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Friday, May 15
Angels & Demons, director Ron Howard's highly anticipated and controversial sequel to The Da Vinci Code, opens today across the country. Based on the novel by Dan Brown, the film's plot revolves around a conspiracy to murder Catholic Cardinals and use anti-matter stolen from the European particle physics laboratory CERN to destroy St. Peter's Basilica.
Though both books by Brown are wildly successful -- The Da Vinci Code is the bestselling hardcover novel for adults of all time, with more than 80 million copies printed -- Brown's writing has often been criticized. The latest to dismiss Brown's skills as an author is one of the stars of Angels & Demons, Stellan Skarsgård. In a recent interview, Skarsgård (who plays Commander Rocher, head of the Pope's Swiss guard in the film) said:
I think Dan Brown is a terribly bad writer, but he has cliffhangers after every chapter which makes you continue reading.
It's like eating peanuts at a bar. You don't like them, but you keep on eating them anyway.
Skarsgård said Angels & Demons is better than the first film because:
The story is more simple and straightforward but just as dramatic.
Angels & Demons stars Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, Ayelet Zurer as Vittoria Vetra, and Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca.
Posted 5/15/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Stellan Skarsgard | Tom Hanks | Ron Howard | The Da Vinci Code
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Wednesday, May 13
The Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels & Demons, hits theaters this week and, despite Vatican approval, star Tom Hanks is warning sensitive viewers to skip the film. Hanks told Parade.com:
If anyone feels that the film is going to be offensive to them, don't see it. I'm here to say do not see the film. Stay away, please, please. I beg of you.
Both films are adapted from the equally controversial novels by Dan Brown, though the books were published in reverse order, with Angels & Demons taking place prior to The Da Vinci Code. Hanks said of the controversy surrounding the films:
Every movie is exploited by the marketing people, but it's not like they created the controversy. The first movie had an equal amount of controversy, but nothing was destroyed. The world didn't come to an end, and people still went to church on Sundays. I predict it will be the same after Angels and Demons comes out. People will still go to church and life will go on.
Directed by Ron Howard, Angels & Demons also stars Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca and Stellan Skarsgård as Commander Rocher.
Posted 5/13/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Ewan McGregor | Tom Hanks | Ron Howard | The Da Vinci Code
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The Cannes Film Festival is underway and Pixar's latest effort Up, due in theaters in two weeks, makes history as the first animated feature screened on opening day. The movie is being shown in 3-D for the Cannes audience, although that will not be the norm for the wide release.
In the days leading up to today's screening, some reviews have already surfaced.
"Winsome, touching and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, the gorgeously rendered, high-flying adventure is a tidy 90-minute distillation of all the signature touches that came before it."
-- Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
"And though it's not yet summer, we can declare that Up, like WALL-E, will prove to be one of the most satisfying movie experiences of its year."
-- Richard Corliss, Time
"A captivating odd-couple adventure that becomes funnier and more exciting as it flies along."
-- Todd McCarthy, Variety
Given that, it seems likely the Cannes response will be radically different from the last time an American movie opened the festival. In 2006, The Da Vinci Code resulted in the audience laughing in ridicule; it also prompted The New York Times' A.O. Scott to write one of his most ruthless and carping reviews of the year. It seems safe to say nothing like that will happen this time.
Posted 5/13/2009 by Rich Z
Related: The Da Vinci Code | Peter Docter | Up
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Tuesday, May 12
Angels & Demons, the sequel to the The Da Vinci Code, debuts this week and early reviews describe the film as a lighter, quicker-paced film than its predecessor. Based on the novel by controversial author Dan Brown, the plot of the film centers around a plan to use anti-matter created at the Large Hadron Collider and stolen from the European particle physics laboratory CERN to destroy St. Peter's Basilica.
Hoping to cash in on what is certain to be another blockbuster hit for director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks, the scientific community is hosting a series of lectures around the country to coincide with the release of the film. Scientists hope to use dramatic elements of the movie to raise interest in, and awareness of, the real science of anti-matter, the Large Hadron Collider (where anti-matter is created in Angels & Demons and in real life), and particle physics research. Angels & Demons Lecture Nights are presented with the assistance of CERN, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation. CERN, headquartered in Geneva, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics research.
Hanks plays Robert Langdon, a Harvard University symbologist who is called on to help stop the attack on St. Peter's. He's assisted by Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra, played by Ayelet Zurer. The two travel the world searching for ancient symbols that may contain the key to saving the Vatican from destruction.
Angels & Demons also stars Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca and Stellan Skarsgård as Commander Rocher.
Next Showing: Angels & Demons debuts May 15
Posted 5/12/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Ewan McGregor | Tom Hanks | Ron Howard | The Da Vinci Code
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Friday, May 8
You would think it'd be hard to impress an actor such as Tom Hanks, who has won back-to-back Oscars and whose domestic box office totals exceed $3.3 billion. However, in a recent interview with the online German news magazine Bild.com, Hanks spoke very highly of his Angels & Demons German co-star, Armin Mueller-Stahl (Eastern Promises), who plays Cardinal Strauss in the film:
I am in total awe of him. I can learn so much from him. He is one of the greatest actors of our time.
Hanks reprises the role of Robert Langdon, Harvard University symbologist, in this sequel to The Da Vinci Code. In Angels & Demons, Langdon discovers evidence that the ancient brotherhood known as the Illuminati has plans to use anti-matter to kill several Roman Catholic cardinals and destroy St. Peter's Basilica. Langdon and a beautiful Italian scientist, Vittoria Vetra, played by Ayelet Zurer, travel the world, following a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols in an effort to save the Vatican.
Angels & Demons is directed by Ron Howard and also stars Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca and Stellan Skarsgård as Commander Rocher.
Posted 5/8/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Tom Hanks | Armin Mueller-Stahl | The Da Vinci Code | Angels & Demons
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Thursday, May 7
Angels & Demons, the sequel to the 2006 blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, received the thumbs-up from the Vatican, according to a recent AP story. Both of movies are adaptations of best-selling -- and controversial -- novels by Dan Brown, though Brown's novels were published in reverse order, with Angels & Demons taking place prior to The Da Vinci Code.
Director Ron Howard claimed that the Vatican worked against his production by denying him access to certain sites, but the Vatican said that Howard's comments were made solely to drum up publicity. There were rumors that the Vatican would condemn the movie, as they did The Da Vinci Code; however, yesterday's edition of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, ran a review and an editorial calling the film:
...two hours of harmless entertainment, which hardly affects the genius and mystery of Christianity.
The reviewer criticized the movie's "stereotyped characters," but praised Howard's "dynamic direction."
Angels & Demons stars Tom Hanks, who reprises the role of Robert Langdon, a Harvard University symbologist.
Posted 5/7/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Tom Hanks | Ron Howard | The Da Vinci Code | Angels & Demons