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As award season begins, there is already Oscar buzz for the upcoming dark comedy Young Adult, which opened last weekend in very limited release (8 theaters total) and will open in many more this weekend.
Most of the early reviews have focused on Charlize Theron's performance as self-absorbed teen fiction writer Mavis Gary, who returns to her small, Midwestern hometown in order to reclaim her high school boyfriend (Patrick Wilson), who is now a happily married man. "Jumping into the deep end with an essentially unlikeable character who is nonetheless compelling and sometimes great fun to watch, Theron is terrific," said THR's Todd McCarthy in his review. "She makes Mavis' arrogance and certainty of her own allure not only convincing but enjoyable."
Theron's "arrogance and certainty of her own allure" is on display in the movie's latest preview clip, which sees Mavis visit a bookstore displaying her books and tries to impress the bookstore employee with her celebrity.
watch the clip and an interview with Reitman >> Posted 12.13.11 by Ryan -
The upcoming dark comedy Young Adult is reunion for director Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, the creative team behind the 2007 comedy/drama Juno that scored Reitman an Oscar nomination and Cody an Academy Award. The movie stars Charlize Theron as unlikeable teen fiction writer Mavis Gary, who returns to her Midwestern hometown to reclaim her high school boyfriend (Patrick Wilson), now a happily married expectant father.
Young Adult is already receiving Oscar buzz, no doubt due to Theron's willingness to play a nasty character, and Reitman's ability to make a movie about the "girl you hated in high school" an appealing and entertaining movie. In an interview with The Playlist, Reitman explained how he and Theron came to work together.
theron scared of the role, reitman reveals "secret weapon" >> Posted 12.09.11 by Ryan -
A new poster and three preview clips have arrived online for the upcoming dark comedy Young Adult, from the writer-director team of Juno, Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman.
Young Adult stars Academy Award winner Charlize Theron (Monster) as the extremely unlikeable, teen fiction writer Mavis Gary, who returns to her hometown to reclaim her now happily married high school boyfriend (Patrick Wilson).
Already receiving Oscar buzz, the three clips from Young Adult show that the success or failure of the movie and its possible nominations rests on how audiences embrace Theron's Mavis, described as "the girl you hated in high school."
watch the clips >> Posted 11.15.11 by Ryan -
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino has been slowly putting together a solid cast for his upcoming "Southern" Django Unchained, which follows Jamie Foxx as a freed slave determined to rescue his wife from a sadistic slave owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). Tarantino recently added his Deathproof actor Kurt Russell to the cast as evil slave trainer Ace Woody, replacing Kevin Costner who recently dropped out, as well as Kill Bill, Vol. 2's Laura Cayouette as DiCaprio's widowed sister.
Deadline reports that the latest addition to the cast is Don Johnson, who will play a wealthy plantation owner named Spencer Bennett. Casting a veteran actor who hasn't been in many recent high-profile projects is typical of Tarantino, who rejuvenated the careers of actors like John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) and Robert Forster (Jackie Brown). Johnson recently appeared as the villainous Von Stillman in last year's Machete, directed by Tarantino's friend and frequent collaborator Robert Rodriguez.
Johnson joins a cast filled with Tarantino alumni, including Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz. Django is set to start shooting in November, and has been given a release date of December 25, 2012.
Fassbender reunites with Shame Director; Carrey and Carrel Make Magic together >> Posted 10.12.11 by Ryan -
THR has revealed the first teaser poster for Paramount Pictures' Young Adult, the second collaboration between screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman. Their previous movie, 2007's Juno, won Cody an Oscar and Reitman his first Academy Award nomination.
Young Adult stars Charlize Theron as an alcoholic, teen fiction writer who returns to her hometown in Minnesota to rekindle a romance with an old boyfriend (Patrick Wilson), who is now happily married. There, she runs into another former high school classmate (Patton Oswalt), who also has had a tough time letting go of the past. A photo of Theron in character was released by the studio a few weeks ago.
Opening December 16, Paramount is likely hoping that Young Adult captures the Academy's attention the way Juno did, perhaps awarding Theron with a nomination for what looks like the kind of image-shattering turn that won the actress her Oscar for 2003's Monster (only, Young Adult is probably funnier). Expect a trailer to arrive soon.
Posted 09.06.11 by Ryan -
Awards season is heating up, and today the Director's Guild of America announced its list of five nominees for outstanding directorial achievement.
The five honorees are Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, James Cameron for Avatar, Lee Daniels for Precious, Jason Reitman for Up in the Air, and Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds.
Bigelow, who is only the seventh woman to be nominated (none has ever won), expressed gratitude for the honor:
This is an extraordinary guild and it's an extraordinary honor for that reason. It's so incredibly gratifying to be recognized for a film that puts a magnifying glass on an insane situation. There are still men and woman taking these incredible risks and making these incredible sacrifices.
Reitman expressed similar sentiment:
I can't even begin to explain how thrilled I am to be nominated by my fellow directors. This morning's honor will stay with me for a long time.
Daniels seemed completely flabbergasted by his nomination, saying, "I am speechless ... I wasn't expecting it."
The LA Times notes that in 60 years, only six DGA award winners have failed to win the Academy Award as well, so whoever wins must be considered the frontrunner for the Best Director Oscar. The DGA announces its winners on January 30, while the Oscars won't be until March 7.
Posted 01.08.10 by reelz -
Another critic-polarizing movie, this time from 32-year-old director Jason Reitman. Based on early reviews, if you like Juno, you'll like Up in the Air. And even if you don't like Juno, this flick is likely headed for Oscar glory since it won the National Board of Review's honors for best picture, best actor (Clooney), best supporting actress (Anna Kendrick), and best adapted screenplay.
"...a rare and sparkling gem of a movie, directed by Jason Reitman (Juno) with the polish of a master."
— Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"He [Jason Reitman] makes smart, edgy mainstream films. That's harder than making smart, edgy indies."
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Seeing Up in the Air earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival, its limited ambitions bugged me. Catching it again this week, I see how it could end up with best picture of 2009."
— Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
"...a glib rom-com-with-a-message..."
— Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine
"This is a movie that's easy to like—and to dislike as well."
— J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Posted 12.03.09 by reelz -
Edgar Wright's upcoming adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's comic book Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is reportedly a pretty amazing flick. Or at least the first twenty minutes are amazing. Jason Schwartzman, who appears in the movie, told MTV after watching only twenty minutes of the movie that it's "unlike anything I've seen in my entire life. ... It's really funny, it's really emotional,"said Schwartmzan. "There's a lot of romance — but the action sequences, I've never seen scenes quite like these. They're really beautiful."
Scott Pilgrim tells the of Scott (Michael Cera), who must defeat the seven evil ex-boyfriends of his new girlfriend to win her heart. Schwartzman was only too happy to continually praise the movie, even if he only saw a small portion that he wasn't even in.
I was so excited. I hope — and I'm pretty confident —that that's the way people will feel when they see the movie, because I'm a fan of the comics and a fan of Edgar and Michael, and watching the first 20 minutes it was like, "Oh! There's that, and that, and that, and I've always wondered what that would [look like]..."
Schwartzman isn't alone in his adoration for the movie. Director Jason Reitman (the upcoming Up in the Air) saw the first thirty minutes last month, then used his Twitter account to announce his enthusiasm.
It is a game changer for Edgar and the genre. It moves the speed of light and carries more unadulterated joy than Ive seen in recent cinema.
I'm in awe of the sheer control in the filmmaking. It feels like a Matrix for love and how willing we are to fight for it.
If I had a movie coming out next year, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near it. Hats off my friend. Can't get it out of my head.
We just hope the rest of the movie doesn't completely fall flat after the first 20-30 minutes!
Posted 11.15.09 by Ryan -
In an interview with IESB, Diablo Cody explains that after penning the sweet, life-affirming Juno, she was ready for darker territory — and more than a bit of horror. In coming up with the script for Jennifer's Body, she was searching around for what really frightened her and found it surprisingly close to home.
I wanted to write something that was about my fears, something that was a little edgy and eerie, but also funny. So I started thinking about what's scary to me, and I decided that girls are scary!
The script didn't end up being about any specific girl she knew, but about taking some of the fear and loathing of everyday teenage life, and making it a bit more graphic — and humorous and entertaining.
I think back-biting is a very accurate term, and in this case, it's literal. This movie is a commentary on girl-on-girl hatred, sexuality, the death of innocence, and also politics in the way the town responds to the tragedies [of the bloody deaths of several young men]. Any person who dares to respond in an unconventional way is branded a traitor. It's also just about fun — I wanted to write a really entertaining popcorn movie.
But Cody wasn't just thinking about girls, Juno director and Jennifer's Body producer Jason Reitman interjected during the interview.
At some point in the process I realized that every type of boy gets it in this film. The jock gets it. The sweet nerd gets it. The Goth kid gets it. This may just be Diablo's revenge on every type of boy she's ever met. If Juno is the film that speaks to her need for love, Jennifer's Body is the film that speaks to her need for revenge.
For another look at how Cody (and Jennifer) satisfied that need, check out the gallery of new photos accompanying the interview.
Posted 08.27.09 by reelz -
The first 15 minutes of Jennifer's Body got screened at Comic-Con, followed by a press conference with star Megan Fox, director Karyn Kusama, writer Diablo Cody, and producer Jason Reitman. Sadly, the footage has not made its way onto the net, but all sorts of interesting details about the plot and direction of the movie were revealed.
From the red-band trailer, it was quite evident that however hot Jennifer might be on the outside, she was harboring a demon under her skin. Now we know why. It was a virgin sacrifice gone awry, not least because she didn't exactly meet the job requirements. After that, it's a not-so-straight-up combination of a woman-done-wrong revenge flick and sexy, bloody horror.
Megan Fox seemed to particularly relish the contrast from her role in Transformers, and was dropping f-bombs left and right. About her new role she says:
This movie gets so sexy! You better put on your f***in' sexy shoes for this one. Before every kill, there is a seduction because these boys have to get close enough to this dead girl for her to devour them. And I think I'm pretty sexy in it.
With the male body count piling higher and higher, filmmakers insist that the movie has a feminist message. Of course, it manages to be, as they put it, "delightfully exploitative" along the way.
Posted 07.24.09 by reelz