Latino movie news, reviews, trailers, and festival coverage

Jim Jarmusch, Gael García Bernal team up in ‘Limits’

If you don’t know who Jim Jarmusch is, you better do some research. Not only has Darren Aronofsky mentioned him as an inspiration, but he was referred to as the savior of independent film in the 1980s. His latest project is called The Limits of Control and is about “the story of a mysterious loner, a stranger in the process of completing a criminal job.” We haven’t even heard of this until now, but it sounds like it could be great, and it’s exciting to see Jarmusch again, since he last directed Broken Flowers in 2005.

The Limits of Control stars Isaach De Bankolé (seen at the top), Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Gael García Bernal, and Paz de la Huerta. The photo of the white haired beauty directly below this is apparently Tilda Swinton. Additionally, there are some shots of Bill Murray, John Hurt, and Gael García Bernal scattered throughout this arrangement.

The reason why all of these photos look so gorgeous is because the cinematographer on The Limits of Control is none other than Christopher Doyle, the same guy behind all of Wong Kar Wai‘s beautiful films. It’s very likely that this will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival later this year. Focus Features already has the distribution rights in the US and they’ve tentatively scheduled it for a late May theatrical debut.

‘Totall Recall’ to be recalled once more!

“Total Recall” is returning to Hollywood… sans Arnold Schwarzenneger.

Neal H. Moritz and his Original Films banner are in final negotiations to develop and produce for Columbia a contemporary version of “Total Recall,” the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action movie directed by Paul Verhoeven.

The original, based on the Philip K. Dick story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” follows a man haunted by a recurring dream of journeying to Mars who buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. The man comes to believe he is a secret agent and ends up on a Martian colony, where he fights to overthrow a despotic ruler controlling the production of air.

The movie explores one of Dick’s favorite topics, reality vs. delusion, as audiences never knew whether or not the story was a dream. Either way, the movie grossed a very real $261 million worldwide.

Carolco was behind the original movie, which was distributed by TriStar. Dimension picked up the rights for a reported $3.15 million with the aim of developing a sequel. Columbia secured the rights from Miramax, which retained them when Harvey and Bob Weinstein left to start their own company.

Calling Dick’s story “prescient,” Moritz said he hoped the advancements in technology and state-of-the-art visual effects can help tell the “Recall” story in a fresh way.

Toby Jaffe is overseeing on behalf of Original Film. Matt Tolmach and Sam Dickerman oversee for Columbia.

‘NeverEnding Story’ will have a remake too!?

“The NeverEnding Story” might keep going.

Warner Bros. and a pair of top-tier production companies are in the early stages of a reboot of the 1984 children’s fantasy classic.

The Kennedy/Marshall Co., whose credits include “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and Leonard DiCaprio’s Appian Way are in discussions with Warners about reviving the 25-year-old franchise. The studio recently acquired rights to the property, clearing the way for a potential remake.

Based on a German-language novel by Michael Ende, the film centers on a boy named Bastian Balthazar Bux who discovers a parallel world in a book titled “The NeverEnding Story.” As the boy, a loner, delves deeper into the book, he increasingly finds his life intertwined with the plot of the novel, in which a hero in the land of Fantasia must save the universe on behalf of an empress.

The new movie will put a modern spin on the material by examining the more nuanced details of the book that were glossed over in the first feature.

Wolfgang Petersen directed the 1984 film, which earned a respectable $20 million for Warners. The film has had a long life on home video and an even larger influence on popular culture, prefiguring the Harry Potter stories and other children’s fantasies.

A sequel directed by George Miller came out in 1990 and earned $17 million; a third movie followed in the U.S. in 1996 but quickly went to video.

Those familiar with the project emphasize that it is in its early stages and that writers have not been hired.

Still, the interest highlights the frenzy among big entertainment players to develop revivals or sequels of dormant ’80s and ’90s franchises, which has reached fever pitch with the success of reboots like “Friday the 13th,” the fast-track development of a new version of “RoboCop” and plans to update “Total Recall.”

“NeverEnding” came out long before the fantasy genre was seen as a springboard for a Hollywood blockbuster, and Warners is said to see a new opportunity in the first-generation children’s fantasy. The studio has had success producing and releasing the Harry Potter series, whose first five pictures have earned more than $4.5 billion worldwide.

Samuel L. Jackson: Confirmed for 9 Marvel films

Samuel L. Jackson has signed a long-term deal with Marvel Entertainment to return as Nick Fury for ‘Iron Man 2’ and then potentially nine more films. Following recent statements by Jackson that negotiations between he and Marvel had come to naught, this is really good news.

