The Trotsky premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival

I am really looking forward to this one. Great central idea for a film and Jay Baruchel is pretty cool. Really wish I was at TIFF as there are loads of films I want to watch.

The All Canadian (English) Central Executive Committee of Pictures That Move announced that Jacob Tierney’s The Trotsky, will have its world premiere as a Special Presentation at this year’s gathering of Activities for the Support of Proletarian Internationalism (this obviously does not include galas) or as they like to call it, the Toronto International Film Festival.

A Park Ex Pictures production, produced by the extremely bourgeois Kevin Tierney, The Trotsky is a contemporary comedy set in Montreal starring Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder, Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, Knocked Up) as Leon, a 17-year-old high school student who believes himself to be the reincarnation of Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky.

The Trotsky screenings of the people for the people (otherwise known as Festival Screenings) are:

Public 1 Friday Sept 11 – 9:00 pm RYERSON (43 Gerrard Street East)
Public 2 Sunday Sept 13 – 12:45 pm SCOTIABANK (259 Richmond St West)
PRESS & INDUSTRY Sat Sept 12 – 2:00 pm Cumberland 1

The Trotsky also features an impressive array of Canadian actors, among them, Geneviève Bujold (Dead Ringers), Anne-Marie Cadieux (Maman Last Call), Colm Feore (Bon Cop Bad Cop), Emily Hampshire (Snow Cake), Michael Murphy (Away From Her) and Saul Rubinek (Wall Street).

Leon Bronstein is not your average Montreal West high school student. For one thing, none of his peers can claim to be the reincarnation of early 20th century Soviet iconoclast and Red Army hero, Leon Trotsky. When his father sends Leon to public school as punishment for starting a hunger strike at Dad’s clothing factory, Leon quickly lends new meaning to the term “student union”, determined as he is to live out his pre-ordained destiny to the fullest.

But will our young hero ever inspire his fellow students to care about anything? Will he ever convince the beautiful, and significantly older, Alexandra that she won’t be charged with statutory rape if they become engaged? And will he ever find his Lenin?

The Trotsky is Jacob Tierney’s follow-up to his feature directorial debut Twist, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week section, before going to Toronto, Rotterdam and some 20 other festivals around the world. An actor turned writer-director, Jacob was most recently seen in the feature film Walk All Over Me and on TV as the title horseman in the CBC mini-series St. Urbain’s Horseman.

Infamous exploiter of workers, technicians and actors in both official languages, producer Kevin Tierney last made Canadian audiences laugh out loud with Bon Cop Bad Cop, the first ever bilingual film made in Canada, and the highest grossing Canadian movie in domestic box office history. Bon Cop Bad Cop won the Genie Award for Best Film of 2006. Other credits include the acclaimed TV movies Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story and One Dead Indian, as well as Serveuses Demandees directed by Gylaine Dionne and the soon to be released Love and Savagery, directed by John N. Smith.

Thanks to Cynthia for sending me the news.

Check out the official site.

Warrior – Nick Nolte enters the world of mixed martial arts

Lionsgate and director Gavin O’Connor have set Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Morrison to star in “Warrior,” a drama set in the world of mixed martial arts fighting. Production begins in April in Pittsburgh.
Nolte plays an ex-Vietnam vet boxer-turned-steel mill worker whose family was torn apart by his alcoholism; the now-sober and remorseful dad welcomes back his youngest son (Hardy) and trains him to compete in a mixed martial arts tournament. He and his older brother, played by Edgerton, are on a collision course in the ring.

O’Connor wrote the script with Anthony Tambakis, and the helmer will produce with brother Greg O’Connor.

Hardy can currently be seen in “Bronson” and previously starred in “Layer Cake”, “RocknRolla” and “Star Trek: Nemesis” and Edgerton just starred in “The Waiting City” and “The Truth About Men.” Morrison, who stars in the Fox series “House,” will next be seen in the J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Trek.”

O’Connor had originally set Nolte to play the patriarch in his last film, “Pride and Glory,” but the actor bowed out because of a knee problem and Jon Voight stepped in. Nolte was last seen in “Tropic Thunder.”

Source: Variety

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For Your Consideration – Kirk Lazarus

One of the potential nominees for Best Supporting Actor Academy is Kirk Lazarus

As we know Oscar season is approaching and Parmount Pictures are pushing their reminder of Downey’s work in Tropic Thunder

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Stephen King’s Top 10 movies of 2008 – What have been your favourites?

Entertainment Weekly have the horror-meister’s Top 10 movies of 2008. He seems to like Jason Statham. Do you agree with his choices?

