UPDATED: The Box - Trailer for Richard Kelly's latest film

Have a look at this trailer as I think it is very good. The Box is based on the short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson and was used in an episode of The Twilight Zone. It is the one where a couple are given a box with a button. They are told that if they press the button they'll get a million dollars, but someone they don't know will die. Bit of a moral dilemma.

Now Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) has adapted it into a full length feature starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, and Frank Langella. It looks as if Kelly is back to his Darko goodness after the disappointing and confusing Southland Tales.

The film is set in the 70s and in a way is autobiographical as the two main characters are based on Richard Kelly's own parents.

Let me know what you thought of the trailer. Would you press the button?

UPDATE: I found the story about the film being semi-autobiographical. It was an interview with Richard Kelly over on AICN. Well worth a read as he talks about technical aspects of the film as well as developing the story. This is what he had to say about his parents being an influence on the film.

The short story is six pages long, and Arthur and Norma... there wasn't time for their backstory. So I thought, "Here's this amazing premise about greed and responsibility and so many things that you can't put into words. There's this button, and being responsible for the death of another human being, and what constitutes responsibility." And I thought, "We want to tell this story and expose this premise to two characters, let them be very moral people, very likable people." And I figured that I felt that way about my parents, and that this is the type of movie they would love. They exposed me to Alfred Hitchcock when I was a young teenager; they showed me REAR WINDOW and THE BIRDS and PSYCHO. So I thought, "What if I take their love story and life in Richmond, Virginia as an upwardly middle class couple in 1976, and place them into Richard Matheson's short story?" And that's what I did - which all of a sudden made it the most personal film I've ever made. (Laughs) They have a son [in the film] who's ten or eleven. I obviously would barely be one year old in 1976, but you could argue that their single child is maybe a representation of me in the story. So all of a sudden I feel like I'm making this profoundly personal film, which, at the same time, is this mainstream studio thriller with this high-concept premise. So it was sort of an interesting merger of my parents' story with Matheson's story, which was written before I was even alive but that I discovered on THE TWILIGHT ZONE in 1986. I was in my parents' bedroom watching THE TWILIGHT ZONE with my dad when I saw "Button, Button" for the first time. So to think that I've taken them and plugged them into this Matheson concept is... to this day, I can't believe that we pulled it off.

So that's why Jimmy and Cameron spent a lot of time around my parents. Cameron listened to my mom talk for forty-five minutes and recorded it. She recorded a phone conversation of my mom talking about her life. And then she went to a dialogue coach to learn how to do my mom's Texas accent. Meanwhile, Jimmy did a Virginia accent because my dad's from Virginia. Their Southern accents are slightly different. And when my parents came on set for five or six shooting days, they were just freaking out. They felt like they had stepped into a TWILIGHT ZONE episode by being on set. It's very meta. You have my parents feeling like they're in a TWILIGHT ZONE episode watching James Marsden and Cameron Diaz portray very personal, autobiographical things about their life with their son directing it in this amazing Richard Matheson story that we've all grown up with. (Laughs It was really, really interesting.

Then we shot at NASA down at Langley for a week, which is where my dad worked for fifteen years. Marsden drives a silver Corvetts in the film - and my dad didn't drive a Corvette; he drove a Pontiac. But Marsden drives into this press conference at the NASA campus facility down there where my dad attended the press conference for Viking. He also used to play basketball for the NASA basketball league. But literally my dad is looking at a younger version of himself driving to work in the same exact manner that he did at a place that hasn't changed since the '70s. The Langley facility down at NASA has not changed at all since the '70s; it's like you're in a time warp down there. So it was really pretty surreal. It really gave Jimmy and Cameron homework to do. That's one thing: you want your actors to leave your meeting with a big stack of books, because then they come back to you with so much and so many questions. You get a lot of the direction out of the way, so when you're on set you can focus on the details. Everyone's not trying to play catch up.

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The Oscars to have 10 Best Picture Nominees.

The Motion Picture Academy announced Wednesday that for the first time in more than 65 years, the field of best picture nominees will be expanded to 10 contenders for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards according to Variety.

“Having 10 best picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize,” said Academy President Sid Ganis in announcing the shift. “I can’t wait to see what that list of 10 looks like when the nominees are announced in February.”

The last time the Oscar race featured 10 best pic contenders was the 16th annual contest in 1943, when "Casablanca" emerged with the top prize. There were 10 best picture nominees for most of the Academy Awards' first decade. In 1935 there was a bumper crop of 12 nominees.

The Oscar nominations will be announced on 2nd February 2010 with the awards handed out 7th March 2010 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

When I first heard this news I thought "Great, lots of films in the running." Then my second thought was "Hold on a minute." If there are more nominess for best picture then doesn't that sort of devalue the prestige of having a Best Picture Nominee?

It brought to mind that bit from The Incredibles when Dash is talking to his Mum.

Helen: Everyone's special, Dash.
Dash: [muttering] Which is another way of saying no one is

What if there are not 10 films worthy of a nomination? What do you think of the news? Have we seen any films in the first half of the year that should be nominated for Best Picture - Moon, The Hurt Locker, Let the Right One In?

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The Pacific - Sort of a sequel to Band of Brothers

Executively produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the team behind the Emmy-winning 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” this epic ten-hour miniseries tracks the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) – across the vast canvas of the Pacific. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain forests of Cape Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day. Produced by HBO Miniseries in association with Playtone and DreamWorks Television, and scheduled to debut on HBO in early 2010.

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Could Tyrese Gibson be in the Captain America film?

Busy promoting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and his new comic book, Mayhem, Tyrese Gibson mentioned a few interesting things.

“The energy from Comic-Con really did something to me,” Gibson told MTV News of what prompted him to try his hand at comics. “Instead of me sitting back and waiting on ‘Luke Cage’ to finally happen — which I’m still looking forward to doing once they get the script together — and instead of me waiting on ‘Captain America,’ which they were talking about me for, I’m going to create my own. And that’s what I did.”

Now what could Tyrese be in talks about Captain America for? There was the rumour that Will Smith could be playing Steve Rogers, but nothing more has been said. Smith as the First Avenger is a bit of a stretch, but he would bring in a wide audience (I don't think it will happen though), however Gibson as Cap would never work. He's just not that big a name to pull in the punters.

There are a couple of characters that spring to mind for Tyrese.

First there is the role of Sam Wilson aka The Falcon. Sam debuted nearly three years before Luke Cage so is one of the first African American characters (Black Panther is from Africa).

The Falcon, as the name suggests, had the ability to fly via a high tech winged suits. He was also a top spy kind of character and had many an adventure with Steve Rogers.

Maybe Tyrese is in talks to play Sam, maybe not. As The First Avenger film is supposedly going to be set for the most part in World War II then it seems unlikely that The Falcon will feature in the film. However, he is a cool character and it would be great to see him on screen.

The other, more likely, option is Isaiah Bradley who featured in the Truth: Red, White & Black mini series.

Project: Rebirth began as a collaboration between US, British and German eugenicists led by Dr. "Josef Reinstein" (real name Dr. Wilfred Nagel), and Dr. Koch. When WW II began, Koch took over the German program and Josef Reinstein took over the American program. Each was attempting to recreate the super soldier serum which had previously turned Steve Rogers into Captain America a year prior to Pearl Harbor. Reinstein's early attempts to refine the formula were tested on African-Americans. Three hundred of these soldiers were taken from Camp Cathcart and subjected to potentially fatal experiments at an undisclosed location in an attempt to re-create the Super Soldier formula, as seen in Truth: Red, White & Black. Only five subjects survived the original trials. In the name of secrecy, US soldiers executed the camp's commander and hundreds of black soldiers left behind at Camp Cathcart. The government told the families of the three hundred subjects that their loved ones had died in battle.

The sole survivor of his test group, Bradley stole a spare costume intended for Captain America before he engaged in a suicide mission to destroy the Super-Soldier efforts of the Nazis at the Schwarzebitte concentration camp. There, he was also able to assassinate Koch. The mission ended when the Germans captured Bradley. Nazi interest in the American supersoldier was high; he was even brought before the Führer himself. Bradley was later rescued, only to be court-martialed and imprisoned at Leavenworth around 1943. In 1960, Bradley was pardoned by President Eisenhower and released.

This is all supposition on my part based on the few words mentioned by Tyrese. Isaiah Bradley seems the role most suited for the film.

What do you think Tyrese Gibson was talking about in relation to Captain America?

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Exclusive Interview - Toby Wilkins, director of Splinter

Splinter is an excellent horror movie. Creepy, scary and even though it only had a small budget it looks like it cost a lot more. It has a great creature knocking off a cast who act their socks off. It also leaves you pondering what caused the creature and a few well placed shots and comments mean you can have great discussions afterwards.

The highlight for me was the creature itself. At first you think it is a straight forward zombie kind of thing, but then things grow, mutate, stretch and crawl. Before you know it you are watching something rather different to the usual creature feature.

Trapped in an isolated gas station by a voracious Splinter parasite that
transforms its still living victims into deadly hosts, a young couple and an
escaped convict must find a way to work together to survive this primal
terror.

It stars Shea Whigham, Paulo Costanzo (Road Trip), Jill Wagner (who would make a great Wonder Woman), Rachel Kerbs, Charles Baker and Laurel Whitsett. Small cast, small set, big horror.

I really recommend the film (check out the review) and I was lucky enough to have a chance to ask the directer, Toby Wilkins, a few questions. It was a quick little interview via Twitter.

