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.

The casting news in the past few months for Burt Wonderstone has been excellent. The film will see the return of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey after the great Bruce Almighty in 2003 and Horton Hears A Who! In 2008.

Alongside them, we can look forward to seeing Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi, James Gandolfini, Brad Garrett, Alan Arkin, and Jay Mohr. ComingSoon.net have got the first pictures from the set, which was filming out in Las Vegas this week, giving us a great first look at Carell, Wilde, and Buscemi.

Carell stars as the eponymous Burt Wonderstone, part of a two-man magician act in Vegas. After his partner (Buscemi) leaves him, he finds himself having to compete with a hot new act (Carrey) and has to convince his partner to come back to the stage.

30 Rock​’s Don Scardino is going to be directing, with the original spec script coming from Chad Kultgen, and re-writes being done first by Horrible Bosses scribes John Francis Daley​ and Jonathan Goldstein, and most recently by Oscar-nominated Jason Reitman​ (Up in the Air). The writing on Horrible Bosses was so good, and Reitman’s work is of course impeccable, so there’s every reason to expect this to be brilliant.

Filming is (obviously) already underway, and hopefully we won’t have too long to wait before it hits the big screen. Casting news towards the end of the year revealed a few actresses being considered for the female lead, and I’m really glad that Wilde was picked, because she’s so good, and is looking brilliant as the magicians’ assistant in these photos. As usual, click to enlarge.

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!

Even in the dramatic rise of American television there are some standout examples of the very highest quality, when we see the particular alignment of a strong and creative producer, an actor perfect for the leading role and the creation of a seductive and intriguing world. Boardwalk Empire is one such show, and one of the finest programmes on HBO, or any other channel at the moment.

It is to America’s past we turn to again for our weekly fix, following the recently cancelled Pan Am and with Mad Man still going strong, something is clearly striking a chord with the television audience, meaing that looking back is the way forward. Sopranos man Terence Winter has taken the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson and created a sprawling epic set in the America of the 1920s,  facing an uncertain future, and doing so in style. The world is changing and those in power are fighting to keep it that way.

The grand scope of the series is evident from its first moments as Scorsese’s pilot episode offers a magisterial parade of bent cops sloshing down the last seconds of legal drinking and the streetwise kids eager to catch the eye of the gang bosses eating at the best tables while the various creatures of the criminal labyrinth roam around looking for any advantage to take. The boardwalk itself is a stunning piece of work, though at times it looks a little too detailed and too deliberate (the behind the scenes documentary is a jaw dropping experience, even in these days of routine CGI enhancement).

The characters Winter has formulated seduce you into a multi-layered narrative with stories crossing in and out of each other, informing some, giving context and power to others. There’s not a moment wasted which is a true delight as there’s nothing which drags a show down more than episodes focusing on needless character background, or an hour spent sniffing around the motives of a secondary character. It feels as if we’ve stumbled into this world which is so well rendered and the characters so marvellously drawn that it’s easy to fall for the show.

Steve Buscemi has never been better with the whole boardwalk revolving around his magnificent Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson, he always brings some interesting to every role but in his performance as the quiet king of the boardwalk he is given the chance to create a character of real depth and is a magnetic presence. He is the man around which the other character orbit, and he has a fine co-star with Kelly MacDonald’s turn as the broken and brave Margaret. Michael Shannon contains a torrent of rage and confusion under the mask of righteousness and e brings a menace and complexity to a role that could have easily fallen under the wheels of the obvious.

With only twelve episodes the first season of Boardwalk Empire feels a lot longer, thanks in part to a 50+ minute running time, but also because the sheer amount of narrative and character developement packed in there means there is a tangible sense of immersing oneself into the world. Several times the credits began and I felt myself readjusting to the twenty-first century.

It’s one of the finest shows on the box at the moment, deep and fearless and with a tight grip on the stories which are playing out. Season Two has already played in the States and here on Sky and I’m told very good things. If anything I want to see more of Steven Graham’s exceptional take on Al Capone, but honestly I’d be happy to spend a little longer just killing time on the boardwalk.

Boardwalk Empire Season 1 is out on DVD and Blu-ray now. It’s your next TV addiction, and well worth every penny.

 ****~ (4/5)

The first season of HBO’s epic prohibition drama is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on January 9^th, and we have three DVD boxsets to give away.

Executively produced by Oscar®-winning director Martin Scorsese and from the pen of The Sopranos scribe Terence Winter, BOARDWALK EMPIRE: The Complete First Season received 18 Emmy® Award nominations, winning eight including ‘Outstanding Drama Series’, ‘Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series’ and ‘Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama’. This visually stunning gangster epic set in the 1920’s features some of the most awe-inspiring production design ever seen on screen along with an authentic soundtrack that will immerse viewers in the period.

Both DVD and Blu-ray are packed with hours of behind-the-scenes special features including a look into the Making of Boardwalk Empire, Creating the Boardwalk, The Speakeasy Tour, Atlantic City: The Original Sin City featurettes and a Character Dossier as well as Audio Commentaries.

Steve Buscemi (Armageddon, The Big Lebowski) stars in this explosive HBO drama series set at the dawn of the Prohibition era, when the sale of alcohol became illegal throughout the United States. Charting the birth of organised crime, the series chronicles the life and times of Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson (Buscemi), the Atlantic City treasurer whose double role as politician and bootlegger makes him the most powerful man on the Boardwalk.

You can see our exclusive clip / featurette which continues a great video showing the production design from the TV series here.

Click next below to continue to the next page to answer the question.

We’ve been given this fantastic featurette called ‘Designing and Empire’ from the awesome TV series that is HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. I look forward to watching it every week and it is definitely one of my favourite shows of 2011 (along with A Game of Thrones!)

This featurette has interviews with Production Designer Bob Shaw and writer Terence Winter and looks specifically at the production design of the show and is here to celebrate the release of Boardwalk Empire Season 1 on DVD and Blu-ray on 9th January 2012. We get to see a time-lapse of the Boardwalk being built while we’re told how the boardwalk itself is put together.

HBO Home Entertainment is proud to announce the critically acclaimed, epic crime drama BOARDWALK EMPIRE: The Complete First Season will be available to pre-order online from Thursday 13th October 2011 ahead of its release on 9th January 2012.

Executively produced by Oscar®-winning director Martin Scorsese and from the pen of Terence Winter, Emmy® Award-winning writer of The Sopranos, BOARDWALK EMPIRE: The Complete First Season received 18 Emmy® Award nominations winning eight including ‘Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series’ and ‘Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama’.

Steve Buscemi (Armageddon, The Big Lebowski) stars in this explosive HBO drama series set at the dawn of the Prohibition era, when the sale of alcohol became illegal throughout the United States. Charting the birth of organised crime, the series chronicles the life and times of Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson (Buscemi), the Atlantic City treasurer whose double role as politician and bootlegger makes him the most powerful man on the Boardwalk.

Have a watch of the featurette below and click here to pre-order your copy of the show.

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.

The casting for Burt Wonderstone really does seem to be coming in quickly now. Just a few days ago, we got the fantastic news that James Gandolfini is in talks to join the film, led by Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. And only a few days before that, we heard that the short list for the female lead included Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan, Judy Greer, Jessica Biel, and Sarah Silverman, which has since been cut down to focus just on Wilde and Silverman (my vote is personally with Wilde).

Variety are now reporting that Steve Buscemi is in talks to join the project too, and would play Carell’s old magician partner who decides to give up their longstanding partnership in Vegas:

“Buscemi has been offered the role of Anton, a Las Vegas magician who’s the longtime friend and partner of the title character, played by Carell. After being injured by Burt during their “Hotbox” trick, he decides to quit the act and teach magic in the Far East. When a hot-shot street magician (Carrey) starts coming on strong, Burt must convince Anton to return to the stage. Gandolfini co-stars as a billionaire who owns the casino where Burt and Anton perform their show, while Olivia Wilde and Sarah Silverman are being eyed for the female lead as the duo’s magic assistant.”

Buscemi has of course already worked alongside Gandolfini on The Sopranos, and has been making an even bigger name for himself in the leading role of Nucky Thompson on Boardwalk Empire, which won him a Golden Globe this year.

30 Rock’s Don Scardino is going to be directing, with the original spec script coming from Chad Kultgen, and re-writes being done first by Horrible Bosses scribes John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, and most recently by Oscar-nominated Jason Reitman (Up in the Air).

This certainly sounds like something we should be looking forward to, and with production scheduled to begin in January, during Buscemi’s Boardwalk Empire hiatus, it hopefully won’t be too far into 2013 when Burt Wonderstone will be getting its release. More news as we get it.

The series has only just begun but following the ‘critical approval’ for the second season which hit HBO in the US on 25th September, a third series has already been green-lit! Hooray I hear you cry! The first series was absolutely fabulous and I can’t wait to start watching the second. It stars Steve Buscemi, Kelly MacDonald, Michael Shannon, Michael Pitt, Shea Whigham and is brought to you by Directors Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter.

Here’s the official press release courtesy of Deadline:

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2011 – Following resounding critical approval for the series’ second-season debut on Sept. 25, HBO has renewed BOARDWALK EMPIRE for a third season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.“Following a triumphant first season, I was eager to see what Terry Winter, Martin Scorsese and the rest of their stellar team had in store, and they continue to surpass our highest expectations,” said Lombardo.  “The response from the media and our viewers has been extremely gratifying.”

From Terence Winter, Emmy® Award-winning writer of “The Sopranos” and Academy Award®-winning director Martin Scorsese, BOARDWALK EMPIRE is set in the 1920s in the early days of Prohibition, and chronicles the life and times of Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the undisputed leader of Atlantic City, who was equal parts politician and gangster.

The renewal of BOARDWALK EMPIRE is the latest in a number of recent drama series pickups, following “True Blood,” “Game of Thrones” and “Treme,” as well as commitments to the new series “Luck,” “Veep,” “Girls,” “Life’s Too Short” and Aaron Sorkin’s as-yet untitled project.

Among the early critical raves for the new season of BOARDWALK EMPIRE, New York’s Daily News called the show “delicious entertainment” and “one of the best shows on television,” while Daily Variety termed it “consistently bold and lusty,” as well as “good to the last illicit, intoxicating drop.”  The Boston Globe hailed BOARDWALK EMPIRE as “a must-see show” and “remarkable,” and Entertainment Weekly noted that “drama this good should be illegal.”

BOARDWALK EMPIRE ranks among HBO’s most popular series with an average gross audience of 10.7 million viewers.

At the recent Primetime Emmy® Awards, BOARDWALK EMPIRE led all programming with eight awards, including Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Martin Scorsese).

In Jan. 2011, BOARDWALK EMPIRE received two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Television Series – Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama (Steve Buscemi)

The series also received two Screen Actors Guild awards, for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (Steve Buscemi).

Season two credits:  Created by Terence Winter, BOARDWALK EMPIRE is executive produced by Terence Winter, Martin Scorsese, Tim Van Patten, Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg; co-executive produced by Gene Kelly and Howard Korder; produced by Joseph Iberti and Rick Yorn.

Sky retained a large amount of secrecy surrounding the launch of their new production. After initially being asked for my measurements (waist, height, hips, bra size) and having no information but “all will be revealed at the event,” curiosity was certainly an understatement. Only a few days before, it was finally revealed we were to attend the Boardwalk Empire Season 2 launch party!!

On entering the “Candlelight Club,” and by this I mean bending through a secret four foot passage way in the wall, it was a true transportation back to an evening in the 20’s. After being ushered into a dressing room to don more suitable attire for the evening- a slinky sequin dress, pearls, head-dress and of course lipstick rouge, it was time for a taster of what Season 2 had in store!

For those of you not familiar with the Series, it is inspired by the book “Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City” by Nelson Johnson, and produced by Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese. Starring Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the corrupt undisputed ruler of both the legal/illegal world, the series is set in Atlantic City in the 1920s against a backdrop of inequality, racism, prostitution and above all the Prohibition of alcohol.

The opening episode of Season 2 continues in this fashion, diving straight into pre-depression America with the scenes shifting between a typical flash ’20s party and the illegal dealing and consumption of alcohol. It is full of violence, strained relationships, subtle humour and ultimately the arrest of the big dog himself. Not wanting to give too much away, this show airs on Sky Atlantic on 8th October at 9pm so don’t miss out!!

Overall, it was an entertaining evening of burlesque dancers, live jazz music performed by a London band, the “Shirt tail Stompers,” along with an assortment of cocktails. The only element that could have improved this night was the venue which, if stripped of its decor, was rather run-down; although perhaps the back-alley look was what they were going for. Nevertheless, the efforts made to transform the space have to be given a lot of credit as the masses of candles, 1920s newspapers, Brooklyn beer and numerous other factors resulted in a great atmosphere.

After the evening’s entertainment, we were escorted home in a slick black BMW. What a lovely end to the evening, although I hear HBO managed to arrange for two, 1920s vintage subways to function on the tracks of Manhattan!! Ah well, it’s impossible to have it all!

Thanks very much Sky for a fabulous evening!

Paris Davis

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.

The first season of Boardwalk Empire was released in America to rave reviews towards the end of last year, and I’d say there’s a good chance that it will do the same with its second season, which HBO have just released a new trailer for.

Whilst America got it in September, Sky’s new channel, Sky Atlantic, played it in the UK back in February this year, so whether we’ll be getting the new season with America in September or early next year awaits to be seen.

Unfortunately, I must confess that I lack the Sky capabilities to have watched the first season of Boardwalk Empire, and I really can’t wait for it to be released on DVD/Blu-Ray, because it looked fantastic.

Created by Terence Winter, writer and executive producer on HBO’s The Sopranos, the show also included Mark Wahlberg as one of its executive producers, and of course the little-known man Martin Scorsese, who directed the pilot episode. Costing almost $20m. to make just that first episode, the pilot became the most expensive first episode in television history, and after it had more than 7m. viewers on its first day’s broadcast, HBO immediately picked up the show for a second season.

It was recently announced that Boardwalk Empire has landed itself eighteen nominations at this year’s Emmy Awards, to go with it winning a Golden Globe for itself and leading man Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson at the start of the year.

Given that I’ve not seen the first season, watching the trailer for the second season takes things a little out of context for me, since I don’t know all the characters. But it thankfully doesn’t give much away, and just gives a nice taste of what to expect when the new season arrives. Everything seems to be focusing and closing in on Buscemi as Nucky, and it’s definitely something to look forward to. Without further ado, here is the new trailer.

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:

MK2 have released a promo poster for On the Road, the feature film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s acclaimed novel of the same name.

Directed by Walter Salles, On the Road stars Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Steve Buscemi and Elisabeth Moss.

Dean (Hedlund) and Sal (Riley) are the portrait of the Beat Generation living in the here and now during the Fifties. Their search for “It” results in a fast paced, energetic roller coaster ride with highs and lows throughout the U.S.

MK2, American Zoetrope and Film4 are currently selling On the Road to multiple territories at the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival. The adventure-drama is expected to be released in the Autumn.

Check out the promo poster below:

Source: The Playlist

Hey Ladies (and gentlemen), put down that Remote Control and Ch-Check It Out. A truly Intergalactic roster of (mostly) comedic A-list talent are on display below in the Beastie Boys-inspired short, Fight For Your Right – Revisited.

Playing the rap trio (and what look’s like an older version of the group, out to Sabotage the younger ones) are Elijah Wood, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, Jack Black, John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell. The two minute trailer is also jam-packed with a host of big-name cameos who have managed to Get It Together to appear in the short, including the likes of Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson (they may have been filming HBO show, Bored to Death, nearby), Steve Buscemi, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci (to name but a few!)

Directed by Adam Yauch (one of the members of the group) the film received its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year, and the full version will be released as part of a tie-in with the Beastie Boys new album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (released on May 3rd).

Thanks to Slash Film for the heads-up.

Here’s the first in the series of our Video Vault: 25 Years of Pixar Retrospective. We’ll be bringing you many more over the course of the next week or two so if you’re a fan of all things Pixar, then you’re going to love these!

We here at HeyUGuys LOVE Pixar and this is just a small homage to the studio that has brought us all so much joy!

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Two million, three hundred and twenty thousand, four hundred and thirteen individually animated hairs. It’s a wildly hirsute statistic that, alas, I’ll personally never achieve these days yet back in 2001 audiences were once again blown away by Pixar’s technical prowess when one James P. “Sulley” Sullivan was unleashed upon our collective imaginations.

Pixar’s fourth feature was the first to not be written or directed by animator, director and chief creative director John Lasseter with Peter Docter (“Up”) and Lee Unkrich (“Toy Story 3”) co-directing with The Simpson’s David Silverman from a story by Docter, Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon and Ralph Eggleston. And whilst the follically fecund Sulley was to be the focus of much of the initial hyperbole the film ultimately emerged as colourful a beast as many of the weird’n’wacky inhabitants of Monstropolis itself and, in my humble opinion, remains Pixar’s most wildly enjoyable, creative, charming and original film to date.

Surely one of the crowning glories of “Monsters, Inc.” was to be its voice cast with the sublime pairing of John Goodman as Sulley (a role originally earmarked for Bill Murray) and Billy Crystal as his cycloptic green buddy Mike Wazowski creating a double act that, for me, surpassed even the comedy antics of one Woody and Buzz and imbued the film with such wit, character and charm as to potentially render the remaining cast inconsequential. Yet a further masterstroke was to be the casting of the mighty Steve Buscemi as the delightfully monickered Randall Boggs, a decision that was to further my belief that, alongside such iconic characters as Kevin Spacey’s Hopper from “A Bugs Life”, Kelsey Grammar’s Stinky Pete from “Toy Story 2”, Christopher Plummer’s Charles F. Muntz from “Up” and  Ned Beatty’s Lotso from “Toy Story 3”, Pixar are slowly accruing quite the track record for casting and creating a vibrantly colourful rogues gallery of satisfyingly memorable villains.

Set in the fantastic world of Monstropolis, a city connected to our own reality via our children’s closet doors, we first meet Mike and Sulley as they set out for work at “Monsters, Inc.”, a vast company which provides the inhabitants of Monstropolis with their daily energy supply by sourcing it from the countless screams of many a frightened child. But all this is about to change when Sulley discovers an activated door after work one day and unwittingly allows a young girl called Boo to follow him back into the monsters’ world. Fuelled by the monsters’ emphatic belief that all children are toxic Mike and Sulley are thus forced to protect Boo from the various machinations of the CDA (Child Detection Agency) not to mention the scheming Randall Boggs and his ominously named “Scream Machine”.

From the opening beats of “Toy Story” back in 1995 Pixar have never failed to meld stunning visuals with consummate storytelling and have long led the field in groundbreaking technical achievements. Let’s not forget that “Toy Story” itself was the first full length theatrically released CG animated feature whilst such advancements as realistic fur (on average it took 11 to 12  hours to render a single frame of Sulley!), water, fabric and food have ensured that, especially in the current era of Blu-ray technology and digital filmmaking, each successive film has never looked anything less than eyeball-strokingly sumptuous . Yet despite such eye candy the team at Pixar have never lost sight of the true power of storytelling and whilst similarly animated fare has increasingly relied on flashy visuals and A-list voice actors films like “Monsters, Inc.” are every bit as exhilarating 10 years on due to the loving care and attention that Pixar’s team of talented artists and storytellers afford such oft-ignored constituents as characterisation, narrative, ideas and creativity.

From it’s retro-styled two dimensinal opening credits through to the witty outtakes that accompany the closing credits everything about “Monsters, Inc.” literally SCREAMS quality (enough to power a city, perhaps?) from the stunning visuals and superlative voice acting to the witty screenplay and countless geektastic easter eggs hidden throughout the film. At one point in the film Mike takes receptionist and girlfriend Celia Mae (Jennifer Tilly) out for dinner at a restaurant called Harryhausen’s, a tribute, of course, to the legendary stop-motion animator and creator of many a cinematic behemoth Ray Harryhausen. But did you also know that the octopus serving behind the bar is blessed with a mere six legs in reference to the 1955 film “It Came From Beneath The Sea” in which Harryhausen was forced to create a similarly six armed monstrosity due to budget restrictions? Or that the cereal that Sulley feeds Boo features a fully rendered and readable list of ingredients on the packet that includes such delights as tentacles (including suckers), naturally occuring mercury, sulfuric acid, lead, bile, blood, sweat, tears, zinc oxide, anemone, brine shrimp, coral, plankton, deadly pufferfish and depleted uranium (to preserve freshness). As is now commonplace in Pixar’s work such hidden secrets and easter eggs only further the attention to detail so apparent in their films whilst also taking the time to reference their previous releases and subtly tease future endeavours (Not only does Sulley own a copy of “A Bugs Life” on DVD but Boo hands him both a Jessie doll from “Toy Story 2″ and a small cuddly clownfish that was to be audiences first glimpse of Nemo!)

Perhaps most ironic of all, however,  is that whilst Monstropolis is experiencing an energy crisis the film itself is never in danger of doing so, buzzing with an electrifying energy that is never more apparent than during the truly sensational chase sequence near the film’s climax that is set amidst a rollercoaster-like myriad of moving doors (a sequence that, alas, now forever reminds me of the opening credits of “You Been Framed”!) and sees Mike and Sulley chase Boggs in and out of the human world in a dizzying display of visual virtuosity.

Ending on a beautifully restrained note guaranteed to warm the heart “Monsters, Inc.” is, if you’ll pardon the pun, a monstrous success; a film that blends wonderful characters, witty dialogue and divine storytelling with a stunningly realised and captivating world that is sure to entertain, enthrall and excite audiences both young and old. Not only do I consider it Pixar’s greatest film to date but it’s long sat high up on my list of greatest animated features of all time. In fact it’s a film so truly delightful as to leave me longing for kids of my own so I can someday introduce them to Mike and Sulley and comfortably inform them that monsters really DO exist after all even if they ultimately only scare because they care …

Icon Film have released a new batch of images from the upcoming adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s acclaimed novel On the Road.

Directed by Walter Salles, from a script penned by Jose Rivera, On the Road stars Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Tom Sturridge, Elisabeth Moss, Steve Buscemi and Alice Braga.

A young man sets out to travel the roads and railways of America.

On the Road will be released in the Autumn.

Check out the images – which feature Dean Moriarty (Hedlund), Sal Paradise (Riley) and Mary-Lou (Stewart) – below:

Source: Comme au Cinema