Category Archives: Books

Gary Oldman Re-Teaming With Joe Wright For New Film

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By Creative Media Times

William Morrow

You know its a great collaboration when your last film earned six Oscar nominations and a win for its lead actor.

So its not entirely surprising that director Joe Wright and actor Gary Oldman are wasting no time to re-team once again, this time for an upcoming drama “The Woman in the Window,” this according to Hollywood Reporter.

Wright and Oldman of course worked together in “Darkest Hour,” the highly acclaimed 2017 war drama film which earned Oldman a long-overdue oscar best actor trophy. That film was equally successful with audiences, grossing $150.2 million at the worldwide boxoffice.

Amy Adams has already been cast in the film, which is an adaptation based of the New York Times number one best-selling novel of the same name from author A.J. Finn.

Here is the book’s synopsis from HarperCollins:

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

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Alcon Media Group and Titan Publishing Forge Blade Runner Co-Publishing Alliance

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Alcon Media Group and London-based Titan Publishing, a leading force in genre and pop culture publishing, are partnering in a new co-publishing venture initially focused on the Blade Runner universe.

In a joint statement by Alcon co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, and Titan’s co-founders, Nick Landau and Vivian Cheung, the partners stated that the companies will develop and publish a variety of both fiction and non-fiction print media. The program will feature new, in canon comics and graphic novels that dive deeper into the Blade Runner world as well as a variety of publications focused on the visual and technical sides of the production process.

Editorial duties will be handled by Titan’s David Manley-Leach, and Alcon’s director of publishing, Jeff Conner.

States Kosove and Johnson, “In partnering with the exceptional Titan Comics and Titan Books, we’re confident that the world of Blade Runner will continue to organically grow in a way that refuses to sacrifice the quality, tone and high standards of this beloved property.”
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Gundam Live-Action Film In The Works

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By Creative Media Times

Get ready, Mobile Suit Gundam is about to get a live-action feature film treatment, as Legendary and Sunrise are teaming up for the production, Variety is reporting.

The collaboration to produce the first ever live-action film of the popular mecha anime was announced at Anime Expo 2018 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The multibillion-dollar Gundam franchise is massively successful, having grossed over $5 billion in retail sale, animated films, models and books among others.

The original Mobile Suit Gundam debuted in 1979 and was set in a fictional universe Universal Century wherein human space colonies wage war against earth for their independence. It is here where we saw mobile suites, a new type of humanoid weapons.

Recently, one of the more popular Gundam mecha made a special appearance in Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg’s science fiction adventure film which references various pop-culture characters. It was a crowd pleasing cameo which sees the character battle against Mechagodzilla and possibly aided the film’s box-office success.

The film’s plot has not yet been revealed, and no actors or director is currently attached.

Legendary has a new film set for release this month in the form of Skyscraper, Dwayne Johnson’s latest action-thriller.

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Robert Zemeckis Set To Helm New “The Witches” Film Adaptation

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By Creative Media Times

Roald Dahl (Author), Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

Twenty years since Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel was loosely adapted into a film comes a new adaptation with Robert Zemeckis attached to direct, Variety is reporting. The new film is said to be a more rooted to the source material.

Zemeckis, who is also writing the script, recently directed the war drama Allied (2016) and the biographical drama The Walk (2015). His latest fantasy film “Welcome to Marwen” starring Steve Carell and Leslie Mann is set for release later this year.

The latest adaptation from Warner Bros. is not all that surprising, especially for a beloved, well-known novel. The 1990 dark fantasy horror-comedy film from director Nicolas Roeg, with Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch, though well received by critics, disappointed at the box-office. Dahl himself is said to have reviled the film due its ending contrasting with his novel. The book was also previously adapted into a stage play.

The Witches novel follows a 7-year-old British boy and his Norwegian grandmother who run into real-life witches while staying in a hotel in England.

Considered “one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century,” Roald Dahl also wrote James and the Giant Peach, The BFG, Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, all of which were adapted into film.

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“The Shining” Sequel In The Works With Ewan McGregor

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By Creative Media Times

Publisher: Scribner

Here’s Danny!

It looks like Warner Bros. has found its Danny Torrance, the lead in “Doctor Sleep” in the form of Ewan McGregor, as reported by Hollywood Reporter.

“Doctor Sleep” is based on the 2013 novel of the same name from author of horror Stephen King, and is the sequel to “Shining.” That film was of course adapted in the 1980 film which was directed by Stanley Kubrick, with Jack Nicholson playing the iconic character Jack Torrance.

Fans will remember that the young Danny Torrance in the landmark classic, (played by Danny Lloyd who retired from acting a few years after the film’s release) was Jack’s son with “the shining” or psychic abilities who both endangered but later saved himself and his mother Wendy, played by Shelly Duvall.

