First Trailer and Poster for CEDAR RAPIDS
by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub Posted: December 22nd, 2010
Fox Searchlight has released the first trailer for director Miguel Arteta’s (Youth in Revolt) Cedar Rapids. Premiering at next month’s Sundance Film Festival and getting released nationally February 11, the film is loaded with an all star cast featuring Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Stephen Root, Kurtwood Smith, Alia Shawkat, Mike O’Malley, Rob Corddry, and Seth Morris.
While the premise of a small-town Wisconsin man who travels to the big city to represent his company at a regional insurance conference is nothing groundbreaking, I thought Youth in Revolt was very underrated and think Arteta is a director to watch. Also, the trailer for Cedar Rapids has a line that absolutely killed me. I won’t spoil it for you…but if you’re a fan of HBO’s The Wire, you will laugh out loud at the end of the trailer. It’s an awesome moment – especially because of who is saying it. Watch the trailer after the jump.
Here’s the synopsis:
To call insurance agent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), “naive” is a gross understatement. He’s never left his small hometown. He’s never stayed at a hotel. And he’s never experienced anything like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sent to represent his company at the annual insurance convention, Tim is soon distracted by three convention veterans (John C. Reilly, Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) who will show him the ropes and push his boundaries. For a guy who plays everything by the book, this convention will be anything but conventional.
Watch the trailer in HD on Apple
Christian Bale to Star in Zhang Yimou’s NANJING HEROES
by Jason Barr Posted: December 22nd, 2010
Christian Bale is set to star in an upcoming Zhang Yimou film, currently entitled Nanjing Heroes. Yimou, who is thought to be one of China’s most famous directors (he directed the nation’s 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony), is probably best known stateside for directing 2002’s Hero and 2004’s House of Flying Daggers, each of which garnered an Oscar nomination (in the “Best Foreign Language Film” and “Best Achievement in Cinematography” categories respectively).
Nanjing Heroes will take place during the Nanjing Massacre which occurred in 1937 as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War. As for Bale, the thespian will play an American priest named John who helps a number of Chinese citizens escape what looks to be certain death. Bale’s presence won’t be the only Hollywood influence on the film, as THR notes, that the special effects team behind Saving Private Ryan and The Dark Knight (Dark Side FX) has also been tapped to work on the project. Nanjing Heroes will begin shooting, on location in Nanjing, in early January 2011.
Cameron Crowe’s WE BOUGHT A ZOO Might Have Music by Eddie Vedder and Neil Young
by Ben Garman Posted: December 22nd, 2010
Writer-director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) excited Matt Damon when he gave him the script to his new film, We Bought A Zoo, by including a potential soundtrack compilation featuring “a lot of Eddie Vedder” and “a lot of Neil Young”. In interview with MTV, Matt Damon describes how before even reading the screenplay, he listened to the compilation whilst running in central park. Based on Benjamin Mee’s best selling memoir, in We Bought A Zoo, Matt Damon plays a widowed father who moves his family to the English countryside where they buy and begin to operate a zoo. Alongside Damon, We Bought A Zoo stars Black Widow beauty Scarlett Johansson and child actress, Elle Fanning. It is currently scheduled to open a year from tomorrow, on December 23rd, 2011 and will start shooting next month.
Hit the jump for more on the music Crowe attached to the script.
Pearl Jam frontman and singer-songwriter Eddie Vedder is no stranger to film music, having released his first solo album in 2007 as the soundtrack to Into The Wild (starring Emile Hirsch) for which he won a Golden Globe in 2008. Additionally, Vedder has contributed solo material to numerous other films too, including Dead Man Walking, A Brokedown Melody and Reign Over Me. Crowe’s preference of Eddie Vedder/ Pearl Jam shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise when you learn that he has also been directing an as yet untitled documentary about the group. He probably has Jam on the brain.Neil Young also has a solid track record of film music, having provided the terrific main theme for Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, starring Johnny Depp. Both artists offer a kind of intense, introspective rock and are definitely solid choices for a serious, evocative soundtrack.
That said, it’s important to realise that neither artist is confirmed to be on the soundtrack to the final film (it’s very early days), and the songs were more likely given to Damon to suggest the tone that Cameron Crowe is aiming for. Eitherway, We Bought A Zoo is shaping up to be a very interesting release.
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