Movie Lines
Words by Micky Reynolds 09/10/2008
WHAT’S ON SCREEN THIS MONTH… WHAT’S BEING FILMED AT THE MOMENT… AND WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE… MICKY REYNOLDS LOOKS INSIDE THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MOVIES SIX OF THE BEST INTERNATIONAL RELEASES FOR OCTOBERBrideshead Revisited – 3 October (17 October in Spain)Based on EVELYN WAUGH’s 1945 classic British novel, a poignant story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in England prior to World War II. MATTHEW GOODE, THOMAS MORRISON How to Lose Friends & Alienate People – 3 OctoberMuch talked about comedy in which a small-time, bumbling British celebrity journalist is hired by an upscale New York magazine and burns bridges with bosses, peers and superstars within the show-biz trade. SIMON PEGG, KIRSTEN DUNST, DANNY HOUSTON, GILLIAN ANDERSON, MEGAN FOX, JEFF BRIDGES High School Musical 3: Senior Year – 24 October America’s favorite high school students return for their senior year with a basketball championship game, a prom and a spring musical featuring all of the Wildcats. ZAC EFRON, VANESSA HUDGENS, ASHLEY TISDALE Ghost Town – 24 October (3 October in Spain)Rom com, a man whose people skills leave much to be desired, unexpectedly dies but is miraculously revived. He wakes to find he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts and they all want something from him. RICKY GERVAIS, GREG KINNEAR, TEA LEONI Saw V – 24 OctoberA whole new game is about to start as forensics expert Hoffman (COSTAS MANDYLOR) goes on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends in order to protect the secret that he is the latest person to carry on Jigsaw’s (TOBIN BELL) legacy. Quantum of Solace – 31 October (21 November in Spain)For synopsis see main story. Coming next month: Oliver Stone’s W QUANTUM OF SOLACE – 169“The name’s Bond, James Bond” – those words have been uttered over the past five decades by several actors portraying the world’s most famous secret agent, and once again DANIEL CRAIG steps into those much sought after shoes for the second time – in this, the 22
nd 007 caper that continues where the 2006 blockbuster Casino Royale finished.Despite being betrayed by the woman he loved (Vesper Lynd), our all-action hero seeks revenge for her death, hunting down ruthless business man Dominic Greene (MATHIEU AMALRIC) with the help of Camille (OLGA KURYLENKO), who herself has a score to settle with him. The chase travels through Austria, Italy and finally Bolivia where this villain has dastardly plans to take control of the country’s water supply after forging a deal with an exiled general (JOAQUIN COSIO).Will our man get his man? If so he must keep one step ahead of the general’s regime, the CIA, and even M (JUDI DENCH) from his own organisation.After many red herrings to keep the press guessing, the title for this film was finally chosen from an unrelated short story in IAN FLEMING’s 1960 book For Your Eyes Only, which, as all James Bond addicts will know, was a film in its on right back in 1981. QUICK CLIPS TOM CRUISE, who looks set to make his debut as a cartoon voice-over supplying the vocals of a villain for Shrek Goes Fourth, has purchased the rights to DOUGLAS PRESTON ’s book The Monster of Florence, the true story of eight gruesome murders that happened in the Italian city between 1968 and 1985. This serial killer case is said to have been the inspiration for THOMAS HARRIS’ Hannibal Lector novels CRUISE has finally finished working on Valkyrie, which is based on actual events with a plot to assassinate Hitler during the height of World War II. This film, which is scheduled for a festive period release, had problems filming in Germany as the local authorities were not happy with the way the story was being portrayed.Another film set to have problems filming in the country is QUENTIN TARANTINO’s Inglorious Bastards. A top German film journalist has said Tarantino’s style of pop culture, with the themes of the Holocaust and Jewish revenge, will be taken very seriously by the same parties who held up filming of Valkyrie. The film is about a French girl’s (possibly MELANIE LAURENT) revenge on the Nazis and a band of Jewish-American Nazi hunters whose paths eventually cross. It stars BRAD PITT, SIMON PEGG, ELI ROTH, MIKE MYERS, TIL SCHWEIGER and DIANE KRUGER. Berlin is the location of the first shoot this month. JUDE LAW will play Dr. Watson alongside ROBERT DOWNEY JR’s Sherlock Holmes in the GUY RITCHIE directed drama which will incorporate the classic tales written by SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE with the comic book Sherlock Holmes. The director, who starts work this month, has already promised this version will be much “riskier” than previous portrayals and it will “take advantage of Holmes’ skills as a boxer and swordsman”. SIENNA MILLER is also on board and possibly RUSSELL CROWE as the detective’s nemesis, Professor Moriarty. These two were supposed to commence filming the retelling of Robin Hood but director RIDLEY SCOTT has put it on hold until next spring as trees in Sherwood Forest have few green leaves due to the time of year. TOBEY MAGUIRE has committed to Spider-Man 4 & 5; the films, which will be shot back-to-back over six months, will earn him $50 million in salary plus profit shares from both movies. KIRSTEN DUNST is pondering over returning as Mary-Jane Watson, but she has signed for A Jealous Ghost – the story of a young American who goes to London to write a thesis on Henry James’ classic ghost tale, The Turn of the Screw, and finds her own circumstances begin to reflect the strange happenings of the book. DWAYNE “THE ROCK” JOHNSON will star opposite ASHLEY JUDD in the comedy The Tooth Fairy; he will play a minor league hockey player and she his girlfriend, a single mother of two kids. Filming starts this month in Vancouver. An all-star cast will feature in Men Who Stare At Goats; it is set in Iraq and centres on a desperate reporter (EWAN McGREGOR) who stumbles upon the story of a lifetime when he meets a former secret US military psychic soldier (GEORGE CLOONEY) who was re-activated post-9/11. JEFF BRIDGES will play the founder of the psychic soldier program and KEVIN SPACEY is a former psychic soldier who is running a prison camp in Iraq. Filming starts this month. SETH ROGAN’s Green Hornet project is picking up steam. He will play the masked crime fighter; and legendary Asian actor STEPHEN CHOW, who will also sit in the director’s chair, will be his sidekick Kato. The Green Hornet was a cult 1960s show which gave kung fu demi-god BRUCE LEE his break in the business.
