Films seen so far this year: 96
Films seen this week: Nanny McPhee and The Big Bang, No One Knows About Persian Cats, Shank, Hot Tub Time Machine, Centurion, In The Land Of The Free..., Nightwatching, Femme Fatale
Chris Evans cast as Captain America
Funnily enough, I nearly went with the continuing search for Captain America as a blog topic last week. I'm quite glad I didn't now, because it was recently announced that, after a long search that was frankly starting to get a bit embarrassing, Chris Evans has finally been cast as Marvel's Captain America. Incredibly, he's signed on to play the part in a nine-movie deal that includes sequels to both Captain America: The First Avenger and the subsequent Avengers movie. I was never as big a fan of Captain America as I was of most of Marvel's other big names (I can only name two of his supporting cast, for example) and I can't say I'm as excited about it as I am about some of the other Marvel movies (hurry up with Ant-Man, Marvel!) but Evans is definitely good casting – he looks the part and has a charismatic screen presence that should work well, although it's going to be a little odd watching him giving orders to Downey Jr's Tony Stark if and when The Avengers movie finally gets made. I'm also assuming Evans will be less cocky and wise-cracking than he was as the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies (also, apparently due for a reboot), which is sort of a shame, because cocky and wise-cracking Chris Evans is the best kind of Chris Evans. Otherwise you end up with Push again and no one wants that.
Films I Am Dying To See: Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Last week saw the long-awaited release of the first teaser trailer for Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs The World, based on the cult comic book series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The plot is simple enough: sweet-natured 22-year-old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), the bass guitarist for garage band Sex Bob-omb, meets girl of his dreams Ramona Flowers (My Good Friend Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and discovers that he has to defeat her seven Evil Exes in mortal combat. The comic books play around with video game imagery, with the fights presented as rounds in a Street Fighter-style beat-em-up and Wright has done a terrific job of both replicating the comics (the framing is identical in some of the shots in the trailer) and bringing the video game stuff to life. My issues over Michael Cera getting to play both Scott Pilgrim and Youth In Revolt's Nick Twisp are well documented, but he does seem particularly well suited to Scott Pilgrim and the fight scenes (complete with onscreen sound effects) look fantastic. Winstead looks fabulous as Flowers too and the trailer also features amusing glimpses of both Chris Evans as Evil Ex Lucas Lee and Up in the Air's Anna Kendrick as Scott's sister Stacey. The film opens here on 27th August, which gives you just enough time to read all five volumes of the comic book (the sixth is out on July 20th, just a few weeks before the film).
Top 10 Films On Release This Week (as recommended by me):
It's all change this week with no less than five new entries into the top ten. They include: French drama Lourdes (one of the best films of the year), topical Euro-thriller Storm (starring Kerry Fox and Anamaria Marinca), Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang (good, old fashioned family entertainment), Peter Greenaway's Nightwatching (something of a return to form for Greenaway, with an impressive performance from Martin Freeman) and Argentinian prison drama Lion's Den. Elsewhere you can read our exclusive interview with Rhys Ifans (who plays shifty Uncle Peter in Nanny McPhee) and also our exclusive interview with Sylvie Testud, star of Lourdes.
1. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
2. Lourdes
3. Shutter Island
4. Ondine
5. I Love You Phillip Morris
6. The House of the Devil
7. Storm
8. Nightwatching
9. Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang
10. Lion's Den
DVD of the Week: Bunny and the Bull (out now, RRP £15.99)
This week's DVD of the Week is Bunny and the Bull, the British comedy from Paul King, the director of The Mighty Boosh. Edward Hogg stars as a reclusive shut-in who reminisces about a road trip he took around Europe with his larger-than-life best friend Bunny (Simon Farnaby). After a series of adventures, they meet Spanish waitress Eloisa (Penelope Cruz-alike Veronica Echegui) and agree to drive her to Spain, where Bunny declares that he wants to fight a bull. Visually inventive and extremely funny, this is a beautifully directed and superbly acted comedy about friendship, love and heartache. Also, don't be put off if you're not a fan of The Mighty Boosh, as it actually has very little in common with the TV show, despite appearances by Boosh stars Noel Fielding and Julian Barrett. The DVD package is a thing of beauty. Extras include: a commentary with Paul King, Simon Farnaby, Edward Hogg and producer Mary Burke; interviews with Simon Farnaby, Edward Hogg and Paul King (you can read our own exclusive interview with all three here); deleted scenes; bloopers; a 13 minute Behind the Scenes featurette; a 20 minute featurette on The Paul King Guide to Bunny and the Bull; a competition winner's music video; a short featurette on some of the visuals; and a gallery of all the European museums visited by the director. Highly recommended.