Matt Damon is undoubtedly an uncommonly accomplished man. An Oscar-winning writer (whatever you might make of the theories pertaining to William Goldman’s involvement with Good Will Hunting), a lauded actor, a very gifted impressionist and comedian and it looked like he was going to add “director” to that impressive list.

Damon had his eye on directing an untitled project about two rival executives, which he had co-written with John Krasinski, but for a variety of reasons he felt he needed to step down from that particular role. He is said to still be in line to star (alongside Krasinski) and of course he hasn’t un-written it, so his involvement remains significant. Reports abound that with his filming duties for Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium over-running and various other irons in the fire, he did not feel able to take on directing the film as well.

Steven Soderbergh had looked like a viable option for stepping in, but he has his roster full as well, though another director with whom Damon has plenty of history may be on board now, in the shape of Gus Vant Sant. Van Sant of course directed Matt Damon to an Oscar nomination in Good Will Hunting and also directed the off-beat film Gerry, which Damon starred in and co-wrote.

As is perennially the case, there is no firm word on this, just confirmation of discussions and deliberations. Shooting had been pencilled in for March 2012 onwards, which gives a reasonable amount of run in time, but Van Sant may want or need more pre-production if he is to take up the reins. In the meantime, we will have to wait and see whether Damon can match the directing chops of his friend and Good Will Hunting alumnus Ben Affleck, who after a few years in the wilderness has hit his groove with Gone Baby Gone and The Town. Watch this space.

The source of all this? Indie Wire.

I know this is just an image of what could be Jeremy Renner going out on the town but no people, this is the first image of Renner in the fourth movie in the ‘Bourne’ franchise and this time it’s called The Bourne Legacy. We heard a little while ago that this new movie is going to sit alongside the other Bourne movies when it comes to timeline rather than being a prequel or sequel which may well be a nice change but time will tell. You won’t find Paul Greengrass directing this one and it won’t star Matt Damon but this time Renner will be helmed by Tony Gilroy and co-star alongside Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Albert Finney, Oscar Isaac, Joan Allen and Stacy Keach and I cannot wait. It is the Olympics this year in London, it will also be the place I watch The Bourne Legacy!

This image comes courtesy of the chaps at Universal Studios via USA Today but thanks to Rope of Silicon for the heads up.

Source: Rope of Silicon

Here’s a nice new clip called ‘Joy’ from the Cameron Crowe Directed movie, We Bought a Zoo which sees Matt Damon packing his family off to run a zoo! It’s based on a true story and also stars Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Peter Riegert, Elle Fanning, Angus Macfadyen. Director Cameron Crowe has previously brought us Jerry Maguire, Elizabethtown and Vanilla Sky to name but a few and I’m really looking forward to this one. It involves animals therefore at some point, it’s a foregone conclusion that i will cry!

Directed by Cameron Crowe and with an all-star cast featuring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Peter Riegert, Elle Fanning and Angus Macfadyen, WE BOUGHT A ZOO is a story about finding joy, the power of family, and the triumph of hope. A widowed father buys a dilapidated zoo in hopes of making a fresh start. While facing enormous odds to keep the zoo open, he must find the courage to recommit to his children and to their new life together. Based on a true story.

We Bought a Zoo hits UK cinemas Spring 2012 and we are very much looking forward to it. See the UK trailer for it here.

George Miller’s 2006 film, Happy Feet, was a fun, original and wonderfully off-the-wall animation with a very powerful message alongside its infectious mixture of rhythm and wit. With DreamWorks producing a fantastic sequel in the form of Kung Fu Panda 2 earlier this year, hopes were high that Warner Bros. would deliver something different and exciting to contend with Fox in Happy Feet Two.

Following on from the first film, we are already acquainted with Mumble (Elijah Wood), Gloria (Pink) and their new and very cute bundle of fun, Erik (Ava Acres) and it appears Mumble’s lack of singing ability has been transferred into Erik’s lack of dancing talent. However when Erik’s true gift is unveiled it is as surprising as it is delightful and a great little moment within the film – dads, you may need some tissues at hand. Although returning as both Ramon and Lovelace, Robin Williams feels oddly lacking from this sequel, feeling more scripted than we’re used to and taking a backseat to the vast amount of other characters taking up screen time.

New addition Hank Azaria is once again on incredible form as The Mighty Sven, the ‘fake’ penguin who little Erik aspires to after watching him fly. Another accent perfected, Azaria brings a lot of light-hearted comedy to the sequel, but isn’t particularly key to the main story, serving much more of a moral purpose. Definitely involved in the main events are Seymour (Common) and his rapping son, Atticus (Benjamin Flores Jr.), who remain upbeat throughout and save the middle third from being entirely bereft of penguin humour, Atticus being a great deal of fun to watch as the self-assured, freestyling, fluffy ball of attitude.

Courtesy of Brad Pitt and Matt Damon – one of Hollywood’s less likely double acts – Will and Bill the Krill completely steal the show. Although they don’t have a great deal to do with the film’s main narrative, Pitt is in his absolute element as the delusional Will, a Krill going through an identity crisis, with Damon’s play-it-safe Bill his trusty and loyal companion. The duo take part in some of the film’s best set pieces, with the 3D at its most effective (and it is extremely impressive throughout) and sheer craziness at its peak. Whether watching the Krill being chased through the entire food chain, skua attacks or dance sequences, it’s impossible not to smile and be completely lost amongst the jellyfish and beautiful Northern Lights when the film is at its most comfortable and best.

Unlike the previous film, the environmental connotations are spread throughout rather than in one big helping, with the penguins taking matters into their own flippers much more this time around. This has resulted in a film that is far darker in tone, its final third doused in negativity and not quite knowing what to do with itself. Handy, then, that Pink is involved this time and appears to have been utilised for her singing talents far more than her acting, leaving Brittany Murphy desperately missed and Gloria sidelined. Although morally fitting, her full-length song in this middle third slows the pace even further and is at times slightly uncomfortable.

The songs themselves are not utilised as well as the first film where we followed each penguin trying to find their own ‘Heartsong’, but there are some great little surprises and the sheer power and sense of triumph and togetherness ‘Under Pressure’ brings towards the film’s close is as spine tingling as it is impressive. Ultimately a film about coming together, this is reflected in how Miller has tried to give everyone an equal say, leading to too much ‘alien’ interaction. Where the initial sighting of a human in Happy Feet was actually quite shocking, here they end up feeling gimmicky and borderline annoying, eradicating any initial sense of fascination and mystery.

When it’s good, Happy Feet Two is pure, delirious entertainment, but away from the near-perfect set pieces, the film seems confused as to quite which storyline to focus on. Whilst the animation is once again impossible to fault, and although it is just as wonderfully bonkers as the first, it just doesn’t feel as fresh. The original is ultimately so much cooler.

***~~ (3/5)

Earlier in the week, you’ll have seen interviews with both Robin Williams and Elijah Wood on their new movie. Happy Feet Two. With Elijah, we couldn’t help but talk about The Hobbit and if you missed it, you can catch up here and with Robin here. Likewise, in this interview with Director,George Miller, we couldn’t help but ask him about returning to Fury Road in the new Mad Max movie that will see Tom Hardy taking on the lead role.

Happy Feet Two is released in the UK this Friday, 2nd December and you can see our review here.

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HeyUGuys – Coming from Mad Max and Mad Max 2 which were very cynical and very dark movies about the future to Happy Feet 2 which is very optimistic, do you think you are more optimistic with age?

George – Probably, even though I’m now making another Mad Max film after all these years. People ask why did I get into these [Happy Feet] movies and I say two reasons: kids and technology. Once I had kids I only got to see kids movies and you do a lot of reading books to them and then I’m lucky enough to be in the era when this technology started. With the first Babe film we had a script written for ten years before, waiting for the ability to make real pigs talk and CG came along and I always loved animation, one of my top movies in Pinocchio and I always said that Chuck Jones and Buster Keaton taught me how to make Mad Max because they were pure filmmakers and they understood the pure syntax of filmmaking. So, it seemed natural to get into these stories.

Was it easy to find another story for the second Happy Feet film?

In this case it was easy because the films take a long time and in the last year of Happy Feet 1 the characters were so much in my head, they were like imaginary friends and I had the story for the sequel while I was finishing the first one. I had the story but I decided to do two other films in the meantime. One was Justice League which was closing to finishing but due to some complicated rebate system which was just starting in Australia it fell down. And then I was to do the next Mad Max movie, Fury Road, which I’ve tried to do twice and we had unprecedented rain in the centre of Australia and what was the red, flat plain is now a flower garden and the great salt lakes in the centre which you could drive through for miles is full of pelicans and fish so that film was pushed back. So then came Happy Feet [2] but we hope to shoot [Fury Road] in Namibia next year.

Will Fury Road be closer to Mad Max 2 than Mad Max 3?

It’s not a reinvention, but it’s going back into the world and this is many years later now. It’s not following any chronology at all. I love that world because it reduces human behaviour to a very elemental state. In that very spare landscape, a little bit like Happy Feet, you’ve got Antarctica and that has the same sort of quality. We’ve got Tom Hardy played Mad Max, who is a wonderful actor and Charlize Theron. I never wanted to make another film, but the story got me. And I kept pushing it away and the story just kept on playing in my head. It probably means I’m crazy.

Will Mel Gibson be returning for a cameo?

No, no. We’ve talked about the film and even doing it in 2001 and then it’s not like The Unforgiven, you know – about an older man going back to past.

So, when will shooting start on that?

Middle of next year. We’ve already got all our vehicles built and being shipped out to Namibia.

Do you think Happy Feet will become a franchise?

Honestly it depends entirely on if there’s another story. It was interesting that at the end of the first film I had the story for the sequel and then I got more into the world. Happy Feet 1 happens over the lifetime from birth to young adulthood of Mumble so we needed to get an epic scale by seeing the Penguin world from a microscopic vantage, from the very large creatures like Elephant Seals all the way down…

When casting the Krill did you find the most famous actors with children?

Not exactly! You came from wanting friends, actors who knew each other because they play friends who have known each other their whole lives and I knew Brad [Pitt] somewhat and I talked to him, but you’re right I know Matt [Damon] said ‘I didn’t even read the screenplay, my kids just said Do the film!’ But you know Babe started with my daughter, reading stories… and the first movies you go to are the kids movies when you have kids.

Did you ever think of becoming a doctor?

I did, I have a twin brother who is a doctor and I went to medical school and practised in hospitals for about four years and then when I started making films there was no opportunity to be a filmmaker but we started making, in the Seventies, little short films and I got very curious about the process and then somewhere in the mid-Seventies I was working as a doctor on the weekends and making short films during the week. We won a couple of awards and I said ‘Let’s make a feature’ so I learned how to write and Mad Max was the first film I made. And I then I always tended to go back, I was registered as a doctor and in Australia when you’re doing stunts on set you need to have a registered doctor on hand…

You mentioned you were interested in technology, would you be interested in doing a movie with motion capture performances?

Well, Happy Feet is partly done with motion capture. When Mumble was danced by Savion Glover, who is the greatest living tap-dancer and one of the big triggers on Happy Feet 1 was not only seeing documentaries about the lives of penguins which was very striking to me – the way they survive by community and that they were very anthropomorphic – and Andrew Lesnie who shot the first Babe movie and the first Lord of the Rings showed me the first motion capture for Gollum and I thought – Ah! we can make the penguins dance! So, that was a very big moment for Happy Feet 1. But though you have the motion capture you don’t have the facial capture right so all the faces are animated and the Krill, because they have five legs, and the seals are all animated. But the dancing bipedal characters are all motion capture.

When you were writing the second film was there anything you wrote that wasn’t possible at the time, but in the three years since was made possible?

Yes, I never thought we could get the crystals of ice, but it’s all ones and zeroes, and the cameras are real world cameras, though I like the virtual cameras and you can go up high, I like the camera low, and shooting on the Z-Axis and go in out out of the screen, which is great for 3D. Things like the transparency of the Krill and the bioluminescence we didn’t think we could do. So, a lot of it pushed the boundaries as we were going along.

Happy Feet Two is also a musical, how do find getting the rights to the songs ?

Getting the rights is difficult depending on who you are working with, the more people there are the harder it is…

There were quite a few Queen songs…

Yeah, the good thing about the Queen songs is that they are very operatic and they have a great structure, particularly Under Pressure, and I didn’t have that song initially but when we were recording the voices Hank Azaria asked me if I’d heard it and it was as i they’d written it for us. The hardest thing we had was when we tried to get a Phil Spector song just as he was charged with murder, so it was a little difficult to get access to him… I love the Puccini aria, I love its volcanic aspect and how emotions are expressed. Then we needed a song in the middle when the mother who couldn’t be with her son has to be soothed and Pink wrote that song.

