Daniel Day-Lewis Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You can't keep a good actor out of the comic book flicks. Jackie Earle Haley already has one of the most iconic DC characters notched on his belt, but rumor has it that he might get to pick up another. As you may have read earlier, Ain't It Cool News was reporting that Martin Campbell is in the process of finalizing his cast for The Green Lantern, and that Haley is at the head of the line to play Sinestro.

Haley has told Collider that no one has approached him about the part, and that he hasn't been screen tested ... but that doesn't mean he won't be. Haley suggested the Internet generally hears things before he does. "You guys are out in front of it and I don't know anything about it yet. If something comes up I'll let you know."

Even as rumor and guesswork, it's an intriguing possibility. Haley certainly has the villainous chops to pull off Sinestro, and Watchmen proved he had the physical chops. I've always pictured someone British in the role, though, and the best fan suggestion I've seen yet is Daniel Day-Lewis. I doubt the Method actor would ever delve into the world of DC Comics, but oh how wonderful it would be if he'd bring a bit of Daniel Plainview into the Green Lantern Corps.

Everybody loves a bad guy. They usually get the best lines, a great entrance, and a hell of a death scene. But our love affair with the dark side is no secret, and as much as we might love the bad boys, we all enjoy a good 'comeuppance', which is usually where our heroes come in. Hell, probably one of the biggest reasons most of us love the world of make-believe is that at least there, the good guys can win. Occasionally, though, you find a villain with qualities that go a little beyond being the 'man/woman you love to hate', and before you know it, that monster has managed to win you over before the credits have rolled -- which isn't always good news for our heroes.

Now this doesn't mean that I think these villains are model citizens, because well, I'm not that psycho. But when these guys are on screen, suddenly the 'hero' of the piece starts to fade away, and when your audience is bummed when the bad guy goes down, you know that you've created a villain who is just too damn charismatic for their own good. These characters can pop up in anything from a comic book flick to a period drama, but the one thing they have in common is their ability to make you think, "Hey, he's nuts, but he might have a point". So that's why for today's installment of our monthly tribute to villains, I've put together a list of my top 5 movie villains with charm to spare.

After the jump; my top five movie villains that will win you over in the end...

Now I know I'm not the only one who is fascinated by the prospect of watching the great Daniel Day Lewis singing and dancing in Rob Marshall's Nine. But the first trailer has been released on Apple for Marshall's adaptation of the Tony-nominated play of the same name, and if you were hoping for a glimpse of Lewis doing jazz-hands, then you're going to be disappointed. But, jazz-hands aside, after watching this trailer I think I may have to change my opinion of the directing talents of Mr. Marshall -- because Marshall's musical skills look better without Renee Zellwegger doing '3/4 shot' dance numbers while warbling her heart out.

Nine is based on the classic Fellini film, 8 1/2, and centers on the famous film director, Guido Contini. The story is set in early-1960s Venice, and on the eve of Contini's 40th birthday he is struggling to complete his latest film, and attempting to balance the women in his life. Those women include his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress Carla (Penélope Cruz), his muse Claudia (Nicole Kidman), his producer Liliane (Judi Dench), and his mother (Sophia Loren). But that's not all, because as Monika told us back in 2008, Stacy Ferguson (better known as Fergie) will play a whore from Contini's youth, and Kate Hudson also has a small role as an American fashion journalist. It's not often you get this many big name actresses in one film, but I'm sure Lewis won't have any trouble handling all that estrogen.

So to the strains of 'Be Italian' we finally get our first glimpses of the big-budget musical, and it looks like Marshall may owe a small debt to the style of Bob Fosse's production numbers once again. But that doesn't mean Nine won't be a good time at the movies for fans of both Broadway, and classic cinema. So take a look, and tell me what you think. Oscar contender?

Nine will arrive in theaters on November, 25th.

The Academy Awards are known for their traditions (among many other things), and this year you may have noticed that some of those traditions were broken. Jack Nicholson wasn't sporting a pair of dark sunglasses and a devilish grin from the front row, Javier Bardem wasn't in attendance to help present the Oscar for best supporting actor and, likewise, Daniel Day-Lewis wasn't there to help present the best actor award. Granted, Oscar's tradition of the prior year's best actor and actress winners (in supporting and lead) presenting the latest award to the opposite sex was ditched in favor of a same sex group thing -- but that still shouldn't have given last year's winners an excuse not to show up. After all, both Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton were there.

So where was everyone? The Envelope did a little digging and were informed via a few secret sources that, originally, Jack Nicholson was asked to participate as part of a group for the best supporting actor award (and most likely be the one to speak of Ledger's Joker performance), but ducked out because he only wanted to present alone. Meanwhile, Bardem (who won best supporting actor last year for No Country for Old Men) didn't show because he was suffering from a back injury. Day-Lewis, however, had a much lamer excuse: he was tired. Not only was the best actor winner for There Will Be Blood against the group thing as well, but he was also apparently too tired from work on his new film Nine to show up and present.

Wow, so what's up with this group thing? Sure, I wasn't crazy about it, but it's a little sad when your ego is so big you demand to be on stage alone ... at the Academy Awards, no less. What do you folks think? Do these actors need to get over themselves or do they have every right to present solo?

There are those moments in a darkened theater that make you feel like you can take on the world. For me, those moments are why I go to the movies, to be so wrapped up in the story that I'm not just a spectator anymore, I'm a participant; and the 1993 true life political drama, In the Name of the Father, has one of the moments.

Jim Sheridan's film about a group of young Irish that were wrongfully convicted of an IRA bombing, is a brilliant film for plenty of reasons (not the least of which are the acting talents of Daniel Day Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, and Emma Thompson) but what amazes me is that by the time the film is nearing an end, your nerves are raw, and your sense of righteous indignation reaches a fever-pitch -- and that's when Thompson gets to shine. In one short scene, she manages to give a voice to everything that the audience is feeling, and that release is what makes this film so memorable. It isn't an easy story to tell, but Thompson brings it all home...plus I still get goose bumps when she yells to the heartless Inspector "...and by god, you got you're blood!" -- Tell it sister! See what I mean? I get all pumped up just thinking about it.



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It was last night's Meryl Streep chit-chat that got me to thinking; Hell, 15 nominations is impressive enough, and she's even won the dang Oscar twice! For Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie's Choice. But while in the lovely land of Hollywood that's a track record to be amazingly proud of, the simple truth is that, in the land of baseball, Meryl Streep would be batting a lusty .133. I've seen American League pitchers who can bat .133!

And that silly thought led to the next logically silly one: If Meryl Streep is batting .133, who ELSE is batting poorly? And conversely ... who's leading the league? Now, I've got to limit eligibility to those who've been nominated at least three times, because otherwise we'd have Anna Paquin as Mickey Mantle. And I'm limiting this project to actors only, because that way one can squeeze another post or two out of this lame concept if people actually like it.

1.000* -- Hilary Swank (2 for 2); Kevin Spacey (2 for 2)
.500 -- Daniel Day-Lewis (2 for 4)
.400 -- Sean Penn (2 for 5); Tom Hanks (2 for 5); Denzel Washington (2 for 5);
.333 -- Maggie Smith (2 for 6); Tommy Lee Jones (1 for 3); Helen Mirren (1 for 3); Philip Seymour Hoffman (1 for 3); Marisa Tomei (1 for 3); Alan Arkin (1 for 3); Renee Zellweger (1 for 3); Kathy Bates (1 for 3); Geoffrey Rush (1 for 3); Julia Roberts (1 for 3); Russell Crowe (1 for 3)
.285 -- Michael Caine (2 for 7)
.250 -- Jack Nicholson (3 for 12); Julie Christie (1 for 4); Cate Blanchett (1 for 4); William Hurt (1 for 4); Frances McDormand (1 for 4); Morgan Freeman (1 for 4); Ben Kingsley (1 for 4); Diane Keaton (1 for 4); Holly Hunter (1 for 4); Jon Voight (1 for 4);