In the book, Danny who is now in his 40s, is still haunted by events at the Overlook Hotel while his psychic abilities begins to resurface.

Mike Flanagan is said to be helming the sequel, an apt selection given his recent involvement in another King novella adaptation “Gerald’s Game,” a Netflix psychological horror which he directed and wrote with Jeff Howard. Flanagan has also written and director horror films Oculus, Before I Wake and Ouija: Origin of Evil.

The director recently posted on Twitter that the movie will be in theaters in 2020.

Ewan McGregor will be seen next in “Christopher Robin,” an adaptation of Disney’s “Winnie the Pooh” scheduled for release in this summer.

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Zack Snyder To Tackle “The Fountainhead” Novel

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By Armando

Back in 2016, director Znyder revealed that he’s working on the script of “The Fountainhead”, an adaptation of the 1943 novel by author Ayn Rand, and now it looks like that will become a reality.

The project was revealed by Snyder himself via the social media site Vero, where Snyder frequently interact with fans, when asked about his next project.

The original philosophical fiction novel was Rand’s first major literary success, albeit somewhat controversial and polarized readers and critics.

Its story follows Howard Roark, an unconventional architect who battles an architectural establishment against compromising his work and values, a character which reflect the author’s belief of individualism over conformity and collectivism.

The book was previously adapted into the 1949 eponymous film from Warner Bros. by director King Vidor with Rand writing the script, and Gary Cooper playing individualistic architect Howard Roark.

Snyder has been attached to direct “The Last Photograph”, a drama about two men inspired to journey to Afghanistan because of a photograph. That project has lingered around Hollywood for many years and at one point was supposedly Snyder’s next film once he wrapped up “Man Of Steel”.

But with Snyder’s recent announcement, “The Last Photograph” seem to be going back again to the back-burner. Snyder recently directed “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League.”

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Hunnam and Malek Attempts To Escape Devil’s Island In First “Papillon” Trailer

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By Creative Media Times

Bleecker Street

“The greatest escape adventure ever told,” it says on the poster of “Papillon” as Bleecker Street releases its first trailer.

The film is based on Henri Charrière autobiographies Papillon and Banco, as well as the 1973 film adaptation of the former which starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.

Charrière was convicted as a murderer by the French courts in 1931, sentenced to life in prison and ten years of hard labour, and in 1941 escaped from a penal colony in French Guiana with the help of another convict.

Charlie Hunnam is Charrière aka Papillon, a nickname derive from a butterfly tattoo inscribed on his chest, while Rami Malek is Louis Dega, the man he forms an unlikely alliance with in order to escape.

“If I ever get out, I’m going to live a different kind of life,” Papillon says in the trailer.

The book “Papillon” published in 1969, was an immediate success upon its release, becoming a worldwide bestseller and garnering critical acclaim.

Directed by Michael Noer (Northwest) and penned by Aaron Guzikoswski (Prisoners), “Papillon” premiered last September at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is currently set to hit theaters August 24.

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Film Review: “Leave No Trace”

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By Armando Inquig

Bleecker Street

“Leave No Trace” is a compassionate story of a father and daughter living simple lives in the great outdoors, and the circumstances that lead their paths to drift apart. As simple as that sounds, the film is thought-provoking and powerful, touching on complex issues involving parenting, mental instability, and the alienation of many veterans who choose isolation as their refuge.

Directed by Debra Granik in her third feature film, “Leave No Trace” is a compelling character study that has been thoroughly embraced by film critics since its premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The story was adapted by Granik and her creative partner, Anne Rosellini, from the novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock.

The film stars Ben Foster as Will, a grizzled war veteran suffering from PTSD, living off the grid with his daughter, Tom, played by Thomasin McKenzie in her first major lead role.

The film follows Will and Tom living in a public park outside of Oregon, foraging for food and occasionally traveling by foot to town, primarily to pick up Will’s PTSD medication to sell to other military veterans on the black market. After being spotted in the forest by a jogger, the pair are brought into social services to live conventional lives. They are provided a home in rural Oregon where Will can also work on a tree farm. Tom meets a local farm kid who introduces her to his 4-H meetings.

However, it doesn’t take long before they’re back on the road. Will struggles to adjust to their new home and the social structure provided to them. “We can still think our own thoughts,” Will tells his daughter.

One day, while Will is injured and unconscious, Tom interacts with members of the community, meets kind strangers, borrows a dog from a former army medic, and even offers to pay for the temporary abode where Will is recuperating. She experiences a taste of normalcy and seems to appreciate it. But when Will decides it’s time for them to return to the forest, Tom objects.

“The same thing that’s wrong with you isn’t wrong with me,” she says. But this time, Will agrees, foreshadowing what may come next.

Foster is fantastic in the film. He has previously received acclaim for many of his intense roles, such as in “3:10 to Yuma” and “Hell or High Water.” He is more subdued here but fully embodies the character. Even with limited background information about Will, we understand that he is trapped within himself and sense his profound devotion and love for his daughter.

Granik’s prior film, the 2010 mystery drama “Winter’s Bone,” featured a breakthrough performance from the then little-known Jennifer Lawrence, who later became one of the world’s biggest movie stars. This film might just have the same transformative effect on McKenzie. She displays talent beyond her years, skillfully conveying both the innocence and the evolution of her character.

“Leave No Trace” is a quiet and nuanced film that doesn’t succumb to excessive melodrama, even when the narrative reaches peak emotional conflict between the two leads. Nor does it criticize Will and Tom’s way of life. The beautiful cinematography by Michael McDonough, in fact, invitingly reveals spaces in nature that we know exist in our backyard but seldom experience.

“Leave No Trace” is set to open on June 29, 2018, in cinemas across the US.

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James Wan To Work On “Tommyknockers” Film

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By Creative Media Times

Putnam

After last year’s hugely successful supernatural horror film “It”, Stephen King adaptations are a hot commodity again once again. This time, its “The Tommyknockers” that’s getting a big screen adaptation, with James Wan getting involved according to Hollywood Reporter alongside Roy Lee and Larry Sanitsky.

The trio seem like a perfect match. James Wan is a driving force behind the Conjuring franchise, Roy Lee produced King’s blockbuster “It” film, and Sanitsky executive produced “The Tommyknockers” two part television mini-series which broadcast on ABC in 1993.

But with King’s name attached, the novel’s popularity can stand on it’s own. Tommyknockers is an international hardcover best-seller, outselling even some of King’s bibliography such as The Shining and Carrie. That said, the author was not very fond of the book, at one point calling it “awful” during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine decades after its release.

Published in 1987, The Tommyknockers follows the story of a small town in Maine, where a dangerous gas emits from a spaceship uncovered in the woods. The gas transforms the town’s residents except for one man who is immune to it’s effects.

James wan is currently directing Aquaman, the sixth installment in the DC Extended Universe, set for release later this year.

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Film Focus: Natalie Portman Ventures Into The Unknown In “Annihilation”

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By Creative Media Times

Paramount Pictures

Sometimes movies are only as good as what viewers bring into them. Story-tellers give us the words and actions, and they’re enhanced or diminished by the viewer’s interpretation and point of view.

Such is the case with Annihilation, one of the best sci-fi films released of recent years. It is ambiguous and thought-provoking for being a lot of things, and its lose ends both frustrate and tickle the imagination.

The film opens with Lena (Natalie Portman) in quarantine, being interrogated by a team of doctors about what had happened. She is questioned about the fate of a few characters, to which she replied that some were dead; for the others she mumbled “I don’t know.”

The scene was followed by a meteor crashing on a lighthouse, which produced some sort of an alien zone bounded by a weird energy field (think water color dissolving and floating in the air). The phenomenon apparently happened three years prior and surrounded the Blackwater National Park, and anyone who goes in never comes back. They call it the Shimmer. But what happens inside is unknown.

Enter Kane (Oscar Isaac), Lena’s husband and soldier who mysteriously shows up on her door a year after he ventured into the the Shimmer with an expedition team. But it didn’t take long for Lena to realize that he is no longer the same person, and questioned what had happened during his expedition.

Hoping to find answers, she decides to join an all female team put together by Dr. Venress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a psychologist who works at the quarantined zone, to trace back her husband’s footsteps inside the Shimmer.

What transpires after this is both intriguing and terrifying.

Not long after they entered, they begin to lose their memory and get disoriented, their sense of time gets out of whack, their navigation equipment and compass start to fail, they get attacked by mutated alligator, and then, in one of the film’s most intense and horrifying scenes, they get attacked by a mutated bear that echoes the screams of one of its victims.

They realize then that it was in fact a suicide mission, and that Dr. Ventress herself has cancer, which explains her abrasive fearlessness to go to the center of the Shimmer. We also see flashbacks of Lena having an affair, the guilt of which led her to the join the expedition. “I owe him,” she said. It appears everyone on the expedition has a reason to be there and, albeit unwittingly, had a baggage which led some to their demise.

Based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer of the same name, the film is full of allegory, subtext and symbolism, from broader topics of biology, cancer, and environmental damage to more personal issues of depression, suicide and extra-marital affairs. At the center, it is about self-destruction, where human impulses lead to bad decisions.

Director Alex Garland expertly weaves these all together in its near 2 hour run-time. And like his highly acclaimed directorial debut “Ex Machina,” the film is thematically and visually ambitious.

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