Remember that biblical epic that Darren Aronofsky — director of Pi (1998; my review), Requiem for a Dream (2000; my review) and The Fountain (2006) — said he wanted to make? He recently spilled a few more details about it to The Guardian: In the Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia, two hours north-west of Bucharest, the film-maker Darren Aronofsky is contemplating the extinction of mankind. An extreme response, you might think, to a few uncomprehending reviews of his last movie,... Read more

Are movies shot in Vancouver because they are set in Seattle? Or are they set in Seattle because they are shot in Vancouver? Lots of movies are filmed here, but a lot of them — like Night at the Museum, which takes place in a New York museum and was shot mostly on a soundstage, and Pathfinder, which takes place over a thousand years ago — are set in other times and places, so there’s no point in expecting Vancouver... Read more

My review of Next is now up at CT Movies. Read more

Mike White, writer and director of the funny, unsettling, thought- provoking Year of the Dog, talks to the National Post: In the case of Year of the Dog, the ultimate message revolves around the need for control and structure, but also the need people have to devote themselves to something in order to find happiness. “You get to a certain age and suddenly your life choices have become your religion in some sense,” he says, “and you invest so much... Read more

If you can handle a few f-words, watch the video below, then read Mike Daisey’s account of the incident and its aftermath. Click here if the video file above doesn’t play properly. FWIW, James Urbaniak posted some interesting thoughts on the incident, and then had some fun with the whole controversy. Read more

Here are the figures for the past weekend, arranged from those that owe the highest percentage of their take to the Canadian box office to those that owe the lowest. Hot Fuzz — CDN $696,628 — N.AM $5,848,464 — 11.9%300 — CDN $22,169,253 — N.AM $204,644,259 — 10.8%Perfect Stranger — CDN $1,838,479 — N.AM $18,072,926 — 10.2%Fracture — CDN $993,877 — N.AM $11,014,657 — 9.0%Blades of Glory — CDN $8,932,530 — N.AM $100,951,439 — 8.8%Disturbia — CDN $3,095,603 — N.AM... Read more

Well, they didn’t say so in so many words. But that would seem to be one of the logical ramifications of this: American commanders cite al-Qaida’s severe brand of Islam, which is so extreme that in Baqouba, al-Qaida has warned street vendors not to place tomatoes beside cucumbers because the vegetables are different genders, Col. David Sutherland said. That’s right, Roberta the Tomato has been lying to us all along. Read more

Seriously, that’s the official website for Dudleytown, a “Christian teen horror film” that is due to be filmed next month by Good News Holdings. That’s the same company that plans to shoot Anne Rice’s Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt in Israel later this year. They are producing these films as part of their mission to create what they call “Spiritainment™“. Only time will tell if their efforts result in anything better than such secular fare as, oh, The Reaping. Read more

From today’s Brisbane Times: In the scraps of pre-publicity released to date, Daniel Craig says he is clinging to Pullman’s original text “by his fingernails” and working especially hard not to have the author’s religious views watered down. “The thing is,” Craig says, “having spoken to Philip at length – there’s nothing anti-religious about this film. It’s anti-establishment in a big way and anti-totalitarian and anti-controlling. But essentially it’s a film about growing up and how difficult that can be.”... Read more