A Blessed Ash Wednesday & Film News

Ash Wednesday, 1881, Falat Julian Popielec.

A most blessed Ash Wednesday to all of you, and, for those not participating in the ceremony of ashes, please pray for us who are entering into a state of penance, prayer and fasting, that we will be faithful to our vows and the Lord will bless us with grace during this time.
There has been a lot of new film news coming out, so I just want to keep you in the know with these tidbits and a few new trailers I have found.

James Bond with beard, first production still released from newest Bond Skyfall set--at this time--for release in October. What does this tell us about Bond? We know that men's facial hair can mean two things: first, a digression into the animal appetites (especially a beard because it draws attention to the mouth which is symbolic of the appetites) because shaving is a sign of the civilized, so not shaving is a sign of the uncivilized (I am speaking in purely artistic terms here, guys). But the other possible meaning is the exact opposite: a sign of growing spirituality and introversion/interiorism. Because the growing of a beard can mean the renunciation of the world, rather than the succumbing to it (think of St. John the Baptist, do you think he shaved?), Bond "letting his hair down," so to speak, may be going deeper into himself. While Skyfall has nothing to do with Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace, this would be a good time for the British super-hero to do some soul-searching.

"It struck me that it is still possible to make a big, glamourous, fabulous, escapist movie and still say something about the world we're living in" says Sam Mendes, newest director of James Bond's Skyfall set for release in October; well, that's what I have been saying all along and I am anxiously awaiting the first trailers to be released! The only other pictures besides the one above released so far thus is Bond sitting on the edge of a swimming pool and M (Judi Dench) in her office with cameramen behind her.

Pablo Picasso (left) and Antonio Banderas (right).

Antonio Banderas is set to play fellow-Spaniard Pablo Picasso in a new film called 33 Days about the emotional turmoil while painting the enormous canvas Guernica. Banderas is also starring in Black Gold about warring Arabs trying to get control over a strip of desert with large oil reserves beneath. Filming for the anticipated Paradise Lost, based on the John Milton poem, and spear-headed by Bradley Cooper, is dead; reasons sited is that the war between heaven and hell would have been too expensive to film... on the other hand, there is a sequel being made to the Spartan film 300 called 300: Battle of Artemisia starring Jamie Blackley (London Boulevard, Snow White and the Huntsman).

Cherlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman

Here are a few trailers I have picked up since the last posting on upcoming films, including Damsels In Distress: "A trio of girls set out to change the male-dominated environment of the Seven Oaks college campus, and to rescue their fellow students from depression, grunge and low standards of every kind." It's set for an April release in New Zealand.

Set for release June 22, Seeking a freind For the End of the World gives us another end-of-the-world scenario based on a meteor. After his wife leaves him in a panic, he goes after an old sweetheart inadvertently aided by a neighbor who messes up his plans:

Another end-of-the-world trailer is for Ridley Scott's Prometheus set for a June release; I just don't trust Ridley Scott, and the limited information from the trailer makes me dis-trust him even more, but he has done a nice job of incorporating noise (as an artistic medium) into the trailer along with the static (something is being said that we are not going to be able to hear or understand).

I am working to get posts up for The Secret World of Arrietty, Ghost Rider 2 and This Means War. Have a blessed day!