Dream cast!
If you could cast ten actors in a film, who would you bring together? Post your thoughts in the comments.
I remember "casting" Ian Holm as Bilbo and Ian McKellan as Gandalf in my dream Lord of the Rings film many years before Jackson took on the project, and he did oh so well with the rest of that casting.
But rarely have I been as excited about an assembling of actors as I am about the new film by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento).
I mean, just LOOK at it:
Andy Serkis has signed on to Touchstone Pictures' The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan. He joins Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie and Piper Perabo.
Bale and Jackman will play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The title refers to the residue left after a magician's successful trick.
Serkis plays the assistant of Bowie's character. His credits include King Kong and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Nick wins Half-Shot# 4 Contest.
And the answer is...
BADLANDS.
Congratulations, Nick Alexander, who was the first to identify the source of these two Half-Shots!
As reward, Nick Alexander has become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
Watch for Half-shot Contest #5, coming soon!
Half-Shot Contest #4 continues.
Well, no one has come up with the right answer to Half-shot Contest #4.
So I'll post half of ANOTHER picture, this time in color, from the same film.
I think this one will turn the contest from a challenge into a race.
Post your guess in the comments.
Network TV struggles to understand: What will Christians watch?
You already know that The Book of Daniel has been euthanized (one instance in which I approve of a mercy killing).
But you gotta read this Slate article about the challenge of making meaningful television, and the mysterious science of learning what Christians will watch. Some of the stuff there will probably be old news to you, but it's worth it for the last part, where things get really interesting.
(Thanks, Russ, for the link.)
Specials: Auralia. Superman and Che pics. Whit Stillman. A follow-up to "Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner." Michel Gondry + Dave Chappelle.
Thursday specials:
PRAY FOR AURALIA AND ME
I'd appreciate your prayers. It's not a crisis, but in the story of my life, it's a big deal. For the next four days, I will be putting the finishing touches on my novel Auralia's Colors and sending it in to the publisher. By "finishing touches," I mean I'll be making the last changes before the editors mark it up and send me things that they think need changing. So there's still a long way to go. But this is quite a landmark for me, and suddenly I have the urge to start over at Page One and rewrite the whole bloody thing. (I started writing this book in 1996. Auralia is 10 years old this summer.) Please pray for peace and quiet at Overstreet Headquarters, for clear-thinking, imagination, and a sense of contentment with what I turn in. Maybe this is what parents feel like when they finally send their kid to college: We did what we could, we probably could have done better, but there she goes, out on her own...
MY BAD.
I don't like posting rumors. For some reason, I posted the one about David Duchovny playing The Hulk. Turns out it was a false report. Sorry. I'm usually more careful. Please, Duchovny fans, really, stop crying.
MAN IN TIGHTS
Excited about Bryan Singer's Superman film? Take a look at these pics. More excited now?
BENICIO
Excited about Benicio Del Toro playing Che Guevara? Take a look at this pic. More excited now?
WHIT'S UP?
What's Whit Stillman, director of The Last Days of Disco, Barcelona, and Metropolitan, been up to? He's been writing.
GONDRY TALKS
Michel Gondry has directed Dave Chappelle's hip-hop concert movie.
ANOTHER MOVIE ABOUT MISSIONARIES AND CULTURE CLASHES
Peter T. Chattaway notes the upcoming film from the maker of Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner. This one's about shamans and missionaries.
Wednesday specials: The Natvity! Chris Penn. Matthewes-Green on "Paradise Now." Da Vinci Decoded. Pixar. Amber Alert. X3 posers.
Wednesday's specials:
REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED WHO WILL MAKE A MOVIE OF THE NATIVITY?
This just popped up at Done Deal, the script sales site:
Title: Nativity
Log line: Centers on the two-year period of Mary and Joseph's life, culminating in their leaving Nazareth and journeying 100 miles to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. Key characters and events such as King Herod, John the Baptist's parents (Zachariah and Elizabeth), the shepherds who were witness to Jesus's birth; and the arrival of the three kings from the Orient will be fleshed out.
Writer: Mike Rich
Agent: Charles Ferraro of UTA
Buyer: New Line Cinema
Price: n/a
Genre: Drama
Logged: 1/25/06
More: Spec. Pre-emptive purchase. No producers are attached as yet.
(Update: Mike Rich... that's the name of the guy who wrote The Rookie, which I loved!) Keep in mind, this script was purchased soon after the script for Magnum P.I., from the producers of Dodge Ball, was purchased. Coincidence? I don't think so. (Thanks, Danny Walter, for alerting me to this!)
YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD... CHRIS PENN IS GONE
This news was, needless to say, a saddening surprise. Penn was a very different actor than his brother Sean, but the man could grab your attention and hold it. He had a volatile energy that was rarely employed to its full potential.
PARADISE NOW REVIEW: FREDERICA MATTHEWES-GREEN
I've had the privilege of meeting Frederica Matthewes-Green, and what an approachable and gracious character she is. Her reviews are unpredictable and interesting, and unfortunately they don't appear frequently enough. I'm glad to see she's offering perspective on the much-celebrated Paradise Now....
After I wrote the review I saw an interview with the director in which he commented on a scene before the day of the planned bombing, in which the conspirators have dinner. There's a held frame in which the characters are posed like DaVinci's Last Supper. I thought "that makes no sense at all" -- what would it be referring to?
In the interview the director said that it was an intentional reference to Christ, and to the Cross: that Christian's understand that you can win a victory through dying in such a way that you take your enemy with you. I thought that was the strangest misunderstanding of Christian doctrine I'd ever heard.
But as I thought about it I realized that...
To read about what she realized, you'll just have to read the review.
DA VINCI NOT UP TO CODE
This is hardly news, but here's a detailed accounting of the problems with The Da Vinci Code. And please don't bother responding by saying "It's just a work of fiction!" because such responses have become necessary due to the amount of people who are naively accepting this novel as truth.
(nod to Kathy Shaidle)
POLAND FRETS OVER PIXAR'S FUTURE
David Poland isn't happy about the Disney purchase of Pixar. Hey, it's exciting to imagine John Lasseter directing all of Disney Animation, but I too worry about the impact this will have on the quality of Pixar product. I hope they know what they're doing...
AMBER ALERT
Amber Tamblyn of Joan of Arcadia is back in a Sundance-featured film that's earning praise.
X-MEN 3: THE LAST STAND
That's the title, even though rumor has it that other sequels are already in the works. For a portrait gallery of the over-sized cast of characters in this episode, click here.
Letter of the Day: Response to "Brokeback Mountain" Review
Today I received this letter in response to my Brokeback Mountain review. Its typical of other responses I've received, but this one was such a convenient distillation of the various contradictions and claims that I was grateful for the chance to address so many common attacks on Christian faith in one fell swoop.
When someone starts out by telling you to put down your Christian persepctive and see things the way they are, well, you know you're in for a grand time. I'm not the most eloquent defender, I know that very well. But, inspired by G.K. Chesterton and so many others, I went ahead and made a quick run at it...Read more
"The Book of Daniel" is closed, done, kaput.
Read the outpouring of grief over the cancellation of The Book of Daniel.
Apparently, it was Evangelical Right-Wing Extremist Censorship that shut down the show.Read more
Specials: Beware Knightley! Moring interviews Emma Thompson. Evangelical NY Times Writer: Oxymoron? Shea on Spear.
WHAT I'M SEEING TODAY
Tsotsi. Anybody else here seen it?
IS KEIRA KNIGHTLEY'S SMILE DANGEROUS?
Can you look away from that smile? It has a strange and dismaying power. I mean, look at her! There's something almost violent about that smile. She's she's brandishing a weapon with complete confidence that no one can withstand its power... Slap some green makeup on her, and you've got the sequel to 28 Days Later.
[Graham Chapman voice] RUN AWAY!!![/Graham Chapman voice]
I await Pirates of the Caribbean 2 with fear and trembling.
NANNY MCFABULOUS
Mark Moring interviews Emma Thompson... and so that qualifies me to hate him for at least a few hours.
TOKEN TIMES EVANGELICAL SPEAKS OUT
Charles Marsh, an evangelical writing for The New York Times, turns in an editorial:
What will it take for evangelicals in the United States to recognize our mistaken loyalty? We have increasingly isolated ourselves from the shared faith of the global Church, and there is no denying that our Faustian bargain for access and power has undermined the credibility of our moral and evangelistic witness in the world. The Hebrew prophets might call us to repentance, but repentance is a tough demand for a people utterly convinced of their righteousness.
(Thanks, Opus.)
END OF THE DEBATE
Mark Shea weighs in on the controversy over a sinner playing a missionary. And of course, he has the right answer.
FUTURAMA'S FUTURE
Fans of Futurama are rejoicing. Four Futurama movies are coming to DVD.
At last, Steven D. Greydanus posts his Best of 2005.
Here are the best films of 2005, according to Decent Films, along with some commentary about significant developments of the year.