The Sundance Film Festival website has just unveiled a 'Meet The Artist' video of Christopher Thornton and Mark Ruffalo profiling their upcoming film "Sympathy For Delicious" and also features two clips from the film.
Written by and starring real-life paraplegic Thornton, first-time director Ruffalo reveals that the film is "very personal" in that he took inspiration from "watching his friend Thornton struggle with becoming paralyzed, a lot of that struggle had to do with "why?, 'where does this come from?' and 'how do I place this in the mythology of my life?,' 'how do I make sense of this?"
Sounds like the film will have a deep emotional core at the heart of its supernatural, rock n' roll exterior. There's a clip in the video that features Juliette Lewis and Thornton and, while it's probably out of context, it seems like an early barometer for what we can look forward to. The Sundance page's synopsis describes 'Delicious' as a "gritty, yet fervent, take on the search for meaning amidst tragedy and the redemptive power that is compassion." We're sold. It'll be fascinating alone to see what Thornton brings to what we assume will be a no-holds-barred story in both his writing and acting, which hopefully he can deliver on.
"Dean O'Dwyer is a D.J. named Delicious D," explains Thornton of the plot. "He's had an accident and he's down and out, he's living in his car. He parks near Skid Road to get a free meal off a soup line by a very kind young priest named Father Joe (Ruffalo). And he's been going to healing services or at least one that we know of. And he, in a very bizarre twist of fate, wakes up one day and his hands are hurting and he's able to lay hands and heal people."
"And he basically takes his gift, his god-given gift, and prostitutes it for sex, drugs, rock and roll and fame," adds Ruffalo. The film co-stars the likes of Orlando Bloom, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich and John Carroll Lynch, who also features in the video, and will feature a score by Canadian orchestral indie rockers, The Besnard Lakes, and music written by Shiny Toy Guns performed by The Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala -- who will also act as a vocal stand-in for Bloom's musician character on at least one song.
"Sympathy For Delicious" premieres at Sundance on the 23rd of January.
1/07/2010
First Look Clips: Mark Ruffalo And Christopher Thornton Talk 'Sympathy For Delicious'
Polanski's 'Ghost Writer' Gets A February 19 Limited Release Date By Summit
Imprisoned filmmaker (or at least in house arrest now) Roman Polanski has been in the news quite a bit this week. A hearing in L.A. is set for January 22nd, and the director has been asked to be sentenced in absentia, while the justice ministry of Switzerland said today that they would probably decide this month or next whether to grant a request by the United States to extradite the filmmaker.
His legal issues are obviously ongoing, but in news that has nothing to do with his trial, Summit Entertainment announced that his upcoming political thriller, "The Ghost Writer" starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan will receive a February 19 limited release date in the U.S. The film will expand into bigger markets on March 5 and again on March 19. The date makes sense as 'Ghost Writer' is also set to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival which starts February 11.
The film centers on a ghostwriter (McGregor) hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister (Brosnan) and runs into trouble when he uncovers secrets that put his life in jeopardy (it's apparently a fictionalized screed based on Tony Blair). Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams, Timothy Hutton, Tom Wilkinson and James Belushi co-star.
Here's the full-on synopsis btw:When a successful British ghostwriter, THE GHOST, agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister ADAM LANG, his agent assures him it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project seems doomed from the start—not least because his predecessor on the project, Lang’s long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident.
Obviously it'll be interesting to see how this plays given Polanski's recent issues and or if it will matter. We'll see. Update: Here's an German-language version of the trailer and even a translation from the folks at Cinemablend.
The Ghost flies out to work on the project, in the middle of winter, to an oceanfront house on an island off the U.S. Eastern seaboard. But the day after he arrives, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA—a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife, RUTH, and his personal assistant (and mistress), AMELIA. As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA—and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Was Lang in the service of the American intelligence agency while he was prime minister? And was The Ghost’s predecessor murdered because of the appalling truth he uncovered?
Resonating with topical themes, this atmospheric and suspenseful political thriller is a story of deceit and betrayal on every level— sexual, political and literary. In a world in which nothing, and no one, is as it seems, The Ghost quickly discovers that the past can be deadly—and that history is decided by whoever stays alive to write it.
'Daybreakers' Review: Worse Than Bad, It's Boring
Set in a world overrun with vampires, “Daybreakers” isn’t all that different from the world we live in now. Between the “Twilight” franchise, the phenomenal success of television series “True Blood” and not to mention the upcoming big budget “Dark Shadows” movie by Tim Burton it seems we can't seem to escape blood sucking creatures either.
Written and directed by Peter and Michael Spierig, "Daybreakers" shows the aftermath of a viral outbreak that has caused almost everyone on earth to turn into a vampire.
In this world, when you go to get your coffee, you get an extra shot of blood, not espresso. But the supply of viable humans is dwindling and an evil corporation, led by Sam Neill, is getting desperate. They put it to their chief vampiric hematologist, Ethan Hawke, to find a blood substitute, because if a vampire, who normally looks human (except for fangs and eerie glowing eyes), runs out of blood, they are transformed into huge, bat-like monsters.
Soon enough, after a number of plot contrivances we can hardly remember, Hawke is drafted into the underground human resistance, led by Willem Dafoe’s Elvis, once a vampire and now back to being a human. (The process is quite literally a baptism by fire.) The team sets their sights on bringing down Neill’s evil corporation and exposing to the world that you can, indeed, become human again.
While there’s a certain amount of stylish sheen to the world that the Spierig brothers have created (they were also responsible for the reasonably assured no-budget zombie movie “Undead”), a lot of the potential for original storytelling is squandered in favor of splashy horror set pieces that deliver the goods in terms of gore, but in the fundamentals of rip-snorting escapism fun, fall flat. It borrows from a number of genre films, everything from the nihilistic tone of “Blade Runner” to the old-cars-equals-futuristic mechanized look of “Gattaca.” Yes, it’s inherently watchable. But you’ve seen it all before.
The movie doesn’t make a lick of sense, is at times quite draggy, and at a certain point seems to simply abandoned all originality, instead intent on recycling the plot and story beats of the vastly superior Guillermo del Toro vampire romp “Blade 2,” i.e. more level headed vampires versus monstrous vampires. There are a couple of cool moments towards the end, including a huge melee that’s slowed down to the point that it seems like some Gothic horror tableau. But besides that, the joys to be had in “Daybreakers” are few and fucking far between.
If you want to go to the cinema, wearing your fake fangs and drinking Tru Blood, you might have fun. But even those genre aficionados with the junkiest of taste will be put off by “Daybreakers;” it’s worse than bad – it’s boring. [C-] - Drew Taylor
Exclusive: Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid & Michael Douglas (& More) Join Steven Soderbergh's 'Knockout'
When the action spy picture "Knockout" was first announced a few months ago, director Steven Soderbergh promised that the lead star, non-actress/ mixed martial arts champion Gina Carano would be surrounded by a name-recognizable cast of supporting talent and he wasn't kidding.
Sources close to the project have confirmed to us that the principal cast members supporting Carano include Michael Fassbender ("Inglourious Basterds," "Hunger"), Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid and Michael Douglas.
However, it looks like the original concept, — a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes — having gone through the gestation/inception stage was eventually rethought and cast aside (both filmmaker and writer felt that it had "been done").
Ultimately, "Knockout" is now more of a revenge action-spy thriller. Essentially it's hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and especially one who kicks serious ass. Double crossed by someone on her own team, Mallory Kane (Carano)— a black ops super soldier — seeks to uncover who has set her up to take the fall for a job that goes bad and involves a murder.
The male actors are all part of Carano's special forces team. Douglas plays a government figure not unlike Chris Cooper or Brian Cox from the 'Bourne' movies. Fassbender and one other actor who has yet to sign-on officially (we've been asked not to say who because it's not 100% confirmed, but the actor is male and a fairly big name; though it's possible scheduling conflicts may prevent him from participating) play members of her commando spy unit, and one of these two plays the central antagonist that betrays Carano's character (this is still being kept under wraps for now). McGregor's role is that of the owner/guy who runs a Blackwater private military company-type group that the female fighting champion is a part of (and apparently many of the males take a beating at the hands of Carano).
And as noted, Carano's Kane character is no longer a girl from the "wrong side of the tracks," she now has a solid background and was raised around military honor and academia. She leaves the military to go to work for a Blackwater-esque company to make better money and then is eventually betrayed by one of her teammates.
Both Douglas and Quaid have worked with Soderbergh before in his Academy Award-winning 2000 film, "Traffic" and Douglas is set to star in the filmmaker's "Liberace" film if that happens according to plan this summer. Fassbender is the quickly rising, in-demand actor that everyone wants to work with (Tarantino, et. al) and the director is certainly one of those people — Fassbender's role was written with the actor in mind.
And Soderbergh has been circling McGregor for some time now. The "Trainspotting" actor was originally pegged to have a role in the 'Ocean's' films, but his commitments to Lucas' "Star Wars" prequels unfortunately precluded his participation.
"Knockout" — it's still officially a working title, but now we're told that people are warming up to the name and that it might eventually stick — was written by Lem Dobbs, the screenwriter behind Soderbergh's "Kafka" and "The Limey" also well-known for his contentious (and hilariously candid) DVD-commentary arguments with the director ("The Limey" commentary is like two friends with the gloves off and an amusing must-listen).
The director has previously said the film will take elements from "La Femme Nikita," the 'Bourne' films, the Bond film "From Russia With Love" and John Boorman's 1967 crime film "Point Blank," starring Lee Marvin (which is known as the slightly arty, thinking man's, tough guy picture). But he's also noted that the action will be distinctly different than the Greengrass vibe evinced in his 'Bourne' films. As reported last year, David Holmes, the composer behind Soderbergh's "Oceans 11-13" series, not to mention the brisk and funky "Out Of Sight" film, will be writing the score.
Soderbergh's deal for "Knockout" through Relativity Media and Lionsgate is a typically unique one for the adventurous filmmaker. He will be paid no upfront fee for directing the film, but eventually will retain full ownership of the film once its released. It's a bold and unprecedented move. Having just finished up his media-saturation play "Tot Mom" in Australia, Soderbergh is now in New Mexico doing scouting for his February production start date expected to shoot there, Ireland and Turkey among other possible locations.
Carano has been training in L.A. for two months and test fight footage has already been shot (she's already accidentally knocked out one stunt coordinator in practice sessions... no, really). Lionsgate is eyeing an August release. Producers on the project include Relativity Media's Ryan Kavanaugh, Soderbergh's longtime cohort Gregory Jacobs, and Tucker Tooley as an executive producer.
And while THR doesn't link to us, we're not above linking those that expand on things no matter what and they have a few more additional details on the characters.
Too Gay Or Too Little Money? 'A Single Man' Actor Thinks Weinsteins Aren't Really Pushing Movie For Oscar
God, we kinda hate to say it because they've had an extremely difficult year, but man The Weinstein Company have really fucked things up this year, or at least they did for Tom Ford's remarkable directorial debut, "A Single Man," a film that topped the Venice Film Festival awards, was one of our favorite films at TIFF and seemed like sure-fire Oscar-bait (it's moving, gorgeous and has tremendous performances by Colin Firth and the rest of the cast).
But as we all know TWC has been in dire financial straits this year which has meant films that didn't have enough Oscar buzz were marginalized with small releases (John Hillcoat's "The Road" which really got the shaft — it was supposed to go wide, but has never been on more than 311 screens in total).
"A Single Man" is essentially about a gay man in mourning devastated by the loss of his longtime partner who suddenly dies in a car accident. Sure, it's gay, but so was "Brokeback Mountain" and look how far that went at Oscar time (and of course, the safer, much-more-banal pic of "Crash" won the Oscar Best picture even though 'Brokeback' won the PGA award).
When posters and trailers hit early this year, many noticed a distinct gay-bias, meaning TWC was trying to essentially hide all the gay elements of the film and sell it more as a straightforward drama about a man dealing with loss. We didn't fret too much because, well, we figured it was early and "A Single Man" was so strong it wouldn't matter come its December release.
Well, awards season is basically over outside the final Oscar nominees and "A Single Man" has generally been ignored outside Colin Firth's stellar performance (and we never cared for him much before, but he blew us away) and Julianne Moore's excellent supporting turn. Vulture recently spoke to "A Single Man" actor Matthew Goode and even he thinks the Weinsteins haven't been doing much to push or promote this film (that again, feels like true and traditional Oscar-bait).
"Nominations wise, I think Colin will get one, and I think that Julianne will for Best Supporting. And I suspect that the screenplay will for Best Adapted. And the cinematography is amazing, and the editing." As for Best Picture, though? "I think it stands alone, but it doesn't seem to be getting a push from the Weinsteins too much."When the posters first came out many remarked that it was weird that Julianne Moore was on it and Matthew Goode was not. He agrees. "That was always a bit weird, isn't it? That's obviously a kind of push towards, 'America won't come and see this if they don't want to see a gay movie.' We shot the film during Prop 8, with all that was going down in California — big irony. It's disappointing. But, hey, if you recruit money and you're gonna make money out of it, far be it from me to get in the way. I'm sure they've done their figures and they know they're going to make X, Y, Z more if they do that. I think it's a bit wicked, but I don't have millions of dollars pumped into it, so I think that's what you have to do."
In all fairness though, Goode's character (not a spoiler don't worry) dies pretty much immediately and is not as big a character in the film as Moore. Sure, his lack of presence means everything to the story and his flashback sequences are powerful, but Moore certainly has much more screentime than he does.
Anyhow, we lament it all, but aren't totally surprised either. TWC has been cash-strapped all year and it's likely that they have much less against the gays and only so much cash to spend for Oscarbaition (though with "Nine" tanking at the box-office and critically, you'd think they'd have some put-aside awards cash for Tom Ford's excellent debut).
Tarantino, Reitman, Bigelow Score DGA Nominations; Is This Your Real Oscar 5 Best Pic Frontrunners? Essentially, Yes
Well, the DGA nods are in and they are pretty much what we were expecting. Jason Reitman, who is quickly solidifying himself as a director with a feel for the pulse of contemporary, middle class America, earns a nod for "Up In The Air". Kathryn Bigelow who is enjoying a renewed career thanks to the excellent "The Hurt Locker" (which is still criminally underseen) earns a nod. Bigelow's ex, James Cameron, gets approval from his colleagues for his technologically ambitious and groundbreaking "Avatar." It's no shocker to find Quentin Tarantino in the group of nominees for his critically acclaimed and fanboy approved, "Inglourious Basterds." The other slot goes to Lee Daniels for his hamfisted direction of "Precious," a film that rests entirely on the shoulders of its capable cast who barely rescued the film from the depths of exploitative ghetto drama porn.
So how do the DGA winners match up come Oscar time? Surprisingly close. The DGA Award for Feature Film has been a near perfect barometer for the Best Director Oscar. Only six times in DGA's history has the winner not gone on to grab a gold statue. Those are some pretty good odds.
Here is the full list of nominees and their teams. It's kind of funny to note that of all the directors, Daniels had the biggest crew of first, second and assistant directors. You would think he directed a three hour, CGI heavy film. But we digress:
"The Hurt Locker"
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Unit Production Manager: Tony Mark
First Assistant Director: David Ticotin
First Assistant Director (Canadian Unit): Lee Cleary
"Avatar"
Director: James Cameron
Unit Production Manager: Colin Wilson
First Assistant Director: Josh McLaglen
Second Assistant Director/Additional Unit First Assistant Director: Maria Battle Campbell
"Precious: Based On The Novel 'Push' By Sapphire"
Director: Lee Daniels
Unit Production Manager: Tony Hernandez
First Assistant Director: Chip Signore
Second Assistant Director: Tracey Hinds
Second Second Assistant Director: Michael "Boogie" Pinckney
Additional Unit Production Manager: Patrick D. Gibbons
Additional First Assistant Director: Tom Fatone
Additional Second Assistant Directors: Kim Thompson, Mirashyam Blakeslee
Location Manager: Gregory Routt
"Up In The Air"
Director: Jason Reitman
Unit Production Manager: Michael Beugg
First Assistant Director: Jason Blumenfeld
Second Assistant Director: Sonia Bhalla
Assistant Unit Production Manager: Samson Mucke
Second Second Assistant Director: Joseph Payton
Additional Second Assistant Director: Heather L. Hogan
"Inglourious Basterds"
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Unit Production Manager: Gregor Wilson
Unit Production Manager (Germany): Michael Scheel
First Assistant Director: Carlos Fidel
Second Assistant Director: Miguel Angelo Pate
Second Second Assistant Directors: Jill Moriarty, Tanja Däberitz
First Look: Dennis Quaid As Bill Clinton In 'The Special Relationship'
Here is your first look at Dennis Quaid doing a good job resembling former president Bill Clinton in the Peter Morgan scribed, Richard Loncraine helmed HBO film, "The Special Relationship."
Firstly, no, the title is not a reference to the Monica Lewinsky affair but rather the relationship between Clinton and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, played for the third time by Michael Sheen. The film will span Blair's years between when he first rose to power and was elected to his first election as P.M. with the inclusion of Clinton's infamous affair and the subsequent global media circus that ensued.
Production on 'Special Relationship' has been plagued by talent reshuffling with first Morgan leaving the director's chair -- he was originally slated to make his directorial debut -- followed by the exit of Julianne Moore whose was slated to play Hilary Clinton. Replacing Moore though is Hope Davis whose own resemblance to the former first lady when in make-up justifies Moore's exit. Helen McCroy will also be reprising her role in "The Deal" and 'The Queen" as Cherie Blair.
The film is due to release sometime this year.
