Oscar-nominated writer-director Oren Moverman returns behind the camera for Rampart, a fantastic second film that sees him to return to work with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster from his debut, The Messengers.

This time around, Harrelson is front and centre in the corrupt L.A. crime drama, and it’s a role that has been deservedly described as the performance of his career. I saw the film at the London Film Festival late last year (you can read my review of the film here), and it was by far one of the best corrupt cop dramas I’ve seen in years.

“Los Angeles, 1999. Officer Dave Brown is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts making less and less sense. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?”

To whet our appetites for the film, Millennium Entertainment have now made the first five minutes available to watch online through Yahoo Movies, and if you weren’t interested in seeing this movie already, I highly recommend you watch the clip below to get excited for its release at the end of the month.

James Ellroy, heralded as one of the best crime novelists in America, co-wrote the script with Moverman, and along with Harrelson and Foster, the cast includes terrific performances from Ice Cube, Robin Wright, Brie Larson, Ned Beatty, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Cynthia Nixon, and another collaboration with Steve Buscemi, who took a role in Moverman’s first film too.

Rampart will be released here in the UK on 24^th February, which will see it opening against Katherine Heigl’s One for the Money and Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds’ Safe House. If you’re heading to the cinema that weekend, I’d definitely recommend choosing Rampart as your film of choice. Harrelson deserves every bit of the recognition he’s been getting for his role, and Moverman shows that the Oscar-nominated The Messengers was clearly no fluke. I’m already excited to see what the writer-director brings us next. For now, here’s the great opening of Rampart, which will be with us in full in less than two weeks. Enjoy.

Here’s the first UK poster for Woody Harrelson’s new movie, Rampart which is due here 24th February. Studio Canal have sent over the poster for the movie which boasts an awesome cast which includes Woody Harrelson, Ned Beatty, Ben Foster, Anne Heche, Ice Cube, Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi with Oren Moverman at the helm as director. I’ll let the synopsis do the talking but if you missed the trailer that came out back in November, have a watch here.

From a screenplay by James Ellroy (“L.A. Confidential”) and director Oren Moverman (Oscar-nominated “The Messenger”), comes Rampart. Veteran police officer Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson), dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, is the last of the renegade cops in the LAPD. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as he struggles to take care of his family, and fight for his own survival. With an all star cast including Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Foster and Steve Buscemi, this high octane cop thriller has been labelled “a film to file alongside the great LA noir masterpieces of the 1970s – dazzling, stunning and unique”.

Click the poster and watch it GROW!

For Rampart, writer-director Oren Moverman has reteamed with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, the stars of his Oscar-nominated debut, The Messenger, and he’s made what I think is the best cop crime drama since L.A. Confidential. I got to see the film at its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival back in October, and I absolutely loved it; it deserved every one of the 5 stars I gave it in my review (which you can read here).

Since then, we’ve seen the release of the film’s terrific first poster, along with an immense first trailer that really whets the appetite – and makes me want to see it again so much – and ComingSoon.net have now got a great new extended clip to share with us from the film.

Co-written by James Ellroy, often heralded as one of the greatest crime novelists in America, Rampart is led by Harrelson in what is being described as the best performance of his career, supported by a cast that includes Foster, Ice Cube, Robin Wright, Ned Beatty, Brie Larson, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, and Cynthia Nixon.

“Los Angeles, 1999. Officer Dave Brown (two-time Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson) is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts making less and less sense. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?”

In this new clip, we get to see Harrelson at the head of his dysfunctional family, involved with two sisters, each of whom has mothered one of his two daughters, and we see him here as a terrible father, a terrible partner, a terrible human. It’s an incredible performance from him, and I am truly hoping that it will be recognised when the nominations are announced for the Academy Awards in January, and again when the winners are announced at the end of February.

Rampart has had its Oscar-qualifying run in the US and will be opening wide there on 27^th January, and will be coming to the UK very shortly after on 10^th February. I can’t tell you how excited I am to see it again.

Oscar-nominated writer-director Oren Moverman’s return to the director’s chair for his second film, Rampart, is absolutely brilliant. I was lucky enough to catch the film at the London Film Festival back in October and thought it was utterly flawless.

The film sees Moverman collaborating once more with the stars of his first film, The Messenger, Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, having co-written the script with none other than James Ellroy, heralded as one of America’s finest crime novelists, writer of the original L.A. Confidential book upon which the 1997 film is based.

Apple have now put out an immense first trailer for Rampart, and it gives a brilliant glimpse at Harrelson’s tour de force performance throughout.

“Los Angeles, 1999. Officer Dave Brown (two-time Academy Award(R) nominee Woody Harrelson) is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts making less and less sense. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?”

Along with Harrelson and Foster, the film also stars Ice Cube, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, Robin Wright, Anne Heche, Brie Larson, Ned Beatty, and Cynthia Nixon.

