April means Script Frenzy

If you're a screenwriter or aspiring screenwriter you might be interested in participating in Script Frenzy this year. Here's a little info from the Script Frenzy website to help you get acquainted:

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants take on the challenge of writing 100 pages of scripted material in the month of April. As part of a donation-funded nonprofit, Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; there are also no valuable prizes awarded or "best" scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 100 pages is victorious and awe-inspiring and will receive a handsome Script Frenzy Winner's Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact.

Even those who fall short of the word goal will be applauded for making a heroic attempt. Really, you have nothing to lose—except that nagging feeling that there's a script inside you that may never get out.

I won't be taking part this year, because I'm in the research phase of a novel, but a lot of people have tried it in previous years and loved the experience. There's still time to sign up before April 1. Have fun, and good luck.

The best French language films – part 2: Peppermint Soda

Check out any parts of the series you may have missed - part 1, part 3, part 4, and part 5

There are very few coming-of-age films quite as authentic as Diane Kurys' semi-autobiographical film, Peppermint Soda (Diabolo Menthe). The film is such a thorough examination of adolescence, it's hard to believe it is Kurys' directorial debut. Created in 1977, the humorous film was somewhat atypical for the times because it focused on a teenager's coming of age from a female point of view. The film presents themes found in many of Kurys' subsequent works that involve separation and divorce in a French-Jewish family. Her script is clever and when I first saw Peppermint Soda in my own adolescence I could find aspects of my own coming of age mirrored in the storyline. The film's best quality is its universal appeal. Granted, its historical events and characters are distinctly French, but if anyone in the audience has ever been a teenager - particularly a teenaged girl – somewhere that audience member will see themselves in one of the film's two central characters – thirteen year old Anne Weber (Eléonore Klarwein), and her fifteen year old sister, Frédérique (Odile Michel).

The events of Peppermint Soda unfold over an entire school year, and follows Anne, a sensitive but often sly French schoolgirl, who confronts the challenges of growing up in 1960s Paris. For Anne, life is an awkward misery. In her first year as a teenager her grades are terrible, she despises her divorced mother's boyfriend, she has no idea how to talk to boys her age, or how to relate to her pushy and extroverted older sister, Frédérique. Frédérique is the opposite of her younger sibling. She has a boyfriend, Martine (Valérie Stano) who sends her love letters – letters which unbeknownst to her are read by a curious, but jealous Anne. Frédérique also gets interested in politics, particularly the war in Algeria. Naturally the two sisters fight.

Eléonore Klarwein

The most impressive aspect of this delightful film is Kurys' memory of what it means to be young. She possesses a remarkable ability to make the more common-place and easily forgotten events of a young girl's life seem monumental – how if feels for a younger sibling to be pushed around by the older tyrant, a mother who refuses to allow stockings or rides on the school bus, uncomfortable holidays with a father in Deauville, a first period, and the first year at Lycée Jules Ferry (the same all-girls school Kurys' attended) with each teacher more loathsome than the next. Kury's can also show moments of seriousness and sometimes, pain. Frédérique's love for politics drives her best friend, Perrine (Coralie Clément) away, ending their childhood friendship, the Kennedy assasination is part of the historical backdrop, and Fédérique's political student group is attacked by neo-Nazis.

Though I first saw Peppermint Soda over ten years ago, I always remember it fondly. It was the first French film I ever saw. The film can be sporadic at times, with some events being crammed in here and there, it is still a wonderful film and I highly recommend it – especially to anyone who wants an introduction into French cinema. It seems impossible to get Peppermint Soda on DVD, and there aren't even any clips available to upload from youtube, but there are used copies available at Amazon to purchase.

'Robin Hood' gets a May 2010 release date

With all the news about Marvel Entertainment setting new dates for Spider Man 4, The Avengers, Captain America, and Thor, Robin Hood's newly announced release date got lost in the shuffle. The Ridley Scott film will open on May 14, 2010. Other May 2010 release dates include Shrek Goes Fourth (May 21) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (May 28).

Joe Wright to direct colonial drama

British director Joe Wright will make a return to directing British period pieces with a film adaptation of Alex von Tunzelmann's historical novel, Indian Summer. The novel is set during the final days of British colonial rule in India. It follows Lord Mountbatten's handover of power to India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1947.



I haven't yet seen Joe Wright's upcoming The Soloist yet, but I'm not as drawn to it ans I am to his historical work. He pulled a great performance out of Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice, and Atonement was one of my favorite films of 2007. It was a terribly underrated film, and I think its partially due to its marketing. Most expected it to be this huge, sweeping epic love story like The English Patient, but it turned out to be a much more intimate portrait about human flaws and our ability to undo people's lives. Joe Wright should have gotten a best director Oscar nomination, but alas, he didn't.

Casting hasn't been annouced yet, but I like speculating and making up cast lists in my head. I don't know who I would cast as Prime Minister Nehru, but Irrfan Khan is a spectacular actor, despite being too young for the role.

