Christian Bale Compares Terminator 4 to Batman Begins; Helena Bonham Carter Joins Cast
Christian Bale took to the defensive, insisting that he accepted the role as John Connor in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins because it reinvents the series.
“What I saw with Terminator was what I saw with Batman Begins,” Bale told at The Dark Knight junket.
But accepting another franchise role was not an easy decision in the least.
“That was actually something that I questioned greatly… ‘Do I want to do that again?’” Bale continued. “While Batman Begins was clearly an origin story and we were in many ways ignoring any of the other films that had come before it, this won’t be the case with Terminator, as we’re staying true to the mythology, certainly to one and two more than three, but it gave us the opportunity and the chance to reinvent and revitalize that. There is no point in making it otherwise. So that is my aim, and that is why I finally decided yes, I want to try this. Because that is the responsibility we have as filmmakers, and that is what I’m aiming to achieve.”
Meanwhile, the trades are reporting that Helena Bonham Carter is in talks to join the film in a “small but pivotal” role.
In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind. The film also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, Common as Barnes, and Jadagrace as Star. Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins hits theaters on May 22nd 2009.
Gary Oldman Confirms Roles in Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol
Gary Oldman not only confirmed that he is in Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming performance capture adaptation of A Christmas Carol, but revealed that he is playing three characters in the film.
“I play [the ghost of] Marley, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim,” Oldman told at the Dark Knight junket. “I saw the designs, and the realizations of London and the characters. The design of it, and the look of it, is beautiful. It’s quite stunning. It should be quite magical.”
Oldman isnt the only one playing multiple roles. The film stars Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. At one point Michael J. Fox was rumored to be Tiny Tim, and Christopher Lloyd as Marley’s ghost. Both Zemeckis regulars are even inaccurately listed as such on imdb. Oldman talks about the unusual performance capture process for Tiny Tim:
“They put you in a trench. They’re on platforms that they wheel in and wheel out. So you’ve got all this crew moving floor around. And when I’m walking on my crutches, the actors are much higher than me, so the eyelines work. And later they will animate little legs on me,” Oldman said. “It would be so expensive to do it [live action]. And you can do things with the ghosts that you couldn’t do in the more conventional way. Much like [Batman Begins and The Dark Knight], [Zemeckis] has sort of reinvented The Christmas Carol. It’s probably closer to how Dickens saw it.”
Oldman insists that while the process is different than a normal movie, it isn’t that different.
“It’s kind of like shooting a regular movie I think. Alot of people say ‘working in that motion capture with Bob Zemeckis, it’s like theater, isn’t it?’ And often the people who have never done theater say that. I don’t think it’s like theater, but I feel it’s like doing a regular movie, but without the breaks abd the costumes. You just keep going, and there is no lighting, so you don’t have to wait for two hours while they turn the set around. You actually keep filming.”
Oldman can be seen next in The Dark Knight, which hits theaters on July 18th 2008.
Jason Segel Reveals Plot of The New Muppet Movie
When it was announced that Jason Segel and Nick Stoller had signed on to develop a new Muppet movie, I was really excited. Details were unavailable, all we had to go on was the promise that Segel wanted to return to the Muppet roots, a call back to the original Muppet films (”I’ve just grown a little disappointed with ‘Muppets in the Old West,’ ‘Muppets Under Water,’ and all these weird concept movies. I just want to go take it back to the early 80’”. My friend Devin at CHUD was able to squeeze out a few more plot details during the Forgetting Sarah Marshall Junket this weekend.
Apparently the original Muppet crew must gather together to put a show on to save an old theater. Possibly the original theater from The Muppet Show or maybe the Broadway Theater from The Muppets Take Manhattan? (probably less likely). Apparently an evil character wants to tear the place down to get to the oil underneath. Apparently said evil character has not seen There Will Be Blood, and doesn’t understand the concept of “DRAINAGE!!!!” Sounds like an interesting idea to me. At least it’s not going to be another lame classic story brought to life with Muppets.
