fairly perfectly: “$2 million a laugh.” - James Rocci

Hamlet 2 - Red Band Trailer (via Coming Soon)

American Teen - Nanette Burnstein (The Kid Stays in the Picture) directed this festival favorite High School doc starring small town Indiana as Anywhere, USA. “If you seek out American Teen thinking it’ll be a decisive work of sociology, you’re going to be out of luck…But if you seek out American Teen looking for an engaging, stylish and surprisingly smart piece of non-fiction entertainment, you’re going to be completely won over.” - Cinematical

The House Bunny - Legally Blonde meets Legally Blonde (meets Revenge of the Nerds, Old School). Anna Faris, Emma Stone (Superbad), and Rumer Willis go to Triumph Over Adversity University. (Coming Soon)

Battle in Seattle - Dramatization of the 1999 WTO Riots in Seattle. Starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Andre 3000, and Ray Liotta. Compare to the real deal. (Film Junk)

The Fall - Directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell) and cosigned by David Fincher and Spike Jonze. Maybe you could tell me what the hell this fantasy is about. “A deeply flawed piece of storytelling… but if you are at all serious about cinema, you MUST see the film on a big screen during its upcoming run.” - David Poland

War, Inc. - Substitute Nic Cage for John Cusack and you’d have a Lord of War offshoot. Keep John, add sister Joan and Dan Ackroyd for that Grosse Pointe Blank appeal, throw in Marisa Tomei and Hillary Duff, blend with Wag the Dog - now you’ve got an entirely fresh, bad-prospect film altogether. (EW)

Speed Racer (New International Trailer) - Even if the latest from the Wachowski Brothers is an epic clunker, it will be the prettiest, shiniest, most expensive clunker of the summer.

This Kanye West sanctioned interweaving of “Flashing Lights” with the visual backdrop of Wong Kar Wai’s hue-saturated, retro-futuristic fantasy, 2046, is a perfect melding of their respective strengths: style over substance meets style over script. It’s almost sacrilege to not watch this in High Definition, but the video remix still shames the original Spike Jonze helmed spot.

Kanye’s editor Derrick Lee put together this, along with the following videos (making use of footage from Tron, 2001, Oldboy, and Akira, respectively) for the Graduation Album Listening Experience in about 3 days. (via KanyeUniverseCity)

“I Wonder” & Tron (Steven Lisberger, 1982)

“Good Morning” & 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

“Barry Bonds” & Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003)

Eating disorders are OK - beef panties, and batshit crazy Tyra Banks won’t melt your child’s brain - but a blurred out nude photoshoot with America’s Next Top Model hopeful Anya is where the Parents Television Council draws the line. (Time)

April 5th, 2008: Saturday Night Live took a photo of Christopher Walken, folded it in half, and then just kept folding and folding and folding…

This video project by multimedia artist Paul Slocum is the I Love the 90’s equivalent to the Gentle Sounds sleepy-time soundtrack, and is amazing, in an end-of-the-world-ly kind of way. I like to imagine “You can’t tell me what to do. You’re not my father,” cycling through ad infinitum, long after the last breath of the last human on earth. (via A.V. Club)

Tags: full house, you’re not my father, dave coulier, candace cameron

I had to double check to be sure this was not an impersonation: VBS.tv presents filmmaker/author/performance artist Miranda July as Parody-Miranda July, in the especially peculiar “How To Make a Button.” (via Goldenfiddle)

– Nowadays it’s nearly as high of a compliment to have your film spoofed as Oscared. After Jewno, No Country for Little Men (Best Week Ever), and There Will Be Bud, you feel like the again-overlooked Michael Clayton and Atonement have been doubly-dissed.

– Related: Diablo Cody gets the Chris Cocker treatment. (Film Experience)

– Preview, not parody: the full season two opener of Showtime’s The Tudors, starring King Jonathan Rhys Meyers is up online. (Password: Royal)

Tags: miranda july, juno, no country for old men, diablo cody, the tudors

Quentin Tarantino directs in between acting gigs. He played an Elvis impersonator in a Golden Girls episode. He exposed the homoerotic subtext of Top Gun in 1994’s Sleep With Me. Most recently, he’s signed on for a genre-blending action film for Japanese super-cult-status director Takashi Miike, entitled Sukiyaki Western Django (The picture is inspired by Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 Spaghetti Western, Django). Marrying Old West themed gunplay with samurai sword action, Miike shot the “Sushi Western” in Japan and hired a predominately Japanese cast, but the dialogue is in shaky English.

