Gareth Evans' Indonesian action film The Raid has been blowing minds on the festival circuit, and (rejoice!) it's getting an American release on March 23rd, 2012. You can find Venkman's review here, and check out our video review below. (Apologies for the horrible framing, which cuts off my head.)
Doug Liman has directed a number of different films during his career - including Swingers, The Bourne Identity, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He has worked with a bunch of great actors, but he has never worked with Tom Cruise - until now. Liman's next film is an adaptation of the comic All You Need is Kill. The director recently spoke with Collider (via CBM) about the film.
He had incredibly high praise for Mission: Impossible 4 director Brad Bird and the skyscraper scene. He tells Collider's Adam Chitwood,
'If you look at Mission: Impossible 4, it’s very hard to do vertigo, and they really did a brilliant job on that movie, when he’s on the side of that building. I’ve done sides of buildings, in The Bourne Identity and in Covert Affairs, and I’ve never elicited the emotional response that Brad [Bird] and Tom [Cruise] got in M:I4.'
The rest of the conversation had to deal with Tom Cruise's All You Need Is Kill. A science fiction film based on a Japanese graphic novel. The story involves a soldier reliving his last day as he battles aliens. He continues to die and then comes back to life. He must use the knowledge from his past failures to defeat the aliens. The moviehas been called the science fiction version of Groundhog Day.
Do you know what film you’ll be doing next?
DOUG LIMAN: I’m hoping it’s going to be a film called All You Need is Kill, for Warner Bros. with Tom Cruise. It’s just figuring out everyone’s schedules, and if we can, in fact, do it next.
What drew you to that subject matter? Is it the fact that it’s so unlike anything you’ve done before?
LIMAN: Well, nothing I’ve done is like anything else I’ve done before, so that is one of my criteria. But, I just fell in love with the script. There is no other formula for me, in this business. If I’m not in love with the script, there’s nothing. It doesn’t matter what you give me. It has to start with the script. And, Dante Harper wrote a really cool script that’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. When you can come across a piece of material that’s totally original and fun and completely satisfying, you jump on it.
It’s the same emotions that drew me into I Just Want My Pants Back. It sounds crazy because one’s 20-somethings in Brooklyn, and the other is Tom Cruise battling aliens, but the decision for me comes down to, “Is the material fresh, original, fun, smart, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and satisfying?” Usually those things work in opposition to each other. If you do something that’s really original, you discover why everybody else does it the other way, usually. There’s a reason cliches exist, ‘cause they work.
Early in my career, I started just doing things my own way, and it worked, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t dark moments on pretty much every one of my movies, where I said to myself, “Oh, my god, what have I done?” There’s a reason why there was a particular rule that everybody else was following, that I just ignored. Sometimes rules are there to save your life. And then, I would just work through it.
Is it harder to find original material like that, that really gets you excited?
LIMAN: It’s not that it’s harder. It’s always been hard. It’s not because the material is not out there, as much as it is, on the film side, that the business changed. It’s very hard for a studio to take a chance on a piece of original material. They used to have the fall-back of DVD sales. They had ways in which they could safely make an investment in a piece of original material, and those opportunities aren’t necessarily there anymore.
Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Roth all star in this Sundance drama Arbitrage, which follows a hedge fund billionaire named Robert Miller (Gere) at a moment when he has to face the realities of his life. The main character is in the process of selling his business and is committing fraud to do it. At the same time, he is dealing with some major issues with his family and mistress. This sets in motion a series of moral challenges that he must face and takes the audience on a journey with how he deals with them and covers them up. Sarandon plays Gere's wife, and Roth plays a detective investigating him.
I thought this was solidly good film, but at the same time I found it frustrating. The story deals with some major moral issues, I won't mention anything else other than the financial crimes, because I don't want to spoil things for you in case you end up seeing it. Robert does everything he can in his power to get away with what he's done, and it bothered the hell out of me that because he is rich and powerful he doesn't feel that he has to take any responsibly. The best way I can describe it is as a scandalous anti-morality tale.
