Children Of Men

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

Release Date: September 29, 2006 Nationwide 

Starring: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam

Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón 

Premise: A futuristic society faces extinction when no children are born and the human race has lost the ability to reproduce. England has descended into chaos, until an iron-handed warden is brought in to institute martial law. The warden's ability to keep order is threatened when a woman finds that she is pregnant with what would be the first child born in 27 years.

[modage]

wow, if i saw that without having any knowledge of who made it, i would've said it looked like the worst movie EVER.    but, since i like who made it, i will see this anyway.  that said, it seems like the kind of movie that will be forgotten quickly.  the september release date only goes to confirm that.

[grand theft sparrow]

I think this looks decent.  Good cast. 

I don't know.  I like dramas disguised as sci-fi.  I'm interested enough to see more even though I kept thinking during the trailer that Danny Boyle should have done this.

And is the pricetag on imdb right?  $116 million? 

[Ghostboy]

I think this could be awesome. Or it could be slightly awkward. But I'm leaning toward awesome. I love Cuaron, I love strong sci-fi. It's been too long since Solaris.

Although this won't hold a candle to The Fountain.

[Gamblour.]

That looks really incredible. Michael Caine as some aging hippie? Fucking awesome. The idea of the youngest person in the world dying and that event being so important....it's very very interesting to me. Sure it's no Fountain, but I just really want a few surprise films to be outstanding, this year has been fairly disappointing.

[matt35mm]

And is the pricetag on imdb right?  $116 million? 

From the look of the trailer, I doubt it.  What we saw did not cost that much, and I wouldn't believe a trailer holding back on whatever set pieces might have cost that much.  And it's IMDb.  So even though Cuaron has handled a giant budget before with Harry Potter, I'd say no on that $116M for this movie.

I think it looks good, though.  I love Cuaron a lot.  If you saw the trailer for A Little Princess, you wouldn't necessarily think it'd be the best movie of all time, and yet it is.  Cuaron's best touches are not the sort of things they can put in a trailer, anyway.  The concept is interesting, as is the tone.  I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it.

[SiliasRuby]

Great and intriguing concept and Having Julianne in it only sweetens the deal.

[edison]

I'm also a Cuaron fan (really looking forward to his new Criterion disc) and what intrigues me most about this flick (more than the cast or even director) is just the idea of a time when we may never be able to have children. I just find that kinda scary.

Having Sigur in the trailer is also a huge plus for me.

[Redlum]

Having Sigur in the trailer is also a huge plus for me.

Having an orchestral version of Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones in the trailer is a huge plus for me

[Pubrick]

wow, if i saw that without having any knowledge of who made it, i would've said it looked like the worst movie EVER.    but, since i like who made it, i will see this anyway.  that said, it seems like the kind of movie that will be forgotten quickly.  the september release date only goes to confirm that.

what hell are you on modage? what exactly about this trailer implies a shit movie?

i think this looks freaking amazing. forget the release date, it's completely meaningless (along with most other aspects of promotional material like what music appears in a trailer). in a year who's gonna care when it was released? the trailer delivers on the premise with the promise ( ) of a hugely emotional dramatic arc. saving the last hope for humanity! what an awesome premise. this film relies on the pay off, our investment in the "high concept", what's gonna happen to that kid, what's the deal with julianne moore and clive owen's character, not on the release date.

[last days of gerry the elephant]

what's gonna happen to that kid...

premature birth and then shortly after, neonatal death

[RegularKarate]

Ghostboy and Pubrick

[MacGuffin]

Cuarón Unveils Children of Men



Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro did a fine job interviewing his fellow countryman, director Alfonso Cuaron, on his new film Children of Men. Universal is clearly 100 % behind this movie, as studio chief Ron Meyer turned up, sitting in the front row of the VIP section. He had never been to the Con before, he admitted, and was turning around and jetting back after the presentation, but he wanted to see what it was all about. 

The trailer and preview footage of Children of Men were impressive (aint-it-cool-news reviewed the whole film July 7). Cuaron's been wanting to make this Dystopian sci-fi adventure since Tim Sexton's first script in 2001. It's set in 2027, when civilization is in ruins, human beings have become infertile and the world is dying. "It's the anti-Blade Runner," Cuaron said. Clive Owen is our cynical hero who stops pouring whiskey into his coffee to join the fight to save the human race. Julianne Moore is his ex-wife and counter-revolutionary. Michael Caine is an entertaining pothead who tokes joints on screen. "9/11 dictated the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. We're bringing things going on to the world of the 21st century, like immigration. I said, 'Let's do the Battle of Algiers for the 21st century.'" Cuaron and Del Toro turned to the audience and grinned: "We have our green cards with us!"

Cuaron shoots super-long takes, to heighten the movie's super-realism. One ten-minute battle scene is one of the most exhilarating complex single-takes I've ever seen—explosions, shootings, tanks, Owen running down a street ducking in and out of cover. "I wanted a documentary kind of immediacy," Cuaron said. "It takes five days to shoot. At the end of the fourth day I have not rolled camera. On the fifth day, the first take doesn't work. On the second the squibs are burned out. I only have one chance and magically at the last moment when everyone is stressed it works."

Cinematical was bummed by the trailer, maybe because the movie looks serious, dramatic, and scary: think an arty cinema verite-style Fahrenheit 451 meets the end-of-the-world of Terminator 2, with a steadicam right in the middle of all that action.

Finally Cuaron cited his two caballeros, Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, who also have fall films, Pan's Labyrinth and Babel: "These three films are from three friends of the same generation; they show who we are thematically; we share the same ideology about what is coming in between the communication of people."

[diggler]

Having Sigur in the trailer is also a huge plus for me.

[Pubrick]

you really gotta stop doing that.