Tag: eli roth

Horror Suspense Director Eli Roth Reanimates Gothic Novel With HEMLOCK GROVE

HEMLOCK GROVE, a gripping tale of murder, mystery and monsters set in a ravaged Pennsylvania steel town, starring Famke Janssen and Bill Skarsgard and produced by Gaumont International Television, will be available for Netflix members to watch instantly, beginning early in 2013.

HEMLOCK GROVE starts with the body of a young girl, mangled and murdered in the shadow of the former Godfrey steel mill. Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a biotech facility owned by the former steel magnates. Others believe the killer could be Peter, a 17-year-old Gypsy kid from the wrong side of the tracks, who tells his classmates he’s a werewolf. Or it could be Roman (Skarsgard), the arrogant Godfrey scion, whose sister Shelley is disturbingly deformed and whose mother, Olivia (Janssen), the otherworldly beautiful and controlling grand dame of Hemlock Grove.

As the crime goes unsolved and outlandish rumors mount, Peter and Roman decide to find the killer themselves, confronting unspeakable truths about themselves and Hemlock Grove as the mystery unfolds.

“Eli Roth is a master of this genre and Brian McGreevy’s brilliant novel gives Roth a world where he can create his magic,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer. “‘Hemlock Grove‘ is a sly blend of J.D. Salinger and Mary Shelley and will appeal to a broad base of fans captivated by these rich characters and stunning visuals.”

“I’ve been waiting for years to dive into television, and Eric Newman and I founded Arcade to do elevated genre projects exactly like ‘Hemlock Grove’.  Brian McGreevy’s novel blew me away, and the material lends itself perfectly to long format storytelling.  ‘Hemlock Grove‘ is smart, dark, complex, and at times terrifying,” said Eli Roth.

He added: “What’s most exciting to me is creating the series for Netflix, which as a feature filmmaker is like telling a story in a new medium.  Netflix as a platform is the perfect hybrid of cinema, television, and social networking, with the creative freedom to go as dark as the story needs.”

The 13 episode first season of “Hemlock Grove” is Roth’s first foray into serialized drama as a director and executive producer. Roth created the Hostel franchise, directing seven major motion pictures, producing 13 and appearing in several hit films, including a stand-out role as Sgt. Donny Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”.

Janssen (Olivia Godfrey) is an actress, director and screenwriter who played Dr. Jean Grey in the global blockbuster “X-Men” trilogy and starred alongside Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis in Woody Allen’s “Celebrity”. Janssen can soon be seen in “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” alongside Jeremy Rennerand Gemma Arterton and in “Taken 2” with Liam Neeson. Her debut film as a director and screenwriter, “Bringing up Bobby”, starring Milla Jovovich, Bill Pullman and Marcia Cross, opens in the United States in October.

Skarsgard (Roman Godfrey) is an up and coming Swedish actor, who will soon be seen alongside Keira Knightley and Jude Law in director Joe Wright’s  “Anna Karenina.” Previously, Skarsgard has played a wide range of roles in Swedish television and independent films, including the critically-acclaimed “Simon of the Oaks” directed by Lisa Ohlin.

“Hemlock Grove” is executive produced and written by McGreevy, author of the FSG Originals novel, andLee Shipman. Other projects they have in development include the Bram Stoker adaptation “Harker” for Warner Brothers and Appian Way, the King Arthur epic “Pendragon” for New Regency, and “Zorro Reborn” for 20th Century Fox.

Also executive producing are Eric Newman, producer of such films as “The Last Exorcism,” “Dawn of the Dead” and “Children of Men,” Michael Connolly, co-producer of “How to Train Your Dragon,” and Mark Verheiden, co-executive producer of “Battlestar Gallactica” and other shows.

“It is an honor to be working with Eli Roth, a director whom I’ve admired for years, along with Brian McGreevy & Lee Shipman and the team at Netflix on this series,” commented Gaumont International Television chief executive officer Katie O’Connell. “Netflix is the perfect platform for this exhilarating reinvention of the gothic mystery story.  From day one, our mandate at Gaumont International Television has been to the produce high-quality drama programming for the U.S. and international markets and ‘Hemlock Grove‘ certainly fits the bill.”

WAMG Interview With ROGER CORMAN and ALEX STAPLETON (CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL)

Roger Corman is a Hollywood legend! Last week, WAMG got the chance to sit down with the man himself, along with Director Alex Stapleton about their new film CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL.

CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL is a tantalizing and star-studded tribute to Roger Corman, Hollywood’s most prolific writer-director producer, and seminal influencing force in modern moviemaking over the last 60 years. Featuring interviews with Hollywood icons and cinematic luminaries, some who launched their careers within Corman’s unforgettable world of filmmaking, including Paul W.S. Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert De Niro, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, Eli Roth, Martin Scorsese, William Shatner and Jack Nicholson, along with many others, this documentary chronicles how Corman created his cult film empire, one low-budget success at a time, capitalizing on undiscovered talent, and pushing the boundaries of independent filmmaking.

Check out the interview here:

Director Alex Stapleton weaves archival footage following Roger’s illustrious career: From his early days of genre-defining classics including the original Fast and Furious, the original Little Shop of Horrors, The Crybaby Killer, The Intruder, House of Usher, and The Wild Angels (which at that point in 1966 was his 100th film) – to present day video of him and his wife Julie on location, still at work as they continue to produce and distribute films outside the studio system: fast, cheap and out-of-this-world!

Distributed by Anchor Bay Films, Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel is rated R for some violent images, nudity and language. Run time 90 minutes.

CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL opens in select theaters on December 16th

Eli Roth’s father talks about his son killing Adolf Hitler

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Eli Roth posted a tweet to an article that his Father had written regarding his role in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS titled “My Son killed Adolf Hitler” on the Jewish Journal. Its a really great read..check out this snippet below:

What I scarcely expected were the overwhelming feelings that flooded me as I witnessed the scene in the film, “Inglourious Basterds.” I watched my son, as his character of “The Bear Jew,” machine gun the Fuhrer’s face to a bloody pulp. In that moment, I felt that my beloved boychik was carrying out wishes of mine from my Brownsville, Brooklyn childhood, wild longings from a lifetime of agonizing over the Holocaust. I felt a powerful mixture of rescue, revenge, redemption, relief and a strange grief. My son was sacrificing himself for all of us. He was doing what I could not. And I cried.

Many friends have told me of similar personal, powerful emotions in response to this film, emotions that were also joyously pleasurable. Yet, I have listened to many post-screening Q-and-As and heard the confused questions of those who are puzzled, distanced by the film because it is “fantasy.” It strikes me that what these questions fail to take into account is that there are two kinds of facts: historical facts and emotional ones. Emotional facts, or feelings, are a condensed, animal form of personal history; expanding them tells the story of one’s life. Feelings are just as much a reality as facts. Art, similarly, functions as a condensed statement about life. When art resonates with an audience, those emotions are real — they cannot be dismissed because the story is “historically inaccurate.” Quentin Tarantino understood it was more important to be emotionally accurate than to follow a story previously written by history. Art must resonate with a truthful emotion inside the viewer in order for it to survive, and, if not, it falls by the wayside, disregarded and dies a forgotten work. So, where do “Inglourious Basterds” and my reactions fit into this picture?

To read the rest, jump over the to Jewish Journal.

Eli Roth On a Writing Frenzy

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Say what you will about the films he has come up with, you have to respect Eli Roth’s love for the craft.  As reported in The Hollywood Reporter, he is currently developing/working on three, different projects, all of them in more than just the “idea” phase.

First up is ‘Thanksgiving,’ which has been gestating ever since Roth directed the faux trailer for ‘Grindhouse.’  Roth is currently penning the screenplay for a full version of the film, a concept Robert Rodriguez has already turned to with ‘Machete.’  Roth plans to direct, produce, and possibly star in the film.

However, that’s not what is next up for Roth.  He said at the Morelia International Film Festival on Monday that he has finished work on a sci-fi screenplay titled ‘Endangered Species.’  This would mark his return to the director’s chair after a number of years acting and producing.

Also in development for Roth is ‘The Man With the Iron Fist,’ a martial arts film that is being developed with the RZA.

Says Roth about his new projects:

I haven’t been this excited since the first ‘Hostel.’  I had to divorce myself from the (‘Hostel’) project 100% to free up my brain for other things.

‘Nation’s Pride’ Trailer Goes Live

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It’s destined to be one of the greatest films-within-a-film, and, who knows, maybe somewhere down the line, Eli Roth will actually be able to make his own, World War II feature film.   For now, however, all we have is this trailer for the film that is playing at the premier that is the central plot-line in ‘Inglourious Basterds.’

Check it out:

‘Stolz der Nation’ makes its world premier at Le Gamaar Theatre in Paris on August 21st.   ‘Inglourious Basterds’ opens worldwide the same day.

You can also check out the trailer in HD over at Apple.

Michael Fassbinder’s ‘Basterd’ Poster

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#853 in the list of character posters for ‘Inglourious Basterds’ comes to us today straight from the streets of the Croisette at the Cannes Film Festival.   This enormous banner features Michael Fassbinder as Lt. Archie Hicox.   I’m sure people over at Cannes aren’t too excited about more posters for this film, since they’ll be able to see it next Wednesday night.

The rest of us get to see Tarantino’s latest opus on August 21st.

Source: Ion Cinema by way of Gordon and the Whale

Tarantino Already Has Half-Written Prequel for ‘Basterds’

inglouriousbasterds

In a recent interview with the New York Times, director Quentin Tarantino sat down to talk everything ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ Â  Every topic was broached from Tarantino’s inspirations for the film to the unusual spelling of the film’s title. Â  However, the most interesting news came at the very end of the interview, when Tarantino had this interesting piece of information to dish out:

“I have a half-written prequel ready to go if this movie’s a smash,† he said.

Evidently, the prequel would center around the African-American soldiers stuck behind enemy lines. Â  This is very interesting when you consider Spike Lee, a director who has had less-than-friendly run-ins with Tarantino in the past, just had ‘Miracle at St. Anna’ release last year. Â  I’m sure whatever Tarantino has up his sleeve for the prequel to ‘Basterds,’ it will elicit a far better response than Lee’s film.

‘Inglourious Basterds’ is set for release on August 21st.

Source: NY Times

Eli Roth’s ‘Basterd’ Poster

inglourious-basterds-roth-poster

There’s the bat.   There’s the smirk.   The shotgun is a nice addition.   I’m not much of an Eli Roth fan when he’s behind the camera, but I couldn’t love this man more right now.

Here is the second character poster for ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ and I’ve got to say, I think they’ve peaked.   Where are they going to go from here?   Is Hitler getting his own character poster?   Mike Myers?   I think as far as the character posters for Tarantino’s next go, it should be two and out.

Now, I bold the question, is it strange to want a poster of Eli Roth on my bedroom wall?

‘Inglourious Basterds’ comes out on August 21.

Source: Tarantino.info

Brad Pitt’s ‘Basterd’ Poster

pitt-basterd-character-poster

Brad Pitt is apparently a basterd. Â  And Quentin Tarantino apparently is allowing Universal/TWC to make up character posters for his new film. Â  ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is just the latest film to release a number of posters featuring a singular character from the film.

Can’t wait to see what craziness occurs in the Eli Roth poster. Â  I pray there’s a bat involved.

‘Inglourious Basterds’ comes out on August 21.

Source: AICN

New photo of Eli Roth and Brad Pitt from ‘Inglourious Basterds’

bastersroth

The always sexy Pete from /Film posted a new photo from a magazine of Eli Roth and Brad Pitt. The photo is of course a promo for ‘Inglourious Basterds’, in which Roth plays Sgt. Donny Donowitz AKA “The Bear Jew† and Brad Pitt plays Lt. Aldo Raine, AKA “Aldo The Apache† the leader of the Basterds.

If you didnt already know,   I am ridiculously excited for this movie and cannot wait to see it later this summer..