ScreenCrave.com » Paul Giamatti

Tom Cruise Rocks Out With His Rock of Ages Trailer

Damon Houx — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:28:42 +0000

The hit musical Rock of Ages took many of the kitschy but lovably sincere rock anthems of the 1980′s and Broadway-ized them. So who better to head up the film adaptation than Adam Shankman, who gave Hairspray a similar stage-to-screen treatment? The film – which stars Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand and Malin Ackerman – hits theaters June 1, 2012, but now there’s a trailer. Check it out.

The premise is in the trailer: there are young kids who want to be stars, and a Tipper Gore-esque politican who thinks that this new-fangled rock and roll leads to sex, which then ties it into Hairspray while still hitting that 80′s nostalgia button. Then there’s Tom Cruise with his long hair, and making jokes about being a rock and roller. Anyway, check it out:

This script was worked over by Oscar winner Michael (Little Miss Sunshine) Arndt and Justin Theroux, so this is definitely an A-list wanna-be blockbuster, but it’s currency will probably be strongest with people who love the modern musical, and those who didn’t live through the era. Perhaps it’s time for those from the 1980′s to experience their own version of Grease, where the things that seemed real become cartoon versions of history. Alas, what kills my interest is the cutesy versions of those songs. But it could be fun.

What’s your favorite modern musical?

The Ides of March: Review

Damon Houx — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:00:32 +0000

George Clooney is some kind of machine. He’s in two movies this year, including The Ides of March, which he also co-wrote, directed and produced. And like everything he’s directed it’s good, but falls short of greatness. Ryan Gosling stars as Stephens Myers, a wunderkind political analyst who’s one of the most important men behind Governor Morris (Clooney), but as the campaign comes it’s most contested primary, political and personal drama shows what these men are made of.

The Players:

Director: George Clooney
Written by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, George Clooney, Jeffery Wright
Original Music by: Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography by: Phedon Papamichael

The Plot:

Stephen Myers (Gosling) is the man behind the man behind the throne, working on Governor Morris’s campaign to be president. Paul Zara (Hoffman) is in charge of the campaign, but everyone sees Myers as the rising star, even the interns, including Molly Stearns (Wood), who is indelicate in her advances. Myers gets a call from Tom Duffy (Giamatti), who’s running the opposition’s campaign, and delivers a blow – he says they have Senator Thompson (Wright) and his votes in their pocket, and without Thompson’s support, their candidate may be dead in the water. But then it’s revealed that Myers isn’t the only one who’s slept with Molly.

The Good:

This cast: Seriously, every single major actor in the film is great, and they all get a scene or two to shine (and/or yell). And when you’ve got titans of acting like Hoffman and Giamatti, you want them to have some good red meat scenes to eat. They do, and they deliver.
Not Preachy: Though Morris is a true-blue democrat, that’s the setting, the machinations of the plot aren’t really about that, and politics never drive the story so much as the machinations and backstabbing that come from a heated political campaign.
Pacing: For a film about the behind the scenes, Clooney and company were smart to keep this thing moving, and it’s a brisk 101 minutes that never dawdles.
The Machinations: In the film there are schemes and plans within plans that work either for or against the characters. From dropping information to a reporter (Tomei), to who people talk to, there’s some good plotting in the film.

The Bad

In summation: This movie is trying to call a shot, it’s trying to show the corruption of a character, but the pieces don’t add up. The idea of a character like Gosling’s losing his innocence while in the midst of a huge political campaign suggests he wasn’t wet enough behind the ears, or that the moment itself doesn’t matter. You wonder why someone would sleep with two characters in the order they do and few things seem like isolated incidents. I left the film with a lot of questions about what happened, and not in a good way.
Myers/Gosling: Fine in the part, Gosling doesn’t have a great facility to show the wheels turning in his head, though that works (in some ways) for the character. But when the film moves into its final machinations, his moves to regain control aren’t based on his political skill. And for a film that spends a lot of time suggesting he’s one of the great minds of his generation, and a born political animal, it would have been good to see him use those skills – at least once. That’s partly why the end doesn’t hit as hard as it’s trying to.

Overall:

There’s enough here to enjoy what’s going on, but it’s reach exceeds its grasp.The Ides of March is an intelligent, thoughtful thriller, but it’s missing profundity. That would be an unfair complaint if it didn’t think it was saying something deeper than it does.

