The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman is director Fredrik Bond’s first feature film.  Premiering at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, it stars Shia LaBeouf and Evan Rachel Wood as a couple who meet under strange circumstances and have an impossibly strong mutual attraction.  As LaBeouf’s character Charlie falls for the beautiful and grieving Gabi, he gets caught in the sights of her dangerous husband (Mads Mikkelsen) and his life comes into immediate and grave danger.  The film feels like a modern fairy tale story of love and pain colliding set in the gritty world of Bucharest, Romania. It also stars Til Schweiger, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Vincent D’Onofrio and Melissa Leo.

At the press conference at Sundance the morning after the premiere, Collider was present as Bond, LaBeouf, Wood and James Buckley (The Inbetweeners) spoke about the film.  They discussed the making of the film, the chemistry on set and what they learned from previous works and relationships.  Hit the jump to read some highlights from the press conference.

With Sundance 2013 in full swing, more promotional material continues to leak out, like these new images from:

• Before Midnight – The third movie in the Richard Linklater trilogy that includes 1995′s Before Sunrise and 2004′s Before Sunset, centering on the timely relationship between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s aging lovers.  Be sure to read Matt’s review here.
• The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman – Director Fredrik Bond’s crime romance centering on the title character (Shia LaBeouf) who falls for a woman (Evan Rachel Wood) claimed by a violent crime boss.

Hit the jump to check out the new images from each movie.

Yesterday, Sundance announced their stellar Premieres line-up and we have the first images from a few of the movies playing in the category:

• A.C.O.D. – Directed and co-written by Stuart Zicherman, co-written by Ben Karlin, starring Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

• Don Jon’s Addiction – Written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, and Julianne Moore.

• The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete – Directed by George Tillman Jr., written by Michael Starrburry, starring Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, and Jeffrey Wright.

• The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman – Directed by Fredrik Bond, written by Matt Drake, starring Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, and Mads Mikkelsen.

Hit the jump for the images and synopses.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17 – 27.

We’re happy to bring you an exclusive first look image from The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, starring Shia LaBeouf (Transformers) and Evan Rachel Wood (The Ides of March).  Helmed by debut feature director Fredrik Bond and written by Matt Drake (Project X), the noir romance picture is currently in post-production.  Also starring Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, Melissa Leo and Til Schweiger, The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman opens some time next year.  Hit the jump to check out our exclusive image from the picture. 

HBO’s True Blood is back this Sunday, June 10th, at 9pm, and the show’s fifth season is sure to be full of bloody mayhem that will hopefully rectify some of last year’s lackluster performance.  As the number of magical creatures and love triangles (love-dodecahedrons, at this point) continues to increase, it may be hard to keep track of who’s alive, who’s dead, who came back and what kind of magic they possess.  Take a spoiler-filled refresher course after the jump to relive the last four seasons of True Blood, including some of the best, worst and weirdest surprises from Bon Temps over the last few years (or moments, if you’re on fairy time).

Some quick casting bits today.  Here they are in brief:

• Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) is set to join Haley Joel Osment (Sixth Sense) in the sci-fi mystery, I’ll Follow You Down.
• Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) will join Shia LaBeouf in the noir romance film, The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman.

Hit the jump for more.

Shia LaBeouf first attached himself to The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman in April 2010, but the project is really gaining steam now.  Director Frederik Bond signed on late last month, and Evan Rachel Wood and Mads Mikkelsen joined the cast this weekend.  According to Variety, Wood will play Gabi, “a Hungarian girl who Charlie (LaBeouf) falls in love with after her father dies on a plane next to him.”  Unfortunately for Charlie, Gabi’s estranged husband (Mikkelsen) is an “insanely violent crime boss” who is intent on beating the love out of Charlie.  I like the story, and not just because it involves the ruthless beating of LaBeouf.  I can see why Matt Drake‘s screenplay made it on the 2007 Black List of Hollywood’s best unproduced screenplays.

Voltage and Bona Fide are currently in pre-production with plans to shoot The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman in Eastern Europe in May.  Hit the jump for the synopsis that came with the announcement press release back in 2010.

Justin Long is gearing up to stretch his filmmaking chops behind the camera. Long wrote and will produce the indie A Case of You, which he will also star in alongside Evan Rachel Wood and Peter Dinklage. Variety reports that the story centers on “a young writer who tries to impress a girl he meets online with an embellished profile, but finds himself in a real mess when she falls for him and he has to keep up the act.” While the logline seems a bit “teen comedy”, I’m encouraged by the cast and, ultimately, Long’s involvement. He’s been a standout in a large number of films over the past few years and I’m interested to see something that comes straight from his creative voice. Also, Dinklage rules. Neither Wood nor Long have anything (officially) on the immediate horizon, but Dinklage can be seen in the second season of Game of Thrones starting April 1st on HBO. He returns to film season three later this summer.

Catherine Hardwicke‘s career arc doesn’t make much sense to me.  Her directorial debut was the edgy teen drama Thirteen, followed by the likeminded skater tale Lords of Dogtown.  The first major detour came in 2006 with the chaste The Nativity Story.  Next she kicked off the Twilight Saga phenomenon, but instead of returning for the sequels, moved on to the panned Twilight knockoff Red Riding Hood.  To get back on track, Hardwicke may return to her roots.  THR reports that Hardwicke is attached to direct Plush, and her Thirteen star Evan Rachel Wood is attached to star.  The script that Hardwicke co-wrote with Artie Nelson is described as an erotic thriller set in the L.A. music world.

Honestly, I tune out when I hear the phrase “erotic thriller,” but reuniting with Wood is a smart move if Hardwicke wishes to reconnect with the critical community.  Knockout, a boxing drama starring Noomi and Ola Rapace, looks to be her next project.  It sounds promising, so perhaps the director is already on the path back to critical favor.  Hardwicke is also attached to direct The Maze Runner and The Bitch Posse .  Hit the jump for a recent video interview where Hardwicke mentions the project.

George Clooney’s The Ides of March is exactly what you’d expect from Clooney (as a filmmaker) at this point. It’s smart, smooth, well cast and put together. If there’s a modest hesitation, it’s that it’s a very small movie, and perhaps one that has delusions of profundity. Ryan Gosling stars as a campaign manager for one of the leading presidential contenders (Clooney). But to get the nomination, Gosling finds that he’s embroiled in double crossing by friends and foes alike. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffery Wright co-star in the film, and our review of The Ides of March on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Director Tom Hooper is readying his big budget musical adaptation of Les Miserables to go in front of cameras early next year, and with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway locked in as his leads (as Jean Valjean, Javert, and Fantine respectively), he’s setting his sights on the role of Eponine. The filmmakers have apparently whittled the contenders down to Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Lea Michele, and Evan Rachel Wood. It’s an eclectic mix of actresses, and each one brings something different to the role. Hit the jump for more.

In last week’s “Top 5″, I painfully admitted to not having seen either Moneyball or 50/50. Moreover, I put my credentials as “mildly credible film blogger” up as collateral in the case that I hadn’t checked both out by this week. Sadly, I’ll have to forfeit my title as I’ve only managed to catch 50/50 so far. On the bright side, I thought that film was great and is definitely one of my favorites of the year thus far. As for Moneyball, well there’s always this week.

In spite of my lack of mild credibility, I hope you’ll still choose to check out this week’s “Top 5″ where you’ll find new hi-res images from The Avengers, the return of Arrested Development, our In Time set visit coverage, and interviews for George Clooney’s political drama The Ides of March and Shawn Levy’s robot boxing extravaganza Real Steel. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

At this year’s Toronto Film Festival, I was able to speak with Evan Rachel Wood about starring in director George Clooney’s political drama The Ides of March.  Co-starring Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, and Jeffrey Wright, the pic takes place during the tension-filled days leading up to an all-important Ohio presidential primary where a press secretary (Gosling) finds himself in the middle of a scandal that could upend his candidate’s (Clooney) shot at winning.  Loaded with great performances and a smart script, The Ides of March is really well done and definitely worth your time.

During the interview, Wood talked about how she got involved in the project, working with the great cast, filming in Ohio, the kind of research she does for her roles, and what she takes away from being on True Blood.  In addition, Wood revealed she really wants to do a stoner comedy.  Hit the jump to watch the interview and Wood doing some Janis Joplin.

[This is a re-print of my review from the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival]

We’re not inherently jaded about politics. You can’t have your idealism torn down if nothing was built in the first place. The 2008 election of Barack Obama promoted that idealism and gave people hope (the giant posters emblazoned with the word “Hope” may have had something to do with it). But we were all deceived when reality came crashing in and The Ides of March lays the blame not on our political system or even our politicians but on us. And when we realize that we can’t do anything larger than ourselves, we begin to think only of ourselves. Director George Clooney (who also co-wrote the screenplay and co-stars in the film) avoids being preachy or heavy-handed, but his light-touch fails to leave a lasting impact.

With the political drama The Ides of March getting released in a few weeks, Sony has sent over four clips. Starring director George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright, the pic takes place during the tension-filled moments leading up to an all-important Ohio presidential primary where a press secretary (Gosling) finds himself in the middle of a scandal that could upend his candidates’ (Clooney) shot at winning.

Watch the clips after the jump.  One of Adam’s “Most Anticipated Fall Films,”The Ides of March hits theaters on October 7th.