Ben Kingsley

First Video Surfaces of ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ With Jake Gyllenhaal From Jerry Bruckheimer

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:10:42 -0700

CHICAGO – After the first image of extras surfaced on Oct. 15, 2008 for the movie adaptation “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” we now have the first video footage thanks to Entertainment Tonight’s willingness to go all the way to Morocco to get it.

“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” star Jake Gyllenhaal has some decidedly modest and sarcastic fun in his interview with Entertainment Tonight’s Thea Andrews while the camera reveals to us the first live-action shots from the film. You can watch the video segment below now.

“I guess I’ve gotten buff,” Gyllenhaal told Entertainment Tonight. “There’s a lot acrobatics in the movie – a lot of running up walls and jumping on things. It requires muscularity, but it requires a lot of aerobic ability, too.”

Some screenshots from the Entertainment Tonight video segment have been published by Movie Chronicles. Entertainment Tonight describes the plotline for the film, which will come on the heels of the wildly successful video game, with these words:

The story finds Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan: a young, Persian prince who must join forces with the beautiful and feisty princess Tamina (played by “Quantum of Solace” Bond girl Gemma Arterton) to prevent a villainous nobleman (Ben Kingsley) from possessing the Sands of Time.

The Sands of Time is a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” which stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley, comes from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” director Mike Newell and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The film is slated to open on May 28, 2010.

See the first extras image from “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: ‘Nickelodeon’ Star Josh Peck Grows Up, Director Jonathan Levine Speaks Out on ‘The Wackness’

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:05:46 -0700

CHICAGO – It’s 1994 in New York City. In an age before mobile phones, terrorist threats and a grown-up Olsen twin, there is “The Wackness”. This is the debut film of writer and director Jonathan Levine and a coming-out role of sorts for the child star Josh Peck of the popular Nickelodeon series “Drake & Josh”.

HollywoodChicago.com recently interviewed the director and “The Wackness” star for insight on the recent nostalgia of the film and an era seemingly so close yet so far away.

Actor Josh Peck (left) and director Jonathan Levine for “The Wackness” in Chicago on June 19, 2008.
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

Olivia Thirlby from “Juno” fame as Stephanie in “The Wackness”.
Photo by JoJo Whilden, © 2008 Occupant Films and courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

The film’s time and place is a mood element for the story of Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck). He’s an unpopular east side teenager recently graduated from high school.

His parents are having money conflicts and he’s wrestling with his affection for a comely classmate named Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby of “Juno” fame). She clouds his summer job of selling marijuana from an ice cream cart.

“It’s autobiographical in the sense that this was the world I grew up in, that’s how we talked, those were the clothes we wore and those were the type of kids who I hung out with,” director Levine said.

He added: “The outsider thing is interesting to me. The arbitrary nature of ‘who’s cool’ in high school is interesting. But in the movie, it’s about individual perspective. Your reality can change on how you perceive it.”

To complicate matters, a psychotherapist named Squires (Ben Kingsley) – who occasionally administers to Luke (in exchange for dope) – is Stephanie’s stepfather. The two develop a grudgingly close friendship that’s rooted in Luke’s loneliness and Squires’ mid-life crisis.

Peck said about Kingsley: “He intimidated me only when he did Gandhi impressions (laughter). But when we first met, he put all my worries to rest. He knew that it was up to him – because of his status, stature and the caliber of his acting – to put my neuroses and fears to rest.”

Sir Ben Kingsley as Dr. Squires in “The Wackness”.
Photo by JoJo Whilden, © 2008 Occupant Films and courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Rating: 3.0/5.0

“I let him do whatever the f**k he wanted (laughter),” Levine said. “He is very, very smart. As a relatively new director, it was incumbent upon me to just say: ‘What do you need?’ Clearly he is going to do something that makes me look good.”

The film features Peck, Thirlby and Mary-Kate Olsen in transitional roles as young adults indulging in drinking, dope smoking and carnal congress. Levine and Peck commented on the image of more innocent stars treading onto new territory.

“I assumed already where their interests lie in the material,” Levine said. “I was respectful about their decisions to go maybe where they haven’t gone before. It was never discussed beyond the character scenarios and also not in a larger sense.”

“I think people will be surprised to see me smoking weed and having sex. It was the first time I actually did it (laughter),” Peck related. “I hope the fans of ‘Drake & Josh’ – for example, someone who was 12 years old when I was 15 – will have grown up with me. I’m 21, so they would be 18 now, and I think this movie is right in their wheelhouse.”

The New York City of the mid-1990s becomes an influential character in the story. It’s empty and isolating in the summer before technological connections.

Josh Peck (left) as Luke and Olivia Thirlby as Stephanie in “The Wackness”.
Photo by JoJo Whilden, © 2008 Occupant Films and courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

“The big difference is a world without cell phones and the Internet. It’s a very different world. That allows this movie to be set almost in the Stone Age,” Levine said.

Levine also discussed showing the World Trade Center: “To me, it is the punctuation mark at the end of the sentence. I’m using that image as a note of bittersweet nostalgia. It has to be handled delicately, but at the same time, it’s a very powerful image. I didn’t want to shy away from it.”

In conclusion, Josh Peck spoke about the challenges of imbibing Luke with a sensibility that’s relatable for all older teens making the transition into adulthood.

Peck said: “It was very necessary for Luke to have this sense of vulnerability in the way he carried himself. All his cynicism and answers for things are rooted in the fact that he is lost.

“Becoming an adult at that point (18 years old) seems to be impossible. Without the layers, you wouldn’t have cared enough about Luke. [Levine’s] writing took care of that character.”

“The Wackness” stars Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby, Mary-Kate Olsen and Method Man. The film opened on July 11, 2008 at AMC River East 21 in Chicago, Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema in Chicago, CineArts 6 in Evanston, Ill. and Landmark’s Renaissance Place Cinema in Highland Park, Ill.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Uproarious, Talent-Packed ‘The Love Guru’ a Script of Destiny From Funnyman Mike Myers

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:00:02 -0700

CHICAGO – Commendably co-written by Mike Myers (who also wrote characters for 2002’s “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and 1999’s “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”), you know lines like “sheket bevakasha” came directly from his bowels.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Granted, I was one of the few at my screening to understand this Hebrew line as “quiet, please” and laugh at its precision placement, but that’s OK.

Though always known as a hippie funnyman, the novel script for “The Love Guru” actually holds personal and grave emotional value for Myers. He has said the film is a “reflection of the spiritual journey” he traveled after the 1991 death of his father.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “The Love Guru” in our reviews section.

View our huge, high-resolution “The Love Guru” image gallery.

Read more news on “The Love Guru”.

The Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison died on Nov. 29, 2001, which literally was the final day of filming for 2002’s “Austin Powers in Goldmember”. Upon opening a letter from Harrison, Myers told MTV on April 9, 2008 that he thought to himself: “OK, universe. I think I get it. This is the movie you want me to make.”

While Mike Myers proves he’s more than just Austin Powers through new plotlines taking him to new lands, he’s still the relatively same hilarious, hippie-loving beatnik no matter his purpose for being on screen.

Myers co-wrote this highly original script with rookie screenwriter Graham Gordy whose only other writing credit goes to a little-known film entitled “War Eagle, Arkansas”. Gordy also plays a small role in “The Love Guru,” which shot principal photography in Toronto, Ontario.

In addition to Mike Myers in the starring role, “The Love Guru” also features Jessica Alba, Ben Kingsley, Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Stephen Colbert, Verne Troyer and Deepak Chopra. The film opened everywhere on June 20, 2008. Read Adam Fendelman’s full “The Love Guru” review here.

Jessica Alba as Jane Bullard in the comedy “The Love Guru”.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

Mike Myers stars as Guru Pitka in the comedy “The Love Guru”.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

Read Adam Fendelman’s full “The Love Guru” review.

Director Jonathan Levine, Star Josh Peck to Appear in Chicago For Ben Kingsley’s ‘The Wackness’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:25:22 -0700

CHICAGO – We have learned that writer and director Jonathan Levine (“All the Boys Love Mandy Lane”) and lead actor Josh Peck (“Ice Age: The Meltdown”) will publicly appear this Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the downtown Chicago Apple store at 679 N. Michigan Ave. to offer an insider’s look at their new film “The Wackness”.

Sir Ben Kingsley as Dr. Squires in “The Wackness”.
Photo by JoJo Whilden, © 2008 Occupant Films and courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Along with Peck, “The Wackness” also features Sir Ben Kingsley (who played Gandhi in 1982’s “Gandhi”) and Olivia Thirlby (from recent “Juno” fame).

“The Wackness” director Jonathan Levine.
Photo credit: Robin Holland, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

In addition to showing clips from the New York-set film, Levine and Peck will also be taking questions from the audience.

“The Wackness” is an Audience Award winner at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The film is scheduled to open in Chicago on July 11, 2008. Stay tuned for our upcoming interviews with Levine and Peck.

Here’s the plot outline for “The Wackness”:

In the summer of 1994, the streets of New York are pulsing with hip-hop and wafting with the sweet aroma of marijuana. But change is in the air.

The newly inaugurated mayor, Rudy Giuliani, is beginning to implement his anti-fun initiatives against “crimes” like noisy portable radios, graffiti and public drunkenness.

Set against this backdrop, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) spends his last summer before college selling dope throughout New York City and trading it with his shrink (Ben Kingsley) for therapy while crushing on his step-daughter (Olivia Thirlby).

Famke Janssen, Mary Kate Olsen and Method Man round out the cast in this edgy, bittersweet and funny coming-of-age story.

Josh Peck (left) as Luke and Olivia Thirlby as Stephanie in “The Wackness”.
Photo by JoJo Whilden, © 2008 Occupant Films and courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

View our full, high-resolution image gallery for “The Wackness”.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com