Say it isn't so!

According to Variety, the release date of Pride and Glory has been pushed back from March 14, 2008 to the very precise date of "next year." Christopher Campbell of Cinematical attempts to explain New Line's reasoning for postponing the film (again):

Here's a strange twist to the writer's strike, and a postponement excuse we haven't heard before: New Line has pushed back Inkheart from March 2008 to January 2009 because of what the strike is doing to the television industry. Huh? According to Variety, the studio figures that without first-run programs on TV, it can't reach enough viewers through commercials, which is apparently the only way to market a movie these days.
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In other release date news, New Line has also pushed back Pride and Glory, which stars Edward Norton and Colin Farrell (which I remember them filming in Brooklyn back in Summer 2005), from March 14 to sometime in 2009, though the reasoning behind this one may have had more to do with Norton and Farrell having other new releases coming out soon, than it had to do with the writer's strike effect on TV ads. [...]

In an article about Colin Farrell, the Los Angeles Times also mentions the postponement:

[...] With his recent roles, Colin Farrell -- self-described "lucky man" -- seems himself to be back on track. Next up is the police drama "Pride and Glory" with Edward Norton, which was shot before either "In Bruges" or "Cassandra's Dream" and was recently bumped to a 2009 release date. [...]

Guess we'll have to wait a while longer if we want to see more than the 0.2 seconds of Jennifer Ehle-footage featured in the Pride and Glory trailer.

Thank goodness we still have The Russell Girl to look forward to! Speaking of which, Catholic Online has an article about the Hallmark Hall of Fame drama, which will be broadcast in just 7 days (but who's counting?!). *Warning - the article contains many spoilers*

In other news, Susan C. Ingram of the Community Times discusses many of the films that were shown at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, including Before the Rains.

[...] 'Before the Rains' (USA/India) had its U.S. debut at the Palm Springs festival. Visually beautiful, the Merchant/Ivory production sets the taboo love story of an English planter and his Indian house servant amid the 1930s uprising against British colonialism. The love story sets in action a string of events that puts the nearby village, the planter’s family and his Indian colleague in turmoil. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t imbue enough passion or detail into either story and doesn’t reach its dramatic potential. [...]

In theater news, Jennifer Ehle's mum, Rosemary Harris, will be taking part in the newly created Flying Swan Acting Intensive. According to Playbill:

Academy Award nominee Marsha Mason, in conjunction with Connecticut's Wesleyan University, has created a new intensive for young actors slated to begin this summer.

The four-week summer intensive, scheduled to run June 26-July 28 on the Wesleyan campus, is geared for actors ages 16-20 with classes ranging from audition technique, acting for the musical theatre and improvisation to modern American drama and Shakespeare.

As president, Mason will lead the program in partnership with British Academy of Dramatic Arts founder Tony Branch, who will serve as executive director. Guest speakers and faculty currently scheduled to participate include Joe Olivieri, Penny Cherns, James Goodwin, Nancy Keystone, Gary Kline and Henry Goodman, as well as special guests Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Rosemary Harris, Michael Cristofer, Jack O'Brien and Paul Rudd. [...]

Visit flyingswan.org for more information about the program.

There is also a great interview with Rosemary Harris in the Star-Ledger, in which she talks about her performance in Oscar and the Pink Lady.

Here is a sampling of the Q & A's:

Q. Whom do you portray?

A. I'm a volunteer who comes to a hospital and plays with the ill children there. Because I'm an older woman dressed in pink, they call me "Granny Pink." I become attached to a 10-year-old named Oscar, who's overheard the doctor tell his parents he's terminally ill. They can't face it, and run away, so I stand in for them. I tell him, "They're not afraid of you, they're afraid of the disease." He answers, "But my disease is a part of me." He's a very bright boy.

Q. But isn't it a one-person show?

A. Yes, and you know, I didn't even realize that when I got the script three years ago, before I did it in San Diego. It had a marvelous part for the old lady, but I wondered how they could ever cast the boy. Then I was told, "No, you'd play both" -- and I gulped. But Danielle Darrieux did (this play) in Paris when she was 86, so I decided, if she can do it, so can I. What also gave me
courage is that it's in the form of letters. I figured, if worse came to worse, I could just read them.

Q. Reading letters from a desk has become acceptable in today's theater, hasn't it?

A. Yes, but then I found the lighting was so dim that I wouldn't be able to read. I could just see me losing my place, walking over into a light pool, muttering "Now where am I?" as I flipped through pages. So I just memorized it. [More]

Lastly, just a reminder that Masterpiece Theater's The Complete Jane Austen will continue on Sunday evening with Andrew Davies' new production of Northanger Abbey. You can read about it at the Boston Globe. Happy viewing Austen fans!