Having seen the film already (you can read our 5-star review of it here), I know just how good it is, and I can’t recommend it to you enough. The film’s been screened at a number of festivals already, and the response has been very similar to ours, with such respect for Harrelson’s performance especially, deservedly described as the best in his career.

Rampart will be getting an Oscar-qualifying run in the States before the end of the year, and after that it will then go on wide release at the end of January there. Unfortunately, the UK’s yet to have its release date scheduled, but I remain hopeful that it won’t be much longer after the US get to see it. I think the film stands a real chance of taking a number of nominations at the Oscars early next year, and with any luck, the UK will get to see it before the awards ceremony in February. I can’t wait to see it again; it really is absolutely brilliant. Without further ado, here’s the terrific first trailer. And you can head on over to Apple if you’d like to see it in stunning HD.

The brilliant first clips for Oren Moverman’s return to the director’s chair in Rampart surfaced back in September, giving us a great look at the upcoming film in which Moverman collaborates once more with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, following their Oscar-nominated work on 2009’s The Messenger.

We’ve now got a great first poster for the film to share with you, courtesy of IMP Awards, with the focus directly thrust upon Woody Harrelson, just as it is in the film.

“The last of the renegade cops, LAPD officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is caught on tape “doing the people’s dirty work” and finds himself at the center of a vicious scandal. The days of being above the law are over. Now a poster boy for police corruption, Dave learns he’s been targeted by cop killers looking for revenge. Nothing is what it seems as Dave descends into the L.A. underworld and exacts his own brand of justice.”

I got to see Rampart at the London Film Festival last month, and it was utterly awesome. (You can read my five-star review of the film here.) Moverman shows his adept capabilities as a director, moving on to tackle something new in his follow-up to The Messenger, in an incredibly impressive second feature film behind the camera.

Harrelson has a terrific supporting cast behind him, including the likes of Ben Foster, Ned Beatty, Ice Cube, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Cynthia Nixon, and Steve Buscemi, and they all enhance what is very much the focus on Harrelson’s Dave Brown in the film. His performance is remarkable, the best I’ve ever seen him give, and it thoroughly deserves the push that Millennium Entertainment are giving the film in the run-up to the Oscars. Moverman and co-writer James Ellroy (author of L.A. Confidential and heralded as one of America’s finest crime writers) came up with a brilliant script, and Moverman did an immense job with the cast and crew of bringing it alive.

Rampart is yet to secure a UK release date, but I’m really hoping that it will be out early next year, because I can’t wait to see it again. You can see from the poster that Harrelson’s dental work has been altered, which is visually ever evident throughout the film, strengthening the impression we get of him as a man who’s had his fair share of brawls. And the shot bathes him in sunlight, directly contrasting the corruption he is immersed in, wearing those iconic shades that don’t even give you a glimpse of his eyes.

When it does come out, I cannot recommend enough how much you should go see it. Without further ado, here’s the great first poster of the film to enjoy. As usual, click to enlarge.

Writer-director Oren Moverman’s last and first film, The Messenger, earned critical appraise at last year’s Academy Awards, where Moverman and co-writer Allesandro Camon were nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Woody Harrelson earned a well-deserved nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The Messenger may not have done particularly well at the box office, and it sadly didn’t get much of a UK release at all (only getting a limited release this summer, despite coming out in the States in 2009), but it was an immense directorial debut for Moverman that gained the attention that it deserved at the awards season.

This time around, Moverman has cast Harrelson front and centre in Rampart, which is sure to repeat The Messenger’s reception at the Oscars, and hopefully out-perform it at the box office too. With only his second film, Moverman shows that he is capable of so much as a director, creating an incredibly distinctive film in what has usually been something of a worn-out genre, making Rampart the best cop crime drama since L.A. Confidential. Which, of course, was based on the original novel by Rampart co-writer, James Ellroy, one of the best crime fiction writers in the States today.

A slight word of advanced warning/encouragement, depending on how you take it: if you’re looking for an action-heavy, sit-back-and-switch-off film, Rampart probably isn’t going to be what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a dark character portrayal of corruption and police brutality, you’re going to love this. I’m already very much looking forward to seeing what Moverman has in store for us next.

We open on the streets of Los Angeles, 1999. The film is situated in the wake of the real-life Rampart scandal, which saw the investigation of dozens of corrupt cops implicated in acts of unprovoked beatings and shootings, planting of evidence, and framing of suspects – all of which we find present in our leading man, Officer Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson). Throughout, he is painted in an entirely dark and corrupt light, right down to his physical appearance, which saw Harrelson’s dental work altered to give him a permanent look of a beaten upper lip.

Whilst out on patrol, his car is rammed into by another driver, and when that driver tries to flee the scene, Brown, in full uniform, chases him down, tackles him to the floor, and continues to beat him within an inch of his life. And as his bad luck has it, the whole beating is caught on camera, without the initial crash which provoked (though of course not excused) the beating.

His home life is painted in no better light, portraying him as a serial womaniser, an alcoholic, and a sex addict. He is married to one of two sisters who live next door to each other, but he has a daughter with each. And though all five of the family eat together, pretty much everything about them screams dysfunction, a point made all too clear when the youngest daughter asks, following a joke made by a classmate, whether or not she is the product of incest in an inbred family. Technically, as Brown tells her, she is not, but naturally that doesn’t make the family any more of a workable situation. Sat down to dinner one night, Brown asks his wife (Anne Heche) if they’ll be sleeping together that night, and when she tells him she’s busy, he moves on to ask her sister (Cynthia Nixon), the mother of his first child, if they can sleep together.

And yet somehow, in spite of Brown’s constant negative portrayal, having endless one-night stands in hotel rooms, evincing rough justice old school-style, and so much more, there is still something about his character that we are drawn to. And it’s hard to describe why, why there is a part of us that likes such a detestable character. It isn’t that we are seduced by him like his female conquests are, but perhaps more that we can sympathise with him. However misguided, he stands by his convictions, stands up for himself when everyone around him is looking to cast him as the scapegoat. And though corrupt, his old school renegade police practices are targeted towards the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles. In years gone by, he has earned himself the nickname ‘Date-Rape Dave’, not for reasons you might think, but for the street justice he handed down to a man accused of date rape thirteen years prior to the events in Rampart.

Following the Rampart scandal, however, Brown’s higher-ups see the opportunity to hang him out to dry, and attempt to force a resignation out of Brown so that they can be seen to be actively pursuing justice within their own force. But that resignation is one Brown is utterly unwilling to give, seeing in his own eyes to be in the right, having done nothing wrong.

Harrelson’s co-star in The Messenger, Ben Foster, has a smaller but nonetheless integral role in Rampart, and his performance as a homeless veteran is a powerful one. Foster’s transformation into “The General” is incredibly impressive, not just visually – he’s grown a beard, permanently sits all but static in his wheelchair, and has contact lenses to alter his eyes to constantly be widened and blackened – but also through his acting, with Foster proving once again how immensely talented he is. His role is probably not big enough to earn him a Best Supporting Nomination come awards season, but his performance is certainly worthy of it.

The film’s focus on Brown, who is present in every single scene, necessitates an amazing actor, and Harrelson is precisely that. In what is arguably the best performance of Harrelson’s career to date, the actor brings to the screen an utterly convincing portrayal of a man hounded by all those around him, who is very much in the wrong, and yet who is someone we nonetheless align ourselves with at times. A heroic anti-hero, if you will.

The film’s ending (here is your slight spoiler alert) is perhaps one that will divide the audience, as it lacks a definitive resolution that might leave some viewers unsatisfied with its ending. For me, however, the lack of such a conclusion is in itself the perfect conclusion to the film. After an intoxicating scene in an underground club in L.A., which Moverman brilliantly shot with an entirely different feel to the rest of the film, working through the shifting mindset of Brown’s trajectory, Brown confronts the DA investigator (Ice Cube) heading up the case against him, and (without spoiling anything) we see a sense of vulnerability, even desperation, that is non-existent in his character throughout the film leading up to this point.

Millennium Entertainment picked up the US rights to the film after its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, and they have announced plans that will put the film securely in the Oscar race for next year’s awards season. Having been lucky enough to see Rampart at the London Film Festival – and I sincerely hope that it will get a UK release much sooner and wider than The Messenger did – I truly believe that Harrelson’s performance is worthy of Oscar recognition. It was relentless, powerful, and immense, and I can’t think of anyone else that could have pulled off the part of Dave Brown anywhere near as well as Harrelson does. Moverman has chosen well to surround himself with the same leading men from The Messenger, and it has absolutely paid off. There’s been nothing of this calibre in years, and I can’t wait for the UK to get it on wide release so I can go and see it again on the big screen. It is nothing short of epic.

***** (5/5)

Back in May, we got the terrific first look at Woody Harrelson in his next upcoming film, Rampart, along with the official full synopsis, and right from the get-go it looked and sounded brilliant.

Earlier this month, we then got the first three clips from the film, just after it had its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where it was very much well received.

Now comes the fantastic news that Millennium Entertainment have acquired the US rights to the film for $2m., Deadline report, and they have their eye on taking a shot at the Oscars early next year. They are currently planning on releasing the film in twenty cities across America, and since the Academy’s rules for eligibility state that the film must have at least a week-long run, specifically in Los Angeles County, within the calendar year (Rule 2.2 c., d., and f.), we can be pretty sure that at the very least, LA will be lucky enough to see Rampart before the end of the year.

“The last of the renegade cops, LAPD officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is caught on tape “doing the people’s dirty work” and finds himself at the center of a vicious scandal. The days of being above the law are over. Now a poster boy for police corruption, Dave learns he’s been targeted by cop killers looking for revenge. Nothing is what it seems as Dave descends into the L.A. underworld and exacts his own brand of justice.”

Millennium are planning on campaigning for Harrelson on the Best Actor front for the Academy Awards, and for writer-director Oren Moverman for both Best Picture and Best Screenplay. Since famed American crime author James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) co-wrote the script with Moverman, this would be the writer’s first nomination if he and Moverman do get a nod for Best Screenplay.

Neither Harrelson nor Moverman are rookies when it comes to the awards. Both received tremendous praise for their work together on 2009’s The Messenger, which earned Harrelson a Best Supporting Actor nomination and Moverman a Best Screenplay nomination with his co-writer, Allesandro Camon.

Having not yet seen Rampart, I of course can’t say for sure how Oscar-worthy the film is. But everything about it suggests it deserves a shot at the awards. With an Oscar-nominated writer-director with a twice-nominated leading man, and a terrific support cast that includes Ben Foster, Steve Buscemi, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Brie Larson, Ice Cube, and Robin Wright, there’s really no way that this film won’t be incredible. There’s no word yet on when the release date will be, either here or in the States, but Deadline do note that the majority of the film’s international rights have been sold already, so let’s all keep our fingers tightly crossed that the UK is included, and that Rampart will get a release here before the end of the year too. I cannot wait.

This is a film that I truly cannot wait for.

Directed and co-written by Oren Moverman (The Messenger), and co-written by the celebrated US crime novelist James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential), the film has just had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Moverman first started making a name for himself back in 2007 as co-writer on I’m Not There., the Bob Dylan biopic starring the likes of Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, and Heath Ledger. He then earned himself an Oscar nomination with his 2009 directorial debut, The Messenger, starring Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, and Jena Malone.

For Rampart, he’s working together with Harrelson and Foster again, after proving so successful first time around, for his highly anticipated follow-up to The Messenger, and I can’t wait to see his next film. Based on the real-life Rampart scandal of the late 1990s, which saw the investigation of the corruption within the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang section of the LAPD,

“Its central protagonist is Officer Dave Brown (Harrelson), a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop who operates by his own rules within the Los Angeles Police Department. A bit of an eccentric character to begin with — he has fathered children with two sisters (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon), each of whom he intermittently lives with — he also marches to his own beat and plays by his own rules on the job… that is, until he is caught on tape beating a suspect and is subsequently scapegoated by his own Rampart division when it falls under a corruption investigation. Haunted by his past actions and the implications that they have had on both others and himself, he begins to mentally unravel.”

Harrelson and Foster aren’t the only two talented stars Moverman has enlisted for this project, with Rampart also starring Steve Buscemi, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Anne Heche, Ice Cube, Brie Larson, and Cynthia Nixon, and by all accounts, that’s a cast capable of a lot.

These first three clips from the film, combined into one video, come courtesy of THR via The Playlist, and they are a brilliant first look at the film that show how amazing we can expect it to be. The pictures we’ve seen from it have been so great, and this video just compounds that.

If you’re going to the BFI London Film Festival next month, then you can count me sincerely jealous, because Rampart is one of the many great films that have been announced as getting their UK premiere there. The film is still seeking distribution both here and in the States, so no word yet on an expected release date, but I really hope that it won’t be too long a wait now. I can only assume how brilliantly it’s done at Toronto, being one of the most anticipated films playing the festival, and how terrifically it should do at the London Film Festival next month, so hopefully it will get snapped up very soon.

To mark the release of Cedar Rapids on DVD and Blu-ray 19th September, 20th Century Fox have given us three copies to give away on DVD.

Worldly innocent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is an insurance salesman, in a tiny firm, situated in the even tinier Wisconsin town of Brown Valley which he has never left his entire life.  So cocooned Tim is with his surroundings, the only womanly interest in his life is Macy Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver) who conveniently happens to be his 7^th grade teacher.

When his firm’s top salesman suddenly dies on the eve of the annual insurance convention, Tim is packed off to represent his company at the Cedar Rapid event.  Having never been on a plane or hired a car before, the unbelievably naive Tim arrives like a fish-out-of-water at the convention ready to put his best foot forward.

To be in with a chance of winning the movie, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed the movie Cedar Rapids?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 26th September at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Here’s another film I’d never heard of until Toronto Film Festival released it’s lineup. It’s for a movie called Rampart and is directed by Oren Moverman with an awesome cast that includes Woody Harrelson, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Ned Beatty, Ben Foster, Ice Cube and Anne Heche.

Woody Harrelson gives a ferocious performance as a dirty cop, balancing a home life with two ex-wives as he becomes embroiled in the Los Angeles Police Department’s infamous Rampart corruption scandal.

These pics look great and judging by the cast list above, they only just scratch the surface. Lovin Ben Foster’s epic beard!

