New movies coming out...

[Winslow Leach]

I just saw No Country for Old Men. I am curious to see what other people though.

I think "No Country" is the best Coen bros. movie since "O Brother." And it's a nice return to their more darker side ("Blood Simple," "Miller's Crossing").

It's also an extremely faithful adaptation of the novel; much of the dialogue and scenes are taken directly from the source material...including the fate of a major character that a lot of people complained about as happening off-screen...well, in the book it happens "off-screen" as well.

And the "controversial" ending that left some critics and audiences puzzled: again, direct from the book.

All in all, it was one of the best films of last year, IMO, and certainly one of the Coens' strongest works.

BTW, Josh Brolin has been signed to play George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's upcoming biopic, W. James Cromwell may play Bush senior.

 

[unclematt]

I love Stone movies. I am looking forward to that.

 

[Winslow Leach]

I love Stone movies. I am looking forward to that.

Yeah, W sounds quite interesting...

 

[Drtooth]

BTW, Josh Brolin has been signed to play George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's upcoming biopic, W. James Cromwell may play Bush senior.

At the risk of sounding political, who wants to bet that critics will call it "Bold" and "Courageous" for finally jumping on the criticising Bush bandwagon when it's become stylish to do so? Just like the commercials for Stop Loss. Boldness and Bravery would have been to critisice things back in 2003, when he had a high approval rating, and people thought the war was going to end in 3 weeks. Now it's just making a statement we all know.

 

[unclematt]

At the risk of sounding political, who wants to bet that critics will call it "Bold" and "Courageous" for finally jumping on the criticising Bush bandwagon when it's become stylish to do so? Just like the commercials for Stop Loss. Boldness and Bravery would have been to critisice things back in 2003, when he had a high approval rating, and people thought the war was going to end in 3 weeks. Now it's just making a statement we all know.

Very well said Drtooth. I think Michael Moore deserves more credit for Farenheit 911.

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah. Once again, risk of sounding political, it was just the same frighting bout of pseudo patriotism that we had when we first went into war, and we had to call everything Freedom Fries, and zetz it to a country that didn't want to get involed that I'm talking about. Cowardice that stopped people from speaking out.

Now it's a safe thing to complain about him. It's not even special anymore. Making a movie about it isn't going to do anything but retread things we already knew.

That said, I'm really pumped for Speed Racer. That one looks like the film makers actually WATCHED the show and actually CARE about the product. Everyone in that film looks perfect. Christina Ricci as Trixie (Michi), John Goodman as Pops (Daisuke), they just look absolutely perfect. The cartoon characters come to life. Not like half the stuff we've been getting lately.

 

[unclematt]

I am not even a Speedracer fan aand I think it looks fantastic.

 

[Beauregard]

I thought I'd just throw this topic back up to the top, since there are quite a few movies coming out at the moment.

Most notably, Bond, which I didn't want to start a new topic about, but did want to comment on. Has anyone seen it? I don't want to spoil it if you haven't...so I'll just say it was potentially the greatest waste of time as a movie since...well, hmmm...Since Matrix 3? Except that had some great special effects.

 

[ryhoyarbie]

Another sequel I read about is Spider-Man 4. Toby and Kirsten are coming back for the 4th installment. A 2010 or 2011 release is expected. Plot and the villian are being kept hush hush.

Most notably, Bond, which I didn't want to start a new topic about, but did want to comment on. Has anyone seen it? I don't want to spoil it if you haven't...so I'll just say it was potentially the greatest waste of time as a movie since...well, hmmm...Since Matrix 3? Except that had some great special effects.

Beau, the new James Bond film is being released this friday here in the states.

So no one has seen it yet. I'm not planning on seeing it though. I'm not a James Bond kind of guy.

 

[Winslow Leach]

Actually, Quantum of Solace is opening in the U.S. on the 14th. It was originally the 7th, but it was changed.

I'm looking forward to Bond 22 very much. Being a die hard 007 fan, I love all the films, although I don't have a particularly favorite Bond. I think Daniel Craig is absolutely amazing in the role, though, and Casino Royale was easily one of the best in the series, IMO.

I think it's interesting that Quantum is a direct sequel to Casino, the first in the franchise's history, and that at 105 minutes, is the shortest Bond film to date.

BTW, Craig is signed for two more films...

Other upcoming flicks I'm interested in:

Milk - Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, San Francisco's first openly gay city supervisor; Milk lasted less than a year in office before being assassinated, along with the mayor, by fellow supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin). The film is directed by Gus Van Sant, and features many people who knew Milk in small roles.

Australia - an epic directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge), starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the film is the story of a man (Brad Pitt) who ages backward, and falls in love with a woman who grows older as he grows younger. Plus, it has Cate Blanchett!

Valkyre - true story based on German officer Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) who plotted to assassinate Hitler in 1944. The film is directed by Bryan Singer, and co-stars Kenneth Branagh.

Che - Steven Soderbergh's four-hour, Spanish-language biopic on Che Guevara (Benicio Del Toro); interestingly, the film will be split into two parts (The Argentine, Guerrilla) and open on the same day!

Cadillac Records - another true story, this one based on the legendary Chess Records, the Chicago-based label that recorded such legendary artists as Chuck Berry (Mos Def), Etta James (Beyonce Knowles) and Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright). Adrien Brody plays label founder Leonard Chess.

Frost/Nixon - another real-life story, based on the legendary televised interviews between TV personality David Frost (Michael Sheen) and disgraced ex-president Richard Nixon (Frank Langella). Both Sheen and Langella are reprising the roles they played on stage.

Yes Man - this one looks pretty fun; Jim Carrey stars as a man who vows to say yes to everything.