Describe Splinter to those who have not yet seen it

It's a fast paced, gory indie horror film. My homage to the creature features and contained siege horror that I loved as a kid

The design and movement of the creature is creepy and quite unique. How did it develop?

The creature idea had been in my head for ages. Bringing it to life practically took many talented SFX artist and physical performers

How did you get into the film business?

I started in design, doing titles for films and some vfx, but always directing my own stuff on the side. I guess it was just will power.

What was the first film you ever watched?

I have no idea. In England we had just three TV channels, and the BBC would show great old movies, no ads, and I couldn't get enough.

If you were going to be killed by any movie villain or monster who or what would it be? What would your last words be?

It would have to huge, like maybe the creature from The Host, and I would take it with me, with a cheesy quip like "Eat This!"

What will you do differently when making your next feature?

Hopefully I will get more time to shoot and rehearse, so far every film I have done has been on a pretty insane shooting schedule

Did the low budget help or hinder the feel of the film?

I think the film fit the budget well. A contained setting, very few characters, and we kep the energy high shooting as fast as we did.

What advice can you give to any new filmmakers filming this?

Just get out there and make films, shorts, whatever. Lots of them. Learn as much as you can from each, and then move on to the next.

What are your favourite films and what films are you most looking forward to seeing this year?

Alien, Blade Runner, 28 Days Later, The Game, 2001, The Ring, The Shining, Time Bandits, Inglourious Basterds, Where the Wild Things Are.

What are you working on next?

I'm not ready to announce anything just yet.

Thanks for your time Toby.

Check out Toby's blog and follow him on Twitter.

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Level 5 alert! Non-Humans Have Escaped District 9

Non-humans have escaped from District 9. For up to the minute information visit the http://www.d-9.com/ or call 866-666-6001

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UPDATED: Could we be seeing the new Doctor Who sooner than we think?

The Daily Mirror is claiming that Matt Smith and the first ten Doctors will all appear in a special 15-minute episode filmed for the BBC's Children In Need charity night. The episode will air in November, and the first three Doctors, the late William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee, will be represented by footage from their old stories. A BBC source supposedly tells the Mirror:

This is a momentous episode for all Doctor Who fans. Never before have all the Doctors been in the same room, let alone in the same show. It's been a logistical nightmare getting all the actors together and available for shooting on the same days. But the script has already been started and it's classic Doctor Who – really witty and very sharp. Viewers will see the Time Lords regenerating and emerging one by one from the Tardis, each with their own quirky opening line. David Tennant is the central character in the episode. He's trying to hunt down some special time travel apparatus. What he's actually lost has not yet been decided, but the idea is for all the other Doctors to club together to help David find it. The actors who are no longer with us, William, Jon and Patrick, will make special cameo appearances, with footage from original shows being flashed up on screen. It's a really exciting project – and all for a good cause.

Source: io9

UPDATE: Looks as if the BBC are denying this story A spokesman told the newspaper: "Nothing has been finalised yet, although there is discussion of a Children in Need Doctor Who special. It is too early to say what."

Source: Digital Spy


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James Bond to enter the Dream House

Daniel Craig is in early talks to star in Dream House, a psychological thriller set up at Morgan Creek to be directed by Jim Sheridan, though principals stress that the two sides have not reached a deal. THR had the news.

In the David Loucka script, Craig would play a man who moves his family to an idyllic small town, only to find his house haunted by its former inhabitants, who were murdered there.

This is no doubt all part of the plan to make sure he doesn't get typecast as Bond. His recent films have, Defiance and Munich have also involved fighting and guns. However, before Bond Craig was in many different types of film so I honestly don't think he will have that much of a problem.

Craig has recently signed up for the Broadway drama A Steady Rain. His name also surfaced in connection with The Eagle of the Ninth, Kevin Macdonald's period piece for Focus Features.

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Taken 2 is in development

In amongst some other news Variety mention that Taken 2 is in development.

EuropaCorp founder Luc Besson announced that the company has entered the TV production biz at a Paris presentation of annual results.

It has also initiated development on "Taken 2," the follow-up to the Liam Neeson starrer that has grossed $145 million in the U.S.

That is all it says on the matter so no mention if it will have Liam Neeson or director Pierre Norel returning.

I hope they both return as the first one was a great surprise when I saw it. I can't see Neeson's daughter being kidnapped again so I'm not sure what the story could be. Maybe Holly Valance's character is taken or Neeson heads off to try and bring down the kidnapping ring?

What story do you want to see in the sequel?

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Alex Pettyfer is Beastly

The Manhattan-set and modern-day take on Beauty and the Beast tells the story of a handsome rich kid with a mean streak. When he ditches a date, a curse is placed upon him, turning him into everything he hates. The grotesque transformation leaves him with the seemingly impossible task of finding true love to break the ugly spell.

It stars Alex Pettyfer (Stormbreaker, Tormented) as the Beast. Bring back Ron Perlman as Vincent I say.

Beastly also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris and will open on 30th July 2010.

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Johnny Knoxville and Heather Graham join the Father of Invention

According to The Hollywood Reporter Craig Robinson, Heather Graham, Johnny Knoxville and Camilla Belle are joining Kevin Spacey in Father of Invention.

Spacey is producing the film via his Trigger Street Production company.

The story shows what happens when a simple inventor (Spacey) becomes a millionaire. Things get interesting when he gets eight years in prison for inventing something bad. When he gets out of jail he plans to get back to the top of his field, but he finds that his family is falling apart.

Craig Robinson will be the husband of the Spacey's ex-wife. Robinson's character now lives in his house but he helps Spacey out upon his release from prison.

Belle will play the daughter of Spacey's character. Heather Graham will be her lesbian roommate who has a liaison with her father. Johnny Knoxville gives Spacey a job when he leaves the big house.

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Cemetery Junction - First photos of Ricky Gervais & Matthew Goode

Cemetery Junctionis the new film by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Gervais posted these photos from the shoot on his blog with the comment "This is me in character (Len Taylor). I play a fat middle-aged bloke from Reading by the way. Chameleon."

Below is Matthew Goode (Watchmen) sitting on a nice car.

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UPDATED: From Paris with Love - What the director of Taken did next

Taken was an excellent film. One of my recent favourites. Liam Neeson was brilliant and it was non-stop action all the way. Pierre Morel was the man at the wheel and his next film sounds like it could have some excellent action scenes. Plus the poster is a great design and actually puts me in mind of the first volume of The Umbrella Academy comic by Gerard Way.

From Paris with Love stars John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Travolta plays a crazy American spy looking to stop a terrorist attack in Paris, while Rhys Meyers plays a young employee in the office of the US Ambassador who meets up with him.

The only problem I have is with the cast. Travolta can be good, but he's been coasting and shouting an awful lot in recent movies. If he can bring his Pulp Fiction cool then he'll be okay. JRM is a different matter. I personally don't really rate him, but I think that could be more to do with some dreadful aftershave adverts he has been in lately.

We shall have to wait and see.

UPDATE: Thanks to Tsukpo for sending me the link to the trailer. What do you think of it?

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Avatar - Footage of James Cameron's sci-fi 3D film has been seen and it is stunning

The first footage from James Cameron's Avatar has been screened to the public for the first time in Amsterdam at the Cinema Expo International.

It looks as if everyone who saw it was stunned.
Market Saw said: Until now, all we saw was the base in 3D, mostly humans and now the 2 N'avi Avatars.
They look NOTHING like the drawing you've seen. They're living creatures with blue skin, bigger yellow eyes than humans with tails. The avatars even look like their human connectors. You will NOT believe the detail. Jake's character will get a wound in a scene we saw later, it looked so real. You could see beneath the skin's first layer, like only real wounds show. We later meet creatures that look like the evolutionary link between a pherodactyl and a bird. They can connect with the N'avi and hunt with them. They connect with only ONE N'avi and do this by swallowing the N'avi's tail with their mouth so they stay connected.

The world outside is amazing. It all lives, breathes and works.
You will not believe the amount of leaves that look like someone created that jungle for real. Later scenes involved Grace, Norm and Jake in the jungle exploring. Jake encounters a animal which stomps towards him, Grace tells him to stand his ground. He does and the animal backs away to reveal a more sinister animal behind them. Jake fights it and runs.

ComingSoon: “jaw-dropping experience.” … “3-D until now has been used as a gimmick.” On the human characters inhabiting their Avatars: “It took my breath away. I thought–just like you guys–that I’ve seen it all with Gollum, or The Hulk, but Cameron has done it again. These creatures seem so real, that within minutes you forget you’re watching an enormous and very blue CGI character. Even the eyes are totally convincing. The characters have real personalities and a soul.” … “How the hell is it possible that I never once felt like I’ve been watching a movie where almost everything comes out of a computer?” … “The effects are in a league of their own. After some disappointing or even pointless 3-D movies, Avatar maybe the first movie where 3-D is properly utilized.”

Sounds as if James Cameron has got his King of the World hat on with this one. I'm still not sure if the story will be as good as the look of the film.

If you happen to be going to this years Comic Con you may be able to see some footage of the film.

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Posters for Iron Man 2, Shutter Island, The Last Airbender and Up in the Air

Here are some promo posters for Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, M Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2.

Film1.nl were the ones who got the photos off them from the Cinema Expo International 2009 being held in Amsterdam.

These are not the finished official posters but rather a way to advertise the films at the show.

I think the Last Airbender one is my favourite.

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