Joan Jett Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Interview: 'The Runaways' Stars Kristen Stewart And Dakota Fanning
Filed under: Interviews »
In the new film The Runaways, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning play Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, musical pioneers who broke down gender stereotypes as members of the eponymous band. A sex-charged rejoinder to the argument that men rock harder than women, Jett and Currie found their strength even as their producer and promoter, industry luminary Kim Fowley, took advantage of their youth and feminine appeal. Unlike the characters they play, however, Stewart and Fanning aren't letting anyone exploit them, even if it's in the guise of empowerment; the actresses have spent much of their careers redefining the limits of roles young actresses can play, and the women offer equally powerful turns in this film, proving that even a downbeat ending, such as the one that eventually befell The Runaways, can turn into triumph later on.
At a recent press day in Los Angeles, Cinematical spoke to Stewart and Fanning about both The Runaways and the exploits, both good and bad, of the band that inspired the film. In addition to talking about the influence the real women had on the way they played their characters, Fanning and Stewart reflected on their own process for playing different roles, and offered a few insights about acting against a seemingly unstoppable wall of analysis coming both from the public, and occasionally, from within themselves.
Girls on Film: Kristen Stewart's Sundance Sex
Filed under: Sundance », Girls on Film »
As Sundance kicked into gear, I took the little downtime I had to think about Girls on Film, and what I would write to coincide with the festival. There were a myriad of options that flew through my brain, but one quote continued to repeat itself louder than any thought. The repeating and insistent drum was left by this tweet from The Hollywood Reporter:
Part of me was ready to rant about Hollywood's obsession with this premise, but since I haven't seen the film, that's an argument for another time. However, the tweet does leave something else to talk about. This film isn't just a case of a young actress striving to be taken seriously by playing a stripper, because Welcome to the Rileys is just one of Stewart's two racy Sundance features. The other is, of course, The Runaways -- the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll biopic where Stewart takes on the iconic Joan Jett.Kristen Stewart's compelling in Welcome to the Rileys in #Sundance, but the film is a massive cliché about whores and their male saviors.
In one, she's the quintessential, sexually plagued victim -- desperate, destroyed, and in need of a male savior. In the other, she's the sexually progressive rocker who paves her own course. Together, they offer two polar opposite views about sex and vulgarity, only one of which can be truly challenging.
Pitch of the Day: 'The Runaways 2'
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Remakes and Sequels »
Now that the rock biopic The Runaways is a hit at Sundance (see our review here), and since it will probably also be a success in theaters thanks to Twilight star Kristen Stewart's involvement, it's time to think about a sequel. Wait, to a biopic? Yes, to a biopic. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I hear it ends just as all the girls went their separate ways -- Joan Jett (Stewart) beginning a solo career, Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) going off to be in the movies, etc. -- so why not keep following the lives of these characters? However, I also hear that Michael Shannon, as producer Kim Fowley, is the best thing about The Runaways, and therefore instead of making a movie like Bad Reputation: The Joan Jett Solo Story or Cherie in Hollywood: The Making of Foxes, I propose that the makers of the first film continue Fowley's adventures in...
The Runaways 2
Alternate titles may include The Runaways Too, The Runaways Down Under or Young and Fast. The last of these is the title of a Runaways album that Fowley produced with a completely new roundup of girls he found in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-80s. Sometimes the recording is credited to "The New Runaways," especially since the original band members sued Fowley in the 1990s over ownership of the name.
Sundance in 60 Seconds: January 24, 2010
Filed under: Deals », Sundance », Lionsgate Films », Festival Reports », Distribution », Cinematical Indie »
This has been a pretty big day for Sundance, including Twitter fights, the first big distribution deal and so much buzz it's as if Devin Ratray finally received the spin-off movie he deserves (Home Alone fans out there, say yeah!). Let's get right into it:
Celebrity sightings: Obviously Kristen Stewart is still the big paparazzi draw of Sundance 2010. Entertainment Weekly has some photos of the actress with the rocker she portrays, Joan Jett. Other hot babes being sighted include My Blue Valentine star Jessica Alba in a fur jacket (via Celebrity-Gossip), Katie Holmes, who is in town to promote two films, Jared Leto (whose head Kevin Kelly got a picture of) and Bill Gates, who attended a screening for and applauded the HBO doc A Small Act. Less popular are regular Sundance-goer Paris Hilton and questionable attendee Jon Gosselin. Real indie film fans have also been crazy for sightings of Ronald Bronstein and the Safdie brothers.
Our coverage: Our team in Park City posted a number of reviews late last night and today. Here are some quotes from these posts:
Erik Davis calls the Facebook romance documentary Catfish, "one of the most fascinating stories you'll watch all year ... Revealing, profound and surprisingly therapeutic, Catfish is a must-see for the Friend-Me-Now generation, as well as a striking portrait of a modern-day online relationship from beginning to ..."
Scott Weinberg writes of Armless: "It takes a little while to warm up, but that's not a problem because Armless is packed with great performances ... hats off to director Habib Azar and screenwriter Kyle Jarrow for setting up an outlandish premise (sad man wants his arms taken off) and delivering a fascinating little handful of thoughts, themes, and ideas that might actually make one feel better about THEIR own 'creepy little secrets.'"
More reviews and additional buzz after the jump:
Sundance Review: The Runaways
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews »
I'll be blunt about this: I really wasn't looking forward to this movie. I'm not the biggest fan of lip-chewing, hair-twirling Kristen Stewart, or the wide-eyed, blank face expert Dakota Fanning. I love rock and roll (so put another dime in the jukebox, baby) as much as the next person, but these two starring in a movie about an all-girl, teen sensation, flash in the pan band from the 1970s? I just didn't think they could pull it off. Hey, at least I'm big enough to admit I was wrong. The Runaways rocked the Joan Jett / Cherie Currie backstory's pants off (literally), and I'll be buying the soundtrack, which features K-Stew and D-Fan singing the blasts from the past.
However, this movie really should have been called The Joan Jett & Cherie Currie Show, because the other Runaways are hardly featured in this movie at all. Sandy West (who co-founded the band with Joan Jett), and Lita Ford's stories aren't given much attention in the film, and Ford seems to exist just to cause drama. Additionally, The Runaways had six different bass players during their short four-year history (including Micki Steele who went on to The Bangles) so the filmmakers decided to create a fictional girl named Robin Robins. She's played by Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development fame, and she unfortunately gets only one or two lines.
Watch This: Cherie Currie Meets Joan Jett in 'The Runaways'
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Trailers and Clips »
Sundance 2010 has started, and that means that it won't be long until we see reviews detailing how Floria Sigismondi handled Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart in The Runaways. You know -- that new rock biopic about the band Joan Jett formed in the '70s, before she became a lean, mean, solo rocking machine. Just in time for the first day of Sundance, a new clip has hit the web, which you can see after the jump.In the clip, Cherie (Fanning) is chilling at a club when Michael Shannon's Kim Fowley approaches with Stewart's Jett. Fowley is a record producer sporting a saucy triangular eye adornment (and looking slightly less creepy than most of Shannon's roles). He digs Cherie's look -- "a little Bowie, little Bardot." She says she can sing, and the rest, as they say, is history. As the story goes, Jett and Sandy West started the band, got Fowley interested in them, and he helped them find the rest of the members, including Currie.
It doesn't really show whether Stewart is able to hide her lip-biting self inside of Jett, but Fanning looks good so far. I'm digging her "I will kick your ass" slow, eye-rolling looks (something she also pulled out for New Moon). What do you think? Are you ready to rock with The Runaways? Or do you remain unconvinced?
Is Alia Shawkat Joining 'The Runaways'?
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », Casting », RumorMonger »
It looks like things are getting more interesting each day when it comes to the music biopic The Runaways -- and I'm not talking about Joan Jett making Kristen Stewart cry. No, instead, there is news that Alia Shawkat (who will forever be known as Maeby Fünke) is joining the cast as famed bassist and 'Bangle' Micki Steele ... or at the very least an approximation of Steele. Latino Review is reporting that Shawkat has joined the cast as an 18-year-old bass player named Robin (aka Steele), and judging by the photo above, you have to admit that Shawkat would be a great choice to play the sexy bassist. I mean, just look at those lips.
Rather than get into a long and convoluted explanation about the awesomeness that is Steele, here is a little primer: Steele was one of the first members of The Runaways when they were touring the club circuit in L.A. and was considered the 'feminine' one in a group of bad girls. By 1976 she had left the band after the addition of Lita Ford (played in the film by Scout Taylor-Compton) and Cherie Currie (played by Dakota Fanning). Steele would go on to join another famous girl band, The Bangles, and create music history by teaching the world about 'Manic Mondays'.
There has been no word on why Steele isn't going to be named in the film; possibly because the film makers didn't secure the rights to use her image, or maybe her split from The Runaways wasn't an amicable one. My guess is that the character of Robin will be based on Steele, but also be an amalgam of some of the other band members that won't be featured prominently in the film.
The Runaways is still filming on location in L.A., but will arrive in theaters in 2010.
News Bites: Kristin Stewart Goes Jett and Brittany Murphy Gets 'Wicked'
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Thrillers », Casting », Images »
It was only a matter of time. The Runaways are in place, production on the film is gearing up, and try as she might, Kristin Stewart wasn't able to keep her Joan Jett 'do under wraps; E Online caught a full glimpse of the new look. Why am I writing about a hairdo? Well, if there was one initial clue to discern how this Runaways pic would turn out, it's how each of the cast members look -- especially Stewart's Jett. And it's not bad. I can't go with good or great, because by this image (right), it looks more like a modern hack-job than a '70s mullet. But it's decent. At the very least, I doubt anyone will be thinking of Bella when Stewart grabs her guitar and hits the stage.In a much less rockin' vein of news, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Brittany Murphy has signed onto a psychological thriller called Something Wicked -- no relation to that Wicked musical. We can't quite tell you what the premise is, because there are two competing summaries. THR says the flick is about a teen and his girlfriend (who is out of his league) whose lives become chaotic when her parents are killed. IMDb, on the other hand, says it's about a young couple prepping for marriage when gruesome secrets resurface. Either way, it looks like Murphy has but a supporting gig.
I guess the mediocre films have finally caught up with her, leading her away from the romcoms (at least that's a plus) and into B thrillers. But maybe The Expendables will help -- unless she gets outshone by Charisma Carpenter. Hmm... Is this the end of Murphy?
Dakota Fanning Joins 'The Runaways' and 'New Moon'
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting »
Well look who's all grown up. It seems like just yesterday that little Dakota Fanning was winning the world over as precocious little girl, and then horrifying us as a tween rape victim. But now she just might be one of the biggest icons in girl-power history. Variety reports that Fanning is currently in negotiations to star in The Runaways, the story of the all-girl proto-punk band of the same name. Fanning is in talks to play Runaway's lead singer, Cherie Currie, alongside Kristen Stewart (as Joan Jett). But that's not all, because at the bottom of the same notice, Variety also confirmed that the gal is booked for the Twilight sequel, New Moon later this year, with Fanning at her blood-thirsty best.But back to Runaways, because lord knows there will be plenty of time to dissect New Moon between now and November, 2009. Cherie Currie was a 15-year-old (the same age as Fanning) dynamo who made her musical debut with the Runaways, and despite her young age was known for her rough and ready singing style. After leaving the group, she recorded some solo albums and even tried her hand at acting, but like so many before her, Currie became caught up in drugs and a hard-partying lifestyle -- but luckily for her, she managed to sort herself out before becoming another punk casualty. Her book, Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story, served as the source material for the film and was adapted by The Runaways director, Floria Sigismondi.
The Runaways is scheduled to start production this spring, and New Moon was rumored to start shooting this month. So I hope that Stewart and Fanning get along, because it looks like the two are going to be spending an awful lot of time together in the near future.
Kristen Stewart To Rock Out as Joan Jett
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Casting », Deals », Fandom », Newsstand »
Twilight!
Okay, now that that's out of the way, we have some very good news for you Kristen Stewart fans out there. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stewart has signed to play rocker Joan Jett in a new flick called The Runaways. The film will follow Jett and bandmate Cherie Currie from their "meteoric rise as teenagers to their dissolution and disillusionment." The Runaways, of course, was the name of the very successful and influential all-girl band from the '70s, which included Jett, Currie, Lita Ford, Sandy West and Jackie Fox. They lasted about four years together before Jett went off and continued to rock out with the Blackhearts in the '80s (I Love Rock N' Roll, anyone?), and still continues to do her thing till this day (I actually saw her open for another band a couple years ago at Madison Square Garden).
Not only will this flick include a nice refreshing story about female rockers (for once), as well as some great music, but it will also give us a chance to see Stewart really let her hair down. My one criticism of Stewart over the past couple years is that she's, well, a little boring to watch on screen -- always playing the confused, distant and awkward teen. I've been dying to see her
The Runaways is looking to begin production early next year and will work around Stewart's commitment to star in the Twilight sequel, New Moon, (phew!) which will also begin shooting in early 2009.
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