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EARLY REACTION: ‘Iron Man 3′ − The Mandarin Is Marvel Studios’ Most Daring Super Villain Yet

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Iron Man 3   screened in Times Square last night, and though it’s practically impossible to talk about the Mandarin without spoilers, I’ve got to say that he is the most daring creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. As Ben Kingsley , who portrays the villain, said again and again and again in the trailers, “You will never see me coming,” and that line resonates even more now that I’ve seen the movie. Director Shane Black, who also co-wrote the movie with  Drew Pearce , created a character that took me completely (and happily) by surprise. And, after all that blogosphere grousing — myself included — about casting the half-British, half-Indian Kingsley in the role of a character that, based on the Marvel comics universe,  is a China-born descendant of Ghengis Khan, the Oscar-winning actor turns out be a genius bit of casting. There’s only one other actor I could imagine doing justice to the part, but I’m going to hold off on sharing his name for now for fear that his body of work would be too much of a clue.  Maybe I’ll drop it in the comments section after the picture opens. The Mandarin: A True 21st Century Villain I have a feeling Black and Pearce’s construct for the Mandarin is going to piss off a lot of comic-book purists (while, at the same time, making die-hard fans of The X Files smile),  but I applaud them and Marvel Studios for taking the chance. The Mandarin turns out to be a villain for the media-saturated, perception-is-reality 21st Century, and that’s a lot more memorable (and unsettling) than some dude with magic rings.  I wish I could write more about this, but that’s about as far as I can go without spoiling a key chunk of the movie. What did I think of Iron Man 3 overall?   I liked it, but it didn’t blow me away. In part, I wish that Marvel, Pearce and Black had taken even more chances with the movie.  In addition to the Mandarin storyline, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts character gets an interesting subplot , but the movie’s ending left me with the distinct impression that  Marvel is so concerned about messing with the success of the Iron Man franchise that it waffled on really exploring the possibilities. Superhero Movie Saturation Point There’s another factor, too, that is largely personal. My enjoyment of digital effects laden superhero movies is approaching its saturation point. Despite being one of those scrawny, bespectacled geeks who came of age poring over The Amazing Spider-Man and Deathlok The Demolisher ,  I’ve reached a point in life where movies about human struggles are vastly more engrossing than superhuman ones. Downey and the Iron Man franchise remains my favorite of the genre because the actor brings so much humanity and wit to his character, and so, besides the surprising Mandarin reveal, I was grateful for the subplot involving Tony Stark’s mostly unsentimental relationship with a wisecracking Tennessee boy named Harley (Ty Simpkins) whose aid he enlists. My favorite line from the movie, which evoked a mixture of gasps and laughs from the audience, came when Harley reveals his fatherless existence to Stark.  “Dads leave,” Downey replies. No need to be a pussy about it.”  I’ll remember that line long after the action sequences have faded. The Problem With Trailers And they are already fading. Let’s just say that an army of Iron Men is cool to behold, but it does not necessarily make for better action sequences. But what does? The first effects-rendered action sequence that has turned my head in a long time is the scene from the most recent Pacific Rim trailer in which a Jaeger robot uses an oil tanker as a Louisville Slugger to bash in the skull of a Kaiju.   Speaking of trailers, they diminish the impact of some of the best action sequences in Iron Man 3 (and other tentpole movies) because they reveal too much play for months before a movie’s release. By the way, I think most moviegoers will disagree with my assessment of Iron Man 3 based on the reactions of the crowd that saw the movie with me.  The 3D glasses that were being passed out came in a number of collector’s variants, and entering the theater, I encountered a scrum of moviegoers jostling each other to get a particular version.  During the movie, the crowd’s reaction was enthusiastic and, after watching the disappointing post-credits scene with Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk ‘s alter ego Bruce Banner, I heard a middle-aged woman excitedly telling someone on the other end of her cell phone, “I can’t wait to see it again.” If you’ve seen Iron Man 3 , let me know what you think in the comments section. More on Iron Man 3 :  ‘Iron Man 3’: Is The Mandarin An Extremist Fringe Republican? Marvel Studios Says Iron Man 3 Villain The Mandarin Isn’t Chinese, He’s International Iron Woman? If Pepper Potts Has A Future In Armor, She Needs To Kick Villain Ass REVIEW: ‘Iron Man 3’ Proves Its Mettle Despite Symptoms Of Franchise Fatigue Follow Frank DiGiacomo on  Twitter. Follow Movieline on  Twitter.

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Train In Vain Spotting: Danny Boyle Picks His Favorite Clash Albums − And Disses Phish

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Danny Boyle is a big Clash fan. The Slumdog Millionaire  director came to New York Tuesday night to talk about the way he uses music in his films — including his latest, Trance — and, in the process, revealed his love of the late, lamented British punk band.   During his conversation with Rolling Stone film writer Logan Hill at the 92Y’s Tribeca outpost, Boyle revealed that he has attempted to fit the Clash’s 1978 song”White Man in Hammersmith Palais,” which he called “the greatest song ever written,” in  “like 10 films”, but has yet to be able to find an appropriate place for the ska-inflected tune. If you’re not familiar with “White Man in Hammersmith Palais,”  you should be. Check it out here: Danny Boyle’s Favorite Clash Albums After the Q&A session, while Boyle signed autographs for fans, I asked him to name his favorite Clash album. Clearly, he loves the band because he couldn’t settle on a single work.  “The first one, probably,” Boyle said, referring to the rockers’ 1977 debut, The Clash .  But, he quickly added that he also loved the band’s experimental, politically controversial triple-album Sandinista! , in part because, he said, the massive 36-song collection, which was sold at a reasonable price, was designed “to fuck off the record company.” Finally, Boyle said, ” London Calling is a great album, too.” During his conversation with Hill, Boyle said he’s found that the best movie-music choices “drop into your lap.”  For example, he explained, the idea to set the closing scenes of Shallow Grave to Andy Williams’ “Happy Heart” came when, during filming in Scotland, Boyle heard the song during a black cab ride and remembered that the tune was a favorite of his father’s. And Boyle’s discovery of the Underworld B-side “Born Slippy” while browsing records at HMV in London led to the song being used during a key scene in Trainspotting  and a decades-long collaboration with the electronic group’s Rick Smith. Smith, who worked with Boyle on the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics and composed original music for Trance , joined Boyle on stage for the conversation, and, near the end of the discussion, the audience got to see a tense clip from Trance that was an extended variation of this video: What the 92Y audience got to see is James McAvoy attempting to taser Vincent Cassel . It ends badly. Not A Phish Fan Hill also got Boyle to talk about his dislike of Phish. Despite being the favorite band of Aron Ralston, who James Franco played in 127 Hours , the filmmaker said the jammers left him cold and aren’t on the soundtrack. “I tried with Phish,” Boyle said.  “I bought everything and listened to it multiple times…but I found it very, very difficult.” Indeed, Boyle went so far as to say that nobody does music better than his fellow countrymen and women. “I think we are really brilliant at music,” he said. “We’re rubbish at films, actually. It’s not really in our DNA. But music is.” Follow Frank DiGiacomo on  Twitter . Follow Movieline on  Twitter .

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Batman Cameo Rumors Bring Cheshire Smile To Christopher Nolan’s Face At Hugh Jackman Salute

