Each year SXSW plays host to a slate of risk-taking fare of all kinds, from true indie offerings to upcoming studio releases geared to a slightly more open crowd, and the 2012 film line-up features no shortage of movies poised to earn that precious film festival commodity: Positive buzz. But some projects have more at stake than others — say, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s long-awaited Cabin in the Woods , Will Ferrell ‘s Spanish-language comedy Casa de mi Padre , or the directorial debut of actor Matthew Lillard . On the eve of SXSW 2012 (which runs March 9-17 in Austin, Texas), check out the ten SXSW titles with the most to prove going into their festival debuts. Click to launch the gallery! Want more? Read all of Movieline’s SXSW 2012 coverage and follow us on Twitter .
When Darren Aronofsky directed a sumptuous Revlon commercial for mascara last year I called it his “least-daring work to date,” but now comes a new project to trump that dubious accomplishment. Behold, the Oscar-nominated Black Swan director’s gripping ad for Kohl’s department store featuring J. Lo singing and dancing to a Kiki Dee cover song, a video that makes Jessica Biel plumping her lashes look like Requiem for a Dream . Kohl’s “Classic. Remixed” from H.K. McCANN on Vimeo . Oh, Darren. Can we go back to those meth PSAs and pretend this never happened? [ MediaBistro via Vulture ]
Hungarian police swarmed warehouse to seize stash of guns being used on set. By Gil Kaufman Brad Pitt on the set of “World War Z” on August 18, 2011, in Glasgow, Scotland Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/ Getty Images Onlookers may have thought that the intense police action was part of the plot, but when Hungarian police and a SWAT team descended on the set of Brad Pitt ‘s film “World War Z” on Monday, it was not a scripted event. According to US Weekly , the SWAT team raided a Budapest warehouse where weapons were being stored for use in the epic zombie flick , with anti-terrorism officers seizing 85 guns. The firearms, which were supposed to be nonfunctional, were automatic, military-style assault rifles that were in good working order. The guns were confiscated at an airport near the film’s set, where they were being stored. “This morning a private plane brought guns wrapped in a parcel from a company to an individual [in Budapest],” said the director of Hungary’s anti-terrorism unit in a statement. “Guns like these are highly illegal to transport even if they were to [be] used as stage guns, which hopefully they weren’t.” A source told the magazine that Pitt — whose Plan B Entertainment is producing the movie set for a December 2012 release — isn’t to blame for the prop snafu. “The movie company’s employees must have made a mistake bringing the guns in without the Anti-Terrorism Unit’s permission,” said the unnamed source. The movie, which is being helmed by Oscar-nominated director Marc Forster ( “Machine Gun Preacher,” “Stranger Than Fiction”) and is based on a beloved novel by Max Brooks, stars Pitt as a United Nations employee who is traveling the world in an effort to stop a zombie plague from wiping out humanity. Forster has promised that he is taking a different approach to how the zombies move in the film from how they lurch in the book. “In Max Brook’s book they move in the George Romero [“Night of the Living Dead”] fashion. I feel like we have a little bit different approach,” he revealed. “But it doesn’t exclude that they might not eventually be fashioned [on] how George Romero’s zombies move, it’s just a little bit different approach. I think that will probably be the biggest discussions that there will be.” Check out everything we’ve got on “World War Z.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
Hungarian police swarmed warehouse to seize stash of guns being used on set. By Gil Kaufman Brad Pitt on the set of “World War Z” on August 18, 2011, in Glasgow, Scotland Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/ Getty Images Onlookers may have thought that the intense police action was part of the plot, but when Hungarian police and a SWAT team descended on the set of Brad Pitt ‘s film “World War Z” on Monday, it was not a scripted event. According to US Weekly , the SWAT team raided a Budapest warehouse where weapons were being stored for use in the epic zombie flick , with anti-terrorism officers seizing 85 guns. The firearms, which were supposed to be nonfunctional, were automatic, military-style assault rifles that were in good working order. The guns were confiscated at an airport near the film’s set, where they were being stored. “This morning a private plane brought guns wrapped in a parcel from a company to an individual [in Budapest],” said the director of Hungary’s anti-terrorism unit in a statement. “Guns like these are highly illegal to transport even if they were to [be] used as stage guns, which hopefully they weren’t.” A source told the magazine that Pitt — whose Plan B Entertainment is producing the movie set for a December 2012 release — isn’t to blame for the prop snafu. “The movie company’s employees must have made a mistake bringing the guns in without the Anti-Terrorism Unit’s permission,” said the unnamed source. The movie, which is being helmed by Oscar-nominated director Marc Forster ( “Machine Gun Preacher,” “Stranger Than Fiction”) and is based on a beloved novel by Max Brooks, stars Pitt as a United Nations employee who is traveling the world in an effort to stop a zombie plague from wiping out humanity. Forster has promised that he is taking a different approach to how the zombies move in the film from how they lurch in the book. “In Max Brook’s book they move in the George Romero [“Night of the Living Dead”] fashion. I feel like we have a little bit different approach,” he revealed. “But it doesn’t exclude that they might not eventually be fashioned [on] how George Romero’s zombies move, it’s just a little bit different approach. I think that will probably be the biggest discussions that there will be.” Check out everything we’ve got on “World War Z.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
“For John Gotti Sr, you need a man’s man to play that role,” critiqued former mobster Lewis Kasman about John Travolta’s casting in the upcoming crime-boss biopic from Barry Levinson . “He’s a thug, so you need someone who’s a thug… a guy who grew up in that life.” Apparently, Travolta’s Oscar-nominated Saturday Night Fever performance doesn’t hold much weight among the mob set either: “John Gotti Sr. never danced a dance in his life.” [ Daily Mail ]
If you’re a Martin Scorsese fanboy or girl troubled by the fact that the great director is releasing Hugo — a 3-D kids movie that looks like something Shawn Levy could have directed — this year, some hope: the first trailer for Scorsese’s long-in-the-making HBO documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World has arrived online, and it’s as epic as the film’s near four-hour running time. Click through to watch.
Following the recent success of Midnight in Paris and the filming of Bop Decameron in Rome, Woody Allen is apparently planning to set his next film in Germany . Exciting! And maybe a little predictable, but I’m enjoying the minor Zelig flashback this news conjures. Do you have visions for locales in the next leg of Allen’s film career? There’s one hope I refuse to let go…
Sure, we’ve already gotten a sneak peak of what Bradley Cooper could look like as the devil in Paradise Lost , but that doesn’t mean Legendary Pictures is done casting their adaptation of the John Milton novel. Just today, Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou joined the Alex Proyas-directed production as Abdiel, the angel of death. If Paradise Lost still needs an archangel of divine street fights, may we suggest Ryan Gosling ? [ Variety ]
Sure, we’ve already gotten a sneak peak of what Bradley Cooper could look like as the devil in Paradise Lost , but that doesn’t mean Legendary Pictures is done casting their adaptation of the John Milton novel. Just today, Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou joined the Alex Proyas-directed production as Abdiel, the angel of death. If Paradise Lost still needs an archangel of divine street fights, may we suggest Ryan Gosling ? [ Variety ]
Today in slow news, a tree was injured. But not just any tree — the picturesque oak featured at the end of the Oscar-nominated drama The Shawshank Redemption , as the location where Red (Morgan Freeman) uncovers money and a note from his beloved inmate buddy Andy (Tim Robbins) after 40 years of imprisonment. No word yet on whether the tree, damaged by high-speed winds and now rotted in the middle, will be cut down. It sits on private property in Mansfield-Richland County, Ohio. [ Mansfield News Journal ]
