General News – Page 245 – We Are Movie Geeks

Fantastic Fest 2014: JOHN WICK Red Carpet Photos & New Poster

“There’s a new vengeful badass in town and his name is John Wick.”

In his Fantastic Fest 2014 review for the new film, Michael Haffner also writes JOHN WICK “is easily one of the best action films of the year.”

Read Michael’s full review HERE.

The demand for the bullet-fueled, action-thriller was so astounding at Fantastic Fest, the festival had to add an additional 2 theaters (for a total of 4 screenings) to accommodate the sold-out crowds last night.

Here’s a look at the new poster above and for all the fans who couldn’t make it to Austin, check out the photos from last night’s Red Carpet Gala at the JOHN WICK Fantastic Fest Screening, and an exclusive look at the post-screening Q&A with Keanu Reeves, Adrianne Palicki, as well as the filmmaking team of Chad Stahelski, David Leitch and Basil Iwanyk.

An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, JOHN WICK (Keanu Reeves) is a fresh and stylized take on the “assassin genre”.

Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane, Adrianne Palicki, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Lance Reddick, Dean Winters and John Leguizamo also star.

Be sure to head to theaters on October 24th when the action-packed JOHN WICK hits cinemas.

http://johnwickthemovie.com/
https://www.facebook.com/johnwickmovie
https://twitter.com/JohnWickMovie #JohnWick

Watch The Trailer for ELSA & FRED Starring Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine

Starring Christopher Plummer, Shirley MacLaine, Marcia Gay Harden, James Brolin, Scott Bakula, Chris Noth and George Segal, here’s a look at the new trailer for the delightful ELSA & FRED.

ELSA & FRED is the story of two people who, at the end of the road, discover that it’s never too late to love. After losing his wife, Fred (Christopher Plummer) feels disturbed, confused and alone, so his daughter (Marcia Gay Harden) helps move him into a small apartment where he meets Elsa (Shirley Maclaine).

From that moment on, everything changes. Elsa bursts into Fred’s life like a whirlwind, determined to teach him that the time he has left to live – be it more or less – is precious and that he should enjoy it as he pleases.

This film is filled with previous Oscar winners. In addition to Marcia Gay Harden’s Best Supporting Actress win for POLLOCK, Plummer became the oldest winner of a competitive Oscar, at 82, surpassing the achievement of Jessica Tandy when he took home the Supporting Actor Academy Award for BEGINNERS, while Maclaine went head-to-head with TERMS OF ENDEARMENT co-star Debra Winger and eventually won the Best Actress Oscar at the 56th Annual Academy Awards.

Directed by Michael Radford and written by Michael Radford and Anna Pavignano (Il Postino: The Postman), Millennium Entertainment will release ELSA & FRED in theaters and on demand November 7, 2014.

Amy Adams Stars In First Trailer For Tim Burton’s BIG EYES

Watch the brand new trailer for Tim Burton’s BIG EYES starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.

Directed and produced by Burton, BIG EYES is based on the true story of Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), who was one of the most successful painters of the 1950s and early 1960s.

The artist earned staggering notoriety by revolutionizing the commercialization and accessibility of popular art with his enigmatic paintings of waifs with big eyes. The truth would eventually be discovered though: Keane’s art was actually not created by him at all, but by his wife, Margaret (Amy Adams). The Keanes, it seemed, had been living a lie that had grown to gigantic proportions.

BIG EYES centers on Margaret’s awakening as an artist, the phenomenal success of her paintings, and her tumultuous relationship with her husband, who was catapulted to international fame while taking credit for her work.

Oscar alert – look for Adams during the awards circuit at the end of the year. BIG EYES will be in theaters on December 25th.

http://bigeyesmovie.com/

Win Tickets To The Advance Screening of ANNABELLE In St. Louis

She terrified you in THE CONJURING, but this is where it all began for Annabelle. Capable of unspeakable evil, the actual doll exists locked up in an occult museum in Connecticut – visited only by a priest who blesses her twice a month.

New Line Cinema’s supernatural thriller ANNABELLE begins before the evil was unleashed. John Form has found the perfect gift for his expectant wife, Mia – a beautiful, rare vintage doll in a pure white wedding dress. But Mia’s delight with Annabelle doesn’t last long.

On one horrific night, their home is invaded by members of a satanic cult, who violently attack the couple. Spilled blood and terror are not all they leave behind. The cultists have conjured an entity so malevolent that nothing they did will compare to the sinister conduit to the damned that is now… Annabelle.

