All Articles by Matt Goldberg

SXSW Midnighters Line-Up Announced; Includes V/H/S, JOHN DIES AT THE END, and IRON SKY

Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 12:35 pm

SXSW has announced their “Midnighters” line-up for this year’s film festival.  The section includes Sundance premieres V/H/S (my review) and Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End, plus other exciting entries like Austin Chick’s Girls Against Boys, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s Intruders, Paco Plaza’s [REC] ³ GENESIS, and Timo Vuorensola’s Iron Sky.

Hit the jump for the full Midnighters line-up.  The 2012 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 9 – 17th.

Beware of Moon Nazis: Official Trailer for IRON SKY

Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 11:21 am

Iron Sky has one of those nutty premises I absolutely love.  The story is that Nazis landed on the moon 70 years ago and have been biding their time to launch an invasion.  They decide they’ve been waiting long enough, take to their fleet of flying saucers, and begin a full scale attack of Earth.  Not wacky enough? There’s also a Sarah Palin parody as the U.S. President, and the film takes place six years from now.  Also, the movie co-stars Udo Kier.  But in the end: moon Nazis.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with a press release about the film’s upcoming premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.  Iron Sky is set to hit theaters on April 4th.

Ridley Scott Confirms that Harrison Ford Isn’t in Talks for BLADE RUNNER Sequel

Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 10:36 am

A couple days ago, Alcon Entertainment debunked the rumor that Harrison Ford might return for Ridley Scott’s sequel to Blade Runner.  Entertainment Weekly, not content to trust the people who are financing the movie, spoke to Scott to double-check that Ford wasn’t really in it.  Guess what: Ford isn’t in it.  Scott explains that they don’t even have a script, so he doesn’t know if there’s even a place for replicant detective Rick Deckard.  But Scott, exercising common sense, wouldn’t rule out the possibility of trying to bring Ford back if that’s what the script calls for.

The Blade Runner sequel is ways off, folks.  If you’re eager for a Ridley Scott sci-fi return, look forward to Prometheus.

Exclusive: Whit Stillman’s DAMSELS IN DISTRESS Poster Starring Greta Gerwig

Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 10:26 am

Today, we’re proud to premiere the poster for Whit Stillman‘s Damsels in Distress.  The film centers on a group of women in college whose friendship is strained when they become romantically entangled with a series of men.  Damsels is Stillman’s first film since 1998′s The Last Days of Disco, and I’m bummed that a last-minute schedule change at the Toronto International Film Festival caused me to miss it.  Thankfully, Steve said it was great and the film is set to hit theaters this spring where I’ll be sure to catch it.

Hit the jump to check out the poster and here’s Steve’s exclusive interview with Stillman on the film.  The film stars Greta Gerwig, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Carrie MacLemore, Analeigh Tipton, Hugo Becker, Ryan Metcalf, Billy Magnussen, and Adam Brody.  Damsels in Distress opens in limited release on April 6th.

First Trailer and Poster for THE BOURNE LEGACY Starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, and Edward Norton

Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 9:22 am

The first trailer and poster for The Bourne Legacy have gone online.  The central message of the trailer is this: Jeremy Renner can kick the shit out of people just as well as Matt Damon. It’s clearly the same Bourne flavor, and audiences will be happy to get another great actor beating up bad guys. The editing moves so fast that it’s tough to tell how much writer-director Tony Gilroy‘s style will differ from Paul Greengrass‘ (who directed Supremacy and Ultimatum), but I’m eager to see what Gilroy has in store.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  The film also stars Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach, Oscar Isaac, Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, and Scott Glenn.  The Bourne Legacy opens August 3rd.

Natalie Portman Joins Terrence Malick’s KNIGHT OF CUPS and LAWLESS

Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 9:07 am

Natalie Portman has set her first two films since giving birth to her son back in June, and both movies will be with Terrence Malick.  According to Deadline, Portman will co-star in Knight of Cups and Lawless, which are shooting back-to-back.  She joins Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett in starring in both movies (although as far as we know, the films don’t share a plot or characters).  Knights of Cups also stars Isabel Lucas, and Lawless‘ cast includes Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, and Haley Bennett.  Knight of Cups shoots this summer and then Lawless will follow in the fall.

Hit the jump for more.

Jason Statham to Star in Brian De Palma’s New Adaptation of William Goldman’s Novel HEAT

Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 8:44 am

Brian De Palma is set to direct Jason Statham in a new adaptation of William Goldman‘s novel/screenplay Heat.  The action-thriller will have Statham (his role originally played by Burt Reynolds) playing a recovering gambling addict who works protection gigs to pay the bills.  He refuses to use guns in dealing with foes and resorts to using his fists and edged weapons (Statham-y!).  When his friend is beaten by a high-roller, he helps her get revenge, which puts him in even more danger.  I bet he’ll decide to pick up a gun at some point.

Considering that Statham only plays one character (gritty tough guy), it will be interesting to see if De Palma can get a different performance out of him or if the actor will simply be a tool for an exciting action flick.  The last De Palma flick to hit theaters was 2007′s Redacted, but he’s currently at work on the thriller Passion starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace.  Statham will be seen later this year in Safe, The Expendables 2 and Parker.  Filming on Heat is set to begin in France in late 2012 or early 2013.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Disney Acquires SAVING MR. BANKS, a Black List Script on the Making of MARY POPPINS

Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 8:04 am

Disney has picked up Kelly Marcel‘s Black List script, Saving Mr. Banks.  The story centers on how Disney persuaded P.L. Travers sold the studio the rights to make Mary Poppins, and how Travers was dissatisfied with aspects of the film, especially since the story was deeply personal to her.  Per Deadline, “Mary Poppins was highly personal, and reflected hardships in her own life and her relationship with her father, who died when she was 7.”

