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Tomorrow Production Update

September 6th 2009 03:24

I am probably getting way ahead of myself when I say this, but I believe that Tomorrow When the War Began has the potential to be a great Australian film, both critically and commercially.

Based on the first book of the hugely successful Tomorrow series by John Marsden, Tomorrow When the War Began has been picked up by Ambience Entertainment for production. This week they also announced the casting of the lead character Ellie Linton, played by former Neighbours actress Caitlin Stasey.Stuart Beattie, who wrote the first Pirates film is directing the film.

The book is set in Australia, and focuses on teenagers who are forced to hide out in the Australian bush after the country is invaded by an unspecified country. The teenagers become guerilla fighters while trying to deal with their raging hormones and their lack of knowledge about events at large.

While Australia has recently produced some critically acclaimed films (think Balibo, Beautiful Kate , Samson and Delilah and Blessed among others). What we haven't had for a while, however, is a commercial hit that can translate overseas. Our last great hope was Australia, and while that performed very well in Australia, it only really broke even on the international stage.

Which is why Tomorrow has some serious potential. Firstly, it is based on an immensely popular series, which just about every teenager in Australia would have read at some point, meaning it is bound to be popular here.

Secondly, the story is a great mix of character driven plotlines and action. If balanced right, it could easily make the film appealing to both men and women, and especially to teenagers.

What could go against the film is its casting and directing. If the balance is not handled right, this film could easily become a huge enormous quagmire. In addition, while I have nothing against Caitlin Stasey, I never really liked her in Neighbours. That said, I never really liked Isabel Lucas in Home and Away, but think she is doing an excellent job in Hollywood.

Regardless, the film should showcase some of the Australian bush, with principal photography on the film is set to begin in September in the Hunter Valley.

Personally, I can't wait!

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Posted By: Emily Finlay - Category: No Category

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In honour of Sam Worthington and Avatar

August 28th 2009 13:12

IF you haven't been living under a rock for the past week, you will probably have noticed that the film world is going crazy over a little film called Avatar (and when I say little, I really mean HUGE).

James Cameron recently previewed 15 minutes of this 3d extravaganza to a selected few; sadly, I was not one of the lucky ones to make the cut.

So, being unable to talk about the quality of said 15 minutes, I thought I would instead devote this blog to Sam Worthington, and in honour of his Australian citizenship, compile a list of other promising young Australian movie actors.

Here we are, four promising Aussies (and I should mention that they are in no particular order):

1) Sam Worthington. Avatar is considered Sam's break out role, because it was filmed before Terminator Salvation (in which he was one of the few good things about the film, excluding Arnie's head being plasted on to a robot). Has a slew of films being released, including The Debt (with Helen Mirren), Last Night (with Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes), Clash of the Titans (as Perseus) and is now rumoured to be starring in 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas as Captain Nemo.

If you want to see Mr. Worthington with his native Australian accent, I would highly recommend Somersault which also starred the brilliant Abbie Cornish.

2) Abbie Cornish. Miss Cornish has a couple of great Australian films under her belt, including Somersault and Candy. While she has yet to break the US market in a big way (apart from tabloid gossip), she has acquitted herself well in films such as Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and Stop Loss. Her real break, however, appears to be in Jane Campion's Bright Star which has been generating some Oscar buzz. Also on the horizon is Sucker Punch, which looks to be a huge amount of fun.

3) Chris Hemsworth. A couple of months ago, I seriously doubt anyone other than Australian soap watchers would have heard of this serious hottie. Although Hemsworth was fine in his brief Star Trek screen time, his real test is with big budget Thor, as well as The Cabin in the Woods and the lead in the remake of Red Dawn. At least if it turns out he can't act he will still make me drool.

4) Emily Browning. Really great actress, but seems to have a very 'take it or leave it' approach to starring in films. Was apparently the first choice for Bella in Twilight, but passed because she didn't want to get involved in a series. Starred in Lemony Snicket and The Uninvited - next film is Sucker Punch alongside Abbie Cornish.

That's it for now folks- stay tuned for more!

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Posted By: Emily Finlay - Category: No Category

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Am I a movie stalker?

August 24th 2009 08:17

For my first blog post, I thought I would answer the question which I know everyone out there on the inter-web has been dying to have answered:

Am I a movie stalker?

I'm sure there are many, many, many criteria for being a movie stalker (and I would love to hear them), but here are some of the points that apply to me. And as this is my blog, my definition of movie stalkers wins.