The film was written and directed by first time filmmaker Nicholas Jarecki, and for a first time feature film he did a pretty good job. Gere, Sarandon, and Roth all gave solidly great performances, and while there were a couple thrilling moments in the film, it's a film that not everyone will like. I think it's worth renting, but I wouldn't go out of my way to pay any money to see it in theaters. I honestly don't think this one will do very well in theaters.
Here's the Synopsis:
Nicholas Jarecki makes an auspicious directorial debut with this taut and alluring suspense thriller about love, loyalty, and high finance. Arbitrage—buying low and selling high—depends on a person’s ability to determine the true value of any given market. It’s a talent that has made billionaire hedge fund magnate Robert Miller the very portrait of success in American business. But on the eve of his sixtieth birthday, Miller finds himself desperately trying to sell his trading empire to a major bank before the extent of his fraud is discovered. When an unexpected bloody error challenges his perception of what things are worth, Miller finds that his business is not the only thing hanging in the balance.
Building on the chemistry and charisma of an outstanding cast, including Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling, Tim Roth, and Nate Parker, Jarecki leads us through the slick and duplicitous limits of impunity and composes an anatomy of the way asset bubbles can burst.
Check out this hilarious parody of The Dark Knight Rises done in Lego. If you are having trouble understanding Bane's voice, don't worry; you are not alone. This is not one of the best LEGO videos I have seen, but it is definitely worth checking out if you are looking forward to seeing the movie.
Check out this cool video thanks to our friends at CBM:
Jonathan Kasdan's sophomore film The First Time is an enchanting story of young love aimed squarely at millenials, but its comical dialogue and cheerful tone give it much broader appeal. Similar to last year's Like Crazy, this movie can conjure desire for first love among younger crowds and nostalgia for it in older audiences.
Dave (Dylan O'Brien) is a senior in high school hung up on Jane (Victoria Justice), the girl he's been crushing on for years. Outside the type of lavish, extravagant party that only appear in high school sex comedies, Dave meets Aubrey (Britt Robertson), a junior from another school who catches him rehearsing an embarassing speech as he's about to profess his love for Jane. In the film's long opening scene, the two strike up a conversation that lays the groundwork for their entire relationship, building up to a "will they, won't they" surrounding their first times having sex.
The movie is undoubtedly a teen sex comedy, and in the wave of post-Superbad films that fill the genre, it can be tough to separate one film from others in the pack. The First Time stands out thanks to excellent performances from its leads, Britt Robertson and Dylan O'Brien. Robertson is magnetic, a beautiful actress who imbues her character with a sense of realism that makes her all the more likeable. Manic Pixie Dream Girl she is not; she feels like someone you knew in high school. This is star-making work from her, and though she's been around in the TV world for a few years, with a performance as compelling as this one I can't imagine a successful film career being too far away. O'Brien is also enjoyable, playing a guy who has seen too many romantic movies and who believes all of the lovey dovey stuff that goes along with them.
Secondary characters, including Craig Robertson (who was excellent in last year's Submarine), fill out the standard best friend roles, and there's even the Wise Younger Sister character so often found in this genre to help Dave get the girl. But instead of being in junior high or something, the sister is only five or six years old - comically young to fit the archetype. Writer/director Kasdan has seen enough of these types of films to be aware of the cliche, so he adds a little variation in there to switch things up for the audience. There are long scenes of nothing but dialogue, but the characters have so much charisma that it's easy to forgive any moments that still feel rote.
I think The First Time will be for this generation what Can't Hardly Wait was to mine: a plausible examination of growing up through a series of parties, emotions, confessions, and infatuation. It's a harmless film with legitimately adorable moments, and ultimately The First Time was just as alluring to me as the main characters were to each other.
