Tag Archives: Brad Pitt

Front Page, Industry News

Brad Pitt an ‘Inglorious Bastard’?

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Brad Pitt may be heading off to war … in the 1940s.

Director Quentin Tarantino is courting Pitt to star in his next film: the eagerly anticipated, epic-in-scope WWII action-drama “Inglorious Bastards,” Deadline Hollywood Daily reports.

The news comes just one day after Tarantino finally sent out the script for the long-gestating project — it has reportedly been in the works since 2001 — to four movie studios: Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount and Sony.

Described by Tarantino as a cross between a WWII drama and spaghetti Westerns such as “The Dirty Dozen,” “Bastards” revolves around a group of soldiers who are on their way to be executed but are given a reprieve when they agree to head into Nazi-occupied France on a suicide mission for the Allies.

Should Pitt sign on for the part, it wouldn’t be the first time the in-demand star has uttered the patented cerebral dialogue of the acclaimed “Kill Bill” and “Pulp Fiction” auteur. Pitt had a small but hilarious role as pot-smoking couch potato Floyd in the Tarantino-scripted (but not directed) “True Romance.”

Source: AOL

Headline, Industry News

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt give US$1 million gifts to humanitarian groups

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ Movie stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are giving gifts of US$1 million each to two humanitarian organizations, an adviser to the couple said Wednesday. The recipients are Global Action for Children and Medecins sans Frontieres-Doctors Without Borders.

"In the most troubled parts of the world _ places that much of the world has abandoned _ MSF is always there," said Jolie in a statement issued by Trevor Neilson, the couple’s philanthropic and political adviser. "I have seen these brave men and women working in war zones and horrific conditions and I deeply admire them."

Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees. Jennifer Delaney, U.S. director for Global Action for Children, expressed her thanks for the gift from the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.

"Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt not only care, but more important, are taking concrete action to address the fact that there will be 20 million children orphaned by AIDS by 2010, and millions more orphaned by tuberculosis, malaria and conflict or whose parents are sick and dying," she said.

Delaney said the vast majority of these children are being cared by extended families and communities that need support to overcome the ravages of HIV-AIDS and poverty.

Front Page, TIFF 2006

Affable Brad Pitt talks parenthood, hams it up at Toronto film festival

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TORONTO (CP) _ Brad Pitt hammed it up for the cameras at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday as he discussed everything from his new critically acclaimed film "Babel" to his globetrotting passions and his three children with actress Angelina Jolie.

"Oh my God, the cameras!" said the smiling mega-star, wearing a slick black suit and cufflinks as photographers in the packed media room at the downtown Sutton Place Hotel relentlessly snapped shots of him and the rest of the "Babel" crew.

The conference moderator asked the shutterbugs several times to "calm down" because the cameras’ clicking noise was drowning out the voices of the actors and director on stage. But Pitt, no stranger to the spotlight, laughed at that request and at one point flashed his palms, waved his hands and stuck out his tongue for them.

"That’s the picture that’s going to (get out) when I have a breakdown or something," said the spiky-haired actor.

Pitt arrived in town the previous night to attend the North American premiere of "Babel" at a frenzied red carpet gala at Roy Thomson Hall. The multilingual ensemble drama, directed by Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("21 Grams," "Amores perros"), spans three continents as it portrays a series of tragic events that befall American, Moroccan, Mexican and Japanese families. Linking the storylines is a married American couple (Pitt and Cate Blanchett), who get stuck in Morocco when the wife is wounded by a bullet fired by a peasant boy playing with an old rifle in the desert.

"I think this film, basically at the end, is about four basic stories about parents and children," said Inarritu, who got the best director award for the film at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and is the subject of serious Oscar buzz.

Pitt couldn’t be in Cannes to celebrate the award in May because he was in Namibia awaiting the birth of his and Angelina Jolie’s first child together, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. The power couple, who starred together in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," also have two older children _ Maddox, adopted from Cambodia, and Zahara, adopted from Ethiopia.

"I consider myself more a citizen of the world and for me, I have great pride as I sit up here with all the people from different cultures," Pitt said, glancing over at his co-stars, Rinko Kikuchi and Koji Yakusho of Japan and Adriana Barrazza of Mexico. All of those actors spoke through translators.

Blanchett couldn’t be in Toronto because she’s shooting another movie.

"Babel" is dark and sometimes agonizing to watch as it highlights the failures of cultures and governments to communicate with one another.

Despite the violence and nudity in the film, Pitt said he would be proud to let his children watch it when they’re older. He was less certain about some of his other movies, though, saying he now makes a list of which films that he hopes to shelter them from.

"That’s exactly my thoughts now these days: ‘Oh my God, what did I do? What are they going to see from (my) films from the past?"’ said Pitt, who has played such gritty roles as a brawling soap salesman in "Fight Club."

"(Fatherhood) definitely colours what I’ll approach in the future. I’ll try to be a little bit more mature about my decisions, I think."

Before Shiloh’s birth, Pitt had been touring the globe with Jolie, a UN goodwill ambassador, Maddox and Zahara and says making the film in remote areas was "freeing" because he could concentrate on his work without worrying about the paparazzi. In fact, the superstar celebrity wasn’t even recognized in some areas in which they were filming and had to face "tough conditions" and stay in a modest trailer, said Inarritu.

"Was I a prima donna?" Pitt asked Inarritu, to which he replied with a laugh: "No. Not at all. Sometimes _ but no."

Pitt and Jolie have been a tabloid fixture since Pitt’s highly publicized divorce from actor Jennifer Aniston in early 2005. News of Pitt’s appearance at the Toronto festival ignited a firestorm of speculation among celebrity watchers eager to see if Jolie would join him on the red carpet. She was a no-show.

Vince Vaughn, Aniston’s reported beau and rumoured fiance, was also part of the festival scene over the weekend, promoting his film, "Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show."

Gossip writers were hot to see if there would be a collision of the "Vaughniston" and "Brangelina" camps, but Pitt said he wouldn’t be partying during his stay in the city. It seemed the biggest thing on his mind was getting back to his kids.

"Being a father now … it becomes your big worry," he said. "It becomes the one thing that keeps you up at night and how can you protect your children."

Babel is set to go into limited release Oct. 27.

TIFF 2006

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES ITS COMPLETE LINE-UP OF 352 FILMS

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At this year’s Festival, 352 films from 61 countries will screen, including 261 features, 91 per cent of which are world, international or North American premieres, and 62 of which are feature directorial debuts. Limited Festival Passes and Coupon Books are available until August 25, offering outstanding deals available to filmgoers of all ages.

The complete lineup additionally features eight Gala Presentations, including the world premiere of Michael Apted’s AMAZING GRACE, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rufus Sewell, Youssou N’Dour, Ciaran Hinds, Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, and Albert Finney. This years Closing Night Film; Ridley Scott’s A GOOD YEAR, a world premiere starring Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, and Abbie Cornish; Anthony Minghella’s BREAKING AND ENTERING, a world premiere starring Jude Law, Martin Freeman, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, and Rafi Gavron; Patrice Leconte’s MON MEILLEUR AMI, a world premiere starring Daniel Auteuil, Dany Boon, and Julie Gayet; Douglas McGrath’s INFAMOUS, a North American premiere starring Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Juliet Stevenson, Sigourney Weaver, John Benjamin Hickey, and Lee Pace; Paul Verhoeven’s BLACK BOOK, a North American premiere starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman and

Halina Reijn; Feng Xiaogang’s THE BANQUET, a North American premiere starring Ziyi Zhang and Daniel Wu; and Susanne Bier’s AFTER THE WEDDING, a North American premiere starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, and Rolf LassgÃ¥rd. Gala tickets on sale Saturday, August 26 at 10 a.m.

A blockbuster Mavericks features up close and personal conversations with Michael Moore, John Waters, John Cameron Mitchell, Karan Johar, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherji, and Amitabh Bachchan. The Festival also announces five presentations in its Dialogues: Talking with Pictures programme. Presenters Bruce Weber, Albert Maysles, Perry Henzell, Costa Gavras, and Christine Vachon will showcase films that have inspired them or mark a significant period in their careers.

Wavelengths spotlights 27 films and videos in five programmes and features internationally renowned visual artists working in film and video. The programme features new work from such celebrated artists as Abbas Kiarostami, Mika Taanila, Jay Rosenblatt, Nathaniel Dorsky, Christoph Girardet, and Matthias Müller.

Thirteen titles, consisting of five world premieres and seven North American premieres, round out this year’s edition of Masters, which will include Goran Paskaljevic’s THE OPTIMISTS; Volker Schlöndorff’s STRIKE; Alain Resnais’ COEURS; Benoît Jacquot’s L’INTOUCHABLE; Gianni Amelio’s THE MISSING STAR; and Robert Guédiguian’s LE VOYAGE EN ARMÉNIE.

Fifteen films have been added to Visions for a complete line-up of 31 films from 25 countries, including Gabriel Range’s D.O.A.P.; Jem Cohen’s BUILDING A BROKEN MOUSETRAP, NYC WEIGHTS AND MEASURES and BLESSED ARE THE DREAMS OF MEN; Jay Anania’s DAY ON FIRE; Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth’s KHADAK; Manoel de Oliveira’s BELLE TOUJOURS; Katsuhiro Otomo’s BUGMASTER; Olivier Masset-Depasse’s CAGES; Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s

CLIMATES; Pedro Costa’s COLOSSAL YOUTH; Julia Loktev’s DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT; Pavel Lounguine’s THE ISLAND; Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno’s ZIDANE: UN PORTRAIT DU XXIème SIÈCLE; and So Yong Kim’s IN

BETWEEN DAYS.

With eleven titles announced, the full Special Presentations line-up features 39 films from 15 countries, including Ann Hui’s THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT; Mira Nair’s THE NAMESAKE; Hong Sang-soo’s WOMAN ON THE BEACH; Emanuele Crialese’s GOLDEN DOOR; Todd Field’s LITTLE CHILDREN; Johnnie To’s EXILED; Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s THE LIVES OF OTHERS; Joachim Lafosse’s NUE PROPRIÉTÉ; PARIS JE T’AIME; Santiago Amigorena’s QUELQUES JOURS EN SEPTEMBRE; and Marc Evans’ SNOW CAKE.

Contemporary World Cinema features 60 titles, including 19 world, 4 international and 32 North American premieres from a total of 40 countries, including recently announced Alejandro Gomez Monteverde’s BELLA; Mel Chionglo’s TWILIGHT DANCERS; Dror Shaul’s SWEET MUD; Cate Shortland’s THE SILENCE; Jeffrey Jeturian’s THE BET COLLECTOR; and Chris Kraus’ FOUR MINUTES.

The North American premiere of THE HOTTEST STATE, written and directed by Ethan Hawke, joins the 12 films already announced in the new Festival programme, Vanguard.

Seven titles join Real to Reel for a complete programme featuring 34 titles from 18 countries, 28 of which will see a world, international or North American premiere, including James Stern and Adam Del Deo’s …SO GOES THE NATION; Rob Stewart’s SHARKWATER; Adrian Grenier’s SHOT IN THE DARK; Jia Zhangke’s DONG; Ron Mann’s TALES OF THE RAT FINK; Amy Berg’s DELIVER US FROM EVIL; and Sadik Ahmed’s TANJU MIAH.

New this year, to ensure that audiences of all ages can be part of the Festival experience, TIFF has significantly increased the number of films submitted for classification. Film classifications appear in the Official Film Schedule on August 29 and will be updated on the Festival website. Additionally, the films in Sprockets Family Zone each have specific age recommendations, from age four to age 11. Films without classification are restricted to those 18 years and older. In addition to these titles, two previously announced films – Alejandro González Iñárritu’s BABEL, a North American premiere starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael García Bernal; and PENELOPE, a world premiere starring Christina Ricci, Reese Witherspoon, Catherine O’Hara, Richard E. Grant, James McAvoy, and Peter Dinklage – will now screen as Gala Presentations.

Advance tickets for Festival films are available September 6. For more information and to purchase tickets call 416-968-FILM, click bell.ca/filmfest or visit one of two Box Office locations: the Festival HQ Box Office, located on the Main Floor of Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor Street West (North Entrance) and, opening August 29, the Festival Box Office at College Park, 444 Yonge Street (South Entrance, market level). The Festival’s

programme book and Official Film Schedule are available August 29.