RELATED: Bono Swings To the Rescue of ‘Spider-Man’ Musical

Determined renaissance man Joseph Gordon-Levitt is heading behind the camera to direct his first feature film, from a script he wrote. He will also star in the film. Busy boy! And what is this sure-to-be masterpiece about? “[T]he film is a sexy comedy about about a modern-day Don Juan, and his quest to become less of a ‘selfish dick.’” JGL will be playing the dick. Just to reiterate, like Olivier’s Othello or Gielgud’s Hamlet before it, we will soon be seeing JGL’s Dick. So. Anyway. Scarlett Johansson‘s in the movie too. Which… Sorry, what were we talking about? [Deadline]

RELATED: Here Are The 84th Academy Award Nominations

Amy Adams has been cast in an adaptation of Steve Martin‘s recent novel Object of Beauty, about 15 years in the life of an ambitious art dealer. Travel happens, art happens, men happen, New York happens, etc. etc. Not to sound dismissive, though! Steve Martin turned an equally slight story of a woman at work, Shopgirl, into an oddly affecting tale, one that made for an equally oddly affecting movie. This could be the same! It’s no Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s soon-to-be famous Dick, obviously, but it’s something. [The Hollywood Reporter]

RELATED: The Backlash to the Backlash of a Multiracial Spider-Man

Middle-aged TV actors who everyone loves Tony Shalhoub and Allison Janney have been cast together in the pilot Friday Night Dinner, from Greg Daniels. It’s a show about a family that has supper together once a week. Janney and Shalhoub will play the parents. Presumably at some point there will be some kind of presidential communications crisis that Janney has to deal with while Shalhoub solves a murder despite his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. That’s in their contracts, right? Pretty sure that’s in their contracts. Still, sounds good! That title will probably have to change though. To The West Monk. [Deadline]

RELATED: Hooray for the Big Gaudy Brian Grazer Oscars!

Aw nuts. There goes your chance to see Kiwi kewtie Bret McKenzie or Jason Segel or probably any of the Muppets perform at the Oscars. The Academy has decided that it won’t have Best Original Song performances this year, as there are only two and they’re not really popular or anything. That’s kinda sad. Also, did Randy Newman not have anything out this year? Where is that big old rooster when you need him? Had there been three songs and one of them was Randy Newman, we totally would have had Bret strumming away on a guitar on the Oscar stage or something. Rats! Well, maybe he’ll still win one anyway. Hey, he’s got a 50/50 chance after all. Will Jemaine be jealous? [Vulture]

RELATED: Julie Taymor’s Tenure Over ‘Spider-Man’ Receives Harsh Reviews

Uh oh. Fox has decided to delay the formal opening of their upcoming romantic comedy This Mean War, apparently because of poor tracking. It was supposed to open on Valentine’s Day, because it’s all about kissing and hugging and the other stuff, but now it’s just getting a smaller sneak preview then and opening Friday the 17th, in the hopes that those extra few days will give it some momentum. Hm. Reese Witherspoon kinda needs a hit, and Tom Hardy and Chris Pine probably wouldn’t mind one either, so let’s get this together, folks. And maybe let’s tease what we think has to be the obvious spoiler: She’s a spy too? See they’re spies who both like her so they start spy-fighting over her and everything. But we think she’s secretly also a spy and there will be some twist with that. But who knows. The twist could also be that at the end Chelsea Handler goes to jail and everyone cheers. That’d be satisfying too. Actually probably more so. Anyway! Time to gin up some excitement for this movie, guys. Let’s go! [Deadline]

Here is a trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man, the toootally necessary Spider-Man reboot starring the totally necessary (no sarcasm there, at least) Andrew Garfield as Petey Parker and Emma Stone as love interest Not Mary Jane. And, ugh, guys. Doesn’t this look kind of dumb? Like cartoony in a bad way and dimly lit and just sort of unpleasant? Obviously it’s just a preview and blah blah. And Andrew Garfield in latex and yada yada. We get it. It just doesn’t look very good from this little glimpse, is all we’re saying. Are we being grumps? Cynics? Troglodytes? Lunkheads? Dopes? Fools? Jerks? Perhaps even, dicks? 

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Looking for a great movie for Valentine’s Day?  Then look no further than “All’s Faire In Love,” a hilarious new romantic comedy now on video and Video-On-Demand from Hannover House and Patriot Pictures.  Christina Ricci (“Pan Am”), Owen Benjamin (“The House Bunny”), Cedric the Entertainer (“Barbershop”), and Matthew Lillard (“Scooby Doo”), keep the laughs flowing and the love growing in this 2011 theatrically released comedy from director Scott Marshall (“Blonde Ambition”) and Executive Producer Michael Mendelsohn (“Material Girls”).  Hannover House is the entertainment division of Target Development Group, Inc. (Pinksheets: TDGI.PK – News).

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120207/SF48750)

“All’s Faire In Love” is available on DVD at most Wal-Mart Stores nationwide, as well as through streaming at WalMart.com (via VUDU), through Netflix, Amazon.com and many other major retail chains, internet sites and video-on-demand portals.  The DVDs are affordably priced at $14.95 suggested retail, and streaming fees fall in the $2.99 to $3.99 range for most sites, making “All’s Faire In Love” a value-priced investment to deliver a happy Valentine’s Day of entertainment.

“This is a feel-good, romantic comedy,” said director Scott Marshall at the film’s premiere in New York City last October.  “It’s a sure-thing as a date movie, and perfect for couples that want to snuggle together and watch a great video.”

“Enough already with the loud, action films,” said Eric Parkinson, CEO of Hannover House.  “This Valentine’s Day, give your honey something warm and fuzzy.  This is a video rental or purchase you won’t regret.”

Convenient links to selected sites carrying “All’s Faire In Love” are below:

WalMart.com:  http://www.walmart.com/ip/19756096

Hastings:  http://www.gohastings.com/product/MOVIE/Alls-Faire-in-Love/sku/286486337.uts

Buy.com:  http://www.buy.com/sr/searchresults.aspx?loc=322sid=4qu=All%27s+Faire+In+Lovetcid=5932

Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/Alls-Faire-Love-Christina-Ricci/dp/B0069RWACE/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tvie=UTF8qid=1328573130sr=1-1

ABOUT THE FILM

“All’s Faire In Love” is a romantic comedy starring Christina Ricci (“The Addams Family,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Speed Racer”), Owen Benjamin (“The House Bunny”), Matthew Lillard (“Scooby Doo,” “Scream”), Ann Margret (“Viva Las Vegas,” “Carnal Knowledge,” “Tommy“) Cedric the Entertainer (“Cadillac Records,” “Street Kings,” “The Honeymooners”), Bill Engvall (“The Bill Engvall Show”), and Nadine Velazquez (“My Name Is Earl“), in the first modern day romantic comedy set in a Renaissance Faire.  The film was directed by Scott Marshall (“Keeping up with the Steins,” “Blonde Ambition”), and was shot on location at the Michigan Renaissance Festival in Holly, MI. 

Scott Marshall, director and writer, and R.A. White, writer of original screenplay, have created a comedy set in the world of Renaissance Faires with a unique society of actors, singers, glass-blowers, ale merchants, sword-smiths, insulters and other crafts people dedicated to preserving the living memory of the golden age of Europe.

“The movie takes a funny and insightful look at class rivalry in a modern day romance at a Renaissance Faire (Ren Faire or just Faire) and is an amalgam of a craft fair, its partly historical reenactment, its partly performance art,” said Marshall. “Everyone working at Faire dresses in costumes (or garb) typical of the late Elizabethan period. There are many booths selling both crafts and food. Parades wind their way through the crowds. Jugglers, musicians, magicians, and other entertainers perform through the day. You wander about, examining goods for sale, sampling foods, watching plays and performers, and of course drinking fine English Ale.”

