In an essay for OprahDaily.com, author Joyce Maynard has revealed her fascination with the just-concluded defamation trail of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Her surprising conclusion: someone abused Heard. Just not Depp.
Maynard knows about tempestuous relationships. She released a 1998 memoir, At Home in the World, detailing her abusive live-in situation with iconic Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger. She was villified for writing about the notoriously private Salinger, and accused of trying to vengefully destroy him, much as Heard was portrayed.
Given that background, Maynard came into the trial coverage with her own prejudices. She wrote that the online abuse of Heard “confirm the deeply entrenched misogyny in our culture and the zeal with which it continues to shame women.”
However, her initial impressions changed after extensively watching the legal proceedings.
“Here’s an alternative view,” Maynard wrote in her essay. “Maybe yesterday’s verdict served to...
Maynard knows about tempestuous relationships. She released a 1998 memoir, At Home in the World, detailing her abusive live-in situation with iconic Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger. She was villified for writing about the notoriously private Salinger, and accused of trying to vengefully destroy him, much as Heard was portrayed.
Given that background, Maynard came into the trial coverage with her own prejudices. She wrote that the online abuse of Heard “confirm the deeply entrenched misogyny in our culture and the zeal with which it continues to shame women.”
However, her initial impressions changed after extensively watching the legal proceedings.
“Here’s an alternative view,” Maynard wrote in her essay. “Maybe yesterday’s verdict served to...
- 6/4/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Timothy Leary, the rock-star professor of 1960s acid-head mysticism, had a grin that said a lot about him. He was quite handsome, with that mane of silver-dark hair, the jutting chin and Irish eyes, that gleaming wall-of-teeth smile. He looked like a Kennedy brother who never was — a counterculture guru who could have doubled as a politician. The smile is part of what made Leary such an effective Pied Piper. He always seemed to be saying, “I’m tripping my brains out and having the time of my life!” Yet you didn’t have to look long to register that the Leary grin seemed inordinately pleased with itself. It flashed on and off (it was always on for the cameras), and he had a way of beaming that was more than a little unctuous, à la Liberace. Leary never stopped talking about how LSD was going to free everyone, but...
- 11/30/2020
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
The dramatic feature, "My Salinger Year" written and directed by Philippe Falardeau, is based on the memoir by Joanna Rakoff, starring Margaret Qualley ("Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood") , Sigourney Weaver ("Alien"), Douglas Booth, Seána Kerslake, Colm Feore and Brían F. O'Byrne, now in limited release:
"...in 1995, 'Joanna', an aspiring writer and poet, leaves Berkeley, California and her boyfriend 'Karl' to move to New York City...
After several of his short stories were published in "Story" magazine in the early 1940's, young writer J.D Salinger was drafted into the Army in 1942, then saw combat at 'Utah Beach' on 'D-Day', the 'Battle of the Bulge' and the bloody 'Huertgen Forest' campaign.
Salinger was eventually assigned to a counter-intelligence division, where he used a proficiency in French and German to interrogate prisoners of war.
Salinger was also among the first soldiers to enter a liberated concentration camp, with the experiences affecting him emotionally,...
"...in 1995, 'Joanna', an aspiring writer and poet, leaves Berkeley, California and her boyfriend 'Karl' to move to New York City...
After several of his short stories were published in "Story" magazine in the early 1940's, young writer J.D Salinger was drafted into the Army in 1942, then saw combat at 'Utah Beach' on 'D-Day', the 'Battle of the Bulge' and the bloody 'Huertgen Forest' campaign.
Salinger was eventually assigned to a counter-intelligence division, where he used a proficiency in French and German to interrogate prisoners of war.
Salinger was also among the first soldiers to enter a liberated concentration camp, with the experiences affecting him emotionally,...
- 10/27/2020
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
To Die For was released nationwide in theaters on this day in 1995. Here's Christopher James...
Is Nicole Kidman funny? Critics of the Oscar winning actress have often called her “cold,” rendering her incapable of cracking a smile, much less a laugh. Given that perception it’s funny that Nicole Kidman was first taken seriously for her comedic chops. Best known in 1995 as Mrs. Tom Cruise and Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever, Kidman was in search of a vehicle that would showcase more of her considerable talents. Along came To Die For, based on the Joyce Maynard book of the same name which borrowed details from the Pamela Smart case that took the media by storm. Originally offered to Meg Ryan, Kidman eventually won the part and received a fair share of accolades, including a Golden Globe win and a BAFTA nomination.
Talking about the virtues of Nicole Kidman on...
Is Nicole Kidman funny? Critics of the Oscar winning actress have often called her “cold,” rendering her incapable of cracking a smile, much less a laugh. Given that perception it’s funny that Nicole Kidman was first taken seriously for her comedic chops. Best known in 1995 as Mrs. Tom Cruise and Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever, Kidman was in search of a vehicle that would showcase more of her considerable talents. Along came To Die For, based on the Joyce Maynard book of the same name which borrowed details from the Pamela Smart case that took the media by storm. Originally offered to Meg Ryan, Kidman eventually won the part and received a fair share of accolades, including a Golden Globe win and a BAFTA nomination.
Talking about the virtues of Nicole Kidman on...
- 10/6/2020
- by Christopher James
- FilmExperience
With his seminal 1995 film “To Die For,” Gus Van Sant proved what many assumed was an impossibility at the apotheosis of indie filmmaking: A director known for making movies apologetically in the margins of Hollywood could collaborate with a major studio without the former sacrificing his edge and the latter losing a hell of a lot of money.
But how the Sony/Columbia Pictures release — centered on aspiring small-town TV reporter Suzanne Stone Maretto (Nicole Kidman), who coerces a pair of dim, teen townies to kill her husband — came to be is unto itself a juicy, celluloid-worthy saga.
From the novel that started it all, to the A-listers who almost got cast — Meg Ryan, Matt Damon, and Sandra Bullock, for three; to Van Sant’s tricky collaboration with two industry legends (“The Graduate” screenwriter Buck Henry and “Pretty Woman” producer Laura Ziskin) and the dismal test screenings that almost killed the movie altogether,...
But how the Sony/Columbia Pictures release — centered on aspiring small-town TV reporter Suzanne Stone Maretto (Nicole Kidman), who coerces a pair of dim, teen townies to kill her husband — came to be is unto itself a juicy, celluloid-worthy saga.
