J.J. Abrams appears to have cornered the universe. Both The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter are reporting that the filmmaker behind the rebooted Star Trek franchise is close to sealing a deal to direct Disney’s Star Wars Episode 7 , which means he will boldly go to a galaxy far far away very shortly. Abrams office wasn’t commenting on the story when I called, but if the deal is indeed finalized, it will be interesting to see how fan boys for whom Star Wars vs. Star Trek is the equivalent of Beatles vs. Stones, and Paramount, the studio behind, Star Trek Into Darkness , will react to the story. As Indiewire’s Kevin Jagernauth astutely pointed out, “we can’t [imagine] the studio being thrilled that press rounds for Star Trek Into Darkness will essentially become non-stop questions about Star Wars: Episode 7 unless that subject is strictly taken off the table (not that people still won’t try anyway). Moreover, one wonders if we can ever live in a galaxy where nerds will be happy with the same director shephereding both Star Wars and Star Trek . Then again, Abrams has done a very smart job of revitalizing the Star Trek franchise, and making it relevant to a much broader audience than the Trekkie contingent. At the same time, he’s shown respect to die-hard fans by (mostly) respecting the canon. (I was always a Star Wars guy, and he’s got me hooked on this whole who-is-Benedict-Cumberbatch thing.) Star Wars could benefit from a similar update. If Abrams and Bad Robot do take on the Force and the Dark Side, you can be sure there will be plenty of guessing games about the identity of the villains who will be plaguing the Jedi and Droids that populate the newest entry in the Star Wars saga. Reports are that producer Kathleen Kennedy convinced Abrams to take on the daunting job. She must be very good at persuasion. In November, Abrams told HollywoodLife that he wasn’t the right man for the job. “Look, Star Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time,” Abrams said adding: “I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series. I was never a big Star Trek fan growing up, so for me, working on ‘Star Trek’ didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more than anyone to the next iterations of ‘Star Wars,’ but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!” More on Star Wars Episode 7: ‘Star Wars Episode 7’: Is The Force With The Ladies For A Change? [ Indiewire , The Wrap , The Hollywood Reporter ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
When South Korean genre iconoclast Park Chan-wook decided to bring his peculiar gifts to a Stateside production, anything could have happened — and anything pretty much does in Stoker , a splendidly demented gumbo of Hitchcock thriller, American Gothic fairy tale and a contemporary kink all Park’s own. Led by a brilliant Mia Wasikowska as an introverted teenager whose personal and sexual awakening arrives with the unraveling of a macabre family mystery, this exquisitely designed and scored pic will bewilder as many viewers as it bewitches, making ancillary immortality a safer bet than Black Swan -style crossover biz for Fox Searchlight’s marvelously mad March hare. Earmarking future cult items is a fool’s errand, but Park’s film nonetheless stands to be treasured not just by his existing band of devotees, who should recognize enough of the Oldboy and Thirst director’s loopy eroticism and singular mise-en-scene amid the studio gloss, but by epicurean horror buffs, camp aficionados and even a small, hip sect of post- Twilight youths. Not all those auds will follow the stream of wink-wink storytelling references in the brazenly nasty script by Wentworth Miller , the British-born actor best known for his work in TV’s Prison Break , here making his feature writing debut. None is more blatant than the naming of Matthew Goode’s antagonist figure. When morbid-minded honor student India (Wasikowska) loses her beloved father, Richard ( Dermot Mulroney ), in an apparent freak car accident, the ink is barely dry on the death certificate when her globe-trotting uncle Charles (Goode, his unhurried charm and preppy handsomeness put to their best use since 2005’s Match Point ), whom she’s never met before, arrives to stay. Before you can say Shadow of a Doubt , this urbanely handsome “Uncle Charlie” is arousing India’s suspicions (and, it’s implied, other things besides) as he swiftly cements himself in the household by seducing her brittle, emotionally susceptible mother, Evelyn ( Nicole Kidman ). Shortly afterward, their housekeeper disappears without notice; ditto India’s meddlesome aunt (a brief but tangy turn from Jacki Weaver ), who appears to know troubling truths about the intruder, dismissed out of hand by Evelyn. The is-he-or-isn’t-he question is answered sooner than Hitch might have done it, as India’s darkest instincts about Charles are confirmed by the end of the first half – though, unsurprisingly in this particular story world, this knowledge actually causes her to warm to him a little. (And only a little: when he mentions his desire to be friends, her typically pithy reply is, “We don’t need to be friends, we’re family.”) But there’s still plenty of mileage in Miller’s warped family melodrama, as the respective and inevitably linked uncertainties about Richard’s death and Charlie’s long absence are kept aloft, while Charlie’s gradual playing of India and Evelyn against each other adds queasy sexual tension to an already chilly mother-daughter relationship. Auds will either go with this festering hotbed of secrets, lies and severed heads, or tune out early, and even the faithful may debate whether or not Park, who otherwise oversees proceedings with amused precision, overplays his hand in the bizarre, bloody finale. Material this wild demands actors fully committed to the cause, and Park has found them, particularly in his two female leads. Kidman, here extending her commendable record of counterintuitive auteur collaboration, has such form in the area of passive-aggressive ice queens that her work here shouldn’t surprise, but the performance gets more bravely unhinged as it goes along, culminating in a spectacular Mommie Dearest tirade against her daughter that seems ripe for future impressions. Still, it’s Wasikowska’s film, and she shoulders it with witty aplomb: equal parts Alice in Wonderland and Wednesday Addams, her India is in constant, silent argument with the world around her. All the actors are given an invaluable assist from Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller’s crisply tailored costumes, which are period-indeterminate even as the film is set in the present day. This kind of chic otherness is also at play in Therese De Prez’s superb production design: the Stoker family house, all angular architectural fittings and inventively distorted scale, is a creation worthy of prime Tim Burton . Park’s regular d.p. Chung-hoon Chung appears to be channeling photographer Gregory Crewdson’s eerily high-key Americana in his lighting schemes, while Clint Mansell’s characteristically rich, modernist score is embellished with haunting piano duets composed specifically for the film by Philip Glass. The repeated use of the Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra number “Summer Wine,” meanwhile, is typical of the director’s cockeyed take on American culture. Long may he continue to explore. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Ready to scare up some Halloween birthday wishes, THGers? On this scariest of holidays, Willow Smith turns 12 years old. The daughter of a world famous actor and moderately famous actress, Willow broke on to the scene in 2010 by whipping her hair all around . She’s since released a couple more tracks and is rumored to be reprising Annie in a big screen remake of that classic. Among other famous people turning a year older today: Piper Perabo (36), Vanilla Ice (45), Dermot Mulroney (49) and Christopher Columbus (Posthumous). Send in your birthday wishes to these singers, rapper and America discoverers now!
Critics will argue over whether or not Joe Carnahan ’s latest, The Grey (currently holding at 76 percent at Rotten Tomatoes ), succeeds as the latest nature-as-killer yarn to hit the action genre, but it’s worth taking a closer look at what Joe Carnahan is attempting beyond the survivalist thrills and chills. In the age of the metrosexual, and in an industry inundated with juvenile comedies and mind-numbing blockbusters, what does this Liam Neeson vs. the wolves pics have to say about modern masculinity? The Grey sees its heroes endure viscera-spilling skirmishes with wolves and ego-driven clashes with one another, but in its quiet moments it explores more existential, even spiritual ground. Chest-puffing toughs like Grillo’s ex-con Diaz are reduced to their true vulnerable selves as the elements strip away the armor of macho posturing, leaving these men feeling their susceptibility as death stalks nearer by the hour. For Neeson’s Ottway – a prototypical strong and silent hero, with a stoicism and resolve of another era – that vulnerability leads to soul-searching, and ultimately self-resolve: If God can’t help him, he thinks aloud, “Fuck – I’ll do it myself.” Neeson, director Carnahan, and actors Frank Grillo, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney , and Dallas Roberts discussed the film and its themes in Los Angeles. ON THE SCRIPT Liam Neeson: “The script read like a 19th-century epic poem for me, something like The Ancient Mariner or something. And also [it appealed to] the little boy in myself; I just thought it would be great to be out with a bunch of guys on a cliff face or a rock face and doing manly things.” Dermot Mulroney: “I loved Jaws and Aliens and… Deliverance . So to me it read like those, I thought I’d like to be in a movie like that once, that’d be amazing. I’ve made a lot of movies that had both men and women in them, a lot of movies that were dominated by the woman’s storyline. And in this case it was a very different experience making the movie and enjoying the movie, when it was completed, because of the fact that there are no women in it… It was like thank God, I get to do a movie with just guys.” Joe Carnahan: “Mature isn’t the right word; it has the most me in it, I guess – how I think and how I feel, and all my fears, which are considerable, and all my insecurities, which are even more considerable.” ON RELATING TO THE MEN OF THE GREY Neeson: “When you reach the age of 59 and a half, you do reflect a lot on why you’re on this planet, and what we’re doing, you know? It’s a constant – it is with me, anyway… I wasn’t consciously, but I knew certainly the emotional range of this guy, I could access [it] with a certain amount of ease. And I don’t say that as a brag, it just was a comfortable fit.” James Badge Dale: “We struggle trying to do the best we can, but we continually mess up and the fascinating thing to me about this film was the regret and the pain and you’re faced with this moment where I’m going, I’m leaving, I’m dying. You’re going to die, I’m going to die, it’s over. Wow, look at all the people I’ve hurt. Look at all the times I’ve messed up. What would I do differently? You know? And we’re not perfect. We fall down, but it’s that effort to try to get back up.” ON ‘PAPA BEAR’/’ALPHA MALE’ DIRECTOR CARNAHAN Neeson: “He’s an alpha male, you know? He’s a throwback to those directors from the 30s and 40s, I think – Hathaway, Howard Hawks, John Ford. He’s a real throwback to those guys, you know, and I love that in a director. And Katherine Bigelow is the same; she’s the governor. I love having a leader. And especially on a shoot like this, these conditions; you need someone who’s in charge and knows what they’re doing.” Frank Grillo: “He’s like Hemingway, he’s Papa Bear. It’s crazy. He lives life fast. It’s 100mph all the time. ON MACHISMO AND VULNERABILITY IN THE GREY Neeson: “I think in general it does touch on man’s general fear – I don’t think for this generation, but for my generation and my father’s generation, of difficulty in accessing emotion and then being able to talk about it. I think it certainly touches on that, and these guys, these characters in this film find it very, very hard to relate certainly to themselves and to one another. Which is one of the nice things about the film, that they do, in a way, they do share in a very primitive, basic way.” Carnahan: “The very basic thesis is, ‘As important as it is how you live, it’s equally important how you die.’ Whatever you want to take. People say, ‘What does the title mean?’ That’s it, it’s the grey. It’s the grey area. It’s between life and death, this nebulous thing that you don’t really understand. Grillo: “What I think that it has to say is that men are as afraid as when they were children. It’s tough being a man. It really is tough being a man. To define yourself and what do you believe in as a man and what are you willing to do to survive and live and protect your family, whatever those things are. How far will I go before I quit? Because we asked ourselves, ‘If I was in this situation would I actually be able to do this?’ No. I don’t think I would. If my kids were in danger I’m sure I’d be capable of doing some extraordinary things, but I’m not that guy. I’m just not that guy, it’s easier for me to lay down… So I think that it shows people how confusing it is sometimes to be a guy, what is defined, society’s defined to be a man.” Dallas Roberts: “If you take as read the notion that sort of care might fall on the feminine side of all of us, and that love might fall more on that side, then, you know what I mean, then that stuff is very much in play. That stuff is very much a part of these guys’ experience.” ON MACHISMO AND CAMERADERIE ON SET Neeson: “We’d talk about – a lot of dirty jokes, we’re a bunch of guys. But occasionally we’d dip into the metaphysics and we became very close – very good friends.” Roberts: “I mean, women were discussed in very, alternatingly respectful and horrific terms. Amongst the privacy of us, the way you would imagine dudes in a locker room. But that’s the problem with discussing modern masculinity, isn’t it, because you’re a moron as soon as you open your mouth and there’s nothing you can do about it. The best thing that you can do is shut up, and I’ve been unable to do that.” Mulroney: “I’ve heard that shutting up is very masculine. I haven’t tried it out yet.” Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Joe Carnahan ’s thriller The Grey , currently receiving kudos for its blend of red-blooded action and considered existentialism, tells the fictional tale of a group of oilrig workers who survive a plane crash only to be hunted by wolves in the wild. Among the ragtag band of comrades facing off against nature under Liam Neeson ’s steady leadership is Dermot Mulroney’s Talget, who, like the others, learns to shed his protective layers and confront his own fears when forced to face off directly with Mother Nature. For Mulroney, The Grey represents a kind of muscular, male-driven pic that no longer gets made often enough. In a conversation ranging from the film’s throwback sense of masculinity to his reasons for joining Carnahan & Co. on the unusually brutal shoot (the cast and crew filmed in snowy, sub-zero conditions for months in Canada), Mulroney spoke candidly about how much the landscape has changed for him as an actor since he burst on the scene in the ‘80s, why he was happy to be in a film with no women, and how his first time on the other side of the camera (directing last year’s Love, Wedding, Marriage , which he describes as “a badly made movie”) turned him away from directing, at least for the time being. Liam Neeson aside, you’re probably the most recognizable cast member in The Grey even though you’ve been hidden under layers of clothing and those glasses. How much consideration went into the conception of how your character looks ? I can’t say that wasn’t deliberate but that wasn’t necessarily my idea. It was in conjunction discussing it with the director, Joe [Carnahan], who saw my character as someone who has kind of receded under his protective layers whether it’s the hat and the glasses and the beard and the scarf and all this, and then slowly as the movie progresses some of those layers come off. I hope that we pulled that off. That was his goal; he was so specific with character. What appealed to you about joining this ensemble pic and working with Joe Carnahan? But even from his screenplay, really, is what hooked me, and obviously the opportunity to work with him and Liam. You know, I love to work – I still love to work – and I’d go anywhere for something good like this. It turns out I was going to northern British Colombia in sub-zero temperatures and blizzard conditions… It seems like it was an unusually extreme scenario for a film shoot! But your cast mates have described Joe as having picked a disparate group of actors who somehow shared a specific quality, a like-mindedness about the project, that made it all worthwhile . Very much so. I don’t know what it is that Joe has to be able to do that, but my understanding is that he’s done that with all of his films – he’s handpicked people that have something, as you say, other than the fact that they were right for the part. They’re also the right man that he wants to have on the experience. He wants to experience . What Joe Carnahan loves to do more than anything at all is shoot a movie, so he wants to do it with people that are also going to enjoy it and make it more enjoyable for him. So he’s not just picking actors, he’s kind of picking future friends. Were you acquainted before the film? I’d never met him before! I walk in to audition and I can tell he’s a helluva guy and that I would enjoy his company – but I think he’s actually casting for that as well. He’s casting not only for the film, but for the steak dinners after work, you know? In a way, he was. And really what I’m describing is his ability to intuitively “get” what people would have to offer, and the thing that he was determined to achieve was to get guys who were willing and able. You know, as actors we’re of course all willing, but I don’t think all of them would’ve been able to take on those extreme conditions. I couldn’t believe that you all went into those freezing climes to shoot; word is Joe got frostbite out there at one point. I know Dallas [Roberts] got frostbit on the nose, and I think Joe Anderson got some fingertips… this is, like, angry cold. This is all-the-way cold! But as an actor, your body – your fingertips, your nose – is your livelihood! That seems like a risk to take for a film. Oh, I hadn’t even thought of that! I didn’t suffer any ill effects from the cold. [Laughs] I have good circulation, so… and everybody else handled it great, too. It certainly was never life-threatening, but it never occurred to me that it might somehow affect my ability to make a living. So when you signed on to The Grey , you were signing on not only to a film but to having an extraordinary experience . We were signing on not only to an extraordinary experience but to risk, but a lot of guys would have. These were parts that a lot of people wanted, for the quality, for the personnel, for the content, but also the same as Joe – for the experience of getting to do something like this. I’ve done a lot of movies on stages, and sets, in a house, around a dining room table, sitting in a thing, going to the dance, all that – wonderful. But how often does somebody say, ‘Hey – do you want to go up further than you’ve ever been and stand around in the cold with me for a couple of months?’ For me, I had just come from a movie called Big Miracle which comes out next month where there, too, we were shooting in Anchorage, Alaska and it was cold and dark. I’m guessing Drew Barrymore did not get frostbite on her nose. She did not get frostbite, but she did get in freezing cold water! In a wetsuit, for real – she did it all. Nobody complained and nobody got hurt, and even Kristen Bell, who’s as big as this, pulled off standing around all day in zero degree temperatures. Looking at the themes in The Grey , we’re in an era where metrosexuality has become a thing and more masculine stories and themes are something of another generation. The characters, not just Liam’s but all of them, are different shades of… Grey? Yes, in many respects. But moreso these guys seem to represent a spectrum of what it means to be a man, or to come to terms with your own masculinity and mortality, when faced with this kind of life or death situation. I think that’s a wonderful diagram of the film. I hadn’t quite tapped into that myself. If I were to try to get to the bottom of what character I was playing, my idea for Talget was that he’s the mother of the group. He’s the little old lady with the babushka and the thing and ‘Come on,’ because they already have a natural leader or father type, they already have a hotheaded adolescent with Diaz, and they have a knowledgeable wise grandparent type with Henrik. Where’s the mother? So I kind of filled that slot. That doesn’t answer your masculinity question because I’d much rather be accused of being testosterone-fueled than being a little old lady, but by the same token if you’re looking at each of these characters as a facet of what manhood is, then part of what manhood is, is your mother. But that’s okay! It’s only when these guys strip away their machismo that they are able to be emotionally honest with each other. Right. [Pause] There a couple of scenes in Jaws when the shark goes out of the movie, and you don’t really get a great look at that shark anyhow, much like this movie. But then they’re sitting in that boat and they’re just talking, and Shaw goes into this whole thing about the Indianapolis and it’s this incredible moment, an historical moment in the history of our cinema. So you say this movie has some throwback qualities, or some old school manly-man qualities; that’s intentional. That’s the kind of movie Joe wants to make. Joe is one of those guys. So, guilty as charged on that; if that’s something that needs to be brought back, then let’s bring it back. It seems like people are responding to that about this movie and to my mind there haven’t been enough of them. The pendulum swung the other way since I started in this business and there were men’s movies like whatever those Tom Cruise movies… The meaty ‘80s, yes. Yeah. And then all of a sudden Sigourney Weaver comes in the Alien and we have strong women, we have Working Girl , we have all this, we have Best Friend’s Wedding , and before you know it, all the fucking movies are about the girls! Do you really think so? I do! I do. The ones that I was asked to be in, for certain. All of them. So that’s kind of what I did for a while, and every once in a while I’d get this sweet relief of being in a movie like [ The Grey ], where there are no girls in it, there are no women in it – Nobody vying for your affections… Nobody’s vying for anybody’s affections in this movie, that’s right. [Laughs] That’s one relief right there. Aren’t we kind of tired of the vying for affection in the American cinema? Well, let me ask you this — [Laughs] I know, it’s tough because “wry” doesn’t really come across in print, but you put that on the website and we’ll see how that flies. “Too many ladies in the movies for a while there.” No! I think it’s interesting you say this, given your directorial debut, Love, Wedding, Marriage . Yeah, and it couldn’t be a more womanly movie, right? Let’s skip it. Change the topic. I am interested in your directing impulses… I’m not, so much. Did you get it all out in that one film? No, it just didn’t go very well. If I ever tried again I’d do it alarmingly differently. Why so? I don’t even want to talk about that movie, to be honest with you. I don’t think it’s a very clean segue, either, from masculine guy in The Grey to director of a badly made movie. It’s only that the types of movies that they are, are interesting in juxtaposition. I like movies like The Grey to view and to act in a lot more than I like movies like that. The Grey is in theaters Friday. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Patricia Heaton, while shopping at the grove, recommends a video she think Alec Baldwin should watch after getting kicked off a plane. We also spotted David Denman and Dermot Mulroney shopping at the Grove! Follow Hollywood.TV on Facebook @ facebook.com
Last time we saw Liam Neeson in a trailer for the upcoming survival drama The Grey , he was preparing to battle a few angry wolves. In the new kickass preview for Joe Carnahan’s wilderness adventure, Neeson is not only preparing to wage a full-scale attack on all of the wolves that stand between him and civilization, but he heroically maintains the morale among a group of fellow stranded plane crash survivors on their long walk home.
[1] Actors are forever jumping behind the camera to try their hands at directing, with extremely mixed results. Sometimes it’s Ben Affleck making a career comeback as the acclaimed helmer of Gone Baby Gone and The Town; other times it’s Dermot Mulroney attaining that elusive 0% on Rotten Tomatoes with Love Wedding Marriage. If the new trailer for Angelina Jolie’s In the Land of Blood and Honey is any… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : /Film Discovery Date : 21/10/2011 17:46 Number of articles : 2
Great romances don’t always happen overnight. But we need to wait nearly 20 years for the romance in Lone Scherfig’s One Day to get cooking, and for long stretches it seems as if we’re watching this particular pair of nonstarters hem and haw in real time. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess play Em and Dexter, who meet not-so-cute one night in 1988, just after they’ve both graduated from some unnamed English university. She’s gawky and wears glasses; he’s upper-crusty, as we can tell from his forelock. After a mild drunken flirtation, the two toddle back to her flat with the intent of having casual sex. The first thing Em does upon entering her cramped digs it put on a Tracy Chapman record. Back in the day, we used to call that a wienie shrinker, and Dex would be inclined to agree.
