A Sean Penn Action Movie?

You bet. That's Sean Penn in 'The Gunman'.

Not that I have anything against the idea. I can't wait to see Penn in action mode. It's just disorienting to look at this picture. Is there really enough political gravitas in 'The Gunman' for Penn to chew on?

Script is by Pete Travis who has only done TV and the plot is fairly stock. From IMDb: "An international spy must clear his name in order to save himself from the organization that he used to work for."

However plain and direct the story may sound though, Travis apparently infused the screenplay with something good enough to entice Idris Elba, Javier Bardem, and Ray Winstone to join Penn.

Directed by Pierre Morel (Taken, District B13) who has a way with the camera, lighting, and editing.

At this point, just based on the above, 'The Gunman' looks must-see, can't-miss. Due 2014.






















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New Trailer for 'This Must Be The Place'

Mixed reviews and not a lot of interest in general, but trailers have been must-see. So well cut. Probably required viewing but only for movie buffs.




















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Jaw-Dropping Trailer for 'The Gangster Squad'

Like...wow. The only question is: How much of this is real? How much of this actually happened?

Sean Penn is huge here. Ryan Gosling looks good. Josh Brolin looks good. Nick Nolte looks good (was wondering if that was still doable). Emma Stone looks very good (I knew that was still doable).

Even if they took a lot of liberties with the facts, this movie rocks. If they're telling it like it was, this movie will crush.

"A cop that's not for sale is like a dog with rabies. You just gotta put him down."




















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Another Poster for Sean Penn's 'This Must Be The Place'

I'm a fan of these. This one, perhaps, is not as sharply defined as previous one sheets, but it's okay.

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Sean Penn's 'This Must Be The Place', Great Posters, Mixed Reviews

Happened across this (top) poster today, which I hadn't seen before, and realized just how good all the posters for this movie have been.

Striking, compelling, draws you in, makes you wonder.

Especially like the one with Penn's face fragmented, suggesting the character has a personality to match. The UK banner with Penn in a goth overcoat, guitar slung on his back, looking silly with a roller case, heading down the middle of a deserted road in the desert under an odd green sky is way off-kilter, yet you feel a connection to the protagonist, you almost need to know what's up with him, why he's there -- you can't help wonder what the storyline is.

Very effective graphics. Reviews, on the other hand, have been mixed.

This from Peter Bradshaw:

For his technique, ambition and reach, 40-year-old Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is justifiably considered an emerging master of modern cinema, crucially nurtured here at Cannes. His new English-language film, This Must Be the Place – starring Sean Penn as Cheyenne, a retired goth rocker living in Dublin – has superbly elegant and distinctive forms: looming camera movements, bursts of pop, deadpan comedy, quasi-hallucinatory perspective lines in landscapes in which singular figures look vulnerably isolated. There's an awful lot to enjoy here and yet I couldn't help feeling that, when Cheyenne leaves Ireland to journey into the classic American midwest on a mission to find the fugitive Nazi who tormented his father in the camps, the film becomes derivative and Wim Wenders-ish.

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For me, the Holocaust material was not entirely successful, though certainly transmitted with absolute certainty and sincerity. This Must Be the Place is not my favourite of Sorrentino's films, but it certainly deserved inclusion at Cannes, and deserves to be watched for the glorious Byrne moments alone.

Eric Kohn:

The issue with "This Must Be the Place," Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino's first English language feature, has nothing to do with whether it makes light of the Holocaust. That might be a worthy debate if it didn't face other problems. Chief among them: An uber-campy Sean Penn performance, a gratingly quirky soul-searching plot, and character motives that barely make any sense. It's far too much of a godawful mess to merit serious moral scrutiny.

Jay Weissberg:

Paolo Sorrentino's coolness credentials are well established, but he's earned the right to be considered "cool" in an entirely different way with "This Must Be the Place," a film that brims with warmth, humanity and respect in ways one doesn't often find in the work of coolmeisters like David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino. Quirky, hilarious and moving, Sorrentino's first English-lingo production is a road trip of stunning scope yet deep intimacy, featuring an aged rock star-turned-Nazi hunter played by Sean Penn at his transformative best. The pic may baffle but is certain to generate massive highbrow press and long-term cult status.

Posters, stills and, to a lesser extent perhaps, trailers are all so visually original, so quirky, the story so nuts-but-still-somehow-real, I can't see how I can let this one slip by. Will have to check this movie sometime.


























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Trailer for 'This Must be the Place'

I've heard mixed reviews but this trailer makes the movie (look like) a must-see.

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Making-Of Featurette for 'The Tree of Life'

It's not often a making-of featurette plays this well, this deep. Just clicks.

Some Background on Bradley Cooper

In the interview on Fresh Air (below) they talk about Cooper's drama studies at The Actors Studio and early auditions. It's pretty good listening.

There's mention of Cooper's emotional reunion with James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio. I got curious so searched for video. If you haven't seen it, yes, it's very emotional, very good.









Found this which is fun. Cooper, when he was a second year drama student, asking Sean Penn about his role in 'Hurlyburly'. (In the first segment above, Lipton mentions that he had told Cooper's parents he would go all the way and be a success in Hollywood. In this clip you can tell -- Cooper had focus, what it takes -- it's just so clear this guy is headed for a successful career).

'This Must Be The Place' Clip

Trailer for 'This Must Be The Place'

A very Euro-looking trailer. Possibly because it was directed by Paolo Sorrentino

Trailer for 'The Tree of Life'

Transcends 'must-see' status. Must experience.

How many times do you say something like that.

Trailer for 'Fair Game'

'You can't break me. I don't have a breaking point.'

Sean Penn with Charlie Rose

Sean Penn with Charlie Rose about his work in Haiti.

Milk

Remarkable turn by Sean Penn.

Charlie Rose

Talks with Sean Penn and Eddie Vedder about 'Into the Wild'.

Penn And Vedder Into The Wild

Time has an interview with Sean Penn and Eddie Vedder, who collaborated on 'Into the Wild'. Penn adapted the book, written by John Krakauer, and directed, and Vedder wrote songs for the movie. Story is about Chris McCandless, a young guy who left behind a normal life to wander around the Alaskan tundra for a few months before starving to death.

These guys are refreshingly direct. When asked what made him pick up the book, Penn says, 'The cover grabbed me--the bus, the image of the bus with the title Into the Wild on it. I've made a lot of decisions in my life that you could call judging a book by its cover. And I've become a real advocate of it. So I took the book home, and I read it cover to cover twice, and I went to sleep in the wee hours and immediately got up in the morning, and I saw in essence the movie that you saw last night.' Of working with a live bear he says, 'You say, "Good boy," all day long. Or the trainer does. And he gives him a lot of chocolate whipped cream.'

I really liked that cover too -- it just speaks to me. People are loving the movie -- can't wait to see it.