Rating: 7/10

Stills:

The Hangover Part II: Movie Review

Damon Houx — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:18:18 +0000

The Hangover gang’s all back for another round of waking up and having no idea how bad things got the night before.For The Hangover Part II, the challenge – as a comedy – is to find a compelling narrative to return to a similar well. Most comic sequels end up redressing the original premise in one way or another to do it again, here the invention is the new location. Can it match up to the original?

The Players

Directed by: Todd Phillips
Written by: Phillips, Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Paul Giamatti
Cinematography by: Lawrence Sher

The Plot

Stu (Helms) is getting married to Lauren (Jamie Chung) in Thailand with her humorless father and young but super-smart brother Teddy (Mason Lee) in attendance. Stu wants his old friends Phil and Doug (Cooper, Bartha respectively), and is forced to drag along Alan (Galifianakis). After the wedding rehearsal, the boys end up on the beach promising to have only one beer. The next morning they’re in a hotel they’ve never been to before with no power, a monkey, a severed finger, Mr. Chow (Jeong), and no clue where Teddy is. They then have to retrace their steps to find the young boy, but as – they’re warned repeatedly – “Bangkok has him now.”

The Good

Todd Phillips actually directs his comedies: Though Bridesmaids is a much better film in every way – like many of its ilk – the filmmaking in that film has little panache. In fact, most of the post-Judd Apatow comic directors have embraced Judd’s point-and-shoot approach. Phillips directs the movie with an eye toward cinema, and when there are set pieces involving a car chase, and a drug dealing monkey it feels put together and interesting unlike some of the more “is this intentionally or unintentionally bad” action sequences in some other more recent comedies.
It’s Transgressive: Though the first film featured Vegas, it never got that seedy. Here the film goes into darker places than the original – hopefully to raise the stakes – which means that the jokes go in some terrible places. Though the ending glosses over some of that, the film isn’t afraid to shoot its heroes, and have them engage in some behavior that may make the audience squirm. This leads to the biggest laughs in the film.

The Bad

It’s the Same Movie: Though the set up was bound to be similar, their adventures are pretty much the same (you can substitute Thai ladyboys for Heather Graham, etc), and the film ends with a photo montage after a cameo by a performer from the first film – who shows up and is painfully not funny. Because the structure is almost exactly the same, it doesn’t have the surprise of the first film, and so they’re way less excitement to how it’s all going to wrap up. Zach Galifianakis no longer gets to sneak up and surprise you this time, here you get to watch him riff on the character – which still has moments but isn’t as winning. We’ve seen him do this before. The moments where the film does do different jokes or beats are where the film succeeds, but as evinced from the trailer, they hit so many of the same beats that if you have a familiarity with the first film, you’re bound to see this as diminishing returns.
The First Film Worked Because it was Unlike Other Comedies: What made The Hangover pop in 2009 was partly because cinema was awash in a wave of Judd Apatow and company films that had become the dominate form. The problem with this film is that it’s now familiar, especially between the first film and Due Date. Phillips has a style and it works, but the more he does it the less the returns – he’s getting as over-exposed as Apatow.
The Transgression: The only thing the film has going for it is that it goes to some darker places, but in most ways it backs off from them. From the sex, to how the boys blacked out, to the severed finger, to someone getting shot, there seem to be consequences to their actions that eventually disappear. In that way the film is both more and less dangerous than it should be. The idea of dropping characters off in a place where they don’t speak the language is great… too bad they never have to deal with anyone who doesn’t speak English.

Overall

The Hangover Part II functions more as a remake than sequel – there was really no story to tell, and it would be hard to justify getting these characters back together again, regardless. But as they couldn’t find a more interesting angle than “let’s just do the second one in Bangkok” you get exactly what you’d expect, for better or ill. To that end, it’s not as perfunctory as the recent Pirates sequel, but that’s rather faint praise. That the film is going to make at least $200 Million dollars domestically means that the sequel was a smart move on Warner Brothers part. At the same time, the film may end up being more of a Pyrrhic victory if it annoys audiences and spoils the goodwill of the first one. If it does do over $200, then a third one will surely be in order, and likely it’ll be the sort of film where everyone says they learned from the mistakes they made on the second one.

