Thoughts

WAAZZZZAAAAA GUYSSSSSSS!! My weekly thoughts is back after a 2 month hiatus. Don't ask me why I stopped writing them. I started many but the news kept piling up and the thought of typing more just brought out the lazy ass in me. So now with the new year, I am going to start afresh with all the most recent movie stuff.

1) This is really the most important news- Paul Rudd is going to be Ant-Man in Edgar Wright's Ant-Man!!! Hurrah!!!!!! I lurve Paul Rudd and I really admire Wright for choosing actors like Rudd or Simon Pegg or Michael Cera, who aren't really "hero material" but they totally kick ass in his movies. Rudd will be playing Scott Lang and none other than Michael Douglas will play Dr. Hank Prym who in the comics is apparently the original Ant-Man and the guy who invents the technology that enables people to get minitiurized or whatever. The film will release in the 2015 during the slot when the Batfleck-Superman movie was going to come out. The latter has changed dates because of some reason that I don't care about.

2) Casting: Daniel Radcliffe continues to build an interesting career and his next project is Brooklyn Bridge about the brilliant but rookie engineer who has to oversee the building of the Brooklyn Bridge after the death of his father. There's a rumour that Gwyneth Paltrow will play his wife. I hope to god that does not happen because it is wrong on so many levels. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is going to star in the fictional take on renowned documentary Man on Wire. It is called To Reach the Clouds and it will be directed by Robert Zemeckis. The John Belushi biopic starring Emile Hirsch as the titular character has found its Dan Aykroyd in The Spectacular Now's Miles Teller. In spite of what I felt about the movie, I think Teller has great potential and this film sounds really interesting. Sarah Paulson has joined the cast of the Todd Haynes-directed Carol which will have Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara playing the leads. I love this beyond words. The Duchess of Ray Bridge herself, Margot Robbie is going to play Jane in the upcoming Tarzan movie that has Alexander Skarsgard donning the loincloth (hopefully!) and swinging from trees as our hero. This will obviously be a hot effing movie and I almost wish that it is R-rated because why not :)

3) Joe Wright's Pan is building up quite an ensemble. Hugh Jackman is going to play Blackbeard, the villain, and Garrett Hedlund is going to play Captain Hook who isn't apparently bad in this version. It was previously reported Hedlund would play Peter Pan which I thought was just strange, but Hedlund and Jackman will be a nice pair of hot pirates. Now we just have to cast Keira Knightley as Wendy or Tinkerbell.

4) So Quentin Tarantino wrote a first draft of a proper western, since Django Unchained wasn't proper enough or whatever, called "The Hateful Eight" but someone leaked it online, causing him shelve the project completely. While it is true that I will follow Tarantino to the ends of earth and he might be the only person who can get me interested in westerns, I am kind of glad because I want him to tackle new genres and give them his Tarantino-ian twist. It seems that is exactly what might be in store for us because he may be working on a script based on the Robert Blake case, about a 70s TV star who murdered his wife and was sued by his children. It could be a legal thriller, which in itself is a pretty cool genre, but what Tarantino will do with it is even more fun to speculate about. Could he possible go back to something like Jackie Brown even? Now I'm getting excited!

5) Rumour has it that Pixar might be making it's own Star Wars movie. I have nothing more to say other than I WANT IT NOW!!!!!!

6) The Sundance Film Festival just got over and many of the indies that we might be talking about the rest of the year till next awards season were shown. The films that have caught my eye the most are Whiplash, which won a number of prizes, starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, Richard Linklater's epic that took twelve years to make, Boyhood, Anton Corbijn's A Most Wanted Man starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Fassy-in-a-head movie, Frank, the Belle and Sebastian movie, God Help the Girl, Life After Beth starring Dane DeHaan and a zombified Aubrey Plaza (which sounds so perfect!!) and vampire flick A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Also, The Raid 2: Berandal has gotten some rave reviews so really excited about that one too.

7) Lately, I have been reading a lot on the inevitable Jennifer Lawrence backlash. I think it is a really interesting cultural phenomenon, or rather she is. For someone who was so widely loved this time last year, a lot of people seem to despise her at present. But this is balanced by an equally rabid group of fangirls who will like cut you, virtually of course, if you say anything bad about her. I find it fascinating because JLaw at present represents both sides of our "Tumblr" age. Also the fact the she is probably the only female towards whom there is such complete devotion. I get why people like her- she's funny, pretty, relatable, a good actor and she is part of one of the biggest franchises in the world right now. I also get why people don't like her- all those incessant Buzzfeed posts, Oscar + Catching Fire + American Hustle + another Oscar nomination which is definitely undeserved. The fact that both of these things have happened within the course of one year is kind of unfortunate, because she has at least 3 big releases in the next two years, Mockingjay parts 1 and 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past, so she's not going anywhere any time soon. And the dissenting voices will become even louder if by any chance she does manage to win the Oscar because it will then definitely become a popularity thing. This will be bad for both parties, even though the fangirls may not realise it yet, because she *will* almost definitely peak then and we might have to wait quite a while before she can give her next great performance that people will care about. I for one am still a fan, of both Jennifer Lawrence, the actress, and Jennifer Lawrence, the personality. Even if she might be putting on a show, I like that a 23 year old can be both neurotic and charming and may not have everything figured out even though she's a huge star. It's affirming.

8) Score-wise: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have re-teamed with David Fincher and are going to score his upcoming thriller, Gone Girl. I still listen to The Social Network score and I just rewatched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its opening continues to give me chills. Also, Carter Burwell will score the aforementioned Carol (and not Clint Mansell, *who* scored Stoker. I'm and idiot) so that is awesome. Most importantly though, Danny Elfman will score Fifty Shades of Grey! Woo hoo! I'm so excited to hear the music between the spanking and the sex noises!!!!!!

9) Speaking of, the teaser poster of Fifty Shades of Grey has released. It looks a lot like Dhoom 3's poster, which is just an odd connection. I don't like the font but Jamie Dornan, if it indeed is him, has a nice suit and a nice butt. These are my observations.

10) Andrew of Encore's World of Film & TV is doing his Motifs in Cinema blogathon again and I will be taking part this time 'round. I will be looking at the "coming of age" movies of 2013.

11) Trailers- Starred Up starring Jack O'Connell and Rupert Friend looks like a pretty intense film. I have loved O'Connell since his Skins days and this is a good year for him (he is the lead in Angelina Jolie's Unbroken). Karen Gillan stars in creepy horror flick Oculus. I was anyways going to watch it for Gillan but apparently it's also pretty good according to the TIFF'13 reports, so yaay. There isn't a trailer out yet but the clip from Fassy and Domhnall Gleeson starrer Frank looks really quirky and fun. Coming to television, Sam Mendes-produced Penny Dreadful has two teasers out (1, 2) and looks kind of generic but I love Eva Green and my 13 year old self still believes in Josh Hartnett, so I will be keeping an eye out for it. Finally, Hannibal season 2's trailer is out and it's beautiful. Can't wait for more murders that look like pretty works of art and Mads Mikkelsen in a bloody unbuttoned shirt!

12) Finally, Jonah Hill is living every girl's dream-

Forget getting Oscars for their performances in WoWS, they should be getting fucking Oscars for this! I heart them so much.

I also want to marry Leonardo DiCaprio.

Au revoir!

Hello 2014!

With a new year, we have a whole set of new films to look forward to. Of course, if you are like me, you still have a huge number of 2013 to get over with. But as it is becoming a tradition on this blog, I give you my most anticipated films of the coming year on 1st January (even though I'm failing my exams for writing this).

Honorable Mentions- Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Sils Maria, The Monuments Men, Beauty and the Beast, The Boxtrolls, Cuban Fury, Fury, Chef, 22 Jump Street, Tammy, The Interview, Dark Places, Madame Bovary,  The Imitation Game, Tom at the Farm, Maps to the Stars, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, Unbroken, The Cobbler, Noah (still not sure on this one, but then, Aronofsky), Life Itself, Jupiter Ascending (again, for the directors), Jane Got a Gun, untitled Cameron Crowe, Neighbours, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Stretch, The Maze Runner, Under the Skin, Annie, Get On It, The Search, Dumb and Dumber To, Horrible Bosses 2, Veronica Mars, Exodus, Cymbeline, Every Thing Will Be Fine, Happy Christmas, Frank, Brooklyn, Midnight Special, Need for Speed and any Terrence Malick film if he decides to release one this year.