When a horror movie that costs very little to film has a strong box office performance, it will usually have a sequel greenlit. That is even the case for films like The Last Exorcism - which despite the name has a sequel on the way. Deadline reports that the sequel will not be directed by Daniel Stamm, the first films director. Instead, Ed Gass-Donnelly (Small Town Murder Songs) is set to direct based on a script by Damien Chazelle. Ashley Bell is set to reprise her role as Nell, but there is no word on other cast members returning.
Details are being kept under wraps, but the film will pick up three months after The Last Exorcism. Producers Eli Roth, Eric Newman, Marc Abraham, and Tom Bliss are currently deciding on a title, which will not be The Last Exorcism 2. The pic is being financed by Studiocanal, and it will reportedly be a "much bigger scale movie [that] will unravel a profoundly scarier chapter to Nell’s battle between good and evil. God have mercy."
Thanks to our friends at AddictedMovie, we have a cool fan-made poster for Resident Evil: Retribution. There is something to be said for hot women kicking ass, as can be seen by the success of Underworld: Awakening at this weekend's box office. Check out the poster above and share your thoughts!
Here is the synopsis:
The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human races last and only hope, Alice, awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, the film stars Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Johann Urb, Michelle Rodriguez, and Kevin Durand which arrives in theaters on September 14, 2012.
I heard a lot of negative buzz about Lay The Favorite before I saw it, and thanks to lowered expactations, I didn't think it was as terrible as everyone claimed. I don't see the point of the film, or why acclaimed director Steven Frears decided to direct it, but I found the movie to be a pretty straightforward dramedy that didn't disappoint or excite. It's just sort of...there.
For one of the most star-studded films of Sundance 2012, I'm surprised at how tepid the final product is. Bruce Willis looked like he was really having fun with his character, a rare feat for the usually stoic actor. But Rebecca Hall, an actress I believe has the potential to reach superstar status, doesn't do herself any favors in this one: she adopts a strange high-pitched voice and the air of a teenage ditz that belies her character's amazing talent with numbers. It's a strange choice on Hall's part - one, I'm guessing, that stems from the real life woman she's portraying. (Since it's based on a true story, perhaps that gimmick alone attracted all of this talent to the project.) I also didn't care much for her character, a flighty flip-flopping woman who can't be bothered to make up her mind about much of anything. She's the main character of the film, and we're supposed to be on a journey with her, but her constant wavering makes it hard to pull for her success, since we can only assume it will be short-lived (if it happens at all).
Vince Vaughn, Joshua Jackson, Laura Prepon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Frank Grillo round out the cast, but no one is particularly memorable. This seems to be too dull a story for the quality of people involved with the production, almost as if they were all doing someone a favor by participating. There's a lot of standard stuff here in terms of the Vegas setting (the obligatory montage driving down the strip), exposition on how to gamble, extracting money from people who won't pay up, etc. Stylistically, there's not much that Frears brings to the table. It's really straightforward, with no noticable flair at all.
Lay The Favorite is the type of movie you'll see on IFC a few years from now, and it's worth seeing if you're looking to watch some interesting performances while killing some time.
Official Synopsis:
Beth Raymer is a beautiful girl with a big heart who leaves her dancing job at a Florida strip club to become a Las Vegas cocktail waitress. Not exactly an ideal career choice, but her borderline-ditzy personality doesn’t give her many options. In walks Dink, a professional sports bettor who sees through her bubbly exterior and offers her a job placing wagers all over town to gain an advantage over the casinos. Her surprisingly impeccable mind for numbers soon cements her status as Dink’s good-luck charm, until his gorgeous-but-frigid wife, Tulip, starts to get jealous. Faced with no other choice but to fire Beth, Dink’s luck runs out when she heads to New York to work for a smarmy bookie, a turn of events that lands her squarely on the wrong side of the law.
