david o. russell Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Real or Fake: The Matt Damon 'Entourage' Freak Out
Filed under: Fandom », Trailers and Clips »
First there was David O. Russell's much-publicized on-set freak out, and then it was Christian Bale all but tearing a cinematographer in half. Now a video has surfaced featuring Matt Damon directing Adrian Grenier in what looks to be a PSA for a site called One by One, which does exist and (thanks to commenter Corey for pointing this out) is apparently an organization that helps children in poverty from around the world. Matt Damon is the company's spokesperson.
So Grenier has, like, five lines to deliver, but he keeps stumbling over his words and pissing Damon off. Meanwhile, Jeremy Piven (who looks like he's either in his full-on Ari Gold character or just stepped off the set of Entourage) is frantically pacing behind Damon as he continually corrects and eventually goes off on Grenier. Piven doesn't say a word, so it's tough to say, yes, he is in character as Ari Gold -- though he does look to be acting as if he were Grenier's agent. That being said, Damon refers to Grenier by his real name and not Vince (though at one point Grenier asks if he should talk as Vince), so who knows what the hell is going on here.
I personally think they're filming something for an upcoming Entourage episode and decided to have a little fun at the same time by throwing together this little viral video. Either way it's pretty hilarious, and I wish it went on a drop longer so we could really watch cameo king Matt Damon freak out hardcore.
Watch the NSFW, foul-mouthed video after the jump, and you decide: is it real or is it fake?
Amy Adams is a 'Fighter' with Bale, Wahlberg
Filed under: Casting », Paramount »
Hot Hollywood star Amy Adams is negotiating to star in The Fighter, along with Terminator Salvation's Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg. David O. Russell is directing the biopic of the boxer "Irish" Micky Ward, which will call for Marky Mark to dust off his tough-guy Boston accent and don boxing gloves to fight his way to the championships with help from his trainer and brother Dick Eklund, who will be played by Bale. Multiple Oscar nominee Adams will be playing Ward's love interest, a tough-talkin' bartender in Lowell, MA.The Fighter, which will be distributed domestically by Paramount, is supposed to begin filming this summer, although with Russell's track record, whether that will really happen is anyone's guess. The project has been through several incarnations, which you can read about here, and Russell is infamous for his on-set outbursts, as is Bale. Russell's last project, Nailed, is in a holding pattern indefinitely.
So will The Fighter make it to the ring? Will Bale and Russell have a shouting match that will find its way to YouTube? Will Mark Wahlberg say "how's your mother?" And will Amy Adams, star of the upcoming Ephron flick Julie & Julia, be totally awesome? I'm voting yes on all counts!
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
'Nailed' is Still Nailed
Filed under: Comedy », Celebrities and Controversy »
When David O. Russell started piling on the projects, I thought that meant that Nailed was completed, that all of those money woes and stoppages hadn't ruined the film ... but it looks like they did, unless some magical fairy flies over and fixes things. In a chat with the Orlando Sentinel, Jessica Biel said: "I had an incredible experience with David and the rest of the cast. It made me a better actor. For all that, I'm devastated that it's not finished and who knows when it will be and will come out. I still have my fingers crossed that something good will come of it, that it will be finished."That doesn't sound entirely bad, like maybe Russell just hasn't finished it yet, but The Playlist quashes those hopes, saying: "the film is, according to one of our sources, unfinished, missing key scenes and has been basically abandoned by the principle post-production players. " So much for supposedly finishing production.
While I've been digging the work Russell is moving towards, I'd give it all up for a little Nailed. Biel as a waitress who gets shot in the head with a nail, gets plagued with wild sex urges, goes on a crusade for victims of bizarre injuries, and falls for a congressman? It's Russell brilliance and it's got to hit the screen. Anyone out there know a fairy, genie, or other successful wish granter?
[via Movieline]
Wait... What?! Christian Bale and David O. Russell Join 'The Fighter'!
Filed under: Drama », Sports », Casting », Deals »
While The Fighter might sound like it could have a fighting chance, bad luck has plagued the project for a while. Back in 2007, Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon were attached, and Darren Aronofsky had signed on to direct. Then Damon dropped out, and Brad Pitt signed on. Then Pitt dropped out. Then Aronofsky.When a light-haired beau and funky director leave, the studio must find replacements! Variety reports that Christian Bale and David O. Russell are in negotiations to join The Fighter, and offer another manly trio for Mark Wahlberg, who is still pumped and ready to fight. This will, of course, be the third feature for the manic director and Wahlberg, who previously worked on Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees, and O. Russell's second mainstream grab in a row (there's also that romantic comedy).
Should things go well from here, production will begin in July on the Rocky-esque story of Boston fighter "Irish" Mickey Ward. Wahlberg will play Ward, while Bale will take Dicky Ecklund -- the brother who once decked Sugar Ray, got involved with drugs and crime, cleaned up in jail, and then helped his brother do what he couldn't.
Yes, it sounds like the typical sports drama, but I can't help but have high hopes for anything that reunites Mark and David, and mixes Bale into the O. Russell world. Now if only we could get Bale into something strange and darkly comic again...
David O. Russell Signs on for a RomCom?!
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Deals », Scripts »
Our favorite hot-head filmmaker is clearly in a world of his own, and it looks like that's true not only of David O. Russell's films, but also his career path. He struggled to get Nailed finished in the face of increasing money woes, then the economy tanks, and he starts lining up the projects. One person's meltdown is the next's yellow brick road? First there was The Grackle. Then there was The Silver Linings Playbook. And now -- a romcom.Variety reports that the Huckabees director has signed on to helm a new romantic comedy called Aaron and Sarah for Fox 2000. Surprisingly, this doesn't sound like his usual quirky fare. The feature will focus on a nerdy guy and a popular girl in high school. They meet as freshman, and over the course of "four years of high school, four proms and one funeral, become friends and eventually fall in love." Move over Four Weddings and a Funeral!
But wait, this Chad Gomez Creasey and Dara Resnik Creasey-penned script isn't new, it's just got a new name. It used to be called B.F.F., which we previously wrote about here and here. You might remember, as that second link explains, that this used to be in the hands of Sydney White and George Lucas in Love helmer Joe Nussbaum. I imagine he left when Fox 2000 picked up the script from Rogue last year.
But Russell doing a teen romcom ... this could be very, very good.
David O. Russell to Adapt 'Playbook' for Weinsteins
Filed under: Comedy », Deals », Scripts »
While he might have gotten nailed on Nailed, David O. Russell is going with a whole different company for his next feature, one that should make for less money-woed filmmaking. Variety reports that the wonderfully manic Russell is teaming up with the Weinsteins to bring Matthew Quick's The Silver Linings Playbook to the big screen -- as both writer and director.If ever there was a project to attach him to, this would be it. The book focuses on a former high school history teacher named Pat Peoples who has been sent to his mother's after four years in a mental institution. He thinks he's been gone only a few months, and attempts to get his wife back by trying to become the man she always wanted. In the midst of all this, he makes friends with a mentally unstable woman, one who silently trails him during his daily run. I can already see the scene -- a sped up version of the existential and nihilistic detectives following Markovski in Huckabees, and that's enough to fill me with eager impatience.
This is just the sort of quirk Russell excells at, and it should prove to be a more interesting partnership and cinematic outing than the last Weinstein/Russell project, Flirting with Disaster. And better yet, since there probably won't be any money woes, the director's mind will be free to worry about other things. Like oh, his actors, which can inspired him to pitch another wonderful sh*t fit for all to see!
Will David O. Russell Have Better Luck with 'The Grackle'?
