Ridley Scott called. He wants you to co-direct a movie he’s producing.

Let me explain. Yesterday, YouTube began promoting Life in a Day, a feature-length documentary that will be composed of user-submitted videos. On July 24th, users are encouraged to record their day, whatever that may entail, and submit their video to the Life in a Day project on YouTube. The most compelling and distinct clips will then be edited together by director Kevin Macdonald (State of Play, The Last King of Scotland). The result will premiere at next year’s Sundance Film Festival in January.

The goal of the project is to become a “snap-shot of life on Earth during one 24-hour period.” Quite ambitious, but very intriguing. If done right, this could be a very powerful picture of the unity of all people, no matter what race, religion, or language.

So what do you get for participating? If your clip is selected you will be credited as a co-director on the film. Then, 20 of those co-directors will be flown to Park City for the premiere next January.

On the surface this sounds like a really neat idea. I don’t know how compelling the final product will actually be, however. It will take a lot of work to find a single thread – an idea that permeates the entire project, but there is definitely potential for a very interesting doc.

Crowd-sourced projects like this do not have a good reputation (despite successes such as Wikipedia and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hitRECord), but its great that more high-profile talent are beginning to realize the potential that this kind of thing has.

Scott really sums most of what I feel is going to be the next big wave in indie film. Especially nowadays, there is no excuse not to make a film if you have the desire to. YouTube and “real” films are starting to intersect, and I think that could be a huge deal. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Go to YouTube.com/LifeinaDay for more information, including a FAQ and more specific guidelines.

Stealing from the rich to give to the poor.

Now that’s a lesson that Brian Helgeland, the screenwriter for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood could have, and should have, taken to heart. In this case, it’s his own anemic, battle-centric script that qualifies as poor, and it could desperately use some of that energy and charisma that the richest adaptations possess.

Chief amongst those older, wealthy forefathers is Errol Flynn’s iconic classic, The Adventures of Robin Hood, which remains the benchmark for the story despite belittling remarks from the makers of this version and Costner’s earlier Prince of Thieves. Picking at the costuming and the generally light tone are easy and misguided attacks, and they didn’t help those more belligerent filmmakers turn out a product that could remotely match it. Not back in 1991, and not now.

However, that’s not to say that this new Robin Hood is without value as a breezy summer entertainment, or that Scott and Crowe are just blithely cashing paychecks. As a matter of fact, right off the bat, it’s quite easy to point out that this one is far and away a better movie than Prince of Thieves, although it lacks the one thing that film had going for it; a likable and entertaining villain. That version had Rickman as a scene stealing Sheriff of Nottingham. This one has Matthew MacFayden bumbling through a handful of scenes as the same character, barely making an impact in a movie that was originally designed to be the sheriff’s story, told from his perspective.

Predictably, Crowe, who was slated to play the sheriff, eventually took on the Robin Hood role and the entire film became a more conventional telling with only a few minor alterations that allow it to become a kind of revisionist prequel.  Scott’s Hood explains how it is that Robin and the gang ended up living off the land, hiding in the forest, and sticking it to Prince John and his lackeys, although it has no explanation for how it is they became merry. Mostly, it’s a stone-faced serious affair, taking much of the joy to be had from numerous axe-cleavings, arrows through soft tissue, and swords eviscerating bone. This isn’t a big, colorful, boyhood adventure but a grimy, brutal warrior film with a few dashes of social justice sprinkled (and sometimes just liberally dumped) throughout.

Crowe’s Robin isn’t even actually Loxley, but a man named Longstride who fights alongside Richard the Lionheart during the Crusades and returns, with his band of deserters, to the birthplace of the real Robert Loxely, bearing the fallen man’s sword. He has been tasked to bring it to the Loxley homestead but what he finds when he gets there is a small, demoralized hamlet called Nottingham,  Robert’s beautiful but steely wife, Marion(Cate Blanchett), and his old, blind father, Sir Walter,  played gamely by Max Von Sydow. Walter suggests that Robin pretend to be his dead son, and Marion’s husband, so as to save the family land and curtail the lecherous advances of the Sheriff.

There is enough plot in that synopsis, with the added charm of Robin’s posse–John Little, Will Scarlett, Allan A’Dayle, and Friar Tuck– to generate a great little movie. Unfortunately, the creators are both more and less ambitious than that, and give us a story about French invasion, royal subversion, and the struggle between John’s tyranny and the restlessness of his subjects. This larger narrative is there to supply all of the generic elements of a dozen other, lesser movies; a cookie-cutter villain (not John, but a traitorous toadie named Godfrey), blustery proclamations about the importance of freedom, and a massive, full scale battle scene that looks like it was pulled from the Ridley Scott stock archives.

Does it work? In a way, it does. After Scott/Crowe brought the epic, historical adventure back with Gladiator in 2000, Ridley himself has been at the forefront of the genre, delivering films of great detail, realism, and a certain, modern sense of fatalism. These are not the adventure movies of yesteryear–heck, they weren’t even Braveheart, although they desperately yearned to be– but a new breed of solemn hack-and-slashers, more interested in the sight of humans stabbing one another than in any sense of capturing the sweep and romanticism of a fictitious antiquity. But, like 2005′s Kingdom of Heaven (which has an absolutely terrific Director’s Cut), Robin Hood manages to satisfy the demands of the genre thanks to a strong cast and Scott’s eye for beautiful imagery and stunning compositions.

The movie is visually compelling and wonderfully designed from an artistic perspective. The rolling, green hills of an ancient English countryside are a welcome distraction from the CGI heavy smash-up of recent summer entries, and the sets are a thing of beauty, from the rustic, medieval interior of Sir Walter’s home, to the muddy, bloody encampment of King Richard. There are handsomely constructed action scenes, although we have seen their like many times before, and they fulfill their purpose admirably. In the end, though, the images alone can’t quite save the film.

What does make Robin worth seeing is the cast, particularly Blanchett’s earthy and pragmatic Marion, who is a thousand miles away from DeHaviland’s portrayal, but no less interesting for it. Her interactions with Robin are not the zesty courtship of young, idealistic love, but the cautious, deliberate motions of a woman who has more to think of than simple, personal happiness. If the film had actually been brave enough to develop a smaller, more dramatic movie around their relationship, it could have blossomed into something wonderful.  Crowe isn’t playing the kind of Robin I wanted to see, but kudos to his approach, which posits Longstride as a world weary archer who could live like a selfish outlaw if not for that nagging sense of responsibility rattling around in his noggin.

Mark Addy was born to play Friar Tuck, and he has no lack of the required bluster or drunken zeal. Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes and Alan Doyle are rather playful with their characters and pretend not to notice that they are typical sidekicks with recognizable names. Matthew MacFayden as the sheriff seems to have a sympathetic inkling as to what kind of man it requires to be the utter tool of a king, living out a gloomy anonymity in a podunk backwater. Unfortunately, none of that is in the script, only in MacFayden’s eyes, and the movie would rather see him as a buffoon whose only purpose is to be mocked for his seven minutes of screen-time. Sydow still has a wizened, aristocratic glow after all these years, and a flashback scene has the sublime pleasure of showing us his younger, stoic visage from The Seventh Seal, wherein he was the returning knight coming home from the Crusades.

The weakest acting link in the film is Mark Strong, the duplicitous Godfrey, who runs around the movie trying to usurp John, kill Robin, and participate in the same activities that Jason Isaac relished in The Patriot; mainly, stabbing friends of the hero, burning churches, and just staring smugly at the camera out of the corner of his eye. It doesn’t help that Strong sort of looks like the lovechild of Elias Koteas and Andy Garcia, and once you figure out that bald heads and hook noses aren’t always intrinsically menacing, he has little to offer. He’s playing the same character he slept-walked through in Sherlock Holmes and Kick Asss; a vague, insidious man who hasn’t the time for anything more treacherous than whatever meager act the screenplay has scrounged up for him. Strong, you are a fine actor. Do something else before you get terminally typecast.

In the end, Robin Hood is a movie that plays like by-the-numbers Friday night action fare. Due to the craft and care put into making it, Scott briefly pulls it out of that rut and delivers a film I was happy to watch and did enjoy, although admiration here is higher than real affection. The problem is that Robin finally does build a compelling case for this prequel attempt, and by the time it gets us where we are supposed to be, at the start of the story, we are geared up for a proper adventure and then the credits roll.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Atomic Popcorn would like to extend to you, our loyal readers, the opportunity on behalf of Universal’s highly anticipated action film, to see Robin Hood. Robin Hood stars Oscar Winners Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. Robin Hood will hit theaters May 14^th and the promotional screening will be held Tuesday, May 11^th .

For those of you living under a rock here is the synopsis around this updated look at the folk tale that is Robin Hood.

Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness.  In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power.  And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol for freedom for his people.

Robin Hood chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self—preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion (Oscar winner Cate Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.

With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure.  This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.

Trailer:

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The only rule is that we will not be allowing multiple signups from the same family to sign up for our screenings any longer. You have 1 admit-two pass per family.

Thank you for signing up via AP. This screening is now full!

Make sure you check out our other free screenings in the Baltimore Area.

On Thursday morning, Thierry Fremaux, head of the Cannes Film Festival, revealed the films that will be playing at this year’s Festival de Cannes.

American entries include Doug Liman’s (The Bourne Identity) Fair Game, a political thriller starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, which will be competing for the Palm d’Or as well as Inside Job, Kaboom, Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Sundance winner Blue Valentine, Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, which will open the festival, and Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.

See the complete list of films below:

Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf in Wall Street 2

Opener
Robin Hood, U.S.-U.K., Ridley Scott

Competition
Another Year, U.K., Mike Leigh
Biutiful, Spain-Mexico, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Burnt by the Sun 2, Germany-France-Russia, Nikita Mikhalkov
Certified Copy, France-Italy-Iran, Abbas Kiarostami
Fair Game, U.S., Doug Liman
Hors-la-loi, France-Belgium-Algeria, Rachid Bouchareb
The Housemaid, South Korea, Im Sang-soo
La nostra vita, Italy-France, Daniele Luchetti
La Princesse de Montpensier, France, Bertrand Tavernier
Of Gods and Men, France, Xavier Beauvois
Outrage, Japan, Takeshi Kitano
Poetry, South Korea, Lee Chang-dong
A Screaming Man, France-Belgium-Chad, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Tournee, France, Mathieu Amalric
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Spain-Thailand-Germany-U.K.-France, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
You, My Joy, Ukraine-Germany, Sergey Loznitsa

Un Certain Regard
Adrienn Pal, Hungary-Netherlands-France-Austria, Agnes Kocsis
Aurora, Romania, Cristi Puiu
Blue Valentine, U.S., Derek Cianfrance
Chatroom, U.K., Hideo Nakata
Chongqing Blues, China, Wang Xiaoshuai
The City Below, Germany-France, Christoph Hochhausler
Film Socialisme, Switzerland-France, Jean-Luc Godard
Ha Ha Ha, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo
Les Amours imaginaires, Canada, Xavier Dolan
Life Above All, France, Oliver Schmitz
Los labios, Argentina, Ivan Fund, Santiago Loza
Octubre, Peru, Daniel Vega
Qu’est-il arrive a Simon Werner?, France, Fabrice Gobert
Rebecca H., France, Lodge Kerrigan
R U There, Netherlands, David Verbeek
The Strange Case of Angelica, Portugal, Manoel de Oliveira
Tuesday, After Christmas, Romania, Radu Muntean
Udaan, India, Vikramaditya Motwane

Out of Competition
Tamara Drewe, U.K., Stephen Frears
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, U.S., Oliver Stone
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, U.K.-Spain, Woody Allen

Midnight Screenings
Kaboom, U.S.-France, Gregg Araki
L’autre monde, France-Belgium, Gilles Marchand

Special Screenings
Abel, Mexico, Diego Luna
Chantrapas, France, Otar Iosseliani
Draquila — L’Italia che trema, Italy, Sabina Guzzanti
Inside Job, U.S., Charles Ferguson
Nostalgia de la luz, France, Patricio Guzman 
Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, Netherlands, Sophie Fiennes

This year’s competition jury is presided over by director Tim Burton and also includes Benicio Del Toro and Kate Beckinsale. The prestigious festival’s 63rd competition will take place from May 12th until the 23rd.

Ridley Scott has finally delivered a Robin Hood trailer I can get behind.

Scott has been exploring the familiar ground of the epic for almost a decade now, starting with Gladiator, his first collaboration with Crowe. Now, with Robin Hood, he looks set to deliver something classically entertaining and action-packed.

This trailer is full of the typically beautiful imagery we expect with Scott and what looks to be engaging performances from Crowe and Blanchett, who’s taking the role of Maid Marian: Action Hero. What pleases me is that this looks like the Robin Hood we know and love, with plenty more added to it. I’m no fan of Prince of Thieves, and this certainly isn’t in the same vein of Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood. Still, there’s something here that suggests the Robin Hood I grew up enjoying.

Gone is the terrible heavy metal of the first teaser, and in its place are the first hints of a real story. This is going all the way back to Robin’s childhood, and I’m expecting nothing less than Gladiator-level goodness.

Check it out:

This list is near and dear to my heart, as I am a true fantasy genre freak. From my childhood till now, there are a very large number of fantasy films in my top 25, even my top 10 films of all time. With that being said, below is my list of the top 10 fantasy films ever!

10 – Willow – I know I’m going to get picked on about this one, but it is what it is. Willow is still one of my favorite films. Something about Willow is charming, fun, adventurous and simple; I love it!  Maybe it’s because Ron Howard was involved, or maybe it’s just because it’s a great, yet cute story. Who knows, but this movie has a special place on my DVD shelf that will remain as a constant in my fantasy collection.

9 – The Princess Bride – The Princess Bride, what can be said about this awesomely funny fantasy movie? Anyone who knows movies can quote way too many lines from this movie. From Andre the Giant to the ever beautiful Robin Write Penn, this movie stands tall amongst the best of the genre. This movie puts together all the ridiculous clichés of the fantasy genre all the while giving you a cast containing a mixed bag of fantastic actors. Classic and timeless – can you blame me for this pick?

