Paul Dano says he plays “a bit of a prick” in So Yong Kim’s For Ellen , but pricks are humans, too. And in this making-of clip, Dano’s character — a rock musician who’s hit the skids named Joby Taylor — appears ready to regain some of his misplaced humanity. After agreeing to sign divorce papers in order to make some money off the sale of the marital home, Joby discovers that the agreement requires him to forfeit custody of his six-year-old daughter Ellen (newcomer Shaylena Mandigo). With his lawyer (Jon Heder) unable to modify the terms, Joby makes an eleventh-hour visit to his daughter and estranged wife’s home to figure out if he is able to walk away from his child or somehow reconcile with his wife. In this exclusive featurette, Dano and the director describe shooting one of the climactic scenes between Joby and his young daughter in For Ellen, which is available nationwide on video on demand beginning today . Spoiler alert: the crew had a serious cast of moist-eye after Dano and Mandigo shot the scene. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Three decades and change after publishing his 1977 classic The Shining (which made its way into horror movie history a few years later courtesy of Stanley Kubrick), Stephen King has set a release date for his Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep . “Scribner and Hodder & Stoughton have established September 24, 2013 as the official first publication date,” King’s official website announced today. In Doctor Sleep , King catches up with little Danny Torrance, who’s now in his forties and uses his abilities to help the terminally ill in his work as a hospice caregiver. Also: Vampires are involved! Because of course. Last fall, King gave a surprise reading from Doctor Sleep at George Mason University: Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals. On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death. Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.” Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon. With the book hitting shelves in 2013, how long until we hear of movement on a Doctor Sleep film? That should go interestingly with the Shining prequel reportedly in the works , no? [ Stephen King official website via Allie is Wired ]
Some hoes just don’t know when to sit down. Monica Lewinsky is reportedly on the verge of releasing new details about her affair with the former President of the United States Bill Clinton, when she was a 22-year-old intern. According to RadarOnline reports : Monica Lewinsky is set to reveal shocking new secrets about her affair with ex-President Bill Clinton in a bombshell $12 million tell-all memoir, in which she’s going to share intimate never-before-heard details about their relationship. The former White House intern, 39, desperately wants revenge on the powerful politician who sullied her name, insiders exclusively told the National Enquirer, and she has several publishers eager to get their hands on her book. “Monica has tried to move forward, but the nightmare of her affair with Bill still haunts her,” a close pal told The ENQUIRER. “She’s facing 40 without a man in her life, and seething about the way her reputation was destroyed as the whole world watched.” For the first time ever, Monica will also release steamy love letters she penned to the Cheater-in-Chief. “Monica wrote the letters on her computer,” said another source. “In them, she opened her heart about her love for Bill and how much happier she could make him than Hillary. Some of what she wrote was so raw that she never sent them.” Friends fear the blockbuster expose could finally torpedo the high-profile Clinton marriage, wreck Hillary’s future political career and trigger a potentially fatal health crisis for the 66-year-old politician. “With Bill’s history of heart problems, her book could be more than just revenge, it could kill him!” Monica has struggled to find employment over the years, and that’s when she started to develop the tell-all book. “After testing the waters through publishing contacts, Monica learned she could get $12 million if she recounted every juicy detail of the scandal,” the source tells the Enquirer. An immunity deal she made for giving grand jury testimony against Clinton prevented Monica from exposing intimate details of their affair in Andrew Morton’s book bombshell expose that was penned in 1998. “But that agreement expired in 2001, and when Bill published his autobiography ‘My Life’ three years later, Monica felt betrayed by him all over again,” said the source. While Clinton skated through the scandal relatively scot-free, his health has suffered. He underwent emergency heart-bypass surgery in September 2004 and surgeons inserted two stents into a clogged heart artery in February 2010. “For years, Monica tried to protect Bill out of a misplaced sense of loyalty,” said the source. “But she no longer feels that way, and her memoir is his worst nightmare.” For more details about Monica’s sleazy sex trysts with Clinton, revelations about his hunger for “triple play” and sexparties and the way the former president hurled one degrading insult after another at his wife Hillary pick up the new issue of the National Enquirer on newsstands Thursday. What’s left to tell? We already knows she doesn’t swallow. SMH… Does anybody even still care about this broad and her skeet stained dirty laundry??? AP Images
A comedian pretending to be a disillusioned former supporter of President Barack Obama appeared on Fox & Friends today and gave an utterly ridiculous interview. Max Rice appeared via satellite during a segment on the staggering unemployment rate for people ages 18-24 and its impact on Obama in November’s election. Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson introduced Rice as a “recent college grad who voted for President Obama” and who “just moved out of his parents’ home.” Quickly, it became obvious that Rice was pulling one over on Fox News.
I’m Amy, a 15 year old belieber from London. I’ve tried to meet Justin so many times, but always failed. First time was the 28th of November 2010, when Justin was performing on X Factor. Me and my friend made banners saying ‘UK BELIEBERS HERE!’ When we got there, there were loads of other girls, we knew we didn’t stand a chance. One of the security guards even lied to us and said he was there already and wasn’t coming back out. He was just trying to get us to leave. Then it started to snow, it got painfully cold and a lot of us ended up crying because it was unbearable! Us two didn’t even have coats! Just as we were about to give up and go back to the train station, the security started pushing us all back and made sure none of us were on the road. We all stood up, knowing what was happening. Justin’s car drove past! We just got a glimpse of him , but the security wouldn’t let him come back out because there were too many of us. Even though we were disappointed not to have met him, we were really happy to have at least seen him in person! In December 2010, my dad said he found tickets for a CD signing of his, I was so happy, I honestly thought I was going to meet him. My dad was just about to buy them, but our computer crashed. When we got it up and running again, it was all sold out. I was so upset. After that, I tried a few more times, then just decided to accept that I was never going to meet him, until August 29th 2012, when someone tweeted about his book signing in London. I didn’t get my hopes up because I never had any luck when it came to meeting Justin. I tried but it said they were all sold out. I told my dad and he said he’d already got me one. I fell to the ground and burst into tears. I thought he was joking at first, but he was being serious! On September 12th, I got to the ‘secret location.’ I ended up waiting in the que for 4 hours before I got to go up and meet him. I was shaking so much but tried to hold it together and not cry. When it was my turn to go up to the signing table, I couldn’t talk. He looked up at me and said ‘Hey babe!’ and smiled. Justin Bieber had called me babe…I smiled back and shakily said ‘Hey justin, can I have a hug please?’ but the security said no. He gave me a sympathetic smile and the security made me leave. As soon as I left, I cried my eyes out. I was still crying on the train on the way home! I had people coming up to me asking if I was okay! It was honestly the most amazing experience of my life, and I hope that every belieber out there gets a chance to meet him. Even if you don’t succeed the first time, try and try again, because it’ll all turn out right in the end. Never say never -@Amy_BieberX More here: I’m Amy, a 15 year old belieber from London. I’ve tried to…
On August 30th WHSmiths confirmed that Justin would be doing a Book Signing in London. The next day wristbands went on sale at 10am (the website crashed in 2 minutes. Power of the Beliebers) and luckily after trying for almost an hour, I purchased a wristband! The next couple of days flew by and finally the day came, September 12, 2012! I was on my way to the train station tweeting on my phone when all of a sudden I got a mention saying ‘Congrats on the RT!’ so I went onto Justin’s Twitter page and saw that he RT’d me , so then I start freaking out! After the train journey, I finally arrived in London and went straight to the “secret location” where the book signing was being held. Once I got to the venue I saw at least 200 people queuing up already. I joined the queue. The line started to move slowly and after around an hour of waiting, I finally got inside and got given a copy of Just Getting Started. I walked into the hall and saw a stage with a black curtain drawn and loads of Beliebers sitting on the floor reading through the book. Whilst waiting in line for Justin to come I was on my phone on Twitter and all of a sudden I see that Justin has RT’d me again…like seriously? I was in line waiting to meet him and he RT’d me twice in the space of a couple hours . Could my day get any better? Fast forward to 2 hours later. All of a sudden everyone starts screaming! I look up and see Moshe walking off the stage and then all of a sudden Alfredo walks past the stage! Then around 5 minutes later we all see this pink/red sleeve behind the curtain, Justin. Everyone starts screaming “Justin” and then he was teasing all of us by popping his head out of the curtain, he then ran across stage and waved to everyone. After about 30 minutes the line started to move really quick and before I knew it I was walking up the steps and behind the curtain. When I first entered, I saw Kenny and then I moved forward and I finally saw Justin! I walked up to him and gave him a Believe Wristband and he smiled at me then signed my book. Then I had to move on! I sneakily managed to film Justin whilst signing my book (Camera’s or Phones were not allowed but i managed to hide my phone in my pocket) After I walked outside it finally hit me that I just met Justin. I’m so grateful I was able to meet him in person finally and that memory will stick with me forever. I cant express how blessed I am for all of this to happen. From the RT’s on Twitter to meeting him in person. Don’t give up on meeting him or getting noticed by him because it’ll eventually happen as Justin says Never Say Never and Believe. -Pippa @UKBieberDay See more here: On August 30th WHSmiths confirmed that Justin would be doing a…
“Everything is connected,” reads the tagline for Cloud Atlas . As it is with life and the history of time and humanity, so it is with film reviews; sharply divided reactions have been coming out of Toronto, where the ambitious, history-spanning epic had its world premiere. Seldom do movies garner such polarizing critical reads: Is Cloud Atlas a triumph of ambition or, as one critic spat, ” a unique and totally unparalleled disaster ?” [ PHOTOS: First Images From The Wachowskis’ Cloud Atlas ] That biting reaction comes courtesy of The House Next Door ‘s Calum Marsh ( full review here ), whose beefs — and there are many — range from technical shortcomings to wider structural issues… which, in the case of a film about human interconnectivity and spirit, which interweaves six disparate storylines set in different eras that are filmed in varying tones and genres and feature the same actors in multiple characters (and, sometimes, in yellow- and white- and whatever-face), can be a problem: “‘What is an ocean,’ one character asks smugly, ‘if not a multitude of drops?’ And what’s Cloud Atlas if not a multitude of terrible details and unwatchable moments? The problem isn’t that this is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen in my life; the problem is that it’s seven of the worst films I’ve ever seen in my life glued together haphazardly, their inexorable badness amplified by their awkward juxtaposition. Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski wanted to make a movie unlike any other, and they certainly did: Cloud Atlas is a unique and totally unparalleled disaster.” But one critic’s disaster is another’s transcendent cinematic opus. Devin Faraci, reviewing in Badass Digest ( full review here ), gives high marks to Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer’s reach as scripters and co-directors, arguing that while imperfect, Cloud Atlas is “one of the great pictures of the 21st century so far”: ” Cloud Atlas is sometimes silly, and it’s sometimes pretentious and it’s sometimes overstuffed. But every single one of those things, to me, is a positive. It’s an exceptional piece of filmmaking, one of the bravest works I have ever seen. The Wachowskis have followed the poorly received final two Matrix films and the bomb of Speed Racer with a three hour meditation on the nature of human interaction, featuring a few actors in many make-ups. Some may see that as self-destructive, but I see it as incredibly heroic.” Most early reviews thus far fall at various points between Marsh and Faraci ( Cloud Atlas is currently at 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with 10 reviews counted * ). That’s not too surprising, given the difficulty of the undertaking at hand; adapting David Mitchell’s 500+ page novel into their own structure, no less, can be a tricky feat; doing so while pushing a sentimental theme, even moreso. Critics may agree on how the parts fit, but whether or not they see the larger picture congealing is another story. Cloud Atlas jumps around from narrative to narrative, from an 18th century sea voyage to 1970s San Francisco to the dystopian “Neo Soul” future and beyond. At least it has stars Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, who appear in multiple characters throughout, to lend some star wattage. (Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Hugh Jackman, Ben Whishaw, Doona Bae, Susan Sarandon, and Hugo Weaving fill out the cast.) Did I mention it’s three hours long? The strange thing about these early reviews is that I’m inclined to believe them all. Both sides of the coin: Triumph and, perhaps, disaster. (Then again, I loved Speed Racer . That turned out to be both at once.) * The film’s Tomatometer rating is now up to 73 percent with 15 total reviews, 11 fresh and 4 rotten. Goes to show how quickly the tide can shift so early on. We’ll be keeping an eye on the critical reaction as it builds toward week of release . Stay tuned for more on Cloud Atlas , in theaters October 26, and catch up on Movieline’s coverage of the Toronto Film Festival. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Before Twilight and even before Kristen Stewart was first approached to be in On The Road by Brazilian-born director Walter Salles, the young actress read the Jack Kerouac novel for school. She told Movieline that she picked up the book because it was an assignment given, but her experience with the now American classic evolved. “I found the book fun,” she said. But after reading and studying it more, it became much more compelling and taught her personal life lessons about growing up, making choices and dealing with inhibitions. She also emphasized that while she played the comparatively wild Marylou, she does not judge her uninhibited character. [ PHOTOS: Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, and Kirsten Dunst Go ‘On The Road’ in Toronto ] “I learned through the book that you really have a choice about who you surround yourself with. [As a young adult] you realize you can choose who you’re surrounding yourself with,” Stewart told ML in Toronto where On The Road debuted over the weekend. “Up until that point you’re really circumstantially with your family or whatever but at some point you can ‘choose’ your family. “I have a great family by the way, but you need to find people who can pull something out from you that might be otherwise unseen. And when I read the book, I thought, ‘Gosh I need to find people like that.’ I’m definitely not the Marylou type. But as I continued reading it as I got older, the weight of it started to mean something more.” In the film version of the book, Stewart plays Marylou who was first married to, then divorced from, and ultimately a lifelong companion/lover/fellow free spirit to Dean Moriarty. The story centers on Dean (based in real life on Neal Cassady) who meets up with close friend Sal (writer Jack Kerouac’s own stand-in) as the two travel across the U.S. as well as into Canada and Mexico. Like Dean, Marylou is anything but monogamous and she dabbles in pleasures that are alien to the wholesome fun of the prevailing culture of the conservative 1950s. Stewart and the rest of the cast, including Garrett Hedlund (Dean), Sam Riley (Sal) and Kristen Dunst (Camille), met and spoke with relatives of the real-life characters they played in addition to other research before embarking on On The Road . Stewart said that she didn’t want to simply approach Marylou as a rebellious young woman with loose morals, but explained that while she gained understanding of her, she remained, to some degree at least, an enigmatic figure. “To play a part like Marylou, she’s very vivid and colorful but also on the periphery,” said Stewart. “You don’t know her heart and head and the how and why she does what she does. By the time that it came to film, I didn’t want to play her simply as this character that is just a wild and sexy girl. With the research we were able to do, applying the whys and getting to know the people behind the characters makes you think about the book differently.” Stewart continued, “It’s not easy to live a life like that and that’s what makes these people remarkable. I did always wonder how she could take it. How deep is that well? How much can you have taken from you? What I found about her is, that uniquely to her — and not to the time she lived in — was her capacity to see through people’s flaws and see past them, which was unbelievable. She was just such a wonderful woman. She was infectious. And, no, I did not judge her.” Kristen Stewart appeared at some moments very pensive and at other moments playful in describing her role and unusually long attachment to On The Road . The period coincided with being catapulted to the height of fame through the Twilight franchise, which morphed into zealous attention from so-called Twi-hards who lived vicariously through her and her equally lauded co-star and real-life boyfriend, Robert Pattinson. And as the world now well knows, that relationship hit the skids in the glare of legions of fans through an onslaught of media spectacle . Just weeks after the tidal wave of attention, Stewart bravely faced media for On The Road , though handlers were clear before assigning interview time — the subject needed to remain “on topic.” Still, Stewart talked about herself personally, saying that the experience she had with On The Road had provided her some life lessons both professionally as an actor and also as an individual. “If this has taught me anything, it’s just that if you stop thinking and just breathe through it, you’re such a better actor. You just have to do the work initially and then trust that you’ve already done that work and not get too analytical. You have to trust that you’ve already completed that effort,” she said. And beyond the work, Stewart said she now has more confidence to say what she thinks with less fear than in her earlier years. “It’s opened me in a way that’s probably more appropriate to my age. I think I’m a bit less inhibited, and not thinking too much before speaking. It’s not about being shameful, I’m just a bit more unabashedly myself because of this thing, and it probably started at age 15. I can be around people and say what I think without fear.” Previously: Kristen Stewart Talks ‘Hard Love’ In Toronto For On The Road Read more from the Toronto Film Festival. Follow Brian Brooks on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
