Film

With the release of V/H/S/2 on VOD, I believe the film has gained the broader audience it deserves, and most who have already watched it will agree that Safe Haven, directed by Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto, is the best segment, if not the only reason to watch V/H/S/2. I'm here in Indonesia and got the chance to sit down and talk a little bit about Safe Haven with Abdul Dermawan Habir, who goes by nickname Gerry, the Director of Photography on the short.TWITCH: So tell us how it feels working with directors Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto? It's kinda hard to believe, cause the opportunity just came. Originally it was supposed to be Gunnar Nimpuno (DP of the Mo Brothers' upcoming Killers), but I... [Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]

Oh, the irony. Roadshow Films has confirmed that the much-anticipated sequel to last year's horror anthology V/H/S won't have an Australian theatrical release, and will instead go straight to DVD.While this is a great shame for genre fans who were anticipating seeing the film on the big screen, it's hardly a surprise - last year Roadshow famously slated Cabin in the Woods for a direct-to-DVD release until lobbying from fans ensured the film had a limited theatrical run.Maybe the same thing will happen in this case, although personally I'm hoping a savvy festival like MIFF or Monster Fest programs V/H/S/2 so we'll have a guaranteed way of seeing it on the big screen with a packed appreciative audience (yes I'm being selfish, choosing Melbourne festivals;... [Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]

In what is being described as the largest ever co-production between Korea and China, CJ Entertainment have announced plans to move ahead with their long-gestating sci-fi fantasy project The Fist, with Welcome to Dongmakgol's Park Kwang-hyun at the helm.Originally called Kwon Bob and set to go before cameras in 2011 with Jo In-sung (A Dirty Carnival) in the lead, a skittish CJ pulled the plug on the project following the disastrous performance of Sector 7 that summer. Park's project has been revived in the midst of the industry's current mini-boom and particularly following CJ's first major international success with their China-set romcom A Wedding Invitation, which scored over $30 million this Spring on the mainland alone.China Film Group and Pegasus & Taihe will kick in $20 million, which will... [Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]

Man of Steel weekend box office: Above estimates, but real June record remains beyond the reach of Superman 2013 reboot (image: Henry Cavill as Superman in Man of Steel) Somewhat surprisingly — it’s usually the other way around — Warner Bros.’ Man of Steel grossed more than $3 million above studio estimates released on Sunday, June 16, 2013. Directed by Zack Snyder (300, Sucker Punch), and starring Henry Cavill (The Tudors, possibly the upcoming The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), the 2013 Superman reboot scored $116.61 million from 4,207 North American locations according to weekend box-office actuals found at Box Office Mojo. Once Thursday evening figures are added, the $225 million-budgeted Man of Steel‘s domestic cume reached $128.68 million by Sunday evening. (Check out: "Man of Steel international box office.") Now, Man of Steel‘s adjusted $116.61 million doesn’t change the June Box-Office Record Chart in any way. The Superman reboot remains ahead of the former official June champ, the Tom Hanks-, Tim Allen-voiced Toy Story 3‘s $110.3 million (approximately $111 million adjusted for inflation). By the same token, Man of Steel remains behind the inflation-adjusted figures of Alfonso Cuarón’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, and which collected $93.68 million in June 2004 — or about $120 million in 2013 dollars. Man of Steel also remains behind Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, and Josh Duhamel, the Transformers sequel pulled in $127.8 million (approximately $136 million today) in its first three days out — Wednesday to Friday — in late June 2009. And as pointed out yesterday, Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill’s Superman reboot currently holds the title of Record-Breaking Non-Sequel at the Domestic Box Office in June. (Check out: "Man of Steel vs. Superman Movies.") Superman now (sort of) ahead of Spider-Man, but still trailing Iron Man Not factoring in inflation, Man of Steel now boasts the second (not fourth) biggest opening weekend ever for a non-sequel at the US/Canada box office. The 2013 Superman reboot is behind only Gary Ross / Jennifer Lawrence / Josh Hutcherson’s The Hunger Games ($152.53 million). However, once inflation is taken into account — as it always should — Man of Steel trails Sam Raimi / Tobey Maguire / Kirsten Dunst’s Spider-Man ($114.84 million in 2002; about $157 million adjusted) by a wide margin. (Whether or not inflation is factored in, Tim Burton / Johnny Depp / Mia Wasikowska’s Alice in Wonderland, which raked in $116.1 million in March 2010, has likely fallen behind Man of Steel.) And finally, Man of Steel remains far behind Shane Black / Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man 3, which opened with $174.14 million in early May 2013. Also, in number of ticket sales, the gap separating the original Iron Man from Man of Steel is now narrower — but it’s still there. Without the advantage of 3D surcharges, the Jon Favreau-directed Iron Man debuted with $98.68 million — or $109 million today — in May 2008. (Check out: "Man of Steel Review.") Henry Cavill leads Man of Steel cast Besides Henry Cavill — who a few years ago "lost" the roles of Edward Cullen and James Bond to, respectively, Robert Pattinson and Daniel Craig — the Man of Steel cast features Amy Adams (The Master), Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), Kevin Costner (JFK), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), Diane Lane (Unfaithful), and Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got to Do with It), Also: Ayelet Zurer, Dylan Sprayberry, Antje Traue, Christopher Meloni, Cooper Timberline, Harry Lennix, Mackenzie Gray, Richard Cretone, Richard Schiff, and Michael Kelly. David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) was credited for the Man of Steel screenplay. Christopher Nolan is one of the producers of the Superman reboot. Previous Super