Exclusive sneak preview of 'Gigantic''

Plot synopsis: Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) is a 28 year-old salesman at a high-end Swedish mattress company. Unfulfilled by his work he spends a good portion of his day pursuing his goal of someday adopting a baby from China. He gets swept up in a romance with the lovely but misguided Harriet Lolly (Zooey Deschanel) when she comes in to his store one day and falls asleep on one of the beds. Watch the clip below:





Gigantic opens on April 3, 2009 in limited release in New York City.

Scarlett Johansson signs on for 'Iron Man 2'

When I threw Scarlett Johansson's name out into the ether as a possible replacement for Emily Blunt in Iron Man 2 I was half kidding. I didn't actually mean she should play Black Widow, movie Gods! Playlist points us to Nikki Finke's announcement:

[This is interesting because] Scarlett actually screen-tested for the role and didn't get it. But I hear that, unlike Mickey's quote, the deal for her is "just the opposite, a terrible deal made by CAA," one of my insiders says. "It's as bad as any deal that I've heard. It's lowball money. And it ties her to countless movies, including that ensemble The Avengers, which is what makes this brutal for a lot of actors."

A look back at Stewart Granger

“I haven't aged into a character actor. I'm still an old leading man.”

“I was a good costume actor, but I shortened my career because I made the wrong choices.”

“I've never done a film I'm proud of.”

-Stewart Granger on his career.

Stewart Granger is not an actor that many people write about. I don't remember hearing anyone outside my family talk about his films, or even mention Granger's existence. And it is not because of ignorance. I tend to think of it as more of Granger's clever trick he pulled for his own amusement. He couldn't stand the culture of Hollywood and its movie stars, so its not surprising that Stewart Granger, a man who changed his name from James Stewart, so as not to be confused with the legendary actor - has sort of disappeared.

He once had a six month affair with Deborah Kerr – both onscreen and off. The two actors remained friends long after the affair ended, and for the rest of their lives. They both starred in at least three films together – King Solomon's Mines, Young Bess, and The Prisoner of Zenda. Stewart Granger had a habit of starting relationships with his co-stars and met his second wife Jean Simmons on the set of Caesar and Cleopatra in 1945 when Simmons was 16 years old. They married five years later and in total starred in four films together – Caesar and Cleopatra, Adam and Evelyn, Young Bess, and Footsteps in the Fog. Young Bess stands out mostly because Stewart Granger, his wife Jean Simmons, and Deborah Kerr all starred in the film, though based on Granger's autobiography Sparks Fly Upward, the Kerr affair had only gone on while he had been married to his first wife.



I think the film of Stewart Granger's I love most is The Prisoner of Zenda featuring Deborah Kerr as what else – his love interest. The 1952 film is a remake of the 1937 adaptation of the same name. It is an adventure film about a king who is kidnapped just before his coronation and an Englishman, who resembles the kidnapped king, and becomes a decoy to protect the throne. The only difference between the original and the remake is that the 1952 version with Stewart Granger is in technicolor, because, who can afford to miss Deborah's glorious red hair? Other than that, the remake is shot for shot, line for line the exact same film.

It would be easy for some to assume that I like the remake better (movie heresy, I know) because I saw it first, thus reversing the order of the films in my mind. Perhaps. But I'd like to think Granger's Prisoner of Zenda is better because of Granger himself. Granger plays both Rudolf Rassendyll and King Rudolph V to perfection. As Rassendyll he is the typical leading man – handsome, dashing, noble, and damn good with a sword. As an actor who did most of his own stunt work, the only other actor able to outdo Granger with a sword and a smile, was Erroll Flynn. As King Rudolph he is arrogant, immature, weak – a complete coward. I find his take on King Rudolph not necessarily nearly as stylish as the noble Rassendyll, but rather, a much more interesting part for Granger to have played. The king made for a worthless royal who not only refuses to live up to the audience's standards, but couldn't possibly have lived up to Granger's. Despite the fact that Granger rarely played pathetic drunks, he plays the part of the king flawlessly.


I've always loved The Prisoner of Zenda, and it is a film that is typical of its time. An impossibly good gentleman does something heroic and while doing so falls in love with an equally impossibly good and noble princess. Somehow they manage to sandwich in a bit of palace intrigue and sword fights. I haven't been able to find the 1952 version of the film on DVD without having to get the 1937 version along with it. So, 1937 purists and 1952 fans can bicker over which is better with one box set of both.

Two new reviews: 'Wolverine' and 'Young Vic'

First off:

IESB points us to a spoilerific review by someone who claims to have been to an early screening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This anonymous person sent an e-mail to wearemoviegeeks.com, and needless to say, the thing is one giant nerdgasm of a review. A few commenters over at wearemovigeeks.com swear the person is for real and that they really saw the thing. Others (me included) are skeptical. I skimmed parts of it, but since I don't want to be spoiled I'll leave you an excerpt and you can head on down to the site to be spoiled shitless. I am warning you. There are spoilers. Don't send me your hate mail about the spoilers. I warned you. Anyhoo:

OK, so I’m not a movie reviewer, so forgive me if this is not as concise as a professional review might be. Having said that, I also don’t know how much of the plot and “ohhhh, holy shit!!!” moments you want to know, possibly spoiling it. But feel free to edit and take out anything you don’t want to have spoiled.

The movie itself looks amazing. Lots of cool sets and special effects, it’s edited very well, the pacing is perfect and the running time is right on. It actually leaves you wanting more, and really, isn’t that the “nirvana” that most action movies hope to arrive at for the audience?

And now:


I've been waiting for The Young Victoria for over a year partially because I adore historic epics about British monarchs (particularly their queens), and because of Emily Blunt, and because there is still no North American release date. But, Guy Lodge over at In Contention crushes my hopes for the period piece with his review:

Meanwhile, in depicting its subject as a modern woman suffocated by her surroundings and dated gender trappings, complete with adorable lapdog and an accent that is decidedly more Sloane Square circa 2009 than House of Hanover circa 1837, the film pulls a similar trick of characterization to last year’s “The Duchess.” Working, however, in an even softer register than that already lightweight film, “The Young Victoria” plays down court intrigue in favor of dewy-eyed first love; if “Elizabeth’s” populist coup was restyling royal history as political thriller, this lands squarely in rom-com territory, with Rupert Friend’s Prince Albert the dreamy yet ever-deferred suitor.

He does however give a lot of credit to the film's leading man, Rupert Friend. There has been an awful lot of chatter about him over the last few months and Guy Lodge explains why:

The real revelation, rather, is Rupert Friend, who is given even less to work with than his co-star and emerges with leading man gravitas that I think few suspected he had. Delicately negotiating Albert’s gangly shyness without descending into hapless-fop cliché, Friend quietly keeps the love story afloat by downplaying the character’s heroism in favor of his boyishness, aided visually by the wispiest of mustaches.

Whether nervously pausing as he deliberates over his next sentence, holding his breath as he concentrates on his dance steps, or goofily running down a corridor in expectation of a letter, he never loses sight of the fact that this Prince is still very much a besotted kid. Radiating warmth and humility, Friend’s superb performance is the only element that moves with Victoria in this otherwise petrified, disinterested film — and by far the youngest thing about it.

'The Princess and the Frog' gets an earlier release date

According to Variety Disney has moved the release of The Princess and the Frog from Christmas Day to December 11, 2009. The 2D animated musical will open exclusively in New York and Los Angeles on November 25. If the film had kept its later Christmas Day opening it would have been pitted against Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel (ugh), but with its December 11th release date it will instead open the same day as The Lovely Bones.

I think I'm a little more excited about this film than is humanly possible since Disney is going back to 2D, and its a musical, and its a black Disney princess. Yeah, my rant about what the fuck took Disney so long to have a black princess aside - I am really looking forward to this.

Links for you: Russell Brand sort of shoots down 'Pirates' rumors, our beloved Penelope might take over the 'World', and much more...

Photo source

Comingsoon.net - There were rumors back in November that Russell Brand would play Jack Sparrow's brother in the upcoming fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. He did a recent interview with Access Hollywood and had this to say:
"There's been some talk of doing a 'Pirates' movie, but I've got eight other things to do [including] 'Get Him to the Greek' with Judd Apatow...So I don't know if there'll be time to be a pirate, I've got enough of that in me private life."
I know Russell Brand is the sort of performer, one either loves or loathes (I usually love), but I would feel sort of crushed if he didn't do it. Hey, casting him beats the hell out of those horrific Zac Efron rumors.

Variety - Sergio Castellitto is trying to cast his Don't Move co-star Penelope Cruz in Venuto al mondo (Into the World) - a drama set in present-day, post-war Sarajevo.



indieWIRE - The Tribeca Film Festival reveals its lineup. Playlist points out that there are 26% fewer films that last year, and other than Woody Allen's Whatever Works, there aren't any big names attached to the festival. No worries though, Playlist gives us Karina Lonworth's list of the smaller films to get excited about.


The Hollywood Reporter - The Dark Knight leads the Saturn Awards nominations with 11 nods (I'm still glaring at you Academy). Its biggest competition is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with 9 nominations and Iron Man with 8.

NYPost via ONTD! - My childhood is officially over. After 17 long years, Disney will stop making news episides of The Power Rangers.

Empire - Robin Hood's Merry Men have been cast in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood project. Scott Grimes will play Will Scarlet, Kevin Duran will play Little John, while Alan Doyle will play minstrel Alan A Dayle (a character rarely seen in previous versions of Robin Hood).

Feeling overwhelmed with trailers?

Well, I'm about to bombard you with two more.

Nathaniel from Film Experience points us to the first trailer of Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) featuring gamine French starlet Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel. There are no subtitles in the trailer, but the costumes are gorgeous:



The second is the international trailer for State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, and Rachel McAdams. The film is based on a British mini-series of the same name that featured James McAvoy. But, I won't go into my James McAvoy obsession. Check out the trailer below:

Feature trailer for 'Up'

Here's the latest trailer from the upcoming Disney-Pixar film: