| Portman tipped for 'Alien' prequel Natalie Portman is favourite to be cast in Ridley Scott's upcoming 'Alien' prequel. feeds.breakingnews.ie |
Pulp Fiction: No 8 Quentin Tarantino, 19941994 was Quentin Tarantino's year. With audiences reeling from the shockﾂof Reservoir Dogs two years earlier, the mantle of world's coolest film director was his for the taking. His second feature, the ambitious but oddly leisurely thriller Pulp Fiction, premiered at Cannes, where Clint Eastwood's jury awarded it the Palmeﾂd'Or. A year later, it had grossed $213m, faced off against Forrest Gump at the Academy Awards and planted an entire library of offbeat references and quotable lines in the heads of susceptible cinemagoers. It would not be overstating the case to call it aﾂphenomenon.The idea of a portmanteau crime film had been cooked up by Tarantino and his old video store colleague, Roger Avary (who got a "story by" credit). But the picture's magic touch is the anti-chronological structure which enables its three stories to intersect in unusualﾂways 窶 so the final story predates the first one, and a character who dies in the middle story reappears at the end, striding off toward a demise we have witnessed, but about which he can have no possible inkling. In the first chapter, two hitmen, Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L Jackson), take possession of a mysterious briefcase before Vincent goes on to chaperone his boss's girlfriend (UmaﾂThurman) on an evening that spins wildly out of control. The second story follows a boxer, Butch (Bruce Willis), whose failure to throw a fight as instructed leads him into territory which might reasonably be described as hellish. Theﾂclosing episode has an unexpected air of sitcom about it as Vincent and Jules turn to a clean-up specialist named the Wolf (Harvey Keitel) when a misfired gun leaves a nasty mess in the back of their car. All this is bookended by scenes in a diner that is being held up by two excitable young crooks (Tim Roth andﾂAmandaﾂPlummer).For better or worse, the movie madeﾂpossible the long reign of Miramax, revived Travolta's career and ratified Tarantino's reputation. Familiarity withﾂthe director's box of tricks has bred a touch of contempt, but it's becoming easier, now that the hype has cleared, to see the movie for what it really is: an audacious attempt to fuse visual chutzpah and expansive storytelling, movies and music, art andﾂtrash. It's a true one-off.CrimeQuentin TarantinoSamuel L JacksonJohn TravoltaRyan Gilbeyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
The sci-fi and fantasy 25: in pictures The complete set of our critics' top choices. Just click the film title for more information guardian.co.uk |
The Hobbit relocation row sparks street protests in New Zealand As Warner executives prepare to meet prime minister, protesters dressed as JRR Tolkien characters hit streetsThousands of New Zealanders have taken to the streets to try to prevent production of the film The Hobbit from moving out of their country.Dressed as characters from JRR Tolkien's tales, protesters opposed the idea of relocating Peter Jackson's two-part Lord of the Rings prequel. A dispute over pay and conditions led producers to hint that they might move filming to another country.Carrying banners proclaiming "New Zealand is Middle Earth" and "We Love Hobbits," a reported 2-3,000 people gathered in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, and other cities such as Auckland and Christchurch in advance of a visit by executives from the studio Warner Bros.Jackson is due to start shooting early next year, but the row with a local union 窶 now resolved 窶 has damaged New Zealand's chances of retaining the films. The Lord of the Rings trilogy helped to establish the country as an up and coming location for big budget film-making. But in recent weeks producers have hinted at a move to the UK, Canada, Australia or eastern Europe for the new films.The Warner executives will make the final decision later this week, reports say, after meeting New Zealand's prime minister, John Key, who has stepped in personally to try and resolve the crisis. He told reporters today that there was probably a 50-50 chance of the movies being filmed in New Zealand."I'd love to tell you it's a done deal, but we're a long way away from being a done deal," Key said. "There are a number of issues that we'd need to resolve."Oscar-winning technician Richard Taylor, whose Weta workshop handled the groundbreaking special effects for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, read out a letter from Jackson to the Wellington crowd which appeared to offer hope. "This is where Middle Earth was born and this is where it will stay," the film-maker said. Taylor himself said that the alternative was "just too bleak to consider".The Office star Martin Freeman will play the lead role of Bilbo Baggins in Jackson's films, it was announced on Friday. Richard Armitage, best known from the BBC series Spooks, will play Thorin Oakenshield, leader of the dwarves, and Ian McKellen returns as wizard Gandalf.Filming of The Hobbit is due to start next February with a release date for each part of December 2012 and December 2013 respectively.Lord of the RingsScience fiction and fantasyNew ZealandPeter JacksonJRR TolkienBen Childguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Mariah Carey 'pregnant with twins' AMERICAN singer Mariah Carey has hinted she may in fact be expecting twins, OK! magazine has reported. news.com.au |