Hammer, DiCaprio, Judi Dench in J. EDGAR
The next couple of weeks are going to be craaazy but it’s all good. Awards season is here and I’ll be attending loads of screenings of some of the most anticipated fall and winter movies with key talent doing Q & A afterward. I’ve already seen Alexander Payne’s The Descendants with George Clooney (review coming soon), and tonight I’ll be viewing Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar plus discussion with Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, and Armie Hammer. Tomorrow I’ll be seeing—wait for it—The Adventures of Tintin!
Thursday is also the start of the AFI Fest, with J. Edgar as the opening night gala presentation and Tintin closing the festival on November 10. In case you didn’t know this already, all tickets are FREE.
Jean Dujardin & Missi Pyle in THE ARTIST
The lineup is quite impressive with many high-profile films, including The Artist, Michel Haznavicius’s black and white silent film about 1920s Hollywood; Roman Polanski’s Carnage, featuring an all-star cast including Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster; Steve McQueen’s Shame, the NC-17 film starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan as siblings; Jim Field Smith’s Butter, set in the world of competitive butter-carving; Lynn Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, starring Tilda Swinton and based on Lionel Shriver’s novel about a mother trying to understand why her son committed an atrocity; and Oren Moverman’s Rampart, which reunites the writer/director with his stars from The Messenger, Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, in a drama about the LAPD’s Rampart corruption scandal. Crime fiction fans, take note: the script was co-written by James Ellroy.
I plan to see all these movies, either at AFI Fest or through the Los Angeles Times Envelope screening series, so check back for reviews and recaps of conversations with the filmmakers. That way, when nominees are announced for the bazillion awards that will be given out in the next few months, you can act snooty and say you already know all about them! If I don’t get around to writing full reports on everything, I’ll at least post interesting tidbits on Facebook or Twitter.
Any of these sound good to you? Which fall/winter movies are you most looking forward to?
Photos: J. Edgar/Warner Bros; The Artist/The Weinstein Company
4 Comments
Tea Time with Marce
November 2, 2011 at 8:08 amWe need to talk about Kevin is on my list to read this year, I only recently heard it was going to be a movie, I should try to get to it this month.
Enjoy all the screenings.
EIREGO
November 2, 2011 at 11:20 amSounds like your crazy month would be my ideal crazy. Looking forward to your reviews on all these films.
joyo
November 2, 2011 at 12:22 pmWOW. that’s a fantastic line up…can’t wait to read your thoughts….
Jessie
November 2, 2011 at 4:17 pmExcept for J. EDGAR, I haven’t heard of most of those but some sound pretty interesting, like THE ARTIST, BUTTER, and WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN. Thanks for giving us the heads up on what to look for, PCN!