With just one week to go until the 2013 Sundance Film Festival kicks off next Thursday, images are trickling in of the many films to debut. Beginning next week, M.L. will begin publishing short interviews with this year’s Competition and NEXT section filmmakers. But to whet that Sundance whistle, here is a poster debut for Halley , directed by Sebastian Hofmann. [ Related: Sundance Film Festival Unveils Star-Studded Premieres & Documentary Premieres Lineup ] Screening in the festival’s New Frontiers section, insiders noted it plays more like a genre pic, from the producer of Post Tenebras Lux . The film centers on Alberto who is decomposing and can no longer hide it, so he decides to withdraw from the world. Before yielding to his living death, Alberto forms an unusual friendship with Silvia, the manager of the gym where he works as a guard. Sebastian Hofmann’s Director’s statement follows (with Poster Below): Halley is an essay on the anguish experienced when the illusion of control over our bodies disappears. It is a contemporary gothic story that casts a compassionate look at the life of a zombie; a helpless witness to the decomposition of his own body. Alberto’s condition offers a reflection of our mortality and the solitude of decay. Halley seeks to reassert the temporality of our bodies in a culture engaged in its collective denial. By means of fictional infomercials, and the gym culture Alberto lives in, the film will explore how we conceal the frailty of our condition as living beings underneath a pathological idealization of beauty. We will see human beings running, though never escaping, the more disquieting facts of their existence. Halley is the name of the famous comet which orbits the sun every 75 years; the only short-period comet plainly visible from Earth. Records of its existence can be found in Ancient Greek and Chinese writings. Halley has been an enduring witness of our cyclical history. The time that spans each of its visits is the average length of a human life.
Awesome; Danny Boyle is back with his first new film since 2010, and what it lacks in James Franco amputations, his latest, Trance more than makes up for in James McAvoy, and a reunion with writer John Hodge for the first time since 2000’s The Beach . Trance stars James McAvoy as Simon, an art dealer who plots with, then betrays a criminal gang over the theft of a Goya masterpiece. The leader of the gang (Vincent Cassel) bashes Simon in the head over the betrayal, an injury which Simon then claims as the cause of amnesia which has the convenient side effect of erasing the memory of where he hid the pilfered art. (Note to self: practice amnesia for my spectacular bank robbery plan.) The question of whether or not Simon is lying looms large, and the mobster then hires a hypnotherapist ( Rosario Dawson ) to draw the damaged memories out, which apparently leads to a confusing blend of reality and dream, plus, we assume, plenty of angry Europeans and punching. Basically, it’s Dreamscape meets Memento . Danny Boyle is inarguably great, but it’s been a while since I’ve felt anything beyond basic admiration for his films. Yay to him for returning to thrillers, and Scottish actors, after so many years.
If you weren’t one of the scores of moviegoers who contributed to Skyfall’ s $90 million box office take this past weekend and you’re still in spoiler-avoidance mode, then you should stop reading right here. If you did see the movie over the weekend, then you’re probably still thinking about the surprises that Skyfall holds for James Bond fans. Key among them is the reveal in the movie’s final scenes that Naomie Harris , who opens the movie by accidentally shooting Daniel Craig ‘s Bond, is the franchise’s sexy new Ms. Moneypenny. In an interview with Movieline , Harris talks about becoming the first black woman to join James Bond’s MI6 support team (Colin Salmon played Chief of Staff Charles Robinson in Tomorrow Never Dies , The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day ) and how, after playing a zombie-killing bad-ass in 28 Days Later and a secret agent in Skyfall , she’s well-equipped for the apocalypse. Movieline: When you took the role of Eve in Skyfall, were you aware that you were going to be revealed as Moneypenny and what that would entail? You are clearly going to be in other Bond movies as a result of this. Harris: Let’s see, who knows! But yes, when I took the role, I was told about the role fully. And that was part of the reason that it really excited me. I knew that my character was going on this amazing journey — and in a really modern way, which is fantastic. You are the first black woman to be cast as a member of the MI6 support team and, let’s presume, in a recurring role in the franchise. Have you thought much about the cultural significance of that? I was brought up in Britain, and I’m very proud of my Britishness and my culture. And Bond is a big part of that. So, I’m very aware of the significance of this role and being in a Bond movie. I don’t take it lightly at all. Barbara and Sam and Michael auditioned actors of all different ethnicities around the world, and there was no sense of, we just want a black person for this role. I love that kind of open casting. It’s really brilliant and speaks so highly of them. It’s fundamentally who they are. They’re so progressive. They were looking for the best person for the role. [Smiles] Exactly. Related Story: ‘Skyfall’ Producers On 007’s Post-9/11 Progressive Streak & Idris Elba Rumors: Could Bond Be Black, Gay, Or A Woman? Bérénice Marlohe told me that she found the concept of being a Bond girl very abstract. Is it different for you because James Bond is so firmly rooted in your culture? I don’t have a problem with the label. I don’t necessarily think it’s relevant anymore, but I don’t have a problem with it. If that’s what people want to refer to me as, then I’m more than happy. [Being a Bond girl] means glamor, sexiness, classiness and having an enigmatic quality. It means all good things really. But I do think they’re the building blocks for more. So, I would hate to be just that. That’s the starting point, basically. You’ve got to have so much more. You’ve also got to be extremely fit. I was surprised by all of the physical training you had to undergo for the role. Were you aware of this going in or did it surprise you? Sam did say to me, “It’s an action role, but you’ve done action stuff before. You’re used to that.” And in the audition, I was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll do anything. I can ride. I can shoot.” So I kind of agreed to it, and then I didn’t realize how intense it was going to be. It was two months, five days a week, two hours a day working with a personal trainer who did running and circuit training and yoga. Then it was three days a week on the gun range: machine guns, Walther PPK’s, sniper rifes. Then it was two days a week doing stunt driving. And once a week with the stunt guys doing combat training as well. So, for a girl who does not exercise, that was a big physical change. And I have to say it was really tough in the beginning, but by the end of it, I got used to it. I loved it, actually. Do you own a gun? No! I certainly do not own a gun, although I went through my bag the other day and discovered that I had a dummy gun in there that we used while we were filming. Good thing you didn’t go to the airport with that. I know! I definitely would have gotten arrested. Between 28 Days Later and Skyfall , you are clearly prepared for the apocalypse. I am. I’m the woman to be with if there’s any crisis going down. What are you doing next in between your Bond films? I finished Bond and then two days later, I flew to South Africa to play Winnie Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom . I finished that a month ago. So, I’m going to do this tour for Skyfall , which is over a month long, and then I’m having a break. It’s a year of non-stop work. Have you talked to Danny Boyle about doing any more work with him? I haven’t, but I would always work with Danny because he’s an amazing director. I really credit him with giving me the career that I have. He’s the guy who — when I had just left drama school — took a risk on me and cast me in 28 Days Later , which changed my life and my career. And then 10 years later, he was the guy who cast me in Frankenstein on the Olivier stage when I hadn’t done theater for 10 years. And that’s how I got Bond, which has brought my career to a whole new level. So I would always work with Danny. Have you ever thought about directing? No. I think that if I was going to do anything it would be writing. That’s what my Mum does. [Editor’s Note; Harris’ mother is sitcom writer Lisselle Kayla.] That’s what I grew up around. But at the moment, I have no real interest in that. I always imagine myself retiring and writing somewhere in the countryside. Let’s see. Read more on Skyfall and celebrate Bond’s 50th anniversary with all things 007. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
The course of equal opportunity raunchy comedy never did run smooth. Like Bridesmaids , Bachelorette is a foray into proving that ladies are capable of wielding gross-out humor just as ably as the gentlemen, with the obvious comparison piece being Todd Phillips’ The Hangover . Written and directed by first-timer Leslye Headland (who previously worked as a writer on Terriers ) and produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, Bachelorette sends its trio of dysfunctional bridesmaids into all kinds of night-before-the-wedding misbehavior, including cocaine use, falling-down drunkenness, physical altercations, promiscuity, theft and general nastiness. But then, as if afraid that all of this misdeeds will drive the audience away, the film tries to add a last minute portion of heart, explaining away the actions of its three main characters as the result of damage and pairing them all up with guys to get them through to an at least temporary happy ending. Sometimes funny, sometimes shrill and wildly uneven, Bachelorette demonstrates film and television’s continuing struggle to provide a platform for funny women in the realms of R-rated comedy and the tug-of-war between the desire to push boundaries and fears about likability, about female characters still needing to be warm and pretty and matched up with someone romantically. Interestingly enough, the plot is based around the nuptials of a side character who doesn’t fit in any typical category — Becky (Australian actress Rebel Wilson) was the chubby sidekick of the “B-Faces” in high school, the one the other three held in mild, veiled contempt. Now happy, settled and about to marry a good-looking, stable guy, Becky’s unknowingly twisting the knife by asking her shocked friends (not one of whom is doing as well as she’d like in her early 30s) to be in her wedding party. Bachelorette feels at the start like it’s a version of Muriel’s Wedding that sides with the main characters mean frenemies instead of its unlikely heroine. Becky isn’t a major source of mockery, but she’s blissfully oblivious to how queen bee Regan (Kirsten Dunst), trampy Gene (Lizzy Caplan) and ditzy Katie (Isla Fisher) actually feel about the event in which they’ve promised to participate. The tightly wound Regan has a boyfriend in med school who won’t commit and a volunteer job she likes to talk about in which she reads to kids with cancer. Gene downs whatever drugs she can find and regularly wakes up in bed with strangers, while Katie can barely hold down her job in retail. The three seemed a little stunned that life has not delivered on the promise and popularity they showed in high school, and that happiness has eluded them while finding the one in their group they’ve deemed least worthy. Bachelorette seems uncertain as to what we’re supposed to think of Regan, Gene and Katie. The way they act in the outset, with Regan calling the other two to bitch about how she was obviously the one who was supposed to get married first, Gene monologuing about her blowjob technique to taunt a stranger on the plane and Katie failing to recognize Joe (Kyle Bornheimer), the guy who used to let her copy his homework (“I took French?” she exclaims in shock when he tells her) marks them as fairly awful. But the film seems exhilarated by their disastrousness, eager to shoo Becky out of the room after Gene makes a failed joke about the bride’s eating disorder and Katie orders a stripper who calls her by her old nickname of “Pig Face,” so that the three can get down to some serious drug use and then tear her wedding dress trying to fit two people inside it. These are inarguably mean girls, to the point where it’s difficult to invest their attempts to try to fix the gown in an all-night odyssey that takes them around the city and into an intersecting path with the groomsmen (led by a smarmy James Marsden as Trevor). But the film’s need to then turn around and soften them feels disappointingly like an excuse — see, they also hate themselves and think about suicide and are mournful over past abortions! These developments don’t humanize the characters, they apologize for them. Gene’s storyline in particular, in which she reunites with the high school boyfriend (Adam Scott, Caplan’s old “Party Down” romantic interest) who broke her heart, feels lurching and abrupt considering the depth of emotion it suddenly reaches for, a pity considering how smart and appealing the two actors are, both together and apart. There’s something to admire in Bachelorette ‘s initial flag-planting outrageousness, even if it goes too far and then sheepishly pulls back to a more conventional conclusion. Its contentment with acting out as a joke unto itself means it’s not often as funny as it needs to be, though it sets up and lands a few vicious punchlines — Regan’s triumphantly saving the day late in the film with her bulimia-perfected vomit-inducing technique is a dark joke indeed. But the film would be far more provocative if it let go of the need to always try to shock with content and tried to do so with form instead, and rather than solving its characters just let them be unabashedly imperfect. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
James Franco may be Hollywood’s most accomplished, out there polyglot , but one former professor isn’t too happy with how the Oscar nominee has spoken publicly of his time as a film student at NYU. José Angel Santana, who was fired in 2011, filed a lawsuit against the actor for calling him “awful” and a “bad teacher” while doing the press rounds for The Broken Tower . “Whoever was in Clint Eastwood’s chair at the Republican National Convention was more present than Mr. Franco was in my classes,” Santana told the NY Post . Oh snap did he just make a Clint RNC chair joke?? I mean, Franco only missed 12 out of 14 classes. Did that really warrant a “D” grade? (Eh, it probably deserved an “F.” Then again I’m no college professor. OH, BUT GUESS WHO IS ? ) Franco supposedly skipped out on Santana’s classes to go give an Academy Award-nominated performance in 127 Hours for Danny Boyle, so I guess that worked out pretty well for him. Stay tuned to see how this one pans out… [ NY Post ]
Well . Orchestrating a luminous, fiery 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony celebration that somehow managed to combine film, music, live theater, dance, the Beatles, a giant baby, flying men on freaking jetpacks, Mr. Bean, James Bond AND The Queen, Danny Boyle set the world abuzz with his tribute to British culture. While Olympics-watchers process the epic Brit-centric extravaganza, we’ve got good looks at 9 beautifully bizarre moments from the Opening Ceremony. Dive right in to Movieline’s Olympics gallery and revel in the Boyletastic theatrics. Your move, Brazil ’16. Maybe I missed the memo and someone out there can explain why so many of the random UK cultural icons in Boyle’s uber-British, at times verging on Gaga-esque mad dance party are words that begin with the letter B? B eatles, B ond, B owie, (Mr.) B ean, that terrifying b aby, the b ubble people, B eckham … on a b oat! 1. James Bond and The Queen Her form is impeccable. 2. David Beckham “He’s on a boat (I’m on a boat)…” etc., etc. 3. David Bowie A nice segue into the “Starman” segment, and perhaps a visual approximation of what Danny Boyle was thinking at this very moment . 4. Mr. Bean Instagram waits for no man. 5. That Giant Baby Homage to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for sick children, or preview of tonight’s nightmare visions? 6. Winged Bicyclists Great new Olympic sport idea, or best new Olympic sport idea? 7. He Who Shall Not Be Named If he wasn’t terrifying before, kids… 8. Flying Mary Poppinses! Shout out to Bert, over in the corner sweeping the world’s largest chimney tidying up after the molten Industrial Revolution rings. 9. FREAKING. JET. PACKS. DANNY BOYLE’S GREAT BRITAIN IS THE FUTURE. Click here for the full 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony Gallery. [Photos: Getty Images] Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Nowadays the Olympic Games ‘ opening ceremony is masterminded by a big time movie director. Beijing 2008 commenced with the vision of Zhang Yimou ( Ju Dou , Raise the Red Lantern , House of Flying Daggers ) and in London this year the reins — excuse me, the rings — have been handed to Danny Boyle , with a British history theme. But what if the Games themselves took inspiration from Boyle’s filmography — like, say Trainspotting , 28 Days Later , and 127 Hours ? According to the BBC , Boyle’s opener will be a reproduction of the British countryside representing British history with over 10,000 voulunteers and even more costumes and props. It will open with a reading of a passage from Shakespeare’s Tempest and will also include maypoles, a 23 ton bell and a moshpit. (Really!) Color me intrigued enough to actually watch primetime network television for the first time since I got Hulu+ on my iPad. It’s also got me wondering what would happen if the IOC just handed EVERYTHING over to Danny Boyle. Were that the case, perhaps he’d let elements from his filmography influence not just the pomp and circumstance, but the games themselves. Picture this: – Traditional Olympic fanfare is replaced with Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life” – Leonardo DiCaprio, hopped up on party drugs, is unleashed to wander through the “Beach Rave” segment of the Opening Ceremony – Rock climbing has very much been scratched as an Olympic event – To boost times in track events, all runners will be chased by rage virus-infected undead ghouls – The longjump to be made extra poignant by taking place in the cold vacuum of space to the music of John Murphy and Underworld – Living arrangements at the Olympic Village to involve a lot of mocking interviews by other roommates – Athletes will win their gold medals by exploiting a number of coincidentally corresponding life lessons. Poignant flashbacks to play along on jumbotron. Got any Boyle-isms to add? Follow Jordan Hoffman on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
In Friday afternoon’s round up of news, AMPAS picked a whole slew of new people to join their ranks of Oscar voters (many who were surprisingly not already members). Also there’s highlights of this weekend’s new specialty roll outs. Danny Boyle reaches out to PETA about the Olympics, Cee Lo Green boards Keira Knightley production and Lucky heads to the U.S. Academy Taps 176 to Join Ranks The folks behind the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have named 176 artists and executives to join their ranks. They will be among the eligible people who will vote come Oscar time. The membership to the organization has held steady at under 6,000 since 2003. Among the 176 are Jessica Chastain, Jean Dujardin ( The Artist ), Jonah Hill, Diego Luna ( Y Tu Mama Tambien ), Terrence Malick ( The Tree of Life ), Melissa McCarthy, Matthew McConaughey, Sam Rockwell, Andy Serkis, Octavia Spencer, Nia Vardalos ( My Big Fat Greek Wedding ), Lili Taylor, Kerry Washington, Wong Kar Wai ( In the Mood for Love ) and Michelle Yeoh. The Undershepherd Wins American Black Film Festival The 16th annual event opened with Beasts of the Southern Wild and closed with Raising Izzie . Among the festival’s winners: The Undershepherd , which won Best Narrative Feature and Best Director for Russ Parr. Best Screenplay went to The Last Fall , written and directed by Matthew Cherry, while Keisha Taylor’s Soul Food Junkies took Best Documentary. For more winners and festival highlights, visit their website . Around the ‘net… New This Weekend: Beasts of the Southern Wild , Take This Waltz , Last Ride , Unforgivable A long time in the making, Beasts Of The Southern Wild made a splash at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, taking the top prize and winning one of the top prizes in Cannes, and it’s hitting theaters this week. Australian feature The Last Ride traveled the festival circuit and it picked up a high-profile ally here. Take This Waltz is naturally getting attention courtesy of its star Michelle Williams and director Sarah Polley, while Venice-set Unforgivable is also hoping to ride the media wave to solid box office numbers this weekend, Deadline reports . Danny Boyle Assures PETA Over Olympics Opener 12 horses, three cows, nine geese, two goats and 70 sheep are among the participants at the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics. Danny Boyle has reached out to alleviate concerns about the welfare of animals who will feature in his $42.4M show by promising to remove them from the stadium early and ensure they do not face a grisly end afterwards “Genuine care will be taken of the animals,” he said. The Guardian reports . Cee Lo Green Boards Can a Song Save Your Life? He joins Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Stanfied and Catherine Keener in which he’ll play a very successful hip hop star. The film centers on a couple that moves to New York to pursue music. After Levine’s character dumps Knightley’s character, she encounters a down-on-his-luck record producer (Ruffalo) who assembles a ragtag music team to appear on a record with her, including Green’s character Troublegum, Reuters reports . Film Movements Gets Lucky North American rights to South African drama Lucky are going to distributor Film Movement. The story revolves around an orphaned 10 year-old boy named Lucky who makes a promise to make something of himself and heads to the big city., Variety reports .
American Psycho writer Bret Easton Ellis made clear via Twitter who he’d pick as potential leads in Fifty Shades of Grey , the best-selling erotic drama by E. L. James that he claims he’s hoping to adapt for the big screen. If it ever comes to pass, Ryan Gosling and Girls creator/actress Lena Dunham are clear favorites — or so he insists. What would rumored potential director Angelina Jolie say? Reporting on Ellis’ Tweets — which should be taken with a sizable grain of salt, obviously — Orange UK noted that the Less Than Zero author speculated that Scarlett Johansson or Kristen Stewart would be the likely victors to play the novel’s Ana opposite a theoretical Gosling as Christian Grey. “I would love it if we lived in a world where [ Girls actress] Lena Dunham could be Ana in Fifty Shades of Grey but I don’t think we do,” Ellis wrote. “Hope E.L. James doesn’t think I’m being a prankster. I really want to adapt her novels for the screen. Christian Grey is a writer’s dream…” The novel’s Christian Grey is a wealthy man tormented by demons and a need for control who begins a BDSM affair with college grad, Ana. Ellis has additional thoughts on a director too, should the Jolie thing not work out — or is just an elaborate rumor — or both: “I think David Cronenberg is a great idea for directing Fifty Shades of Grey and we worked together on American Psycho in its initial phase.” He gave a shout out to his supporters and a nudge to the powers that, well.. “BEE”: “Thanks to everyone supporting BEE adapting Fifty Shades of Grey : the response has been huge and amazing. Hope E.L. James feels the same way.” [ @breteastonellis via Orange UK ]
The film: Shallow Grave (1994) Why It’s an Inessential Essential: Today, Danny Boyle is commonly known as “the director of Slumdog Millionaire .” (Or: Olympian designer !) After that, he’s usually “the director of Trainspotting ,” or 127 Hours or even Millions . So it’s nice to see that the Criterion Collection’s first DVD/Blu-Ray release of a Boyle film is Shallow Grave , an early film by Boyle but an especially worthy one. Scripted by regular collaborator John Hodge ( Trainspotting , A Life Less Ordinary ), Shallow Grave is a nasty little neo-noir about three apathetic yuppies that cover up a crime involving a dead body and a bag full of cash. Juliet (Kerry Fox), Alex ( Ewan McGregor in his second film role), and David ( Doctor Who ‘s Christopher Eccleston) are a trio of casually petty young things that are equally bored, cruel and self-absorbed. They tentatively sublet the fourth bedroom in their Edinburgh flat to a stranger, who promptly dies and leaves a suitcase full of money beside his corpse. A decision is hastily made: they’ll keep the money and dispose of the body. The consequences of that decision naturally haunt and subsequently push the film’s group of sociopathic friends over the edge. How the DVD/Blu Ray Makes the Case for the Film: During his audio commentary soundtrack, Boyle behaves exactly how you’d think he would based on his films. He’s a reactive filmmaker, one that prioritizes sensationalism over moralism. That totally suits a film like Shallow Grave , a movie that Boyle, according to film critic Philip Kemp’s liner notes, originally conceived of as being similar to Blood Simple . During the director’s commentary (there’s also a separate commentary track that features Hodge in conversation with producer Andrew Macdonald), Boyle professes to have great reverence for British social realists like Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. But he also talks about how the film’s bright, lurid color palette, which he characterizes as “swathes of color,” were his way of getting away from “British realism,” which he said had “become very standard” at the time. Shallow Grave is about the perils of being young, British, materialistic and without a moral compass. But like Trainspotting , Boyle’s follow-up feature and breakthrough film, Shallow Grave , is a young filmmaker’s way of trying to, “just smash it up a bit, if we could.” Left to his own devices, Boyle tellingly only mentions the film’s political subtext infrequently and mostly in passing. He’s much more interested in talking about trick shots, effect-driven photography and the sense of visual “perspective” he achieved by making his antiheroes’ apartment, the film’s central location, built with an elevated foundation. Boyle did this for the same reason he had his cast lug around a crash test dummy when they simulated carrying a body down a flight of stairs. Boyle knew even then that to properly push buttons, he had to achieve a hyper-real effect. And he did: Boyle jokes that the dummy made his three lead actors mad at him, but that that an air of tension on-set is, “always a good thing.” Other trivia: Boyle is a great talker and goes on a number of funny tangents during his audio commentary, like when he warns anyone unfamiliar with The Wicker Man , which is playing in the background in one scene in Shallow Grave , not to watch the remake. His anecdote about gauging the success of Shallow Grave on the attendance of a single matinee screening in Hamilton, Scotland is especially funny. Boyle says that his contacts at Polygram Filmed Entertainment, the film’s distribution company, informed him that four people showed up to Hamilton’s first screening, but that that was a very good sign. “If there’s one person there,” Boyle recalled, “it’s going to be ok. If there’s nobody there, they don’t know. It’s bizarre, it’s all statistics, of course.” Previously: Inessential Essentials: Revisiting Joe Eszterhas’s Telling Lies in America Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice , Time Out New York , Vulture and Esquire . Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .
