Via a friend of mine in the dept., who enjoyed Kill Bill only slightly more than I did, Quentin Tarantino lists his homages to Japanese cinema in the movie. An intriguing article, both for the film knowledge and massive ego on display.
Tag: Cinema
The Trials of St. Veronica.
Caught Veronica Guerin over the weekend, and, well, frankly, don’t bother. I had hoped Cate Blanchett might make this project interesting, but this by-the-numbers Joel Schumacher schmaltzfest never rises above the level of a Lifetime channel movie of the week. It breezes through scene after scene of Guerin’s tough-as-nails-with-a-heart-of-gold interview style and the obligatory home v. work domestic squabbles like Scriptwriting 101, and never gives us a very interesting portrait of its protagonist, other than to cast her as some neglected patron saint of journalism. Similarly, the bad guys have become really bad — While the real Guerin took on a cannabis cartel, this film’s gangsters are trafficking in heroin, resulting in grim visions of needle parks, toddlers playing with syringes, strung-out teenagers prostituting themselves, and sundry other shocking evils that have little basis in Guerin’s real story. If anything, the film’s dependence on so many standard cinematic cliches is a disservice to the real Veronica Guerin, who was murdered by Dublin’s criminal element for exposing the truth to the light of day. Why obscure her tale and besmirch her ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty by stripping it of the character nuances and human complexities that separate the real world from dramatic convention? A sadly mechanical genre exercise devoid of anything but formula, Veronica Guerin is a missed opportunity and a shame.
Nite Moves.
AICN claims John Cusack is cast as the Nite-Owl in the hopefully forthcoming Watchmen. Cusack is a quality actor that I’m glad to see attached to this project. But as the Nite-Owl? Isn’t he a bit young and skinny? The Nite-Owl really should be played by an older actor, or by someone who’s gone a bit more to seed. Tom Hulce?
White Bear Down.
Will Ridley Scott direct His Dark Materials? Monty Python‘s Terry Jones seems to think so. Hmmm, I dunno…I suppose a Scott Materials might be interesting, but it might also be Legend. Update: Debunked.
Wanna see something really scary?
In the spirit of impending Halloween, Max of Lots of Co. links to two lists of the top ten scariest movie moments of all time (and there’s a longer 100-moment countdown here.) My own list would almost assuredly be topped by the Grady sisters from The Shining…Those two little British hellions were representing for Evil long before The Ring/Ringu‘s Samara ever got near a VCR. I also would include the Room 217/237 scene and even the opening moments – when the camera ominously follows the Torrances’ car winding through the mountains from a Cthulu’s eye view (spoofed so well in Treehouse of Horror VI.) In fact, when it comes to The Shining for me, it’s a bit like those Coors Light commercials: “I’m scared! Of bars open at all hours! Old corpse in the shower! Jack’s insane glower! And, and…and TWINS!”
Regarding other films, though, I think the first, pre-franchise Nightmare on Elm Street has some really frightening scenes — including the shots of Freddy stretching through the bedroom wall and walking with the impossibly long arms. The final scene of Carrie scarred me for years, the final scene of The Vanishing (Dutch version) gives me pause, the last moments of The Incredible Shrinking Man makes me wonder about it all, and the final scene of Prince of Darkness engenders a very uneasy feeling around mirrors. (John Carpenter’s The Thing is also a great scary/gory remake.) I thought the brief flashes of Captain Howdy in The Exorcist were pretty chilling, and of course there’s a number of awful moments in Alien, particularly involving Kane, Dallas, and Ash. The sequence in Twilight Zone: The Movie when the all-powerful kid banishes someone into cartoon world (and takes away his sister’s mouth) was so bizarre and unsettling that for years I’d thought I’d dreamt it. And I was extremely scared by Night of the Demon at a very early age (and to this day don’t take pieces of paper from strangers.)
Third Time’s the Charm.
First off, in LotR news, the soundtrack listing for RotK is now out, including song titles and performers (As rumored, Annie Lennox will be singing the Oscar song.) Spoilers for those who haven’t read the trilogy, and one film spoiler for those of you who didn’t read the 20-minute preview stuff last week. Also, AICN‘s posted a number of favorable Matrix: Revolution reviews over at his site. The upshot: “This movie delivers on the promise of the original film in a way ‘Matrix Reloaded’ didn’t.” That’s good news. By the way, if you go check out this link, you might want to skip over Harry’s comments (in purple). As is his wont, he annoyingly dropped what might be a HUGE RotK spoiler in his remarks, even for those of us who’ve read the books. (I for one am unsure of what he’s talking about.)
Brothers and Arms.
Dark Horizons and Dreams (a quality Terry Gilliam fansite) gets the first look at The Brothers Grimm (a.k.a. Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.) I for one am looking forward to seeing the inimitable Jonathan Pryce and the incomparable Monica Bellucci. Also in cinema news, for those of you who shared my confusion over the weekend’s Arthur pics, Clive Owen discusses the film, and why he’s apparently running around in legionnaire’s garb.
Darth Spoiler.
So in the past week or so, all the main plot points of Episode III have seemingly come to light, including exactly how Anakin becomes Vader and for what reasons. Scroll down the linked page if you dare.
King and Coens.
Empire Movies secures a number of pics from two highly awaited projects: The Clive Owen-Keira Knightley King Arthur and the Coen brothers’ remake of The Ladykillers. Tom Hanks looks great in the latter, and it’s the Coens so it’s gotta be good. But what on Earth happened to Guinny? She looks more like Morgan le Fey. 
From Pelennor to Petersburg.
Members of the fanboy press see 20 minutes of RotK, and they sound superb (Spoilers here about how certain scenes play out.) Meanwhile, the trailer for Cold Mountain, that other major Oscar-contending peak (besides Mt. Doom), is now online. I’m all for Civil War tales, but ah have to staht a-wunnderin’ about Jude and Miss Nicole’s accents after watching this.