The movie became one of the biggest hits in Disney’s history, but Travers hated the animated sequences, and she refused to sell any of her other works to Disney (somehow, Disney managed to survive).  Present-day Disney is already looking to make the film a star-studded affair, and according to Deadline, “There have been rumors of the script being considered by Tom Hanks (for Walt Disney) and Meryl Streep (for Travers).  I don’t know if I can buy Hanks as an anti-Semite.

Imagine Entertainment, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci Developing Adaptation of Anne Rice’s THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF

Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 2:39 pm

Ten years after 2002′s abysmal Queen of the Damned, tales from Anne Rice‘s Vampire Chronicles may be returning to the big screen.  THR reports that Ron Howard and Brian Grazer‘s Imagine Entertainment have optioned the fourth book in the saga of the vampire Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief.  Star Trek screenwriter Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are co-producing and screenwriter Lee Patterson is currently at work on the script.

Hit the jump for more details on the project.

AMERICAN PSYCHO Producers Make THE VATICAN CONNECTION

Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 1:47 pm

Just when it seemed like papal intrigue was on the decline (outside of exorcisms) the producers of American Psycho are looking to bring it back.  According to THR, Chris Hanley and Edward Pressman have picked up the rights to Richard Hammer‘s controversial book The Vatican Connection.  Published in 1983, the book attempts to connect the suspicious death of Pope John Paul I and alleged corruption in the Vatican to the Mafia and the Freemasons.  Hanley, Pressman, and co-producers John Penotti (Awake), Jeff Most (The Crow) and Bob DeBrino (Find Me Guilty) plan to turn the novel into a thriller.  I was hoping it would be a slapstick comedy, but I guess the premise is laughable enough on its own.

The producers are obviously hoping that they can pick up some of that The Da Vinci Code magic, and I assume some historians and professors are hoping for that as well.  Then they can go back to getting speaking gigs where they explain that a work of fiction is fictional.

Johnny Depp to Produce Film Based on Upcoming Memoir from West Memphis Three’s Damien Echols

Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 12:45 pm

Now that the West Memphis Three have been released from prison and their saga “completed”, films based on their ordeal are rushing into production.  Atom Egoyan is adapting Mara Leveritt‘s non-fiction novel Devil’s Knot, and now Johnny Depp is producing a film based on an upcoming untitled memoir from the West Memphis Three’s Damien Echols.  Echols’ was one of three teenagers wrongly convicted for the murder of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkhansas in 1993.  Their story was originally brought to national attention by the documentary Paradise Lost.  Since that time, celebrities like Depp, Peter Jackson, Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines, and Henry Rollins have supported Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr, and Jason Baldwin and their quest for justice.

Hit the jump for more details on the project.

Philip Seymour Hoffman to Star in Anton Corbijn’s A MOST WANTED MAN

Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 12:10 pm

In June, we reported that Anton Corbijn (The American) was set to adapt John le Carré‘s novel, A Most Wanted Man.  Today, Variety reports that Philip Seymour Hoffman is set to play the lead, “a near-dead half-Chechen, half Russian man on the run [who] in the city’s Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late Russian father’s ill-gotten fortune.  A young female lawyer and private British banker become entwined in his fate and all the while, they are being watched by a covert German spy unit.”

I was impressed at how Corbijn turned the thriller-premise of The American into a quiet, meditative drama, and I’m curious to see if he’ll take the same approach with A Most Wanted Man.  Shooting is expected to begin this September in Hamburg.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of le Carré’s novel.

New Posters for WRATH OF THE TITANS

Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 11:43 am

Warner Bros. has released two posters and three banners for Wrath of the Titans.  There’s no kraken this time around so none of the characters are going to say, “Let’s get kraken.”  I know the plot involves the titans getting unleashed and Zeus (Liam Neeson) asking Perseus (Sam Worthington) for some help, but I don’t get the point without kraken puns.  Kraken puns make the world go round.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  The film also stars Ralph Fiennes, Danny Huston, Edgar Ramirez, Bill Nighy, Toby Kebbell, and Rosamund Pike.  Wrath of the Titans opens in 3D on March 30th.

New Trailer for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Begins the Viral Campaign

Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 10:42 am

Last night, Sony Pictures released a new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man.  We should no longer trust trailers to be just trailers.  New policy: when it comes to blockbuster movies, watch the trailer in HD and then go through frame-by-frame for a hint of a viral campaign.  That may sound crazy, but that’s what you had to do if you wanted to catch the beginning of the viral campaign for The Amazing Spider-Man.

Hit the jump for more.  The Amazing Spider-Man opens in 3D on July 3rd.

Director Oren Moverman Talks RAMPART, His David O. Selznick Biopic at HBO, QUEER with Steve Buscemi, and More

Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 10:37 am

With his new film Rampart (which ranked #4 on my Top 10 of 2011 list), writer-director Oren Moverman took the corrupt-cop genre and twisted it just like he did with The Messenger‘s soldier-PTSD story.  He’s one of the more exciting filmmakers working today because of his ability to play against expectations and come out with a more powerful, realistic story as a result.

I got the chance to interview Moverman about the film and we talked about where the real Rampart scandal came into the story, re-teaming with Woody Harrelson, shooting the movie as if it were two different films, and more.  Moverman also spoke about his collaboration with Ben Stiller for a David O. Selznic biopic for HBO, and we discussed his script for Steve Buscemi‘s upcoming film, Queer.  Hit the jump to check out the interview.  Rampart opens in select cities this Friday.  Click here to read my full review.

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