Film Corner!

Below, the trailer for Jack the Giant Killer, which is not a movie about a dude named Jack of enormous proportions who kills people, but a dude named Jack who kills giants. Or a giant. Many giants? At least one giant.

Here is the movie's synopsis, which should help with this whole conundrum: "Jack the Giant Killer tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend—and gets the chance to become a legend himself."

Hmm, that didn't really help at all, in terms of determining how many giants are actually murdered at the hand of this young farmboy. ("As you wish!") Well, whatever. What's important is that we definitely know this is based on a classic Western hemisphere fable (that was probably ripped off from some classic Eastern hemisphere fable), which means that it stars lots and lots of white men, which is the important thing, obviously.


Nicholas Hoult, who is definitely 22 now, I checked Wikipedia and everything, has turned into a very attractive man after being a very awkward little dude in About a Boy. In his short career, he has been in a lot of movies I like and/or like a lot—About a Boy, A Single Man, Clash of the Titans, X-Men: First Class—and I will probably like this movie, too, even though I'm totally going to make fun of this trailer.

Anyway! Nicholas Hoult is handsome and he is a farmhand named Jack. There is Ominous Music. He is given a handful of beans, which are, according to an urgently whispering fellow with monk-hair, "holy relics from a very special place far, far away." Ha ha sure they are. "They are born of dark magic." Holy AND magical, you say? Why, these ARE special beans. "They have the power to change the world as we know it." By revealing that god is a wizard? "Don't lose them." KEEP THEM SECRET! KEEP THEM SAFE! THEY ARE THE ONE BEANS! "Whatever you do, don't get them wet." Uh-oh! I already put them in the toilet!

Ominous Music gets ominouser. There's a rainstorm. A princess with boobs walks down a castle hall. Them beans is getting wet, yo. A cat meows. Someone says in voiceover, "Once darkness gets a taste for light, it will not stop." Stop what? Eating light? Do these giants eat lightbulbs? Is this an allegory about energy conservation? Hmm, maybe not, since a giant and evil green plant (I bet it's a beanstalk!) just crashed through the floor of Jack's garbage hovel. Maybe this is an allegory about how stupid nature is. It's like Al Gore and Ayn Rand are having a capoeira fight on top of a moving train in my head.

The king wants to know where the princess is, Jack. Jack looks up the beanstalk. I guess she's up there? What was the princess doing in his shitshack? Never mind that. SOMETHING GIANT IS COMING! What is it?! Oh, it's a giant. And the giant has grabbed the princess. Horses. Run! Unsheathe your swords and get ready to fight! Flaming trees over the castle wall. Damn, you really don't want to fight giants. This is why we told you not to get those magui beans wet, son!

Rain. Running. Grabby giant! Swarthy giant eyeball. Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes.

Jack the Giant Killer, coming to a theater near you in June 2012, just about the time we'll be looking for anything to lift our spirits and distract our minds from contemplating the possibility that Newt Gingrich could be our next president.

Whoooooooops Your Kyriarchal Assumptions

Actress Gabourey Sidibe arrives for the premiere of the film "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" in New York, December 15, 2011. [Reuters Pictures]

Earlier today, I saw this picture of Gabby Sidibe on the red carpet last night, looking gorgeous as always, and I was reminded of a popular media meme about Sidibe when she was nominated for an Oscar for her breakthrough performance in Precious. It was said in a lot of different ways, by a lot of different reviewers, reporters, and assorted film industry experts, some of whom were more circumspect and some of whom were more blunt, but the gist was always that Sidibe would not—could not—have a sustainable career, because she is fat, because she is a fat woman, because she is a fat woman of color, because she is a fat woman of color with very dark skin, because she is a fat woman of color with very dark skin who played a survivor of sexual violence in her career-launching role.

Since then, Sidibe has starred in Victoria Mahoney's Yelling to the Sky, had a major supporting role in a cable series (Showtime's The Big C), done voice work on two different animated series, played a key supporting role in the recently-released Brett Ratner film Tower Heist, and is currently filming Martin McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths, which has an A-list cast.

Not too shabby. I imagine there are a lot of actors who would be thrilled to have such a non-career.

I would say that I'm looking forward to reading all the follow-up pieces in which the Very Important Knowledgeable Prognosticators of the Entertainment Industry admit that perhaps they were a little quick to judge, to mistake the prejudiced habits of the film industry with some immutable truth about its nature. I would say that except ha ha I'm not stupid and it will never happen.

I hope Gabby Sidibe keeps getting opportunities, and that her career is exactly as long as she wants it to be.

Question of the Day

We've done this before, but this is always a good one to vent about: What film trope needs to go away forever?

[TW] The groin trauma/speaking or singing in a very high voice thing needs to be put to rest and never spoken of again. It's so ancient it farts dust, and it's never, ever funny.

Film Corner!

Below is the trailer for Young Adult, written by Diablo Cody and starring Charlize Theron, the IMDb description of which is: "Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend, who is now married with kids." (Ha ha I will never stop loving the film trope that all female writers are dangerously crazy!) On the film poster, Theron is dressed in pink sweatpants, her high school boyfriend's green gym hoodie, and a Hello Kitty t-shirt, carrying two pink bags, atop one of which sits a tiny white fluffy dog. In pink text, it reads: "Everyone gets old. Not everyone grows up. A bit of baggage this December." Ooooooof.

As always, this might be a great movie. But the marketing for it sure doesn't make it look like one.


Charlize Theron, dressed in sweats and hoodie, stands at the counter in the lobby of a hotel. A young white woman behind the counter welcomes her and asks if she has a reservation. CT says no and hands her a credit card. Doggy noises emanate from within the pink bag she has sat on the counter. "Is that a dog in your bag?" "Nope." "We actually allow small pets with a cleaning deposit." "Good, because I have a small dog in my vehicle." Yiiiiiiiiiiikes.

David Bowie's "Queen Bitch" begins to play. Sad times.

CT meets Patton Oswalt, former classmate, in a bar. He asks her if she's moved back to town. "Of course not. Gross." Various scenes of CT getting ready, putting on a wig, going out, drinking, breakfast at her parents', seeing a classmate's baby, attending a party, hugging someone, getting glared at judgmentally. Another woman calls her a "psychotic prom queen bitch." In other words, the usual pointless montagery that establishes nothing besides the fact that this is, indeed, a movie with multiple scenes in it.

Text onscreen reads: "The girl you HATED in high school is BACK."

CT and Patton Oswalt talk in the bar parking lot. "Here's the deal," she tells him. "Buddy Slade and I are meant to be together, and I'm here to get him back." Oswalt replies, "I'm pretty sure he's married with a kid on the way." She says she doesn't care. He advises her to get therapy. She snorts derisively. Oh boy.

More montagery. She calls a baby ugly, gets her nails done, makes a scowly face, does shots with Buddy Slade, gets wine spilled on her white blouse at a baby shower (I think), is told "you are a piece of work" by Patton Oswalt, shops at Macys for a dress to make Buddy Slade's wife jealous.

This movie definitely has many scenes of Charlize Theron acting like a real asshole! And getting karmically punished for being an asshole! And acting like an asshole some more because she's not getting the memo from the universe! If you like seeing stupid assholes doing stupid asshole things, there is a good chance this movie is for you!

To Buddy Slade, who by the way is played by Patrick Wilson, whose ass you may have seen in Little Children, Charlize Theron says: "You can come to the city with me, like we always planned." He replies incredulously, "Mavis, I'm a married man!" She is not defeated: "I know! We can beat this thing TOGETHER!" He looks back at her and sighs like she is a stupid asshole. Because she is.

