JamesGandolfini Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Next to the table of contents in the new book Heads On and Then We Shoot: The Making of Where the Wild Things Are, there's a list of songs that Spike Jonze says were influential and inspirational in the making of his adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's classic. Among them are plenty of melancholy mood pieces, including The Smiths' "Cemetry Gates," "Maps" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, whose lead singer composed original tunes for the film, and perhaps most obviously, Arcade Fire's "Wake Up," which ultimately appeared in Wild Things' theatrical trailer. But in my opinion, the most telling track included on that list was Langley Schools Music Project's devastating cover of The Beach Boys "God Only Knows" sung by a chorus of Canadian schoolchildren in the late 1970s, it captures the deeper sentiment of desperation and loneliness in Brian Wilson's lyrics even as it reverberates with the naïve, wholesome enthusiasm of voices unfamiliar with real heartbreak.

In the best possible way, Jonze's film also harnesses that contradiction: it feels like a grown-up story told by kids, where all of its emotional weight is buried in the story or otherwise ignored because nobody seems to know better than to emphasize it. Bereft of nostalgia, much less a cinematic style that lends itself easily to conventional spectacle, Spike Jonze brings Where the Wild Things Are to life in a way that no one could have possibly expected, but thankfully in one better than they could have ever imagined.

"How the hell can you run a goddamn railroad without swearing?"
-The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

"I got 99 problems, and a bitch ain't one."
-The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

About as loud as Joseph Sargent's original was lean, Tony Scott's take on The Taking of Pelham 123 is more indebted to his name than its own, all restless shots and relentless cuts, ticking clocks and roving maps, a stream of shouting and shooting and speed-ramping and slow-motion and all that jazz. The conversations are cranked up, and the confrontations are amped up, but to what end? Scott whips out the familiar frame-blurring techniques that have ostensibly served him well in the past, but his flair tends to instead rob a crackerjack crime thriller of an inherent momentum that has served it quite well over the span of almost four decades.

Embedded above is the trailer for Armando Iannucci's political spin farce, In the Loop, which James and others had been talking up since Sundance. I suppose that's a fitting response, for them to talk about a movie that's all about talk, as the trailer capably demonstrates (well, a commenter or two on Funny or Die still demand to know what the movie's really about). I myself was initially skeptical of anything dealing with labyrinthine political dealings, but I've been assured that that isn't really the point of it all -- and I've gotta say, the phrase "difficult-difficult-lemon-difficult" still tickles me so.

IFC will release this in select theaters and (thankfully, for us non-NY/LAers) on-demand come July 24th. That's enough time for me to catch up on original series "The Thick of It," though I've been told that familiarity with it wouldn't be necessary. At least, that's what I think they said...

We've known about dueling Marvin Gaye biopics for two years now, but apparently there's a third. Variety reports of a film to be directed by F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) and scripted by C. Gaby Mitchell (Blood Diamond) simply titled Marvin. It's possible, though, that this is the same film previously reported as D. Stevens' Marvin: The Life Story of Marvin Gaye, which was being written by Greg Guss and Robert Scharrer. The IMDb certainly thinks so.

Regardless of Gray's film's origins, his project still has a competitor in Sexual Healing, which will star Law & Order's Jesse L. Martin as Gaye and will co-star and be produced by James Gandolfini. There will be a difference between the two, at least. Sexual Healing only has access to Gaye's post-Motown music, so it will be focused on the singer's later years. Marvin, on the other hand, has finally secured the rights to Gaye's entire music catalog and will cover the man's life from beginning to end, when he was shot by his father in 1984.

Back in January, I blogged about the BBC show The Thick of It getting the feature treatment. The film, tentatively titled In the Loop, will be set in the same world as the television show, but it hadn't been determined whether the same characters would pop up. According to the latest post over at The Hollywood Reporter, it seems that the production is going half-fresh. This is particularly noteworthy because the actors are James Gandolfini, David Rasche (United 93), and ... My Girl Anna Chlumsky. Yes, Anna his swam out of the ether and right to BBC remakes!

The film will focus on the inner workings of US and British government agencies and international relations, Chlumsky will play a State Department official, Gandolfini will play a general, and Rasche has signed on to play an undersecretary of state. On the British side of things, Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison, and Paul Higgins from the series are starring with Tom Hollander and Gina McKee.

Imagine if New Jersey mobster Tony Soprano suddenly became the Mayor of New York City? Variety is reporting that James Gandolfini, best known for his starring role in the long-running HBO series The Sopranos, will be joining The Taking of Pelham 123. Gandolfini is set to play Hizzoner (AKA The Mayor) in Tony Scott's remake of the 1974 thriller.

Gandolfini steps into the role inhabited by Lee Wallace in the original, a politician felled by the flu, stuck in bed, and motivated more by a selfish desire to be reelected than any altruistic concern for his fellow citizens.

Before The Sopranos, Gandolfini established himself as a colorful and versatile character actor (Crimson Tide, Get Shorty, A Civil Action). He was so supremely charismatic and memorably menacing as Tony Soprano, though, that his other recent roles have paled in comparison. Variety says he has other projects in development, based on writer Ernest Hemingway and basketball camp guru Sonny Vaccaro, that may showcase more of his range. Monika Bartyzel also noted recently that he's set to play Marvin Gaye's manager in Sexual Healing.

As Jessica Barnes originally reported, Pelham 123 will star Denzel Washington as a Transit Police officer charged with trying to foil a criminal gang that has hijacked a subway train. John Travolta will play the gang's ruthless leader. Production in New York City evidently began on February 7 and is scheduled to continue through July 4, according to the NYC Mayor's Office of Film Theatre & Broadcasting (PDF document). The film is due for release from Columbia Pictures in 2009.

I don't spend a lot of time imagining the business concerns of strip club owners. I'm sure they involve many questions of labor relations, plus the question of how warm you have to keep the place so that the goosebump factor is low -- but one New Jersey club manager's long-term business decisions may have given us the heads-up on a well-loved HBO series heading to the big screen.

The good people at /Film are linking to a story at the Times Herald-Record explaining how the manager of the Satin Dolls gentleman's club recently received a phone request asking him to hold off on some upcoming renovations -- which may seem less than germane to the world of film until you realize that Satin Dolls also served as the Bada Bing on The Sopranos. Nick D'Urso, manager of Satin Dolls, relates in the piece how his planned renovations might be held off so as to preserve the, uh, Bing-ness of the location: "I got an inside tip that they're going to do a movie, so I don't want to make any major changes ... I'm not going to reveal my sources, but we got a call from somebody (working) on the script."

Oh, this latest bit of news gives me a bit of a fangirl jump. Variety reports that Jake Scott and Jordan Scott -- offspring of Ridley -- are both gearing up for new feature films. Why do I care? Jake's not only the guy behind a lot of memorable videos like "Fake Plastic Trees," "Disarm," and "Everybody Hurts," but also Plunkett and Macleane. If you haven't seen it, it's a terrible, great movie starring Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle (plus Liv Tyler and Alan Cumming) that has disappeared from shelves. So, not only could the film be good, but maybe Macleane will get a new DVD release. At least, I hope!

While the previous flick dealt with robbers in the 18th century, this new feature, Welcome to the Rileys, is a bit softer. The film will star James Gandolfini and Kristen Stewart, focuses on "a man and a woman who have been driven apart by grief after losing their daughter, and are brought back together when they meet a troubled young woman." Somehow, there's "unexpected love" and "catharsis" in there -- perhaps between the stars listed? That would be, um, interesting. While production should begin in New Orleans this April for the above film, Jordan is looking to make her debut with Cracks overseas. A period drama set in a British boarding school, Scott describes it as a film "about misguided love and obsession, as told through the eyes of a group of elite girls in this boarding school." She'll start scouting locations next week.

Why are these features being lumped together? Handmade Films International is handling worldwide sales and will present the films as a package to potential buyers at Berlinale.

As funny, or potentially scary, as it could be to see James Gandolfini in a sexy movie, especially if he gets to say: "When I get that feeling, I need sexual healing," this is just about the sexy, classic music. Just 5 days short of the two-year anniversary since Cinematical first blogged about the upcoming Marvin Gaye picture, one that had Law & Order's Jesse L. Martin attached as the music icon, word is finally picking up again. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Gandolfini signed on as both co-star and producer of the the film, Sexual Healing, which is finally heading into production this April in Massachusetts, Belgium, and Los Angeles.

The feature focuses on Gaye's later years, and the ex-Soprano "will play Gaye's manager, Freddy Cousaert, the promoter who guided the singer through the recording of his biggest-selling album, 'Midnight Love.'" But it isn't all roses. As Karina said all those months ago, the film will cover Marvin's move to Europe, his drug addiction, his move home to live with his parents, a drug relapse, and then particularly sad demise -- he was shot and killed by his father one day before his 45th birthday. Yeah, this isn't going to be an upper, folks. Still, it's looking to be a pretty interesting film.

Well, Spike Lee and I have had a complicated relationship over the years. As much as I have always respected his films, I haven't always agreed with him. But, unlike a lot of directors, at least he always has something to say. BlackFilm.com is hosting the first image from Lee's Miracle at St. Anna. The script focuses on the "tale of four members of the U.S. army's 92nd division of all-black soldiers, who in 1944 became trapped in a Tuscan village, as they contended with their racist, incompetent commanders and the Nazis".

Based on the novel by James McBride, the story centers on the massacre of Sant'Anna di Stazzema. On August 12, 1944, retreating SS-men rounded up 560 villagers and refugees (mostly women, children and the elderly) shot them and then burned the bodies. McBride adapted his own novel for the screen and the cast includes John Turturro, James Gandolfini, Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) -- who is replacing the tax-plagued Wesley Snipes, and Laz Alonso.

The project had a rocky start when Lee's comments about the treatment of African-American veterans in film caused a bit of a press frenzy. Shooting began back in October on location in Tuscany and Lee is also planning to shoot in Rome, New York, and Nassau, Bahamas. Surprisingly, Miracle has yet to find a studio, but Lee is planning on a 2009 release, so I would expect to hear something soon. It just goes to show you the sorry state of the industry when somebody like Michael Bay has no trouble setting up a studio for whatever crap-fest he has planned next, and yet one of the greatest American directors struggles to secure a deal. How depressing is that?