November 20, 2012
Total Recall: Ang Lee's Best Movies
Over the course of his Academy Award-winning career, Ang Lee has crossed over from Taiwanese box office successes to American arthouse classics and Hollywood blockbusters, proving his hand with family drama, comedy, period pieces, epic martial arts action, romance, and even superheroes along the way. But up 'til now, he's never tried making a 3D adventure about a shipwrecked boy and his CGI tiger -- so in honor of this weekend's Certified Fresh Life of Pi, we decided to take a look back at Lee's wildly eclectic filmography, and came up with a list that has something for pretty much everyone. You know what that means: It's time for Total Recall!
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October 26, 2010
Ang Lee Solves for Life of Pi
He's taken his time with it thus far, but Ang Lee is moving ahead with his "Life of Pi" adaptation, which now has its leading man -- and will shoot in 3-D.
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May 28, 2010
Another Setback for The Life of Pi
Just when it looked like Ang Lee was finally going to get rolling on his "Life of Pi" adaptation, now comes word that his estimated budget has put the project back on hold.
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April 29, 2010
Ang Lee's Life of Pi Will Be in 3-D
It's been awhile since we've heard anything about it, but an adaptation of Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" is still moving forward -- and it looks like it'll be directed by Ang Lee in 3-D.
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February 24, 2010
Five Facts About Micmacs
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is one of France's most revered directors. His 2001 modern classic, Amelie, is the most successful French-language film of all time, raking in over £112 million at the worldwide box office. Dalliances into Hollywood have been less successful, with 1997's Alien Resurrection receiving a critical mauling and an attempt to adapt Yann Martel's Life of Pi abandoned at the eleventh hour. Now Jeunet is back where he belongs, in France. And his extraordinary imagination has created a new set of highly original characters for his latest film, Micmacs. In it, Dany Boon is a hapless slacker who enlists a bunch of quirky underdogs to help him defeat the weapons manufacturers responsible for his father's death. RT brings you five facts about Jeunet's latest creation (and, yes, we do explain that baffling title...)
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January 21, 2010
"Suicidally Depressing" Ang Lee Project in the Works
Sitting down for a chat with the Hollywood Reporter to accept their Indie Icon of the Year Award, Focus Features CEO James Schamus let slip that he's working on a new project with Ang Lee -- and that it'll take us back to "good old, tragic, suicidally depressing Ang."
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November 13, 2009
James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
James Schamus might be a workaholic. If it's not enough that he's the head of Focus Features -- the independent imprint of Universal -- he's also an established producer and screenwriter best known for his collaborations with Ang Lee. This week sees the release of the pair's latest, Taking Woodstock, a comedy about a family integral to the birth of the infamous Woodstock concert of 1969. And if that isn't enough, he's an associate professor of film at Columbia University and just delivered a politically-charged lecture to a rapt London Film Festival audience. While in town, he sat down with RT to talk about the release of Taking Woodstock, his work at Focus and his thoughts on the Tomatometer...
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November 12, 2009
Five Favourite Films with Ang Lee
The rule that no two Ang Lee movies are ever the same is confidently kept intact with the release of his latest, Taking Woodstock, a comedy about the true story behind the Woodstock music festival in 1969. It follows romantic wartime drama Lust, Caution and the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain on the director's CV and arrives in UK cinemas this week. As RT sits down with Lee to ask his five favourite films, he's keen to point out that if we'd asked him another day we'd have received an entirely different list. "It's a hard one to answer," he tells us. "I could give 50, or 100. I'll throw out 5 that come into my head."
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October 30, 2009
Ang Lee Looks Ahead to Life of Pi
Adapting Yann Martel's bestselling book "Life of Pi" into a feature film is a task that has confounded more than one director, but Ang Lee says he's just turned in the first draft of his script -- and viewers can expect to see his take on the material in two years.
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August 27, 2009
Box Office Guru Preview: Fans Choose Sides in Horror Showdown
In a move that studios rarely make these days, two films from the exact same genre open opposite each other on the same day targeting much of the same audience. The Weinstein Co., still riding high on the success of last weekend's Inglourious Basterds, returns with Halloween II while Warner Bros. counters with another R-rated horror sequel with The Final Destination which differentiates itself by offering 3D chills and kills.
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May 17, 2009
Cannes 2009: RT Chats to Ang Lee and team Taking Woodstock
It's not every day you get to have lunch with Ang Lee, so when RT were invited to do just that today in Cannes we couldn't refuse. Also joining us, James Schamus, Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch and Imelda Staunton, and over a three-course meal at the Carlton Hotel on the Croisette we talked cinema, music and, of course, Woodstock. Lee's latest film, Taking Woodstock, which premiered Last Night at the festival, is the tale of Elliot Tibor, the man with the permit that made Woodstock happen, and of his experience of the event coming to terms with his own identity while trying to hold onto his roots.
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May 17, 2009
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report ? Critics Cool on Ang Lee?s Taking Woodstock
As Ang Lee's latest, Taking Woodstock, received its premiere last night at the Cannes Film Festival, critics were intrigued to point out a number of similarities between it and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. They both involve young men on the cusp of adulthood finding themselves through seminal rock music while trying to piece together a relationship with their difficult parents. No surprise that Almost Famous has become the film used as a yardstick to Ang Lee's latest, as critics struggle to wonder what it is Lee brings to the table. Taking Woodstock is the tale of Elliot Tiber, president of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce, who held the only permit for a music festival in the area and invited Woodstock's organisers to the town when they were denied a permit in the nearby town of Wallkill.
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May 10, 2009
Cannes 2009: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
The Cannes Film Festival will screen nearly 100 films as part of its Official Selection and associated sidebars when it kicks off next week in the Southern France town. The festival runs from 13-24th May and there are plenty of exciting new movies to keep an eye out for as they premiere on Cannes' infamous Croisette. To save you the hassle of having to research the whole programme, RT has helpfully chosen ten films we're most excited to see. Join us as we take a journey through the Cannes Film Festival 2009, kicking off with our daily coverage on Wednesday.
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February 18, 2009
Ang Lee Studies Life of Pi
M. Night Shyamalan may no longer be involved with the project, but Fox 2000's adaptation of Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" remains in development -- and the latest director to show an interest in taking over is Ang Lee.
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August 6, 2008
Ang Lee Ready to Start Taking Woodstock
This month, Ang Lee will start production on Taking Woodstock, an adaptation of Woodstock organizer Elliot Tiber's memoir that will star Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Imelda Staunton, and Daily Show alum Demetri Martin.
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June 12, 2008
Box Office Guru Preview: Hulk 2.0 Battles Shyamalan 8.0
Two new films with skeptical fan bases hit the multiplexes on Friday with something to prove. From the comic book world comes The Incredible Hulk while from the land of supernatural thrillers comes The Happening from writer/director M. Night Shyamalan.
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April 30, 2008
New Images and Trailer Bulletin: The Incredible Hulk
You've seen the Ang Lee-directed warmup. You've seen the teaser trailer. You've even read all the rumors of behind-the-scenes creative turmoil. It's been a long wait, Hulk fans, but you've finally got a theatrical trailer for Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk to sink your teeth into!
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November 29, 2007
Louis Leterrier Talks Incredible Hulk
He's a little over six months away from trying to make film fans forget Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk -- but, as Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier tells Wizard, there are no hard feelings.
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October 2, 2007
The Incredible Hulk Spoilers!
Five short years after Ang Lee underwhelmed critics and comics fans with his Hulk, Edward Norton will be seeking to smash box-office records with The Incredible Hulk -- and if IESB is to be believed, Norton's off to an excellent start.
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September 11, 2007
Toronto Film Fest: The Good, The Bad, and The Better So Far
Well, it certainly hasn't been a dull festival. Tons of films big (Michael Clayton) and small (Juno) have screened to kudos, and on the whole there haven't been very many outright disappointments (notwithstanding George Romero's Diary of the Dead and a few others). Click for more buzz!
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September 7, 2007
TIFF Blog: Why Toronto Is Hot, Roger Ebert, Lust, Caution, and Darren Lynn Bousman
The weather forecast for tomorrow in sunny Toronto, Ontario is 90 degrees with about a billion percent humidity, so it is from only the most devoted reaches of our Tomato-strewn hearts that we sludge through the heat to report from the Toronto Film Festival. (Overheard today: "I feel like there's a warm fog blanketing my skin." Gross.)
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July 27, 2007
Cool New Cast Member for The Incredible Hulk
And the casts for the new Marvel movies just keep getting better and better. This time around? The multi-talented Tim Blake Nelson has been cast as a pivotal villain in Louis Leterrier's "The Incredible Hulk."
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April 23, 2007
Avi Arad Talks Hulk, Surfer and Captain America Casting
Marvel Comics Productions has made some interesting casting announcements last week, from Edward Norton as the new Incredible Hulk and Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer. Considering producer Avi Arad has described the former sequel as "Diet Hulk," it seems unusual to cast perhaps the most intense actor working today.
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April 6, 2007
The "Hulk" Gets a New Creator!
For Ang Lee's "Hulk," it was Industrial Light & Magic that brought the massive green guy to life on the silver screen. But when it comes to Louis Leterrier's follow-up, "The Incredible Hulk," Universal is going with a company called Rhythm & Hues Studio.
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February 6, 2007
"The Incredible Hulk" Director Doles Out Some New Info ... Kinda
Late last week, director Louis Leterrier opened up the SuperheroHype.com message boards and accepted queries from fans and friends. No, he didn't reveal anything all that flashy, but hey, The Hulk is my all-time favorite Marvel character and I have some really high hopes for Louie's semi-sequel. (And yes, I liked the Ang Lee original. Snicker if you must.)
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January 8, 2007
"Prison Break" Star Denies "Hulk" Involvement
"Prison Break" star Dominic Purcell has been making the rounds for his upcoming reptile thriller "Primeval," and one of the IGN Movies maniacs was smart enough to ask the actor about his alleged involvement in the "Hulk" sequel. Guess what the guy had to say.
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March 10, 2006
Crouching Prequels, Hidden Broadway
Variety brings word that the Weinstein boys have picked up the rights to the whole series of books of which "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is Part 4. The plan is to ramp up production on a new series of movies ... while CTHD makes the leap from silver screen to Broadway stage.
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March 6, 2006
Indie Spirit Awards Distributed
Lost in the shadow of the weekend's Oscar coverage was the annual Independent Spirit Awards presentation, which is where you'll find ... a lot of accolades similar to the Academy Award winners.
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February 22, 2006
BAFTA Winners Announced!
The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) held their annual awards presentation on February 21st, and they managed to dole out some love for an interesting variety of films and filmmakers -- most of which have been on the receiving end of other awards already, but they're good choices anyway, if it's me you're asking.
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January 31, 2006
2005 Oscar Nominations Are In!
Like most pathetic movie geeks, I was up at the crack of dawn (ok, 8:30am eastern time) to see how my nomination prediction ballot would measure up. (I was perfect on all 20 acting nods and all 10 screenwriting nods, but I erroneously predicted that "Walk the Line" would get nominated over "Capote" for Best Picture, and I picked Croneberg for director over Benett Miller.) Anyhow, here are the nominations for us to rant and rave about for the next five weeks...
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January 16, 2006
Golden Globes Results - It Rhymes with "Chick Flick"
If you didn?t watch tonight?s Golden Globes Awards, you missed out on two big winners, a few personal triumphs, and (surprisingly) few fire-your-stylist fashion faux pas. Read on for the entire list of winners from the television and film honorees (here?s a hint: the Hollywood Foreign Press sure like those cowboys)!
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January 13, 2006
Ohio Film Critics Offer Up Their Year-End Picks
The film critics of Central Ohio have chimed in with their own year-end picks, and they came up with quite a few solid surprises, actually. How about "A History of Violence" as best film of the year?
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January 11, 2006
Chicago Critics Pick Their 2005 Winners (and Iowa!)
The Chicago Film Critics Group announced their nominees just before New Years' Eve, and they reconvened this week to vote on their year-end favorites. Also, the Iowa Film Critics chimed in with their picks as well. Why not? Iowa has film critics, too!
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January 10, 2006
Broadcast Film Critics Dole Out Their Awards on National TV
The Broadcast Film Critics Association held their annual awards presentation live on The WB network, with plenty of mildly corny jokes, appreciative acceptance speeches, accolades galore, and even a few cool surprises. (Oh, and their favorite film overall was "Brokeback Mountain.")
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January 10, 2006
Online Film Critics Offer Their Annual Nominations
The OFCS, which is hosted right here at Rotten Tomatoes and (full disclosure) includes yours truly as a member, announced their year-end nominations yesterday ... and we hope you'll find a few solid surprises among the more familiar (yet obviously deserving) nominees. The winners will be announced on Monday the 16th.
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January 6, 2006
DGA & SAG Chime in with Their Nominations
Yesterday we got the year-end nominations from the Writers Guild and the Producers Guild, so simple logic dictates that today should bring news from the directors (DGA) and the actors (SAG). As always we thank Movie City News for divulging every single nomination on the planet.
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January 3, 2006
Chicago Critics Announce Their Nominations
Thanks to Movie City News for sharing the scoop on the Windy City critics and their favorite flicks of 2005.The Chicago film journalists will announce their year-end winners on January, 2006.
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December 21, 2005
Southeastern Critics Chime in With Their Picks
The 2005 Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards announced their annual awards on Monday, Dec. 19, in Atlanta, Ga. Forty-two members in nine states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) voted in the 14th annual SEFCA poll.
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December 20, 2005
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics 2005 Awards
December 19, 2005 -- DALLAS-FORT WORTH FILM CRITICS NAME ?BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN? BEST OF 2005. The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association voted the frontier romance BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN as the best film of 2005, according to the results of its 12th annual critics? poll.
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December 16, 2005
London Movie Critics Present Their '05 Nominations
Movie City News shares with us a press release from the London Film Critics Group in which their various nominations are announced. Keep in mind that the Brit crits use their own release dates as criteria, so don't be surprised to see a few 2004 releases in the mix.
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December 14, 2005
San Fran Crix Make Their Year-End Picks
SAN FRANCISCO -- The love story "Brokeback Mountain" won three major awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, from the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the group announced Monday.
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December 13, 2005
Awards Season Gets Rolling with Crix Picks
If you're a fan of the late-year awards season, be sure to add Movie City News to your hit list, because they deliver some consistently excellent coverage. Mid-December is when most of the critics' groups start doling out their accolades, and so far we've gotten input from reviewers' groups in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington.
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December 12, 2005
BFCA Nominees Announced; "Brokeback" Leads Pack
The Broadcast Film Critics Association announced its Critics Choice Awards, and "Brokeback Mountain," Ang Lee's revisionist western, leads the pack with eight nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor (Heath Ledger), Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal), and Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams).
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September 13, 2005
Trailer Bulletin: Brokeback Mountain
It's currently playing at the Toronto Film Festival, but Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" doesn't open theatrically until December 9th, which means this theatrical trailer is all you're getting for the next few months.
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June 29, 2005
High-End Titles to Premiere at Toronto
Not at all surprisingly, the Toronto Film Festival announced a few of its more esteemed selections -- and there's some pretty exciting titles in there! The Steve Martin-penned "Shopgirl" (starring Claire Danes, Jason Schwartzman, and Mr. Martin himself) will debut at Toronto, as will Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" (Jake Gyllenhaal & Heath Ledger), David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" (Viggo Mortensen & Maria Bello), Atom Egoyan's "Where the Truth Lies" (Kevin Bacon & Colin Firth), and "Water," which is the third chapter in Deepa Mehta's controversial "Elemental Trilogy."
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