Was Geena Davis Not Available?

Desperately Seeking Susan no more, director Susan Seidelman is endeavoring her highest profile project since directing episodes of the first season of Sex and the City (including the pilot) over a decade ago.  Her latest, The Hot Flashes, filmed in New Orleans earlier this year and concerns a group of former high-school champion basketball players who get together decades later to raise money for breast cancer prevention by playing a team of girls, who I'm sure include at least one of their daughters.  I also imagine that one has a husband who is cheating on her, one has cancer, and another one is a lesbian.  It stars Brooke Shields (from Suddenly Susan, among other projects), Wanda Sykes, Virginia Madsen, and Camryn Manheim.  Daryl Hannah also climbed down from a tree to appear in the film.  Flashes costars Eric Roberts and cutie Mark Povinelli who could pass for his brother.  I'm not sure what the distribution model will be, or when the feature film will release, but it looks like fun after a few cocktails!  Manheim describes it as a cross between Bridesmaids and A League of Their Own.  (It looks more like dribbling Steel Magnolias with Hannah as Ouiser, but looks like she is going to be competing for that mantle with Alfre Woodard.)  If that's the case, than it begs the question: Where is Geena Davis?!  But, there is no Uma Thurman either (let's be real, she hasn't had the best of luck lately), so perhaps not every tall woman in Hollywood made the cut.  

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Oscar Outlook 2012: The Bourne Legacy

Jeremy Renner seems to be spreading himself across any franchise that will take him (Charlize Theron seems to be taking his cue), hoping that one of them will stick: Mission: Impossible, The Avengers.  He'll have one of the title roles in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, but my suspicions are that the boardroom daydreaming over its franchise potential just might have dissipated once the producers got closer to the final product.  Its push back date doesn't smell right.  On the other hand, his Bourne film sounds very promising.  I know nothing about the novels, but it almost seems appropriate that they start with a new star and production team for the first of seven novels penned by Eric Van Lustbader, since Robert Ludlum's original three novels have all been made into movies now with Matt Damon.  Ludlum wrote his Bourne novels in the 1980s and died eleven years ago.  Since then,  Van Lustbader has written seven new books, the first one of which, The Bourne Legacy, will be coming out as a film this Summer.  Doug Liman directed the first from a screenplay by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron starring Damon.  It received great reviews and was a box-office hit.  Liman constantly locked horns with the producers and Paul Greengrass took over the directing reigns for The Bourne Supremacy, which, according to Damon, was never in the plans while filming Identity.

Hi

The second installment received equally positive reviews to the original (which isn't common) and surpassed its progenitor in box-office receipts.  After a smoother production compared to Liman's, Greengrass stayed on for the The Bourne Ultimatum, and, in what may be unprecedented in cinema history, the third film in the series not only surpassed the previous two commercially, but the critical reception was even greater.  What wasn't unusual was its much larger budget, yet, from a financial and critical standpoint, it was well worth the investment.  Gilroy had his hand in all of the screenplays starring Damon.  Christopher Rouse has edited or coedited all three films.  Oliver Wood lensed and John Powell composed the original scores for all three films.  A few years ago, Greengrass and Damon were cagey in interviews about their involvement with Legacy, but eventually dropped out of the picture.

"You ask too many questions."

Cast-members returning from the franchise: Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, Scott Glenn.  The new addition of Rachel Weisz is pretty sick (good for her and the film).  And, gulp, I think I'm actually looking forward to Ed Norton's participation.  Who know?  As far as the crew ... Film Editing: John Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Warrior, Salt).  Cinematography: Robert Elswit (Oscar nominee for Good Night, and Good Luck., winner for There Will Be Blood).  His recent work includes: the latest Mission: Impossible, The Town (both with Renner), and Salt.  He has worked with PT Anderson since Hard Eight, but isn't involved in The Master.  Costume Design: Shay Cunliffe (The Bourne Ultimatum).  Production Design: Kevin Thompson (Michael Clayton, Young Adult).  Art Direction: Molly Hughes (Harry Potter franchise).  Original Music: James Newton Howard (highly recognized, he's also behind the music for Snow White and the Huntsman this summer as well as The Hunger Games).  Out of the previous three Bourne films, only the last was recognized by the AMPAS (film editing, sound editing, sound mixing), of which it won all three of its nominations.  The only returning winner is sound mixer Kirk Francis.

Hello!

Lensed last summer in South Korea, Philippines on a $90M budget (smartly less than Ultimatum), and NYC, Universal Pictures will drop the picture on the 3rd of August US, similar to the release date five years ago for Ultimatum.  [6/22 Note: Universal blinked and now will move out of Total Remake's way and release on 8/10]  Producers Frank Marshal and Patrick Crowley have been involved throughout the entire franchise.  Have you watched the trailer yet?  It's pretty bad-ass.  However, Nat, over at The Film Experience isn't expecting much Oscar-wise outside of possible sound recognition.

poll by twiigs.com

Not so sexy

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Amour     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Killing Them Softly     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     The Paperboy     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Rust & Bone     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III

Are you sure you didn't want to play Spider-man, Renner?

 Renner slides down by the hair of his chinny-chin-chin

Renner gets his Weisz on

Slidin'

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Oscar Outlook 2012: The Master

PT Anderson is one of those auteurish directors who appeared to be putting greater lengths of time between subsequent films--that is, until this year.  TWC will release The Master this fall matching the five years it took There Will Be Blood to come out after Punch Drunk Love.  While Philip Seymour Hoffman is FAR from one of my favorite actors (I prefer him in understated supporting roles like The Ides of March), and Joaquin Phoenix has become a joke after "the joke" he pulled during his "retirement" as an actor (did you know he went on a much longer six-year hiatus in his teens before debuting under his original name, leaving his nickname Leaf behind him, in To Die For?), I LOVE Amy Adams (who doesn't?).  But, will this be a case of Adams just wanting to have worked with all of these artists, or was there a worthy script at the core of her decision?  The story is being touted in the media as a veiled examination/attack on Scientology.

Rami Malek

Like most of his films, Anderon impressively wrote the original screenplay, as well as produced.  Leslie Jones (who got nominated for The Thin Red Line and worked with Anderson on Punch Drunk Love) and Peter McNulty (who assisted on Blood) edited.  Mihai Malaimare Jr, who is known for Francis Ford Coppola side projects, lensed the movie.  Jonny Greenwood who worked on Blood and We Need to Talk About Kevin did the score.  Recent Academy Award winner (for The Artist) Mark Bridges has done the costumes for every Anderson feature.  Incidentally, he also worked on production design for Magnolia.  Production Designer David Crank has worked as Art Director on Blood, as well as some Terrence Malick films and the upcoming Lincoln).  Production Designer Jack Fisk, nominated for Blood, has an even longer history with Malick.  Set Decorator Amy Wells worked on A Single Man.  Old Anderson friends Daniel Lupi and JoAnne Sellar produced, as well as Megan Ellison and Ted Schipper, who have all kinds of interesting projects lined up like Lawless, Killing Them Softy, Zero Dark Thirty, and The Grandmasters.

The Master also stars Laura Dern, who, if she plays a cult leader, I imagine will be a helluva performance.  Additionally, the film will be one of Darren Le Gallo's two 2012 films with his longtime companion, Amy Adams.  There's a teaser trailer you can watch over at Deadline.

[Pictures via At The Movies, Gordon and the Whale, People]

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Killing Them Softly     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     The Paperboy     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III

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Oscar Outlook 2012: Anna Karenina

Joe Wright takes on Leo Tolstoy's epic novel in a supposedly scaled down non-accented version.  The tale centers around Anna Karenina, a wealthy Russian socialite who abandons her marriage for another man and the tragic repercussions which follow, to take a rather complicated story and condense it to a few words.  This will be Wright's third outing with star Keira Knightley, who played his Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice, as well as appear in the BP Oscar-nominated Atonement.  Their first collaboration resulted in an AMPAS nod for Knightley, and considering the prospects of their latest endeavor, she currently sits atop my list of most likely-to-be-nominated for Best Actress this year.  What other categories could this film score in?

[Pictures via Pride & Prejudice 2005]

I haven't read the novel yet, so I don't know which other roles might qualify for consideration.  The supporting cast is steller (and includes some actors from previous Wright productions): Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Emily Watson, Matthew Macfadyen, and Holliday Grainger.  Tom Stoppard adapted Leo Tolstoy's epic novel.  He scored an Oscar for writing Shakespeare in Love, and a nomination for Brazil.  The playwright was also responsible for Empire of the Sun and adapting his Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead for the big screen.  Producer Tim Bevan has worked on United 93, Elizabeth, Atonement, Tinker Tailor, Frost/Nixon, Pride & Prejudice, Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Senna, as well as with the Coen brothers.  His list of upcoming credits include The History Keepers, I Give It a Year, About Time, Untitled International Suspense Thriller, Bridget Jone's Baby, Les Misérables, and Hippie Hippie Shake.  Also producing are Alexander Dostal and Alexandra Ferguson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).  Film Editor Melanie Oliver is from television.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey scored a nod for Atonement, as well as lensed the moody The Hours and We Need to Talk About Kevin.  You'll also be seeing his more upbeat work in The Avengers this May.  Production designer is Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer.  They received nods for their work on Sherlock Holmes, Atonement, and Pride & Prejudice, and work often with Wright.  Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran scored nominations for Atonement and Pride & Prejudice, and her work can also be seen in Tinker Tailor, and Vera Drake.  Composer Dario Marianelli won for Atonement and got nominated for Pride & Prejudice.  He also created the score for the recent little-seen (but big-budget flop) Agora.

Let's keep in mind that none of the previous incarnations of Karenina have landed any Oscar nods.  However, based on anticipation and previous track records of Wright productions, nominations for Actress, Art Direction, Costume Design, and Score, seem almost inevitable.  Best case scenario would also include Picture, Screenplay, Cinematography, and Director, amongst perhaps a couple of others.  Wright filmed his movie last Fall in Russia and England.  Focus Features has scheduled release for the 9th of November.

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III

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Oscar Outlook 2012: Savages

Oliver Stone was huge in the 1980s and early 90s ... And, then, after JFK, Stone started to lose his mojo.  His fall from grace wasn't as long as Francis Ford Coppola or Brian De Palma, as he's maintained enough of a degree of respect that he turns out prestige-lite films like Any Given Sunday, World Trade Center, and W.  He can survive created a high-budget bomb like Alexander by doing a film like Wall Street 2.  He's still the go-to director for historical conspiracy theory and political touchstones.  Middling would be the best way to describe the consensus of the last fifteen years of his directing efforts.  Yet, the anticipation for his upcoming Savages is riding high.  My spidey sense tells me this is going to crash and burn, but, I have to leave room for error ...

He adapted Don Winslow's crime thriller along with the author and Shane Salerno and loaded up his cast with a bunch of hot, sexy, young actors.  When a druglord (Benicio Del Toro) kidnaps the girlfriend (Serena from Gossip Girl Blake Lively) of two pot-growers (rising stars Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson), they must hunt her down and save her.  Also in the cast is John Travolta, Emile Hirsch, Salma Hayek, Uma Thurman, Demián Bichir, and Trevor Donovan.

Other credits include film editors Joe Hutshing, Stuart Levy, and Alex Marquez; cinematographer Daniel Mindel (Abrams' Star Trek franchise, John Carter, The Skeleton Key); Rob Marshall's production design/art direction team of Tomas Voth and Lisa Vasconcellos; set decoration Nancy Nye (Oscar nod for Gattaca); costume designer Cindy Evans; and composer Adam Peters.

Filmed last summer in the LA-area, Universal drops it in the US on the 6th of July.

Click here for photographic magic

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Killing Them Softly     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     The Paperboy     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III

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Oscar Outlook 2012: To Rome with Love

Riccardo Scamarcio

The plot of Woody Allen films are usually under wraps until they're released, but there's usually a great deal of infidelity, talk, and, as of lately, European landmarks.  Rome will mark Allen's first appearance in six years.  He hasn't been on screen since Scoop in 2006.  Returning actors are also commonplace for the auteur.  Penélope Cruz, who won an Oscar for Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Alison Pill (Midnight in Paris), Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives), and Alec Baldwin (Alice) are in the cast as well as youngins Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, and a host of lesser known Mediterranean actors.  I could be wrong on this, but as far as those newbies, I believe Allen actually cast more hot guys than gals.  What a nice surprise.

Maricel Álvare in Biutiful

Cinematographer Darius Khondji got a nod for Evita.  He has had running relationships with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and David Fincher.  He has worked all over Europe with the likes of Roman Polanski and Bernardo Bertolucci.  This is his third Allen film after Anything Else and Midnight in Paris.  You've seen production designer Anne Seibel's nominated work recently in Paris.  Luca Tranchino has worked in some capacity on The Aviator, Hugo, and Cold Mountain.  Set decorator Raffaella Giovannetti has worked on many films set in Rome.  Costume designer Sonia Grande's previous credits include The Others, Paris, Vicky Cristina, and Broken Embraces.  Producers include longtime Allen collaborators Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum.  Filmed last summer, Sony Pictures Classics will start a limited release on the 22nd of June.

[Pictures via Digilander]

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III

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Oscar Outlook 2012: Lawless

Gunslinger Tom Hardy

Originally one of the titles for the ten films Terrence Malick has coming out in the next two years now belongs to the The Wettest County (in the World), which was, like, such a marketable title, right?  Makes you want to rush out to see a movie about three Virginian brothers (Tom Hardy, Shia LeBeouf, Jason Clarke) growing up in the moonshine capital of the world, huh?  Bass-throated musician Nick Cave has collaborated with director John Hillcoat (The Proposition, The Road) before and adapted Matt Bondurant's novel for the big screen.  And there are enough producers on "Lawless" to staff the White House, including Lucy Fisher and Douglas Wick, who are also working on The Great Gatsby.

[Picture via IndieWire]

Editor Dylan Tichenor was nominated by the AMPAS for There Will Be Blood.  He has worked extensively with PT Anderson, as well as with films by Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore and prestige projects like Doubt, Brokeback Mountain and The Royal Tenenbaums.  Cinematographer Benoît Delhomme has worked with Hillcoat before.  Australian production designer Chris Kennedy and costume designer Margot Wilson have a history with Hillcoat.  Art director Gershon Ginsburg has a mixture of film and TV credits, having worked on The Road.  Set decorator Maria Nay also has On the Road coming out this year.  While a great deal of Australians are behind this movie, the main cast is a mixture of American, British and Australian: Hardy, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, LaBeouf, Mia Wasikowska, and Noah Taylor.  TWC have rescheduled its release in the US on August 31.  It filmed a year ago in Georgia.

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III

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Oscar Outlook 2012: The Amazing Spider-Man

Like Batman Begins from seven years ago, The Amazing Spider-Man is hitting the restart button on its eponymous hero.  The window separating its preceding installment is smaller.  It was five years ago that Peter Parker spun his last web.  Audiences had a good eight years to recuperate between Batmans, which doesn't seem like much difference, but it's enough to feel.  The last Spider-man had disappointed a lot of fans and, frankly, I wasn't that into any of the movies.  The first film had the web-slinger bouncing around NYC like a video game character.  From a visual standpoint, he didn't look like he could exist in the world of film.  Even though it appeared improvements were made with the later movies, I felt bereft of any further anticipation.  And the third film seemed to suffer from what plagued the subsequent Batman movies of the 90s: too many villains spoiling the formula, among other shortcomings.  Sony decided to create  new origins story and erase all ill will, for fear of losing the Spider-Man property.

With exciting new casting prospects for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and using a lesser known, but developed character, from the previous films, it may or may not have been a mistake to recast the role of Dr. Curt Connors (aka The Lizard); Rhys Ifans will take over duties for Dylan Baker.  And, having watched the trailer, while Spider-Man looks realistic, some of Red Epic digital footage isn't so filmic making it somewhat distracting.  We'll  have to see if director Marc Webb, who charmed audiences a few years ago with (500) Days of Summer and fondly captured Los Angeles in a way never really seen before, can do the same for the New York City world of its favorite masked crime-fighter.

The supporting cast includes Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Embeth Davidtz, C. Thomas Howell, Campbell Scott and Denis Leary.  Steve Kloves (the man behind The Fabulous Baker Boys and the piano scene with Michelle Pfeiffer, was nominated for Wonder Boys and spent the better part of the last decade adapting the Harry Potter books) and Alvin Sargent (nominated three times, having won twice for Julia and Ordinary People, has worked on Spider-Man 2 and 3) fine-tuned James Vanderbilt's (Zodiac) screenplay.  Like The Great Gatsby, there are three (!) editors: Alan Edward Bell ((500) Days of Summer), Michael McCusker (nominated for Walk the Line) and Pietro Scalia (nominated for Good Will Hunting and Gladiator, won for JFK and Black Hawk Down).

Cinematographer John Schwartzman was nominated for Seabiscuit.  He worked on The Green Hornet, a couple of Ben Stiller, Nicolas Cage and Michael Bay films.  Production Designer J. Michael Riva got nominated for The Color Purple.  He has Django Unchained coming out and worked on Spider-Man 3 and the Iron Man franchise.  Set Decorator Leslie A. Pope nominated for Seabiscuit, also has Django Unchained and This is 40 coming out later this year.  She worked on Spider-Man 3, as well as a couple other Judd Apatow productions.  Costume Designer Kym Barrett has worked on The Matrix trilogy, The Green Hornet, and Speed Racer.  Composer James Horner has been nominated multiple times, most recently for Avatar, and won for Titanic's score as well as the song that makes Kate Winslet want to vomit.

The first Spider-Man got nominated for Visual Effects, which the second movie won.  The first movie got a Sound nod and when it changed to Sound Mixing, the second film also picked up a nod, as well as one for Sound Editing.  The only nominee they're retaining from any of those nominations is Special Effects Supervisor John Frazier.  It filmed the first third of 2011 in the L.A-area and New York.  Sony Pictures will release the movie on July 3.

poll by twiigs.com

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III

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Oscar Outlook 2012: Ruby Sparks

Remember Little Miss Sunshine?  That movie debuted at Sundance SIX years ago!  Nominated for four Oscars (winning two), the movie made bank at the box-office.  Directing team Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton are finally back with a new project: Ruby Sparks (formerly known as He Loves Me).  This is actress Zoe Kazan's first screenplay, which she wrote the title role for herself.  The story concerns a novelist (Paul Dano) suffering from writer's block who becomes inspired when he writes the girl of his dreams and she suddenly comes to life.  The supporting cast includes Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening, Paul Dano, Steve Coogan, Elliott Gould and Alia Shawkat.

Cinematographer Matthew Libatique made a splash last year with his nominated camerawork in Black Swan.  Not only has he been Darren Aronofsky's right-hand cameraman since his film short days, but he's a favorite of Spike Lee, Jon Favreau, and Joel Schumacher.  Production designer Judy Becker's credits include Brokeback Mountain, I'm Not There., The Fighter, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Shame and the infamously unreleased Nailed.  She not only worked on the upcoming HBO pilot Girls, but she has The Silver Linings Playbook under her belt and is signed on for Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho', with Ruby's art director Alexander Wei.  Set Decorator Matthew Flood Ferguson (Running with Scissors, Happy Endings) will be spending his time on the upcoming Beautiful Creatures.  Since working on Little Miss Sunshine, costume designer Nancy Steiner has been busy with the TV show Enlightened and Arthur Newman, Golf Pro.  Producers include Albert Berger (Election, Cold Mountain, Little Miss Sunshine), Ron Yerxa (Cold Mountain, Little Miss Sunshine, Little Children), and Bart Lipton (Little Miss Sunshine).

While we'll have to wait and see about the film's acting prospects, if it makes enough money and touches enough hearts, it could see some screenplay traction.  Filmed last Summer, Fox Searchlight Pictures will begin a limited engagement on the 25th of July.  And, I could have sworn it was supposed to debut like its predesessor at Sundance.  [5/21 Editor Note: As the marketing team is slowly trying to build interest for the film, their approach has been pretty understated thus far.  I commend them for trying to be creative with the movie poster.  However, as much as they felt they had to go with the traditional "white space" to convey "the page," aesthetically, it's rarely used these days for good reason, especially when trying to be innovative.  And, for the life of me, if you have Annette Bening in your film, why aren't you MAKING A BIGGER DEAL ABOUT IT?  Perhaps her role is a cameo?  Still, the low numbers this post generated compared to other movies of its ilk, suggest that maybe this film is just a non-event?]

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III

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