Universal has yet to release an official trailer for Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables , but USA Today has a first look at images of Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Co. in character. Visually, the musical film looks beautiful, but the jury’s out on how it sounds until we get more of an official listen. Take a peek at the Les Mis cast in the muted hues of 19th century France and chime in after the jump. Below, take a gander at Samantha Barks as Eponine, the role that the rumor mill had us thinking would go to Taylor Swift. Everyone else looks period-handsome, but Hathaway is striking, rocking Fantine’s shorn look while seemingly channeling Maria Falconetti’s Joan of Arc. Find more pics over at USA Today .
A year after Lars von Trier was publicly castigated for making a Hitler joke at Cannes , the festival has banned a controversial comedy by French comedian/provocateur Dieudonné. Entitled The Anti-Semite , the film was scheduled to play not in the official festival but in the Cannes Film Market, but outrage over its content — including mockery of Auschwitz and Dieudonné in Nazi dress — led the organization to scrap screenings. According to Agence France-Presse, the film includes “images deriding Auschwitz,” “Dieudonne’s violent and alcoholic character dressed as a Nazi officer for a fancy dress party,” and “Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson [appearing] as himself.” Produced by the Iranian Documentary and Experimental Film Center, The Anti-Semite stars Dieudonné, who has been charged numerous times for violating European laws with his controversial statements and performances, including one recent show in France that was halted mid-performance by authorities “for breaking local defamation laws.” As for the Cannes screening, the Cannes Film Market’s Jerome Paillard explained the move thusly: “Our general conditions ban the presence of all films threatening public order or religious convictions, as well as pornographic films or those inciting violence.” [ AFP via The Wrap ]
An Afghan woman who once graced the cover of TIME Magazine after being mutilated for trying to flee her Taliban husband is still struggling with her new life. Via RadarOnline reports : An Afghan woman who became the face of Taliban brutality after her husband and in-laws hacked off her nose and ears has not had a Hollywood happy ending despite the global spotlight on her plight. Aesha was catapulted to infamy when she appeared on the August 2010 cover of Time magazine unashamed of the butchered face that she received as punishment for trying to run away from an abusive marriage in the war-torn country. After she hit newsstands all over the country, the teenager was thrust into the celebrity lifestyle hobnobbing with movie stars and politicians, and even being offered free reconstructive surgery by the Grossman Burn Foundation, a humanitarian medical group in the Los Angeles area, reported CNN.com. Despite the glitz and glamour, it soon became obvious that there were deep emotional scars that went beyond even the atrocious physical torture she endured and the pretty brunette began fighting with the families who took her in, had fits where she shook, went stiff and her eyes rolled back in her head, or bit herself, screamed and pulled out her hair. Doctors decided she was too unstable to undergo surgery and Aesha (which is also spelled Aisha) was ultimately hospitalized and the charity Women for Afghan Women had to step in to care for her. Since becoming the poster child for 15 million Afghan women, Aesha was suddenly kept out of the public eye and even Oprah’s attempts at an interview were rejected. “We’re hoping she’ll spread her wings,” said Esther Hyneman, 73, a retired professor of women’s and multicultural studies and longtime Women for Afghan Women volunteer who became Aesha’s unofficial guardian. “But when you’re 20 years old, from a village in Taliban-controlled southern Afghanistan where you’ve never been to school and can’t read or write in your own language, and you’ve never heard of France or Italy or Canada, and you don’t speak the language in the country you’re living in, and you’ve been through hell – it’s a little hard to spread your wings, even if you want to do it.” While living in a small ground-floor apartment in New York, Aesha was being schooled by her patient mentor, Ariela Perlman, who normally works with emotionally disturbed fifth-graders, and was teaching the girl who is even illiterate in her native language of Pashto, to read and write in English. Born in a village in southern Afghanistan, Aesha didn’t even know the days of the week, not to litter, or how to board a subway. “She loves physical affection, which is really sweet — except when you’re trying to type, and you have a 20-year-old sitting in your lap,” Kelly Becker-Smith, who works with volunteers at the Women for Afghan Women office told CNN, while another teacher had pulled muscles in her back and legs pushing her “giant little girl” on a swing. It is the kind of loving attention that was severely lacking in her previous life where she was offered up for marriage to a Taliban family to even out a family score. After being beaten and forced to sleep with the animals, she ran away but was hunted down, tossed in prison and a court ruled that she should be mutilated for dishonoring her husband’s family. Trying to fit in to life in the Big Apple was a major challenge for Aesha due to erratic mood swings and strange unsocial habits that caused a string of roommates to flee. While the noise of an ice cream van would cause her to run in fear, she watches online videos of Taliban members cursing, shooting and beating women when she’s feeling low. Desperately missing being part of a family, Aesha, now 22, abruptly left New York and is currently living with Mati Arsala and Jamila Rasouli-Arsala in Frederick, Maryland. “She’s a trauma patient,” Jamila said. “If you want to help, you have to have a very thick skin… There’s no room in her heart for appreciation.” The couple has vowed to keep her with them until the overgrown child can stand up on her own. Trauma is a muhfugga! We’re keeping Aesha in our prayers. Hopefully she can heal from the abuse someday and get the surgery. It’s interesting because in the CNN article they show her prosthetic nose which she only wore briefly. Do you think she will ever get the surgery? It seems like she’s comfortable with her appearance the way it is. More photos and info at CNN.com
Director Jacques Audiard (right), Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts in Cannes Thursday . It’s perhaps much too early to prognosticate on Palme d’Or contenders, but Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone has at least a decent shot at the festival’s top prize if initial audience reaction following Thursday’s press screening is any indicator. Starring Marion Cotillard and Bullhead actor Matthias Schoenaerts, the film follows Ali (Schoenaerts), who is suddenly put in charge of his 5-year-old son whom he barely knows. Without money, he makes his way to the south of France, where his sister lives. Though she and her husband are short on cash, they take them in and Ali finds work as a bouncer at a local nightclub. There, a brawl leads to a chance meeting between Ali and Stephanie (Cotillard), a self-confident beauty whom he takes home after she’s injured. While at work as an orca trainer in the days following, Stephanie suffers a life-changing accident and reaches out to Ali. “I was very excited after reading the script,” Cotillard said at today’s press conference for the film. “When a script moves me, I find that I immediately understand a character. Of course not completely, but I do understand.” Cotillard said she asked Audiard, who wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain (based on short stories by Craig Davidson), for help. “But he said he didn’t fully understand her either, so we were going to get to know her together…” [ OK, spoiler alert… ] While working at Marineland, Stephanie suffers an accident that results in her legs being amputated. Ali, who has only passed through life taking things as they come, helps Stephanie through her depression. To make money and exploit his natural physical prowess, he takes her with him to illegal fights where he’s a champion and the two grow a bond. “Matthias is like working with DiCaprio or a Daniel Day-Lewis. He’s of that ilk,” Cotillard said as her co-star smiled nervously. “There are no words to explain it. There’s this desire to explore which is something he very much has.” Indeed, if Rust and Bones is any indication, Schoenaerts may very well follow Cotillard’s career path to studio gigs. “There’s a lot of stuff moving. There’s stuff moving in the States, but I’m not in a hurry,” he said. Screen reported Thursday he is in talks to star in Hans Herbots’ thriller The Treatment . And Cotillard is teaming with fellow Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi ( A Separation ) on his next untitled film, spearheaded by Memento Films International. Audiard also offered up his critique of both actors saying Schoenaerts’ part almost went in a different direction. “When we finished the screenplay, I immediately thought of Marion,” said Audiard, who last screened at Cannes in 2009 with his Palme d’Or front-runner A Prophet . “As for Matthias’ character, we had originally thought of getting a non-professional actor — a boxer — but somehow it didn’t work. It was too realistic. But then I was shown Bullhead , and it was so great.” Despite the presence of violence throughout his film work, Audiard confessed a distaste for brutality — though there are most definitely some raw fight sequences in Rust and Bone . “I have a problem filming violence honestly which is strange because all my films contain violence,” Audiard said. “For this film we wanted the violence not to be too gory. I wanted Stephanie to admire [Ali’s] courage during the fighting and if it was too gory, I think it wouldn’t have worked.” Added Schoenaerts: ” Reconciliation is the biggest theme in this film — man and woman, father and child.” “The characters in this story are going undergoing tremendous changes,” Audiard continued. “Stephanie was an arrogant princess in the beginning of the story, but her misfortune causes her to re-examine herself. And Ali is going through a transformation too. He has a problem with words and relies only on his physical strength, but he learns simply to say, ‘I love you.'” Read more of Movieline’s Cannes 2012 coverage here .
Former child star Elijah Wood is doing his best to stop people yelling “FRODO” at him at traffic lights with his new movie Maniac , a remake of the 1980 slasher pic widely condemned (and beloved) as one of the most irredeemably sleazy examples of the genre. Elijah might seem like an odd choice to play the archetypal serial killer, complete with mommy issues and a mannequin collection, but remember… Ted Bundy seemed like a nice guy, too. Anyway, the first teaser for the film has hit and not only does the affable Elijah make a surprisingly convincing psychopath, but the uncensored footage includes two sneak peeks of skin at the 0:22 and 1:07 marks. Maniac was adapted by Piranha 3D ‘s Alexandre Aja and premieres this week at Cannes, so if you’ve got a few mil burning a hole in your pocket, gas up your private jet and head on over to France to check it out. The rest of us will have to make do with checking out the creepy, kinky Cannes trailer after the jump!
Georgia Salpa is some Greek turned UK Celebrity Big Brother trash because I guess she’s considered a celebrity….or sucked the right dick or more likely used her asshole or as I like to call it…her greek vagina… to sneak into the cast….giving her this real high profile fake tit in a bikini celebrity status that gets her featured on genius blogs like DrunkenStepfather.com – A highlight of her whore career I’m sure….. TO SEE THE REST OF HER AWESOME FAKE TITS FOLLOW THIS LINK
Camille Rowe is fucking amazing….She’s a model from France, which means Anal on the first night, a hot fucking accent, a little bush to keep her pussy smells properly balanced….a love for good food, good times….good wines…..and I have posted HER AMAZING FUCKING TITS BEFORE …..and now…I’m posting her hot fucking body…all toned and in magazine….reminding us all that she’s a model with hot titties we’ll be seeing a lot more of….something I’m pretty happy about.
Camille Rowe is fucking amazing….She’s a model from France, which means Anal on the first night, a hot fucking accent, a little bush to keep her pussy smells properly balanced….a love for good food, good times….good wines…..and I have posted HER AMAZING FUCKING TITS BEFORE …..and now…I’m posting her hot fucking body…all toned and in magazine….reminding us all that she’s a model with hot titties we’ll be seeing a lot more of….something I’m pretty happy about.
A trailer for Tom Hooper’s upcoming Les Miserables film leaked onto the interwebs today, revealing looks at Hugh Jackman in action in the musical adaptation. But nevermind the handsome, jaunty period stylings of 19th century France in turmoil as envisioned by Hooper; get an earful of Anne Hathaway’s warbly voice singing a tearful rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream”… and sound off on her Fantine. Are you excited or worried, theater nerds? To be completely fair, this is the worst-quality video you could imagine for a trailer, which appears to have been filmed off of a computer. Even so, the footage looks great to me — sweeping shots, dynamic camera moves, Jackman’s Jean Valjean disappearing into the shadows. What’s most concerning is also the most important element of the film: The singing. According to reports from CinemaCon (where similar footage from the film was screened, including portions of Hathaway’s “I Dreamed a Dream” number), Hooper’s plan was to film most of the musical numbers with his cast singing live, which might explain why Hathaway’s voice sounds a bit unpolished. Or maybe that was intentional. Or maybe it’s just me. [Video removed at studio’s request.] Perez Hilton first posted the video today, along with fawning words for Hathaway’s performance: “If we had any doubts about this, they are GONE now!!!” Over at The Atlantic Wire , Richard Lawson called it “unsettling,” a reaction more in line with my own. My theater nerd pal (and Popular Mechanics editor) Erin McCarthy immediately sent over this video of stage goddess Lea Salonga singing the same number with a much stronger, yet still deeply emotional voice, but perhaps the comparison — or any comparisons, as the entire film’s cast is bound to suffer scrutiny — is unfair. Hathaway is a strong singer in her own right (see: The Oscars) but she’s probably deep in character as the desperate Fantine and her vocal interpretation may reflect that. Was it wise to film the largely sung-through story with live singing? That’s the biggest question so far as we await better looks at Hooper’s Les Mis , due in theaters December 14. [ Perez Hilton , Atlantic Wire ]
In this 70th anniversary year of Casablanca , it only seems fitting that Michael Curtiz’s classic should emerge this week in the medium where its indelible romantic splendor finally can take root and thrive: on Facebook. At last! The wait is over, per a press release just over the wires at ML HQ. The best part, without question: “On Wednesday, May 16 movie fans across the United States are invited to microwave some popcorn and gather by the warm glow of the computer monitor to enjoy a complimentary showing this timeless love story at 7 pm ET and 7 pm PT.” Totes McGotes, Wizzarners! ROMANTIC CLASSIC “CASABLANCA” TO BE SCREENED FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY ON FACEBOOK MOVIE FANS CAN WATCH A COMPLIMENTARY SCREENING AND COMMENT IN REAL-TIME DIRECTLY ON FILM’S FACEBOOK PAGE SCREENING TO TAKE PLACE THIS WEDNESDAY AT 7 PM ET/PT BURBANK, CALIF., May 15, 2012 – Here’s looking at you kid! Warner Bros. Digital Distribution today announced the legendary film Casablanca – which critic Leonard Maltin calls “the best Hollywood movie of all time,” starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and winner of three Academy Awards®, including Best Picture (1944), can be viewed directly on the “Casablanca” movie Facebook Page ( http://www.facebook.com/CasablancaTheMovie ). On Wednesday, May 16 movie fans across the United States are invited to microwave some popcorn and gather by the warm glow of the computer monitor to enjoy a complimentary showing this timeless love story at 7 pm ET and 7 pm PT. This complimentary screening of Casablanca celebrates the recent launch of the “ Casablanca 70th Anniversary Three-disc Blu-ray + DVD Combo Edition” from Warner Home Video. This limited and numbered gift set edition will introduce two never-before-seen documentaries – “ Casablanca : An Unlikely Classic,” and “Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of.” The new documentaries will complete the most extensive collection of content in one gift set — more than 14 hours of bonus material that also includes a compilation of three comprehensive feature length documentaries: “The Brothers Warner, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story” and “Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul.” The “ Casablanca 70th Anniversary 3-Disc Blu ray + DVD Combo Edition” is now available for $64.99 SRP. This special screening event also celebrates “Inside the Script,” a new digital publishing initiative that gives movie fans an innovative new way to go deep inside their favorite films. “Inside the Script” is a series of highly illustrated eBooks that contain the film’s actual shooting script, rare materials from the Warner Bros. Corporate Archive and much more. The first series of “Inside the Script” titles are based on cinematic treasures including, Casablanca, Ben-Hur, An American in Paris and North by Northwest , and are currently available via iBookstore, Kindle and NOOK by Barnes & Noble. “Inside the Script” offers movie fans an all-access pass to go behind-the-scenes of the films they know and love. Every “Inside the Script” title includes the film’s complete shooting script in a customizable eBook format; dozens of chapters about the script and the film that detail the movie’s development; rare historical documents such as production notes, storyboards and candid photos; and an interactive image gallery of costumes, on-set stills, movie posters, set designs and behind-the-scenes photos. Highlighted elements from “ Casablanca : Inside the Script” include: – Jack Warner’s telegrams and memos – Producer Hal Wallis’ script and production notes – Production Code Administration letters, notes and seal of approval – Telegram from producer Hal Wallis refuting his fight with Jack Warner Note: Movie fans must begin watching Casablanca prior to 9 pm PT through the film’s Facebook Page. Only one screening per Facebook account is permitted. Got it? Only one screening per Facebook account , all right? Don’t get greedy! And keep the Kleenex handy! The heart-shattering collapse of film culture really sneaks up on you in the end. Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