Last week I got to sit down with Elijah Wood to chat about his new movie, Happy Feet Two. It so happened that the first question asked at the round table lead nicely into The Hobbit so this interview starts with a lot of Hobbit information on filming and what we can expect but mainly what Elijah felt when he returned to the set. He was such a nice bloke and I could have spoken with him for hours. I wanted to get more information from him about his memories from Back to the Future Part II but that will have to wait for another day!

Elijah plays Mumbles in Happy Feet Two which hits UK cinemas this Friday, 2nd December. If you missed the interview with Robin Williams, you can catch up here. Tomorrow we’ll have an interview with Director George Miller so keep your eyes peeled for that.

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HeyUGuys: Should you be in New Zealand at the moment?

Elijah Wood: I’ve just gotten back and I’m all finished. I was there for about a month throughout October.

How was it to be back?

Amazing, a mix of emotions I think. It was slightly surreal and felt oddly normal. I played the character for so long and I was in the costume, in Bag-end and a lot of the same crew were there from Rings so it was as if no time had past and suddenly we were doing another scene. It was great, felt like a family reunion, like stepping back in time.

When you wrapped on The Lord of the Rings, did you ever think you’d be going back?

At that time, if you;d have asked me if there would be a Hobbit film, I would have said no. Peter (Jackson) was pretty adamant about not doing it. There was always talk that someone else would do it but since Frodo isn’t in The Hobbit, i never thought I would play Frodo again.

If you were filming for a month, is it quite a big part?

It’s a flash-forward and there’s actually not a lot. It’s relatively small but it’s a nice piece and works really beautifully with what they’re doing. It’s going to be really cool I think.

What’s changed since you left?

Well, there are thirteen dwarves! Imagine that, thirteen principal actors, it’s insane – all with prosthetics and it’s incredible. In some ways, the scale feels larger surprisingly even though technically the scale of Lord of the Ring is more massive in terms of the storytelling. There’s more technology, it’s being shot in 3D, more people on the set and it feels as though the ‘machine’ is bigger. But, at the heart of it all, there is that same New Zealand ingenuity, that same vibe on set, Peter’s super relaxed, it’s still really fun – it’s great. It’s a mixture of old family and new family.

Was it strange for you going back to what was your set and now you’re a guest on it?

It was funny but it was cool. I was just excited to meet everybody, to meet Martin Freeman who’s playing Bilbo. And then also to catch up with McKellen and Andy Serkis who’s also directing second unit. It was fun to meet everybody and for me, what was fun was getting the chance to meet everybody and ask them a million questions asking them “how it’s been”, “how was the rehearsal period” and knowing what their experience must be like, it was fun for me to get a sense of what their perspective was on it.

Bringing it back to Happy Feet, what do you think are the main messages from the movie?

I think there are some beautiful themes. The movie ends on this note of everyone has to work together in communities across communities to solve a massive problem. And the idea that Eric, like Mumble in the first one is also searching for identity and looking for something that defines him. I love the idea of a kid believing in something that’s impossible, believing that he can fly. And that tough decision that a parent has to deal with where they dont want to crush their child’s dreams but they still want them to believe that things are possible. And the notion that it’s our differences that make us unique.

Eric has a rather embarrassing moment in the movie – have you had any embarrassing moments that you want to share?

I, like Eric in the movie, have weed on myself actually! Twice in my life. I was five years old at a family gathering at a holiday party and I was too embarrassed to ask to use the loo so I peed myself! And then again in first grade, I was again afraid to ask and by the time I did ask, I stood up and peed in class! And was wearing overalls!

Robin (Williams) mentioned in his interview the image of the polar bear clinging to the small bit of ice, are you pessimistic about the future?

I think that people are inherently good and will want to change the future for the better. In terms of the environment, I’m not a scientist so my knowledge is limited. I think the planet is going to change and we’re going to have to adapt. I feel that there is an awareness now that is at its peak. People are more aware of what part they have to play in it than ever before and that’s great. Everything else is out of our control.

But you’ve been to the future in Back to the Future 2 playing Wild Gunman so you can tell us what happens?…..

I have, that’s true! And weren’t they playing Jaws 32?!

Jaws 19!

Jaws 19, man, that was fun!

Do you have a favourite film from when you were younger?

