Previously, Wan earned $100 million on a $1.5 million investment with Insidious. His latest, The Conjuring, looks scary enough to earn all the money. Stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga (who don’t appear in this trailer) play a husband and wife team of ghost hunters investigating a remote farmhouse. They quickly learn that they are in over their heads when the supernatural activity grows more and more violent. I’m really impressed by the hide and seek sequence featured in this trailer. Suppose you’re a ghost and a new family moves into your house and immediately starts playing hide and seek while blindfold. How can you not f**k with them? This ghost, though, just takes it to an amazing level. It deserves our respect.

This film was originally slated for January 2013 release but due to resounding praise from audiences, the film was pushed back to August to rake in those sweet, sweet summer dollars.

It looks like the movie is going to be one of those “based on a true story wink wink” haunted house deals, like The Amityville Horror. Wilson previously worked with Wan on Insidious, but Farmiga is new to the Guy Who Did Saw Club. They will be playing a married pair of “demonologists” who take on the case of their lives, whatever, loud noises, demons, shadows, you know the deal. I hope it’s good! (The Hollywood Reporter)

Corinne (Farmiga) first hears about the call to Jesus as a child in a church. As she grows up, she marrie high school sweetheart Ethan (Joshua Leonard) after pregnancy and they spend their family life in a Church community. Bill (Norbert Leo Butz) seems to rule over the community as he insists on making families’ personal business a matter of the church.

You know something’s up when young Corinne has visions of her pastor (Bill Irwin) and mother (Donna Murphy) practicing swimming naked on the pews. When she decides to be baptized as an adult it seems welcoming at first, but always overbearing. Soon you see how the women in the congregation kindly discourage Corinne from speaking up or even dressing nicely in public. They suppress independent thought with kindness.

Bill lectures the men on pleasing their wives, so at least they acknowledge sex. Playing religious audio sex guides is not the way to do it, but Bill wants his families to protect themselves from adulterous temptations.

What’s most uncomfortable is that every single aspect of their life is about God. That’s no kind of balance. Even a children’s soccer game becomes theological. Come on, God wants you to have a diverse life experience. Ethan and Corinne are correct in kicking out her druggie sister Wendy (Nina Arianda) but that’s got nothing to do with God. It’s just morally right to remove an unhealthy influence from a house with children, or even adults really. You can kick her out just because you don’t want cocaine in the house.

The emotion is really raw and frank. Confronting any of these issues is intense, and the film goes there. Corinne can’t ever escape. Everywhere she goes is full of religious talk. Obviously we bring our own baggage to interpret these events. I see it as a stifling of broader scope issues. Maybe Farmiga intended to play Corinne as a deserter who abandons the religious convictions she herself holds.

As a director, Farmiga is skillful and confident. Her camera usually tracks steadily, showing she knows how to present drama without showing off. It’s the type of movie where you have to be prepared and open to exploring tough concepts and feelings. If you do, you’ll be rewarded with a classy production to discuss amongst yourselves.

She’s joining Denzel Washington, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard, Robert Patrick and Liam Cunningham in the Daniel Espinosa-directed movie. She did a pretty good job playing a kind-of-similar character in Source Code, and has made a bit of a niche for herself playing professional, attractive women in thrillers like The Departed. So, good casting, Hollywood casting people! This is why they pay you the big bucks. (Deadline)

Henry’s Crime is one of those quirky indie movies. It probably ranks on the higher end of that scale, just by the A-list cast and cinematic production value. I don’t think it’s great or memorable, but as one of the unorthodox releases this weekend, it may interest some of you.

Henry Torne (Keanu Reeves) gets tricked into driving getaway for a bank robbery, and he’s the one who does the time for it. When he’s free, he decides he’d like to rob the bank for real, since he already went to jail for not robbing it. He gets his prison buddy Max (James Caan) out to assist him.

The hook is that there’s a tunnel leading from the local theater to the bank vault, from Prohibition era. So Henry strikes up a relationship with local actress Julie (Vera Farmiga) and ultimately ends up playing a role in their production of “The Cherry Orchard.” Isn’t that quirky? A bank heist AND a local theater production. Oh, the hilarity.

I’ve always been a Keanu defender. You would not have loved The Matrix so much if he weren’t playing it like a kid discovering his first Nintendo. Henry’s Crime allows him to be more understated than ever, because he’s a stifled sad sack. It’s the bland guy coming to life, a formula as trite in the indie world as the rom-com is in mainstream movies.

Max and Henry case the bank and the theater while Henry romances Julie. They have some technical problems to figure out, like dealing with the dirt from the tunnel. Along the way, more characters horn in on their scam. Ultimately Henry is torn between acting and going through with the plan.

It’s so mellow, it’s hard to get excited about Henry’s Crime, but maybe you want to see James Caan as another badass mastermind, or Reeves stretching from stoic leading men. There’s actually a good production of “The Cherry Orchard” in there, until Julie and Henr break character to deal with their actual relationship. Director Malcolm Venville makes the film look professional, so it will certainly stand out in an arthouse theater surrounded by first time foreign features.

Dexter

Hall will be teaming up once again with “Dexter” creator James Manos Jr. for his directorial debut, Love, Scotch, and Death. Based on a shitty, shitty week in the writer-director’s life, the film was originally called The Slow And Complete Decompensation of Jim Manos. Then market testing revealed that title didn’t appeal to scotch drinkers.

Vera Farmiga will star opposite Hall as he plays a man who “after returning from a stressful vacation…discovers his parents have died of natural causes together in bed, which forces him to navigate his way past an unsympathetic funeral director, his bewildered children and manic wife, an eccentric priest and some over-sexed neighbors. There is also an arrest for assault and the death of his wife’s beloved dog.” Or as Gary Busey calls it, Kwanzaa. (Deadline)

Director: Malcom Venille

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Judy Greer, Vera Farmiga, James Caan

Synopsis: An aimless man is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit.

Release Date: 2010

Source Code was the opening night premiere movie of SXSW and I got to interview three of the key players in Austin. The Friday everyone can relive the eight minutes Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) relives on a doomed train so he can find out who bombed it.

Moon writer/director Duncan Jones directed Source Code, this time from a script by Ben Ripley. The idea of connecting to the eight minute memory of deceased terrorism victims still seems like the kind of highbrow science fiction in which Jones specializes. Jones also happily gave some spoilers, easter eggs for time travel fans to watch for, but wait until you’ve seen the movie if you want them to be a surprise.

Q: Do you see the connection between Moon and Source Code as intelligent sci-fi that doesn’t condescend to the audience?

Duncan Jones: I think Inception really is the obvious, had to say that one. Inception has kind of opened the floodgates a little bit. Mine was a little tiny film. I think District 9 did an amazing job of both visually and in some ways intellectually stimulating the audience but Inception has really proven that there is an audience out there for films that really challenge the audience to work out what the hell is going on at times. I think that’s going to open up some opportunities for some kinds of sci-fi that haven’t been made since maybe the ‘70s. I think it’s a good thing.

Q: Were you a “Quantum Leap” fan?

DJ: Did you pick up on the voice I am a “Quantum Leap” fan. I did notice the similarities when I was reading the script and I don’t know if you were going to say, but the voice of Colter’s father is relevant in bringing up “Quantum Leap.”

Q: I totally missed that. I was asking because of the mirror reflection.

DJ: It is. Scott Bakula is the voice of Colter’s father. In fact, if you get the chance to watch it a second time, you’ll notice he does actually say, “Oh boy.” You can tell [your readers] that and you can even say that you realized that.

Q: Are we supposed to debate the ending or is it definitive?

DJ: It’s definitive to me. I am more than happy to see what the reaction is and see what people’s interpretations are but I feel very comfortable I know what’s going on. I think there is a real head scratcher for the audience at the end there and I think it involves where our main protagonist has ended up and what the implications of that actually are.

Q: The questions about your father, David Bowie, and legacy were covered for Moon. My only question is were you a Labyrinth fan growing up?

DJ: I’ll tell you what. It was difficult to separate myself as my dad’s son watching that film, so watching the film was not as enjoyable as being there while it was being made because I was actually on the set while they were making Labyrinth. That to me was the extraordinary experience and the thing that did stick with me and change me.

Q: Were you there for the Helping Hands?

DJ: Oh, I was there for the Helping Hands. I was also there for the goblin village. I think to me the most exciting thing was the actual all-embracing set. It’s like my favorite thing about Blade Runner, the idea that you could leave the characters, you could pan the camera off the characters and you’d feel like you were still in that world. On the Labyrinth set, I was in a world where they were shooting that way but there was still this huge goblin village over here and stuff over here. You really felt like you were in that world.

Q: Just off Moon, you could probably get a budget of at least $10 million for a reasonable second feature. Is Mute too ambitious for that type of budget?

DJ: I think so. I think Mute would’ve been more comfortable in the same kind of budget as Source Code was, but I have lived with it for such a long time and I have such strong feelings about how to do it right that at this stage, I don’t want to take any shortcuts. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right and that means I have to be patient. I have to wait and I have something else I’m working on which I know I can get made and I feel very excited about. I think by making it a graphic novel, I can probably expand on certain things which I had never intended to expand on as a first feature film

Q: When you say “can get made next,” what are the elements that make you think that?

DJ: My producer and I have been realistic about both tonally and character-wise what is needed in order to find people who are willing to invest both as performers and financially to get the film made, but still do it in such a way that I feel that it’s worth making. It’s a story that I want to tell.

Michelle Monaghan plays Christine, a woman on the train sitting across from Colter when he wakes up in the body of Sean Fentriss. She replays the train scene seven times, a little differently each time Colter tries to fix things. She was almost on her way out of Austin to catch a plane when we spoke.

Q: Was it your job to bring the reality to this outrageous sci-fi concept?

Michelle Monaghan: I think so. I think that’s sort of the heart. I think it was my job and Vera’s job because Vera’s really conflicted. She’s morally conflicted obviously and I think really the heart of the matter is really about living your life to the fullest. I think that’s what Christine is conflicted with in her own life.

Q: Is the film saying that even if none of these changes last, it’s still worth making it better for 8 minutes?

MM: Yeah, I think. Yeah, because I think that’s life. We all do things that may not last but hopefully they inspire other people and they pay it forward. I think absolutely, I totally agree. Good will lingers.

Q: I first spoke to you for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. What has this ride been like for you?

MM: Oh my gosh, it’s so amazing. That was one of the best experience I’ve ever had. It was just a great film. I still love it to this day and I’m good friends with Shane and Robert and Val still. I just had a really good run and I’m really grateful. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of great filmmakers. I’m really proud of the films I’ve been in and I just want to continue to do films that are big and small.

Q: That’s what you’ve done.

MM: Yeah, it’s important to me. Nowadays it’s really tricky to find a good story, a story that’s compelling with really rich, colorful characters that are really reflective of true life. I find that the meat of that is in independent film. So as long as we keep getting festivals like this to appreciate and honor independent films, wow, by god, I’ll still be doing them.

Vera Farmiga is on the other side of the source code. Every time Colter returns to present day, Goodwyn (Farmiga) is debriefing him for intel. Colter’s not the most cooperative soldier either, and Goodwyn can’t really explain exactly what he’s doing going back in time for eight minute increments.

Q: What was your take on the dilemma of motivating Colter when you couldn’t explain what he was involved in?

Vera Farmiga: I think keeping in mind the urgency of the situation and urgency of the task at hand, which is life saving and preventing catastrophe. The frustration, that’s where it comes from, keeping in mind the urgency of what’s going on. It’s called parenting.

Q: Does Source Code deal with faith in a way like you dealt with in Higher Ground?

VF: Well, to me there’s a lonesomeness in this, stuck in space and time and this loneliness where that might echo Higher Ground in a way that when doubt enters the faith equation, you’re in limbo. In that respect, I feel like Colter is a man who’s lost in knowing who exactly he is. He’s in limbo. He’s lost.

Q: Do you agree with the worldview that even if these eight minutes won’t matter, we should make them the best eight minutes we can?

VF: Sure, and I think that was the note the film left me on upon the first reading really was a reminder to cherish everything that is most dear to you in your life and to acknowledge it, be present and not take it for granted and treasure those things.

Q: Who is Goodwyn when she’s off work?

VF: Yeah, we’re clued into the fact that she has a marriage that expired, that didn’t work. You have to suppose that she’s married to her job and thus is probably a very lonesome person. Honestly, I don’t necessarily think that whether you think of her as someone with children, I don’t know if any of that is imperative to the dynamic between her and Colter and the mission and what the story is. We decided that she was someone who just is consumed with work and that when career comes first, oftentimes it’s a pretty lonely existence. More often than not, if you’re career minded you’re coming home to an empty house and I think that’s why connections with her are life changing.

Source Code hits theaters Friday.

Source Code is not a time travel movie. It is a time re-assignment movie. Dr. Rutlidge (Jeffrey Wright) would want me to make that clear. It is a smart sci-fi movie and a thriller that happens to support my worldview.

Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is part of a military experiment designed by Rutlidge. They send Colter into the body of Sean on a train eight minutes before it explodes. Goodwyn (Vera Farmiga) debriefs Colter each time he returns, so they can find out who bombed the train and stop his next attack on Chicago.

Sounds like a more limited “Quantum Leap.” Sounds like a serious Groundhog Day. It’s more. There are familiar elements of time travel stories for fun. The same woman spills coffee each time. The same guy knocks a bunch of files on the floor. Colter gets better at moving through the scenario to piece together the attack.

The film doesn’t just drop red herrings. It beats up its red herrings. Colter also tries to save Sean’s girlfriend, Christina (Michelle Monaghan), which you’d surely wonder about if you watched the train explosion over and over.

What’s deeper is the science of the source code is both quantum and metaphysical. Rutlidge explains the energy field that remains after death and the memory remaining in a postmortem brain. Together, they let Colter’s unique DNA explore a version of the tragic events. Read any spiritual text for more on the metaphysical connection between all living things.

We see the train scene repeat seven times, and there are two more trips we don’t see. Each time, they think of a new way for Colter to die, triggering his return to the present, so it’s not always in the explosion. The eight minute timeframe is a tight increment of suspense. You watch the clock on both sides, Colter’s and Goodwyn’s.

Some nitpicks don’t undermine the power of the story, but the CGI explosion is really bad. There is also a train jump that looks ridiculous, but I appreciate the effort to slam Jake Gyllenhaal around. The ideas behind the effects are worth it, and some of the shots of flames within the train have an aesthetic beauty, if not realism.

The film ultimately asks a beautiful question. Even if you can’t ultimately change the past, shouldn’t you still do it just for the sake of making that temporary alternate history better? Duncan Jones was not a one hit wonder. He’s the go to guy for intelligent sci-fi with thoughtful themes.

Jake Gyllenhaal is beamed into the body of a doomed train passenger and only has eight minutes to locate a bomb before it explodes. When he fails to do so, he’s beamed back. The more he travels back. the more events shift and change. Careful playing with that kind of fire, Jake. If you mess around too much, your father may never beat up a rapist outside the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance. Then where would you be?

It isn’t yet known which characters are going to be played by which actors, with the exception of Anthony LaPaglia who’s playing the movie’s protagonist Eddie, the same character he won a Tony award for in 1998. Here’s a plot synopsis:

“[T]he 1950s Brooklyn-set story … centers on Eddie whose world is thrown into turmoil with the arrival of his wife’s cousins from Italy. He becomes obsessed and jealous when his niece Catherine falls for one of the cousins.”

Hmm, kinky. The movie is set to start production this summer in New York and Melbourne. (via The Playlist)

Especially interesting is the casting of Will Arnett, who really seems to be blowin’ up after the beloved”Arrested Development.” Perhaps his being cast in Goats means we’ll get to see him add “goat” to his dance repertoire, which currently consists of “chicken.” (IndieWire)

That might sound like a half-way descent premise, but don’t let it fool you. The subplot involves a love interest (Vera Farmiga) and a local theater troupe lead by an old-Russian guy. If I wanted to listen to some old commie spout platitudes, I’d rent a Susan Sarandon movie.

Whiny love interests have been a hallmark of Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, so it comes as no surprise that a leading lady will be needed in The Dark Knight Rises. Make that leading LADIES. Comic Book Movie is reporting that Charlize Theron, Vera Farmiga, and some other chick are up for parts in the film.

Theron is rumored to be up for the role of Detective Sarah Essen, a character who in the comics knocks boots with Commissioner Gordon. Vera Farmigia’s Batman future isn’t as certain though. It’s reported that both she and newcomer Kacie Thomas are in the running for the role of Bruce Wayne‘s love interest. Take this all as rumor at this point, but the film’s villian has not yet been announced. Perhaps we’ll see one of these actresses step in as Catwoman. If so, my vote is for Theron. She more than holds her own on-screen and she has experience with pleather.

^{Total nag-hag.}

I’ve got a bit of good news for those of you who hate your eyeballs. Soon you’ll be able to point them at a new film directed by crazy momenteer Madonna. The movie, titled W.E., will be the diva/box office poisoner’s second directorial gig and of course it’s about British people. It tells the true story of the love affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson that led to the British royal abdicating from the throne to marry his divorcee lover. Midget-prostitute-battler and Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga is said to be interested to star.

Madonna helming a lavish, period piece sounds like a recipe for disaster. Just like these mustard pancakes I just made. I didn’t add nearly enough Clamato. (Variety)

Moon director Duncan Jones will be following up his debut with another sci-fi entry. Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a soldier investigating a terrorist bombing of a train. Using an experimental technology, Gyllenhaal enters the body of at unknown commuter and must relive the bombing over and over again until he finds who is responsible for the act (Could it be him? What are the twist-ending chances??). Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan have just joined the time-travel mystery.

Farmiga will play the communications officer controlling Gyllenhaal and Monaghan will play a love interest he encounters while travelling. Time to come clean a little bit. I originally planned to group the above pictures of the actresses together in the hopes that one thing may lead to another and that they would start to kiss a little bit. Then that baby had to show up and spoil my genius plot. I’ll get you for this baby! Just as soon as I can pull my pants back up. (THR)

Vera Farmiga’s got a nice figure. You may remember ogling it in Running Scared, with Paul Walker’s hands groping it, or in The Departed, with Leo DiCaprio‘s hands groping it. Now George Clooney’s hands will get the chance in Up in the Air.

A word from Vera: “I really don’t feel a need to be famous. But I do feel a need to make a difference, to shed light on human emotion through acting.”

Not to use an outdated reference, but gag me with a spoooooooon. Cowabunga.

Feel the need to make a difference with the pics after the jump.

An extended trailer for Jason Reitman‘s Up In The Air is now online and, sadly, it has nothing to do with Kevin Bacon scouting the Masai for kick-ass basketball players. But fear not, fans of slight racism, it does include George Clooney’s tips for traveling. For instance, you should never get in a security line behind old people due to their love for hidden metals. The Asians on the other hand are your best option because of their efficient packing methods and penchant for slip-on shoes. God love them indeed.

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