JUNO
(Review)

Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is pregnant by her track nerd best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). Certain she can’t possibly be mature enough to raise a child, she scours the Penny Saver for some “Desperately Seeking Spawn” ads, and finds apparently picture perfect couple Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) to be the adoptive parents.
The rest is all gestation, hormones, and the vagaries of the human heart.

Jason Reitman’s follow-up to Thank You For Smoking, Juno, displays a snarkily sensitive charm thanks in large part to an Oscar-nominated script by Diablo Cody. Informing the film with a likewise Oscar-nominated turn, Page’s on-point performance has also helped Juno take the Little Movie That Could road previously traveled by Little Miss Sunshine, a road that’s taken it all the way to Oscar Night.
Aside from Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay nominations, the film also got nods for Best Director and Best Picture.
At the time of this review’s writing, it’s also grossed more than $100 million at the US box office, thus turning out to be, much like its title character, a charming anomaly. Little indie movies like this don’t normally gross in the nine figure range. But Juno’s found its audience, and for small movies like this, that’s always a good thing.

As much as Ellen Page takes center stage here (and has got the Oscar nomination to prove it), the rest of Juno’s cast is likewise fantastic, made up of comic gems like Arrested Development’s Bateman and Cera, and Spider-Man‘s J.K. Simmons and The West Wing‘s Allison Janney, who play Mac and Bren, Juno’s father and stepmother. Even Garner—as the woman who has everything she could want, except the possibility of ever being a biological mother—is good here, and I’m not normally a big Garner fan.
Naturally, it helps when the script actually provides the cast with interesting characters to portray. It’s refreshing when a film about a teen-ager doesn’t depict its adult characters (particularly the teen-ager’s parents) as well-meaning, bumbling idiots. Mac and Bren are the sort of parents you’d want to have in your corner, if you ever found yourself in a tight spot: capable, no-nonsense, and funny.
The prospective adoptive couple are likewise not your cookie cutter rich fat cats hungry for a cute little bundle of joy, though they may first appear to be.
And then there’s Juno…

Apparently, Juno has struck a major chord with the American youth. As the film has achieved the movie Nirvana of mainstream crossover success (even its soundtrack has sold remarkably well), it’s turned out that Juno is the sort of teen-aged girl a lot of teen-aged girls wish they could be.
Juno isn’t the kind of teen-ager other young actresses get to play on the big screen. You won’t find Juno in a Lindsey Lohan or Amanda Bynes movie. Think the confidence and self-assurance of Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You and the alterna-geekiness of Thora Birch in Ghost World, and you’d get a very rough idea of Juno.
Diablo Cody has inadvertently created a surprising role model for young girls, and Reitman found just the right Juno in Page. Film geeks will know her from David Slade’s Hard Candy. Mainstream movie-going audiences will know her as Kitty Pride/Shadowcat from Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand. From this point on though, Juno will be the character she’ll be remembered for for the foreseeable future.

Now, when I say that Juno’s become a role model for the youth, I certainly don’t mean 16-year-olds who get to see Juno will suddenly want to get knocked up. I’m saying that in Juno, teen-aged girls can see that if they do end up in a hairy situation (like, though not limited to, pregnancy), that, given a certain level of maturity and a great support system, they can come out the other side of a potentially life-altering turn of events, their sanity and snark intact.

Admittedly though, Juno is, like the Lorings, not exactly picture perfect.
The first scene where we see Juno interact with someone (The Office’s Rainn Wilson) comes off as a tad clunky, with dialogue that feels slightly contrived. But thankfully, things smoothen out as we progress into the film.
Then there’s also the narrative’s approach to the pregnancy itself. There’s a brief flirtation with the reality of abortion, and a cursory reference to it during Juno’s conversation with her parents about her condition, then she’s decided on her course of action, and that’s it. The story’s pretty much locked in on that, and Juno never seems to acknowledge the possibility of how she’ll feel once the child is born, that there will be no succumbing to some inherent maternal instinct that will kick in once her water breaks.
Somehow, this scenario doesn’t quite play out the way the situation would probably unfold in real life. Given the perennially hot-button seriousness of what this film is about, the slightly fanciful approach to the subject matter may strike some as being inappropriate.
Granted, there are some bumps on this road, but by and large, the world Juno lives in seems a whole lot less messy than real life, and the character seems a whole lot more certain than all us normal folk.
Which is probably why she’s become such a role model. So I guess in the end that’s probably a good thing.
(And if it makes any sort of difference, I have less issues with Juno than I did with Little Miss Sunshine.)

Ultimately, Juno is one of those great little indies that has a prickly sense of humour, encased around a heart and soul that’s all warm and toasty.
It’s fun, it’s smart, and hey, it’s crashed the Oscar party.
Now if only the strike would end, so there will be a party for Juno to crash…*

* This review was written before February 12, when the WGA announced that they were ending the strike; see Afterthoughts (51).

Parting shot: Diablo Cody was honoured with the WGA Best Original Screenplay Award, coming out on top of a category that included Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton, Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages, Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up, and Nancy Oliver’s Lars and the Real Girl.
Check out Afterthoughts (48) in the Archive for the other wins that made me go “Woot!”

Parting shot 2: Jason Reitman again teams-up with Diablo Cody (this time as producer) for the next movie to be made from a screenplay written by her. Jennifer’s Body (which found a spot for itself on the Black List 2007), has been described by Reitman as “what if Juno was possessed and started eating her classmates,” or something to that effect.
Last I heard, Transformers hottie Megan Gale was playing Jennifer.

(Juno OS courtesy of impawards.com; Ellen Page EW cover courtesy of ew.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (38)
WHAT’S YOUR BIFA? 2007

The 2007 British Independent Film Awards were given out last November, and it was a big night for both Anton Corbijn’s Control and David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises.
Below are the nominations and awards both films garnered. (Wins are in bold.)

Control:
Best British Independent Film
Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film (Sam Riley)
Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film (Toby Kebbell)
Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film (Samantha Morton)
Most Promising Newcomer (Sam Riley)
Best Screenplay (Matt Greenhalgh)
Best Director of a British Independent Film (Anton Corbijn)
Best Achievement in Production
The Douglas Hickox Award (Anton Corbijn)
Best Technical Achievement (Martin Ruhe, Cinematography)

Eastern Promises:
Best British Independent Film
Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film (Viggo Mortensen)
Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film (Armin Mueller-Stahl)
Best Screenplay (Steve Knight)
Best Director of a British Independent Film (David Cronenberg)

Also recognized for BIFAs was…

28 Weeks Later:
Most Promising Newcomer (Imogen Poots)
Best Technical Achievement (Enrique Chediak, Cinematography)

Congratulations to all. You can check out the complete lists of nominees and winners at http://www.bifa.org.uk/.

Parting shot: Reviews of 28 Weeks Later, Control, and Eastern Promises can be found in the Archive.
Sunshine, which also has a review in the Archive, also won for Best Technical Achievement (Mark Tildesley, Production Design) and earned a nomination for Cillian Murphy for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film.

(Images courtesy of bifa.org.uk [BIFA 2007 banner]; impawards.com [Control French OS]; amazon.com [Eastern Promises DVD cover art]; and postergeek.com [28 Weeks Later OS].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (37)
TOP TV SHOWS FOR 2007

It’s that time of year when Top 10 lists breed like rabbits, and though the sheer number do make the head spin, I still check out a lot of them, just to see what others have to say about the shows that I love (if and when my top choices happen to coincide with theirs).

Time had two lists of top TV shows, and Lost crashed into the #2 spot on Time’s Top 10 Returning TV Shows, while Pushing Daisies took root in the #5 spot of their Top 10 New TV Series.

#2. Lost (from Time’s Top 10 Returning TV Shows)
Like a boulder on a desert-island mountain, a Lost season starts slow, but after a dithering first six episodes, season 3 was an awesome force. This spring's episodes delved deeper into the mythology of the mysterious island, then vaulted years ahead in an astonishing, forehead-smacking finale that set the bar even higher for next season. In between, we got Desmond's mind-blowing premonitions, invisible mystic island honcho, Jacob, and the moving death of doomed romantic junkie Charlie. What more could you want? Only more Lost, and soon.

#5. Pushing Daisies (from Time’s Top 10 New TV Shows)
It's whimsational! It's twee-riffic! It's preciously precious! In this grown-up fairy-tale, a piemaker (Lee Pace) can raise the dead with a touch, but kills them if he ever touches them again. This complicates matters when he resurrects the love of his life, whom he can never kiss, at pain of her life. Playful, fantastical, and art-directed within an inch of its life in candy colors by Barry Sonnenfeld, Daisies is as romantic as it is outlandish.

Pushing Daisies also sprouted in the #2 spot on Entertainment Weekly’s Best TV Shows of 2007.

2. Pushing Daisies (from Entertainment Weekly’s Best TV Shows of 2007)
Filled with mermaid divers and windmill farms, Pushing Daisies is a fantastically fantastical, bubble-gum-colored fable about a pie maker named Ned (Lee Pace), who magically brings his childhood love, Chuck (Anna Friel), back to life with his touch but will kill her if he ever makes contact again. Between solving oddball mysteries involving puppy cloning and scratch-'n'-sniff empires, Chuck and Ned banter and moon at each other. (As Ned's gruff detective buddy, wonderful Chi McBride undercuts any excess sweet.) When so many TV couples are bickery brats, there's something strangely mature about this chaste pair. It's easy to whip up a juicy drama about evildoing bastards — it takes a boatload of creativity to make all this niceness so mesmerizing.

Congratulations to all involved with Lost and Pushing Daisies. Onward, ho, to 2008. And let’s get the WGA strike resolved soon so we can all breathe easier…

Entries quoted above are from time.com and ew.com. To see the other Top 10 shows, the complete lists can be accessed from the links above.

(Images courtesy of abc, fanpop.com [Lost] and about.com [Pushing Daisies].)

CHUCK
Season 1 Episode 9
“Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami”
Written by Scott Rosenbaum and Matt Miller
Directed by Jason Ensler
(WARNING: SPOILERS)

“It’s the old story. You know, guy gets super computer in his brain. Beautiful CIA agent is sent to protect him, and then she tells him while under the spell of truth serum that she’s not interested. I get it. But for me, the emotional roller coaster is a little much, so I think I’d rather find something a little less common, like, say, I don’t know, a real relationship?”

