"Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, The Ice Storm) and his producer partner James Schamus are dialing back to 1969 in their current project Taking Woodstock. Based on a true story, Demetri Martin stars as interior designer Elliot Tiber, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in Woodstock when he offered his family’s Catskills hotel to organizers as a home base, while his neighbor Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy) offered his farm. The eclectic cast also includes Liev Schreiber, Paul Dano, Emile Hirsch and Zoe Kazan. “The cast is insanely fresh,” producer James Schamus told RollingStone.com. “It’s an amazing bunch of people. You look around and I can’t believe we’re getting away with this.” The project marks a departure from the bleak territory that Lee has traditionally stalked. “We’ve had some very intense movies,” said Schamus, who adapted the screenplay for Taking Woodstock from a book by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte. “This is about play and fun and has hopeful spirit.” And with two noted comedians in the leads, it promises to be funny. You can partially thank the producer’s young daughter for casting of Martin, the shaggy mop-topped comic whose few screen credits include guesting on Flight of the Conchords and The Daily Show. Schamus and his daughter had been casually scouting YouTube for talent and came across a clip of Martin’s mellowed-out act. “It was a chance for me to be a really hip dad, so I mentioned him,” Schamus said. “He’s great and really funny. What’s interesting is that he’s like a tsunami underneath calm water.”
As for the music, Schamus and Lee are trying to avoid cliches while still honoring time-tested material. “Ang and I are score-oriented,” Schamus said. “It’s in the early stages, but I can tell you it’s not going to the be the usual collection of obvious needle drops. It will be of the time, and of the spirit of the time. It’s whatever works dramatically.”
Taking Woodstock aims to reflect the social unrest of the 1960s, but also mirrors modern times, complete with a “disastrous imperial war and a corrupt government and people struggling to express themselves.” Source: www.rollingstone.com
''The mud's pretty cold,'' says Emile Hirsch, explaining what it's like on the upstate New York set of Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, a behind-the-scenes look at how the 1969 music fest came together. ''It's later in the year than it was during Woodstock [which actually took place in August]. We were all shivering, and we had these silver-foil space blankets that miraculously keep you really warm.'' But they don't keep you clean: ''I did a Superman slide down a hill, and started turning on my back,'' he says with glee". Source: www.ew.com
"Taiwan-born film director and Oscar winner Ang Lee is tackling a new movie project, a comedy this time, about America’s famous Woodstock music festival in 1969. Titled “Taking Woodstock”, and adapted by longtime Lee collaborator James Schamus, the movie stems from a book of the same name by U.S. writer Elliot Tiber. Tiber’s memoir, co-written with Tom Monte, was published with in 2007 and subtitled “A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life”.
It’s set for a premiere in New York on June 26, 2009, just in time for the 40th anniversary of the famous Woodstock concert .
What does the title of the book, and the movie mean? Inquiring minds on both sides of the Pacific want to know, and one industry insider told Rush PR News what he knows.
“Taking Woodstock’” means two things: Taking stock of your life and, in a sense, control of your destiny — and also taking the experience of Woodstock, and what that cultural event meant, with you for the rest of your life, according to the industry insider. A marketing maven at the publishing house in New York came up with the phrase, he added". Source: www.rushprnews.com
We Have the Brand New Poster for the upcoming Game-Adaptation-to-Movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Finally.
Synopsis Goes Like this:
"Passing through India en route to Azad, King Sharaman and his son, the Prince of Persia, defeat the powerful Maharajah of India with the promise of honor and glory. After looting the city and capturing a giant hourglass full of sand, a mysterious dagger, and the Maharajah's daughter Farah along with other treasures, they continue to Azad. A dying Vizier, who had betrayed the Maharajah and aided King Sharaman in return for a share of the spoils, demands to have the dagger, as he was promised his choice of the Maharajah's treasures. But Sharaman refuses to take the dagger from his son, who captured it first. So the Vizier, who wishes to harness the power of the sands in the hourglass for himself, making him an immortal god and giving him control over time itself, tricks the Prince into opening the hourglass. When the Prince uses the dagger to unleash the Sands of Time from the hourglass, the Sands destroy the kingdom and turn all living beings into hideous sand creatures. Only the Prince, the Vizier, and Princess Farah, the kidnapped daughter of the Maharajah, remain unchanged due to their possessions; the Prince's dagger, the Vizier's staff and Farah's medallion." Source: blogs.ign.com
"it’s time to tabulate the results from last week’s poll! We asked you guys to tell us which of the video game movies currently in development would be the least likely to suck. Far and away the top 2 responses were Bioshock (directed by Gore Verbinski) and Prince of Persia (directed by Mike Newell and starring Jake Gyllenhaal). I think most of us can agree that those adaptations have some potential. What was quite surprising, however, was the fact that Max Payne still managed to be #3 in the poll with 13% of the votes — even after it had already been released to terrible reviews! God of War and Gears of War rounded out the top 5. Are there any others that we missed?"
1. Bioshock — 33.6% 2. Prince of Persia — 26.9% 3. Max Payne — 13.4% 4. God of War — 7.5% 5. Gears of War — 6.7% 6. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li — 4.5% 7. Onimusha — 2.2% 7. Clock Tower — 2.2% 7. Castlevania — 2.2% 10. Lost Planet — 0.7% Source: www.filmjunk.com
"This franchise reboot leaves the last PoP trilogy behind for an all-new story: When a battle between the warring gods of light and darkness destroys the mythical Tree of Life, the world falls prey to the Corruption, spreading shadows that threaten to swallow mankind whole. The new Prince, a mysterious wandering swordsman, agrees to help Elika, a plucky and comely mystic trying to set things right. In fact, she's a sophisticated AI helpmate who'll aid you in solving puzzles, fighting bad guys, and traversing the game's vast landscapes. From what we've seen, this PoP harks back to the series' best iterations, with gorgeous art direction, acrobatic derring-do, and a vibe straight out of the Arabian Nights. Here's hoping the upcoming movie, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, measures up". —Evan Narcisse Source: www.ew.com
Jake Gyllenhaal appears on stage with Avril Lavigne during MTV's Total Request Live at the MTV Times Square Studios May 25, 2004 in New York City. (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)
"A brand new photo from "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" has come out. Brought forward by Slash Film, the picture posted in the news photo displays Heath Ledger as his mysterious outsider role, Tony. It can also be seen that the late actor kneels in front of what seems to be the magic mirror through which Tony travels parallel worlds". Source: www.acceshowbiz.com "/Film reader David D sent over this new photo of Heath Ledger in his last movie, Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a traveling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this ‘coming of age’ milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all. Currently in post-production, Parnassus should be arriving at a theater near you sometime in 2009". Source: www.shashfilm.com
"Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, The Ice Storm) and his producer partner James Schamus are dialing back to 1969 in their current project Taking Woodstock. Based on a true story, Demetri Martin stars as interior designer Elliot Tiber, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in Woodstock when he offered his family’s Catskills hotel to organizers as a home base, while his neighbor Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy) offered his farm. The eclectic cast also includes Liev Schreiber, Paul Dano, Emile Hirsch and Zoe Kazan. “The cast is insanely fresh,” producer James Schamus told RollingStone.com. “It’s an amazing bunch of people. You look around and I can’t believe we’re getting away with this.”
The project marks a departure from the bleak territory that Lee has traditionally stalked. “We’ve had some very intense movies,” said Schamus, who adapted the screenplay for Taking Woodstock from a book by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte. “This is about play and fun and has hopeful spirit.” And with two noted comedians in the leads, it promises to be funny. You can partially thank the producer’s young daughter for casting of Martin, the shaggy mop-topped comic whose few screen credits include guesting on Flight of the Conchords and The Daily Show. Schamus and his daughter had been casually scouting YouTube for talent and came across a clip of Martin’s mellowed-out act. “It was a chance for me to be a really hip dad, so I mentioned him,” Schamus said. “He’s great and really funny. What’s interesting is that he’s like a tsunami underneath calm water.”
''The mud's pretty cold,'' says Emile Hirsch, explaining what it's like on the upstate New York set of Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, a behind-the-scenes look at how the 1969 music fest came together. ''It's later in the year than it was during Woodstock [which actually took place in August]. We were all shivering, and we had these silver-foil space blankets that miraculously keep you really warm.'' But they don't keep you clean: ''I did a Superman slide down a hill, and started turning on my back,'' he says with glee". Source: www.ew.com
"Taiwan-born film director and Oscar winner Ang Lee is tackling a new movie project, a comedy this time, about America’s famous Woodstock music festival in 1969. Titled “Taking Woodstock”, and adapted by longtime Lee collaborator James Schamus, the movie stems from a book of the same name by U.S. writer Elliot Tiber.
Tiber’s memoir, co-written with Tom Monte, was published with in 2007 and subtitled “A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life”.
