The filmmaker-critic relationship has always been complex — as demonstrated last weekend with hearty debate and even more heartfelt punches in the epic Joe Swanberg – Devin Faraci throwdown, henceforth known as the Mumble in the Jungle — but Sunday night, Looper director Rian Johnson and journalist Aaron Hillis united in sweet synergy to drop a rousing rendition of Weird Al’s Kinks-meets- Star Wars classic “Yoda.” I wish I had a futuristic time machine to take us all back to relive the moment with our younger selves, but this YouTube video capturing the entire number should suffice. There’s a long history of karaoke at film festivals, but rarely does festival karaoke reach the heights of the legendary magical musical moments at Fantastic Fest. This year celebrity karaoke began with Mexican recording artist and actress Laura Caro ( who won Fantastic Fest’s award for Best Actress for Here Comes the Devil ), who blew the roof off the Alamo Drafthouse’s Highball singing her signature cover of “I Will Always Love You” — the song that got her on Mexico’s American Idol -like La Academia . Sunday night the entire visiting Looper crew got in on the action as Noah Segan (AKA Looper ‘s Kid Blue) dueted with film journalista Karina Longworth and Tracie Thoms , who sang on freaking Broadway , crooned The Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly.” And of course, yours truly got up there one or two times to sing a little something. When in Austin… Reward Johnson’s tremendous karaoke effort by checking out Looper , in theaters this Friday. [Video via Todd Gilchrist ; Photo credit Jack Plunkett] Read more from Fantastic Fest! Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Also in Tuesday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, The Collection is set to open an L.A. horror fest. And a slew of films find U.S. homes and are headed to theater. The Collection Set for Screamfest Opener Marcus Dunstan’s horror The Collection will open the 12th annual Screamfest, taking place October 12 – 21 in Los Angeles. Starring Josh Stewart, Emma Fitzpatrick and Christopher McDonald, the film centers on a traumatized man forced to help rescue a beautiful woman who has become the latest obsession of a crazed killer who “collects” humans in a booby-trapped house of horrors. Both Dunstan and Melton will be in attendance for the opening night screening . Ginger & Rosa Heads to U.S. Theaters New distribution outfit A24 picked up Telluride and Toronto festivals’ Ginger & Rosa , starring Elle Fanning. Set in 1960s London, the film centers on two teen girls who rebel against their mothers against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis and nuclear fear. A24 will do a 2012 qualifying run for awards season, followed by a theatrical release in 2013. It will screen at the upcoming New York Film Festival. Alain Resnais’ You Aint Seen Nothin’ Yet Heads to Theaters U.S. rights to the film have been picked up by Kino Lorber and will have its North American premiere October 2nd at the 50th New York Film Festival. The film opens with a who’s-who of French acting royalty being summoned to the reading of a late playwright’s last will and testament. There, the playwright (Denis Podalydès) appears on a TV screen from beyond the grave and asks his erstwhile collaborators to evaluate a recording of an experimental theater company performing his Eurydice. But as the video unspools, instead of watching passively, these seasoned thespians begin acting out the text alongside their youthful avatars, looking back into the past rather like mythic Orpheus himself. The film will open in early 2013. Michael Walker’s Price Check Heads to North American Theaters IFC Films will open the comedy starring Parker Posey will open on VOD October 11th and theatrically on November 16th. The film revolves around Pete Cozy, who is having trouble with rising debt and hates his job. His new boss comes along and pulls Pete into a maelstrom and is made to work harder than before. He suddenly is finding opportunities, but may pay a price. Around the ‘net… President Obama Calls Innocence of Muslims a ‘Crude and Disgusting Video’ at U.N. Speaking at the General Assembly Tuesday, Obama said that while the video was reprehensible, it is not possible to ban the pic which has inflamed Muslims around the world. “Like me, the majority of Americans are Christian, and yet we do not ban blasphemy against our most sacred beliefs,” he said. “Moreover as President of our country…I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day, and I will always defend their right to do so…,” Deadline reports . Coen Brothers’ Fargo Set for Television Adaptation The filmmaking siblings will develop a television version of their hit Fargo . The 1996 film noir won two Oscars for best script and best actress. The original crime thriller starred Frances McDormand as a policewoman on the trail of two bumbling criminals, BBC reports .
Also in Monday morning’s round-up of news briefs, a Fox studio co-head prepares to leave, consolidating leadership at the movie giant. Author Salman Rushdie says a controversial book he published in ’88 would “never be published today.” And remembering film professional/journalist Sandy Mandelberger. Hezbollah Leader Calls for More Protests Against Anti-Muslim Movie Sheik Hassan Nasrallah called for protests to continue Monday as the fall out from the anti-Muslim video Innocence of Muslims appears to be continuing into another week. The news comes after the U.S. State Department called for the removal of non-essential personnel from its embassies and consulates in Tunisia and Sudan,” Deadline reports . Fox Filmed Entertainment Co-Chief Tom Rothman to Exit Studio Co-Chairman Tom Rothman is exiting Fox at the end of the year. Jim Gianopulos will become the sole Chairman/CEO at the studio, which will be consolidated into the freshly dubbed Twentieth Century Fox Film, Deadline reports . The Master Sets Specialty Box Office Record It’s not every weekend that a specialty film can claim a record, but The Master opened with an incredible $145,949 per-theater average, the best limited release ever for a live-action film, topping another record-breaker from earlier this year, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom , which bowed with with an average of $130,749 at four locations, Deadline reports . Salman Rushdie: ‘ Satanic Versus would not be published today’ The author said he thinks a climate of fear and reprisal exists today that would prevent him from getting his controversial 1988 novel The Satanic Versus from being published today. He said the banning of the book in many countries and the subsequent threats on his life including a fatwa by Iran’s then supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini, had created a “long-term chilling effect,” BBC reports . RIP Arthur Sandy Mandelberger Mandelberger was a film professional and journalist, most recently Editor in Chief of FilmFestivalToday. He died at 57 on August 29th and is survived by his mother Eta and his partner of 37 years, Richard and sisters Miriam and Fanny. He battled cancer for nine years and asked that any donations be made to the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Children of the Nintendo generation, take heed: Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph was made just for you. In addition to setting up a rather compelling hero’s journey for video game character Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) — an arcade villain who goes “game-hopping” to reinvent himself as the good guy — the animated adventure stuffs in more Gen X/Y video game references than you can count. Who will weep for Bowser as he gives his testimony at AA for baddies!? I say Nintendo generation (and by that, I mean NES) because we bridged the gap between the 8-bit/Atari era and the slicker Xbox crowd that followed years later. We who popped quarters into stand-ups and owned Sega Dreamcasts know the sorrow of saying goodbye. Wreck-It Ralph features the voices of Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz, Ralph’s 9-year-old new BFF from the Candyland-like game Sugar Rush, Jane Lynch as Sergeant Calhoun from the first-person shooter Hero’s Duty, and Jack McBrayer as Fix-It Felix, the handyman hero of Ralph’s world. Also onboard bringing Wreck-It Ralph to life: Dennis Haysbert, Mindy Kaling, Alan Tudyk, Rachael Harris, Ed O’Neill, Adam Carolla, Horatio Sanz, and Edie McClurg. Credit for the film’s fresh, zingy spirit goes to director Rich Moore, veteran of The Simpsons and Futurama , and a script credited to Phil Johnston ( Cedar Rapids ) and first-timer Jennifer Lee. Wreck-It Ralph hits theaters November 2. Verdict: Jokes! Drama! Q*bert! Maybe I’m still high off the nostalgia factor but I declare this a must-see. [Via Yahoo ]
It is by far and away no secret that Hollywood compensation for a certain cadre of stars have been rocketing beyond the stratosphere for some time now, but one A-lister, in the form of Brad Pitt , says that the era of paychecks reaching into the tens of millions for some may be coming to a close. Both he and his partner Angelina Jolie have topped (or nearly so) the scales for their movies in the past decade, with Pitt garnering a cool $25 million per pic. Not bad, but almost a paltry sum when compared to Tom Cruise, for instance, which Forbes listed as commanding a cool $75 million in 2012. But Pitt says he thinks that the conditions for unbelievable sums (at least for the bottom 99.7 per cent) may be heading back down to the mere stratosphere. “Yeah, that thing died,” Pitt said when asked if fellow A-listers can still easily command a $10 or so million per movie, according to BBC . “That arithmetic doesn’t really work right now…that deal’s not flying these days.” Going further on the economics of Hollywood right now, Pitt added, “”It’s a really interesting time. A lot of the studios have been challenged because of the economic downturn as well, so they’ve been betting on bigger, more tent pole kinds of things. At the same time that opens up a vacuum for really interesting new filmmakers to come in.” Pitt debuted Killing Them Softly in Cannes and is a producer on the title that will head to U.S. theaters next month. But not all films will automatically bring out the masses simply because their idols are in them. Nearly two hours of staring at Robert Pattinson sans vampirism failed to bring out the legions of people who otherwise crave to hear any tidbit possible about the latest travails of their obsession’s personal life. Cosmopolis , for instance, has only cashed in at $5.3 million worldwide so far (and only just over $700K in the U.S. – ouch). “You take the roles for the roles,” said Pitt. “And you’ve just got to balance economics like everyone does.”
Also in Friday morning’s round-up of news briefs, Sylvester Stallone ‘s son died of ‘natural causes.’ The Academy sets initial deadlines for awards consideration and more… Academy Sets Deadline for Shorts Documentary shorts are due by September 4 at 5pm PT. To be eligible, the documentaries must complete a seven-day commercial run in a theater in either Los Angeles County or in the Borough of Manhattan in New York, between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2012. Films completing their qualifying run after September 4 must still complete and submit all paperwork, including legal contracts, by the deadline. Go to their site for more information. CNN’s Piers Morgan: Clint Eastwood was ‘Hollywood Meets Politics Train-wreck’ “The address, which was slotted in ahead of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, did not quite go according to plan, with Eastwood running over time and going off script — in part to perform a monologue with an empty chair meant to represent Obama.” THR reports . Michael Pitt Joins Mary Pickford Pic The First Pitt will appear in the film, The First , about Hollywood legend Mary Pickford will begin production next year. He will play Owen Moore, Pickford’s first husband, Deadline reports . Sage Stallone Died of a Heart Attack Sylvester Stallone’s 36 year-old son Sage died due to blockage of the arteries said the L.A. county coroner. The death has been classified as “natural death” and toxicology results turned up only a small amount of the sedative hydrocodone, BBC reports . 50 Cent’s Manager Dead of Apparent Suicide Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Diddy have been paying tribute to the hip hop businessman on Twitter. Rihanna posted: “Rest peacefully Chris Lighty, my prayers go out to family and loved ones! Dear God please have mercy.” BBC reports .
Teyana Taylor gave us all a mouthful today. The singer, rapper, actress, dancer put it in her own words and explained how she brought back the “tomboy wave”. I Need To Let something be known, I see the blogs and individuals in general are quick to post my comments about starting this tomboy look and then twist shit like a micro braid, but let me take you somewhere real quick on what I meant. Yes I know about the late Aaliyah, TLC, Missy Elliot, Queen Latifah, Lady Of Rage, SWV, and X-Scape yes they are women who dressed like tomboys who were in this game long before me I salute & look up to them. When I stated that I started this tomboy wave I meant in terms of my era on & bringing it back. When I hit the scene back in 2005′/2006′ it was I and only I dressing in that style when it came to FEMALE ARTIST in this game and that’s a fact. CLEARLY NO DEBATING. I was doing the BBC cargo’s with the dunks, big hair under that 59/50 new era fitted. Rocking Jordans all crazy, I made that shit cool again no female in this game was going near it unless it was them being styled at a photo shoot, or a treatment in their video. Between my time and now, when you seen a young girl with that “Sexy Boyish” look she wasn’t thinking too much about the ladies before me, she was channeling the kid. Not to sound cocky but like come on let’s keep it a buck out here. People was calling me a dike because of this tomboy shit, these other girls you see ain’t have to go through that, the REAL tomboys were being called dikes. Just look at some of these people before they got signed, look at them in their high school days. Look at pictures of them when they first got signed, then do the same thing with me. The proof is in the pudding, and that pudding tasting real good right now. I’m not mad that people use an idea because I too may use an idea, I just do things in my own way, and I also do original things. Just don’t give credit to that person for starting a trend because their more famous, or have more records out, those are the people who take from the people who haven’t yet reached their level of success and we all know that its been going on before I was thought of. I love my style i love to dress, its fun to me and I just wanna be respected like any other person who started something or brought something back to life when people were to iffy to do it. Nobody can be mad at me for that, and if you do have a problem “oh well” who cares go talk to ya parents about it. I love my fans and all those who support Teyana Taylor because at the end of the day they know EXACTLY what it is.. Harlem- Hmmm…subliminal shade throwin’ at RihRih? We’re all glad you’re a proud tomboy Tey. Keep reppin’ for all of the sexy boyish ladies out there that are apparently stealing getting their style from you. Images via
Former NFL linebacker-turned-actor (not to mention past and future President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho ) Terry Crews took a slightly different journey to action stardom than folks like Sly Stallone , Bruce Willis , Dolph Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger ; his route carved a path through the comedy world, with turns in films including Friday After Next , White Chicks , and Balls of Fury . Cast as the bicep-flexing, quip-happy Hale Caesar in 2010’s The Expendables — a role he admits Wesley Snipes might have otherwise played if things had worked out differently — Crews more than earned his spot on the team, backed by Stallone’s vote of confidence: “He literally told me, ‘I’m going to make you an action star.’” Back alongside his brawny brethren in The Expendables 2 , Crews took time to share a few revelations about his Expendables experience with Movieline — starting with a surprisingly in-depth analysis of the art of delivering the perfect action movie one-liner. What is the secret to delivering the perfect one-liner in a movie like The Expendables 2 ? It’s funny because Sly, Bruce and Arnold kind of perfected it — and let me tell you a little thing that a lot of people don’t know. In the first Expendables there were a ton of monologues, and I mean monologues. Mon-o-logues. Everywhere! I remember I had a two-page monologue and spent about two months learning this whole thing, so did Randy [Couture], he had his own monologue — and we get on set and Sly’s like, “We can’t say any of this.” [Mimes crumpling paper.] I was like, “Ahhhh, the script is gone!” And you realize in an action movie, the one-liners are about necessity because you have to find a way to move the story without talking all the time. So those one little lines — “Hasta la vista, baby” — they’re cute, but they let you know and signal that we’re moving on to another part. So true! “I’ll be back” — the whole thing turns Terminator on its ear. And he did come back! Everybody had them. Those one-liners were so cool because they’re like chapter headings, you know what I mean? You realize, that’s what that is — you need that little thing to keep it the movie flowing but let people know with a signpost, this part is over and we’re starting a new section. And also to inform characters, especially when there are so many in an ensemble like this. Exactly. You need them just because you can’t say it in a monologue. You’ve got to hit it, hit it, hit it, quit it. And then let’s go. Nobody really wants to hear you talk all day. [Laughs] Do you remember what Hale Caesar’s original Expendables monologue was about? Oh, it was about social things in America, how the man in the hood in the ghetto… [Laughs] But after that it was, “Remember this shit, Christmas?” That’s all I had to say! There’s a scene in Expendables 2 where a rocket comes toward you and before diving out of the way you yell, “OH!” And there’s just something wonderfully perfect about that one “OH!” [Laughs] Well you know what, it makes things real! Because we don’t talk in monologues. You say, “What in the world?” It mimics real speech. Sly is a really great writer; I mean, he wrote Rocky . Did you improvise much? There wasn’t a lot of improvisation because he told us exactly how to go — there were times he’d say, “I want a bigger reaction!” Because he had a picture of it in his head. I learned to trust him all the way. You have to trust him. Sure, particularly when there were so many moving parts involved. You can’t improvise gigantic scenes that way, or somebody’s going to get hurt. You have to really stick with it and make what you planned the best it can be, and that doesn’t leave a lot of room for [improvisation]. I’ve done a lot of comedies and when you improv a lot, you say a great joke and the whole crew laughs. Well, you have to do that same scene maybe twenty times, so on the fourth time you say the same joke nobody laughs. What happens? The guy improvises. He makes people laugh again. But you can’t edit it. So you get to the other side and they can’t put it together, because you started changing your act in the middle of the thing to make everybody laugh. So, stop! [Laughs] I’ve been there with the comedians when you’re like, “No dude, say the line. I promise you it’s the first time in the theater that they’ll hear it!” Trust it. But comedians are trying to make the crew laugh. You had more comedy experience than many of your fellow Expendables — when did that came in handy the most? You lead a guy — I can lead a guy just by my expression, and it’s natural. You lead them instead of making it like, “Knock knoc.k” “Who’s there?” It’s all about the timing and the flow. Sly knows it perfectly. It sounds like this shoot was really quickly paced, with little margin for error with rewrites happening on set and having to get coverage of these big elaborate set pieces. It was huge. The biggest movie I’ve ever been involved with. I was looking at the script wondering, “How are they going to do it?” Especially if they couldn’t get certain cast members on jet skis… [Laughs] I know! Well, they did work it out — they just rigged it. You’ve got to have a bigger boat attached to the jet ski and you can get the shot. I like that they thought that they had all these seasoned action stars, of course they can just stick them on jet skis and let them do their thing. Look, let me tell you: One plus one is two. I knew how heavy I was and I felt that jet ski. And you wanted to put two more people on there? [Laughs] Jean-Claude Van Damme played the villain and said that on set he chose to be rude to everyone in order to stay in character, until the very end. Well, this is the thing. We had to have a little distance between him and us. There had to be. If we hung out with him, and he was our pal… it’s really hard to dig up that emotion when it’s time. Because first and foremost, we’re in Bulgaria — we don’t want to mess around. You don’t want to come back and hear, “You didn’t do your emotion right.” You can’t just, like, go down the street to reshoot a scene. Yeah — you’ve got a one-timer. We were like, look — Jean-Claude’s the villain. Let’s treat him like that. And there was a distance; we would shake hands, “Hey, how you doing?” but after that… With so many iconic action stars in this film and the previous one, I imagine you grew up watching some of these guys in their heyday. Who was the one you were most excited to rub elbows with? You do get to memorably drop a Terminator quote directly to Arnold… The first movie I ever did was The 6th Day — and what was weird was watching how much I’ve changed since then. I was nervous, I was scared, I didn’t know what I was doing. Then to go into our scene together here… he noticed how much I’ve grown. It’s such an honor. Because you do change; as long as you keep going, you can get better and better. It’s about effort. But the guy that I have enjoyed the most is Sly, because he hand-picked me for this. He literally told me, “I’m going to make you an action star.” Because I was kind of worried! You mentioned your role was initially meant for Wesley Snipes. Did that make it more nerve-wracking? Yeah! That’s the thing — there were four other choices before me that all fell through, and I was a little nervous. I was like, “Sly, I come from the comedy world…” and he was just like, “You just stay in shape, give me your all, and I’m going to make you an action star.” I just love that guy. He’s like my mentor. He’s amazing. He has that creativity and a will that just won’t quit, and I love him. The Expendables 2 is in theaters today. 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Nic Cage re-teams with Con Air director Simon West ( Expendables 2 ) in Stolen , which is the most-est ’90s-est classic Nic Cage genre vehicle we’ve seen in a long time. (Yes, but is it very nouveau shamanic ?) The overly complicated plot involving a burned ex-partner and millions in stolen booty! The estranged daughter with an Anne Parillaud haircut! AND OH DEAR LORD IS THAT REALLY JOSH LUCAS OUT-NIC CAGING NIC CAGE? Sigh. It is . Your Friday Fun Time has arrived. Oh yeah, Malin Akerman is in this (and threatens to turn in the best acting in the cast). Two lingering thoughts: A. Is it just me, or does this voice-over narrator pronounce Nicolas Cage like a total weirdo (“Nicolas Ca-aaage”) at the 1:30 mark? B. JOSH LUCAS WTF!? I can’t even . If anyone needs me this weekend I’ll be watching Sweet Home Alabama on repeat wondering how things could go so wrong over the course of 10 years. Verdict : Folks, we’ve got to buy tickets and make this a hit so that poor Josh Lucas never has to go oily-skinned and straggly-haired again. EVER. Mmkay? Director Simon West and Nicolas Cage re-team for the first time since CON AIR for STOLEN, a fast paced action thriller set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. WILL MONTGOMERY (Nicolas Cage) is a master thief who after being double-crossed in a heist gone awry is sent to prison for 8 years. Upon his release he’s ready to leave his criminal past behind and try to rebuild a relationship with his estranged daughter ALLISON. The FBI and his old cohorts believe that he hid the loot from the last heist 8 years ago, $10 Million in Bonds. To get his hands on it, his old partner VINCENT kidnaps Allison and demands the entire $ 10 Million as ransom. Keeping her in the soundproofed trunk of a Taxi Cab, he’s able to stay mobile amongst the throngs of taxis out during Mardi Gras day making it nearly impossible to find. Montgomery only has one day to get the $10 Million ransom but much to the disbelief of the FBI on his trail and Vincent, Will doesn’t actually have it. Instead, he must trust his instincts and his old partner in crime, the beautiful, sexy and smart RILEY, to do one more, clever heist to get his daughter back alive before it’s too late. [via Yahoo ] Stolen will hit theaters September 14, 2012. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Also in Friday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, The New York Times Company’s new CEO will make considerably less than his predecessor, and IGN President Roy Bahat steps down via email. Hunger Games trilogy outsells Potter series Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy is now Amazon’s top-selling book series. In just four years, the author’s fan-generating output has outsold J.K. Rowlings’ seven-book Harry Potter series, which was published over a more than 10-year span. The online retailer announced that the milestone takes into account sales of both e-books and print copies. Deadline reports. New New York Times CEO making much less than predecessor Mark Thompson, the newly minted CEO of The New York Times Company will make an annual salary of $1 million, plus a $3 million signing bonus. In contrast, the company’s previous chief executive Janet Robinson, who left in December, made $11.3 million last year alone. Deadline reports. Bigfoot Gets Its Own County. Grindstone Entertainment has acquired North American rights to the found-footage thriller “Bigfoot County,” and is exploring releasing the film late this year. The $30,000 picture is described as Deliverance meets Bigfoot with a dash of The Blair Witch Project . The movie is built around footage supposedly taken by filmmakers who disappeared in Northern California’s Siskiyou County while tracking the fabled Sasquatch. Variety reports. Game over for IGN head Roy Bahat, the president of News Corp’s gaming property IGN Entertainment announced in an email to employees on Friday that he is stepping down from his position but will remain on the company’s board. Bahat announced his departure after News Corp.’s attempts to bring in an outside investor to spin off the division — which it acquired for $680 million in 2005 — did not bear fruit. The Los Angeles Times reports. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
