Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
BIll Nighy Joins Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Every other major British actor seems to have a part in the Harry Potter series, so why not Bill Nighy? The actor tells The Independent that he’s just nabbed a part in the final film(s) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Who’s he going to play? Speculation and possible spoilers run rampant after the jump. Read More »
“From the director of Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen” might tell you everything you need to know about the sales pitch for Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant. Based on the true story of Mark Whitacre, played by Matt Damon, who blew the whistle on price-fixing policies at grain processing conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland, the film adapts the book of the same name by Kurt Eichenwald. But the trailer promises anything but a dry boardroom battle. Cut to ‘Flight of the Valkyries’ and pop song ‘Would I Lie To You?’ and featuring some great moments from co-stars Scott Bakula and Tony Hale, this looks like The Insider meets Top Secret. Watch the trailer after the jump. Read More »
George Clooney Packs Up His Warner Bros. Office, Moves To Sony
Posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Nikki Finke is reporting an interesting bit of news: George Clooney and Grant Heslov are ending their production partnership with Warner Bros. and heading across town to set up shop with Sony. Coming just a week after Sony famously shitcanned Steven Soderbergh’s Moneyball, this is a surprising move. At Warner Bros. Clooney was able to make the less commercial movies he’s favored over the last few years, while Sony isn’t exactly known for being a hotbed of artistic aspiration. Read More »
With only two feature films and one TV show to his name, writer/director Jody Hill, is now synonymous with ignoring the boundaries and “genre rules” of modern comedy and creating anti-heroes that laughably burble with nihilistic rage, scary faux pas and hot-air egos. But there is also an internal depth to these macho doofuses played by Hill’s longtime pal and writing partner, Danny McBride, and comedy star Seth Rogen, to surpass the high art of a perfectly-timed and pronounced “fuck.”
Hill’s work on Observe & Report, The Foot Fist Way, and his cultural breakthrough, HBO’s Eastbound & Down, contains more glass-darkly social commentary and life-lived expression than the work of any hotshot young novelist in recent memory. Rather than document the cold realities and indulgent pleasantries of another big city with bright lights, Hill is set on exploring the very place that so many creative-types vacate upon the arrival of their first Visa card or college acceptance letter: the American South. Moreover, as many middle-class and broke white American males face sobering, if inevitable, realizations and disillusions about the future, laughing at Hill’s moronic, unhinged versions as they champion outdated movie/sports star heroics atop small-town kingdoms is like homemade medicine. When it comes to countering the monotony of the average day-to-day? Eastbound is harder to beat still. The sight of Kenny Powers “dancing” in a middle school gym under the influence of eggrolls and ecstasy or ejecting a topless broad from his Jet Ski is priceless. Like cheetah-spotted gold or “a bulletproof tiger, dude.”
A native of North Carolina, Hill is the latest progeny of the North Carolina School of the Arts, alongside McBride and creative partner Ben Best, fellow EB&D director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), and EB&D cinematographer Tim Orr. In the first part of my interview, we discuss the show in-depth, including some of the surprising and vile admissions and special features on the Season One DVD. We also talk about what it’s like to be a young director coming from, and staying in, the South, why so many comedians today are from there, and why the region was overdue for a proper comedic depiction.
Hunter Stephenson: Hey Jody, how are you?
Jody Hill: Hey Hunter. Good, good, good. Hey man, I wanted to say that I was sorry I wasn’t there when you visited down in Wilmington [Eastbound & Down set, 2008]. I remember the piece you wrote, and it sounded like a really good time. [laughs] Sucks I couldn’t there, man; I was editing my film (Observe & Report), and Warner Bros. wouldn’t let me go. When you have to do a director’s cut, they want to lock you up for 10 weeks. [laughs] Everybody said they had a blast…and I was editing.
Yeah. I expected to interview you there. And I didn’t know about the change, that David Green was now directing the majority of the episodes while you were in L.A. But it all worked out, he killed it. My first question: Legend has it that when you, Danny [McBride], and Ben [Best] first conceived of Kenny Powers you were sitting in a kiddie pool in North Carolina drinking beers. [laughs] Is that accurate?
