While "The Avengers" officially kicked off the summer movie season to the tune of $200 million dollars this weekend, Christmas for arthouse fans is just around the corner with the Cannes Film Festival. Granted, it's one of the more mainstream movies hitting the fest, but anticipation is running high for John Hillcoat's "Lawless." And one movie that wasn't ready in time, but that is also being eyed is Joe Wright's "Anna Karenina" and for both, some new pics have arrived to stoke the flames of ancipiation.
First up are brand new looks of Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain, along with Shia LaBeouf in "Lawless." The prohibition-era tale based on the novel by Matt Bondurant tells the gritty tale of the hooch slinging Bondurant boys, under the employ of a gangster played by Gary Oldman, who have to evade the long arm of the law who, embodied by Guy Pearce's sneering special agent. The trailer, though conventional, was promising and let's not forget that Hillcoat has never been well served by marketing ("The Road" in particular had some pretty terrible promos). But needless to say, this one is high on our list of films to see at Cannes."Lawless" opens August 31st.
Meanwhile, it looks like the fall festival circuit will be the place to see Joe Wright's ambitious, experimental "Anna Karenina." As previously reported, Wright has shot almost the entire film on a single location on a soundstage with toy trains and dollhouses standing in for the exteriors. Needless to say, we're intrigued. To help tell the classic tale, Wright has reteamed with his frequent collaborator Keira Knightley ("Atonement," "Pride & Prejudice") and rounded up a pretty solid cast including Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Matthew Macfayden, Ruth Wilson, Olivia Williams and Domnhall Gleeson. "Anna Karenina" opens in the U.K. on September 7th and in the U.S. on November 9th. [Kinopoisk]
