The Deauville Film Festival begins on September 5th and among the films having their premieres, Alex of Venice has landed among the list. That said, a new still has been released via the official festival page. Head to the gallery to check out the full-sized photo.
Also, the Film List has published a new review regarding Faults which you can read here.
Flicks and Bits posted new Kill the Messenger stills and one of them features Mary. You can view the still with Mary in the gallery. The film stars Jeremy Renner and hit theaters this October.
First up, Mary spoke with the Belfast Telegraph where she says she was cautious about approaching a singing career. She explains she’d been approached about singing before, but nothing ever “struck me as a good idea, because it was just uninteresting pop that tried to cash in on whatever name value I might have as an actor. That’s not something I ever wanted to do,” she said.
Mary added: “Once I hooked up with Dan, I didn’t have any fears.
“I admired him so much musically, that working with him was great. And it was such a good opportunity for me personally, just as a fan of his, that I would never worry about what anyone else would think. You get people who are actors slash models slash singers slash whatever, just because it gets their name out there some more,” Winstead mused. “I’m not interested in that at all.”
Next, Way Too Indie gave Faults a 9/10 score:
Its premiere at SXSW earlier in the year started off the buzz (with our very own Dustin loving it to bits,) but Faults massively blinked on my radar when it was announced for Montreal’s genre festival Fantasia simply because I’ve become a bona fide Winstead fan, after her stunning performance in 2012’s Smashed. The streak continues here; she peels off Claire’s layers with agility and complete composure to reveal a fascinating and devilishly twisted character.
Complex meanwhile also loved the film:
Faults has the feel of a cinematic stage play, one in which Orser and Winstead get it on in an unpredictable battle of wits. First-time writer-director Riley Stearns tightly volleys around from laughs to creepiness, with a constant sense of mystery and subtle dread giving way to a well-earned surprise ending.
Be sure to click on any of the above links to read the reviews in full!
Pret-A-Porter caught up with Mary Elizabeth Winstead to talk about her new album, fashion and style. Check out some of the highlights below and then head to the gallery to check out the great, new pics!
We also see that you’ll be starring in the film Faults. How was working on that?
My husband (director Riley Stearns) and I worked on that film together. I’m so proud of it. He wrote and directed it. I’m in it and produced it as well. It was such a blast to make. We just know each other so well that it was so easy. He’s very, very specific in what he wants, which can be frustrating, sometimes, with directors who are specific and if you don’t understand their vision, that can be hard to get there, but because I know him so well, it was so exciting to know exactly what he had in his head and to execute that. It was really fun to go through that process together.
Sounds like you’re very much into vintage. How would you describe your personal style?
I’ve always been pretty feminine and retro. As I’m getting older, I’m starting to add a lot more elements of menswear and comfort, which maybe just a part of getting older. (Laughs.) I think on one hand, I’m starting to like to look a little more powerful so I like a lot of blazers and boots — things that I didn’t used to wear that I’m starting to venture toward like high-waist pants and suits. For a while there, I had nothing but dresses. I didn’t have any shirts or pants. It was just a closet full of ’50s to ’60s silhouette dresses. I’ve always been a dress girl, and I think part of it has a lot to do with my body shape, which is suited for dresses that are fitted on the waist and then A-lined out so I’ve always been drawn to that because it’s flattering and I’ve always been more drawn to vintage styles. I’m beginning to own my figure more and I don’t mind myself in pants. I used to be like, ‘I don’t want to show my hips and butt.’ I was so self-conscious, but now I’m like whatever. I’ll even do pajama pants sometimes because you know, they’re not always so flattering, but it’s comfortable and cool.
What’s been your biggest summer splurge lately?
I am working in Vancouver right now and there’s a store called Gravity Pope. I’m working there for four months and I’m planning on going there once a month to splurge on something because it’s this amazing store that has all the best stuff. I got these great Rag & Bone boots there. I’ve been wanting them for a long time, so I was just, like, ‘I’m going to do it.’
How long will you be in Vancouver for and what’s the project you’re working on?
I’ll be shooting there until the beginning of October. It’s called The Return. It’s a 10-episode series from A&E that’s based on a French show. It’s kind of dark, moody and mysterious. It’s about a small town where all these people who have died there start coming back for no reason. They’re not ghosts, zombies or anything. They’re just there and nobody knows why. It’s about their relationships and the consequences of them coming back where they’re not supposed to come back. It’s a lot of good drama.
As the title reads, new reviews for Mary’s debut album as well as her latest film Faults have come online. Click on each link to read the reviews in full.
Faults Review:
Got A Girl are actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead and producer/Deltron 3030 member Dan ‘The Automator’ Nakamura. They met while making Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (she played Ramona Flowers, he wrote the score), and bonded over their shared love of French yé-yé singers such as Serge Gainsbourg and Françoise Hardy. The result is not unlike Lana Del Rey, but with fun instead of fatalistic gloom. Nakamura’s lush arrangements are bolstered by gentle hip-hop beats and Winstead’s seductive voice is given grit by playfully sinister lyrics: “Maybe soon you’ll see the real me”, she sings on ‘Things Will Never Be The Same’. It sounds more like a threat than a promise.
Thanks to Paige, I’ve added new photo portraits of Mary when she was promoting Alex of Venice at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Head to the gallery to check them out!
The third pic is my favorite of the bunch. 🙂
Mary sure is keeping busy! Aside from her debut album shortly being released on July 22 and currently filming the A&E televison series The Returned, she’s now been cast in John Krasinski’s The Hollars opposite Krasinski (who is directing and starring in), Anna Kendrick, Richard Jenkins and Charlie Day.
The film is about John Hollar (Krasinski), an aspiring NYC artist who takes his girlfriend (Kendrick) back to his Middle America hometown on the eve of his mother’s (Margo Martindale) brain surgery. There he’s forced to navigate the crazy life he left behind as his dysfunctional family, high school pals, his father (Jenkins), and his over-eager ex flood back into his life ahead of the operation.
While it hasn’t been officially announced, Krasinski broke the news Mary was in the film via his Twitter.
Once you have a script… you need a cast. Aaaaand the fact I have these folks is surreal!
#TheHollars
He continued by tweeting… New additions: Charlie day, Sharlto Copley, @M_E_Winstead , @joshgroban , @parkrandall , Ashley dyke and Mary Kay Place!!! #TheHollars
So far all we know is that Mary’s character is named Gwen. Hopefully we’ll know more as filming is set to begin next week in Mississippi!
Aside from premiering at the FrightFest this August, FAULTS will also be premiering at Possible Worlds Australia’s Festival of American and Canadian Cinema on August 16th. It will take place at 6:30 PM at the Event Cinemas George St. You can buy tickets for the screening here.
If you can’t remember, here’s the plot for FAULTS:
Claire (Winstead) is under the grip of a mysterious cult known as Faults. Claire’s desperate parents set out to recruit mind control expert Ansel Roth (Leland Orser) to abduct and deprogram her. Washed out, in debt and in trouble, Ansel agrees. But Claire reveals herself to be a formidable challenge. As it cunningly evolves from black comedy to psychological thriller, Faults remains utterly compelling thanks to a clever script (on the 2013 Black List of unproduced screenplays) and brilliant chemistry between rising star Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World) and character actor Leland Orser (Se7en, Taken).
The line-up for Film4 FrightFest 2014 has been announced. There’s the latest from some of the genre’s biggest names: Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno, Adam Wingard’s The Guest, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s Among The Living, John McNaughton’s The Harvest (starring Samantha Morton and Michael Shannon), Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson’s SciFiNow favourite All Cheerleaders Die and Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek 2.
There’s festival sensations too. Mark Duplass’ microbudget Creep, Australian shocker The Babadook, Riley Stearns’ cult horror Faults (starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Shockwave Darkside 3D.
For full program details visit www.frightfest.co.uk (opens in a new window).FAULTS will show on August 24 with screenings at 11am, 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm. You can get more booking and info here.
FrigtFest 2014 runs from Thurs 21 August to Monday 25 August at the UK’s Vue West End, Leicester Square. Festival & day passes go on sale from 28 June.
Actor Chris Messina, who also directed (and starred) in Alex of Venice was recently interviewed by The Sun Break and had nothing but incredible things to say about Mary’s performance in the film.
Now that you mention Mary Elizabeth, I thought she was phenomenal in the role of Alex. Can you talk about how she became involved with the film?
The script got to the part where a lot of actresses wanted to play the role. I got to read and meet a bunch of terrific people. I had been a fan of Mary’s since “Smashed.” I saw her in that and thought she was amazing. She came in and read and she was fantastic. It was clear right away that she was Alex for me. Not only is she so good, but she has a very easy quality that I think any director would love to work with. She’s a team player who brings all of it everyday. We didn’t have trailers. We would say, “The sun looks good over there, let’s jump in the car.” I needed an Alex who was going to be a leader and show by example: this is the kind of film we’re making and I’m up for some running and gunning. Mary was amazing. The trick with Mary was staying out of her way and not saying too much. She did that performance on her own. I was able to capture.
I enjoyed that performance because there were so many choices she could have made in that character, but she played such a subtly great performance.
She’s like Michael Jordan. The producers and I said that we could move on after a take, but it’s so much fun to watch that we would want to watch her over and over again. She was spectacular. I would work with her again in a second.
Her performance has gotten a lot of nice reviews and I’m happy about that because she’s such a nice person and she’s so good in the movie. There are a lot of performances like this that are very subtle and not a lot of huge fireworks that go off. I was hoping that writers and critics would recognize her for her subtlety. And they are and that’s very, very nice.
You can read the full interview by clicking on the link above, with Messina even saying that they hope to take the film to Europe for another festival!