I came out of World War Z, penned in part by Damon Lindeloff, to hear some interesting news - his name, it seems, isn't the one coming up as the obvious person to continue prebooting Ridley Scott's newest franchise.If Variety is to be believed, Prom2: The Prommening (Note: not the actual title) may be scripted by Jack Paglen, one of the credited writers on the 2014 Wally Pfister/Johnny Depp sci-fi-ish film Transcendence. It should be noted that the Variety article speaks of a Jack Palgen [sic], so for all we know this news is as accurate as their name fact-checking. It's not hard to see that Ridley wanted to run around in this new playground, given how he ended Prometheus, but it's not yet clear... [Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]

Eleanor Parker today: Beautiful as ever in Scaramouche, Interrupted Melody Eleanor Parker, who turns 91 in ten days (June 26, 2013), can be seen at her most radiantly beautiful in several films Turner Classic Movies is showing this evening and tomorrow morning as part of their Star of the Month Eleanor Parker "tribute." Among them are the classic Scaramouche, the politically delicate Above and Beyond, and the biopic Interrupted Melody, which earned Parker her third and final Best Actress Academy Award nomination. (Photo: publicity shot of Eleanor Parker in Scaramouche.) The best of the lot is probably George Sidney’s balletic Scaramouche (1952), in which Eleanor Parker plays one of Stewart Granger’s love interests — the other one is Janet Leigh. A loose remake of Rex Ingram’s 1923 blockbuster, the George Sidney version features plenty of humor, romance, and adventure; vibrant colors (cinematography by Charles Rosher); an elaborately staged climactic swordfight; and tough dudes parading around in tights and wigs. Scaramouche is centered, to put it quite literally, on avenging bastard Stewart Granger, who’s out to get meanie, effete swordmaster Mel Ferrer. But it’s Eleanor Parker’s flaming red hair that nearly steals the show. Parker is a lively presence as a low-brow stage actress who falls for Granger’s actor-in-disguise. I find the buoyant George Sidney version of Scaramouche way more entertaining than Rex Ingram’s stately take on Rafael Sabatini’s novel. Ingram’s version, however, is much more faithful to the book. Ramon Novarro starred as André-Louis Moreau aka Scaramouche, with Alice Terry as his love interest, Edith Allen as the actress, and Lewis Stone as Scaramouche’s nemesis. MGM stalwart Stone and fellow Scaramouche 1923 player John George have small roles in the 1952 remake. Polio and opera singing: Interrupted Melody Eleanor Parker delivers an appropriately grandiose performance as opera diva Marjorie Lawrence in Curtis Bernhardt’s melodramatic but entertaining Interrupted Melody (1955). Co-starring Glenn Ford and featuring a very young Roger Moore, the film turned out to be one of Parker’s biggest box-office hits. She lost that year’s Best Actress Oscar to Anna Magnani in The Rose Tattoo. Lizzie (1957), about a woman suffering from multiple-personality disorder, is considered a poor man’s version of Nunnally Johnson’s The Three Faces of Eve, released that same year and a respectable success that earned Joanne Woodward the Best Actress Oscar. Directed by Ronald Neame (The Poseidon Adventure), the Chinese-set The Seventh Sin (1957) was a poorly received remake of the Greta Garbo star vehicle The Painted Veil (also remade in 2006 with Naomi Watts), while Eleanor Parker supports Robert Vaughn and David McCallum in How to Steal the World (1968), a mash-up of a couple of episodes from the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. shown in theaters outside the United States. Of note, the big-screen The Man from U.N.C.L.E. reboot currently in the works is reportedly to star Man of Steel‘s Henry Cavill (replacing Tom Cruise) and The Lone Ranger‘s Armie Hammer. Above and Beyond: Dropping the A-Bomb on Hiroshima Robert Pirosh’s cliché-ridden Valley of the Kings (1954) is a waste of Eleanor Parker’s talent and, really, for the most part so is Melvin Frank and Norman Panama’s Above and Beyond (1953). At least the latter film, though lacking in drama and psychological or political insights, offers some historical interest, as it revolves around the U.S. government’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Robert Taylor plays Paul W. Tibbets, the pilot assigned to that mission. Above and Beyond earned Beirne Lay Jr. an Oscar nomination for Best Motion Picture Sory. Infinitely more interesting than Frank and Panama’s film is a Paul W. Tibbets interview published in The Guardian in 2002. Here’s a Tibbets quote, answering a question about his thoughts on people saying "Let’s nuke ‘em," or "Let’s nuke these p