“I have always enjoyed the Renaissance Faires for their colorful costumes, witty Shakespearean re-enactments, beautiful women, and a step back into the Elizabethan England lifestyle of the period. There are ribbons and flags waving in the wind, the sound of bells, of lutes, of ocarinas in the air, the lilt of foreign accents, the smell of cooking foods and flowers, the outdoor carnival, sun on your face and the wind blowing up through beautiful flowing gowns of women of the period,” said Michael Mendelsohn, CEO of Patriot Pictures, LLC.  “Risk the Queen confiscating your street clothes and join in the class struggle between the peasants and the royals, the underdogs against the establishment and young love threatened by dastardly intentions of the wicked. When was the last time a fireman played the Queen’s sorcerer Merlin, and tried to sell you Magical powers based upon a librarian’s Wenches brew while breaking all the laws of fornication under the conscription of the King?”

The tale begins with Will, the school’s quarterback, being sentenced to a summer at the “All’s Faire in Love” local Renaissance Faire by Prof. Schockworthy, in hopes of salvaging his English literature grade, required for him to graduate. Will’s self-worth further diminishes as he is made the backstage gimp for the rag-tag Greenbrier Theater Troupe. The same fate is true for Kate, a singer/actress who is blossoming on the stage and likewise in Will’s heart.

Will and Kate get the chance to prove themselves when Queen Banks, Faire’s chief benefactress, hosts the year end talent competition. The young actors must overcome all manner of opposition to prove their worth, win the day, and – perhaps – fall madly in love. “This movie shows the real life aspect of the Renaissance Faire,” said Marshall, “…including the spirit, passion, humor and wench appeal…for the whole family…someone is always falling in love and defending a lady’s honor with sharp sword and tongue…”

Mendelsohn’s Patriot Pictures produced and financed the movie with Ron Singer and Scott Reed. Mendelsohn himself has arranged production financing for over 303 films. He was executive producer of the HBO documentary (“Genocide in Darfur – Sand and Sorrow”) with George Clooney that aired in the winter of 2007; executive produced and co-financed “Lord of War,” released by Lions Gate Films (directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Nicolas Cage and Ethan Hawke); and “Material Girls,” released by MGM (directed by Martha Coolidge and starring Hilary Duff and Anjelica Huston). Mendelsohn has also arranged financing for such major blockbuster films like Beacon Pictures and Wolfgang Peterson’s “Air Force One,” (starring Harrison Ford); Lakeshore Entertainment-produced “The Mothman Prophecies” (starring Richard Gere) and “Underworld” (starring Kate Beckinsale); the Wachowski Brothers’ “The Matrix” (starring Keanu Reeves); Icon Pictures-produced “What Women Want” (starring Mel Gibson), and Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” (starring Harvey Keitel). Films currently in pre-production at Patriot include “Vengeance: A Love Story,” starring Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Abigail Breslin, and Dianne Wiest, to be directed by Harold Becker and Maxim Magazines’ Halloween.

Press Media:  For More Information (or for a DVD screening copy of the film), please contact Lauren Sterling, Lauren@HannoverHouse.com, 479-751-4500

Wednesday Reading: Adding Chickens to Your Urban Garden

Adding chickens to your urban garden, appeals court strikes down California gay marriage ban, tortilla-tossing on a Texas road trip and other consumer-focused news from The New York Times.

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Anyone going to a war movie that had conflict between blacks and whites would expect to hear that word. We old folks are now almost immune to it, and the hip-hop generation can’t seem to get enough of it. I wasn’t shocked when it was used in the 1949 movie “Home of the Brave” when black actor James Edwards became a member of an all-white Army unit.

And what war movie needs a plot? Virtually all of them have a mission to destroy the enemy or his strategic facilities. On the way to that mission they fight the elements, run into hostile action, meet some village girls or have memory flashbacks. That is the plot of a war movie.

I have seen many, many war movies and have 96 World War II moves in my collection. “Red Tails” for me fits well into that collection. The mission of those men was to get the chance to fly combat missions, but while waiting for that opportunity, they sat around and told stories, sometimes using words that no one used in the 1940s.

The scene where the black airman was denied service in the officers’ club showed the segregated policies of the time. The meetings at headquarters by leading officers who expressed their belief that blacks were inferior fighters were more real than depicted on the screen. Indeed, the plot of that movie was deeply etched in my mind.

It was the same plot used in the “Red Ball Express” of 1952 that starred Jeff Chandler and Sidney Poitier. The Army had hastily put together a mostly black group of truck drivers to haul gasoline and other vital materials to the front lines in German territory. They, too, had racial conflict.

While the black soldiers and airmen were eager to get into the war to prove they were willing and able to fight, they were assigned for the most part to noncombat duties. At the same time there were white units wanting to fight, but they also were given alternative duties. So no matter what their color, many times these men of war wanted a taste of the action.

Like most movies, “Red Tails” has its shortcomings. I thought the first 15 minutes stank. The dialogue, lack of action and the slow pace reminded me of the days I walked out of the theater after the first 15 or 20 minutes. I was tempted to do just that, but I am glad I saw it through.

Only in a war movie could a pilot fly over an Italian village, spot a girl on a rooftop and vow to his fellow pilots that he is going to marry her. It is only in such a movie that he could actually find the house, meet the girl and cross the language barrier in Tarzan-and-Jane fashion to prove his boast.

“Red Tails” is another telling of the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and the bold experiment to give blacks the chance to fly combat missions in World War II. The story was well received and the audience applauded as it ended.

Woody Harrelson plays with social media fire, gets burned

Well, my friends, we have another addition to the growing list of social media marketing disasters. This one stars Woody Harrelson!

To promote his new movie Rampart — about “the most corrupt cop you’ve ever seen on screen” — Harrelson decided not just to do the standard round of interviews with entertainment journalists but to go on to social news site Reddit to do an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session with its users. He gave them 15 minutes of his time, and soon regretted it.

As noted by the Observer, one of the first questions asked was by a Redditor who claimed that Harrelson had crashed his L.A. high school prom’s after party and “taken the virginity” of one of his classmates.

“You didn’t call her afterwards. She cried a lot,” wrote Andy Rooney. “Do you remember any of this and can confirm or have you been so knee deep in hollywood pooty for so long that this qualifies as a mere blip?”

Harrelson answered: “First off, its not true, and second off, I don’t want to answer questions about that. Lets focus on the film people.”

As one user quipped, it turned out, unsurprisingly, Harrelson was interested not in an AMA but in an AMAAR (“Ask Me Anything About Rampart”). While entertainment journos might respect those rules of engagement, the World Wide Web is less tame. Some of the other questions were about Harrelson’s acting and past film roles, but the discussion about his role in a teenager’s senior year dominated the discussion and resulting news coverage.

This, of course, is why some other high-profile folks who have engaged in social media Q and As (such as President Barack Obama) have the questions vetted in advance. But it’s not a necessity. Lots of high-profile folks have done this type of interview on Reddit — from politicians such as Zoe Lofgren and Jared Polis to actors like Ali Larter and Zach Braff — and they have gone well. (Hint: Authenticity goes a long way in pleasing the social media audience.)

Woody’s burning and the recent McDonald’s hashtag turned bashtag highlight how marketers are still adjusting to the fact that social media campaigns are not simple one-way broadcasting of messages to a bunch of receptive, unthinking consumers eager to retweet, like, and upvote. Social media is not just a loudspeaker. It’s a game of telephone and it’s unpredictable. And if you wade onto a site like Reddit and let people ask you anything, you have to truly be prepared for anything. (Hint: “I don’t want to answer questions like that” is not a good answer.)

Potential support from California and New York would come in exchange for tightening provisions in order to preserve …

In 1776 South Carolina, Mel Gibson plays a pacifist plantation owner who joins the War for Independence after a British officer murders his son. Heath Ledge co-stars.

New movies: ‘Big Miracle,’ ‘The Woman in Black’

The big movies out this weekend include ‘Big Miracle,’ (rated PG) a family-friendly flick based on the true story of a family of whales in danger in Alaska, starring Drew Barrymore. Also, ‘The Woman in Black,’ (rated PG-13) starring Daniel Radcliffe (“Harry Potter”) as a widowed barrister who travel to a spooky old house and finds the spirits inside are not friendly.

Video: ‘The Woman in Black’ movie trailer

GateHouse News Service