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Ben Stiller Goes Indie in 'Greenberg' Trailer
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Independent, Movie Marketing, Trailers and Clips
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The best thing about this trailer is that Mumblecore sensation Greta Gerwig has finally semi-crossed over into more "popular" fare (I can't say commercial, because this is still somewhat indie, so I guess "popular" is the right word ... but maybe not. You get the point, though, right?). The worst thing about this trailer is that it just feels like another lost-dude-looking-for-the-rest-of-his-life type flick, and I guess that's cool if you dig hip indie soundtracks and Ben Stiller with a perpetual puss on his face, but in my opinion there's nothing here that screams, "Holy crap, watch me right now!"
Yeah, so, anyway, the first trailer for Noah Baumbach's (The Squid and the Whale) next film, Greenberg, has just arrived over on Apple, and it stars Ben Stiller as a guy named Greenberg who's "at a crossroads in his life" and, after he agrees to housesit for his younger (and more successful) brother in Los Angeles, he begins to reconnect with old friends and kinda-sorta-maybe sleep with Greta Gerwig, who, mind you, totally has an Indie Kate Winslet vibe going on in the trailer.
Watch the trailer over on Apple and let us know what you think. Greenberg is due in theaters on March 12th, and I could totally see it premiering at Sundance in January ... but I'll guess we'll wait and see about that.
Joshua Jackson Flies Away In a 'UFO'
Filed under: Action, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
There seems to be a slow and steady drive towards remaking everything that ever appeared on British television. I suppose that's all right (they do have fantastic shows and made-for-television movies in the United Kingdom) but what happens on that dark day when Hollywood runs out of British productions? Yikes. Let's not think about that, and turn instead to the dark version of 1980 that's being remade for the modern viewer, as Variety reports that British favorite UFO is being re-imagined for the big screen. UFO will be helmed by Matthew Gratzner, and will star Joshua Jackson. The British premise for UFO was set in the near future (ten years in their case -- the show aired in 1970 and took place in 1980) where aliens had conquered Earth. Naturally, they didn't do so with altruistic means, but to use us as an organ harvesting ground. Humanity's future lay with SHADO, (Supreme Headquarters Aliens Defense Organization), a covert organization pretending to be a movie studio, who defend against the alien horde. Many have tried to remake UFO and failed, the last evolved into Space: 1999. (I can't find any reference as to V took any inspiration from it. The timing screams that it wasn't a coincidence.)
Jackson will play Paul Foster, a test pilot who joins SHADO. Foster is one of the original characters, and had an interesting little conflict after he became involved with the enemy. Since Gratzner praises his ability to show Foster's "inner conflict," the movie will undoubtedly take that and run with it. The movie is aiming to begin filming in the spring.
Michael Fassbender Goes From One Bronte To the Next
Filed under: Classics, Drama, Independent, Romance, Casting, Mystery & Suspense, Focus Features, Newsstand
The Brontes are all the rage for adaptation right now. It's undoubtedly due to Edward and Bella bestowing their favor on Wuthering Heights, and had they chosen Great Expectations, perhaps we'd see Dickens adaptations flinging themselves to the big screen. I love corsets and cravats, so I'm not going to complain, and I'm certainly not going to whine if Cary Fukunaga gets this cast for Jane Eyre. Variety is reporting that Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska are in talks to play Jane and Rochester for Fukunaga, and oh, how torrid it would be!This is actually the second time Fassbender has circled a Bronte adaptation. Last May, he was said to be in talks for Wuthering Heights, but Ed Westwick stepped into that particular waistcoat. It's a shame. I think Fassbender would have made an excellent Heathcliff, and may have been the first one to actually snarl, bang his head against a tree, and slap people convincingly. But he will make a very simmering Rochester, and is the only actor who could top Toby Stephens' wonderful turn in 2006.
Wasikowska is still a bit of a dark horse. She's becoming one of those much-discussed names, but most of us have yet to really meet her until Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland hits theaters. She's very pretty, but is just "ordinary" (if that doesn't sound too terrible) enough to fit the part of plain Jane, and as an Aussie, she'll be able to turn on an English accent better than Ellen Page. If this is the Jane Eyre that makes it to the screen, I'll be happy. Let the eerie screams, mysterious fires, and lingering looks commence.
Cinematical Seven: Movies That Start Fights
Filed under: Horror, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Cinematical Seven
I've been meaning to purchase and wear this t-shirt since I learned of its existence a couple of months ago, but I figured I'd better let the Twilight: New Moon hysteria die down first. It would appear, after all, that openly declaring one's hostility toward the Twilight franchise on one's person, even with a statement as unquestionably correct as "Vampires Don't Sparkle," is just asking for trouble. You do not want to mess with a gaggle of rabid Robert Pattinson fans.
I do not hate the Twilight franchise, actually, though I would like to suggest that the Twilighteers may live to regret sinking so much time and emotion into something so utterly banal. But I seem to be one of the few who occupy the middle ground. Twilight might be the most divisive love-it-or-hate-it phenomenon of the last few years. Not everyone adores Harry Potter, but most people have at least a grudging respect for it; Twilight has as many haters as fawning admirers.
You gotta admit that if you can use a movie to start an argument, it's at least good for something. Here are seven other movies that seem to disproportionately divide the moviegoing population into adoring fans and angry detractors.
1. Titanic - To get the obvious out of the way. It's amazing to me how often people make offhand derisive mentions of Titanic, as if its awfulness were well-established and self-evident. As with Twilight, of course, the surprisingly widespread disdain of this movie is a backlash against its army of obsessive partisans (and from a similar demographic to boot) -- the folks who showed up on local news shows in 1997 bragging about having seen it 16 times in the theater, etc. The fact that Titanic is a fantastic film -- and not really (or at least not only) for the reasons many of its fans think -- tends to get lost in the shuffle, sadly.
Jaycee Dugard's Horrific Story to Get a Sleazy Adaptation
Filed under: Horror, Independent
When Jaycee Lee Dugard was 11 she was abducted from a bus stop outside her home in South Lake Tahoe, California. The search to recover her was frantic but fruitless and it seemed like the little girl would be lost to her family forever. That is until a now 29-year-old Dugard was able to emerge from her captor and alert authorities as to the unbelievable life she had been forced to endure since her kidnapping. For 18 years she was held against her will by a psychotic husband and wife duo who repeatedly abused and raped her, which resulted in Dugard giving birth to two of her captor's children, the first of whom would have been born when the poor girl was 14 years old.It's a hell of a frightening story and now it's set to become the subject of a film called Abducted Girl, An American Sex Slave, only unlike most biographic pictures, the family of Jaycee Dugard desperately wishes it wouldn't exist. A representative for the family explained, "If and when Jaycee and her family think it is appropriate, their story will be told by them, in a forum of their choosing with the respect and thoughtfulness they so deserve. Anyone else speculating about the details of such a personal hurt, for financial gain, is exploitative, hurtful and breathtakingly unkind."
And if you have any doubt that the maker of Abducted Girl, Shane Ryan, has anything but exploitative ambitions, take a look at his no-budget, z-grade horror movie filmography: Amateur Porn Star Killer 1-4 (the latest of which was in 3D!), So, We Killed Our Parents, Warning!!! Pedophile Released and Sex Kids Party aka The More the Better. Which brings up a sad question: What if a person doesn't want their story told?
Sean Connery Ditches Retirement to Play ... a Skateboarding Veterinarian?
Filed under: Animation, Independent, Casting, Family Films, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand
Good actors never really retire, they just find new and easier ways to work. Sean Connery loudly proclaimed his intention to retire from the silver screen, but he's decided to make a bit of a return. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Connery will lend his voice to the CGI animated movie Sir Billi, an independent film created by husband-and-wife team Sascha and Tessa Hartmann. Connery is an executive producer on the project, and has been heavily involved with its production. The movie will have Connery playing "a retired, skateboarding veterinarian" who rescues an illegal fugitive who just happens to be a beaver. (I now wish this could cross over into The Beaver.) The Hartmanns have been working on the project for five years, and it's now set for a 2010 release.
The final touch is apparently a Shirley Bassey tune, and THR reports that she's signed up to record a song titled The Guardian of the Highlands for the film. Let me repeat that: Bassey singing a song called The Guardian of the Highlands. It's now my favorite song of all time, and I haven't even heard it.
So, if you've been lying awake wondering what Connery has been up to, now you know. He's been overseeing a charming Scottish cartoon, and lending his slurry brogue to a skateboarding veterinarian. But I don't this heralds a return to acting -- remember, Connery was able to literally phone in this performance and head back to the golf course, enjoying the fruits of retirement.
Interview: Carla Gugino
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Interviews
Carla Gugino has spent the better part of the last decade playing some of the most complicated and interesting female characters in Hollywood. After early roles in lighthearted fare like Son in Law, she played an appropriately combative counterpart for Michael J. Fox's deputy Mayor on Spin City before appearing in Wayne Wang's The Center of the World as a troubled seductress, Robert Rodriguez' Sin City as a tough-as-nails parole officer, Ridley Scott's American Gangster as Russell Crowe's exasperated ex-wife, and most recently in Zack Snyder's Watchmen as a sexpot superheroine with a pitch-black past. This month, she's acting in Sebastian Gutierrez' Women in Trouble, where she plays a porn star coming to terms with the news that she's pregnant.
