Known to millions of Game of Thrones fans as the fearless wildling warrior Ygritte, Rose Leslie traverses new ground with the psychological thriller Honeymoon. The narrative focuses on Paul and Bea (Penny Dreadful’s Harry Treadaway, Leslie), newlyweds who spend their honeymoon at Bea’s family cabin. With a nearby lake and seclusion as their bedside companions, the pair are ready for several days of pure bliss.
Their loving bond breaks when a nighttime venture into the woods leaves Bea a physically and emotionally changed woman. Not only does she forget how to cook French toast for breakfast (a worried Paul takes over food duties), Bea furtively continues to write her own name in a notebook. Directed by Leigh Janiak, Honeymoon is a tense, atmospheric, and ultimately scary journey into a once loving couple’s gradual undoing.
During the Honeymoon interviews (I will post a review of Honeymoon as well as other features on the film in the near future), I asked Rose Leslie about Game of Thrones and getting the chance to utter the iconic and much beloved line “You know nothing Jon Snow!” I also, in relation to Honeymoon, asked if she makes a better French Toast than Mr. Treadaway. Her response is below:
“First and foremost, I make the best French Toast. Secondly, I feel incredibly privileged and extremely humbled to be part of such a global phenomenon that is Game of Thrones. I had an utter blast for the three seasons that I was on it. And I feel so much warmth and admiration to the loyal and passionate fans and I love that they enjoy the catchphrase and they love that catchphrase. It’s a huge privilege to have been a part of it. It really is.”
Harry Treadaway & Rose Leslie in Honeymoon (Magnet Releasing)
To hear Rose Leslie’s full version, check out the Soundcloud audio below (Treadaway is also heard in the tail end of the clip):
Honeymoon hits theaters, On Demand, and iTunes on September 12.
Opening September 12, No Good Deed centers on Terri (Taraji P. Henson) a former attorney whose days are spent living a seemingly idyllic suburban existence with her successful husband (Henry Simmons) and two kids. When the hubby leaves town, a psychotic, escaped convict (Idris Elba) knocks on her door, asking for assistance.
Realizing she’s helping the wrong guy, Terri ends up fighting for her family’s survival on a storm drenched night.
I’ll be posting more about No Good Deed closer to its release date, but I wanted to share Taraji P. Henson’s comments regarding the reception she received playing determined NYPD homicide detective Joss Carter on Person of Interest. Her answer is below:
“I didn’t realize the love people have for Carter until she was gone. The outpouring is still coming in. (Fans are saying) ‘When are you coming back?’ They’re giving the writers ideas to bring her back in flashbacks! That makes me feel good, because art is powerful in life. It can change a life – save a life. And that’s why I do what I do. I feel like God gave me a gift and I have to share it with the world. Sharing it means helping somebody. That’s why I don’t judge my characters.”
To hear the audio version of Taraji P. Henson’s answer click on the Soundcloud bar below:
Sex Tape, the comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel as a married couple in trouble after a recorded intimate moment threatens to go viral, hits Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on October 21 via Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Both the DVD and Blu-ray editions come with two featurettes. “Capturing the Moment” has Diaz and Segel talk about the awkwardness of shooting the sex tape sequence in the film, and “Meet Hank Rosenbaum” has Hank Rosenbaum (Rob Lowe) giving viewers a tour of his Brentwood mansion, where they will also meet Ariel, his beloved German Shepherd.
The Sex Tape Blu-ray contains bloopers, deleted and extended scenes, and the featurette “Romance with Dr. Jenn Berman.” In the segment, the couples therapy expert gives audience members advice on various relationship topics including how to spice up one’s stale love life.
During the Sex Tape press conference, Jason Segel talks about the gratification of being a writer and occasionally coming up with an idea while taking a shower (Sex Tape’s original writer was Kate Angelo and Segel eventually came on board as a co-scribe).
Tom Cruise’s collaboration with Christopher McQuarrie (director of Jack Reacher & Valkyrie) continues, as Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions have announced the fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise has started principal photography. McQuarrie, who also penned the Cruise flick Edge of Tomorrow, wrote the new film with scribes Drew Pearce, Will Staples.
Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol vets Jeremy Renner, along with M:I staples Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames are returning for another round with Ethan Hunt (Cruise). New cast members include Alec Baldwin and Rebecca Ferguson.
Released in December 2011, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol earned nearly $700 million worldwide, making it Cruise’s highest grossing film of his career.
The new movie will shoot in London, Morocco, and Vienna. Cruise first played Ethan Hunt in 1996’s Mission: Impossible, a Brian De Palma directed feature which had Hunt going toe to toe with previous M:I icon Jim Phelps (Jon Voight).
EA Sports has announced that Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard will serve as the cover athlete for NBA Live 15. Named Rookie of the Year in 2013, Lillard is the next generation of tough nosed Oakland guards to flourish in the NBA, following such storied predecessors as Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, and Brian Shaw.
What sets Lillard apart from the pack (and makes him a great choice for cover athlete) lies not only in his impressive skill level (he’s can play both guard positions and is a dead eye clutch shooter) but also in his laser focused work ethic.
Lillard, who has worked with the NBA Live team for over two years, posted a video on his Instagram account and the following statement:
So thankful for being named the @EASportsInsider #NBALIVE15 cover athlete. I’ve been playing the game since the 16-bit days, so you know this is a dream come true! Hard work has led to so many great things for me and I’m not even close to satisfied. #CoverAthlete #1stBlazerOnTheCover #ItsInTheGame #RipCity #LillardTime
With a great nucleus that also includes the sweet shooting LaMarcus Aldridge and defensive stopper Nicolas Batum, the Portland Trail Blazers are easy favorites to make a deeper run in the playoffs. Speaking of getting better, NBA Live 15 comes with over 500 “core gameplay improvements” and new real-time physics to give ballers from all walks of life a more realistic feel to their gaming experience.
Although I’m a diehard Los Angeles Clippers and Chris Paul fan, it’s hard not to pull for the hard working Weber State star. Lillard is doing a great job representing Rip City and, along with Kyrie Irving, is spearheading the next generation of scoring adept (but team oriented) point guards. Hopefully NBA Live 15, which comes out October 7 for Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, will be just as tight as Lillard’s game.
For more info on Lillard’s background and his dedication to Portland and Oakland, check out his interview with Gary Payton below:
Director Brian De Palma’s lifelong obsessions (sexual betrayal and manipulation, JFK’s assassination, Alfred Hitchcock) coupled with his unique visual aesthetic, are in full bloom with Phantom of the Paradise, and Shout! Factory has released a 2-Disc Blu-ray set befitting the movie’s ambitious scope.
Originally co-penned by De Palma and Louisa Rose, Phantom of the Paradise had been stirring in De Palma’s brain since 1969. After moniker changes due to lawsuits (it was originally titled Phantom of the Fillmore and then just plain Phantom) and a creative disagreement with Rose, De Palma rewrote Rose’s sections of the script, worked out a suitable name for the film, and forged ahead.
The result is De Palma at his baroque best, as the filmmaker blends horror and musical genres to create an eviscerating look at the uneasy (and in De Palma’s case, destructive) marriage between art and commerce.
Late actor William Finley, whose extensive collaboration with De Palma includes Sisters, The Fury, and The Black Dahlia, is Winslow Leach, a composer whose lyrical work doesn’t mesh with the pop music/rock vagaries of the day. Winslow’s dreams of seeing his songs take center stage takes a tragic spin when an evil record tycoon named Swan (Paul Williams who penned Phantom’s songs and score) bastardizes Winslow’s vision and transforms the tunes into a garish display spearheaded by a pop group known as the Juicy Fruits (Archie Hahn, Jeffrey Comanor, Harold Oblong).
Phantom of the Paradise – Shout! Factory
After taking a beating from Swan’s goons and getting his face disfigured from an accident, Winslow dons a phantom mask to haunt Swan and his performers (a split screen sequence, which has Phantom planting a bomb inside a stage crew designed vehicle, is one of the film’s most visually arresting moments).
Jessica Harper is Phoenix, a silk voiced ingenue who serves as Winslow’s muse. Even though Swan is his mortal enemy, Winslow’s lust and admiration for Phoenix (he tells her that he wouldn’t let his “personal desires” influence his “aesthetic judgment”) wins out, and he enters a Faustian bargain with Swan that leads to heartbreaking results.
If Shout! Factory simply released the high-definition transfer of Phantom of the Paradise, I’d still be in hog heaven. Thankfully, they have littered this edition with tons of special features. Here’s just a few of the treasures that await Phantom of the Paradise fans and future initiates:
Paradise Regained – This is a 50 plus minute look at the making of Phantom of the Paradise and is the first feature I’d take a peek at. Each chapter is broken down to interviews with Brian De Palma, producer Edward R. Pressman, William Finley, Paul Williams, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham and other members of the cast.
Brian De Palma Interview (36 minutes) – A must see interview with the director, as he explains the importance of visualizing a movie and why he’s not a huge fan of directors who simply shoot coverage. “I have a very definite way of shooting things and when I write a scene or have an idea for a movie,” says De Palma in the feature. “I have a very direct, important place for the camera to be or a way to structure a series of images and I think about it quite a lot.”
Paul Williams Interview (30 minutes) – Although Phantom of the Paradise is De Palma’s brainchild, a huge portion of the movie’s soul comes from Paul Williams’ music and “devilish” (spoiler alert!) performance as Swan. During the interview, he cites the Phantom song “Old Souls” (sung by Jessica Harper) as one of his two favorite compositions which, considering his prolific work, says a ton.
Guillermo Del Toro & Paul Williams Conversation – Clocking in at 72 minutes, Del Toro is a huge Phantom of the Paradise fan, and he’s collaborating with Williams on a stage version of Pan’sLabyrinth. Thus, the pair have a mutual shorthand, and the talk is an informative look on Williams’ creative process as well as Del Toro’s passion for Phantom (at one point, he considered naming his daughter Phoenix). It’s also great to hear the pair randomly geek out over actor Montgomery Clift (“Before he says a word, before he makes a move, you feel (Clift’s) pain,” says Williams).
Other special features include audio commentary from the cast and crew (which includes Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham, Jeffrey Comanor, and Harold Oblong), 40 minutes worth of alternate takes, TV & Radio spots, a still gallery, theatrical trailer, and interviews with production designer Jack Fisk drummer Garry Mallaber, producer Edward R. Pressman, and quick clip of William Finley promoting a rare Phantom of the Paradise doll.
Jessica Harper, William Finley as Phoenix and the Phantom in ‘Phantom of the Paradise’ (Shout! Factory)
Phantom of the Paradise is a perfect example of Brian De Palma’s successful collaborations with musicians and songwriters. Williams, as witnessed from his work with The Carpenters, Three Dog Night, and even Diamond Rio (“You’re Gone”), knows how to write and compose an evocative tune, and that melancholic tone serves as the perfect balance to De Palma’s audacious and stylized filmmaking.
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De Palma’s own personal attachment to Winslow Leach is, upon closer view, a rather obvious one. Winslow Leach would rather craft elaborate cantatas than subject himself to penning pop jingles, and De Palma is happiest when left to his own creative devices.
Although he’s directed excellent studio driven projects such as Scarface, Mission Impossible, and The Untouchables, much of his creative bliss lies in writing and directing intensely personal and suspense filled narratives (Sisters, Raising Cain, Dressed to Kill, and the woefully overlooked Femme Fatale are pure, De Palma driven cinema)..
Back in 2002, I interviewed De Palma for Femme Fatale, and in the following clip, he talked about why music is a huge influence in his storytelling:
Phantom of the Paradise is now out on Blu-ray, and you can order it online via Shout! Factory through this link.
Guardians of the Galaxy continued its box-office dominance, as it took in $17.6 million to beat out newcomers If I Stay (#3, $16.3 million), When The Game Stands Tall (#5, $9 million), and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (#8, $6.47 million).
The weekend’s biggest surprise was the tepid box-office numbers for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Although the film continues the film noir, gritty graphic novel spirit of Sin City, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez didn’t strike oil the second time around. A huge reason for the film’s tepid reception is that sometimes absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder (Sin City came out in 2005), and audience members have apparently moved on (or will just wait when the movie hits digital, DVD, & Blu-ray).
I actually loved Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and hope it gets a fair shake down the road. Here’s the top 10:
Guardians of the Galaxy – Groot, Star-Lord, and his buddies collect even more dough for Marvel, as the flick made $17.63 million.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – $16.8 million
If I Stay – Chloë Grace Moretz tearjerker does a solid $16.35 in its first weekend.
Let’s Be Cops – Budgeted at $17 million, Let’s Be Cops is a sleeper hit with a $45.25 domestic haul. This weekend, it turned in $11 million.
When the Game Stands Tall – Football film starring Jim Caviezel and Michael Chiklis debuts with $9 million.
The Giver– $6.73 million
The Expendables 3 – The third time wasn’t the charm. A $6.6 million showing in its second weekend is, for lack of a better word, expendable.
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For – She may be worth killing for, but is she worth watching? A poor showing of $6.47 million proves otherwise.
With almost 30 years of songwriting under their belt Erasurecontinues to expand their music horizons. Their new single “Elevation” receives a remix treatment from revered electronic artist BT, and the track, which also includes interpretations from Cutmore and Club Clique will be released September 15. “Elevation” is also available on iTunes pre-order.
Erasure’s busy 2014 includes the September 23 release of their album The Violet Flame, which had Vince Clarke and Andy Bell finding their creative muse in Miami’s sun drenched surroundings. “All that we said was that we’d like to make an uptempo dance record,” said Bell. “And that’s how it came out.”
Along with the standard release, The Violet Flame will also come out as a 2CD edition which features Erasure’s live performance at Mute’s Short Circuit festival in 2011. Exclusive 3CD deluxe box sets and a VIP ticket bundle are also up for grabs, and more info can be found here.
The “Elevation” remixes are catchy and addicting (I’ve got “Your love gets higher/Your love gets higher” stuck in my head), and the remix tracks can be heard below:
Erasure embarks on The Violet Flame Tour starting September 12 in Miami. To check out their domestic and internation concert schedule, which includes stops in Chicago (October 3-4, Chicago Theatre w/ All Hail The Silence), Los Angeles (October 24-25, Hollywood Palladium w/ Superhumanoids), and London (December 14-15, Forum), go to http://www.erasureinfo.com/concerts/.
Kevin Durant is arguably the NBA’s most intimidating scorer due to several obvious factors. When you’ve got the height of a center, the fleet feet of a point guard, and the wiry athleticism of a small forward, you’d be virtually unstoppable. Blessed with a team first and iron will attitude, Durant is right up there with LeBron James when the “best player of the NBA” talks surface.
But even Durant needs a bit of motivation, especially before game time. During a conversation with NBA 2K15 Uncensored, the Oklahoma City Thunder forward cited Clipse’s “I’m Good” as a tune that always gets him on point.
“It just makes me feel right,” said Durant. “Every time I listen to it. Every game for like the last four years. That’s probably my theme song – my theme music when I walk into the arena, when I walk into the game. That’s my favorite song of all time.”
The video version Kevin Durant’s answer can be seen below:
NBA 2K15 is scheduled for an October 7 release in North America and will be out on the PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 platforms. The game comes out October 10 internationally.
If you’re not familiar with Clipse’s music or haven’t heard KD’s favorite song, check out the video for “I’m Good” below:
