New Yorker writer, Lawrence Wright appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe talk show to discuss his new book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief, and Tom Cruise quickly became the focus of the conversation. more »
Last week at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone debuted their Broadway hit The Book of Mormon in L.A. previews and, following an enthusiastic opening, spoke about the catchy Mormonism-skewering play, future plans to adapt it into their third film musical. Parker even — half-seriously, I think — suggested who might be the perfect young actor to play the good-looking, All-American missionary hero who finds his dream of Latter Day stardom dashed when assigned to a remote African outpost with a schlubby, geeky partner. “Justin Bieber as Elder Price!” exclaimed Parker.
Do Paul Thomas Anderson and The Weinstein Co. need to worry about the Church of Scientology? Following the New York Post's report of "strange calls" and mounting opposition among members of the organization to pseudo-Scientology pic/festival darling The Master, TWC confirmed to Movieline that the studio has increased security for tonight's premiere at New York's Ziegfield Theatre.
more »
Okay, so you've devoured Maureen Orth's Vanity Fair cover story on Scientology's work-intensive but ill-fated attempt to pair Tom Cruise with Scientologist actress Nazanin Boniadi — a name that will launch a thousand late-night talk-show jokes. Now check out the elegant Boniadi's sexy Nespresso ad with George Clooney, an overseas commercial that should also launch a thousand late-night talk show jokes. more »
The October issue of Vanity Fair magazine has a Scientology-related cover story about Tom Cruise that makes Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master look like light comedy.
In a feature titled, " What Katie Didn't Know: Marriage, Scientology-Style," special correspondent Maureen Orth reveals the details of a top-secret 2004 mission that Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology head David Miscavige, undertook to find a girlfriend for Tom Cruise. more »
A war veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) with a "nervous condition" finds himself entrenched in a cult — if not a religious cult, at least a cult of personality — built around a charismatic leader (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. At long last, after a series of enigmatic teases, the first full trailer has hit the web offering more than just abstract, beguiling peeks at the rumored Scientology drama. So how much L. Ron Hubbard is there in Hoffman's Master?
more »
In the latest installment of One-Sheet Wonder, a column going deep on the best, worst, weirdest and other milestones of contemporary movie-poster art, Movieline takes a look at the new poster for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. — Ed.
The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson's enigmatic follow-up to There Will Be Blood, has been trailed by speculation and assumption for months — Is it about Scientology? Is Philip Seymour Hoffman portraying L. Ron Hubbard in a biopic capacity? — and every question has been met with denials and mystery. But each new marketing piece sheds more light on what we'll get. After two beautiful, beguiling teaser trailers, a beautiful, beguiling one-sheet for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master debuted today over at Ain't It Cool News. But like the clips before it, the poster tells us almost nothing about the movie. (Or do they?)
more »
Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master continues to intrigue with the latest teaser revealing a look at Philip Seymour Hoffman as the enigmatic figure Joaquin Phoenix encounters — a mustachioed character who, in a new teaser entitled "Hopelessly Inquisitive," describes himself as "a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist, a theoretical philosopher" and stands poised in startling contrast to the skulking Phoenix.
more »
Still feeling nihilistic? So's Michael Musto! "Apparently, you pay Scientology, and they help your career big time. But in the old days, the studios closeted you for free! ... I'd rather read an old Pauline Kael review of a movie than watch the actual movie. ... The film biz should pick one day out of the calendar year and declare it 'No Fart Jokes or Car Crashes Day.' ... And how about 'No Pretentious, Scenery-Chewing Oscar-Grubbing Month' (and let's make it December)? ... Every important film from an auteur bloats in at exactly two hours and 20 minutes. One second less would obviously be a creative abortion. ... Today's stars should never do historical epics. Chin implants and pillow lips look funny in the Middle Ages. ... Opening credits have become ridiculous. 'Dingdong Films, under the auspices of Crapola Productions, in association with FilMagic, Cinema Paradise, and Rutgers University, along with Kazilloscope Matters Inc., and Hempstead Futons, Presents an Ashton Kutcher Joint ...'" [Village Voice]
more »
FILM NEWS 