Film news

Ooooooh, not too long to go now! Here's a new still from Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are"; i.e the most anticipated movie, ever.
Jonze announced his plans for the film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's classic early last year;  immediatly spawning worldwide nostalgic frenzy, conjecture-filled fansites and, around these parts anyway, about a million Wild Things tattoos ("I got it 'coz i really liked the book hey"). The hype beast is slated for release in 2009 and, just incase you weren't already tearing up with impatience, Karen O is widely believed to be producing the film's soundtrack.

Remember the sweet and naïve Cindy Campbell from the Scary Movie franchise? Or Kelly; the vapid actress (and thinly veiled Cameron Diaz dig) in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation? Both characters were played by Anna Faris who, following those roles, had quite the cloud of next-big-thing conjecture hanging over her head. The rain of magazine covers and movie credits never really eventuated though which - considering she is a comic gold and cute as a button also -  still confounds me. Hopefully all that will all change with the release of Smiley Face; a new film from cult "queer cinema" director Gregg Araki in which Faris sports a cloud of a different nature -  a perpetual ring of skunk smoke. As part-time actress/ fulltime waster Jane.F, Faris plays the bong-coddling protagonist in what critics from the NY Times to Time Out Magazine are hailing as a stoner film for a new generation. Faris has other films out this year including Mama's Boy with Diane Keaton and Kids in America, from It's all Gone Pete Tong director Michael Dowse. Maybe 2008 will be her year?

There are so many great films to go and watch this coming Boxing Day. This year, unlike many past Boxing Days, it's not about showing  blockbusters, which is great news for YEN readers. Whether you're obsessed with Bob Dylan or Heath Ledger, this film is one to go and see. Directed by Todd Haynes, I'm not there is about iconic singer/songwriter Bob Dylan.  A series of stories  take place in  America in the '60s and '70s. Each expressing an aspect  of Dylan's mercurial  personality and each story is to be filmed  differently, in a style appropriate to its theme in the '60 and '70s. The film features an amazing line-up of Hollywood stars including Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore.

YEN has FIVE double passes to give away. If you're keen, email kbradley@ptmg.com.au by Friday 21 December, 3pm to go in the running to win a pass plus a bonus Bob Dylanesque prize. 

So daggy. So uncool. Exactly what makes it one of the best shows of all time. Laugh at this scene, wipe away your tears, and then find more clips!

On December 26, the movie Two Days in Paris is released in Australia. An interview with its director and main actress Julie Delpy also features in the current issue of Yen. I just saw it a few days ago and I thought Australians might want to read what a true French lady thinks about another movie caricaturing us (frankly, we are an easy target - we still think moustache is fashionable). Two days in Paris is clearly not a movie sponsored by some kind of French tourism organization. Yes, this city is a life-size postcard filled with a romantic mood and yes; it smells like a mixed scent of Chanel Number 5 and pain au chocolat. But, apparently, it is also just full of freaks: the French (who else?). As one of those said hot-tempered oh-la-la-ing fellow, I have to say that it is way out of the line. 'Cause believe me, we are not that bad. For an hour and a half, I saw on the silver screen screaming and racist cabdrivers, a fast-food waiter who could not understand and say a word in English (must have been disturbed by the good pronunciation of “cheeseburger” by the American character); and sex-obsessed people who would rather start a conversation with mention of the consequences of bikini waxing on sex lives before any first-name introduction. But God, what a good time I had watching us looking so weird. And I have to say, seeing the pro-Bush, on a Da Vinci Tour Americans in the opening scene make me feel like I was not the worst freak on earth.
Words by Pauline Auzou

Ever heard the one about the guy who wrote an entire novel by blinking? Well, the guy in question was Jean-Dominique Bauby; the fast living, Man-about-town editor of French Elle who in 1995 (at the cruelly young age of 43) suffered a massive and rare stroke that left his mind intact but his body completely paralized save for some movement in his left eye. Despite being dealt probably the worst card imaginable, Bauby manged to hold onto his spirit. Using eye movements and a blinking code representing letters of the alphabet, the journalist was able to communicate and eventually write an entire novel. Entitled “Le scaphandre et le papillon”, the book took over 200,000 blinks to complete and chronicled, with humour and insight, the everyday events in Jean-Dominiques now very restricted life - including the heartbreaking memories and imaginings of the perfect meals, holidays and interactions he would never have. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly was released in 1997 and sold 150,000 in its first week. Almost poetically, Bauby passed away ten days after its release. Jean-Dominique’s incredible story was recently made into a movie, which is apparently AMAZING and beautifully true to the book. The film will be released here in late December; I suggest you go see it (and read the book) with an open mind and a fist full of tissues.

With 2004’s Academy Award winning film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, filmmaker Michel Gondry cemented himself as a genre blending, visually dazzling and often mind-bending auteur. His movies, TV adverts and music videos challenge viewers with a mix of flourishing visuals and his trademark stop motion, lo-fi special effects. None more effectively was this displayed than in last year’s The Science of Sleep; a highly anticipated film that became even more so when it's Australian release date was delayed by almost a year. Lets hope the wait won’t be so long for his next major release, Be Kind, Rewind. The film teams Jack Black and Mos Def (possibly the best casting combination in celluloid history) as two video clerks who, after inexplicably discovering that all the tapes have been erased, go about filming lo-budget, self-starring remakes of popular titles including Ghostbusters and Robocop. The film promises to be vintage Gondry- with equal parts quirk and heart.