au-tuer: A filmmaker, usually a director, who exercises creative control over his or her works and has a strong personal style.
I decided to dedicate this section to auteur filmmakers specifically. These are films coming out this year by directors and filmmakers known for their unique styles which can equate to brilliance or disgust and pretention, for better or worse.
DOGVILLE-March 26th (limited release)
Directed by Lars von Trier This is a new film by Danish filmmaker von Trier, probably most well known for his film Dogme 95. This film centers on a woman named Grace (Nicole Kidman) who is on the run from the mob and takes refuge in a town called Dogville. I'm not very knowledgeable of von Trier's work, but this film does look very..."artsy" :). FYI, this film will be premiering at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX. in about 2 months.
THE LADYKILLERS-March 26th
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen The Coen brothers followup with their mainstream flop that was Intolerable Cruelty here with a remake of a 1955 film of the same name. Tom Hanks plays a fake professor named Dorr and organizes a group of expert criminals for a huge heist. From the description and trailer of this film, it looks like it will be a lot more fun like O Brother Where Art Thou instead of a lame romantic comedy like Intolerable Cruelty. Still not sure about the casting of Marlon Waynes as the "Inside Man."
KILL BILL VOLUME II-April 16th
Directed by Quentin Tarantino Tarantino's next installment for Kill Bill, who's release date was recently pushed back from February 20th to April 16th. Tarantino fans shouldn't be too upset about waiting another two months, for them it means that the film they get to see probably won't be a rush job. There have also been rumors lately that Tarantino and Production IG will begin work on an anime feature of Kill Bill that will be a prequel to Volume I and II.
THE BROTHERS GRIMM-?
Directed by Terry Gilliam Looks like Gilliam finally has a film coming out after that whole Jon Quixote fiasco which was documented in the film Lost In La Mancha. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger play the respective siblings, Will and Jake Grimm, basically charlatan ghostbusters and con artists who are called upon by the French government to vanquish a real supernatural threat. That threat most likely being the incredibly sexy, Monica Bellucci. Good to see Gilliam finally has a film coming out after a six year hiatus, and this one looks to be more back to form to his fantasy roots. But I do wonder if he was able to get a good performance out of Heath Ledger.
FARENHEIT 9/11-September
Directed by Michael Moore Well well well, things have finally come full circle haven't they? After all this time, Michael Moore shows his true color. And what is that color? That color is green baby. This new documentary Moore is producing is being produced and distributed by Miramax, a subsidiary of a giant, evil corporation called...DISNEY! Looks like Moore is working for the man now, and why? Because despite his socialist views and values, he likes money just like everybody else. To those who are wondering, in this film Moore will examine the US post 9/11 and how the Bush adiministration used the tragedy to advance their agendas.
ALEXANDER-November 5th
Directed by Oliver Stone This looks to be Stone's first narrative feature in about five years. This film will also probably be the first of 2 big Hollywood epic films about the great conqueror Alexander the Great, the latter of which is being helmed by Baz Luhrmann featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. Alexander has Colin Farrell as the title bisexual conqueror who mysteriously died in his early 30's but not before taking over most of the eastern hemisphere.
THE AVIATOR-December 17th
Directed by Martin Scorcese Scorcese follows up the mixed feelings of Gangs of New York with this biopic of Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio). At a young age Hughes became a billionaire oil tycoon as well as a powerful Hollywood movie producer, and aviation designer. This film will also feature Kate Blanchett as actress, Katharine Hepburn. Looks like this film will be another coming out during Oscar season for Scorcese and Miramax. Lately, I'm not very big on Scorcese films or modern biopics for that matter. I also think a better actor could've been cast in the Hughes role. DiCaprio as Hughes just seems so...obligatory...or not really inspired I should say. The script for this film was written by John Logan, who's most recent credit was I think The Last Samurai.
Very interesting crop of "auteur" films here. If I missed any auteurs who have films coming out this year, feel free to discuss.
(edited by The Vile1 on 15.1.04 1901)
"Just a humble bounty hunter, ma'am." -Spike Spiegel
I wish Lars Von Trier would dig a hole somewhere, jump in it, and bury himself alive. How pretentious can one director be? I nearly vomitted during Dancer in the Dark. If someone had shot Bjork halfway thru instead of making us have to suffer by watching this dreg, the world would be a happier place. Dogville doesn't sound any better, apparently. It's all done on a single set, like a play. BAH.
