Gone Girl: Teaser Evidence Posters

The last time I blogged (3 months ago!) it was about Gone Girl. So it's only fitting that my return post should also be about one of my most long-awaited films of the year.

The David Fincher-directed film has a clever marketing campaign. Ahead of its first trailer release, four different 'evidence' posters have been released online as teasers on popular websites for film news.  The first of which appeared on Huffington Post, the second on Awards Daily, the third on Indiewire and the final and fourth on Hitfix.  Have a look at the intriguing posters below:

Source: Huffington Post

Source: Awards Daily

Source: Hitfix

Source: Indiewire

If you've read the novel on which the film is based, these posters should make you very happy because this means the film is on the right track.  It has captured the right tone of the book.  It makes me very happy indeed and very much like a student who is sitting for an exam I have actually studied for.  Can't wait for the new trailer to arrive on July 7th.  

Gone Girl Trailer: Have you seen Amy?

"I did not kill my wife. I am not a murderer." Those chilling words at the end of the first trailer released today for David Fincher's upcoming adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel, Gone Girl sum up the feel of the movie. Starring Ben Affleck as Nick and Rosamund Pike as Amy, the trailer is set to the track of 'She' sung by Charles Aznavour underlying the major cracks in their relationship leading up to Amy's disappearance and the emergence of Nick as the likely and only suspect.  Dark, chilly with hints of the menace yet to come, this is what we expected of Fincher and this film.  Gone Girl also stars Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Scoot McNairy and will release in theatres on October 3, 2014.

What I'm Thankful For: Movies Edition

 
1) Gravity: Every year we read dozens of pieces about the decline of cinema and how originality is lost and then a movie like Gravity comes along and shuts everybody up. Splendidly! A story of a veteran and rookie astronaut in space became the ultimate tale of survival in completely foreign and hostile environment.  Oh, and here's where it gets better, the films stars two of Hollywood's best, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock but the movie really belongs to Bullock and Clooney's just the supporting player. Say what? Did I also mention that the film's a neat 90 minutes and features some of the best CGI and 3D work seen in film so far? Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuaron and written along with his son Jonas, was the definitive film experience for me this year. And even though the wait was long, I'm thankful the end result was completely worth it. 

2) Minions:  If the Dementors from the Harry Potter universe suck all the happiness out of the universe and eventually your soul, think of the Minions as their zany, fun-loving yet inappropriate equivalent.  The scene-stealers from the first Despicable Me are having their moment in the spotlight.  They came back strong in the sequel and will star in their own feature in 2015.  It's a good time to be a Minion, I think.  They bring the smile to your face, at least they do to mine. I would be even more thankful if I had one of them to have around the house.

3) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: Speaking of Harry Potter, that J.K. Rowling sure knows how sneak one up on her fans. Fast on the heels of the surprising revelation that she wrote the underrated The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, she also broke the news that she's writing the script for the new film based on Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them in collaboration with Warner Bros., who are pursuing more films in the Potter universe of magic and wizardry. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to the books and films so to have this unexpected, bonus surprise, is indeed thankful.

4) The Heat: No movie has made me laugh as much this year than the surprise (to everyone who isn't female) hit of the summer, the Paul Feig directed The Heat, a female buddy cop comedy starring Sandra Bullock (who's really having a stellar year) and Melissa McCarthy. The $159 million plus blockbuster proved that in summer filled with superheroes and zombie flicks, there is room for a well-enacted and, most importantly funny, comedy featuring women to perform well.  It also helps when your lead actresses are as talented as Bullock and McCarthy.  Not only did I have tears of laughter running down my face, my stomach hurt from laughing too much.  These days when the laughs are far and few in life and in movies, I'm thankful for comedies that can deliver.

5) Gone Girl Film Adaptation: No sooner I did finish Gone Girl, the novel, I thought to myself, "This is needs to be a film." Actress Reese Witherspoon bought the rights and I had my fingers crossed as David Fincher as a dream director for this project. And what do you know? Sometimes the universe does listen to you.  The film adaptation of Gone Girl hits theaters next fall and will be highly anticipated as Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris join Fincher in bringing the book to the big screen.  I'd like to believe to myself that I wished this one into existence.

Those were some of my thankful moments with film this year.  What were yours?   

News Update: Gone Girl's Release Date, Woody Allen's Next and a Live Action Kiki's Delivery Service

(Photo: Los Angeles Times)

• A new still out from the next film from the hardest working man in show business, Woody Allen, starring Emma Stone, Colin Firth and Marcia Gay Harden.  The film titled Magic in the Midnight is set in the South of France possibly the 1930s and should be out in 2014.  Allen's previous film Blue Jasmine has been a critical and box office success and he won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Midnight in Paris. All eyes will definitely be on Magic in the Midnight to see if they follow in those films' footsteps.
• Their last film together made me cry.  The wonderfully acted and written The Perks of Being a Wallflower was well appreciated last year and now writer-director Stephen Chbosky and actress Emma Watson are coming back together for film adaptation of Adena Halpern's 29.  The project will be named While We're Young and deals with a grandmother wishing she was 29 again to spend the day with her same aged granddaughter.  The screenwriters of (500) Days of Summer Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustader will write the screenplay. 

(Photo: Twitch)

• I had no idea that a live action version of Kiki's Delivery Service is in the works and will be released next year.  How intriguing! Directed by Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge series) and based on the novels by Eiko Kadono, Kiki's Delivery Service is most well-known for it's animated adaptation by Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki.  The story follows a young witch, Kiki who must live a year on her own with her cat Jiji to prove herself.  I will be on the lookout for this next year.
• And finally mark your calendars for October 3, 2014, that's the release date for the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's book Gone Girl.  David Fincher.  Ben Affleck.  Rosamund Pike.  It will be amazing.  Trust me!

News Update: Gone Girl, James Bond and Dustin Hoffman on Tootsie

•  If anyone asks me for any book recommendations, my first question to them is, "Have you read Gone Girl?" I am practically obsessed with it. And I'm eagerly awaiting the movie adaptation as well.  The talent that's lining up for the film is looking up, like way up. Actress Reese Witherspoon is in the producer's chair, David Fincher is behind the camera and today, comes word that Ben Affleck is in talks to play Nick, whose wife Amy is the titular Gone Girl.  This is shaping up to be quite awesome, folks. I am officially excited.  Have you read Gone Girl yet?

• Never fear, all is right in the James Bond universe as directer Sam Mendes is back to direct the next Bond film after the success of Skyfall. I have moaned about this before and Mendes' return is absolutely the best decision for the franchise. I thought Skyfall was a spectacular film, a great tribute to all things Bond at 50. 
• This AFI video interview of Dustin Hoffman has been making the social media rounds but I have to share it again because it is so refreshing and moving and has become a must watch. How many actors would say this? Thank you, sir.

The Directors Guild Nominations

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced their list of the best director of the past year.  And they are...

• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics)
• David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures)
• Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist (The Weinstein Company)
• Alexander Payne, The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• Martin Scorsese, Hugo (Paramount Pictures)

Pretty surprising not to see Steven Spielberg's name on the above short list.  He came out with two big movies in the last month.  But great to see two of the living legends of American cinema, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese still at it.  And a big hurray to David Fincher for making the list despite the not-so-promising box office stats.  One of these days, he is definitely going to win it.  This year, I feel it's a competition between The Artist and Hugo.

W Magazine's First Look at Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander

The second in my trio of new looks for actors in the series.  Well, it's January, time to debut and to an extent, tease, audiences on what is upcoming.  In this day of fast news and updates, it's never to early to start building up your audience.  Here it is, Rooney Mara (The Social Network) as Lisbeth Salander courtesy of W Magazine who got an exclusive with Mara and the director, David Fincher.   Very interesting read!  Those Social Network kids are sure doing well for themselves, aren't they?  I know all the focus is on Mara for this film but don't forget, Daniel Craig, Stellan Skarsgaard and Robin Wright Penn are also in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Countdown to Oscars: Director's Guild Nominations Announced!

 

The five directors who will vie for the prestigious Director's Guild of America award are:

David O. Russell, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network

Things You Should Know about The Social Network

So, I watched The Social Network again. This time with the curse words in it.  And it was just as good as I remembered it.  Damn those dialogues.  I was never a West Wing fan so I'll compare it to another show with fast dialogues, Gilmore Girls.  Right, where was I? Watching the film again and seeing the making of made me aware of so many things I didn't know about this feature.  Here are a few that you too might find interesting.

• Kevin Spacey (yes, I know! Even I was surprised.) is the executive producer on this.
• The opening scene and the above picture took 99 takes to get just right.  
• Armie Hammer and Josh Pence played both twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, back and forth for each scene.  Josh Pence actually rowed at Dartmouth and high school.
• I loved that they had multiple cameras on set to film the actors to film the fast paced dialogues and the actors reactions to them.  This is why it's so cleverly edited.  
• Sean Parker, played by Justin Timberlake, actually had a custom made clothing by Armani.  
• Both Max Mingella and especially Andrew Garfield spoke with American accents on set.  It was strange to see them speak with their British accents on the off-set camera interviews.
• For the scene where Eduardo finally confronts Mark at the Facebook offices, Andrew Garfield broke over 15 different Apple laptops.  E-waste!
• Harvard didn't really allow the crew filming permission for the movie and they were really upset about that since they wanted the film to look authentic.    

I highly recommend you watch the special features on The Social Network as it will give you more insight into how you go about about making a film about a website.  It's not as easy as they made it seem.     

Profile On: The Social Network

It's #1 at the box-office and the easily the most talked about movie right now.  Here are a few reasons why:

• What's it all about? Get a refresher course on the people and background to the film here.
• Natalie Portman was a secret consultant into the life of Harvard student for Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter.
• You would think that a film like The Social Network would require no CG or VFX work.  It's a straightforward film about the guy who invented Facebook, right?  Well, yes, but that doesn't mean the filmmakers can't show off some nifty visual trickery.  It turns out those twins aren't really twins but two actors, Armie Hammer and Josh Pence, made to look identical.  You can read all about it here.  Actually, it's just David Fincher showing off after Benjamin Button.  He did put the bar up high.  
• Finally, what do the guys working at Facebook think about the movie?  Well, they're curious.