At this point, just about any bit of news that comes out into the world about ‘The Master’ has all of us jumping up and down in anticipation of finally seeing the film, and rightfully so going by the early word that’s been circulating. Today, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest got an infusion of intrigue when it came out in a Newsweek piece here that unused scenes from ‘There Will Be Blood’ will be getting a second life and have been reworked into ‘The Master’. This is an interesting move by PTA and I wonder if we’ll even be able to notice the scenes in question. You can see the full statement after the jump, but I know that I’ll be looking out for them. See the quote below…
Read more on Paul Thomas Anderson worked in unused scenes from ‘There Will Be Blood’ into ‘The Master’…
We’re closing in on a number of film festivals, which means that Oscar season is in full swing. As always, we’ll be covering the Toronto Film Festival in all of its glory here at The Awards Circuit, but this year look for expanded coverage of the New York Film Festival as well. Lucky for us, the festival is looking better and better by the day, with news coming now that the Lee Daniels flick ‘The Paperboy’ will be screening in tandem with the fest honoring star Nicole Kidman. You can see the whole press release from the NYFF website here after the jump, but I’d say New York is starting to rival Venice for the #2 slot behind Toronto in terms of importance. Read on below for the official word about the addition.
Read more on ‘The Paperboy’ added to the New York Film Festival lineup!…
It takes a special kind of actor to avoid the pitfalls of child stardom, and an even more impressive individual to then turn a successful acting career into a directorial debut that flows with untapped potential. Dexter Fletcher has come a long way since his early film roles in The Elephant Man and Bugsy Malone. Wild Bill marks his first attempt at sitting behind the camera, where he pursues fellow British actors Paddy Considine and Richard Ayoade into the director’s chair, proving himself as yet another surprise talent with an unexpected point of view.
Read more on Wild Bill (***)…
Most of the time when you’re dealing with the third film in a franchise, the easiest way to enjoy it is to have been a fan of the previous installments. In the unique case of ‘[REC]³ Génesis’ however, fans of the prior movies may not have nearly as good a time as others. The reason for this? Well, co-writer/director Paco Plaza has decided to go in a far different direction for his latest sequel, giving the flick a tone closer to horror comedies than I think anyone expects. He also makes a very unique decision in terms of the found footage aspect of the film, a hallmark of the franchise. Plaza has the format only utilized for roughly the first 15 or 20 minutes of the film (essentially just an extended prologue/setup for the action), then switching to a traditional filmmaking method, though it’s done in a way that winks and nods to the prior format. It’s something I don’t know that I’ve ever seen before, and it’s a choice I really admire, since it would have probably been easier to just keep plugging away like he did with ‘[REC]‘ and ‘[Rec] ²’ (which he co-directed with Jaume Balagueró). That all being said, it could potentially alienate fans of the series and overall this still isn’t a phenomenally effective movie, but it does enough interesting and meta things to keep it from being completely forgettable. It’s a step up from the last part of the trilogy, but it’s still not as scary as the original. Overall, it’s simply decent, which can sometimes be a compliment for the horror genre. In my eyes, it gets a recommendation, but with some strong caveats, so take those into account when deciding if the film is worth your time. It opens in September, so make a note of that.
Read more on [REC]³ Génesis (**½)…
This week we can gloriously celebrate one of the best slates of Blu-Ray/DVD titles hitting shelves in a very long time. Last week was a welcome reprieve from the hard times during the past month or so, but this haul of high quality titles really is something special. In fact, I’d say this is one of the very best slates this year, and among the best last year as well! Any week that features one of my 10 favorites of the current year and one of my top 20 from last year is one to truly be reckoned with, and today we have just that sort of situation, with a few other strong choices to boot. It certainly makes my top pick a bit harder than usual, but I always welcome that kind of a challenge. In terms of my PICK OF THE WEEK, I was choosing between an Oscar winner from last year and a long shot Oscar hopeful for this one. Which one did I wind up choosing? Well, I went with the slightly more low profile title. It’s: Read more on Joey’s DVD Picks of the Week (8/21/2012)…
As you all saw in my review of ‘The Expendables 2′ (found here), I had a lot of fun with the silliness of it all, so the idea of an all-female version has some level of appeal to me. Variety is reporting here that just that sort of project is beginning to ramp up, not that we really had any doubts that this sort of idea would be tossed about in Hollywood. I’m all for it, I just hope it turns out to be at least halfway decent. After the jump you can see more, but am I the only one who hopes that Gina Carano winds up involved in some way? I hope not. Anyway, you can see some details below, and stay tune for the more official word on the film in the coming months:
Read more on An all-female version of ‘The Expendables’ could be ramping up…
|