Rating: 4/10

The Hangover Part II opens in Theaters May 26

Paul Giamatti in Win Win Movie Trailer

Krystal Clark — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 21:38:27 +0000

One of the lighter jewels to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Win Win. The film stars Paul Giamatti and centers on his relationship with a teenager who has “man-strength.” That description may sound strange but after watching the trailer, you’ll see what we mean. Check out the official trailer for Win Win below…

The cast for this film is gold. Besides Giamatti there’s Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, and Bobby Cannavale who can do know wrong in our eyes. Win Win looks like the perfect mix of comedy and heart. The film is scheduled to hit theaters on March 18th.

Synopsis:

Tom McCarthy, acclaimed writer/ director of THE VISITOR and THE STATION AGENT, once again explores the depths and nuances of human relationships in his new film about the allegiances and bonds between unlikely characters. Disheartened attorney Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti), who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach, stumbles across a star athlete through some questionable business dealings while trying to support his family. Just as it looks like he will get a double payday, the boy’s mother shows up fresh from rehab and flat broke, threatening to derail everything. McCarthy’s deft touch with balancing drama and comedy, broken hearts and poignant humanity is at play in WIN WIN.

Be sure to check out our Sundance review of Win Win for a more on the movie.

What do you think of the trailer for Win Win? Are you interested in seeing the film?

Source: Apple

Sundance 2011: Win Win Review

Mali Elfman — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 04:08:08 +0000

Well, Tom McCarthy’s film definitely lives up to its title. So far this is one of my favorite films at the fest. It’s fun, extremely well written and executed, brilliantly acted and leaves you with a smile on your face. Win Win is simple but not dumbed down. It’s the King of it’s class and had an entire audience of 1,000 laughing their heads off at 9am — that’s no easy feat! And they don’t even allow coffee in the cinema!

The Players:

Director: Thomas McCarthy
Writer: Thomas McCarthy, Joe Tiboni
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Alex Shaffer, Melanie Lynskey, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Bobby Cannavale, Burt Young
Cinematography By: Oliver Bokelberg
Original Music By: Lyle Workman

This is a film that shows people how to make a movie — simple, clean, and easy to enjoy. The film is a dram-edy that perfectly walks the line of drama and comedy without ever losing momentum and most importantly doesn’t rely on any romantic undertones (like EVERY other film like this).

Despite being half awake when I walked into the cinema, the film grabbed my attention from the first moment and clipped right along until the perfect ending — that in any other film would have been corny, but in this film it was just wrapped up everything you needed and left you satisfied on all fronts.

The film repeats a number of themes which makes the audience feel like they’re constantly on the inside of the joke and therefore more a part of the family on screen. Never before have I heard the word “shit” used so intelligently and humorously.

The cherries on top were the brilliant relationship and the chemistry on screen between all the actors. Giamatti and Amy Ryan felt like they had lived their entire lives together. They play off one another beautifully, never upstaging the other but always building each other up. Alex Shaffer looks like Patrick Swayze from Point Break but acts more like Keanu Reeves. I have no idea if he’s a real actor but he definitely was perfect for the part.

Overall:

Luckily this film has already been picked up by Fox Searchlight because it deserves a spot in theaters. Skip all the other crappy, romantic and/or comedies out there that have no real depth or execution — this is the feel good, uplifting film you need to see. Great film, don’t miss it.

Rating: 9/10

Video Review:

Watch more video review from the Festival on ScreenCrave’s YouTube Channel!

Barney’s Version: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 01:20:04 +0000

This week in theaters Barney’s Version hits the big screen with the new love of my life, Paul Giamatti. He’s one of those actors that can take any character and spin it into gold. Now give him a layered, drunken, asshole who is oddly charming and you got yourself a winner. Though this film is not without its problems, which may deter mainstream audiences, there is no denying Giamatti and his co-stars put in some fantastic work on this film…

The Players:

Director: Richard J. Lewis
Writers: Mordecai Richler (novel), Michael Konyves (screenplay)
Actors: Paul Giamatti, Scott Speedman, Bruce Greenwood, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver and Dustin Hoffman
Producer: Robert Lantos

The Plot:

Take a ride through the life and memories of Barney Panofsky, a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking, foulmouthed 65-year old hockey fanatic and television producer, as he reflects on his life’s successes and (numerous) gaffes and failures as the final chapters of his own existence come sharply into focus.

The Good:

Paul Giamatti: The main, if not only reason to see this film is because you’re a Giamatti fan. Once again he manages to take a mediocre script and make it something worth watching. He plays an over the top, mean drunk, who manages to constantly have a hot woman on his arm and not treat them right, YET he still have that gravitas that makes you side with him and care about him. Oddly charming – seems to be his way! If you’re in need of a good performance he and his co-stars do not disappoint.
Supporting Cast: Rosamund Pike may not seem like the right choice for a 50 year-old housewife, but there’s something about her that just works. She’s got a young, youthful side, mixed with these old, wise characteristics that make her fascinating to watch, even when she’s doing very little. Minnie Driver is over and top and though you’ll want to strangle her character you’ll still love to hate her; Dustin Hoffman is an extraordinarily funny drunk, Jewish police officer; Scott Speedman and Bruce Greenwood were both right on the mark for their characters.
Characters: It’s nice that all the characters in this film got to have an arch. Often only the leads get to experience any kind of development, but in this film everyone felt so much more real because all of their lives changed in different ways — much like life.
Old Hollywood Feel: I mean this in the best possible way, but this is a film that feels like it was made in the 60′s or 70′s. It’s not hurried, it takes it’s time, it uses cliches but yet they don’t feel tired and redundant, and it follows a story. Audiences today aren’t used to sitting down to film like this about the journey of one mans life through good and bad — whether or not they will be willing to do it for this film has yet to be seen.
Great Make-Up: No Giamatti did not go method and gain 50 pounds for this film, that’s all make-up and Rosamund Pike did not age 50-years. Normally both those things are dead giveaways in a film that take you out of the experience, but well done Adrien Morot and Rick Glassman, this was some of the best, subtle special effects make-up I’ve seen in a drama yet.

The Bad:

Length: Though it’s great that they took their time and added so much richness to the film, in did drag in a number of spots and could have easily been but down in order to appeal to more people. It’s hard to add in so much information into one film, and I see why they wanted to, but the length is a bit of a problem.
Never Comes Around: There are a number of plot points that start but are never fully resolved. This may be because of the “true to life” nature of the film, but because they never really add up to anything there is no kind of cathartic release or climax for the audience which leaves you walking out of the theater with rather tepid feelings. After such a long and in depth journey we’re truly invested in these characters and being movie-goers, we need some sort of release in order to be satisfied.
Hard Ending: The lack of resolution mixed in with a rather dark ending once again is not very appealing to mainstream audiences.

Overall:

It’s hard to get excited about a film that you know will leave you somewhat melancholy and dissatisfied walking out of a theaters. There are many good, I’d even say great aspects to it, Giamatti being the best part of it, but sometimes the journey is only as good as it’s end and I’m not sure if all the ends to all the stories were enough to make this film worth seeing.

The Rating: 6.75

Barney’s Version hits theaters January 14th!

Photo Gallery:

Interview: Paul Giamatti and Rosamund Pike

Mali Elfman — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:46:03 +0000

This week in theaters prepare for Paul Giamatti and Rosamund Pike to blow you away in director Richard J. Lewis’ adaptation of the novel, Barney’s Version. Giamatti’s stellar performance as a fickle, drunkard with a chip on his shoulder is the main reason to see this film, but Rosamund Pike is not far behind. Though she’s not the typical actress you would cast to play as a subtle, 50-some-year-old (after all she is a 20 year-old, Bond babe) yet she doesn’t fail to impress and intrigue in every scenes she’s in.

The two had amazing chemistry on screen and off when we had a chance to sit down with them and find out more about what it took to make Barney’s Version…

What was it about this film and especially what was it about Richard J. Lewis, both, just have to do this film?

Paul Giamatti: Well I knew of the book, sort of, but I kind of had an idea of what the script might be like, but it was nothing about the script, it was great, you know, the stretch of time, everything I was potentially going to be able to do, all of other characters, an unbelievable sort of life to it, fantastic characters. I didn’t know Richard at all. I knew he’d done a lot of the CSI stuff, I saw his other movie, which I like a lot, did you see his other movie?

Rosamund Pike: Nope.

PG: I started working with him and he’s excellent with actors right off the bat, and he also seemed to implicitly trust us which is actually more rare than you would think it is. Complete confidence in what we would do and he was great.

What freedom did he give you guys that helped you guys both bring your characters to life?

PG: He rehearsed us.

RP: We rehearsed a lot.

PG: He gives you freedom.

RP: His lived with this book for like 10-years and he was obsessed with this novel and obsessed with these characters so he thought about the so much, to give us the roles was a tremendous vote of trust really.They’ve probably been living inside his head, nobody could probably embody them like he imagined them.

PG: He knew them throughly.

RP: The first time I read for him, he kind of sat right forward and he was immediately straightened with things that are very specific and I think that’s a great relief in a director. It’s collaborative. It’s much more easy to create a character with a director who is engaged than someone who just wants you to try everything randomly with no guidance, I think.

PG: He’s very attentive and sharp, and would see when I was in trouble and he offered me a way out. He always helped me. I was doing it baldy or pushing something, he always released the pressure and found a way. and I was always like, oh well, that’s a smart way to do blah, blah blah. Thank god, you’re here.

RP: It’s a strange relationship between actor and director.

PG: It is.

RP: And you’ve got this character that you’re both sort of carrying this other person, character along. But he also gave us the option to do some of the most profound moments between Barney and Miriam in single takes.

PG: Two-shots.

RP: Two-shots. That are not cutaways from at all.

Elaborating a little on that, the one things that stuck with me the most was watching his one good relationship, the one between you two, dissolve. What was that like for you two to shoot and have it be such a long shot with no cuts?

PG: And he had told us before that that’s how he shoot it. He always knew he was going to do that. So did we. It was greta to know that. So we knew that that’s the way it was going to happen and it was never — that was going to be the venue that it was going to happen in was a two-shot.

RP: And you’re both living it, for real, together, because obviously it does happen, when you’re doing multiple takes, multiple angles, but certain actors will reserve. But it’s wonderful when those big moments of the character are both happening here and for real. It’s not manufactured in any way.

Did the book inspire your characters at all?

PG: I eventually did. I didn’t read right off the bat. I read the script first. Then I realized that that was what I was going to have to stick with because you can see it’s pretty different. I got weary of getting too involved in the book so I didn’t really read it until it was done.

RP: I had read the book before even before I had seen the script. Just because I didn’t know the Canadian film. The producer put it in my hand because the other film was a film he produced many years ago.

What did you think of the character that you ended up playing?

RP: Well I thought she was the most astonishing character but I knew that I wouldn’t have a hope in hell of playing her because I thought it would be insane for them to cast someone in their late 20s to play this woman. So I was sort of looking at Clara and thinking well this is an interesting creature, and I had quite an interesting take on Clara.

PG: She’s an amazing character in the book. Clara.

RP: She is a really extraordinary character, sadly a lot of those scenes got lost because of the time. She has so much detail and strangeness.

PG: Very strange.

RP: She’s sort of cruel, she pushes away.

Beyond the hair and makeup, what are more subtle things you had to pay attention to, to convey the passage of time?

RP: Shift of weight. Feeling heavier.

PG: Feeling heavier, yeah.

RP: Generally what people say when you talk about people about growing old, they say you feel the same in your mind, but you feel heavier.

PG: The guy smokes and drinks and that’s going to do things to your body and your voice and things like that. It’ll wear you down inevitably. Smoking and drinking, no matter how much stamina you have. the makeup actually helps with a lot of that. The guy did an amazing job because he makes me look like I’m bloated and gained weight and I didn’t. It’s all prosthetic that makes me look fatter than I actually was. It’s amazingly well done. Really good this guy.

I actually thought you went method acting for that…

PG: That’s what a lot of people have thought and no I’m not that dedicated. It would’ve also been possible. I also had a gut that got bigger than my own gut, then I got this amazing bloat that he did. No it was all makeup.

RP: They tried to give me some of that and I was like, back off.

PG: Really? Well yeah.

Did they use any technology to see what you would look like, in theory?

PG: They did.

RP: They used pictures of my mother and sort of merged them together.

PG: They took pictures of your mother for you?

RP: They used my mother.

PG: Yeah because you do look like her. Edward G. Robinson, I think for me.

RP: We both do have a face full of prosthetics and we were both in makeup for the same amount of time. I had as much on my face, it was a finer quality. Different product.

Almost every single character a start, middle and finish. Was it refreshing that it’s not just about your character and that these characters were made to be more “real”?

PG: Yeah, I love that about it. And there was even more of that a lot of it gets lost in the editing. There was a lot of that stuff.

RP: Every character changes.

PG: One of my favorite scenes oddly enough to shoot in the whole movie it kind of goes past in a funny way, there’s that wonderful Italian actor who plays the artist and we shot that stuff in Rome at the very beginning of the movie and then the thing I show up with him after he does the radio show with you and we say goodbye to him outside was one the last things we shot. I hadn’t seen him in three months. And he came back and I had this incredibly weird affectionate reaction when I saw him, I was just like oh my god. It was incredibly weird simulation of what I suppose to be feeling. I was like I love this guy. I was like, I fucking love this guy. We were both like oh my god, I love you. We both looked old. And still when I watch that scene I get like oh my god. I really choke up when I watch that scene. There’s something very lovely in that scene. It’s very quick and you don’t necessarily even notice it, but there’s actually a very genuine side to it. Two guys who are like oh my god, I really missed you all this time. It was fascinating. And he’s wonderful, that guy. He doesn’t even have much to do and he’s so great that guy. Colossal.

RP: It’s true. When you ban those memories. It’s almost like your body gets confused and you have a memory and you think something happen to you and then you remember that it actually happened in the film. [laughs]. Your youth, our youth.

PG: Totally.

Q: It sounds like a psychedelic film in an actor’s brain.

PG: I do remember when I did that when I was doing “John Adams” which was an even bigger stretch of time, there was a very weird moment when I was suppose to come off, I don’t remember what, but it was really funny. I was not supposed to see my kid for a really long time and the last time I had shot any scenes with the kids, they had been like 9-year-old actors and then I had not seen any actors who were playing them as adults and I got off the boat and I was like, who the fuck are you? These were the kids and it was an incredible simulation of what I was suppose to be feeling because I was just feeling like what happen to the little 9-year-old kid that was playing John Quincy Adams, now he’s like 25. It was really bizarre.

The movie had a shift in tone from comedy to very serious, what do you think was the purpose for going out on such a low note?

RP: Well he sort of fell in love with these people. And you have this love, so to see someone breaking down it’s sort of painful because this sort of perfection feel very real.

PG: It does. And it’s this inevitable darkening of guys getting old It’s really about a person getting old.

RP: He still has humor all the way. That’s what so endearing.

You said it was very painful, painful to shoot or to watch?

RP: Painful to shoot.

PG: It’s a bummer some of the stuff.

RP: It’s very sad seeing some of the people you love destroyed by Alzheimer’s is very painful. It’s not easy to imagine. And I think one of the bits that I really love is when she finds in his wallet that note that she wrote to him all those years ago and I think that completely stops her heart to realize that he kept that there for thirty years.

Check out the two in Barney’s Version, in theaters January 14th!

Paul Giamatti Joins The Hangover 2

Krystal Clark — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:46:29 +0000

The last time we checked, Todd Phillips‘ sequel The Hangover II was well into production, therefore imagine how surprised we were to discover that they’re still casting people. A few weeks ago, we learned that Liam Neeson would step in for a small cameo role, which made sense because he isn’t playing a substantial character, but now Paul Giamatti is joining the cast too. Is this a serious addition or another cameo?

According to Deadline, Giamatti will fly over to Thailand in a few weeks, where production is underway to film his scenes. Who is this guy supposed to be? We take it that this is either another cameo or a small supporting role. We see him as someone similar to the character of Mr. Chow that Ken Jeong played in the first film. He could be one of the many people they run into, while on their drunken bender.

Giamatti’s a pro when it comes to comedy, so it will be great to see him interact with the rest of the guys. We want to see what type of character he’ll bring to the table.

What do you think of Giamatti joining the cast of The Hangover II? Who do you think he’ll play?

George Clooney to Direct Chris Pine, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti

Krystal Clark — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:45:30 +0000

George Clooney is getting that director’s itch again. The Oscar winner and recent recipient of the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award has his eye on a new project. According to Vulture (via JoBlo), Clooney is interested in helming the drama Farragut North, and he already has a dream cast that includes Chris Pine, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, and Marisa Tomei.

Farragut North is based on the stage play of the same name that’s “set in Des Moines, Iowa, just weeks before the state’s Democratic caucuses officially commence; it follows the exploits of a twenty something presidential campaign spinmeister/wunderkind named Stephen Myers, and the dirty pool he plays to get his candidate the nomination against a rival senator.”

Clooney is looking at Pine to play the twenty something, a role Leonardo DiCaprio was previously attached to. Pine portrayed the character in the Los Angeles stage production in 2009 and earned great reviews for his performance. Brad Pitt was interested in taking on the role of his boss but can’t commit because of scheduling conflicts. His part will go to Philip Seymour Hoffman, while Giamatti will play the manager of the opposing candidate.

Wood has been offered the role of a teenage staffer who Pine has a tryst with and Tomei will star as an investigative reporter. The film is currently independent but Clooney is looking at Sony to distribute. Filming is slated to begin in February.

What do you think of the cast for Farragut North?

Teaser Trailer for David Fincher’s The Goon

Krystal Clark — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:40:20 +0000

If you thought David Fincher had his hands full with The Social Network and his upcoming adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo you were wrong. Apparently, he can juggle more than his fair share of projects at the same time including the animated feature The Goon. The film was produced by Fincher and features the voice talent of Paul Giamatti. Over at MTV they released the first teaser trailer for the film, which is just in time for Comic-Con. Take a look…

Movie Trailers – Movies Blog

The Goon follows the adventures of a muscle-bound brawler who claims to be the primary enforcer for a feared mobster. The stories have a paranormal and comedic edge to them and concern ghosts, zombies, mad scientists and “skunk apes.”

There will be a special panel held for the film at Comic-Con on Friday, July 23rd at 6pm in Room 24ABC. It will feature Goon creator Eric Powell, Giamatti, and Fincher. Sounds like a winning combination. They held a panel last year as well, which we’ve heard good things about so it might be worth your time.

What do you think of the teaser trailer fro The Goon? Are you interested in seeing the film?

First Ironclad Photo With James Purefoy

Krystal Clark — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:10:15 +0000

The first official photo for the upcoming action film Ironclad has been released, and it gets straight medieval on our asses. The folks over at Empire just premiered the image of a bloody, sword carrying James Purefoy as the film’s knight in shining armor.

Ironclad is directed by Jonathan English and is a pure British action film. The majority of the actors that have starring roles are European, but the villain of choice is from the good old U.S. of A. Paul Giamatti plays the bad guy, and I’m assuming he’ll have some type of Napoleon complex in this film going against someone with Purefoy’s stature.

The story of Ironclad will center on a member of the formidable Knights Templar (Purefoy) and his seven cohorts who defend Rochester Castle against King John and his army in 13th century England. Giamatti will play the role of King John, and will do his best impersonation of an old school douche bag.

This photo as well as an interview with Giamatti can be found in the latest issue of Empire Magazine, which has Matt Damon on the cover promoting the Green Zone.

What do you think of that bloody sword?

Paul Giamatti is an Ironclad

Krystal Clark — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:30:48 +0000

Oscar nominated actor Paul Giamatti has been cast in a new film of epic proportions entitled, Ironclad. According to Variety, the actor will star as a tyrant king in the film, which will be set in medieval times. The period drama will pit Giamatti against Solomon Kane star James Purefoy, while treachery, suffering and violence will ensue in the film directed by Jonathan English.

The story of Ironclad will center on a member of the formidable Knights Templar (Purefoy) and his seven cohorts who defend Rochester Castle against King John and his army in 13th century England. As previously mentioned, Giamatti will star as the king and the villain of choice in the film, which will be produced by Rick Benattar and Andrew Curtis.

In my eyes, I can envision Giamatti playing this character as someone with a Napoleon complex. The actor isn’t the tallest person around, and he could use the physical difference between him and the rest of the men in his kingdom as a source of anger and drive. James Purefoy is always playing a character from the past. I’ve seen him in a few present day features such as Resident Evil, and his television stint on NBC’s The Philanthropist, but that’s about it. Perhaps this is his era of choice?

What do you think about Paul Giamatti being cast in Ironclad?

ScreenCrave.com » Paul Giamatti

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