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'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Director Benh Zeitlin On Wandering to New Orleans to Make His 'Die Hard' Art Film
7 hours ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Over a cup of gumbo before the Sundance party for "Beasts of the Southern Wild," a ravenous Benh Zeitlin apologized for eating while we chatted. He had just come from Salt Lake City, where he stayed after a screening of his film to watch a NFL playoff game. "Beasts of the Southern Wild," at that point, was just another film in the Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition lineup. Wait... who am I kidding? At the film's world premiere screening, I felt goosebumps as the credits went up and the crowd burst into applause. A few days later, writing her wrap-up of the festival, Manohla Dargis wrote in the New York Times that "Beasts" was one of the best films to play at the festival in two decades. "Beasts" follows a young girl, Hushpuppy, as she innocently encounters the grown-up world of the isolated impoverished community where she lives with her father. »
- Bryce J. Renninger
Armie Hammer, Taylor Kitsch & Garrett Hedlund In The Mix For Finnick Odair In 'Catching Fire'
29 minutes ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
Well, with Robert Pattinson putting paid to rumors that he was in the race for the role of Finnick Odair in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," let the shortlist stories commence!
The folks over at E! have heard that Armie Hammer, Taylor Kitsch and Garrett Hedlund are "the top three names being bantered about" at the studio as they hope to lock down a casting decision this week. Whether that means formal overturns have been made or if it's all wishlist at this point remains to be seen, but it's an interesting bunch to be sure. Hammer is already a co-lead in next year's "The Lone Ranger" opposite Johnny Depp so joining the second installment of a franchise would be...odd. As for Kitsch, he's already seen two big movies with his name attached run aground -- "John Carter" and "Battlehship." So perhaps chalk this one up to the power »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Michelle Pfeiffer Joins Robert De Niro In Luc Besson's Gangster Pic 'Malativa'
57 minutes ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
One of the few highlights of the otherwise lifeless and disapointing "Dark Shadows" was -- unsurprisingly -- Michelle Pfeiffer as the matriarch of the Collins clan. As usual, she classed up the proceedings and brought a nice, icy tone to an otherwise frothy movie. Better yet, the actress who had a slight dip in her career toward the end of '90s seems to be brewing something of a comeback. And this could be the picture that puts her back on top.
The pairing of Luc Besson and Robert De Niro for the gangster pic "Malativa" has us already sold, but add Michelle Pfeiffer to the mix? That's one potentially explosive movie. The actress has come on board the darkly comic film, based on Tonino Benacquista's book "Badfellas," that will tell the story of a mafia family under witness protection in France, who turn to their old habits when things don't go their way. »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Hello Lonesome
1 hour ago | GreenCine | See recent GreenCine news »
Reviewer: James van Maanen
Ratings (out of five): ****
Loneliness is not the easiest quality to capture on film, at least not without boring us by offering up the usual visual clichés of the figure, alone in a landscape, or within but separated somehow from the world around him/her. Loneliness when you're with other people is a harder thing to pinpoint, and one of the treats of the new film Hello Lonesome is that its writer/ director Adam Reid manages this odd and tricky task very well. »
- weezy
Chinese Superstar Gong Li Joins Tarsem Singh's 'Marco Polo'
1 hour ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
As the historical 13th century voyage of Marco Polo stands as a symbol of the West's relationship to China, it seems fitting that an upcoming feature film about the explorer, long gestating from “The Fall” director Tarsem Singh, will provide opportunities for both cultures to partner up on the project.
Screen Daily reports Chinese actress Gong Li, previously seen State-side in “Miami Vice” and “Memoirs of a Geisha” will star in the pic as a Mongolian empress. Li is of course a superstar in her native lands, but she personally hopes the film, an American/Chinese collaboration between Endgame Entertainment, will promote a more expansive film landscape. “So far the collaboration between China and the Us has mainly involved Chinese actors going to work abroad,” Li said, “so it's a great thing to have a Chinese story shoot in China with both Chinese and foreign actors.” Such joint ventures have »
- Charlie Schmidlin
28th Annual Ida Documentary Awards Call for Entries
1 hour ago | International Documentary Association | See recent International Documentary Association news »
Ida is proud to announce submissions are open for the 28th annual Ida Awards. The Ida Documentary Awards is the foremost event dedicated to the art of documentary film. All winners will be honored at the Ida Documentary Awards Gala in Los Angeles, December 7, 2012. See last year's winners.
