Here’s a glimpse of Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut, and, is it me, or does Reeves look a little sweaty in the final shot? It’s just one of the off-putting moments in this Man of Tai Chi trailer . The bare bones of a plot are revealed via Reeves odd voiceover: to take a “pure-hearted, good natured man of Tai Chi and turn him into a killer,” he says, before adopting the cadence (but thankfully not those long-drawn-out ‘r’ sounds) of Ben Kingsley’s The Mandarin and concluding. “Let. The Games…Begin.” Dra. Ma. Tic! Meanwhile, the footage, which comes via Twitch , is almost entirely of martial-arts fighting — not surprising since Reeves told MTV that there are 18 fights in the movie totaling 40 minutes. He also said that he plays the , including a few scenes of Reeves, who has said he plays the movie’s villain, channeling Neo from The Matrix . Alas, the rest of the movie does not appear to aspire to that sci-fi classic’s standards. As for that sweaty look, maybe Reeves was feeling the pressure of directing his first picture. [ MTV , Twitch ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
You may have read Rebecca Martinson’s batshit letter to her Delta Gamma sorority sisters at the University of Maryland, but you haven’t experienced the full mind-blowing vitriol of this remarkable document until General Zod performs it for you. This exclusive Funny or Die clip of Man of Steel star Michael Shannon , who plays Superman’s Kryptonian rival , has just surpassed “Bat Fight” to become my favorite FOD video thanks to Shannon’s impeccable comic timing and delivery. If you aren’t familiar with Martinson’s work, check out the back story on Gawker or The Frisky . You can also read the letter in its entirety below before checking out the video, but do check out the video, if only to hear the actor say, “News flash, you stupid fucking cocks!” Shannon gives us a performance that’s a mix of his acidic portrayal of sardonic music-business legend Kim Fowley in The Runaways and the “I WILL FIND HIM!” rage of Zod in the Man of Steel trailer. Are you not entertained? Michael Shannon’s Greek Freak-Out Here’s the Martinson email in its entirety: If you just opened this like I told you to, tie yourself down to whatever chair you’re sitting in, because this email is going to be a rough fucking ride. For those of you that have your heads stuck under rocks, which apparently is the majority of this chapter, we have been FUCKING UP in terms of night time events and general social interactions with Sigma Nu. I’ve been getting texts on texts about people LITERALLY being so fucking AWKWARD and so fucking BORING. If you’re reading this right now and saying to yourself “But oh em gee Julia, I’ve been having so much fun with my sisters this week!”, then punch yourself in the face right now so that I don’t have to fucking find you on campus to do it myself. I do not give a flying fuck, and Sigma Nu does not give a flying fuck, about how much you fucking love to talk to your sisters. You have 361 days out of the fucking year to talk to sisters, and this week is NOT, I fucking repeat NOT ONE OF THEM. This week is about fostering relationships in the greek community, and that’s not fucking possible if you’re going to stand around and talk to each other and not our matchup. Newsflash you stupid cocks: FRATS DON’T LIKE BORING SORORITIES. Oh wait, DOUBLE FUCKING NEWSFLASH: SIGMA NU IS NOT GOING TO WANT TO HANG OUT WITH US IF WE FUCKING SUCK, which by the way in case you’re an idiot and need it spelled out for you, WE FUCKING SUCK SO FAR. This also applies to you little shits that have talked openly about post gaming at a different frat IN FRONT OF SIGMA NU BROTHERS. Are you people fucking retarded? That’s not a rhetorical question, I LITERALLY want you to email me back telling me if you’re mentally slow so I can make sure you don’t go to anymore night time events. If Sigma Nu openly said “Yeah we’re gonna invite Zeta over”, would you be happy? WOULD YOU? No you wouldn’t, so WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO IT TO THEM?? IN FRONT OF THEM?!! First of all, you SHOULDN’T be post gaming at other frats, I don’t give a FUCK if your boyfriend is in it, if your brother is in it, or if your entire family is in that frat. YOU DON’T GO. YOU. DON’T. GO. And you ESPECIALLY do fucking NOT convince other girls to leave with you. “But Julia!”, you say in a whiny little bitch voice to your computer screen as you read this email, “I’ve been cheering on our teams at all the sports, doesn’t that count for something?” NO YOU STUPID FUCKING ASS HATS, IT FUCKING DOESN’T. DO YOU WANNA KNOW FUCKING WHY?!! IT DOESN’T COUNT BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN FUCKING UP AT SOBER FUCKING EVENTS TOO. I’ve not only gotten texts about people being fucking WEIRD at sports (for example, being stupid shits and saying stuff like “durr what’s kickball?” is not fucking funny), but I’ve gotten texts about people actually cheering for the opposing team. The opposing. Fucking. Team. ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!! I don’t give a SHIT about sportsmanship, YOU CHEER FOR OUR GODDAMN TEAM AND NOT THE OTHER ONE, HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN TO A SPORTS GAME? ARE YOU FUCKING BLIND? Or are you just so fucking dense about what it means to make people like you that you think being a good little supporter of the greek community is going to make our matchup happy? Well it’s time someone told you, NO ONE FUCKING LIKES THAT, ESPECIALLY OUR FUCKING MATCHUP. I will fucking cunt punt the next person I hear about doing something like that, and I don’t give a fuck if you SOR me, I WILL FUCKING ASSAULT YOU. “Ohhh Julia, I’m now crying because your email has made me oh so so sad”. Well good. If this email applies to you in any way, meaning if you are a little asswipe that stands in the corners at night or if you’re a weird shit that does weird shit during the day, this following message is for you: DO NOT GO TO TONIGHT’S EVENT. I’m not fucking kidding. Don’t go. Seriously, if you have done ANYTHING I’ve mentioned in this email and have some rare disease where you’re unable to NOT do these things, then you are HORRIBLE, I repeat, HORRIBLE PR FOR THIS CHAPTER. I would rather have 40 girls that are fun, talk to boys, and not fucking awkward than 80 that are fucking faggots. If you are one of the people that have told me “Oh nooo boo hoo I can’t talk to boys I’m too sober”, then I pity you because I don’t know how you got this far in life, and with that in mind don’t fucking show up unless you’re going to stop being a goddamn cock block for our chapter. Seriously. I swear to fucking God if I see anyone being a goddamn boner at tonight’s event, I will tell you to leave even if you’re sober. I’m not even kidding. Try me. And for those of you who are offended at this email, I would apologize but I really don’t give a fuck. Go fuck yourself. [ Funny or Die , Gawker , The Frisky ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
After Midnight , anyone? The Richard Linklater -directed Before Midnight doesn’t premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival until 6 pm. on Monday, but an hour before curtain time the filmmaker hinted that a fourth film in a sequence that began with Before Sunrise in 1995 and Before Sunset in 2004, was not out of the question. Linklater joined the co-stars of the latest installment of his realistic romance, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy , at the Tribeca Talks Directors series , and one of the final questions asked of the director was whether the third film was intended to tie up the romance between the American Jesse (Hawke) and the French Céline (Delpy) 18 years after they met on a train traveling to Vienna. In the third film, Jesse and Celine are not just together they have two daughters in tow as they vacation and bicker in romantic Greece. Watch the trailer and then I’ll get to Linklater’s response: Ode to a Grecian Yearn Linklater answered the festival goer’s question by responding that Before Midnight was about capturing “that moment” in Céline and Jesse’s lives. “It wasn’t a summation. It’s definitely not a final vibe,” he said, before adding his own twist on a spoiler: “They’re both still alive at the end of the movie…There might be another one. Who knows?” But, he concluded that he and his cast didn’t have to think about it for at least another five years or so. This could be good news for fans of the film series, which has a die-hard following thanks to its warts-and-all approach to romance and relationships. If the film is as good as the early buzz indicates, the sequel could be inevitable and not take nine years to come out. Oddly enough, although a nine-year time span separates the first and second and then the second and third movies, Linklater told festival goers that Before Midnight was scheduled to shoot this coming summer but production was moved up when the three collaborators realized that they each had openings in their schedules last summer. The symmetrical nine-year space between the movies “was kind of a coincidence,” Linklater said. WATCH: ‘Before Midnight’ Trailer − Ethan Hawke Calls Julie Delpy The ‘Mayor Of Crazy Town’ Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
I’ve never been a huge fan of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset and Before Sunrise for exactly the reason that so many people adore it: the self-absorbed dialogue and debates about life and love that take place between Jesse ( Ethan Hawke ) and Céline ( Julie Delpy ) are so authentic that I’d much prefer to engage in them myself rather than watch two actors do it for me. (I do self-absorption magnificently, if I do say so myself.) But if you are entertained by two actors bickering about their on-screen relationship, you’d have a hard time doing better than Hawke and Delpy in this trailer for Before Midnight . In the latest installment of their 18-year romance, Céline complains that she’s “stuck with an American teenager” and Jesse calls her the “Mayor of Crazy Town.” And yet, all these years later, they’re still together and have two daughters in tow as they vacation in romantic, seductive Greece. I missed the movie at Sundance — so why do I feel like I know how this story ends? The Mayor of Crazy Town Vs. The American Teenager Check out the trailer here: Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Apparently Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy went ahead and filmed Before Midnight , their sequel to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset , without telling anyone about it. But there’s something about the loose intimacy of Céline and Jesse’s ambling, every now and again relationship that makes the idea of the trio making their next movie in secret so fitting. Hit the jump for the first image of Hawke and Delpy in the Greece-set Before Midnight , which will court buyers this week at Toronto . According to Deadline, filming wrapped yesterday. The trio, who share writing credits again after earning a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Before Sunset , issued the following statement: “It’s great to be back together again, this time in beautiful Greece to revisit the lives of Celine and Jesse nine years after Jesse was about to miss his flight.” [ Deadline ]
Hillary Scott is a married woman. The Lady Antebellum front woman exchanged vows today with Chris Tyrell in upstate New York, tying the knot just before sunset, surrounded by family members and friends. “We got married! We just wanted you to hear it from us first,” Scott gushed to fans in a 19-second video posted on her site, from which we took the photo above. “We love you. We’re so excited to be starting our life together, and we just had to let you in on the excitement.” Tyrell is the lead drummer of country music trio Love and Theft. He met Scott last year during a tour with Tim McGraw and proposed on July 4. We send our very best wishes to the couple!
Happy Monday! Also in today’s edition of The Broadsheet: The latest on the reopened Natalie Wood investigation… Martin Scorsese may have his next project lined up… Joel Coen digs China… and more.
Just in time for the 2011 awards-release homestretch come the first trailer for Rampart , promising star Woody Harrelson as “the most corrupt cop you’ve ever seen on screen.” Which isn’t a review blurb, mind you, or some praise from Toronto, AFI Fest or elsewhere on the circuit where Oren Moverman’s latest has made its first impressions. That’s just a bold claim by distributor Millennium Entertainment — kind of the Pepsi Challenge of Oscar-chasing bad-cop dramas.
The actor and his collaborators Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater could be coming back: “Well, I don’t know what we’re going to do but I know the three of us have been talking a lot in the last six months. All of three of us have been having similar feelings that we’re ready to revisit those characters. There’s nine years between the first two movies and, if we made the film next summer, it would be nine years again so we’re really started thinking that would be a good thing to do. We’re going to try write it this year.” Hmm. Twilight ? [ Allocine via The Playlist ]
