CANNES: Coens and Cast on “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Success and That Cat

May 21, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Features Leave a comment

The titular character in the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” appears in nearly every scene of the film and the directors told us at this year’s Cannes Film Festival that they knew that whoever took on the challenge of Llewyn had to be, most importantly, an incredible musician that you wanted to spend time watching. “We were screwed until we met Oscar [Isaac]!” joked Ethan Coen.

This is Oscar Isaac‘s break out role, taking on a character who is flawed and unsure of life and himself and infusing him with heart and soul. “A lot of [the character] was so underplayed and so quiet it needed to be constructed with the full context of the music coming in and I think it’s the music where you really see his soul coming out, but we never really had conversations about his personality” mused Isaac.

CANNES REVIEW: Oscar Isaac Shines in Funny, Melancholy “Inside Llewyn Davis”

May 19, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Reviews 1 Comment

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“Inside Llewyn Davis” was perhaps our most anticipated film of this year’s Cannes Film Festival and the Coen Brothers latest film did not disappoint, weaving a melancholy yet genuinely funny and enjoyable story of a down on his luck folk singer. It’s essentially a thin plot but it doesn’t matter, as the Coens and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnol have constructed a beautifully woven tale about the failures and successes life throws at us – and the directors cleverly sidestep answering any of those questions.

This is a return to lighter fare for the brothers and it’s a pleasure to watch Llewyn (played by the incredible Oscar Isaac in an awards-worthy performance) travel up and down Manhattan, rotating through friends’ couches, taking a road trip to Chicago and trying to return a cat to his owner, all while trying to make it big as a folk singer.

Watch: First trailer for the Coens’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” starring Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan

January 24, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos 2 Comments

This trailer has been a long time coming and let’s just say right off the bat, it’s already exceeding even our highest expectations. “Inside Llewyn Davis”, the newest from the Coen Brothers is a drama set in the 1960s about a bunch of folk musicians, led by Oscar Isaac in his first major leading role and supported by the likes of John Goodman, Carey Mulligan, Junstin Timberlake and Garrett Hedlund.

The entire cast does their own singing in the movie, but we don’t get to hear any of that here. Instead, we’re treated to a fierce Mulligan as a scorned ex-lover of Isaac’s Llewyn Davis, who takes off for some (“On the”) road adventures with a very Dean Moriarty-esque Hedlund. The cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel gives the film my favorite glowy, blurry, dreamy quality and all the characters feel like Coen signatures. In other words: Bring it on. There’s still no release date for this, one of our most anticipated films of the year, but with the first screening taking place in just a couple of weeks, hopefully one will be set soon.

Watch the first trailer below in the meantime.

First Look: Oscar Isaac and a furry friend on the set of “Inside Llewyn Davis”

February 22, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 1 Comment

As if we weren’t excited enough about the new Coen Brothers movie, they’ve added a cat. “Inside Llewyn Davis”, set in the 1960s New York City folk scene, has already started filming and Zimbio has our first look at Oscar Isaac on set and in character as Llewyn Davis himself.

As the titular struggling guitarist and singer, loosely based on real 1960s Greenwich Village based musician Dave Van Ronk, nicknamed “Mayor of MacDougal Street”, Isaac looks perfectly hobo chic with scraggly beard, drab clothing, beat up guitar case and an orange cat. Well, what’s a street musician without one, really? Isaac will presumably be joined on set soon by co-stars Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund and Stark Sands, who all play Davis’ circle of friends and fellow musicians.

No release has been set on the independently financed and produced film, but we’re hoping for a late 2012 date.

Garrett Hedlund to jam with Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake for the Coen Bros’ “Inside Llewyn Davis”

January 9, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

“Akira” getting pushed back may be a blessing in disguise for Garrett Hedlund (some would say flat out blessing, but we digress). Variety reports the star now has an open slot in his schedule and has promptly filled it with something awesome: Hedlund is jumping on board the Coen Brothers’ next directorial vehicle, the 1960s set folk music drama “Inside Llewyn Davis”, which already stars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.

Isaac plays Davis, a fictional character loosely based on 1960s Greenwich Village based musician Dave Van Ronk, nicknamed “Mayor of MacDougal Street”, whose circle of friends and fellow musicians included Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Joni Mitchell. Despite being talented and passionate, he can’t make ends meet just playing music. Timberlake has the role of Jim, a fellow folk musician who is married to Mulligan’s character Jean. Hedlund’s character is unknown, but after having done some impressive crooning in “Country Strong”, it should be no problem for him to pick up a guitar and jam with his co-stars.

