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 .
The Hobbit doesn’t make you heave, according to Warner Bros. The studio behind the first film in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy is batting down reports that the the high-frame rate of the picture caused nausea and dizziness for some fans who saw early screenings of the picture in New Zealand. Here’s the statement that the studio released on the matter: “We have been screening the full-length HFR 3D presentation of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY extensively and feedback has been extremely positive, with none of thousands who have seen the film projected in this format expressing any of the issues described by two anonymous sources in media reports. We share the filmmakers’ belief that by offering filmgoers the additional choice of HFR 3D, alongside traditional viewing formats, they have an opportunity to be part of a groundbreaking advancement in the moviegoing experience and we look forward to having audiences everywhere share in this new way of storytelling.” Warner is reacting to reports by the New Zealand Herald and ABC News that some moviegoers found the film’s frame-rate hard to stomach. The Down Under publication cited “some viewers” who said the “filming technique made them nauseous and dizzy, with some even complaining of migraines.” ABC News quoted a Hobbit fan who tweeted: “You have to hold your stomach down and let your eyes pop at first to adjust.” Jackson’s decision to shoot the movie at 48 frames-per-second — twice the rate of most films — has also prompted complaints that high-definition result requires the moviegoer to process too much visual information. The New Zealander does have one Hollywood heavyweight in his corner. James Cameron predicted that Jackson’s decision to shoot The Hobbit at 48 frames per second would do for high-definition filmmaking what his Avatar did for 3D movies. “We charged out ahead on 3D with Avatar , now Peter’s doing it with The Hobbit . It takes that kind of bold move to make change.” RELATED STORIES: ‘Hobbit’ Fans Complain Of Dizziness & Nausea ‘The Hobbit’ At 48 FPS: A High Frame Rate Fiasco? ‘The Hobbit’ 3-D Early Review: Back Again, But Not Quite There [ New Zealand Herald , ABC News ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
As a faithful rendering of a justly beloved musical, Les Misérables will more than satisfy the show’s legions of fans. Even so, director Tom Hooper and the producers have taken a number of artistic liberties with this lavish bigscreen interpretation. The squalor and upheaval of early 19th-century France are conveyed with a vividness that would have made Victor Hugo proud, heightened by the raw, hungry intensity of the actors’ live on-camera vocals. Yet for all its expected highs, the adaptation has been managed with more gusto than grace; at the end of the day, this impassioned epic too often topples beneath the weight of its own grandiosity. The Universal release will nonetheless be a major worldwide draw through the holidays and beyond, spelling a happy commercial ending for a project that has been in development for roughly a quarter-century. Since its 1985 London premiere, the Cameron Mackintosh-produced tuner (adapted from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schoenberg’s French production) has became one of the longest-running acts in legit history, outpaced only by The Phantom of the Opera and Cats. Les Misérables has aged far more gracefully than those two ’80s-spawned perennials, owing largely to the lush emotionalism of Schoenberg’s score, the timeless sentiments articulated in Herbert Kretzmer’s lyrics, and the socially conscious themes, arguably more relevant than ever, set forth in Hugo’s much-filmed masterwork. In an intuitive yet bold scripting decision, scribes William Nicholson, Boublil, Schoenberg and Kretzmer have fully retained the show’s sung-through structure, with only minimal spoken dialogue to break the flow of wall-to-wall music. Not for nothing is “Do You Hear the People Sing?” the piece’s signature anthem; song is the characters’ natural idiom and the story’s lifeblood, and the filmmakers grasp this idea firmly enough to give the music its proper due. Even with some of the lyrics skillfully truncated, this mighty score remains the engine that propels the narrative forward. In visual terms, Hooper adopts a maximalist approach, attacking the material with a vigor and dynamism that suggest his Oscar-winning direction on The King’s Speech was just a warm-up. At every turn, one senses the filmmaker trying to honor the material and also transcend it, to deliver the most vibrant, atmospheric, physically imposing and emotionally shattering reading of the show imaginable. Yet the effect of this mammoth 158-minute production can be as enervating as it is exhilarating; blending gritty realism and pure artifice, shifting from solos of almost prayerful stillness to brassy, clunkily cut-together ensemble numbers, it’s an experience whose many dazzling parts seem strangely at odds. The film’s ambition is immediately apparent in a muscular opening setpiece that hints at the scope of Eve Stewart’s production design: In 1815 Toulon, France, a chain gang labors to tow a ship into port. Among the inmates is Jean Valjean ( Hugh Jackman ), overpunished for having stolen a loaf of bread nearly 20 years earlier, now being released on parole by Javert ( Russell Crowe ), the prison guard who will persecute him for years to come. With his scraggly beard, sunburnt skin and air of wild-eyed desperation, Valjean looks every inch a man condemned but, through the aid of a kind bishop (Colm Wilkinson, who originated the role of Valjean in 1985), vows in his soul-searching number “What Have I Done?” to become a man of virtue. In this and other sequences, Hooper (again working with Speech d.p. Danny Cohen) opts to bring the camera close to his downtrodden characters and hold it there. It’s a gesture at once compassionate and calculated, and it’s never more effective than when it touches the face of Fantine (Anne Hathaway ), a poor, unwed mother ejected from Valjean’s factory into the gutters. Hathaway’s turn is brief but galvanic. Her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream,” captured in a single take, represents the picture’s high point, an extraordinary distillation of anguish, defiance and barely flickering hope in which the lyrics seem to choke forth like barely suppressed howls of grief. Hathaway has been ripe for a full-blown tuner showcase ever since she gamely sang a duet with Jackman at the Oscars in 2009, and she fulfills that promise here with a solo as musically adept as it is powerfully felt. This sequence fully reveals the advantages of Hooper’s decision to have the thesps sing directly on-camera, with minimal dubbing and tweaking in post. As carefully calibrated with the orchestrations (by Anne Dudley and Stephen Metcalfe) in Simon Hayes’ excellent sound mix, the vocals sound intense, ragged and clenched with feeling, in a way that at times suggests neorealist opera. A few beats and notes may be missed here and there, but always in a way that serves the immediacy of the moment and the truth of the emotions being expressed, giving clear voice to the drama’s underlying anger and advocacy on behalf of the poor, marginalized and misunderstood. Hathaway’s exit leaves a hole in the picture, which undergoes a tricky tonal shift as Valjean rescues Fantine’s young daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen), from her cruel guardians, the Thenardiers. Inhabited with witchy, twitchy comic abandon by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, not terribly far removed from the grotesques they played in “Sweeney Todd,” these innkeepers amusingly send up their venal, disreputable and utterly unsanitary lifestyle in “Master of the House,” a memorably grotesque number that also marks the point, barely halfway through, when Les Misérables starts to splutter. As it shifts from one dynamically slanted camera angle to another via Melanie Ann Oliver and Chris Dickens’ busy editing, the picture seems reluctant to slow down and let the viewer simply take in the performances. That hectic, cluttered quality becomes more pronounced as the story lurches ahead to the 1832 Paris student uprisings, where the erection of a barricade precipitates and complicates any number of subplots. These include Javert’s ongoing pursuit of Valjean, their frequent run-ins seeming even more coincidental than usual in this movie context; the blossoming romance between Cosette (now played by Amanda Seyfried ) and young revolutionary leader Marius ( Eddie Redmayne ); and the noble suffering of Eponine ( Samantha Barks ), whose unrequited love for Marius is heartbreakingly exalted in “On My Own.” As the characters’ voices and stories converge in the magisterial medley “One Day More,” the frequent crosscutting provides a reasonable visual equivalent of the nimble revolving sets used onstage. Yet even on this broader canvas, the visual space seems to constrict rather than expand, and the sense of a sweeping panorama remains elusive. From there, the film proceeds through an ungainly pileup of gun-waving mayhem before unleashing a powerful surge of emotion in the suitably grand finale. Devotees of the stage show will nonetheless be largely contented to see it realized on such an enormous scale and inhabited by well-known actors who also happen to possess strong vocal chops. The revelation here is Redmayne, who brings a youthful spark to the potentially milquetoast role of Marius, and who reveals an exceptionally smooth, full-bodied singing voice, particularly in his mournful solo “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.” Jackman’s extensive legit resume made him no-brainer casting for Valjean, and he embodies this sinner-turned-saint with the requisite fire and gravitas. Whether he’s comforting the dying Fantine or sweetly serenading the sleeping Cosette (in the moving “Suddenly,” a song written expressly for the screen), Jackman projects a stirring warmth and nobility. He’s less at home with the higher register of Valjean’s daunting two-octave range; there’s more strain than soul in his performance of “Bring Him Home,” usually one of the show’s peak moments. Crowe reveals a thinner, less forceful singing voice than those of his co-stars, robbing the morally blinkered Javert of some dramatic stature, although his screen presence compensates. Barks, a film newcomer wisely retained from past stagings, more than holds her own; Seyfried (who previously flexed her musical muscles in Mamma Mia!) croons ever so sweetly as the lovely, passive Cosette; Aaron Tveit cuts a dashing figure as the impulsive student revolutionary Enjolras; and young Daniel Huttlestone makes a delightful impression as the street urchin Gavroche, bringing an impish streak of energy to the proceedings. More on Les Mis: Jackman, Hathaway & Co-Stars Are Masters Of The House At ‘Les Misérables’ Premiere Early Reaction: Oscar Race Heats Up As NYC Screening Of ‘Les Miserables’ Prompts Cheers & Tears Follow Movieline on Twitter.
The Sundance Film Festival completed its 2013 roster with 65 short films announced Tuesday. Veteran filmmakers Albert Maysles and Morgan Spurlock are among the filmmakers that will screen their latest in shorts programs or before features at the celebrated event. The list includes titles that will screen in the U.S. and International Narrative, Documentary, Animated and New Frontier short films. [ Related: Sundance’s U.S. and World Competition Films & NEXT Lineup ] Sundance received 8,104 shorts submissions, 427 more than 2012 vs 4,044 feature-length submissions. “The Short Film section of our 2013 Festival is comprised of bold works by adventurous filmmakers who have mastered creative ways to embody their unique perspectives in the short form onscreen,” said Sundance Director of Programming Trevor Groth in a statement. “The selections represent the immensely varied and dynamic approaches to storytelling that will inspire audiences with their huge accomplishments within a limited timeframe.” [ Related: Sundance’s 2013 Premieres and Documentary Premieres lineup ] Sundance Film Festival Shorts lineup follows with information provided by the event: U.S. NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS The Apocalypse / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Zuchero) — Four uninspired friends try to come up with a terrific idea for how to spend their Saturday afternoon. Black Metal / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kat Candler) — After a career spent mining his music from the shadows, one fan creates a chain reaction for the lead singer of a black metal band. Boneshaker / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Frances Bodomo) — An African family lost in America travels to a Louisiana church to find a cure for its problem child. Broken Night / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Guillermo Arriaga) — A young woman and her four-year-old daughter drive across desolated hills. Everything looks fine and they seem to enjoy the ride, until an accident sends them into the nightmare of darkness. The Captain / Australia, U.S.A. (Directors: Nash Edgerton, Spencer Susser, Screenwriters: Nash Edgerton, Spencer Susser, Taika Waititi) — A man wakes up with a hangover, only to discover the consequences of his actions. The Cub / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Riley Stearns) — Wolves make the best parents. GUN / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Spencer Gillis) — Roy purchases a handgun to protect his wife and newborn baby after a terrifying home invasion. The newfound sense of power Roy feels carrying the weapon becomes an obsession, leading him down a reckless path that may have tragic consequences. Karaoke! / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew F. Renzi) — On a night out in New York City, a young man tries to avoid his problems. K.I.T. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michelle Morgan) — A guilt-ridden, but well-intentioned, yuppie goes to great lengths to prove she is a decent person. Movies Made From Home # 6 / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Machoian) — Debbie is good at playing hide and seek – so good she is often hard to find. Movies Made From Home # 15 / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Machoian) — Robert attempts to keep himself healthy and fit so he can live as long as possible, unaware of what that really means. Palimpsest / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Tyburski, Screenwriters: Michael Tyburski, Ben Nabors) — A successful house tuner provides clients with a unique form of therapy that examines subtle details in their living spaces. #PostModem / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva) — A comedic, satirical, sci-fi pop musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, #PostModem is the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets. Record/Play / U.S.A. (Director: Jesse Atlas, Screenwriters: Aaron Wolfe, Jesse Atlas) — War, fate, and a broken Walkman transcend time and space in this sci-fi love story. Skin / U.S.A. (Director: Jordana Spiro, Screenwriters: Jordana Spiro, David Pablos) — A young taxidermist and small town loner is entranced by a girl who finds his work beautiful. Just as their relationship begins to progress, he does something that drastically changes everything. Social Butterfly / France, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lauren Wolkstein) — When a 30-year-old American woman attends a teenage party in the south of France, guests wonder who she is and what she is doing there. What Do We Have in Our Pockets? / Israel, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Goran Dukic) — A most unusual love story unravels when the objects in a young man’s pockets come to life. Based on a short story by Etgar Keret. Whiplash / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) — An aspiring drummer enters an elite conservatory’s top jazz orchestra. [ Related: Sundance 2013’s Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontiers lineups ] INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS The Companion / Peru (Director and screenwriter: Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio) — On the outskirts of Lima, a young prostitute tends to his father, a fallen-from-grace artisan. However, the young man feels that his efforts are never enough. He tries to break free, but his father’s dependence is stronger than his son’s will. The Curse / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Fyzal Boulifa) — Fatine has ventured far from the village to meet her older lover. When a small boy catches her, all she wants to do is go home. The Date / Finland (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Toivoniemi) — Tino’s manhood is put to the test in front of two women when he has to host a date for Diablo, the family’s stud cat. Le Futur Proche / Canada (Director: Sophie Goyette, Screenwriters: Sophie Goyette, Madeleine David) — A French immigrant pilot receives an unexpected phone call that changes his life forever. He must deal with the emotional consequences of the call while still completing his work duties in this impressionistic depiction of an all-but-ordinary day. Jonah / Tanzania, United Kingdom (Director: Kibwe Tavares, Screenwriter: Jack Thorne) — When two young men photograph a gigantic fish leaping from the sea, their small town becomes a tourist attraction in this story about the old and the new. Magnesium / Netherlands (Director: Sam de Jong, Screenwriter: Shady El-Hamus) — A talented gymnast makes a life-changing discovery as she prepares for an important tournament, which is her last chance to reach the top. Night Shift / New Zealand (Director and screenwriter: Zia Mandviwalla) — Salote, an airport cleaner, starts another long night shift. She keeps her head down, does her job, and gleans the means for her survival from what others leave behind. On Suffocation / Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Jenifer Malmqvist) — This dialogue-free film about an execution describes what happens when the system becomes more important than human life. Scrubber / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Romola Garai) — A mysterious and disturbing suburban narrative about a listless young mother who is torn between family duty and self-serving fantasies. The Song of the Mechanical Fish / Russian Federation (Director and screenwriter: Philipp Yuryev) — A fisherman who lives in a deserted village in the far north receives an invitation to the wedding of a son he has never seen and decides to make a redemptive journey. Summer Vacation / Israel (Directors: Sharon Maymon, Tal Granit, Screenwriters: Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon) — The family summer vacation: sea, sun and sand, and all Yuval wants is to get the heck out of there. Today and Tomorrow / Netherlands (Director: Aaron Douglas Johnston, Screenwriter: Jesse van’t Hull) — Iranian and Afghani political refugees make a life for themselves in Holland as they anxiously await word if they will be granted political asylum or sent back to their native countries. Volume / United Kingdom (Director: Mahalia Belo, Screenwriter: Ingeborg Topsøe) — Sam’s perfectly polished world is upended when Georgina goes missing. As everyone acts like nothing has happened, Sam drifts back into his memories of Georgina and realizes he may know more than he wants to remember. You Are More Than Beautiful / China, Hong Kong (Director: Tae-yong Kim) — A man arrives in beautiful Jeju Island and pays a woman to act as his partner while he visits his ill father in this tale of beauty among base human acts. [Related Interview: Sundance Director John Cooper Says ‘Fearlessness’ Distinguishes The Festival’s 2013 Slate ] DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS 30% (Women and Politics in Sierra Leone) / United Kingdom, Sierra Leone (Director: Anna Cady) — Oil-painted animation brings to life the stories of three powerful women in postconflict Sierra Leone, revealing the violence and corruption women face as they fight for fairer representation in the governance of their country. The Battle of amfAR / U.S.A. (Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Screenwriter: Sharon Wood) — When AIDS strikes, two very different women – Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor and research scientist Dr. Mathilde Krim – join forces to create America’s first AIDS research foundation. The fight against HIV/AIDS has never been the same. Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? / U.S.A.(Director: Jason Willis) — Catnip is all the rage with today’s modern feline, but do we really understand it? This film frankly discusses the facts about this controversial substance. Endless Day / Germany (Director: Anna Frances Ewert) — For most people, sleep comes naturally, but for others, the night turns into an ongoing struggle to drift off into oblivion. This film explores what it’s like to be awake involuntarily and the feelings that accompany the passing of sleepless time. Fall to Grace / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandra Pelosi) — Former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey famously resigned from office after declaring himself “a gay American.” Since then, he has continued to use his connections to help rehabilitate women and to make peace with his journey from married governor to gay suburban priest. Irish Folk Furniture / Ireland (Director: Tony Donoghue) — In Ireland, old hand-painted furniture is often associated with hard times, with poverty, and with a time many would rather forget. In this animated documentary, 16 pieces of traditional folk furniture are repaired and returned home. Outlawed in Pakistan / Pakistan, U.S.A. (Directors: Habiba Nosheen, Hilke Schellmann) — Kainat Soomro, a Pakistani teenager, accuses four men from her village of gang-raping her. She takes her case to the Pakistani courts and faces a deeply flawed criminal-justice system. Paraíso / U.S.A. (Director: Nadav Kurtz) — Three immigrant window cleaners risk their lives every day rappelling down some of Chicago’s tallest skyscrapers. Paraíso reveals the danger of their job and what they see on the way down. The Roper / U.S.A. (Director: Ewan McNicol) — A black man with hip-hop and zydeco roots hard grafts through the local, all-white rodeo circuits in the Deep South, as he dreams of competing in the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. The Secret of Trees / U.S.A. (Director: Albert Maysles) — What do trees know that we don’t? Thirteen-year-old inventor Aidan has discovered that trees use a mathematical formula to gather sunlight in crowded forests. Now he wonders why we don’t collect solar energy in the same way. Skinningrove / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Almereyda) — Photographer Chris Killip shares unpublished images chronicling time spent among the fiercely independent residents of a remote English fishing village. A Story for the Modlins / Spain (Director: Sergio Oksman, Screenwriter: Sergio Oksman) —The tale of Elmer Modlin, who, after appearing in Rosemary’s Baby, fled with his family to a far-off country and shut himself away in a dark apartment for 30 years. When the Zombies Come / U.S.A. (Director: Jon Hurst) — At a remote hardware store, fans of the walking dead have turned their love of zombies into an obsession, warping the way they see the store and its customers. The Whistle / Poland (Director: Grzegorz Zariczny) — Marcin, a lowest-leagues football referee who lives in a small town near Krakow, dreams of better times. At his mother’s urging, he decides to change his life and find himself a girlfriend and a better job. You Don’t Know Jack / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Spurlock) — Jack Andraka, a high school sophomore, has developed a revolutionary new test for pancreatic cancer, proving the future of science is in the hands of our youth. ANIMATED SHORT FILMS Benjamin’s Flowers / Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Malin Erixon) — Lovelorn and lonely Benjamin lives on the blurry borderline between fantasy and reality. Bite of the Tail / South Korea, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Song E Kim) — Life is a constant struggle for a husband and wife. She is suffering from stomach pain, and the doctor has no clue about a cure. Meanwhile, her husband is on his own journey of hunting a snake. The Event / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Julia Pott, Screenwriter: Tom Chivers) — Love and a severed foot at the end of the world. Feral / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Daniel Sousa) — A solitary hunter finds a wild boy in the woods and brings him back to civilization. Alienated by his strange new environment, the boy tries to adapt by using the same strategies that kept him safe in the forest. In Hanford / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Chris Mars) — This heartbreaking true story of a town poisoned by Cold War–era nuclear-arms manufacture is told through firsthand accounts and fantasy scenes, which empathize with the victim’s plight. Marcel, King of Tervuren / U.S.A. (Director: Tom Schroeder, Screenwriter: Ann Berckmoes) — In this Greek tragedy – as acted out by Belgian roosters – Marcel survives the bird flu, alcohol, sleeping pills and his son, Max. Oh Willy… / Belgium, France, Netherlands (Directors and screenwriters: Marc James Roels, Emma De Swaef) — Willy returns to his naturalist roots as he bungles his way into noble savagery. Seraph / U.S.A. (Director: Dash Shaw, Screenwriters: John Cameron Mitchell, Dash Shaw) — A boy’s childhood scars his life. Thank You / U.S.A. (Directors: Pendleton Ward, Tom Herpich, Screenwriters: Pendleton Ward, Tom Herpich) — A pack of fire wolves attack a snow golem in the forest and accidentally leave a cub behind after their retreat. The golem’s life is thrown into chaos as he attempts to reunite the cub with its family. Tram / France, Czech Republic (Director and screenwriter: Michaela Pavlátová) — The humdrum daily routine of a tram conductress is jolted when the vibrations and rhythm of the road turn her on and take her on an erotic and surrealistic fantasy journey. NEW FRONTIER SHORT FILMS An electrifying celebration of innovation in filmmaking, these New Frontier shorts energize the mind through bold aesthetics and thought-provoking content. The Capsule / Greece (Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari, Screenwriters: Athina Rachel Tsangari, Aleksandra Waliszewska) — Seven young women. A mansion perched on a Cycladic rock. A series of lessons on discipline, desire, discovery, and disappearance. A melancholy, inescapable cycle on the brink of womanhood – infinitely. Century / U.S.A. (Director: Kevin Jerome Everson) — Filmed in Charlottesville, Virginia, and starring a General Motors automobile – the titular brown Buick Century – meeting its fate. Datamosh / U.S.A. (Director: Yung Jake) — A contemporary rap video that explores the glitchy video art trend “datamoshing”. All geeked up, Yung Jake glitches out your computer and celebrates nerdiness and getting money. Iyeza / South Africa (Director and screenwriter: Kudzanai Chiurai) — An allegory of the Last Supper depicting the establishment of a new nation-state, Kudzanai Chiurai’s Iyeza explores the African condition by juxtaposing the past and the present of a continent in the grip of violent civil wars. Primate Cinema: Apes As Family / Scotland, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rachel Mayeri) — Chimpanzees, our closest relatives, like to watch television. What would a film made expressly for chimps look like? Created with a primatologist and actors in chimp suits, a primate drama is presented to chimpanzees at the Edinburgh Zoo. Reindeer / United Kingdom (Director: Eva Weber) — A lyrical and haunting portrait of reindeer herding in the twilight expanses of the Lapland wilderness. Sirocco / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hisham Bizri) — A detective is sent to the desert to investigate a murder only to find out he’s been investigating his own death. Until the Quiet Comes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kahlil Joseph) — Shot in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles, this film deals with themes of violence, camaraderie and spirituality through the lens of magical realism.
Wherever you stand on the High & Low scale, meticulous attention to craft and detail separates the journeymen from the true artists. This week, we get a tribute to an American auteur that most reflects his exacting eye — which, at one point, drove him into bankruptcy — along with highlights from a comedy series devoted to watching dreadful movies over and over again to find the humor therein. HIGH: Francis Ford Coppola : 5-Film Collection (Lionsgate; Blu-Ray $39.99) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: A quintet of films from legendary American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (although two of them are Apocalypse Now ). WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: This collection features the original and “Redux” versions of Apocalypse Now , along with critical fave The Conversation , late-career curiosity Tetro and elaborate musical One from the Heart — a film so lavish and expensive that it helped to bankrupt Coppola’s ambitious American Zoetrope film studio. WHY IT’S SCHMANCY: The Godfather trilogy is owned by another company and thus absent here, but the films on display capture, in miniature, the breadth of what makes Coppola such a singular filmmaker. They’re all passion projects to some extent, and while some of these movies have their detractors, none of them represent Coppola collecting a big studio paycheck in return for mere competency behind the camera. (See Jack or The Rainmaker for that sort of thing.) From the technical and emotional nitty-gritty of The Conversation to the Vegas- vu-par -MGM spectacle of One from the Heart , this set captures a fascinating slice of American film history. WHY YOU SHOULD OWN IT (AGAIN): One from the Heart makes its Blu-Ray debut here (file it next to The Criterion Collection’s recent hi-def release of another infamous budget-buster, Heaven’s Gate ), and three of these films come loaded with plenty of extras. All you get with both Apocalypse Now movies is a Coppola commentary, but fans probably already own the elaborate Apocalypse Now “Full Disclosure Edition” released a few years ago by Lionsgate. LOW: Mystery Science Theater 3000 : XXV (Shout Factory; DVD $59.97) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Four films deserve and receive mockery by Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy, Frank Conniff, Bill Corbett, Mary Jo Pehl, J. Elvis Weinstein and the rest of the crew. WHY IT’S FUN: Mystery Science Theater 3000 took audience interactivity to new heights by hilariously “riffing” through some of the worst movies they could find, and now these DVD collections both capture the original episodes in all their glory while also enhancing them with new extras. For MST3K ’s 25 th edition from Shout Factory, we get young Ann-Margret minxing up John Forsyth in Kitten with a Whip ; the mind-bending Operation Kid Brother , starring Sean Connery’s brother Neil as (wait for it) the brother of a secret agent; Jack Arnold’s Black Lagoon sequel Revenge of the Creature , featuring Universal contract player Clint Eastwood ; and Robot Holocaust , which makes the other three films featured here look like The Magnificent Ambersons by comparison. The show was consistently funny over the course of a decade, and this collection features a great mix of genres (not to mention some of the most watchable movies they ever targeted). WHY YOU SHOULD OWN IT: All four of these are great episodes — and at the moment, this is the only way you can get Operation Kid Brother (aka OK Connery , aka Operation Double 007 ) on DVD in the United States. There are also new introductions by Hodgson and Nelson, and a doc on Arnold’s years at Universal. If you order directly from Shout Factory, they’ll throw in a bonus DVD of all nine chapters of Radar Men from the Moon riffed by the Season One cast, including one previously unreleased chapter and a new intro by Weinstein. Alonso Duralde has written about film for The Wrap, Salon and MSNBC.com . He also co-hosts the Linoleum Knife podcast and regularly appears on What the Flick?! (The Young Turks Network) . He is a senior programmer for the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and a pre-screener for the Sundance Film Festival. He also the author of two books: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (Limelight Editions) and 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men (Advocate Books). Follow Alonso Duralde on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Seth MacFarlane may direct and star in the “contemporary” Western. Also in the news Tuesday, Disney is blasting Stan Lee Media’s multi-billion lawsuit over rights to Marvel characters; Guillermo del Toro eyes his next project; the Film Society of Lincoln Center will host Tom Cruise retrospective; and Lincoln may leave some in Alaska out in the cold. Seth MacFarlane Eyes Western Comedy as Ted Follow-Up MacFarlane and his Ted co-writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild are writing A Million Ways to Die in the West , which MacFarlane is said to star in and direct for Summer 2013. The story is described as a Blazing Saddles -stye pic, which translates into a Western with contemporary humor. The script is said to contain MacFarlane’s racy humor, but also has a romantic female lead, THR reports . Disney Blasts Stan Lee Copyright Lawsuit Regarding Marvel Superheroes Disney called Stan Lee Media’s multi-billion lawsuit “flawed beyond cure” and filed a motion for its dismissal last week. Stan Lee Media claims rights to all Marvel characters created by Stan Lee, Deadline reports . Film Society of Lincoln Center to Host Tom Cruise Cruise will take part in an onstage conversation with NY Film Festival programmer Kent Jones. The event will include a sneak preview of Cruise’s latest, Jack Reacher in which he portrays a “tough ex-military investigator out for justice.” The event will kick-off the career retrospective, “All The Right Moves: The Films of Tom Cruise” December 18 – 20. Tickets will go for $50 and $35. Guillermo del Toro Eyes Crimson Peak Del Toro will direct the haunted house thriller as his next project. Legendary and del Toro are looking to a February 2014 start for the pic, which aims to “channel the gothic haunted pictures of yore.” He is expected to shoot the pilot for The Strain , based on the books he wrote with Chuck Hogan, ahead of Crimson , THR reports . Some Alaska Venues Out in the Cold with Lincoln Disney says the Steven Spielberg-directed Oscar hopeful has had such high demand the studio is now rushing to make new prints. But the reinforcements may come too late for smaller venues in Alaska’s capital, Juneau and other towns. Copies weren’t available for some venues when they hoped to get them and may have to pass, though Oscar buzz may reignite interest, Huffington Post reports .
Warner Bros. 2015 Justice League movie may not have a director yet, but it looks like it has a villain. Latino Review is reporting that Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman and their super colleagues will be throwing down against a major baddie, Darkseid from the subtly named planet, Apokolips, when the summer of 2015 rolls around. If Darkseid, who was created by the legendary comic artist Jack Kirby , is indeed the villain who will be wreaking havoc in the DC movie universe, it’s an interesting choice, given that Marvel plans to feature the villain Thanos in Avengers 2 , which it plans to release that same summer. Justice League ‘s Darkseid vs. Avengers 2 ‘s Thanos As Comic Book Legends Revealed points out, Thanos was “roughly based on Darkseid” (although the character’s creator Jim Starlin didn’t originally envision him as such.) The connection between the two characters could help ratchet up the competitive tension between the rival movies as release time grows closer. (It’s only, like, years away.) DC could also do some “our super-villain can kick your super-villain’s ass” sassing based on IGN’s Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time , in which Darkseid ranks sixth and Thanos is 47th. If you ask me, these two dudes do look alike. That’s Darkseid on the left. Thanos is on the right. What do you think? Sound off in the comments section. By the way, the unforgiving mug of the late actor Jack Palance inspired Darkseid’s face. Kirby based the villain’s evil nature on Adolf Hitler. [ Latino Review , Comic Book Legends Revealed , IGN] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
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.
Fanboy movie news is out of control today. If this were the 1930s we’d need a massive montage of spinning newspaper headlines. First, talk of Darkseid in Justice League , then the (extremely uninspired) poster from Star Trek Into Darkness , and new art from Man of Steel . Not to be outdone, Marc Webb , readying The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , has thwipped a tweet our way with the first glimpse of our new Harry Osborne – Dane DeHaan. Dane DeHaan, whose ten letter name makes economic a mere three consonants and two vowels, was said to be in the running for Spidey’s new foe against other young men like Alden Ehrenreich (a good actor, but too many letters), Brady Corbet, Eddie Redmayne , Boyd Holbrook, Douglas Booth and Sam Claflin . DeHaan, if you recall, was the main character in the surprisingly effective found-footage superhero (or was it supervillain ?) film Chronicle . Harry Osborn, the son of OsCorp’s Norman Osborn, was played by James Franco in the original Sam Raimi trilogy. DeHaan certainly has that weight-of-the-world sulk down pat, which is a key part of Webb’s Spider-Man aesthetic. The gals who flock to see skinny high school aged white boys will have their needs met, despite DeHaan actually being nearly 27. (That’s okay, Andrew Garfield will be over 30 when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes out, which leads me to think that I should probably be rubbing some of that sticky, milky Spidey substance all over my pores.) In the first Amazing Spider-Man 2 look Tweeted today by Webb, DeHaan has a bit of a scrappy look (don’tcha just want to tussle his hair?) but there’s something ominous in his eyes… as if off in the distance he sees an epic climax involving well known New York City landmarks and an inordinate amount of computer generated imagery. Be sure to follow @MarcW for more surprise news about The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ! Follow Jordan Hoffman on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Michael Haneke ‘s Amour swept the European Film Awards over the weekend, picking up four big wins including best European film and best director. The Cannes Palme d’Or winner also won two acting awards for its principal stars, Emanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The film, which centers on an elderly couple whose lives change when the woman has an attack, will open in the U.S. December 19th via Sony Pictures Classics. Winners were chosen by the 2,700 members of the European Film Academy. The ceremony took place over the weekend in Malta. EUROPEAN FILM 2012: Amour France / Germany / Austria, 127 min Written & directed by Michael Haneke produced by Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka & Michael Katz EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2012: Michael Haneke for Amour EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2012: Emmanuelle Riva in Amour EUROPEAN ACTOR 2012: Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2012: Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg for Jagten (The Hunt) CARLO DI PALMA EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD 2012: Sean Bobbitt for Shame EUROPEAN EDITOR 2012: Joe Walker for Shame EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGNER 2012: Maria Djurkovic for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2012: Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2012 – Prix FIPRESCI: Kauwboy by Boudewijn Koole (The Netherlands) EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY 2012: Hiver Nomade (Winter Nomads) by Manuel von Stürler (Switzerland) EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY ANIMATED FEATURE FILM 2012: Alois Nebel by Tomáš Luňák (Czech Republic / Germany / Slovakia) EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY SHORT FILM 2012: Superman, Spiderman Or Batman by Tudor Giurgiu, Romania EUROPEAN CO-PRODUCTION AWARD 2012 – Prix EURIMAGES: Helena Danielsson , Sweden EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA 2012: Dame Helen Mirren , UK EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Bernardo Bertolucci , Italy THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD 2012: Hasta La Vista (Come As You Are) directed by da Geoffrey Enthoven
