Into The Wild 

Into The Wild website
I’ll admit, when I first saw the trailer for Into The Wild, I was a little hesitant. It came across as a little pretentious, preaching the sentiment “Oh look how beautiful the world is!” down my throat. And with Sean Penn behind the camera, I was skeptical about how he would bring to the screen the 1996 Jon Krakauer novel. The story of Christopher McCandless is a tricky one because people are generally divided into those who believe McCandeless was a great adventurer and those who thought he was a reckless kid who should’ve known better. Either way you look at his life, it makes for a potentially fantastic film.

Then I read a positively glowing review on Aint It Cool News by Moriarty (whom is usually right on the money) and I was confident the trailer just attempted to garner some interest in the film and wasn’t necessarily a fair representation of what Penn was trying to achieve. So now I’m pumped for the film and also its soundtrack provided by Eddie Vedder. You can hear a few samples of the score on the official movie site. The film comes out September 21st in the states, November 29th here in Australia.

 
 
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Tuesday, August 28 2007
 
Film General
 

Flight of the Conchords 


Okay sue me but I’ve been slack and haven’t seen this fantastic show until now. The basic premise of this fictional comedy series is two wannabe folk musicians (Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie) from New Zealand who head to NYC to try their luck at fame and relationships. Originally Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie started performing as Flight of the Conchords (their band name) at various comedy festivals and were even featured quite heavily on the ABC (Australia) TV show Stand Up! (which I never saw btw). They did a little radio and eventually landed a pilot at HBO where they’ve finished filming the first series of 12 episodes with a second season green lit, airing sometime next year. 2008 will also see the arrival of a full-length album. I wouldn’t be surprised if a movie is in the cards at some point too. But that wouldn’t be for a while. You can watch the entire first episode on Google Video.

Finally, did I mention the show goes great with an episode of Entourage, post Friday night drinks?

 
 
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Saturday, August 25 2007
 
TV
 

I’m Not There 


With Bob Dylan just touring Australia, I guess it’s timely the film studios release this trailer for the new film from Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, Safe, Velvet Goldmine) entitled I’m Not There.

It’s a strange looking film, where seven characters (amongst those are actors Christian Bale, Heather Ledger, Richard Gere, and even Cate Blanchett) embody a different aspect of the musician’s life and work. Purists might have an issue with the film but Haynes is generally a decent filmmaker so this should be something different to check out around Boxing Day here in Australia.

 
 
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Tuesday, August 21 2007
 
Film General
 
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