Jude Law Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You'll never hear me say a nasty thing about Robert Downey Jr., as I have a lot of respect for the man and a lot of appreciation for the films he's done ... but having said that, I cannot help but express the following opinion: The trailer for his new movie looks like, well, like no Sherlock Holmes story I've ever seen. Obviously one can never judge an unfinished film by the quality of its promotional materials, but if this clip is what we can expect from the whole of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, I'm ... well, I'm still interested. But now highly skeptical. And a little shocked.

I guess my main question is this: If your goal is to make a Victorian-era action comedy, and that sounds good to me, why must it be called Sherlock Holmes? (I'd suggest Sherlock Holmes and the Deluge of Weird Changes.) I'll leave it to the experts to pick the specific nits, but I'm betting the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories didn't have quite so many gunfights, boxing matches, explosions, and crotch jokes. At this point the thing looks like Young Sherlock Holmes meets The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vs. Van Helsing: At World's End ... which, I'll admit, could still be a lot of fun.

The first trailer will be attached to Terminator: Salvation. Will we all start drooling like they did after ShoWest? I hope so. I really want this film to meet my expectations.

As we wait for an American studio to break down, and cough up the money to buy and distribute Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, some new stills have leaked out that give a hint as to why it's being labeled "too arthouse." (Not that we agree with such things here at Cinematical, obviously. There's no such thing as too arthouse in our books.)

The photos are watermarked Quick Stop Entertainment but I snagged them from the obliging CHUD, who snagged them from a Johnny Depp blog, and no one seems to know quite where they originated. (How appropriate.) The Depp blog also managed to produce a photo that includes Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, and a not-as-scary Christopher Plummer. I would almost suspect it of being fan made except that the costumes Depp & Co are sporting look right for the film.

So, as you await news of a buyer and a release date, gaze at the gallery below and wonder if you should travel to Europe where it's promised a release date. You have to hand it to Hollywood though -- you'd think every studio would be chomping at the bit to get Heath Ledger's last performance, but clearly decency (and squeamishness at the idea of "arthouse cinema") still has some sway in Tinseltown.

I know, she looks like a cross between the woman who cut your hair when you were seven and that weird chick from Taxicab Confessions, but believe it or not -- that's Jude Law, the actor, in character for the new film Rage. According to director Sally Potter, Law took on the role of Minx -- "a "celebrity super-model" [who] took on a kind of hyper-beauty for this persona... a 'female' beauty which gradually unravels as the story unfolds." Potter adds, "Strangely, the more he became a 'she', coiffed and made-up - the more naked was his performance. There was great strength in his willingness to make himself vulnerable. It was an extraordinarily intense part of the shoot."

Rage was chosen to premiere at this year's Berlin Film Festival (which is just about to start), so I'm sure we'll hear more about it real soon. Described as "a bitterly funny exposé of the inner lives of individuals working at a New York fashion house – as if shot by a schoolboy on his cellphone camera - over seven days in which an accident on the runway becomes a murder investigation.," Rage also stars Judi Dench, Steve Buscemi, Eddie Izzard, John Leguizamo and Dianne Wiest. Check out more character photos from Rage in the gallery below.



[via Filmonic via SallyPotter.com]

I'm inside the oldest church in London, tucked into a cold, creepy corner with three other online journalists, and we're sitting on wooden benches older than our grandfather's grandfather while mega-producer Joel Silver speaks right through the loud gun shots going off in the background as if they didn't even exist. Surreal? Yes. Exhilarating? Definitely. Over in the main section of the church, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) are filming a crucial scene on three cameras (before they switch to hand-held), while Guy Ritchie -- who, might I add, directs wearing a nice, sharp grey suit -- strums an acoustic guitar between shots. Even though there are roughly 40-or-so crew members lingering about, this is probably one of the more intimate sets I've ever been on. It's dusty, spooky and kinda dangerous; above me hangs a memorial stone engraved in Latin, and all I understand are the dates 1582-1616 scrolled underneath. God, this place is old.

Later on, as we stand around a set of monitors, someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn to find Joel Silver with a laptop, a pair of headphones and a smile a mile wide. Though they'd only been shooting this film for three weeks, Ritchie managed to cut together a scene and he wanted us to see it. I sit down, Silver delicately places the laptop on the table in front of me, and as the realization sets in that I'm practically the first person to view an actual scene from one of the most talked-about films of 2009, he hits play. Roughly two minutes later, I stand up, look over to Silver (who's obviously waiting for a response), and the only words that manage to escape my mouth are: "Now that's Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes!"

We'll have much more from the set of Sherlock Holmes (including interviews with Downey Jr., Jude Law, Joel Silver, Eddie Marsan and producers Susan Downey and Lionel Wigram) at a later date. The film is due in theaters on November 20, 2009.

She may have been Lost, but it looks like the redheaded Rebecca Mader has found a path and a sexy on-screen husband. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Mader is in final negotiations to play the lead female role in the super-wacky sounding Men Who Stare at Goats. That means she gets to play wife to Ewan McGregor's Bob Wilton -- a reporter in Iraq who meets a man (George Clooney) who says he's a "former secret U.S. military psychic soldier who was reactivated after 9/11." The plot is so very strange, and most likely destined to be awesome. But that's not all -- the film is also getting Stephen Lang, fresh off Avatar and Public Enemies.

In the what-if area of cinematic news: With a Ghostbusters sequel on the way, Bill Murray told MTV that he thinks a woman should be in on the action. That's not a bad idea at all, so the big question is: What funny woman out there can bring on the laughs AND kick ghostly ass? (Editor's interjection: Jenna Fischer.)

Meanwhile, the Fame cast has now come together, according to THR. Unlike star Thomas Dekker, who has made a name for himself through Terminators and Heroes, this is a big cast of unknowns -- Kristy Flores, Paul Iacono, Paul McGill, Naturi Naughton, Kay Panabaker, Kherington Payne, Collins Pennie, Walter Perez and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle. You can hit the link to find out who they're going to play, and in the meantime, wonder who Debbie Allen will be this time around. Rumor has it that she'll pop up in the film, but not as Lydia.

And Danny Glover is getting rusty. THR posts that he's headed to the future and lending his voice to Agent Crush, which you can learn all about at the film's website. He'll be Major Rusty Gibbons. And finally, a last bit of little fluff: Jude Law is growing his 'stache in preparation for Sherlock Holmes!

Usually it's not too hard to imagine what a film will be like. This is not, however, the case with Sherlock Holmes. First, it was a challenge to try and imagine just how Guy Ritchie would handle the material, even with the suggestion of a "slightly stylized 1891." Robert Downey Jr. was an intriguing choice for Mr. Holmes, and now as the bigger casting pieces begin to fall into place, I'm dying to see what Ritchie makes of it.

Jude Law IS in as Watson, and The Hollywood Reporter posts that Rachel McAdams has signed on to play Sherlock's love interest, Irene Adler. THR says the character showed up in only one story -- 1891's "A Scandal in Bohemia," but should the film become part of a series, she'll be there for the ride. As Elisabeth pointed out when Mark Strong signed on, Ritchie isn't interested right now in a sequel, but that doesn't mean the studio isn't salivating over the thought. Oh yes, and Strong, who was cast in a few roles through the rumor mill -- he'll play Blackwood, Holmes' main villain. There's some excellent talent in here, and after RocknRolla, I'm dying to see Strong go head to head with Downey Jr.

Dear readers of Cinematical, what say you? Will these four work well together, or are you hoping for a little recasting? And for more of this week's big casting news, check out the gallery below ...

Their romance in Titanic was one for the record books. Now Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are getting to canoodle once again in Revolutionary Road. The above pic is part of the poster for the film, which has popped up over at USA Today. The guy died too quickly last time, and thus we never got to see what the future had in store for Jack and Rose. So now we get Frank and April -- a young, successful couple in the '50s, who move to France and watch things crumble. Man, it's so much more hopeful when they die young. Now this whole ordeal could be sending Winslet right into the world of Erica Jong and Fear of Flying.

Yay! After waiting months for that elusive deal to finalize, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Oscilloscope Pictures has picked up Kurt Kuenne's Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father. The theatrical release will begin in New York on October 31. Go see it. Please. Don't read anything more. Just go.

In other Big Apple news, Yahoo has got a trailer up for Synecdoche, New York, which I'm dying to see. Besides growing up near Schenectady, where part of the film takes place, it's Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut. And it also has a mind-boggling, a-mazing cast.

Finally a little bit for the rumor hounds -- EW says that now Jude Law might play Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. (Not Colin Farrell or Russell Crowe.) Robert Downey Jr. and Law -- interesting... What do you think?