One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s Linda Lovelace biopic Lovelace.  The film stars Amanda Seyfried as the titular porn star who rose to prominence following 1972’s Deep Throat (the first pornographic feature film to be a mainstream success).  Lovelace would eventually go on to claim that her husband Chuck Traynor (played by Peter Sarsgaard) physically and verbally abused her, and coerced her into the pornography business.   The film also stars Juno Temple, Wes Bently, Sharon Stone, Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, and James Franco as Hugh Hefner.

The day after the premiere, I sat down with Sarsgaard for an exclusive interview.  We talked about how he got cast in Lovelace, his initial hesitation to play Chuck Traynor, Sundance, how he prepares for a role, working with Woody Allen on Blue Jasmine, director Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves, director S. Craig Zoller’s western Bone Tomahawk, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

One of the many films to premiere at Sundance this year was writer-director Naomi Foner’s Very Good Girls.  The film stars Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen as two lifelong best friends that fall for the same boy during a New York summer.  As the film unfolds, they learn life isn’t as simple as they had thought.  The cast also includes Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Ellen Barkin, Richard Dreyfuss, Peter Skarsgaard, and Clark Gregg.

Earlier today I sat down with Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen here in Park City.  We talked about being back at Sundance, how much changed during production, the type of research they do for a role (Fanning tells a great Tony Scott story), how many takes they like to do, whether they like watching themselves on screen, and a lot more.  In addition, when talking about future projects, Fanning revealed she’s been cast in The Last of Robin Hood which is about the last two years of Errol Flynn’s life (Kevin Kline is playing Flynn).  Hit the jump to watch.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was writer-director So Young Kim‘s (In Between Days) For Ellen.  Led by a fantastic performance by Paul Dano, the film’s about a struggling musician trying to keep custody of his very young daughter even though he’s never been around.  The film also stars Jon Heder, Jena Malone, Margarita Levieva, and Shay Mandigo.

Shortly after seeing the film I got to sit down with Dano for an extended interview.  We talked about being at Sundance, how he got involved in For Ellen, what it’s about, who he plays, how much fun he had playing a “narcissistic prick,” what it’s like to be in almost every frame of the movie,  and if more people want to talk to him about The Girl Next Door, Little Miss Sunshine, or There Will Be Blood?  In addition, with Dano involved in so many other projects, we also talked about Rian Johnson‘s Looper, Being Flynn with Robert De Niro, director Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris‘ He Loves Me, and how he’s hoping to do a film called Night Moves with Meek’s Cutoff director Kelly Reichardt.  Hit the jump to watch.

Magic Mike (aka The Male Stripper Movie) has spent the summer casting beefcakes: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello Matthew McConaughey.  Finally, one of the male parts will go to… how do I put this delicately… a very, very fat man.  According to THR, comedian Gabriel Iglesias will play the DJ at the strip joint where a veteran dancer (Tatum) teaches the new guy (Pettyfer) everything he knows, including “the protocol of stage performance, the principles of money management, and rules for dating female fans.”  Steven Soderbergh is directing the drama, based on Tatum’s experience in the business at the age of 19.

Hit the jump to read Peter Sarsgaard’s description of Night Moves and his potential involvement in the Kelly Reichardt-directed movie.

Director Arthur Penn passed away last night at the age of 88.  Penn was best known for directing the classic and highly-influential 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.  Bonnie and Clyde is consistently upheld as one of the films that launched the “New Hollywood” and American cinema’s second golden age.  Other must-see films in Penn’s filmography include Little Big Man, Night Moves, The Miracle Worker, and The Chase.

Speaking to his son Matthew, the New York Times reports that cause of death was congestive heart failure.  Our deepest condolences go out to Penn’s friends and family.