As a cinematographer, if you spend the bulk of your career shooting classy big-budget productions for Hollywood heavyweights, it’s conceivable that you might occasionally get a B-movie hankering: Even gourmet chefs crave the sloppy pleasures of a Big Mac now and then. Janusz Kaminski gets the urge rarely, it seems, but when it strikes, he takes to the director’s chair. Back in 2000, Steven Spielberg’s trusty Dp made an ignominious helming debut with “Lost Souls,” an incoherent occult horror that wasn’t even the tasty kind of trash. Two decades later, things haven’t overly improved with “American Dream,” the noble-sounding title of which does little to dignify the dingy exploitation exercise lurking below: a thriller in which the American pursuit of happiness is no match for the dogged chase given by ticked-off Russian mobsters.
The relative novelty of Kaminski’s attachment in this capacity superficially distinguishes “American...
The relative novelty of Kaminski’s attachment in this capacity superficially distinguishes “American...
- 1/12/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
American Dream Official Trailer — Janusz Kaminski‘s American Dream (2021) movie trailer has been released Lionsgate and stars Michiel Huisman, Luke Bracey, Nick Stahl, Agnieszka Grochowska, Elya Baskin, Samantha Ressler, Mark Kubr, Kelly Mantle, Lindsay Seim, Mike Jerome Putnam, and Jeanne Simpson. Crew Duncan Brantley and Mark Wheaton wrote the screenplay for American Dream. [...]
Continue reading: American Dream (2021) Movie Trailer: Michiel Huisman & Luke Bracey borrow money from vicious Lone Shark Nick Stahl...
Continue reading: American Dream (2021) Movie Trailer: Michiel Huisman & Luke Bracey borrow money from vicious Lone Shark Nick Stahl...
- 12/21/2020
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Exclusive: Chernin Entertainment and 20th Century Fox are in talks to make a feature based on the soccer match fixing rings that have proven to be a global scourge for the world’s most popular sport. The film will be based on All The World Is Staged, an article by Brett Forrest published by Espn Magazine last August. Deal includes life rights of Chris Eaton, a former police officer who helped uncover a huge scandal as the top enforcement agent of soccer’s governing body FIFA. David Ready from Chernin brought the project in for the Company. Gersh is representing Forrest and the rights for his article, and Duncan Brantley who is writing the script.. Fox is a major player in the sport–Rupert Murdoch made Fox Soccer Channel the most prolific broadcaster in America of Premier League and other professional soccer games. The central figure in the Espn article is Wilson Raj Perumal,...
- 2/28/2013
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
If there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that actors should usually stay in front of the camera and leave directing to those focused enough to control the magic. While the Academy has undoubtedly given unfair reward to the likes of Robert Redford, Ron Howard, Kevin Costner, and even Clint Eastwood over the years, the truth is that most actor-helmed movies are sh!t. George Clooney, of all people, has proven to be an incredible exception to the rule with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night, and Good Luck. With Leatherheads, his attempt at a screwball comedy centered on the rough, early days of pro football, he's fallen into the trap. Clooney stars as the aging bad-boy player Dodge Connelly and John Krasinski as fresh-faced rising star Carter Rutherford, Leatherheads attempts to chronicle the origins of the league in a "kooky" manner meant to reflect just how crazy the times were.
- 9/23/2008
- by Domenic Padulo
- Rope of Silicon
Clooney Withdraws From Union After Leatherheads Snub
George Clooney has withdrawn from the Writers Guild of America (Wga) after the union rejected his request for a writing credit on new movie Leatherheads.
The star directed, produced and starred in the football-focused film but sought acknowledgement for his contribution to the script, alongside writers Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly.
But his request was denied and, angered by the snub, Clooney reportedly decided to quit the union.
He tells Variety.com, "When your own union doesn't back what you've done, the only honourable thing to do is not participate."
However, according to the website, the actor changed his mind and chose only to downgrade his membership, as leaving the union completely would have left him unable to work on all Wga-covered projects.
The move, which is irrevocable, means Clooney is still covered by his basic contract, but loses his voting rights and will no longer be allowed to attend Wga meetings.
Clooney reportedly withdrew from the union last year but kept the news quiet in a bid to avoid moving attention away from the union's strike, which ran from November 2007 until February 2008.
The star directed, produced and starred in the football-focused film but sought acknowledgement for his contribution to the script, alongside writers Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly.
But his request was denied and, angered by the snub, Clooney reportedly decided to quit the union.
He tells Variety.com, "When your own union doesn't back what you've done, the only honourable thing to do is not participate."
However, according to the website, the actor changed his mind and chose only to downgrade his membership, as leaving the union completely would have left him unable to work on all Wga-covered projects.
The move, which is irrevocable, means Clooney is still covered by his basic contract, but loses his voting rights and will no longer be allowed to attend Wga meetings.
Clooney reportedly withdrew from the union last year but kept the news quiet in a bid to avoid moving attention away from the union's strike, which ran from November 2007 until February 2008.
- 4/4/2008
- WENN
By Neil Pedley
This week is something of a nostalgia trip with a period comedy, Freddie Prinze Jr. and a concert documentary about a group of men who, by all the laws of man and nature, should not still be alive and walking around.
"The Flight of the Red Balloon"
After being nominated for the Palme d'Or an incredible five times at Cannes, it's no wonder that director Hou Hsiao-hsien has become a Francophile. In his first film outside of Asia, the "Three Times" auteur directs the country's first lady of cinema, Juliette Binoche, in a story about an overburdened mother who receives a much-needed lift from her son's Chinese nanny (Song Fang) as they turn the City of Lights into a magical playground for the 7-year-old Simon . a tribute to Albert Lamorisse's 1956 short. In French with subtitles.
Opens in limited release.
"Jack and Jill vs. the World...
This week is something of a nostalgia trip with a period comedy, Freddie Prinze Jr. and a concert documentary about a group of men who, by all the laws of man and nature, should not still be alive and walking around.
"The Flight of the Red Balloon"
After being nominated for the Palme d'Or an incredible five times at Cannes, it's no wonder that director Hou Hsiao-hsien has become a Francophile. In his first film outside of Asia, the "Three Times" auteur directs the country's first lady of cinema, Juliette Binoche, in a story about an overburdened mother who receives a much-needed lift from her son's Chinese nanny (Song Fang) as they turn the City of Lights into a magical playground for the 7-year-old Simon . a tribute to Albert Lamorisse's 1956 short. In French with subtitles.
Opens in limited release.
"Jack and Jill vs. the World...
- 3/31/2008
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
Leatherheads
George Clooney's "Leatherheads" is a movie you want to like. The Roaring '20s costumes, sets and music all look terrific, and a story about the early days of professional football -- a sport then relegated to college play -- is a fresh movie subject.
But Clooney, the film's director and star, can't make up his mind how to approach the story. One minute it's a romantic comedy. Then it switches to slapstick, then to screwball comedy before sliding into Frank Capra territory with a crusading female reporter and a phony hero before settling on a gridiron version of "The Natural", a tall tale about how legends are made. It's all over the place but never feels comfortable in its own period clothes.
Trying out all these comic subgenres takes time. The film overstays its welcome by a good 20 minutes, making the climactic game feel anti-climactic. Clooney and co-star Renee Zellweger certainly will lure customers, but story weaknesses and ill-defined characters will challenge their most ardent fans to root for anything other than a swift ending. Boxoffice prospects looks mediocre domestically, and you can forget about overseas.
The year is 1925, the same year Harold Lloyd made his classic "The Freshman", to which the football action looks surprisingly similar. Pro football is a pitiable thing, drawing dozens of fans, mostly tanked up on Prohibition hooch, and bored cows to tiny fields while college boys, paid only with scholarships, draw tens of thousands. Clooney's Dodge Connelly -- now that's a football moniker! -- aging star and guiding light of the Duluth Bulldogs, means to change all that.
He entices college star Carter "The Bullet" Rutherford John Krasinski) -- or to be accurate, his manager CC Frazier (Jonathan Pryce) -- to play for the Bulldogs. He is not only a football hero but also a World War I hero, having captured an entire German regiment (the details keep changing) single-handedly. Historical accuracy pretty much flies out the window here since a college player would've played pro under an assumed name, and he certainly would not have a manager.
Zellweger is the "His Girl Friday" news hen, Lexie Littleton, who is assigned to suss out the real story behind the war-hero act. In the process, she seemingly falls for both Dodge and Bullet, if only for their names alone. She gets her story, and the fate of pro football hangs on its accuracy -- but not really. In fact, far too much time is taken up by this dubious subplot that has nothing to do with pro football.
The parts never add up. The journalistic aspects are all stolen from "The Front Page" and "It Happened One Night" and feel tired. The chases, fisticuffs and pratfalls are exceedingly lame. And the romances never are convincing. Our Lexie wouldn't fall for either of these mugs.
The film shifts styles so often that it strips its gears. Characters turn up, often coincidentally, to push the story along, but the script by one-time Sports Illustrated colleagues Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly relies heavily on old movies and not enough on historical invention. The haphazard nature of the narrative speaks to the clumsiness of every unlikely plot turn and character.
Clooney's character -- part Clark Gable, part Cary Grant, part you name it -- is too shifty and conniving to be a rogue gentleman. Zellweger's goes way too misty-eyed at the prospect of marriage to fulfill the Rosalind Russell role. And Krasinski spends the entire movie being manipulated rather than allowed to assert a nature that is perhaps more heroic than he's given credit for.
The music is great fun, though -- a mix of era-perfect soft jazz and old standards -- while the design, perhaps a bit self-consciously, does put us in a '20s mood.
LEATHERHEADS
Universal
A Smokehouse Pictures/Casey Silver production
Credits: Director: George Clooney; Screenwriters: Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly; Producers: Grant Heslov, Casey Silver; Executive producers: Barbara A. Hall, Jeffrey Silver, Bobby Newmyer, Sydney Pollack; Director of photography: Newton Thomas Sigel; Production designer: Jim Bissell; Music: Randy Newman; Costume designer: Louise Frogley; Editor: Stephen Mirrione. Cast: Dodge Connelly: George Clooney; Lexie Littleton: Renee Zellweger; Carter "The Bullett" Rutherford: John Krasinski; CC Frazier: Jonathan Pryce; Suds: Stephen Root; Coach Ferguson: Wayne Duvall; Commissioner: Peter Gerety.
MPAA rating PG-13, running time 114 minutes.
But Clooney, the film's director and star, can't make up his mind how to approach the story. One minute it's a romantic comedy. Then it switches to slapstick, then to screwball comedy before sliding into Frank Capra territory with a crusading female reporter and a phony hero before settling on a gridiron version of "The Natural", a tall tale about how legends are made. It's all over the place but never feels comfortable in its own period clothes.
Trying out all these comic subgenres takes time. The film overstays its welcome by a good 20 minutes, making the climactic game feel anti-climactic. Clooney and co-star Renee Zellweger certainly will lure customers, but story weaknesses and ill-defined characters will challenge their most ardent fans to root for anything other than a swift ending. Boxoffice prospects looks mediocre domestically, and you can forget about overseas.
The year is 1925, the same year Harold Lloyd made his classic "The Freshman", to which the football action looks surprisingly similar. Pro football is a pitiable thing, drawing dozens of fans, mostly tanked up on Prohibition hooch, and bored cows to tiny fields while college boys, paid only with scholarships, draw tens of thousands. Clooney's Dodge Connelly -- now that's a football moniker! -- aging star and guiding light of the Duluth Bulldogs, means to change all that.
He entices college star Carter "The Bullet" Rutherford John Krasinski) -- or to be accurate, his manager CC Frazier (Jonathan Pryce) -- to play for the Bulldogs. He is not only a football hero but also a World War I hero, having captured an entire German regiment (the details keep changing) single-handedly. Historical accuracy pretty much flies out the window here since a college player would've played pro under an assumed name, and he certainly would not have a manager.
Zellweger is the "His Girl Friday" news hen, Lexie Littleton, who is assigned to suss out the real story behind the war-hero act. In the process, she seemingly falls for both Dodge and Bullet, if only for their names alone. She gets her story, and the fate of pro football hangs on its accuracy -- but not really. In fact, far too much time is taken up by this dubious subplot that has nothing to do with pro football.
The parts never add up. The journalistic aspects are all stolen from "The Front Page" and "It Happened One Night" and feel tired. The chases, fisticuffs and pratfalls are exceedingly lame. And the romances never are convincing. Our Lexie wouldn't fall for either of these mugs.
The film shifts styles so often that it strips its gears. Characters turn up, often coincidentally, to push the story along, but the script by one-time Sports Illustrated colleagues Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly relies heavily on old movies and not enough on historical invention. The haphazard nature of the narrative speaks to the clumsiness of every unlikely plot turn and character.
Clooney's character -- part Clark Gable, part Cary Grant, part you name it -- is too shifty and conniving to be a rogue gentleman. Zellweger's goes way too misty-eyed at the prospect of marriage to fulfill the Rosalind Russell role. And Krasinski spends the entire movie being manipulated rather than allowed to assert a nature that is perhaps more heroic than he's given credit for.
The music is great fun, though -- a mix of era-perfect soft jazz and old standards -- while the design, perhaps a bit self-consciously, does put us in a '20s mood.
LEATHERHEADS
Universal
A Smokehouse Pictures/Casey Silver production
Credits: Director: George Clooney; Screenwriters: Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly; Producers: Grant Heslov, Casey Silver; Executive producers: Barbara A. Hall, Jeffrey Silver, Bobby Newmyer, Sydney Pollack; Director of photography: Newton Thomas Sigel; Production designer: Jim Bissell; Music: Randy Newman; Costume designer: Louise Frogley; Editor: Stephen Mirrione. Cast: Dodge Connelly: George Clooney; Lexie Littleton: Renee Zellweger; Carter "The Bullett" Rutherford: John Krasinski; CC Frazier: Jonathan Pryce; Suds: Stephen Root; Coach Ferguson: Wayne Duvall; Commissioner: Peter Gerety.
MPAA rating PG-13, running time 114 minutes.
- 3/28/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- #99. Leatherheads Director: George ClooneyWriters: Duncan Brantley and Rick ReillyProducers: Casey Silver (Ladder 49), Grant Heslov and Clooney Distributor: Universal Pictures The Gist: Written by Steven Schiff and Clooney, Clooney plays Dodge Connolly, a swaggering, aging football hero who is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. Fact: To prepare for the film, Clooney watched many "Screwball" comedies. See It: Clooney hasn't gone all softy on us - he is just trying out a different genre - and I have a feeling that O'Brother humor might have slipped into this one. Release Date/Status?: This was intially a 2007 release but Universal made a smart move in setting it for an April 4th release - less traffic congestion. ...
- 1/28/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
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