Director Peter Jackson will finally receive the title he’s been chasing through film for years. According to THR, the Oscar winning director will be one of the many people honored with the title of knight thanks to his contribution to film. He will follow in the footsteps of several other well known actors, singers, and directors who have “Sir” attached to their name.
As we all know, last week was pretty uneventful in terms of new movie releases, thankfully, that all changes today. December 11th marks Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation with The Princess and the Frog, which looks gorgeous. Ever since we saw a few clips of it back at Comic-Con all signs point to Disney magic. Peter Jackson’s new movie, The Lovely Bones, has received mixed reviews, but is beautifully shot and hey, it’s Peter Jackson! Fashion designer, Tom Ford’s new film, A Single Man, starring Colin Firth will be in limited release this wee, but is sure to grow with Oscar buzz. Finally we have Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman’s latest movie, Invictus, about the relationship between Nelson Mandela and the South African Rugby player, Francois Pienaar, after Mandela was elected President. Enjoy!
Check out the movies coming out this week…
Peter Jackson took on more than he might have bargained for with the film adaptation of The Lovely Bones. The film is constantly walking the line between disturbing and beautiful, and overall it is a success, just not the full success that it had the potential to be. There is no debating that this is one of beautiful films that you’ll see all year, with phenomenal performances across the board. It is filled to the brim with many wonderful qualities that carry you along throughout the film, and it’s great to see Jackson taking a risk on such a tricky novel. Sadly, as much as I wanted to love the film, I didn’t, at least not as much as I hoped I would.
Lets take a look at what what right and what went not so right…
What makes The Lovely Bones so special is its extremely disturbing and yet oddly beautiful tone. The only way to get to heaven is through death, and in the case of Susie Salmon, played by Saoirse Ronan, it’s a brutal passage. The film involves a rape and murder of a child, by a man who seems to be evil for no good reason. Peter Jackson, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg and Ronan all stepped onto the project weary about the subject matter but optimistic about how the could represent the light that shines through the dark….
The Hobbit has been on a rocky road to production thanks to its studio’s financial problems. We keep hearing that the film will go on as planned, even though the production dates have been pushed back. On a positive note, producer Peter Jackson has announced that the casting for Bilbo Baggins will begin this week.
The drama surrounding the production of The Hobbit is really starting to get annoying. We have all heard the hype regarding Guillermo del Toro as the director, and Ian Mckellen and Andy Serkis‘ return yet there’s still a major roadblock. According to TheOneRing, production on the film has been delayed.
As you should know, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, is breaking new ground in as many ways possible. Two of the biggest directors around, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have teamed up to co-direct the live animation adaptation of the comic. According to Nick Frost, both directors took part in the film equally although Spielberg was on set and Jackson mainly directed via iChat and a loud PA system that rang out over the set.
Simon Pegg and Frost were cast as the two Thompson twins in the film, (Pegg gets to be Thompson, since he is ‘P’egg) which was filmed in Santa Monica, California back in February. The film is currently in post-production and won’t be released until December of 2011 mainly due to all the special effects that will have to be rendered.
Nick Frost, in his rather easy-going way, filled us in earlier today at the Pirate Radio (formerly known as The Boat that Rocked) junket in London on some of the details of shooting such a technically advanced film, some of the equipment involved, and of course, how it was working with two of the biggest directors of all time at once.
How nice, the film is a ways from coming out and it’s already the talk of the town. Is this a hype thing? A Peter Jackson thing? Or is the film really that good? The film, based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold has officially been selected for the Royal Film Performance 2009. The World Charity Premiere will take place in late November in Leicester Square.
A poster has been released for Peter Jackson’s upcoming drama, The Lovely Bones. The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as parents grieving over the death of their young teenage daughter. The cast also includes several Oscar winners and nominees such as Susan Sarandon and Saoirse Ronan.
Take a look at the poster’s debut…
