Emile Hirsch

Ang Lee’s ‘Taking Woodstock’ Lays Down Too Mellow a Vibe to Be Memorable

BrianTT — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:26:05 -0600

CHICAGO – More about the vibe surrounding the three days of peace and love that would become the most influential festival in history than the actual music itself, Ang Lee’s “Taking Woodstock” is a frustrating drama with individual elements that work but a cinematic set list that is ultimately disjointed and unsatisfying.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Late in “Taking Woodstock,” Elliot Teichberg’s (Demetri Martin) father (Henry Goodman) asks his son if he enjoyed the concert. Elliot says he made a few friends and that “It was great.” That’s the essential dialogue exchange in “Taking Woodstock,” a film about finding community, acceptance, and friendship more than one about bands, singers, or actual creativity.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Taking Woodstock” in our reviews section.

It’s a unique and interesting way to approach the legend of Woodstock but also one that feels like too much to try and capture in a two-hour drama/comedy with only one real central character. “Taking Woodstock” might have worked as a “Nashville”-esque ensemble piece but writer James Schamus and director Ang Lee focus all their energy on a lead who is, to be frank, not that interesting, and turn the rest of their characters into two-dimensional cliches for him to bounce off on his way out of town.

Martin stars as Teichberg, a New Yorker forced to return to the Catskills and take care of his parents (Goodman & Imelda Staunton) run down motel. Every summer, Elliot plans an arts and music festival, and this year there just happens to be a few musicians without a home after a nearby town runs out what would become the Woodstock festival.

Continuing reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Taking Woodstock” review.

‘Taking Woodstock’ stars Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, Kelli Garner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eugene Levy, Dan Fogler, Jonathan Groff, Richard Thomas, and Liev Schreiber. It was written by James Schamus and directed by Ang Lee. It opens on August 28th, 2009. It is rated R.

Taking Woodstock.
Photo credit: Focus Features

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 50 Passes to ‘Taking Woodstock’ Chicago Screening With Emile Hirsch

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:50:19 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest trippy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated Chicago screening of “Taking Woodstock” from Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (“Brokeback Mountain” and “Sense and Sensibility”). “Taking Woodstock” stars Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Dan Fogler, Demetri Martin, Paul Dano, Henry Goodman, Jonathan Groff and Eugene Levy.

To win your free pass to the advance screening of “Taking Woodstock” in Chicago courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is answer our question below. That’s it! The screening will be held on Aug. 27, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “Taking Woodstock” with Emile Hirsch, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Paul Dano.
Image credit: Focus Features

Here is the “Taking Woodstock” plot description:

“Taking Woodstock” is the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee – and it’s a trip! Based on the memoirs of Elliot Tiber, the comedy stars Demetri Martin as Elliot who inadvertently played a role in making 1969’s Woodstock Music & Arts Festival into the famed happening it was.

Featuring a standout ensemble cast and songs from a score of 1960s musical icons including The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane and Country Joe and the Fish (along with a new recording of “Freedom” from Richie Havens), “Taking Woodstock” is a joyous voyage to a moment in time when everything seemed possible.

Working as an interior designer in Greenwich Village, Elliot feels empowered by the gay rights movement. But he is also still staked to the family business: a dumpy Catskills motel called the El Monaco that is being run into the ground by his overbearing parents, Jake and Sonia Teichberg (Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton). In the summer of 1969, Elliot has to move back upstate to the El Monaco in order to help save the motel from being taken over by the bank.

Upon hearing that a planned music and arts festival has lost its permit from the neighboring town of Wallkill, N.Y., Elliot calls producer Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) at Woodstock Ventures to offer his family’s motel to the promoters and generate some much-needed business. Elliot also introduces Lang to his neighbor, Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy), who operates a 600-acre dairy farm down the road.

Soon the Woodstock staff is moving into the El Monaco and half a million people are on their way to Yasgur’s farm for “three days of peace and music in White Lake”.

With a little help from his friends including theater troupe leader Devon (Dan Fogler), recently returned Vietnam veteran Billy (Emile Hirsch) and cross-dressing ex-Marine Vilma (Liev Schreiber) – and with a little opposition from townspeople including Billy’s brother, Dan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) – Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life and popular culture forever.

“Taking Woodstock” is a Focus Features presentation of an Ang Lee film starring Demetri Martin, Dan Fogler, Henry Goodman, Jonathan Groff, Eugene Levy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Imelda Staunton with Emile Hirsch and Liev Schreiber.

Casting by Avy Kaufman. Costume designer is Joseph G. Aulisi. Music supervisor is Joe Boyd. Music by Danny Elfman. Editor is Tim Squyres. Production designer is David Gropman. Director of photography is Eric Gautier. Based on the Book by Elliot Tiber with Tom Monte. Executive producer is Michael Hausman. Produced by James Schamus, Ang Lee and Celia Costas. Screenplay by James Schamus. Directed by Ang Lee.

The “Taking Woodstock” movie trailer can be watched now below.

To secure your free tickets now, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail address is required. Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this simple question:

What’s the most euphoric/trippy experience you can recall?

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is simple: Just submit your comment below and we will award 50 people randomly via e-mail. Winners needs to arrive early as seats are consumed on a first-come, first-served basis. “Taking Woodstock” opens on Aug. 28, 2009.

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

Blu-Ray Review: Sean Penn’s Oscar-Winning ‘Milk’ Will Recruit Movie Fans Around the World

BrianTT — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:17:07 -0600

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – With the help of Dustin Lance Black’s Oscar-winning screenplay, Sean Penn’s Oscar-winning performance, Josh Brolin’s Oscar-nominated performance, James Franco’s Spirit Award-winning performance and Gus Van Sant’s Oscar-nominated direction, Harvey Milk has been brought back from the dead. Milk has been put back atop his soapbox and given the chance to recruit millions for the cause of human rights through the masterpiece “Milk”. Harvey used to say: “My name is Harvey Milk and I want to recruit you.” Now he has another chance.

“Milk” was easily one of the best films of 2008, arguably a better choice to win than the Academy made with “Slumdog Millionaire,” and it’s an absolute must-see. Honestly, this writer feels in such agreement with Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn’s speeches at the Oscars about the importance of gay rights and the effect this film could have on the movement that I think they should show “Milk” in school. Teach ‘em about such an important figure early.

Milk was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Universal Home Video

Revisiting “Milk” again on Blu-Ray, I was struck by its incredible re-watchability. From the amazing period detail - captured so vividly in Universal’s nearly-perfect HD process - to the award-winning performances to the incredible structure of Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay. “Milk” is one of those things that only comes along a few times a year, if we’re lucky, a flawless movie.

Milk was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Universal Home Video

In the best performance of his amazing career, Sean Penn disappears into Harvey Milk, a city supervisor in San Francisco who was assassinated after only a short time in office. Milk changed the lives of millions just by being himself and refusing to live in a world where everyone wasn’t allowed to do the same without trying to do something about it.

Black’s incredible screenplay, one that I think stands among the best of the ’00s, focuses on the movement of the last eight years of Milk’s life but it does so without preaching or turning to melodrama. It perfectly places what Milk accomplished in context of not only history but humanity. Milk’s message was always that gay people have the same lives and loves as straight people and Black never forgets to ground the movement in a touching human story.

“Milk” opens with Harvey and his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) moving from New York to San Francisco’s Castro District, the center of the gay rights movement in the ’70s. With the community around them, Harvey and Scottie realize that they have the power to rally for change. Through boycott, the hurt stores that display homophobia and even join forces with the teamsters to enact change.

Harvey, Scott, Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), Anne Kronenberg (Allison Pill) soon learn that they’ll get a lot more done in office than they could on a soap box and Milk begins several office. They try and lose, try and lose, until Milk finally gets into the position to make a real change. In office, Milk crossed paths with the seriously damaged Dan White (Josh Brolin), the man who would shoot him and the Mayor in just a year.

Milk was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Universal Home Video

Watching “Milk” again, I was struck by something that Diego Luna notes in one of the special features - the film captures the “light” of Harvey Milk. It’s not a depressing film, which is one of the main reasons it works. So many filmmakers mistake depressing for moving. “Milk” is never the former and undeniably the latter.

Milk was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Universal Home Video

My adoration for one of the best films of 2008 is clear, but the Blu-Ray release of it is a bit disappointing. I find it impossible to believe that this will be the final word on “Milk,” an eight-time Oscar nominee.

The special features included are excellent and the technical transfer is typically great (Universal very rarely falters in HD and DTS Master Audio), but there’s not a single word from Van Sant or Penn on the entire release, no commentary track, and only just over a half-hour of featurettes. A movie like “Milk” deserves (and will probably eventually get) a more extensive collection of special features.

With no U-Control (Universal’s great feature that allows featurette access during the playback of a film), viewers hoping for more detail about the film and its subject will want to see three great featurettes - “Remembering Harvey,” “Hollywood Comes to San Francisco,” and “Marching For Equality”.

The first features interviews with the actual people in the movie, including Cleve Jones, and is unlikely to leave a dry eye in the house. It hammers the real-life impact that Milk had home but it could have been four times as long as its 13-minute running time.

“Hollywood Comes to San Francisco” is the only featurette to include interviews with any of the on-camera talent and Josh Brolin, James Franco, and Diego Luna do have interesting things to say. Once again, as he did on the Oscars, Dustin Lance Black tugs at the heartstrings, talking about how much Milk personally influenced him.

Finally, “Equality” focuses on the production design and how perfectly it recreated San Francisco in the ’70s. “Milk” is one of the most technically impressive films of 2008. 8 minutes on how that was accomplished doesn’t seem like enough.

The story of “Milk” is not over. I’ve long bristled against the idea that art should be used as political force, but this could be the rare exception, a film that will get people talking and influence generations to come. Harvey is still recruiting.

‘Milk’ is released by Universal Home Video and stars Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Anne Kronenberg, Emile Hirsch, and Diego Luna. It was written by Dustin Lance Black and directed by Gus Van Sant. It was released on March 10th, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Sean Penn’s Oscar-Possible Harvey Milk Puts Face to Gay Rights in ‘Milk’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:39:20 -0700

CHICAGO – Just as Tom Hanks put a face to AIDS in 1993’s “Philadelphia,” Sean Penn has now put a face to gay rights as Harvey Milk in the new Gus Van Sant true-story film “Milk”.

While Penn’s Harvey Milk had the physical demeanor of a petite and gentle man, the fire inside the real-life activist for gay rights was both his blessing and sometimes his poison.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Milk found balancing personal relationships challenging amid his relentless quest to be the first gay politician in California. The film’s story takes place in the 1970s when those who were out of the closet were much less accepted than they are today.

Milk found himself fighting not only the adversity to his political dream because it hadn’t been done before but also a powerful politician in his state as well as an omnipresent national force against gay rights.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Milk” in our reviews section.

But even more than gay rights, Milk’s life was devoted to the same tenants of newly elected U.S. president Barack Obama: change and hope.

Because of the political corollaries to Obama’s message for change today as well as the brouhaha in California now over gay marriage (and the potential to repeal the thousands who snuck in during the short period of time when the law allowed them), the timing for the release of the film today couldn’t be more prescient.

“Milk” stars Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco and Alison Pill. “Milk,” which is directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, opened in Chicago on Nov. 26, 2008.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Milk” review.

Sean Penn stars as real-life gay rights icon Harvey Milk in director Gus Van Sant’s “Milk”.
Photo credit: Phil Bray

Alison Pill (left) and Emile Hirsch (right) star as real-life gay rights activists Anne Kronenberg and Cleve Jones (respectively) in director Gus Van Sant’s “Milk”.
Photo credit: Phil Bray

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Milk” review.

‘Speed Racer’ Condemns Franchise Dignity, Delivers Sensorial Explosion

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:45:52 -0600

CHICAGO – While Hollywood slapped “PG” on the hotly anticipated “Speed Racer” to line its pocketbooks with the widest hodgepodge of people (ahem: kids) everywhere, those same kids will leave the theater with that lollipop nearly sucked to the stick but then yanked away with confusion.

Rather than the “go!” marketing hype, this is a stop-and-go proposition. Chicago brothers Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski are ultimately wrangling with a clear identity crisis of who this film is meant for.

Is it the 1967 crowd who adored the American anime version following the Japanese manga creation? Is it for today’s children who didn’t grow up with the franchise but will magically identify with it from scratch because it’s on the big screen? Perhaps it’s for “The Matrix” crowd who slobber over the Wachowski’s sensory orgy?

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Speed Racer” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Speed Racer” image gallery.

A slathering of all of the above will be influenced by the omnipresent advertising and power of the Wachowski name, which has been catapulted to stardom with the trail-blazing triumph of “The Matrix” films.

But with summer blockbuster season in full effect for 2008, moviegoers won’t spend in droves the way they recently did with “Iron Man,” which is so far the best-reviewed film of the year.

With a production budget of $140 million, “Iron Man” has already earned $220 million in worldwide box-office receipts in its first six days of release, according to Box Office Mojo. With a production budget of $100 million, “Speed Racer” won’t compare.

Buy Posters at AllPosters.com

Despite its bevy of blemishes, you can’t deny its color. There’s an intense vibrancy to the environment that – while unrealistic in the real world – is beautifully charming in Hollywood’s CGIville.

Knowing they had to hop beyond another planet in the solar system following 2003’s “The Matrix Revolutions,” the Wachowskis don’t disappoint in the “Speed Racer” special effects department.

The brothers continue to break new ground, and in doing so, they play an important role in inspiring other visionaries to forge new lines of thinking.

Just as “The Matrix” in 1999 had sequences that have been among the most emulated in Hollywood today over the past decade, the Wachowskis continue to up their own bar.

Emile Hirsch in “Speed Racer”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Matthew Fox (middle) in “Speed Racer”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full “Speed Racer” review…

High-Quality Lenticular ‘Speed Racer’ Poster Surfaces Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:35:11 -0700

On Dec. 14, we posted the new lenticular “Speed Racer” poster as captured by a camera phone. On Monday, JoBlo published a high-quality version of the 3D poster.

The trailer for the film, which stars Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman, can be found here. The film is directed by “The Matrix” phenoms Andy and Larry Wachowski. Both are natives of Chicago. “Speed Racer” is slated to open on May 9, 2008.

First-Look Production Stills: New ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Get Smart,’ ‘10,000 B.C.’; ‘Speed Racer’ Poster

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:00:16 -0700

Following our Dec. 11 post, which featured a slew of new production stills from 2008 Warner Bros. films, even more have just been released by the studio. We now see the first stills from “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “10,000 B.C.” and “Get Smart”.

Steven Strait as D’Leh in the epic adventure “10,000 B.C.”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”.
Photo credit: Jaap Buitendijk

Anne Hathaway stars as Agent 99 and Steve Carell stars
as Maxwell Smart in “Get Smart”.
Photo credit: Tracy Bennett

Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart in “Get Smart”.
Photo credit: Tracy Bennett
Also, I’m adding a sweet “Speed Racer” production still from Dec. 11. Below it, we see a new lenticular “Speed Racer” poster that – in person – is literally in 3D. /Film says: “The helmet under [Speed Racer’s] arms pops out at you and the background is also in 3D.”

Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer in the Mach 5 in the film “Speed Racer”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Lenticular “Speed Racer” poster in 3D.
Image credit: FirstShowing.net

Picture Picks: ‘Body of Lies,’ ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Speed Racer,’ ‘RocknRolla,’ ‘Whiteout,’ ‘Fool’s Gold’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:25:17 -0700

Warner Bros. on Monday released the mother lode of new production stills for films slated for release between Jan. 2008 and Dec. 2008. These are our top selections from the batch.

Kate Beckinsale in the 2008 film “Whiteout”.
Photo credit: Rafy

Heath Ledger as the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” which is slated to open on July 18, 2008.
Photo credit: Stephen Vaughan

Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2008 film “Body of Lies”.
Photo credit: Francois Duhamel

Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer in “Speed Racer,” which is slated to open on May 9, 2008.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Christina Ricci in “Speed Racer”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in “Fool’s Gold,” which is slated to open on Feb. 8, 2008.
Photo credit: Vince Valitutti

Thandie Newton and Gerard Butler in the 2008 film “RocknRolla”.
Photo credit: Alex Bailey

Shannyn Sossamon and Ed Burns in “One Missed Call,” which is slated to open on Jan. 4, 2008.
Photo credit: Guy D’Alema

Clockwise from top: Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively, America Ferrera and Amber Tamblyn in “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2,” which is slated to open on Aug. 8, 2008.
Photo credit: Phil Caruso

Richard Gere and Diane Lane in “Nights in Rodanthe,” which is slated to open on June 6, 2008.
Photo credit: Michael Tackett