You are a movie stalker if:

- You spend a lot of your free time (and your not-so-free time) watching movies (duh!).
- Your friends get annoyed when they watch movies with you, because you tend to list all the actors/ directors/ editors/ extras in the film and every other project they have ever been involved in
- Said friends treat you like a walking, talking IMDB (the pro version)
- You spend way too much time checking various blogs/ websites/ film magazines to keep up to date with what is going on in the world of film
- You actually enjoy seeing previews (even though you have already watched them on Youtube
- You get annoyed at people talking in movie theatres. Especially when they offer a running commentary on the film
- You have a blog which you don't write on for about a year because you are too busy watching movies, thinking about movies, dreaming about movies

If any of these apply to you, then congratulations, you are a movie stalker! And if all of them (and more) apply, then movies should probably get out a restraining order against you.

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Posted By: Emily Finlay - Category: No Category

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Stepbrothers - art imitating life

December 8th 2008 14:21

The premise of two childish, unemployed 40 year olds, still living with their respective parents may translate into great comedy but the reality is that the stigma of living with one’s parents well into adulthood is not as absurd as it was once considered.

This is characteristic of generation Y, an anomalous generation. They generally exhibit deferred emotional and intellectual development and, as many have proclaimed, display a ‘sense of entitlement’ and a lack work ethic. They rely on their parents to finance their ambitions and bail them out from mistakes. It has become more common for this newly created category of ‘young’ adult (most likely to address this phenomena) to live at home after they’ve left school, postponing the prospects of a family, a mortgage, dog and 2.5 kids

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Posted By: Vivi - Category: No Category

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Rock n Rolla - Ritchie still has it

December 8th 2008 14:16

A band of likeable cockney criminals, a despicable underworld boss, a rare coveted item, a seemingly impossible debt to be honoured and a complex sequence of interconnected events overlaid with a traditional narrative are just a few of the formulaic aspects found in Guy Ritchie’s new film, Rock n Rolla. One would think that his conventional methodology would prove tiresome and unoriginal but Guy Ritchie has been able successfully create a sub-genre for his films that remains workable and entertaining.

This time the band of criminals is lead by Gerard Butler (300) as One-Two, who gets caught up in a multimillion-dollar heist to settle a debt, with the assistance of a crooked, cool and calculating accountant, Thandie Newtown (Run fat boy Run) as Stella. The onslaught of characters include the usual seedy underworld types, the Russian mafia, American music execs (Ludacris and Jeremy Piven), with the most notable performances by Jamie Campbell Bower as the strung out rock n rolla and Mark Strong as the loyal right hand man, provides a humorous and entertaining crime caper comedy

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Posted By: Vivi - Category: No Category

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Burn After Reading….or watching

December 8th 2008 14:05

While I appreciate a good satyr, I don’t appreciate satyr that leaves me open mouthed and feeling dumb. Following their Grammy award winning film, No Country for Old men, and their impressive list of cult classics including the Big Lebowski, Fargo and O’ Brother Where Art Though, I was thoroughly frustrated with the film’s inane plot littered with moronic characters. That or perhaps the film was just too clever for my simple mind.

The twists unfolds somewhat like a modern Shakespearean tragedy, except for the important fact that none of the characters, though flawed, are likeable enough to allow an audience to sympathise with them. Though supported by big Hollywood names, including heavyweights Pitt and Clooney who try to show that they are more than just charming, pretty faces, Pitt’s portrayal of a clueless meathead and Clooney’s as a seedy philanderer are overly exaggerated. John Malkovich plays a spitting, temperamental and profanity shouting ex-CIA analyst with his cold English wife played by (a perfectly casted) Tilda Swinton. And of course, it was due time that Mrs Joel Coen or should I say Frances McDormand be cast in a Coen brothers movie, with her character, I found, the most unlikeable and irritable of all. Don’t get me wrong, the performances are hilarious and entertaining but I couldn’t help feeling that the attempt by the Coens to be clever masked a certain degree of smugness and arrogance that left me dumbfounded and unsatisfied. By re-casting the same group of elite A-list actors, instead of risking fresh new faces, the Coen brothers prove that Hollywood continues to be rife with cronyism and nepotism

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Posted By: Vivi - Category: No Category

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Year of the Dog

September 22nd 2008 03:05

Picture me at Blockbuster on a Friday night: I'm walking around the store, looking forward to a quiet night in with my cats, a glass of vino, my gluten-free pizza and some well chosen dvd's. I see Year of the Dog, and I think "Hey, I love Molly Shannon and I also love dogs, so this movie is going to be great!" Talk about assumption being the mother of all stuff ups. This movie was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooo crap that I can't even think of a more eloquent word that means crap. Ever watched a movie and resented that the two hours it took you to watch it are forever lost and will never be reclaimed? Uh huh, thanks to Year of the Dog, I know what that feels like. Let me explain.
First of all, put your hand up if you, like me, are sick and tired of how animal lovers are portrayed in films! (I'm putting my hands up now) Molly Shannon's attempt at acting in a dramatic role was an abomination to actors and film-making in general. Her depiction of a secretary who lives for her Beagal, Pencil, was amatuerish and insulting to those of us who choose to live our lives in canine, feline, bovine or whatever -ine company. She is a whinging, spineless twit, and the storyline is structured so that it hammers home the reason she is so dependant upon her dog is because she is socially retarded. I, along with my fellow dog-dwelling and cat-cohabiting friends are not losers who have to resort to spending time with our furry family because we have no human friends, so I take a massive amount of offence to how the main character was represented. Here is some sample dialogue:

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Posted By: Lauren Neill - Category: No Category

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Gone Baby Gone

September 15th 2008 02:50

This film is Ben Affleck's directing debut, and in my opinion he has set the bar unusually high for future first-time directors. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of Mr Affleck as an actor; I don't think he is a bad actor, it's just that his performances don't generally envoke an emotional response in me...so I wasn't really expecting much from him as a director. Cut to me sitting in front of my tv with egg on my face. Big time. We're talking a flaming Spanish frittata here. But back to the film.
Within this beautifully constructed piece of work are many sub-plots, most of which I won't go into because I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't yet seen it. The tagline "Everyone wants the truth...Until they find it." should be enough to tell you that things are not what they seem in this flick. But basically, the story centres around Patrick (Casey Affleck) who is a private investigator in Boston. When a young girl is abducted, Patrick and his girlfriend/investigative partner(Michelle Monaghan) are hired by the family to assist the police in finding her. Along the way we discover that what is on Patrick's side is not his incredible detective skills, but rather his contacts in Boston's shady underworld. And just when you think the case has been closed, the film then goes in a completely different direction...and the destination it eventually arrives at is one that will leave you with questions that you may not have the answers to.
There are so many reasons why I loved this film: One being that not for a second do the actors slip into self-indulgent emotional performances. This is truly the sign of a talented director who trusts his actors. They delivered what is the pretty much the Holy Grail of performing: The Truth. Every actor and director in the film and theatre world attempts to get there, but very few do

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Posted By: Lauren Neill - Category: No Category

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Fatal Instinct

September 2nd 2008 05:15

For all the spoof-movie lovers out there, this is the ultimate. Not only does this great film parody other films, but it also makes a goof out of movie genres, which is something I haven't seen done this well for a long time.
Fatal Instinct takes and combines the following: Basic Instinct, Sleeping With The Enemy, Fatal Attraction, Double Indemnity, Cape Fear and a few others; while also spoofing the Film Noir genre. Not sure what Film Noir is? Think anything starring Humphrey Bogart...very dark, lots of shadows, people's faces being masked by a black sinister shadow...very dramatic.
Fatal Instinct's hero is a dapper Ned Ravine (Armande Assante); Ned is an interesting character, being that by night he is a cop arresting crims, and by day he is a defense attorney...that's right, he arrests them, then defends them in court. His office is looked after by a stunning Laura (Sherrilyn Finn), who of course is carrying a torch for our dear Ned. Into his life walks Lola Kane and a brief but torrid affair ensues...with dramatic and bunny boiling results. During the chaos, one of the criminals that Ned arrested and defended, but lost the case so said criminal went to jail for a LOOOOONG time, is released from the clink, and begins faxing death threats to our hero

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Posted By: Lauren Neill - Category: No Category

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The Dark Knight

September 1st 2008 03:09

I deliberately waited to see this film because I wanted to see if it was worth all the hype surrounding it. My verdict? When there is someone as brilliant as Heath Ledger in the film, everything is going to look just that little bit better...no matter how dodgy it is.
For starters, in the history of Batman movies, there has never been a well-written, well-developed female lead. Their dialogue has always been glib and totally lacking in depth...So with such crappy material to work with, is anyone really surprised that even a quirky and charismatic Maggie Gylenhall falls flat? When you also consider the amateurish make up (and the rule of thumb in film make up is, that if anyone comments on it, you've done a truly feral job), and also the equally garish lighting, and also a director who clearly has NO IDEA how to direct female actors, is it any wonder that Ms Gylanhall has been panned by critics? Anyway, even at her worst Maggie is 100 times better than unsymmetrical whinging Katie Holmes.
Bruce Wayne in this film has not got the same cheeky spark and charisma that was present in Batman Begins. If this was a choice to attempt to show that Bruce has become jaded by his heroic activites, it was not executed well. Bruce actually appeared bored and unmotivated. And I am confused as to why he suddenly has a "Bruce Wayne" voice and a "Batman" voice. I am equally confused as to why said voice has a prominant lisp. Was Bruce Wayne an avid fan of Elmer Fudd? I know not

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Posted By: Lauren Neill - Category: No Category

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September 2009

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December 2008