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Sundance 2012: Robot and Frank – Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:50:36 +0000

Yet another one of my Top 5 Film Picks coming through. This film was exactly what I was hoping for: witty, funny, meaningful, enlightened and brilliantly acted by Frank Langella. The film takes a high concept premise and a character driven plot and turns it into a wonderfully executed experience.

The Players:

Director: Jake Schreier
Screenwriter: Christopher Ford
Producers: Galt Niederhoffer, Sam Bisbee, Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Lance Acord
Cinematographer: Matthew Lloy
Cast: Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Peter Saarsgard

The Good:

The World: They were able to take a high concept idea and relate it to a world that we could all make perfect sense of. One not too far in the future to make the concept seem like a science-fiction premise, but with enough twists to make it new and inventive.
The Comedy: Subtle yet strong, and highly effective when used, the comedy in this film was well timed and executed. It helped to add to the drama of the film and the flow of the story, and added some surprisingly fun and light moments in the film.
Frank: The character and the actor, both were wonderful. The character was well rounded and fun to watch, and Langella as always gave a powerful performance that had me both laughing and crying.
The Robot: The design was well executed and Peter Saarsgard was perfect for the voice. His voice was a slight throw back to 2001, with a little bit of that possibly malicious tone of the robot in Moon.
Heart/Wit: The film does a wonderful job of always keeping these two things in balance, so that you never feel like it’s melodramatic nor a straight out comedy. It’s a lovely dramedy.

The So-So:

Storyline: There was one aspect of the story-line, that would have taken the film into more a detective/unexpected hero story, which seemed interesting, but was never fully fleshed out. This didn’t hurt the film, but did leave me wondering what was happening with one of the supporting characters that seemed to be driving our lead.

Overall:

Great movie, finely made and well worth seeing if you’re at the fest or hopefully when it hits theaters later this year!

Rating: 8.5/10

Interview: Liv Tyler and Ellen Page for Super

Damon Houx — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:30:54 +0000

It’s a tough road for women in a super-hero movie. Few get to be more than love interests. But that’s not the case in James Gunn‘s Super. Ellen Page she gets to play the superhero sidekick, who’s way more trouble than expected. And for Liv Tyler, she gets to play not the love interest of Rainn Wilson‘s superhero Crimson Bolt, but his wife – who’s succumbed to addiction yet again and has left him for another man. Neither is waiting around to be saved, and that may have been what drew both to Super, which opens Friday in theaters and on VOD. We talked to both women about the film. Check it out.

Liv Tyler:

Can you talk about your look for this film?

Liv Tyler: With this character I changed my hair color, I wanted her to blend in to the world. I tried to go a dirty natural blonde, but it was a disaster. It looked so bad on me. My features disappeared, my lips, my eyes, they just went away. And soon as we added a little red, a little dark, everything came back in, but it was fun for me to play around with that, it wasn’t fun for my hair, which is still breaking off.

What brought you in to this film, because it is a departure from what we normally see you doing?

LT: I just read the script and fell in love with it. I don’t think I had done anything since The incredible Hulk – I had done The Strangers and The Hulk back to back and was doing Givenchy stuff, and being a mom, and I was looking for something. Honestly, my whole career I just read and find things that I fall in love with. And sometimes I get them, and sometimes I don’t. And this was something that I just really loved. And so I met with James (Gunn) and I knew that Rainn (Wilson) was attached and Ellen (Page) was attached so it all just came together, and I didn’t really overthink it too much. I just said “I’m going to try this and see what this is like, and I’m not going to make any money, and there’s no money for the movie, and I’m going to go to Shreveport, Louisiana and live in a hotel on the side of the highway, and it’s a twenty four day shoot, and it’s on video so there’s no playback, so it was a whole new experience. I’ve made really small independent films before, but this was – for sure – the smallest. But it was really liberating. It’s just an interesting exercise. And any chance I have to work in an ensemble with other actors that I love on a story that I love I grab that opportunity. I feel safest and happiest in that environment because as an actor that’s so fun.

It sounds like it was a ton of fun to work with Rainn Wilson and company?

LT: It was fun but we were all there to work. We really didn’t have a lot of time. That’s one of the things about a bigger budget movie – you have a lot more time to lounge around, drink cappuccinos and giggle and long leisurely lunches – we didn’t have that. So we all had to be very mindful and very prepared, very focused, just go to work. There were a lot of set ups every day, a lot of dialogue, a lot of action, a lot of “we have two hours to get this, so here we go.” James was very good at being specific and prepared with what he had shot for shot – every single detail. That was a big help.

Did you have a rehearsal period?

LT: We went down to Shreveport, and Rainn and I went to a local indie theater down there, and they let us use a room in their space to rehearse, but we just wound up talking and going over ideas, but we didn’t really rehearse-rehearse. We didn’t have a lot of time. I think that Rainn and James worked together a lot more.

Did you get to play any with Kevin Bacon?

LT: We actually got to shoot the shit a lot more. One of our first days we were together we were sitting in a car for half the day, and most of scene took place out of the car. We would just sit in the car and chat the whole time. I’ve met him a few times – he’s a lovely man – and I enjoyed getting to hang out with him.

As a kid, did you ever have fantasies of being a superhero or superpowers?

LT: I had the Wonder Woman underoos, I still have them. My mom saved them. I guess so, I was in the weird generation of He-Man, which is not a superhero, but I really liked Scooby-Doo, and He-Man, and the Incredible Hulk, but the TV show was my first real introduction into superheroes. And I used to watch Batman and Robin – but the TV show, the campy version, which I was obsessed with. I was never that big of a comic person that I can remember. I was more into music than I was into comics.

What’s the greatest gift that filmmaking has given you?

LT: I feel so greatful when I look back and I’m thirty-three-years old and I’ve been working since I was fifteen, and the experiences that I’ve had – getting to work with Robert Altman twice, and Bernardo Bertolucci, I’ve worked with all kinds of interesting filmmakers and actors, some of whom have passed away. And I just think as a young woman how lucky I was to travel to some many different places and interesting people. I’m very observant, and I like to ask questions and getting to see things, so going somewhere and getting live there for a chunk of time – even Shreveport – I loved it. My driver was my best friend, I loved her. I asked her a million questions, I’m really curious, and I enjoy that part – getting to be a gypsy and exploring the world a little bit.

Ellen Page:

How did you land the role, how did this come to you? Did (James) Gunn just approach you asking please do this or…?

Ellen Page: He e-mailed me the script which was awesome and immediately I was stoked. I had just gotten back from Nova Scotia, I had just shot Inception and I think just finished and I was just excited to know that wow, Rainn (Wilson) wanted to do something together. And I immediately read the script and was I absolutely in. And grateful that James (Gunn) wrote a role like that for a young woman. I just feel lucky every time I get to play an interesting character like that cause it’s like few and far between.

What is your favorite part or treat in Boltie/Libby?

EP: Maybe just like her energy. I wish I had that energy all the time, I don’t obviously. I feel like an old lady sometimes.

How then would you get yourself geared up then for the shot?

Ellen Page: Just do it. Yeah, you just do it. Drink green tea and listen to some rock n’ roll and just go it. Rev yourself up. And when you’re working with someone like Rainn (Wilson), who’s constantly present, or the energy of James Gunn. You’re with two rad dudes who are just really amazing spirit.

This isn’t your first time in the comic book world, are you a comic book fan?

EP: You know, I’m not really. I’m kind of a weird, depressing graphic novel fan like that amazing graphic novel “Blankets.” So that’s kind of more my scene when it comes to comic graphic novel thing.

What else do you have going on future projects-wise?

EP: I’m really hoping to shoot a movie called Freeheld coming out really soon, it’s based on a true story, and is a documentary that won Best Short Subject at the Oscars a few years ago of the same name, so hopefully that’ll come together. And Ron Nyswaner is writing it, the same guy who did Philadelphia so hopefully that’ll come together. So I’m really hoping that will happen soon. Developing a show called “Stitch N Bitch” that I wrote with my friend Alia Shawkat and Sean Tillman, we all wrote it together. “Stitch N Bitch,” that’s the name of their hipster band. And yeah, mostly trying to develop stuff.

Are you optioning material?

EP: I’ve recently optioned a book and I probably shouldn’t say anything yet because it’s so recent. But I’m very excited about it so hopefully that’ll get rolling quickly and then we can talk about it. I mean it’s a book, it’s not a graphic novel or anything.

Rainn (Wilson) talked about how he considered himself to be the base of the film, sort of the calm and steady. So I guess that makes you the lead guitarist of it, Did you ever get him to break when you were doing a scene? Did you get him to laugh since you’re more of the comic figure?

EP: You know the scene where I’m showing off my sweet moves? I think I made him laugh a couple of times only because I looked like an idiot.

Super opens Friday in theaters and on VOD. Check it out.

Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page in Super Movie Trailer

Krystal Clark — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:08:10 +0000

The first trailer for James Gunn’s feature film Super has been released. The movie is about a vigilante superhero and his overeager sidekick. Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page are the sadistic duo that take matters into their own hands when the cops fail. The play by their own rules and the law need not apply. Check them out in action…

Super centers on regular guy who takes on a superhero alter ego when his wife falls under the spell of a notorious drug dealer played by Kevin Bacon. And by spell we mean heroin, coke, crack, whatever drug he has in his arsenal. After she becomes a full on druggie he’s pushed to the edge and decides to take matters into his own hands.

Bacon looks pretty snazzy in this trailer. Granted he plays a horrible person, but he dresses nice. He’s almost a more modern version of his character Sebastian Shaw in X-Men First Class.

Doesn’t this bring back old Juno memories to see both Page and Wilson together again? It’s been too long.

Super opens in theaters on April 1st.

What do you think of the first trailer for Super? Does it look funny?

Source: Yahoo Movies

Comic-Con 2010: First Look at James Gunn’s Super

Mali Elfman — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:16:51 +0000

Director James Gunn, actors Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker and producers Ted Hope and Miranda Bailey were all in attendance to mock one another and show the first piece of footage from their upcoming film Super at Comic-Con 2010. Super is a film written and directed by Gunn about a ‘down-on-his-luck’ man who attempts to win his wife back from arms of glamorous drug dealer.

***Video up now. See it after the jump!***

Will Super be worth your precious time?

Fuck yes. The footage from the film looks like Kick-Ass mixed with Defendor and then made as rude and comically vulgar as possible. It’s some of the most graphic humor I’ve seen. In a way, it’s like Zombieland but more offensively brilliant.

The footage for this film was almost indescribably hilarious. It holds absolutely nothing and will once again set a new bar for the mock comic book genre that’s been developing with Defendor, Paperman, Kick-Ass etc.

It’s so fun to see the dark, demented side of Wilson. He’s in your face, rude, dark, insulting, and not afraid to nail an innocent woman in the face with a wrench for talking back — and enjoy doing it. The director quoted him saying on set in reference to the abuse “this is my thing! Don’t knock it!” It’s fun to see Wilson take charge of the Super panel, repeatedly mock the producers voice, asking Liv Tyler and Ellen Page “do you talk or just sit there?” when they’re trying to be respectful and just overall impress us with his off-killer humor.

As for James Gunn, despite the fact that he’s extremely nice and accessible in person, when it comes to his films he takes no prisoners, if he’s going to make a movie that’s rude and insulting he’s going to take it to the limit.

The Wilson/Gunn combo is one to watch out for and the supporting cast only adds to its strength.

Check this video from the Super panel:

[youtube 442ftswG3Ng 570 420]

Like what you read? For more fun, check out our top stories from Comic-Con…

Liv Tyler And Patrick Wilson Join The Ledge

Krystal Clark — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:26:12 +0000

Liv Tyler and Patrick Wilson have both joined the upcoming suspense film, The Ledge. The movie already has Terrence Howard and Charlie Hunnam on board as the leads, and the latest actors will both appear in supporting roles. Production on the film already began shooting on Monday, so Tyler and Wilson are a bit late, but they’re still in the game.

The plot for The Ledge sounds eerily familiar to another film we’ve seen in the past decade. It centers on a young man (Hunnam) who’s standing on a high-rise ledge insisting that he must jump by noon as the policeman below (Howard) tries to manage the situation. I’m not saying its an exact replica of the scenario in Phone Booth, but it does have a life or death situation and a man in an isolated area being coaxed by a cop. Just throwing that out there.

There’s no real description of who Tyler and Wilson will play in the film, possibly family members, a love interest, who knows? The Ledge is an indie drama that comes from first-time writer-director Matthew Chapman. The film is currently shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The last time we saw Liv Tyler on the big screen it was for The Incredible Hulk and The Strangers, and Patrick Wilson appeared in last year’s Watchmen and he’ll be back this summer in the blockbuster, The A-Team.

What do you think about the plot of The Ledge? Does the film have a decent cast?

Source: Reuters

Rainn Wilson Cast in Super Hero Movie

Krystal Clark — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:28:00 +0000

This article isn’t referring to the parody film that came out over a year ago, entitled Superhero Movie, instead we’re talking about the upcoming action comedy, Super. According to Variety, the film will take aim at the superhero genre and will feature NBC’s The Office star Rainn Wilson as its lead.

The actor will join Oscar nominee Ellen Page, and Liv Tyler in the James Gunn directed film. This will be a small reunion for co-stars Wilson and Page who previously worked together on 2007′s Juno.

Super will center on an average guy who takes on the pseudo-superhero alter ego of the Crimson Bolt, after watching his wife (Tyler) fall under the spell of a charming drug dealer. Lacking super powers, he compensates by swinging a trusty wrench. The screenplay for the film was also written by James Gunn, who previously wrote the scripts for Dawn of the Dead, and two Scooby Doo films. His directorial debut was the campy horror flick Slither back in 2006.

For some odd reason, it sounds like we’ve seen this before. The premise of an average man putting on the persona of a superhero to impress a woman? Yet, with Rainn Wilson as the lead I’ll let this one slide. I’d love to hear more about Ellen’s character, wouldn’t it be funny if she was the drug dealer in question?

What do you think about the cast of James Gunn’s Super?

ScreenCrave.com » liv tyler

Sundance 2012: Robot and Frank – Movie Review

The Players:

The Good:

The So-So:

Overall:

Rating: 8.5/10

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