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‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ Trailer: Bill Murray Gets Delightfully Presidential
by Russ Fischer on May.18, 2012, under Stuff We Like
I have no idea whether or not Hyde Park on Hudson actually conforms to any factual truth, but seeing Bill Murray romp, in stately fashion, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt could prove to be quite a joy.
The first trailer for the film, which was directed by Roger Michell (Morning Glory, Notting Hill), introduces Murray’s take on FDR, as the President hosts the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman) at a retreat in upstate New York prior to the outbreak of World War II. There is a minor clash of cultures as the royals meet FDR and his staff, but also a bit of potential scandal as the President attends to Daisy (Laura Linney) rather than his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams).
Above all, however, is Murray and his warmth and charm as FDR. Check out the trailer below.
Yahoo has the trailer. Hyde Park on Hudson opens on December 7.
In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor host the King and Queen of England for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York — the first-ever visit of a reigning English monarch to America. With Britain facing imminent war with Germany, the Royals are desperately looking to FDR for support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment, as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal weekend an unforgettable one.
New ‘Blade Runner’ Officially a Sequel, Original Writer Hampton Fancher on Board to Develop Story
by Russ Fischer on May.17, 2012, under Stuff We Like
With Ridley Scott starting to do real press for Prometheus, word has been bubbling up this week about Scott’s other return to sci-fi: a new Blade Runner film. We gave you a slight update earlier today, but now a press release has gone out that clarifies a couple specific details.
First up, while Scott waffled for some time about when this new film would take place with respect to the original Blade Runner, he eventually got around to saying it was most likely to be a sequel. Indeed, the official line is now that the new movie will be a sequel.
Additionally, the involvement of original Blade Runner screenwriter Hampton Fancher is confirmed. (He’s also the man who was instrumental in the optioning of Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, which led to Blade Runner in the first place.) But don’t take it as a given that he’s writing the new movie; the press release carefully says that he’s on board to “develop the idea for the original screenplay” for the new movie. Someone else could end up writing.
What will the new film be about? That we don’t know, but another comment from Scott suggests that a woman will be the central character.
It’s in an interview with The Daily Beast that Scott floats the idea of a female protagonist:
I started my first meetings on the Blade Runner sequel last week. We have a very good take on it. And we’ll definitely be featuring a female protagonist.
Now we’ve got some of the fruit of those meetings. The new Blade Runner is a sequel set “some years” after the events of the first film. How related will the two movies be? No idea at this point. Will Harrison Ford’s character Rick Deckard be involved? It is possible, but don’t bet on it.
Here’s today’s press release:
LOS ANGELES, CA, MAY 17, 2012—Hampton Fancher is in talks to reunite with his “Blade Runner” director Ridley Scott to develop the idea for the original screenplay for the Alcon Entertainment, Scott Free, and Bud Yorkin produced follow up to the ground-breaking 1982 science fiction classic, it was announced by Alcon co-founders and co-Chief Executive Officers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove.
The filmmakers are also revealing for the first time that the much-anticipated project is intended to be a sequel to the renowned original. The filmmakers would reveal only that the new story will take place some years after the first film concluded.
The three-time Oscar-nominated Scott and his “Blade Runner” collaborator Fancher originally conceived of their 1982 classic as the first in a series of films incorporating the themes and characters featured in Philip K. Dick’s groundbreaking novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, from which “Blade Runner” was adapted. Circumstances, however, took Scott into other directions and the project never advanced.
Fancher, although a writer of fiction, was known primarily as an actor at the time Scott enlisted him to adapt the Dick novel for the screen. Fancher followed his “Blade Runner” success with the screenplays, “The Mighty Quinn” (1989) and “The Minus Man” (1999). He has continued to write fiction throughout his career.
Scott also will produce with Alcon co-founders and co-Chief Executive Officers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove as well as Bud Yorkin and Cynthia Sikes Yorkin. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO’s of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.
The original film, which has been singled out as the greatest science-fiction film of all time by a majority of genre publications, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently taught in university courses. In 2007, it was named the 2nd most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.
State Kosove and Johnson: “It is a perfect opportunity to reunite Ridley with Hampton on this new project, one in fact inspired by their own personal collaboration, a classic of cinema if there ever was one.”
Released by Warner Bros. almost 30 years ago, “Blade Runner” was adapted by Fancher and David Peoples from Philip K. Dick’s groundbreaking novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and directed by Scott following his landmark “Alien.” The film was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction). Following the filming of “Blade Runner,” the first of Philip K. Dick’s works to be adapted into a film, many other of Dick’s works were likewise adapted, including “Total Recall,” “A Scanner Darkly,” “Minority Report,” “Paycheck,” and the recent “The Adjustment Bureau,” among others.
Liam Neeson the Latest to Help Revive ‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’
by Russ Fischer on May.17, 2012, under Stuff We Like
Once upon a time it looked like Harrison Ford might play Matt Scudder in an adaptation of Lawrence Block‘s novel A Walk Among the Tombstones. Scripted by Scott Frank (Minority Report, Out of Sight) the film has been in development for quite a while. This week it got some new juice, however, with financing from Exclusive Media and Cross Creek Pictures and Liam Neeson set to star as the alcoholic ex-cop Scudder.
Deadline says the film will shoot in February 2013… or that’s the plan, at least. There have been other plans to make this film before that didn’t go anywhere. The last one, a year ago, involved director DJ Caruso. There’s no director set at this point for this incarnation of the film.
Cross Creek Pictures has been part of previous attempts to launch the film, and Danny DeVito, who has been set as a producer in the past, is still part of the producing team.
Here’s the plot of the book:
A pair of men who prey murderously on women progress to kidnapping the womenfolk of drug dealers and demanding huge ransoms. Former alcoholic PI Scudder-now going to more AA meetings than ever-reluctantly agrees to help one dealer, a Lebanese, after his wife is killed by the kidnappers. Slowly and methodically he discerns a pattern in the mayhem. With the help of his erstwhile police colleagues, his black Times Square sidekick TJ and his call-girl sweetheart, Elaine, Scudder tightens the net on the culprits. When they seize the daughter of a Russian dealer, he is ready for the showdown.
VOTD: ‘Catfish’ Directors Document Artist John Baldessari; Tom Waits Narrates
by Russ Fischer on May.17, 2012, under Stuff We Like
My favorite thing this week, without question, is this short documentary about the artist John Baldessari, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the guys who made Catfish and Paranormal Activity 3.
A Brief History of John Baldessari is a wonderfully lively little doc that successfully straddles the line between providing info on the subject and establishing itself as a distinct work. The choice of music doesn’t hurt, but really it is the narration from Tom Waits — his presence demanded by Baldessari, says the film – that gives life to this short. Waits pronounces words in the same way that small animals burrow into the earth, and listening to him read this script is just a joy.
These are the credits:
The epic life of a world-class artist, jammed into six minutes. Narrated by Tom Waits. Commissioned by LACMA for their first annual “Art + Film Gala” honoring John Baldessari and Clint Eastwood.
directed by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman (http://gosupermarche.com/)
edited by Max Joseph (http://www.maxjoseph.com/)
written by Gabriel Nussbaum (http://www.bankstreetfilms.com)
cinematography by Magdalena Gorka (http://magdalenagorka.com/)
& Henry Joost
produced by Mandy Yaeger & Erin Wright
Thank you to John Baldessari and his studio. (http://www.baldessari.org/)
‘Cloud Atlas’ Screened at Cannes, Runs Nearly Three Hours, December Date Announced for US Release
by Russ Fischer on May.17, 2012, under Stuff We Like
There’s a lot going on at Cannes right now, but one of the most exciting activities is the deal-making for Cloud Atlas. The ambitious film from Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski adapts David Mitchell‘s novel, which is comprised of six nested stories that span genres and centuries.
I’ve been madly curious about the film. I like the source material, and the cast is impressive: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Bae Doona. That those people are all playing multiple roles, with Hugh Grant calling some of his “incredibly evil,” is more intriguing.
Now reports out of Cannes suggest that the film actually works. We’re hearing that the movie is almost three hours long, and that it is being set for a US release date of December 6, right in awards-season territory.
Anne Thompson says the cut shown to buyers at Cannes is 2 hours, 44 minutes — 14 minutes longer than the 150-minute cut the production contracted to deliver with Warner Bros. Take that in conjunction with the December release date, and it starts to look like the film is actually good. The runtime could still come down a bit, but with six stories to tell, it’s going to be difficult to cut a lot. This is all good news.
A test screening ran in London earlier this week, and one Twitter user said that even with unfinished effects it looks “extremely promising,” and that it does a “surprisingly good job of adapting [the novel].” There is also a test screening of the film tonight, in Pasadena. I think we know at least one person who is going, so we might have a report late this evening, or tomorrow morning.
