Tuesday, August 19, 2008

a lump of coal in your stocking?

As you have undoubtedly heard, Bryan Singer's Valkyrie, once meant to be a 2008 film, has abandoned its 2009 release date to debut around Christmas after all. 2008 here it comes!

Does this mean Santa thinks we've been bad? Early buzz suggests that this is a lump of coal. But then again... maybe not. Singer has gift wrapped some real choice goodies in the past.


The Nazi era flick stars everyone's favorite looney cult member and a red hot Dutch diva who happens to look exactly like Charlotte Gray Blanchett in this photo, don't you think?
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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love Charlotte Gray!

E Dot said...

I actually just saw the trailer, and the cinematography looks great. His performance on the other hand....

Sean Knight said...

I think everyone needs to calm the hell down and leave the film alone until release. Also could we cut Tom Cruise some slack, for christ sakes despite his public antics which I despise this is the guy who has delivered solid and often times amazing work in Born on the 4th of July, Magnolia, Minority Report, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut, and his most recent turn in Tropic Thunder, which is probably the best part of the film. LEAVE THE MAN ALONE! He's crazy, but he can be a gifted actor.

E Dot said...

Okay Chris Crocker, take a breath.

We're just giving our opinion. It's a blog.. not the end all, be all of Tom Cruise.

Anonymous said...

Personally, Brian Singer has yet to let me down. I have faith, feeble as it may be, its there.

Anonymous said...

Personally, Brian Singer has yet to let me down. I have faith, feeble as it may be, its there.

Anonymous said...

P.S. i just LOVE posting things accidentally twice. I dont find it highly annoying, embarassing, or requiring of extreme sarcasm at all!

Runs Like A Gay said...

World War 2 looks to be terribly hot this year. Valkyrie wiil be competing against Miracle at St. Anna, Defiance, Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Good, the third act of Australia and, going into 2009, Inglorious Bastards.

It makes sense that Valkyrie tries to get in on the fiscal action that the WW2 habit will create. It's my opinion that each of these films will act as a semi-advert for the rest of them. The trailers may also be used to cross sell each other.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the studio are trying to subconsciously group Valkyrie with the serious Nazi films from 2008 and away from the frivolous Inglorious Bastards and 2009.

Ultimately the success of these films will be dependent on how the stories relate to the world we live in today. Valkyrie, Striped Pajamas and Good all focus on "good" people doing bad things even if it is only Valkyrie where the protaganists rebel against their orders. If this strikes a chord with American and British citizens who've seen their civil liberties eroded and the continuation of unpopular military campaigns, then the box office may be surprising.

I also don't think this will be a lump of coal. Bryan Singer hasn't made an uninteresting film in over 15 years, and there's no reason to expect that he's lost his touch. Even the bad press from the early screenings must in some ways be quenched by the reshoots and more recent screening leaks.

I don't think Valkyrie will be a major player in this years oscar's - too much baggage and too much competition - but the high quality supporting players and solid technical team could get aspects of the film into the fray.

Anonymous said...

Does everone know that The curious case of benjamin button is out on Xmas day and then on december 26th both Valkyrie AND Revolutionary Road are out, the guys that planned that one out are not exactly intelligent.

Jason Adams said...

I'll defend Bryan Singer as a worthwhile filmmaker any day, but Superman Returns was an uninteresting film.

I realized during Tropic Thunder that I have no patience for Tom Cruise left. He had a couple of moments where he made me laugh, but it went on way too long (especially that end-credits bullshit) and mostly I realized I just don't like looking at his face anymore.

So that's what I'm most worried about with regards to Valkyrie. I was keeping an open mind, but now I am worried, where I wasn't really before.

Although I had spaced on Carice's presence until you mentioned it Nat, and that's a big bright shining beacon of hope there.

Flummoxed, I be.

Runs Like A Gay said...

Hi Ja,

I'll stand by my "uninteresting" description of Bryan Singer.

I struggled for a long time for the right word to go there (if only I spent so much time on my sentence construction) but I chose "uninteresting" for a reason. Whilst I agree that Superman Returns was a filure, and in parts a boring one, I felt that what Singer was trying to do with the character was interesting.

In the same way I am interested in how he'll handle this period of history.