Moon, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
Running Time: 97 minutes

Another great review by Richard Bodsworth who is having a great time at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Check out my interview with the director, Duncan Jones.

Transformers and Terminator Salvation are just two of the multi million pound budgeted blockbusters released this summer. We all love a good sci-fi film, but what the majority of the current crop neglect is a fundamental rule of filmmaking, a proper story with interesting and engaging characters. It is a well known fact that Michael Bay is more interested in blowing shit up rather than developing a character or having an intelligent plot. With his debut feature, MOON, Duncan Jones shows that a big budget isn't everything when creating a sharp, smart and frankly brilliant film.

With the Earth's immediate energy crisis, corporation Lunar have began extracting helium 3 from the Moon as a viable alternative. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a lone astronaut stationed at the lunar base with only a talking computer, Gerty (Spacey) for company. His job is to oversee the helium 3 extractions. With only two weeks left of his three year tour, things take a disturbing turn when Sam finds someone else on the Moon. Is he hallucinating, or are the corporation trying to replace him? I don't really want to go any deeper into plot details in fear of giving anything away, but what ensures is a taught psychological battle and the one man Rockwell show.

At first glance you could easily mistake Moon for a Hollywood picture. It boasts some great visual effects and features two very well know actors in Rockwell and Spacey. I was shocked to discover the film is in fact an independent British film, with a reported budget of less than 5 million dollars, and that most effects were completed using models. The set built lunar surface is a beautifully bleak landscape, its desolation helps enforce the fact Sam is all alone in lunar base Sarang.

The film pays homage to some of the classic sci-fi films of the late 60's and 70's, at points you could be forgiven for thinking you are in the Nostromo. The environmental theme parallels with Silent Running and most people will quickly draw a 2001 comparison with the talking computer, Gerty. Jones direction however, stops the film from falling into a simple retro rehash. His razor sharp direction keeps the film fresh and a with the help of Clint Mansell's wonderful score, creates a eerily claustrophobic and ultimately uneasy atmosphere. Mansell is always an underrated commodity, but his scores often add that extra something as seen in his collaborations with Darren Aronofsky.

Sam Rockwell is outstanding as the astronaut slowly losing his sanity. It must be terribly difficult to be the only person on show, he is rarely off screen, but his intensity holds the audience like super glue and it is impossible to tear your eyes away. Going from bored worker, to emotional husband and father to mentally tortured, Rockwell delivers perhaps his greatest leading role. His performances in The Green Mile and The Assassination Of Jesse James amongst others have always been a personal highlight for me. Throughout all the tension he manages to give the film some breathing room with lightly comical interactions with Gerty.

For the whole 97 minutes there is not a boring moment and is paced just right. Although the plot is tight, there are points where you think you have the whole thing sussed but somehow it manages to make you doubt yourself. This is the thing I enjoyed and admired the most.

The lack of knowledge behind the Lunar corporation adds to the mystery, and if Jones continues with future films based in the Moon realm, there is vast amounts to build on. Moon is the perfect launch platform into a great sci-fi trilogy which, at the moment, the genre sorely needs. My only hope is that Jones sticks to formula that worked so well for him here, and doesn't jeopardise his outstanding work when offered a bigger budget. I implore everyone to see this amazing piece of British cinema, you will not be disappointed.

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The Random - Primeval, Aronofsky/Portman, The Karate Kid, DiCaprio's Online Poker film, Honey Pot, Friday 13th, The Birds, Akira,

- British dinosaur-themed sci-fi series Primeval will not be returning for a fourth season reports Total Sci-Fi Online. The still popular show has fallen victim to substantial budget cuts at the fledgling ITV network in the UK which has seen other popular shows like crime procedural "Wire in the Blood" similarly get the axe before their time.

- Natalie Portman is attached to play the lead in Darren Aronofsky's supernatural thriller Black Swan says The Hollywood Reporter. Black Swan centers on a veteran ballerina (Portman) who finds herself locked in a competitive situation with a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance. But it's unclear whether the rival is a supernatural apparition or if the protagonist is simply having delusions. Mark Heyman has done a rewrite of John McLaughlin's original script for the film.

- Paramount Pictures has picked up an untitled film pitch about the world of Costa Rica-based online casinos for Leonardo DiCaprio to star in says the trades. Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Rounders, Ocean's Thirteen) came up with the idea which DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran will produce for his Appian Way production company.

- Paramount Pictures and Montecito Co. have picked up Liz Meriwether's action-comedy script Honey Pot says Variety. While the storyline is being kept top secret, the film will feature two female leads and be set in the world of international espionage.

- Steven Conrad ("The Pursuit of Happyness") has been hired to rewrite the remake of The Karate Kid for Sony Pictures says Risky Biz Blog. Conrad takes over for Chris Murphy who was originally hired to write the script of the reboot starring Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith and Taraji P. Henson.

- Talking with Movieweb producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form spilled on the progress of various Platinum Dunes projects.
First up, the sequel to this year's hit Friday the 13th remake. "We want to have fun. We want to present something that audiences haven't seen before. One of the things they haven't seen before is Jason in the snow" said Fuller.
The pair also admits that their planned remake of The Birds is still very much stuck in development - "We keep trying. I don't know. That is so hard to get the script right. We struggle with it. I won't have anything to say until the script is finished. We lay ourselves out there and get annihilated out there online all day long,and [The Birds] just opens us up to a whole different level of annihilation…it doesn’t feel like that’s up next for us.”

- The Leonardo DiCaprio-produced live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's classic 1988 anime feature Akira has been ditched according to Bloody Disgusting. The project was a two-part film that Warners and DiCaprio's Appian Way had been developing with Gary Whitta ("The Book of Eli") scripting and Ruairi Robinson directing. Now according to BD, who first broke the news of the project 18 months ago, not only has Robinson left the project but the overall project is "dead as a doornail" according to two sources.

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Murphy it's you - Robocop remake news

It has been a while since there has been an update regarding this project. An MGM spoke to io9 about the Robocop remake / reboot. It is still being made, but it won't be out for a 2010 release. The rep said that the studio had told distributors at an event a couple weeks ago to expect the movie in 2011. He said director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain) and screenwriter David Self (Road to Perdition) were still working on the script, and that no casting had been completed.

"Darren and David are working on it now, and we look forward to seeing it in 2011."

I do still wonder what they can do with Robocop. The original film was a work of wonder. The fact Aronofsky is attached does intrigue me though.

Hopefully, they'll keep the cool look of Robocop in place. What do you want from the new Robocop film? Who could play the titanium encased lawman?

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Christian Bale joins The Fighter

Christian Bale and "Three Kings" director David O. Russell are joining "The Fighter" for Relativity Media and Paramount Pictures says Variety.

The drama follows boxer Irish Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his unlikely path to become world lightweight champion.

Bale plays Dicky Eklund, Mickey's half-brother and a talented fighter who once went the distance with Sugar Ray Leonard in a title fight but then turned to crime and landed in prison.

Then he turned his life around and helped his underperforming brother find the spark for a remarkable run that led to the world title.

Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and director Darren Aronofsky were previously attached to the project and has since moved on.

David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing with shooting kicking off in July.

Source: Dark Horizons

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The Slasher by Darren Aronofsky "If you've ever been folded backwards you've seen me!"

Johnny at the always excellent Freddy in Space site (check it out if you love horror - loads of stuff on there) has come across this brilliant Jason (Friday the 13th) and The Wrestler mash-up. Make sure you listen to the Bruce Springsteen inspired song.

Mickey Rourke should play a slasher. Who could he play? Even better what horror movie could Darren Aronofsky direct (although Requiem for a Dream was almost a horror!)

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Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg

This futurist film deals with the battle of good and evil between robots, showing their self-redemption in the process.

The story takes place in a future world where robots are at war with each other. Hu Jun plays a police officer who becomes a cyborg. Sun Li plays the adopted sister of Hu Jun, who falls in love with a cyborg Alex Fong. Actor Wu Jing plays a robot who has become evil but eventually turns over a new leaf.

Robots at war with each other and the poster seems to have the World Tree from Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain! Sounds cool.

Source: Twitch

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The Wrestler's Scott Siegel seems to have forgotten that filming has finished

I Watch Stuff noticed this story on NBC New York:

An actor who played a steroids dealer in the movie The Wrestler was arrested on drug charges after leading police on a high-speed chase in Eastchester on Thursday.

Scott Siegel was under surveillance by DEA agents who saw him picking up a package in New Rochelle on Wednesday before leading them on a car chase in his SUV, investigators said.

Siegel struggled with DEA agents before they were able to take him into custody at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Main Street, authorities said. Siegel is charged with attempting to distribute steroids and assaulting a federal agent.
Thursday's arrest was not Siegel's first brush with the law. He was arrested in 1999 for distributing steroids, ecstasy and an animal tranquilizer that can be used for hallucinations.

Siegel's character sells the main character Randy "The Ram", played by Mickey Rourke, steroids and painkillers in a locker room in "The Wrestler".

Talk about life imitating art.

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If The Wrestler was to be animated

This great piece of art work is by Ben Balistreri who has worked on Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, Danny Phantom and many other things. He was just messing around with his drawing of Mickey Rourke's Randy "The Ram" but it does look cool.
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Danny Boyle and Darren Aronofsky hang out

In this video directors Danny Boyle and Darren Aronofsky hang out and discuss their work. Aronofsky talks about how Mickey Rourke improvised some of his scenes, and Boyle compliments him profusely.

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The Wrestler - Behind the scenes photos from the Baker Theatre, Dover, New Jersey

Regular reader, Pamela, got in touch with these photos from Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler. They appeared in her local paper, The Daily Record, and show Mickey Rourke in action and Aronofsky looking like a bearded Adam Sandler. All were taken at the Baker Theatre in Dover, NJ. Thanks Pamela.




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Mickey Rourke to step into the Wrestling ring for real

/film have the news that at the SAG Awards, Mickey Rourke revealed to Access Hollywood that he may be wrestling for WWE’s Wrestlemania 25, which will be held in Houston, Texas on 5th April:

The boys from the WWE called me and asked me to do it…I said, ‘I want to.’
I’m talking with [Wrestler] Rowdy Roddy Piper about it.

Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, for which Rourke received a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, has won acclaim both for Rourke’s performance and for its candid depiction of the wrestling profession. It’s not clear whether Rourke will actually be doing a proper wrestling match, or if it will be more of a cameo-style appearance.

What do you wrestling fans think of that? Would be cool to see Rowdy Roddy Piper try and get Mickey to put on the sunglasses!

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The Wrestler - Poster

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Aronofsky want's to recut The Fountain and Rourke says Sin City 2 is good to go

MTV were speaking to Darren Aronofsky, whose new movie, “The Wrestler,” won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival two months ago, and has just been nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature, Best Cinematography and Best Male Lead ( Mickey Rourke).

Interestingly Aronofsky said he would like to do a sort of recut on his film, “The Fountain,” (check out the review for The Fountain here).

“It wouldn’t be a ‘director’s cut, more like an alternate story told with the addition of unused footage from the first go-round. This would be a complicated project on a couple of levels, though, and it’s at least a few years away."

They then spoke to Mickey Rourke about the status of “Sin City 2,” in which he will again place the excellent Marv. The project appears to have been held up by Robert Rodriguez’s dispute with the Directors Guild of America. Rodriguez quit the group when it refused to allow him to credit Frank Miller as the co-director of the 2005 “Sin City.” Once that mess has all been sorted out the sequel should be put on the fast track.

“Frank’s ready,” said Rourke. “And I’m ready, too."

How do you feel about The Fountain being recut to be a different story? Would you see it? What did you think of it? Sin City 2 should hopefully be cool...think it will all depend on how The Spirit does at the box office.

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The Wrestler Teaser Trailer - Mickey Rourke in lycra

Back in the late '80s, Randy "The Ram Robinson" (Mickey Rourke) was a headlining professional wrestler. Now, twenty years later, he ekes out a living performing for handfuls of diehard wrestling fans in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey.

Estranged from his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and unable to sustain any real relationships, Randy lives for the thrill of the show and the adoration of his fans. However, a heart attack forces him into retirement. As his sense of identity starts to slip away, he begins to evaluate the state of his life -- trying to reconnect with his daughter, and strikes up a blossoming romance with an aging stripper (Marisa Tomei). Yet all this cannot compare to the allure of the ring and passion for his art, which threatens to pull Randy "The Ram" back into his world of wrestling.

Director Darren Aronofsky presents a powerful portrait of a battered dreamer, who despite himself and the odds stacked against him, lives to be a hero once again in the only place he considers home ­ inside the ring.

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The Wrestler - Some scenes from Darren Aronofsky's latest film staring Mickey Rourke

What do you think this will be like. It's having lots of good word of mouth. Any of you seen it yet?

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The Wrestler - Poster for Mickey Rourke's comeback

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The Wrestler - Movie Review

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei

This review by Peter Sciretta @ Slash Film

Some might say that The Wrestler is a departure from director Darren Aronofsky, while many others may look at it as an evolution. One thing is for sure, it’s very different, and certainly more mature than the filmmaker’s previous work. I’d love to compare it to Paul Thomas Anderson’s transition from films like Boogie Nights and Magnolia to There Will Be Blood. The Wrestler, like TWBB, strips it down to the bones. The fantastical stylized cinematography has been replaced with gritty handheld and performances so realistic that you’ll feel like you’re watching a documentary. Understated and simple seem to be the buzz words being used to describe the film affectionately. The Wrestler is a heartbreaking, beautiful film.

A fan asks Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) to sign an autograph while reminiscing about seeing his first wrestling match at the Spectrum. “You were awesome,” the fan tells Randy. WERE being the key word. The Ram is now playing to small crowds in high school auditoriums and armories. We’re not talking about someone on the level of Hulk Hogan, who was able to make and save cash along the way. Imagine someone like Jake the Snake Roberts, who is now traveling to independent wrestling events on the weekends to pay the rent. Robinson finds himself living in a van after being locked out of his junk-filled trailer by his landlord.

At the conclusion of a hardcore wrestling match, Robinson suffers a heart attack backstage, collapsing in his own vomit. The doctor tells the wrestling legend that he can no longer wrestle, and has to start taking better care of himself. Lonely and depressed, Randy befriends a 30-something-year-old tattooed stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) and begins working weekend shifts at the deli-counter at the the local supermarket. Randy also tried to reconnect with his estranged 22-year-old daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood). But all Randy knows is the ring…

Rourke was born to play this role. Mickey’s performance is worthy of all the Oscar buzz that has been floating around since the Venice premiere. Also, Tomei and Wood’s performances should not be discounted. Robert Siegel’s screenplay is so very detail orientated, and Aronofsky gets every single one of them right - from the opening credit sequence which shows the Ram’s illustrious career through clippings from Pro Wrestling Illustrated Magazine, to the behavior of the wrestlers behind the scenes. This is the first fictional film I’ve seen to accurately portray professional wrestling.

The Wrestler does for wrestling what Rocky did to boxing. Those who have no knowledge of this world will be fascinated by the peek behind the curtain. From planning a blade job, to mapping out the match with the opponent, to the illegal drug purchasing, to a scene which shows medical assistants picking staples out of a wrestler’s body following a hard core match. My favorite shot of the entire film follows Randy as he leaves the rush of the ring, to the unglamorous lonely backstage area. It is easy to see how this attention can become addicting, especially when the rest of the world doesn’t care about you anymore.

/Film Rating: 9 out of 10

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The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke for an Oscar?

The wrestler is the story of retired professional wrestler, Randy "The Ram" Robinson, making his way through the independent circuit, trying to get back in the game for one final showdown with his former rival.

From Slash Films: Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler appears to be a big hit at the 65th Venice Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter claims that the film created “a buzz that had been absent for most of the festival.” Anne Thompson reports that the film is hoping to land a distributor which could “ramp up a release before year’s end so that [Mickey] Rourke can qualify for Oscar consideration” making a December release very likely.

Here is a small excerpt from Variety’s review: “Talk about comebacks. After many years in the wilderness and being considered MIA professionally, Mickey Rourke, just like the washed-up character he plays, attempts a return to the big show in “The Wrestler.” Not only does he pull it off, but Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky’s fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle, although it will require deft handling by a smart distributor to overcome public preconceptions about Rourke, the subject matter and the nature of the film.”

The Hollywood Reporter: “Rourke dispenses with all vanity to plumb the depths of this well-meaning but severely damaged man. Tomei delivers one of her most arresting performances, again without any trace of vanity. Wood’s part is smaller, but she captures the scalding anger of a woman neglected for most of her life.”

AICN: “Brooklyn-bred Darren Aronofsky has gone to New Jersey and made his NEBRASKA. As spare and haunting as Bruce Springsteen’s acoustic masterwork, Aronofsky’s THE WRESTLER is less reinvention than refinement: the relentless self-destruction of mind and body depicted in PI and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM has merged with THE FOUNTAIN’s search for spiritual grace, while his audacious technique has been abandoned for a naturalistic approach that recalls the independent American cinema of the 1970s and 80s. This mostly suits Robert Siegel’s straightforward narrative of a past-his-prime professional wrestler’s fumble for redemption, but it emphatically agrees with Mickey Rourke, who owns the film as the breaking-down Randy “The Ram” Robinson.”

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The Random

Johnny Depp to be the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Tarantino goes with the Weinsteins and Universal Pictures to make Inglorious Bastards

Darren Aronofsky's Robocop movie to be rated R. Thank God is all I say! It will also be a reimagining of the character similar to Batman Begins

Sam Raimi at the recent comic con said the following, "I would love to work with Bruce again because I’d love to test those limits. I’d love to make another Evil Dead picture. And actually that’s in the wheelhouse. I’d like to work on it with my brother Ivan [Raimi] when he comes up next week.“ Aces as Army of Darkness is one of my all time faves.

James Franco (Spider-Man, Pineapple Express) is to play Allan Ginsberg in a biopic entitled Howl. I know Street Pete will be made up with that.

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Aronofsky definitely doing Robocop

Hollywood Reporter have confirmed that Darren Aronofsky will be helming the fourth Robocop movie. David Self, scriptwriter for Road to Perdition, will be writing the screenplay.

The movie is going to be set in Detroit again, 20 years after the suspension of the Robocop program.


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