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Tag: Coen Brothers

  • Meryl Streeps Faces Backlash After Commenting ‘We’re All Africans Really’

    Meryl Streeps Faces Backlash After Commenting ‘We’re All Africans Really’

    Meryl Streep dismissed questions about the all-white panel at the Berlin Film Festival Thursday by commenting that “we’re all Africans really,” which has ignited a furor on the internet.

    According to CBS News, Streep, who heads up a seven-member jury, said she was committed to equality and inclusion “of all genders, races, ethnicities, religions.”

    “This jury is evidence that at least women are included and in fact dominate this jury, and that’s an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions,” Streep said. “So I think the Berlinale is ahead of the game.”

    In response to a question asking whether she understood films from the Arab world and North Africa, Streep said that while she didn’t know much about the region, “I’ve played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures.”

    “There is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture, and after all we’re all from Africa originally,” she said. “Berliners, we’re all Africans really.”

    Social media posts were strewn with expressions of disbelief and anger over Streeps’ comments.

    The festival opens Thursday with the jury’s other members, German actor Lars Eidinger, British film critic Nick James, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, British actor Clive Owen, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher and Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska, deciding who goes home with the coveted Golden Bear.

    The Coen brothers’ comedy “Hail, Caesar!” starring George Clooney, Josh Brolin and a slew of other A-list celebrities kicked off the festival on Thursday.

  • Scarlett Johansson Is Amazing In Trailer For Coen Brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!”

    Scarlett Johansson joins a long list of fellow A-list stars for the latest Coen brothers film, Hail, Caesar!

    In it, Scarlett Johansson lights up the screen in her role as a vixen in the fictional golden age of Hollywood.

    Though Scarlett Johansson is fresh off a long stint as Black Widow on the big screen, she has no trouble capturing hearts as a beautiful but tough Hollywood bombshell.

    Joining Scarlett Johansson for the gorgeous film, which promises hilarity and depth Coen-style, is none other than George Clooney in the title role.

    Clooney plays an actor who plays Caesar in a film, also titled Hail, Caesar, which happens to be in the middle of production when it grinds to a halt after Caesar’s kidnapping.

    Caesar is kidnapped by a group calling themselves The Future. They then torment the man in charge, played by Josh Brolin.

    Scarlett Johansson is on top of the world right now. Beside the honor of acting for two of the world’s best filmmakers, she is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars right now.

    Scarlett Johansson also recently celebrated her first anniversary with her french husband, Romain Dauriac.

    Romain Dauriac and Scarlett Johansson just celebrated the first birthday of their baby girl, Rose Dorothy Dauriac.

    What a life, right?

    What do you think about Scarlett Johansson’s new role in Hail, Caesar!?

  • Scarlett Johansson, Josh Brolin and George Clooney Shine In Hilarious First Trailer For Coen Brother’s ‘Hail, Caesar!’

    Scarlett Johansson, Josh Brolin and George Clooney shine in a hilarious, star-studded first trailer for the Coen brothers latest film, Hail, Caesar!

    The trailer, released on Friday, shows the A-list actors in a slew of hilarious moments.

    Brolin portrays a fictionalized version of Eddie Mannix, a real-life film executive and producer who worked as a fixer in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

    Scarlett Johansson portrays an actress a lá Esther Williams, who unexpectedly becomes pregnant.

    The trailer sees Brolin’s character trying to enlist an assortment of personalities to retrieve the kidnapped movie star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney). Channing Tatum stars as a Gene Kelly-type heartthrob, while Ralph Fiennes plays film director Laurence Lorenz. Other stars include Tilda Swinton as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, Jonah Hill and Frances McDormand.

    Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, who brought the world Oh Brother, Where are Thou? with George Clooney, Hail, Caesar! opens in theaters Feb. 5, 2016.

    The Coen brothers last released Inside Llewyn Davis in 2013. Currently, they serve as executive producers on the FX series Fargo, inspired by their 1996 movie of the same name, which also starred Frances McDormand.

    Who’s pumped to see Scarlett Johansson, Josh Brolin, George Clooney and Channing Tatum in the Coen Brother’s Hail, Caesar!?

  • Scarlett Johansson Ready To Film Coen Bros. Movie

    Scarlett Johansson has played many a role on the big screen, but her latest two movies are shaping up to be quite interesting.

    Lucy, which comes out July 25th, stars Scarlett Johansson as a drug mule who absorbs some of the drug she is charged with into her system.

    This drug allows her to use way more of her brain than the average person. However, this new brain power comes at the expense of her humanity.

    Awesomeness ensues…

    Scralett Johansson destroys a good chunk of Paris in the movie during a crazy car chase.

