Interview with 5-Year Old Screenwriter of Fast & Furious 5

Another winner from The Onion:


Today Now! Interviews The 5-Year-Old Screenwriter Of "Fast Five"

Trailers: X-Men: First Class, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately, as you know the new site's just launched and it's been a madhouse around here trying to stay on top of things! BUT two brand new exciting and biggish trailers hit the web today and it's definitely worth taking the time out to share them with you. These are so fresh I can't seem to locate any proper YouTube clips to embed here yet (click on the title link to see the trailer)...

First up, X-Men: First Class - there was an earlier trailer which didn't show that much but this one gives us a better idea of the razzle-dazzle FX that we'll be getting. I'm sure comic book geeks out there will be pretty pleased with how this Matthew Vaughn-directed origins story is shaping up.

Harry Potter and the Death Hallows Part 2 - possibly the most anticipated sequel of them all this year? Part 1 ended with a heart-stopping cliffhanger that left fans everywhere dying for the next installment, but it looks like it will be worth the long wait (imagine otherwise!). Everything in this trailer hints that the series will be going out with a huge, emotionally, viscerally satisfying bang, and then some.

Random Stuff #22

Scream 4 as Reviewed by a Blind Film Critic

This is kinda funny/interesting/amazing. Possibly the last thing you'd ever consider in the world of film criticism is a critic who is blind. Yet here's Tommy Edison offering a witty, uniquely focused perspective on film, giving some insight into things us vision-abled people might sometimes take for granted, in particular, the use of sound...

100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers

100% brilliant and mind-boggling...

In Cinemas This Week

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never - In this high-energy 3D musical documentary, teen singing sensation Justin Bieber provides personal snapshots from throughout his career, starting with his first set of drums and culminating with scenes from his triumphant 2010 concert tour. Other stars and family members interviewed include Jaden Smith, Miley Cyrus and Justin's mother, Pattie Mallette.

Mars Needs Moms - After tormenting his sister and refusing to eat his veggies, Milo (Seth Green) lands in big trouble and starts viewing his mom (Joan Cusack) as uncaring and unfair. But when martians suddenly abduct her, Milo rushes to the rescue and discovers why all moms are so special. In this fun-filled animated film, based on Berkeley Breathed's popular book, martians need loving, hardworking mothers just as much as humans do.

Mozart's Sister -French drama about Wolgang Mozart's elder sister, Nannerl (Marie Féret). Beginning in 1763, it follows the Mozart family's life on the road, travelling by coach from one royal court to the next. Wolfgang (David Moreau), is a young prodigy, but Nannerl is also accomplished as a singer, harpsichordist and violinist. Her father bows to social strictures "for her own good," refusing to let her continue with the violin or compose. But Nannerl pushes back at the limitations imposed on her gender.

Paul - Nick Frost and Simon Pegg star as two science-fiction freaks who, while on a quest to discover what lies at the heart of Nevada's infamous Area 51, cross paths with an alien (voice of Seth Rogen) on the run from earthly authorities. The irreverent duo that brought us Shaun of the Dead assembled an impressive cast that includes Jane Lynch, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig and Blythe Danner for this raucous cross-country romp.

Sarah's Key - In the midst of researching an article about the roundup of Jews that took place in Paris in 1942, American-born journalist Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas) uncovers a sobering connection between her story and the home she shares with her boorish French husband (Frederic Pierrot). Gilles Paquet-Brenner directs this gripping drama based on a bestselling novel of the same name that was inspired by actual events.

Scream 4 - Perennial survivor Sidney Prescott, now a successful self-help author, returns to her home town of Woodsboro in the fourth act of director Wes Craven's Scream franchise. Sidney's homecoming, however, coincides with a slew of unsettling new murders.

The Illusionist - Oscar-nominated for Best Animated Feature, this wistful tale follows the fading fortunes of aging illusionist Tatischeff , who's forced to perform in obscure venues as his act is eclipsed by the growing popularity of rock bands. He gets an emotional lift, though, from a wide-eyed girl named Alice, who thinks he possesses magic powers. But Tatischeff's "sleight of hand" efforts to impress her with expensive gifts may lead to his financial undoing.

RIP Sidney Lumet

Truly one of the greats. You haven't seen powerhouse American filmmaking until you've seen these Sidney Lumet films:

Serpico (1973)



Dog Day Afternoon (1975) (my personal fave)



Network (1976)




The Verdict (1982)



PS: it sucks that 12 Angry Men is currently out of print in NZ and that Prince of the City hasn't even been released here on DVD!!

Trailer: Melancholia

The trailer for Lars von Trier's highly anticipated follow-up to Antichrist, the apocalyptic sci-fi romance opus Melancholia, has finally emerged online and it's actually a lot different to what I've been expecting. I'm pretty sure the project was called Planet Melancholia at one stage, and if I remember correctly, there was some press about the film being set on another planet and von Trier stating that it would look like shit. Either I've misremembered or his script/vision has drastically changed over the past year, because it's nothing of the sort: Melancholia looks beautiful and opulent and very much set on Earth (or so it seems...). And how about that wack casting? Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård, John Hurt, Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Rampling!! No sign of room-clearing shocks, but seeing that it's von Trier in melodrama mode, this ain't gonna be a walk in the park. Film Fest season couldn't come any sooner...

In Cinemas This Week

Hop - Unemployed slacker Fred (James Marsden) suddenly finds himself uncharacteristically busy after he runs over the Easter Bunny and has to not only nurse the gimpy rabbit back to health but also take over his duties so that the holiday can continue. Burdened with a cranky, cotton-tailed houseguest and a bout of intensive egg-delivery training, Fred finally begins to grow up in this hilarious and touching blend of live action and animation.

Just Go With It - When plastic surgeon Danny Maccabee lies to his girlfriend that he is a divorced family man, he recruits his office manager and her children to role-play as his ex-wife and kids - generating a flood of farcical results and unintended consequences.

Oceans - This Disney nature documentary from co-directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud examines the vital role water plays in human existence and the cause-and-effect interplay between oceans and the environment. Shot on location around the world, the feature-length film also dives beneath the surface with stunning underwater photography that documents lesser-known and endangered aquatic life forms.

Rio - When a cooped-up macaw named Blu leaves the confines of his birdcage behind for the tropical climes of Rio de Janeiro, he's forced to wing it and re-examine everything he knows about life - and being a bird. Anne Hathaway, Neil Patrick Harris, Rodrigo Santoro, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez and Jesse Eisenberg lend instantly recognizable voices to this all-star animated tale from director Carlos Saldanha.

Sucker Punch - In this mind-warping action thriller, Baby Doll (Emily Browning), a girl slated for lobotomy in a 1950s-era asylum, leads a group of young female inmates in an attempt to escape both their mental fantasy worlds and the actual institution where they are prisoners. To accomplish her plan, Baby Doll must steal five objects - but is the man who's trying to stop her real, or a figment of her imagination?

Random Stuff #21: Deafula

Not sure what to say about this one except that sometimes you trawl the internet you come across some incredibly odd stuff and this is one of those times. Here's a wee clip from Deafula, apparently the only sign-language movie ever made (American sign language to be precise). I need to see this.

Cult Classic Trailer: Heathers

On May 18th, Vendetta Films will be releasing the DVD and Blu-ray of Michael Lehmann's super-dark 1988 high school comedy Heathers. It's a true cult classic that's influenced everything from Election to Mean Girls, and we've had plenty of requests for it so we're pretty stoked to see it finally come out here. Check out some killer shoulder-pad action in the trailer:

In Cinemas This Week

Mammoth - Lukas Moodysson writes and directs this drama centered on three intersecting stories, one of a traveling New Yorker named Leo (Gael García Bernal), another of his surgeon wife, Ellen (Michelle Williams), and also the children of their Filipino nanny, Gloria (Marife Necesito), in the Philippines. A series of dramatic events unfolds after Leo visits Thailand, causing everyone to reexamine their priorities.

The Names of Love -"Michel Leclerc's delightful, sexy and audacious crowd-pleaser about a forty-something Jewish scientist who falls in love with a flamboyant Algerian beauty was a triumph at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival where it opened Critics' Week. Bahia (the luminous Sara Forestier) is a free-spirited liberal who aims to convert right-wing men by sleeping with them and murmuring political ideologies at their most vulnerable moment. When she meets Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin), whose name is one of the more common in France, she assumes he is a ‘conversion' target. Despite his initial resistance, the two fall in love. Of Algerian and Jewish backgrounds respectively, the scene is set for a number of deliciously satirical barbs on French culture." (French Film Festival 2011)