Tag Archives: Actors

Sundance Debuts 13 Films Across Platforms Through Its ‘Artists Services’

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Even as it gears up for the launch of the Sundance Film Festival Thursday, the Sundance Institute unveiled 13 titles it is making available through a variety of platforms through its “Artist Services” program. Films include 2012 Sundance Film Festival titles Detropia , I Am Not A Hipster , The Atomic States of America and We’re Not Broke . Artist Services films are available on an array of online platforms including iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, SnagFilms, Netflix, SundanceNOW, VUDU, YouTube and more. “With the proliferation of new digital outlets these days, Sundance Institute saw a real need to help filmmakers and producers easily access these platforms and to provide  information on how best to navigate and take advantage of independent distribution,” commented Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute in a statement. “It’s exciting to see these filmmakers charting their own path towards finding audiences.” Sundance titles available starting January 15th: The American Astronaut (Director and Screenwriter: Cory McAbee) — Sundance Institute Screenwriter’s Lab Fellow Cory McAbee stars in his sci-fi feature film as an interplanetary trader. The film also stars 2012 Independent Spirit Award nominee James Ransone (Starlet, HBO’s Treme and The Wire) as Bodysuit. (2001 Sundance Film Festival)       The Atomic States of America (Directors: Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce) — Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce’s provocative documentary takes viewers on a journey to nuclear reactor communities across the country. (2012 Sundance Film Festival) Budrus (Director: Julia Bachas) — Documentary filmmaker Julia Bacha’s award-winning 2009 documentary follows a Palestinian community organizer who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save the village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Budrus was produced by Just Vision, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the power and  legitimacy of Palestinians and Israelis working nonviolently to end the occupation and  resolve the conflict. (2009 Sundance Documentary Film Grant) Detropia (Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady) — Winner of the Best Documentary Editing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for Gotham and Cinema Eye awards, Detropia chronicles the lives of several Detroiters trying to survive and make sense of what is happening to their city – once an industrial utopia, now on the brink of bankruptcy.  (2012 Sundance Documentary Film Grant, 2012 Sundance Film Festival) High School Record (Director and Screenwriter: Ben Wolfinsohn) — In Ben Wolfinsohn’s semi-improvised 2005 “mock doc,” four exceptionally awkward 17-year-olds struggle through their senior year as moments of humiliation and triumph are caught on tape in a documentary shot by fellow classmates at a performing arts high school. (2005 Sundance Film Festival) I Am Not A Hipster (Director and Screenwriter: Destin Daniel Cretton) — Featuring music by indie electronic band, Canines, and a break-out performance by Dominic Bogart (Flash Forward), Cretton’s music-focused drama premiered at sold-out screenings at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. (2011 and 2012 Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute Grant, 2012 Sundance Film Festival) Primer (Director and Screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — Shane Carruth’s cult classic won the Grand Jury Prize and Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Timed to the premiere of the director’s much-anticipated follow-up film, Upstream Color, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (2004 Sundance Film Festival) Pursuit of Loneliness (Director and Screenwriter: Laurence Thrush) — Award-winning director Laurence Thrush’s (Left Handed) 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere stars a cast of non-professional actors depicted in their own workplace roles. (2012 Sundance Film Festival) The Slaughter Rule (Directors: Alex Smith and Andrew Smith) — David Morse (Treme) and Ryan Gosling (Drive) star in Alex and Andrew Smith’s feature writing-directorial debut about a fatherless high-school quarterback. Nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards’ John Cassavetes Award.. (2002 Sundance Film Festival) Stingray Sam (Director and screenwriter: Cory McAbee) — Cory McAbee’s 2009 follow up to The American Astronaut features writer-director McAbee as Stingray Sam and “Crugie” as The Quasar Kid, two space convicts in a series of episodic adventures narrated by David Hyde Pierce (Frasier). (2009 Sundance Film Festival) to.get.her (Director and screenwriter: Erica Dunton) — Five teenage girls with a shared secret get together for a weekend of “no consequences” in this 2011 Sundance Film Festival premiere that won the Best of NEXT Audience Award. Actress-model Jazzy De Lisser stars in a “mystery” written and directed by Erica Dunton (The 27 Club). (2011 Sundance Film Festival) Wave Twisters (Directors: Eric Henry and Syd Garon) — Animators Syd Garon (Superheroes, Last Call at the Oasis) and Eric Henry’s “turntablism-based musical” won the 2001 Midnight Films Audience Award at the 2001 SXSW Film Festival. Scripted to a recording by “scratch” artist DJ Qbert, Wave Twisters follows a group of heroes traveling through inner-space on a quest to save the lost art of Hip Hop. (2001 Sundance Film Festival) We’re Not Broke (Directors: Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce) — A timely exposé on how the government has allowed U.S. corporations to avoid paying taxes, and the growing wave of discontent that is has fostered. A 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere from the filmmakers of The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)

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‘Twins 2,’ ‘Predator’ Hypotheticals, And Handwritten Highlights From Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Reddit AMA

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Oh, that Arnold Schwarzenegger . Even taking on the infamous Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) , the ex-Governator did things the Arnold way . From pimping his action movie comeback The Last Stand to delighting the internetz with handwritten (via iPad) quips and quotes (” It’s not a tumor! — Arnold “) to taking the briefest of political detours as he set fanboy hearts a’flutter, Schwarzenegger proved he’s still got what it takes to charm the fickle masses. (We’ll see if they vote this weekend where it really counts: At the box office.) Arnold, who returns to the big screen in Korean director Kim Jee-Woon’s contemporary Western The Last Stand this Friday, on which directors he’d still love to work with : “I would like to work with Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg . Also Sam Raimi would be great to work with.” Regrets — I think we can imagine Arnold has a few. But can you guess his greatest regret of all? “I most regret not doing The Rock . I love the movie, and it turned out well. When it was offered to me there was only an 80 page script with a lot of handwriting and scribbles and it didn’t seem fully baked. But they obviously did a fantastic job.” You know, typing on a keyboard can be so cumbersome. (Plus, anyone’s assistant/intern/publicist can do it on their behalf… just sayin’.) So Arnold took to his iPad to bang out some handwritten AMA answers in glorious Arnold cursive. Like this confirmation that the already-confirmed Twins sequel is indeed happening : The eternal question: ” Is it a tumor? ” Of course, the former California governor had to balance things out with some politi-speech real talk about the Republican party : “The most important thing is that we need to be a party that is inclusive and tolerant. We can be those things and be the party we always have been. We need to think about the environment — Teddy Roosevelt was a great environmentalist and people forget Reagan was the one who dealt with the ozone layer with the Montreal protocol. We also need to talk about healthcare honestly — Nixon almost passed universal healthcare. We need to have an talk about immigration and realize you can’t just deport people. We need a comprehensive answer. We also need to stay out of people’s bedrooms. The party that is for small government shouldn’t be over-reaching into people’s private lives. Mainly, we need to be a party where people know what we are for, not just what we are against.” …but he brought it back around to the important stuff : Would you rather fight 100 duck sized Predators or 1 Predator sized duck? “I would choose the 1 Predator sized duck instead of dealing with 100 duck-sized Predators. I’ve already fought a Predator-sized Predator so I am confident I could handle the duck.” [via Reddit ] Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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Movieline Live Blogs The 70th Annual Golden Globes Awards

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Welcome to Movieline’s live coverage of the 70th Annual Golden Globes Awards. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler should be out any minute now, and we’ll keep you updated on the good, the bad and the ugly after the jump.

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Hold Onto Your Butts, ‘Jurassic Park 4’ Has A 2014 3-D Release Date

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Even if we won’t be getting dino-men hybrids with guns, here’s the second-best possible news for Jurassic Park fans: Universal announced today that Jurassic Park 4 will be in theaters on June 13, 2014. In 3-D! Breaking News! Jurassic Park 4 is coming June 13, 2014! What do you hope to see in the new sequel? Follow @ JurassicPark3D ! #JP4 #JP3D — Universal Pictures (@UniversalPics) January 11, 2013 Per Deadline , Jurassic Park 4 will be shot in 3-D; Steven Spielberg is producing, although a director has yet to be named. The script is by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver , who wrote Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the forthcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , and therefore know a thing or two about making human vs. nature conflict entertaining. The news has already spawned speculation over who might get the directing gig. (J.J. Abrams and Rupert Wyatt, Forbes wild-guesses ?) Chime in with your own director wish-list and stay tuned for more Jurassic musings… Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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Ben Affleck Goes For Gracious Post-Oscar Passover

