Ashanti 'Never Too Far Away'
Grammy winner Ashanti wrote and recorded a new song specifically for the soundtrack of Dream House, a horror/thriller starring Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts and Rachel Weisz. Morgan Creek Productions and Written Entertainment announced Ashanti’s “Never Too Far Away” will be featured in the film’s soundtrack, with Dream House heading to theaters on September 30, 2011.
Ashanti wrote the song after viewing the film, and tried to capture Daniel Craig’s character’s love for his family in her lyrics.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Morgan Creek, and such a talented group of individuals associated with this project. I’ve written all of my own records, songs for other artists, started my own record label, Written Entertainment, and wrote a book of poetry [Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love], so writing songs for film is a natural and exciting step of that evolution,” stated Ashanti.
Ashanti’s currently working on her next album which is scheduled to be released in early 2012.
About Dream House:
Successful publisher Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) quit a job in New York City to relocate his wife, Libby (Rachel Weisz), and two girls to a quaint New England town where they discover their perfect home was the murder scene of a mother and her children. And the entire city believes it was at the hands of the husband who survived. When Will investigates the tragedy, his only lead comes from Ann Paterson (Naomi Watts), a neighbor who was close to the family that died. As Will and Ann piece together the disturbing puzzle, they discover that the story of the last man to leave Will’s dream house will be just as horrifying to the one who came next.
Source: Morgan Creek Productions and Written Entertainment
In these behind-the-scenes videos from the dramatic film Drive, Bryan Cranston (who plays a garage owner with big dreams of owning a winning race car) and Albert Brooks (a local gangster) discuss their roles and being a part of Nicolas Winding Refn’s film.
Official Synopsis: Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day, and steering getaway vehicles for criminal operations by night. A loner by nature, Driver can’t help falling in love with his beautiful but vulnerable neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a young mother dragged into a dangerous criminal underworld by the return of ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac).
After a heist operation intended to help Standard pay off protection money spins out of control, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman). When the gangsters reveal that they’re after more than the bag of money in his trunk—that they’re coming straight for Irene and her son—Driver is forced to shift gears and go on the offense.
One of the greatest movies ever made, Citizen Kane is now available in a newly restored ’70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition’ Blu-ray (and for download on iTunes). In support of the film’s 70th-anniversary release, the first 10 minutes of the restored film are available now for your viewing pleasure.
The cast of The Day
Following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, WWE Studios has picked up distribution rights to The Day, an action thriller directed by Doug Aarniokoski and starring Shawn Ashmore, Ashley Bell, Michael Eklund, Cory Hardrict, Dominic Monaghan, and Shannyn Sossamon. The Day was written by Luke Passmore with Aarniokoski, Michael Finley, Tim James, Antonina Armato and Ross M. Dinerstein executive producing.
“The Day is a renegade thrill-ride that will not disappoint audiences,” said WWE Studios President Michael Luisi announcing the acquisition. “We went to Toronto looking for films to showcase and expand the WWE Studios brand and found exactly that with Doug’s exceptional film.”
Added director Aarniokoski, “The Day has been a wild ride from start to finish and we are very excited that we have found the right home to get the film out to the fans in a big way. We could not be happier to be in business with WWE Studios.”
The Day Plot [Courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival]:
“A group of travellers armed with shotguns, axes and machetes walks the back roads of a ravaged landscape where the natural cycle of life has long been stunted. Once twelve, these survivors’ numbers have dwindled down to five. They’re constantly on the move, but when one of their members becomes ill and slows down the pace, they’re forced to seek shelter in an abandoned farmhouse.
Rest is not an option, and they take stock of their ammunition supply. Haunted by ghosts of their past lives, this tightly knit group is united by their clear-headed leader Rick (Dominic Monaghan of Lost and Lord of the Rings fame), but have also recently accepted a silent and defiant newcomer, Mary (Ashley Bell), into their fold. Soon the exhausted survivors will have to make a stand against a brutal world from which they can no longer run.”
Epic Records announced the soundtrack for the action film Abduction is set for release on September 20, 2011 just days before the movie’s release in theaters. The Abduction – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will feature new songs from Train and Oh Land, as well as Lenny Kravitz’s “Come On Get It” off his ninth album, Black and White America. One Republic and Cobra Starship also contribute songs to the Abduction soundtrack.
Commenting on the album’s upcoming release, Lionsgate’s Head Of Film Tracy McKnight said, “Abduction is a movie with something for everyone – heart-pounding action, the magnetism of Taylor Lautner, a high school love story, and great performances from veteran character actors. It’s fitting that the soundtrack also offer something for everyone – the songs from new and established artists range from moody to upbeat, and make the perfect companion to the film.”
Abduction – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Track List:
1. To Be Loved – Train
2. Come On Get It – Lenny Kravitz
3. Heart Attack – Raphael Saadiq
4. Twist – Oh Land
5. Under My Skin – Hot Bodies In Motion
6. Blame It On The Boom Boom – Black Stone Cherry
7. The Witness – Blaqk Audio
8. #1Nite – Cobra Starship
9. Good Girl – Alexis Jordan
10. Novocaine Lips – Matthew Koma
11. DJ Love Song – Superstar Shyra
12. The Chorus – Donora
13. Loving You Tonight – Andrew Allen
14. Abduction Suite – Edward Shearmur
Watch the Lenny Kravitz – NBA on TNT spot featuring “Come On Get It:”
Abduction
Plot Synopsis:
For as long as he can remember, Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) has had the uneasy feeling that he’s living someone else’s life. When he stumbles upon an image of himself as a little boy on a missing persons website, all of Nathan’s darkest fears come true: he realizes his parents are not his own and his life is a lie, carefully fabricated to hide something more mysterious and dangerous than he could have ever imagined.
Episode #14: “Ourselves Alone”
Debut: SUNDAY, OCT. 2 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: Oct. 2 (11:00 p.m.), 4 (11:30 p.m.), 5 (8:00 p.m.) and 8 (10:45 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Oct. 3 (10:00 p.m.), 6 (11:40 p.m.), 7 (9:00 p.m.), 9 (2:00 p.m.) and 13 (10:00 p.m.)
Concerned about losing his grip on Atlantic City, Nucky (Steve Buscemi) deliberates a counter-move while trying to learn who in his inner circle betrayed him. As agents scour the Treasurer’s office for incriminating evidence, Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) strikes a pose from the past to help Nucky avoid further trouble in the present. In New York, Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) puts Jimmy (Michael Pitt) on hold, but Meyer Lansky (Anatol Yusef) and Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza) loom as possible trading partners. Chalky (Michael Kenneth Williams) is badgered in prison by Dunn Purnsley (Erik LaRay Harvey), a jailmate with an ax to grind; Owen Sleater (Ted Rooney), an advance man for Irish nationalist John McGarrigle (Ted Rooney), scouts the Thompson residence; the Commodore (Dabney Coleman) introduces Eli (Shea Whigham) to “the men who made this city.”
Written by Howard Korder; directed by David Petrarca.
Episode #15: “A Dangerous Maid”
Debut: SUNDAY, OCT. 9 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: Oct. 9 (11:00 p.m.), 11 (11:30 p.m.), 12 (10:00 p.m.) and 15 (9:30 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Oct. 10 (10:00 p.m.), 13 (11:00 p.m.), 14 (9:00 p.m.), 16 (4:30 p.m.) and 27 (9:00 p.m.)
With the Commodore using his Coast Guard connections to put the squeeze on Atlantic City’s liquor shipments, Nucky reaches out to Washington’s new Attorney General, Harry Daugherty (Christopher McDonald), to return a political favor. In an effort to prove his worth, Owen intervenes on a delivery intended for struggling casino operator Lolly Steinman (Danny Burstein). Two sets of dinner guests clash at Babette’s; Margaret sheds her pretense with Katy (Heather Lind) and the household staff; Lucy (Paz de la Huerta) chafes at her enforced loneliness.
Written by Itamar Moses; directed by Susanna White.
Episode #16: “What Does the Bee Do?”
Debut: SUNDAY, OCT. 16 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: Oct. 16 (11:00 p.m.), 18 (11:30 p.m.), 19 (10:00 p.m.) and 22 (1:15 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Oct. 17 (10:00 p.m.), 20 (12:15 a.m.), 21 (9:00 p.m.), 23 (3:30 p.m.) and 27 (10:00 p.m.)
At a birthday party for Mayor Bader (Kevin O’Rourke), Nucky’s attorney has a legal brainstorm that could turn the tide in Nucky’s election-rigging case. Facing a local liquor surplus, Jimmy and Mickey (Paul Sparks) head to Philadelphia in search of buyers, while Nucky strikes an unlikely deal to get booze into Atlantic City. Eli frets over the Commodore’s ability to lead; Margaret doles out staff bonuses; Chalky is cornered at work and at home; Owen puts his munitions expertise to work; Van Alden’s (Michael Shannon) agents target Mickey’s warehouse; Richard (Jack Huston) lets down his guard in the name of art; Gillian (Gretchen Mol) recalls her “first time” with the Commodore.
Written by Steve Kornacki; directed by Ed Bianchi.
Episode #17: “Gershwin & Bunkum”
Debut: SUNDAY, OCT. 23 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: Oct. 23 (11:00 p.m.), 25 (11:30 p.m.), 26 (10:00 p.m.) and 29 (10:30 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Oct. 24 (10:00 p.m.), 27 (11:00 p.m.), 28 (9:00 p.m.) and 30 (6:00 p.m.)
After paying lip service to his enemies, Nucky introduces a surprise guest speaker at a Memorial Day dedication for war veterans. With his options dwindling, Eli questions his allegiances, but ends up digging himself a deeper hole. Nucky gets a new lawyer; Jimmy is taught a painful lesson by a Commodore crony; Richard goes hunting deep in the forest.
Written by Howard Korder; directed by Tim Van Patten.
Episode #18: “The Age of Reason”
Debut: SUNDAY, OCT. 30 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdate: Oct. 30 (11:00 p.m.) and Nov. 1 (11:30 p.m.), 2 (10:00 p.m.) and 5 (12:45 a.m.)
HBO2 playdate: Oct. 31 (10:00 p.m.)
Nucky orchestrates a risky liquor delivery in Philadelphia; Attorney General Daugherty faces a quandary that could complicate Nucky’s case; Jimmy finds a new mentor in Leander Whitlock (Dominic Chianese), the Commodore’s longtime lawyer; Margaret confesses her sins; Lucy struggles in solitude, while Van Alden wrestles with his conscience.
Written by Bathsheba Doran; directed by Jeremy Podeswa.
I don’t know who the creative genius is behind The Muppets parody trailers, but whoever he or she is, they deserve a raise. In this new trailer, everybody’s favorite Muppets and their human co-stars – Amy Adams, Jason Segel, and Chris Cooper – show what The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would look like if it were G-rated and had singing and dancing in it.
Watch the video:
The Muppets Official Synopsis: On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds.
To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.
Making a splash at Cannes this year was director Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. The film begins in a deceptively simple manner, with Driver (a man whose name we never learn, played by Ryan Gosling) as … well … a getaway driver. Opening the story with a job for a couple of two-bit thieves, his expertise allows for a smooth getaway, and it is thus that we’re introduced to the methodical and calm surface nature of the character.
Of course, things aren’t this simple. By day, Driver uses his auto-skills in the stunts department of movies and also fills in as a mechanic at a garage owned by Shannon (Bryan Cranston), who’s sort of his agent/boss/closest thing to a friend. Shannon gets into business with some local gangsters (Ron Perlman, Albert Brooks) and Driver meets Irene (Carey Mulligan), a beautiful neighbor with a little boy … and an ex-con for a husband named Standard (Oscar Isaac) who’s just been paroled. Trying to help Standard get out from under a debt earned in jail, Driver gets involved in something that will threaten to turn the beginnings of a romantic fairy tale into a blood-soaked nightmare.
What’s most impressive about Refn’s film is how he and Gosling slowly and methodically build Driver as a character almost primarily through visuals. Like most of Refn’s film protagonists (Bronson, Pusher, Valhalla Rising), it isn’t about witty dialogue and big diatribes, it’s in the rage underneath the surface of a facade that we learn what the character is all about.
Over the last 10 years, Gosling has been delivering a wide range of complex and impressive performances (The United States of Leland, Half-Nelson, Blue Valentine, to name a few). He’s done it once again with Driver, utilizing the charm and magnetism mainstream audiences know from films like Crazy, Stupid, Love. while blending it with a dark side only hinted at it in other productions.
And make no mistake, Drive is not for the faint of heart. As much as the trailers try to make this seem like an action flick most people are accustomed to, the combination of slowly building the characters and events, only to give way to some very graphic and brutal violence in the last act, had a few screening audience members headed for the doors early. And that’s too bad because Refn has so masterfully ensured that for all of the anger and revenge expended in the back portion of the film, the impact is more from being along for the ride with Driver from the beginning. Just showing the last 40 minutes, when things get a bit nasty, doesn’t clue you in to all of the emotion picked up in the first 60.
Another element working so well in the film is Cliff Martinez’s electronic-heavy score and a soundtrack evoking a timelessness of ’80s vocals and synthesizers while still feeling current. As a number of scenes play out without dialogue, the music takes on a bigger role, and it matches perfectly with Refn’s aesthetics (although the lyrics are a bit too heavy-handed at times).
Speaking of how the film looks, this is an example of where being colorblind helps a director present his vision. Seeing as contrast, not color, is so important to him personally, the scenes are shot much more vibrantly and seemingly with more thought and care than most standard films. And the neon pink, Miami Vice-like credits only add that element of placing the film anywhere in the last 25 years (though the cars put this squarely in the present).
Like Gosling, the rest of the cast is more than up for the task. Mulligan is practically radiant, and the scenes between her and Gosling are stunning, with each telling volumes in glances and body language – needing no dialogue at all to divulge their intentions. Cranston, Isaac, Hendricks, and Perlman all work well in their roles, but the true supporting standout is Albert Brooks. If there’s any justice at all, he’ll be up for a few statuettes as a result of this performance.
Overall, the violence may be a bit too much for some, and the slow pacing of the opening half a problem for others, but both elements are necessary to tell this story and the entire cast and crew is to be commended for their efforts. This is the kind of filmmaking that inspires and will be sure to make it onto a number of Best Of 2011 lists. Simply put, Drive is one of the best films of the year and will hopefully expose more people to Refn’s talent as a director.
For Gosling fans, this is especially important as the pair are set to make two more movies together in the next few years – the first not even with a working title yet and the second being the planned remake of Logan’s Run (given Refn’s approach, this one has some hope of not making my list of terrible cash grabs).
GRADE: A+
Drive hits theaters on September 16, 2011 and is rated R for strong brutal, bloody violence, language and some nudity.
The Plot: Kate Reddy (Parker) devotes her days to her job with a Boston-based financial management firm. At night she goes home to her adoring, recently-downsized architect husband Richard (Kinnear) and their two young children. It’s a non-stop balancing act, the same one that Kate’s acerbic best friend and fellow working mother Allison (Hendricks) performs on a daily basis, and that Kate’s super-brainy, child-phobic young junior associate Momo (Olivia Munn) fully intends to avoid. When Kate gets handed a major new account that will require frequent trips to New York, Richard also wins the new job he’s been hoping for—and both will be spreading themselves even thinner. Complicating matters is Kate’s charming new business associate Jack Abelhammer (Brosnan), who begins to prove an unexpected source of temptation.
The Plot:The Son of No One is a police thriller about a young cop who is assigned to a precinct in the Queens neighborhood where he grew up. To provide for his wife and ailing daughter, he works hard to keep his life on track. But this life is threatened when a dark secret bubbles to the surface. An anonymous source reveals new information about the unsolved murder of two boys and a possible police cover-up, setting off a chain of events that rattles the neighborhood.