There Will Be Blood Review
I flew back from the junket-filled weekend in Los Angeles to attend a super special screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood at the famous Castro Theater in San Francisco. There were no advance ticket sales, only cash at the door, with the proceeds going to charity. One fan waited in line from 7:30am to see the film, and when I arrived at 5:30pm for the 7:30pm screening, the line was down the street, and around the block, into a parking lot behind the theater.
This event wasn’t open to traditional press, so it was interesting to see all the die hard San Francisco movie press in line with the rest of the fans, with purchased tickets in hand. PTA was also in attendance, and this was the second public screening of this film (from what I can tell, there was also a very small trade screening). So everyone was very excited to see the film.
I must first say that I’m a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson’s work. Magnolia is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love how he tells a story. I love the performances he gets out of his actors/actresses. And from someone who comes from a filmmaking background, I love his cinematic style (the steadicam tracking shots…etc). That said, I hate westerns. And while There Will Be Blood is not technically a western, my good friend and fellow critic Mel Valentin assured me that for all this was a western without the traditional cowboy characters. The early trailers for this film also showed a much less stylized film than anything Anderson has ever made before. And while I was very excited to see There Will Be Blood, I was also nervous that the film might not be what I wanted from a PTA film.
The least interesting thing about There Will Be Blood is the fact that there is very little blood on screen during the film. As a Reader pointed out after the film, the film is Rated R for only “some violence”, and not “grisly violence and gore, terror, language” which is why a movie like SAW II (which used “Oh, yes. There will be blood” as a tagline) earned an R Rating.
The movie is follows Daniel Day-Lewis as a driven and misanthropic oilman. Many people are comparing the story to Citizen Kane, and others are comparing it’s style to Kubrick, and while I see how the comparisons could fit, There Will Be Blood is like no other film you have ever seen. It’s a hard sell, especially with the two and a half hour running time, to watch a man that isn’t very likable. But Lewis makes you care for this man, and will likely earn a Oscar nomination for his work in this film. The first 15-20 minutes of the film are played without dialogue. It’s not a gimmick, Day-Lewis brilliantly emotes and tells a story through his facial expressions and physical actions. It is something that needs to be seen to be believed.
And you’ll hear me throw out the words “Oscar nomination” a few times in this mini-review, and know that I’m not just doing so for the sake of hype - Paramount Vantage has at least a few tickets to the Academy Award because of this movie. One of the few things I disliked about Little Miss Sunshine was Paul Dano’s outburst. It seemed very forced, a lackluster performance compared to the other crayons in the box. But in Blood, Dano gives a best-supporting nomination worthy performance as Eli Sunday, the bible-thumping mirror image to Day-Lewis’ character. PTA will likely get nominated for best screenplay adaptation, going up against Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone.
Johnny Greenwood’s over-the-top manic and intense experimental style score is so very perfect for this film. I want to buy this on CD and listen to it over and over. I’ve always felt that Greenwood was the real genius behind Radiohead’s sound. If Greenwood doesn’t take home a bunch of gold statues for this project, than something is seriously wrong.
And sure, the stylish cinematography is missing from Anderson’s latest work, but Blood shows the work of a matured filmmaker who doesn’t need to perform magic tricks to get our applause. Every camera move is confident and deliberate. There are dolly, crane and steadicam shots, but they are almost unnoticeable, and instead perfectly blends as part of Anderson’s storytelling.
I want to write more about There Will Be Blood, but sadly I don’t have enough time. I’m also so taken away with this film that I find myself unable to express my feelings in words. I want to experience this film again to gain some perspective. And I hope to write more about the film closer to its release in late December. There Will Be Blood might have knocked Juno off the top of my list to become the best film of the year. I can’t say this yet however, I need to see it again. I have a feeling that Juno will allow for multiple viewings, where Blood might be a story that you might not want to experience very often (like, for example, Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream).