Just a reminder that The Road gets released on DVD & Blu-ray today. DVD Talk has an extensive review of the Blu-ray here.
The list of special features:
SPECIAL FEATURES
You can get the film from Amazon.
Manila Bulletin has an interview with Joel Torre, a Filipino actor who will play a character named Rafael in Baryo, while the local Inquirer talked to director John Sayles.
Joel is in the thick of preparations for his on-and-off-screen participation in American independent filmmaker John Sayles’ historical war drama, “Baryo,” which will start its six-week shoot in Bohol on Feb. 2. (…)
“Baryo,” says Joel, is set during the Philippine-American War that took place from 1899 to 1902 and imparts different points of view – that of the colonizers, the rebels, and the civilians caught in the crossfire. It also touches on the roots of American imperialism.
“It’s an obscure part of our history that needs to be told,” the Bacolod native, who broke into the biz via Peque Gallaga’s 1982 war epic, “Oro, Plata, Mata,” tells Manila Bulletin Entertainment Online in an interview, adding that the movie will surely raise questions.
Joel says “Baryo” may stir controversy especially since Sayles, whose original screenplays for 1993’s “Passion Fish” and 1997’s “Lone Star” had both been nominated for Oscars, is known to tackle political and social issues in his films. (…)
Joining Joel onscreen are foreign actors headed by Sayles regular Chris Cooper, Oscar best supporting actor for 2002’s “Adaptation,” who will play an American colonel.
Garret Dillahunt, notably of “No Country for Old Men,” is also in the movie along with other US-based actors including Fil-Am Arthur Acuna.
Joel informs us that another Sayles regular, David Strathairn, whose performance in 2005’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor, was supposed to be in “Baryo” as well, but schedule conflict prevented him from doing so.
Ronnie Lazaro, Pen Medina, John Arcilla, Joe Gruta, Bodjie Pascua, Spanky Manikan, Rio Locsin, Irma Adlawan, and some local Bohol talents round up the cast.
“Baryo” is set for a U.S. release later this year. [Manila Bulletin]
And from the other article:
“In my readings, I stumbled on the Philippine-American War, which is hardly tackled in history books. I saw parallels between the Philippines and Vietnam and the other wars we’ve been in,” Sayles recounted.
He immersed himself in historical documents from that era, he said, including diaries of American soldiers, Nick Joaquin’s books and Jose Rizal’s novels in original Spanish.
Three years later, he came up with his own novel. “I’ve yet to find a publisher for the novel, but when I focused on the script, it took me only a month to write it,” said Sayles.
The English script was translated to Tagalog by local screenwriter Jose F. Lacaba.
Filming “Baryo” can be a mighty challenge, Sayles admitted. After sifting through tons of material, he must recreate history in organic detail—the sound of coughing motorbikes and crowing roosters, notwithstanding.
“Our production designer, Rodel Cruz, is building a village on the edge of a rice field,” he related.
Although he is bringing in American actors (like DJ Qualls and Garret Dillahunt) to play the occupying army, Sayles will work with homegrown talents like Joel Torre, Ronnie Lazaro, Irma Adlawan, Spanky Manikan, Rio Locsin, John Arcilla, among other actors. [Inquirer]
In other news, The Road is on the short list for the best makeup Oscar. (The final list of nominations will be announced on February 2.)
Looks like Icon Distribution is doing a great job promoting the film in the UK.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has released the long list of nominees for this year’s BAFTA Awards and The Road has been nominated in nine categories: Best Film, Leading Actor (Viggo Mortensen), Adapted Screenplay (Joe Penhall), Cinematography (Javier Aguirresarobe), Make-up & Hair, Special Visual Effects, Production Design, Editing and Sound. The short list will be revealed on January 21.
You can find the complete list of nominees on BAFTA’s site.
The Road will be released in the UK tomorrow (January 8). For local listings, visit Icon’s site.
Stephen King has posted a list of the Top 10 Films of ’09 on his column at Entertainment Weekly. He put The Last House on the Left at #2 and The Road at #3. His number one is The Hurt Locker. Here is what he wrote about the films:
2. THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT
Easily the most brilliant remake of the decade, and not just because the 1972 original was such a crapfest. This beautifully photographed — but hard to watch — movie is the standard by which all horror/suspense films should be judged: The acting is superior (Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul is especially fine), the story makes sense, and, most importantly, Last House’s moral compass points to true north. We don’t want these creeps back for six or eight sequels; they are monsters, and we want them dead. This film is on par with The Silence of the Lambs.
3. THE ROAD
Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the apocalypse comes to the screen with all its spare and deadly beauty intact. It’s often painful to watch (at my screening I actually heard the projectionist sobbing as the film neared its end), but Viggo Mortensen’s performance as the dedicated father is Oscar bait.
Okay, it’s the last day of the year and this blog will be a year old tomorrow, so I am posting a recap of everything that’s happened in 2009.
Hope everyone has a great time tonight and a fantastic year ahead.
See you in 2010!
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The year started with Terminator promo and press tours. The show returned with the last nine episodes in the Friday slot in mid-February.
Later that month, Garret was spotted filming Winter’s Bone in Missouri. The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in late January. If anyone plans on going, the Sundance screening schedule is here.
The Last House on the Left opened on March 13. The reviews ranged from excellent to free branding campaign and the film made it to several lists of best horrors of the year. In October, it won a Reaper Award for Best Theatrical Release in 2009.
Toward the end of the month, Garret played his fifth character on T:SCC, the Skynet virus from the future. Previous four were George Laszlo, Cromartie, the Beastwizard and John Henry.
In late March, the first pictures from Burning Bright appeared online. Burning Bright was later renamed to Ravenous and it still awaits theatrical release. In November, it was screened at the AFM. The first reviews were pretty positive.
In early April, Water Pills had its U.S. premiere at the Florida Film Festival. Jasmine Jessica Anthony walked away with a grand jury award for best performance.
Also in April, two series finales aired two days apart. Garret snuffed the TV crew and gave Damian Lewis his final headache in Life on April 8. Life season two was released on DVD on August 25.
The Terminator finale aired on April 10. Despite cancellation, the show made it to #8 on the list of the Top 10 Most Pirated Shows in 2009. Last year, it was the only new show among the top 10, at #4.
In the meantime, Garret joined Delroy Lindo and Roslyn Ruff in Things of Dry Hours, a play by Naomi Wallace about communists in 1930s Alabama. Rehearsals started on April 21.
The first trailer for The Road hit the web on May 15.
On May 18, Fox announced that they would not be picking up Terminator for a third season. Even though there has been talk of a possible TV/DVD movie, Terminator rights are currently up for grabs and in limbo until February 2010.
On May 20, Garret appeared in the season finale of Criminal Minds.
Two days later, Things of Dry Hours went into previews at the New York Theatre Workshop. The show premiered on June 8 and ran through June 28. Critics liked the cast, but were divided on the writing.
At some point over the spring/summer, Garret was cast in Madeleine Stowe’s Unbound Captives, an independent western epic with Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz and Robert Pattinson. If they get financing in time, the film will go into production in March (at the earliest).
In late July and early August, Garret filmed two TV guest appearances, on CSI and Lie to Me, and a short film, One Night Only.
The Last House on the Left was released on DVD in mid-August.
Later that month, Garret was spotted filming the season three finale of Burn Notice. The episode will air in March 2010.
The trailer for One Night Only was released on September 2.
On September 3, The Road had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Ten days later, it was screened in Toronto.
Terminator: The Complete Season Two was released on DVD on September 22.
On September 24, the CSI season 10 premiere aired. “Family Affair” is one of the five hours of television nominated for an ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) Award this year.
Speaking of CSI, in a fine display of Terminator fanboyism, the last episode before the break, Better off Dead, had a bunch of people stealing Cromartie’s music and killing each other. Also, a killer described as a Terminator.
On October 13, Oliver Sherman, an independent drama with Molly Parker and Donal Logue, went into production in North Bay. The film will most likely premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2010, but Canadians might get an early screening in the spring.
On October 21st, Garret appeared on Lie to Me.
And two days later, on Law & Order: SVU.
The Road finally saw its U.S. premiere at AFI fest in early November. On Thanksgiving, it got a limited release. Even though the film has been vastly overlooked in the early awards season, the reviews were mostly positive and it scored a few acting nods (Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Kodi Smit-McPhee) from several critics’ societies (Broadcast Film Critics, Utah Film Critics, St. Louis Film Critics).
On November 13, Garret appeared on White Collar.
And the next day, One Night Only had its premiere in New York.
In November, Garret was cast in two new projects. The comedy pilot Keep Hope Alive, with Martha Plimpton, Cloris Leachman and Lucas Neff, was filmed earlier this month. If it gets picked up, it will be aired in the 2010/11 season.
The other project, John Sayles’ film Baryo, starts shooting in February in the Philippines. The crew is already there, building the set and preparing for the shoot. You can follow the updates on the new production blog, at johnsaylesbaryo.blogspot.com.
And that about wraps it up. If 2010 is even half as eventful, it will be another excellent year.