Monica Bellucci

TIFF 2011: THAT SUMMER Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 16th, 2011 at 12:23 pm

As TIFF 2011 winds down and festival fatigue sets in, you don’t want to start your day with an awful film.  I can’t blame Philippe Garrel’s That Summer for my schedule or how tired I am.  However, I can blame it for attempted murder as it tried to bore me to death with annoying characters, empty drama, and thoughtless direction.  Then it threw on a big dollop of misogyny just to make me hate it even more.

Trailer for THE WHISTLEBLOWER Starring Rachel Weisz

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 27th, 2011 at 8:47 am

The US trailer for The Whistleblower has gone online.  Based on real events, Rachel Weisz stars as a UN peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia who uncovers rampant corruption and a massive cover-up of criminal activity.  The film played the festival circuit last year to positive notices and I’m glad I’ll finally get a chance to see it in the near future.  In addition to Weisz, the impressive cast features David Strathairn, Monica Bellucci, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jason Isaacs, and Vanessa Redgrave.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The Whistleblower opens August 5th.

3 New Images and 4 Clips from THE AGES OF LOVE Starring Robert De Niro and Monica Bellucci

by Talia Soghomonian    Posted: May 12th, 2011 at 10:31 am

Remember that Bananarama song from the 80s that went something like “Robert De Niro’s waiting, talking Italian”? Well, he really does talk Italian in The Ages of Love, the third installment of Giovanni Veronesi’s comedy Manuale d’amore, De Niro plays an American college professor who moves to Rome and, of course, rediscovers the joys of love with a curvacious woman, played by Monica Bellucci.

An anthology of love stories, Manuale d’amore came out in 2006, followed by Manuale d’Amore 2 (Capitoli Successivi) the following year. With de Niro in the case, here’s to hoping that the film will make it to screen Stateside. It was released in Italy on February 25 and will hit French theaters on June 15.  Hit the jump to read the synopsis and check out some photos and teasers.

Teaser Trailer for THE AGES OF LOVE Starring Robert De Niro and Monica Bellucci

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 4th, 2011 at 1:58 pm

A teaser trailer for Giovanni Veronesi’s The Ages of Love (formerly Manual of Love 3, which sounded like it should be on late-night Cinemax) has gone online.  The film is an anthology of love stories set in Italy and has received attention because it’s managed to land Robert De Niro and Monica Bellucci in one of the storylines.  As we previously reported, De Niro will play a divorced American professor living in Rome and his role will partially be spoken in Italian.  Bellucci will play his love interest.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.

Casting Call: Mackie in Talks for MAN ON A LEDGE; Emma Bell to Lead 5NAL DESTINATION; Bellucci Joins MANUAL OF LOVE 3; Jessica McNamee in THE VOW

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 2nd, 2010 at 10:19 am

We have four pieces of casting news for your reading pleasure.  First up, Variety reports that Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) is in talks to star opposite Sam Worthington in the cop-thriller Man on a Ledge.  The story centers on a female   psychologist and a former NYPD officer who threatens to jump to his death.  No word on what role Mackie would be playing in the film.  Mackie was recently in talks to star in the next Mission: Impossible film but the role ultimately went to his Hurt Locker co-star Jeremy Renner.

Hit the jump to read about Emma Bell leading 5nal Destination (aka Final Destination 5), Monica Bellucci joining Manual of Love 3, and Jessica McNamee coming on board The Vow.

4 Movie Clips and 38 Images from THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE Starring Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: July 10th, 2010 at 12:37 pm

With Walt Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice getting released next week, it’s finally time for us to start posting a ton of exclusive video interviews with the cast and director Jon Turteltaub. However, before getting started with those, we’ve got 4 clips and 38 images that you can check out after the jump.  Look for a lot more coverage on The Sorcerer’s Apprentice very soon:

THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE Featurette “Fantasia: The Coolest Scene Ever”

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: June 18th, 2010 at 5:04 pm

I might be in the minority, but I’m really looking forward to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  While I’m not entirely sure what to expect from director Jon Turteltaub’s movie, based on the trailers, it look like it’s going to be a fun ride and anything that has Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel as master and apprentice has my money.

While I don’t know anyone that’s seen the finished film, the junket is this week in Los Angeles.  That means reviews will start to hit Twitter and Facebook in the middle of the week.  If I’m allowed to say what I thought, you can expect a tweet.  Until then, Disney has released a new featurette called “Fantasia: The Coolest Scene Ever” and as you might expect from the title, the filmmakers share how it all began – with an 8 minute scene of classic animation – and take us on the journey of how the film got made and the inspiration of Fantasia. Check it out after the jump:

New Posters for THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE and SECRETARIAT

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: June 9th, 2010 at 10:27 pm

Walt Disney has released new character posters for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and the first poster for Secretariat.  Check them all out after the jump.

Promo Trailer for THE WHISTLEBLOWER Starring Rachel Weisz

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 30th, 2010 at 9:07 pm

Collider reader Freddy turned us on to a new promo trailer for The Whistleblower.  The film stars Rachel Weisz as a female cop from Nebraska who serves as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia but ends up exposing a United Nations cover-up of a sex trafficking scandal.  I ragged on the premise a bit when we reported Weisz’ casting in May 2009, but looking at this trailer, the film looks good.  There will be comparisons to Weisz’s role in The Constant Gardener (a role for which she earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), but she’s a fantastic actress and knows how to deliver.  The film’s also got a strong supporting cast including David Strathairn, Monica Bellucci, Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Brødre), and Vanessa Redgrave.  It will be interesting to see what co-writer/director Larysa Kondracki pulls off with her first feature-length film.

Hit the jump to check out the promo trailer plus the promo poster.

New Posters for SHREK FOREVER AFTER and THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: April 15th, 2010 at 9:36 am

DreamWorks and Walt Disney have released new posters for Shrek Forever After and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  Of the two, I really dig the The Sorcerer’s Apprentice poster as it’s simple and effective.  Also, rather than screaming who directed, starred or produced the movie, it’s selling you more on the mystery and magic – which is what you want to do with this film.  Check out the posters after the jump.

Images of Nicolas Cage on the Set THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE Reshoots in NYC

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: March 3rd, 2010 at 9:34 am

A few images of Nicolas Cage on the set of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice have hit the net.  It ends up the production is doing some reshoots in New York City.  And before you start jumping to conclusions about what the reshoots mean…almost every movie made does some sort of reshoot.  When the movie is being put together in the editing room, or after a test screening, the filmmakers will realize something is missing and they do reshoots to try and fix the problem.  Again, not a big deal.

Saying that, if you hear about a movie reshooting for weeks, then it’s safe to jump to a bad conclusion as that means something is really not working.  But a few days… no big deal.  Hit the jump to check out Cage on the set.

THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE Trailer – Updated

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 9th, 2009 at 1:27 am

The first trailer for Walt Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice has been released.  This is the Jon Turteltaub directed (National Treasure, National Treasure: Book of Secrets) adventure/comedy starring Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, and Monica Bellucci.

While I’m a big fan of producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s movies that star Nicolas Cage (The Rock, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, National Treasure), the trailer makes me quite nervous.  Everything from the music to the not very good CGI left me less than impressed and the film looks like it aims very young.  Saying that, if I were a twelve year old and hadn’t seen a lot of movies, maybe this trailer would excite me.  Judge for yourself after the jump.

Update: Disney has provided us with three images from the film.  They’re below the trailer.

Monica Bellucci, David Strathairn, and Vanessa Redgrave Join Rachel Weisz in THE WHISTLEBLOWER

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 20th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

Variety reports that Monica Bellucci, David Strathairn, and Vanessa Redgrave will join Rachel Weisz in the indie political drama, “The Whistleblower”.  Based on a true story, “The Whistleblower” is the directorial debut of Larysa Kondracki’s and tells the story of policewoman (Weisz) who risks her job and her own safety to uncover and bring to light a scandal involving both American contractors and the United Nations in postwar Bosnia.   You wouldn’t think a scandal could erupt at the intersection of “American contractors”, “United Nations”, and “postwar Bosnia” but I guess we’ll just have to suspend our disbelief.

Weisz is having a great 2009 so far.  She gave one of the best female performances of the year in “The Brothers Bloom” and she played the lead in Alejandro Amenábar’s “Agora” which became Spain’s top-grossing film of the year after only four days.  Weisz will next be seen in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones”.

Jerry Bruckheimer and Nicolas Cage Show of PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME and THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE

by Ramses Flores    Posted: September 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

Jerry Bruckheimer and Nicolas Cage made a special appearance today at D23 and showed off trailers for two of next years big summer films, “Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time”, and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. I’ve been curious about “Prince of Persia” for a while now since I’ve played and loved the game.  I’ve been hoping that it would finally be the “one”.  By this I mean that it would finally by the first video game movie that actually turned out to be good.

Meanwhile, I’ve just been curious about “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” because it’s based off of the iconic Fantasia segment and features Nicolas Cage as the sorcerer and Jay Baruchel as his apprentice.  It’s been a big “why?” to me since it was first announced, but I’m definitely interested in seeing how it turns out. You can now get a full trailer breakdown for both films when you click on the jump.

These Aren’t The First Photos of Monica Bellucci in THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE, But They’re The Best

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 19th, 2009 at 11:48 am

I don’t know why so many sites are reporting Just Jared’s set photos of Monica Bellucci in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” as the “first” we’ve seen of her.  Look, see these?  I don’t have a time machine*.  These came first.  However, it looks like it’s the same scene so I guess that’s where the confusion is coming from.

But these photos are indisputably the best.  We usually don’t post full photos before a jump but since this photo just sold me on the entire film, I’ll include it right now.  You can click here or on the image below for the rest.  The Cleavage’s Apprentice is due to hit theatres on July 16th, 2010.

*Yet.

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