|
Post by eaz35173 on May 14, 2014 14:34:21 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 14, 2014 15:58:42 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 15, 2014 13:49:23 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Ace on May 15, 2014 14:01:45 GMT -5
France Release Date: July 2 Notice the British supporting actors get bumped down the poster and the French actors get a bump up.
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 15, 2014 14:27:21 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 15, 2014 20:47:48 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 16, 2014 6:19:07 GMT -5
www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/05/16/the_big_interview_pierce_brosnan_and_emma_thompson.htmlThe Big Interview: Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson
Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson sat down with Richard Ouzounian to talk about their romantic caper comedy, The Love Punch. By: Richard Ouzounian Theatre Critic, Published on Fri May 16 2014 The door to the hotel suite opened and there were James Bond and Nanny McPhee, laughing and joking like the best of friends. No, it wasn’t the kind of hallucination that can happen during the Toronto International Film Festival when too many interviews over too short a period of time can cause them to blend together in the mind. This was the real thing: Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson, waiting to talk about their romantic caper comedy, The Love Punch, which is finally opening in Toronto on May 23. On this particular morning, they’re both tanned and trim and so hospitable that it seems like they’ve been a professional couple for years. “Would you like some tea?” offers Thompson. “He looks like a coffee man to me,” counters Brosnan. “All right then, coffee. And maybe a croissant?” Thompson asks. “The almond ones are especially good,” whispers Brosnan conspiratorially. “Oh listen to him!” laughs Thompson. “He never met a croissant he didn’t like.” And then they both dissolve into gales of laughter, something that happens frequently over the next half hour. They truly have great chemistry together, which makes The Love Punch easy viewing, as they tell its tale of a near-retirement head of a company that’s taken over by a crook who destroys everyone’s pensions. He reunites with his ex-wife to track down the villain, get everyone’s money back and live happily ever after. “It’s one of those wonderful films they used to make lots of,” sighs Thompson, “but that school of moviemaking has been dormant for a long time.” “But we do our best to revive it,” insists Brosnan. Emma Thompson has advice for young actors They have delightful chemistry together, on and off screen. The only surprising thing is that they’d never worked together before and didn’t even know each other all that well before filming started. “You can thank Joel for that,” says Thompson, referring to Joel Hopkins, the author/director of The Love Punch. “He thought we’d be good together.” “And we were!” affirms Brosnan. “As actors like us get older, directors are always trying to find unique pairings,” says Thompson. “Sometimes you get ones that don’t make sense at all. But this one made people say, ‘Ooh, I’d like to see them together.’” “You want to see the sparks between us,” agreed Brosnan. “And now we only ever want to make caper comedies together.” “Good locations, good wardrobes, countries with lovely food and wine.” “Only more stunts for me next time,” insists Thompson. “You can have all the stunts you want, darling,” Brosnan concedes. “I’ve done more than my share over the years. But I did enjoy making fun of all that this time around,” he says, speaking of the outlandish scenes where his businessman character tries to go all 007. “It’s such a delightful play on what I’d done in another life, so to speak. It’s clowning. It’s getting into a silly wet suit and pretending you’re a great spy.” The two of them constantly credit director Hopkins with keeping them on their toes and making the pace stay bright. “Joel would always push us on, saying ‘Faster, faster!’ every time we wanted to languish and do some acting” recalls Brosnan. “But I managed to squeeze some in,” says Thompson proudly and she recalls the scene in detail. “It’s that moment when they’re lying on the bed and she says, ‘You know, you’re nicer now than you were. You’re less of an ass now.’ And you know, with any luck, that’s what happens to all of us as we grow up. We lose most of our silliness and wind up with a bit of wisdom. And the capacity to laugh at oneself, which seems to me the key as one gets older.” Thompson is reluctant to let her thoughts on this particular scene go and one can’t help thinking about her first, high-profile marriage to the notoriously egocentric Kenneth Branagh and how, after it imploded in 1995, it took her nearly a decade to marry her current spouse, actor-producer Greg Wise. “She takes a lot more persuading because she’s frightened of being hurt again. She doesn’t want to go through being overlooked again. Because, let’s be honest, you can’t love anybody else, if you don’t love yourself. If you go into a relationship wanting or needing support from someone else, you’ll never be able to love them properly.” In the pause that follows, Brosnan looks at her fondly and then switches tones with a practiced ease. “There, you see? Now you know what it was like to work with this one early in the morning. She’s badgering on about this and that while you’re just sitting there, waiting for the first shot of the day. “I would just sit there with my coffee and my newspaper and a sketch pad and be quite content. But oh no, there’d be a knock on the door and it would be Emma, wanting to discuss the coffee and the breakfast and the scene we were about to shoot and world politics and everything else that came into her head.” Thompson laughs. “I admit it. I get up bright and cheery at 5AM and start nattering away until some people want to hit me with a blunt object. “You know, I think that’s why I don’t do stage acting any more.” “I haven’t been on the stage in so long,” sighs Brosnan. “I dream about doing it. You and me in Private Lives, Emma. Yes?” “The question you really have to ask yourself,” she says, “is ‘Do I really want to do it.?’ Because stage consumes you in a way that film never does. The hours making a film can be a horror, but once it’s done, it’s done. On stage, you work so bloody hard to get it right and then you have to do it again every evening and twice on matinee days. It can be soul destroying. “I was brought up by theatre actors and you’d think it would be in my blood. But acting to me is all about energy. To be a theatre actor you need evening energy. Derek Jacobi is one of the greatest theatre actors and he’s been a close friend all of my life. He gets on stage, does the show, goes out to dinner, relaxes, then goes to bed and sleeps until noon the next day. I’m not like that. I’m a morning person.” “We know. We’ve seen it,” says Brosnan dryly. Besides their difference of temperament in the mornings, was there anything else they disagreed on? “Yes,” Thompson volunteers instantly. “Comedy.” “What did we disagree about?” asks Brosnan, perplexed. “The hat.” “Oh the cowboy hat!” Brosnan explains. “I got to wear this deliciously large cowboy hat to disguise myself as a Texan. It had such a wonderful silhouette and I knew I could get a lot mileage out of it.” “You used that hat mercilessly,” Thompson complains. “I remember one scene when you were standing against the wall and let it slide down your face and I was thinking ‘Oh that’s way too much. He may know spy stuff, but I know all about comedy. I’ve been doing it since my twenties, I know Shakespeare, I know Goldsmith, I know this won’t work. Joel won’t ever use that!’ “Well, he did and it was wonderful. You sold it completely.” “Thank you.” They look at each other with such genuine affection that the question of a sequel to The Love Punch has to be raised. “Only if everyone comes and sees the movie and it makes a ton of money,” says Thompson. “So make sure that they do,” adds Brosnan. FIVE FAVE ROMANTIC COMEDY PAIRINGS SPENCER TRACY & KATHERINE HEPBURN - Brosnan: “They had such amazing chemistry together. Just put them together and you started to smile.” MICHAEL DOUGLAS & KATHLEEN TURNER - Thompson: “I thought of them in Romancing the Stone when we were making this film. Feisty but funny.” CARY GRANT & AUDREY HEPBURN - Brosnan: “I loved the two of them in Charade. It seemed so effortless, but you know it never is.” CLARK GABLE & CLAUDETTE COLBERT - Thompson: “They were so totally opposite, but somehow they clicked together in It Happened One Night.” CARY GRANT & EVA MARIE SAINT - Brosnan: “Can I mention Cary Grant twice? I adored him in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest with that gorgeous Eva Marie Saint. That’s a movie I wish I had made.”
|
|
|
Post by Ace on May 19, 2014 8:26:56 GMT -5
www.lillooetnews.net/brosnan-thompson-get-goofy-in-old-fashioned-caper-flick-the-love-punch-1.1066640Brosnan, Thompson get goofy in old-fashioned caper flick 'The Love Punch'Andrea Baillie / The Canadian Press May 19, 2014 06:00 AM TORONTO - At last fall's Toronto International Film Festival — where the brutal drama "12 Years a Slave" won the audience choice award — Emma Thompson and Pierce Brosnan seemed fully aware that their goofy little comedy "The Love Punch" stuck out like a sore thumb. "It's an adorable, charming romp of a film and in the context of the (festival) it stands alone reallly," Brosnan said of the film, which opens Friday in select theatres. "I don't think there's another film like it really. I mean there are great films here but this film is old-fashioned, somewhat retro." Added Thompson: "I think it's time we made a few more films that are designed to make us feel happy. We don't do it very often and it's such a lovely experience." "The Love Punch" — about a divorced couple who join forces when their retirement money is stolen — has the vibe of an old-fashioned caper flick and calls to mind the "Pink Panther" series, a favourite of director Joel Hopkins. "I love those movies ... anything by Blake Edwards I adore — 'The Party,' the 'Pink Panther' movies," Hopkins said at the festival. "They just have a sort of irreverence and a spirit about them that's such fun. I was hoping to emulate that in a very small way." Hopkins had previously worked with Thompson in "Last Chance Harvey" and penned "The Love Punch" with her in mind. "I wrote this for her and I know her quite well now. I tell her about the idea fairly early on and we talk about it and so it helps me a lot as a writer," he said. "I know the way Emma can deliver things and what she can do, which is pretty much everything." The idea that they might persuade Brosnan to play the male lead, Hopkins said, brought a "smile to their faces." Turns out little persuasion was needed. The erstwhile James Bond says he has long wanted to work with Oscar winner Thompson. The easy chemistry between the pair was evident at the festival, as they finished each other's sentences as they joked their way through an interview. "Emma drew me to the project," said Brosnan. "Emma and I have talked about working together for such a long time. I've loved the girl for such a long time, and I still love her." "Even after making the film," chimed in Thompson. Said Brosnan of the entire experience: "It was like just pulling on a ..." "Glove," finished her co-star. Hopkins, too, was happy with their onscreen rapport. "In this case, day one, (we) started filming and you pretty much immediately got this feeling, 'Ooh OK this is working," he said. "There was a buzz around the crew, you could tell this had good energy to it. Seeing them onscreen together was a pleasure." Hopkins, Brosnan and Thompson all seem proud to have made a film with wide appeal (there is little that audiences will find offensive in "The Love Punch"). "I like the film being very accessible. I hope to be big in the middle of America," said Hopkins. At the drama-laden festival, the director speculated that his film might give audiences some relief. "Maybe after seeing some heavier fare, (they might think) 'Oh, OK, you know, I can take my jacket off and relax and have a good fun 90 minutes.'"
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 19, 2014 11:39:24 GMT -5
insidemovies.ew.com/2014/05/19/emma-thompson-love-punch/There's an exclusive clip in the link with some NSFW language in it (in case you're at work or around little ones) Emma Thompson on 'The Love Punch,' vulgarity, and fielding marriage proposals -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
By Jeff Labrecque on May 19, 2014 at 11:53AM To the best of my knowledge, Emma Thompson is the only Oscar-winning actress (and screenwriter) who’s ever said that extreme vulgarity in modern comedy is “just like watching somebody getting their dick out and putting it on someone’s shoulder.” (You only get to read it, but I had the pleasure of hearing it spoken aloud, as if by Jane Austen herself.) In The Love Punch, Thompson and Pierce Brosnan play a long-divorced couple who begin to fall back in love with each other as they try to steal a diamond from the unscrupulous billionaire who sank their financial fortunes. Celia Imrei (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) and Timothy Spall (Harry Potter) play their couple-friends who become their partners in crime. It’s an old-fashioned caper of a movie from writer/director Joel Hopkins (Last Chance Harvey), and while there is no pecker-on-shoulder contact, there’s one crazy turn after another as the four friends try to right a wrong. In a slightly NSFW exclusive clip from the film, which opens in theaters on May 23, the ex-spouses decide that it’s time to fight fire with fire. And if that means they have to act like the Pink Panther diamond thief, so be it. Then, in a charming interview, Thompson discusses working with James Bond, marriages that go the distance, and the number of times men have asked to marry her. For the record, she’s already married to actor Greg Wise (Sense and Sensibility) — and my proposal did not count. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Sometimes, you see a film and think, “Gosh, that looked like the actors really had to suffer through hell for their art.” I didn’t necessarily get that impression with The Love Punch.
EMMA THOMPSON: Yes, I think that would be a fair assessment. We did used to grab each other and go, “Are we really being allowed to do this? Are we really being allowed to get dressed in scuba-diving gear and totter about the Croisette like a bunch of prunes?” It’s heaven. Plus, Pierce brings all that Bond, Remington Steele stuff along with him, and the fact that he’s playing an ordinary sort of office worker who lives in the Home Counties and just happens to be very good looking, is sort of divine. And the fact that it’s his wife who can drive — he can’t. He hates heights. She’s the sort of one who gets to do all the adventures stuff. Watching you and Pierce, I had to actually go back to IMDb.com to confirm that you hadn’t worked together before because the two of you have such an easy rapport. Had you known each other for a long time?
Yeah, we keep on bumping into each other and going, “C’mon, we’ve got to do something.” And this came along, and there was something so right about it because the relationship is so nice. It’s not the first flush of romance. The fact that they were once married, and that they’ve got through all the hurt of being separated, and then suddenly discover that their history and friendship is reignited by this strange and hilarious adventure that they share, you think, “Would it were so for all of us.” For lots of people in long-term relationships, really, stealing a diamond is all they need to kick start everything again. In the film, your character gives some common-sense marriage advice to a bride-to-be, saying that liking one’s husband is much more important than loving him.
There’s a lot of wisdom in that. I think so. If you’re gong to spend 50 years of your life with someone, you better like them, right? Oh, you better like them, yeah. God. Interestingly, in various studies that have been done on longtime married couples, the criteria for the partners changes over the course of their history. Towards the end of their lives, people say the most important thing in your marriage is that your partner is your intellectual equal. Because in the end, you’ll be conversing more than you’ll be having sex and more than you’ll be dealing with your children. You’ll actually be talking about things, and you’ll have to converse about what’s going on in the world. By then, your kids have left home, so you’ve got to have something to share, and the workings of your minds are very important. Joel Hopkins also directed you in Last Chance Harvey, with Dustin Hoffman. That film had a very different tone than this. Was there something specific that you liked about this, in contrast?I thought it was just very witty. And it’s light as well. Sometimes I find when I go and see comedies these days, there are areas of them where the broadness and the vulgarity just has become too much for me. It’s just like watching somebody getting their dick out and putting it on someone’s shoulder. It’s just not funny anymore. We’re not 17 — well, I’m not 17 anymore. That’s too much for me. As you know, I’m probably the last person who could ever be described as a prude, but I think there’s a point at which some comedies recently just get — I don’t know, something in the vulgar stakes goes slightly wrong for me and leaves me with a bit of a sour taste. So what I found very attractive about this was that it kind of harkened back to the olden days of caper, fast-talking, 1930s Hollywood movies where people just did ridiculous things while talking a lot very, very fast. There was a charm and a sort of levity to it, and an intention to make you or help you just enjoy this hour and half with these extremely charming people. I was at the National Board of Review banquet in New York in January where you were honored for Saving Mr. Banks. I’m going to apologize in advance for saying this a little bit, because it might be uncomfortable. But you were so charming, and I said afterwards to my wife, “Men must have proposed to her every other day.”
[Laughs] So that’s my question: How many times have you been proposed to?
Oh God. [long pause] I don’t think it’s above half a dozen times. I don’t think it’s more than that, although I do get proposed to a lot more now that I’m actually married. But I think that’s because people know they’re safe and they know perfectly well I can’t accept. You know, when I was in my 20s, I was the only guy roommate who watched Sense and Sensibility over and over. Yes, that makes you kind of weird, but I love you for it. Are you married? It’s my turn now. Give my best to your wife, would you?
|
|
|
Post by Ace on May 19, 2014 17:08:21 GMT -5
www.examiner.com/list/the-love-punch-joel-hopkins-talks-capturing-the-spirit-of-classic-cinema‘The Love Punch’: Joel Hopkins talks capturing the spirit of classic cinemaMay 19, 2014 Joel Hopkins, the man behind “Last Chance Harvey” is back with an all-new feature, once again starring the ridiculously talented Emma Thompson, but this time with Pierce Brosnan joining her at the helm. For the unfamiliar, “The Love Punch” is a rom-com caper that finds Thompson and Brosnan, a divorced couple thrown back together by circumstance, plotting––with the help of a couple of friends, brought to life by Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie––to steal a diamond from the man who ripped off all of their retirement money. Hopkins, caught in a rainstorm that caused him to caution “Things might get a bit loud,” nonetheless, jumped on a phone interview to discuss working with the two mega stars, his process as writer and director, the influence classic cinema had on “The Love Punch” and the advice he has to offer viewers who venture out to see the film, which lands in select theaters on May 23. If, as a screenwriter and director, you get to be palsy with Emma Thompson and have the chance to create a project specifically with her in mind, you would be crazy not to do it. Following their work together on “Last Chance Harvey”, Hopkins had just such an opportunity, in fact, their desire to work together again was the starting point for “The Love Punch.” “I made a film with Emma Thompson called ‘Last Chance Harvey’ and we really enjoyed doing that and we kind of wanted to do something else and wanted to do something a bit more playful. So really the starting point was to try and find something fun for her to do,” Hopkins said of the origin of the project. “I think we had a cup of tea and I think we were talking about people for her to play off of and she mentioned Pierce. I thought that sounded like a really fun, fun, fun couple. It’s not the most obvious, but the more I thought about it, the more it made me smile. His charm, her smarts...so that really was the starting point and then I had to think of a story. You know the small thing of a story,” he said, laughing. In the end, the global economic situation ended up inspiring the story once Hopkins had his stars in mind. “I wrote it probably about three years ago now, and we were kind of in the middle of the financial crisis, so it’s quite topical,” he explained. “As a screenwriter, I think the key for me was...they were a divorced couple who were brought together when something went wrong and they had to team up to set it right.” The final ingredient for the picture turned out to be finding the supporting cast to play off of Brosnan and Thompson. “This won’t make any sense in the States, but there was a sitcom here when I was a kid called ‘The Good Life,’ which was about two sets of neighbors who were very different––one was very posh and one was quite the alternative––but they were actually really good friends, and when I was pitching this movie I said, it’s sort of like ‘The Good Life’ does a heist,” Hopkins said of the dynamic that inspired the foursome at the film’s center. “I got really lucky. I got Tim Spall, who is a bit of a legend here in England, and then the lovely Celia Imrie, who people might know from things like ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.’ So I had a really lucky foursome. When you see the four of them together, for me, it completely works, you can feel their friendship.” Much of the action in the film takes place in the south of France, as it has in so many other movies, the setting feels almost like a character. ”There’s no better place than the south of France to steal a diamond. Obviously, there’s the great movie, ‘To Catch A Thief’ [which also takes place there],” Hopkins said. “When I talk about Pierce and Emma in this movie, the idea with them was to recreate a classic screen couple. Their chemistry has a really classy feel to it. I think they do slightly remind you of, dare I say, Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, there’s a lovely pull between them.” Hopkins also pointed to the Golden Age classics, “His Girl Friday” and “Bringing Up Baby” as films he looked to for clues and insight to the tone he was looking to instill into his film. Another classic also informed the mood of this caper, which at one point has his leads sporting flippers and wetsuits on land. A feat that Hopkins said is so naturally awkward that much of the physical comedy came to the fore naturally. “[The wetsuits] were bloody tight and they could hardly move in them, so all of the silly walks and stuff were real and natural. it’s very hard to be graceful in those things,” Hopkins said. And speaking of the somewhat slapstick nature of the film, Hopkins added, “I hope people get it and go with it...in England we call them romps, it’s a romantic caper film that sort of hearkens back to things like ‘The Pink Panther’. I think it’s the kind of film where you have to sort of hang your cynical hat at the door and kind of go with it. If you do, I think you have a great ride with four great actors, but if you start saying three quarters of the way through the movie, ‘How did they climb up that cliff?’ then it’s missing the point a bit.” It may not be the most common practice in the film industry, but for his part Hopkins said that writing is often easier with a specific person in mind for the role, especially if he knows them. “I’m getting to the point where I’ll write a line and I can imagine Emma saying that. I think you have to be quite careful that you don’t write something that’s just...an amalgam of Emma-speak. There’s a danger there of just writing good Emma lines and not [serving the story], “ he said. “I think actors can be a bit put off by that idea. In my last film ‘Last Chance Harvey’ it was Dustin Hoffman and when he heard I had written it for him, he was like ‘Well, you don’t know me, how can you write for me?’ He found it a bit odd, but he still did it, so I must have done something right,” Hopkins recalled. Though it’s still in quite early stages, Hopkins did reveal that he is working on writing his next project, and he once again is doing so with the hope of working with specific people. “I’ve got something going. Which again, is for Emma. My hope is to find a good reason to put Emma and Meryl Streep in a movie together. That’s my goal. That’s sort of my starting point, but I’m sort of working on something ideally,” he explained. “Meryl doesn’t know this yet,” Hopkins added, laughing, “but I’ve mentioned it to Emma and I’m just starting to get into that. I want to try to find a way for them to have a go at each other...just have to find a plot somewhere. I joke, but you’ve got to start somewhere...and I find that quite interesting thinking of actors I would like to see together.”
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 19, 2014 18:59:09 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Ace on May 19, 2014 20:27:05 GMT -5
www.thewrap.com/the-love-punch-review-emma-thompson-pierce-brosnan/
‘The Love Punch’ Review: Emma Thompson and Pierce Brosnan Make This Rob-the-Rich Rom-Com WorkMovies | By James Rocchi on May 19, 2014 @ 5:26 pm Fun, sun, and a righteous robbery make a glittering showcase for a witty castDirected and written by Joel Hopkins — whose earlier films “Jump Tomorrow” and “Last Chance Harvey” demonstrated both perfect comedic timing and a warm understanding of human imperfection — “The Love Punch” gets by in no small part thanks to the individual charms and collective chemistry between leads Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson. Playing divorced couple Richard and Kate, Brosnan and Thompson depict the semi-stable state of long separations: occasional conversations about new developments or old resentments, living separate lives. But when captain-of-industry Brosnan sells his company to a larger megacorp whose CEO (Laurent Lafitte) then robs the entire pension fund and moves on like a predator in search of the next meal, Richard and Kate find themselves facing post-retirement poverty right before the finish line of retirement age. Getting their money back will take them both outside of their comfort zone and result in them becoming surprisingly comfortable with each other once again. The revenge-of-the-ripped-off plot here is nothing new; similar working-class outrage fueled 2011's “Tower Heist” and other, similar films long before the recent credit crunch and financial meltdown. Rarely, though, have we had such charming companions on the voyage over that well-trod ground. Brosnan's Richard is a good man with a bad back; as weird as it is to see the ex-Bond groaning about his lumbar vertebra, it certainly puts a bit of mileage on Brosnan's matinee-idol good looks. Thompson's Kate also takes advantage of the actress’ familiar talents — a capacity for rapid-fire dialogue, impeccable comedic timing, and a way of speaking that suggests her mental filter isn't quite quick enough to catch the spoken first draft of her thoughts. Love_Punch_TLP-EEE_0268The supporting cast is also excellent, including Lafitte's turn as an amoral businessman and Tuppence Middleton as his future trophy wife. Regular scene-stealers Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie are also great as old friends Jerry and Penelope, always ready to help by offering a glass of wine or by taking part in a kidnapping and jewel heist in the South of France. With sunshiny elegant locations and decidedly low-tech planning (no one here is putting on a black turtleneck to shimmy through laser beams), comedy and character have to do most of the heavy lifting here, and if they're occasionally not up to the task of maintaining the momentum, at least the occasional slow-downs never bring the proceedings to a full stop. The best possible news is that “The Love Punch” takes itself about as seriously as you should take it; crimes are interrupted for swigs of champagne, and montages where our larcenous foursome swagger like Reservoir Dogs are interrupted by their need to stop for a restroom break. In an era when entertainment on film seems more and more aimed specifically at juveniles — or, alternately, ostensibly aimed at adults yet decidedly juvenile in nature — an occasional on-screen reminder that life does not, “Logan's Run”-style, end at 30 is welcome. “The Love Punch” may be aged out of the main moviegoing demographic, yet it's still a breezy time that earns solid laughs while making good points. “Love's easy when you're rolling around on expensive sheets,” Thompson's Kate counsels at one point to a younger woman. “It's different when they have to be washed up.” Editor Susan Littleberg (“Easy A”) maintains the fleet, sleek and glowing tone of the piece, and her experience with Hopkins’ cosmopolitan, urbane style serves the film well. Cinematographer Jérôme Alméras shoots in a suitably not-quite-real light that keeps things gorgeous and glib, with the not inconsiderable aid of the film's French Riviera locations. “The Love Punch” may not have the knockout power that would make it a TKO, but like all older, wiser boxers, it assuredly has the endurance to get closer to the final bell than you might at first glance think.
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 20, 2014 13:46:43 GMT -5
www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-steely/15-minutes-with-pierce-br_b_5345779.html15 Minutes With Pierce Brosnan
by Jon Steely Posted: 05/20/2014 2:09 pm EDT I've been checking my cell phone obsessively, waiting for the woman I've been dating to return my last text. This shouldn't be a big deal, but to me it is. To me, the faster she returns the text, the more she cares. Of course I know this logic is ridiculous, but abandonment issues have scorched me with flames of dysfunction and, at times, my self esteem is directly connected to how fast women return my texts. Right now, I don't need food or water or oxygen. I just need her to return my text before my friggin' head explodes. Again, I'm aware of my unhealthy thought patterns. I should be talking to a shrink, but instead I'm strolling into the posh Casa Del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica to interview Pierce Brosnan for his new British romantic comedy The Love Punch, the story of a divorced couple -- played by Brosnan and Emma Thompson -- who, after getting bilked out of their pension funds, plan a diamond heist in the picturesque south of France. Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson are delightful in this charming caper film as they ramble around Paris and the French Riviera, trying to salvage their finances and rekindling their romance in the process. I put my cell phone in my pocket and sit with Pierce Brosnan. He's seated on the edge of a bed in his hotel suite, and I'm in a chair across from him. A panoramic ocean view almost distracts me from the suave charisma he exudes. Pierce Brosnan is as handsome and charming in person as you'd expect, and when you meet him it's painfully clear why he's a movie star and you're not. I'm mindful and aware that I'm in a beautiful oceanfront hotel interviewing Pierce Brosnan. I should be enjoying this opportunity, but, as we begin our conversation, it's all I can do to resist addict-like urges to check my cell phone to see if she's texted. My emotions are shaken and stirred, but I keep my phone in my pocket and focus on Brosnan. You can't keep checking your cell phone when you're in a one-to-one interview with a global superstar. It would be beyond rude, and it's taking every ounce of discipline I have to keep myself from doing it. I ask Pierce Brosnan why he wanted to get involved with The Love Punch? "Emma Thompson," Brosnan says. "I wanted to work with that grand lady. I think she's just a hell of an actor and all-around artist. I love the topical aspect of this story. This man's life was pulled under by the banks, and the relevance of that part of the story was quite poignant. The realization that many people's lives were torn apart by the financial crisis that we've all endured. And then there's the sheer audacity of The Love Punch, the screwball comedy aspect of it. The South of France. Paris. The ensemble." I ask what he hopes an audience will get from watching The Love Punch ? "I hope they go see it at the cinema and have a good night out," Brosnan says. "And be transported with love and adventure and hijinks of life, and see that love does endure and that, when you find your partner in life, you have to hang tough together through thick and thin. You have to like each other, really like each other. A big part of loving someone is to like them." Speaking of being liked, I'm dying to check my cell to see if she's texted yet. I refrain, and maintain eye contact with Pierce Brosnan. "A good night at the movies," Brosnan continues, "followed by a great dinner and then home to bed with your partner and a bottle of champagne." "You seem happy," I tell Brosnan. "Are you happy?" "I'm happy," he answers. "I've always been happy, actually. I've always loved doing what I do. Once I found acting and found that I could get away with it and make a living out of it, I was thrilled." I look at Pierce Brosnan and wonder if he's ever dealt with heartbreak? Can a major Hollywood movie star and international sex symbol -- one who played James Bond -- possibly relate to romantic disappointment? I ask James Bond if he's ever been in a relationship where he likes the woman more than she likes him? "Oh, God, yes," Brosnan answers. "Just because I look the way I look or do what I do doesn't mean that I'm like that and do that every day of my life. It's an illusion. I'm just a guy. I know the pain and deep heartache of wanting to be with someone who doesn't really give you the attention." "So, what advice do you have for someone in that position?" I ask. "Take your foot off the pedal," 007 replies. "Just look after yourself. Protect your heart, and have a sense of grace about it all. Grace under pressure. It all goes by so quickly, anyway. Love is hard. It's really hard, especially when they get you by the heart strings." I shake Pierce Brosnan's hand and leave his suite, cool, calm and collected. He's given some terrific words of wisdom, yet the second I'm out of his sight, I yank my cell phone out of my pocket like a gunfighter at the O.K. Corral and check to see if she's texted. Nothing. A minute later, I check my cell again. Still, no text. It's going to be a long day, and a long time until I'm emotionally bulletproof. The Love Punch opens May 23
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 20, 2014 16:40:37 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 20, 2014 19:42:57 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Ace on May 20, 2014 23:13:29 GMT -5
