I decided to make a thread about this guy after having watched "In the Company of Men" for the second time. This is truly a bold and smart director. As Ebert said, he's a director with a distinctive voice. I like him best for the movies where he challenges and flusters the audience, such as with "In the Company of Men" and "The Shape of Things". While he's done radically different movies other than those, such as "Nurse Betty" and "Possession", he's probably one of our most intellegent writer/directors out there. Some find his outlook on relationships and human nature cruel and relentless. While he may have that vision, I heard from somewhere that he actually has a wife and children. But no matter what movie he's doing, he always seems to be controversial.
well....i thought In the company of men was "mesmerizing"...and the writting by Mr.Labute was "top-notch", and "witty", and "audascious" ...he really has a skilled hand. ....the film had me "glued" even though it was pure "dailogue-heavy"...it was such a "great story"....ekhart's chracter was a "sick & twisted phuck"....the puke sequence was "crazy" and "surprising"....the end was "awesome".....i really felt like i was on an "emotional rollercoaster".....i "liked" this film more thsan nnurse betty....was ITCOM his "first" film.....????????????????????????????????????????????
lebute is so hit and miss, i love "in the company"; "your friends and neighbors"; and "the shape of things" but "possession" was a bag of smashed assholes and "Nurse Betty" was flawed at times. I'm worried he can only make one type of film. i'd love to see him branch out but whenever that happens, it seems to flop.
-sl-
Loved the first two- particularly Your Friends and Neighbors, which I thought was rather brilliant. Lukewarm on Nurse Betty. Hated Possession. Wanted to like Shape of Things more than I did.
LaBute was apparently interested in the job Mike Nichols eventually got directing the film of Angels in America. I remember LaBute giving a little blurb in Rolling Stone years ago where he said he felt that Woody Allen's Manhattan and Tony Kushner's Angels in America were the cultural events of his lifetime.
I think the thing about his films is that, unlike those from other writer-directors of the indie '90s, they're squarely adult. PT or Wes Anderson have yet to make entirely mature films. What makes him difficult is his lack of sympathy. He's not trying to make you like anybody. It comes off as abrasive. But I think that's also where the humor comes from a lot of the time.
I have yet to see The Shape of Things, but I'm still at a disbelief that the man who directed and wrote In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors also made Nurse Betty and Possession. The only accomplishment in the last two is that one of them made Renee Zelwegger bearable (actually, quite the achievement). The first two are great films in every sense of the word.
Quote from: mutinycoI think the thing about his films is that, unlike those from other writer-directors of the indie '90s, they're squarely adult. PT or Wes Anderson have yet to make entirely mature films. What makes him difficult is his lack of sympathy. He's not trying to make you like anybody. It comes off as abrasive. But I think that's also where the humor comes from a lot of the time.
i find this statement rather unfair. i don't see how a lack of sympathy necessarily indicates being "adult" if you are using "adult" to mean advanced, evolved, and better artistically. please explain that comment.
I don't think his lack of sympathy makes his films more adult. I find his writing and general POV more lived in, less flashy -- more mature in general. He never came off as a young film brat with grandiose egotistical intentions.
i don't think that's fair- as it undermines pt's remarkable adeptness for
the intricacies of relationships and character- by focusing solely on his bravura techniques. it wasn't the frogs that made me watch magnolia over and over. it was the characters and how pta examined their conditions that did. the frogs and other aspects of his filmmaking are ambitious touches that accentuate already powerful filmmaking.
...pta shows an emotional intimacy and acuteness with his characters and their sad complicated emotions that i find absent in labute's work. i think it's very easy to be "biting" in this ironic day in age.it takes much more courage and maturity to face people head on rather than making them pathetic or evil or using them to service a mean joke, which i feel labute did- at least in- in the company of men.
Just saw In The Company. Great, great film. Can't wait to check out his other work.
Quote from: SoNowThenJust saw In The Company. Great, great film. Can't wait to check out his other work.
Your Friends and Neighbors- follow-up to
In the Company of Men- is his pinnacle. They make a good pair. The rest is iffy, though he's shown signs of recovery with
The Shape of Things.
Possession is terrible.
There was a point in 1998, when
Friends and Neighbors came out, that I felt Labute and Todd Haynes were the only directors working with a goal of challenging conventional notions of audience identification- confronting us, challenging us, rather than coddling us, using our tendency to see ourselves in characters to work directly against the grain to a truly devastating end- each in their own way. Yes, LaBute occupied that rarified sphere for a brief moment...
I wish he'd make a film of
Bash: Latterday Plays (that title is probably the
least of his problems with the Mormon church, of which he is a member, albeit part of the tiny-minority-opposition and viewed as a kind of heretic by some church leaders). They shot the stage version and showed it on Showtime (I'd love to see that, as well), but it's that kind of sharp, pitch-black, kick-in-the-gut satire that he's really good at.
I interviewed him once- a really, really nice, even sweet guy. He thinks people can be decent and kind, but he feels he's done a necessary job of showing us some excruciating yet plausible examples of how very, very short we fall of those seemingly simple and common-sense aspirations.
That's cool that you met him.
Yeah, usually this kind of presentation bores or at least underwhelms me, but his mise en scene worked perfectly. Even though the camerawork was sparse, he didn't just resort to shot-counter-shot to throw a scene together. I felt there was still a very fine construction and control and purpose, no matter how flat it seemed on the surface. And the last scene just rocked!
Quote from: SoNowThenThat's cool that you met him.
Yeah, usually this kind of presentation bores or at least underwhelms me, but his mise en scene worked perfectly. Even though the camerawork was sparse, he didn't just resort to shot-counter-shot to throw a scene together. I felt there was still a very fine construction and control and purpose, no matter how flat it seemed on the surface. And the last scene just rocked!
Ah, yes... the cutoff of sound as total damnation. A very godardian move. LaBute is a big Godard fan- there's a giant poster for
Contempt on the wall in
Your Friends and Neighbors.
I saw Bash on showtime, and it's excellent. I really wish they would put it out on dvd. I don't think it would make a good feature film since the stories are so disconnected (one of them covers a span of 10 or so years?) and broad, but if anyone could do it, LaBute could I guess. My favorite part is Ron Eldard's... his story just left my jaw hanging open.
He did a recreation of Marylin's pose for the Playboy 50th issue. I mean, he took the picture not posed in it.
Just saw Your Friends and Neighbors. What can I say? LaBute studied as a playwright and it showed. Not that it's a bad thing, but it makes for a really talky film. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing either. I generally like adult, slow-paced, play-esque dramas. This one was no exception. Didn't blow me out of the water or anything, but I appreciated it. I thought the scenes in the art gallery were cute if rather obvious, and the intersections in relationships apt if contrived.
The Timmy story was probably the highlight of the film. Shocker, and it seemed to be one of these transcendent moments. Reminded me of two films, oddly enough: 1) Poison, the inmates spitting on one of their own, just 'cause I had watched it not too long ago, and 2) The Breakfast Club with Emilio Estevez's confession about duct taping some kid's ass cheeks together. Imagine these two together, and you get the essence of the confession. Overall, a very subtle, very admirable film, but nothing mind-blowing.
Your Friends and Neighbors is the best film of its kind since Carnal Knowledge. Both films offer withering views of the game of love.
A friend of mine once remarked, "there are nothing but assholes in Neil LaBute's films." Wrong -- there are nothing but assholes and foolish victims.
LaBute is that rarest of things in contemporary society -- a moralist. He enjoys showing the dark side of human nature, but there's nothing wrong with that, since it exists, why not chronicle it?
LaBute is supposedly doing a movie with Sandra Bullock -- that should be interesting.
okay, i just saw In The Company of Men even though i really dont care for LaBute (as i said in the Shape of Things thread), but was curious enough to check it out. it was truly an independant film and extremely low budget. ( i dont think the camera moved once in the entire film), which put the entire emphasis on the script/dialogue and on aaron eckharts starmaking performance. it was just cruel, and true to life, and yet why the hell am i watching this? his camera placement was occasionally extremely obnoxious. i really just dont care for the guy, but damn if he doesnt get to me. somehow, i've seen all his movies except Possession.
Quote from: themodernage02somehow, i've seen all his movies except Possession.
It's by far his worst. What'd you think of "Nurse Betty"?
I don't know what he thought of it, but me, I really liked Nurse Betty.
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Anyone read this yet? I saw it in Borders tonight but didn't buy it mainly because I have 2,000,000 other books I want to read.
I just saw In the Company of Men (finally -- had it for a few months before actually popping it in). It wasn't really worth the wait. You can see that LaBute has gotten better, though, with Your Friends and Neighbors, but not by much. The film was weak and pretty much pointless. It's not a movie one can really like (unless they're just a total asshole), but it is possible to appreciate it. It wasn't even well-made, so it doesn't have that going for it. I was bored half the time, though there were a few decent moments. It seems to me as if LaBute has just been screwed over one too many times by the ladies. If you're up for feeling down, check it out. But you'll probably want to watch something pleasant very soon after. It's not really a bad movie, though, but not really a good one to watch either. I would say I could make a better film in this vein ('cause that's what wannabe-filmmakers tend to say when they see a sub-par film). But I haven't, so I won't say it. Yet.
It looks like Vapor has fallen through. LaBute is working on two plays, though - "Fat Pig" which has Kerri Russell, and "This Is How It Goes."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367198/board/nest/12735891
The link in that thread saying so is dead, though. Can't find anything else on it.
Another: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367198/board/nest/11196434
And an interview with Aaron Eckhart the above post refers to: http://www.latinoreview.com/films_2004/paramount/suspectzero/aaron-interview.html
Quote from: ono mo cuishleI just saw In the Company of Men (finally -- had it for a few months before actually popping it in). It wasn't really worth the wait. You can see that LaBute has gotten better, though, with Your Friends and Neighbors, but not by much. The film was weak and pretty much pointless. It's not a movie one can really like (unless they're just a total asshole), but it is possible to appreciate it. It wasn't even well-made, so it doesn't have that going for it. I was bored half the time, though there were a few decent moments. It seems to me as if LaBute has just been screwed over one too many times by the ladies. If you're up for feeling down, check it out. But you'll probably want to watch something pleasant very soon after. It's not really a bad movie, though, but not really a good one to watch either. I would say I could make a better film in this vein ('cause that's what wannabe-filmmakers tend to say when they see a sub-par film). But I haven't, so I won't say it. Yet.
Taking my cue from another thread, I see a very definite point in the film. Its not a film to belittle women or speak for the struggle men have against them, but to capsize the power struggle that happens in corporations. Eckhart strings along the other man into his ploy to seize power over him, to belittle him and move up. The film never makes that point til the end so it allows us to really view the environment in which it happens so we understand how the process works and how motives go under the surface. The filmmaking is perfect. Its claustophobic with the environment to show their jobs really become their world. No set up shots for new scenes, just a distance of the camera to really let the characters be the characters. And I only remember two shots in the film that are exterior shots. There's also no background music. Through out the movie, the environment really bleeds through the screen. Also what is appropiate is that cruelness isn't hindered. Eckhart's character is followed through to the very end to maximize the effectiveness of the theme.
Its obvious this isn't the most enjoyable film to watch. It's not trying to be, but for me it is watchable.
Quote from: The Gold TrumpetIts obvious this isn't the most enjoyable film to watch. It's not trying to be, but for me it is watchable.
u like to be spanked don't u
Kutcher and LaBute eyes on 'Lakeview'
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Neil LaBute is in negotiations to direct and Ashton Kutcher is in talks to co-star in Screen Gems' thriller "Lakeview Terrace."
Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington already have boarded the project, which centers on an LAPD officer (Jackson) who will stop at nothing to force out the interracial couple that recently moved in next door. Kutcher would play Washington's spouse. David Loughery wrote the screenplay, and Howard Korder has been tapped to pen a rewrite.
