Tag Archives: Matt Damon

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Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi thriller ELYSIUM’s Poster & Trailer Spotlight

Boy oh boy! I’ve been looking forward to this film for quite some time now. In case you didn’t know already, I’m a huge fan of District 9 which was a surprise to me as I didn’t even know much about it when I saw it on the big screen. Well, it’s been over three years since I saw that film and finally, South African director Neill Blomkamp and actor Sharlto Copley are re-teaming for another sci-fi thriller.

I was kind of hoping that Copley would have the leading role this time around, but I understand that with a much-bigger budget, they’d need a movie star. So we’ve got Matt Damon in the lead instead. Check out the awesome poster of him with all that robotic stuff attached all over his body!

ElysiumTeaserPoster

I originally thought this was a follow-up to District 9, as I’ve outlined on my Upcoming Flix Spotlight post a year ago. But now it’s clear that this film has a new storyline that’s not related to D-9 universe, though it still carries a similar social issue theme. Now, this film was first scheduled for release in March before being pushed back to August. I don’t think it’s a sign of trouble though, I think that’d give Blomkamp to release some viral marketing for it like he did for D-9 which was a smart move.

Now finally, a trailer!!

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WHOAH!! I’m even more intrigued now after seeing this. I really like the look of this and the apocalyptic story looks very promising and thought provoking, with all the visual and thematic elements every sci-fi lovers would love. Blomkamp is working again with Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital so it’s to be expected that the special effect is going to rock! Even right off the bat, I like the stark contrast between the perfect world of the Elysium space station and the left-behind slum that is the Earth. I read that Blomkamp shot the Earth footage in Mexico City, and everything on Elysium in Vancouver.

Per IGN, like Blomkamp’s previous film, this one has a similarly impoverished and segregated society, but this time along economic lines rather than species. Where District 9 was a sci-fi allegory for racism, Elysium is about economic disparity.

In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes, a hard line government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.

Here are four more details I learned from this HitFix article, which summarized the SONY press preview event in L.A. with Blomkamp, Copley and producer Simon Kinberg:

  • Damon’s character is Max, an ex-con who’s working a factory job on Earth. A radiation leak prompted him to be cast off by the authoritarian government. He knows the only way to get rid of the toxic radiation is in Elysium, and he has to find a way to get there.
  • The robotic stuff on his body, and that data port on his head is the result of self-modification Max did as a mechanism to hijack security information from an Elysium citizen.
  • Sharlto Copley plays the bad guy, Kruger. He is an Elysium operative who lives on Earth, waiting to be activated. When an attack on an Elysium citizen occurs, he gets the signal.
    CopleyFoster_Elysium
  • Jodie Foster plays a Senator, as Foster herself described in Movieline as “… the person who controls who gets to come in [to Elysium] and who doesn’t. She’s methodical, her antagonism has a point.” She also mentions that Elysium is an international place, as its residents comes from all over the earth.
  • Blomkamp said that 2/3 of the film would take place on earth and 1/3 in Elysium to emphasize further that the space station is truly a fantastical place every human being aspire to live in.

Elysium is out in theaters on August 9, 2013. I can hardly wait!
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On a related note, two years ago, I wrote this post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama pitch where some humans live in another planet whilst the remaining earth population struggle to survive.
Check it out and let me know what you think :D

Are you as stoked as I am about this one? What do you think of the trailer?

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Weekend Roundup: Iron Sky, Good Will Hunting, Top Gear Vietnam Special

Happy Election Tuesday folks!

For my fellow Americans who are going to the polls today, good for you for exercising your rights to vote! I’m not a US citizen yet or I would definitely be doing the same thing today! But whichever way you voted, I’m just glad that tomorrow there’ll be NO MORE political ads!!

Well, I’m not going to be reviewing anything today, just a rundown on what went on this weekend.

The best part of the weekend is that my blogging friend Kristin Griffin from All Eyes on Screen and her boyfriend came to visit this weekend! We had a blast spending all day at the Mall of America and after dinner, we decided to rent a movie as it’s already too late to catch Cloud Atlas.

The movie we decided on? Iron Sky. I don’t know if you’ve seen the trailer yet, but here’s the gist:

In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During 70 years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying saucers.

We expected it to be the kookiest, most ridiculous Nazi spoof we’ve ever seen and well, we got exactly what we were asking for. It’s a Finnish-German-Australian production with a mix of German and Australian actors, and some of the dialog are in German with subtitles. The director, Timo Vuorensola, previously directed a similar outrageous Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning. ‘Nuff said. Overall the Nazi-in-space premise delivers some crazy laughs, though some of the caricature characters are pretty lame as they’re mostly cheap shots at some unpopular characters like Sarah Palin. If you’re looking for some camp, absurd comedy, this might be a movie for you, just don’t expect much more than that. Just consider that poster a warning, ahah

On Sunday night, we opted for something more ehm, profound. We’ve been curious to check out Good Will Hunting (1997) for a while, primarily to check out Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning screenplay.

Damon is pretty good in the title role as Will Hunting, a mathematical genius who works as janitor at MIT. The best performances are from the supporting cast though, Stellan Skarsgård as the renowned professor who believes in Will, Minnie Driver who plays Will’s compassionate girlfriend, and last but not least, Robin Williams as the therapist who helps Will find direction in his troubled life.

Well, we quite enjoyed the movie, though I’m not sure that this film is better-written than L.A. Confidential. I do think Robin Williams deserved his Best Supporting Oscar that year, it’s quite an understated and perceptive performance, definitely a much less hyper role than we’re used to seeing him.

Now, last night as I was working on this post, I watched the BBC’s Top Gear Motorbike Vietnam Edition where they travel to the South East Asian country as a challenge to ride a rickety motorbike from Saigon to Hanoi! I mean, even just the sight of 6 foot five or so Jeremy with his teeny tiny Vespa is freakin’ hilarious!

Oh my, it was such a hoot! The first part where they got 15 million Vietnamese Dong (which equals to only $1000) thinking that they could buy a car was a riot!! But wait ’til they get to the actual journey, it’s side-splitting, thigh-slapping stuff as Jeremy Clarkson on a Vespa, Richard Hammond on a Minsk and James May on a Honda Cub went on the 1000-mile journey together!

Check out some of the clips here, though the first part of the episode is not to be missed!

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If you have Netflix Instant and you love British humor, I absolutely recommend this show. I might check out other Top Gear adventures in the future!

So that’s it for my eclectic weekend viewing. What did you watch this weekend?

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The Bourne Legacy – Ted’s Review

After they couldn’t convince both Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon to come back and do another Bourne film, Universal Pictures decided to go ahead and make another one without them. Was this a good move or an ill-advised one? Read on.

The film opens with a similar scene to the beginning of the first film and the end of the last film, if you remember Bourne was floating in water in the beginning of the first one and then he was swimming away in the last one. Were the filmmakers thought the audience wouldn’t know they’re watching a Bourne film had they opened this new film with a different scene? Well it turns out the person in the water wasn’t Bourne but a new hero, Aaron Cross played by Jeremy Renner. We learned that he’s somewhere in the Alaska wilderness and in training. I have to commend Renner for his performance during these opening scenes, he didn’t have any dialogue and only he let his body do the talking.

We also found out that Bourne’s public exposure of CIA black ops “Treadstone” and “Blackbriar” causes the powers that be to take desperate measures to save additional programs and their own behinds. In came Edward Norton who plays some sort of an advisor to the higher ups at the CIA, his advice was to wipe out all traces of the company’s latest secret agent program, “Outcome”.  So all of the undercover agents were terminate except our hero, Aaron Cross. Along with the getting rid of all the agents, anyone who’s involved with the “Outcome” project also gets their life terminated. Fortunately one of the doctors played by Rachel Weisz was able to escaped and later Cross came to her aid and for the rest of the film, both of them are trying to stay alive by evading the assassins sent  by the agency to kill them.

Unlike the previous films where our hero Bourne was trying to recover his memory of he was and why he’s an assassin, Cross knows who he is and why he’s doing what he’s doing. Because he’s some sort of a super agent, he needs pills to keep going. And this is one the reasons why I think this film didn’t work, it reminds me way too much of Van Damme’s Universal Soldier. Cross is just not an interesting character, we already know why he’s an assassin so it’s kind of pointless to care about him. Bourne on the other hand, because of his memory loss, he’s trying to figure out why his employer wants to kill him and most importantly, why he’s so good at killing people. We the audience also want to know that too, and so we went along and follow his journey.

Another reason why I thought the film didn’t work was the lack of a true villain. Edward Norton is wasted here. Even though he ordered the hit on all the agents, he’s somehow have some kind of connections with Cross, they showed a few flashback scenes with two of them talking; I’m not quite sure why those scenes were included, someone have to explain that to me.

The film was directed by Tony Gilroy, he wrote the first three films and now he’s decided to shoot the film himself. Gilroy blew me away with his first film, Michael Clayton, but his next one Duplicity was a self-indulgent mess. I feel that’s what he’s done with this film, it seems Gilroy and his brother came up with all these great ideas to kick start this franchise with a new character. But somehow they couldn’t execute their ideas, I think this is where the studio should’ve hired a director who can actually expand or tighten the script a bit. I remember Greengrass actually hired a couple of writers to clean up Gilroy’s scripts of The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum.

Since Gilroy gets to direct this time, he’s probably thought his script was perfect and didn’t need a clean-up. I get the feeling that he’s trying to make the film similar to that of the 1970s espionage thrillers but totally failed. The film also didn’t deliver on the action front, in fact there weren’t many action in it compare to the previous three films. The mistake Gilroy make was to try and imitate Greengrass’ frantic style of action scenes. Now the action scenes weren’t as bad as say, Safe House, but the big chase near the end of the film went a bit too long and sometimes it’s hard to see what’s going on. I think the only good thing I can say about this film was Rachel Weisz, she looked beautiful and really played her role quite well. It’s unfortunate that her character was nothing more than another damsel in distress.

Was The Bourne Legacy a bad film? I don’t think so, it’s just wasn’t that interesting and the lack of action didn’t help considering fans of the franchise expect to see hand to hand combats and crazy car chases. Legacy only delivered half of that.

