Back when Movieline posted the bonkers-adorable trailer for genre master Takashi Miike's Ninja Kids!!!, about -- what else -- children studying at a school for ninjas, it seemed unlikely that the family-friendly manga and anime adaptation would go much farther than the genre/foreign crowd. However, that was before plans were reportedly in the works to adapt Miike's film into an Americanized remake. After all, every generation deserves their own 3 Ninjas!
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Though the Oscars aired just six months ago, we're already gearing up for next year's decadent -- perhaps Gervais-aided -- ceremony. In scanning the release list for this fall, Movieline picked out five female roles that are shoo-ins for Academy attention. How can we be so sure, you ask? Because every role is a combination of past nominees and winners. Let's divvy up the gold!
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One of the more mysterious curios of the fall movie season is Angelina Jolie's directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey. In an interview with Vanity Fair (on newsstands in New York and Los Angeles this week), Jolie says that she wrote the script for the Bosnian War-set romance while she was ill and quarantined from her children. "I don't watch TV and I wasn't reading anything. So I started writing. I went from the beginning to the end. I didn't know any other way." Afterward, she passed the draft to Brad Pitt; what did her super-famous husband think? "He called and said, 'You know, honey, it's not that bad.'" Oh. Maybe leave that one off the poster. [VF.com]
Real Steel, the robot battledome caper that already gave us the funniest trailer of the past two months, is back with a serious new one-sheet. Is Hugh Jackman thrilled to compete in the Remote Control Robot Derby? The answer is an eerie yes.
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Twenty-two years have passed since Cameron Crowe made his directorial debut with Say Anything, the endearing romantic comedy starring John Cusack as a trench coat-clad kickboxer and Ione Skye as his valedictorian crush. To celebrate the '80s classic, Crowe has released -- for the very first time -- the original extended opening scene to the movie, which as you recall, begins with Cusack's Lloyd Dobler in his best friend's (Lili Taylor) bedroom, discussing his future plans. Check out a glimpse of the script ahead.
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· Next time you think acting on a big-budget film is nothing but free Starbucks and waiting around for effects shots to be set up, think of Jennifer Lawrence. For her part as Mystique in X-Men: First Class, the future Katniss Everdeen had to stand around practically naked for seven hours while a team of make-up artists painted her blue. Now that's commitment to the craft! Click through to watch, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
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A hyper-stylized, genre-mashing fantasy actioner involving cowboys, samurai, and an axe-wielding Ron Perlman with dreadlocks isn't exactly what you might have imagined in a film with a title like Bunraku, named for an obscure, 300-year-old form of Japanese puppet theater rarely performed these days. But that's the film director Guy Moshe made -- starring Josh Hartnett, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson (Indecent Proposal reunion!), and Kevin McKidd as a dapper, Fred Astaire-like cold-blooded killer, no less -- and you've got to give him credit for his ballsy vision.
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All signs were pointing to this in recent days, and now it's official: Lionsgate has sent word that it will host regional sneak preview screenings of its epic, gritty MMA/family drama Warrior this weekend nationwide. Obviously that's nothing new in the grand scheme of release strategies, but what makes this special is the endgame: Oscar night.
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Dancing with the Stars -- the torturous hoofing marathon that should be called They Shoot Has-Beens, Don't They? -- almost signed its most glorious celebrity in three seasons to appear on its thirteenth go-around: the winsome, storied, eerily flirtatious father to Tatum O'Neal, Mr. Ryan O'Neal. Oh my goodness. O'Neal and his daughter have worked out most of their differences over the years, but it's a little strange to realize the dubious Oscar nominee (for Love Story!) was going to be beamed into American homes for two weeks. Recent knee replacement surgery prevented him from officially signing on (he'll reportedly be ready for next season), but let's make the most of this almost-news and devise five dances O'Neal can perform in tribute to his film career in the future.
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So far, the marketing for The Ides of March -- current Oscar runner-up per the Gurus of Gold, for what that's worth -- has done well to emphasize one important fact: the film stars Ryan Gosling, which is good since everyone loves Ryan Gosling. The latest international poster follows suit, with The Gos making puppy-dog eyes at George Clooney, but what's really cool is that the letter "O" in the the title is actually a snake eating its own tail. Ouroboros represent! Click through for a look.
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The fall movie season: when the remakes and sequels of summertime step aside for highfalutin literary adaptations. With some thirteen page-to-screen turns between now and the end of the year, 2011 will pack theaters will bookworms and wannabe literary aficionados the world over. Ahead, a comprehensive list of the forthcoming adaptations, from I Don't Know How She Does It to War Horse.
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The fall movie season is something of a palate cleanser, a way of switching gears after the last summer blockbuster has come and gone, and also a chance to catch a breath before the big holiday movies, with all their hype, start rolling out. Here are the five fall pictures I'm most excited about -- some of them I've already seen, so I know they're great. Others are just too... weird to ignore.
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Also in this Tuesday edition of The Broadsheet: George Clooney isn't the Man from U.N.C.L.E.... Anne Hathaway gets her own Les Miserables rumor... Ben Affleck adds three to Argo... and more ahead.
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As summer draws to a close, it's nice to remember what's in store for moviegoers as the autumnal equinox approaches: films with characters you care about. Deliver me from the superheroes, sweet season! As part of our extensive fall preview, we've picked the five most promising-yet-under-the-radar performances to anticipate in the coming months. Please straighten your tie when approaching the cross-dressing Glenn Close.
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What's a girl got to do to find a decent movie around here? Usually, wait until the summer -- a season full of big budget action blockbusters, male-targeted comedies and easy paycheck franchise extensions -- ends, and the movie posters change color with the leaves. Fortunately, Movieline has just the guide to make the seasonal cinema transition a little easier.
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