Fox and Its Sound

It's getting to the point where every time I go see a film from Fox Searchlight I expect a great soundtrack. In four years, there have been four movies with music every bit as good as the films themselves. Whether it's a compelation of several indie hits or original scoring, the music always matches the tone of the film perfectly.

I made a stop by Barnes & Noble after seeing (500) Days of Summer on Monday specifically to buy the soundtrack and its been playing on a loop on my iPod ever since.

I expect no less from the Whip It soundtrack, and if the scoring used in the trailer for Amelia is any indication, that one should be worth a listen too. Congrats to whoever works in that department. They've definitely been doing their jobs.

Fasten Your Tutus

Darren Aronofsky, the director of last year's phenomenal The Wrestler, is currently working on a movie entitled Black Swan. Apparently he's aiming for a 2010 release, and Fox Searchlight has expressed interest in distributing.

For those of you who haven't heard anything about this one yet, Black Swan is being described as a supernatural drama about a talented ballerina in the New York City Ballet. The dancer lands a major role within her company, but is then tormented by a mysterious rival dancer. She is unsure whether the rival is a supernatural apparition or a figment of her own imagination, and strange occurrences between the two ballerinas increase as they prepare for a big performance of 'Swan Lake'.

Natalie Portman has landed the lead role, while Mila Kunis has been brought on to play her rival. I like both actresses. Portman was especially impressive in 2004's Closer, and Kunis was charming and funny in last year's comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Filming is scheduled to begin this fall in New York.

The storyline definitely sounds interesting, and I can't wait to see how Aronofsky and Portman do together. There's a review of the script over at Script Shadow, so if you're interested in reading more head on over and check it out. Spoilers abound, though, so if you want a little mystery when the film hits theaters, skip it.

500 Photos Of Summer?

I would love to know if there are exactly 500 pictures of Zooey Deschanel's Summer on this poster, but I'm far too lazy to count. I hope to finally catch this film early next week. I'll be talking about it more after I do.

Fox Searchlight definitely outdoes itself again and again in the marketing department. From the iconic Little Miss Sunshine VW bus to the orange and white Juno stripes, they know how to sell them over there.

By the way, this is a tagline I can get behind: "This is not a love story. This is a story about love."

A Book, And Of Course A Movie

I just recently read the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'd read just a little bit about the upcoming film adaptation and the story sounded fascinating so I thought I'd give it a look. I'm so glad that I did. The novel is an amazingly original science fiction tale, brilliantly written with such depth and emotion to the lead characters that no one would ever think to classify it as genre fiction.

Ishiguro, who won the Booker Prize back in 1989 for The Remains of the Day, tells the story of a young woman reminiscing on her early days at an unusual English boarding school, where she formed life-long but complicated relationships with two other students. These relationships take center stage, but the science fiction elements remain an integral part of the story, and the subtlety with which Ishiguro employs them makes them even more powerful, to my way of thinking.

Never Let Me Go made TIME magazine's list of 100 best English language novels and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005.

Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) will be directing the film adaptation for Fox Searchlight. It's currently scheduled for a 2010 release. What originally interested me was the cast. Young British actors Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Alex Garland have been cast as the three leads, with Mulligan as the main character, Kathy, and Knightley and Garland taking the roles of her friends, Ruth and Tommy. I was somewhat surprised (though pleased) to see that Knightley had been given the supporting role, since Mulligan isn't yet a household name or a big box office draw.

This is something that could change very soon, though. Mulligan is poised to have a big breakthrough year, with her performance in An Education garnering raves from just about everyone who sees it. Talk of her taking home an Oscar has been flying around since January, and if she gets enough attention this fall, Never Let Me Go could be a title to keep an eye on next year.

Pick up the book if you get a chance. It's definitely worth your time and the film is looking like a potential winner too.