Moving bits of paper around (the old way) or painting with billions of pixels (the new) has conjured up some of the greatest films of all time. From The Iron Giant to Persepolis, Guardian and Observer critics pick the 10 best
• Top 10 war movies
• Top 10 teen movies
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
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• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. The Tale of the Fox
A sneaky fox plays a series of underhand tricks on his neighbours in the animal kingdom, among them a timorous hare and a gullible wolf. The king of the beasts, a lion, summons him to face charges but the fox proceeds to outwit everyone, including the king himself. When Ladislas Starevich told this tale in the 1930s it was by no means new – versions of the Reynard story had been circulating around Europe for the best part of a millennium – but the...
• Top 10 war movies
• Top 10 teen movies
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. The Tale of the Fox
A sneaky fox plays a series of underhand tricks on his neighbours in the animal kingdom, among them a timorous hare and a gullible wolf. The king of the beasts, a lion, summons him to face charges but the fox proceeds to outwit everyone, including the king himself. When Ladislas Starevich told this tale in the 1930s it was by no means new – versions of the Reynard story had been circulating around Europe for the best part of a millennium – but the...
- 11/20/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
It took a single film to turn Michael Powell from one of Britain's greatest directors to a pariah in the movie business. Xan Brooks asks what it takes to kill a film-making career
The tale of Peeping Tom is the tale of a man who made a film that ate him up, like Frankenstein with his monster, or an X‑rated riff on The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Before its release, Michael Powell was an ageing lion of the British film establishment, the revered director of The Red Shoes, Colonel Blimp and A Matter of Life and Death. Afterwards he was a pariah, an exile. All it took was one movie to kill his career stone dead.
Fifty years on, Powell's achievement looks all the more remarkable. Failure, of course, is a given in the film industry. Jobbing directors make a flop film and never work again; it happens all the time.
The tale of Peeping Tom is the tale of a man who made a film that ate him up, like Frankenstein with his monster, or an X‑rated riff on The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Before its release, Michael Powell was an ageing lion of the British film establishment, the revered director of The Red Shoes, Colonel Blimp and A Matter of Life and Death. Afterwards he was a pariah, an exile. All it took was one movie to kill his career stone dead.
Fifty years on, Powell's achievement looks all the more remarkable. Failure, of course, is a given in the film industry. Jobbing directors make a flop film and never work again; it happens all the time.
- 11/18/2010
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Release Date: July 16
Studio: Buena Vista
Genre: Fantasy
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Writer: Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard and Matt Lopez
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Monica Bellucci, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina
Studio Description: Balthazar Blake (Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Molina). Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and, together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. It'll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
Watch the Trailer
Analysis: Director Jon Turteltaub, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and actor Nicolas Cage are at it again with The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which...
Studio: Buena Vista
Genre: Fantasy
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Writer: Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard and Matt Lopez
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Monica Bellucci, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina
Studio Description: Balthazar Blake (Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Molina). Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and, together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. It'll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
Watch the Trailer
Analysis: Director Jon Turteltaub, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and actor Nicolas Cage are at it again with The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which...
- 2/1/2010
- by Brandon Gray
- Box Office Mojo
Shanghai
Opens: 2010
Cast: John Cusack, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chow Yun-Fat
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Summary: In the months leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an American man arrives in Shanghai to find his friend recently murdered. In investigating his friend's death, he stumbles upon a secret the United States government has been keeping and falls in love in the process.
Analysis: After being granted permission to shoot in the Chinese city, the $10 million production found its permit quickly being revoked by the Government who expressed concerns about the script. The result is Bangkok and the United Kingdom standing in for the real Shanghai which seems kind of against the entire point.
Cusack himself has emphatically endorsed the project in interviews, calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity", but being stuck at the cash-strapped Weinstein Company means that its release plans are unsure beyond a vague promise of a limited bow around Easter.
Opens: 2010
Cast: John Cusack, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chow Yun-Fat
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Summary: In the months leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an American man arrives in Shanghai to find his friend recently murdered. In investigating his friend's death, he stumbles upon a secret the United States government has been keeping and falls in love in the process.
Analysis: After being granted permission to shoot in the Chinese city, the $10 million production found its permit quickly being revoked by the Government who expressed concerns about the script. The result is Bangkok and the United Kingdom standing in for the real Shanghai which seems kind of against the entire point.
