CELLULOID BURNING

MTV sat down with Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau who had nothing but great things to say about the prospect of Joss Whedon directing the Avenger’s movie. No confirmations have been made by either the Marvel camp or the Joss Whedon camp so all we can do is keep crossing our fingers.

I just about spit out my morning coffee when I read that Joss Whendon is in final negotiations to direct the Avenges movie. For those of you not in the know, ever since Marvel has taken over the production of movies based on their signature characters they have been locking the stars of said movies (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Nick Fury) into long term contracts that tie them all into an all star Avengers movie. So Robert Downey Jr, Samuel Jackson and others will all be sharing the screen together.

Now Joss Whedon at the helm of an Avengers movie is both surprising and inspiring. Whedon, long known for his TV work (Buffy, Angel, Firefly), only has one film directing credit to his name but for anyone who has seen Serenity knows that Whedon can write witty dialogue and balance a huge ensemble cast. Whedon is a huge comic book geek, having written numerous well reviewed and successful arcs for various Marvel properties.

Let’s all cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Check out the full story at DeadlineHollywood.com

This may be the most personal list I’ve written on this site. With film having been around for well over 100 years and the huge number of great directors from all over the world that have come and gone, the choices where daunting. I don’t claim to be an all knowing expert on film. There are many amazing filmmakers to whom I have seen little or none of their work. The director’s I do love, however, I’ve seen everything they have made and often tracked down rare and hard to find film’s from their oeuvre. I used no objective criteria in my selection, just my gut instinct and personal preferences. I know there are going to be a lot of people out there who scream “bloody murder” because I left out their favorite director to which I say… start your own damn website!
(continue reading…)

Movie Musicals are dead… ok maybe not dead, but at the very least they’re on life-support. The era of the big, opulent musical has passed. It passed away a long time ago. Yes there have been echoes of greatness, most notably Moulin Rouge, but really what else? Chicago, Rob Marshall movies… I think not (you have to bring something new to revive a dead genre). Now for the movie musical lovers, like myself, that doesn’t mean it’s time to slit your wrists and say “Hi” to baby Jesus just yet. There is cause for some celebration as there are plenty of films out there, that aren’t technically musicals (in the classical sense), but are best remembered for their unique and surprising musical moments. So lets collectively take the club out of Rob Marshall’s hands and give the dead horse a break.
(continue reading…)