Javier Bardem booms out, "You shall love (pause) whether you like it or not." Bardem is seen dressed as a priest in 'To The Wonder,' the latest film by Terrence Malick, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival. The trailer opens with a couple walking across what looks like a bridge over the Seine in Paris who then head to what looks like the tidal island Mont Saint-Michel before heading back to more suburban locales and then pastoral expanses.
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Also in Tuesday morning's round-up of news briefs, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams and more begin work on a new project. The Abu Dhabi Film Festival unveils its lineup. And Beasts of the Southern Wild director begins work on a new "Louisiana-fable" project.
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Watching the trailer for Brian De Palma's upcoming film Passion, I get the feeling that he could be a fan of SCTV's classic Whispers of the Wolf Ingmar Bergman parody. Yes, I know that De Palma's erotic thriller is based on the late Alain Corneau's final film Love Crime (2010), about two international business women locked in a power struggle — but there's something about Noomi Rapace's vacant stare in the first scenes of the trailer that reminds me of the great Andrea Martin's performance in the SCTV comedy gem. (You can see both videos after the jump.) more »
The Venice Film Festival released details about its 69th edition Thursday morning, with 17 films debuting in competition, competing for its top Golden Lion award. Among the new features headed to the Italian city are Brian De Palma's Passion with Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace and Paul Anderson. Harmony Korine's latest, Spring Breakers with James Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens joined the lineup along with Terrence Malick's To the Wonder, starring Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem and Olga Kurylenko. As previously announced, the festival, which runs August 29 - September 8 will open with the world premiere of Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
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Looks like that first steamy image from Brian DePalma's femme thriller Passion was just the tip of the erotic iceberg! New images from the film have emerged from Cannes, where the film is seeking buyers, showing more of stars Rachel McAdams as a businesswoman and Noomi Rapace as her assistant, who become locked in a deadly power struggle that will involve lingerie, showers, and kinky masks. If these pics don't get this movie sold, I don't know what will.
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The previously untitled, Ben Affleck/Rachel McAdams-starring project due later this year has also received an R rating for "some sexuality and nudity." Ugh. This calls for a petition! Meanwhile the film still awaits an official release date; stay tuned here for details as events warrant. [CARA via Film Stage]
Also in Friday morning's Biz Break, the Weinsteins go for a sneak of their latest French release paired with Oscar-winner The Artist, the Time Warner chief's recipe for how to combat movie piracy, and more.
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Finally! Brian De Palma is getting out of the repugnant war-screed business pioneered in Redacted and back into the sexy-time homage-remake business with which he made his name. This time it's Passion, a thriller based on the late Alain Corneau's acclaimed 2010 French potboiler Love Crime and featuring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace taking over for Kristen Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier, respectively. In the first photo released from the film, the actresses do what comes naturally... to, uh, De Palma.
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There are a number of givens when one is confronted with a Nicholas Sparks story, the surest thing being that you will cry. Oh yes, you will weep. That is, if you're one of the many out there predisposed to falling under the spell of Sparks's carefully crafted, timeworn magic formula of love, tears, and tragedy. But how does this week's Zac Efron-starring The Lucky One measure up to its predecessors in terms of The Sparks Quotient?
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In The Vow, Rachel McAdams plays Paige, a Chicago sculptor who's wife to Leo (Channing Tatum), the owner of a recording studio. The two are talking about starting a family, clearly giddily in love, when they get into a car accident that results in Paige taking a slow-motion header through the windshield. She sustains a brain injury that leaves her with amnesia, losing all memory of meeting and having a relationship with Leo. He finds himself having to convince the woman he married of the depth and strength of their connection when to her he might as well be a stranger.
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Anticipating total Valentine's Day box office domination by competitor The Vow -- the Rachel McAdams-has-amnesia-and-can't-remember-she's-married-to-Channing Tatum weepie -- Fox has shifted their McG-helmed spy love triangle action rom-com This Means War again back to Friday, Feb. 17 to avoid being slaughtered. The Reese Witherspoon/Chris Pine/Tom Hardy romp is still sneaking into theaters on Feb. 14 for a limited pre-opening run, but who are we kidding: Channing Tatum + tears + pining is the way to go, especially if there's no shot at Hardy and Pine running off together in each others' arms. [Deadline]
Way back in June, Spyglass Entertainment debuted the first trailer for The Vow, the latest Rachel McAdams romance film involving memory loss. It was depressing to see our former Notebook sweetheart diving headfirst into another melodramatic title. Like McAdams's Vow character though -- who is struck with amnesia after a parked car accident involving an overplayed Meatloaf single -- I forgot about the former starlet's downwardly spiraling filmography...until today's new preview for The Vow reminded me, it's about time someone stages a career intervention for Rachel McAdams.
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