Arcade Fire-Backed Trailer for Spike Jonze's 'Her'

In a way it's extremely sad that Scarlett Johansson's performance in Spike Jonze's Her has been disqualified from the Golden Globes. Just because we only hear her voice and never see her on screen doesn't mean her character makes any less of an impact, and if the story is about anything it's looking beyond what's right in front of your face. It's about broadening horizons, not succumbing to the status quo, and I think the Globes have missed an opportunity to do something really special.

Anyway, a new trailer for the film has been released, featuring a score backed by Jonze's favorite collaborators, Arcade Fire. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and set in a not-too-distant future version of Los Angeles, it centers on a lonely man coming out of a bad divorce, who begins to fall in love with his sentient operating system's sexy computer voice. It's a very unconventional romance and probably won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who like to see love explored from a fresh angle (think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in its quirkier moments) this could be for you.

Co-starring Amy Adams, Portia Doubleday, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, and Olivia Wilde, Her opens December 18th.

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Photos and video from Terrence Malick mystery film shoot with Christian Bale

You know me, I hate posting set photos. They're boring, rarely show anything of worth, and when they do it's basically a spoiler. How sick are you of the daily avalance of photos of the Batmobile from the set of The Dark Knight Rises? How many times can you see Henry Cavill stare blankly in his unfinished Superman costume on the Man of Steel set? What's the point? But this on the other hand is something I can work with. Over the weekend, reclusive filmmaker Terrence Malick was spotted with Christian Bale filming at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. While groups like Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes performed(with Bale on stage for a bit), Malick was shooting what appears to be that mystery film with Bale we've been hearing about for awhile now. So does this mean it's a musical?

Hard to say, because details on any Malick film are always so hard to come by. If you think they run a tight ship on the set of Prometheus, they got nothin' on a Malick shoot. So that's what makes all these images so cool, because we're getting a glimpse at the man in action. Although I have to wonder about him going out in the open like this. Kinda leads me to believe that whatever this film is, and by the look of things it'll clearly be set in the music industry, it may be something a bit more mainstream than usual. The presence of Haley Bennett in these photos pretty much confirms the news we heard last week that she was his top pick to be the female lead.

Below are the new images, also with some video featuring Arcade Fire on stage with Bale....[ThePlaylist, Slashfilm]

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Plot revealed for Arcade Fire/Spike Jonze collaboration, Scenes from the Suburbs

I'll be the first to admit that the only stuff I know from Arcade Fire came from the Where the Wild Things Are trailers, which were so good they possibly were better than the movie itself. That's not a criticism, either, because I think Spike Jonze created a wonderful, emotionally packed story. Their union worked so well that both sides started work on another project together, the short-film Scenes from the Suburbs, written by Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler and his brother William. Spike Jonze is back on board to direct.

Clocking in at roughly a half hour, the film is described as a "science-fiction B-movie", and will premier at the Berlin Film Festival where our first look at the plot synopsis comes from.  The Guardian notes some additional information, including the cast of unknown actors: Sienna Blau, Sam Dillon, Zoe Graham, Zeke Jarmon, Paul Pluymen and Ashlin Williams.  Check out the plot below...


“I wish I could remember every little moment. But I can’t. Why do I only remember the moments that I do. I wonder what happens to the others.”
A group of suburban youths. Back then, in the summer, so long ago. They couldn’t leave town because outside the country was at war and the military controlled life and all gateways.
The teenagers wander aimlessly about town. Winter is a long way off. And love and longing and friendship still mean – everything.

Guh. Sounds awfully poetic and lyrical. Not a bad thing. In fact I'm actually very hopeful we get a chance to check it out. I obviously won't be making it to Berlin for the debut, and the next opportunity will be at SXSW next month. Won't be there, either.  So my best chance will be in the special re-issue of Arcade Fire's recent Grammy Award winning album, The Suburbs, which will include a copy of the film. 

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