Trailer #2: ‘The Sitter’ starring Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell

The Sitter: When the world’s most irresponsible babysitter takes three of the world’s worst kids on an unforgettable overnight adventure through the streets of New York City, it’s anyone’s guess who’s going to make it home in one piece

Director: David Gorden Green
Cast: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell

In Theaters: December 9, 2011
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Red Band Trailer: ‘The Sitter’ starring Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell and a bunch of kids

The Sitter: A comedy about a college student on suspension who is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.

Director: David Gorden Green
Cast: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell

In Theaters: December 9th, 2011

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Trailer: ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell

Cowboys and Aliens: 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents–townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors–all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival. from trailers.apple.com

Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell

In theaters: July 29th, 2011

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Trailer: Jon Favreau’s ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig

Cowboys and Aliens: Cowboys and Indians team up to fight off a group of invading aliens set out to destroy Earth.

Cast: Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell

Director: Jon Favreau

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Movie Review: Conviction

Conviction tells the true story of Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) and her brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell). When a diner waitress is found stabbed to death in her trailer home, Kenny – the local troublemaker – is charged with murder, convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Waters, a single mother, spends the next 18 years of her life becoming a lawyer in order to free her brother.

Minnie Driver plays Betty Anne’s friend and fellow law student, Abra, who help’s discover the truth about Kenny’s mishandled case at the hands of a corrupt cop played by Melissa Leo.

While this is an amazing true-life story, I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped. The whole story seemed a little slow to me. While I did care about the characters and the outcome, I wanted it to happen sooner. Part of it may have been the cheesy flashback scenes that told the story of Betty and Kenny as kids. It’s an attempt to show how close they were as children so you can understand why Betty spends so many years proving that her brother isn’t a murderer. But… I didn’t need so many of these scenes. I got it after the first flashback.

Expertly acted on all fronts, I’d say see this film for Sam Rockwell’s performance alone.  At the beginning of the film, there are times where you have no idea if he’s guilty or innocent. He’s perfect in the part. Hilary Swank and Melissa Leo are also in top form but this is Rockwell’s show.

Director: Tony Goldwyn

Cast: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, Juliette Lewis

Writers: Pamela Gray

Indie Actors on acting, fights on set and more

The Hollywood Reporter got Oren Pelli, Catherine Keener, Werner Herzog, Melissa Leo, Sam Rockwell and Darren Aronofsky together to talk about acting, fights on set and the most dangerous moments they’ve had while working.

Videos 1 & 2 are the best. Video 1 has Catherine Keener talking about working with Spike Jonez while video 2 has Melissa Leo talking about her experience working with Tommy Lee Jones (it wasn’t pleasant).

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Trailer: Conviction

Conviction is the inspirational true story of a sister’s unwavering devotion to her brother. When Betty Anne Waters’ (two-time Academy® Award winner Hilary Swank) older brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction. Convinced that her brother is innocent, Betty Anne puts herself through high school, college and, finally, law school in an 18 year quest to free Kenny. With the help of best friend Abra Rice (Academy Award nominee Minnie Driver), Betty Anne pours through suspicious evidence mounted by small town cop Nancy Taylor (Academy Award nominee Melissa Leo), meticulously retracing the steps that led to Kenny’s arrest. Belief in her brother – and her quest for the truth – pushes Betty Anne and her team to uncover the facts and utilize DNA evidence with the hope of exonerating Kenny (from trailers.apple.com).

Director: Tony Goldwyn

Cast: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, Juliette Lewis

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Sam Rockwell on his body of work and working with DeNiro

From Movieline.com:

(Sam Rockwell is starring in the new film, Everybodys Fine with Robert DeNiro)

How did this movie affect your recollections of that time, or even your relationship with your parents today?
Mine’s different. I don’t keep secrets from my parents, really; it’s pretty open. Especially with my father. I had to use a leap of imagination and faith with this one. But it was just fun working with Robert De Niro, because he’s such a hero of mine.

What was your first meeting like?
It was great. I just went and met with him. He needed to meet me, had to have approval of the cast. He didn’t know me very well; he’d seen a movie I’d done or something. We met basically so Bob could make sure I wasn’t an asshole, and I was cast. But it was very easy working with him. It was very simple.

When you’re working with an actor like De Niro, who is so influential to so many people, it there necessarily a sort of father-son dynamic that is established?
There is a generation gap there. He’s about the same age as my father. Anyway, Bob keeps to himself. He’s very friendly, very affable. I got the impression that he liked me; I certainly liked him. It seemed like we were getting along. I think he’s very quiet, he’s on his phone a little bit, then he shows up and we do a take. I asked him a few questions about The Deer Hunter and stuff.

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Sam Rockwell on ‘Moon’, Oscar talk and ‘Iron Man 2′

From MTV.com:

MTV: You don’t have a lot of actors to play off of — or any actors to play off of — in “Moon.” You knew what you were getting into, obviously, but were there any unexpected challenges? Were you lonely as an actor to not have another person to feed off of?

Rockwell: That’s half the equation. Most of the time, it was hard. There was a young actor there named Robin Chalk, and there was also a body double that looked like him from the back, and a lot of times we were acting with tennis balls, or I’d have to pick a mark or put a piece of tape on the wall or something it was interesting.

MTV: So what’s it like, shooting on the moon?

Rockwell: It’s kinda hot, if you’re in a space station — it’s a moist, a little hot. You want to wear some kind of deodorant or cologne. But the other guys didn’t mind.

MTV: As you well know, there is a movement afoot that you, Mr. Rockwell, will get an Oscar nomination. How did you hear about this, and what was your reaction?

Rockwell: I heard about this — my dad told me about it — that something was cooking on the Internet. So my girlfriend and I looked it up, and it was very flattering. As an actor, this is the only thing you’ve been shooting for your entire career — you don’t care about the actual product [laughs]. You just want awards to put some place. Am I wrong? I would be honored to get an Oscar or anything else like that. But it’s just that anything that gets this movie some attention is a good thing. It’s hard for these smaller films, so anything that gets it attention, for sure.

MTV: Also in the course of this year, a film we haven’t seen yet but you shot already, is a little thing called “Iron Man 2.” Did you study up on your character, Justin Hammer?

Rockwell: I got some research — they sent me over some stuff. I looked it over and that was about it. I kind of took my own ideas from other things. A little bit of Lex Luthor’s stuff — [Kevin] Spacey and [Gene] Hackman. I think there’s a little Bill Murray in “Kingpin” in it. Probably some Richard Gere “American Gigolo” thrown in there. And a little Charles Nelson Reilly!

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Clip: "Moon" starring Sam Rockwell

Synopsis: It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a lonely job, made harder by a broken satellite that allows no live communications home. Taped messages are all Sam can send and receive. Thankfully, his time on the moon is nearly over, and Sam will be reunited with his wife, Tess, and their three-year-old daughter, Eve, in only a few short weeks. Finally, he will leave the isolation of “Sarang,” the moon base that has been his home for so long, and he will finally have someone to talk to beyond “Gerty,” the base’s well-intentioned, but rather uncomplicated computer.