2017 is full of 'Wonder'

Murtada here. On twitter the CEO of the French distributor Mars, which usually distributes Woody Allen movies in France, announced that the title of his 2017 film is Wonder Wheel. It stars Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake (playing a lifeguard, if those set photos are to be believed), as well as Juno Temple, Jim Belushi and Max Casella. The film was partly shot in Coney Island so we assume that the title refers to Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park. July is our annual date with Woody so expect a US release announcement soon.

If this title holds it’ll mark the 4th movie scheduled for release this year that contains the word “wonder” in its title. We don’t have to remind you of our most anticipated film of the year, Todd Haynes’ Wonderstruck. There’s of course Wonder Woman.

And recently it was announced that a Julia Roberts - Jacob Tremblay collaboration, simply titled Wonder, is coming out at Thanksgiving. Tremblay plays a kid with facial differences who becomes a hero when he goes to school for the first time in his young life. Roberts and Owen Wilson are his parents and the director is Stephen Chbosky (Perks of Being a Wallflower).  

Obviously Wonder Woman doesn’t have to worry about anyone mixing it up with the other three. But one of the others will definately blink and change its title, no? Lay down your bets on which film will it be.

"We Can't Wait" Pt 2: Most Anticipated of 2017

Before the Oscar nominations tomorrow help put on a cap on 2016, we here at Team Experience are looking to the year ahead. We took a vote on our 17 most breathlessly anticipated movies of 2017 and here are the results. Part one, posted yesterday, included Beauty and the Beast, Coco, and How to Talk to Girls at Parties among others.

Part two after the jump. Our nine most anticipated films of the year...

Click to read more ...

For Your Tweets Only: Wonderstruck, Herzog, and the Next 007

As you may have heard rumors are swirling again (do they ever stop?) that Daniel Craig absolutely will not, won't, refused to, no matter how much you pay him, play Agent 007 again. The most frequently suggested future Bonds are Idris Elba and Tom Hiddleston but there are so many worthy ideas.

Who would you suggest?

Rosamund Pike should be the next James Bond

— Willow Maclay (@willow_catelyn) May 19, 2016

Lots more tweet fun after the jump (Clue, Ben Foster, Werner Herzog, etcetera) but first check out another intriguing photo of Julianne Moore in Wonderstruck. First we had her in Marie Antoinette mode and now this? Bless you Todd Haynes!

Sincerest wish that WONDERSTRUCK has dialogue about baking a cake or getting on a bus pic.twitter.com/oxvGk0T4iA

— Chris Feil (@chrisvfeil) May 20, 2016

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Moore and Haynes, Reunited At Last

Manuel here. In news that seem tailor-made for The Film Experience readership in general and Nathaniel in particular, Julianne Moore* is teaming up once again with her Far From Heaven director Todd Haynes. 

(Pause as we all gay gasp).

As you'll remember, Nat was already ecstatic about this project back when it was announced earlier in the year and while our host has been having a ball lately — in Los Angeles he overheard some Oscar whisperings, hob-knobbed with Adepero Oduye (!), Gena Rowlands (!!), Ian McKellen and The Lovely Laura Linney (!!!), and caught various films, you have to be sure that the news will surely knock him out all over again with glee.

Wonderstruck, for those of you who managed to regain consciousness after hearing "Moore" and "Haynes" in the same sentence, is Brian Selzknick's 2011 picture book/novel hybrid that follows two interconnected narratives, one set in 1927 and one in 1977 (in true Selznick fashion, one is told purely in pictures, the other purely in words) and involves a little girl obsessed with an actress and a boy intent on finding some family history that remains a mystery to him. For those of us who have already seen Carol, there is no doubt that Haynes is at the top of his game, so the fact that his next directorial project is coming together so quickly (no more waiting 8 years for another film!) is a welcome development. That it includes Moore? Well, that's just the juiciest cherry on top.

*This is your weekly reminder that Julianne Moore won an Oscar.

A Letter to Todd Haynes

Dearest Todd,

Never ever under any circumstances take another 8 year break from the cinema. The reviews for Carol (2015) read at times like an ecstatic mirage, dehydrated desert critics stumbling upon a Haynes-flavored pool. Its weird ½ an actress prize at Cannes, for the unexpected ½ at that, feels somehow fitting given the prismatic way you like to view identity (Velvet Goldmine, I'm Not There, etc).

I can't tell you the joy I felt this morning waking up to the news that you've added a third project (!!!) to your upcoming slate after so much hibernation. Of the two we already knew about a TV series set in a 1970s commune sounds the most promising; it's an underexplored rich topic in terms of time period and political content -- you're counter culture enough to do it justice. The other project, the Untitled Peggy Lee Biopic is a swell idea, too. You're the one filmmaker who is creatively incapable of making a dully traditional biopic (Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story / I'm Not There) and Miss Peggy Lee lived through all your favorite eras. We already know that its star Reese Witherspoon can sing thanks to her Oscar winning role as June Carter Cash and though we can't quite picture her as one of your muses a la Moore (Far From Heaven / [safe]) or recently Blanchett, we can picture her as a Barbie doll and we know you like those. At any rate, the part is a good fit for her. Peggy has so many classic songs, she was indominatable enough to serve as one of the original inspirations for Miss Piggy and that six decade career / four failed marriages surely contain plentiful dramatic fodder.

But the happiest news may well be the newest. You're planning to adapt Brian Selznick's children's book Wonderstruck for Killer Films??? How wonderful. That bifurcated tale featuring a boy in the Seventies pining for his father and a girl in the Twenties dreaming of an actress should provide ample spark for your formidable creativity. 

an image from Wonderstruck

You're 54 now, Todd. There are only so many years in a life. I'm not telling you to rush through these next projects but please never ever under any circumstances whatsoever take an eight year break from the cinema again in which we only get a remake of something that was already more than wonderful enough to begin with (Mildred Pierce). It was a painful drought.

Your forever fan, xoxo

Nathaniel R