YAY! A Positive review of Jess!! Congrats, we love you Jessica!!

“The pedigree is to be envied: based on the play by Noel Coward, which was first adapted by Alfred Hitchcock during the silent era, Easy Virtue is the epitome of British wit. Combine those names with a cast led by Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas and – as the American interloper – Jessica Biel, and the result offers all the delights of wicked, high-toned comedy. Bringing it all together is Stephan Elliott, a director with a sure hand for such giddy, savage fare, best known for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Larita (Biel), the American, is a Jazz Age race-car driver. After impulsively tying the knot in Monte Carlo with young Englishman John Whittaker (Ben Barnes), she travels to England to meet her groom’s privileged and batty family. Naturally, they hate her. John’s mother, Mrs. Whittaker (Scott Thomas), and his sisters Hilda and Marion (Kimberly Nixon and Katherine Parkinson) do their best to sabotage the newlyweds and banish their brother’s shocking new wife. Only in the family’s patriarch, Mr. Whittaker (Firth), does the young bride find acceptance, and the two develop a bond founded on their mutual appreciation for motorbikes and flouting social etiquette.

Elliott directs the ensemble cast with verve bordering on glee, bringing his own wit and style to this sparkling Noel Coward confection. Scott Thomas delivers her barbed dialogue with delicious timing, while Firth counters her pinched sophistication with droll one-liners. Biel, who shows a new talent for this material, more than keeps pace, supplying some of the film’s most entertaining zingers and sight gags. The look of the Whittaker estate is gorgeous, the visual style quotes and plays with the conventions of the era, and the music is positively radical. Period pop mingles with flapper reworkings of more recent tunes, including infectious versions of Prince’s “Kiss” and Queen’s “We Are the Champions.”

Crafty direction, snappy dialogue and a delightful cast take this comedy of manners far beyond the confines of the typical romantic comedy. What results is a film that is as clever and hilarious as it is artfully crafted.”

Stephan Elliott director of the international hit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, has brought the Noel Coward play EASY VIRTUE to the big screen. Starring Jessica Biel (The Illusionist, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry), BAFTA Nominated Colin Firth (St Trinian’s, Bridget Jones’ Diary), Oscar® Nominated Kristin Scott Thomas (Gosford Park, Four Weddings and a Funeral) and Ben Barnes (Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian). EASY VIRTUE also features Kris Marshall (Death At A Funeral, Love Actually), Katharine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) and Kimberley Nixon (Cranford) and will be released in cinemas across the UK on Friday, 7 November 2008.

The Twenties have roared….the Thirties have yet to swing, when after a whirlwind romance young Englishman John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) marries the sexy, glamorous racing driver, Larita (Jessica Biel). Convinced his family will be as enchanted as him by his new bride John returns to his family home with Larita. It is clear from the start, however, that John’s mother Veronica (Kristin Scott Thomas) is offended by everything about her new daughter-in-law: she is a beautiful, older, independent divorcee and American! Larita tries her best to fit in but fails to tiptoe through the minefield laid by her mother-in-law. Quickly realizing Veronica’s game she sees that she must fight back if she’s not going to lose John. A battle of wits ensues and sparks soon fly…

EASY VIRTUE, adapted for the screen by director Stephan Elliott and Sheridan Jobbins, boasts an award-winning production team including costume designer Charlotte Walter (A Mighty Heart, The Bourne Supremacy); Oscar-and BAFTA-winning make up and hair designer Jeremy Woodhead (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring); production designer John Beard (The History Boys, Enigma); cinematographer Martin Kenzie, who worked on St. Trinian’s, Phantom of the Opera and Wimbledon and BAFTA-winning composer Marius de Vries (Moulin Rouge, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet).

EASY VIRTUE is an Ealing Studios presentation in association with Endgame Entertainment, Odyssey Entertainment and BBC Films, A Fragile Film in association with Joe Abrams Productions and a Prescience Production Partnerships, it is produced by Barnaby Thompson, Joe Abrams, James D. Stern with James Spring as executive producer and was shot entirely on location in the UK in magnificent stately homes which include Englefield Hall, near Reading in Berkshire, and Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.

Palm Springs ShortFest debuted an element of movie-making Saturday it hadn’t shown off before.
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Stars. Real, glamorous stars.

Jessica Biel and Kirsten Dunst walked down a press line in front of the Camelot Theatres to promote their short films screening in the festival’s “Shooting Stars” program, also featuring films with actors or directors such as Matthew Modine, Tony Shaloub and Kate Hudson.

There wasn’t a red carpet, but a handful of journalists snapped pictures and interviewed the stars as filmgoers entered the theater.

“You’re so polite,” Biel said to the media just minutes before her program was due to begin.

Biel, who received the feature film festival’s Rising Star, Female Award in 2006 for her role in “The Illusionist,” wore a grayish single-shoulder strap dress to play up the natural beauty she played down in her film, “Hole in the Paper Sky,” in which she wore glasses and a smock as an assistant in animal experiments.

Biel told reporters that her boyfriend, singer Justin Timberlake, was inside the movie theater before the film started.

He was then seen quietly leaving before the movie let out.