I ask James Bond if he's ever been in a relationship where he likes the woman more than she likes him? "Oh, God, yes," Brosnan answers. "Just because I look the way I look or do what I do doesn't mean that I'm like that and do that every day of my life. It's an illusion. I'm just a guy. I know the pain and deep heartache of wanting to be with someone who doesn't really give you the attention." "So, what advice do you have for someone in that position?" I ask. "Take your foot off the pedal," 007 replies. "Just look after yourself. Protect your heart, and have a sense of grace about it all. Grace under pressure. It all goes by so quickly, anyway. Love is hard. It's really hard, especially when they get you by the heart strings." I shake Pierce Brosnan's hand and leave his suite, cool, calm and collected. He's given some terrific words of wisdom, yet the second I'm out of his sight, I yank my cell phone out of my pocket like a gunfighter at the O.K. Corral and check to see if she's texted. Laughing and cringing a bit about how he turned this interview into an opportunity to ask for dating/love life advice and spends most of doing it and writing about it worrying about a girl's texting him back.
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 21, 2014 5:54:51 GMT -5
www.examiner.com/list/interview-pierce-brosnan-on-waxing-comedic-for-rom-com-caper-the-love-punchInterview: Pierce Brosnan on waxing comedic for rom-com caper ‘The Love Punch'For many, many moviegoers Pierce Brosnan will always be James Bond––and for some he’ll always be Remington Steele, but in either case, the image of a smooth operator, master of stealth and man of action is one he’ll always carry with him. In his latest film, which finds him teaming up with Emma Thompson and director Joel Hopkins, Brosnan is yet again involved in a caper, but this time around instead of a super spy he’s an everyman thrust into action when he can think of no other way to recoup his stolen life savings than to steal a diamond from the man responsible. Instead of gadgets and the MI6 at his back, he has his only ex-wife and some neighborly pals to help him out. Needless to say, The Love Punch finds Brosnan, Thompson and company having quite a lot of fun, and fans too can rejoice in this easy romp that harkens back to both classic comedies like The Pink Panther, and the granddaddy of all heist films To Catch A Thief. In a recent phone interview Brosnan spoke about the project, finally working with his longtime friend Emma Thompson, longevity in the film business and what’s next in store for him. The Love Punch writer-director Joel Hopkins has been quite open about writing the film specifically with Brosnan and Thompson in mind. Brosnan opened up about how he got involved and what drew him to the project. “Emma and I are old friends, we’ve known each other for many years,” Brosnan said. “We’ve always wanted to work together and Joel Hopkins is somebody that came to my company Irish Dreamtime with ideas, and it sprung from that relationship.” In addition to the prospect of working with his long time friend, Brosnan also found himself drawn to the project based on it’s simplicity of concept. “All the ingredients for this were very favorable, to do some kind of screwball romantic comedy...I just thought it was a delightfully rendered piece, and I loved the idea of Emma and I playing these characters. I thought it had some kind of cultural resonance for it’s time, and I love the idea of love enduring for these two people who go through so much that they find each other again,” he explained. “And I really loved the idea of the south of France,” he added. Fortunately, Brosnan and the rest of the cast and crew were able to enjoy plenty of time in France, where the bulk of the film was shot. “We started off in Nice and then we went into Paris, it was just a joyous summer,” Brosnan said. “I’ve literally just come back from the same place, I’m doing another film there, so Paris is becoming a place that I’m very familiar with now. I do enjoy the people and the culture and the whole landscape there.” The Love Punch is a film that enjoys an incredible ensemble cast that includes Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie alongside Brosnan and Thompson, a fact that Brosnan said made the whole experience fun. “I adore Emma, she’s such a brilliant actress and has the finest touch of comedic timing, and then you throw in Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie, it was kind of just a match made in heaven. It was giggles all the way and very fine evenings of wine and great cuisine,” he said. Like so many classic comedies, The Love Punch gives that core cast room to play, many of the laughs are found in the conversation and action between Brosnan, Thompson, Spall and Imrie. “They [only] come around, so often movies like this, it’s somewhat old fashioned,” Brosnan said. “I think that’s what Joel was going for, was a slightly retro type of filmmaking. It has a charm and an innocence to it, it wears its heart on its sleeve.” And speaking of the wit and physical comedy in play, Brosnan said that the scenes that found the four of them sporting wetsuits were not among the most fun moments. Quite on the contrary they were: “Miserable, miserable! It was summertime and it was very hot and then you compound it by sitting in a very small vehicle, I think we all lost pounds,” Brosnan recalled. “It was not the most pleasant of experiences, but it certainly pays off for the laughs, to see us all do such capers.” In the time that has elapsed since making The Love Punch, Brosnan has worked on seven additional films, one of which––A Long Way Down––features another exceptionally strong ensemble cast, Brosnan spoke about the pleasures that come from working with groups comprised of great artists. “There’s nothing like working with the best actors possible, and if you have a piece of material like, Long Way Down or Love Punch, which allows you to play, then it’s just a joy to go to work,” Brosnan said. “You’re with people who know what they are doing and have a great sense of themselves and a great sense of humor about themselves. They have the emotional value of thought, presence of mind and creativity. It’s just the greatest, it’s the greatest feeling ever.” In addition to A Long Way Down and The Love Punch, Brosnan also has a comedy, How to Make Love Like an Englishman, an action flick, November Man, and a thriller, The Coup, slated to come out later this year. That’s the kind of productivity that most young actors can only hope for decades into their careers. Brosnan spoke about how he selects projects and why it suits him just fine to stay so busy. “Luckily the work comes my way, and I say it lightly, but...you actually cannot be too lackadaisical about work, it’s a different market now than 20 years ago. The movie business is very hard, a very hard game, you have to be tough as old boots to play it, but I have a certain body of work that I think is relevant and I love to act,” he said. “It’s my passion, my joy and how I make my living. That’s what one strives for exactly right. It’s hard work, nothing comes from nothing, it’s about doing.”
|
|
|
Post by eaz35173 on May 21, 2014 14:14:56 GMT -5
Got this reply from Ketchup Entertainment when I asked them if they'd be publishing a list of theaters for the movie on their fb page ...
"We're posting the initial cities on the LOVE PUNCH facebook page at about 1:30 [PDT] today. 120 screens in ten cities to start."
|
|
|
Post by rosafermu on May 21, 2014 14:16:57 GMT -5
Thanks eaz
|
|
|
Post by Ace on May 21, 2014 15:43:50 GMT -5
www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/us-people-emmathompson-idUSKBN0E10YV20140521A Minute With: Emma Thompson on comedy, bathing suits and success By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES Wed May 21, 2014 (Reuters) - For Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, donning a bathing suit on the French Riviera alongside Pierce Brosnan in the British romantic comedy "The Love Punch" was too good to pass up. The film, directed by Joel Hopkins and opening on Friday in the United States, follows divorced suburban London couple Kate and Richard as they attempt a diamond heist in France after their pension fund goes bust. Thompson, 55, known for roles in period dramas "Howards End" and "Sense and Sensibility," spoke about her work in comedy, her early influences and success. Q: What drew you to "The Love Punch"? A: The opportunity to appear in a bathing costume has been something sadly missing from my CV. I said to my agent, "Please, God, get me something where I can get into a bathing costume." And this is what came up. Also, I've worked with the director before and I like him very much, and the idea of a heist movie set as it were in the Home Counties (suburban London) of England with a very witty notion, and then it turned out to be Pierce, which was not so shabby. Q: You have appeared in period bathing costumes in films? A: That's right. I still only appear in period bathing costumes in real life. I wear those very, very long Victorian draw things in various shades of navy. (Laughs) Q: "The Love Punch" is decidedly British with its sense of middle-class and middle-aged humor. Do you think some of that might be lost on foreign audiences? A: If Americans can adore and enjoy Monty Python, they can deal with a bit of mangled French. God knows the most extraordinary bit of Python is mangled French, isn't it? In the "Holy Grail," you know? So I don't think there's any problem with that at all. A lot of very American humor goes down very well over here, and very, very British humor goes down very well across the pond. Q: Do you have a preference for drama or comedy? A: I'm British and I like being funny, so it's what I grew up with. I was a comedian until I was 27, so it's natural to me to want to stretch those muscles. I had just done 'Saving Mr. Banks,' and that's quite sad. I do an awful lot of work that is sometimes very emotional. It's nice to do something that is designed to make people happy from start to finish. Q: Did you look up to anyone when you were a comedian? A: Lily Tomlin. For me, her writing in "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe" was some of the greatest I'd ever come across. I really wanted to be her, and I did character comedy. Lenny Bruce I loved, just his way of talking about the world and his unflinching sort of way of speaking. Q: How do you define success? A: If you're spurred by the desire to be successful, then I would strongly recommend you don't go into this business. If that's what spurs you, then blood will flow. What spurs me is a curious and mysterious resonance inside a story that makes me think, "Oh, I want to do that." I want to be part of that story. I want to tell that story. Success is nice and necessary if you're going to have a long-term career. You have to have a fair degree of success, otherwise you just don't get the opportunities ... I would say success is useful. It is very useful in ... that you get the chance to choose from a slightly wider variety of projects. I feel incredibly fortunate because I've got so many choices. I think there aren't many women of 55 who can say that.
|
|