Behind The Films

FilmJournal spoke to Joe Johnston about The Wolfman and his upcoming Captain America.

“We’re in prep,” Johnston says. “Rick Heinrichs is production-designing and we’re set up down in Manhattan Beach [California]. It’s the part of the process that I love the most,” he enthuses. “We have eight or ten really talented artists, and we all just sit around all day and draw pictures and say, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we could do this?’ It’s that phase of the production where money doesn’t matter: ‘Let’s put all the greatest stuff up on the wall and [then later] see what we can afford.’” The film, he says at this early stage, will begin “in 1942, 1943″ during World War II. “The stuff in the ’60s and ’70s [comic books] we’re sort of avoiding. We’re going back to the ’40s, and then forward to what they’re doing with Captain America now.”

Captain America is filming this year and is set for a July 22, 2011 release. Let’s hope that release date doesn’t change; I’d like to hear some Jurassic Park 4 news soon!

Source: FilmJournal

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Directed By: Terry Gilliam

Starring: Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Lily Cole, with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell

Reviewer: Eric Smigiel


Terry Gilliam has never had that much success in the America’s or even that much success as a profitable filmmaker.  Yet, his films still find a way to get made as he has ideas to share and more stories to tell.  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus goes back to the likes of his earlier films, which is a step in the right direction.  It touches on ideas previously touched on in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and a personal favorite, Brazil.  Gilliam – back to the basics. This review will attempt to demonstrate the worlds created by Gilliam and his team as well as the overall look of the film.


First of all, his use of wide-angle lenses is used prevalently throughout the film.  It gives the film a grander, and somewhat more delusional and deliriously twisted perception of the films’ realities.  Since the story follows a group of rag-tag circus travelers, the wide-angle lens makes them seem all that much more odd.  For instance, one of the circus folk is a midget(Verne Troyer) and the angling of the camera along with the wide-angle lens makes him look a little more imposing, or a little more twisted… depending on the mood of the scene. They also can help accentuate an actors facial expressions, or make something look a little more in your face.  Instead of having a flat look to the flat theatre screen, you have a bubbled more round look.  A sort of 3-D without the 3-D glasses.


The coolest aspect about the film is when the main character Tony(Heath Ledger) jumps into a magic mirror that enters a gateway to your imagination through the main man that runs the show, Dr. Parnassus(Christopher Plummer).  On the other side, Tony looks like what he wants to look like.  If he takes a woman with him, he looks like their dream man… whether it’s Johnny Depp, Colin Farrel or Jude Law.  The main reason this was done from a filmmaking aspect is because Heath Ledger passed away before he could film the scenes on the other side of the mirror.  Getting the other actors to play Tony works better as the imaginative worlds he enters are very grand, colorful, and an overall change of scenery.  Why not change the look of the man that goes through to that different looking world?


The worlds the film brings to life are truly spectacular.  A favorite in particular is when Tony(as Ledger) runs into the mirror as he’s being chased by three men.  Everyone’s imagination comes together to create a land that looks like the backdrops in The Wizard of Oz, complete with rolling hills, grass that is sectioned off in squares, lush with trees, and soft-looking clouds in the sky.  A bright paradise.  Tony sees a Forbes-esque paper blow by the landscape.  A wealthy man is pictured.  It’s Jude Law.  Since he’s being chased by the three men, he decides to look like the man on the Forbes-esque paper.  Also in this landscape are thousand foot tall ladders that start on the land, heading up into the clouds.  He makes a run for the ladder climbing high up as the men follow up.  This is taking him nowhere.  Tony kicks the rungs of the ladder causing it to snap in half all the way down, also causing the men to fall off.  Seeing that he may get away faster from the men through this higher vantage point, he uses the left and right “legs” of the ladder as stilts to swing across this land.  Some pretty trippy stuff indeed!  But, that’s what we all come to expect when we see a film by Terry Gilliam.  And the visuals – while reminding me of other films – are still truly something I’ve never seen before as original happenings occur within them.  Another treat is seeing a desert land that is separated with a pyramid and a body of water.  On one side of the pyramid it is day and on the other side it is night.  Then, the desert quickly falls off and is a vast body of water.


The story itself features the Doctor making a deal with the devil, and through Gilliam’s story techniques it is told in the most hypnotic way possible.  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parassus also features what one may call an unhappy ending.  Slightly bittersweet.  As the midget and the doctor put on a puppet show, a young boy asks, “Does it have a happy ending?”  The midget responds, “We can’t guarantee that.”


Rating: 3/5

Word is coming in from the website Planete HD that Jurassic Park and the sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park will be hitting Blu-Ray this year! We’ve heard numerous rumours about this release from everyone but Universal Studios, but it appears to be right around the corner. The site reports that the Netherlands branch of Universal Studios Home Entertainment has listed Jurassic Park and The Lost World for release on Blu-Ray on November 4, 2010. Jurassic Park 3 has not been mentioned however.

Let’s hope we get an even bigger announcement from the studio itself soon!

Source: Blu-Ray.com, SlashFilm, Planete HD, JPIV.org

Today saw the death of Harvey and Bob Weinstein’s Miramax Films, owned by Walt Disney. It’s been a slow process with Disney saying they were downsizing a while back. Now 80 people will lose their jobs and 6 films that were waiting for release will be shelved. That is unless they get a tepid release.

Harvey Weinstein told TheWrap how he is feeling:

“I’m feeling very nostalgic right now. I know the movies made on my and my brother Bob’s watch will live on as well as the fantastic films made under the direction of Daniel Battsek. Miramax has some brilliant people working within the organization and I know they will go on to do great things in the industry.”

Miramax is known for a number of films including My Left Foot, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Chicago and many more.

Source: TheWrap

(500) Days of Summer
Directed By: Marc Webb

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Zooey Deschanel

Reviewer: Andrew Gaudion

“This is a story of Boy Meets Girl, but you should know up front, this is not a love story,” the narrator bluntly informs us at the start of this charming and seriously original rom-com that’s okay to like! From the opening montage, in which the voiceover kicks in, we know this isn’t going to be your traditional rom-com, despite the good looking leads. What we get is so much more.

The story follows Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character Tom Hanson and his relationship with the beautiful and quirky Summer Finn (Deschanel). As noted by the title, Summer is in Tom’s life for 500 days, and the film shows us these days through a fractured timeline. At one moment we are on day one, next 384, and then 488. The fractured timeline manages to show the antithesis to the early, glory days of the relationship to the areas where it deteriorates with Tom becoming very depressed, for example one minute it’ll be showing a wondrous dance routine all cheery and wide-eyed, then it’ll cut to Tom looking glum with dark sunken eyes. But the film manages to maintain the narrative arc and keeps the story focused and structured in a weird way as the contrasts to the certain points of the relationship help both the comedy and developing the story and the characters. That is one of the greatest techniques of film; we can view a normal life but skip all the nitty gritty parts and move forwards or backwards in time to have a clearer retrospective on events, which is what we get from this movie.

What is brilliant about this story is that it focuses entirely on the bloke’s experience and prospective, as where more traditional rom-com’s seem to be more focused on or in the favour of the female protagonist. But no not here, which makes this movie instantly accessible to the male demographic than other rom-coms maybe. Particularly late teenaged boys and post-adolescent men can relate to the main character here, so effortlessly played by Gordon-Levitt. We feel his every emotion, we cringe at every awkward moment, we are there with him as he revels in the joy and perks of the relationship (particularly in the brilliantly silly song and dance routine) and we are there where all his thoughts and dreams are shattered (an excellent sequence involving a split-screen showing expectations next to reality is a prime example). But the most important factor is that we never get annoyed with him, we remain sympathetic throughout. If he was played by anyone else, he well could’ve been irritating. Gordon-Levitt shows amazing talent here, only glimpsed at in his previous movies, such as 10 Things I Hate About You. Here he is given the chance to carry a film on his own merits; his Golden Globe nomination was well deserved. Zooey Deschanel is more than capable for the role of the kooky Summer, who generally becomes slightly irritating nearer the end but maintains a sweet-natured spirit. It would be nice to see her take on a different role and show some versatility as she has done this role to death (see Yes Man, Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Elf), time will tell but she does seem to be a one-character actress at this moment in time.

