Look out world, Katherine Heigl is blogging! At least she’s realistic about the years of counseling her daughter will probably require after growing up with famous parents: “Now when I take a job, I look my daughter in the eye, screw up my courage and try to explain to her that Mommy has to go to work. And when she looks back at me and says, “But why?,” I tell her the truth: that work makes me a better person, a better woman, a better mother. Then I pray to God that she will understand one day and that my example will encourage her to find and follow her bliss as well … after I’ve paid for all the therapy, of course.” [ iVillage ]
Director Mark Romanek ‘s dystopian sci-fi romance Never Let Me Go never seemed to quite receive its due when it was released in 2010 and subsequently written off as a commercial disappointment. But many found the restrained Kazuo Ishiguro novel adaptation gorgeous and hauntingly heartbreaking, among them New Beverly Cinema programmer Julia Marchese, who recently wrote about her quest to bring Romanek and his film to screen in Los Angeles for a two-night engagement that starts Wednesday, January 11. For Marchese and fans of the film, the booking is more of a coup than it may seem at first glance; deemed an underperformer weeks into its original domestic limited run, Never Let Me Go wound up floundering in subsequent weeks despite its built-in literary audience and roster or rising stars (Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan, and Keira Knightley), to the dismay of distributor Fox Searchlight. (The film exited theaters with a $2.4M domestic total, though it tallied another $7M worldwide.) Still, it’s a bit of a shock to hear of the difficulties Marchese encountered when she tried to book a print of the film for the New Beverly (which, recall, remains dedicated to screening 35mm ) only a little over a year after its initial release. From Marchese’s blog : I have been championing the film since its release, begging friends and neighbors to see it. I wanted to play it at the New Beverly as soon as possible, but Fox Searchlight told me that out of all of the hundreds of prints made, only two remained. One was irreparably damaged, and the other on long-term loan to a cruise ship. Whether they were telling the truth or not, I can’t say, but I will say that I am completely overjoyed that we will finally be showing it at the New Bev on January 11th and 12th with (schedule permitting) director Mark Romanek in attendance both nights. Fox at large is one of the studios pioneering the obsolescence of film prints in favor of digital, but the reality is still startling. Two remaining prints, and one damaged beyond repair, for a film shot deliberately on film that possesses such a romantic visual world, even in its careful austerity. Luckily, it seems that only intact print has finally departed its cruise ship confines and will screen Wednesday and Thursday (Jan. 11-12) with Romanek in person. Romanek, meanwhile, has chosen another ascetic but moving sci-fi romance to play in a double feature with his film: François Truffaut’s 1966 film Fahrenheit 451 . A great pairing if you ask me, and with Romanek in person there should be ample opportunity to ask how much he sees in the juxtaposition of not only the films’ surface commonalities but in the idea that to some devotees, the phasing out of celluloid might be only a few shades removed from the burning of books. Visit the New Beverly website for more information; for Julia Marchese’s full blog entry, head here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter . [ Julia Marchese’s Blog , New Beverly Cinema ]
David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method is probably the most fun you’ll ever have watching a movie about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud duking it out — and nurturing a deep-rooted but fragile friendship — in early 20th century Austria and Switzerland. In fact, when I first saw Viggo Mortensen done up in his trim little Freud beard, I nearly laughed out loud — not because he looked ridiculous, but because he looked so right. Mortensen has become one of Cronenberg’s go-to guys in recent years, and you can see why: Even in a period film like this one — a picture that runs the heavy risk of being ponderous and stiff — he can slip himself into the scenery with a “Don’t mind me, here in my Sigmund Freud getup” naturalness.
David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method is probably the most fun you’ll ever have watching a movie about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud duking it out — and nurturing a deep-rooted but fragile friendship — in early 20th century Austria and Switzerland. In fact, when I first saw Viggo Mortensen done up in his trim little Freud beard, I nearly laughed out loud — not because he looked ridiculous, but because he looked so right. Mortensen has become one of Cronenberg’s go-to guys in recent years, and you can see why: Even in a period film like this one — a picture that runs the heavy risk of being ponderous and stiff — he can slip himself into the scenery with a “Don’t mind me, here in my Sigmund Freud getup” naturalness.
The Lion King 3D ‘s box-office success is admirable on its own, but Disney is looking to ramp up its output of 3-D reboots in a staggering way: Beauty and the Beast , The Little Mermaid , Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. are all coming back to theaters in 3-D within the next two years. That’s fine, but I can think of 10 great Disney visuals from other animated classics that deserve full-bodied renovation:
How does Keira Knightley devour so much scenery in A Dangerous Method yet stay so thin? That was the big question Tuesday at Lincoln Center, where her director David Cronenberg and co-star Michael Fassbender dropped by to meet the press ahead of tonight’s New York Film Festival premiere of Method .
With ‘Mortal Instruments’ and ‘Snow White’ still to come, the badass-yet-relatable actress is destined for mega-fame. By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Kara Warner Lily Collins Photo: MTV News We called it way back in January: Lily Collins was an actress to watch in 2011. At that point, her career was just heating up following a turn as Sandra Bullock’s daughter in “The Blind Side.” An impressive series of castings in high-profile films followed: “Priest,” “Abduction” opposite Taylor Lautner and an adaptation of the best-selling YA series “The Mortal Instruments.” A few months later, she landed the role of Snow White in Relativity Media’s Julia Roberts-starring take on the fairy tale. Collins is making good on our predictions, which is why we’ve selected her as part of our New Class — a collection of young talent about to rise to the top of Hollywood, including her “Mortal Instruments” co-star Jamie Campbell Bower . With her badass-yet-relatable roles, Collins is our New Class’ “Ass-Kicking Girl Next Door.” Though she’s had all of 2011 to get used to the spotlight, the whole celebrity thing continues to feel odd. “It feels very surreal,” she told us at the “Abduction” red carpet. “It’s weird getting out of a car and people are saying my name. It’s still a weird concept to me.” Give her time. Collins told us she’d like to model her career after Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet or Meryl Streep. “I like that none of them have stuck themselves in a box,” she said. “They’ve done all sorts of roles — comedic, dramatic, they’ve gone from indies to big motion pictures. I love their choices.” And she’s a fan of the New Class itself, which includes not only Bower, but Emma Watson, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Hough and Nina Dobrev. “It’s an honor to be placed in the New Class of actors,” Collins said. “I’m doing what I love, and I’m having the best time.” For more on all the up-and-comers who make up MTV’s New Class , go to TheNewClass.MTV.com . For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV Movies: The New Class
There are women out there who like a nice tap on the tush every now and then, but Keira Knightley isn’t one of them. In fact, she says in a new interview that she almost turned down her starring role in A Dangerous Method because of its spanking scenes. After being reassured by director David Cronenberg that the scenes would be “clinical” and “not voyeuristic in that way” (whatever that means), Keira was able to screw up her courage and do a scene where she is tied to a bed and spanked. It helped that co-star Michael Fassbende r wasn’t actually hitting her, but a box next to her on the bed, but Keira says she still needed some liquid courage: “I did a couple of shots of vodka – definitely – beforehand, and then a couple of glasses of champagne as a celebration of never having to do that again,” Keira told The Hollywood Reporter this week. Speaking of flogging (flogging the bishop, that is) join us after the jump for some of Mr. Skin’s favorite spanking scenes!
The big nudes from this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which wrapped up this morning, is that Sarah Silverman and Carey Mulligan make their full-frontal (barring any CGI shenanigans, of course) debuts in the upcoming movies Take This Waltz and Shame . But those two, however exciting, are far from the only actresses to bare their bods in a festival absolutely stacked with nudity. Get the latest nudes from Toronto after the jump!
Ready or not, the Oscar Equinox is upon us: The Venice Film Festival is underway, the Telluride Film Festival launches this weekend, and the Toronto International Film Festival commences a week from tomorrow. Amid that crop of movies will be the bulk of this year’s awards-season contenders, which will compete against an elite class already having opened in theaters and another fistful yet to come this winter. Same game, new players. And Movieline’s redoubtable Oscar Index has the preliminary breakdown of who to watch.
