Category Archives: News

3rd-Annual Limité Honors – Celebrating Careers in Film, Television, Music, and Lifestyle

(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)

July 12, 2012

If you know anything about Limité, you know that we don’t follow the norm, nor do we care what the “others” glorify. Awards and recognition are usually given out to those who’ve sold a certain amount of music albums or for their performance in a big budget movie in the last fiscal year, but what about celebrating someone’s entire career and being recognized? That’s what we’ve done in our 3rd Annual Limité Honors. The individuals below have entertained us on more than one occasion and we deem it necessary to give respect when respect is due. Enjoy!

Jessica Chastain

by Daniel Quitério

Don’t tell Jessica Chastain that Rome wasn’t built in a day, because you’d be speaking to the one person who proved that all wrong in 2011. Chastain’s list of film credits and honors that one year surpasses most actors’ entire careers.

Born Jessica Howard, the would-be actress grew up in Northern California. She began as a dancer in her early teens before acting in local Shakespeare productions. The entertainer eventually enrolled at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York as a drama major, where during her last year, she was offered a holding deal by TV producer John Wells (ERThe West Wing) and worked on three of his shows.

Film was a logical next step. Chastain went on to debut as the title character in Jolene (2008). A few years later, moviegoers were watching the blossoming-yet-seasoned actress in an astonishing seven films in 2011, including The DebtTake Shelter, and The Tree of Life. She went on to receive multiple breakthrough artist awards and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for The Help, in which she played a sympathetic and domestically challenged housewife. Thanks to her meteoric rise, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

This year, Chastain’s credits threaten to nearly trump her 2011 filmography. She’s set to star in six more films, including a second collaboration with Malick (To the Wonder) and a film about Navy SEAL Team 6—the soldiers that killed Osama bin Laden—entitled Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker).

Chastain may very well be the most prolific actress in the movies today, but let’s not forget that film is just one of the media in which she has proven herself. With a background in theatre and television, Chastain’s versatility makes her an actor among actors.

Continue reading 3rd-Annual Limité Honors – Celebrating Careers in Film, Television, Music, and Lifestyle

Who Is That Handsome Fellow?

(Re-posted from The Reminder)

by Chris Maza

May 28, 2012

If you had only 48 hours to make an award-winning movie, could you do it?

Dan Quiterio thinks he has what it takes.

The Ludlow native now located in the Big Apple is taking part in an international filmmaking contest called the 48 Hour Film Project taking place in New York City from June 1 to 3.

The objective of the contest is for a team to create a short film from start to finish in two days’ time. Teams randomly pick a genre and must create a four- to seven-minute film using the same common character, line of dialogue, and prop given to all contestants in a certain city.

Once they have those elements, they must devise a story, write a script, shoot the film, edit it, and submit the final product before the clock runs out. The winning films are screened in a theater and go on to well-known film festivals, such as the Cannes International Film Festival in France.

“It’s kind of like one of those cooking shows on TV in which chefs are given some random ingredients and have to turn them into a gourmet meal in 30 minutes,” Quiterio said. “The only real planning we’re allowed to do in advance is securing potential locations, actors, crew, and equipment. Of course, we won’t know what our needs will be until we have some vital questions answered once the competition begins, so you really have to be flexible.”

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Michael Haneke’s AMOUR Claims Coveted Palme d’Or Prize at Cannes Film Festival

(Re-posted from AceShowbiz.com)

May 28, 2012

The 65th edition of the annual world-class movie festival also names Mads Mikkelsen as the Best Actor, and Cristina Flutur as well as Cosmina Stratan as the Best Actresses.
The 65th annual Cannes Film Festival has revealed which movie deserved to claim its top prize of Palme d’Or. On Sunday night, May 27, it was announced that Michael Haneke’s highly praised drama Amour has won the prestigious award.
Upon receiving the prize with lead actors Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, the 70-year-old director said, “I thank my wife, who has been putting up with me for years.” He added, “Thanks to my wonderful actors. They are the essence of it.”
This was the second time the Munich-born moviemaker won the coveted Palme d’Or gong at Cannes. Back in 2009, the Austrian filmmaker took home the same award through his acclaimed work in The White Ribbon.

Support My 48 Hour Film Project

I’m participating in the 48 Hour Film Project, which is a global competition that requires teams to create a short film—from start to finish—in just 48 hours. If anyone’s ever made a film, you know how difficult that is. That means no sleep. (We won’t even know what genre we need to write to until that same time period.) My team is made up of accomplished filmmakers who have had their films screen internationally, including at some of the world’s top festivals, such as Cannes and Berlin.
We’re looking to raise funds by June 1. The money would go towards feeding our cast and crew, transporting equipment, buying props, etc. Money raised over our goal of $500 will go towards festival submission fees, paying admission for the film’s premiere a week later (yes, we have to pay), etc.
Please consider supporting my team—Team Rude—and my passion by donating any amount at the following link: http://therudeparty.chipin.com/the-rude-party-48-hour-film
To learn more about the 48 Hour Film Project, you can either visit the site (http://48hourfilm.com/) or leave a comment and I’ll reply.
Thanks so much for your support!

Fandango Survey Unmasks THE AVENGERS As the Most Anticipated Movie of the Summer

Fandango, the nation’s leading moviegoer destination, revealed the results of its “Most Anticipated Summer Movie Survey,” in which Marvel’s The Avengers grabbed the top spot among all films picked by both men and women. The poll—which surveyed thousands of moviegoers on their must-see list for the biggest movie season of the year—also revealed that this may be a huge summer for Australian newcomer Chris Hemsworth, who stars in two of the summer’s most anticipated releases.

Male and female moviegoers offer a decidedly different perspective on the can’t-miss films of the summer. While women gravitated to the revisionist Kristen Stewart fairy tale drama Snow White and the Huntsman, men stuck to their guns with action adventures like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, which ranked number one and two on the most anticipated summer movie list.

Continue reading Fandango Survey Unmasks THE AVENGERS As the Most Anticipated Movie of the Summer

ESCAPE FIRE Wins The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award

(Re-posted from Tweed)

April 16, 2012

Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare has been awarded The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in North Carolina.

Escape Fire, by Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke, asks what can be done to save our broken healthcare system. The film examines the powerful forces trying to maintain the current medical industry, which is designed for quick fixes rather than prevention. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2012.

To read more about the award click here.

To learn more about the film, click here.

HICK Poster Debuts

And speaking of Chloë Grace Moretz (see the Carrie post below), the official poster for her upcoming release Hick debuts today. (There isn’t a single actor in this movie that I don’t love!) Check it out below, followed by information on the new film.

Official Synopsis:

Small-town teenager Luli (Chloë Grace Moretz ) escapes to Las Vegas, leaving behind her alcoholic and abusive parents. Armed with her smarts, a pistol and pocket money, she hitchhikes her way west. Along the way, Luli crosses paths with Eddie (Eddie Redmayne), an unstable rebel with questionable motives, and Glenda (Blake Lively), a cocaine-snorting drifter on the run. Adapted from the critically acclaimed novel by Andrea Portes, this powerful story pulls you into a provocative world of drugs, seduction and murder.

The Derick Martini-directed film opens theatrically and on VOD on May 11.

MGM Formally Offers Lead Remake of Stephen King’s CARRIE to Chloë Moretz

(Re-posted from Deadline.com)

by Mike Fleming

March 27, 2012

BREAKING: After meeting and reading a group of young actresses for CarrieMGM, Screen Gems and director Kim Peirce have made their decision and made the formal offer today to Chloë Moretz. If negotiations work out, she’ll play the title role in the remake of the Brian De Palma original that was based on the 1974 Stephen King bestseller. She’s expected to play the shy high school student Carrie White, who is raised by a nightmarish religious fanatic mother and comes to grip with devastating telepathic powers just as she reaches puberty. She eventually uses those gifts for lethal means when fellow classmates use the prom as an excuse to humiliate her before the entire school in a parable about bullying. Sissy Spacek played the character in the first movie, with Piper Laurie playing her mother, and Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, John Travolta, Betty Buckley and William Katt rounding out the cast. Both Spacek and Laurie got Oscar nominations for their work in the 1976 film.

The studio and Peirce have been meeting with actresses for the past two weeks. Word all along was that while names like Dakota Fanning were circulating, Peirce and the studio had an eye on Moretz. The studio denied it at the time, but what actually happened is Moretz didn’t meet with Peirce until last weekend. She got the job immediately. Moretz, who first came on with performances in Kick-Ass, (500) Days of Summer and Let Me In, is at the top of the crop of young actresses. Coming off Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, her next major film is the Tim Burton-directed Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp. She’s repped by WME and 3 Arts. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa wrote the script and Kevin Misher’s producing.

Insiders said that once they make Moretz’s deal, they will focus on landing the psycho mom and supporting cast and they will shoot this year.

Official Trailer: Mr. Rogers & Me

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMXKs6OSrNg]

Premiering on DVD, local PBS affiliates, and iTunes on March 20 (in honor of Mister Rogers’s birthday)

Official Synopsis:

Benjamin Wagner first met Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood creator and star Fred Rogers at Rogers’s summer home in Nantucket, Massachusetts. His mother rented the cottage next door, so Mister Rogers really was his neighbor. On the afternoon of their first meeting, the television icon asked the young journalist about his job as an MTV producer. Wagner felt exposed and a tiny bit embarrassed—a PBS mind in a jump-cut, sound-bit, MTV world.

Mister Rogers said warmly, “I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than complex.”

One year and many “deep and simple” conversations later, Rogers told Wagner, “Spread the message!”

After Rogers’s death in 2003, Wagner and his brother Christofer set out to meet some of Mister Rogers’s neighbors to find out more about the man himself, what he meant by “deep and simple,” and with whom in our junk food culture those values endure.

Featured in the film are some of the notable personalities whose lives were impacted by their interactions with Mister Rogers. They include Tim Russert (NBC Meet the Press anchor), Susan Stamberg (NPR host), Marc Brown (Arthur author), Davy Rothbart (This American Life contributor), Linda Ellerbee (Nick News host), Bo Lozoff (activist and author), Amy Hollingsworth (author), Beverly Hall (photographer), and Dr. Susan Linn (children’s media expert).

In the end, the brothers come to know more than just the man and his luminous legacy. Their deeply personal journey explores the roots of Mister Rogers’s values, unmasks the forces acting against depth and simplicity, and helps them to develop the means to lead deeper, simpler lives.

84th Annual Academy Award Nominations & Analysis

The 84th annual Academy Award nominations were announced today. Here is the complete list of nominees and my analysis along the way. Stay tuned for the Oscars on Sunday, February 26.

Best Picture

The Artist – Following its PGA win, this film is primed to win the big prize on February 26.

The Descendants – I’m not surprised by this nomination, though I don’t think the film is deserving of it. It’s a flawed film, but AMPAS likes Alexander Payne.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – This is one of two surprise nominees in this category and the only one I have not yet seen.

The Help

Hugo – If it were up to me, this would win Best Picture. In my opinion, it’s the strongest and best-composed of the nine nominated films.

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball – Overall, a terrific film and deserving of this honor.

The Tree of Life – This is the second surprise nominee in this category. Arguably the most polarizing film of the year, don’t expect Tree to win here.

War Horse – Spielberg gets a Best Picture nomination, but is snubbed for Best Director. This doesn’t bode well for War Horse‘s chances.

Continue reading 84th Annual Academy Award Nominations & Analysis