Tag: Cinema

Take yon candle from yon oven…

By way of Supercres, the new trailer for (Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Clark Gregg’s version of Chuck Palahniuk’s Choke is now online, starring Sam Rockwell, Kelly McDonald, Anjelica Huston, and Brad Henke. Palahniuk’s books tend to run together after awhile, but I did get a kick out of the Colonial Williamsburg conceit in this one. If I remember rightly, Rockwell should spend a good bit of time in the stocks.

Intelligence is Relative.

By way of Bitten Tongue (who does a nice job of highlighting its provenance), Cinematical gets its hands on the poster for the Coen Brothers’ forthcoming Burn After Reading, with John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, David Rasche, and J.K. Simmons. (The trailer is here.)

Update: And, behold! An international teaser trailer for Burn hits the tubes. Update 2: And here’s a slightly different domestic version.

Rebecca Scarlett Barcelona.

No longer fighting over Christian Bale, Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson get caught up in complications with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz in the trailer for Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, also starring Patricia Clarkson. The word from Cannes was that Allen may be back in form after the insubstantial Scoop and the atrocious Cassandra’s Dream, so here’s hoping for the best.

The Man Behind the Curtain.

“‘He ran at full throttle, in both work and play, and was a man of kindness, wisdom and great humor,’ Cameron said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. ‘He was a kid that never grew up, whose dreams were writ large on the screens of the world. I am proud to have been his friend, and I will miss him very deeply.‘” Stan Winston, 1946-2008.

Indiana Jones and the Abandoned City.

Here’s an interesting read, particularly for those similarly underwhelmed by Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: The famed Darabont draft, Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods, leaks (If that link’s dead, G4 has a review, and Google should also be able to help.) For those who didn’t follow all of Indy 4‘s development woes, this is the draft that, apparently, Spielberg and Ford loved and Lucas singlehandedly vetoed.

To be honest, I’m not much of a Darabont fan: Yes, The Shawshank Redemption is a true TNT New Classic, but The Green Mile was inert throughout, and I thought his take on The Mist was ham-handed and shoddy. Still, City of the Gods is worth a look-thru, if nothing else than to see how a project like Indy IV evolved over time. There’s no Mutt, Mac, or Agent Spalko here, and both Marion and Indy are more dynamic and well-rounded characters in this version. But there’s also a lot of fan service (in its broader sense) here, and most of the really egregious moments from Crystal Skull are in this draft too. Oxley does the Tarzan instead of Mutt, and the rubberband tree, atomic fridge, and waterfalls are all still present. Plus, Indy gets eaten by a giant snake. No, really. So…this would’ve probably made a better film than the one we saw, but this script needed some work too.

Don’t blame me, I voted for Two-Face.

“When the chips are down, these civilized people will eat each other. You’ll see…I’ll show you.” So, did you vote? Gotham City elections closed yesterday, and the winner will soon be announced on Gotham Tonight with Mike Engel, a.k.a. Anthony Michael Hall, his identity now disclosed. (I voted Harvey Dent, natch.) Of course, it’s Friday the 13th, and the Joker has threatened another round of viral shenanigans as well…which I suspect will lead to this new alternate Dark Knight trailer. Enjoy it before WB takes it down.

Update: Dent wins! But he he doesn’t seem too happy about it…