Ray Liotta plays real-life mobster Roy Demeo in Ariel Vromen’s crime drama, The Iceman, based on the story of notorious contract killer Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) whose career prospects expand when Demeo offers him the opportunity to earn a living as a mob enforcer.  The role marks the second time in 30 years that Liotta has played a real-life mobster since his acclaimed performance in Martin Scorsese’s gangster classic, Goodfellas. 

At the film’s recent press day, Liotta talked about getting back into that world again, why he likes playing pretend, how he researched his larger than life character, what it was like working opposite Michael Shannon, how he’s met real life mobsters, why he was reluctant to play Frank Sinatra in The Rat Pack, and why he tries to avoid typecasting and chooses roles that are diverse and challenging.  He also revealed his upcoming projects including playing himself in The Muppets…Again!, a hitman in the crime thriller Pawn, a preacher in The Identical, and a guy cheating on his wife in Sin City:  A Dame to Kill For.  Hit the jump to read more:

In The Brass Teapot, John (Michael Angarano) and Alice (Juno Temple) are a small town couple in their ‘20s, who are very much in love, but also very broke.  Struggling to make ends meet while their friends enjoy the good life, a mysterious brass teapot in a roadside antique shop is seemingly the answer to all of their problems, when it starts spitting money out of its spout.  But, as its demands for appeasement become darker and darker, its existence is a reminder that you should always be careful what you wish for.

At the film’s press day, actress Juno Temple spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about making a grown-up fairytale, finding the balance between fantasy and realism, how important it is to just go there for emotional scenes, how difficult it was to get through the S&M scene without laughing, and how she likes to be challenged by the characters that she plays.  She also talked about being a part of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, how much fun it was to work with Ray Liotta for the 17 hours that she worked on the film, and how much more aware you are of your own physicality in front of a green screen.  Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Now playing in theaters is the 3D animated feature, Escape from Planet Earth.  The story centers on some aliens who get captured during a mission to Earth and are tossed into the secure holding site of Area 51, but they quickly find that they are not alone.  Escape From Planet Earth features the voices of Rob Corddry, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, William Shatner, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch, Sofia Vergara, Craig Robinson, George Lopez, Steve Zahn, Chris Parnell, Ricky Gervais and Jonathan Morgan Heit.

During the recent Los Angeles press day, I landed an exclusive interview with Jessica Alba.  We talked about making Escape From Planet Earth, the recording process, her experiences at this year’s Sundance (where she co-starred in the indie comedy, A.C.O.D.), Sin City 2 and how it compares to the first film, what else is coming up in 2013, and more.  Hit the jump for what she had to say.

Other than a tremendous amount of casting news, we haven’t seen too much out of the camp of Robert Rodriguez and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  All that changed today when the sequel’s co-writer/co-director decided to tweet some behind-the-scenes images from the production.  Rodriguez treated fans to some “before and after green screen” images featuring Josh Brolin.

Starring Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dennis Haysbert,Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Ray Liotta, Juno Temple, Stacy Keach, Eva Green and Julia Garner,  Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens on October 4th.  Hit the jump to check out the new images.

We’ve got a couple of interesting casting stories to share this afternoon.  First up, Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) has landed the female lead opposite Jonah Hill and James Franco in the drama True Story.  The film recounts the head-spinning relationship between disgraced New York Times journalist Michael Finkel (Hill) and accused murderer Christian Longo (Franco).  Deadline reports that Jones will play Finkel’s long-suffering girlfriend “who tries to stand by her guy even after his screw-ups cost them everything.”  Rupert Goold (Richard II) will direct.

Additionally, Stacy Keach has joined the ever-growing cast of Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Variety reports that Keach will play “a chief villain,” mob boss Wallenquist.  Prodution is currently underway on the film which also stars Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, and many more.  The pic opens on October 4th.  Hit the jump for a synopsis for True Story.

Months after principal photography first began, director Robert Rodriguez has finally found his dame.  Dimension Films announced today that Eva Green (Dark Shadows) will play the titular character in the sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Green will take on the role of Ava Lord, and Rodriguez and his co-director Frank Miller had the following to say about the casting:

“Ava Lord is one of the most deadly and fascinating residents of Sin City.  From the start, we knew that the actor would need to be able to embody the multifaceted characteristics of this femme fatale and we found that in Eva Green.”

It was also announced today that Julia Garner (Martha Marcy May Marlene) will be playing the young stripper character Marcy.  The cast now includes Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dennis Haysbert, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Ray Liotta, and Juno Temple.  Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens on October 4th.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt had a pretty good year in 2012 and is currently being offered/rumored to star in everything under the sun.  He recently passed on the Godzilla reboot and Guardians of the Galaxy, but has been confirmed for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Perhaps the hottest rumor of late is that Gordon-Levitt will be appearing in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in a Batman cameo or in Justice League as the Caped Crusader.  This was apparently news to Gordon-Levitt, who had a good, if calculated, reaction to this question during a recent interview.  He also talked about working with director Robert Rodriguez in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Hit the jump to watch the interview.

The cast for Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For continues to fill out rather nicely.  In a recent interview at Sundance, the sequel’s co-director confirmed Bruce Willis‘ return and spoke on a number of other casting decisions, such as the part of Ava Lord which is still vacant at this time.  Willis played eternally tough cop Hartigan in the 2005 original and will presumably return in the role.  Rodriguez also spoke about the use of 3D in the sequel.

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Christopher Melonni, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Dennis Haysbert and Jamie Chung, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens October 4th.  Hit the jump to watch the interview with Rodriguez. 

When news broke a couple of weeks ago that Joseph Gordon-Levitt had joined Robert Rodriguez’s in-production sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, the source report noted that other “tough guy actors” would be announced for the cast soon.  Indeed, just a day later Josh Brolin joined the pic in a lead role and Christopher Meloni signed on to portray a supporting character, and now The Playlist reports that Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, and the lovely Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises) have been added to the cast.

Details on their characters are unknown at the moment, but Rodriguez is filling out the follow-up with a pretty impressive lineup.  The current cast now also includes Mickey ROurke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Dennis Haysbert, and Jamie Chung.  Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens on October 14th.

Yesterday, we reported the exciting news that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was set to co-star in Robert Rodriguez‘ Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Today, two more terrific actors have joined the cast.  Dimension has announced that Josh Brolin will play the lead role of “Dwight”.  The role was originally played by Clive Owen in the first Sin City, but since A Dame to Kill For is a prequel, it explains why Dwight looks different (it also explains how Mickey Rourke is back to play Marv).  In A Dame to Kill For, “Dwight is hunted down by the only woman he ever loved, Ava Lord, and then watches his life go straight to hell.”  Brolin is a great choice for the role, and I’m eager to see how his performance will compare to Owen’s.  Deadline is also reporting that Christopher Meloni has signed on to play a disreputable cop.  Look out for Evil Stabler!

Hit the jump for the press release.  The film also stars Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Dennis Haysbert, and Jamie Chung.  Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens October 4th.

The Joseph Gordon-Levitt news continues.  As the multitalented actor prepares to unveil his feature directorial debut Don Jon’s Addiction at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, he’s been the focus of quite a few news stories over the past week.  We learned last Wednesday that Gordon-Levitt had been added to the list of contenders for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and earlier today it was reported that he passed on a role in Warner Bros.’ Godzilla reboot.  Now it appears that Gordon-Levitt has settled on his next project, as he has committed to a lead role in director Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For after turning down the Guardians gig.  [Update: Gordon-Levitt released a statement to explain why he is drawn to the Sin City world: "I love how the first movie uses VFX, not to make fake things look real, but to create a heightened world unburdened by the look and feel of reality.  Plus, nobody makes a badass like Mr. Rodriguez."]

Hit the jump for more, including further details on the cast of Sin City 2.

Let’s get to a bit of casting news today:

• Dennis Haysbert (24) will join Sin City: A Dame to Kill For as a replacement for Michael Clarke Duncan, who sadly passed away this past September. The sequel, directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, also stars Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Jaime King, Rosario Dawson and Jamie Chung. 
• Timothy Olyphant (Justified) will join the horror-Western Bone Tomahawk, the directorial debut of S. Craig Zahler that already stars Kurt Russell, Peter Sarsgaard, Richard Jenkins and Jennifer Carpenter.
• Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom) and Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) will join the Australian production of the thriller Cut Snake, also starring Rachael Taylor (Transformers).

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

Sin City 2, aka Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which began shooting in Austin yesterday, has added Jaime King in a returning role and Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch), who replaces Devon Aoki.  Co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller are teaming up once again for the sequel to their 2005 hit adaptation. Their co-written script is a mingling of Miller’s comics’ storylines as well as a new story written just for the film by Miller.  One plot was taken from the 1993 comic, “A Dame to Kill For,” and centers on a man named Dwight and his entanglements with a femme fatale named Ava.  Additional info on casting, such as the possible return of Clive Owen and much more, follows after the jump.

With production looming closer, we’re starting to get word regarding the final confirmed cast for director Robert Rodriguez’s long-in-the-works sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Back in April we heard that Rosario Dawson was planning on reprising her role as Gail in the follow-up, but subsequent press releases for the film left her name off the cast list.  Now the actress herself has confirmed her involvement to E! Online:

“It’s in! It’s happening! Can’t tell you nothing.”

If I remember correctly, prostitute dominatrix Gail shows up about halfway through Frank Miller’s graphic novel , but the protagonist of A Dame to Kill For is Dwight.  That character was played by Clive Owen in the first film, but in A Dame to Kill For he has a different face.  We still haven’t heard if Owen will be back or who (if anyone) is taking on the character in the sequel, but Dawson is a welcome addition to the cast.  Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens on October 4th, 2013.

Back in April, director Robert Rodriguez said Mickey Rourke was on board to reprise his role as Marv, the murderous brawler with a heart of gold, for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Speaking to MTV, Rodriguez commented “[Rourke is] all excited to come back, but he’s probably the first one.”  Then in May, Dimension Films sent out a press release stating that Rourke and Jessica Alba were both set to return. However, according to Deadline, Rourke is only now entering talks for the upcoming prequel.  Marv is one of Rourke’s better performances, and I’m eager to see him reprise the role even though it won’t be a lead performance this time around.

Hit the jump for the synopsis of Frank Miller’s graphic novel.  Rodriguez is currently at work on Machete Kills, but once he’s finished with that film, he’s planning to immediately start work on A Dame to Kill For.  As for Rourke, yesterday he signed on to co-star in Albert Hughes’ upcoming crime drama, Motor City.