Round-Up

As hard as I tried to prevent it, I made a glaringly obvious error with my music list and now like some sheepish newspaper making a small apology for a headline mistake I present you with a choice that should have been in the Top 5. How on earth I missed it, I do not know, considering I used that very film…

You Make My Dreams Come True – 500 Days of Summer

I saw it on someone’s 30 Day Song Challenge on facebook and then realisation hit. Quite simply a great 80’s classic and an all round uplifting song; maybe I’ll just slip it in at number 6 and call it the Top 26.

Now, apparently I have some sort of defect which prevents me from being able to do too many related tasks at once, for instance, since resuming regular blogging activity my film list has fallen by the wayside and I haven’t made an entry since early February. Sadly, the past two weeks have also been unusually devoid of films and alas I have very little to write about; on the upside our monthly lovefilms have arrived and look promising. Anyways I decided to write my thoughts on the latest film news, mainly taken from imdb. (Thanks guys!)

Forget the Olympics, London 2012 is now THE place to be as Robert Redford announced the Sundance Film Festival was to be held here in the 02 arena in April. I definately plan to either volunteer or buy tickets for this, especially considering the number of films that have gained wide release or Oscar buzz from the indie festival circuit. Alongside the main film acts, there is to be musical performances and discussion panels, so basically this event covers three of my most treasured interests; film, music and talking about film. Waheyy.

Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks to take over Matt Damon in the Bourne franchise. The writer Tony Gilroy has issued a statement of intent, basically outlining that this isn’t a reboot and unlike where say Maggie Gyllenhaal took over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes, Jake, if he is cast, will be a whole new character. Now this is what I call lazy filmmaking. Firstly, the film isn’t even based on the same material that the original 3 Bourne films were, so essentially they’re ad-libbing, which sounds quite precarious to me. Secondly, the only reason Matt Damon isn’t on board this project is because Paul Greengrass isn’t directing, which leads to me to think, well why should we be on board if the main actor doesn’t even want to be involved. Furthermore, if it’s a new character, a new storyline and a new director at the helm, surely a lot of what makes the Bourne films, the Bourne films could be lost and thus why not just create a new film. It seems to me that Universal Pictures are trying to squeeze every last penny out of this franchise and not for the right reaons. Of course I may take this all back when the film is released sometime in 2012 and Jake Gyllenhaal is running about, throwing punches and looking very desirable, but for now I say leave it to rest.

Vera Farmiga’s (the one from The Departed and Up in the Air) directorial debut ‘Higher Ground’ is set to premiere in NYC at the Tribeca Film Festival, after making its world premiere at Sundance. It’s about a woman in a tight knit spiritual community during the feminist 60’s and her journey as she questions her faith. Sounds rather heavy and little tedious to begin with, but there are various reasons to bare with it. If Farmiga’s directing is anything like her acting we should expect a very subtle and classy picture. Moreover the supporting cast includes John Hawkes, most recently seen in Winter’s Bone and nominated for his performance, as well as Dagmara Domincyk who played the stunning love interest in The Count of Monte Cristo. Though not my topic of choice, the film has already received favourable reviews for its delicate and honest critique of the church, therefore definately worth looking in to.

Round 2 for The Fighter. Word on the street is that Mark Wahlberg is in the early stages of making a sequel. It’s not going to be like Rocky according to Mark Wahlberg, but an account of Micky’s “epic battles with Arturo Gatti” and sure the first film was a well-acted, kinetic and emotive and boxing is something I often enjoy in the movies and this may well be a narrow-minded insight, considering that apart from this film I don’t know anything about the story of Dicky and Micky, but I can’t see what USP that a sequel will bring to the story. The characters were interesting, but perhaps not people I would want to endure another two hours with and why it’s always nice to see what becomes of these people, a little summary at the end of the movie would do just fine. But then again someone might have said this about The Godfather 2 before it came out.

That’s all folks.