Young Québécois filmmaker Xavier Dolan won major praise back in 2009 for his debut I Killed My Mother which debuted in Cannes and winning awards at festivals there and around the world. His second feature Heartbeats also headed to Cannes and received theatrical release in the U.S. last year. And Dolan’s third film, Laurence Anyways debuted in Cannes last month. But it his first film evaded U.S. audiences outside the festival circuit until now. It had initially been picked up by now defunct specialty distributor Regent Releasing and when the company went belly up, the film’s rights in the States seemed resigned to the company’s fate, but Paris-based sales agent reclaimed rights to the critically acclaimed film and it will now receive its long-awaited release in the U.S. via Kino Lorber Films. Also starring Dolan, the film revolves around Hubert Minel, a 16-year-old Québécois living in suburban Montreal with his single mother, Chantale (Anne Dorval). The feature beautifully captures the anxieties of a mother-son relationship, as well as their inability to re-affirm their love for each other against the backdrop of bullying, the difficulties of single parenting, and many specific challenges facing queer youth. “When we learned in Cannes that this stunning debut film by the then 20-year-old Xavier Dolan was newly available,” said Kino Lorber’s Richard Lorber in a statement. “We jumped at the chance to pick it up. Having also seen his latest film at the festival, it convinced us even more of his unique talent and the importance of finally bringing this brilliant first work to screens across the U.S.” Kino Lorber is planning a full theatrical release for the film during the fall of 2012, before making it available in all home video and VOD platforms.
Many of us who were alive in the 1980s claimed not to listen to heavy metal or its almost indistinguishable twin, hard rock. But we did listen, or at least we heard it — it was unavoidable, an omnipresent aural beast slithering out of car radios, grungy bars and retail-establishment stereo systems. Even if you were more attuned to punk or jazz or just about anything else, it was part of the background noise of your life whether you liked it or not. If nothing else, Rock of Ages — adapted from the Broadway show of the same name, in which ’80s metal hits from the likes of Def Leppard, Foreigner and Night Ranger were woven into a rudimentary boy-meets-girl love story — reminds us just how good many of those songs we were pretending not to listen to really were. The picture has a good-natured, if self-conscious, spring to its step, at least until you-know-who shows up in a bejeweled devil’s head codpiece. The movie almost doesn’t survive his slurpy tongue bath. Seeing Tom Cruise swathed in leather pants and fake tattoos, as Axl Rose-style metal god Stacee Jaxx , is supposedly Rock of Ages ’ big draw. But the movie is much more fun when he’s not around, partly because the story has been retooled from the stage show to give his character a dose of much-needed redemption. Why can’t he just be bad? The appeal of rock’n’roll is that it’s supposed to be disreputable. The rejiggered plot of Rock of Ages also involves a family-values crusader, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, who vows to make the streets of Los Angeles “safe for teenagers” by killing the most popular rock club. That’s a tangled irony the writers of the exceedingly tame Rock of Ages — Justin Theroux, Chris D’Arienzo and Allan Loeb, riffing on the original book by D’Arienzo — can’t worm their way out of. But it’s probably futile to hold Rock of Ages up to such close scrutiny. The point, mainly, is to watch two young people, good-girl Oklahoma metalhead Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough, of Dancing with the Stars ) and mild-mannered aspiring rock musician Drew Boley (Diego Boneta) meet, fall in love, break up over a misunderstanding, and then get together again. As the movie opens, Sherrie arrives in Los Angeles with a suitcase full of dreams (or record albums, which pretty much amount to the same thing) that’s promptly stolen. Drew, a barback at a rock’n’roll watering hole known as the Bourbon Room, tries to get it back for her but fails. Still, the sparks fly immediately, and Drew helps Sherrie get a job at his club, which is managed by an aged rocker whose leather vest barely reaches around his tubby belly. His name is Dennis Dupree, and he’s played with a great deal of shrewd glee by Alec Baldwin . Dennis runs the Bourbon Room at a deficit; his right-hand man is the scrawny, reasonably helpful Lonny (Russell Brand, who appears to be running out of tricks outside of just being Russell Brand-y). Dennis thinks he may be able to turn his club’s fortunes around by booking Stacee Jaxx, who got his start thanks to Dennis. Unfortunately, Jaxx’s manager — Paul Giamatti in a baldy-man ponytail and a succession of comically broad-shouldered suits and patterned sweaters — cheats Dennis out of any profit he might have made. Meanwhile, Patricia Whitmore (Zeta-Jones), the Tipper Gore-ish wife of the city’s mayor elect, tries to put Dennis out of business in other ways. Through it all, or through most of it, Drew and Sherrie make moo-moo eyes at one another and duet their way through the catalogs of Foreigner, Extreme and Warrant, dusting off songs like “More Than Words,” “Heaven Isn’t Too Far Away” and “I’ve Been Waiting for a Girl Like You.” Did I mention that Malin Akerman shows up as a poodle-haired, half-brainy half-horny Rolling Stone journalist? Actually, there’s a lot going on in Rock of Ages , probably too much. The simplicity of the stage show (which originated way off-off-Broadway, in a Hollywood club, in 2005) put the spotlight on the music, for better and sometimes for worse. The movie, made by longtime choreographer-turned-director Adam Shankman (also the man behind the 2007 Hairspray ) is often busier than it needs to be. All that extra business detracts from the modest appeal of the leads: Boneta has some of the scrappy charm of the very young Matt Dillon, and Hough is sunny in a wind-up doll sort of way. Unfortunately, their musical numbers are shot and cut in such a way that it’s hard to actually watch their bodies move — why cast a dancer like Hough if we don’t really get to see her move? Then there’s the Tom Cruise problem. He’s fun to watch in his first few scenes, hamming it up as a spoiled rock’n’roll satyr. But the role quickly becomes a retread of the one he played in Magnolia , only in a different costume. Cruise can’t hide his cockiness — it’s in his blood. But even when he tries to kick back and poke fun at himself, he takes the job so seriously that it becomes a sort of grind. There’s nothing sexy about him, unless you find studied posturing erotic. That said, he does strut quite ably through a version of “Pour Some Sugar on Me” — it’s his best moment, and one of the liveliest bits in the movie. Zeta-Jones might have been used to better effect, considering how dazzling she is in her one big number, a rendition of “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” which she performs in the unsexiest of costumes, a boxy pink suit. Zeta-Jones gets her revenge later, though, when she shows up in one of the sleekest, foxiest getups I’ve seen all year, at long last giving the movie some bite. You’ll get just a glimpse or two, so enjoy it while it lasts. The rest of Rock of Ages is a sprawl whose cheerfulness feels more than a bit calculated. It’s a fake tattoo with the volume turned way, way up. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Many of us who were alive in the 1980s claimed not to listen to heavy metal or its almost indistinguishable twin, hard rock. But we did listen, or at least we heard it — it was unavoidable, an omnipresent aural beast slithering out of car radios, grungy bars and retail-establishment stereo systems. Even if you were more attuned to punk or jazz or just about anything else, it was part of the background noise of your life whether you liked it or not. If nothing else, Rock of Ages — adapted from the Broadway show of the same name, in which ’80s metal hits from the likes of Def Leppard, Foreigner and Night Ranger were woven into a rudimentary boy-meets-girl love story — reminds us just how good many of those songs we were pretending not to listen to really were. The picture has a good-natured, if self-conscious, spring to its step, at least until you-know-who shows up in a bejeweled devil’s head codpiece. The movie almost doesn’t survive his slurpy tongue bath. Seeing Tom Cruise swathed in leather pants and fake tattoos, as Axl Rose-style metal god Stacee Jaxx , is supposedly Rock of Ages ’ big draw. But the movie is much more fun when he’s not around, partly because the story has been retooled from the stage show to give his character a dose of much-needed redemption. Why can’t he just be bad? The appeal of rock’n’roll is that it’s supposed to be disreputable. The rejiggered plot of Rock of Ages also involves a family-values crusader, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, who vows to make the streets of Los Angeles “safe for teenagers” by killing the most popular rock club. That’s a tangled irony the writers of the exceedingly tame Rock of Ages — Justin Theroux, Chris D’Arienzo and Allan Loeb, riffing on the original book by D’Arienzo — can’t worm their way out of. But it’s probably futile to hold Rock of Ages up to such close scrutiny. The point, mainly, is to watch two young people, good-girl Oklahoma metalhead Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough, of Dancing with the Stars ) and mild-mannered aspiring rock musician Drew Boley (Diego Boneta) meet, fall in love, break up over a misunderstanding, and then get together again. As the movie opens, Sherrie arrives in Los Angeles with a suitcase full of dreams (or record albums, which pretty much amount to the same thing) that’s promptly stolen. Drew, a barback at a rock’n’roll watering hole known as the Bourbon Room, tries to get it back for her but fails. Still, the sparks fly immediately, and Drew helps Sherrie get a job at his club, which is managed by an aged rocker whose leather vest barely reaches around his tubby belly. His name is Dennis Dupree, and he’s played with a great deal of shrewd glee by Alec Baldwin . Dennis runs the Bourbon Room at a deficit; his right-hand man is the scrawny, reasonably helpful Lonny (Russell Brand, who appears to be running out of tricks outside of just being Russell Brand-y). Dennis thinks he may be able to turn his club’s fortunes around by booking Stacee Jaxx, who got his start thanks to Dennis. Unfortunately, Jaxx’s manager — Paul Giamatti in a baldy-man ponytail and a succession of comically broad-shouldered suits and patterned sweaters — cheats Dennis out of any profit he might have made. Meanwhile, Patricia Whitmore (Zeta-Jones), the Tipper Gore-ish wife of the city’s mayor elect, tries to put Dennis out of business in other ways. Through it all, or through most of it, Drew and Sherrie make moo-moo eyes at one another and duet their way through the catalogs of Foreigner, Extreme and Warrant, dusting off songs like “More Than Words,” “Heaven Isn’t Too Far Away” and “I’ve Been Waiting for a Girl Like You.” Did I mention that Malin Akerman shows up as a poodle-haired, half-brainy half-horny Rolling Stone journalist? Actually, there’s a lot going on in Rock of Ages , probably too much. The simplicity of the stage show (which originated way off-off-Broadway, in a Hollywood club, in 2005) put the spotlight on the music, for better and sometimes for worse. The movie, made by longtime choreographer-turned-director Adam Shankman (also the man behind the 2007 Hairspray ) is often busier than it needs to be. All that extra business detracts from the modest appeal of the leads: Boneta has some of the scrappy charm of the very young Matt Dillon, and Hough is sunny in a wind-up doll sort of way. Unfortunately, their musical numbers are shot and cut in such a way that it’s hard to actually watch their bodies move — why cast a dancer like Hough if we don’t really get to see her move? Then there’s the Tom Cruise problem. He’s fun to watch in his first few scenes, hamming it up as a spoiled rock’n’roll satyr. But the role quickly becomes a retread of the one he played in Magnolia , only in a different costume. Cruise can’t hide his cockiness — it’s in his blood. But even when he tries to kick back and poke fun at himself, he takes the job so seriously that it becomes a sort of grind. There’s nothing sexy about him, unless you find studied posturing erotic. That said, he does strut quite ably through a version of “Pour Some Sugar on Me” — it’s his best moment, and one of the liveliest bits in the movie. Zeta-Jones might have been used to better effect, considering how dazzling she is in her one big number, a rendition of “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” which she performs in the unsexiest of costumes, a boxy pink suit. Zeta-Jones gets her revenge later, though, when she shows up in one of the sleekest, foxiest getups I’ve seen all year, at long last giving the movie some bite. You’ll get just a glimpse or two, so enjoy it while it lasts. The rest of Rock of Ages is a sprawl whose cheerfulness feels more than a bit calculated. It’s a fake tattoo with the volume turned way, way up. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Prometheus held the box office throne in the United Kingdom last weekend. Madagascar 3 won’t have its British theatrical roll out until the fall of all things, so Prometheus had no big newcomers to contend with in the United Kingdom last weekend. The Ridley Scott directed feature took in £3.14M ($4.87M) in its second weekend, a 50 per cent drop. Still, its ten day total is £15.47M ($23.99M), just behind the complete cumulative for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood which totaled £15.65M, according to figures by The Guardian. Men in Black 3 has had a bit of a rough go in the States, but it’s holding steady among the Brits, dropping a mild 16% in its third weekend, grossing £2.53M ($3.92M). Snow White and the Huntsman , meanwhile dropped only 15%, adding £5.96m ($8.68M) over the past seven days
Wes Anderson ‘s nostalgic kid romance Moonrise Kingdom is on its way to wide release later this month (June 29), when even more folks will have the chance to fall in love with the tale of New England youngsters Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward). As a special treat, Focus Features has released an utterly charming supplemental short — introduced by Bob Balaban as the island of New Penzance’s narrator/cartographer and, as it turns out, local librarian — in which the six young adult fantasy books glimpsed in the film come to life via Hayward’s narration and some magical animation. In Moonrise , star-crossed tween lovers Sam and Suzy pact to run away together, sending the entire island into a tizzy. The soulmates’ plan for escape is as practical as it is impractical; they’ve packed camping gear and kitten food, but Suzy’s suitcase is filled with library books. And what books! Shelly and the Secret Universe , The Francine Odysseys , The Girl from Jupiter , Disappearance of the 6th Grade , The Light of Seven Matchsticks , The Return of Auntie Lorraine … Anderson commissioned different artists to design each novel, a small but potent detail that goes a long way in capturing that elusive sense of childhood wonderment, at least for this childhood sci-fi/fantasy book nerd.
After inheriting the reins of the Hunger Games franchise from director Gary Ross, Francis Lawrence is making casting moves as the YA series sequel, Catching Fire , comes into view. According to THR, the first new cast addition may be Philip Seymour Hoffman , who has reportedly been offered a key role that will figure into the next two installments in the franchise: New Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee. If you recall, Wes Bentley’s Seneca Crane didn’t fare so well at the end of The Hunger Games, having failed to do his job in allowing Katniss Everdeen to become a symbol for rebellion. His position now vacated, Crane is replaced in Catching Fire by Heavensbee, who has a few surprises of his own to reveal. If you’ve read the books or know what happens in Catching Fire and beyond, the casting of this character in particular is all more intriguing, given what transpires in the plot-heavy next installments. Without spoiling it, I’ll just say this: Seeing someone of Hoffman’s caliber in the role makes Catching Fire (and the trilogy-ender Mockingjay) very promising, indeed. No confirmation yet as to whether or not Hoffman is a go for Plutarch Heavensbee; filming, meanwhile, is set to begin in September. [ THR ]
One thing about Sarah Palin, she has staying power. People on the left and right love and hate her (or both) and as Mitt Romney gears up to choose his potential Veep, it’s hard to imagine whoever it is will have the same cultural impact as Palin. Movies have been made about her including the pro-Palin doc The Undefeated (2011) directed by Stephen K. Bannon which is inspired by her book Going Rogue: An American Life and then there was, of course, the reality show set in her home state where she served part of a term as governor in Sarah Palin’s Alaska . But countless on-TV appearances later another film – this time, made for HBO – brought out star-wattage and more controversy in Game Change , which the filmmaker recently spoke about including his frustration at negative feedback from both sides of the political spectrum. Directed by Jay Roach and starring Julianne Moore as the Palin herself along with Ed Harris (as McCain) and Woody Harrelson, the film followed Arizona Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign from his selection of Palin as his running mate and his ultimate defeat, some would say due in large part to Palin’s much ballyhooed public and media gaffes including her ill-fated interview with then CBS News anchor Katie Couric in which she had difficulty picking a newspaper that she reads daily and taking some geographic liberties with Russia’s proximity to Alaska. Game Change was not Roach’s first foray into campaign controversy. His earlier HBO film Recount , which followed the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore that ended up in the Supreme Court, giving the election to Bush, won three Emmy Awards in 2008. Roach told The Hollywood Reporter he tried on numerous occasions to reach out to Palin to cooperate on the film to no avail. He even tried tracking her down at a string of parties around the time of the White House Correspondents dinner last year. “I really thought I would go up to her and say, ‘Hi, my name’s Jay Roach and I’m doing this film about the McCain-Palin campaign…I’m sincerely trying to get the story right and it’d be great if you want to talk about it and tell a story with even more layers and depth.’ So it would’ve been the world’s most awkward conversation; she’d already said ‘no’.” Roach took heat for portraying Palin as falling apart at the seams in the wake of the Couric interview, though Roach said he and Moore were trying to find empathy for the V.P. candidate, telling THR, “What might that have been like, to have been surrounded by people you don’t trust anymore, to have to experience so much public humiliation and mockery and, you know, widespread judgment?” And what about the heavy response on both sides of the proverbial aisle once the film hit HBO? “I think I was annoyed by the fact that the people who were attacking the film hadn’t seen it, and they said, ‘We haven’t seen it, but we hate it,'” said Roach. He noted that some people thought it was too sympathetic though he said he thinks that crowd had likely expected it to be more critical. And now Roach is taking on the political front again, but this time it will be a fictional story (though one can’t help but speculate there will be ample ‘truth’ to the story). His next film The Campaign will star Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two opponents fighting it out in North Carolina. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter ] And what’s your feedback on Palin’s media portrayal?
Throughout the ’70s and into the first part of the ’80s, it was hard to ignore singer/songwriter/actor/sometimes talk show host and best-friend of the Muppets Paul Williams. He won Grammys and even an Oscar for hits he wrote including “We’ve Only Just Begun,”, “Rainy Days on Mondays,” “Evergreen,” “Just an Old Fashioned Love Song” and “Rainbow Connection.” Barbra Streisand, The Carpenters and even Kermit the Frog are among the artists he wrote super-hits for. Below, Paul Williams gives us his top ten movie songs of all time and dishes insight on Stephen Kessler’s documentary about him, Paul Williams Still Alive , about his raging ascent and crashing fall and return to form… Johnny Carson first brought the artist onto the Tonight Show as the swinging ’70s were just beginning. He did television, movies, concerts. If there was a group of “It-guys” in that crazy decade, Williams would surely have been a part of that cadre of people at the center of all that spectacle. But as the ’80s wore on and into the ’90s Paul Williams all but disappeared from the center of it all. Drugs and booze did him in for a while, though he came roaring back though via a less flashy route. Enter fan and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stephen Kessler. He had long been a fan of Williams as a teen growing up in Queens, NY and his songs which he described as about “depression, loneliness and alienation,” and set out to find Williams and make a documentary. Williams said ‘yes’ but he was hardly a willing participant, at least initially, as Williams told Movieline. “By the time I decided to go along, he had spent a lot of time and a lot of money. I didn’t want to flat out say no and didn’t know how to say no.” Williams added that he thought there was nothing worse than some older famous guy trying to reach for that last bit of notoriety. Kessler is very present in the film, which goes against most documentary standards unless you’re Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock. With Williams reluctant initially to open up and only providing limited access, the story unfolds interweaving a treasure-trove of ’70s pop culture which Paul is at the center and Kessler’s desire to get at his core and open up. I’m an actor, I can ignore the camera if I want to. But it’s exhausting to try and pretend I don’t notice the camera,” said Williams. “I didn’t want to do that, it seemed ridiculous.” One thing cameras caught and the film surfaces, decades later, is footage of Williams, high, while doing late night talk shows. Now 22 years sober, it’s a painful reminder of his past life and he even said during the film that he didn’t want his daughter to see that. But he relents and said he hopes it will help others. “I became a shallow ride and my behavior was totally unacceptable. One of the best things I did was to say to keep that footage in the movie. I think by leaving in you get a sense of how bad it got,” he said. “[There is] a sense of real disappointment and leading edge of shame. In a certain context it’s hard to watch, but you get a sense that recovery works. You see the yin and yang of the whole deal and you see that now, my life is such a gift. I hope I can make a difference… I love my life. And I’m blown away by the reaction.” PAUL WILLIAM’s TOP 10 MOVIE SONGS: Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley, Blackboard Jungle (1955) Main title theme by Elmer Bernstein, The Man with a Golden Arm (1955) Lose Yourself by Eminem/Bass/Resto, 8 Mile (2002) When You Wish Upon a Star by Harline/Washington Pinnochio (1940) The Man That Got Away by Arlen /Gershwin, A Star is Born (1954) With a Song in My Heart by Rodgers/Hart, With A Song in my Heart (1954) Somewhere by Bernstein/Sondheim, West Side Story Moon River by Mancini/Mercer, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) Alfie by Bacharach/David, Alfie (2004) Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen, Philadelphia (1993) Born To Be Wild by Dennis Edmonton AKA: Mars Bonfire, Easy Rider (1969) And what are your favorites? Paul Williams Still Alive opens in NYC today. Follow Brian Brooks on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
File under WTF, Out of Left Field, and Most Probably Not Happening, Like Ever: According to Deadline , rumor has it that Angelina Jolie , coming off of her directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey , has been in the unofficial running to join the 50 Shades of Grey adaptation — not as Mrs. Robinson, not as some kinky bondage-enthusiast, but as… director. Mike Fleming reports from the floor of the rumor mill: “I’ve heard rumors about the possibility of Angelina Jolie having a conversation or two about directing it… The studio says that no discussions have been had, but they note that if she was interested, that the studio would be also. They loved her directorial debut, In The Land Of Blood And Honey .” I’m not sure what about Blood and Honey would suggest that Jolie is a great pick to direct the steamy erotica adaptation, though she has won “honors” in various men’s magazines for being the Sexiest Woman Alive, and those things ought to count for something. In any case, Fleming says, Jolie’s busy. “I’m told she’s completely focused on her next film, Maleficent , at Disney and isn’t entertaining other offers at this moment.” So maybe the Jolie train has already come and gone. Assuming so, which director would you like to see tackle 50 Shades of Grey ? I’ll start with a few: Adrian Lyne (via Deadline commenters). Just Jaeckin. John Waters. Go! [ Deadline ]
Also happening Friday morning in news, Warner Bros. is going for a new action-adventure project using Chinese mythology and Hugh Jackman takes a short leave at Les Miserables for Tony. RIP J. Michael Riva and Pinochet doc sparks protests in Chile. Snow White and the Huntsman Sequel Gets Going Universal is in talks with director Rupert Sanders about a return after directing the first version. The actors in the film apparently have options for two sequels, so more Snow White is apparently in the on the way, Deadline reports . Warner Bros. Picks Up Temple of Heaven The studio picked up the action adventure project thought up by former Disney execs Jason Reed and Michael Andreen. The story apparently combines bits of Chinese mythology to create an action adventure story, Deadline reports . Madagascar 3 a Possible Prometheus Upset this Weekend? Madagascar 3 from Paramount-Dreamworks opens today at 4,258 locations and is poised to fetch as much as $65M through Sunday. Fox’s Ridley Scott Sci-Fi Prometheus , however has some tracking services giving the feature an opening of $40M – $45M though the film will bow at a comparative 3,394 theaters, Variety reports . Hugh Jackman to Take off from Les Miserables for Tonys Appearance Jackman is heading off the London set of the theater to big screen project to receive an award for his “contributions to the Broadway community at the Tony Awards this Sunday, THR reports . Django , Spider-Man Production Designer Passes at 63 J. Michael Riva was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 for The Color Purple and won an Emmy in 2007 for The 79th Annual Academy Awards . He apparently passed away in a hospital, but no cause of death was immediately given. Django Unchained had been shooting in New Orleans, Variety reports . Pro-Pinochet Documentary Spawns Protests in Chile Titled simply Pinochet , the film will be screened in the South American country’s capital Santiago on Sunday. The divisive leader who ruled Chile for 17 years is a hero to the country’s right-wing who credit him from saving the country from communism, while opponents say he’s responsible for kidnappings and murder, BBC reports .
