Though this has been a week of highly anticipated trailers, we still keep our com-mi-it-ment to bringing you the best movie posters from around the web available to you. This week in the web’s Original Movie Poster Round-Up we have George Clooney and Vera Farmiga’s Up In The Air to kick things off. That is followed by a highly bland Antichrist poster, a “new” Law Abiding Citizenposter, which I believe we brought to you months back, and an interesting New York, I Love You poster. I still can’t get enough of how many actors names are on this poster! A new Dorian Gray poster with half-cracked face follows, the smaller movies Untitled (when is Adam Goldberg going to get more work!) and Five Minutes of Heaven with a possible award worthy performance from Taken star Liam Neeson being hyped, and the last one-sheet for Mike Judge’sExtract.
You want Kristen Bell? You got her, with the When In Rome poster, though I don’t approve of nail-biting. A brand newZombieland one sheet hits, as well as the White Ribbon poster, a new movie from Michael Haneke whom you may know as the director of Funny Games. IMPAwards (thanks to them and Yahoo!) says this Palm d’Or Winner is due a U.S. theatrical release in December. I can’t wait to see this movie Vigaristas! Oh wait, I did, it was called The Brothers Bloom and this is just an int’l poster for it. Finally, another Saw VI poster drops for your enjoyment.
Ever since DVD began, back in 1997, I fell in love with the idea of commentary tracks (Yes, they did exist on laserdiscs before then, but I didn’t own any, which is why I used 1997 as my starting point). Although I’m pretty sure I’ve only listened to it once, my favorite track to this day is the one on the Armageddon: Criterion Collection DVD with Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. Although I don’t like all of his movies, it was during that commentary where I began to respect Michael Bay and have made it a point to listen to every commentary he’s recorded since.
However, this is something entirely new. Director Rian Johnson recorded an mp3 commentary for his new film, The Brothers Bloom. The idea is that you download the mp3 and then upload it to your mp3 player of choice (Go Creative!) and listen to it through headphones as you’re watching the movie. Obviously this isn’t recommended for an initial viewing, so the idea is that it encourages multiple theatrical viewings.
Johnson says, “The track itself is obviously spoiler-heavy, I obviously wouldn’t recommend it for a first viewing. It’s also (to be honest) pretty dry and process-intensive, I go on at length about obnoxious stuff like symbolic color schemes, so if that doesn’t sound appealing, steer clear. The (totally different) commentary I recorded for the DVD is much more easygoing.”
I think it’s very cool that it’s a completely different track than the one to be released on DVD. I’m not sure it’ll be widespread, but I think it’s a pretty sweet concept. I’m sure a lot of the people that have seen Star Trek for the umpteenth time already would surely go for this if J.J. Abrams had created one. What do you think? Trendsetter or one-trick marketing ploy?
I just saw at Target last night that old-school Ninja Turtles were being sold in what looked like their original packages due to the character’s 25th anniversary this year. Nice. However, news came out today via [Film Drunk] that a new live-action Ninja Turtles movies is due for release in 2011. Very nice. I didn’t care for the animated one that came out a couple of years ago and I think live-action is the way to go. Cowabunga!
Our preview writer, Joe, will be very conflicted with this news. Nightmare on Elm Street is getting remade. Sarcastic yea’s all around. Rooney Mara is playing the lead terrified woman and Jackie Earl Haley is playing Freddie Kruger. Jackie Earl was actually announced a bit ago, but the Mara announcement exposed us to it. I hate the idea of this being remade, but I don’t care for the original anyway. However, Haley’s involvement is awesome. [Screen Rant]
Here are some more set photos for you, shockingly not debuting from the new “Empire” issue. The subject is Nic Cage and Jay Baruchel’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. [Film Geek]
[Rama's Screen] has the news that Anna Faris will star in What’s Your Number? for director Mark Mylod. The film is based on the book “20 Times A Lady” by Karen Bosnak. It kind of sounds like a female version of Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past. Perhaps what’s most important, though, is the script was written by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden. Crittenden has written for “The Simpsons,” “Seinfeld” and “Arrested Development.” Believe it or not, I knew that off the top of my head. This might actually be something.
We told you about Elizabeth Shue in Piranha 3-Dthe other week, now Richard Dreyfuss, who’s no stranger to fierce things lurking in the water, has joined the project. [Nuke the Fridge]
Remember the list of projects Guillermo del Toro was scheduled to be involved in that we wrote about a while ago? Well, Robert Rodriguez dropped his list today at [Dread Central]. It contains Machete, Nervewrackers, Sin City 2, The Jetsons and Predators. What’s Predators? Why that would be Rodriguez’ reboot of the Predator franchise. People seem to really like this news, but can the original really be improved upon? What do you think?
Want to see the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer? It’s debuting April 29th on 20 screens all over the country in front of a one-day screening of Transformers in IMAX. [Transformers Live] has more details.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has joined the cast of the new Christopher Nolan film, Inception. He’ll be surrounded by Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy and Marion Cotillard. Not that we needed any more reason to see it, but we got it. [Sci Fi Cool]
I promise this is the last remake news I’m posting today. James Marden is poised to play the lead in a remake of 70’s fight-for-survival flick, Straw Dogs. I can tell this is going to be a watered-down version just with this announcement. [In Case You Didn't Know]
Lastly, do you want to see the first seven minutes of The Brothers Bloom? Hulu has posted it up. We’ve seen the whole film and reviewed it back in October. Click the film’s title to see the review. Here’s the first seven minutes:
Playing a bit of catch-up this week, fighting a move and some computer problems, so I’ll give you a quick rundown of one of the best “art-work” related Round-Up’s we have ever had. Remember, every Friday we give you the best in Movie Posters available from the web, straight to your inbox if you so choose. Just subscribe to it with the RSS button! Arthur and the Vengeance of Malthazard is Luc Besson’s trippy looking animated(?) movie. Cool poster. A new The Brothers Bloom (click for review) poster is more than welcome, again with a unique, magical spin. More Than A Game stars LeBron James and his high school crew, with a nice poster to match. Should be good!
Robert Pattison’s star power will be put to a HUGE test based on the sketchy looking poster for How To Be, while Jennifer Aniston continues her indie-ish fare with Management(as far as I can tell). Sorry, but that does not look like her on the poster!?! I probably won’t love Love ‘N Dancing or teach any new tricks to Old Dogs, but I am feeling the two Laid To Rest posters and I don’t like horror movies. I am highly skeptical of The Skeptic (the weakest poster this week) but kind of like the simplicity of the Summer Hours poster. Revanche has something to offer and 500 Days of Summer reminds me of In A Dream from last week’s round up. Extract’s poster is basic but effective and if we posted the Sleep Dealer poster before, I apologize. Kinda cool. An Unlikely Weapon gives us an unlikely but thrilling end to this week’s round-up I believe. Will that guy get got? Nutso.
Rian Johnson burst onto the filmmaking scene with his original and inventive modern-day noir film Brick in 2005. The Brothers Bloom is his second written and directed feature length effort. Will he avoid the sophomore jinx? One of the quandaries for those in Rian’s position is this; he had success with his first film, which is great, thereby giving him the opportunity to make another feature. On the flip side, because of the originality and success of Brick, the budget is bigger and expectations are lofty, therefore making the overall stakes higher. Combining all of these factors, Brothers is a mixed-bag.
The Brothers Bloom is a breezy, light-hearted adventure pic that follows two brothers who are career con men. Older brother Stephen, played by Mark Ruffalo, sets the cons with elaborate precision, dating back to when he and his younger sibling, Bloom, portrayed by Oscar-winner Adrien Brody, were kids who routinely found themselves kicked out of foster homes. Bloom is always the man who engages the mark and after a life filled playing out roles in Stephen’s con games, he wants out, claiming he seeks “an unwritten life.” But alas, after a brief split, Stephen tracks down Bloom convincing him to do one last con on Penelope, a lonely heiress, acted with appropriate naivete by Rachel Weisz.
As in any con film, the guesswork begins for the viewer, trying to uncover who is conning whom and who the real mark is. All the while, Bloom is falling in love with Penelope…or is he? The usual twists and turns are supplied here but while the outcome is indeed in doubt until the end, there isn’t enough meat to really sink your teeth into in order to fully engage the viewer. This is a well directed, well acted, and entertaining film. Where the whole thing falters is in the writing, which is routine and non-descript for the most part. Nothing here makes this film stand out amongst other con films of recent years such as 2003’s Confidence or Matchstick Men.
The primary con fails to keep you on the edge of your seat but the love story is interesting on its own. While it is almost a screwball comedy in many ways, it isn’t particularly funny, with the actors bearing the weight of trying to do more with the words than should be necessary to wring humor from the page. Sometimes it is successful and other times not so much. The movie elicits a few smiles or chuckles but no guttural laughs.
Brody stars as the detached lead with his sad eyes doing so much of the work for him. Bloom is depressed throughout and conflicted when faced with the possibility of love. But it is Weisz who really surprises, stealing many of the scenes she is in. While it’s difficult to completely buy her character’s plight, she just about pulls it off where a lesser actress would struggle mightily to do so. She strikes most of the very subtle chords between inexperience and innocence, humanizing her Penelope.
Johnson clearly has talent, especially shining as a Director here. Brothers is well done with Johnson showing a true eye for unique shots and holding a good command of his actors. Adding to the overall package is that he gets to shoot in some beautiful locales here, utilizing them well. As a writer, perhaps the vehicle can be improved in the future so that his films can find a wider audience.
In the end, there is nothing done poorly here but there is also nothing that jumps out at you and blows you away. Regardless of the talented contributions made from those involved, this will probably not see huge turnouts at the turnstiles, in large part due to the average concept overall. While I was entertained, instinctively Brothers just failed to wow me. As with any movie, I want to give a strong, enthusiastic recommendation. However, for me to do that here I’d be a mark myself as much as I would be conning you.
