The death of a man marks the beginning of a friendship in this drama. When Mark dies, his best friend, Jeff (Adam Neal Smith), writes to break the news to Mark’s Italian friend, Andrea (co-screenwriter Alessandro Calza). Soon their connection causes the men to become friends, first over email and then in person. Though they come from vastly different backgrounds, their common bond brings them closer and closer. Director/co-writer Yen Tan (HAPPY BIRTHDAY) loosely based the film on his friendship with Calza.
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Ciao opens December 5th, 2008 (limited)
Armin Mueller-Stahl stars as an aging artist in this independent drama based on the experiences of writer/director George Gallo. Trevor Morgan stars as a young man who dreams of becoming a painter, so he asks a famously reclusive artist to help him reach his goal. LOCAL COLOR features a strong cast, including Samantha Mathis, Ray Liotta, Ron Perlman, and Charles Durning.
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Local Color opens December 5th, 2008 (limited)
It’s hard to imagine a musical landscape without the talents of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Etta James, whose success in the 1950s and ’60s still influences artists today. These music legends were all nurtured by Leonard Chess, one of the brothers behind Chess Records. In this historical, music-driven film about the label, Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Beyonc
The acclaimed play makes the transition from stage to screen with Ron Howard in the director’s chair. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen revisit their roles as the title characters in this drama that pits the impeached president against British TV host David Frost.
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Frost/Nixon opens December 5th, 2008 (limited)
Barkley Michaelson is in a deep life rut. He’s struggling to finish his PhD thesis when his father, the learned Eli Michaelson, wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Barkley and his mother, Sarah, a renowned forensic psychiatrist, now have the ill-fortune of living with a man-eating monster whose philandering ways have gotten less and less discrete. As if Barkley’s world is not bad enough, on the eve of his father receiving the Nobel, Barkley is kidnapped and the requested ransom is the $2,000,000 in Nobel prize money. Needless to say, Eli refuses to pay it and so starts a venomous tale of familial dysfunction, lust, betrayal and ultimately revenge.
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Nobel Son opens December 5th, 2008 (limited)
Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss, Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the “Punisher Task Force” hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.
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Punisher: War Zone opens December 5th, 2008 (wide)
This feature-length vignette-style comedy boasts a smorgasbord of young comedic talent, including Michael Cera (SUPERBAD, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT), Ryan Pinkston (PUNK’D, SOUL PLANE), Frankie Muniz (MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE), and Jamie Kennedy (KICKIN’ IT OLD SKOOL). In the tradition of KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, the film is comprised of a series of sketches, most of which revolve around teenagers and sex. Matthew Lillard and Andy Milonakis also make appearances in this ribald offering from the team behind THE COMEBACKS and numerous MTV Movie Award parody sketches. Andy Samberg and Will Forte are among the numerous SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE writers to have contributed EXTREME MOVIE’s uproarious script.
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Extreme Movie opens December 5th, 2008 (wide)
In this Australian film from the producer of STRICTLY BALLROOM, Thomas (Rhys Wakefield, HOME AND AWAY) has a lot to contend with. Not only has the teenager just moved to a new school, but he also has to take care of his older brother Charlie (Luke Ford, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR), who is autistic. As Thomas struggles in his relationship with Charlie, he also tries to win the heart of his new girlfriend (Gemma Ward, THE STRANGERS). THE BLACK BALLOON also stars Toni Collette (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) as Thomas and Charlie’s pregnant mother.
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Black Balloon opens December 5th, 2008 Ilimited)
This ensemble indie comedy stars MUTUAL APPRECIATION’s Justin Rice and BOYS DON’T CRY’s Brendan Sexton III as two competitive friends, living in the East Village and trying to find artistic success; more time is spent, however, arguing and contending with an array of former lovers and lovers-to-be in this quirky diamond-in-the-rough. Laura Breckenridge (SOUTHERN BELLES) also stars.
