EmmaThompson Tagged Articles at Cinematical
UPDATE: Keira Knightley Officially 'My Fair Lady' for Joe Wright
Filed under: Classics », Music & Musicals », Romance », Casting », Sony », RumorMonger », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels », Daniel Craig »
Last summer, it was reported that Columbia was setting up a remake of My Fair Lady and that Keira Knightley was pursuing the iconic, Cockney role of Eliza Doolittle. While Knightley has been "attached" ever since, The Telegraph reports that Scarlett Johansson was also vying for the role. But Knightley won out, and the Telegraph not only confirms that she's got the role, but that Joe Wright will be directing. Emma Thompson is writing the script. Knightley has been taking singing lessons ever since the possibility came up (and I actually think she proved she had a good voice in The Edge of Love), and I think she'll be absolutely charming as Doolittle. But then I'm biased towards her. Even if you aren't (and I expect many "too skinny!" comments), I think the combination of Wright and Thompson pushes this into very, very promising territory. Thompson can do no wrong by me.
What will really tip the balance is who they cast as the grumpy, misogynist Professor Henry Higgins. The Telegraph reports that Daniel Craig is being considered, and he'd certainly be ideal as the grim Higgins, probably moreso than the dapper Hugh Jackman. I wouldn't mind seeing Patrick Wilson become a contender, and I half wonder if Gerard Butler's vocal chords were trotted out on Saturday Night Live as an audition. Just you wait, and practice your R's, and we'll see whose face Knightley must become accustomed to.
UPDATE: Screenrush caught up with Joe Wright, who says he never signed on, and is uninterested. Given the shakiness of the initial report, it's unclear whether Knightley's casting is official either.
Scenes We Love: In the Name of the Father
Filed under: Drama », Fandom », Trailers and Clips », Scenes We Love »
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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Discuss: Characters That Should Reunite for the Holidays
Filed under: Fandom »
On Christmas Day, Last Chance Harvey will go into limited release and give us a Christmas treat. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, and it's almost like seeing what would've happened if Stranger Than Fiction's Professor Jules Hilbert met and romanced Karen Eiffel. I always wonder what sort of romance could have blossomed between Jules and Karen, and since this is the holiday season, it got me thinking about characters who should reunite and deal with the holidays on the big screen.The first that came to mind was Jesse and Celine -- our beloved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset characters. After Richard Linklater created a billowing, world-wide sigh with the ending of the second film, audiences have been itching to find out what happens next, so why not a thoughtful piece that takes place over the course of the holidays? It wouldn't work to add a million people into the mix, but I'm sure the pair would find a lot to say about Christmas, and maybe we could finally see how the pair survive in the real (albeit Santa-laced) world.
Beyond the realm of indie romance, can you imagine a certain Miles and Jack taking a New Years Eve trip back to wine country? Pineapple Express getting hidden in a Christmas gift? The Wonder Boys going on a new snow-filled adventure?
Are there any characters you would love to see in the holiday setting? Are any just perfect for dealing with a Winter Wonderland?
Hogwarts Says Goodbye to Sybill Trelawney
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Fandom », Remakes and Sequels »
Geez, poor Sybill Trelawney has the crappiest luck. First, Dolores Umbridge goes after the zany teacher and tries to get rid of her, and then we learn that she's been written out of the next installment, even though she plays an important part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And now, well, now we don't even get to look forward to her in the final double installment. No big-screen goodbye for us, unless Order of the Phoenix heads back to theaters. (This is assuming the Harry Powers That Be don't recast her for the final film.)
Emma Thompson has told MTV that she's given up the Harry Potter world to make another Nanny McPhee film. It makes sense -- she wrote and starred in the first, so naturally it "means much more" to her. So, while she won't be magical with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, she will delight in magic with the tentatively titled Nanny McPhee and The Big Bang. This time around, it's one hundred years after the first film, and focuses on "The big war, and a war between these two sets of extremely different children."
I can't help but wonder -- is this why she wasn't in Half-Blood Prince too?
AFI Review: Last Chance Harvey
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Romance », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports »
Well my friends are gone
And my hair is gray
And I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day In the tower of song
-- Tower of Song, Leonard Cohen
Harvey Shines (Dustin Hoffman) is a New York jingle-writer who doesn't quite toil in the tower of song; maybe in a small office in a nearby strip mall. But the rest of it applies; he's older, tired, headed to London for his daughter's wedding and obsessing about getting back fast in time for a job-related meeting. Harvey's dreading the trip before he even takes it, which guarantees it will be dreadful, but then he meets Kate Walker (Emma Thompson), another single, singular person unwilling to confront the terrifying possibility of happiness. ...
Written and directed by Joel Hopkins (who previously gave us the younger-skewed Jump Tomorrow), Last Chance Harvey may be easily -- in fact, too easily -- dismissed as "Before Sunrise for the sunset years," as Harvey and Kate meet accidentally, mesh immediately, dare to hope, get brought together by chance and separated by accident. Younger audiences will ignore Last Chance Harvey like a an overdue bill notice in the post, but if you've been around the block of life a few times -- on the bus or under it -- you'll find that it wins you over, bit by bit, in no small part thanks to the mix of effortless charm and contemplated sincerity Hoffman and Thompson bring to their work; the whole film has an air of lightweight gravity to it, and Hopkins may not be swinging for the fences, but he knows just how to swing and hit for a solid double.
