The episode of Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? covering Manhunter was Written and Narrated by Mike Holtz, Edited by Joseph Wilson, Produced by Andrew Hatfield and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
How cool would it be to wake up in an alternate universe where bizarre versions of your favorite movies existed and you could experience them all over again for the first time? That’s exactly what I can offer to The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon fans who have never experienced Manhunter (watch it Here). The forgotten and abandoned stepchild of the Hannibal Lecter film series. How in the fava bean f*$& does a movie that has the twisted murder weirdness and fascinating serial killer storytelling of a Silence of the Lambs or Mindhunter paired with the coolness of a movie like Heat and flair of a Nicolas Winding Refn film go this unnoticed?...
How cool would it be to wake up in an alternate universe where bizarre versions of your favorite movies existed and you could experience them all over again for the first time? That’s exactly what I can offer to The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon fans who have never experienced Manhunter (watch it Here). The forgotten and abandoned stepchild of the Hannibal Lecter film series. How in the fava bean f*$& does a movie that has the twisted murder weirdness and fascinating serial killer storytelling of a Silence of the Lambs or Mindhunter paired with the coolness of a movie like Heat and flair of a Nicolas Winding Refn film go this unnoticed?...
- 4/1/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
JoBlo.com recently launched a new weekly documentary series called 80s Horror Memories, where each year of the 1980s has five episodes dedicated to it. Looking back at 1980, we discussed Maniac, Dressed to Kill, Alligator, Friday the 13th, The Shining, Prom Night, and The Fog. The second five episodes were a journey through 1981, covering The Funhouse, The Burning, Friday the 13th Part 2, My Bloody Valentine, Halloween II, The Evil Dead, The Howling, and An American Werewolf in London, as well as the careers of horror hosts Elvira and Joe Bob Briggs. The next five were, of course, all about movies that came out in 1982: Conan the Barbarian, The Thing, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and Poltergeist, with an examination of the short-lived 3-D boom along the way. For 1983, we talked about a trio of Stephen King adaptations, Jaws 3-D, Sleepaway Camp, the rise of TV horror anthologies, and...
- 12/29/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Though Doug Liman has built much of his blockbuster filmography on memorable action set-pieces, from The Bourne Identity all the way through Edge of Tomorrow, his earlier work (Swingers, Go) speaks to a more efficient, character-driven filmmaker. His new picture The Wall feels like a little bit of both. We got a chance to chat with the director about the film, the intricate design of the titular wall and how he deals with his short attention span while making movies.
You’ve worked on a decent amount of action thrillers. What jumped out to you when you read this script?
The reason why I’m drawn to making action movies is because I love pinning characters down in impossible situations and then seeing how they survive. And, you know, I’ve created some pretty outrageous situations; spies with amnesia or aliens and time travel in Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow.
You’ve worked on a decent amount of action thrillers. What jumped out to you when you read this script?
The reason why I’m drawn to making action movies is because I love pinning characters down in impossible situations and then seeing how they survive. And, you know, I’ve created some pretty outrageous situations; spies with amnesia or aliens and time travel in Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow.
- 5/11/2017
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
President Donald Trump on Tuesday made his first Address to Congress, announcing a “new chapter of American greatness” — while upholding the grand tradition of televised awkwardness.
RelatedTrump’s First 100 Days the Focus of Showtime’s Circus Season 2
To the president’s credit, the man speaking before Congress on Tuesday was a softer, more conciliatory Trump than we’re used to seeing. As NBC’s Chuck Todd noted immediately following the address, “We have not seen him deliver a speech like this before.”
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of moments during Trump’s speech — which focused primarily on immigration,...
RelatedTrump’s First 100 Days the Focus of Showtime’s Circus Season 2
To the president’s credit, the man speaking before Congress on Tuesday was a softer, more conciliatory Trump than we’re used to seeing. As NBC’s Chuck Todd noted immediately following the address, “We have not seen him deliver a speech like this before.”
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of moments during Trump’s speech — which focused primarily on immigration,...
- 3/1/2017
- TVLine.com
From a quest for a "fishtail bun" tutorial to an inquiry about what channel Homeland is on, the latest court-ordered release of Hillary Clinton's private emails gives us the biggest glimpse yet into her personal life.
The roughly 7,800 pages of emails released on Monday are full of fun tidbits and celebrity name-drops for politi-philes and laymen alike to geek out over.
Here are the highlights:
1. Clinton's nicknames for Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are nothing short of hilarious.
In a January 2012 note to confidant Sid Blumenthal, Clinton refers to Romney as "Mittens" and Gingrich as "Grinch."
"If Mittens can't beat Grinch in Florida,...
The roughly 7,800 pages of emails released on Monday are full of fun tidbits and celebrity name-drops for politi-philes and laymen alike to geek out over.
Here are the highlights:
1. Clinton's nicknames for Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are nothing short of hilarious.
In a January 2012 note to confidant Sid Blumenthal, Clinton refers to Romney as "Mittens" and Gingrich as "Grinch."
"If Mittens can't beat Grinch in Florida,...
- 12/1/2015
- by Tierney McAfee, @tierneymcafee
- People.com - TV Watch
Naomi Watts' star turn as real-life CIA agent Valerie Plame lets her director make bold accusations about the Bush administration – but he may yet be proved right
• Reel History on The Enigma of Kasper Hauser
• Reel History on Land of the Pharoahs
• Reel History on Girl with a Pearl Earring
Fair Game (2010)
Director: Doug Liman
Entertainment grade: B+
History grade: B+
Valerie Plame was a CIA operations officer working on nuclear non-proliferation at the time of the invasion of Iraq, in 2003.
People
The film's action begins shortly after the events of 11 September 2001. Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) and her husband, the former ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), host Washington dinner parties. Obviously, no one knows Plame is a CIA agent. She pretends to be a run-of-the-mill venture capitalist, smiles sweetly and serves pudding. Her guests spout ever sillier opinions about the war on terror; she must remain silent and composed.
• Reel History on The Enigma of Kasper Hauser
• Reel History on Land of the Pharoahs
• Reel History on Girl with a Pearl Earring
Fair Game (2010)
Director: Doug Liman
Entertainment grade: B+
History grade: B+
Valerie Plame was a CIA operations officer working on nuclear non-proliferation at the time of the invasion of Iraq, in 2003.
