Hamptons Celebrities Star in Upcoming Fall Films
The summer movie season is just about over. Did you enjoy any movies? It was a disappointing summer for blockbusters, compared to last year’s one-two punch of The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. But we did get to see Hamptons faves kicking butt on screen! Gwyneth Paltrow was once again stellar in her role as Pepper Potts in Iron Man 3, while Hugh Jackman brought new meaning to tall, dark and sexy as The Wolverine. But now that Hollywood is done releasing all their action flicks, we’re about to enter Oscar season, with all the “Triple-A” talent appearing in movies that push the bar (or attempt to, at least) and wrench the hearts of audiences (or attempt to, at least). And as always, lots of Hamptons regulars will be appearing in this fall’s movie slate. Here are a few of the more interesting ones.
Opening in limited release on September 6, Anne Fontaine’s Adore, starring Hamptonite Naomi Watts and Robin Wright, is a sexy—and potentially disturbing—drama about two women, best friends since childhood, who fall into sexual relationships with each others’ sons. Adore premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received a warm reception. Originally called Two Mothers, the film is an adaptation of Doris Lessing’s novella The Grandmothers. If nothing else, Adore should provide some good conversation after the movie.
If you can’t get enough of Hamptons charmer Hugh Jackman, be sure to see Denis Villeneuve’s crime thriller Prisoners when it opens on September 20. Jackman leads a cast of heavy hitters—including Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Maria Bello, Paul Dano and Viola Davis—as the desperate father of one of two little girls kidnapped on Thanksgiving. When a suspect is found but released due to a lack of evidence, Jackman takes the law into his own hands and goes rogue (get the X-Men reference?) to save his daughter. He probably won’t be sprouting claws from his knuckles, but this sounds like a potentially riveting drama nonetheless.
Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars in Stuart Blumberg’s Thanks For Sharing, a romantic dramedy that explores the lives of three people—Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins and Alecia Moore AKA Pink—in treatment for sex addiction. Paltrow plays Ruffalo’s love interest, a woman who genuinely cares about Ruffalo but doesn’t quite understand his addiction. Thanks For Sharing premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this year and received mixed reviews, but the film looks like it actually takes sex addiction seriously and treats its trouble characters with compassion. And it will be interesting to see Pink (or Moore, as she prefers to be credited for the film) in a significant dramatic role.
Just before Halloween on October 18, Kimberly Peirce’s remake of the Brian De Palma horror masterpiece Carrie lands in theaters starring Chloë Grace Moretz in the title role and Montauk resident Julianne Moore as her mother, Margaret. The original 1976 version, based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, starred Sissy Spacek as Carrie and Piper Laurie as Margaret. Reportedly more faithful to King’s novel than De Palma’s adaptation, Carrie is the story of a teenage girl whose abusive and radically religious mother has caused her to be extremely shy and lonely. Things take a shocking and supernatural turn when Carrie is pushed to her limit by her mother and the kids at school, resulting in a blood-stained and fiery climax. Fun facts: Carrie was adapted into a musical in 1988 and is often considered one of the most notorious flops in Broadway history; and a television adaptation of Carrie premiered on NBC in 2002 with a revised ending to set up a potential ongoing series, which never came to fruition. Spacek and Laurie were nominated for Oscars for their roles in the original, so we’ll see how Moretz and Moore do.
Other movies featuring Hamptonites include Don Jon on September 6, written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, also featuring Julianne Moore in a supporting role, and the next Marvel Studios blockbuster Thor: The Dark World, directed by Alan Taylor, starring Natalie Portman as the titular hero’s love interest, Jane Foster. The original Thor was a fun fantasy flick and Portman was charming and appealing, so this should be a good follow-up. With a solid list of interesting movies starring strong actors, Fall 2013 should be a great movie season!