The 25:

25) X-Men: Days of Future Past
This would have been higher on my list were it not for that gargantuan cast. Seriously, too many characters. There is big chance of this film not working, but I'm still quite excited. Also, that picture is hilarious.

24) Far From the Madding Crowd
Thomas Vinterberg made one of the most acclaimed movies of last year, The Hunt. This will be his English language debut. The material is great and so is the cast. I'm happy to see Tom Sturridge bagging such roles.

23) The Lobster
The concept is kind of genius- people forced to find their soulmates or else they turn into animals. The cast is exciting and I have become quite a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos over last year.

22) Muppets Most Wanted
The Muppets was one of the biggest surprises of 2011 for me. It was the happiest movie of the year and so I have high hopes for its sequel.

21) Nymphomaniac
I don't think any film has me equally intrigued and scared like this one. It is going to be something.

20) The Trip to Italy
I thought the first one was totally brilliant and super hilarious and I have a feeling this one will be too. And I love Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon!

19) Maleficient
Though the teaser did little for me, I have been excited for this film since day 1. Angelina Jolie is PERFECT for a role like this. And gotta love Elle Fanning.

18) Godzilla
Talking of teasers/trailers, Godzilla's absolutely rocked! Plus the cast and the visuals have my attention completely.

17) Transcendence
The trailer was absorbing enough and that cast is quite amazing. Curious to see how Wally Pfister fares as a director. Also, so nice to see Johnny Depp looking normal in a film... sorta...

16) Into the Woods

I love Chicago. That alone guarantees my interest in this film. But then we have fantastic actors like Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, James Corden (!), Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick in big and small roles playing fairy tale characters- oooooooooooo!!

15) Gone Girl
I'm sorry, David Fincher. I just hate Ben Affleck's chin so much! Otherwise your film would have been higher on the list, I swear on Jack's everything! I do love Rosamund Pike though.

14) How to Train Your Dragon 2
I regret not having watched How to Train Your Dragon in the theatres in 3D. Not making that mistake with its sequel, which looks quite breathtaking too.

13) Foxcatcher
Love it when an actor tries something different. Steve Carell looks set to wow us in this and, having read up on the whole incident, I think this might be a helluva movie.

12) The Fault in Our Stars
I absolutely loved the novel and Shailene Woodley has been fantastic in everything I've seen her in. I seriously hope and pray the film does John Green's beautiful, hilarious and heartbreaking book justice.

11) Guardians of the Galaxy
I think this is going to be a very atypical superhero movie, and we need some of those now. And wowsers Lee Pace, Chris Pratt and Karen Gillan in a movie together!

10) Magic in the Moonlight
Statistically, observing the trend in Woody Allen's recent films, this *should* be a dud. But I absolutely adore the idea of Emma Stone being in one of his films and this looks and sounds quite lovely.

9) Inherent Vice
It's probably a lazy reason but it's a Paul Thomas Anderson film. It's bound to be good if not great. Joaquin Phoenix is also in top-form right now and the story is very interesting.

8) The Raid 2: Berandal
Because The Raid is a perfect film. 'Nuff said.

7) The Double
Submarine is one of my most favourite films ever. This looks v.v.v.v.v. different, but that's not a bad thing, especially with some people talking about its similarities with Fight Club. Also, bless Richard Ayoade for bringing Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska together in this film!

6) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I am a huge fan of the first one and I like the fact that it seems to be merging superheroes with spies. Chris Evans is so great in this role too.

5) Only Lovers Left Alive
I like vampires. I like vampire romances. I like off-beat romances. I like John Hurt. I like Anton Yelchin. I like rockstars. I love Mia Wasikowska. I looove Tilda Swinton. I looooove vampire Tilda Swinton. I looooooove Tom Hiddleston. I looooooooove vampire Tom Hiddleston. I looooooooooove vampire rockstar Tom Hiddleston.
I think I will like this film.

4) Interstellar
I love a smart blockbuster and Christopher Nolan is just about the king of those. Excited to see what he does now, with the Dark Knight trilogy behind him. And then there is that cast which includes Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway and like a million other amazing people and basically, this might be brilliant.

