Con diciembre a la vuelta de la esquina, se acortan distancias para llegar al 15 de enero, fecha en la que se estrenará en nuestro país la nueva película de Guy Ritchie, sobre el personaje de Sherlock Holmes.

Pero, de momento, podemos ver una featurette del film, en la que su director, sus protagonistas, Robert Downey Jr. y Jude Law, y algunos de los actores que completan el reparto, nos hablan de la película y de su rodaje. Entre los comentarios se intercalan algunas escenas ya conocidas, y otras, a las que todavía no habíamos tenido acceso a través de los trailers.

Disfrutadla.

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Más información sobre la película, imágenes, pósters y trailers, pinchando en los enlaces de abajo

“Sherlock Holmes”, de Guy Ritchie – Y… otro trailer

“Sherlock Holmes” – Un nuevo póster

“Sherlock Holmes” – Nuevos posters promocionales

“Sherlock Holmes” – Dos nuevos posters promocionales

Trailer subtitulado en español de “Sherlock Holmes”

“Sherlock Holmes” – PRIMER TRAILER

‘Sherlock Holmes’ – Primer Poster

‘Sherlock Holmes’ – Nuevas fotos

‘Sherlock Holmes’ de Guy Ritchie, ¿os lo imaginais?

Guy Ritchie resucitará a Sherlock Holmes para la Warner Bros.

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Swanson 

Muchos de nosotros tuvimos nuestro primer encuentro con Guy Ritchie en 2000 con Snatch; yo por ejemplo me acuerdo perfectamente que fue de mis últimas pelis en los cinemas del centro, en la 24 con Séptima y en aquella ocasión me quedé con la rara sensasión de haber visto algo realmente diferente y pudo haber sido Brad Pitt como nunca lo había visto o ese mundo británico suburbano completamente nuevo para mi. Pero, al final, creo que fue esa forma de contar la historia tan peculiar y condimentada como sólo Ritchie lo sabe hacer.

Durante mucho tiempo viví fascinado con Snatch hasta que me topé con Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels y algo se rompió allá dentro de mí. Sentí que Snatch no era tan original como aparentaba y, por el contrario, era la re-interpretación de una muy buena peli (incluso en el Reino Unido la conocían como Lock, Stock and Six Stolen Diamonds).

En efecto, Snatch es muy buena peli pero Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels lo es mejor por ser la primera y clara inspiración de la segunda.

Sin embargo, la sinergia de las dos pelis en mi opinión es lo que ha hecho a Ritchie un contador de historias únicas, entretenidas y fascinantes. Tal vez, lo único diferente que ha hecho es Swept Away en 2002 cuando recien casado con Madonna le declara su amor con una historia, a su estilo, pero romántica (la carta es devuelta cuando Madonna le pide, dirija su video What It Feels Like for a Girl y se logra entrever lo retorcido de la mente y el estilo de Ritchie).

En esta peli en particular, el acento londinense del bajo mundo es encantador, tiene un empalague que gusta la primera vez que se escucha, hemos estado demasiado acostumbrados a Hollywood y su inglés del Bronx, Queens o Harlem cuando se habla de situaciones marginales. Ahora bien, si se siente la necesidad de sobrevivir, la pobreza y la marginalidad pero de alguna forma también se siente que esta vida de frenesí, vértigo y acción tienen un tono de picardía y hasta felicidad en sus personajes: La vida es una mierda pero el que no se la goce está jodido (pareciera ser entrelíneas la gran moraleja). Puede ser por eso que uno se encariña tan fácilmente con los anti-héroes de sus pelis o se tensiona cuando las situaciones se tornan en contra de ellos. Y es que es tan claro como los apodos o alias; primero que todo, todo el mundo tiene un apodo, es decir, todo el mundo es un malandro o tiene cosas malhabidas – nadie es inocente; segundo que todo, son descripciones de crueldad y de perversidad (Barry “el bautista” y una escena del man ahogando a un fulano, Rory “el quebrador” Breaker, Harry “el hacha”, etc…) y uno como espectador los asume como chistes, como ocurrencias, en un sentido completamente anecdotario.