It has been hard enough keeping track of ‘Iron Man 2’ casting without having to think of a new actor to play the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division). According to rumors, Mickey Rourke was in as a villain, and then out. Emily Blunt and Scarlett Johansson have been mentioned as Black Widow, while Don Cheadle did in fact replace Terrance Howard as Iron Man Tony Stark’s military friend Jim Rhodes.

Besides ‘Iron Man 2,’ set for a 2010 release, Jackson will play Fury in the Kenneth Branagh-directed ‘Thor’ (also 2010) and Captain America’ and ‘The Avengers’ (both 2010). There may also be a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie further down the road.

Those are four of the nine titles, but I’m not sure what other properties Marvel has in development that benefit from Jackson’s sense of gravitas. There’s ‘Ant-Man,’ which ‘Shaun of the Dead’ director Nick Wright is attached to, and ‘Runaways,’ which is currently being scripted by Brian K. Vaughn.

Michel Gondry to direct ‘The Green Hornet’

Columbia has set Michel Gondry to direct “The Green Hornet,” and the studio has set a June 25, 2010, release date for the film.

Seth Rogen plays the title character, and Stephen Chow will play his sidekick, Kato.

Rogen wrote the script with Evan Goldberg. Neal Moritz is producing through is Original Film banner.

Gondry, best known for far-out fare like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “The Science of Sleep” and “Human Nature,” brings an unusual sensibility to what will be the most overtly commercial film of his career.

He got the job after presenting a vision that wowed production presidents Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach. They had been looking for a director since late last year, when Chow (“Kung Fu Hustle”) bowed out over creative differences (Daily Variety, Dec. 19).

Chow decided at that time to remain in the picture playing the Kato role (made famous by Bruce Lee), and that remains the case despite rampant Internet speculation that he ankled completely.

“The Green Hornet,” which began on the radio in the 1930s and is best remembered for an incarnation as a ’60s TV show, has had a long, tortured track to the bigscreen.

At one time, George Clooney was pay or play at Universal to star as the masked hero, only to have Steven Spielberg pry him loose so that Clooney could star in DreamWorks’ first live-action feature, the 1997 drama “The Peacemaker.”

Rogen and Goldberg are executive producers.

Gondry most recently helmed “Be Kind Rewind” and his next film, “Tokyo!” will be released March 6.

Spanish directors to see more directing time

Spain’s Telecinco Cinema, producer of “Che,” “The Orphanage” and “Pan’s Labyrinth,” has boarded projects by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Days Later”), Juan Antonio Bayona (“Orphanage”) and Nacho Vigalondo (“Timecrimes”).

All will be co-produced by Telecinco and new Spanish shingle Apaches, headed by Enrique Lopez Lavigne and former Telecinco Cinema exec Belen Atienza.

Fresnadillo and Bayona have two projects a piece, all at script stage. Three pics are likely to be English-language, while the more modest of Bayona’s projects would be made in Spanish, said Ghislain Barrois, TC’s CEO.

The involvement of TC, the pic production division of broadcast network Telecinco, is crucial for these projects to get made.

Telecinco is required by government regulations to invest 5% of its annual revenue in Spanish and European fiction. Its minimum commitment for 2008, which it fulfilled, was e53.9 million ($68.7 million).

TC is one of the only production houses in Europe with the muscle to bankroll every year a clutch of mid- to low-budgeted English-language movies, a budget-range some U.S. studios have been abandoning.

TC put up 88% of financing for Alejandro Amenabar’s Rachel Weisz starrer “Agora,” said Telecinco CEO Paolo Vasile Tuesday at a presentation of Telecinco Cinema’s 2008-09 slate.

Sold internationally by Focus Features, “Agora” has been presented for consideration by the Cannes and Venice film festivals, Vasile added.

“Agora” is co-produced by Fernando Bovaira Mod Prods. and Amenabar’s Himenoptero. TC has also teamed with both shingles to produce Oskar Santos’ hospital thriller “El Mal ajeno.”

Starring Eduardo Noriega (“Vantage Point”) and Belen Rueda (“Orphanage”), the hospital-set thriller is written by Daniel Sanchez Arevalo, the director-writer of 2006’s seminal debut “DarkBlueAlmostBlack,” which heralded a new generation of Spanish filmmakers.

TC does not have an output deal with either Apaches or Mod, said Barrois.

“We have project-by-project deals with these producers. But they have privileged relationships with talent,” he added.

Bayona has “Hater” set up at Universal, produced by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Johnson; United Artists has acquired remake rights to Vigalondo’s “Timecrimes.”

Oscar 2009 complete list of winners

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
(Paramount and Warner Bros.) A Kennedy/Marshall Production; Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
“Frost/Nixon”
(Universal) A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment
and Working Title Production; Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
“Milk”
(Focus Features) A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production; Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
“The Reader”
(The Weinstein Company) A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production; Nominees to be determined
Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire”
(Fox Searchlight) A Celador Films Production; Christian Colson, Producer

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
Winner: Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Winner: Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Winner: Danny Boyle for “Slumdog Millionaire”

(Fox Searchlight)
Stephen Daldry for “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)
David Fincher for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Ron Howard for “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
Gus Van Sant for “Milk” (Focus Features)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Winner: Penelope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics); Written by Courtney Hunt
“Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax); Written by Mike Leigh
“In Bruges” (Focus Features); Written by Martin McDonagh
Winner: “Milk” (Focus Features); Written by Dustin Lance Black
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney); Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
(Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
“Doubt” (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
“Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
“The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
“Bolt” (Walt Disney) Chris Williams and Byron Howard
“Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
Winner: “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Andrew Stanton

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Winner: “La Maison en Petits Cubes” A Robot Communications Production; Kunio Kato
“Lavatory – Lovestory” A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production; Konstantin Bronzit
“Oktapodi”(Talantis Films) A Gobelins, L’école de l’image Production; Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
“Presto” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production; Doug Sweetland
“This Way Up” A Nexus Production; Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
“Changeling” (Universal) Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Winner: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
“The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
“Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia” (20th Century Fox) Catherine Martin
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Jacqueline West
Winner: “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathe; and BBC Films) Michael O’Connor
“Milk” (Focus Features) Danny Glicker
“Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Albert Wolsky

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
Winner:”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Paramount and Warner Bros.) Greg Cannom
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal) Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling” (Universal) Tom Stern
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Claudio Miranda
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
“The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Anthony Dod Mantle

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” (Hamburg Shortfilmagency); An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production; Reto Caffi
“Manon on the Asphalt” (La Luna Productions) A La Luna Production; Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
“New Boy” (Network Ireland Television) A Zanzibar Films Production; Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
“The Pig”An M & M Production; Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Hoslashgh
Winner: “Spielzeugland (Toyland)”A Mephisto Film Production; Jochen Alexander Freydank

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Winner: Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild) A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
“Encounters at the End of the World” (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment) A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
“The Garden” A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Winner: “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures) A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
“Trouble the Water” (Zeitgeist Films) An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“The Conscience of Nhem En” A Farallon Films Production Steven Okazaki
“The Final Inch” A Vermilion Films Production, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
Winner: “Smile Pinki” A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
“The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306” A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
Winner: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
“Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
Winner: “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Richard King
“Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Tom Sayers
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
“Wanted” (Universal) Wylie Stateman

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
“Wanted” (Universal) Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Lee Smith
“Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
“Milk” (Focus Features) Elliot Graham
Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Chris Dickens

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
“Defiance” (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
“Milk” (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyrics by Peter Gabriel
Winner: “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyrics by Gulzar
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
“The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production; Germany
“The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haut et Court Production; France
Winner: “Departures” (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners Production; Japan
“Revanche” (Janus Films) A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production; Austria
“Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production; Israel

Plot Synopsis For "Shrek Goes Fourth" Revealed!

An alleged plot synopsis for “Shrek Goes Fourth” has been leaked online. The website Alex Litel’s Lackluster Emporium claims it has stumbled upon a copyright pre-registration for the film.

According to the leaked story, the fourth installment of the successful DreamWorks Animation franchise will see the main protagonist, Shrek, duped into agreeing to an alternate world, wherein he never meets his wife Fiona.

The synopsis reads: “After challenging an evil dragon, rescuing a beautiful princess and saving your in-laws’ kingdom, what’s an ogre to do? Well, if you’re Shrek, you suddenly wind up a domesticated family man.”

“Instead of scaring villagers away like he used to, a reluctant Shrek now agrees to autograph pitch forks. What’s happened to this ogre’s roar? Longing for the days when he felt like a ‘real ogre,’ Shrek is duped into signing a pact with the smooth-talking dealmaker, Rumplestiltskin.”

“Shrek suddenly finds himself in a twisted, alternate version of Far Far Away, where ogres are hunted, Rumplestiltskin is king and Shrek and Fiona have never met. Now, it’s up to Shrek to undo all he’s done in the hopes of saving his friends, restoring his world and reclaiming his on True Love.”

The authenticity of the supposedly leaked plot is yet to be proven.

“Shrek Goes Fourth” is slated to be released on May 21, 2010 in conventional and IMAX theaters. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, and Antonio Banderas are all expected to reprise their roles.