November & December's next releases

November Highlights:Cameron Diaz and James Marsden play a couple who must decide if they want to open The Box that will both give them $1 million and cause the death of a random person. Directed by Richard Kelly ( Donnie Darko), the thriller is based on the short story “Button, Button,” which was previously adapted into a “Twilight Zone” segment. (Warner Bros., Nov. 6)Wes Anderson applies his signature style to stop-motion animation in Fantastic Mr. Fox. Based on the beloved children’s book by Roald Dahl, Anderson’s adaptation is much more grown-up, and features the suave vocal stylings of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray. (20th Century Fox, Nov. 13)
A U.S. Army officer (Ben Foster) who has returned from Iraq is assigned to the Casualty Notification service in The Messenger. He finds himself attracted to a young widow (Samantha Morton) as he deals with his difficult assignment and his own war scars. Woody Harrelson co-stars for director Oren Moverman. (Oscilloscope, Nov. 13)
The renegade group in Pirate Radio broadcast rock ’n’ roll music from a tanker just outside of British jurisdiction in the 1960s. They include Philip Seymour Hoffman as “The Count” and Bill Nighy as the ship’s captain, who receives a series of visits from a godson (Tom Sturridge) who is in search of his father. Richard Curtis ( Love, Actually) wrote and directed the seagoing tale. (Focus, Nov. 13)
Disaster addicts will see their favorite monuments crumble in 2012, the new spectacle from director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow). John Cusack stars as a sci-fi writer trying to save his family when an apocalypse foreseen by the Mayans comes to pass. (Columbia, Nov. 13)A complex romantic mystery from renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, Broken Embraces stars Penélope Cruz as a call girl who marries a wealthy businessman who helps finance her career as a film actress. When she falls in love with her director (Lluis Homar), the consequences are tragic. (Sony Pictures Classics, Nov. 20)In Twilight: New Moon, the romance between vampire Edward and mortal Bella becomes a love triangle. Distraught over an incident during which Bella is almost killed by a helplessly bloodthirsty relative, Edward leaves the young woman. Bella then begins a romance with her quiet Native American classmate Jake, who turns out to be a werewolf, a vampire’s mortal enemy. Chris Weitz ( The Golden Compass) directed the second chapter in the pop phenomenon. (Summit, Nov 20)Set during theatrical wunderkind Orson Welles’ celebrated staging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in 1937, Me and Orson Welles takes the point of view of a young, aspiring actor (Zac Efron) who spends a hectic week with the Mercury Theatre Company and falls in love with an older woman (Claire Danes). Film newcomer Christian McKay gives an uncanny performance as Welles in the new film from director Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Before Sunset). (Freestyle, Nov. 25)Set in a post-apocalyptic America, The Road focuses on a man and boy who traverse the country in an effort to stay alive. Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Robert Duvall and newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee head the cast. John Hillcoat ( The Proposition) directed the film, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy. (Weinstein Co., Nov. 25)

Also in November:William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofor (American Gangster), Jonny Lee Miller, Mark Strong ( Body of Lies), Derek Jacobi and Clarke Peters star in Endgame, a drama about the behind-the-scenes negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa in 1985. Peter Travis directed. (Monterey Media, Nov. 6)Three high-school seniors (Emmy Rossum, Ashley Springer, Zach Gilford) decide to take one big risk before they enter the real world in Dare. (Image Entertainment, Nov. 13)
Women in Trouble follows ten women with careers ranging from flight attendant to psychiatrist to call girl, who are all trying to get out of difficult situations. Writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez’s ensemble cast includes Carla Gugino, Adrienne Palicki (“Friday Night Lights”), Connie Britton, Emmanuelle Chriqui (“Entourage”), Simon Baker (“The Mentalist”), Josh Brolin and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Screen Media, Nov. 13)In Fix, two filmmakers, Bella (Olivia Wilde) and Milo (Tao Ruspoli), race around Los Angeles trying to raise $5,000 to send Milo’s brother to rehab and help him avoid a three-year jail sentence. (Lafco & Mangusta Prods., Nov. 20)

December Highlights:In Brothers, a U.S. Marine (Tobey Maguire) goes MIA in Afghanistan, his freewheeling brother (Jake Gyllenhaal) helps take care of his presumed widow (Natalie Portman), and the two develop a bond. Then the husband returns home, psychologically ravaged by the war, creating a tense domestic triangle. Jim Sheridan ( In America) directed this remake of an acclaimed 2004 Danish drama. (Lionsgate, Dec. 4)
Everybody’s Fine stars Robert De Niro as a gruff widower who falls out of touch with his three children after the death of his wife. After they decline invitations to visit, he goes on a road trip to visit each of his children, played by Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell. Kirk Jones adapted and directed the film, which is based on the 1990 Italian movie Stanno Tutti Bene. (Miramax, Dec. 4)
George Clooney plays a high-powered downsizing expert in Up in the Air. Close to accruing his ten-millionth mile, and just after meeting the woman of his dreams (Vera Farmiga) in an airport frequent-flyer lounge, he finds his jet-setting way of life suddenly thrown into turmoil. Jason Reitman ( Juno) directed the Toronto Film Festival hit. (Paramount, Dec. 4)Invictus takes us to South Africa to tell the post-apartheid story of Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) and the captain of the country’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon). In an attempt to unite the country, they focus on bringing the underdog team to the 1995 World Cup. Clint Eastwood directed. (Warner Bros., Dec. 11)
Based on the bestselling book, The Lovely Bones is the story of a family recovering after the rape and murder of their daughter (Saoirse Ronan), who narrates the story from heaven. Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci and Michael Imperioli round out the cast. Peter Jackson ( Lord of the Rings) brings his experience in fantasy worlds and suspense to his role as writer-director. (Paramount/Dreamworks, Dec. 11)In Avatar, a paralyzed soldier (Sam Worthington) inhabits a ten-foot tall, blue avatar. Within this body, he navigates the world of the Na’vi, a lush but dangerous realm. Technological innovator James Cameron ( Titanic, Aliens) wrote and directed the sci-fi fantasy, which will release in 3D. (20th Century Fox, Dec. 18)Based on a Broadway musical that was in turn inspired by the Fellini classic 8 1/2, Nine stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a film director balancing his relationships with his wife (Marion Cotillard), mistress (Penélope Cruz), muse (Nicole Kidman), costume designer (Judi Dench), mother (Sophia Loren), an American journalist (Kate Hudson) and a prostitute (Fergie), while also trying to make his ninth film. Musical veteran Rob Marshall ( Chicago) directs. (Weinstein Co., Dec. 18)Heath Ledger died during the filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and director Terry Gilliam recruited three stars—Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell—to complete his role. That’s just one fascinating aspect of this wild fantasy, in which Christopher Plummer stars as a man with extraordinary powers who makes a wager with the Devil in a desperate ploy to save his teenage daughter (Lily Cole). (Sony Pictures Classics, Dec. 25)
Guy Ritchie ( Snatch) directs a modern, kung-fu laced update of Arthur Conan Doyle’s venerable detective, Sherlock Holmes. Watson (Jude Law) and Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) use a mix of logic and martial arts to outsmart Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), and Rachel McAdams appears as the alluring Adler (Warner Bros., Dec. 25)". Source: www.filmjournal.com

Contemplating Heath Ledger's roles

Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005).

"I'm thinking of Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, from the Annie Proulx story. The performance was a surprise; Ledger had not previously really shown evidence of such depth, calm or simplicity. It wasn't just that he made us believe in a "gay" cowboy; he made us think about Ennis Del Mar, this character who had the generally restricted world view of a Wyoming cowhand. I never lost some feeling with Brokeback of watching an actor attempting a very tricky role, and it is possible this owed something to Ledger's honest (and understandable) fear at playing a gay character.I found it easier to "lose" myself in his Joker in The Dark Knight. A great deal of that performance lay in the dazzle of the make-up and the showiness of the director's style. It didn't help Ledger at all in a key moment (where he threatens Maggie Gyllenhaal's character) that the camera insisted on whirling around the couple while Ledger's authority begged for stillness.That's where Ledger began to open up the chilly, demented humour of the Joker and its wounded philosophy. A lot of acting in films is being watchful, and waiting and listening. And these days too much of it, alas, is driving some futuristic vehicle or manning a weapon system that changes the colour of the actor's skin. But even in franchise films like Dark Knight there may be talk, and Ledger won his Oscar when he talked and a fine, warped mind flowered.Think of Mickey Rourke - so cute, so sly, so promising in Diner, Body Heat, Rumblefish and a few other things. Then he got taken over by the armoured idea of "Mickey Rourke" (rather in he way the human being in the Joker has been hijacked by the make-up and the image). So Rourke trashed himself for years and brutalised his own face and body. What happens? He makes a comeback, but doing "Mickey Rourke". He isn't an actor any more.Or think of Brad Pitt. There was a moment when Pitt was as electric as Rourke. It was the time of Thelma & Louise, A River Runs Through It and Kalifornia. It lived on in Se7en and Fight Club. But see what has happened! Pitt has been overwhelmed by spurious celebrity and dreadful star parts – all those stupid Ocean films, not to mention Button, the Tarantino travesty and so many others. You feel that Pitt longs for his namesake – a pit into which he can vanish, with the remote chance of resurrection some 10 years away.If you want to propose Pacino, De Niro and Nicholson as the outstanding figures of the 70s and 80s, who can be resigned about what has happened to them? They have become pastiches of what they once were. Early death is depicted as a tragedy for young actors, but it may be a mercy. Dean died with three performances in the bag that might have come to seem his most important. We know now that Marlon Brando made his best films at the beginning. This wasn't just the particular films he had. It was his appetite, his energy and innocence. As time went by, Brando fell out of love with himself and with acting.Ledger in his early 20s was a young hunk, a nice-looking fellow with some pride and panache. He's watchable in The Patriot, Monster's Ball and Casanova, and helpless in many other things. His very success as the Joker almost certainly means he would have been offered lots of money to spin off a Joker franchise". Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Watch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus: 'A fire sale of broken dreams' video.

Jake flirting with Pe in Baftas?

Jake Gyllenhaal at Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA's) on 11th February 11, 2007 in London.Jake Gyllenhaal at BAFTA's with Penélope Cruz, on 11th February 2007 in London.


Penélope Cruz in Vogue photoshoot with John Galliano, photographed by Stephane Sednaoui. Jake Gyllenhaal with Spanish manchego filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar.
Pedro Almodóvar with his divina musa Penélope Cruz.Penelope Cruz and Pedro Almodóvar at "Broken Embraces" press conference during the New York Film Festival, NY, on 11th October 2009. Penélope Cruz on the cover of Vogue Spain, April 2009, wearing a cocktail azure mini dress designed by Balmain, satined pump shoes with lace by Lanvin and a XXL size tourqoise ring by Dior.

Amanda Seyfried in "Dear John"

New poster of "Jennifer's Body" (2009).

Amanda Seyfried in "Dear John" (2010).


Dear John is an upcoming 2010 romantic drama/war film starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Directed by Lasse Hallström, the film is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name. The film will be released theatrically in North America on February 6, 2010.
"The author of the Notebook is back with more sadly uplifting romantic crack cocaine. We're hooked! Even the music in this preview will have you sniffling back a tear. Plus, this may be the best-looking trailer of all time, thanks to the big-eyed gorgeousness that is Amanda Seyfried and the handsome G.I. Joe hunk-itude of onetime stripper Channing Tatum. We're ready to see this now rather than wait until just before Valentine's Day for a cathartic cry". Source: uk.eonline.com