Dakota Fanning Archives - Big Gay Picture Show

Effie Gray (DVD Review)

February 23, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Greg Wise, Emma Thompson, Tom Sturridge, Julie Walters
Director: Richard Laxton
Running Time: 108 mins
Certificate: 12
Release Date: February 23rd 2015

Effie Gray is a genuinely fascinating character and one day there will be a brilliant film made about her, but despite vast amounts of effort and some interesting touches, this movie isn’t it.

At 19-years-old Effie (Dakota Fanning) marries the older John Ruskin (Greg Wise), a prominent art critic who’s seen as a very good match. However soon after the wedding problems begin to appear, as while she wishes to be a proper wife, John controlling parents (Julie Walters and David Suchet) prevent her from helping her husband with his domestic affairs, and he himself refuses to consummate their marriage. [Read more…]

Ewan McGregor Will Make His Directing Debut With American Pastoral

February 18, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Ever since Philip Roth’s brilliant American Pastoral won the Pulitzer Prize, there’s been talk of making it into a movie. Everyone from Fisher Stevens to Philip Noyce have been attached to direct at one time or another, but all have dropped out before is went before the camera.

Last year Ewan McGregor, Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Connelly came onboard to star, and now it turns out Ewan won’t just be in front of the camera, he’ll be directing too. It’s certainly a brave more to make for his debut helming debut, as it’s an acclaimed and complex book he’s working from.

Ewan comments in Variety, “It’s a great privilege to be working with Lakeshore on Phillip Roth’s astounding novel American Pastoral. I’ve wanted to direct for years and wanted to wait until I found a story that I ‘had’ to tell and in this script I knew I had found that story.”

American Pastoral is about Swede Levov (McGregor), a legendary high school athlete who grows up to marry a former beauty queen and inherits his father’s business. However his seemingly perfect life is shattered when his daughter (Fanning) rebels by becoming a revolutionary and committing a savage act of political terrorism during the Vietnam War.

The movie will shoot in September in Pittsburgh

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning DIRECTORS: Ewan McGregor FILMS: American Pastoral

Effie Gray Trailer – Dakota Fanning & Emma Thompson take on a fascinating Victorian tale

September 17, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

While we’ve been waiting for Effie Gray for quite a while, the movie based on the intriguing tale of the titular character and her marriage to prominent art critic John Ruskin is now on its way and the trailer has arrived.

Written by Emma Thompson, Effie Gray (Dakota Fanning) is a young woman who as a teenager marries the far older John Ruskin (David Suchet), a man who is at the top of the art world and moved in his circles. However it’s not a happy marriage and is never consummated.

Effie ends up becoming the muse and lover of pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge), and ends up causing a sensation when she becomes one of the first women to petition for a divorce (technically an annulment due to the fact she never had sex with Ruskin).

A probably apocryphal legend says Ruskin refused to have sex with Effie due to his disgust at her pubic hair, although it’s not clear if this will be reflected in the movie.

The film is due for release in the UK on October 10th. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Emma Thompson, Dakota Fanning, Tom Sturridge, Julie Walters, David Suchet DIRECTORS: Richard Laxton FILMS: Effie

Dakota Fanning & Charlize Theron Team For Brain on Fire

May 2, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Charlize Theron and Dakota Fanning are teaming up for an adaption of the non-fiction novel, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, by Susannah Cahalan, according to Deadline.

The 2012 book chronicles the ‘a young woman’s terrifying descent into madness’. Fanning will play a 24-year-old reporter for the New York Post who suddenly became psychotic and violent. This led her to being hospitalised, although doctors couldn’t work out exactly what was going on and were ready to commit her to a psychiatric clinic.

Then Dr. Souhel Najjar came in to look at her. After he asked her to draw a simple sketch, it helped him diagnose her with a new auto-immune disease which had caused her body to attack her brain. Many believe this illness may have been the cause of many cases of supposed demonic possessions throughout history.

Theron has optioned the book herself via her Denver & Delilah production company. No studio is currently attached. Indeed it’s very early days as there’s no writer or director involved at this time either.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Charlize Theron, Dakota Fanning

Night Moves Trailer – Jesse Eisenberg, Peter Sarsgaard & Dakota Fanning turn eco-terrorist

March 22, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Night Moves got some good review at the Toronto and Venice film festivals last year, even if some weren’t sure about the ending. Now it’s moving towards release and a trailer has shown up online, even if it’s one with French subtitles.

The story centres on three extreme environmentalist who plan on blowing up a dam. Jesse Eisenberg is the leader of the trio, with Dakota Fanning as a rich young woman who finances the operation. Peter Sarsgaard is the bomb maker.

A May 30th US releases is set, while those in the UK aren’t likely to see it until the end of August. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard FILMS: Night Moves

Now Is Good (DVD)

January 21, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine, Paddy Considine, Olivia Williams, Kaya Scodelario
Director: Ol Parker
Running Time: 103 mins
Certificate: 12
Release Date: January 21st 2013

Making a movie about someone who’s dying is a tricky business. On one level it’s a subject that involves inherent drama, but equally you don’t want to make something that sounds like such a downer no one will want to watch it. Likewise, you want people to get emotionally involved, but you don’t want it to be so emotionally manipulative and sentimental that people are nauseated rather than moved.

It’s a balance Now Is Good is constantly trying to work out, succeeding better at some times than others. [Read more…]

Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning Join Night Moves

August 13, 2012 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning are getting their eco-terrorist on, as Variety reports that they have joined the cast of Night Moves for Film Science and writer-director Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff).

The story centres on three eco-terrorists who plan on blowing up a dam. Jesse Eisenberg will play the leader of the trio, and Dakota Fanning is up to be a rich young woman who finances the operation. Peter Sarsgaard, who joined the project last October, plays the bomb maker. Paul Dano was originally attached for Jesse Eisenberg’s role, although he is no longer involved in the project.

Kelly Reichardt will direct from her own screenplay. Production is scheduled to begin this October in Portland, Oregon.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard DIRECTORS: Kelly Reichardt FILMS: Night Moves

Now Is Good Trailer

March 6, 2012 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Films about people with terminal illnesses never sound like they’re going to be much fun, but they can be very rewarding. The latest movie bidding to move us is Now Is Good, which stars Dakota Fanning alongside a strong British cast, including Jeremy Irvine, Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams. Here’s the synopsis: ‘Tessa is seventeen and passionate about life. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, she determines to use every moment, compiling a catalogue of what a normal teenager would experience, including losing her virginity and taking drugs. With the help of her friend Zoey, she sets the list in motion. While her family deals with fear and grief, each in their own way, Tessa explores a whole new world. Falling in love with Adam, her new neighbour, wasn’t on the list, but it proves to be the most exhilarating experience of them all. Now Is Good will hit cinemas on May 25th.’ Take a look at the trailer, while the poster is below (and I have to say, look at that, I’ve never wanted to be Dakota Fanning as much in my life).

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Dakota Fanning, Paddy Considine, Jeremy Irvine DIRECTORS: Ol Parker FILMS: Now Is Good

Anton Yelchin Joins The Very Good Girls

January 23, 2012 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Way back in the dim and distant past of May 2011, Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen signed on to star in the drama Very Good Girls, from first time director Naomi Foner. The indie project now continues to slowly move forward, with Deadline reporting that Anton Yelchin has signed to co-star.

The screenplay, which was also written by Foner, is an updated version of the 1980 teen cult drama Little Darlings, and follows lifelong best friends who decide to spend their first summer out of high school trying to lose their virginity. They both end up falling for the same boy, who’ll be played by Anton Yelchin, which causes unforeseen problems in their own relationship.

Foner says, “The film deals with female sexuality and friendship in a way we haven’t seen before. These girls will be stunning young women in a couple of years, but they’ve struggled through high school with only each other. Most of us have been there. This is the summer where they finally get to touch real life.”

Very Good Girls will shoot this June in and around New York City, meaning Yelchin will have plenty of time to finish his role as Chekov in Star Trek 2 before then.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Elizabeth Olsen, Dakota Fanning, Anton Yelchin DIRECTORS: Naomi Foner FILMS: Very Good Girls