Tarantino’s directorial influences are many, though Miike obviously ranks high amongst his heroes, and this color saturated, over-the-top (but absolutely tame by Miike’s less-commercial standards) trailer accentuates the parallels between them. Though Quentin is more of a featured player rather than a headlining star, this American preview for the film makes the most of his drawing power. An August release in the U.S. release seems likely. (Video via MTV News)

Tags: quentin tarantino, takashi miike, sukiyaki western django

Tropic Thunder. Directed by Ben Stiller. Written by Justin Theroux and Etan (not Ethan Coen) Cohen. Starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. Walk-ons by Steve Coogan, Bill Hader, Nolte, McConaughey, Maguire, Theroux, and Cruise. Dude-centric action-adventure comedy. Scheduled release: August 15th, 2008. (Tip from Slashfilm)

Hounddog, a Southern Gothic tale which debuted at Sundance in 2007 and was quickly tagged as “The Dakota Fanning Rape Movie,” has finally been picked up for a summer 2008 release by Empire pictures, reports The New York Post, who’ve also come up with the trailer for the film. Fanning (age 12 during the shooting) plays a 9-year-old who suppresses the trauma of a rape by a neighbor boy in part by obsessing over and mimicking Elvis Presley. The rape scene in question lasts about 30 seconds, shows no nudity, and uses cutaways of falling rain between shots of Fanning’s face, hands, and feet.

The indie film, written and directed by Deborah Kampmeier, was met with controversy on many fronts leading up to the Sundance premiere. The picture was filmed in Brunswick County, North Carolina, and a criminal investigation there, which included a screening of the film and interviews with the cast and crew (including Fanning) concluded that there were no violations of state laws concerning child exploitation or obscenity.

The director, who calls Hounddog a story “about motherlessness, the cycle of abuse, the triumph of this girl’s spirit, and the power of female sexuality,” vehemently denies any allegations of exploitation of the child actor and chose to ignore the outcry over the rumored content in the film before it’s premiere. Said Kampmeier, “Our decision was to not respond to any of it ’cause everything that’s been written or said about us is false. But at a certain point it was so upsetting to read lie after lie and be powerless to change the public perception. I finally had to stop focusing on that and get back to the film.” (Premiere)

Fanning has also shrugged off the controversy, saying, “It’s really no different than playing any other character. I’m still not playing myself. I get to experience different things people go through without going through them myself, which is no different from watching a news story and learning from that…It’s no darker than Hide and Seek or Man on Fire. I still am going through difficult things in those films as well, and nobody seemed to talk about that.” (CHUD)

No doubt that the petitions, boycotts, and public furor will be reignited come this summer when Hounddog goes from a one-time festival shot to appearing on at least 500 screens nationwide. The 2008 cut of the film is said to be different from what was screened at Sundance, and is somehow shooting for a PG-13 rating, but that may not help it’s chances much. A pan from Salon in 2007, one of many bad reviews coming out of Sundance concluded, “‘Hounddog’ should be boycotted. Not because it depicts the sexual exploitation of children but because it’s a turgid, overripe mess.”

Hounddog, which also stars Robin Wright-Penn and David Morse, is scheduled for a July 18th release.

Tags: hounddog trailer, dakota fanning

The Guys That Brought Us Superbad and Knocked Up bring us a lot of stuff nowadays, so don’t feel like a square if sometimes you just want to pass off to the left without partaking. All things considered, if the sorely missed Rosie Perez gets the proportional short-shrift in Pineapple Express like she does in the trailer, then [drug reference in the negative].

Directed by David Gordon Green, produced by Judd Apatow, and written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. The Pineapple Express trailer, in red band and green band editions.

Edward Norton, Tim Roth, and Liv Tyler in Critic Proof.