Julia Stiles Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's about time for another teen movie based on a Shakespeare play. She's the Man, which set Twelfth Night in the world of high school soccer, came out four whole years ago (literally, four years this weekend). And who knows when Catherine Hardwicke's college-set Hamlet with Emile Hirsch will be made. I'm surely not the only person spoiled by all those modernizations of the Bard starring Julia Stiles a decade ago, and there are just so many untapped works still to update. Since today is the Ides of March, let me suggest a high school movie based on Julius Caesar.

Some might say (or even make video essays on how) Mean Girls is already a loose adaptation of the tragedy and even references the play to acknowledge intended parallels. So you could say this is an unnecessary idea. But that's like arguing that we didn't need She's the Man because Just One of the Guys already existed. Okay, so maybe we really didn't. But a more literal translation of Julius Caesar is still a good idea. You could give it a student council setting, though not in a way that would make it too similar to Election. Or, if that's too obvious, set it amidst some high school sport, like both She's the Man and the Othello-based O did.

And the list of women who may or may not appear in Spider-Man 4 continues to grow. Now Nikki Finke over at Deadline Hollywood reports through her sources (who, when it comes to Marvel, seem to be pretty reliable) that producers have "approached" Anne Hathaway regarding a starring role in Spider-Man 4. It doesn't say she's been offered the role, or that she's in negotiations to take on the role, only that she's been approached.

Finke also wasn't sure which role it would be, though all signs point to it being that of Black Cat -- who, in the past couple weeks -- has seen everyone from Julia Stiles to Rachel McAdams vying for a piece of that pus ... Spidey pie. Hathaway definitely showed off her acrobatic side in last summer's Get Smart, and certainly has enough of that hottie-yet-down-to-earth sex appeal to draw Mr. Parker into a web of problematic romantic entanglements. Personally, I still like Stiles for the role, but that's me. The studio, however, probably figures they'll get more butts in the seats with Hathaway. So we'll see. Regardless, we're getting close to an official announcement. Who do you want?

Spider-Man 4 hits theaters on May 6, 2011.

A whole bunch of casting rumors have arrived online this week, pushing some, like CHUD's ever-vocal Devin Faraci, to write an editorial-ish piece on why we shouldn't really be paying too much attention to these rumors because, well, they're rumors. And while your parents may have told you that rumors come from a stork who brings them in its mouth and drops them off on your pillow, the reality of the situation is that rumors can start from just about anywhere -- whether it's something overheard by some blabbermouth low-level assistant at an agency or something that's completely fabricated for more internet traffic (I'm looking at you The Sun and The Daily Express!), these days it's really hard to tell. That being said, rumors can be fun because they foster discussion and get those inner studio exec wheels turning in our brains, so here are a few making the rounds right now.

Spider-Man 4
Who: Julia Stiles
Role: Unknown, though with recent information somewhat confirming that Black Cat will be a character, folks are assuming she tried out for that part.
Source: UGO are the ones claiming Stiles met with a casting company in New York City to discuss joining the film in some capacity.
Our Thoughts: Stiles has been in a lot of films throughout her career, though she's dabbled in the big-budgeted before playing Jason Bourne's sidekick in all three Bourne movies. Thus, she definitely brings enough bad-assery to play a Spidey villain, and also enough sincerity to play a Spidey ally. Good choice for Black Cat in my opinion.

Leave it up to the folks over at Entertainment Weekly to open up a big ol' can of worms. Basically, they asked readers to name some of the worst supporting performances of all time -- and kicked things off with a still of John Turturro (as Agent Simmons) from this summer's blockbuster hit Transformers. Funnily enough, Turturro was one thing (out of several) that I despised about Transformers. The flick was fun and entertaining, no doubt, but some stuff was just too ... annoying. And Turturro (who's usually fantastic in every role he takes on) was one of them. Checking out EW's featured gallery, I have to agree with a good majority of the performances mentioned. Let me run a few past you:

Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins is on there, as well as Ben Stiller's horrifically annoying supporting performance in Dodgeball. Adrien Grenier gets the "stale, boring and wooden" nod for The Devil Wears Prada, and Julia Stiles joins him in that category for her supporting role in the Bourne films. But the one mention that's sure to upset a few people has to go to Sofia Coppola from The Godfather: Part III. Kidding (although she is on there) -- I'm actually talking about little Emma Watson as Hermoine in the Harry Potter flicks. The person who submitted Emma says that the actress' "heavy sighs" and "eye rolling" are annoying to no end. I'm sure I can find about a trillion readers who disagree with that statement. There aren't many older films on there; I believe the oldest goes to Mickey Rooney's performance as a Japanese neighbor in Breakfast at Tiffany's. So check out the list and let us know: Are these the worst supporting performances of all time? And which roles were left off the list?