– post by Ted S.
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2.5 out of 5 reels

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Well folks, what did you think of this film?

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A ‘sequel’ I actually want to see: District 9 follow-up ELYSIUM

One of my favorite films of the last decade was the low-budget sci-fi movie District 9. In my review, I said that it’s such a distinctly moving, poignant and provocative film that makes you ponder long after the end credits roll.

Not long after I saw the film, there’s immediate buzz for an inevitable sequel, which I talked about here, but that was three years ago! It’s certainly taken a while to materialize but Variety reports that SONY has secured a release date of March 1, 2013. Now, with the recent casting news of the South African actor Sharlto Copley as the villain for the American remake of Park Chan-wook’s Korean action thriller Oldboy, it seems like a good time as any to update you on:

ELYSIUM

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Plot and Production Notes

Like a Christopher Nolan movie, the plot is shrouded in secrecy. Per Deadline, the movie will have the social allegory theme like in District 9, but done in a much bigger scale, set 100 years in the future. However, /Film reported this interview with the film’s producer Simon Kinberg that “… [the sequel is] a very different movie than anything you’ve ever seen before. It’s not necessarily an alien movie … Visually, stylistically it’s actually very different than District 9.”

Hmmm, what does he mean it’s not necessarily an alien movie?? I wonder if he meant that it’s more than just a genre film, much like 28 Days Later is NOT just a zombie movie, or that the film is dealing with something else entirely?

I presume those reading this article knows that at the end of D-9, the protagonist Wikus van der Merwe has transformed into this prawn-like alien being. The ending seems to lend itself to a sequel, but it sounds like the sequel doesn’t pick up the story where it left off.

South African director Neill Blomkamp is back at the helm and has hired famed set designer Syd Mead (Blade Runner, Aliens) to design the set for this film. The budget has jumped from $35 mil for D-9 to roughly $120 mil for Elysium [per THR]. Filming has wrapped last December and is now in post-production work. As Peter Jackson was the executive producer of D-9, his company WETA is now involved in the conceptual design and various special effects for this film.

Casting

One thing for sure, I’m looking forward to seeing Copley teaming up with D-9 director Neill Blomkamp again.

Mr. Copley’s star-power has risen considerably since starring in that film, though he’s only been seen in The A-Team since then. I think he’s perfectly capable in carrying a movie on his own, as he did in D-9, in fact I liked him so much that I wrote this article on how a lot of Hollywood A-listers can learn from him.

Well, two A-listers have in fact joined the cast: Jodie Foster and Matt Damon.

Damon had this to say just before filming started:

I’ve never done anything quite like this and I kind of responded to what’s out there and what’s in and what’s good. The movie is going to be good, he showed me basically the entire world which he’s going to build and it’s really, really exciting. And I can’t wait! – per MovieWeb

Jodie Foster is said to be playing a leader of an alien planet. She revealed to TotalFilm that the main reason she signed on to the film was because it was a chance to work with Blomkamp.

“Yes, definitely. He did District 9, which I think is as close to a perfect movie as you can get … It’s just an extraordinary film. And, this film has a lot of that social commentary in it, but uses sci-fi to get there. It’s great.”

There’s no news yet what role Matt Damon will be playing but judging from this Vancouver set photos of him with a shaved head wearing a prison jumpsuit and has some sort of futuristic weapon thing-y strapped on him, my guess is he’s an ex-con who managed to escape?

Anyway, the rest of the Internationally-diverse cast includes Mexican actor Diego Luna, Brazilians Wagner Moura and Alice Braga, and go-to New Yorker character actor William Fichtner.

Viral Campaign

What’s brilliant about D-9 is the bizarre but brilliant ‘Non-Human’ viral marketing campaign. Now virtually every major movie, for better for worse, have employed similar strategy. /Film posted this poster on the right spotted at Comic-con last year that points to a website with this video clip below. Basically it’s a recruitment video by a fake company called Armadyne seeking “zero g welders, mega-structure engineers, quantum networkers and experts in zero g coupling and multi-generational planning,” in order to accomplish “the most ambitious project ever undertaken by mankind.” Take a look at the video below from the ‘official’ company website:

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I hope the trailer is released soon. I do hope that Copley will have a prominent role here instead of being completely sidelined by Damon. What I like about the first one is how completely believable he was as Wikus and the strong emotional connection I had with the character. Now, both A-listers here are obviously very talented actors, so I’m optimistic in that regard. I’m also hopeful that the 31-year-old Blomkamp is more than a one hit wonder.

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Are you a fan of District-9? If so, what do you think of this project so far? 

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Weekend Viewing Roundup

Hello folks, I’m assuming it’s a short week for most of you? For sure I won’t miss this 3-4 day work-week like this come January when the hustle and bustle returns at the office.

Well, The Dark Knight Rises trailer pretty much sidelined this post, but I still want to give y’all a rundown of the movies I saw this week. I’ve been averaging about 4-5 movies a week since my Gregory Peck marathon started and I’m still having a blast watching his movies!

