The inner drama geek in me squealed when I saw that the trailer for the latest big screen adaptation of Macbeth dropped this afternoon. Starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard (and using the original language), this looks like a bloody, violent adaptation.
The perpetual fogginess and the lighting are only amping up my anticipation. Directed by Justin Kurzel, Macbeth debuted at Cannes a few weeks ago to great notices. Fassbender's ambitious general isn't batshit crazy, but he's playing it as Macbeth with PTSD. It should ground him in the role in a way that we have never seen before.
Of course, I am most excited to see Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. Her light voice and tone are very unsettling with her large eyes and streaked eyeliner. Her ambition seems all the more dangerous with her slight French lilt and calm tone.
Calling Dick Tracy fans! Nathaniel Rogers' Hit Me with Your Best Shot has started back up over at The Film Experience, and I couldn't help but throw my yellow hat in. This week, the film in question is Warren Beatty's comic book adaptation, Dick Tracy. I re-watched it last night, and I was surprised by how much of the imagery has stuck with me after all these years.
Picking a solitary image from Tracy was harder than I thought. I love how the sets pop out at you, but then everything turns flat like a comic book as the camera pans across the city. Flat but so colorful and eye-popping. Beatty famously used only 6 colors throughout the entire film--the only ones that were used when the comic was published.
My favorite shot is from early on in the film when we first see Madonna's Breathless Mahoney. Is it too cliche that a shot featuring the Material Girl is my favorite? Her hands trail up and down her back as if mid-make out as 88 Keys (Mandy Patinkin) plinks the ivories behind her. His gaze is stuck on her almost every time she's out there. Is he that infatuated with her? Looking out for her? Jealous of her? The sexuality of Breathless Mahoney went so far over my head at the age of 7--I think I just thought she wanted to kiss everyone, and I was fine with that. That slinky nightgown she wears when Tracy visits her is frickin' sheer! How is this rated PG?! God bless 1990.
Between this shot and all of Michelle Pfeiffer in 1992's Batman Returns, my love of curly blonde, confident women was solidified.
The Blank freaked me out as a kid, and he still does as an adult. That is all.
My other favorite shot is of Glenne Headley glancing at Tracy as she goes inside. I've been a fan of hers since seeing this the first time, and the look of sadness on her face has always gotten to me. She doesn't know if some gangster is going to kill him while he's out on the job or if it will be the last time she sees him. Breathless Mahoney has never had a shortage of men, but Tess Truehart only wants one man in a yellow coat.
Hit Me with Your Best Shot is currently in its 6th season over at The Film Experience. If you'd like to check out all the past submissions you can do so here!
The idea of rebooting the Vacation franchise must irk a lot of fans of the classic original. The red band trailer came out yesterday, and it at least looks like Ed Helms and Christina Applegate are performing this in the most loving way they can. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo appear to have a glorified cameo, but it's Chris Hemsworth's trouser snake anaconda that might get more people into the theater.
Helms will play the adult version of Rusty Griswold, and Applegate will play his wife, Debbie. Why didn't they just get Johnny Galecki to reprise his role from Christmas Vacation? Rusty wants to relive the "happiest time of his life," so he packs the family into the car for a cross-country trek to the infamous Wally World. Along the way, the Griswolds get themselves into a lot of trouble.
We are treated to some of the shenanigans the Griswolds get themselves into (they visit the same hotel from the original, they mistake a toxic waste fill as a refreshing spring), but the real NSFW stuff comes towards the end. Leslie Mann plays Audrey Griswold, and she'a married to superhunk Chris Hemsworth. When Rusty and Debbie spend the night, they are in for a pretty hung surprise.
I don't care if it is a prosthetic. Someone finally seems worthy to challenge Dirk Diggler in the undies department. If I wasn't interested in seeing Vacation before...
Last week, I named Magic Mike XXL as one of my most anticipated summer movies. Surely, you know why. Give me any chance to shamelessly see an abundance of male thrustage with a great story, and I'm there. The second trailer debuted today, and it looks like it's going to deliver.
It's such a tease, and it's great to see how aware it is of itself. You can almost hear the wall of screaming from inside the theater now...
Does Joe Manganiello know how to strip but not how to walk? He struts like this in the beginning of the trailer, but it makes me giggle in the worst way. Maybe he's actually a werewolf? Just look at Channing and The Bomer. That's all anyone needs.
ANDIE MACDOWELL!!!
We need to talk about Matt Bomer for a second. I've always felt like he got the shaft in the first Magic Mike, but he's very abundant in this full-length trailer. I hope all of his juicy bits are in this trailer, and there's more for the actual film. But...come on...
There are appearances by Elizabeth Banks and and overly clothed Donald Glover. Why he isn't as naked as the other men, I don't know. This needs rectified.
At the very beginning of every season, I normally post my 25 most anticipated films of the summer and fall season. This summer I thought I'd do something different. I having a hard time making a list of 25 films, so I teamed with with fellow ADTV contributor Clarence Moye to discuss our top 10 most anticipated. It's a bit more condensed, and we focus primarily on popcorn flicks.
The major players have been cast for Bill Condon's Beauty & the Beast, and, I must say, it's pretty frickin' perfect. Do we need a live-action version of this story? Not really, but Disney's recent success with Cinderella means they probably won't stop any time soon. To celebrate, I've ranked the casting of this remake below. This could be really great. By the way, Stanley Tucci's casting doesn't count since he's a brand new character for this realm).
10. Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette (Babette?)
Hold your horses. Before you get your panties in a twist, I should point out that this singular casting decision had me jumping up and down. We get to see Mbatha-Raw in a lighter role, and that's not knocking her huge breakout last year (with both Belle and Beyond the Lights--you have seen both of those, right...right?!). Why couldn't they have cast her as Belle? She has the musical chops (ahem...are you watching Beyond the Lights yet?), so while her role is strong, they could have really remade this classic by putting her front and center.
9. Kevin Kline as Maurice
Belle's father will be played by one of the funniest guys ever. I would argue that Kline could still play Lumiere, but some would say he's too old for it. Him wooing Mbatha-Raw might come across a little more The Last of Robin Hood than anything else.
8. Luke Evans as Gaston
It's not that there's anything wrong with Luke Evans. He just appears in a lot of crappy CGI movies that come out between January and April (or at least it seems that way). Gaston is a monster (get it...), but he's also a hilarious buffoon. Channing Tatum or Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, would have been a better choice. He needs to prove himself. The Russell Crowe ruining factor is high with this one.
7. Dan Stevens as The Beast
Dan Stevens lands far down on this list mainly because I haven't seen him in a lot of things. Downton Abbey is nowhere on my personal radar, and he terrified me as a killing machine in The Guest. Those sparkling blue eyes are a great plus, though.
6. Audra McDonald as Gerderobe
Audra McDonald. In a Disney feature film. A musical feature film. That is all.
5. Ewan McGregor as Lumiere
Ewan McGregor's casting as the suave candelabra was the last major announcement. Jean Dujardin would have been the perfect choice, but maybe too much like the animated version? For all those haters out there, McGregor has charm to spare. Check out Down with Love when you get a chance, because he's winning and consciously aware of how infectious his smile is:
Worried about his singing and have some time to kill?
McGregor is one of the strongest decisions.
4. Emma Watson as Belle
Emma Watson's casting was the first major breakthrough in the casting process for Beast. Watson is no stranger to playing headstrong female leads, and Belle is one, if not the, most independent princesses in the Disney canon. Will she get swallowed up by all the flashy casting around her? Maybe. People are already chomping at the bit to hear her singing as well...
Don't be worried. Watson has always been one of the strongest elements in all the films she's been in.
3. Josh Gad as Le Fou
When Gad's casting broke, it made sense to a lot of people. He might be the cast member that most resembles his animated counterpart. It doesn't hurt that the Frozen mania has turned Gad into a recognizable figure, so don't be surprised when little kids are singing "In Summer" during your screening. Gad never minds look like an idiot, and Le Fou is Gaston with even less common sense and no muscles.
2. Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts
Emma Thompson elevates everything she's involved with, so she skyrocketed to the top half of this list immediately. Mrs. Potts is a gentle, maternal figure to Belle, but can we keep our fingers crossed for a bit of sass from Thompson? Like red carpet circa 2013 Emma Thompson? She could take the character into intellectual territory while not sacrificing her warmth. Hope she's not worried about singing that title number...
1. Ian McKellan as Cogsworth
One could argue that McKellan is too old to play The Beast's stuffy manservant, Cogsworth. For the last 10 years or so, McKellan has been recognized mostly as either Magneto or Gandalf. While he's brilliant at everything, I'm most looking forward to Cogsworth, because he's a fussy nincompoop. McKellan's best performance is in Bill Condon's Gods & Monsters (robbed of an Oscar, by the way), so fingers crossed that Condon allows McKellan to be looser and less serious than his tentpole fare. He's going to kill it.
I'll keep it short and sweet. Alex Pettyfer and Charlie Hunnam are celebrating their birthdays today, and these two very different hotties each have a very nice behind. Which do you prefer? I realize that Mr. Hunnam's picture is a lot more alluring considering he's...uh...in action, so he's has an unfair advantage.
Mr. Alex "I'm an asshole" Pettyfer...
Mr. Charlie "I'm so glad I got out of Fifty Shades" Hunnam...