Acclaimed director Stephen Frears first wowed Sundance Film Festival audiences in 1985 with his sardonic thriller The Hit, and returned in 1991 with The Grifters, which garnered several Oscar nominations. With LAY THE FAVORITE, Frears nimbly displays his penchant for interweaving comedy and drama to create a thoroughly satisfying tale of improbable friendship found in the unlikeliest of places. - A.M.
Empire Magazine has released a collection of magazine covers featuring the main characters from the Joss Whedon-directed Marvel film, The Avengers. The magazine hit shelves on January 26th and features an in-depth set report.
There's a heavy excitement building for this movie, and I have no doubt that it's going to deliver on all levels of awesomeness.
The film picks up when an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security. And Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. The ensemble cast includes Chris Evans (Steve Rogers), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), Chris Hemsworth (Thor Odinson), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff), Clark Gregg (Agt. Phil Coulson), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), with Tom Hiddleston (Loki Laufeyson), and Stellan Skarsgard (Professor Erik Selvig), the film releases worldwide May 4th, 2012!
As if we haven't raved enough about Gareth Evans' The Raid, I had a chance to sit down with the man himself to talk about the making of the film. Excuse the setting: the publicist bumped us from a normal interview spot to a random couch, and there are random people wandering around and talking in the background. Still, Evans talks about some cool stuff, especially in regards to the American remake and the upcoming sequel to The Raid.
Here's a great little collection of beautiful DC comics character art created by artist Juan Doe. The characters include Batman, Superman, Scarecrow and Nighwing. I thought this was a fun series of geek art that you might enjoy. Check out the art here and tell us what you think!
Here's funny parody mashup trailer that takes the audio from the trailer of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and edits it together with the visual of a terrible-looking 1985 Russian TV adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel. Enjoy!
I decided to go a little old school today for our Geek Art and give you an awesome image created by Frank Frazetta called A Warlord of Mars. This was created for the Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi book series. I love Frazetta's work.
Check out this cool Lego Star Wars chess set. In the past we've shared a cool Empire Strikes Back Lego set, but I like this better. Check it out thanks to UniqueDaily and share your thoughts!
Earlier today we shared Empire's new magazine cover and photos from Marvel's The Avengers. Now we have some cool quotes from Kevin Feige, where he talks about the mysterious enemy that the Avengers will be facing thanks to Comingsoon.
"Who said they were aliens?" he teases. Beings from the Nine Realms, then, ventures Empire? "Closer...It's not Skrulls, I've been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we're not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that."
"Was Skull vaporised at the end of the movie, or thrust into another realm?" asks Feige. "That remains to be seen. It would be fun to see Skull in future, but he's not in this one." Whedon though is a little more circumspect when Empire confronts him. "I do have a comment on that," he says, before pulling a move worthy of Loki himself. "It's...oh, you're breaking up!"
Jon Bernthal may reunite with his The Walking Dead executive producer, Frank Darabont. Variety reports that Bernthal is in early talks with TNT to star in its period drama pilot L.A. Noir, which is being shepherded by Darabont.
The talks are still in very early stages. Bernthal would play "Joe Teague, the Los Angeles cop at the center of the show that examines corruption in the LAPD and ties between police and underworld figures in the 1940s and '50s." Noir was picked up earlier this month by TNT. The show is based on the book by John Buntin. Darabont wrote the script and will helm the show for TNT Original Productions.
I love Bernthal on The Walking Dead and hope that this does not mean he would be leaving that show. He has been busy during the shows down time. He just wrapped Summit Entertainment's action-thriller Snitch, opposite Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon.
What are your thoughts on this news?
Here are two new images from Gary Ross' adaptation of The Hunger Games. The images feature Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) during the selection process and all dressed up for the interviews. I am pretty sure these are new, if not, please do not get upset. There is nothing wrong with looking at photos over and over again for this awesome looking movie. Lawrence looks great as Katniss.
The film also stars Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth,Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Wes Bentley, Toby Jones, Amandla Stenberg, Alexander Ludwig, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jacqueline Emerson, Paula Malcomson, Dayo Okeniyi, Jack Quaid, Leven Rambin, Willow Shields, and Lenny Kravitz.
