Movie Fanatic

Won't Back Down Trailer: Maggie Gyllenhaal Schools the Schools

typewritermender@gmail.com (Micah J Gordon) — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:16:05 EST

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis star as two moms who seek to reform the school system that has let down their children by opening a charter school. Twentieth Century Fox has released the first trailer for the upcoming film, Won't Back Down.

Won't Back Down Trailer

Won't Back Down opens September 28, and also features Holly Hunter and Ving Rhames (who will also star in the upcoming Piranha 3DD).

And while Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a concerned mom in Won't Back Down, her brother Jake will play a police officer in the upcoming found-footage drama, End of Watch. Check out the End Of Watch trailer for a look at the film.

Snow White and The Huntsman: Meet Costume Designer Colleen Atwood and Her Creations

joel.amos@moviefanatic.com (Joel D Amos) — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:57:58 EST

Movie Fanatic was honored to be shown a number of Colleen Atwood’s costumes from the upcoming blockbuster Snow White and the Huntsman. The Oscar-winning costume designer (Alice in Wonderland, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago) shared secrets into getting beyond the madness that is creating thousands of Snow White costumes to actually producing magnificence. She even lets our aspiring designers out there in on how she got the opportunity to do what she was clearly born to do.

Atwood met us at a studio space on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles and began by informing Movie Fanatic how one goes from idea from a script to the marvels we are witnessing today that were worn by stars Kristen Stewart’s Snow White, Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman and Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen.

“The first thing I get is a phone call and the script. To have a conversation (with the director) about the people without knowing the story doesn’t matter. So far I’ve been lucky enough to work on movies where there are scripts,” Atwood admitted and smiled.

“I usually work with directors that have a screenplay almost in place by the time they call me in. Then you have your ideas and talk to them. You get the director’s vision of what the film is, then take that idea and go and start a research and development process. You often don’t have a month to research and a month to do sketches. You are doing all of it at once: A budget, design work and your concept work all at the same time. The costume supervisor works with you and you sort of do the budget together. They can tell you when you are over budget and pull back.”

Then, Atwood and her team put pen to paper creating sketches as the ideas flow. She also employs a research person that ensures historical, sociological and geographical accuracy. “We do that for two or three weeks together and we get a presentation together for the director. Then we have a second meeting with concept and costume ideas and fabric swatches that I’ve gone out and gathered -- those are all part of my inspiration,” Atwood said. “For Snow White we had public library research from art books, and museum collections and online research. That’s the initial two to three weeks. This movie exploded to different things.”

Her biggest challenge tackling Snow White and the Huntsman wasn’t the battle armor for 500 extras, the intricacies of the Evil Queen’s wardrobe (as seen in the photo directly above) or putting Snow White in something that she could be both elegant and fierce in. It was crafting for the iconic Seven Dwarfs. “We started by having tests: Take a drawing and blow it up to life-sized with the shape of an average human body. Then, we take a little person and blow their drawing up to life-sized to give it all the proportions,” Atwood recalled. “We did use little people with make-up that matched the actors for a lot of middle ground stuff to cheat for the visual effects. So, that’s a side thing going on, meanwhile, there was so much more.”

As she points to the exquisite armor-plated suit on a mannequin next to me (far left in photo above), she explains how she managed to craft something we’ve never seen in a period piece battle scene. “The silver army from the Snow White trailer, we manufactured those. That process is a six-month process from start to finish when you are assembling five or six hundred costumes that are armor. You not only have to figure out the armor but what is under the armor!”

Atwood is an extremely hands-on designer -- from first sketches to the crafting and even selection of the fabric. “I’m very involved in the draping and cutting of the costumes. With armor then you go to a full life-sized sculpt of the armor. We came up with scales for Ravenna’s army (photo below). Each palette is clamped on with a jewelry ring and one skirt probably took one person three days,” she said.

She also said she works closely with the stunt team to ensure that not only do the costumes look great and are historically accurate, but also functional. “I need to know how well it functions. I know they can squat in it. They can lift it over their heads,” Atwood said. “As we go into the movie with the expectations the director has for the action, I can design a costume that works for action but still looks like a period piece. It’s very technical.”

