The actors in War Horse whinny for Oscar cred in the new promotional spot for the Spielberg epic. Though the elegance of the Broadway play's amazing horse puppetry has been shamefully replaced by real horses, we're supposed to believe the cinematic adaptation is just as poignant. Sigh. Let's hear them out.
Steven Spielberg couldn't be at the AFI Fest premiere of The Adventures of Tintin because he was filming Lincoln in Virginia -- and now we know that the Lincoln production process is a completely-effing-serious one. Not only does star Daniel Day-Lewis look remarkable as Lincoln in this new candid photo, but Variety's Jeff Sneider Tweeted a report that he "hasn't broken his Lincoln accent since March" and his "real name doesn't even appear on the call sheet." That is commitment. And insanity. And the new photo will haunt you like a specter in Ford's Theatre.
I'm still a little sour with Steven Spielberg after he tried shilling the abysmal Cowboys & Aliens with a bunch of smarty-pants soundbites, but I'll let him slide in case War Horse turns out to be fabulous. In this new, highly edited Q&A from MSN, Spielberg talks about the new movie, purposely casting an unknown as a lead, and the miraculous work of John Williams. All sounds good so far. But will we be left wanting? Or whinnying?
The 2011 AFI Fest drew to a close Thursday night with the North American public premiere of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, directed, appropriately enough, by AFI-associated Steven Spielberg. Though he was unable to attend in person (much of the crew of Tintin, including Spielberg, was on location filming Lincoln), he sent star Jamie Bell in his stead to introduce the film and play a pre-recorded message for the audience at the Grauman's Chinese, which became so packed festival goers spilled over into a second overflow theater for the premiere.
Steven Spielberg may have hated George Lucas's addition of aliens into Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls, but the much-loathed refrigerator scene? All him. "What people really jumped at was Indy climbing into a refrigerator and getting blown into the sky by an atom-bomb blast. Blame me. Don't blame George. That was my silly idea. People stopped saying 'jump the shark.' They now say, 'nuked the fridge.' I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture." See here, fellas: No one gets away clean. [Empire]
The first batch of reviews are in for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Steven Spielberg's long-awaited big-budget adventure that attempts to revive the charming Hergé character (first introduced in 1929) with the most advanced motion capture technology money can buy. So what did the earlybird critics have to say?
Just when you thought that the trailers for Steven Spielberg's upcoming The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn couldn't get any more action-packed, Paramount and Columbia have unveiled a brand new peak at the highly-anticipated motion capture 3-D film that will have you frantically etching the release date -- December 23 in the U.S. -- onto every available calendar surface. Just like you've already done for Adam Sandler's Jack and Jill.
It's week three of the 2011-12 Oscar Index, and the latest measurements, readings and conclusions are in from Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. And aside from a few startling exceptions, they don't look that different than the ones disseminated here last week. But make no mistake: Like it or not, stuff is happening! Read on for the latest developments.
While discussing the presidential biopic that he is gearing up to shoot in Richmond this fall, Steven Spielberg described what he does not want Lincoln to be. The 2012 title will "not [be] a battlefield movie. There are battles in it, and being in Virginia, we have access to those historic battlefields." Additionally, "the movie will be purposely coming out after next year's election. I didn't want it to become political fodder." On the other hand, Lincoln will chronicle "the great work Abraham Lincoln did in the last months of his life." The drama stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president of the United States alongside Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and John Hawkes. [Orlando Sentinel]
When the British sci-fi action pic Attack the Block opens this week in limited release, courtesy of Screen Gems, it will mark the completion of the long journey that comedian, screenwriter (Ant-Man, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn), and first-time director Joe Cornish has made with his alien invasion passion project. So how did a South London-set hood actioner fronted by a cast of teenage unknowns manage to become one of the buzziest, fan-beloved films of the year?
The Comic-Con crowd has always been good to Jon Favreau -- recall the splash he made here in 2007 with Iron Man, a geek director finding his people -- and charmingly (or cunningly, but mostly charmingly) Favreau knows it. So even without a panel to present at Comic-Con this year, he brought his latest film, the sci-fi Western Cowboys & Aliens, to San Diego in a big way: By hosting an enormous premiere filled with cast, crew, hundreds of fans, and a rousing, touching speech that seemed to genuinely come from the heart.
Utah native Riley Griffiths landed the opportunity of a lifetime when he scored a role in J.J. Abrams' Super 8. Discovered during a nationwide search for the mostly unknown young actors (including Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Gabriel Basso, and Elle Fanning), the 14-year-old makes his film debut as the ringleader of a group of amateur filmmakers who stumble upon a mysterious government conspiracy one night when a train crashes -- literally -- across their makeshift film set.
If J.J. Abrams' nostalgic summer sci-fi adventure Super 8 is intentionally evocative of producer (and Abrams mentor) Steven Spielberg's E.T. (1982), then 15-year-old newcomer Joel Courtney is its Elliott, the young, sensitive boy hero caught in the middle of an otherworldly mystery. It's a big role to hang on the shoulders of a newcomer -- one who won the part after visiting L.A. in hopes of landing a modest commercial gig -- but, as it turns out, the Idaho native now has bigger career goals in his sights.
At the tender age of 15, filmmaker J.J. Abrams received an opportunity Dawson Leery would have killed for: the chance to work for his idol, Steven Spielberg. Nearly 30 years later, Abrams looked back on the unusual teen gig that got him started in film and, in a way, led to his teaming up with Spielberg again for this week's Super 8.
The first trailer for The Adventures of Tin Tin doesn't so much explain, well, anything, as it does establish a first look at the unique visual world director Steven Spielberg created for the motion-captured adventure. Otherwise? Spielberg and Paramount Pictures have a lot of work to do to introduce the Belgian boy hero to American audiences.
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