Saw The Fountain trailer yesterday....

I saw The Fountain trailer yesterday when I went to see Lady In The Water, and all I have to say is that I was just awed at how beautiful the trailer looked. Hugh Jackman looks like he's going to do great in the movie. I can't wait until the movie comes out into theaters.

The reviews from screenings have been glowing. Everyone says Hugh gives a "virtuoso" performance. Here's one.

http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=reviews&id=7133

>The revelation is Jackman. We knew he was charismatic. We knew he could sing and dance. I, for one, didn’t know that he could be completely emotionally naked, flaying himself on screen down to his own bare essence. The scenes he plays as the conquistador are good. The scenes he plays in the modern day are affecting and moving. But it’s the scenes that he plays in the future that are brilliant. He’s sitting alone, bald, in a bubble with a tree amidst the vastness of intergalactic space, and yet he makes these scenes my favorite in the movie. In the bubble he’s a madman, a lost soul, a Buddha, all at once. Hugh Jackman has delivered a performance that demands an Academy Award nomination.<<

Here's the trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thefountain/trailer1/

I also saw the trailer in the theater, along with Hugh's other movie, "The Prestige" - they come out a week apart, "The Fountain" Oct. 13 and "The Prestige" Oct. 20. And Woody Allen's "Scoop" opens next weekend.

Interesting aside - Hugh was cast in "The Fountain" after director Darren Aronofsky saw him perform in "The Boy from Oz." They had to wait eight months for him to finish his Broadway run before they started filming.

Updated On: 7/23/06 at 04:59 PM

This looks AMAZING.
I cant wait for it.

SCOOP looks hysterical.
I love Scarlett & Hugh.

Can you talk about some of the other performances??? I've been following this movie for ages - you may want to check out this message board - they are going ape over there over this.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414993/board/threads/

I've been looking forward to this film since I've read about Hugh's attachment to the the project while he was still in TBFO ( about spring 2004).

I had not heard about Darren Aronofsky before but proceeded to see his PI and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. They were both exceptionally good and interesting films ( and for a new director at that). Some movie fansites have been reporting on the progress of this film while in development ( six years or so...including an initial peek into the script and the time when Brad and Cate were originally attached to this project) and now the message boards ( IMDB, CHUD, etc) are getting very excited about the film -- after a few wrote their accounts of test screenings and after the trailer was posted.

Darren has nothing but praise for Hugh (whom he happened to cast after seeing him in THE BOY FROM OZ - a completely different role, but which Aronofsky said showed him how versatile an actor Hugh can be). In his last interview on EMPIRE magazine, he said this of Hugh :" I think everyone's going to be blown away. It's just a whole other level for him as an actor. Even if I screw things up, it will be really hard to ignore the work he's done in this movie. After Hugh, I don't think I could ever work with another actor."

Btw, there is beautiful graphic novel which Darren created with illustrator Kent Williams - it is such a visual feast ( which I look forward will be the same for the movie).

Updated On: 7/23/06 at 11:36 PM

Another thing --

The movie budget was supposedly scaled down to around $ 35 million ( from the supposed original of $ 70 Million when Brad and Cate were attached) - but if you look at the spectacles shown on the trailer - it looks like an expensively made film. That must be the genius of Aronofsky and his team!

I hope Darren is recognized by the Academy Awards ( and by the Venice Film Festival, if reports of its inclusion are true) in this film.

I hear the effects were made with chemicals, which explains why the post-production took so long.

Jo - according to this, The Fountain will be at BOTH the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2006/07/san_diego_hooha.php

Fan2

Thanks for the link. That is a great review from Jeffrey Wells. It seems those who have seen it are quite overwhelmed with the movie. The CHUD review gave it a 9.8 out 10 rating. I can't wait to read Moriarty's ( AICN) review of the movie - he has been following the progress of this movie since way back. He gave us the initial script review, told us of the set visit when it was being filmed and now he says it is a film " that will break your heart and blow your mind" - and he has not even printed his own review.

Also, a while ago, Liz Smith talked about how Hollywood insiders in a party given by Harvey Weinstein were all raves for this film and for Darren Aronofsky ( and how he is one of two directors who are the future of the movies).

Jo

Updated On: 7/24/06 at 09:23 PM

The movie originally scheduled on limited release for October 13 is now going on Wide Release and moved to a new opening date, November 22.

According to BoxOfficeMojo --

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=bydate&rele...3&showweeks=4&p=.htm

I think the feedback from many sectors ( the test screenings, the special previews for movie sites and the recent press previews at ComicCon) is very positive - not only in terms of artistic success but also the emerging more mainstream appeal of the film.

This is also prime time for creating buzz for OSCAR-most-likelys


Jo

No I think this is good! While we have to wait another month, I think it shows they think it's Oscar material. Here's another review from someone who's seen it - darn those embargoes!

http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmtv/features/traileramareturns/072506.asp

>>The Trailer: Darren Aronofsky's dream (and dream-like) project finally comes to life after about six years of stops and starts. You probably won't get the story from the rather experimental nature of the trailer, but here's the scoop: In the present day, Hugh Jackman plays a doctor researching the cure for cancer, of which is wife, Rachel Weisz, is a victim. Rachel's character is writing a novel in her dying days, called The Fountain, which deals with a Spanish conquistador's search for the Tree of Life in the 1500s. And, in the year 2500, a man travels through space in a ship that houses this Tree of Life, and... well, you're just going to have to see this incredible film.

Our Prediction: Prediction nothing. I've had the pleasure of seeing the film, and while I am sworn to secrecy about its secrets, I can tell you this: you've never seen a film like The Fountain, and you never will again. Be sure to see it - in a theater, dammit - and let this powerful, creative, unapologetically emotional sci-fi love story take you to another time and place - sometimes several at once.<<<