The much anticipated film based on the 2003 apocalyptic book by Jeanne DuPrau, City of Ember, has a new trailer and official movie website. City of Ember will be released on October 10, 2008.

[ OFFICIAL MOVIE SITE ]

FILM PLOT:

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing ... and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever.

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Director: Andrew Adamson
Release Date: May 16, 2008
Running Time: 137 min
MPAA Rating: PG
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures

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Review by David DiMichele

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The travesty of Disneyfication that surrounded the first wearying and child-like installment of C.S. Lewis' seven- book series is still lurking somewhere in the shadows of the second installment, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The first half of the movie details the overthrow of Narnia by the ruthless Telmarine Empire, an army of men sporting perfectly-sculpted beards that scream EVIL! The Narnians have problems of their own. Their deceased king's son, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), is next in line to inherit the throne, but the man who killed his father is his uncle Miraz (played with abundant energy by Sergio Castellitto). Not only does Miraze want the throne for himself, he also intends for his newborn son to inherit it from him. Caspian is thus forced to flee from the medieval castle.

Indiana Jones may be the hottest movie ticket on the planet today, but The Dark Knight beats the Spielberg movie in my list of this year's most anticipated films! Aside from the awesome direction (which is a given) from Christopher Nolan and the amazing special effects, we'll also get to see Heath Ledger in one of the last roles he played before his tragic death.

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The Joker is definitely one of the most popular and also the most hated of Batman's nemeses. While Jack Nicholson gave it his best shot when he portrayed this villain, I look forward to having the chance to see how Heath Ledger approached the role and made it his own.

Now that we've seen the new poster featuring Heath as The Joker, one of the questions that seems to bother a number of movie bloggers is the issue of exploitation. Is Heath being exploited once again? Matte Havoc has this to say:

There is a new poster that will be released soon for the upcoming Warner Brothers release The Dark Knight (2008). The question that I would want to throw out there is the validity of exploitation. Do you think the publicity of Heath Ledger's character Joker that Warner Brothers is trying to exploit his death to promote the release date for the film?

There are two ways of answering this question. One is that it's a way of honoring and remembering Heath Ledger. This was certainly one of the most challenging roles of his short movie career, and there has been much talk about how the role affected his health, whether it made him think about the character more than he should have. We all know how dedicated Heath was in doing justice to his roles...

"I couldn't be happier to be opening this most auspicious festival with this utterly seductive and fascinating film, which stars some of the most charismatic young performers in the business, and affirms John Maybury as one of our most important directors," said Hannah McGill, the event's artistic director. "It's a film that I personally adore, and opening with it is the perfect expression of our commitment to intelligent, impassioned, exciting new film-making."

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That's Hannah McGill speaking, Edinburgh international film festival's artistic director. The movie is, of course, John Maybury's The Edge of Love.

I had a feeling of deja vu as I watched the trailer, as if I was seeing some never-before seen footage from Joe Wright's Atonement, where Knightley played one of the leads. I was totally taken by this trailer, and while I frowned at the comment that it might be 'better than Atonement', I will reserve judgment until I can watch the whole thing. I already have some reservations about The Duchess, but this one, with Sienna Miller and Cillian Murphy adding more prestige to the film's cast, I can't help but feel it might become one of the year's most acclaimed films.

I've been dying to see Ben Whishaw in another role after Perfume! I just think this guy is an awesome actor and that he can be really good in both modern and classical roles. I'm glad that Hanway Films just announced the completion of the much-awaited Brideshead Revisited, featuring Whishaw and two other topnotch actors- Matthew Goode and Hayley Atwell. Get to see the trailer (via youtube, below!)

More updates! Now comes the homoerotic flavor between Sebastian and Charles! Says the Independent:

But what have they done to the story? Something that will drive Waugh aficionados wild with rage.

For in comes a scene set in Venice, where Charles Ryder begins a love affair with the aristocratic Julia Flyte, under the nose of her brother, Sebastian, whose descent into alcoholism starts here. The film implies that this is a love triangle – a homoerotic friendship between young men that is displaced when one of them begins a heterosexual love affair, bringing emotional destruction to the other. [ read more ]

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What it’s about: Waugh’s novel, set in pre-war England as the privileged aristocratic class begins to decline, is an evocative and poignant tale of forbidden love and the loss of innocence. The story begins in 1925 at Oxford, when Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) is befriended by the louche and flamboyant Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw), son of Lord Marchmain. Charles is quickly seduced by an exciting new world of money, glamour and outrageous behavior.

The Hollywood Reporter and Variety tells us about two new upcoming film projects for Gaspard Ulliel:

"French actor Jean Reno will play the father of young co-star Gaspard Ulliel in Laurent Tuel's "Inside Ring," about a young man trying to break free from his father's gang. The film, produced by Thelma Films' Christine Gozlan and Alter Films' Alain Terzian, also co-stars Giocante and 2008 Cesar award-winner Sami Bouajila. Set to make it's market debut in Cannes, the films world sales agent, TF1 International, said."

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Also from Variety:

"A Jerusalem love-story "Survival of the Fittest," with Gaspard Ulliel and Jasmine Trinca, is directed by Alain Tasma who broke through with TV movie "October 17, 1961."

UPDATES: We'll have this ready in a jiffy, as we try to pick the best photos for the final 30, which is a bit hard coz many of them made a number of awesome movies, and yes, the cut-off is 30 y.o. (as in the case of the guys), so some of your faves may not make the list. Stay tuned!

After the launch of a very successful hitlist, the tMF Top 50 hottest young actors, it's the girls' turn to be in the spotlight!

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From Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley to emerging stars such as Camilla Bell, Kristen Stewart and Shareeka Epps, tMF is once again rounding up the most exclusive list of the coolest actresses in cinema!

Stay tuned for the launch soon! But hey, you can tell us your top three now! Be our guest and rave about your favorites!

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Starring: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Jurnee Smollett, Nate Parker
Director: Denzel Washington
DVD Release Date: May 13, 2008
Running Time: 123 min
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Distributor: The Weinstein Company

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Review by Jeremy Welsch

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When you pair up two great actors in a film you expect great performances from them. This seems like a simple idea, but it doesn’t always play out the way it should. The Great Debaters is touted as having two former winners of the Academy Award for Best Actor going head to head with each other, yet curiously they only share two scenes together, by my count. Both scenes work well but aren’t a true indication of how the movie plays. The Great Debaters follows the true story of Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington), a no-nonsense debate coach and sometime political activist who drove his team to national prominence in 1935 by challenging and defeating some of the best debate schools, white or black, in the nation.

A Special Tribute to Stephenie Meyer
By Kaleb Nation
[ Exclusive article for the Twilight Guy Day, launched by the Twilight Lexicon ]

“Even though some of us have never met her, we feel like we know her...like she’s a friend from school.”

—Amy

Stephenie Meyer, like most superstar authors, carries an image.

[A Movie-fanatic’s take on Stephenie Meyer’s book, Twilight- Exclusive article for the Twilight Guy Day, launched by the Twilight Lexicon ]

I hope I don’t sound like Daniel, the interviewer in Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, or appear to mimic the famous ‘centuries-old’ vampire who wants to be a rock star. I’m much simpler and more common than that.

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I love reading books. That’s particularly obvious since tMF has already featured 50 books-to- movie adaptations. But here I have a confession…. While Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, Mary Renault’s The Last of the Wine and Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo are my all-time favorites, there is something so appealing and so heart-warming about Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, that it is now fast becoming a favorite of mine.

But my becoming a Twilight fanatic did not happen overnight. I used to be a skeptic too…

Chameleon!
A profile of one of Hollywood's most talented, yet under-rated actors, Ben Foster!
By Deana Martin

“I'm so sick of sarcasm and irony – I could kill! [laughs] Sincerely, the real root of things is love and sacrifice. Everything else is an illusion. I'm not trying to preach here; I can't tell anybody anything. But I will say, if you're available to them, there are so many great secrets in the world, so many signs. It's when we stop for a moment and listen that the world gets interesting.”

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Examining 28-year-old Ben Foster’s most recent roles as the vampire-obsessed lunatic in 30 Days of Night, the murderous Charlie in 3:10 to Yuma, and the meth-addicted skinhead in Alpha Dog, one might be surprised to hear such positive and uplifting thoughts from the up and coming actor. Foster may have gained notoriety over the past few years playing some of the most convincing villains to hit the screen in a long while, but his career actually began on a much lighter note.

Many of us have fond memories of Ben in his first role as Tucker in the teen show “Flash Forward”, a staple of the Disney Channel in the mid-90s. Even at a young age, Foster had a way of commanding the screen with his comedic timing and complete freedom of over-the-top facial expressions. He perfectly epitomized the kid in your class that you got really annoyed with every day, yet secretly had a crush on.

Starring: Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox
Director: Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski
Release Date: May 9, 2008
Running Time: 135 min
MPAA Rating: PG
Distributor: Warner Bros.

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Review by Jeremy Welsch

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Prior to this weekend, I could not think of a single pertinent reason that would justify making Speed Racer into a feature film apart from the obvious one of exploiting existing media for financial gain. I had every reason to dislike this film. Larry and Andy Wachowski, the force behind a couple of little indie films, Bound and The Matrix, had some splainin’ to do. Since being widely and rightfully accused of ruining The Matrix franchise, they have not set foot behind the camera. I would call this a good thing.

Speed Racer is more than just a movie by the Wachowski Brothers; it is their attempt at reinvention and they want to make a statement. What that statement is, though, is unclear. Do they want to be taken seriously once again, or do they want something that will put a middle finger in the face of anyone who questions their path? Either way, adapting an anime series with a cult following is a curious choice of material. But dig a little deeper and it’s not as much of a leap as you’d think. Look at their directorial efforts – Bound, The Matrix Trilogy, and now Speed Racer. All pretty different movies, but thematically they have a common thread: the observation of the traps people make of their lives and the revelation of their eventual transformation. Basic stuff, I know, but it becomes interesting when you consider that their career is starting to become molded to that same theme. Speed Racer is the Wachowski’s warm embrace of that idea.

But I am getting off track.

I got an email from a regular-guy-cum-moviegoer saying that perhaps it's tMF who alerted Twilighters to the flood of negative comments on Slashfilm's Twilight teaser trailer post. Now that 'they've been alerted', that movie site is being populated by 'tourists' and is therefore getting more than the usual amount of traffic. Shame on tMF, he says...

As stated in my previous post, it's the site's regular readers who seem to love bashing Twilight. Mr. Sciretta might have indicated his reservations regarding the movie, and wanted to ask his readers what they thought of the teaser trailer. As was obvious from his first Twilight post, he decided to restrict the comments since there was already a tremendous response from Twilighters, and it was affecting /films's servers. It might happen again since "Bashing Twilight Episode 2" is currently on display at /film right this minute.

The regulars (I assume they're young male film buffs, along with some aspiring film critics and several others as well) remain totally clueless as to why Twilight rocks. They could only come up with one explanation: Twilight fans are 14-year old girls who love to scream and giggle. How wrong could they be? Apparently, very wrong. It says a lot about what kind of a website slashfilm is, based on the comments of its regular readers.

Perhaps instead of being referred to as 'Twilight bashers', it might even sound cool to call them "Slashers"?

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Enjoy this awesome article from Lowestoft Journal:

From premieres in Berlin and Los Angeles to filming in New Zealand, Morocco and Alicante the jet-setting acting career of a rising star from Lowestoft is literally taking off.

Fresh from treading the red carpet at the premiere of 10,000 BC in March, it is continuing to be a busy schedule for Reece Ritchie as this week he received a double boost. For the Oulton Broad 21-year-old was flying to Alicante this week after he was picked to star with Colin Farrell for the film Triage.  The trip followed hard on the heels of being chosen for his latest assignment starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal for the first-part of an expected trilogy in the film based on the video game Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.