Acclaimed director and screenwriter Sofia Coppola has a new film entitled Somewhere that features Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning as an unlikely father-daughter duo. Some of the story can be pulled from Coppola’s own upbringing alongside her famous father Francis Ford. But even though her childhood was one of the film’s many influences, this is a modernized tale of excess set against the backdrop of LA. When we spoke to the director about her experience making the film she had nothing but positive things to say about the cast and crew. She also discussed her visual and music choices and whether or not Somewhere falls in line with a certain theme that happens to appear in all her films.

Check out the interview…

When did you know that you wanted to be a filmmaker?

Sofia Coppola: I was going to art school and trying different things. I was interested in a lot of, mostly visual arts. I didn’t know what I wanted to do and then I made a short film and felt like it was a combination of all these interests of mine with design and photography and music. But it was really when I read the book The Virgin Suicides that made me wanna make a movie. I heard they were making a movie and I loved the book so much and had such an idea of how I thought they should make the movie. I just started working on a script and thinking it’d be interesting to learn how to adapt a book into a script. Then I got so into it that I finished the script and started pursuing the producers to consider me and to let me do the movie. It was really the wanting to protect this book that I loved.

Was there any hesitation to direct because of your dad?

SC: Maybe sub-consciously that’s why it took me longer to figure out what I wanted to do. But I was just, you know, as a creative person you’re driven to see what you have in your mind. It kind of nags at you. I think that’s what compels you, and you try to weed out all the doubts and things that can stop you.

How did you come up with the premise for Somewhere?

SC: I started with this character and wanted to do a portrait of this guy in this moment in his life. I think it’s about points in your life when you have to look at yourself and decide what kind of person you’re going to be. Which I feel like everyone has to look at sometimes. Also, I had just had my first daughter. And I was thinking about how having a kid changes your priorities and perspective. It’s also about a father-daughter relationship.

What was the film’s budget?

SC: This was around $7 million.

Working with a character who plays an actor, were you worried that the film would be compared to Lost In Translation?

SC: No, I didn’t really think about that. I just try to be open to what I’m interested in and not judge it. I think it’s such a different character and such a different world.

Can you talk about the casting?

SC: When I was writing the script Stephen Dorff came to mind. I knew him a little over the years. I thought he would be the right guy for this part. He’s the right age, and I think he’s a great actor. But we haven’t seen this side, you know, more sensitive side. I knew from life he was such a sweet guy and sincere, the character is so flawed he can be very unlikable. You needed somebody with a lot of heart to make you want to watch him for a whole movie. Elle Fanning, we just met her when we were putting the movie together. When I was writing I was thinking of a friend’s daughter, and when we met Elle I was taken with her instantly.

They have a lot in common with each other. Did that make the casting easier?

SC: They have all these coincidences. They discovered all these things they have in common. I just thought she was great, they look like they could be related. Before I cast her I did a rehearsal together to see if they had chemistry, and it turns out they have a lot in common and a cute relationship and dynamic.

What about the sets and the living arrangements for them?

SC: He stayed in the same room as O’Shaden just a floor up, so he was in his Johnny Marco character the whole time. It was funny in the morning he would come to set and tell me all the Johnny Marco moments that he was living in the hotel. He would stay up late and be kind of trashed in the scenes that we needed him to be – but then he really, the character as he evolves, he’s fresher. You can really see it, it’s subtle. It was important to me that they feel connected and not like they had met a few weeks before so I asked Steven to pick her up from school and take her to do stuff. We did improvs together in the hotel and I felt like when we were shooting then they had this rapport and private jokes and you felt like they had a connection. Because so much on set we did improvs with the woman who plays the mother of Elle. She’s only in one scene but although they barely say anything I think you can feel a whole dynamic between them because of all these improvs we’d done before.

Do you know many people like Johnny Marco?

SC: I based it on people I’ve seen and stories I’ve heard. It’s a very extreme lifestyle so I tried to imagine what that was like and relate to it in some ways. I don’t really feel like him because my life is so different than his. His is pretty out of balance.

Should we feel empathy for Johnny?