Filed under: Comedy », Deals »
I think David O. Russell is a masochist.He stirs up drama on set that makes shooting tense, but even more to the point: After spending much of the last year with the struggle to get Nailed shot, he's going for a project that's been in limbo for two years. The Hollywood Reporter posts that the director is in negotiations to helm The Grackle. If you have a really good memory and have been following Cinematical closely for the last few years, you might remember when the project got cooking with Matthew McConaughey in June of 2006.
First described as a film about "a Southern jack-of-all-trades hired 'by those who have trouble fighting for themselves,'" Grackle is now being described as a "New Orleans-set comedy [that] centers on a barroom fighter who helps clients settle legal disputes with his fists." Well, if anyone can make a weird premise like that into an great movie, it would be Russell. He might be hot-headed and argumentative, but the guy knows how to make excellent films.
But will it get off the ground this time?
'Nailed' Gets Nailed Yet Again
Filed under: Comedy », Celebrities and Controversy »
I'm very sad to say that it's not looking good for Nailed. ... again ...After a slew of shutdowns and a whole heap of monetary problems, it looked like David O. Russell's strange comedy was on the up and up. Earlier this month, the production struck a deal with Comerica Bank, and things seemed to be back on track, at least, until filming shot and post-production began.
Still, just two days shy of wrapping principal photography, Variety reports that the production has once again been halted. Some "below-the-line" crews refused to work on Friday when they weren't paid and IATSE told them not to show up. I guess Comerica didn't fork over enough cash. However, a Variety source says that the hope is to finish up the last two days this week, which includes "a key restaurant scene." I'm not sure where they're getting the cash for the final two days, but I hope they find it.
So, should things go smoothly this week, we can expect the filming to be wrapped, and then we can look forward to a long line of post-production money troubles. I just hope we get to see it in the end.
Nailed's Coffin Isn't Nailed Yet
Filed under: Comedy », Deals », Politics »
When it's a regular, run of the mill movie, I don't mind so much if it hits the dust before hitting the screen and the shelves. Sure, it's unfortunate to miss an interesting role, or see what a director had in mind, but there's enough similar fare out there that you can pop in another movie and likely get similar results. However, when the movie is truly strange and piques your interest from the get-go, the thought of never seeing it can be impatiently infuriating.Luckily, Nailed hasn't reached that stage quite yet, no matter how many problems it's plagued with. The Hollywood Reporter says that the political comedy is resuming production today (yay!), after securing "a late-breaking financing deal with Comerica Bank and the film's financier, Capitol Films." Unfortunately, that doesn't mean the production is out of the woods yet. The film has to continue and finish production by June 22, or it loses its stars, but even then, it needs to make it through post and then get distributed.
God, I hope they pull this all together. David O. Russell makes great films and I just don't think we'll have another chance any time soon to see the story of a waitress who gets a nail to the head and becomes a saucy deviant who heads to DC to fight for her cause.
'Nailed" Shut Down Again Due To Financial Woes
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », RumorMonger », Celebrities and Controversy »
Nailed is one film that is not going to catch a break. It was already shut down once by SAG because the movie's funding had not set enough money aside for the actors. That was cleared up, only to have it shut down a second time when IATSE members (solid, behind-the-scenes people like stagehands and technicians) revealed they weren't being paid.Now, Nikke Finke is reporting the film has been shut down a third time, again by the IATSE who have ordered their members off because they still aren't being paid.
Of course, the longer the film is shut down, the more money it loses. A vicious cycle, really. But if it makes Russell feel better, there are several indie films suffering. Capitol Films is apparently going through a financial upheaval and several films have met the same fate as Nailed.
Who knows which indie flicks could bite the dust in the following weeks?
At this point, all the actors are bravely hanging in, although production will probably be delayed about two weeks. Even though I haven't been 100% behind the concept, even if it is Russell, I hate to see little films die off. Plus, this is being filmed right next door to where a good friend of mine resides, and he promised to keep me (and you guys) updated. So here's wishing the best.
[via CHUD]
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