Chuck’s fake break-up with Sarah is proving a little tricky as a) Sarah really does have feelings for Chuck that she adamantly refuses to admit, and b) Chuck’s currently dating Lou.
But it turns out that Lou’s ex, club owner Stavros Demitrios (Theodore Zouboulidis) is the son of shipping magnate/smuggler, Yari (Forever Knight’s John Kapelos), who’s involved in not just smuggling in assorted meats and sausages for Lou, but also a “volatile package” which is “time sensitive,” all indications that the item in question could be a biological or chemical weapon of some sort.
So Chuck and Lou’s second date is orchestrated/instigated so Chuck can get close to Stavros to find out more about the package.
Needless to say, the whole dating Lou thing quickly gets wonky.

And when Chuck confronts Lou, thinking she’s in on the weapons smuggling (but actually just sneaking in meat for her sandwiches), he not only pisses her off again, but ends up—along with Sarah—kidnapped by Stavros.
In order to rescue them both, Casey turns to Lou, and tells her that he’s an FDA agent, and that she can go to jail since Stavros is also smuggling weapons, but he can look the other way if she helps him by telling him which dock Stavros receives his shipments at. In so doing, Casey also pretty much indicates that Chuck’s an undercover FDA agent too.

Casey rescues Chuck and Sarah, and they both arrive at what they believe is a bomb, with a timer with less than a minute to go. There really isn’t any time and as the timer runs out, Sarah suddenly kisses Chuck.
It isn’t a bomb though. At this point, they still don’t know what it is, though Sarah does know it’s an awkward moment. Not so for Chuck.

Chuck goes to Lou’s shop, and she tells him she knows he’s an undercover FDA agent, and wonders if there was anything real between them. Chuck says she’s everything he’s looking for, but right now, he can’t be looking.
So they break up.
For real.

Chuck then calls Sarah, asking her to go out on a real date with him.
But at that moment, Sarah and Casey are opening up the package. Apparently, the timer indicated oxygen amount for whatever was contained within.
And when the package opens up, it turns out to be some kind of capsule containing… Bryce!

Okay, now that’s a cliffhanger.
From the Pilot on, I’ve been hoping that somehow, Bryce was still alive, and that he’d come back into the picture, so we could see into his relationship with Chuck, into what now lay between these once-best friends, following the apparent betrayal at Stanford, the ensuing years of silence and resentment, and exactly why Bryce emailed Chuck the Intersect.
And now we’re here! Yahoo!
(That better not be some clone or spy double…)

Parting shot: The Buy More subplot involves Morgan getting it on with Anna, though these peripheral threads are becoming increasingly distracting.
Oh, and I hope there’s more Rachel Bilson on the way, as two special guest spots is a piddling amount of face time.

Parting shot 2: Congratulations to Josh Schwartz and everybody involved with Chuck, for the Satellite nomination for Television Series, Comedy or Musical, and to Zachary Levi, for the Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical nom. (Check out Afterthoughts (35) in the Archive for the 2007 Satellite nominees and winners.)

(Images courtesy of nbc.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (35)
BOUNCING OFF THE SATELLITES 2007

The International Press Academy has just conducted the 12th annual Satellite Awards, which honours special achievements in film, television, DVDs and games.
There was a lot to get stoked about here, so without further ado… (Wins are in bold.)

300:
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media (nominee)
Visual Effects
Sound (Mixing & Editing) (nominee)

Beowulf:
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media (nominee)
Visual Effects (nominee)

Children of Men:
Best Overall DVD (nominee)

Eastern Promises:
Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama (Viggo Mortensen)
Motion Picture, Drama (nominee)
Director (David Cronenberg: nominee)
Screenplay, Original (Steven Knight: nominee)
Original Score (Howard Shore: nominee)
Film Editing (Ronald Sanders: nominee)

El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth):
Best Overall DVD (nominee)

Little Children:
Best Overall DVD (nominee)

Once:
Original Song (“If You Want Me”/Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova: nominee)

The Prestige:
Best Overall DVD

The Silence of the Lambs:
DVD Extras (Collector’s Edition: nominee)

Zodiac:
Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama (Brian Cox: nominee)
Screenplay, Adapted (James Vanderbilt: nominee)
Cinematography (Harris Savides: nominee)

The next batch are from films I’ve yet to see, though have mentioned ‘round here at the Iguana.

Away From Her:
Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama (Julie Christie: nominee)
Motion Picture, Drama (nominee)
Director (Sarah Polley: nominee)
Screenplay, Adapted (Sarah Polley: nominee)

El Orfanato (The Orphanage):
Motion Picture, Foreign Film (Spain: nominee)

The Golden Compass:
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media (nominee)
Original Song (“Lyra”/Kate Bush: nominee)
Cinematography (Henry Braham: nominee)
Visual Effects (nominee)
Sound (Mixing & Editing) (nominee)

Juno:
Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (Ellen Page)
Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Screenplay, Original (Diablo Cody)

Lars and the Real Girl:
Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (Ryan Gosling)
Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (nominee)
Screenplay, Original (Nancy Oliver: nominee)

And these are from films whose reviews you’ll find in the Archive.

Sunshine:
Art Direction & Production Design (nominee)

Transformers:
Visual Effects (nominee)
Youth DVD (Two Disc Special Edition: nominee)

And now onto TV…

Chuck:
Television Series, Comedy or Musical (nominee)
Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical (Zachary Levi: nominee)

Dexter:
Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television (David Zayas)
Television Series, Drama
Actor in a Series, Drama (Michael C. Hall)
DVD Release of a TV Show (Season 1)

Heroes:
Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television (Masi Oka: nominee)

Lost:
Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television (Michael Emerson: nominee)
DVD Release of a TV Show (The Complete Third Season: nominee)

Masters of Horror:
DVD Extras (Season 1: tied for the win with Borat)

Nip/Tuck:
DVD Release of a TV Show (Season 4: nominee)

Pushing Daisies:
Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical (Anna Friel: nominee)
Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical (Lee Pace: nominee)

Twin Peaks:
DVD Release of a TV Show (Season 2: nominee)

And then there were the special awards, two of which were the Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry, which went to Kathy Bates, and the Tesla Award in Recognition of Visionary Achievement in Filmmaking Technology, which went to Dennis Muren.

To one and all, congratulations!
You can find the complete list of nominees and winners here.

Parting shot: Reviews of 300, Eastern Promises, El Laberinto Del Fauno, Sunshine, Transformers, and Zodiac, can be found in the Archive, where episodic recaps and reactions to Chuck, Dexter, Heroes, Lost, and Pushing Daisies also lurk.
And though the Satellite for DVD Extras went to Season 1, the reviews of the 13 episodes of Season 2 of Masters of Horror are just waiting to pounce from the darkness of the Archive as well.
There are also reviews of Beowulf and Once already written and raring to go, but at the time of this posting, have yet to be released into the wilds of the world wide web. (Though if you’re reading this way after I actually posted it, then those reviews should be in the Archive too.)

(Images courtesy of firstshowing.net [Eastern Promises]; amazon.com [The Prestige DVD cover art]; magneticmediafed.com [Dexter]; bloody-disgusting.com [Masters of Horror]; and pushing-daisies.com [Pushing Daisies].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (32)
MORE BLACK LIST 2007 BITS

32.1 If you haven’t yet, please check out Afterthoughts (30) & (31) in the Archive, so all this Black List stuff will make sense.

Now, for the record, the top 5 Black List 2007 scripts are:

Recount by Danny Strong (44 mentions)
“A behind-the-scenes view of the 2000 presidential election and the scandal that ensued in the weeks following.”

Farragut North by Beau Willimon (43 mentions)
“A young, idealistic communications director for a fast-rising politician falls prey to backstabbing and trickery while working on a presidential campaign.”

Passengers by Jon Spaihts (38 mentions)
See Afterthoughts (31).

Infiltrator by Josh Zeturner (35 mentions)
“British intelligence launched a campaign to undermine the Irish Republican Army by planting spies there in high level positions. The program helped the British upend much of the terrorist activity planned by the IRA, but at a high price.”

and Selma by Paul Webb (29 mentions)
“The story of Martin Luther King Jr.'s campaign to convince President Lyndon Johnson to enact the voting rights act and the march from Selma to Montgomery that came as a consequence.”

32.2 While I’m still on the Black List, Travis Beacham is one of a few scriptwriters whose work has appeared more than once on the List.
This year, it’s for his script for the Clash of the Titans remake, and in 2005, it was for A Killing on Carnival Row, which is set to be directed by Neil Jordan.

I’ve been looking forward to A Killing on Carnival Row for a while now, and if you haven’t heard of it, here’s its synopsis: “In the fictional Victorian town of Burgue, fantastical creatures [like] vampires and faeries live alongside humans. These mythological inhabitants, subjugated by the humans, are forced into either menial or criminal lines of work to merely survive, such as drug dealing vampires and fairy prostitutes. When a serial killer begins murdering the faeries, a la Jack The Ripper, a human detective who's been engaged in a taboo relationship with a fairy courtesan becomes the prime suspect and he sets out to clear his name by finding the true culprit.”

Can you just picture that, directed by Jordan? Awesome.
He hasn’t done anything this dark and fanciful since The Company of Wolves. (In case you’re wondering, I’m not a big fan of his Interview with the Vampire adaptation. And yes, The Butcher Boy was strange, but certainly not on Carnival Row’s lever of bizarre.)

32.3 And, in talking about Cormac McCarthy’s The Road—in Afterthoughts (31)—I said it had been a selection of Oprah’s Book of the Month Club.
Apparently, it’s simply Oprah’s Book Club. My apologies. Clearly, any endeavours undertaken by the All-Mighty O cannot be limited by anything, not even time.

32.4 And across the pond, there’s a Brit List, which is the UK version of The Black List, focusing on scripts by non-U.S. writers.
This first Brit List—compiled by an anonymous London agent—is made up of 49 screenplays, as determined by 40 UK and Irish film industry respondents. (The Black List 2007 has 130 scripts, as chosen by 150 respondents.)
Interestingly enough, there are some familiar titles on the Brit List.
At # 3 with 9 votes is Paul Webb’s Selma, # 5 on The Black List 2007. Another two-timer—with 5 votes on the Brit List—is Francesca Marciano’s The Wedding Party, which I mentioned in Afterthoughts (31).
Also, since I talked about Neil Jordan above, it should also be noted that his script for Borgia is also on the Brit List, with 2 votes.

You can find the entire Brit List here.

(The Black List 2007 banner courtesy of deadlinehollywooddaily.com; DVD cover art [The Company of Wolves and The Butcher Boy] courtesy of amazon.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (31)
MY BLACK LIST 2007 PICKS

Okay, so if you’ve checked out Afterthoughts (30) already (and if you haven’t, scoot on over to the Archive), below are The Black List 2007 scripts that I’m excited to see hit the big screen.

Passengers by Jon Spaihts (38 mentions)
“A passenger on an intergalactic spaceship is the only one prematurely thawed out from cryogenic slumber… 100 years before anyone else.”

Reportedly being produced by Keanu Reeves, who is also attached to star. I am far from a Keanu fan, but I have managed to enjoy some films despite his presence—Dangerous Liaisons, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and The Matrix—so hopefully, this’ll be added to that list.

The Road by Joe Penhall (24 mentions)
“Based on the book by Cormac McCarthy. After a nuclear explosion, a man goes on a nightmarish road trip in order to transport his son to safety, while fending off starving stragglers and marauding packs of cannibals.”

McCarthy’s novel was once on Oprah’s Book of the Month Club (let’s not hold that against it, shall we?), and the adaptation’s being directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition).

This Side of the Truth by Matt Robinson (17 mentions)
“Set in a world where the concept of lying doesn't exist, a loser changes his lot when he invents lying and uses it to get ahead.”

It’s a comedy from the man who graced both Seona Dancing and The Office, Ricky Gervais. What’s not to like?

Source Code by Ben Ripley (13 mentions)
“As part of an experimental government program to investigate a terrorist incident, a soldier finds himself living and reliving a series of events that take place on a commuter train just prior to the train exploding.”

Never Let Me Go by Alex Garland (7 mentions)
“Based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro. Students at an isolated boarding school in the English countryside gradually discover that they are clones who will inevitably be harvested for organs no matter how ‘human’ they are.”

Though not necessarily an original concept, if done right, it’s a powerful one. And considering the script is by Garland (The Beach and the screenplay for 28 Days Later, among others), and the source material is a much-lauded novel from the man who also wrote the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day, this should kick some serious a$$.

The Book of Eli by Gary Whitta (7 mentions)
“A lone hero must fight his way across the wasteland of postapocalyptic America to protect a sacred book that holds the key to saving the future of humanity”

Described by Whitta as “… kind of a post-apocalyptic western,” this is being directed by the Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society and From Hell).

Shelter by Karl Mueller (6 mentions)
“A group of nuclear holocaust survivors caught in a bomb shelter begin to turn on each other as they wait for rescue.”

Slumdog Millionaire by Simon Beaufoy (6 mentions)
“An illiterate kid looks to become a contestant on the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire in order to re-establish contact with the girl he loves, who is an ardent fan of the show.”

This is Danny Boyle’s latest, and since I loved Millions, and since this one sounds like it could be operating in a similar narrative area, I’m looking forward to it.
Plus, Beaufoy also wrote The Full Monty and Blow Dry, so I’m kind of expecting this one to be funny and uplifting too.

Valkyrie by Christopher McQuarrie (5 mentions)
“Severely wounded in combat, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg returns from Africa to join the German Resistance and help create Operation Valkyrie, the complex plan that will allow a shadow government to replace Hitler's once he is dead. Fate and circumstance conspire to thrust Stauffenberg from one of many in the plot to a double-edged central role. Not only must he lead the coup and seize control of his nation’s government—he must kill Hitler himself.”

I am not a big Tom Cruise fan. I am, however, a big Bryan Singer fan. And since this is Singer’s reunion with The Usual Suspects scribe McQuarrie, this one is at least something I’m curious to see.
This is also the project that got in the way of Singer’s Superman sequel, so this better be worth The Man of Steel’s delay.

World War Z by J. Michael Straczynski (5 mentions)
“A sober telling of the aftermath of a war fought against a legion of humans who were inflicted with a virus, died and were re-animated into flesh-eating zombies.”

So, hey, zombies, brought to us by Straczynski, who gave the comic book world Rising Stars (what could be seen as a precursor to TV’s Heroes), based on a novel—World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War—written by a former SNL writer.
Sign me up.

The Wrestler by Robert Siegel (5 mentions)
“Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, a 1980s-era pro wrestler, has become a burnt-out shell of his former self. After he has a heart attack during a small-time match, a doctor tells him he could die if he fights again. In an effort to build a new life, Robinson takes a job at a deli, moves in with an aging stripper and tries to build a relationship with her son. The prospect of a rematch with his old nemesis, the Ayatollah, proves too tempting to resist, even though it means risking his life.”

Not normally something I’d be interested in, but this is Darren Aronofsky’s stab at some mainstream material, so consider my curiosity piqued.
It’s also got Mickey Rourke as “The Ram,” so that’s interesting too.

