project film school

f is for fall - f is for film

so i have been busy finishing up the yet to titled meerkatmedia documentary about a group of people, young and old creating theater together and learning the importance of storytelling - which means i haven't really been watching any films (although i did get disc 1 of season 3 of deadwood in the mail and started it last night)

luckily, i have to spend 7 hours at the computer everyday at my day job, and this is the time of the year when trailers for all of the exciting fall/early winter releases start to pop up.

in terms of personal anticipation - i am most looking forward to a few films:

1) there will be blood (dir. paul thomas anderson)
a story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century texas prospector (daniel day-lewis) in the early days of the business.

the combination of PTA with DDL is what initially made me excited about this film, seeing their work is an all too rare occurrence these days. the trailer and plot however, cemented this as the film i will take a sick day to go see. i am thinking that it will be a robert altman/terrence malickesque written on the wind with an amazing performance from day-leiws. will that combination work? i hope so.

2) i'm not there (dir. todd haynes)
ruminations on the life of bob dylan, where seven characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work

todd haynes is probably my favorite working director today. he is the sirk and fassbinder of my movie-going generartion and thus far has done no wrong. the cast is outstanding to boot. i'll be there.

3) the edge of heaven/auf der anderen seite (dir. fatih akin)
a turkish man travels to istanbul to find the daughter of his father's former girlfriend.

keeping with my love of fassbinder, fatih akin's latest features a performance from hannah schygulla - which given my love of maria braun, is enough to get me to the theater. what makes this film a must see for me, is akin himself. his last film, head on, was the best film of 2005 in my opinion and quickly became one of my all time favorites. hot off a successful trip to cannes, this film promises to be good.

4) things we lost in the fire (dir. susanne bier)
a recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children

i have been slightly obsessed with danish cinema of late and bier is without a doubt one of the reasons why. from her edgy dogme film open hearts (which zach braff is remaking to my disgust) to her oscar nominated after the wedding, bier creates solid dramas that weave the gritty reality of the dogme movement and the mise-en-scene of more stylized melodramas. this is her first go at an american picture, so we shall see i suppose. although the film does feature the recently absent benicio del toro - automatic bonus points!

also excited about

5) no country for old men (joel and ethan coen) - after not being able to force myself to watch the ladykillers i welcome a movie that feels like the coen's of my past

6) the flight of the red balloon (dir. hou hsiao hsien) - great director...one of those guys where you just go and see the movie - no matter what.

7) the golden age (dir. shekar kapur) - a great cast, including cate blanchett, clive owen, geoffrey rush and especially samantha morton sell me on this period piece sequel.

8) reservation road (dir. terry george) - the cast sells me again - joaquin phoenix and mark ruffalo mainly...

9) sweeney todd (dir. tim burton) - i've always has a soft spot for burton and it's about time we saw him do something darker.

10) 3:10 to yuma (dir. james mangold) - i've been into westerns lately. this one may be a remake, but i inherently trust christian bale. and am excited by the prospect of a resurgence of the genre (re: how amazing the proposition was).

check out some trailers and clips: