The official teaser for Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ is now online. Compared to the unofficial (and violent) one that made the rounds a few months ago, I have to say this one’s on the uninteresting side. In related news, I find it rather ridiculous that Gibson screened the film for the AICN guys this weekend, while denying a viewing to concerned religious groups (or, for that matter, the Pope.) For some reason, I don’t think a standard-issue Harry Knowles shill (in both literal and figurative purple prose, no less) is going to allay the fears of either the Vatican or the ADL about this film.
Tag: Cinema
Norwegian Palantir.
Only eleven days to go until RotK….it’s getting tough, isn’t it? Well, if you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy these nine minutes of streaming footage from the final chapter (free, painless sign-in required, click on the union jack at top right for English.) Like the TTT footage that premiered early last year, these are all character beats from early in the film, so if you already know what happens in this last outing, a little peek wouldn’t hurt, would it now, precious? (You can also download the first of the nine clips here.) Update: The nine minutes of clips are now downloadable as a WMV file.
Lady in Red.
Is it a Terry Gilliam movie or a Tarsem video? Coming Soon posts this colorful first look at Monica Bellucci in The Brothers Grimm.
The End of All Things.
Peter Jackson received a hero’s welcome in New Zealand yesterday as the Return of the King officially premiered in Wellington. I’ve been reading a number of online reviews lately, which I won’t link to as they’re so spoilerific. But so far the consensus seems to be (a) RotK is easily the best of the three and (b) some of the Theatrical Edition streamlining will aggravate Tolkien fans. I must admit, I was disturbed to find out some of the many scenes that have been edited out of the film, but I presume they’ll all be back for the EE next November, so I guess I really can’t complain. And if RotK is half as good as everyone is making it out to be, then I probably won’t care once the film starts anyway. At any rate, only two weeks to go… Update: Here’s a relatively non-spoilerish review that gets the consensus point across: The film is stunning. Amazing. Frightening. Breathtaking. Heartbreaking. Epic and intimate all at once. Booyah.
What’s it all about, Alfred?
Michael Caine joins the Christopher Nolan Batman as Alfred. That’s an interesting choice, and what with Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, Nolan’s two-for-two. But who will play the villains? Dark Horizons says Daniel Day-Lewis as Ras Al-Ghul, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Hell and Thunder.
In the trailer bin this morning, a quicktime version of Hellboy (still looks intriguing but possibly LXG-ish) and a first look at Thunderbirds. Farscape is my sci-fi puppet show of choice, so I can’t say this much appeals to me…but then again, the original is way before my time.
Succumb to Temptation…
Well, while I did pick up the soundtrack this morning. we’re getting to the point in the RotK release cycle where I’m starting to feel ambivalent about seeing this stuff before December 16th. Newsweek prints a very spoiler-filled first review and declares, “It’s an epic. It tells a passionate, elemental story. It takes the principal filmmaking currency of our times, special effects, and makes them matter. Is it a fantasy? It’s a lot of people’s fantasy, yes.” (The article also tells how the movie begins…I won’t put it here, but I’m somewhat proud of myself for having guessed it a year ago.) The Newsweek cover story also has a couple of all-new pictures, and a snippet from Andy Serkis’s forthcoming Gollum book reveals even more about the decisions made in RotK. All of this is very spoilerish stuff, even for those of us who’ve read the trilogy. You have been warned.
Ride with the Devil II?
After stinking it up with The Hulk, Ang Lee hopes to clear the air with his next film, Brokeback Mountain. I presume it’ll be a return to form…since I’m still shocked at how bad the Green Machine turned out.
March of the Morgul Host.
With Return of the King less than a month away, several all-new spoilerish pics have shown up online, including this shot of Minas Morgul emptying for war and this striking picture of the event that kicks off the third film. If you haven’t read the books, leave that second link alone. I wouldn’t have posted the other pic here if (a) it weren’t so gosh darn pretty and (b) Minas Morgul didn’t feature so prominently in the RotK trailer (and FotR.)
Hell hath no fury.
The trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Hellboy, one of the more eagerly awaited fanboy projects out there, is now online. I’m actually not all that familiar with the comic, so to my mind this could go either way. It’s hard to go wrong with John Hurt against souped-up Nazi evil, but some of the effects look mighty CGI. We’ll see.