8 – E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial – Spielberg. I could stop there but I am not that big of a Spielberg fanboy! This simple story of the bond between an average kid and a very lost (and ugly) alien wowed us all.  The storytelling is both personal and heartbreaking, to this day it can make me cry at the end. Spielberg takes a simple storyline, one created in his mind after his parents broke up, into one of the best movies of all time. Period.

7 – The Wizard of Oz – It’s the original. A wizard, a couple of witches, lots of freaky flying monkeys, what more do you want in a movie? A classic story and a classic film, this movie is beyond classic, it’s part of us all. Growing up close to where Frank Oz grew up, I have been on the actual yellow brick road! This is a must for all collections not matter what format!

6 – Pan’s Labyrinth – This film was such a surprise for me. The idea that this was more along the lines of an adult fantasy world really peaked my interest. The extreme violence I must say I was not expecting from the movie; it may of swayed people in the opposite direction but I truly enjoy this movie, rewatch after rewatch.

5 – The Labyrinth – This great film from the 80′s has a strong cult following, and I am glad to say I am part of that following. David Bowie as the villain, strange puppets, a gorgeous world, an interesting plot, and a very young Jennifer Connelly. Do you ask for more? I also will drop the ever awesome name of Jim Henson, what a master in all he did.

4 – Legend – Ridley Scott, yes that Ridley Scott, created such an enormous universe for this film that it surprises me how long ago it was made. He was able to bring to the screen something huge.  This is a film that many people have forgotten but if it’s on TV or if I am in the mood – I watch it. Such a great tale of deception, love and much more.  It’s an adventure/fantasy that will linger with you long after the film has ended. Enjoy it!

3 – The Dark Crystal – A lot of people know that I love this movie, and I am sad that there is an even larger number of people who have never heard of this film. This film stars lots and lots of Muppets and is actually a really incredible fantasy story that will draw you in as you watch it. If you liked Labyrinth but missed this one, then you need to watch it right away! It’s the classic hero trying to save a nearly doomed world, and you’ll be surprised by how good it is. The Muppets, the man behind them, Jim Henson, and the team bring such a gorgeous story to life in a world that is all too familiar. GRAB this one now!

2 – The LOTR trilogy – You could argue how I could put three movies into one spot on the top ten list, I honestly don’t care. These movies are separate for one reason: the length, and that only. These movies are one very large story and an amazing one at that. Sit down and watch these amazing stories unfold before your eyes and allow yourself to be drawn into the world that has been built before you.  These movies are gorgeous interpretations drawn from the pages of books that are world renown, and bring you into the world of Middle Earth. The acting, the story, the effects all bring so much to the screen, it is hard to doubt anything about these movies. They are second for a reason. Below is that reason!

1 – The Neverending Story – This is one of my top 5 films of all time. A true classic in the realm of fantasy. The story of a boy locked in a room in his school reading a book that he shouldn’t be reading. So simple, yet an awesome starting point for something that is amazing. He controls the fate of a far away world all along finding himself. I remember as a kid (and an adult) watching this over and over again, following Atreyu, along with Falkor, one of my favorite creatures ever, through their journeys. I never get sick of this movie, and it’s one of those rare gems that is worth watching again and again.

That is my list – hope you enjoyed it. Please leave some comments on movies I may of left out or any issues or questions you may have. I do own all of these in one format or another, as should you!

When it was all said and done the New Orleans Saints were Super Bowl Champs and Hollywood had a bunch o’ movies that wanted to advertise during the big game. We already talked about Alice in Wonderland and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time; joining those two were M. Night Shyamalan’s Avatar The Last Airbender

Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio (looks like he’s gone back to The Aviator color scheme)

Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman remake starring Benicio Del Toro

and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood remake starring Russell Crowe (reuniting the duo for the umpeenth time- Body of Lies, American Gangster, A Good Year, Gladiator)

What do you think of the ads? How did the movie ads compare to the beer, bank and chip commercials?

Haven’t heard much about Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood for a while, perhaps it’s been lost amidst the buzz of Ridley’s myriad other projects — including the Monopoly Movie, an Alien prequel, etc.  Anyway, Universal’s released a teaser trailer, available via TrailerAddict.

Universal promises ‘the true story behind the legend’ — a strategy that worked wonder’s for Antoine Fuqua’s magnum opus, King Arthur, five years ago (wow, has it really been that long?).  Scripted by Brian Helgeland, there’s plenty of room for optimism when one looks at the strong cast Scott’s assembled (Mark Strong!  Danny Huston!  Cate Blanchett!) to back Russell Crowe. The notion is also made exciting by Scott’s recent track record with historical epics (if you haven’t seen the Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven, you honestly haven’t seen the film).

Anything that postpones Monopoly is fine with us. Enjoy the trailer below: