Notizie

Viggo Mortensen has time and again proved his capability as an actor in various projects. From action to drama, and then fantasy the actor has done it all with a grace that can be only found in a seasoned actor’s filmography.

However, one critically acclaimed film initially unnerved the actor. When David Cronenberg’s directorial, A History of Violence first landed on his desk the actor hesitated. Mortensen did not like the first script and was skeptical of the storyline, but the director convinced him and the 2005 movie turned out to be a massive success.

Initial skepticism to final success: The turnabout

Viggo Mortensen is one of the many Hollywood actors who have carefully curated a diverse filmography. The actor has appeared in massive hits like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Eastern Promises, A Perfect Murder, Green Book, and many more.

Viggo Mortensen in The Lord of the Rings...

In David Gordon Green's "Halloween Kills," it's revealed that Michael Myers is responsible for the trauma of an entire town, not just a few victims. The survivors of Myers' 1978 rampage and the citizens of Haddonfield, Il in general are shown to still be dealing with the aftershocks of The Shape's evil, a condition that has lain dormant for 40 years until his reemergence in 2018. Myers' new reign of terror causes a mounting mass hysteria within Haddonfield, resulting in violent and erratic behavior from a mob previously made up of good people that can only be described as self-destructive.

The leader of that mob, Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), has been particularly traumatized ever since he and Lindsay Wallace (Kyle Richards) were saved by their babysitter, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), on that fateful night in '78. So it's no surprise that in an earlier draft of the script for "Kills,...

Viggo Mortensen has a bone to pick with Oscar voters. As the actor recently told Uproxx while promoting his feature directorial debut “Falling,” it is “inexplicable” to him how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has never nominated David Cronenberg, either in the Best Director category or in one of the two screenplay categories. Cronenberg has directed Mortensen in three films, “Eastern Promises,” “A History of Violence,” and “A Dangerous Method.” Mortensen’s performance in “Eastern Promises” earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

“The thing that I’ve never understood about Cronenberg is that he’s had almost a half a century of making movies, and many really good movies,” Mortensen said. “He’s clearly one of the masters, right? Living masters. And yet this is a man who, every time out, struggles for years, usually, to raise minimal financing for his movies. Which are never really expensive.

Exciting news! Michael Cusamano's engaging series "The New Classics," which focuses on top-notch 21st century films by dissecting a single scene, begins its second season April 28th --weekly editions Tuesdays at 1 Pm! Here's what's been covered previously if you'd like to catch up. Any suggestions for season two? 

Season 1 of The New Classics

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) Sexy Beast (2001) Master and Commander (2003) Shattered Glass (2003) Before Sunset (2004) Collateral (2004) Eastern Promises (2007) Michael Clayton (2007) No Country For Old Men (2007) Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)  The Hurt Locker (2009) Inglourious Basterds (2009) In the Loop (2009) I Am Love (2010) Meek's Cutoff (2010) A Separation (2011) Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012) Blue Ruin (2013) 20th Century Women (2016) The Florida Project (2017)...

David Cronenberg hasn’t directed a movie since 2014’s “Maps to the Stars,” a satire in which the Canadian filmmaker set Hollywood on fire. And while the director hasn’t officially returned from movie-making, he’s in no rush to jump behind the camera again, either. Still, a new interview with The Guardian, timed to Cronenberg’s appearance in front of the camera on the Canadian thriller “Disappearance at Clifton Hill,” reveals that Cronenberg has a few projects in the mix.

That includes an adaptation of his 2014 novel “Consumed,” which back in October was rumored to be set up at Netflix. The streamer, though, according to Cronenberg, passed on scripts for two episodes on another series he proposed, and “Consumed” remains without a home for now. (Netflix has yet to respond to IndieWire’s request for comment on these projects.)

Cronenberg told The Guardian that he’s meanwhile tinkering with a “very personal” screenplay.

Exclusive: Sony Classics is finalizing a U.S. pre-buy of period drama Farnsworth House, which is to star Ralph Fiennes and Elizabeth Debicki.

Debicki, who is soon to be seen starring in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, is in final negotiations to join in the co-lead role which was previously going to be Maggie Gyllenhaal but the latter is newly taken up with directorial debut The Lost Daughter.

Set in late 1940s Chicago, Debicki will play Dr. Edith Farnsworth, whose ambitious project with the revolutionary Bauhaus architect Mies Van Der Rohe, played by Fiennes, to build the first glass house led them into a passionate but tempestuous love affair. Pic is due to shoot this spring or summer.

Richard Press, known for feature documentary Bill Cunningham New York, wrote the screenplay and will direct. Pic is a Canada-Ireland co-production from Serendipity Point Films producers Robert Lantos and...

The Song Of Names producer Robert Lantos on introducing composer Howard Shore to François Girard: “I had worked with Howard a few times before. Three David Cronenberg films. Crash, eXistenZ and Eastern Promises.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

François Girard’s The Song Of Names, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht, screenplay by Jefferey Caine with a score by Howard Shore (two-time Oscar-winner for Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and one for The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King) is produced by Robert Lantos, Lyse Lafontaine and Nick Hirschkorn, and stars Tim Roth and Clive Owen with Catherine McCormack, Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric in Rob Marshall’s upcoming The Little Mermaid), Luke Doyle, Gerran Howell, Misha Handley, Daniel Multu and Eddie Izzard.

Atom Egoyan and Robert Lantos with Anne-Katrin Titze at the Museum of Tolerance in New York for...

Exclusive: Viggo Mortensen is returning to the Sundance Film Festival for the first time since 2016 when Captain Fantastic made a big splash and led eventually to a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the star. This time however he is adding director and screenwriter to his resume, with his behind the camera debut, Falling, which is set to officially close the festival and is part of the Premieres section but will start screening on Friday. I was invited to see it ahead of time a few weeks ago at a UTA screening and a few days later sat down in a Santa Monica restaurant to talk about the film with its director and co-star.

Falling is produced by Daniel Bekerman of Scythia Films and Chris Curling of Zephyr Films together with Mortensen, who previously produced Everyone Has a Plan, Far from Men and Jauja through Perceval Pictures.

Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley, filmmaker Steven Knight also recognised.

Sam Mendes, whose First World War thriller 1917 is gathering pace in awards season, is one of two Oscar-winning British filmmakers to receive a knighthood in the UK government’s 2020 New Year Honours list.

Mendes (pictured at left) receives his honour for services to drama. He began his career in theatre, where he won two Laurence Olivier Awards, and broke out in Hollywood when his 1999 feature directorial debut American Beauty won five Oscars including best director and best picture. His credits include the last two James Bond instalments Spectre and Skyfall,...

Writer Steven Knight and director Nick Murphy (The Awakening) have delivered a dark, violent, and deeply disturbing adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic redemption story A Christmas Carol. It's not hyperbole to say that the three-hour FX event is superlative in all of those categories, taking the darkest descriptions of Dickens' Scrooge and the Spirits that visit him and twisting them further, not quite beyond recognition, but very near to the point of no return. And in doing so, Knight, Murphy and FX may have plumbed the depths of the soul and the human condition, …...

“The Song of Names” “offers a really great palette for music,” says composer Howard Shore. “It covers 50 years,” including the periods before, during and after WWII. And the story involves “a virtuoso violinist, so the music score onscreen and the score itself were very appealing to work on.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Shore above.

Directed by Francois Girard, the Sony Pictures Classic release centers on a man (Tim Roth) haunted by the disappearance of his best friend (Clive Owen), a violin prodigy, before a 1951 concert that would’ve launched his promising music career. When he discovers his friend might still be alive, he searches the globe to find him.

See Dozens of video interviews with 2020 Oscar contenders

Before Shore ever saw the footage for the film he delved into his own research, “filling my mind and intellect up with the period and the music that we chose for the onscreen performances.

Verve has signed Albert Shin, the director of the buzzy new thriller “Disappearance at Clifton Hill,” Variety has learned.

Distribution rights for the film were recently acquired by IFC Midnight and the movie is expected to open in February. “Disappearance at Clifton Hill” debuted at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. It centers on a troubled young woman who returns to her hometown of Niagara Falls after the death of her mother only to be haunted by the memory of a long-ago kidnapping she believes she witnessed. The film stars Tuppence Middleton, Hannah Gross, and also boasts a rare acting appearance by “Eastern Promises” auteur David Cronenberg. Shin co-wrote the script with James Schultz.

Shin previously wrote, directed and produced “In Her Place,” the story of a teenager who becomes pregnant and considers putting her child up for a secret adoption. “In Her Place” also premiered at the Toronto...

Viggo Mortensen celebrates his 61st birthday on October 20, 2019. The three-time Oscar nominated performer has been very picky with his projects, appearing only in a handful of movies in a 30-plus year career. But how many of his titles hold up as classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 12 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

SEEWhat ‘Green Book’ star Viggo Mortensen reveals about his delayed directing debut: ‘I’m just going to do it’

Born in 1958 in New York City, Mortensen made his big screen debut with a brief performance as an Amish farmer in “Witness” (1985). Supporting roles in “Carlito’s Way” (1993), “Crimson Tide” (1995), “G.I. Jane” (1997) and many others quickly followed. He achieved stardom in middle age playing the warrior Aragorn in Peter Jackson‘s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, released in 2001, 2002 and 2003. His first Oscar bid as Best Actor came shortly...

We caught a brief glimpse of footage from See, the upcoming AppleTV+ series from Steven Knight (Eastern Promises, Peaky Blinders) which stars Jason Momoa (Aquaman), during the company’s sizzle reel earlier this year. But today, Apple CEO Tim Cook debuted the first full trailer for the series, and this thing looks ambitious as hell. Check it out below. […]

The post ‘See’ Trailer: Jason Momoa Stars in a Sci-Fi Show That Looks Like ‘Bird Box’ Meets ‘Waterworld’ appeared first on /Film.

Starring Clive Owen and Tim Roth, Canadian François Girard’s historical drama “The Song of Names” will close the 67th San Sebastian Festival on Sept. 28.

World premiering at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival as a Gala Presentation, “The Song of Names” will play out of competition at what will be its international premiere.

Hanway Films is selling worldwide the film, which was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for the U.S.. Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada; Filmax in Spain.

“The Song of Names” is based on a novel by British award-winning novelist and cultural commentator Norman Lebrecht, which Jeffrey Caine (“The Constant Gardener”) adapted.

Described as an “emotional detective story,” the film unfolds at the start of World War II, focusing on Dovidl, a 9-year-old violin prodigy who is a Polish-Jewish refugee in London. His brother Martin, of the same age, is devoted to him.

Hours before Dovidl’s...

Story based on true family tragedy… and a magpie chick.

British star Andrew Lincoln of The Walking Dead has joined Naomi Watts on the family drama Penguin Bloom, which is set to begin production in Sydney, Australia, in August.

Glendyn Ivin (The Cry) will direct the adaptation of the novel by Bradley Trevor Greive and Cameron Bloom from a screenplay by Shaun Grant (Snowtown) and Harry Cripps (The Dry).

Roadshow will distribute in Australia and New Zealand, and Endeavor Content handles worldwide rights on the story about a family that gets through a tragedy with the help of an injured magpie chick they name Pengiun.

Since early age, Kristína Aschenbrennerová (1980) had planned to become a film actress like Greta Garbo. Fortunately, quite soon she realized her qualities lie elsewhere and graduated in film theory and history. She works at Slovak Film Institute/National Cinematography Centre as Slovak cinema promotion officer and event coordinator. Since 2009, she programmes, until recently with Adrián Žiška, Eastern Promises, a section of Iff Art Film Fest Košice dedicated to mainstream and genre films from East and Southeast Asia. On not that regular basis, she gets to select (Asian) or recommend shorts for Isff Brno 16, and in 2017 she proudly recommended a few fabulous films to Slovak Queer Film Festival. Occasionally writes and tries to keep a Wp blog under an alias Anomalilly. Talks a lot.

We speak with her about Eastern Promises and Art Film Fest, Asian cinema, the Slovak audience, and many more topics.

Eastern Promises is not a festival, but...

Kahli Small, a veteran film executive who worked on “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Milk,” died on Sunday. She was 53.

Small joined Focus Features as a production exec in 2004 and contributed to the production of several films, including “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Milk” and “Eastern Promises.” She also worked on “Sin Nombre” and advocated strongly for then-first-time filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga. She later joined the production company Gk Films as executive vice president of production and development, and was involved in the development of the Oscar-winning movie “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Like many independent film executives, she later moved into television, becoming senior vice president of drama development at NBC and later an executive vice president at the network.

“This is heartbreaking. Kahli Small was first and foremost a filmmaker’s executive,” Focus Features CEO James Schamus, co-founder David Linde and former president John Lyons said. “For Kahli, a project was only...

Steven Knight is adapting “Sas: Rogue Heroes,” bringing the story of the elite British special forces unit to TV.

Knight has enjoyed enormous success with his series “Peaky Blinders,” and also penned “Taboo” and the feature films “Locke” and “Eastern Promises.” His Sas series will be based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling non-fiction book “Sas: Rogue Heroes” and produced by Endemol Shine drama banner Kudos.

Knight’s scripts will cover the creation of the Sas along with a new form of combat and warfare. The producers said the series will cover the glory, action and camaraderie at the heart of the Sas story, and delve into the psychology of the mavericks who formed the Sas in the darkest days of WW2.

“This will be a secret history telling the story of exceptional soldiers who decided battles and won wars only to then disappear back into the shadows. We will shine...

Vincent Cassel is the newest recruit for “Westworld” Season 3.

“We’re incredibly excited to work with Vincent Cassel. We’ve been longtime fans of his and are thrilled for him to join the ‘Westworld’ team,” HBO sci-fi series creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy said in a statement.

Cassel is the latest newcomer for “Westworld’s” third season, following the castings of Lena Waithe and Aaron Paul. No character details have been given for the actor’s role on the upcoming installment, which just went into production last month and will not air until some time in 2020.

Also Read: Lena Waithe Joins Cast of 'Westworld' Season 3

The series’ second season starred Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, and Tessa Thompson and wrapped in June 2018.

Based on the film of the same name written by Michael Crichton, “Westworld” was created by husband and wife producing team Nolan and Joy.

Vincent Cassel has signed on for “Westworld” Season 3 at HBO.

Like most things “Westworld,” the exact nature of Cassel’s role is being kept under wraps. He joins previously announced “Westworld” Season 3 cast members Lena Waithe Aaron Paul. Production recently began on Season 3 and the show is not expected to air again until at least 2020.

Cassel is known for his starring role in “Mesrine Part 1: Killer Instinct” and “Mesrine Part 2: Public Enemy #1.” His previous credits also include “Black Swan,” “Ocean’s 12,” and “Eastern Promises.” He will next be seen in “Underwater” directed by William Eubanks.

He is repped by CAA and Agence Adéquat.

The series, based on the Michael Crichton film of the same name, was created for television and executive produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. J.J. Abrams and Ben Stephenson of Bad Robot Productions also executive produce along with Richard J. Lewis and Athena Wickham.

HBO’s sprawling sci-fi drama series Westworld is getting a another major new cast addition. French actor Vincent Cassel is joining the upcoming third season of the series.

The producers are being tight-lipped on the character but I hear Cassel will play a new villain and will be a series regular. He will co-star another high-profile new series regular for Season 3, Breaking Bad alum Aaron Paul.

Created for television by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 movie, the sci-fi thriller is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the birth of a new form of life on Earth.

“We’re incredibly excited to work with Vincent Cassel,” Nolan and Joy said. “We’ve been longtime fans of his and are thrilled for him to join the Westworld team.”

Westworld, from Warner Bros. TV, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Nolan and Joy’s Kilter Films,...

Serendipity Point Films reunites with Spc on sixth film.

Spc has picked up Us rights from worldwide sales agent HanWay Films to The Song Of Names starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen.

François Girard (The Red Violin) directed from a screenplay by Oscar nominee Jeffrey Caine (The Constant Gardener) based on the novel by music scholar Norman Lebrecht.

The Song Of Names is described as “an emotional detective story spread over two continents and half a century, culminating in the titular Song. The film shows that within the darkest of mysteries sometimes only music has the power to illuminate the truth,...

Red Joan starring Dame Judi Dench is releasing in cinemas nationwide from Friday 19 April and to celebrate we are giving 3 lucky winners the chance to win a copy of the novel on which the film is based on.

The year is 2000 and Joan Stanley (Dench) is living in contented retirement in suburbia at the turn of the millennium. Her tranquil life is suddenly disrupted when she’s arrested by MI5 and accused of providing intelligence to Communist Russia.

Cut to 1938 where Joan is a Cambridge physics student who falls for young communist Leo Galich and through him, begins to see the world in a new light.

Working at a top-secret nuclear research facility during WWII, Joan comes to the realisation that the world is on the brink of mutually assured destruction. Confronted with an impossible question – what price would you pay for peace? – Joan must choose between betraying her country...

Festival will also pay tribute to Velvet Revolution, unveils industry strands.

The 54th Karlovy Vary Film Festival (June 28-July 6) will honour Czech cinematographer Vladimír Smutný and Egyptian director Youssef Chahine.

Smutný, a seven-time winner of the Czech Lion for best cinematography, will receive the Kviff President’s Award. His best-known work includes films with Jiří Svoboda and Jan and Zdeněk Svěrák.

Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine (1926-2008), a five-time Palme d’Or nominee and Silver Bear winner (for Alexandria Why? in 1979), will be honoured at Kviff with a retrospective of 11 remastered films, comprising early lesser-known works and internationally recognised classics.

The...

Laura Linney, Hannah Gross, and Terry Chen have joined the cast of Viggo Mortensen’s family drama “Falling.”

The movie will be Mortensen’s directorial debut. He’s also producing, wrote the screenplay, and is playing one of the two leading roles in a story about a son’s relationship with his aging father. Production is currently underway in Toronto. It will also shoot in Los Angeles.

Mortensen will portray a man who lives with his male partner, played by Chen, and their adopted daughter in Southern California. Linney will play his sister and Gross will portray his mother. Lance Henriksen will play the father, a farmer whose attitudes and behavior belong to a far more traditional era and family model. He travels to Los Angeles for an indefinite stay with his family as he deals with memory loss.

“Falling” is produced by Daniel Bekerman of Scythia Films and Chris Curling...

Exclusive: Three-time Oscar nominee Laura Linney (Kinsey), Hannah Gross (Mindhunter), and Terry Chen (House Of Cards) have joined the cast of Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut Falling, which is now underway in Toronto.

Green Book star Mortensen wrote the script and leads cast alongside previously announced Lance Henriksen (Aliens) and Sverrir Gudnason (The Girl In The Spider’s Web). The Captain Fantastic and Eastern Promises star will play John Peterson, a gay man whose conservative father moves from his rural farm to live with his son’s family in Los Angeles.

Ozark and Tales Of The City star Linney will play Peterson’s sister, Gross has been cast as his mother and Chen will play his partner. Henriksen plays the father.

Producers are Daniel Bekerman (The Witch) of Scythia Films and Chris Curling (The Bookshop) of Zephyr Films together with Mortensen, who previously produced Everyone Has A Plan, Far From Men...

Hulu’s list of comings and goings for the month of April is out, and the roster for new content on the streaming service includes two Hulu Originals — the first season premiere of “Ramy,” and the seventh episode of “Into The Dark: I’m Just F*cking With You,” with other highlights including Season 3 of Freeform’s “The Bold Type” and John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place.”

“Ramy,” debuting April 19, tells the story of first generation Egyptian-American Ramy Hassan as he finds himself in his New Jersey neighborhood, stuck at a crossroads between the morals of his Muslim community and the moral ambiguity of his millennial generation. “Into The Dark: I’m Just F*cking With You,” coming April 1, finds two siblings in a secluded motel, where they become subject to practical jokes of an increasingly frightening nature.

Also Read: Oscar-Winning Documentary 'Free Solo' Now Available for Streaming on Hulu...

The line-up includes new TV projects from Hirokazu Kore-eda, Gurinder Chadha and Gregg Araki.

Canneseries, the annual TV festival running alongside the Miptv content market in Cannes, has unveiled the competition line-up for its second edition (April 5-10).

The first two epsidoes from 10 new international series will screen in the main competition.

Titles include Channing Powell’s London-set psychological thriller The Feed for Amazon and Liberty Global. David Thewlis stars in the dystopian tale as the inventor of a brain implant that allows people to share thoughts and emotions alongside Guy Burnet, Michelle Fairley and Nina Toussaint-White as his family members.

Two men from different worlds form an unexpected friendship in the incredibly moving film Green Book, coming to Digital February 19, 2019 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand March 12, 2019 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. With exceptional filmmaker lineage, Participant Media and DreamWorks Pictures’ Green Book is directed by Peter Farrelly, and stars 2019 Academy Award® nominee Viggo Mortensen and 2019 Academy Award® winner Mahershala Ali alongside Linda Cardellini. The critically acclaimed and “hugely entertaining” Green Book is the winner of three 2019 Academy Awards® including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Mahersala Ali and Best Original Screenplay.

Now you can win the Win the Blu-ray Combo Pack of The Green Book. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling us what your favorite movie starring Viggo Mortensen is. (mine’s A History Of Violence). It’s so easy!

1. You Must Be A Us Resident. Prize Will Only Be Shipped To Us Addresses.

Two men from different worlds form an unexpected friendship in the incredibly moving film Green Book, coming to Digital February 19, 2019 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand March 12, 2019 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. With exceptional filmmaker lineage, Participant Media and DreamWorks Pictures’ Green Book is directed by Peter Farrelly, and stars 2019 Academy Award® nominee Viggo Mortensen and 2019 Academy Award® winner Mahershala Ali alongside Linda Cardellini. The critically acclaimed and “hugely entertaining” Green Book is the winner of three 2019 Academy Awards® including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Mahersala Ali and Best Original Screenplay.

Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen and Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, star in Green Book, a film inspired by a true friendship that transcended race, class, and the 1962 Mason-Dixon line. When Tony Lip (Mortensen), a bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley (Ali), a world-class Black pianist,...

After Olivia Colman upset the heavily favored Glenn Close to win the best actress Oscar on Sunday, Close became the new record-holder among actresses for most Oscar nominations without a win.

Colman gave a gracious acceptance speech, admitting she wished the veteran actress took home the big prize: “Glenn Close, you’ve been my idol for so long and this is not how I wanted it to be.”

Close now has seven nominations and no wins for “The Wife,” “Albert Nobbs,” “Fatal Attraction,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “The World According to Garp,” “The Big Chill,” and “The Natural.”

Close had been tied with the late Thelma Ritter and the late Deborah Kerr for most nominations without a win, with six. On Sunday, Amy Adams joined Ritter and Kerr for having six nominations without a win following her loss for “Vice.” She was previously nominated for “Junebug,” “Doubt,” “The Fighter,” “The Master,” and “American Hustle.

Our Oscar coverage continues. Here we overview the best acting and best directing award nominees.

For Part 1 of this year's Oscar Previews, click here.

Best Actor Nominees

Christian Bale - as Dick Cheney in Vice

Age: 45

Previously Best Known For:

Nolan Batman Trilogy

American Hustle

Previous Oscar Nominations/Wins:

Winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in 2011 - Dicky Eklund in The Fighter

Nomination - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in 2014 - Irving Rosenfeld American Hustle

Nomination - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in 2016 - Michael Burry in The Big Short

Interesting Fact: If he plays an American character in a film, he will use an American accent in his interviews because he does not want to confuse the audience.

Bradley Cooper as Jack in A Star Is Born

Age: 44

Previously Best Known For:

American Sniper

The Hangover...

How can you miss with a film noir starring Matthew McConaughey as a fisherman tempted by femme fatale Anne Hathaway to feed her sadistic husband to the sharks for $10 million? And, hell, the script is by Steven Knight, who did himself proud with Dirty Pretty Things and Eastern Promises and directed the formidable Locke with Tom Hardy. And yet the batshit bonkers Serenity fails on every level, first as entertainment and then as a new-agey thumbsucker about a magical, mystical tour through the subconscious.

But almost doesn’t cut it.

Don Kaye Jan 24, 2019

Writer and director Steven Knight delves into the origins and production of his tricky crime drama Serenity.

Serenity is the kind of movie that you can’t talk too much about without getting into heavy spoiler territory, so suffice to say that the movie starts out as a sort of sun-bleached noir set on a beautiful, remote rock known as Plymouth Island. It is there that we meet Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey), a charter fisherman obsessed with catching one fish -- even at the expense of driving away customers -- and just as haunted by the past that always seems to hang around the necks of guys like this.

Enter his ex-wife Karen (Anne Hathaway), who arrives on the island with her brutish current spouse Frank and asks Baker -- of course -- to kill him, dangling millions of dollars and a somewhat more intimate reward in...

Serenity is an early contender for the worst film of 2019. It's a trainwreck, completely absurd on multiple fronts. It's mind-boggling that a film by acclaimed screenwriter Steven Knight, with A-list talent Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, could be such a disaster. Serenity's high concept script was not ably translated to the big screen. The aim was for a noir thriller with science fiction elements. The end product is a poorly acted, meandering mystery with horrendous sex scenes. Serenity's puzzling failure of execution falls squarely on Knight's shoulders. It's a reminder that a great writer can deliver a clunker, and does not always live up to expectations as a director.

Serenity takes place on the Caribbean-esque Plymouth Island. Matthew McConaughey stars as Baker Dill, a hard luck fisherman with a penchant for booze and women. He's obsessed with catching the big one, a behemoth tuna that has eluded his grasp.

Shortly after the publication of his short story “The Vane Sisters” – in which a plot twist is revealed through a hidden acrostic message in the final paragraph – Vladimir Nabokov quipped that the narrative trick he employed was something that “can only be tried once in a thousand years of fiction.” Perhaps we’ll need to call for a similar moratorium, albeit for entirely different reasons, on the type of twist that powers Steven Knight’s soggy, island-bound noir “Serenity.” Distinguished only by its starry cast and cinematographer Jess Hall’s beautiful lensing of some idyllic Mauritius locations, “Serenity” sees a usually reliable screenwriter-turned-director take a bold swing and miss the mark completely, so intent on pulling the rug out from under you that he never notices you weren’t even standing on it.

Though its trailer telegraphs a deeper mystery at play, the film’s ostensible plot couldn’t be simpler,...

“There’s some weird stuff going on right now,” and ain’t that the truth in Steven Knight’s “Serenity.” The writer-director of “Locke” returns with a sleazy film noir about attempted murder on an isolated island, but it doesn’t take long before that underwritten, conventional storyline goes in an extremely odd (and extremely questionable) direction.

Matthew McConaughey stars as Baker Dill, a fisherman who’s so obsessed with catching one particular tuna — that tuna’s name is “Justice” — that he pulls a knife on his own customers, just to prevent them from catching it themselves. He doesn’t make a lot of money, that Baker Dill. And no matter how hard he tries, he never catches that danged fish.

Baker Dill meanders around Plymouth Island, a small community of salty fishermen and even saltier, stickier trysts. But although Baker Dill has a sexual arrangement with the well-to-do Constance...

There aren’t enough maritime puns in the world to describe the roller coaster that is Matthew McConaughey’s latest showboating project, but even if there were — “Serenity” already used them all. The movie can best be described as a neo-noir soap opera about a man’s quest for a giant tuna, but it’s so over the top it nearly sinks under the weight of delicious insanity. There is a reason that women and gay men own the camp genre; machismo is so ubiquitous that a send-up doesn’t read as satire, at least not this one. The women are the only ones in on the joke, thanks to heavy hitters Anne Hathaway and Diane Lane. Hathaway moves like liquid dynamite, pouring sultriness into her every inch of screen time. She and Lane are the only ones who know how best to handle the ridiculous script: milk it for all it’s worth.

Serenity opens like a well-worn noir seduction with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. Where it ends will shatters that spell.

She walks into the bar, long blonde hair and large sparkling jewels. Surrounded by drinkers, fishers, and every other type of sad sack who’s surrendered on life, she is literally the diamond in the rough—and one with a poisoned edge aimed at the man who can never forget her. This is the early hook of Serenity that is unapologetically derivative of a legion of noirs from decades past, perhaps most notably Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past (1947), only now with Matthew McConaughey as Robert Mitchum and Anne Hathaway as Jane Greer. Well, I love noir and I like derision of its form, so when Steven Knight’s twisty post-modern reinvention leans into tradition, you can almost see a great thriller.

Almost, because what Serenity is really about...

Steven Knight is a busy man. An incredibly accomplished screenwriter and director, he’s got several projects in, or about go into, production. There’s also Peaky Blinders, a show he created, and his new thriller Serenity, starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, which The Film Stage was lucky enough to speak with him about. We talked through the risky twist in the movie (some spoilers ahead!), the motivations that come with challenging yourself as a director, and the unfortunate underperformance of Allied.

The Film Stage: This movie is framed as an old-fashioned film noir at the start, which is very refreshing because you don’t get a lot of those anymore, at least on the big screen. And then, without jumping into huge spoilers, you make a crucial narrative decision that’s pretty radical. It’s hinted at throughout but when it happens it’s surprising and fairly fascinating.

Lionsgate has debuted the trailer for the adaptation of Jennie Rooney’s best-selling novel ‘Red Joan’ starring Judi Dench.

Directed by Trevor Nunn, the cast is led by multi-award winning actress Judi Dench (Skyfall, Shakespeare in Love) and Sophie Cookson (Gypsy, Kingsman: The Secret Service) who star as the eponymous central character, Stephen Campbell Moore (The Child in Time, Goodbye Christopher Robin) as Max, a physics professor and Young Joan’s mentor, Tom Hughes (Victoria, London Town) as Leo, a young communist and Young Joan’s first love, Ben Miles (The Crown, Woman in Gold) as Joan’s son and lawyer Nick and Tereza Srbova as a fellow Cambridge University student and Young Joan’s confident.

Also in trailers – Tessa Thompson and Lily James star in trailer for ‘Little Woods’

The film is out in cinemas April 19th

Red Joan Synopsis

The year is 2000 and Joan Stanley (Dench) is living...

Exclusive: Ed Rubin has stepped down as Managing Director of Scott Free London, we have learned. Rubin, the former Origin Pictures head of film and TV whose credits as executive producer include BBC series The Woman In White and Helen Mirren feature Woman In Gold, joined Ridley Scott’s firm at the start of 2017.

His departure comes as the London division of Scott Free undergoes a shakeup with the TV division recently streamlined and the La office becoming more involved in the London operation, according to sources. It isn’t clear whether Rubin will be replaced. Scott Free confirmed Rubin’s departure.

Tom Hardy-fronted BBC series Taboo was Scott Free London’s last small screen show to hit UK screens in 2017. Jonas Akerlund’s feature Lords Of Chaos debuted at Sundance last year. Upcoming on the feature side is James Kent’s feature The Aftermath with Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard.

It may not seem like the most likely film to receive a sequel, but there's been talk of a follow-up to David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises for nearly a decade. The gritty film told the story of a mid-wife (Naomi Watts) who got caught up in the world of the Russian mob when a young teenager died during childbirth. Viggo Mortensen also starred as Nikolai Luzhin, a fearsome…...

Viggo Mortensen may be involved in one of his biggest awards contenders yet, with the recent “Green Book,” but many will probably rank his 2007 film, “Eastern Promises” as a better choice for film fans. The David Cronenberg-directed mafia film earned Mortensen an Academy Award nomination, as the film would go on to receive critical acclaim across the board. And according to the film’s writer, it would appear that the world of “Eastern Promises” is coming back sooner than you might think.

Two men from different worlds form an unexpected friendship in the incredibly moving film Green Book, coming to Digital February 19, 2019 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand March 5, 2019 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

With exceptional filmmaker lineage, Participant Media and DreamWorks Pictures' Green Book is directed by Peter Farrelly, and stars 2019 Golden Globe nominee Viggo Mortensen and 2019 Golden Globe winner Mahershala Ali alongside Linda Cardellini. The critically acclaimed and "hugely entertaining" Green Book is the winner of three 2019 Golden Globe awards including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Mahersala Ali and Best Screenplay.

Academy Award nominee for his roles in Captain Fantastic and Eastern Promises, Viggo Mortensen, and Academy Award winner for Moonlight, Mahershala Ali, star in Green Book, a film inspired by a true friendship that transcended race, class, and the 1962 Mason-Dixon line.

When Tony Lip (Mortensen), a bouncer...

Today, we are recognizing “Green Book” and its star Viggo Mortensen. Our Hollywood Film Tributes recognize films and talent for their excellence in the art of filmmaking. A contender in Best Actor, Mortensen does some of the most entertaining work of his career in Peter Farrelly’s Green Book. For that, he’s being recognized as the latest Hollywood Film Tribute here on the site, and the first of 2019. Previously an Oscar nominee for Eastern Promises and most recently for Captain Fantastic, his third shot in the category may well be his best chance to take home an Academy Award yet. Regardless of whether he wins our not, this fine performance is deserving of acclaim. That’s just what we’re doing today, giving Mortensen a nice little moment in the sun… From our rave review back in November: They don’t make em like this anymore. Sometimes that’s a bit of a slight,...

Exclusive: Stephen Garrett’s Character 7 has acquired the rights to produce the TV adaptation of Liza Klaussmann’s bestselling psychological thriller, Tigers In Red Weather. Garrett, who executive produced The Night Manager, is collaborating on the project with independent producer Rowena Wallace, under her company Peach Pictures. The event mini will be exec produced by Garrett and Character 7 Head of Development Michele Wolkoff in association with Wallace.

Set on Martha’s Vineyard during the end of World War II, Klaussmann’s riveting, atmospheric tale centers around two female cousins and their families whose lives begin to unravel one summer when a body is discovered in the woods. Rich with emotional duplicity, the multi-faceted thriller explores the complexity of women and the choices they make.

Says Garrett, “I first read the book when it came out, couldn’t put it down and have been chasing the rights ever since. The series...

“Green Book” marks Viggo Mortensen‘s 50th silver screen credit to be released. The diligent actor is constantly looking for the unknown, that project that will challenge him, mentally and emotionally. Since retiring his crown as Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, he’s had a chance to do just that: branch out. “Eastern Promises,” “The Road,” “A Dangerous Method,” “The Two Faces of January,” and “Captain Fantastic” are all examples of diverse parts that showcase the actor’s daring choices and range.

Continue reading ‘Green Book’: Viggo Mortensen Talks Peter Farrelly’s Dramatic Chops, ‘Lord Of The Rings’ & More at The Playlist.

Aviron Pictures has released a new trailer for the upcoming thriller Serenity. The film was written and directed by Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders and Taboo and the director of the terrific 2013 film Locke. In this new film, Matthew McConaughey plays a fishing boat captain whose quiet life is upended when his ex-wife tracks him down and asks him to kill her current husband. It’s a bit strange that a new mystery thriller starring Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey and Oscar winner Anne Hathaway, from the Oscar-nominated writer of Eastern Promises, is getting unceremoniously dumped …...