coppola's new apocalypse?

acclaimed director, producer and writer francis ford coppola is back with a new offering: twixt starring a wrinkled and heavier val kilmer and the fresh as rosebud elle fanning, dakota's equally brilliant younger sister.
according to entertainment weekly the film is about a horror writer (val kilmer) "with a declining career (who) arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. that night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious ghost (elle fanning)...."
coppola said the story was inspired by edgar allan poe (who also appeared in  the film, played by ben chaplin) and nathaniel hawthorne.
the drive to make the film came from a dream, coppola said in the movie's website. http://www.twixtmovie.com/
coppola is of course the man behind such iconic films as godfather (adapted from mario puzo's book) one, two and three, apocalypse now (about the vietnam war shot entirely in the philippines), dracula (starring the stoic keanu reeves and the ravishing winona ryder), rumble fish and my personal favourite, the ousiders which had an ensemble cast of young, up and coming gorgeous actors such as rob lowe, tom cruise, matt dillon, patrick swayze, ralph macchio.
but lately, coppola, who formed his own production company so that he could make films free from the influence of big hollywood bosses, had come up with an eclectic, little seen fares such as youth without youth (a slow-burning meditation on life, love and loss) and tetro (about a self-exiled artist suffering from the pains of growing up in the shadow of his famous, distant and cruel father).

(coppola and his tetro stars at cannes film fest.)

i have seen both films and i like them, especially tetro, which gave us the gorgeous alden ehrenreich, an ingenue with a lot of promise who was then touted as the new marlon brando or leonardo de caprio when the film was shown in 2009. (where is he now?)

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both films, especially youth without youth (his first movie in ten years) were largely panned by critics.

"unfortunately, "youth" becomes so lost in its own conceptual, convoluted vortex, it becomes virtually incomprehensible. coppola proves that even the best of our film artists can lose sight of what this medium is all about: entertaining, enlightening and including its audience," wrote the washington post's desson thomson.

for other reviews, click here.http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/youth_without_youth/

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but coppola, a veteran of scathing reviews who has withered all sorts of storms, including bankruptcy, was undaunted and shrugged it all off.  the now successful winemaker continues to make "personal" movies that he hopes would eventually find an audience.
"i’ve found it easier to make money and be my own patron than go to with my hat and beg to make a film. i’m so proud of my daughter (film director and oscar winning writer sofia) and my family for continuing the tradition of making personal films," he told the hollywood reporter in a recent interview.


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critiques can dismiss him as a "has-been" whose creativity has dried up, fans may no longer line up to see his latest obras, but definitely nobody can ignore him.
every time mr. coppola comes up with a new film, everyone is excited, especially the film festivals around the globe that thrive on buzz. 
i for one is looking forward to a new out of this world experience in twixt!
will this be his new apocalypse with a twist?


(all pictures are taken from the internet. no copyright infringement intended.)


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the trailer for youth without  youth:

and tetro: