Can I get a Hoo-Ah? Al Pacino has had a good run playing reviled real-life characters in HBO movies and miniseries, and, based on this trailer for Phil Spector, he's going to keep his streak alive when the movie debuts on March 24. more »
Also in Thursday morning's round-up of news briefs, Cloud Atlas is being criticized for using "Yellow Face" for white actors. New York salutes the late Andrew Sarris. And an Amy Winehouse play based on her life heads to the stage.
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Also in Wednesday morning's new round-up: In the run-up to the election, a major cable company is offering its customers a free viewing of an anti-Obama doc; Details on Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and a book deal for a Spider-Man creator.
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Also in Tuesday morning's round-up of news briefs, the European Film Awards named 47 films to be considered for nomination for its December 1 ceremony. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sarah Polley's latest Toronto title is headed to theaters. IFC Films picks up a thriller. And Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening's comedy is also en route to a theater near you.
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Deadline reports that Al Pacino has been tapped to play famed Penn State fixture Joe Paterno, the legendary football coach who enjoyed the winningest reign in history before the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal marred his legacy. A little side-by-side photo comparison shows that Pacino bears a resemblance to the late coach, if you squint a bit; after a spotty run in film and TV of late (veering from the TV movie You Don't Know Jack, which earned him an Emmy and Golden Globe, to the Adam Sandler comedy Jack & Jill — let's not even talk about Dunkaccino), JoePa's rise and fall might offer some meaty material for the Oscar-winner.
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Why It's an Inessential Essential: Last week, Warner Brothers released a Blu Ray box set of British director Christopher Nolan's films. Looking at the box set (other titles include: Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Inception), one is reminded of Nolan's celebrity status as one of the most instantly recognizable filmmakers working today. Which makes it difficult to imagine a film that might be considered obscure or in need of reconsideration. But the clear outlier in the Christopher Nolan Director's Collection is Insomnia, Nolan's remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name.
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I'm going to assume none of us learned anything from Garry Marshall's New Year's Eve other than, "I was right to avoid New Year's Eve." Fortunately, there are real lessons to be gleaned from the best in New Year's cinema, and we've lined up five movies with tips for your bash this weekend. Whether you're ringing it in alone or spending it with the grimmest Vietnam vet on Earth, you'll learn something valuable here.
With all this laudatory talk of the best of the year and Nelson Muntz-style "HA hah"-ing at the worst, isn't it time to spare a thought for all the films in between, the ones that are neither remarkably good nor jaw-dropping awful? 2011 saw hundreds of films hit theaters, some only on offer for a week or two before being shunted off to other platforms, others providing an adequate or mildly disappointing few hours of entertainment at the multiplex. But just because a movie is middling doesn't mean it can't have some memorable, even exceptional scenes. Here are five from flicks that likely won't be on many year-end lists, but that still deserve a second look.
Al Pacino might be the kind of guy who agrees to shameful, hot dog-related cameo in an Adam Sandler cross-dress movie, but he is still (partly) a serious thespian. For evidence, look no further than the Oscar winner's next directorial effort, Wilde Salome, a behind-the-scenes documentary that combines footage of his Broadway performance of Oscar Wilde's Salome with video of Pacino obsessing over the poet and directing/stressing out about his project. It's all very meta. Click ahead to see Pacino unravel in the first glimpse of Wilde Salome.
Not to worry, Barry Levinson's still hard at work hammering that Gotti: Three Generations biopic into something that's starting to kinda-sorta resemble The Godfather, depending on how much you buy into Levinson's hype. But first, Deadline reports, Levinson and Gotti co-star Al Pacino (who most recently teamed up on the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning You Don't Know Jack) will film their adaptation of Philip Roth's 2009 erotically-tinged novel The Humbling. Cue the sexy sexagenarian shenanigans!
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