Zombieland by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick (5 mentions)
“After a zombie plague ravages America, a pair of ‘odd couple’ survivors team up to find purpose and combat the living dead in the post-apocalyptic Southwest.”

Oh ho! More zombies! More post-apocalyptic fun! From two writers on The Joe Schmo Show! Bring it on!

Darkon by John Hodgman (4 mentions)
“Every other Sunday, between 150 and 300 people gather in costume and armor to fight unchoreographed mock battles with padded weaponry. For most, it is much more than a game.”

Orphan by David Leslie Johnson (4 mentions)
“The Bad Seed with an orphan.”

That premise doesn’t really sound promising, but the cast is headlined by The Departed’s Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard (from a boatload of stuff including Boys Don’t Cry, Jarhead and the upcoming The Mysteries of Pittsburgh), so maybe this one will turn out okay.

Blindness by Don McKellar (3 mentions)
“Based on the novel by Jose Saramago. An epidemic of blindness sweeps through an unnamed contemporary city and pushes society to the brink of breakdown.”

An interesting concept vaguely reminiscent of Kazuo Yamazaki’s anime Kaze No Na Wa Amunejia (A Wind Named Amnesia)—where people lose their memories—this one’s got teeth: killer cast which includes Gael Garcia Bernal, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, and Maury Chaykin; written by McKellar, who not only co-wrote and appeared in Francois Girard’s excellent Le Violon Rouge (The Red Violin), he also played Yevgeny Nourish in David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ; based on Nobel-laureate Saramago’s Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira; directed by Fernando Meirelles, who brought us Cidade de Deus (City of God) and The Constant Gardener.
Need I say more?

Clash of the Titans by Travis Beacham (3 mentions)
“Zeus’ son, Perseus, journeys to save Princess Andromeda. During his adventure, he must complete various tasks set out by his father, including capturing Pegasus and slaying Medusa.”

A remake of Ray Harryhausen’s 1981 effects extravaganza—his Medusa rocks!—this one is here largely for nostalgia reasons, and because Harryhausen is a special effects pioneer and the reason why stop-motion has a solid place in my film geek’s heart.
True, this redux is most likely to sport pixels instead of clay, but I owe it to Mr. Harryhausen to see whether this one pays him fitting tribute, or stomps all over his legacy.
Hopefully, Beacham (who also wrote Neil Jordan’s upcoming Killing on Carnival Row, present on The Black List 2005) honours the spirit of the original.
And for more on Killing on Carnival Row, check out Afterthoughts (32) in the Archive.

Jeff the Immortal by Chris Bishop (3 mentions)
“A slacker discovers that he is the latest in a long line of immortal warriors who must fight to achieve his destiny.”

The Ornate Anatomy of Living Things by Matt Spicer & Max Winkler (3 mentions)
“A New York bookstore clerk discovers a museum devoted to his life.”

The title alone demands attention. And with a premise like that, how can I resist?
This one’s being produced by Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking and Juno).

The Wedding Party by Francesca Marciano (3 mentions)
“A wedding party during the war in Afghanistan is told from the perspective of an English officer, a Russian and an American, all of whom are the same man.”

Huh? Okay, colour me curious.

The 37th Dimension by Tom Kuntz & Griffin Creech (2 mentions)
“A classic detective noir...with some big twists.”

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by John McLaughlin (2 mentions)
“The true-story behind the difficult production of the classic Alfred Hitchcock film.”

Yes, I have a problem with the lengthy and rather obvious title, but this one’s got not just Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock, not just Helen Mirren as Hitchcock’s wife and collaborator, Alma Reville, but also has Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy in the director’s chair.
All that, and it’s about Psycho.
Wow.

Burn After Reading by The Coen Brothers (2 mentions)
“CIA agent Osborne Cox decides to pen his memoirs and is fired from the agency. The disc containing the memoirs inadvertently gets left in a ladies locker room at a gym, where Linda and co-worker Chad, hatch a plan to sell its contents to the highest bidder.”

Like The Wrestler, this one’s got a premise that wouldn’t ordinarily catch my eye, but come on, it’s the Coens. I’ve loved these guys since they first took what they learned on Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead and rather summarily kicked my a$$ with Blood Simple.
And the cast is ridiculous: John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, and Richard Jenkins. I may not be a big fan of either George Clooney or Brad Pitt (who also happen to be in the cast), but hey, did you see those first four names I dropped?

The Fortress of Solitude by Joshua Marston (2 mentions)
“Based on Jonathan Lethem’s novel. A white kid living in a black neighborhood of Brooklyn forms an unlikely friendship with the son of a washed-up musician.”

I loved the novel, so I’m hoping this one is good. And it’s being directed by Marston, whose Maria Full of Grace, though I haven’t seen, made quite an impression on global cinema. (And he’s got the exact same birthday as I do. How cool is that?)

Giant Monsters Attack Japan by J.F. Lawton (2 mentions)
“Prompted by a corporate transfer, a father and son move to Japan and find that all the fantastic elements of the son’s favorite Japanese movies – Godzilla, giant robots, secret ninja cults, etc. – are a real and borderline mundane aspect of everyday Japanese life. Adjusting proves difficult, hijinks ensue.”