    She also has the power to slow and speed up time, as well as a few other super-human tricks she keeps up her sleeve.

    Watch the trailer:

    Scarlett Johansson’s Lucy will open at the 67th Locarno Film Festival on August 6th. It looks pretty fantastic, but not as interesting as her new role in the new Coen brothers movie Hail Caesar. She is set to join the likes of Jonah Hill, Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes.

    Quite a star-studded movie! Who wouldn’ t want to be part of a Coen brothers production, after all?

    Scarlett Johansson plays an actress in the 1950’s who gets pregnant in Hail Caesar.

    It shouldn’t be too difficult to play that part, as Scarlett Johansson announced in March that she actually is pregnant with her first child with fiance Romain Dauriac.

    Sounds like a full load for the mom-to-be! For now, Scarlett Johansson is just enjoying her work and being engaged. She said of her relationship with Dauriac, “We do different things. He’s in the whole art-scene world. So it’s nice, because we can enjoy each other’s worlds, but we don’t have our crazy conflicting schedules and all that other stuff to contend with.”

    Hopefully she has time to rest between work and romance!

    Image via YouTube

  • Lebowski Fest: Jeff Bridges, Fans Celebrate Film

    Trekkies have nothing on the Dude-ers.

    Hundreds packed the Wiltern Theater in midtown Los Angeles Friday to pay homage to Joel and Ethan Coen‘s 1998 cult film The Big Lebowski.

    Even the Dude himself, Jeff Bridges, performed with his band.

    The theater was decked out with inflatable bowling pins and the drink menu featured white Russians “made with Ralphs half-and -half,” in honor of the film’s opening scene when the Dude writes a check for 69 cents to buy half-and-half from a Ralphs supermarket to make his favorite drink.

    This is the13th year of the annual two-day festival that celebrates the Dude, bowling, white bathrobes and White Russians.

    Fan Steve Lewis has never missed a Lebowski Fest.

    “It’s the people here that are so awesome,” said Lewis, who says he has seen the film more than 100 times. “It’s a community.”

    The 37-year-old went so far as to make his own Army dog tags to recreate one of John Goodman’s costumes from the film. Lewis has been to 11 festivals and has traveled to festivals in New York and Louisville with his friend J.D. Lloyd, who searched eBay to find the exact sweater Bridges wears in the film.

    “That’s a real Pendleton,” Lewis said. “That was expensive.”

    Connor Linnerooth, 20, who traveled from North Dakota to celebrate his birthday at the fest, wore a red bodysuit and carried oversized scissors like the character that terrorizes the Dude in his dreams.

    “Lebowski, he is a very cool guy,” he said, speaking in character. “I love the movie and I’m a big fan of it, and I really wanted to be around other people who are also big fans of the movie.”

    Matt Goforth tended bar in costume and said he’s been looking forward to the event for months.

    “First of all, I knew it was going to be a good crowd. Second of all, it’s a fantastic movie. Thirdly, Jeff Bridges’ band is amazing,” Goforth said. “It’s fun. I’ve had my picture taken maybe 35 times. It’s just a great atmosphere.”

    Friday night ended with a screening of the film, peppered with fans yelling out lines and cheering for favorite scenes.

    Saturday’s event featured a costumed bowling party.

    Mike Sullivan, a four-time festival-goer who says he’s memorized the movie, has a theory about the fest’s success.

    “What you got here,” he said, “is a bunch of pot-smoking hippies having a good time.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Billy Bob Thornton on Why TV is Better Than Films

    Billy Bob Thornton, 58, has been in the movie business for many years as an actor and director, but the Fargo actor says TV is the place to be these days.

    “Television has taken that slot that the movies aren’t doing any more,” said Thornton in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “They’re not doing the mid-range budget studio movies, the $25-30 million adult drama, or even adult comedy, really. And the independent films, they want to give you $3 or $4 million, they want you to put 10 movie stars in it so they can sell off all the foreign territories. And there’s not as much freedom in movies sometimes: you can do movies about heroin smugglers, but you can’t smoke in a movie.

    “Plus, TV now has this cache. Everybody’s dying to get on TV. I was influenced by Southern novelists, and there’s no place for that in a movie theater any more. So if I’m going to do anything [like that] in the future, maybe I can do that on TV. Maybe they’ll start doing more three-part things like [Kevin] Costner did with Hatfields and McCoys. Maybe I could do something like that. So I wasn’t looking to get on a TV series that lasts six or seven years, but they said, ‘Coen brothers, Fargo.’ I read the script, it was amazing, and then they said, ‘After 10 episodes, you’re done.’ I said, ‘Yeah, count me in.’ That was essentially it.”

    Thornton says he loves playing Fargo character Lorne Malvo.

    “I love the fact that he has no conscience at all, and yet he’s got this bizarre sense of humor where he likes to mess with people — when he doesn’t even have to. Because he could just leave [town]. But he doesn’t. Like, if he goes in to rob the clothing store, instead of just taking the money, he says, “You work in a clothing store and you’re wearing that shirt? Why?” For him, that’s his own social life, just messing with his victims.”

    Thornton said he gave little thought to taking on the TV version of the seven-time Academy Award-winning film, including Best Picture.

    “[The script] was so good. The Coen brothers gave it their blessing, and I figured, Why not? It’s like making a 10-hour independent film. And by nature, I think most people, when they love a movie, they wish it could keep going,” said Thornton. “And here you get to. And the other thing — as I get older, one of the things I’ve learned is it doesn’t matter what you do now, you’re going to get sh– for it anyway. So if you do something that just gets [just] some sh–, that’s successful.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Coen Brothers to Produce New “Fargo” TV Series

    Movie moguls Joel and Ethan Coen are at it once more. But for the first time, it’s for television.

    Famous for such favorites as “The Big Lebowski,” and “No Country for Old Men,” the Coens are set to produce a 10-part adaption of the acclaimed film “Fargo” with Billy Bob Thorton in the lead role of Lorne Malvo.  John Landgraf, head of the Fox network says the entertainment industry has  long since tried to reproduce the fervor of the original film to no avail.  He  anticipates the current effort will receive a ravenous reception.

    “For years people have tried to adapt this award-winning gem into a TV series with no success,” he said.  This script is so good and so true to the tone of the original movie.”

    The original 1996 movie won multiple Oscars and features a story about the pursuits of Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police chief from Fargo, North Dakota. While  investigating a roadway murder of a state patrolman, Gunderson happens upon another  case involving a “mysterious” kidnapping and subsequent death of a local housewife. Through a chain of events, Gunderson pursues two soulless ex-convicts only to witnesses one of them tossing his partner in crime into a wood chipper.

    “The series won’t have any of the same characters as the Oscar-winning movie,” Landgraf said, “but it will tell a similar story.”

    Warren LittleField and Geyer Kosniski will serve as executive producers along with Joel Coen, the original 1996 movie screenwriter. Noah Hawley, the series’ screenplay writer, will also bring his considerable expertise to bear.  A writer and novelist of such TV shows as “Bones,” and the “Unusuals,” his works  also include “The Good Father” and “The Punch.”

    Set to start shooting in Canada Spring of next year, Roma Khana, President of MGM’s Television and Digital says it will be compelling to see what everyone’s unique vision will bring to bear.

    “MGM Television is thrilled to be producing a fresh and exciting re-envisioning of Fargo for Fox’s television audience. With the stellar creative team lead by Noah Hawley, Joel & Ethan Coen and Warren Littlefield, we are re-imagining one of the most iconic titles from MGM’s rich film library,” she said.

  • Lesbian Love Story Wins Top Honor At Cannes Film Festival

    A lesbian love story film titled Blue is the Warmest Color has won the highest honor at the Cannes Film Festival.

    News.com reports that director Abdellatif Kechiche and the two leading stars – Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux – were awarded the Golden Palm award. The film was chosen for the festival’s highest honor by an all-star panel comprised of Steven Spielberg, Nicole Kidman and others.

    Kechiche, who is French-Tunisian, dedicated the award to the youth of both France and Tunisia. He put a special emphasis on Tunisia as he referenced the youth protest movement in the country. He said that the youth of the country should have the right to “live free, to express themselves freely and to love in full freedom.”

    Here’s a scene from the film:

    The film to take the second-highest prize – the Grand Prix – was the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis.

  • Jolie, Coen Brothers Team Up on WWII POW Biopic

    The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Ethan and Joel Coen (the Coen brothers, most known for movies such as Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and The Big Lebowski) will be teaming up with Angelina Jolie on a screen adaptation of the book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.

    Instead of the Coen brothers lending their directorial weight to the flick, Jolie will instead take the reins to direct the movie. Jolie has previously directed 2011’s In the Land of Blood and Honey. The Coen brothers will instead be taking over the screenplay, rewriting it.

    Unbroken is the biographical account of World War II soldier Louis Zamperini, who crash-landed in the Pacific. He spent 47 days trapped on a raft before washing up in Japan, where he was then held in brutal conditions as a prisoner of war by the Japanese. The book was written by Laura Hillenbrand, who also authored Seabiscuit: An American Legend, which was adapted into the Oscar-nominated Seabiscuit in 2003.