Texas Killing Fields is a strong, straightforward crime thriller which tells the story of three cops running the gauntlet in an attempt to solve two brutal crimes. But the film is particularly notable for its haunting tone and superlative acting.

Director Ami Canaan Mann does everything she can to give the movie an infectious gloom, an impressive imitation of the sprawling claustrophobia specific to Southern poverty. Mann, daughter of the legendary Michael Mann (who also co-produced the film), makes a lot of smart choices here, but none more crucial than the cast.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Sam Worthington bring their own unique intensity to their natural good cop/bad cop relationship, and a pre-Oscar nomination Jessica Chastain (The Help) brings a fiery quality to a supporting role. As usual, the 12-year-old Chloe Moretz shows remarkably advanced nuance for an actor her age.

Continue Reading →

Martin Scorsese is a genius. No, I don’t mean he’s just talented or gifted or lucky (well, he may be those too). I mean he’s a certified genius. He’s one man who found his calling early, stuck with it and over the years has created some of the finest moments in cinema history.

And now, it looks like he’s done it again with his latest film Hugo. Based on the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, the film tells the story of orphan Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who lives inside the walls of a Paris train station.

His days are spent trying to unravel a mystery that links his late father to an ill-mannered toy shop owner living below him and a heart-shaped lock which seems to have no key. With the help from an eccentric girl named Isabelle (Chloe Moretz), he embarks on an adventure to solve the mystery. The film also features Jude Law as Hugo’s father and Ben Kingsley as Georges Melies, Isabelle’s godfather.

Based on this trailer alone I can safely say the movie looks terrific. Plus, Scorsese and Cholie Moretz. Forget about it, I’m in.

Hugo is set to arrive in theaters on November 23. Check out the trailer after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Like everyone  else, I was  upset when I heard that they were going to remake the beloved Swedish vampire film Let The Right One In.

However, let it be said that this is one of the most beautiful, poignant, and moving films of the year.

Director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) maintains the look and feel of the movie by bathing the frequent nighttime scenes in blue hones.  The crisp snowscape is now set in New Mexico, but the apartment courtyard where the two principals initially meet is nearly identical to the original.

Chronically bullied Owen (Kodi Smit-McGhee) notices a young girl and her father who have moved into his complex.  Over the course of several nights, he strikes up a friendship with the mysterious girl, bonding over a mutual love of puzzles and games.

She is guarded at first, but eventually warms up to Owen.  However, it is quickly apparent that she is no ordinary child.  She walks barefoot in the snow, by choice.  She shuns the daytime hours, and her relationship with her “father” appears a bit more sinister as time goes by.

Continue Reading →

By Shannon Hood and Jane Almirall

Each day we will provide you with capsule reviews and impressions of the films we see at Fantastic Fest, along with any activities or interviews we attend.  Complete reviews and interviews can be found on the site in upcoming weeks.

Day one of fantastic fest we hit the ground running and went straight from the airport to pick up our press badges.  We managed to cram in three screenings for the day, starting at 4pm.  Not too shabby.

Screening: Stone. Directed by John Curran and starring Edward Norton, Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy, and Milla Jovovich.  Summary: A convicted arsonist (Norton) looks to manipulate a parole officer (De Niro) into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife (Jovovich)  in the lawman’s path.

Jane’s thoughts:  This was an unusual experience for me.  I was half expecting this to play out like a thriller-but instead I watched a slow (but evenly paced) meditative, existential character study.

The performances were great, but I can’t say I enjoyed the film (to its credit,we discussed it a great deal afterwards.)

The characters in Stone never quite feel like actual people, rather they represent certain characteristics of humanity.  Their stories slowly unfold to reveal that in the end, we are back at the beginning and haven’t moved an inch.

Continue Reading →

While I’m not always a fan of Hollywood’s penchant for remaking excellent foreign films almost as soon as said films have been released, I have to say I’m pretty interested in Matt Reeves’ upcoming film Let Me In. Sure, it’s an Americanized version of a film that was only released in 2008, but judging from the trailer I’ve seen and this brand new scene from the film we’ve got for you today, it looks pretty damn good and quite scary.

In case you’re not familiar with either this new film or the original Swedish version, Let Me In concerns Abby (Chloe Moretz), a mysterious 12-year old girl, who moves next door to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Owen is a social outcast who is viciously bullied at school and because of this he forms a bond with his new neighbor.

As time passes Owen can’t help noticing that Abby is like no one he has ever met before. As a string of grisly murders occur in the town, Owen has to confront the reality that this seemingly innocent girl is really a savage vampire.

Check out the new clip from the film after the jump. Let Me In arrives in theaters on October 1st.

Continue Reading →

At the risk of repeating myself too much I will again express my love for a film festival in Austin, TX known as Fantastic Fest. It features some of the best and most innovative programming and events of any festival I’ve been to and is also a whole lot of fun. So naturally, whenever there’s news from the fest, as their is today, I’m going to share it.

With that in mind comes today’s news. Fantastic Fest has announced its opening night film and, drum roll please, that film is the vampire thriller Let Me In. The film, directed by Cloverfield‘s Matt Reeves, stars Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Elias Koteas and Richard Jenkins, tells the story of an alienated boy named Owen (Smit-McPhee) who spies on the other residents of his apartment complex. His only friend is his new neighbor, a young girl (Moretz) who lives with her silent father (Jenkins) and who turns out not to be at all what she seems.

The film will screen following a red carpet event and kick off the fest on Thursday, September 23rd at The Paramount Theater in Austin. Knowing the fest as I do this seems like a perfect film to kick things off. Sure, some people may not be into this upcoming remake of the terrific Let the Right One In but as a fan of Reeves’ earlier work on Cloverfield and after having seen some info about this new film, I’m convinced this was a great way to go.

Fantastic Fest runs from September 23-30 in Austin, Texas. Check out the full press release after the jump.

Continue Reading →

By Shannon Hood

Reprinted from the SXSW Film Festival, 3/14/2010

Make no mistake about it, Chloe Moretz (500 Days of Summer) owns this movie. She may only be 11 years old, but her performance as Hit-Girl is spunky, sassy, and exciting. Hit-Girl is poised to become a new comic cult icon, and Kick-Ass is quite simply a rollicking good time.

At one of the panels I attended this weekend, someone likened Kick-Ass to a comic type Pulp Fiction, which I would say is a pretty accurate description. British Actor Aaron Johnson plays Dave Lizewski, a nerdy high school type whose only interaction with the popular kids is when he brushes up against one at his locker.

One day out of the blue he decides he is going to become a vigilante superhero. He concocts a hideous green costume that resembles a wet suit, sets up a social media homepage for his alter ego, and starts “training.” When someone asks his name, he proudly proclaims, “I’m Kick-Ass!”

Completely inept and not blessed with any actual powers, Dave gets the living crap beat out of him by a few thugs mere moments after his official debut as Kick-Ass. This results in a multitude of injuries requiring steel plates and rods being placed throughout his body, which makes him a little more impervious to injury, but still not in possession of actual powers.

Continue Reading →

Many months ago, I was strolling past the movie theater on one particularly beautiful morning in downtown Burbank when I happened upon one of those annoying movie ticket barkers.  I was about to ignore him when I saw the following letters in big, black type: KICK-ASS. Exuberant, I ran over and as he started to explain what the movie was about, I told him I’d take 6 flyers.

That night at the plushy and sometimes snooty Hollywood Arclight I sat with a few of my very geeky friends in the front row and watched a test print of the most Kick-Ass film of the year.  Below is my review….from a gal’s pov of course.

TO ANYONE WHO HASN’T READ THE COMIC, SPOILERS FOLLOW:

The film begins with a shot of who you think is the lead character.  He is dressed in superhero tights and leaps from a tall building to his death.  The voice-over then aptly tells the audience that this is the real world and crazy men in tights don’t have super powers.

