I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive and I said, ‘Are we going to make [a sequel to The Dark Knight]?’ They said yeah. I said, ‘How the hell are we going to top Heath? And he says ‘I’ll tell you how you top Heath — Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin.’ I said, ‘Shit, they’ve done it again!’ [Laughs]
Category: Daily
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Uhh…did Michael Caine just confirm Depp and Hoffman for the ‘Dark Knight’ sequel?
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UPDATED: Want to hear Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Wrestler’ song?
The closing credits track from Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” a modest little ditty cooked up by the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, is one of the elements of this buzz-hogging flick that has fans foaming at the mouth in anticipation.Well, it seems some industrious soul turned on a recorder at a recent screening of the flick. That’s my best guess judging by the rough audio quality and the burst of applause at the beginning…
BUT IT PAINS ME TO SAY that Fox Searchlight has asked us to take the song down.
Sorry. Not entirely unexpected, of course, but if you had a chance to listen, consider yourself lucky. Personally, I think it’s vintage Boss, a solid number that seems a perfect fit for what this film appears to be. Someone has also taken a stab at transcribing the lyrics, which are, as expected, sublime.
And by the way, if you didn’t notice in today’s Oscarweb Round-up, excerpts from Clint Mansell’s score for the film have popped up on the composer’s MySpace page. Typical Mansell, ambient, atmospheric, etc. When is this guy going to get some Oscar love?
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Top 10 F-bombs of all time
Andre Rivas has posted a great new top 10 list over at Rope of Silicon: The top 10 F-Bomb movie moments. It’s impossible to argue with the #1 position, of course, but with all the Spike Lee talk lately due to “Miracle at St. Anna,” I took a minute to play the “25th Hour” sequence.
It probably stands as one of the director’s most impassioned moments. It might even be his most fully realized work to date, a five minute diatribe against all the people and neighborhoods of New York City before Edward Norton’s Monty Brogan actually looks into the mirror he’s been shouting at the whole time and finds the clarity of perspective.
If only Spike could find his way back to this place of zen. Because when he’s firing on all cylinders, he’s one of the masters:
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Fox Searchlight picks up ‘The Wrestler’
This morning’s poll wasn’t even an hour old before Anne Thompson reported that Fox Searchlight won a bidding war for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.” Hell, I didn’t even get a chance to vote in it myself.
Here’s what she has to say:
In the first major buy of the Toronto International Film Festival, Fox Searchlight won an intense all-night bidding war for Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, which days before had won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Fest. Searchlight acquired U.S. rights for about $4 million.
After the packed screening of The Wrestler at Toronto’s Elgin last night, buyers huddled on the street and eventually, made their way to the Four Seasons Hotel to make their bids and pitch their release plans. An Oscar-campaign for Mickey Rourke’s rough-and-tumble, vulnerable performance as a wrestler on the ropes was an essential component of the deal. Most distribs were offering a Monster-style Oscar-qualifying late-year platform with a wider release in January.
Frankly, I’m somewhat surprised. “The Wrestler” isn’t in the Searchlight wheelhouse, exactly. Not that versatility is the issue, but I honestly expected Sony Classics or Miramax to dive in deeper. But this adds to a new narrative coming out of Toronto: Fox Searchlight is walking out of the fest with a hell of a one-two punch in this and Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire.” And the studio has proven time and again that it knows how to usher films to Oscar pastures.
Boy did this race change in the course of a week. We’ve got a new poll up now, so tell us how you feel about this acquisition.
Here’s some footage from the film with Aronofsky and Rourke talking their process. I love that Aronofsky told it like it was to Rourke, RE: the actor’s washed-up career:
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Sweet ‘Wrestler’ promo poster
I love this old-school event poster for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.” Smart:
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POLL: Which studio will pick up ‘The Wrestler?’
UPDATE 9:24 a.m.: Boy, I expected this to have a short shelf-life, but not an hour or two! Anyway, check here for the latest and check out the new poll in the sidebar.EARLIER: This poll might have a short shelf life, since studios are chomping at the bit in Toronto right now and a deal could be made as early as today, but I thought I’d put it out to the readership.
Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” is one of the hottest Toronto tickets this year, but which studio seems most likely to pick it up for domestic distribution? Keep in mind, a purchase doesn’t necessarily mean a 2008 release. As one industry friend mentioned earlier this week, it’s just as likely that a studio with a lead actor heavy could pick up the film and save it for next year’s season.
Bit with that in mind, let’s look through the possibilities:
Sony Pictures Classics tends to nurture work like this. One of the most tried and true dependents in the game, the studio doesn’t have a major actor horse in the derby and could be just the thing for Mickey Rourke’s campaign.
Magnolia Films, meanwhile, is apparently in talks to distribute Steven Soderbergh’s “Che,” which shares a production company with “The Wrestler” in the form of Wild Bunch. Maybe. (The majority of IC readers seem to think a two-film release plan for “Che” could hurt its Oscar chances, by the way, judging from last week’s poll.)
What about Miramax Films? Lots of ladies on the studio’s docket, but nothing much for the men. A Philip Seymour Hoffman here and a Mark Ruffalo there could easily take a backseat to an all-engines-go shove for Rourke.
Focus Features? “Milk” is going to be the clear focus (no pun intended) for James Schamus and company. Fox Searchlight? Peter Price and his team of savy campaigners already picked up an awards heavy in “Slumdog Millionaire” recently. Are they ready to throw another log on the fire?
I don’t expect Paramount Vantage to make any purchases at the fest, and most of the majors seem to be satisfied with their still unseen fall product, so I’d say these three are the best bets. So let’s hear it from the readers…
Which studio will pick up “The Wrestler?”
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9/8 Oscarweb Round-up
• Jen Yamato wonders what the hell happened to Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. [Rotten Tomatoes]• Jeffrey Wells puts up a positive review of Kevin Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” philosophizes on the photographical approach to actually shooting a porno. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Logan Hill profiles “The Brothers Bloom” star Rachel Weisz back East. [New York Magazine]
• Scott Macaulay goes party-hopping in Toronto. [Filmmaker Magazine]
• Dave Karger and Missy Schwartz put together a video mid-term report for Toronto. [Entertainment Weekly]
• Focus Features honcho James Schamus is honored with the Trailblazer Award at the Woodstock Film Festival. WELL deserved. [MovieMaker Magazine]
• Lou Lumenick considers Dakota Fanning a “formidable actress” in “The Secret Life of Bees,” but doesn’t see Oscar on the horizon. [Lumenick on Film]
• A preview of Clint Mansell’s “Wrestler” score pops up online…I’m loving it. [MySpace]
• Tommy Lee Jones sues Paramount over “No Country for Old Men” profits. Show me the money. [Associated Press]
• Anne Thompson’s heart goes out to Charlie Kaufman. [Thompson on Hollywood]
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Strike two for Viggo?
A few weeks ago, Viggo Mortensen was riding high going into awards season, with no fewer than three baity-looking prospects on his slate: Ed Harris’ western “Appaloosa,” Holocaust drama “Good” and the eagerly-awaited “The Road.”At Toronto, however, the picture has cleared, and the options have narrowed. First off the bat, “Appaloosa” was greeted with a shrug, both here and elsewhere. And now, if Variety’s damning review is anything to go by, “Good” faces an even more indifferent reception:
This tepid adaptation has an international-pudding feel unlikely to spark much critical or aud enthusiasm … Considering its theme and setting, there’s something very wrong with a “Good” that seems merely competent, uninspired and a bit old-hat. But the milieu, characters and emotions just don’t come alive. (Director) Amorim brings little personality or passion to the material … the often impressive Mortensen can’t make Halder much more than a stereotypical academic milquetoast.
I must say that’s pretty much what I expected. Sure, the Academy often responds well to Holocaust stories, but the director couldn’t have a lower profile, and that trailer always looked rather stodgy to me.
So another one bites the dust, it seems. Mortensen will be disappointed — according to Anne Thompson, he had pinned his personal Oscar hopes on “Good.” Now it looks like “The Road” is the right horse after all — but we knew that all along, right?
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“Ms. Huston, we have a problem.”
I love Anjelica Huston. Always have — ever since she scared the shit out my 7 year-old self in “The Witches.” We don’t see her enough on screen, so it’s nice to see her indulging in a little bit of self-parody.
The Orange Film Funding Board ads, featuring an ongoing parade of slightly past-their-peak thesps, are one of the pleasures of going to the movies in the UK. (Kris was similarly tickled by the Rob Lowe one a few months back.) This latest one isn’t their best, but Huston cracks me up:
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TORONTO: ‘Lovely, Still,’ ‘Blindness’
Finally, a great little film…I love it when a film comes out of nowhere, from an unlikely source, a new talent, old talents re-discovering their gifts, or something that just plains shocks the hell out of the audience with its audacity and brilliance.
That happened to me today with the wonderful, heartbreaking love story “Lovely, Still,” boasting Oscar-caliber performances from Ellen Burstyn and Martin Landau. More on that later.
I also finally saw the new cut of “Blindness,” as well as “Good,” the second Viggo Mortensen starrer to hit the festival this year. At this writing I still have to go see “The Burning Plain” later tonight.
Part of the day was spent chatting it up with Ellen Burstyn (a lovely lady), Martin Landau (great guy) and fresh-faced Nik Fackler. The interview ran behind but was thoroughly enjoyable for old anti-social me.
Atom Egoyan, Mischa Barton and Scott Speedman made appearances at this event, but I did not get a chance to chat with my fellow Canadians…simply too busy.
(Reviews after the jump.)
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I might need to revise my predictions…
These predictions, that is. Not that anyone could have expected Tom Brady to go down for a considerable chunk of, if not the entire season. But I just finished watching the Colts play like dogs against a Bears team that couldn’t have surprised me more, while the Panthers took it right to the Chargers earlier in the day and the Titans brought the pain against Jacksonville.
We could have a much more diverse playoff situation than I might have expected, though it’s only week one.
Still feeling good about the NFC, but things might open up in the AFC. Hopefully it’s an exciting season (and the Redskins can pull down at least a few wins).
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Thandie on Condi
Of all the bizarre calls that have been made in the process of creating “W,” the one that possibly threw me the most was the casting of Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice.I’ve admittedly always been lukewarm on Newton as actress, but nonetheless, nothing about her onscreen or off-screen personae suggested that she had it in her to channel the world’s most powerful woman.
So it’s refreshing to read, in this lengthy Sunday Times interview with Newton, that she felt pretty much the same way:
“Oliver woke me up,” she says. Stone had an “absolute belief that I could play this character who was absolutely nothing like me. She didn’t look like me; she’s a couple of decades older than me. And I’m English, for goodness’ sake”.
In her favour, Newton appears to have a healthily objective stance on the character she’s playing (more so, I suspect, than her director):
Then she began working on her mannerisms, the quirks and ticks that an impressionist might exaggerate to tell you as much about a person as the “inner truth”. She won’t tell me what they are. “Look, I do have a kind of reverence for who I am playing. This is a human being, and whatever you think, as an example of discipline, she’s unbelievable … (But) seeing her in more undone situations, there was this difference in her. You can see her posture change at certain times. It’s almost imperceptible, but it’s there. I got a sense of the human being behind the construct. And I did feel compassion for her.”
She’s clearly an open and articulate interviewee — read the rest here. (Note to the interviewer, however: I know it’s customary to flatter your subject, but calling Newton’s turn in “Crash” the “definitive performance” of that film is a blatant lie. And I don’t even like “Crash.”)
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The rush of TIFF
I had to link to this Hot Blog post from David Poland, obviously iPhoning it from a crowded theater about to screen Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.” Here is the best portion:
It’s exciting. Exciting in a different way than many other great fest experiences. It’s a real-time event. It’s real-time excitement that makes grown men giddy, fearful, ready for a fight, ready to miss out (all eyes on Rice and Battsek if they get up during the film).
This is one part of TIFF. A rush. Not the heart of it all. But a piece we all crave.
And then… the movie.
This film is quickly becoming my most anticipated effort in a LONG time, but besides that, I love the feel of the room Poland paints here, a true example of what we can do with new media beyond Twittering and Facebooking.
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Handicapping the race so far at The Film Experience
In the middle of Toronto’s tiny buzz wave, Nathaniel Rogers has come back with a new “Naked Gold Man” Oscar column at The Film Experience.I particularly love this aside when charting the acting races:
Only 19 actors and actress need apply for the 20 spots. Heath Ledger’s Joker performance in The Dark Knight is still monumentally creepy to think about or be reminded of, isn’t it? Eight weeks of ubiquity, often a great inoculation for hysterically praised work, haven’t managed to dilute its feverish pull. That’s an impressive feat and a performance that once seemed like a worthy “likely contender” is now a “lock”. But we still don’t know what this means for the larger Oscar picture. And it’s all about the larger picture. “Supporting” is where Ledger’s buzz first happened. But many voices are starting to shout for “Lead” status. The Joker’s ghostly presence and penchant for chaos will affect future candidates and the Oscar race… but which one.
Read the rest here.
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Reading ‘Gran’
I’m about half-way through Nick Schenk’s script “Gran Torino,” the Clint Eastwood surprise of 2008 waiting to jump up and bite us all in the ass this December. So far it’s a really casual, satisfying read. Some bumps in the first act as Schenk has some trouble settling into the style of the narrative, the consistent racial slurs and the hard-ass Walt Kowalski character (to be played by Eastwood), but it settles in soon enough.
Kowalski is an interesting mix of Paul Newman’s Sully from “Nobody’s Fool” and Eastwood’s own portrayal of Frankie Dunn in “Million Dollar Baby.” Maybe even a dash of Walter Matthau’s Max Goldman thrown in. In fact, I’d place “Torino” right in “Baby”‘s wheelhouse so far, lots of that young-people-shedding-light-on-an-old-codger’s-life stuff going on.
More on Tuesday, when we review “Gran Torino” in our Page to Screen column.
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9/7 Oscarweb Round-up
• Peter Sciretta thinks “The Dark Knight” will eventually beat the $600 million “Titanic” domestic take with re-releases in future years. Fair enough, but the worldwide gross is insurmountable and always will be. [/Film]• Tom O’Neil wonders whether Peter O’Toole has an Oscar win in store for his work in “Dean Spanley.” [Gold Derby]
• Kevin Kelley spends some time with Brad Pitt. [Spout Blog]
• Kim Voynar calls the newly re-edited version of Fernando Meirelles’s “Blindness” a “vast improvement” over the cut screened at Cannes. [Cinematical]
• James Rocchi, meanwhile, talks to “Appaloosa” helmer Ed Harris. [Cinematical]
• David Poland catches up with opinions on a few Toronto films, including “The Secret Life of Bees” from Fox Searchlight. [The Hot Blog]
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Is there room for the old(er) guys?
With the acting races getting more crowded by the day, it seems new contenders will need to make quite some impact to stay afloat in awards season. Nonetheless, David Poland and Tom O’Neil are beating their respective drums for a couple of veteran actors in decidedly low-key projects that have just bowed at Toronto.David Poland is excited about “Lovely, Still,” a small-scale holiday pic charting the December-to-December romance between Ellen Burstyn and Martin Landau. I thought the film sounded fairly ghastly when I first heard about it, but Poland is won over, citing “home run performances” from the leads:
All of those “Boynton Beach Club” movies that get distribution… this is going to be the king of them. Maybe it’s just $10 million in theatrical, but given the Academy composition and the very real love of these two actors, don’t be shocked to hear award buzz around this one all season.
Cinema Blend has also come over all warm and fuzzy on the film, and describes the performances as “dazzling.” The stars are obviously Academy stalwarts — and I’m always happy to see recognition for Burstyn, one of America’s greatest living actors — but I need more convincing.
Meanwhile, over at Gold Derby, O’Neil is hoping the Academy might finally give in to poor Peter O’Toole, the man who now holds the record for most losses (eight) without winning. Two years ago, everything seemed set for O’Toole to finally collect for “Venus” — and he might well have, had the film not been so feeble.
