|
Post by sparklingblue on Jan 25, 2007 7:54:50 GMT -5
Maybe they could try that art film strategy on for size and instead of "Married Life" call it something like "The Wine Merchant." <large "I'm only kidding" wink>
|
|
|
Post by Lauryn on Jan 27, 2007 18:25:06 GMT -5
Good point. It was a novel rather than a style choice, in that case.
Is "The Tender Poisoner" the novel's American title? Actually, it still retains a British flavor, which I like. And fits well and has a certain mystery, why not use it?
I guess "exits" would still work well enough as a substitute for "roundabouts" even though the latter traffic term is more evocative not just of a literal destination, but of the turnings the story takes.
If Lorna lived in my neighborhood it would be "One Traffic Circle and Two Speed Bumps to Heaven." Given the proliferation of those in every municipality these days, it's a good thing the novel's a period piece. <wink>
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Jan 29, 2007 0:31:06 GMT -5
LOL!
Yes, The Tender Poisoner was the U.S. Title of the book when it was printed here in the 50s. I've seen a couple of copies of it on Ebay.
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Feb 23, 2007 14:42:48 GMT -5
An interview with a "career" extra -- with a nice mention of Pierce (seemingly from the set of "Married Life") Vancouver Sun: Rubbing shoulders with the stars is funRichmond resident also enjoys the hair, makeup and wardrobe of 'let's pretend' Marie Maskell, 55, says she's been in hundreds of movies of all types. Yvonne Zacharias, Vancouver Sun Published: Friday, February 23, 2007 Marie Maskell has sung karaoke with big-name actors. She has rubbed shoulders with Anne Heche and Pierce Brosnan. The 55-year-old former Eaton's worker has this love affair with the film industry. That's one of the reasons she was been working for seven years as an "extra" or background performer. She had done this line of work about 20 years ago. Then when the store closed, she returned to it. "The whole thing is so much fun," said the Richmond woman who has appeared in scenes reflecting New York City street life, parties, office work and dancing. "It's just pretend, just make believe." Sometimes she has a good laugh at herself. She feels you can't take yourself too seriously to be an extra. Sometimes, she doesn't altogether like what she sees when she appears on screen but that is part of the job. She estimates she has been in hundreds of movies of all types. She has met countless interesting people and developed an understanding of what goes on behind the scenes. "I now see movies in an altogether different light." Business suits and evening gowns are staples in her wardrobe. She needs both all the time for her various roles. As a non-union extra, she admits the pay could be better, adding she couldn't make a living in her line of work. She relies on her husband's income to pay bills. But, hey, she gets to play "let's pretend." She particularly enjoyed one film with Brosnan who she describes as being "so charming, such a gentleman." Set in the mid-1940s, "I had to get all dressed up. They did our hair and makeup. We sat in a men's club." It was fabulous. Fortunately, she loves dancing which she has done in some films. "It's odd though because when the music stops, you have to keep dancing. That's when the actors' lines come in." The down sides? She isn't wild about the night shoots. She also doesn't always like to travel far afield to places like Chilliwack to do a job. For her, a car is essential. "You have to haul your own stuff. You are tired at night when you get off the set." Ah, but it's so much fun.
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Mar 26, 2007 13:46:21 GMT -5
Elle Magazine: Next Stop Wonderland (Rachel McAdams Cover story)Excerpts concerning Married Life. "Something's happening behind the eyes that's different from what she's saying," Sachs says. "There's a whole life going on within the gaze." Clearly smitten; she's run off with his head. "Yes! You fall completely in love with Rachel when you work with her. And I'm a full-grown gay man!" Such bewitchery was required for her role in Married Life. Based on the John Bingham 1953 noir novel Five Roundabouts to Heaven, the film stars McAdams as a '40s femme fatale involved in a murderous menagerie with Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper. "This man wants out of his marriage, so he decides rather than breaking his wife's heart by leaving her, he'll just kill her—avoid the emotional damage altogether," McAdams says, smiling. "I play the lover." "She has a movie star's entrance in the movie," Sachs says. "In that moment you understand why two men will fall so madly in love with this woman as to put their own lives on the line to have her. She embodied that mythological cinematic quality." He compares her to "Kim Novak in Vertigo, Grace Kelly in Rear Window, and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest." ***** "My ears perked up when I heard she started in theater," Cooper says. That background has helped her pull off complicated performances. "I've worked with some wonderful American actors, but I'm afraid that for a piece like [Married Life], they usually cast from Britain, Australia, Canada. There's a maturity in these women that the American film industry…well, look at what's happening with the awards this year—Meryl is the only American up for best actress."
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Apr 19, 2007 18:07:03 GMT -5
While MGM plays musical dates the MPAA has given it a rating:
Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and a scene of sexuality.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distribution Co., A Division Of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
|
|
|
Post by Lauryn on Apr 27, 2007 17:37:52 GMT -5
While MGM plays musical dates the MPAA has given it a rating: Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and a scene of sexuality. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distribution Co., A Division Of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. With some dramas an R rating might be the signal that the movie is squarely (and thankfully) in adult emotional and sexual territory, but I can also see how with this kind of period film things need not or maybe even should not be explicit, they may gain as much force by the tension of what is or is not "allowed" to be shown. Another style heavy period domestic fable, "Far From Heaven," managed to explore a lot of ground recently within a PG-13 frame, though you could note that repression was more central to its story. On the other hand, I wouldn't have minded at all if PB and Rachel McAdams got their kit off and provided some R rated sizzle beneath the sheets. Noir and fatality and obsession always have had a modern cast to them so that could have worked well, too. I wonder what release patterns and dates we'll end up with and what audience(s) they'll be chasing after. The cast and theme and look of the film allow for a variety of ways to sell it, from high gloss throwback Hitchcockian thriller to art house "scenes from a marriage" with a twist. With a PG rating they might even nab some of Rachel McAdams' younger fan base. I'm not sure it would strike the right chords with fans of "The Notebook" but their money is as good as anyone else's, LOL! I hope that MGM's troops can get their act together for the US market but my expectations aren't high. In the wake of each changing of the guard on their horizon staffing has been downsized, outsourced and buzzed in and out of the revolving door. Just for the sake of my nerves it would be nice of one of PB's art house babies could be handled by a team with more stability in the mgt and the ranks and more leverage to place smaller films in a position to compete for a few more bums on seats. But, like they say, it's a jungle out there and even those with better than average success like Fox Searchlight and Focus are hedging their bets lately by doing more budget genre / horror films. Don't mind me. I'm just sitting here fingering my worry beads.
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Apr 29, 2007 1:34:16 GMT -5
Of course that lone scene of sexuality could be between McAdams and Cooper. Just giving you something else to worry about. I have no worry that the film will be adult with the director and writer it has and he seems to be actively going for some film noir/Hitchcockian tone (down to the Hitchcock blonde) so PG-13 seems about right. As for MGM and if they can get their act together. I would love if Kimmel was releasing it though Focus instead or Searchlight but they had a right of first refusal deal with MGM so ... Then again if MGM drags their feet maybe there's some loophole provision to take ther film from them. It was moved for a time to 2008 then that was changed to TBA. Pierce mentions in his latest note that it will be released this fall but actors are usually the last to know.
|
|
|
Post by Lauryn on Apr 29, 2007 2:35:28 GMT -5
Of course that lone scene of sexuality could be between McAdams and Cooper. Just giving you something else to worry a out. Y'know, there's a rather classic book by Dan Greenburg called "How to Make Yourself Miserable: A Vital Training Manual" (Random House, 1966) that trades in all sorts of worst case scenario exercises. You haven't been reading it by any chance? I didn't mean to imply that it wouldn't be adult in theme, it would have that intention regardless of rating, just throwing out the possiblity that a PG-13 rating could suggest a certain discipline in style. I just hate the thought of this movie with this story and this cast not having its best chance with audiences. Yeah, I know. Think, worry, think, worry. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Well, I'm off to read Chapter Two: Seven Classic Misery Making Situations -- just the thing before bedtime, LOL!
|
|
|
Post by Ace on May 1, 2007 13:46:17 GMT -5
Married Life had a test screening yesterday and I've seen two reviews of it. One short one by a blogger and another from a frequent poster at Oscarwatch. Please avert your eyes if you don't want to see but neither gives away plot etc that isn't in the synopsis or came out through the location shooting.
The first very general:
"Married Life" May 2nd, 2007 Current mood: Awesome
I saw a screening of "Married Life" last night, starring Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams, Chris Cooper, and Patricia Clarkson (I think it's Clarkson). Like most movies, I loved it. My friend loved it as well so maybe that's a better indicator than to listen to me who loves almost every movie for some reason or another. Pierce Brosnan being in this one was enough reason for me to love it, but it was really good. The tag line is, "Do you ever really know the people you sleep next to?" From experience, I would have to say, the creator of this film knew what they were talking about. Everyone has their secrets, don't they and all of these characters did. Lately, I have been more of a silent observer of those close to me and the games they play. It's rather fun that way. You know, they don't know you know. On that note......As the late, great Kurt Vonnegut Jr. would say, "Hi ho."
From Oscarwatch.com
Talentedmrwelles L'age de Scorsese Married Life (2007?, Ira Sachs)
May 2nd, 2007 Oscarwatch Forums Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) has the seemingly perfect life in the heady days of post-WWII America: good job, good friends and a loving wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson). However, he is not content. He wants to be truly happy. He falls for a much younger woman named Kay Nesbit (Rachel McAdams). He wants to tell his wife that he wants a divorce, but he doesn't think she can handle it mentally or emotionally, so he concots a plan to kill her, to spare her the pain of heartbreak. Harry's friend Richard (Pierce Brosnan) throws a wrench in his plan when he falls for Kay.
Writer-Director Ira Sachs (Forty Shades of Blue) has concoted a thoroughly entertaining film that is both darkly funny and suspenseful. As a director, he shows confidence, but the script is flawed. The concept is far from original, and the Kay character is really underdeveloped. At just over 90 minutes, the film could have easily accomodated more character development.
The fabulous cast does a lot to make up for these deficiencies. Chris Cooper turns in his second great performance this year. He makes us love, hate, pity and empathize with Harry all at once. He is capable of communicating so much with out uttering a syllable. Patricia Clarkson reveals hidden depths beneath her doting housewife's alabaster skin and pearls. Pierce Brosnan adds another impressive performance to his continually improving resume. He gets the best lines and delivers them with syle and panache. Rachel McAdams gets the short end of the stick, characterwise. She isn't given much to do but look pretty, but she does it well. She also gets a few really great moments, and when she is onscreen with Brosnan they have great chemistry.
I saw a work-print so the color was a little washed out, but I'm sure when its released the deep rich colors used will be lush. The costumes are beautiful and elegant, evoking the late 40s without being outlandish. My favorite costume was a pair of navy silk striped pajamas that Chis Cooper wore. Rachel McAdams in particular looked amazing. She is definetly suited for this time period. There is also a really delightful opening title sequence that is in the vein of Desparate Housewives' but using 1940s motifs
IMDB says its coming out in 2008, but I see no reason why it can't be released by the end of the year. Hopefully it will and the cast will get some awards attention.
B+
Addendum (asnwering questions about Rachel): She has a scene at the beginning when Harry tells Richard hes in love with another woman. She enters in this fabulous emerald green dress and looks stunning. She doesn't say anything.
She has a few scenes with Harry alone when he sneaks away to be with her. They talk about how much they love each other. He gives her presents.
The bulk of her scenes are with Pierce Brosnan. Harry suggests Richard looks in on Kay to keep her company when he can't be there. Richard takes him up on it, but intends to do more than just play bridge with her. There is a lovely scene where she talks about husband, mother and father all of whom have died. She also has a really fun scene where she and Richard go out on the town.
The other scenes I can't really talk about without spoiling the rest of the movie.
|
|
|
Post by sparklingblue on May 2, 2007 2:25:23 GMT -5
I like what I read above. I'm looking forward to this film very much!
|
|
|
Post by Ace on May 2, 2007 14:43:32 GMT -5
I like it very much as well. And I really hope this test screening was seen as successful by MGM and they get their collective arses together and give a release date and start to do stills, articles, trailers etc and build some buzz.
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Jun 18, 2007 13:50:34 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Jun 20, 2007 15:44:24 GMT -5
In the midst of a much larger article on the film Heavenly States dated Jun 20, 2007 Producer Jawal Nga (recently behind “Married Life” with Pierce Brosnan) will add this project to his duties executive producing the Allen Ginsberg documentary, “HOWL,” for directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman through his NY-based production company, Tiny Dancer Films. Full Release: Jawal Nga is a name you may not be familiar with in the music world. On the horizon for Nga is the September release of “Married Life,” starring Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams, Patricia Clarkson and Chris Cooper. Nga produced the film along with Sidney Kimmel, Steven Golin and Ira Sachs who also directed the film for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. Most recently, Nga produced the 2005 Sundance Grand Jury winning film, “Forty Shades of Blue,” also directed by Sachs. Nga is currently executive producing the Allen Ginsberg documentary, “HOWL,” for directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman through his NY-based production company, Tiny Dancer Films. This is the first I've heard of a September release and the Official Kimmel site doesn't have any date (or even distributor) now listed but they're also behind in giving the specific release date for other films like Lars.
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Jul 7, 2007 18:37:56 GMT -5
End Credits music, Waltz, Bathtub and other pieces available at composer Dickon Hinchliffe's site They start to play automatically when you enter his site. If you're on dialup you'll hear stops and starts but if you wait awhile for the music to load then just click back on the button you should get a smooth play. There's also a long interesting interview with him at Short End Magazine: Laughing with Dickon Hinchliffe (3-07)Here's the excerpt dealing with Married Life and composing film scores. SM: Do you want to just riff a minute on what it’s like to be a film composer. I mean is this something you can see yourself doing for…the rest of your years? Not to be too grandiose about it. DH: (laughing) Yeah, I’ve just finished doing a film, again with Ira Sachs called Married Life. The thing that I like about it is that each film is very different, and even though with this film it’s the same director, it’s a very different kind of film, a different function because it’s set in the 1940s and I’m having to do things I haven’t done before. The thing I love about it is the way it’s sort of a challenge and you kind of--it can drive you mad as well. I mean I don’t like the way you have to be very meticulous in the way you organize yourself and your time and…there are times when you feel very sort of locked in if you’re working on your own compared to say when I’ve worked with bands and things. But at the same time, you’re very much working as part of a big, huge team of people working on a biggish movie, it’s a massive team game and yet you’re spending a lot of time on your own so it’s quite bizarre. But then when you actually get to record the thing and it works and you feel good about it, it’s like a, quite a very satisfying, elevating moment. So…yeah (laughs) I’d like to be carrying on. SM: And to what degree do you feel like you’re articulating yourself as a musician, because I assume that…. You’re an artist and I think…there must be things you’re consumed with and you’re making these films and I assume that some of that makes its way into the scores. How is that? Is scoring fulfilling in the way you’d expect it to be, or is it more…work? DH: I think it’s a mixture, I think definitely, you know, I couldn’t do it if I wasn’t being able to express myself. I think to me music is all about expressing who you are, your feelings and communicating that. I wouldn’t be very good at just sort of doing music for functional reasons. And so, what I tend to do is even when I know the music is very much a background element, and it is performing a function in the film, I always kind of make sure it means something to me. And I think because of that, it means that the music can stand up in its own right, away from the image. Which to me is important, I think that film music you can listen to as music; you don’t have to be watching the film at the same time. SM: Well, I’m right about at the thirty-minute mark, I have one last question— DH: Yeah, sure. SM: —that I didn’t get in earlier. In Forty Shades of Blue, the pieces you composed seemed very much to be in the point of view of Laura, they’re really focused around her and what she’s going through. And then you look at a film like Friday Night, you’re setting the tempo, you’re setting the tone. I mean you’re really an equal character in that film. I wanted to know what was the difference in doing those two jobs, and how as a composer, what you get out of those two scenarios. DH: Yeah, that’s interesting. With Forty Shades it was very much a conscious decision the first time I saw the film, I thought the score would come from Laura. She needs to have her music because the Rip Torn character, he has his music which is him being a producer, the Memphis music. And so to me to build a musical interaction, she had to have music that was the kind of psychological music of her life, her feelings and emotions. That was a very important thing for me with that film. Also the difference from Friday Night…Ira Sachs described it as like poetry, whereas Forty Shades of Blue is more like a novel. And so in terms of the music there’s an awful lot more space in Claire Denis' work for music; it can occupy a very different kind of space than in most kinds of films. Even someone like Ira, even though his films are very lyrical, there aren’t these sort of long, poetic moments that you get in Claire Denis' films where the music comes to the fore. It’s kind of interesting because the film I’ve just done with him I think is a kind of balance between the two. I think the music definitely has a bigger role than it does in Forty Shades of Blue. But at the same time, it’s still very much driven by dialogue. I think with Claire Denis, because her films aren’t driven by dialogue, they’re driven by…sensuality, and…suggestions of things rather than through language. So the music, it…you know, automatically fulfills it. It has a different sort of role.
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Jul 7, 2007 18:47:00 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by icyvice on Jul 7, 2007 21:13:18 GMT -5
oh yippee, I hope this is true, because if it is, then our cinemas would usually release films earlier than Singapore. (Not to mention those bootleg DVDs!)
|
|
|
Post by Lauryn on Jul 10, 2007 0:59:27 GMT -5
End Credits music, Waltz, Bathtub and other pieces available at composer Dickon Hinchliffe's site They start to play automatically when you enter his site. If you're on dialup you'll hear stops and starts but if you wait awhile for the music to load then just click back on the button you should get a smooth play. Thanks for finding this, Ace. It sounds like it will be quite effective in the film. The end credits do give an overall feel of the score. I like how he uses the strings and vibraphone to give lushness to a melodic line that seems almost deliberately simple in the way that imagist poetry is. On the other hand, (since he's asked to judge the music on its own listenability and not just as a film score) there are times (mostly in the other selections) where I find the approach can sound a bit like wallpaper -- too much like listening to “Hearts of Space” on the radio. <wink> Speaking of soundtracks recently I channel skipped to a rerun of "Jericho" on CBS and they were playing "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers over the opening credits. I wonder how much the price of that song has gone up since "The Matador" was released? Damn that sex fiend Julian Noble for making me think of "Live Wire" and undeniably the worst music for a Brosnan flick ever! It’s not just so I can concentrate on the sexy visuals that I have to turn the sound off. Musicians starving round the globe and they paid someone to write this! Or maybe not. Somewhere, in the San Fernando Valley, a soft porn film is missing its soundtrack. Must cleanse the palate. How about Danny Elfman's march (to spinning Martian saucers) over the credits of "Mars Attacks!"? Underrated I'd say, because, as a tongue-in-cheek homage to The Day the Earth Stood Still with maybe a mad dash of Prokofiev, it's really freakin' brilliant.
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Jul 15, 2007 23:47:48 GMT -5
Photos from an earlier article (Variety: A Very Long Engagement). Interesting that Patricia Clarkson gets a dark wig to cover her blonde hair and McAdams gets a plantinum wig to cover her then current darker blonde locks.
|
|
|
Post by Ace on Jul 17, 2007 11:50:52 GMT -5
It hasn't been officially announced. The TIFF will drag out announcements until August 21st but in a larger article on Patricia Clarkson - blog.nola.com/mikescott/2007/07/catch_her_if_you_can.htmlThen comes "Married Life," another offbeat film -- and another Toronto Film Fest entrant -- set to open by early 2008, in which Clarkson stars as the wife of Chris Cooper ("Capote," "Syriana"). The film is described as a 1940s drama in which a man plots to have his wife killed rather than put her through the humiliation of a divorce, and it also stars former Bond actor Piece Brosnan and Rachel McAdams ("The Notebook"). "It's the four of us pretty much the whole movie," she said. "It's a beautiful kind of period film noir melodrama. It's an unusual film, but it's beautiful and kind of dark and funny." "Married Life": Scheduled to open this fall or early 2008. Clarkson stars as the wife of Chris Cooper in this 1940s drama about a man who decides to kill his wife to spare her the humiliation of a divorce. Also starring Pierce Brosnan and Rachel McAdams.
|
|