Three More Be Kind, Rewind Stills

Every day I wait for this film feels like five days too many. I want my Be Kind, Rewind and I want it now.

Use the tags below to find much, much more Be Kind goodness.

Be Kind Alive

The Be Kind, Rewind site is live now. Up in the left corner is a 'you name it, we shoot it' button. Clicking on this changes the page design with three currently available, and pictured below.

You'll recognise riffs on Boyz N the Hood and Rush Hour, I believe... but is the other design just familiar and derivative, or is it pastiching something in particular?

Direct Download Link for New Michel Gondry Motorola Ad

The brand-new Michel Gondry ad for Motorola is called Experience. Get it.

We're huge Gondry fans at film ick and, besides this ad have previously brought you brilliant storyboards and design sketches, stills and trailer download links all from Be Kind Rewind. Use the gondry tag below or come through the front page to hunt them down.

[EDIT: Now available in HD - 480p, 720p and 1080p. And visit the new, official site for info on the making of the spot including an interview with the man himself]

Play-Doh Bunnies

The third Bravia commercial in the Color Like No Other series is to be Play-Doh, directed by Frank Budgen. I told you a few weeks back that Gondry turned the gig down.

As I understand it, this commerical is the most ambitious stop-motion piece ever created with 4,500 Play-Doh rabbits scampering about the streets of New York. If only Anti-Pesto had a franchise in the Big Apple.

The ad is to take three weeks to shoot, and then of course, post will be required, so I don't know when we'll be seeing it... but it certainly sounds like it might be rather eye-catching.

Here are a number of stills, most of them teasingly turned black and white by the cheeky Sony folk.

Direct Download Links For Be Kind, Rewind Trailer

As I posted the pics last night, the trailer wasn't yet live. But now it is.

Enjoy the official Be Kind, Rewind trailer in 480p, 720p or 1080p. It's a cruel world in which we have to wait months for delights like this. Delayed pleasure? No thanks.

Remember to right click and save the trailer as saveyourlocalpark.mov or similar to ensure it works.

Be Kind, Rewind Stills

Seven gorgeous images from Be Kind, Rewind have been released. Click on any of them to get the high-res version.

And naysayers said Robocop shouldn't be remade. They're eating humble pie now, I can tell you.

[EDIT: Now film ick also have a number of Michel Gondry sketches from the Be Kind, Rewind script, showing scenes and FX ideas]

[EDIT: And even more images direct from the film]

Gondry's Film Commitments

Following Jonathan Glazer's excellent Bravia ad from last summer, the third installment in the campaign was lined up for Michel Gondry. He's now passed, citing 'film commitments' as his reason for not being able to shoot the spot.

It seems that Be Kind, Rewind is all but mass duplicated and on the back of the van, so which commitments exactly? Is the Blondie movie about to shoot? Possibly.

Let's discount the Ripley film - is there anything else? Only Tokyo, the anthology film to shoot in the city. This is what I expect we'll find out: Gondry is about to shoot his slice of Tokyo before doing the Rewind press tour; then the Blondie movie will roll; then, possibly, a collaboration with Dan Clowes and Jack Black on The Death Ray. Maybe. Perhaps. If it all pans out.

At least we know he's going to be on set rolling film for one project or another any week now.

And the new Bravia spot, if you had been wondering, is now going to be directed by Frank Budgen. Not a bad choice, but I would have plumped for Antoine Bardou-Jacquet.

Er... This Is Weird... More On The Ripley Film And A Christmas Carol

The Michel Gondry/Ripley story has taken an odd twist...

Bob Hoskins really let the cat out of the bag when he mentioned Zemeckis' upcoming Christmas Carol film. Now the beans have been spilled, however, Variety have fleshed out some of the details: Jim Carrey will be playing Scrooge, sure, but he'll also be playing the ghosts of past, present and future.

According to ImageMovers, Zemeckis' outfit that are producing the film at Disney, Hoskins hasn't actually signed yet. Hopefully they won't boot him for his loose lips.

The same Variety piece goes on to discuss Jim Carrey's crowded schedule: Christmas Carol, I Love You Phillip Morris and Ripley's Believe It or Not. Regarding the latter they say "Paramount, armed with a Steve Oedekerk rewrite, is trying to find a schedule that will allow Tim Burton to direct, even as he completes post-production on Sweeney Todd".

So, was Gondry just a back up? Was he a plan B that won't ever be taken? Or just a human poker chip, used to influence Burton?

Or did the rumour spark up some other way? Perhaps somebody just invented it with no foundation - I mean, it wouldn't be the first time.

I put a call in to Partizan to see if there's any comment - saying Gondry hasn't signed is too easy an out, really, and leaves half of the story untold - and, hopefully, they'll respond.

In the meantime: the director of Ripley's Believe it or Not appears to be none other than Tim Burton.

Don't Believe It - Time For Tears

So, sadly, the Michel Gondry/Believe it or Not story appears to be a dead end. MTV approached Gondry's publicist and they denied he had any involvement. Truth be told, I wouldn't have any idea how to reach Michel's publicist, or I would have fired off an e-mail in the first place.

Now, if you're still feeling hopeful, cling on to this: he may be in talks and the publicist is playing semantic games to sidestep the issue. But I don't know why they'd issue a denial if he was. That'd be silly. Are you listening, Shia LaBouef?

I'm actually rather disappointed by this and so is my source.

He and I agree, though: somewhere along the line, something was going on and getting spoken about in Gondry circles.

I Googled about and found two corroborating reports - one of which actually turned out to be the IMDB pages for the film and director. Now, it is possible that my source's source was part of a chain that led to the news going up on Gondry's IMDB page, or, unfortunately, it is also possible that the IMDB page was the original source overall.

Ah, the IMDB. There's nothing like a nice reliable movie database with which to check your facts - and (hold your sides, they're going to split) the IMDB is nothing like a nice reliable movie database with which to check your facts. Which is why, generally, I don't have much to do with it.

The other report was on a Russian website. Hmmm. Possibly even less reliable than the IMDB? That's the reputatuon they have anyway.

I'm sad, but the story was nice while it lasted. It gave the Ripley movie a glimmer of hope. Now we can all divert our attentions back to the Blondie movie Michel has been developing, and hope and pray that, for some reason, Kirsten Dunst has to pull out and, say, Maggie Gyllenhaal has to step in.

The Second film ick Podcast

Michel Gondry, the true title of Cloverfield and CG For Indy... and more...

Michel Gondry In Talks To Direct Ripley's Believe It Or Not

I was expecting Tom Shadyac to take the reins of the Ripley film after Tim Burton left the project but I'm told today that, actually, Michel Gondry is in talks to direct the film.

My source has been 100% accurate on all things Gondry in the past, so I believe it. Doesn't meant I'm too happy about it. If this leads to another rewrite, then I'll be happy. Just in terms of the film's style, the look of a Gondry directed action adventure really does promise to be something special.

I'm speculating that Jim Carrey has been the missing link to bring Gondry over to this side of Hollywood, but I haven't been able to confirm this. Stay tuned for more.

Jack Black, Mos Def And Michel Gondry Drive Miss Daisy

Another Be Kind, Rewind still has been leaked. This one is from the Driving Miss Daisy recreation.

Trailer Details For Golden Compass, Be Kind Rewind And Rendition

MyNewPlaidPants is the blog of Jason Adams who seems like a pretty cool chap. Today, he sent me the following e-mail:

Hello, I'm stealing links from you all the time, but for a change. I've got something semi-worthwhile to share with you - I got to watch trailers for Be Kind, Rewind, Rendition, and a 10-minute extended trailer for The Golden Compass via that NYC Toyfare thing yesterday - I posted on them at my blog.

I just sorta rambled about what I saw but maybe you'll find a smidge of the info interesting.

And I certainly did. While I'll post his Be Kind, Rewind trailer description below you'll have to click over for the other two. And so you should.

So I got to see what looked like an early cut - the footage was pretty raw looking - of the trailer for Michel Gondry's next film, starring Jack Black and Mos Def as video store employees with a problem: namely, Jack Black's brain is magnetized and he's erased all the videos in their store.

The opening scene of the trailer sets this up - when Jack Black is in close-up the film actually goes all wavy like on an old, screwed-up videotape, which was a nice touch - and then we get on to the real business of the movie: namely, getting to watch Jack Black and Mos Def reenacting scenes from old movies.

A good chunk of time is spent watching them reenact scenes from Ghostbusters, including Jack Black's awful (in a funny way) take on that movie's familiar theme song - we get to hear Mos Def say "I got slimed" which was the highlight for me.

We see that their homemade versions become big hits in the neighborhood and suddenly the two of them become quasi-celebrities; there's a fun montage of scenes from their different movies - 2001 and Boyz In The Hood stand out in my memory, the latter involving Jack Black in an afro.

But then The Man, in the form of Sigourney Weaver - YAY! - shows up and threatens their new business with talk of copyright infringement and what not.

