The classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood gets a reworking for the new supernatural romance Red Riding Hood, in theatres on March 11. As part of the SXSW Film Festival Special Events, a screening of Red Riding Hood will premiere at midnight on the 10th, with director Catherine Hardwicke in attendance. Will this be a fantasy love story gone right, or a sad attempt to capture the successful Twilight film recipe?
Given the success and fanatical following of young adult supernatural romance Twilight, Red Riding Hood looks to be box office gold. In the same vein as Twilight, young love in a fantasy world (and some cross-species dating), the gothic re-telling of the popular fairytale looks to be a smart move for Warner Bros. Studios. And how can it go awry with director Catherine Hardwicke at the helm (in case you didn’t know, she directed…that’s right….Twilight).
In the spirit of Hollywood’s obsession with reboots and re-imaginings, Warner Bros. will bring cult gothic soap opera Dark Shadows back to life. Unlike some dismal remakes, I don’t see how this one can fail. With Tim Burton directing, Johnny Depp to play iconic vampire aristocrat Baranabas Collins, and Eva Green (Casino Royale) just signing on to play intriguing witch Angelique, this reboot looks to pack some preternatural punch.
Austin’s uber popular SXSW Film Conference and Festival arrives March 11-19, with all the bells and whistles, eager cinemaphiles, fresh indie films and awesome par-tays you could wish for. On Wednesday, SXSW announced the line-up of feature screenings, and there is some real potential represented.
The eight Narrative Feature Competition films, all of them world premiering at SXSW, were selected from over 984 film submissions. The eight Documentary Feature competition films are also all world premieres and represent the best out of over 800 submissions, both domestic and foreign. The bigger budget “Headliners” will include Jodi Foster’s The Beaver, Source Code, and Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop. The “Headliner” line-up brings celebs, gala events and red-carpet premieres to SXSW. The list of shorts and “midnight” screenings will be released later this week.
Never Let Me Go, a touching love story with a twist, came out on Blu-ray this week. Audiences are in for few surprises, one of them being the emotional punch of this artistic sci fi film. It’s an atmospheric tale of love and betrayal set in an alternate reality where sickness has all been eradicated, thanks to the benefits of human cloning.
A while back during Austin's Fantastic fest 2010, I had the chance to speak with some of the cast and crew of Let Me In. With the film now out on Blu-Ray, I figured I'd re-post this interview. Check it out below.
Back in the fall, I got a chance to interview director Mark Romanek on his new film Never Let Me Go. With the Blu-Ray now out, I figured I'd re-post the interview since I assume many of you would be interested in it.
A sensitive study of love and mortality, Mark Romanek’s sci fi film Never Let Me Go pulls at the heart strings. Romanek sat down with me to talk about his film last September during the Fantastic Fest in Austin, just before the film’s wide release in October. With the release of Never Let Me Go on Blu-ray this week, fans can own this artistic film and hear for themselves from Romanek in a great featurette.
While technically a sci fi film, Romanek’s vision for the screen version of Kazuo Ishiguro’s moving novel feels very much like a touching melodrama. A story less about a dystopian world of cloning--and the political and moral issues associated with it--and more about love and loss.
During the 80s (when he was still funny), Chevy Chase brought Fletch to life in the comedy/mystery movie Fletch and Fletch Lives. A quirky investigative reporter, Fletch found himself in some tight situations, dodging creditors and ex-wives. Now Hollywood wants to reboot this potential franchise, but questions (at least from me) abound. Who will play Fletch, after Chase so completely made that character his?
Warner Bros. has recently acquired the movie rights to Gregory McDonald’s series of mystery novels. McDonald’s novels are light on prose and heavy on witty, quick dialogue. His main character I.M. Fletcher is a libidinous, responsibility-shirking slob who is only out for number one. “Fletch” works as an investigative reporter to pay bills and to keep his ex-wives off his back. The series encompasses eleven novels and no doubt Warner Bros. is seeing dollar signs; hello Fletch franchise.
Harvey Weinstein is on a mission to re-edit The King’s Speech, hoping to clean it up enough to earn a PG or even PG-13 rating. This is in an effort to give the film a wider appeal, considering its current R rating excludes families and younger people who may want to see it for educational purposes….hmmm.
Released Friday, The Rite is an underwhelming horror movie starring Anthony Hopkins and newcomer Colin O‘Donoghue. This exorcism-themed film isn't terrible, just completely forgettable.
O’Donoghue plays Michael Kovak, an American seminary student searching for faith. He is sent to the Vatican to study a course on exorcism, and it is there that he meets Father Lucas Trevant (Hopkins), an unorthodox exorcist living and working in Rome. Kovak, a “doubter,” follows Father Lucas on his appointed rounds and tries to discern the truth behind all the mysticism.
