Take a trip down memory lane with new photos from CBS Films’ THE SENSE OF AN ENDING starring Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter, Michelle Dockery, and Emily Mortimer, alongside Charlotte Rampling. The new drama, directed by Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox, Netflix’s Our Souls At Night), opens in select theaters March 10.
Read Variety’s review from the Palm Springs Intl. Film Festival HERE.
Starring Academy Award winner JIM BROADBENT (Iris, Gangs of New York, Moulin Rouge!), HARRIET WALTER (Babel, Atonement, Sense and Sensibility), MICHELLE DOCKERY (Babel, Atonement, Sense and Sensibility), EMILY MORTIMER (Shutter Island, Hugo, Lars and the Real Girl), BILLY HOWLE (The Witness for the Prosecution, Cider with Rosie, Glue), JOE ALWYN (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Higher Education, Keepers), FREYA MAVOR (The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, Sunshine on Leith, Skins), MATTHEW GOODE (The Imitation Game, Belle) and CHARLOTTE RAMPLING (45 Years, Melancholia).
Tony Webster (Broadbent) leads a reclusive and quiet existence until long buried secrets from his past force him to face the flawed recollections of his younger self, the truth about his first love (Rampling) and the devastating consequences of decisions made a lifetime ago.
Adapted for the screen by award-winning playwright Nick Payne and produced by David Thompson and Ed Rubin (Woman In Gold).
Production on MARY POPPINS RETURNS, the all new sequel to Disney’s 1964 film “Mary Poppins,” has commenced at Shepperton Studios.
The film, which stars Emily Blunt (“The Girl on the Train,” “Into the Woods”) and Emmy, GRAMMY and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”) and is directed and produced by Oscar nominee, Emmy and DGA Award winner Rob Marshall (“Into the Woods,” “Chicago”), is scheduled for release December 25, 2018.
The film also stars: Ben Whishaw (“Spectre”), Emily Mortimer (“Hugo”) and Julie Walters (“Harry Potter” films) with Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) and Meryl Streep (“Florence Foster Jenkins”).
In addition, Dick Van Dyke plays Mr. Dawes Jr., the chairman of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, which is now run by William Weatherall Wilkins (Firth).
MARY POPPINS RETURNS introduces three new Banks children, played by Pixie Davies (“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”), Nathanael Saleh (“Game of Thrones”) and newcomer Joel Dawson.
The film is produced by Marshall, Emmy® winner and Golden Globe® nominee John DeLuca (“Chicago”) and Oscar® andTony® nominee and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Marc Platt (“La La Land”).
The screenplay is by Oscar nominee David Magee (“Life of Pi”) based on The Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers with Oscar nominee and Tony winner Marc Shaiman (“Hairspray”) and Emmy nominee and Tony winner Scott Wittman (“Hairspray”) writing all new songs with Shaiman composing an original score.
Amongst Marshall’s award-winning creative team are Oscar®-winning director of photography Dion Beebe, ASC ACS (“Memoirs of a Geisha”); two-time Oscar-winning production designer John Myhre (“Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Chicago”); three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell (“The Young Victoria,” “The Aviator,” “Shakespeare in Love”); Oscar-winning hair and make-up designer Peter Swords King (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”); Oscar-winning set decorator Gordon Sim (“Chicago”); Oscar-winning production sound mixer Simon Hayes (“Les Misérables”); and Emmy® nominated editor Wyatt Smith (“Doctor Strange,” “Into the Woods”). The film is choreographed by Marshall and DeLuca with Joey Pizzi (“Chicago”) serving as co-choreographer.
MARY POPPINS RETURNS is set in 1930s depression-era London (the time period of the original novels) and is drawn from the wealth of material in PL Travers’ additional seven books. In the story, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer) are now grown up, with Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Walters), living on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, the enigmatic nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with the optimistic street lamplighter Jack (Miranda), uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives. Mary Poppins also introduces the children to a new assortment of colorful and whimsical characters, including her eccentric cousin, Topsy (Streep).
PL Travers first introduced the world to the no-nonsense nanny in her 1934 book “Mary Poppins,” which Disney adapted for the screen and released in August, 1964.
The film, which was directed by Robert Stevenson and starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, was the top-grossing film of that year and nominated for 13 Oscars, winning five.
However, the subsequent adventures of Mary Poppins remained only on the pages of PL Travers’ seven additional books, which she published between 1935 and 1988.
CBS Films has released a powerful first trailer for the upcoming drama THE SENSE OF AN ENDING, directed by Ritesh Batra (THE LUNCHBOX).
The film stars Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent (Iris, Gangs of New York, Moulin Rouge!), HarrietWalter (Babel, Atonement, Sense and Sensibility), Michelle Dockery (Babel, Atonement, Sense and Sensibility), EmilyMortimer (Shutter Island, Hugo, Lars and the Real Girl), BillyHowle (The Witness for the Prosecution, Cider with Rosie, Glue), Joe Alwyn (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Higher Education, Keepers), Freya Mavor (The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, Sunshine on Leith, Skins), Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game, Belle) and Charlotte Rampling (45 Years, Melancholia).
Tony Webster (Broadbent) leads a reclusive and quiet existence until long buried secrets from his past force him to face the flawed recollections of his younger self, the truth about his first love (Rampling) and the devastating consequences of decisions made a lifetime ago.
Adapted for the screen by award-winning playwright Nick Payne and produced by David Thompson and Ed Rubin (Woman In Gold).
Variety recently listed the Indian director (English-language debut) on its 10 Directors to Watch for 2016.
RIO, I LOVE YOU is the third in the “Cities of Love” series begun with “Paris, Je T’Aime” (“Paris, I Love You”), which bring together famous directors and stars to create a series of little romantic stories around one city. The city getting the love-letter this time is Rio, home of the upcoming Olympics. However, despite its impressive list of directors, there is little to impress in “Rio, I Love You.”
RIO, I LOVE YOU boasts a more impressive line up of directors that the last one, “New York, I Love You,” but nonetheless continues the series decline in quality from the first one. Directors include Paolo Sorrentino (“Youth”), Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”), and Sang-Soo Im (“The Housemaid”), among others, but none of them shine in this mixed-up film. Rather than having the stories start and end clearly, as in the first two films, several stories make false starts or overlap with characters from others, and are blended in with mostly aerial picture-postcard shots of Rio’s distinct landscape or beaches. Besides making it look like a tourist ad, it makes it difficult to tell when stories start or end.
The international cast includes Emily Mortimer, Vincent Cassel, Harvey Keitel, Jason Isaacs, John Turturro (who wrote, directs and stars in his segment) and Fernanda Montenegro, but the stories, some of which make little sense, hardly make good use of them. Most disappointing is Paolo Sorrentino’s segment “La Fortuna,” which stars Emily Mortimer as a much younger trophy wife who needles her older, wheelchair-bound architect husband (Basil Hoffman) until the segment comes to a chillingly cold end. The great actress Fernanda Montenegro stars in an odd bit as a grandmother who chooses to live as a homeless person, trying to convince her grandson that bathing in a fountain is much more fun.
Director Sang-Soo Im’s fantasy segment features a waiter/vampire who leads a parade of dancing prostitute/vampires down a street. Another nonsensical segment has an Australian movie star ditching his appearance at a film festival to impulsively free-climb Sugarloaf mountain. Turturro’s segment stars him and singer Vanessa Paradis as a longtime couple breaking up, which ends with her singing like a music video. A segment about a hang-glider soaring Rio’s iconic Christ statue while criticizing the city seems pointless.
There are a few segments that work a little better, although they are not enough to save the film. One is a brief, wordless segment starring Vincent Cassel and featuring interesting camera angles, as a beach sand sculptor instantly falls in love and immediately has his heart broken, but is inspired to make his art better. The sweetest story, directed and co-starring Nadine Labaki, features a little boy who has staked out a pay phone in a train station, because he is waiting for a call from Jesus, and Harvey Keitel as an actor playing a priest, who helps that dream come true.
Guillermo Arriaga’s “Texas” is the strongest drama, centering on a former boxer with that nickname and his former model wife, both injured in a car accident that put her in a wheelchair and cost him his arm. The couple get an offer from an American, played by Jason Isaacs, that could help them or further ruin their lives. In another segment “Pas de Deux,” a pair of ballet dancers and lovers, argue about their future as they dance.
RIO, I LOVE YOU is the weakest of the series, but it is unlikely to be the last.
It was the hair, at first I thought I would hate this movie because of the kid’s hair. Allow me to explain, Jude is one messed up teenager (aren’t all teenagers messed up in the movies?) At the very start we see his Father and Mother break up. His Father,( Ethan Hawke: Gattaca), likes to grow marijuana in his green house, and that is where he sleeps when Mom kicks him out of the house. Jude’s Father, Les, explains to young Jude,( Henry Keleman,) exactly what happened and how that will impact the future story.
Fast forward a few years and Jude, now played by Asa Butterfield, is a young man with troubles. He and his best friend,( apparently his only friend,) Teddy (Avan Jogia) like to get high and listen to Hard Core Punk Rock. Through the early part of the movie Jude has one of those locks of hair hanging right in his face, hanging limp between his eyes. Never thought I would be so old as to say this but that hair is really annoying, no character in the movie asks him about the hair hanging in his face, and he never brushes it out of the way.
Seriously, I felt a lot better about Jude when about halfway through TEN THOUSAND SAINTS he cuts that lock of hair off and has pretty much a normal haircut. But well before that I came to really love this movie. Jude’s Father, Les, so very well played by Ethan Hawke (more or less playing the same type of messed up Father he did in Boyhood) is real big on marijuana. He is also a surrogate Father to Eliza (Hailee Steinfeld, so damn good in True Grit!) who comes to Vermont to spend a weekend with Les’ ex wife, and Jude’s Mother, Harriet (Julianne Nicholson: August Osage County).
A whole lot happens on that cold weekend, Eliza, Jude and Teddy go to a party, get high, Jude gets beaten up, and Teddy loses his virginity to Eliza. Naturally Eliza gets pregnant, and then it really gets complicated. In what seems like a predestined event Jude and Teddy huff Freon taken out of an air conditioner. (These kids have so little access to marijuana they huff paint thinner!) The Freon, of course is a bad idea. Both of them pass out, Teddy dies. The title comes from a Bible passage spoken by the Minister at Teddy’s funeral.
Eliza goes back to her Mother Diane, Les’ girl friend (Emily Mortimer: Hugo, City Island, Shutter Island) in New York City. Jude also goes to New York to live with Les, who tries his best to be a good Father, but a professional pot farmer is not such a good role model. Teddy has an older half brother Johnny (Emile Hirsch: Milk, Speed Racer) who has gone straight edge, that is no drugs, no sex, healthy diet. Johnny also plays in a seriously hard core band, One Man Army. He is also practicing Hare Krishna.
There is much talk about Jude being adopted, that Johnny and Teddy have different Fathers, that Eliza should give up her baby for adoption. And there is much talk about families not necessarily being related. Much like many other movies about teenagers, (Rebel Without a Cause certainly comes to mind,) a surrogate family is formed, with many members, all of whom want to do the right thing for the memory of Teddy, a kid we hardly get to know.
Where do I begin? TEN THOUSAND SAINTS has the complexity, the frustrations, the confusion, the dead ends, and the new beginnings, of real life. The relationships are so complex, the characters so well defined and the story so intimate, and real, and raw that you cannot help but be drawn in and feel that you know these people, or maybe you are, or were, these people.
The setting of New York City when hard core punk was happening, when homeless people were being chased out of Washington Square Park, when kids were doing anything to get high, and often paying the consequences, all of this is so well defined, and quite obviously on a low budget, you cannot help but be impressed.
I don’t want to give away too much plot but Johnny wants to do a seriously right thing and marry Eliza, even though we learn he is not really oriented that way. Of course it’s Jude who really loves her and tries his best to do the right thing as well.
TEN THOUSAND SAINTS is a true ensemble, with every character indelible, and true and memorable. Every actor gets moments, many moments, to shine. Against all the odds there is a happy, a very happy ending. Not ashamed to say it, I wept at the last few minutes of TEN THOUSAND SAINTS, partly from sadness at seeing the story come to an end. I could spend hours with these characters, this movie could be twice as long, or longer, and I would love every minute.
Based on a novel by Eleanor Henderson, which may be where a lot of the joy and heartfelt emotion comes from, this movie is a treasure.
In a very sweet, odd little moment, when they are just getting to know each other Eliza asks Teddy if he is Indian, because of his eyes. He says yes “but Gandhi, not Geronimo.” There are dozens of moments like that, all through TEN THOUSAND SAINTS. This is one of those movies, many are being made now, that deserves to be widely distributed in theaters, but likely will not. Movies that are character driven, that tell a story, that have something valid and real and honest and sincere to say about the human condition, don’t seem to stand a chance to be shown in multiplex theaters anymore. And we are all the more impoverished as a culture because of that.
I have to give TEN THOUSAND SAINTS Five out of Five stars, this movie is a masterpiece. I sincerely would like to see more work from Shari Springer Burman and Robert Pulcini. They have done good work before, such as American Splendor and Cinema Verite’.
Did I mention that TEN THOUSAND SAINTS is also funny? Very, very funny at times. And the music flat kicks ass!
TEN THOUSAND SAINTS opens in theaters, On Demand and iTunes August 14th
Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated 3D adventure, HUGO, was officially released nationwide today. (Check out our review right HERE) Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the NY press junket. Even without the presence of Martin Scorsese, the amount of talent at the press conference was intimidating. Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Asa Butterfield, Sir Ben Kingsley, producers Graham King and John Logan & author Brian Selznick were all in attendance. A lot was covered during the 40-minute event. Here are some of the highlights of what was said…
SACHA BARON COHEN on his character: Well, there is actually, there is a bit of romance between myself and Emily’s character, which is actually the first romantic plot I’ve had that’s not been with a black prostitute or a man. So it was actually my first. We didn’t actually have a kissing scene, but there was a bit of romance in there. So that was a little bit different. And as for the rest, playing an authority figure, well, he’s a bumbling authority figure. And he’s dark, but he does have some beauty and softness underneath him. So a bit like my other characters.
ASA BUTTERFIELD on the difficulties of playing Hugo: Well, Hugo, he’s an orphan and because he’s had to grow up far faster than anyone else his age should have, I found it quite hard to relate to him because of all the hardships he’s gone through in his life. So I just had to come up with false past for him that was similar to mine and relate to him in that way.
CHLOE GRACE MORETZ on her accent: I’d probably say the hardest part about it was I was trying to conquer the accent. That was probably the most challenging thing I had to do as a character…. My brother Trevor and I kind of created the voice, and we worked together on the whole thing really.
EMILY MORTIMER on Martin Scorsese: Hedoesn’t sort of tell you what to do, and guide you through every step of the performance. He just shows you all the people’s movies. He did that on Shelter Island as well. So it’s more like he just helps you to understand the world of the film by showing you other people’s films, which is his inspiration anyway. (One of the films everyone was asked to watch is UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS)
SACHA BARON COHEN on the root of Evil: I mean certainly when I sort of approach the character of the station inspector; I wanted to know why was he so obsessed with chasing children? Was he actually, you know, a classic villain or was there reason for his malice? And, I sat down with John and Martin and we started talking about perhaps he was World War I veteran, and maybe he was injured. So we came up with the idea of the leg brace. Originally, it was a false leg, which the audience wouldn’t have realized until it was going to be the first chase. Then I was going to turn a corner and then my leg was going to fly off and go into camera in 3D. And that was going to be the first big 3D moment. Unfortunately, practically I was made aware that I would have had to kind of strap up my leg for four months in order to do that. So we kind of abandoned that, and I started wearing a leg brace instead.
SIR BEN KINGSLEY on staying in character: I tended to stay in character because so many of many of my major scenes were with Asa. And in order to feed that relationship because action and cut can be shockingly short, that space you have to establish a deep rapport with your fellow actors. So I think I tended to. Also, my shape was so defined as older George. So like it was very difficult for me to snap back into Ben because I mean it just didn’t happen. I just stayed because I was stuck with George.
JOHN LOGAN on film: Brian Selznick’s amazing novel he talks about movies as dreams, as ways to dream, as ways for all of us to dream. I know, when I was a kid growing up, that’s what they were for me because I was asthmatic. I couldn’t go out and play. I have to be in a dark room, and watching movies on TV allowed me to liberate every thought I’d ever had. And when I read Brian’s book for the first time that’s really what struck me more than anything was it was touching the 8-year-old me. And so, for me it was always about how does that damaged child find the place that he belongs?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY on wounded souls: Well, I think the core value of its magic is its fearlessness in putting wounded characters on the screen. That’s a very brave move. It’s not very fashionable. It’s not sugar coated. A wounded man who is totally retired from his life. He almost committed suicide of the spirit, orphan, orphan, a girl who lost her brother in the Battle of the Somme in 1914, a dreadful way to lose a brother, and a chap who lost his leg. Wounded, wounded, wounded, wounded, wounded. And I think that’s an incredibly bold move to make in the present context. That’s where the magic comes from. And as Sacha was saying, where’s the wound? Because if there is no wound, the healer has no function and the healer is the youngest person on the screen who pulls all these threads together. But you won’t have an audience empathizing with you if nothing needs comforting. It won’t happen. So I think all of this individually paradoxically nourished that scar inside us in order to make the magic, in order to make him the greatest magician on the screen and make all the magic happen.
EMILY MORTIMER on technology: I was saying yesterday that there is something about Scorsese using the latest 3D technology to push the boundaries of filmmaking in 2012 or 2011 or whatever. To make a film about the very first technology ever used to put magic on the screen over 100 years ago is just so perfect. And somehow you get a sense of every film that was made in between Mêlées and Scorsese.
SACHA BARON COHEN on the use of 3D: If I could just continue that. It felt like here’s the logical extension of filmmaking that if Miller was alive that he definitely would have been using 3D. That was the interesting thing because of the whole debate in cinema at the moment whether 3D is a gimmick or not. Scorsese really showed that it was a logical development of the filmmaking process.
CHLOE GRACE MORETZ on Scorsese: You know, not only did I grow as an actor on this film with Scorsese, I grew in my knowledge of film history, which I’ve always been a history buff. Of course, I walked on the set knowing a little bit about it thinking oh I can have a conversation with him. And then you get into the conversation and he’s like dah-dah-dah-dah. And I’m like, “Okay, I’m not prepared for this.”
SACHA BARON COHEN on collaboration: I think that’s the key about Scorsese that he’s totally collaborative, which I was surprised about. Because I expected him to be some incredible author, which he is an author. But part of his power and part of the reason why his films are that successful and that enduring is the fact that he’s ready to collaborate fully with all his actors.
BRIAN SELZNICK on writing the book: I made this book thinking it could not be filmed because the book at the end of the story, the object of the book itself actually becomes part of the plot. And what happens when you turn the page because a big chunk of the narrative in my book is told with images like a movie. But even so, it’s celebrating movies. It’s really about what happens when you turn the page, and the power of the book itself. So I just imagined it couldn’t be a movie. And like I said, I got the call that Scorsese wanted to make it. And I thought, well, maybe this actually can be a movie. And, I realized I never would have thought of him. Like if someone had asked me, “Who would you imagine directing this movie?” But, of course, the second we hear his name, we all realize there was no one else who could have made this movie. It was if I had sat for 2-1/2 years at my desk during which time in real life I was thinking I was writing something no one would read because it’s a book about French silent movies for children. Which isn’t a guaranteed best seller. You know, but it’s as if I did all of that for Marty.
BRIAN SELZNICK on his cameo: I had the great thrill of being put into the last scene of the movie. I got a line. I think a lot of you saw the movie. I’m sure you’re excited to meet me now because of that. But Sir Ben was incredibly generous with me. I suddenly found myself next to Sir Ben saying my line to Sir Ben. And we spent a lot of the day filming the last tracking shot in the kitchen waiting for the action and to do the three-minute tracking shot again. And the camera never goes into the kitchen, but we would open the cabinet doors and it was fully stocked with food.
SIR BEN KINGSLEY on the sets: It’s a huge gift to us. It constantly fed us. Between takes I used to wander around the station, and the detail was extraordinary. You never left that world, did you? I mean it was so embracing and so sustaining, a huge gift to the actors, all to scale and not a lot of CGI really. I mean compared to what there might have been, very little.
ASA BUTTERFIELD on the sets: And, the working clocks were incredible because they were real. You could actually wind them and they had weights on. And it was just incredible. I mean, as Sir Ben said it was a gift to the actors to work that way.
SACHA BARON COHEN on the film’s target audience: It seems to me that Marty makes films for himself. He is an artist, a true artist and he makes the movie that he wants to see. So my first line in the movie had the word malfeasance in it, which I barely understood. And I said, “Aren’t you worried that some of the children won’t understand this let alone the grown ups?” He said, “No, it’s the right word to use there.” And he’s one of the last remaining artists that is out there. And I think we should respect that. The movie is not focus grouped, and it’s not tailored for a 7-year-old in Iowa or Berlin or anywhere to appreciate it. Marty has made a work of art in the same way that Melies did. So I think that is a beautiful thing and it’s an incredible achievement for a filmmaker still to be able to do that. Thanks to Graham for being able to fund that.
Wow. It seems only yesterday that I was bemoaning having to don the big glasses and watch another film in 3D. It seemed that it was turning into a tired gimmick. It was an extra cost for films that needed an extra push. And then there’s the films converted to 3D after being shot with standard cameras. I couldn’t recall all the 3D movies I’d seen this past year. And then a master shows us how it’s done. Martin Scorsese’s HUGO (based on the children’s book ” The Invention of Hugo Chabret” by Brian Selznick ) truly utilizes the format to its full potential. With most films, I’ve told friends that the 3D wasn’t necessary. With this film I hope people will make the extra effort ( and spend a bit more ) in order to experience it’s eye-popping wonders. A friend was complaining that Scorsese was slumming by stooping to shoot in 3D. I remembered that Alfred Hitchcock shot DIAL M FOR MURDER at the height of the 3D movie craze of the 1950’s ( after the big box office of HOUSE OF WAX and B’WANA DEVIL ). If Hitch could work with the format, why shouldn’t Scorsese get a crack at it? I think movie goers will be glad he did.
At the film’s start we’re high above Paris. The camera swoops into the train station. The year is 1930. We meet a pre-teen boy named Hugo ( Asa Butterfield ). It’s revealed that Hugo worked alongside his inventor father ( Jude Law ) who was the custodian of a large museum. They both attempt to activate a small robot called an automaton. It appears that it writes with pen and ink. Their work comes to a halt when the father is killed and Hugo must live with his lush of an uncle,Claude ( Ray Winstone ) who is the clock maintenance man at the station. When Claude goes missing after a bender, Hugo assumes his duties at the station. As he scrambles to survive while servicing the clocks, Hugo must keep two steps ahead of the determined station inspector ( Sasha Baron Cohen ) and his Doberman. The inspector believes that Hugo is a thieving child of the streets. In his adventures Hugo works with a sullen toy shop owner ( Ben Kingsley ) and befriends the man’s god-daughter Isabelle ( Chloe Grace Moretz ). As the two kids explore the city they soon discover the mystery surrounding her Papa Georges.
This barely scratches the surface of all the wonders of the film. The Paris of 1930 is almost another character in the film. HUGO makes a nice companion piece to Woody Allan’s film from earlier this year MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. Both films are meticulous in their recreation of the era and both feature real artists of the time, although there’s more historical cameos in the Allen film. HUGO has yet another cinema brother in the soon to be released THE ARTIST. In one scene Hugo sneaks Isabelle into a cinema where she is dazzled by an American silent film ( kudos to Scorsese for the excellent choice ), while THE ARTIST is a silent film set around the same period in Hollywood. In this film Scorsese is really able to display and share his passion for the history of cinema. While dazzling us with the sumptuous visuals, Scorsese has not neglected the actors. The film rests on the very capable shoulders of young Butterfield, His Hugo is a smart, resourceful, daring young man. Moretz continues to build a great body of film work as Hugo’s sympathetic sidekick ( and perhaps love interest ). Cohen aptly displays his considerable comic skills ( almost a slapstick silent film clown ) as the comic villain . But the inspector’s not all bad. He pines for the train station flower seller ( Emily Mortimer ), but is embarrassed by the brace on his left leg ( a war injury ). Kingsley gives a very moving performance as the toy peddler who is more than he seems, although his interplay with Hugo makes for some great comedy. Bravo to the producers for populating the station with some great veteran actors like Richard Griffiths and the great Christopher Lee as a kindly book seller. The film may be a tad too long for the very young ( some were getting a bit fidgety at the screening ), but older kids will be thrilled by Hugo’s daring escapes and adventures. With HUGO Scorsese has wrapped up a delightful cinema gift to us this holiday season and proves that any movie format can work when an artist with passion is behind the lens.
Go behind the scenes with director Martin Scorsese as he describes the magic of his new 3D film HUGO. Scorsese screened an unfinished version last night at the New York Film Festival.
“This is a work in progress,” he told the packed audience. “I hope that those of you who really do like it come and see the final film.”
Here’s another look at the delightful trailer that debuted earlier this summer.
John Logan’s HUGO screenplay is based on Brian Selznick’s New York Times bestseller “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” and is produced by Scorsese, Graham King, Tim Headington and Johnny Depp. The film stars Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, Helen McCrory, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Emily Mortimer, and Michael Stuhlbarg.
In a Summer that’s been filled to the brim by all manner of rampant comedies going overboard with barrages of profanity and scatological excesses in their bid to capture the audience that made THE HANGOVER ( including it’s own sequel ) a box office bonanza, it’s refreshing to sit down to a funny film that relies more on well written situations and characters played by some of the most talented and charming actors working in motion picture and television comedy today. The film in question is Jesse Peretz’s OUR IDIOT BROTHER, Don’t be put off by the title-it’s one movie that doesn’t insult the audience’s intelligence.
That title refers to Ned played by Paul Rudd. Ned could almost be the more honest, naive, sweet-natured kid brother of the Dude ( Jeff Bridges’s icon of THE BIG LEBOWSKI ). We first encounter Ned as he’s arrested at his local farmers’ market for selling pot to a uniformed ( yes, uniformed ) cop. After an extended stay at the old grey bar hotel, courtesy of the state of New York , Ned returns to the organic farm he shared with his “old lady” Janet ( Kathryn Hahn, Rudd’s co-star from ANCHORMAN and HOW DO YOU KNOW ). She’s moved on, running the farm with new ” old man” Billy ( T.J. Miller from YOGI BEAR ). What’s worse is that she denies Ned access to his true, great love-a big, shaggy retriever named ” Willie Nelson”. The dejected Ned returns to his boyhood home where Mom ( Shirley Knight ) has gathered his three sisters for a big welcome home celebration. When the ladies leave they tell Ned that he’s welcome to drop in on them in NYC. He decides to do just that in his quest to earn enough money to buy a chicken farm. He picks up odd jobs while disrupting the lives of his three sisters. There’s Miranda ( Elizabeth Banks, Rudd’s co-star from THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and ROLE MODELS ) a single woman climbing the ladder as a feature writer at a Vanity Fair-type magazine while flirting with her cute neighbor ( Adam Scott from TV’s “Party Down” and “Parks and Recreations”). Sister Natalie ( ELF’s Zooey Deschanel ) is an aspiring stand-up comic and model who shares a big loft with her partner, lawyer Cindy ( Rashida Jones, Rudd’s co-star from I LOVE YOU MAN ) and several roomies. Finally there’s Liz ( CARS 2’s Emily Mortimer ) married to documentary film maker Dylan ( THE TRIP’s Steve Coogan ) and raising an infant while trying to get their young son Max accepted into an exclusive private school. After bringing Ned into their homes, the lives of these ladies will never be the same.
Well, how do I begin spreading the praise? Best to start with the director. Peretz keeps things moving briskly with a light touch. He also worked on the inventive script with his own sister,Evgenia and David Schisgall. I must also send kudos to the director ( and the casting department ) for assembling this fantastic group of actors. Banks is terrific as the no-nonsense, ambitious career women who finds that her job may depend on her goofball sibling. Deschanel exudes her usual pixie charm even when she is tempted by a hunky painter ( Hugh Darcy ). Mortimer’s very endearing as a mom who’s just gotten another project to juggle in her life. She’d have plenty on her plate if she just had her hubby. Is there another actor out there that plays boorish, pompous, arrogant, cretins to perfection like Mr. Coogan? Tip a’ the hat to Sterling Brown from TV’s “Army Wives” as Ned’s exasperated prole officer Omar. Hahn is able to make Janet a tough-as-nails hippie earth-mother who pushes Ned aside while intimidating the even more laid back Miller. As good as they are all, the movie belongs to the charming, endearing, loveably goofy Rudd. He’s been wonderful for years as a great supporting player in comedies going back to 1995’s CLUELESS as Alecia Silverston’s stepbrother to TV’s “Friends” as Phoebe’s great love to recently becoming part of the “Frat-pack” with ANCHORMAN and Judd Apatow’s rep company with KNOCKED UP. Ned is such a gentle soul, that we keep rooting for him to get his act together. I mentioned Ned owing a bit to “the Dude”, but there’s another inspiration. During a scene set in Ned’s childhood bedroom I noticed a familiar face in a poster mounted on the wall-the late, great Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. Later Ned introduces his nephew Max to the joys of the great star of Blake Edwards’s Pink Panther movie series. Actually Ned and Clouseau have quite a bit in common. While the inspector destroys fancy mansions ( ” That’s a priceless Steinway!” ” Not anymore.” ) and police investigations. Ned enters the scenes and makes a shambles of careers and relationships. But as we hope for Clouseau to solve the crime, we want to see Ned return to his roots and be reunited with his beloved ” Willie Nelson “. I look forward to many more Paul Rudd starring motion pictures.
The movie’s rated R for the talk of drug use ( Ned loves his herbs ), brief nudity ( a few seconds of a bare backside), and very mild profanity. It’s almost an old Disney comedy compared to the nonstop F-bomb dropping in many recent flicks ( I’m looking at you, THE CHANGE-UP! ). I’d say that OUR IDIOT BROTHER along with the coarser, but still clever BRIDESMAIDS are the funniest films of the the year. You know for a movie about an idiot, it’s pretty darned smart!
Watch the first trailer for Academy Award®-winner Martin Scorsese’s HUGO starring Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, and Jude Law. (via Apple Trailers)
A nice little tale for the Thanksgiving holiday!
HUGO tells the tale of an orphan boy living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. When Hugo encounters a broken machine, an eccentric girl, and the cold, reserved man who runs the toy shop, he is caught up in a magical, mysterious adventure that could put all of his secrets in jeopardy.
HUGO, directed by Martin Scorsese, is based on Brian Selznick’s captivating and imaginative New York Times bestseller “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.” The screenplay for the film is by John Logan and produced by Scorsese, Graham King, Tim Headington and Johnny Depp. This magical tale is Scorsese’s first film shot in 3D