Cinematical recently spoke to Gugino at the film's Los Angeles press day, where in between pointing out some of the bruises she earned while shooting Zack Snyder's Watchmen follow-up, Sucker Punch, she offered a few insights into her character in Women in Trouble.
Cinematical: What immediately jumped out to me about Elektra is that even though she's at her own crossroads in Women in Trouble, she seems to have the most certainty of the characters about who she is.
Indie Roundup: 'Cracks,' 'Harry Brown' Deals and Trailers
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Thrillers, Deals, IFC, Distribution, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
Indie Roundup: Your quick guide to what's new and upcoming in the independent film community.
Deals. Our friends at indieWIRE report that Cracks has been acquired by IFC Films, which plans to release it next year via its IFC in Theaters platform. The film is the feature directorial debut of Jordan Scott, daughter of Ridley Scott. Eva Green (The Dreamers, Casino Royale) stars as a teacher and diving coach in an Irish boarding school for orphaned girls; Juno Temple, Imogen Poots, and Maria Valverde also star. "The trials and tribulations, for both the students and their unorthodox teacher," writes Kurt Halfyard at Twitch, "gradually are brought to a boil that subverts many of the typical paths in either a coming of age story or a typical 'school-girl dormitory' tale."
Michael Caine stars as Harry Brown, a retired Marine who determines to clean up his neighborhood after his best friend is killed. Samuel Goldwyn Films picked up theatrical rights to the thriller; indieWIRE notes that the film opened in the UK last weekend, though the US release date has not yet been announced. Daniel Barber directed. UK site Pure Movies calls Harry Brown "a superior offering – albeit a gritty and bleak one."
On Demand / Online Viewing. Check out On Hallowed Ground, available exclusively this month on Babelgum. Andre Braugher narrates the documentary, which explores Rucker Park, a basketball court in Harlem where legendary future NBA players, and those who should have been famous, once played. Speaking of gritty players, if you're curious to catch up with Troy Duffy's The Boondock Saints, it'll finally be coming to video on demand in January.
After the jump: watch trailers for Cracks (absolutely gorgeous) and Harry Brown (dark and intense)!
Interview: Joseph Gordon-Levitt on 'Uncertainty', 'Inception' and His Favorite Movies
Filed under: Action, Drama, Independent, New Releases, New in Theaters, Interviews
Whether as a fast-talking high schooler in a film noir (Brick) or a disfigured soldier in a big budget blockbuster (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Joseph Gordon-Levitt has proven himself to be one of the most talented young actors. His new movie, Uncertainty, takes the viewer on a journey into two different worlds, where a flip of a coin takes a young couple (Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins) into an innocuous visit to her family and decisions about their future and another takes them into a strange criminal underworld where everyone is after a cell phone they found in a cab. Directed by David Siegel and Scott McGehee, Uncertainty was filmed on the fly with hand-held cameras in S16m and HD as the couple race towards their different futures. In this interview, we discuss the freedom of improvising within a structured world, his favorite movies, and what he can't say about G.I. Joe sequels or Christopher Nolan's Inception.
Cinematical: Can you discuss the beginning of the movie a bit? I was confused if it was symbolic or literal or what.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: What do you think was happening?
Cinematical: Well, I went back and I watched it again and wasn't sure.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: I don't want to be evasive or anything... You know, it's the kind of movie that's meant to stimulate a conversation or provoke your own creative thoughts about it, so I hesitate to say, "Well, what it means is blah blah blah." First of all, because it means something different to everybody. And second of all, I would never want anybody to say, "Well, I read an interview where the actor said that it means blah blah blah, so it means that and it doesn't mean anything else. 'Cause to me that's the beauty of movies, is that it can mean really whatever you want. The act of watching a movie, I think, is a creative act; it's not just input. All of us, as audience members, we're telling the story the way that we see it.
Kristen Stewart Goes Southern in 'The Yellow Handkerchief'
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
She's about to open the second-biggest film of her career, so what better timing than now to point you to a new peek at Kristen Stewart's next non-Twilight film? Check out the new trailer for The Yellow Handkerchief, a Sundance entry that follows three strangers in post-Katrina Louisiana – Martine (Stewart), Gordy (Eddie Redmayne), and Brett (William Hurt) -- as they search together for life, love, and the perfect Southern accent.
Ok, so it seems the Southern slangin' is done primarily by Stewart, while Brit Redmayne goes American and Hurt rocks the ex-con handlebar mustache. As they embark on a road trip together, the two teens listen to Brett's tale of the woman who got away (Maria Bello) while they navigate the murky waters of young love. (Read Erik Davis's Sundance review here.)
Watch the trailer after the jump.
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 11/24_thumbnail.jpg)
Exclusive 'Nine' Poster Premiere!
Exclusive: Title Track for 'The Road' Soundtrack
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