Portman's Career is Revving Up

Manuel here to talk about everyone's favorite black swan and share some casting news. Oh, it’s also Bike to Work Week and so here’s Natalie Portman on a bike to get your Monday started.

She’ll probably need it as she’s clearly gearing (see what I did there?) for a busy 2015. Not only is her directorial debut A Tale of Love and Darkness premiering at Cannes (albeit as a special screening selection) but her much-delayed film Jane Got a Gun will finally be released this coming September, but she’s also in Malick’s Knight of Cups (and presumably in Weightless) though it’s unclear when either of those films will be in front of us regular moviegoers.

And if these latest casting news pan out, she’ll be a busy gal soon (those of us who worries the Marvel Cinematic Universe and/or motherhood would keep Natalie away from us for too long had nothing to worry):

First up, she’s apparently signed on to play Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex, which Marielle Heller is in talks to direct. Those of us who haven’t yet seen Diary of a Teenage Girl (read Michael's review from Sundance) are dying to see it and we’re happy Heller and Portman are in talks to work together. Also, it’s about time RBG gets the big-screen treatment, no?

Portman is also in talks to star in Annihilation, a film adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s twisty sci-fi novel which centers on four female explorers in an unknown place known as Area X. And, true to her career so far, Portman is probably drawn to this film given who’s behind the camera: Ex-Machina’s Alex Garland (which I've yet to see but I am dying to if only so I can listen to the latest TFE podcast!)

Two promising projects with two promising directorial upstarts alongside many directorial and producing gigs. Are you ready for a Portmanful 2015? Have you read Annihilation and do you have any thoughts on who should join the all-female cast in its film adaptation?

Where My Links At

Before We Get Started...
First image of Emily Blunt from Sicario which will premiere at Cannes.  She plays an FBI agent pushed to her limits. I'm not quite sure why I decided to get so excited about this movie but I did so I'm running with it.

 

Links
THR Natalie Portman gears up for promotion of her Cannes entry A Tale of Love and Darkness, calls Oscar a "false idol"
/Film Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon's Big Little Lies project will be a limited series for HBO now. With Michelle Pfeiffer's hubby writing it! Since it's about three women can La Pfeiff be in it, too? Just suggesting! Free advice; we got it right here.
MNPP Alex Garland (Ex Machina) starts lining up a lucky female cast for his next trippy Annihilation - Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton? Wow.
In Contention Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt's By The Sea, a marital drama set in France in the 1970s, gets a release date: November 13th. Should we add it to Oscar charts?
Dissolve Juliette Binoche to play Pearl S Buck in a biopic. 
EW features Hateful Eight on its cover. I feel robbed. Unless it's a fold-out this is only Hateful Three: Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Samuel L Jackson.

 

Dissolve ...okay I spoke too quickly. There are also character posters of the other ones
Pajiba "Pants-Igniting Things Oscar Isaac Is The Absolute Best At" 
TMZ Tyson Beckford losing his towel to promote that Magic Mike rip-off Chocolate City 

Still cherry-picking good Age of Ultron links because there are interesting articles out there!
Sound and Nerdery Terrific read on the complexity of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, especially focused on Age of Ultron (which has taken so much flack for her portrayal)  
CNet on Joss Whedon's twitter exit. Why we should care when celebrities leave social media
Esquire Age of Ultron reviewed by a 9 year old:

If you like movies about robots who make jokes, or movies about girls singing lullabyes to the Hulk, or movies about cities that float into the air for no reason, Age of Ultron will be right up your alley.

I like movies about all those things except the cities floating in the air part. Never dug that. Not even in The Empire Strikes Back. 

Exit Video
Today's intriguing watch. A trailer for the Netflix series Sense8 by the Wachowski siblings.

It looks to have a very confusing sci-fi premise (what else is new with them?) about 8 people in different cities being mind-connected or something. But Doona Bae (yes) and Max Riemelt (very sexy German actor who you might have seen in Free Fall, streaming on Netflix) star. Plus Daryl Hannah (!!!!!!!!!). Plus they throw some gay-leaning group sex into the trailer so... why the hell not try it out in June? You can always abort the binge-watching if they show doesn't grab you. 

Details on the Cannes Lineup

The Cannes Competition Lineup (and more) was announced in the wee wee hours of the morning -- not so wee for France mind you -- and here's what we're looking at. A lot of French and Asian films, a few foreign giants doing their first English language films and at least three directors we haven't had a film from in 7 or 8 years.

International beauties we can safely expect to see walking that Cannes red carpet include but are not limited to: Cate Blanchett, Qi Shu, Marion Cotillard, Diane Kruger, Emily Blunt, Natalie Portman, Catherine Deneuve, and Maîwenn. ANNOUCEMENT: Friend of TFE Diana Drumm will be reporting for us a bit from the festival like last year. If we've written about any of these films before, the links will take you there. Included after the jump are descriptive bits of each film that we know anything about.

Click to read more ...

Beauty Break: Random Oscar Night Gowns You Might Not Have Seen

Because they weren't on the stage but at after parties. Many beauties after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Thoughts I Had... While Looking at "Jane Got a Gun" Images

You know how this goes. New images from the troubled production of Jane Got a Gun starring Natalie Portman. Thoughts as they occur to me. No editing.

• Bad Girls (1994)
• The Quick and the Dead (1995)
• The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)
• Why did I instantly doubt that Natalie Portman knew how to use that thing when this is The Professional (1994) we're talking about. She was deadly as early as 14!
• We've travelled back in time. And not because it's a period piece. Apologies. But it's a fact: western girls with guns was a thing briefly in the mid 90s
• Those look like big girl gloves for such a petit thing.
• OMG someone should remake Bad Girls but with less earnestness and more of a sense of humor 

• This is a weird still to release. They both look tremendously bored. Free advice: Do not suggest boredom when trying to sell a movie.
• I also had to lighten this up and increase the saturation so you could even make out who they are... so I'm not sure what's going on the stills department (Mandy Walker - who shot Australia - is behind the camera)
• Ewan McGregor is in this so I personally feel ripped off that he's not in the stills 
• I can't remember who was supposed to be in this but they've had trouble with shifting stars and replacing directors. 

• I don't know who this is but I'm going to pretend that it's Joel Edgerton
• Bet you Joel would rather redo this scene without a stunt double than relive those Exodus reviews

You can see yet more images over at The Film Stage.