I’ve posted my Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol review so here are my mini reviews of the others:

Twelve O’Clock High (1949) 

I actually saw this the week before but forgot to include it in my roundup post

Peck played a tough-as-nails general who takes over a bomber pilot unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape. Those who think Peck as the romantic Joe Bradley or calm-as-a-cucumber Atticus Finch will see a whole different side of him here, he lends credibility to Brig. Gen Frank Savage who’s based on a real life General Frank Armstrong, and the fact that he looks ruggedly handsome in those bomber jacket is a major plus :D
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His performance was nominated for an Oscar (his fourth in five years) and I wish he had won. His transformation from the stern, uncompromising leader to the moment of his breakdown at the end is compelling to watch… it’s a controlled performance Peck is known for, and the supporting cast is great as well, especially Dean Jagger and Hugh Marlowe.  There’s not a heck of a lot of air battle scenes despite the title but the ones that appear in this film were actually  photographed in actual combat by members of the United States Air Force and the German Luftwaffe, as stated in the opening. No wonder Savage’s leadership style is used as an example in US Navy and Air Force schools, as well as leadership training in civilian non-military seminars. Even though I’m not generally a fan of war films, I really enjoyed this one as it’s more character-driven and focused more on the psyche of the troops.
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The Valley of Decision (1945)


Ok, back to the sweet & romantic Gregory in this one set in 19th Century Pittsburgh. Oh man, talk about a fairy tale, forget Cinderella, I want to be Mary Rafferty!! Get this, she came from a poor family of steel mill worker, when she goes to work as a maid for the wealthy Scott family, the eldest (and of course the most gorgeous) son Paul Scott falls for her. 29-year-old Peck turns on the charm big time, in only his third film, he displayed such magnetic presence on screen. His romantic scenes with Greer Garson just made me melt, and it’s really impossible for you not to root for these two to be together.
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This is the first time I’ve ever seen Garson (never even heard of her!) but she comes across very likable, I might check out her other films after this. She reminds me a bit of Lucille Ball with curly her hairstyle and giant eyes, and she had a nice chemistry with Peck. I confess that even if the story is terrible, it’s still well worth buying this DVD just to stare at Gregory, ahah, but fortunately I find the story really engaging. Paul & Mary’s romance is complicated by the bitter strike among the mill workers, and a tragic incident involving both their families. Lionel Barrymore co-starred with Peck again here as Mary’s father, but his character is pretty much a variation of Mr. Potter. In any case, this one now stands as one of my top 10 favorite Gregory Peck movie now. Boy, it’ll be tough to make that list as he’s got so many great classics.

Bourne Supremacy (2004)

The second installment is perhaps my favorite of the Bourne franchise. Yes perhaps the presence of the über hunky New Zealander Karl Urban as the baddie Kirill has something to do with it, but I think the film is just more enjoyable than the first. We’ve got British director Paul Greengrass at the helm this time and the movie starts off with a dynamic chase scene almost right away. Damon confidently reprises the title role, growing more weary and exasperated by the relentless pursuits of the CIA. Of course he always managed to get one step ahead of them every single time.

Urban as Kirill

Bourne is on the run once again, this time flying solo across Goa India, Berlin, and Moscow. Hot on his trail is the CIA led by Deputy Director Pamela Landy (the always excellent Joan Allen) who’s immediately suspicious that Ward Abbott (equally compelling Brian Cox) knew more about the ‘Neski files’ case than he let on. The battle of wills between these two are great to watch and once again this film benefits from a great combo of gripping action and tight script, woven together nicely by Greengrass’ dynamic directing style. It’s also nice to see Julia Stiles’ getting more screen time this time around also. Both she and Allen are such underrated actresses.
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Btw, my favorite action sequence is this killer car chase scene in Moscow, with Bourne driving with only one arm after Kirill shot him. Oh man, it’s downright gripping and it stands as one of my favorite movie car chases of all time!

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Helvetica documentary (2007)

A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture.

As graphic designers naturally the subject matter appeals to us and we both love typography. This documentary focuses on evolution of the ubiquitous type formerly called Neue Haas Grotesk, it’s developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann. You may not know what type face that is but you sure are surrounded by it, everywhere you look you’ll likely to find a Helvetica type face being used, whether in an ad or in a street sign. The doc also shows the origin of this type face and feature various interviews with type designers from mostly Europe and the US.

The history stuff is quite insightful and captivating, but I think the execution falls a bit flat for me. I was bored a lot of the time watching this 80-min doc, which is a shame as it could have been handled in a more dynamic way. Still, it’s worth a watch and I’d still give a similar documentary on product design called Objectified a shot, it’s also directed by Gary Huswit.

Well, that’s my weekend roundup, any thoughts on any of them? Feel free to share about the movies you saw this weekend.

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Guest Post: Role Reversals – One Actor’s Misfortune is Another Actor’s Gain

Most of us know that actors turned down roles that would make the ones who accepted it become famous. There are many reasons why they didn’t accept these now famous roles, the main reason is probably they the film wouldn’t be a hit and probably their agents told them not to take it. Below are some well-known roles that were offered to different actors than the ones ended up playing the part and reap the benefits.

