Girls actor Alex Karpovsky is pretty great at conveying simmering annoyance with his tomahawk-like face, and he has plenty to be annoyed about in this exclusive video clip from the dark comedy Red Flag, which he wrote and directed. I hope the song that actors Onur Tukel and Jennifer Prediger are caterwauling in the car was improvised by them during filmmaking because it would be crap-tastic even if Adele sang it. (Please don’t tell me Adele does sing it.) Here’s the official synopsis for the film: A laugh-out-loud road trip comedy, starring writer/director Alex Karpovsky (“Girls”) as Alex Karpovsky, a newly-single indie filmmaker who hits the road with an old friend (Onur Tukel) to promote one of his films. As the pair travels from one half-empty theater to the next, pursued by an adoring fan (Jennifer Prediger) who drives them into an exceptionally uncomfortable love triangle, Alex-as-Alex is forced to suffer an endless series of humiliations, each one more absurd than the last. I’m totally guessing here, but I bet Henry becomes even more annoying after he goes into that casino and loses that misshapen wad of money he’s flashing. The answer will be available on Tuesday when Red Flag and another Karpovsky-directed title, Rubberneck , premieres on VOD and then opens theatrically on Friday, Feb. 22. And if that song that Tukel and Prediger are butchering is an actual song, can someone please tell me what it is so I can mock it more specifically? Thanks. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
If you’re a gamer or a J.J. Abrams fan, then you already know that, in addition to the rebooting the Star Wars franchise, his Bad Robot production studio has teamed up with video game developer Valve to explore movies and games, including adaptations of the latter company’s popular Half-Life and Portal titles. The two men revealed they are teaming up at the end of their keynote presentation at the Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (D.I.C.E.) summit in Las Vegas on Feb. 6. Their conversation is presented in its entirety after the jump and it’s worth watching, not so much because of the announcement, which is vague, but because the discussion is a fascinating master class on the differences between storytelling in movies and video games. If I’m grading this faux debate, I say Abrams emerges the victor. Not only does he make his points well, the Half-Life clips he uses to illustrate his point also demonstrate how mind-numbingly pedestrian dialogue in video games tends to be. Newell gets in a good line Abrams’ filmmaking aspirations. After the newly minted Star Wars Episode VII director shows how R2-D2 was digitally inserted into a debris scene in the first Star Trek movie, the Valve chief says, “So now I have to go back through all of your movies looking at debris to figure out which movies you’re going to direct next? “ Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
What begins as a barbed satire of our pill-popping, self-medicating society morphs into something intriguingly different in Side Effects . Steven Soderbergh’s elegantly coiled puzzler spins a tale of clinical depression and psychiatric malpractice into an absorbing, cunningly unpredictable entertainment that, like much of his recent work, closely observes how a particular subset of American society operates in a needy, greedy, paranoid and duplicitous age. Discriminating arthouse audiences not turned off by the antidepressant-heavy subject matter should be held shrink-rapt by what Soderbergh, after years of flirting with retirement, has said will be his last picture “for a long time.” Establishing a mood of grim foreboding with a brief glimpse of a blood-spattered domestic scene, the film rewinds three months to the incident that sets things in motion. Emily Taylor ( Rooney Mara ), a New Yorker in her mid-20s, awaits the prison release of her husband, Martin ( Channing Tatum ), a former business exec who has just finished serving four years for his involvement in an insider-trading scheme. But the couple’s happy reunion is complicated not only by Martin’s period of readjustment and unemployment, but also by Emily’s ongoing struggles with anxiety and depression. The story is thus immediately rooted in an easily recognizable and, for some, relatable world of financial difficulty and pharmaceutical overreliance. After Emily’s condition declines to the point of attempting self-harm, she sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Jonathan Banks ( Jude Law) , who puts her on a try-this-try-that regimen of drugs that include Prozac, Zoloft and Ablixa. The names of these antidepressants and their assorted side effects are rattled off with cheeky proficiency in the well-researched script by Scott Z. Burns (“Contagion,” “The Informant!”), and soon Emily starts to manifest the byproducts of so much medication, including nausea, a heightened libido and a disturbing habit of sleepwalking. Soderbergh’s sinuous HD camerawork (done under his usual pseudonym, Peter Andrews) maintains an unnervingly intimate focus on Emily in these early passages, dominated by breakdowns and consulting sessions. Yet even in intense closeups that enable Mara to vividly register Emily’s panic, fear and vaguely suicidal impulses, the direction has a certain cool-toned detachment that keeps the film from becoming a wholly subjective portrait of mental instability. That distanced quality persists even when Emily’s behavior, under the influence of Ablixa, takes a shocking turn for the worst. At this point, the dramatic perspective shifts to Banks, who suddenly finds himself professionally compromised as a provocative question comes to the fore: If a patient is not responsible for actions taken under the influence of a powerful drug, does the liability shift to the doctor who prescribed it? But as Banks launches himself into an increasingly obsessive quest to clear his name, leading him into private conversations with Emily’s former therapist, Dr. Victoria Siebel ( Catherine Zeta-Jones ), the peculiar feeling persists that not everything about the case may be what it seems. The very title of Side Effects — a suggestion of unintended, undesired consequences that distract from the matter at hand — provides a clue as to the level of narrative misdirection Soderbergh and Burns are up to. Suffice to say that what the film is actually about, and the specific social malaise being diagnosed, suddenly seem to shift beneath the characters’ feet, as the story turns its attention from chemical dependencies and shaky medical ethics to the dark recesses of the human mind. The rapid-fire twists, reversals and flashbacks that crowd the third act may strain plausibility to the breaking point, but by the end, viewers are likely to feel as though they’ve been craftily but not unfairly manipulated. The casting of Soderbergh alums Law, Zeta-Jones and Tatum lends the picture a somewhat valedictory feel, and if Side Effects is indeed the final chapter of at least one phase of the director’s career, it gets the job done in modest but assured fashion. Thematically, this efficient genre piece feels entirely of a piece with Soderbergh’s prior work; no less than Magic Mike and The Girlfriend Experience , it’s keenly invested in the material question of how individuals operate in an economy that leaves them with fewer and fewer honest options. The film’s careful attention to the details of its psychiatric milieu compels fascination above and beyond the characters, and indeed, Soderbergh’s typical disinterest in conventional audience identification has rarely been more pronounced. Mara’s chilly yet vulnerable quality, exploited so effectively in her films with David Fincher, keeps the viewer at a sympathetic distance; Law makes Banks seem weaselly and pompous even when he assumes the role of protagonist; and Zeta-Jones, as usual, plays her part with a slyly seductive allure. Of all the actors, Ann Dowd ( Compliance ) rings the sole notes of earnest emotion in a small role as Emily’s mother-in-law. Editing is sharp and precise, and Thomas Newman’s churning score amps up the story’s intensity. Expertly chosen locations and Howard Cummings’ production design create an offhandedly diverse snapshot of New York, ranging from a high-security mental institution to a table at Le Cirque where Dr. Banks and his colleagues talk shop. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Calling all Steven Soderbergh fans and movie-loving hypochondriacs . Time to cue up Pink’s “Just Like A Pill” on Spotify and get your haiku mojo working. Movieline will give away a Side Effects poster signed by cast members Rooney Mara , Channing Tatum , Jude Law , Vinessa Shaw and Dr. Sasha Bardey to the armchair bard who, in our opinion, writes the most addictive haiku inspired by his or her favorite pharmaceutical or the movie itself. Here are the rules: Submit an original haiku (using the 5-7-5 format) inspired by Side Effects or the prescription — as in legal — drug of your choice, in the comments section below. The contest is open to ages 18 and up and the winner must be a U.S. resident. Deadline for entries is noon Pacific Standard Time on Feb. 20. Now, get popping. We’re expecting lots of odes to Adderall. And for additional inspiration, here’s the Side Effects guerrilla marketing Ablixa video. Side Effects opens nationwide on Feb. 8
Can I get a Hoo-Ah ? Al Pacino has had a good run playing reviled real-life characters in HBO movies and miniseries, and, based on this trailer for Phil Spector , he’s going to keep his streak alive when the movie debuts on March 24. The actor, who played suicide machine inventor Jack Kevorkian in the 2010 HBO biopic You Don’t Know Jack , and was particularly brilliant as the homophobic gay lawyer Roy Cohn in the cable network’s adaptation of Lincoln screenwriter Tony Kushner’s Angels in America in 2003, dons quite a few wacky wigs in this clip to play the legendary 60s music producer who’s serving 19 years to life in a California prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson . It’s not just the hair though. The picture was written and directed by David Mamet , whose mean, hard-boiled writing sounds great coming out of Pacino’s mouth. “First time you got felt up, guess what? You were listening to one of my songs,” the actor brazenly tells Helen Mirren who plays his defense attorney. And then there’s the disembodied voice who, referring to Spector, tells Mirren: “He’s a freak. Theyr’e going to convict him of I just don’t like you.” Make that a talented freak. Spector produced albums by the Crystals, Darlene Love, the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers, John Lennon , the Ramones and Leonard Cohen’s famous disaster of an album, Death of a Ladies Man. His Wall of Sound production technique influenced Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run , among other albums. The scene in the trailer where Spector pulls a gun and shoots it into the ceiling next to a guitarist looks like it may be a recreation of a recording session with John Lennon. The former Beatle told Spector: “Phil, if you’re going to kill me, kill me. But don’t fuck with my ears. I need ‘em.” Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Even if you didn’t watch the big game last night, you know that a) Beyonce brought the house — or was it the lights? — down, and b) six big movie trailers aired during the game: Star Trek Into Darkness , Iron Man 3 , The Lone Ranger , Oz The Great and Powerful , World War Z and Fast & Furious 6 . All were designed to whet the record-setting viewing audience’s appetite for these films. Not all of them were successful. Below, I rank the trailers from worst to best in terms of how effective they were at making me want to see the movies they were promoting. 6. World War Z I’m no demographics expert, but I’ve got to imagine that there’s a fair amount of overlap between guys who like brutal football games and guys who like violent zombie stories. So, Paramount seems to have squandered a big marketing opportunity by running a commercial that was essentially a distillation of the trailer the studio released in November . The mayhem-on-a-plane scene doesn’t add much, although, taking into account similar scenes from the Iron Man 3 and Fast & Furious 6 ads, all the hot trailers have them these days. What this spot needed was at least one memorable close-up of the zombie terror that Brad Pitt & Co. face. Instead, I’m left with the impression that the notoriously troubled World War Z production may be seriously lacking in chills and thrills when it’s released in June. 5. The Lone Ranger Johnny Depp trumps Brad Pitt in my book, so this trailer has a slight edge over World War Z , but in 2013 it’s hard to get worked up over horses and railroads and a hero ( Armie Hammer ) whose costume consists of a party mask. And despite the powerful distraction that is the dead bird on Depp’s head , I can’t help but think of Wild Wild West when I see this movie advertised. 4. Oz The Great And Powerful Although there’s not a lot of new stuff to see in this trailer, the clip does a good job of selling this Wizard of Oz prequel as an action-packed and visually trippy story. (The bubble travel scene should appeal to Flaming Lips fans.) With Sam Raimi orchestrating all those A-list witches and special effects, this movie has potential and the Super Bowl clip got that across. 3. Fast & Furious 6 I came very close to putting this trailer higher up in the ranking because it’s so much damn fun to watch. But then I thought about the Fast & Furious movies that have come before this latest installment. The scenes of a tank crushing cars on a freeway and the F&F crew bringing down a jet plane with a grappling gun and a sports car are riveting, but this has never been a weighty franchise. So, I worry this is one of those trailers that gives away all the movie’s best bits — like Michelle Rodriguez’s unlikely return, for instance. 2. Star Trek Into Darkness J.J. Abrams had a little fun at our expense with this pulse-quickening spot. He has none other than James T. Kirk ask the question Star Trek fans are dying to have answered about the character Benedict Cumberbatch plays : “Who the hell are you?” The answer, as presented in the trailer, is pretty cheeky, too. “I am better…at everything!” really does make me want to see this guy get a one-way proton torpedo ride to Mustafar. Oh wait! That’s a Star Wars planet. Then again, that scene of Spock looking like he’s about to be engulfed my molten lava sure does look like the place where Obi-wan and Anakin Skywalker had their fateful Episode III duel. But I digress. If the Benedict Cumberbatch tomfoolery makes you groan, the scenes of a seriously malfunctioning U.S.S. Enterprise crash-landing on Earth will rock you. 1. Iron Man 3 (Extended Version) Even more proof that Robert Downey Jr. is the heart and soul of the Marvel movie universe right now. Having the actor break the fourth wall with an “extensive,” as he puts it, melodramatic look was a beautiful thing, and then the trailer just got better from there. We got to see a little more of Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin character — his mouth moved! Words came out of it! — Don Cheadle in the War Machine suit, and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan looking anything but gleeful. In fact, he’s on the floor and looking kind of wet, which is often PG-13-speak for bloody. That’s not a good sign. But what I’m really obsessing over is the trailer’s thrilling climax cliffhanger in which Iron Man has to figure out how to rescue 13 people who’ve been sucked out of a sabotaged Air Force One. As Jarvis, the Marvel equivalent of Siri, explains, Tony Stark’s superhero suit can only carry four. Do the math. That is effective marketing. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
I have never found Lana Del Rey all that hot…I mean she’s a whole lot of smoke and mirrors and post production…but I can’t really hate what she’s doing…her songs are not shit…her image isn’t all that bad…even if it’s fake or set up for the media….a packaged fucking good that has been marketed properly thanks to her daddy’s money…maybe…but it worked…people ate it up and to hate is just useless partially cuz she doesn’t know who I am…so my opinion is irrelevant…but more importantly….who fucking cares if she’s legit or not…she is making money, living the good life, and is not overly offensive about it…especially when she’s modeling in magazines showing a little tit…a little topless…I have no choice but to be a fan… To hate someone doing this climb to the top right goes against my life philosophy of hating people who don’t deserve this fame thing….her product is good and now she’s starting to look good…making all this good…..someone get me a thesaurus.
I don’t know if this is some model war shit…you know where they are pinned up against each other dressed in some lingerie under some sophisticated outfits they are being classic sexy in….in efforts to show off who is more sexy and who is the better one for the public’s affection….but I do know it is shot by Terry Richardson and is starring Emily Didonato a model I don’t think I’ve ever heard of and Lily Aldridge the Victoria’s Secret angel who used to do Tampax ads….but more importantly…I know they are battling…even if it is unofficial…and I know they are both lookin at these pics…trying to figure out who looks better….cuz girls are catty and competitive…and I guess that’s a good thing…cuz it makes them try harder…and as far as I’m concerned…they both look good to me.
Miley Cyrus may live a ridiculous sheltered existence where she can’t really leave her house or do normal things….like go to the movies, bike rides, dance parties…but she has all this money that allows her to bring the party to her….as she locks herself away in her castle…and gives us a glimpse into her wild and crazy life that remind us why all these celebs turn to drugs…cuz not being able to leave your house…unless you’re an anti social like me….seems fucking boring… And as long as she’s wearing low cut shirts and high waisted leggings in her boredom…putting her ass out there out of boredom…it is fun for me cuz I think Miley’s a total babe.
Following the path paved by fellow HBO hit Sex And the City , the pay network’s long running series Entourage has received the green light for the big screen from Warner Bros. The theatrical version of the series will be a sequel to the show, which ran on HBO for eight seasons from 2004 – 2011, according to Deadline . Entourage creator Doug Ellin will direct the movie from a screenplay he has written. Like the series, the feature will center around a rising film star and his inner circle. Deals with Entourage stars Adrian Grenier (Vincent “Vinnie” Chase), Kevin Connolly (Eric “E” Murphy), Kevin Dillon (Johnny Drama), Jerry Ferrara (Turtle), and Jeremy Piven, who plays Vinnie’s uber-agent Ari Gold, are underway. The feature-version of Entourage will open six months after the series finale and will center on Ari’s new career move. The HBO series climaxed with Piven’s character quitting the biz to fully commit to his troubled marriage with Mrs. Ari, played by Perrey Reeves. But the story was left hanging when Ari suddenly received news he’s being offered his dream job – running a studio. A start date for the project is still pending. “We’re teed up for a movie in a way that, you know, Ari has this conundrum that he’s facing,” Piven said last year according to Huff Post , adding, “Which is either to rule the world or to honor his love to his wife.” Executive producer Mark Wahlberg offered up what he’d like in the movie back in June of 2012: “I think a 90-minute movie of sheer craziness — the guys getting back to just being about the guys, you know? Lose the ladies. Go crazy. Give people what they want.” [ Sources: Deadline , Huffington Post ]
