Screenhead

Watching the macho men jump from wires and fight like men who are half gods is pretty cool.  Only, I can’t understand a word their saying.  But it’s fun to watch and looks like it will be an incredible movie. I love Sam Worthington and I still think he’d make a great Frank Sinatra in Scorsese’s movie about the blue-eyed icon.

I love it when I hear about older novels being produced for film. Such is the case with Mike Nichols, who is set to direct with Joe Penhall to write Deep Water, an adaptation of the 1957 Patricia Highsmith novel.

Highsmith may sound familiar to you because she wrote the thrillers Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. In Deep Water, a couple in a loveless marriage hangs on through an arrangement in which the husband allows the wife to take lovers. Mystery and suspense builds as those lovers begin dying.

I am excited that Nichols has decided to direct this genre.  It’ll be fun to see what he comes up with casting and music.  I love the way he does both superbly.

Push, Based on the Novel by Sapphire, director Lee Daniels’ unflinching look at the parental abuse and self-redemption of a teenage girl in 1980s Harlem, was the big winner at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, taking both the grand jury prize and the audience award in the U.S. dramatic competition. This clip with director Lee Daniels tells you about the film.

Beethoven’s a star now! Watch this film clip from Beethoven’s Big Break, where Beethoven gets an entire entourage for himself, complete with Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer!

My eight year old daughter thought this movie was very funny. She loved Beethoven and thought the whole story was very good. I noticed that she was captivated the whole time she watched it; never left the movie.

I personally like Jonathan Silverman and it’s good to see him in a light, hearted comedy.

Post your name to enter the giveaway and Screenhead will pick the winner Wednesday, December 31st.

It seems as if Italian cinema may face a return to former glory days, with the announcement of the European Film Awards nominees this week. Leading the pack are two Italian films, both nominated for five awards. The first is Il Divo, a biopic of Italian politician Paolo Sorrentino (played by Toni Servillo), dealing with his ties to the Mafia. The other is Gomorra, another film dealing with Italian organised crime, but this time looking at how pervasive the mafia is in the Naples region. Having seen the latter, the disappointing decision to be intentionally cold and unsympathetic of every character leaves me hoping that Il Divo will surprise.

Other multiple nominees include Entre Les Murs, winner of the Cannes Palm D’Or this year, over-rated horror flick The Orphanage, and Hunger, Steve (not THE) McQueen’s directorial debut concerning Irish Republican terrorist Bobby Sands’ hunger strike for his political status. The latter receives a rightful nomination for Michael Fassbinder as Sands, although he may lose out to Toni Servillo. Possibly the most interesting of the films, the animated Waltz with Bashir ,which covers a particular massacre during the Lebanese war, received noms for best film and screenplay.

It’s also good to see Mongol get a nomination int he category it most definitely deserves: cinematography.

The winners will be announced on December 6th, but for the full list of nominees, go here.

I am very excited because I get to post the next Harry Potter trailer.  I have read all the Harry Potter books to my daughter and love the stories. From what I see of this trailer, the movie is pure Harry Potter.

Jeff Daniels stars with Don Cheadle in Traitor.  I am glad to see Daniels in a film, again.  I know he does a lot of stage work, but stick to films, too, Jeff.  Traitor looks like a typical formula movie that opens August 29th. 

I think it’s wonderful that production stills of the next Harry Potter film are surfacing on the Internet and hard copy publications.

This production still is of Dumbledore handling black magic and reanimated dead people with Harry Potter in tow.

The final Box Office Report is in for the Weekend.  I am very happy for Mamma Mia!holding in at number three – go mamma!