Posts Tagged ‘Penelope Cruz’

  • 26 May

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    Cinecast Episode 214 – I Hate that I Know That

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    We start things off simple. No Kurt. Just some Pirates and Priests. With unpleasantness out of the way, Kurt jumps in with both feet for a indie post-apocalyptic film out of Toronto, a re-evaluation of Inglorious Basterds and Tarantino’s career. Trains and Toni Collette keep the conversation chugging along and with Gamble here, “Game of Thrones” is sort of unavoidable. We all revel in the love for Rip Torn and South Korea before rounding everything out with a talk about sequels that are crazier than a rat in a tin shithouse (ala Caddyshack II and Gremilns II). Nobody dies.

    As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!

     
     

    Cinecast Episode 214 [ 2:04:31 | 85.5 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

     

    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
    http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_11/episode_214.mp3

     
     
    Full show notes are under the seats…
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  • 25 Mar

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    Friday One Sheet: A Cross to Bear

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    There is very little to get me excited about yet another crappy Pirates of the Caribbean picture. In fact it kind of disgusts me (especially in color-desaturated, blurry, headache inducing, more expensive 3D). That said, if there is one thing that will make 3D actually kind of work for me and will likely get me to fork over the ten bucks…

    click image for ultra hi-res

     
     

  • 16 Feb

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    Cinecast Episode 202 – Obviously You’re Not a Golfer

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    It is a cornucopia, a smörgåsbord, a veritable potpourri of cinema, as the Cinecast regulars get together with nothing on the agenda other than to talk about what they have watched, in the cinema, on the DVD and streamed from the internet or (in an exciting technology development, from the Computer Hard Drive.) Andrew continues to dig into the Foreign Language Nominees with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful. Kurt comes at Oscar a different way with the new documentary on the man with the midas touch when it comes to little gold men, Harvey Weinstein. And Gamble talks best animated film of 2011 with a preview of the flat out awesome Gore Verbinski/Nickelodeon/Industrial-Light-And-Magic Johnny Depp western, Rango. From there, we go from the occult, to Penelope Cruz DTV failures, to two vastly different takes time travel from the 1980s to Chinese shopping malls. Then it is onto Romans wandering about Scotland, Aussie crime dynasties and suburban teenage prostitution rings! It is all a part of your complete breakfast.

    As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!

     
     

    Cinecast Episode 202 [ 3:02:22 | 104.35 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

     

    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
    http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_11/episode_202.mp3

    ALTERNATIVE (no music track):
    http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_11/episode_202-alt.mp3

     
     
    Full show notes are under the seats…
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  • 27 Dec

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    In Eye Popping, Mouth Watering, Mind Bending 3D [vomit]

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    Tron: Legacy was pretty much the last straw (see rant here). It’s likely I’ve said that before, but this time I mean it. Not even the tantalizing prospect of Penélope Cruz’ bust falling into my lap in Pirates 4.0 will be enough to get me to pay more, see less and don that germ-ridden plastic onto my face ever again. For so many reasons this video commemorating 2010 just makes me ill.

     

  • 13 Dec

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    Pirates Whatever Whatever… Oh! Penelope Cruz

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    I hate the Pirates franchise. The third one was the last straw. Not a chance in hell I’d go back and see a fourth installment. Then something odd happened on this terribly dreary, cold, depressing and crabby afternoon in Minneapolis to interest and cheer me up: the trailer for On Stranger Tides shows up. Yeah, it’s weird I feel this way and the movie will likely be terrible. But here’s a list of reasons why I’m slightly “funned up” and would consider screen hopping into this one:

    1) Penélope Cruz
    2) No Orloondo Bland
    3) Ian McShane
    4) Zombies
    5) Mermaids
    6) New storyline
    7) Penélope Cruz

     

     

  • 05 May

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    Almodóvar and Banderas Reunite (for Horror!?)

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    Though the recent mini-marathon (now considered to be sort of a slow walk) of Pedro Almodóvar films has taken a seat on the back burner for now, I’m nonetheless pleased and uber-excited to find out today that Almodóvar’s next venture into film will tackle the unexpected genre of horror. Excited? Why yes, yes I am.

