Last week, I got to chat with writer of The The Ides of March, Beau Willimon and one of the cast members, Evan Rachel Wood about playing the role of Molly Stearns in the movie which is released tomorrow, Friday 28th October. I’ve broken the two interviews and if you missed my interview with Beau, you can recap by clicking here to view or the video will play in the player below automatically.

George Clooney directs, co-wrote and stars in the movie alongside a stellar cast which includes Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Marisa Tomei. If you missed our review, you can have a read here.

In the interview with Evan, I ask her how she got involved in the movie, whether or not she know anything about US politics before taking the role and what it was like being directed by Mr. Clooney.

Last week, I got to chat with writer of The The Ides of March, Beau Willimon and one of the cast members, Evan Rachel Wood about playing the role of Molly Stearns in the movie which is released this Friday 28th October. I’ve broken the two interviews into two posts and today you’ll get to hear from screenwriter and original play-write of Farragut North on which the movie which is directed and starring George Clooney is based.

Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Marisa Tomei round off the fantastic cast in this fantastic movie. If you missed our review, you can have a read here. In the interview with Beau, I got to speak with him about how George Clooney found out about the movie, what it was like to get the call that it was actually being made, what it was like writing and working with Clooney and the cast in which ended up playing the roles he’d written.

Last night, London saw the UK Premiere at the London Film Festival for the brand new Geroge Clooney movie, The Ides of March. Clooney not only stars in the movie but co-wrote the screenplay along with Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon who I got to sit down with and interview earlier today.

The film sees a stellar cast alongside Clooney including Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, (who I also spoke to at today’s junket) Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright and Max Minghella.

It’s out in the UK 28th October and you can read our review here.

These interviews were carried out by the fabulous people at Upbeat so scroll down and have a watch.

Robert Redford’s Lincoln assassination drama The Conspirator is out on DVD and Blu-ray on the 24th of October and we’ve been given a clip from the film to share with you.

Redford has assembled an excellent cast for the film, which had a decent, if a little short lived, theatrical release earlier in the year and the extras on the home entertainment formats include a commentary from the director as well as some historical accompaniaments to give you a little of the back story to the film.

James McAvoy​ and Robin Wright lead the cast, telling a story of the fallout of the assassinatin of Abraham Lincoln. Justin Long​, Evan Rachel Wood , Tom Wilkinson , Alexis Bledel , Johnny Simmons, Toby Kebbell , Kevin Kline and Danny Huston​ are in support.

Here’s a synopsis to further advise,

In the wake of Abraham Lincoln ’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice-President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Wright), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt: her own son, John (Simmons).

Here’s the clip, check back tomorrow for our review of the film.

To mark the release of The Conspirator on DVD and Blu-ray 24th October, Universal Studios have given us five copies of the movie to give away on DVD. The ovie stars James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, Justin Long, Danny Huston, Evan Rachel Wood and is directed by Robert Redford.

Esteemed British actor and Golden Globe® nominee* James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class) leads a stellar cast including Kevin Kline (Wild Wild West) Robin Wright (Unbreakable) and Tom Wilkinson (Shakespeare in Love)in Robert Redford’s compelling drama. Based on the true story and dramatic real life trial of those accused of the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln, audiences will be gripped by this fascinating and tragic period in American history.

Stunning cinematography and a haunting score are amplified by state-of-the-art Blu-ray^™ and DVD technology which evoke the steely atmosphere of the American courtroom in 1865 perfectly.

McAvoy stars as Fred Aiken, an eager, newly qualified Yankee lawyer in this dramatic film, set within the ominous backdrop of post Civil War Washington. Aiken is convinced by his mentor Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to act as defense lawyer for Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the only female accused of being involved in Lincoln’s assassination, and the focus of a tense struggle between justice and duty.

The Conspirator features incredible bonus content which will transport you back to 1865 America, including an audio commentary from Robert Redford himself, a behind-the-scenes making-of feature and a series of specially created ‘Witness History’ featurettes, which give an in-depth insight into this fascinating story – from both in front of and behind the cameras. The Blu-ray^™ also features an absorbing 66 minute featurette on the plot to kill President Abraham Lincoln.

Capturing the tone and mood of the era wonderfully, The Conspirator will provoke you to consider the fragility of human rights in desperate circumstances.

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

Who directed the movie, The Conspirator?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 24th October 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!

Film ©2010 Universal Studios.  All Rights Reserved.

Based on the 2008 play Farragut North, The Ides of March is a political thriller that explores the back-room dealings, manipulations and power plays of a Democratic Primary campaign in Ohio viewed through the eyes of an idealistic press spokesman. Along the way he finds his life complicated first by an illicit meeting with a rival, and subsequently by the discovery of a relationship that threatens to derail the entire campaign, before ultimately being faced with the decision of whether to compromise his own morals in an effort to ensure that his candidate is selected. The film marks George Clooney’s fifth as a director and the third for which he is credited as a writer, in this instance alongside his frequent collaborator Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, who wrote the play from which the movie is adapted.

Clooney has assembled a stellar cast for this film. Fresh from more mainstream fair such as Drive and Crazy, Stupid, Love, Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Meyers, the press secretary whose desire to bring around a political change he truly believes is for the better ultimately forces him to go to extreme lengths. Gosling turns in a wonderful performance here, bringing a likable quality to his character in the early parts of the film that is slowly, almost imperceptibly eroded as Meyers is drawn further and further into the shady machinations of modern politics, to the point that he is left almost unrecognisable by the story’s end.

In addition to directing and co-writing the film, Clooney casts himself as the charming governor Mike Morris who we discover isn’t quite as a clean cut as we’re initially led to believe. The character doesn’t feature in the play and was instead created specifically for the movie – a worthy addition to the story, and one which Clooney is perfectly suited for; with that famous smile and glint in his eyes that has melted many a heart the actor makes a convincing politician, and he handles the darker aspects of Morris’ character with similar aplomb. His interactions with Gosling’s character in particular are fascinating to watch, as they first work closely together to prepare for the primaries, and later as the relationship between the two begins to disintegrate.

For me, however, the finest performance in the film comes from Philip Seymour Hoffman who plays campaign manager Paul Zara, an experienced and loyal hand on the campaign trail. Hoffman’s character contrasts wonderfully with the role Gosling plays as Meyers throughout the film, initially coming across as a rather brusque figure before the audience is forced to view him in a more sympathetic light. The actor dominates every scene in which he appears, and leaves an indelible mark throughout.

Elsewhere, there are excellent performances from both Paul Giamatti as a rival campaign manager and Evan Rachel Ward as an enthusiastic young intern whose actions echo the Lewinsky scandal that rocked the White House in the mid-nineties. Ward brings an assertive quality to the character yet also imbues her with a certain charm that makes you genuinely feel for her as events begin to unravel. Also worthy of considerable praise is Marisa Tomei as Ida Horowicz, a New York Times journalist assigned to cover the primaries. Tomei is a wonderful actress who shines in every scene in which she appears; sadly, however, I felt her role in the film was all too brief and would have liked to have seen more of both her character and the relationship the press have with politicians and their staff.

For a film concerned with behind the scenes political power plays, I was pleasantly surprised to find moments of genuine humour scattered throughout The Ides of March, and its relatively short run time ensures that the film tells its story without ever outstaying its welcome. Clooney has succeeded in crafting a movie about politics that has appeal beyond only those with a keen interest in the subject. Rather than providing an in-depth exploration of the U.S. political circus, the film instead asks us to question how far we might go to see our hopes and dreams brought to fruition, and at what cost. It’s a compelling story performed by a cast of exceptional actors.

****~ (4/5)

We got a brilliant first clip and a terrific new poster for George Clooney’s upcoming The Ides of March late last month, following on from the awesome UK quad poster that was released a week earlier.

Three more fantastic new clips from the film have been released, courtesy of Collider, and they give another great look at the film and what we can expect from it ahead of its 28th October release here.

“During the frantic last days before a heavily contested Ohio presidential primary, an up-and-coming campaign press secretary (Ryan Gosling) finds himself involved in a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate’s shot at the presidency.”

Directed by Clooney, and co-written by Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon based on Willimon’s play, Farragut North, The Ides of March also stars Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti, and Evan Rachel Wood, all of whom can be seen in the clips below. The video beneath actually has four clips, but the second of the four is in fact the clip we saw at the end of last month, which means three of them are brand new, and all are excellent viewing material.

The film got its world premiere a few weeks ago at the Venice Film Festival, where it was very well received and won the Brian Prize, before moving on to the Toronto International Film Festival on 9th September, and the Athens Film Festival where it is playing today.

Though it’s still early days yet, the film is very much anticipated to get a number of nominations at next year’s Academy Awards, and everything we’ve seen from the film so far would suggest that those predictions will be right. The nominations for the 84th Academy Awards are to be announced on 24th January next year, so we’ll have to wait and see until then to find out, but I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed, because I have every expectation this is going to be awesome.

America is lucky enough to be getting this on 7th October, but we here in the UK will have to wait a little longer until 28th October to see it. Without further ado, here are the great new clips from the film. Enjoy.

The Ides of March, George Clooney’s fourth time out directing, has great predictions about going to the Oscars early next year. We’ve been seeing some really nice images from the film, a terrific UK quad poster, and a brilliant first trailer for the film at the end of last month.

Now, IMP Awards have got another fantastic poster for the film, and Yahoo have put up an excellent first clip to show us more beyond the trailer.

The film has an absolutely stellar cast led by Clooney and Ryan Gosling, and also includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giomatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, and Evan Rachel Wood.

“Plot: George Clooney is back in the director’s chair for this edgy political drama set in the days leading up to a fictional presidential primary. Clooney also stars as a Democratic candidate who schools his idealistic campaign press secretary (Ryan Gosling) in the dubious machinations of modern politics.”

Clooney is no stranger to the Academy Awards, haven won Best Supporting Actor for Syriana back in 2006, as well as getting nominations for Michael Clayton in 2008 and Up in the Air last year. Not only that, but he was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for his 2005 film, Good Night, and Good Luck. Though I’m of course still yet to see The Ides of March, what we’ve seen of it so far shows so much promise, and I sincerely hope that the predictions for at least getting Oscar nominations will be proven right.

This new clip shows Gosling in a moment of embarrassment, trying and failing to remember exactly who Evan Rachel Wood’s character is, with no help whatsoever from her. It’s a great little clip that shows the kind of moment we’ve all had at one point or another, and it’s amusing to watch Wood make Gosling squirm a little.

The new poster for the film is also fantastic. Taking a different tack from the posters we’ve seen so far, it goes for a darker approach, and instead of seeing half of Gosling and Clooney’s faces combined into one, we see half of each of their faces lit up, and the other in darkness. I personally really like posters like this, that sell the film straight; when you’ve got a good product, it’s not difficult to sell, and this film certainly hasn’t looked like a hard sell so far. It will be released in UK cinemas on 28th October, so be sure to make a mental note to go and see it, because this is a film that is bound to get people talking.

Without further ado, here are the new clip and poster. As usual with the latter, click to enlarge.

Entertainment One have released the official U.K. quad for The Ides of March.

Directed by George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck), The Ides of March stars Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella and Evan Rachel Wood.

Based on the celebrated play Farragut North by Beau Willimon, The Ides of March centers on an up-and-coming campaign press secretary (Gosling) who finds himself involved in a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate’s shot at the presidency.

The Ides of March will compete in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival before hitting a cinema near you on October the 28th.

Check out the U.K. quad below, which was made available via Entertainment One’s Twitter stream:

Last night while we were all fast asleep, Yahoo put up the first trailer for for the new movie directed by George Clooney called The Ides of March. This trailer follows all the images that we put up over the last couple of days (here and here).

The film stars George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood with a screenplay from Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon. Leonardo DiCaprio Executive Produces the movie so it definitely has some fire-power behind it!

Plot: George Clooney is back in the director’s chair for this edgy political drama set in the days leading up to a fictional presidential primary. Clooney also stars as a Democratic candidate who schools his idealistic campaign press secretary (Ryan Gosling) in the dubious machinations of modern politics.

Have a little watch of the intense trailer below. Looks pretty good!

It’s out in the UK 28th October.

Following on from yesterday’s TIFF image-a-thon, Entertainment Weekly have now released some more images from the George Clooney directed movie, Ides Of March. As well as the image, we also get our first look at the poster for the movie which could be my favourite poster of the year so far. Also, if I were Time Magazine, I’d be very happy to too!

The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood with a screenplay from Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon. Leonardo DiCaprio Executive Produces the movie so it definitely has some fire-power behind it!

Plot: George Clooney is back in the director’s chair for this edgy political drama set in the days leading up to a fictional presidential primary. Clooney also stars as a Democratic candidate who schools his idealistic campaign press secretary (Ryan Gosling) in the dubious machinations of modern politics.

These new images come via EW & E! with a nod to our friends at The Playlist

It’s a Carey Mulligan / Ryan Gosling fest at this years Toronto Film Festival and it’s images galore! Here’s a first look  image Ryan Gosling in the George Clooney directed movie, Ides of March. It also stars Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood with a screenplay from Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon. Leonardo DiCaprio Executive Produces the movie so it definitely has some fire-power behind it!

Plot: George Clooney is back in the director’s chair for this edgy political drama set in the days leading up to a fictional presidential primary. Clooney also stars as a Democratic candidate who schools his idealistic campaign press secretary (Ryan Gosling) in the dubious machinations of modern politics.

Robert Redford’s Lincoln assassination drama The Conspirator is now out in the UK, although without a huge amount of fanfare so let’s get everyone in the mood with a new poster, shall we?

We’ve seen a few images and had ourselves a trailer and anything with James McAvoy will stir a certain section of the UK audience and there’s a decent cast with Robin Wright, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood , Tom Wilkinson , Alexis Bledel , Johnny Simmons, Toby Kebbell , Kevin Kline and Danny Huston alongside McAvoy.

In the wake of Abraham Lincoln ’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice-President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Wright), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt: her own son, John (Simmons).

Here’s your poster,

Start clapping like impressed sea-lions at the people from IMPA

Indie director Todd Haynes’ first foray into TV, Mildred Pearce, is due to screen on HBO this month, followed by an appearance on the new UK channel Sky Atlantic.

Based on the 1941 novel of the same name, which itself was made into an Oscar-winning feature film starring Joan Crawford in 1945, the mini-series stars Kate Winslet in the title role, alongside Guy Pearce and Evan Rachel Wood as Winslet’s character’s daughter.

A poster for the show can be found below (courtesy of Bleeding Cool), along with the second trailer.

Judging by this sumptuous-looking trailer, and given the strong material and high calibre of talent attached to the project, it wouldn’t be surprising if Mildred Pearce tops the critic’s list for the best TV of 2011.

HBO have released a brand new trailer for their upcoming five-part mini-series Mildred Pierce, an adaptation of James M. Cain‘s acclaimed novel.

Directed by Todd Haynes (I’m Not There), the mini-series stars Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road), Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler), Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and Guy Pearce (The King’s Speech).

Mildred Pierce follows a 1930′s housewife (Winslet) who separates from her unemployed husband, and, with her children in tow, strikes out on her own. While she achieves great financial success in the restaurant business, her relationship with her eldest daughter, Veda (Wood), becomes strained when she takes for granted the status they’ve attained.

The mini-series is set to premiere on HBO from March 27. It will then air in the UK shortly after.

Watch the trailer below:

Source: BBC America

Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions, via Yahoo! Movies, have released the first official trailer for political thriller The Conspirator.

Directed by Robert Redford, The Conspirator stars Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Alexis Bledel, Johnny Simmons, Toby Kebbell, Kevin Kline and Danny Huston.

In the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice-President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Wright), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt: her own son, John (Simmons).

The Conspirator will be released in the US in April. A UK release date is not yet known.

Deadline are reporting that George Clooney, who is as hot as always after the considerable critical acclaim attaching itself to The American and before that, Up In The Air, is moving forward with The Ides of March.

As we previously reported, he was always on board to direct, but will now star as well alongside Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti and Marisa Tomei in the tale of a press spokesman working for a presidential candidate who suffers at the hands of backroom politics, the manipulation of seasoned political operators and seduction by young intern. Gosling plays the spokesman, Clooney will be the candidate, Wood the intern and Giamatti a rival campaign manager.

The film is based on the play Farragut North, with the script being written by Clo0ney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, who wrote the original play. Filming is scheduled to start in February 2011.

So, George Clooney is to co-write, direct and star. Is he biting off more than he can chew? Showing off? Simply exercising his talent? Let us know your thoughts below.

George Clooney (soon to be seen as a moody and monosyllabic assassin in The American) is getting behind the camera again for political drama Farragut North.

Vulture are reporting that Clooney intends to shoot this adaptation of a play about dirty tricks on the campaign trail next February, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei and Chris Pine (who appeared in an LA-staged production of the material last year) look set to join Clooney, who has given himself a small part too.

It’s been a couple of years since the actor’s previous directing job, the 1920’s-set romcom Leatherheads (which failed to make much of an impression with audience and critics alike), so it’s good to see him on familiar creative ground again, given the success of his last political-themed project, Good Night, and Good Luck, which was nominated for 6 Oscars in total (including best director for Clooney).

Universal Pictures have just sent us the trailer for a movie which originally came out in US cinema in 2007, UK cinemas earlier this year and has now made it’s way to DVD. The movie is an animated sci fi called Battle for Terra and has a voice cast which includes Evan Rachel Wood, Luke Wilson, Brian Cox, Justin Long, James Garner, Chris Evans, Danny Glover, Dennis Quaid and is directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas.

Battle for Terra is released this coming Monday on DVD and you can pre-order it here.

Synopsis: When Earth’s natural resources began to rapidly diminish, mankind was forced to seek out a new home and build colonies on Mars and Venus. However disaster struck when the two colonies attempted to declare independence from Earth, and the ensuing Great War destroyed all three planets. Now mankind’s only hope for survival is to find a new home.

A peaceful and magical planet, Terra is inhabited by a gentle race of extraterrestrials called the Terrians who harbour a deep respect for nature and have no need for war or violence. But when plans to find a peaceful solution for the humans and Terrians to live in harmony are scuppered by a villainous General, it is only a matter of time before the stage is set for a battle that threatens to destroy both species.

Will the humans find a way of living in harmony with the Terrians or will both races be lost forever?

The Playlist have debuted the first couple of images from James McAvoy’s new movie, The Conspirator which I’ve placed below (click to enlarge).

The Scottish actor has hit the big time at the box office bringing us some awesome films including Atonement, The Last King of Scotland and Wanted with Angelina Jolie. Wanted was so successful that he’s been signed up for the sequel which is due for release some time in 2011 with both Jolie returning (somehow!) and Timur Bekmambetov directing. It goes to show that McAvoy is currently hot property in the land of Hollywood.

The Conspirator is directed by Robert Redford and co-stars Robin Wright-Penn. It’s currently being shot in Savannah, Georgia and some of the readers of The Playlist have sent some images of the cast which they’ve found out also includes Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Kline and Toby Kebbell.

The picture is a period drama based on true events following the assassination of President Lincoln and centers on the story of Mary Surratt, an alleged accomplice and conspirator of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth.

We can expect to see The Conspirator later on in 2010.