And then Mia Farrow shows up and says that these boy's movies got heart!

It was only a couple minutes long but it looks a thousand times mainstreamier than The Science of Sleep was (a movie I liked but didn't love). A fun trailer that has me hyped for the movie even more.

Movie Minesweeper - The Best Kept Secret Edition

- Daniel Craig has quit Blindness, the next film from Fernando Mereilles. That's good.

- The Brisbane Times are taking Tarantino to task for the bad BO of Grind House. Wrong target, I'm afraid.

- Michael Madsen is replacing Tom Sizemore in The I Scream Man.

- Gondry's new Paul McCartney video uses the old stage technique named Pepper's Ghost. It premieres later today on YouTube, apparently. I shot a very, very cheap video using the same effect last year, effectively saying to myself "I need to do it before Gondry does". He's obviously had a much, much higher budget, and I certainly didn't have such a star-studded cast... but I feel secure in the knowledge that people can't accuse me of stealing from him. My video is for Paperlung, the new band of Sice, the former lead singer of The Boo Radleys.

- Paul Haggis is doing a draft of the Bond 22 script, and has been offered the directing job. He declined the latter offer, however.

Three Gondrys From Two

Michel Gondry's brother Twist has directed a HP commercial that splits the music video genius into seperate live action, stop-motion and CG personas. Was the 'simulation' caption really necessary?

Michel Gondry's Ever Present Past

Gondry has shot the video for Paul McCartney's Ever Present Past. The full clip isn't online - not yet - but somebody has uploaded 30 seconds of behind-the-scenes footage to YouTube. That's a McCartney impersonator, not the real thing.

The video will also star Mackenzie Crook.

Gondry Speaks, Babelfish Mangles

Courtesy of Babelfish, here are some slightly dubious translations from a Telerama Chat with Michel Gondry. Blondie, The Master of Space and Time, Science of Sleep Film B, Tokyo ... he touches on just about everything we've been curious about over the last few months.

Indeed, I met Debbie Harry and Kirsten, and this project allures me because I have an immense respect for this musician, who had artificial only color of her hair. We are in the search of a scenario writer or coscenarist and develop this project with heat. The paradox of Bleached [Blondie] is that it only represents the American fair diva surfaces some, because at the bottom it is real punk and one of the rare people to have established the link between the punk one and the rap in years hinges in New York.

In connection with Daniel Clowes, we worked on a project which did not succeed, [Master of Space and Time] but I hope well that one will be able to find another of them to collaborate with this brilliant creator.

This version included in the DVD [He's referring to Science of Sleep Film B] is made up exclusively of scenes not used in version A. It more abstract, and is anchored paradoxically in the real life, because one devotes more time to the secondary characters, like that of Alain Chabat or that of Miou-Miou, which plays the mother of Stephan. It is a way of working liberator very, because the principal film is not improved and there is thus any freedom to leave on tangents.

The third realizer of this triptych [Tokyo] is Mr. Bong. I am writing the scenario of my segment, which should be turned to Tokyo in October.

Science Of Sleep Film B

If you're anything like me, you really enjoyed the Science of Sleep when you saw it, but went on to enjoy it even more in your memories and recollections of it. I'm quite worried to watch it again, in case I find out that it doesn't live up to my dreams.

Thankfully, however, Michel Gondry has the perfect solution to just this problem. He has created Science of Sleep Film B, an entirely different cut offering the perfect "it does seem different but it's not just me" answer. The film is released today on DVD in France, as the second disc in a Science of Sleep special edition, and it has English subtitles - though not only when appropriate to hearing English speakers, unfortunately, but either all the way through or not at all.

Gondry has made a short film called De-Blendex to promote this new version.

Anybody know if and when Film B will make it to England or the USA?

Dunst Talks Debbie With Variety

Kirsten Dunst spoke to Variety on the subject of playing Debbie Harry in the upcoming biopic: She chose me, so anyone who disputes that choice can take it up with her.

A wee bit defensive?

All there is left to care about, really, is if Michel Gondry can remain attached as director until the cameras start rolling. Here's hoping Harry chose him personally too.

Find The Lady And Picadilly Pinball

RichAndMark have added two new videos: the rude Picadilly Pinball and the all-one-shot-with-no-edits-honest, Find the Lady. Looks like they fancy a piece of the hype that surrounded the YouTube clip of Michel Gondry shuffling a Rubik's cube with his feet and then playing it backwards to fool the innocent. I preferred it when he did it with his nose.

And in case you didn't know, Soylent Green is people.