Trailer: Under the Skin

The first trailer for Scarlett Johanssen's new film Under the Skin has hit the web and (AV quality issues aside) it looks intriguing and positively mind-blowing, though I'm hard-pressed to tell what the heck is going on. This arty, ambitious sci-fi flick, directed by Jonathan Glazer (his first film since 2004's Birth), has already generated a lot of talk and divided critics since its screenings at Telluride and Venice Film Festivals. The Guardian calls it an "extraordinary malarial dream"; The Telegraph says "astonishing"; Variety didn't show as much love, describe it as an "ultimately torpid and silly tale of an alien on the prowl". Me? I'm sold.

More Aliens from Blomkamp for Second Film

A few details about District 9 director Neil Blomkamp's next film have emerged: it's going to be called Elysium, it will feature aliens (on another planet though) and will star D9's lead Shartlo Copley. It'll also be another D9-style socio-political story apparently. I'm in alien-fatigue mode at the moment so I'm feeling a bit indifferent to this, but based on D9, one hopes it'll be some kind of fresh take on the genre. The question now is, does this viral teaser that hit the web last week have anything to do with the movie:

'70s Home Movie Radness

Movie-lovin' kids in the '70s making their own charmingly crude Super-8 versions of Star Trek, Alien and King Kong. The King Kong one is particularly fantastic, no-budget innovation at its best. There's no way digitally shot movies will have this kind of nostalgic, crumbling celluloid charm and beauty in 30 years time...

Sam Raimi Gives Youtuber $30 Mill to Make Feature

Do we really need another giant robot/alien invasion pic? Obviously Sam Raimi and his production company Ghost House Pictures do - in a story with echoes of District 9's inception, a Uruguayan filmmaker by the name of Fede Alvarez has caught the eye of Hollywood execs after posting his short film Ataque de Panico! (Panic Attack!) on youtube. Claiming to have made the 5-minute film, which features slick, heavy-duty CGI work nearly on par with War of the Worlds or Cloverfield, for only $300, Alvarez will get $30 million to make a feature-length movie based on the short.

Call me skeptical, but I honestly doubt it was made for a few hundred bucks. Great marketing story though. Have a look-see and tell me what you think:

The Reboot Blues: Alien

These days Hollywood aren't content just to remake films - they're now REBOOTING them (whatever that means). The Incredible Hulk, Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation, the forthcoming Predators... The latest example of the studios' dirth of imagination is a proposed upgrade of the original Alien film produced by none other than its original director Ridley Scott, along with brother Tony. But hold on - before you start crying, it's actually a PREQUEL, so it's not technically a REMAKE. Carl Rinsch, a commercials/music video dude, is going to be directing the film for Fox, who apparently feel the recent Alien spin-offs - the ones with more than one alien - didn't really work. Top solution, guys. This Polish Alien poster sums up my reaction to this news:

PS: A Tomb Raider reboot/prequel/whatnot is on the way too.