Here's the Synopsis:
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which "Tributes" must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she's ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson'sColor Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel, the first in a trilogy published by Scholastic that has over 16 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.
The movie is set to be released on March 23rd, 2012. Check out the other image below and share your thoughts:
A new image of Henry Cavill as Superman from the set of Man of Steel has arrived thanks to DCU Movie Page (via Latino Review). The image shows Cavill in costume posing with a young fan. I actually like what I see of the costume so far, and think that the final product after post-production will look great.
In other Man of Steel news, 13-year-old Jadin Gould (Chuck, The Mentalist, Battle Los Angels) will play a young Lana Lang in a flashback scene to Clark Kent's Smallville childhood, accordiing to Comingsoon and Superman Super Site.
Lang first appeared in "1950's Superboy #50, Lana is the teenage girlfriend of young Clark. She was a central character in the television series, Smallville (played by Kristin Kreuk) and was seen as a teenager in 1978's Superman: The Movie (played by Diane Sherry) and later as an adult, re-entering Clark's life in Superman III (Played by Annette O'Toole, who would later play Martha Kent on Smallville)."
Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) is directing based on David S. Goyer's script. The film also stars Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Lawrence Fishburne, and Christpher Meloni. Are you excited to see Man of Steel when it arrives in theaters June 14, 2013?
What do you think of this new image and this casting news?
"Writing for children is the biggest challenge of all, and I think CBBC (which will air the show in the U.K.) stands right at the heart of broadcasting. We're joining genres -- the show's a wild, funny, thrilling and sometimes scary collision of magic and science fiction."
Following the debut of HappyThankYouMorePlease in 2010, Josh Radnor returns to Sundance with his second directorial feature, Liberal Arts. Written by, directed by, and starring the How I Met Your Mother actor, the film co-stars Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins, Zac Efron, and Allison Janney. I liked the movie quite a bit; it's one of the few true crowd pleasers I've seen at the festival so far. Since it has already secured distribution, it will probably receive some sort of release (either limited or on VOD) sometime later this year.
The story centers on Jesse Fisher (Radnor), a 35-year-old who works in the admissions department of a New York university. When he returns to Ohio to speak at his former professor's (Jenkins) retirement, he meets Zibby (Olsen), a 19-year-old sophomore with whom he feels a geniuine connection. They find common ground in a love of classical music, and though Jesse heads back to New York, they continue their relationship through a series of hand-written letters. I know, I know - it all sounds so cloying and impossibly cute. And it is, but a solid script makes up for all of the cheesy montages and sometimes cliched stylistic choices. In other words, it's very much an independent film, but it's a good one.
Jesse loves being back at his alma mater, and spends time wandering through campus and soaking up the atmosphere. The film was shot at Kenyon College, Radnor's real life alma mater, and the director's affection for the location comes across in the movie. On one of his random forays across the quad, he meets Nat, a carefree hippie played by Zac Efron who encourages Jesse with all kinds of Bohemian sentiments ("be love, man!"). Efron totally steals the movie, adding a much needed comedic interlude to some of the more heady discussions you may assume would be in a film with this title. Also tossed into the mix is Dean (John Magaro), another student at the college that had a manic attack the year before and provides a point of dramatic conflict for Jesse, who takes a liking to the kid because they like the same author. It's a nice subplot handled well, given just enough time to feel like a fleshed out story that never dominates the main plotline.
Truth be told, though, this film belongs to Radnor and Olsen, both giving aggressively good performances and further cementing Olsen's status as a star on the rise. I've heard the film being compared to the works of Woody Allen, and while I think that may be a bit hyperbolic, Radnor unquestionably has a lot of talent as a writer, actor, and director. Liberal Arts is another in a long list of good films I've seen at the festival this year, but I'm still waiting to truly be blown away by a dramatic movie here. Stay tuned for more coverage as the week continues.
