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Look out for the modern-day western from first time filmmaker, Patrick Hughes. True Blood‘s, Ryan Kwanten is the star of the movie. The release date for the film is November 5th. Click on the thumbnail to check out the new poster and read the official synopsis below:
Young police officer Shane Cooper relocates to the small country town of Red Hill with his pregnant wife Alice to start a family. But when news of a prison break sends the local law enforcement officers – led by the town’s ruling presence, Old Bill – into a panic, Shane’s first day on duty rapidly turns into a nightmare.
Enter Jimmy Conway, a convicted murderer serving life behind bars, who has returned to the isolated outpost seeking revenge. Now caught in the middle of what will become a terrifying and bloody confrontation, Shane will be forced to take the law into his own hands if he is to survive.
A taut thriller which unfolds over the course of a single day and night, and told with explosive action and chilling violence, RED HILL is a modern-day western played out against the extraordinary landscapes of high-country Australia.
Alison Nastasi at Cinematical takes a look at a frame from Davids Cronenberg’s, Eastern Promises.
Welcome to Framed, a column at Cinematical that celebrates the artistry of cinema — one frame at a time.
For most of his career, Canadian director David Cronenberg has been known for his intelligent and disturbing genre films. However, Cronenberg isn’t just a horror filmmaker — he’s a genuine auteur with a keen visual eye and a recurring set of thematic concerns that turn up in the majority of his work. Unfortunately, it has taken the director crossing over into more mainstream fare to get people to notice how truly talented he is. Yet, even Cronenberg’s more commercial cinema marries beautiful imagery and extreme violence in an uncomfortably alluring fashion. One need look no further than his work with actor Viggo Mortensen for proof of that.
Today we’ll be looking at a frame from one the duo’s collaborations, 2007′s Russian mob drama, Eastern Promises.
Mortensen plays Nikolai, the chauffeur/cleaner for a Russian mafia boss in London. He meets Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife, after she starts snooping around in his boss’ business when she finds a diary on a young Russian girl who dies in childbirth. Nikolai tries to keep her out of harm’s way while rising through the ranks of the Russian crime syndicate and finding his own life in peril. It’s hard to discuss the film’s narrative with any more detail than that because to reveal too much ruins what is a masterful film. Trust me when I say that if you haven’t seen Eastern Promises, you should.
You should also stop reading here because there is a big spoiler ahead. Hopefully you’ll see the movie — which is definitely a Blu-ray worthy purchase — and then come back to read the analysis.
Much has been written about the film’s level of authenticity in chronicling how Russian gangsters conduct themselves. Mortensen took the role very seriously, going so far as to speak to actual mobsters about their tattoos, what they meant, where they were placed, and their moral codes in general. A New York Daily News story states that the tattoos were so realistic that Mortensen frightened diners at a Russian restaurant when he entered after a day of shooting. This attention to detail, along with the fine performances and beautiful cinematography, are some of the main reasons why Eastern Promises turned up on many Best of 2007 lists.
As Siddharth Pillai points out in his article about the film, there’s a sort of reverse noir aspect running throughout Eastern Promises — Naomi Watts plays the hero thrust into a complex mystery that may be too much for her to resolve while Mortensen is the femme fatale — dark, mysterious, and dangerous. Cronenberg, always one looking to subvert expectations, takes the gender reversals even further by adding in a great deal of homo-erotic subtext, particularly through Vincent Cassel’s character Kirill.
Pillai also mentions how flesh and blood are ever-present motifs throughout the film. From the opening scene wherein a murder is committed through to Eastern Promises’ conclusion, life and death co-exist casually within the characters’ universe — yet another way Cronenberg makes the viewer feel ill at ease. Flesh and blood, both literally and figuratively, play a prominent role in Eastern Promises. The tattoos on the flesh of Mortensen tell his history — and in this image, show his prospective employers his criminal resume. The flesh becomes his calling card — his entire history etched in a combination of ink and blood.
That blood is no less important. These Russian gangsters are bound by who they are and where they have come from. Theirs is a fraternity, a family that one can only enter if they have the proper genetic make-up. It becomes ironic, as it does in all mob films, that these organizations who place such an onus on being familial and loyal will then sell out their own “blood” for greedy and selfish reasons.
The frame I’ve chosen to talk about this week is one of the more iconic images from Eastern Promises. It involves Viggo Mortensen standing in front of the mafia hierarchy as they consider him for promotion within their organization. The actor is nearly naked as the higher ups read the story of his criminal life from the body art he sports on his exposed skin. It’s a mesmerizing scene — the air of ritual masking what in reality isn’t all that different from a farmer inspecting livestock at auction.
Cronenberg reteamed with cinematographer Peter Suschitzky for Eastern Promises and the end result is a visually stunning film that captures the somber mood of the story perfectly. Suschitzky worked on Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, Crash, A History of Violence, Spider, eXistenZ, and M. Butterfly with the director previously. He won a Genie Award for the first three films mentioned as well as his work on this movie.
Suschitzky and Cronenberg show us many things about the characters in this particular shot. The background is lavish, but also looks cheap and gaudy in its ostentatiousness. It’s old looking and hints at a time of opulence that has passed — yet the people in the environment don’t realize it. The use of red and green is interesting as well. The contrasting colors further highlight the different generations of people in the frame — yet the colors are tonally so close that the marriage of old world meets new clashes — something we continually witness the crime family struggle with.
The scene’s staging is also noteworthy. Cronenberg and Suschitzky eventually wind up with a low-angle side view of Mortensen and the gangsters. The mafia men look like judge and jury sitting there in their expensive suits. Nikolai, on the other hand, looks like a petty criminal about to be sentenced for his crimes. He’s forced to stand while the men judging him sit, once again giving the impression they’re appraising him as though he were somehow less than human. There’s a tension inherent in the positioning — one that’s very deliberate. Conflict hangs in the air — as though Nikolai must face off against these men. In the context of the film as a whole, this makes sense. There’s also a sense of ritual and importance — this is a big moment in any mafia footsoldier’s life — not unlike being baptized or taking communion.
We also see a lot of dichotomy in terms of the scene’s lighting. There are some well defined chiaroscuro elements happening in this frame, pronounced switches from brightly lit spots to one shrouded in shadows. On a subconscious level, it seems to mirror the inner lives of the characters in the scenes. They’re criminals, they have secrets, they’re dark people — yet they all play at being contributing members of society as well. It is particularly true for Nikolai — who’s an FSB agent posing as a gangster. Nikolai is a good guy — but to catch these bad men, he’s had to become one himself, doing things well outside the law. There’s a light and darkness inside the character — and when the revelation of Nikolai’s true nature comes out later in the film, it makes this scene feel that much more poignant and subtle.
These dichotomies, the merging of the subtle and the obvious, are what make Eastern Promises such a compelling experience. Cronenberg and Suschitzky have crafted a multilayered film that is not only evocative in its narrative and performances, but one that also impresses with its visual design
Original article by Alison Nastasi September 2nd, 2010
“If you’re gonna hire Machete to kill the bad guy, you better make damn sure the bad guy isn’t you!”
As uttered in the original fake trailer attached to Grindhouse in 2007, that line sums up the charm of Machete as both a fleeting concept and, now, a feature-length endeavor. Robert Rodriguez has expanded that two-minute dose of goofy Mexploitation thrills into a somewhat ungainly, but mostly fun 105 minutes.
Danny Trejo, second cousin to Rodriguez, returns as the former Federale-turned-freedom fighter, a super-stoic anti-hero with a knack for taking out the bad guys and lovin’ the ladies. In the former group falls Robert De Niro as a Texas senator hellbent on keeping immigrants out of this great land of his, Jeff Fahey as his shady right-hand man, Don Johnson as a proud minuteman and Steven Seagal as the drug lord who cost Machete his family. Among the latter ranks are Michelle Rodriguez as a Che-like leader of the downtrodden, Jessica Alba as the ICE agent on her tail and Lindsay Lohan as Fahey’s incest-inviting dope of a daughter. (And that’s not even to mention the supporting appearances by Shea Whigham, Tom Savini and Cheech Marin.)
As you can see, things are a little more crowded this time around, and Rodriguez is as much a sucker for inventing icons as he’s ever been. In fact, he gets so caught up in including gun-wielding babes donning eye patches and nun’s habits, hot twin nurses, shotgun-shooting priests and henchmen inexplicably wearing wrestling masks that he almost forgets that Machete ought to be the star of his own show. When he’s in the spotlight, Trejo milks his trademark gruff charm for all its worth, deadpanning about how “Machete don’t text” and doing things with gardening tools and human intestines that they weren’t necessarily designed for.
These over-the-top moments help liven things up amid all the politics and plot that one’s left wishing that there were a few more of them, if not a few less minutes in between what’s already there. (How this managed to bloat beyond ninety minutes, I’ll never know.) Rodriguez is credited co-writer and co-director here, sharing respective responsibility with cousin Álvaro Rodríguez and cohort Ethan Maniquis in addition to cranking out a fittingly flavorful score with his band, Chingon
Beyond making sure that every explosion has an adequately cheesy polish and luring all the right friends into town, though, his presence isn’t a deeply felt one. Cheap even beyond its intentions — safety cones meant to re-direct traffic can clearly be seen in shots, the trademark “grindhouse” scratches and dirt disappear once the title appears, and many shots are lifted directly from the fake trailer itself — it’s lacking in his Desperado-era flair. Hell, even Shorts looked like more of a movie than this does
But hey, no one’s asking for much and everyone’s in on the joke: Marin as pot smoker, De Niro as taxi driver, Seagal as Mexican and so on… except for maybe Alba. Whereas Michelle Rodriguez owns her empowered persona, Alba aims for earnest sincerity and reinforces her status as primo eye candy above all else. Lohan, on the other hand, gets to lampoon her public image a bit (with the help of a body double), while Seagal proves to be the best sport in the bunch by following suit. De Niro delivers hokey campaign speeches with ease, Fahey sweats like nobody around, and as the resident redneck, Johnson is merely nibbling on his scenery in comparison to his colleagues.
Like I said: it’s a little ungainly, a bit crowded, but pretty much what you’d expect for a real movie based on a fake trailer. In a summer that’s been all about low expectations, Machete feels like the right kind of goofy high note on which to end the season.
Milla Jovovich reprises her role as the zombie-fighting heroine, Alice in the lastest entry in the Resident Evil franchise. Sure to be one of falls biggest releases, Resident Evil: Afterlife arrive in theaters, September 10th. Check out the latest Imax trailer for the film:
Will Smith is a busy man — a perusal of his current list of “in development” projects lists no less than 30(!) titles the actor is involved with, and that’s not even counting things like Men in Black III. However, the actor apparently found a few weeks in the next few years that weren’t full in his day planner and decided he needed to remedy that situation as soon as possible.
Deadline New York has the details on the performer’s latest project — a movie entitled The Legend of Cain. This Biblical tale with a twist would find Smith both producing and starring as Cain — “the original bad boy.” Of course, since this is Hollywood in 2010, don’t go in expecting something like The Ten Commandments … no, instead it’s a retelling of the classic Bible story with — wait for it — vampires!
Smith’s going to produce the flick with Overbrook Entertainment based off a script by Caleeb Pinkett and Dan Knauf. If you figured out that Caleeb is Jada Pinkett-Smith’s younger brother and that it might have helped this deal along, you too can be a Hollywood insider. No studio or director has been picked yet for the film, but Overbrook is currently coming off the success of The Karate Kid (starring Smith’s son) which has grossed over $200 million worldwide to date.
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What’s the most annoying part of 3D movies? The glasses, right? Especially for my bespectacled friends out there. I know that if I didn’t wear contact lenses I’d probably like 3D movies a whole lot less. Well, Sony and Toshiba are reportedly in a race to develop quality 3D technology that you can watch with bare eyes, though they seem to be concentrating on this benefiting television screens. There are some pricing and tech issues, but there’s no reason to think at least an expensive model will be ready in a few years, perhaps just in time for Sony to market its product as a tie-in with a 3D Blu-ray release of its Spider-Man reboot.
Don’t expect to see that superhero movie in the format without glasses on the big screen, though. Given how long it took (and is still taking) for theaters to convert to digital 3D-capable screens, I don’t see the industry going too crazy for any further advances requiring more costly equipment upgrades. Not anytime soon. So the big issue here is that 3D TVs will keep improving and adapting to consumer satisfaction while cinemas will have to deal with what they’ve recently invested in for a long time. And people will have another reason to stay home: the 3D in their living room will be better and more comfortable.
Despite some spin made by blogs like Superhero Hype and Splash Page, I have to note that there’s no real connection made by Sony or by AP’s report on this topic between the Spider-Man reboot and its potential to be available in glasses-free 3D. By the time the Marc Webb-directed film hits home video 3D DVDs and Blu-rays will be fairly common, so it’s not a big deal or surprising that this 3D movie would also be available for 3D home video formats. However, it would behoove Sony to mark the film’s home video release as a temporal aim for its tech plans due to it being a Sony title. Yet they should also worry that announcing such a goal too soon might have many moviegoers avoiding the theatrical version in order to wait for the more convenient option.
Will you be less interested in the 3D theatrical experience once you can have that experience at home? Especially when the need for glasses is eliminated?
Please leave your comments.
Original article by Christopher Campbell Aug 27th 2010
Ethan Hunt has just picked up a new Mission: Impossible team member — and he’s got a specialty in bombs.
Jeremy Renner, who starred in “The Hurt Locker,” has been cast opposite Tom Cruise in the next installment of “Mission: Impossible” franchise, which is aiming for a December 16, 2011 release date. Brad Bird is directing the Paramount project, with shooting expected to begin in the fall.
Renner has been on a tear since his Oscar nomination as a bomb-disposal tech in “Hurt Locker” earlier this year. Marvel Studios recently cast him as Hawkeye in its 2012 release, “The Avengers,” which is supposed to start shooting in February, and Paul Thomas Anderson wants him for his next film, “The Master.”
But the “M:I-4″ development is a curious one. As Paramount, Cruise and producer J.J. Abrams, who directed and co-wrote the previous installment, had discussed a new dynamic for the fourth film, the plan was for younger actors to join the M:I team as a hedge if they decided to reboot the series at some point with Cruise’s character absent or less central.
Renner is about to turn 40, which makes him just eight years younger than Cruise. If Renner has been cast as a potential successor, that undercuts the idea of carrying on the franchise as a more youthful enterprise.
Deadline New York first reported the Renner casting.
Renner next stars in Ben Affleck’s crime drama “The Town,” which Warner Bros. opens in three weeks.
These are the new movies that are being released in wide release this Friday.
The Last Exorcism
Rating: PG-13 for disturbing violent content and terror, some sexual references and thematic material.
Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
Synopsis: After a career spent helping the devout through prayer and trickery, Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) invites a film crew to document his final fraudulent days as an exorcist. Soon his faith is truly tested when a desperate plea from the father of a possessed girl (Ashley Bell) brings him face to face with the devil himself.
A horror film in the vein of “Cloverfield” and “Blair Witch Project”. The story concerns an evangelical minister who turns against religion and decides to participate in a documentary in which he practices his last exorcism.
Takers
Rating: PG-13 for Intense sequences of violence and action, a sexual situation/partial nudity and some language
Runtime: 1 hour 47 minutes
Synopsis: Takers takes you into the world of a notorious group of criminals (Idris Elba, Paul Walker, T.I., Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen and Michael Ealy) who continue to baffle police by pulling off perfectly executed bank robberies. They are in and out like clockwork, leaving no evidence behind and laying low between heists. But when they attempt to pull off one last job with more money at stake than ever before, the crew may find their plans interrupted by a hardened detective (Matt Dillon) who is hell-bent on solving the case.
Synopsis: Praised by some as a feminist tract, reviled by others as exploitation, Meir Zarchi’s 1978 film I Spit on Your Grave was met with a firestorm of controversy that continues to this day. On October 8, 2010, Anchor Bay Films will release the Zarchi approved remake, and is poised to be as much a hot-button talking point as was the original.
A beautiful woman from the city, Jennifer Hills, rents an isolated cabin in the country to write her latest novel. Soon, a group of local lowlifes subject Jennifer to a nightmare of degradation, rape and violence. Left for dead, she returns for vengeance. Trapping her male attackers one-by-one, she inflicts acts of physical torment upon them with a ferocity that surpasses her own ordeal. When the carnage clears, victim has become victor.
Cast: Rodney Eastman, Chad Lindberg, Andrew Howard, Daniel Franzese, Jeff Branson, Sarah Butler, Tracey Walter; Director: Steven R. Monroe
Synopsis: Soren is a young owl enthralled by his father’s epic stories of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole, a mythic band of winged warriors who had fought a great battle to save all of owlkind from the evil Pure Ones. While Soren dreams of someday joining his heroes, his older brother, Kludd, scoffs at the notion, and yearns to hunt, fly and steal his father’s favor from his younger sibling. But Kludd’s jealousy has terrible consequences—causing both owlets to fall from their treetop home and right into the talons of the Pure Ones. Now it is up to Soren to make a daring escape with the help of other brave young owls. Together they soar across the sea and through the mist to find the Great Tree, home of the legendary Guardians of Ga’Hoole—Soren’s only hope of defeating the Pure Ones and saving the owl kingdoms.
Cast: Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Emilie De Ravin, Ryan Kwanten, Jay Laga’aia, Miriam Margolyes, Helen Mirren, Jim Sturgess; Directed by: Zack Snyder
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Look out for the modern-day western from first time filmmaker, Patrick Hughes. True Blood‘s, Ryan Kwanten is the star of the movie. The release date for the film is November 5th. Click on the thumbnail to check out the new poster and read the official synopsis below:
Alison Nastasi at Cinematical takes a look at a frame from Davids Cronenberg’s, 
“If you’re gonna hire Machete to kill the bad guy, you better make damn sure the bad guy isn’t you!”
Will Smith is a busy man — a perusal of his current list of “in development” projects lists no less than 30(!) titles the actor is involved with, and that’s not even counting things like Men in Black III. However, the actor apparently found a few weeks in the next few years that weren’t full in his day planner and decided he needed to remedy that situation as soon as possible.
What’s the most annoying part of 3D movies? The glasses, right? Especially for my bespectacled friends out there. I know that if I didn’t wear contact lenses I’d probably like 3D movies a whole lot less. Well, Sony and Toshiba are reportedly in a race to develop quality 3D technology that you can watch with bare eyes, though they seem to be concentrating on this benefiting television screens. There are some pricing and tech issues, but there’s no reason to think at least an expensive model will be ready in a few years, perhaps just in time for Sony to market its product as a tie-in with a 3D Blu-ray release of its Spider-Man reboot.
Ethan Hunt has just picked up a new Mission: Impossible team member — and he’s got a specialty in bombs.