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Let Them Chirp Awhile opens December 5th, 2008 (limited)
In TIMECRIMES, a lazy afternoon spent in a lawn chair turns exciting when a man glimpses a naked woman through his binoculars. But when he goes in search of the beauty, he instead runs into a strange man whose face is wrapped in a bandage, and this encounter brings him into contact with a machine that can transport him through time. This Spanish sci-fi thriller drew raves in its festival run, and the inevitable English-language remake is in the works.
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Timecrimes opens December 12th, 2008 (limited)
Click here for more info on: Nothing But the Truth
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‘Nothing but the Truth’ Clip: Off the record
When Hollywood came to town for the Australia premiere at Greater Union George Street recently, CINE BUZZ TV was there with Darren McMullen grabbing Hugh Jackman for a chat and talking all things outback, romance plus the buzz the film has created for our country.
With the closure of one of Sydney’s main streets, thousands of fans flocked to the premiere in the hope of catching a glimpse of Australia’s biggest celebrities. They weren’t disappointed!
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Sydney becomes Tinseltown for a night
All the key cast of Twilight have signed on for the sequel New Moon, which is due to start shooting in the northern spring, ready for release in 2010.
That’s according to USA Today and MTV, although Entertainment Weekly casts doubts on whether Taylor Lautner (pictured) will return as werewolf Jacob, considering the 16-year-old is shorter and more boyish-looking than the way Stephenie Meyer described the character.
”We are definitely talking and thinking about it right now,” Erik Feig, Summit’s president of production, told EW. ”Taylor’s fantastic as Jacob in Twilight. I think when we get closer to shooting, the director is going to look at everyone as if they are brand-new to the role.”
That’s news to Catherine Hardwicke, who hasn’t signed for the sequel yet but is talking as if there’s no doubt she’ll take the reins again.
According to USA Today, Catherine says Taylor told her he’d gained 14 pounds (6 kg) since she’d last seen him. “I think he’s chanting to make himself grow,” she laughed.
Edi Gathegi is keen to go back to Portland to resume playing Laurent in New Moon, and to wear dreadlocks again.
“It
At the risk of hastily jumping to conclusions, I think it’s fair to say a sizable number of Aussies are enjoying Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, while Yank audiences are less enamoured.
The historical drama/romance rang up nearly $1.4 million here on Wednesday and about $1.2 million yesterday: a strong but not stellar start for the much-hyped movie.
Especially considering the $200 million epic seems to appeal chiefly to women aged 30 plus and middle-aged folk, who are not inclined to rush to cinemas in the first few days, unlike fans of say, The Dark Knight, Bond and Harry Potter.
Those figures suggest the film will end up making about $25 million in Oz, a very good result for any Australian movie, but not the blockbuster Baz and Fox were hoping for.
In the US, the Hugh Jackman/Nicole Kidman adventure fetched $2.5 million on around 2,600 screens on Wednesday- a distant No. 7 behind Twilight, the new Reese Witherspoon/Vince Vaughn comedy Four Holidays, Bolt, Quantum of Solace, Jason Statham’s Transporter 3 and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
That indicates Australia is on course to make about $18 million over the 5-day Thanksgiving holiday, at the low end of most pundits’ predictions, versus roughly $45 million for Twilight and $35 million for Four Holidays.
Fox will be hoping word-of-mouth keeps Australia on screen and earning money in the coming weeks as a bundle of new releases enter both markets.
Otherwise, as one US writer put it, the movie could go down as a low-grossing “Far and Away with Vegemite.”
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Lots of Aussies love Baz’s Australia; Yanks not so much
Slumdog Millionaire offers no stars or glitz, just an inspiring, rags-to-riches story of an illiterate orphan teenager from the slums of Mumbai.
Danny Boyle’s movie is being touted as a dark-horse favourite for the best picture Oscar, alongside much higher-profile contenders such as The Dark Knight, the Brad Pitt/Cate Blanchett starrer The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the Meryl Streep drama Doubt and Kate Winslet/Leonardo DiCaprio’s Revolutionary Road.
Launched on November 12 on just 10 screens in the US, the film is drawing sizable audiences, an encouraging sign before it rolls out nationally; it opens here on Boxing Day.
The script by Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty) follows 18-year-old Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who dreams of escaping poverty when he competes in Who Wants to be a Millionaire?…until he’s arrested by the cops on suspicion of cheating.
“This is a breathless, exciting story, heartbreaking and exhilarating at the same time, about a Mumbai orphan who rises from rags to riches on the strength of his lively intelligence,” raved Roger Ebert.
“Slumdog Millionaire has the goods to bust out as a scrappy contender in the Oscar race,” says Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers. “It’s modern India standing in for a world in full economic spin. It’s an explosion of color and light with the darkness ever ready to invade. It’s a family film of shocking brutality, a romance haunted by sexual abuse, a fantasy of wealth fueled by crushing poverty.”
The subject may seem a left-field choice for director Boyle, who’s known for gritty, confronting films like Trainspotting, The Beach and Shallow Grave, and zombie pic 28 Days Later.
“I always try to make films intense — intensely pleasurable or intensely frightening or intensely joyful,” Boyle says. “Intensity is something I go for. That’s how I judge things.”
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Slumdog Millionaire: a nugget among life’s rubble
This is my final week as a contributor to the blog. It’s been a real pleasure and a privilege to have brought you news, gossip, critiques and interviews on the world of cinema this year. Thanks very much for your support and comments. I’m leaving to pursue other interests, while remaining in the industry I love.
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And it’s goodbye from Don
When the producers of Marley and Me sent Jennifer Aniston a copy of the book on which it’s based, she didn’t want to read it.
She knew it was about a couple and their neurotic pooch, and, like many actors, didn’t fancy playing second fiddle to an animal.
Then she read John Grogan’s book, which reduced her to tears and she quickly realized it isn’t a silly story about the world’s worst dog.
Starring Aniston and Owen Wilson, the comedy/drama follows the couple over the course of their pet’s life as they build careers, have three children, make compromises, survive a tragedy and start to approach middle age.
The director, David Frankel, has a fair pedigree in the field of smart comedies: he helmed The Devil Wears Prada and episodes of Entourage and Sex and the City.
Frankel says he was initially reluctant to cast Jen, who’s 39, as her character ages from 22 to 40, until their first meeting. “When she came down the stairs, all of my anxiety went out the window,” he says. “Within five minutes I said, ‘It’s yours if you want to do it.’”
For Wilson, the movie marks a return to form after a year of personal hell. “Everything he went through in the last year really allowed for a beautiful performance,” says Aniston. “He arrives in this film.”
Marley and Me opens on January 1.
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Jen and Owen: laughs and tears in Marley and Me
CINE BUZZ TV’s Darren McMullen sat down with Bond, James Bond recently to talk all things action, travel and women. Mr Daniel Craig talks about the latest adventure in the Bond franchise, Quantum Of Solace, which is setting box office records worldwide.
What’s it like to be JAMES BOND? Where on earth do they film all of the exotic scenes from the films? Has life changed after becoming 007? It’s all here.
Watch the Interview here
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We go one on one with Daniel Craig
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Scarlett Johansson Skinny Dips, Jennifer Aniston Proposes In ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’: Video
When Bryan Brown starred in Aussie movie Winter of our Dreams back in 1981 with a young, starstruck actor no one had ever heard of in a supporting role, neither could have imagined they’d be working together, on a much, much bigger scale, all these years later.
The young bloke was Baz Luhrmann, who didn’t have much of a future in front of the camera
(he did appear in six episodes of A Country Practice), but he certainly made his mark behind the camera.
A fan of Brown’s ever since their first collaboration 27 years ago, the director cast the veteran actor as the scheming cattle baron King Carney in his romantic epic Australia.
Carney sets out to ruin Nicole Kidman’s Lady Sarah Ashley so he can seize her ranch Faraway Downs, the only property he doesn’t own in that part of the Northern Territory.
“It was good fun to play a character as colourful as Carney,” says Brown. “He
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Scarlett Johansson Skinny-Dips, Jennifer Aniston Proposes In ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’: Video