Entry is open to any documentary, nonfiction or factual program completed between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012 that qualifies for one of the five main award categories. Projects submitted to prior Ida Awards shows are not eligible. Please contact »
- IDA Editorial Staff
Watch: U.K. Trailer For Gambling Comedy 'Lay The Favorite' Starring Bruce Willis & Rebecca Hall
2 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
Premiering at Sundance in January to rather dismal reviews -- including our own which called it an "empty comedy" -- and acquired by The Weinstein Company which has yet to give the film a release date, who knows when Stephen Frears' star-studded "Lay The Favorite" will land stateside. But over the in U.K., it hits theaters in just a few weeks so why not roll out a trailer?
Featuring Bruce Willis playing a guy named Dink, and the normally awesome Rebecca Hall putting on some kind of baby-voiced American accent that is irritating to no end, this trailer delivers lots of "wacky" but not much in the way of laughs. Co-starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vince Vaughn, Frank Grillo and Joshua Jackson, the film follows the adventures of a stripper turned gambling shark who falls in love with a budding journalist leading to....complications! Lots of twists and turns and »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Sony Classics Dates Michael Haneke's Cannes Winner 'Amour' for December 19
2 hours ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or-winning drama “Amour” will open in theaters in New York and Los Angeles December 19. Distributor Sony Pictures Classics, which acquired the film mid-April before its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, is queuing up a late-year awards run. The December 19 date puts the specialty film in competition with Sony’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” the hunt-for-Osama-bin-Laden picture directed by Kathryn Bigelow. And in the week afterward, more than a half-dozen high-profile films will hit theaters, including Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” Judd Apatow’s “This Is Forty” and Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby.” But true specialty releases are few during that window, which should give “Amour” time and space to pull in older audiences through into the new year. "'Amour' is one of those masterworks that deserves awards »
- Jay A. Fernandez
Moonrise Kingdom Prize Pack Giveaway!
2 hours ago | GreenCine | See recent GreenCine news »
Audiences everywhere are buzzing over Moonrise Kingdom, the new movie directed by two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Wes Anderson.
"Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore – and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in every which way."
"Beguiling and endearing," (Joe Morgenstern), the film is now playing in theaters. Here's your chance to win an awesome prize pack thanks to our friends at Focus Features! »
- weezy
Kevin Feige Says 'Thor 2' Villain Won't Be Thanos & 'Iron Man 3' Will Contain "Biggest Spectacle Yet"
2 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
Normally, the window for open discussion on a film's ending is debatable, with some camps saying 6 months while others go for 5 years, but considering in the time it just took to blink “The Avengers” has made another cool million, we feel pretty confident in exploring its mid-credits teaser. Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige thinks so too, and in a recent interview he chatted about the eternal villain's role in their film universe, as well as his thought on “Iron Man 3” and “Thor 2.”
Speaking to Empire (via Collider), Feige confirmed Thanos, the extraterrestrial Mad Titan grinning at “courting Death” in Whedon's film, will appear as the main baddie in future installments, but will it be anytime soon? “No, future, future,” Feige clarified, “But there will be a major new villain. A major, major new antagonist…” The next films on Marvel's slate are “Iron Man 3” and “Thor 2, »
- Charlie Schmidlin
Michael Haneke's 'Amour' Will Make Your Holiday Season Depressing On December 19th
2 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
Michael Haneke has never exactly been Mr. Happy Fun Time, and while his latest, the Palme d'Or winning "Amour," has been his most widely embraced film to date, make no mistake, it's basically two hours of watching a woman die. So happy holidays, Sony Pictures Classics is bringing it to theaters just in time to crush your spirits.
The arthouse shingle has set a December 19th limited release bow for the film, putting it into Oscar contention, which it surely deserves. Featuring two powerful performances from Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, the pair play an elderly couple whose lives are forever changed when the latter suffers a stroke and begins the slow decline to the end of her life. As said in our review from Cannes, the film is powerful, unflinching stuff with Haneke following the story with his trademark intensity right until the end. However, there is a heart »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Bob Ray’S Amazing Legal Commercial
2 hours ago | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »
A few days ago we received an email from Austin filmmaker Bob Ray, best known for shorts such as Hillbilly Doomsday and the documentaries Hell on Wheels and Total Badass.
His message began as follows:
Last week, the criminal defense lawyer who defends Chad Holt in the documentary Total Badass (Adam Reposa, a.k.a. “Bulletproof,” a.k.a. Repo) asked me to help him make a commercial for his law practice here in Austin. As required by law, we submitted it to the State Bar of Texas for approval.
The legal community in Texas is going crazy with it right now and the vid has been bouncing around D.A. and defense attorney’s offices for the last few days hours. Also, not sure of the repercussions (for Adam, Chad, or, most importantly, for me) if the Bar prohibits the commercial from being used or if we’re breaking any laws… »
- Nick Dawson
First Person | Clint Eastwood Explains Why He Usually Goes for the First or Second Take
2 hours ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
In the new book "Film Craft: Directing," Screen International editor Mike Goodridge (who was just named CEO of Protagonist Pictures) compiled interviews with 16 of the world's biggest directors, including Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth"), Pedro Almodovar ("Talk to Her") and Paul Greengrass ("Bourne Supremacy"), in which they talk about their approach to their craft. "FilmCraft: Directing," published by Focal Press, is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Below is an excerpt from the book: the main text of Goodridge's edited interview with Clint Eastwood, in which Eastwood shares his early experiences gaining perspectives on directing as an actor on "Rawhide" to agreeing to direct "J. Edgar." He explains what makes a good actor and why he usually ends up using the first or second take of a shot. ---------------------- Over the years when I was an actor, I became »
- Clint Eastwood
LCD Soundsystem Movie “Shut Up And Play The Hits” To Have One-day Release
3 hours ago | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »
Oscilloscope Pictures today announced a unique release strategy for Shut Up and Play the Hits, Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern’s documentary on the last days of LCD Soundsystem, which bowed at Sundance earlier this year.
Instead of the usual platform release for a film like this, Shut Up and Play the Hits will open on July 18 at theaters around the United States — and end its theatrical run the same day. In short, this concert movie will, um, play the hits and shut up. (Is this the first time that a film’s title has inspired its release strategy?!)
Oscilloscope already has a long list of theaters with screenings set up, but if there’s no venue near you that’s showing the film you can also request a screening through Eventful. Will you be more likely to see the film if you have just a single day to catch it? »
- Nick Dawson
Jason Bateman, Zac Efron, Goldie Hawn & Leslie Mann Join Adam Shankman's 'This Is Where I Leave You'
3 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
For the most part, Adam Shankman has been known for big screen spectacle, bring to multiplexes the likes of "Bedtime Stories," "Hairspray" and this summer's '80s musical "Rock Of Ages." But the helmer is looking to shift gears a bit, and earlier this year he signed on to direct an adaptation of Jonathan Tropper's best selling novel "This Is Where I Leave You" and never one lacking for an all star cast, Shankman has gathered up yet another strong group of talent to help him tell the tale.
Deadline reports that Jason "Arrested Development Is Happening For Real" Bateman, Zac "Nicole Kidman Peed On Me" Efron, Goldie "Where Ya Been?" Hawn and Leslie "No Funny Comment, You Rule" Mann are all aboard the pic. The story -- adapted for the screen by Tropper himself (he notably penned the "Harvey" remake that Steven Spielberg nearly directed) -- centers on a patriarch who dies, »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Screenplay From Late 'Hangin' With the Homeboys' Filmmaker Joseph B. Vasquez Goes Into Production
3 hours ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Despite having passed away far too young in 1995, promising writer-director Joseph B. Vasquez is getting another film before cameras. The late filmmaker’s screenplay, “The House That Jack Built,” has just begun production in New York under the direction of Henry Barrial, whose “Some Body” played in the Sundance competition in 2001. In 1991, Vasquez's debut film “Hangin’ With the Homeboys” played at the Sundance Film Festival in competition with Richard Linklater’s “Slacker,” Hal Hartley’s “Trust” and Todd Haynes’ grand jury prize-winning “Poison.” Vasquez shared the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award with Hartley and was considered a talent to watch until mental illness derailed his career and AIDS took his life. He only made one more film, the 1995 romance “Manhattan Merengue.” “The House That Jack Built” stars E.J. Bonilla (“Guiding »
- Jay A. Fernandez
Ingmar Bergman's Summer Interlude / Summer With Monika (Criterion)
3 hours ago | GreenCine | See recent GreenCine news »
Reviewer: Philip Tatler IV
Ratings (out of five):
Summer Interlude *** 1/2
Summer with Monika **** 1/2
Watching Ingmar Bergman’s Summer Interlude and Summer With Monika back-to-back has somewhat conflated the two films in my head. The films explore young love during the titular season and both are set in the wind-swept dreamland of Stockholm’s outer archipelago. However, there’s a sharp line that divides the Bergman of Interlude from the Bergman of Monika. Only two years (and one other film – 1952’s Secrets of Women) separate Bergman’s two Summers but it’s clear that that period represented a major shift in the august filmmaker’s sensibilities. »
- weezy
Tom Cruise Action Vehicle 'One Shot' Retitled To Franchise Ready 'Jack Reacher'
3 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
While the debate will continue to swirl about how 5' 7" Tom Cruise will portray the much taller, bulkier Jack Reacher as described in the books by Lee Child remains to be seen, from day one Paramount has viewed "One Shot" as the start of a potential series of films. And now with a swift title change, it makes that a bit easier.
"One Shot" will now be known as "Jack Reacher," the character who leads 16 books by the author. We presume this opens the door to future installments that will take on a "Mission: Impossible" style treatment in the vein of "Jack Reacher: [Insert Book Title Here]." And considering the name is already a brand itself -- the Lee Child books are all stamped A Jack Reacher Novel -- it's actually a smart move. Granted, movies with names for titles don't always fare well (hello "John Carter" and "Simon Birch" among others) but this »
- Kevin Jagernauth
David Cronenberg Talks The Bizarre Love In 'Cosmopolis' Between Paul Giamatti & Robert Pattinson; Discusses The Film's Timely Social Relevance & More
4 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
An adaptation of Don DeLillo’s titular and typically provocative novel, "Cosmopolis," is the first feature-length effort filmmaker David Cronenberg wrote himself since 1999's "eXistenZ." Cronenberg penned the screenplay in six days, and literally transcribed DeLillo's dialogue word for word in many scenes. Featuring an unlikely star in the lead, "Twilight" hearthrob Robert Pattinson, and set in the not-too-distant-future of New York, "Cosmopolis" centers on a 28-year-old billionaire and uncontested Wall Street king, Eric Packer. A financial golden boy living the dream, yet bored with his effortless existence, Parker's day takes a turn for the worse when a dark shadow is cast over the firmament of the Wall Street galaxy. As his empire potentially crumbles, an eruption of wild activity unfolds in the city's streets and Packer's paranoia intensifies during the course of his 24-hour odyssey and leads him to cross paths with a cast of characters that threaten to destroy his world. »
- Edward Davis
5 Breakout Performers & Directors From The 2012 Cannes Film Festival
4 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
One of the greatest things about film festivals, something that can even get you through the worst films, the lack of sleep, and the terrible B.O. of your fellow moviegoers, is the chance to discover new talent. You'll see absolute newcomers blast off into the stratosphere, or relatively well-known faces suddenly show off what they've always been capable of, and it's never less than a thrill.
And this year's Cannes Film Festival was no exception. With the festival now in the rear-view mirror, we've picked out five major talents who broke out at this year's festival, and whom we're certain we'll be hearing more from in the years to come. Check them out below, and if you were in Cannes, feel free to weigh in with your own suggestions too.
Brandon Cronenberg ("Antiviral")
Given that Lena Dunham has been hit with a wave of accusations of nepotism, despite having »
- Oliver Lyttelton
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