More 2010: The Potentially Decent Escapist Entertainment Films (Or Potentially Interesting Indie Ones) Of 2010
It should be no surprise to you by now what type of film we generally cherish (non-pandering intelligent cinema), which ones we typically loathe (lowest common denominator chum meant to plop popcorn munchers in seats) and which ones we treat with suspicion until otherwise verified as something being other than slightly above reproach. And this is mostly that latter category. Contradictory notions aside, we do like to be entertained and if that escapist thrill can come in a smart, engaging package ("District Nine" is probably 2009's best example with "Star Trek" and "Inglourious Basterds" not far behind), we're all for it [ok, the ed. was not a huge of 'Basterds,' so what]. But often we're on the fence, not entirely sure, but willing to give a film a chance. As we said during our Least Anticipated Films of 2009 feature. We were mostly dead-on in our presumptions about the pictures we thought would be worthless (we went about 38 out of 40 pictures correct).
Basically, we're not quite ready to endorse these films wholeheartedly in the off-chance (or mild to strong) chance in case they suck. Don't get it twisted, we're excited about many of them, but we do have some minor reservations about some.
For instance, "Iron Man 2," will hopefully be just as sharp and entertaining as the original, but yes, we have often have some concerns. But here's to hoping they're all fantastic, compelling and smarter than they look. Sometimes we're being too generous by including there here (see the inclusion of "Terminator: Salvation" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" in 2009), and sometimes we're nicely surprised (see "500 Days Of Summer" and "Leaves of Grass"), but even last year's picks turned out to be mostly clunkers, so don't say we're being haters for being cautiously skeptical and or optimistic. But as always, we'll be pleased as punch if all these films are great and totally entertaining.
Muse Asked To Write Soundtrack For 'Clash Of The Titans'; Reshoots Happening This Month
With its March 26, 2010 release date just over two months way, "Clash Of The Titans" still seems to have a lot of pieces to get in place.
Firstly, the madness of our best-of-decade coverage and the holiday season in general, we didn't report that back in late December, word leaked out that "Clash Of The Titans" was going to undergo reshoots this month. According to Sam Worthington, "We're going to be going back and shooting more scenes for it, they cut loose with some money so we can add to it. We're going to be shooting more scenes in January, so we're going to be right up against it -- the movie comes out in March. There were some creaky parts but they are the parts that we knew were creaky and that we knew were going to be creaky going into it."
Um, ok. Worthington goes on to spin the reshoots by saying its because Warner Brothers loves what Louis Leterrier has done and what to make the film the best it can be and says that more "gods and scenes" will be added. There are also rumors swirling that the film may get a last minute 3D treatment. So is the studio actually happy with what they've seen, or are they so worried that they hope if people wear 3D glasses, they won't realize how awful it is? Guess we'll have to wait and see.
As for the soundtrack, it appears that no one is quite lined up yet. Operatic UK arena rockers Muse have revealed that have been asked to write the soundtrack to the film, but have not yet made a decision. Um, guys? The clock is ticking on this one. The band will have a few weeks of downtime between tours in February in which they could theoretically crank out something. While their stylized soaring rock has been put to good use in trailers (most recently, "Watchmen") this would be their first soundtrack gig. However, fans of the band take note, frontman Matt Bellamy says that any potential score they may do for the film would be "totally different to Muse."
Roman Polanski Asks To Be Sentenced In Absentia
The saga of Roman Polanski's legal troubles continue as a hearing will take place on January 22nd, to consider the director's request to be sentenced in absentia.
The request came via a notarized document signed by the director and submitted by his LA based lawyer, Chad Hummel. Naturally, prosecutors are completely opposed to the idea, continuing their position that Polanski should come to the United States instead of continuing to the fight the case "from the comfort of his Swiss chalet in the Alps."
Judge Peter Espinoza is also considering whether or not to hold hearings on alleged judicial misconduct by the prosecution. Back in December an appellate court denied the dismissal of the case on these grounds, but did say the allegations were "extremely serious" and should be investigated. Espinoza won't confirm whether or not he'll go down that road, and says he will wait to see what the decision from the Swiss authorities are in regards to extraditing the director. Perhaps a little naively, Espinoza goes on to Polanski could save a lot of people some time by simply saying, "I'll come back." Yeah, right.
Warner Brothers To Remake Chan-Wook Park's 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance'
Update: Just as we posted this story, our pals over at Pajiba have broken the news that the already-announced "Thirst" remake, the director's award winning vampire horror film, has been acquired by Vertigo Entertainment and will be produced by Sonny Mallhi ("The Strangers," "The Lake House"). In case no one told Mallhi, the vampire trend is pretty much out of gas, but we guess there's no reason to try and milk some cash out of the genre while trampling on a perfectly good film in the process right?
Hollywood is ready to take another stab at bringing one of Chan-Wook Park's "vengeance trilogy" films to American audiences (who seem to be too lazy to read subtitles).
Even though "Oldboy"'s disturbing thematic material managed to scare away the likes of Steven Spielberg and Will Smith (thank God), Warner Brothers is ready to take a shot with the first (and weakest) film in the series, "Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance." We first reported on this possibility way back in August, and unfortunately, the speculation has become reality. And yes, unfortunately douchebag "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers Revenge Of the Fallen" producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is still taking the reigns on this one.
Though not nearly as heavy as "Oldboy," the story is still pretty grim stuff as it follows a deaf-mute factory worker who desperately tries to raise money to buy a replacement kidney for his sister who needs a transplant. When he gets ripped off by organ dealers the film truly goes to some deep, dark places that we won't spoil here, but yeah, it's not a happy ending at all and there is a pretty decent body count.
We're not sure why Hollywood is again going down this path. Unless they do some drastic rewrites (which isn't out of the question) this is not mainstream stuff. It's grim, dark, violent and tragic material that kind of knocks the wind out of you. In other words, it's not going to be something people are going form lineups to go and see unless of course a hack like di Bonaventura santizies the shit out of it and then it's just really not worth doing (kinda like Speilberg/Smith doing "Oldboy" — what would be the point? They could never make it as raw).
