In this morning’s roundup of movie news ‘n’ notes from around the web, fest news, more Mara, and cut the cuts.
Inspired by a press release about an upcoming “director’s definitive cut” DVD of Michael Mann’s “The Last of the Mohicans,” Matt Zoller Seitz delivers a proclamation: “the entire phenomenon of director's cuts and definitive director's cuts and restored cuts and expanded cuts and alternate cuts has gotten out of hand and needs to stop.” Then he decides that recuts fall into four categories: revisions, rescues, resuscitations and reimaginings. He’s not crazy about any of them, though he loves the 172- minute extra-long cut of Terrence Malick’s “The New World.” (Film Salon)
Anne Thompson has the backstory on the new Lisbeth Salander, actress Rooney Mara. She comes from a family that owns football teams, she dropped her first name Patricia to use her middle name Rooney, she founded a charity, she’s best-known for the “Nightmare on Elm Street” remake (right), and she says she’s really dark. A great many Salander fans will soon decide if she’s dark enough. (Thompson on Hollywood)
Jeff Wells thinks that the New York Film Festival, which for years “has become more and more cloistered and dweeb-minded,” may have regained its pulse. He guesses that the more-interesting, more-mainstream direction (as demonstrated in the selection of David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” as opening- and closing-night attractions) can be attributed to a pair of critics who’ve joined the staff, programmer Scott Foundas and selection committee member Todd McCarthy. (Hollywood Elsewhere)
The Telluride Film Festival doesn’t release its official lineup until the fest starts, which will happen this year on September 3. But that doesn’t stop Jay A. Fernandez from making a bunch of guesses, which begin with Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” (it’s set on a mountain, and Fox Searchlight will want a U.S. festival boost prior to its November 5 opening) and include Mark Romanek’s “Never Let Me Go,” Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” Woody Allen’s “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” and Sylvain Chomet’s “The Illusionist.” (Risky Business)
It may not be one of the prestige sections of the Toronto Film Festival, but the Midnight Madness program has captured Russ Fischer’s heart: “there’s nothing quite like catching the world premiere of a psychopathic genre film with a crowd of hundreds of eager fans of left of center cinema.” Of the three films revealed on Twitter Monday by TIFF programmer Colin Geddes, Fischer is most excited about James Gunn’s “Super,” with Rainn Wilson as a normal guy-turned-superhero. The martial-arts film “Bunraku,” with Josh Hartnett, and Wu Ershan’s “The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman” are two other titles revealed on Monday. (Slash Film)