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Hugh Jackman is way more emo than I thought. But I’ll get to that in a moment.  Among the filmmakers who turned up to praise the  Les Misérables   star at the Museum of the Moving Image’s salute to Jackman in lower Manhattan on Tuesday night was The Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan who grew an enormous Cheshire-Cat grin when I asked him if the Superman reboot he is producing, Man of Steel , would see a cameo by Joseph Gordon-Levitt , or any actor, as Batman, and if he had any objections to a cameo as a continuity move to tie the Supes movie to the 2015  Justice League movie.   “I can’t talk about that.  You know that,” Nolan said cheerily. I didn’t know that, actually, but now that I do, I feel compelled to point out that, despite the frustratingly inconclusive nature of his answer, it’s not a ‘No.’  Yes, JG-L’s camp shot down the speculation as “entirely false” back in November, but if the idea had been ruled out, wouldn’t Nolan be saying something along those lines, too, so that the fan boys could move on? You know how angry they can get when their casting hopes and dreams are suddenly deflated after being allowed to build for months. The impish smile on Nolan’s face as he issued that no comment also heightened my optimism, especially in the wake of the powerful Man of Steel trailer that’s now burning up the Internet. Zack Snyder’s take on Superman clearly aspires to have the kind of psychological heft and dark undertones that made The Dark Knight trilogy so satisfying. If the movie attains or even approaches those standards, a JG-L Batman cameo  would not dishonor Nolan’s work and it would set the bar high for Justice League . No pressure, Warner Bros. Nolan, Hathaway, Weisz Honor Jackman At Museum of The Moving Image Fete Getting back to Jackman, who’s on the fast-track to a Best Actor Oscar nomination , Nolan had much more to say about  the actor, who he directed along with Christian Bale in The Prestige .  The filmmaker told guests at the Museum of the Moving Image fete that though “ruthless” is not a word usually associated with Jackman, The Wolverine star is indeed “ruthless creatively” and a performer “driven by intense ambition.”  The director also said that he looked forward to working with Jackman again, “probably not on a musical though,” despite Jackman’s urging him to direct one. Also praising Jackman were his wife, actress Deborra-Lee Furness, his  X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-star Liev Schreiber , director Mike Nichols, former Saturday Night Live cast member Rachel Dratch , who got big laughs mocking Jackman’s Australian dialect and  two of his Les Misérables  co-stars Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne . In an effusive, rambling speech, Hathaway called Jackman “deep as the sea.” Rachel Weisz offered up an even more intriguing description of the actor, calling him an “incredible cocktail of light and dark.”  She also told the most revealing story of the night:  During the filming of The Fountain , which was directed by her ex-husband Darren Aronofsky , Weisz said that Jackman gave himself so completely to a scene in which his character realizes he’s going to die that “he sobbed for about half an hour after the cameras stopped” while Weisz comforted him.  “He’d gone to the deepest, darkest place a person can go,” she said. “And he wasn’t faking it.” Jackman kept his speech much lighter saying that his Christmas gift wish list was a simple one.   All he wanted, he said, was “a movie with me starring in it to open on Christmas Day.” Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

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R. Kelly’s Weird, Wonderful ‘Trapped In The Closet’ — Broadway Bound?

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Calling the lobby before last night’s New York premiere of R. Kelly ‘s Trapped in the Closet an awkward scene wouldn’t do it justice: PR reps ran around, security locked down our electronics and scores of media folk shuffled about as all of our abilities to tell time went dark. But then something magical happened: Eric Lane walked in. He was followed by La Donna Tittle, and suddenly everyone stood around in awe of the two actors who are better known in this strange world as Twan and Rosie the Nosy Neighbor. It speaks to the weird magic behind R. Kelly’s self-described “hip hopera” — but really, let’s just say it’s a soap opera that rhymes — and how a one-night stand can transform into a character study about a group of people dealing with relationships, crime and a blind ho named Francine. And yet, the crowd that came out to see the latest installment in the Trapped franchise (airing on IFC Friday, November 23 at 9pm PT/ET) wasn’t there for spectacle. The audience assembled because of the assured promise that R. Kelly would continue to deliver revelations with his cult hit about adultery, midgets and how devastating a plot point that no one could find Chuck — once a throw-away character, now a series lynchpin — could be. Even the show itself turned into a meta-on-top-of-meta moment as Reverend Mosley hawked a “Trapped in the Closet” book (“There’s the Bible…and there’s this”) as characters gave Real World confessionals on an unnamed talk show. But when R. Kelly came out for a post-screening Q&A with E! ‘s Alicia Crowley, any questions were moot as he soaked in the applause. Answering a few questions, Kelly had this to say about the writing process behind the series: PHOTOS: New Images from R. Kelly’s ‘Trapped In The Closet’ “I sit in the studio all day, thinking of stupid stuff I have,” he said. Even when asked about a certain new chapter and how it chronicles the comically long trip to see a new character, “That’s me trying to say in a hilarious way, this guy’s way up in the building! You got to form a scene!” Kelly is adamant in keeping the Trapped series as silly as possible, not because it needs to be but because it appears to keep him sane while working in the studio. On writing the chapters, he explained, “It varies. I’m in the studio and it takes a while. I need to rhyme in order to write.” Even if he takes inspiration from his family (Rosie and Randolph are based on his grandparents, Lucius’ stutter on his stepfather) Kelly himself continues to provide fodder for his fans and the Trapped in the Closet mystique. On top of comparing Trapped to being an alien and calling himself and his actors astronauts, he announced he is considering a Broadway run for the series on top of the next installment, which will happen in “less than five years.” During the Q&A, Kelly delivered to his fans — he broke into song three times : An intro, a brief “Bump ‘n’ Grind” for a fan in the front row, and then an a cappella “I Believe I Can Fly” that got arms in the air and at least one lighter going in the theater to close out the night. Now here’s what makes Trapped In The Closet: Chapters 23-42 required Black Friday viewing: – It turns out blood is thicker than the finest p-p-p-pimp juice when we learn who Pimp Lucius is related to. – Speaking of Pimp Lucius, ever since he was almost converted by Reverend Mosley, he can hear the the voice of God. No, really. – We still don’t know how Tina got her twitch. – Kelly takes on two new roles: relationship counselor Dr. William Percy and a bad-ass, shark toothed gangster named Beeno (aka The Goat) who has a penchant for sunflower seeds and “stallions” (i.e. ladies in bikinis). – Sgt. James (Michael Kenneth Williams) doesn’t return (except for a brief shot)! Neither, as we knew, do Big Man, Bridget (save for a still shot in Chapter 23) or the Italians. – Perhaps in the cruelest fashion, “The Package” is finally revealed. But it is done in so in such a way that it feels like Kells took lessons in plot revelation from Damon Lindelof and it won’t officially pay off till the next series. – There’s certainly nothing as insane as a midget crapping himself, but the final Chapter IS a huge stand-out from everything thing else R. Kelly previously gave us. It’s so entertaining that it even gets a reprise during the credits, and had the entire crowd clapping along. – The next arc will focus on a talk show called “Out of the Closet.” We won’t spoil certain relationships, but a healthy amount of the teases point to a Jerry Springer-esque “confession” series with all the characters involved. – Seriously, Pimp Lucius? If ever a spin-off were to happen, this block of chapters gives the feeling that Kelly knows exactly who he’d focus on. In fact, if we had to wager who is the true star of this arc… let’s just say we wouldn’t stutter, but he definitely would. – We’re not going to say for sure, but there is a clear question asked at the beginning of Chapter 23 that won’t be resolved this time (SPOILER): ” Where’s Chuck? ” READ MORE ON R. KELLY’S TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET : WATCH: R. Kelly Gets Personal In ‘Trapped In The Closet’ Behind The Scenes (Plus: New Photos!) R. Kelly’s ‘Trapped In The Closet’ Might Be The Best Thing Ever, Forever John Lichman has written for The Playlist, Washington City Paper and does a fine Armond White impression. He tweets here .

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Robert Zemeckis Says Bomb Mars Needs Moms Is ‘The Best 3-D Movie Since Avatar’