Jody Hill: [laughs] Yeah, this was before we made Foot Fist Way or anything. We were trying to come up with ideas for shows. I was between jobs; I had been working this really shit reality show job, doing motion-control for Behind the Music and shit like that. [laughs] It was pretty lame. And so, yeah, we were in Charlotte, in the backyard of Ben Best’s house. And yeah, we were literally sitting in a kiddie pool with a case of beer. And Kenny was one of the ideas that, uh, we came up with. [laughs]
Michelle Trachtenberg and Jim Norton Join A Couple of Dicks
Posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Kevin Smith’s buddy cop comedy A Couple of Dicks has been filming in and around New York City for a month now, but a few more names have been added to the cast list. Last night we told you that Jason Lee would be filming a small part in the film, and tonight Variety confirms our earlier report and adds one more name to the list: Michelle Trachtenberg, best known as Dawn Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Georgina Sparks on Gossip Girl. Comedian Jim Norton (of Opie & Anthony fame) also has a small role in the film, which he filmed earlier today (see his Tweet). Trachtenberg will play the daughter of Willis’ character, and Lee will portray her stepfather.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Return: Micmacs A Tire-Larigot International Movie Trailer
Posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
I don’t put much stock in movie nostalgia, but I still remember how thrilled I was by my first viewing of Delicatessen over fifteen years ago. Even with the weak elements of the movie taken into consideration, the world realized within is still one I like going back to. So I’ve been eager for actual footage from Micmacs A Tire-Larigot, the first film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet since 2004’s A Very Long Engagement. And now thanks to Twitch we have a teaser, after the jump. Read More »
Watchmen’s Maximum Movie Mode Could Be The Best Blu-Ray Special Feature Yet
Posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
One of my many complaints about Blu-Ray is that the movie studios have yet to embrace the format and create some cool extra features using the new technology. Disney has done it right in the past. The visual commentary of the Pixar discs is amazing. Today I came across this video preview from the Watchmen Director’s Cut Blu-Ray which shows the Maxium Movie Mode, and I have to say — this might be the coolest Blu-ray feature yet.
Director Zack Snyder actually comes on screen and hosts an incredibly indepth look at the film, complete with behind the scenes footage, comic to film comparisons, history timelines, trivia, and much more. From this clip alone, it appears like it could be the best Blu-Ray feature I’ve seen thus far, offering a lot more than the usual audio or visual commentary tracks. Now if Warner Bros would quit producing those worthless Blu-ray mini-books, and instead start creating more special features like this for their future releases… Watch a video preview after the jump.
Kevin Smith will be re-teaming with Mallrats star Jason Lee once again. According to /Film reader Drake Rivera, Smith announced on Kevin Pollack’s Live Show on Sunday afternoon that Lee would have a role in his new buddy cop comedy A Couple of Dicks.
According to the report, Smith said that Lee would shoot for a couple of days, but didn’t reveal which role the My Name is Earl star would play. Lee has appeared in many of Smith’s films, including Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, as well as cameos in Jersey Girl and Clerks II.
Warner Bros has officially announced the panels they will be presenting at the 2009 SAn Diego Comic-Con International. Films include The Final Destination, Where The Wild Things Are, The Book Of Eli, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Box, Jonah Hex, Sherlock Holmes, and Shorts. Full information after the jump.
The Invention of Lying International Movie Trailer
Posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
An international trailer has arrived at Yahoo UK for The Invention of Lying, once called The Other Side of the Truth, and while the new title is lame, the trailer has great moments. The film, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson, stars Gervais as a man in a world where no one lies. Ever. At all. Period. Until the day when Gervais realizes how to lie, which turns his world around.
Zack Snyder Watch: Watchmen Director’s Cut, Sucker Punch and 300 Follow-Up
Posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Zack Snyder did promotion yesterday for the Blu-Ray release of Watchmen, and quite a few small tidbits of news came out of his various interviews. He talked about the theatrical release of the Watchmen Director’s Cut, which will hit four theatres, the future of his next film Sucker Punch, a possible follow-up to 300 and more. Read More »
The first trailer for Richard Kelly’s new film The Box has appeared, and it appropriately tries to push a few buttons. The film stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a couple with an increasingly desperate need for money. A box mysteriously appears on their doorstep, followed by Frank Langella, who presents an offer: push the button on the box and someone unknown to them will die, and they’ll be given a payment of one million dollars. The story is based off Richard Matheson’s short story Button, Button. See the trailer after the jump. Read More »