Con las pelis de Ritchie sucede que las texturas de las escenas y el tono con que son llevadas pareciera que van muy bien aglutinadas por un conector invisible como lo es su banda sonora. Uno está embebido en una persecución y se escucha Zorba el Griego y uno simplemente lo asiente, no encuentra más que una sonrisa al entender el chiste en su literalidad. Para mi, lo importante de Ritchie es que escribe y dirige sus pelis como si fuera un rocker y al final se repite y se repite pero es eso. Un compositor de rock and roll en medio de situaciones londinenses coloridas y particulares.

Muchos se encasillan en un modelo de éxito y es fácil no salirse de ahí por la comodidad que genera el mismo éxito, la misma frase de su peli parece ser su perdición: Lock, Stock and Barrel se usa para denotar estancamiento y ruina. Pareciera que Ritchie con RocknRolla llegó a su tope y necesita un puente para salirse de ahí. Ojalá las superproducciones le den un vuelco a su creatividad y empecemos a observar lo que puede ser el amanecer de un nuevo momento en su vida. Mientras tanto, uno puede quedarse en casa repitiéndose una y otra vez este par de joyas.

Sinopsis:

Interpretat de Robert Downey Jr., Holmes pare a fi o versiune adusă la zi a detectivului de la sfârşitul secolului XIX. Arte marţiale şi abilităţi fizice de invidiat vin, pe lângă inteligenţa legendară, să-l transforme pe dragul de Sherlock într-un adevărat supererou victorian. Iar inamicul său din film, lordul Blackwood, care ameninţă că se va întoarce din morţi (şi o şi face, desigur) după ce este condamnat la pedeapsa capitală, arată că pe Guy Ritchie îl doare exact în cot de convenţii şi aşteptările publicului. Plonjeuri în Tamisa, meciuri de box a la Matrix, excese alcoolizate, aventuri romantice şi o constantă nepăsare în ceea ce priveşte igiena s-ar putea să ne ofere o cu totul altă imagine despre Sherlock Holmes în acest film.

Distributie:

Rachel McAdams, Robert Downey Jr.

Detalii:

Regia:  Guy Ritchie

Gen film: Actiune, Aventuri, Crima, Drama, Mister, Thriller

Premiera in Romania: 01.01.2010

Imagini:

Trailere:

Short Film for BMW, USA, 7m
Directed by Guy Ritchie

BMW M5 and Madonna with Clive Owen as her driver.

Today I give you a script. It is a script for a short comedy film for two male actors. It is filled with profanity, so if you are either young or easily shocked don’t read it. It’s also vaguely Guy Ritchie-esque, so if you don’t like shoddy imitations don’t read it. It’s actually been shot once, but finding the time to edit it has been WAY down on the list of priorities. I’ll try to get on that and share it with you if I find it.

Readership is growing all the time for which I am thankful. If you like my writing/whittering, please do continue to visit or better still subscribe! If I can get enough subscribers I can start making a little bit of ad-revenue. Sorry to be so mercenary but you’ve read about my current employment status.

Anyway, onto the script. I hope you enjoy.

Opening Up

Com direção de Guy Ritchie (o mesmo de “Snatch, porcos e diamantes”  e “Jogos, Trapaças e dois canos fumegantes”), o filme “Sherlock Holmes” traz o astro Robert Downey Jr. (que fez também “Homem de Ferro”) no papel-título e Jude Law como o Dr. Watson, o fiel companheiro do lendário detetive inglês.

Robert Downey Jr

A estréia no Brasil está prevista para o dia 8 de janeiro de 2010.

Fonte: Folha Online

O novo Sherlock Holmes é musculado e dá porrada. A versão é de Guy Ritchie, o realizador de “Snatch” (e, claro, o ex de Madonna), e é interpretada por Robert Downey Jr.

O Pop Bit deixa três imagens para preparar a estreia, a 31 de Dezembro em Portugal.

Guy Ritchie en noviembre del año pasado se divorció de Madonna. Esta peli fue lanzada en diciembre del año pasado pero su lanzamiento estaba preparado para octubre. No sólo el lanzamiento fue el más afectado en la peli creo Ritchie como director tiene un producto iconoclasta que raya muy fuerte en esta ocación con aburrimiento y poca sorpresa.

Una peli sin ritmo, sin un protagonista claro, sin una consistencia bien establecida, una historia medianamente hilada pero con todos sus personajes súper desarticulados. La mayoría de la peli viene sin audio protagonista y es precisamente cuando hay un “flashback” o momento recordado en el pasado de la historia cuando se muestra el robo a los rusos donde se prende la banda sonora y volvemos a recordar que es una peli del director, con humor negro, excelentes tomas, valga la repetición, una muy buena banda sonora.

El reparto tampoco es el mismo equipo de siempre de Ritchie, se siente la falta de su actor fetiche Jason Statham que aunque encasillado en el mismo papel siempre es mejor narrador que Mark Strong o Gerard Butler quien está completamente perdido en la historia. El reparto lo encierran el magnífico Tom Wilkinson que es el que medianamente salva la peli y la bellísima Thandie Newton que definitivamente paga la boleta o, en mi caso el alquiler.

No es más lo que se pueda decir de esta peli más allá que los créditos son hermosamente manufacturados y que esperemos que esté completamente recuperado de su divorcio para que Sherlock su siguiente peli sea más interesante.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Guy Ritchie returns to form with this cockney crime caper starring Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson. Lenny Cole (Wilkinson) is a bungling London crime boss who calls the shots in London’s… Guy Ritchie returns to form with this cockney crime caper starring Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson. Lenny Cole (Wilkinson) is a bungling London crime boss who calls the shots in London’s underworld. We learn all about Lenny from Archie (Mark Strong)–his second in command–who serves as the film’s sly narrator. When a wealthy Russian property dealer by the name of Uri (Karel Roden) looks to Lenny for help on a major new deal, Lenny is eager to assist (for a very large fee, of course). Uri agrees to pay, and as a show of faith, he insists that Lenny borrow his “lucky painting.” Uri then asks his accountant, Stella (Thandie Newton), to transfer the money to Lenny, but things quickly go awry when two crooks known as Mumbles (Idris Elba) and One Two (Butler) intercept the money before it reaches him. To make matters worse, the lucky painting has mysteriously been stolen, and the number one suspect is a crack-addicted pop star, Johnny Quid, who is presumed dead. Violent hijinks ensue as Lenny desperately tries to locate the painting, Uri calls in some sadistic thugs to recover his money, and Johnny Quid suddenly resurfaces. Men are battered with golf clubs, fed to crawfish, and attacked with machetes, and a surprise twist ending neatly ties up the whole bloody mess. Fans of Ritchie will likely be very pleased to see him return to his SNATCH-style of filmmaking. ROCKNROLLA has the same frenetic, humorous edge as the film that made him famous, though critics might complain that this particular style is starting to look a little dusty. Regardless, ROCKNROLLA features many fine performances, and once you get past the rather slow beginning, it kicks off into an entertaining and amusing romp.

In a dynamic new portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, “Sherlock Holmes” sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country

Starring: Robert Downey, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Eddie Marsan, Mark Strong, Kelly Reilly, James Fox
Director: Guy Ritchie
Screenwriter: Guy Ritchie, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg
Studio: Warner Bros.

MOVIE TRAILER :

poor chap directs all this stylish scenes with big stars walk around spewing pokerfaced stratagems and toting all sorts of guns and basically telling the poor everyday dandy that there is a whole bunch of people out there that he can never hope to outwit/outrun/kick in the nuts/scare.

Really? That is a convenient way of scaring off a substantially large chunk of competition, having a director who can portray the thug to be as smart as Feynman. Hold on, i was thinking the other day what if all those stories in “surely you must be joking…” are also some sort of guy ritchie type fantasies.

What do i know. I am your everyday dandy.

Christopher Ciccone har skrivit en bok om sin världsberömda syster Madonna. Boken Livet med min syster Madonna ger en delvis annan bild av The Queen of Pop än den som media givit oss genom åren.

Man får intrycket av att Madonna är väldig ensam innerst inne och har väldigt svårt att släppa människor in på livet, vilket även gäller hennes bror. Hennes fokusering på att lyckas oavsett hur människor i hennes omgivning påverkas är lite jobbigt att läsa om. För verkligheten är ju sådan att hennes enorma succé världen över många gånger bygger på en nästan militärisk disciplin, där allt görs för karriärens skull, även om det betyder att människor far illa.