    It’s been about twenty years since Pedro worked with a then fairly unknown Antonio Banderas in 1990′s Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down! (our review). But now the prolific director and actor have decided to reunite for what will be “the harshest film [he's] ever written.”

    The picture is titled La Piel que Habito which means, “The Skin I Live In.” It’s the story of a plastic surgeon’s (Banderas) revenge on the man who raped his daughter. With Almodóvar’s apparent love for Hitchcock (obviously present in his last film, Broken Embraces (review) I’m sure we can expect something pretty special and interesting considering this is the first time either director or actor have tackled this genre.

    The film will be based on the book “Tarantula” by Theirry Jonquet and thanks to ThePlaylist, we’ve found a synopsis of that book aver at Amazon:

    Richard Lafargue is an eminent plastic surgeon haunted by dirty secrets. He has an operating theatre in the basement of his chateau and keeps his partner Eve imprisoned in her bedroom, a room he has equipped with an intercom and 300-watt speakers through which he bellows orders. Eve is only allowed out to be paraded at cocktail parties and on the last Sunday of each month, when the couple visit a young woman in a mental asylum. Following these outings, Lafargue humiliates Eve by forcing her to perform lewd sexual acts with strangers while he watches through a one-way mirror. In alternating chapters, Jonquet introduces seemingly unrelated characters: a criminal on the run after murdering a policeman, and an abducted young man who finds himself chained naked in a dark chamber, forced to endure all manner of physical torture at the hands of a mysterious stranger, whom he calls Mygale, after a type of tropical spider. All of these characters are caught in a deceitful web, doomed to meet their fate.

    Holy balls. If Pedro keeps from holding back any punches, this could be a pretty intense little (or not so little as the case may be) genre film. In Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down!, Banderas played a little bit of a psychopath true, but it was fairly lighthearted and comical. Almodóvar says that Banderas’ character here is “brutal… I could have continued with a puerile guy with an overpowering power of seduction, but this guy is a real psychopath.”

    Sadly no Penélope Cruz here, but the prospect of a terror inspired film from someone with the eye for detail, color and composition as Almodóvar can’t be higher. Shooting starts this summer and this just went straight to the top of films I most anticipate for 2011.

    Bring. It. On!

     

  • 09 Feb

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    Von Trier and Cruz: Together at Last

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    With Antichrist getting near the top of my favorite films last year and Penélope Cruz still tops in my annual shallow list (coming soon), it’s with great delight we learn that she’ll likely be starring in Lars Von Trier’s next film: Melancholia.

    Yesterday, on Danish television the controversial director told the public he indeed has been thinking about Cruz for the lead in this role for quite some time.

    More interesting than the casting decision however is the plot summary for the film in which a rogue planet (Planet Melancholia) looms ever closer to colliding with Earth. Rather than a big budget effects bonanza however, anyone familiar with Von Trier’s work understands this will be much more of a “psycholigcal drama” with “no more happy endings.” I’m not sure how it could be any more twisted or psychologically brutal than Antichrist, but if anyone can do it, it’s probably going to be Von Trier. It’ll be fun to watch how the relatively meek Cruz handles working with the notoriously misogynistic director.

    With a modest budget of only $5 million, no announcements have been made as far as shooting schedules are concerned, but Sweden and Germany have been named as principal shooting locations. Some are hoping for a completion target that will have the film ready to go by next year’s Cannes Film Fest.

    Add this title to my most anticipated of 2011.
     

  • 02 Feb

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    Cinecast Episode 153 – How to Capture Vomit

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    Episode 153:
     
    Amazing that after a two week break, neither host has managed to have any sort of cross over in our movie viewings. It ain’t a symptom of laziness in our parts, it’s simply a strange time of year when things are still being released at strange intervals and to find the good stuff you gotta look a little harder than usual. Still, NINE finally manages to enter the equation as well as Mel Gibson’s return to the screen with Edge of Darkness. Of course comedies make it on to the docket once in a while and here we got to dig into Youth in Revolt. And as always we have some tangents into what other past films we’ve watched or revisited recently and it’s a hell of a week for Blu-Ray releases. So sit back and enjoy (or not) an old fashioned, “just kickin’ it around” style show as we ponder the last couple weeks of cinema.
    Thanks for downloading/streaming and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

    Click the Audio Icon below to listen in:

    Cinecast Episode 153 [ 1:50:38 | 75.96 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup


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    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
    http://www.rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_10/episode_153.mp3

     

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  • 05 Jan

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    UPDATE: Hurt Locker Still Leading Critics’ Awards. By a Long Shot

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    UPDATED: (01/05)Continuing into the new year, critics all across the country are placing their votes and announcing the “winners” of their picks for outstanding achievement in film in all of the usual categories. These are all precursors of course to the Oscars, with the pinnacle of those being The Golden Globe nominations which were announced in December.

    Other than The Hurt Locker taking the spotlight in almost every case by a huge margin, early indications are not really all that surprising. George Clooney, current front-runner for a leading man Oscar leads mentions while Christophe Waltz is not surprisingly completely running away with it for his breakout role in Inglourious Basterds. Carrie Mulligan and Mo’Nique are also top winners so far in the leading and supporting actress categories respectively. Oh and even more surprising (at least to me, who hasn’t seen the film (update: I have now)), NY Critics give the best picture award to Avatar! Interesting.

    Of course it’s still early, but other than The Hurt Locker taking home so many wins for best picture and best director, I’d say this is about as an exact replica of the Oscar ceremony as you’re going to see – at least for the five major categories.

    Below are the Indiewire links to many of the critics choice awards around the country with the full results from the Boston and L.A. critics awards just for reference below that. Take a look below. See anything shamefully overlooked or is this about right? Does the uber-love for The Hurt Locker surprise anyone?

    AWARDS and NOMINATIONS announced so far:
    African-American Film Critics
    Alliance of Women Film Journalists
    Austin Film Critics
    Boston Film Critics
    British Indie Awards
    Broadcast Film Critics Awards
    Chicago Film Critics
    Cinema Eye Honors
    Dallas-Fort Worth Critics
    Detroit Film Critics
    European Film Awards
    Florida Film Critics
    Golden Globes
    Golden Satellites
    Gotham Awards
    Houston Critics
    Int’l Doc. Assoc.
    Indiana Film Critics
    Las Vegas Film Critic
    London Film Critics
    Los Angeles Film Critics
    National Board of Review
    National Society of Film Critics
    New York Film Critics
    New York Film Critics Online
    Online Film Critics Society
    PGA Awards
    Phoenix Film Critics
    San Diego Critics
    San Francisco Film Critics
    Screen Actors Guild Awards
    Southeastern Film Critics
    Spirit Awards
    St. Louis Film Critics
    Toronto Film Critics
    Utah Film Critics
    Washington D.C. Area Critics

     

     

    Best Picture:
    The Hurt Locker 11 wins (NY, LA, NSFC, Las Vegas, Austin, Satellites, Houston San Francisco, Boston, Gothams), 13 mentions (PGA, Globes, London, Online, BFCA, Utah, Southeastern, St. Louis, Detroit, African-American, NBR, Washington, NY Online)
    Up In The Air 7 wins (Dallas, Florida, Southeastern, Utah, Indiana, NBR, Washington) 12 mentions (PGA, Globes, London, Online, Chicago, Dallas, African-American, BFCA, St. Louis, LA, Satellites, Detroit, NY Online)
    Inglourious Basterds 3 wins (Toronto, Phoenix, San Diego) 14 mentions (PGA, Globes, BFCA, NSFC, Online, Chicago, Utah, Dallas, Southeastern, Detroit, NBR, Washington, NY Online)
    Precious 1 win (African-American Critics) 10 mentions (PGA, Globes, Dallas, BFCA, Southeastern, St. Louis, Spirits, Washington, NY Online, Satellites)
    Up 1 win (Detroit) 11 mentions (PGA, BFCA, African-American, Online Southeastern, Dallas, St. Louis, NBR, Washington, NY Online)
    Avatar 1 win (NY Online) 5 mentions (PGA, Globes, London, Dallas, BFCA)
    Moon 1 win (British Indie)
    Hunger 1 win (Toronto)
    A Serious Man 9 mentions (BFCA, Southeastern, Online, Chicago, NBR, Dallas, Gothams, NY Online, Satellites)
    (500) Days of Summer 6 mentions (Globes, Southeastern, St. Louis, Spirits, Detroit, NBR)
    An Education 6 mentions (PGA, BFCA, Dallas, St. Louis, NBR, Satellites)
    The Messenger 4 mentions (Southeastern, NBR, NY Online, Satellites)
    Fantastic Mr. Fox 4 mentions (Dallas, Southeastern, Indiana, NY Online)
    Invictus 4 mentions (PGA, BFCA, St. Louis, NBR)

    Best Director:
    Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker 14 wins (NY, LA, NSFC, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Southeastern, Houston, Satellites, NY Online, Washington, Las Vegas, Austin, Toronto) 6 mentions (BFCA, London, Online, St. Louis, Globes, Detroit)
    Jason Reitman, Up in the Air 3 wins (Utah, Florida, Dallas) 7 mentions (Globes, Chicago, London, BFCA, Southeastern, St. Louis, Detroit, Washington)
    Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds 2 wins (Phoenix, San Diego) 6 mentions (Globes, Online, Chicago, BFCA, St. Louis, Detroit, Washington)
    Lee Daniels, Precious 1 win (African-American) 4 mentions (BFCA, Spirits, Satellites, Washington)
    Clint Eastwood, Invictus 1 win (NBR) 3 mentions (Globes, BFCA, Washington)
    Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things Are 1 win (Indiana) 1 mention (Chicago)
    Andrea Arnold, Fish Tank 1 win (British Indie)
    Pete Docter, Up 1 win (Detroit)
    James Cameron, Avatar 4 mentions (London, Online, Globes, BFCA)

    Best Actor:
    George Clooney, Up in the Air 9 wins (NY, Dallas, Phoenix, Indiana, Florida, NBR, Houston, Southeastern, Washington) 9 mentions (Globes, Online, Chicago, SAGs, London, BFCA, St. Louis, Detroit, Satellites)
    Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker 5 wins (NSFC, Las Vegas, Chicago, Satellites, Boston) 8 mentions (SAGs, Online, Utah, Southeastern, Indiana, BFCA, St. Louis, Washington)
    Colin Firth, A Single Man 4 wins (Austin, Detroit, San Diego, San Francisco) 7 mentions (Globes, SAGs, BFCA, LA, Spirits, Washington, Satellites)
    Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart 2 wins (LA, NY Online) 10 mentions (SAGs, Chicago, NSFC, Online, London, Globes, BFCA, St. Louis, Spirits, Satellites)
    Morgan Freeman, Invictus 2 wins (African-American, NBR) 5 mentions (SAGs, Globes, BFCA, St. Louis, Washington)
    Viggo Mortensen, The Road 1 win (Utah) 2 mentions (BFCA, Washington)
    Nicolas Cage, Bad Lieutenant 1 win (Toronto) 1 mention (NSFC)
    Tom Hardy, Bronson 1 win (British Indie)
    Matt Damon, The Informant! 4 mentions (Globes, Chicago, Detroit, Satelllites)
    Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer 3 mentions (Globes, Spirits, Detroit)
    Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man 1 win (Satellites) 3 mentions (London, Globes, Chicago)

    Best Actress:
    Carey Mulligan, An Education 9 wins (NBR, Toronto, Dallas, San Diego, Utah, Chicago, Washington, Indiana, British Indie) 9 mentions (Globes, SAGs, London, Online, BFCA, St. Louis, LA, Detroit, Satellites)
    Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia 7 wins (NY, San Francisco, Phoenix, Boston, Satellites, Southeastern, NY Online) 12 mentions (Globes, BFCA, SAGs, NSFC, Online, Chicago, London, Indiana, St. Louis, Detroit, Washington)
    Gabourey Sidibe, Precious 3 wins (Detroit, Florida, Las Vegas) 9 mentions (Globes, SAGs, Chicago, BFCA, Online, Southeastern, St. Louis, Washington, Spirits)
    Yolande Moreau, Seraphine 2 wins (NSFC, LA)
    Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds 1 win (Austin) 1 mention (Online)
    Nicole Beharie, American Violet 1 win (African-American)
    Shoreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M. 1 win (Satellites)
    Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side 4 mentions (SAGs, Globes, BFCA, Washington)
    Abbie Cornish, Bright Star 4 mentions (Chicago, NSFC, London, Satellites)
    Maya Rudolph, Away We Go 4 mentions (Chicago, Utah, St. Louis, Washington)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 26 Dec

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    Oprah Interviews Cast of “NINE”

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    Still anticipating my screening of NINE this weekend. Snowed into a tiny cabin in the north woods of Minnesota my only outlet for now is YouTube. I stumbled across an entire episode of Oprah (from a while back) in which she interviews several cast members from NINE each individually with the others simply sitting and listening quietly. Not the deepest or most thoughtful of discussions, but if you’re a fan of any of these actors it might be worth a look…

    MARION COTILLARD

     

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  • 22 Dec

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    Cinecast Episode 148 – Top 10 Actresses of 2009; Avatar

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    Episode 148:

    SPOILERS ALERT!
    Anticipated for many months now, James Cameron’s Avatar is finally upon us and all we can muster up is a lot of bitching. Maybe not fair to a guy we have grown up with and loved over the years or to a movie that is not based on a video game, remake or previous existing property, perhaps. The criticism is as valid as the heap of praise for the last monster-sized blockbuster of 2009. We switch gears from negative to positive rather abruptly with our top ten picks of best female performances in 2009 and even reminisce on some Mike Judge and other DVD releases this week. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below and by all means post your own top ten. We’d love to see it.
    Thanks for listening!

    Click the Audio Icon below to listen in:

    Cinecast Episode 148 [ 2:42:51 | 93.19 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
    http://www.rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_09/episode_148.mp3

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  • 22 Dec

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    Review: Nine

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    nine-poster.jpg

    Director: Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha)
    Screenplay: Michael Tolkin & Anthony Minghella
    Based on: “Nine,” a Broadway musical by Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston, based on 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini
    Producers: Rob Marshall, Marc Platt, John DeLuca, Harvey Weinstein
    Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren, Fergie
    Year: 2009
    Country: United States
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Running time: 110min.

    (4/5)

     

    When you make a movie inspired by Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, you’ve already got a lot more to live up to than most filmmakers are willing to take on. When you’re Rob Marshall and only have two other feature films on your directing resume, it takes some guts to embark on a project like Nine, even if you did manage to win a Best Picture Oscar for your directorial debut Chicago (an award that many film critics strongly disagree with, incidentally). On the other hand, Marshall comes from a musical/Broadway/choreography background, which gives him a leg up on Nine, which has a Broadway musical sitting between it and 8 1/2. So this could really have gone either way. But I have to say, with a cast like this one (which includes three of my girlcrushes as well as the always solid Judi Dench and often incredible Daniel Day-Lewis), I was really hoping it would work. And generally, it does, though admittedly with much less subtlety than Fellini’s original.

    nine.jpg

    Film director Guido Contini (Day-Lewis) is known for a string of great successes early in his career, but is just coming off a couple of major flops as he’s supposed to be beginning another film, the one he and his supporters hope will be his comeback. But he’s unable to come with a solid story, much less a script, and shooting starts in ten days. He’s got his producer, his costume designer (Dench), and his leading lady (Nicole Kidman) all after him to get moving, but all he can manage to do is escape to a spa and fantasy versions of all the women in his life – from his mother (Sophia Loren) to the prostitute he remembers paying to dance at age 9 (Fergie) to his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), current mistress Carla (Penélope Cruz), and a fashion reporter (Kate Hudson). As Luisa points out to Guido, it’s “no wonder you’ve got no script, you’re too busy inventing your own life.” These fantasies become the musical numbers in Nine, each of them intercut with what’s going on in real life.

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