SC: I try to be empathetic towards a character because you want the audience to try and connect with them. I like young characters because when I was a kid I felt like I couldn’t relate to a lot of the ways they were portrayed.

Adults in your movies seem like overgrown kids. Is that intentional?

SC: Definitely he’s a kid. I see that a lot with my generation, a lot of guys not wanting to grow up. So I guess that’s something I’m aware of. With Marie Antoinette she was such a kid and kept isolated in this childish world.

Do you direct a child differently?

SC: I don’t think so. I think with all actors you want to be sensitive to them because you’re asking them to be vulnerable. She’s so smart that I never felt different that she was a kid. I guess you’re aware that you don’t want someone to be talking about something inappropriate around an eleven year old, I felt protective. But I felt protective of Stephen and all my actors.

Characters in your movies have a lot of internal conflicts, how do your actors respond?

SC: I think they like it because it was different than how they’re used to working, but I think it took getting used to. For Stephen it was a challenge because he couldn’t hide behind anything, he didn’t have any long dialogue or things to do. He had to really be totally vulnerable.

Does that make it more challenging for the audience?

SC: I don’t know. I like the idea that a lot of times in movies it takes a dramatic event like a disaster or someone held hostage for a character to change. I feel like in life there’s moments, small things, that strike you and motivate you to change. I wanted to convey that the drama is more internal. I don’t know if it’s harder for them. We talk about it so I’m very clear with them, I think they understand the character. I don’t leave them without clues. So we definitely work it all out and talk about it and it’s up to them to convey it. I think it is more challenging because you don’t have a line, you have to express it through a look. I thought they did such a good job of that, but I think it’s harder to do. I love the breakfast scene where Elle looks at the woman that’s there and you can tell the whole thing just by the way she looks at her.

Why can some people have a good experience and others not?

SC: I guess it’s up to the person. I can imagine if you became famous quickly and had your life switch, have girls throwing themselves at you all the time, people offering all kinds of things. I could see how someone might go out of balance for a little bit.

This movie brought back the Chateau of the 90’s.

SC: When I was writing it I was thinking about when I had spent time there which was in the 90’s when I was in my twenties. I was looking at how it had changed and how it was the same. But probably my references from it are from that era.

When you think back on those days what do you remember?

SC: I feel like in a lot of ways it hasn’t changed. But there weren’t weekly tabloid magazines, so people didn’t go there to be photographed and stuff. I think of the Chateau Marmont as this iconic Hollywood place with so many interesting people staying there and lots of stories. It has a kind of decadent feeling.

What about the dark side of it?

SC: That’s there too. Which makes it more interesting, I think.

Do you have any memories with your dad being there?

SC: Definitely when I was writing that part of the story I tried to think of memories and I remember it was exciting as a kid to get to go with my dad, occasionally, to places that kids don’t usually go. I tired to put some of that into the story, it connected to something real.

Is there memory in particular?

SC: I can’t think specifically, but I remember my dad stayed at Casinos when he would write scripts. And I remember going to visit and him explaining craps to me. It was fun because kids don’t get to do that.

What did Francis think of the Father-Daughter relationship in Somewhere?

SC: I don’t generally have a thing where I only show final cut, but on this one I wanted to show him when it was all put together. He was really touched by it, he really loved it and said to me that it was a movie that only I could make, and that I think we should make movies that only we could make. I appreciate that with other movies, when you see the person behind it, it’s not just anybody could have made it. We didn’t talk about specifics, that character isn’t based on him, but of course I put the kind of tender father-daughter moments that are significant to me in it.

Was it kind of nerve racking?

SC: Yeah, in one way he’s always very supportive so it’s not a scary environment. But of course I hope my parents will like what I make, like any kid.

Music always plays a huge role in your films.

SC: This one, the whole tone of the movie I wanted to be minimal so the music I try to do minimally. And have a lot of silence. When I did pick music, I pick music that feels right for the atmosphere of the story. I try to have the music be source music that the characters could really be listening to, so that you believe it could fit in that world. Usually when I do a movie I pick a kind of music or band to do the music. People have composers. On this one I asked Phoenix. With Virgin Suicides, Air. A lot of it relates to the music I listen to when I’m writing, and the mood of it.

What was it about Phoenix that made you pick them?

SC: I’ve always liked their music and that song “Love Like A Sunset” related to the feeling of the movie so I thought they would do a good job. A lot of times the music I’m listening to when I’m writing ends up in the movie or things relating to it.

Does the film have any visual signatures?

SC: I really wanted it to look like LA, and I thought about iconic LA movies that I love like Shampoo and American Gigolo – I wanted it to feel like an LA movie of today. Driving around in the bright light in the middle of the day and the view out the window of the palm trees and mini malls. It just feels very specific to me, to LA.

You let the camera stay on an image, longer than a director traditionally would. Why was that?

SC: Luckily I could just do whatever I wanted with this movie because we kept the budget small enough. I didn’t have a lot of pressure to make it more conventional. It was hard with the editor, we went back and forth with the timing, because I wanted to push it and really have you feel stuck in his life with him and experience what the was experiencing but then not totally bore the audience. It was hard to keep perspective with how long we could push things and how long was too much – it’s hard for me to tell because I’ve seen it too many times, it seems like forever. I’m so uncomfortable in the screenings, but I hope for someone seeing it the first or second time they can get into the rhythm and go with it.

Was Los Angeles a more welcoming location to shoot?

SC: You know, I’ve never filmed in LA before so I can’t compare it to anything. But I felt like we were able to do what we wanted to do with a small crew. My line producer probably shielded me from all the negotiation and stuff. I had a good experience shooting here, we had a great crew.

Is there anything that connects your four films to one another?

SC: I think so. It’s hard for me, I don’t have a lot of distance. I’m interested in themes about people kind of finding their identity within the setting they find themselves in – I think they all have that.

There’s a theme of dealing with emptiness. It’s like you can have what you want but don’t?

SC: I feel like that’s related to this idea that you don’t pick the world you find yourself in, and finding what kind of person you want to be and what you really want your life to be, it’s related to that. I’m interested in characters that are in transition or self- reflection. Usually in those moments there’s a feeling of isolation. I didn’t want to write about the moments in between when you’re feeling great because you don’t learn anything. I don’t feel compelled to write about that. It’s more of those times when you’re looking at yourself and trying to learn about that.

Somewhere is playing in limited theaters now.

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Meet the young star who will soon steal you heart away in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, the lovely and poised, Elle Fanning. Though it’s easy to compare her with her sister because much like Dakota she’s extremely beautiful and talented, she’s very much her own spirit. Her role in Coppola’s film will no doubt put her on the map — which is a good thing because she’s got a hell of a line-up of films ahead of her.

Find out how she keeps it all together and lives as much of a normal life as possible while being a part of a very Hollywood family and making a very Hollywood film…

Getting Started:

Your character had to be good at two things, cooking and ice-skating, were you good at both of those already?

Yes, I’ve always loved cooking. So that sort of came naturally, but the ice skating I really had to work on. I’d done ballet before, so the posture and the grace sort of helped. But I’ve never figure skated or done any spins or jumps on ice or anything. So I had to train for about three months with these two trainers and I got up every morning before school at about 5, and I went after school to the rink as well.

Once I got a little better Sofia came and watched me and picked out a song she wanted me to dance to. So she worked with the choreographer to get the feeling of it. I learned the whole routine, which took a while, and after it neither Sophia or Steven saw me ice skate until that day. Everyone was in the stands, the whole crew, and they were clapping and it felt really good. I wasn’t the best, but I think it was a perfect amount. It was fun.

We heard and you and Stephen have a lot in common?

It was weird because one day we named about 20 things that we had in common off our fingers. We both went to the same school, we’re both from Georgia, we both bite our nails. We both like things crispy and well done – our food. So we just went on and on one day, it carried on to the next day!

What was the process for you to get the role?

When I first met Sofia, I didn’t know anything about the script or anything. I just met her and she wanted to get to know me. It was a really long time until I saw her again so I thought, “Oh I didn’t get the part” – I was sort of bummed out. And then she called me back and told me to come and read some lines at the Chateau, I guess she wanted to see our bond together. Once she saw us do the lines and things we started filming the movie and did all the rehearsal stuff.

How did you and Stephen prep your relationship:

We did a lot of stuff. Sofia wanted us to really get to know each other. She sort of scheduled things she wanted us to do. He came and picked me up from school one day and we went to Pinkberry, this frozen yogurt place. After that I took him to this one pottery store where you can make your own pottery – Color Me Mine. He made an ashtray, of course, and he drew a cigarette on there with smoke coming out. He wasn’t really quite sure how to do it, I was like “you have to paint everything or it won’t glaze over when they burn it.” And then I did a soap dish with an ice skate on it and I put “Cleo” on it. And we both made this wine glass that said Somewhere and we gave it to Sofia at the end, which was fun. When we went to pick up the glaze version, his turned out really good! He put all these multi-colors on it but it just turned out all orange.

The Chateau

What was it like filming at such a famous location in LA like the Chateau?

The Chateau is really close to my house so I just got up in the morning and went over there and spent the whole day there basically. Beforehand we did a lot of rehearsals at the Chateau because our characters really had to know it well. Before the movie and the rehearsal stuff I’d never really been there that much – but of course I’d heard of it. It’s this really iconic place. Mostly I just knew it was the hotel where Marylin Monroe stayed, because I’m obsessed with her, I love her! So, that’s basically he only thing I knew about it. Then we found out a lot of secrets. You know the ping pong area with the bushes around it? If you look in the bushes and really search there are ping pong paddles and ping pong balls stuck in there so people can come and know where they hid them and grab them so they’ll always have them. We were always rummaging through the bushes.

What was one of the craziest moments at the Chateau?

We were there, like, every day. Let’s see. I don’t know if there was anything super crazy as extreme as the movie. Steven stayed there during the whole movie but I think it gets way wilder in the night time, I wasn’t there during that period.

Is the place very cliched Hollywood?

When you come off the elevator there are people hanging out in their sun glasses and high heels. The Chateau is sort of like the third character in the movie, it’s so alive, like a real person.

Feel like Eloise?

Yeah, because we were, like, going everywhere. Running through the halls. Also, the elevator there is so slow. It’s the slowest thing ever! So we always took the stairs. We had races up the stairs to the 5th floor where our hotel room was.

Working and Learning With Hollywood Legends:

You have a movie coming up with Sofia’s father Francis, right?

Right now I’m doing two movies, one’s called Super 8 with J.J. Abrams, the next one is Twix Now And Sunrise which is with Francis. In February I’m doing another movie called We Bought A Zoo with Cameron Crowe – we’re almost done with Super 8, it’s very secretive. There are kids in it. I can’t really say anything, we just filmed in West Virginia and then we came back and now we’re filming more in LA, we wrap the 16th. He has kids so he’s really good with knowing everything. It’s cool to go to Sofia’s set which is so calm and sort of small and J .J’s set is so big with explosion and things like that.

Are Francis and Sofia similar?

I can see where Sofia gets all her talent. He’s such a legend, it’s so weird to be actually looking at him. At the same time he’s just this Italian guy. His set is as calm but his voice is much louder than Sofia’s.

Have they taught you secrets or told you any cautionary tales on growing up in Hollywood? Does the Coppola family help shield you from it?

I feel like I know people who went through that and I think Sofia sort of based in on that. I do my normal thing and go off and do movies so I’m not so involved. Like, Johnny in the movie, he only has his movies and that’s it. He doesn’t really have another life. I feel like you should have another place to sort of go off to.

As you get older are you going to try to maintain a separate life?

For sure. I feel like my family will really help me with that because they really care about me. Johnny doesn’t really have anyone who cares about him.

“Film family” come together then splits apart – have you stayed connected?

Right after the movie ended we were so sad. You always feel like you’re never going to see them ever again. But then we went to Venice together, we were all reunited, some of the crew came. Then Steven called me and said “We won the Golden Lion!” That was great. Me and Sofia e-mail a lot, we keep in touch and I talk to her kids and her daughters and stuff. We’ve really kept together in this one. And now we’re doing all this, it’s good, I do see them.

Family:

What’s it like going to school at Campbell Hall?

It’s fun, I just started 7th grade, it’s on a hill our school. Elementary is on the lower grade then you move up on the hill and you’re in middle school then you move up and you’re in high school. So we’ve moved up on the hill! It’s fun to, just, sort of be normal and go to regular school. That’s something that my parents and me and my sister really wanted. It’s good that we have that. My school is really good, they let me leave and bring my work with me so I can do it on set and keep up with my classmates.

Do you have a lot of fans at school?

Yeah, I was home schooled up until third grade. Once my sister went to high school in 9th grade, I went to fourth grade. Then it was, like, everyone was really excited. I think they were mostly excited because I was the first girl that’s ever come into that grade – they always had boys come in – I was one of the first girls. I think they were mostly excited about that, the girls had another girl! It’s really great to have that. The schools in LA are used to having people in the industry.

Does Dakota help you in school? Do you fight?

We definitely do get in arguments – I guess every sister does. It’s a thing. You have to. She hates me when I wear her clothes, it’s the worst thing ever. We’re about the same size. I’m two inches taller than her – but I still can wear her clothes and she hates it!

When do you have time to have fun?

It was good because Somewhere was sort of filmed in the summer so I got to go to school all year. If I have any free time, I love ballet, normally if I’m not doing a movie I’d go 5 days a week ballet lessons. I love staying busy. For a while, I wasn’t really doing much and now everything’s happening.

What’s Next:

In February, we haven’t really started it yet, it’s called We Bought A Zoo with Cameron Crowe. They are all Super 8 kind of things – it’s based on a true story. There’s going to be a lot of animals in it. I think in January we start doing the rehearsal with the animals because they have to get to know us. Like, tigers and lions and flamingos and stuff.

Check out Elle Fanning in Somewhere this Friday, December 24th in theaters!

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We’ve got one more lucky winner this year for our Somewhere Giveaway. The winner will get a poster autographed by Ms. Sophia Coppola herself, as well as a DVD of her movie Lost in Translation and that’s not all. Also a $25 movie theatre gift card so you can enjoy a movie this Christmas season. Her upcoming film Somewhere won top prizes at Venice. See it in theaters Wednesday December 22, 2010.

Congratulations to:

• Winner 1: Bryan – “Mine’s a little offbeat — because it’s a baseball movie, I guess: Ray and Karen from Field of Dreams. I love how she sees Shoeless Joe Jackson first (“Daddy, there’s a man standing on your lawn.”) and how she’s the first to grasp that people will come… I love that she’s not thrown by her dad’s odd visions, that she digs the outlandish idea of plowing up corn to build a ballpark…”

Thank you to all who left comments. The winner will receive an e-mail shortly. Please respond ASAP. We”ll need a mailing address (in the U.S.) so we can send you your prize. If the winner does not respond within a 48 hours, the prize will be given to another contestant.

Remember to check back often for more music news, concert and album reviews, interviews, and giveaways!

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***Somewhere Winner’s Announced!!!***

The year is almost over, but we’re not done giving away cool stuff. This time we’re giving away a the best gift of all — movies! In honor of Sofia Coppola‘s upcoming film Somewhere, we’ll be giving away a $25 gift card so you can go to the movies, an autographed poster by Coppola and more. Wanna give yourself an early Christmas present, well check out what we’ve got for you!

The Somewhere Prize Package Includes:

• $25 Movie Theater Gift Card
• Autographed Poster by Sofia Coppola
• Lost In Translation on DVD

That’s right! You get to hit the movies for free! Also, a signed poster by one of the most successful female director of our time! Whoa!

So what do you have to do to win? It’s easy!

TO PLAY:

All you have to do is leave a comment below telling us your favorite father/daughter relationship in a film.

That’s all you have to do! The winner will be picked at random, so get your answers in by noon on Monday, December 20, 2010. We’ll post the winner later that day.

Rules:

• You must leave an e-mail address that we can reach you at (we promise not to spam you).
• You must have a shipping address within the United States.
• If you win, you will have to respond to an e-mail that we will send to you. If you do not respond within 48 hours, your prize will be given to another contestant.

We have more amazing giveaways for all the latest films coming up, so make sure to follow us on Twitter or on Facebook in order to find out about more ways to win awesome prizes!

The film hits theaters this December 22nd! Don’t miss it!

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At the 2010 Venice Film Festival Sofia Coppola walked away a big winner thanks to her latest feature, Somewhere. It’s a self-reflexive drama about the unconventional relationship between a father and his daughter set against the backdrop of Hollywood excess. According to Reuters, Coppola’s film earned the Golden Lion award, a honor that received mixed reviews from critics back home and abroad.

The head of the festival jury was Quentin Tarantino, who was asked if the Golden Lion decision was based on any favoritism considering his friendship with the Coppola clan, an assumption he quickly shot down.

“I wasn’t going to let anything like that affect me at all. I was just going to literally respond to the film. There was no me steering any direction. Sofia doesn’t know these other people (on the jury) and she won it fair and square in a completely unanimous vote,” he said.

Other winners at Venice included, Vincent Gallo for Best Actor for his performance in Essential Killing, “where he plays a suspected Taliban fighter on the run from U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Europe.” He was an interesting choice considering he doesn’t really speak in the film. Ariane Labed won the Best Actress prize for the Greek father-daughter drama Attenberg, while Monte Hellman scooped a special career award.

The big shock of the week was Natalie Portman’s snub as Best Actress for her performance as a dancer gone mad in Black Swan. She received stellar reviews after the film’s world premiere so it’s kind of a shock that she didn’t win that honor.

The rest of the Festival winner’s included:

• Silver Lion for Best Director: Álex de la Iglesia for the film Balada triste de trompeta (Spain, France)
• Special Jury Prize: Essential Killing by Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland, Norway, Hungary, Ireland)
• Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Mila Kunis in the film Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky (USA)
• Osella for Best Cinematography: Mikhail Krichman for the film Ovsyanki (Silent Souls) by Aleksei Fedorchenko (Russia)
• Osella for Best Screenplay: Álex de la Iglesia for the film Balada triste de trompeta by Álex de la Iglesia (Spain, France)

ORIZZONTI

• Orizzonti Award (full-length films): Verano de Goliat by Nicolás Pereda (Mexico, Canada)
• Orizzonti Special Jury Prize (full-length films): The Forgotten Space by Nöel Burch and Allan Sekula (Netherlands, Austria)
• Orizzonti Award (medium-length films): Tse (Out) by Roee Rosen (Israel)
• Orizzonti Award (short films): Coming Attractions by Peter Tscherkassky (Austria)
• Special Mention: Jean Gentil by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas (Dominican Republic, Mexico, Germany)
• The Jury, after viewing the 21 European short films in the Orizzonti competition, has decided the Venice Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards: The External World by David Oreilly (Germany)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO

• Controcampo Italiano Award: 20 sigarette by Aureliano Amadei (Italy)
• Special Mention: Vinicio Marchioni in the film 20 sigarette
• LION OF THE FUTURE – “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM: Cogunluk (Majority) by SerenYüce(Turkey) – Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days as well as a prize of 100,000 USD donated by Filmauro di Aurelio e Luigi De Laurentiis to be divided equally between director and producer

PERSOL 3-D AWARD FOR THE MOST CREATIVE 3-D FILM STEREOSCOPIC FILM OF THE YEAR:

• Avatar by James Cameron (USA, UK)
• How to Train Your Dragon by Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois (USA)

JAEGER-LECOULTRE GLORY TO THE FILMMAKER AWARD 2010:

• Mani Ratnam
• Premio L’Oréal Paris per il Cinema: Vittoria Puccini

Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

• John Woo

What do you think of the winner’s at the 2010 Venice Film Festival?

Additional Source: LaBiennale

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• Interview: Elle Fanning for Somewhere (0)

Sofia Coppola’s latest film Somewhere is one of the many features playing at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The movie stars Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning as an unconventional father-daughter team who after a while apart are reunited — in a Hollywood hotel. The film chronicles their relationship and the effect the child has on her father’s playboy lifestyle. Here’s what the critics are saying…

The Premise

Somewhere is a precisely-observed, often silent portrait of a depressed movie star who sits and stares blankly at the wall, beer and meds at hand, when his publicist or manager isn’t telling him where to go or what to do. Marco knows how to be a movie star, he just doesn’t know how to live a life. [TOH]

The Acting:

It’s an appropriately distanced introduction to a man who doesn’t let much in, and Dorff underplays it beautifully, but both character and actor are unlocked when Johnny’s 11 year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) enters proceedings, and their warm, supple chemistry becomes the film’s dominant motor…Both actors are a delight: it’s higher praise than some might think to declare this Dorff’s finest hour, but it’s nonetheless a watershed performance that reflects on his established screen persona while adding softer accents. Fanning, meanwhile, is a quietly rewarding screen presence, perceptive rather than precocious, and possessed of one of the most deliciously subtle death-glares in the business. [In Contention]

The Direction:

Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere is a quiet heartbreaker. Trading Lost in Translation’s Tokyo hotel for Beverly Hills’ Chateau Marmont, the ever-perceptive writer-director further hones her gifts for ruefully funny observation and understated melancholy with this low-key portrait of a burned-out screen actor. Steeped in morning-after regret and centered around a strong performance by Stephen Dorff, the result is sure to frustrate those who require their plots thick and their emotions underlined. [Variety]

Overall:

All of Coppola’s films to date have, to lesser and greater degrees, been focused on children of privilege (Marie Antoinette being the ne plus ultra), and some audiences may struggle with finding sympathy for Johnny and his zombiefied state of spoil-brat ennui. But if you roll with it, Somewhere is a rich and sophisticated film that draws its world so deftly it’s easy to forget it isn’t ours. [Empire]

Stay tuned for more Venice Film Festival updates!

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Several movies that were on the pending release slate for Focus Features have been given the go ahead. According to Variety, the fate of six films have been made public so we now know when to expect The Eagle of the Ninth, The American, Babies, Somewhere, Greenberg, and It’s Kind of a Funny Story.

Check out the release dates below…

The first quarter of the year will start out with Noah Baumbach’s film Greenberg, which is headlined by Ben Stiller on March 12th in a limited run. That will be followed by Thomas Balmes’ Babies, which opens in select theaters on April 16th. The American, which has George Clooney playing a highly killed assassin will hit theaters nationwide on September 1st, while Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic The Eagle of the Ninth will open in the third quarter.

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story is slated for sometime in November and last but not least, Sofia Coppola’s drama Somewhere has yet to be placed in a specific quarter, so at the moment it’s in limbo.

Out of all of these films the most anticipated would probably be The American or Eagle of the Ninth. It’s odd that something of that caliber hasn’t been given a specific date yet. Granted Channing Tatum‘s acting isn’t the best in the world but the subject matter of the film and his fan base should be enough to make it a hit.

What do you think about the Focus Features release slate?

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Here is an interesting piece of casting news. Jackass’ very own Chris Pontius has been cast in the upcoming Sofia Coppola film, Somewhere. He will be starring in the movie with Steven Dorf and Elle Fanning.

The film is about a sort of  ”bad-boy” actor (Steven Dorf) living in Los Angeles’ famous Chateau Marmont Hotel, whose life is drastically changed when he gets a visit from his 11-year-old daughter, played by Elle Fanning. Chris Pontius is to star as, Sammy, Dorf’s best friend.

This is not some B-rate horror or slasher movie, this is a film with a talented, well respected director. This is either a real acting gig for Pontius or some kind of change for Coppola.

I think this is incredibly strange that anyone would associate anybody on the show Jackass’ with acting. I’m not sure if I see the connection. Then again, I am no casting director. I’m guessing they’re hoping Chris Pontius will play the character similar to how he is now. Although you never know!

Either way, you know he got blitzed after he found out he got a new job, and the job is not on Dancing with the Stars. Congrats!

What do you think of this? How do you think he will do?

Source: FirstShowing

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