21 Grams

[RegularKarate]

alter egos are ok but for pointless shit like this it's just lame.

Pointless shit like posting on the same thread under two names for no reason?

[EL__SCORCHO]

Finally I movie I want to see this fall!!!!!!! Man, I'm so excited. Does anybody know if this is an american production, where was it shot? I hope nobody fucked with the director. Amorres Perros was great.

[modage]

yeah i cant wait for this.  i hope it gets a definitive release date for this fall soon.  rodrigo prieto!

[MacGuffin]

Does anybody know if this is an american production, where was it shot?

Distributor Note: Focus Features won the rights to finance and release this film in a bidding war in July, 2002 with Miramax Films and New Regency (which has a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox) being the other contenders.

Production Company: This is That Productions (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Filming: Production started on December 6th, 2002 in Memphis, Tennessee on a budget of $20 million, and wrapped up there on February 14th, 2003. Filming then moved to New Mexico (including Santa Fe and Albuquerque) where it wrapped up later that month.

[godardian]

I notice Focus Features, like Sony Pictures Classics, tends to consistently release very high quality films. Isn't Focus some sort of merger between the old USA Films and Paramount Classics or something?

[EL__SCORCHO]

Does anybody know if this is an american production, where was it shot?

Distributor Note: Focus Features won the rights to finance and release this film in a bidding war in July, 2002 with Miramax Films and New Regency (which has a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox) being the other contenders.

Production Company: This is That Productions (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Filming: Production started on December 6th, 2002 in Memphis, Tennessee on a budget of $20 million, and wrapped up there on February 14th, 2003. Filming then moved to New Mexico (including Santa Fe and Albuquerque) where it wrapped up later that month.

Thanks for the info Mac, you seem to know everything. How the fuck do you do it?

[modage]

they test screened this movie, and had a review over at aicn...

I just took in a screening of 21 Grams by Alejandro González Iñárritu, of Amorres Perros fame. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, and Benicio Del Toro, with a small role for Clea Duvall. The rest of the cast is "unknowns". All are terrific. I imagine the acting will be a big draw come release time. It does not disappoint.

I won't get into the story too much. "21 Grams" alludes to the supposed amount of weight lost by every human body at the time of death. Is it the soul departing? The movie does not address (or answer) this question. But the major themes are death, dying, loss, love, redemption, religion, etc... Not exactly comedy material. As my friend remarked, it nearly makes Schindler's List seem lighthearted. A grim, dark, depressing tale. It's a very trying couple of hours --for both the characters and viewers. But definitely worth the effort required.

The current cut is approximately 2 hours long. It was shown on a digital projector with all of the usual caveats: color not balanced, not final score, etc... Looked good to me. Very gritty, with lots of hand-held shots. The editing was very interesting. The story went back in forth through time, jumping between the interweaving stories of the three main characters. In fact, I'm not sure that there were even two consecutive chronological scenes. Sounds confusing but it works really well. Brilliant editing job. It actually serves to draw the viewer into the story, looking for clues as to why, when, and how these three characters lives become entangled. The music was fitting too. Sparse, minimalist, with solo organ and guitar. A nice contrast to the overblown Oingo Boingo shit in the Hulk. But I'm not going to go there.

Overall an impressive and uncompromising second film. Let's hope the studio doesn't screw it up before release.

i CANT WAIT for this.

[chainsmoking insomniac]

Release Date: Fall, 2003 (limited) (likely to eventually expand to a wide release)

Title Note: The title reportedly comes from the amount of weight that a human body supposedly loses when it dies, which some interpret as being the "weight" of the human soul as it leaves.

Cast: Benicio Del Toro (Jack), Sean Penn (Paul), Naomi Watts (Christine), Clea DuVall, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Teresa Delgado (Gina), Danny Huston, Melissa Leo, Eddie Marsan, Marc Musso (Freddy).

Premise: This film tells the complex interconnected story how the lives of a former drug addict and single mother, Christine (Watts), a terminally ill mathematics professor, Paul (Penn), and a spiritual ex-convict, Jack (Del Toro) intersect both tragically and redemptively, including the fact that Christine and Paul are (former?) lovers (Gainsbourg plays Paul's wife).

Holy fuck! That sounds fantastic!

[modage]

whew, that was a close one.

[chainsmoking insomniac]

Yeah right!

Or in the immortal words of that dunce on the cover of Mad magazine: "Why me worry?!"

[NEON MERCURY]

man... ::feeling nostalgic::  i think this was my first post

thank you all for all the news about this film I am  HIGHLY eager to see THIS

[Pubrick]

yes, it's green!

[Fernando]

Neither of your posts showed the pics:

http://www.latinoreview.com/films_2003/focus/21grams/21grams.html

That's odd, they did show them to me, now as you say they're not.

I guess is tougher than I thought trying to be a Mini-Mac.

[Gold Trumpet]

I'm waiting for specifics on the release date. It'll likely hit a few cities (Ghostboy, no doubt, will see it first) and then go wide in a respectable way. Respectable enough I'm hoping to see it on that first weekend of a wide release. This, behind The Son, which has already come and gone in its minor release, is the most anticipated movie for me. The idea of Sean Penn and Naomi Watts given meaty roles is too much. And because of Penn alone, Mystic River is up there on that list as well. And to for the movie The Son, its a little known french movie that appeared in a few cities and left and now has gone since unheard of. I'm hoping for any marginal dvd release in the country. Even let it appear on Ebay once or twice in some unheard of Canadian release! I really want to see that movie.

~rougerum

[MacGuffin]

I'm waiting for specifics on the release date. It'll likely hit a few cities (Ghostboy, no doubt, will see it first) and then go wide in a respectable way.

Release Date: November 14th, 2003 (LA/NY); expands to other cities at later dates; likely to eventually expand to a wide release.

From Entertainment Weekly:

Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu (2000's Oscar-nominated ''Amores Perros'') has decided to come out swinging in his $20 million English-language debut by casting some Hollywood heavyweights. Naomi Watts plays a grieving mother whose life intersects with terminally ill mathematician Sean Penn and ex-con Benicio Del Toro following a horrific tragedy. And that's about all Iñárritu will reveal. ''It's about three people dealing with their own personal hell, trying to survive their own demons,'' he says, sighing. ''It's just too complicated to describe.'' (Rounding out the cast is Charlotte Gainsbourg, who stepped in as a replacement when British actress Katrin Cartlidge died unexpectedly last September.)

Watts, however, will elaborate on the odd title: ''[Twenty-one grams] is the amount a body loses when one dies, and that's allegedly the weight of one's soul,'' she explains. (Perhaps the nod to the metric system will help when the film competes for the Golden Lion at the upcoming Venice film fest, where it's one of only two American contenders.) But if the plot seems awfully familiar -- a car accident was also the catalyst in ''Perros'' --it's because screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga penned both films. Warns Watts: ''['21 Grams'] is even more raw.''

The Killer Moment: ''A car accident that, for god-awful reasons, binds the three characters together,'' says Watts.