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2009 | 2008 | 2005 | 2004

20 articles from 2009

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First Images and Synopses from 2010’s Biggest Films Including The American, Somewhere, Greenberg, and Eagle Of The Ninth

10 November 2009 10:54 PM, PST | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »

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.

Be forewarned, that these are full synopsis and may be considered to spoiler-ific for some.  Read carefully.

The American, directed by Anton Corbijn (Control)

Jack (George Clooney »

- Matt Goldberg

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The Disappearance of Alice Creed's Eddie Marsan and Martin Compston: The Movieline Interview

14 September 2009 12:45 PM, PDT | Movieline | See recent Movieline news »

One of those pleasant gems you hope to stumble upon at any film festival, The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a wonderfully entertaining little thriller from British screenwriter and first-time director, J Blakeson. Set almost entirely in an enclosed apartment, Blakeson's story takes a simple premise -- "So you've kidnapped a beautiful heiress. Now what?" -- and wrings out of it a darkly humorous and utterly unpredictable tale of greed gone wrong, with shades of Rope, Shallow Grave and Deathtrap. The titular heiress is played by Quantum of Solace star Gemma Arterton, who squeezed in this film between her two upcoming blockbusters, Prince of Persia and Clash of the Titans. Rounding out the triangle are the two kidnappers, the elder and more volatile man played by Eddie Marsan -- star of Mike Leigh's Vera Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky and Will Smith's super-nemesis in Hancock -- and the younger played by Martin Compston, »

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Paramount Pictures to distribute 'We Want Sex' in U.K., Australia and New Zealand

7 September 2009 12:34 AM, PDT | Movie Jungle | See recent Movie Jungle news »

Paramount Pictures will distribute Nigel Cole's "We Want Sex" in New Zealand, the U.K. as well as Australia. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Andrea Riseborough, Jaime Winstone, Rosamund Pike and Daniel Mays. Film follows the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant when 850 female workers left their jobs in protest after sexual descrimination in their job performance evaluations. This contributed to women receiving equal pay in the work place. During the strike, the committee was invited to tea by the employment secretary Barbara Castle and it was during that meeting where the issue was raised for equal pay. Imelda Staunton ("Nanny McPhee," "Vera Drake") is currently in talks to play Castle. »

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Shifty – On Blu-ray and DVD Now!

4 September 2009 10:54 AM, PDT | FilmShaft.com | See recent FilmShaft.com news »

Shifty is an action packed 24 hours in the life of a young crack cocaine dealer on the outskirts of London.

The sudden return home of his best friend sets in motion a chain of events that see Shifty’s life quickly spiral out of control. Stalked by a customer desperate to score at all costs and with his family about to turn their back on him for good, Shifty must out-run and out-smart a rival drug dealer intent on setting him up.

As his long time friend Chris, confronts the dark past he left behind him, Shifty is forced to face up to the violent future he’s heading fast towards.

Boasting convincing performances from a cast of rising stars including Riz Ahmed (‘Dead Set’, ‘Britz’) and Daniel Mays (‘Atonement’ & ‘Vera Drake’). Shifty also stars Jason Flemyng and Francesca Annis.

Disc 1 Extra Features:

- Commentary with Writer/Director Eran Creevy »

- Craig Sharp

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Review: Taking Woodstock

28 August 2009 4:02 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »

It's no accident that at the very beginning of the movie, the title shows up broken into three words, one on its own separate line: Taking. Wood. Stock. The immensely likeable comedian Demetri Martin plays Elliot Teichberg, a menschy young guy who is spending his summer at his parents' ramshackle motel in the Catskills in yet another attempt to stave off their foreclosure. He has a life back in NYC, sure, but his work as an interior designer and painter isn't going so well, and his friends are all leaving for San Francisco. Elliot, or Ellie as his parents call him, is the consummate Good Jewish Boy - he runs the local Chamber of Commerce, helps around the hotel, and withstands his Russian mother's browbeating (played by Vera Drake's Imelda Staunton).

It's only sheer luck and desperation that leads him to call the Woodstock folks after a nearby town »

- Jenni Miller

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London Calling: Mike Leigh Shooting for 2010

27 August 2009 | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »

- Working on back to back Mike Leigh films must be like the back to school experience. You are surrounded by friends you made the year film before. I don't think he has gone from one film to the next without rehiring some of the same cast - and as Screen Daily points out, Leigh who begins filming with a cast of twelve this week, has ten returning actors/actresses (only David Bradley and Stuart McQuarrie are first timers). Much like how Woody Allen commences a new project, we have no title to work with, and no plot details. What we do know is that Sally Hawkins has spread her wings and won't be returning, and that the Vera Drake pairing of Imelda Staunton and Jim Broadbent are top-lining. I'd be curious to know if Leigh will return to the comedy format. Filming on the untitled project will takes place in London for nine weeks, »

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Mike Leigh Starts Shooting His Next Project in London

26 August 2009 7:41 PM, PDT | firstshowing.net | See recent FirstShowing.net news »

English filmmaker Mike Leigh has started production on his next new film following the Oscar nominated film Happy-Go-Lucky, which received heaps of critical acclaim. The project is untitled and Leigh is keeping a lid on plot details (much like Woody Allen), but we do know who's in the cast: Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Taking Woodstock), Jim Broadbent (Hot Fuzz, The Damned United, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Philip Davis (Vera Drake, Cassandra's Dream), David Bradley (Filch in Harry Potter) and Stuart McQuarrie (28 Days Later, "The Bill"). Quite an impressive English cast. Many of Leigh's regular crew also are on board as well, including Oscar nominated cinematographer Dick Pope (The Illusionist, Happy-Go-Lucky), editor Jon Gregory, casting director Nina Gold, costume designer Jacqueline Durran and hair and make-up supervisor Chrissie Blundell. I wish we had more to tell you about this, but that's all their »

- Alex Billington

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Win! Shifty DVD goodies in our Monday giveaway!

24 August 2009 1:35 PM, PDT | The Hollywood News | See recent The Hollywood News news »

Today sees the release of the British urban thriller Shifty (UK). To celebrate the release, we have a bunch of Shifty stuff to give away.

Shifty is a sharply scripted, witty, urban thriller, from writer/director Eran Creevy. Set on the outskirts of London it follows themes of friendship and loyalty over the course of 24 hours in the life of a young drug dealer, the charismatic "Shifty".

We have 3 signed posters, 3 signed DVDs and 3 Boxfresh t-shirts (one of each for 3 different winners) to give away in this superb contest. What's more, there is no question to answer either. All that you have to do is email us at tips@thehollywoodnews.com by the closing date of Friday, August 28th to be in the draw for he goodies. The first three names out of the hat after that date grab the loot.

Click through for more info on Shifty.

Boasting convincing »

- Paul

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A Listers and Franchises. There Are No Streepquels.

17 June 2009 5:01 PM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »

Remember a couple weeks ago when we joked about Hollywood's endless reboots, remakes and sequels... Vera Drake 2: Jail Break! Well it's on everyone's mind this summer what with Star Trek rebooting and Terminator probably collapsing: first Sarah Connor gets cancelled and now T4 can't beat the $ of T3. Ouch. Bless Movie | Line for doing some investigating about A-Listers and their relationship to franchises. It's a fact of life for the top moneymakers. Or is it?

In this chart "near franchises" is a subjective number, referring to films

that were obviously intended for / or completely natural fits for sequels

if the star had wanted it or if the first film hadn't flopped

It turns out not all of the A-Listers believe in repetition. You may already know that our June subject girl Meryl Streep has never made a sequel but it was interesting to note who else has never done »

- NATHANIEL R

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Sequel Madness

3 June 2009 7:39 PM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »

I love that Hollywood plans ahead for years and that the internet dutifully hangs on every corporate decision. There's always an internet flurry of excitement about it... as if we're all purchasing calendars for 2011,2012,2013 and circling dates. We eagerly pretend that we're planning our social calendars around it.

I barely know what I'm doing next week.

That said, I love Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies... so when the teaser poster hit today I did imagine myself lined up on May 6th two years from now, I admit. This despite my feeling that franchises should quit while they're ahead. Q: How do you top Spider-Man 2? A: You don't. You just quit and move on to another project. Even if Hollywood wants to live on a diet of superheroes alone there are still hundreds of them that are awaiting celluloid treatment.

I love superheroes as much as anyone (ok, slightly less I guess. »

- NATHANIEL R

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Cannes: Ang Lee Gets It Right

17 May 2009 2:07 PM, PDT | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »

I haven't heard the word "groovy" in a long time--in decades, perhaps. It is part of the dialog in Ang Lee's mind-bending Taking Woodstock, shown in competition, accompanied by psychedelic images. This is stuff from the late '60s, and until now, I, a veteran of the era, have not seen a rendering that wasn't silly and over-the-top. (Ever see the movie 1969?)Critics here have not taken kindly to it, calling the story "thin." Wrong. It is an accurate adaptation of the memoirs of Elliot Tiber (formerly Teichberg), played here by comic Demetri Martin. Some have even criticized the acting of Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake), who portrays Tiber's Jewish mother from hell, Sonia. saying the characterization is overdone and stereotyped. Wrong. Staunton... »

- Howard Feinstein

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The Boyle Next Door

24 April 2009 2:05 PM, PDT | Huffington Post | See recent Huffington Post news »

The e-mails and phone calls started coming last week. "Have you seen Susan Boyle? What do you think of her?" Friends ask me because they know me to be an aficionado of good singing (read: "obsessive opera and musical theater queen"). So what did I think of this latest vocal phenomenon? Oh, how I hate whenever this happens, whenever some singer with an inspiring personal story appears out of nowhere and I become the prissy curmudgeon who points out the emperor's new voice. Almost everyone is going bananas for this woman, the middle-class spinster with the Merman pipes. A friend in New York suggested writing a Vera Drake musical for Susan Boyle to star in (a gruesome thought, considering the subject matter; Secrets and Lies has more potential). There will no doubt be a... »

- Jonathan Tolins

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And the Best of British To You, Sir! (/Madam)

24 April 2009 7:37 AM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »

Dave from Victim of the Time here once more. It's St. George's Day here- the patron saint of England (and several other countries but who cares about them?)- and although usually all that patriotism makes me slightly ill I thought I'd be more cheerful for once and bring you good mostly-American people some examples of my country's film-making prowess. Although even though it's the English patron saint's day I'll still sticking the banner out to cover the other three countries of our country, because it's all very confusing and we haven't devolved yet. Only a matter of time, though, I hear. [/tangent]

Ten years ago, the BFI polled a whole bunch of people to determine what the best British films of the twentieth century were. Now- spoiler!- the winner was The Third Man. A fair enough choice, says I. You can't beat a bit of zither. But, since they did that, »

- Dave

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Producer Channing-Williams Dead

14 April 2009 5:05 AM, PDT | WENN | See recent WENN news »

British director Mike Leigh has paid tribute to film producer Simon Channing-Williams, who died at the weekend (11-12Apr09).

Channing-Williams passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 64.

He had worked closely with Leigh in his lengthy career, with the pair making eight movies together, including Happy-Go-Lucky, Secrets and Lies, and Vera Drake.

And Leigh has given an emotional statement about his close friend, insisting the producer will be "universally" missed.

Leigh says, "He battled cancer very bravely for nearly five years. His great phrase was 'let's just get on with things' and right almost to the last he was still working. He was a very extraordinary big man and he will be missed universally." »

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DVD Review: Sally Hawkins Shines in Mike Leigh’s Fantastic ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’

16 March 2009 10:44 AM, PDT | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »

DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0 Chicago – “Happy-Go-Lucky” was one my favorite films of 2008 with a pitch-perfect performance by the great Sally Hawkins, an actress who so embodied her character that not only did she deserve to be nominated for an Oscar, she should be polishing her trophy right now. New to DVD, audiences can finally catch up with “Happy-Go-Lucky,” another notch in the belt for the great Mike Leigh, one of the more consistent filmmakers of the last twenty years.

Mike Leigh doesn’t make films like most writer/directors. His work is a collaborative, improvisational process that takes months. But it’s not like Will Ferrell’s work. There’s no improv up on the screen in an ad-libbed sense. It’s more of a co-screenwriting process, where the ensemble works with Leigh on back story and dialogue by inhabiting their characters for months at a time.

Happy-Go-Lucky was released on DVD on March 10th, »

- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)

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Mood Swings By James Ponsoldt

13 March 2009 9:43 AM, PDT | Filmmaker Magazine_Web Exclusives | See recent Filmmaker Magazine_Web Exclusives news »

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 22, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. James Ponsoldt interviewed Happy-Go-Lucky writer-director Mike Leigh for our Web Exclusives section of the Website. Happy-Go-Lucky is nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Mike Leigh). Picking a favorite Mike Leigh film can be a frustrating and exhilarating challenge. They’re all so uniformly excellent, so hilarious (Life Is Sweet), moving (Secrets & Lies), angry (Naked), honest (Meantime) and compassionate (Vera Drake) that the body of work begins to take on a holistic value -- each movie a nuanced iteration of one director’s worldview. Overseeing improv sessions with a group of... »

- Jason Guerrasio

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The Red Riding Trilogy

28 February 2009 9:36 AM, PST | ScreenRant.com | See recent Screen Rant news »

Red Riding is a trilogy of movies based on a quartet of novels by David Peace. The books (and films) are fictionalized accounts of the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper, a brutal serial killer that stalked the Yorkshire area of England in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

The three films - titled Nineteen Seventy-Four, Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-Three were adapted for the screen by Tony Grisoni (Tideland and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).

Screen Rant was present at the launch of the films in London and interviewed Tony Grisoni along with various other UK bloggers. 

Each film in the Red Riding trilogy has a different director, with the first installment helmed by Julian Jarrold (director of the Anne Hathaway starrer Becoming Jane); James Marsh (the Oscar winning Man On Wire) called the shots on the second and the third film was directed by Anand Tucker (Steve Martin’s Shopgirl »

- Niall Browne

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Sally Hawkins in "We Want Sex." Imelda Staunton in talks.

5 February 2009 | Movie Jungle | See recent Movie Jungle news »

Sally Hawkins will star in "We Want Sex," produced by Stephen Woolley and Liz Karlsen from Number 9 Films.   Film follows the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant when 850 female workers left their jobs in protest after sexual descrimination in their job performance evaluations. This contributed to women receiving equal pay in the work place.   During the strike, the committee was invited to tea by the employment secretary Barbara Castle and it was during that meeting where the issue was raised for equal pay. Imelda Staunton ("Nanny McPhee," "Vera Drake") is currently in talks to play Castle.   So where does the title come from? It was a banner that the protestors carried during one march which said "We Want Sex Equality." Later, they realized that the last word was missing.   Billy Ivory will write and Simon Curtis is directing.   Sally Hawkins achieved recognition for her work in last year's »

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Sally Hawkins says We Want Sex

4 February 2009 11:09 PM, PST | TotalFilm | See recent TotalFilm news »

Sally Hawkins has agreed to star in We Want Sex, which will chronicle the true-life tale of female Ford car plant workers striking for equal rights in 1968. She’ll be among the leaders of the 850 female workers who went out on strike at the Dagenham plant because of sexual discrimination in their job evaluations. The struggle went on to boost the women’s rights movements and help secure equal pay. And it might be a Vera Drake reunion as Imelda Staunton is negotiating to join the movie, playing ‘60s employment... .

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- jwhite

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The Oscar Warrior's 2009 Oscar Picks Part 2

9 January 2009 | Comingsoon.net | See recent Comingsoon.net news »

If you already read Part 1 of the Oscar Warrior's excruciatingly late Oscar Picks then you're probably ready for Part 2, building up to our picks for the movies likely to get nominated for Best Picture. The Directors This category is almost irrelevant at this point because by the time you read this, the Directors Guild (DGA) will have announced their five nominees, which tends to coincide fairly closely to the Oscars picks, mainly because they're both nominated solely by directors. That said, the Academy has often pulled out a surprise or two in this category, whether it be Fernando Meirelles' nomination for City of God or Mike Leigh for Vera Drake a few years later. For whatever reason, the DGA tends to gear their nominations more towards American directors over... »

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2009 | 2008 | 2005 | 2004

20 articles from 2009

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