Film at Eleven

From Twitch comes the news that Asia Argento, as well as Louis Garrel and Jeanne Moreau are to star in Catherine Breillat’s next film, Une vieille maitresse.

50 years after Choderlos de Laclos, the Marquess of Flers, decides to marry is grand daughter, jewels of French aristocracy, to Ryno de Marigny, a sort of romantic Valmont.

But a thing remains hidden : this Don Juan, unrepentant, is the ten-year lover and the victim of a scandalous courtezan, daughter of a duchess and bullfighter.

The film is based on a book of the same name and, according to Breillat:

The novel gripped me immediately. Beyond the fanciful, romantic tone, there was a sense of raw emotional truth, an analysis of passion in all its irrationality and a delectation in its intoxicating dizziness that, instead of fleeing it, made you want to be swallowed up by it.

Barbey d’Aurévilly made no secret of the fact that the novel drew heavily on personal experience and that the character of Vellini was inspired by a singular, fatal liaison. Of the kind you don’t admit to and which is flaunted here with a sincere shamelessness that brought obloquy and scandal at the time.

Sincere shamelessness to which I also profess and which, over the century that separates us, seems twinned with, resonant of, that of Barbey d’Aurévilly.

Having never tasted until now any particular desire to make a literary adaptation, I like to think that if I had lived at the same time, I would have resembled Barbey d’Aurévilly. I identify with his novel. It gradually took possession of me like a second me, which might providentially provide the fanciful dimension that I don’t have and which is so necessary for what I aspire to: making sophisticated, popular movies.

Definately one to look out for in 2007.

I am deeply grateful to Twitch for pointing me in the direction of Fido, a Canadian zombie comedy set in an alternative 1950s in which the world has been overrun by zombies.

Welcome to Willard, a small town lost in the idyllic world of the 50’s, where the sun shines every day, everybody knows their neighbor, and rotting zombies carry the mail.

Years ago, the earth passed through a cloud of space dust, causing the dead to rise with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Terror spread across the land, until a collar was invented that made the zombies docile, even useful. A company was born: ZomCon. Thanks to their patented domestication collar, zombies became gardeners, milkmen, servants, even pets. ZomCon would like everyone to believe that they have the world under control - but do they?

Timmy Robinson doesn’t think so. He thinks the world is “phony-baloney”. An awkward loner, Timmy spends so much time in his room even his own parents don’t notice him. So when Mom buys a zombie to help around the house, Timmy is surprised, and even curious, when the beast wants to play catch. When the zombie saves him from the local bullies, a true friendship is born, and Timmy names the zombie, “Fido”.

But Fido’s collar goes on the fritz, and the neighbors start paying the ultimate price. To complicate matters, ZomCon’s notorious zombie-control specialist, Mr. Bottoms, has moved in across the street.

What begins as a small town story about a boy and his best friend, becomes a biting satire about our world, the price of fear, and the rewards of risking love. “Fido” will rip your heart out.

The film is currently in post production and as soon as I see a trailer you’ll be the first to know.

From Cinematical comes the news that Jessica Biel has joined the cast of Next, an adaptation of Philip K Dick’s short story, The Golden Man.

Dick’s short story is about a man who can not only see into the future, but is also allowed and empowered to change the events that he sees. Needless to say, the FBI eventually gets wind of his abilities, and wants to use them to deal with big, international concerns - stuff like, say, stopping global terror attacks.

The man, played by Nicolas Cage, “ultimately is faced with the choice of saving himself or the world.” Jessica Biel will play Cage’s love interest who falls afoul of a terrorist. Julianne Moore also has a role in the film.

Lee Tamahori is slated to direct and the film is due to be released sometime in 2007.

According to The Guardian, the BBC is planning to invest an additional £100m in the production and distribution of British films over the next ten years.

In a move supported by the government, which is planning to write a commitment to backing British film into the corporation’s new charter, the BBC aims to increase both its direct investment in movie making and the money it spends on acquiring UK-produced titles for its TV channels.

At present, the BBC spends an average of £16m per year on making and buying British films. This will go up to £26m from April 2007 and may rise further. The extra investment is part of a new alliance with the UK Film Council to back and promote British movies.

£5m a year will go towards the increasing production budget of BBC Films, raising its annual budget from £10m to £15m per year. Another £5m (and possibly more) will be spent on buying British films for its TV channels, specifically films that can be shown on BBC1 and BBC2.

This is all still dependent of the current licence fee negotiations at the moment.

Here’s a novel marketing trick. DigiDesign is giving away a free DVD featuring original interviews with David Lynch.

See and hear how Lynch brings his unique vision to the screen with technologies that are now within easier reach for independent filmmakers. Interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage from a recent project, Lynch muses on the art of filmmaking, offers wisdom to aspiring filmmakers, and shows you the power of today’s tools to give you Room to Dream.

They are very careful not to mention what the ‘recent project’ is, but as Todd at Twitch ponts out:

when you put the words ‘digital project’ and ‘David Lynch’ together right now that says ‘Inland Empire’ to me

The free DVD can be ordered here.

When I first heard that there was a remake of The Wicker Man in the works, I was not happy.

Having seen the first images from the film on BlairWitch.de, I’m even less happy.

(via Cinematical)

According to Crienglish (via), John Woo’s The Battle of Red Cliff may actually be about to go into production this September.

According to this project’s Chinese partner Poly Huayi Media, shooting will be done entirely in the mainland China and possible locations include Beijing, Dali region of Hubei Province, Red Cliff of Hubei Province and Hengdian World Studios of Zhejiang Province.

Yuen Wo-Ping has basically agreed to take the responsibility of action director.

That’s basically agreed to take on the responsibility. Basically.

Other people who have basically agreed to get involved include Ken Watanabe, Leung Chiu-Wai, Colin Chou, Zhang Jingchu and Lin Chiling (pictured left).

Basically, I’ll believe it when I see it.

So the Baftas were awarded last night. Brokeback Mountain did well and The Constant Gardener lost out. The full set of nominees and winners is:

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
Lord Puttnam

THE MICHAEL BALCON AWARD for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema
Robert (Chuck) Finch and Bill Merrell

It was nice to see a couple of the unsung heroes of cinema being recognised for once. With the focus so much on the directors, producers, writers and especially the stars, it can sometimes be too easy to forget that there is a wealth of unrecognised talent without which these films simply couldn’t be made.

FILM
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN - Diana Ossana/James Schamus
CAPOTE - Caroline Baron/William Vince/Michael Ohoven
THE CONSTANT GARDENER - Simon Channing Williams
CRASH - Cathy Schulman/Don Cheadle/Bob Yari
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. - Grant Heslov

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year
A COCK & BULL STORY - Andrew Eaton/Michael Winterbottom/Martin Hardy
THE CONSTANT GARDENER - Simon Channing Williams/Fernando Meirelles/Jeffrey Caine
FESTIVAL - Christopher Young/Annie Griffin
PRIDE & PREJUDICE - Tim Bevan/Eric Fellner/Paul Webster/Joe Wright/Deborah Moggach
WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT - Claire Jennings/David Sproxton/Nick Park/Steve Box/Mark Burton/Bob Baker

And it’s always good to see Nick Park getting some much deserved recognition.

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Picturehouse Films has released the final poster for The Notorious Bettie Page which attempts to tell the story of Bettie Page, who gained a cult and underground following during the 1950s and then vanished at the height of her popularity.

The film is due to be released in April.

(via TheBettiePage.com)

The Daily Starlet (via) is to play a Star Wars geek on a cross-country trip to Skywalker Ranch in the upcoming Weinstein Co. comedy Fanboys.

I predict a huge hit.