• The Bourne Identity (2002) Jason Bourne

Brad Pitt was actually the studio first choice to play the amnesiac spy but he turned it down so he could work on Spy Game with Robert Redford. Here’s the funny thing, Matt Damon was first offered Pitt’s role in Spy Game but he declined and decided to play Jason Bourne instead. I’m always wonder what The Bourne films would have been like had Pitt starred in them. Of course we all know both actors are doing fine but for comparison sake, I think Damon made the right choice since The Bourne Identity was a box office hit while Spy Game didn’t do that well in theater.

• Batman (1989) Bruce Wayne/Batman

So when Michael Keaton was cast as The Caped Crusader back in the 80s, a lot of comic book fans weren’t too thrill about it. The thing is though, he wasn’t Tim Burton’s first choice. Burton actually offered the Dark Knight role to Ray Liotta but he turned it down so he could star in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Even though I enjoyed both of Burton’s Batman films, I never like Keaton as The Dark Knight, I think Liotta would’ve been good in the role.

Michael Keaton definitely benefited from taking Batman role, besides playing the Dark Knight, he starred in quite a few films in the 90s. Liotta on the other hand, he played mostly supporting character or the villain.

• The Hunt For Red October (1990) Jack Ryan

Tom Clancy’s first novel was such a huge hit that when Hollywood was ready to adapt it for the big screen, they offered the prime role of Jack Ryan to the young and on the hot streak Kevin Costner. He turned it down so he could start working on a little film called Dances with Wolves. Of course the role went to Alec Baldwin and I think everyone was happy with the results. Costner won the Oscar for directing Dances with Wolves and the film was a huge box office hit.

Baldwin on the other hand though got screwed out of reprising his Jack Ryan role in the sequel Patriot Games, to read about it more go here. It’s a good read of what really went on the behind the scenes before cameras started rolling on Patriot Games.

• First Blood (1982) John Rambo

There were quite a few actors who were considered for the role of Rambo, they include Clint Eastwood, John Travolta, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman but Steve McQueen was the producer’s first choice from the beginning. But because of his crazy demands, the producers decided to not pursue him. McQueen was asking $1mil for his salary, a crazy number back in the late 70s and early 80s for an actor’s salary. Not only that but he said he’ll only read the script if the producers pay him $500,000 up front, of course they said no. I would love to have seen McQueen playing John Rambo but around that time, he was so anti Hollywood that he might’ve just phoned in the role had he accepted it. Of course we all know Stallone benefited from it since he owned the 80s with his Rambo and Rocky franchises.

• Apocalypse Now (1979) Capt. Willard

Well Steve McQueen was also offered the lead role in this film and again he turned it down. Even though I thought Martin Sheen did a good job in the film, I always wish McQueen accepted the role. It would have been great seeing him going toe to toe with Marlon Brando. Of course it would’ve been a nightmare for Coppola, he’d have to deal with two big stars with huge ego.

• Blade Runner (1982) Rick Deckard

Believe it or not Dustin Hoffman was actually the first choice to play Deckard and was even offered the role. He turned it down because he believed he didn’t fit the role and he was right. Maybe I’m a little bias since I love Blade Runner but I could never see anyone but Harrison Ford as Deckard, I know people always think of him as Indiana Jones or Hans Solo, but I think  of him as Deckard first before those other two roles.

• Die Hard (1988) John McClane

Fox planned a sequel Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commando, but Arnold didn’t want to do sequels at the time so they turned Commando 2‘s script into Die Hard and offered the role of John McClane to him; but he declined. Eventually Bruce Willis took the role after Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Burt Reynolds and Mel Gibson all passed on starring in this film. I think we’re all grateful that Willis got the part right? Can you imagine seeing Arnold say the line: Yippee-ki-yay, motherf**ker.
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(Sources: imdb.com, Cinescape magazine, behind the scenes documentary of each film)
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[rtm's note: Also check out my previous post Famous Roles That Got Away for more casting tidbits and find out which actor turn down the most high profile roles]

So those are the now famous roles that were turned down by some famous actors, do you prefer the original actor for the part or are you happy with one who accepted it? Also, if you know of any other roles that were turned down by famous actors, feel free to share with us.

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Weekend Viewing Roundup: The Adjustment Bureau and North by Northwest

This weekend cinema-viewing choices came down to Rango and Adjustment Bureau, which trailer was quite intriguing. In the end my hubby and I went with the latter, even though Rango won the weekend box office just as I predicted in Scarlet Sp1der’s poll last Tuesday.

It seems that the viewing theme this weekend is men in dapper suits (and fedora) :)
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The Adjustment Bureau

An affair between a politician and a ballerina is affected by “mysterious forces” keeping the lovers apart.

I said in my trailer post this was based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, but it’s actually his sci-fi short story called Adjustment Team. The script by George Nolfi (who also directed his feature film debut) is VERY loosely based on it. In the short story, the protagonist’s is real estate salesman Ed Fletcher instead of NY congressman David Norris (Matt Damon) in the movie.

