Links: Frankenstein, Hughes, Zombies, Swampthings

FriiiiiiiiieeeeeeeendAntagony & Ecstasy by way of Green Lantern, Timothy looks back at another ill advised green-hued DC adaptation, Swamp Thing
the Wrap John Landis's son hired to write the reboot of Frankenstein. I was wondering when that stitched man monster would try to lumber through the current supernatural crowds again. Hey, Craig was just talking about the original Frankenstein in the Take Three series.
i09 considers True Blood characters who still haven't had sex with each other yet. Who should? 
IndieWire looks at five female directors on the verge 
Movie|Line says the offer is out for Emma Stone to headline Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. Natalie Portman was previously rumored but I think Emma is a much better idea for this kind of tonally specific project. Portman is too uneven with the fanciful stuff. Superb in Black Swan but less so other times that f/x surrealness have been involved. But will Emma really say yes given that she's already done Zombieland?

Howard HughesMeanwhile I was asking on Twitter why anyone would want a Chris Nolan Howard Hughes bio (he previously expressed intent) now that the news is out that that's the Warren Beatty project that is in the works. So many blogs were all "but what about Nolan's movie???" Excuse me but has no one seen Reds (1981)? If all biopics were as resonant, well acted and potent as that one it'd be a different film world altogether and Oscars love of the same would be fully and thoroughly justified and not just THIS again?(Nolan is excellent at certain things but I wonder why people think he'd be the man for a biopic when depth of characterization isn't exactly his forte.) Warren will play Hughes (who Leonardo DiCaprio already played as a younger man of course in The Aviator) in his later years and it'll focus on a romance with a younger woman. Rumored to be involved or interested in being involved are: Andrew Garfield, Alec Baldwin, Annette Bening, Shia La Beouf, Rooney Mara and Evan Rachel Wood. Oh and Jack Nicholson who gave one of his all time best and least characteristic performances in Reds. No word yet on who will be playing who but the important news is already out in the cosmos: Warren Beatty is getting back to work. Fi-nal-ly.

First and Last, 5th Season!

Here we go again. This is the first and last image from a motion picture.

Can you guess the movie? check your guess after the jump

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What's on your cinematic mind?

I've been terribly swamped today: What's on your cinematic mind at the moment? Maybe it'll inspire a future post. Do share.

Norway and Oscar. Which "Amanda" Nominee Will They Submit?

Last night I had a lovely Scandinavian dinner with friends as we discussed our book club title "The Ice Princess" the latest best seller capitalizing on the super hot Scandinavian crime genre (oh what The Girl With/Who... has wrought!). I didn't like the book at all and the translation seemed clunky (or maybe that was the fault of the original prose?) but I find the whole trend vaguely hilarious since Scandinavian countries, to their vast collective credit, are not exactly known as hotbeds of crime! Returning home, what do I have in my inbox?, but the nominations for Norway's annual "Amanda" Awards. Don't you love unexpected theme days?

Norway had a record breaking year with 34 original films eligible for their own prizes. To give you a very general sense of the amount of films various countries make each year here's a handy graphic AMPAS provided for the films of 2007. Would that all the regularly Oscar submitting countries had been listed!

It's no surprise that Bollywood is the biggest deal with over a thousand films made a year.

BUT BACK TO NORWAY.

They basically have two "Best Picture" categories since Scandinavia has a rich history of children's films. So the six lucky movies are as follows.

Nokas was released in Norway the day after last year's foreign film eligibility cutoff!Best Children's Film

• Elias og jakten på havets gull (Lise I. Osvoll) -ANIMATED
• Jørgen + Anne = sant [a.k.a. Totally True Love] (Anne Sewitsky)
• Keeper’n til Liverpool (Arild Andresen) -a comedy about a 13 year old soccer goalie.

Best Film

• Gazas tårer [aka Tears of Gaza] (Vibeke Løkkeberg) -This is a documentary film about the consequences of war.
• Kongen av Bastøy/ The King of Devil's Island (Marius Holst) -Here is the highest profile release, a true story period epic about a boy's prison in the early 20th century.
• Nokas (Erik Skjoldbjærg) -Another true story, this one a crime drama about Norway's most famous robbery. This is from the director of the famous thriller Insomnia (1997) which Christopher Nolan went and remade.

Trailer to The King of Devil's Island with Stellan Skarsgård

Eligibility dates aren't exactly the same for the Amandas as they are for Oscar submissions but you shouldn't be surprised if one of these six films is Norway's submission. Two other films of note: Maria Sødahl's Limbo, a period film with the great Lena Endre about expat Scandinavians in Trinidad, did very well in total nominations (acting, screenplay, direction and more) but missed the Best Picture cut under the familiar awards rule of something-has-to. But it won't be the Oscar submission as it would have been eligible in 2010 and it also has a lot of dialogue in English. Trolljegeren, known abroad as Troll Hunter (it's even in release as we speak right here in the States) won multiple nominations, too.

I'm assuming that Joachim Trier's second feature Oslo 31, August missed the eligiblity cut off for these awards. And given that it was so well received at Cannes, perhaps Oscar submission is in the cards? Norway submitted the young filmmaker's debut Reprise once upon a time. (Oscar foolishly ignored it. God, what a startling debut that was. I nominated it!). Here's the trailer to Oslo 31, August.

...same lead actor as Reprise, playing a troubled soul again. I shouldn't make any uninformed guesses but my hunch is that it'll be this one or The King of Devil's Island for Oscar submission.

"I'm going to lose to the King's Speech again??? It's my turn!"Best Foreign Film
One of the funnest things for awards junkies when perusing off-Oscar prizes is how often Oscar giants show up in Foreign Film prizes. Hint: They usually do.

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Cinema de Gym: 'Fool's Gold'

Kurt here with another round of Movies and Muscle. Flicks and Flexing. Celluloid and Deltoids. (I'm stopping, I'm stopping.) Today we have Fool's Gold, a frothy, summery dish and the unofficial sequel to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Released in 2008, this treasure-hunting rom com was to be the Runaway Bride or You've Got Mail for the beloved, if overestimated, duo of Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, whom, for brevity purposes, we'll refer to herein as Hudsoghey. Sadly, this well-meaning-lark-with-an-asking-for-it-title wound up even less successful than those other films, basically just serving as further proof of the lightning-only-strikes-once rule.

From what I gathered, Hudsoghey play husband-and-wife golddiggers who dive for sunken relics in what is either The Bahamas or an especially tropical-looking part of Florida (I swear I heard “Florida” in there somewhere). When I entered, wife was in the process of divorcing (a characteristically absent) hubbie, complaining about his incessant immaturity, but making a point to repeatedly emphasize his incredible sexual prowess. The visions she inspires seem to be the key fantasy this movie is trying to sell, and since no part of my snippet featured the requisite shirtless McConaughey, her words were doubly effective. (Not that they were ever in short supply, but McConaughey fantasies do seem to abound lately, what with that whole Justin Bartha “McConaughnuts” thing.)

Not part of what I saw

I couldn't pinpoint where I was in terms of the film's running time, but the sense of the divorce's impermanence was practically immediate, with Hudson second-guessing the Hudsoghey split. Enter Ray Winstone, Kevin Hart and President Snow himself, Donald Sutherland, who, if memory serves, play a fellow treasure man, a gangster and a rich tycoon, respectively. All are in search of a precious batch of Spanish artifacts, which Hudson seems to know the most about given her secret scholarly interests. When I stepped off my machine and headed for the door, she looked primed to literally dive back in, if not for love, then for love of ancient baubles.

Hudson as closet bookwormI liked the on-vacation vibrancy of the movie's visuals, which is pretty well-conveyed in that artificial-bronzer poster. I also like that I'm starting to get a beat on my gym's screening trends. They like McConaughey, especially when he's gallivanting around atmospheric locales with pretty ladies whose passions don't quite jive with their bombshell looks. Previously shown was Sahara, which features Penelope Cruz as some sort of a scientist.

But that's another post...

Conclusions?

1. Even if the movie's a dud (and even if her character's implausible), Hudson's pretty reliable when it comes to exuding that sunshine she inherited.
2. Hudsoghey likely won't be having a third go at it.
3. Sunny surroundings can give a major boost to films that are doomed to sink.
4. Fictional supercouples like Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling would probably be wise to learn from the Fool's Golds of the world: best to keep that (note)book closed.

Is there an onscreen flame you'd like to see rekindled?