| euro aint-it-cool-news by edgard and darth bond | from Paris |
contact: euroaicn@yahoo.com 22nd December, 2000 Hi folks...Edgard here with another Euro-week for all the Euro-fans out there... on the menu this week are the usual brief news from UK, France and Germany (don't miss the short rollercoaster film... it's cute... kinda...); the eternal Ozymandias (Reign of Fire could be a big surprise in 2002) and Ethan and a "I disagree" review that might launch some debates (Ethan likes to debate). So let's not waste time more and... here it is :
UK
* From Empire Online once an exclusive look at the trailer of SEXY BEAST, Ray Winstone’s latest outing : The film, described by Film Four as “a genre-bending romance and heist movie”, casts Winstone as Gary Dove, an ex-criminal who has retired to a Spanish idyll with his beloved wife. But when former gangster associate Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) turns up and tries to cajole Dove into one last heist, Dove’s paradise is threatened. The two engage in a psychological battle, which culminates in a thrilling underwater robbery in which everything is at stake for Dove. Sexy beast marks the feature debut for director Jonathan Glazer, and was produced by Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor). To see the trailer, Click Here
GERMANY
* Do you know Rollerghoster.com?... well I didn't know either until this week-end... and I discovered a great short film (it's only 3 minutes)... let's just say - I don't want to spoil it - that it involves a rollercoaster... see it and don't miss it, you will get the film at : www.rollerghoster.com
* If you remember well, DON'S PLUM was a movie made for 100,000 $, with Leonardo Di Caprio, Tobey Maguire and friends. After the mega success of TITANIC, some producer tried to release the movie. Legal battles followed and Di Caprio and Maguire managed to stop the release of the film in North America. Lucky (??) Europeans will get a chance to see it, DON'S PLUM will start its European tour by the Berlin Film Festival...
FRANCE
* French magazine Premiere has some teasers and a making of of BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLVES (if you don't yet, the most anticipated French film of 2001... we'll see if the movie will resist well all this pressure... I personally hope so). See everything at www.premiere.fr
* Fan of Takeshi Kitano ? Than keep your evening of Saturday 13th January free, there will be a special Kitano night at the "Champo" in Paris. You will get to see Sonatine, Hana-Bi, Violent Cop, Jugatsu, A Scene at the Sea and Kids Return. Kitano's latest film, BROTHER, was released here last wednesday.
* Porn star Rocco Siffredi will make a second film with Catherine Breillat (first one was ROMANCE). As soon as we know more, we'll let you know...
* Do you know the comic book hero CORTO MALTESE ? If you do and like him, be happy : an animated film entitled CORTO MALTESE IN SIBERIA will be released in October 2001 in France. Richard Berry will be Corto's voice. The film is directed by Pascal Morelli. Should be interesting if they kept the spirit of the books.
* Luc Besson will produce Jonathan Demme's next film THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE (remake of Stanley Donen's CHARADE, starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant ). The movie will be shot in Paris next Spring and will star Thandie Newton and Mark Wahlberg.
***************************** OZYMANDIAS CORNER
* REIGN OF FIRE is going to be the biggest US production ever shot here (the Arnie story was an old one - Christian Bale and Matthew McConaghey are the only stars signed up to Rob Bowman's movie) and already my spies are warming up.....
I just read an article in the Sunday Independent newspaper that I thought might be of interest to you:
"Disney film spells closing credits for 20 small businesses" A major Disney film, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger is tipped to star, means "hasta la vista" for 20 small Irish businesses. The film, Reign of Fire, is a multi-million pound epic that begins shooting in Dublin on February 1st. Filming is set to take place in the Pigeon House Hotel, in the heart of Dublin's docklands. The hotel is owned by the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) who lease it out to Bolton Trust, a charitable organisation, who in turn lease it out to 20 small entrepreneurs. These companies have been given a notice to leave the building before filming starts, which is causing a lot of anger among the companies. The ESB stated: "We were approached by a large film studio seeking locations around Ireland to shoot a feature film. The studio is very reputable and the project seems to be a very reputable film". That's all...
Until next time, Bernard
* A big geek news day from Europe - we love it when we get your attention like this!! First off Euro AICN's star reporter, Robert Bernocchi in Italy, has managed to find out a little more on Spidey's design:
I made an interview with Anthony LaMolinara (a very kind person, by the way) in Naples at Monumedia (a festival focused on new technologies). I asked him some informations about the work he's doing on Spider - Man. He described me how the two main characters (Spidey and the Green Goblin) will look like. In particular, they want to use a lot of computer graphic when Peter Parker will be in his costume. They are also working to create a very cool effect for his hands when he climbs the walls. The Green Goblin will look as a surfer according to LaMolinara and they are doing for him great pumpkin bombs. Imageworks is concentrated on these two characters and they are not foretelling to work on other villains for this first movie. Why I'm saying first? Because LaMolinara is very confident on the movie and he thinks we'll see many sequels.
You can see the video interview at: This Location
So, i was looking forward this movie, but now i'm even more excited.
Bye, Robert Bernocchi from Caltanet
As well as that Spanish site Set Online Click Here, has some impossibly foxy shots of the lovely Angelina in full LC regalia on the set of Tomb Raider.... Now that I know she'll be swathed in baby oil I'm even more impressed ;-)
Arrivaderch from Dublin.....
