Tag: Noah

Paramount Pictures’ NOAH movie will finally be released in theaters Friday, March 28th and the first reviews coming in are very positive.

Variety critic Scott Foundas calls director Darren Aronofsky’s film a, “bold, personal, visually extravagant take on the Old Testament tale.” (review)

The Hollywood Reporter’s critic, Todd McCarthy, writes, “Working on by far his biggest budget in the wake of the great global success of Black Swan, Aronofsky bulks up his film not only with naturalistic spectacle but with fantastical elements that evoke both Ray Harryhausen and Peter Jackson; creatures rise up from the sea, a whole forest takes instantaneous shape at Noah’s convenience and there is far more swordplay and fighting than one ever imagined in this story.” (review)

Devin Faraci over at Badass Digest has the best review of the bunch. “And don’t get me started on what God is doing. Noah doesn’t shy away from the enormity of the Flood – a sequence has people screaming and clinging on to a mountain peak as the waters smash them away, their death cries echoing within the expanse of the ark. This isn’t the version of the Flood as seen in cheery Sunday School books. It’s one of the most harrowing things I have ever seen in a PG-13 movie.” (review)

In the latest featurette, meet Tubal-cain, Noah’s nemesis and a descendant of the infamous Cain who slew Abel. Played by Ray Winstone, (Martin Scorsese’s THE DEPARTED and HUGO), the English actor says he perceived Tubal-cain as a flawed but savvy man determined to survive at any cost. “I kind of saw Tubal-cain not as the bad guy, but as very human. He has his own very strong point of view.”

Although he is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, Tubal-cain is not included as part of the story of Noah – but Aronofsky and Handel brought him into the screenplay for a very specific reason. “Here’s a guy who is a descendant of Cain, the first murderer, and who himself is defined as forger of weapons in the Bible,” explains Handel. “He seemed like the right person to serve as the leader of the descendants of Cain, representing the wickedness and corruption of man.”

Winstone was a leading choice from the start. “We had to hire someone who you believe could kick Russell Crowe’s butt,” muses Aronofsky. “And he’s a big, tough guy who really sizes up to Russell. They have a great stand-off and confrontation.”

Winstone continues: “I think that he’s tormented because the Creator doesn’t speak to him; he’s like a child that’s been shunned. There’s a lot of envy going on between him Noah and there’s a sadness. I think he’s a man who from a young age has been a warrior fighting for land, fighting for minerals, fighting for meat, and he has come to a point where he is wondering, ‘what have I done with my life?’”

One of the film’s producers, Mary Parent, was impressed with Winstone’s complexity. “Tubal-cain is very much the manifestation of all that has caused God to question where man is headed. There’s an incredible moment in the movie where he even begins to compare himself to God, and takes it to the level of hubris. Yet, at the same time, Ray brings a vulnerability, so you feel for Tubal-cain – and you see that from his perspective, what he’s doing makes sense. While Noah respects all of Creation, Tubal-cain sees everything as for the taking.”

From the inspirational story of courage, sacrifice, hope and redemption, Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan,” “The Wrestler,” “The Fountain”) brings to the screen NOAH. Academy Award winner Russell Crowe portrays the man chosen by God to undertake a momentous mission of rescue before an apocalyptic flood destroys the world. Never before has the full story been brought to life on screen in a vivid epic – inviting the audience to experience these spectacular events through the eyes and emotions of Noah and his family, as they journey through fear and faith, destruction and triumph, hardship and hope.

The production took the film’s world-class cast and crew on their own unexpected journey as they set out to intensively research Noah’s world, honor the text and board an authentic Ark, hand-built to biblically-detailed specifications. In every aspect of the film’s performances, action and innovative special-effects, the creative team’s aim was clear: to forge a contemporary experience of “Noah” that is immediate, vibrant and personal. The result is the first cinematic portrait of Noah as an imperfect man whose awe-inspiring task grapples with the worst of humanity while affirming our faith in its best.

Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Dakota Goyo and Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins (“The Silence of the Lambs”) also star.

NOAH opens in cinemas and IMAX on March 28, 2014.

Official Website:  http://www.noahmovie.com/
Official Facebook:  Facebook.com/Noah
Official Twitter:  Twitter.com/NoahMovie

Photos – (c) MMXIV Paramount Pictures Corporation and Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc. in the United States. All Rights Reserved

Find out how director Darren Aronofsky built a real ark in a new featurette for NOAH.

Visit the online Ark Experience to interactively explore the three decks of Noah’s ark:

http://www.noahmovie.com/theark/

Erik Parker. Myth Maker. Acrylic on canvas. 60.25″ x 72.12″. Courtesy the artist and Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky presents an exhibition of contemporary artwork inspired by the biblical saga of Noah and the Ark.  “Fountains of the Deep: Visions of Noah and the Flood” complements the release of Aronofsky’s highly-anticipated upcoming film NOAH.

The exhibition opens at 462 West Broadway in New York on Friday March 7, 2014 and will run through Saturday, March 29, 2014.

The exhibition includes work from 50 internationally-recognized artists, from celebrated contemporary artists Ugo Rondinone, Sue Williams, Karen Kilimnik, Mike Nelson, and Nan Goldin to comic book legends like Jim Lee, Jim Woodring and Simon Bisley, a leading contributor to Heavy Metal magazine and graffiti duo Faile.  Of special note is the work of the now-deceased Reverend Howard Finster, a folk iconoclast who created album covers for the Talking Heads and R.E.M.

Each artist was handpicked by Aronofsky, who asked many to create original pieces in their own medium, in the same way that he approached the story of Noah: by exploring the evocative and timeless themes found in the Book of Genesis.

Carlos Jorge. Noe and the lucky ones. Oil on canvas. 84″ x 71″. Courtesy the artist.

“While writing the script for NOAH, I wondered how my favorite artists would interpret the iconic text.  So I decided to ask a few of them to return to Genesis and create an image of their own,” said Aronofsky. “This exhibit is the collection of their work: in painting, in drawing, in photography, in sculpture and in music.”

The exhibition is a collaboration with Dominic Teja Sidhu, an independent curator and creative director focused on media as a platform for curatorial practice, whose work encompasses contemporary art, cinema and fashion imagery.  Sidhu curated a series of works by Rudolf Stingel, Vija Celmins, Nick Mauss, and others that appear in a fictive character state within the scenes of Aronofsky’s film “BLACK SWAN.”  In March of 2011, he curated the exhibition “Black Swan” at Regen Projects with works by Ugo Rondinone, Karen Kilimnik, Katharina Fritsch, Anish Kapoor, Richard Prince, and Christopher Wool, to name a few.

“Sea New York” (2013), by Peter Kuper

NOAH, from Paramount Pictures and Regency Enterprises, stars Academy Award®-winner Russell Crowe in the title role in the film inspired by the epic story of courage, sacrifice and hope. Directed by visionary filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.  Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins and Logan Lerman also star. The film was written by Darren Aronofsky & Ari Handel and produced by Scott Franklin, Darren Aronofsky, Mary Parent and Arnon Milchan.

The film will open nationwide on March 28, 2014.

Official Website:  http://www.noahmovie.com/
Official Facebook:  Facebook.com/Noah
Official Twitter:  Twitter.com/NoahMovie

Paramount Pictures, distributor of Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming feature film NOAH, strongly disputes the inaccurate media story from Variety, who reported on a religious survey from the Faith Driven Consumer.

The question posed asked respondents if they were “satisfied with a biblically themed movie — designed to appeal to you — which replaces the Bible’s core message with one created by Hollywood.”

The survey question that had the 98% response rate did not contain any reference to the film NOAH, despite the fact that the Variety reporting implied that it did, and research from industry-leading firms about the upcoming epic paints a very different picture.

Nielsen’s National Research Group (NRG), the industry’s decades long standard for measuring pre-release tracking of feature films (and other entertainment offerings), is tracking NOAH and has gauged, with still six weeks to go before the film’s release and from self-defined “very religious” moviegoers, that 83% of those aware of NOAH in the pre-release tracking have expressed interest in seeing film.

Others in the Christian research field, including the Barna Group, the 30-year-old research and resource company widely considered to be a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture, have had a similar response to NRG in their own pre-release research done of behalf of NOAH, including the fact that 86% of Christian respondents who are aware of the film said they would recommend NOAH to their friends.

Additionally, Barna Group’s President David Kinnaman noted, “On our survey conducted over February 13th through February 15th, we found the majority of pastors would recommend that people see the film Noah.”

NOAH, from Paramount Pictures and Regency Enterprises, stars Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe in the title role in the film inspired by the epic story of courage, sacrifice and hope. Directed by visionary filmmaker Darren Aronofsky. Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins and Logan Lerman also star. The film was written by Darren Aronofsky & Ari Handel and produced by Scott Franklin, Darren Aronofsky, Mary Parent and Arnon Milchan.

NOAH opens nationwide on March 28, 2014. To learn about the film, visit: http://www.noahmovie.com/.