Hedlund, who is still attached to “Akira” whenever the risky, big budget remake finally gets its act together at Warner Bros, and also has the similarly long-gestating, controversial adaptation of “On the Road” in the can ready for release this year. His past couple of high profile projects, “Country Strong” and “Tron: Legacy”, weren’t exactly big breakout moments for him, but it’s clear bigger successes lay just beyond the horizon for the talented and underrated actor.

Justin Timberlake offered a lead role in Coen Bros’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” opposite Carey Mulligan

October 29, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Thus far former boybander Justin Timberlake has steered clear of mixing his musical and acting talents, but could that all change now? Variety reports Timberlake has been offered a lead role in the Coen Brothers’ 1960s folk music drama “Inside Llewyn Davis”, and not for nothing, Oscar Isaac landed the titular role in the film because of the tremendous musical talents he demonstrated during auditions, and co-star Carey Mulligan has proven musical ability as well.

Isaac plays Davis, a fictional character loosely based on 1960s Greenwich Village based musician Dave Van Ronk, nicknamed “Mayor of MacDougal Street”, whose circle of friends and fellow musicians included Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Joni Mitchell. Despite being talented and passionate, he can’t make ends meet just playing music. Timberlake has been offered the role of Jim, a fellow folk musician who is married to Mulligan’s character Jean.

Timberlake has been tentatively seeking out a film career for years, but got his big break when he played Napster founder Sean Parker in David Fincher’s modern masterpiece “The Social Network”. He’s taken mostly lead roles since, in this summer’s “Friends with Benefits” and the currently playing “In Time.” The role in the Coens’ new film would be his biggest and most prestigious yet, and while he was bandied about but not nominated for an Oscar for “Network”, “Inside Llewyn Davis” could bring him closer than he’s ever been. One step closer to EGOT for the multi-tasking entertainer.

Carey Mulligan lines up roles with the Coen Brothers and Spike Jonze

October 20, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Carey Mulligan received an Oscar nomination in 2010 for her role as an idealistic schoolgirl in 2009′s “An Eduction” and has leveraged that newfound status in Hollywood to pile up an increasingly impressive body of work. Not slowing down for a bit, she has signed on to two more high profile gigs, Variety reports. Joining the recently cast Oscar Isaac, she has snagged the female lead in the Coen Brothers’ 1960s folk music drama “Inside Llewyn Davis”, and has entered negotiations for a lead role in Spike Jonze’s still untitled next feature.

There is no word on her role in each film, though in the former she might likely play a folk musician based on a real person, alongside Isaac’s titular character, based on real-life 60s folk musician Dave Van Ronk, nicknamed “Mayor of MacDougal Street”, whose circle of friends and fellow musicians included Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Joni Mitchell. In the Jonze pic, she’ll join Joaquin Phoenix in a tale about world leaders having to work together on impending “cataclysmic events.”

Mulligan currently has two awards season films in play, opposite Ryan Gosling in Nicolas Winding Refn’s ultra-violent arthouse actioner “Drive” (also starring Isaac) and opposite Michael Fassbender in NC-17 sex addiction drama “Shame” from director Steve McQueen. She’s not partaking much in the way of campaigning for Supporting Actress for either film though, too busy playing Daisey Buchanan for Baz Luhrmann’s 3D adaptation of “The Great Gatsby”, currently shooting in Australia. She plans to shoot “Llewyn” next February and then hop onto Jonze’s project by spring.

Oscar Isaac goes “Inside Llewyn Davis” for the Coen Brothers

October 13, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Oscar Isaac is on his way to becoming a major player in Hollywood. Variety reports the up and coming actor has landed the highly coveted lead and titular role in the Coen Brothers‘ 60s set folk music drama “Inside Llewyn Davis.” The Coens are directing with Scott Rudin producing outside of the studio system. Studio Canal will co-finance and handle France and other international territories but no US distributor has been set.

Isaac had a major presence at the Toronto International Film Festival where he was seen in Nicolas Winding Refn’s divisive violent actioner “Drive”, Channing Tatum’s high school reunion drama “Ten Year” and Madonna’s period drama “W.E.” He’s currently filming Tony Gilroy’s “The Bourne Legacy.” While he was famously one of the director’s favorites to take on the lead role, studio pressures passed it onto Jeremy Renner instead. Apparently Gilroy really fell for Isaac’s performance though, and has given him a different role in the film.

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