Christopher Walken

First Images from Martin McDonagh’s SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, and Woody Harrelson

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 9th, 2012 at 7:49 am

The first images from Seven Psychopaths, Martin McDonagh‘s highly-anticipated follow up to In Bruges, have gone online. The film stars Woody Harrelson as a gangster who goes on a rampage after his beloved shih tzu is kidnapped by an unemployed actor (Sam Rockwell) whose only source of income is helping a professional dognapper (Christopher Walken) who steals dogs and returns them for the reward money (That’s right: McDonagh has basically borrowed the M.O. of Jon Lovitz character from City Slickers 2).  Colin Farrell co-stars as Martin, a struggling screenwriter who tries to help Rockwell’s character, but only gets caught up in the mess, although it gives him great material for his next script, which is called “Seven Psychopaths”.

Hit the jump to check out the images and more info on the flick, which also stars Tom Waits, Gabourey Sidibe, Abbie Cornish, and Olga Kurylenko.  Seven Psychopaths is due out in theaters this fall.

Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin to Star in Action-Comedy STAND UP GUYS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 1st, 2012 at 1:45 pm

A trio of Hollywood veterans is set for the action-comedy Stand Up Guys. THR reports that Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin will star in the project for director Fisher Stevens (Just a Kiss). The story “centers on two aging criminals, one of whom has been hired to kill his friend. They decide to enjoy one last night of debauchery in which they hit up a brothel, steal some cars and evade police but also face the choices they made in their lives.” I genuinely love Pacino, Walken, and Arkin but I can’t help but worry that the project might veer into Old Dogs territory. They’re undeniably legends of the silver screen so I’m hoping their talent won’t be wasted, but action-comedies are incredibly hard to pull off and the tone has to be nailed perfectly.

Hopefully my apprehension will be unfounded, but I remain cautiously optimistic about the project. Walken is currently filming Seven Psychopaths with Colin Farell, Arkin recently wrapped Ben Affleck’s Argo, and Pacino will next be seen in the untitled Phil Spector biopic on HBO.

Owen Wilson and Christopher Walken Join Paul Rudd in Errol Morris’ FREEZING PEOPLE IS EASY; Kristen Wiig May Co-Star

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 4th, 2012 at 12:18 pm

Last July, we reported that Paul Rudd would star in Errol Morris‘ non-documentary feature based on the memoir We Froze the First Man and a This American Life story about Bob Nelson, a California TV repairman who was obsessed with cryogenically freezing humans in order to resurrect them later in the future.  Deadline now reports that Owen Wilson and Christopher Walken are set to co-star, and Kristen Wiig may join the film, which has been titled Freezing People Is Easy, but she first has to wrap her season on Saturday Night Live and she’s also considering other offers.

Zach Helm (Stranger Than Fiction) wrote the script and the production is eyeing a mid-2012 start date.  It sounds like a fun premise, I’m eager to see what Morris brings to the project, and I dig the cast that’s being lined up to star.  Click here to go listen to the This American Life episode about Nelson, “Mistakes Were Made”.

First Synopsis for Martin McDonagh’s SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, and Christopher Walken

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 2nd, 2011 at 1:06 pm

Steve just returned from AFM with a boatload of goodies to share with our readers, and among the finds is the first synopsis for In Bruges director Martin McDonagh’s action-comedy Seven Psychopaths. The film features a top-notch ensemble made up of Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, and Mickey Rourke. 2008’s In Bruges was an ingenious and brutally funny black comedy, so I’m psyched (pun-intended) to see McDonagh assemble such a fantastic/volatile cast for his follow-up feature. The wacky premise of Seven Psychopaths involves a dog-napping gone wrong, and oh so much more. Hit the jump for the full synopsis.

TIFF 2011: DARK HORSE Review

by Phil Brown    Posted: September 12th, 2011 at 11:51 am

Following his surreal and reflective Happiness sort-of-sequel Life During Wartime, dark comedy specialist Todd Solondz returns with Dark Horse, a film that only initially appears to be his most mainstream outing to date. As a filmmaker who revels in the world of societal outcasts, it was inevitable that the writer/director would eventually find his way to creating an entry in the recent spat of manchild comedies. However, Solondz is no Apatow and his tale of a 35-year-old man who still lives with his parents and spends most of his time pondering his latest action figure purchase isn’t merely a gently comedic take on the subject. Laughter is only the starting and as the film wears on, it soon becomes a sad deconstruction of manchild comedies and a hallucination-fueled nightmare of immaturity and failure. Not exactly a light date movie for the Seth Rogen crowd, but a comedy that cuts deep into the current filmgoing infatuation with unjustly glorified juvenile behavior.  Hit the jump for more.

First Images from ALBERT NOBBS, DARK HORSE, THE DEEP BLUE SEA, and FRIENDS WITH KIDS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: July 26th, 2011 at 11:07 am

The announcement of the films playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival has brought with it a deluge of first images from major upcoming movies.  After the jump you’ll find the first images from Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs (starring Glenn Close and Mia Wasikowska), Todd Solondz’ Dark Horse (starring Selma Blair, Justin Bartha, and Christopher Walken), Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea (starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston), and Jennifer Westfeldt’s Friends with Kids (starring Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, and Adam Scott).

Hit the jump to check out all of the images.  We’ve also provided the synopses.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.  For all the new TIFF images we’ve posted today, click here.

Christopher Walken, John Turturro, Alicia Silverstone, Sharon Stone, Edie Falco, Rosie Perez, Phylicia Rashad, and More Star in GODS BEHAVING BADLY

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: July 5th, 2011 at 9:47 pm

Big Beach has culled an eclectic cast to play immortals in the adaptation of Marie Phillips’ Gods Behaving Badly: Christopher Walken (Zeus), John Turturro (Hades), Sharon Stone (Aphrodite), Edie Falco (Artemis), Phylicia Rashad (Demeter), Nelsan Ellis (Dionysus), Gideon Glick (Eros), Henry Zebrowski (Hermes), Rosie Perez (Persephone).  Movieline passes along the official synopsis:

The film tells the story of the Greek Gods, alive and well and living in a brownstone in New York City, as they cross paths with a young couple, Kate and Neil. The intersection of the Gods and the mortals threatens not only the couple’s budding relationship, but the future of everything else.

Alicia Silverstone and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will play the young couple.  Admittedly, this cast would be more impressive in a year that begins 199_.  Regardless, this sounds like a fun project.  Production begins this month in New York on Gods Behaving Badly, the directorial debut of Big Beach co-founder Marc Turtletaub.

KILL THE IRISHMAN Blu-ray Review

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: June 27th, 2011 at 1:43 pm

In the 1970s, the city of Cleveland played host to a turf war between the Italian mafia and an Irish crime syndicate headed by Danny Greene. In Kill the Irishman, Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) plays the titular Celtic warrior in a biopic based on true events. Writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh (The Punisher) allows Stevenson to tread ambiguous moral ground in his portrayal of Greene, but the movie tends to lean towards establishing Greene as a folk hero instead of a murderous criminal. Hit the jump for my review.

Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Christopher Walken Join Colin Farrell in SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: May 11th, 2011 at 9:45 pm

Quick — before you read the headline, think of four male actors you’d like to see in a movie together.  Now, less than 2% of you named Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Christopher Walken.  But 14% combined two or more of these actors, and an impressive 37% of your lists included at least one.  This bodes well for Seven Psychopaths, the black comedy which secured Farrell, Rockwell, Rourke, and Walken at the Cannes Film Festival today.  Per Variety, the story centers on “a screenwriter (Farrell) struggling for inspiration for his script, Seven Psychopaths, who gets drawn into the dog kidnapping schemes of his oddball friends (Rockwell and Walken).”  How can you not love a movie that casts Rockwell and Walken as “oddball friends”/dog kidnappers separated by 26 years in age?  Rourke will play a gangster who causes trouble when his dog goes missing.  (Given Rourke’s love of dogs and general flirtation with insanity, he may not know he is in Seven Psychopaths.)

The project reunites Farrell and In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh, not to mention In Bruges producers Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, and Tessa Ross.  The ineffable Meghan Ellison (True Grit) is also on board as producer.

Christopher Walken, Ashley Greene, Shirley MacLaine, and Adam Beach to Star in THE BOOM BOOM ROOM

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 14th, 2011 at 12:15 pm

Christopher Walken, Ashley Greene, Shirley MacLaine, and Adam Beach will star in the mystical drama The Boom Boom Room.  In a slightly bizarre pairing, Bono will be executive producing the film alongside acclaimed art house director Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire).  There are no details on the plot other than it’s “a magical tale set in a desert milieu.”  Writer/director Lian Lunson tells Screen Daily “This has been a vision of mine for a very long time. The story captures the essences of everyday life but in a fairy tale landscape.  It is a dream to be working with Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Walken, both of whom are playing roles unlike anything they’ve done before.”  I’ll pay $10 just to hear Christopher Walken say “Boom Boom Room”, but only on the condition that I also get it as a ringtone.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Jeremy Northam, and Christopher Walken to Star in A LATE QUARTET

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 10th, 2011 at 8:59 am

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Jeremy Northam, and Christopher Walken will star in the indie drama A Late Quartet.  Last August, we reported that Ethan Hawke had joined the project, but it now appears that he has dropped out.  The Playlist previously reported that Hoffman and Keener were on board.  According to the press release, the four actors will play “a world-renowned string quartet struggling to stay together as they mark their 25th anniversary in the face of illness, competing egos and insuppressible lust.”  Imogen Poots (Centurion) and Liraz Charhi (Fair Game) will also star.  Filming is set to begin later this month in New York City.  Yaron Zilberman will make his feature film directing debut from his own script.

Hit the jump to check out the press release.

Trailer and Poster for KILL THE IRISHMAN Starring Ray Stevenson

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 9th, 2010 at 11:17 am

Anchor Bay has released a trailer and poster for their new crime thriller Kill the Irishman.  The film centers on real-life Irish mobster Danny Greene (played by Ray Stevenson) who decided to stop being a loan shark for the Italian mob and go into business for himself.  Not surprisingly, the mafia didn’t take too kindly to that career change and they tried to blow him up.  A lot.  There are about 14 explosions over the course of this two-and-a-half minute trailer.  However, the film does look like a nice showcase for Stevenson and Stevenson’s mustache.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  Kill the Irishman also stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer, and Christopher Walken.  It opens March 11, 2011.

Casting Call: Christopher Walken Rides DARK HORSE; Vanessa Hudgens on JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND; Jessica Lange & Sam Neill Take THE VOW

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: October 14th, 2010 at 9:40 pm

Christopher Walken, Mia Farrow, Selma Blair, Jordan Gelber, Aasif Mandvi, Justin Bartha, Zachary Booth, and Donna Murphy have all joined the cast of Dark Horse, the latest from writer/director Todd Solondz (Life During Wartime).  THR provides a brief outline for the indie drama:

The film centers on a thirtysomething man (Gelber) in arrested development who lives with his parents (Walken and Farrow), reluctantly works for his father and avidly collects toys. He seeks out a thirtysomething woman (Blair) in arrested development in an attempt to shed the “dark horse” status in his family and finally accomplish something.

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Mandvi plays Blair’s “not quite ex-boyfriend,” Bartha and Booth are Gelber’s more successful brother and easygoing cousin (respectively); Murphy will portray Walken’s secretary.  Filming began earlier this week in New York.

Hit the jump for news details on Vanessa Hudgen’s role in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and the teaming of Jessica Lange and Sam Neill for The Vow.

INSOMNIA, THE LAST BOY SCOUT and LAST MAN STANDING Blu-ray Reviews

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: August 3rd, 2010 at 6:30 am

Warner Catalog! Christopher Nolan is now the most beloved director of the fanboy set for realizing a dark and realistic take on the Dark Knight. For the critical community he was already championed for having directed one of the masterpieces of the 21^st century with Memento, and now it seems both parties are coming together to celebrate Inception. Insomnia was Nolan’s transition film into the big leagues to show that he could handle a larger budget and big names. It’s more important as a transitioning film, than as an actual piece of art.  Al Pacino stars as Will Dormer, a Los Angeles detective flown to Alaska to help hunt a possible serial killer (Robin Williams), only to accidentally shoot his partner (or perhaps not)?

This has little to do with Bruce Willis, who was at his peak with Tony Scott’s The Last Boy Scout, and biding time in Walter Hill’s Last Man Standing. The former has Willis’s Joe Hallenbeck paired with ex-football star Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) as they have to uncover the mystery of who killed Dix’s girlfriend (Halle Berry).  Last Man Standing has Willis stepping into the role made famous by both Toshiro Mifune and Clint Eastwood as the hired gunman who gains or displays his conscious and destroys two rival gangs by playing them against each other. My review of all these films on Blu-ray after jump.

Mickey Rourke, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken, Johnny Hallyday Join Tony Scott’s POTSDAMER PLATZ

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: July 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am

Last we checked, Mickey Rourke, Javier Bardem, and Jason Statham were circling Potsdamer Platz, the new film from Tony Scott.  No word on Statham, but French publication Le Parirsien [via The Playlist] reports that Rourke and Bardem have signed on, accompanied by Christopher Walken and French singer/actor Johnny Hallyday.   The drama centers around “two soldiers in a New Jersey-based crime family who try to expand internationally.”  Don’t get too attached to the German title, as the setting is being shifted from Europe to Puerto Rico, which should inspire a name change.

Scott reportedly pursued Al Pacino and a retired Gene Hackman for roles; as with Statham, it is unclear whether their services are still desired, but it seems likely that one of the roles went to a similarly-aged Walken.  Subsequent to the January shoot of Platz, Rourke and Scott may reunite for the biker biopic Hell’s Angels.

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