Bunraku is one of the strangest films I’ve seen in 2011. Highly stylized and set in a post-apocalyptic world constructed out of constantly folding origami (!), it tells the story of a Drifter (Josh Hartnett) who teams with a samurai named Yoshi (Japanese pop star Gackt) to bring down the personification of evil, an oppressive Woodcutter named Nicola (Ron Perlman). The movie combines elements of samurai films, westerns, film noir, martial arts movies, and more, and the production design blends with those genres to create one of the most interesting cinematic worlds I’ve ever seen.

To be clear: this is an interesting world, but not necessarily an interesting movie. Bunraku suffers from a case of style overload, attempting to blend far too many things; unfortunately, this results in every aspect of the film feeling not quite deep enough to matter. It’s a purely visual experience, but in that regard alone, it’s fascinating. The movie is shot entirely on sound stages with CG backgrounds, so comparisons to Sin City are sure to arise, but I feel like it’s doing Bunraku a disservice to try to hold that visual comparison to just one movie. You can get the sense from the trailer that this origami world is unique, with a mixture of influences ranging from the canted angles of German expressionism to the paper mache whimsy of Michel Gondry.

There is a ton of action in this movie, but, like the film itself, it’s all flash and no substance. The fight choreography is terrible, clearly trying to make the heroes seem like epic warriors who can beat their way through a hundred men without a scratch, but by relying on the typical “one guy attacks at a time” and “one punch knockout” cliches, it appears as if anyone with functioning limbs could fight just as effectively. (For multiple examples of how this can be done correctly, see Tony Jaa’s The Protector.) There was one really excellent side-scrolling scene that shows The Drifter fighting loads of men down continuing levels of stairs in one long continuous shot, but it was essentially a vertical version of the same shot from 2003′s Oldboy with video game sound effects pumped in. I’ll give this movie one thing, though: it had an extended fight sequence in an abandoned circus before that takes place on a trapeze and the trampoline below it, something I’ve never seen before. (It would have been right at home in the gymnastics-based karate movie Gymkata.)

Josh Hartnett is no stranger to film noir (The Black Dahlia, Lucky Number Slevin, Sin City), and he does his standard thing here with a little more fighting than usual. Late in the movie, Hartnett battles a roving band of parkour jesters who dance around in the background as they attack him one at a time. Sigh. Woody Harrelson plays a bartender (remember “Cheers,” anyone?) who is ostensibly there to guide Yoshi and The Drifter to the evil Woodcutter (Ron Perlman, playing basically any bad guy he’s ever played, but one who actually has a scene in which he chops wood), but mainly Woody just sits in the shadows and creepily watches everyone fight in the rain. Oh yeah – and he also tells the origin story of Spider-Man through origami. Yep, that’s all I need to say about that. Demi Moore also shows up for a few minutes as Ron Perlman’s whore, looking so disinterested in everything that she must have been doing someone a favor by appearing in this film at all.

Another issue with Bunraku is length, clocking in at an absurdly long two hours and four minutes, far too long for a film like this. If the run time was closer to 90 minutes – even 100 minutes, like last year’s similarly stylized The Warrior’s Way - it would have been much easier to digest. But putting us through plodding action scenes, killing off Perlman’s henchmen one by one, and adding a totally unnecessary subplot about a people’s army forming near the end of the movie makes Bunraku more of a chore than a little piece of pop culture fun. The predictable ending is totally not worth the two hour wait, and at the point which we realize that almost none of the action scenes have any consequences, they actually become pretty boring and we just wait for the filmmakers to finish their masturbatory exercise and eventually finish telling the story.

Bunraku is filled with stock characters, bizarre editing choices, and a captivating backdrop. But because it blends so many different elements together into a massive hodgepodge of a movie, nothing stands out or seems truly important. I was never able to engage with any of the characters, and that may be fine for some people (especially in a film like this). As for me, I’d like to actually feel something about the people I’m watching on screen – whether that be rooting for them, hating them, something, anything – and this movie failed to provide me with a reason to do that. It’s unique, but only you can decide if that’s enough to be worth your time. Bunraku is available now on VOD and hits theaters on September 30, 2011. Until next time…

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The casting search has begun over at Universal for an actor to lead The Bourne Legacy, which has Tony Gilroy (Duplicity, Michael Clayton, writer of previous Bourne films) in the director’s chair. The movie won’t involve Matt Damon or Jason Bourne, and will instead focus on a new character in the same universe.

So who is in contention for the lead role? Just about everyone.

Variety and Deadline give the following list of names:

Joel Edgerton, Josh Hartnett, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Paul Dano, Michael Pitt, Oscar Isaac, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Luke Evans, Alex Pettyfer, Taylor Kitsch, Benjamin Walker and Kellan Lutz.

According to Variety Gilroy has an idea of what kind of actor he wants, but Universal has also brought its picks to the table (most likely the more known actors). So far no front-runner has emerged and lesser-known actors still have a shot as Gilroy wants to screen-test all candidates.

Last year Gilroy cleared up what The Bourne Legacy is actually about and insisted it won’t prevent Matt Damon from returning in the future.

“It’s a completely original screenplay.” Secondly, “This is not a reboot or a recast or a prequel. No one’s replacing Matt Damon. There will be a whole new hero, a whole new chapter…this is a stand-alone project.

“The easiest way to think of it is an expansion or a reveal,” Gilroy says. “Jason Bourne will not be in this film, but he’s very much alive. What happened in the first three films is the trigger for what happens. I’m building a legend and an environment and a wider conspiracy…the world we’re making enhances and advances and invites Jason Bourne’s return [down the road].

Universal is targeting an August 2012 release for The Bourne Legacy with filming expected to begin later this year.

Who’s your pick?

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I’m a huge fan of Paul McGuigan’s 2006 crime film Lucky Number Slevin. Anyone else? (*cricket chirps*) Okay, fine. But the few of us that do exist can take solace in the fact that McGuigan will again team up with Josh Hartnett for a new project – a time travel thriller called Tomorrow.

QuietEarth has a few details on the movie:

Written by newcomer Michael Gould, the film will star Hartnett as a man travelling back and forth through time and space, trying to prevent the murder of his family.

Regardless of how derivative that might sound, I’m looking forward to this one. McGuigan may not be a popular director, but he’s got a great sense of visual style and his production design is always top notch. Don’t believe me? Look no further than Slevin or 2009′s Push to convince you. (And speaking of Push, there’s been no movement on Summit’s plans to turn that film into a television series.)

This will actually mark the third collaboration between Hartnett and McGuigan; besides Slevin, the duo worked together on 2004′s Wicker Park. Tomorrow is slated to begin filming in Louisiana later this year.

McGuigan/Hartnett fans: sound off in the comments and make yourselves known.

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Last week we heard that Josh Hartnett was among a short list of actors who Marvel wanted to play Loki, and that Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood) was in the running to play the thunder God himself, Thor. Well now a source tells Deadline Hollywood that Hartnett is actually in the running for Thor, not Loki, and that Natalie Portman is apparently front runner to play the female lead.

Sure, there’s a big push to cast Josh Hartnett in the winged helmet, which is ironic since Warner Bros once upon a time threw an amazing amount of money at him to play Superman but he refused. But my sources say there’s an equally powerful lobby to cast an unknown. I’ve heard that, besides Hartnett, the following actors are being tested: Charlie Hunnam (the British co-star of the F/X series Sons Of Anarchy); Tom Hiddleston (award-winning British actor and RADA graduate who played Winston Churchill’s son in HBO’s The Gathering Storm), Alexandar Skarsgard (Stellan’s son who has appeared in the HBO Iraq War miniseries Generation Kill and vampire drama True Blood, and who’s definitely visually right for the role), and Joel Kinnaman (some Danish dude). Meanwhile, I’m told Natalie Portman is in the lead for the female lead.

Out of all of Marvel’s upcoming movies Thor will be one that will be the trickiest to convert onto the big screen (apart from whoever gets the job of joining the characters together for The Avengers). With the release date being pushed back to 2011 it gives director Kenneth Branagh more time to sort everything out, including who he will cast as the lead. I haven’t read a Thor comic so I have no idea who Natalie Portman would play if this turns out to be true, although I like her as an actress.

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According to IESB Josh Harnett is one of the actors on Marvel’s short list to play Loki in Thor.

Who does Brannagh want to bring this evil character to life? Try Josh Hartnett. IESB sources say Hartnett has met with Brannagh as well and he is currently on a very short list to play the villain in the film.

Word is Josh and his camp are really interested because he has never played a villain before and after Heath Ledger’s Oscar win for the latest comic book villain, Hartnett is intrigued by the character.

Hartnett stands at 6 foot 3 inches, so he would be a great opponent to whoever lands of role of Thor.

Latino Review got a tip that Alexander Skarsgård from True Blood was spotted eating dinner with director Kenneth Branagh, so there could be something to that. All we have are rumours that this point, however we can expect Marvel to be making some official announcements over the coming weeks.

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August focuses on two brothers, ambitious dot.com entrepreneurs attempting to keep their company afloat as the stock market begins to collapse in August 2001, one month prior to the 9/11 attacks.

The cast includes Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, Naomie Harris, Rip Torn, Zoe Kazan, Robin Tunney and David Bowie.

Despite the fact the movie is called August, it will in fact be released in July. Obvious marketing flaw there.

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