David O. Russell's Boxing Drama 'The Fighter' Bares Its Teeth With New Trailer & Poster

Update: Here's the new poster for the film via Yahoo.

After the first somewhat fluffy trailer for David O. Russell's boxing drama "The Fighter," the long-gestating project was looking like a shadow of its former self which, in the past, had attracted a prestige of talent including Darren Aronofsky, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

A new sneak peak that debuted last night on AMC during "Mad Men," however, has finally exhibited some of the potential which has seen the film touted as an award season contender. Adding equal parts of thespians Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, the trailer hints at a plot involving a tug of war for Micky Ward's (Wahlberg) attention between his half brother/trainer (Bale), his girlfriend (Amy Adams) and his mother (Leo) which looks every bit a tense, hearty relationship/family drama lying underneath a rag-to-riches sporting tale.

A passion project for Wahlberg, the actor has been attached to star as Ward for the best part of the last decade and linked up with familiar talent to help get the project on screen: O. Russell directed him in "I Heart Huckabees," while Bale was briefly attached to star alongside him in everyman-goes-vigilante project, "Prisoners."

"The Fighter" hits theaters December 10th; color us excited.

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Amy Adams, Chris Cooper & Rashida Jones Set To Join Muppet Movie

Amy Adams, Chris Cooper and Rashida Jones are in negotiations to join the Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller scribed Muppet movie which is still without a title.

The project, which is gearing up for a November shoot, is one of a few options Adams was eyeing before signing on. The film is a big one for Disney, as it's a return to a franchise that hasn't been on the big screen in quite a few years. Over the summe, a table read for the film was held at Pixar with filmmakers John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Michael Arndt, Bob Peterson and president Ed Catmull, all on hand to lend their input and make sure everything was right.

From what is being revealed of the parts the actors are attached to, it looks like the show biz world setting that we gleaned in an early script review remain's intact. The film will find the Muppets reuniting to put a show to save the studio. Jones will play an ABC executive, Adams will play the girlfriend of Segel's character, helping him reunite the Muppets for the show while Cooper has the meatiest role as the villain (sweet) "who wants to buys the studio to dig for the oil hiding underneath it and who never thought the Muppets were funny to begin with."

James Bobin ("Flight Of The Conchords") will direct the film that is aiming to hit theaters on December 25, 2011.

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Thomas Haden Church Joins Cameron Crowe's 'We Bought A Zoo' With Matt Damon

There's been a new addition to Cameron Crowe's upcoming adaptation of Benjamin Mee's novel, "We Bought A Zoo" which already stars Matt Damon in the lead role.

Variety has reported in bare bones fashion that Thomas Haden Church had joined the film, but have provided no details on what role he might play.

Earlier today we heard news that Amy Adams was weighing an offer to play the female lead role, but apparently she's on a shortlist of actresses, so if she passes — maybe to play alongside Jason Segel in the new "Muppets" movie — there could be many other contenders (we're thinking Zooey Deschanel as her second-ever film role ever was in Crowe's "Almost Famous.") The trades don't mention Adams at all and we suspect it's because she's still mulling over the role and it hasn't hit the negotiation stage. Production on "We Bought A Zoo" is expected to start in early 2011.


The script adaptation was originally penned by"The Devil Wears Prada" scribe Aline Brosh McKenna, but reports a few months ago said Crowe was rewriting to fit his style. Mee's story follows the English author (Damon's role) as he uproots his family into the countryside on a property complete with a dwindling zoo, home to over 200 exotic animals. Once there, the family is struck with the tragic cancer battle of the wife and mother (the role Amy Adams is being sought for) , whose unfortunate passing goes on to inspire the family to rebuild the zoo. Their relationship to the animals grows, ultimately healing the family's wounds and allowing them to move forward. The Amazon description of the novel says that the zoo contains "an eclectic staff" and new hires have to be made, so presumably this is where Church's role fits.

The film is already set for a December 23rd, 2011 release date which fits with its sentimental, but hopefully not mawkish sounding tone that's ideally made for all families, yet won't pander too hard. It's been five years since Crowe's unfortunate, "Elizabethtown" so we're hoping the film finds him more surefooted tonally. The director is also working on an Untitled Pearl Jam Documentary that will center around the band's 20 year anniversary which just passed this year. At one point it looked like his next feature would be the romantic comedy set in Hawaii "Deep Tiki" with Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon, but the project was postponed and it feels like its time has passed.

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VIFF '10 Review: 'Seven Days In Heaven' & 'Leap Year'; Two Films United By Patriarchal Death, But Little Else

A sense of deja vu is inevitable when attending a film festival. If you check out a lot of the offerings, one film may bleed in to another in your memory, but the strangest feeling comes when two films seen back-to-back can be connected — thematically, photographically, sharing a similar scene, etc. — even though they bare little resemblance to each other. At every festival attended, it's something this writer has experienced without fail.

Before the end of the third day at the 2010 Vancouver International Film Festival, which is more focused on the films than lavish premieres, parties and stars (they also treat press like royalty out here, a rarity at such a large event), this phenomenon, which to be fair is purely coincidental (but still fun), occurred with two films seemingly with nothing in common. The link: dead daddies.

"Leap Year" (Michael Rowe)
No, not the shitty-looking rom-com with Amy Adams, but unfortunately this sad, disturbing tale about a lonely woman living alone and having lots of messed-up sex in Mexico City shares the same title. Having not seen the Amy Adams vehicle, and by no means a gambling man, this writer would nonetheless bet the farm, and still sleep comfortably, that it doesn't contain a golden shower scene (which certainly looked real to these eyes). The two are very different, so let's try to keep them separate.

Laura (a very brave Monica del Carmen, who appeared in "Babel") doesn't do much besides sit in her apartment, eat bad food, masturbate while watching her neighbor couple, lie about her "great life" and talk to her mom on the phone. The only time she is focused and not thinking about being lonely is when she's working (she's a business journalist), or hanging out with her younger brother. After several embarrassing one night stands, Laura finally meets a guy who is actually interested, but he hasn't revealed the level of his sexual desires. She opens up to the man, slowly revealing pieces of her past (her dad died four years prior on the titular leap year, a date she has curiously marked on her calender throughout the film), and we begin to realize that Laura wants to punish herself. At times "Leap Year" resembles the 1977 Diane Keaton film, "Waiting For Mr. Goodbar."

The entire film takes place in her small, suffocating apartment (save for the opening scene), but somehow director Michael Rowe and DP Juan Manuel Sepulveda, awarded the Camera d'Or at this year's Cannes, make it visually interesting, rarely (if ever) moving the camera and simply letting the events unfold. While not on the level of craftsmanship of Mexico's leading arthouse filmmaker (Carlos Reygadas), "Leap Year" is a tough, but rewarding film, another strong entry in the country's burgeoning cinema. Every time you think the film is going for a pat character/plot explanation — a secret about her relationship with her father is hinted at; a potential deus ex machina at the climax — it mostly avoids it, favoring complexity instead, to the film's benefit. [B]

"Seven Days in Heaven" (Wang Yu-lin & Essay Liu)
From Taiwan comes this film about a funeral that lasts seven days (hence the title). An enlightening, but at times too-tinted (or was that just the crummy digital video?) window into an arduous cultural norm, the film throws you into its plot and characters, a sign of respect for its audience that is welcome. A brother and sister return to their father's village to partake in the week long observance of his passing, along with their filmmaker/photographer cousin, who's there to document. They are joined by a hilarious Daoist priest and a professional mourning weeper (she gets the funniest moments), and (literally) wackiness ensues.

The film suffers from tonal schizophrenia, though, and the filmmakers are not as adept at mood swings as, say, some of the heavies of the modern South Korean cinema (Bong Joon-Ho, Park Chan-Wook, Kim Ji-Woon, etc.), which has been built on this sort of thing. It works best when trying to be funny, though not always (eg: a scene involving a tower of beer cans and the entire family is just plain...dumb, and goes on way too long). For anyone who's gone through a loss in their immediate family (this writer being one of them), it's actually refreshing to see this most difficult and sullen of times presented with humor, especially when looking at an ancient religious ritual. But when the film wants to get serious, it feels unearned, and falls flat. It's hard to be moved to tears when you're recovering from laughing out loud. [C+]

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Amy Adams Weighs Offers: 'The Muppets,' Cameron Crowe's New Project & Alex Kurtzman's Directing Debut With Chris Pine

Amy Adams is a wanted woman and we can't say we blame the filmmakers and producers who covet her talents. After taking off almost a year to have a baby, the actress is ready to get back to work and now has to weigh some serious offers.

The first one, and perhaps the most enticing as it could endlessly enjoyable, is one from Jason Segel and Disney regarding his 'Untitled Muppets Movie' (sometimes known as simply, "The Muppets," formerly known as "The Greatest Muppet Movie Of All Time") which is due Christmas 2011. Segel want Adams to co-star next to him in the picture which needs to start shooting soon if it wants to make its targeted release date. Having already worked in the realm of animation — "Enchanted" — she more than demonstrated that she could carry a tune (the 'Muppets' film will surely have songs in it and Segel is a songwriter as well), Adams seems like a perfect fit for the material, but she does have other gigs to consider.

Cameron Crowe — who is getting divorced from his wife of 22 years, Nancy Wilson, bummer — wants Adams to play the zookeeper role alongside Matt Damon in the adaptation of "We Bought A Zoo" which is also scheduled for a Christmas release in 2011 which essentially means it too is vying for her attention. Damon plays a widowed man who buys a dilapidated zoo as a condition of purchasing a beautiful country estate.

Lastly there's Dreamworks' "Welcome To People," which is the directorial debut of Alex Kurtzman, one half of the writing duo (along with Roberto Orci) responsible for the "Star Trek" and "Transformers" films thus far. The Dreamworks family drama recently picked up Chris Pine for the lead — a man who loses his father to cancer and then must deliver the $150,000 inheritance to his half-sister — and they're eying Adams for this sibling role; a struggling mother and recovering alcoholic. EW reports that her participation in 'The Muppets' movie seems optimistic, but nothing has been set in stone yet. Adams is apparently on a short list of women who are also contenders for the "We Bought A Zoo" gig.

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Elizabeth Banks Joins Sam Worthington In 'Man On A Ledge'

He might have convinced studio executives and tentpole casting directors, but since James Cameron plucked him from the Australian indie scene to topline "Avatar," Sam Worthington hasn't convinced the rest of us that he's an acting force to be reckoned with. He might have headlined the likes of "Terminator: Salvation" and "Clash of the Titans," but he doesn't appear to have mastered the things that'll give his career longevity, like not speaking in his native accent, or having charisma, and reviews of dramas "The Debt" and "Last Night" from Toronto generally picked the actor out as the weak link.

But he's giving the serious actor thing another shot in Summit's thriller "Man On A Ledge," from director Asger Leth ("Ghosts of Cite Soleil"), in which Worthington will play a ex-cop framed for a crime, who is released from prison for his father's funeral, and threatens suicide from a hotel ledge. Across town, meanwhile, his brother is planning a heist, which may be connected to the cop's actions... A strong cast is already on board, with Jamie Bell as the brother, and "The Hurt Locker" star Anthony Mackie as Worthington's ex-partner, and now, another excellent actor has come on board.

Deadline report that Elizabeth Banks has joined the cast, as the female lead, a hostage negotiator who tries to talk Worthington down, developing feelings for him in the process. The actress is best known for her comedy roles, but she's going more serious in Paul Haggis' dire-looking "The Next Three Days," and this part marks another step towards the A-list for Banks. Amy Adams was previously reported to be circling the role.

Filming kicks off in November in New York, and we hope that, with a supporting cast as strong as this one, Worthington might raise his game somewhat, and the film'll turn out to be an enjoyable, high-class thriller along the lines of "Inside Man" or "The Negotiator." Aside from "The Next Three Days" the in-demand Banks has "The Details" with Tobey Maguire and the Paul Rudd indie comedy "My Idiot Brother" coming up, and is developing the fantasy comedy "Tink" for Disney.

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