J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" feature film wasn't so much an adaptation of the 1966 TV series as it was a film version of how non-Trekkies view the franchise. To explain: on the TV series, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is typically depicted as being judicious, stern, and decisive. Because of the few times Kirk solved problems with his fists, however, he has gained a (perhaps unfair) reputation for being a reckless cowboy, an insufferable lothario, and a flippant charmer. Abrams' version of Kirk (Chris Pine) rolled with those misconceptions, making a "high-octane" version of the character. Indeed, all the characters are now broader, more passionate versions of themselves. This is in addition to each of them being secret super-geniuses, deeply expert in at least one field of science, language, medicine, or engineering.
Case in point, Chekov (Anton Yelchin) knows how to operate a transporter in such a way that he can...
Case in point, Chekov (Anton Yelchin) knows how to operate a transporter in such a way that he can...
- 4/28/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Jane Campion will be honored this year by the Locarno Film Festival, which will present the New Zealand director its Pardo d’Onore Manor Award for lifetime achievement.
Campion will receive the tribute at the 77th edition of the Swiss festival on Friday, Aug. 16.
Locarno will also screen two of Campion’s best-known films selected by the director herself for the tribute: Her 1990 feature An Angel at My Table and her 1993 Palme d’Or winning global breakout The Piano. The latter will be given a grand screening in a new 4K restoration at Locarno’s legendary Piazza Grande on the night of her award. Campion will also take part in a panel conversation at the festival on Saturday, August 17.
The Locarno Film Festival’s Pardo d’Onore Manor honor has previously been awarded to such filmmakers as Agnès Varda, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Kelly Reichardt, and,...
Campion will receive the tribute at the 77th edition of the Swiss festival on Friday, Aug. 16.
Locarno will also screen two of Campion’s best-known films selected by the director herself for the tribute: Her 1990 feature An Angel at My Table and her 1993 Palme d’Or winning global breakout The Piano. The latter will be given a grand screening in a new 4K restoration at Locarno’s legendary Piazza Grande on the night of her award. Campion will also take part in a panel conversation at the festival on Saturday, August 17.
The Locarno Film Festival’s Pardo d’Onore Manor honor has previously been awarded to such filmmakers as Agnès Varda, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Kelly Reichardt, and,...
- 4/24/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: On the heels of success with her feature directorial debut, the SXSW prize-winning thriller It Is In Us All, Irish writer, director, and actress Antonia Campbell-Hughes has signed with Entertainment 360 for representation in all areas.
Cosmo Jarvis stars in the pic as a Londoner traveling to his ancestral homeland of County Donegal, Ireland, whose journey takes an unexpected twist when he gets into a near-fatal car accident with a teenager that will forever alter the course of their lives.
Slated for a November 17 launch on VOD via Wolfe Releasing, the film’s SXSW honors included a Special Jury Award for Narrative Feature and a Special Jury Recognition for Extraordinary Cinematic Vision. The pic also received nominations from the British Independent Film Awards and Irish Film and Television Awards.
Also previously helming the shorts Acre Fall Between and Q4L, the multi-hyphenate is currently at work on Diamond Shitter,...
Cosmo Jarvis stars in the pic as a Londoner traveling to his ancestral homeland of County Donegal, Ireland, whose journey takes an unexpected twist when he gets into a near-fatal car accident with a teenager that will forever alter the course of their lives.
Slated for a November 17 launch on VOD via Wolfe Releasing, the film’s SXSW honors included a Special Jury Award for Narrative Feature and a Special Jury Recognition for Extraordinary Cinematic Vision. The pic also received nominations from the British Independent Film Awards and Irish Film and Television Awards.
Also previously helming the shorts Acre Fall Between and Q4L, the multi-hyphenate is currently at work on Diamond Shitter,...
- 11/2/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
In “A Child’s Question (July),” Pj Harvey sings in a jaunty rhythm, “Who’s inneath the Ooser-Rod?/Horny devil? Goaty God?”
The words sound playful as her guitar swells liquidly around her voice, and the couplet goes by so mellifluously, chased by whispers and chirping birds, that it’s easy go with the flow without wondering just what the heck an Ooser-Rod is. But when you look up the words’ meaning in Orlam — the novel in verse Harvey released last year, which she wrote in the dying (or maybe dead) dialect of the Dorset,...
The words sound playful as her guitar swells liquidly around her voice, and the couplet goes by so mellifluously, chased by whispers and chirping birds, that it’s easy go with the flow without wondering just what the heck an Ooser-Rod is. But when you look up the words’ meaning in Orlam — the novel in verse Harvey released last year, which she wrote in the dying (or maybe dead) dialect of the Dorset,...
- 7/6/2023
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish in Bright Star (Apparition) The winners of London’s Evening Standard awards will be announced at the London Film Museum on Monday, Feb. 8. Curiously, all three best picture nominees were either directed or co-directed by women: Jane Campion’s Bright Star, about the love affair between John Keats and Fanny Brawne; Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, in which a teenager rebels against her mother’s new boyfriend; and Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s Helen, the tale of two friends, one of whom has gone missing. Neither of the Bright Stars leads, Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish, was nominated, but Fish Tank’s Katie Jarvis is up for the most promising newcomer award. Anne-Marie Duff was shortlisted in the best actress [...]...
- 2/5/2010
- by Anna Robinson
- Alt Film Guide
Chicago – One of the most beautiful films of 2009 is only available in standard definition DVD with barely a special feature and a mediocre technical transfer. There are few recent releases that aggravate me as much as that of the great “Bright Star,” a spectacular film given unbelievably shoddy treatment by its studio.
DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0
Not only has Apparition totally fumbled the Oscar campaign for a film that should be nominated in several categories (Actress, Director, Screenplay, Cosutume, Art Direction, and Picture) and will likely end up with none, but now they’ve taken a beautiful movie that ended up on dozens of top ten lists and denied it a Blu-ray release.
Bright Star was released on DVD on January 26th, 2010.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video
Why? Some have pointed to the cost of Blu-ray, but you can never convince me that “The Damned United” and “Black Dynamite” - just...
DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0
Not only has Apparition totally fumbled the Oscar campaign for a film that should be nominated in several categories (Actress, Director, Screenplay, Cosutume, Art Direction, and Picture) and will likely end up with none, but now they’ve taken a beautiful movie that ended up on dozens of top ten lists and denied it a Blu-ray release.
Bright Star was released on DVD on January 26th, 2010.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video
Why? Some have pointed to the cost of Blu-ray, but you can never convince me that “The Damned United” and “Black Dynamite” - just...
- 2/1/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Whip It: "Whip It is exactly what you think it is. There's no move that isn't telegraphed, no cliché that isn't exploited, no trope that isn't mined, no plot line that isn't predictable. Ellen Page plays Bliss, the nerdy misfit in a podunk Texas town where pageantry is, like, the most important thing ever. She and her friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) bide their time working at a local diner, dreaming of better things. Everything Bliss's parents (Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern) want for her, she hates. Everything she wants, they either don't understand or disapprove of. One night she and Pash sneak out and see a live roller derby match. Bliss falls in love with it, tries out, makes the team and becomes one of the Hurl Scouts. She struggles to learn the ropes, competes against their rivals, meets a boy, clashes with her parents, saves the day a few times,...
- 1/27/2010
- by Intern Rusty
Jose here bringing you some more award news.
The Costume Designers Guild announced their nominees for 2009.
In what's becoming a ridiculous set of snubs, Jane Campion's Bright Star was once again ignored for much less remarkable achievements (odd considering how much the costumes are actual part of the movie's plot). After the egregious snub by the Cinematographers Guild it's been clear how much people have decided to just pretend the movie doesn't exist.
You didn't have to like the film to see how great the cinematography and costumes were, right?
Now on to the nominees,
Fantasy
Avatar (Mayes C. Rubeo, Deborah Lynn Scott) The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Monique Prudhomme) Star Trek (Michael Kaplan)The fact the CGI loincloths from Avatar were nominated in this category is a reminder of how much people are dying to reward this film.
Contemporary
(500) Days of Summer (Hope Hanafin) Bruno (Jason Alper) Crazy Heart...
The Costume Designers Guild announced their nominees for 2009.
In what's becoming a ridiculous set of snubs, Jane Campion's Bright Star was once again ignored for much less remarkable achievements (odd considering how much the costumes are actual part of the movie's plot). After the egregious snub by the Cinematographers Guild it's been clear how much people have decided to just pretend the movie doesn't exist.
You didn't have to like the film to see how great the cinematography and costumes were, right?
Now on to the nominees,
Fantasy
Avatar (Mayes C. Rubeo, Deborah Lynn Scott) The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Monique Prudhomme) Star Trek (Michael Kaplan)The fact the CGI loincloths from Avatar were nominated in this category is a reminder of how much people are dying to reward this film.
Contemporary
(500) Days of Summer (Hope Hanafin) Bruno (Jason Alper) Crazy Heart...
- 1/26/2010
- by Jose
- FilmExperience
Jose here to commemorate the anniversary of Virginia Woolf's birth.
Woolf said that every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.
Since this isn't a literature site, what better way to examine this than the ways in which some of her works have been taken to the movies.
First up is Sally Potter's gender bending version of Orlando with Tilda Swinton as the title character. In this luscious reworking of Woolf's classic, Potter concentrates mostly on interpreting the author's groundbreaking prose and reflecting it through the film's sensuous visuals.
Few filmmakers would've been as brave as Potter and give in so much to the undeniable power of the text to a level where the film actually celebrates Woolf more than the director. Jane Campion's crush on John Keats in Bright Star comes to mind-in...
Woolf said that every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.
Since this isn't a literature site, what better way to examine this than the ways in which some of her works have been taken to the movies.
First up is Sally Potter's gender bending version of Orlando with Tilda Swinton as the title character. In this luscious reworking of Woolf's classic, Potter concentrates mostly on interpreting the author's groundbreaking prose and reflecting it through the film's sensuous visuals.
Few filmmakers would've been as brave as Potter and give in so much to the undeniable power of the text to a level where the film actually celebrates Woolf more than the director. Jane Campion's crush on John Keats in Bright Star comes to mind-in...
- 1/25/2010
- by Jose
- FilmExperience
"The Hyperion Cantos", is a 'tetralogy' of science fiction novels by author Dan Simmons, recently adapted as a screenplay by Trevor Sands for Sony Pictures. Set in the distant future, the Warners space opera will be directed by Scott "The Day The Earth Stood Still" Derrickson for producer Graham King.
Much of the appeal of the series stems from its extensive use of references and allusions from a wide array of 'thinkers', including Teilhard de Chardin, John Muir, Norbert Wiener and John Keats, a Romantic poet of the 19th century, with the title of the first novel, "Hyperion" taken from Keats' poem "Hyperion". Similarly, the title of Simmons' third novel is from Keats' poem "Endymion". Quotes from actual Keats poems and the fictional 'Cantos of Martin Silenus' are also interspersed throughout the novels.
