Archive for August, 2009

Katherine Heigl, the star of The Ugly Truth, isn’t the only Hollywood actress to admit that she is afraid of treading the boards in the West End. Kate Bosworth, 26, who appeared in Superman Returns, told Mandrake at a party at the St Martins Lane Hotel, in London, that she felt she needed a lot more experience before she could even contemplate acting in a theatre herself.

“I would love to do some, either in the West End or on Broadway, but I am trying to get up the courage first by trying to see as many plays as I can,” said the American former girlfriend of Orlando Bloom.

The hugely successful War Horse was on her list, but Kate, who is now being courted by another Englishman, the model turned singer-songwriter James Rousseau, added: “I think I am some way off going on stage. I hold theatre acting in such high esteem that it scares me.” [...]

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

We’ve known the main names in Rod Lurie’s remake of Sam Peckinpah’s shattering film Straw Dogs. James Marsden, Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgard are toplining the film, which is in production in Louisiana right now. But yesterday Lurie mentioned two more names on Facebook: James Woods and Dominic Purcell. (Who needs the trades when directors can throw out their own casting news?) Does the presence of a great actor like James Woods change your mind about this odd remake?

It certainly raises a bit of interest for me, though we don’t know what roles Woods and Purcell have. Lurie’s status said only “Beginning stunt rehearsals today with James Woods and Dominic Purcell.” That suggests that both are taking place in the siege on Marsden and Bosworth’s home that will be the film’s latter section. For that matter, we don’t know how extensively Lurie has re-written the story, which was originally scripted by Peckinpah and David Goodman, based on the novel The Siege of Trencher’s Farm by Gordon Williams.

Peckinpah’s film told the story of David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), a withdrawn mathematician, who moves with his young wife Amy (Susan George) to her childhood village of Cornwall. Trouble ensues when Amy flirts with the locals, one of whom violently rapes her. After other trouble, a group of local men besiege the Sumner home. The new version will differ significantly in several ways. Variety provided the following synopsis:

Marsden plays a Hollywood screenwriter who relocates with his wife to her hometown in Mississippi. Bosworth plays the wife, who left the South for LA. to become an actress and returns home so her husband can finish his script in quiet. Skarsgard plays her high school boyfriend, an ex-football hero who sees the return of his former girlfriend as a way to reclaim glory.

Casting the central character as a screenwriter rather than a mathematician could imply serious differences, though both could be seen as geeky/intellectual, reclusive, potentially elitist characters. But the deeper nature of the character is more important. Peckinpah’s original version is one of the more widely misread films out there; the director considered Dustin Hoffman’s character, ostensibly the hero, to be in reality the film’s antagonist. He’s a guy whose repressed humanity causes the explosion of violence that is the film’s climax; without his inability to directly engage the men intimidating him as the story begins, most of the film’s events would not take place. Peckinpah’s film was a brutal meditation on violence that has been mistaken for an endorsement of same. Will Lurie’s film be along similar lines, or does it have totally different concerns?

Source: Film

There were some major release date updates yesterday in the world of horror, including the new date set for BEAUTIFUL GIRL, and UNDERWORLD 4. Today we have another new release update for you… this time for the upcoming remake of STRAW DOGS.

We heaven’t heard much from the STRAW DOGS camp since we heard Kate Bosworth had joined James Marsden, but now we have a release date for you…. February 25, 2011!

This may seem like an odd date to set up so far in advance, but it makes sense. Intense thrillers like STRAW DOGS tend to do quite well in the “dump” months, and as it’s at the tail end of February, it makes it practically a March release. Cool beans.

As a recap, STRAW DOGS follows Los Angeles screenwriter David Sumner (Marsden), who moves with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, leading to a violent confrontation.

Not sure if filming has started just yet, as I believe they’re still casting this mofo. But a release date has been set, and that’s all that matters. February 25, 2011! Be there!

Thanks to 21 for the heads up!

Source: The Joblo Movie Network

Thanks to 21 for the Heads up!

American Fashionistas Set To Attend London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is officially moving on up in the fashion-week ranks. Gone are the days when people watching at the shows involved watching the likes of Chris Eubank and people from morning TV. This year, if recent reports are anything to go by, we can expect the likes of Olivia Palermo, the Olsens and Tayor Momsen to be gracing the front rows this side of the pond.

Don’t thank me. Sir Phillip Green is the man responsible. After the success of Topshop’s new flagship store in Manhattan, American stars have become so hooked by the store that they want to attend the Unique runway show in September.

Anne Hathaway, Whitney Port, Blake Lively and Kate Bosworth also have been rumoured to attend the upcoming show in September.

Kate was at LAX Airport yesterday, and not photographed with her but her new co-star, Alexander Skarsgard, was there too, so They will star to shoot Straw Dog really soon!!

005 x 08/03/09: Kate passes through a security checkpoint at LAX airport