Hey, who the hell can forget about Kevin Smith's first non-Askewniverse film Jersey Girl. If anybody saw Chasing Amy, arguably Smith's finest work, that's the tone to expect. It's all about a guy [Ben Affleck] who suddenly finds himself raising a little girl on his own, with occational help from his dad [George Carlin]. J.Lo's in it slightly, and Liv Tyler also stars. The trailer looked awesome.
FLAMES: 22-13-3-3 for 50 points It took the team until March 5th to get 21 wins last year
Thanks Freeway 420, I completely forgot about Smith's Jersey Girl. Though I'm really not sure if I would classify him as an auteur filmmaker yet since his films don't really have a consistent unique style...unless you want to count gay and BJ jokes... :). I'll probably include it in the comedy section when I get to that next. To those who are wondering, Jersey Girl comes out March 19th.
(edited by The Vile1 on 15.1.04 1745)
"Just a humble bounty hunter, ma'am." -Spike Spiegel
Originally posted by The Vile1This looks to be Stone's first narrative feature in about five years. This film will also probably be the first of 2 big Hollywood epic films about the great conqueror Alexander the Great, the latter of which is being helmed by Baz Luhrmann featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. Alexander has Colin Farrell as the title bisexual conqueror who mysteriously died in his early 30's but not before taking over most of the western hemisphere.
I imagine Stone's will be the one that will be devoid of facts, and the one that somehow blames the future United States for Alexander's death?
And because I've had a LOT of diet coke today: from Merriam-Webster's:
Main Entry: western hemisphere Function: noun Usage: often capitalized W&H Date: 1624 : the half of the earth comprising No. and So. America and surrounding waters
(edited by Eddie Famous on 15.1.04 1804) "In the sky. Lord, in the sky..."
Originally posted by Eddie FamousI imagine Stone's will be the one that will be devoid of facts, and the one that somehow blames the future United States for Alexander's death?
And, I imagine Luhrmann's will have lots of blithering dialogue and some flashy musical numbers.
“To get ass, you’ve got to bring ass." -- Roy Jones Jr.
"Your input has been noted. I hope you don't take it personally if I disregard it." -- Guru Zim
Actually, Luhrman's version of Alexander has been shelved, the last I heard, due to budget problems. It might never come off, especially since Stone's film will get out first.
My quick, relatively non-informed opinions about all of these films...
Dogville: Lars Von Trier is a worthless filmmaker. Get ready for lots of movie critic headlines along the lines of 'This One Is A Real Dog.' Ladykillers: The plot of this one seems a lot more 'Coen' than Intolerable Cruelty was. Hanks is always more fun as a somewhat shady guy (i.e. League of Their Own) than he is as a bland nice guy. Kill Bill II: If it's anything like the first one, this is going to kick ass Brothers Grimm: Gilliam's track record is pretty sketchy, but this concept seems interesting, and Matt Damon's anti-crap radar is usually pretty reliable (unlike his buddy Affleck's) Fahrenheit 911: Typical Michael Moore stuff. Alexander: Who knows. Oliver Stone has no middle ground between 'classic' and 'overdirected, pretentious crap.' He hasn't hit that classic level in over a decade, however, so this movie will make or break the rest of his career. Aviator: I've got a feeling that this is going to be REALLY good, as Scorsese will be looking to redeem himself after the slightly disappointing Gangs Of New York. I'm going to go out on a limb and call this the favourite for Best Picture of 2004, with Scorsese finally getting his Oscar and maybe Cate Blanchett getting a Best Supporting Actress award (as Kate Hepburn).
Rob asks Dave and Ric if they want to go backstage to play Hungry Hungry Hippos and Flair and Batista immediately bail. Flair wants to be Green. Man, EVERYBODY wants to be green. Except the girl in the commercials. She wanted to be pink. That either means that the ad agency was sexist or that she was communist. Of course Hungry Hungry Hippos is a rather capitalist game isn’t it? No self respecting communist would play Hungry Hungry Hippos. Except Stalin. He LOVED Hungry Hungry Hippos. God, I’ve got no clue what the hell I’m rambling about anymore.-- Matt "Excalibur05" Hocking, Raw Satire writer extraordinaire
You know, I just can't call it the "WWE." I just can't. My body's rejecting it like a bad liver transplant.-- Bill Simmons, espn.com/page2
This next section is dedicated to comedies of all sorts being released this year.
THE PERFECT SCORE-January 30th
Directed by Brian Robbins From the director of the WCW movie, READY TO RUMBLE, as well as Varsity Blues and Good Burger, is The Perfect Score. TPS is a comedy about a bunch of high school kids struggling with their SAT's and they try to cheat it. Man, the SAT's weren't [italic]THAT[/italic] bad. You know Scarlett Johannson is in this one? She's very pretty, she's 18 too...so drool away.
EUROTRIP-February 20th
Directed by Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Scheffer This film features a bunch of unknowns, except for Michelle Trachtenberg I think I know who she is, about a group of teens who travel to Europe and have comical adventures there. I don't really care about this film, but I'll bet the farm that this next one is really good...
CLUB DREAD-February 27th
Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar This is the third film by the Broken Lizard comedy troupe (note: Check out their last two films, Super Troopers and Puddle Cruisers) which features the group as a tropical island hotel staff that has to deal with a ridiculously dressed serial killer. It looks like Chandrasekhar plays the oddball, quirky character this time and Kevin Heffernan (Rodney Favre in Super Troopers) playing more of a straight character. I think Super Troopers was a hilarious overlooked gem in 2002, that did fairly well at the BO due to its dirt cheap budget. I expect this movie to be a lot of fun as well.
STARSKY AND HUTCH-March 5th
Directed by Todd Phillips Frequent collaborators Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson team-up once again for this retro comedic-adaptation of the 1970's TV series. Well for starters, anyone remember the last time Owen Wilson co-starred in a comedy-film version of a popular DRAMATIC television series? I remember it sucking quite badly as well. I hate the way Hollywood just completely fudges with classic tv series and tries to make them something they are not, basically incredibly dumb silly comedies. If and when an A-team movie gets made, I hope it doesn't suffer the same fate.
CODY BANKS 2: DESTINATION LONDON-March 12th
Directed By Kevin Allen Well they got this sequel out pretty quick. Anyone care to comment? Never saw the first Cody Banks film, I'll probably refrain this time as well.
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR-March 12th
Directed by Luke Greenfield The director of film turd THE ANIMAL brings you a comedy about a teenager who falls in love with porn star Kim Bauer, who moves in next door to him. While I'm no fan of the animal, this film looks like it could be kind of cute. So anyone else ever dream of living next door to a porn star and falling in love with them? Ever?
JERSEY GIRL-March 19th
Directed by Kevin Smith This will be Kevin Smith's first non-View Askew universe film, or his first film with the Jay and Silent Bob characters. Smith-staple Ben Affleck plays a Ollie Trinke, trying to cope with the loss of his wife (Jennifer Lopez, or as Eric Cartman says the ho with the big ass) and being a single parent. Later on he gets to romance the newly widowed Arwen Evenstar (Liv Tyler), trying to cope with the loss of Aragorn of course ;-). I think the release of this film will be very interesting, especially after all the delays and controversy because Gigli. Affleck's been in a slump lately, and his films last year were rather poor. I also wonder how Smith REALLY feels about Gigli after last year when he came out said it was great and hilarious, and the rumors of it sucking were bogus.
SCOOBY DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED-March 26th
Directed by Raja Gosnell Time for another groovy mystery with the entire original cast from the first movie back for another go of...of...whatever. I'll always have fond memories of the original cartoon, but these live action versions are just all wrong. And you can't go much worse than having Freddie Prinze Jr. as the lead. Kids will probably see this and drag their parents along again. But I ask you, when did Shaggy and Scooby ever fart or have farting matches in the cartoon? NEVER!
50 FIRST DATES
Directed by Peter Segal Adam Sandler reteams with the Anger Management director for this odd romantic comedy featuring Sandler and Drew Barrymore, his co-star from The Wedding Singer. Taking a page from a plot device used in Memento and Dana Carvey's Clean Slate, 50 First Dates focuses on Henry Roth (Sandler) who must romance and get Lucy Whitmore (Barrymore) to fall in love with him everyday due to her short term memory loss. Probably another comedy I won't make any large effort to see.
This is all I really have time for right now. I think this is mainly for comedies in the first quarter of '04. Any I missed?
(edited by The Vile1 on 17.1.04 2227)
"Just a humble bounty hunter, ma'am." -Spike Spiegel
You have Scooby-doo twice (for Girl Next Door, and Scooby-doo 2) and the pic for eurotrip is broken.
Just FYI
In a related note, it's being reported that Kill Bill V1 is coming out as a 2 DVD set 3 days before V2 is set to hit the big screen, so says Video Business Magazine.
The Trailer for Eurotrip and Club Dread both played when I went to see 21 Grams (odd pairing of trailers and movie). Both looked really, really good. But, I find humor in the strangest places, so I shouldnt really be a barometer.
However, Eurotrip is from the producers of Road Trip and Old School, so that should account for something.
Ack, I saw the trailer for Jersey Girl and it looked GOD AWFUL. I mean, they played a freaking TRAIN song over it!! I'll still give it a chance because of being a Kevin Smith film, but it ain't looking too good.
Eurotrip has my man Fred Armisen all over the trailer. So, yeah, I'll definitely see that.
Is it just me, or is Michelle Trachtenberg showing way too much cleavage on that poster? She's 17, for God's sake.
Club Dread is going to be hilarious, and Starsky & Hutch has the potential to reach Zoolander or Old School levels of hilarity. Stiller! Wilson! Vaughn! Ferrell! Snoop! Is there any way this movie won't be funny??
Another comedy to watch for is Anchorman, a VERY loosely adapted story of the first female news reporter in San Diego, set in the 1970's. Stars the immortal Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Vince Vaughn and Paul Rudd.
Rob asks Dave and Ric if they want to go backstage to play Hungry Hungry Hippos and Flair and Batista immediately bail. Flair wants to be Green. Man, EVERYBODY wants to be green. Except the girl in the commercials. She wanted to be pink. That either means that the ad agency was sexist or that she was communist. Of course Hungry Hungry Hippos is a rather capitalist game isn’t it? No self respecting communist would play Hungry Hungry Hippos. Except Stalin. He LOVED Hungry Hungry Hippos. God, I’ve got no clue what the hell I’m rambling about anymore.-- Matt "Excalibur05" Hocking, Raw Satire writer extraordinaire
You know, I just can't call it the "WWE." I just can't. My body's rejecting it like a bad liver transplant.-- Bill Simmons, espn.com/page2
Originally posted by Big BadIs it just me, or is Michelle Trachtenberg showing way too much cleavage on that poster? She's 17, for God's sake.
11 October 1985
So, she's 18, and perfectly old enough to be sexualized by her producers. And if you don't like that, you certainly won't like the scenes where she's taking off her top from the trailer.
(edited by Excalibur05 on 20.1.04 0340) That's Mah Stank!
Originally posted by Big BadIs it just me, or is Michelle Trachtenberg showing way too much cleavage on that poster? She's 17, for God's sake.
11 October 1985
So, she's 18, and perfectly old enough to be sexualized by her producers. And if you don't like that, you certainly won't like the scenes where she's taking off her top from the trailer.
Originally posted by Big BadBrothers Grimm: Gilliam's track record is pretty sketchy
What's sketchy about it? The Python films, Jabberwocky, Time Bandits (an absolute joy), Brazil (a classic), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (a work of art), the Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, and about as good an attempt at Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas as anyone could make. Other than Jabberwocky, it's a rock-solid body of work.
"As far as my lack of professional courtesy and my obvious immature humor in referring to using your head as a pickle jar, well, I reserve my courtesy for those whom I respect. Your lack of personal integrity has given me much grief, and I find that thinking of your hollowed-out head sitting on top of my fridge and providing a safe haven for pickles is a comforting thought." -- the immortal Bill Mattocks
My rational, intelligent, sane cousin, who is a 25 year old schoolteacher, was DEVASTATED at dinner tonight when I broke the Nick and Jessica news to her. If seemingly sane people are heartbroken, imagine how the unwashed masses will react.