And just like that, Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo became an Oscar contender. While I like the movie a good bit, primarily for very specific elements, I didn’t really expect to see Hugo turning into something that would be an awards-season player. But the National Board of Review disagrees, and today the board named Hugo the best film of 2011 and Martin Scorsese best director. Check out the NBR’s full evaluation of 2011 below. Read More »
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One of the most buzzed-about films at Cannes this year was Lynne Ramsay‘s third feature, We Need to Talk About Kevin, in which Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly play the parents of the sociopathic Kevin, played by Ezra Miller. The adaptation of Lionel Shriver‘s 2003 novel was hailed as a difficult but fascinating film, and despite concerns that the film’s off-putting content might limit its commercial prospects, Oscilloscope picked up the movie for distribution in the US.
We still haven’t seen a domestic trailer for the December 2 release. But the film opens in France in late September, so we’ve now got a French teaser and poster — it’s the first real look at the film for anyone not lucky enough to catch it at Cannes, so have a look after the break. Read More »
In early May, Focus Features bought distribution rights to the new Wes Anderson film, Moonrise Kingdom, and issued an announcement of the full cast along with a plot description.
Or: almost the full cast. One actor who has been rumored for the film for some time is Harvey Keitel, but he was not among the announced cast list. Now he has been confirmed as being part of the movie. Along with that news, we’ve got the first images of some of the film’s sets, and of Edward Norton in costume (above) as a boy scout leader and Bill Murray being Bill Murray. That’s all after the break. Read More »
Forgive me, but we need to talk about Lynne Ramsay. She has made only three films, the first two being Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar. Both are great pieces of work — Ratcatcher is a movie that I go back to again and again. Others can have their Amblin movies as snapshots back into their youth; when I need that sort of thing I go to George Washington, and to Ratcatcher.
Lynne Ramsay’s career was almost sidelined in a weird way when after spending significant time developing a film adaptation of Alice Seybold’s novel The Lovely Bones, she watched as Peter Jackson strolled in, took the project, and turned out a turgid, embarrassing Classics Illustrated version of the novel.
But she returns this year, finally, with We Need to Talk About Kevin, an adaptation of Lionel Shriver‘s 2003 novel starring Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller and John C. Reilly. The film, which digs deep into the mind of a mother dealing with her sociopathic son, wowed ‘em at Cannes (“one of the most beautifully bleak psychological fake-outs the cinema’s given us in years,” said James Rocci) and became the presumed frontrunner for both the Palme d’Or and Best Actress awards. Both of those formal accolades proved elusive (going instead to The Tree of Life and Melancholia/Kirsten Dunst, respectively) and for a minute it looked like the tough, searing nature of the film would make it a difficult one to sell at the marketplace, too.
The good news here is that We Need to Talk About Kevin will get a fall release. The catch is that it will come via Oscilloscope, while enthusiastic, isn’t huge. So you might not get to see a theatrical presentation of the film. But you will get to see it, and that’s all that matters. The full press release is after the break. Read More »
The glut of vampire movies has left me almost totally disinterested in seeing even one more story that re-purposes the old folklore. But not ‘totally disinterested,’ because hearing that a filmmaker like Jim Jarmusch is making a vampire movie is something that made me perk up quite a bit. That’s more to do with the fact that Jarmusch is making another movie than anything else, but if he wants to make a vampire movie, I’ll watch it.
And what a cast: Tilda Swinton (who has been featured in the director’s last two films), Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska as the vampires, with a role for John Hurt as well. Read More »
Wes Anderson is shooting his next film, Moonrise Kingdom, right now in Rhode Island, and the film now has distribution set: Focus Features has picked up worldwide rights. Some of those rights will be sold off at Cannes, wihle the company will release the film under the Focus banner in the US.
Moonrise Kingdom has a few new faces for the Wes Anderson collective, as the cast includes: Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and regulars Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. Bruce Willis? Yep, and I can’t say I’m not really interested to see how that works out for Wes Anderson. The full synopsis is after the break. Read More »
It’s been a slow couple of days for really significant news, but here’s something you can chew on: Wes Anderson‘s next film, Moon Rise Kingdom (previously written without a space in ‘moonrise’) is starting to line up a rather unusual and potentially very impressive cast. Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton are the names we have right now. Along with the report that each is in talks for the project, we’ve finally got substantial details on what the film might be. Read More »
As unbelievable as the notion of Darren Aronofsky directing Wolverine 2 might be, there’s something more difficult to swallow going on in Hollwood: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is becoming a hot property. Initially set to be directed by David O. Russell with Natalie Portman starring (she is still producing) the film now needs a new creative team. So, start the ‘shortlist’ compilation. Directors such as Neil Marshall and Mike Newell are reportedly in the mix, and Scarlett Johansson has been mentioned as a possible star. Read More »
