The Lion King Roars Back to Theatres and Home Video - in 3D!

Great news for those of you lamenting the unavailability of this much-loved 1994 Disney classic on DVD. I just received a press release from a Disney publicist stating that it will be released from the vaults on October 12 this year, to coincide with the release of the film in theatres in "breathtaking 3D". Okay, so stick these dates in your diary:

• September 29, 2011 - 3D version hits theatres for the first time ever (only for 2 weeks)
  

• October 12, 2011 - available on Blu-ray™ Hi-Def, Blu-ray 3D™ and DVD (again for a limited time!)
  

Random Stuff #23

Trailer: Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season 8

Everyone's favourite "social assassin" is back. Who knows when this will reach our shores, but a little bit of Larry to start this fog-shrouded morning off is a pretty pretty good thing.

The Tree of Life Wins Palme D'Or

Terrence Malick's long-gestating The Tree of Life has won the prestigious Palme D'Or at Cannes. By all accounts a mind-blowingly cosmic, if expectedly divisive work, the film combines dinosaurs, planets and period family drama into something that definitely should probably be experienced on the biggest screen possible. It hasn't been confirmed yet for the NZFF, but I can't see how it won't play - it has to!! An excellent round-up of critical reactions can be found here, and feast your eyes on the trailer:



Yet with all the anticipation and hype around The Tree of Life, I'm finding myself more excited about Nicolas Winding Refn's actioner Drive, starring Ryan Gosling as a getaway driver for the mob. Check out Mike D'Angelo's rave report ("pure genre bliss"), and this sneak peek:

Sort of Like Netflix, But with VHS Tapes

Now here's a gloriously nutty idea! Some guy in the States has fully embraced the primitive charms of the VHS and is offering a somewhat legally questionable service where he'll send you a copy of any movie you want on VHS for FREE! And he'll include a drawing on the label too. The FAQ assures us it's not some "sick joke", though a sticky on the homepage says that he's recently been bombarded by requests and may not be able to meet demand. Ha! Though I'm not convinced this novelty will around for too long, I like the idea that nearly a whole generation of movies have not been released on VHS and that people out there would want to watch them on that format.

Lars von Trier: "I understand Hitler"

Oh Lars, what have you done now. Dunst's reaction - priceless.



Story here, and trailer here.

Round-up: Recent Exciting Film Announcements

In case you missed them, three very cool announcements in the last week or so:

The ABCs of Death - incredibly genius idea for horror anthology. 26 directors, 26 different short stories about death. Local filmhead Ant Timpson is one of the producers.

Re-stored Taxi Driver at NZFF - Scorsese's '70s classic back on the big screen. Don't miss it.

Jodorowky's Dune - the story behind Alejandro Jodorowsky's legendary adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune that was never made. Check out the promo video here - sounds like Jodorowsky was really looking to blow minds, which is saying something, coming from the guy who gave us The Holy Mountain.

First Look: The Adventures of Tintin Poster

Paramount's just released the first poster for The Adventures of Tintin, and I have to say it looks pretty nice. I'm not really a motion capture animation fan, but I do love the comics and find myself a little hyped for this due to Spielberg's involvement. It's set for release in New Zealand on Boxing Day this year. Peter Jackson is scheduled to direct the second film.

Home Alone House Hits the Market

And you can buy it for just US$2.4 million! Cheesy real estate clip will tell you more:



PS. if you haven't seen Home Alone for some reason or another, yes do have it :)

Trailer: Colombiana

In the hopes of repeating the success of his surprise hit Taken a few years ago, Luc Besson's back with Colombiana, an action thriller starring Avatar's Zoe Saldana as a stealthy killer looking for her parent's murderers. Featuring an international cast, including our own Cliff Curtis, and directed by Transporter 3's Oliver "not Megatron" Megaton, the film looks to be very much in the same vein as Besson's female assassin-type flicks Leon and La Femme Nikita, and fits well with the recent trend of grrrl-power action films such as Sucker Punch, Salt, Kick-Ass and the forthcoming Hanna. Saldana looks feisty in the trailer, demonstrating maybe more range than she might have under thick Na'vi make-up. Ange Jolie step back...

Tarantino's Next Film Confirmed

A few details of Quentin Tarantino's next film have emerged: he's set to direct a full-blown Western called Django Unchained and it's said to be inspired by Franco Nero's 1966 spaghetti western classic Django as well as Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django (which QT had a bit part in). This is pretty exciting (what new Tarantino film announcement isn't??) since he's talked about doing a western for so long now. Many of his films - notably Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds - have flirted with spaghetti western conventions in one way or another, so it'll be interesting to see his take on the genre. Online reports yesterday mentioned that Basterds star Christoph Waltz was attached to the project, but this MTV piece says that may not be the case yet. Here's hoping though...

Trailers for Django and Sukiyaki Western Django: