‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ will be the DiCaprio and Scorsese’s fifth project together. By Jocelyn Vena Leonardo DiCaprio Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/ Getty Images After some stops and starts, it seems that Martin Scorsese ‘s “The Wolf of Wall Street” is in full “go” mode with his longtime leading man, Leonardo DiCaprio , locked in to star. According to Deadline , the film has yet to nail down a timeline for when it will shoot and get distribution, but DiCaprio and Scorsese felt that now was the right time to get cracking on the flick. The two have been trying to get it into production since 2007, but they separated to work on their own high-profile projects before deciding to work together again. At one point, Ridley Scott had been attached to direct the film, but that later shifted back to Scorsese . The film is based on the tell-all memoir written by Jordan Belfort, a drug-, sex- and alcohol-addicted stockbroker who landed in prison for refusing to cooperate in a 1990s securities fraud case. It’s a steamy story of his fall from a 20-something multimillionaire to a 30-something federal convict banned from the securities business for life. The film would focus on Belfort’s relationship with an FBI agent and his attempt to make him into an informant. In addition to their roles as director and actor, Scorsese and DiCaprio will also serve as producers on the film. Writer Terence Winter, known for his work with “The Sopranos” and “Boardwalk Empire,” is reportedly cleaning up the script before the film goes to production. This marks the fifth collaboration for Scorsese and DiCaprio, who have worked together in the past on “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed” and “Shutter Island.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Photos The Evolution Of: Leonardo DiCaprio
Tim Burton opts for gonzo comedy that should please many but may rile fans of the original soap opera. By John Mitchell Johnny Depp in “Dark Shadows” Photo: Warner Bros The wait is over! With less than two months to go before the May 11 release of “Dark Shadows,” we finally have a trailer, and it’s a doozy. We’re going to come right out and say it: We love the trailer. It’s Tim Burton doing what Tim Burton does best. The look is dark and Gothic, but the feel is certifiably gonzo with a heaping side of camp and comedy. Based on its soapy source material, Burton could have taken “Shadows” one of two ways: He could have stripped it of the over-the-top camp and played it as a straight romantic drama where the protagonist was a conflicted vampire, which is what the creators of the early-’90s TV remake did, or he could turn the volume all the way up and have a little fun, flipping the super serious vibe of the original soap opera upside down and making a blood-splattered comedy. He clearly chose the latter, and that’s just fine with us. “Shadows” stars Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, a rich and powerful playboy who is turned into a vampire and buried alive by the jealous witch Angelique ( Eva Green ). Two centuries later, in 1972, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb by thief Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley) and finds the world quite changed and his once great estate, Collinwood Manor, in disrepair. His descendants, including reclusive family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard ( Michelle Pfeiffer ), her drunken, snobby brother Roger Collins (Johnny Lee Miller) and bratty teenage daughter Carolyn ( Chloe Moretz ), haven’t fared much better. In the present, not only does he have to again face Angelique, but he has to contend with nosy psychologist Dr. Julia Hoffman ( Helena Bonham Carter , who has more than a few secrets of her own. Here are our five key scenes from the “Dark Shadows” trailer: First Glimpse of Barnabus as a Vampire After a fleeting look at a pre-vamp Depp in his 18th-century prime (and seriously, can we talk about how this guy never ages?), we see Angelique working her evil magic and casting her spell. Cut to Depp’s Barnabas taking in his monstrous new self from the crashing waves at the bottom of Widows’ Hill, the cliff where his love, Josette duPres (Bella Heathcote), took her own life. “What have you done?” he yells up at her. The aesthetic created for Widows’ Hill is pure vintage Burton. The dark, rocky facade builds up to a point that looks like something from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” brought to life. Which means it’s pretty awesome. Meet the Collins Family Sitting around the dinner table to welcome their long lost relative, we get introduced to all the key players in the film. “Who the hell is this?” Bonham Carter’s straightforward Hoffman asks.”I’m a vampire, Madame,” Barnabas responds. The whole gang — Miller, Moretz, Pfeiffer, Bonham Carter and Gulliver McGrath (David Collins) — is there, and boy are they curious about this pale-faced creeper in some very vintage wares, but Barnabas is ready to hit the road to take care of business. “How soon can the horses be ready?” he asks. “We don’t have horses; we have a Chevy,” Pfeiffer admits. “What Sorcery is This?” Barnabas just can’t seem to grasp the technological innovations that happened while he was chained up in that casket for a few hundred years. Of particular concern is the television, which he seems certain is nothing more than witchcraft. “Reveal yourself, tiny songstress,” he demands before tearing into the back of the set. It’s a pretty random scene, but it perfectly sums up the tone of the humor the film seems after. Things are so weird nowadays, you guys, and the old dead guy just can’t wrap his head around it. Depp’s delivery is spot-on though, and we can see why test audience reaction to this scene was so warmly received. Angelique Rides Back Into Town Burton has taken many liberties with his film, but the most interesting of them might be his characterization of Angelique as a sassy fox with a mean-girl streak and plenty of attitude. When she returns from the late-1700s, she isn’t wearing her old corsets and talking about the old days; she pulls up to Collinwood in a cherry red convertible wearing modern clothes. “You cursed me to be this hideous creator,” Barnabas cries. “You may strategically place your wonderful lips upon my posterior and kiss it repeatedly.” Barnabas and Angelique’s Freaky, House-Trashing Makeout Even though she, you know, cursed him to eternal damnation because he just wasn’t that into her, we can certainly see why Barnabas can’t keep his claws off Green’s sexy witch. At the end of the clip, Depp and Green engage in some very rough foreplay. The magical pair throw each other from wall to wall before ending on the floor, where Angelique gives Barnabas one last lick with her very long tongue. “That was a regrettable turn of events,” Barnabus says, taking in the destruction left in the wake. So “Dark Shadows” fans, are you loving the fun and campy way Burton decided to tackle the sudsy soap? Or do you think he should have gone a different direction? Let us know in the comments below and hit me up on Twitter @JohnMitchell83 with your thoughts and suggestions on all things “Shadows.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Dark Shadows.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Photos 5 Key Scenes From The ‘Dark Shadows’ Trailer
And at a cemetery! “Created and performed by acclaimed actor Val Kilmer, and seen recently in development by sold-out audiences in venues in Los Angeles such as Disney Concert Hall, Tim Robbins’ The Actors’ Gang, and The United States Veterans Artists’ Alliance Hall, Mr. Kilmer’s production delves into the heart and soul of Samuel Clemens and conjures forth the great spirit of Mark Twain, America’s greatest storyteller. Storytelling was a lifeline for Twain, and in Kilmer’s Citizen Twain , this lifeline continues into and after Twain’s death, making it an appropriate choice to perform the show in The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.” [ Ticketfly ]
There’s a peculiar kind of pleasure to be found in watching Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, in 21 Jump Street , horsing around and generally acting like doofuses for our amusement. As rookie cops assigned to patrol — by bicycle — a city park, they’re more than ready to prove their tough-guy status: When they spot a bunch of biker guys experiencing the joys of cannabis beneath a tree, they strut toward the gang in their shorts and bike helmets, but not before flipping their kickstands down with a mighty thwack . Later, Hill says a fervent prayer in the Catholic church that serves as headquarters for the undercover unit to which the duo has been assigned, its sign outside reading, in mistranslated Korean, “Aroma of Christ Church.” Hill kneels in front of the crucifix, beginning his urgent plea with the words, “Hey, Korean Jesus…” That irreverent riff captures the tone of the whole picture — it’s a ramshackle thing, a goof on the idea that anyone might actually care about a movie based on an old TV show, or that anyone might actually care about a movie at all. For the first half, at least, 21 Jump Street gives us reason to care. In recent years, the mania for turning old TV shows into movies has waned — a good thing, particularly given the ungodly mess known as The Green Hornet . Still, movies inspired by TV shows are coming back with a tiny vengeance — we have Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows , to name just one, to look forward to later this spring. And for now, 21 Jump Street is a small puff of fresh air simply because it’s not, like umpteen other releases coming down the pike, based on a comic-book series. Instead, its inspiration is a show that made its debut on the then-fledgling Fox Network in 1987 (and also helped launch the career of Johnny Depp, long before he became buried under Burton’s makeup or obscured by pirate-y facial hair), although this 21 Jump Street has its own distinct, goofy flavor. The movie opens in 2005, when Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) are still high school students. Schmidt is the smart, shlubby, unpopular one — he’s an Eminem nut with a crop of bottle-blond hair, which could be sort of cool if his braces didn’t ruin the whole effect. Jenko is the dumb, sleepy-eyed jock with lank, shaggy hair. When the school principal informs him that he can’t go to the prom and that it’s “time to pay the piper,” he squints at her dimly and murmurs, “I should pay who?” Fast-forward a few years, and these two have become first police academy buddies (Jenko, recognizing he could use some help in the smarts department, latches onto Schmidt) and then rookie officers. After botching that aforementioned pot bust, the two are reassigned to an undercover unit — headed by a hard-ass, and very funny, Ice Cube — in which their job is to pose as teenagers and find the source of a drug that’s sweeping the local high school. 21 Jump Street is at its best when directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller — the guys behind the much-loved 2009 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs — just let Hill and Tatum run with the patent ridiculousness of the setup. (The script is by Michael Bacall, from a story by Bacall and Hill.) Hill is reasonably funny and relaxed here; even when he’s playing the loser-sadsack, he radiates more confidence than he has in the past, instead of just relying on shtick. He still has that unassuming, “Who, me?” demeanor, but he’s more fully in control of it than ever before. And Tatum, who has already proved to be a marvelous dramatic actor even in throwaway pictures like Dear John (he also recently starred in the megahit The Vow ), has the kind of comic timing that’s deceptively laid-back and sharp at the same time. His Jenko comes off as an easygoing galoot, which makes the idiot-savant observations he comes up with that much funnier. Schmidt, upon his return to high school, notes that all the things that made him uncool in his own high-school days (caring about the environment, being tolerant) have now become hip. Jenko agrees, and he doesn’t like it, looking for a place to lay the blame: “I know the cause. It’s Glee ,” he says definitively, like a Sherlock Holmes who’s spent too much time parked in front of the tube. Together Hill and Tatum are so much fun to watch that it’s disappointing when the story around them becomes overly cluttered and convoluted. To say 21 Jump Street loses the plot isn’t quite accurate: It’s a pretty loose-limbed affair from the get-go. But Lord and Miller insist on turning it into an action film, complete with elaborate car chases and shootouts that betray the spirit of silliness they laid out at the beginning. 21 Jump Street falters when it becomes too ambitious. Its finest moments — as when Schmidt and Jenko sternly forbid a bratty kid from feeding ducks in the park, which causes him to immediately (what else?) feed the ducks — are the ones that feel unplanned and tossed-off. In those moments, 21 Jump Street shows a kind of wayward, pigeon-toed brilliance. Maybe that particular brand of half-assed genius is too evanescent to survive a whole movie. Then again, half an ass is better than none. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
This week at SXSW Movieline caught up with director Gareth Evans, whose Indonesian martial arts actioner The Raid: Redemption is set to knock your socks off later this month courtesy of Sony Classics. (Haven’t heard of the martial arts form silat? You will, come March 23.) With his film steadily collecting kudos left and right, Evans is already thinking ahead to his Raid sequel (working title: Berandal ), and an insane, dangerous-sounding four-on-one car fight he plans on working into the mix. First up, though, is the U.S. remake currently in the works at Screen Gems. The original film worked with the unique (and relatively new to most audiences) martial arts form silat , employed dynamically in a fairly basic setup: A SWAT team trapped inside a tenement building locked down by a vicious gangster must fight their way out. The American remake will build on the elements of The Raid , with Evans on hand as executive producer and Raid stars/fight choreographers Iko Uwais (who plays hero Rama) and Yayan Ruhian (who steals scenes as the sadistic Mad Dog) working on the remake’s fight choreography. “There will be elements of silat in there, which is kind of cool because there’s a respect for the original,” Evans said. “And I’m curious because the thing is yes, silat is an Indonesian martial art, but it’s practiced all over the world. There are schools of silat in London, there are schools of silat in America, there are schools of silat in France, and they have international championships as well. So there are a lot of people that know silat around the world, so it’s not a far-fetched idea that someone in America could know silat, the same way that it’s not far-fetched for a guy in America to know kung fu or muy thai.” While screenwriter Brad Inglesby has been recruited to script the remake, a director has yet to be found. Whoever it is, Evans isn’t worried about passing the reins to another filmmaker’s vision. “For me it’s like this: the storyline and the central concept is streamlined,” he explained. “It’s a very straightforward action film. So there’s room for improvement, and I think that director, whoever it is, has to be given the kind of creative freedom to push it in whatever direction he wants to push it and not have somebody standing over his shoulder saying, ‘You can’t do this, or you can’t do that.’ I think it should be that person’s decision.” After his Raid promotional tour is done, Evans will turn to pre-production on the sequel, with plans to begin filming next January. But how do you follow a film that’s already packed with non-stop, relentless, wall-to-wall, inventive action? “By going in a slightly different direction,” he teased. “If I try to replicate and copy it’ll fall on its ass, so I want to do something kind of different. We’re going to take the story out now and go onto the streets. So everything that was scary about that building and about that boss is small fry compared to the gangs we meet in the sequel — now we meet the people who let him have that building. And we expand the world out, we explore certain characters that were kind of hinted at in this but not expanded upon, and we ramp up some of the set pieces as well.” Evans’s Raid films will always retain their focus on silat, only showcased within different environments. Like, for example, the limited confines of a moving automobile. “We’ll have one fight scene,” Evans said, “a four-on-one fight inside of a car, and Iko’s going to be kicking people out through the windows, and it’s going to be nuts. What we’re doing now is we have to figure out how to shoot that without killing anyone. “Once we get that sorted,” he continued with a laugh, “then we’ll start shooting that.” Read more from SXSW here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
‘Ravenna and Snow White are bound,’ Stewart explains in new featurette about their young princess and evil queen characters. By Jocelyn Vena Kristen Stewart in “Snow White And The Huntsman” Photo: Universal Pictures In several new featurettes from Kristen Stewart’s “Snow White and the Huntsman,” fans get a taste of what looks to be a visually arresting, very dark spin on the classic fairy tale. With “No Church in the Wild” from Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne album thumping in the background in the clip, Stewart and castmates Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron open up about making the Rupert Sanders-directed film. We also get a taste of what the film, which Theron describes as a “feast for [the] eyes,” will look like. “Snow White” is full of epic battle scenes and eye-popping CGI that helps tell the story of a young princess battling an evil queen. “The director, Rupert, conjured up visuals that absolutely transported you somewhere else and it wasn’t at all what I expected,” Stewart says. The big-screen retelling revolves around the feud between Queen Ravenna (Theron) and the inherently good Snow White (Stewart). “The Queen really symbolizes death and Snow White is the beating heart,” the director says of the struggle between the two leading ladies. “This is an incredible opportunity to create a world that people have never seen before.” Theron also talks about facing off with Stewart in another behind-the-scenes clip. “As on outsider, I see her for all the things the audience will, but as an insider playing her I had to not think about those things,” she explains. “Ravenna and Snow White are bound, in a way,” Stewart explains. “She can level you,” she added about Theron’s performance as the queen. A trailer will drop Monday during “The Voice” with an extended scene also hitting the Net that same day. In a new trailer sneak peek , the backstory is teased as Ravenna makes clear her intentions to kill Snow White. The film opens June 1. Hemsworth plays the Huntsman hired by the Queen to kill Snow and Sam Claflin rounds out the main cast as Prince Charming. Check out everything we’ve got on “Snow White and the Huntsman.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV First: ‘Breaking Dawn’ MTV Rough Cut: ‘Young Adult’
Coverage of the Los Angeles “21 Jump Street” Premiere Red Carpet. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum take charge of the event with style. Hill talks about his experiences writing and filming the movie. Rob Riggle talks about how he got his role. Holly Robinson Peete talks about the reprise of her original role. Jenna Dewan is seen looking stunning, and many other celebs show up to support the film. “Like” us on Facebook @ facebook.com 20F665CE
Snow White and the Huntsman has just released a new sneak peek video, as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the film, including interviews with Chris Hemsworth , Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart . Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Gossip Cop Discovery Date : 14/03/2012 12:55 Number of articles : 2
Selma Blair is an interesting actress that you might remember from the film Cruel Intentions where she was kissing Sarah Michelle Gellar Continue reading →
‘She had been tweeted by her fans en masse, saying you’re in this video,’ Jedidiah Jenkins of Invisible Children organization tells MTV News. By Jacob Soboroff Rihanna Photo: Getty Images At noon Pacific time last Monday, Jedidiah Jenkins, a member of the nonprofit organization Invisible Children’s inner circle , saw the group’s 278th YouTube video uploaded and wasn’t sure what to expect. Jenkins had written the script to the film, the 30-minute documentary “Kony 2012,” about the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, and it had been a grind. “It was really the hardest movie we’ve ever made” in the nearly decade-long history of the group, he told MTV News in a phone interview from Los Angeles. The film is now the most viral video ever, with more than 70 million views on YouTube alone in the video’s first six days thanks in no small part to an army of young supporters who flexed their power by using social media to drive celebrities and friends to watch and share the video. Creating online content and distributing it with social media was nothing new for Invisible Children — the group already had 450,000 Facebook friends the night before the video was posted and they’ve used YouTube to share videos about their cause since 2006 — but the way this video spread was something the group could never have planned. Jenkins said the group posted the video at noon on Monday and that evening hosted a screening at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles with celebrities Kristen Bell and Jason Bateman, who took to Twitter at 9:42 p.m., immediately after watching the film. “We had a strategy to screen it at CAA with the few celebrities we know, get them in the room, make them watch it,” Jenkins said. Within the 24 hours that followed, celebrities including comedian Kelly Oxford, Ryan Seacrest, Diddy, Justin Bieber, Oprah and Steve Carrell had tweeted about the video after being notified about it by their fans thanks to a call-to-action in the documentary. Soon enough, Jenkins’ phone was ringing off the hook, including a call from Rihanna . “She had been tweeted by her fans en masse, saying you’re in this video,” Jenkins recalled. “She just kind of responded and clicked on the link that one of her fans followed. It blew her mind. She tweeted it immediately. One of her music video directors, Anthony Mandler, actually went to Uganda with me to see our programs on the ground in November. Anthony texted her. They conference called me at 11 at night and I missed the call twice, because I was at a late dinner. Three calls in a row means it’s an emergency,” so Jenkins picked up. “Anthony said, ‘Jed, I have Rihanna on the line. She wants to talk to you.’ ” Jenkins continued. He recalled the 24-year-old singer saying, “I’ve never been moved like this, I’ve never been involved. I want to go big. I want to get involved. I want this to be my thing and I want to blow this up. I want to get kids involved. I’m just responding to my fans. They’re so moved by this.” Wherever you land in the debate over the organization’s tactics and the film’s accuracy, “Kony 2012” is undeniably a social media phenomenon made possible by support from celebrities encouraged to get involved by their young fans. Even CNN’s Piers Morgan admitted he first heard about the movement from his 14-year-old son. As of press time, Invisible Children has nearly 3 million likes on Facebook, and the question remains: What’s next for this enormous group of engaged and active young people when so many of their peers are apathetic? Jenkins said the group is considering participating in a voter-registration drive as the 2012 election approaches. But he admitted that first he and his colleagues have to get caught up. “We couldn’t have ever, ever imagined that this would be the fastest viral movement in history,” he said. “We are dealing with an unprecedented amount of attention. It’s a huge amount of responsibility. It’s exhausting. We’re excited for the challenge, but it’s intimidating too.” Related Artists Rihanna