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Disney’s 2011 family adventure Mars Needs Moms wasn’t just a box office disappointment; it was a box office disaster , one of the worst in movie history . Mars producer Robert Zemeckis , appearing at the Philadelphia Film Fest with his latest Oscar-hopeful, Flight , prefers to remember Mars Needs Moms another way: “It’s the best 3-D movie since Avatar .” Zemeckis’s bold answer matched the bold question that prompted his trip down memory lane during Flight ‘s post-screening Q&A session on Saturday night. Following a string of massive career hits ranging from the Back to the Future franchise to Oscar juggernaut Forrest Gump , the Zemeckis-produced Mars Needs Moms opened last year as the filmmaker’s most high profile critical and commercial failure. ImageMovers Digital, the Zemeckis-founded CG house that produced Mars as well as his own films The Polar Express , Beowulf , and A Christmas Carol , was shut down after completing Mars , while plans to embark on a Yellow Submarine pic with Disney were also scrapped; needless to say, it’s probably not Zemeckis’s favorite topic of conversation. (For what it’s worth, Flight , Zemeckis’s Denzel Washington -starring return to live-action film, played well with the Philly crowd.) But one Philadelphia Film Fest attendee was eager for answers. Film critic Martin Schneider penned a reasonably questioning if snarky review of Mars Needs Moms at the time of release, criticizing the film for a slew of offenses ranging from its animation to character development, with particular scrutiny of the film’s “anti-gay,” anti-progressive gender messaging. He seized the opportunity during the Philadelphia Film Fest closing night film event to share how offended he was by the film, asking Zemeckis to explain: What happened ? For his part, Zemeckis didn’t flinch. Prior to the film’s screening, Philadelphia Film Society Executive Director J. Andrew Greenblatt told the audience that the director would be taking questions, and that they could “ask him anything.” It’s tough to say whether or not Zemeckis expected the subject of his history-making bomb to pop up, but when faced by his accuser he kept his cool under pressure, like Denzel’s alcoholic hero Whip Whitaker. And then Zemeckis flew the airplane upside down, so to speak. “It was not marketed properly,” he said of the 3-D CG sci-fi flop, which cost a reported $150 million to make and made back just $38.9 million upon release, becoming the worst Disney performer of all time and one of the most miserable wide release 3-D openings in history. Zemeckis said Mars Needs Moms had been lost in the studio shuffle. He called it “breathtaking.” “It’s the best 3-D movie since Avatar ,” he continued. “It’s the way 3-D should be presented.” Meanwhile, in a career built on crowd-pleasers and after a decade spent attempting to bridge the uncanny valley with CG children’s films, Flight marks only the second film Zemeckis has directed to earn an R-rating. (His first? 1980s’s Used Cars .) Rated R “for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity, and an intense action sequence,” Flight wasn’t gunning for anything less, given its full-tilt dive into the depths of addiction. “There was no way an adult drama was ever going to be anything other than R-rated,” said Zemeckis. Still, he earned applause with a parting shot at the MPAA: “I hate the ratings system. I think it’s horrible and despicable, and we should get rid of it.” Flight opens nationwide November 2. For more info on the Philadelphia Film Fest, head here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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Robert Zemeckis Says Bomb Mars Needs Moms Is ‘The Best 3-D Movie Since Avatar’

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Disney’s 2011 family adventure Mars Needs Moms wasn’t just a box office disappointment; it was a box office disaster , one of the worst in movie history . Mars producer Robert Zemeckis , appearing at the Philadelphia Film Fest with his latest Oscar-hopeful, Flight , prefers to remember Mars Needs Moms another way: “It’s the best 3-D movie since Avatar .” Zemeckis’s bold answer matched the bold question that prompted his trip down memory lane during Flight ‘s post-screening Q&A session on Saturday night. Following a string of massive career hits ranging from the Back to the Future franchise to Oscar juggernaut Forrest Gump , the Zemeckis-produced Mars Needs Moms opened last year as the filmmaker’s most high profile critical and commercial failure. ImageMovers Digital, the Zemeckis-founded CG house that produced Mars as well as his own films The Polar Express , Beowulf , and A Christmas Carol , was shut down after completing Mars , while plans to embark on a Yellow Submarine pic with Disney were also scrapped; needless to say, it’s probably not Zemeckis’s favorite topic of conversation. (For what it’s worth, Flight , Zemeckis’s Denzel Washington -starring return to live-action film, played well with the Philly crowd.) But one Philadelphia Film Fest attendee was eager for answers. Film critic Martin Schneider penned a reasonably questioning if snarky review of Mars Needs Moms at the time of release, criticizing the film for a slew of offenses ranging from its animation to character development, with particular scrutiny of the film’s “anti-gay,” anti-progressive gender messaging. He seized the opportunity during the Philadelphia Film Fest closing night film event to share how offended he was by the film, asking Zemeckis to explain: What happened ? For his part, Zemeckis didn’t flinch. Prior to the film’s screening, Philadelphia Film Society Executive Director J. Andrew Greenblatt told the audience that the director would be taking questions, and that they could “ask him anything.” It’s tough to say whether or not Zemeckis expected the subject of his history-making bomb to pop up, but when faced by his accuser he kept his cool under pressure, like Denzel’s alcoholic hero Whip Whitaker. And then Zemeckis flew the airplane upside down, so to speak. “It was not marketed properly,” he said of the 3-D CG sci-fi flop, which cost a reported $150 million to make and made back just $38.9 million upon release, becoming the worst Disney performer of all time and one of the most miserable wide release 3-D openings in history. Zemeckis said Mars Needs Moms had been lost in the studio shuffle. He called it “breathtaking.” “It’s the best 3-D movie since Avatar ,” he continued. “It’s the way 3-D should be presented.” Meanwhile, in a career built on crowd-pleasers and after a decade spent attempting to bridge the uncanny valley with CG children’s films, Flight marks only the second film Zemeckis has directed to earn an R-rating. (His first? 1980s’s Used Cars .) Rated R “for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity, and an intense action sequence,” Flight wasn’t gunning for anything less, given its full-tilt dive into the depths of addiction. “There was no way an adult drama was ever going to be anything other than R-rated,” said Zemeckis. Still, he earned applause with a parting shot at the MPAA: “I hate the ratings system. I think it’s horrible and despicable, and we should get rid of it.” Flight opens nationwide November 2. For more info on the Philadelphia Film Fest, head here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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PHOTO: Portman & Fassbender’s Malick Embrace Interrupted By Lizard Man

