Another Excellent Poster for 'The Tall Man'

This movie has gotten the best one sheets and the worst reviews.

Here's yet another good poster. Atmospheric, nice color scheme, intimates a psychological depth, creepy.

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Another Great Poster for Jessica Biel's 'The Tall Man'

This time it's a Spanish language poster and yet another excellent graphic for what is, by all accounts, at best a mediocre movie.

Have to say, this is one of the best, most psychologically creepy posters I've seen (for any movie of the genre). It emphasizes an eerie concept rather than holding promise of cheap scares and gore -- rare in horror movie posters.

I like how the bad guy is standing right in front of the police car, whose driver has apparently just rushed into a crime scene in such a hurry he/she didn't even close the door, yet the culprit has gone unnoticed. The water reflects his image clearly but the cops are clueless.

Does this mean the madman could be anybody? Your friend, neighbor, clerk who rings up your purchase, or does it mean the guy is a ghost and literally can't be seen? 'Either way', seems to be the point. 'Take your pick'.

Nicely done.

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An Even Better Trailer for 'The Tall Man'

By all accounts 'The Tall Man' simply isn't worth the time. However, the rollout is excellent. Posters get better, so do trailers.

Here's the latest. Pretty tight.


















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New 'Total Recall' Featurette

As I've said, these guys -- Len Wiseman, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale -- believe in this movie. You can see it when they comment. Especially Colin Farrell. Here, he says, "It's a lot of fun, man. Really, it's a lot of fun. I actually can't wait to spend two hours watching this." He means it. That's so rare in these junket interviews and featurettes.

The more I see of 'Total Recall' the more I think they may have raised the bar. 





















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'Total Recall' Featurette Plays an Ace

Folks have been a tad guarded about this and I suppose that's just so. However, (I may be dreaming) but there's something about the way Kate Beckinsale, Colin Farrell, and Jessica Biel (and producer Neal Moritz and director Len Wiseman) talk about the movie that speaks of confidence. These guys know it's locked down and are sincere in their descriptions. And, really, you don't see that a lot. Actors try, but you can see through it.

For instance, Farrell at 2:21, "Hugely impressive and really clever." Come on. You can't say that with a straight face unless you mean it. He does, it shows.

Then, there's dialogue. Beckinsale's "I give good wife" breathes, and Farrell's "If I'm not me, then who the hell am I" is the kind of line that gets phoned in when the actor knows the script sucks, but Farrell steps up and delivers as if this were an indie awards flick.

Screenwriting is by Kurt Wimmer who added depth of character to 'Salt', and Mark Bomback who kept the action in 'Live Free or Die Hard' and 'Unstoppable' clicking along nicely.

There's also some very cool cityscape visuals which go a long way to counter the knocks the film has taken re: a generic/derivative look. Not only that, but the new snippets of action are good. Plain ole good. Wiseman found a fresh approach.

From what I've seen 'Total Recall' brings it. This will end up being must-own on Blu-ray.

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Another Great Poster for 'The Tall Man' (aka The Secret)

It's gotten lousy reviews but the posters have been very nice.

This just works.

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International Trailer/Poster for Pascal Laugier's 'The Tall Man' (aka 'The Secret')

This movie, apparently, is being re-labeled 'The Secret' in an attempt (it's safe to presume) to get some distance from very bad reviews of 'The Tall Man' -- a dubious sleight of hand, but I guess you can't blame them.

I'm not sure what the droning collection of footage we got yesterday was supposed to accomplish. It squelches any sense of anticipation for the movie and serves as a ringing endorsement of negative assessments. Note: The video has been removed for a 'breach of the Terms of Use' (by whom I don't know, but not me), which may, at least to some extent, explain the clunky footage -- as if it wasn't meant to be viewed without further editing.

This new trailer (which is much more tightly cut) sells the picture fairly well. At this point, however, it's largely academic.

Still though, for die-hard fans of the genre, it's fun to watch and pretend the movie is coming out and you're going to see it, and to pine for what might have been. For hardcore extremist die-hard fans who still plan to see The Tall Man/The Secret, this trailer makes the idea of watching the movie enticing indeed.

Trailer comes late in the day but, taken together with the domestic poster, a nice effort.





















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Trailer for Pascal Laugier's 'The Tall Man'

UPDATED 6/29: There's an international trailer here

We got an excellent poster yesterday. Unfortunately, the reviews from SXSW were fairly bad.

Here's the trailer/mish-mash, which is more like a compressed version of the entire film (excluding some of Act III). It's pretty bad. Too long. Off-putting. (However, in full disclosure, I read some of the Quiet Earth -- they got the trailer's debut -- write-up while the trailer was playing so perhaps I'm in no position to pass judgment).

Anyway, too bad.


The Tall Man trailer by blankytwo
















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Poster for Jessica Biel's 'The Tall Man'

This just works. Arresting. Very sharp graphics. Biel looks just so. Perfect composition.

Tag: "Fear takes a new shape," works nicely, too.

The pitch:

• When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.

Well, the poster may be nice but apparently this isn't expected to do well in theatrical release. From JoBlo:

• Pascal Laugier's THE TALL MAN will be getting a theatrical release on AUGUST 31st, but based on today's information, it's a sure-thing that it will be in a limited and short-lived capacity. High-Def Digest is reporting that the supernatural thriller will be making its home video debut a mere few weeks later, on SEPTEMBER 25th.

'The Tall Man' (love that title) played SXSW this year. Some clips from reviews:

Film School Rejects:

• SXSW Midnighter pick The Tall Man falls into the category of the most aggravating kind of disposable movies. It’s not bad, there’s a certain level of competency, and a few of its ideas, if translated right, would make for an interesting film. Unfortunately those ideas aren’t handled right, and the final result is a tedious, bland, and unsubtle thriller.

FearNet:

• Pascal Laugier's The Tall Man is either one certifiably insane horror story / missing kids thriller, or it's one of the clearest examples of why one should always approach a new movie with as few "expectations" as possible.

TwitchFilm:

• Pascal Laugier's first film since Martyrs is seriously underwhelming. Laugier, the director, can still deliver cool, efficient thrills, as evidenced in an early, extended sequence in which Jessica Biel gives ferocious chase to a mysterious stranger who has kidnapped her child. 

• But Laugier, the writer, again has "something to say," and that could be a good thing. It's unfortunate, however, that the message, when delivered, is nowhere near as provocative or multi-dimensional (or pretentious or divisive) as Martyrs. Even leaving Laugier's previous effort out of the equation, however, The Tall Man adds up to an ambitious thriller -- with a very good performance by Biel -- that falls short of its goals.

Okay, got it, but I still like that poster...




















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Friends with Benefits, Biel, Shooting Sex Scenes, etc

Yeah, that's how I relax on a Sunday afternoon.

Vanity Fair with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis:

Gluck, who calls Timberlake “fiercely normal, in a good way,” gave the duo a choice: they could film their sex scenes, which feature graphic acts in which one or the other’s head is under the sheets, at either the beginning or the end of production. They chose the last possible moment. “We figured that by then we’d really, hopefully, be friends, which is what happened,” says Kunis. “It’s always uncomfortable to do those scenes—it doesn’t matter if it’s with a same-sex partner or opposite-sex partner,” she says, referring to her lesbian scenes with Natalie Portman in Black Swan. “You have to be in these crazy positions for 12 to 16 hours. I’ll never forget when Justin had to be on top of me with his right hand on my left pasty and his left hand on my right pasty—my feet were getting numb, and I think his hands were giving out on him. It was a workout.”

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Aniston And Biel

Jennifer Aniston talking with a Canadian outfit, Tribute Entertainment Media Group, about 'Management' at TIFF.

And here's Jessica Biel regarding 'Easy Virtue'. It's pretty incredible how much stuff is on YouTube. I just can't see knowing about these interviews before the internet came along.