The Messengers 1 + 2

[StS]

DIRECTOR: Oxide and Danny Pang
WRITER: Mark Wheaton (Todd Farmer, Stuart Beattie)
STARRING: Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, and John Corbett
STUDIO: Columbia/Ghost House

It isn't a sequel, it isn't a remake, there are no A-list stars and it doesn't even have a title. Deep in the isolated mountains of Saskatchewan, Canada, however, the infamous Pang Brothers are making plans to scare the life out of you. And if 72,000 sunflowers and more than a dozen flesh-eating, shiny black ravens are any indication, they're going to make it happen.

Those Pangs, man, smiled 15-year-old Panic Room star Kristen Stewart as she took a break from her character's near-catatonic level of fear to talk about the unorthodox production. They just have a completely different view of what a scary movie should look like, and it's petrifying. It's just eerie and startling.

For the uninitiated: Danny and Oxide Pang are twin brothers from Hong Kong who helped revitalize the horror genre with 2002's visually stunning cornea-transplant shriek fest, The Eye. A successful sequel followed in 2004, along with the news that self-professed fan Tom Cruise had purchased the rights for an American remake (currently in development). With the Pang name echoing back and forth across the Pacific, Spider-Man director Sam Raimi utilized his newfound clout to convince the brothers to make their English-language debut for the Ghost House Pictures production company through which he produced The Grudge.

Before … we knew about Sam Raimi … it was not Spider-Man, said Oxide — or as he's known on set: the one with the mole on his neck — in semi-broken English. [We remember] Darkman and A Simple Plan. We love [Raimi's] movies before already, so when he contacted us to be the director of this project, we were excited. We really love to work with Sam Raimi, added Danny, or as he's known on set: the other one. He is a director, so he really knows and really understands what the director wants and needs.

Such excitement has manifested itself in a stunning set, built on a farm situated in the true, genuine Middle of Nowhere. A blazing sun beats down daily on the dilapidated brown farmhouse, while a creaky steel windmill indicates brief moments of windy relief. In the backyard, an open tool shed contains the kind of rusted arsenal that serial killers dream about: hacksaws, a scythe, axes and branding irons, all clanging against each other like the devil's wind chimes. A three-story barn (delivered from a neighboring town) appears on the verge of collapsing, the type of structure you wouldn't want to enter for any number of reasons.

And it's all surrounded by endless fields of sunflowers, their cheerful blooms lending the whole scene an audacious, incongruously chirpy air. [My character] Roy is the guy who just wants to go back to his roots, reflected Dylan McDermott, looking further away from The Practice than ever in a farmer's jeans and crumpled shirt. He did this as a kid ... so he tries to hold onto that as much as he can. He comes back here to plant sunflowers, and hopefully he'll get a little piece of that happiness again.

When McDermott's Roy finds himself out of work for two years, he decides to move his wife Denise (Penelope Ann Miller) and their angst-ridden teenage daughter Jess (Stewart) from their chaotic Chicago lives to Belton, North Dakota. Realizing it may be the last chance to salvage his family, Roy purchases a sunflower farm in hopes that tilling the land will help keep them afloat. As a mysterious stranger named Johnny Burwell (John Corbett) informs them, however, the locals are all too well aware of the haunting circumstances that enabled Roy to nab such a good deal on the property.

I'm just sort of a drifter who helps this family out, Corbett said of his character. I haven't seen any ghosts, but I'm aware that there are some goings-on in the house and I'm a little scared, so I sleep out in the barn with my shotgun.

So, there it is: the top-secret Pang Brothers movie (due in 2006) is — ta da! — a ghost story, albeit one told with such a unique style that Corbett was willing to come out of the short-lived retreat from acting he announced last year. I came out of retirement to work on this, Corbett confirmed. It's just a really good ghost story, and the Pang Brothers — people here in America aren't that familiar with them yet. Some people are, of course. But they're going to make a really big splash with their American debut. When the phone rings and those people are involved, you've kinda got to come out of retirement, or you're a fool.

The Pangs have an unusual visual sensibility, as evidenced not only by the enormous number of angles they come up with for each take, but also by choices such as employing different colors (including bright red and, reportedly, yellow) to represent the flesh of various ghosts. They have an equally distinctive working relationship, rarely collaborating on-set in the manner of such other famous cinematic teams as the brothers Wachowski, Hughes or Coen. Each day of filming finds the brothers alternately performing their dual roles: one directs while the other edits in a neighboring bunker. The next day, they swap hats.

So, 18 days into their 59-day shoot, what have the duo learned about Hollywood? They set a lot of meetings, said Oxide, cracking up his brother.

A few of these sit-downs were undoubtedly held to discuss a sequence in which more than a dozen ravens (meant to portray crows) attack McDermott's character, foreshadowing other dangers later in the film. With the aid of computer graphics, the ravens will eventually appear to number in the thousands. The on-set bird handlers from the Czech Republic, meanwhile, have their hands full keeping even this mini-flock from picking away at a stuntman's face. A revolting, gooey mixture of raw meat, honey and powdered sugar keeps the hungry creatures performing on cue.

Perhaps even hungrier than the black birds, however, are the Pang loyalists out there anxiously awaiting the duo's movie or, at the very least, something more concrete to call the thing than the current moniker attached to it: Untitled Pang Brothers Horror Project. How about Whipple House? Or maybe Bobby Whipple? jokes Dustin Milligan, who plays daughter Jess' protective friend by that very name. Whipple Mania, or Whipple World. That's what it should be called: Whipple World. That'd be nice. I like that.

I've got one, said William B. Davis (The Smoking Man of X-Files fame), playing along with the notion that a character can't be killed off if his name is in the title. The Bank Manager. I have four scenes of two minutes each. Why not call it The Bank Manager?

I like As the Crow Flies, Stewart insisted. During the entire movie the crows are a constant factor; they're always there. They're always watching.

It was going to be Scarecrow, added Milligan. But there actually isn't a scarecrow in it, so that doesn't make sense.

Yeah, well, my number one and only suggestion is Scarecrow, said a smiling, obstinate McDermott. Somehow it just makes sense to me. Scarecrow. It's the fields and you're out here and the scare is in the title and crows are in the movie.

The discussion continues, and at least one thing about the film becomes increasingly clear: out here in The Middle of Nowhere, Untitled Pang Brothers Horror Project is beginning to sound downright catchy.

(kfccinema)

Bilder:
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/gallery/photodir.php?dir=467

Webisode:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/themessengers/index.html

[Wolfhard-Eitelwolf]

Hm nur mal so als Anregung: Ich fänds gut, wenn du zu solch langen Texten ne kurze deutsche Zusammenfassung vorrangehen lassen könntest. So die wichtigsten Infos. Ansonsten doch sehr lesefeindlich das Ganze weil man nicht mal im Ansatz weiss, worum es geht  :idea:

[Hana-Bi]

Pang Brothers goes USA- Hollywood? Gar nicht mal so eine schlechte Idee. Ich bin zwar nicht so ein großer Fan der Pang Brothers Filme (Die besten waren meiner Meinung Bangkok Dangerous und Ab-Normal Beauty) doch eine Chance gebe ich ihnen auf jedenfall. Das Making Of auf der Seite ist gut gemacht. The Messengers hat mich neugierig gemacht.

[StS]

Hm nur mal so als Anregung: Ich fänds gut, wenn du zu solch langen Texten ne kurze deutsche Zusammenfassung vorrangehen lassen könntest. So die wichtigsten Infos.

Ist in Ordnung - werde ich bei längeren Texten in Zukunft so machen... ;)

[Wolfhard-Eitelwolf]

Super, besten Dank  :icon_razz:

[StS]

Schönes Ding!  :D

[StS]

Trailer

[StS]

Einen netten internationalen Trailer kann man sich hier ansehen:
http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=11089

[lastboyscout]

Also das Einzige mit dem der Film vielleicht punkten kann, wäre ein Plottwist oder sowas.
Denn von der Inszenierung kann er sich mühelos in die schier endlose Reihe von asiatischen Horrorfilmen ( egal ob jetzt die Originale oder die US-Remakes ) einreihen, denn die Art der Inszenierung bleibt immer gleich.
Fast alles sowas von vorhersehbar, was man zu sehen bekommt.

Aber auch wenn ich diese herbe Kritik hier äußere, muß ich doch zugeben, daß sie mir gefallen, wenn sie gut gemacht sind.
Denn manchmal kommen doch noch Szenen vor, die man nicht erwartet hat.
Zum Beispiel die EXTREM unerwartete Szene in "The Eye 2".

SPOILER



Und zwar die Szene an der Bushaltestelle. Weis sie nicht mehr haargenau, ich weis nur, daß sie SEHR überraschend kam.



SPOILER ENDE!!!


Ich freu mich wirklich drauf, trotz der extrem niedrigen Erwartungshaltung der wahrscheinlich nicht vorhandenen Neuerungen.

[StS]

Ich glaub persönlich nicht daran, dass dieser Film mit seinem Plot zu punkten vermag - schließlich sind die Pangs dafür bekannt, "Style over Substance" zu werten. In letzter Zeit haben ihre Filme mich eher enttäuscht (Eye 10 oder Re-Cycle), doch da ich diese zeitgemäßen Horror-Streifen eigentlich ganz gerne sehe (ist ein netter Zeitvertreib, nichts darüber hinaus), werde ich ihn mir auf jeden Fall ansehen.  ;)

[StS]

Kommt am 2.02.07 in die US-Kinos, Eduardo Rodriguez hat kürzlich einige Nachdrehs geleitet...

[StS]

Eine absolut geniale Promo-Aktion zum Film: Ein Klingelton, den nur jüngere Leute hören können!   

Sony Pictures has just officially blown my mind -- in a good way, and I'm pretty jealous I probably won't be able to hear the bells they'll be ringing in teens ears. In one of the craziest promotional gimmicks I've ever heard of, Sony has developed a special ringtone that only young consumers can hear in order to promote The Messengers, which follows a young female protagonist insisting she hears voices that her parents cannot hear. Read on for this insane story. Ghost House Pictures' film, which was directed by the Pang Brothers, hits theaters February 2nd.

