Wrap your brain around this: Stephen King's It, the 1986 horror novel that spawned a 1990 miniseries and established Pennywise the clown as one of our most enduring collective nightmares (I still can't pass a rain gutter in the street without wondering) is being adapted into a movie in two parts. By the guy who made Sin Nombre and Jane Eyre! Wait, what?
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Writer-director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean makes his feature debut with the L.A. Film Fest entry On the Ice, a character tale about two Alaskan teenagers wrestling with guilt after the accidental murder of a friend. With its isolated setting, cast of non-actors, and rollercoaster ride of a Sundance premiere, the indie drama isn't the easiest sell for mainstream America, but it's a film that deserves to find an audience -- a window into a generation of Alaskan teens balancing native culture with hip-hop, at a unique crossroads between community traditions and the volatile influence of urban culture.
Following a stellar year in which she starred in two Oscar-nominated films (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right), Australian actress Mia Wasikowska continues to impress in Jane Eyre, a moody and gorgeously haunting adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë classic helmed by director Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre). The 21-year-old commands the screen as the titular heroine, an unloved orphan-turned-headstrong young governess who falls for her employer (Michael Fassbender) as sordid secrets threaten to destroy her chance at happiness. Challenging material for most young actresses, but what did you expect from a girl who grew up watching Kieślowski?
When Cary Fukunaga's moody adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre hits theaters this month, Mia Wasikowska's titular heroine might not be the only one seen onscreen making restrained-but-passionate googly eyes at everybody's favorite man-crush, Michael Fassbender. Even the equine species, it seems, is susceptible to Fassbender's dashing good looks and charm, as one enamored horse very ardently demonstrated on the set of Jane Eyre.
Channing Tatum may be the brawny face of this week's Roman period adventure The Eagle, but British actor Jamie Bell is its scrappy, spirited conscience. As Esca, a Scottish slave guiding Tatum's Roman centurion through hostile territory on a mission of honor, Bell flirts with an ominous ambiguity that easily makes him the most watchable performer on the screen. And when you're sharing said screen with Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong, and Channing Tatum's abs, that's really saying something.
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