High concept comedies are often a tough nut to crack; by avoiding full-on broad laughs, the shifts in tone have to be deftly carried out in order to sustain interest. I was pleased enough with Breakup At A Wedding, pleased with its ambition, its execution, even its stylistic conceit. Not exactly high praise, perhaps, but I think the film achieves what it sets out to do, and does so admirably.I grant this kind of is like complimenting a bride on her wedding day for her frugality, but it's a funny little film to try and pin down. Ostensibly a movie-within-a-movie, we see the wedding video from hell, brought about when the bride gets cold feet but decides to carry out the wedding anyway, simply without... [Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]

Disney has released five new pictures from their upcoming animated film Frozen. Is this the one to beat at the 2014 Oscar for Best Animated Feature?

Two Blu-ray editions of John le Carre thrillers have just been announced. If your spy vibe is Cold War/Berlin Wall/George Smiley stories, this is for you! Criterion posted their upcoming Blu-ray projects today, and among the list of films due in September is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965) starring Richard Burton. The Blu-ray features a new high-definition film restoration with uncompressed mono soundtrack, a new exclusive interview with John le Carre, scene commentary by the director of photography, a BBC documentary, and much more. And the big news for fans of the BBC Smiley/Alec Guiness programs is that Acorn Media has announced that they are releasing Smiley's People as a follow up to last year's hi-def edition of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. This classic sequel to Tinker will hit shelves on August 6th. The other news on the Blu-ray front is a huge sale happening right now on Criterion Collection movies. Best Buy started the trend and Amazon has been price-matching titles as low as $14.99 for Blu-ray discs. Info here. If you are looking to add to your library, now is a great time to pick up these classics! Spy Vibe recommends: Ministry of Fear, Fritz Lang's M, Robinson Crusoe On Mars, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, The Seventh Seal, Night of the Hunter, The 39 Steps, The 400 Blows, 8 1/2, Amarcord, Black Orpheus, Branded to Kill, Charade, Diabolique, Godzilla, Harold and Maude, If..., Island of Lost Souls, Ivan's Childhood, The Lady Vanishes, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Mystery Train, Orpheus, Quadrophenia, Repo Man, Rosemary's Baby, Solaris, Tokyo Drifter, Wings of Desire. Save and have a summer SPY VIBE marathon. Criterion cover art below. Fans of Batman and Andy Warhol, don't miss our last post here. I have a spy novel coming out. Get ready to meet MIKI ZERO, a Japanese fashion model and spy from 1965! More info at Jason Whiton's website here.Check Spy Vibe for recent posts about Batman '66 and Warhol, our fiendish villains archive, Cold War Comics, Sam Mendes back for Bond, Spy Vibe heroes and Wild Things, book design dopplegangers, Christopher Lee, Bettie Page, Dashiell Hammett, Miles Davis, WWII spy Krystyna Skarbek, recycled James Bond covers, interview with Fu Manchu author William Maynard, Man From UNCLE manga, Orson Welles the Shadow, rare Piero Umiliani Kriminal soundtrack, new Beatles Yellow Submarine game, James Bond audio book re-issues, Mid-Century Modern in Peanuts, Ralph Byrd Dick Tracy, my review of SKYFALL and more. Spy Vibe is now on Pinterest! Check out our image archives and follow us here.Ian Fleming on Spy Vibe: recent posts include Fleming birthday tribute, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, and our Ian Fleming image archive link here.Can you help to support Spy Vibe? Please make a small donation with our secure Paypal tip-jar link at the top left of the main page. Nothing is too small to help cover the increasing bills for the domain, web-forwarding and other costs to maintain the site. Thank you!

UK/US 95m, Colour Director: James Frawley; Cast: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Charles Durning, Austin Pendleton The Muppet Movie is a warm-hearted nostalgic musical comedy which combines expressive puppetry and live actors in a story about how Kermit the Frog and company got their start in Hollywood. Set to Paul Williams wonderfully memorable music, the Muppet Movie is a zany cross-country adventure in which Kermit is pursued by Doc Hopper, the owner of a Frog Legs restaurant. Though the plot is seemingly simple, and the jokes intentionally corny, the film’s structure and message is unexpectedly complex. As a film within a film, Jim Henson and his crew subtly deliver an existential message that gives both meaning to life and advice on how one might find happiness (Klaus Ming June 2013).