Bradley Cooper is adding a new title to his resume: director. The Oscar-nominated actor is eyeing as his feature filmmaking debut Honeymoon With Harry, a dramedy in which he’ll also star with Robert De Niro. More about Cooper’s possible directing gig after the jump.
Deadline reports Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love.) is rewriting Honeymoon With Harry, which centers on a hard-partying womanizer who cleaned up his act after meeting the right woman. Her dad isn’t so keen on him, as he recognizes a bit of himself in his daughter’s suitor, but the couple gets engaged anyway.
Then, shortly before her wedding, she passes away, leaving the groom in a tailspin. He goes on the honeymoon trip to try and down his sorrows. Once at the beach, he encounters the late bride’s father, who’s come to spread her ashes.
Cooper would play the woman’s bereaved fiance and De Niro her father. The pair have worked together several times before — most notably playing father and son in Silver Linings Playbook, but also in Limitless, American Hustle, and David O. Russell’s upcoming Joy.
Honeymoon With Harry has been in development for nearly a decade. Paul Haggis wrote the original script based on Bart Baker’s unpublished novel. At the time, he intended to helm the movie himself with Vince Vaughn and Jack Nicholson in the leads. Haggis’ screenplay made the 2005 Black List but the project fell apart.
After Haggis, director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Jenny Lumet circled the project and Cooper and De Niro first became interested. That version didn’t work out either, but Fogelman’s hiring indicates this new iteration is finally picking up steam.
Cooper has lately seemed eager to branch out. He produced American Sniper and has reportedly been considering a few different projects for his directorial debut. As an actor, his upcoming roles include the aforementioned Joy, Cameron Crowe’s next movie, and Netflix’s Wet Hot American Summer revival.
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week we thank the Obama administration for ruthlessly going after whistleblowers, wonder whether the spirit of Andre Dubus lives on, revisit Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, stand in wonderment of artistic masters, and praise the efforts of small filmmakers everywhere.
National Gallery Trailer
Let it wash over you.
Strangely, a few weeks ago, I talked about another documentary about an art gallery and dropped Frederick Wiseman’s name and so it should follow, right, that Wiseman himself has a documentary on the National Gallery of London which, if you ever find yourself in the need to do something rather than hunting for a cheap shirt that says Mind the Gap, you would be well rewarded. What I absolutely adore about this trailer is how well it encapsulates the very thing that makes museums so compelling and awe-inducing in the first place: its art and the dedication of many to preserve it. It smartly slips in critical high praise as we slowly drift into moment after moment. We don’t need to linger on the art so much as we hear and see the participants who keep these societal touchstones alive as if they were created merely months, not centuries, ago. I found myself giving pause and simply delighting in these small thoughts that are shared with us and it coalesces into a marketing vehicle that exceeds its medium by stoking those mental embers of curiosity.
Silenced Trailer
You ought to care about this.
One of the things that came out of Frontline’s superb examination on the US government’s attempts at purloining information on its citizenry is seeing that not everyone was OK with this even before Edward Snowden blew his whistle. A senior executive at the NSA, Thomas Drake worked there from 2001 to 2008. Not only did he contact a Baltimore Sun reporter about things he saw going on that caused a huge amount of alarm, once he was found out he was charged with disclosing classified information under the Espionage Act. His is but one example of how the Obama administration has dealt with whistleblowers in this country. Director James Spione takes an interesting angle to examine how we treat people who leak information versus those who are whistle-blowers. Whereas Citizenfour takes a look at one man’s story, seeing it from the vantage point of multiple people who have been caught up in pivotal moments in our country’s contemporary history not only makes this a curious watch but, perhaps, a necessary one.
Little Accidents Trailer
There’s something interesting here.
First, and I have to get this out there, I just can’t swallow the idea that if my kid was suddenly removed from my family that one of my first orders of business would be to bone the neighborhood bad boy. It’s a superficial observation based only on what’s here in the trailer, I get that, but I’m putting that aside as I think director Sara Colangelo has perhaps made something special. After getting comfortable with its sensibility, you can actually get the sense for its time and place. You can feel its location, its people. It honestly comes off like an Andre Dubus, In the Bedroom, kind of movie along with its complications that arise after some tragedy takes place. It seems like a small movie that is going to live and die based on how well its players can make me feel that this is coming from a place of genuine human fraility. From wrath, from sexuality, from coveting, it all leads to these moments that, if the trailer is to be believed, we could see some riveting performances.
Giuseppe Makes a Movie Trailer
God, I love American Movie.
There is just something about the indomitable spirit of people who want to make a movie. Director Giuseppe Andrews is such a person and even though this trailer is an absolute riot of chaotic moments all fighting for some kind of coherence there is a genuine preciousness that should be recognized. It’s genuine heart and soul, albeit a completely crazy heart and soul, on display and we see the vulnerability of someone who has a dream of crafting these little films. Whether the art is any good is a little besides the point. What we get in this trailer is a portrait of a man who has the kind of drive and creativity that ought to resonate with anyone who wants to be inspired by people who are living life on their terms. Wrongly or rightly, this is the kind of documentary that gets my attention if for only to get a glimpse of someone trying to make a dream become a reality.
The Last American Vampire Book Trailer
So, this is writer Seth Grahame-Smith’s latest creation.
I don’t usually slip in trailers for books but because Grahame-Smith has been so active in the contemporary cinematic universe with his announced presence on projects like Beetlejuice 2, The Lego Batman Movie, It, andGremlins it just should follow that if you were a fan of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter you’re about to get your fix of even more schlock pretty soon. The trailer is pretty abysmal (I had to check twice just to make sure this wasn’t made by some dude in his bedroom closet) but, hey, this guy has made a wonderful life for himself based on his wordsmithing so who the hell am I to judge?
Nota bene: If you have any suggestions of trailers to possibly be included in this column, even have a trailer of your own to pitch, please let me know by sending me a note at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com or look me up via Twitter at @Stipp
In case you missed them, here are the other trailers we covered at /Film this week:
The Snoopy Movie Trailer – Far more fascinating than the previous version but it’s still leaving me kind of cold.
Big Game Trailer– Yes, just the kind of afternoon matinee silliness that I’m hungry for.
PlayStation Now Gets Netflix-Style Monthly Subscription Option: Sony finally made it official this week, announcing that PlayStation Now’s Netflix-style subscription package will launch later this month. It’ll cost you either $20/month or $45 for three months, which comes out to $15/month if you subscribe for the full year. The subscription package will be available first on PS4 before coming to other platforms later. Subscribers will have access to more than 100 PlayStation 3 games.
PlayStation 4 Sales Reach 18.5 Million Units: Sony announced another PS4 sales milestone this week, revealing that the super-system has now sold more than 18.5 million units worldwide since its launch in November 2013. In addition, Sony says it now has 10.9 million PlayStation Plus subscribers.
The Other Stuff (Stories We Like, But Didn’t Cover With a Standalone Post):
The annual Consumer Electronics Show was held this week in Las Vegas, and out of it came huge variety of futuristic devices. One of those was the 3DRudder, a peripheral that lets you control games with your feet. Finally.
Got a million hours to spare? The Internet Archive has added some 2,400 MS-DOS games to its collection of classic games, including Commander Keen and Metal Gear. Take a look here
It’s like Humans of New York, but instead of Manhattan, it’s Tamriel. “The Faces of Skyrim” is a new image project from Andy Cull. Head to these Flickr pages to see dozens of amazingly stunning portraits of Skyrim characters. What a beautiful game.
A new Mega-Man game has been announced! But … it’s a mobile game and it’s only available in South Korea. Called Rockman Gogo, the new Android game is an officially licensed title that sees a stylized version of the Blue Bomber facing off against a number of colorful enemies. You can see some gameplay footage here.
Tropico 5 fans have new DLC to look forward to, as publisher Kalypso this week announced “Surf’s Up!” the latest expansion for the city-building game. It’s available now on PC and Mac for $4, and introduces a “zany intergalactic themed” adventure to the game, as well as a new building, avatar accessory, sandbox map, and music track.
Here’s some Entertainment news we think you might like. Marvel Entertainment released the first full-length trailer for its upcoming Ant-Man movie starring Paul Rudd. Check it out above.
The Princess Bride movie may be almost 30 years old, but the brand still has legs, or at least the folks at Gameblend hope it does. They released a new mobile game based on the series this week. It’s based on the movie, so you can expect to fight eels, climb cliffs, engage in sword fights, and wrestle Andre the Giant. Download it today from iTunes for $3.
In the market for new Skylanders? GameStop has announced that today, January 10, shoppers can enjoy the following savings on all-things Skylanders for one day only.
The first 20 customers at each location will receive a FREE Skylanders mini comic
Buy a new Trap Master and get an individual Trap for just 99 cents
Buy a Skylanders Trap Team starter pack for $44.99, that is $30 off
Two new GameStop-exclusive Eon’s Elite characters are now available, and you can also save $5 on the entire Eon’s Elite series.
Everyone knows what an Xbox is, but what about an OBox? That’s a new microconsole from Chinese company Snail Games. Announced this week during CES, the OBox is a portable, Android-powered gaming device powered by the Nvidia K1 processor. That’s not all, however, as Snail Games also announced another Android-powered handheld gaming device called the W 3D. You can read more about both devices from The Verge.
Adorable kittens aren’t the only animals that can play video games. Here’s a video of a penguin playing iPad games. “Experimenting with many objects to engage the naturally curious birds, aviculturist Sara Mandel found that the penguins took quite a liking to an iPad game she got for her cats,” writes Cool Hunting.
Looking for a new Xbox One gaming headset? The folks at Turtle Beach announced a brand new headset for Microsoft’s console this week at CES called the Elite 800X. Turtle Beach says the new headset will “set a new standard” for performance due to its active noise-cancellation feature and boom-free microphones. It also includes DTS 7.1 channel surround sound, customizable presets, a magnetic charging stand, and swappable speaker plates. It’s expected to launch this spring. Pricing wasn’t announced, but we doubt it’ll be cheap.
Here’s something you probably didn’t expect to read today. Guitar Hero co-creator Charles Huang has written a children’s book about the Chinese New Year, and you can buy it today. The book, called The Great Race: How the Chinese Zodiac Came to Be, it’s a modern take on the classic Chinese Zodiac story.
What are Elon Musk’s favorite video games? Someone asked the SpaceX and Tesla chief that very question during a recent Reddit AMA. He said it was hard to pick a favorite, but explained that BioShock, Fallout, Mass Effect, Civilization, and Warcraft are some of his top titles. Nice choices, Elon!
Curious about the role of music in video games and the business behind it? If so, you’ll want to tune in to next week’s episode of the Renman Live web show, as EA Music Group executive and president Steve Schnur will be the featured guest. During the January 14 show, he’ll speak about the role music plays in EA Games, and lots more.
Which console streams the most porn? PornHub published a comprehensive report for 2014 streaming trends this week, showing that Xbox users are the heaviest streamers of porn from the adult site at 45.7 percent. The next closest was PlayStation at 40 percent, then a huge falloff to Wii at 8.2 percent. You can see PornHub’s full report here; and don’t worry, it’s safe for work.
The latest chapter in the Sony Pictures hacking story unfolded this week, as FBI director James Comey explained in more detail (via The Verge) how it determined that North Korea was behind the widespread and damaging attacks. He went on to definitively say: “We know who hacked Sony. It was the North Koreans. I have very high confidence about this attribution.”
Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine this week published an outline of what it hopes the game will achieve in 2015. Among the new features is a TV-style, episodic quest line. This will roll out “a little at a time,” and Turbine teases that it will see players following “a new friend across Middle-earth, seeing familiar places in a new light.” You can read the full 2015 Lord of the Rings Online outline here.
Want to feel old? Here’s a video of teenagers playing Mario Kart 64. Watch as the teens boast at great lengths about their karting prowess, only to be felled by the mighty (relative) difficulty of that 1996 racing game. What’s even more terrifying is that the video is classified as “retro gaming.”
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Speedrunner Werster employs a number of interesting strategies to topple the game with great pace. One of his tactics is avoiding encounters in the grass altogether. He’s discovered that grass patches with flowers in the bottom right square of the tile do not lead to encounters, so he simply walks on those.
But the way in which he really zips through the game is by leveraging a glitch (starting at around 12:15 in the video above) that allows him to walk through walls. And starting at around 20 minutes, he manipulates certain game variables that essentially allows him to teleport to the Hall of Fame, ending the run in 21 minutes and 42 seconds.
The time might seem blazing fast to you, but Werster says he can do better.
“There’s a slightly faster route that you can do that involves Bulbasaur exactly having 16 special and then catching a Pidgey that has to have exactly 15 or 17 health–it’s pretty stupid,” he says.
The Awesome Games Done Quick event is a charity speedrunning event that raises money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. It started January 4 and runs through January 10. So far, the effort has raised more than $595,000 for charity.
“There are some amazing games for PS1 and PS2 and our longer term vision is to go back further into the PlayStation generational library and offer those with PlayStation Now,” the streaming service’s Director of Marketing Peter Jamshidi said in response to a question from a reader on the PlayStation Blog. “Right now however, we are focused on bringing to users experiences from the amazing PS3 library.”
Earlier this week, Sony announced that it will launch a subscription plan for PlayStation Now on January 13. For $20 per month, or $45 for three months, users will get unlimited access to the full library of PlayStation 3 games. At the moment, PlayStation Now users can only rent individual games, paying as much as $5 for four hours of access to titles such as Deus Ex: Human Revolution. 90-day subscriptions to individual games, meanwhile, can cost as much as $30.
Common knowledge states that the last month of any given year tends to be pretty dry when it comes to outstanding game releases, but December 2014 took that tired notion and slapped it around the head. The last month of the previous year may not have been as prodigious as November when it came to the sheer number of releases, but what did come out was of impressive quality.
One of the best puzzle games of 2014 (The Talos Principle), for example, came out last December, while one of the year’s most outstanding co-op adventures (Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris) was also officially unleashed on the world. But there was one game that almost universally charmed and impressed the content crew here at GameSpot, and that’s the debut game from a previously little-regarded Nintendo character.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, at first blush, seems like a one-trick pony. Based on the mini levels that first appeared in Super Mario 3D Land, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this game would just continually recycle the same simple yet fun Captain Toad is anything but monotonous, despite the main characters’ physical limitations (there’s no jumping or butt stomping for Toad or Toadette). There’s a surprising amount of platforming variety available here, from inventive levels where you’re controlling multiple Toads, to mine cart sections that make great use of the Wii U gamepad, and even large-scale boss battles. Captain Toad stretches your mind, challenges your skills, and just as importantly, puts a smile on your face. Few games have the surplus of charm and whimsy that Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker has, making it a deserving recipient of our Game of the Month award for December 2014.
343 Industries today added new content for the ongoing Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer on Xbox One, introducing a new map, mode, and weapon to the pre-release trial.
Defeating Orion in a fan vote, the new map available today is Pegasus, which was developed using Halo 5’s new Forge map-editing suite. Pegasus has long sightlines, making it an ideal map for players proficient with ranged weapons like the Sniper Rifle or DMR.
Halo 5’s new Rocket Launcher
343 adds: “Holding down the raised area with the Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher, or Light Rifle gives a team excellent presence, and the ability to lock down huge swathes of the map. However, this spot is vulnerable to grenades and flanking routes that the opposing team should use to retake the high ground.”
As mentioned above, the new weapon added to Halo 5 today is the Rocket Launcher, which is a highly deadly gun that can kill multiple enemies with one shot.
The final new addition to the Halo 5 multiplayer beta today is the Strongholds mode, which is playable on the Regret and Empire maps. Strongholds features three zones spread throughout the map that players need to control to defeat the opposing team.
Only the team that controls two Stronghold zones will score points, meaning players must coordinate if they want to win. 343 warns that attempting to control all three zones at once will likely spread you too far thin. The first team to 100 points wins.
The arrival of Stronghold doesn’t come at the expense of the Halo 5 beta’s other modes, Slayer and Breakout, which will remain available to play for the duration of the beta, which ends January 18.
For more on the Halo 5 beta’s new content, check out the image gallery below. Be sure to click each image to see a full-size version.
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What happens when Alien: Isolation and Team Fortress 2 mix? You get this nicely done short film by MaGGoT4th, in which an Alien turns TF2‘s colorful cast into quivering mush puddles. Make sure to stick around for the twist ending.
The Metal Gear Solid games have allowed players to look around in first-person for quite a while, but to play the whole game like an FPS—with convincing movement and decent controls? This looks like a job for modders.
