films news: july 2008

I used to be on the fence about Blindness, a film directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener) about a city infected with a "white blindness." It stars Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo as a husband and wife, and Moore's character is one of the only people still left with her sight. She goes with her husband to a quarantined facility for the infected, where she meets up with Gael Garcia Bernal (who, in my opinion, should be in every movie). RowThree.com has the latest campaign posters, and, although I love Meirelles and Moore and Bernal, the original trailer did not appeal to my yearning for a psychological thriller. But the newer trailer (below) and the ad campaign, which bares a striking similarity to Antony Gormley's "Blind Light" exhibit, have secured Blindness for a spot on my fall movie list. "I'll never forget your face" is a wonderful tease, and I'm hoping the trailer intentionally left out the traumatic psychology so that the actual film could be that much more terrifying.


The National Treasure: Book of Secrets Drinking Game. Seriously. One of the worst movies ever. The plot doesn't even hold up... how was Cage's ancestor recused of being a traitor? Oh, that's right. He wasn't. But everyone's so anxious for this piece of crap to end that no one cares. Still, check out Alex Proyas's Knowing trailer at FilmJunk.com. Fifty years ago, a child wrote down a mathematical equation (of sorts) in a time-capsule, and the ever-brilliant Nicolas Cage figures out that the numbers predict cataclysmic events. The unbelievable part of the plot is not the equation but that Cage could figure out what it all means. But I grew up in a household where science-fiction surpasses all other genres (the running joke is that all sci-fi is "bad sci-fi" and yet we all love the genre), so, despite the presence of Nicolas Cage and despite the lame premise, I'm still intrigued. The trailer's last line is particularly interesting: "What happens when the numbers run out?"

Speaking of trailers, Harold stars Spencer Breslin (the kid from The Kid, who now sounds like a post-puberty Michael Cera, eerie!) as a 14-year-old boy who is going bald. The trailer is low-budget and reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite, so I'll wait for some reviews on this indie-flick before I lean one way or the other on it. Also, the Watchmen and Terminator Salvation trailers will air before The Dark Knight, which is like the Super Bowl for trailer spots. Lastly, Steve Coogan's new movie Hamlet 2 is all sorts of relatable brilliance, and FilmSchoolRejects.com has numerous clips from the film. You can view the original trailer here, but I warn you, it's been months and I still have "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" stuck in my head.


According to Cinematical.com, Tim Burton and Disney are teaming up for an Alice in Wonderland remake (or is it a reimagining?). This makes so much sense that I don't know how this film has not already been made. I always thought Wonderland was an exceptionally creepy story, and who better to bring out the utter weirdness of Lewis Carroll's pedophilic love-letter? I think Helena Bonham-Carter would make an excellent Queen of Hearts and Johnny Depp could play the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

Neil Miller over at FilmSchoolRejects.com is apathetic about Keanu Reeves being cast in The Day the Earth Stood Still remake. I have my own problems with the trailer (like the fact that it rings false for anyone who's seen the original movie -- there's no way Hollywood will make Klaatu the bad guy), but I have actually come to the understanding that the movie should be remade. The original came out in 1951, so most of the allusions point to the Cold War. The remake will undoubtedly reference global warming and other environmentalist concerns, which, again, will ring false because it comes on the heels of The Happening. And although I agree with Miller that Reeves does not look alien enough, I do think his stilted acting style will fit the role nicely. Keanu is still better than Nicolas Cage.


Jon over at TheMovieBlog.com lists his picks for the best and worst films of the year so far. I was happy to see In Bruges is #2 on his Best list, but I was disappointed to see Wanted at #3, before The Dark Knight and Iron Man. Jolie has "never looked sexier," he says. Since when is emaciation sexy?