L8r, Ozymandias
Ain't It Cool News - Ireland/UK Office, Penthouse Suite, Ozymandias Towers, Dublin, Ireland.
Mail me with your UK/Ireland bits - ozymandias@dublin.com
***************************** The I DISAGREE review
Edgard again... As I wrote in the introduction Ethan likes controversies and debates... and John Milius is probably one of the best directors/writers to debate about. Actually I saw Red Dawn about a year ago and it surprised me in a positive way... I had a bad souvenir on that one but when I saw it last year I kind of liked it... it has definitely a "Reagan era" feeling all over and today it seems a bit corny (at least in my opinion). But like "Rambo 2", it's still fun to watch... It's the kind of film that are totally linked to the period in which they were made, and that's something interesting about it... It also reminds us that Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze made more than DIRTY DANCING together (I had to say that). Let's hear now from Ethan himself...
RED DAWN
Review by Ethan
1984 was a great year for American cinema. First of all it spawned the essential modern masterpiece - James Cameron`s THE TERMINATOR which was accompained by such classics like BEVERLY HILLS COP, ROMANCING THE STONE, BLOOD SIMPLE, BODY DOUBLE, CREEPERS (a.k.a. PHENOMENA), GREMLINS, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, NINJA III - THE DOMINATION, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, etc. John Milius` RED DAWN belongs to the list of 1984 classics. Yet this movie was overlooked by many and it was regarded as Milius` right-wing jingoism. The new generation of movie buffs hardly saw it. People who are interested in movies lose a lot by missing this film since it can be described as conceptual masterpiece.
RED DAWN is the movie version of the All-American spooky fairy tale about the hypothetic situation when Soviet forces conquer United States. This story used to be some kind of a didactic fable about how freedom is priceless. I live in a country that has a history of over 50 years of Communist terror and let me tell you one thing - Free World is a blessing. Some movie historians claim that RED DAWN belongs to the style of Red Scare movies. I disagree. First of all, we must define the difference between the Red Scare movies and films that are simply telling stories about Cold War. Fifties were the age when America tried to defend itself from the Communist infiltration. HUAC was relieveing Hollywood of Communist Party members while film industry itself contributed by making famed Red Scare movies. Some of those movies were direct fables about American patriots and Soviet spies. Others combined genre and subtle political paranoia. I prefer to define the latter as typical Red Scare flicks. I am a huge fan of the Red Scare features directed by Don Siegel, Samuel Fuller, Howard Hawks and Robert Aldrich. So, I sincerely recommend you to see Siegel`s INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, Fuller`s PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, Kazan`s ON THE WATERFRONT, Aldrich`s KISS ME DEADLY, Zinnemann`s HIGH NOON, Lumet`s FAIL-SAFE and maybe even Edward Ludwig`s BIG JIM McLAIN.
RED DAWN is a coming-of-age saga set agaist the Communist invasion. In John Milius world (of course) `coming-of-age` doesn`t equal to R & B soundtrack and highschool adventures. He sees `coming-of-age` as a violent, armed struggle for freedom against the strong forces of the Evil Empire (Reagan`s name for The World Behind The Iron Curtain). His heroes are typical American rural teenagers that have to take their fathers` guns instead of basketballs and retreat to the woods in order to fight for American freedom as a guerilla formation. This concept is very patriotic and all the fuss was brought up because the liberal system saw this concept as a threat. It felt threatening because these kids were fighting someone who was more than just a scare from America`s sub-consciousness. If you remove the red star logos off the villains in this movie, who are they? Well, they are just guys who happen to control media, police, army and county officials. And who is that in THE REAL AMERICA ?
So, RED DAWN is a subversive flick that used to hit the American system hard. This is why system defamated the movie as stupid and violent. They simply wanted to prohibit the life of this movie on the videostore shelf. This MGM release had a nice success in theatres and generated some good B.O. but today it is either forgotten or treated as trash. This is why I wanted to single this smart movie out.
RED DAWN also works as the eye candy. It features scenes of Soviet SPETZNAZ paratroopers rampaging in Calumet, Colorado, kids with STAR WARS ballcaps shooting Soviets and Cubans with shotguns, Sergei Eisenstein`s ALEXANDER NEVSKY being shown in local movie theatre and finally Mil-Mi-24 Hind helicopters in a `search and destroy` mission over Rocky Mountains. RED DAWN also advertises the policy of NRA since Soviets catch most of the American patriots by checking the forms that are filled when you buy a firearm.
Cast is mostly vintage Brat Pack with Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey and C.Thomas Howell. Kids are supported by Powers Boothe, John Ford`s Stock Company member Ben Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton and Ron O` Neal.
Only flaws in this movie lay with the treatment of characters but this shortcoming is minor compared to the grandeur of John Milius` effort that was fueled by Basil Poleoduris` magnificent score.
See this movie
God bless
Ethan
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Well that's it for this week... Edgard now is taking a X-mas break so for the next two weeks Ozy will control everything from his Irish castle (or Towers... big building anyway). So let me wish you all an early merry Christmas and Happy New Year; and let me remind you to address all the news directly to Ozymandias at ozymandias@dublin.com | |