Source: TIFF

The Playlist has got three great new images and the first full synopsis from the upcoming L.A. cop drama, Rampart, starring Woody Harrelson in the lead role.

The film is to be directed by Oren Moverman (The Messenger), and has been scripted by Moverman and the brilliant novelist, essayist, and screenplay writer James Ellroy (Street Kings, L.A. Confidential).

Rampart is based on the real-life Rampart scandal of the late 1990s, which saw the investigation of the corruption within the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang section of the LAPD, with over 70 cops implicated and convicted, making it one of the most widespread and notorious instances of police corruption in U.S. history. And, if that is anything to go by, the film is going to be utterly immense.

Supporting Harrelson in the lead will be Ice Cube (Friday), the main investigator that’s gunning for Harrelson’s character, Dave Brown. The film will also star one of my favourite actors, Ben Foster (Alpha Dog), Sigourney Weaver (Avatar), Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs), Brie Larson (Scott Pilgrim), Robin Wright (Forrest Gump), Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City), Anne Heche (Donnie Brasco), and Ned Beatty (Toy Story 3). Looking at that list, we’re in for a real treat.

Many of Ellroy’s novels have been turned into films, including the truly incredible L.A. Confidential and The Black Dahlia. In his novels, and now in his films, Ellroy’s vision of L.A. is like almost no other writers, and I personally can’t wait to see Moverman and Ellroy’s take on the Rampart scandal. And judging from the cast and the first full synopsis, it’s going to be exceptional:

“The last of the renegade cops, LAPD officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is caught on tape “doing the people’s dirty work” and finds himself at the center of a vicious scandal. The days of being above the law are over. Now a poster boy for police corruption, Dave learns he’s been targeted by cop killers looking for revenge. Nothing is what it seems as Dave descends into the L.A. underworld and exacts his own brand of justice.”

L.A. has been the subject and location of an endless number of novels, films, songs, and every other art form imaginable. This kind of vision of its underworld is something that has been tackled by many artists, and there are those that do it exceptionally, but also those that don’t. Without a doubt, Ellroy is one of those that do, and this project has got me so excited for it that I’m already mentally reserving space in my all-time favourite movies list for it.

According to The Playlist, Harrelson’s performance,

“has already been hyped as “stone cold,” “insane” and one that will likely be recognized come award season.”

That’s just the kind of thing that’s getting me excited. Foster, who’s also acting as a producer on Rampart, has said that the film likely won’t be released until next year. Filming has finished and the project is now in post-production, so I think everyone’s hoping that it might just make its way into a 2011 release. Foster, Harrelson, and Moverman all worked together on The Messenger, which saw Academy Award nominations for Harrelson in the Best Supporting role and for Moverman and Alessandro Camon for Best Original Screenplay. I sincerely believe that these people working together again will produce a work of sheer immensity.

Without further ado, I now present to you, the three pictures. As usual, click to enlarge:

Cedar Rapids is a cracking little comedy from director Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl, Youth and Revolt) and it stars two of my favorite comedy actors around at the moment in Ed Helms and John C. Reilly.

The film is very sweet and charming at times, a trait which is equaled by its crudeness and funny visual gags. It all comes together to form a well rounded but slightly flawed comedy which benefits from a very solid all round cast performance.

The story is of Tim Lippe (Helms), a naive native of a small town called Brown Valley. He’s never ventured past its borders, knows little of the world and is pre-engaged to his 7th grade teacher Millie Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver). Tim works for the successful Brown Star Insurance company, winner of the coveted Two Diamond award three years running thanks to the company’s golden boy Roger Lemke.

However, when Roger is found dead after “accidentally” choking himself with his belt, Tim is sent to Cedar Rapids to represent the company at an annual insurance convention and to bring home the Two Diamond award for the fourth time.

The film is then a journey of discovery for Tim as he comes under the guidance of three convention veterans: foul mouthed party animal Dean Ziegler (Reilly), seductive Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche) and straight talking nice guy Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr). As the film progresses Tim starts to bond with his new friends, discovers the pros and cons of alcohol, drugs and prostitutes and learns the ‘way of the convention’.

There are laughs a-plenty mixed up in the inevitable life lessons learned where Tim grows as a human being as well as a professional in the insurance business, but it all comes to a head when he is forced to face the reality of what he has to do – to bring home the Two Diamond Award for Brown Star.

There are some brilliant moments in Cedar Rapids. If you want some hilarious visual comedy – you got it, if you want some crude jokes and shock humor there’s some of that too, but the joy of the film is watching Tim truly understand not only the ‘way of the convention’ but also the importance of growing as a person. There are a lot of laughs, and a lot of heart too. Cedar Rapids worked very well for me and although it will inevitably take a back seat to the likes of Hangover 2 in terms of popularity and box office takings, it will offer more charm and charisma than most comedy films released this year.

I’m a huge fan of Ed Helms, his turn in The Hangover is legendary and his hilarious performances in the outstanding ‘The Office’ (the American version) are always incredibly memorable and one of the main reasons I keep watching it. In Cedar Rapids, Helms shows again what brilliant comic timing and delivery he has to make a character worth rooting for. The only issue I had with his performance is that at times Tim Lippe came across as being a mentally challenged and that he was a man with a child’s brain instead of someone lacking in life experience which is more a script issue than a performance one.

John C Reilly seemed to have the most fun in the film delivering some very (enjoyable) crude jokes and sight gags that worked for a majority of the film but wore thin as time went on. His character of Dean Zeigler lives for the Convention and has no ambition of gaining the Two Diamond award and that gave Reilly some freedom to just let loose and be the devil on Tim’s shoulder throughout  – delivering a  vast amount of the laughs in the film.

Given that Ed Helms and John C Reilly are the main focus of the film it gives the brilliant Isiah Whitlock Jr a chance to steal a few scenes from them. He hilariously references “HBO’s The Wire” (of which he starred in) and mimics the iconic Omar from the show to get his friends out of a fix. His gentle and harmless demeanor was the perfect counterbalance to John C Reilly’s outrageous behavior and allowed the film to change pace quickly depending on who Tim was hanging out with. The final member of the convention gang is Joan Ostrowski-Fox played by Anne Heche. Her character was surprisingly complex as she uses the conventions to escape her reality of having a family and is the source of attention for the guys, especially for Pre-engaged Tim.

Overall Miguel Arteta has delivered a fine comedy movie, It shows a great deal of heart and offers plenty of laughs from some very enjoyable characters. It’s better than Youth and Revolt and fans of Helms and Reilly will be rewarded greatly.

Cedar Rapids is out on 29th April and with the hideous Royal Wedding coming up on the same day and like me you need somewhere to escape it, then I encourage you to go spend 90 minutes of the day watching Cedar Rapids.

***½~ (3.5/5)

Here’s something nice for the weekend, it’s five brand new clips from new comedy, Cedar Rapids. The movie is directed by Miguel Arteta and stars Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Synopsis: To call insurance agent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), “naïve” is a gross understatement. He’s never left his small hometown. He’s never stayed at a hotel. And he’s never experienced anything like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sent to represent his company at the annual insurance convention, Tim is soon distracted by three convention veterans (John C. Reilly, Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) who will show him the ropes and push his boundaries. For a guy who plays everything by the book, this convention will be anything but conventional.

Cedar Rapids hits UK cinemas 29th April.

1. Cedar Rapids – Clip – Rominal

2. Cedar Rapids – Clip – Check Out These Digs

3. Cedar Rapids – Clip – Scavenger Hunt

4. Cedar Rapids – Clip – We Won

5. Cedar Rapids – Clip – Who Wants To Get Wasted

Jamie put up the trailer for new Fox Searchlight comedy, Cedar Rapids at the end of last year and now her ewe have some new images for the movie which has a cast which includes The Hangover star, Ed Helms alongside John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Root, Alia Shawkat, Mike O’Malley, Rob Corddry and Seth Morris with Miguel Arteta taking the reigns as director.

Synopsis: Tim Lippe (Helms) was the guy people always thought would go places but then he just … didn’t. He’s been living in über-sleepy Brown Valley, Wisconsin his whole life, still “pre-engaged” to his 7th grade teacher Millie Vanderhei (Weaver), while selling insurance to protect other people’s dreams. But now, Tim’s stalled life is about to get a kick-start because, for the first time in his 34 years, he’s headed to a “major” metropolis – Cedar Rapids, Iowa – where he must try to save his company at a do-or-die insurance convention that, for him, will be entirely nonconventional. From the minute he checks into his hotel with his ancient American Tourister and cummerbund money-belt, it’s clear Tim has no idea how the modern world really works. He is soon smitten with seductive Nebraskan insurance agent Joan (Heche) and awed by his experienced roommates, the straight-shooting Wilkes (Whitlock Jr.) and the suspicious Zeigler (Reilly). Disheartened when he comes face-to-face with corporate corruption, Tim is ultimately lured beyond the lobby into an urban jungle he’s only ever seen on DVD and when it seems his life – and chances to succeed – have gone completely topsy-turvy, he finds his own unjaded way to turn it all around.

Cedar Rapids is due for release in the UK later this year (we think).

Source: Filmofilia

Fox Searchlight Pictures, via Apple, have released the first trailer and poster for comedy film Cedar Rapids.

Directed by Miguel Arteta (Youth in Revolt), Cedar Rapids stars Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Kurtwood Smith, Stephen Root, Alia Shawkat and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

To call insurance agent Tim Lippe (Helms), “naive” is a gross understatement. He’s never left his small hometown. He’s never stayed at a hotel. And he’s never experienced anything like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sent to represent his company at the annual insurance convention, Tim is soon distracted by three convention veterans (Reilly, Heche and Whitlock Jr.) who will show him the ropes and push his boundaries. For a guy who plays everything by the book, this convention will be anything but conventional.