3) Carol
Todd Haynes directing Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in a film based on a Patricia Highsmith novel about two women in a relationship in the 50s on the run- YES PLEASE!

2) How to Catch A Monster
I *did* call this my most anticipated film of all time, but I am a bit scared about the surreal aspects of the film and obviously, how good the Gos will be as a director. Still, that's a picture of Ryan Gosling directing a shirtless Matt Smith. I'm ready to sell my soul to be able to attend the premiere.

1) The Grand Budapest Hotel

Look at that poster! This film is going to be gold. Don't you just wish that Wes Anderson was God so that the whole world would be as pretty as his films and everyone would be as fun as Ralph Fiennes's Gustav H. seems to be? Jokes (existential jokes? Idk) aside, my favourite thing about Wes Anderson's films are the darker layers hidden beneath their gorgeous exteriors and as delightfully screwball-like as The Grand Budapest Hotel's trailer seems to be, I think the film will have much more to offer. Cannot wait!


And there you have it. I hope all of us have a fantabulous 2014 :D

Thoughts

Helloo people! I know I haven’t written in for forever, but I have honestly, truthfully, pinky-swearingly been very busy. I came back to India, went back to college, spent an entire week running to and from theatres because of the film festival, and now I’m sick.

1) The film festival was great. It was my first fully immersed festival experience and I did make the most of it. I saw 26 films. My favourite new film was Blue is the Warmest Colour. It really is an excellent movie and Adele Exarchopoulos (I will learn the spelling before Oscars. Yep) is by far my favourite performer of the year. Lea Seydoux is great too. And yes, the 7 minute lesbian sex scene can get a little awkward but do what I did- stare at every middle aged man in the room (and there were so many!!) and see their reactions. It’s hilarious. I saw some other great movies too. Don Jon was awesomesauce and Scarlett Johansson was on fire. Other first timers I really liked were Blancanieves, Paradise: Faith, Pieta, Touch of the Light and The Past. Also, if you are a Louis Garrel fan, watch Jealousy which is in black and white and therefore Garrel is in black and white and then your ovaries die. The films I wasn’t such a big fan of were Bastards, Of Good Report and Night Train to Lisbon. The first was just generally an awful movie going experience which might have made me dislike the film more than I ought to, the second was just boring and creepy and the last one was painfully mediocre. It had Jack Huston (who is American), August Diehl (who is German) and Melanie Laurent (who is French), all playing Portugese people. What? My absolute favourite thing about the festival however was the chance to see classic movies on big screen. I saw Elmer Gantry, Gone with the Wind, Sabrina and The Apartment (YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS) and really enjoyed myself. The fact that a lot of the people who seemed to be so grumpy throughout the festival just started clapping during the Wilder movies kind of restores my faith in humanity a little bit.

My KIFF experience :P 

The Louis Garrel comment on the right is by my friend Alliya and I agree whole-heartedly.

2) Adam Levine has been voted the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine. The people at People
Magazine need to fill up the biggest douchebag jar they can find for making this decision. My choice? Duh.

Actually, any one of them will do too-

Yum.

3) The Honourary Oscars were given out recently and Steve Martin, Angela Lansbury, Angelina Jolie and Piero Tossi. I really loved Jolie’s acceptance speech. I am one of those saps who cries watching acceptance speeches (I even cried in Emma Stone’s MTV Award speech), and I thought Jolie’s was really beautiful and heartfelt. And goooo Steve Martin!!!

4) So guess what’s happening this Saturday? Only something I have been waiting forever for. Or, well, since April or something. Anyways, the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary is nearly here! (Isn't my banner awesome?) I already went nuts over the official trailers, though I am cautiously avoiding all other clips since I want a complete experience watching “The Day of the Doctor”. My entire plan of rewatching all of Nu Who and then ranking my favourite episodes before “The Day of the Doctor” *obviously* went kaput since my planning skills suck, but I promise to do one before series 8 next year. Anyways, it seems our dearly departing Doctor, Matt Smith, is in talks to star in Star Wars Episode VII. Of course it is all rumours at present, but if it comes to pass, this will be a massive opportunity for Smith. I just hope he doesn't end up in some ridiculous alien make-up. Especially now that his hair is growing all nicely.

5) Imogen Poots (I love her name so much), might be starring in Todd Field's next film, Beautiful Ruins. It is apparently his most ambitious project yet and it will span over a number of decades, from the 60s onwards. It is about three characters and their lives that is altered by an incident that takes place during the shooting of Cleopatra. I recently watched Little Children and loved it, and this is Field's first movie since then. I think Poots is really pretty and it will be interesting to see her take on such a role.

6) Joe Wright is going to make a film about the origins of Peter Pan called Pan. Generally, I would be against it because I think we *have* had enough of fairytale movies for a decade, but I have really loved everything Wright has made so far (except The Soloist, which I haven't seen). I have full trust in his vision. Javier Bardem is being considered for Captain Hook, according to rumours.

7) ScarJo is on a career-rise again. She kicked ass in Don Jon, but it is her work in Her that is getting awards attention. This is very unusual because she herself, i.e. er perfect sexy human self, is not in the movie, but her voice instead. But it's great to see actors getting recognition for their voice-work. She just got an award at the Rome Film Festival.

8) Fassy is going to star in a gangster film called Trespass Against Us. It will be directed by UK director Adam Smith, who has worked for things like Doctor Who and Skins, and the score will be created by The Chemical Brothers. The movie is "set across three generations of the rowdy Cutler family, who live as outlaws — hunting hares, ram-raiding stately homes and taunting the police. The family have always lived this way but, defying the expectations of his father, Chad Cutler is looking for a way out of the criminal life." Fassy will play Chad and I think will do a really good job. I'm kind of surprised he hasn't done more films like this tbh.

9) Robert Pattinson and Benedict Cumberbatch are going to star in Lost City of Z. The film is based on New Yorker science writer David Grann's book of the same name. Cumberbatch plays Lt. Colonel Percy Fawcett, a British archeologist and explorer who went missing in South America while hunting for the lost city of Z. The book follows the Fawcett expedition and tries to piece together what exactly happened to him and his team, which included Fawcett's son Jack and one of Jack's friends. RPatz will probably play Jack. It sounds like an intriguing project (Brad Pitt's name was attached to it formerly. Now he's producing). The Brit duo is also unique and I'm curious to see how they gel together.

10) Wes Anderson made a short film for Prada starring Jason Schwartzman!

Don't you want to live in a Wes Anderson film?

11) Alex has some awesome news!

12) Trailers- The Maleficient teaser looks a little half-baked, although it does give us it's two most important aspects of the film-Angelina Jolie as the titular character and Elle Fanning as Aurora. Jolie looks and sounds amazeballs, and if anyone can make me not hate Aurora, it's Fanning. The Wind Rises has a very pretty trailer out and I am really looking forward to it. It looks as lovely and poignant as all the Miyazaki that I have seen. The Devil's Knot looks quite intriguing. I have only seen the first half of the first Paradise: Lost documentary, so it will be interesting to see how the material is treated in this film. Plus, good cast. Speaking of, Muppets Most Wanted looks awesome! I SPOT HIDDLES! I'm really excited about this one. I absolutely adored the first film. Oh God, Noah :/ :/ (See what I did there). But seriously, I don't know how to feel about this film. On one hand, I want to trust Aronofsky and his vision, but on the other hand, there is Russel Crowe and his face that makes me sick for whatever reason. And the material and the way the trailer seems to be treating it does not pique my interest at all. Divergent trailer is meh. I'm just all-round meh about this film. Mehhh. There are two trailers I really loved and are my king of trailers in this post. One is Nymphomaniac. This will be some batshit crazy stuff but lord help me, I'm intrigued. The second is the teaser to The Raid 2: Berandal. THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE A TEASER, PEOPLE!! So fucking awesome.

13) Finally, with "The Day of the Doctor" almost upon us, let's all listen to Sir Ian McKellen's words of wisdom about the show-

Re: Matt Smith- Never knew Sir Ian and I would have so much in common.

DO WEE DOOOOOOOOOO! HAPPY DOCTOR WHO 50TH EVERYONE! ALLONS-Y FOR NOW!