PaulGiamatti Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Click image below to view entire poster

Cinematical has just received this incredibly freaky exclusive poster for Cold Souls, which premiered at this past Sundance Film Festival and stars Paul Giamatti as an actor (appropriately named Paul Giamatti) who decides he wants to put some of his soul in storage in order to help better tackle a new role. Folks are already making comparisons to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich, though this isn't a Charlie Kaufman film -- it was written and directed by first-timer Sophie Barthes, and it also stars Emily Watson and David Strathairn.

Reporting for Cinematical at Sundance, James Rocchi had this to say about the film: "Cold Souls is a beautifully shot film, and it also becomes more than a little bit moving, as Giamatti struggles with a question we've all asked ourselves: Is it possible to remove the burden of our soul without taking away the benefit of it? Is it the very weight we struggle under that makes us strong? Deep questions, but Cold Souls is also funny; there are fast, laugh-out-loud gags like Giamatti's compensation anxiety over the small size of his extracted soul ("It looks like a chickpea!") or the Russian trophy wife obsessed with getting an American actor's extracted soul so she can implant it and do better Soap Opera work."

Cold Souls arrives in theaters on August 7. Click the image below to check out the entire poster (which you simply must do, because this is easily one of my favorites of the year so far).

It's been 14 years since Mordechai Richler's adult fare made it to the big screen in 1985's Joshua Then and Now. (Before that, it was 1974 with the Richard Dreyfuss-starring The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.) It's been far from a quick book-to-screen process, but all these years later, we're finally getting a little more. Canoe reports that his 1997 novel Barney's Vision is heading for the big screen, and Paul Giamatti will star.

Producer Robert Lantos has been trying to get a good script since the book came out, and he now thinks he has "a screenplay that is worthy of Richler's magnificent book," written by TV scribe Michael Konyves. In fact, by nabbing Giamatti, Lantos even got the actor he was hoping for. The project, which will be helmed by Richard J. Lewis (CSI director), follows a hard-drinking rascally man named Barney Panofsky who decides to write "the true story of my wasted life," from adventures in 1950s Paris, to money earned through a TV company called Totally Unnecessary Productions, to three different wives. But ithe tale is unreliable, and footnoted with corrections from his son.

I'm not sure how they'll deal with the textual flairs from the novel, but a satirical social commentary led by Giamatti? It's like Sideways without the wine and dumb friend. Production kicks off in Rome, Montreal, the Laurentians, and New York on August 17.

Evidently, nothing disturbs an Academy Award-nominated actor more than being offered a cameo role in a foreign-language remake of a movie in which he starred. Reportedly, Paul Giamatti was "stunned" when he was offered a small part in the Japanese remake of Alexander Payne's Sideways. "I don't know what I was going to play," the actor said, according to WENN.com. "I said no. I felt my career hasn't hit that low yet. I thought, 'What am I gonna play - the sushi chef or something?'" Giamatti was also none too pleased with the actor chosen to play Miles, the wine snob he made semi-famous: "They got a strange, little troll to play me."

We wrote about the remake last November. At the time, I noted that California wine imports in Japan had significantly increased, and also observed that a popular, wine-themed comic was credited with sending wine sales skyrocketing across Asia. A recent article in the New York Times cited those same points, and also reports the low-budget remake eliminates 'merlot bashing' while adding plugs for Napa Valley wineries, restaurants, and tourist spots. Sideways did not do much box office business in Japan; that, combined with its "international travels (and the cultural dislocations) of its main characters" made it potentially apealing to the late 30/early 40s audience the Japanese producers are targeting.

I can understand Giamatti not wanting to do a cameo role, though I don't understand why he would trash another actor for his looks. Was he joking? The actor Giamatti reportedly called "a strange, little troll" is named Fumiyo Kohinata. We've posted a publicity still from the movie down below, so you can decide for yourself; he's second from the left. Who's the troll?

Some casting news is horrendous, some is good, and just sometimes there's news that seems too good to be true -- like Alexander Payne teaming up with his best stars and making a strangely wonderful-sounding film about downsizing -- not focusing on our rich lifestyles, but rather, our stature.

