Rebecca Hall

Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall to Star in Untitled International Thriller

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 2nd, 2012 at 11:22 am

Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall are set to team up for an untitled international suspense thriller. Focus Features and Working Title films are set to produce the flick, with Boy A helmer John Crowley onboard to direct. The film centers on two ex-lovers who “find their loyalties tested and their lives at risk when they are joined together on the defense team in a terrorism trial.” The film is described as a nail-biting thriller that also plays as an emotional roller coaster. Bana and Hall are stellar performers and the script comes from Eastern Promises scribe Steven Knight, so this one has the ingredients for quite the flick. Production is set to begin in April.

Bana has a number of projects on the horizon, including the thriller Blackbird, the heist pic Brilliant, and he’s next set to play Elvis Presley in Elvis & Nixon. As for Hall, she’ll next be seen in Stephen Frears’ gambling dramedy Lay the Favorite.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Sundance 2012: LAY THE FAVORITE Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 24th, 2012 at 12:09 am

I have some theories regarding Lay the Favorite.  I believe screenwriter D.V. DeVincentis was partly paying attention to the script, partly paying attention to ESPN, and mostly paying attention to soft-core porn.  The talented actress Rebecca Hall must have had her brain switched with adult film star Katie Morgan.  And the director Stephen Frears can’t be the same one who directed High Fidelity, The Queen, and The Grifters.  There must be a different director who is also named Stephen Frears, but who is also far less talented.  These theories are the only way to explain why Lay the Favorite is so freaking terrible.

First Clip from Stephen Frears’ LAY THE FAVORITE Starring Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 18th, 2012 at 9:28 am

One of my must-see films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is Stephen Frears‘ adaptation of Lay the Favorite starring Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis.  Hall plays a woman who works for Dink, a high-stakes gambler (Willis), and takes to the job like a natural, but she begins to fall for Dink, much to the chagrin of Dink’s wife, Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones).  The first clip from the film shows Hall and Willis singing along to The Hollies’ creepy song “The Air That I Breathe” (I know it’s not meant to be creepy, but it just is), driving along the Las Vegas strip, and getting chummy.

Hit the jump for the clip.  The movie reunites Frears’ with his High Fidelity screenwriter D.V. DeVincentis, and co-stars Joshua Jackson, Vince Vaughn, Laura Prepon, and Corbin Bernsen.  Lay the Favorite premieres at Sundance on the 21st and I’ll be there to review it.  The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.

Sundance 2012: First Images from CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER, LAY THE FAVORITE, GOATS, and SHADOW DANCER

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 5th, 2011 at 4:27 pm

Today, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival announced their premieres line-up. Along with the announcement comes a boat load of images from the films set to be showcased at the fest. After the jump we’ve got images and syonpses from Celeste and Jesse Forever (starring Andy Samberg, Rashida Jones, and Elijah Wood), Lay the Favorite (starring Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, and Catherine Zeta-Jones), GOATS (starring David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, and Ty Burrell), and Shadow Dancer (starring Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, and Clive Owen).

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.

International Trailer for THE AWAKENING Starring Rebecca Hall

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: September 15th, 2011 at 9:42 am

The international trailer for director Nick Murphy’s period psychological/supernatural thriller The Awakening has been released. The film stars Rebecca Hall as a woman bent on exposing all séances and ghost stories as exploitative shams following the death of her husband. However, when she’s called to investigate a disturbance at an all boys’ school, she’s forced to rethink her conceit. I’m really digging this trailer. The scares come from a genuine Gothic creepiness, and the mood and feel of the period really shines through. The performances don’t look too shabby either. Matt caught the film at the Toronto Film Festival and really liked it, so I’m definitely looking forward to checking it out when it hits theaters.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The Awakening also stars Dominic West and Imelda Staunton.

TIFF 2011: THE AWAKENING Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 12th, 2011 at 1:50 pm

You can keep your modern ghost stories.  I understand why they would terrify some people, but those films tend to leave me cold.  They use modern science to find something which cannot be scientifically explained, but trying to find ghosts the same way special ops teams try to find terrorists diminishes the illusion.  You can only shake the camera so much before I wonder if the ghosts have access to a tripod.  The stories also tend to lack any subtext and generating scares is their sole mission.  I prefer my ghost stories gothic and foreboding and that’s why I adored Nick Murphy’s The Awakening.  The film still uses the same conceit of using the scientific to explore the paranormal, but does so with early 1920s technology and it’s far more exciting to see an investigator who uses cameras which rely on a trip-wire and a magnesium flash than someone who went down to the local Best Buy and asked for a quality camcorder.  In addition to its creativity, Murphy paints a gorgeous picture that delivers the thrills, chills, and terrific performances from Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, and Imelda Staunton.

TIFF 2011: First Images from THE AWAKENING, HYSTERIA, WINNIE, and WUTHERING HEIGHTS [Updated]

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 16th, 2011 at 9:00 am

With the announcement of new additions to this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, new images have gone online.  After the jump you’ll find the first images from The Awakening (starring Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, and Imelda Staunton), Hysteria (starring Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal), Winnie (starring Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard), and Andrea Arnold’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

Hit the jump to check out the new images and a synopsis for each film.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 – 18th. [We've updated the story with the trailer for Hysteria]

Official Synopsis Revealed for LAY THE FAVORITE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: July 5th, 2011 at 12:25 pm

We’ve received a press release announcing that Stephen Frears’ adaptation of the Beth Raymer’s memoir Lay the Favorite wrapped principal photography today.  The release includes the first official synopsis of the film and there are (unsurprisingly) some variations from the book.  While the book covers Raymer’s rise through the ranks of sports gambling, the movie apparently adds romantic entanglements and drama that, going by the synopsis, seem awfully forced.  But with Frears at the helm and a cast that features Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, Joshua Jackson, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, I’m still interested in seeing this flick.

Hit the jump for the full synopsis.

EVERYTHING MUST GO Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 13th, 2011 at 7:13 am

When it comes to comedy, Will Ferrell has fallen into a slump of repetitive characters that have the comic tics of shouting, stating the obvious, and shouting the obvious.  If it weren’t for Ferrell’s sublime comic timing and talent for knowing just how long to go deadpan before breaking out, his movies would seem like sequels where only the character’s name and setting had been changed.  Back in 2006, it was a welcome change of pace to see Ferrell in the dramedy Stranger Than Fiction.  He played a man that could not only hear his life being narrated, but also learned that he was about die.  Ferrell gave a strong performance that required both his comic skills and his dramatic ability.  His new film Everything Must Go once again demands that he set his familiar comedic persona aside in favor of drama, but the movie falls apart because it never demands anything from its lead actor beyond looking sad and tired.

Vince Vaughn Joins Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in LAY THE FAVORITE

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: May 5th, 2011 at 10:37 pm

Vince Vaughn will join Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the gambling drama Lay the Favorite.  The film is based on the memoir of Beth Raymer, played by Hall in the biopic.  Once a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, Raymer became an elite professional gambler: “After falling in love, Raymer soon begins to re-evaluate her life and the profession she has chosen.” Deadline reports Vaughn will play Rosie, a Long Island bookie who employed Raymer.  Willis is Dink Heimowitz, Raymer’s mentor who teaches her the finer points of betting on sports.  Zeta-Jones will play Dink’s wife.

Stephen Frears will direct from a script by D.V. De Vincentis.  I’m always interested in the latest from Frears, and I like the collection of eclectic gathering around Lay the Favorite.  Read a synopsis of Raymer’s memoir after the jump.

Trailer and Poster for EVERYTHING MUST GO Starring Will Ferrell

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 31st, 2011 at 1:32 pm

The trailer and poster have gone online for the upcoming indie comedy Everything Must Go starring Will Ferrell.  Ferrell plays a man who has been laid off from his job and decides to sell all of his material possessions in an epic yard sale.  The movie picked up positive notices last year when it played at the Toronto Film Festival and this trailer has me interested because it shows Will Ferrell but he’s not screaming or stating the obvious or stating the obvious while screaming.  He seems to be giving a genuine, low-key performance and it’s a welcome change-of-pace from his regular, broad comic fare.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  The film also stars Rebecca Hall, Michael Peña, Laura Dern, Stephen Root, and Christopher Jordan Wallace.  Everything Must Go opens May 13th.

