Recently, Focus Features presented the broadcast premiere of their upcoming dramatic comedy Taking Woodstock on “Important Things with Demetri Martin.” The film stars Demetri, as well as Emile Hirsch and Eugene Levy and is directed by Ang Lee.
A generation began in his backyard…. From Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), comes Taking Woodstock, a new comedy inspired by the true story of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the famed Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the happening that it was.
It’s 1969, and Elliot Tiber, a down-on-his-luck interior designer in Greenwich Village, New York, has to move back upstate to help his parents run their dilapidated Catskills motel, The El Monaco. The bank’s about to foreclose; his father wants to burn the place down, but hasn’t paid the insurance; and Elliot is still figuring how to come out to his parents.
When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on a hippie music festival, he calls the producers, thinking he could drum up some much-needed business for the motel. Three weeks later, half a million people are on their way to his neighbor’s farm in White Lake, NY, and Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever.
Director: Ang Lee (“Brokeback Mountain,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”)
Writers: Screenplay by James Schamus; Based on the book by Elliot Tiber with Tom Monte
Cast: Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Jonathan Groff, Emile Hirsch, Eugene Levy
Release Date: August 14, 2009 (limited)
Last week, the 81st Academy Awards were announced and Milk pulled in 8 nominations. The nominations include:
Best Picture, Milk (Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen)
Best Director, Gus Van Sant
Best Actor, Sean Penn
Best Supporting Actor, Josh Brolin
Best Original Screenplay, Dustin Lance Black
Best Costume Design, Danny Glicker
Best Editing, Elliot Graham
Best Original Score, Danny Elfman
In celebration of these Oscar nominations, Focus Features has just released two new featurettes for Milk.
The Actors Vignette:
The Filmmakers Vignette:
In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans. Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk under the direction of Gus Van Sant in Milk, filmed on location in San Francisco from an original screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, and produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen.
Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change.
With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humor, Milk’s actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words.
When Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, he tries to coordinate his efforts with those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin). But as White and Milk’s political agendas increasingly diverge, their personal destinies tragically converge.
Milk’s platform was and is one of hope – a hero’s legacy that resonates in the here and now.
The film’s original score is by Danny Elfman. The costume designer is Danny Glicker and Elliot Graham edited the film. The production designer is Bill Groom and the film’s director of photography is Harris Savides, A.S.C.
This is a much better trailer than the first “teaser” that was released a few weeks ago:
Synopsis: In just a few short years, The Notorious B.I.G. rose from the streets of Brooklyn to become one of the most influential hip hop artists of all time. B.I.G. was a gifted storyteller; his narratives about violent life on the streets were told with a gritty, objective realism that won him enormous respect and credibility. His stories were universal and gave a voice to his generation.
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Cast: Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Antonique Smith, Naturi Naughton, Dennis White
This looks interesting. Could be very funny, and it seems that Josh Brolin is spot on with his George W. impression. Check it out:
See exclusive behind the scenes footage from NOTORIOUS below. This clip features commentary from Costume Designers, the Set Costumer and Antonique Smith, who plays Faith.
See exclusive behind the scenes footage of the casting process for the role of Biggie in NOTORIOUS. Features interviews with the Director, Casting Directors, and Ms. Wallace!
In Theatres 2009
From Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney and producer Graydon Carter comes a probing look into the uncanny life of national treasure and gonzo journalism inventor Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. A fast moving, wildly entertaining documentary with an iconic soundtrack, the film addresses the major touchstones in Thompson’s life—his intense and ill fated relationship with the Hell’s Angels, his near-successful bid for the office of sheriff in Aspen in 1970, the notorious story behind the landmark Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his deep involvement in Senator George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign, and much more. Narrated by Johnny Depp and in select theaters on July 4th.
Here’s a good look at 13 movies that took a chance with a new direction and broke a few (unofficial) rules in the process. From GliPress.blogspot.com:
For all the creativity and innovation that goes into making (some) Hollywood films, there are also a lot of ideas that get recycled time and time again. I’m not referring to stock characters or the sequalitis that hits multiplexes every summer. I’m talking about the basic building blocks of storytelling that are ingrained in the movie-going experience.
Every once in a while, though, a film comes along that takes an assumption about how American movies are supposed to be made and changes it, sometimes resulting in something truly memorable. Producers who want to make a film that breaks one of the unwritten rules of motion pictures risk a lot – studios might not want to fund the film, theaters might not show it, audiences might not respond to it. The reward for taking the chance, though, is recognition for being a really interesting experiment, or, in some cases, taking your place among the greatest films ever made.
Time Code (2000)
Rule Breaking Idea: Show four frames simultaneously on the screenWhen I go to a movie theater, I assume I will sit in a chair. I assume everyone will face the same direction, the lights will be turned off (or at least down), and I will look at a large rectangular screen onto which I will see one series of moving photographs at a time. Mike Figgis’ work, in which he shows the audience four scenes running at the same time, changes one of the basic expectations of watching a movie. Keeping track of different lines of action is an interesting experience, like being a building security guard who must keep tabs on a group of cameras, mentally sorting out the important bits from the mundane. I finished my viewing wondering how much I missed, or if maybe my brain could eventually get used to this kind of viewing, the same way all film viewers use persistence of motion to watch any film.
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Rule Breaking Idea: The good guys loseIn mass-marketed science fiction and fantasy films, from Flash Gordon to Superman to The Lord of the Rings, it’s an assumption that before the end credits roll the heroes will pull out some kind of victory by vanquishing the evil-doers, even if only temporarily. Perhaps that is a necessary assumption in a universe where a few deranged people can do a lot of damage with the firepower science and magic provides. The idea of the hero has been around since humans could tell stories, and in most of them, even if the hero falls, it’s not without accomplishing something worthwhile or going out with a noble flourish.
There would be no such victory for the heroes in George Lucas’ second installment of the Star Wars saga. In the previous episode, the scrappy Rebels scored a major victory against Darth Vader and his minions. In the sequel, the Rebels get their collective backsides handed to them by the Empire, militarily (the “battle” on Hoth wasn’t so much a fight as a delay action to allow the Rebels to run away), personally (Han Solo is betrayed by his friend and becomes a frozen dinner right after acknowledging his love for Leia) and emotionally (Luke Skywalker learns the biggest mass-murderer in the galaxy is his dad). At the end of the film, there’s nothing left to do but pick up the pieces, get a new hand attached, and move on.
By striking this cinematic minor chord, the franchise achieved a degree of resonance and depth it would not have had if it just presented a new way for the Rebels to stick it to the Empire. This kind of pathos was not achieved again until Episode III (Revenge of the Sith) when Anakin crosses over to the Dark Side.
Russian Ark (2002)
Rule Breaking Idea: Instead of making a film with 20-30 scenes, make a film with one 90-minute scene, shot in a continuous take.Like Time Code, this film changes a fundamental part of movie-watching. Shot at the Russian State Hermitage Museum, the film is a triumph if only because it managed to pull off a logistical nightmare. Hundreds of cast and crew have to get everything right at one time, or it’s back to square one. As a viewing experience, I found the film a bit exhausting. I guess I’m just used to breaks in the narrative that cutting from scene to scene provides. Since it’s not possible to jump from one place or time period to another using this technique, the storytelling range is automatically restricted as well. It’s a beautiful film and well worth the time to see, but I’m not sure this technique would work on a regular basis.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Rule Breaking Idea: Make a heist film that shows everything except the heistThere’s nothing quite like watching a detailed, well-planned heist unfold on film. Criminal acts form the centerpiece of a lot of entertaining movies. (see: Heist, The Killing, Ocean’s Eleven, Rififi, Sexy Beast, The Score, The Sting)
In Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino’s adapted story of a bank robbery gone very wrong, things proceed from a different angle. The audience gets to see the planning, the botched getaway, and the brutal, bloody aftermath as the crooks try to figure out what to do next. The one thing that’s missing is a depiction of the actual heist. And that’s okay. A well-written film can go anywhere, and Tarantino’s writing talent, combined with a top-notch cast, is such that two people talking to each other can be an entertaining as an action sequence.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Rule Breaking Idea: Make a truly anti-drug filmDrug and alcohol abuse have been subjects for films for years. Movies like The Days of Wine and Roses, Leaving Las Vegas, The Lost Weekend, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Trainspotting provide ample opportunities for actors to exercise their dramatic chops with scenes of decadence and ecstasy followed by anguish and regret. Drinking and drugging, while destructive, are also presented as poignant, dramatic, and even humorous and cool in certain aspects.
Much more than these films, Darren Aronofsky’s movie presents drug use as first and foremost scary, depressing, and gross. The main characters are young and pretty the way most young people are pretty. What they are not, though, is smart, interesting, glamorous, lucky, or headed anywhere. Their experiences with drug use are sad, brutal, and not fun in any reasonable way. The only joy they seem to get from the drugs they use comes from temporarily not having to look at their crappy lives, which also holds for one character’s mother, who is falling apart from abusing diet pills. In this film, the audience gets to watch four people destroy their lives without a hip soundtrack, snappy one-liners, or a happy ending to cushion the blow. I still have a hard time watching this harrowing film, but it’s worth the effort.
Psycho (1960)
Rule Breaking Idea: Kill off the main character halfway through the filmThis is a film that probably would not have gotten made if not for the fact that it’s Hitchcock. I heard on Turner Movie Classics that when the movie first premiered the director encouraged exhibitors to not let late-coming moviegoers in to see the film after a certain point. He wanted the audience to develop an attachment to the ostensible heroine before removing her from the narrative via the most famous murder ever put on film.
If this film were made today, Norman Bates would have gotten to kill off a few minor characters to show how evil he is, but Marion Crane would have found a way to survive, probably after a few close calls and some kind of one-on-one struggle with Bates before he’s dispatched at the last second. To try to do anything different shows just how radical Hitchcock’s idea was, and still is.
Memento (2000)
Rule Breaking Idea: Show the entire film in reverse scene orderThis is a very effective film noir with a great cast. The premise, centered on a man who has lost his ability to remember what just happened to him, lends itself to the technique Christopher Nolan used. Unlike a lot of films, the audience has to concentrate to understand what’s going on and keep track of how the last scene, which they saw first, fits into the first scene, shown last. Other than a lesser episode of Seinfeld, I’m not aware of any other films or TV shows that have tried the same thing, which is probably for the best.
High Noon (1952), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Rule Breaking Idea: Take one of America’s most sacred myths, the Western, and turn it on its headEvery country has its national myths. In America, the West represents freedom, adventure, and progress. The bad guys are swarthy, desperate, easy to spot, and more or less easy to defeat. The good guy rides in on a white horse and, with the help of, the decent local folks, cleans up the town from violent desperados or greedy corporate land barons, to the gratitude of the town folk. The landscapes are boundless and beautiful, the horses fast, and there’s plenty of room for anyone with courage and gumption.
Some films, though, cast a different light on the Old West. In High Noon, a movie that was made partly in response to McCarthyism, everyone in the western town where the movie takes place is basically a coward, wholly dependent on the sheriff (played by Gary Cooper) to save them. When it’s the sheriff who needs help defending the town from a group of bad guys, the townspeople present any excuse not to put themselves in harm’s way, much to the chagrin and ultimate disgust of the main character.
In the Ox-Bow Incident, the mob is not just passively hiding from danger, but actively seeking out ways to punish people who are innocent of a murder. “Frontier justice” is portrayed as antithetical to the American ideal. In Bad Day at Black Rock, the frontiersmen are violent, ignorant, racist thugs. The film’s hero (played by Spencer Tracy) doesn’t come in on a horse form the dusty plain, but on a train from the city. The urban places that are often portrayed as something to escape from now become the source of justice for the innocent who live in the Wild West.
Goodfellas (1990)
Rule Breaking Idea: Look at organized crime from the bottom upAnother of America’s myths is the gangster picture. Ever since films were invented Hollywood has cranked out stories of criminal syndicates and the people who run them. (see Little Ceasar, The Public Enemy, Scarface: The Shame of a Nation, White Heat). In these movies, gangsters are high-livin’, charismatic, and exciting. Francis Ford Coppola’s epic The Godfather trilogy is perhaps the ultimate portrayal of the Mafia in all its operatic glory.
With Scorsese’s masterpiece, he focuses on organized crime’s middle-management, the guys who aren’t the kingpins, but have to get up in the morning and hustle just like everybody else. Other than the obvious difference of getting killed if you get out of line, there are parallels between their life and that of any other corporate citizen – how to keep the boss happy, how to move up the org chart, how to keep it all going day in and day out. David Chase would extend this theme with his portrayal of Tony Soprano and his business operations. It’s not the larger- than-life figures that make these films interesting, but the details and dynamics of living in a wholly unique society and economic system.
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and Paths of Glory (1957)
Rule Breaking Idea: Make a truly anti-war filmMotion pictures use the theme of war in a lot of ways: War is an outward expression of inner struggle between our good and evil natures (Platoon). It’s a surreal journey that transforms mens’ psyches (Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter). It’s a sick joke (Dr. Strangelove, The Great Dictator). It’s a thrill ride/videogame (Pearl Harbor). It’s a testament to the bravery and sacrifice of soldiers everywhere (The Big Red One, The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, Das Boot, Letters from Iwo Jima, and hundreds of other war films over the years).
These films do not glamorize or celebrate war, but there are only a few films that leave out the metaphors and symbolism and take the position that, in the end, war is nothing but people killing each other and destroying civilizations. There is nothing to be learned from it or gained by it. And there are no heroes, only survivors.
Ever since All Quiet on the Western Front was released it has been censored by countries going to war. At some point in history the film has been banned in Germany, Poland, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, New Zealand, and Australia, and has been re-cut in the U.S. to give it a happier ending. The movie is a straightforward story of young men who go off to war with their hearts full of bravado and theory (provided by a rhetoric-spouting school professor) until they experience the horror and misery of combat.
Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory shows what happens when soldiers are caught up in a bureaucracy that maintaining order even if it means killing its own innocent soldiers. The film’s main character, Colonel Dax, is a front-line infantry officer who sees the process of death both from his enemy’s guns and from his own outfit’s brutal code of discipline. Kubrick was not only critiquing war itself, but also the way higher ranking officers, represented by General Broulard, treat their own soldiers like chess pieces, throwing them into the meat grinder while those with power remain comfortably behind the lines.
These two films are based in World War I, one the least popular wars from an American movie-making perspective. The most well-received films concerning America’s current military conflict, the war in Iraq, tend to be documentaries. For reasons that have yet to be definitively determined, fictional portrayals of the Iraq war have not done well in theaters.
Paramount Pictures will become the first major studio to make thousands of movie clips available for use on the internet, launching its VooZoo application Monday on Facebook.
http://technology.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca
“The short clips for a movie that you’ve already seen before helps you relive the moment,” said Derek Broes, Paramount’s senior vice-president of entertainment.
Users of the popular social networking site will have access to footage from thousands of movies, including Forrest Gump and The Ten Commandments.
Facebook users can send the video clips to others users on the site.
The scenes last from a few seconds to a few minutes, covering everything from Audrey Hepburn’s monologue about her “no-name slob” of a cat in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, to Eddie Murphy’s signature chuckle from Beverly Hills Cop.
DVDs of the movies will be offered for sale through a button that appears after each clip is played. Eventually, the studio will be using the same method to market upcoming films.
VooZoo is expected to attract a few hundred thousand users within its first two months.
“My benchmark for success is that people are joining and sending,” Broes said.
The task of selecting clips was time consuming. Paramount staffers worked for more than a year to archive and tag the clips being offered.
Paramount officials say they’re not sure how much they may reap through the experiment, and have no “revenue goals” attached to the project.
With files from the Associated Press
We are pleased to present 3 new thrill-packed clips from THE BANK JOB, starring Jason Statham. Inspired by an extraordinary true event, THE BANK JOB is a highly-charged thriller filled with intrigue, danger and scandal set in early ‘70s London.
Please see the link below to access the new clips from the film:
CLIP 1:
CLIP 2:
CLIP 3:
In September 1971, thieves tunneled into the vault of a bank in London’s Baker Street and looted safe deposit boxes of cash and jewelry worth millions and millions of pounds. None of it was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then suddenly disappeared - the result of a UK Government ‘D’ Notice, gagging the press. This film reveals what was hidden in those boxes, involving murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family - a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved.
THE BANK JOB stars Jason Statham (WAR, CRANK, THE ITALIAN JOB) as Terry, the car dealer with a dodgy past and Saffron Burrows (KLIMT, ENIGMA) as Martine, the successful model from his old neighborhood who inveigles her old flame and his friends into undertaking the bank robbery. The film was written by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais, directed by Roger Donaldson (NO WAY OUT, THIRTEEN DAYS, THE RECRUIT).
PLAY