The one good thing about this trailer is that I don't need to see the movie. Because now I know that her crackpot scheme fails and she is shot down by Buddy Slade and all that's left to find out is whether she finally grows up, and, as it turns out, I don't fucking care. The End!

Great News! (Not Great News At All)

A third installment in The Hangover franchise could begin shooting as early as next year! And if you're one of the many people asking themselves CAN THE MAGIC OF A BUNCH OF STRAIGHT WHITE DUDES GETTING BLACK-OUT DRUNK AND DOING STUPID, HURTFUL, AND FREQUENTLY CRIMINAL THINGS BE RECREATED A THIRD TIME?! don't you worry your pretty little head, because it definitely can. This time in LA.

Good job, film industry! You are THE BEST.

[H/T to @scatx.]

Question of the Day

What is your favorite animated film?

I'm not a huge animated film buff, so my reservoir of potential answers is a lot narrower than other film genres. Of the ones I've seen, my favorite is probably The Last Unicorn, which strongly resonated with me when I was an awkward pre-feminist 8-year-old, and resonates with me still.

Honorable mention to Pixar's A Bug's Life, which features one of my favorite lines of dialogue of all time: The Fly, disgusted with the shitty quality of the Flea Circus at which he's in attendance, departs with the line: "I only got twenty-four hours to live, and I ain't gonna waste it here." Brilliant.

Film Corner: Mission Make Me Pee My Pants

Say what you will about Tom Cruise (just don't say it here because it's not on-topic!), but the man is fearless like a brave thing made out of courage with lots of little daring bits all over it. Below is video from the upcoming fourth installment in his Mission Impossible series, in which Cruise does one of the most amazing stunts I've ever seen, dangling on a wire at the top of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, a mile and a half off the ground.

Please note that if you don't like stomach-churning videos of people doing things at great heights, you should definitely not hit play on this video.

Text Onscreen: Tom Cruise Scales Burj Khalifa—A behind-the-scenes look at how Tom Cruise filmed his stunts on Dubai's Burj Khalifa during the making of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

Followed by: Images of Dubai, images of the looming Burj Khalifa, and images of Cruise on a wire, preparing for the stunt, accompanied by the "Mission Impossible" theme music.

Brad Bird, Director: We're a mile and a half above the earth, heh heh, on the tallest building on the planet—the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. And we're filming a scene where Tom Cruise is climbing on the outside of the building.

Dude Who Appears to Be the Stunt Coordinator: Okay, Tom, we're ready to go.

Followed by: Video of Tom Cruise stepping out of the building at its top, protected by only by a minimal safety harness.

Bird: This is just another day at work on Mission Impossible. [nervous chuckle]

Several People: Three-two-one-ACTION!

Followed by: Video of Tom Cruise LEAPING OFF THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING AND SWINGING AROUND IT OMFG ALL THE BLOOD JUST RUSHED OUT OF MY BRAIN AND I FEEL LIKE I MIGHT FALL OVER.

Followed by: More video of Tom Cruise running all over the outside of this goddamn building, with "Mission Impossible" theme music, and then running and leaping out a window, and then I CAN'T EVEN TAKE IT HE IS SO HIGH UP OMFG TOM CRUISE YOU ARE MAKING ME GIGGLE NERVOUSLY AND UNCONTROLLABLY I AM SO SCARED FOR YOU EVEN THOUGH I KNOW YOU ARE STILL ALIVE BECAUSE THIS IS SO TERRIFYING AND ALSO IMPRESSIVE GOOD FOR YOU!

I'm really excited for this film. I quite enjoy the Mission Impossible films, in no small part because Iain looooooooves them, and his boundless enthusiasm for each new one is truly infectious. Also: Sawyer!

Neat

A first peek at Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, from Steven Spielberg's upcoming biopic, Lincoln...


[Click to embiggen.]
[Via.]

It's Here! (Rearden Metal Edition)

Hey, remember that email from Atlas Shrugged Movie I posted about last week? The one that seemed to be advertising something, but was really not advertising anything? Well, the whole mystery has been cleared up with a new email from... drum roll please... REARDEN STEEL!

Yeah, so, the Atlas Shrugged marketing team is finally taking my advice and sending out emails from movie characters. I guess Rearden Steel is a character. As much as anyone or anything in the movie is. It's an entity. Like the Ministry of Love or the Lord of the Flies conch. Right? It would totally get its own Cliffs Notes page. Plus, it's actually clear this time what they are selling. (Cue up Pomp and Circumstance, they are ready to graduate my marketing class!)

They sent me this great email:


The copy in the email reads:

It's here. And, it's AWESOME.

Harmon Kaslow and John Aglialoro present this very Special Edition Atlas Shrugged Part I Blu-Ray packaged in an amazing one-of-a-kind REARDEN STEEL collectible case housing over 2 hours of incredible bonus material.

IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

PRE-ORDER NOW FOR DEC. 19-23 DELIVERY.

[There is also some stuff about Midas Mulligan's annual sale, whut? And the Canadian premier! Ha! Eat that, Canadians!]

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1: The Search for Spock on Blu-Ray! In a Rearden Steel metal case! Note, this is not actually made of Rearden steel because Rearden steel is fictional. But still!

You and all your friends can order this one-of-a-kind item, which kind of makes me wonder if the marketing team knows what one-of-a-kind means. But nevermind!

The Blu-Ray comes in three different versions (Oof, what's the total now, twelve? Twelve different versions of this DVD/Blu-Ray thing?) with a bunch of exclusive features like the "I am John Galt" fan video compilation which is on the regular DVD, too. This also makes me wonder if the marketing team knows what exclusive means. Ah, well, in marketing words can mean anything you want, dictionaries be damned!

So give yourself (obviously) the gift of Rearden Steel this Xmas! I know I will. (I won't.)

Speaking of Xmas (a non-denominational holiday, just FYI) this stuff is also on Blu-Ray this week:

One Day. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess have sex once a year for twenty years. Special packaging: Comes inside a Page-A-Day Calendar.

Friends With Benefits. Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake have sex. Special packaging: Comes inside a No Strings Attached DVD case.

The Adventures of Tintin. Cartoon version of the books! Woo hoo! Special packaging: Comes inside a reproduction of Tintin's rocket.

Walk a Mile in My Pradas. Switcheroo Comedy™ about a homophobe who turns gay. Boat Trip meets Vice Versa and/or Like Father Like Son. Special packaging: Comes in a time capsule from 1986.

Conan the Barbarian Reboot! About muscles and swords and (probably) does not feature any Grace Jones. Special packaging: Comes in a faux-fur loincloth.

The Smurfs Reboot! Computer-generated blue wee people (are they people?) get into hijinx and shenanigans with Doogie Howser. Retro! Special packaging: Comes in a can of creative bankruptcy.

Get shopping, Shruggers!

Number of the Day

32.8%: The percentage of the 4,342 speaking characters from the top 100-grossing movies of 2009 who were female; 67.2% were male, and the percentages remained unchanged from 2008, according to the study done by the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

"We see remarkably stable trends," said USC Annenberg associate professor Stacy L. Smith. "This reveals an industry formula for gender that may be outside of people's conscious awareness."

It's not just the ratio of female to male characters that continues to be imbalanced but the manner in which they're depicted, according to Smith.

The USC study determined that women were still far more likely than men to wear sexy clothing in movies, such as swimwear and unbuttoned shirts (25.8% versus 4.7%), to expose skin (23% versus 7.4%) and to be described by another character as attractive (10.9% versus 2.5%).

Revealing clothing and partial nudity was just as prevalent among 13- to 20-year-old female characters as it was among those 21 to 29, suggesting that females are sexualized on-screen at young ages, Smith said.

Behind the camera, the gender inequality is just as dramatic: only 3.6% of the directors and 13.5% of the writers on the top-grossing films of 2009 were female, according to the study.

Researchers found that the sex of the storytellers had a significant effect on what appeared on-screen. In movies directed by women, 47.7% of the characters were female; in movies directed by men, fewer than a third of the characters were female. When one or more of the screenwriters was female, 40% of characters were female; when all the screenwriters were male, 29.8% of the characters were female.

Marginalization is a snake eating its own tail: The more any non-privileged group is marginalized, the more they're marginalized.

Atlas Emails!

I got an email a little while ago from Atlas Shrugged Movie. That's really the name in the from field. It is really from the movie's marketing department. I must have signed up for email alerts from them at some point. Whoops. Personally, I think this should have come from "John Galt." That would have been neat. "Hey, Mom, John Galt just sent me an email!" See? Marketing 101.

Anyway, misery loves company (so says that Goo Goo Dolls song), so I thought I'd share:


The copy in the email reads:

THIS FRIDAY, GIVE THE GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE.

Mark your calendar. This Friday, November 25, is the special one-day Gulch Store shopping event. Visit us online and give the very special blu-metal gift of lasting knowledge to your friends and family.

Browse the Gulch Store now for great gift ideas.

I don't really know what this means. It references a one-day event on Friday, but the online store is open now and will, free-market willing, be open Saturday and I see nothing about special Black Friday discounts. Marketing 204 (an elective class) I bet teaches: Be sure your message is clear. Whoops.

I guess, maybe, if you're going to buy an Atlas Shrugged: Part I: The Undiscovered Country DVD do it on Friday? It's now available in nine (NINE!) different editions. Oof. To be an Atlas Shrugged: Part I DVD completist: Sad face.

See you Friday, Shruggians!

Just FYI

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 is at the top of my Qwikster queue. Updates as they develop!

Coming Soon To A Theater Near You

(Click image to engage tractor beam.)

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D
Note the conspicuous absence of Anakin and Jar Jar on the poster. Anakin is briefly seen in the new trailer, which makes the movie look terrible in three dimensions. Also note that if this release tanks, the other five films will not be given the 3D treatment. Whoops!

Today In Whoops

I know you're all excited by my announcement Friday regarding the DVD release of Atlas Shrugged: Part 1: The Phantom Menacers, so I hope this doesn't ruin your day.

The release has been marred by a typo, and 100,000 title sheets for the DVD will have to be replaced. The artwork for the DVD describes the film thusly: "Ayn Rand's timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life..." Uh oh.

A spokesperson for the producer had this to say:

"It's embarrassing for sure and of course, regardless of how or why it happened, we're all feeling responsible right now. You can imagine how mortified we all were when we saw the DVD but, it was simply too late — the product was already on shelves all over the Country. It was certainly no surprise when the incredulous emails ensued. The irony is inescapable."

The company is replacing the sheets free of charge (also ironic) with new copy that reads "Ayn Rand's timeless novel of rational self-interest comes to life..." Much better!

But don't throw those originals out, Galtians, they're collector's items!

[H/t to everyone in the universe.]

It's Here!

Finally! After decades of waiting! It seemed like this day would never come but it has! Atlas Shrugged: Part I: Shrug Like There's No Tomorrow is now available on DVD!



Official Atlas Shrugged Movie DVD
Get your copy at the Official Www.atlasshruggedpart1.com Website for only $19.95! ("In stock. Order now for immediate delivery.") Or, get it at Amazon for $15.49 (Free market!) or download it for $3.99 (48 hour rental, free market, too!) or $14.99 (own it forever (i.e. until your harddrive crashes!)!). Or Qwikster it! Sorry, it isn't on Redbox yet (the market has spoken!)

It's also on Blu-ray in case you want to see the special effects in super high definition on your 97" plasma TV. (I thought plasma came from blood. They're not making these TVs out of blood are they?! "Personhood!") Oddly, the Blu-ray version doesn't seem to be available on the film's website. (Free market?) But that's okay, they make it up to you.

With this!:



Official Atlas Shrugged DVD: Collector's 4 DVD Box Set
For the collectors! If you collect Atlas Shrugged DVDs, this is the must have Atlas Shrugged DVD this season! Some of the exciting features in this set:

Each DVD contains the FULL Theatrical Release of ATLAS SHRUGGED Part I which opened in limited release nationwide April 15th, 2011 (Whut?)

"I am John Galt." fan video compilation (35:06) (35:06!)

"The John Galt Theme" slideshow (3:17) (Hawt!)

"The World of Atlas Shrugged" audio program (MP3 and ROM) (ROM? Huh?)

"Welcome" from FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe (Fun!)

Barbara Branden on the Passion of Ayn Rand (Also fun!)

Exclusive footage from the April 14th premiere (Not fun!)

And if that's not enough, it comes in three (three!) separate editions! One with an actual film cel (recycling!) for $139.95 (a fool and his money!) and another with a film cell plus an autograph from someone (be surprised!) for $179.95! (Paypal not accepted.)

Just in time for Christmas! (Also, Santa: so NOT the Randian ideal. Those kids didn't earn those Legos!) Shake the invisble hand of the free market and get yours today.

For Immediate Release

A bunch of people have asked me if I have any thoughts on Brett Ratner and his stupid misogyny and gross homophobia.

Yes, I do: He seems like a real asshole.

Film Corner!

[Trigger warning for rape culture.]

Below is the trailer for the upcoming Michael Fassbender (Team Magneto!) film Shame. It also stars Carey Mulligan and was directed by Steve McQueen, a black Englishman born in 1969 who is no relation to the white Hoosier actor of the same name who died in 1980, after starring in The Great Escape and other films. This is a very splendid picture Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender together! Anyway! Let's go the video!


Listen, I sort of know what Shame is about, because I read a description of it that gave some vague outlines, suitably cryptic for the kind of film generally considered best enjoyed if you know very little about it. Trailers for those sorts of films are often difficult, because you want to capture the mood without giving away details of the premise. Unlike, say, a Michael Bay film, in which you might as well watch the extended trailer, which is essentially a comprehensive synopsis, and save yourself $10.

But, come on, trailer for Shame! You are not telling me ANYTHING except that Michael Fassbender is adorable (no doy) and runs a lot (okay), and he has lots of sex (sure), and also has an indeterminately troubled relationship with his sister Carey Mulligan (all righty), and that New York City is filled almost exclusively with white people (which I know from all the other film trailers ever). Give me SOMETHING.

Well, in fairness, it does give me lots of accolades from reviewers, who would definitely never mistake pretentious kyriarchal garbage and recycled rape culture narratives for revolutionary film-making, so I guess I'll go ahead and trust them!

Onto the trailer description...

Mysterious, moody, brooding string music. Michael Fassbinder breathes. Sounds of the city. This film has won lots of awards. It is "from award-winning director Steve McQueen." Michael Fassbender breathes. He also jogs. He looks at ladies' asses.

Michael Fassbender is "the man." His pitch is "amazing." He clinks glasses with other men who are presumably his coworkers. According to The Guardian, this film is "mesmerizing." Michael Fassbender clinks glasses with ladies and watches them dance. Elle magazine thinks this film is "exquisite and emotive."

String music! Breathing! Jogging! Michael Fassbender checks out ladies on the subway. Michael Fassbender's sister is "playing downtown," and he goes to see her with some other dude. Carey Mulligan looks troubled and performs in some club in a sequin gown, looking Marilyn Monroe-ish. The Hollywood Reporter thinks this film is "scorching."

Breathing! Taxi! Computer! Carey Mulligan is maybe doing it with Michael Fassbender's boss now? Michael Fassbender's hard drive is dirty. He does it with lots of chicks. He is a sex addict, for sure. I.D. thinks this film is "daring and stylish."