'Hyperion' is the name of a planet where much of the action in the series takes place,...
Much of the appeal of the series stems from its extensive use of references and allusions from a wide array of 'thinkers', including Teilhard de Chardin, John Muir, Norbert Wiener and John Keats, a Romantic poet of the 19th century, with the title of the first novel, "Hyperion" taken from Keats' poem "Hyperion". Similarly, the title of Simmons' third novel is from Keats' poem "Endymion". Quotes from actual Keats poems and the fictional 'Cantos of Martin Silenus' are also interspersed throughout the novels.
'Hyperion' is the name of a planet where much of the action in the series takes place,...
- 1/21/2010
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
One of my top ten favorite films from last year, Jane Campion’s luminous Bright Star, will see DVD release on January 26. The film did not reach the wide theatrical audience it deserved, so I can’t help but encourage everyone to pick this one up on DVD. After all, it’s the film that made me pen the line “insanely sexy hand-holding,” what more could you want? The film stars Abbie Cornish (in one of the best female performances of 2009, in my opinion), Ben Whishaw as John Keats, and Paul Schneider.
Read more on DVD release info for Bright Star…
Tweet This! Share this on del.icio.us Share this on Facebook Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Digg this! Email this to a friend?...
Read more on DVD release info for Bright Star…
Tweet This! Share this on del.icio.us Share this on Facebook Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Digg this! Email this to a friend?...
- 1/21/2010
- by Kate Erbland
- GordonandtheWhale
A big Boxwish congratulations to Janet Patterson on being nominated for a BAFTA for her costume work on tender love story Bright Star. It marks the latest award nomination for the drama which charts the tragic relationship between romantic poet, John Keats (Brideshead Revisited’s Ben Whishaw) and his seamstress neighbour, Fanny Brawne (Elizabeth: The Golden Age’s Abbie Cornish) and is seriously well deserved. The gorgeous Regency costumes are rich with stunning period detail, very much in-keeping with Patterson’s previous projects on which she’s regularly collaborated with director, Jane Campion (Bright Star marks their fifth time working together for film or TV). It’s a union that has seemingly served them both well and is one of the many subjects the designer touches on in conversation with W magazine.
- 1/21/2010
- Boxwish.com
Jane Campion has claimed that the build-up of tension rather than its release is the key to the "haunting strength" of romance. The director of John Keats biopic Bright Star told W that she was attracted to the purity of the poet's relationship with seamstress Fanny Brawne. Campion said: "I found it fascinating that it was so chaste. That's what gives it a lot of haunting strength and what makes it unique. "I think the whole tension about romanticism is the way it builds and builds, and the moment it's consummated, the tension's over. And in this story (more)...
- 1/20/2010
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Quentin Tarantino believes violence is what makes movies good. Not just his movies: all movies, according to the London Evening Standard: In general cinema, that's the biggest attraction. I'm a big fan of action and violence in cinema... That's why Thomas Edison created the motion picture camera — because violence is so good. It affects audiences in a big way. You know you're watching a movie. Or perhaps because Tarantino got a sneak peak at the director’s cut of Bright Star -- which restores the awesome gory duel between poets John Keats and Charles Armitage Brown the studio forced Jane Campion to cut -- and really does simply believe the film is stronger and more effective with that shot of Keats’ intestines spilling out onto Hampstead Heath. This has been your Wtf Thought for the Day.
- 1/14/2010
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
A few days ago, something slipped through my RSS Feed that must be discussed here at Cinematical. On Monday, The Wrap wrote a piece about the Academy's choices for Original and Adapted Screenplay and revealed that Bright Star was deemed an Adapted Screenplay, not an Original one. If there is any problem with the Academy, with the Oscars, and with giving this struggling institution new life, I think the first step would be learning the meaning of the awards it's giving out. I'm brow-furrowed and flabbergasted.
Let's back up. Bright Star is Jane Campion's account about the love affair between John Keats and Fanny Brawne. She was inspired to write the film after reading a biography of the poet (written by Andrew Motion) as well as Keats' own poetry. However, the film is told from Brawne's point of view, and there isn't a whole lot written about her. In...
Let's back up. Bright Star is Jane Campion's account about the love affair between John Keats and Fanny Brawne. She was inspired to write the film after reading a biography of the poet (written by Andrew Motion) as well as Keats' own poetry. However, the film is told from Brawne's point of view, and there isn't a whole lot written about her. In...
- 1/8/2010
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
Chicago – They came, we saw and in the end, who conquered? HollywoodChicago.com Senior Writer Patrick McDonald weighs in on the Top Ten of 2009. From the rich palette of choices, the challenge is always to winnow it down to ten.
This was a strong year, with many films in the “eleven spot” that would qualify easily for Top Ten consideration in any other year, including “An Education,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Red Cliff,” “Precious” and “Capitalism: A Love Story.”
But as the old saying goes, opinions are like a certain hole, everybody has one. Here is Patrick McDonald’s journey into that deep void…
10. ‘Star Trek’
Logical Pair: Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine in ‘Star Trek’
Photo credit: © 2009 Paramount Pictures
Yep, a true popcorn film makes the cut. One that beat the odds and expectations of Trekker geeks everywhere. What impressed most about this origin re-imagining...
This was a strong year, with many films in the “eleven spot” that would qualify easily for Top Ten consideration in any other year, including “An Education,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Red Cliff,” “Precious” and “Capitalism: A Love Story.”
But as the old saying goes, opinions are like a certain hole, everybody has one. Here is Patrick McDonald’s journey into that deep void…
10. ‘Star Trek’
Logical Pair: Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine in ‘Star Trek’
Photo credit: © 2009 Paramount Pictures
Yep, a true popcorn film makes the cut. One that beat the odds and expectations of Trekker geeks everywhere. What impressed most about this origin re-imagining...
- 1/8/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
"An Education" led the 2010 BAFTA film awards. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced its longlist and the coming-of-age drama scored 17 mentions including best film, director, and actress for Carey Mulligan.
Not too far behind was Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" with 15 mentions and Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" scored 12. Meanwhile, James Cameron's "Avatar" and Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" received 11 mentions apiece.
This longlist will be cut down to a shortlist from 15 mentions per category (except Best Animated Film) to 5. They will be announced January 21st. Then, the winners will be crowned one month later on Feb. 21st.
Here's the full BAFTA longlist:
Best Film
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"Gran Torino"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Invictus"
"Moon"
"Precious"
"The Road"
"A Serious Man"
"A Single Man"
"Star Trek"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"
Adapted Screenplay
"Crazy Heart"
"The Damned United"
"District 9...
Not too far behind was Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" with 15 mentions and Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" scored 12. Meanwhile, James Cameron's "Avatar" and Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" received 11 mentions apiece.
This longlist will be cut down to a shortlist from 15 mentions per category (except Best Animated Film) to 5. They will be announced January 21st. Then, the winners will be crowned one month later on Feb. 21st.
Here's the full BAFTA longlist:
Best Film
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"Gran Torino"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Invictus"
"Moon"
"Precious"
"The Road"
"A Serious Man"
"A Single Man"
"Star Trek"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"
Adapted Screenplay
"Crazy Heart"
"The Damned United"
"District 9...
- 1/7/2010
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
District 9 and Star Trek join awards front-runner Avatar in the Producers Guild of America’s top ten for the Darryl F. Zanuck award in theatrical motion pictures. Not happy today are the folks behind The Messenger, Bright Star, Nine and A Serious Man, who could have used a boost. These films may have to settle for acting, writing or technical nods, if they wind up in the Oscar race at all. Jane Campion got bad news yesterday when the Academy ruled that her Bright Star screenplay was adapted, not original. She based her script on the real-life love affair between Fanny Brawne and poet John Keats. …...
- 1/5/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
By Steve Pond
Despite Appariton’s “For Your Consideration” ads, and despite the Gurus of Gold voters who voted it the eighth-most-likely nominee, Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” has no chance of winning an Oscar nomination in the original-screenplay category.
That’s because the Academy’s writers branch has classified “Bright Star,” the story of the romance between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, as an adapted screenplay, not an original one.
Apparition was reportedly informed of the decision after the company had already taken out a...
Despite Appariton’s “For Your Consideration” ads, and despite the Gurus of Gold voters who voted it the eighth-most-likely nominee, Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” has no chance of winning an Oscar nomination in the original-screenplay category.
That’s because the Academy’s writers branch has classified “Bright Star,” the story of the romance between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, as an adapted screenplay, not an original one.
Apparition was reportedly informed of the decision after the company had already taken out a...
- 1/4/2010
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Director Jane Campion is no stranger to making lush looking period films having already turned out The Piano and Portrait Of A Lady. With her latest film, Bright Star, she returns to form in telling the story of the ill-fated romance between Fanny Brawne and John Keats in 19th Century London. Abbie Cornish plays Brawne in the film and she [...]...
- 1/4/2010
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
Iraq-set drama "The Hurt Locker" set off fireworks as the National Society of Film Critics voted Sunday.
The last major critics organization to check in with its 2009 kudos named the Summit release picture of the year and hailed the film's Kathryn Bigelow as best director and Jeremy Renner as best actor.
The group also chose Yolande Moreau as best actress for her performance as French painter Seraphine de Senlis in the biopic "Seraphine." Moreau, who picked up the actress prize at France's Cesar Awards, was named best actress last month by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.
Although the National Society sometimes breaks with other critics groups -- last year, for example, it tapped "Waltz With Bashir" as 2008's best pic, and "Pan's Labyrinth" in 2006 -- it lined up with other organizations to hail "Locker," which has been crowned best picture by critics in Los Angeles, New York and Washington...
The last major critics organization to check in with its 2009 kudos named the Summit release picture of the year and hailed the film's Kathryn Bigelow as best director and Jeremy Renner as best actor.
The group also chose Yolande Moreau as best actress for her performance as French painter Seraphine de Senlis in the biopic "Seraphine." Moreau, who picked up the actress prize at France's Cesar Awards, was named best actress last month by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.
Although the National Society sometimes breaks with other critics groups -- last year, for example, it tapped "Waltz With Bashir" as 2008's best pic, and "Pan's Labyrinth" in 2006 -- it lined up with other organizations to hail "Locker," which has been crowned best picture by critics in Los Angeles, New York and Washington...
- 1/3/2010
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Iraq-set drama "The Hurt Locker" set off fireworks as the National Society of Film Critics voted Sunday.The last major critics organization to check in with its 2009 kudos, the 64-member group named the Summit release the best picture of the year and hailed Kathryn Bigelow as best director and Jeremy Renner as best actor.The group also chose Yolande Moreau as best actress for her performance as French painter Seraphine de Senlis in the biopic "Seraphine." Moreau, who picked up the prize as best actress at France's Cesar Awards, also was named best actress by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. last month.Although the National Society sometimes breaks with other critics groups -- last year, for example, it named "Waltz With Bashir" as the best pic of 2008, and it hailed "Pan's Labyrinth" in 2006 -- it lined up with other organizations that have already hailed "Locker," which has been...
- 1/3/2010
- backstage.com
Jane Campion, who's wowed film fans and critics for years with movies like Sweetie, The Piano, and The Portrait of a Lady, came back with a fierceness at this year's Cannes with Bright Star, an elegant retelling of the love affair between John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). The film shows the doomed relationship from Brawne's point of view; an outspoken and creative young woman with a flair for fashion and not much of a passion for Romantic poetry, Brawne becomes enamored of her neighbor much to the disapproval of her mother and his churlish friend, fellow writer Charles Brown (Paul Schneider). Unfortunately, their love remains rather celibate, relegated to holding hands and writing letters. Keats died at 25, unsuccessful and poor, from tuberculosis.
Overall the consensus from Cannes was that Jane Campion's first full-length movie since 2003's In the Cut was a strong contender in a number of Oscar categories,...
Overall the consensus from Cannes was that Jane Campion's first full-length movie since 2003's In the Cut was a strong contender in a number of Oscar categories,...
- 12/22/2009
- by Jenni Miller
- Cinematical
Bright Star director Jane Campion believes in throwing her actors in at the deep end. Abbie Cornish had not met her co-star Ben Whishaw before they worked together on rehearsals for the story of poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. Campion explained she had learned a thing or two about on-set chemistry:'i had a situation on The Piano where when I told Holly [Hunter] that [Harvey Keitel] was going to be playing Baines; she just howled down the phone. She'd heard things - that he's very difficult, that he was rude to women. If I'd applied that rule of 'Let's get them together and see if they like each other', it would have been a disaster. They grew...
- 12/18/2009
- by Philippa Bourke
- Monsters and Critics
With little light shining on Australia's actors ahead of the Oscars, Abbie Cornish was being held out as her homeland's only chance. Bright Star, the movie featuring 27-year-old Cornish and directed by Jane Campion, has already received warm praise from critics for its tackling of a 19th-century passion between the poet, John Keats, and Fanny Brawne. But Cornish has failed to score a Golden Globes nomination from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, whose prestigious honours are seen as a clue to how the Oscars will play out. Nicole Kidman, while seen as a long shot for a Globes nomination, was also passed over. One report declared Naomi Watts to be 'missing in action', which might...
- 12/16/2009
- by Philippa Bourke
- Monsters and Critics
This is a busy time for Abbie Cornish. Between traveling and doing physical training for her upcoming Zack Snyder film—if you’ve seen 300 you know how grueling that can be—she also has the Oscar buzz around Bright Star to fret about. Yet in our interview, she managed to mask her exhaustion with good, old-fashioned Aussie energy, and summon a passion for her work worthy of Fanny Brawne, the character she plays in Jane Campion’s film, about John Keats’s greatest love. In our interview, Cornish dished about everything from her new film to the Academy awards, to her love-hate relationship with hair-and-makeup. Plus: watch our video Q&A with director Jane Campion. So you’re currently filming the new Zack Snyder movie, Sucker Punch. That seems to be a largely female cast. Pretty much is. We have Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm, and Scott Glenn, but they kind of come in and out,...
- 12/11/2009
- Vanity Fair
With awards season in full swing, Movieline is launching a new recurring feature called "For Your Reconsideration," where we speak to the talented people whose contributions to the year in film are worthy of a second look. First up: Abbie Cornish from Bright Star.
There's something about the women in Jane Campion's films: They can say so much without saying anything at all. Bright Star's Abbie Cornish certainly gets to talk more than Holly Hunter did in The Piano, but as her Fanny Brawne falls in love with Ben Whishaw's John Keats, her quiet fortitude conveys intelligence, emotion, and deep passion. It's one of the year's most striking performances.
Now that Cornish has been able to carve out some spare time from shooting Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch, the actress talked to Movieline about clothes, chemistry, and the one thing Campion and Snyder have in common.
There's something about the women in Jane Campion's films: They can say so much without saying anything at all. Bright Star's Abbie Cornish certainly gets to talk more than Holly Hunter did in The Piano, but as her Fanny Brawne falls in love with Ben Whishaw's John Keats, her quiet fortitude conveys intelligence, emotion, and deep passion. It's one of the year's most striking performances.
Now that Cornish has been able to carve out some spare time from shooting Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch, the actress talked to Movieline about clothes, chemistry, and the one thing Campion and Snyder have in common.
- 12/11/2009
- Movieline
A favorite buzzword of actors is "simplicity." But to see its paragon, observe Ben Whishaw in his current project, Jane Campion's "Bright Star." In it he plays 19th-century poet John Keats. Or rather, he is Keats. Whishaw has not a moment onscreen that looks actorly. And aside from the utter seriousness that seems to mark his roles to date, each is crisply distinct—whether he is playing the bizarrely talented title role of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer," rocker Keith Richards in "Stoned," the tortured Sebastian in "Brideshead Revisited," or one of the Bob Dylans in "I'm Not There." Whishaw seems a likely, and much-needed, heir to Daniel Day-Lewis.How does he do it? "I read a lot," says Whishaw. He also started early, in a youth theater near London, U.K. "We were a very ambitious little troupe and did some amazing plays," says Whishaw.
- 12/11/2009
- backstage.com
"I really swallowed that pill."Those are the words of Peter Sarsgaard, looking back at the Actors Studio and the ideas that most shaped his early days. "I was a real devotee of that school of acting," he reflects.Today, he acknowledges a far broader range of influences. Playing the joint lead in "An Education," the little English film about a young girl's relationship with an older man that is fast gaining traction as an awards contender, he says he culled from a host of other sources to create his morally ambivalent character. For one thing, he drew on fellow actors—something he has done ever since working with Sean Penn on "Dead Man Walking." "Just watching him go through different takes, seeing the way he found things, disregarded things, held onto things—there's some fantasy about a certain type of actor that might do it completely differently every time.
- 12/10/2009
- backstage.com
A friend of Paul Schneider's recently referred to him as "the reluctant actor," a label Schneider disputes. "I'm not reluctant," he explains, choosing his words carefully. "When I do a job, I do it 100 percent. I am so grateful for the chance to do what I do. But I also feel differently from the guy who wanted to be an actor since he was 5 years old. I didn't grow up wanting to be an actor, and I didn't go to acting school." Schneider, currently seen as the object of Amy Poehler's obsession on the NBC comedy "Parks and Recreation," takes a moment to clarify, lest he sound ungrateful for the opportunities he has been given. "I'm so happy to be able to do these jobs. But I'm not desperate to act. I don't know what I'm desperate to do—I don't know what I'm going to do when I grow up!
- 12/10/2009
- backstage.com
Bright Star was brilliantly reviewed on the film fest circuit from Cannes to Toronto. But some critics praise its undeniable visual style and directorial panache (the film won a special cinematography prize from the National Board of Review) but find the 19th-century period drama lacking in deep emotion. I don’t understand how anyone could not find moving the tragic, painful love story of 23-year-old poet John Keats and his 18-year-old North London neighbor Fanny Brawne, well-played by Brit Ben Whishaw and Australian actress Abbie Cornish. It does seem that more women respond to the film’s intimate, subtle pleasures than men. A respected film director on the …...
- 12/10/2009
- Thompson on Hollywood
Who deserves this guy?
The coverage for the 2009 movie award season has begun and voting is being solicited by all the major studios. Screeners have been sent to just about all of the 20+ critic associations in America. This year is wide open in almost every category. Once the critic associations finish their voting by the end of December, studios and the academy awards will take note before the final vote and the biggest award show in March, the Oscars.
So much like Part 1 of this column, I'm going to talk about a few flicks that didn't get formal reviews from yours truly. To see the films reviewed in 2009, go to 2009 reviews.
Now let's talk about some movies that are in consideration:
Bright Star hit the USA around the beginning of the Fall season. It tells the story of the poet John Keats, who at the time was struggling and had...
The coverage for the 2009 movie award season has begun and voting is being solicited by all the major studios. Screeners have been sent to just about all of the 20+ critic associations in America. This year is wide open in almost every category. Once the critic associations finish their voting by the end of December, studios and the academy awards will take note before the final vote and the biggest award show in March, the Oscars.
So much like Part 1 of this column, I'm going to talk about a few flicks that didn't get formal reviews from yours truly. To see the films reviewed in 2009, go to 2009 reviews.
Now let's talk about some movies that are in consideration:
Bright Star hit the USA around the beginning of the Fall season. It tells the story of the poet John Keats, who at the time was struggling and had...
- 12/9/2009
- Tampa Film Examiner
"Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,And so live ever—or else swoon to death."Poetry: one of the unique albeit unorthodox tools that award-winning casting director Nina Gold used to cast writer-director Jane Campion's homage to 19th-century poetic love cut short, "Bright Star."Named for a poem originally thought to be British poet John Keats' last, "Bright Star" depicts the tragically brief and heartbreaking love affair between the penniless poet and the beautiful Fanny Brawne, the daughter of a Hampstead widow who is principally obsessed with marrying Fanny off to the right man of the right social status. "The really different casting thing that we had everyone do," says Gold, "was to read a poem. All these actors that were so accomplished, it...
- 12/9/2009
- backstage.com
In "Bright Star," Abbie Cornish depicts Fannie Brawne, the lover of Romantic—and doomed—poet John Keats. Keats and Brawne never married, but after he died Brawne wore a widow's black dress for three years and never took off the ring he gave her. Cornish spoke to Back Stage about how she got into the character of an 18th-century woman whose love for Keats continued even decades after his death."The story is centered on the love Keats and Fanny had for each other. So anytime I felt myself searching for answers, I'd go back to their love, and that would answer all questions. I read the letters that she and Keats wrote to each other and his poems, which were such a key into the world of that time. At first I let the character and story wash over me and tried not to judge or calculate it. Each character has a journey.
- 12/3/2009
- backstage.com
“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases...” This gorgeous French poster for Jane Campion’s Bright Star (which doesn't open in Paris until January) is quite a departure from the canoodling big heads of John Keats and Fanny Brawne on the Us one-sheet, though the title treatment remains the same. At 47 by 63 inches (the French “grande” size) it must be a knockout. I love how the designers have darkened the field of lilacs, and Fanny’s dress, from the already lovely film still (see below), adding deep purples and blacks, giving it a richer, more painterly look. Enough to drive a man to poetry.
And now at once, adventuresome, I send
My herald thought into a wilderness:
There let its trumpet blow, and quickly dress
My uncertain path with green, that I may speed
Easily onward, thorough flowers and weed.
And now at once, adventuresome, I send
My herald thought into a wilderness:
There let its trumpet blow, and quickly dress
My uncertain path with green, that I may speed
Easily onward, thorough flowers and weed.
- 11/20/2009
- MUBI
Movie Jungle is pleased to offer registered users a chance to take home the soundtrack from the incredible "Bright Star." The film is currently in threatres and stars Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider and Kerry Fox. What's on the soundtrack: 1. Negative Capability - Mark Bradshaw featuring Abbie Cornish & Ben Wishaw 2. La Belle Dame Sans Merci - Ben Wishaw 3. Return - Mark Bradshaw 4. Human Orchestra - Mark Bradshaw, Ben Wishaw, Samuel Barnett, Cameron Woodhouse, Daniell Johnston 5. Convulsion - Mark Bradshaw 6. Bright Star - Mark Bradshaw featuring Abbie Cornish 7. Letters - Mark Bradshaw featuring Abbie Cornish & Ben Wishaw 8. Yearning - Mark Bradshaw featuring Ben Wishaw 9. Ode to A Nightingale - Mark Bradshaw featuring Ben Wishaw with Erica Englert How do I enter? Easy! 1. Register. 2. Email reviews@moviejungle.com and tell us the following: A: The contest you're entering B. Your name and address. C. Where is Bright Star set and what...
- 11/13/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Bright Star, the new movie about Keats, has ruined him for me. It's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last
On Sunday I did the bad thing again. I bought a ticket to Bright Star, the biopic about John Keats. I have always liked Keats, despite the line, "Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!" But I had forgotten what I call the Impromptu Law – after the George Sand biopic, Impromptu (1991), which stars Judy Davis as Sand and Hugh Grant and a handkerchief as Chopin.
My "Impromptu law" states: don't watch films about writers. Die of tuberculosis. Stick your head in the oven. If you are a writer, stick your life's work in the oven as well – then maybe they won't get you.
As soon as Keats appeared with his quill, I knew it was bad. Ignore the applauding critics; they have been blinded by the Shrek franchise.
On Sunday I did the bad thing again. I bought a ticket to Bright Star, the biopic about John Keats. I have always liked Keats, despite the line, "Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!" But I had forgotten what I call the Impromptu Law – after the George Sand biopic, Impromptu (1991), which stars Judy Davis as Sand and Hugh Grant and a handkerchief as Chopin.
My "Impromptu law" states: don't watch films about writers. Die of tuberculosis. Stick your head in the oven. If you are a writer, stick your life's work in the oven as well – then maybe they won't get you.
As soon as Keats appeared with his quill, I knew it was bad. Ignore the applauding critics; they have been blinded by the Shrek franchise.
- 11/11/2009
- by Tanya Gold
- The Guardian - Film News
Press agent Martin Marquet is shutting down his L.A.-based indie praisery M. Link to join Bill Pohlad and Bob Berney’s Apparition as managing vice president of publicity. A French citizen, the bilingual Marquet knows both the foreign and domestic universe. Reporting to marketing and publicity chief Jeanne Berney, Marquet joins pub v-p Vicky Eguia at Pohlad’s Century City offices. “I am convinced that my new responsibilities at Apparition and my inspirations in the film industry are a great match,” writes Marquet in an email. As the John Keats romance Bright Star continues to play in about 80 markets (total gross $4.2 million), Apparition is upbeat over …...
- 11/10/2009
- Thompson on Hollywood
With Megan Fox unleashing her fangs in horror/ comedy Jennifer’s Body, spooky scares in Paranormal Activity and vampires and werewolves soon to slug it out in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the world of the supernatural is dominating at cinemas. So nice then to see a more sedate and genteel film on release from last Friday, the period drama Bright Star which charts the ill-fated romance between poet, John Keats (played by Ben Whishaw) and his neighbour, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). And if this literary love story is more your pace, then head over to Keats House to see screen worn costumes from the film.
- 11/10/2009
- Boxwish.com
I met a man who didn't sleep. This was in the summer of 1988. I was in Toulouse, France, to visit a friend I'd made some years earlier in London, Dominique Hoff. Her sister, Marie-Christine, told me: "There is a man you must meet. He's the smartest man I know. He was my professor in dental school. He invents dental tools, and he can fix anything with his hands. He and his wife have converted a big old barn in the country into a home and workshop and a place for his collection." His collection? I said. The sisters laughed. "You'll see."
Les toits de Toulouse à partir de la fenêtre d'Hervé
Paul Delprat and his wife Danielle Moog did indeed occupy a vast old barn somewhere in the countryside. They called it Cambolevet. They were a jolly middle-aged couple, waiting for us in the farmyard. A dog came to investigate.
Les toits de Toulouse à partir de la fenêtre d'Hervé
Paul Delprat and his wife Danielle Moog did indeed occupy a vast old barn somewhere in the countryside. They called it Cambolevet. They were a jolly middle-aged couple, waiting for us in the farmyard. A dog came to investigate.
- 11/9/2009
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
We have three second-part clips from the interviews with "Bright Star" stars Abbie Cornish, Ben Wishaw and Paul Scheider. The Jane Campion romantic drama is currently in limited areas via Apparition. London 1818: a secret love affair begins between 23 year old English poet, John Keats, and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, an outspoken student of fashion. This unlikely pair started at odds; he thinking her a stylish minx, she unimpressed by literature in general. It was the illness of Keats’s younger brother that drew them together. Keats was touched by Fanny’s efforts to help and agreed to teach her poetry. By the time Fanny’s alarmed mother and Keats’s best friend Brown realised their attachment, the relationship had an unstoppable momentum. Intensely and helplessly absorbed in each other...
- 11/4/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The Seattle Times (McT) -- "Write the softest words and kiss them that I may at least touch my lips where yours have been. For myself I know not how to express my devotion to so fair a form: I want a brighter word than bright, a fairer word than fair." -- John Keats to Fanny Brawne, 1819 ——— Toronto — Young love would be the only love the British poet John Keats would ever know. The author of "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode to a Nightingale" and "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" met his 18-year-old Hampstead neighbor, Fanny Brawne, when he was 23.…...
- 9/24/2009
- by By Moira Macdonald
- PopMatters
The actor Ben Whishaw has that dying poet thing down. In Jane Campion's new movie Bright Star, he is a tender presence, portraying the ill-fated John Keats who dies at age 25 before fulfilling the bright future suggested by the poetry that survives him, including "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," "Endymion," "Lamia," and his famous odes. To make such a stunning movie that can convey the poet, his muse, and their world, that at the same time defies the conventions of period drama, is indeed a feat that augurs a bright future for the Australian Campion, and her distributor Apparition in their debut venture. Hosting the movie's stellar premiere at the Paris Theater with an afterparty at Rouge Tomate, Apparition's Bob and Jeannie Berney were joined by Campion, Whishaw, Abbie Cornish who plays Fanny Brawne, the poet's neighbor and muse,...
- 9/18/2009
- by Regina Weinreich
- Huffington Post
SYDNEY -- Director Jane Campion's latest feature, Bright Star, received the green light for funding from the Film Finance Corp. Australia on Thursday. It's part of an eclectic slate that will usher in the final year of the agency's operations.
Bright Star, an Australian-British co-production that charts the ill-fated love affair between 18-year-old Fanny Brawne and the English romantic poet John Keats, will see Campion reignite her partnership with producer Jan Chapman, with whom she won the 1993 Palme d'Or with The Piano.
Co-producing Bright Star is U.K. producer Caroline Hewitt, while Hopscotch Films and Pathe Films are distributing.
The new FFC slate, which marks the beginning of the final year before it merges with the Australian Film Commission and Film Australia in July 2008, includes four other features, five adult TV dramas, three children's dramas and nine documentaries.
Among those receiving funding is Two Fists, One Heart, a biopic about boxer Rai Fazio, who has co-written the screenplay with Jan Sardi. David Elfick is producing through his Palm Beach Pictures shingle, hiring helmer Shawn Seet for his debut feature.
Bright Star, an Australian-British co-production that charts the ill-fated love affair between 18-year-old Fanny Brawne and the English romantic poet John Keats, will see Campion reignite her partnership with producer Jan Chapman, with whom she won the 1993 Palme d'Or with The Piano.
Co-producing Bright Star is U.K. producer Caroline Hewitt, while Hopscotch Films and Pathe Films are distributing.
The new FFC slate, which marks the beginning of the final year before it merges with the Australian Film Commission and Film Australia in July 2008, includes four other features, five adult TV dramas, three children's dramas and nine documentaries.
Among those receiving funding is Two Fists, One Heart, a biopic about boxer Rai Fazio, who has co-written the screenplay with Jan Sardi. David Elfick is producing through his Palm Beach Pictures shingle, hiring helmer Shawn Seet for his debut feature.
- 7/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Brit actor Ben Whishaw, who starred in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, is sniffing out a starring role in Jane Campion's Bright Star, the filmmakers said Wednesday.
Whishaw is in final negotiations to star as poet John Keats in the period romance drama for Pathe International, which is written and will be directed by Campion.
Bright Star focuses on the three-year romance between 19th century poet Keats and Fanny Brawne, to be played by Abbie Cornish. The poet's romance was sadly cut short by Keats' untimely death at the age of 25.
Whishaw is about to begin shooting Brideshead Revisited alongside Hayley Atwell and Matthew Goode and this fall he will also be seen in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There, as one of the seven characters portraying music legend Bob Dylan.
Whishaw is repped by Christian Hodell of Hamilton Hodell and Hylda Queally of CAA. Negotiations are being finalixed by his attorney Jodi Peikoff.
Campion's movie is scheduled to go before the cameras either in late summer or early fall.
Whishaw is in final negotiations to star as poet John Keats in the period romance drama for Pathe International, which is written and will be directed by Campion.
Bright Star focuses on the three-year romance between 19th century poet Keats and Fanny Brawne, to be played by Abbie Cornish. The poet's romance was sadly cut short by Keats' untimely death at the age of 25.
Whishaw is about to begin shooting Brideshead Revisited alongside Hayley Atwell and Matthew Goode and this fall he will also be seen in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There, as one of the seven characters portraying music legend Bob Dylan.
Whishaw is repped by Christian Hodell of Hamilton Hodell and Hylda Queally of CAA. Negotiations are being finalixed by his attorney Jodi Peikoff.
Campion's movie is scheduled to go before the cameras either in late summer or early fall.
CANNES -- Palme d'Or winner Jane Campion said she is prepping the romantic period drama Bright Star for Pathe U.K., the British-based production arm of France's Pathe Entertainment. The project, which Campion is writing, is a drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25. "I'm still in the process of writing it, and we don't know yet when we're going into production," she said Tuesday at the Australian Film Commission's 30th anniversary party in Cannes.
- 5/24/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CANNES -- Palme d'Or winner Jane Campion said she is prepping the romantic period drama Bright Star for Pathe U.K., the British-based production arm of France's Pathe Entertainment. The project, which Campion is writing, is a drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25. "I'm still in the process of writing it, and we don't know yet when we're going into production," she said Tuesday at the Australian Film Commission's 30th anniversary party in Cannes.
- 5/24/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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