His influence on music-in-film isn’t, all things considered, that well known. Especially over here in Australia, almost no musicians know who he is, which is a shame since he pretty much defined them for a new generation. Pre-Bruno movies that featured musicians usually focused on popular bands, with no major problems. Only films such as This is Spinal Tap had tried to show them as anything more. When Stroszek was released, though, it was perhaps the first major film to highlight the problem of being an outcast in the slums of Germany, with the loneliness and unrequited ambitions that came with it. For the first time, the freaks had a voice.

…oh shit, sorry, I got my wires crossed. “Doesn’t hit right. Give me obituary,” I can hear you murmur through a gas mask. Let me start again:

Bruno S. was a man who’d spent most of his life in mental institutions, teaching himself how to play piano, glockenspiel, handbells and the accordion. Werner Herzog discovered him and cast him in two films – The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser and Stroszek, the latter of which was quite biographical.

That doesn’t sound like much of a career, and for a traditional actor that would be pathetic. But Bruno S. wasn’t a traditional actor – he was a strange outcast from society who had odd, idiosyncratic talents. Herzog, always a lover of people differing from the norm (Klaus Kinski, the angriest actor in history, and a whole host of bizarre extras in films such as Cobra Verde), saw the true genius in Bruno. Here was the German underdog, the man whose talent was so personal and bizarre that it would be ignored unless someone of Herzog’s standing took him under his wing and displayed him to the public. When that happened, Bruno received a lot of attention in Berlin – and then, as soon as Herzog moved on from him, Bruno was back to being a nobody.

But he’s a nobody that we all know, and that’s what we truly value about him, and what we will miss.

Harmony Korine’s probably kicking himself now for never making a film with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs

Yessiree, it really is -

meets

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t in any way a slight against it. We’ve known about Aronofsky’s love of Perfect Blue for years (c.f. when he bought the rights to it just so that he could replicate the bath scene for Requiem for a Dream – and look, there’s another bathtub scene in this trailer), and a darker, nastier, more psychological The Red Shoes is a pretty neat idea, as long as it still retained a lot of colour (ala Suspiria?). There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of colour in the trailer admittedly, but then we don’t see a lot of the dancing either. This is something much more visual and I hope Aronofsky pulls off what could be a not-so-amazing idea purely through visual splendour.

Oh, but here’s a slight against it; Natalie Portman. Frankly, I don’t think she can pull off a dual role like this, and the reason I think that is because she can’t even pull off a single role. She hasn’t displayed any notable talent since Leon, for god’s sake. I realise a lot of people find her (and the prospect of lesbian lovin’, as seen in the trailer) attractive, but to me it’ll amount to watching Mila Kunis wanking with a branch, almost as if she’s a far crazier, more insanely sexual version of the Log Lady from Twin Peaks.

Still, I’m willing to be impressed, and I’ll be watching this with some level of interest. Impress me, Portman. Do it, I dare you.

Cool promotional pic, by the way.

Taken from the November 2009 issue of Empire:

“Empire: There was a piece in The Guardian recently, around the DVD release of Che, where it sounded like you wanted to give up. But you don’t sound defeated…

Soderbergh: Okay…What that guy did was not cool. I was not depressed, I was not defeated, I was not resigned. In fact, I was very much the way I am right now.  I was speaking in sort of philosophical terms about the business, about that film, and it was spun and put out in the aftermath of the Moneyball situation to look as though it was a reaction to that. That was not cool, the way I was characterised in that piece.”

Reassuring news!

I’ll start off by saying that this is hands down the greatest Australian film to come out in years, possibly ever, and that is seriously saying something considering the recent string of great films like Samson and Delilah, Balibo, The Last Ride, Van Diemen’s Land, Beautiful Kate, The Black Balloon, I Know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer, The Man from Hong Kong and Harvie Krumpet. Margaret Pomeranz never saw this movie, neither did David Stratton, but I can assure that they would weep openly at this visceral, intellectual delight. Even Tarantino had to concede that Rocket Man was the best Australian film since Turkey Shoot. Tim Kurschner is our generation’s Lisa McCune; he is a delightful young talent whose performance will certainly be remembered in years to come. I have faith in The Muscles’ future. He is truly a sight to behold.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The first trailer for the next Werner Herzog film is finally here. Written and directed by Herzog, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done is also produced by David Lynch, and stars Willem Dafoe and Chloë Sevigny, as well as Michael Shannon, whose Oscar nomination last year for his supporting role in Revolutionary Road was very well-deserved. The trailer is surprisingly atypical of trailers for a Herzog/Lynch feature, but the movie still looks really great, and with such a stellar cast and crew I’m officially excited!

I have just been informed that Harmony Korine is working on his fourth feature film – a musical called Trash Humpers – and that it is set to be unveiled at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival as part of their Visions section. I repeat: this is going to be released this year. 2009. Next. Freaking. Month.

The website describes Trash Humpers as a “handheld video of a loser-gang cult-freak collective who do antisocial things in a non-narrative way, except for the song-and-dance numbers”. As someone who adores his work, I find it hard to communicate my excitement without resorting to a string of incomprehensible letters and exclamation marks. This is beyond excitement, this is…

…SGHBS!!!!

This comes only two years after Mister Lonely. Julien-Donkey Boy came two years after Gummo. Gummo came two years after Kids. This announcement and his recent work Crutchnap hints at a return to form; not just a return to the controversial nature of his previous films and his unique directorial approach, but a return to productivity. While I’ve enjoyed Harmony’s recent commercials, I was worried that they would result in another hiatus period like the seven-year gap between Julien Donkey-Boy and Mister Lonely, and that he would focus less on feature films. I’m so glad to be wrong.

A harmony-korine.com user said:
When I talked to harmony at his art exhibit opening in nashville he told me he had two things in the work. First, he was getting ready to shoot something very quickly and very small. He said that it was going to make more people angry than anything he’s ever done. Second, he was going to be working on something bigger by the end of this year. I’m guessing this is the former.

Excuse me, I’ve gotta go pass out now.

EDIT: Some screenshots from the film have been released. You can view them at the Toronto International Film Festival website.

EDIT 2: Trash Humpers will also be screened at the New York Film Festival.

The first trailer for Wes Anderson’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story Fantastic Mr. Fox has just been released. You can see it at Yahoo! Movies by clicking here.

Personally, I’m incredibly excited for this. The Projectorheads’ opinion on Wes Anderson is split – some of us think he can do no wrong, others don’t quite get the hype. I count myself in the former category, and this trailer seems to show me that he can go out of his comfort zone and still make a great film. As much as the voiceover tries to make the trailer look like a typical kid’s movie, the voice acting and animation style shine through to show this is gonna be something special.

IMDb tells me the UK release date for this is October 23rd (November 13th for Americans, and not until January 10th for Australians). I can’t wait.

From the Guardian:

“In terms of my career, I can see the end of it,” he says. “I’ve had that sensation for a few years now. And so I’ve got a list of stuff that I want to do – that I hope I can do – and once that’s all finished I may just disappear.”

This comes in the wake of the relative failure of the 4 1/2 hour long biopic Che (which I still haven’t seen), and Sony’s decision to stop funding Moneyball five days before shooting (a horrific irony, considering The Girlfriend Experience’s constant discussion of the economic crisis).

So after about three or four years’ worth of projects (three or four films, in fact), Soderbergh’s bowing out. Dammit.

Harry Potter may have come under fire from (there’s no better way to put this) religious nuts over the years for its depiction of blasphemous magic, but it looks like a couple of said (still no better way) nuts quite like it, actually:

From IMDB:

The Roman Catholic Church has praised the latest instalment of the Harry Potter franchise – for highlighting the “sacrifice” needed for good to triumph over evil.

The Vatican’s own newspaper L’Osservatore Romano lauded Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, insisting it is the best adaptation of  J.K. Rowling’s hugely successful books so far.

And it even insisted the teenage love scenes – with the main characters all kissing in the film – achieved the “correct balance” in creating a credible story for the audience.

The Vatican added that the movie was positive as it showed that to overcome evil, it “sometimes requires costs and sacrifice”.

I can’t help but think it’s less about the reasons they said, and more that the Pope applauded the death of Dumbledore. If you catch my drift.

EDIT:

Ah, and just to make things more sacrilegious, here’s Emma Watson cavorting with the Antichrist Superstar himself:

Harry Potter star Emma Watson is embracing her dark side by taking on a role in shock rocker Marilyn Manson’s creepy movie musical, according to reports.

The 19 year old will don her dancing shoes to play a princess in Manson’s as yet untitled Gothic musical, a retelling of the Cinderella fairytale.

Assuming it means “movie musical”, and not stage musical, then this is excellent news.

Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of Mud Blood

Hell’s freaking bells. I am honestly floored by how uncanny the resemblances are, mainly by Lucy Gordon (who sadly committed suicide after shooting the film) as Jane Birkin and Eric Elmosnino as Gainsbourg himself. This is a francophone fan-boy’s wet dream.

There’s been a fairly significant change to the film, according to Variety. Apparently the film is now named Je t’Aime Moi Non Plus. I suppose, translated, I Love You, Me Neither is a more interesting title than Serge Gainsbourg, a Heroic Life. It’s also a wise move from a marketing viewpoint, since Je t’Aime Moi Non Plus is still a massive hit around the world.

This bit in particular interests me:

Melin, who came onboard after reading the script’s first draft, said the pic is far more of a fantasy than a biopic. “Je t’Aime” will feature animated creatures, crafted by the “Pan’s Labyrinth” designers, which will symbolize the spirit and imagination of Gainsbourg.

Film marks Sfar’s directorial debut.

“I’m not making a classic biopic like ‘La Vie en Rose,’ ” explained Sfar, who added that he has been prepping the film for two years. “I’m bringing my comicbook universe into the film, with puppets, songs, poetry and costumes, for my own fantasized vision of Gainsbourg.”

This makes sense, looking at the art he’s already drawn for the Gainsbourg comic book. I can’t contain my excitement any longer; first chance I get, I’m stowing away on a plane to France to steal the final cut.

Visit the official website for more information:

http://www.gainsbourg-lefilm.com/