After the jump, I’ve got the trailer for Anna Karenina, adapted from the Tolstoy novel by director Joe Wright (Atonement) and starring Jude Law, Keira Knightley, and Kick-Ass‘s Aaron Johnson. I got through about 30 seconds before I realized there wasn’t any vampires, parkour, or cannon fights, then I threw my laptop out the window and melvined a nerd.
Over the weekend, director Joe Wright spoke to a crowd at WonderCon in San Francisco, and among other things, he heroically criticized Sucker Punch for its shameless objectification of women. And Joe Wright should know a little something about terrible movies set entirely in the protagonist’s imagination, he directed Atonement.
“For me, one of the main issues in terms of women’s place in society and feminism is the sexual objectification of women,” said Wright, speaking at Wondercon in L.A. on Saturday. “That’s something that feminists in the ’70s tried to fight against but has been totally lost in the 21st century consumer-celebrity world. So for me, when I look at the poster for Sucker Punch it seems actually incredibly sexist, because it is sexually objectifying women regardless of if they can shoot you or not.”
Yes, it takes a real hero to finally take a stand against Zack Snyder’s sleazy whorephanage fantasy that everyone hated and hardly anyone saw. But tell us, Joe, is bullying bad? What of breast cancer? Is this terrible scourge stealing away our mothers and sisters? And please, be sure to phrase your answer in the form of semi-meaningless, PC buzzwords.
“I have a kind of immediate, knee-jerk reaction to such iconography,” Wright continued. “I remember when the Spice Girls came out in the mid-’90s and it was all about girl power, but one of them was dressed as a baby doll, do you know what I mean? That isn’t girl power, that isn’t feminism. That’s marketing bullsh*t. And I find it very, very alarming.”
You’re right, this terrible objectification is keeping our western women down, as evidenced by young women out-earning their male counterparts in 147 of America’s 150 biggest cities. We should cover their flesh and start treating them better, like they do in Afghanistan. That would be so much more “feminist.” It’s nice to finally see someone who’s against all this marketing bullsh*t. Wait, why are you at WonderCon, again? It’s not to promote a movie, is it?
Wright’s Hanna, in which a totally not-scantily clad young girl kicks a bunch of ass, opens on Friday.
Oh right, that.
Trailer for Hanna, y’all:
Raised by her father, an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland, Hanna’s upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own.
So basically, the chick from Atonement/Lovely Bones — Saoirse (“SIR-shuh”) Ronan — is raised in the woods with Eric Bana, who turns her into a PERFECT KILLING MACHINE. My favorite part was when she was riding in the undercarriage of a car like Cape Fear. I wish she’d also had a knife between her teeth and was screaming YOU CAN’T RUN FROM SAOIRSE, MOTHERF**KERS!
Then in the next scene, someone’s looking at her DNA tests marked “ABNORMAL.” I’m telling you, if this chick turns out to be a secret dwarf hooker, I might pass out from glee.
I’m not one of those people who gets nostalgic about old Disney movies, but I do have a soft spot for The Little Mermaid, on account of it convincing so many skanks that going topless with pasties or long hair is an acceptable Halloween costume (and also because the intro to “Under the Sea” kind of sounds like “Rudie Can’t Fail” by the Clash). Now the word is that Working Title is planning a live-action version of the Little Mermaid. Only it’s going to be an adaptation of the 
Joe Wright, who directed The Soloist for London-based Working Title, is developing a live-action feature of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale. This adaptation, written by Abi Morgan (Brick Lane), has been particularly inspired by a production staged by The Little Angel Theatre Company using puppets. [Deadline]
Puppets, sure. Whatever. The original fairy tale is lot like the Disney version in that it’s still about a mermaid who falls in love with a prince and wants to become human, but it also has some quirks. For instance, Merfolk live for 300 years and then turn into sea foam, whereas humans live human life spans, but get to go to heaven (as long as they pray to Jesus). Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia’s plot summary:
The Little Mermaid, longing for the prince and an eternal soul, eventually visits the Sea Witch, who sells her a potion that gives her legs, in exchange for her tongue (as the Little Mermaid has the most intoxicating voice in the world). Drinking the potion will make her feel as if a sword is being passed through her, yet when she recovers she will have two beautiful legs, and will be able to dance like no human has ever danced before. However, it will constantly feel like she is walking on sharp swords, and her feet will bleed most terribly. In addition, she will only get a soul if the prince loves her and marries her, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries another woman, the Little Mermaid will die brokenhearted and disintegrate into sea foam.
So if she doesn’t marry a handsome prince, she’ll turn into worthless sea foam? That actually sounds a lot like most Hollywood Rom-Coms. “Next Summer… Jennifer Lopez and McCreamy star in… Mer-Made in Manhattan!”
This anti-domestic violence ad starring Keira Knightley and directed by Atonement’s Joe Wright has been banned in the U.K., for fairly obvious reasons.
Advertising censors are refusing to allow it to be broadcast unless key scenes are cut.
“The Cut” was made for the charity Women’s Aid, and launched in cinemas at the beginning of this month.
Charities working to combat domestic violence branded the decision by Clearcast, the ad approval body, “pathetic”, arguing that, in banning the advert, it is shielding the public from the reality of domestic violence.
“It seems pathetic. It is really important to raise awareness about domestic violence, and TV gets into people’s homes” said Sandra Horely, chief executive of Refuge, a charity that provides accommodation for women and children escaping from domestic violence.
“The reason we are still in conversation with Clearcast about it is because they believe it is too violent,” said Chris Hirst, managing director of Grey London Advertising Agency, which created The Cut. “Part of the point of the campaign is to raise awareness about domestic violence, and spark debate, which the advert has done, even if it doesn’t make it on to TV.” [Independent]
Whatever, you can spout your “just raisin’ awareness” cliché if you want, but all ads like this do is convince me that the the people who make them are creepy and weird. It’s like filming a guy who rapes a baby and poops on his dog, and then at the end an announcer comes on and says “don’t rape a baby and poop on your dog.” Really? That was your solution? Look, if you want money for your charity, just film Sarah McLachlan singing to a sad puppy, you can have everything in my wallet.
