Dirty Grandpa Poster

Manuel here getting your week started with a poster that is hard to come to terms with.

Everything we know about this upcoming comedy comes courtesy of all the on-set shots of Efron which were deliciously skintastic. (JA has been dutifully (un)covering them at his blog.) There's also a trailer below, but the poster is more fascinating. How well-known is that Hoffman/Graduate shot among the young ones the film's tone is obviously courting. 

Or, perhaps it's an attempt at finding a middle ground between the Zefron fans and the De Niro fans? Are you at all excited about this very random pairing of inter-generational leading men?

The Star Wars Poster Awakens

After brief consideration of an annotated poster, The Film Experience's official position is that we actually don't know enough about the new Star Wars (by choice!) nor do we want to do the research so as to insure some sense of discovery in the the movie theater. Most of you weren't born yet but I saw Empire Strikes Back in the theater and I cannot tell you the seismic jolt that shook the sold out theater during the "Luke, I am your father" business. Filmmakers and even marketers used to understand the power of a good surprise in a crowded room.

Nevertheless one can't help but look! Surely you agree. After the jump, thoughts I had (uncensored as they arrived...)

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Posterized: Joe Wright's "Pan" and Peter Pan Movies

Jackman and Wright talk on setYou have to admit that Joe Wright was asking for it. He went and titled his Peter Pan epic, Pan, which is functioning like a command for the nation's critics who have done so mercilessly. It probably didn't help that he uglified one of our most handsome movie stars (no one needs to see Hugh Jackman going the Johnny Depp route). Worse, he truly stepped in it early on by casting the very white Rooney Mara in one of the few iconic roles meant for a Native American actress. (This issue has been discussed at very high volumes in the past few years since moviegoers and the media are sick to death of Hollywood's white-washing. But Hollywood is still wearing ear plugs.)

Will you see his latest despite the reviews?

And how many Peter Pan related movies have you seen? (More on Peter and Joe after the jump)

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Saoirse Ronan, All Grown Up

Behold the new poster for Oscar hopeful Brooklyn (reviewed at Sundance) which arrives in theaters on November 6th from Fox Searchlight. 

Though it's not half as distinctive or even film-representative as the earlier teaser poster, one thing it does aptly convey is the maturation of Saoirse Ronan. Brooklyn is her bridge movie. She was a famous teen (see: Atonement). Now, at 21, she's an actress fully ready for those complicated adult roles that will surely come her way. She's terrific in the film, charting this young immigrant's progress from overwhelmed mouse to confident young romantic heroine.

the earlier more beautiful posterTrivia Alert 
Should Saoirse be nominated in Best Actress at 21, she won't break the record of fastest to two nominations. That record ain't budging since Angela Lansbury has held it for about 69 years now, winning her first two nominations by 20. But she will break the crowded tie for Lansbury's runner up (Kate Winslet, Sal Mineo, and Jennifer Lawrence all got to two Oscar nominations by the age of 22). 

Do you think she'll manage it?

Michael Fassbender X 2

Here's Murtada on two Michael Fassbender Fall movies that have released posters.

First we have Steve Jobs. The poster’s in the same vein as Apple’s minimalist ads. We approve, it does the job, recalls the subject matter and let us know who is involved. The movie is the centerpiece at the New York Film Festival and everyone suspects it will hit Telluride as well. And October 9 isn’t that far away.

When you have huge photogenic movie stars all you need is their faces. Even from behind the veil Marion Cotillard's face is telling a story. Intensity thy name is Fassbender. Sold.

But what is happening with this movie? The posters as well as all the marketing materials are coming from UK distributor StudioCanal. They took the movie to Cannes and released clips, posters and a teaser trailer. The movie is scheduled for release in UK on October 2 and in France on November 18. By the end of December everyone who lives in Europe will probably have had a chance to see it.

So far there is no US release date. The Weinstein Company has announced a deal with Amazon that vaguely states the movie will be available online “relatively quickly” after theatrical release. That release will be through their VOD arm, TWC-Radius. What is happening?

Is this movie the latest victim of TWC’s erratic release plans? And so soon after The Immigrant. Remember that? What does Cotillard have to do to get her performances in theaters in the US? There’s turmoil at TWC so who knows what will happen. But come on, you have 2 major movie stars, a well known story that doesn’t need much explaining and a director, Justin Kurzel, on the rise. Reviews at Cannes have been mostly positive. Release it.

Are you worried for Macbeth? Do we need to start an online petition for its release?

Update : Looks like TWC heard us! A couple of hours after publication they announced a December 4 limited release for Macbeth.