Back in April, Ryan Stewart alerted us to the twist in the new adaptation of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. Celine Rattray, of Plum Pictures, had said: "Esther Greenwood has a strong outlook on life, and we're really looking to bring out the humor in the character. We don't want to do a depressing descent into the world of suicide." Now I can sort of buy that -- not letting the story fall only into the realm of her problems. However, now they seem to be actively pushing the serious side of depression away. Julia Stiles, who will star as Esther, recently chatted with MTV and said: "I don't think it's depressing at all. It is ABOUT depression, but I think that Sylvia Plath writes with such awesome, beautiful, vivid imagery that is so perfect for film, that it's kind of a joy."

It's not depressing "at all." After a statement like that, I have little hope for the production. While there is humor in the novel, it is about depression and about all that the protagonist goes through as she suffers from it. They must be wiping out a good portion of the book if electroshock therapy and suicide attempts aren't depressing "at all." Or, will these be funny and humorous bouts of electroshock therapy, mixed in with a song and dance number? I'm getting a big Home for Purim vibe here, but I don't think this will be even half as funny as For Your Consideration. Furthermore, yes, Plath's suicide definitely influences the tone of the book, but why shouldn't it? It's loosely autobiographical, to the point that one classmate won a lawsuit for her representation in the book, so as much as her fictional self had her future open to her, Plath killed herself a month after the novel's first publication. I'm not sure why they're reacting so strongly against the serious elements of the book. It's as if they don't realize that humor and drama can work together.

Just when you thought summer was beginning to wind down, remember that there's still at least one more big-budgeted action-packed threequel gearing up to invade theaters in a couple weeks. The Bourne Ultimatum arrives on August 3, and Cinema Blend has a pretty nifty gallery of stills for you to sift through. Check out Matt Damon as he reads a book, uses a laptop, rides a motorcycle, inspects a slide thingy and, of course, runs ... fast. Fellow cast members Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Paddy Considine and Joan Allen also show up in a few shots, as the search for Jason Bourne intensifies when the man decides to return home and wag his presence in the face of those seeking him out.

Recently, Damon has gone on record saying that this will mark the last time he reprises his role as Jason Bourne, leading lots to assume that this franchise will stop at three films. Of course there's always a chance someone will change their mind and greenlight a fourth adventure, although they'll have to find someone alluring enough to fill Damon's shoes. Those interested in learning more about the film are more than welcome to check out some additional trailers and posters -- other than that, there's not much I can do for you. Will director Paul Greengrass produce a film that's on par (or even better) than the previous installment? Will Julia Stiles find a way to keep us awake this time while she delivers her lines? Will Jason Bourne finally learn his real identity -- that he's not actually an ex-CIA operative, but an ex-Burger King employee who watched way too many action films growing up? So many questions left unanswered; how will they wrap it up?

This summer seemed like the end of an era for a lot of the big franchises. Sure, some might be back, but I just don't think they'll be the same. For one of the last big summer releases, The Bourne Ultimatum, Universal has launched an online game, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It was announced that studio has teamed with Google for a promotional game with the somewhat lame title The Ultimate Search for Bourne with Google. Players try to hunt down the elusive rouge agent, and at the same time the game takes you on a tour of You Tube, Google Maps and web searches. Participants will have to answer trivia, and find random clues buried on the net to compete for the grand prize of a 2008 Touareg 2.

So far, the marketing for the movie has been pretty typical; just a few posters and a couple of trailers, and of course the Bourne game is another attempt to fully integrate the web as a way of engineering some buzz. You can't blame the studio for wanting to cash in on a little hype, especially when you consider all the hoopla over those Cloverfield sites. The highly anticipated final film -- and it turns out it will be the final one in the series -- is bringing Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, and Chris Cooper back for one last hurrah. Back in June, Jennifer had reported that instead of going back for more Bourne after this one, Damon was going to be working on the film version of Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran with Bourne director Paul Greengrass. Bourne doesn't open for a few more weeks, so if you can't wait until August 3rd and you have a way with Google, you could always take a crack at winning that car.

A couple of new posters for The Bourne Ultimatum have been released, and I like the hard edge they're going for. I've never read the Ludlum books, so I can't speak to how well the screen character measures up to the book Bourne, but I know that as far as the movies go, it's long past time for the 'confused Bourne' to give way to a Bourne that knows which end is up and can get into a full-scale war with those Treadstone guys led by Joan Allen. The buzz on this one is actually pretty good -- Paul Greengrass is back, as is Tony Gilroy, who scripted the first two films, and Tom Stoppard also had a hand in the script. As for Matt Damon, he's been going around saying that this will be the trilogy capper and there won't be any more Bourne films after it, so hopefully the series is going out with a bang.

The plot involves Bourne coming out of hiding once again to make contact with a journalist who has gotten wind of his story. The journalist has some info about Treadstone, and David Strathairn plays the bad guy who gets wind of this new development and doesn't like it one bit. Strathairn sends Pam Landy back into the fray to find Bourne and take him out. Julia Stiles is back for the third time, but I doubt she'll have a more significant role than she's had in the other two films. The film, which was shot in a large number of international locales, from Morocco to Spain to France to Germany, and all over the U.S., will be hitting theaters on August 3.

The centerpiece of Express Stops Only, a short film program playing at Tribeca, is Raving, from first-time writer/director Julia Stiles. Starring Zooey Deschanel and Bill Irwin, the film centers around two possibly dangerous Manhattan misfits who try to figure each other out and end up engaging in an uneasy friendship, of sorts. Zooey is a street scammer, hustling people for drinking money with a song and dance about how she got hooked up with bad people and was left behind all alone, in the big bad city. Irwin's character is a straight-laced man who shows up at an office every morning, swipes a card at a security station and acts outraged when it doesn't work. We never learn whether he worked there or if he's just a complete lunatic who likes to show up at office buildings and cause a scene. Stiles shows a sure hand for offbeat comedy her first time around, keeping us engaged in the interplay between the two weirdos without ever tipping her hand as to where this thing is going. There's a nice musical finale.

Say Can You See is a creepy animation short that imagines 9/11 and its aftermath through the eyes of the those high-powered binocular stations on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. With the eye-holes already in place, it's an easy transition to anthropomorphize them as sad, contemplative watchmen who have a clear line of sight to see what's going on downtown but can do nothing about it. This isn't a talky short or something aimed at children, but a music-laden art piece that transitions from rain and sadness to a milieu of rebirth as birds and sunshine begin to return to the area. I wonder if the timing is off, however -- this seems like exactly the kind of thing that could have played three or four years ago at Tribeca and been very powerful, but the intervening years drain it of some of its power to inspire emotions through such a simple presentation. Still, its an intriguing little piece that puts one in mind of why the Tribeca film festival was created in the first place.

Bourne bait Julia Stiles has signed up to play Esther Greenwood in an adaptation of Sylvia Plath's classic 1963 novel The Bell Jar. Tristine Skyler, a playwright and actress whose most prominent screen credits seem to be the Dominique Swain movie The Intern and Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows, is writing the thing, and Plum Pictures is producing it. Get a load of what Plum exec. Celine Rattray had to say about the project: "Esther Greenwood has a strong outlook on life, and we're really looking to bring out the humor in the character. We don't want to do a depressing descent into the world of suicide." Wow. You might want to back up and read that again. This is a book about a woman (loosely based on Plath herself) whose struggle with clinical depression is so overwhelming that it drives her to madness and leads her to be subjected to gruesome, primitive shock therapy treatments. Throughout the course of the book, she attempts suicide several times. And they're going to turn it into, what, Mrs. Doubtfire?

The producers hope to get the project going next year, and no other cast members have been signed as of yet. Stiles will serve as a producer of the film, along with Rattray, Daniela Taplin Lundberg and Galt Niederhoffer. The story also notes that Stiles has been trying to bring this book to the screen for several years, but why? Here's hoping that either Variety or Rattray got it wrong about the whole "uplifting" angle, which is so laughable that I'm sure the Plath estate will go bananas when they catch wind of it. The last big-screen adaptation of The Bell Jar was back in 1979.