Weekend Updates

I was out and about this weekend, so Thursday & Friday were neglected some. I return however, with a couple of videos that any self-respecting filmgoer is going to want to see.

Last week, the visionary Peter Jackson, who everyone knows as the man who helmed the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, debuted his trailer for The Lovely Bones, which comes out December 11th of this year. An adaptation of the 2002 best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones stars Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Saiorse Ronan, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci. It focuses on the story of 14 year-old Susie Salmon, played by Ronan, who on December 6th, 1973, is brutally murdered by her neighbor (Tucci) when she decides to take a shortcut home from school. From heaven, Ronan is able to watch down on her family and when she finds she is able to interact with the living world, she must make the choice between helping her parents (Wahlberg and Weisz) catch her killer and achieve vengeance, or help them heal from the entire ordeal. The trailer alone almost guarantees a Visual Effects nomination as the movie promises some truly dazzling sequences, and Jackson seems to have done a wonderful job of blending the contrasting genres such as drama, horror and fantasy into a focused whole. As well, this movie looks to be Mark Wahlberg's return to form, appearing in his best role since 2006's The Departed, where he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Check out the trailer below:

The Lovely Bones - Trailer 1 (2009)


Next up is Terry Gilliam's latest work of art, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this May, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was expecting a summer release but was well-received at Cannes, and thus the release for the film was pushed back (October for the UK and December for North America), as to appear as a legitimate contender for film awards. Even before this trailer came online, the movie had quite a bit of notoriety as it was a third of the way through filming when Heath Ledger, who had been cast in the role of Tony, passed away on January 22nd, 2008. As his parts were not completed, his role was recast and Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell stepped in to play the role of Tony, and Gilliam has covered this change by explaining that each actor plays a different physical incarnation of Tony as he and Dr. Parnassus' travelling theatre troupe travel through different worlds. As far as the trailer goes, it is visually spellbinding though a bit of a task to understand just what the movie's plot entails. The story features Dr. Parnassus, played by Christopher Plummer, who takes his travelling film troupe on an journey through dream worlds to rescue his daughter (Lily Cole), who has been taken by the Devil himself (played by musician Tom Waits), who is collecting on an deal that the immortal Parnassus made with him years ago. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus hits theatres on Christmas Day.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Trailer 1 (2009)


Both trailers courtesy of YouTube.