While I'm still not convinced that North American audiences are ready for the strange genius that is Steve Coogan, at least they will get the chance to have a little taste. The first poster for Andy Fleming's comedy Hamlet 2 has arrived in our inbox (see to the right, and click to enlarge). So in case anyone was confused, the poster (and R-rated trailer) makes it clear that this movie is going to be packed to the brim with poop jokes.
Coogan stars as a hapless drama teacher in danger of losing his job. In an attempt to drum up some interest in his drama class, he writes the sequel to Hamlet. Now, as any good English student knows, everyone dies at the end of Hamlet (oops, 400-year- old spoiler alert), so where can you go from there? It turns out you make a politically incorrect musical with numbers like Rock Me, Sexy Jesus.
New movies often bring anxious fidgeting and the buzz of excitement. But a new movie by Charlie Kaufman, one that he not only wrote, but helmed, brings the anxious, hopeful mania of a kid about to see Mickey Mouse. At least, it does for me. I like Human Nature, but I love Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Now we're getting his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York, a film that seems like it should be set in Schenectady rather than the Big Apple, and have huge replicas of Proctors and Rotterdam Square Mall rather than Manhattan skyscrapers, but will probably be awesome anyway. Almost a year after we saw the first poster, Anne Thompson has posted what looks to be the first image of Catherine Keener and Philip Seymour Hoffman, which you can see cropped on the right. It doesn't show much, and isn't nearly as fun as this puppy, which shot up on Slashfilm earlier this year, but it just makes this whole film all the more real.
No matter what casting announcements or vague posters pop up, there is nothing like seeing that this is actually a real film that will get to us soon, with all of its magnifying glass glory. If only I could get to Cannes to see it! Obviously, I'm a big fan, but how about you? Are you as anxious as I am for Mr. Kaufman's directorial debut?
We are all well aware that David O. Russell doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to working with actors. We've heard the stories about near fist-fights on the set of Three Kings, and everyone has seen the meltdown duringI Heart Huckabees. The latest casualty of Russell's people skills is celebrated actor James Caan, who has officially quit Russell's political comedy, Nailed.
What caused the irreconcilable rift, you might ask? It was all over a cookie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the final straw for Caan was during a scene in which his character is supposed to be choking on a cookie. Russell instructed Caan to cough and choke at the same time during the scene, which Caan thought was impossible for a human being to do both. The two couldn't come to an agreement and Caan left the set never to return. The film's producer got to work on the damage control and was quoted as saying the disagreement was "part of an ongoing creative conversation between the actor and director", and that Russell had been nothing but professional throughout the shoot.
Written by Holofcener, the film focuses on a New York couple (Keener and Platt) who own the next-door apartment, which is occupied by a "cantankerous, elderly woman." The pair want to reclaim the apartment, so they're anxiously waiting for the woman to die so they can grab it back. It's not the most charming plan, but certainly understandable in a morbid way. But then their impatience is complicated by the presence of the woman's two granddaughters, who the couple befriend (Peet and Hall) -- it's not so easy to itch for death when the whole scenario becomes more real.
The film is scheduled to begin production in mid-May, with plans to wrap before that looming, potential SAG strike. In the meantime, a number of roles still need to be cast -- namely the grandmother who won't die, and the couple's daughter.
The plot follows a naive waitress, Alice, who is shot in the head with a nail. The injury causes her behavior to be erratic and outrageous (the IMDb says it causes her to become a sexually adventurous bombshell), and she heads to Washington to campaign on behalf of better health care for the freakishly injured. She ends up falling for a young and clueless new congressman, who must summon up his political courage to save her. Biel plays the waitress, Gyllenhaal the congressman. Keener will be playing a self-serving congresswoman, and Marsden the small-town boyfriend of Alice. Hopefully he's not the one who shot her with a nail. Morgan's character has yet to be decided.
Like I said, there is probably something I am not seeing. The script is penned by Russell and Kristen Gore, so the charm must lie there. But is the waitress' naivete the reason she was shot in the head? Or is she naive because she thinks her insurance will cover the cost of her injury? And must James Marsden lose a girl not only to Wolverine, to Superman and to Patrick Dempsey, but to Congressman Jake Gyllenhaal too?
To be fair, I'm willing to give Mr. Russell a fair shot after the surprisingly unique Three Kings -- although people still keep dissuading me from seeing I Heart Huckabees.
So before anyone gets too excited, we should probably all take a step back and consider whether we should be really taking the word of Mike Tyson. The scandal plagued boxer recently told the sports paper Review-Journal that "Me and Jamie Foxx are going to do a collaboration. He's going to play me in my life story. We've talked about it many times." Tyson was giving a pep-talk to troubled youngsters in Las Vegas. Not to be sarcastic, but it must have been a community service deal, since Tyson isn't necessarily the best role model for staying out of trouble.
Jamie Foxx is rapidly becoming the go-to guy for real-life flicks. Foxx made a name for himself when he starred in the life story of famed gang leader (and peacemaker), Stan 'Tookie' Williams. Then, of course, was his Oscar-winning performance in Ray. Next up is another musical biopic, The Soloist with Catherine Keener, and then he has signed to play Earl Sanders in the real- life crime drama, The Zebra Murders.
One thing is for sure, there has been no shortage of drama in the life of the famed heavy weight, so there is plenty of material to work with. There have been accusations of spousal abuse, drug charges, assault charges, rape convictions, prison time, bankruptcy, and a conversion to Islam. Not to mention that whole ear-biting thing. So far there has been no word from Foxx about the project so only time will tell if this movie is anything more than wishful thinking on the part of Tyson. The only question is can Tyson handle airing his dirty laundry on the big screen?
For some horrible reason Josh Brolin continues to be left out of the awards season party this year, despite his terrific performances in No Country for Old Men, American Gangster and In the Valley of Elah (he was also in Planet Terror, the Robert Rodriguez half of Grindhouse). All I can say is that I hope he continues to be offered great roles and never has to go back to being in movies like Hollow Man and Into the Blue. Meanwhile, his No Country co-stars Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones have been nominated for Screen Actors Guild awards for their supporting roles. Bardem's presence in the category is not surprising -- he's the front-runner for the supporting Oscar, isn't he? -- but it's great to Jones here, since he's been ignored by the Golden Globes, the Golden Satellites and pretty much everything else.
Another surprise with the SAG nominees is Ryan Gosling as best actor for Lars and the Real Girl, beating possible contenders Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington, Phillip Seymour Hoffman (also missing from the supporting category) and Tom Hanks. Also, there's sweet little old Ruby Dee in the supporting actress race for having the cutest reaction to being given a mansion (and for later putting Denzel in his place) in American Gangster. She goes up against the usual 2007 supporting actress contenders Cate Blanchett, Amy Ryan and Tilda Swinton, as well as somewhat surprising addition Catherine Keener, who helped to make Into the Wildthe top receiver of nominations with four -- others include Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook and ensemble cast. Other ensemble casts nominated include those of Hairspray(no single acting noms), 3:10 to Yuma(no single acting noms), No Country for Old Men, and American Gangster. Very, very, very surprisingly left out of this category is Juno (Ellen Page is nominated for best actress, however).
This year the SAG Awards are introducing two new categories. They are both for best stunt ensemble, one for film and one for television. The film category features nominees The Bourne Identity, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, I Am Legend, 300 and The Kingdom. The rest of the motion picture nominees and categories can be found after the jump or over on Moviefone.
Nicole Holofcener has made a name for herself with female fare. She's helmed the likes of popular television from Sex and the City to the Gilmore Girls, and she's found success in the realm of independent film -- from her first feature, Walking and Talking, through Lovely & Amazing, and finally Friends with Money. Each step of the way, Catherine Keener has been there, and this time around is no different. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Holofcener had signed to write and direct a new film, and now Keener is in final negotiations to star. (As if there's any possibility she wouldn't.)
The still-untitled project focuses on women who live in the same apartment building, "including a woman (Keener) who lives next door to a cantankerous, elderly woman. It explores the interactions between Keener's character, who owns the woman's apartment, the woman, and her two granddaughters, in what's described as an examination of 'life, death, and real estate.'" Well, I imagine that describes what happens to at least one of them. The script was completed before the strike, and the project was set to film in early 2008, before a potential actors strike. Now it seems that Likely Story, who is producing the film, is deciding whether they should make the film first, or get studio backing before completing it. Luckily, although Keener has a ton of films coming our way, only Hamlet 2 and The Soloist haven't hit post-production yet.
You've got to be familiar with Rachael Harris. Or, at least recognize her. If not, I demand that you go out and introduce yourself to one of the best comic filmmakers we have in this world -- Christopher Guest. She's popped up in a number of his films, starting off as "Winky's Party Guest" in Best of Show, and most recently playing Mary Pat Hooligan in For Your Consideration. On the more mainstream and less-awesome side of things, you might have seen her in License to Wed or Evan Almighty. All of the above is comedy, but The Hollywood Reporter posts that the actress is about to get musically serious for the upcoming drama The Soloist.
The film will focus on the story of Nathaniel Ayers -- a schizophrenic homeless man in LA who once went to Juilliard. An LA Times columnist, Steve Lopez, befriended the man and brought his story to the public. Word on the production first came out in August, noting that Jamie Foxx was starring, and Atonement helmer Joe Wright had the directorial chair, from a script by Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich). Later that month, Robert Downey Jr. grabbed the role of Lopez. Catherine Keener was next to board, jumping into the role of Lopez's wife, and now Harris has signed on to play another Los Angeles Times employee. Production will kick into gear next month, and after that, the waves of awards buzz.
It's probably hard enough adapt a book into a screenplay, especially if your source material only runs about 15 pages long. New York Magazinereports that they have managed to get hold of a copy of the screenplay for Where the Wild Things Are by Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze. Now for the good news: according to them, it is pretty darned good (that's if it's still the same version written back in '05). NY's Culture Vulture blog posts, "Where the Wild Things Are is filled with richly imagined psychological detail, and the screenplay for this live-action film simply becomes a longer and more moving version of what Maurice Sendak's book has always been at heart: a book about a lonely boy leaving the emotional terrain of boyhood behind".
If you have never read Wild Things, my first question would be -- did you even have a childhood? But I realize there are probably at least a few of you out there who, for one reason or another, never picked it up. Where the Wild Things Are centers on "Max, who one evening plays around his home, 'making mischief' in a wolf costume (chasing the dog with a fork, etc.). As punishment, his mother sends him to bed without supper. In his room, a mysterious, wild forest grows out of his imagination and Max journeys to the land of the Wild Things"
According to NY Magazine, the flick now makes Max an "8-year-old with an absent father, an older sister who's drifting away from him, a mother whose personal and job concerns leave her little time or energy for the rambunctious boy she dearly loves". Even though Culture Vulture didn't offer up many details, I've read enough Dave Eggers to know that no one can pluck the 'familial heartstrings' like he can, so I would be inclined to get behind their enthusiasm. Combine Eggers writing with Jonze's style and the odds seem pretty good that this could be the family film to beat in 2008.
Alas, poor Yorick! Because when it comes to Hollywood, nothing is sacred. Varietyreports that Eric Eisner (son of Hollywood heavyweight Michael Eisner) has struck a deal to produce Hamlet 2 under his shingle, L+E Productions. The film stars Steve Coogan (aka Alan Partridge) and Catherine Keener. The teen comedy (yes, it's a teen comedy) will focus on a struggling drama teacher who decides to write the ultimate in sequels, Hamlet 2, to save his drama department. Andy Fleming co-wrote the film with Team America: World Police scribe Pam Brady, and is also set to direct. Fleming also directed the Nancy Drew update with Emma Roberts earlier this year, and was responsible for 1996's The Craft, so he has plenty of experience when it comes to teen flicks.
This wouldn't be the first time that Shakespeare has been appropriated for "mall rats" -- and some attempts have been more successful than others. If you've seen Coogan in Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, you know how funny he can make literary adaptations, so you never know, the film might actually have a chance. Coogan has been receiving some bad press from some unlikely places lately, which could damage his chances of breaking out in the U.S. He might be a household name in England, but most North Americans probably couldn't pick him out of a lineup. Next up for Coogan is the comedy biopic of England's first ski jumper, Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, and then it's on to the Challenger disaster drama Safety Glass for Pop-up Video writer Jonathan Glatzer. Hamlet 2 is set to begin shooting on Sept. 17 in New Mexico.
One of the most polarizing films playing at Telluride this year was Into the Wild. Directed and written by Sean Penn off the book of the same name by Jon Krakauer, the film follows the coming-of-age journey of Christopher McCandless, who "dropped out" shortly after graduating with honors from Emory College and walked off into the wilderness. After giving his $24,000 college fund to charity, and burning his drivers license, social security card and credit cards, McCandless set out on a spiritual quest to rebirth himself outside the context of materialism and societal definitions of "success." It's an admirable enough cause for a young person, especially in this age when there's so much focus on the materialistic success and what that means, and there's certainly a deeper philosophical question at the heart of McCandless' journey, but the choices McCandless makes along his journey will make the audience question his motives.
What is success, really, and what is happiness, and can you have one without the other? McCandless and his sister Carine, at least as the film tells their story, grew up with all the accoutrements of what upper middle class society would deem necessary for a happy, fulfilled life: a nice house to live in, parents who dress nice and drive fancy cars, a college fund to pay for school, his own car (a crappy Datsun he bought and paid for himself), enough food to eat, nice clothes to wear. He also, according to the story and the voiceover narration by Carine (Jena Malone), had parents who lied about their relationship (they met when his dad was still married to another woman, with whom he had a son -- something Chris found out about when he was older but never told his parents he knew), fought constantly and violently, and frequently put their children at the center of their battlles and constant threats of divorce.
It's funny, until I had stumbled across the trailer for the big-screen version of John Krakauer's Into The Wild, I had no idea the movie even existed. Ain't it Cool News is now posting some early test screening reviews of Sean Penn's latest directorial effort. Penn also adapted the screenplay from Krakauer's non-fiction bestseller about the life of Christopher McCandless; a young man with a desire to leave behind civilization to live in the wilds of Alaska. Reviews of the film popped up on AICN after some test screenings that took place over the weekend, and if you're not familiar with Krakauer's book, then don't worry, the reviews are relatively spoiler-free. If you go by AICN's sources, the word on the film isn't great, but there is also some good news to report -- mainly surrounding Penn's abilities behind the camera.
The film stars Emile Hirsch as Christopher McCandless, with William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as his parents. Rounding out the cast is Catherine Keener and Vince Vaughn as some of the characters McCandless meets on the road. While I'm a big fan of Krakauer's books, Wild would definitely not be an easy one to adapt into a feature film. Especially since the story of what happens to McCandless during his travels is pieced together from diaries and interviews with family and friends. Wild is part of Paramount Vantage's slate of high profile movies set for the Fall, along with the Coen Brothers', No Country For Old Men and P.T. Anderson's, There Will be Blood; Into theWild will hit theaters September 21.
Hope Davis has had a pretty remarkably consistent career considering the amount of work she's done, giving understated performances in a variety of great films. I loved her in two recent little-seen gems: The Matador and The Weather Man, and especially in American Splendor and About Schmidt -- which is one of my favorite films. She's got two movies due out this year: John August'sThe Nines, which I told you a bit about here, and Charlie Bartlett, a comedy with Robert Downey, Jr, due out August 3rd. Today brings more word on two upcoming projects for Davis. First, she has joined Synecdoche, New York, screenwriter extraordinaire Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut. Philip Seymour Hoffman will star and Davis joins an excellent (and very pale!) female supporting cast that includes Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, and Tilda Swinton. Hoffman will play "a theater director in crisis over work and the women in his life," Davis will play his therapist. Synecdoche begins shooting this month.
After that project wraps, Davis will move on to Genova, a new film from Michael Winterbottom, director of the great Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story and 24 Hour Party People. Winterbottom also directed Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart, out this summer -- check out James' Cannes review of that film here. Monika told you about Davis' addition to the Genova cast last week. That film is a ghost story said to have mystery and horror elements. It tells the story of "a British man who moves with his two American daughters to Italy as he tries to recover from his wife's death." Davis will star alongside Colin Firth, Willa Holland of The OC and Perla Haney-Jardine of Spider-Man 3. Catherine Keener is in that one as well -- maybe she and Davis can share a cab from New York to Italy after the Kaufman film wraps.
I have to say that I love Michael Winterbottom's range. It's not every man who Welcome to Sarajevo, The Claim, 24 Hour Party People, A Cock and Bull Story, 9 Songs and A Mighty Heart on their resume. Not to mention the fact that he's trucking along with the movie making. He's got the upcoming Angelina Jolie flick, A Mighty Heart, on the way, as well as another true-story, overseas production, Murder in Samarkand, in the works. But in between the political turmoil, Winterbottom is looking into a ghostly story named Genova, as Christopher Campbell alerted us about in November.
The film is about a man who loses his wife and moves to Italy with his teen daughters, while suffering from haunting ghosts of his past. Colin Firth has been with the project for a while, but now the rest of the cast has been fleshed out. His co-stars are The Weather Man'sHope Davis and The 40 Year Old Virgin love interest Catherine Keener, and presumably one of them will be the wife who widowed him. As for his daughters, I assume they are the next two in the cast -- teen actress Willa Holland, who played Kaitlin Cooper on The O.C., and Perla Haney-Jardine, who was most recently Penny Marko in Spider-Man 3. Of course, Winterbottom says of the choices: "I am very excited about working with such wonderful actors in such a beautiful city. It is a story I have been working on for a while." The movie will begin shooting at the end of next month in, of course, Genova, Italy, as well as Boston. But I agree with Campbell -- I'm hoping gets back to the comedies before he gets into a drama groove.
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While I'm still not convinced that North American audiences are ready for the strange genius that is Steve Coogan, at least they will get the chance to have a little taste. The first poster for Andy Fleming's comedy Hamlet 2 has arrived in our inbox (see to the right, and click to enlarge). So in case anyone was confused, the poster (and R-rated trailer) makes it clear that this movie is going to be packed to the brim with poop jokes.
New movies often bring anxious fidgeting and the buzz of excitement. But a new movie by 
We are all well aware that 
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This is one of those movies that has a premise so incredibly bizarre, yet has cast so strong, that I figure there is some promise I am simply not seeing. David O. Russell's romantic comedy 
So before anyone gets too excited, we should probably all take a step back and consider whether we should be really taking the word of Mike Tyson. The scandal plagued boxer recently 
For some horrible reason 
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It's probably hard enough adapt a book into a screenplay, especially if your source material only runs about 15 pages long. New York Magazine 
Alas, poor Yorick! Because when it comes to Hollywood, nothing is sacred. Variety 
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SCOOP: Spider-Man 4 and 5 Might be Shot at the Same Time!
Cinematical Seven: Disney's Awesome Live-Action Kid Adventures