From Warner Bros. Pictures, ANNABELLE will be in theaters on October 3, 2014.

Up for some good old-fashioned frights? Enter to win tickets to the advance screening of ANNABELLE!

The screening is on Tuesday, Sept. 30th in the St. Louis area

at 9PM

Answer the following:

Who’s creepier – The Annabelle doll OR the clown doll in POLTERGEIST (1982)? and why?

TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.

OFFICIAL RULES:

1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.

2. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.

This film has been rated R for intense sequences of disturbing violence and terror.

Directed by John Leonetti. Stars Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard.

http://annabellemovie.com
https://www.facebook.com/AnnabelleMovie

IMAX Poster For INTERSTELLAR Stars Matthew McConaughey

“We’ll find a way. We always have.”

Paramount Pictures previously unveiled a collection of four posters for INTERSTELLAR. The first teaser poster released late last year, resembling a Saturn V rocket liftoff, is still breathtaking.

Now comes the intriguing IMAX one-sheet that seemingly conveys the film’s plot – or does it?

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn and Michael Caine, the movie chronicles the adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.

Explore a galaxy of fan-generated solar systems in the Interstellar App available on the Chrome Store and Google Play for phones and tablets.

Create and customize your own unique solar system with planets, moons, asteroids and more.

See how far you can pilot the Endurance without running out of fuel or losing time relative to Earth. Sling-shot through solar systems using real-world physics and gravitational forces. Use wormholes to jump to new systems and survive the ultimate challenge of traveling past a black hole.

• Play on Phone, Tablet and Chrome

• Create your own solar system and share it with friends

• Customize planets, stars and asteroids

• Pilot the Endurance through friend’s and other fan’s solar systems

• Upgrade your ship to increase durability and range

• Earn mission patches for completing objectives

• Based on newtonian physics with simulated gravitational fields endorsed by the movie’s science advisor Kip Thorne

• Slingshot between planets and return research data to Earth

• Navigate past massive black holes

PLAY ONLINE NOW: game.interstellarmovie.com

DOWNLOAD FROM GOOGLE PLAY: http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paramount.interstellar

INSTALL THE GOOGLE CHROME APP: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/interstellar/kackgkhdbldcojljaeoaghlhfbbldkil

Christopher Nolan’s INTERSTELLAR will be in theaters and IMAX on November 7th.

http://www.interstellarmovie.com/

https://www.facebook.com/InterstellarMovie

https://twitter.com/Interstellar

A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES – The Review

After an unsuccessful comedy (A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST) and drama (THIRD PERSON), Liam Neeson is back in full TAKEN (that unexpected 2008 hit that made this greying screen vet a full-fledged action hero) mode. There’s a couple of twists for this go-around. He’s not out to rescue a loved one from kidnappers, but is hired to track down somebody that’s grabbing up victims for ransom. Now like NON-STOP from early this year, he’s a haunted fella’ who’s battling the bottle (in the former flick he was still imbibing, while now he’s in full program). But he’s not on a plane or dashing around exotic locales. He’s trudging the gritty, and often soggy, mean streets of Manhattan. Interestingly he’s playing a character we’ve seen on screen before, way back in 1986 it was Jeff Bridges in 8 MILLION WAYS TO DIE. Let’s see how Liam fills Jeff’s gumshoes as a private eye in A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES.

The action literally starts with a bang in 1991. Street cop Matt Scudder (Neeson) is gulping down his usual liquid breakfast, when a trio of thugs blow away the barkeeper. Scudder fumbles for his piece and blasts away at the gang as they try and flee. Flash ahead to 1999 and the Big Apple’s in the grip of Y2K paranoia as now private detective Scudder leaves an AA meeting. A recovering addict (Boyd Holbrook) convinces Matt to meet with his brother about a possible paying gig. Scudder meets Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens) at his plush townhouse. Seems that Kristo’s gorgeous wife was kidnapped, but he’s not looking for a rescue, Kristo wants revenge. Suspecting him of engaging in illegal activities, Scudder refuses the job, but Kristo is persistent. A bit of research provided by a street urchin named TJ (Brian ‘Astro’ Bradley) at the library’s computer banks (Scudder’s a tad tech-phobic) piques his interest. Soon Scudder embarks on a hunt for an extortionist/serial-killing duo that attracts the local PD, the feds (especially the DEA) and the Russian mob when an innocent life hangs in the balance.