So many have been inspired by the artistry Atwood has crafted since she first started working in Hollywood in the early 1980s. How does one get from point A: Desire to get into the business, to point B: Working on films fulfilling a dream of costume design.

“I think there is all kinds of ways to define talent and there are certain personality types that suit costume design more than others and there is all kinds of costume design and ways of approaching it,” Atwood said.

She reported the key is being a well-rounded student of many disciplines, not simply fashion and costume. “Having an overall background in all kinds of studies helps rather than just studying about clothes. Basically, you are designing characters: People on the street, fantasy people... but if you can connect it with experiences that you’ve had, people you’ve known in your life or places you’ve seen, I think it makes you a better designer. It’s not just going to the right school and having all the right credits.”

Atwood’s beginnings are quite humble, compared to where she is now as the go-to designer for filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Tim Burton (whom she most recently worked with on Dark Shadows). “I always wanted to be an artist. I had a very artistic bent -- studied painting and art -- then went into fashion and came into costume design that way,” she said. “Everything I did when I was younger tied into my life later which is typical with any career. They end up connecting in some way later in your life. I think it’s made my life and work more interesting.”

Morgan Freeman Being Sought for New Senior Comedy Last Vegas

typewritermender@gmail.com (Micah J Gordon) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:51:41 EST

People love watching old men jaunt around like 22 year-olds. Just look at The Bucket List or those Six Flags commercials.

Enter Morgan Freeman (of the aforementioned The Bucket List), who is in talks to join Michael Douglas and Robert De Niro in the upcoming comedy Las Vegas.

Las Vegas will follow four friends in their 70's who head to vegas for a bachelor party before Douglas' character gets married. Sounds like the plot of The Hangover Part XVI (incidentally, a release date for The Hangover Part III has just been announced).

Even if Freeman's casting doesn't work out, you'll still be able to see him reprise his role as Lucius Fox this summer in the much-anticipated The Dark Knight Rises. Watch The Dark Knight Rises trailer for a peek.

Dark Shadows Quotes: Welcome to Collinwood

typewritermender@gmail.com (Micah J Gordon) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:13:43 EST

Dark Shadows, Tim Burton's remake of the 1960's-70's cult soap opera classic, opened last weekend, and with its darkly humorous tone, the film is rife with quotable lines. Check out our interview with Tim Burton for an inside scoop on the film's balance between drama and comedy, or read through some of the more memorable Dark Shadows quotes.

Roger Collins: Welcome to Collinwood. You'll have to imagine us on a better day. | permalink

Barnabas Collins: Tell me, future dweller, what is the year?
Willie Loomis: 1972. | permalink

Barnabas Collins: [seeing Alice Cooper] Ugliest woman I've ever seen. | permalink

Dr. Julia Hoffman: Every year I get half as pretty and twice as drunk. | permalink

Carolyn Stoddard: Are you stoned or something?
Barnabas Collins: They tried stoning me, my dear. It did not work. | permalink

Barnabas Collins: How soon can the horses be ready?
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard: We don't have horses, we have a Chevy. | permalink

Barnabas Collins: Witch, you cursed me to be this hideous creature! You may strategically place your wonderful lips upon my posterior and kiss it repeatedly! | permalink

What to Expect Interview: Cameron Diaz Delivers

joel.amos@moviefanatic.com (Joel D Amos) — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:22:19 EST

Cameron Diaz stars in What to Expect When You’re Expecting and had to truly get into the mind of an expectant mother, more so than her co-stars. Where Jennifer Lopez and Elizabeth Banks had the experience of motherhood under their belt, the actress had to cull from personal experiences, such as her sister’s giving birth. Diaz is at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills talking about her new movie and lets Movie Fanatic in on a few set secrets and revelations that may rock your world (such as the sociological reasons for breasts sagging!).

“I was in Africa and the Maasai women, who are spending the whole day working, obviously their breasts are hanging down when they give birth and they go right back to work. Like a couple hours later they just strap the baby on the back and they keep going. Well, when you have a baby on your back for a year and a half and you're nursing, what you have to do is you throw your breast over your shoulder, because you can't stop working,” she said.

“The baby is strapped to the back, so it suckles or you put it underneath your arm, so the baby can take it behind and suckle while you still keep working. There's an actual function for saggy titties! It’s because you have to feed your child. Isn't that funny why we have boobs? We have them so we can feed our children. I know there's a belief that you're not supposed to feed your children with your breast, but that’s what it’s for. It's functional. It's not just a trend. The women literally keep working.”

Thanks for sharing, Cameron! Now, when it came to getting into the mindset of a pregnant woman, the actress found inspiration from her sibling. “I saw my sister give birth both ways. First time, it was a C-section, which nobody told me about at twenty-five. My sister was like, ‘I'm not going to have this baby if you're not in the room.’ I was like, ‘No, you're going to have this baby no matter what.’ So, they were doing a C-section, and there was blood everywhere -- my sister's guts out on a platter, and somebody inside her cutting. I was looking at her and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ The second delivery was vaginal and that was crazy! No man should ever see that.”

What to Expect When You're Expecting TV Trailer

Diaz plays a famous fitness guru in What to Expect When You're Expecting who discovers she’s pregnant by her professional partner from a Dancing with the Stars-inspired show. Good thing the actress makes being physically fit a mainstay in her life. That part of her character was not so much of a stretch.

“You have to be consistent with fitness, but what was fun about that part was that I love to work out. It’s something I enjoy doing. I think it’s important to take care of your body, not just for today, but for the rest of your life,” Diaz said. “I stay fit because I want to be sixty and still doing all the things I'm doing now.”

Even her What to Expect When You’re Expecting filming schedule was conducive to keeping her active. “Being in one place and being able to train consistently, eat properly, and then dance for a whole week, you know how it changes your body. All those movements help to make the body a little bit tighter.”

That dancing she’s speaking of is a scene where Morrison and Diaz are moving like pros in a sequence captured from the onscreen reality show. Having the Glee star, who is also a professional dancer, as a partner was invaluable.

“He's amazing. He is just the loveliest human being on the face of the planet, and so talented, so charming and so smart. I was so lucky to be able to be his partner, not only in dance, but also in us having a baby together. We don't know where it's at right now, after it was born,” Diaz said, laughing. “It’s a movie baby, so they just took it from us, and it went somewhere else.”

Morrison shared a story about when he first met Diaz on the set: She called him into a tent to show him her… well, “pregnant” breasts. Diaz confirmed that did happen. “He got to see my prosthetic breasts, which were really amazing. I was like, "Wow, those are awesome,’” Diaz said and cackled. “Then when they put them on, in the Atlanta heat, I aged about forty years by the end of two hours! They were literally hanging down to my hips. But, that’s what they’re supposed to do… right?”

According to Diaz and her story of African women, sure Cameron… that’s right.

John Woo Returns to English Filmmaking with Day of the Beast

typewritermender@gmail.com (Micah J Gordon) — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:13:48 EST

John Woo has announced that he will make his first English language film since 2003's Paycheck. The film, titled Day of the Beast, is a remake of the 1963 Japanese Yakuza film Youth of the Beast.

Day of the Beast, set in Tokyo, is about an outsider who gets entangled in a turf war between the Yakuza and Cold War-era Russian mobsters.

The original film, directed by Seijun Suzuki, is considered a classic, though it is not particularly well-known in America.

Woo is best known for his work on Face/Off and Mission: Impossible 2, and has directed some of the biggest names in action, including Nicholas Cage, Tom Cruise (watch his Rock of Ages trailer), and Ben Affleck (watch his Argo trailer). Whether any big American names will be a part of the film is yet to be known.

James Badge Dale to Play Coldblood in Iron Man 3

typewritermender@gmail.com (Micah J Gordon) — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:26:55 EST

With filming set to start this month, James Badge Dale has been added to the cast of Iron Man 3.

Dale will play Eric Savin, a Lieutenant Colonel who is resurrected as the cyborg "Coldblood" after stepping on a land mine.

Marvel is dominating the headlines lately, with a new The Amazing Spider-Man featurette coming out last night, and rumors circulating Ant-Man may begin filming this year.

Of course, The Avengers has been breaking records left and right, which allows Marvel to feel great about all their upcoming superhero films (of which there are many). With an Avengers sequel already getting the green light, let us know which characters should be in the Avengers 2.

Prometheus Viral Video: The Many Faces of Noomi Rapace

typewritermender@gmail.com (Micah J Gordon) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:43:17 EST

A new viral video for the film Prometheus hit the web today from Verizon.

The video features Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw, appealing to Peter Weyland for the chance to explore a theory she has.

Prometheus Viral Video: Quiet Eye

The video is presented as a classified Prometheus crew file, and perhaps there are more videos for the other crew members of the Prometheus cast yet to come.

What does the video mean? Do the scrolling faces on the left have any major significance? Does it hint at something larger in the plot of the upcoming Ridley Scott film? Give us your thoughts below. And for more preview content in advance of the film's June 8, check out this Prometheus clip that was just released earlier this week.

The Dictator Gives a Press Conference: All Hail Aladeen

joel.amos@moviefanatic.com (Joel D Amos) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:20:50 EST

When Sacha Baron Cohen sells one of his comic creations, he always does his press tour in character. The Dictator himself, Admiral General Aladeen, recently gathered the movie press corps and took a few “questions” from the audience. Movie Fanatic brings you the highlights.

“We dictators aren't all bad,” he began. “While Western countries continue to ravage our planet's resources, we preserve our land and conserve it by burying thousands of bones in single mass eco-graves.”

Cohen doesn’t waste any time before leveling a political bomb as the North African autocrat. “On behalf of my dear friend and doubles tennis partner President Assad of Syria, I want to thank the United Nations for their brave inaction over Syria,” Cohen as Aladeen said. “Thirteen months and still no security counsel resolution. You guys are amazing. You have done next to nothing for the Syrian people -- but remember, you can always do less.”

As these are film journalists, the topic then turns to any disparity between the film industry in America versus his home country. “There are differences between the Wadiyan film industry and Hollywood,” he said. The man who appeared in his country’s You’ve Got Mail Bomb is keenly aware and offers insight into how we differ. “People say I am extravagant for using 20 trillion bottles of Fiji water every day to make snow for my ski resort in the middle of the desert, but am I the person who created John Carter?”

Well then Mr. Entertainment, what is this tyrant’s favorite TV show? "When I am not watching my people, I am glued to the couch watching the satellite television. My favorite shows are Wadiyan. We have our version of Two and a Half Men. It used to be called Three Men but one of them tried to steal a grapefruit."

The Dictator Trailer: How Far?

His Excellency then addresses the rumors of Megan Fox’s pregnancy. As we’ve seen in The Dictator trailer, Fox is a conquest of Aladeen’s. "Congratulations to Megan Fox for being pregnant. There are rumors that I am the father, but this is literally impossible,” he said and leaned into the microphone. “It would be the first anal conception. If she is pregnant, so is Heidi Klum and also Donald Trump. He does anything for money.”

The timing of the release of the film is impeccable as the world has said goodbye to so many real world dictators. "It has been a tough year. We have lost a lot of good people and I have lost a lot of good friends -- Gaddafi, I miss you [looks in the air]. Sorry, Gaddafi, I miss you [looks at the ground],” he said. And most recently… a North Korean stalwart. “KJ, Kimmy G, K-Jo, K-Man -- you know, Kim Jong. And of course, you know, Chavez died last month. Oh oops, you did not hear that from me.”

Ant-Man May Start Shooting This Year, Edgar Wright Says

typewritermender@gmail.com (Micah J Gordon) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:09:05 EST

There has been a lot of mystery surrounding the rumored Ant-Man film. But after long-speculated director Edgar Wright tweeted an Ant-Man picture recently, the film was finally considered a go.

Now, Wright is saying that the project, which was thought to be backed up due to the filming of The World's End with Simon Pegg, may actually film this year!

There's so many questions! Who will play Dr. Pym/Ant-Man? What will the plot of the film be? Will Ant-Man join the cast of characters for the Avengers sequel?

Wright has been extremely tight-lipped on the project, supposedly so as not to jinx it. The revelation that the film may shoot this year came on an episode of The Empire podcast.