UK Trailer For Barney’s Version Starring Paul Giamatti

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Paul Giamatti kicks off a year of film appearances with a starring role in Barney’s Version released in UK cinemas from 28th January. He’s joined by the legend Dustin Hoffman, Minnie Driver and that actress who was replaced as Victoria in the Twilight Saga (Rachelle Lefevre).

The film, as the synopsis below well tells you, is based on a book by Mordecai Richler, and follows the lives and loves of a dude called Barney Panofsky played by Giamatti. Check out the UK trailer below and go and see if when it comes out, if you want to. Looks like a potentially good slice of grown up cinema.

Synopsis:

Based on Mordecai Richler’s prize-winning comic novel, BARNEY’S VERSION is the warm, wise, and witty story of Barney Panofsky, (Paul Giamatti), a seemingly ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. A candid confessional, told from Barney’s point of view, the film spans three decades and two continents, taking us through the different “acts” of his unusual history. There is his first wife, Clara, (Rachelle Lefevre), a flame-haired, flagrantly unfaithful free sprit with whom Barney briefly lives la vie de Boheme in Rome.

The “Second Mrs. P.,” (Minnie Driver), is a wealthy Jewish Princess who shops and talks incessantly, barely noticing that Barney is not listening. And it is at their lavish wedding that Barney meets, and starts pursuing, Miriam (Rosamund Pike), his third wife, the mother of his two children, and his true love. With his father, Izzy (Dustin Hoffman) as his sidekick, Barney takes us through the many highs, and a few too many lows, of his long and colourful life. Not only does Barney turn out to be a true romantic, he is also capable of all kinds of sneaky acts of gallantry, generosity, and goodness when we – and he – least expect it. His is a gloriously full life, played out on a grand scale. And, at its center stands an unlikely hero – the unforgettable Barney Panofsky.

James Bond 23 Abandoned

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Have we seen the last of James Bond? It appears we have. In April it was announced production on Bond 23 was halted, then postponed and now it’s been dismantled, put away in a lead coffin, placed into a metaphorical rocket ship and blasted into oblivion. Total Film report MGM’s fiduciary troubles have sealed its fate.

After Martin Campbell’s efforts in re-calibrating Jimmy Bond for the post-Bourne generation, they followed it up with a naff sequel directed by Marc Foster. Martin Campbell will forever be known as ‘The Man Who Saved Bond Twice’. Writer Peter Morgan had been working hard on a script and rumors were circulating none other than Sam Mendes was to shout ‘action!’

Will we ever see Daniel Craig as 007? Don’t count on it, unless somebody saves the day. MGM have already managed to piss off film fans with causing delays to The Hobbit. Now they’ve notched another victim on their quest to fuck up productions.

You’d expect Bond to be killed off by Blofeld or The Man with the Golden Gun – not a film studio! Maybe Bond will be back, or interestingly, he’s gone for good. A quiet exit for a forty-odd cinema career that really showed no sign of a decrease in popularity. Bet Alan Partridge is gutted.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Plot Revealed

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Well kind of. It’s less than a month since Johnny Depp announced the title to Pirates of the Caribbean 4, and even then Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was being compared to the book of the same name – a possible plot source perhaps?

At the time it was largely considered speculation, but now the author of “On Stranger Tides” has been able to reveal that his book will indeed provide the basis for the fourth film in the popular Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Tim Powers reveals to the LA Times that during Disney’s D23 Expo, his email inbox was bombarded with messages from friends and fans due to the film’s title, which seemed to have been ripped directly from his work. Not only that, but his book tells the story of a group of pirates on a quest for the Fountain of Youth – the same Fountain that Captain Jack announced he was going to find at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End:

“I was still — as far as I understood — not free to talk about it,” the author told me Monday. “Then about a week ago my agent wrote and said, ‘You’re now able to say that in fact Disney did option the book.’ That happened a while ago, it’ll be three years in April.”

On Stranger Tides was originally published as far back as 1987, during (as the LA Times Blog point out) the Reagan administration. And according the source, Powers is still a little shocked that after all these year’s his work will be appearing on the big screen as the latest edition in the Pirates of the Caribbean series:

“Yes, I’m thrilled,” Power said, “I think it’s great.”

And there you have it fans. I would say that if you want to know what will happen, you should pick up the book, but of course the chances are that by the time Disney present us with Pirates 4 very little will remain of the source material. In fact, Powers seems to share the exact same sentiment:

“My main character doesn’t overlap with Jack Sparrow at all [in personality or circumstance]; they’re totally different characters. I suppose they might overlap the Geoffrey Rush character Barbossa and Blackbeard. The only thing I feel certain they will hold on to is the Fountain of Youth since they telegraphed that at the end of the last movie.”

Whatever material is taken from the book, it’s fairly certain that when all is said and done they’ll both stand apart as seperate stories in all but name and as such, I think I might have to pick myself up a copy off of Amazon once I’m done here!