But whatever, maybe they'll stay true to the source material and really deliver a great version of the film. And maybe Fran Drescher will win an Oscar.
'Thor' & 'Pirates 4' Put A Release Date Squeeze On The Delayed 'Spiderman 4'
Things are getting worse for "Spiderman 4." With a highly publicized delay on the film due to script problems, Paramount and Disney have wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation.
Both studios made critical moves to their 2011 tentpoles that may force Sony to change their intended May 6, 2011 release date for "Spiderman 4" (thought, at this point, its looking like a strong possibility they are going to have to do that anyway). Paramount announced that Kenneth Branaugh's "Thor" will be released on May 6, 2011 while over at Disney, they've penciled in May 20, 2011 for "Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" (though last we heard, that film is also waiting on a script).
So where does that leave Spidey? They can effectively count May 6th out as they won't want to go toe-to-toe with another superhero flick, and opening a week before "On Stranger Tides" will effectively kill their second weekend box office. Given that the film is already delayed, we can see Sony easily pushing the film into June or July and even taking a gamble with August which in past years has largely been a dumping ground akin to January or February. That will give them a bit more room, and if the competition is weeak, allow them two or possible three strong weekends at the box office. But before they worry about that, they need to a get script in order.
Sorry Mr. Skin, Natalie Portman Won't Show Her Boobs In 'Black Swan'
While excitement for Darren Aronofsky's forthcoming, supernatural ballet thriller "Black Swan" is running high, there is certain contingent (you know who they are) who are drooling at the rumored sex scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.
Well, sorry sweaty palmed fappers, in an interview with UK Elle, Portman says, "I'm definitely not a prude about sex or nudity, I just don't want do something that will end up as a screen grab on a porn site so meanwhile I'm doing halfsies - I'm like, 'I'll show my butt but not my boobs'." Portman is probably all to familiar with screengrabs, as scenes from "Closer" (in which she's a stripper who, like Jessica Alba in "Sin City," never manages to take off her clothes) and Wes Anderson's short, "Hotel Chevalier" (where she wore her birthday suit while keeping the naughty bits were hidden) still made their way onto skeezy hot bod sites who are aching for anything Portman.
Portman goes on to say that she aspires to a career like that of Meryl Streep. "You look at Meryl Streep, who is so phenomenally, freakishly gorgeous, and in some ways it's just bizarre that she was never a sex symbol. But it was always about her - and now it doesn't matter that she's getting older, because we just want to continue watching her be an interesting person. Whereas you see actresses who marketed themselves on their bodies, and they might be good, but over time they just lose it because that sort of thing doesn't last."
For the record, yes we (well, at least this writer at The Playlist) thinks Portman is gorgeous, but we admire her stand particularly in an industry that is already difficult for women, and often favors youth and beauty over experience and talent.
Pete Wentz And Mark Hoppus Team For 'Alice In Wonderland' Soundtrack
Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Mark Hoppus from Blink 182, have teamed up for a musical collaboration that will end up featuring on the soundtrack for Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland."
"We did a song for 'Alice in Wonderland,'" Wentz explains. "[We] might do a few more depending on when [Mark] goes in with Blink. [It] sounds nothing like Blink or Fall Out Boy. Mark understands songwriting on a completely different level. It's awesome to have a chance to sit in a room with him and watch him work out a melody."
Pop-punkers All Time Low were previously also revealed as contributors of original music to the film's soundtrack. But with Danny Elfman on board as the film's scorer, does this mean these songs will only feature on some sort of complementing 'Inspired By' soundtrack? God, we hope so.
Meanwhile, a new image of Johnny Depp's potential children's-dream-haunting Mad Hatter has also debuted. Of the look, Depp explained that the hatter "was poisoned -- very, very poisoned. And I think it just took affect in all his nerves. It was coming out through his hair and through his fingernails, through his eyes.” The poison Depp refers to is that of the mercury kind which was used in the manufacture of felt, often leading to the actual poisoning of hatters in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The film hits theaters March 5th.
Nick Cave's "The Death Of Bunny Munro" Audiobook Features New Score By Him And Warren Ellis!?
Self-professed audiobook fan Nick Cave describes his own audiobook for 'Bunny Munro' as "an extraordinary and psychedelic experience" that includes, among other things, "sounds effects that sound like their physically touching you" and a brand new score by Cave and Warren Ellis. If that wasn't enough, Cave adds that the score was sent to the U.S. for spatialization -- a process he describes as making it sound "like a hallucination or something."
The novel itself, which is being adapted into a mini-series for UK TV by John Hillcoat, centers on a sexually incontinent (his words, not ours) hand-cream salesman who works the south coast of England trying to sleep with as many women as he can and look after his nine year old boy. If you think that synopsis is weird, try listening to Cave read parts of it at the source -- you'll instantly realize why Hillcoat probably didn't even bother with trying for a Hollywood feature film. [Wired via EyesWiredOpen]
1/06/2010
Saoirse Ronan To Reunite With Joe Wright In Teenage Assassin Story, 'Hanna'
Young starlet Saoirse Ronan is set to reunite with her "Atonement" director Joe Wright in Focus Features' teenage-assassin story, "Hanna," according to HeatVision. Wright was in negotiations to helm a few weeks ago and now he's officially onboard. It's a bit of a no brainer, but we called Ronan's participation from minute one.
In what will be quite the departure for both she and Wright who are respectively better known for their fragile teenage roles and English period dramas, "Hanna" centers on a "badass" 14-year-old girl who uses the survival skills taught to her from her ex-U.S. military/CIA father to survive a Swedish wilderness, and battle U.S. intelligence agencies while she treks across Europe to be reunited with her dad.
The girl in the story is essentially a savante. She's never watched TV, she's never had sweets in her life. Bred to be a cold, killing machine since birth, she is utterly mesmerized when confronted with things as mundane as a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon on TV.
We just finished reading the script and while there's little backstory or set-up — in many ways it's kind of empty — it's still a very fun, fast read and a total page turner and there's something to be said for that. It also feels like it was written for Ronan specifically. You can't help but read the story and picture her the entire way. With stunts and cameras you can obviously fake anything, but Ronan nevertheless will likely have to train for several months if she does indeed sign on for this role. Her character is bulked up, strong, lightning fast and ruthlessly and clinically kicks a lot of ass (in a way it slightly reminds us of Soderbergh's 'Knockout,' at least in it's original inception, only with a younger girl). Whatever the case may be, Ronan is perfect for the role.
"Hanna" is very 'La Femme Nikita' with a teenager, but in no way is it dumbing things down for a female teen audience. The script is very 'Bourne' and very matter of fact. We're hoping for another draft to give it a bit more heart (and perhaps coherent story) but we may have already gotten that. The draft we read is only attributed to Seth Lochhead (a relatively newer writer with only one additional IMDB credit) but THR says that David Farr also worked on it (who isn't even on IMDB, but the script was on the 2009 Blacklist as a favorite).
Hopefully new drafts will help to work out the major motivations, which are generally unclear, either being too subtle or just not fleshed out enough. However, we'd be lying if we didn't admit to becoming engrossed in the fast pace, with or without clear motives, (some people, like Scriptshadow, hated the script (careful, myriad spoilers) and we think their criticisms are not without value; but they also are hard-core script readers and put a different premium on things. For instance, the CIA/special intelligence forces are after Ronna's character and her father, but it's never made abundantly clear why. We have our theories (they're not rocket science by any means), but divulging them is to essentially spoil the film so we won't bother. Dunno, for whatever reason, we have a lot of faith in the project. It was the easiest screenplay reading experience we've had in a while and let us tell you, it can be a slog some times, so that was at least appreciated. We're not surprised that the script reportedly drew interest from the likes of Alfonso Cuaron and Danny Boyle who also probably though that, with a little fleshing out, you could really have something.
We're also intrigued by the idea of someone like Joe Wright tackling this kind of project. Sure, it could be akin to Sam Mendes taking on "Bond 23" (which some have lamented somewhat understandably), but it is also a) not a franchise and b) an original work, so yes, maybe Wright is taking on something more commercial (especially considering his "Indian Summer" drama got shut down before it even had a chance to start), but it's an interesting step for him we're willing to see. Plus, we assume a director like him— who's never been about empty action — sees something in the material and is willing to make people put in the work to give it a brain and an emotional pulse.
In another atypical move, Focus Features is producing and presumably they'll give it the right care as well. Shooting is slated to begin later this year in Europe (it takes place in the mountains of Sweden, through Turkish villages and other places across Europa) with further casting announcements due — two key parts are the central female antagonist, an agent named Marisa chasing down Hanna and another operative called simply, "The American" who is on her team, but seemingly angling with his own agenda that is ultimately at odds with hers. We put it in our Most Anticipated Films of 2010 feature, but in a wishful thinking section. It'll surely hit in 2011.
First Look: 'Your Highness' & 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' Official Press Shots
Nice, we've seen glimpses here and there of photos from Edgar Wright's highly anticipated "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World," but they've either been tiny, or set photos taken from Wright's blog.
Kudos to Rope of Silicon who seem to be the first to have scored official Universal press photos from this film, as well as David Gordon Green's upcoming medieval stoner comedy, "Your Highness" starring Danny McBride, Zooey Deschanel, James Franco and Natalie Portman (both films were high up on our 75 Most Anticipated Films of 201o list).
'Scott Pilgrim' obviously has a cadre of young actors involved including. Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill and Brandon Routh. And at the top of this fight sequence image, where Cera's Scott Pilgrim character appears to be brandishing a fiery light saber of some kind, you can see a glimpse of Jason Schwartzman's Gideon Graves uber-hipster villain character starring down from on high in a white blazer (with Winstead's Ramona Flowers character nearby).
ROS also seems to have the first official still of the SNL film "MacGruber," a bone of contention film here that some think will be trash and others think will be dumb fun. SNL films don't have a great track record so we err on the side of caution, at least for now.
You're likely familiar with both films at this point, but just to recap, 'Scott Pilgrim' is about a Canadian slacker who must defeat seven ex-boyfriends in battle to win the heart of a girl he loves (very much a video-game like trope with the master baddie at the end of each level). 'Pilgrim' should hit in August if its U.K. release date is any indication.
"Your Highness" is set in medieval times and follows an arrogant, lazy prince (McBride) and his more heroic brother (Franco) on a quest to save their father's kingdom. 'Highness' is set for an October 1 release date.
UPDATE: Movieweb has a few more peeks at Universal's 2010 slate, including "Despicable Me" and "Little Fockers" as well as what appears to be a new installment of "Nanny McPhee." (For the kids.)
James Franco Takes The Lead In Danny Boyle's '127 Hours', Filming Starts In March
Well, here's a surprise. At least casting wise.
Production Weekly has tweeted that James Franco has taken the lead role in Danny Boyle's "127 Hours," and the film is scheduled to start filming in March in Utah.
The project had been in development most of the fall, and was earmarked as Fox Searchlight's Oscar contender for the 2011 ceremonies, but had Ryan Gosling rumored to be attached as the lead for a long time. The trades actually specified that Boyle was actively seeking Gosling and Cillian Murphy was also rumored at one point (but those later reports came from the British press and were very dubious to begin with). We guess they went in another direction, but Franco is certainly not a bad choice and his willingness to challenge himself in the last few years has been heartening.
Boyle's ambitious project is based on the true story about mountain climber Aron Ralston who was trapped on a hiking trip by a boulder and was forced to amputate the bottom half of his own arm in order to survive. It was not an easy decision to make. Ralston spent five days trapped by the boulder, fighting dehydration and starvation, before making his decision, and then he walked several miles before being found and rescued by helicopters.
