Ben Affleck and his spokesman aren'texactly batting down a report that the Argo director's name has been floated for the Massachusetts Senate seat that Sen. John Kerry will vacate if President Obama chooses him to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. more »
James Franco said he is unlikely to return to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes following the exit of the sequel's director Rupert Wyatt.
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In our pre-Mayan apocalypse era, when you want to ensure that whatever you say is disseminated far and wide faster than the time it takes to tweet 'DID YOU SEE THIS ###$$!!!' the best advice is to master the subtle art of trolling with useful facts. Case in point: Joss Whedon, who screened The Avengers and afterward, sat for one of Jeff Goldsmith's Q&As Tuesday night at the Director's Guild of America in Hollywood.
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A front-runner in the Oscar race, Zero Dark Thirty received some harsh words from an unlikely source - Senator John McCain. The Arizona legislator who was a P.O.W. and endured torture during Vietnam watched the film by Kathryn Bigelow Monday night and said it left him sick and called it, "wrong."
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Quentin Tarantino says slavery continues in the United States. The outspoken filmmaker — whose spaghetti southern Django Unchained unflinchingly depicts the brutality of slavery — stoked the debate on race Tuesday night when he appeared on the Canadian television talk show George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight to suggest that the United States' "war on drugs" and its "mass incarcerations" of black men is "just slavery through and through." more »
Martin Scorsese is taking on the 42nd President of the United States for his next project and Bill Clinton himself is fully participating in the non-fiction film. Produced in conjunction with HBO, the film will "explore his perspectives on history, politics, culture and the world." Scorsese will produce and direct the film.
In announcing the film, Scorsese said Clinton is a "Towering figure who remains a major voice in world issues," adding, "President Clinton continues to shape the political dialogue both here and around the world. Through intimate conversations, I hope to provide greater insight into this transcendent figure."
William Jefferson Clinton served as the 42nd U.S. President from 1993 to 2001 and was the first Democratic leader in six decades to be elected twice. He is credited with leading the U.S. to one of the longest economic expansions in American history. After leaving office, he established the William J. Clinton Foundation which aims to "improve global health, strengthen economies, promote healthier childhoods and protect the environment by fostering partnerships among governments, business, NGOs and private citizens."
"President Clinton is one of the most compelling figures of our time, whose world view and perspective, combined with his uncommon intelligence, making him a singular voice on the world stage," said HBO CEO Richard Plepler and programming president Michael Lombardo in a joint statement. "This documentary, under Marty's gifted direction, creates a unique opportunity for the President to reflect on myriad issues that have consumed his attention and passion throughout both his Presidency and post-Presidency."
"I am pleased that legendary director Martin Scorsese and HBO have agreed to this film," Clinton said in a statement. "I look forward to sharing my perspective on my years as President and my work in the years since with HBO's audience."
Martin Scorsese collaborated with the 2011 doc George Harrison: Living in the Material World. He's also worked with the premium network with the documentary Public Speaking (2010) and the series Boardwalk Empire, in which he is an executive producer.
Just in time for Christmas, the annual Black List of promising unproduced scripts has been released this morning.
While this year's list is about what you'd expect for a collection of scripts voted on by nearly 300 industry execs nmdash; a high number of 'based on true events' abound nmdash; there are a few with rather promising premises. For example, Americatown, by Ben Pool, is a crime thriller set in a near-future American expatriate enclave within the city of Hong Kong. Timely! Matt Aldrich's The Ballad Of Pablo Escobar also deserves a mention for the craziest idea on the list, which is casting the notorious druglord as the protagonist in a battle to protect his family against rival cartels and his government.
The list also includes a script by Zach Whedon (brother of Joss), and one by A Nightmare on Elm Street reboot writer Eric Heisserer, among many others. The full list, plus synopses, is available here. While you read, try to find out for yourself which of these titles will almost certainly die during production. My guess is that Cherries will get a far less provocative name, probably something like Father's Day.
The top ten scripts based on the number of votes are:
#10 - 28 mentions. DEVILS AT PLAY by James DiLapo
#8 - 29 mentions. ME & EARL & THE DYING GIRL by Jesse Andrews
#8 - 29 mentions. GLIMMER by Carter Blanchard
#7 - 31 mentions. EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE by Michael Werwie
#6 - 33 mentions. WUNDERKIND by Patrick Aison
#5 - 35 mentions. STORY OF YOUR LIFE by Eric Heisserer
#4 - 39 mentions. RODHAM by Young Il Kim
#2 - 43 mentions. A COUNTRY OF STRANGERS by Sean Armstrong
#2 - 43 mentions. SEUSS by Eyal Podell, Jonathan Stewart
#1 - 65 mentions. DRAFT DAY by Rajiv Joseph, Scott Rothman
The full list is as follows:
FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS by Brad Desch
SOMACELL by Ashleigh Powell
GEORGE by Jeff Shakoor
AMERICATOWN by Ben Poole
MIDNIGHT AT NOON by Nathaniel Halpern
THE FINAL BROADCAST by Chris Hutton, Eddie O'Keefe
WUNDERKIND by Patrick Aison
OUT OF STATE by Eric Pearson
THE BALLAD OF PABLO ESCOBAR by Matt Aldrich
COMANCHERIA by Taylor Sheridan
CLIVE by Natasha Pincus
FROM NEW YORK TO FLORIDA by Austin Reynolds
STOCKHOLM, PENNSYLVANIA by Nikole Beckwith
THE HOOVERVILLE DEAD by Brantley Aufill
A COUNTRY OF STRANGERS by Sean Armstrong
WHIPLASH by Damien Chazelle
GLIMMER by Carter Blanchard
TRANSCENDENCE by Jack Paglen
THE EQUALIZER by Richard Wenk
COME AND FIND ME by Zack Whedon
UNTITLED COPS SCRIPT by Blake McCormick
MURDER CITY by Will Simmons
MONSOON by Matt Ackley
MAN OF TOMORROW by Jeremy Slater
FUCK MARRY KILL by Neel Shah, Alex Blagg
THE PAPER MAN by Sean O'Keefe
PESTE by Barbara Marshall
THE OUTSKIRTS by Dominique Ferarri, Suzanne Wrubel
EX BOYFRIEND OF THE BRIDE by Matt Hausfater
THE LIGHTHOUSE by Eric Kirsten
BLEEDING KANSAS by Russell Sommer, Dan Frey
KING OF HEISTS by Will Staples
THE BROKEN by John Glosser
WHO FRAMED TOMMY CALLAHAN? by Harry Kellerman
GOODBYE, FELIX CHESTER by Max Taxe
THE JUDGE by Bill Dubuque
EL TIGRE by Aaron Buchsbaum, Teddy Riley
HIBERNATION by Will Frank, Geneva Robertson-Dworet
CHERRIES by Brian Kehoe, Jim Kehoe
THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Mark Hogan
FLOWER by Alex McAulay
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY by April Prosser
TITANS OF PARK ROW by Mitch Akselrad
BLACK BOX by David Guggenheim
HEY, STELLA! by Tom Shephard
DEVILS AT PLAY by James Dilapo
OUR NAME IS ADAM by T.S. Nowlin
THE KILLING SPREE by Derek Elliott, Jack Donaldson
THE DISCIPLE PROGRAM by Tyler Marceca
JOJO RABBIT by Taika Waititi
SEUSS by Eyal Podell, Jonathan Stewart
GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM by Jason Micallef
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
TIMES SQUARE by Taylor Materne, Jake Rubin
CONVERSION by Marissa Jo Cerar
MCCARTHY by Justin Kremer
THE SURVIVALIST by Stephen Fingleton
RODHAM by Young Il Kim
THE WINTER KILLS by Ben Carney
SAND CASTLE by Chris Roessner
ME & EARL & THE DYING GIRL by Jesse Andrews
IF THEY MOVE... KILL 'EM! by Kel Symons
PENNY DREADFUL by Shane Atkinson
DOPPELGANGERS by Evan Mirzai, Shea Mirzai
BORDER COUNTRY by Jonathan Stokes
WHALEMEN by Tucker Parsons
DON'T MAKE ME GO by Vera Herbert
DRAFT DAY by Rajiv Joseph, Scott Rothman
SWEET VIRGINIA by Paul China, Benjamin China
ALMANAC by Jason Pagan, Andrew Stark
EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE by Michael Werwie
THE PORTLAND CONDITION by Dan Cohn, Jeremy Miller
STORY OF YOUR LIFE by Eric Heisserer
ALL-NIGHTER by Brad Ingelsby
SHUT IN by Christina Hodson
HOLD ON TO ME by Brad Ingelsby
THE KEEPING ROOM by Julia Hart
THE EEL by Roberto Bentivegna
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Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino defended the heavy dosage of violence in Django Unchained, his latest film starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. As with many of his past offerings, Tarantino's Oscar hopeful includes a graphic depictions of blood and gunshot victims. Tarantino was asked about the violence over the weekend in New York in the wake of the tragedy in a Connecticut elementary school that left 26 dead, most of them children.
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What is thought to be the world's most valuable movie poster along with eight others sold to a film memorabilia collector for $1.2 million. The Metropolis poster by German Expressionist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm was purchased as part of a lot in a Los Angeles bankruptcy court Thursday.
Schulz-Neudamm created the poster in 1927 for the German Expressionist science-fiction film of the same title by Fritz Lang.
New Jersey resident Ralph DeLuca, who owns film memorabilia company Movie Archives Inc., won the bidding over three other bidders, Reuters reports. Bidding for the poster started at $700,000.
"I honestly feel that the 'Metropolis' poster is worth more than the whole lot," DeLuca told Reuters. A collector bought the futuristic poster for a record $690,000 back in 2005, which had been a record. Some speculated when it was filed with the bankruptcy court last summer that it could fetch as much as $1 million.
"I think I'll keep the poster unless I get overwhelmed with a 'Guinness Book of Records' offer," said DeLuca. "I believe it will be the first to go past $1 million and even hit $2 million."
Schulz-Neudamm's painting of the artificial woman, or the Robot, is used by a mad scientist to seduce an race of workers in a totalitarian futuristic urban city. Made in Germany during the Weimar Period, Metropolis is set in the year 2026 in a dystopian society in which a wealthy elite rules from vast tower complexes, oppressing the workers who live in the depths below. The silent film was written by Lang and his wife Thea Von Harbou, and starred Brigitte Helm, Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel and Rudolf Klein-Rogge.
In 2008, a print of Lang's original cut of the film was found in Argentina.
[Source: Reuters]
Oh, Top Gun. The Sullivan to Rambo's Gilbert, it cemented pop-culture love for Reagan's aggressive foreign policy, established the late lamented Tony Scott as a successful director, and catapulted Tom Cruise to A-list status, where he has remained ever since. Now, 26 years after its initial theatrical run, Top Gun's barely stifled masculine angst and jingoistic pro-military message (wait, isn't that the same thing?) feel more relevant than they did in 1986. (I blame Dr Pepper Ten for that.) What the world clearly needs is a chance to experience the film's many delights with fresh eyes. more »
Django Unchained had its New York City premiere last night, and like me you probably weren't there. Sorry on all our behalves, everyone! Luckily we can console ourselves with the ongoing reveals of tracks from Django's soundtrack. The latest is Unchained (The Payback/Untouchable), a mashup of James Brown's The Payback and Tupac's Untouchable. Ready for a listen?
You guys, I really want to love this. But despite the fact that James Brown and Tupac are both insanely dope, the track sounds like exactly half of awesome. Blame for that goes to Swizz Beats, who produced Untouchable for the 2006 album Pac's Life, AKA the moment when the dead horse that is Tupac's posthumous career was finally flogged into its component atoms.
Tupac was a genius, but that doesn't mean he's a cipher that can be fitted into whatever era wants him. His flow was built on bomb-squad influenced beats and g-funk. Warping his rap style around the bob-free beats that popped up in the aughts is like releasing a disco remix of Paul Whiteman's version of You're The Tops. Frankly, Untouchable is in strong contention for the absolute worst of Tupac songs.
Particularly hilarious is the fact that Swizz looped Pac to make him fit the track, so we get Tupac shouting "Y'all know me Y'a-Y'all know me" like a Shep Pettibone remix from 1988. Meanwhile, James Brown's music was tailor made for a remix like the one used to make Unchained (The Payback/Untouchable), and the combination only makes the molestation of Pac sound even worse.
I wish they'd just requested access to Pac's original vocals instead mashing up a superior song with an inferior song. Luckily, the beats and the remix of "The Payback" are great, and once you get used to how Tupac is criminally misused, you can enjoy the other more solid moments unfettered. No doubt it's going to sound even better when it plays over scenes of blood-spattered cotton fields, so I'm in.
RATING:
The original Tupac track: 10 out of 100 black coffins for making one of the greatest MCs in the game sound wack.
This mashup: 80 out of 100 black coffins for proving once again that James Brown's music can always be used to make everything sound cool, despite the wackness.
The original version of "Untouchable":
"The Payback":
[Source: A.V. Club]
READ MORE ON DJANGO UNCHAINED:
REVIEW: Tarantino's Django Unchained A Bloody But Bloated Affair
From '100 Black Coffins' To 'Casa De Mi Padre,' 5 Oscar Best Song Dark Horses We're Rooting For
Quentin Tarantino Tackles Slavery: ‘You’re Going to Want to Talk After’ Django Unchained
Ross Lincoln is a LA-based freelance writer from Oklahoma with an unhealthy obsession with comics, movies, video games, ancient history, Gore Vidal, and wine. Follow him on twitter (@rossalincoln).
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Danny Boyle solicited the help of 007 in his Olympic spectacle last summer in London, but that doesn't mean he is on track for a future Bond director gig. Skyfall actor Daniel Craig was a highlight of the opening of the London Olympics along none other than H.M. The Queen, raising rumors that he would take the helm of a future Bond pic.
Asked on BBC Radio 4 if he'd be into doing a full-length Bond, Boyle said, "No, I'm not very good with huge amounts of money." Boyle told the station that the 2000 feature The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio made him averse to taking on big budget movies.
Don't trust me with huge amounts of money anybody," he said, according to BBC. "I did a film, The Beach, which was a proper Hollywood scale budget and it didn't suit me. Certain people can handle that and I love watching those kinds of films, but I'm much better with a smaller amount of money and trying to make it go a long way."
Still, Boyle oversaw the London Olympic Opening Ceremonies which reportedly cost $42.3 million, though still shy of The Beach's reported $50 million budget. The feature made just under $40 million in the U.S. but managed to nab just over $144 million worldwide.
Boyle pulled-off what many in the U.K. never would have imagined happening when he persuaded Queen Elizabeth II to "act" along with Daniel Craig and "appearing" to jump out of a helicopter with 007.
Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire won multiple Oscars in 2009 including Best Picture. His next pic is Trance, starring James McAvoy.
The latest Bond pic, Skyfall has cumed $918 million worldwide.
[Source: BBC]
Angelina Jolie is one step closer to another helping of Salt as Columbia Pictures hits the negotiating table with Seven Years in Tibet writer Becky Johnston.
Naturally with the 2010 original grossing $293.5 million, including $118,311,368 in the U.S., the studio has incentive to get a Salt 2 underway, especially with its irreplaceable star, Angelina Jolie, threatening retirement in the not-too-distant future.
Columbia hired the first Salt's writer Krut Wimmer to write the sequel, but Jolie had apparently scoffed at the script and had not committed to a re-do, according to THR. The studio searched for a replacement who could re-style the story that will satisfy all involved.
Johnston's other credits include The Prince of Tides (1991) as well as Wonder Woman and Brad Bird's San Francisco earthquake story, 1906.
Johnston's participation will be a departure from her previous work, though there's at least one connection. Seven Years in Tibet, released 15 years ago, starred Jolie's future partner, Brad Pitt.
[Source: THR]
For three decades, we've been treated to numerous looks-back on the Dan Aykroyd-John Belushi comedy team, and the one perfect film they managed to make, 1980's The Blues Brothers. So much dirt has already been dished over the decades that it almost feels like we know everything we'll ever need to about the hard-partying tendencies that ultimately killed Belushi in 1982. We would be mistaken, as a new Vanity Fair profile will no doubt demonstrate that however many skeletons you think might have been unearthed, there's always room for one or two more in the mass grave of a dead celebrity's life story.
The January issue features a new and very detailed look into the making of The Blues Brothers. Part fond remembrance, part cautionary tale, and part "Jesus H Christ, seriously. You seriously did all that," it delivers absolutely delicious — and absolutely tragic — stories from Belushi's friends, family and former coworkers about that film's troubled production. We've culled a few choicer nuggets from the online preview:
* The '70s were even more decadent than we think. According to Dan Aykroyd, "We had a budget in the movie for cocaine for night shoots" during the making of The Blues Brothers. And just like that, films like Zardoz suddenly begin to make more sense.
* Belushi's drug problem had gotten so out of hand that they actually asked Carrie Fisher - Carrie Fisher! - to keep him from consuming. I wonder if they also asked Chevy Chase to keep Dan Aykroyd from making bad decisions about the roles he intended to take during the late '80s and early '90s.
* Belushi and Robert Downey, Jr. have a lot in common: Apparently Belushi disappeared from the set one night, and Aykroyd found him at a nearby home where, the homeowner told him, Belushi had just showed up, raided the man's fridge like it wasn't even a thing, and passed out on the couch.
Obviously, this thing just became required, end-of-the-year reading. It goes without saying also that we're very glad this kind of addiction is no longer enabled so blatantly.
[Source: Vanity Fair]
Mexican-American superstar, Jenni Rivera, died Sunday, when her plane crashed en route to Mexico City, after the twin-engine Learjet she was a passenger on lost contact and went down near Monterrey, Mexico. Rivera, the chart-topping "diva de la banda," was a judge on Mexico's reality TV singing competition, La Voz, and was set to make her feature film debut in the hip-hop drama, Filly Brown, a darling out of Sundance last year, opposite Lou Diamond Phillips and Edward James Olmos.
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