How Patrick Wilson spent his summer vacation (SPOILERS)...be prepared...- Page 2

[beacon1]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 4:20am

From "Eric's Blog" (via Google)

Next up was "Hard Candy," recently purchased by Lions Gate for eventual theatrical release. It is about a pedophile who meets a 14-year-old girl through the Internet for predatory reasons and comes to regret it, because she is hell-bent on teaching his pedophiliac booty a lesson. The star is Patrick Wilson, a Broadway actor most recently seen boring audiences as Raoul in the movie version of "The Phantom of the Opera." He is a good deal more lively in "Hard Candy," particularly in the scene where the vengeful girl states her intentions to castrate him. ("Don't mutilate me; that's all I ask of you" would be a good song lyric here.)

[beacon1]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 12:28pm

Chicago Tribune
http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/mmx-0501300450jan30,0,2994695.story?coll=mmx-movies_heds

"The one Sundance movie that has made all viewers internally uneasy is David Slade's "Hard Candy," the taut, excruciating story of what happens when a petite 14-year-old girl (Ellen Page in a ferocious, starmaking performance) turns the tables on a 32-year-old man (Patrick Wilson, also excellent) who courts her on the Internet. Lions Gate bought the film for a reported $4 million here and hopes it will achieve similar commercial success to last year's "Open Water"; the key may be how marketable the phrase "prolonged castration sequence" turns out to be.

To my taste, "Hard Candy" could use more humanity and less sadism, but you can't deny the movie is something. Slade (who's British) and writer Brian Nelson are making cogent, provocative points about society's sexualization of girls, and they don't pull their punches.

In the end you feel beaten up -- and the hostile first questioner at one post-screening Q&A was ready to punch back -- but after so many sweet Sundance movies about characters coming to peace with their minor-key troubles, this one hurts so good."

[beacon1]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 12:50pm

From the Fort Worth TX Star-Telegram
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/entertainment/10766597.htm?1c

"...Lions Gate, hoping to tap into the same audience that went for Open Water and Saw (both of which screened here last year), acquired Hard Candy for a reported $4 million. Focusing on a pedophile (Patrick Wilson) and the 14-year-old girl (Ellen Page) who longs to castrate him, Hard Candy is certainly an attention grabber -- but it's also cruel, joyless and finally pointless."

[beacon1]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 1:04pm

I did not see "Open Water" or "Saw" because of the terror factor. I didn't want to see people drown or be eaten by sharks...and in "Saw" the tests that the people were put through sounded horrific.

"Open Water" didn't play many places around here and "Saw" stayed only a very short time...

I'm really getting unnerved by the plot...

[beacon1]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 12:51pm

From USA Today:

Children exploring sexuality — in sometimes shocking ways — played out in several films. That was the theme of Hard Candy, the most controversial movie here, which was purchased by Lions Gate for $4 million.

A 14-year-old girl, played by Ellen Page, meets an older photographer (Phantom of the Opera's Patrick Wilson) online.

"They talk and go to his house and drink vodka, flirt and bad things happen," director David Slade says. "But not the kind of bad things you expect to happen."

When the girl exacts her graphic revenge on the man, "you're asked to question your values as to where you draw your own lines," Slade says. "It asks questions about how valid a certain degree of revenge is, asks questions about what you call pornography and what you find offensive. It asks you to take sympathy with one of two monsters in the end."

Though a number of high-profile actors were willing to play sleazy characters this year — notably Pierce Brosnan in The Matador, Kevin Costner in The Upside of Anger and Benjamin Bratt in Thumbsucker— several said Hard Candy was too far of a stretch into dark territory.

"Quite a number of well-known actors read for this but were afraid to make it," Slade says.

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 5:07pm

not what you expect they do?
revenge? im confused...

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 1:43pm

Here's a link to an article in the Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2005/02/01/hard_candy_leaves_sundance_bitterly_divided/

And here are the first few paragraphs...

'Hard Candy' leaves Sundance bitterly divided
By Ty Burr, Globe Staff | February 1, 2005

PARK CITY, Utah -- While the Sundance Film Festival prides itself on showcasing cutting-edge independent cinema, the truth is you can count the films that actually draw blood -- that make people uncomfortable and angry -- on the fingers of one hand.

This year you could count them on one finger. By the middle of last week, David Slade's "Hard Candy" had become the word-of-mouth don't-see buzz movie, sending audiences out of Park City theaters in a distressed rage. During one post-screening Q&A session, a man in the audience stood and, quivering with anger, read off a diatribe from notes he had written during the film. Even the youthful festival volunteers turned against it. "Dude, I saw that thing," warned one ticket taker, overhearing a couple in line discussing whether they should see "Hard Candy." "Stay away. I mean it: Stay away." One publicist -- a man whose job it is to talk up movies -- refused to discuss the film at all.

All this testifies to something the film does right rather than wrong. Based on a script by Brian Nelson, "Hard Candy" begins as a carefree drama about a 32-year-old fashion photographer named Geoff (Patrick Wilson) and a 14-year-old girl named Hayley (Ellen Page). They have met and flirted on the Internet; now they are meeting in real life, or "RL," at a coffee shop in Los Angeles, after which they return to his house in the Hollywood hills. Despite the age difference, they seem evenly matched, with similar tastes in music and a knack for mildly racy banter.

So far, so disturbing. But "Hard Candy" subsequently takes a left turn into an altogether different movie -- one that owes as much to horror and suspense as to social-message melodrama -- and it is that movie that divided audiences. Without giving away too much, I can say that Geoff finds himself in what may be every man's absolute worst-case scenario, while Hayley reveals herself to have many more sides to her character than first suspected.

As the film turns into a battle of wills, it addresses any number of subjects: forbidden desire, social masks, child pornography versus the more "acceptable" grown-up kind, the hazy line between thought and action. Most remarkable is the way "Hard Candy" pushes different buttons for men and women in the audience. The film has an allegorical aspect -- with the exception of Sandra Oh as a nosy neighbor and a few other actors, Wilson and Page (who arrives as an actress of tremendous skill and depth) are the only people onscreen -- and while director Slade doesn't always play fair, he does play for keeps.

There will be further controversy when the film reaches general audiences; this became a certainty after Lions Gate Films Releasing bought distribution rights during the festival for about $4 million. The company intends to release the film sometime in the second half of this year. " 'Hard Candy' will shock many people, but I think that's a good thing," said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate, in a phone interview during the festival. "It'll make people think: What if this was you, what if this was your daughter, what's wrong and what's right, how far is too far?"

There's more on page 2 of the article...

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 8:27pm

More Hard Candy Info...it's expected to get an NC-17 (Mature Audiences Only)rating:

Yahoo Movies> Top > Business & Finance > Investments > Sectors > Services > Motion Pictures > LGF (Lions Gate Entertainment)

On the Yahoo movies messageboard for Lions Gate Entertainment (Hard Copy's US distributor) One of the investors posted the following message.

[B]Hard Candy NC-17[/B]
by: sweetnlowdaddio (57/M/Austin, TX)
Long-Term Sentiment: Buy 01/26/05 10:58 am
Msg: 46899 of 47402

PARK CITY -- Lions Gate Films paid nearly $4 million for David Slade's drama "Hard Candy," taking worldwide rights outside the U.K., Spain and Australia. Pic bowed Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival.
A selection of the fest's Park City at Midnight section, "Hard Candy" is the tale of an unwise cat-and-mouse romance between a teenage girl and an older man that begins on the Internet. Pic was shot on HD and stars Ellen Page opposite Patrick Wilson.

Deal marks the second significant fest buy for Lions Gate, which earlier this week picked up worldwide rights on David LaChapelle's hip-hop doc "Rize."

William Morris Independent made the "Candy" deal, which includes a clause that gives the filmmakers 20% of the film's worldwide gross and a significant P&A commitment.[B] It's slated for release in late summer or the first quarter of 2006. Lions Gate expects the film to garner an NC-17 rating.[/B]

"Lions Gate proved with 'Saw,' 'Open Water' and 'Cabin Fever' that they know exactly what to do with [B]these kinds of movies[/B]," William Morris rep Cassian Elwes said.

David Higgins, Richard Hutton and Michael Caldwell produced the pic, with Jody Patton and Rosanne Korenberg as exec producers. Brian Nelson and Hans Ritter are co-producers.

[etheb]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 11:13pm

wow, so if i DO decide to see this, it'll be the first thing (besides voting) i'll do that has an age limit! that would be fun...

but um, yeah...maybe i'll rent it and skip the scary parts. *is a wuss*

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 9:53pm

Here's a link to the Lion's Gate Film site for "Hard Candy"...so far its just these pictures but it looks like more information is being added.

http://lionsgatepublicity.com/epk/hardcandy/

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 9:54pm

Call me crazy, but is that Patrick in the glasses?

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 10:06pm

Yep...his character, "Geoff" must use them to appear "harmless" when he meets up with Hayley at the Coffee Shop.

Dang but if he doesn't look hot in glasses. There oughta be a law...! But, then again, it's good that there isn't!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 10:06pm

He looks adorable in them.

[etheb]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 11:02pm

guys in glasses are HOTT. i <3 dorks

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 10:16pm

A few more photos have been added as well as the Fact Sheet

http://lionsgatepublicity.com/epk/hardcandy/

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 11:08pm

Here a link to the "Movie Tome" Page for "Hard Candy"

I'm the new editor (as beacon1)

Take a look!

http://www.movietome.com/movietome/servlet/MovieMain/movieid-130718/Hard_Candy/

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 4:41pm

The latest press info says Lion's Gate is looking for a late 2005/early 2006 release. I'm not sure if that is US only or the internation markets it handles as well. There are two other international distributors but I don't know if they have to all work in cadence on the releases in their specific areas.

I'm sure that "Hard Candy" will be marketed very carefully...Lion's Gate has categorized it in their "horror" genre and have compared it to last year's "Saw." (Which I heard about but never went to see in the theatre.)

Check out this link and scroll down to the Feb 2nd post. The viewer had a very intense/adverse reaction to the movie and then linked the boston.com coverage of the film at Sundance.

http://www.lionsgatehorror.com/site/index_flash.h

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 7:10pm

What no one has mentioned thus far is that HARD CANDY is a musical and Jerry Herman wrote the score.

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 7:16pm

LOL, Dollypop

I can only imagine Patrick's solo when Geoff is bound and Hayley is preparing to perform her..."operation"...

What would the title of that number be...????

[Liam]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 8:06pm

i have ben acused of haveing no life more than once but look how much beacon1 typs! its out of contole!she wrote a book!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 8:09pm

lol, Liam. She didn't write all of those, she was just posting articles!

[Liam]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 8:12pm

OMG i was going to saie WOW!lol my bad lol

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 8:12pm

[etheb]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 11:22pm

beacon--how about "please don't cut off my balls." concise and to the point.

[beacon1]

Posted: 2/20/05 at 12:58am

Hmm...etheb that phrase certainly should be included in the lyrics...and perhaps set to an old/familiar tune.

Something worthy of his adorable tenor...before he joins the ranks of the castrati and can hit high notes with ease!?!

Poor Patrick...I can't imagine where he went to in his psyche and personal experience to pull out a convincing portrayal of a man about to lose his goods.