Mini-movie is inspired by the upcoming G.O.O.D. Music album of the same name. By Gil Kaufman Kanye West Photo: Getty Images Kanye West doesn’t know how to do small, so whenever the rapper unveils a new project it’s almost always on the biggest platform possible. That explains why his new “short art film,” “Cruel Summer,” will debut on the fabulous Palm Beach in Cannes, France during the Cannes Film Festival. The hush-hush movie, inspired by the upcoming all-star G.O.O.D. Music album of the same name, will world premiere on May 23 and remain open to the public for two days afterward. It is being screened out of competition in Cannes amid the world-famous film fest. And, this being Kanye, the project is described as, “a fusion of short film and art installation … an immersive ‘7 screen experience’ for the eyes and ears unlike anything West has attempted before.” Among those listed as starring in the film are comedian Aziz Ansari, Kid Cudi, Lebanese actress Razane Jammal (“Djinn”) and Palestinian actor Ali Suliman (“The Kingdom”). Yeezy is listed as the producer, writer and director of the effort, based on a screenplay by Elon Rutberg, who was the associate director of the Throne’s “N—-s in Paris” video. The co-director is Alexandre Moors, who worked with West on “Runaway” as well as the “Paris” clip. Kanye and Cudi were spotted filming scenes for the movie earlier this year in the middle eastern nation of Qatar, but little or no information has emerged about the subject matter or plot of the project. Expectations are high given the over-the-top look and feel of ‘Ye’s last mini-flick, 2010’s “Runaway.” Click here for ticket information for the screenings. Related Photos 2012 Cannes Film Festival Related Artists Kanye West
Go ahead and tell me you didn’t see this coming: The Russian government is underwriting a biopic of the late-19th/early 20th-century ballerina and tsarist “femme fatale” Mathilde Kschessinska, and its cultural ministers have enlisted Paul Schrader to write the screenplay for “an internationally acclaimed director to be announced soon.” OK, fine — I didn’t see it coming, either. Read on for full details, by which I mean an explanation from all involved. I mean, between Raging Bull and Mishima , the guy knows from international historical figures of varying renown. But this… Anyway, if it sounds unprecedented, that’s because it is. Anyone have any casting suggestions? ============ PAUL SCHRADER PENS BIOPIC OF NOTORIOUS RUSSIAN BALLERINA Acclaimed screenwriter-director will write the story of Kschessinska, legendary prima ballerina and mistress to the last Russian Tsar, for film financed by Kremlin-backed Culture & Arts Fund May 17, 2012, Los Angeles — Paul Schrader has signed on today to write the story of the ultimate femme fatale, “prima ballerina assoluta” Mathilde Kschessinska, for Russian entertainment powerhouse Vladimir Vinokur and his partner the Russian ballet impresario Vladislav Moskalev, in collaboration with American producers David Weisman and Anatoly Davydov. The film is financed by the V. Vinokur Fund for the Support of Russian Culture & Arts under the auspices of the Kremlin. Never before has a renowned American screenwriter written a Russian film about an iconic figure from Russian history. The film will be shot in English with mixed Russian and American Star cast, and will be helmed by an internationally acclaimed director to be announced soon. “Kschessinska’s life is a powerful metaphor for Russian culture and evokes the best of Russian arts,” said Schrader. “She was a first native prima ballerina in the country that saw the highest achievement in that art form. She was not only a witness to the critical period of Russian history, she was a player in that history, only to be thrown aside.” As the Russian Empire was falling apart, a tiny ballerina caused scandal, heartbreak, and intrigue among the royal family. Kschessinska played mistress to at least four aristocratic men who controlled the crumbling Romanov dynasty, including Russia’s last Tsar, Nicholas II. Rising from poverty, through her extraordinary gift for ballet, Kschessinska lived a life of mind-boggling luxury during a time of monumental despair and chaos. Despite her relentless ambition and charismatic power, she never got what she really wanted. Although her son certainly had Romanov blood, his paternity remained in dispute—and her dream to become mother of the Tsar would never be realized—due to revolution, murder, and unrequited love. “Kschessinska’s story gives me an exciting opportunity to create historical fiction not only through direct narrative—but also through the ballets she danced and defined,” Schrader continued. “Oftentimes, the most interesting perspectives on history come from those seemingly off to the side but actually in the center—its artists.” “Kschessinska was worshipped and reviled,” said Weisman. “Nicknames such as ‘Black-eyed She-Devil of the Imperial Ballet’ and ‘Mathilde the Magnificent’ echo the seething jealousy and boundless admiration Kschessinska provoked during her time. Having narrowly escaped the Bolshevik bloodbath, for fifty years she taught ballet in Paris where she died only a few months before her hundredth birthday, in 1971.” “Kschessinska’s life begins in the world of Imperial St Petersburg—Russia’s window on the West—where Russian culture attained arguably the highest achievements in both lyric epic and in the novel,” Schrader added. “I’ll draw on all that to explore the inner-life of Kschessinska at the same time I explore the splendor of Russian culture. Russia, which like the Romanov imperial eagle looks both east and west, is uniquely positioned to take a dominant role in the renaissance of global cinema.” “This project is not just about making a movie for the international market; It is a window into true understanding of the Russian soul,” said Moskalev. ###
Say it ain’t so! Word on the street is that the two actors who once had top billing on “The Game” have been let go: According to a well placed source, HipHollywood.com has learned exclusively that Tia Mowry and Pooch Hall will NOT return to BET’s highest rated show, The Game. It will be interesting to see how the show moves forward from here because their characters Derwin and Melaie are central to The Game’s plot. Our source also added that both are very busy right now, Hall is working on another project, while Mowry is still filming her Style network reality show. The hope is that the two actors will have a chance to come back and end their storyline, but for now all we know is that they won’t be back for season 6. It almost like these two realized BET turned sugar to isht again and left on their own accord. Source
The Film : Being John Malkovich (1999), available today on Blu-ray and DVD via The Criterion Collection Why It’s an Inessential Essential : It’s strange to think that a film with John Malkovich’s name in its title isn’t really considered to be “a John Malkovich movie.” Instead, Being John Malkovich is understandably normally associated with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze, both of whom really broke out thanks to BJM ’s success. While Jonze reveals on The Criterion Collection’s new audio commentary track that he and Kaufman were dead-set on getting Malkovich for the film, Being John Malkovich could really be about any celebrity. At the same time, that’s one of the many things that’s funny about Being John Malkovich : It’s a metaphysical black comedy about what people projecting things onto celebrities that don’t necessarily have anything to do with those celebrities. Malkovich just happens to be the guy whose mind Schwartz (John Cusack) and his vampish colleague Maxine (Catherine Keener) invade after they inadvertently discover a miniature portal into his head, and so his comic performance is consequently often overlooked in discussions of the film. He’s the biggest butt of Kaufman and Jonze’s jokes (I love when Maxine casually insults him by saying that he has a “too-prominent brow”), but he also reaffirms his fantastic comic timing, as when he cops a feel after ineffectually cooing to Maxine, “Shall we away to the boudoir?” Malkovich also demonstrates a deceptively subtle knack for physical comedy, like when he gives a buffoonishly perplexed look after being told by a date that he’s “creepy.” In a moment’s time, he scratches his head and tucks his lower lip beneath his teeth. It’s pretty hilarious because it’s done with such sly conviction. How the DVD Makes the Case for the Film : Criterion includes a number of great little behind-the-scenes on its new two-disc DVD set. In an interview with comedian John Hodgman, Malkovich reveals that when he was first given the script, “I saw the title and didn’t really think much about it.” He then initially turned the project down at the behest of his producing partner Russ Smith, who wanted Kaufman and Jonze to make the film “about” someone other than Malkovich. Later, Malkovich was taken aside again by Francis Ford Coppola and introduced directly to Jonze, whom Coppola said “everyone would [eventually] be working for.” According to Malkovich, after he signed onto the project, Kaufman apparently cut “some of the worst jokes about me — meaning the most cruelest ones,” from the screenplay. “I like those jokes,” he tells Hodgman nonchalantly. “I think they’re really funny.” Ironically, while Malkovich says that the film, “isn’t at all about me, it’s about people’s perceptions of me,” he apparently suggested that Charlie Sheen play his character’s best friend in Being John Malkovich . (Kevin Bacon had apparently already turned down that role.) But Malkovich had never met Sheen until that point; he just “struck me as the kind of person I would go to in an existential crisis.” Other Interesting Trivia : There’s a really bizarre and hilariously unfocused audio commentary track on disc one, where Michel Gondry, who was originally supposed to direct the film (he would later work with Kaufman on Human Nature before their Oscar-winning collaboration Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ) talks about everything but the film. At one point, he calls Spike Jonze up and jokingly browbeats him to confess that he fell in love with Keener on set. This is after Gondry wonders aloud if the cameraman got a boner when filming a POV shot from Malkovich’s perspective while he has sex with Keener. Gondry dismisses the idea that Malkovich became aroused by Keener but still insists that the cameraman and the director must have gotten sprung. I wonder what Malkovich thinks… PREVIOUS INESSENTIAL ESSENTIALS The Last Temptation of Christ The Sitter Citizen Ruth The Broken Tower Dogville Night Call Nurses Strange Fruit: The Beatles’ Apple Records Jeremiah Johnson Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Vulture and Esquire. Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .
The Film : Being John Malkovich (1999), available today on Blu-ray and DVD via The Criterion Collection Why It’s an Inessential Essential : It’s strange to think that a film with John Malkovich’s name in its title isn’t really considered to be “a John Malkovich movie.” Instead, Being John Malkovich is understandably normally associated with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze, both of whom really broke out thanks to BJM ’s success. While Jonze reveals on The Criterion Collection’s new audio commentary track that he and Kaufman were dead-set on getting Malkovich for the film, Being John Malkovich could really be about any celebrity. At the same time, that’s one of the many things that’s funny about Being John Malkovich : It’s a metaphysical black comedy about what people projecting things onto celebrities that don’t necessarily have anything to do with those celebrities. Malkovich just happens to be the guy whose mind Schwartz (John Cusack) and his vampish colleague Maxine (Catherine Keener) invade after they inadvertently discover a miniature portal into his head, and so his comic performance is consequently often overlooked in discussions of the film. He’s the biggest butt of Kaufman and Jonze’s jokes (I love when Maxine casually insults him by saying that he has a “too-prominent brow”), but he also reaffirms his fantastic comic timing, as when he cops a feel after ineffectually cooing to Maxine, “Shall we away to the boudoir?” Malkovich also demonstrates a deceptively subtle knack for physical comedy, like when he gives a buffoonishly perplexed look after being told by a date that he’s “creepy.” In a moment’s time, he scratches his head and tucks his lower lip beneath his teeth. It’s pretty hilarious because it’s done with such sly conviction. How the DVD Makes the Case for the Film : Criterion includes a number of great little behind-the-scenes on its new two-disc DVD set. In an interview with comedian John Hodgman, Malkovich reveals that when he was first given the script, “I saw the title and didn’t really think much about it.” He then initially turned the project down at the behest of his producing partner Russ Smith, who wanted Kaufman and Jonze to make the film “about” someone other than Malkovich. Later, Malkovich was taken aside again by Francis Ford Coppola and introduced directly to Jonze, whom Coppola said “everyone would [eventually] be working for.” According to Malkovich, after he signed onto the project, Kaufman apparently cut “some of the worst jokes about me — meaning the most cruelest ones,” from the screenplay. “I like those jokes,” he tells Hodgman nonchalantly. “I think they’re really funny.” Ironically, while Malkovich says that the film, “isn’t at all about me, it’s about people’s perceptions of me,” he apparently suggested that Charlie Sheen play his character’s best friend in Being John Malkovich . (Kevin Bacon had apparently already turned down that role.) But Malkovich had never met Sheen until that point; he just “struck me as the kind of person I would go to in an existential crisis.” Other Interesting Trivia : There’s a really bizarre and hilariously unfocused audio commentary track on disc one, where Michel Gondry, who was originally supposed to direct the film (he would later work with Kaufman on Human Nature before their Oscar-winning collaboration Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ) talks about everything but the film. At one point, he calls Spike Jonze up and jokingly browbeats him to confess that he fell in love with Keener on set. This is after Gondry wonders aloud if the cameraman got a boner when filming a POV shot from Malkovich’s perspective while he has sex with Keener. Gondry dismisses the idea that Malkovich became aroused by Keener but still insists that the cameraman and the director must have gotten sprung. I wonder what Malkovich thinks… PREVIOUS INESSENTIAL ESSENTIALS The Last Temptation of Christ The Sitter Citizen Ruth The Broken Tower Dogville Night Call Nurses Strange Fruit: The Beatles’ Apple Records Jeremiah Johnson Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Vulture and Esquire. Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .
‘I never heard anything about that,’ singer and ‘Battleship’ co-star tells MTV News. By Fallon Prinzivalli, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Rihanna Photo: Michael Loccisano/ Getty Images Fans have been teased with an exclusive “Battleship” clip and movie stills of singer Rihanna making a splash on the big screen. Her acting debut comes at a time when she’s still riding high on the music charts. With four songs in the top 30 on Billboard ‘s top 100, Rihanna is taking the entertainment world by storm. When the musician-turned-actress sat down with MTV News, she revealed that she’s been considered for quite a few roles but wanted to make sure she had a better handle on her acting before diving into uncharted waters. “I got a few scripts, actually, a lot of incredible roles,” she said. “Some of which I felt were a little too big for me, being that I never did a movie. So I wanted to really get my feet wet, try it, see what it was like and know how I wanted to move from there. I’m really glad ‘Battleship’ turned out to be the first one.” With Whitney Houston’s death, there’s been talk of a Whitney biopic and a lot of buzz surrounding which starlet would be right for the project. Rihanna’s name has been thrown out there now that she’s establishing her acting chops, but the singer called the speculation “just rumors. I never heard anything about that.” The rumors may have stemmed from Rihanna’s April interview with the U.K. Press Association in which she said she would give her “entire life” to play Whitney Houston. “That would be something that I would have to give my entire life to do, because I would really want to pull it off,” Rihanna said . “That’s a huge, huge role, and whoever does it has to do a good job.” Her desire for the part stems from her great respect for the late singer. “My first song that I remember falling in love with was a Whitney Houston song: ‘I Will Always Love You,’ ” she continued. “It was really inspiring, and it made me develop a passion for music, so really, she’s partly responsible for me being here in this industry.” Audiences can see Rihanna light it up on the big screen when “Battleship” hits theaters Friday, May 18. Check out everything we’ve got on “Battleship.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Battleship’ Related Photos Whitney Houston: A Life In Photos Related Artists Rihanna
The 2012 Cannes Film Festival remains a week away, but the wheeling and dealing is already underway — and probably not coincidentally, for competition films starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Last week it was Pattinson’s edgy David Cronenberg collaboration Cosmopolis going to E One , and tonight it’s Stewart’s long-awaited Jack Kerouac adaptation On the Road — just announced as the proud acquisition of IFC Films and Sundance Selects. Read on for the full details, and stay tuned to Movieline for more fest news as Cannes 2012 approaches. =========== New York, NY (May 8, 2012) – AMC Networks announced today the acquisition of all US rights to acclaimed filmmaker Walter Salles’ ON THE ROAD to be released jointly by the company’s film distribution labels IFC Films and Sundance Selects. Based on the iconic novel by Jack Kerouac, the film stars Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst and features performances by Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss and Viggo Mortensen. The screenplay is by Jose Rivera (Academy Award® nominee for THE MOTORCYLE DIARIES). The MK2 Production was produced by Nathanael Karmitz, Charles Gillibert, Rebecca Yeldham and Roman Coppola for American Zoetrope. Executive producer Francis Ford Coppola has been developing the project since 1978. The World Premiere for ON THE ROAD is set for the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in the Competition Section. A major theatrical release is planned for late Fall. Josh Sapan, CEO and President of AMC Networks said of the film, “Walter Salles has made an ambitious and accomplished film out of Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel. It’s a classic road movie with career-making performances from Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley, and a terrific showcase for Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst. This exceptional piece of filmmaking is the cinematic equivalent to the ground-breaking original content that our company produces for its networks.” Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films said: “This is a major step forward for us, and we plan to work across AMC Networks in putting all our resources together to make this theatrical release into a significant cultural event. We will show the same passion in releasing this film as the team took behind producing it. We’re honored to be working with our friends Nathanael Karmitz and Charles Gillibert at MK2, Walter Salles, Rebecca Yeldham, Roman Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola.” Nathanael Karmitz (President-MK2) and Charles Gillibert (Producer-MK2) said: “ON THE ROAD changed the lives of many people, it changed the life of MK2 and it will also have that effect on AMC Networks and its labels’ IFC Films and Sundance Selects. We had a lot of interest from US distributors but thecombination of AMC Networks great promotional appeal with IFC Films and Sundance Selects’ experience in distribution is an innovative and ambitious way to bring ON THE ROAD great success in the US. We were also very touched by the passionate approach of Josh Sapan and Jonathan Sehring and by the enthusiasm of their team.” This marks the fourth time that the two companies have collaborated following Olivier Assayas’ SUMMER HOURS, Abbas Kiarostami’s CERTIFIED COPY, Gus Van Sant’s PARANOID PARK and Assayas’ upcoming SOMETHING IN THE AIR. ON THE ROAD tells the provocative story of Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), a young writer whose life is shaken and ultimately redefined by the arrival of Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), a free-spirited, fearless, fast talking Westerner, and his girl, Marylou (Kristen Stewart). Together, Sal and Dean travel cross-country in a quest for freedom from the conformity and conservatism engulfing them, in search of the unknown, themselves, and the pursuit of “it” — the pure essence of experience. Seeking unchartered terrain and the last American frontier, the duo encounter an eclectic mix of men and women — Bull (Viggo Mortensen), Camille (Kirsten Dunst), Carlo (Tom Sturridge), Jane (Amy Adams), Terry (Alice Braga), and Galatéa (Elisabeth Moss) – each adding meaning to their desire for a new way of life. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Walter Salles is credited with helping Brazilian cinema return to international prominence in the late 1990s. His credits include THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES about the life of young Enresto Guevara who later became known as Che. The acclaimed film was a success at the box office and received Academy Award® nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jose Rivera and Best Song. Most recently he directed with Daniela Thomas the film LINHA DE PASSE, which won Sandra Corveloni the Best Actress at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. ###
‘[He] delighted in scaring the kids on the block — and they loved him for it,” Hanks says of author in a statement to MTV News. By Fallon Prinzivalli Tom Hanks and Maurice Sendak Photo: Getty Images With the announcement that “Where the Wild Things Are” author and illustrator Maurice Sendak died Tuesday (May 8) at the age of 83, filmmakers and authors have been mourning the passing of a brilliant mind. From Elijah Wood to “Looking for Alaska” author John Green, the influence Sendak leaves behind in the hearts of many is indisputable. In a statement to MTV News, actor Tom Hanks — who co-produced the film adaptation of Sendak’s popular children’s book — said, “Maurice Sendak was the fabulously cranky old man, the maker of the Wild Rumpus, who delighted in scaring the kids on the block — and they loved him for it. I think a late supper is awaiting him and it is still hot.” Sendak revolutionized the children’s book genre by allowing his works to remain a dark fantasy instead of a bright, depthless story. In “Wild Things,” after being sent to his room without dinner, Max — an unruly boy constantly wearing a wolf suit — sails away from home to a land of wild beasts for an adventure. Sendak’s influence spread from the literary world to the film world as Spike Jonze set out to adapt the widely popular book into a motion picture. Critics were skeptical as the tome was labeled “unfilmable,” but the author remained involved in the project as Jonze incorporated his own interpretation of the book into the film. “[Sendak] said from the beginning that you have to make it dangerous — make something that respects kids and doesn’t talk down to them or if not, it wasn’t worth doing,” Jonze said in the film’s featurette . Sendak also created “Seven Little Monsters,” a children’s television series that showed the not-so-little monsters learning about life, and had a hand in creating and writing the Nick Jr. show, “Little Bear.” All the while children read his other picture books such as “In the Night Kitchen” and “Outside Over There.” But it was his classic story of Max and those monsters who “roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth” that continues to span time and influence generation after generation. Share your memories of Maurice Sendak in the comments.
Cinco de Mayo weekend will surely belong to Marvel’s The Avengers , which has already racked up $18.7 million in U.S. grosses courtesy of last night’s midnight screenings. The superhero filled adventure has been pegged as possibly this year’s biggest box office draw — time will tell . But for those who want to check out something else besides superheroes (or want to resuscitate from its aftermath) there are plenty of specialty releases opening this weekend including Fox Searchlight’s India-set The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel , Sundance Selects’ dance doc First Position , ATO’s water doc Last Call at the Oasis , Kathleen Turner starrer The Perfect Family . And, if you need a little more Samuel L. Jackson in your life post- Avengers , check out his other opener Meeting Evil . Marvel’s The Avengers (Opening Wide) Director: Joss Whedon Writers Zak Penn (story), Joss Whedon (story and screenplay), Stan Lee (comic book), Jack Kirby (comic book) Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson Destined to be the big box office draw of 2012 (so far), Marvel’s The Avengers features a “Super Hero team of a lifetime. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow battle an enemy that threatens global safety. The director of the international peacekeeping agency – S.H.I.E.L.D. – assembles the team to save the world from certain disaster. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Limited Release) Director John Madden Writers: Ol Parker (screenplay), Deborah Moggach (novel) Cast: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith Distributor: Fox Searchlight The feature revolves around a group of British retirees who move to India to “outsource” their retirement in a less expensive but exotic locale. They’re drawn by advertisements to the newly refurbished Marigold Hotel, but arrive to find it less than they envisioned. Less luxurious than they had oped, they’re nevertheless transformed by their shared experience, “discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past.” Marigold shot in October 2010 in India, which producer Graham Broadbent described as an “extraordinary, bewildering place.” They arrived with a small crew from the U.K., which was met by a massive team from India during their 45-day stay. “There were 350 people in the crew,” said Broadbent. “In the U.K. we’d expect maybe 120.” First Position (Limited Release) Director: Bess Kargman Subjects: Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince Distributor: Sundance Selects Check out Movieline’s exclusive clip from First Position : (http://movieline.com/2012/05/04/first-position-clip-whats-it-take-to-be-a-boy-in-ballet-exclusive/) The doc is an inspirational look at six ballet dancers ages 9 to 19 who sacrifice physically and emotionally on their way to one of the most prestigious youth ballet competitions in the world. First Position takes a year-long look at children around the world who strive to master an art form despite the odds. “We fell in love with these kids who are striving to do their best with the pressures they’re facing,” Sundance Selects exec Ryan Werner said about the film. His company picked up the title at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and since then it has won awards at Doc NYC and at festivals in Portland, Dallas and San Francisco. Also sure to give the doc a push is the fact that one of its characters is on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars . Nightline and Good Morning America are doing stories on the film. First Position is available on demand and will open in theaters in New York and L.A. this weekend. “We’re actively pursuing the dance community as we did for [our other recent dance doc] Pina, but also people who are interested in a ‘great story.'” Last Call At The Oasis Director: Jessica Yu Writer: Jessica Yu Subjects: Erin Brockovich-Ellis, Jay Famiglietti, Peter H. Gleick Distributor: ATO Pictures in partnership with Participant Media This doc is a wakeup call about the worldwide water crisis. Featuring activists Erin Brockovich and others, the film exposes how water will become one of the biggest challenges society will face this century and offers up solutions. Selling a documentary about the world’s looming water crisis may be a tough sell at best. But there are potential solutions to drum up interest at low to no cost and the film’s distributor has been working those avenues. Director Jessica Yu joined a packed house at the Ford Foundation in Manhattan last month for a screening of the film which kicked off the 4th annual “Envision” conference, which focuses on issues relating to a “sustainable future,” co-hosted by the U.N. and the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP). “Part of the publicity is reaching out to NGOs,” said ATO Pictures co-president Jonathan Dorfman. “And [partner] Participant ( An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman ) has a lot of great relationships with those groups…They deliver on the docs.” ATO first saw the film last year in Toronto and were impressed by its quality and the highly regarded people who appear in the feature. “There are serious experts like Erin Brokovich and others who know [a lot] about this,” noted Dorfamn who added that the famed environmental advocate made famous by Julia Roberts portrayal of her back in 2000 will be heading to Los Angeles post-screening Q&As at the Landmark on Friday and has also been doing press to promote the film. Meeting Evil (Limited Release) Director: Chris Fisher Writers: Thomas Berger (novel), Chris Fisher Cast: Luke Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson, Leslie Bibb, Peyton List It’s not just The Avengers actor Samuel L. Jackson has going on this weekend, he’s also starring in this weekend’s crime thriller, Meeting Evil . The film centers on John (Luke Wilson) a depressed suburban family man who is recently unemployed. After he stops to help a stranger with his car, he’s forced into a surreal murder-filled ride that forces him to confront everything about his life. The Perfect Family Director: Anne Renton Writers: Paula Goldberg, Claire V. Riley Cast: Kathleen Turner, Emily Deschanel, Jason Ritter Religious mom Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner) is nominated for the coveted Catholic Woman of the Year Award at her local parish, but she has one challenge – her non-conformist family. Her gay daughter Shannon (Emily Deschanel) want to marry her partner and her unhappily married son Frank Jr. (Jason Ritter) is hooking up with a local manicurist. Meanwhile, her own marriage to a recovering alcoholic is less than ideal. With a budget of less than $1 million and a script, they turned to actress Kathleen Turner for the main role. “We were trying to put together as good of a cast as we possibly could to maximize attention and press,” producer Cora Olson said. After implementing some script changes Turner requested Olson and her producing partner Jennifer Dubin reached out to Emily Deschanel who they knew socially to join the cast and they also sought out Jason Ritter, who worked on their previous project Good Dick, which they also produced and released. The Perfect Family shot 19 days in Los Angeles, which she said ran pretty smoothly. “Jen and I have done a lot of these types of films and it’s important to get crews who understand this kind of schedule,” she said. The film debuted last year at Tribeca and Present Pictures has partnered with Variance Pictures for the theatrical release. [Comments and other portions of this article were previously published in Brian Brooks’ weekly specialty preview article on Deadline .]
We hope not either, cuz where is he gonna get some Grade A cous like hers if she leaves him? Chrissy Teigen Talks About Wedding Plans With John Legend Opening up to Us Weekly at Project Sunshine’s Benefit in NYC Tuesday night, the swimsuit model–who got engaged to love of five years John Legend during a Maldives getaway over the holidays–said she isn’t willing to let wedding planning take over her life. In fact, “I feel like the anti-bride, because I watch all those shows and I hate them,” she told Us. “I go out of my way to try not to be too annoying . . . my biggest goal in life is to not be annoying about being a bride.” Teigen, 26, says she’d rather focus on the fun stuff: food and fashion, stressing that her big day will be very “food-oriented”–and will involved multiple costume changes. “I love dress shopping and I love talking about the wedding food. That’s what makes me happy,” Teigen revealed. “If you tell me to do a guest list, I cry. I hate it.” The 5-foot-8 beauty says she also didn’t waste any time picking out her first dress for her nuptials–a “simple” but “stunning” Monique Lhuillier gown. “I had been looking at online for so long . . . since the day I got engaged,” Teigen shared. “It’s so beautiful. I loved it. That was my excuse for having not waited. I don’t know what part [of the wedding] it will be worn for, but it will be worn and I’m very excited.” Teigen might not have wasted any time settling on a dress, but in general, she says she and Legend, 33, aren’t stressed about when they’ll make it official. “We’re going to take our time with [the rest of the planning],” Teigen told Us. “We’ve been together for so long.” Joked the model, “Hopefully I won’t hate him by then!” These two have been together forever and hopefully the marriage will be even happier than the wedding planning! Source
