“That’s some pretty fast work, Miss Lyra.” So says an impressed Texan aeronaut to a young English girl after she befriends a depressed talking polar bear, inspires the bear to strike back against some church-based bad guys, and persuades the bear to join her on a quest — all, seemingly, in a matter of minutes. But the aeronaut could just as easily be talking about The Golden Compass, the film in which all these characters appear. (more…) Read more
So says the Hollywood Reporter: Christopher Mintz-Plasse, known as McLovin in the summer hit “Superbad,” will reunite with producer Judd Apatow for Columbia’s “Year One,” a comedy set in biblical times. Oliver Platt, David Cross, Vinnie Jones and Juno Temple are also in final negotiations for the film. The movie stars Jack Black and Michael Cera and is being directed by Harold Ramis. Filming is set to begin in January in Louisiana and New Mexico. . . . Platt is... Read more
My review of Juno is now up at CT Movies. In related news, Reuters has a story on the film’s director: Director Jason Reitman knew life changed when his first movie “Thank You for Smoking” was a hit. Not because of reviews or box office success but because his father, director Ivan Reitman, began asking for advice. . . . This gets me thinking. Jason Reitman has directed two of my favorite films of the past few years, while his... Read more
Who could have foreseen that 2007 would be the year of the unplanned pregnancy at the multiplex? And who could have foreseen that, as the year progressed, the films dealing with this topic would be increasingly bold in expressing their implicitly pro-life — not “anti-choice,” but certainly pro-life — sensibilities? First there was Waitress, which starred 30-ish Keri Russell as a married woman who learns that she is bearing the offspring of her neglectful, even abusive, husband; deeply ambivalent about... Read more
Now that it has been confirmed that Christian Bale will play John Connor in the next three Terminator films, producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek have decided to tease the fans with a few enigmatic quasi-revelations at Entertainment Weekly. In contrast to producer James Middleton’s remark three months ago that there would be a new central character and John Connor would simply be the guy who “influences” him, much as Jesus influenced the lead character in the Ben-Hur movies, Anderson... Read more
I haven’t been all that interested in I Am Legend ever since I first mentioned it here over two years ago, but now New York Post columnist Kyle Smith has said something about the film — which opens next week Friday — that does intrigue me. At his blog, he says the film is “a rare Hollywood movie in that it contains a pro-God message in the midst of a scientific inquiry into the nature of the cure for a... Read more
The newest issue of BC Christian News is now online, and with it, my film column, which looks mainly at Atonement but also includes a mini-review of Juno. I will have longer and/or alternate reviews of both films up at CT Movies later this week. DEC 10 UPDATE: A slightly longer version of the Juno portion of this column is now up at the MB Herald, too. 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. American Gangster — CDN $10,950,000 — N.AM $121,732,000 — 9.0%Beowulf — CDN $5,840,000 — N.AM $68,613,000 — 8.5%Bee Movie — CDN $9,830,000 — N.AM $117,643,000 — 8.4%No Country for Old Men — CDN $1,920,000 — N.AM $23,030,000 — 8.3%Hitman — CDN $2,500,000 — N.AM $30,204,000 — 8.3%Awake — CDN $490,101... Read more
Nothing really new here, but if you’re as curious to see where the franchise goes as I am, I might as well quote today’s Entertainment Weekly: The rumors have raged for the past few weeks but Hollywood Insider can now confirm that Christian Bale is set to star in the Terminator reboot…Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. No official word yet on what role Bale will play in the film, which McG is directing and Halcyon is producing for Warner Bros.... Read more
Glenn Kenny at Premiere.com has just posted some screen captures from Raging Bull (1980) and The Aviator (2004), noting how Martin Scorsese has projected his fear of flashbulbs onto the heroes of his films. Coincidentally, today GreenCine Daily happened to link to this site, which features a video in which Scorsese “preserves” a supposedly unproduced Alfred Hitchcock film, called The Key to Reserva, by shooting what is left of its screenplay — and a lightbulb features very prominently. The Scorsese... Read more
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