"I basically replaced Michael Anthony Hall with a zombie" says Warm Bodiesdirector Jonathan Levine by way of explaining that his girl-meet-corpse rom-com has more in common with John Hughes body of work than the Twilight saga.
I was on the red carpet Friday night for the New York premiere — which was hosted by The Cinema Society and Artistry — where I also spoke with star Nicholas Hoult. How did the former Skins star perfect his zombie run? Hours on the treadmill! In fact, when friends stopped by his flat — Hoult is British — he says they took one look at him and said "this guy needs to take a break"! Nope, that's not fatigue, that's zombie reflexes!
Hoult's co-star Teresa Palmer was also in attendance, and her favorite thing about Warm Bodies is that it helps the uber popular zombie genre evolve in unexpected ways. That's right, we can't watch The Walking Dead forever - or can we...?
As everyone looks back on the year that was, I've found myself returning to a few moments in the movies that resonated especially well thanks to a phenomenon that achieves soul-stirring status so rarely, though not for lack of frequency: Song choice. I'm not talking about dropping the latest Kelly Clarkson/Natasha Bedingfield ditty into a crap rom-com. I mean the special, skin-tingling magic that occurs when a song is married so perfectly to a character, story, or feeling that the music and the moment swell within us with new, layered meaning. Join me and let's hash it out: Which movie(s) used music the best in 2011? more »
If you haven't joined the cult of Film Crit Hulk, the anonymous blogger who writes astoundingly observed film musings in the character and voice of The Incredible Hulk, now's as good a time as any to start reading with his recent post on Jonathan Levine and Will Reiser's cancer dramedy 50/50.
Jonathan Levine has directed two feature films (The Wackness and next month's 50/50) since seeing his 2006 directorial debut, the indie horror pic All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, infamously go from a Weinstein Co. pick-up to a Weinstein Co. cast-off sold to Senator Entertainment, who then went out of business themselves. So what's the latest status of the Amber Heard starrer (which also features Anson Mount, Whitney Able, and Twilight's Michael Welch)?
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg first teamed up on the big screen with pals Jonathan Levine and Will Reaser in the forthcoming 50/50, based on Reaser's own fight with cancer. Next, the gang will tackle Jamaica, another Reaser tale based on true events, "loosely based on a vacation [Reaser] took to Jamaica with his grandmother when he was 14." In a word: Hot. As with 50/50, Reaser will script with Levine directing and Rogen and Goldberg producing. [Press release]
If you dug the first trailer for Jonathan Levine's (The Wackness) September pic 50/50 -- about a 27-year-old (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) coming to terms with his cancer diagnosis -- then enjoy the first batch of images, in which JGL shaves his head, lights fires with Seth Rogen, and unburdens himself to a comely young lady friend (Anna Kendrick).
