Despite casting Willem Dafoe and working with a $2 million budget — the biggest in Sean Baker’s career — the director knew that his sixth feature, “The Florida Project,” couldn’t abandon what’s become his personal trademark: populating his films with untapped talent.
Read More:Willem Dafoe On What He Learned From Working With Non-Actors on ‘The Florida Project’ — Exclusive
“For me, Spike Lee was always one that really did it right,” Baker said. “He would have big A-list stars in his films, and then he would always give fresh faces to some of the bigger supporting characters. He would be introducing so many new faces to the world, new talent to the industry, which is I think really important.”
“The Florida Project” has received glowing reviews (IndieWire gave it an A-, and it’s currently rated 95 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and received multiple awards, including Golden Globes and SAG nominations for Dafoe.
Read More:Willem Dafoe On What He Learned From Working With Non-Actors on ‘The Florida Project’ — Exclusive
“For me, Spike Lee was always one that really did it right,” Baker said. “He would have big A-list stars in his films, and then he would always give fresh faces to some of the bigger supporting characters. He would be introducing so many new faces to the world, new talent to the industry, which is I think really important.”
“The Florida Project” has received glowing reviews (IndieWire gave it an A-, and it’s currently rated 95 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and received multiple awards, including Golden Globes and SAG nominations for Dafoe.
- 12/15/2017
- by Jenna Marotta
- Indiewire
If I could, I would rent three billboards and they would read:
Billboard One: This movie is frustrating
Billboard Two: Because its story is badly flawed
Billboard Three: But the performances are great
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri goes rogue after the first act/first third of the movie.
The screenplay evidently attracted some spectacular actors led by Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell, and my guess is that the script by Martin McDonagh -- who is a terrific playwright -- was much different than what eventually made it to the screen. That's the only way I can imagine that such great actors would sign on to this Indie film. In my fantasy, the film as originally intended didn't test well and sat on a shelf until it was radically re-cut and then released. [Note: I have no idea whether this happened, it is my fantasy.]
The plot, such as it is, revolves around McDormand seeking justice for her daughter who was raped and murdered.
Billboard One: This movie is frustrating
Billboard Two: Because its story is badly flawed
Billboard Three: But the performances are great
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri goes rogue after the first act/first third of the movie.
The screenplay evidently attracted some spectacular actors led by Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell, and my guess is that the script by Martin McDonagh -- who is a terrific playwright -- was much different than what eventually made it to the screen. That's the only way I can imagine that such great actors would sign on to this Indie film. In my fantasy, the film as originally intended didn't test well and sat on a shelf until it was radically re-cut and then released. [Note: I have no idea whether this happened, it is my fantasy.]
The plot, such as it is, revolves around McDormand seeking justice for her daughter who was raped and murdered.
- 12/5/2017
- by Mark Weston
- www.culturecatch.com
Start spreading the news, John Goodman is packing his bags and is on the verge of heading to the Coldest City, Focus Features’ upcoming war-time thriller to be directed by John Wick‘s David Leitch.
Deadline has the scoop, with the outlet reporting that the Trumbo scene-stealer has opened negotiations to join the project, which would see him star opposite James McAvoy and Mad Max: Fury Road‘s Charlize Theron. According to Deadline, Goodman is in line to play an American agent, one who assists both McAvoy and Theron’s agents as they attempt to leverage a masterplan from opposite sides of the Berlin wall.
Set during the twilight years of the city-dividing monument (i.e. 1989), Coldest City is a spy thriller in every sense, with Theron and McAvoy setting aside personal differences in order to foil a potentially destructive ploy that would expose the real-life identities of all spies...
Deadline has the scoop, with the outlet reporting that the Trumbo scene-stealer has opened negotiations to join the project, which would see him star opposite James McAvoy and Mad Max: Fury Road‘s Charlize Theron. According to Deadline, Goodman is in line to play an American agent, one who assists both McAvoy and Theron’s agents as they attempt to leverage a masterplan from opposite sides of the Berlin wall.
Set during the twilight years of the city-dividing monument (i.e. 1989), Coldest City is a spy thriller in every sense, with Theron and McAvoy setting aside personal differences in order to foil a potentially destructive ploy that would expose the real-life identities of all spies...
- 11/3/2015
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Comic-Con has become a strange bird to Hollywood studios. Bringing talent and previewing footage can give tremendous hype and word of mouth to eventual blockbusters ("Django Unchained," "Gravity," "Iron Man") or it can end up providing false hope for genre films hope will be smash hits ("Cowboys and Aliens," "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"). That means it can be an expensive endeavor if things don't go well and, moreover, you might not realize that until six months later on your opening weekend. 2013 had few outright failures though besides "I, Frankenstein" and the under-performing box office of Edgar Wright's "The World's End." Outside of that? It might have been the most successful Comic-Con on the movie side ever (granted, the embarrassingly delayed "Seventh Son" won't hit theaters until Feb. 2015). This year's run of movie panels on Thursday, Friday and Saturday have some impressive selections from Daniel Radcliffe's first appearance...
- 7/14/2014
- by Gregory Ellwood
- Hitfix
Jurors deliberating over Nicollette Sheridan's $6 million wrongful termination suit against ABC and Touchstone failed to come to decision Thursday. Also read: 'Desperate Housewives' Trial Goes to the Jury The jury foreman told L.A. Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White that they were having a difficult time reaching a verdict. The judge asked if further instructions, explanations or more closing arguments would help, but the foreman said no. White ordered the jury back in court at 10 a.m. Friday. Outside the courtroom, Sheridan's attorney Mark Baute said that "what I'm seeing is some frustration...
- 3/16/2012
- by Todd Cunningham & Pamela Chelin
- The Wrap
Chicago – When Robert Redford was on the lookout for equine consultants to assist him with his 1998 drama, “The Horse Whisperer,” he got a lot more than he bargained for when he hired Buck Brannaman. The real-life “whisperer” was one of the chief inspirations for the character of Tom Booker in the Nicholas Evans novel that provided the source material for Redford’s picture. Yet Brannaman’s inspiring work doesn’t merely apply to horses.
As one of the most respected horse trainers in the nation, Brannaman spends the majority of the year traveling the country, hosting clinics that teach people how to better connect their beloved animals. First-time director Cindy Meehl was so inspired by Brannaman’s work that she decided to film a documentary that charted his journey from childhood abuse (at the hands of his father) to an enormously successful adulthood. The resulting film, “Buck,” has gone on...
As one of the most respected horse trainers in the nation, Brannaman spends the majority of the year traveling the country, hosting clinics that teach people how to better connect their beloved animals. First-time director Cindy Meehl was so inspired by Brannaman’s work that she decided to film a documentary that charted his journey from childhood abuse (at the hands of his father) to an enormously successful adulthood. The resulting film, “Buck,” has gone on...
- 6/22/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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