Bad News, Bad Love

I suppose we should have known better, but Catherine Breillat's planned remake of her own Parfait amour! in English with Naomi Campbell has been scrapped. According to several news sources, Bad Love's cancellation has everything to do with Breillat's choice to cast infamous con artist Christophe Rocancourt in the male lead. As they say, once a thief... Rocancourt reportedly scammed Breillat out of around 650.000€, and the project is now dead. Though this source reports that Breillat will release a (likely scathing and exquisitely written) book entitled Rocancourt et moi about her wretched experience with him (Wikipedia claims the book will be called Abus de faiblesse).

Thankfully, Breillat has lined up her next project, funded by French television, with a modern adaptation of Sleeping Beauty, continuing to stray from using her own writings as source material, after The Last Mistress [Une vieille maîtresse] from Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly and Bluebeard [Barbe Bleue] from Charles Perrault, the man also responsible for Sleeping Beauty. The Sleeping Beauty project appears to be part of a series of films updating classic contes de fées. According to Toutlecine.com, filmmakers Jacques Doillon (Ponette, Le premier venu) and Marina de Van (Dans ma peau, Ne te retourne pas) are rumored to also be contributing to the series. Sounds compelling, but can I hope then that Breillat casts Campbell as belle au bois dormant? We'll see...

All of the links, except for Breillat's Wikipedia page, are in French, but you can read Rocancourt's Wikipedia page for details in English.

DVD/Blu-ray Update, 6 October

Some classy, some sleazy; here's the DVD and Blu-ray announcements for 6 October. Why has Brittany Murphy been reduced to direct-to-DVD thrillers these days? No good. Good though: Jia Zhang-ke's 24 City bows on DVD in January from Cinema Guild. Oh, and sorry for the lousy pick of Blu-ray titles, but those were the only newly announced ones I could find.

- Paraiso Travel, 2008, d. Simon Brand, Phase 4 Films, 13 October, w. John Leguizamo
- Watch Out, 2008, d. Steve Balderson, Breaking Glass Pictures, 17 November
- Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, 2006, d. Lucifer Valentine, Unearthed Films/Breaking Glass Pictures, 24 November
- The Jazz Singer, 1980, d. Richard Fleischer, Anchor Bay, 30th Anniversary, 1 December
- Paper Heart, 2009, d. Nicholas Jasenovec, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 1 December
- Chai-Lai Angels, 2006, d. Poj Arnon, Magnet/Magnolia, 15 December
- District 9, 2009, d. Neill Blomkamp, Sony Pictures, also on Blu-ray, 15 December
- Herb & Dorothy, 2008, d. Megumi Sasaki, New Video, 15 December
- Lucky Bastard, 2009, d. Everett Lewis, Breaking Glass Pictures, 15 December
- Extract, 2009, d. Mike Judge, Miramax, also on Blu-ray, 22 December
- Ghost Machine, 2009, d. Chris Hartwill, Anchor Bay, 22 December
- To Take a Wife [Prendre femme], 2004, d. Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz, Sisu, 22 December
- 24 City, 2008, d. Jia Zhang-ke, Cinema Guild, 12 January
- Across the Hall, 2009, d. Alex Merkin, Image Entertainment, also on Blu-ray, 19 January, w. Brittany Murphy
- $5 a Day, 2008, d. Nigel Cole, Image Entertainment, also on Blu-ray, 26 January, w. Christopher Walken, Sharon Stone, Alessandro Nivola, Amanda Peet, Peter Coyote, Dean Cain
- Doctor Death, 1973, d. Eddie Saeta, Scorpion Releasing, 26 January
- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, 1985, d. Sam Jaimes, Warner, 26 January

Blu-ray

- Alphabet Killer, 2008, d. Rob Schmidt, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, 2006, d. Scott Glosserman, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- Lower Learning, 2008, d. Mark Lafferty, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- Walled In, 2008, d. Gilles Paquet-Brenner, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- While She Was Out, 2008, d. Susan Montford, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999, d. Gil Junger, Touchstone, 31 January

Date Changes/Delays/Rumors

- Public Enemies, 2009, d. Michael Mann, Universal, now 8 December
- Big Love, Season 3, 2009, HBO, now 5 January
- House of the Devil, 2009, d. Ti West, MPI [postponed indefinitely]
- Grindhouse on Blu-ray on 15 December (I should quit with this shit)??
- 8½ on Blu-ray early 2010??

Quick DVD Update: Tilda, Sherilyn and More

Magnolia announced both Erick Zonca's Julia, with the wonderful Tilda Swinton, and Jennifer Chambers Lynch's Surveillance, with Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond, for 18 August. Surveillance, Lynch's follow-up to her disasterous debut Boxing Helena, will also be available on Blu-ray. And speaking of Sherilyn Fenn, City Lights is bringing the world a film called Zombie High, from 1987 and also starring Virginia Madsen, on 23 June. This would be director Ron Link's first and last film.

Strand announced two titles for July. The Ring Finger [L'annulaire], starring Olga Kurylenko, Marc Barbé, Stipe Erceg and Edith Scob, hits shelves on the 21st, while Le jupon rouge, with Alida Valli, comes out on the 7th. Sony announced the long overdue Spanish horror film [REC], which was remade into Quarantine, on 14 July. Nikita Mikhalkov's 12 will be out the same day, also from Sony.

Image will release Giuseppe Tornatore's so-bad-it-might-be-good The Unknown Woman [La sconosciuta] on 21 July. Cinema Libre is releasing Nicolas Klotz's The Bengali Night [La nuit Bengali], with Hugh Grant, Shabana Azmi and John Hurt, on 23 June. Facets will have another Masahiro Kobayashi film, Bootleg Film, out on 28 July.

And finally, Eric at Filmbo's Chick Magnet has tipped off on a few films on their way to DVD. The State: Complete Series. Two for Buñuel from Microcinema: Las hurdes [Land Without Bread] and Death in the Garden [La mort en ce jardin] with Simone Signoret. Mitchell Leisen's Remember the Night, written by Preston Sturges and starring Barbara Stanwyck? Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco for certain getting a Criterion release? The State is out 14 July, the 2 Buñuels are certain but without a date, The Last Days of Disco is a distinct possibility and the Leisen may just be an Amazon placeholder. We'll see.

Fingers Crossed

Eric at Filmbo's Chick Magnet has been hearing some rumors (none of which have been confirmed, mind you) that Criterion and Focus/Universal may be partnering up for a handful of releases, of which Guillermo del Toro's Cronos would be the first. This possible partnership may also include Lars von Trier's The Idiots, Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet, the Dardennes' Rosetta and Pedro Almodóvar's Kika. Some other Universal properties, most from USA/Polygram/October, that have yet to see a R1 DVD release include: Abel Ferrara's The Addiction, Michael Winterbottom's I Want You, Steven Soderbergh's King of the Hill, Ken Loach's Land and Freedom, Claude Berri's Lucie Aubrac, Allison Anders' Sugar Town, Tony Bui's Three Seasons and Jafar Panahi's The White Balloon. Can a boy dream that Frank Perry's adaptation of Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays is also part of the deal? I repeat, none of this has been confirmed.

Don't get them panties in a bunch!

I'm almost sure this is erroneous news, but DVDRama.com is claiming that Ingmar Bergman's elusive, never-released-to-DVD English-language film The Touch [Beröringen], starring Elliott Gould, Bibi Andersson and Max von Sydow, is coming to DVD in March in France. I'm nearly positive that this is a mistake as Amazon.fr lists a completely different film with the title Le lien for a 24 March release date. However, this just begs the question as to why the powers that be are keeping us from seeing Elliott Gould act in a Bergman film. So, like I said, don't get those panties or false hopes up.

S.O.B.

I'm not usually in the habit of posting about films in production, but as I've already mentioned the Serge Gainsbourg biopic in addition to the casting of Todd Solondz's new film, why not add two more? It looks as if the Arrested Development film is back on again, after that little teaser on the show's farewell and numerous shot-down rumors.

And according to a friend-of-a-friend (yeah, sorry), Claire Denis' White Material, which stars Isabelle Huppert (her first time working with the director), Isaach de Bankolé and Nicolas Duvauchelle, should be ready in time for Berlin in 09. Then again, call me a skeptic, but 35 rhums was supposed to be ready for Cannes earlier this year.

How'd you get to be Happiness?

Oh boy! IndieWire posted an update on Todd Solondz's new film, which is apparently a follow-up to Happiness probably in the same way Palindromes was to Welcome to the Dollhouse. The official cast includes Charlotte Rampling, Allison Janney, Michael K. Williams (aka, everyone's favorite character on The Wire, Omar), Paul Reubens (who was the first actor attactched to the project), Shirley Henderson, Ciaran Hinds and, last and certainly least, Paris Hilton. The IMDb also lists Natasha Richardson in the cast. The film should hit one of the big festivals next year.

...is the opiate of the masses

I posted something about the film La león earlier today, announcing its distributor change from Water Bearer Films to Music Box Films, but now TLA has cover artwork and a UPC code for WB's December release for the film... so it's safe to say that I have no idea what's going on with this title.

And like most of you, I'm not feeling particularly film-y today. I try to reserve politics to film writing, but I can't help but feel elation and disgust from Election Day 08. On one hand, Obama's victory announced the "change" everyone's been hoping for, but on another hand, California has proven that small-minded people still plague this nation with the passing of Proposition 8. I'm not a bleeding heart, someone who ever planned on getting married or even a fan of most of the gay people I know, but I've adopted a Raspberry Reich-inspired aggressiveness that's pretty hard to shake. To some I may be the Debbie Downer of Obama's party, but his victory, when combined with Prop 8's more-than-likely pass, isn't looking so much like the people of a nation looking after one another but selfish ulterior motives of the ignorant and hateful. On the bright side, at least this election proved that the United States isn't any closer to a reversal on Roe v Wade.

Facets, New Yorker, Weinstein, IFC in Dec

The Weinstein Company has announced a release of the British horror film Eden Lake from director James Watkins, who just wrote the script for the upcoming sequel to The Descent, for 30 December. IFC has also announced that Christopher Zalla's Sangre de mi sangre will be out on 16 December.

New Yorker has announced three short documentaries by Werner Herzog for 9 December. The films include The Dark Glow of the Mountains [Gasherbrum - Der leuchtende Berg] (1985), Ballad of the Little Solider [Ballade vom kleinen Soldaten] (1984) and Precautions Against Fanatics [Massnahmen gegen Fanatiker] (1969).

Facets will release another film from both Alexander Kluge and Helma Sanders-Brahms. Artists in the Big Top: Perplexed [Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos] will join Facet's releases of Part-Time Work of a Domestic Slave and Yesterday Girl for Kluge, just as My Heart Is Mine Alone [Mein Herz - Niemandem!] will join The Future of Emily, Germany Pale Mother, No Mercy No Future and Under the Pavement Lies the Strand for Sanders-Brahms. Facets will also be releasing Jean-Claude Brisseau's Céline on 23 December.

And I've heard from the grapevine that Criterion will release The Exterminating Angel this February. Could be a rumor, but that's all I got.

Shut the fuck up!

That was an elated "Shut the Fuck Up" that titled this entry, not a rude one, as a little birdy came onto my shoulder to tell me that instead of Rose McGowan playing Barbarella, she's going to team with Robert Rodriguez for a remake of........ Red Sonja! In playing the role made famous by Brigitte Nielsen, I think this might be an even-better move for my dear Rose (although I don't think she's quite as alluring with red hair, but I'll take what I can get). They better keep that brilliant Ennio Morricone score.

Or

So there's a strong rumor going around that Criterion will finally unveil their remastered disc of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom in either August or October. I mean, this is a long standing rumor that's been going on for a couple of years, but I've reason to believe that it may actually happen. And soon. On vera...

FYI

You did know Naomi Campbell is going to be the star of the new Catherine Breillat film, right? Well, consider yourself informed (and ridiculously psyched).

And speaking of Mademoiselle Cotillard...

The writers' strike better end to set Rob Marshall's Nine back into production. If you're unfamiliar, it's a musical (?) remake of Fellini's 8 1/2, with Javier Bardem in the Marcello Mastroianni role. Wanna know who else is in this? Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren. Christ, I haven't been more pleased with casting this good in... I dunno, forever. That's really too much sexy for one film. I may write a blog in the upcoming days about my newfound obsession with Mlle. Cotillard, who has coincidentally become my Penélope Cruz for 2007.

Zero Gravity

Oh, please let the rumors that Robert Rodriguez is going to cast Rose McGowan as Barbarella in his upcoming remake be true. Granted, the original, with Jane Fonda, is quite bad... but Planet Terror was such a joy that I can't imagine Rodriguez would have difficulty adding some spunk to the remake. And, with Rose (whom he's currently dating), the deal has been sold... at least to me.

Some days you just shouldn't open your e-mails

Dark Horizons is reporting that a studio called First Sun has acquired rights to remake Dario Argento's Suspiria, with talks of David Gordon Green, director of George Washington and All the Real Girls, and Scott Heim, author of Mysterious Skin, to adapt it. I really don't know what to say about this.

In other bizarre news, check here to see what Michael Haneke has planned for once he finishes the Funny Games remake.

Splatterfunk

These may simply be Internet rumors, but apparently despite the box office failure of Grindhouse, we still may be in store for a Grindhouse 2, this time with Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) and Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) pulling the double-bill. As you probably know, both directors contributed, along with Rob Zombie, fake trailers between Planet Terror and Death Proof, in perhaps the finest moments of the whole shebang. I have to admit a bit of excitement at this, possibly because both Roth and Wright are too young at filmmaking to even touch the narcissism and self-indulgence of Tarantino. Also, keep your fingers crossed that the Weinsteins actually know how to market this on their second time around.

Not funny...

Read this if you want to be let down immensely. Sorry.

Whatta Jackass.

Ron Howard, a man who may have only made one decent film in his entire career and a director responsible for such shitfests as The Da Vinci Code, Far and Away, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, is reportedly interested in remaking Michael Haneke's Caché, which would make for the second Haneke remake in the works (Haneke himself is currently directing an English-language Funny Games with Naomi Watts and Tim Roth). In the article I read he really wants to up the suspense and consequences of the film, which sounds positively nauseating. The Razzies website described The Da Vinci Code as a thriller that thrilled no one but its financiers, so we know what Howard can do with suspense. Let's hope this falls off the radar, as Tom Cruise's remake of the Pang brothers' The Eye has not (Jessica Alba, groan, is set to star). Didn't anyone see the extreme failures of Pulse and The Grudge 2, two other Hollywood remakes? Forget Caché, Howard, and work on that Arrested Development film, for fuck's sake.

It's Looking Official

According to tvshowsondvd.com, it looks just about official that Twin Peaks season 2 will finally be released on DVD in April. Though we all know season 2 is inferior to season 1, it still has some amazing episodes, notably the season premiere and the episode where "Bob" strikes again. Unfortunately, the Artisan set of season 1 is out of print, so let's hope Paramount's got a full box on the horizon. For now, just be happy that it might actually happen.

When too much is just enough

Wild Things - dir. John McNaughton - 1998 - USA

Inspired by a comment that my friend Brad made to me last night about a possible reteaming of Denise Richards and Neve Campbell, both in dire need of a return to the screen, in a film written by Stephen Peters, who wrote Wild Things, I've remembered the extreme fondness I had for the film when I was a wee lad. Wild Things is, above all else, a glorious parade of excess and trashiness. On nearly every level, we're given way too much, which strangely works in the film's favor. It never ceases to inspire a "no, they aren't going to... oh wait, they did" reaction. I could make a list that would go on for pages about everything that is taken to the fullest extreme here. The only thing missing was Denise Richards giving an unsimulated blow job to Matt Dillon. When a lesbian scene between two hot high school girls quickly turns into a bitchy cat-fight, when you get a full view of Kevin Bacon's obviously fluffed penis as he turns around in the shower, when you cast fucking Theresa Russell as Richards' gluttonous, slutty mother -- you know you're in for a treat.

The tentative title for the Richards/Campbell reteaming is Backstabbers, which might as well have been the subtitle for this film. The plot twists and turns appear to be typically Hollywood, but when they come in the droves they do in this film, you can't help but smirk. It's certainly problematic when a film is aware of its own campiness, but Wild Things is so genuinely appealing in its seediness that this doesn't hurt it at all. Richards is perfect in her token role, the rich, pouty-lipped bitch (I really can't think of anyone who pulls it off better than she does). Campbell is delightfully miscast as the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, but still pulls off the alluring cruelty. Bacon is a total sleaze, a pulpier version of his character in Where the Truth Lies. And Dillon plays exactly the person you'd expect that he would have become if his career tanked post-1980s. The only one truly out of place here is Bill Murray, as the lawyer, whose role solely requires him to make unfitting jokes and shoot looks of utter confusion and moritification at Richards. His faces are the exact ones we'd give her if we weren't in on the joke. And because he's not, he's useless here. It's actually most surprising that the film was directed by John McNaughton, whose Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer was a starkly realist horror film. He made a campy women-in-prison film a few years prior with Anne Heche and Ione Skye (weirdly predicting both of their "coming outs" as lesbians) called Girls in Prison -- though I haven't seen it, I doubt it matches the tawdry brilliance that is Wild Things. The film goes so far over-the-top you can't help but be shocked at the fact that McNaughton decided to cut a scene of Dillon and Bacon naked in the shower together. Now, that's too much.