It’s a happy birthday to Nicole Kidman, who turns 40 today, and — Keith Urban’s drug problems notwithstanding — can now wear heels without guilt, and doesn’t have to worry about this guy ruining the cushions on her upholstery. My girlfriend teases me about having a crush on Kidman, but can I help it if she’s hot, talented and sweet to boot? As interesting as a filmography as Kidman has constructed (even though Fur didn’t do it for me), it might end up being the Chanel No. 5 advertising campaign that Baz Luhrmann directed which produces some of the most iconic photographs of Kidman; those images are stunning. Just stay away from the Botox and other assorted face-stretching, Nicole, we already have one painfully depressing cautionary tale in the form of Meg Ryan. Please, be natural.
In a less puzzling pairing of director and material than the below, Michael Apted — whose innovative Up series has charted the fate of fantastical adolescent imagination on the shoals of adulthood — has been inked to helm the third Chronicles of Narnia film, according to Screen International. The awfully titled The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will start shooting in 2008, to be released on May 1, 2009. Apted is at his core a dramatic filmmaker, a humanistic explorer of interstitial greys, but he also knows a thing or three about huge franchises, having helmed The World Is Not Enough. He should be a good caretaker of the series, as well as a guy who can put a bit of a spin on things. Mark Johnson and Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two installments, will serve as producers for Walden Media/Walt Disney Productions project.
Even before the turnaround of Casino Royale, I’ve long supported the notion that the 007 franchise was in need of a major shake-up, either in the form of an action auteur or a filmmaker with enough of an idiosyncratic sensibility to make a difference. The Broccoli family has been extremely good business stewards of the franchise, but arguably until recently strangled much of the thrill and creativity out of it.
Now, from the total “WTF Files,” comes word, via Variety, that Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction) has signed on to direct the 22nd James Bond film, and will soon begin work with Paul Haggis on a draft of the original screenplay by Neil Purvis and Robert Wade, with shooting on the film to commence in December for a release from Sony early next November.
It’s a somewhat baffling marriage from both points-of-view. In an interview last year, Roger Michell — who turned down a chance to tackle the franchise and re-team with star Daniel Craig — came out and admitted to me what many people have been whispering for years, by calling the series a huge, massive supertanker that takes a superhuman effort to nudge half a degree off its
prescribed course. Foster has shown a certain appreciation for the offbeat, story-wise, but how will he deal with, say, not getting to helm his own action sequences? Meanwhile, does this hire advance or capture any new ground, demographically speaking, for the 007 franchise? Strange, very strange…
Looking forward to Ratatouille, and having recently engaged in a debate with a friend and colleague about the shelf life of the Fantastic Four sequel, I got to thinking about legitimately compelling kids’ films, and particularly those of the non-animated persuasion. That led me to think back to Zathura, so I’ll repost a redacted version of a DVD review of the movie that initially ran elsewhere, concurrent with its original release.
Wall Street again, and
taking it seriously), it’s probably on the surface less foolhardy to try to
handicap children’s films. After all, animated smashes like the Toy Story and Shrek franchises are built for the long haul — or maybe just deftly
sold as such. Take away animated films, though — admittedly a hug chunk of
kids’ films these days — and then try picking the last youth-skewing movie you
think you might actually want to revisit with your own children, grandchildren
or nieces and nephews somewhere down the line. Are the Agent Cody Banks flicks or, God forbid, disposable tripe like Martin Lawrence’s Rebound going to have any residual sway
with the adolescent audiences of tomorrow?
Hopefully not, but I’ll wager that Zathura, actor-turned-director Jon Favreau’s crisp, smart adaptation of Jumanji
and The Polar Express author Chris
Van Allsburg’s sci-fi adventure tale, will hold up admirably, and stake itself
a deserving place in the DVD collections of discriminating film fans looking
for both wholesomeness and quality. Chiefly a tale of fraternal strife and
reconciliation, the movie centers around two bickering brothers — athletic
pre-teen Walter (Josh Hutcherson, above left) and his diminutive, 6-year-old sibling, Danny
(Jonah Bobo, above right). When their father (Tim Robbins) leaves the boys alone in the care
of their inattentive teenage sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart), Walter and Danny
immediately start squabbling. A bored Danny soon finds an old, dusty, metallic
board game, and… presto chango!, the
entire house is magically transported into an outer space world rife with
meteor showers, malfunctioning robots, ice storms and carnivorous, lizard-like
creatures. The only way back “home” is for the family to work together and,
with the assistance of a wayward astronaut (Dax Shepard), complete the game.
Beautifully fleshed out in non-pandering fashion by
screenwriters David Koepp and John Kamps, Zathura
mines a deep reservoir of genuine feeling
often missing in adolescent entertainment, and combines this with enough spry
sensory pleasures to produce a winning piece of entertainment that, truly, the
whole family can enjoy. While Lisa is egregiously underwritten, other
characterizations are crisp, and conflict between the brothers exists in
perfectly measured fashion — not too heavy so as to be a drag, not too
contrived so as to come off as emotionally irrelevant. All the films that push
off needlessly surly adolescents or histrionics in lieu of genuine pubescent
discord could stand to learn a thing or three from the smart, modulated set-up
of Zathura and the emotional
authenticity that subsequently flows naturally.
DVD special features on the movie’s single-disc, 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen release include an audio commentary track with Favreau and
co-producer Peter Billingsley, a look at the making of the accompanying
videogame to the movie and a clutch of featurettes on the work of author Van
Allsburg, the cast, the visual effects and the like. The best of these examines
the vanishing art of model miniatures, and includes interviews with Favreau,
miniatures supervisor Michael Joyce and others about the painstakingly detailed
construction of the six-foot replica of the house from the movie’s Glendale
location shoot. A hint for all you future model makers out there — the herb thyme
doubles nicely as bushes, since it doesn’t deteriorate or go bad. A- (Movie) B+
(Disc)
Wall Street again, and