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

“I would like to thank the Academy… I’m kidding, I’m kidding. This is the one that counts,” joked Ben Affleck Thursday night at the Critics Choice Awards, accepting his Best Director prize at the event hosted by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. If Affleck was more than simply disappointed by being passed up by the Academy in the Best Director category for Argo in yesterday’s Oscar nominations , he didn’t show it at last night at the event. [Related: Critics Choice Awards Spread The Love Around, Name ‘Argo’ Best Picture AND Academy Award Nominations — What Were The Biggest Snubs & Shocks Of The 2013 Oscar Noms? ] “It doesn’t feel like [I got robbed],” Affleck told Access Hollywood at the Critics Choice Awards. “We not nominated for Best Picture and seven other nominations. I guess I would of liked to personal have two or like three, four or five for myself, but I’ll take whatever we got – it’s a pretty cool thing.” Affleck along with other heavyweight Oscar contenders Kathryn Bigelow, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson were passed over Thursday morning in Oscar’s Best Director category. The actor/filmmaker won an Academy Award in 1998 for Best Screenplay with pal Matt Damon in 1998 for Good Will Hunting . “If you go into the situation where you think you’re entitled to get nominated, you’re probably in trouble,” added Affleck. “The best picture nomination is an acknowledgement and then we got seven other nominations. Editing, score and all these like people who worked really hard. So, it’s really satisfying to see those folks get acknowledged.” [ Source: Access Hollywood ]

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WATCH: Werner Herzog Takes On Siberia In ‘Happy People: A Year In The Taiga’ Trailer

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Fittingly, the trailer for Happy People: A Year in the Taiga opens with Werner Herzog ‘s hypnotic voice introducing a land that is more than worth a visit — if even via the courtesy of a filmmaker’s lens. Herzog returns to nature in the ode of Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Encounters at the End of the World , which captures life in the remote village of Bakhtia along the Yenisei River in the Siberian Taiga. “It is one-and-a-half times the size of the United States,” Herzog booms out. Co-directed by Dmitry Vasyukov, Music Box Films will release the film packed full of dreamlike scrapes of tundra, ice and pristine expanses January 25th. It is “A mesmerizing Walden-like ode,” noted Variety. Escape the day for a few moments with the trailer below. Official log-line: Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, Werner Herzog takes viewers on yet another unforgettable journey into remote and extreme natural landscapes. The acclaimed filmmaker presents this visually stunning documentary about the people living in the heart of the Siberian Taiga. Deep in the wilderness, far away from civilization, 300 people inhabit the small village of Bakhtia at the river Yenisei. There are only two ways to reach this outpost: by helicopter or boat. There‘s no telephone, running water or medical aid, The locals, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last centuries, live according to their own values and cultural traditions. With insightful commentary written and narrated by Herzog, Happy People: A Year in the Taiga follows one of the Siberian trappers through all four seasons of the year to tell the story of a culture virtually untouched by modernity.

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What People Are Missing In The NY Times Story On Lindsay Lohan

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

After Lindsay Lohan’s  got busted for allegedly slugging another woman at a New York nightclub in November, I wrote her off as a lost cause , but Stephen Rodrick’s fascinating New York Times piece  about Paul Schrader’s making of The Canyons with Lohan left me thinking that there’s still a talented actress in that scandal-ravaged psyche worth saving. Although Lohan exhibits plenty of ridiculous (and tragic) behavior in the story that would prove my original point, and the media has predictably chosen to run with that, I was struck by a few passages in the story that indicate Lohan is more than just a self-destructive starlet whose career is hanging by a thread.  Here are three of them: “The next day, Lohan arrived relatively on time for a makeup test. She sat behind a table with a can of Sprite, looked into the camera and flashed a wholesome smile that would not have been out of place in the world’s best soda commercial. Schrader grabbed my arm and pointed at Lohan’s image. ‘See? That’s why we put up with all the crap. You can shoot bad movies with actresses who are always on time. But look! The rest is just noise.’” Then there’s Rodrick’s description of Lohan’s preparation for a scene in which she was required to be scared and emotionally naked: “All that remained was to get a close-up of Deen touching Lohan’s face with a blood-streaked finger. Only half of Lohan’s face would be in the shot. Most actresses would pop in some Visine to well their eyes with tears and be done with it. Instead, Lohan went back to her room, and everyone waited. I was standing by her door, and soon I could hear her crying. It began quietly, almost a whimper, but rose to a guttural howl. It was the sobbing of a child lost in the woods. She came out of her room, and I watched the shot on a monitor. Now, without the garish makeup, Lohan looked sadly beautiful, and it was easy to see why men like Schrader were willing to put their lives in her hands.” The last excerpt appears at the very end of the story when, after all of the drama of shooting The Canyons,  Rodrick asks the writer of Taxi Driver and the director of Affliction and the underrated Auto Focus , if he regretted casting Lohan: “He shook his head. “No, she’s great in the film.” Schrader then told me a secret. Until the screening disaster, Schrader had been in talks with Lohan to star in a remake of John Cassavetes’s “Gloria,” about a woman on the run from the mob. The director lighted up, childlike; hope triumphing over memories of being stripped naked. “It doesn’t involve a co-star. She would be perfect for it.” One of the things that makes Rodrick’s piece so good is that with passages like that, the reader has to make a judgement call: Is Schrader deluded because he really needs this film to move the needle, or is that the veteran filmmaker in him — the one who’s worked with Robert De Niro , Martin Scorsese and his brilliant, late brother Leonard Schrader — talking?  I say it’s a mixture of both, but more of the latter. And though Rodrick certainly leaves the impression that The Canyons is a problematic film (that was rejected by the Sundance Film Festival), he also writes this passage about Lohan’s performance that suggests that, with a lot of tough love and self-discipline, her career is salvageable. “But about 15 minutes in, something clicked….Lohan was equal parts vulnerable and dissolute.” I know what you’re thinking: That line is a distillation of Lohan’s recent life, but go back and re-read the description of Lohan’s crying scene. In the right hands, Lohan is capable of tapping into all of chaos and pain she’s experienced and putting it into her performance. It’s too bad that Exorcist: The Beginning was such a debacle for Schrader.  LiLo could probably turn in quite a performance as a woman possessed.  As the Times piece demonstrates, the promising actress that Lohan once was is still alive in her.  It’s just that the demons keep dragging her down. More on Lindsay Lohan: Lindsay Lohan Busted Again − Is She Beyond Help? Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter.  Follow Movieline on Twitter. 

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Critics Choice Awards Spread The Love Around, Name ‘Argo’ Best Picture

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On the heels of this morning’s surprising and not-so-surprising Oscar nominations , the Broadcast Film Critics Association handed their Critics Choice Awards to a rather familiar bunch as Lincoln , Silver Linings Playbook , Argo , Zero Dark Thirty , and Skyfall nabbed multiple major honors. In fact, the BFCA, an organization comprised of TV, radio, and online journalists, spread the love around to cover just about every Oscar favorite and token consolation prize there is. Take your bow, Cloud Atlas ! One thing’s clear: At least as of the close of voting on January 8, the critics’ group was feeling the Argo love. As Zero Dark Thirty and Les Miserables cool off in the Oscar race, Ben Affleck — snubbed for the Oscar, but honored with the Critics Choice Award for Best Director — and his jaunty ensemble period picture has been sneaking back into the hearts and minds of, at least, certain pundits. The BFCA/Critics Choice Awards tend to feel like the middle ground between the Golden Globes and the Oscars in terms of sensibility and taste, while the inclusion of separate Action and Comedy categories and acting subcategories give these voters every opportunity to strategically dole out awards to the widest variety of films. More power to Jennifer Lawrence , then, who was nominated as Best Action heroine and earned not one, but two additional nods for Silver Linings Playbook , for which she vied in both the Comedy and the straight dramatic Best Actress categories. Meanwhile, Jessica Chastain won the main Best Actress race, allowing both Oscar front-runners to win. That makes everyone happy, right? WINNERS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS: Best Picture – Argo Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis ( Lincoln ) Best Actress – Jessica Chastain ( Zero Dark Thirty ) Best Supporting Actor – Philip Seymour Hoffman ( The Master ) Best Supporting Actress – Anne Hathaway ( Les Miserables ) Best Young Actor/Actress – Quvenzhane Wallis ( Beasts of the Southern Wild ) Best Acting Ensemble – Silver Linings Playbook Best Director – Ben Affleck ( Argo ) Best Original Screenplay – Quentin Tarantino ( Django Unchained ) Best Adapted Screenplay – Tony Kushner ( Lincoln ) Best Cinematography – Claudio Miranda ( Life of Pi ) Best Art Direction – Sarah Greenwood/Katie Spencer ( Anna Karenina ) Best Editing – William Goldenberg/Dylan Tichenor ( Zero Dark Thirty ) Best Costume Design – Jacqueline Durran ( Anna Karenina ) Best Makeup – Cloud Atlas Best Visual Effects – Life of Pi Best Animated Feature – Wreck-It Ralph Best Action Movie – Skyfall Best Actor in an Action Movie – Daniel Craig ( Skyfall ) Best Actress in an Action Movie – Jennifer Lawrence ( The Hunger Games ) Best Comedy – Silver Linings Playbook Best Actor in a Comedy – Bradley Cooper ( Silver Linings Playbook ) Best Actress in a Comedy – Jennifer Lawrence ( Silver Linings Playbook ) Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie – Looper Best Foreign Language Film – Amour Best Documentary Feature – Searching for Sugarman Best Song – Skyfall Best Score – John Williams ( Lincoln ) PREVIOUSLY IN AWARDS SEASON: Academy Award Nominees Announced – ‘Lincoln’ Leads 2013 Oscar Noms Academy Award Nominations — What Were The Biggest Snubs & Shocks Of The 2013 Oscar Noms? Academy Award Nominations − The Behind-The-Scenes Winners & Losers Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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Will Ferrell, Ryan Gosling "Knife Guys" Show Rudely Preempted By Jimmy Kimmel Live

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Pity the cutting-edge duo of Will Ferrell and Ryan Gosling. Their (fake) “Knife Guys” show, where the actors sell the latest and greatest in knives, was rudely interrupted by Jimmy Kimmel Live at its new 11:35 p.m. time slot. Take a look below: Knife Guys Ft. Will Ferrell & Ryan Gosling QVC has nothing on Ryan and Will, are we wrong? Kimmel made a strong debut opposite Leno and Letterman this week and is by all accounts a hilarious dude … but admit it, you’d rather watch Knife Guys .

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Academy Award Nominations — What Were The Biggest Snubs & Shocks Of The 2013 Oscar Noms?

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Whatever your Oscar nomination predictions were, you were wrong: This morning’s Academy Awards announcements by host Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone jolted Oscarwatchers awake with surprises and snubs so shocking they made everyone forget within minutes that MacFarlane made a Hitler joke, live, before six in the morning, setting the tone for his upcoming hosting gig. From all the Beasts of the Southern Wild love to the freezing out of shoo-ins Kathryn Bigelow ( Zero Dark Thirty ), Ben Affleck ( Argo ), and Tom Hooper ( Les Miserables ) from the Best Director race, which were the biggest shocks of the morning? [ Get the full list of 2013 Oscar nominees ] WTF, BEST DIRECTOR RACE? It was the most unexpected category of the bunch: Major snubs for Bigelow, Affleck, and Hooper shake up the Best Picture race, and the confidences of Oscar prognosticators everywhere. With Steven Spielberg ( Lincoln ), Ang Lee ( Life of Pi ), and David O. Russell ( Silver Linings Playbook ) competing against Michael Haneke ( Amour ) and Zeitlin ( Beasts of the Southern Wild ) the temperature of the Best Pic/Best Director races changes drastically. I was so sure the Academy would get suckered in by Hooper’s uber close-ups that the fact that he wasn’t nominated makes me think Oscar voters aren’t such easy lays after all… WHERE’S LEO? Christoph Waltz’s Best Supporting nod for Django Unchained (which scored fewer nominations than expected/hoped) pushed cast mate Leonardo DiCaprio out despite his Golden Globes nod. JOHN HAWKES IN THE SESSIONS It’s too bad the great John Hawkes wasn’t recognized for his work as a paraplegic poet in the underseen The Sessions , because it’s some of the best acting of the year. MARION COTILLARD IN RUST AND BONE Guess two French ladies in the Best Actress race was two too many. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay) Who knew the Academy had so much love for Benh Zeitlin’s little Sundance darling? Quvenzhané Wallis becomes the youngest Best Actress nominee in Oscars history — vying against Amour ‘s Emmanuelle Riva, the oldest — but who out there actually predicted Zeitlin would get a coveted Best Director nod while so many front-runners were left out in the cold? And while we’re on the subject of Beasts star Wallis: How great is it that the Oscar-watching world will soon know how to pronounce “Quvenzhané?” I can already see MacFarlane’s telecast writing staff furiously scribbling their “Uma-Oprah”-esque gags. ZERO DARK OSCARS Critics and pundits had Bigelow’s bin Laden pic riding high as an Oscar hopeful before this morning, but even with Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay nods the Bigelow snub puts ZDT ‘s potency into question. Did the torture controversy and assorted Congressional hullabaloos dampen the film’s buzz, or did its dispassionate mood leave voters a bit cold? SKYFALL FOR BEST SCORE Methinks Academy members confused Adele’s fantastic Skyfall theme song with the Bond pic’s score, because one stuck to my bones and the other, well, did not. These folks clearly saw Beasts of the Southern Wild , which boasted one of the best original scores of the year but didn’t earn a musical nod. OH, AND ALSO THE SIMPSONS GOT AN OSCAR NOMINATION “Maggie Simpson attends the Ayn Rand Daycare Center, where she finds a caterpillar and faces off against her nemesis.” Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare will compete in the Animated Shorts race vs. Disney’s Paperman , among others. Were you shocked and awed by the Academy’s surprise moves? Chime in below with your reactions! RELATED ARTICLES: Academy Award Nominees Announced – ‘Lincoln’ Leads 2013 Oscar Noms Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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