1. The Dark Knight “This is to cape-and-tights movies what Godfather II was to the gangster movie: a genre-defining event.”
2. Slumdog Millionaire “It’s been years since the movies have produced such an affecting story about the power of friendship.”
3. Wall-E “The first half an hour is an almost wordless tone poem that combines humor with 
an elegiac sadness for our throwaway culture.”
4. Tropic Thunder “The funniest, most daring comedy of the year. Thunder is crude, rude, and constantly entertaining.”
5. Funny Games “The film is relentless, and all but unbearable. It works as a savage parody of the snuff-porn genre even as it transcends it.”
6. The Bank Job “Any doubts that Jason Statham is more than a muscle boy are set to rest in this rich (and often amusing) story”
7. Lakeview Terrace “Jackson’s performance deserves an Academy Award nod, but won’t get one. Too bad.”
8. The Ruins “Five young people are trapped on top of a pyramid, surrounded by carnivorous plants. It could have been ludicrous. Instead, it’s unrelenting.”
9. Redbelt “Written and directed by the always ferocious David Mamet, this is not your father’s Karate Kid.”
10. Death Race “Death Race is filled with laconic violence and blasting muscle cars, but just beneath the surface is a biting satire of reality TV.”

What have been your top 10 films of 2008? They don’t have to be the ones you think you should put, just the ones which you enjoyed for whatever reason

Will Tropic Thunder’s Les Grossman return – Tom Cruise thinks so and he should know

/film have the news that Tom Cruise has been speaking to E! The conversation got onto Tropic Thunder and Cruise’s excellent turn as Les Grossman (the fact he has been nominated for a Golden Globe is pretty cool) in which he was pretty much unrecognisable as the Chief Scientologist.

Cruise told E! that “there could be more to do with that guy” before revealing that he has started to develop some short films starring the character with Thunder director/star Ben Stiller.

“I’ve talked about doing different videos with the character,” Cruise said. “I’ve started working with Ben [Stiller] on it, and we’ve kind of talked about different things to do. We were gonna do some in our free time, but we haven’t found the free time…yet.”

I think this is pretty cool and would love to see more of the foul mouthed producer, even if it is just short films every now and again. What about you?

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2009 Golden Globe Film Related Nominations

Here are the movie related 2009 Golden Globe Nominees for the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The Awards ceremony will take place on 11th January next year.

Best Motion Picture – Drama
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long (Il Y A Longtemps Que Je T’Aime)
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Leonardo Dicaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey

Best Animated Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You so Long
Waltz with Bashir

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Kate Winslet – The Reader

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

Best Director – Motion Picture
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare – The Reader
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood – Changeling
James Newton Howard – Defiance
A. R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer – Frost/Nixon

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Down to Earth” – Wall-E
“Gran Torino” – Gran Torino
“I Thought I Lost You” – Bolt
“Once in a Lifetime” – Cadillac Records
“The Wrestler” – The Wrestler

Who do you think will win? Will Heath Ledger get pipped to the post by Robert Downey Jr? I reckon Benjamin Button will clean up although I hope Mickey Rourke wins for his role in The Wrestler.

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Nicholas Cage to be Sorcerer to Jay Baruchel’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Could it be Magic? Computer says no!

Earlier on I mentioned that maybe Nicholas Cage’s latest film, Knowing, could turn around his recent spell of dreadful movies. If it does then that’s all good. Unfortunately, whatever good it brings to Cage will instantly be destroyed by starring in Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Inspired by the classic Mickey Mouse animated sequence from Disney’s 1940 classic Fantasia, the film tells the story of a powerful sorcerer, played by Nicolas Cage, who seeks out an apprentice in modern day New York City. Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure) is to direct the Jerry Bruckheimer production.

Can you see where this is going? Just imagine Cage as the Sorcerer. He’ll be doing all his Elvis style hand and arm waving as he casts a spell, he’ll be as giddy as a school girl picking out just the right wig to wear as the powerful magic user (will it be long or short for this one – I think long) and he will unleash all the ticks and grimaces he can muster Mister. It’s also not clear if Cage is going to be playing a modern day sorcerer or an old school medieval one who travels through time to modern day New York. If he is medieval then you can imagine the hilarious consequences his all powerful Sorcery will cause.

Jay Baruchel (Fanboys, Tropic Thunder) is in talks to play the lead role in Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.He was cool in Tropic Thunder and looked as if he was going to break out into the big leagues. However, being involved in this one may not be the best decision.

Mind you it may actually not be that bad. As long as they get a good script it just might work. Let’s see what I can dig up…who is writing it…oh!

The film was scripted by Superman IV: The Quest for Peace screenwriters Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, with a rewrite by Bedtime Stories scribe Matt Lopez.

It does not bode well.

Variety have more on the story. How will Cage chew up the scenes in this one? Could it be good?

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Robert Downey Jr may be up for Best Supporting Actor in Tropic Thunder.

Because of problems with the forthcoming The Soloist (it’s not meant to be very good) Paramount will now officially be backing an Academy campaign for Robert Downey Jr.’s supporting role in Topic Thunder.