Exclusive: 'Last Chance Harvey' Images
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Images »
Cinematical has just received these exclusive images from the upcoming film Last Chance Harvey, starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. You can view all three images in the gallery below. Last Chance Harvey follows a down-on-his-luck jingle writer (Hoffman) who, after missing a flight, losing his job and getting dissed by his daughter at her wedding, bumps into an over-worked mama's gal (Thompson) at the airport bar and finds himself energized by her presence.
You wouldn't necessarily think Hoffman and Thompson as an on-screen pair in a light romantic comedy, but I kinda dig it. Perhaps what this genre needs is some better acting to revitalize the same old stories, so I'd give it a chance. Written and directed by Joel Hopkins, Last Chance Harvey opens in limited release (NY and LA) on December 26th, and goes wide on January 23rd. For more, check out the website here, and feel free to hop into our exclusive gallery below.
Emma Thompson Tackles the Proust Questionnaire
Filed under: Newsstand »
If you caught Kim's recent post about revisiting Brideshead Revisited, you'll remember that we're about to get more Emma Thompson in theaters as Lady Marchmain. As the film's July 26 release date zooms closer, buzz for the film is increasing, but it's not all run-of-the-mill Q&A's and that typical PR chatter. Vanity Fair just threw up a great discussion with the actress, one that took an appropriate, literary angle. Instead of the usual, they had her answer the classic Proust Questionnaire.I could do without a lead-in that lists "ponders her thighs" as the first mention of what Thompson discussed, but the actual answers are a fun read. Thompson covers a number of areas, from her loving women with the "ability to laugh in the face of disaster," to discussions of those she admires, and her love of wine. It's amazing how much information can be jam-packed into one word answers that provide a quick and fun interview. I'm surprised that in this modern day, where brevity is adored, more people aren't getting Proustian.
*They've also put one up for the late and great George Carlin, from 2001.
[via Anne Thompson]
Sybill Trelawney Not in 'Half-Blood Prince'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Remakes and Sequels », Trailers and Clips »
Poor Sybill Trelawney.* First Umbridge has at her in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in front of all the students, no less. Now she's really been sacked! At least, she has been from the next movie. After hearing that Moaning Myrtle was left out of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Snitch Seeker reports that so is Emma Thompson's Trelawney. A Hamilton Hodell rep said: "She is not in the Half-Blood Prince."
As the site points out, this means that she won't be able to play helpful informant to Harry. (What she tells him, I'll leave out to save the eyes of those who haven't read the books yet.) With two important players out of the film, it begs the question of how the story will come together. I imagine their important roles in this part of the story will be given to another character, but who? We'll have to wait until November 21 to find out.
*The UK/Canada spelling is being used. I've no idea why it's spelled "Sibyll" for the US.
Peter Sarsgaard Gives Carey Mulligan 'An Education'
Filed under: Drama », Casting »
A retro film set in 1960s London is interesting. Hearing that Nick Hornby wrote the script makes it intriguing. An awesome cast -- that just makes the upcoming film An Education sound downright tasty. Variety reports that Lone Scherfig, the Danish filmmaker behind Happy-Go-Lucky, is gearing up to helm the feature, and these are the names she'll get to mold with her directorial hands: Peter Sarsgaard, Orlando Bloom, Alfred Molina, Sally Hawkins, Rosamund Pike, Emma Thompson, Olivia Williams, and newcomer Carey Mulligan. (Some of the cast signed on earlier this month.)While I vowed that I learned my lesson about great actors not necessarily making great movies after Derailed, I so, so, so want to see this. The film will focus on a 17-year-old girl played by Mulligan who lived in the quiet burbs of London. However, it's during the swinging '60s, and she gets pulled into craziness by a 30-something Brit played by Sarsgaard. (Cradle robber.) As THR described it: "He courts her with chic dinners, clubs, and foreign trips, charming her father (Molina) but putting her future at Oxford University in jeopardy." Thompson, meanwhile, plays her school's headmistress.
Dumb joke of the day #2: She should've bought a SarsGuaard.
Production begins in London this March.
Five Join Dustin Hoffman in 'Last Chance Harvey'
Filed under: Drama », Romance », Casting »
It took a little longer than expected, since production schedules almost never start on time, but principal photography is now gearing up on Last Chance Harvey. With the cameras about to roll, The Hollywood Reporter has posted the rest of the cast, plus a little more about the plot. Back in June, I shared news of the film, which was written for stars Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson by screenwriter Joel Hopkins. It's about an unlucky man who meets an "unlikely female companion" when he goes to his daughter's wedding in London. Hoffman and Thompson are being joined by an impressive supporting cast that boasts: Kathy Baker (The Jane Austen Book Club), James Brolin (The Hunting Party), Eileen Atkins (Gosford Park), Richard Schiff (Ray), and Liane Balaban (New Waterford Girl). Hoffman's character is described as "a down-on-his-luck New York jungle writer," who has a tough boss played by Schiff. Balaban plays his daughter, who is getting married in London, and Baker is her mother and Hoffman's ex-wife -- who is also now married to Brolin. Rounding things off is Atkins, who will play Thompson's overbearing mother. It all seems like pretty spot-on casting to me, and they've come up with some great pairings -- such as Baker being the ex-wife who has moved past Hoffman's unlucky life, and Thompson having to deal with the snark of Atkins. Shooting starts today in London.
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
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