First Image of Charlize Theron in Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s Adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s DARK PLACES

The first image has been released from Gilles Paquet-Brenner‘s adaptation of Gillian Flynn‘s best-selling novel Dark Places.

Set in a farming town in Kansas, Dark Places follows Libby Day (Charlize Theron), the only surviving witness of a horrific massacre that took her mother and sisters. Believing the slaughter to be the work of a Satanic cult, Libby testifies in court against her own brother. 25 years after the murder, she remains haunted by the gruesome violence of her past when she meets a group of amateur investigators who call themselves ‘The Kill Club’. Looking to satisfy their morbid curiosity, the group begins their own inquiry about the case, believing Libby’s brother innocent. In order to help them, Libby must unearth painful memories of the event, and learn that her past may not be what it seems.

The cast includes Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks, Corey Stoll, Tye Sheridan, Sean Bridgers, and Drea de Matteo. Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner.

 

Dark Places is set to September 24, 2014. Released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

 

First Look at Samuel L. Jackson in Anime Adaptation ‘Kite’

Production recently wrapped in South Africa on this thriller about a young woman seeking revenge for the death of her policeman father, also starring Callan McAullife.

A gun-toting Samuel L. Jackson squares off against Callan McAuliffe in the first photo from Kite, directed by Ralph Ziman. The story centers on a young woman (India Eisley) who teams up with her dead father’s ex-partner (Samuel L. Jackson) on the police force to avenge his death. The project, which is currently in post-production, is a live-action remake of Yasuomi Umetsu‘s Kite. David R. Ellis was initially set to direct, before hepassed away in January, when Ralph Ziman took over the directing duties. Take a look at the photo, then read on for what Callan McAuliffe had to say about the production.

Callan McAuliffe recently spoke about how much he enjoyed the project “It was great fun and that should be coming out pretty soon.”

He also spoke about the kinds of things he learned from Samuel L. Jackson while on the South African set.

“It is not a conscious education. You soak up some of the techniques and maybe you’ll use them at a later date.”

Take a look at the official plot synopsis.

“KITE”, is a character-driven action film that charts the story of Sawa (India Eisley), a young woman living in a failed state after the financial collapse, where a corrupt security force profits on the trafficking of young women. When Sawa’s policeman father is killed, she vows to track the murderer down with the help of his ex-partner, Karl Aker (Samuel L. Jackson).”

“KITE” comes to theatres in October 26, 2014 and stars India Eisley, Callan McAuliffe, Cleo Rinkwest,Samuel L. Jackson, Russel Savadier, Keci Eatock, Matthew Van Leeve, Jaco Muller. The film is directed by Ralph Ziman.

 

Released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

Move Over E.T., a new Cute Alien steals Hearts in Earth To Echo

An inspiring science-fiction adventure, Earth to Echo captures all the mystery, excitement and wonder of an extraterrestrial occurrencein a small Nevada suburb.  But at its heart, the movie is about friendship. Our three young heroes – Tuck, Munch and Alex – are a closely bonded trio of outcasts, whose time together is coming to an end.  Their neighborhood is being destroyed by a highway construction project; forcing their families to move away.  Only the promise of one last thrill together – a journey into the desert to search for the source of strange and mysterious messages that have appeared on their cell phones –can distract them from their impending move.  “The movie is really about this group of kids and how they have to say goodbye to each other,” says director Dave Green.  “There’s something bittersweet about the fact they’re spending their last night together.  But is goodbye really goodbye?  In our movie, it’s not.  It’s a beginning.”

Earth to Echoall began with the seed of an idea from producer Andrew Panay.  Panay wanted to recapture the spirit of seminal family movies from the 1980s that he loved as a child – E.T., The Goonies, Stand By Me – movies that managed to conjure the wonder and heartbreak of early adolescence and infuse it with an intoxicating sense of adventure.  If the story of E.T. were to happen today, he asked himself, how would it be told?

With video recording technology becoming increasingly accessible to all ages, especially kids, the movie’s concept seemed to fit perfectly into today’s world. “Kids today are doing a lot of their own filming and they’re videotaping and Vine-ing.  There are all these different social media outlets and ways of communicating which comes down to turning the camera around and shooting yourself and sending it off.  It just makes sense,” says Panay. Today, kids want to share their experiences with people. Fortunately enough, this group of friends brings viewers into their story with the click of the “Record” button. With its roots in the found footage genre, Earth to Echo is the next step in storytelling.

Instead of approaching seasoned feature directors to help develop the project, Panay decided to go in another direction. The heart of the movie lies in the way the characters piece together the story themselves using their own cameras, editing, and insight. This was exactly what Panay wanted from a director.  “I wanted to find a young filmmaker from the generation that sits and edits their films themselves,” says Panay.

He found what he was looking for in Dave Green, an enterprising filmmaker with a unique vision and strong résumé.  Aside from having been a producer’s assistant on the set of the Spiderman trilogy, films acclaimed for their stunning visual effects, Dave also had a series of polished short films and music videos under his belt. When Panay watched one of Green’s shorts, he was immediately convinced. “It was practically a trailer for Earth to Echo,” he says.  “After seeing that, I had no doubts at all.”

Green met with Panay to discuss his idea and the two immediately hit it off, saying that “[Panay]’s idea just sparked my excitement.”

According to Green, Panay’s idea was already in the family of concepts Green had been discussing with his writing partner, Henry Gayden; but Gayden wasn’t convinced.  “At first, I didn’t know what to do,” Gayden admits.  “It was too broad a container.  But then I got this idea and started writing and by two in the morning, I had a rough story.”  Gayden called up Green the next morning and said he had landed on something interesting.

As the next step, Green shot a one-minute clip to help sell the fun, the mystery, and the suspense of what Earth to Echo would ultimately become. When Panay saw it, he was immediately convinced.  “It was practically a trailer for Earth to Echo,” he says. “After seeing that, I had no doubts at all.

From the beginning, Green wanted to approach things differently with Earth to Echo.  In this case, the material isn’t simply raw footage, it’s a finished video created by Tuck (played by Brian ‘Astro’ Bradley), an avid, DIY filmmaker who regularly posts his videos on YouTube.  “We wanted to lean into the idea that Tuck not only shot the whole thing, he’s also cut the whole thing, and he’s put music to it when he feels like it’s necessary, and he’s put titles in there, and he can pause the movie, and he can interject,” says Green.

If an extraterrestrial occurrence actually happened today, almost anyone would be able to capture it with the amount of video recording technology at people’s fingertips. Green also found a compelling advantage to creating a story that hewed solely to his main characters’ point of view, an attribute of many of his favorite movies from the likes of Spielberg and Hitchcock.  “You build suspense out of what the characters don’t see and don’t know,” he explains.  “And that’s the most exciting part.  It’s fun to parse out information, just one seed at a time.”

‘Earth To Echo’ is released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

SHOWING JULY 9. NATIONWIDE!

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart showing July 2. Nationwide!!!

Romance, adventure, comedy, a cast of colourful characters and fantastic graphic design, Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart is a magnificently original love story set in an exciting period full of fabulous inventions, spooky characters and fantastic adventures.

Edinburgh, late 19th century. Little Jack is born on a day so cold that his heart remains frozen. In her house on top of a big hill, Madeleine the midwife replaces the defective organ with a cuckoo clock. It will work, she warns him, as long as Jack doesn’t touch the hands of the clock, doesn’t lose his temper and, above all, doesn’t fall in love. But Jack’s encounter with a fiery-eyed little girl singing on a street corner and his decision to chase after her across Europe to Andalusia test the resistance of his makeshift heart to breaking point…
Adapted by Mathias Malzieu from his own bestselling novel – translated into over fifteen languages – and the gold-selling album by his band Dionysos, this superbly animated movie about passion and the acceptance of others will appeal to adults and children of all ages.

“Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart”

is released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

Extraterrestrial thriller in ‘Alien Abduction’

A terrifying sci-fi story inspired by dramatic found footage, Alien Abduction preys on our fear of the unknown as we follow an average American family who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

While driving to a campsite in the Brown Mountains of North Carolina, the Morris family’s GPS malfunctions, and they are lead to a remote tunnel surrounded by abandoned vehicles. The father, Peter Morris, is abducted, leaving his traumatized wife and children to flee and seek refuge in a nearby cabin. There they are horrified to learn that strange lights in the nearby mountains have been linked to alien abduction and human sacrifice for centuries.

When their attempts to alert the authorities are intercepted by the deadly extraterrestrial threat, the surviving members of the family find themselves under siege. A brutal and bloody attack unfolds as we witness the horrors through the lens of the youngest child’s video camera. ca

Written by Robert Lewis, the film stars Katherine Sigismund, Corey Eid, Riley Polanski, Jillian Clare, Jeff Bowser, and Peter Holden.

 “ALIEN ABDUCTION” is released and distributed by  CAPTIVE CINEMA

Jared Leto is an actor, musician, director and Oscar winner

After a six-year break—during which he wrote and directed a documentary (2012’s Artifact) and toured the world with his band (30 Seconds to Mars)—Jared Leto dug deep to portray Rayon, a transgendered woman battling AIDS and drug addiction, in Dallas Buyers Club. The film’s star, Matthew McConaughey, wasn’t the only one to completely transform himself for his role. From his first audition, Leto became Rayon, dropping to 116 pounds, spending weeks perfecting her voice, and never coming out of character throughout filming. His heart-wrenching performance has won for Oscar this year and over critics. His two decades of work as an actor have encompassed a host of intense and transformative performances. These have included his portrayals in Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, alongside Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans; Steve James’ Prefontaine, as real-life athlete Steve Prefontaine; J.P. Schaefer’s Chapter 27, for which he was voted the Audience Award at the 2007 Zurich Film Festival; David Fincher’s Fight Club, with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, and Panic Room, with Jodie Foster and Forest Whitaker; Mary Harron’s American Psycho, opposite Christian Bale.

How did you initially get involved with this film?

I hadn’t made a film in five or six years and came across this script—or maybe I should say this script was put in front of me. I kind of blew it off a few times, and then someone convinced me to take a look. I thought the character (of Rayon) was amazing. And what a great team of people—I wanted to be a part of it.

Was Rayon based on an amalgamation of anyone?

She’s a fictional character, and I’m really grateful that she was. I had an enormous amount of freedom to create, to imagine, to experiment and not have some of the parameters that come along with representing or portraying a real-life person. My journey began by meeting with transgendered people, trading stories, learning what it’s like to transition, learning what it’s like to tell your parents who you really are, reflecting on how you overcome great obstacles and challenges. That was essential. And, of course, there was a whole series of other things, the voice.

Yes, I heard about that, the voice.
The voice was really important to key into the character. There was the dialect, but also other things, like the octave. Then there’s the walk and the body’s center and the weight. And, of course, the emotional condition and circumstances. So already there’s a lot there, and that’s one of the reasons I was so excited for the part and felt so compelled to play it, because of that unique set of challenges.

What you envisioned for Rayon varied slightly from what director Jean-Marc Vallee had in mind. What fed that confidence going into your first meeting with him?

I didn’t really audition for the role, but I set up a Skype meeting. I decided that it would be good to use it as an opportunity to see what I had to offer. So we connected via Skype, and I grabbed some lipstick and put that on. I could see his reaction—he was very shocked. I started to unbutton my thick winter jacket and I had a little furry pink sweater underneath, and I pulled it down off my shoulder and proceeded to flirt with him for 20 minutes. I woke up the next day and had the official offer for the part. So that’s one way a lady gets a job, I guess. It was a great experiment. I’m not so sure, but maybe Jean-Marc may have seen Rayon more as a drag queen or someone who enjoys pushing a gender envelope or dressing up in women’s clothing, but to me, it was clear that this was a person who wanted to live life as a woman. I think that key distinction was very important to make early on.

One of the more emotional scenes is when Rayon goes to visit her father. It’s tremendously powerful for the audience. What was the filming of it like?

Well, it was a really intense scene to film. It was the very first time that I had worn men’s clothing because I was always in women’s clothing (throughout the shoot). It felt like I was in drag in that scene. I felt very vulnerable wearing that oversized, borrowed suit and to not have on any of my armor—you know, my wig, my makeup, my lipstick and heels. And here I was going to say goodbye to my father and to tell him that I forgive him. So I remember doing the first take, and it was just not working, and I was beginning to panic. All of a sudden, the scene became extremely important. I remember taking a moment, and a deep breath, and some magic happened. I think the second take was when the scene came to life. The director came over with tears in his eyes, and you could hear other people crying on set. It became clear that whatever we were doing was working.

 How do you find balance between the acclaim and just being proud of the work?

I love performance and actors and acting and music and art, and when I turn a corner in the Museum of Modern Art, I want to have my mind blown. I want things to win; I want this to succeed. When I see a movie, I want it to move me. I want it to affect my life. So I think when a performance does work, it’s incredible because some of the time it doesn’t work. Most of the time it doesn’t work. You make these little movies, these independent movies, and they don’t turn out as you had hoped or wished they would. So when they do, it’s important to celebrate it. Not just the actors, but for you or whoever else. We all want to discover something and to celebrate it, you know? I’m super proud of and very excited to be a part of this insanity.

‘DALLAS BUYERS CLUB’ is released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

SHOWING ON MAY 7. NATIONWIDE!!!!!

Timely Movie on AIDS “Dallas Buyers Club” Hits Philippine Screens

An imperfect man fights for survival during an uncertain time in America. Inspired by true events, Ron Woodroof’s story of strength is told in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB.
Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey is  Ron Woodroof an electrician and rodeo cowboy. In 1985, he is well into an unexamined existence with a devil-may-care lifestyle. Suddenly, Ron is blindsided by being diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive and given 30 days to live. Yet he will not, and does not, accept a death sentence.
His crash course of research reveals a lack of approved treatments and medications in the U.S., so Ron crosses the border into Mexico. There, he learns about alternative treatments and begins smuggling them into the U.S., challenging the medical and scientific community including his concerned physician, Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner).
An outsider to the gay community, Ron finds an unlikely ally in fellow AIDS patient Rayon (Academy Award winner Jared Leto), a transsexual who shares Ron’s lust for life. Rayon also shares Ron’s entrepreneurial spirit: seeking to avoid government sanctions against selling non-approved medicines and supplements, they establish a buyers club, where H.I.V.-positive people pay monthly dues for access to the newly acquired supplies. Deep in the heart of Texas, Rons pioneering underground collective beats loud and strong. With a growing community of friends and clients, Ron fights for dignity, education, and acceptance. In the years following his diagnosis, the embattled Lone Star loner lives life to the fullest like never before.

 

‘Dallas Buyers Club’ is released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

Alien Abduction Poster Premiere

The spooky new one-sheet forAlien Abduction, a horror thriller from the producers of Hostel and Inglourious Basterds.

Aliens used to abduct us all the time in the 1980s and 1990s. These days, it seemed like they had lost all interest in humanity… until now. Captive Cinema  is proud to premiere the creepy new Alien Abduction poster, from a film produced by Mike Fleiss (Hostel) and Lawrence Bender (Inglourious Basterds), and directed by Marty Beckerman

A terrifying sci-fi story inspired by dramatic found footage, ALIEN ABDUCTION preys on our fear of the unknown as we follow an average American family who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

While driving to a campsite in the Brown Mountains of North Carolina, the Morris family’s GPS malfunctions and they are led to a remote tunnel surrounded by abandoned vehicles. The father, Peter Morris, is abducted leaving his traumatized wife and children to flee and seek refuge in a nearby cabin. There they are horrified to learn that strange lights in the nearby mountains have been linked to alien abduction and human sacrifice for centuries.

When their attempts to alert the authorities are intercepted by the deadly extraterrestrial threat, the surviving members of the family find themselves under siege. A brutal and bloody attack unfolds as we witness the horrors through the lens of the youngest child’s video camera.

 

 

‘’Alien Abduction” is released and distributed byCaptive Cinema.

Jake Gyllenhaal injures hand punching mirror on ‘Nightcrawler’ set

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – US movie star Jake Gyllenhaal had to have “numerous” stitches to his hand after punching a mirror on the set of his latest film, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

The actor, who co-starred in 2005′s Oscar-winning “Brokeback Mountain,” was treated in a hospital emergency room after the accident on the set of “Nightcrawler.”

“While Jake was filming an intense scene .. his character purposefully banged his hand into the mirror. Unfortunately the mirror accidentally broke, and Jake?s hand was badly cut up,” his spokeswoman Mara Buxbaum told AFP.

“He received numerous stitches at the ER and was released a couple hours later. He already returned to set for work,” she added.

In the movie, 32-year-old Gyllenhaal plays a freelance reporter investigating Los Angeles’ tought crime underworld. He has lost a lot of weight to prepare for the role, with some photos showing him looking alarmingly gaunt.

The incident happened on set Wednesday morning, according to a source cited by People magazine, adding that he was in character, at the end of an 18-hour day.

“Jake flipped out,” the source told the celebrity bible. “His character was looking into a mirror during the scene and punched the mirror in anger and broke it, cutting himself so bad he had to be taken to a hospital.”

“The scene was emotionally charged and his character was talking into a mirror and he got so into it, he banged his hands against the mirror and it broke and cut him.”

The unidentified source added: “It was all the scene and not because he was mad about anything else.”

‘Nightcrawler’ is released and distributed by Captive Cinema. Showing 2014! 

Byzantium’s Saoirse Ronan on vampire fantasy thriller flick

By John Hiscock

Versatile teenage star Saoirse Ronan talks vampires, romance and having to turn down The Hobbit

She is only 19, but the gifted young actress Saoirse Ronan is a veteran of film and television, having begun her career at the age of nine in the Irish TV medical drama The Clinic.

Her big break came when she was 12 in Atonement, earning an Oscar nomination. Saoirse’s (pronounced Seer-sher) latest film is vampire thriller Byzantium – out today.

She plays Eleanor, the daughter of a 200-year-old mother played by Gemma Arterton.

Isn’t Gemma Arterton a bit young to be playing your mother?

Yes, she’s only eight years older than me but she’s very much a woman and very maternal. At least, she was with me. And she’s such a terrific actress.

You’ve been dealing with creatures from other worlds lately. Do you think there are such things living around us?

I find it hard to believe there’s no one but us. There are still so many things that are lost out there that we don’t have a clue about. I’m sure there are many other beings that are different to us living somewhere else, with crazy eyes.

You’ve been in a few scary movies. What scares you the most in real life?

I’m not afraid of spiders but I had this dream once that I was sleeping in my house, in the spare bedroom for some reason, and I woke up and thought I saw this massive spider just looking at me and I really freaked out. I was really scared and I ran out of the room. It was just an illusion but it really scared me.

You’re always referred to as an Irish actress but weren’t you actually born in America?

Yes, I was born in New York, but my parents are Irish and we went back to Ireland when I was three. I was raised in County Carlow but I have dual citizenship.

Your dad, Paul, is an actor, too, isn’t he?

Yes, I remember going on films sets with him when he was working on such films as The Devil’s Own and Veronica Guerin. We’re very close.

How do you enjoy the kissing scenes in your films?

They’re uncomfortable and awkward at first but you have to kind of get over it.

What is your favourite love story?

Romeo and Juliet is the classic love story. When two lovers are separated and  trying to get back to one another, that’s fiercely romantic and something you become glued to.

Are you romantic?

Yes, to a certain extent, but I’m not soppy, if you know what I mean. But I do appreciate romance.

Who were the actors who influenced you most in your career?

I love a lot of comedy actors and actresses like Kristen Wiig and Tina Fey and all those women who are really brilliant and funny. And Meryl Streep.

There are a lot of people I’ve worked with who I really admire because I’m on the set with them every day and I see how they work and I know them as people.

You do a lot of running in your movies. Are you interested in sports?

I was a sprinter when I was young and I was quite fast. I loved doing the 100 metre sprints and getting it all out in something like 18 seconds or whatever. And somehow I always end up doing it in films and it’s really great. It keeps your energy up, especially when you’re doing fight choreography, and it gives you something to focus on.

‘Byzantium’ is released is distributed by Captive Cinema.

Showing on November 27, 2013.