Shooting will begin in June in Los Angeles.
Will Smith and James Lassiter are producing through their Sony-based Overbrook Entertainment shingle. Loughery and Jeff Graup are executive producing.
Scott Strauss is shepherding the project for Screen Gems.
It couldn't be worse than Wicker Man, but fuck, I'm still dissapointed. Nothing about this looks promising.
THE CAST SYSTEM
When great actors are denied great roles on the stage because of their skin color, there's a problem. Even if they are white.
By Neil LaBute, Special to The Times
THERE'S a wonderful old theater story about Laurence Olivier in the 1960s — he was playing in "Othello" and receiving generally glowing notices opposite Frank Findlay and a young actress by the name of Maggie Smith. One night, however, as he stormed through the jealous general's odyssey, Olivier seemed to be on fire (not literally, of course, because that would be painful, and, while certainly an interesting if too literal take on the Moor's passionate histrionics, pretty "out there" as an interpretation of Shakespeare, even for the '60s).
Backstage he was approached by his colleagues, who found him, rather than overjoyed by his brilliant portrayal, staring mournfully (as only Olivier could supposedly do) into his dressing room mirror. One meekly said to him, "You were magnificent tonight, Larry," to which he moodily answered, "I know." Another of his costars continued on, brave enough to ask, "Then what's the matter?" Olivier turned to them and wearily said, "I don't know how I did it."
Even if that story isn't true, I want it to be because it's not just a terrific tale about one of the great stage actors of the 20th century, but also a perfect example of the actor's alchemy in general. How do they do it? I don't know exactly — and I'm around them all the time.
The focus of my thoughts here, however, is not about the way in which actors go about crafting their work but about the opportunities they have to do that work. If Olivier was alive today, young and vibrant and working in the theater, we might never have that story to tell for one simple reason: In these troubled times, the man would never be allowed to put on blackface and play that role. Hell, he wouldn't be allowed to perform it if he went out in a strawberry-blond wig and clown makeup.
Now this probably won't stop somebody from having the bright idea of casting Beyoncé in the role, but Liev Schreiber — as fine a Shakespearean actor as this country has at the moment — will never have a shot at the part. For most white actors today, roles of color — from the classics to some of the sensational writing that is currently being done for the theater — are not even an option for them, and I'm not sure why.
For a time this idea was given the name "color-blind" casting, but the only thing it seemed to be blind to was the fact that it wasn't a two-way street; it was obviously designed to provide opportunity for minorities rather than put the best person in a role, regardless of color.
I suppose this is the notion of equal opportunity rearing its fearsome head again — and if it is, can we stop using the word "equal" in that phrase?
Or is it something far deeper and much simpler: What are people going to think of us for even suggesting such a thing?
Maybe.
I understand about slavery and all that, but that was a generally unpleasant time in our national history and it's firmly in the past. No one but a few folks who own "The Dukes of Hazzard: The Complete First Season" continue to think that slavery brought this country anything but shame and heartache. So we should all get over it, say we're sorry — I'm happy to do that to anybody who stops me at the Grove — and move on. Anyone whose ancestors were slaughtered by the U.S. Cavalry or spent time in a wartime internment camp may line up directly behind.
This is a nation of great promise and stunning achievement, yet our road to freedom is paved with blood and ambition; but, hey, enough about Hollywood. Today we should embrace the idea of a collective history and speed off into the future holding hands, enjoying and understanding the wonderful variety of our various cultures and head toward the glowing sun of a better tomorrow. And while we're doing this, why not acknowledge the achievements of several of our greatest playwrights — people like Lorraine Hansberry, David Henry Hwang, José Rivera, August Wilson, etc. — by allowing anybody who wants to play the parts they've written the opportunity to do so?
Don't forget, these actors still have to find a theater company brave (or crazy) enough to cast them. But if that happens — if someone does allow me to mount my all-white version of "A Raisin in the Sun" — then please let us proceed. I promise you, we'll be doing it not to be provocative but because it's a terrific American play. Don't picket outside the theater or send letters to the editor — if you have to, though, do that first rather than start up another annoying blog — or ask CBS to take away my radio show. (I actually don't have one, so relax, you can continue sleeping in in the mornings.)
Just think about it for a moment, though: Why do we barely bat an eye at an all-black version of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" or when Denzel Washington wants to play the title role in "Richard III" (did they really think this is what was meant by the "black prince"?) or Brutus in "Julius Caesar"? Mind you, I'm not complaining — great work has come from these brave and adventurous ideas — but why shouldn't it cut both ways? Isn't it simple prejudice to suggest that we should think otherwise?
Color is going to remain the great dividing line as long as we allow it to be. That's a simple fact. Religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality — all have fallen under the heavy wheel of progress, and thank heavens for that (although I'd rather not get into the "God" issue right now), but race remains the most feared stumbling block in the theater (and in society at large). That, and: Will this play sell tickets?
Now, I suppose if Brad Pitt (a big star and a hugely underrated actor) suggested that he was interested in the role of Walter in "A Raisin in the Sun" — I'm coming to you first, Brad, when I raise the money — then I can believe wily producers would begin hustling the idea quickly around the Great White Way (which is not a racial thing but fits very nicely into my theme).
Surprisingly, it's easy to forget that so much in the arts today is driven by pure, unadulterated economics — so much so that even a radical idea like this, one that would normally make Al Sharpton quiver with indignant rage, might seem palatable to him if he could raise enough money to get in on the ground floor of a Pitt performance on Broadway.
'Call me crazy'
MAYBE this is a just silly idea — maybe "West Side Story" was a fluke and people really should play only characters that fit their looks and color and where they were born. I'm sure when the musical gets a decent revival in New York or London — and this needs to happen, people, it's the one musical score of genius this country has produced — then there will be a major uproar if anyone other than a Latina actress is cast as Maria.
Fair enough. Or is it? Shouldn't the best person for the part be considered, no matter what amount of makeup they have to wear or accent they need to conquer? If a major talent like, say, Kevin Spacey (who has continued to return to the stage throughout his career) decides he'd like to take a shot at playing Othello rather than Iago — but let's be serious for a moment, can you imagine how good that guy would be as Iago? — then let's let him do it. He's running the Old Vic, after all, taking on the headache of steering a major arts institution in London during the prime of his career. So if he has a hankering to wear coal dust smeared on his face every night in search of a greater truth, who are we to tell him no?
Even if you argue the point about the dust — I mean, we don't want to offend anybody who ever had a family member who spent his life working in a coal mine — why shouldn't Mr. Spacey march out on stage each night and put his arrogant trust (Othello's, not Spacey's) in Iago, begin to suspect his wife of an affair and finally kill Desdemona and himself in a fit of rage. And as far as I'm concerned, Desdemona can be any color she pleases.
Call me crazy or mad or just plain racist (I've already been called everything else). You can even call me "nappy-headed" if you'd like — just take a look at my picture sometime. It's true. But honestly, let's not waste any more valuable time in our lives fussing about something that doesn't really matter. If an Englishman puts on an Irish accent and can fool us successfully, then let him do it without our worrying about Cromwell and Belfast and the entire history of Ireland. If some white actress out there has her heart set on playing Madame Butterfly and she's got the vocal chops (I'm already sorry I used the word "chops"), then shut up and let the girl sing.
This is not an argument about opportunity or imbalance; all I'm asking is that you let the theater, that last bastion of illusion — a place of magic and hope and imagination — remain exactly that. The stuff that dreams are made of.
Quote from: Neil LaBute
Liev Schreiber — as fine a Shakespearean actor as this country has at the moment
Quote from: Neil LaBute
these troubled times
LaBute, Hackford open 'Door'
Duo set for New Line remake
Source: Variety
New Line has tapped Neil LaBute to write and Taylor Hackford to direct "The Woman Next Door," a remake of the 1981 Francois Truffaut film "La Femme d'a cote."
Studio is tying down rights from the late director's estate. Radar topper Ted Fields will produce with Frederic Golchan and Hackford.
Pic marks the first writing assignment LaBute has taken on for another director. LaBute won't begin writing until the WGA strike is resolved, but he couldn't resist Hackford's offer, which was made after the helmer and wife Helen Mirren saw LaBute's play "Wrecks."
"This is a lesser-known Truffaut film about ex-lovers, long separated, who suddenly find themselves living next door to each other," LaBute said. "Each is married. Neither tells their spouse they know each other, and it's a collision course into disaster as they rekindle a volatile relationship, with great passion and suspense. ... Taylor said if he was ever going to remake a movie, this was the one he could do something with."
LaBute is in post-production on "Lakeview Terrace," a Screen Gems thriller he directed.
Hackford is preparing to direct Mirren and Joe Pesci in "Love Ranch," a Capitol Films-financed drama.
Screen Gems signs LaBute
Director inks two-picture deal with studio
Source: Variety
Neil LaBute has inked a two-picture deal with Screen Gems. The first project will reteam the director with his "Nurse Betty" star Chris Rock for a remake of 2007 British comedy "Death at a Funeral."
LaBute, who most recently directed the Samuel L. Jackson starrer "Lakeview Terrace" for the genre label, has also signed on to helm the romantic comedy "Here Comes the Sun" for Screen Gems.
The American-set "Death at a Funeral," which was penned by Rock and Aeysha Carr, revolves around a dysfunctional family that gathers for the patriarch's funeral. Tensions rise and old conflicts are uncovered.
Sidney Kimmel is producing the film alongside former Sidney Kimmel Entertainment production topper William Horberg. Rock, Share Stallings and Laurence Malkin will also serve as producers. Jim Tauber is exec producing.
Nina Coleman wrote "Here Comes the Sun," whose plot details are being kept under wraps. Brad Epstein ("Dan in Real Life") is producing via his Panther Films shingle.
LaBute's film directing credits include "In the Company of Men." He also is an accomplished playwright, and his "Reasons to Be Pretty" will premiere on Broadway in March, marking the first Broadway debut of a LaBute play.
remakeremakeremakeremake
LaBute to adapt 'Burnt Orange Heresy'
Filmmaker re-teaming with Horberg on project
Source: Variety
Neil LaBute will write and direct an adaptation of "The Burnt Orange Heresy," Charles Willeford's crime novel set in the world of modern art, with William Horberg ("The Kite Runner") producing.
Project re-teams LaBute with Horberg after the duo worked on the remake of "Death at a Funeral."
"We had a great experience making 'Death at a Funeral' together for Screen Gems and were looking for something else to do together," Horberg told Daily Variety. "We discovered that we were both big Willeford fans."
Willeford's novel, set in Palm Beach, centers on a corrupt art critic's attempts to finagle an interview with a legendary but reclusive French painter.
Horberg noted that he was an associate producer on "Miami Blues," another Willeford adaptation, bringing the project to Jonathon Demme and George Armitage at the start of his career. He was an exec producer on "Milk" and is currently exec producing "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" for Miramax.
LaBute's directing credits include "In the Company of Men," "Nurse Betty" and "Lakeview Terrace."
Jackson, LaBute team up for Showtime
Actor renews deal with CBS Paramount
Source: Variety
Samuel L. Jackson and Neil LaBute are shepherding a drama project for Showtime about a white supremacist family in the Pacific Northwest.
Jackson's Uppi TV production banner has also reupped a two-year production deal with CBS Television Studios.
Jackson will exec produce the Showtime project, which stems from his idea and will be written by LaBute ("The Wicker Man"). Jackson isn't planning on starring in the show, but he's not ruling it out, either.
"Sam has been very involved from outset on this creatively, with plenty of brainstorming," said Amanda Tracey, head of development at Uppi. "He's not just putting his name on this. He's been a huge part of it."
LaBute and Jackson tackled racism before in 2008's "Lakeview Terrace," in which LaBute helmed. Jackson played a cop who harasses his next-door neighbor.
In its previous two-year deal at CBS, Uppi saw medical drama "Hopkins Bridge" make it to the pilot stage at CBS, but never it reached the air; the same was true for a multicam comedy from producer Bob Kushell. On Spike, Uppi TV's animated skein "Afro-Samurai" ran one season, in 2007.
This promises to be a big week for Jackson. He co-stars as Nick Fury in Marvel-Paramount release "Iron Man 2," which opens Friday. He'll get plenty of mileage out of the comicbook character, playing him in other upcoming pics including "Captain America" and "The Avengers."
Nothing makes me happier than the annoucement of a Neil LaBute project with hopefully the ambition and mentality of his great 90s movies. This project sounds good.
Neil LaBute and Aaron Eckhart could again find themselves in the company of one another
Source: 24 Frames
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/05/neil-labute-aaron-eckhart-ed-harris-geography-hope-new-movie-company-of-men-battle-los-angeles.html
Neil LaBute burst onto the film scene in 1997, when his provocative study in primal male behavior, "In the Company of Men," became a festival breakout and cultural talking point. Ditto for Aaron Eckhart, LaBute's Brigham Young University classmate who caught moviegoers' attention as a charismatic sharpie who toyed with a deaf female colleague while manipulating a male one.
LaBute's dark sensibility and Eckhart's charm proved an explosive combination, and the writer-director and actor would collaborate on three more films in the five years that followed.
It's been nearly a decade since they last worked together meaningfully on a film project (the 2002 A.S. Byatt adaptation "Possession"). But the two will reunite in an independent feature titled "The Geography of Hope," according to the film's producers.
LaBute will direct the movie from his own script, and Eckhart will be joined in the cast by Ed Harris, who starred in LaBute's one-man stage drama "Wrecks."
"Hope" has some similar themes to "Company." In the 1970s-set story, two crooks (Eckhart and Harris) flee to Baja, Mexico, after a robbery in a San Diego convenience store goes bad. There they encounter several American women, and they find themselves torn between the impulse to grift the ladies and romance them.
The script was written years ago by LaBute, before his film and theater career jumped to the next level; it stayed on hold while he worked on projects in both mediums. (His most recent movie was the dysfunctional-family comedy "Death at a Funeral.")
Collaborating with LaBute on "Hope" are the principals at Sundial Pictures, the producers behind Sundance hit "Pariah," who confirmed news of the LaBute project, and the sales company Preferred Content. The idea, the Sundial producers said, is to shoot as soon as this year in Puerto Rico, where there's a hotel of faded charm that will stand in for 1970s Mexico. Representatives for the film personalities could not immediately be reached for comments.
LaBute has remained unapologetic and controversial with much of his work in the years since "Company" first prompted a debate over whether he was critiquing despicable male behavior or glorifying it.
In the meantime, screen representations of masculinity have changed. "Company" came well before the emo male of indies like "(500) Days of Summer." Eckhart, too, has made some switches, sanding the edges with parts in commercial romances such as "Love Happens" and playing a heroic military man in "Battle: Los Angeles" and the likable, grief-stricken father in "Rabbit Hole." If anyone could sharpen those edges again, though, it's LaBute.
Neil LaBute's 'Some Girl(s)' Is the First Live-Action Narrative to Self Release Via Vimeo-On-Demand
Source: IndieWire
The Neil LaBute-penned comedy "Some Girl(s)" will be the first live-action narrative feature to be released exclusively on Vimeo, as part of the site's new Vimeo-On-Demand program that they launched at SXSW, where the film also premiered. Leeden Media turned down distribution offers to release the film on Vimeo and in select theaters on June 28.
"The opportunity to go straight from artist to audience is the future and Vimeo is offering a fantastic new platform," producer and partner at Leeden Media Patty West said." We were inspired by Amanda Palmer and Shane Carruth, as well as, of course, one of the stars of our film, Kristen Bell, with her $5.7M Kickstarter campaign. These artists are doing it themselves and going directly to their audience. That's really exciting for filmmakers."
Based LaBute's play by the same name, "Some Girl(s)" stars Adam Brody as a successful writer who, on the eve of his wedding, travels across the country to make amends with his past lovers (played by Bell, Mia Maestro, Emily Watson, Jennifer Morrison and Zoe Kazan).
Neil LaBute and Aaron Eckhart could again find themselves in the company of one another
Source: 24 Frames
Neil LaBute burst onto the film scene in 1997, when his provocative study in primal male behavior, "In the Company of Men," became a festival breakout and cultural talking point. Ditto for Aaron Eckhart, LaBute's Brigham Young University classmate who caught moviegoers' attention as a charismatic sharpie who toyed with a deaf female colleague while manipulating a male one.
LaBute's dark sensibility and Eckhart's charm proved an explosive combination, and the writer-director and actor would collaborate on three more films in the five years that followed.
It's been nearly a decade since they last worked together meaningfully on a film project (the 2002 A.S. Byatt adaptation "Possession"). But the two will reunite in an independent feature titled "The Geography of Hope," according to the film's producers, with Eckhart attached to play a lead role.
LaBute will direct the movie from his own script, and Eckhart will be joined in the cast by Ed Harris, who starred in LaBute's one-man stage drama "Wrecks" and is also attached.
"Hope" has some similar themes to "Company." In the 1970s-set story, two crooks (Eckhart and Harris) flee to Baja, Mexico, after a robbery in a San Diego convenience store goes bad. There they encounter several American women, and they find themselves torn between the impulse to grift the ladies and romance them.
The script was written years ago by LaBute, before his film and theater career jumped to the next level; it stayed on hold while he worked on projects in both mediums. (His most recent movie was the dysfunctional-family comedy "Death at a Funeral.")
Collaborating with LaBute on "Hope" are the principals at Sundial Pictures, the producers behind Sundance hit "Pariah," who confirmed news of the LaBute project, and the sales company Preferred Content. The idea, the Sundial producers said, is to shoot as soon as this year in Puerto Rico, where there's a hotel of faded charm that will stand in for 1970s Mexico. Representatives for the film personalities could not immediately be reached for comments.
LaBute has remained unapologetic and controversial with much of his work in the years since "Company" first prompted a debate over whether he was critiquing despicable male behavior or glorifying it.
In the meantime, screen representations of masculinity have changed. "Company" came well before the emo male of indies like "(500) Days of Summer." Eckhart, too, has made some switches, sanding the edges with parts in commercial romances such as "Love Happens" and playing a heroic military man in "Battle: Los Angeles" and the likable, grief-stricken father in "Rabbit Hole." If anyone could sharpen those edges again, though, it's LaBute.
DirecTV Orders 10 Neil LaBute Short Films
via Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: DirecTV is partnering with playwright-screenwriter Neil LaBute (The Shape Of Things) to produce a series of ten short films which will air on the satcaster's Audience Network. LaBute will write, direct and produce the stand-alone tales, each of them exploring human relationships. The deal comes a month before the premiere of DirecTV's limited series Full Circle, which was based on LaBute scripts. LaBute plans to be far more involved in the short films than he was in Full Circle, making the new project his first serialized TV effort. "I'm very excited to move forward on this new project, and there is not a better home than DirecTV for an ambitious series like this," he said. "Although I am incredibly proud of my scripts for Full Circle, I was disappointed I was not available to be a part of the production. That fact drove home for me how important it is, from an artistic standpoint, to roll up my sleeves and immerse myself in all aspects of the creative process on television." Chris Long, DirecTV's SVP Original Content and Production, stressed that LaBute will be given full creative control in making the short films. "We are proud that Neil has chosen DirecTV as the first place to write, produce and direct his own material," he said. "The films will be produced with a true auteur model; we're striving for the least possible distance between the artist's vision and the final product." DirecTV and ICM Partners-repped LaBute are aiming at a quick turnaround, with production set to begin in September and the films slated to begin airing in the late fall.