From the novel that started it all, to the A-listers who almost got cast — Meg Ryan, Matt Damon, and Sandra Bullock, for three; to Van Sant’s tricky collaboration with two industry legends (“The Graduate” screenwriter Buck Henry and “Pretty Woman” producer Laura Ziskin) and the dismal test screenings that almost killed the movie altogether,...
- 7/16/2020
- by Stacey Wilson Hunt
- Indiewire
Never-before-seen writing by The Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger will be shared with the public in the future, his son told a British newspaper.
Described as a “massive collection” by Matt Salinger in an interview with The Guardian, the works will be released at some future date to be determined.
“This was somebody who was writing for 50 years without publishing, so that’s a lot of material,” Matt Salinger said. Most of the content was kept out of the public eye because of Salinger’s particular quirks.
J.D. Salinger published very little in his lifetime. Overwhelmed by the public attention after the success of his novel The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger became reclusive. His last published work was a novella that appeared in The New Yorker in 1965, and his last public interview was in 1980. He engaged in several legal battles with those chronicling his life, including his biographer Ian Hamilton,...
Described as a “massive collection” by Matt Salinger in an interview with The Guardian, the works will be released at some future date to be determined.
“This was somebody who was writing for 50 years without publishing, so that’s a lot of material,” Matt Salinger said. Most of the content was kept out of the public eye because of Salinger’s particular quirks.
J.D. Salinger published very little in his lifetime. Overwhelmed by the public attention after the success of his novel The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger became reclusive. His last published work was a novella that appeared in The New Yorker in 1965, and his last public interview was in 1980. He engaged in several legal battles with those chronicling his life, including his biographer Ian Hamilton,...
- 2/2/2019
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
30. Sense and Sensibility
Directed by: Ang Lee
Ang Lee has gone in about eight different directions in terms of genre. His resume includes “The Ice Storm,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Hulk,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi,” and this delightful Jane Austen adaptation, starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and young Kate Winslet. “Sense and Sensibility” took home the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay for the story of the Dashwood family, a mother widowed and left in difficult circumstances after her husband has left his fortune to his first wife, instead of his current one. So Mrs. Dashwood (Gemma Jones) and her daughters Fanny, Marianne, and Elinor (Harriet Walter, Winslet, Thompson) have to find a way to survive in a world ruled by men and the rules that seem to create obstacle after obstacle for them. Unfortunately, given the era, they are viewed as “unmarryable,” since they have no fortune and no prospects.
Directed by: Ang Lee
Ang Lee has gone in about eight different directions in terms of genre. His resume includes “The Ice Storm,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Hulk,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi,” and this delightful Jane Austen adaptation, starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and young Kate Winslet. “Sense and Sensibility” took home the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay for the story of the Dashwood family, a mother widowed and left in difficult circumstances after her husband has left his fortune to his first wife, instead of his current one. So Mrs. Dashwood (Gemma Jones) and her daughters Fanny, Marianne, and Elinor (Harriet Walter, Winslet, Thompson) have to find a way to survive in a world ruled by men and the rules that seem to create obstacle after obstacle for them. Unfortunately, given the era, they are viewed as “unmarryable,” since they have no fortune and no prospects.
- 1/31/2015
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's streaming on Netflix, we've got you covered.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"The Good Lie"
Although Reese Witherspoon's face is on all the posters, the real stars of "The Good Lie" are the actors who portray young survivors of the brutal civil war in Sudan. Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, and Emmanuel Jal star as the Sudanese "Lost Boys" who start a new life in Kansas City, Mo. Philippe Falardeau ("Monsieur Lazhar") directed the movie, based on a script by Margaret Nagle ("Boardwalk Empire").
"Pride"
Critics loved this crowd-pleasing film based on a true story about two disparate groups who come together in solidarity during Margaret Thatcher's term as Pm. Lgbt activists are trying to raise money to support the families of striking miners, but they're not having any success. Eventually, the group,...
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"The Good Lie"
Although Reese Witherspoon's face is on all the posters, the real stars of "The Good Lie" are the actors who portray young survivors of the brutal civil war in Sudan. Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, and Emmanuel Jal star as the Sudanese "Lost Boys" who start a new life in Kansas City, Mo. Philippe Falardeau ("Monsieur Lazhar") directed the movie, based on a script by Margaret Nagle ("Boardwalk Empire").
"Pride"
Critics loved this crowd-pleasing film based on a true story about two disparate groups who come together in solidarity during Margaret Thatcher's term as Pm. Lgbt activists are trying to raise money to support the families of striking miners, but they're not having any success. Eventually, the group,...
- 12/22/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Have you ever been tempted to look at someone else's phone? Who do they text? What pictures do they save? What are they hiding? This modern quandary plays at the center of the teaser for Jason Reitman's upcoming drama Men, Women & Children. As its tag taunts, "Discover How Little You Know About The People You Know. " Reitman hit theaters earlier this year with Labor Day, an adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel. But despite goodwill earned with Juno and Up In The Air, and a cast that boasted Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet, this drama opened with a whimper, unimpressive box office and critical scorn. Could Men, Women & Children prove Jason Reitman's redemption? Men, Women & Children reportedly will open in limited release on Oct. 3, going wider on Oct. 17. Like Up In The Air and Labor Day, Reitman's latest is based on a novel. In this case, it's Chad Klutgen's Men,...
- 8/19/2014
- cinemablend.com
If you’ve already binge-watched every critically acclaimed show out there and are wondering what to do next, TV critic Melissa Maerz has a few suggestions. Her column, “What I’m Watching Now,” is devoted to the best underhyped series on television (or Amazon, or Netflix, or whatever iDevice you’re using), whether they’re just premiering or have been lingering on your friends’ season pass queues for years.
Why do we love to watch pretty girls suffer?
I thought about that question a lot while watching Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart, a fascinating documentary that airs August 18 on HBO.
Why do we love to watch pretty girls suffer?
I thought about that question a lot while watching Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart, a fascinating documentary that airs August 18 on HBO.
- 8/18/2014
- by Melissa Maerz
- EW - Inside TV
★★☆☆☆Based on the Joyce Maynard novel of the same name, Labor Day (2013) sees Canadian director Jason Reitman undertake a marked departure from the forthright yet blithe approach that made his indie-spirited offerings such as Juno (2007) and Young Adult (2011) such mainstream hits. Here, Reitman cavorts with heightened melodrama and nervous tension in a tale of vague suburban Stockholm syndrome within eighties picket fence America. Told through the impressionable vantage point of its young protagonist Henry (Dylan Minette) and narrated via his future self (Toby Maguire), Labor Day initially looks like a coming-of-age tale about an adolescent boy's education in masculinity.
