The first trailer was issued a little over a month ago and now some new tv spots for Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion have been released, still attempting to scare the bejeebers out of anyone with regular contact with other human beings. In other words, everyone. I predict an uptick in the sale of those Habitrail bubbles we’re all gonna want to live in. The tag line alone is scarier than Freddie Kruger and Jason Voorhees combined: “Don’t talk to anyone, don’t touch anyone.” Everyone in the theater will be huddled in their seats with their shirts covering their noses and mouths, giving each other the stink-eye. War in the Middle East, the economy, climate change, riots in the streets will seem like prelude to this mess.
The plot is centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease, and the international team of doctors and scientists with the CDC who are tasked to deal with it. The official synopsis: “Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.”
Contagion‘s killer cast includes Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Lawrence Fishbourne, Bryan Cranston, Demitri Martin, John Hawkes, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan and Elliott Gould. It’s the New Year’s Eve of paranoid action thrillers. (Or the Poseidon Adventure. The original, not the cheesy remake) With better actors. Contagion will play the Venice Film Festival before it opens in the US on September 9 and 21 October in the UK.
Well, I suppose if a movie had to be remade, Footloose is as good a candidate as any. After viewing the trailer for Craig Brewer’s (Hustle and Flow, Black Snake Moan), I can report it is as cheese-tastic as the original and I think that’s just what it needed to be.
No one is going to go see Footloose or even watch the old version, expecting high-art. What they will get is a high concept version of “Hey kids! Let’s put on a show!” that dates back at least as far as Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in Babes in Arms. The screenplay is by Dean Pitchford, who wrote the original so it’s possible it’s just tweaked here and there. I would have liked to have gotten a better sense of the soundtrack, but the dance sequences look like they might have some energy and really, isn’t that the whole point of this exercise?
The new Ren is played by Kenny Wormald, a dancer whose Boston accent comes through loud and clear (so I hope that’s where he’s supposed to have dropped in from), and the new Ariel is played by “Dancing with the Stars” (and Ryan Seacrest’s) own Julianne Hough. I got the biggest kick out of Dennis Quaid. It makes me feel old to see him playing “the Dad” in anything, let alone taking over for John Lithgow (for solace I pop in The Big Easy and all is right with the world again), but it looked to me like he was having a difficult time keeping a straight face. We’ll see.
The rest of the cast includes Andie MacDowell and Kim Dickens along with a lot of fresh faced young dancers. This version does have more diversity going for it, I’ll say that much. Iowa has come a long way in the last twenty five years.
Footloose opens October 14 in the UK, US and Canada.
The cast of Gavin O’Connor’s Warrior attended a party held at Culina in LA on Saturday night (Aug. 20) thrown by the editors of InStyle to celebrate their film. In attendance were stars Tom Hardy who plays Tommy Riordon, a Marine recently returned from Afghanistan, Joel Edgerton, who plays his brother Brendan Conlon, a high school science teacher and Jennifer Morrison who plays Brendan’s wife Tessa.
Hardy was asked for his reaction to Anne Hathaway’s “catsuit” by MTV recently.”I’ve seen it, obviously. I’ve seen it up front,” he said, unwilling to say anything further, due to Nolan’s infamous ban on cast or crew spilling any of his beans. “I think everything Chris Nolan and every person at Warner Bros. [does] is amazing,” he continued. “As I do Lionsgate as well [the studio releasing Warrior]. Funny, isn’t it?” he said when his Warrior co-star Joel Edgerton laughed at his equally effusive affection for both studios . “Mercenary of me,” he joked, but obviously proud to be to sitting there promoting two diverse yet high-profile films backed by high-profile studios. “Ka-ching!” He’s no fool. I’m sure he’d like to be able to do it again some day, too.
Below are some pics from the party, as well as some new images from the film (and one of Hardy because I like his pink shirt. Real men can wear pink)
Warrior, is the tale of two brothers who haven’t seen each other for 14 years who end up squaring off in a mixed martial arts championship fight. The film also stars Nick Nolte as the alcoholic father of the two men. Warrior opens in the US on September 9 and 23 September in the UK. See it.