(Bloody Disgusting)

The Hollywood Reporter writes:

To promote the upcoming supernatural thriller "The Messengers," Sony Pictures has included in its dossier of digital-marketing tools a ringtone only young consumers can hear.

Ultrasonic ringtones -- ringtones that are audible to teenagers but not adults -- are a featured aspect of the film's promotional campaign, which is geared toward a teen audience and inspired by the movie's story line about a young female protagonist insisting she hears voices that her parents cannot hear.

"The fact that only kids can hear it winds up being a thematic fit with the notion in the film that her parents don't believe her," said Joe Epstein, executive director, worldwide digital marketing strategy, Columbia TriStar Marketing Group. "We wanted it to be really relatable to teens conveying to this target audience that this is a character a lot like them along with this sense that kids and young adults are better conduits to the paranormal."

In the film, 16-year old Jess, played by Kristen Stewart, encounters ominous spirits in her new home, which only she and her 3-year-old brother can see and hear.

True to real life in the digital age, the movie's Jess also engages in text messaging, AIM instant messaging and social networking sites -- digital aspects that Epstein said will be deployed and promoted through the film's Web site in the next few days and were created to make young movie consumers feel as though they're actually interacting with the film's fictional character.

The ringtone itself, which can be purchased for $2.49 at sony.com/TheMessengers, was created specifically for the film and is a combination of several ultrasonic frequencies tied together to mimic a musical sound recognizable from the film resembling a high-pitched chord.

The theory behind the original creation of such ringtones is that as people get older, their hearing normally worsens. Ultrasonic ringtones are thought to be inaudible to people over the age of 25.

Adult-proof ringtones first got attention in the form of "Teen Buzz," a popular ring tone adapted from a sonar-based security system used in Europe to keep teenagers from loitering at retail outlets.

According to Epstein, who also cited the early use of such high-pitched intonations as a security deterrent by shop owners in Britain against hoodlum teens, it's the first time they have been tied promotionally to a film's theatrical release.

Along with the thematically-integrated ringtones and online interactivity, Epstein also noted a blog on the Weblog community Xanga and an eventual 1-800 number as other communicative features tied to the film's marketing efforts.

"The hope is that it feels like one continuous conversation with Jess -- you see her profile on a social networking site, you call her and IM her -- as she draws you into her current situation," said Epstein, noting the intent of the campaign is to have users transcend a couple of digital mediums

[StS]

Hier kann man sich die o.g. Töne mal anhören:  ;)

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/themessengers/site/stories/main.php?startPage=senses

[StS]

Clip:
http://ghosthousepictures.comingsoon.net/films_messengers.php

Neue Pics:
http://ghosthousepictures.comingsoon.net/gallery_messengers.php

[Moonshade]

Als Superbowl Gegenprogramm erfolgreich gestartet: schätzungsweise 14,5 Mio. USD Einspiel - Rang 1 in den charts.

[raymond77]

Super Trailer ,war zwar alles schon mal da könnte aber trotzdem interessant werden

[StS]

Director: Martin Barnewitz
Screenwriter: Todd Farmer
Starring: Norman Reedus, Claire Holt, Richard Riehle, Matthew McNulty, Heather Stephens, ...
MPAA Rating: R (for horror violence, sexual content, nudity and some language)

Messengers 2: The Scarecrow goes back to the farm to finally learn the story of John Rollins - the simple North Dakota farmer, struggling to save his farm and hold his family together. When he places a mysterious scarecrow in his field, his luck changes for the better...but it may be at the cost of his sanity.

Trailer

[Dr.Doom(Horror)]

Teil 1 war sehr durchschnittlich mit richtig schlechter Besetzung wie Kristen Stewart (Twilight) was den Film wirklich runter gerissen hat.
Die Fortsetzung macht nun einiges besser, insbesondere die B-Movie Besetzung ist wenigstens Genre-Durchschnitt. Norman Reedus (Pandorum, Blutige Pfad Gottes 2, Blade 2) als bekanntes Gesicht ist leider auch der schwächste Glied hier. Für die Charakterentwicklung wird sich viel Zeit gelassen, aber das Maisfeld und nächtliche Aufnahmen sind atmosphärisch. Die Wendung welche Norman Reedus hier mitmachen muss, vom freundlichen, familienorientierten Verlierer zum erfolgsorientierten Glückspilz gelingt ihm nicht so richtig oder es war vielleicht auch gar nicht zu meistern. Im letzten Drittel gewinnt der Film aber an fahrt und wir sehen noch einen Monsterslasher anhand der gruseligen Vogelscheuche. Enttäuschend sind hingegen die Mordszenen, Gore gibt es auch nicht. Ein "Scarecrow" hat mehr zu bieten, aber Gerneschnitt wird mit The Messengers 2 geboten, etwas besser als der erste Teil.


Teil 1: 5/10
Teil 2: 6,5/10