alan rickman Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Most of the time when you interview a director, you're talking with them about their latest film; interviewing Mike Binder about The Search for John Gissing, a comedy about corporate backstabbing as an American executive (Binder) arrives with his reluctant wife (Janeane Garofalo) in London to smooth over a multinational merger with soon-to-be-outcast fellow executive John Gissing (Alan Rickman) sabotaging his every move, is a different story. It's not a recent film -- it was shot in early 2001, before Binder released The Upside of Anger or Reign Over Me -- but it's just coming to DVD now; the other thing is that The Search for John Gissing is, in fact, Binder's movie -- he's releasing it himself, selling it via the website www.thefreebird.com, and doing so without any studio involvement. Binder spoke with Cinematical about making The Search for John Gissing, working with star Alan Rickman, The Search for John Gissing's long road to release and his dream of what he calls "a big-ass pipeline" that gets his movies directly into the hands of fans.

Cinematical: The Search for John Gissing has taken a little while to get out there; let's talk about that gap between the making of the film and it being available.

Mike Binder: Well, it's a long story, but what happened was: I made the movie, and I cobbled together the money – I put up a lot of my own money, and some family and friends money, and I really just made it on the cheap. And we started playing it, and we got in a lot of festivals, and it played really well to audiences – but the only deals we could get were from people who wanted to own it. Forever. For doing nothing. And I also started, it was the type of thing where I felt, 'Boy, if I could go back in there for two more weeks, I could really open this up a little, do a little more work to it." So I thought I was going to do that, and I did some re-writing, and I was going to do two more weeks of shooting., and then I started doing The Mind of the Married Man; and then I started planning to the other two weeks of shooting, and I got the second series of The Mind of the Married Man, so I didn't do it then ... And then I went into The Upside of Anger, and it became too long, you know? And I owned it, and had lost all this money on it ... and I ultimately sat down one day and re-wrote the whole script. And I called it The Multinationals and really started over, and I thought "Okay, I want to do this without me and without Janeane (Garofalo) and maybe still with Rickman; I want to re-cast it and start over." And when I went back to the people who wanted to buy it, they wanted the rights, to do that, and I couldn't give those rights away. ...

Cinematical: Couldn't or wouldn't?

Too bad for fans of the book Judgement of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tastings That Revolutionized Wine. Its adaptation might be overshadowed in the same way that Infamous was overshadowed by Capote. Of the dueling films about the 1976 Paris Tastings, Bottle Shock seems to be taking the lead. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film begins shooting August 1 and it has just announced its principal cast. Meanwhile, I haven't heard much about Judgement in six months, despite the fact that it is supposedly the 'official' film about the event and had originally appeared to have the higher profile. However, according to Decanter.com, which has been following the clashing projects, Judgement producers Elizabeth Fowler and Clark Peterson are looking into suing the makers of Bottle Shock. So, maybe it is still too early to tell which film will hit theaters first.

Bottle Shock is not based on any book, but the project was commissioned by Jim and Bo Barrett, who own the Napa property Chateau Montelena. Montelena surprised many by coming in first in the blind Chardonnay tasting in 1976, which really put California vineyards on the map. The film will feature a varied ensemble of actors, including Bill Pullman as the owner of Montelena and Chris Pine as his son, who saves the winery by entering it into the tasting event. Alan Rickman has been cast as Steven Spurrier, the English wine merchant who organized the event, though his character could have a different name if Fowler and Peterson do in fact own all rights to the man's life story. Also in the cast are Elisha Eliza Dushku, who will play a bartender, and Transformers' Rachael Taylor, who will play an intern at the winery. The original script for Bottle Shock, by Ross Schwartz, has been rewritten by Randall M. Miller and Jody Savin, and Miller will be directing the film.

It seems like an eternity since I first saw Snow Cake, starring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2006. Finally, the film is actually opening. The film played heavily on the film fest ciricuit last year, opening at Berlin, then hitting a few more international fests before wending its way across the Atlantic to Tribeca, then meandering along to Seattle, Shanghai, Edinburgh and Toronto.

The film stars Rickman (who, I'm starting to think, couldn't turn in a bad performance if he tried) as Alex Hughes, a sullen man with a mysterious past who meets Vivienne (Emily Hampshire), a young hitchhiker, at a truck stop diner, and surprises himself by agreeing to give her a ride to Wawa, Ontario, where she's heading to visit her mother. A tragic car crash kills Vivienne just as they're starting out, leaving the traumatized Alan to deliver the news of her daughter's death to her mother, Linda ( Weaver). As it turns out, Linda is autistic, and doesn't handle the news of Vivienne's death quite the way Alex expected, and he ends up being drawn inexorably into Linda's life. Carrie-Ann Moss has a nice turn as the sexy next door neighbor.

As an enormous fan of both Tim Burton and musicals, I can't wait for Sweeney Todd. Coming to theaters this holiday season, Todd is an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical thriller about "the demon barber of Fleet Street." Aside from Burton's involvement, the most exciting aspect about this movie is the cast. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Alan Rickman are just a few of the names attached, and Dreamworks has confirmed that "All the stars will do their own singing from Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics." When I reported on the film a few months ago, I mentioned that Burton regular Christopher Lee was a part of the cast. He was to play a "Gentleman Ghost," a character not in the original show. Sad news -- the "Gentleman Ghost" has now been cut from the film, along with several other characters.

The worst part is that the scenes were cut before reaching the shooting stage, so all of the Lee fans won't get to enjoy them on a future DVD release. Says Lee, "It would have been worse if I had done the scenes, but I never got to film them. It's a shame as the lyrics were wonderful, but these things happen." This would have marked Lee's fourth collaboration with Burton -- the others being Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride. Todd tells the story of "a wrongfully imprisoned barber in Victorian England who sets out to seek revenge on the judge who imprisoned him." "I've always wanted to do a musical and Sweeney Todd is my favorite," says Burton. "Stephen's blend of humor, horror and emotion is something that has always connected with me." Sondheim shares the admiration, saying "I'm excited as well as confident that it will be a first-rate and startling movie." Sweeney Todd will get a limited release on December 21st, presumably for Oscar consideration. It goes wide on January 11th, 2008.

Despite rumors about delays, Dreamworks has given Sweeney Todd an official release date of December 21st, 2007. And really, what better time than Christmas for a story of grisly murders, revenge, and meat pies? Sometimes a release date is just a release date, but when a film with this pedigree is placed into theaters at that time of year, odds are it's angling for some little gold statues. Here's hoping it warrants them! The film stars Johnny Depp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Laura Michelle Kelly, Christopher Lee, Timothy Spall, and Anthony Stewart Head of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) is adapting Stephen Sondheim's beloved "musical thriller" for the big screen.

The story of Sweeney Todd has been filmed many times before, the most well-known probably being a 1982 televised version of the stage play, starring Angela Lansbury. I saw the most recent stage revival of the show on Broadway, and was pretty impressed. I'm eager to see Burton's take on it. Sweeney Todd is an extremely icky, pitch-black affair, and I couldn't imagine a better pairing of director with material. The show's blend of dark humor and grisly thrills fits squarely into Burton's Sleepy Hollow wheelhouse. Sweeney marks the sixth time Depp and Burton have worked together. Their collaborations have brought us three truly excellent films: Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and Sleepy Hollow, as well as the pretty cool Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride, for which Depp provided a voice. I can't wait to see where this new one ranks. I don't know about you, but hearing Borat, Donnie Brasco, and Hans Gruber sing sounds like a pretty sweet Christmas present to me.

Oh, and if you want to see what Mr. Depp will look like as "the demon barber of fleet street," head here. Looks like he's got kind of a Cruella DeVille thing going on with the hair.

More people have signed on to star in more movies. Check it out:

• Even though Idlewild wasn't received as warmly as he would have liked, that's not stopping Outkast's André Benjamin from seeking out additional material. The actor-musician is in final negotiations to star alongside Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson in Semi-Pro -- ya know, the Ferrell basketball flick we've mentioned before. Benjamin would join Harrelson as a player on the fictional ABA team (Flint, Michigan Tropics) that Ferrell coaches. How will this one stack up against Ferrell's other sports-related comedies? Well, Jon Heder isn't it -- so it's definitely got that going for it.
• So I'm kind of digging the cast of Sweeney Todd so far, what with Johnny Depp, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter already attached to star. Though I missed the staged musical version when it was on Broadway, the premise seems tasty enough -- and I'm certainly looking forward to Tim Burton's take on the movie-musical genre. Add to that the recent signing of Alan Rickman (who is set to play Judge Turpin, the man responsible for throwing Todd in prison causing him to lose his family and return for revenge) and we may have a gem in the making. Rickman is always great as the villain -- in my opinion, I wouldn't mind watching him star as the bad guy in every film. Can we make that happen? Please?
• What's up with this film Finding Amanda? Matthew Broderick plays an alcoholic gambler who's also a television producer, and he must travel to Las Vegas in order to convince his niece, a stripper-hooker, to go into rehab? Are they serious? It's like Leaving Las Vegas, only with Ferris Bueller. Needless to say, the filmmakers have finally found their Amanda -- and it's not Evan Rachel Wood, as previously reported. Brittany Snow (John Tucker Must Die) has, instead, decided to take on the role. And you know what rhymes with 'snow,' right? Pic begins shooting early next month in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait Diane Arbus opens today in limited release, and I have to wonder how many people have even heard of it. I hadn't really planned on seeing Fur at Telluride; at least, it wasn't on my radar as a "must see" film. Then I heard so many people buzzing about it, I decided to add it to my schedule at the last minute. It was one of those polarizing films with very little middle ground: People were either very Pro-Fur or very Anti-Fur -- so I had to see it. About a third of the way into the film, I was thinking to myself, "This film is not going to play well to mainstream movie audiences, but I love it." Then again, I'm the sort of filmgoer who actually likes weird. I enjoy having my expectations turned on their ear, and Fur definitely does that.

Another upcoming artsy film that leans sharply toward the bizarre is Perfume: Story of a Murderer. I caught a screening of Perfume, helmed by Run, Lola, Run director Tom Tykwer, the other night. Perfume opens in limited release at the end of December, with a wider release slated for January. Like Fur, Perfume is a dark, almost hallucinatory film with the air of a fable about it. I thought when I saw Fur that I'd seen the most curious film I was likely to see all year; Perfume managed to surpass it -- in a really good way.

In a recent interview with IESB, Fox chairman Tom Rothman had a few things to say about some very big upcoming films. I'm talking Eragon, Wolverine, Magneto, Fantastic Four 2 and the main focus of this week's Poll, Live Free or Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4). Last week, Justin Long was officially announced as John McClane's (Bruce Willis) newest sidekick in the fourth installment -- a computer hacker brought on to assist McClane in tracking down and defeating a group of cyber terrorists.

However, while production has already begun (check out these brand new set pics), we still don't know who will play the main villain. In my opinion, the Die Hard films are defined by their baddie, with Alan Rickman by far my personal favorite thus far (Jeremy Irons was okay in Vengeance -- a little bland for my taste, but still pretty decent). In the interview, Rothman admits casting for the franchise's next bad guy is just about done, with an announcement expected within a week or two. He notes the actor in question is American and says, "... it's a very cool piece of casting. Very cool and contemporary." Great, now I'm just dying to know who it is. Cool? Contemporary? American? You think it's a woman? An alien? Freddy Prinze Jr.?

So, I ask you: If you had final say, who would square off against John McClane? And, based on the info Rothman gives us, who do you think they're targeting?

I posted several months ago about the first, tension-filled teaser for Tom Tykwer's Perfume. For those of you who, understandably, haven't been following along, the movie is based on a German novel (For what it's worth, it's been "hailed as one of the most influential works of German literature in the past two decades" -- are you suitably impressed?) about a guy with the earth's best sense of smell but also, sadly, no personal aroma whatsoever. Ah, irony. He becomes obsessed with bottling the scent of a virgin and, while it's unclear whether he's got a specific virgin in his sights or is after a more general smell, the trailer makes it clear that some of the ladies don't live through the extraction process. (Of course, given that the novel's full title is Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, the deaths aren't exactly shocking.)

Though the movie doesn't come out in Germany until September, the first full trailer has emerged and, despite the fact that I understand not one word (it's in German, you see), it retains the eerie intensity of that early teaser, and does nothing to reduce my (fearful) eagerness to see the film. There's a lot more to see here than in the teaser -- we get a greater sense of the supporting characters (including Dustin Hoffman, who I think plays a non-violent perfumer, and Alan Rickman, who seems to be involved with one of the unlucky ladies, and looks very funny in a period wig), as well as further confirmation that the movie is going to be creepy as hell (was that a girl in a life-sized test tube?).

Perfume comes out in the US in December.

[via AICN]

According to Production Weekly, the great Alan Rickman will star alongside Kristin Scott Thomas in a screen adaptation of Piers Paul Read's psychological drama, The Villa Golitsyn. The novel sounds incredibly complex and warped, which is just the sort of thing you might expect from director Peter Medak on his best days (The Krays being the shining example of those times). Apparently Rickman's character, Willy Ludley (Yikes. Is any man on earth less fitted to the name "Willy" than Rickman?) is drinking himself to death with his lovely wife (Priscilla, played by Thomas) by his side. He also might be some sort of war criminal, which is what old pal Simon (not yet cast) has come to find out. The three are joint in the Ludleys' French villa by an assortment of other characters, "and as events lead to a startling and incredible revelation, there is nothing that any of them can do to avert the awaiting tragedy." Great, yet another book I'm going to buy because of this job.

The movie will have a two-month shoot this summer, starting in June, and will hopefully show up in theaters on this side of the ocean sometime in early 2007.