225BatonRouge.com - Blogs

Here’s a nifty article drawing allusions between the Superman mythos and the life of Jesus. Either this is an interesting angle Bryan Singer is playing up heavily with Superman Returns, or it’s an ingenious marketing campaign to encourage the same Christians who poured hundreds of millions into the Passion of the Christ and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe to turn out for a movie about a guy who floats around in a blue leotard. I have to admit, I am more interested in seeing Superman Returns after reading the CNN piece. Basically my anticipation level went from a 2 to a 5 out of 10. And it will probably stay there until I bypass seeing it in the theater and wait to rent the DVD for Christmas.

Syriana is out on DVD this week. In short, it’s Traffic, but with oil instead of crack. It’s written by Stephen Gaghan who won a Golden Globe for his adaptation of Traffic. Gaghan actually turned down an offer to adapt the Da Vinci Code. Instead he set to work on Blink, a film based on the stellar nonfiction anthology by Malcom Gladwell about split second decisions and first impressions that will star Leonardo DiCaprio.

I bet most Movie Filter readers are the type who also enjoy watching their favorite films with the DVD commentary track on every now and then. Because when you’re home alone on a Friday night, listening to the commentary is almost like watching the movie with several very boring friends. I myself, like the occasional commentary, but its amazing how quickly some of these “insights” from directors, actors and special effects wizards can got horribly wrong. Our friends at the Onion A.V. Club have compiled what I consider a comprehensive (and funny because it’s true) catalogue of the worst types of film commentary you’ll find on DVDs.

Looks like Robert DeNiro is about to be in the newspaper business. Check out his plans to buy the New York Observer here.

And finally, here’s the trailer for A Scanner Darkly, the Richard Linklater adaptation of sci-fi mastermind Philip K. Dick’s near-future novel about illicit chemicals and paranoia. If there’s a band capable of scoring a film about paranoia, it’s Radiohead. The film includes “Black Swan” from Thom Yorke’s solo album The Eraser, plus a handful of previously released Radiohead tunes.

My favorite screenwriter Charlie Kaufman actually wrote a script for A Scanner Darkly several years ago, but when the project changed hands, Kaufman’s version was dropped. It’s a real shame, but hopefully Linklater didn’t mess it up too bad.

His team employs the same technique of digitally painting over live action footage to give the film a hyper real look that he used to great effect in The Waking Life. The film will be released in Baton Rouge August 4 and stars Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder.