Posts with tag KevinSpacey
Posted Mar 28th 2008 3:02PM by Eric D. Snider
Filed under: Drama, New Releases, SXSW, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports
(Note: We're re-posting our 21 review from SXSW to coincide with the film's theatrical release this weekend.)
In 21, an M.I.T. math whiz joins a secret cabal of card-counters who fly to Vegas on the weekends to make a killing at the blackjack tables. That's the hook, the part you may not have seen in a thousand other films. But the rest is as generic as the title (21? Really? That's the best you could come up with?), a story about a nobody who becomes a somebody, forsakes his friends, and learns What's Really Important.
Yawn is right. This is a prime example of a movie that isn't bad, per se, just unnecessary, a competently made but wholly unremarkable trifle. It trades exclusively in clichés and stock characters -- and yet, strangely, director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) seems to believe he has made something compelling and original. And I have to think, if I've seen lots of movies exactly like this one, then shouldn't Luketic have as well?
Continue reading SXSW Review: 21
Posted Mar 27th 2008 10:02PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Drama, New Releases, Fandom, Interviews
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"She really found me at a point when I needed to be found." -- Jim Sturgess on Julie Taymor:
In 21, which hits theaters tomorrow, Jim Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, an M.I.T. student who's recruited into a group of Vegas card counters by a fellow student. In fact, the entire group is made up of students and its leader, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), also happens to be a professor at the University. The fact-based film was inspired by the book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, and most of what you will see in 21 really happened -- with certain faces, places, names and events changed to fit a more Hollywood-ized mold. Directed by Robert Luketic, 21 also stars Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo and Liza Lapira.
Sturgess is a relatively new face to Hollywood. His first major film role only came last year, when director Julie Taymor cast the soft-spoken Brit opposite Evan Rachel Wood in Across the Universe. From there, this musician-turned-actor appeared in the recent The Other Boleyn Girl before taking on his first lead role in a major Hollywood film, 21. Upon meeting him, one can immediately tell this boy has the looks and charm to carry him real far. He's already scheduled to appear in the star-studded Crossing Over and the flick Fifty Dead Men Walking. Cinematical sat down with Sturgess in New York recently to talk about 21, as well as his blossoming career.
Continue reading Interview: Jim Sturgess, Star of '21'
Posted Mar 19th 2008 9:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts
I can't help but wonder if
Kevin Spacey managed to score a 2 for 1 deal on the film rights to a Ben Mezrich book.
21 hasn't even hit theaters and Spacey has already picked up another property from the non-fiction writer.
Variety reports that Spacey, in the form of Trigger Street Productions, has acquired to film rights to Mezrich's
book,
Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, From Wall Street to Dubai.
Rigged is the story of John D'Agostino, an Italian kid from Brooklyn who graduates from Harvard. After scoring a lucrative job on the Merc Exchange, he meets up with another ambitious young trader with shady connections to the Middle East. The two come up with a brilliant and dangerous scheme to revolutionize oil trading ... and of course make a butt-load of cash along the way. This is a common theme in Mezrich's books: the talented wunderkind led astray by corruption and greed. It also probably explains why
Rigged is being touted as this generation's
Wall Street.
Spacey's production house is already working on an adaptation of another of Mezrich's books,
Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions. This might be a little off topic, but what is it with this guy and the long titles? In fact, all of his books are like this (
21 was originally known as
Busting Vegas: The MIT Whiz Kid Who Brought the Casinos to Their Knees). Of course, this is probably why a name change will be in order for the big screen.
Posted Feb 7th 2008 7:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Drama, Site Announcements, Sony, Movie Marketing, Trailers and Clips
So even if you choose to ignore the somewhat
'white-washed' casting for the big-screen version of
Bringing Down the House, if you are a fan of the book you can't help but notice that there seems to be very little that remains of the original (and fascinating) story of a group of 'math nerds' who became high stakes card sharks. Sony has just launched the
official site for
21 starring
Jim Sturgess,
Kate Bosworth, and
Kevin Spacey. Their site offers plenty of small video clips to watch and the usual downloadable offerings, but inexplicably they never give you the chance to play a little black jack of your own.