People
The film's action begins shortly after the events of 11 September 2001. Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) and her husband, the former ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), host Washington dinner parties. Obviously, no one knows Plame is a CIA agent. She pretends to be a run-of-the-mill venture capitalist, smiles sweetly and serves pudding. Her guests spout ever sillier opinions about the war on terror; she must remain silent and composed.
- 8/21/2013
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
HollywoodNews.com: Our selected celebrity to be included in our “Hot Hollywood Celebrity Photo Gallery of the Week” is Sean Penn.
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt ◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 12
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt - 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival - "The Tree of Live" Premiere - Arrivals - Palais des Festivals - Cannes, France
This year, the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates at their World Summit will recognize a high-profile personality making an outstanding contribution to international social justice and peace. Sean Penn is that person. Sean is an actor, founder and CEO of J/P Haitian Relief Organization, and will be presented with the 2012 Peace Summit Award during the summit for his work to rebuild and aid the victims of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, as well as his ongoing advocacy for peace and human rights protection worldwide.
Penn has been...
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt ◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 12
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt - 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival - "The Tree of Live" Premiere - Arrivals - Palais des Festivals - Cannes, France
This year, the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates at their World Summit will recognize a high-profile personality making an outstanding contribution to international social justice and peace. Sean Penn is that person. Sean is an actor, founder and CEO of J/P Haitian Relief Organization, and will be presented with the 2012 Peace Summit Award during the summit for his work to rebuild and aid the victims of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, as well as his ongoing advocacy for peace and human rights protection worldwide.
Penn has been...
- 3/19/2012
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
Actor Sean Penn has always had an eclectic career, but since he won his second Best Actor Oscar for 2008's Milk, Penn has appeared in a variety of projects, including playing real-life diplomat Joseph Wilson in the docudrama thriller Fair Game and in a supporting role in director Terence Malick's poetic drama The Tree of Life.
Penn's latest role is a wealthy, soft-spoken rock star named Cheyenne in director Paolo Sorrentino's This Must Be the Place, which premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival to reportedly mixed reviews. The movie, which follows Penn as he travels to reconnect with his dying father and then treks to find the Nazi officer that tortured his father during World War II, is Sorrentino's first movie in English, but has already secured a release in France, which why Twitch was able to track down a French-subtitled international trailer for the movie. For those wondering,...
Penn's latest role is a wealthy, soft-spoken rock star named Cheyenne in director Paolo Sorrentino's This Must Be the Place, which premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival to reportedly mixed reviews. The movie, which follows Penn as he travels to reconnect with his dying father and then treks to find the Nazi officer that tortured his father during World War II, is Sorrentino's first movie in English, but has already secured a release in France, which why Twitch was able to track down a French-subtitled international trailer for the movie. For those wondering,...
- 7/15/2011
- by Ryan Gowland
- Reelzchannel.com
To mark the release of Fair Game on DVD and Blu-ray 11th July, Entertainment One have given us five copies of the movie to give away on DVD.
Fair Game follows the experiences of real-life CIA officer Valerie Plame (Watts; The International, Eastern Promises) and her retired ambassador husband Joe Wilson (Penn; Milk, The Assassination of Richard Nixon). Wilson unintentionally puts his wife’s life in danger when he writes a negative newspaper article for the New York Times challenging the basis for the U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, claiming the Bush administration manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.
As payback for his actions, the White House leaks Plame’s undercover status, leaving her international contacts vulnerable, her career in shambles and her life threatened.
Crackling with sharp dialogue, gripping intrigue and heart pounding suspense action sequences, Fair Game is an...
Fair Game follows the experiences of real-life CIA officer Valerie Plame (Watts; The International, Eastern Promises) and her retired ambassador husband Joe Wilson (Penn; Milk, The Assassination of Richard Nixon). Wilson unintentionally puts his wife’s life in danger when he writes a negative newspaper article for the New York Times challenging the basis for the U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, claiming the Bush administration manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.
As payback for his actions, the White House leaks Plame’s undercover status, leaving her international contacts vulnerable, her career in shambles and her life threatened.
Crackling with sharp dialogue, gripping intrigue and heart pounding suspense action sequences, Fair Game is an...
- 7/5/2011
- by Competitons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Adjustment Bureau; Hall Pass; Fair Game; The Resident
With the mechanical porn of Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon creating an horrendous traffic jam in cinemas, what better time for sci-fi fans to stay at home and watch something rather more rewarding on DVD? Based on a typically paranoid short story by Philip K Dick, The Adjustment Bureau (2011, Universal, 12) is a light-footed, fantastical whimsy pitched somewhere between the head-scrambling brilliance of Christopher Nolan's Inception and the Twilight Zone silliness of Richard Kelly's The Box. Matt Damon plays the upcoming politician whose chance encounter with a glamorous beauty (Emily Blunt) causes him to turn his back on fate on the eve of a crucial election. As it turns out, "fate" is actually managed and manipulated by a group of shadowy men in film noir hats who zip around New York city via a Doctor Who-style maze of magic doors,...
With the mechanical porn of Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon creating an horrendous traffic jam in cinemas, what better time for sci-fi fans to stay at home and watch something rather more rewarding on DVD? Based on a typically paranoid short story by Philip K Dick, The Adjustment Bureau (2011, Universal, 12) is a light-footed, fantastical whimsy pitched somewhere between the head-scrambling brilliance of Christopher Nolan's Inception and the Twilight Zone silliness of Richard Kelly's The Box. Matt Damon plays the upcoming politician whose chance encounter with a glamorous beauty (Emily Blunt) causes him to turn his back on fate on the eve of a crucial election. As it turns out, "fate" is actually managed and manipulated by a group of shadowy men in film noir hats who zip around New York city via a Doctor Who-style maze of magic doors,...
- 7/2/2011
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
HollywoodNews.com: Our selected celebrity to be included in our “Hot Hollywood Celebrity Photo Gallery of the Day” is Sean Penn. Sean was at the premiere of Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” starring Brad Pitt, at the Cannes Film Festival.
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt ◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 12
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt - 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival - "The Tree of Live" Premiere - Arrivals - Palais des Festivals - Cannes, France
◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 12
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt - 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival - "The Tree of Live" Premiere - Arrivals - Palais des Festivals - Cannes, France
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism. He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his roles in Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), as...
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt ◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 12
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt - 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival - "The Tree of Live" Premiere - Arrivals - Palais des Festivals - Cannes, France
◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 12
Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt - 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival - "The Tree of Live" Premiere - Arrivals - Palais des Festivals - Cannes, France
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism. He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his roles in Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), as...
- 5/22/2011
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
The radio host, who appeared to suggest on his show Monday that only "hookers" depend on Planned Parenthood, may be departing Fox News. But the polarized media culture he's thrived in-one that rewards politicians and TV types for inflammatory talk that draws an audience-lives on. Howard Kurtz on the lucrative lure of going too far.
By the time Fox News decided to bid farewell to Glenn Beck, he had descended deep into the fetid swamp of conspiracy theories.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Should We Hit Gaddafi Next?
And yet he was doing exactly what the network wanted-not with the content of his chalkboard rants, but with the incendiary nature of his commentary.
The name of the game in talk television and talk radio today is to register high on the outrage meter, because that's how you build an audience, and Beck drew a huge one by cable standards.
By the time Fox News decided to bid farewell to Glenn Beck, he had descended deep into the fetid swamp of conspiracy theories.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Should We Hit Gaddafi Next?
And yet he was doing exactly what the network wanted-not with the content of his chalkboard rants, but with the incendiary nature of his commentary.
The name of the game in talk television and talk radio today is to register high on the outrage meter, because that's how you build an audience, and Beck drew a huge one by cable standards.
- 4/12/2011
- by Howard Kurtz
- The Daily Beast
From headlines that shocked the world comes Fair Game, the story of Valerie Plame and her husband Joe Wilson. Ms. Plame was revealed to be a CIA agent by sources attributed to the White House, in retaliation for her husband.s New York Times opinion/editorial column. In this piece Mr. Wilson said the Bush administration tinkered with intelligence reports concerning Iraq.s weapons of mass destruction and engineered the scenario justifying the U.S. invasion. Sometimes there are things that happen in the modern world, in a supposedly civilized and intelligent society, that simply defy all reason. When people first learned of Ms. Plame.s .outing. as an agent, and the reasons allegedly behind the action, there was disbelief. Wasn.t the government...
- 4/7/2011
- by June L.
- Monsters and Critics
Chicago – Two of the best living actors shine in Doug Liman’s “Fair Game,” the (mostly) true story of Joe and Valerie Plame Wilson, two people who became symbols of the abuse of power of the Bush administration just as public opinion was turning on the war in Iraq. If you don’t know the name Scooter Libby, “Fair Game” will be educational. If you do know everything about the Wilson case already, it may be a little dry and inconsistent but strong performances still make it worth a rental.
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
In July of 2003, Robert Novak wrote an article in the Washington Post that named Valerie Plame Wilson (played in the movie by Naomi Watts) as a CIA operative. Some have claimed, and the film takes this angle for sure, that the leak was maliciously intentional after her husband Joe (Sean Penn) had written an article questioning the well-known...
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
In July of 2003, Robert Novak wrote an article in the Washington Post that named Valerie Plame Wilson (played in the movie by Naomi Watts) as a CIA operative. Some have claimed, and the film takes this angle for sure, that the leak was maliciously intentional after her husband Joe (Sean Penn) had written an article questioning the well-known...
- 3/31/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling are allegedly up to star in "Tales from the Gangster Squad". Deadline reported that Warner Bros. Studio has officially offered Penn a significant role of criminal Mickey Cohen, and proposed Gosling to play one of two police officers who try to catch him.
A former boxer, Cohen is a charismatic figure who carouses around town with a gorgeous girl on his arm, and often with his attractive etiquette coach at his side. However, he can turn into a harmful person when his mood is darken.
Based on articles by Paul Lieberman, "Tales from the Gangster Squad" follows a special squad of Los Angeles police officers, named the Gangster Squad, who keep East Coast Mafia out of the city. The squad's effort of shooing the mobsters away lasted through the 1950s.
Penn won 2008 Academy Award for Best Actor and bagged other awards for his role in...
A former boxer, Cohen is a charismatic figure who carouses around town with a gorgeous girl on his arm, and often with his attractive etiquette coach at his side. However, he can turn into a harmful person when his mood is darken.
Based on articles by Paul Lieberman, "Tales from the Gangster Squad" follows a special squad of Los Angeles police officers, named the Gangster Squad, who keep East Coast Mafia out of the city. The squad's effort of shooing the mobsters away lasted through the 1950s.
Penn won 2008 Academy Award for Best Actor and bagged other awards for his role in...
- 3/31/2011
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Happy belated birthday to former Torchwood star Gareth David-Lloyd, who turned 30 yesterday.
TheSpurf is reporting that the April 26th episode of Glee may be expanded to 90 minutes. The theme of the show is body acceptance, and will conclude with a performance of "Born This Way." DVD Watch! The big debut this week is Black Swan, featuring Natalie Portman's Oscar-winning performance as an ... alleged ballet dancer. Kidding! Also new this week is Disney's Tangled, and two films that were overlooked in theaters. Fair Game stars Naomi Watts as CIA operative Valerie Plame and Sean Penn as her diplomat husband Joe Wilson, and covers the events after her identity was revealed. Below you can see the trailer for the second overlooked DVD of the week, All Good Things, about a real-life murder that happened in New York in the 80's. You might know it better by its alternate title, Ryan Gosling...
TheSpurf is reporting that the April 26th episode of Glee may be expanded to 90 minutes. The theme of the show is body acceptance, and will conclude with a performance of "Born This Way." DVD Watch! The big debut this week is Black Swan, featuring Natalie Portman's Oscar-winning performance as an ... alleged ballet dancer. Kidding! Also new this week is Disney's Tangled, and two films that were overlooked in theaters. Fair Game stars Naomi Watts as CIA operative Valerie Plame and Sean Penn as her diplomat husband Joe Wilson, and covers the events after her identity was revealed. Below you can see the trailer for the second overlooked DVD of the week, All Good Things, about a real-life murder that happened in New York in the 80's. You might know it better by its alternate title, Ryan Gosling...
- 3/29/2011
- by snicks
- The Backlot
This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s. Black Swan Darren Aronofsky doesn't want you to experience joy or happiness. He wants to devastate you. He wants to punish you as he does his characters, fully immersing you in every dreary facet of their world as it collapses around them. And he is really, really good at it. Aronofsky has always shown a fascination with the degeneration of the body and mind, finding its limits when tested against paranoia, addiction, disease and giant planks of wood covered in nails and barbed wire. It's amusing then, that his most horrifying exercise in body horror would be a wildly operatic melodrama about ballet. In Black Swan, you are not treated as an observer to Natalie Portman's...
- 3/29/2011
- by Adam Quigley
- Slash Film
"The Resident" (2011)
Directed by Antti Jokinen
Released by Image Entertainment
This actually isn't the first time Hilary Swank has seen one of her films go direct to DVD after the films "Red Dust" and "Birds of America" suffered the same fate, but surely there was more riding on this horror film from the resurgent Hammer Films about a recently separated doctor who learns her Brooklyn loft isn't quite as wonderful as she thought it would be. "Secretary" screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson co-wrote this film, which co-stars Christopher Lee, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Lee Pace.
"The Mikado" (1939)
Directed by Victor Schertzinger
Released by Criterion Collection
"Topsy-Turvy" (1999)
Directed by Mike Leigh
Released by Criterion Collection
Sold separately, Criterion is making no secret of trying to appeal to Gilbert and Sullivan fanatics with special editions of "The Mikado," a straight-up adaptation of the musical duo's most famous opera, and Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy,...
Directed by Antti Jokinen
Released by Image Entertainment
This actually isn't the first time Hilary Swank has seen one of her films go direct to DVD after the films "Red Dust" and "Birds of America" suffered the same fate, but surely there was more riding on this horror film from the resurgent Hammer Films about a recently separated doctor who learns her Brooklyn loft isn't quite as wonderful as she thought it would be. "Secretary" screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson co-wrote this film, which co-stars Christopher Lee, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Lee Pace.
"The Mikado" (1939)
Directed by Victor Schertzinger
Released by Criterion Collection
"Topsy-Turvy" (1999)
Directed by Mike Leigh
Released by Criterion Collection
Sold separately, Criterion is making no secret of trying to appeal to Gilbert and Sullivan fanatics with special editions of "The Mikado," a straight-up adaptation of the musical duo's most famous opera, and Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy,...
- 3/28/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Starring: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Ty Burrell
Director: Doug Liman
The Scoop: One of the most anticipated award-bait films of the season, "Fair Game" is based on the true story of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame (Watts) who is outted by government officials in an act of political revenge against her husband (Penn) that endangers her family, her operations and the security of the United States.
Special Features: Commentary with Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson
Rated PG-13, 104 min. | Watch the trailer...
Director: Doug Liman
The Scoop: One of the most anticipated award-bait films of the season, "Fair Game" is based on the true story of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame (Watts) who is outted by government officials in an act of political revenge against her husband (Penn) that endangers her family, her operations and the security of the United States.
Special Features: Commentary with Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson
Rated PG-13, 104 min. | Watch the trailer...
- 3/28/2011
- by NextMovie Staff
- NextMovie
Seeking a female action hero? A new one may come from an unlikely source: memoirist and ex-spy Valerie Plame Wilson, whose CIA debacle was brought to the screen by Doug Liman in last year's Fair Game, which starred Naomi Watts as the glamorous, fierce yet tender operative (opposite Sean Penn as husband Joe Wilson). Now that she's out of the spy game, Plame is expanding her literary power. She will parlay her experience and fame into a series of suspense novels centered on a fictional intelligence operative named Vanessa Pearson. She will co-write the novels with Sarah Lovett for Penguin Group USA (with the publisher of Fair Game, David Rosenthal, who left Simon & Schuster for a new imprint at Penguin). But it's not just ...
- 3/21/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
Updated 4.45pm: Tonight I was expecting to see the movie Fair Game at my local cinema here in Brighton, Cineworld.
It stars Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, is directed by Doug (Bourne Identity) Liman, and was described by Philip French in his Observer review as "a riveting conspiracy thriller in the class of All the President's Men."
It is the story of Valerie Plame, the CIA operative who was outed by the Bush adminstration because it wished to discredit her husband, Joe Wilson, after he revealed the White House's misuse of intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq.
But I will not be seeing it tonight because Cineworld has decided that it is riveting only if you are prepared to turn up to a single screening at 12.40pm.
The Brighton cinema will not be showing it on any evening during its run. By contrast, Cineworld Crawley is offering four showings.
It stars Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, is directed by Doug (Bourne Identity) Liman, and was described by Philip French in his Observer review as "a riveting conspiracy thriller in the class of All the President's Men."
It is the story of Valerie Plame, the CIA operative who was outed by the Bush adminstration because it wished to discredit her husband, Joe Wilson, after he revealed the White House's misuse of intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq.
But I will not be seeing it tonight because Cineworld has decided that it is riveting only if you are prepared to turn up to a single screening at 12.40pm.
The Brighton cinema will not be showing it on any evening during its run. By contrast, Cineworld Crawley is offering four showings.
- 3/18/2011
- by Roy Greenslade
- The Guardian - Film News
Naomi Watts and Sean Penn star in a riveting conspiracy thriller based on the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame in the run-up to the Iraq war
The progressive statesman Senator Hiram Johnson famously remarked on America's entry into the first world war: "The first casualty when war comes is truth." Three hundred years earlier English diplomat Sir Henry Wotton provided a celebrated punning definition of an ambassador: "An honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country." Johnson was in his 79th year when he died on the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a historical event from which we can trace six decades of international conflict, hot and cold, and lying on an unprecedented scale. Fair Game tells the true story of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, an American husband and wife professionally involved in this process, and the disastrous consequences that followed the decision of Joe,...
The progressive statesman Senator Hiram Johnson famously remarked on America's entry into the first world war: "The first casualty when war comes is truth." Three hundred years earlier English diplomat Sir Henry Wotton provided a celebrated punning definition of an ambassador: "An honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country." Johnson was in his 79th year when he died on the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a historical event from which we can trace six decades of international conflict, hot and cold, and lying on an unprecedented scale. Fair Game tells the true story of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, an American husband and wife professionally involved in this process, and the disastrous consequences that followed the decision of Joe,...
- 3/13/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Naomi Watts and Sean Penn star in a riveting conspiracy thriller based on the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame in the run-up to the Iraq war
The progressive statesman Senator Hiram Johnson famously remarked on America's entry into the first world war: "The first casualty when war comes is truth." Three hundred years earlier English diplomat Sir Henry Wotton provided a celebrated punning definition of an ambassador: "An honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country." Johnson was in his 79th year when he died on the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a historical event from which we can trace six decades of international conflict, hot and cold, and lying on an unprecedented scale. Fair Game tells the true story of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, an American husband and wife professionally involved in this process, and the disastrous consequences that followed the decision of Joe,...
The progressive statesman Senator Hiram Johnson famously remarked on America's entry into the first world war: "The first casualty when war comes is truth." Three hundred years earlier English diplomat Sir Henry Wotton provided a celebrated punning definition of an ambassador: "An honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country." Johnson was in his 79th year when he died on the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a historical event from which we can trace six decades of international conflict, hot and cold, and lying on an unprecedented scale. Fair Game tells the true story of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, an American husband and wife professionally involved in this process, and the disastrous consequences that followed the decision of Joe,...
- 3/13/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Ahhh, Cindy Crawford and one of the Baldwin brothers bumble their way through…sorry, hang on. With nothing to do with the 1995 pile of junk, this years Fair Game stars Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Watts plays Valerie Plame who works for the CIA and finds herself the center of a whole load of unwanted attention after her identity is leaked by the government as payback for her husband, Joe Wilson, writing an article criticizing the Bush administration. There’s a bit of cat and mouse going on as Wilson does plenty of talk show circuits trying to do the right thing for his family etc. Will justice prevail at the end? Or will a few of the most powerful blokes in the world get their own way as usual. To be brutally honest, I found Fair Game a bit of a tough watch. Sean Penn rarely get’s into...
- 3/11/2011
- by vicbarry@gmail.com (Vic Barry)
- www.themoviebit.com
Valerie Plame has said that she was delighted Naomi Watts and Sean Penn were cast in Fair Game, the true story of how she was outed as a covert CIA operative. The ex-spy is portrayed by Watts in the Doug Liman-directed movie, while her husband Joseph Wilson is played by Penn. Plame told Metro: "Of course we were delighted that actors of the calibre of Naomi Watts and Sean Penn were willing to participate in it and it tells an important story. "When we first started, I was thinking about All The President's Men, which tells that story of power and the abuse of power, (more)...
- 3/11/2011
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Self-indulgent, self-satisfied and badly acted, Doug Liman's movie starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn is the most ridiculous film of the year, says Peter Bradshaw
As well as being a fantastically boring film, with Team-America-style performances from Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, Fair Game is a deafening aria of self-pity and self-importance from the liberal overclass in Washington and Hollywood. It is a movie with right on its side, and never was that right proclaimed more shrilly or more smugly, or with a more obtuse insistence on privileging soft-focus personal drama over political relevance. It is complacent and fatuous in a way that only a preeningly well-intentioned Hollywood drama can be.
The story it has to tell is real enough. In 2002, Joseph Wilson was a former Us ambassador, famous for having had a defiant, courageous confrontation with Saddam Hussein after the Kuwait invasion in 1990. In the run-up to the second Iraq war,...
As well as being a fantastically boring film, with Team-America-style performances from Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, Fair Game is a deafening aria of self-pity and self-importance from the liberal overclass in Washington and Hollywood. It is a movie with right on its side, and never was that right proclaimed more shrilly or more smugly, or with a more obtuse insistence on privileging soft-focus personal drama over political relevance. It is complacent and fatuous in a way that only a preeningly well-intentioned Hollywood drama can be.
The story it has to tell is real enough. In 2002, Joseph Wilson was a former Us ambassador, famous for having had a defiant, courageous confrontation with Saddam Hussein after the Kuwait invasion in 1990. In the run-up to the second Iraq war,...
- 3/11/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Butterworth brothers tell of cloak and dagger research, secret trips to Washington and Hollywood reluctance to back project
The British writers of a Hollywood thriller that tells the true story of a CIA officer exposed by a Bush White House leak were shocked by the restrictions they faced for political reasons, they claimed.
Brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, said they encountered censorship in making Fair Game, about Valerie Plame.
The leak was intended to discredit Joseph Wilson, her husband and a retired ambassador, for casting doubt in the press on the then-president's claims about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
Plame acted as an adviser, but the writers were banned from reading her memoir until it had been censored.
Jez Butterworth said: "The whole time we were writing the script, we weren't allowed a copy. When we got [it], up to half had been blacked out."
John-Henry described their research...
The British writers of a Hollywood thriller that tells the true story of a CIA officer exposed by a Bush White House leak were shocked by the restrictions they faced for political reasons, they claimed.
Brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, said they encountered censorship in making Fair Game, about Valerie Plame.
The leak was intended to discredit Joseph Wilson, her husband and a retired ambassador, for casting doubt in the press on the then-president's claims about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
Plame acted as an adviser, but the writers were banned from reading her memoir until it had been censored.
Jez Butterworth said: "The whole time we were writing the script, we weren't allowed a copy. When we got [it], up to half had been blacked out."
John-Henry described their research...
- 3/10/2011
- by Dalya Alberge
- The Guardian - Film News
In 2001, CIA officer Valerie Plame’s (Naomi Watts) investigations lead her to conclude that Iraq does not have an active nuclear weapons programme, contrary to the belief (and fervent desire) of senior government officials. A request is made on behalf of the Vice President’s office that her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), undertake a fact finding trip to Niger to uncover solid evidence of a massive yellow cake uranium sale to Iraq. Wilson accepts the assignment, and reports after his return to the U.S. that there is no evidence of such a sale and that it could not have happened without some sort of paper trail. Outraged when President Bush subsequently cites evidence of the debunked uranium sale as part of the Administration’s Wmd justification for the invasion of Iraq, Wilson publishes a scathing op ed piece in the New York Times which...
- 3/10/2011
- by Ian Gilchrist
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Hollywood has doled out more than its share of Liberal hand-wringing in recent years, demonising the Right – most of the time with ample justification, mind – as it pertains to not only predominantly American world powers, but also the Conservative media machine cheering it on. In Doug Liman’s new film Fair Game, a convincing picture is painted of the Right media’s massive influence over not only how politics is disseminated by the general public, but how their work can in of itself have far-reaching political implications. After his two roughest, lightest efforts to date (Mr and Mrs. Smith, Jumper), Liman finds himself back on terra firma with a film boasting the suspense of The Bourne Identity and the wise-cracking rat-a-tat dialogue of his best film, Go.
Sean Penn’s participation in a politically-themed film invites several expectations, though Fair Game boasts a more tactful, lighter touch than anticipated,...
Hollywood has doled out more than its share of Liberal hand-wringing in recent years, demonising the Right – most of the time with ample justification, mind – as it pertains to not only predominantly American world powers, but also the Conservative media machine cheering it on. In Doug Liman’s new film Fair Game, a convincing picture is painted of the Right media’s massive influence over not only how politics is disseminated by the general public, but how their work can in of itself have far-reaching political implications. After his two roughest, lightest efforts to date (Mr and Mrs. Smith, Jumper), Liman finds himself back on terra firma with a film boasting the suspense of The Bourne Identity and the wise-cracking rat-a-tat dialogue of his best film, Go.
Sean Penn’s participation in a politically-themed film invites several expectations, though Fair Game boasts a more tactful, lighter touch than anticipated,...
- 3/9/2011
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
Valerie Plame's CIA cover was blown after her ex-ambassador husband criticised the Iraq invasion. Joe Wilson talks to Stephen Moss about how the film Fair Game depicts their fight with the Bush administration
I expected to be less than diverted by Fair Game, an insidery tale of Us politics, but it not only really grabbed me, it also, worryingly, made me want to join the CIA: all those square-jawed men in blue shirts strutting determinedly round their humming offices, the world's secrets locked in their bullet heads.
The film draws on the book of the same name by Valerie Plame, who was in the CIA but is not a bullet-headed, square-jawed man. She is a glamorous blond woman, played by Naomi Watts, who worked at a senior level for the intelligence agency until, in 2003, the Bush administration decided to blow her cover to undermine her husband, Joe Wilson, a former Us ambassador in Africa.
I expected to be less than diverted by Fair Game, an insidery tale of Us politics, but it not only really grabbed me, it also, worryingly, made me want to join the CIA: all those square-jawed men in blue shirts strutting determinedly round their humming offices, the world's secrets locked in their bullet heads.
The film draws on the book of the same name by Valerie Plame, who was in the CIA but is not a bullet-headed, square-jawed man. She is a glamorous blond woman, played by Naomi Watts, who worked at a senior level for the intelligence agency until, in 2003, the Bush administration decided to blow her cover to undermine her husband, Joe Wilson, a former Us ambassador in Africa.
- 3/7/2011
- by Stephen Moss
- The Guardian - Film News
Real-world intrigue is fertile ground for political thriller writers – but dramatising recent history is a dangerous game, warns John Patterson
Is it just me, or does watching the recent past on film always feel really weird?
I circled around Fair Game for a while before watching it, so reluctant was I to relive even a mere 108 fictionalised minutes of the Bush years. I also knew that this political melodrama – about CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband Joe Wilson's persecution by White House operatives – would not conclude with the same teletyped litany of names, outcomes, convictions and sentences that brought All The President's Men to its deafeningly triumphant conclusion. This time the bad guys walked.
But the weirdness attendant upon seeing recent events on the big or small screen is amplified here by the choice of director for Fair Game. Doug Liman helped reinvent the action-thriller with The Bourne Identity,...
Is it just me, or does watching the recent past on film always feel really weird?
I circled around Fair Game for a while before watching it, so reluctant was I to relive even a mere 108 fictionalised minutes of the Bush years. I also knew that this political melodrama – about CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband Joe Wilson's persecution by White House operatives – would not conclude with the same teletyped litany of names, outcomes, convictions and sentences that brought All The President's Men to its deafeningly triumphant conclusion. This time the bad guys walked.
But the weirdness attendant upon seeing recent events on the big or small screen is amplified here by the choice of director for Fair Game. Doug Liman helped reinvent the action-thriller with The Bourne Identity,...
- 2/26/2011
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Los Angeles – Screenwriters Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth have been named recipients of the Writers Guild of America, West’s 2011 Paul Selvin Award for their screenplay for Fair Game. The award recognizes written work which embodies the spirit of constitutional rights and civil liberties. The Butterworth brothers, along with other Guild honorees, will be recognized at the 2011 Writers Guild Awards West Coast ceremony this Saturday, February 5, at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel-Grand Ballroom. “Jez & John-Henry Butterworth’s Paul Selvin Award-winning screenplay for Fair Game expertly conveys both the impact and implications of a contemporary media climate where public and private worlds are often blurred for political gain. Their absorbing script articulates nuances of political and personal speech, while adeptly maintaining a tight focus on the human-scale drama, illuminating the all-too-personal costs when our basic rights are put in jeopardy,” said Wgaw President John Wells. “We think it's very cool to be given this award.
- 2/3/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
The more you agree with Fair Game politically, the more it will work for you. As a liberal myself, Doug Liman’s story of the Valerie Plame affair succeeded in getting me angry. The film does not take an unbiased approach but that is Ok considering the story it’s telling. However even if you agree with the film’s message, the film still has to work on it’s own as a movie and Fair Game definitely does. It is a taut, intense, smart, and sometimes harrowing political thriller following the days that led up to the bombing of Iraq and it’s aftermath. The film get’s strong performances from it’s two leads, Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.
We all know the story of Valerie Plame, she was a CIA spy whose identity was revealed in the newspaper, however Fair Game gives us a procedural of the...
We all know the story of Valerie Plame, she was a CIA spy whose identity was revealed in the newspaper, however Fair Game gives us a procedural of the...
- 12/21/2010
- by Josh Youngerman
- SoundOnSight
“Deep Vote,” an Oscar winning screenwriter and a member of the Academy, will write this column — exclusively for ScottFeinberg.com — every week until the Academy Awards. He will help to peel back the curtain on the Oscar voting process by sharing his thoughts about the films he sees and, ultimately, his nomination and final ballots, as well. His identity must be protected in order to spare him from repercussions for disclosing the aforementioned information.
Thus far, he has shared his thoughts in column one about his general preferences; column two about “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions, 6/11, R, trailer) and “Solitary Man” (Anchor Bay Films, 5/21, R, trailer); column three about “Alice in Wonderland” (Disney, 3/5, PG, trailer), “Toy Story 3” (Disney, 6/18, G, trailer), and “Mother and Child” (Sony Pictures Classics, 5/7, R, trailer); column four about “Get Low” (Sony Pictures Classics, 7/30, PG-13, trailer), “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features, 7/9, R, trailer), and “The Social Network” (Columbia,...
Thus far, he has shared his thoughts in column one about his general preferences; column two about “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions, 6/11, R, trailer) and “Solitary Man” (Anchor Bay Films, 5/21, R, trailer); column three about “Alice in Wonderland” (Disney, 3/5, PG, trailer), “Toy Story 3” (Disney, 6/18, G, trailer), and “Mother and Child” (Sony Pictures Classics, 5/7, R, trailer); column four about “Get Low” (Sony Pictures Classics, 7/30, PG-13, trailer), “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features, 7/9, R, trailer), and “The Social Network” (Columbia,...
- 12/16/2010
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
New York Times Magazine: Carlo Rotella profiles James Schamus, exploring his double life as a Columbia University professor and C.E.O. of Focus Features, and highlighting some of this year’s Oscar contenders that the “Professor of Micropopularity” has guided into the race, including “The American,” “The Kids Are All Right,” and “Somewhere.”
The Race: Tim Appelo reveals why Sean Penn has abstained from campaigning for the film “Fair Game” — not to mention his own performance in it as former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson — this awards season: he and director Doug Liman clashed throughout the production, leading Penn to “boycott” any further involvement with the film.
Hollywood-Elsewhere: Jeff Wells writes that Natalie Portman’s work for/performance in “Black Swan” is “analogous” to Robert De Niro’s fabled work for/performance in “Raging Bull” (1980). He adds, Once this settles in among the rank-and-file, [the best actress race is] over.”
In Contention: Guy Lodge...
The Race: Tim Appelo reveals why Sean Penn has abstained from campaigning for the film “Fair Game” — not to mention his own performance in it as former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson — this awards season: he and director Doug Liman clashed throughout the production, leading Penn to “boycott” any further involvement with the film.
Hollywood-Elsewhere: Jeff Wells writes that Natalie Portman’s work for/performance in “Black Swan” is “analogous” to Robert De Niro’s fabled work for/performance in “Raging Bull” (1980). He adds, Once this settles in among the rank-and-file, [the best actress race is] over.”
In Contention: Guy Lodge...
- 11/30/2010
- by Mary Skawinski
- Scott Feinberg
Earnestness can be a problem when it comes to directing political dramas. So it doesn't matter that "Fair Game" director Doug Liman has the earnest passion to faithfully recreate the well-known political story of exposed CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) and her husband former ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) battling White House officials who leaked her identity to the press in retaliation for Wilson's anti-Iraq War stance. On the big screen, when it comes to making a political point or raising social consciousness, the earnest filmmaker is one who often falls prey to politicking and making moral stands instead of simply telling a compelling story.
- 11/22/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Earnestness can be a problem when it comes to directing political dramas. So it doesn't matter that "Fair Game" director Doug Liman has the earnest passion to faithfully recreate the well-known political story of exposed CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) and her husband former ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) battling White House officials who leaked her identity to the press in retaliation for Wilson's anti-Iraq War stance. On the big screen, when it comes to making a political point or raising social consciousness, the earnest filmmaker is one who often falls prey to politicking and making moral stands instead of simply telling a compelling story.
- 11/22/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
“This is a story that celebrates the CIA and people like Valerie Plame who risked their lives everyday in the shadows on our behalf,” director Doug Liman explains. Plame was a veteran CIA agent whose cover as an operative was blown by the Bush administration in the wake of revelations by her husband, retired ambassador Joe Wilson — played here by Sean Penn — that the African nation of Niger never sold yellowcake uranium to Iraq, and that the President had misrepresented that information as a mitigating reason for the United States to invade Iraq. When Plame’s name is leaked to the press by the administration, Wilson decides to make his findings public and his wife’s world is turned upside down.
“When you play someone who is a true, living person, it definitely ups the ante. The pressure is tenfold,” Naomi Watts says. “Everyone in America is familiar with this story.
“When you play someone who is a true, living person, it definitely ups the ante. The pressure is tenfold,” Naomi Watts says. “Everyone in America is familiar with this story.
- 11/22/2010
- CinemaSpy
Sean Penn is at the top of his game in Fair Game, the fact-based story of the beautiful, super-sexy secret agent Valerie Plame and her patriotic diplomat husband Joe Wilson and how the corrupt, fascist Bush administration deliberately tried to crush them by revealing her super-top-secret identity as a CIA operative in order to punish the heroic Wilson for speaking truth to power about the Bush-Cheney-Rove axis of evil. Val and Joe were not particularly political until they discovered the wrong information and if the sinister Bush administration hadn’t suppressed this information and smeared them, there might have been no Iraq war, and untold thousands of lives would have been saved!! And just like in All The President’S Men it all ends with a trail pointing directly to the White House and the cover of Vanity Fair !!……Yes, the spinning continues, Hollywood is still churning out anti-Bush movies,...
- 11/19/2010
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It was arguably one of the biggest political stories/fall out scandals of the Iraq War, so it wasn't a total surprise when CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's true life story was made into a motion picture. Her husband, Joseph Wilson, wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq and her life was never the same again. Directed by Doug Liman, "Fair Game" was one of the…...
- 11/17/2010
- The Playlist
It.s too little, too late - this attack on President George W. Bush.s ill-advised decision to attack Iraq on the basis of faulty intelligence indicating that Saddam Hussein not only possessed but was ready to launch weapons of mass destruction.
Despite its action-packed beginning in Kuala Lumpur, the story is set in Washington, D.C., where intrepid CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson (Naomi Watts) lives with her husband, retired ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), and two young children. While Plame flies around the globe to supervise secret missions, Wilson, a staunch Democrat, openly voices his mounting skepticism about Hussein.s ability to launch a nuclear war.
Despite its action-packed beginning in Kuala Lumpur, the story is set in Washington, D.C., where intrepid CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson (Naomi Watts) lives with her husband, retired ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), and two young children. While Plame flies around the globe to supervise secret missions, Wilson, a staunch Democrat, openly voices his mounting skepticism about Hussein.s ability to launch a nuclear war.
- 11/16/2010
- Arizona Reporter
A movie in which the Bush administration manipulated information about weapons of mass destruction…Well that is just imaginative and silly! Therefor, you should probably see it, so we are giving away passes to an advanced screening of Fair Game on November 18th at the Plaza Frontenac at 7pm.
Official Rules:
1. You Must Be In The St. Louis Area The Day Of The Screening.
2. Fill Out Your Name And Email Address Below.
3. Answer The Following Question: What is your favorite Naomi Watts movie and why?!
Winners Will Be Chosen Through A Random Drawing Of Qualifying Contestants. No Purchase Necessary. Passes Will Not Be Substituted Or Exchanged.
Synopsis:
A suspense-filled glimpse into the dark corridors of political power, Fair Game is a riveting action-thriller based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed and marriage strained to its limits when her covert identity was exposed.
Official Rules:
1. You Must Be In The St. Louis Area The Day Of The Screening.
2. Fill Out Your Name And Email Address Below.
3. Answer The Following Question: What is your favorite Naomi Watts movie and why?!
Winners Will Be Chosen Through A Random Drawing Of Qualifying Contestants. No Purchase Necessary. Passes Will Not Be Substituted Or Exchanged.
Synopsis:
A suspense-filled glimpse into the dark corridors of political power, Fair Game is a riveting action-thriller based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed and marriage strained to its limits when her covert identity was exposed.
- 11/15/2010
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Here's a sneak peek at what's opening this weekend, including the dramedy "Morning Glory," the action thriller "Unstoppable" and the alien invasion flick "Skyline."
In Theaters Now (November)'Morning Glory' (Nov. 10)
Who: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson; directed by Roger Michell What: A hotshot television producer (McAdams) is set the challenge of reviving a struggling morning show program, despite the constant feuding of its high-profile anchors (Ford and Keaton).
'Unstoppable' (Nov.
In Theaters Now (November)'Morning Glory' (Nov. 10)
Who: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson; directed by Roger Michell What: A hotshot television producer (McAdams) is set the challenge of reviving a struggling morning show program, despite the constant feuding of its high-profile anchors (Ford and Keaton).
'Unstoppable' (Nov.
- 11/12/2010
- Extra
It's been a crazy seven months for director Doug Liman, who went from scrambling to finish his new film Fair Game ahead of its Cannes premiere to the whirlwind of press ahead of this month's opening in the States. In between he's taken lumps from the right, been the subject of Oscar speculation, and observed just how difficult it is to tell a story about the Central Intelligence Agency -- specifically, the true story of how agency operative Valerie Plame (played here by Naomi Watts), her husband Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), and their marriage withstood her infamously blown cover in 2003.
- 11/11/2010
- Movieline
With a promising limited debut this weekend (in only four theaters), “127 Hours” has given Fox Searchlight about 266,000 reasons to look forward to the holidays. The per-screen average comes out to about $66,500 (an average second only to “The Kids Are Alright” released by Focus Features). Boyle must be experiencing déjà-vu after the successful limited debut of “Slumdog Millionaire” two years ago on Nov. 12th where it put up a $36,002 per-screen average and went on to gross upwards of $141 million. While newcomers like “Hours” showed potential, others struggled to maintain a foothold. Lionsgate’s “Buried” declined %50 in its seventh week and scaled back to 46 theaters from 107 last week. In its sophomore weekend, “Wild Target” grossed only $12,300 and struggled to find audiences domestically after grossing $1.4 million in foreign markets. U.S Indie: In other Fox Searchlight news, “Conviction” expands to 672 theaters this week for a decent $2,314 per-screen average. With $1.5 million grossed in its...
- 11/8/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Except for one horrifying revelation, a missed opportunity to shed light Director Doug Liman’s past work includes such noteworthy gems as The Bourne Identity, Go and Swingers, which is why I found it perplexing he created such a cold and often lifeless experience in Fair Game. Given the film’s historic potential to shine light on a relatively recent scandal with life-and-death implications, the final result is a particular disappointment, washed out in somber grays. Fair Game’s official synopsis mislabels itself as an action thriller. There’s not much action in the traditional sense. But more importantly, the inherent psychological suspense of the events that took place isn’t fully exploited. The movie is based on the true story of former CIA spy Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed by a White House smear campaign. She’s outed as a spy as retaliation for a New...
- 11/6/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Fair Game is the true story of Valerie Plame who was an undercover CIA operative mom of twins, just doing her job with patriotic dedication when her cover was blown by the George Bush administration, because her husband spoke out against the Iraqi War.
He wasn’t just any husband. Joe Wilson ( Sean Penn) was the retired ambassador to Niger and as such was an expert on that country’s ability to sell enriched uranium to Iraq. When his informed expertise was ignored by the administration and the country went to war, Joe took to The New York Times to speak out in an op-ed that ignited the first major delving into why we went to war.
Fair Game is the gripping story of what happened to Plame, played convincingly by Naomi Watts, once her cover was blown, but she wasn’t by far the most tragic victim of the...
He wasn’t just any husband. Joe Wilson ( Sean Penn) was the retired ambassador to Niger and as such was an expert on that country’s ability to sell enriched uranium to Iraq. When his informed expertise was ignored by the administration and the country went to war, Joe took to The New York Times to speak out in an op-ed that ignited the first major delving into why we went to war.
Fair Game is the gripping story of what happened to Plame, played convincingly by Naomi Watts, once her cover was blown, but she wasn’t by far the most tragic victim of the...
- 11/5/2010
- by HL Intern
- HollywoodLife
My conversion is now complete: I am a card-carrying Naomi Watts fan. I don’t know why I wasn’t her biggest booster before; I’ve liked her work in films as diverse as King Kong and The Painted Veil, but after seeing her this year in Rodrigo Garcia’s Mother and Child, Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger and now Fair Game, I am hooked. She is the real deal, and she gives yet another terrific performance as CIA agent Valerie Plame. The fact that she’s working opposite the extraordinary Sean Penn, as Joe Wilson, only ups the ante. What…...
- 11/5/2010
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
If casting is half the battle, then Fair Game director Doug Liman was already three-quarters of the way home when he signed Naomi Watts to play former CIA agent Valerie Plame and Sean Penn her blustering diplomat husband. As Plame and Joe Wilson, Watts and Penn get to sink their chops into one of the most cinema-friendly true stories in recent history; if a guy in a bathrobe writing world-beating code could be conjured into a blissfully entertaining movie, what might be done with the story of a spy, who did spy stuff in war time, until her righteous husband blew a couple of inconvenient whistles and her own government ruined her life? Featuring George Bush, Dick Cheney and Condi Rice as themselves? Refresh that, Sorkin!
- 11/5/2010
- Movieline
Fair Game is about the Iraq War: how we got there, why we went there, and what it took to make a public case that such a war was worth fighting. These are questions that historians and citizens will wrestle with for years, but they're given no deeper consideration in Doug Liman's film than you'd find in any mediocre feature in a mid-size newspaper anywhere in America. The film is set between 2001-2003 and is drawn from the memoirs of the two major players, Valerie Plame (Fair Game) and Joseph Wilson (The Politics of Truth), but for all its real-world trappings and consequences, it's staggeringly lifeless on the screen. Liman's desire to be a newshound himself is evident in the execution -- he's said he wanted two sources for every factual claim -- and while that devotion is admirable, it's also what kept him from seeing the larger picture.
- 11/5/2010
- by Daniel Carlson
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