Confirmed: Mila Kunis Joins James Franco in OZ, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL as Theodora

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 25th, 2011 at 3:00 pm

Last month, it was reported that Mila Kunis was set to join James Franco in director Sam Raimi’s Oz, the Great and Powerful. Today, Variety confirmed Kunis’ casting, announcing that the actress will take on the role of Theodora (aka The Wicked Witch of the West). In this prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Franco will portray a traveling salesman and illusionist who is whisked away to Oz in a hot air balloon, landing in the middle of a battle between three sisters for control of the land. His character eventually becomes the Wizard we know from the 1939 film.

Theodora is initially a good witch, alongside sister Glinda, but is convinced by bad witch Evanora to switch sides after being jilted by Franco’s character. Theodora and Evanora then set out on a quest to rule Oz themselves.  David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit-Hole) recently performed a rewrite on the script for Disney. The studio is now searching for actresses to play the other two witches in the film, with Olivia Wilde, Amy Adams, Kate Beckinsale, Keira Knightley and Rebecca Hall all under consideration.

Catherine Zeta-Jones Joins Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis in LAY THE FAVORITE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 3rd, 2011 at 2:19 pm

Catherine Zeta-Jones has been largely absent from cinemas for the past several years, choosing instead to focus on her family. Her last film to be released domestically was 2008′s Death Defying Acts and she hasn’t attached herself to any projects for years.  But it looks like she might be getting back in the game as Deadline is reporting that Zeta-Jones is in talks to join Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis in Stephen Frears’ adaptation of Beth Raymer’s memoir Lay the Favorite.

Hall would play a young woman who learns the ins and outs of sports gambling from her “lovable, irascible, and big-bellied” mentor/boss Dink Heimowitz (Willis).  Zeta-Jones would play Heimowitz’ wife.  Filming was originally going to take place in New York and Las Vegas in April, but has now moved to New Orleans for Louisiana’s preferable financial incentives.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of Raymer’s memoir.

Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, and Rebecca Hall Considered to Play Yankee Wives in THE TRADE

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: February 24th, 2011 at 9:08 pm

The Trade has a lot going for it.  The film promises to reunite Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on screen for the first time in over a decade.  It’s been suggested that The Trade could be Damon’s directorial debut.  And then there’s the premise, based on the true story of former Yankee pitchers Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson, who traded wives in 1972.  Sounds like a movie to me!

The filmmakers are reportedly considering Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, and Rebecca Hall for the film.  The roles in question aren’t specified, but there are obviously two distinct female leads in this picture to lure actresses of this caliber.  However, this casting is dependent on The Trade going into production; if Kekich gets his way, his life story will not be a movie.  Details after the break.

Bruce Willis in Talks to Join Rebecca Hall in LAY THE FAVORITE, TAKE THE DOG; DIE HARD 5 Goes Back to the Drawing Board

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 11th, 2011 at 10:36 am

A couple weeks ago, we reported that rising star Rebecca Hall (The Town) would lead Stephen Frears’ adaptation of Beth Raymor’s Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling.  Hall will play Raymor, who chronicled her years working in the world of Vegas sports gambling.  Today, Vulture reports that Bruce Willis has signed on to play Raymor’s mentor/boss Dink Heimowitz in the flick, which is now titled Lay the Favorite, Take the Dog.  In the synopsis of the book, “Dinky” is described as “lovable, irascible, and big-bellied.”  I’m not sure Willis is willing to pack on the pounds, but he’s got “irascible” down to a science.

Vulture also mentions that Die Hard 5 isn’t as far along in development as we thought.  Hit the jump for more on the project as well as the book synopsis for Lay the Favorite.

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