Ben Wheatley Meets J.G. Ballard

Thanks to the blog Existential Ennui, I just found out that Ben Wheatley, the guy behind A Field in England, one of my favorite films of last year, is attached to direct an adaptation of a book I've been wanting to read for nearly thirty years.  J.G. Ballard's High Rise.  When I was a young lad, I found a book about various ways the concept of the City of the Future has been explored in art and literature.  And one of the books mentioned was High Rise.  But, gasp, I could not find a copy to save my life.  Heck, I could barely even find any other evidence the book ever existed.

However, it was finally reprinted (first US printing?) in 2012, and I now own a copy.  Which went right into my 'to read' pile and has been sitting there for two years.  OK, so I just moved it closer to the top.  I've got a lot of books to read.  Don't pressure me, man.

I can't wait to see what Wheatley does with this very cool concept.  And somehow his voice mixing with Ballard's feels right.  Of course, right now, he's only 'attached' to the project.  It's not a sure thing that this film will get made, or that by the time it is, Wheatley will be at the helm.  Still, I find it exciting news to wake up to, and hope all goes well.  And I have time to read the book so I'm not a total poser-chump.

Mushrooms!!!

Oh, yeah, and fangirl favorite Tom Hiddleston is currently attached as the star.  That's cool by me.  If you can't get Michael Fassbender, there's Hiddleston.

-Matthew J. Constantine

"I Have What You Need!" - Jim Jarmusch Doesn't Sparkle With Only Lovers Left Alive

Jim Jarmusch makes movies that always leave me gobsmacked.  Ghost Dog, Mystery Train, Down By Law, Broken Flowers. Those are four wildly different films that I utterly cherish.  Dead Man, Coffee & Cigarettes, Limits of Control.  Those are three films I find fascinating, but ultimately confounding.  The man seems to thrill on distancing his stories from his audience.  I'm never fully participating in the narrative, I'm at arm's reach, but I'm also desperate to pull myself in.  When I first heard that he was tackling the vampire genre with Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, my only thought was, "That sounds right."  Who knows where I'll ultimately fall on this film, but I'm certainly intrigued by the UK teaser.  It's just the type of film Hiddleston needs to drag his Loki fangirls into, and I'm absolutely including myself amongst that legion.



--Brad