"The Dark Knight Rises" Begins

PRODUCTION BEGINS ON "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES"

Filming will take place on three continents, with an all-star cast working under the direction of Christopher Nolan.

BURBANK, CA, May 19, 2011 - Principal photography has begun on Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' "The Dark Knight Rises," the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.

Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar® winner Christian Bale ("The Fighter") again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar® winner Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake.

Returning to the main cast, Oscar® winner Michael Caine ("The Cider House Rules") plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar® winner Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby") reprises the role of Lucius Fox.

In helming "The Dark Knight Rises," Christopher Nolan is utilizing IMAX® cameras even more extensively than he did on "The Dark Knight," which had marked the first time ever that a major feature film was partially shot with IMAX® cameras. The results were so spectacular that the director wanted to expand the use of the large-format cameras for this film.

The screenplay for "The Dark Knight Rises" is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is being produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on "Batman Begins" and the record-breaking blockbuster "The Dark Knight." The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. "The Dark Knight" is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.

Behind the scenes, "The Dark Knight Rises" reunites the director with several of his longtime collaborators, all of whom worked together on the "The Dark Knight." The creative team includes director of photography Wally Pfister, who recently won an Oscar® for his work on Nolan's "Inception"; production designer Nathan Crowley; editor Lee Smith; and Oscar®-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming ("Topsy-Turvy"). In addition, Paul Franklin and Chris Corbould, who both won Oscars® for the effects in "Inception," will supervise the visual and special effects, respectively. The music will be composed by Oscar® winner Hans Zimmer ("The Lion King").

The locations for "The Dark Knight Rises" span three continents and include the American cities of Pittsburgh, New York and Los Angeles, as well as sites in India, England and Scotland.

"The Dark Knight Rises" is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Legendary Pictures. Slated for release on July 20, 2012, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Review: "Rear Window" Always Looks Great (Happy B'day, Jimmy Stewart)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 212 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Rear Window (1954)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Alfred Hitchcock
WRITER: John Michael Hayes (from the story, “It Had to be Murder,” by Cornell Woolrich)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Burks
EDITOR: George Tomasini
COMPOSER: Franz Waxman
Academy Award nominee

MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, Judith Evelyn, Ross Bagdasarian, and Georgine Darcy

Director Alfred Hitchcock received one of his six Oscar® nominations in the category of “Best Director” (he never won) for the classic mystery/thriller, Rear Window. Although many recognize the film as a masterful technical exercise, it is the film’s technical aspects that make it so special. Without Hitchcock’s bravura display of framing, shooting, and movement within the film, Rear Window would be a nice mystery flick; Hitchcock’s expert choices and subtle use of strong visual language makes it a quietly intense thriller and mystery picture.

The plot is simple. L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries (James Stewart) is a globe trotting photographer laid up with a severely broken leg. Jeff’s stuck in his apartment during a blistering summer heat wave, so he takes to spying out of his rear window on his Greenwich Village neighbors, using his powerful camera and photographic equipment. That’s fine, but things turn hotter when he suspects that his neighbor directly across the way, Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), has murdered his invalid wife. He convinces his girlfriend, Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelley), of his theory, and though she’s busy trying to convince Jeff to marry her, Lisa stops to involve herself in Jeff’s investigation. Jeff also convinces his nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), that Thorwald murdered his wife, but he can’t sell it to his World War II buddy, police detective Lt. Thomas J. Doyle (Wendell Corey). Still, Jeff, Lisa, and Stella advance their own private investigation, but it moves them towards danger once Thorwald realizes that someone is watching him.

Although the film is ostensibly about voyeurism, Rear Window shows a fascination that people have with other people’s life. Hitchcock had a huge self-contained world created in the form of a film sound stage so that he could fashion the other lives of which his main character Jeff would be curious. As much as I wanted to follow the plot of the murder mystery (which Hitchcock slowly reveals with delicious anticipation), I was equally curious about the lives of Jeff’s other neighbors.

Hitchcock shoots practically the entire film (except for a few shots) from Jeff’s apartment, using the camera to spy out of Jeff’s rear window on the neighbors. This is one of the greatest examples of how the camera cannot so much manipulate as it can mesmerize an audience. With hypnotic intensity, I followed the camera’s every move, vainly trying to absorb as much as I could.

Rear Window is a film that stands the test of time not so much because of its subject matter, but because it is a technical masterpiece, a virtuoso display of cinematic technique. What keeps this film from being perfect are the performances and story. James Stewart and Grace Kelly are working purely on star power and relying on the fact that Hitchcock’s direction will do much of their work for them; for much of the film’s first three-quarters, Ms. Kelly merely just moves around looking like the goddess she was.

The murder at the center of the story lacks drama, mainly because we never get to know the Thorwalds and their private drama. Thus, Mrs. Anna Thorwald (Irene Winston) doesn’t garner much sympathy; it’s as if she’s just another murder statistic. It’s Hitchcock’s specific execution of the plot and his unique vision of filming the script that take this to another level, so it’s not to be missed by people who really like watching movies, not just as a pastimes, but as the work of artists and craftsmen.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
1955 Academy Awards: 4 nominations: “Best Director” (Alfred Hitchcock), “Best Cinematography, Color” (Robert Burks), “Best Sound, Recording” (Loren L. Ryder-Paramount), and “Best Writing, Screenplay” (John Michael Hayes)

1955 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film from any Source” (USA)

1997 National Film Preservation Board, USA - National Film Registry


Rear Window (Collector's Edition) (See all Mystery Movies & TV)

Tim Burton Begins Filming "Dark Shadows" with Johnny Depp

Filming Begins on Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows”

Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter head an all-star cast.

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Filming begins this week on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ “Dark Shadows,” which brings the cult classic television series to the big screen under the direction of Tim Burton. The film’s all-star ensemble cast includes Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz, and newcomer Gulliver McGrath.

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Brouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.

Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.

Burton is directing and producing “Dark Shadows” from a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith, story by John August and Grahame-Smith, based on the television series created by Dan Curtis. Also producing are Oscar® winner Richard D. Zanuck (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Driving Miss Daisy”), continuing his long association with Burton; Oscar® winner Graham King (“Rango,” “The Departed”), continuing his collaboration with Depp; Johnny Depp, Christi Dembrowski, and David Kennedy. The executive producers are Chris Lebenzon, Nigel Gostelow, Tim Headington, and Bruce Berman.

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, Oscar®-winning production designer Rick Heinrichs (“Sleepy Hollow”), Oscar®-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (“Alice in Wonderland”) and editor Chris Lebenzon (“Alice in Wonderland”). The score will be composed by Danny Elfman.

“Dark Shadows” is being filmed entirely in England, both at Pinewood Studios and on location.

“Dark Shadows” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

"Nate and Hayes" Sailed Familiar Tides

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 185 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Nate and Hayes (1983)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: Ferdinand Fairfax
WRITERS: John Hughes and David Odell; from a screen story by Lloyd Phillips and David Odell; from a story by Lloyd Phillips
PRODUCERS: Rob Whitehouse and Lloyd Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tony Imi
EDITOR: John Shirley

ACTION/ADVENTURE/HISTORICAL

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Michael O’Keefe, Jenny Seagrove, Max Phipps, Grant Tilly, Peter Rowley, Reg Ruka, Bruce Allpress, and David Letch

Soon-to-be-wed missionaries, Nathaniel “Nate” Williamson (Michael O’Keefe) and Sophie (Jenny Seagrove), take passage to their new home aboard The Rona, the ship helmed by the infamous buccaneer, Captain Bully Hayes (Tommy Lee Jones). Sophie takes a liking to Capt. Hayes, so Nate is glad to be rid of him when they arrive at the island where Nate’s aunt and uncle are missionaries.

Shortly after Hayes drops them off, however, the villainous Ben Pease (Max Phipps), a slaver, attacks the island and spirits away Sophie. Barely surviving the attack, Nate reluctantly joins forces with Hayes and his motley crew to track Pease and recover Sophie. Nate and Hayes’ quest takes them to the island of Ponape for a grand showdown with Pease and Count Von Rittenburg (Grant Tilly), a German officer in league with Pease. Oh, there’s an island full of natives standing between Nate and Hayes rescuing Sophie.

A young man and his bride-to-be find obstacles on their road to marriage, and most of them are on the high seas. Then, they meet a scruffy pirate who helps them… If this seems like a description of Walt Disney’s highly-successful Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, that’d be only half right. 20 years before Pirates, there was Nate and Hayes, and while Nate and Hayes didn’t have Pirates’ big budget, supernatural shenanigans, N&H does have PotC’s comedic chops and is also a fine, family-safe pirate movie. A fun action flick, it’s darn good entertainment, though not a great pirate movie. There isn’t great acting, but the cast gives performances that would outshine just about any made-for-TV adventure on the high seas. I enjoyed seeing Nate and Hayes today as much as I did all those years ago in a darkened, small town movie theatre.

6 of 10
B

Friday, August 25, 2006

Review: "Curse of the Golden Flower" is a Grand Tale in a Grand Tradition (Happy B'day, Chow Yun-Fat)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 93 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (2006)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: China; Language: Mandarin
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) – English title
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence
DIRECTOR: Zhang Yimou
WRITERS: Yu Cao and Yimou Zhang
PRODUCERS: William Kang, Weiping Zhang, and Yimou Zhang
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Shigeru Umebayashi
Academy Award nominee

MARTIAL ARTS/FANTASY/DRAMA

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Ye Liu, Dahong Ni, Junjie Qin, Man Li, and Jin Chen

China, 929 A.D., Tang Dynasty: In the house of Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) resides romantic intrigue and political machinations. His ailing wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li), suspects that Ping has been slowly poisoning her with the medicine for her anemia. As their children, sons Crown Prince Wan (Ye Liu), Prince Jai (Jay Chou), and Prince Yu (Junjie Qin) are drawn into the secret passions and schemes for power, a dark old secret about one of the sons comes forward. Soon, the Emperor’s reign is challenged by a blood coup, so who will be the last royal standing?

With his 2006 film, Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia or Curse of the Golden Flower, acclaimed director Zhang Yimou blends the drama and supernatural martial arts of his film Hero (released in the U.S. in 2004) with the color and pageantry of his 2004 film, House of Flying Daggers. For all its sensational vivid color and the magnificent backdrops of China’s Forbidden City, Curse of the Golden Flower is a complex tale of familial loyalty and intimate deceptions. Yimou puts a brutal story of forbidden love and naked betrayal up against the eye-popping martial arts (and the fight scene are dazzling and breathtaking), and in the end, the dramatic side wins.

Curse of the Golden Flower is a story of a royal family at war with itself in which the winner takes all and leaves the audience gasping with shock and disgust. And the characters do all that bloodletting in some of the most gorgeous, sumptuous costumes seen in recent films. This film is a pitch perfect, grandiose tale of bloody murder amongst family that may rival the tragedies of the old English stage.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Chung Man Yee)

2007 Image Awards: 1 nomination for “Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film”

Thursday, June 14, 2007

---------------

Oscar-Nominated "Gasland" is Fracking Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


GasLand (2010)
Running minutes: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Josh Fox
PRODUCERS: Trish Adlesic, Josh Fox, and Molly Gandour
EDITOR: Matthew Sanchez
Academy Award nominee

DOCUMENTARY

Starring: Josh Fox

GasLand is a 2010 documentary from writer/director Josh Fox. GasLand is Fox’s first documentary feature film, and it earned a best documentary Oscar nomination. Fox travels across the United States to examine the negative aspects of natural gas drilling. Fox focuses on communities in the U.S. impacted by natural gas drilling, specifically a process known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”

Fox begins his film by telling his audience that he received a letter from a natural gas company offering to lease his family’s land in Milanville, Pennsylvania for $100,000 to drill for gas. That started Fox’s quest for information about natural gas drilling. He discovers that all across America, rural landowners get lucrative offers from energy companies wanting to lease their property. These companies want to tap into large, underground reserves of natural gas.

A hydraulic drilling process called fracking, this preferred method of drilling was developed by Halliburton. The evidence, disputed by energy companies and people sympathetic to them, is that fracking poisons water sources. From the heartland, across the South, and back to the Northeast, Fox finds people whose water is so contaminated by chemicals used in the fracking process that the water can burst into flame, even when lit by a match. Fox’s film questions whether natural gas is really a viable alternative to our dwindling energy resources. If it is, does its potential harmful effects to the nation’s water supply outweigh the benefits of natural gas?

Visually, GasLand is quite potent. It has a visual kick, and sometimes those visuals are poetic and lyrical. I don’t know how effective the film will be in the long term. While its premise is simple and its subject matter straightforward, GasLand seems overripe with information; there is just so much depicted here, particularly in terms of how many people are suffering because of fracking. Still, the film’s sense of urgency is palatable.

Environmental experts predict that finding fresh water is going to be a problem for many humans in the 21st century. Thus, the most effective element of GasLand is its portrayal of energy companies and their determination to extract natural gas through fracking, regardless of the environmental consequences. The men that run these companies seem not to have a care in the world that real people can be and are being negatively impacted by fracking. This means that GasLand is a call-to-arms, an activist documentary that must be seen simply because this is about all our futures.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2011 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Documentary, Features” (Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic)

Happy Birthday, Al(bert)!

I'm on time, and it's a long time.  This year will be 27 years that we've known each other.  Happy Birthday and many, many more.