Terrence Howard joins a slew of stars in a cop caper. Also in Friday’s round-up of news, the weekend is not shaping up to be a kind one for Playing for Keeps at the box office; James Marsden is strolling toward a Walk of Shame with Elizabeth Banks ; Hyde Park On Hudson , In Our Nature and California Solo are among the weekend’s Specialty Release newcomers; and Rubberneck & Redflag head to theaters via Tribeca Film. Terrence Howard Joins Chain Gang in Prisoners Also starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Melissa Leo, Viola Davis, Maria Bello and Paul Dano, the film follows a small-town carpenter (Jackman) whose daughter and her best friend are abducted. The cops cannot find them and he takes the law into his own hands. In the process, he comes into contact with a detective (Gyllenhaal) who oozes confidence, Deadline reports . Weekend Box Office Preview: Playing for Keeps Likely a Flop Gerard Butler’s soccer romantic comedy Playing for Keeps with Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Quaid may only open in the $6 million range, THR reports . James Marsden Strolling a Walk of Shame Marsden will join Steven Brill’s Walk of Shame with Elizabeth Banks. Banks plays a news anchor who has a wild night out and is locked out on the street without money, phone, ID etc and has a series of misadventures while winding a path to the most important job interview of her life, TOH reports . Specialty Release Preview: Hyde Park on Hudson , In Our Nature , California Solo & More Oscar hopeful Hyde Park on Hudson with Bill Murray as Franklin Delano Roosevelt is this weekend’s highest profile debut in the specialty market. There’s also In Our Nature with Jena Malone and John Slattery, and Robert Carlyle headlines California Solo in a role written with him in mind. The late Ernest Borgnine stars in The Man Who Shook The Hand Of Vicente Fernandez in a role that turns the idea of celebrity upside-down, Deadline reports . Rubberneck and Red Flag Head to Theaters via Tribeca Rubberneck revolves around a workplace obsession gone wrong. Boston scientist Paul lusts after a co-worker and though at first it’s polite flirtation at first, things go south when the co-worker begins to date someone else on the job. Red Flag centers on a solipsistic filmmaker takes his independent film on tour. Hoping to escape the pain of his recent breakup. Tribeca Film picked up both films directed by Alex Karpovsky and will be released theatrically in February.
Slamdance set its competition lineup Wednesday with 12 Narrative titles and 10 documentaries joining the film festival’s roster at the 19th annual event which coincides with the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. This year, 13 World Premieres and seven U.S. debuts will screen in competition, chosen out of 5,000 submissions. “Our goal is to showcase exhilarating filmmaking with a revolutionary take on our world,” commented Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter on the festival website. “These filmmakers have a tremendous ability to innovate, explore and revitalize the independent filmmaking landscape.” The 2013 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 18 – 24. The festival’s competition lineup follows with descriptions and credits provided by Slamdance. NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION: The Narrative Competition is comprised of American and International productions. All 12 films are feature debuts with budgets of less than $1 million, and were programmed entirely from blind submissions. Best Friends Forever / Director: Brea Grant, Screenwriters: Brea Grant, Vera Miao (USA) World Premiere Harriet and Reba hit the road in this darkly comedic apocalypse tale that explores the boundaries of friendship, the danger of hipsters, and nuclear fallout. Cast: Brea Grant, Vera Miao, Sean Maher, Glen Powell, Kit Williamson, Alex Berg, Alex Fernie, Stacey Storey Big Words /Director and Screenwriter: Neil Drumming (USA) World Premiere A lively drama that captures members of a once-promising hip-hop group, now in their late 30’s, as they struggle with regret, disappointment, and change on Election Night 2008. Cast: Darien Sills-Evans, Dorian Missick, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Yaya Alafia, Zachary Booth, Amir Arison, Jean Grae The Court of Shards / Director and Screenwriter: Jan Eilhardt (Germany) World Premiere In this experimental narrative, two disabled women fight in their own way to maintain their independent loves and lives against an overpoweringly caring family. Cast: Caroline Fricke, Silvia Giehle, Natalia Bondar, Frank Hoffmann, Doris Egbring-Kahn The Dirties / Director: Matt Johnson, Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Evan Morgan, Josh Boles (Canada) World Premiere Two best friends think it would be funny to make a movie about getting revenge on the bullies at their school. One of them isn’t joking. Cast: Matt Johnson, Owen Williams, Krista Madison, David Matheson, Brandon Wickens, Josh Boles, Alen Delaine, Jay McCarrol Fynbos / Director: Harry Patramanis, Screenwriters: Harry Patramanis, Jonathan Glatzer (South Africa) US Premiere On a lavish and remote property, within the walls of a glass house, six lives intersect and lay bare their secrets and psyches in this twisting drama. Cast: Jessica Haines, Warrick Grier, Cara Roberts, Chad Philips, Susan Danford, Sthandiwe Kgoroge, John Herbert Billy Chen Presents: Ghost Team One / Directors: Ben Peyser, Scott Rutherford, Screenwriters: Andrew Knauer, Arthur Pielli, Scott Rutherford, Ben Peyser (USA) World Premiere A subversive, comedic take on the found footage genre, where two roommates deathly afraid of ghosts both fall in love with a girl who believes their home is haunted. Cast: Carlos Santos, Fernanda Romero, J.R. Villarreal, Meghan Folcone, Tony Cavalero, James Babson, Scott MacArthur, Craig Stott Hank and Asha / Director: James E. Duff, Screenwriters: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison (USA) World Premiere In this voyeuristic love story, an Indian student in Prague and a lonely New Yorker correspond online through video letters – two strangers aching for human connection in a hyper-connected world. Cast: Andrew Pastides, Mahira Kakkar He’s Way More Famous Than You / Director: Michael Urie, Screenwriters: Halley Feiffer, Ryan Spahn (USA) World Premiere A struggling actress will stop at nothing to get her movie made in this sharp comedy, bolstered by absurdist touches and a bravura lead performance. Cast: Halley Feiffer, Ryan Spahn, Tracee Chimo, Jesse Eisenberg, Mammie Gummer, Michael Urie, Ralph Macchio , Natasha Lyonne, Ben Stiller Joy De V. / Director and Screenwriter: Nadia Szold (USA) World Premiere An expressionistic, gritty look at the intersection of madness and love that follows a young con-artist who wakes up to discover his pregnant wife is missing. Cast: Evan Louison, Claudia Cardinale, Josephine de La Baume, Iva Gocheva, Victoria Imperioli Kohlhaas / Director and Screenwriter: Aron Lehmann (Germany) US Premiere An obsessed director and his cast seek to adapt the true story of a 16th-century revolutionary when their actions behind the scenes begin to mimic the book’s subject. Cast: Robert Gwisdek, Jan Messutat, Thorsten Merten, Rosalie Thomass, Michael Fuith, Heiko Pinkowski Visitors / Director: Constanze Knoche, Screenwriters: Leis Bagdach, Constanze Knoche (Germany) US Premiere Three adult siblings are surprised by their parents’ announcement that they are cutting off finances in this commanding and evocative look at the oppressive results of stasis. Cast: Uwe Kockisch, Corinna Kirchhoff, Irina Potapenko, Jakob Diehl, Anne Muller, Anjorka Strechel, Bernhard Schütz, Andreas Leupold, Janusz Kocaj, Mehdi Nebbou What Isn’t There / Director: Marie Jamora, Screenwriters: Marie Jamora, Ramon De Veyra (Philippines) US Premiere In this lyrical exploration of love, music and expression, a self-imposed mute returns home for Christmas and the anniversary of his twin brother’s accidental death. Cast: Dominic Roco, Annicka Dolonius, Boboy Garrovillo, Dawn Zulueta, Felix Roco, Alchris Galura, Mercedes Cabral, Marc Abaya DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION: The Documentary Competition is comprised of American and International productions. All 10 films are directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million, and were programmed entirely from blind submissions. Battery Man / Directors and Screenwriters: Dusan Saponja, Dusan Cavic (Serbia) US Premiere Thanks to the powers he discovered by accident, Biba Struja has spent his entire life experimenting with electricity and proving to himself and others that it cannot harm him. Cast: Slavisa Pajkic Bible Quiz / Director: Nicole Teeny (USA) World Premiere Seventeen-year-old Mikayla memorizes books of the Bible on her quest to win the National Bible Quiz Championship and the heart of JP, her quiz team captain. The film explores coming of age in the face of faith, doubt, fierce competition and teen love. Cast: Mikayla Irle, JP O’Connor, Christopher Teeny, Brandon Duffy, Rich Nelson, Rachel Dawson, Rachel Holley, Gary Irle The Bitter Buddha / Director: Steven Feinartz (USA) Cult-Comic Eddie Pepitone’s life is on display in this unhinged portrait of creativity, enlightenment and rage. Cast: Eddie Pepitone, Zach Galifianakis, Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt, Sean Conroy, Paul Provenza, Dana Gould, Marc Maron The Brotherhood of the Traveling Rants / Directors: Gavin McInnes, Steve Durand, Bryan Gaynor (USA/Canada) World Premiere ‘Godfather of hipsterdom’ Gavin McInnes goes on a stand-up comedy tour with his best friend from high school and things go from bad to worse to downright catastrophic. Cast: Gavin McInnes, Steve Durand, Bryan Gaynor The Institute / Director: Spencer McCall, Screenwriters: Uriah Findley, Spencer McCall (USA) Is it a cult? Is it a game? Or is it a life-changing adventure? Cast: Daniel Shoup, Arye Michael Bender, Carolee Gilligan Wheeler, Garland Glessner, Michael Wertz, Kiyomi Tanouye, Geordie Aiken, Jeff Hull The Last Shepherd / Director and Screenwriter: Marco Bonfanti (Italy) US Premiere Renato, the last traveling shepherd left in Milan, has a dream – get to the inaccessible center of the city to meet the children who have never seen a flock of sheep. Cast: Renato Zucchelli, Piero Lombardi, Lucia Zucchelli, Patrizia Frisoli, Hedy Krissane, Barbara Sorrentini (voice) My Name is Faith / Directors: Jason Banker, Jorge Torres-Torres, Tiffany Sudela-Junker (USA) US Premiere Faith, a 13-year-old girl who suffers from Reactive Attachment Disorder, attempts to heal from the trauma inflicted by her birthmother’s lifestyle. Running Wild: The Life of Dayton O. Hyde / Director: Suzanne Mitchell (USA) World Premiere The inspiring journey of a remarkable cowboy who triumphs in his quest to protect wild horses and the American West. Cast: Dayton O. Hyde Where I Am / Director and Screenwriter: Pamela Drynan (Ireland) World Premiere The courageous story of Gay American writer Robert Drake and his struggle to recover and return to the scene of a crime in Ireland, where, he was left for dead more than 10 years ago. Cast: Robert Drake Without Shepherds / Director: Cary McClelland (Pakistan/USA) World Premiere Six bold individuals struggle to find their role in the turbulent waters of Pakistan and build a better tomorrow. Cast: Vaneeza Ahmad, Arieb Azhar, Abdullah Khan, Imran Khan, Ibrahim Waheed, Laiba Yousafzai
In another major awards win for Kathryn Bigelow ‘s latest, Zero Dark Thirty took major nods from the National Board of Review, receiving kudos for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress for Jessica Chastain . [ Related: NY Film Critics Circle Spices Up Oscar Race With ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Best Picture Pick ] Also taking major wins by the group were Bradley Cooper for Best Actor for Silver Linings Playbook , Leonardo DiCaprio (Best Supporting Actor) for Django Unchained , while Michael Haneke’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Amour took Best Foreign Language Film. Sundance ’12 winner Beasts of the Southern Wild won both Best Directorial Debut for Benh Zeitlin and the Breakthrough Actress prize for Quevenzhané Wallis. Ben Affleck’s Argo received a Special Achievement in Filmmaking mention. Meredith Vieira will host the National Board of Review Gala on January 8th in New York. 2012 National Board of Review Prizes : Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook Best Actress: Jessica Chastain , Zero Dark Thirty Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio , Django Unchained Best Supporting Actress: Ann Dowd , Compliance Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson , Looper Best Adapted Screenplay: David O. Russell , Silver Linings Playbook Best Animated Feature: Wreck-It Ralph Special Achievement in Filmmaking: Ben Affleck , Argo Breakthrough Actor: Tom Holland , The Impossible Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis , Beasts of the Southern Wild Best Directorial Debut: Benh Zeitlin , Beasts of the Southern Wild Best Foreign Language Film: Amour Best Documentary: Searching for Sugarman William K. Everson Film History Award: 50 Years of Bond Films Best Ensemble: Les Misérables Spotlight Award: John Goodman (Argo, Flight, Paranorman, Trouble with the Curve) NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Central Park Five NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Promised Land Top Films (in alphabetical order) ARGO BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD DJANGO UNCHAINED LES MISÉRABLES LINCOLN LOOPER THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER PROMISED LAND SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK Top 5 Foreign Language Films (In Alphabetical Order) BARBARA THE INTOUCHABLES THE KID WITH A BIKE NO WAR WITCH Top 5 Documentaries (In Alphabetical Order) AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY DETROPIA THE GATEKEEPERS THE INVISIBLE WAR ONLY THE YOUNG Top 10 Independent Films (In Alphabetical Order) ARBITRAGE BERNIE COMPLIANCE END OF WATCH HELLO I MUST BE GOING LITTLE BIRDS MOONRISE KINGDOM ON THE ROAD QUARTET SLEEPWALK WITH ME
I’m not saying all dystopian kid-warrior movies set in the future are going to be shamelessly crib from their successful predecessors (especially those adapted from exceptionally popular, award-winning, decades-old tomes), but something feels and looks really familiar in the first official photo from 2013’s Ender’s Game , based on Orson Scott Card’s Hugo Award-winning sci-fi novel. In the first look, which debuted over at EW along with a preview chat with director Gavin Hood ( Tsotsi , Wolverine ), Asa Butterfield stars as Ender, a young Battle School recruit being trained to fight an interstellar war, gets a stern glare from Harrison Ford ‘s Colonel Graff. In the cash-littered wake of The Hunger Games , the first few looks at Ender’s Game hit the futuristic teen sci-fi signposts: A muted blue palette, austere high-tech aesthetic, retro-fascism (meets, hmm — American Apparel ?) garb, kids playing games… TO THE DEATH. But hey, whatever works. Ender’s Game hits theaters November 1, 2013. [via EW ] Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
A dismal misfire, Hyde Park on Hudson could have been a spoof of a period prestige film, had it a little more energy and humor. Consider this scene: Daisy ( Laura Linney ), a poor distant relative of Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( Bill Murray ), has begun getting summoned to the house the President shares with his mother (Elizabeth Wilson) to provide him with company and distraction from his work. The two go for drives in the countryside, while Daisy intones in a plummy voiceover about the Depression, her lonely life taking care of her aunt and her growing closeness with FDR: “I helped him forget the weight of the world,” she says around the time that the president shoos his security away, pulls over in a picturesque field and pulls her hand toward him. The camera retreats to a decorous distance, the breeze blows over the wildflowers, FDR’s custom-built convertible begins a-rocking, and it takes a second to realize…why yes, FDR just got his spinster cousin to give him a handy. Directed by Roger Michell ( Notting Hill , Morning Glory ) and based on a radio play by Richard Nelson, Hyde Park on Hudson is an arthritically stilted production that looks even more rickety when measured against the ranks of the awards contenders to which it aspires. It’s half an unconventional and underdeveloped romance and half a recounting of the 1939 visit King George VI (Samuel West), aka Bertie, and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) paid to FDR at his Dutchess County estate to firm up the relationship between the UK and the US in the lead-up to World War II, the first time a reigning British monarch did such a thing. With the exception of FDR’s rural interlude, neither of these two tales unfolds with any momentum or satisfaction. (The latter story actually centers around whether or not Bertie will loosen up enough to eat a hot dog at a picnic.) In combination, they’re even more awkward, however. Overlapping without really interacting. the two stories are like strangers who’ve been invited to the same weekend getaway but not introduced. Presumably because of the nature of the source material, the film relies heavily on Daisy’s narration for large swaths of story. Instead of being shown the growing connection between her and FDR, we’re baldly told that’s what’s happening. And we know she’s fallen in love with him because she says “How I longed for him.” Daisy has little personality or purpose other than to serve as an observer on the outskirts, but there are major portions of the film for which she isn’t present and couldn’t be serving as the point of view, as Bertie and Elizabeth debate in their room about whether or not they’re being made fun of and how best to approach their social engagements. The pair were the focus of 2011 Oscar winner The King’s Speech , but are made a little stuffier and more ridiculous here — “Hyde Park is in London, it’s so confusing,” Elizabeth says as they travel to the house, and the two discuss the meaning of the humorous prints on the wall of Bertie’s room and who in the house is sleeping with whom (an issue well worthy of speculation). Murray is the movie’s main attraction, but he turns in a deflatingly one-dimensional impression-as-performance, twinkling with all his might as he charms Bertie over cocktails and seduces Daisy with his stamp collection. His FDR comes across as everyone’s blithe uncle, seen mainly through the admiring eyes of our narrator, so that even the earthier side that leads him to instigate their affair and to indulge in others she learns about later (to her dismay) is laboriously sublimated into something that uncomfortably recalls a lord and his concubines. Daisy’s main qualities are to be accommodating and to have not done anything in her sheltered life, giving Linney little to do except gaze worshipfully at Murray. “My husband loves the adoring eyes of young women,” laughs a brusque Olivia Williams, playing an Eleanor characterized with a delicacy that falls just short of having her stomp around in a Carhartt jacket and fauxhawk bellowing that she likes the ladies. Hyde Park on Hudson is a sort of high-stakes comedy of manners, but it’s one in which the extremely mannered are placed in contrast with the merely very mannered. Its instances of culture shock deal with less than naturally dramatic decisions, such as whether it’s appropriate to serve cocktails or hot dogs to royals. The film allows that FDR had an unconventional personal life — with multiple mistresses and a wife who lived apart from him — but it treads around these most interesting speculative details, with a fussy decorum, preferring to dwell on shots of vintage wallpaper. There’s one moment in which an emotionally wounded Daisy imagines screaming at FDR that “You’re not getting off that easy, you son of a bitch!” She never says it out loud, though, and the other characters in this film never say what’s on their minds either. They’re just pale shadows of real people who were probably far more interesting and complicated than this film allows them to be.
The first image of Bill Murray as Franklin Delano Roosevelt has emerged from the behind the scenes of Hyde Park on Hudson , director Roger Michell’s tale of the great president’s royal visitors (and concurrent extramarital dalliance) in 1939. “”I wouldn’t have done it without him,” said Michell of the long “dance” to get Murray. “But after a year of waiting, I received a wonderful text that said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it.'” And here you have it. Chime in with your thoughts after a browse through the rest of today’s Buzz Break.
The first image of Bill Murray as Franklin Delano Roosevelt has emerged from the behind the scenes of Hyde Park on Hudson , director Roger Michell’s tale of the great president’s royal visitors (and concurrent extramarital dalliance) in 1939. “”I wouldn’t have done it without him,” said Michell of the long “dance” to get Murray. “But after a year of waiting, I received a wonderful text that said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it.'” And here you have it. Chime in with your thoughts after a browse through the rest of today’s Buzz Break.
The first image of Bill Murray as Franklin Delano Roosevelt has emerged from the behind the scenes of Hyde Park on Hudson , director Roger Michell’s tale of the great president’s royal visitors (and concurrent extramarital dalliance) in 1939. “”I wouldn’t have done it without him,” said Michell of the long “dance” to get Murray. “But after a year of waiting, I received a wonderful text that said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it.'” And here you have it. Chime in with your thoughts after a browse through the rest of today’s Buzz Break.
You may never become the President of the United States, declare war on Nazi Germany or revive the economy from a Great Depression, but now you can play someone who has done all three things onscreen. Notting Hill director Roger Michell is searching for U.S. actors to play Franklin Delano Roosevelt, his distant cousin Daisy and his wife Eleanor for the film Hyde Park On Hudson , about the romantic relationship between FDR and Daisy. Michell hopes that the film, being developed by the UK’ s Film4, will begin shooting later this year. Casting suggestions encouraged below. [ Deadline ]
