Inarritu’s ‘The Revenant’ with Leonardo DiCaprio

We’ve got the first images from the set of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s next film, The Revenant. The main star in this new movie will be the terrific Leonardo DiCaprio. Could this finally be his chance to snag a Best Actor trophy? It would be about time. Inarritu is well known for his movies snagging lots of nominations. His movies, Amores Perros, Babel, Biutiful, and Birdman were all nominated for either Best Foreign Film or Best Picture in their respective years. And the one movie that didn’t get nominated, 21 Grams, netted plenty of acting nominations. This is great news for the supporting roles too, filled by Tom Hardy and Domhnall Gleeson. His first three films came out three years apart and his next two came out four years apart. So it is a very welcome change to see his next film only a year after Birdman. Birdman was one of the most innovative and bold films of the year, probably only second to Boyhood. Inarritu has been pushing the boundaries for 15 years now and his films are always events to clear your calendar for. The Revenant is a western thriller that takes place in the 1820s world where a fur trapper is attacked and left for dead, only to survive and go back looking for those who had forsaken him.

The movie won’t have any such bold single takes that last over many scenes, but cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (who lensed Birdman) is back to collaborate again. The film will be shot with only natural light and entirely in remote locations, giving them few hours a day. He’s almost more of a reason to show up than DiCaprio and Inarritu. All of his work is perfection. The Birdcage, Meet Joe Black, Sleepy Hollow, Ali, Y tu Mama Tambien, The New World, Children of Men, Burn After Reading, The Tree of Life, To the Wonder, and Gravity are all very different films, but all incredibly visually interesting. In 2015 he has not only The Revenant coming out, but also Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups (who’s trailer I featured on the blog) and Rodrigo Garcia’s Last Days in the Desert where Ewan McGregor plays both Jesus and the Devil during his time in the wilderness. All three of these films would have the potential to be the Best Cinematography of the year and they’re all done by one man. The Revenant will be out on December 25th, 2015, in New York and L.A., the rest of us peasants will have to wait for a wide release on January 8th, 2016. A year is too long to wait.

Martin Scorsese’s The Audition

Hadn’t heard about this project before today, but apparently a large Asian casino conglomerate has paid Martin Scorsese a lavish sum to make a short film that will feature some of their properties. Even better the short film will feature both of his favorite actors, Robert De Niro from the early portion of his career and Leonardo DiCaprio from his later films. They’re both up for a part in a new film of his and competition ensues. Brad Pitt is also in this film and is only featured for a short moment in the second trailer. It seems a little odd to think that a short film would get two trailers like this, but this is no ordinary short film. Big directors like this often don’t have time to return to their short film roots, but with the dump trucks filled with money delivered to Scorsese and the actors (reportedly $10M each), you get to do pretty much whatever you want. This could be a glorified commercial for the casinos and tourism to these Asian cities, but I don’t think Scorsese would do it unless he had a story to tell with the actors that made his films so successful in the first place. If nothing else we get to see Hollywood from the 70s and 80s clash with that of the new millennium. At this point I’m not sure when this will be released or even how. Scorsese is appointment viewing so if there’s a way to see it I’ll find it.