- 8/5/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
If you’re a fan of literary adaptations then no doubt you’ll currently have your head stuck in a copy of Joyce Maynard’s emotional coming-of-age novel Labor Day, Nick Hornby’s heart-warming suicide drama A Long Way Down, or maybe even Veronica Roth’s debut dystopian Divergent. What we’re looking forward to most, however, is Richard Ayoade’s upcoming adaptation of Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s dark comedy novella, The Double. With an adapted screenplay written by Ayoade himself alongside fellow scribe Avi Korine, this is his first film since the hugely successful Submarine.
Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska as the two leads, the story follows a man driven insane after finding out his life and identity is being assumed by a doppelgänger. The original novella was released in 1846, subtitled “A Petersburg Poem” it showed the surreal and grotesque influences of fellow Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol,...
Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska as the two leads, the story follows a man driven insane after finding out his life and identity is being assumed by a doppelgänger. The original novella was released in 1846, subtitled “A Petersburg Poem” it showed the surreal and grotesque influences of fellow Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol,...
- 4/4/2014
- by Charlie Derry
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 29, 2014
Price: DVD $29.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.99
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Labor Day is a bit of romance and plenty of drama.
Kate Winslet (Carnage) stars as single mother Adele, who with her son Henry (Gatlin Griffith, The New Daughter) offers a ride to a wounded man, Frank (Josh Brolin, Gangster Squad), only to find out that he’s an escaped conflict. As police search the town, Adele and Henry learn more about Frank, as their options become increasingly limited.
Winslet was nominated for a best actress Golden Globe for her performance in the PG-13 movie, which also stars Tobey Maguire (The Great Gatsby), James Van Der Beek (The Rules of Attraction) and J.K. Simmons (Jobs). Jason Reitman (Young Adult) wrote and directed Labor Day based on the novel by Joyce Maynard.
Despite getting a wide release in theaters, the film grossed only $13 million, probably on the poor reviews from critics,...
Price: DVD $29.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.99
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Labor Day is a bit of romance and plenty of drama.
Kate Winslet (Carnage) stars as single mother Adele, who with her son Henry (Gatlin Griffith, The New Daughter) offers a ride to a wounded man, Frank (Josh Brolin, Gangster Squad), only to find out that he’s an escaped conflict. As police search the town, Adele and Henry learn more about Frank, as their options become increasingly limited.
Winslet was nominated for a best actress Golden Globe for her performance in the PG-13 movie, which also stars Tobey Maguire (The Great Gatsby), James Van Der Beek (The Rules of Attraction) and J.K. Simmons (Jobs). Jason Reitman (Young Adult) wrote and directed Labor Day based on the novel by Joyce Maynard.
Despite getting a wide release in theaters, the film grossed only $13 million, probably on the poor reviews from critics,...
- 4/2/2014
- by Sam
- Disc Dish
Adapting the novel of the same name from Joyce Maynard, Labor Day sees writer/director Jason Reitman delivers a movie far removed from the comedy dramas, such as Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air, that made his name. This is pretty much a slow burn, a beautifully shot, and heart breaking, coming of age story about 13 year old Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith), juggling the perils of puberty with caring for his recently divorced mother Adele (Kate Winslet), who has fallen into a deep depression. One fateful Labor Day weekend in 1987, escaped convict Frank Chambers (Josh Brolin) comes into their lives, and turns them upside down. From a narrative point of view, Labor Day emulates the feel of a lazy holiday weekend, slow with nothing much happening, save for some brief flashes of activity. It is an exquisitely shot movie, Reitman capturing the beauty of the New Hampshire setting with every frame,...
- 3/22/2014
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tom White)
- www.themoviebit.com
Review Simon Brew 21 Mar 2014 - 07:21
Jason Reitman directs Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in his latest, Labor Day. Here's our review.
To the best of our knowledge, director Jason Reitman hasn't ever spent a long bank holiday weekend in the Midlands. Having done so many times ourselves, it's eerie just how he manages to capture the monotony of doing so in his latest film, Labor Day (an adaptation of Joyce Maynard's book, to which he's written the screenplay too). Coming on the heels of the woefully underappreciated Young Adult (both Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt could, with some justification, lodge appeals with Oscar voters), it's another dark drama, albeit a bit more of a contained one.
The set up sees Kate Winslet starring as Adele, a woman living with her 13-year old son, Henry. Adele is in a bad place, a single mom battling with depression, and ahead...
Jason Reitman directs Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in his latest, Labor Day. Here's our review.
To the best of our knowledge, director Jason Reitman hasn't ever spent a long bank holiday weekend in the Midlands. Having done so many times ourselves, it's eerie just how he manages to capture the monotony of doing so in his latest film, Labor Day (an adaptation of Joyce Maynard's book, to which he's written the screenplay too). Coming on the heels of the woefully underappreciated Young Adult (both Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt could, with some justification, lodge appeals with Oscar voters), it's another dark drama, albeit a bit more of a contained one.
The set up sees Kate Winslet starring as Adele, a woman living with her 13-year old son, Henry. Adele is in a bad place, a single mom battling with depression, and ahead...
- 3/21/2014
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Director: Jason Reitman; Screenwriter: Jason Reitman; Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Tobey Maguire, Jk Simmons; Running time: 111 mins; Certificate: 12A
Despite getting a critical hammering in the States, it turns out that romantic drama Labor Day isn't all that bad. As the respective hostage taker and his captive homemaker, Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet may seem like a bad match on paper, but they each take a sincere approach - inspired by characters who have little to lose - and this creates a bond that helps tie the film together.
Otherwise, adapting the novel by Joyce Maynard feels like it may have been hard work for writer/director Jason Reitman. It's new ground for the man behind Juno, Up in the Air, Young Adult and Thank You For Smoking - films where an edge of cynicism helps cut through the sentimentalism. In this case, Reitman appears to be angling for the sultry,...
Despite getting a critical hammering in the States, it turns out that romantic drama Labor Day isn't all that bad. As the respective hostage taker and his captive homemaker, Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet may seem like a bad match on paper, but they each take a sincere approach - inspired by characters who have little to lose - and this creates a bond that helps tie the film together.
Otherwise, adapting the novel by Joyce Maynard feels like it may have been hard work for writer/director Jason Reitman. It's new ground for the man behind Juno, Up in the Air, Young Adult and Thank You For Smoking - films where an edge of cynicism helps cut through the sentimentalism. In this case, Reitman appears to be angling for the sultry,...
- 3/20/2014
- Digital Spy
The Labor Day star's past as a Hollywood brat featured more than his share of drugs, booze and tattoos. How much did he draw on his own history in his portrayal of fugitive killer Frank?
Labor Day spins the story of Frank, an escaped convict who gatecrashes suburbia and proceeds to cook a peach cobbler to die for. "Let's put a roof on this house," says Frank, up to his muscled forearms in flour, as he prepares to add the pastry to the filling. Labor Day, it should be noted, is not a film to skimp on its metaphors. The peach cobbler represents the tumbledown family home, sad and broken and in need of repair. No doubt it also represents Frank, whose crusty exterior contains a warm, gooey centre. Perhaps it even says something about the actor who plays him too.
If you're looking for the classic outsider on the inside,...
Labor Day spins the story of Frank, an escaped convict who gatecrashes suburbia and proceeds to cook a peach cobbler to die for. "Let's put a roof on this house," says Frank, up to his muscled forearms in flour, as he prepares to add the pastry to the filling. Labor Day, it should be noted, is not a film to skimp on its metaphors. The peach cobbler represents the tumbledown family home, sad and broken and in need of repair. No doubt it also represents Frank, whose crusty exterior contains a warm, gooey centre. Perhaps it even says something about the actor who plays him too.
If you're looking for the classic outsider on the inside,...
- 3/14/2014
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
This Kate Winslet-starring, wholly unconvincing tale of a fugitive who turns out to be husband material is pure housewives' kitsch
All the signs pointed to Labor Day being a failure: the shamefaced January release, the place where Hollywood buries its dead; the trailers that laboriously gave away its entire story; a unanimous critical pile-on reminiscent of a biker stomping; and the presence at the helm and behind the typewriter of over-promoted adapter-director Jason Reitman, proof positive of the tyranny of good taste.
Based on a novel by Joyce Maynard (who also wrote To Die For), Labor Day gives us Adele, a depressed, agoraphobic single mother (Kate Winslet), seen from the perspective of her devoted 13-year-old son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) via a fatal overdose of portentous voiceover by Tobey Maguire as the adult Henry. At the supermarket they're accosted by an injured man who's just escaped from a prison hospital after an appendectomy.
All the signs pointed to Labor Day being a failure: the shamefaced January release, the place where Hollywood buries its dead; the trailers that laboriously gave away its entire story; a unanimous critical pile-on reminiscent of a biker stomping; and the presence at the helm and behind the typewriter of over-promoted adapter-director Jason Reitman, proof positive of the tyranny of good taste.
Based on a novel by Joyce Maynard (who also wrote To Die For), Labor Day gives us Adele, a depressed, agoraphobic single mother (Kate Winslet), seen from the perspective of her devoted 13-year-old son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) via a fatal overdose of portentous voiceover by Tobey Maguire as the adult Henry. At the supermarket they're accosted by an injured man who's just escaped from a prison hospital after an appendectomy.
- 2/24/2014
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Kate Winslet & Josh Brolin star in Labor Day, directed by Jason Reitman. Wamg is giving away Run-of-Engagement passes to celebrate this Valentine’s Day Weekend!
If you live in the St. Louis area, all you have to do is enter your name, email address, along with the name of your favorite romantic film, in our comments section below for a chance to win. We will contact you if you are a winner.
No purchase necessary.
Additionally, Cinemark Holdings announces a special ticket offer exclusively at participating Cinemark locations across the U.S.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend, Cinemark is offering a free admission to see Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush’s Labor Day with the purchase of a Labor Day ticket. This offer is valid only from Friday, February 14 through Monday, February 17, 2014 with the presentation of a special online coupon.
Beginning Friday the 14th, the buy one,...
If you live in the St. Louis area, all you have to do is enter your name, email address, along with the name of your favorite romantic film, in our comments section below for a chance to win. We will contact you if you are a winner.
No purchase necessary.
Additionally, Cinemark Holdings announces a special ticket offer exclusively at participating Cinemark locations across the U.S.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend, Cinemark is offering a free admission to see Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush’s Labor Day with the purchase of a Labor Day ticket. This offer is valid only from Friday, February 14 through Monday, February 17, 2014 with the presentation of a special online coupon.
Beginning Friday the 14th, the buy one,...
- 2/13/2014
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Back in August, "Labor Day" was shaping up to be one of the most eagerly awaited movies of the year-end awards season. Most of that had to do with the film's classy pedigree, consisting of stars Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, "Up in the Air" director Jason Reitman, and literary source Joyce Maynard, the "To Die For" novelist. Buzz was building, suggesting that the film might be both a big hit among discerning adult moviegoers and a potential Oscar winner in various categories.
Fast-forward six months, and "Labor Day" suddenly looks like an afterthought, dumped unceremoniously at the end of the dumping ground that is January. Having failed to secure any Oscar nominations or much appreciation among critics, it opened this weekend opposite the Super Bowl and another romance-minded film ("That Awkward Moment"). Pundits predicted a weak opening of around $7 or $8 million, but it earned only an estimated $5.3 million. Debuting in seventh place,...
Fast-forward six months, and "Labor Day" suddenly looks like an afterthought, dumped unceremoniously at the end of the dumping ground that is January. Having failed to secure any Oscar nominations or much appreciation among critics, it opened this weekend opposite the Super Bowl and another romance-minded film ("That Awkward Moment"). Pundits predicted a weak opening of around $7 or $8 million, but it earned only an estimated $5.3 million. Debuting in seventh place,...
- 2/3/2014
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Title: Labor Day Director: Jason Reitman Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Tobey Maguire, Clark Gregg, Brooke Smith, James Van Der Beek, Maika Monroe, Alexie Gilmore Four times Academy Award nominee, Jason Reitman, after having portrayed delightfully poignant and irreverent stories, such as ‘Thank You For Smoking,’ ‘Juno,’ ‘Up in the Air’ and Young Adult,’ delivers an intensely suave adaptation of the novel ‘Labor Day’ by Joyce Maynard. It is the very Labor Day weekend that is bound to mark the lives of Adele (Kate Winslet) – a divorced, single mother who rarely ventures further than her house – and her judicious thirteen year old son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith/Tobey [ Read More ]
The post Labor Day Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Labor Day Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 2/2/2014
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
We are officially living in a golden Hart and Cube era: Universal’s comedy Ride Along continues to dominate the box office — after breaking the record for a January opening in its first two weekends — bringing in an additional estimated $4 million on Friday night. This brings the Kevin Hart/Ice Cube $25 million comedy up to a total of $84.7 million.
But That Awkward Moment is definitely in Ride Along’s rearview mirror: for its opening weekend in 2,809 locations, the bromantic comedy took in an estimated $3.9 million on Friday. Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, and Zac Efron are nice counter-programming for women on Super Bowl weekend,...
But That Awkward Moment is definitely in Ride Along’s rearview mirror: for its opening weekend in 2,809 locations, the bromantic comedy took in an estimated $3.9 million on Friday. Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, and Zac Efron are nice counter-programming for women on Super Bowl weekend,...
- 2/1/2014
- by Sara Vilkomerson
- EW - Inside Movies
Now that you've seen it, what did you think? Adapted from Joyce Maynard's bestselling novel, Jason Reitman's latest work, the fifth feature film he's directed, is Labor Day. The film stars Josh Brolin as a drifter along with Kate Winslet plus Gattlin Griffith as her son. It first premiered at film festivals in late 2013, but is now in wide release from Paramount. Check your local listings to see this film in theaters. So how is it? After Juno, Up in the Air and Young Adult, is one of Reitman's better films? How are Winslet and Brolin together? If you've seen it, leave a comment with your own thoughts on Jason Reitman's Labor Day. Spoiler Warning: We strongly urge everyone to actually see the film before reading ahead, as there may be spoilers below. We also encourage all commenters to keep major spoilers from the film to a minimum,...
- 1/31/2014
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The steady stream of Oscar prestige movies has finally cooled, so with the end of an era come two last-minute Academy shut-outs, "Labor Day" and "Tim's Vermeer," as well as a romantic comedy for the guys, "That Awkward Moment." Trailers below. Jason Reitman's Joyce Maynard adaptation "Labor Day" intercuts several plots and narrators in different time frames to reveal the back stories behind depressed Adele (Kate Winslet) living in New England solitude with her 12-year-old son Henry (Gattlin Griffith). On an outing to the store, the mother and son are commandeered by a threatening escaped prisoner (Josh Brolin). Reitman takes us on a ride that never flags and often surprises with real emotion, and Winslet gives a delicately sensual performance. Fair to say it's being creamed by mostly male critics. Clearly, this relationship drama plays better for women than men. A fascinating look at one genius inventor's obsession with...
- 1/31/2014
- by Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
“Labor Day” represents a rare misstep for director Jason Reitman — at least when it comes to critical response. The director, who has received near-unanimous praise for every film he’s made since “Thank You for Smoking” arrived in 2005, failed to impress the critics with his latest film starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. The coming-of-age drama, an adaptation of author Joyce Maynard’s novel of the same name, has been declared “Rotten” on critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes after just 35 percent of 113 reviews were favorable. To make matters worse for the Paramount Pictures release, it appears “That Awkward Moment” —...
- 1/31/2014
- by Greg Gilman
- The Wrap
Labor Day
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Cast: Gattlin Griffith, Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Clark Gregg
Running Time: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: January 31, 2014
Plot: Set in a quiet New Hampshire town, Labor Day is the story of single mom Adele (Winslet), her son Henry (Griffith), and Frank (Brolin), a fugitive that the two initially house against their will. As they begin to see more of his true character, he starts to fill in the role of husband and father.
Who’S It For? Those curious about a less usual kind of romance or coming-of-age story.
Read our interview with ‘Labor Day’ author Joyce Maynard
Overall
Labor Day is certainly a change of shade for writer/director Jason Reitman, who previously unearthed the humor in his American character dramas, however dark their content (such as with the dark but funny soul erosion of Charlize Theron’s non-matured mean girl in...
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Cast: Gattlin Griffith, Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Clark Gregg
Running Time: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: January 31, 2014
Plot: Set in a quiet New Hampshire town, Labor Day is the story of single mom Adele (Winslet), her son Henry (Griffith), and Frank (Brolin), a fugitive that the two initially house against their will. As they begin to see more of his true character, he starts to fill in the role of husband and father.
Who’S It For? Those curious about a less usual kind of romance or coming-of-age story.
Read our interview with ‘Labor Day’ author Joyce Maynard
Overall
Labor Day is certainly a change of shade for writer/director Jason Reitman, who previously unearthed the humor in his American character dramas, however dark their content (such as with the dark but funny soul erosion of Charlize Theron’s non-matured mean girl in...
- 1/31/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Two big movies this weekend, we have .Labor Day. for drama lovers and .That Awkward Moment. for comedy fans. In .Labor Day,. Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star in the film adaptation of Joyce Maynard.s novel. Writer-director Jason Reitman follows .Young Adult. with a movie that is like a mom and pop version of an S & M flick.
In .That Awkward Moment,. Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan star as bros who vow to be single forever and only date women casually. So, how is the quality of the film? Hint: this is from Tom Gormican, one of the producers of the much-hated .Movie 43..
Take a look at my reviews of .Labor Day. and .That Awkward Moment..
In .That Awkward Moment,. Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan star as bros who vow to be single forever and only date women casually. So, how is the quality of the film? Hint: this is from Tom Gormican, one of the producers of the much-hated .Movie 43..
Take a look at my reviews of .Labor Day. and .That Awkward Moment..
- 1/31/2014
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Jason Reitman is a filmmaker in love with relationships. Whether its a young pregnant woman's relationship with the couple who will adopt her unborn child or the relationship between a young adult writer and the people that she utterly despises, these connections are the driving force behind his films' respective emotions. Labor Day, his latest, is right in line with the rest. In terms of the driving force, that is. The results are varied, but a pair of powerhouse performances keeps Labor Day from being the too-simple-with-too-much-saccharine film it threatens to be. Trashy at times, very messy at others, it's a bag of mixed results, all the while wanting nothing more than to have tears streaming down your face. Read on! Reitman adapted the story from Joyce Maynard's novel of the same name. Set in 1987, it tells of the weekend that changed the lives of young Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith) and his single mother,...
- 1/31/2014
- by Jeremy Kirk
- firstshowing.net
Typically, it’s not considered savvy to open a movie on Super Bowl weekend, what with more than 100 million spending their Sunday afternoon on their sofa, eating nachos, guac, and buffalo wings in front of the Big Game. But Jason Reitman’s Labor Day might qualify as counter-programming. Based on Joyce Maynard’s 2009 novel, the film tells the melodramatic story of a fragile divorcee (Kate Winslet) whose rare excursion out of her house and into town with her 13-year-old son (Gattlin Griffith) is hijacked by an escaped fugitive (Josh Brolin) who demands refuge. But while he looks threatening, he’s a mild soul,...
- 1/31/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
You'll see Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in many more fine movies, but you'll never look at pie quite the same way again
No actress of modern times has subjected matrimony to more vigorous onscreen interrogation than Kate Winslet. What began in a fit of melodrama, with Winslet threatening to throw herself from the aft of the Titanic rather than face loveless marriage to caddish Billy Zane, has turned into a series of fine-grained portraits – in Little Children, Revolutionary Road, Mildred Pierce – of suburban drudges, marooned in their marriages, doomed by their intelligence, staring at the dust motes.
Her happy marriage to Alan Rickman at end of Sense & Sensibility is beginning to look like the joker in the pack. Winslet's early performances fizzed like firecrackers, giddy with their own freedom, but now she dulls her own innate brightness to play American Madame Bovaries. Then she sets something loose in their...
No actress of modern times has subjected matrimony to more vigorous onscreen interrogation than Kate Winslet. What began in a fit of melodrama, with Winslet threatening to throw herself from the aft of the Titanic rather than face loveless marriage to caddish Billy Zane, has turned into a series of fine-grained portraits – in Little Children, Revolutionary Road, Mildred Pierce – of suburban drudges, marooned in their marriages, doomed by their intelligence, staring at the dust motes.
Her happy marriage to Alan Rickman at end of Sense & Sensibility is beginning to look like the joker in the pack. Winslet's early performances fizzed like firecrackers, giddy with their own freedom, but now she dulls her own innate brightness to play American Madame Bovaries. Then she sets something loose in their...
- 1/31/2014
- by Tom Shone
- The Guardian - Film News
I don't know where to begin with Jason Reitman's Labor Day. Adapted from the novel by Joyce Maynard, you could have told me it was a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, directed by Lasse Hallstrom and I wouldn't have second guessed the statement. I can't tell if Reitman is having fun with his audience and has actually made a parody of a Sparks adaptation or if he takes this schlock seriously. Either way, it doesn't work. To begin, Labor Day has something of an identity crisis as it's unsure which character it wants to focus on. The voice over that introduces the film is read by Tobey Maguire playing an older Henry Wheeler, the young 13-year-old (Gattlin Griffith) seen throughout the entirety of the film, and son to Adele (Kate Winslet), a woman that has retreated within herself forcing Henry to be the man of the house. Adele was left by...
- 1/31/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Chicago – There is a real power when the right filmmaker connects with the right performers. What appears on the surface to be a slight and well-worn story, gains a decided psychological edge. ‘Labor Day’ features Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, and writer/director Jason Reitman.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The story – adapted from a novel by Joyce Maynard – is about a convict kidnapping a single mom and son after a prison break. In keeping them in place as he hides out, a relationship develops between the lonely matriarch and the escaped prisoner. This theme has been explored before, but Reitman takes it to another level of resolve. The underlying mood and tension involving the emerging adolescence of the captured boy, the break in the psychosis of the newly paired lovers and the overriding feeling that they might be caught at any moment creates a tension that raises the narrative stakes.
Adele (Kate Winslet...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The story – adapted from a novel by Joyce Maynard – is about a convict kidnapping a single mom and son after a prison break. In keeping them in place as he hides out, a relationship develops between the lonely matriarch and the escaped prisoner. This theme has been explored before, but Reitman takes it to another level of resolve. The underlying mood and tension involving the emerging adolescence of the captured boy, the break in the psychosis of the newly paired lovers and the overriding feeling that they might be caught at any moment creates a tension that raises the narrative stakes.
Adele (Kate Winslet...
- 1/31/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Jason Reitman’s tremulous romantic drama Labor Day is an unintentional howl — a party movie begging for an audience armed with pie crusts, ropes, and a mean streak. It’s so terrible it’s amazing.The film is based on a Joyce Maynard novel, a wet Oedipal fantasy with a dash of kink that turns family-friendly with a vengeance. The narrator is the grown-up Henry (Gattlin Griffith), a pubescent lad whose father has decamped and whose mother, Adele (Kate Winslet), has become a virtual shut-in — shattered, says Henry, not by the loss of her husband but the loss of “love itself.” He tries to replace her ex but it won’t take. He’s not of age. And then, as if out of his fervid imagination, in steps an escaped prisoner, Frank (Josh Brolin), a hunk with ropy muscles who takes refuge in their home to nurse his injuries and...
- 1/31/2014
- by David Edelstein
- Vulture
Were it better, Labor Day might well strike a seductive chord for romantics: a dreamy escaped convict hovers over a mother and son he’s taken hostage over a holiday weekend. One so full of love, cooking, and romance, it will change their lives forever. But the film, based on the Joyce Maynard novel, is so trapped in a dreary Nicolas Sparks-style cliche-ridden universe that we know the entire plot from the start to the over-sentimental climax. Labor Day stars Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, two usually solid actors, but they’re wasted as Labor Day neither raises the pulse nor unintentionally entertains and while some may eat this mush up, most will see it as a tremendous disappointment from writer/director Jason Reitman (of Juno and Up In The Air fame).
Labor Day centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who cares for his mopey, reclusive mother Adele (Winslet) after his...
Labor Day centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who cares for his mopey, reclusive mother Adele (Winslet) after his...
- 1/31/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Plot: An emotionally fragile single mother and her son are taken hostage by a wounded escaped convict. A decent man at heart, the convict gradually inserts himself into their lives and changes them both for the better. Review: If you like your soap operas sincere and sentimental, then Labor Day is for you. Resembling a slightly more adult version of one of those Nicholas Sparks affairs, Jason Reitman's adaptation of Joyce Maynard's popular novel keeps a somber straight face throughout...
- 1/31/2014
- by Eric Walkuski
- JoBlo.com
Title: Labor Day Paramount Pictures Director: Jason Reitman Screenwriter: Jason Reitman, from Joyce Maynard’s novel Cast: Josh Brolin, Kate Winslet, Gattlin Griffith, Brooke Smith, Clark Gregg, J.K. Simmons, James Van Der Beek, Maika Monroe, Alexie Gilmore, Tobey Maguire, Bri Screened at: Paramount, NYC, 11/12/13 Opens: December 27, 2013 in La, January 31, 2014 elsewhere As this film moves along at a steady pace, occasionally stopping for flashbacks, you may be thinking, “Hey, this doesn’t sound believable.” True enough: the romance between a convicted murderer and an innocent, divorced woman may not be something that has occurred to any of your neighbors, but stranger things have happened. Apropos, think of Stockholm [ Read More ]
The post Labor Day Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Labor Day Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 1/31/2014
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Labor Day
Written and directed by Jason Reitman
USA, 2013
It’s all too fitting that, at one point midway through Labor Day, two of the lead characters are sitting in front of a TV, watching a network broadcast of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This film’s writer-director, Jason Reitman, no doubt has been inspired throughout his career by Spielberg, as so many younger directors have been. But more importantly, the alien behavior that so inflames the imagination of the characters populating Close Encounters is analogous to the completely outlandish and illogical behavior exhibited throughout Labor Day, a mawkish and painfully sincere melodrama that’s mere inches away from being an outright parody of the Nicholas Sparks subgenre of recent years.
Kate Winslet plays Adele, a now-single mother after her husband (Clark Gregg) left her in the midst of a personal and physical crisis...
Written and directed by Jason Reitman
USA, 2013
It’s all too fitting that, at one point midway through Labor Day, two of the lead characters are sitting in front of a TV, watching a network broadcast of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This film’s writer-director, Jason Reitman, no doubt has been inspired throughout his career by Spielberg, as so many younger directors have been. But more importantly, the alien behavior that so inflames the imagination of the characters populating Close Encounters is analogous to the completely outlandish and illogical behavior exhibited throughout Labor Day, a mawkish and painfully sincere melodrama that’s mere inches away from being an outright parody of the Nicholas Sparks subgenre of recent years.
Kate Winslet plays Adele, a now-single mother after her husband (Clark Gregg) left her in the midst of a personal and physical crisis...
- 1/31/2014
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
I can’t remember the last time I saw a romantic drama as odd and melancholy as this. I always enjoy watching Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, and I’ve been a great admirer of Jason Reitman’s work as writer and director (Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air). But Labor Day, which he adapted from Joyce Maynard’s novel, is a curiously unsatisfying movie.The story is told through the eyes of an impressionable 13-year-old boy (Gattlin Griffith), whose father has walked out and remarried, leaving him to contend with a mother (Winslet) who is emotionally fragile and barely able to leave the house. The story takes place in a quiet New Hampshire town in 1987, where the peaceful...
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- 1/31/2014
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Kate Winslet is a Real Woman. And Josh Brolin is a Real Man. And yet, they cannot be together. That's the tragedy of the new drama, Labor Day (based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, who also wrote the source book for Gus Van Sant's To Die For). And make no mistake, that's drama read "melodrama", as in Douglas Sirk-ian 1950s level yarns, so unapologetically awash in far-fetched dysfunction and hot-house volatility amid gloriously stretched-thin plausibility. Such is the melodramatic intent and vibe of director Jason Reitman's new uncharacteristic film. (Reitman being the maker of snarky stylish comedies of the now, always about troubled individuals, such as Juno and Up in the Air.) Much of the attention focused upon Labor Day has been about how absurd...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 1/31/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Counterprogramming is the name of the game over Super Bowl weekend this year. Both new releases*That Awkward Moment and Labor Day*are targeted at female audiences that may not be completely consumed by the insanely popular sporting event. Neither movie is poised to really break out, though, and it would be surprising if any title earns over $15 million this weekend.Playing at 2,809 locations, That Awkward Moment could be in a tight race with Ride Along for first place. The R-rated romantic comedy is being sold mostly on the likeability of its three male leads, who have so far achieved varying levels of fame. Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan have seen their stars rise a bit in the last year thanks to their work in The Spectacular Now and Fruitvale Station; unfortunately, neither of those movies set the box office on fire, and it's unlikely that either actor is much of a draw yet.
- 1/31/2014
- by Ray Subers <mail@boxofficemojo.com>
- Box Office Mojo
Director Jason Reitman broke through in the business with an impressive trio of sharply written stories about colourful, independent characters – Thank You for Smoking, Juno and Up in the Air. Although these first features will ensure Reitman keeps a good batting average as he moves forward, the director is starting to scale back into less inspired choices. Case in point: Labor Day, a dopey and implausible drama about a woman’s Stockholm syndrome that is one third intimate Alice Munro and two thirds a Nicholas Sparks treacle.
It is perplexing to think about what Reitman saw in Joyce Maynard’s best-selling piece of domestic sap, or what Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin found on his page that drew them into these incompletely drawn characters. Although Labor Day is made with skill and performed with full-bodied conviction, the film features one of the strangest big-screen romances in recent memory, one overwrought...
It is perplexing to think about what Reitman saw in Joyce Maynard’s best-selling piece of domestic sap, or what Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin found on his page that drew them into these incompletely drawn characters. Although Labor Day is made with skill and performed with full-bodied conviction, the film features one of the strangest big-screen romances in recent memory, one overwrought...
- 1/31/2014
- by Jordan Adler
- We Got This Covered
Bro-dominated buddy comedies are set to face off Super Bowl weekend and it looks like the guys of That Awkward Moment might see Ride Along slowing to a crawl after two weekends of box-office dominance. Jason Reitman’s romantic drama Labor Day, starring Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet, is opening wide and Disney is also trying something new with the addition of the Frozen sing-along version — it was Fandango’s top-seller this past week.
Not surprisingly, Super Bowl weekend is notoriously slow at the movies. Last year the romantic zombie comedy Warm Bodies opened just over $20 million in the same timeframe,...
Not surprisingly, Super Bowl weekend is notoriously slow at the movies. Last year the romantic zombie comedy Warm Bodies opened just over $20 million in the same timeframe,...
- 1/30/2014
- by Lindsey Bahr
- EW - Inside Movies
By now, you've probably already heard about "Labor Day" and that infamous pie scene. But believe it or not, Jason Reitman's new movie isn't just about baked goods. So what else is it about?
Based on Joyce Maynard's coming-of-age novel and set in small-town New England in the late 1980s, the film stars Josh Brolin as Frank, an escaped convict who convinces a reclusive single mother (Kate Winslet) and her young son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) to let him hide out in their house. What's originally only supposed to be a few hours turns into an entire long weekend, as Frank becomes the stand-in man of the house both mother and son had been missing, fixing loose floorboards, teaching Henry how to play baseball, and yes, bake a peach pie.
Following the movie's premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival, Reitman, Brolin and Griffith held a press conference to discuss their new film.
Based on Joyce Maynard's coming-of-age novel and set in small-town New England in the late 1980s, the film stars Josh Brolin as Frank, an escaped convict who convinces a reclusive single mother (Kate Winslet) and her young son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) to let him hide out in their house. What's originally only supposed to be a few hours turns into an entire long weekend, as Frank becomes the stand-in man of the house both mother and son had been missing, fixing loose floorboards, teaching Henry how to play baseball, and yes, bake a peach pie.
Following the movie's premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival, Reitman, Brolin and Griffith held a press conference to discuss their new film.
- 1/30/2014
- by Rick Mele
- Moviefone
Set in a quiet New Hampshire town, Labor Day is the story of single mom Adele (Kate Winslet), her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith), and Frank (Josh Brolin), a fugitive that the two initially house against their will. As they begin to see more of his true character, he starts to fill in the role of husband and father. Based on the 2009 novel by Joyce Maynard, the film is written and directed by Jason Reitman.
With her novel “To Die For” previously adapted into a film by Gus Van Sant, Labor Day marks the second adaptation of Maynard’s work. She was recently seen discussing her relationship with J.D. Salinger in the 2013 documentary Salinger, which she has also written about.
I sat down with Maynard in a roundtable interview to discuss her perspective of the film adaptation, how the original story came to her, her love for New Hampshire, and more.
With her novel “To Die For” previously adapted into a film by Gus Van Sant, Labor Day marks the second adaptation of Maynard’s work. She was recently seen discussing her relationship with J.D. Salinger in the 2013 documentary Salinger, which she has also written about.
I sat down with Maynard in a roundtable interview to discuss her perspective of the film adaptation, how the original story came to her, her love for New Hampshire, and more.
- 1/30/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Jason Reitman puts Josh Brolin's handsomely rugged features and deep well of vulnerability to powerful use in his latest "Labor Day," which opens this Friday following screenings at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals. (go here for Indiewire's glowing review). In the drama (based on a novel by Joyce Maynard and written for the screen by Reitman) Brolin plays an escaped convict who finds refuge in the home of a depressed single mother (Kate Winslet) and her son (Gattlin Griffith). As police troll the town, Brolin's character gradually reveals his true colors and falls for his new 'family' in the process. [Editor's Note: This interview was originally published during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.] Indiewire sat down with Brolin the morning following the Toronto premiere to discuss the film, working opposite Winslet, and why he found the role so challenging. I saw the film at a press screening. How did the premiere last night go? Really well. I was really amazed...
- 1/30/2014
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
Nothing that writer-director Jason Reitman has done up until now could have prepared viewers for Labor Day. Between his political and economic critiques Thank You for Smoking and Up in the Air, and his kooky collaborations with writer Diablo Cody, Juno and Young Adult—all original screenplays, by the way—a classic melodrama in the vein of Douglas Sirk based on a literary romance by Joyce Maynard seems an unlikely entry in his oeuvre. Yet here it is, complete with a pie-making scene inspired by the pottery tutorial in Ghost....
- 1/30/2014
- Pastemagazine.com
Thankfully, "Labor Day" isn't one of those ensemble pieces with Ashton Kutcher and a lot of meet-cutes, although it does take place over a holiday weekend. Jason Reitman's newest movie, which is based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, is the story of a man on the lam and the mother and son who give him shelter. And pie. Delicious peach pie!
At first Adele (Kate Winslet) and Henry (Gattlin Griffith) are scared of the looming Frank (Josh Brolin), a convicted murderer who manages to escape from the hospital after a routine appendectomy. In return for their forced hospitality, Frank fixes things around the house, cooks for them, and even helps Henry work on his pitch. In just a short amount of time, Adele, who is divorced, depressed, and seemingly agoraphobic, falls for the escaped convict. Frank's escape has their whole small town on edge, and it's only a...
At first Adele (Kate Winslet) and Henry (Gattlin Griffith) are scared of the looming Frank (Josh Brolin), a convicted murderer who manages to escape from the hospital after a routine appendectomy. In return for their forced hospitality, Frank fixes things around the house, cooks for them, and even helps Henry work on his pitch. In just a short amount of time, Adele, who is divorced, depressed, and seemingly agoraphobic, falls for the escaped convict. Frank's escape has their whole small town on edge, and it's only a...
- 1/30/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Short of helming a "Smurfs" sequel, it's tough to imagine writer-director Jason Reitman going for a greater change of pace than he has with "Labor Day," a full-immersion exercise in the old-fashioned women's weepie that skews far closer to Nicholas Sparks' brand of contrivance than Diablo Cody territory. Give him credit for breaking with trademark satirical impulses so completely that counting the laughs in his self-penned script—based on a 2010 Joyce Maynard novel—doesn't require two hands. But the (sorry) laboriousness of the plot's romance-novel machinations ensures there'll be at least a few dry eyes in the house. Kate Winslet goes for even greater heights of post-"Mildred Pierce" mousiness—mostly successfully—as a divorced housewife who's developed such post-split jitters that she can't even consider leaving the house without us getting a close-up of her shaking hands. Her first venture out for groceries in a month goes even...
- 1/29/2014
- by Chris Willman
- The Playlist
Jason Reitman's initial four features each contained a distinctly cynical edge, mainly due to their bitter, cantankerous anti-heroes who had witticisms to spare. "Labor Day," his fifth and most fluid work, contains no such ironic refrains. A significant departure for the director, "Labor Day" is a classical, melodramatic tearjerker that's also a sincere coming-of-age story. Reitman's imprint is essentially invisbile, perhaps because he stuck so closely to the source material. Described by the director at the movie's Telluride premiere as "the truest adaptation I will ever write," the result indeed feels as if it hails from a different author, in this case Joyce Maynard, whose 2009 novel provides the basis for Reitman's script. Because it adheres to a noticeably restrained literary style, "Labor Day" at times feels almost too muted for its rather bizarre subject matter, which finds an escaped convict falling in love with a woman he takes hostage...
- 1/29/2014
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Jason Reitman has made some interesting creative choices over the course of his career. I.ve enjoyed everything he.s done so far even the not so popular Young Adult. I thought it was a great movie with great performances.it was cringeworthy.but still good. His next, Labor Day an adaptation of a Joyce Maynard novel is set to release this Friday. Will it be the best to date? The premise has me intrigued especially the relationship between the characters of Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin....
- 1/28/2014
- by Niki Stephens
- JoBlo.com
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