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Introducing a sneak peek at the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness in a special IMAX 3-D presentation for press Sunday night, director J.J. Abrams warned of the “doom and gloom” throughout his May 2013 sequel. “There’s a lot of intensity in this, and a little bit of gloom,” he admitted, “but it’s also fun.” In true Abrams fashion, that’s about all he said before he exited the theater, taking the truth about who the heck Benedict Cumberbatch is playing in Star Trek 2 with him. (The first nine minutes will debut in theaters on December 14, attached to select IMAX screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey . Read on for details, speculation, guesstimates, and wild theorizing about what’s in store in Star Trek 2 based on the tease.) What’s revealed in the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t so much telling as it is intriguing, moreso for the Trek fans out there who’ll get every little familiar line of dialogue and nod to the O.G. Trek series, of which there are many. But fair warning, Trekkies: Judging from this tease and the footage Paramount has already released, Abrams knows that you’re reading into every little clue — and he’s playing you like a violin. Here’s why: Star Trek Into Darkness opens in a prologue, in a beautifully shot, blue-tinged London, Stardate 2259.55. A couple (Noel Clarke and Nazneen Contractor) wake up and drive their hover car to visit their child in the hospital. We don’t know their names, or hear them speak, but we wonder; could their last name possibly, just possibly, be Singh? Maybe, maybe not. Their sick child is a daughter (strike that, it’s not a young Khan — or is it ??*), bedridden by an unspecified illness. The father is approached by a stranger whose voice we hear first: “I can save her.” It’s Benedict Cumberbatch, and he’s the villain, which we know because the camera closes in until his face fills the IMAX screen as Michael Giacchino’s score swells with tense, ominous notes. Cut to the crew of the Enterprise, who we find in the middle of their latest mission on the Class-M planet Nibiru, where Bones and Kirk are racing through vivid red-tinged forests being chased by members of a chalk-faced, spear-chucking indigenous race. From a cruiser flying in the skies above, Spock drops into an erupting volcano to save the planet as Uhura looks on. Regrouping with the rest of the crew on the Enterprise — which is parked discreetly underwater in the middle of an ocean — Kirk wrestles with a familiar-sounding quandary: Save Spock by taking the Enterprise out of hiding, therefore violating the Prime Directive by exposing the inhabitants of Nibiru to technology they’re not ready for, or sacrifice Spock because, as one character indeed utters, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Kirk asks what Spock would do if their situations were reversed. “He’d let you die,” Bones replies, and the opening sequence closes with a cliffhanger. More previously seen trailer-y shots close out the nine-minute sneak, with Cumberbatch growling lines like “You think you’re safe? You are not ” and “Is there anything you would not do for your family?” Alas, it doesn’t offer any further details of the hands-on-glass shot that had Trek -watchers a’flutter watching the recently-released Japanese trailer. At this point I’ve heard about a thousand differing theories as to whom exactly Cumberbatch’s villain will turn out to be. My first thought during the nine-minute prologue was Khan, because YOU GUYS THEY QUOTE WRATH OF KHAN , but there’s something about that idea that seems just too easy. I’m leaning toward an amalgam of Gary Mitchell and Khan, an idea so crazy it might just work in this new Abrams era of playing in the Trek sandbox without having to stay within previously established canon. Why not make the ‘Batch some sort of Mitchell-Khan hybrid? Try this on for size: Benemitchell Khanderbatch . Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? It’s worth noting that, while Star Trek Into Darkness was post-converted to 3-D, the 3-D footage went over well. There are a good many close-ups and scenes featuring brilliantly vivid, swirling pieces of debris and lava and even, at one point, a barrage of spears raining down around Kirk and McCoy as they run through the jungle in a sequence that so calls to mind Raiders of the Lost Ark that it’s probably safe to call it homage. *This is completely wild, “What if?” speculation, but how cool would it be if Abrams’ Trek films did introduce Khan — only as a woman? Discuss . Star Trek Into Darkness is in theaters May 17, 2013; look for the nine-minute preview attached to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in select IMAX screenings, full list here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
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‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Nine-Minute IMAX Prologue: Doom, Gloom, and Benedict Cumberbatch
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Tagged abrams, Actors, awards, benedict cumberbatch, chase, chuck, crew, Family, films, imax, japanese, khan, London, prime-directive, the-nine-minute
If American Psycho ‘s Patrick Bateman were a film critic, he’d be Bret Easton Ellis. When he’s not promoting his film The Canyons — directed by Paul Schrader and starring Lindsay Lohan — on Twitter, Ellis has been blowing shotgun-sized holes in some of the awards season’s biggest films. The Less Than Zero author contends that Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow is “really overrated,” and Les Misérables makes him miserable. (According to him, it’s an “incomprehensible mess.” ) Life of Pi fares better, though Ellis would like to see that film’s young star Suraj Sharma get into porn. Oh yeah, and he also claims that the Academy “hates” The Dark Knight Rises . Below, a sampling of Ellis’ critical stylings, not necessarily in chronological order: Zero Dark Thirty: Kathryn Bigelow would be considered a mildly interesting filmmaker if she was a man but since she's a very hot woman she's really overrated.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 06, 2012 Kathryn Bigelow: Strange Days, K-19 The Widowmaker, Blue Steel, The Hurt Locker. Are we talking about visionary filmmaking or just OK junk?— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 06, 2012 Silver Linings Playbook: “Zero Dark Thirty” might win critics awards but “Silver Linings Playbook” will win the Best Picture Oscar. This is how it always happens…— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 06, 2012 Les Misérables: The film version of “Les Miserables” is so bad that it made me rethink why I ever loved the stage version. 2 hours and 40 minutes of tacky.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 05, 2012 The one actor surviving the incomprehensible mess “Les Miserables” is Eddie Redmayne, who should get an award for avoiding humiliation…— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 05, 2012 Tom Hooper blows just about every song in “Les Miserables” including “On My Own” which I didn't think possible no matter who directed it…— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 05, 2012 Oh yeah and I forgot: “Les Miserables” opens on Christmas Day and (spoiler alert!) just about everyone in it dies. Merry fucking Christmas.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 05, 2012 Life of Pi: Life of Pi is the movie I've thought about the most in 2012. As a writer I can't reconcile with its disturbing reveal: illusion vs. reality?— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 04, 2012 Suraj Sharma gives an amazing and incredibly moving performance in “Life of Pi” and seriously needs to do some porn. Misspelling: my fault.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 04, 2012 Killing Them Softly Based on the terrific source material “Killing Them Softly” doesn't work at all, but the actor Scoot McNairy is now officially on the radar.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 04, 2012 “Killing Them Softly” starring Brad Pitt is one of only eight films in Cinemascore's history to receive an “F” grade but…”Troy” didn't?!?— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 04, 2012 How the Academy will vote: The Academy is going to go for Silver Linings Playbook and not Lincoln.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 03, 2012 The Academy hates The Dark Knight Rises because I sat in that theater that night and listened to the banter in the lobby afterwards.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 03, 2012 There's not a chance in hell that Ang Lee will win best director. That will be a fight between Ben Affleck and David O. Russell. Haneke? No.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 03, 2012 I’m not sure if Ellis’ most recent tweet is a reaction to reaction to his withering perspective, but, as you might expect, he’s unrepentant: Anyone Unfollowing me should have known better and never Followed me in the first place. Wise up: pussies and snowflakes. Get the F over it.— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 06, 2012 Watch your back, Sandy Kenyon. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
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Bret Easton Ellis Is The Patrick Bateman Of Film Criticism
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Tagged actor, awards, bret easton ellis, Christmas, internet, life of pi, Lindsay Lohan, miserables, movie, psych, silver, the-impossible, trailer, tv guide
If you lived through Watchmen ‘s troubled journey to the screen, Zack Snyder ‘s Man of Steel doesn’t exactly make one feel like leaping the nearest tall building. Watchmen is the platonic ideal of missing the forest for the trees, and as for his work overall, there’s only so many times you can see slow-motion downward-punching before you start to wonder if his characters are suffering from undiagnosed strokes. That Man of Steel is being exec produced by Chris Nolan should be a point in its favor, but after The Dark Knight Rises , in which we’re expected to believe the same government that secretly assassinated Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan can’t handle an ostentatious blowhard taking over an American city, I can’t help but fear for the grim, poorly plotted future in store for Superman. Man of Steel ‘s marketing hasn’t helped. The first teaser came off like the last five minutes of every episode of The Incredible Hulk *, the only thing missing being sad piano music to really nail down the emo superhero mood, and the posters have been as dull as Lex Luthor’s scalp after a busy day plotting world conquest. But hang on, look, up in the sky! It’s a new poster, and it’s actually interesting . Superman, handcuffed and flanked by soldiers, appears on his way to the big house, and for the first time I’m suddenly intrigued by this thing. Why the hell is Superman willingly submitting? (Obviously, he’d have to be volunteering for incarceration, unless the film uses something like the Inhibitor concept from Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Oeming’s Powers .) Lex Luthor isn’t Man of Steel ‘s villain, but this conjures up the ‘Public Enemies’ arc from the Superman/Batman comic series. That storyline had newly-elected