Neeson fits into the role of hard-bitten grizzled private eye as if he were slipping on an old comfortable trench coat. He shows us the tired, world-weary ex-cop effortlessly, much as his ex-special ops agents, and long-time jedi. He’s shouldering a heavy secret (which the trailers reveal, darn em’!) which adds fuel for his quest for justice. I could say that Neeson can play roles like this in his sleep, but he still makes this tough guy more interesting and tragic than many generic lone, lonely seekers of truth. Bradley injects a bit of comic relief into the somber tale, but often the script relies on “savvy black street kid teamed with out of it old white dude” clichés (being a classic comic fan I was reminded of Will Eisner’s The Spirit and his sidekick/pal Ebony). Holbrook also scores a few laughs as the unreliable ex-junkie who falls off the wagon often, but quickly hops back on board. Stevens is seething, tightly wound rage as the wronged husband. David Harbour and Adam David Thompson provide creepy chills as the sleazy, cold-hearted partners in crime while Olaur Darri Olaffson alternates between menacing and pathetic as a schlubby witness who knows more than he admits.

As I mentioned above, the trailers and TV spots do indeed reveal far too much and spoil almost all of the film’s few surprises. That along with the film’s snail-like pacing drain much of the story’s tension. Perhaps director Scott Frank, who also adapted Lawrence Block’s novel, just didn’t wish to streamline the plot. Besides the Y2K stuff, what does the 1999 setting really add to the proceedings? Plus, what is it with the sudden downpours? Perhaps a way to add more atmosphere or to endanger one of the main characters who has a medical condition. And like most thrillers, we must endure two or three false endings before the tales skids to a halt. This is a tepid follow-up to Frank’s first feature, the quirky, suspenseful THE LOOKOUT from 2007. Even with the stellar cast A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES is far from a brisk jaunt. More like a nasty, unending trudge.

2.5 Out of 5

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU – The Review

76-year old Jane Fonda’s enhanced bosom is milked for big laughs in the new comedy THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU. Hillary Altman, the matriarch of a dysfunctional middle-class New Jersey family gathered to bury her husband, is the best role Hanoi Jane has had in decades (not saying much) and she has a great time with it, wistfully recalling the circumference of her late husband’s schlong and refusing to cover up her store-bought rack despite her kid’s constant embarrassment. The rest of THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU is a mixed bag and doesn’t measure up to what Fonda is doing but it has enough good moments to recommend.

Jason Bateman stars in THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU as cuckolded radio producer Judd Altman. Not only does his wife (Abigail Spencer) cheat on him in the opening scenes, but does so with his boss (Dax Shepard), therefore he gets to lose both his job and his marriage before the opening credits have rolled. To make matters worse, he is then thrown together for a week with his three siblings (Tina Fey, Adam Driver, and Corey Stoll) upon the death of their father, an atheist Jew for whom the inappropriate gentile Hillary (Fonda) insists the family sit shiva (a Jewish custom of seven days of mourning) – and they do it right on the spot where they used to set up the family Christmas tree! It seems Mom had written a best-seller years earlier in which she exposed the sexual hang-ups of her kids so this week of togetherness gives them all the chance to relive the embarrassment and play out familiar family dynamics. The relationship between Judd and brother Paul (Stoll) is dominated by old resentment and awkwardness with the fact that Paul’s wife (Kathryn Hahn) is one of Judd’s former girlfriends. Judd’s married sister (an underused Fey) takes the opportunity of being home to reconnect with a brain-damaged former love (Timothy Olyphant) while steering clear of most of the family mayhem. Phillip (Driver), the baby of the family and chronic screw-up, delivers outrageous fabrications about his current occupation to anyone who asks and brings home a new girlfriend (Connie Britton) who’s much older and wiser. Mom’s infamous directness just adds more tension and humor to the situation.

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU plays like a coming-of-age story for a middle-aged man and packs in a lot of characters and situations into its 105 minutes. Screenwriter Jonathan Tropper tries to squeeze in too much from his novel, shortchanging some of the characters (especially Ms Fey who barely makes an impression). Tonally the film is all over the map, not always successful in straddling the line between comedy and drama. Jokes about Fonda’s boobs and Wendy’s toddler’s toilet training are interspersed with heavy dialog and speeches about infidelity, miscarriage, and the heartbreaking pitfalls of parenting. Every dramatic base is covered – I kept waiting for someone to come out of the closet as gay to the astonished family, and sure enough it happens right near the end. The acting is excellent across the board with the exception of Ben Schwartz, whose ridiculously broad shtick as ‘Boner’ the spastic rabbi seems piped in from a Mel Brooks comedy.

I wished I liked THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU more than I did. It made me laugh but failed on an emotional level – I never got that universal feeling we all share about the ritual of going home for something like the funeral of a loved one: the dread, the constant reminders of why you left, and the comfort gained from the knowledge that there exists a “home” to which you can return. But for a late-summer time-killer THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU is good enough and Jane Fonda’s geriatric jugs are indeed quite impressive.

3 of 5 Stars

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU opens in St. Louis September 19th at (among other places) The Hi-Pointe Theater

Ang Lee To Direct BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK

Tom Rothman’s TriStar Productions and Film4 announced today that the three-time Oscar-winner Ang Lee has chosen an adaptation of Ben Fountain’s acclaimed novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk as his next film, his first since winning the Academy Award for directing the groundbreaking Life of Pi.

The film will be produced by Lee, Ink Factory’s Stephen Cornwell, Rhodri Thomas and Simon Cornwell and by Film4, who originally optioned the book. Simon Beaufoy wrote the script. TriStar has been developing the project with Film4 and Ink Factory since opening its doors at the end of last year. Tessa Ross, who oversaw Film and Drama for Film4 until recently being named to run the UK’s National Theatre, was instrumental on behalf of that studio.

Making the movie for TriStar returns Lee to the Sony Pictures umbrella, where he enjoyed great success with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Sense and Sensibility.

The film tells the funny and heartbreaking story of 19-year-old soldier Billy Lynn and his squad, who survive an Iraq battle that is captured by embedded news cameras, causing them to become celebrated as heroes. They are brought home by the US administration for a promotional tour that culminates at the halftime show of a Thanksgiving Day football game in Texas, before they are returned to the war. Almost the entire movie takes place during the game, with flashes away to other events.

Rothman, who has a long history with Lee, orchestrated the deal to bring on the director. The longtime colleagues’ most recent venture was the “unfilmable” Life of Pi. Defying all odds, that film grossed $600 million at the worldwide box office.

Said Lee, “I am very excited to be going back to work and to be collaborating with my old friend Tom Rothman. The most important thing to me is storytelling and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a story that immediately gripped me. I look forward to starting the creative process with this extraordinary team of collaborators.”

Commenting on the announcement, Rothman said, “Ang Lee is constitutionally incapable of repeating himself. His very DNA requires him to always find new challenges. ‘More of the same’ may be the film fashion these days, but thankfully not for this exceptional artist.Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn will be a true original, and TriStar is in the business of investing in originality, here combined with innovation. Big movies come from such combinations, as witness Life of Pi. We are grateful to Ink Factory, Simon Beaufoy and Ben Fountain for trusting TriStar with Billy’s story. Having worked with my friend Tessa on Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, and many other films, I am also grateful to Film4 and sad (but only for us) that she got such a great new gig.”

Tessa Ross added, “All of us at Film4 are bowled over that Ang Lee, one of the outstanding filmmakers of his generation, shares our passion for this wonderful material. It’s a thrilling collaboration to look forward to and we’re very excited to work with our partners at TriStar and this great team to make what promises to be a truly memorable piece of cinema.”

Stephen Cornwell, on behalf of The Ink Factory, said, “From the moment we first read Ben Fountain’s amazing novel, we believed it would be the foundation for a seminal movie. Film4 and TriStar have been wonderful development partners. Simon Beaufoy did a terrific job and Ang’s vision for the film is groundbreaking and extraordinary.”

Ben Fountain’s novel received rave reviews upon its publication in 2012. The New York Times called it: “[an] inspired, blistering war novel…Though it covers only a few hours, the book is a gripping, eloquent provocation. Class, privilege, power, politics, sex, commerce and the life-or-death dynamics of battle all figure in Billy Lynn’s surreal game day experience.” It won the National Book Critics Circle Award (fiction) and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (fiction) and was also a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award for Fiction. Previously, Fountain won a PEN/Hemingway award for his book Brief Encounters with Che Guevara: Stories.

Ang Lee was honored with the Academy Award for Best Director for his work on Brokeback Mountain and again on Life of Pi; in addition, he took home the Oscar as the director of the Best Foreign Language Film winner Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. His many other indelible films include The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman, Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm, Ride with the Devil, Hulk, Lust, Caution and Taking Woodstock.

Genndy Tartakovsky’s POPEYE Animation Test (Video)

Director Genndy Tartakovsky is back in the animator’s chair with the new video test from his upcoming film, POPEYE.

Popeye the Sailor Man was created by Elzie Crisler Segar and first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929 and hit the silver screen first in 1934 in a series of Paramount animated shorts produced by the Fleischer Brothers and later with a live-action feature film, POPEYE, directed by Robert Altman with Robin Williams in the lead role in 1980.

Sony Pictures Animation’s film is the CG adaptation of the famous sailor man’s origin story.

In addition to POPEYE, Tartakovsky is also returning to the director’s chair for Hotel Transylvania 2, scheduled for September 2015, which will bring back Adam Sandler’s Dracula.

Tartakovsky himself says, “It’s good to be back at the Hotel Transylvania, and I’m very excited to work on Popeye, a character that I’ve loved since I was a kid.

So what does the footage tell us. Since I’m a graduate of Chicago’s Columbia College like Genndy, I was pleased to hear him mention my animation mentor, the late, great Gordon Sheehan, who’s first movie job was painting animation cells on the Betty Boop short that introduced the “sailor-man” to movie audiences. It looks like the “squash and stretch” style of the early Fleischer shorts is expanded upon with a much more frenetic pace for today’s younger audiences. Olive is without her standard red blouse and black long skirt, while Bluto, who appears to lead the pirates in an attack, still has his signature black coarse beard while sporting a bald pate! Speaking of losing, much as was done with the sailor’s last TV show, “Popeye and Son” on CBS Saturday mornings, he’s without his corncob pipe, perhaps in order to set a good example for the kiddies. From all reports, comedian Tom Kenny (also the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants) is in the lead role and does a terrific job emulating Jack Mercer’s gravelly vocals. And while Bluto got scalped, it appears Popeye now has a full head of brown hair. With the addition of Eugene the magical Jeep, the new screen incarnation promises to be great slapstick fun for all ages.

POPEYE is scheduled for a 2016 release.

https://www.facebook.com/PopeyeMovie

https://twitter.com/SonyAnimation

Broad Green Pictures To Distribute SAMBA In US – Stars Omar Sy

Broad Green Pictures announced today that they have acquired the US distribution rights to SAMBA, Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s follow-up to their 2012 smash-hit THE INTOUCHABLES.

BGP plans to release the film in the second half of 2015 in theaters across the United States and build upon the box-office success of its predecessor.

SAMBA had it’s world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film stars a French powerhouse trio with Omar Sy, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Tahar Rahim in the latest offering from Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano whose THE INTOUCHABLES broke box office records in France and was the top grossing French-language film in the U.S. in the last decade.

The duo directed and adapted the film from Delphine Coulin’s book “Samba pour la France.” Gaumont produced SAMBA with Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun and Nicolas Duval-Adassovsky from Quad Productions.

Samba (Omar Sy) has worked day and night for the last ten years, trying to support his family back in Senegal while making a life for himself in France. Thrown into detention, he meets a reclusive immigration worker, Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who’s warned to keep a safe distance from the people she is helping. Desperate for excitement and meaning in her own life, Alice lets her guard down when the charming Samba is ordered to leave France. Fumbling through bottom-rung jobs with his new friend Wilson (Tahar Rahim) while trying to stay off the radar, Samba finds himself returning to the awkward solace of Alice.

Cécile Gaget, Head of Gaumont International noted. “I am very glad that Broad Green Pictures totally understood the perspective that Eric and Olivier wanted to offer with this enjoyable social romance, and we are very excited to start working all together, I trust their new vision of the market and the great team they’re putting together will bring SAMBA to a great US success”.

BGP founders and brothers, CEO Gabriel Hammond and Chief Creative Officer Daniel Hammond said, “We couldn’t be more excited to be working with such talented filmmakers whose work we so admire- we’ve been waiting for this opportunity. The remarkable performances in this film bring its themes to life in such a visceral way, and will resonate with such a diverse group of audiences. We believe that this film should reach an even larger audience than their first.”

The deal for SAMBA was negotiated by CAA, Cécile Gaget Head of Gaumont International and Gabriel Hammond for Broad Green Pictures.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: