Trailerama: Me and Orson Welles

Tackling Orson gives School of Rock director Richard Linklater another chance to observe a larger-than-life character put on a show. That being said, the trailer makes the film look a little Zac-centric. Nice switch from comedy to uplift at the 1:47 minute mark, too. Welles is essayed by Christian Mckay, who Linklater approached after seeing his one man play, Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles.

Remedial Reading: The Next Richard Linklater Movie

Buoyed by the news that there’s a “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused on the way, GreenCine’s Vadim Rizov looks at the development of Richard Linklater‘s career. He casts his eye over some under-appreciated (and under-seen) movies:

What we have is a filmmaker who, after years of rejecting conventional narrative tools and building his own, has suddenly shown he’s actually quite apt at using those tools if he feels like it. The essential Linklater theme hasn’t changed at all: one person (or group of people) struggles to achieve individuality in an environment actively or passively hostile to that kind of self-definition. It’s the urge which drives Slacker, makes Pink such a pissed-off iconoclast for nothing in Dazed And Confused, and pushes Jack Black in School of Rock; above all, it’s actively turned into a system-vs.-individual plot in Scanner.

The Slate: Tobey Starts His Engine, Dazeder & Confuseder

• With the deaths of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, racing movies took a hit. Tom Cruise‘s insanity didn’t help much, either. (Nor Speed Racer). Undaunted, Tobey Maguire wants to get around the wheel. He’s producing The Limit, where the somnolent Spidey star will play Phil Hill, one half of a pair of real-life rivals racing for the Ferrari team during the 1960s. Maguire is especially excited about the project as he will not have to act from the shoulders down. (Hollywood Reporter)
• As this post wisely points out, Ricky Gervais is a little too prickly for Hollywood. (And oh man, those teeth.) But the Brits will keep tossing money at him. He and his Extras/Office writing/directing cohort Stephen Merchant will make The Men at the Pru, which finds them on familiar ground–a building society (that’s Brit for “bank”)–with familiar faces–er, men–at an unfamiliar time–the 1970s. Cue play of “Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile).” (Digital Spy)
• Roll another number! Richard Linklater‘s follow-up to Orson Welles & Me will be a “spiritual sequel” to his most-watched movie, Dazed & Confused. Meaning? It’s about the first weekend of college in Austin, but don’t expect David Wooderson to be diving into any student rushes. It’s an all-new cast of characters. Should make for an peachy soundtrack, though. Cue play of “Oh Sherry.” (CHUD)
• We’re getting H.P. Lovecraft battling monsters and maybe “primal grovellers.” Why not Harry Houdini? Basis for the Summit Entertainment film is a fanciful bio which claims the turn-of-the-century escapologist worked among spies and Romanovs when not swimming Niagara Falls. Harry will be “part Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holmes.” (And probably just a little Ben Gates.) Cue play of “Pomp and Circumstance,” Houdini’s theme tune. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Anybody interested in a movie where Brandon Routhplays a vegetarian paranormal detective? C’mon kids, it’s a weekend. Anyway, the movie adaptation of Umberto Eco’s favorite Italian horror comic Dylan Doghas been given the yawnsome title of Dead of Night(snore!). Routh plays the Nawlins supernatural P.I. bedevilled by Taye Diggs, who has been in Grey’s Anatomy for so long he has turned into a vampire. Anita Briemwill try to stir Routh’s DNA … and ours. (Cinematical)

Zach Efron Talks Orson Welles With Gus Van Sant

Yes, we could link to a magazine article which includes pictures of Zac Efron rolling around in the mud. And in fact, that is exactly what we aredoing. But it’s because Efron chats to director Gus Van Sant about, among other things, his first serious role in Richard Linklater‘s Me and Orson Welles. The drama looks at Welles‘ 1937 production of Julius Caesar(the one where he updated the action to fascist Italy) through the eyes of Efron’s teenage thesp. Welles is played by Christian McKay and Eddie Marsan plays his partner-in-crime John Houseman. We’re anticipating egos, ballerinas, and lots of eating.

VAN SANT: I wanted to ask you about this Richard Linklater film. Is it Orson and Me?
EFRON: Me and Orson Welles.
VAN SANT: Where did you shoot that?
EFRON: Rick was brilliant, because he found this great theater on the Isle of Man, which, after a little bit of work, looked a whole lot like the Mercury Theatre did in 1937. We took a beautiful theater and made it look rusty and old and dusty, and, once we filled it with extras dressed in 1930s attire, the place was very believable. It even smelled like an old theater. It was pretty neat because we were basically stuck there—you know, we couldn’t leave. There was nowhere to go on the Isle of Man. So we lived in that theater for several weeks. It was fun and exciting, but it was also kind of maddening. I went a little bit insane.

Scorsese Revisited in American Prince

Steve Prince is quite the character. Film buffs will remember him from Martin Scorsese‘s Taxi Driver, where his gun salesman educates Travis Bickle in hardware. The camera lovingly caresses gun barrels via tracking shots while Prince provides the prose poems (“It’s a real monster. It’ll stop a car at a hundred yards.”).

It’s one of the great one-shot performances, and Scorsese found Prince a compelling enough character to make him the subject of his 1978 documentary American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince. Now Prince, whose resume includes appearances in New York, New York and Richard Linklater‘s Waking Life, gets a “chapter two” in Tommy Pallotta‘s documentary American Prince, which is set to screen at the SXSW Film Festival on March 14 and March 17. Clips and more (with a little Pulp Fiction-ania after the jump.