Sex! Breathing! Tension with Carey Mulligan! Sex! Breathing! Tension with Carey Mulligan! The Hollywood Reporter also thinks this film is "a cinematic jolt."

Jogging! Some dude calls Michael Fassbender "Romeo" and then punches him. His sex addiction is getting him into trouble. Well, I'm sure we'll all feel very sorry for his objectification and exploitation of women when it turns out his sister coerced him into a sexual relationship at some point and is trying to do so again. Which is what this trailer is making me SUSPECT is going to be the big reveal of the film, and gross if that's true because rape reveals are cynical and revolting. (And, not so coincidentally, nearly always run counter-intuitive to everything we know about who tends to commit rape.) Time Out says this film is "courageous and distinctive."

Breathing! Jogging! Michael Fassbender is coming unglued. He won't pick up the phone. Sex! Running! Sex! Running! Sex! BREATHING!

SHAME. Carey Mulligan lies her head on Michael Fassbender's shoulder, and he wraps his arm around hers, while they watch TV.

This film has an NC-17 rating and, according to a film awards consultant, is "littered with the rawest sex you've ever seen in a non-pornographic movie." But don't worry! "The sex isn't gratuitous and is designed to show the disintegration of the character."

You know, it's just never good for female characters (if the living embodiment of a sex doll can be construed as an actual character) when sex scenes are used to "show the disintegration of" a male character.

I hope I am wrong in my impression that this film is a garbage nightmare about a kyriarchetypical sex addict who abuses women in various ways for whom we're meant to feel sympathy because of his profound struggle, which has been received as a serious and remarkable piece of film-making despite looking eerily like American Psycho without the chainsaw. (Or capitalist commentary.) I hope, because I like Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, and because I hate misogyny and the rape culture, that it is a lot better than I fear that it is.

Film Corner!

Do we need another remake of Great Expectations, the Dickens novel which has already inspired no fewer than 17 film, television, and theatrical adaptations? No, we definitely don't.

But we definitely do need to gaze with wonderment and delight at this still shot from Mike Newell's in-progress adaptation, of the perpetually scrumptious Helena Bonham Cartner as Miss Havisham, the "embittered spinster who sits in her mouldering mansion still wearing the wedding dress she wore when she was jilted at the altar; she has trained her adopted daughter Estella to break men's hearts just as her heart was broken."


[Click to embiggen.]

Bonham Carter co-stars opposite Ralph Fiennes as escaped convict Magwitch. Producer Stephen Woolley tells me the Oscar nominee is playing Miss Havisham at the same age she is in Dickens novel – previous incarnations by Charlotte Rampling, Anne Bancroft and, most memorably, Martita Hunt in David Lean's version played her much older. New York-based Unison Films is searching for a US deal for the film, which Lionsgate UK will release in fall 2012.

I don't even like Great Expectations (I'm an A Tale of Two Cities gal myself), but I have to say I'd seriously consider seeing a version with Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham.

Quote of the Day

"I had always been more interested in the private Marilyn, and the unguarded Marilyn. Even as a young girl, my primary concern wasn't with this larger-than-life personality smiling back from the wall, but with what was going on underneath."—Michelle Williams, who is playing Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming film My Week With Marilyn, which looks very good.

Or maybe I just think it looks very good, because I like Michelle Williams so much.

There are precious few actors whose involvement in a film will make me see it just because they're in it, but Michelle Williams is one of them.

Hobbity

Do you want to see a neat little video of the gentlemen who played Sam, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin hanging out together, made in conjunction with Empire magazine's LOTR 10th anniversary issue? Of course you do, because you're a nerd. Go look at it!

True Fact 1: The first book(s) that Iain and I ever talked about was Lord of the Rings, and the first movie we ever saw in the theater together was The Fellowship of the Rings.

True Fact 2: We own at seven different Lord of the Rings board games, and a Lord of the Rings chess set.

True Fact 3: We are hardcore nerds no doy.