The supporting cast supply a few laughs, mostly from Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Gray Gubler as Tom’s loyal best mates. Chloe Moretz as Tom’s strangely wise sister is very precocious and quite irritating but her lack of screen time is welcomed! Otherwise this movie works on the sole relationship of its two leads, and they do have amazing chemistry. The tender moments are genuine and the arguments crackle with emotion. Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt have wonderful chemistry and that is ever so important for a film that relies on the two leads as much as this one does. Everything rides on the relationship of the two characters, and thankfully it rides very smoothly.

Director Marc Webb doesn’t only focus all the detail on the relationship of the two leads. He takes apart the script and devotes himself to showing every subtle little detail here and there. Be it the changing climate on the days number counter background, or emphasising the contrasts between the strong relationship days and the deteriorating days, he maintains the films smart and witty spirit. The soundtrack as well is one of the best factors for this movie. The songs are very coincidental to what is being shown on screen, featuring prominently The Smiths, Regina Spektor and You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates. I seriously recommend the soundtrack as it features some classic Indie tracks and some very memorable tunes.

I am a sucker for these types of Indie Movies, you know the sort, appear out of nowhere as Sundance and go on to receive positive reviews and are praised for its originality. Juno is fairly similar, as is Garden State both of which are a couple of my favourite movies. This film has now joined the ranks of the latter movies. (500) Days of Summer offers more of a unique twist on the genre then Juno and Garden State did. It is a Love Story that doesn’t run smoothly or end the way you’d expect it to. I’d say that this is also a lot more original than Juno and Garden State, yet it maintains a sense of familiarity to it which makes it that bit more accessible. If the late great John Hughes’ had ever made an Indie comedy it wouldn’t have looked much different to this (just make the two main characters teenagers and there you go).

For a truly original rom-com which puts a unique twist on the premise, I’d definitely pop down to your local Blockbuster and pick up a copy. It may not cater to everyone’s taste, as the narrative structure and random & quirky humour aren’t for everybody. But if what I have written above appeals to you, then this is an essential film for you.

Film: 4/5

Special Features: 2/5

Very little in the way of special features on the DVD. All that is on the disc is a selection of deleted/extended scenes. They feature a deleted sequence involving Tom’s parents but most the deleted scenes are either variations of scenes that are in the movie or are just fairly pointless deleted scenes that you know would not have done the film any good and rightfully ended up on the cutting room floor. But the DVD does come with a digital copy of the film which allows you to take the film with you anywhere on your iPod.

Now before we get to the review, let me just say that i’m not a professional movie critic and this is my first review with the BTF site. This is a somewhat more technical look at the film, so here it goes:

Up In The Air
Directed by: Jason Reitman

Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman

Reviewer: Eric Smigiel


Jason Reitman’s Up In The Air is a very important film for our times. It attempts to humanize a man that has some in-human qualities. However, by the end we realize that everything is still up in the air. Only we have the power to change who we are. Is it worth it?


The cinematography in the film coupled with the lighting, and fused together with editing is where the film shines visually. In the scenes where people are getting fired it is very steely in tone. A blue/cold look runs through those scenes in particular as well as follows Ryan Bingham(George Clooney) throughout the early stages of the film. This obviously represents that he is somewhat dull in nature, and just cold in what he does… which is firing people. However, by the end of the film more colors are infused in the films palette. One scene in particular that represents this well is when his sister is getting married and he has to go to a colorful elementary school where the husband-to-be is. Ryan teaches the husband-to-be, as well as himself, what life is all about.


The editing is another aspect that is pretty influential. For example when Ryan is packing for a business trip he packs up all of his things in a quick fast motion inter-cut with quick cuts of say the zipper, or the top of the briefcase coming down. By the end of the film, when his company decides to switch from air trips to more-grounded online interactions with the firing of employees, we see him pack up his bag one last time. This time, much slower than what he normally is used to. Slowly, he realizes that the packing up of his belongings is one of the only things he has or can depend on in his life.


An aspect of the film that didn’t work was the odd Simon and Garfunkle-esque songs. Sure it makes the film a little more upbeat then what the subject matter entails, but it just feels out of place, and out of touch with it’s characters. In a way, the music is a character of it’s own that shouldn’t be in the film.


Up In The Air ends up being a powerful film from the director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking and is definitely recommended as it is a truly human and emotionally driven portrait of life today.


Rating: 4/5

We’re not used to this amount of quiet time during the production of a Transformers movie. Usually at this point during the past two films we were spoiled with updates from Bay or the writers. There’s almost no info on the next movie except for two small posts by Bay on his official site. All we know now is that Shia Laboeuf and Megan Fox will be back along with director Michael Bay. The only change so far is on the writing side. Where the past two films had Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman in charge of screenwriting duties, the next installment will only be written by Ehren Kruger. He helped the duo write the second film and now has the solo duty of writing the third film. Here’s the new update from Bay followed by his prior post:

“Busy scouting – Chicago, Detroit, and Washington D.C. for Transformers last week. Things are going well. The script is feeling very different from the other two. I ended my scout down in Miami this weekend to load my plane with 14 Florida Surgeons, specialists in various fields and flew them down to Haiti. We then returned with a planeload of a team of exhausted Miami Fire rescue. It is proving very difficult for these volunteers to get back home.”

Earlier update:

“There will be a nice crescendo ending,” Bay said. “It gets much more into the robot character. The last time you kind of met a few of the robots; this time you’re gonna get a much cooler landscape.”

Source: MichaelBay.com, TFW2005

ComingSoon have posted two images from Walt Disney’s Annual Report, the first piece of concept art for ‘Cars 2′ which is in development, and a new image from ‘Toy Story 3′ which is set for release in June of this year. The plot for Cars 2 has been written as follows:

All the world’s a racetrack as racing superstar Lightning McQueen zooms back into action, with his best friend Mater in tow, to take on the globe’s fastest and finest in this thrilling high-octane new installment of the “Cars” saga. Mater and McQueen will need their passports as they find themselves in a new world of intrigue, thrills and fast-paced comedic escapades around the globe.

And the new image from Toy Story 3 showing returning characters Jessie, Buzz and Woody:

Source: ComingSoon

You may remember recently we told you that both The Hobbit films will begin filming in June of this year. Well, we were under the impression that they were still on target for their original release dates of 2011 and 2012, but in a recent article it appears as if their release dates have been changed.

Once the script for the second film is in — Jackson and his longtime collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are working on it with Del Toro — New Line will work up a budget for both films and start casting. New Line exec Michael Disco, who was once Emmerich’s assistant, will oversee for the studio.

Horn won’t predict when the first of the two “Hobbit” films will be out, but says the most probable scenario would be a release in the fourth quarter of 2012.

“It’s a big bet for us. But it’s one we think will pay off given the success of ‘Lord of the Rings,’” says Emmerich. “This is one of the few movies it feels like people are waiting for.”

So it appears as if the first film in the two-part series has been pushed back all the way to the fourth quarter of 2012.

Source: Variety

THE BOOK OF ELI
Directed by: The Hughes Brothers

Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis

Reviewer: Andrew Gaudion

Post-apocalyptic movies are nothing new in the world of cinema nowadays. In fact, they have been around for the better part of 40 years. We had Vincent Price muttering away to himself in his loneliness with that instantly recognisable tone in the first adaptation of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, entitled The Last Man On Earth in 1964. We re-visited this with Charlton Heston in 1971’s The Omega Man and again in 2007’s I Am Legend. We were given glimpses of a machine controlled wasteland in The Terminator films from 1984 and 1991 (and then given a focused piece of it in the latest instalment Terminator Salvation). So what does The Book Of Eli have to offer that we haven’t already seen before?

Well, very little is the answer to that. We have destroyed buildings, wrecked cars, collapsed motorways etc. The landscape is nothing original; Terminator gave us all of this. But what about the context, what is the reason we are in this wasteland? Is this original? Well the creative Twin force of The Hughes Brothers (last movie being From Hell, in 2001) have done something that is welcome to this genre, they don’t technically tell you how the world got in this state. They seem to have taken into toll that there has been many post-apocalyptic movies before this, and where they would have had a dramatic voice-over or some text filling us in on the information before hand, this film simply gets on with it. Hints are dropped throughout the film, but it is never fully explored. I find this a welcome change, we can pretty much guess what has happened and the directors have left it up to you to fill in the gaps and be satisfied with your own opinions. What information we do get tells us that an Atomic War some 30 years ago wiped out a large proportion of the human race and left cities in ruin and the rest of the human race wearing funky glasses to protect their eyes. Some of the survivors have converted to living off the land and turning to cannibalism whilst others have tried to create some form of order and create new communities. It is in the wasteland that used to be known as America that we are introduced to Denzel Washington’s Eli.

Eli is a mysterious character who you figure out more and more as the film progresses. We are introduced to him killing a cat with his trusty, Rambo-style, bow and arrow, showing that this is a man who copes with what he has got and is well trained in survival skills. Eli is on a mission, to take a book (which has a cross on the front, wink-wink-nudge-nudge) to a place where it shall be cherished and deserves to be. He walks West, guided by an inner force, taking out anybody who gets in his way and poses a threat with his impressive martial arts and rather nifty dagger. But when he stumbles across a small established community to gain supplies. But whilst here, the dictator-esque leader Carnegie (Gary Oldman) learns of Eli’s possession and attempts to take it from him to use the power he believes it holds. With the aid of Carnegie’s stepdaughter Solara (Mila Kunis), Eli tries to stay one step ahead of Carnegie and his men whilst trying to make sure the book gets to its rightful place.

The story itself is enough to keep the reader interested, but then again nothing hugely original. And it is no secret that there are some strong religious connotations within this movie. But the film manages to have these religious messages without coming across as too preachy, believe what you want to believe, this film is not trying to make you think differently in terms of religion, it is what simple drives the story. There are times though when the film threatens to take itself too seriously. These mostly involve the scenes between Eli and Solara. Solara provides the audience a voice. She is at times confused and needs to ask questions, she helps to fill some gaps that may exist; she is what prompts the character of Eli to come out of himself and to become more rounded. Mila Kunis handles this role competently, she still needs to develop herself as a big screen actress but this role is a move in the right direction. The role is very layered and has a fair amount of depth to her, she conveys this convincingly in some areas are not quite as well in others (the ending particularly). But she creates a vulnerable and very likeable character. Washington is as dependable as ever, handling the emotion and the bad-ass action scenes like the pro that he is. The scenes between Solara and Eli alone, being it walking or at a campfire, is where the film drags however. They only seem to be there to reveal information, which they do but otherwise they don’t really go anywhere. This is where the supporting cast and the very impressive and stylish action come into play.

Gary Oldman is the British-thesp-villian-for-hire here but boy does he have fun, and you have fun watching him. He plays off especially well with Washington and even the most simplistic scenes with him are a joy to watch, he shows why he was one of the most in demand actors in Hollywood right now. There are some neat little cameos here as well which supply some much needed humour at parts, most notably from Michael Gambon and Frances De La Tour as two gun-wielding pensioners, who also happen to cannibals.

The action of the movie delivers, and it is what you would come to expect from this type of action flick, limbs fly and heads roll! The way that the sequences are shot, and indeed the film, are shot is technically impressive. Subtle touches here and there make the film that bit more professional, be it the grimy Spaghetti Western style cinematography or the touch of green that line the clouds of this post-apocalyptic world.

I am a person who believes that without a decent and engrossing and/or entertaining story, no matter how pretty the film may be, it isn’t a good film (hence why I didn’t think much of Avatar). Eli may not deliver much on the originality front in terms of concept, but in terms of entertainment value and context, it ticks all the boxes and gives us what we expect. Just don’t go wishing for something more.

Rating: 3/5