KevinCostner Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Cinematical Seven: Ultimate Movie Cops
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Drama », Cinematical Seven »
With this weekend's release of Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest -- his return to the cops-and-corruption turf that turned Training Day into a success (well, with a little help from Denzel) -- it seems that right about now would be as good a time as any for our Cinematical Seven series to take a look at our favorite on-screen boys in blue.
This would usually be the point where I confess as to whichever supposedly classic titles in the running I haven't seen and have already shamed myself for not including. Well, in this case, I was able to drum up more than enough candidates, so unless you happen to share an overwhelming fondness for the likes of Prince of the City or Cop Land, this list shouldn't seem too blasphemous. (Your comments and input remain welcome as always.)
Kevin Costner to Direct & Star in WWII Action-Adventure
Filed under: Action », Casting », Deals », Scripts », War »
Kevin Costner is gearing up for his next directorial gig. It all started with his wholly impressive debut with the Civil War era Dances with Wolves, which earned a whopping seven Oscars in 1990, and then the less-impressive follow-ups where he delivered mail in a post-apocalyptic world and protected cattle in the Old West. Now, however, he's headed for a little small-scale conflict on the backdrop of World War II.Variety reports that Costner's next directorial and star vehicle will be the action-adventure film A Little War of Our Own, written by Dan Gordon. (Not to be confused with the Civil War book of the same name.) In it, he'll play a sheriff who tries to keep "a town from exploding into violence" during WWII. It sounds like some small-stateside story rather than your typical war piece, but the film's other lead is a German U-boat commander, so your guess is as good as mine as to how a sheriff and U-boat dude fit together.
Costner and producer Armyan Bernstein are currently casting the film, and are planning to get things going this fall. Bernstein says: "This has been a dream project for Kevin and I for years. The themes are timeless -- war, peace, and reconciliation." Could this dream project bring Costner back to his initial directorial fame? Let's hope so. We don't need another Postman.
Sundance Review: The Company Men
Filed under: Drama », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews »
Essentially a horror film for the white-collar workers over 50, The Company Men follows three suits (Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper) trying to come to terms with widespread downsizing at their company. Relatable (especially during these tough economic times), yes, but only for those who can relate to people who make well over six figures a year, live in beautiful mansions, fly around in private jets and belong to the most prestigious of country club golf courses. The film does touch on the depressing blue-collar lifestyle as well (so if you're making under a hundred grand a year, there's your "in"), and by the time we're handed an overall message that it's not what you do, but who you do it for, The Company Men breezes past its finish line with relative ease before leaving its audience to call home to say I love you.
It's not really important to know who held which job, just know that there's a chain of command at the billion-dollar global shipping company GTX and Bobby Walker (Affleck) is at the bottom of a group of managers who's first to be let go. Cocky, arrogant and convinced he'll land a new job within hours, Walker slowly heads down a grim path that eventually downgrades his upper middle class lifestyle significantly when it becomes impossible for him to land another gig. But with guidance from his loving wife (Rosemarie DeWitt) and a ball-busting brother-in-law (Kevin Costner in a scene-stealing performance), Walker rebounds enough to straighten out his priorities and become the film's most redeeming character.
As far as everyone else goes ... well, there's always stock options ... right?
The Top 10+ Sundance Movies to Watch
Filed under: Sundance »
Sundance is so close you can almost smell the slush-stained Uggs. Even if you can't make it to Park City - although you can watch some of the Sundance features on VOD! - we've cobbled together a handy guide to the movies that look the most interesting, have the most buzz, and are the most drool-worthy for us film nerds. For all your Sundance needs, you can hit up any of Cinematical's conveniently tagged articles here.
HOWL
Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Stars: James Franco, Mary-Louise Parker, Jon Hamm, Jeff Daniels, David Strathairn
This might be one of the hottest tickets at Sundance. Jam-packed with big names, including that body-pillow loving rapscallion Franco, HOWL zeroes in on one of America's most famous poets, Allen Ginsberg. With episodes from the poet's early life and his blossoming as a poety, from the trial itself, to the dramas he faced afterward, the story of HOWL sounds engrossing and illuminating. Plus, director/producer Gus Van Sant (Milk, Paranoid Park) is one of the exec producers.
What Are Your Favorite Movie Speeches?
Filed under: Fandom », Lists », Trailers and Clips »
If you spend any time with me, then you will quickly learn that I love movie dialogue. I memorize it, I quote it, and I'm sure I'm more than a little annoying as a result. But I don't care, because while some of us might go to the movies to see mind-blowing special effects, and others to see their favorite stars, for me it's all about the words -- which I guess shouldn't come as a surprise considering my line of work. Unfortunately in our fancy-schmancy Event Movie world, filmmakers sometimes forget how important the dialogue can be, and when it comes to letting your actor shine, there is nothing that can showcase their skill and talent like a well written monologue or speech.
So you might be wondering how I got on this tangent in the first place. Well, I recently stumbled across the website American Rhetoric, and before you knew it I had spent an hour reading some of my absolute favorite monologues and speeches from the movies. Usually when people talk about classic movie speeches, it tends to be the kind of speech that will accompany an epic like Patton, Malcolm X, or even Braveheart. But, 'prestige' films aren't the only source of great movie speeches. So I started to think about my most loved movie speeches, and like any movie fan with a need for hierarchies, I decided to put together a list.
After the jump: my top five (in no particular order), and your nominations for favorite movie speeches...
Sundance Primer: The Company Men
Filed under: Drama », Sundance », Festival Reports »
One of the more high profile films premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival is The Company Men, written and directed by John Wells, and starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Chris Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones and Maria Bello, among others. Throughout his very successful career writing, producing and directing for television, John Wells has won six Emmy Awards (most notably for his work on The West Wing) and he's been nominated over 30 times for a wide range of awards. While he's produced a number of films over the years (Motherhood, Gigantic and I'm Not There, to name a few recent ones) and scripted films like 2008's Invisible Man, The Company Men marks Wells' first time behind the camera on a feature film.
Cinematical briefly chatted up Wells as part of our exclusive Sundance Primer series in an effort to learn a little more about the film before it screens in the Premieres section at Sundance next week. (Additionally, you can check out the newly released trailer after the jump.)
Cinematical: Give us the "dude on the street" description of your film.
John Wells: What happens to three men in the year after they're fired from their jobs working for a major corporation, with Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper and Kevin Costner.
'Bodyguard' Remake with Rihanna and Channing Tatum?
Filed under: Drama », Romance », Casting », Deals », RumorMonger », Fandom », Newsstand »
I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried, folks. Not long after singer Rihanna was manhandled and beaten by her boyfriend (and fellow recording artist) Chris Brown comes word the gal may star in a remake of The Bodyguard, which originally starred Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner -- and will always be remembered for a crazy popular soundtrack that included Houston hits like "I Will Always Love You", "I Have Nothing" and "I'm Every Woman". The New York Daily News reports that Rihanna was in New York over the weekend taking meetings for the film (and a Charlie's Angels sequel, apparently), and that Channing Tatum's name is being tossed around with regards to the Costner role.
The original 1992 film told of a pop singer (Houston) who hires a bodyguard (Costner) after receiving threatening notes. Eventually the two forge a friendship, then a romance, and Houston belts out a few memorable tunes all while dodging the pitfalls of fame. After Rihanna's much-publicized domestic dispute with Brown, I've heard folks compare the singer to early Whitney, and so not only would this remake take in a boatload of money from the Step Up crowd, but it'd also be a little strange and true-to-life. I wonder if they'd add a "jealous, hot-tempered boyfriend" to the mix, and really go for that ripped-from-the-headlines vibe. What do you think? Is it time for someone to remake The Bodyguard? Would it be hard to remake a film known more for its soundtrack than anything else? And should they throw Chris Brown a cameo for the hell of it?
Review: Swing Vote
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Disney », Theatrical Reviews », Politics »
It must be a horrible, wonderful thing to be a movie star in this modern age -- rewarded and yet tightly caged by the public's perception of you. Stay within the expectations of the ticket-buying public, and you're likely (or, more accurately, more likely) to not fall off the public's radar; at the same time, that gilded cage must, at some point, feel more and more like a prison. I mention this in talking about Swing Vote because Kevin Costner manages a somewhat nifty trick in his performance as Bud Johnston, a New Mexico ne'er-do-well who, thanks to a close-fought election and a voting machine error, gets to pick the next president. Oh, sure, we all do that on voting day -- but, due to a electoral college tie and a tie in New Mexico, it turns out Bud's vote will be the deciding one. For, well, everyone. Before this is established by Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern's screenplay, though, we get a sense of Bud -- and, at first, Bud seems like another in a long line of Kevin Costner likable rascals from Bull Durham's Crash Davis to Tin Cup's Roy MacAvoy. But Bud is something more interesting -- a man whose charm can't quite cover up the holes in his soul. Bud's a drunkard. Bud's lazy. And if it weren't for his daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll), Bud would be even more adrift and frayed. Early, Bud tells his civic-minded daughter that " ... voting doesn't count for a goddamn thing." Bud's the kind of guy who's wrong a lot -- and he knows it -- but, thanks to the gentle contortions of Swing Vote's plot, never more so than now.
Discuss: Do Real Media Celebrities Make Sense in Fiction?
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Casting », New Releases », Celebrities and Controversy », Politics »
The basic scenario behind Swing Vote makes for an easy pitch: An average American (Kevin Costner) winds up in the position of casting the deciding vote in a presidential election. Both candidates (played by Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper) fly into town and try to woo him. It's a simple premise clearly aimed at exploring the various quirks of the political process. However, although it is quite a fantastical situation, the filmmakers have put quite an effort into incorporating at least one element from the real world: News anchors. Countless movies have asked Jay Leno and his fellow late night brethren to make cameos on TV joking about this or that bit of plot to add a sense of realism, but Swing Vote brings a slightly different set of rules to the table: The presidential candidates are clearly fictional (and Grammer, the Republican candidate, doesn't have many Bush-like qualities), while the news anchors, for the most part, play themselves. If you ask me, something doesn't quite add up here. Chris Matthews blares into the camera about the ramifications of the election snafu. Tucker Carlson follows suit. Larry King delivers his trademark monotone. And Arianna Huffington gets a full-blown monologue. How is it that all these people can play themselves in a world with a completely different president, one virtually devoid (as far as we can tell) of modern talking points like the Iraq War and the beleaguered economy? It's almost as if they've been imported from another dimension.
Video Fix: Funny 'Swing Vote' Campaign Commercials
Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Trailers and Clips »
With the film Swing Vote arriving in theaters this Friday, a small viral campaign has hit The Tube -- featuring a number of smear ads from both men running for president in the flick. See, Swing Vote stars Kevin Costner as a dude who, thanks to his pesky 12-year-old kid, winds up as having the final say in a presidential election between Donald Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper) and President Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammer). That said, those two men have both created YouTube channels, and while there are some live-action shenanigans posted from a couple months ago, the latest smear ads (posted late last week) are pretty damn funny. Check out the one up top, then make your way to Greenleaf's Page or Boone's Page. Enjoy.
[via The Hot Blog]
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