Cinerant

Movies Part II

Here’s the rest of them—

Memoirs of a Geisha—The book didn’t really do anything for me and frankly, I don’t see how you translate it into a coherent cinematic screenplay.  This movie’s Gong Li’s English-language debut.  It’ll be worth it for no other reason than that.

Mrs. Henderson Presents—The trailer looks cute.  Judi Dench will get her annual Oscar nomination.  The Weinsteins will push, probably get a picture nomination and elitist crowds will love the movie.  

Munich—Spielberg’s latest quest for a serious movie has a strong trailer.  Eric Bana and Daniel Craig look to hit the big time.  Despite the lackluster one-sheet, this really appears to be the real deal.  Written by Tony Kushner, it could be a really deep and fascinating picture.  

The New World—Cinematography will be impressive.  There’s no doubt.  Terrence Malick looks to tell the true story of Pocahontas, John Smith, and John Rolfe.  The casting of Q’Orianka Kilcher, someone who looks the 14 Pocahontas actually was, is encouraging.  Let’s just hope Colin Farrell is believable as America’s first hero.

Pride & Prejudice—As long as it’s better than the BBC mini-series a few years ago, it’ll work.  I mean, they’ve already gotten rid of Colin Firth and put in Matthew MacFadyen, which is a huge start.  

The Producers—Not excited, but am hopeful.  If only Will Ferrell weren’t in it.  Expect Uma Thurman to hit the big time again.

Rent—Excited, but not hopeful.  The first review I’ve seen tells me what I feared.  Christopher Columbus screwed it up.  But at least, it’ll be a great opportunity to sing along.

Rumor Has It—What if The Graduate were “based on a true story”?  That’s the premise of this movie that had a notorious start that saw writer/director Ted Griffin get fired after just a couple of days on the set.  Rob Reiner (!) was brought in to replace him.  While the director’s history doesn’t leave much hope for anything other than a glossy, silly romantic comedy, this promises to see Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine both finish impressive one-two punches this year after their turns in The Upside of Anger and In Her Shoes.  It also gives Jennifer Aniston her first leading role after the divorce.  But maybe, most of all, it will make Mark Ruffalo a star.  

Syriana—Written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, the film promises to do for oil what Traffic did for drugs.  It stars George Clooney and Matt Damon.  It might come off as too heavy-handed and preachy, but it also hopes to be interesting and if well done, a real conversation piece.  (And maybe then I’ll at least have a clue what in the world the title means.)

Walk the Line—This is the one that surprises me how much I’m looking forward to it.  I don’t consider myself to be a Johnny Cash fan.  I’m familiar with his work, but I never thought I’d want to rush out and watch a movie based on his life.  However, I’m chomping at the bit to see this movie.  Word is Joquain Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are locks for Oscar nominations.  Hopefully, it will be better than Ray.  If it is, then the movie will go far.  

The White Countess—I know nothing about this other than it stars Ralph Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave and it’s the last completed Merchant-Ivory production.  That latter component is really all I need to know.

posted by cinegod @ 8:55 PM