My Best Films

The three-dimensional revolution rolls unstoppably forward, with news emerging that Ridley Scott’s Alien reboot will be filmed in 3D.

Roger Christian, art-director on the original Alien, told Shadowlocked that Scott has confirmed the new prequel will be shot a la Avatar, and even hinted at the potential for a new trilogy.

"Ridley told me some of his ideas when we were here in Toronto," said Christian. "He has a very clear understanding of where this should go. They kind of stopped dead one of the greatest horror franchises there’s ever been, and it had legs to go on. So I’m hoping he’ll revive another three. The world certainly wants it."

Meanwhile, Warner Brothers have decided to jump on the bandwagon by announcing that both Green Lantern and Sucker Punch will also be shown in 3-D.

The crucial difference here though is that the 3D will be added in post-production, as was the case with Clash Of The Titans.

All of which kind of smacks of an afterthought designed to rake in a few more box-office bucks…don’t be surprised if release dates for both become mysteriously cloudy over the coming months.

Genius or gimmick? Where do you stand on the 3D revolution?

Total Film on Facebook

Fresh from their work on bum-numbing bi-epic Che, Benecio Del Toro, Steven Soderbergh and writer Peter Buchman are set to reconvene for mafia thriller Making Jack Falcone.

Soderbergh will only be on production duties this time, with no director attached as yet, whilst Buchman will again be looking after the script.

The news we’re most excited about though is the casting of Del Toro as real-life FBI man Jack Garcia, who infiltrated the notorious Gambino crime family under the wiseguy alias of ‘Jack Falcone’ during the early noughties.

A legendary figure in mafia history, Garcia was so convincing he was invited to become a “made guy,” an invitation that was presumably revoked after he personally ensured 39 family members ended up behind bars.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed for another Del Toro performance in the vein of his smart-mouthed turn in The Usual Suspects. And with such a cracking story to play with, this one should hopefully be an organised-crime thriller to file alongside Donnie Brasco and The Departed.

Ready for another Del Toro / Soderbergh collaboration? Let us know below.
 

Total Film on Facebook

Oliver Stone has signed on to co-write, direct and produce a film adaptation of Don Winslow’s novel Savages.

The director is aiming to get behind the camera as soon as the buzz surrounding his Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps dies down.

Set to be published in July, Winslow’s book follows independent marijuana kingpins in Laguna Beach, who are blackmailed into working for the Baja Cartel when one of their number is kidnapped.

Agreeing to pay up every penny they’ve earned in the past five years, the kingpins secretly scheme to get their revenge.

Stone reportedly has splashed out his own cash to get the film project going – now that’s confidence for you.

Wall Street 2 is out on 23 April.

Think this is a good project for Stone? Drop a comment below…
 

Total Film on Facebook

The new Pet Sematary adap has found itself a writer in 1408 scribe Matthew Greenberg.

Greenberg should be responsible for breathing some fresh undead life into the project, which has been sat at Paramount twiddling its thumbs for quite a while now.

The writer joins producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, the man behind Greenberg’s other Stephen King project, 1408.

Published in 1983, King’s book follows a family who move out into the Maine countryside, and find that their new home is near a pet cemetery that co-exists with an ancient burial ground.

When the husband’s young son is tragically killed in a car accident, the boy returns as a demonic menace.

Mary Lambert directed her version of the story in 1989 (also funded by Paramount), and drew a creepy-as-hell performance out of a mini-sized Miko Hughes. She followed it up with a dreadful franchise-killing sequel starring Edward Furlong.

It’s a neat story, but Lambert’s film (though creaky) still held the test of time last we watched it. Still, hopefully Greenberg should have some ideas on how to freshen up the tired ancient burial ground idea - he certainly did a fair job with 1408.

Got a dream director in mind who could save this from being a mess?

Total Film on Facebook

There just aren’t enough movies that feature warrior owls fighting in slow-mo to the rockin’ sound of 30 Seconds To Mars.

Hand it to Watchmen director Zack Snyder for filling that gap in the market, then.

It feels like Watchmen only busted onto our screens yesterday, but already the director has taken flight with another bold project. This one’s a CGI adaptation of the children’s book series Guardians Of Ga’Hoole.

The trailer for the film, renamed Legends Of The Guardians, just hit the interweb (and will be attached to the newly-released Alice In Wonderland). Give it a looksy below.

Featuring the voices of Sam Neill, Abbie Cornish, Helen Mirren and Geoffrey Rush, Guardians is the tale of Soren, a young barn owl who is kidnapped and taken to an orphanage called St Aegolius’, where young owls are brainwashed into becoming soldiers.

Soren and his friends escape, and prepare to do battle with their captors, the evil rulers of the orphanage.

Call us suckers for the slow-mo, but this trailer is both visually arresting and cool as ice (fitting as the visuals were overseen by the guys behind Happy Feet).

We never thought we’d say that we’re excited for a film about battling owls, but there it is. Come 15 October, we’ll be hooting along in the front row with the rest of them.

Think this’ll get you ‘owling at the screen for all the right reasons?

Total Film on Facebook

Everybody knows Guy Ritchie takes his action with a side of beef.

Just look at the muscular Sherlock Holmes and RocknRolla, for a start. Well, word reaches us that he’s heading into even meatier territory with a new take on the sinewy Arthurian legend.

It’s thought that the project Ritchie is interested in is the one reported on last July, when it was revealed that Warren Ellis was working on a treatment of an ‘Untitled Arthur Project’.

Ellis denies it’s a remake of 1981’s Excalibur (which was directed by John Boorman and starred Helen Mirren), but it seems production studio Hollywood Gang (the guys and girls behind 300), are keen for a similar approach to that film’s interpretation of the legend.

Pajiba have said that Ritchie would direct a “Star Wars-like version” of the yarn (um, Arthur in space?). Apparently Warner Bros are happy with Ellis’ treatment and are looking for writers to develop it into a script.

Of course, first Ritchie is set to direct another Sherlock Holmes film, so his take on King Arthur won’t see the light of day for a while.

Still, it’s interesting to hear that yet another take on the tale is in the works. And with Bryan Singer also interested in an Excalibur remake, could there in fact be two Arthurian flicks on the distant horizon? Stranger things have happened…

Ritchie or Singer? Who should get to pull the sword out of the stone…?

Total Film on Facebook

We’ve been receiving a drip-feed diet of Toy Story 3 bits and bobs from Disney for a couple of weeks now.

The studio spent most of early 2010 unveiling the threequel’s new characters one by one (very polite of them). Now, the Mouse House has revealed the final poster for the film.

It’s a detailed little number featuring pretty much every (toy) character from the film. We like the particulars like Slinky’s springs coiling across the entire poster, and Mrs Potato Head’s lovesick stare at her hubbie.

Here’s the poster, click for a larger version.

The official synopsis goes something like this:

The creators of the beloved “Toy Story” films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of Woody, Buzz and our favorite gang of toy characters in TOY STORY 3.

Woody and Buzz had accepted that their owner Andy would grow up someday, but what happens when that day arrives? In the third installment, Andy is preparing to depart for college, leaving his loyal toys troubled about their uncertain future.

Lee Unkrich (co-director of “Toy Story 2″ and “Finding Nemo”) directs this highly anticipated film, and Michael Arndt, the Academy Award®-winning screenwriter of “Little Miss Sunshine,” brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities to the proceedings.

Buzzed to be getting more, ah, Buzz? Hit the comments box below…

Total Film on Facebook

Today we present the fourth and final exclusive Tron Legacy image… and this one features a disappearing act.

The first and second images showed Sam Flynn (Garret Hedlund) approach the derclict Flynn’s Arcade, to investigate his father’s disappearance 25 years ago.

Yesterday, the third image showed Sam inside the abandoned amusement den, featuring dust covered arcade games eerily lit up as he walks past.

And today… well we can now see the titular Tron game cabinet, but crucially, no Sam…

Click here to see a larger image.

Perhaps he’s just bent down out of shot to tie his shoelace…

But maybe, just maybe, Sam Flynn has fulfilled his Legacy and entered the game, to join his father (Jeff Bridges) in the ultimate face-off against Tony Blair (Michael Sheen).

No word yet on whether Sheen’s character will be called Tony Blair, but we do know he’ll be the bad guy in Tron, and he’ll at least look like the former PM.

Did we mention Daft Punk are doing the soundtrack?

Trailer to follow next week. We may just pass out from excitement!

So, Tron Legacy? Or Tron Fallacy? Leave a comment!

Total Film on Facebook

Just under five months to go before the Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith remake of The Karate Kid hits UK screens, and Sony have released another kung-fu-packed trailer to whet our appetites.

From the looks of it, the old martial-art-as-metaphor-for-life routine is still going strong, with Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han claiming, "everything is Kung-Fu." That’s everything, got it?

Jackie certainly isn’t playing this one for laughs, with gems of homespun wisdom being the order of the day. His Miyagi (sorry, Han) looks to be full of them, such as, “Life will knock us down, but we choose to get back up.” Stirring stuff.

In fairness there was always going to be the odd bit of clunky dialogue, but happily the film seems to look the business, with plenty of chop-socky mayhem to feast on and the Chinese landscape looking particularly breathtaking.

Sony are pretty confident the remake won’t be a let-down for fans of the original, particularly since Entertainment Weekly reported that a research screening held earlier this year produced the second highest test-screening score in Sony history. That said, the number one slot is occupied by Hitch, so should maybe be taken with a pinch of salt. 

Playground grasshoppers everywhere will be knocking seven bells out of each other come the film’s release on July 30th.

Will the remake be karate chop or karate flop? Share your wisdom!

Total Film on Facebook

Remember when Christina Ricci used to make really cool, quirky films instead of cashing in on things like Speed Racer and Cursed?

She was pretty great, huh? Well, the big-eyed oddball could be making a comeback to all things dark and dangerous with After.Life.

The trailer for the flick has just been released, check it out below.

Ricci plays Anna, who wakes up in a funeral home where Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) is preparing her body for her funeral.

See, Anna’s just had a really bad car accident, and everybody thinks she’s dead. Except she isn’t. Sort of. As Eliot attempts to convince her she’s no longer one of the living, Anna tries to free herself from the funeral home.

But Eliot’s having none of it, and refuses to let her go. Meanwhile, Anna’s boyfriend Paul (Justin Long) is growing suspicious of the sinister funeral director, and begins to investigate…

Described as a provocative psychological thriller, After.Life looks every bit as weird and wonderful as we had hoped it might be. We’ve missed Ricci on the kook circuit, and this certainly promises us some bonkers for our bucks.

Will it deliver? No UK release date yet, but After.Life hits US screens on 9 April.

Itchy for some Ricci? 

Total Film on Facebook