Neuigkeiten

A movie with a star-studded cast, rich literary source material, and lavish visuals sounds great on paper! In Secret had all these elements and could have been a gripping period drama about forbidden love and people’s descent into psychological ruin.

The movie is set in 1860s Paris, featuring talented artists like Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, and Tom Felton. But somehow, despite all these ingredients, the audience found In Secret to be quite underwhelming. In the end, even the actors’ great performances couldn’t save the weak narrative.

In Secret: A classic tale of infidelity ft. Elizabeth Olsen and Tom Felton A still from In Secret | Credits: Exclusive Media Group

In Secret is an erotic thriller from 2013 that went under everyone’s radar. It dives into what suppressed passion and forbidden love can lead to. The movie is adapted from Émile Zola’s novel Thérèse Raquin, and is a...

Mark Shelmerdine, the veteran producer who revived London Films as an indie powerhouse and played a pivotal role in the development of the international TV distribution market, died October 26 in Santa Barbara surrounded by his family. He was 78.

Among his achievements, he was among the first UK indie TV producers to retain rights to a broadcast production and was a founder of the LA branch of BAFTA.

Shelmerdine’s death was confirmed to Deadline by his friend Brian Eastman. The producer had survived a rare and potentially deadly form of bile duct cancer by receiving a life-saving liver transplant in 2018 through a trial in Houston, and was one of the longest living survivors of the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Houston Methodist Hospital program.

Born on March 27, 1945, Shelmerdine spent part of his childhood in Singapore before moving to the UK. He was awarded a place to attend Sidney Sussex College...

The chase is on: a mix of icy ruthlessness and warm romanticism enliven Ken Follett's novel of pre-invasion esponage intrigue. Kate Nelligan heats up the screen with Donald Sutherland, the 'seventies most unlikely sex star. Plus a lush and wondrous music score by Miklos Rozsa. Eye of the Needle Blu-ray Twilight Time 1981 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store29.95 Starring Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Christopher Cazenove, Ian Bannen, Philip Martin Brown, Bill Nighy, Stephen MacKenna, Sam Kydd. Cinematography Alan Hume Original Music Miklos Rozsa Written by Stanley Mann based on the novel by Ken Follett Produced by Stephen Friedman Directed by Richard Marquand

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

We're all familiar with this kind of thriller -- over shots of fresh-faced troops moving off to war, a portentous scrolling text tells us about the desperate situation of London -- and the Free World -- as Hitler's Luftwaffe threatens.

In a bizarre bit of casting news, Little Britain comedian Matt Lucas has just become the latest addition to the erotic thriller Thérèse Raquin. Based on the popular Émile Zola novel, the drama will unfold in 17th century France, unveiling the twisted story of the eponymous young woman who was urged into marrying her feeble first cousin by a high-handed aunt. Once trapped in a loveless marriage, she begins to pine for her new husband's childhood friend, Laurent, and their resulting passion soon leads down a dark path. Rising starlet and media darling Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) will front the feature as Thérèse, while Harry Potter's Tom Felton and Sucker Punch's Oscar Isaac will play her husband-cousin and secret lover respectively. Oscar-winner Jessica Lange has recently stepped in to take on the role of the overbearing auntie, and EW reports Lucas has joined the ...

Bridesmaids and Alice in Wonderland star Matt Lucas has signed on to costar in the dark erotic thriller Therese.

Set in 17th century France, director Charlie Stratton’s adaptation of the Emile Zola novel and play Thérèse Raquin follows the title character (Elizabeth Olsen), who is stuck in a loveless marriage with her sickly first cousin (Harry Potter’s Tom Felton). The union was arranged under the watchful eye of her oppressive aunt, Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange). When Therese enters an affair with her husband’s friend Laurent (Drive’s Oscar Isaac), it plunges everyone’s lives into a tragic downward spiral,...

After a breakout year in 2011 courtesy of "Martha Marcy May Marlene," up-and-coming actress Elizabeth Olsen is planning for 2012 to be a "year of firsts": "my first time portraying a real-life person," "my first period piece," and "for the first time in my life, I'm putting work first."

"I'm just really excited to work," Olsen told The Playlist while doing press rounds for "Silent House." "And it's a rollercoaster."

Olsen -- who was juggling her studies at Nyu when she shot "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Silent House" (as well as "Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding" arriving this summer), hasn't been in front of cameras for anything since finishing "Liberal Arts" in July. But she is now taking a break from school so she can shoot her next three films: Beat-era drama/murder mystery "Kill Your Darlings," period drama "Thérèse Raquin," and coming-of-age tale "Very Good Girls." She has two classes...

Thérèse Raquin, the period drama that Elizabeth Olsen and Glenn Close are teaming up for, has got some new casting news. In case you don’t remember, Thérèse Raquin is an adaptation of an Émile Zola story penned and set to be directed by Charlie Stratton. It tells the story of a Parisian girl in 1867 who is forced into a loveless marriage with her sniveling, weakling cousin at the behest of her domineering aunt. Eventually the girl, Thérèse, becomes enamored of one of her husband’s friends, and then murder and infidelity ensue. Olsen, of course, it set to play the young girl, and Close the aunt. But what of the two male characters? Originally I tried to spread the false rumor that Giovanni Ribisi would be playing the sickly husband, but thankfully nobody pays attention to what I say and the rumor didn’t spread. Now the role actually is in the process of being cast...

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share with you today. First up, Harry Potter star Tom Felton set to join the cast of Therese Raquin. Based on the 19th century novel and play by Emile Zola, the dark thriller revolves around young Therese (Elizabeth Olsen) in 1867 Paris, whose aunt, Madame Raquin (Glenn Close), is forcing her into an arranged marriage with her rich, but sickly, first cousin. As Therese soon becomes obsessed with Laurent, a friend of her husband, a devastating affair ensues with a very heavy price. Deadline reports that Felton is in talks to play Therese’s sickly cousin whom she marries. Theater director Charlie Stratton is set to helm, and the dramatic role is a nice get for Felton. It’s a wise decision, as the “sickly cousin” plays against the nefarious type that Felton is surely wary of being typecast as. Additionally, Thor...

[1] Hot off two of the year's most buzzed-about performances in Albert Nobbs and Martha Marcy May Marlene, Glenn Close and Elizabeth Olsen have signed on to star in Thérèse Raquin. Charlie Stratton is writing and directing the erotic thriller, which is based on a 19th century novel and play by Émile Zola. Olsen will lead the cast as the titular young woman, who's pushed into an unhappy marriage by her overbearing aunt (Close). Thérèse eventually falls into a passionate affair with her husband's friend Laurent, with destructive consequences for all involved. Close has reportedly been attached to the film for years, though Olsen's involvement appears to be a recent development. Thérèse Raquin is scheduled to begin shooting this spring. [Entertainment Weekly [2]] After the jump, David Schwimmer gears up to kill people and Saoirse Ronan gets another love interest for The Host. "David Schwimmer" and "hitman biopic" are two phrases you don't often see together,...

"He's best known for his westerns, which traditionally are sagas about how civilization begins, how ruthless and cynical men rip it out of the throat of the wilderness," writes Peter Keough in the Boston Phoenix. "But the end of civilization is what really fascinated Sergio Leone, and the poison within that undoes every would-be paradise. Death and doom and dark hilarity overshadow his films, not just the westerns, but all of them, which are on view this month in a two-week retrospective at the Harvard Film Archive. From his first directorial effort, The Colossus of Rhodes (1961; screens November 13 at 4:30 pm), to the script about the 900-day siege of Leningrad that he left behind when he died in 1989 at the age of 60, Sergio Leone showed us how the world ends — be it by the slow brutal murder of a modern city, or the catastrophic destruction of an ancient one."

More events.

Coming fresh off her head turning performance in the recently released Martha Marcy May Marlene, relative newcomer Elizabeth Olsen is now starting to line up future roles. The latest of which will be in a movie called Thérèse Raquin, which is an adaptation of an Émile Zola story that was first published as a novel in 1867 and then became a play in 1873. The story, set in Paris in 1867, centers on a young woman named Thérèse who is forced into a loveless marriage with her first cousin by her domineering aunt Madame Raquin. Raquin’s son Camille is sickly, weak, and something of a mama’s boy, so Thérèse is anything but happy with the marriage. Sexy affairs and scandalous murder plots follow. Joining Olsen in this new big screen adaptation will be veteran actress Glenn Close, who is also coming off of a highly regarded performance in her last film Albert Nobbs. She...

