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Who'd Make the Better Princess Diana: Charlize Theron or Keira Knightley?

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Oct 27th 2010 4:25PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical


Who is the best actress to play Princess Diana in a biopic? Years ago, Lindsay Lohan told In Touch Weekly she'd like to play the royal do-gooder, who died in a car crash in 1997. That's certainly not going to happen. But now another redhead (sometimes), Scarlett Johansson, is apparently a contender. According to the Daily Mail, she's a "possibility" along with "top" choice Keira Knightley for a Pathé-produced film that would take us through Diana's life from childhood to her death.

Knightley's name was on wishlists three years ago, too, when the book 'Diana and the Paparazzi' was published and its film rights were being pursued by Hollywood. The Oscar-nominated actress since then starred in Pathé's 'The Duchess,' which was marketed as being linked and parallel to Diana's life. Pathé also made 'The Queen' and wants this to be in the same vein, though that film's star, Helen Mirren, is now (potentially confusingly) being lined up to play Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd.
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Here's How Movie Studios Rejected Scripts in the Early 1900s

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Oct 25th 2010 11:32AM
Filed under: Cinematical


If only The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company (1907-1925) was in existence today, perhaps we'd have at least one studio focused on producing original works. That's what we might think after seeing a manuscript rejection slip from Essanay currently making the Internet rounds (originally scanned and uploaded by Old Hollywood from the book 'Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture'). The notice lists a number of possible reasons why a screenwriter's submission could have been declined, and the studio would check off their reason(s). The receiver of this rejection apparently sent in something unoriginal and so got the "idea has been done before" line checked off.

The slip also has another line for "not original," which confuses the meaning behind the checked off reason. It also implies that Essanay really liked originality. Of course, if you were as big as Charlie Chaplin, you could certainly turn in a remake ('In the Park' is often considered a redo of his directorial debut, 'Twenty Minutes of Love,' which he made at Keystone). Those of you unhappy with the quality of movie ideas and output of today will likely also get a kick out of excuses like "weak plot," "improbable," "too conventional" and "no adaptations desired." Of course, the notice does make the studio seem interested in action, but nothing too unpleasant, and they weren't down for period pieces and foreign-set works.
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'11/4/08' Review: A Day in the Life of an Election

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Oct 24th 2010 2:00PM
Filed under: Documentaries, Reviews, Cinematical


History doesn't document itself. But in a time when almost everyone has a video camera of some kind, at least in their phone, and so many of us comment on every little thing through a blog or a Facebook status or a Tweet (now considered worthy of archiving by the Library of Congress), it does seem like this is true. Just imagine how many more comprehensive and detailed history books could be written and cable series produced if all this technology existed during the other 50,000 years of human record? What if you could compile a documentary out of video footage captured around the nation the day George Washington was elected President or the day the U.S. Civil War ended?

The thing is, most past events would also require today's speed of information to get the sort of history produced as '11/4/08,' a collaborative documentary that shows what thousands of people were doing and how they felt the day -- and the very second, simultaneously and altogether -- that Barack Obama was voted in as the first African-American President of the United States. The film was curated and edited by Jeff Deutchman out of submissions shot by 25 other camerapersons, including professional filmmakers like Henry Joost ('Catfish'), Joe Swanberg ('Hannah Takes the Stairs') and Margaret Brown ('The Order of Myths'), and shares glimpses into individual and crowd experiences from Homer, Alaska, to New Dehli, India.
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Steven Spielberg Will Direct 'Robopocalypse' Next

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Oct 22nd 2010 3:15PM
Filed under: Movie News, Sci-Fi, Cinematical


We've had about a month to imagine what a Steven Spielberg-directed 'Terminator' movie might look like. In September, rumor circulated that the filmmaker was considering a project at DreamWorks called 'Robopocalypse,' about a seemingly Skynet-like uprising of machines, as a possible directorial gig. Deadline has since confirmed he will indeed tackle this blockbuster with a starting date as soon as January. The studio will distribute through Disney's Touchstone Pictures in 2013.

'Robopocalypse' is to be based on a book by Daniel H. Wilson ('How to Build a Robot Army;' 'How to Survive a Robot Apocalypse') that won't even be published until next June. But DreamWorks received the epic sci-fi work in sections and had it storyboarded and designed little by little, while screenwriter Drew Goddard ('Cloverfield') would subsequently adapt these bits and pieces. Sounds like a machine-like process itself.
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Doc Talk: Does Celebrity Narration Matter?

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Oct 20th 2010 7:48PM
Filed under: Documentaries, Columns, Cinematical

At the New York Film Festival press conference for 'Inside Job,' Charles Ferguson responded to a question regarding the choice of Matt Damon as narrator. Ferguson said his reason was because the actor obviously has a familiar voice and character and -- possibly more importantly -- "he's known to have political concerns in an intelligent way." Damon in turn came aboard as a fan of Ferguson's Oscar-nominated 'No End in Sight' and ended up participating more than merely providing some recognizable speech. The director says the actor had a lot of input on the script and pretty much fixed the film's original, "very quirky convoluted" ending.

This wasn't the first time Damon literally got vocal for a cause by narrating a documentary. Two years ago he executive produced and spoke over James Moll's 'Running the Sahara,' through which he hoped to raise awareness of the African drinking-water crisis. That film and issue aren't as popular as one intending to be the last word on the economic crisis (at least up to now), so perhaps Damon's involvement, especially his voice-over, attracted more of an audience than it would have otherwise with some unknown voice actor. Then again, maybe his political leanings also repel other potential viewers.
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Gotham Award Nominations Give 'Let Me In' Surprise Buzz

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Oct 18th 2010 3:42PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical


The Gotham Independent Film Awards are not necessarily the best at forecasting the Oscars, but as the first major film award event of the season it does at least have the power to lift some titles up from obscurity, doubt or complete disregard. For instance, today the Independent Film Project named the 2010 nominations, and with them such indie darlings as 'Winter's Bone' and 'The Kids Are All Right' get their hats nudged further into the awards season ring. Both are up for Best Feature and Best Ensemble, with the former category also contatining Oscar sure-thing 'Black Swan,' 'Blue Valentine' and the horror remake 'Let Me In.'

It's the last of those nominees that seems most surprising. The English-language redo of Swedish vampire hit 'Let the Right One In' has disappointed at the box office, but perhaps this honor can give it a little boost with the arthouse crowd if the mainstream audiences keep choosing to ignore it. Could this possibly mean a shot at an Academy Award? Probably not. The Gotham Awards tend only to share one, maybe now two titles with the Best Picture nominees, and even with the big Oscar category including ten slots there's not much likelihood that one will go to a beautifully shot, well-directed and acted horror film. Right?
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'Paul' Teaser Trailer: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost Chase an Alien

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Oct 18th 2010 10:55AM
Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sci-Fi, Cinematical


Was anyone else just a little bit disappointed that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost didn't at least have cameos in 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'? Well, they'll be back together with director Edgar Wright in the future, but in the meantime the two stars of 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' and the cult TV series 'Spaced' are reunited for the sci-fi comedy 'Paul,' which they also wrote together. Directed by Gregg Mottola ('Superbad'), the movie is about two comic book geeks whose Comic-Con-centered road trip changes course when they meet the titular escaped alien -- voiced by Seth Rogen -- in the desert outside Area 51.

So get excited about the first look at this highly anticipated comedy, which also features Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch and Jeffrey Tambor, as MSN Movies has debuted an exclusive teaser trailer that's filled with Pegg and Frost acting both dorky and frightened, just the way we like them. It may slightly resemble parts of 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' with the orangutan replaced with a dancing, smoking alien, and Rogen's voice may seem very, very ill-fitting and distracting, but that lead duo plus that supporting ensemble plus another road movie from the guy who made the criminally under-seen 'Daytrippers' equals enough faith that this is still the must-see release of March 18, 2011.

Watch the teaser after the jump.
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