What the Film » Industry news

Brittany Murphy found Dead

what film — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:26:07 +0000

After last year’s tragic death of actor Heath Ledger, Hollywood is loosing another young talent. Actress Brittany Murphy was declared dead yesterday, Sunday 20th December, after paramedics urgently transported her to Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Murphy’s husband, writer-producer Simon Monjack, and mother Sharon found her in the shower in a state of unconsciousness and immediately called for rescue.

The 32 year old actress was most importantly famous to the public for co-starring with Eminem in “8 Mile”, but also for other movies such as “Clueless” and “Don’t say a Word”. She started her career in TV in 1991 in “Murphy Brown” and worked in several other TV shows before becoming known to Hollywood from early 2000.

The Los Angeles Police Dept. is still carrying out investigations as to what caused the actress’s death, which until know, has been declared to appear for natural causes as a consequence of cardiac arrest. More is expected to be known from toxicology tests and autopsy results.

Many friends and colleagues of Murphy also publicly expressed their sorrow after the news of Brittany’s death went out. Ex boyfriend and co-star, Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson and Alyssa Milano all tweeted their condolences and support to Murphy’s family.

Leonardo di Caprio to Star in New Mel Gibson Film

what film — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:10:46 +0000

Mel Gibson is due to start his next movie as a director in autumn 2010 and has chosen Leonardo di Caprio to be the main feature. The film, with no title as yet, will be based on a Viking epic, written by William Monahan and produced by Graham King. Other than the official agreements of those involved in the project, not much is known regarding the plot and further details.

Mel Gibson seems to have flair for historical epics (remember The Passion and Apocalypto) which nonetheless have all had some controversial reactions over the strong nature of featured scenes. Latest Gibson’s works included playing in The Beaver for director Jodie Foster. Now, after a four year pause, and some troublesome personal episodes regularly making the news, Gibson is set to step back again behind the camera.

As for Di Caprio, he has declared to have always been fascinated by the Nordic myths and Viking culture, and has seen the upcoming work as the occasion to further explore the subject. The actor has been recently involved in many projects including a work with Ridley Scott on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and a co-starring movie with Angelina Jolie about Gucci’s fashion empire.

Boyzone Movie?

what the film — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:25:50 +0000

News has it that the band Boyzone decided to make a movie about themselves. They want to create a story based on their life as a band, with how they reached their stares, what happened why they ended up going solo and how they reunited and made a comeback.

News has it that they are actually starting on their movie, not sure whether they already started filming the movie or they just started brainstorming as to how the movie must be like. Now, the question is, will the movie become a hit just like the songs from Boyzone or will this just become a flop and will turn their popularity upside down? We can not speculate as of the moment but Ronan Keating wanted the movie to be very funny perhaps to attract more viewers. Come on, a real life story about a band doesn’t seem too appealing if it’s a drama story when we haven’t even heard of a sad news about the band for real, right?

They asked Cecilia Ahern who wrote the movie “P.S. I Love You”, where Hillary Swank starred in, to also write their script. The P.S. I love you movie was a blockbuster hit and Cecilia Ahern is an Irish novelist. Ronan Keating wants a “pure Irish” film and they have already briefed Cecilia about what they want for their movie.

With many years that Boyzone had made beautiful songs that hit the airwaves, we have grown to love them and admire them for their friendship and bond with each other and of course with their great songs. Hopefully, this movie will make us reminisce the past and hear their old but beautiful songs again.

Changeling aims for Oscars

what the film — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:51:29 +0000

Changeling is based on a true story on which the writer J. Michael Straczynski has spent a lot of time researching and gathering information for what was later to become the scrip for this movie.
In Los Angeles in 1928 a single mother (Angelina Jolie) discoveres that her son Walter who has been kidnapped and returned by the police 5 minths later is not her son actually. She confronts the authorities but is labeled as delusional. Christine Collins arranges a press conference where she tells her story.
Soon after that she is locked into a mental hospital. She is administered pills and is promised a release if she admits her mistake regarding Walter.

Jolie delivers a very good performance, being portrayed as both a vulnerable and tough woman who advocates for other women’s in similar situation. Several female stars campaigned for playing Christine Collins in this film: Reese Witherspoon and Hilary Swank to name only a few.
Eastwood also wrote the music for Changeling and the film expects at least two Oscars for Eastwood and Jolie.

Last week has been an interesting one -news wise – for Angelina Jolie. The glamorous wife of Brad Pitt and mother of five children is always in the news as far as Hollywood is concerned but at the same time there are certain stories that have surfaced that have made her the object of attention this week even more so than she normally is.

It started with an interview that was conducted with Hollywood heartthrob Pierce Brosnan regarding who he would be interested in working with in an upcoming movie. The former James Bond gave an interview in which he decided that he would rather work with another actress than Angelina Jolie and while he did take pains to mention that it was nothing against Jolie personally but rather his desire to work with other actresses, the gossip media immediately created a case of friction between the two of them for the entire country to read about.

It didn’t help matters that at the same time an interview with Jennifer Aniston was published in a magazine quoting her as saying that the actions of Jolie during the filming of Mr. and Mrs. Smith were “not cool” and that Angelina saying that she was loving getting to work everyday to work with Brad Pitt at the same point that Brad and Jennifer were still married was very much uncalled for. Once again Jennifer mentioned that the break-up with Brad was amicable, but the gossip news being what it is ended up creating yet another conflict.

Full Battle Rattle, unconventional Iraq war documentary? Really?

what the film — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:03:09 +0000

There have been several documentaries recently about Iraq. It’s probably Michael Moore’s doing with Farenheit 911, which gave documentary star status and brought it closer to reality TV than quality film making. That sparked lots of low budget on line documentaries, some indeed involving the war in Iraq, and it also sparked a more general interest in documentaries, both on the side of the film makers, as well as that of audiences.

Most documentaries dealing with this war (Farenheit 911, Iraq For Sale, Taxi To The Dark Side, etc.) may have small elements of comedy, in order to break the string of extremely serious issues being discussed, but for the most part are solemn affairs, dealing with death, lies and manipulation. Surprisingly enough, death, lies and manipulation (and the Iraq war) seem to be the main themes of Full Battle Rattle, however they make it funny. And poignant. But mostly funny.

The documentary explores a training facility for the US military in the Mojave desert where military units spend 3 weeks practicing for war with hundreds Iraqi and US role players. So the story follows young US troops, Iraqi refugees who are now acting in the war they escaped, as well as veterans playing insurgents. When you first hear of the film being funny you may find it hard to believe. But the trailer is hilarious. There are bumbling young troops who are still training so they may not always get it right, “casualties” covered in blood or with they eyes popped out of their sockets giggling like school girls because they feel silly, and an Iraqi man showing his family a video of himself being beheaded by terrorists, and all this takes place on what the director himself says “looks like a B-movie film set”.

It is a very interesting approach to the war in Iraq and I’m sure we will be taken on a journey that will start off with excitement and suspense, only to reveal to us the hilarity of pretending to be at war, then move into poignant passages about the Iraqis that are acting there and are in fact refugees whose families are still suffering back in Iraq, then it will reinject us with some comedy, only to conclude with the young soldiers heading off to war, in a melancholy thoughtful independent cinema shot. Possibly involving a sunset in the desert.

I hope it does not. The film’s site talks of unconventional films about war (Dr. Strangelove, MASH, Hearts and Minds) and that is exactly what those films are, unconventional. But how unconventional can you make a film about a war that is still going on and get permission from the military to show it? I want to believe that the film will be exactly as the trailer, it will highlight what a shame it is to send these kids to a country far away to fight and die for a non-existent cause, while pointing out that they are just that, kids, but I’m afraid it won’t. For no other reason apart from the fact that I cannot see them getting away with it.

For more information about the film, check out the official website. It includes a blog and the film’s trailer. For the moment, even though I have misgivings, I would go and watch it, so I guess I recommend it. Not the most wholehearted of recommendations, I know, but you should see what I said about Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and that made millions. Of course, there are reviewers (Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, and the New York Times) who have seen it at screenings and you can find their reviews on the films official site. The film’s world premier was at the Berlin Film Festival, hopefully we should catch it in the UK soon.

Alice? Who the fu-… no, wait, we know who she is.

what the film — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:01:10 +0000

Strange things coincidences. It’s been less than a week that I made my post on Tim Burton and I just read on the BBC that an actress has been picked to play the role of Alice in his adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s fantasy novel. As an added coincidence I was thinking of adapting it to a screenplay myself, but I’ll simply have to console myself by saying that great minds think alike.

So, this is the last chance this fan is giving Mr. Burton. I have gone over how I have been disappointed by his recent films and hopefully he has realised that just because you have singing and Johnny Depp does not necessarily mean that you have a decent film on your hands. But back to the question at hand, who is playing Alice?

Mia Wasikowska is apparently very very close to landing the role, which is due to start filming in November. She has been having an exciting year so far, as she has just finished her part in Amelia, a biopic about the life of Amelia Earhart starring Richard Gere and Hillary Swank, directed by Mira Nair.

This film will be a huge break for the 18-year-old actress, as it will surely be a cinema hit with youngsters and parents, although I cannot guess whether it will be a decent film. Apparently it will be a combination of live action and performance capture footage and presented in 3D.

Once again, the project seems to be ideal for Tim Burton, who can give the story an eerie tone to scare and excite children, and their parents. There is no question the film will be a hit. It’s a famous enough story and the potential for cameo appearances is incredible, what with the White Rabbit, the Ceshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and the Hare, the Queen of Hearts and a host of other small but iconic characters. Actors will probably be falling over themselves to audition for the parts. I wonder who will play who? Obviously Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter will feature in there somewhere (Mad Hatter and Queen? Caterpillar and the Cat?). In fact, he could cast them to play the whole thing but that would be too much even for him.

I apologize for ranting but whenever I hear about a new Burton film I am overwrought with excitement and I want to believe that this time it won’t be a disappointment. So, yes, filming starts in November and we are sure to hear announcements about the rest of the cast over the summer. I will follow you down the rabbit hole Tim, but this is the last time…