Saturday 15 September 2007

Announce #10 Eastern Promises

The new thriller reteaming acclaimed director David Cronenberg with his A History of Violence leading man Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises is written by Steve Knight (Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of Dirty Pretty Things). As in the earlier film, director and star together explore the psyche, physicality, and fortunes of a man whose true nature may never be wholly revealed. The mysterious and charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Mr. Mortensen) is a driver for one of London’s most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon (Academy Award nominee Armin Mueller-Stahl), whose courtly charm as the welcoming proprietor of the plush Trans-Siberian restaurant impeccably masks a cold and brutal core, the family’s fortunes are tested by Semyon’s volatile son and enforcer, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), who is more tightly bound to Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai’s carefully maintained existence is jarred once he crosses paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova (Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts), a midwife at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected by the desperate situation of a young teenager who dies while giving birth to a baby. Anna resolves to try to trace the baby’s lineage and relatives. The girl’s personal diary also survives her; it is written in Russian, and Anna seeks answers in it. Anna’s mother Helen (Sinéad Cusack) does not discourage her, but Anna’s irascible Russian-born uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski) urges caution. He is right to do so; by delving into the diary, Anna has accidentally unleashed the full fury of the Vory. With Semyon and Kirill closing ranks and Anna pressing her inquiries, Nikolai unexpectedly finds his loyalties divided. The family tightens its grip on him; who can, or should, he trust? Several lives - including his own - hang in the balance as a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution reverberates through the darkest corners of both the family and London itself. (see also IMDB and trailer)

In Theatres: September 14th, 2007
Last business news about movies is here.

Thursday 13 September 2007

Announce #9 The Darjeeling Limited

An emotional comedy about three brothers re-forging family bonds. The eldest, played by Wilson, hopes to reconnect with his two younger siblings by taking them on a train trip across the vibrant and sensual landscape of India.
(Trailer B (2:22))
In Theatres: September 29th, 2007

Saturday 25 August 2007

Announce #8 Self-Medicated

On the outskirts of Las Vegas, far from the bright lights of the Strip, 17 year-old Andrew’s life is spiraling out of control. Powerless to intervene as he backslides into drugs, alcohol, and violence, his mother decides to hire a private company to forcibly kidnap Andrew and take him to a locked-down (and corrupt) psychiatric center for teens. As Andrew is subjected to the physical and emotional abuses of the program, something inside of him is re-awakened, and he decides the only way to get back on track is to face his demons head-on. (trailer)
In Theatres: August 31st, 2007 (IMDB)

Sunday 19 August 2007

Announce #7 The Fighter

Life story of boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward and his trainer brother Dick Eklund, chronicling the brothers'' early days on the rough streets of Lowell, Massachusetts through Eklund''s battle with drugs and Ward''s eventual world championship in London.

Announce #6 Youth Without Youth

YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH stars Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Rob Roy,) as Dominic Matei, a professor whose life changes after a cataclysmic incident during the dark years prior to World War II. Becoming a fugitive, he is pursued through far-flung locations including Romania, Switzerland, Malta and India.
"I was excited to discover in this tale by Eliade, the key themes that I most hope to understand better: Time, consciousness and the dream- like basis of reality,” said Coppola. “For me it is indeed a return to the ambitions I had for my work in cinema as a student."

The film also stars Alexandra Maria Lara (Downfall, The Tunnel), Bruno Ganz (Downfall, The American Friend, Nosferatu), Marcel Iures (Peacemaker, Hart’s War) and introduces Alexandra Pirici. The music will be composed by one of today's most exciting classical composers, Osvaldo Golijov. Executive producers are Fred Roos and Anahid Nazarian .
The director of photography is Mihai Malaimare Jr. with production design by Calin Papura. Academy Award® winner Peter King and his team from the U.K. are designing and executing the special make up effects and hairstyles; Gloria Papura has created period costumes ranging from 1894 to 1969.

Saturday 18 August 2007

Announce #5 National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary.
Ben Gates: The past is filled with incredible mysteries. The clues to solving them are all around, hidden in plain sight. But this story begins with the most famous assassination in history. Abraham Lincoln's killer, John Wilkes Booth, kept a diary. A diary that was found the night Booth was killed, with 18 pages missing. Concealed in those pages is the key to something much, much bigger. A conspiracy that crosses the globe, and a discovery that the world isn't ready to believe.

Release Date: 21 December 2007 (USA)
Teaser Trailer, Trailer 1

Thursday 16 August 2007

Announce #4 Margot At The Wedding

Acclaimed Academy Award®-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach ("The Squid and the Whale," "Kicking and Screaming,") brings to life a sharply observed portrait of a family in distress. His latest project is an unflinchingly honest story about coming to terms with one's family and oneself, a journey that is both funny and heartbreaking. The film stars Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jack Black. (PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

Announce #3 BEE MOVIE

"Bee Movie" is a comedy that will change everything you think you know about bees. Having just graduated from college, a bee by the name of Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice - honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Rene Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bees� honey for centuries, and ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race for stealing their precious honey.

Release: November 2, 2007 (DreamWorks)

Announce #2 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Based on the hit Broadway musical which tells the infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Release Date: 11 January 2008 (USA)
Book story (also based on the hit Broadway musical):
Times are hard in 1846 London and one must make do. So Nellie Lovett adds something extra to the meat pies she peddles on Fleet Street. The secret ingredient: freshly murdered victims of her partner in crime, barber Sweeney Todd. Composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim refashions a macabre tale into a musical masterwork in this dazzling performance of the 1979 Broadway hit originally staged by Harold Prince. In her Tony-winning role (one of eight the show earned, including Best Musical), Angela Lansbury plays Nellie. George Hearn turns his stage role of twisted Sweeney into an Emmy-winning triumph. The score coils around itself in ever-tightening spirals. The lines ripple with black humor and madness. Enter Sweeney's tonsorial parlor. Attend the tale.

Wednesday 15 August 2007

Announce #1 Burn After Reading

Malkovich will play Ozzie Cox, a former CIA agent whose soon-to-be ex-wife (Frances McDormand) steals a disc containing his memoirs and accidentally leaves it at the gym where it is found by a trainer (Brad Pitt) who believes he can use the info to blackmail Cox. George Clooney will play an assassin hired by the CIA to take care of the situation. Working Title Films are producing the film for Focus Features. (via W)

The book story is "Burn After Reading: The Espionage History of World War II"
by Ladislas Farago
Fought under the cover of elaborate deceptions and ruthless lies, the deadly intelligence operations of World War II produced victories and defeats that were often as important as any reached on the battlefield. A behind-the-scenes history of the war, this book offers an exciting picture of the whole range of clandestine activities, the various forms of intelligence, espionage and sabotage, subversion and counter-espionage--the entire secret war conducted apart from conventional warfare. The major exploits of the O.S.S., M.I.5, Abwehr, and the Deuxieme Bureau are described in colorful detail by an author considered one of the foremost civilian experts on intelligence during the war. Ladislas Farago's account of Allied and Axis spymasters at work offers compelling reading about real traitors and heroes in cloak-and-dagger-dom.