Gay man directing Gaiman

I’ve just finished a colossal feature article on John Cameron Mitchell (above) for my newspaper’s weekend magazine and, if possible, writing that story has made me love him more. More than Tiger blood even. I will post an online version of said feature once its run in print, but in the meantime, here’s an update on his next project – an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s How To Talk To Girls At Parties.

Seriously, Cameron Mitchell and Gaiman collaborating? I haven't heard of a duo this awesome since . . .well, lets just say I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. How To Talk To Girls At Parties is an award-winning sci-fi short story written by Gaiman in 2006 and is set in 70s Britain, when two teenage boys go to a party to meet girls and find out they’re actually aliens. I quizzed Cameron Mitchell about the project at the end of our interview, so he only limited time to talk about it. Alas, here’s what he had to say:

MM: Now, I heard you're directing Neil Gaiman's short story, How To Talk To Girls At Parties. What can you tell me about that?

JCM: I’m on the verge of starting the script with Neil (Gaiman). We’ve been talking about it a lot and we’re on the same page. It’s like British with aliens and that goes back to my roots of sci-fi and B movies as a kid.

MM: It's an awesome lil' story. Were you a fan of Gaiman's work before coming onboard this?

JCM: I’ve always been aware of him, but not his work. It’s fun to get to know it and I’ve been a fan of comic books as a kid but dropped it when Reagan came in. It’s fun to see that adult comic underground he exemplifies, you know, along with Alan Moore and Frank Miller. They use the comic book super hero themes but it has these different ideas and adult humour.

This is pretty different territory for Cameron Mitchell but as he proved with Rabbit Hole, he’s a director who’s willing to try new things. I mean, after a film about a transgender rock singer and another which pushed the boundaries of explicit sex in mainstream cinema, who would have picked him for a muted drama about parental loss and love? Then to follow that up with a B-movie-esque teen sci-fi . . . the man is versatile. How To Talk To Girls At Parties hasn’t been tagged with a release date yet (even the basic dets aren’t on IMDB Pro) and with rumours still swirling around about whether it will be live-action or animated, it’s clear we will have a long wait before we get any more solid info on how the project is progressing. The bottom line is, stay tuned.

Note: The second image is a limited edition poster by Camilla d'Errico based on Gaiman's short story.

Read more...

On and on and on . . . .

Here's the final instalment of the Coraline A - Z character movie posters. You know, I'm actually disappointed there's only 26 letters in the alphabet. Ho-hum.

Read more...

A, B,C easy as 1,2,3

As promised, more A -Z Coraline character movie posters. Continuing on from F to Q . . . . .
Enjoy :o)

Read more...

The best thing since purple cup-cakes . . .

Me love animated films long time. Me love them more than purple cupcakes. Me hate lame, cliched animated films like Over The Hedge, Bolt and Flushed Away. Me ready to worship two up and coming films Mary & Max and Caroline which look a-freaking-mazing.

Why are some Aussie film-makers so good at animated films? How do they come up with such quirky storylines and beautiful designs? Sure, they might not have mainstream success like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles or Madagascar but they are truly unique. The soon to be released Mary & Max may have possibly the most boring movie title ever, but the fascinating concept and interesting visuals look like they may make up for it. Legend Phillip Seymour Hoffman voices the character of Max while the delightful Toni Collette is Mary (Eric Bana also has a role). Set over 20-years, it’s tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York. As you can see from the picture above the claymation looks quite splendid and matches the dark story perfectly. Directed by Oscar winning short film animation guru Adam Alliott, Mary & Max clearly attracted the attention of the `right people' and was chosen to open the prestigious Sundance film festival. No doubt it is a bizarre topic but critics have raved about the heartbreaking brilliance and charm of this dark, off-beat flick. I will have to reserve my judgment until it is released in cinemas on April 9.

Watch the Mary and Max trailer here.

The next, and what I think is the more exciting of the two movies, is from Henry Selick -the visionary director of the classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. I have been watching the trailer for Coraline over and over and over since it came out a few months back and frankly; IT. LOOKS. INCREDIBLE. There are only two others films I'm looking forward to seeing more than Coraline. The poster art is creeptacular and the whole concept sounds dark (in a delicious dark chocolate kind of way). Below is one of the more simplistic pieces of poster art for the film but golly is it effective.

Basically, Coraline it's about a little girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) who finds an alternative universe in her house which, at first, seem perfect. Soon she discovers the magical land is actually evil and so begins the race to save her family, friends and self in the `real world'. Although it's being presented in 3D only selected audiences in Oz will get a chance to enjoy that experience simply because . . .well, we're kind of pov. In the US critics have been giving Coraline high-fives and it hauled 15million in its opening weekend. That's pretty spectacular for an unconventional animated film. Unfortunately its not out until May 7 but you can watch the phenomenal Caroline trailer here.

Ah, what the hell. I love Coraline so much already I couldn't help share these A-Z character title movie posters with you. It's only A -E but stay posted for the rest of the frightfully fun alphabet.

Read more...