William Lustig’s Maniac, released in 1980, is not a nice movie. It is an exploitation classic; a weird, super-creepy story of a very damaged man (originally played by Joe Spinell) who kills women as a way to articulate rage towards his deceased mother. It is dirty but effective, and
A Maniac remake shot recently with Elijah Wood in the lead role, and it doesn’t look like a nice movie, either. In fact, this version from director Franck Khalfoun (P2, Wrong Turn at Tahoe) and writers Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur & C.A. Rosenberg looks dirty and ugly in just the way you’d expect a film called Maniac to be.
The film is selling in Cannes now, and a sales teaser trailer has shown up online. This one is definitely not safe for work, thanks in part to nudity, but more for violence and general creepiness. One shot of a victim of Wood’s character towards the end of the teaser is really queasy. Read More »
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After he finished The Tree of Life, director Terrence Malick shot a film that was referred to for quite some time as The Burial. The romance features Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, Rachel Weisz, Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen, Amanda Peet, and Jessica Chastain, and has been the subject of much speculation, as is often the case with Malick’s films.
Now we’ve got one new detail: thanks to the MPAA, we know the film is now called To the Wonder, and has been rated R for “some sexuality/nudity.” Read More »
Posted on Monday, May 14th, 2012 by Angie Han
The news that Ashton Kutcher had been cast as late tech guru Steve Jobs for the indie biopic Jobs: Get Inspired raised a few eyebrows when it was first announced, in part because it broke on April Fool’s Day. But the producers weren’t joking around, and we now have our first look at the Two and a Half Men star clad in a familiar-looking black turtleneck and 501s. Get your first look at Kutcher’s Jobs after the jump.
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There are some entertainment disciplines that have fallen slightly out of favor, thanks to new distractions. Puppeteers and magicians don’t get the attention they once did, unless they’re part of Jim Henson’s crew or have a wild gimmick.
But practitioners of fading arts keep going forward, even though they face a more difficult path now than ever. The Magic Life documents a number of would-be stage magicians as they struggle to make a life in the discipline. As it follows three aspiring illusionists (a 17-year-old from Beijing, a 25-year-old LA resident, and a 32-year-old businessman) we see the performers trying to perfect their craft, and deal with their own hopes and expectations as they reach for a career many people think foolish.
Check out the trailer below. Read More »
Posted on Friday, May 11th, 2012 by Angie Han
Between Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, Steve McQueen’s Shame, and now Adam Sherman‘s Crazy Eyes, I’m starting to suspect that being rich and handsome and having lots of sex is the worst possible fate that could befall a guy. Especially, it seems, if you’re in L.A. — a city where, as Crazy Eyes star Lukas Haas morosely notes in a voiceover, “if you’re one in a million, there are still seven more just like you.”
Haas stars as Zach, a Hollywood millionaire who finds that no amount of girls or booze can give his existence meaning. Enter “Crazy Eyes” (Madeline Zima), a woman who becomes Zach’s drinking buddy and the object of his affections just as his family life spirals out of control. Watch the first trailer after the jump.
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Earlier this week we passed on the rumor that All is By My Side, a long-simmering biopic of the amazing and groundbreaking guitarist/singer/songwriter Jimi Hendrix, would finally shoot this month with Andre Benjamin of OutKast in the lead role. (Benjamin has an acting resume, in films like Idlewild, Be Cool and Four Brothers.)
Now we’ve got confirmation of that report, with some new details. Haley Atwell is confirmed for a role and Imogen Poots will play in the picture, too.
But there’s a problem: while financing is set so that John Ridley, who also wrote, can direct the film in Ireland just weeks from now, Hendrix rights holders Experience Hendrix say they’re not on board with the project. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 by Angie Han
Lots to see in today’s Sequel Bits, including a DVD featurette, a blooper reel, a TV spot, posters, and a (not at all revealing) set photo. After the jump:
- Another new TV spot debuts for Men in Black 3
- Gary Busey goes nuts in Piranha 3DD outtakes
- Watch a featurette from the Underworld: Awakening DVD
- Simon Pegg and Zachary Quinto tweet wrapping Star Trek 2
- Check out the Korean G.I. Joe: Retaliation posters
- Donnie Yen is set to return for Ip Man 3D
- Who wants to be an extra on Atlas Shrugged Part 2?
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Posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 by Angie Han
After some thirty-odd years in development, On the Road is finally nearing the end of its long, long journey to the big screen. A week before the film’s scheduled debut at the Cannes Film Festival, IFC Films and Sundance Selects (subsets of AMC Networks) have closed a seven-figure deal for the U.S. distribution rights to the Walter Salles-directed adaptation, which features a strong roster of both rising and established stars.
Among them are leads Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund, who play Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty (understood to be the fictional alter egos of author Jack Kerouac and his pal Neal Cassady), as well as Kristen Stewart, who plays Dean’s wife Mary Lou. Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss, and Viggo Mortensen round out the supporting cast. More details after the jump.
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