Fundulgence

Released:         14 August 2009

Title:               The Time Traveler’s Wife

Director:           Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, Tattoo)

Starring:           Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams

If you’ve read the novel then you may have already guessed that it was only a matter of time before the Time Traveler’s (sic) Wife would be adapted for the big screen.  If there was ever any doubt then it it only took the success of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to make it a dead cert. 

The Time Traveler’s Wife is a twisted take on romantic drama that sees Henry (Eric Bana) randomly skipping through time, having no control or influence over the when, where or why it’s happening, confined only by his own lifetime.  In a similar vein to Benjamin Button the onus here is on the timelessness and power of true love in the face of impossible, freakish odds, the aging process, and ultimately, our own mortality.  

“Pretty Dodgy Territory”

On his Sam Beckett-esque leaps Henry usually manages to hook up with Claire (Rachel McAdams), his future wife and soulmate who gets used to his regular, naked appearances in her family’s garden from a very young age.  Needless to say the story is in pretty dodgy territory when initiating a relationship between the adult Henry and his pre-teen wife-to-be and on occasion even the book struggled to keep this high concept within the realms of decency. 

No doubt the film will go to great lengths to emphasise a degree of innocence to avoid making Henry out to be some kind of transcendent sexual deviant, but whether this will detract from the edginess and darker undertones of Audrey Niffenegger’s novel, only time will tell.

The plot, cast and potential are all in place - Eric Bana would certainly have been amongst my top choices for Henry - but us mere mortals will have to wait for the film’s release to find out whether this love story is a step back in time or the quantum leap that the novel deserves.

4-Word Thinking:         Back2 the Future Missus

True Tale of Persecution Defies Belief

Defiance recounts the tale of three Jewish brothers who flee Nazi-occupied Poland into the wild forests of Belarussia.  Many more Jewish men, women and children evading Hitler’s army join them, and they attempt to survive in the forest as a desperate means to escape persecution.  Even as the forest community advances there is the constant threat of death in its many guises. Harsh winters, living on the brink of famine, disease, the German soldiers and bombings, even the Russian Resistance fighters who also inhabit the forest pose a threat to the refugees who have only each other and their freedom to show for their hardships. 

This makes for an ominous, harrowing and often heavy-going viewing experience that only manages to avoid being overbearing through impromptu, wild outbursts of violence that keep the proceedings suspenseful.  Read the rest of this entry »

Title:                X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Director:           Gavin Hood (Rendition, Tsotsi)

Starring:           Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch

Released:         May 2009

Synopsis:         The first in a potential franchise of prequels to the X-men films, Origins sees animalistic mutant Wolverine (Jackman) seeking revenge against his half brother, Victor Creed (Schreiber playing the man fated to become Sabertooth) for the death of his girlfriend.  As glimpsed in the previous X-Men movies Wolverine ends up being subjected to the ‘Weapon X’ program, where adamantium - an indestructible alloy - is grafted onto his skeleton.

Hugh Jackman is once again perfectly cast as the cigar chewing, savage mutant with extendable claws and anger management issues.  He’s joined by a variety of mutants from Marvel’s extensive comic mythology.  Perhaps most significantly is the big screen’s first incarnation of Cajun card sharp, Gambit (Kitsch), a staff-wielding gambler who can manipulate kinetic energy, notably absence from the previous X-films, to the disappointment of many fans.

Go further:  View the Latest Trailer or visit the Official Site.

4-Word Thinking:         Don’t expect yellow spandex…

Title:                 Terminator Salvation

Director:           McG (Charlie’s Angels, We are Marshall)

Starring:            Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Helena Bonham Carter, Bryce Dallas Howard

Released:         May 2009

Synopsis:         The fourth film in the Terminator franchise is set after Judgement Day, when a nuclear Holocaust and Skynet’s cyborgs are on the verge of wiping out mankind.  Salvation focuses on the struggle of John Connor (Bale), fated leader of the dwindling human resistance.  The film also introduces Marcus Wright (Worthington), a stranger whose last memories were of being on death row - Connor must decide whether the newcomer has been rescued from the past or sent from the future.  More importantly, is he man or machine, friend or foe?

Director McG has yet to prove himself as a serious contender, but with Bale on board, Stan Winston’s final effects work and the premise of a full on future war this has serious potential.  There are even rumours of a cameo from the Governator himself…   

Go further:       Visit the Official Site or view the latest Trailer

4-Word Thinking:           Rage against the Machines

Good Cop? Bad Cop? Any Cop?

Pride and Glory explores issues of loyalty, morality and justice as a corruption scandal threatens to blow apart a closely-knit police family and the entire NYPD.  The male dominated cast revolves around the Irish-American Tierney family, with Edward Norton taking centre stage.  The plot gradually unravels as he investigates the murder of four New York City cops, only to implicate members of his own family. 

Read the rest of this entry »

The Bond Supremacy?
007’s back in one of the most eagerly anticipated films of ‘008.

Quantum of Solace kicks off just 20 minutes after the closing scenes of Casino Royale.  This is the first direct James Bond sequel and it’s clearly designed as part of a much larger canon, with plenty of scope for continuation.

Bond (Daniel Craig) must come to terms with Vesper’s betrayal and expose the mysterious organisation that took her life.  The organisation is more powerful and far-reaching than MI6 had ever conceived and Bond’s path brings him into contact with politically corrupt environmentalist Dominick Greene (French actor Mathieu Amalric), and his fiery love interest Camille (Olga Kurylenko).  Read the rest of this entry »

Or ‘Bauer through the Looking Glass’ if you’re a 24 fan…

Kiefer Sutherland takes time out of his busy 24 filming/Parole schedule to star in this US unofficial adaptation of Japanese Horror movie ‘Into the Mirror’.  He plays a shamed LA cop and recovering alcoholic who takes a job working security for a burnt out department store, only to experience sinister visions in the surviving mirrors.  He soon finds that the mysterious goings-on aren’t limited to his work place and though greeted with scepticism, he fights to protect his family. Read the rest of this entry »

Title:                 The Hobbit (and as yet untitled second film)

Director:           Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy II), produced by Peter Jackson.

Starring:            So far only Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis are confirmed, but it’s early days yet.

Released:         The first film is pencilled in for some time in 2011…with the second following a year later.

Synopsis:         The prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy tells of a young Bilbo and his encounters with the spiders of Mirkwood, Smaug the Dragon and of course, everybody’s favourite creature feature… Gollum.

Go further:        www.thehobbitblog.com

4-Word Thinking:           We wants it…precious.

Carnage as the Fast and the Furious has head on collision with Scrap Heap Challenge

Dubious director Paul WS Anderson has taken a break from his constant stream of ropey video game adaptations (the Resident Evil series, Dead or Alive, Mortal Kombat and the forthcoming Castlevania) to remake the controversial 1975 sci-fi Death Race 2000.  Read the rest of this entry »

Remember that scene in The Matrix when Neo uses a mobile phone to receive elaborate instructions from a stranger in order to escape the agents? 

Director D.J. Caruso certainly does - he’s taken the concept and turned it into a full length feature.  Eagle Eye is a technological action thriller that deals with conspiracy theories of invasive technology and ‘Big Brother’s watching you’ paranoia, throwing Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan and anybody watching onto a relentless rollercoaster ride of destruction. Read the rest of this entry »