The main theme of the film deals with fate, and whether we’re in control of it or is it in the hand of unseen forces that has all our lives mapped out? It seems so unthinkable that we don’t have our free will to lead our lives as we see fit. Even if we know we may make mistakes along the way, we can’t fathom someone preventing us to make decisions on things that matter to us, especially love. But that is what happened to Norris when seemingly by ‘chance’ he meets Elise (the lovely Emily Blunt) in a man’s bathroom of all places and the two fall for each other.

The thing about this film is that though it’s billed as a sci-fi thriller (or is it drama), it doesn’t feel like you’re watching a science fiction, at least the kind of sci-fi I expect. There are no weird looking robots or scary metal plates underneath people’s faces or anything like that, just dapper men in gray suits and cool fedora. They’re not ‘angels’ as one of them explained to Damon’s character, more like ‘case officers’ assigned to each individual on the planet (without their knowing or consent obviously) to make sure they go according to plan that’s already written in their ‘book.’ These agents report to the Chairman, which is a god-like figure that’s implied at the end of the movie to be omniscience as he/she is everywhere among us.

I’m a sucker for forbidden romance and sci-fi, so put the two together and I’m hooked. Damon is sympathetic enough, and sums up quite a believable chemistry with Blunt, which is important considering the whole plot hinges on their relationship. The performances overall are pretty decent, though nothing to write home about. Damon is sympathetic and likable enough as the ambitious politician (he seems to be a leader real Dems would dream about). Blunt is very attractive whilst still retain that approachable quality about her. She’s also quite convincing as a ballet dancer, she must have gone through pretty intense training for that. Anthony Mackie and Terrence Stamp as members of the Bureau are also respectable in their roles.

Yet I can’t help feeling it’s all a bit underwhelming for me. Of course some movies are intentionally mysterious and vague to make you ponder, which is expected to a degree. But in this one I feel that there are way too many questions left to ‘chance’ and the filmmaker doesn’t seem sure what to make of the totalitarian world the characters inhabit. I don’t mind that it’s not overly action-packed, but had enough fun parts, such as the Bourne-like chase through multiple doors, but it just gives you more clues instead of getting you closer to the answer. Some reviews call this ‘Inception-lite’ but I actually felt that Chris Nolan did a much better job in providing clues for the audience that the experience was much more satisfactory. Somehow this one doesn’t linger in my mind much, or I just wasn’t too enthused to think about it much afterward. So in the end, it was a pretty decent 2-hours of entertainment, but not a particularly memorable one.

3 out of 5 reels

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North by Northwest (1959)

A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to Hitchcock’s classics, but I’m glad I finally got around to this. This is also the second Hitchcock/Cary Grant movie I ever watched, the first one was To Catch a Thief which was kinda underwhelming for me. Fortunately this one indeed lived up to the hype!

From the moment the film started with Grant’s Roger O. Thornhill whimsical scenes with his secretary, I knew I’m going to enjoy this movie. Within 10 minutes, Roger is kidnapped by two henchmen who were so convinced he was George Kaplan, the man they’ve been looking for, that nothing Roger said would make them believe otherwise. From then on the case of mistaken identity just took on a life of its own and Roger is dragged along farther and farther. In the process, he ended up being a wanted man for drunken driving all the way to murder involving a member of UN’s General Assembly!

A scene at the auction w/ Mason & Landau

All the while, with every step Thornhill takes, we’re taken along for the ride and what a ride it was. Hitchcock’s directing style here is quite energetic and done with such a style that even without the sophisticated special effects of today’s thrillers, it still pretty suspenseful. The dialogue is snappy and fun, delivered with poise and whimsy by the suave Cary Grant. He may be too old for the role (by his own admission, I mean the actress playing his mother is actually younger than him!), but it didn’t detract from how effective he was in this movie.

Marie Saint in that gorgeous red dress!

Eva Marie Saint was gorgeous and seductive as the ‘stranger on the train’ Eve Kendall who flirts up a storm with Thornhill. Can’t believe she was Martha Kent in Superman Returns! English actor James Mason and very young (and handsome) Martin Landau were also particularly notable as the villains.

Besides the story and performances, this film also looks darn good. I love the scenery, the classic cars and cute 50s costumes, especially Eve’s red floral dress with the low cut back. It’s as if everyone were so darn stylish back then. There are iconic scenes aplenty to speak of, but the three things that stood out for me were the airplane chase in the South Dakota woodland, the train scenes and of course, that exhilarating chase on top of the statues of Mount Rushmore! I don’t know what it is with witty banters between two potential lovers on a train that I find irresistible, the scene between Eve and Roger have been shamelessly copied many times over but few managed to come close to being half as good (I’m looking at you The Tourist!)

If I could have one gripe though, I think it could’ve been edited a bit more tightly. It currently runs 131 minutes, but I felt like the ending kinda dragged a bit. Still, it was unpredictable until all the way to the end which is always a plus in any movie.

I feel like I couldn’t do this movie justice with my review, but let’s just say I can understand now what the fuss is about this one and why this ranked #40 in American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Movie of the last century. It’s rare to see a movie that has it all: action, mystery, romance, humor, etc. PLUS great performances from the great looking actors! I’m interested to see more of Hitchcock classics now, perhaps Rear Window or Spellbound next to give other classics leading men a chance :)

4.5 out of 5 reels

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Well, what movie(s) did you end up seeing this past weekend? I’d also love to hear your thoughts about either one of these movies.

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Five for the Fifth: 5 Random Questions for the 5th Day of the New Year

Happy midweek, folks. After all the labor-intensive posts I’ve been churning out, I thought I’d have a completely random post for today. And to change things up, I’ll just share five random things and then turn it over to you to share your take on that given topic (you can do all five or just pick a topic). I’ve never done this before on this blog, so just go along with it, would ya? Yes? Well all right then, here we go.

  • I saw Taken over the weekend. It wasn’t planned or anything, it was Saturday evening and we were checking what’s available Amazon Video on Demand. The only thing I’ve heard about Taken was that it’s Liam Neeson going the bad-ass action hero route, so more Qui-Gon Jin and less Oskar Schindler. Well guess what, I enjoyed it. A lot. Sure the beginning is kinda slow and Maggie Grace was freakishly annoying as his kidnapped daughter, but I totally bought Neeson as Bond + Bourne on steroids. Funny how the poster features his quote from the movie. Cheesy though it may be, I thought it was pretty cool when he said it. By the end of it I immediately went, ‘All right! When is Taken 2 coming out?’ :D
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    Well, though I agree with ScarletSp1der’s comment that Neeson is in way too many movies, he’s a darn good actor. If I were to list five favorite Liam Neeson films, I’d go with: Schindler’s List, Shining Through, Batman Begins, Love Actually and A-Team. Now, how about you?
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  • Four films I saw in December and January featured the trailer for Adjustment Bureau. Surprisingly, I was ok with it even though the trailer is really nothing special. Then suddenly it dawned on me, maybe I’ve come to really like Matt Damon?
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    If you’re wondering why I’m baffled, well it’s because for the longest time, I really was indifferent towards him. A lot of women seem to love him, guys dig him and the media thinks he’s all that, even to the point of crowning him Sexiest Man Alive. All the while I went, huh?? But then I saw the Bourne movies and started to see what the fuss is about this dude. I’ve since seen him in a lot of movies, including The Good Shepherd, The Informant!, Invictus, and most recently, True Grit, and have come to really respect him as an actor.
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    So my question to you is: which actors you’re previously indifferent with who slowly grows on you, perhaps even ends up becoming your favorite?
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  • Thanks to gbGALS Twitter feeds, I found these two deleted scenes from one of Gerry Butler’s earlier films called One More Kiss. This is a tiny romantic indie set in Scotland that centers on Sarah, a cancer-stricken career woman who decides to live her remaining short life with the only man she’s ever loved, only to find out that he’s now married. Butler plays Sam, Sarah’s childhood sweetheart who’s torn between his love for her and his commitment to his wife, Charlotte.
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    I think the film is quite good, though it could’ve showed more scenes of Sam with his wife to balance things out. Well, these two scenes show Sam and his wife in their happier times. It’s funny to hear how thick his Scottish accent was back then. Anyway, I wish they had kept these scenes in the film!
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    P.S. The director of this movie is Vadim Jean, the same one who will hopefully reunite with Butler again for the Robert Burns biopic.
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    Well, what deleted scene(s) have you seen in a given film that you think should not have been left out?
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  • While we’re still on the subject of Butler, check out this behind-the-scene video of his L’Oreal commercial. Y’know, I love the guy but I’d never thought of him as skincare spokesperson material, ahah. Anyway, they’re making it very Bond-like, which is quite fitting given all the Bond rumors surrounding the Scot. Of course he’s never formally offered the role, but a lot of women would agree with me that he’d make a fiiiine super spy :D Btw, Dezzy @ Hollywood Spy just have his poll results in on the very topic, Butler lost out to English actor Richard Armitage, who I also think would make an excellent 007. Personally, I’d rather see him continue playing a variety of roles than be stuck playing one iconic role.
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    No, I’m not going to ask you who should be the next Bond (though if you think of one, feel free to share). What I’d like to know is, what’s the most memorable commercial you’ve seen featuring a Hollywood actor/actress?
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  • Well, yesterday was Julia Ormond’s 45th birthday. The funny thing was, at a meeting yesterday afternoon, I was actually thinking about the rom-com Sabrina, the 1995 remake of the Audrey Hepburn version directed by the late Sydney Pollack. It’s not very well-received by critics but I actually love it.

    I’ve seen it countless times and I adore Ormond in the title role. Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear are also wonderful as the brothers who’re in love with Sabrina. The tone is pretty light and there are lots of comical moments peppered throughout, especially when David (played with glee by Kinnear) falls hard for her and fails to recognize her despite having lived in the same house for years! The soundtrack is one of my all time favorites, the music really complements the movie well and it’s unabashedly romantic. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.
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    So my last question for you is, what’s your favorite classics remake?

Well, that’s it for Five for the Fifth. Now please pick a question out of the five above or better yet, do ‘em all!

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Guest Post: 5 Reasons I’m looking forward to True Grit

True Grit becomes one I really want to check out after seeing the trailer, it’ll be the first film from the Coen brothers I’m actually excited about. But my good friend and frequent FC contributor Ted S. has been anticipating this movie for quite some time. So why not let him share the five main reasons why he can’t wait to see it.

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First off I just wanted to say that I’ve never read the book or seen the original film from 1969 starring John Wayne, so I’m going into this movie with not much knowledge about the story. I think most people my age (early 30’s and younger) probably doesn’t even know that this is a remake and based on a novel, I’m just assuming here so if you’re in your 20s or early 30s and have seen the original film and/or have read the novel then good for you.

Anyhoo, here are five reasons why I’m so excited to see this film on the big screen:

  1. The Coen Bros. They’re on my list of great filmmakers working in Hollywood today. In my opinion they haven’t made a “bad” movie yet, some might argue that The Ladykillers is probably their worst film but I really enjoyed it even though it got trashed by most critics and didn’t even make any money at the box office. Blood Simple, Fargo, Miller’s Crossing and No Country For Old Men are my favorite films of theirs.
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  2. The Dude and Jason Bourne teamed up in a shoot’em up western, enough said.

  3. It’s Western and Hollywood doesn’t make a lot them these days. When I was very young, I’ve seen those spaghetti western films starry Clint Eastwood many times and since then I’ve always love watching western, even bad ones. My top three favorite westerns are Unforgiven, The Wild Bunch and The Outlaw Josey Whales. Hopefully this new True Grit will be on that list too.
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  4. Roger Deakins. He’s the cinematographer on this film and many others, he shot the great looking The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I believe he had shot most if not all of The Coen bros. films.
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  5. The PG-13 rating, this is I believe it’s the Bros’ only second PG rated film, the other being The Hudsucker Proxy. When I first saw the trailer for True Grit, I thought for sure it was going to be a brutal R rated western and was quite surprise when it got a PG-13 rating. So I’m quite curious to see how tame the violence is in this film. I’m sure most of you who are fans of The Coens bros. know how much they love to shoot violent films.

So, who’s with us? Anyone else excited for this film?

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Conspicuous Trailers of the Week: Animal Kingdom + Adjustment Bureau

I’m playing catch-up with the latest trailers after weeks of not posting a single one. So here are a couple that piqued my interest (oddly enough, both names starts with the first letter of the alphabet):

Animal Kingdom

Parents better not be confusing this with a Disney flick or any other animated feature with cute, cuddly animals. In fact, there’s nothing cuddly about this Jury Prize winner from Sundance. It’s a gripping gangster flick set in the underworld of Melbourne, Australia. It centers on a seventeen year-old J (Josh) as he navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him. The always terrific Guy Pearce plays the detective amongst a cast of mostly unknowns (to us in the US anyway).

I was startled, and puzzled, when the cheesy 80s Air Supply song comes on. Boy, I remember my brother playing All Out of Love over and over again in his car to my deafening ear. It’s so bizarre, but maybe that’s the point? CinemaBlend says “… its use in the film is perfect and spooky” and “… in one of the most awkward of places… it gets stuck in your head after watching the film” says GeekTyrant. Hmm, I’m even more intrigued now. Kinda reminds me of Somewhere over the Rainbow playing in contrast to the brutal gunfight scene in Face/Off, I always think of that scene every time that song comes on ever since.

A lot of the stuff I’ve read about this film seems to echo the blurb written in the Sundance site:
Wielding a formidable cinematic lexicon, writer/director David Michôd shows complete command of every frame as he shifts between simmering intensity and gut-wrenching drama. There isn’t a false note in the film as it follows through on the tantalizing promise displayed in his short films and unleashes a fierce new voice in Australian cinema.

The movie is released in the US August 13th.

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Adjustment Bureau

An affair between a politician and a ballerina is affected by “mysterious forces” keeping the lovers apart.

Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Terrence Stamp

Based on a Philip K. Dick‘s short story Adjustment Team, this movie is a directorial debut of screenwriter George Nolfi, whose work include Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly and Minority Report. It’s a familiar, tried-and-true story – heh, what isn’t in Hollywood these days – but at least it’s one I’m tend to be drawn into. It reminds me a bit of the Rufus Sewell movie Dark City and Christian Bale’s Equilibrium which deal with an authoritarian government/elite group run amok and the heroes must fight for their freedom.

As for the cast, Damon is quickly growing on me. I haven’t seen him as a romantic leading man very often though, but I think he can pull off the tough-guy-with-heart quite well. I’m a big fan of Emily Blunt and the chemistry looks pretty convincing between these two, which is crucial in the plot as Damon’s character risks everything to be with her. And the cold stare of General Zod (whom Mr. Stamp will always be to me) is pretty much synonymous with ‘sinister villain.’

The movie’s release has been pushed back to September 17 (from the Blockbuster calendar of July 30), which means it’ll open the same day as his best buddy Ben Affleck’s crime thriller The Town (which is one of FC’s most anticipated flicks of this year).

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So folks, does either one of these flicks appeal to you?