Brendan Gleeson

SAFE HOUSE Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 9th, 2012 at 10:25 am

There’s no problem with delivering a solid action thriller that doesn’t reinvent the genre, but Safe House goes through the motions without an ounce of creativity or flavor.  It’s the bare minimum of what an action movie should be and marches through gunfights and car chases because that’s what the genre requires, not what makes the film exciting.  Denzel Washington doesn’t add much by doing a tamer retread of his Training Day performance, and Ryan Reynolds is the film’s redeeming aspect as he tries to bring a little nuance and shading to his character.  But the main fault lays with director Daniel Espinosa, who knows how to make Safe House loud, but not much else.

New Trailer for THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 16th, 2011 at 1:19 pm

A new trailer for Aardman Animation’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits has gone online. This trailer maintains the delightfully goofy tone we’ve seen from past trailers, and delves a bit more into the plot. The story centers on a pirate captain named Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) who’s on a quest to win the Pirate of the Year award. We also get a look at the character voiced by Jeremy Piven here. This trailer didn’t grab me as much as the last two, and it kind of feels like a more Americanized version targeted at audiences here in the States. Nevertheless, I’m still very excited to see the finished film, as Aardman’s next picture Arthur Christmas has been rounding up some very positive reactions.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also features the voices of Salma Hayek, Brendan Gleeson, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, and Martin Freeman. The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens in 3D on March 30th, 2012.

New Trailer and Images for SAFE HOUSE Starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 3rd, 2011 at 11:44 am

Universal has released the first trailer for the thriller Safe House starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.  The story centers on a young CIA agent (Reynolds) who must team up with the dangerous criminal in order to survive when their safe house is destroyed by mercenaries.  The trailer goes heavy on the action, but it looks like director Daniel Espinosa (Snabba Cash) has done a great job.  But the biggest hook is the dynamic between Washington and Reynolds.  Few actors have as much fun playing the bad guy as Washington and he clearly relishes flipping between charm and malevolence on a dime.  My only complaint with the trailer is that it shows a little too much, but overall I like what I’m seeing.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and the larger version of the poster and image released yesterday, plus two new images.  The film also stars Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard, Vera Farmiga, Fares Fares, Robert Patrick, Nora Arnezeder, Liam Cunningham, Joel Kinnaman, and Ruben Blades.  Safe House opens February 10, 2012.

International Trailer for THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 25th, 2011 at 7:25 am

The international trailer for The Pirates! Band of Misfits has been released. This may be my favorite trailer for the film yet, as it delves more into plot and maintains that delightfully goofy tone that Aardman (the studio behind Wallace & Gromit) does so well. We also get some good stuff from the character Charles Darwin (yes, that Charles Darwin) and lots of kooky pirates. The story centers on a pirate captain named Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) who’s determined to win the Pirate of the Year Award. This one is definitely high on my most anticipated list for 2012.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also features the voices of Salma Hayek, Brendan Gleeson, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, and Jeremy Piven. The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens in 3D on March 30th, 2012.

Anna Kendrick, Terrence Howard, Brendan Gleeson and Sam Elliott Join THE COMPANY YOU KEEP

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 10th, 2011 at 6:51 pm

Robert Redford is assembling quite the ensemble for his next directorial project The Company You Keep. Anna Kendrick, Terrence Howard, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Elliott and 11-year-old America’s Got Talent finalist Jackie Evancho have joined the cast of the drama. Based on the novel by Neal Gordon, the story centers on a former Weather Underground militant who goes on the run after an ambitious young journalist exposes his true identity. Redford will be pulling double duty, as he’ll also star as the Weather Underground militant in the film. Shia LaBeouf is onboard to take on the role of the journalist. Other cast members include Brit Marling, Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie, Richard Jenkins, Stephen Root, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Cooper.

Hit the jump for the details on who Kendrick, Howard, Gleeson, and Elliott will play.

First Trailer for THE RAVEN Starring John Cusack

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 7th, 2011 at 6:29 am

The first trailer for James McTeigue’s The Raven has gone online.  The story takes place in 1840s Baltimore where a series of grisly murders appear to have been inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack).  Poe and a detective (Luke Evans) must team up to find the killer before he takes out the woman Poe loves.  While I think the premise is intriguing and I’m always up for a crime thriller that pulls the setting out of the modern day, this trailer comes off like “Hey, remember From Hell?  Let’s try that again.”  Hopefully McTeigue’s film will play far better than the unfortunate adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel.

Hit the jump for the trailer.  The film also stars Alice Eve, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Brendan Gleeson.  The Raven opens March 9, 2012.

Brendan Gleeson Talks THE GUARD, SAFE HOUSE, AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS and More

by Sheila Roberts    Posted: August 2nd, 2011 at 9:20 am

Brendan Gleeson turns in another memorable, must-see performance in The Guard as Sergeant Gerry Boyle, an eccentric small-town cop with a confrontational and crass personality who reluctantly partners with FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) to track down elusive drug traffickers. A longtime policeman in County Galway, Boyle’s a maverick with his own moral code, a jaundiced outlook and a subversive sense of humor. He’s indifferent to what others think of him and he enjoys keeping them guessing as to his intelligence.

We sat down with Gleeson at a roundtable interview to talk about his new comedy crime film, a darkly funny fish-out-of-water tale of murder, blackmail, drug trafficking and rural police corruption written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. Gleeson also discussed his upcoming projects including the recently completed CIA thriller Safe House starring Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington and At Swim-Two-Birds, a project he’s adapted from Flann O’Brien’s acclaimed 1938 novel and hopes to direct next Spring.  Hit the jump for more.

Brendan Gleeson Video Interview THE GUARD

by Tommy Cook    Posted: July 28th, 2011 at 3:16 pm

Hamish. Liam Tobin. “Mad Eye” Moody. “Ken”. Menelaus. Walter ‘Monk’ McGinn. Martin Cahill. All roles under the repertory of the inestimable character actor Brendan Gleeson. Gleeson, with his sunken eyes and brogue dialect, able to interject even the smallest of roles with undeniable pathos and weight. With his new film The Guard set for limited release tomorrow, Gleeson steps up to the limelight as the titular guard Sgt. Gerry Boyle. Boyle, as protector of the small Irish County Galway, must fend off rampant police corruption, murderous thugs and a secret drug trade. Of course – he would rather just have a good old-fashioned pint instead.

In lesser hands, Sgt. Boyle could easily have become an outlandish caricature of sorts – a buffoon with a gun, not so far removed from Paul Blart. But Gleeson is able  to imbue the boorishness of the character with an unexpected undercurrent of loneliness and more surprisingly, hidden competence. Sgt. Boyle mat not be as ill suited to saving the day as appearances would suggest and Gleeson with nary a word, just a look, perfectly conveys the adroitness behind each calculated stumble. In the following interview with Brendan Gleeson, he speaks about his portrayal of Sgt. Boyle, how he balanced the comedy with the drama of the script and what it was like working with both McDonagh brothers (John Michael on The Guard and Martin on In Bruges/Six Shooter). For the full interview, hit the jump.

THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS Trailer

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: July 14th, 2011 at 9:20 am

I want to see a good pirate movie this year and I certainly didn’t get one with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  But there may be hope in Aardman Animation’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits.  For those who don’t know, Aardman are the folks behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run and judging by the trailer for The Pirates! they’ve done another terrific job.  Not only do they once again provide their charming claymation, but there were numerous jokes in the trailer that had me cracking up.  The film will be getting a presentation at Comic-Con and I’m excited to see more.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film features the voices of Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Brendan Gleeson, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, and Jeremy Piven.  The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens in 3D on March 30, 2012.

First Image of John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe in THE RAVEN – Updated With Official Synopsis

by Jason Barr    Posted: June 24th, 2011 at 2:56 pm

The first image of John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe in the thriller The Raven has landed online. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), the film is set in 1849 and stars Cusack as the iconic author/poet who joins forces with a detective in hopes of stopping a murderer who is inspired by Poe’s work. Luke Evans, Alice Eve, and Brendan Gleeson also star in the pic. I’m really liking the Se7en vibe the logline gives and, as a fan of both Poe and Cusack, I’m pretty excited about checking this one out when it hits theaters on March 9th, 2012.

Update: The official synopsis has been sent out.  It’s below the picture.

US Trailer for THE GUARD

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 6th, 2011 at 1:12 pm

Sony Pictures Classics has released the domestic trailer for John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard.  A couple weeks ago, we showed you the international trailer for the film and at the time I speculated that the US trailer would dial back the racial humor.  But it actually included more!  Hooray!  This new trailer does a good job of delivering laughs and hopefully it will entice people to check out this solid small flick that features a winning performance from Brendan Gleeson.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The Guard opens in limited release on July 29th.

First Trailer for THE GUARD Starring Brendan Gleeson

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 24th, 2011 at 9:34 am

An international trailer for John Michael McDonagh’s comedy-crime flick The Guard has gone online.  I caught the film at Sundance and thought it was a lot of fun with a must-see starring performance from Brendan Gleeson.  The story centers on a cop (Gleeson) in Ireland who ends up assisting an FBI agent (Don Cheadle) in his hunt for drug traffickers.  What makes Gleeson’s performance so great is that he keeps you guessing as to his character’s intelligence while keeping the character’s indifference towards what other people think of him.  This trailer hints at that and I doubt the American trailer will include Gleeson’s remark “I thought only blacks lads were drug dealers. And Mexicans.”

Click over to RTE Ten to check out the trailer [via The Playlist].  We’ll have an embeddable version as soon as its available.  Sony Pictures Classics acquired the US and Latin American distribution rights to the film, but no US release date has been announced.

 

Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek and More to Provide Voices for Aardman’s THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 5th, 2011 at 11:48 am

Aardman Animation has assembled an impressive voice cast for their upcoming stop-motion 3D animated film The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.  Variety reports that Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Salma Hayek, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Jeremy Piven, Brendan Gleeson, Brian Blessed, and Ashley Jensen will all lend their voices to the film.  The movie will be the first voice acting role for Grant and he’ll play the lead role of a “bearded Pirate Captain who travels far and wide in a quest to win the much coveted Pirate of the Year Award.”  I’m already smiling at the thought of someone with Grant’s signature foppish, befuddled delivery playing a pirate.   Chicken Run co-director Peter Lord will direct alongside Jeff Newitt.

While Pixar is usually dubbed the “Animation Studio with the Perfect Track Record” I’ve always been incredibly charmed by Aardman’s films.  They’ve only done three feature films to date (Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Flushed Away) and I’ve enjoyed all of them.  Their latest film, Arthur Christmas, opens in 3D on November 23rd.

Relativity Media Sets Release Dates for Untitled Raven Project and Untitled Farrelly/Wessler Comedy

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 3rd, 2011 at 2:36 pm

Two upcoming Relativity Media films may not have titles, but they now have release dates.  First up, James McTeigue’s Untitled Raven Project (previously titled The Raven) will open on March 9, 2012.  Per the press release, “The film is a gritty thriller in which Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders.”  The untitled movie also stars Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Relativity has also set the date for the Untitled Farrelly/Wessler Comedy that has an absolutely ridiculous cast starring in a series of interconnected stories.  Just some of the names on board include Johnny Knoxville, Gerard Butler, Anna Faris, Seann Hugh Jackman, Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Halle Berry, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Terrence Howard, Liev Schreiber, Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long, Kristen Bell, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Stephen Merchant.  Hit the jump for the full press release.

Brendan Gleeson, Robert Patrick, Liam Cunningham, and Sam Shepard Join SAFE HOUSE

by CJ Simonson    Posted: February 8th, 2011 at 7:17 pm

Any movie with Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds and singer/actor Rubén Blades already has a top notch cast — which makes this news all the sweeter. The Wrap is reporting that four more actors will join CIA thriller Safe House: Brendan Gleeson (the Harry Potter movies), Robert Patrick (The Unit), Liam Cunningham (Clash of the Titans) and Sam Shepard (Fair Game).

Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Easy Money) and penned by new screenwriter David Guggenheim, the movie is about a CIA Agent (Reynolds) whose top secret safe house is attacked by assassins, leaving him to safely transport a criminal (Washington) to Washington.  Scott Stuber is producing through his Universal-based Stuber Pictures and Trevor Macy is executive producing through Intrepid Pictures. Safe House will be released February 10, 2012.

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