Tim Burton Begins Filming "Dark Shadows" with Johnny Depp

Filming Begins on Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows”

Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter head an all-star cast.

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Filming begins this week on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ “Dark Shadows,” which brings the cult classic television series to the big screen under the direction of Tim Burton. The film’s all-star ensemble cast includes Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz, and newcomer Gulliver McGrath.

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Brouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.

Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.

Burton is directing and producing “Dark Shadows” from a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith, story by John August and Grahame-Smith, based on the television series created by Dan Curtis. Also producing are Oscar® winner Richard D. Zanuck (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Driving Miss Daisy”), continuing his long association with Burton; Oscar® winner Graham King (“Rango,” “The Departed”), continuing his collaboration with Depp; Johnny Depp, Christi Dembrowski, and David Kennedy. The executive producers are Chris Lebenzon, Nigel Gostelow, Tim Headington, and Bruce Berman.

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, Oscar®-winning production designer Rick Heinrichs (“Sleepy Hollow”), Oscar®-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (“Alice in Wonderland”) and editor Chris Lebenzon (“Alice in Wonderland”). The score will be composed by Danny Elfman.

“Dark Shadows” is being filmed entirely in England, both at Pinewood Studios and on location.

“Dark Shadows” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

"Nate and Hayes" Sailed Familiar Tides

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 185 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Nate and Hayes (1983)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: Ferdinand Fairfax
WRITERS: John Hughes and David Odell; from a screen story by Lloyd Phillips and David Odell; from a story by Lloyd Phillips
PRODUCERS: Rob Whitehouse and Lloyd Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tony Imi
EDITOR: John Shirley

ACTION/ADVENTURE/HISTORICAL

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Michael O’Keefe, Jenny Seagrove, Max Phipps, Grant Tilly, Peter Rowley, Reg Ruka, Bruce Allpress, and David Letch

Soon-to-be-wed missionaries, Nathaniel “Nate” Williamson (Michael O’Keefe) and Sophie (Jenny Seagrove), take passage to their new home aboard The Rona, the ship helmed by the infamous buccaneer, Captain Bully Hayes (Tommy Lee Jones). Sophie takes a liking to Capt. Hayes, so Nate is glad to be rid of him when they arrive at the island where Nate’s aunt and uncle are missionaries.

Shortly after Hayes drops them off, however, the villainous Ben Pease (Max Phipps), a slaver, attacks the island and spirits away Sophie. Barely surviving the attack, Nate reluctantly joins forces with Hayes and his motley crew to track Pease and recover Sophie. Nate and Hayes’ quest takes them to the island of Ponape for a grand showdown with Pease and Count Von Rittenburg (Grant Tilly), a German officer in league with Pease. Oh, there’s an island full of natives standing between Nate and Hayes rescuing Sophie.

A young man and his bride-to-be find obstacles on their road to marriage, and most of them are on the high seas. Then, they meet a scruffy pirate who helps them… If this seems like a description of Walt Disney’s highly-successful Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, that’d be only half right. 20 years before Pirates, there was Nate and Hayes, and while Nate and Hayes didn’t have Pirates’ big budget, supernatural shenanigans, N&H does have PotC’s comedic chops and is also a fine, family-safe pirate movie. A fun action flick, it’s darn good entertainment, though not a great pirate movie. There isn’t great acting, but the cast gives performances that would outshine just about any made-for-TV adventure on the high seas. I enjoyed seeing Nate and Hayes today as much as I did all those years ago in a darkened, small town movie theatre.

6 of 10
B

Friday, August 25, 2006

Review: "Curse of the Golden Flower" is a Grand Tale in a Grand Tradition (Happy B'day, Chow Yun-Fat)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 93 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (2006)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: China; Language: Mandarin
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) – English title
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence
DIRECTOR: Zhang Yimou
WRITERS: Yu Cao and Yimou Zhang
PRODUCERS: William Kang, Weiping Zhang, and Yimou Zhang
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Shigeru Umebayashi
Academy Award nominee

MARTIAL ARTS/FANTASY/DRAMA

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Ye Liu, Dahong Ni, Junjie Qin, Man Li, and Jin Chen

China, 929 A.D., Tang Dynasty: In the house of Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) resides romantic intrigue and political machinations. His ailing wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li), suspects that Ping has been slowly poisoning her with the medicine for her anemia. As their children, sons Crown Prince Wan (Ye Liu), Prince Jai (Jay Chou), and Prince Yu (Junjie Qin) are drawn into the secret passions and schemes for power, a dark old secret about one of the sons comes forward. Soon, the Emperor’s reign is challenged by a blood coup, so who will be the last royal standing?

With his 2006 film, Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia or Curse of the Golden Flower, acclaimed director Zhang Yimou blends the drama and supernatural martial arts of his film Hero (released in the U.S. in 2004) with the color and pageantry of his 2004 film, House of Flying Daggers. For all its sensational vivid color and the magnificent backdrops of China’s Forbidden City, Curse of the Golden Flower is a complex tale of familial loyalty and intimate deceptions. Yimou puts a brutal story of forbidden love and naked betrayal up against the eye-popping martial arts (and the fight scene are dazzling and breathtaking), and in the end, the dramatic side wins.

Curse of the Golden Flower is a story of a royal family at war with itself in which the winner takes all and leaves the audience gasping with shock and disgust. And the characters do all that bloodletting in some of the most gorgeous, sumptuous costumes seen in recent films. This film is a pitch perfect, grandiose tale of bloody murder amongst family that may rival the tragedies of the old English stage.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Chung Man Yee)

2007 Image Awards: 1 nomination for “Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film”

Thursday, June 14, 2007

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Oscar-Nominated "Gasland" is Fracking Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


GasLand (2010)
Running minutes: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Josh Fox
PRODUCERS: Trish Adlesic, Josh Fox, and Molly Gandour
EDITOR: Matthew Sanchez
Academy Award nominee

DOCUMENTARY

Starring: Josh Fox

GasLand is a 2010 documentary from writer/director Josh Fox. GasLand is Fox’s first documentary feature film, and it earned a best documentary Oscar nomination. Fox travels across the United States to examine the negative aspects of natural gas drilling. Fox focuses on communities in the U.S. impacted by natural gas drilling, specifically a process known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”

Fox begins his film by telling his audience that he received a letter from a natural gas company offering to lease his family’s land in Milanville, Pennsylvania for $100,000 to drill for gas. That started Fox’s quest for information about natural gas drilling. He discovers that all across America, rural landowners get lucrative offers from energy companies wanting to lease their property. These companies want to tap into large, underground reserves of natural gas.

A hydraulic drilling process called fracking, this preferred method of drilling was developed by Halliburton. The evidence, disputed by energy companies and people sympathetic to them, is that fracking poisons water sources. From the heartland, across the South, and back to the Northeast, Fox finds people whose water is so contaminated by chemicals used in the fracking process that the water can burst into flame, even when lit by a match. Fox’s film questions whether natural gas is really a viable alternative to our dwindling energy resources. If it is, does its potential harmful effects to the nation’s water supply outweigh the benefits of natural gas?

Visually, GasLand is quite potent. It has a visual kick, and sometimes those visuals are poetic and lyrical. I don’t know how effective the film will be in the long term. While its premise is simple and its subject matter straightforward, GasLand seems overripe with information; there is just so much depicted here, particularly in terms of how many people are suffering because of fracking. Still, the film’s sense of urgency is palatable.

Environmental experts predict that finding fresh water is going to be a problem for many humans in the 21st century. Thus, the most effective element of GasLand is its portrayal of energy companies and their determination to extract natural gas through fracking, regardless of the environmental consequences. The men that run these companies seem not to have a care in the world that real people can be and are being negatively impacted by fracking. This means that GasLand is a call-to-arms, an activist documentary that must be seen simply because this is about all our futures.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2011 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Documentary, Features” (Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic)

Happy Birthday, Al(bert)!

I'm on time, and it's a long time.  This year will be 27 years that we've known each other.  Happy Birthday and many, many more.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" an Excellent Adventure

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action
DIRECTOR: Michael Apted
WRITERS: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and Michael Petroini (based upon the book by C.S. Lewis)
PRODUCERS: Andrew Adamson, Mark Johnson, and Philip Steuer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dante Spinotti
EDITORS: Rick Shaine
Golden Globe nominee

FANTASY/ADVENTURE/FAMILY

Starring: Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter, Gary Sweet, Arthur Angel, Arabella Morton, Bille Brown, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton, and the voices of Simon Pegg and Liam Neeson

20th Century Fox joins Walden Media to produce the third film adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader finds the youngest Pevensie children, Edmund and Lucy, joined by a dour cousin on a return journey to Narnia, where they grapple with temptation. More so than the other films, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a rip-snorting adventure

One year after the events depicted in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the two youngest Pevensie children, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley), are living in Cambridge with their cousins, the Scrubbs. Their older siblings, Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter (William Moseley), are in the United States with their parents. Lucy and Edmund now have their obnoxious cousin, Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter), as a disagreeable companion.

The adventure beings when a magical painting transports Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace to an ocean in Narnia. There, the trio is rescued by Caspian (Ben Barnes) and the large talking mouse, Reepicheep (Simon Pegg), and taken aboard the sailing ship, the Dawn Treader. Three years have passed in Narnia since the Pevensie siblings last visited, and Caspian is now the King of Narnia. King Caspain is on a quest to find the seven Lost Lords of Narnia and invites the Pevensies and their cousin to join him.

During a visit to the Lone Islands, they discover a slavery ring that sacrifices people to a mysterious green mist. In order to save the sacrificial victims, the crew of the Dawn Treader must sail to Dark Island where resides a corrupting evil that threatens to destroy all of Narnia. Lucy, Edmund, King Caspian, and Eustace will find themselves tested as they journey to the far end of world and to the home of the great lion, Aslan (Liam Neeson).

As was the case with Prince Caspian, I enjoyed The Voyage of the Dawn Treader much more than I did the first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Dawn Treader is the cleanest and purest of the series, thus far. It is a straightforward adventure, an ocean-going tale that takes the characters from one obstacle they must overcome to another. Its philosophical theme is also simple – fighting, avoiding, and overcoming temptation. Its spiritual theme – the yearning to be one with the almighty or perfection – is surprisingly up front, and the story is almost frank in equating Aslan with the Christian God.

The main characters: Lucy, Edmond, and Caspian do not offer anything new in terms of personality; they’re like old friends, now. The story does get a much needed jolt in new characters, such as the firm captain of the Dawn Treader, Lord Drinian (Gary Sweet), and especially the tart Eustace Scrubb. While the arc of Eustace’s change is interesting, what is best about the character is Will Poulter’s portrayal of Eustace. Pitch-perfect in his performance, Poulter makes the annoying Eustace a scene stealer who will make the audience want more of him.

The special effects in this third movie are better than those in the second film. Although not as impressive as those in the original film (which won an Oscar), the visual effects in this film seem more inventive and even more magical. This is Michael Apted’s touch as director; he makes the most of what he has. He doesn’t get the most impressive acting, but he makes it seem so. Apted doesn’t have a solid villain in the evil green mist, which essentially represents temptation, but he adds chilling touches using the mist.

In the final act, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader especially emphasizes its Christian elements. The spiritual messages will make some yearn for God, but even more people will be sad that the end of this movie means that we must once again leave Narnia – until we return…

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2011 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey, and Carrie Underwood for “There’s A Place for Us”)

Monday, May 16, 2011


The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [Blu-ray]

"Thor: Tales of Asgard" on DVD Tuesday, May 17th

THOR: TALES OF ASGARD

New Marvel Animated Feature Stars Fan-Favorite The Mighty Thor and Hits Stores Just Weeks After Theatrical Film Debuts!

Street Date: 5/17/11
Blu-ray Combo Pack SRP: $29.99
DVD SRP: $19.98

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
He’s waged battles in Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2, Next Avengers and Hulk Vs., and now one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Universe is ready to strike out on his own this May. See the young “God of Thunder” as Marvel Animation and Lionsgate Home Entertainment team up to release Thor: Tales of Asgard! Hitting Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, Digital Download and On Demand on May 17, 2011, the newest Marvel Animated Feature is the perfect companion to the May 6th release of the live-action theatrical film Thor. The title builds on the strength of more than 40 years and 10 million copies of Thor comics, and the timelessness of The Mighty Thor to create a truly epic adventure that both lifelong fans and those new to the story will love. Packed with special features such as audio commentaries with the film creators, a “making-of” featurette plus a bonus TV episode of “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” Thor: Tales of Asgard will come to Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD for $29.99 and $19.98, respectively.

SYNOPSIS:
Before he ever lifted his mighty hammer, there was the sword. Fantastic journeys beckon from the mysterious nine realms. Places of dark mists and fiery voids. Of winged creatures and giants in the ice. And the most alluring quest of all – the search for the legendary Lost Sword of Surtur. Hungry for adventure, Thor secretly embarks on the journey of a lifetime, joined by his loyal brother Loki, whose budding sorcery equips him with just enough magic to conjure up trouble, along with the Warriors Three – a band of boastful travelers reluctant to set sail on any adventure that might actually be dangerous. But what starts out as a harmless treasure hunt quickly turns deadly, and Thor must now prove himself worthy of the destiny he covets by saving Asgard itself.

BLU-RAY COMBO PACK & DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
· Audio commentary with Supervising Producer Craig Kyle and Screenwriter Greg Johnson
· Audio commentary with Supervising Director Gary Hartle, Animation Director Sam Liu and Character Designer Phil Bourassa
· “Worthy: The Making of Thor: Tales of Asgard” featurette
· The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Bonus Episode from the new hit TV series

PROGRAM INFORMATION
Year of Production: 2009
Title Copyright: Marvel, Thor, all related trademarks, service marks, character names and the distinctive likenesses thereof are proprietary to Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries and are used with permission. “THOR: TALES OF ASGARD” COPYRIGHT © 2009 Marvel Entertainment. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Type: Home Entertainment Premiere

Rating: Not Rated
Genre: Television, Animation, Action, Adventure, Children
Closed Captioned: DVD – English; Blu-Ray - English SDH
Subtitles: English
DVD Format: 16x9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Blu-ray Format: 1080P High Definition 16x9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Feature Run Time: 77 minutes
DVD Audio Status: 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital
Blu-ray Audio Status: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Website: http://www.marvel.com/


Thor: Tales of Asgard (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)