Two more months...

The Greatest is, at last, to be released in DVD and Blu-Ray on July 13, 2010.

Pre-order available at Amazon.

Trailer here to whet the appetite (no glimpse of Jennifer Ehle though).

Back to movies

The Greatest is now released in theaters in the United States.

According to the 2 New York Times and LA Times reviews of the film, we won't see much of Jennifer Ehle though:

Math professor Allen's recent affair with a lovely colleague (Jennifer Ehle) provides a potential key to the marital problem between Allen and Grace that clearly predated their son's death. But, like much else here, it goes underexplored. (LA Times)

The film squanders valuable time on several undeveloped subplots. One involves Allen's recent affair with a colleague (Jennifer Ehle), who tries to offer solace. (NY Times)

Colin Firth talks about his role as King George VI in The King's speech :



I finally fall on this very funny article, Postsecret and embarassing Pride and Prejudice confessions, in which the author archly asks : what hidden secrets do we have about Pride and Prejudice? I let you look at the post and meditate on that...

Thank you, Senator!

Great news about The Greatest

On Monday it was announced that Senator Distribution has picked up the North American rights to the film, an arrangement which seems to be to everybody's satisfaction. According to IndieWire:

[...] “From the moment we saw ‘The Greatest’ at Sundance, our team pursued it aggressively, and we are thrilled the filmmakers have entrusted us with the project,” said Senator Chairman Weber and President Mark Urman in a statement. “‘The Greatest’ is that rare film that combines extraordinary quality of execution with mass audience appeal. For us, it was one of the true revelations of Sundance and our entire team loved it.”

“Ever since sitting down with Mark and Marco at Sundance I knew instinctively that they were the right distributor,” Feste said in a statement. “Their sensitivity to the themes of the film and their heartfelt emotional response convinced me that they understood the movie on a deeper level than most of the distributors we met with. I am thrilled that we were able to make this exciting partnership come to fruition.”

Screen Daily adds:

[...] Kimmel International handles foreign rights and reported strong sales at EFM in February on the back of the Sundance world premiere. Rights have gone to SND in France, Dea Planeta in Spain and Gussi in Mexico, among others.
. . .
“Irish Dreamtime is thrilled that Senator Distribution has taken a vested interest in this film,” said Brosnan, whose Irish Dreamtime partner Beau St Clair produced The Greatest with Lynette Howell. “Mark and Marco have worn their hearts on their sleeves and demonstrated real creative understanding of the movie.”

We have yet to hear when the movie is expected to make it to the Big Screen, but at least we now know that we can expect to see it there.

Two little nymphets revisited

This amusing anecdote from the book Peter Ustinov: The Gift of Laughter by John Miller (2003) was posted last time, but apparently not everyone could view it. It’s too cute to miss, so here ’tis in all of its adorableness:

For those who saw [King Lear], it was certainly for the better. [Ustinov’s] former leading lady, Rosemary Harris, thought “it was a wonderful part for him. He had all of the humour in it, and the madness and the tragedy of Lear.” She was staying with her friend Patricia Connolly, who was playing Cordelia, and also Viola in Twelfth Night that season.

Rosemary’s daughter, Jennifer Ehle, was then about eight, and Patricia’s daughter Emily was six. There was a big party after one performance of Twelfth Night, and Peter was invited, with the other members of the company. Because it was his night off, he was the first to arrive at 10 p.m., and the others only turned up at 10:30. The two mothers had left the little girls with instructions that if anybody came early, they were to hold the fort and entertain them until they got home. So they opened the door to Peter in their mothers’ long dresses, wearing make-up. “Being Peter, he wasn’t at all nonplussed. They invited him in, sat him down, and entertained him. What he thought of these two little nymphets, I can’t imagine; but only Peter would sit and be amused, and enjoy it all. He made them feel quite happy and very grown up.”

He so took it in his stride that now he cannot even remember the incident, though the girls and their mothers do. (184-185)

As Abi noted, this proves that Ms Ehle started her training young, but it's also evidence that she was a born hostess.

Pride and Prejudice: The Comic Book

?? Yep, you read that correctly. Special Agent Janet discovered that our beloved novel has recently been transformed into a comic book. (Unfortunately, I don't believe Lizzy has acquired any superpowers in P&P's latest incantation.) You can get a sneak peek of the first issue at Marvel.com, where the aims of the series are briefly discussed:

[...] "I've tried to keep the flavor and sly humor of the story, and modernized the language only for better understanding," explains Butler. "Wherever space allowed, I've used Jane Austen's own words. This is your grandmother's PRIDE & PREJUDICE, and your mother's and your own.

"David Gabriel, Marvel Senior Vice President of Sales, adds, "Following in the success of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, we're presenting these classic stories by staying as close to the originals as possible while still putting that unique Marvel spin on them. I think Jane Austen fans will be thrilled when they sample Nancy's work." [...]

I suspect something has been lost in the translation...

Taking a rather different approach is Kyetxian at Deviant Art, whose rib-breaking "Jane Austen for Noobs" was also unearthed by Janet. I dearly love a laugh!

Happy March

Calendaring

• Just want to remind everyone that the region 2 DVD of Pride and Glory will be released tomorrow (March 2), and the region 2 version of Before the Rains will be coming out on March 9.
• There's a video of Pierce Brosnan talking about The Greatest over at YouTube, but we still haven't heard a word about when the movie is expected to make it to theaters.

Post-Tony Award-winning fun

• While wandering around the internet, searching for postables, I found a video interview clip of Jennifer Ehle at the 2007 Tony Awards that I hadn't seen before. It's from the Tony's press room, and it can be viewed at Getty Images. If the video doesn't come up when you click on the link, search for "Jennifer Ehle" under Editorial Footage.

P.S. For an example of grr-inciting journalism, check out this discussion at our Chat Extension.

The Latest on The Greatest

[Edit: Oops, I forgot to include this clip from the movie, courtesy of YouTube]

According to the Q Chronicle, The Greatest still hasn't found a distributor, but a more recent article at the more credible Screen Daily announced that Kimmel International has made deals with several international distributors and a "North American deal is imminent." We'll keep you posted about any up-and-coming release dates.

Review-wise, Film Threat has some very non-threatening things to say about the movie:

[...] “The Greatest” is a solid film containing numerous performances worth mention. But while it comes as no surprise that Sarandon and Brosnan deliver the goods, Mulligan holds her own alongside the pros. She captures the innocence of a young woman in a desperate situation. Rose is a child trying her hardest to be an adult. The film’s most impressive performance comes from the actor whose character spends most of the film in a coma. That’s not a knock at the rest of the performers, it’s what Michael Shannon does when he wakes up that’s so extraordinary.

Playing the man responsible for Bennett Brewer’s death, Shannon has the honor of portraying the film’s most complex character. He acts his heart out during a scene where Grace squeezes every last detail about her son’s last moments from his memory. A number of great performances added to a moving script and filmed with beautiful cinematography have resulted in an outstanding film. Feste’s project shows that having the right pieces makes fitting them all together a whole lot easier.

Eric Kohn at IndieWIRE is less enthusiastic, but many bloggers have weighed in as well, and you can read their various post-Sundance-ly opinions at Reel Thoughts, Paige Duke, Obsessed With Film, Luke Hickman's Entertainment Blog, and The Evangelist, to name a few. Some fans are also discussing the movie at the IMDb message board if you want to check it out.

Tidbit-wise, in an interview at WWD, Carey Mulligan revealed that it took a mere 25 days to shoot the film:

[...] Mulligan had to switch gears — and accents — to make “The Greatest,” a contemporary film costarring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon as a couple who lose a child. “We shot ‘The Greatest’ in 25 days, so it really was the fastest you could work,” she says. “It was brilliant because it was my first American lead role, so that was a real challenge.” [...]

Labeled the new 'star in the making,' Carey Mulligan seems to have been the talk of the town at Sundance thanks to her performances in both An Education and The Greatest. Read more about it in her interview with The Toronto Sun and at the RedBox blog and Clone Movie. (Jane Austen fans: note that she played Kitty Bennet in The Other Pride and Prejudice and Isabella Thorpe in Northanger Abbey.)

Additional Items:

• Many thanks to LTC for posting this link to Daily Motion, which has a video containing two (out of three) of Jennifer Ehle's scenes in Pride and Glory.
  
• Also, Pride and Glory made its way Down Under on Feb 5. The reviews from The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald are both on the ouch side, but I can't resist this bit of quotage from the latter:

  [...] O'Connor has no squeamishness when it comes to brutality. In fact, he goes to such extremes in a couple of instances that the violence tips over into gratuitous nastiness. Fortunately, he knows about tenderness as well, and the scenes between Emmerich and Jennifer Ehle as his much-loved wife, who is dying from cancer, lull you into the momentary illusion that you've strayed into a much gentler picture. [...]

• In case you didn't see it in the Chatter Box, Jodes found a lovely interview clip with Rosemary Harris at Fiaf.org that includes some footage of Oscar and the Pink Lady.

News and Miscellany

Excitingly, Moviefone.com has included Jennifer Ehle in the cast list of The Greatest, further corroborating what we learned from Entertainment Weekly and Variety this past week (see previous post). Though JE-centric information is still nearly impossible to come by, Femail has a nice interview with Pierce Brosnan about the film and The New York Daily News has interviewed Susan Sarandon. Also, here is a link to the May 18, 2008 article from Variety which first announced the movie and reported that filming would begin in the summer ('08) on the East Coast.

In other news, we are only days away from Pride and Glory's release on DVD. Blu-ray.com has a lengthy and detailed review from Kenneth Brown, part of which is definitely worth repeating here:

[...] Moreover, the actresses featured in the film -- Jennifer Ehle (playing Francis Jr's terminally-ill wife), Lake Bell (as Jimmy's suspicious wife and the Tierney's only daughter), Carmen Ejogo (as Ray's weary ex-wife), and Leslie Denniston (as the boys' faithful but knowing mother) -- that hold the film together and give the scenes that take place at their respective homes resonance and credibility. Sure, they only pop up for minutes at a time, but they give the male characters legitimate anchor points that define their every decision and motivation. In fact, anyone who wants to shrug off the film as entirely cumbersome or cliche need only refer to the heartbreaking scenes between Ehle and Emmerich to see exactly why this familial cop-drama is a substantial step above the average junk littering the genre. [...]

The article also includes this lovely screencap, much to our benefit. Somewhat echoing Brown's sentiments is Katherine Monk of the Calgary Herald, who declares:

[...] Despite being laden with cop movie cliches, this Gavin O'Connor drama is so earnest, and so desperate to be grounded in some believable reality, he finds traction on the shoulders of the supporting characters such as Jon Voight, who is brilliant as the alcoholic dad, as well as Jennifer Ehle, who draws the moral sword as a mother and wife dying of breast cancer. [...]

Another review at DVD Town includes a description of the special features, while the review at The Philadelphia Inquirer is very short and sweet:

Pride and Glory, which is due out Tuesday from Warner ($28.98 DVD, $35.99 Blu-ray, rated R), is arguably one of the best police thrillers of the decade. A tense, violent meditation on police corruption and brutality, it features scorching performances by Edward Norton and Colin Farrell.

Miscellaneous

• Interestingly, Roger Friedman of FoxNews recommends Jennifer Ehle for the part of Maid Marian in the upcoming film Nottingham. Filming will supposedly begin in March of this year. (Too bad Ms Ehle will be more happily engaged during that time.)
  
  
• Charles Isherwood's review of Oscar and the Pink Lady was published in The New York Times on Friday, and though he was not impressed by the play itself, he unsurprisingly found many things to commend about Rosemary Harris' standout performance:

  [...] An actor of formidable intelligence, refinement and warmth, Ms. Harris has a shelf of well-deserved awards and a long and distinguished history of stage work. She is among a small handful of performers who could induce me to endure a play about a dying child writing letters to God. (Did I mention the dying takes place during the Christmas season?) But I’m afraid even her imposing talent, indisputably on view in this solo show, in which she instills bright life into both the title characters — the ailing boy and an Irishwoman who befriends him — could not make endurance rise to the level of enjoyment. [...] Ms. Harris’s bravura performance might well be sufficient enticement to get you to pay Oscar and friends a visit. Under the direction of Frank Dunlop she impresses with her energy, the precision of her characterizations and the nimble shifts of voice, from the rough brogue of Granny Pink to the feisty piping of Oscar. She plays numerous other roles, too, including several more sick children with funny nicknames like Bacon and Einstein and Popcorn. Her acting always has a natural glow, and boy, does that glow get a workout here. [...]

• Someone get the smelling salts! Mr Darcy is worth even more than we thought. According to The First Post:

  A portrait of actor Colin Firth as Mr Darcy (left, with Firth and Jennifer Ehle, right), which was commissioned as a prop for the BBC's 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, has fetched £12,000 at Bonhams in London, double its estimated price. The painting was accompanied by a signed letter from Firth, in which the 48-year-old star claimed Mr Darcy "has weathered better than most of us."

• Were you among the happy few who got to see Jennifer Ehle in The Coast of Utopia two years ago? Then indulge in a trip down memory lane and describe your experience to the folks at Lincoln Center, who write:

  Please share one of your most memorable experiences seeing theater at Lincoln Center in 150 words or less. A selection of these remembrances will appear in the summer issue of the Lincoln Center Theater Review's Anniversary Issue and on our website.

  Visit the Lincoln Center Theater website for more information, and thanks to Jodes for drawing our attention to this.

The Greatest (and the quietest!)

This is just a quick one to report the apparent news of Jennifer Ehle's latest project which has pleasantly appeared from nowhere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

[Rub eyes, blink, shake head] Sorry, what?!

The film is called The Greatest and is IMDb-able, although Ms Ehle's name has curiously not yet been added to the cast list. However at Variety, Todd McCarthy's brief but specific reference to Ms Ehle points to this merely being an omission by IMDb, not an invention/mistake by reviewers (although that has not yet been ruled out). Sundance's page for the film (along with the two remaining screening times) can be found here.

What is the storyline, who else is in the film, and what are current opinions on it?

Also starring Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan, the movie is about the aftermath of a car accident in which a teenage boy loses his life. The film deals primarily with the lives of the boy's mother (Sarandon), father (Brosnan) and young friend Rose, who turns out to be pregnant with the boy's child. After a detailed look at the story, McCarthy is enthusiastic about the project, calling the piece a 'well-observed study', a 'visual pleasure' and noting that the actors 'do admirable, potent work'. Entertainment Weekly then says almost the complete opposite.

What is Ms Ehle's part?

According to Variety, Jennifer Ehle plays Joan, the 'gorgeous mistress' of the boy's mathematics professor father, who after the accident tells Joan 'not to expect to see him' as he must 'do everything he can to support his wife'.

Have you any more information?

Not as yet, but we will of course shout it from the rooftops when/if we acquire some. According to the film's IMDb page, Cinemablend appear to have lots to say on the project, but unfortunately their site is out of action at present. Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Times has a piece in which writer/director Shana Feste discusses the film's title, among other things. As far as Ms Ehle's involvement is concerned, there is a large barrel of imaginary roubles waiting for any Sundancer willing to provide a confirmation or denial.