Cedar Rapids is scheduled to premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January before opening in US cinemas on February 11.

Check out the trailer and poster below:

What is it about total carnage that sends people to the theater in droves?  I’m totally guilty of this as well, but I’m wondering what exactly it is about disaster movies that make them so awesome (and by “awesome” I mean, totally cheesy, silly fun).

Disaster movies while not high quality, will normally have really good visual effects.  At least I hope they do, because let’s face it, the visuals are normally the one great thing they have going for them.  I don’t mean to harp on all disaster movies, but if I’m being honest, a lot of them are mainly eye candy.

I use the term “Disaster Movie” pretty loosely.  I may mention a movie that isn’t so much a “disaster”, but does have a fair amount of destruction to the world. There are different genres if you will.  The outside influence disasters (i.e. Aliens, asteroids, etc.), the natural disasters (tornadoes, effects of global warming, volcanoes etc.), and we can’t forget the Mayan prophecy disasters.

Take Independence Day for example.  This falls under the “Outside Influence” category.  Mainly it was about the human race trying to survive an invasion of aliens who want to harvest our planet for it’s natural resources.  Along the way they blow up good portions of Mother Earth.  They blew up the White House.  THE WHITE HOUSE!  This is neither a visual I have; nor think is actually going to happen.  You don’t blow up the White House.  You just don’t.  But seeing it in a movie, that’s different.  The aliens also blew up Manhattan. And Los Angeles.  Of course the human race prevails but now there is a worldwide mess to clean up.  On the plus side, the clean up will create jobs, and that’s always a good thing.

Armageddon and Deep Impact handled the meteor/asteroid category.  I’ve seen Armageddon loads of time but have only seen Deep Impact once.  While Armageddon left me amped and excited and spun up, Deep Impact left me morose.  I’m sure the ending had something to do with that.  In Armageddon, we saw the destruction of Paris and the South Pacific.  The shot of Paris after the asteroid hit, was a bit of bummer.  Nothing like having a HUGE crater where Paris used to be.  From what I remember, the real destruction in Deep Impact came at the very end with the huge wave.  I don’t remember seeing much damage through out the rest of the film.  If I’m missing something, let me know.

The “natural disasters” category is pretty much shored up with Twister, Volcano and The Day After Tomorrow.

While there aren’t really any major landmarks in Twister, the scene that takes place at the drive-in alone makes it worthy.  What’s great about Twister (yes, believe it or not, there is something great about it) is if you watch it at home with a good surround sound system, you can hear the dialogue from the drive in movie.  If you remember the film playing at the drive in is The Shining.  Right before the twister hits, it’s at the part where Danny encounters the twins.  You can hear the twins dialogue.  Creepy.  The other great thing is that the tornadoes were so….menacing.  It seemed they were gunning for the chasers. I like it when my natural disasters have personality.

With Volcano, the coast is toast.  Well that’s what they promised anyway.  Really, it’s just parts of L.A. that get fried.  Volcano is by and large one of the most ridiculous disaster movies out there.  The dialogue is bad, the acting isn’t great, but for some reason, I feel the need to watch a least a little bit of it when it’s on.  At least to hear Anne Heche scream “LAVA BOMBS!”. Is there a line of dialogue that is more saturated with cheese than that?  I think not.

And then there is The Day After Tomorrow.  This is not to be confused with The Day After (the nuclear war/fallout movie that scared the crap out of every kid back in 1983 when it aired on TV).  The Day After Tomorrow just shows destruction everywhere.  The scene that got me was when the wave came crashing over the Statue of Liberty.  Now, I’ve never seen Lady Liberty in person, but I’ve heard she’s pretty tall, and the thought of a wave that big, creeps me out.  Not to mention absolutely annihilating the iconic Capitol Records building in L.A. Poor L.A.  Seems disaster movies have it out for sunny Southern California.  I actually really enjoyed TDAT.  What I didn’t like is that it left me feeling cold.  Literally, not figuratively.  I need to take a jacket when I see “icy” movies. BRRRR!

As far as the Mayan prophecy disaster movie, we all know it’s 2012.  I haven’t seen this one yet unfortunately.  I will have to wait for Blu-Ray since it’s already come and gone from the theaters here.  But just what I saw in the previews is enough to make me want to see it.  From what I could tell, this movie takes out Las Vegas, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, and the White House.  Again with the White House.  This time it gets taken out by a wave and an air craft carrier….the USS John F. Kennedy no less.  I guess if you’re going to obliterate the same landmark in different films you have to do it different ways.  Can’t let destruction get stale and boring.

I realize that 3 of the films here are all done by Roland Emmerich.  Man sure does like his destruction.  But he does it with flare, and that’s what’s important.  If you’re going to decimate, do it with style.

Discuss: what is your favorite destruction scene?  Is there something you’d like to see that hasn’t been done yet?  Let us know!

2009 was a fantastic year for film and so i’m expecting an even better year in 2010. Unfortunately the UK film release schedule has been unkind to us with the 1st January releases and Spread is a horrible way to bring in the new decade, fortunately Daybreakers, It’s Complicated and the incredible The Road are out the following week.

Spread is one of those films where you think ‘what was the point of that’ after sitting through about 90 minutes of Ashton Kutcher trying to reach the American Gigolo acting heights of Richard Gere and failing miserably. But what Kutcher did show is that he has found a role as arrogant and obnoxious as himself so it kind of worked for him but did nothing for his acting reputation.

Filmed in the gorgeous setting of LA and focusing on the gorgeous people who live there we follow the ugly personality of Nikki as he supports himself by sleeping with desperate, lonely, rich old women and using their lifestyle to support his, that is until he meets the female version of himself who hunts rich men for the same gain and Nikki is torn between love or lifestyle.

Nikki (Kutcher) is a homeless, jobless drifter preying on the rich bikes of LA  and living the high life on their money until they have enough of his despicable crap and he moves on to the next. He can maintain this as he has the looks and the moves to get anyone he wants.

Anne Heche plays Samantha, a rich lawyer with a place high in the hills of rich LA who becomes Nikki’s latest conquest and this time he has struck gold, using his rules and a science he has devised to get what he wants from her, puppy dog smile whilst sleeping, cooking dinner for her even though his busy phone is ringing from other women showing she’s the one for him and other nauseating efforts that don’t show that he’s a stud but show that Samantha is a desperate stupid lonely woman who’s eager to fall in love with the wrong guy. I mean come on would you leave your credit card for someone who you just met and slept with on the first night so they could buy themselves breakfast while you go to work for the whole day, No that’s stupid.

Nikki meets Heather (Margarita Levieva) who does what he does for a living and the two hit it off with them helping each other get their loaded targets but as things progress they fall in love forgetting their need for lifestyle and money and enter the world of a normal relationship, but only briefly as Heather eventually goes to New York to get married to a very rich picking of a man and Nikki, being left in the lurch with nothing, follows suit quickly making amends with everyone he has upset throughout the film thus allowing him to get money to fly to New York, confess his love and propose to Heather.

By this time I just didn’t care what happened to these two mentally vacant idiots and was happy to see them heart broken and emotionally destroyed in the build up to Heathers rejection of Nikki’s proposal in New York (gee, I hope i didn’t ruin the ending) opting to have the rich life style she always wanted instead, and I’m really suppose to feel sorry for Nikki?

The final third of the film did descend into an accidental comedy that was rushed and a mess with Heather’s previously unseen flat mate appearing from nowhere to play a key role to Nikki’s decision to go to New York and propose. That mixed with the random sex scenes throughout the film, the likes a soft core porn film would happily show, with Kutcher and Heche displaying all kinds of frolic embarrassments baring all and showing off there bodies, for their own egos and self promotion presumably, that added little to the film or the likability of both characters.

Anne Heche was probably the standout in terms of performance with a clearly paranoid and insecure ageing woman trying to hold on to her youth and to Nikki, with a random operation to tighten her vagina one of the ways, but when she instantly forgives Nikki for his extra curricular sex activities with a young blonde in her own house then I really gave up all hope that there was a character in the film who was likeable.

Overall a waste of time and effort and another vehicle for Kutcher to try to prove (to himself mainly) that he can act and show that he is more than the host of Punk’d and Demi Moore’s boyfriend but failing predictably.

Boring, predictable and utterly meaningless.

Here’s the new poster (click to enlarge) and trailer for Ashton Kutcher’s latest movie, Spread. I’ve embedded the trailer below after the sysnopsis. Spread also stars Margarita Levieva, Anne Heche and is directed by David Mackenzie.

Synopsis: Set in modern day Los Angeles, Spread is a hard biting story about a high-end lethario, Nikki (Ashton Kutcher), who has slept his way into a life of privilege. He shares his secrets with us as he hosts parties and beds scores of women, all while living it up at the Hollywood Hills home of a middle-aged female attorney, Samantha (Anne Heche). Everything is going swimmingly until Nikki meets a gorgeous waitress named Heather (Margarita Levieva), who, unbeknownst to him, is playing the same game that he is. As the truth of their life unravels, they find themselves sexually charged by a game of one-upsmanship until the truth of their lives forces them to choose between love and money. Directed by David Mackenzie (HALLAM FOE, YOUNG ADAM), SPREAD is inspired by classics like SHAMPOO, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S and AMERICAN GIGOLO and asks what karmic price for the Hollywood lifestyle, and whether it is a business doing pleasure.