Variety reports that Payne is finishing up a new script about little people called Downsizing, and he's gotten Paul Giamatti, Reese Witherspoon, and Sacha Baron Cohen to commit. What's this about? Look at the clues -- downsizing, statures, and little people. Oh yes -- Downsizing will focus on people who want to become little people. As the story goes, Giamatti and Witherspoon will play a married couple who don't have a lot of cash and figure they can lead a better retired life as little people. But then the Mrs. decides to pull out, leaving her regular-sized, and Giamatti little. Cohen slips into the mix as twins -- one is a tiny Spaniard, and the other is his normal-sized business partner (a role that might evolve as the script heads to completion).

I'll forgive the continuation of the male Hollywood fantasy (Giamatti and Witherspoon, really?), and focus on the fact that both actors excel in the world of Payne. Add to that the fact that this is NOT an animated film, but rather a movie that relies on special effects, and how can he go wrong? In a world where every fantastical story gets animated, I'm loving the idea of a live-action, special effects-laden Payne world, and just hoping Lily Tomlin gets a cameo.

Anyone else really loving this idea?

Playing himself -- or, rather, a kind-of version of himself who volunteers to have his soul removed -- in this year's Sundance Dramatic Competition entry Cold Souls (see our review here), Paul Giamatti faced some fairly unique challenges: "I kind of forgot that I was playing myself in this ... I kind of felt that (director Sophie Bart) captured, in a funny way, an archetypal type of neurotic New York self-involved actor ... I kinda forgot I was playing myself; and I don't mean that to sound disingenuous about it, but I really did. ..." Giamatti spoke with Cinematical about how much he enjoyed Shoot 'Em Up, tapping into Russian melancholy for Cold Souls through facial hair and headgear and which midnight zombie film he'd most like to catch while in Park City. ...

You can listen to the podcast here at Cinematical by clicking below:



You can also download the interview in full right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

It's inevitable Cold Souls -- with its pseudo-scientific commercialized metaphysics and actor's angst -- will be compared to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich; it's the first post-Charlie Kaufman film, where the writer-director's weird, wooly aesthetic becomes a genre unto itself. Starring Paul Giamatti as, in a blatant piece of typecasting, actor Paul Giamatti, Cold Souls begins with Giamatti rehearsing the title role in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, and it's obviously taking its toll as he plunges into sad-sack Russian angst and anomie. Giamatti's agent tips him to an article in The New Yorker, profiling a new service called "Soul Storage," wherein melancholy Manhattanites are having their souls extracted by Dr. Flintstein (David Strathairn) and held in escrow so they can live less complicated lives. Giamatti, wondering if having less soul would help him better play the part and get through the day, goes to Flintstein's office to get the details: "Your soul can be stored here ... or if you'd prefer to avoid the sales tax, it can be shipped to our storage facility in New Jersey. ..."

And again, you get the Kaufman vibe from writer-director Sophie Barthes; the dry humor, the everyday acceptance of the ludicrous, the ludicrous nature of the everyday. But while the comparisons to Eternal Sunshine and Being John Malkovich are inevitable, they're also not quite right. Eternal Sunshine was about the messy business of loving another; Cold Souls, with the equally messy proposition of living with one's self. Being John Malkovitch riffed comedy out of celebrity and stardom; Cold Souls examines sub-lebrity and acting. Cold Souls is a beautifully shot film, and it also becomes more than a little bit moving, as Giamatti struggles with a question we've all asked ourselves: Is it possible to remove the burden of our soul without taking away the benefit of it? Is it the very weight we struggle under that makes us strong?

Hey folks, just a quick heads-up regarding our Sundance coverage. The Cinematical crew (Erik Davis, Scott Weinberg, James Rocchi and Eric D. Snider) are on the ground now in Park City, picking up badges, planning our schedules, searching for parties housing free food, etc ... Over the next 10 days, here's a little taste of what you should expect from our team:

• Reviews -- As always, our expert team of film nuts will bring you a whole bunch of reviews (most of which will be full-length) of films screening here at Sundance. We'll also throw in a few themed dispatches with shorter reviews for multiple flicks.
• Interview Series -- Once again, we'll be bringing you a series of interviews in a variety of formats. We've lined up a series of fantastic audio interviews (with folks like John Krasinski, Paul Giamatti, Patton Oswalt and Antoine Fuqua, among others), and I'll also be running around with a little Flip camera; crashing parties, piecing together on-the-spot interviews with whatever celeb/filmmaker crosses my path.
• Sundance in 60 Seconds -- Every night of the festival, Cinematical's Peter Martin will provide a round-up of not only highlights from our coverage, but also tap into what other people are saying about the fest.
• Sundance Movie Posters, Trailers, Images and Clips -- Look for a whole bunch of Sundance movie posters, images, trailers and clips (some of which are exclusives) to sporadically pop up on the site each day.
• Twitter -- Myself (http://twitter.com/erikdavis), James Rocchi (http://twitter.com/jamesrocchi) and Eric D. Snider (http://twitter.com/ericdsnider) are all on Twitter and will be throwing up short bursts of brilliance throughout the fest. So feel free to follow our daily adventures over there as well.
• Moviefone -- Our main Sundance hub has gone live over at Moviefone, where you'll not only be able to check out all our shenanigans, but also coverage from our cool cousins over at indieWIRE, as well as tons of Sundance photos and more. So bookmark this page for constant Sundance updates.

Other than that, the rest of our crew will remain at home, pumping out non Sundance-related posts keeping you up to date on all the goings-on in the movie world. So dive in, have fun and let us know if you have any questions!

Reuniting after 2004's Closer, it appears that stars Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, along with Bourne writer Tony Gilroy, are all out to have a bit more fun with Duplicity; the trailer just went up over at Apple.

If anything, it comes off as more of a zippy heist film of sorts than the thriller I took it to be from the earliest synopsis on, even though corporate espionage remains the name of the game. Then again, maybe we're overdue for another Thomas Crown Affair-like outing, and between the cast (which also includes Tom Wilkinson, who was in Gilroy's Michael Clayton, and Paul Giamatti, who shared the screen with Clive in Shoot 'Em Up) and the crew, I'm pretty much sold.

(If Billy Bob Thornton is still in this, though, as Monika reported last January, he sure isn't showing up here, and IMDb remains mum.)

Duplicity opens on March 20th of next year -- about a month after Clive's bang-ier espionage efforts in The International.

If you haven't seen Bubba Ho-Tep, then stop reading this post immediately and go to your movie renting outlet of choice. If you have (and I imagine everyone on Cinematical has) then you may continue.

There has been talk of a sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep for I don't know how long. I would venture to say that we were all pretty favorable to the idea, because more Bruce Campbell is always a good thing. But then came word that Campbell wouldn't be reprising his role as Elvis Presely in Bubba Nosferatu ... and well, who wants that?

Everyone associated with Bubba Nosferatu, apparently. Last year, director Don Coscarelli said he would replace Campbell with someone equally lovable. Word has it, according to an interview Ain't It Cool News held with Paul Giamatti, that the new Elvis is none other than Ron Perlman. Says Giamatti: "Our thinking was kind of like, "Well who the hell do we find who is a really good actor and a guy who is going to fit right?" You know what I mean? It was sort of like, for a while we let the thing sit and then all of a sudden we were like 'Well, maybe we should go to Ron Perlman,' which just seemed like a great idea and he was up for it." The plan is to start shooting Bubba Nosferatu in the spring, with Giamatti still attached as Col. Parker.

Call me a Debbie Downer, but my interest in Bubba Nosferatu died when Campbell dropped out. It kills me to say it, because the plot sounds terrific and I'd love to see Giamatti as Col. Parker. But I can't see Perlman, talented as he is, as this particular Elvis. It might just be me, though, and everyone else will be happy enough to see Elvis ride again.

Above: Rainn Wilson lets his hair down for The Rocker.

Fans of Rainn Wilson's offbeat, hilarious and strangely endearing performance as Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Office might expect him to transition into film work with straightforward comedy, and The Rocker confirms that suspicion. However, they might not realize the serious professional motives behind his choice. In the movie, directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Grown Monty), Wilson plays a grown-up dolt named Fish with a scary fixation on classic rock. Abandoned by the band Vesuvius in his teens -- before they became a commercial phenomenon -- Fish spends the next twenty years working deadbeat jobs and wishing things happened differently. Naturally, he gets a second chance: When the opportunity rolls around to drum for his nephew's high school, Fish goes for it. Ageism and slapstick humor ensue.

While not exactly a classic, The Rocker proves Wilson has the charisma to carry a movie. The script could use some polishing, but Wilson manages to play a completely dysfunctional human being without ever becoming an annoyance. It's a testament to his skill as an actor with calculated timing. The humor emerges from the naturalism of his performances, which make you believe in the outlandish characters he portrays. In a conversation with Cinematical recently, Wilson elaborated on his particular strategies as his career advances, reminisced about his days as a New York theater actor, and shed some light on a few upcoming projects.