Brilliant concept, and brought to us by the South Park boys, I hope this one amuses me the way Team America didn’t.
And yes, I realize Lawton has written everything from Pretty Woman to Under Siege to Chain Reaction to DOA: Dead or Alive to 88 (count ‘em, 88!) episodes of V.I.P. (which he also created), but the premise is really wild, so here’s hoping this one comes out as cool as it sounds.

Justice League of America by The Mulroneys (2 mentions)
“The exploits of the Justice League of America, an organization made up of the world's greatest superheroes: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern.”

I’ve talked about this one in Afterthoughts past.
And WB? We’re all still waiting for that official casting announcement…
(That is so racist, the fact that the Martian Manhunter isn’t mentioned in the League line-up.)

No Man’s Land by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (2 mentions)
“Fifty years after an alien race takes over earth, a human detective investigates a rape/murder case and ultimately discovers the aliens’ true intentions.”

Of Every Wickedness by Brian McGreevey & Lee Shipman (2 mentions)
“Based on a true story: Three years before Jack the Ripper shocked London and the world, a murderer terrorized the dusty streets of Austin, TX, in what would become the first recorded serial killings in American history.”

If you’ve been ‘round these parts before, you’ll know I’m into serial killers just as much as zombies, so this one was bound to get me curious.

Unique by Michael Cooney (2 mentions)
“Jon Geoffries discovers the Earth has a twin, a parallel world in another dimension. The worlds are closely linked, explaining such phenomena as deja vu and love at first sight, with people having counterparts on both Earths. However, a few are born "unique," with no doppelgangers, and can travel between worlds. Geoffries is one such person and soon finds himself a target of enemies who want to exploit his connection.”

Yeah, I had big problems with Identity, which Cooney also wrote, and David Goyer, who’s directing, has got a spotty track record, but again, the premise sounds great, so I hope this one doesn’t get botched.
Incidentally, Cooney’s also got another script entitled Shelter, which should not be confused with Karl Mueller’s Shelter, mentioned above. Cooney’s Shelter, like Identity, also has to do with multiple personality disorder.

Will by Demetri Martin (2 mentions)
“A young man discovers love after he develops complete free will when the angel who writes his destiny (not unlike an author) forgets to finish writing after page thirty-five.”

So there you go, some films to look forward to.
If you want to download PDFs of The Black Lists 2005 to 2007, go here, and if you want to check out more Black List 2007 stuff (like the top 5 scripts and other neat-o bits), go to Afterthoughts (32) in the Archive.

(Book cover art courtesy of amazon.com [The Road; Never Let Me Go; and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War] and barnesandnoble.com [Blindness and The Fortress of Solitude].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (30)
THE BLACK LIST

Happy Christmas, The Black List 2007 is out.
Before we get into that though—in fact, let’s save that for Afterthoughts (31)—let’s have a quick overview of The Black List.

In the words of its compiler and originator, Franklin Leonard, “THE BLACK LIST was compiled from the suggestions of over 150 film executives and high-level assistants, each of whom contributed the names of up to ten of their favorite scripts that were written in, or are somehow uniquely associated with, 2007 and will not be released in theaters during this calendar year.
Like last year, scripts had to receive at least two mentions to be included on THE BLACK LIST.”

Leonard—who currently works for Mirage Enterprises (Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella’s production company)—also goes on to note, “It has been said, but it’s worth repeating: THE BLACK LIST is not a ‘best of’ list. It is, at best, a ‘most liked’ list.”

To give you an idea of the kinds of scripts that were once on The Black List, the top three titles on The Black List 2005 were Allan Loeb’s Things We Lost In The Fire (25 mentions), Diablo Cody’s Juno (24 mentions), and Nancy Oliver’s Lars and the Real Girl (15 mentions).
At #5 with 13 mentions was Aaron Sorkin’s Charlie Wilson’s War, and #6, with 10 mentions, David Benioff’s The Kite Runner.
Other scripts that were on The Black List 2005 were Peter Morgan’s The Queen, Craig Brewer’s Black Snake Moan, and Guillermo Arriaga’s Babel.

On The Black List 2006 were Kelley Sane’s Rendition (#3; 19 mentions); Matt Carnahan’s Lions For Lambs (6 mentions); Michael Winterbottom & Laurence Coriat’s A Mighty Heart (4 mentions); Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg’s Super Bad (4 mentions); Stuart Beattie’s 3:10 To Yuma (3 mentions); and Dean Craig’s Death At A Funeral (2 mentions).

The Black List is only three years old, but already it’s become, as the New York Times puts it, “a Hollywood phenomenon, the kind of underground document that writers with projects stuck in development pray will mention their script.”
So, if you want to see the 2007 scripts that are on my personal film geek radar, check out Afterthoughts (31) in the Archive.

(All OS’s [Things We Lost In The Fire, Juno, Lars and the Real Girl, Charlie Wilson’s War, and The Kite Runner] courtesy of impawards.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (23)
a.k.a. “PIMP MY BOOK”

First off, to everyone who stopped by at Komikon 3, either for the kind, encouraging words, to have their stuff signed, or to pick up the Penumbra novellas, my humble thanx.

And now, just to make this sound official:

PELICULA: AN ONLINE NOVEL BY DAVID HONTIVEROS

Fame is a power many dream of possessing. It is a power Luis Conrado is very familiar with, especially when he assumes his super-powered alter ego Habagat.

Having the power to fly with the eagles, the strength of a hundred men, and the ability to withstand pain and injury can sometimes pale in comparison to the shining, blinding power of fame.

Standing in that blazing spotlight for too long, Conrado does not notice the ones standing in the shadows. The architects of his fame. The ones who hold the true power.

>>> Read the first four chapters of PELICULA at: http://www.davidhontiveros.com/

Also at the site, a gallery of the super-hero Habagat. With illustrations by Carlo Vergara, Ian Sta. Maria, Kajo Baldisimo, Bow Guerrero, Ronnie Tres Reyes, Dennis Crisostomo, Arvie Villena, Reno Maniquis, Oliver Pulumbarit, Aldin Viray, and Edgar Tadeo.

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

The seed for Pelicula was innocuous enough: very casual talk about some Internet rumour or other. Somehow, that spark collided with my long-abiding interest in live-action superheroics, and a novel was born.

Having completed the trio of Penumbra novellas (Takod, Craving, and Parman), I felt ready to tackle a longer story, and Pelicula appeared to have enough meat to warrant a novel-length treatment.

What ultimately emerged was not only something I hadn’t exactly anticipated, it was also a lot of things I’d never really attempted before in my fiction: it was a parody, a satire, a romance, and had gobbets of words and dialogue in Filipino and Taglish.

I’m proud of Pelicula, and extremely thankful to three individuals who helped in its genesis and in getting it to where it is today: Nida, who saw it first in its entirety and gave it a thumbs up; and Carl and Budj, for all the support and help over the years.

And now that it’s toddling off onto the World Wide Web, I can only hope it amuses, entertains, and enlightens you, just as much as it amused, entertained, and enlightened me, in the process of putting it all together.

David Hontiveros

November 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Hontiveros is a National Book Award-nominated and Palanca-winning writer, with three horror/dark fantasy novellas (under the Penumbra imprint) out in the market.

His short fiction has appeared in such publications as Story Philippines, Philippine Graphic, and Chimera, while his articles and film reviews have been published in Philippine Graphic, the Manila Times, Mirror Magazine, and Manual.

So, if you want to check out Pelicula, just surf on over to the website.
The Penumbra novellas (Takod, Craving, and Parman) are available in bookstores, and if you don’t see them on the shelves, please ask for them.

(Image from Pelicula website, website designed by Carl Vergara, Habagat icon designed by Ian Sta. Maria.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (18)

18.1 The winners for the 40th Sitges Film Festival have been announced, and here are some of the awards that have me stoked:

Best Motion Picture
The Fall (directed by Tarsem Singh)

Best Director (Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza);
Best Actress (Manuela Velasco);
Audience Award El Periodico de Catalunya – Best Motion Picture;
Jose Luis Guarner Critic Award (unanimous);
and Special Mention, por cumplir con mano maestra nuestra fantasía de ver morir en directo a un irritante presentadora de televisión (for making possible our fantasy, by letting us watch dying live an upsetting TV presenter)*:
[Rec]

Best Actor (Sam Rockwell);
Special Mention, por la sutilidad con la que hace presente el miedo en la cotidianidad (for its subtle way of expressing the fear to today’s everyday life)*:
Joshua (directed by George Ratliff)

Best Script (Chong Seo-Kyung, Park Chan-Wook)
I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Ok (directed by Park Chan-Wook)

Best Cinematography (Toyomichi Kurita);
Best Production Design (Takashi Sasaki)
Sukiyaki Western Django (directed by Takashi Miike)

Best Make Up FX;
Best Motion Picture FANTASTIC;
Silver Méliès for Best European Motion Picture;
Citizen Kane Award to an up-and-coming director (Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo):
À L'Intérieur (Inside)

Best Special Effects;
Best Original Soundtrack (Kuniaki Haishima):
Mushishi (Bugmaster) (directed by Katsuhiro Otomo)

Though I haven’t seen any of these films yet, they’re all either done by directors I greatly admire, or, like Joshua and À L'Intérieur, movies I’ve heard some good things about. And the Balaguero co-directed [Rec] (already on its way to a Hollywood remake) was the big winner! For those of you who’ve been to the Iguana before, you all know I love me my Balaguero!
Congratulations to all involved with these films. You can check out the complete list of winners at the official English-language website of the Sitges Film Festival.

18.2 In related news, À L'Intérieur directors Maury and Bustillo are currently working on the script for the upcoming Hellraiser remake (though they’ve described it as more of an adaptation than anything else). They’ve apparently got Clive Barker’s blessing and supposedly have a new Pinhead waiting in the wings…

Parting shot: Reviews for Jaume Balaguero’s Los Sin Nombre, Darkness, and Fragiles, can be found in the Archive.

* All English translations are from the Sitges official website.

(The Fall image courtesy of outnow.ch; OS’s courtesy of cinemasitges.com/uk [40th Sitges Film Festival], dreadcentral.com [[Rec]], alinterieur.fr [À L'Intérieur], and truemovie.com [Mushishi].