Film news

Despite not being slated for release until November, the world is currently anticipating Baz Luhrmann's "epic tale", Australia, as fervently as the hag-rags are of Nicole Kidman's first baby pics. Excitement was stepped up a notch yesterday with the Internet release of the first official trailer (slightly different to the clever fakes that have been popping up on the 'tube). Although yesterday only available to Big Pond customers, the trailer has today been made viewable to all those with access to the internet. You can view it here, Set in Northern Australia just prior to WWII, Australia is based around the fight between an English aristocrat (played by Kidman) and a group of English cattle barons who have designs on her sizable chunk of sunburnt land. Add to this a romance with a "rough-hewn cattle driver" (Hugh Jackman), 2,000 cattle and a race across hundreds of miles of unforgiving land and you have quite the cinematic adventure on your hands. Here's hoping the film lives up to the hype!

Ooh my, am I looking forward to this one – and not just because Mary-Kate Olsen’s on the credit roll. The Wackness is your edgier variety of “coming of age” story; set in early Guiliani-era New York (a Larry-Clarke-favoured time when Biggie and 2-Pac were still kickin’ it and pagers were the must-have communication device), the plot follows awkward teenage pot dealer Luke and his burgeoning friendship with his drug-addled, receding hair-lined therapist, Dr Squires. The two set off on various adventures across NYC as Squires introduces the young Luke to various Manhattan misfits - including “A Phish following, dread-locked pixie” who’s played aptly by the pixie-like MK. Not only does the story sound cool but visually The Wackness is pretty amazing too; a back drop of 94’ New York at it’s most grimy and costumes that are not unlike what we’re currently seeing a resurgence of on the world’s more hipster-ish streets (think Chloe Sevigny for Opening ceremony – all lace-up boots and Liberty prints). The Wackness is due in cinemas this July.

Guaranteed to delight and thrill almost all members of my family (and many others around the world) Pixar animations are due to launch their latest film Wall-E in the coming months.  Famous for classics such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo (my favourite), Wall-E follows the story of the last robot on earth, who finds love after 700 years of being alone.  Not much else is known about the plot however it is said that in a throwback to silent movies of the past, the first 45 minutes are entirely dialogue free.  With breathtaking visuals and Pixar’s usual story telling flair this is sure to be another classic in the making.

So, let’s say you are a film company and you’re wanting to make a movie out of a much loved children’s book. You hire a director who has forged a career with off-beat and slightly uneasy music videos and later, off-beat and slightly uneasy movies. So, errr, are you that surprised when he creates for you an off-beat and slightly uneasy adaptation of the book? Especially a book that is as off-beat and uneasy as Where the Wild Things Are? It seems Warner Bros are. In what many saw as a perfect fit, the studio took on Spike Jonze to shoot the Maurice Sendak classic but following a recent test screening the powers that be are now freaking out that the film’s not looking “commercial enough”. Now; although they hired Jones, green-lit the script he and Dave Eggars wrote and poured 75 million into the thing, Warners are apparently looking to re-shoot the entire movie!!!!! How ridiculous - if there is one thing that movies such as Pans Labrynth and even Harry Potter have shown, it’s that dark and Delphic cinematic stories are ones that appeal to children and adults alike…………just like the book you might say!

But probably the most face-meltingly amazing music video EVER as well. It's the clip for Bjork's new single, Wanderlust and there really isn't much I can say about it aside from that Spike Jones made it and it almost seems to be a little taster of what we can expect from Where the Wild Things are. You can view it here.

 

Oh Carrie and your merry  gang of wildly unrealistically portrayed femmes. How I love thee. Here is the final, complete (to the point where it almost gives the story away)  trailer for the Sex and The City movie. Get ready for another high street surge of corsages, name-plate necklaces and cosmopolitans; the film is due in our cinemas mid-year.

Gumby is the kind of childhood obsession that makes you feel sorry for the kids of today and all their Dora the Explorer dolls, Hannah Montana concerts and GHB-laced Bindeez. That’s why these school holidays you should take it upon yourself to drag as many kids as you can away from their Yu-Gi-Oh cards and Pixel Chix down to ACMI where “Gumby: The Movie” is showing. “But my kids won’t watch anything that isn’t made using CGI graphics let alone claymation…” I hear you say in disgust. WRONG. Gumby is timeless. And your kids WILL like it. I mean he is in a band called The Clayboys, has two groupies called Tara and Ginger and can mould into any shape that he wants to! Awesome. Dora is no green, clay, cosmic display that’s for sure.