I saw Tropic Thunder a while ago (I enjoyed it but not as much as I thought I would) and Robert Downey Jr was amazing in it. He totally owned the role and you forget that it is Downey Jr under the make-up. His retard speach to Ben Stiller was one of the highlights of the movie.

I totally agree with Robert Downey Jr being nominated for this role and, if Heath Ledger is also nominated, it will make for an interesting Oscar ceremony.

Do you agree with Downey Jr being nominated for the role? Who else do you think should be nominated for Best Supporting Actor? in Tropic Thunder.”

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More News on the Tropic Thunder Controversy. Do they think my mental faculties are retarded or something?

The Disability Rights Coalition met with Dreamworks over the content of the film recently and on Friday issued a list of demands. Kind of like hostage takers and terrorists!!

How do you feel about this list? One of the demands is a screener for these groups, it would be safe to assume that most, if not all, of the people preparing to protest, have not seen the film. Basically, I get the impression they just want a free showing of the film and once again they forget that the more they protest the more successful the film will be.

What other films can you think of that used the word “retard” and yet had none of the controversy that Tropic Thunder has had?

Here is a direct quote from the movie Something About Mary on IMDB.

“[Pretending to like retarded kids] Pat Healy: Those goofy bastards are about the best thing I’ve got going.”

Was anything ever mentioned about that?

Here is what the Coalition want:

Film Screening: Arrange a film screening of “Tropic Thunder” for disability groups, paid for by the studio, in Los Angeles and in Washington, D.C. before the end of this week.

Public Apology: Make a public apology for the thoughtless use of the “R-word” and derogatory depictions of people with intellectual disability with a summary statement of the studio’s intent to curtail its damaging effect and its commitment to specific next steps (as laid out below).

Film Editing: Completely eliminate all direct mention of or reference to “retard” jokes, disability euphemisms, and disrespectful depictions from the film before it is distributed to theatres and released to DVD.

Film Promotion: Eliminate all trailers, web postings, and ads that focus on “retard” jokes, disability euphemisms, and disrespectful depictions, and reference the “R word.”

Specially Created Trailer: Fund and produce a trailer to air prior to each showing of “Tropic Thunder” that addresses the use of the R-word and the hurtful impact it has, even when people do not mean it that way. This same trailer would also be included within the DVD packaging for after market sales.

National Campaign: Create and fund a comprehensive national educational and advertising social campaign to eliminate the pejorative use of the word retard from use in everyday language, and more importantly create a world of dignity, acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disability. The campaign would be developed and vetted by an advisory council of representatives from the coalition. The campaign would also be designed to capitalize on social media and social networking to bring young people together and empower them as agents of change for the R-word campaign and involve appearances of those involved in the film’s creation.

Film Studio Summit: Convene the heads of all the major studios to address the appropriate portrayal of people with intellectual in future films and television programs. The summit would also help reduce stigma surrounding one of the largest disability populations in the world while also raising the awareness of the extraordinary gifts and talents people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have to offer.

This comes from a memo created by Gail Williamson of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, dated August 8, 2008, and available here: PatriciaBauer.com

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Tropic Thunder – The perils of political correctness

This is an excellent article from Slashfilm.

By: Peter Sciretta

Tropic Thunder might be the funniest movie of the Summer. And when anything is so extremely enjoyable, there must also be an evil entity trying to put a stop to the pleasure. And like any good story, the villain in this case isn’t a cliche bad guy, attempting to rid the world of laughter. Not at all. In fact, I’m sure they believe they are doing the right thing for the betterment of this country, humanity, etc. And by THEY, I mean organizations – groups of people who have decided to band together in an attempt to make things better for the people around them, who clearly “don’t know any better”.

At face value, it might seem like a tough feat to defend a movie where a white guy puts on blackface… Where Ben Stiller plays a actor who takes on the role of a mentally retarded character in hopes of Oscar gold… Or Where Tom Cruise is hilariously funny and not the slightest but weird. But truth is, there is nothing wrong with Tropic Thunder. There is something wrong with the explosion of political correctness in America. The film does not cross any lines of political correctness, if anything it satires Hollywood’s treatment of mental disorders.

A coalition of disability groups have announced a national boycott of Tropic Thunder over the film-within-the-film Simple Jack. But it doesn’t stop there, they have begun to talk to members of Congress for “a resolution condemning” what he called “the movie’s hate speech.” Oh C’mon. They can’t be serious, can they? It’s in the New York Times, so it must be true. Dreamworks has screened the film more than 250 times before opening week, and received little to no complaints until a viral website for the movie Simple Jack caught the eyes of these disabled advocacy groups. Paramount quickly removed the websites from the web, bowing to the group’s pressure.

Thankfully the studio has come out and announced that they would not be altering the cut of the film due to the pressures of such organizations. And to that I say THANK YOU. It’s very easy for a big corporation to be bullied by these little groups in today’s connected society. Its is good to see that Dreamworks is not backing down.

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