As a film, I love Avalon. That’s one of my favourites. And I think Barry Levinson is an amazing filmmaker and it’s one of my favourite movies of his. It’s a beautiful movie.

Do you remember filming it?

Yeah, I do. I have vivid memories. In fact, to take it back to Happy Feet, I met Robin Williams on the set of Avalon. I was eight years old and Robin had worked with Barry on Good Morning Vietnam and he came to visit the set in Baltimore and it was really dark outside and I couldn’t see. There was this man standing there and he introduced himself to me and said ‘Hi, I’m Robin and this is my daughter Zelda’ and he had baby Zelda in his arms. Insane! And I was shaking his hand and in mid-shake I realised who he was and I said ‘Robin….. WILLIAMS! and he said ‘Ahh, light goes on!’ and it freaks me out. He was one of the first celebrities that I met. I reminded him of it the other day!

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Following on from the astounding success of 2006’s Happy Feet, the upcoming sequel, Happy Feet 2, is set to make a big impact (I could’ve said ‘splash’, but chose not to) when it comes out in a few weeks, and this fantastic new trailer, courtesy of Yahoo Movies, gives us a lot to look forward to in it.

Not only did the first film do really well at the box office, taking more than $300m. from a $100m. budget, it also took the Academy Award for Best Animated Film, so in some respects, Happy Feet 2 has a lot to live up to.

Cast in a different light though, sequels are typically expected not to live up to their originals, so hopefully Happy Feet 2 will buck the trend and be a pleasant surprise!

Co-director from the first film, George Miller, is back in the director’s chair this time around but is their all by himself, and it looks like he’s done a great job from what we’ve seen so far – all of which you can catch up on here.

The sequel will see the return of many of the great actors and actresses who lent their voices to the first film, including Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, and Hugo Weaving, along with some terrific additions that see the likes of Brad Pitt and Matt Damon joining the cast in the forms of Will and Bill the Krill, Sofía Vergara as Carmen, Anthony LaPaglia as Boss Skua, and Hank Azaria as The Mighty Sven.

Sadly, the late Brittany Murphy died from pneumonia before being able to reprise her role from the first film as Gloria, Mumble’s love interest, and so Alicia Moore (a.k.a. Pink/P!nk) will be lending her voice as Gloria for the second film.

Happy Feet 2 is coming out in the States this weekend (and so will be up against Twilight! Which must be a bit daunting, even if the target demographics are different), and this is the final American trailer we’ll be getting. Since we here in the UK have to wait until the 2nd December to see it, there’s a chance we’ll have more Happy Feet 2 goodness to bring you between now and then.

The film is one of the eighteen animated features that have been submitted as potential Oscar candidates for the 2012 Academy Awards next February, and we’ll know in just over two months’ time whether it’s made the final nominees list as its predecessor did a few years back. Without further ado though, here’s the brilliant new trailer to feast your eyes on. As you can imagine, it’s super green band, so if you’re at work, feel free to inject a little bit of a song and dance into the airwaves with the weekend being so close. Enjoy.

Eagerly ready for Christmas, We Bought A Zoo has wrapped us up a zebra in a big green bow in a new poster for Cameron Crowe’s exotic animal-filled drama this week.

From the director of Jerry Maguire, We Bought A Zoo is based on a memoir by Benjamin Mee about how the he and his family – played by Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Elle Fanning – used their life savings to buy Dartmoor Zoological Park in the English countryside.

From seeing Matt Damon as a father figure in last month’s Contagion, I think we can expect something really moving from his portrayal of this heart-warming story. Though We Bought A Zoo is also a comedy, so it will be interesting to see how he and Johansson work that in too.

The film also stars Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Patrick Fugit and the famous Crystal the Monkey, and is set to be released on 30th March, 2012 in the UK and 23rd December, 2011 in the US.

Icelandic musician Jón Þór “Jónsi” Birgisson, frontman of Sigur Rós, will also be composing the film’s soundtrack – now that’s definitely something you want in your Christmas stocking.

Heres your poster, from IMPA.

OK, so the first 50% of this trailer is identical to to the US one that we put up a couple of months ago but keep watching and the second half will give you a lot of new footage from Twentieth Century Fox’s new movie. We bought a Zoo is almost undoubtedly another movie that is set to make me cry because I am a wimp and because it’s based on a true story! It stars Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Peter Riegert, Elle Fanning, Angus Macfadyen and is directed by Cameron Crowe who has previously brought us Jerry Maguire, Elizabethtown and Vanilla Sky to name but a few.

Directed by Cameron Crowe and with an all-star cast featuring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Peter Riegert, Elle Fanning and Angus Macfadyen, WE BOUGHT A ZOO is a story about finding joy, the power of family, and the triumph of hope. A widowed father buys a dilapidated zoo in hopes of making a fresh start. While facing enormous odds to keep the zoo open, he must find the courage to recommit to his children and to their new life together. Based on a true story.

We Bought a Zoo hits UK cinemas Spring 2012 and we are very much looking forward to it.

Ben Affleck competes for the title of Hollywood’s most in demand director with two big gigs in the works, one featuring his old Good Will Hunting buddy, and another which marks quite a departure from his previous work.

Collider are reporting that the duo may reteam (it hasn’t been officially announced as yet) in a biopic of Irish crime boss Whitey Bulger, with Damon  playing the lead role and Affleck performing directorial duties. What’s more, Boardwalk Empire mastermind Terrence Winter is writing the script.

This all sounds very promising, but when (and where) this will fit into Affleck’s increasingly busy schedule is unclear. Currently filming and starring in (alongside an all-star cast) the comedy drama Argo, Deadline brings news that he has been chosen by Warner Bros. (who are behind the aforementioned George Clooney-produced picture, and Affleck’s highly-praised 2010 feature, The Town) to adapt and direct the long-awaited, big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s post-apocalypse epic, The Stand.

This is certainly an interesting and welcomed choice (although wasn’t Harry Potter’s David Yates attached to this a mere month or so back) but due to the sheer size and scope of this production (which will undoubtedly dwarf his previous productions combined) if the Whitley Bulger feature is eventually green-lit, we could be still be waiting a considerable time yet for an Affleck/Damon reteaming.

Contagion hits UK cinemas today and we’re very excited about it. Jon’s review went up earlier today and he rather enjoyed it. Our friends from Upbeat were lucky enough to sit down and chat with the legends that are, Matt Damon & Laurence Fishburne to chat about the movie which also stars Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hawkes and is directed by Steven Soderbergh.

In the interview, we get to hear about what we can expect from the movie and also get to see Damon sporting a rather nice new hairstyle which I can only assume is for a new film role.

“Contagion” follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days.  As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.  At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

Contagion is released in UK cinemas today, 21st October.

Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion is a grimly realistic take on the end of the world which throws the notion that the human race are masters of their own fate into sharp relief. More Andromeda Strain than Armageddon it is a disaster movie whose sobering power lies in a carefully built series of narrative threads which show a world in a sudden and terrifying decline with humanity rather than histrionics.

Soderbergh has the enjoyable habit of occasionally casting non-actors in prominent roles in his films, Gina Carano in the forthcoming Haywire, Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience and so on, Contagion however has one of his Danny Ocean casting calls with a not-so-merry band of A-listers gathering to race to save the world from a particularly nasty form of mutated flu. While the director’s steady hand gives us a tightly plotted narrative and a uniquely realistic end of the world there are a number of problems with such a star-packed cast which occasionally take us out of the story and the film does suffer because of it.

Matt Damon returns to Soderbergh’s side once again and convinces as the man at the centre of the outbreak but seeks not to pave the road to the survival of humanity single-handedly, rather he looks only to save his daughter from the romantic, and possibly fatal, advances of a neighbourhood boy. Kate Winslet’s role is relatively small but pivotal and she manages to lose herself in her character, something Paltrow, Law and Cotilard cannot do. There is a very simple story being told here and the global scale is shown through a group of disparate individuals and when a thread or a character fails to convince or engage it is an unwanted interference.

What works is the world created in the midst of this outbreak. The slow response to the virus with the stoic retaliation from ordinary people keeping our feet on the ground and as the disease spreads we  have the usual subplots of burgeoning romances halted by fear of infection, the heroic doctors succumbing before their vital work is done and so on, but signifiers of the emotional fallout (paranoia leading to rage and riots, professional missteps on the road to a cure are two examples) are consequences which are given their moment on screen but don’t overwhelm.

At times it runs the risk of becoming a toneless TV docu-drama on the ‘What-If’ channel but Soderbergh’s direction elevates the film and it succeeds because of the grounded narrative rather than in spite of it. Signs that the disease is taking hold are told in a matter of fact fashion and while I could have happily lost the subplots involving Marian Cotillard’s unscheduled stop in a remote village and Jude Law’s errant blogger turned Placebo Prophet there is very little to distract from the task at hand.

Mention must be made of Jennifer Ehle, who isn’t on the big screen often enough and who here steals the show as a scientist on the hunt for a cure to save mankind. Just as her small role in The King’s Speech as Lionel Logue’s wife was given a genuine shine by her understated performance here she transcends her role with a deft touch, and in amongst the unbearable tension Soderbergh creates around her it is her final few scenes which tread cautiously around the cliche minefield to become the film’s most affecting moments.

The story is paced perfectly, with some well crafted montages showing the outbreak beginning and then taking hold with swift precision and run fingers gently along the spine rather than slap you in the face with the horror of it all. What is key here is the deliberate pace and the spark of humanity and normality which make Contagion a compelling film.

***½~ (3.5/5)

If cute penguins are your bag then you’ll be in furry bird heaven with the latest Happy Feet film and there’s a new trailer out to further entice and tease.

It’s solid family friendly fare from the looks of it and where else, other than in the world of CG anthropomorphic animation, could you find a cast which includes Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Pink and Elijah Wood?

Yahoo had this new trailer and this handy synopsis which proved of great interest to me, and may well do to you.

Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son, Erik, is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven — a penguin who can fly! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s “guts and grit” as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures — from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals — to put things right.

Okay, so here’s a question, if Cheaper By The Dozen 2 was a missed opportunity to go with Cheaper By The Two Dozen, can the same be said for the Happy Feet Two sequel? Is Happy Two Feet a decent idea? Maybe not.

Regardless, it’s coming, whatever we call it and to prove it (were proof needed), we have an avalanche of stills, showing everyone being very happy. I confess I found the first film pretty pointless and nigh-on unwatchable, so I’m not going to pretend to be wildly exuberant about another outing for the dancing penguin-types.

Quite how Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Pink and Common have been roped in to join the more predictable presence of Hank Azaria, Robin Williams and Elijah Wood is anyone’s guess (that guess presumably revolving around the presence of piles of crisp bank notes).

Click through the link below to enjoy the stills gallery and if it’s your thing, get ready for more happy feet before the year is out.

Source: Yahoo Movies.

Technically, this is a spoiler alert regarding what follows, though if you’ve followed our posts so far on Contagion, you won’t be surprised at what Matt Damon discusses below.

Contagion is out already in the US and has opened strongly. We poor put-upon folk in the UK have to wait until 21st October to see it, but it looks excellent and since director Steven Soderbergh rarely puts a foot wrong and more often than not puts it very right, it should be well worth the wait.

In this clip, Damon is interviewed about the scene (presumably pretty early on) when his character is told that his wife has died. As he discusses the choices that were made, the progress of his character through the scene and the alternating shock, anger and disbelief he portrays, you are left feeling increasingly confident that this material is going to be well handled.

Thanks Yahoo.

20th Century Fox have released the first trailer and poster for We Bought a Zoo.

Directed by Cameron Crowe (Elizabethtown), We Bought a Zoo is based on Benjamin Mee’s memoir and stars Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Elle Fanning, Thomas Haden Church, Patrick Fugit and John Michael Higgins.

Synopsis: This holiday season, acclaimed filmmaker Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous) directs an amazing and true story about a single dad who decides his family needs a fresh start, so he and his two children move to the most unlikely of places: a zoo. With the help of an eclectic staff, and with many misadventures along the way, the family works to return the dilapidated zoo to its former wonder and glory.

We Bought a Zoo is scheduled for release in the U.K. on December 23.

Check out the trailer and poster below:

Source: Apple

In an interview with Leicester Square TV at the London Hong Kong Film Week, Infernal Affairs writer and director Alan Mak thinks that a second ‘The Departed’ movie could be on the way but no news yet as to whether Martin Scorsese would return to direct. Mak wrote the screenplay for the original movie, Infernal Affairs / Mou gaan dou on which The Departed is based.

In the interview, Mak admits he has been approached by some American companies to do a sequel to the 2006 movie which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson, Ray Winstone, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin to name but a few! It came away with four Oscars at the 2007 awards ceremony which would explain why these American companies may be lining up for a sequel.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see but it sounds like it’s on the cards to happen. Check out the interview below in full and tell us your thoughts in the comments section.

To mark the release of The Talented Mr Ripley on Blu-ray 19th September, Miramax have given us two copies of the movie to give away.

THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY is an American psychological thriller written for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella. It is an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith 1955 novel of the same name, which was previously filmed as PLEIN SOLEIL (Purple Noon, 1960).

In late 1950′s New York, Tom Ripley (MATT DAMON), a young underachiever, is sent to Europe to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf (JUDE LAW). But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.

Extras: Audio commentary with director Anthony Minghella / Teaser Trailer / Full length trailer / Cast and crew interviews / Inside The Talented Mr. Ripley / Making of the soundtrack

To be in with a chance of winning the movie, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed the movie The Talented Mr Ripley?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 26th September at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Filming for the upcoming Margaret, due out in America at the end of the month, finished way back at the end of 2005, and a long path filled with lawsuits and counter-lawsuits, coupled with a directorial struggle to get to the final cut, has delayed its release over the past six years.

Now, however, the final cut has been completed, and we have an intriguing first trailer and poster for the film courtesy of Rope of Silicon and IMP Awards, respectively.

Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, writer of Gangs of New York, the film has a pretty terrific cast, led by Anna Paquin and also starring Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, Allison Janney, Matthew Broderick, Kieran Culkin, Jean Reno, and Olivia Thirlby. The cast alone is enough to make me want to see it, and the trailer only furthers that wish.

Margaret tells the story of,

“a 17-year-old New York City high-school student (Paquin) who feels certain she inadvertently played a role in a traffic accident that has claimed a woman’s life. In her attempts to set things right she meets with opposition at every step. Torn apart with frustration, she begins emotionally brutalizing her family, her friends, her teachers, and most of all, herself. She has been confronted quite unexpectedly with a basic truth: that her youthful ideals are on a collision course against the realities and compromises of the adult world.”

Paquin is a brilliant actress, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the young age of just eleven, and she’s had some fantastic roles since then, in both support and leading parts. This next project from her, albeit not ‘next’ in the sense that it was the last thing she filmed, looks like it will be another great leading role from her, and it’s definitely something that looks interesting. Unfortunately, it’s looking fairly likely that the film won’t get a UK theatrical release, which is a real shame, so we will probably have to hold on for the DVD release further down the line. Without further ado, here’s the great first trailer followed by the first poster for the film.

If Steven Soderbergh’s highly anticipated next film, Contagion, is yet to catch your attention, then you should definitely start getting excited about it now. You can catch up on all you’ve missed here, including the fantastic first trailer, the film’s great UK poster, and most recently a few new images and a first listen to its score.

Ten new clips have now been released, via The Playlist, in anticipation of its Venice Film Festival debut on 3^rd September.

The film has an absolutely fantastic ensemble cast, headed up by Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, and Bryan Cranston. Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Informant!) has written the script, which is said to have been heavily researched to be as authentic as possible, and the legendary Steven Soderbergh is the man behind the camera.

Back in March this year, Soderbergh announced that he’s currently considering retirement from directing in the near future, after finishing up on a few last projects, and I sincerely hope that that won’t happen. But in case it does, this could be one of our last chances to see a Soderbergh film in the cinema when it comes out here on 21^st October, and I for one can’t wait for it to come to our screens.

“The story is essentially told through the prism of three characters: everyman Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon), who loses his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) and stepson to virus and remains committed to protecting his teenage daughter; CDC Deputy Director Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) who tries desperately to adapt to the fast moving virus in an effort to protect the public and freelance journalist/blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) whose breathless and alarming reporting becomes the information hub for many struggling to understand what is happening.”

Whilst these new clips aren’t meant to be full of spoilers – if you’ve already seen the trailer, that is – I personally decided not to watch them all so as not to have seen much of the movie before it does come out. I did, however, watch the fifth clip with Jude Law, which also features Elliott Gould and is excellent.

Each clip carries its own title: They’re Closing Midway And O’Hare, There Continue To Be Evaluations, She Failed To Respond, It Came From Here, I’m A Journalist, I Think I’m Sick, How Are You Feeling Today, Figuring Us Out, Don’t Touch Anything, and Are You Sick? Without further ado, here they all are if you should choose to feast your eyes upon them.