21 centers on "Six MIT students, in a blackjack team, [who] train to become experts in card counting and subsequently take Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. However, casino workers become suspicious and attempt to take down the team, using any means necessary." Sturgess plays Ben Campell, a numbers genius who is struggling to pay his bills. He is recruited into a team of card counters by his professor (as played by Spacey) and as to be expected, the good times don't last long. Ben starts to lose control and his mentor and friends turn on him just as the casinos are starting to catch on to the scam.
To be honest, as much as I enjoyed the book, I don't think I will be first in line for this one. Part of what made the book so interesting to me was that these were just regular people who became 'criminals'. The film seems to want to take a more
Ocean's 11 approach right down to the music in the trailer, and, frankly, it's been done before.
21 hits theaters on March 28th.
Posted Jan 3rd 2008 11:32AM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Drama, Casting, Steven Spielberg
With all the interesting projects
Steven Spielberg had lined up to choose from after completing
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the news that he'd direct a movie about the Chicago 7 has come out of left field -- though we did
hear a bit about it back in July. But as of yet, the guy hasn't denied
the news that
Sacha Baron Cohen will be playing Abbie Hoffman in a film titled
The Trial of the Chicago Seven scripted by
Aaron Sorkin (
Charlie Wilson's War). Nor has Spielberg publicly commented on some other casting possibilities leaked in
the new Vanity Fair article about
Indiana Jones -- possibilities I apparently missed the first time around, because
those photos were so eye-grabbing. One definite casting decision, according to that article, is
Philip Seymour Hoffman as
William Kunstler, the famous attorney who defended the 7 as they were tried on charges of conspiring to incite riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
The
Vanity Fair writer, Jim Windolf, wrote about learning of this news while visiting Spielberg at his Amblin Entertainment office on the Universal lot. The writer claims to have glanced at a table on which headshots of
Will Smith,
Taye Diggs,
Adam Arkin and
Kevin Spacey were visibly linked to the
Chicago Seven project. None of the actors' proposed roles were determined, however. Now, I don't want to assume that Spielberg planted those headshots for Windolf to see, but it does seem strange that such a sometime-secretive filmmaker would let something like this be leaked in such a way. It also seems strange to think that anybody, even Spielberg, would need a headshot of Smith in order to decide to cast him as Black Panther (and 8th of the originally Chicago 8)
Bobby Seale, who I
will assume Smith's being considered to play. Windolf also claims that Sorkin's script is somehow based on the documentary
Chicago 10, which premiered at Sundance last year and is being given a limited release next month. As Jessica noted the other day, you could probably make that a must-see primer while you await Spielberg's film (and more news about it). Another idea is to check out
Steal this Movie (often available for free online), which is also
good to watch for the appearance of a very young
Michael Cera as Abbie Hoffman's son, America.
Posted Jan 2nd 2008 4:32PM by Scott Weinberg
Filed under: SXSW
It seems like just a few months ago we were enjoying the sights, the sounds, the smells and the cinema of
South By Southwest 2007, but guess what? Now that it's January, the festival's only about nine weeks away! Awesome! So today we caught some slightly early news on what SXSW is cooking up for this March, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with what they snagged for their opening night film.
And that film is:
Robert Luketic's 21, which is based on the book
Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. (You may remember Mr. Luketic from flicks like
Legally Blonde,
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, and
Monster-in-Law.) Adapted by Ben Mezrich's book by screenwriters
Peter Steinfeld and
Allan Loeb,
21 stars
Kevin Spacey,
Laurence Fishburne,
Kate Bosworth and
Jim Sturgess. (Check out the trailer
right here.)
And if that world premiere isn't cool enough, festival chief
Matt Dentler has also divulged the following titles for
SXSW '08:
At the Death House Door (
Steve James &
Peter Gilbert) "A sobering and powerful story of the wrongful execution of Carlos DeLuna and the Death House Chaplain, Pastor Carroll Pickett, who spent the last day of DeLuna's life with him."
Dreams with Sharp Teeth (
Erik Nelson) "A documentary portrait of acclaimed author
Harlan Ellison, as he looks back on his fabled and influential career as one of the world's top science fiction writers."
Flawless (
Michael Radford) "In 1960s London, a talented but overlooked diamond executive (
Demi Moore) is convinced to participate in a jewelry heist when a veteran janitor (
Michael Caine) hatches a plan."
Run Fatboy Run (
David Schwimmer) "An out-of-shape divorced father (
Simon Pegg) makes one last attempt to win back the respect of his son, his ex-wife (
Thandie Newton), and the community around him. All he has to do is finish his first marathon."
Wild Blue Yonder (Celia Maysles) "Celia Maysles had no idea her father and his brother
Albert were pioneers of verite documentary filmmaking. Determined to uncover the secrets surrounding her background, Celia sets out on a quest to rediscover her father by using his own artistic process."
Expect a few more flashy surprises before the full SXSW slate is announced on February 5! Until then, feel free to browse through
the SXSW website and decide if THIS is the year you're finally going to take my advice and attend the dang festival. (You do know it's a
movie AND
music fest, right?
Interactive, too, and I do believe I've mentioned the indigenous BBQ more than once.)
Posted Dec 22nd 2007 8:02PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Cinematical Seven, Lists, 12 Days of Cinematicalmas
Most of us are probably painfully aware of the stress of the holidays when it comes to familial relationships. Films about families tell the one story that practically anyone can relate to. So in the spirit of feeling better about ourselves I've compiled a list of some of the most dysfunctional families in film. Maybe after taking a look at some big-screen dysfunction, we can sit back and take a little solace in that at least none of us have to sit down to Christmas dinner with any of the people on the following list.
1.
Spanking the MonkeyBefore he was famous on You Tube for his
demented freak-out on the set of
I Heart Huckabees, David O. Russell was famous for making the unthinkable; a comedy about incest.
Monkey stars Alberta Watson as Susan Aibelli; a lonely and depressed mother who develops a sexual relationship with her son after they are left alone together for the summer.
Jeremy Davis stars as her son and the subject of this unlikely coming-of-age story. The film might not be for the weak of heart, but it did manage to win an audience award at Sundance in 1994, and was responsible for turning Russell into the megalomaniac we've all come to know and love.
2.
Ordinary PeopleBesides going down in infamy as the film that beat
Raging Bull out of a 'Best Picture Oscar', this 1981 drama about a family dealing with the loss of it's 'favored son' was the directorial debut of
Robert Redford. Timothy Hutton stars as the younger brother who is readjusting to life after a botched suicide attempt. Donald Sutherland and
Mary Tyler Moore also star as the parents to Hutton and
Judd Hirsch as the prototypical 'earthy NY Jewish' psychiatrist. So for anyone who watched Mary Tyler Moore as the epitome of 'chirpiness' during the seven year run of her self-titled series, get ready to be blown away, because her performance as a cold and repressed suburban mom is one of the best there is.
Continue reading Cinematical Seven: Dysfunctional Families
Posted Nov 19th 2007 6:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Drama, Sony, Movie Marketing, Trailers and Clips
At this point, I'm starting to think that it's contractually obligated that if either
Kevin Spacey or
Kate Bosworth appears in a film, the other automatically gets a part. OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating just a little, but you can't deny that the two seem to really enjoy working together. Yahoo Movies is now hosting the
trailer for their latest collaboration,
21, the real-life story of six M.I.T students who develop a foolproof plan to win at Black Jack. The film is based on the book
Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich (and I guess I don't have to explain why they chose to go with the new title
21 -- I doubt Sony wanted their audiences getting the film confused with a C-grade
Queen Latifah comedy).
The story centers on a group of M.I.T math students who along with their 'mentor' come up with a new system of "
counting cards" -- if you haven't read the book and don't mind a little math in your light reading then I would definitely recommend it. Although I wouldn't recommend trying out their system, unless you don't mind the idea of getting roughed up by pit bosses.
The film was directed by
Robert Luketic, who isn't exactly a household name, but is probably best known as the director of
Legally Blonde. The book was adapted for the screen by
Allan Loeb (
Things We Lost in the Fire) and
Peter Steinfeld (
Analyze That). Joining Spacey and Bosworth are
Laurence Fishburne in what looks like the role of a casino boss (better known as "the Heavy" in the flick) and
Jim Sturgess as the newest member of the gang.
21 is set for release on March 28th, 2008.
Posted Oct 16th 2007 7:02PM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, Johnny Depp, Remakes and Sequels, Lists
Over at
Cracked.com, they've made
a list of the top ten worst twist endings of all time. Obviously that list has a lot of spoilers, but I'm going to attempt to write this post without revealing any of them. Why? To make sure you go over there, of course. So, if you're not worried about ruining the endings to some movies you probably shouldn't see anyway, then head over and read the hilariously confusing explanations, or attempts at explanations, and/or how some endings don't make enough sense to bother with explanations. I will let you in on the titles of the movies, just in case you are interested in seeing any of them in the future and would like to go in spoiler free. The ten, in order from "least asinine" to "most asinine", are:
Stay (2005);
High Tension (2003);
Signs (2002);
Hide and Seek (2005) and
Secret Window (2004), which tie for #7, because they're considered the exact same plot (is that spoiling it for you guys? probably -- oh well, I tried);
The Forgotten (2004);
Basic (2003);
Perfect Stranger (2007);
The Number 23 (2007);
Planet of the Apes (2001); and
The Life of David Gale (2003).
I haven't seen the number one movie, but I can't imagine it's worse than the others that I have seen, especially
Planet of the Apes. Basically, I think
Cracked.com considers it the worst because it stars
Kevin Spacey, who also starred in
The Usual Suspects, which pretty much, along with
The Sixth Sense, obviously, got Hollywood on this crappy twist kick to begin with (He was also in
Se7en, which had another so-so twist ending). Look at those films; they all came out between 2001 and 2007. And what was the most common twist? The main character did it. Either he or she has a split personality, or amnesia, or suffers from some other psychological ailment. Other idiotic yet easily written twists include: aliens did it; it's all a dream (as if you need to steal from
Bob Newhart, come on!); and, in the fashion of
Suspects, it's all just made-up stories. Personally, I'm upset to not see my least favorite twist ending. It involved a whole crop of great actors who just so happened to be explained as existing inside the imagination of some mental patient. That one had the split personality plus the dream plus the
Suspects idea that none of what we watched is real. Can you name it?
Posted Sep 25th 2007 12:02PM by Patrick Walsh
Filed under: Drama, Casting, Scripts, Home Entertainment, Politics, HBO Films
I was talking with a friend the other day about the shocking decline in the quality of
Kevin Spacey's films. It seems as though that Oscar for
American Beauty was some sort of horrific curse, sending him into a long run of ill-advised, disastrous movie projects. Look at the man's filmography pre and then post
Beauty. It's distressing! But
Variety is reporting on a flick that sounds like it might turn things around. HBO Films'
Recount will tell the story of the Florida results in the 2000 election, one of the most controversial political events of recent years. As
Monika recently told you,
Sydney Pollack was supposed to direct but dropped out due to "an undisclosed illness."
Jay Roach, a director primarily known for broad comedy (
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Meet the Parents, and their lesser sequels), will now direct.
Danny Strong wrote the screenplay. The film will document "the legal and political maneuvering from the point of view of both the Bush and Gore camps."
Spacey will star as Ron Klain, "former chief of staff to vice president
Al Gore and one of the lead attorneys who challenged the voting results in Florida." In addition to Spacey,
Recount has lined up one hell of a supporting cast:
Laura Dern will play Katherine Harris, the Florida secretary of state who certified that George W. Bush had won the state.
Denis Leary (what went wrong on this season of
Rescue Me, DL?) plays Michael Whouley, a Democrat pollster.
John Hurt plays
Warren Christopher, a key player for Gore.
Tom Wilkinson plays
James Baker, brought in by the Republicans to see that the disputed results held up. And two Christopher Guest alums will duke it out in the courtroom.
Ed Begley, Jr will play David Boies, the lawyer who appealed the results and argued for the Democrats.
Bob Balaban plays Ben Ginsberg, head attorney for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. See what I mean about that supporting cast? You won't have to demand a
Recount -- look for the film on HBO during the 2008 presidential election.
Posted Sep 18th 2007 7:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Music & Musicals, Casting
I'm probably not alone in this, but until today I had never heard of the British music legend Joe Meek -- but I guess that's what Wikipedia is for.
Dark Horizons is
reporting that the former lead singer of The Darkness,
Justin Hawkins, and ex-Libertine guitarist, Carl Barat, have signed on for roles in a biopic about "
the flamboyantly gay, tone deaf, songwriter-producer". I wish they could call it that, but they're going with
Telstar instead. So be it. Meek was an independent producer and songwriter who was credited with being one of the pioneers of modern music. Notable for being truly independent, he worked out of his home and crafted a string of hits in the '60s. Like many other icons of the '60s, Meek's life came to a tragic end when he murdered his landlady before taking his own life in 1967.
Nick Moran of
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels fame will make his directorial debut with the film; he also wrote the 2005 stage play called
Telstar (named after one of Meek's big hits) which serves as the basis for the
film, including the title. Back in July, Patrick had
reported that
Kevin Spacey had already signed on for a role as Major Banks, one of Meek's financial supporters. Some of the other cast listed on the flick's IMDB page are a little stranger; mainly the inclusion of
The Daily Show's
Jon Stewart in the part of 'Dennis'. There is no word on who Hawkins or Barat will play, but it definitely won't be the lead, since British actor
Con O'Neill is reprising his role from the stage as Meek.
Telstar is currently in post-production and is set for release sometime in 2008.
*Correction: Image removed due to copyright issuesPosted Jul 11th 2007 9:01AM by Patrick Walsh
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Warner Brothers, Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Last week, Ryan
speculated that
Bryan Singer might be tackling too much and not allowing himself time for a
Superman sequel. Well,
Superfans rejoice.
Singer's gonna do it all. The acclaimed director recently met with
Kevin Spacey in New York and confirmed that he is preparing to pitch "Part II" to Warner Brothers.
Michael Dougherty is currently writing the screenplay. Dougherty co-wrote
Superman Returns, as well as Singer's
X2. Singer expects to start filming the sequel after he finishes
Valkyrie and
The Mayor of Castro Street.
Valkyrie is the true-life story about a plot to assassinate Hitler, starring Tom Cruise.
Castro Street will be a biopic of gay rights crusader Harvey Milk. So with all this going on, when can we expect more cape n' tights action? Singer is aiming for a 2009 release for the film, which is tentatively titled
Superman: Man of Steel. Allow me to suggest an alternate:
The Return of Superman Returns.
Spacey intends to shoot his Lex Luthor scenes in a six-week block, as he did for the original movie. He also just joined the cast of
Telstar, currently filming in London, which tells the story of 1960s record mogul Joe Meek (played by
Con O'Neill). Meek was the "gay, tone deaf songwriter-producer who produced hits including 'Have I the Right,' 'Just Like Eddie,' 'Johnny, Remember Me' and the instrumental 'Telstar.'" Spacey will play Meek's financier, Major Banks. Spacey has been taking on a lot of stage work lately as well-- he just finished work in
Moon for the Misbegotten on Broadway, and he will appear in David Mamet's
Speed the Plow in April. Spacey's theater love has led to persistent rumors that he will retire from film acting, but he insists that's not the case. "My priorities have changed," says Spacey. "Theater is the No. 1 thing in my life. But I love movies and will continue to make movies when I can." He adds, "In no way did I use the word retirement. Someone else pulled that out of thin air. It's false, there's not a lick of truth to it."
Posted Jul 8th 2007 9:31AM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Family Films, Movie Marketing, Images
Let me just start off by saying, I actually really like
Vince Vaughn. But for some reason, the airbrushed, "kinder and gentler" Vaughn in the
four new posters for the comedy
Fred Claus is just creeping me out. The story centers on Vaughn as the no-goodnik brother of
the Santa Claus, who tries to mend some familial rifts by helping out with the family business.
Paul Giamatti plays the big guy in red, with Vaughn (obviously) as the black sheep in the family. The cast also includes
Rachel Weisz,
Miranda Richardson, and
Kevin Spacey. Claus was directed by
The Wedding Crashers',
David Dobkin from a script by Dan Fogelman, and this is Dobkin's third film with Vaughn; their working relationship began back in 1998 with the black comedy
Clay Pigeons, so they seem to enjoy working with each other.
Claus is set for release on November 9th, sandwiched between a couple of other high-profile family films -- Jerry Seinfield's
Bee Movie, and
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium starring Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman. Last November, Erik had given us
news of the teaser for
Claus, and I will admit, it looked like it had the potential to be pretty funny. There were no actual scenes from the film mind you, but the deadpan shtick that Vaughn and Giamatti provided seemed like it might be an antidote to the toothless comedy of most holiday movies. Combined with the solid cast, and Vaughn and Dobkin's track record, I'm thinking maybe this won't be another lame holiday offering. Unfortunately, the elf/ninja joke showcased in one poster also has me thinking otherwise.
Posted May 31st 2007 8:03PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Exhibition, Cinematical Indie
Back in 2003, actor
Kevin Spacey became the
new artistic director of London's
Old Vic Theatre. Since then, he has been merging cinema and theater by not only casting a number of notable names from Ian McKellen (who played Widow Twankey in
Aladdin) to Mary Stuart Masterson and Steven Weber, but also bringing notable films to the British stage. In
2005, it was
The Philadelphia Story. This September,
Spacey will produce the first theatrical adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar's Oscar-winning film,
All About My Mother, once again making me wish I could fly worldwide for free.
The movie is about a woman named Manuela whose teenage son dies in a car accident, prompting her to search for his transvestite father named Lola. It should be an interesting and worthwhile adaptation since the director has retained final approval on script and casting. While there is no word on the who is penning it,
Lesley Manville is rumored to be in final negotiations for the lead role. The actress has been in a slew of British media, and you might recognize her from the recent
Vera Drake. That's the only casting news so far about the production; however, there is already talk about the play that will follow. The theater has grabbed
Stephen Fry to adapt
Cinderella for the Christmas season. To top that off, they hope to convince him to be the production's narrator. That, however, is probably a tall order since his last stage job was
Cell Mates, which he walked out of due to his
struggle with depression.
Posted Oct 28th 2006 9:02AM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Action, Thrillers, Deals, New Releases, Newsstand
British director
Ken Russell has always had a pretty strange reputation -- I mean, this is the guy who made
Tommy and
Altered States. Russell was known for his bizarre use of religious and sexual imagery in his films -- anyone who has seen
Crimes of Passion can attest to that. In spite of his status as a pioneer of the 'X' rating, Russell is considered one of England's great directors.
Production Weekly announced that Russell has been attached to direct
Kings X, starring
Ray Winstone and
Kevin Spacey. The director also must be feeling sentimental, as he has also cast 60's icon
Twiggy, who he worked with on his first American film (
The Boy Friend).
Kings X is currently in pre-production in the UK.
The Chris Cleverly script sounds like your typical crime fare with low-level thugs, drugs and hookers -- oh, and don't forget a pretty girl in danger. Although, it does have the added kitsch of a protagonist who has a thing for recording his life on a cell phone camera, so I would expect some fancy camera tricks on Russell's part.
[via
ComingSoon.net]
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