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Archive for November, 2009
Friday, November 13th, 2009
Filed under: Animation, New Releases, Celebrities and Controversy, New in Theaters, DIY/Filmmaking, Trailers and Clips
In this month's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson makes his first foray into animation with an adaptation of Roald Dahl's story about an upwardly mobile fox (George Clooney) whose drive to steal chickens threatens his family and community. While it's Anderson's first non-live action project, Mr. Fox nonetheless shares qualities with his other films, including a meticulous attention to detail, stylish design, and idiosyncratic characters. So how did the live-action auteur tackle the challenges of stop-motion filmmaking, especially considering that he spent much of the production in an entirely different country than his crew?
HitFix has a fun little glimpse of the director at work that shows us how Anderson collaborated with his animation team to bring the characters of Fantastic Mr. Fox to life. From his base in Paris, Anderson shot video storyboards of scenes and character movements by acting out scenes and blocking himself. He then emailed the videos to his crew in London, who took their visual cues from Anderson's performances. The end results, when viewed side-by-side with Anderson's versions, are near identical.
Hit the jump and watch Anderson as Mr. Fox, Kristofferson, Ash, and other characters from The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Continue reading Watch This: Wes Anderson Acts Out 'Mr. Fox' Storyboards Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Friday, November 13th, 2009
 | | Serious Moonlight - Clip
Louise (Meg Ryan), a high-powered Manhattan lawyer, is touched when she arrives for the weekend to her family’s upstate getaway to find it strewn with rose petals by her husband of 13 years, Ian (Timothy Hutton). Unfortunately … Ian is not expecting Louise, rather his much younger girlfriend (Kristen Bell). In fact, he’s actually in the process of writing Louise a letter explaining his intention to leave her for good. An oddly cool Louise has other plans. She takes Ian captive, refusing to release him until he commits to working on their marriage together. When Ian’s impatient mistress shows up, not to mention an opportunistic gardener (Justin Long), things start to get seriously complicated. Not merely a war of the sexes, SERIOUS MOONLIGHT is a story of a war of the wills as Ian tries to talk his way out of the situation.
Directed by: Cheryl Hines
Starring: Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell, Justin Long |
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Friday, November 13th, 2009
 | | Fantastic Mr. Fox - Foxy Music
FANTASTIC MR. FOX is visionary director Wes Anderson’s first animated film, utilizing classic handmade stop motion techniques to tell the story of the best selling children’s book by Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach). The film features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Jarvis Cocker Mr and Mrs Fox (Clooney and Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristopherson (Eric Anderson). But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers - Boggis, Bunce and Bean - who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr Fox at any cost.
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Scwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon |
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
No one does bathing suits better than the Brazilians (say THAT 5 times fast). Our friends at Butch sent us pictures of their new campaign (yes it is summer down there) with hot new face Arthur Sales photographed by Cristiano Madureira. Check out Get Butch for a 4-minute video of Arthur, as well as a video [...]
Posted in Modeling | No Comments »
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Dazed and Confused and Abbey Lee Kershaw are always a great combination, remember the incredible jet black Nick Knight cover from last year? For December’s cover, Abbey delves into her wild side. Stylist Karen Langley provides the feathers, furs and horns but the attitude is all Abbey. Daniel Jackson’s gritty photographs show an untamed [...]
Posted in Modeling | No Comments »
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Newsstand .jpg)
If you have a few minutes today I'd strongly recommend reading this fascinating five-page New York Times Magazine story on Megan Fox called The Self-Manufacture of Megan Fox. I know, you're not really interested in reading another "OMG, she said that!" article on the overly hyped, sexified actress, but this one is a little different. Yes, it touches on just about everything controversial that's crossed her plate -- from her much-publicized spat with Michael Bay to her longterm off-screen relationship with Brian Austin Green -- but it also digs beneath the surface and exposes the way in which she's sort of self-manufactured her own image depending on where she is and who she's speaking to in order to expand her brand, which, she'll admit, isn't the most glamorous or family-friendly, but it's what's keeping her working.
Fox admits that she got herself into the whole Michael Bay mess, and wonders why no one came to her defense when that nasty crew letter surfaced online ("I think it's because I'm a girl. They left me out there to be bludgeoned to death"). Another interesting fact was that they were going to include a Hitler/Michael Bay joke when Fox hosted Saturday Night Live, but dropped it because it wasn't appropriate. Fox explains, "They wanted me to do a Q. and A. with the audience for the opening monologue. And Hitler is in the audience. Hitler stands up and says, 'Why did you compare me to Michael Bay?' " Fox laughed. "Which is funny, but we can't do that."
Watch the actual monologue and read more after the jump.
Continue reading Megan Fox's Scratched SNL Hitler/Michael Bay Joke Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
 | | Uncertainty - Clip
UNCERTAINTY, from directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel (THE DEEP END), thrusts Bobby Thompson and Kate Montero (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins) into two alternate realities on the same steamy summer day in New York City. With the flip of a coin, the couple are sent in opposite directions – a delicate drama set in Brooklyn examines familial love, self-discovery, loss and the ordinary choices we make everyday, while Manhattan offers a vastly different tale of intrigue, suspense and murder on the streets of Chinatown.
Directed by: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lynn Collins |
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
 | | Date Night - Trailer 1
Claire and Phil Foster (Tina Fey and Steve Carell) are a typical suburban couple whose lives – including their weekly date nights of dinner and a movie – have become routine. To reignite the marital spark, they visit a trendy Manhattan bistro where a case of mistaken identity turns their evening into the ultimate date night-gone-awry. But as Claire and Phil take their unexpected walk on the wild side, they begin to remember what made them so special together.
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Taraji P. Henson, Common, Mark Wahlberg |
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Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
You wouldn’t splash gasoline on the walls of your home, then toss a few matches while strolling out the door. In real life, this kind of willful destruction is criminal.
In fiction, it’s crucial.
As the writer, you need to burn down houses. You need to push characters out of their safe places into the big scary world — and make sure they can never get back. Sure, their stated quest might be to get home, but your job is to make sure that wherever they end up is a new and different place.
Writers tend towards benevolence. We love our characters, and want to see them thrive. So it can be hard to accept that what our hero actually needs is to have everything taken away, be it by fire, flood, divorce or zombie uprising. No matter the story, no matter the genre, we need to find ways to strip characters of their insulating bubbles of normalcy.
The Fire (or other catastrophe) often occurs as an inciting incident, setting the wheels of plot in motion. In The House Bunny, Anna Faris’s character is kicked out of the Playboy Mansion by page 10. In Gladiator, Russell Crowe’s family is killed.
Just as often, The Fire signals the end of the first act. In Star Wars, Luke returns home to find his aunt and uncle dead. In 9 to 5, the trio of secretaries has inadvertently kidnapped their boss. There’s no going back to the way things were.
But The Fire can work just as well later in the story, effectively burning bridges characters have just crossed. Three of my upcoming projects feature second-act or third-act Fires that not only keep the momentum going, but also remind the audience of the scale and stakes. 1 Late fires ward off complacency in everything from The Dark Knight to Revenge of the Nerds.
It’s easy to think of dozens of great movies that never really burn the house down. But the better exercise is to look at your own scripts and ask, (a) what could burn, and (b) why haven’t I lit it on fire?
Posted in Screenwriting | No Comments »
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Home Entertainment  Actors might make a lot of money, but at least they work for it with long hours on set, paparazzi insanity, exhausting PR tours, and the pressures of handling the same questions over and over and over again with grace and charm. But even more impressive is when they can be graceful in the face of utter ignorance or idiocy.
We've watched John Cusack get interviewed by a clueless film student, and now (after the jump of course) you can see Ian McKellen handle the women from The View. Ah, there's nothing like having your television interview start out with an inflammatory rant about swine flu and socialized medicine. It's not a surprise really -- the once-sweet Survivor star Elisabeth Hasselbeck has made a career out throwing wild rants into unusual places on the show. But, sadly, that's only the start of the nonsense that McKellen handles with dashing grace. Whoopi Goldberg can't keep her actors straight, and Sherry Shepherd pulls off one of those classic moments where a clueless interviewer reads crap off the cards without knowing what the hell she's talking about.
Yet, in the face of all that, McKellen is pure charm. I always find that impressive. Sure, he's an actor and makes his living making fiction convincing, but to be ready with that clever retort, graciously correct someone who should know better, and take it all in stride ... I wouldn't say this about most of Hollywood, but I think we can all learn a little from that small part of the biz. Continue reading Ian McKellen Suffers 'The View' Stupidity with Grace and Wit Permalink | Email this | Comments
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