With writer/director Sofia Coppola’s (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette) Somewhere opening in limited release this week, I was able to sit down with Elle Fanning (Dakota’s younger sister) to talk about the movie.  In Somwhere, Fanning plays the 11-year-old daughter of “a bad-boy A-list actor stumbling through a life of excess.” Playing her father is Stephen Dorff and most of the film takes place at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood.  You can learn a lot more about the movie and watch the trailer here.

Anyway, while Fanning is only twelve years old, she answered questions like a seasoned veteran.  We talked about how she got cast,  what’s it like to work for so many great directors, working with Chris Pontius (from Jackass) and was she really laughing during their takes.  Finally, we talked about J.J. Abrams Super 8 (she’s one of the leads) and her school’s Lost club.  Hit the jump to watch the interview.  Somwehere expands into more theaters in January.

With writer/director Sofia Coppola’s (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette), Somewhere opening later this month, Focus Features has released a ton of new images from the Golden Lion Award Winner for Best Picture at the 2010 Venice International Film Festival.  Here’s the official synopsis:

Somewhere is a witty, moving, and empathetic look into the orbit of actor Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff).  You have probably seen him in the tabloids; Johnny is living at the legendary Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood. He has a Ferrari to drive around in, and a constant stream of girls and pills to stay in with. Comfortably numbed, Johnny drifts along. Then, his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) from his failed marriage arrives unexpectedly at the Chateau. Their encounters encourage Johnny to face up to where he is in life and confront the question that we all must: which path in life will you take?

Hit the jump to check out the images.  You can also watch the trailer here.

We now have the first clip from director Sofia Coppola’s (Lost in Translation) upcoming film, Somewhere.  The film stars Stephen Dorff as a movie star who begins to re-examine his life when he’s reunited with his 11-year-old daughter (played by Elle Fanning).  Although it’s a brief clip, the melancholic tone that Sofia Coppola has been able to bring to all of her previous films is already evident and the film continues to look like a spiritual continuation of sorts to Lost in Translation.   Somewhere is set to premier in a couple of weeks at this year’s Venice Film Festival.  Be sure to check out the film’s excellent trailer if you haven’t already.

Hit the jump for the clip and full synopsis.  Somewhere opens on December 22nd.

New images from Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere have gone online.  The story centers on a hard-living movie star (played by Stephen Dorff) who re-examines his life when he’s reunited with his 11-year-old daughter (played by Elle Fanning).  The trailer makes it look like a sweet little movie and it comes off like an emotional sibling to Coppola’s Lost in Translation.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  Somewhere will play at this year’s Venice Film Festival.  The movie opens domestically on December 22nd.

Focus Features has debuted the first trailer for Somewhere, the latest from Lost in Translation writer/director Sofia Coppola. The film stars Stephen Dorff as a “a bad-boy A-list actor stumbling through a life of excess,” interrupted by the unexpected arrival of his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning).

Coppola’s critical status hit a bit of a snag with 2006′s Marie Antoinette, but she’s out of the eighteenth century and back in her comfort zone (perhaps too cozily?) with Somewhere, as evidenced in the understated clip.  The hipster in me is definitely looking forward to this one when it hits theaters on December 22, 2010.  Check out the trailer after the jump.

I think Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere is near the top of the list of films coming out this year that I would like to know more about.  This poster doesn’t exactly shed any more light on the project, nor was it revealed in the most official of venues, but it works as a teaser poster for me.

Coppola’s follow up to 2006′s Marie Antoinette stars Stephen Dorff as “a bad-boy A-list actor stumbling through a life of excess,” interrupted by the unexpected arrival of his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning).  Hit the jump to see the poster.

Quentin Tarantino will head the competition jury for this year’s Venice Film Festival, which will run from September 1st to the 11th.  Variety tells us that Tarantino will be in charge of handing out the coveted Golden Lion award at the festival after previously being a presence at the fest when he “godfathered” retrospective looks at Italian Kings of the B’s in 2004 and Spaghetti Westerns in 2007

After the jump you can find out which films will be making their debuts at the festival.

Stephen Daldry has entered the race as a possible director to helm The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.  Daldry joins other critically-acclaimed directors Sofia Coppola, Gus Van Sant, and Bill Condon in the race.  For those not familiar with Daldry’s work, he’s received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for all three of his features: Billy Elliott (good!), The Hours (not so good!), and The Reader (also not so good!).

The LA Times notes that Summit Entertainment clearly wants high-end directors to helm the final installment in the series, which will likely be broken into two parts.  With the third film in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse set to hit theaters this June and filming on Breaking Dawn planned for the fall, there’s not a moment to lose in telling the final chapter in this mopey teenager series.

Hit the jump to read the book description of Breaking Dawn.

Quick – think of three directors you could envision directing the most-likely-two-film final big-screen installment in author Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. Got ‘em? We still bet you don’t have the three Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Summit has reached out to to gauge their interest.

According to EW, the studio has reached out to at least Sofia Coppola, Gus Van Sant and Bill Condon to see if they want to direct one or possibly both chapters of the finale. Wow. Really? Of the three, Coppola and Van Sant would almost certainly turn in the trippiest flicks, but could they possibly make something to satisfy the clearly rabid Twilight fanbase?

Please let us know what you think about these, and who else you think might do a good job with the grand Twilight finale. And hit the jump to watch the trailer for the third movie in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and to find out what else these three directors are really working on.

Steve went to the American Film Market (AFM) today.  AFM is where film buyers go to pick up some of the biggest movies that are in development or already completed.  The film sellers use promo art and synopses to entice buyers.  It also enticed Steve to land some the first images and full synopsis for some of the biggest upcoming films of 2010.  We’ve got the goods for The American starring George Clooney, Eagle of the Ninth starring Channing Tatum, Greenberg starring Ben Stiller, and Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere starring Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, and much more.

Looking at the images and reading the synopsis should really get you excited for these films so hit the jump and check it all out.

I absolutely loved director Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.  The film is his first foray into stop-motion animation and it’s like he brought the genre to him rather than attempting to adapt to the genre.  Trust me; if you’re a fan of his previous work like Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, you’re going to love this movie.

As most of you know, Fantastic Mr. Fox is based on the best-selling children’s book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach) and it features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson.  But unlike some animated movies that cast famous actors to help sell tickets, everyone who provides a voice is perfect in this film.  Again, this is a great movie that you should check out as soon as you can.

So to help promote the film, I recently had the chance to speak to Jason Schwartzman and we talked about his reaction to the film, the unusual way they recorded the voices, working with Bill Murray, and I asked him if he’s seen Sofia Coppola’s new movie Somewhere. Check out what he had to say after the jump: