A PG-rated (okay, PG-13-rated) still – or publicity shot – from Lars von Trier’s (reportedly) sexually explicit Nymphomaniac: Vol. I, starring Shia LaBeouf and newcomer Stacy Martin, was recently posted on the film’s website and elsewhere online. Note that any body parts that could even remotely be considered risqué were either left on the cropping-room floor (e.g., Shia LaBeouf’s crotch – in fact, most of LaBeouf’s body) or carefully concealed by clever lighting or equally clever hair placement. Now, don’t go blaming Lars von Trier for all this circumspection; Nymphomaniac‘s U.S. distributor Magnolia Pictures is likely the one that doesn’t want to offend the sensibilities of the Prudish & Proud crowd. (See also: “Red Band Nymphomaniac trailer at Frozen screening?”)
Each month, Lars Von Trier will be releasing teasers from Nymphomaniac‘s various chapters. In the film (a.k.a. Nymph()maniac), Charlotte Gainsbourg plays a woman named Joe (no relation to MGM’s 1943 movie A Guy Named Joe), who reminisces about her countless sexcapades.
In Chapter 2, Shia LaBeouf plays Jerôme while Stacy Martin is the younger Joe. It’s a long and tortuous route from Michael Bay to Lars von Trier, and here’s wondering if Jerôme will sound as if he was born and raised in Los Angeles. (Just checked the Nymphomaniac Chapter 2 preview, which you can see below; LaBeouf sounds like your typical English guy with a French name.)
And here’s Lars von Trier’s brief “Nymphomaniac Chapter 2 (Jerôme)” synopsis:
“Love is just lust with jealousy added.” Though love is a shallow feeling in the eyes of the cynical nymphomaniac, young Joe is met by forces penetrating her armoured defences. His name is Jerôme.
Shia LaBeouf heads Nymphomaniac cast
The Nymphomaniac cast includes the aforementioned Shia LaBeouf, the star of Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, in addition to Oliver Stone’s box office disappointment Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep; Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of 1960s and 1970s icons Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, one of the stars of Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, and a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress winner for von Trier’s Antichrist; and Stacy Martin, who, according to the IMDb, has also been cast in Heidi Greensmith’s Barking at Trees.
Also in the Nymphomaniac cast, as per the IMDb: Stellan Skarsgård, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe, Connie Nielsen, Jean-Marc Barr, Mia Goth, Udo Kier, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Michael Pas, Caroline Goodall, Jesper Christensen, Hugo Speer, Kate Ashfield, and Saskia Reeves.
Nymphomaniac release date
In the U.S., Nymphomaniac is expected to come out sometime in 2014; according to online reports, it opens in Denmark on Christmas Day 2013. Unfortunately for those involved in the production, chances are that Lars von Trier’s latest will not be screening at the Cannes Film Festival. But Cannes’ loss may turn out to be Berlin’s gain.
Now, check out the Chapter 2 of Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, with Shia LaBeouf and Stacy Martin.
Shia LaBeouf Nymphomaniac sex scene with Stacy Martin photo: Magnolia Pictures.
Mel Gibson & Antonio Banderas ‘confirmed’ for ‘The Expendables 3’ cast
Mel Gibson and Antonio Banderas have been “confirmed” as the latest The Expendables 3 cast members, according to TheWrap, quoting a Sylvester Stallone representative. The Expendables 3 is to be directed by Patrick Hughes, from a screenplay by Stallone and Richard Wenk. (Image: Mel Gibson in his days as the star of the Mad Max movies.)
Although his image has been seriously tarnished by several public rants in the past decade or so, Mel Gibson is the director-star of the 1995 Best Picture Academy Award winner Braveheart. Whether you love or hate that movie, an Oscar win means a certain type of prestige. Yet, Gibson’s biggest box office hits were his low-brow action Lethal Weapon movies opposite Danny Glover; the Western Maverick, co-starring Jodie Foster and James Garner; the comedy What Women Want, with Helen Hunt; and M. Night Shyamalan’s Christian-themed sci-fier Signs.
Mel Gibson’s most recent star vehicles, the 2010 thriller Edge of Darkness and the Jodie Foster-directed 2011 comedy-drama The Beaver were both major box office flops in North America and elsewhere.
In the 1980s, Antonio Banderas was an edgy actor in even edgier Spanish movies directed by Pedro Almodóvar, e.g., Law of Desire, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!. After moving to Hollywood in the early 1990s, Banderas dumbed down his output, becoming a mainstream actor in movie such as the Spy Kids flicks; Assassins, opposite Sylvester Stallone; and The Mask of Zorro. He was also a voice actor in the Shrek movies.
‘The Expendables 3’ cast, release date
The Expendables 3 2014 release date in North America is Aug. 15. Besides Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Antonio Banderas, if the IMDb is to be believed, the third installment in the Expendables franchise will feature Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes, and Steven Seagal. Resident Evil‘s Milla Jovovich and The Twilight Saga‘s Kellan Lutz have apparently been added to the cast to lure the under-60 crowd.
A few days ago, it was announced that Star Wars’ Harrison Ford would replace Bruce Willis, with whom Sylvester Stallone has had a public spat via Twitter, calling the Another Day to Die Hard star “greedy and lazy.” Best known for Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark and their sequels, Ford was a Best Actor Oscar nominee for Peter Weir’s 1985 crime drama Witness.