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Your guess is as good as mine as to what the heck’s going on in new set photos from Terrence Malick’s latest picture, in which Natalie Portman and Michael Fassbender appear to be getting down to lip-locking in a field… and are interrupted by a green lizard man with “FREAK” tattoed across his chest. What’s Terry up to down in Austin? The untitled Malick film follows To The Wonder and Knight of Cups in the filmmaker’s suddenly hyperproductive recent filming tear and is about sexual obsession and lusty betrayal in the Austin, TX music scene. Or, as you might imagine, a Friday night on 6th Street during SXSW. But, more importantly ! In the new batch of set pics Portman and Fassbender get wrapped up in each others’ arms, a bit more passionately than co-stars Rooney Mara and Ryan Gosling did in their previously snapped scenes. They gaze into each others’ eyes. He dips her onto the ground. And then… The Lizardman startles PortBender out of their embrace! (He’s Austin fixture Erik Sprague , self-professed “professional freak,” and he has a split tongue. Perhaps a little local flavor to keep the Untitled Terry Malick Sexytime Picture weird?) Also in Malick’s film, formerly titled Lawless : Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Haley Bennett, and Holly Hunter. Stay tuned as the internet continues trying to figure out Malick’s secrets down in Texas. [via Daily Mail ]

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Matt Damon Says It’s Unlikely He’ll Be Bourne Again

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The odds of Matt Damon returning to the big screen as Jason Bourne  are looking longer than ever judging from a conversation I had with the actor on Tuesday night. Damon, who’s still sporting a shaved head for his work on the sci-fi thriller Elysium , was part of the starry crowd that turned out for a special private screening of Argo , which was beautifully directed by his bud and Good Will Hunting co-writer Ben Affleck .  During a dinner at the Porter House steakhouse in the Time Warner Center, I asked Damon if there had been any movement on reports that he could reprise his role after Jeremy Renner’s portrayal of Aaron Cross in The Bourne Legacy , another agent in the Robert Ludlum-created universe, this past summer. “There has not been any movement,”  Damon told me, explaining that though “I’ve always been open to it as long as Paul Greengrass directs, I don’t think he’s going to do it.”  Damon laughed when he said this, as if, perhaps, he was downplaying how Greengrass really felt about The Bourne Legacy,  or perhaps because he had his own falling-out with Gilroy — who has been a writer on every Bourne film and directed Legacy — over the script to the third movie, The Bourne Ultimatum . Asked why Greengrass was loathe to return to the franchise, Damon said that although he hadn’t seen Legacy  yet,  “from what I understand, it kind of relives [ The Bourne   Ultimatum ] from a different perspective.” ( Legacy is meant to take place concurrently with the events of the third movie, and Jason Bourne is referenced.) “What that means, because they use our actors and characters, is that whatever they said [in Legacy ] is true and so we’d have to acknowledge it in any Bourne movie that we’d do.  And that makes it really tough,” Damon said with another laugh, noting:  “I don’t think we can do the Dallas it-was-all-a-dream scenario . I don’t think the audience would go for that after they paid money to see a movie.” “I’d really love to do another one because I love the character,” Damon said, but then he pointed out another issue that would make it  “a real struggle to extend the franchise”: Bourne’s search to “find his identity” was what drove him through the first three movies. Now that he has answered that question, Damon said, “where do you go next?” Have any ideas, Bourne fans?  Leave them in the comments box below, or copyright them and have your people contact Paul Greengrass’ people. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

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The Master Rules In Chicago: 70 mm Screening Of Anderson Film Recalls Welles’ The Lady From Shanghai

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Thanks to the cajoling of a local critic, Chicago cinephiles got an advance look at Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master on Thursday night at a special 70 mm screening of the highly anticipated feature. The sold-out benefit screening took place at Chicago’s Art Deco landmark, the Music Box Theatre, which is the only movie house in the Windy City capable of projecting 70 mm film stock. Anderson was present at the Music Box, although he did not introduce the film and was not available for comment afterward. The advance screening, which doubled as a benefit for Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation (which is dedicated to film preservation), followed a much-talked about  surprise showing of the picture at Santa Monica’s Aero Theatre on Aug. 3.  (The film will make the festival rounds in Venice and Toronto.) Anderson and his superb cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. shot most of The Master in 65mm, marking it the first fictional film project since Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 four-hour adaptation of Hamlet to utilize the wide-gauge format. The advent of digital projection has rendered the costly and time consuming format largely obsolete and only a handful of theaters around the country have the proper technological specifications to project such films. The Music Box is one of those theaters, and just as critics petitioned a recalcitrant Fox Searchlight to offer more screenings of Kenneth Lonergan’s second feature  Margaret , Time Out Chicago film editor Ben Kenigsberg was instrumental in bringing about the Chicago event after he wrote a series of well-reported blog posts insisting on the need for a screening in Anderson’s preferred 70mm format. Within moments of the public announcement of the screening late Wednesday night, Chicago cineastes were abuzz.  The theater sold out its allotment of more than 700 tickets in 85 minutes, according to Dave Jennings, the theater’s managing director. “We’ll project in whatever format we receive them, but we love film,” Jennings said in his prefacing remarks. Running 137 minutes (without final credits), The Master traffics in the director’s trademark themes. The first third of the story appears highly indebted to Orson Welles’s great and potent 1946 noir The Lady From Shanghai . It’s another of Anderson’s brittle and audacious portraits of wounded masculinity and sexual panic. Set in 1950, the story details the complicated emotional interaction of Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix), a hollow-eyed World War II veteran who casually insinuates himself into the inner-workings of Lancaster (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a huckster proselytizing for a new self-help religion that has been likened to Scientology. Like Mark Wahlberg’s debased porn actor in Anderson’s Boogie Nights , Freddie constructs an elaborate alternative family from Lancaster’s entourage that results in much unintended conflict when some members of the insular and tight-knit group — especially Adams, who plays Lancaster’s wife — consider him too willful, naive and insufficiently faithful to be a worthy apostle. Visually, the movie is a marvel of precise and lyrical imagery. One sustained single-take tracking shot follows a young woman as she models a fur jacket. In another vivid, sexually hallucinatory moment, Freddie imagines all the women surrounding Lancaster during a musical number naked. The 70mm image, with its saturated colors and solidity, casts its own spell. In the first of several tense encounters between the two men that functions as Lancaster’s inquisition of the tremulous Freddie, Anderson unflinchingly keeps the camera tight on their faces. The scene plays out in one long, unbroken take, and the effect is hypnotic. As with There Will Be Blood , Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood provides a percussive score that’s even more astringent. The second half is less audacious and more problematic. The crowd’s reaction was excited though also muted, possibly as a result of fatigue since the closing credits didn’t roll until just before 1 a.m.. Given its complex — and dark — subject matter, The Master is likely to be championed by critics and specialized audiences and largely ignored by the larger public. But last night in Chicago, it ruled. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

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Woody Allen Kicks Off LA Film Fest with To Rome with Love: ‘You Be the Judge’

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Some were skeptical that Woody Allen would make an appearance at the opening night of the LA Film Festival , even with his latest Euro-whimsy To Rome With Love premiering in the kick-off slot Thursday night. But show up Woody did, with five of his starlets in tow — including Alison Pill, Greta Gerwig , and a dazzling Penelope Cruz — to debut his 43rd feature film with a few charmingly self-deprecating zingers. “I had a wonderful time making the picture in Rome,” Allen said, introducing his film to a packed theater at LA Live with a quip. “That doesn’t mean that you’ll enjoy it.” Allen continued, quietly demurring the palpable adoration of the opening night crowd, joined by Cruz, Pill, Gerwig, and Italian co-stars Alessandra Mastronardi and Simona Caparrini. “I had fun. I was there for three months eating pasta, working with beautiful actresses and scintillating leading men. It was great for me. But whether it came out or not, you have to be the judge. If you like it, I want you to tell your friends and pressure Sony, so they don’t put it in the Witness Protection Program.” [Sony Pictures Classics releases the film in select cities next week.] Allen’s Roman outing follows in the vein of his Oscar-nominated hit Midnight in Paris , exploring the spirit of the Eternal City through four light-hearted, if exhausting and scattered vignettes. In one, renowned architect Alec Baldwin visits his old Rome stomping grounds, running into Jesse Eisenberg’s 30 years-younger counterpart as he falls into an ill-advised affair. In another, a fiery hooker (Cruz) upends the life of a timid Italian newlywed. Roberto Benigni (“delightful, brilliant, sensational,” lauded Allen) shines in his own Fellini-esque tale of an average Roman businessman who becomes an overnight celebrity, enjoying — then bemoaning — the trappings of fame. And Allen stars himself, alongside Pill and a wonderfully acerbic Judy Davis, as a neurotic visiting American navigating culture clash with his Italian in-laws. To Rome may lack the pure magic and cohesion of Midnight in Paris , but it’s more fascinated with riffing on the fantasy that the Italian city inspires. (Critics were mixed following the film’s LA Film Fest premiere.) Among the themes turned over and over by Allen’s characters: Celebrity, desire, and the twin, or dueling, identities entrenched in the very fabric of the city — a place where the ruins of ancient civilization are an inescapable part of the modern landscape, a reminder of humanity’s impulse to reach for greatness, even at the risk of great failure. That hunger for life’s “what ifs?” is, the film argues, as essential as it is impossible to ignore. A starstruck woman ponders the extramarital affair that would make for a lifetime of stories; a mortician seizes the chance at operatic greatness, even under the silliest of circumstances. In the film’s most Allenesque pairing, Baldwin’s knowing John peppers Eisenberg’s Jack with the advice he knows he won’t heed, because he didn’t take it himself as a young man. Their double dose of relentless, self-aware commentary — about life, love, and the wrong choices (and ill-advised love affairs) you just can’t help choosing — speaks to a filmmaker who is all too haunted by his past, yet content to come to terms with the naivete of his younger self. Given how baldly he confronts the funny business of art and celebrity in the film, from all sides — the fleeting pointlessness (and compulsive appeal) of being famous for famous’ sake in today’s reality TV culture, the eternal struggle to balance art and commerce, even the oiliness and pretension pervasive to Hollywood types alike, personified by Italian actor Antonio Albanese and with particular deftness by Ellen Page — Allen’s pre-screening sign-off remained softly humble. “Thank you very much for showing up tonight,” he said. “If you like the picture, I’m thrilled. If you hate it and think it was a waste of time coming, don’t let me know [pause] because I get depressed easily.” To Rome with Love opens on June 22. Read more from the LA Film Fest here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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Woody Allen Kicks Off LA Film Fest with To Rome with Love: ‘You Be the Judge’

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