This much more harrowing stuff than the crowd-pleasing "Slumdog Millionaire" and we're kind of glad Boyle is challenging himself with the sort of material he's never done before. But if Boyle has proven anything over his career, is that he can shift from genre to genre with amazing ease, and remarkable ability. As we previously reported, Boyle wants the first half of the film to be nearly silent and dialogue free and we hope he gets to have his way. And don't expect any Tom-Hanks-talking-to-a-volleyball tricks. Just a guy, on a mountain, slowly dying. Wow. We hope the studio stands aside and he gets to have his way but regardless, this is definitely a film we're looking forward to.
As for Franco, 2010 is shaping up to be a busy year for the actor with the his other reality-based drama, "Howl"premiering at Sundance (and probably making further festival rounds) and "Your Highness," David Gordon Green's medieval stoner comedy, hitting theaters in the fall.
'Inglourious Basterds,' 'A Single Man' & 'The Road' Ineligible For WGA Awards
It's kind of not really a big deal (but we feel compelled to write about since the story is making its way around the web) but today it was revealed that "Inglourious Basterds" (written by Quentin Tarantino), "A Single Man" (written by Tom Ford & David Scearce) and "The Road" (written by Joe Penhall) are ineligible in the WGA awards race, leaving the field a bit more wide open when the nominations are announced on Monday.
The reasoning behind the decision is actually quite simple: none of these guys are members of the WGA. Apparently, you can still be nominated for a WGA award even if you're not a member but the film has to be made according to the protocols in the guild's Minimum Basic Agreement (which is 461 pages long). The Weinsteins were already aware of this fact and didn't even bother sending screeners to members of the guild. Oddly enough, they didn't send screeners for "Nine" which is eligible though probably not likely to get any screenwriting nods from WGA or anyone else.
While recognition from the industry is nice, no one outside of it really cares and it doesn't effect box office dollars in any real way, which for the struggling Weinstein Company, is of primary importance these days. Fanboys can rest easy knowing that Tarantino (and the others) are still eligible for Oscar, and more likely for the cash-strapped Weinsteins, they're saving their marketing and for-your-consideration dollars for that instead.
The 65 Least Anticipated Films Of 2010
Say what you will about our Least Anticipated Film pieces of the year. Too negative? Or just a very practical, buyer-beware consumer guide? See for yourself from our picks last year. In our minds we went 38 for 40, i.e. correctly spotting 38 films out of 40 (at least) that turned out to be insulting duds (not that lameduck studio films are generally hard to spot; "Star Trek" and " Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" were the two pleasant surprises in our list of 2009). Also note, we attempted to leave pandering kids films out of this list as they're not meant for us (an adult audience) and including them here is just kind of unfair and unnecessary (and note: 2010 films we've already seen at film festivals will not be included here, but in a separate feature down the road).
As always, we somehow hope these films are good, at least semi, non-intelligence-insulting pieces of escapist cinema, but somehow we don't really think that will be the case. At the end of the day, if you think we're too cynical or nuts, hey, have at it, but just remember it's your money you're spending. Not ours. You've been warned and again, don't say we didn't tell you so... If these are somehow your favorite films of the year, you can really only blame yourself...
This is Getting Ridiculous: Two Different Versions of 'Wolf Man' Being Edited With Release Date Still A Month Away
Visualize our excitement for Universal’s jazzed-up remake of “The Wolf Man” as a beautiful Greek statue. Now watch as every new development starts to chip it away, piece by disappointing piece. Studio hack craftsman Joe Johnston replaces risky music video auteur Mark Romanek in the director’s chair — lop a leg off. Danny Elfman’s atmospheric score replaced by the guy that did the music for the “Death Race” remake – there goes an arm... etc.
Now, with a month left until the movie’s release, our excitement more or less resembles a dusty pile of rubble. And the hits just keep coming.
To make matters worse, we now hear — from a source close to the project —that Donna Langely, Universal’s production president, is holed up with a different editor. (Remember when Universal hired the great editor/sound designer Walter Murch ("Apocalypse Now") and Mark Goldblatt to try and salvage this disaster? It’s part of the reason Elfman left — because the movie was still an amorphous blob and he had other shit to do.) Elsewhere, the film’s director, Johnston, is cutting his own version of the movie, even though he’s supposedly waist-deep in pre-production work for Marvel's “Captain America.”
Generally in these scenarios, the studio will test both versions with audiences to see which one “plays” better. A similar situation arose in the notoriously thorny post-production of Andrew Dominik’s wonderful “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” (After the studio’s version tested just as poorly as Dominik’s they conceded and the director’s version remained.) The difference between “Jesse James” and “Wolf Man” however, is the amount of time involved. While both had an outrageously lengthy post period, "Wolf Man"'s new behind-the-scenes shenanigans are happening within weeks of the film’s supposed release (February 12), which means that they don’t exactly have the luxury of time on their side to test-run different cuts.
What’s more is that the expensive “Wolf Man” is holding up Universal from making any more big decisions, re: big budget projects. We’re sure that all the additional Universal Horror remakes in the pipeline (including the “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” which recently landed Carl Erik Rinsch as its director) are in a perilous place too.
So how will “The Wolf Man” turn out? Well, it’s now almost certainly going to be a huge fucking mess, the result of a creatively compromised project that has had far too many cooks in the kitchen all the way through. Which version will they ultimately choose? Which one will be "better"? At this point that's probably a trick question. — Drew Taylor
Update: By now you've probably seen this story denied the world round; this is an expensive movie and Universal is a big machine and has a lot invested in it. They'll do what they can, even give interviews to other outlets to debunk. But we stand by this story. In fact our source tells us the situation has really been "worse" and we could get into it, but the kool-aid drinking geek community (who love this shit and who studios puppet around to do their bidding) have already cause enough ruckus. Proof will be in the pudding when this incoherent beast finally hits theaters.
'Youth in Revolt:' Stylistically Arresting & Funny, But Way Too Baggy
“Youth in Revolt,” the twee-as-fuck new Miguel Arteta film adapted by the Gen-X novel by C.D. Payne, has a bouncy, freewheeling energy that’s easy to get lost in, at least for a little while. Then you start to wonder how a 90-minute comedy can feel draggy.