The next opening scenes are extremely reminiscent of the very first Spider-man film. Here’s the thing. I get how in any new comic book movie there is usually a very long and very slow opening arc where some normal guy has something horrible or great happen and he gets turned into a superhero– but it’s been done.  I hear it’s even going to be re-done again in a new Spider-man flick.

I know how Spider-man gets his powers, my mom even knows how Spidey gets his powers, his name implies that maybe a spider was involved.  I don’t need an hour of exposition to get to the good part.

Continue Reading →

For those not in the know when it comes to British pop musicians (we won’t blame you), Mika is a pretty big name in the world of UK Pop. He’s basically what Justin Timberlake is the US, but “across the pond.” He’s been on such shows as So You Think You Can Dance and Jimmy Kimmel Live, and now he’s even branching out into the world of comic book films, as his recent single is dedicated to the upcoming film Kick-Ass.

The song, appropriately titled “Kick Ass”, is a sort of anthem for the film, in which a teen wallflower decides to do something with his life and become a superhero. Other critics have referred to the song as “an updated version of the Highlander theme by Queen”, which makes complete sense. We can definitely see Mika becoming the modern day Queen, if only we could get an updated pop version of the Flash Gordon theme. Then we’d be in business.

Until then, check out Mika’s newest music video for the single, starring some of the cast of the film including Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Be sure to catch Kick-Ass in theaters on April 16th of this year (or April 2nd if you’re in the UK.)

Continue Reading →

I’m still anxiously awaiting the day I get to see Kick-Ass, and be as cool as our SXSW team that caught its Austin premiere. (Be sure to check out Shannon Hood’s review.)   But at least I could content myself with Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie which the gang at Titan Books was kind enough to let me review.

Anyone who viewed the trailer knows that Kick-Ass is going to be a unique movie. One look at Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl can tell you that much. But I hadn’t realized just how unusual its page-to-screen transition was. Millar was still in the process of sketching the book out when he approached Matthew Vaughn (licking his wounds after leaving Thor) about directing.

The movie took shape as the comic did, with Millar running back and forth between the production offices and his own keyboard, incorporating ideas from Vaughn and screenwriter Jane Goldman as he went. Characters who were meant to be minor players such as Red Mist took on a life of their own after they were cast, and ended up becoming major players in Kick-Ass’ story arc. If there’s a sequel to Kick-Ass, it may be entirely due to Christopher Mintz-Plasse single-handedly rewriting his character.

Continue Reading →

Just when we thought things were slowing down on the side of marketing for the upcoming Lionsgate adaptation of Kick-Ass, they come up with even more eye candy for us to peruse over. With that in mind, come three new posters for the upcoming flick, which all have a neat retro theme.

The film, which is based on the indie Marvel comic by Mark Millar (Wanted), already takes on the attributes of a zany ultraviolent film of yesteryear, so it only makes sense that they would put together some quirky posters that showed that off.

The film stars Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Nicolas Cage. Check out the new posters after the jump, and be sure to catch Kick-Ass in theaters on April 16th.

Continue Reading →

Make no mistake about it, Chloe Moretz (500 Days of Summer) owns this movie. She may only be 11 years old, but her performance as Hit-Girl is spunky, sassy, and exciting. Hit-Girl is poised to become a new comic cult icon, and Kick-Ass is quite simply a rollicking good time.

At one of the panels I attended this weekend, someone likened Kick-Ass to a comic type Pulp Fiction, which I would say is a pretty accurate description. British Actor Aaron Johnson plays Dave Lizewski, a nerdy high school type whose only interaction with the popular kids is when he brushes up against one at his locker.

One day out of the blue he decides he is going to become a vigilante superhero. He concocts a hideous green costume that resembles a wet suit, sets up a social media homepage for his alter ego, and starts “training.” When someone asks his name, he proudly proclaims, “I’m Kick-Ass!”

Completely inept and not blessed with any actual powers, Dave gets the living crap beat out of him by a few thugs mere moments after his official debut as Kick-Ass. This results in a multitude of injuries requiring steel plates and rods being placed throughout his body, which makes him a little more impervious to injury, but still not in possession of actual powers.

Continue Reading →