President Lex Luthor frame Superman and Batman for plotting the destruction of earth, and while Superman wasn’t jailed, he was chased around the world by law enforcement and deputized supervillains. Could we be seeing something like that play out here? Perhaps the actions of Man of Steel villain General Zod freak people out enough that Superman, having the same powers, is labeled a public menace and arrested. It would make sense for the big blue boy scout to set a good example by complying with the law. Whatever happens, at least we know it’s not just going to be a lot of super-moping. Unless of course he and Lois Lane break up over a completely solvable misunderstanding and Superman copes by making an iPod playlist of John William’s greatest movie scores. * I’ll admit Henry Cavill would make an awesome Bill Bixby . RELATED ARTICLES: Christopher Nolan Talks Batman Trilogy, Heath Ledger & ‘Man Of Steel’ Get A Peek At Superman in First Man of Steel Teasers: My Two Dads Ross Lincoln is a LA-based freelance writer from Oklahoma with an unhealthy obsession with comics, movies, video games, ancient history, Gore Vidal, and wine. Follow him on Twitter at @rossalincoln .
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‘Man of Steel’: Why Superman In Handcuffs Is… Promising
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Tagged artist, awards, batman-trilogy, handcuffs, Hollywood, Pictures, Superman, unless-the-film, video-games, work
As beloved and popular as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit has been in the seventy plus years since its publication, the simple adventure story has never been much more than prologue, a light and sunny rain compared to the epic hurricane force of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings , the transformative high fantasy quest narrative which C.S. Lewis once said contained “beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron.” The worst thing that could be said about Peter Jackson ‘s fourth cinematic foray into Middle Earth, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , is that it follows suit, being merely good when greatness was anticipated or expected. As with Lord of the Rings , but perhaps never more so than in The Hobbit , Jackson brings a plain earnestness to the material which matches Tolkien’s direct and straightforward narrative voice. There’s awe and wonder to be found beyond The Shire as the eponymous hobbit, Bilbo, (Martin Freeman) and a band of fierce but merry dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), embark on their adventure towards the dragon Smaug’s stronghold deep within The Lonely Mountain, but never any slyness or irony, no winks at the audience behind cynical detachment. (One earnest sequence in particular, in which Bilbo takes his leave of Gollum and then talks of what home means to the dwarves, recalls Sam’s speech at the end of Two Towers and will leave viewers’ hearts aching.) Jackson’s unwillingness to embrace anything other than earnestness in his original Lord of the Rings trilogy is in part what made those films resonate so strongly with early 21st century audiences. They contain silliness and laughter, but a silliness and laughter always carefully calibrated to service a delicate tonal balance. In those films, as in Tolkien’s original works, the story begins in Fellowship with the comical idea of an old hobbit’s birthday party, gradually elevating its register until, by the end of Return of the King , it becomes one of the greatest quest narratives ever filmed (or written). The problem with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as quest narrative, however, is that, for Tolkien, who wrote the story long before he ever put pen to paper on Lord of the Rings , that register never changes or elevates. Although in later years he would go back and make minor corrections to the original text to reflect updated plot points or characters, what starts with “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit” ends quite matter-of-factly in the same style, never going much beyond a simple and unpretentious adventure story for children. Jackson, taking on the task in reverse (creating his Hobbit after his Lord of the Rings ) occasionally missteps in his desire to combine the two stories into a tonally consistent whole, bringing silliness to moments that should be of great portent, and vice versa. For example: Many will point to Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy), with his jackrabbit sled and bird poop-bespotted hair, as an example of comic relief that goes too far. It doesn’t, but the general dottiness of the character comes at a moment in the film of great peril, when it is revealed for the first time that the villainous Necromancer who is troubling the borders of Mirkwood might, in fact, be the villain — the evil Sauron. Tolkien could avoid the confluence, but not Jackson, who in his fierce desire to make The Hobbit as tonally consistent with Lord of the Rings as possible mixes the two and finally pushes his finely-tuned and hard-earned cart over, unbalancing the film in this and other parts as he tries too hard to align it with his earlier work. Where Jackson might occasionally misstep tonally, he takes the reigns from the episodic original and runs with generally fantastic results through several narrative additions, all of which give the characters more agency in their own affairs. After the film’s somewhat meandering first half (which includes two separate dwarf musical numbers), Bilbo and Thorin succeed in, for instance, escaping the trolls and wargs with actual actions and choices, instead of a Deus Ex Gandalf . Though hardcore fans might scoff at the blasphemy of adding anything to the source material, even those things written by Tolkien himself in the appendixes, Jackson succeeds cinematically in pulling off the Orc/Dwarf Battle of Nanduhirion and the fleshing out of Azog as a dominant and recurring adversary. Less successful are scene additions consisting of actors reprising their roles from Lord of the Rings . While the stuff with Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Sarumon (Christopher Lee) at the White Council works like gangbusters, an early scene where Frodo (Elijah Wood) stands around and does nothing smacks of prequel-itis. Even with all these additions, or perhaps because of them (the film clocks in at a staggering 166 minutes, or about a minute for every two pages of text in the original — and there are two films left) An Unexpected Journey feels less like a self-contained narrative and more like a partial installment, in ways the Lord of the Rings films never did. Like Bilbo reflecting on his long path from The Shire and what it means to fight for a place to call your own, however, returning to Middle Earth feels right . And if it doesn’t quite soar as high in transformative joy or ecstasy as we thought it might… it’s still home. Note : I saw the film in 3-D at 24 fps. The 3-D adds nothing to the film, and is a surcharge to be avoided. READ MORE ON THE HOBBIT (In theaters December 14): ‘Hobbit’ First Review: 48 FPS Is ‘Eye-Popping,’ But Watch Out For The Jar Jar Binks Of ‘LOTR’ WATCH: Peter Jackson’s Hobbit Video Reveals Over Ten Minutes of Behind the Scenes Footage Shawn Adler is a film writer and interviewer based out of NYC. For his in-depth writing on genre films, Shawn was once called “The Harold Bloom of superhero trailers” by the “Hollywood Reporter.” It would be a mistake to simply think that nobody cares about that now. Nobody cared about it then either. You can follow him on Twitter @Lethrup . Follow Shawn Adler on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
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‘The Hobbit’ 3-D Early Review: Back Again, But Not Quite There
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Tagged awards, bilbo, celeb news, middle-earth, Movies, peter jackson, review, source, tolkien, transformative, white
Films starring Guy Pearce, Nicole Kidman , Alexander Skarsgard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Ashton Kutcher , Demi Moore and Naomi Watts are some of the highlights from world premieres that make up the 2013 Sundance Film Festival ‘s Premieres section. Organizers revealed its selections Monday, which includes Gordon-Levitt’s feature directorial debut, Don Jon’s Addiction . The eighteen titles include the latest from veteran filmmakers Richard Linklater , Michael Polish, Zal Batmanglij, Michael Winterbottom, Jane Campion, Park Chan-wook and David Gordon Green. [ Related: Check out Sundance’s Midnight and Spotlight Premieres , Also U.S. and World Competition as well as Next lineups ] The event also announced 11 non-fiction features that will screen in its Documentary Premieres section, including new work from Oscar winners Alex Gibney and Barbara Kopple in addition to the directorial debut from Foo Fighters frontman, David Grohl ( Sound City ). In all, Sundance will include 115 feature-length films, with 101 screening as World Premieres. “We are pleased to see a number of returning filmmakers in our Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections, indicating that there is sustainability, longevity and personal reward to careers in independent film,” said Sundance Film Festival Director John Cooper in a statement. “The films announced today build on each filmmaker’s personal artistic legacy and contribute to the ever-growing and inspiring achievements of the independent film community.” The 2013 Sundance Film Festival, January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. [ Related Interview: Sundance Director John Cooper Says ‘Fearlessness’ Distinguishes The Festival’s 2013 Slate ] Sundance Film Festival 2013 Premiere and Documentary Premiere with descriptions provided by the festival. PREMIERES A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated dramatic films of the coming year. Presented by Entertainment Weekly. A.C.O.D. / U.S.A. (Director: Stuart Zicherman, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke. Before Midnight / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Linklater, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater— We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Ariane Labed, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Breathe In / U.S.A. (Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones) — When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis. Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. The East / U.S.A. (Director: Zal Batmanglij, Screenwriters: Zal Batmanglij, Brit Marling) — An operative for an elite private intelligence firm goes into deep cover to infiltrate a mysterious anarchist collective attacking major corporations. Bent on apprehending these fugitives, she finds her loyalty tested as her feelings grow for the group’s charismatic leader. Cast: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez, Patricia Clarkson. The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete / U.S.A. (Director: George Tillman Jr., Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright. jOBS / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Michael Stern, Screenwriter: Matt Whiteley) — The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently. Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine. CLOSING NIGHT FILM The Look of Love / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. Lovelace / U.S.A. (Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Screenwriter: Andy Bellin) — Deep Throat, the first pornographic feature film to be a mainstream success, was an international sensation in 1972 and made its star, Linda Lovelace, a media darling. Years later the “poster girl for the sexual revolution” revealed a darker side to her story. Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, James Franco, Sharon Stone. The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman / U.S.A. (Director: Fredrik Bond, Screenwriter: Matt Drake) — Traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying. Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Til Schweiger. Prince Avalanche / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Gordon Green) — Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. Cast: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch. Stoker / U.S.A. (Director: Park Chan-Wook, Screenwriter: Wentworth Miller) — After India’s father dies in an auto accident, her Uncle Charlie comes to live with her and her mother, Evelyn. Soon after his arrival, India suspects that this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives but becomes increasingly infatuated with him. Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, Nicole Kidman. Sweetwater / U.S.A. (Directors: Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Screenwriter: Andrew McKenzie) — In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory. Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Steven Rude, Amy Madigan. Top of the Lake / Australia, New Zealand (Directors: Jane Campion, Garth Davis, Screenwriters: Jane Campion, Gerard Lee) — A 12-year-old girl stands chest deep in a frozen lake. She is five months pregnant, and won’t say who the father is. Then she disappears. So begins a haunting mystery that consumes a community. Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Holly Hunter, Peter Mullan, David Wenham. This six-hour film will screen once during the Festival. Two Mothers / Australia, France (Director: Anne Fontaine, Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton) — This gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship charts the unconventional and passionate affairs of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s sons. Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frechevile. Very Good Girls / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Naomi Foner) — In the long, half-naked days of a New York summer, two girls on the brink of becoming women fall for the same guy and find that life isn’t as simple or safe as they had thought. Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin. The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES Renowned filmmakers and films about huge subjects comprise this section highlighting our ongoing commitment to documentaries. Each is a world premiere. ANITA / U.S.A. (Director: Freida Mock) — Anita Hill, an African-American woman, charges Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in explosive Senate hearings in 1991 – bringing sexual politics into the national consciousness and fueling 20 years of international debate on the issues. The Crash Reel / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker) — The jaw-dropping story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snow boarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. An epic rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. SALT LAKE CITY GALA FILM History of the Eagles / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Ellwood) — Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Linsanity / U.S.A. (Director: Evan Leong) — Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway. Pandora’s Promise / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Stone) — A growing number of environmentalists are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that the most feared and controversial technology known to mankind is probably our greatest hope. Running from Crazy / U.S.A. (Director: Barbara Kopple) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate. Sound City / U.S.A. (Director: Dave Grohl) — Through interviews and performances with the legendary musicians and producers who worked at America’s greatest unsung recording studio, Sound City, we explore the human element of music, and the lost art of analog recording in an increasingly digital world. We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks / U.S.A. (Director: Alex Gibney) — In 2010, WikiLeaks and its sources used the power of the Internet to usher in what was for some a new era of transparency and for others the beginnings of an information war. When I Walk / U.S.A., Canada (Director: Jason DaSilva) — At 25, filmmaker and artist Jason DaSilva finds out he has a severe form of multiple sclerosis. This film shares his personal and grueling journey over the next seven years. Along the way, an unlikely miracle changes everything. Which Way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington / U.S.A. (Director: Sebastian Junger) — Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington’s work across the world’s battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession. The World According to Dick Cheney / U.S.A. (Directors: R.J. Cutler, Greg Finton) — How did Dick Cheney become the single-most-powerful nonpresidential figure in American history? This multi-layered examination of Cheney’s life, career, key relationships and controversial worldview features exclusive interviews with the former vice president and his closest allies.
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Sundance Film Festival Unveils Star-Studded Premieres & Documentary Premieres Lineup
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Tagged awards, brady-corbet, central-park, festival, films, first looks, history, huge, interview, joseph gordon levitt, Music, summer, women
Ben Mendelsohn has played a lot of memorable criminals over the last two years, but it’s sign of his chops that the performances have virtually nothing in common. The son of a neuroscientist and a self-described “autodidact,” Mendelsohn, 43, began as a TV actor in his native Australia in 1980s and encountered film stardom there in 1987 as the ill-fated juvenile delinquent Trevor in The Year My Voice Broke . In 2010, Mendelsohn gave another breakthrough performance as Andrew “Pope” Cody, the oldest son of a notorious Melbourne crime family, in David Michod’s chilling Animal Kingdom , and in the two years since has given three more riveting performances in key character roles. He played the oily and corrupt billionaire Daggett in the final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises . Early next year, he’ll be seen as Ryan Gosling’s cohort in crime in The Place Beyond The Pines , and this week he’s in theaters as the small-time heroin-addicted criminal Russell in Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly . Mendelsohn, who probably could have been a neuroscientist himself judging from the clinical, amused way that he looks at his craft, talked to Movieline about his friendship with Dominik , his work in The Place Beyond The Pines and Gosling’s upcoming directorial debut, How to Catch A Monster , and how his performance in Killing Them Softly compares to a classic-but-underrated AC/DC song. Movieline: I’ll get to Killing Them Softly in a minute, but I’ve got to ask you about your character in The Dark Knight Rises . Where did you learn to play a Wall Street scumbag so well? Mendelsohn: I think there’s a lot of mythos about what’s required in acting. The way that actors talk about acting is generally quite punishing, and I think actors want to put forward the idea that they do all of this work because, you know, it’s a post-De Niro world, when, largely, in fact, it’s almost never true. You know, if you want to encounter these [Wall Street] types, it’s very easy now to get a feel for them. You’ve got the Internet, and if you’ve got a few years on the clock, you will have met a few people like that. But script and context takes care of so much. Unless you’re no good at this at all, you should do fine. You and Andrew Dominik are both Australian. How did you come to work together? Andrew and I have known each other for an incredibly long time. I’m godfather to Andrew’s child. So we’ve been talking about working together, or rather, he has been dangling potential roles in front of my face forever. Let me give you a little Mendelsohn 101: I came up in television in the early- to mid- 1980s in Australia. By the time the late ’80s happened, I’m something of a young semi- Tom Cruise — you know, leading man-child around there. Andrew and I knew each other from the mid-’80s but we weren’t friends. We come from Melbourne, but we both ended up shifting to Sydney, and by the mid-’90s, we were thick as thieves. We used to spend like every day together. There was a gang of about five of us guys and we would hang out all the time. You know, I was the big swinging dick on campus and Andrew was this ad guy aspiring filmmaker. At one point, we were even talking about doing Chopper. And then Andrew suddenly became the dude, and he would talk to me about this role or that role, but he never gave me any of them. He talked about this one, too. I was in Australia and I got a very frantic call, “Can you put down a test?” And I’m like, “Okay, I’ll put down a test.” I put down a test, and I didn’t hear anything. Like two months went by, and I was about to take another job, and I got a very frantic emergency call from him pleading and imploring me to take the role. And I’m like, “You fucking idiot. Of course, I want to do it.” I was impressed by how different your performances are in Killing Them Softly , The Dark Knight Rises and The Place Beyond The Pines. You play a sort of criminal in each one but the characters are totally distinct. You’ve seen The Place Beyond the Pines ? Yes, I love the ambition of that movie — the way that the story keeps passing the baton to a different set of characters. Yeah, I’m very proud of it. I haven’t watched the films I’ve been in for 10 years prior to this but I’ve seen Killing Them Softly and The Place Beyond the Pines because both were in festivals where it would have been a big deal to walk out. I’m not a jerk-off about this stuff, but I’ve kept away from watching my stuff. Dark Knigh t — I haven’t seen. Why not? I actually think that it helps me to get better when I keep the mental slate clean of the result. I find that when I do watch the result, the stuff that I end up being concerned about is not stuff that I can actually do much about. And by that, I mean the way your face moves, the way — anyway, real actor bullshit. In Killing Them Softly , you play Russell, a low-level heroin-addicted criminal who provides some dark comic relief. It’s quite an intense, sweaty performance. Yeah, he feels disgusting. It’s filthy, filthy stuff. Patty Norris — God bless her, who’s on the short list of best production designers out there — put me in this horrendous acrylic sweatshirt and, it was very muggy in New Orleans. So you put it on and off you go. But the most important thing to figure out when you’re playing someone who’s really stoned or out of it is, you basically want to let yourself go. You bend and sway and sort of get to be goofy, and that’s pretty relaxing. Watching you onscreen, I have to say, I felt like I was watching newsreels of Keith Richards from back in the 70s. Oh, that’s great. That’s highly praise, indeed. Look, there’s some brilliant footage of Sir Keith but he’s got a regalness to him, you know what I mean? Even during his post- Exile on Main Street period, there’s a regal royalty to his stoned-ness, whereas for me, Russell would be more like Lemmy [from Motorhead] if Lemmy was stoned — because Russell’s a bit rough. I can see that. Andrew and I plug into music a lot. We both happen to be very big, old AC/DC fans. So we use a lot of those templates too. We’ve got a bunch of good shorthand. So what AC/DC song best describes your performance in Killing Them Softly ? It is probably “The Jack,” or “Ain’t No Fun Waitin’ Around To Be A Millionaire.” It’s definitely high period Bon Scott — probably “Ain’t No Fun Waitin’ Around To Be A Millionaire,” which is a great, a profoundly underappreciated AC/DC song and one of my personal favorites. You and Scoot McNairy, who plays your partner in crime, have quite a realistic chemistry onscreen. Did you have to work at that? We were there first before anyone else, and we ended up staying the longest. We ended up living together and, I think that was the most important thing. Instead of standing there and pretending to be really angry with each other, we genuinely got to know each other. Once you find the things about each other that piss you off, that’s love. That’s love. You’re going to be in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, How to Catch A Monster . Did that happen because of your work together in The Place Beyond the Pines ? I’m pretty sure that The Place Beyond the Pines happened because of Ryan as well. I think Ryan had said to Derek, “What about him?” The [ Pines ] role, as it was on paper, at the time, was a lot different than what we ended up doing. I was originally going to play a very domineering, down-and-dirty, almost neo-Nazi puppeteer kind of dude who had gotten this guy [Gosling] who was vulnerable and was sending him out to do this stuff. That changed radically. We went a lot deeper in a very different direction, and it lent a very interesting twist to that relationship, which I think is quite beautiful. Can you tell me anything about your role in How to Catch A Monster? I think it’s probably too early. I’m not trying to be miserly about it, but you know, the part is still molten. It hasn’t set yet. We are very early in the figuring out phase of Ryan’s piece, but yeah I’m thrilled. I’m really thrilled about that one. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
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Tagged ac/dc, awards, internet, performance, place-beyond, softly, stars, stuff, the movieline interview, time
Welcome back to Movieline’s Oscar Index, where each week we take the pulse of the awards chatter en route to Hollywood’s big day. This week both Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty surged through the ranks after debuting in their first, successful, awards screenings, though Spielberg’s Lincoln still reigns supreme — but Peter Jackson ‘s 48fps gamble The Hobbit and Quentin Tarantino ‘s Django Unchained are right around the corner, gunning for the spotlight… The Leading 10 1. Lincoln 2. Les Miserables 3. Zero Dark Thirty 4. Argo 5. Silver Linings Playbook 6. Life of Pi 7. Django Unchained 8. Beasts of the Southern Wild 9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 10. Anna Karenina Outsiders: Skyfall , Moonrise Kingdom , Flight , The Dark Knight Rises , The Master Despite strong guild and critic screening debuts for Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty , which absolutely sealed their positions as Best Picture top dogs, Spielberg’s Lincoln is still holding onto its momentum and #1 spot in the race in the hearts and minds of pundits. Meanwhile, David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook searches for a way to keep up, while Fox Searchlight’s Beasts of the Southern Wild is making its surge, trotting out Spirit Award-nominated star (and Best Actress hopeful) Quvenzhané Wallis for awards events this week. Best Director 1. Steven Spielberg ( Lincoln ) 2. Kathryn Bigelow ( Zero Dark Thirty ) 3. David O. Russell ( Silver Linings Playbook ) 4. Ben Affleck ( Argo ) 5. Quentin Tarantino ( Django Unchained ) Spielberg still reigns atop the race, but this week’s Zero Dark Thirty splash should boost Bigelow above the ranks of Affleck, whose popular Argo treads similar true history ground but doesn’t match ZDT ‘s weightiness or relevancy. Russell’s staying in the game as well thanks to lingering Silver Linings love, but the Django curiosity factor props Tarantino up even though critics have yet to see it. Next: Who leads the pack for Best Actor & Actress?
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Oscar Index: Everything’s ‘Dark’ And ‘Miserables,’ Until We Get ‘Unchained’
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Tagged awards, director, django unchained, Hollywood, kathryn-bigelow, miserables, picture, ranks, silver linings playbook, southern, southern-wild, spotlight, tarantino
Once, Nicole Kidman barely had to raise an eyebrow to get awards attention. Now, she barely can raise an eyebrow and her best work in years is being completely ignored in the Oscar conversation. The Paperboy stars Kidman as Charlotte Bless, a damaged attention-seeker who becomes sexually obsessed with a convicted murderer ( John Cusack ), while cock-teasing the only man—or really, teenager—who truly loves her (Zac Efron). It’s Kidman’s bravest, boldest, and most committed performance ever, and no one cares for the short-sighted reason that the movie is terrible. How unfair. The Nicole Kidman of To Die For used to have a bright future before that bright future came true and blinded everyone to her comedic gifts. Once Kidman scored her first Oscar nomination for 2002’s Moulin Rouge , she became the prey of the Hollywood awards hunt, in which the chase for For-Your-Consideration goes like this: take one prestigious actress (see Kidman, Berry, Jolie, Swank), make her play someone vulnerable (see Cold Mountain , Things We Lost in the Fire , The Changeling , Conviction ), then cross your fingers. This is why we’ve had a full decade of Kidman drifting about in period costumes or, god forbid, stretching herself to play a movie star in Nine . And people, this is why the Oscar season is boring. This formula guarantees a chase to the middlebrow, and it’s why every Best Picture Oscar winner since Silence of the Lambs is something your grandma would see at an arthouse matinee. There’s only one thing we can do to save the Academy Awards: nominate Nicole Kidman for The Paperboy . Just because The Paperboy is bad doesn’t void the bravery it took to make it. Kidman’s Charlotte is a balls-out wonder. She’s pure sex and need, at once over-confident and fragile. Slithering around in her neon polyester pants, Kidman is fully alive for the first time since Baz Luhrmann murdered her with tuberculosis. And The Paperboy even has not one but two stand-out scenes that will live on in infamy—Sally Field standing on a table in Norma Rae can’t compete with Kidman peeing on Zac Efron or giving John Cusack an orgasm just by breathing at him from across a prison cell. Imagine if Oscar voters were able to parse the jewels from the schlock. Why should Les Misérables clutter up every acting category? What if this year’s ceremony didn’t just include the dull favorites like Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln and Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty —roles everyone respects, but no one loves—but made room for Michael Shannon in Premium Rush and Michael Sheen in Breaking Dawn – Part 2 . Imagine just being able to say, “The Academy Award-nominated bike messenger thriller Premium Rush .” Plus, this wouldn’t be the first time we’ve given an actor a statuette for good work in an awful film. We did it three years ago when Mo’Nique won for Precious . It’s no coincidence that Precious and The Paperboy were both directed by bizarro auteur Lee Daniels, a former casting agent and producer with the clout to get serious actors to take him seriously. He convinced the likes of Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to star in his debut film, Shadowboxer —-and that’s despite a script which opens with Stephen Dorff shoving a pool cue up a guy’s ass. In fact, let’s go one step further. Not only does Nicole Kidman deserve a Best Actress nomination for The Paperboy , Lee Daniels deserves Best Director. He’s clearly one of the greats. Not because his films are any good, but because his actors would do—and do do—anything for him. Anthony Minghella, Sidney Pollack, Rob Marshall only wish they could pull as passionate of a performance out of Kidman, and Daniels behind-the-scenes alchemy is that powerful with every single one of his actors. He not only convinced Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. to shoot a strip scene in Shadowboxer , he convinced them to commit to it like it was high art. And The Paperboy performs more stunt-casting miracles: An American sweetheart, John Cusack, is loathsome; Macy Gray is the next great actress and Zac Efron, convincingly, can’t get laid. Could Steven Spielberg swing that? Never. Luckily, we’re not alone in appreciating this wonderful, terrible gem. In October, a group of rogue cinephiles launched a For Your Consideration Facebook page flogging Nicole Kidman’s outstanding work in The Paperboy . As of today, the page has 10 fans. Let’s get that number growing.
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Hey Academy! Time To Take Nicole Kidman’s ‘Paperboy’ Role Seriously!
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Tagged awards, bennyhollywood, helen mirren, Hollywood, mountain, movie, paperboy, Sex, the paperboy, the-collection
Host announces ‘The Oscar Experience College Search,’ which will allow selected film students to appear live onstage at the awards show. By Kara Warner Seth McFarlane Photo: mtvU
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Seth MacFarlane Wants You To Be A Part Of The Oscars!
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