More after the jump

All this week we'll be highlighting some of our favorite scenes from Oscar-winning films and performances leading up to this year's Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Yeah, I'll say it: Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in There Will Be Blood is not only one of the best we've seen in the last couple of decades, but I'll go as far as to say it's one of the best performances by a male actor that I've ever seen. Day-Lewis won the best actor Oscar last year for his role as oil-hungry entrepreneur Daniel Plainview in this film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Most people love to replay the final moments from this flick -- which include that oh-so-memorable line about drinking milkshakes -- but there's something about this scene below that I just adore. Something about the little mind games Plainview and Sunday (Paul Dano) play; the lies, the deception, the greed, the anger, the heartbreak -- it's all just brilliant. Of course this scene means a whole lot more when you watch it in context, but I also believe this scene by itself makes for a great preview of the overall themes and plot of the entire film. Check it out below ...

There Will Be Blood
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Jeff's review

I was beginning to think that Martin Scorsese was on a merry-go-round of music and organized mayhem, since he's been quite busy balancing crime with big-screen concert-going. But just as it looks like he's in a rut, Scorsese throws us something from left field. Well, not quite left field since we heard about it back in 2006, but close enough.

Variety reports that he's "determined" to make Silence next. Based on the Japanese novel, the film will follow a few Jesuit priests who head to Japan in the name of Christianity, only to discover that converts are being persecuted in defiance of Western influence. Marty has been sitting on this sucker for eons (he wrote a script of the Japanese novel ten years ago), and was set to film it in Vancouver in 2007. But now it's headed to New Zealand (Canada, sheep land, same difference?!), and Marty is negotiating with Daniel Day-Lewis and Benicio Del Toro to star, with Gael Garcia Bernal also entering talks.

I've been itching to see what he'd make of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, but you can't blame a guy for getting a decade-old project into gear, especially when you've got Daniel and Benicio ready to star. But will it still have "implications related to the war in Iraq"? And how will he fare on "Japanese" turf?

This just in to Cinematical headquarters: The Weinstein Co. announced that Kate Hudson has joined Rob Marshall's adaptation of the famed musical, Nine. Hudson will co-star alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard -- and if that beautiful cast doesn't get asses in seats, I don't know what will. Day-Lewis will play director Guido Contini who, while preparing for his latest picture, has trouble balancing the many women in his life.

Personally, I've been waiting for Hudson to take a little departure from starring in cheesy rom-coms for awhile now, though I'm sure some of you would be happy if she disappeared forever at this point. That said, I still remain a Hudson supporter (damn you Almost Famous!), and I know she's got some good stuff holed up in places we just haven't been fortunate to discover yet. What do you think? A step up for Hudson, or a step down?

At the moment we have to consider this a rumor, but can you imagine an Academy Award-winning psychotic oilman in a musical? Daniel Day-Lewis is in talks to replace Javier Bardem in Rob Marshall's film version of the musical Nine, according to Variety. As Monika Bartyzel told us a couple of weeks ago, Bardem dropped out of the lead role due to exhaustion. A spokesman for distributor The Weinstein Co. denied that a new lead had been set.

What an exciting prospect, though! Day-Lewis is famously selective about the roles he chooses, which means it's safe to assume that he was impressed by the elements that have been brought together. Those elements include: (1) script by Michael Tolkin, re-written by Anthony Minghella shortly before he died; (2) a fabulous cast of women, led by Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench (as Elisabeth Rappe reported recently), but also Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren; (3) director Rob Marshall. I know that Marshall isn't universally loved -- I'm not a fan of Chicago -- but presumably he has some kind of dazzling vision that inspires confidence among actors with hidden musical talents.

If he takes the part, Day-Lewis would play Guido Contini, "a famous film director who experiences personal and creative crisis while trying to balance all the women in his life." In the 1982 Broadway musical, inspired by Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, Raul Julia originated the role. I'm hoping for confirmation soon.