"The Age of Scorsese" Photos

Editorial photoshoots that recreate old movies are always good for both smiles and grimaces. The latest in this long chain of stars playing other stars (a motif we've discussed before) involves the films of Martin Scorsese in Harper's Bazaar "The Age of Scorsese" photographed by Jason Schmidt. 

I was thrilled to see two underappreciated actors (and real life marrieds) Alessandro Nivola & Emily Mortimer in The Aviator parts that brought Leo & Cate Oscar attention. For what it's worth, Mortimer has a sweet small role in Scorsese's Hugo (see previous post) as a flower shop girl to follow her sick small role in Shutter Island.

As you'd rightly expect they're adorable while discussing the shoot in the accompanying videos.

Emily: We were worried about not having chemistry in our shot. It's a still frozen in time from a movie so it's a different thing trying to... and also our faces at those angles don't necessearily look as good as Cate Blanchett and...
Allesandro: Speak for yourself.
Emily: Well, you're much more handsome than Leonardo DiCaprio. Obviously.  

Love.

Meanwhile, can we please declare a moratorium on using Jodie Foster's Taxi Driver underage hooker as a iconic look for child stars? It's like a rite of passage for them but you'd think people would get tired of tarting them up by now! So here's Chloe Moretz as. Keanu Reeves gets the DeNiro role. 

There's a few more over at Harper's Bazaar involving Goodfellas,  Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Emily Blunt) and Gangs of New York (Christina Hendricks and Jack Huston... Christina is a definite improvement over the original but, then, it's kind of Cameron Diaz's worst performance.) 

Finally, Kate Bosworth attempts to channel La Pfeiffer (the guy playing DDL is uncredited) from The Age of Innocence.

Anyone pretending to be Michelle Pfeiffer is going to be a problem for me but ..Bosworth? Hmmm. To her credit in the video that accompanies the article, Kate echoes Elizabeth Olsen's recent confession calling LaPfeiffer "one of my favorite actresses of all time" so I guess we'll forgive her for treading on hallowed frizzy-haired ground.

TIFF: "Jeff...," "Hysteria", "Take Shelter" and "Amy George."

[Editor's Note: Apologies from Nathaniel, I've been under the weather and Paolo, who has been so dependable at sending capsules and reviews our way, now has a log jam of them. So many movies to discuss. Enjoy. TIFF wraps this weekend. -Nathaniel R]

Paolo here, discovering that HYSTERIA, a film about inventing the vibrator, isn't based on the recent Broadway play "In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play" although they tackle the same subject. However, some scenes here still look like you might see them in a stage play, set in offices of upper middle class Londoners. These are  perfectly designed offices, with the requisite deep trendy colours of today's period films. The character played by the unrecognizable Rupert Everett is an electricity geek. A generator occupies his office, a Rube Goldberg like thing connected to a feather duster. However, protagonist Mortimer Granville (a composite of three actual doctors played by Hugh Dancy) sees something else in this feather duster.

The comedy in the film is repetitive; how many 'strong hands' jokes can one take even if Jonathan Pryce, playing Mortimer's boss Dalrymple, delivers them so capably? Dalrymple's daughter Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal) enters the plot, a welcome break from the 'paroxysms' of Mortimer's clients. Her story line gets dramatic when her East End connections land her in prison but there isn't enough of a struggle to convince us that something bad might truly happen to her. Gyllenhall plays Charlotte with an optimism rarely seen in her darker films. She's also required to speak in a West End English accent alongside real English actors but she's not enough to elevate this film into a genuine crowd pleaser.

HICK, based on Andrea Portes' novel, is a movie set in the middle of nowhere and ends up there, despite the wishes of a thirteen year old girl named Luli (Chloe Moretz). Luli is very knowledgeable of her  provenance, her mother Tammy (Juliette Lewis) giving birth to her in a bar. Her father's no different, the kind of guy who drives into playground monkey bars without hiding the bottle of whiskey in his hand. She decides to run away to Las Vegas even if she's too young to be part of the workforce. The film from this point forward becomes a road movie,  taking place inside cars or at pit stops.

Chloe's child acress 'rite of passage', Take Shelter Oscar buzz, and endless potato boiling after the jump.

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Chloe Moretz's "Dark Shadows" Cheekbones & Tom Hardy Aversion

I'm not at all sure why I'm sharing this as I have definitely not boarded the Chloe Moretz train with the rest of the world. But I listened to this entire interview with the 14 year old starlet this morning. If you can get past the chaotic bratty noisiness of the interview (yes, I felt old... "Get off my lawn!") in which Chloe grosses out about 14 year old's dating 13 year olds -- but 16 year olds dating 17 year olds is totes different! -- you get to the Dark Shadows bits and a unusually revealing (though probably not intentionally-so) moment when she seems completely repulsed at the mention of Tom Hardy ---maybe it's the trapezius?

I've excerpted the two fun bits which you can play at the end of this post about working with the superstars in the Dark Shadows cast (and their cheekbones) and the moment when the interviewer compares Chloe's boyfriend (?) to Tom Hardy. There's a lot more if you go to the actual interview.

When asked to describe Dark Shadows Chloe Moretz says...

It's a mixture of Beetlejuice and Sweeney mixed with Sleepy Hollow."

Good to see Tim Burton branching out!!!

Chloe Moretz Interview Excert