WonderCon Wrap-Up: Peeks At "Brick," "Night Watch" and "Pathfinder"
Our WonderCon Wrap-Up continues, with a look at a few of the lesser-known flicks presented last weekend: "Brick," "Night Watch," and "Pathfinder."
Saturday's panels began sadly, with the news that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be a no-show to present his indie-teen-film noir, "Brick." The trailer screened anyway -- intriguing, mysterious -- but was no different than the trailer we've already seen. Happily, one additional scene played (the opening few moments of the film) which introduces the main character, Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) as he mournfully surveys the body of his ex-girlfriend (Emilie de Ravin), then flashes back two days prior to her terrified, cryptic phone call to him in suburban Southern California.
Thankfully, we won't have to wait long to see more of "Brick," as this Sundance 2005 favorite will be released March 24. Click here to see the "Brick" trailer and judge for yourself.
Next, a presentation of "Night Watch," the first of Russian good vs. evil trilogy set in modern day Moscow, kicked off the day with a treat: we would get to see the entire movie! That it was almost completely in super fast-forward hardly mattered; the dark, gritty urban epic wowed the crowd with eerie visuals and a few super cool real-time action moments. "Night Watch" opens in limited release in a few days, on February 17. Check out the "Night Watch" trailer, here -- or watch the entire film in fast forward, here!
Director Marcus Nispel (2003's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") came out to talk about his new project, "Pathfinder." Not many people know much about "Pathfinder" yet, but Nispel's enthusiasm if not his resume comes across as a compelling reason to watch for it. Starring Karl Urban, Russell Means and Clancy Brown, "Pathfinder" tells the story of a Viking boy left behind in North America by his marauding people, who grows up among the native Indians and leads them in battle when the Vikings return to pillage again. There's action, there's romance, and there's loincloths.
Nispel's got a background in painting and graphic novels, and it shows; in the trailer as well as a set of impressive storyboards he showed at WonderCon, there is a visual richness to the composition of his scenes; whether he can pull it together from scene to scene will remain to be seen.
What was most interesting was Nispel's discussion of the sensitive nature of his film. Set around the year 900 A.D., his fictional telling of a Viking-Native American confrontation seems to have been lent historical weight with recent scientific revelations that the Viking peoples did reach areas of the Americas at a time when they very well could have encountered native peoples. Also adding some degree of credibility to his production is Native American actor Russell Means, whom Nispel says provided a supporting role onscreen as well as offscreen; Means is not only an actor, but a well-known face of Native American activism and often acted as a consultant on the project.
And lest I forget, Nispel treated the audience to another special "clip" -- a behind-the-scenes look at Nispel on set, directing, living out of a suitcase, and, yes, dropping trou to get a vitamin B shot in the backside. For this alone I will remember the name Nispel.
Saturday's panels began sadly, with the news that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be a no-show to present his indie-teen-film noir, "Brick." The trailer screened anyway -- intriguing, mysterious -- but was no different than the trailer we've already seen. Happily, one additional scene played (the opening few moments of the film) which introduces the main character, Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) as he mournfully surveys the body of his ex-girlfriend (Emilie de Ravin), then flashes back two days prior to her terrified, cryptic phone call to him in suburban Southern California.
Thankfully, we won't have to wait long to see more of "Brick," as this Sundance 2005 favorite will be released March 24. Click here to see the "Brick" trailer and judge for yourself.
Next, a presentation of "Night Watch," the first of Russian good vs. evil trilogy set in modern day Moscow, kicked off the day with a treat: we would get to see the entire movie! That it was almost completely in super fast-forward hardly mattered; the dark, gritty urban epic wowed the crowd with eerie visuals and a few super cool real-time action moments. "Night Watch" opens in limited release in a few days, on February 17. Check out the "Night Watch" trailer, here -- or watch the entire film in fast forward, here!
Director Marcus Nispel (2003's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") came out to talk about his new project, "Pathfinder." Not many people know much about "Pathfinder" yet, but Nispel's enthusiasm if not his resume comes across as a compelling reason to watch for it. Starring Karl Urban, Russell Means and Clancy Brown, "Pathfinder" tells the story of a Viking boy left behind in North America by his marauding people, who grows up among the native Indians and leads them in battle when the Vikings return to pillage again. There's action, there's romance, and there's loincloths.
Nispel's got a background in painting and graphic novels, and it shows; in the trailer as well as a set of impressive storyboards he showed at WonderCon, there is a visual richness to the composition of his scenes; whether he can pull it together from scene to scene will remain to be seen.
What was most interesting was Nispel's discussion of the sensitive nature of his film. Set around the year 900 A.D., his fictional telling of a Viking-Native American confrontation seems to have been lent historical weight with recent scientific revelations that the Viking peoples did reach areas of the Americas at a time when they very well could have encountered native peoples. Also adding some degree of credibility to his production is Native American actor Russell Means, whom Nispel says provided a supporting role onscreen as well as offscreen; Means is not only an actor, but a well-known face of Native American activism and often acted as a consultant on the project.
And lest I forget, Nispel treated the audience to another special "clip" -- a behind-the-scenes look at Nispel on set, directing, living out of a suitcase, and, yes, dropping trou to get a vitamin B shot in the backside. For this alone I will remember the name Nispel.
Related Items
| Movie: | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre |
| Brick | |
| Celeb: | Joseph Gordon-Levitt |
| Emilie de Ravin | |
| Marcus Nispel | |
| Karl Urban | |
| Russell Means | |
| Clancy Brown |
|
on Feb 16 2006 03:25 AM Good job on the Wonder coverage, Jen. One of these days I'll get to one of these movie-cons and geek out. (Reply to this) |
|
on Feb 16 2006 12:57 PM Brick and Night Watch both look awsome, I didn't know that de Ravin was in Brick which kicks ass evan though it sounds like she has a small role. (Reply to this) |
Related Links
Related Articles
- Exclusive Interview: Angelina Jolie Talks Wanted 32
- Bekmambetov Says Dusk Watch Is On Hold
1 - Trailer Bulletin: Bending Bullets And More Angelina Jolie In The Second Wanted Trailer 15
- Angelina Jolie's Wanted Leaps from Comic Books with a Hard R 17
- RT-UK's What to Watch at the Edinburgh Film Festival 3
- Box Office Guru Preview: "Knocked Up" Expecting Solid Arrival 6
- Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie Are "Wanted" for Graphic Novel Adaptation 14
- Critical Consensus: "Eight Below" Is Above The Rest 7
- WonderCon Wrap-Up: Peeks At "Brick," "Night Watch" and "Pathfinder" 2
- WonderCon Wrap-Up: A "Superman" Surprise, Sneak Peeks and Storm Troopers 4
Most Discussed
- Total Recall: Bill Murray's Best Movies 46
- Critics Consensus: Express Scores, Body of Lies Falls Flat 34
- Weekly Ketchup: Steve Carell to Get Smart again. 32
- RT on DVD: The Future of Watchmen, Plus Sleeping Beauty, Touch of Evil Remastered 30
- Box Office Wrapup: The Dogs Rule Once Again 17
- Box Office Guru Preview: Audiences Surrounded by Lies 9
- Exclusive: Alexandre Aja talks Mirrors and Piranha 3D 7
- Exclusive: The Fall - Tarsem's Visual Companion - Part 2 3
- Meet Corey Feldman Courtesy of RT 1
Latest News
- Box Office Wrapup: The Dogs Rule Once Again 17
- Weekly Ketchup: Steve Carell to Get Smart again. 32
- Exclusive: Alexandre Aja talks Mirrors and Piranha 3D 7
- Critics Consensus: Express Scores, Body of Lies Falls Flat 34
- Box Office Guru Preview: Audiences Surrounded by Lies 9
- Meet Corey Feldman Courtesy of RT 1
- Total Recall: Bill Murray's Best Movies 46
- RT on DVD: The Future of Watchmen, Plus Sleeping Beauty, Touch of Evil Remastered 30
- Exclusive: The Fall - Tarsem's Visual Companion - Part 2 3
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Chihuahua is Top Dog 42
Latest Interviews
- Exclusive: Alexandre Aja talks Mirrors and Piranha 3D 7
- RT Interview: Jason Statham Chats Death Race, Crank 2 and The Sweeney 9
- Video Exclusive: Gerard Butler talks RocknRolla and 300 sequel with RT 13
- Video Exclusive: Maria Bello, Brendan Fraser and the Mummy 3 Cast Talk to RT 14
- RT goes behind the scenes on Stargate: Continuum 4
- Starship Troopers' Casper Van Dien Shares His Five Favorite Films 48
- RT Interview: Philippe Petit on Crossing the Twin Towers on a Wire 2
- RT Interview: David Duchovny on The X-Files, Californication and Directing 11
- RT Interview: Ben Barnes on Taking on the Journey of Prince Caspian 1
- RT Interview: William Moseley on His Last Narnia Adventure in Prince Caspian 2
Latest Features
- Exclusive: The Fall - Tarsem's Visual Companion - Part 2 3
- Exclusive: The Fall - Tarsem's Visual Companion - Part 1 12
- Five Favorite Films with Paris Hilton 146
- Exclusive: Brand New The Children Photos and Director Introduction 5
- Five Favorite Films with Chuck Palahniuk 38
- Five Favorite Films with Dane Cook 106
- Five Favorite Films with Eva Mendes 51
- What The Hell Happened To ... Cuba Gooding Jr.? 86
- RT's Summer in Review: The Best, The Worst, and Our Favorite Films! 77
- What The Hell Happened To Shannon Elizabeth? 101