Christopher Ciccone har alltid kallats för Madonnas bror. Det måste många gånger ha varit frustrerande och han beskriver vid ett antal tillfällen hur hon helt har tagit över och förminskat honom. Hennes styvmoderliga behandling, främst när det gäller det ekonomiska, gör att brodern tillslut måste bryta med henne för att inte själv tappa sin egen identitet.

Några tavlor som Christopher ropade in till henne på en auktion för 65 000 dollar, som hon sedan inte vill betala, blir det slutliga beviset för honom att hon inte går att lita på:

Den här dagen är, inser jag, en milstolpe. Den dag då jag för första gången får uppleva den fulla styrkan av min systers mörka sida. Hennes totala brist på omtanke om dem som hon säger sig älska.

Deras relation blir allt sämre. Madonna tror sig kunna styra sin bror på samma sätt som hon styr alla runtomkring sig. Deras affärsmässiga samarbete bryter samman när Christopher efter alla år just på grund av att han alltid blivit underbetald vill ha ett skriftligt kontrakt innan nästa projekt ska ta sin början. Madonna blir ursinnig och vägrar att skriva under. Han skriver i boken:

Jag inser att hon numera bara hör det hon vill höra. Inget når fram till henne.

Guy Ritchie beskrivs som en homofob som är osäker i sin manlighet. Christopher Ciccone har inrett många hus åt sin syster genom åren. Hans sista insats blir bråkigare och tjafsigare än tidigare där Madonna återigen vägrar att betala för sig.

Deras relation får sig en allvarlig knäck och Madonna anklagar sin bror för att ha drogproblem. De kommer allt längre ifrån varandra och när boken skrevs och kom ut 2008 så var kontakten minimal.

Jag tycker det är bra att Christopher Ciccone berättar. Visst, ibland känns det väl personligt, men när det är så svårt för honom att få fram en annan bild än den Madonna vill visa världen, så kanske den enda chansen är att skriva en egen bok om det hela. Min bild av henne får ju sig en törn, helt klart, även om jag alltid kommer att älska henne som artist.

Boken berättar ju inte bara om hennes egoistiska sida, utan det finns också en syskonkärlek mellan dom som ingenting kan rubba på, dock är det alltid mer eller mindre på Madonnas villkor. Jag tror att det för Christopher handlar om revansch där han vill visa att han inte som alla andra går i systerns ledband utan vågar uttala andra åsikter, vilket förhoppningsvis en dag även når fram till en kabbalastinn och egenkär storasyster. För man kan även älska någon som man kritiserar.

Du som är nyfiken på Madonna och hennes bror ska definitivt läsa den här boken. Det är mycket intressanta historier i boken som inte bara rör dem två utan andra kändisar som de frotterat sig med under åren.

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om Christopher Ciccone, Madonna, Livet med min syster Madonna, The Queen of Pop, Guy Ritchie, syskonkärlek, musik, bokrecension, litteratur, intressant?

Well this is by no means new news, or news of any sort if I’m going to be completely honest, other than I’ve re-discovered  a song and video that I was once totally obsessed with, and once again it has got me acting all Glenn Closey and proper frothing at the mouth at the mere thought of getting my hands on my bastard boyfriends cutesy little bunny and boiling the rodent (this is of course a joke to all you animal lovers out there, i would most defiantly fry it!)

Anyway to the point, and the point is Black Strobe are back and will be playing at matter along with Vitalic, Morgan Geist
L’Amour La Morgue and Disco&Mercy for Vitalic’s Flashmob album launch on the 28th of this month.

Needless to say as soon as my rave adorning eyes feasted upon this piece of information I was struck with nostalgic memories of how great Black Strobe once were (before they featured on that rotter of a Guy Ritchie film Rock ‘n’ Rolla, I mean the song wasn’t to bad, but the film….what a stinker!), and personally for me Black Strobes greatness peaked with the record ‘Me and Madonna’ which was released on Output Recordings in 2002!! (Nearly/basically eight years ago people, I don’t know how many of you are with me on this one, but that just seems mad! EIGHT GODDAMN YEARS AGO?!?!)

Anyway the songs a treat, the video’s a treat, so if you click at the bottom of the post, you’ll find a little treat from me to you…

…And I’ll add a few of their remixes, just for kicks!

Black Strobe – Me and Madonna

Sir Drew – Shemale (Black Strobe remix)

Martini Bros - Your Biggest Fan (Black Strobe Remix)

Maxwinnipeg

MORE ON BLACK STROBE:

MYSPACE :: DISCOGS :: BUY TUNES

Coooeee! HazMat here. I’m just gonna jump in on Maxine’s post and add MY favourite Black Strobe tune ‘cos I’m getting all nostalgic. I used to love these guys…

Don’t believe in your Science teacher when she tells you about the stars being ten thousand light years away from the earth. She’s actually a big fat liar. Tell her the stars are just a few clicks away. And if she’s still giving you all those scientific arguments, tell her to familiarize herself with the 1click2fame talent competition so she can have a bitter picture of what you are talking about.

Yes, the next star might be just living in your neighborhood. If you’re from Lancashire, the fame capital of UK, then maybe you should learn a little history about your place. reported by 1ClicktoFame as the hotspot “for producing superstars per capita than anywhere else in the country”. Now, that’s interesting.

Please stop convincing yourself that Ozzy Osbourne is from another universe or John Lennon was from another planet. The FAME100 Talent Map reveals Britain’s hotspots of talented musicians and actors. Every city is represented by celebrities that are highly recognized all over the world. And I’m not just talking about Ozzy here, I’m talking about James Blunt, Leona Lewis, Guy Ritchie, the guys of Duran Duran, Paul McCartney and many more famous stars. Well, what can I say? UK is definitely the home of shining stars, not the black outer space.

To continue the legacy, the 1Click2Fame online talent competition is accepting professional performance videos featuring a wide range of talents, from dancing and singing to the most creative performances of artists. It’s an online voting, so it’s important to be friendly in online communities for you to get their votes. The FAME100 Talent Map is the living testimony that UK is indeed producing

Imagine this scene- you giving your best shot in front of the camera, uploading the video and then after a few weeks or months, you’re more popular than Ozzy Osbourne. How’s that for a successful career?

Next time, when you are asked if the stars are actually blinking or where the brightest stars really are, tell them they’re all in UK.

Confesso que eu nunca assisti um único filme de Guy Ritchie, mas <Silvio Santos> tenho amigos que já assistiram filmes dele, como Jogos, Trapaças e Dois Canos Fumegantes (1998) e Snatch, Porcos e Diamantes (2000) e dizem que o cara manda muito bem </Silvio Santos>. A única coisa que eu sei é que ele é ex da Madonna, e que sua carreira cinematográfica inexistia quando estavam juntos. Assim que se separaram, Ritchie lançou o bem recebido Rock n’Rolla, que também não assisti e não faço idéia de qual é o tema do filme. Então por quê raios estou falando de uma pessoa que não conheço? Pra te mostrar o trailer de Sherlock Holmes:

–UPDATE–

Como o You “eu tiro merrrrmo” Tube fez aquilo que odiamos, taí o link pra assistir em HD.

–FIM UPDATE–

Na minha cabeça Sherlock Holmes era um tiozão chato que jamais sairia dos livros, e olha só o que esse diretor me faz! Coloca Robert Downey Jr no papel do detetive mais esperto da Literatura! Um Sherlock em uma época mais jovial, inexperiente e sexy vai ser muito bacana.

Me sinto obrigado a passar na locadora e pegar alguns filmes do Guy Ritchie para ver nesse final de semana.

Apostando alto em Sherlock Holmes!

I usually review new films on this blog, but I passed on a chance to see “Pirate Radio” this weekend, and with good reason: “Almost Famous” was barely tolerable, so the idea of “Almost Famous on a Boat” seemed a bit too precious. Whether or not it was that is irrelevant; even moviegoers in its native England stayed away in droves. If a film on such a small budget with such a big cast and such good music can’t make a profit, beware. Besides, I find rock movies in general a bit too hard to swallow as legitimate entertainment.

Anyway, I decided to lay out my first impression of the 2007 American cut of Guy Ritchie’s post-Snatch film “Revolver.” To be delicate, I’ll borrow a phrase from Richard Hammond: “Ambitious but Rubbish.” To be not-so-delicate: It made our heads hurt, and after what seemed like four hours we had to turn it off before they repeated the “formula” for the umpteenth time.

To paraphrase Ian Malcolm, Guy Ritchie seems bent on wielding the concepts and ideas of Kabbalah like a kid who’s found his dad’s gun. It’s fine to borrow religious concepts; Pi did a fine job of it; in only 84 minutes it was able to at least appear profound and mystique-y and dredge up questions. Revolver has no such success, because it doesn’t care if the audience is confused, and seems to relish their confusion Also, the film itself seems to be as confused as we are, so shows us Turkish going through a windshield backwards really slowly. I also don’t see why Guy Ritchie had to make a third film about professional criminals, especially one that was far worse than the other two.

And why did Jason Statham have to narrate this film as well? The whole time it sounded like Snatch with all the good bits removed and replaced with seemingly infinite number of scenes featuring Ray Liotta in various states of undress trying too hard to express his anger and frustration to his unflappable lieutenant, followed by a seemingly infinite number of scenes of Andre 3000 (dressed as…Andre 3000) apparently reading cue cards in monotone, punctuated by variations of “Shut the Fuck up” from Vincent Pastore. Again and again, Turkish tries to get an explanation out of these guys, and hits a wall. So do we. Interest is rapidly lost.

Yeah, there’s a white masculine pillar, feminine black pillar, and the Turkish green pillar in the middle, and chess has 32 pieces, ooooooooooo, so mystical. Too bad it all feels cheap and irrelevant and futile amongst all the horrible acting, longwinded musical interludes, and lack of direction. It feels, empty; hollow; a bunch of overly-styled nothing.

Maybe i just need to give it another watch, as is typical of Ritchie films, but to be frank, I and everyone watching wished we had stopped it a bit sooner, since there was still a half-hour of the stuff left to watch and we were already turned off of it. A rewatch sound like and even bigger waste of time.

I have no doubt Sherlock Holmes will be better (if for no other reason than Downey Jr.,) But after two very good and very watchable crime capers and one absolute stinker, my confidence in Guy Ritchie was definitely shaken. And he was with Madonna, who just looks wierd nowadays. Not so easy on the eyes anymore.

So yeah, I played Russian Roulette with “Revolver” and lost, badly. We had to watch “La Jetee” afterwards just to get the bad taste out of our mouths. Now that’s a movie…and only 28 minutes long.

Yam yam gimme some…

1.Johnny Depp – From 21 Jumpstreet to crazy barber and mumbling pirate, this is one beautiful man.

2.Alexander Skarsgård – Put your teeth in me mister Vampire

3.Ryan Kwanten – The boy next door

4. Eric Dane – McSteamy / Patrick Dempsey – McDreamy

 5.Gerard Butler – Every girl loves a bad guy

What is in my mind the finest month for the movies is almost here!  Let Marshall guide you through the best and steer you away from the worst, but most of all enjoy!  The studios have been holding back their best movies all year to dump them all here, where they can get serious awards consideration.

December 4

A major Oscars wild-card is “Brothers.”  No one really knows what to make of it.  If the movie hits big, it could completely change the game.  But it could just fly under the radar like most expect it to now.  However, the trailer makes it look as if it the movie could be absolutely mind-blowing.  Directed by Jim Sheridan, who has received six Academy Award nominations, “Brothers” follows Grace Cahill (Natalie Portman) as she and her daughters deal with the loss of her husband, Sam (Tobey Maguire), in war.  Sam’s brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) comes to live with Grace to lend a helping hand.  But romantic sparks fly between the two at precisely the wrong time: the discovery that Sam is alive and coming home.  With the two brothers both tugging Grace’s heart for their share, a different type of sparks fly.

You have heard me say plenty about “Up in the Air.”  If you haven’t read my Oscar Moment on the movie or heard my bliss at the release of the trailer, let me give you one more chance to hope on the bandwagon.

But the movies don’t stop there.  ”Armored,” an action-drama that is tooting its own moral horn, starring Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne.  ”Everybody’s Fine” appears to be a holiday movie, so that might be worth checking out if you’re in the spirit.  The movie, a remake of a 1990 Italian film by the same name, stars Robert DeNiro as a widower who reconnects with his estrange children.  And “Transylmania” looks to cash in on the vampire craze sweeping the nation by satirizing it, but I doubt it will be financially viable because it is being released by a no-name studio and without any big names.

December 11

The highlight of the weekend for many will be “The Princess and the Frog,” Disney’s return to the traditional animation by hand musical.  The movie looks to capitalize on what we know and love Disney musicals for, adding some catchy tunes to a fairy tale we have known since childhood.  Anika Noni Rose, best known for her role as Lorrell in the film adaptation of “Dreamgirls,” lends her talented voice to the princess Tiana.  As a huge fan of “Dreamgirls” during the winter of 2006, I couldn’t think of someone better equipped to handle the sweet, soft Disney music (which isn’t designed for belters like Beyoncé or Jennifer Hudson).  That being said, the music won’t sound like anything you’ve ever heard from a Disney fairy tale.  It is being scored by Randy Newman, not Alan Menken (“Beauty and the Beast,” etc.), and will have a jazzy feel much like its setting, New Orleans.

This week also boasts the opening of three major Oscar players. Two have been featured in Oscar Moments, “Invictus” and “A Single Man.” The former opens nationwide this Friday, the latter only in limited release. I’ll repost the trailers below because they are worth watching. But read the Oscar Moment if you want to know more about the movies.

According to the people that matter, “The Lovely Bones” has all the pieces to make a great movie. But for summer reading two years ago, I read the source material, Alice Sebold’s acclaimed novel. I found it dreadfully melodramatic and very depressing without any sort of emotional payoff to reward the reader for making it through. But maybe Hollywood will mess up the novel in a good way. If any movie could, it would be this one. With a director like Peter Jackson and a cast including Saiorse Ronan (“Atonement”), Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, and Susan Sarandon, it could very well happen.  It opens in limited release on this date and slowly expands until its nationwide release on Martin Luther King Day weekend in 2010.

December 16

Due to the flop of “Amelia,” Fox Searchlight has moved “Crazy Heart” to 2009 in order to milk some awards out of this year (although they should have just pushed “(500) Days of Summer” harder!).  The movie stars Jeff Bridges as an aging alcoholic country singer and Maggie Gyllenhaal as the young journalist that falls for him.  Bridges has been nominated for four Oscars but has never won, so maybe the Academy will feel generous to him this year.

December 18

We will skip the big blockbuster to address what is perhaps my most anticipated movie of the season, “Nine.”  I’ve already devoted an Oscar Moment to it, but it deserves some more talk here.  I’ll just throw out some names.  Daniel Day-Lewis.  Marion Cotillard.  Penelope Cruz.  Nicole Kidman.  Judi Dench.  Sophia Loren.  Kate Hudson.  Fergie.  Director Rob Marshall.  At what name did you start thinking, “Get here now, December 18th, I HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!”?

Most sites I read think “Avatar” is going to be a huge box office success.  However, I wonder how they can think that when I have not heard a single teenager talk about the movie at all.  That is a critical demographic to the success of this movie.  It is what made “Titanic” the highest grossing movie ever (unadjusted for inflation).  And without them, this movie will flop.  A bomb is something that director James Cameron and the head honchos at 20th Century Fox simply cannot have happen.  Let me hit you with a statistic that will make your jaw drop.  ”Avatar” cost nearly $500 million dollars to make.  No, I didn’t tack on an extra zero to that figure.  Half-a-billion dollars have been dropped on this movie, so they need to make a whole lot of money to make it a profitable venture.  I’m sure with worldwide totals and video receipts, they will undoubtedly break even.  But if it is going to be a bonanza, there has to be more to “Avatar” than the coolest visual effects ever.  And I’m not getting the feeling from the trailers that it has all that strong of a story.  But at this point, no one knows.

Guilty confession: I’m actually kind of looking forward to “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” The movie stars Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker as married members of the New York elite who loathe each other. However, they are forced to spend a whole lot of time together when they see a murder and enter the Witness Protection Program in Wyoming. Sometimes these “fish out of water” comedies turn out to be quite funny. Plus, Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker usually have good taste when it comes to selecting movies.

And to help out a fledgling production company, Apparition, I’ll plug “The Young Victoria” with an embedded trailer.  If Martin Scorsese is pushing it, how bad can it be?

December 23

In order to get “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel” out of a convoluted Christmas Day openers crowd, they moved it to Wednesday, December 23.  Honestly, who wants to debate if this movie will be good or not?  I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes more money than “Avatar” the way kids ate up the first installment.

December 25

Celebrate Christmas at the movies with your family like everyone else in America!  ”Nine” and “Up in the Air” will be opening nationwide today.

Nancy Meyers, the director of “The Holiday” and “The Parent Trap,” makes movies that are just plain enjoyable to watch.  ”It’s Complicated” doesn’t look to break that tradition.  I refuse to watch the trailer because I don’t want to ruin it, but the film’s poster shows Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin bearing smug expressions in a bed with the tagline “Divorced…with benefits” written on the sheets.  Featuring a cast that also includes Steve Martin and John Krasinski (“The Office”), this could be the perfect crowd-pleasing Christmas Day movie.

Also opening on Christmas Day is a reimagined “Sherlock Holmes,” directed by Guy Ritchie (yes, Maddona’s ex-husband).  I’m all for the fresh approach, especially because it includes Robert Downey, Jr.  I loved the smug touch he added to Tony Stark in “Iron Man,” and I’m sure he will bring the same energy to the timeless detective.  The movie will no doubt benefit from the presence of Jude Law as sidekick Watson and Rachel McAdams as a love interest for Sherlock.  Although the character has lost respectability over the past few years on the silver screen, this is a version that I am more than willing to get behind.

And it is with great sadness that I have to say that Heath Ledger’s last new movie, “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” will be released this day.  He passed while in production of the movie, and Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law stepped into finish the role.  The three stars donated their salary for the film to Ledger’s daughter, Matilda.  The movie seems to be quite a visual spectacle, and the eye-catching visuals could be a great complement to Ledger’s final performance.

December 30

The final release of 2009 is “The White Ribbon,” winner of the prestigious Palme D’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival this spring.  The film, directed by Michael Haeneke, follows a community in pre-World War I Germany as they deal with “the origins of terrorism,” as the director puts it.  It has been selected as Germany’s submission to the Best Foreign Film category at the Academy Awards this year, so it is definitely a player there.  But with quite literal universal acclaim, it could compete in more serious categories.

So, have you started planning how you are going to fit all these movies into your holiday schedules like me?  If not, at least do me the courtesy of telling me what movie you would see if you could only see one.

Nach dem ordentlichen ersten lässt sich jetzt ein großartiger zweiter Trailer zu Guy Ritchies kommender Verfilmung von “Sherlock Holmes” bestaunen. Derselbe Guy Ritchie, der für “Rock N Rolla” , “Snatch” und “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” verantwortlich zeichnet, hat den Klassiker mit Robert Downey Jr. und Jude Law wirklich vielversprechend besetzt, darüber hinaus scheint der Film auch optisch eine Bombe zu werden. Da sieht man doch gerne über die nervige Tatsache hinweg, dass einige der besten Szenen gleich in beiden Trailern verwendet wurden. Deutscher Kinostart am 28. Januar.

The Strangler’s song “Golden Brown,” originally released on their album “La Folie” in 1981 and later featured in Guy Ritchie’s film “Snatch” in 2000.

… and Frank Musik’s “When You’re Around” from his album “Complete Me” – 2009

LOL la verdad es que no entiendo si esto lo hicieron a proposito o es una especie de ilusion visual, el caso es que en la nueva portada de Esquirre, Robert Downey Jr esta muy mono sentadito abriendo las piernas y al parecer señalandonos un cameltoe que se le forma en su entrepierna, lo extraño para quien no lo sepa es precisamente el cameltoe, ya que este solo se forma en las mujeres cuando usan ropa muy ajustada, bien por Robert Downey queriendo competir contra Tranny Gaga en eso de los ambos sexos XD

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