Biel and Dunst had something else in common with their films — actor Jason Clarke, who stars in both of their shorts, but didn’t come to ShortFest.

“I know nothing about Kirsten’s film,” Biel said. “Is Jason Clarke starring in her film too? What? It’s unbelievable! He is so good. I didn’t know that!”

Hey Guys!

I’ve been capping movies for the past few hours, and I have added all the photos I have of Jesse’s 1998 release, I’ll Be Home For Christmas, and then her 2005 release, Elizabethtown.. Be sure to check them out!

Up Next: Cellular, London and Blade!

The 4th annual HollyShorts Film Festival kicked off in Hollywood last week and Jessica Biel, Josh Brolin and David Arquette came out to promote their short films.

Actress Jessica Biel took on a producers role for her project “Hole in the Paper Sky,” which she also starred in. Jessica wanted to bring awareness of experimentation of animals in her film. We asked Jessica if she preferred producing over acting to which she replied:

“I love what I do in my day job, but I love being apart of the elements that I usually don’t get to be apart of. The creative parts that doesn’t have to do with the character, the sound of it, the look of it. Who are we going to hire? Who are we going to cast? Its interesting to be apart of the behind the scenes stuff. “

STEPHAN Elliott, director of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, is back on the scene after a long hiatus. His adaptation of the Noel Coward play Easy Virtue will have its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival before a possible run at the London Film Festival and its commercial release. The film, with an eclectic cast including Jessica Biel, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth and The Chronicles of Narnia’s Ben Barnes, was made in London, with the resurgent Ealing Studios among its producers. It has been picked up for Australian distribution through Hopscotch although the release date is not set. After bursting on to the scene with Frauds, which premiered at Cannes, then Priscilla and the shall we say ambitious Welcome to Woop Woop, Elliott’s 1999 thriller, Eye of the Beholder, made some money before Elliott seemed to disappear from screens. His return is keenly anticipated.

The Palm Springs ShortFest has packed its lineup with celebs, including many switch-hitting as helmers.

Event runs Aug. 21-27.

Kate Hudson will bring her short film “Cutlass,” starring Dakota Fanning and Virginia Madsen; Kirsten Dunst directs Winona Ryder in “Welcome”; and Matthew Modine directs himself in “I Think I Thought.”

Other shorts star Tony Shalhoub (”LA Actors”), David Arquette (”Nosebleed”) or feature celeb voices including Ian McKellen (”For the Love of God”), Whoopi Goldberg (”The Descendant”) and Robert Redford (”The New Environmentalists”).

The fest will also feature master classes by thesp Bill Pullman and cinematographer William Fraker; a session on film criticism will include David Ansen (Newsweek) and Claudia Puig (USA Today).

On the heels of Sony Pictures’ acquisition of U.S. distribution rights to the CG-animated feature film Planet 51 comes word that distributor DeAPlaneta has picked up the flick for Spain. Daily Variety reports today that the Spanish indie has nabbed theatrical and DVD rights, while its Planeta Junior handles merchandising rights. DeAPlaneta served as a co-producer on the movie, along with broadcaster Atena 3 TV, which has been granted free-to-air TV rights.

A production of HandMade Films Int’l and Madrid-based Llion Animation Studios, Planet 51 features the voices of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jessica Biel, Seann William Scott, Justin Long, Gary Oldman and John Cleese, the film will be released theatrically through Sony’s TriStar Pictures on Nov. 20, 2009. A video game based on the pic is also being developed by Llion’s parent company, Pyro Studios.

Planet 51 is an invasion story with a twist that revolves around Earthling astronaut Capt. Chuck Baker (Johnson), who causes panic when his spacecraft lands on an alien world that bares a striking resemblance to suburban American in the 1950s. In his efforts to avoid capture and get off the planet, Baker is befriended by a local boy named Lem (Long) and his goofy sidekick, Skiff (Scott). Biel will lend her voice to Neera, Lem’s love interest.

The movie was penned by Shrek writer Joe Stillman, who earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the animated FOX TV series King of the Hill, and directed by Jorge Blanco, the lead artist on Pyro’s Commandos video game series. Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez, who worked with Blanco on Commandos, are listed as co-directors on the film. Llion’s Ignacio Perez Dolset produced the flick with HandMade’s Guy Collins. Exec producers include former Nickelodeon head Albie Hecht and Lola Film president Andres Vicente Gomez.

Llion produced Planet 51 for roughly $60 million. HandMade Films is handling worldwide sales.

Hey, what’s up Myspace! I got some great responses from the “Hole in the Paper Sky” trailer so thanks for checking it out. If you’re interested in seeing the whole film, we’re screening at a few festivals this August. We’re the opening film at the HollyShorts Festival in LA on August 7th. Then we’re in competition at the Rhode Island International Film Festival on the 8th and we finish our festival run at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on August 23rd. Even if you’re not interested in seeing our movie, these festivals are amazing places to experience up and coming actors, directors, and film makers. So please come out and support your film community!

Below are links to each festival if you need additonal information and or ticket sales. Thanks guys!

- HollyShorts Film Festival
- Rhode Island International Film Festival
- Palm Springs International Film Festival