Kate Winslet, Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman are among the A-list names signing up to read 'talking books'

An array of Oscar-winners and A-list stars have signed up to narrate literary classics of their choice for the rapidly growing audiobook market. Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman and Colin Firth are among Hollywood's biggest names to set the trend.

Not so long ago, audiobooks were the poor cousins of the publishing world, particularly in the UK, where "talking books" were largely abridged. Jobbing actors were usually recruited as readers. Now, with worldwide demand soaring, the stars want to be heard reading unabridged books.

A dozen A-list names have already been cast as narrators, inspired by the chance to read a favourite book. Seven are Oscar-winners. Winslet, who won the 2009 best actress award for The Reader, has long wanted to film Zola's gripping murder story Thérèse Raquin but, as Hollywood is yet to be convinced,...

In the nearly two decades that I've been writing film reviews, I can't recall another week that saw the release of three movies that are guaranteed to wind up on my year-end Ten Best list. The movies are vampire love story "Thirst" and the documentaries "The Cove," about an aquatic conservationist's attempts to stop the slaughter of dolphins, and "Severe Clear," an autobiographical account of one Marine's experiences in Iraq. Beyond their dramatic merits, all three demonstrate a front-and-center mastery of technique. They use image and sound not just for the usual, so-called "classical" purposes (to define the characters and advance the story) but to encourage the audience to think about filmmaking's ability to express states of mind.

The latest provocation from South Korean director Park Chan-Wook (director of the critically divisive "Vengeance" trilogy: "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," "Oldboy" and "Lady Vengeance"), "Thirst" is, in no particular order, a horror movie,...

Our very own Hal was at a roundtable interview event in La the other morning, and while we didn't get to ask all the questions we wanted like: "Will Smith sucks.. what do you think of him being in a remake of Oldboy?" he still got in a few good ones. Thirst premiered at Cannes and our limey loved it.. you can read his review here.

Check out the full interview after the break!

How did you balance the humor and seriousness in Thirst?

Ten years ago I couldn’t dream that I’d end up with a film like this, because at the time my plan was to make the most serious film in the history of cinema. But, a filmmaker’s tendency or personality isn’t something that can be changed, because even though I’d decided to make something serious, I came up with something like this.

Park Chan-wook has proven his reputation as a member of the world's cinematographic elite once again with his latest Jury Prize winner at this year's Cannes Film Festival for Thirst. Inspired by Émile Zola's Thérèse Raquin, this audacious masterpiece, a fusion of forbidden love, moral predicaments... and vampires, has generated many reactions and debates wherever it's been screened. Fantasia is proud to present the North American premiere of one of the year's most anticipated films. Redband Trailer (Enter your age to view)...

Fantasia Festival is North America [1]'s premiere (and largest) genre [2] film [3] festival [4]. It is also my favorite film festival and so I could not wait to share the highlights of this years line up. Here is a sneak peek at what we will be reviewing in the upcoming week of our podcast. Crush And Blush - Canadian Premiere South Korea Dir: Lee Kyoung-mi For her first feature, director Lee Kyoung-mi had some high-calibre assistance. Park Chan-wook produced, co-wrote and appears briefly in the film, as does Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host. This vaudevillian comedy doused in dark humour follows an unpopular woman who deviously schemes to seduce a colleague and keep him away from his mistress. Hong Hyo-jin seems born to play the fascinating and hard-to-follow Me-sook, an unforgettable, engaging and well-developed character. Love Exposure - Canadian Premiere Japan Dir: Sion Sono Prepare to witness miracles because Sion Sono (Suicide Club,...

While we wait for the schedule for Fantasia 2009 to be finalized, we did receive a couple of press release announcing the fest's line-up, and per usual, those of you who are planning to attend are in for one helluva genre extravaganza.

First up is a bit of news about the fest's extended schedule: Due to a veritable deluge of feature presentations, Fantasia is extending its 13th edition for two extra days and will therefore be taking place from July 9th to the 29th at Concordia University’s Hall Theatre. As North America’s largest genre film festival, Fantasia will once again make good on its promise to deliver diversity, innovation, entertainment, food for thought and a good dose of eccentric and biting humour.

Next is a message from Fantasia's Co-Director of International Programming, Mitch Davis, highlighting some of this year’s spotlights:

2009 marks the 100-year anniversary of Hong Kong’s film industry,...