I knew next to nothing about this film until the trailer was finally released, and man, am I excited to watch this. At first glance this might seem like a weak knock off of Suicide Kings with an added dose of revenge, but when you consider that the film is from the writers of the fantastic Sexy Beast and dishes out a monster cast this has quickly turned the film from an unknown into a must-see. February can’t get here soon enough.
It should also be noted that seeing Joanne Whalley in the trailer really makes me want to watch Willow again. Who knew she was still making movies?
While my last entry for The Crazies was a fairly mainstream film that should be easy for people to see, this next choice is one I’ve been keeping an eye on for a few months now. As an added bonus, this film was made here in Minneapolis, Minnesota, making it extra easy for me to keep tabs on it.
The film I am speaking of is Phasma Ex Machina, which essentially means Ghost from the Machine. Based on the trailer I’ve heard people compare it to Primer, but with that title the film seems to have more of an existential bent in mind and honestly the first film that comes to me is Ghost, which may or may not be a bad thing. Phasma Ex Machina doesn’t seem to be planning to layer on the sappy love story, but rather delve potentially into more of an eerie ghost tale, which would be a welcome sight.
The good news is that it looks like post-production is almost wrapped up, and the film should start being screened around town and festivals. Be sure to check out their website where you can follow the film on Twitter and Facebook, read their production blog and sign up for the newsletter to keep up to date on any potential screenings in your area.
I’m not anti-remake by any means, in fact I rather enjoy them quite a bit, but it would be nice if Hollywood took a bit more care in just which films they chose to remake. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one that comes easily to mind, as the original is perhaps a perfect film, and the remake doesn’t seemingly intend to do anything other then tone down the weirdness and ramp up the gore.
I also don’t mind if people take a signature film and attempt to re-imagine it or put their own spin on the material. Take iconic fare like The Wizard of Oz, which has been remade at least 5 times by my count. Even the Judy Garland version was at least 4 tries in. Making it a bit difficult for purists to make a decent argument for one and done film making.
But what I enjoy most are when Hollywood takes lesser known films, or even films that were high on ideas but low on quality production and pump some much needed money and exposure towards them as they come up with a new take on the film. George Romero might have come up with a pretty nifty concept for the original The Crazies, but the film is far from perfect, and not much closer to even being decent. The remake looks like a hop, skip and a jump in the right direction, and it looks like it might be one of the rare recent Hollywood horror films to squarely hit its mark.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Afghan Star is getting its released date pushed, for the fourth time. Of course this is a better fate then Park Chan-wook’s latest film Thirst, which has been dropped and will not open in Minneapolis. This after being delayed twice, and after having an intial release date scheduled a full six weeks after its Chicago opening. As far as I can tell, Thirst only played in Chicago, New York and LA and that is it for the US, which is truly ridiculous. Word is trickling out that the studio (Focus Features/Universal) simply didn’t want to pay to strike prints, let alone market the film. Evidently they thought marketing a vampire film to modern day filmgoer’s was a risk not worth taking. Probably because they are idiots.
In other news Young Victoria had its release date pushed and … ohh … it says here Universal sucks. So it must be true. Hopefully one of the local Independent theatres(The Heights, Parkway or Riverview, I’m not picky) picks up the slack (Hey Trylon, throw us a freaking bone please!) and releases the film so Minneapolis film lovers have a chance to watch it in theatres.
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
09/25 Burning Plain Uptown (tentative)
09/25 Paris Uptown/Edina
09/25 Somers Town Lagoon***
09/25 Afghan Star Lagoon (NEW DATE)
09/25 The Other Man Edina (tentative)
10/02 A Serious Man Uptown***
10/02 Capitalism: A Love Story Lagoon
10/02 No Impact Man Lagoon
10/02 Flame & Citron Edina
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 The Boys Are Back Edina
10/09 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Unmistaken Child Lagoon
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Edina
10/16 More Than A Game Lagoon
10/23 An Education Uptown
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
10/23 Damned United Lagoon
10/23 Amelia Lagoon
10/30 New York, I Love You Uptown/Lagoon
10/30 Canyon Lagoon
11/06 Antichrist Uptown
11/06 Skin Edina
11/13 Crude Lagoon
11/20 We Live in Public Lagoon
11/20 Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Lagoon
11/25 The Road Edina***
11/27 RED CLIFF Uptown
11/27 Oh My God? Lagoon
11/27 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Lagoon
12/04 The Strip Lagoon (NEW)
12/11 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe Lagoon
12/18 The Maid Edina
12/18 Young Victoria Edina (NEW DATE)
This trailer comes thanks to the efforts of the good folks working over at Quiet Earth. Its one hell of a film website and I highly recommend making it a regular stop. If you’re not reading Quiet Earth, you’re not a fan of film.
Now everyone knows that The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus is the final film that Heath Ledger was working on when he expired, but besides that this is the latest film from Terry Gilliam, who is truly one of the finest directors working today. I’ve been waiting four years since his last film (Tideland, which is divisive, yet still a masterpiece) and with the release date of October 16th quickly approaching, I was beginning to wonder just when we would start to see some actual footage of the film.
Well, that time has arrived and what is contained within the trailer looks bloody fabulous. October can’t get here soon enough.
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