The biggest question of the weekend is this: why did Paramount, which won last weekend with Paranormal Activity 3, bump up Puss in Boots to the first week of October when the first week of November has become the official start of the fall season? It should handily win the weekend over some lesser competitors – like Anonymous, The Rum Diary, and  In Time – but are they following the formula of Fast Five and getting an early jump on the competition, or do they think they have a weak sister?

Continue Reading

Despite the Roland Emmerich glitz and glamour that has absolutely nothing to do with Shakespeare and the overt repetition of names like Marlowe and Jonson (remember, they wrote plays too!), Anonymous is a success and Emmerich, though some may question with such a topic and tease for a few of the EXTREME wide shots, has managed to capture what truly matters about Shakespeare, the written word.

Continue Reading

The man behind the CGI curtain, reveals a new side to his filmmaking — director Roland Emmerich, known for his amazing special effects, is soon to be thought of for his heart and knowledge of Shakespeare. Anonymous, his up and coming film is a sexy way of giving people a possible history lesson, that somehow manages to also hold a great deal of meaning.

He took his time making this film, earning his stripes as a director over the past decades with numerous big budget hits. This is a risky film in a number of ways, one that I’m sure needed convincing, but something that Emmerich has quite obviously wanted to make for some time and believed in. He was right to take his time, because in doing so he was able to make this film in the right way, get the right script, with the right cast, be in a position to make bold calls and have people listen, and in the end, he was able to deliver the right message.

Continue Reading

Remember the film V for Vendetta?  You know the one—based on the comic of the same name, starring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving, set in a dystopic future in London, and based on the efforts of Guy Fawkes, who “was arrested while guarding explosives beneath London’s House of Lords in an attempt to kill numerous politicians and King James I” on November 5, 1605, which is now known as Guy Fawkes Night?   Well, turns out the civil disobedience group Anonymous remembers the fifth of November, and Guy Fawkes, too, and are threatening an assault on Facebook on November 5^th.

Continue Reading

Roland Emmerich is famous for destroying things. In Independence Day he blew up the White House, in Godzilla, he flattened New York, and in 2012, he pretty much wrecked the entire planet. What’s left? Well, the Anonymous trailer suggests his next target is William Shakespeare. Or perhaps this is a new direction for the auteur. Anonymous opens September 30, and now there’s a trailer. Take a look…

Continue Reading

Sony just released a number of new pictures and synopsis’ for their upcoming films, but the one that caught my eye is Roland Emmerich‘s Anonymous. You have Emmerich, the man known for destroying the world in a variety of end of the world scenarios in 2012, The Day After Tomorrow and others, taking on a drama that challenges one of the most famous authors of all time, William Shakespeare. Taking on Shakespeare in any way, whether it be about him or his work itself, is always a touchy subject because everyone has such high expectations for anything associated with his name and immediately questions name of anyone who attempts to tackle his work.

Continue Reading

After 2012 gets released, action-thriller director Roland Emmerich plans on trading in tidal waves and earthquakes for a more subtle and dramatic challenge, Shakespeare. Or rather a fictional story about the man who may have actually written Shakespeare’s plays.

You might see this as a huge jump for Emmerich, who won’t have the big budget and special effects that he’s used to for his next film, but there’s a connection between the two. So far, every feature we’ve seen from him has been a form of fiction based on realistic theories. He definitely has a passion for what MIGHT be true and likes to bring us the most dramatic version possible. It works with destroying the world, now let’s see if it works with 17th century playwrights.

Continue Reading