David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints follows an outlaw (Casey Affleck), his wife (Rooney Mara), and the local sheriff (Ben Foster) through 1970s Texas. The film won the U.S. Dramatic Cinematography Award at this years Sundance Film Festival, where Terence saw the film. You can read his review here and see the full poster after the jump. Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is scheduled for an August 16 release date.
Read more on First Poster for ‘Ain’t them Bodies Saints’ Starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck…
Directed by: Scott Cooper
Written by: Scott Cooper, Brad Ingelsby
Starring: Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Woody Harrelson, Willem Defoe, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Sam Shepherd,
Synopsis (courtesy of IMDb): Russell Baze and his younger brother Rodney live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, and have always dreamed of escaping and finding better lives. But when a cruel twist of fate lands Russell in prison, his brother is lured into one of the most violent and ruthless crime rings in the Northeast – a mistake that will almost cost him everything. Once released, Russell must choose between his own freedom, or risk it all to seek justice for his brother.
Read more on Awards Profile: Out of the Furnace…
 While Oscar always has their eyes on anything produced by the Weinstein Company, other studios are showing up with an impressive slate of films for the 2013 awards season. Relativity Media, who haven’t had their fair share of award-worthy projects has announced their upcoming films for the rest of the year.
Last year, the company managed an Oscar nomination in Costume Design for the posthumous work of Eiko Ishioka for Mirror Mirror (2012). They also had the indie hit Haywire (2012) with Gina Carano which many, including our own Joseph Braverman, really loved. But for every good film, there’s a bad one in their midst. So far in 2013, the company handled the abysmal Movie 43, Lasse Hallstrom’s Safe Haven, and the comedy 21 & Over. The rest of the year looks rather promising for the studio. Not looking so much like an awards player, in August they’ll release the thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsowrth and Oscar-nominee Gary Oldman. Read more on Relativity Media Announces 2013 Releases!…
Categories: News Tags: 2013 releases, 2014 Oscar Predictions, Academy Awards, Amy Poehler, Casey Affleck, Christian Bale, Don Jon, forest whitaker, Free Birds, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, liam hemsworth, Malavita, Michelle Pfeiffer, news, Oscars, Out of the Furnace, Owen Wilson, paranoia, Relativity Media, Robert DeNiro, Scarlett Johansson, Scott Cooper, Studios, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson
 Do you all remember that split screen in 500 Days of Summer where we see the main character’s expectations vs. reality? Well my screening of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints was very much like what the main character went through. In my mind, Aint Them Bodies Saints was a thrilling yet poetic film that would put Malick to shame with a lot of meat for gifted actors to chew on. However, in reality, it was a plodding, dimly lit slog of a film that was more style than substance. Read more on SUNDANCE: Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (**½)…
Categories: Blog, Festivals, Film Reviews Tags: Ben Foster, Casey Affleck, Film, film reviews, Nate Parker, reviews, Rooney Mara, Sundance Film Festival, Terence Johnson
 What a difference getting a full night’s sleep can make! Joey and I have been able to get two nights of at least 7 hours a sleep, which is a miracle at Sundance. To celebrate our good fortune, we’ve decided to give you two videos in one post. *fanfare* We talk about the gifting suites we got to attend, beverages we imbibed (Don Julio’s tequila) and more of the films you want to hear about like Stoker, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Before Midnight and S-VHS. Check out the videos after jump!
Read more on Park City Dispatch – Episodes 4 & 5: Stoker, Swag, and Spirits…
Categories: Blog Tags: Before Midnight, Breathe In, Casey Affleck, Film, kink, Matthew Goode, Mia Wasikowska, Nate Parker, news, nicole kidman, Rooney Mara, S-VHS, Stoker, Sundance Film Festival
In the mid-2000′s Ben Affleck was the last person I would have thought would change the course of his career and become one of the finest new directors in American cinema. Success came very quickly to Affleck, winning an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay to Good Will Hunting (1997) with his best friend Matt Damon, a film in which each had a major role, though it was Damon who was nominated for the Oscar as Best Actor. In the outstanding book Dirty Little Pictures by the great Peter Biskind, the author makes clear which many behind the scenes of the Affleck-Damon relationship knew, Damon was an actor, a true artist, while Affleck was a movie star who cared about his payday. He followed who was making what and understood his own worth to a film, wanting nothing more than to be paid for such. When Harvey Weinstein pulled his infamous “what I did for you…” business with Affleck, the actor reminded the mogul that part of the success had been Affleck and his contribution, so while he was grateful to Weinstein, he was not going to keep doing work for Harvey for so little. By 2002, he was commanding fifteen million dollars a film, but for the most part they were terrible scripts, offering the actor nothing in return. While Matt Damon found challenging work in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and eventually The Bourne franchise, Affleck found his star waning. The failure and poor reviews for films such as Pearl Harbor (2001), Daredevil (2003), the woeful Gigli (2003) and Surviving Christmas (2004) had nearly ruined Affleck in the business, he was now something of a laughing-stock as an actor.
Read more on Argo (****)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Daredevil, ed harris, Films, Gone Baby Gone, Good Will Hunting, Harvey Weinstein, Hollywoodland, Jeremy Renner, Matt Damon, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Movie Release, Oscar, The Town
 Aside from New York Mets knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey (who’s written a book I expect will be made into a film before too long), the athlete I’ve always thought had a life story tailor made for the movies is Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. His story is amazing, and Deadline is reporting here that Casey Affleck wants to make his directorial debut a biopic of the player. After the jump you can see just why this is such a great project, but I’m really excited by what this can possibly turn into. Until we get Dickey’s movie, this is the sports project to be most excited about. See below for more details on the man and the movie he’s inspired…
Read more on Casey Affleck to direct a biopic of Josh Hamilton…
 Directed by: Chris Butler and Sam Fell
Written by: Chris Butler.
Cast (Voices of): Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Tucker Albrizzi, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elaine Stritch, Tempestt Bledsoe, Hannah Noyes.
Read more on Awards Profile: ParaNorman…
Categories: Award Profile Tags: Anna Kendrick, Awards Profile, Best Animated Feature, Casey Affleck, Chris Butler, Focus, John Goodman, Jon Brion, Kodi Smit-McPhee, LAIKA, Oscar hopefuls, ParaNorman, Sam Fell
Stiller and Murphy and Alda and Broderick, oh my!
I have to admit that as I settled in to watch Brett Ratner’s “Tower Heist”, I had tempered my expectations way down. Brett Ratner has been a scattershot filmmaker at best, with an off-putting ego to match. The last two holiday seasons, Ben Stiller has sleepwalked his way through a third “Fockers” film in December 2010, and winced noticeably through the wheezing ca$h cow of a sequel in 2009′s “Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian”. Eddie Murphy has not been on screen in more than two years (not counting his vocalizing of Donkey from the “Shrek” franchise), and his track record over the last several years, sans his 2006 Oscar-nominated turn in “Dreamgirls”, has been disposable and unremarkable. And there is just not much of a career anymore for Matthew Broderick, who has struggled to sustain relevancy, and stand apart for being anything more than Sarah Jessica Parker’s husband. “Tower Heist” presents with all the makings of a big budget catastrophe, but after a few minutes, you notice Ben Stiller has an extra zip in his step, the timing amongst the actors feels crisp and on point, and Ratner’s introductions to Alan Alda, Casey Affleck, and Michael Pena are well orchestrated and engaging.
Read more on Tower Heist (***)…
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