One step forward, two steps backward (actually, make that three)

So many movies, so little time. That was the thought that popped into my head over the past few days and realized that as many movies as I try to see in/from a year, there are still so many that it will likely take a while for me to get around to. Though we're five months into a new year and new decade, I'm balancing my viewing selections between what's current, and films from 2009 that I wanted to see. Unfortunately, I haven't had the best luck with my choices; hopefully The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), in some cities now, will be better, because these first two films are 'blah' marks on the otherwise good reputation of 2009, while the third is a disappointment of the moment.

First is The Young Victoria (2009), or as many of us like to think of it, Emily Blunt's Oscar vehicle. All of the elements are there: period setting, romance, courtly intrigue, and pretty things. Yes, there's a lot of prettiness in Jean Marc-Vallee's film, but unfortunately, there isn't much of anything else. Despite having assembled quite the cast, Julian Fellowes' (writer of the wonderful Gosford Park) screenplay doesn't offer much of interest. Aside from some hilariously over-the-top arguing between Blunt and Mark Strong ("You must sign it!" "I WILL NOT!" "How DARE YOU!"), the acting is fine, and it's a shame that someone as talented as Blunt wasn't giving something meatier to work with. The real problem is that it's just, well, plain, and no amount of pretty-but-uninspired costumes can change that. The theme music is lovely, possibly the best artistic aspect of the whole show, but it's over-used, even feeling too strong in scenes that seem to require softer music. In the end, it is a sweet, well-intentioned film, but while its heart is in the right place, the other elements just come off as lazy.

Grade: C+

Next we come to the big puzzler of the triad: Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). Oy, where do I begin? I'm not sure what it is, maybe I've started to lose my hearing (although the results of my latest physical beg to differ), maybe I wasn't being a good audience member, but I don't think I've ever seen a film whose dialogue so poorly explained/clarified its plot. Worse is the terrible quality of sound recording on said dialogue. It's difficult to understand a film when the characters' voices are presented at a volume level so neutral that even with the volume on my TV nearly at maximum, I was struggling to really hear what was being said. I understand that characters shouldn't spend every second spoon-feeding us the plot, but discussing plot elements is nothing new, and it's really not hard to do...it's done in most movies, good and bad. Credit should go, however, to the marvelous production design; once the film finally delves into the heart of the titular Imaginarium (and the first Ledger stand-in, Mr. Depp, appears), there are a few moments of visual delight. Sadly, everything else in Gilliam's film is murkily presented and falls flat, especially the performances (although Tom Waits does have the perfect voice to play the Devil). Had I not read the back of the DVD case beforehand, I would have zoned out a lot quicker than I did.

Grade: C-

We've come upon a trend lately in our blockbuster fare: origin stories coupled with gritty revisions. It's worked marvelously for Batman, but for Robin Hood and his merry men, the result isn't exactly good. It's far from good. It's boring. Taking a look at Robin's "origin" (as an archer in Richard the Lionheart's army), Ridley Scott's film winds up a long, dull, mess. Despite stellar production values and a strong cast, the characters are beyond flat, not helped with the constant switching of locations to cover as many different angles of the story as possible (a great drinking game would be to take a shot every time a location title appears on screen). Crowe is all scowls and gruffness, much like his Gladiator role only without anything remotely interesting to drive him, while Cate Blanchett's Maid, sorry, Lady Marion could have been fun had the role been more fleshed out; these two, like other characters, feel haphazardly thrown together. Three of Robin's merry men practically blend together, while Friar Tuck feels like a non-entity and Oscar Isaac's King John is a rehash of Joaquin's Phoenix's Commodus. William Hurt, Eileen Atkins, and Max Von Sydow are also thrown into the mix, while Mark Strong plays, you guessed it, the kind-of-sort-of main bad guy, since King John isn't quite the villain yet. But the real crime of it all? It's. F_cking. Boring. Hell, at least the god-awful racist robots in Transformers 2 kept me awake (albeit in an irritated state). After the initial castle siege, during which everything is filmed not only in staccato low-frame rate, but also with a shaky camera, it just becomes flat out dull. There's a lot of talk and plot build up, but it's never interesting. The attempts at humor fall flat, and the political/royal intrigue isn't terribly intriguing. As a result, none of the performances register; it's hard to either root for our band of heroes or really hate the villains. And if you can't feel anything, why bother?

Grade: C-

Clip from "Robin Hood"

Aside from the generic score, I'm impressed. Give credit to Ridley Scott for plausibly working in an explosion into an 11th Century-set film. Nice use of low frame rate to create that hectic feeling of combat as well.

2010 Cannes Lineup

Sadly, no Tree of Life, though according to the SF article, there's a chance it could slip in as a last minute addition. After that extensive preview of what was likely to make it in, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that The Tempest, Rabbit Hole, and Black Swan aren't on the list. And wait a sec, weren't The Rum Diary and The Expendables supposed to be screened at Cannes (out of competition)?

Source: SlashFilm

IN COMPETITION

“Another Year,” U.K., Mike Leigh “Biutiful,” Spain-Mexico, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu “Burnt by the Sun 2,” Germany-France-Russia, Nikita Mikhalkov “Certified Copy,” France-Italy-Iran, Abbas Kiarostami “Fair Game,” U.S., Doug Liman “Hors-la-loi,” France-Belgium-Algeria, Rachid Bouchareb “The Housemaid,” South Korea, Im Sang-soo “La nostra vita,” Italy-France, Daniele Luchetti “La Princesse de Montpensier,” France, Bertrand Tavernier “Of Gods and Men,” France, Xavier Beauvois “Outrage,” Japan, Takeshi Kitano “Poetry,” South Korea, Lee Chang-dong “A Screaming Man,” France-Belgium-Chad, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun “Tournee,” France, Mathieu Amalric “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” Spain-Thailand-Germany-U.K.-France, Apichatpong Weerasethakul “You, My Joy,” Ukraine-Germany, Sergey Loznitsa

UN CERTAIN REGARD

“Adrienn Pal,” Hungary-Netherlands-France-Austria, Agnes Kocsis “Aurora,” Romania, Cristi Puiu “Blue Valentine,” U.S., Derek Cianfrance “Chatroom,” U.K., Hideo Nakata “Chongqing Blues,” China, Wang Xiaoshuai “The City Below,” Germany-France, Christoph Hochhausler “Film Socialisme,” Switzerland-France, Jean-Luc Godard “Ha Ha Ha,” South Korea, Hong Sang-soo “Les Amours imaginaires,” Canada, Xavier Dolan “Life Above All,” France, Oliver Schmitz “Los labios,” Argentina, Ivan Fund, Santiago Loza “Octubre,” Peru, Daniel Vega “Qu’est-il arrive a Simon Werner?,” France, Fabrice Gobert “Rebecca H.,” France, Lodge Kerrigan “R U There,” Taiwan, David Verbeek “The Strange Case of Angelica,” Portugal, Manoel de Oliveira “Tuesday, After Christmas,” Romania, Radu Muntean “Udaan,” India, Vikramaditya Motwane

OUT OF COMPETITION

“Robin Hood,” U.S.-U.K., Ridley Scott “Tamara Drewe,” U.K., Stephen Frears “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps,” U.S., Oliver Stone “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” U.K.-Spain, Woody Allen

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

“Kaboom,” U.S.-France, Gregg Araki “L’autre monde,” France, Gilles Marchand

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

“Abel,” Mexico, Diego Luna “Chantrapas,” France, Otar Iosseliani “Draquila — L’Italia che trema,” Italy, Sabina Guzzanti “Inside Job,” U.S., Charles Ferguson “Nostalgia de la luz,” France, Patricio Guzman “Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow,” Netherlands, Sophie Fiennes

Read more: Cannes 2010 Lineup Announced; Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life’ Not on the List | /Film http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/04/15/cannes-2010-lineup-announced-terrence-malicks-the-tree-of-life-not-on-the-list/#ixzz0lBNVsOXL

New "Robin Hood" behind the scenes video

EDIT: okay, so apparently the video embed code is acting weird. To view the video, visit FirstShowing.

This just amps up my excitement even further. Ridley Scott knows how to make fully immersive period films, and this one looks no different. After the letdown of Clash of the Titans and it's CGI shenanigans, the promise of realistic action sequences with only a handful of CGI shots (most of which will only be wide shots of the French navy) is so damn exciting.

First poster for the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, featuring Juliette Binoche

With addition information on some prominent films that will be making appearences:

Source: FirstShowing.net

With the Cannes Film Festival only 45 days away from kicking off (I will be attending again this year), buzz about the line-up has started to build. Last week it was officially announced that Ridley Scott's Robin Hood would open the festival, the same honor that Pixar's Up had last at last year's fest. Anne Thompson at indieWIRE also names a few titles that she's heard will be heading to Cannes: Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, and of course, Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, which we've talked plenty aboutbefore, although none of them are official yet.

This will be the first time an Oliver Stone film has played at the festival, as far as I know, so congratulations to Stone. And although she mentions Tree of Life, apparently Malick still hasn't shown the film to Cannes yet (even though it's supposedly finished), but he will get in no matter what when/if he does show them. To go along with the debut of the official poster for the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, other prospectives (via The Playlist) include: Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, Bruce Robinson's The Rum Diary with Johnny Depp, and Amores Perrosdirector Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's film Biutiful.

There's also a rumor that because Juliette Binoche is on the poster this year, it may mean that her new film Certified Copy from Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami might show as well. Although we only know one film that is officially playing this year (Robin Hood), if the rest of this turns out to be accurate, it looks like it'll be a great year at Cannes this year. I had a amazing time last year and I'm already very excited about the prospective line-up this year. We'll be bringing you coverage of the fest along with SlashFilm, so although not many of you will be in Cannes with us, we'll do our best to report back on the must see films of the fest.

Read more: http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/03/28/cannes-prospectives-wall-street-2-woody-allen-tree-of-life/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+firstshowing+%28FirstShowing.net%29#ixzz0jZVgyPZ0film

2010 2nd Quarter Preview: April, May, June

With only three full days left in March, it's once again time to look ahead to find more excuses to visit the theater over the next three months. 2010 is off to a decent start so far (well, I've only seen four movies so...), but thankfully, we're about to leave the dreaded first quarter behind and move into late spring and early summer! Cue the string of back-to-back big budget box office hopefuls, and the occasional summer indie (maybe even one that goes all the way to the top) hoping to successfully offer an alternative to the loudness of big studio fare. These eleven films aren't the only reasons to go the theater over the next three months (I'm sure some will undergo release date changes, not to mention that summer indies have painfully slow expansions and can appear out of nowhere), but they're the most notable.

11. The A-Team [June 11 - Wide] dir. Joe Carnahan

Who's in it?: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copely, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson

What's the story?: An adaptation of the 80s TV action series.

Why:

• It looks loud and fun.
• Sharlto Copely, who had a terrific breakout in District 9 is getting work. Yay!
• Cigar-chomping Liam Neeson.

Why Not:

• Uninspired trailer.
• TV adaptations don't have the best history.
• Why does Bradley Cooper always look so smug?

10. Jonah Hex [June 18 - Wide] dir. Jimmy Hayward

What's the story?: A bounty hunter tries to stop a voodoo practitioner from unleashing the undead to liberate the Old South.

Who's in it?: Josh Brolin, Michael Fassbender, Megan Fox, Michael Shannon, John Malkovich

Why:

• Strong cast.
• Good source material with a cool mix of magic and the Old West.

Why Not:

• No trailer. No new posters. No buzz. Nada.

09. Date Night [April 9 - Wide] dir. Shawn Levy

What's the story?: A case of mistaken identities traps a married couple in a gangster-filled night of insanity.

Who's in it?: Steve Carrell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Taraji P. Henson

Why:

• Carrell and Fey are a great comic duo, and star on two of the best comedies currently on TV.
• The action-comedy genre is tricky, but when done right it can be a blast.
• Great supporting cast.
• Solid trailer.

Why Not:

• Funny people doesn't mean a funny movie.
• Could be a classic case of "everything funny was in the trailer".
• No early word.

08. I Love You, Phillip Morris [May 7 - LA only] dirs. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

What's the story?: A con man falls in love with a fellow in mate, and tries to maintain a relationship as he continuously escapes/is trapped in prison.

Who's in it?: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro

Why:

• A true and unique story that reportedly handles the homosexual subject manner extremely well.
• Strong praise for the performances (especially McGregor).

Why Not:

• It's been delayed for ages.
• The reviews have generally been good, but not great.
• It's difficult to tell how much of Jim Carrey's schtick is intact for the performance.

07. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time [May 28 - Wide] dir. Mike Newell

What's the story?: Prince Dastan must return a time-controlling dagger to its home to prevent an evil wizard from using its powers to take over the world.

Who's in it?: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Artreton, Alfred Molina

Why:

• The 2003 video game (of the same name) was a stellar example of how video games can tell a simple-yet-engaging story, mixed with amazing action and environments.
• The game's creator, Jordan Mechner, was commissioned to come up with the story.
• Director Mike Newell is no stranger to big budget fantasy fare; he directed 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
• Jerry Bruckheimer has likened the tone to Pirates of the Caribbean.
• The trailer doesn't make the film look cheap.

Why Not:

• Was Gyllenhaal the best choice for the prince?
• The story is quite different from that of the video game, which has a knockout of a finale. If it ain't broke...
• The special effects look fine, but that's it.
• Pirates of the Caribbean (well, the first one) was a special pop culture phenomenon with a brilliant lead character. Just having two comically bickering leads doesn't mean that you'll achieve the same charm of that franchise.

06. Clash of the Titans [April 2 - Wide] dir. Louis Leterrier

What's the story?: Perseus, the son of Zeus, must stop the gods from unleashing total chaos (and the kraken) on increasingly anti-theist mankind.

Who's in it?: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Artreton, Alexa Davalos, Mads Mikkelson

Why:

• Rockin' trailer (that song better be on the soundtrack)
• How can you resist seeing Liam Neeson bellow "RELEASE THE KRAKEN!" on the big screen?
• Special effects have come a looooong way since the original, lending the film a slick, super-charged vibe. The action looks kinetic without being confusing.
• Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes on screen together again. Schindler and Goeth don't have sh*t on Zeus and Hades.
• The studio actually gave the film more money to add extra monsters/gods.

Why Not:

• Could extra monsters/gods create clutter?
• Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk had effective action, but was utterly brain dead in between fights.
• Could struggle with tone issues. Will they try and be gritty and epic, or maintain some of the camp of the original?
• A rushed conversion to 3D has left those at previews unimpressed (the film was delayed a week because of this conversion).
• Sam Worthington needs to carry the movie, and, like Keira Knightley, he can be very good or very bland.

05. Robin Hood [May 14 - Wide] dir. Ridley Scott

What's the story?: An archer in the army of Richard the Lionhearted fights against the Normans and becomes the legendary Robin Hood.

Who's in it?: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Danny Huston, Max Von Sydow, William Hurt

Why:

• A fresh, gritty take on the Robin Hood story with a knock out cast.
• Crowe and Scott are a reliable combination.
• Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, together at last.
• Ridley Scott films always have lush period details, making you feel like you're in X time period.
• The action is reportedly very gritty, with very few special effects shots (most of which are just for a fleet of ships).
• Brian Helgeland, the writer behind that masterpiece LA Confidential, wrote the screenplay, trying to give it a more historical angle.

Why Not:

• The off chance that it ends up being dull.
• Crowe and Blanchett may not have the right chemistry.
• The actor who plays King John seems a little over the top ("I declare him an out-LAAAAAAAAAW!!")

04. Kick Ass [April 16 - Wide] dir. Matthew Vaughn

What's the story?: Dave Lizewski, an ordinary student, decides to become a super hero, and inspires a wave of masked vigilantes, angering a local mob syndicate.

Who's in it?: Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Cage, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz

Why:

• Fantastic reception from the SXSW Film Festival. Some reviews hailed it as the best super hero flick behind The Dark Knight (albeit completely different in tone).
• The mix of visceral action and laugh out loud comedy also has a surprising share of emotional weight.
• The performances have earned across the board praise, especially young Moretz as the purple-haired, foul-mouthed Hit Girl.
• Finally a chance to see Nicholas Cage give a knowingly silly performance.
• Mintz-Plasse is inching closer to breaking out of his McLovin' mould.

Why Not:

• Matthew Vaughn's last film, Stardust, was generally well received, but was really a clunky, poorly structured film. Let's hope it doesn't carry over here.

03. I am Love [June 18 - Limited] dir. Luca Guadagnino

What's the story?: At the turn of the millennium, a prominent Milanese family is shaken by romantic passions and infidelity.

Who's in it?: Tilda Swinton, various and sundry Italians

Why:

• Have you seen the trailer? If you haven't, it calls to mind A Single Man, which teased beautifully without giving away its minimal plot at all.
• Early reviews have been extremely positive, especially for Swinton, who was criminally snubbed for Oscar consideration last year for her work in Julia.
• The music is by opera composer John Adams, who is composing his first ever film score (sadly, the music in the trailer is from previous work).
• Even if it's bad, it will sure as hell be gorgeous.

Why Not:

• Is it just empty prettiness?

02. Toy Story 3 [June 18 - Wide] dir. Lee Unkrich

What's the story?: When Andy departs for college, the toys are donated to a day-care, and must cope with the change.

Who's in it?: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger, Joan Cusack, Michael Keaton, Bonnie Hunt

Why:

• The original Pixar masterpiece comes full circle.
• According to early word, if WALL-E or UP!, made you cry, you'll be bawling over the last (brilliant) 20 minutes of this one.
• Written by Michael Arndt of Little Miss Sunshine fame.

Why Not:

• The one in a million chance that it's either just "good", or even "bad". Yeah, probably not.

01. Iron Man 2 [May 7 - Wide] dir. Jon Favreau

What's the story?: Tony Stark must deal with his newfound super hero status, demands from the government to hand over the Iron Man suit, and new threats from a business rival and a deranged Russian villain with a vendetta named Whiplash.

Who's in it?: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johannson, Samuel L. Jackson

Why:

• The first was a surprise thrill ride, and this one looks bigger and better.
• Mickey Rourke looks f-ing insane.
• With the Tony Stark universe established, the film can jump right into the good stuff without all of the set up from before.
• Fun new cast members.

Why Not:

• I still wish Emily Blunt had gotten the Black Widow role over Johannson.
• It could be judged too harshly next to its predecessor.

Epic new "Robin Hood" trailer

First Iron Man, now this? The summer movie season can't get here soon enough.

"Robin Hood" Superbowl TV spot

An early review of Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood"

These things can always end of up being fake, but with movies often holding test screenings earlier and earlier, it shouldn't come as a surprise that there has been at least one for what hopes to be one of the first blockbusters of the summer movie season. I'm quite excited for this film, and to hear it be compared to Gladiator and the lesser-but-still-good Kingdom of Heaven makes me happy; I love period action films, and for this one to start off with some solid early (real?) buzz is encouraging.

Source: Aintitcoolnews.com

Hey just got back from the "Robin Hood" screening here in Las Vegas.

The most surprising thing about “Robin Hood” isn't really so surprising at all: Ridley Scott has made a variation on “Gladiator” that switches out swords and sandals for bows and arrows. Russell Crowe is back in fighting form (looks like he lost an entire person since “State of Play”) and takes his place where he belongs, playing a hero square in the middle of a big period action epic, bellowing orders, galloping on horseback and just generally kicking ass.

Forget the green tights, pulling on the sheriff version of “Robin Hood.” This is a dirty, brutal, muscular, serious origin story that introduces the characters we've seen in movies and read in books that only meets up with the familiar story literally in the last scene.

The story here is about an archer from the Crusades who assumes the identity of a fellow soldier who died on the field. Robin returns home to England and discovers a secret he never knew about his past which puts him on a path to help his country from a despotic king (btw, don’t know who plays King John but he’s awesome). The first two-thirds of the movie are about Robin figuring out his destiny and rallying the people together against King John’s thugs and the usual cast of characters starts to come together: the Merry Men, a tough Maid Marian (I don’t understand how Sienna Miller was ever supposed to play this role), the Sheriff of Nottingham, Friar Tuck.

The last third is an extended action sequence set at the edge of the sea as Robin and his countrymen face off against the invading French navy attempting to land and take over Britain. This is pure “Gladiator”/”Kingdom of Heaven” Ridley Scott with a lot of hand-to-hand combat. There’s another nice surprise: there doesn’t seem to be much of a reliance on computer imagery outside of that French navy. This is action on a huge scale made the old-fashioned way: armies of thousands, swords clanging off each other, arrows shooting through bodies, ships crashing on shore all staged right there on the beach, not in a computer.

First poster for "Robin Hood"

"Robin Hood" teaser trailer

Well aside from the 300-esque rock music, this looks really good. It will be interesting to see a truly gritty, action-oriented version of this classic story. If there's one thing you can count on from Ridley Scott, it's attention to detail coupled with rich production values. Plus, seeing Scott and Crowe work together again on a period action film is bound to have its plusses, even if this only turns out to be fun summer fare and nothing more. Throw in Cate Blanchett as a decidedly de-glam Maid Marion, and you've got a pretty stellar package.

Something not awards-related!: New pictures and info from "Robin Hood" (2010)

Source: FirstShowing.net
This Robin Hood follows Robin from his early days in King Richard's army to his return to Nottingham to his creation of a band of mercenaries who challenge the sheriff and eventually try to prevent civil war. As we already know, Crowe will play Robin Hood, Blanchett will play Maid Marian, Danny Huston will play King Richard, William Hurt will play William Marshall, Matthew Macfadyen will play the Sheriff of Nottingham, Mark Strong will play Sir Godfrey, and Vanessa Redgrave will play Queen Eleanor. The screenplay and story was written by Oscar winner Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River). Ridley Scott is directing.

ET sneak preview of their first look at Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood" (2010)

I'm excited about this...but there's just something odd about Cate Blanchett dressed up as Maid Marion saying, "welcome to Nottingham, GIRLFRIEND!"

Danny Huston joins Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood"

Source: Yahoo/Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In a role fit for a member of Hollywood royalty, Danny Huston will play King Richard I in the untitled Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe as the mythical hero.

Production on the Imagine/Universal film is underway in England with Ridley Scott at the helm.

Huston will step into the shoes of the historical figure King Richard, who became known as Richardthe Lionheart because of his exploits in the ThirdCrusade.

Huston, the son of director John Huston, appeared this summer on the big screen in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," playing Wolverine's nemesis William Stryker, and recently finished work on "Clash of the Titans," in which he plays Poseidon.

(Editing by DeanGoodman at Reuters)

New set photos from Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood" (2010)

Source: Slash Film

First look at Russel Crowe in Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood"

I'm not sure about this. Crowe certainly makes a great leading man in an action/adventure film, but he seems a bit...old for the part. The Robin Hood character of lore always struck as someone young and lively. I'm also not crazy about the casting of Cate Blanchett as Lady Marion, although she'll probably give a better performance than Scott's first choice (Sienna Miller).