Michael Cera, who has never met a nervous, virginal teenage intellectual role he didn’t like, plays Nick, a nervous, virginal teenage intellectual. He sits in his room, playing cards with his nerdy best friend, occasionally stepping out to rent foreign movies from the local video store (where he’s bullied by classmates for his selections). He’s looking for something, anything, really, to jazz up his boring-ass life with his hussy mother (Jean Smart) and her trucker boyfriend, played by Zach Galifianakis in a role so short you’ve seen virtually his entire performance in the trailers. After Zach sells some marines a junky car, he takes the family and flees – to a fleabag trailer park. It’s there that Nick meets Sheeni (newcomer Portia Doubleday) and his life snaps into focus. She is his everything. She loves the same pretentious bullshit he does, and she’s also quite cute. Nick decides he will do anything to keep her away from her on-again-off-again boyfriend Trent (Jonathan Wright).
Knowing that the only way to keep the girl is to up the ante, dangerously, Nick creates a “supplemental persona” in the form of Francois Dillinger, who looks and sounds just like Michael Cera except that he’s got a moustache (less butch than gay) and loves to “blow shit up.” Soon the pair of them, in a kind of bizarre “Fight Club” buddy scenario, cause all sorts of mischief and soon Nick finds himself being hounded by various law enforcement officials for crimes he committed in the name of love.
In the beginning, you’re pleasantly along for the ride. There’s a title sequence, once the family heads off for the trailer park that is absolutely stunning. It’s a stop-motion sequence (a throwback the days when every comedy had an animated title sequence), scored to Fun Boy Three & Bananarama’s “It Ain’t What You Do It’s the Way That You Do It” and it immediately plugs you into this world, which has a sardonic edge but is still sunshine-y. Almost all the characters talk in the snappy, quips of a Wes Anderson movie, and the whole thing has the Andersonian sheen of a slightly displaced landscape – a world where the 1970’s hung around a little too long.
But just as soon as you’re enveloped in the world, you’re taken out of it. After Nick leaves the trailer park, back to his life in Oakland, California, the movie becomes a series of vignettes, more or less. You can understand this working in a novel, but in a movie it seriously slows things down and by the time you reach the final act, the movie has become hopelessly baggy, feeling excruciatingly long for a movie that clocks in at a svelte 90 minutes. Especially since it’s punctuated with some wonderful soundtrack moments, too.
This is a shame, because the movie is at times quite charming and funny (sometimes in spite of itself). Miguel Arteta, who directed the dark comedies “Chuck & Buck” and “The Good Girl” with a kind of muddy matter-of-fact-ness, goes out on a limb stylistically. There are moments that are just unbelievably gorgeous, like a slow-motion scene of Nick in the shower, where the water glitters like at the beginning of “Antichrist.” Just to see a comedy that isn’t flat and over lit is something to appreciate. Also, Arteta’s handling of the scenes with two Michael Ceras really works, combining the right amount of old-school split-screen-y stuff with more visually sophisticated moments.
Additionally, this thing has an all-star supporting cast, each one of them relishing their small amount of screen time. People like M. Emmett Walsh, Steve Buscemi, Fred Willard, Ray Liotta, Justin Long, and the adorable Ari Graynor, show up and do their bit parts marvelously. Long in particular stole the show at our screening as Sheen’s drug addled brother.
But ultimately all the charm and smarts and sophisticated, stylish moments aren’t enough to lift it above the plodding rhythm the movie falls into. Even Michael Cera, as both the dopey hero and his edgy alter ego, can’t summon for the energy to keep it above a low-wattage buzz. “Youth in Revolt,” for all its arty rudeness, is in sore need of a revolution. [B] - Drew Taylor
Darren Aronofsky Officially Off 'RoboCop'? Project Is Evidently On-Hold Either Way
This was already feeling pretty likely in our guts but in what is the strongest indication yet of a Darren Aronofsky departure, Phoenix Pictures have revealed that their "RoboCop" reimagining is now officially on hold over creative differences with the director.
“I've spoken with Phoenix Pictures [and] asked them about the status of "RoboCop," a writer from Robocop Archive reports [via Moviehole]. "They told me that the project is on hold. The problem is that Mary Parent, Chairperson of MGM, wants a 3D movie for the new 'RoboCop.' But, as you know, Darren Aronofsky is a real artist and he's not interested in gimmicks like 3D, CGI, filming digital. He wants to do everything as real (organic) as possible just like 'The Fountain.' "
While the sources aren't exactly the trades, Aronofsky has already spoken out against 3-D and coupled with MGM's well-known financial problems and the success of "Avatar," it all seems very, very reasonable. Furthermore, Aronofsky was probably already off the project when he reunited with Fox Searchlight for "Black Swan." — last official word from the director on "RoboCop" came June last year when he wrote to AICN stating he was "still on it" but a month later THR later reported in "Black Swan" announcements that the studio was already putting out "feelers for others directors."
More obvious evidence to the off-"RoboCop"-for-good posit, is that Aronofsky has since signed onto to do an untitled indie-heist-thriller based on the $92.5 million dollar robbery of an English depot in 2006. He presumably still has his ambitious biblical epic about "Noah's Ark" in mind at some point (though that sounds too ambitious for these days) and is filming "Black Swan" which is due to hit theaters later in the year.
Aronofsky's take on "RoboCop" sounds exactly like his take on "The Dark Knight" was: way too gritty and realistic for studio that wants to go broad and big. "My pitch was always very realistic, he told Contact Music in 2007. "I wasn't interested in fantasy, I was interested in the psychology of a real man dressing in a disguise to pay out real vengeance. "The Batmobile was a souped-up Lincoln Continental with a bus engine. It was technical and rusty and extremely violent. They would have never let us have violence."
Yup, seems like once again, he's on a different page with studio heads and really, thank god for that.
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