Cusack himself has emphatically endorsed the project in interviews, calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity", but being stuck at the cash-strapped Weinstein Company means that its release plans are unsure beyond a vague promise of a limited bow around Easter.
- 1/5/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Our pals over at Fanboyz.net scored some great scans. Jeff tells me they are from the Preview Movie Guide that was given out at Cinemark movie theaters featuring some cool new looks at Disney’s new The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The film stars Nic Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer and is directed by Jon Turltetaub.
Based on the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and later the animated short in Fantasia, Sorcerer’s Apprentice tells the story of a young wizard in training, who causes problems for his master when a spell on a broomstick goes awry. However this re-imagining plans to feature a modern day story with some dark, adventurous elements to it.
The new story centers on an average college student (Baruchel) who is reluctantly recruited to work for a sorcerer named Balthazar Blake (Cage). The man gives him a crash course in the art...
Based on the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and later the animated short in Fantasia, Sorcerer’s Apprentice tells the story of a young wizard in training, who causes problems for his master when a spell on a broomstick goes awry. However this re-imagining plans to feature a modern day story with some dark, adventurous elements to it.
The new story centers on an average college student (Baruchel) who is reluctantly recruited to work for a sorcerer named Balthazar Blake (Cage). The man gives him a crash course in the art...
- 11/11/2009
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
A New York chase sequence for Nicolas Cage's latest film got out of hand - literally - when a car being driven by a stuntman skidded out of control and crashed into a Times Square restaurant, injuring two pedestrians in its path. The injuries, a hurt foot and a bumped head, were deemed to be minor after being checked out at a hospital, the New York Post reports. The stunt driver was unharmed. The movie, titled The Sorcerer's Apprentice, is based on the classic Mickey Mouse sequence in Walt Disney's 1940 Fantasia - itself based on a poem by Goethe...
- 5/5/2009
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
Say “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and everyone immediately imagines robed Mickey Mouse accidentally unleashing magical powers he cannot control and chaos erupts. It was a delightful segment from Fantasia, but was based on Goethe's 1797 poem Der Zauberlehrling. The basic story has been the inspiration for novels, a kids’ television series and even a BBC radio drama.
But, for the first time, it will be the basis for a live action film with Nicolas Cage portraying the sorcerer and Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder) to play the apprentice according to Variety. The film will be directed by Jon Turtletaub and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal (Star Trek V) wrote the initial script which has been rewritten by Matt Lopez (Bedtime Stories).
The Sorcerer's Apprentice brings the action to modern day New York and starts with Cage seeking an apprentice until he finds Baruchel.
But, for the first time, it will be the basis for a live action film with Nicolas Cage portraying the sorcerer and Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder) to play the apprentice according to Variety. The film will be directed by Jon Turtletaub and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal (Star Trek V) wrote the initial script which has been rewritten by Matt Lopez (Bedtime Stories).
The Sorcerer's Apprentice brings the action to modern day New York and starts with Cage seeking an apprentice until he finds Baruchel.
- 12/5/2008
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Jay Baruchel is in talks to play the title role in The Sorcerer's Apprentice for Walt Disney Pictures. He joins Nicolas Cage, who plays the sorcerer. The flick is being directed by Jon Turteltaub, who worked with Cage on National Treasure and its sequel. Scripted by Lawrence Konner (Mighty Joe Young) and Mark Rosenthal (Mercury Rising) and rewritten by Matt Lopez (Bedtime Stories), The Sorcerer's Apprentice takes place in contemporary New York, where a wizard searches for an apprentice. The Sorcerer's Apprentice may sound familiar as it was the title for a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon from Disney’s Fantasia. The short was inspired by Goethe's 1797 poem, which saw an apprentice use magic to complete chores. It’s unclear if Turteltaub’s flick will also be based on the poem. Baruchel, who co-starred in Tropic Thunder and Knocked Up, next plays the lead in the DreamWorks romantic comedy She's Out of My League.
- 12/4/2008
- by James Cook
- TheMovingPicture.net
Gawky comic kid Jay Baruchel is following in the footsteps of other Apatow graduates like Seth Rogen by joining numerous high-profile projects. The Tropic Thunder grunt and "Undeclared" student will join Nicolas Cage in Disney's live-action The Sorcerer's Apprentice, playing trainee to Cage's wacky wizard. The story is set in modern-day New York, and doesn't seem to have much in common with either the Fantasia segment or the Goethe poem. The flick comes from producer Jerry...
- 12/3/2008
- by Dave Davis
- JoBlo.com
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