Hey folks, Harry here... Hannibal sent this in to my aintitcoolmail account, so I didn't see it, as I don't check that account except while traveling... So as a result, this news is hitting ya a bit late. BUT... hey, news about Verhoeven is always cool in my book... So read up... damn... what happened to his Hitler project?
Hi Harry,
Hannibal here with part three of the Brussels Filmfestival. It has once
again been a busy few days, and I have seen some fine films, but I'll keep
it short on that department. But the main news I have for you today has
to
do with Paul Verhoeven. Mellow (partner-in-crime) and Hannibal attended
a
press-conference where Paul answered some of our questions, and signed
a lot
of our posters (he's such a nice man). When asked about his next
projects,
he really spilled the beans. He talked about four (count'em)
projects he was
working on as of now.
First off, he still wants to make his film baout Jesus, but that film is the most unlikely to happen, especially since he parted ways with co-writer Jean-Claude Carrière. Verhoeven said that "he wanted to make more of a political film about the life of Christ, and not so much emphasize the religious aspect. Carrière wanted to make a religious film, so we decided to go our seperate ways."
Right now Verhoeven is thinking about making "The Source", a film about
M.F
Aureole (I forget who he/she is; forgive me), that will be set in France
around 1882. He is actively developing this script, and it will most likely
be his next project.
He also is developing a script together with screenwriter Rosalyne Bosch (1492, Bimboland) about Rasputin, set of course in Russia. The film will actually be shot in Eastern Europe, but he didn't say when it was going to be shot.
The last project he talked about was a thriller set in the fall of '45, somewhere in Berlin. Verhoeven said that the film will be violent and exciting, and will be shot in Germany.
That's quite a lot to look forward to, IMHO. Oh yeah, Verhoeven was also asked about Basic Instinct 2, but that's definately (spelling?) not going to happen. Verhoeven said that the script needed at least six more months of work. He didn't have a problem working with Sharon Stone again though, they are supposed to be friendly. Another reason Verhoeven didn't want to do the film is the fact that Michael Douglas wouldn't come back. Verhoeven wanted Robert DeNiro to fill his shoes, but that's just wishful thinking. Basic 2 may happen, but without Verhoeven.
Like I said before, I'll keep it short on the films. The most satisfying film from the last couple of days was the excellent TERROR TRACT, but that film has been out in the States for quite some time. Still, it was great fun, and the audience went wild. Great fun, 9/10!
Another decent film was the new Micael Caine movie SHINER. Although the story was pretty predictable, the performances by the two main leads Caine and Martin Landau were excellent. 6.5/10, but well worth a look Another very good film was the thriller CHASING SLEEP, starring Jeff Daniels. The story is very simple (a man waits for his wife to come home, while lying awake in bed) and takes place entirely within the confinement of Jeff's house (hello claustrophobia), but it is very tense and stylish. Pretty good, except for some misplaced gore and a useless sex-scene. Still 7.5/10.
The last two films, CONTAMINATED MAN (5/10, starring William Hurt and Peter Weller, playing two men that are infected with some crazy virus) and THE IREEFUTABLE TRUTH ABOUT DEMONS were pretty bland and the latter was simply boring. I was really waiting for something to happen, and if something did happen, it was mostly the characters moving from one location to another to talk some more nonsense. Even the occasional gore couldn't save this baby. A shame, because the film looked really good. 4/10
well, that's all from me ...
see ya next year, and thanks for reading.
Hannibal
