From producer M. Night Shyamalan comes THE WATCHERS, written and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and based on the novel by A.M. Shine.
The film follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night. You can’t see them, but they see everything.
THE WATCHERS stars Dakota Fanning (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Ocean’s Eight”), Georgina Campbell (“Barbarian,” “Suspicion”), Oliver Finnegan (“Creeped Out,” “Outlander”) and Olwen Fouere (“The Northman,” “The Tourist”).
Ishana Night Shyamalan has trained with the best – her father, M. Night Shyamalan. The two worked together on Apple TV’s mysterious “Servant” series as well as the 2021 film OLD as Second Unit Director.
Check out this interview with the filmmaker.
The film is produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan and Nimitt Mankad. The executive producers are Jo Homewood and Stephen Dembitzer. Joining writer/director Shyamalan behind-the-camera are director of photography Eli Arenson (“Lamb,” “Hospitality”), production designer Ferdia Murphy (“Lola,” “Finding You”), editor Job ter Burg (“Benedetta,” “Elle”) and costume design by Frank Gallacher (“Sebastian,” “Aftersun”).
The music is by Abel Korzeniowski (“Till,” “The Nun”).
New Line Cinema presents TTHE WATCHERS, set to open in theaters internationally beginning 5 June 2024 and in North America on June 7, 2024; it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Discover the suspenseful mystery behind global disasters when Knowing arrives on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray™ and Digital HD) April 10 from Lionsgate. Knowing centers around M.I.T. professor, John Koestler, when he links a mysterious list of numbers from a time capsule to past and future disasters and sets out to prevent the ultimate catastrophe. Starring Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage (Best Actor, Leaving Las Vegas, 1995), fans can now experience the sci-fi thriller with four times the resolution of Full HD and High Dynamic Range (HDR) to deliver the brightest, most vivid and realistic color and greatest contrast. Knowing 4K Ultra HD will be available for the suggested retail price of $22.99.
Nicolas Cage (National Treasure) stars in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi thriller as John Koestler, a professor who deciphers a coded message with terrifyingly accurate predictions about every major world disaster. Looking to protect his family and prevent future calamities, he enlists the reluctant help of Diana Wayland (Rose Byrne), daughter of the now-deceased author of the prophecies. His quest to understand the message and his own family’s involvement in them becomes a heart-pounding race against time as he faces the ultimate disaster.
4K ULTRA HD / BLU-RAY / DIGITAL HD SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary with Director Alex Proyas
“Knowing All: The Making of a Futuristic Thriller” Featurette
“Visions of the Apocalypse” Featurette
“5 Things Worth Knowing About Knowing” Featurette (4K Only)
CAST
Nicolas Cage National Treasure,Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation.
Rose Byrne Bridesmaids, Spy
Chandler Canterbury The Host, Repo Men
Experience supernatural adventure when Push arrives on 4K Ultra HDTM Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray™ and Digital) April 10 from Lionsgate. Starring Chris Evans (Captain America), Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds), and Camilla Belle (When a Stranger Calls), Push follows two young Americans with special abilities who race to find a girl in Hong Kong before a shadowy government organization called Division does.Available for the first time on 4K Ultra HD, Push can be enjoyed with over four times the resolution of Full HD and includes High Dynamic Range (HDR) to deliver the brightest, most vivid and realistic color with the greatest contrast. Push will be available on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack for the suggested retail price of $22.99.
Hang on tight as a gang of super-powered paranormal operatives takes you on a white-knuckle thrill ride. The excitement starts when a future-seeing Watcher (Dakota Fanning) convinces a telekinetic Mover (Chris Evans) to help steal a briefcase that holds a billion-dollar secret. But to outrun government agents, they must enlist a mind-controlling Pusher (Camilla Belle) who could be their salvation – or their doom. Also starring Academy Award® nominee Djimon Hounsou (2006, Best Supporting Actor, Blood Diamond), Push will pull you in completely.
4K ULTRA HD / BLU-RAY / DIGITAL SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary with Director Paul McGuigan and Actors Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning
Deleted Scenes (with optional Audio Commentary with Director Paul McGuigan)
Cassie Buys Alcohol
Stowe and Popgirl on the Phone
Cassie Hides from Stowe
Stowe Killed by Popgirl
“The Science Behind The Fiction” Featurette
“Breaking Down the 9 Types of Psychics” Featurette
Watch the new trailer for THE BENEFACTOR. Written and directed by Andrew Renzi, the dramatic thriller starring Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning and Theo James.
In THE BENEFACTOR, an iconoclastic philanthropist, Franny, survives a devastating accident that kills his two best friends, but four years later, he is still struggling with the guilt and pain.
When his late friends’ daughter Olivia resurfaces with a new husband and a baby on the way, Franny tries to overcome his emotional and physical suffering by inserting himself into their lives. Outrageously charming and limitlessly infuriating, Franny hands his young friends undreamt-of opportunities while attempting to micromanage their lives in ever more intrusive ways.
A bravura portrait of a larger-than-life personality in crisis, the film is writer-director Andrew Renzi’s debut feature film.
From Samuel Goldwyn Films, THE BENEFACTOR opens in theaters and on-demand this January 15, 2016.
Lakeshore Entertainment announced additional casting on AMERICAN PASTORAL with David Strathairn as “Nathan Zuckerman,” Peter Riegert as “Lou Levov,” Uzo Aduba as “Vicky” and Valorie Curry as “Rita Cohen.”
The film adaptation, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel written by Philip Roth also stars Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly and Dakota Fanning, with McGregor directing.
AMERICAN PASTORAL follows Seymour “Swede” Levov, a legendary high school athlete, who grows up to marry a former beauty queen and inherits his father’s business. Swede’s seemingly perfect life shatters when his daughter rebels by becoming a revolutionary and committing a deadly act of political terrorism during the Vietnam War.
AMERICAN PASTORAL’s adapted screenplay was written by John Romano (LINCOLN LAWYER) with filming scheduled for September 2015 in Pittsburgh, PA. AMERICAN PASTORAL will be produced by Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi.
Strathairn won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival and earned nominations from the Academy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA and Independent Spirit Awards for his compelling portrait of legendary CBS news broadcaster Edward R. Murrow in George Clooney’s Oscar-nominated drama Good Night, and Good Luck. He won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in the HBO project, Temple Grandin and was nominated for his portrayal of John Dos Passos in HBO’s Hemingway and Gellhorn. He was most recently seen in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Riegert, who has starred in iconic films such as ANIMAL HOUSE, LOCAL HERO and CROSSING DELANCEY, can currently be seen on David Simon’s new HBO mini-series SHOW ME A HERO as well as Dennis Leary’s SEX&DRUGS&ROCK&ROLL.
Aduba has won both Screen Actors Guild and Emmy awards for her role in Netflix’s ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, which also earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She will be seen next in NBC’s THE WIZ LIVE!.
Curry is known for her roles on THE FOLLOWING, HOUSE OF LIES and TWILIGHT.
Strathairn is repped by ICM and Ryan Entertainment. Riegert is repped by Don Buchwald & Associates. Aduba is repped by APA and Management 360. Curry is repped by ICM and Thruline Entertainment.
From the producer of Foxcatcher and based on the novel by New York Times best-selling author Laura Lippman, EVERY SECRET THING is a gripping psychological thriller about the chilling consequences of the secrets we keep. Detective Nancy Porter (Banks) is still haunted by her failure to save the life of a missing child from the hands of two young girls.
Eight years later, another child goes missing in the same town just days after Ronnie and Alice (Fanning and Macdonald), the two girls convicted of the former crime, were released from juvenile detention. Porter and her partner (Parker) must race against the clock to prevent history from repeating itself. But as they begin to investigate the girls and their families, especially Alice’s protective mother (Lane), they unearth a web of secrets and deceptions that calls everything into question.
Available NOW On Demand and Digital HD and onDVD August 4, 2015.
WAMG is giving away to ONE lucky reader a prizepack for EVERY SECRET THING.
Enter for a chance to win:
– (1) DVD – (1) Copy of the novel “EverySecret Thing” by NY Times best-selling author Laura Lippman – (1) Copy of theatrical poster, signed by Diane Lane, Dakota Fanning, Frances McDormand and more
ADD YOUR NAME AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. We will contact the winner by email.
Eight years ago, a baby went missing and two young girls Ronnie and Alice (Dakota Fanning and Danielle Macdonald) were convicted of the crime and placed in juvenile detention. They’re now both 18 and are trying to move on with their lives after having served their time. Detective Nancy Porter (Elizabeth Banks) thinks history is repeating itself when another young girl goes missing in the same town. Of course the two main suspects are Ronnie and Alice. But as Porter begins to investigate the girls and their families, especially Alice’s mother (Diane Lane), they unearth a web of secrets and deceptions that calls everything into question.
What begins as a slow and meditative character piece – showing how traumatic events from your past can affect your day-to-day life – evolves into a police procedural mystery without much intrigue. In fact, it doesn’t take long for the film to completely flat-line, never gaining any form of life after initially introducing the characters. Most of the time EVERY SECRET THING feels like it’s going through the motions. For a story filled with high stakes and heightened emotions, there isn’t much gusto behind the proceedings. A story filled with cold characters and harsh consequences is presented in an even colder light. I’m usually a fan of films that explore the dark underbelly of suburbia. Denis Vileneuve’s 2013 film PRISONERS is an excellent example of this type of film done right. Unfortunately director Amy Berg never gives the audience a character to care for or a reason to care about their outcome.
All the performances are on point; especially Fanning. Even if she’s practically typecast as the waifish, insecure girl who mopes around more often than not, you can see she’s trying to breathe life into this underwritten character. Newcomer Danielle Macdonald on the other hand is garishly over the top most of the time. She plays a character that is longing for attention, but instead comes across as an actress vying for attention in a film with bigger name actors. The rest of the cast delivers the script in appropriate fashion, but competent actors aren’t enough to fill the gaps in this film.
One of my least favorite elements to a mystery is keeping a fact that most of the characters know on-screen except the audience until late in a film for a reveal. Over an hour into a 90-minute film a secret is revealed about a character to add motivation for their actions. Sometimes this act of deception can work and add depth to previous events, whereas other times it just feels like a cheap ploy. The latter is the case in EVERY SECRET THING. Keeping a secret motivation like the one here from the audience for the majority of the film feels too much like the murderer in an Agatha Christie novel going on a lengthy monologue towards the end of the story explaining what their diabolical plan was all along.
For all that doesn’t work in EVERY SECRET THING, the film does show how easily someone can misread another’s personality, and how some stories can be misconstrued by others or the media. Amy Berg’s background working as a documentary filmmaker (especially her film WEST OF MEMPHIS) certainly helped with that. But what made those previous films work so well is that you got to know the people in front of the camera; you understood their problems but got to see them as real people as well. Even though EVERY SECRET THING is based on an acclaimed novel, I found myself caring less and less about the characters and their story as the film went on. It almost makes you wonder if Berg felt this same fatigue while making it. EVERY SECRET THING shows that you can have a talented filmmaker at the helm directing a talented cast and yet things can still not quite come together.
Overall rating: 2 out of 5
EVERY SECRET THING is now in theaters, On Demand and iTunes
In just a few weeks the multiplexes will give way to the big, brash Summer blockbusters. Too late for last year’s Oscars (in the US at least) is this historical true-life romantic drama, which, oddly enough, shares several figures and settings from one of last year’s award nominees. MR. TURNER told the story of one of the nineteenth century’s most celebrated painters. Many of that film’s scenes were set at the prestigious Royal Academy of Art, where the merits of different works were vigorously debated. One of the strongest voices was that of John Ruskin, fellow artist, historian, and critic. Now comes the story that didn’t make it into the Timothy Spall biopic, a scandalous tale concerning the marriage of Mr. Ruskin and the much younger EFFIE GRAY.
At the film opens, the narration tells us of the courtship of now nineteen year-old Effie (Dakota Fanning) and the more nature John (Gerg Wise). They met during her childhood years and later married in Scotland, and now travel to the Ruskin family estate in London. There Effie is warmly greeted by John’s father (David Suchet) while the matriarch Margaret (Julie Walters) is more than a tad chilly towards the new family member as she rushes to dote on her “angelic boy”. That night, as Effie disrobes, the horrified John shuns her and departs from their bedroom. As the weeks drag on, Effie continues to be neglected. Thankfully, she accompanies John to the formal Royal Academy of Arts dinner. There she meets rising painting star John Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge), and is taken under wing by the academy president Sir Charles Eastlake (James Fox) and his wife (Emma Thompson). Later, on a visit to the Ruskin home, Lady Eastlake tends to the frail, ill Effie, much to the disdain of Margaret. Months pass until John takes Effie on a research trip to Venice. John remains writing in his hotel room while Effie finally experiences joy thanks to a flirtation with one of their hosts. Upon their return home, John hires Millais to paint his portrait outside a waterfall in Scotland. Effie joins the two in a secluded cabin in the forest. As John continues to ignore her, a deep friendship develops between Effie and the young artist. But Effie is trapped in a loveless, abusive marriage with no hope of escape. Or is she…?
Fanning puts her best foot forward as she continues the transition from juvenile roles to more adult characters. She is more successful than in last year’s THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD, which was dominated by Sarandon and Kline, but she’s not as compelling as her work as one of THE RUNAWAYS. Perhaps it’s due to the passive nature of Effie, who’s never allowed to indulge fully in her passions or emotions. Luckily she’s still able to project a vulnerability, even in the most shocking scenes. Her best efforts may be opposite Thompson who is almost Effie’s protective, sympathetic older sibling, often maternal. Lady Eastlake injects much-needed humor and spirit into the story, especially in her exchanges with Fox in a marriage of equals, and dear friends, the polar opposite of John and Effie. Wise as John makes the cold intellectual one of the oddest villains we’ve seen on-screen, wishing to possess Effie as trophy, while avoiding any type of affection. His heartlessness is matched by Walters as a mean movie mother to rival Cate Blanchett’s recent CINDERELLA role. She fawns over her son’s every move, but can never muster any civility toward his wife. Sturridge handles the role of the smouldering, desirable other man with ease. The film boasts great small supporting turns by British film vets Robbie Coltraine and Derek Jacobi, plus a most welcome, rare appearance by still radiant sixties screen goddess Claudia Cardinale.
First the good news: this movie looks gorgeous from the costumes to the carriages with wonderful location photography in the wilds of Scotland and along the canals of Venice. Everyone almost glows in the golden sunlight and candlelight. Unfortunately the film’s look overwhelms a fairly lifeless story that never fully engages us. We root for Effie, but it seems like an eternity before she, or anyone else, acts on the slights against her. It isn’t helped by the deceptive marketing of the film. Thompson is featured much more prominently in the ads than Fanning, although she is in only a handful of scenes. Perhaps this is because Thompson provided the film’s screenplay which is not close to her superb work on SENSE AND SENSIBILITY or even the NANNY MCPHEE flicks. Director Richard Laxton fails to breathe life into this true tale, which could be the opposite of a crackling “bodrice-ripper”: (perhaps an “un-ripper”). She’s lovely to gaze upon, but EFFIE GRAY will have you wishing you were in those exotic locales, rather than enduring a long, long visit to the cinema.
1.5 Out of 5
EFFIE GRAY opens everywhere and plays exclusively in the St. Louis area at AMC’s Creve Coeur 12
Coming to theater on April 3rd is the film EFFIE GRAY.
The film explores the fascinating, true story of the relationship between Victorian England’s greatest mind, John Ruskin, and his teenage bride, Euphemia “Effie” Gray, who leaves him for the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.
EFFIE GRAY is the first original screenplay written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson. In this impeccably crafted period drama, Thompson delicately and incisively probes the marital politics of the Victorian Era, and beyond.
Dakota Fanning stars as Effie Gray Ruskin. The cast includes Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Tom Sturridge, David Suchet, Greg Wise, Claudia Cardinale, James Fox, Sir Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane.
The film is produced by Andreas Roald (Terrence Malick’s VOYAGE OF TIME) and Donald Rosenfeld (Malick’s TREE OF LIFE and VOYAGE OF TIME).
Producer Donald Rosenfeld spent 1987 to 1998 as President of Merchant Ivory Productions, in charge of the financing and production of such titles as James Ivory’s “Mr and Mrs Bridge” (1990), Simon Callow’s “The Ballad of the Sad Café (1991), James Ivory’s “Howards End” (1992) and “The Remains of the Day” (1993), Christopher Menaul’s “Feast of July” (1995) and James Ivory’s “Jefferson In Paris” (1995), and “Surviving Picasso”, among others.
He produced Chris Munch’s “Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day” (1996), which won Best Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival, for which he recreated the Yosemite Valley narrow Gauge Railroad. Rosenfeld produced Ric Burns’ “New York: A Documentary Film” (1996-2003) and was executive producer of Taran Davies’ film about the people of Chechnya, “Mountain Men and Holy Wars” (2003).
He produced the romantic drama “Forty Shades of Blue”, which won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance in 2005. He produced Ric Burns’ first feature film, the four hours long “Andy Warhol” (2006), and he made “Anton Chekhov’s The Duel”, directed by the Georgian director Dover Kashashvili.
In-between, he was the executive producer of “Jodorowsky’s Dune”, the story of the Chilean director’s doomed attempt at bringing Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi novel to the screen.
EFFIE GRAY marks Rosenfeld’s third collaboration with Emma Thompson.
I spoke with the producer about EFFIE GRAY and what went into making this beautiful film with modern feminist themes.
WAMG: EFFIE GRAY is such a gorgeous, visceral movie. It’s magnificent.
Donald Rosenfeld: Thank you. We did strive for beautiful production values and we tried to do it at a low cost. I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I hope we will continue for another fifty more.
WAMG: What is the film about?
DR: It’s the story of a marriage out of a horror movie. John Ruskin was a child genius who turned into a major thinker in the Victorian Era. He marries a girl two decades younger than him. She is placed in a house with nothing to do while he does his work. His parents psychologically abuse her. It’s the story of a failed marriage and her escape. It’s the story of an early divorce because in Victorian England it was pretty rare. I think there are two divorces on record.
Effie conspires with a local, aristocratic lady whose husband runs the Royal Academy that employs Ruskin. Lady Eastlake, played by Emma Thompson, orchestrates her escape and the divorce. It’s an intriguing, suspense film. A little bit of horror, but it’s also a period marriage.
The film is filled with so much beauty as it was shot in Venice, Scotland and England.
WAMG: When did you get involved in the movie?
DR: I had previously worked with Emma on HOWARD’S END and REMAINS OF THE DAY. I cast her in HOWARD’S END – she was an unknown then and then went onto win the Oscar. On REMAINS OF THE DAY, the financers wanted Anjelica Huston because at the time she was the bigger star. I fought for Emma. I said look at Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins. It will be looked at by the audience as sort of a sequel – from HOWARD’S END to REMAINS OF THE DAY.
In the end, Emma was cast. Then we went onto to make another movie in Chile eight years later about the Pinochet regime and the Chilean singer, Víctor Jara, but in the end because of various actual death threats from the Chilean Junta that were still in power, we had to get out of there. We were even threatened in Paraguay on the way home. We decided not to make that movie – it was a life or death decision. I said, one day we’ll do something else.
She called me one day, five years ago and said she had written a script set in Victorian England. I told her I had written my college thesis on Victorian England, let’s do this. It was set in 1851 and we went onto make it.
WAMG: It looks like a period film, but it doesn’t feel like the viewer is in Victorian England. It has more of a modern vibe to it and it segues between the two.
DR: Exactly. It’s the beginning of the modern age. All these ideas that we formed about art and life seemed to have started there. When Mr. Ruskin talks about his new carriage or the money that he’s made and what it can buy, he sounds like a person from today. It’s a kind of post-war materialism, it’s incredible. I think you’re right and it’s totally relevant.
I think Emma wrote the female characters with the mind of today too because I think she wanted them to have, in a sense, the vision that women do today of both their rights and empowerment that weren’t really available to women then.
Effie is a great exception that she was able to take this, and generally she would have either been sent to an insane asylum or she would have been locked away. That’s how they dealt with a difficult wife, not like today. We gave her her freedom and in reality Effie falls in love with John Everett Millais at the end of the movie. They had eight children together.
WAMG: 20 year old actress Dakota Fanning carries the film and her portrayal will resonate with women. She’s superb as Effie.
DR: She is unbelievable. The casting director called me one day and we were looking for women around 20 years old and ideally English because of the accent. Celestia Fox who did HOWARD’S END and REMAINS OF THE DAY with me suggested Dakota Fanning. I had just seen her in a film where she was seven years old and that was ten years ago. Now she was seventeen. I met her and offered her the part immediately. The director, Richard Laxton, asked me later, “don’t I have anything to say?” I said no, not in this case. (laughs)
She went to work on the movie and we cast her little sister, Elle Fanning, as the little sister Sophie Gray six months before we started. But two months before we started, Elle had grown four inches taller than Dakota, so we couldn’t make her the little sister in the film. We had to recast it, but Elle and I are going to make another movie called OLIVE’S OCEAN. It is sad, but sometimes you have to recast based on things like that when people are young and they change rapidly.
WAMG: Emma Thompson writes the unemotional Ruskin (Thompson’s real-life husband Greg Wise) with some sense of sympathy.
DR: She says it was very hard to get used to Greg when they first got married because he was from the north of England, right at the border of Scotland and he’s very Victorian. She said it was hard to communicate with him in the beginning, but eventually warmed him up. It was in his nature to be that character – it was sort of going back to their beginnings. He was kind of this cold fish from Newcastle. Who knew that Newcastle created this lack of warmth, it was very funny.
WAMG: How was composer Paul Cantelon (THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL and THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) chosen for the movie? His score, with the piano motif, is both haunting and simply lovely.
DR: I had just done a movie the year before where the composer lived in Florida. I kept having to go down there and I literally said, “I want somebody next door.” We were editing on 12th Street and this agent called and said there’s this guy Paul Cantelon and he’s about a block away from you. I went to see him and realized he did THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY and I loved that score.
His music for EFFIE GRAY is breathtaking and I thought he did a great job.
WAMG: It’s perfect with cinematographer Andrew Dunn’s (“Gosford Park”, “The Madness of King George”) scenes of the Scottish Highlands, London, and Venice, Italy.
DR: It’s wonderful. I think it all comes together in a real depiction. We wanted to make those paintings come to life and match the landscape to them. Andrew Dunn is a genius and I’m so glad we got him. He was such a voice of reason. The Scottish train – we didn’t have more than one shot. He operated his own camera and he’s just a lovely guy.
WAMG: What’s your next project?
DR: The next one is called THE TUNNELS OF CU CHI written by Gary Trudeau who wrote “Doonesbury.” It’s set in 1968 Vietnam and it’s a war movie.
WAMG: You were producer on Terrence Malick’s TREE OF LIFE, one of my favorite movies of the decade. Every time I watch it I find something new.
DR: Thank you. It’s true and I think that’s how he works.
WAMG: And once again on the THE VOYAGE OF TIME.
DR: If you liked TREE OF LIFE you will love THE VOYAGE OF TIME. It’s magnificent. It will come in a forty minute IMAX version and a feature.
THE VOYAGE OF TIME was being worked on before TREE OF LIFE. When I first met Terrence, we were going to make a movie about Che Guevara in Bolivia where he’s executed, but with the other film CHE the field was too crowded. I asked him, “what do you really want to do?” He said, “I want to make this movie about nature and the beginning of the universe.”
We’re making the whole thing for about $20 million and it’s been wonderful. Douglas Trumbull (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY) has been doing the special effects.
WAMG: Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are still attached?
DR: Both have always been there. By the way, Emma Thompson did some voice overs at Abbey Studios with Terry, but Cate was much more right for the part. As Terry said, Emma was a little too English.
WAMG: Is there a release date yet for THE VOYAGE OF TIME?
DR: It will come out at Cannes ideally in 2017.
WAMG: What would you like for audiences to take away from EFFIE GRAY?
DR: No matter how bad the world gets, you can fight for your freedom. If you find yourself in a terrible situation get yourself out of it. I think she did and she finds a perfect life for herself. That’s the next movie and we don’t show that here.
One of the distributors early on wanted me to add a text that says she went on to marry Millais. I don’t do that. If I don’t film it, I don’t put a text in. In MR. AND MRS. BRIDGE, Miramax wanted us to put a coda in at the end and my feeling is make the movie you make and let the audience dream a little afterwards. You don’t have to make everything all sealed up, all packed up.
Imagine if we did what one of the minor financers on TREE OF LIFE wanted – to take out the nature footage?
WAMG: There’s definitely an audience out there for EFFIE GRAY.
DR: I think so. You don’t see movies like this too often.
EFFIE GRAY is edited by Emmy nominee Kate Williams (“Empire Falls”, “Anton Chekhov’s The Duel”). Emmy-winner James Merifield (“Little Dorrit”) is the production designer, with Juliana Overmeer (“Anton Chekhov’s The Duel”) and threetime Emmy-winner Paul Ghirardani (“Game of Thrones”, “Little Dorrit”) as art directors. Twice Academy Award-nominated Ruth Myers (“LA Confidential”, “Emma”) designed the costumes and the hair and make-up was designed by Konnie Daniel (“Mr Selfridge”).
Starz finalized another deal at Toronto International Film Festival with the pick-up of the psychological thriller EVERY SECRET THING.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Amy Berg and based on the 2004 novel of the same name, EVERY SECRET THING stars Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks, Dakota Fanning, Danielle MacDonald, Common and Nate Parker. Pick up includes all distribution rights for the U.S and will include a theatrical release and a pay TV premiere on STARZ. WME Global negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.
“This is an amazing film,” said Kevin Kasha, head of acquisitions for Starz. “It’s a gripping story with a great cast and we’re excited to have it on STARZ and to handle distribution via Starz Digital Media and Anchor Bay.”
“Every Secret Thing is a remarkable collaboration of females in film and offers a unique look into the minds of teenagers,” commented Amy Berg. “I am so pleased it will be in theatres in the spring.”
When a three-year-old girl goes missing, a small suburban New York town must revisit a tragic crime from seven years earlier. The underage perpetrators of the original crime, Alice Manning and Ronnie Fuller (Danielle Macdonald and Dakota Fanning), have been released from prison after coming of age and, justly or unjustly, come under suspicion once again. Detective Porter (Elizabeth Banks), who cracked the original case and is now the investigating officer of the missing girl, must examine her conscience and her deeply conflicted memories of the former crime. Alice’s mother, Helen Manning (Diane Lane), is given a chance to save her daughter from her complicated past.
The consequences of the original crime and of the current missing child investigation put into question the characters’ motivations and culpability – past and present. EVERY SECRET THING is a psychological thriller that also questions our judgment of the socio-economic fabric of suburban America. It allows the audience a complex portrait of murder and murderer, thought and deed.
EVERY SECRET THING was produced by Anthony Bregman (Begin Again, Enough Said) and Frances McDormand. Executive producers are Palmstar’s Kevin Frakes, Merced Media’s Raj Singh and Stuart Brown, Hyde Park’s Ashok Amritraj, Likely Story’s Stefanie Azpiazu, and Michael Bederman.
Acute portrayals and nice performances by leads Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen as best friends who pledge to lose their virginity before college, helps this mildly racy but ultimately innocuous teen sex film VERY GOOD GIRLS stay a step or two above the exploitative premise to emerge as something almost worthwhile. Boyd Holbrook also gives more than the role calls for as the handsome street artist who becomes their would-be conquest. His role is believable and even brings out Fanning’s performance, delivering something that could have been icky, but remains tender and even a tad affecting. Olsen is good as well, but Fanning’s always seemed a lightweight before.
The problem with VERY GOOD GIRLS (besides the 25-year old Ms. Olsen being far too old for this role) is that, despite the sexually tinged subject matter, the script is never fleshed out beyond what’s needed to service the plot. The girls are introduced with little detail other than the fact that one is leaving for college and the other is staying home for college and the whole tone often rings false in its portrayal of sisterhood and coming-of-age angst. The first-time director, Naomi Foner, just happens to be the mother of the Gyllenhaal siblings (Jake and Maggie) which most likely helps explain why this talented cast (Which includes Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss and Peter Sarsgaard who is Foner’s son-in-law) signed onto such a pedestrian, half-baked script.
VERY GOOD GIRLScomes to Blu-ray Disc from Well Go USA on September 23rd featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 26 Mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 2.2 Mbps.
The image features all of the usual elements in good working order and yields a high-end quality presentation that should satisfy all viewers. The image appears slightly warm at times, resulting in mildly red flesh tones, but altogether offers a bright, consistent coloring that flourishes outdoors but still delivers precise hues under any lighting condition.
The sound mix is well-rendered and provides a wealth of involving surround activity. Dialogue is always cleanly presented and well prioritized. Fidelity is superb throughout the track.
The only extra is a 54minute featurette that is basically long Interviews with writer/director Naomi Foner, Dakota Fanning, and Elizabeth Olsen
I do recommend VERY GOOD GIRLS if you’re a fan of these two actresses or if you’re curious to see how a remake of LITTLE DARLINGS might play 34 years later.
